By Elizabeth Herman | Posted: November 25, 2019
“In meditation, a million things can come up, but if you raise your head above all these conflicts, and feel unmindful of it, it makes you go deeper into your meditation.” ~Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
There are ways to rise above conflicts. One of them happens through transcendence, or going beyond the mundane aspects of life, and that happens during meditation. If there weren’t ways to rise above, then our lives would be embroiled with disharmony and we would be fighting and struggling all the time.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talks about the combination of truth, benevolence, and beauty, as a life raft for surviving our ocean of conflicts in the world. In this video, different types of conflicts and the indestructible nature of goodness provide contrasting ideas that are easy to recognize, so you can use meditation and other practices to rise above conflict:
Can you manage conflicts skillfully?
He says, “Life has many conflicts. These conflicts are there only to enhance your skill. How skillfully can you manage to rise above all the conflicts?” This is a question that we may ask to help us be prepared for real life in the adult world.
By taking an inventory of the many types of conflicts we must handle, we gain perspective on the need to transcend the chaos. Gurudev reminds us, “There are outside conflicts, conflicts between nations, within a nation, between people in the family, in the community, and there is one conflict within you, in your own head.”
“Also, when you’re happy, you may feel guilty, and tell yourself, ‘Oh, I should not be happy.’ When you’re upset, also you have conflict inside.” And the individual in a conflict that he or she can’t handle is also unable to solve conflicts that cause stress and tension in the outside world.
“So all these different types of conflicts and the complex situation of your mind and your intellect challenge you to rise above them.” Can you rise to this challenge and find the inner strength to see the unchanging nature of your spirit?
You are filled with truth, goodness and beauty, if only you can peel away the layers of conflict in your life and touch what’s deep inside. Learning to meditate is one way to do just that.
Indestructible truth, benevolence, and beauty
Gurudev brings you immediately in touch with the harmony below the surface, that makes up the true source of human existence. He advises you to “Recognize the beauty and truth that you are, which nothing can destroy. Truth can’t be destroyed. Remember this. Truth can never be destroyed; beauty can never be destroyed. And benevolence can never go away.”
“That’s why it’s satyam, truth, shivam, benevolence, sundaram (beauty). Truth, goodness, and beauty can never be destroyed,“ says Gurudev. Grounded in such enduring firmness, you can use the indestructible, everlasting nature of truth, goodness, and beauty to rise above the rocks of conflict and float on the peaceful surface. Or, you can go deep below the unruly waves of the ocean and find the stillness in harmony, teeming with life in all its diversity, like a deep sea diver.
Either way, your skill in finding beauty, truth, and benevolence will bring you peace, even amidst the many levels of conflict that exist for all of us.
Find a Sahaj Samadhi meditation course near you, for methods to start practicing these skills today.
Elizabeth Herman writes, offers writing support to clients, teaches, and volunteers for a better world. She has a PhD in Rhetoric, Composition and Literature. Find her on Facebook or Twitter.
