Complete Works, Vol I

From the Conclusion of Efficacy of Raja Yoga as found in Complete Works of Shri Ram Chandra, Volume I. Here are some notes I took from the reading. I’m sharing them here as reminders to myself of what I do well and what I might ought to improve on.

1. Spiritual essence of food – Recognize it. Value it. Honor it. Don’t be fanatical about it.
2. Try not to unnecessarily injure or prick the heart or feelings of others.
3. Look to bright side of the picture. Always.
4. One cannot become a yogi without actual practice with love and devotion.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

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Ghar Jaake Dekhna

I was reading around online when I came across something I found to be interesting. The idea of an “incomplete sitting” was discussed here, in a quote by the current Global Guide of Heartfulness and Sahaj Marg, known now as Daaji. Anyone who has experienced the Sahaj Marg method of Raja Yoga knows what a sitting is. It’s possible that someone learning the Heartfulness path could meditate without transmission – but even among that group of newcomers, transmission or a “sitting” is commonplace. It’s a palpable difference – meditating with transmission versus without.

Very recently, the sittings I’ve had have been altogether unique. A real shift in things experienced. I might write more about that later, but for now lets stay focused on this idea of an incomplete sitting. When I first started reading I thought the mention of an incomplete sitting sounds like something to certainly avoid. Since starting on this path of raja yoga there have been two times when I needed to excuse myself before the sitting or group meditation was technically finished. But that’s not what the link above will let you read about.

In an informal discussion, Daaji shares that there are times when, while giving a sitting, he just kinda pauses it all. The sitting is started, and underway, and then is kind of boxed up in spiritual Tupperware and sent home with the abhyasis – usually without the abhyasi even knowing. Then later, if the abhyasi sits at home, the rest of the “meal” can be enjoyed. Two gurus earlier in our lineage (I mean, two before Daaji), Babuji was known to have said, “Ghar jaake dekhna” which translates to something like, “observe at home.” It’s important to note our condition immediately following the sitting, but it can apparently also be quite beneficial to collect ourselves again once we’ve returned home and finish tasting the sustenance just received.

I have never heard of any prefect or preceptor doing this – only Daaji (and Babuji?) so I doubt it’s commonplace at all and, in fact, is maybe even something Daaji would advise against generally. We’re encouraged to be fully dedicated to our practice and this kind of playfulness should likely be reserved for someone with more mastery than the average abhyasi or prefect. Still, I kind of like the idea… spiritual left overs to be enjoyed after we get home from the sitting. They say chili soup is better as leftovers. What a treat to be able to carry home some “uneaten” prana and bask in those leftovers there.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

MindBodyGreen

 

I’ve written so many times about things I see on Facebook. Today, as I prepared to take my lunch at work, I ran across a post in my feed of an article shared by MBG (MindBodyGreen) website. It was a piece written on Heartfulness. I found it to be simple but impressive and conveys the very most basic layer of Heartfulness which has been a focus lately as Heartfulness opens itself up to the world. If you would like to read the article for yourself, then you can click here.

I’m always curious when I see write-ups like this. My path is undergoing a period of intense evolution, and while it’s unstoppable and surely beneficial, it’s also not been without its bumps. In the last two weeks, locally, the Heartfulness Indianapolis community has held two meetings. These meetings haven’t quite gone as planned, but were productive nonetheless and in the first meeting there was an abhyasi who asked a question the answer to which ended up really flavoring the entire gathering that day. Quite simply he asked, “What is Heartfulness?” His question carried other implied questions which were also addressed. Questions like, “How does it differ from traditional Sahaj Marg?” and “In Heartfulness, are we losing our history and stepping away from our known foundation?” The preceptor leading the gathering answered the question to the best of her ability and the answer was very full. Her answer also left the conversation open for discussion from others and input based on an individual’s current understanding. We had passed around a flier, quite professional looking, which could be used when presenting Heartfulness in a more professional setting.

The dialogue that day certainly was indication of questions and concerns some older abhyasis (not an age reference, but a duration-of-practice reference) have been chewing on. In fact, and I brought this up in the chat that day, when the term Heartfulness was first brought to my attention and a website shared with me, I went and the very first thing to catch my eye was that the masters weren’t mentioned anywhere. My very first question to my preceptor was, “Where did the masters go?” And my second question was, “Is this still Sahaj Marg? Since then, much discussion has centered around this change, this new phase of our evolution – and that was certainly the case a couple weeks ago when the one brother asked his questions.

