Sermon to the Fishes
Michael Turner
- © 2009 by Michael Turner
(The following is based upon the transcript of a satsang I gave
following a reading of the chapter, “Sermon to the Fishes” in Paul
Twitchell’s “Stranger by the River.”)
When I first began studying the Light and Sound teachings about a
quarter century ago, this was one of the first stories I read. I was
thumbing through “Stranger by the River” and I liked the name of the
chapter, “Sermon to the Fishes.” It was very simple. It had a
Christlike flavor to it, perhaps in part because of Paulji’s use of
the word “sermon.” There was something about the grace of God
communicating itself and touching the tiniest of creatures, not being
confined merely to great dialogues and discussions between wise
people, great intellects of breeding and devotion. It showed that
God’s love touches everything.
And so, using Rebazar Tarzs as a protagonist, Paul takes it to the
riverbank, where even the fish pause from eating (even though there’s
fresh food before them) and turn toward the Master to receive a bit of
God’s love and God's Word through the Masters outer words. It’s a
very, very special moment, knowing that love is everywhere. Just as
God’s love is everywhere, so too should ours be.
The theme of this chapter is “Ways of loving God, and of demonstrating
your love for God.” Paul addresses different points illustrating
this, starting with loving your neighbors and being good, not robbing
each other, being kind to each other. Now, one could say, “Well, he’s
telling us that the way to Heaven is through good works, through being
nice people.” In a sense this is true, but the point of it is that we
should not get hung up on trying to find the right way of
demonstrating our love for God and our capacity to be human
instruments of God’s love.
There is not necessarily any “right” way, or “higher” way than others
to show it. The reason I say this is because some people believe that
some activities of kindness or charity are innately spiritual, or more
spiritual. So they try to do the “good” charitable works (such as
working in a soup kitchen or a hospice, door-to-door evangelical work,
things that are specifically geared around the church) because they
seem to have more brownie points to them. And while all of these good
deeds (along with a host of others) are extremely positive, there is
frequently a sub text that, if we accumulate enough spiritual brownie
points, we will definitely get to Heaven and God will like us.
What Paulji says instead is that there are myriad ways to show our
love for God. One of the simplest ways is to simply be kind to each
other, on all levels. Be kind to our co-workers. Open the door for
someone. Say “hi” to someone and smile. If you get to the doorway at
the same time and they have an armful of stuff, step back and say,
“After you.” Just demonstrate some kindness. Because when we show
kindness to one another, in whatever form we do it, when there is love
in our hearts, it radiates through. Without saying a word about the
path, or a word about religion or spirituality, we simply convey the
essence, which is love and mercy. In doing this, people will smile.
Their eyes will light up.
Now I will caution you, don’t start trying to make people smile in
order to feel pumped up like, “Okay. I’m being ‘spiritual’ now.” It
can’t be a goal thing. It can’t be something like, “Well if I do
this, I’m a more spiritual person.” That’s one of the reasons Kirpal
Singh gave us the self-introspection diary. One of the frames in the
diary is for egotism, or spiritual vanity, the most insidious of the
vices. This is because you can lead an otherwise noble life, a good
life, a proper life. But then you start thinking you’re “spiritual,”
and this little sub text of vanity creeps in, so subtly you barely
even notice it. It can be in the form of piety or any number of
things. That’s why Kirpal gave us this particular box in the diary to
check off each day, noting how many times we’ve had vain thoughts,
words or actions. It keeps us aware of when it happens.
The kindness factor is extremely important. There's a line in The
Bible where Christ says, “What you do to the least of my creatures,
you do to me.” There’s great truth in that statement. It is
important that we follow a policy of kindness. The Dalai Lama talks
about it. It is important to be kind to other human beings in
general, and it's even more important to be kind to brother and sister
satsangis. This is something we can do to practice spiritual
focusing.
It’s not always easy (like when we get caught in traffic) to be
spiritual all the time. But one way we can practice spiritual
attention is by showing charity and kindness to each other. We can be
kind to other chelas in class for instance, and knowing that it is a
very powerful thing, to be kind to each other, to be honorable to each
other, to not hurt each other’s feelings. This lifts us up.
