Never Entertain Negativity: Part 1
Photo by Gayatri Malhotra
Saha nāv avatu
Saha nau bhunaktu
Saha vīryaṃ karav-āvaha
Tejasvi nāv adhītam astu
Mā vidviṣh-āvahai
Let us be together.
Let us eat together.
Let us be vital together.
Radiating Truth,
Radiating the Light of Life.
Never shall we denounce anyone;
Never entertain negativity.¹
— The Upanishads
It is our God-given ability to express harmony. In fact, harmony is commanded by all the great traditions. Here are just a few examples: Christianity says, “Love your enemies;” the Upanishads say, “Never entertain negativity;” and Judaism teaches that we must “shield (our) mind from negative thoughts at all times and in all places.” We can undoubtedly all do better in this regard.
God’s consciousness, the site of divine oneness, has been our true ‘dwelling place in all generations.” Our Christian readers will recognize this in I John: “God is love; and he who dwells in love, dwells in God…There is no fear in love…perfect love [the site of oneness] casts out [precludes the concept of] fear.”
The 91st Psalm describes this protection of divine Love as a “shield and buckler”. The mechanics are simple: one “who dwells in the secret place of the most High” thinks from the transcendent Source of thought which knows only Good. This is not mere positive thinking; it is divine thinking. It is divine Mind, pure thought, that knows only Itself.
This state of restful alertness knows no individual ego or personality, only divine individuality. The result is what Vedic sage Maharishi Mahesh Yogi describes as spontaneous right thought and action. Evil thoughts don’t ‘go’ somewhere; they simply cannot arise because there is no mind apart from divine Mind to think them.
Limited awareness gives rise to malpractice of speech and action. This is deadly. The Talmud says “evil talk kills three people: the speaker, the listener, and the one who is spoken of.” The Qu’ran also prohibits “fitne” which is evil speech.
In summary, advice from the ages in ancient Sanskrit Satyam bruyat priyam bruyat reminds us to “speak the sweet truth.”²
Waves of the Ocean
[1] The Global Country of World Peace Celebrates Guru Purnima, 7 July 2009, Highlights • https://press-conference.globalgoodnews.com/archive/july/09.07.07.html • 05.08.2022
[2] Premashakt, Maharishi Vedic Science Blog, September 4, 2014
https://maharishivedicscience.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/consider-the-sanskrit-expression-satyam-bruyat-priyam-bruyat-speak-the-sweet-truth-how-do-you-reconcile-the-need-to-be-truthful-with-the-need-to-speak-sweetly-think-of-an-example-from-your-life/ • 06.19.2022
Negativity: Part II includes edited excerpts
from Never Entertain Negativity featured in
From The President’s Study
High Holy Days Newsletter 5763
Congregation Beth Shalom, Fairfield, Iowa, September 2002
© Copyright 2002 Joy Hirshberg
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