Refining Silver.. First, a Bible Story

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying Chapter Three, they came across Verse Three which says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver’. This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse, that says, ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver’. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. For if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined? He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, ‘that’s the easy part, when I see my image reflected in it.’
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep His hand on you and watch over you until He sees His image in you….’ – we thank Ornella, a friend sahaja yogini from UK that sent us recently this story .. don’t you find it ‘sahaj’?! Let’s match it with more Sahaj Wisdom .. let’s continue our “Silver tips” further on ..

Shri Mataji in the “Metamodern Era” book about the Importance of Silver:

“For, as traditional wisdom knows, Silver is very important for a good Heart, as it keeps the heart in good shape…

The Mirror made by Kundalini

“What is Atma (the Spirit, in Sanskrit)? What work is it doing residing within us and how is it related to Paramatma (in Sanskrit means ‘primordial Spirit’, God ) ? It is said that Atma is the reflection of Paramatma in our Heart. This reflection is like that of the Sun in Water. Although reflection of the sun is seen in water, he is away in the sky and not in water. Similarly Atma is as much as it is seen, It is beyond all that and not limited by it. But, for any reflection to be clearly visible the Mirror which is the cause of that reflection must be clean. If the mirror is not clean, or instead of mirror a stone is there, the sun’s reflection will not be seen in it. In the same way, that man looks disturbed who has not yet become clean like mirror, so that he can see the Paramatma’s reflection within himself. Although the sun is seen taking different shapes on the ripples of flowing water, he is steady at his place and it is only his reflection that changes its shape. Similarly, the reflection of Atma appears to be absent or it just shines for a moment and disappears, in the person who is full of sin and wickedness or whose heart is loaded with false ambitions and desires. It thus entails that all these-body, mind, intellect, ego etc. that we know, should be converted into a mirror. It should be transformed into a Mirror.

How will it happen ? God has made that arrangement within us. Many incarnations have worked for evolving us from amoeba to human being and have brought us into our. present stage. When we are moving about as alert human beings. We are alert but not enlightened. A blind man is very alert but one who has sight sees everything without being bothered about it. A blind man can perceive small small things. He knows small details of every place. One who is having the sight looks at only those things which are worth seeing and which he wants to know about.

Kundalini Shakti (‘the power of Kundalini’, in Sanskrit) that is residing in us has been placed in us by Paramatma and has been created by His desire:  Kundalini shakti … creates our Mirror, develops it and cleans it. Slowly She makes it capable of receiving in itself the reflection of Atma. In Sahaja Yoga you know that awakening of Kundalini is very easy and spontaneous. But Sahaja Yogis must know that they have come to Sahaja Yoga primarily to clean- their mirror, to wash their sins and past deeds, to become purified of all the dirt that has been accumulated within from time immemorial. They have not come to collect sins and dirt, but to become pure.” (excerpt from 1979-08-18 Hindi Lecture of Shri Mataji at Delhi)

“What I was telling them was that about the principle of Shiva, is in your Heart and that reflection is not on a Chakra, but on like Mirror. Now whatever is visible of you is this mirror. In this mirror what reflection you have? Do you have a reflection, which is clear, clean? Have you cleaned your heart? Have you cleaned your mirror that is reflecting? That is what one has to see…. Real joy is only possible if, in your heart, His reflection is there. But if your heart is full of all things that once… that I have described, then it becomes a dirty, very, very dirty mirror.” (an excerpt from a 1999-02-14 lecture of the founder of Sahaja Yoga meditation on Shiva – The Divine principle of the Pure Spirit from the Hindu mythology that is known to reside in the left aspect of the Heart Chakra, conform with the subtle energy system of chakras described by the science of  sahaja yoga meditation)

“The One which is reflected within us is the Shiva, which is the pure Spirit. This pure Spirit within us is the reflection of God Almighty, Sadashiva. It’s like the sun that falls in the water and gives a clear reflection. Or else it falls on the stone, it doesn’t give any reflection at all. If you have, say, the mirror, the sun will not only fall on the mirror, but will reflect back its light. In the same way, in the human beings the reflection of God Almighty is expressed in the way your personality is. If your personality is clean and clear, innocent, then the reflection could be like a mirror. Thus, the saintly people, they reflect God Almighty in the proper manner in the sense that their own identification with wrong things is no more. When there is no such identification and when a person is absolutely the pure Spirit, then the reflection of God reflects into others. Luckily, you all have got your Self Realization. That means the reflection of God Almighty is already working into your attention. The attention is enlightened by the power of the Spirit. The power of the Spirit is that it is a reflection. That means the reflection is never identified with the mirror or with the water. It is there till the sun shines and when there is no sun, there is no reflection. So when you are in Sahaja Yoga, you have cleansed out yourself. Your Kundalini has also cleansed you and now you are pure personalities. That’s why this reflection is clearer and clearer and people see it — see it on your face, they see it in your body, they see it in your work, in your behavior, in everywhere.
It is difficult for people to really believe in themselves, that they could be the reflection of God Almighty. They have some sort of a complexes about themselves I think, that they cannot understand how they have suddenly become the reflection of God Almighty, but they have a capacity and they can become the reflection of God Almighty, for which they have to have faith in themselves, faith in their ascent, to believe that we have become that.

The confidence in Sahaja Yoga is very important. Without the full confidence, you cannot achieve your Ascent. That you have seen even in my lectures, I have to tell them that we have to have full Self Confidence. But confidence doesn’t mean, by any chance, your ego, your aggressiveness.

If you are confident, you are least aggressive.”

(excerpt from Shri Mataji’s lecture in Australia, at Castle Mountain, Sydney- 26 February 1995)

Enjoy Isabelle’s Gentle Strength – Testimonial from Milton