How to Develop Clarity in a Time of Confusion 

We are living in times of great confusion. Bombarded with conflicting information, all presented as truth, when often it is merely an opinion or a speculation based on confused facts. It is like a scene from a comedy movie I saw some years ago in which Robin Hood sees his companion Blinking, who was blind, taking his turn as the guard at the watch tower:

“Blinking, what are you doing up there?!”

“Guessing?” came the reply “I guess no one’s coming.”

“Muddy thoughts and feelings produce chaos, both inwardly and outwardly.” Swami Kriyananda said. Doesn’t that sound like an accurate description of the world today?

Often, we dive right in with our rational mind, trying to “figure out” what the truth is, trying to find the right solution to the problem based on a sea of conflicting facts.

To find the truth, to find clarity we cannot rely on “figuring it out”. We have to “figure it in”. It is our level of consciousness that has to change if we want to develop clarity and live with clarity. Relying on the rational mind is tricky business at best. Apart from being limited to our past experience and the facts we already know, it is forever uncertain, insecure and almost hopelessly vacillating. “Maybe I should leave that job for this one. It certainly doesn’t satisfy me. Well, on the other hand, it is very convenient and close, and it doesn’t pay badly either.” and so it goes on.

Clarity comes from conscious attunement with Superconsciousness. Contact with it gives us the ability to see things clearly, in relation to each other and to God, looking at life as if from above.
Swami defined clarity in this way:

“Crystal clarity means to see oneself, and all things, as aspects of a greater reality; to seek to enter into conscious attunement with that reality; and to see all things as channels for the expression of that reality.”

Knowing who we are, what we are here for, and how to respond to the new challenges that life presents to us as we go toward a time of great change and expansion is becoming increasingly important.

What we need are new solutions to new problems; ways of applying attunement to Superconsciousness to our day-to-day realities in a practical way. Solutions to the challenges of today.

Here are some suggestions that can help you do that:

• Go to the Source – We all know how important it is to have the right source of information. Instead of choosing a source, choose the Source: develop a direct contact with God in meditation and make that your base for making decisions in your life. If you already have a spiritual practice, look for ways to deepen it: Is there a way to make it deeper? Can you meditate longer? Can it become more of a priority in your life? If yes, find a way to apply it.
• Ask for guidance – Yogananda gave a technique you can use to ask for intuitive guidance in which you hold a question up to calm presence in the spiritual eye and then feel for the answer in the heart chakra. Use it! Every day! At the end of meditation, ask for guidance on something you are not clear on or do not know how to respond. Use it also during the day when the opportunity comes.
• Practice when easy – Do not wait for a particularly challenging moment to ask for guidance and clarity. The more you develop a habit of asking for guidance, the more the Superconsciouss will flow naturally into your life and the easier it will be to feel it in moments of great need.
• Ask the right question – Defining the problem clearly is half the solution. Often, we get confused because we keep asking the wrong question.  What do I feel God wants me to do? Will doing this help me go in that direction? How will this decision influence what I am really here for? Will it help me grow, expand, serve others do my duty? Asking the right question will change our perspective and the answer will come.
• Have clear priorities – We are less likely to become confused if we keep our priorities clear. If your priority is your job, you act in a certain way, if it is your family, in another, if it is inner peace yet another. The way you respond to a situation might be the same, but you will more easily have clarity on why and also how to respond.
• Keep yourself open to Superconsciousness – Intuitive guidance doesn’t always come in meditation. Try to have moments in which you contact that center of divine calmness during the day, in your daily activities, even if for a few seconds or minutes at a time. That way you remain receptive to see if your inner guidance is confirmed by objective reality or if it was immagination.
• Calm the feelings of your heart – Swami Kriyananda expressed it perfectly: “Clarity cannot be achieved so long as the emotions are disturbed. To achieve calmness, it is insufficient merely to think one’s way out of one’s disturbances… Calm feeling requires that one be established at his own center, and not hopping about erratically at his periphery.”
• Concentrate – If we want clarity, we need to learn to concentrate. Try to do one thing at a time, focus on one project or task at a time and you will see clarity come into your life.
• Raise your level of Energy – Have you ever seen a movie where the light of the projector was really dim for some reason? Or worked on a laptop in battery saving mode? The dim light makes it quite a challenge to see things clearly. It is the same with our level of energy. The more energy we have and the more it flows to the brain, the more clearly we think and feel.
• Concentrate at the point between the eyebrows – The frontal lobe of the brain is the seat of Superconsciousness, the seat of concentration and also the seat of clarity. Try to keep your mind there during the day as much as you can. It is a way to develop clarity, and as Yogananda said “make rapid spiritual progress.”

Deepening our attunement with Superconsciousness will certainly change our life and bring more clarity to our minds but it can also change our world. As Swami Kriyananda said: “Clarity should be our deliberate attempt to offer the world what we can. The clearer we are, above all in feeling, the more everything you do will change other people.”

Joy to you,
Arudra