DON’T HIDE YOUR LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

DON’T HIDE YOUR LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL
December 30, 1985

Swami Chidananda

A wonderful good morning to you all on this beautiful Silver Bright Morning! We wish you
a really bright and very, very happy, healthy New Year. We are moving towards it. May the Lord
bless you.
Radiant Divinities in the form of beloved seekers after God, Radiant Divinities in the form
of beloved sadhaks participating in this precious gift of God, in this precious invitation of God to
draw near to Him, to gather around Him, and to abide in Him, a gift in the form of this year-end
spiritual fellowship; a retreat rightly organized by the Yoga Sadhana Mandir, having as its central
purpose to offer the scope for a period of sustained Yoga sadhana and satsang. It is a retreat
especially arranged so that collective Yoga sadhana may be performed in the company of devotees
and fellow sadhaks, spiritual aspirants aspiring for a higher life, aspiring for Divine experience,
aspiring for spiritual enlightenment and aspiring ultimately for liberation. This spiritual retreat is
therefore a gift of God, a gift from beloved and worshipful Holy Master, beloved Gurudev Swami
Sivananda who is the inspiration and the invisible helping force behind the YSM. It is also a gift
from the Yoga Sadhana Mandir to all sincere brethren of Gurudev’s spiritual family and to others
too. It is a Christmas/New Year gift from the YSM. I am happy to be a part of this gift. Maybe I am
the cherry on top of the ice-cream, or the raisin within the cookie? I am happy to play my role. I am
also thankful, for without ice-cream there can be no cherry on top, and without a cookie, there can
be no raisin in it! It is because of your participation and presence that our contribution and service is
possible. Because of your eagerness, spiritual hunger and aspiration, this is a successful retreat.
Therefore, a family of spiritual seekers associating themselves with a certain spiritual set-up like
the Yoga Sadhana Mandir are important and indispensable for the effective functioning and
successful fulfillment of the objective for which it stands. It is the support and applause of the
audience that makes the orator put forth his very best. It is the appreciation and support of the
audience which makes the virtuoso give of his very top talent. So it is the support and help, the love
and cooperation and participation of a family of spiritual seekers that makes a center of spirituality
shine with great brightness and function with much benefit to all.
Tomorrow will be the final day of this year. May you enter into it with a meditative state of
inner being. Thus we seal the old year in a meditative state and open unsealed and enter into the
New Year in a similar meditative state, proclaiming and affirming thereby that “meditation will be
the main essence of my life”. When you are meditating, you are being true to yourself. When you
are not meditating, you cease to be yourself. Meditation is the active expression of your essential
being. You are Satchidananda Atman. Meditation is raising your consciousness into the state of
Satchidananda Awareness. When you do not maintain the Satchidananda Consciousness within,
you forget yourself, and your consciousness takes the form of something or other of this external
universe. It takes the form of some person, some thing, some experience, some event, some
occurrence, some situation, or some sense object. It is always in a conditioned state, in a state of
something which by its very nature is not truly real, and which by its very nature is a momentary
appearance in eternity, a passing appearance in time. It is a flash, an unstable, ever-changing
appearance at that, ever subject to change and to mutation. Therefore any thing, any person, any
condition, any situation, any experience, any sense object which modifies your mind and makes
you assume its condition and form pulls down the mind into a finite lower state of being,
conditioned in time and space. It forcefully brings down the mind into a state of name and form
modification, into a state of “ragadvesha”. Because when you think of anything in this universe,
that thought is occupied either by attraction or by aversion, love or hate, yes or no, by reception or
rejection. Because mind already has relationships to everything in this world through experience,
through samskaras, through vasanas, through latent specific tendencies and impressions, saying
“yes” or “no” to things. It is not in its natural unqualified, unmodified state. It is always in an
unnatural, modified state, taken out of its natural condition and spontaneity and into this
externalized, objectively modified condition of the psyche. You are no more in a state of
meditation, but are drawn away, taken away from and deprived of the meditative state.
