Developing Calmness

Nervousness the Opposite of Calmness

Calmness is the ideal medium through which we should receive everything. Nervousness is the opposite of calmness. Today nervousness seems to be the world’s disease. He is your best friend who humbly suggests to you how you may be benefited.

Many people think that by forgetting disease you get rid of disease. You may forget disease, but disease does not always forget you. Two men were standing on the bank of the Ganges when they saw a wonderful black blanket floating by. One of them jumped on the wonderful black blanket but he could not get loose from it, could not get away from it. The other man said, “Why don’t you leave the black blanket?” He replied, “ I want to leave the black blanket, but the black blanket doesn’t want to leave me.” It was actually a black BEAR.

Nervousness is the deadliest disease. It looks very simple but has far-reaching consequences. It is better to destroy disease in its infancy. Many people blame poor nervousness, but nervousness has no brain to be nervousness. It’s the innate side to nerves. Nerves have no mind of their own, no power of their own to be nervous.

What causes nervousness?

Think of a house telephone. You send messages and receive messages through the same wire. If you talk angrily through the telephone, do the wires get nervous? No. The medium is the wire itself, and the electricity passes through the wires. Similarly, in your body, you have a telephone system called the nervous system. When I pinch my arm, the sensation of the pinch goes to the brain. It hurts me, and I don’t like it. Nerves send the response.

When you are excited, it disturbs the nerve force. So you ought to be very careful not to get excited. What happens when you get excited? You send a flash of energy into the nerves. The nerves are just like a fine wire. If you send too much current, 1,000 volts, it will suddenly burn the wires. Excitement creates energy, and if you are excited, you send too much energy, unbalanced energy, more energy to some parts of the nervous system and less to others. When you are very angry, you burn up the nerves of the brain.

Then again, why shouldn’t you be nervous? If your ordinary telephone gets out of order, you call the electrician and ask him to put it in order again. But when nerve wires through excitement become worthless and useless, when the nerve tissues become destroyed, where is the electrician who will fit you up with a new set of nerves? So you can’t afford in any way to destroy your fine nervous system. These nerve wires of your body have been grown from within, and if they are destroyed you cannot replace them.

What is the function of the nervous system? It is your means of getting in touch with the world and of keeping your sense of touch alive. It has the same function as your ordinary telephone in the house. The nervous system is the telephone that sees, hears, feels, etc. The nerves supply the current to your heart, brain, etc. Everything is carried on by the nerves. They act as a telephone also to supply the eyes, ears, olfactory nerves, etc. Nervousness burns the nerves, cutting off the supply of current or energy. Nerves are your medium of contact with the world. Nerves are the medium of vitalizing all the different organs of your body, of the senses and every particle of your body. The disease of the nervous system is the cause of all diseases. Yogoda has a special technique by which you can revive tissues if you have burned them out; you can revive tissues by sending energy into nerves that have been destroyed. Each cell and tissue in the nervous system is a living thing. Each nerve tissue and cell is intelligent. Nerves take messages from the brain to the outer world. You must know how to treat nerve cells so that they will not be destroyed. Keep them cheerful always. Causes of nervousness are mental excitement, wrong diet, and wrong environment.

When an animal dies, its trainer knows it wasn’t fed scientifically. When a human being dies, we say, “Well, Heavenly Father took him,” whereas white bread killed him perhaps. Wrong thinking, eating, and environment cause nervousness.

Two Kinds of Nervousness:

There are two kinds of nervousness: psychological and mechanical. Superficial or organic. Psychological nervousness is due to mind excitement when energy is created, it excites the nerves and tissues and burns them out. If you indulge in the habit of psychological nervousness all the time, thereby flashing energy into certain nerves, the nerves get burned and you are the victim of physiological nervousness. It’s generally due to lack of proper diet, lack of right company, and lack of right attitude, right peace, that you become nervous.

Choose Your Company

The best way to get rid of nervousness is first to remember choice of company. Tell me what kind of company a person keeps, and I will tell you what he is. We always love the company of those who flatter us. This weakens us, though. We should like the company of those who tell us the truth and help us to be better. If we always live in the company of flatterers, it is bad for us, for our spiritual growth. Once there was a Master who had a disciple who criticized everything the Master did. He died, and his disciples came running joyously to their Master and said, “Master, that man who is all the time troubling you, he is dead.” Then the Master began to weep. The disciples said, “Why do you weep? You should be glad you are rid of this terrible man!” The Master replied, “No, I am sorry, my teacher is dead.” His criticism acted like a warning. To criticize is bad, but if you can stand criticism it is wonderful. Brutal, harsh criticism is like hitting a man on the head with a hammer. There is nothing greater for helping people than the power of love. The gentle power of love which comes to others as suggestion, as the voice of suggestion, is better than criticism. Too much criticism is not good, but suggestion is better. Always remember this: If you want to criticize, do it to help and not to satisfy your spirit of revenge within. Criticize lovingly to help. Judge not. Judge not others, only yourself. Spend your efforts in judging yourself and you will spend it profitably.