Sawan and Kirpal Singh used to say that while truth is very important,
kindness is also very important. Sometimes we need to put kindness
before truth. We need to use kindness as a guiding light in
communicating things with each other, so we don’t hurt each other’s
feelings. It is very tempting in day-to-day life to get into
situations where we feel that justice is important, not so much
getting even but just showing that we’re right, in defending our space
or a variety of things.
Sometimes this is important, to make a stand, to stand up for
something you believe in. But there are many times when it’s better
to open a window and let the breeze blow through. Every time you
stand up for something, there is an implication that you’re opposing
something, and right there you develop the dialectic. You get into
the thesis/antithesis trap. Whenever that happens, you are
automatically playing the duality game, you are automatically creating
karma. This is an easy thing to do.
I know in my life I’ve had many occasions – at work, for example –
where there will be somebody, usually an authority figure, who will
just try to put their thumb on me. It’s happened over the years in a
variety of jobs. It’s the same lesson from different people and
different faces. And ninety-nine times out of a hundred, I’d bend over
and over saying, “It’s okay. I’m not going to say anything negative.
You’re my boss.” And the one time I would finally decide to speak up
and make a stand, it would be the one time when that person was
actually right. They could be wrong a thousand times, but the one
time I decided to say, “Hold on there, Bubalouie!” that would be the
one time they’d be right and I would get in trouble (and usually get
an anger hangover as part of the bargain).
It’s an interesting thing about the human condition, trying to find
that balance, trying to find a common sense, practical approach to
spirituality, and knowing that the key is simply to immerse ourselves
in the LightSong of love, in the Light and Sound of God, the Name. In
being in tune with that, that is our guiding point of focus, our
compass for our human actions.
I’ve been talking about the macrocosm lately because of some of the
dynamics in Washington; I won’t get too specific. But it’s really
interesting seeing all of these opposing forces and all of this anger
butting heads right now. Some people are feeling wounded and some are
feeling sanctimonious. But one thing I find is that, no matter who
wins in any particular dialectical battle, they will lose at some
point. The first will be last, and the last shall be first. So it’s
very important, politically, as an expression of spirituality, not to
get pumped up over victories or too depressed over what we perceive to
be losses. Everybody is human. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody
has good points too.
I’ve found myself learning over and over again the basic lesson that,
if you are really dedicated to God you cannot get attached to any one
belief system for any substantial length of time. You may come back
to it as a matter of preference and choice. But if you’re really
attached to it, if you really believe that, “Ah! This is the
way.” (especially in socio-cultural matters, in political matters) you
will be shown its diametrical opposite. You will be shown the logic
behind it and the reason people feel very strongly about it.
If you’re into the mainstream culture, you’ll be shown the
counterculture. If you’re into the counterculture, you’ll be shown
the culture. If you’re a Republican, you’ll be shown the rational for
Democratic policies; if you’re a Democrat, you’ll learn why
Republicans feel the way they feel.
All of these things are all thought forms. They are all facets on the
diamond. And there is no one facet that is intrinsically better or
worse than any other one. There are people who are pro-choice who
feel very passionately; and there are people who call themselves “pro-
life” who are very passionate about their cause as well. They like to
butt heads too; and so long as no-one gets hurt, it’s great to have an
exchange of ideas.
We seem to really have a talent for finding something or someone
outside ourselves to define us, and we frequently define ourselves by
that which we oppose. Somehow, it gives our life a sense of meaning,
by defining our existence in who our opponents are. It can also give
us a sense of superiority and specialness sometimes.
The fact is, we are all brothers and sisters. We are all children of
God. We all grew up in different families and different cultures,
different upbringings, different imprintings, different ways of
perceiving the world. But we are all brothers and sisters as soul in
the LightSong of Naam. One of the great exercises we can do in life
in learning to love God and show God that we love It and express it,
is whenever someone pushes our buttons, before reacting in a
habitually negative manner, take the time to internally say, “Wait a
second. You have your perspective. There’s a reason for this. You
probably have a really good rationale for it. I may disagree with it;
but I’m willing to take time to listen.”
