Paramahansa Yogananda
The Secret of Life (2)
Wake Up from the Dream Drama
When God created us, He created the law of relativity. He created the subject, the object, and the action. We become engrossed in these three things and forget the beam of conscious intelligent vibration from which these three things are made.
Life becomes terrible if we see it as real, whereas it is nothing but a play of forces. God made us in His image, and expected us to realize that this life is an illusion. There really is no disease, death, or sorrow—only the dance of cosmic vibrations. It is just as foolish to cry about life's happenings as it is to cry about something sad that you see in a movie. When you realize that it is only a picture you see, there is no sorrow. You must not take this life too seriously. ...
You must realize that this life is
just a dream drama.
In a dream you see death and sickness and happiness and sorrow, and are touched by them. When you awaken from the dream, you know that all things were just a dream. It is only when you awaken from a nightmare that you can laugh at it, but you will have to learn that through meditation alone, not by reading books or theorizing.
God is suggesting a universe to us and we cannot get rid of that thought because it is so powerful. God is dreaming through us. When your thought becomes elevated enough to be in tune with God's thought, then you will be able to realize that this life is but a dream. You must first lift your consciousness to the plane of God.
Right meditation balanced with activity
should be the aim of all spiritual seekers
as the only savior from the cosmic dream.
The question of your redemption from the prison of ignorance must be settled directly by yourself with God. (os)
If you know the plot beforehand when you see a motion picture or a performance on the stage, it will not be interesting. So it is good that you don't understand the movie drama God is playing in your life. You wouldn't be entertained if you knew what was going to happen before it took place. Don't concern yourself about the ending. Rather, pray always to God in this way: "Father, teach me to act out my role in this drama of life—whether I am weak or strong, sick or well, high or low, rich or poor—with an immortal attitude, that I may at the end know the moral of it all." (os)
It is difficult indeed to go beyond the influence of My divine cosmic hypnosis, imbued with the triple qualities. Only those who take shelter in Me (the Cosmic Hypnotizer) become free from this power of illusion.
— The Bhagavad Gita VII:14
It is hard to banish cosmic hypnosis and its entrancing phenomena, even after its influence has been detected, without constant prayer to its Maker: God. A hypnotized person is unable to escape from the potent spell until he has obtained the help of the mesmerist. When a subject learns, through the comments of others, that he is acting like an automaton, he should himself try to overcome the irrational influence. If he finds himself powerless, he must implore the aid of the hypnotist in dissolving the spell.
Ordinary people are unable to escape from the triply delusive realm of maya, and their only hope for freedom is in beseeching the aid of the Cosmic Magician: God. (Chapter VII)
Be Detached — Be a Witness!
Unaffected by joy and sorrow, praise and blame—secure in his divine nature; regarding with an equal eye a clod of clay, a stone, and gold; the same in his attitude toward pleasant or unpleasant (men and experiences); firm-minded;
Uninfluenced by respect or insult; treating friend and enemy alike; abandoning all delusions of personal doership—he it is who has transcended the triple qualities!
—The Bhagavad Gita XIV:24-25
An ordinary mortal is continuously stirred by the triple qualities while witnessing the motion picture of life. But the calm yogi observes the scenes without the prejudices and agitations of mind that in the common man arise from feelings of love and hate, attraction and repulsion. The yogi, turning within to the imperturbable joy of his soul, is not emotionally involved with a mere picture.
Personal experience of the dualities does not affect inwardly the detached, desireless yogi, whether he receives pleasure or pain; or encounters agreeable or disagreeable persons and experiences; or is allotted acclaim or censure, honor or disgrace; or meets friend or foe; or gains a piece of land or a stone mansion or a mass of gold—all experiences that may occur in the motion picture of daily life. The yogi beholds all mundane scenes with undisturbed tranquility, knowing them to be only lights and shadows: changing vibrations of the Cosmic Beam and the "technicolored" triple cosmic delusive qualities. (Chapter XIV)
The true seer perceives his soul as the silent witness,
aloof from the body—the microcosm created by the cosmic vibratory force, Prakriti or Mother Nature. She alone is the performer of all physical and mental activities. The soul is actionless, the reflection of the transcendental, nonvibrational God the Father beyond creation.