Reality is Enough

“Life is not a bed of roses.” That’s what Babuji said in a Whisper from the Brighter World on April 19th of this year, which I’ve attached to the bottom of this post. He went on to talk about how life’s challenges are essential to the process of evolution and it all ties back into so much that I’ve read throughout the Sahaj literature – It’s because life is not a bed of roses that we’re not impressed by the idea of a life of sannyas or retreating to the Himalayas permanently to seek enlightenment. From the very beginning of life – period – the only evolution that’s ever happened has occurred because of a challenge or stimulus faced. “Trials are necessary and formative; without them there would be nothing to drive things forward,” he says. I have always said that, as human beings, we’re endowed with a unique and highly-evolved ability to learn without the need for misery. But that doesn’t in any way conflict with the idea that life would come inherent with trials. Trials are necessary. Misery? Pain? Suffering? Those are fully optional.

The month of June, for me, was kinda full where trials are concerned. Most of May, for that matter, too. I was approached by a zonal coordinator wondering if I’d ever considered serving as a preceptor and I was thrilled at the idea. For anyone unfamiliar, this role comes with no glory. As I understand, it’s mostly an opportunity to plug in deeper and serve on a greater, more thankless scale than other abhyasis. Still, that’s exactly what sounded good to me. I’m always happy to assist my local Heartfulness community – be it financially, with my time, with my meditations, or with any skills I possess which will help further our cause. And to be clear – I do or have done all of those things and there’s never been time when I’ve been told “no” to serving because I’m not a prefect. But still, the idea of serving as a prefect made me happy and so I agreed to become a candidate.

I’m a little sad to report, however, (and I do mean only a little) that my candidacy was not successful. After doing what most people would considering jumping through hoops as part of an embarrassingly, insanely disorganized process, and receiving what many would interpret to be positive signs along the way, it was ultimately decided that I would not be chosen. My region / zone did have others who were put forth as candidates and some have been successful. And it’s not uncommon at all for a candidate to be refused on the first try, or the second try, or the third, etc… I know of abhyasis who were so taken with the idea of being a prefect / preceptor that they would approach the current Master in tears because of it and be refused multiple times. The only part of my unsuccessful candidacy that truly ever bothered me (and this is less the case than when things were fresh) is that there was very little in the way of productive feedback given. We all had to study like CRAZY. We had to have read many of the Sahaj Marg works. We had to pass a test which took me, personally, something like six full hours to complete. We had to do a number of other things just to be considered – and that’s truly just fine. Most of those ridiculous hoops jumped through were, at a minimum, for the sake of showing who we were, exhibiting our commitment, and demonstrating that we’d invested in our own understanding of the Marg. These are all good hoops to make people jump through.

But then the answer came and was hardly more than a “No.” (To be clear, it WAS more than a flat ‘No,’ but hardly.) I can say with all honesty and no bitterness that this was the toughest part to accept. Nothing was communicated in regard to whether I passed the written test or whether I hadn’t had enough sittings or really in regard to any of the other hoops which were jumped through just to be considered. All of this process wrapped up just before I made the trip to New Jersey to see Daaji – except I never saw him. I mean, I did see him – once a day or so, from about 30 feet away. Common sense, and some private conversations, told me that there were others in Newark that weekend which were also rejected in this way. To my knowledge there was never a concern for helping these failed aspirants understand the nature of our rejection or how to reapply more effectively. No compass was given so that I could better myself as a candidate – which, obviously, is all for the sake of serving Heartfulness on a deeper level.

That’s something I still think about from time to time, but anyone who knows me at all also knows my life is anything but stagnate. It was around this same time that I was very afraid of leaving Indiana, even for a weekend, because a dear friend of mine was expected to pass away at any time. She didn’t pass until a few weeks after the New Jersey weekend but when she left, I think she took something with me. I’m still trying to sort that out fully, and with any luck I’ll write about it here – but don’t bank on that. The weekend after the failed prefector candidacy was finalized, I had to hop right back into grhasta life and keep moving. Always moving. Always.

