In reference to the well-known aphorism “Nobel is the end of the world”, in my youth I occasionally heard the exclamation: “Cheerfully the world is going to end” and in a tone of voice that resonated a certain happiness about the incident or event.
In sentences such as the one mentioned above or also: …, ” this ensured general cheerfulness”, there is often a state associated with foolishness, naivety or ignorance. Children or even adults who have retained a “childlike disposition” are sometimes regarded in this way.
We generally understand cheerfulness as a relaxed mood. In Middle High German, cheerfulness also means clarity in terms of serenity.
It is a state of the soul which follows a path. Depending on where it is on this path, what can be described as serenity changes.
Meister Eckhart characterizes the soul’s path of experience with the words:
When the soul wants to experience something, it throws out an image and then steps into it.
When does it achieve clarity? Clarity is characterized by transparency in which something becomes transparent, clear, and loses the applied colors. It is possible to be in a serene mood when there is clarity. When we observe ourselves, however, we notice that we are filled with manifold “colors”, such as personal opinions, emotions, inclinations, characteristics, peculiarities, prejudices, etc., which, like clouds, color and obscure a clear, neutral view of what is happening inside and outside of us. Recognizing this is already a step towards self-knowledge.
We usually gain insight into something by sufficiently recognizing and understanding characteristics, connections and relationships. It is therefore the result of a combination of perception and reflection.
For this cognitive process, we learn logical-linear, analytical, and rational thinking at school. This is how we usually try to solve our everyday problems in the world. In doing so, we remain in a dual perspective that, roughly speaking, divides things into good and evil, right and wrong. Serenity rarely accompanies this way of striving for clarity because real clarity does not occur in this way. Serenity then depends on individual occasions that are perceived as amusing. It is only an emotional reaction.
Being detached
It becomes different when we begin to stand “above things”. Insight then arises in a new way. It deepens to the extent that we achieve a certain detachment from our personal opinions, emotions, inclinations, characteristics, peculiarities and also from the problems of the world.
Such a state is also described in the Bhagavad Gita as equanimity, a serene, calm state of mind, free from inclinations and aversions, from impulses of being attracted and repelled. To be in this state of mind is to dwell in the divine.
This seems unimaginable for us today. Whereas in the second half of the 20th century the focus was increasingly on objective, rational, scientific thinking, which regarded feelings as rather disturbing because they were subjective. Today, emotions are once again favored as the pendulum swings to the other side. Whether through stirring images, questionable news or sensationalism, the main thing is that strong emotions are evoked. Today, there is the term “angry citizen”. The constant indignation and outrage keep people trapped in duality and have little to do with equanimity experienced as a serene, calm state of mind.
In contrast, the equanimity that the Bhagavad Gita refers to is the spiritual attitude of a higher consciousness that observes everything in the world and accepts everything as valid in the sense of “letting it be”, which does not mean that such a person would not act. Equanimity from this perspective is related to the love that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It is long-suffering and kind, endures, believes and tolerates everything. All these characteristics of love arise out of a desire for complete understanding and insight into the reason, the plan, on which everything is based.
Bridge consciousness
Only those who are prepared to turn their thoughts away from all earthly pleasures, who, moreover, long for liberation, can seek the spiritual. Only when one has run himself to death in the maze of existence and has had his fill of experiences that are offered to him in the most varied ways within Maya does the seed of longing for liberation germinate in him. It seems impossible for a personality to decide to take such a radical path without a deep longing for liberation, for redemption. Thinking further, equanimity can, therefore, only be lived or, better still, practiced for a lifetime if a person strives for union with God. And as long as faith and trust are present, serenity can arise with which one actively accepts and takes on his or her fate. After letting go of the identification with the fundamental illusion that operates on this level of consciousness, a bridge consciousness can develop. An intermediate space is created into which a new breath, the breath of God, can intervene. This breath effects a transformation or metamorphism of the entire system of the person and forms a new body in him.
And just as the education of the child is based on effort, devotion and faith in its abilities, these same qualities are also connected with the development of a higher body, the higher mind or higher manas, through which the SPIRIT and with it the divine qualities can reveal themselves.
This revelation only happens by means of the intimate mind , which subordinates itself to the higher faculty of thought out of clear insight and free will. Thus, the personality has a key position, for it must constantly decide whether to direct its heart and its purposes downwards into the purely material or upwards into the spiritual sphere. This opening upwards opens the thinking space for the new, non-dual way of seeing oneself, which can appear in a flash before the spiritual horizon. You cannot learn it. It is a gift received through grace, for which we must also actively open ourselves.
Enlightenment
As a result of such a continuous focus on the SPIRIT, the entire natural system can be elevated and even liberated. Detached and liberated from attachment, we are clothed with new and, from an ordinary state of consciousness, seemingly divine qualities: infinite patience, compassion for everyone and everything, unconditional love, joy, spiritual peace, bliss and wisdom that surpasses all understanding, as the Bible says. From such a mindset of complete and clear insight into the SPIRITUAL plan that underlies all events, serenity arises in the face of the vicissitudes of life. We can then understand this as the serene, calm state of mind of a being born anew in the Divine Spirit. The old world has perished in the joy of renewal. In the ashes of the old being, the phoenix – the bird of fire – laughs with outstretched wings – – – –
LOOK, WHAT A HUMAN BEING!
[3] Bhagavadgita, chapter 2 verse 49
