Calm the Tempest Within

Neville's Inner Vision

On the surface the boat is tossed by a violent sea, and the crew seek a fix. In the inner reading, the storm is a tempest of the mind; the sailors' question points to the human need for solution by action, while Jonah's reply reveals a deeper law: the self that claims responsibility for the trouble is the very source of the disturbance. Cast me forth into the sea becomes a symbolic act of revising the self-concept. When I, the I, am cast out of the imagined vessel of separation, the mind stops looking for control through force and, instead, rests in the awareness that the I AM is one with all. The tempest lasts only as long as the belief in a separate self insists on its own judgment; when that belief is released, the sea becomes calm because the energy is no longer fed by resistance. Therefore the instruction is not to change external conditions but to change the internal stance: I am willing to let the false self be cast away, and I awaken to the truth that my awareness is full and untroubled. Trust replaces effort; calm follows surrender.