The Rage in the Sage

Seems last month the California Assembly passed a resolution that the first week in March would be deemed “Cuss Free Week”. I heard about this little tidbit only after the fact. Damn! Had I known about this dirty little secret I may have considered curbing some of my more colorful curse clauses or at least bridled the blasphemy for a bit. But as it was I won’t be getting points for Mother of the Year again in 2010. Happens when your guru is Lewis Black.

And whereas a comedian can most often freely express their rage in the name of artistic license, those of us on the spiritual path often find ourselves limiting our ways and means to meet some lofty ideal of our enlightened Idol.  I remember when I first became the Director of Academic Computing straight out of college, I tried to adapt a very austere attire and professional manner.  Not too long after I started a faculty member who had been my mentor when I was an undergrad, took me aside and said, your humor and satire is one of the things that define you and quite frankly I miss it in your new administrative role.

My hard edge Zen sometimes still surprises people.  But as I have come to accept certain facets of my personality and as more of who I was has fallen away over the years since my illness took center stage, I am more at ease expressing the full monty of my qualities.  Anyone familiar with the humble means and noble mind of the great Master Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj knows that the face of the sage is not always that of a serene loving or even attractive individual.

While reading the famous work I AM THAT by this great Indian sage, I was touched by the simplicity of the message and moved by the nature of the man speaking.  Our idealistic portrayal of the master is one of gentle voice and slow movements of someone like Eckhart Tolle or even the great Ramana Marharshi of the same non-dual teachings, Nisargadatta’s wildly flailing arms and the sharp intonations might seem in contrast to the enlightened state.

But for Maharaj it was not about pushing away strong emotions or cultivating loving kindness it was allowing all to arise on the level of body/mind without getting hooked and carrying any of it — the good the bad or the ugly — out into the future.  No cuss week may have had as little meaning for Maharaj or Mr. Black.

From
I AM THAT
Dialogues of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Questioner: Can I change facts by changing attitude?

Maharaj: The attitude is the fact. Take anger. I may be furious, pacing the room up and down; at the same time I know what I am, a centre of wisdom and love, an atom of pure existence. All subsides and the mind merges into silence.