Sometimes reality is challenging. But it is what it is.  Being turned away as a prefect, everything leading up to that, and then Leah’s death which followed after was enough for a significant shift in my perspective. Fires of change felt SO hot during that period and I’m certain some dross I’d been carrying was burnt away. I do recognize a difference – a very clear before and after, although tough to put words to it. The whisper shared here was something shared with me by a local prefect – the one who’d put me up as a candidate. I was actually reading it from having received it on my own when she sent it to me along with the words, “Reality is enough, and as such, all is well.” Babuji was our guide, two guides ago. At different times in my Sahaj journey I’ve felt my connection to him more strongly than at other times, usually feeling more attuned to Lalaji, but I can tell you Babuji hit the nail on the head in the whisper given.

“Reality is enough, and as such, all is well.”

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

 

Whisper

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Speaking Tree

Another place Daaji is making his presence known is on the Speaking Tree website by Times of India. You can find Daaji’s profile there by clicking here. When I came to find out about this, Daaji had only 33 followers through that site and also was the first “Followed Master” to have a following that hadn’t yet entered the triple or quadruple digits. He now has 34 followers there and I look forward to viewing content made available through the Speaking Tree.

When this was brought to my attention via a recent abhyasi newsletter, it was because of this website being the location of another of Daaji’s online blogs. You can click here to access that blog. Right now there is only an initial post which only gives a taste of what is to come – Daaji’s presentation of Heartfulness.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shri Gurubhyo Namaha | Aum Shanti

HuffPost, Y’all

Daaji, the “global guide” for Heartfulness and Sahaj Marg, now has a regular blog postings at the HuffPost Healthy Living site. You can find it by clicking here. The first post you’ll see here is that Daaji discusses “How to Put Your Heart Into Living” and breaks that approach up into ideas dealing with “How do we compromise our intrinsic good?” “How does the heart speak?” “Easing the burden: the play of heart and mind” and “How to integrate the heart and mind?”

Before diving into these areas of discussion, Daaji gives a few examples of when ignoring the heart and its connection to the brain lead us awry. “There are many issues at play. The most powerful arise when we ignore the intrinsic goodness and the intrinsic peace that exist in all of us,” he says, to gently remind us of what Eastern Dharmas have told us for many thousands of years and which is a trademark difference between spiritual paths originating in the East versus those from the Middle East or West.

When discussing the usual compromise of intrinsic goodness experienced by each of us, Daaji rightly points out that the whole mess begins with us labeling things and experiences and then being caught between these labels of our own making. Here in the USA, that is very apparent – and something about which we’re in deep denial. Regardless of the context – whether political, religious, sexual, economic, you name it – we do nothing but label and categorize things and experiences and then find ourselves caught because we’re so buried in self-created madness that we lose the right ability of discernment.

The first thing shared with us about how the heart speaks is that which is really common sense, but which most people gloss over: When we do what we ought to the heart is at peace and is silent, but when the opposite is true the heart protests! All of this hinges on simplicity and being in tune with Nature – relating back directly to the Ten Maxims.

The heart and mind, Daaji says, are always interconnected and when mindfulness and heartfulness are in perfect synchronicity they function as one and purpose in life is experienced and realized.

In closing we focus on integration – what Sahaj Marg and Heartfulness are really all about. Daaji mentions the need for observing “inner weather” – not too far off from the many times I’ve mentioned here about tending to one’s inner landscape or inner garden. We learn to still the mind, connect with and through the heart and find ourselves evolving and as Daaji pointed out, “… we steer through life wisely, steadfastly, sans regrets.”

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shri Gurubhyo Namaha |Aum Shanti

Blogroll Update

 

Not nearly often enough I get to visit other blogs. Between school, spirituality, and leisure all I do is read – seriously. I tell people that i get about 30 minutes of television per week and it’s really not far from what the actual truth probably is. I have so much reading on my plate, but I’d have it no other way – except that others’ blogspaces are usually last on the list of thing to poke at for reading material. Usually, though, my reading means additions to my home library and more wisdom stuffed into my brain space.

Here on Sthapati Samanvayam I maintain a side page of blogs I have found and which I think you should find, too. In order for you to find it you can go to Sthapati’s home page and locate the link for “Blogroll, if you please” which is right next to the page, “Samyag Akhyate (About Me)” – both of which are at the top right-ish area of the screen. Or you can just click here.

