Have you ever wondered how to stay calm in the midst of everything? Spiritual teachers talk a lot about serenity, about inner peace and about being joyful no matter what happens. But how do you get there? In this article I share a perspective that has proven true in my life.
M.B.A.: Mind, Body, Atma
My spiritual teacher Sathya Sai Baba used the term M.B.A., Mind, Body, Atma, with a wink, to remind us that mind, body and Atma form one unit. Atma is the Sanskrit word for what other traditions call the Soul or the Higher Self.
From this view we can also explain why we sometimes feel so restless: whenever you feel disconnected, have negative feelings or a spinning mind, you are at that moment not connected with your Higher Self. Your personality is thinking thoughts that are not in harmony with the broader perspective of your Higher Self, as Esther and Jerry Hicks also describe it in their books on the Law of Attraction. The negative feeling is not an enemy, then, but a signal: right now I am thinking smaller about myself and this situation than my deeper being does.
The qualities of your Higher Self
Your Higher Self is always at peace and happy. It is the highest wisdom in you, it sees the whole picture, and it wants the best for you and for everyone. In the Vedic scriptures the Atma is described as the eternal witness, the divine spark within you, unchanging and indestructible, without birth and without death.
Many traditions, Eastern and Western, say essentially the same thing: every human being carries a divine spark, and part of the human play is to forget this origin in order to experience the world all the more deeply. The longing for peace that you may know is precisely the memory of this connection. I describe how this inner level is wrapped in different layers, and how you can care for each of them, in my article on the five koshas.
In my experience, the most direct key to serenity and joy is to connect with your Higher Self. From the human perspective we never see the whole picture. But the divine spark in us does.
A small memory from my own life: when I was once in emotional upset, someone told me “God comes first”, and I could not understand it, caught in duality, “I” here, “God” there. The key came when I replaced the word: “God comes first” became “my inner peace comes first”, and suddenly the sentence made deep sense, especially in the middle of the upset. Perhaps peace simply begins with accepting that you are upset right now. And since we are all mirrors of each other, everyone around you benefits when you come to rest.
Ways towards inner peace
There are different approaches, depending on what is possible for you in a given moment:
- View things as the Source views them. From the perspective of the Source, everything is perfect. God is Love, so nothing in His creation can be other than love, including you.
- Talk to your Higher Self, which has so much more information than your personality. Ask questions like: What can I learn from this situation? Where is an opportunity for me to grow here? What would God do in my place?
- Surrender the situation and ask your Higher Self to think, feel and act through you. And remember: the Higher Self is part of you. Every attribute that describes the Atma also applies to you.
- Infuse your M.B.A. with love, as Sai Baba recommended in his discourses: care for your body, perform good deeds, think good thoughts, focus on good feelings and be your own watcher. This integration of mind, body and soul leads to the equanimity we are seeking.
Practices for connecting with your Higher Self
- Visualise the solution with strong positive feelings, knowing that you carry the divine spark within you and co-create your reality. If you do not know the solution yet, affirm with gratitude: “Thank you that I know the answer. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
- Sit in meditation for 20 minutes, pose your question to God, the Source or your Higher Self, ask for a solution and let go. Either insights come during the meditation, or they come later; sometimes life answers the question through a situation.
- Be the witness. You are Atma, the watcher. Watch the situation you feel unhappy about like an unconcerned witness. Yes, it is there, but you are unimpressed by it.
- Turn your attention completely away from what bothers you, and towards everything that makes you happy and brings you into the flow. The rest will adjust, because it has to match your vibration.
- Find the thought that feels better and follow it through. Negative feelings indicate the difference between the vibration of your personality and that of your always happy Higher Self. Positive feelings show you that you are thinking thoughts that are true for your Higher Self as well.
- Pray the prayer that Sir Isaac Tigrett always refers to, several times a day if you like: “Dear God, please think through me, please feel through me, please act through me, please breathe through me, and please love through me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
- Spend time with your Higher Self just for the joy of it. In your thoughts during the day, in meditation or in quiet moments alone. Simply go into your heart and feel the connection.
Deepening the connection
I also spoke about the role of the Higher Self in healing and development at the Sanjeevini Annual Conference, you can watch the video excerpt here. And you can read what it means that the same current flows in all beings in my article on spiritual oneness.
Perhaps, while reading, you also sense that old patterns, thoughts or feelings keep blocking your access to this inner calm. This is exactly what I work on in my sessions, so that the way to your Higher Self becomes clear again.
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