BOOOO, BOOOO: WHAT HAUNTS YOU?

On Hollowe’en, children play at being ghosts, pirates, witches, ghouls, clowns to play out all kinds of fearful to ridiculous aspects of the human psyche.

Some adults love to dress up too on that occasion, most often than not, expressing repressed aspects of themselves in some way or other to experience them and laugh at them. Others won’t even consider wearing a costume, so tight in their repression, fear or disdain. The dynamic of Hollowe’en is great to reveal aspects of what haunts us, what we judge, what we fear.

So what is it that haunts you? What nags you? Is it your greed, your guilt, your vanity, your anger, your jealousy, your arrogance, your fear of aging, of death, of power, of innocence and beauty? And we typically have quite a collection. Those keep you small and prevent you from sleeping at night and even making you sick. Sometimes they are just an annoying presence, while at others we feed those ghosts as though re-assuring presences despite their destructiveness.

Residents of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa were recently shocked by the killing of soldiers and the attack in the Parliament building. What was haunting the perpetrators? What is haunting those who manipulated and financed the killers?

It seems that the forces of darkness and evil are creating more and more pain and destruction in the world. Yoda, the famous wise character in the movie Star Wars, says: “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” The forces of darkness are very good at creating pain and suffering. Could it be because they are more and more fearful themselves?

At the same time, it seems to me that the number of saintly individuals is also increasing to lead us in the other direction. They say things such as:

• “Never seek to exult over others' faults; deal sympathetically with the errors and mistakes of others. Seek the good in others; hear only good tidings about them; do not give ear to scandal.” - Sai Baba
• “The whole evolution of man is from being somebody to being nobody, and from being nobody to being everybody.” - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
• "Do not be fooled by your emotions and reactions. Use them as signposts for the new choices you must take." -Sai Maa

The teaching that challenges me most is “Accept everything. You are everybody and everybody is you. Accept them all without judgement, without trying to change them. Just be aware they are there. Love and be grateful for everything as everything is you.”

That haunts me. So I took the challenge last night, imagining the killer of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo as a part of me. Saints may laugh at my surprise, but this provided a lot of insight. Emotions vanished, leaving a space of neutral, a sense of peacefulness and understanding. It seems to me that as more and more of us are chose that approach-- sending love, light and understanding to the parts that haunt us—our power to dissolve the ghosts that inhabit us will prevail, making us all beautiful beings of light and love.

Amma, known as the Hugging Saint, says: "Try to make others happy, and don't despair over all the evil in the world. Instead of cursing the dark, let us each light one small lamp."

Hum… what should I wear on Hollowe'en? What about you?

Should you wish assistance to face some of your ghosts straight in the eyes, ask Samyukta for a private consultation. A freeing experience!