Either way, it’s been updated. There were a number of blogs included there which are now not – primarily because when I clicked the link the most recent post was from 2014 or else the site had been taken down altogether. Initially, this list of blogs was a fair mix – a true representation of the Smartism I love. There’s still a variety of blogs to be found there including places as diverse as general Hindu blogs, gay Hindu blogs, non-Indian Hindu blogs, and even paraplegic Hindu blogs – but now there’s a more bigger representation of blogs that center around Sahaj Marg or Heartfulness.

As I’ve written this post and near the publishing time for it, it comes to my mind that I might eventually – or soon – create a another side page to visit here which will specifically sort apart the blogs relating to Sahaj Marg and Heartfulness.

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

I’m sorry

It’s been said so many times that the best way to learn is to teach. I experienced this first-hand as a teen when I was “preaching” to Sunday school kids and had to prepare lessons for that and also a little while after that when I was in high school and taught German. You have to be prepared for what you want to communicate in the teaching as well as any potential exceptions to the lesson and any questions you might encounter from students.

In my own life, I’ve been a teacher to many – both in the sense that I mentioned before wherein I was physically standing before a type of audience for the purpose of imparting knowledge and also as a kind of “life teacher.” Grown-ups, young people, friends, family, and strangers alike have come to be for advice. This isn’t bragging, it’s just a fact. People have said to me that they perceive me to be someone who “has it together” and it creates a sense of trust. I’m flattered and honored to help anyone in any way I’m able and if all they need is advice then my work has been made easy. But this comes with a responsibility and one that I think I’ve failed at miserably.

I’ll back up a bit and share some of a story that was told to me a few weeks ago during a dinner with a prefect. We’d met for dinner for what I thought was strictly business – some questions and loose ends that she and I needed to review and try to nail down. As I should have expected, our conversation steered itself wherever it would and we talked about lots more than anticipated, some of which might be shared here later down the road. At one point she shared with me a couple experiences of hers from time when she was in the presence of our last guru, Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari (Chariji). I’m probably remembering the exact details wrong, but in one of the stories, a meal was being shared with those present including herself, Chariji, and a number of other prefects from different nations. The story meandered a bit but over the course of the dinner, as I understood, the different nations as they were represented at the table were focusing quite intensely on each other’s flaws or weaknesses… or at least this was part of the conversation… and I think it even started with talk about Americans.

Chariji was an active part of the discussion and, as any true teacher would be, played the role of a mirror to those engaged. As those present were being taught a very tough lesson about judging and finger-pointing (and who knows what else) the prefect telling me the story said that her own experience of the moment was of the energy being quite intense and heavy feeling. With that intensity, she began to feel herself wilt – like some kind of flower in the noon hour heat of Indiana’s very humid summer. Being an advanced soul himself, Chariji was able to sense this response in her. As he was sitting right next to her, he turned to her and gently said, “I’m sorry.”

There was another story she told me also involving being in his presence and him, at one point, saying to her, “I’m sorry.” This made me cry right then. I made an attempt to bring our dinner to a quick close, but she (seeing my upset) wouldn’t have it and insisted I sit back down and talk to her. She hadn’t even realized what a deep message she’d given me. This kind of wisdom is truly dark and wondrous and I wasn’t expecting it. Our guru’s awareness was so keen that he was able to sense her subtle response to the exchange taking place. That’s a sensitivity that I think I have yet to hone – which, to me, feel dangerous.

I wept at our dinner because instantly, as if Chariji were there to transmit the lesson himself, I was very aware of lessons I’ve given to others which were probably very tough to swallow. Lots of medicines are tough to choke down and that doesn’t in any way mean they aren’t the right medicine or that they aren’t what’s needed to cure the ailment in question. All of that, more than anything else, really speaks to the point in personal evolution the student is in at the time. But there’s a certain absence of compassion or … something … when a teacher knows the lesson is tough (as I have known some of my lessons are tough) and keeps pushing the student. Thinking about all the times my lessons have been tough for the students to internalize and realize and how I’ve continued to push … just about makes me sick to my stomach. It feels so irresponsible.