In this state of modification of your inner being, meditation is lost. Your true Self,
Satchidananda Consciousness, is forgotten. Therefore you enter into pain, suffering, distress,
discontentment, dissatisfaction, and into a state of insufficiency, of lack and want. Naturally this
engenders desire, which further throws the mind into a state of restlessness. It is a vicious circle.
Objectification of the mind by its thinking of any subject in this created universe brings it down into
a state of limitation, into a state of finite condition, dominated by the sense of time, space and
change, and fills it with various feelings, all directly related to the object into which it is modified.
In that state of unnaturalness, mind becomes the field for the play of a variety of human
psychological conditions which are alien to you. You have no condition. You have no
psychological state. You are Pure Consciousness. You are Satchidananda. Bliss is your natural
state, profound peace and fullness. A state where you lack nothing, where you want nothing, where
you need nothing, because it is a state of absolute fullness. That being your natural state, there is no
modification, no conditioning, no restlessness. Meditation alone recaptures and restores to you
your natural state. Meditation alone brings your consciousness back into that unmodified,
unqualified, natural state which is the essence of Pure Being. That is why duality does not enter into
that state. There is neither good nor bad, right nor wrong, here nor there, this nor that, attraction nor
aversion, like nor dislike. There are none of the opposing dualities. There is only a state of perfect
equilibrium, balance, equipoise; a perfect state of peace that is joy.
Meditation is therefore your natural condition and it is only right and proper to make this
year culminate in a state of meditation. Let the New Year dawn in a state of meditation by affirming
that in this year, “I shall ever abide in a state of meditation. I shall always be Self-aware. I shall
always inwardly abide in my center where there is peace and joy and perfection, where there is “I”
beyond time and space, where there is only the pure “I” without birth or death, in the “I” which is
ever rooted in God and ever abides in the eternal, which ever has its being in the Universal
Consciousness, in Cosmic Spirit”. God gave you that light within which is meant to shine and to
radiate light.
Peggy Rude presented Swami with a light and a bottle of lamp oil as a Christmas gift. If the
lamp oil remains in its bottle only and the lamp remains in its box, the present would be no present.
It is as good as not having been given. But when we exercise a little intelligence and use our grey
matter, we will find out how it works. We will open the lamp and the oil and pour the oil into the
lamp. Then it becomes a present truly given and the light shines. Now it has fulfilled its mission. It
shines before the altar of the Divine Child, at the feet of the Master. It shines before all of you in this
holy and sacred prayer room in this spiritual gathering.

So should your radiant Atmic nature ever shine within you and through you. It is meant to
shine and to cast its radiance in all directions. Illuminate your inner being and bring brightness out
all around you so that you move as a center of light, in a circle of light, and you bring light into the
lives of those with whom Karma brings you into contact. That is why that great light abides in you,
not to be forgotten, neglected, and shoved into a corner and ignored. That would be the greatest
ingratitude and lack of appreciation for what God has showered upon you. That would be great
shortsightedness and blindness. It would be a pity if we fail to realize the worth of what has been put
into us as our very being, the worth of our own true Self, and instead go about here and there after
petty pleasures, desires and sense experiences, little consolations and satisfactions.
Thomas à Kempis has a very significant chapter during the course of his admonitions in his
THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. He says by renunciation of all earthly consolation and comfort we
seek consolation of our confused psyches like children seeking the feeding bottle. Once upon a time
they would seek their mother, but nowadays mother is not available for their comfort and solace,
rather it is in a formula in a feeding bottle. So when the child feels forlorn, isolated and neglected, it
seeks comfort in the bottle. That is what modern human society is doing. It seeks comfort in things
and not in divine, heavenly manna. It tries to milk the cow of the material world only to find that the
cow has run dry, and so it has invented a robot mother and it seeks solace and comfort from its own
creation. Just as a physician gives a placebo to a hypochondriac patient who always thinks that he
has some illness or another, so the doctor prescribes something to make the patient feel alright.