Be careful in the choice of company. Keep company with people who are calm, strong and wise, with a deeper nature than you have. When a criminal is put into the company of a greater criminal, that does not help him. When it is time for him to leave, the warden says, “When are you coming back?” When nervous people are in the company of other nervous people, they cannot get better. Always choose calm company. If nervous, mix with those who are not nervous. The best way is to analyze yourself and find out that anger, fear, worry, and all such things do cause nervousness. As soon as you are angry, disturbed, or afraid, you burn the nerves. Fear burns the nerves of supply to the heart. Feeling timid destroys the nerve endings. Too much sleep drugs the nerves, and too little sleep is hurtful to nerves. Treat nerves as a whole. Treat them by sending messages of calmness and peace. The messages you send from the brain to the world will then be sent calmly and likewise all received will be received calmly.

Overcome Fear

Now about fear. Analyze a little. Why should you fear? Wisdom only can make you free. Understanding God’s law. If I go into a dark room, take a stick and pound the darkness, break the table, will the darkness go? No. But if I bring the light in, it goes immediately. Don’t be afraid. That won’t do any good. Bring the light of reason. As long as you are not dead, you don’t know whether you are going to die or not. When you’re dead, it’s all over. What’s the use of fearing? By fearing, you not only create nervousness, but you move toward the very object of fear.

Cultivate Calmness

If you are perfectly calm, you will AVOID EXCITEMENT. If you are too much elated about making money, you will often make wrong speculation or investment. If you are calm, no matter how many propositions people may bring to you, you are always able to separate sentiment from fact. If you fear too much, you bring the very things you wish to avoid. You are destroying vitality of nerves and drawing sickness. When you are full of power and strength and life, it destroys disease. In anger, you burn the nerves out. The reason why you should not be angry is that it poisons the blood. Anger changes chemicals of the blood. Angry vibrations affect circulation. An angry mother can poison her milk that feeds her child. Cultivate peace, calmness, and cheerfulness. The more cheerful and calm you are, the better it is for you. The more you worry or are angry or afraid, the more you are losing poise. The more peace you have, the less nervousness.

How can you obtain poise? If it’s difficult to earn money, it is much more difficult to obtain poise. Make a triangle and on one side write SWEETNESS, on the other side write CALMNESS, and at the base write HAPPINESS; sweetness in speech and mind and body.

People have two kinds of nature: the drawing room nature and the home nature. The home nature is when we feel that we are natural but we wish sometimes that we are not natural because in our naturalness we express ugliness. Many people go out all dressed up, but inside passions are boiling and raging within. Inside the house they say, “I am angry.” Outside, “Oh, how are you?” Be calm in speech, in mind; be calm in your triune unity. What you think you must testify, what you think and speak, your body, soul, and mind, everything must testify. We must have UNITY OF MIND, SPEECH, AND BODY. Attain calmness, attain peace, attain happiness, attain poise.

Affirmation for Peace

Every night before going to bed, say this: “I am the Prince of Peace sitting on the throne of Poise.” Poise is your center. Whether you act quick or slow, you will never lose your kingly attitude of peace. Jesus, Son of God, is the prototype. On Sundays people get religious. One day is better than none, better than nothing at all. But every day ought to be God’s day with us. Christ has given us a great ideal that we may live the life of Christ. “To all those who receive Him He gave the power to be SONS OF GOD.” Everywhere Jesus demonstrated peace. He passed through all situations, but he had poise and peace. Jesus demonstrated peace in his speech, mind, and body.

For ordinary nervousness, take a cold shower bath. Splash your face with cold water. Partial fasting is good to go without breakfast or lunch. Keep company with cool, calm people.

Be Calmly Active and Actively Calm

Always act calmly, be calm in everything; be calmly active and actively calm; have a good diet, but above all move in the company of calm people. Get away from the city once in a while. Above all, remember that you should learn the method of controlling energy. You can contact Cosmic Energy and bring energy into your body, not through imagination. Your body is like a little bubble of energy in the Cosmic Energy; God is everywhere. He controls planets, stars, everything that you see, and yet he is not disturbed. He is above this world, yet He is in this world. You must reflect the image and likeness of God.