SUTRA: Sat Chit Ananda (saht chit ah-NAN-dah)
My inner dialogue reflects the fire of my soul.
THE THIRD PRINCIPLE describes how your mind creates your reality—and how, by mastering your inner dialogue, you can literally transform reality to create abundance.
The mantra—sat chit ananda—tells us that our soul is that place which is spontaneously love, knowingness, and bliss. Sat means truth, freedom from all limitations. Chit means total knowledge, spontaneous knowing or pure consciousness. Ananda means bliss, total happiness, complete fulfillment. So what that phrase really says is, “My soul is free from limitations. My soul has spontaneous knowing. My soul exists in complete fulfillment.”
Inner dialogue is one of our most basic characteristics. When we meet new people, we’re used to looking at how they’re dressed, the kind of car they drive, the wristwatch they’re wearing. Based on all these external clues, we form an impression of the individual. But this snap judgment is nothing more than the result of the ego having a conversation with itself. That little voice inside your head is constantly assessing this and evaluating that. This inner dialogue has an important function: By making judgments, it contributes to survival. This person may be dangerous. That fruit may be good to eat. This may not be a good time to ask my boss for a raise. Useful though it is, this little voice would have you believe that you and it are one and the same, that its goals are your goals. But as we’ve seen, there is another place inside you where the silent witness dwells. This is the place where you connect to spirit, where the local mind gives way to the nonlocal mind. This is the place you can access through meditation.
Being synchronized with the intelligence field creates balance physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It gives you strength and flexibility that allow you to meet any challenge effortlessly. You become capable of transforming the challenge in such a way that it nourishes you, and you draw greater strength from meeting the challenge.
Our inner dialogue gives us that kind of bright power because it is, in fact, the inner dialogue of the conscious intelligence field. When we are in tune with the universal consciousness, when we are synchronized in the nonlocal intelligence field, we take on the power that emanates from that boundless force. This power comes from within, and when you have it, nothing is beyond your reach.
There are two kinds of power that emanate from the self. The first is the power of agency—the power that comes from having a famous name, lots of money, or an impressive title. The power of agency can be formidable, but it eventually comes to an end. True power comes from within, and it has a spiritual rather than a material foundation. It is permanent and does not die with your body. With agency, identity and power come from some external reference—an object, a situation, a status symbol, a relationship, money. With self-power, identity comes from listening to the true self, and power comes from the internal reference of spirit.
When you work from this internal reference, your sense of self is clear and is not affected by external factors. This is the source of personal power. When external factors fail to influence your sense of self, you become immune to criticism or to praise. You also understand that we are all equal, because we are all connected to the same conscious intelligence flow. That means that you understand that as you move through your life, you are beneath no one and superior to no one. You don’t have to beg or plead or convince anyone of anything because you don’t have to convince yourself.
As wonderful as this sounds, very few of us actually achieve a state of internal reference. All too often, we muddy the message by allowing our ego to intervene. Our thoughts, influenced by external factors—money worries, job stress, relationship tensions—end up hindering our spiritual development, and we find ourselves moving in a direction opposite from where we want to go.
The two best ways to overcome that tendency are to meditate and to consciously practice positive inner dialogue. Positive inner dialogue helps move us in the right direction, fosters synchronicity, and promotes spiritual development. With positive internal dialogue, we can create self-power.
For example, suppose you are dissatisfied with your job and want to find a new one. You start looking through the newspapers and talking to friends who are familiar with your career, but nothing turns up. You might become frustrated and your inner dialogue might conclude, “There’s just nothing out there for me.” Observe how that response contrasts with another example from a very different part of the world. Suppose a hunter in the Amazon rain forest is having difficulty finding game. If he goes to a shaman to deal with the situation, neither the hunter nor the shaman looks anywhere but within the hunter himself for the solution to the problem. It never occurs to them to say something like “There’s no game out there,” because they know there is. The problem is that something within the hunter is preventing him from finding the game. Maybe something in the hunter is even driving away the game. So the shaman asks the hunter to participate in a ritual that is designed to change what is in the hunter’s heart and mind—because it is the heart and mind that control the external reality.
When we find ourselves looking at the world and saying, “There’s nothing out there for me,” we should probably also look into our hearts and ask, “If there’s nothing out there, is there anything in here?” We need to examine our inner dialogue to discover where we might be blocking the conscious energy flow, then remove the ego, step out of the way, and let the fire of the soul shine through us.
If you have fire of soul, then Vedic sages say it is reflected in the shining of your eyes. It’s reflected spontaneously in your body language and body movements. Everything you think, feel, say, and do will reflect that same fire. How does it look? There are no absolutes, but the spirit is reflected in impeccable speech and behavior, refraining from anything that could potentially be considered hurtful. The spirit is reflected in confidence, happiness, good humor, fearlessness, kindness, and thoughtfulness. The quality of your inner dialogue is instantly obvious to other people, although it might not be recognized for what it is. When you practice positive inner dialogue, people will want to bond with you, help you, be near you. They want to share in the love, knowingness, and bliss that shines through your eyes and is reflected in your every action. This is true inner power.
The fire in your soul will be reflected in your eyes. Whenever you look into a mirror, even if it’s just for a second or two, make eye contact with your image and silently repeat the three principles that are the foundation of self-referral. First, say to yourself, “I’m totally independent of the good or bad opinions of others.” Second: “I’m beneath no one.” Third: “I’m fearless in the face of any and all challenges.” Look into your eyes in the mirror and see those attitudes reflected back at you. Just in your eyes, not in your facial expression. Look for the shine in your eyes to remind yourself of the fire in your soul.
Sutra Statements for the Third Principle
Imagine that you are centered and totally at peace.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that you are looking at the world with knowingness and peace.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that all beings are your equal.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that you are not affected by flattery or criticism.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that you are focused on the journey, not the destination.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that in your presence all hostility is overcome by a profound peace.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that you’re detached from the outcome.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that a deeply profound ocean of calm exists in you that is not affected by any turbulence.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that love radiates from you like light from a bonfire.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that you are in love with everything and everybody. Imagine that you are intoxicated with love.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that the right answer comes to you spontaneously
whenever you are confronted by any question.
(sat chit ananda)
Imagine that you know exactly what to do in every situation.
(sat chit ananda)