Recently, in Minnesota, I was telling a friend and his wife about this. Stupidly, I got kind of choked up while telling it – I really just can’t even believe myself sometimes. They were so understanding. My husband was in the car then, too, and I could see it in his eyes. Probably because he’s been a student a few times, himself. Even he could see the value in a teacher who says, “I’m sorry.” My friend and his wife seemed very understanding. They were quick to try to soothe my feelings. They reminded me that it’s okay. That my manner of giving wisdom is just my own and there’s nothing wrong with it. I think boot camp was mentioned, which makes me smile a little even now – I will definitely put someone through boot camp. They reassured me that even teachers are growing and evolving.

This is challenging for someone like me to accept – not because of the idea that I have more growing and learning to do, but because of the realization that my actions could be perceived as careless. Worse yet is that I’m not certain how to move beyond that. I only know to trust my evolution.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

Dayton Vaishnavs

A couple Sundays ago a friend and I went to Dayton, Ohio. Our original plan was to venture to Tennessee. There’s a temple of Ganesha there which I adore and the drive is only about four hours – not bad for a day trip. Dayton, however, has a temple that I only recently learned of while in one of the city’s suburbs at the Sahaj Marg ashram. Truly, the Dayton temple isn’t far from the ashram, which is in Beaver Creek.

We took a single interstate almost the whole way there – a journey lasting only a little over two hours. The difference in distance between Indy / Dayton and Indy / Nashville (Tennessee) was definitely a deciding factor for us. We left out pretty early for a Sunday morning and actually arrived at the temple with just enough time to stroll around the temple grounds for a bit and take some pictures before going inside for the start of the Venkateshwar abhishekam.

The first thing that struck me is how small the whole area is. I think the temple itself as well as the grounds around it (including parking lot) could probably fit in the same space as the Indy temple’s area – and have at least 30% left over. The building itself is nice enough to look at and the shape seems relatively modern and conducive to worship as well as community functions. The gopurams on top of the worship part of the building are … diminutive.  Even for the smaller size of the building, they felt too small. Additionally, there’s a free-standing gopuram out front of the main temple that looks unfinished and also is in a degree of disrepair. It was surrounded by yellow, plastic caution tape. No work seems to be in progress though, so I’m a little confused as to what exactly is going on.

Soon enough we both made our way inside the temple… through the basement, which is where most congregants have to enter. We removed our shoes and were greeted right away by another devotee who recognized us as first-timers. We were permitted to snoop around the basement a bit and take some pictures. After about five minutes we found our way upstairs into the main worship area. This area was obviously far more ornate than the basement, but like most other aspects of the whole temple even the worship hall was quite compact. There are only four or five garbas total, and a number of the deities which are usually in respective garbas in other temples I’ve been to are simply raised images on the exterior walls of these handful of garbas.

We made it upstairs just in time for the abhishekam of Shri Venkateshwar to begin. Gladly, we seated ourselves and watched everything unfold. I think this is actually the first such abhishekam for Shri Venkateshwar in which He is the temple’s main deity. I’m used to seeing Him all gussied up and wearing golden hands and tons of malas. The form itself is quite a bit smaller when all the fancy is wiped away.

There were times throughout the abhishekam when a quick aarti is performed. In my home temple, most of these involve the light being “offered” to the congregants after being offered to the deity. The priest will finish offering it to the god and then turn and face the crowd to do the same, at which time we all raise a hand or two to received the light and wash it over ourselves. Congregational Light Abhishekam / Aarti for the god within each of us. This didn’t happen at the Dayton temple – not even once. It’s hard for me not to feel slighted in some way, but I imagine this is attributed to a difference in puja style or something? Surely Vishnu would be cool sharing His Light with each of us, so I don’t understand why the priests didn’t facilitate that.

After the abhishekam, everyone lined up in front of the garba for Shri Venkateshwar… half of us on one side of the carpet leading to him and half on the other side, forming a kind of human hallway. The priests made their way down both sides of the aisle to distribute prasadam and other blessings. When this was finished, we meandered a bit to have another look at things and then left to get lunch. After eating, we were on our way out of Dayton when we spotted a Half Price Books store – one I’d noticed when I was at the Sahaj ashram a few weeks prior. Naturally, we stopped in. I was lucky enough to come across, and buy, a New Testament in Pennsylvania Dutch, which isn’t Dutch at all. I’m happy to add this to my home library since it’s the only text I’ve ever happened upon in the language and it’s also the only “Bible” I have which is strictly the New Testament.