During that meeting another brother, and one who, quite frankly, is an impressive individual – as a father and member of society and abhyasi – raised his concern that things might be getting too far from center with this new phase. Or, at least, that’s how I interpreted his seeming rebuttal because he brought up that so much has changed – seemingly now so little emphasis on Master, Method, etc… as there had been for prior decades. He also mentioned that yoga (hatha yoga, asana) made its way to the West and was almost instantly “cheapened” because westerners are missing most of the benefit of this practice. (For anyone unaware, here in the USA people practice hatha yoga primarily for the health benefits – and are almost entirely complete and utterly unaware of things directly related to yogasana like mantra and pranayama, and which are not really meant to be excluded from the practice of hatha yoga.) He’s not wrong. And even as a westerner, I’m a little saddened that so many people only seem to care about whether their trikonasana looks good and not the REAL benefit brought to the practitioner.

But these things shouldn’t be a source of worry for us. I know that Sahaj Marg and especially Heartfulness shies away from the label of “Hindu” where religion / spirituality is concerned – but I kind of don’t care. I still consider myself to be a practicing Hindu and so many other aspects of this practice are either definitely Hindu or clearly have Hindu origins / foundations. So whatever. When I came to Hinduism one thing that really impressed me and offers an incredible amount of freedom is that the One is called by many names. We say, “Ekam sat – vipraha bahuda vadanti.” Something important to this is understanding that the “various” names we can now use to reference Truth didn’t arise simultaneously. One understanding was gained and then another, sequentially, as humanity changed and evolved. And yet now, as Hindus, we know that we can call Truth in the Christian way or the Hindu way or the Aboriginal way and nothing about Truth really changes. Ever.

In our conversation that day, after the one brother asked his questions and the other brother voiced his concerns, the input I offered included (among other talking points) an analogy which is one I’ve used before to explain to outsiders Hinduism’s view of God – a woman and her cosmetic makeup: It’s possible that a woman would wear one style of lipstick / eye shadow / etc… to work, but wear a different appearance in makeup to church, and yet a different appearance an evening dinner party. And yet the woman underneath that makeup is the same, truly unchanged regardless of the appearance fitting for the circumstances. This is Heartfulness – nothing, really, is changing. Truth doesn’t change! The most recent steps in our collective evolution as a spiritual community have meant that we are more open and accessible than ever before – and growing like never before! Transmission is stronger and more constant, the age requirement has been lowered, and sittings can be conducted remotely… just to name a few. For crying out loud – we have an app! We’re beginning to call Truth by yet another name. Truth is wearing new lipstick and eye shadow, and yet what’s beneath isn’t going anywhere.

And that’s one thing I found comforting about the MBG article – it mentions the Truth we abhyasis are familiar with and upon which we have built our practice. The piece on MBG mentions new and old terms: Daaji is called the “global guide” instead of Master, “super-inclusive” is a descriptor I’ve not often heard of our practice but is absolutely true, “rooted in Raja Yoga,” the practice is offered for free,” there are five steps detailed in the article which will be familiar to all practicing abhyasis and relate to beginning and maintaining the practice as well as our Ten Maxims, and just prior to mentioning the upcoming conferences in the USA is mention that our setting is “inspirational and high-vibe” which to me is a direct correlation to our method of yogic transmission and how potent it can be in satsangh.

Near the end of the one meeting in which the brother asked his questions, I had the chance to chat with him off to the side. His understanding was actually far deeper than his questions let on. He understands, and was able to articulate to me, that he sees clearly our guruji in all the changes and also that he can see by looking back that every time Sahaj Marg began to solidify too much – that is, to become gross and more dense, heavier – the masters would switch things up. It’s been a controlled, guided, and measured process all along and nothing even close to losing touch with our foundation or becoming cheap like Americans interested in only the physical part of hatha yoga.

It’s certainly important to be vigilant and maintain a watchful eye on wayward directions things sometimes go in, but just as important is not to mistake the woman for the makeup she wears.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

Billdings Deestroied

 

 

 

 

The two pics above are of pretty much the same thing – the demolition site of what once was a Perkins restaurant. I’m writing about this because it’s the first place my husband and I exchanged I-Love-Yous. In fact, not far at all from this location is the place we met for our first date. (Marsh parking lot – we went to the far west side of Indy to a Mexican restuarant for dinner that night.) I couldn’t tell you how many times we ate at this Perkins, but it wasn’t often. We would go there only occasionally with friends or something… the last time I was there, I went alone and had quite an interaction with a homeless man. Regardless of how much or how little we went to that place to eat, it would always stand out in my mind because of that one dinner we shared.