One case in point is, during the Clinton impeachment matter, there was
a fellow at work who was in the marines during Viet Nam, and he was in
or around Chicago around the 1968 Democratic convention. He was one
of those people who thought the police did a good thing, because he
didn’t like being told he was a bad person for it fighting for his
country. And because he believed President Clinton was in cahoots
with the left wing demonstraters, he was very elated that the
president is getting in trouble right now and might possibly be
impeached. Having grown up on the other side of the political fence
(my father was a staunch Democrat, gave sermons supporting the civil
rights movement, and opposed the Viet Nam war), the intensity of his
perspective made things interesting for me. So I said, “Why are you
so joyful about this?” What it boiled down to was that he was very
deeply offended by what happened in Chicago in 1968, and it hit this
core thing for him that was very painful and
which he’s nursed for thirty years now. I looked in his eyes and
there was real pain and passion, real caring there. So I told him I
disagreed with him about the impeachment matter, but I respected the
strength of his feelings about this.
The reason I bring this up is that there’s a lot of energy being put
toward having some sort of transformation, or some sort of
celebration, moving toward a higher consciousness as we move into the
new millennium. And this is a question I’ve been wrestling with for a
few years regarding what exactly constitutes a “New Age?” The term is
used a lot, as are “Golden Age” and “Aquarian Age.”
Some people believe that the good people, the smart people are going
to chant the right thing, and vibrate themselves to a lighter
frequency of being. Well, that’s all well and good, except that even
if this happens, they will just vibrate themselves into some sub-
astral plane which is still subject to age, death, karma and
dissolution. So accelerating our bodies to a higher vibration level
and “ascending to the next dimension” is really no success. You’re
just moving to a nicer city, but you’re still working within space and
time. So that’s not really a viable option.
Others think there will be “earth changes” in the near future which
will decimate major parts of the planet, radically reducing the
earth’s population and leaving those chosen people who inhabit the
cosmic vortexes – some say in immortalized bodies – here to repopulate
a new Edenic paradise. But that’s highly unlikely too (plus who would
want to be stuck in a physical body for a million years? Far too
confining.). Most likely this beautiful polanet is going to keep
spinning around like it always has. 2012 will come and go. 2100 will
come and go, and people will still be working at boring jobs, figuring
out relationships and generally trying to make sense of their lives,
gradually growing and unfolding until they are ready for Holy Naam
initiation. We’ve been doing it for thousands of years, and we’ll
probably keep doing it thousands of years more.
So to me, the question is, “What, on a practical, doable level
constitutes this kind of idyllic reality?” And the answer is, on a
very basic level, being nicer to each other. If you look at the
essential public teachings of all the great saints, all the great
masters, gurus and messiahs, avatars, wise men and wise women, the
essence of the teaching always comes back to “Be Nice.” They say,
“Just be nice to each other, Don’t hurt each other. Be kind; be
loving; think before you speak; love before you think. If you act out
of love, if you unite your attention with love and become a living,
breathing instrument for Its expression, you will automatically be in
a kinder mode, in a gentler mode, and more harmonious.” That harmony
will translate to your speech, your thoughts and your actions.
People will pick up on it. You don’t have to say a word about God or
spirituality at all. You don’t even have to mention it once. All you
have to do is smile.
We should remember to do like our mothers taught us. Say “please” and
“thank you.” Try to remember to say grace before meals, you know?
Little things. By simply doing this, the Love of the Divine radiates
through us and touches people. Then they start smiling, and
everybody’s a little bit happier.
That is really what the essence of this chapter, “Sermon to the
Fishes” is all about. If we show love to each other, if we show
kindness to each other, if we make our day-to-day lives in whatever we
do an act of devotion, that will do immeasurable good to our spiritual
growth and being helpful in lifting others up in the process.
Thank you . . . with love
Michael.
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