The Sun is Listening

Yogananda said that the outer Sun is the reflection of our inner Sun, the spiritual eye. While most of us undermine the importance of the sun in our daily lives, read about the inspiring relationship that Rashmi has cultivated with the “Brother Sun” – it will make the Sun come alive for you, as your Divine friend.

What I’m going to share here is a very personal very blessed experience and a realisation of the truth that everything around us is conscious.

One day, during the latest Coronavirus upsurge, I developed some symptoms that led me to suspect I was infected with the virus. I decided to self-isolate for a fortnight. The weather was moderate and staying indoors confined to my room was a compulsion that I practically enjoyed. It gave me time for my many hobbies of reading, writing, and other solo activities. It also gave me all the privacy I needed, with no moral responsibility for the chores involved in running the household.

So it was actually a vacation for me, right at home.

However, I have always been a very staunch Sun-lover, and after I’d been confined for about 8 days, I felt the need to see the Sun. Since I had no symptoms by now, I had a quick bath, took out and cleaned my copper pot, filled it with water, and full of enthusiasm, I went to the main gate of the house for going up to the terrace, where I could offer water to the sun, be in the sunshine for a while, and have a look at the sky.

What was my grief when, in a loud voice, the head of the family said unequivocally that I could not use the stairs because my breath could still be infectious. At first, I felt rebellious but then, as we all know by now, our attachments are what bind us and put us in chains. Out of consideration for his seniority, and out of understanding for the concerns of the family, I retraced my steps. I was deeply unhappy. I felt as though I had been forsaken by God.

This new house to which we had shifted recently, did not have the sun streaming into my window as I had been used to for forty years. It was always the Sun that woke me up, shining through the window directly on my bed, into my eyes. I quite loved starting my day that way.
Here I was, separated so ruthlessly from my morning friend. I felt depressed, sad, as though I had been put under a curse.

In the deep recesses of my heart, I spoke to the Sun, expressing my profound sorrow at being unable to see Him.

No, it is not a mistake to say “Him”, because for me the Sun is a living friend.

The next morning, I woke up somewhat earlier than usual and made my morning trip to the bathroom.

Amazed, I looked at a patch of sunlight streaming right into the bathroom through the window, which had been left open. I turned around and looked directly at the rising Sun.

How can I convey what I felt? An immense joy flooded my being. It was as though the Sun was talking to me, saying “Here I am. You wanted to see me I know.  I’ll be here at this time always. You can meet me every day”. I was totally overcome with a feeling of having been blessed. It was like a blessing from God as the Sun, a loving answer to my longing for its warm touch.

From that day on, I would get up exactly before the Sun came into my bathroom window. I would have a quick bath, then offer water to the Sun right away – not once but again and again, as though I was quenching some deep thirst within me, for a sight of my beloved Sun, for seeing its rays sparkling through the stream of falling water.

It was such a loving relationship. There is no doubt about that. I loved the Sun and the Sun loved me back, shining in its inimitable glory, blinding me with its effulgence, and I was happy to be so blinded.

On some days, there would be clouds in the sky, but if I went to another window and looked up to the Sun it would invariably shine through, if only for a few seconds.

Some days, if I was very tired, and felt I couldn’t wake up early, I would wake up in the morning and find the Sun had been covered by the clouds. It would come out late, as though to comfort me saying, “You haven’t missed anything”; or as though to make me easy at heart, reassuring me that I could afford to sleep till late when tired.

For two months we had this daily rendezvous, till the monsoons came. By then, my pain of separation had been assuaged, and I was happy to let the Sun hide behind clouds sometimes.

Even during the monsoon though, if I went out and looked at the sky, the Sun would shine through, as though smiling and answering my greeting, responding to my need to see Him. I too feel like saying “Brother Sun”. He is so loving

What do you think?

I say, with full conviction, as one who has experienced it, that the Sun listens, and the Sun responds with love if you approach it lovingly.

Interestingly, in his book, THE HOLY SCIENCE, Swami Sriyukteswar has outlined the close connection between the general awareness of mankind and the Orbital distance of our Sun from the “Grand Centre” of our Galaxy. To my mind, this connection to human consciousness is possible only because, just as the Sun is the source of all energy and light on our planet, it is also for us a channel and a source of Consciousness.

Does that mean our consciousness as we experience it, is only a manifestation of the Cosmic Consciousness? Can we increase the quality of our consciousness by tuning into the Sun? By connecting with it more and more? Is that why we are taught to connect to our inner sun at the Spiritual eye?

You might like to find out for yourself!