We were both so young – in our early 20s! Both of us were skinnier and both of us had far longer hair and we were both far more naive and emotional, and unexpectedly in love. I think neither of us expected to feel toward the other the way we did. But we went with it. I recall meeting him in the parking lot that night – the weather was warm so it had to have at least been autumn but was probably early summer. It was late enough that the sky had already darkened – which for Indiana spring / summer / autumn means after 8:30pm. We parked next to each other and when he got out of his car he held a small stuffed animal and a rose as presents for me. I couldn’t have cared less about the stuffed animal, but flowers have been / are / always will be my favorite gift to receive. I remember thinking it was so sweet of him… I had no idea that these gifts were a sign of how our dinner would go.

We were seated, and I think we had ordered, and were sitting talking to each other while holding hands across the table – something we’re not likely to do now (you tend to outgrow that kind of juvenile stuff as you age together. It’s still nice and fun but feels less necessary once you know the other isn’t at risk to run away). Holding my hands across the table, he was suddenly quite nervous. He was so timid and kinda quiet and said, “I love you.”

And I froze.

And then he cried. Before I knew it, I had upset him. Without making a huge scene, he cried openly right there and made it clear, “I said it because thought you would say it, too!” Seeing pain in others has always been jarring to me and made for a quick call to attention. I snapped out of my frozen state and returned with, “I love you, too” and then tried to explain why my response was tardy. Things were smoothed out, the night moved on and so did our lives together.

As long as I live, all dementia and Alzheimer’s aside, I’ll always remember that night and that Perkins location. My ex and I were together for 7 years and he was my first (and only other) real relationship and I couldn’t tell you the how or when of our first I-Love-You. But I’ll never forget that evening with Wayne. It’s quite an impression I carry.

Heartfulness / Sahaj Marg is a meditation practice which is supplemented by a “cleaning” practice. Our cleaning and meditation do much for removing impressions that are sticking around long after they should. To be clear, removing burdensome impressions doesn’t mean forgetting. Events in our lives (inclusive of the words and sounds and sights and feelings, etc… that make up those events) are never necessarily good or bad, but we categorize them as good or bad based on our temperament and outlook and other influences like culture and language and religion. Because of those influences, and the resultant categories we create in our minds, we carry impressions. And so, dinner with my husband isn’t just that – even though it really is JUST that. Because of the aforementioned influence, I assign a category and lots of associated importance or … whatever … to something that simply and naturally just is. The real tragedy here is that letting something be as it is is far more beautiful than any significance our minds and concoct.

So we make mountains out of molehills and, as you can understand, mountains are far tougher to carry – thus our store of samskaric impressions. To further illustrate this, there’s a story about a woman and two Buddhist monks. The two monks were traveling by foot when they came to a stream or river where a woman was fretting about crossing. She wasn’t able to cross the water … for some reason I now forget – maybe because she didn’t want her clothes to get wet or something. So one of the monks picked her up and carried her over the water, to the other side. The two monks then continued their journey. Some miles down the road, the second monk couldn’t keep it in anymore and verbally lashed out at the first monk – scolding him for his nerve to touch a woman, let alone carry her, and yelled at him for compromising his monkhood at the risk of lust, breaking vows, etc… To all of this, the first monk (who had carried the woman) responded simply with,”Brother, are you still carrying that woman? I put her down miles ago!”

I don’t need that Perkins location to remain standing for my husband’s love to be real or valid, or nor the same for my love of him. But, quite ridiculously, there’s a part of me that feels offended at the demolition. That’s an impression that needs to go and, thankfully,  through my Heartfulness practice of meditation and cleaning I’ll eventually be successful in releasing that impression. After all, any love that is stuck to a landmark from 12 years ago is a dead love, and no love I care for.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

Bad Words

Image taken from Google Image search

 

A short time ago, a friend and I were talking about bad language. Swear words. I use them often. There’s a “study” that makes rounds on Facebook every once in a while that apparently legitimately indicates that people who swear regularly are statistically more honest. One of my favorite things about my maternal grandmother is her swearing ability. Truly, par excellence. She can fit 6 swear words into a 4-word sentence without violating any rules of grammar. Swear words are descriptive in practically artistic ways. I speak English and much German and I’ve encountered swear words in French and Gaelic and I’ve noticed that calling someone a certain swear word in one language doesn’t necessarily translate to the same in another language. I could provide you examples, but I won’t.

