If the weather forecast is for rain, it would be sensible to leave the house with an umbrella or a raincoat. If the forecast is stormy, then we can adjust our plans accordingly. On the other hand, if we have a warning of a typhoon, tornado, or hurricane, then serious preparation is needed. When the mind is in turmoil, it feels as though it is spinning out of control; with thoughts racing that initiate violent emotions that seem frightening, and all-consuming. We need to be able to predict what kind of emotional weather may be on the horizon, and make our preparations. Ideally, we need to find a way to stay in the safest place, in the eye of the storm.
Spirituality is all about learning how to think, especially for the times when circumstances become difficult to navigate. In those times, the mind can get caught up in anger, fear, doubt, anxiety, exhaustion, and it is then that we can leave devastation in our wake, just as a hurricane does. The wrong word, the wrong look, can instigate a huge fight or misunderstanding that can bring about the end of a relationship, or the loss of a position, or pain that lasts for years. It is spirituality that teaches us how to navigate through intense situations, and keeps us safe in the eye of the storm.
The first thing to recognise is that what is happening is not really the problem. The storm is raging inside. No matter what is happening, there is always a choice. I can spin and suffer or I can regain equilibrium by mentally re-centring the self. There is nothing that happens that is too strong or powerful to overcome the strength of the spirit. We are human beings, and that means we are beings, spirits; a soul living in a human body, to experience and express the self, through the senses. There are two forces working together.
The soul, and the being. The soul only suffers when it is out of balance and dominated by the human energy. When we burn in anger, suffocate with ego or greed, drown in attachment, or are buried in lust or desire, then we are in the full force of the storm. These are the five major weaknesses of the soul. They are the main ingredients of all the other emotions that can cause tempests of one kind or another; jealousy, fear, worry, anxiety, hatred, impatience, intolerance, are all combinations, in different ratios, of the five main defects in the soul. Each soul will have a different mix, and different storms.
However, the soul only requires three essential ingredients – peace, love, and happiness. From the emptiness of anger we can find peace, from attachment we can be lovingly detached, from greed find contentment, from ego we can have true self-respect, and from lust we can move to being the master of the sense organs. How do we do that? With the deep awareness that we are souls, sparks of consciousness, incarnated in the body. This human form will disintegrate one day but I, the soul, am eternal and never die.
Being in the eye of the storm is reconnecting with this true inner self. The most beautiful pages of the stories of our lives are those when we are in the eye of the storm.
It is through spending time contemplating the true inner being, in meditation, that we learn how to move into the eye of the storm. We learn to stop leaving a trail of devastation behind us and leave scenes of beauty, love, and compassion. Any impending storm then becomes something we no longer fear, as we have all the power we need to stay in the eye of the storm until it has passed.
Eric Le Reste was a producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for more than 35 years. He coordinates the activities of the Brahma Kumaris centres in Canada, and is based in Montreal.