What is it? Sugar and powdered milk rolled into a pill! It is a wonderful remedy, a cure-all. So we
keep our box of these pills and pop one into our mouth in order to feel wonderful. Thomas à Kempis
says this is folly. This way will lead us nowhere. This way will even deprive us of the greatest
solace, joy, happiness and comfort that we can get from the Most High. “My peace I give unto you,
not as the world giveth, but this my peace shall abide with you for all time”. The comfort, solace,
consolation and the joy of the Supreme is the only real joy, comfort and solace as we go through the
stormy seas of this earthly world existence. But discarding it, ignoring it, man seeks for solace,
comfort, happiness and satisfaction in poor, petty, insufficient things which are themselves
inadequate by their very finite nature. So man fails to obtain what he is seeking.
Meditation corrects this error and restores our center of comfort and of joy supreme. The
center of eternal satisfaction is yours. It is within your own being. This should be made to manifest
itself in all its glory. In a very significant admonition, the Master Jesus says this is what you have to
do. People do not light a candle and hide it under a bushel, but rather they keep it on a high place so
that it may cast its radiance in all directions of the compass so that people may see it and be guided
by it when they are walking along the way in the darkness. Then they will know a sense of direction.
It can be a guiding light to countless beings. Therefore, its rightful place is where it can be seen and
can cast its radiance, so it can be of use and benefit to others. That is the fulfillment of the purpose of
the light. You are that light. Meditation is the awakening into full radiance of that subdued light
which burns dim when it is not attended.
But why did Jesus use the term “bushel”? Bushel is a container in which grain was
measured. It was a household article used everywhere. No house was without a bushel. Because in
those times there was no industrial revolution, no mechanization. Technology had not started. By
and large the people were either nomadic or agrarian, shepherds or farmers. They reared cattle and
sheep or they tilled the soil. They sowed and reaped. Life was close to nature. If they had to spin and
weave, they did it at home. So a bushel was a must. If you wished to sell or purchase grain, a bushel
basket was necessary. But why should a bushel be used to cover a lamp? There were other better
vessels. A bushel was necessary to measure grain and if you turned it over a lighted lamp it would
gather soot on the bottom and make it smelly and dirty, so no one would think of using a bushel. A
bucket was even more indispensable for water. The bucket was necessary not only to draw water,
but also to store water. They had jars and pitchers; huge ones into which a man could jump and be
concealed (like those in which the thief of Baghdad and Ali Baba concealed themselves). What I
mean to say is that there were many better vessels handy to put over a lamp. Why then a bushel,
which was meant for better things? Jesus did not use unnecessary words. He spoke in symbols,
parables, analogies. “Leave your net, even the fish you have caught in the net. I will make you a
better fisherman; a fisherman of men”, He tells one of His disciples-to-be. So when Jesus used the
word “bushel”, He meant to convey something.
The lamp stands for your higher nature: the Divinity which you are. You are meant to shine.
You are meant to be radiant. This radiance is kept bright and ever-glowing only through daily
meditation. The Master says we should not cover this lamp and hide this radiance. It was not meant
to be treated thus. On the contrary, it was meant to be raised aloft. It was meant to be revealed so that
all may be benefited by its rays. Therefore do not hide it.
A bushel stands for this physical body whose greatest affliction is the never-ending hunger
that keeps you constantly on the non-stop treadmill of this life’s compulsory secular activity. This
physical body effectively and completely covers over the light shining within, the radiance of your
divine nature. Totally identified with the body and involved in this physical sheath, consciousness
is brought down to a level where it loses its pristine grandeur and radiance. So you must overcome
this identity with the body. You have to disassociate yourself from the gross physical personality
consciousness and raise your consciousness to a higher state through meditation.
Abushel also stands for trade; for barter, for buying and selling. It stands for this earthbound
activity in the midst of “things”, which are the important commodity. It stands for the marketplace,
for money, for accumulation, for greed. We have sold out to this mess of potage, to this
economic-oriented life of dollars, rupees, pounds and yen, the stock market; “mammon”, in short.
The guru of Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna Bhagawan, summed it up in a single word:
“kanchana maya” (gold). So the bushel also stands for this aspect of life of buying and selling. That
is the mode of the mind.