Why won’t I? Because it’s likely – even very likely – that you are already programmed to think swear words are really and truly bad words. So many people have believed this that you could say there’s an alternate vocab list that can be used instead and which let’s the user off the profanity hook. For instance, if I say darn or shoot then you probably wouldn’t flinch. You know exactly what I’m meaning to say, but for some stupid reason there’s a difference in your head between shoot and shit, darn and damn. Trust me, there isn’t really.

But we typically think there is, because of impressions we carry. Those impressions can go quite deep – so deep we’re no longer aware of how they influence us. It’s said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Pulling a gun’s trigger is pulling a gun’s trigger. If you’re intending to hit a “bad guy” but instead hit and kill an innocent bystander – does that change anything about you firing the gun? Nope. You intended to hit a person and so you fired a gun. Sorry about your bad aim and that innocent’s unfortunate karma, but nothing changes in that situation just because you intended a different target.

When I was a teenager I had a friend – a sweet Christian girl named Stephanie who only a month or so ago died of cancer. She always wore glitter eye shadow. Always. If anyone was ever the human equivalent of a Care Bear, Stephanie was. (That’s not a jab at her). She was kind and sweet and nearly always smiling. And when she stubbed her toe or someone made her mad she would say, “PINEAPPLE!” – and she said it with gusto! For any situation where I might say shit or damn or drop the f-bomb, Stephanie would use the word, pineapple. Similarly, I’ve heard people say things like, “Bananas!” or “Fudge!” When I was growing up and yet living at home, my brothers and I weren’t allowed to say “freakin'” because, as my mom once made very VERY clear to me, “That’s about as close to FUCK as you can get!”

You see? There’s no difference. If I say fudge and I mean fudge, then I’m saying fudge. Simple. Equally as simple, and yet somehow twisted among the impressions we carry regarding this, if I say fudge and I mean fuck – I’m still truly just saying fuck. You can argue that there’s a difference and that saying fudge when you mean to employ the f-bomb is somehow better, but the truth is that sugar-coated poop is still poop.

The programming or impressions that most of us carry regarding this are something that should be managed in a healthy and effective manner. Sometimes, when I’m engaged in my Heartfulness meditation practice, things like this surface and knock my socks off. Sometimes you don’t realize how frankly ridiculous you’ve been until you enable yourself to step aside briefly and see from a different angle, as the Observer. Without this, it’s like walking across a dirty floor time after time and always having dirty feet as a result. We come to recognize dirty feet as a norm, but shouldn’t. It’s good – and necessary – to stir that dirt up and get it off the floor so that our feet can become, and stay, clean.

In our meditation practice there’s a cleaning that happens. A lightening of these sorts of burdens. In fact, this is a significant part of an individual’s process of self-evolution and integration. It’s healthy. In order for us to move forward and become a better Christian or Muslim or Hindu or Atheist or Manager or Cashier or Mom or Dad or Prostitute we need to take a look at these things that are weighing us down unnecessarily and discard them as the lunacy they are.

Another bit of dirt clinging to the bottom of your foot and which you might want to look at is the reaction you had when I mentioned becoming a better prostitute. Thanks for reading.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

Guru Paduka Stotram

I have recently spent time on Youtube browsing a number of videos. I’m often fond of watching covers of liked music, various recordings of the muslim call to prayer and the atharvashirsha, and random other videos like old Ms. Swan sketches or Wine About It with Matt Bellassai (sp?).

Recently I came across a video, which I posted to Facebook, of the guru paduka stotram. There’s a good chance that you, dear reader, don’t know at least three words of the last sentence: Guru, Paduka, and Stotram. Lemme explain.

Guru, in western terms, could be interpreted (different than a translation) as a life teacher. One who has mastered being a human and is available to lead others in the same way.

Paduka, in very modern western terms, could be interpreted as the original flip-flop sandals. If you Google this word then you will see that it’s basically a sole, a “post” that comes up from the sole to between the great toe and the second toe, and lastly a knob of sorts that sits at the top of the post (surely to aid in grip).

