I’ve been asked many times whether this is the aquarian age and it’s all just beginning, or if this is armageddon and this is the end, and I have to admit I don’t know. The way I’ve usually copped out in dealing with it is saying, “Whichever way it goes, my work is the same. My work is to quiet my mind and open my heart and relieve suffering wherever I find it.”
Ram Dass (1931-2019) spiritual teacher
and author of Be Here Now
“While researching the subject of karma, I came across this wonderful quote on a very complex subject. It gives us a bottom line on how to deal with the world and its suffering. I love it for a few reasons. One, he says, “I don’t know” if this is the Aquarian Age or Armageddon. That act of humility from a spiritual teacher in admitting to not knowing is incredibly refreshing. Because, as spiritual seekers, we want to see cosmic meaning of everything. It is very comforting to want to think there’s a big cosmic plan that’s going to turn out for the good. But the truth is, we don’t know. And to have Ram Dass say that is cleansing to me. The other thing is, whatever is going on in the world, my work is the same. I’m going to relieve suffering wherever I find it. That’s a statement of purpose: to help the world, to be of service in the world, to be a compassionate citizen of the world. The more of us who do that, the better the world will be. And the final thing I want to say about it is he doesn’t just say my work is to relieve suffering. He says my work is first to quiet my mind and open my heart, and then relieve suffering. And this is consistent with all the spiritual traditions that I’m aware of, especially the ones that come from the East. It’s a sort of two-step process: first, go inside and transform yourself by quieting the mind and opening the heart. If we do that first, then we’re more capable of relieving suffering wherever we find it and doing the right thing in the world.”
Philip Goldberg, spiritual counselor and author of
Karmic Relief: Harnessing the Laws of Cause-and-Effect
for a Joyful Meaningful Life
