This is Chuck’s regular Notes video and it features the work of Vivekananda and LIVING AT THE SOURCE.
“Hi this is Chuck and this is Notes From the Masters Class. This week I’ve been reading the works of Vivekananda, in a book called Living at the Source. He died at age 43. He was in this country twice and that was in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He created a firestorm of thought and change everywhere he went.
And here’s something that just sticks to me so easily: ‘When man has seen himself as one with the Infinite Being of the Universe, when all separateness has ceased, when all men and women, all gods and angels, all animals and plants and the whole universe has melted into that oneness, then all fear disappears’.
I’ve had several experiences in my life where I have learned, actually very pleasantly, that as I began to understand that we are all connected to each other. Regardless of whether you are animals, plants, or people. I have learned that, and I am learning it in little tiny pieces. But what I discover is, that when I let that happen, there is no fear. There is no fear.
One of the things that is important to me is, I have also learned that when I make any decision based on fear, it’s always the wrong decision. Always. Because fear is anticipating something that isn’t real. Now that does not say you throw caution to the wind, or you don’t be concerned about what is going on, but the response is not fear. Fear is a way for us to withdraw ourselves from the situation, withdraw ourselves from other people, and to avoid conflict. And yet as Vivekananda goes on to say, it is conflict that makes all the difference. It creates the movement that we need to go from one level to the next level. Fear makes us run away and hold ourselves apart. And this is what Vivekananda said about that. ‘I am thoroughly convinced that no individual or nation can live by holding itself apart from the community of others. And when ever such an attempt has been made under the false ideas of greatness, policy, or holiness, the result has always been disaster to the secluding one.’
What I take away from this is that we have been living in this country for the last 12 years under fear. Somehow or another we have let it be created for us. We have let it be created in ways that have really released our rights. We have released our sense of power in changing things. And most importantly, we have become afraid of each other. And it is not working. It is disastrous.
Imagine the situation that we are in politically right now. People cannot even talk to each other. Because they are afraid, because they think something is going to happen to them that they don’t want. We are all one. Our founding fathers were not stupid when they said ‘E pluribus unum’, one from many. So, not only is that a good political idea, but spiritually it is the truth. We are one with the universe. We are one with each other. And we are one with God. Think about that for a while. Next week we will deal with something else. Take care.”
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