For Stotram there really is no modern or western equivalent. I suppose it could be just a “hymn.” In fact, when you Wiki this word you will learn that it can be “a prayer, a description, or a conversation, but always with a poetic structure” and “hymn of praise” is our nearest same thing. For Hindus, this is a sacred text which is meant to be sung and not chanted or plainly recited. Most of the other texts that we have can and are chanted or otherwise just recited, but a stotram differs in that it must be melodiously sung.

To when you string those together you should understand that the Guru Paduka Stotram is a hymn of praise for the guru’s sandals. In Hindu culture the feet of a saint or deity are significant and symbolic. The feet touch the dirt and are usually the “lowest” place of a person’s body – lower than the ankles, which are lower than the knees, which are lower than the pelvis, which is lower than the abdomen, and so forth. To revere a holy person’s feet is an expression of deep, sincere, humility.

I’m embedding a version of the Guru Paduka Stotram that I’ve been listening to. I hope you like it.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha

Lalaji Bhandara 2016

It’s been more than a month and a week since I last wrote anything on here… I am ever amazed at how quickly life escapes through the cracks and gets out of hand. This is mostly a good thing, but can also be bittersweet. Finding or making time for life and only life – while stepping away from life – is super important, though, and for the first time in a while I was able to do this. The occasion was marked by the annual celebration of my path’s Adiguru / Satguru whose name was Shri Ram Chandra of Fategahr – otherwise known as Lalaji.

The celebration, as I understand, usually falls closely to the Hindu fest of Basant / Vasant Panchami, which is often just said as Basant / Vasant. I first knew of this holiday as a celebration of students and learning and wisdom and the goddess of those things who is called Saraswati (pronounced Sahr-ahs-swah-tee). This year, though, for the first time ever I was able to attend a bhandara at the nearest Sahaj Marg ashram to where I live, which is in the next state over. Ohio. And it truly was a memorable experience.

Abhyasis who are local to the ashram often host those who are traveling to the area, which can amount to a good $300 or more in savings when a hotel stay is avoided. For my first time, one of my local prefects extended an offer to me from a prefect local to the Beaver Creek Ashram. Her name is Uma and I was very pleased to meet her, although I declined the offer. Perhaps in the future I’ll take her or another up on an offer like that, if there are such offers, but for my first time I really felt more comfortable staying in a hotel in the area. And it was quite comfortable at the Hilton Garden Inn.

The first day for me started quite early. I had done some prepping on the Thursday night prior, but most of my packing and prepping was done the morning in which I left for Ohio. My husband took me to the home of a local prefect, Janmarie, and together she and I set off to Ohio. That was at around 0530 or 0600 that morning. We had to be in Ohio and at the ashram to assist with set up and other preps for the day. Aside from the extra-early start that first day, each day of the weekend was much the same. Lather, rinse, repeat. Yes?

Each day started around 0800 or 0900 with breakfast and everyone convening for the first meditation of the day. It was how each day started – which is typical of our practice. From there, the days all followed about the same general pattern. Breakfast, then an hour of meditation. Then an hour of maybe a reading or short spoken lesson or something. Then another hour of meditation. Then something else like a video or another reading or a small group activity… for about an hour. Then an hour of meditation. Each day went like this and the routine really was only broken up by lunch and a short break in the morning and one in the evening. At the end of each day, dinner was shared. After that the Universal Prayer – said nightly by all abhyasis at around 2100 (local time). We would then dismiss and meet again the next morning. Friday and Saturday were spent in this way – a good 12 hours of meditation and reflection. Sunday was the same really except for being shorter. We dismissed just around 1400, which took us until just when lunch was finished. Otherwise, Sunday was the same as Saturday and Friday.

I was fortunate enough that this ashram has a bookstore and I certainly took advantage! For just under $100 I was able to get my grubby paws on just under ten of the path’s published texts which was a nice boost to my growing collection.

Sunday morning (I think!), a local prefect from Indy area, Manisha, gave the sitting for all abhyasis in attendance. She’s a sweet soul and hasn’t been a prefect for very long and has never led such a number of people in meditation before – Indy’s community is smaller. On Sunday, after lunch was eaten, Manisha and I headed home. I was very fortunate that she was able to bring me home Sunday, else I would have had to end the weekend a day earlier which is when Janmarie headed back to Indy.