Thus concluded the day trip to Dayton, Ohio. I’ve since shared this story with my manager at work, a lovely Hindu woman with whom I often discuss things like this. She told me of a number of other Hindu temples in Ohio and I plan to visit them each as I am able.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

 

 

From a distance…

Getting closer!

Getting closer

Finally arriving

Temple outside

From the outside

From the outside

From the outside

From the outside

From the outside

From the outside

From the outside

From the outside – the free-standing “gopuram” which is in disrepair.

Kalpa-Vrksh listing major donors

From inside – Venkatesh abhishekam

From inside – Venkatesh abhishekam

From inside – Venkatesh abhishekam

From inside – Venkatesh abhishekam

From inside – Venkatesh abhishekam

From inside – Venkatesh abhishekam

Doors are closed – God’s getting dressed!

Doors are closed – God’s getting dressed!

Garuda

Garuda

🙂 Just us

Doors are closed – God’s getting dressed!

View of temple interior to the right of Shri Venkateshwar – Ram Parivar

Doors are closed – God’s getting dressed!

View of temple interior to the right of Shri Venkateshwar – Shri Tripurasundari

Navagraha

🙂 Just us

Siva lingam – Siva lingam

Lord Ganesha

Lord Ganesha

View of temple interior to the right of Shri Venkateshwar – Ram Parivar, and some kid ringin’ a bell

Lord Ganesha’s Name plate — not at the front of his garbgrha, but on a nearby window sill

Sapphire Blues

Me and two of my nephews

 

 

I read an online article not long ago about an ancient skeleton that was found in Spain and tests determined that the individual was blue-eyed … quite possibly among the first humans ever to have blue eyes. Apparently sometime around 7,000 years ago there was some kind of burp in a human family’s development and the first humans ever to mature with blue eyes were born. I think that far back into human history something like this would have been really incredible.

The Hindu dharma, by then, was already quite old. People had already been around for ages and ages. We had religion. I can only imagine that genetic mutations like this one or the one that causes red hair were then seen as quite a bit more magical than they are now. I’m sure these first blue-eyed humans were either practically worshiped or were the targets of what we now call superstition and possibly were seen as bad omens. ( The photo at the beginning of this post is of myself and just two of my nephews. Note that our hair colors and eye colors differ quite a bit. Please believe me when I tell you that we’re possibly the best AND worst omens that might ever come into your life! LOL )

Humans tend to do that. We don’t seem to naturally celebrate diversity. If everyone has brown eyes, then the ONE person around who has blue eyes has got to be bad. Right? Same with gingers. And, in a more modern context, certainly the same with gays. Ego is a bitch.

I remember in Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth,” that there is mention of consciousness manifesting itself through flowers – and that this was probably one of the earliest manifestations of consciousness on our planet. I already love plants and Tolle’s description of the vibrant colors of flowers on showing up on our planet really touched me. Surely a similar process (from the Consciousness side of Life) happened when blue eyes first opened. And just like the colors and shapes of flowers, I think the appearance of blue eyes here served (serves?) a purpose. I might be able to speculate what that purpose was / is, but I’d rather not. It doesn’t matter.

What matters is not to get caught up in the blue of an eye’s iris or the red of some rose. These things are fantastic and wonderful and beautiful. But they aren’t “real” and too much attention directed toward these things is what leads the human mind to link the blue of someone’s eyes to the drought plaguing that region or to victory in battle or … something. This is superstition. This is unnecessary. And this causes the formation of heavy samskaras that we carry with us for a long time – lifetimes even!

The gurus and sages of my lineage (going back to Patanjali and before) knew this and, in an evolutionary twist of its own kind, presented a path for humans to walk that helps with these samskaras. Aspirants receive a kind of “jump start” through the aid of our prefects and (for me) almost immediately one’s connection to a much bigger network of human evolution becomes practically palpable. With continued practice, deeper and deeper experiences are had. (The experiences are not the goal – but could in some ways been seen as “proof” of progress or evolution.) In my experience, it didn’t take long at all to feel the “bonds” of that evolutionary network while in the presence of others meditating. And I can tell you from my own experience that in a very short period of time even in greater audiences – anywhere in public, really – you can sense that same interconnectedness. This is one of the best aspects of our path, for me. It’s almost along the lines of our Constant Remembrance. What starts as a rather solitary experience (the “jump start” mentioned) grows into something experience consistently when in the company of other abhyasis and then widens even more and can be felt with those who haven’t even heard of our path. It’s an incredible boon to one’s personal evolution and little-by-little aids one in transcending those sticky places so many humans get caught… like blue eyes.

