“The train has left the station”
You may have heard of this idiom. The best explanation I found online.
“Some process is already under way and there is no point in resisting. The time for making objections has passed. Cooperation in the process is the only option.”
Of course, it could also mean you’ve missed the opportunity to do something new, but I prefer the above definition because it resonates with the call of time and a need for a change of direction in our world, today. Coincidentally, it is also consistent with the much-loved analogy of the butterfly’s metamorphosis, from the caterpillar to the chrysalis, to the butterfly. Deepak Chopra explains this beautifully in this Golden Drop.
All the effort of change is happening within the chrysalis. Hidden away from the world is an incognito struggle between the old form of the caterpillar and the future form of the butterfly, within the present form of a genetic soup. But as soon as the caterpillar entered the chrysalis, the train had left the station. We know that the caterpillar will turn into a butterfly, because this is what happens, time and time, again. We have this faith in the caterpillar.
The question is, do you have this faith in yourself? Do you have this faith in each other? Do you have this faith in our world? The departure times for each train is slightly different, but when the long-distance train leaves, they all follow closely behind.
Where there is faith, there is no resistance. Innocence floods the system and transformation happens quickly. It is all a matter of faith.
In a practical way, the caterpillar teaches us how to die a living death, the art of doing nothing. This is what is meant by Jivanmukti, or liberation-in-life. Total renunciation of suffering the old, and a complete surrender to embracing the process. The process may take some time, but the transformation from suffering to embracing takes just a second.
The greatest faith you can hold onto is your answer to the question: What is my relationship with the Supreme Father, the Supreme Soul, God? The Supreme Father is the Father of everyone, no matter what creed. You can ask your heart: do I truly believe that I am the child of God? Do I belong to Him? Does He belong to me?
If you are someone who already has faith in God, but are struggling to instil this faith in another, then consider this: The great destruction of the old world is just ahead of you. The longer it is delayed, the more people will continue to have faith in destruction.
To help others have the same faith as you, you need to delay your train. If you are someone who already has faith, then your train has already left the station. Therefore, it is not a matter of delaying the departure. That time was already fixed. Only by extending your distance, can you now slow down your speed. A new perspective on living is needed to extend the distance. It is not that you will die one day, but that you have been dying from the moment you took birth. Just changing your perspective on how to live and how to die, allows you to have faith in the long-term process.
The late Administrative Chief of the Brahma Kumaris, Dadi Janki, knew how to live from the inside out, she was an example of soul conscious living. But she was also an example of knowing how to die.
When you know how to die, you will know how to live your new life as a butterfly, before you emerge as one. This is how you can help others have faith too.