The drive from Indy to Dayton is a fairly straight line running East-West and normally takes only a couple hours to travel. That day, however, it would take Manisha and me far longer to get home. There’s an exit for the town of New Castle and it was right around there on Interstate 70 that Manisha and I hit a patch of ice just before entering a bridge. Had the patch of ice been 10 feet sooner we would likely have ended up in the river that our bridge crosses. Instead, what happened was that we hit the ice, our front end swiveled toward the side of the bridge and we hit that. This caused the car to ricochet and sent the car into a spin. Our karmas then mandated that we spin all over the place in the slow lane of the interstate before moving into the fast lane and doing the same. At one point, the car caught some snow / grass on the far side of the fast lane and this stopped our spinning – with us facing the wrong way, in the fast lane, sliding backwards. We came to a stop along some guard cables – still facing the wrong way, still on the fast side of the interstate.

Soon after coming to a stop, and while we were both checking our senses to be sure we were alive and well, a stranger stopped to help us. He was able to get the car out from where it had stopped, across the interstate to the slow side, and facing the direction of traffic. He looked the vehicle over, very reluctantly accepted money from me, and then left.

For the next hour Manisha and I were on and off the phone with 911, her husband, and her auto insurance company. It was quite exhausting ironing out the necessities of the moment. A police arrived and gave us a report – which, by the time it was done, we learned was unnecessary. WE attempted to drive a bit, and did drive for about 50 feet. But then heard a strange noise with the car and became scared so we stopped. A short while later, though, we decided to at least brave a drive to the nearest exit, and so we did. When we got there we did another inspection of the car – the damage to which appeared to be mostly cosmetic, despite the odd noise we heard. From there we chose to continue the trek home since the weather was getting worse by the minute.

By this time, however, the interstate was getting really backed up due to a big accident a few miles ahead of us. Using her car’s GPS we rerouted and found our way to her home in Indianapolis / Fishers, but not before winding our way through the most remote country roads I’ve ever been on which took us nearly as far north as Anderson! I tried staying in touch with my husband the whole time and shortly after we arrived at Manisha’s house he was there to get me and then I finally was brought home. Manisha did so well through all of it – never once losing her cool or panicking. We were so glad to have had each other’s company during the ordeal and feel it help seal a real bond between us. Considering things could have ended very badly had we hit the initial ice a few feet sooner and missed the bridge, or been struck by another vehicle while we spun everywhere, or god forbid another mishap while we were so far out in the country, I believe this experience was guided as by guru kripa.

Despite battling a bit of a head cold the whole time, and the near death experience, the weekend was lovely and I look forward to future gatherings and celebrations. I’ve included a number of pictures from the weekend below.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha

Aum Shanti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pipe Distribution

Image taken from Google Image search

 

I receive a number of emails daily from the Sahaj Marg. There are newsletters, and daily inspiration emails, as well as a number of other kind of emails that are issued daily.

In one email from last week, something caught my attention. It is a Daily Reflection email and while the quotes recently have been a lot of things from Kamlesh-bhai, this one was something our last master, Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari ( Chariji ), had said. I’ll share his words below. (The source is Heartspeak 2004, Volume 2, Chapter “Giving Without Restraint”)

“So it starts with your heart being a tiny pipe. The more you distribute, that pipe becomes bigger and bigger. It becomes a six inch pipe, a twelve inch pipe, until the whole universe is a pipe.”

The thing that caught me about this is the use of the word distribute. I chewed on it for a minute by myself and then reached out to one of my favorite preceptors locally. She started to email me a response and then we agreed to chat about it after that evening’s meditation (it was Wednesday). That night, after meditation and after most of the others had gone, she and I chatted about this. I now can’t do our discussion justice – we discussed, among many things, what I have come to call a “vishwaroopa moment.” The immensely successful Oprah has what I think she calls “Aha moments,” and I think this is my mind’s equivalent of it.

For anyone unfamiliar with the Bhagavad Gita, it’s a conversation between Arjuna (a warrior and taxi driver) and Krishna (god, in a human body). Arjuna is pretty messed up and right there in the middle of the battlefield Krishna tries to enlighten the despondent Arjuna. He offers one approach and then another, example after example, and Arjuna just ain’t gettin’ it. Finally, Krishna’s like, “Look here, you fool….” and reveals his “true” form. Arjuna is given a vision of Truth and how very all-encompassing It is. He sees, literally, everything. All life forms, cosmic structure and activity, stars, teeth, eyes …. all before him – EVERYTHING. And, as expected, he freaks out and want Krishna to turn off the fireworks because they’re more than overwhelming. These moments (Oprah’s “Aha” and my “Vishwaroopa”) aren’t exactly synonymous. But for the purposes of this blog and this post, they are. They both represent a widening of knowledge and wisdom and understanding and experience. My conversation with the preceptor touched on a vishwaroopa moment, kinda.

