We have all seen the dancing waters of a river sometime or the other. There is a strange attraction towards them. They seem to have messages for us. Our life on this planet flows like a river too. That is how we can learn from the geographical river and enrich our lives beyond the limited vision projected by the ego. The dancing waters of the river are alive. During times of flood, the river water overflows the banks and inundates the neighboring areas. Water collects in depressions as pools and becomes delinked from the river as the flood recedes. In course of time, these pools may disappear but some may remain due to an impervious underground. They may also be fed by some occasional rain water. The fact that they are no longer in contact with the vibrant river leads to stagnation and the associated fouling due to several causes. Some scum may also form on them. The waters there seem to have forgotten their once vibrant nature while they were part of the river. In short, they seem to represent the lives of people who become depressed and let defeatist attitudes settle in them. Shall we call it the Pool Syndrome? The question is: How do we avoid getting into that unfortunate situation?
The waters on the river seem to be sedulously on their journey towards the goal – that of joining the ocean. The same way, people who understand their journey through many lives, towards understanding and ultimately merging with the Truth, remain in constant awareness of it. They understand that life on this planet serves as a learning platform and apply themselves to it with diligence. Thus, they do not use their life merely to chasing ego satisfaction and security. They keep the loftier purpose steadily in view. This is what prevents them from getting caught in stagnant pools caused by incessant self-centered activities. The ego wants to use everything to its end. Even when it praises the Lord, this attitude is in its background. It wants to use even God to its end! When the waking consciousness is governed by the habitual vortex of self-centered activity, it becomes the unfortunate causal factor in pushing people into the Pool Syndrome.
Applying ourselves to the study of reincarnation helps us understand our long journey through many incarnate and discarnate periods so that the ‘limited cocoon psychology’ does not entrench us in the heavily ego-based approach to life. Because it helps us see others on similar journeys, we become empathic towards them. The narrow-minded sectarian attitudes no longer figure in our psychology. The universal nature of NDEs also helps us free ourselves from the sectarian jingoism and bring about unqualified love towards all. They expand our perspectives beyond the one-life-only claustrophobia in time. The following paragraphs give some examples on the literature available regarding the above avenues of exploration.
Brian L. Weiss, MD, a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School, is Chairman Emeritus of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.
Brian is the author of several books related to our journey through many lives and the lofty purpose of our evolving through them towards the ultimate.
The book ‘In Quest of The Deeper Self’ by the author of the present article deals with several issues related to the esoteric perspectives on life. Its details are given in the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com