Hunger and food involved in this physical body consciousness is one thing which the bushel
signifies and the other significance of the bushel is upon the mental level of man’s desire for
worldly goods and wealth. Our ever being involved and occupied and centered in the business of
obtaining, accumulating, possessing and enjoying the goods of this earth, not knowing that they are
a series of ciphers, and that without a digit these non-digits have no value. It is only when a digit is
put to the left of them that these non-digits assume value. Zero becomes 10 or 100, but it is by the
mere fact of a single digit being put in its proximity that it attains value. Three non-digits acquire the
value of 1000, and they have the power to make 10,000, 1000,000 or amillion. Why? All because of
the addition of a digit. Master Jesus tried to bring this idea home. He said all these things shall then
be added unto you. Worry not. Seek that Supreme Digit, that one value, and then all these things
will automatically be added unto you. Why do you doubt? I tell you that is the greatest of the great.

Attain that, for if you do not attain that, you will be burdened with a whole heap of ciphers, of
non-digits.
There was a shipwreck and many people drowned. Lifeboats were lowered and children and
women were rowed away. There was a merchant who was very greedy. He was traveling with a
consignment of gold. His heart was wrenched when the captain bellowed, “Abandon ship!”, for his
heart was in the gold. What could he do? He could not lift all the gold in his box because it was too
heavy. So he grabbed what he could. “Leave everything. Put on your lifejackets and jump into the
sea!” That was the captain’s order, his helpful advice. But the man clung to the gold. However, it
was so heavy that despite the lifejacket, the man began to swallow salt water. Then the idea came to
him, “Either me or the gold”. So he had a terrible inner struggle, worse than his struggle with the
sea. The idea of letting go of the gold was so terrible, so unacceptable that he tried his best to hold on
to it and to keep afloat until at last he became so exhausted and numb that his limbs refused to move.
When he wanted to let go of the gold, he could not. So ultimately, the gold took him to the bottom of
the sea. This is a parable. Maybe it is a true story, too, but it is a story with a truth in it.
The second meaning of the bushel is worldly wealth. Grain is either consumed or converted
into money. It represents earthly goods and wealth. This effectively hides the light. The identity
with the physical food sheath, the body, hides the light. The total attachment to and complete
preoccupation with worldly goods fills the mind with craving, desire and longing for things. It
becomes a covering of the radiance of your essential Divinity. It hides it and deprives you of the
greatest thrilling experience of Self-Realization to which nothing can be compared. Therefore, very
clearly, the Master gives this lesson. It is foolish. It is not done. What do you mean? Don’t do it!
Uncover the light. Let it shine. Put it in a prominent place. Let it cast its radiance. That is your
mission on earth. Do not hide it under the bushel of this physical body consciousness, do not hide it
under the bushel of your mental, desire-ridden consciousness. Brush aside these coverings and
reveal the light within and shine and shine and shine! Then it is that you live. Then it is that you are a
true child of God and fulfill the truth of your being. Your life becomes genuine and not spurious, not
just an imitation. That is the life that is to be lived. It is to such a life that our beloved Master gave
the clarion call: “Immortal Atman! Thou art Divine. Divine should be your life. Shine with this
Divinity. With all your thoughts, feelings, words and deeds, filled with the radiance of your true
divine being, thus live. Attain Divine Consciousness”. It was a call to awaken to Divinity, to let the
light shine, right in your life.
That is what Master presented to 20th Century mankind. You can respond to Master’s call
only by really being radiant immortal Atman. Refuse to allow any aberration of forgetfulness and
diversion to interfere with your Self-awareness. Resolutely brush aside all contrary, veiling things.
Ever ascending, affirm and manifest that inner light. And that light can shine bright and wax strong
only through daily meditation.
Let therefore your entry into this New Year be with this firm resolve: “That I shall not hide
this lamp under a bushel. On the contrary, I shall remove all covering and let the light shine forth. I
shall shine radiantly as the Divinity that I am. This I am determined to do. So shall be my life in this
new year: a life full of radiance, bright with the light of my divine nature shining.” Thus may you
meditate today upon this theme and this intention with determination and firm resolve. Maintain
this consciousness. “This shall be my life. This shall be my endeavor. This shall be my sadhana.”
God bless you.