She explained many things to me and collectively they added up to a very complete answer to my question – an answer so complete, in fact, that sooooo much was encompassed in it that when I tried to comprehend it as a single unit my mind’s eye kinda just stepped back all wide and whatnot and was like, “WHOA.” I’ll try to share, in a rather abbreviated way, what I took from our conversation that night.

1. A part of the Sahaj Marg / Heartfulness practice is the rearranging of one’s consciousness.
2. The movement involved in rearranging consciousness creates a kind of “vacuum.”
3. In the aforementioned vacuum, there lies potential for greater and greater transmission, increasing in proportion to the growth of the aforementioned vacuum.
4. The more we clean and practice this path of Heartfulness, the bigger (progressively) our “heart pipe” becomes.

This might not sound too fantastic from where you sit, but from where I currently sit on this path it’s incredible. It’s a Vishwaroopa Moment. Our lineage masters place so much hope in the abhyasis. Enormous faith is placed in us that we can be as effectual as they are – and so much of the picture has been revealed. You practice, rearrange your own consciousness (and in that process manage various impressions / samskaras and their related karmas), create the vacuum which is refilled with divinity of pureness, and as all this happens it continues and self-perpetuates – the pipe widens and eventually engulfs all and All. And so we come to know, experience, and be what Hindus call Brahman.

It’s amazing how much can be communicated by a master / guru in so few words.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

Sams-karma-s

Image taken from Google Image search

 

So… the title of this post is a real botch job, don’t hate me. I was combining the word karma into the word samskara. The terms are very different and yet intimately related. Karma, in its most dummied down translation, is “action” and samskara, in like form, means impression – a subtle impression that is carried with us. Have you ever reacted in a certain way and almost felt you had no choice? That was probably the influence of some kind of impression / samskara. Obviously, something like that would influence your actions (reactions) and so you can see the two are a closely knitted pair.

The Heartfulness path (aka Sahaj Marg) deals heavily with both of these concepts, although quite extensively with samskaras. The “magic” of this path and our practice is that the samskaras are “scrubbed” away through the diligent employment of our practice.

Recently, through a couple Daily Reflections delivered into my inbox, I received a nice lesson. Everyone thinks about karma and samskara in regard to thing you have done or might do. But our guru, Kamlesh D. Patel, helps us understand that there’s another side of the coin: Inaction. I guess this might mean those could’as, would’as, and should’as. The things you didn’t do or say that you should have or really needed to (not for your benefit but for the benefit of others). Many times when people speak of regret they speak of something they wish they’d said or done or somewhere they’d gone. Sometimes this feeling of regret really sticks to a person – like a subtle impression. And obviously, the application of all this is not limited to regret. After all, we’re talking about very subtle components of life. Many people wander through life practically oblivious to really blatant and mundane things, so it’s no wonder at all to consider that these impressions formed from inaction wouldn’t necessarily be on one’s radar.

In the second edition of Designing Destiny (2015), Shri Kamlesh-bhai said of inaction, “It is not only our actions that promote samskaras. Our inactions can create lethal samskaras that are worse than those created by our actions.” In the same chapter of that book, he also states, “Samskaras created by inactions, deliberate inactions, amount to the heaviest of the samskaras in our system. They can be removed, no doubt, but then a commitment of very high order is required. Your cooperation at every level is required.”

I think these quotes communicate some very serious and helpful information. Kamlesh-bhai uses the word lethal. That’s a heavy word. Means deadly, right? Without further research I won’t guess at what Kamlesh-bhai fully meant in the usage of that word, but from where I sit I see a connection to the usage of that word within the context of samskaras. For as long as we carry these impressions / samskaras, we’ll be saddled with karma. And as long as either applies to our existence, our existence will be tied directly to the wheel of samsara – which is the cycle of death and rebirth. Because death is not the opposite of life, but rather the opposite of birth, Kamlesh-bhai’s use of “lethal” seems to point directly to that connection between death and rebirth.

There are a number of things to take from our guru-ji’s words but this one implication – inaction being lethal – is really enough to give everyone pause and serious consideration to why you sometimes don’t do the things you don’t do.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

For Humanity

Image taken from the Heartfulness website

 

Image taken from Heartfulness website

 

Image taken from Heartfulness website

 

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Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti