Einar Adalsteinsson – Iceland
What does unification of mind and action imply? Does it mean that we should be mindful in our actions - careful, cautious and thoughtful? Or does it imply spontaneity, action from the heart, action free from thought? Unification means that there is no distance, no separation, no afterthought, no preconception, no reaction, no resistance. How is it possible to act in such directness? It begins with insight, a moment of profound liberating understanding, bringing with it a fragrance of joyous feeling. You do not know how or whence it came. It may go, it may stay, it may melt slowly away, or it may take over your whole being in a profound state of equanimity, tranquility, harmony, silence and unity, an all-empowering oneness of All-Being.
The path to it is based on the law of unity, and to enter that path one has to perceive at least some fragrance of the universal experience of mystical consciousness. He who knows universal unity as a fact will never go astray, never leave the path. He knows that there is a universal meaning to all life, and he strives to tune the purpose of his own life to that one meaning. He knows the art of giving, and the art of receiving, which is the greatest of all gifts. He knows that forgiveness is not only a merciful deed, but a necessity for peace of mind and a peaceful world. He knows the real meaning of understanding, of pure insight, of unconditional universal love. He perceives the world as a stream of events, unified beyond time and space, and he knows himself as both a single drop as well as the wholeness of that universal stream. Behind that stream he can feel the living presence of All Being, the gentle but powerful, living presence of her invisible majesty. He takes upon himself the difficult and time-consuming task to make straight his life and relationships, putting right the myriads of entanglements, dependencies, conditionings, habits and subconscious relations. In the meditative quiet mind he discovers that will, which is the softest and quietest of all conscious states, but also the most powerful one. Slowly but surely there emerges something entirely new within, a flower of beauty, a tree of eternal life.
There is now a profound holiness in his life. The feeling of the Godhead never leaves his consciousness. Every day he awakes to its quiet, powerful silence. It becomes his light throughout the day, bringing with it the wisdom of absolute fullness and security. Being nothing he owns the whole world. He walks on, casting no shadows, leaving no footprints, a “light without a source.” This is a way of living a life in harmony. There is no way that we can unify our mind and actions without the mystic unification within, so let us not linger about trivial justifications of our mind and actions. Let us go directly into the sanctuary of the heart, to the mystical unification of universal mind and divine action.
The preceding item was given as a talk in Sweden at the 1995 European Congress of The Theosophical Society. The contributor was a former General Secretary of the TS in Iceland.
[This is a reprint from Insight, January/February 1999, with special thanks to Janet Kerschner]