The Richness of Relief

Can you imagine a time in your past when you were under some tremendous, long-term pressure? It could have been financial, relational, emotional, legal, spiritual, etc. It doesn’t matter. Haven’t we all faced situations that have caused us to suffer for weeks, months, or years?

Now can you remember your moment of relief when the pressure finally came off? You instantly believed in your heart and gut that you were truly free! Can you recall that feeling in your body? The peace in your stomach. The clarity of mind. The joy in your heart. The lightness of your shoulders. The air seems fresher and the trees greener.

Relief is an unmistakable and very memorable feeling.

I personally know no one who isn’t suffering in some way. Even the saints suffer – many times intentionally by taking on the burdens of their followers. Maharaj-ji reportedly sometimes ate twenty or thirty entire meals in an evening – voluntarily consuming the negative karma of His devotees.

For most of us, our own struggles are enough! We dare not take on the pain of others!

Maharaj-ji said, “I love suffering. It brings me so close to God. You get jnana (wisdom) from suffering. You are alone with God when you are sick; you call on God when you suffer.”

He’s right.

The reality we share is a school of suffering designed to draw us to the Divine. We all face the pain of duality – a down for every up.

When we’re suffering, it’s so tempting to chew on thoughts like “why me?” or “this isn’t fair!” or “this will never end.” Suppose you believe the law of attraction is valid, that each of us creates our reality with our intentions. In that case, you’ll agree that thoughts like “this will never end” only make the suffering seem longer. Self-pity and worry are worthless, draining emotions.

I recollect in my twenties, I had a lot of credit card debt and felt seriously upside down and emotionally burdened by the debt. Then suddenly, a surprising chain of events passed that caused me to come into a stack of cash which I used to pay off those obligations. I can go back and feel that moment like it was yesterday!

My late wife Lisa and I once adopted a baby. Lisa and I fostered a relationship with the birth mother for six months. The child was born on Lisa’s birthday, and the mother allowed Lisa to name him, to be in the delivery room when he was born, and take him home with us. After about a week of having the baby with us, the birth mother changed her mind and took him back.

Lisa walked around the house for three days crying in a way that sounded like a wounded animal. I’ve never seen a woman more emotionally distraught. She was devastated for weeks. A ball of unprocessed grief grew inside me during that trying period. I had no time or opportunity to grieve. I indeed couldn’t be crying! I had to be there for my wife.

I remember that seven or eight months later, after the incident, I was driving North on I-45 in Dallas when I completely, emotionally broke down. I pulled over on the side of the road and sobbed for thirty minutes. When I finished, there fell over me a tremendous feeling of solace. Finally – it was out, over, and done, and I knew it.

This type of relief is an unequivocal sensation. It usually creates a beautiful memory that’s easy to recall.

If you’re involved in some situation of suffering today and trying to imagine the solution – don’t.

Dream about how good it’s going to feel when it’s over. Feel it in your whole body. That unmistakable “aaahhhhhhhhhh…” when you know in your core the solution has arrived—the sigh of your soul.

It’s that juncture when a person can begin to forget the emotional mess. It’s done.

The teenage daughter is not pregnant. The lawsuit settled amicably. Soothed is the physical pain. You’re finally free of the abusive boss. Gone is the financial debt. An emotional vampire was put out of your life. The diagnosis is not cancer at all.

Even dying is a relief. Ram Dass’ uncle Emanuel said death was “perfectly safe…like taking off a tight shoe.

“Aaahhhhhhhhhh…..”

Worrying is using your mind against yourself.

The Sufi poets taught us, “This too shall pass.”

When you’re feeling stressed, isn’t it even more stressful to try and think up solutions? We find the best course forward when we have peace and clarity of mind.

Concerning your upcoming anxious thoughts…may I suggest you replace a few of them with some “Aaahhhhhhhhhh” imagining? Closing your eyes and transporting yourself to that moment afterward when everything is settled, and the forgetting has begun.

See if there isn’t a solution waiting for you there.

Blessings for you and your families,

Jai Jai Hanuman,

JC

P.S. For an easy “Aaahhhhhhhhhh” morning every day and exceptional God-wisdom, experience my friend Nikki Walton’s angelic voice and deva-darshan on her daily podcast – https://apple.co/3EXy2y5