A couple of days ago, I read a passage in a book that I found so enlightening that I decided to share it on the blog. It was found in the Introduction to Eknath Easwaran’s God Makes the Rivers To Flow: Sacred Literature of the World and reads as follows:
In ancient India lived a sculptor renowned for his life-sized statues of elephants ... One day, a king came to see these magnificent works and to commission statuary for his palace. Struck with wonder, he asked the sculptor, "What is the secret of your artistry?"
The sculptor quietly took his measure of the monarch and replied, "Great king, when, with the aid of many men, I quarry a gigantic piece of granite from the banks of the river, I have it set here in my courtyard. For a long time I do nothing but observe this block of stone and study it from every angle. I focus all my concentration on this task and won't allow anything or anybody to disturb me. At first, I see nothing but a huge and shapeless rock sitting there, meaningless, indifferent to my purposes, utterly out of place. It seems faintly resentful at having been dragged from its cool place by the rushing waters. Then, slowly, very slowly, I begin to notice something in the substance of the rock. I feel a presentiment ... an outline, scarcely discernible, shows itself to me, though others, I suspect, would perceive nothing. I watch with an open eye and a joyous, eager heart. The outline grows stronger. Oh, yes, I can see it! An elephant is stirring in there!
"Only then do I start to work. For days flowing into weeks, I use my chisel and mallet, always clinging to my sense of that outline, which grows ever stronger. How the big fellow strains! How he yearns to be out! How he wants to live! It seems so clear now, for I know the one thing I must do: with an utter singleness of purpose, I must chip away every last bit of stone that is not elephant. What then remains will be, must be, elephant"
When I was young, my grandmother, my spiritual guide, would often tell just such a story, not only to entertain but to convey the essential truths of living ... [With the story of the elephant,] she was showing that we do not need to bring our real self, our higher self, into existence. It is already there. It has always been there, yearning to be out. An incomparable spark of divinity is to be found in the heart of each human being, waiting to radiate love and wisdom everywhere, because that is its nature. Amazing! This you that sometimes feels inadequate, sometimes becomes afraid or angry or depressed, that searches on and on for fulfillment, contains within itself the very fulfillment it seeks, and to a supreme degree.
Indeed, the tranquility and happiness we also feel are actually reflections of that inner reality of which we know so little. No matter what mistakes we may have made - and who hasn't made them? - this true self is ever pure and unsullied. No matter what trouble we have caused ourselves and those around us, this true self is ceaselessly loving. No matter how time passes from us and, with it, the body in which we dwell, this true self is beyond change, eternal.
Once we have become attentive to the presence of this true self, then all we really need do is resolutely chip away whatever is not divine in ourselves …
What remains when all that is not divine drops away is summed up in the short Sanskrit word aroga. The prefix a signifies "not a trace of"; roga means "illness" or "incapacity." Actually, the word loses some of its thrust in translation. In the original it connotes perfect well-being, not mere freedom from sickness … This aroga of the spiritual life entails the complete removal of every obstacle to impeccable health, giving us a strong and energetic body, a clear mind, positive emotions, and a heart radiant with love. When we have such soundness, we are always secure, always considerate, good to be around. Our relationships flourish, and we become a boon to the earth, not a burden on it.
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There is so much about this passage that I found meaningful, but I was particularly struck by Easwaran’s discussion of the word “aroga.” In Mormon theology, much is made of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount instruction that we should be “perfect” even as our father in Heaven is perfect. Mormons believe in eternal progression toward perfection and believe that the path to such perfection is perfect compliance with God’s commandments.
I much prefer the process of achieving perfection as described by Easwaran. We have perfection within us. Our task in this life, as Jesus pointed out, is to find that perfection through a spiritual path that removes “every obstacle of impeccable health, giving us a strong and energetic body, a clear mind, positive emotions and a heart radiant with love.”
Sounds pretty good to me.
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