These words by Swamiji about how we’re all channels are well worth deep reflection.
“Everything around you is a channel
for something greater than itself.
Have you ever thought of that?
The flowers are channels of beauty.
The trees channel calmness and strength.
The earth is a channel for life.
Yes, you, too, are a channel. —
But what is it you channel?
Is it moods?
unhappiness?
anger?
Or is it gladness?
kindness?
a laughing heart?
The world has so many gifts to share with you.
For God is like a Mother,
who loves all Her children,
And wants to see them happy and well.
But if you won’t look for Her, trustingly;
And if, when you see Her beauty in the rose,
you turn away —
You mustn’t wonder if Her channels wither, and close —
And if the flowers stop blooming,
and the trees hang drooping in the sun.
Worse still, you may find, if you turn away,
That your own heart begins to grow smaller,
And — in a world so full of miracles —
That you feel all alone, and afraid.
— Swami Kriyananda (from the introduction to Winging on the Wind: Songs and Poems)
