Mountains, Outer and Inner

We visited Ananda’s Seattle community last week, where a friend, knowing of my love of mountains, gave me this poem of Hafiz:

The beauty of the mountain is talked about most from a distance,
Not while one is scaling the summit with life at risk.
That is the time for silence, one-pointedness, reflection, and drawing upon all your skills
So you might return from the cloud’s domain and inspire others to breathe closer to God,
While still human, the way you did.

We all have our mountains to scale, though they are usually inner crags of our own creation, thrust upward by conscious choice or by the echo of past karma. When faced with a peak that seems too steep, we need to call for help. We need not shout, only whisper. But if we do not call, we will likely end in a fall. We can call in this way:

Ask of God or Guru these two questions:

“What should I do next?” This simple question will save you from many a plummet.

And then, once the course is set, “How should I proceed? Show me where next to place my feet and hands.”

The first and greatest challenge is simply to remember to ask: God does not mind our failures, only our indifference. The second challenge is to actually follow our inner guidance. A friend once lamented to Swami Kriyananda, “It is so hard to know what to do.” His classic reply was, “No it isn’t. You already know the answer. Your problem is doing what you know to be right.”

Determined action is needed. Swami Kriyananda told the story of a fellow monk who had been a famous mountain climber. One time, while making a first ascent in the Alps, this man arrived after a long and difficult climb at a ledge from which point the mountain curved up and out. Able neither to proceed nor to return, and facing near certain death, he decided that it was better to climb than to stay and starve. As he reached the point where he was upside down, he fell back onto the ledge. Again he tried. And again, and again. After numerous failures, he felt a force, as if a giant hand were holding him against the mountain. He was able to get past the overhang, and from there to reach the summit without further difficulty. The descent down the other side of the mountain was easy.

“Meditation on Mount Rainier,” by Nayaswami Jyotish

Once we have scaled our mountain, we will have a precious gift to share. To others who are struggling, we can be a guide along the route that leads ever upward. As Hafiz says, we can “return from the cloud’s domain and inspire others to breathe closer to God.”

In divine friendship,

Nayaswami Jyotish

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