The Brown Book Commentaries

“You will show me the Path of Life;
In your presence is the fullness of Joy.”
~ unknown (Psalms 16:11)
Actually, it is not that God will one day show us ―the Path of Life‖, but rather that He has already done so –
not that we will one day pray devoutly enough to be shown our ―true Calling‖ or be led to ―where we are supposed
to be‖, but rather that we will one day realize that both of these have already been supplied us in full measure …
The ―presence‖ mentioned here is not a religious devotion or a spiritual awareness, and it certainly is not a
physical manifestation of the Essence many call ―God‖ (floating down on some shimmering cloud to speak to us
directly and tell us exactly where we are to go and what we are to do once we arrive there … After all, any God
worth worshiping must be composed of Love, and issuing command while demanding obedience is not LOVE!)
… No the ―presence‖ mentioned here is the God we can in any moment choose to See in the other, just as the
―fullness of Joy‖ mentioned here is the sheer Bliss that comes to those who have the humility to See in this way –
and the Courage to act accordingly … ―Love your neighbor as yourself‖ is fully non-functioning when applied
from a self-centered viewpoint – as there will always be a smattering of hope for reciprocation hovering over the
foundation of any such ―good deed‖ … No, we are not to love our neighbors as we ourselves wish to be loved, we
are to devoutly Love our neighbors (especially strangers & our enemies) as our Selves – to Love them as if they
were God Himself. For that is the Path of Life – the only path that brings with it the true fullness of Joy.
―Love wanders along the Golden Path that leads back to God.‖ ~ Paramahansa Yogananda
It is not enough to know of the Golden Path of Love, nor is it enough to seek it – or find it – or
admire it from afar. For the Golden Path is not ever truly golden … Indeed, it only begins to
shimmer while it is being tread – it can only be seen as Golden (and indeed, only becomes Golden)
while it is being walked. And while we can see the Golden Roads of others while they are treading
upon them, our own Golden Road will not be seen until we have the Courage to set forth onto
paths that are covered in mud thighdeep
and strewn with razor-sharp
boulders – and choose to pave them
with gold as we walk them.
―Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are Power-full
beyond measure. It is our Light, not our darkness, that most frightens us … We ask ourselves, ‗Who
am I to be fabulous?‘ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a Child of God. Your playing small
doesn‘t serve the world. There‘s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won‘t feel
insecure around you. We were all born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It‘s not
just in some of us; It‘s in everyone. And as we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give
others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others.‖ ~ Nelson Mandela
To be fair, it is purported that Marianne Williamson first penned this quote, and that then Mandela then
quoted it from her thereafter … That having been said, I attribute it to Mandela anyway, for the simple reason
that he embodied it to a degree that the profit & fame-motivated Ms. Williamson did not; that he lived its Truth
throughout the majority of his life while Marianne simply was the conduit through which it originally flowed …
Indeed, I remember very well the day I was blessed to hear Ms. Williamson speak in Boise (Idaho) back in 2008
– I remember very well that she demanded an obscene speaking fee to make the trip, and I remember very well
that I left the auditorium after only a few minutes of listening to her super-smooth, New Age, ―you can be happy
too‖ drivel … And yet I am deeply thankful to Ms. Williamson regardless, for after leaving the auditorium that
afternoon, I almost literally stumbled upon a small group of Hare Krishnas who had taken to chanting & singing
Joy-fully in the auditorium‘s atrium. How odd that Marianne had received thousands & thousands of dollars to
give her canned platitudes to a packed house, while just outside her door Boise‘s true Wise-Ones were dishing
out heaping portions of Truth for free … And this has me thinking anew of this admittedly insightful quote – that
we do not truly ―let our light shine‖ by standing on stage under the bright lights of fame and sharing our personal
beliefs with thousands of admirers for personal gain. No, to do so is actually to fall into a deep spiritual hole – to
stumble into a darkness that keeps our Light from shining at all. For to have the courage to truly ―let our Light
shine‖, we must be willing to humble ourselves – to take no credit even
where it might be due – to serve the most downtrodden wholeheartedly
while we do so – and to do so freely & completely for free.
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