Ours is a brilliant kind of system that doesn’t require you to have already mastered a certain number of levels of spiritual or evolutionary attainment. You don’t need to manifest siddhis or have spent hours / days / years in solitude meditating. Our method does require work on the abhyasi’s part, but that should be understood as a given on any path one takes. By comparison to many paths, the Heartfulness / Sahaj Marg path is efficient and … dare I say it … quick. It makes me look so forward to experiencing the next steps for humanity.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

One Year

Rev Master interacting with the delegates at the Cottage.

 

I realized a day or so ago that it’s now been a full year since the last master of Sahaj Marg / Heartfulness path left his body.

I recall quite clearly that much of 2014 was miserable for me. For me, 2014 started in the December prior when I changed positions in my department at the time. Only a few months prior I had moved into my company’s Application Support department. By December I had moved to a slightly different position within that same department. I had just started to get my mind around the new work I faced in coming to that department and then had to switch gears almost entirely. A month later (January, 2015) I entered the on-call rotation … quite prematurely. It was at this time that my stress levels really started to increase to a level that became tough to manage.

Due to demands of school and work, I began to let my heartfulness practice slip. The year progressed and I did the best I could – eventually reaching out to my physician for help managing the stress that remained incredibly prevalent in my life. Around the end of summer, my husband and I began shopping for a house. By Thanksgiving holiday we found one, and bought it – and my birth mother died. In fact, the holiday and the major purchase and the death all occurred within a week’s span. Everyone in America knows that Thanksgiving ushers in the holiday season and life is crazy busy from then through the new year holiday.

It was in December that the guru presiding over my spiritual lineage when I came to Sahaj Marg attained samadhi. It was under Chariji’s unique leadership that our path gained most of its current published literature and it was under his guidance that our path really began to be known outside of India’s borders. Each of our masters have been uniquely instrumental in the evolution of the path as well as the evolution of humanity – our newest Guide, Shri Kamlesh-ji is certainly no different.

There was, in very early December, a moment when I thought I might also leave my own body. This event actually came tragically close to being actualized. A person can only take so much, right? For reasons I won’t go into right now, I’m still here. but Chari-ji left his own body soon after I almost left mine.

Hindsight is almost always 20/20 and it’s often much easier to look back on an event and say, “Oh – I get it now.” But often at the time, so much is outside our scope of understanding or vision. It can be really tough in those times to remember which end is up. Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari is now with the masters who came before him and Kamlesh-ji guides us. It’s amazing how quickly a year passes. A whole year.

I miss Chari-ji at times. I’m immensely grateful for Kamlesh-ji’s guiding hand. And I’m glad to still be here and participating in the great evolution happening.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti

Sucky Cartoons

Image taken from Google Image search

I’ve been clear in this space that I’m not a fan of Christianity. At one point in my life, I was SUPER into it. But that time in my life was also my teen years, and in my mind I feel like that’s indicative: While a teen, I practiced a religion that is itself pretty much a teen. But that’s just my opinion. For various reasons, those who are practicing Christians find the religion to be fulfilling. It’s not something I understand, and may never, but that doesn’t matter. It’s not my place to make sense of something that I outgrew or to make sense of something that no longer applies to me.

When I think about Judaism and Islam, my feelings are similar but a bit less concrete or strong. I have very little first-hand experience with those two paths and feel less qualified to speak about then to any great depth. Still, I have an opinion on them and, generally speaking, that opinion doesn’t differ much from the opinion I hold on Christianity. The truth is, these three are WAY more alike than they aren’t and so it seems logical that to see much of the same coming from those three, very different directions is natural and not at all surprising.

Other religious hats I’ve tried on include Buddhism and the Baha’i faith. I don’t feel the same about these two religions as I feel about the other three – but I’ve enough experience with them both to know surely that, like the other three, neither of these two are a good fit for me either. Like Christianity and the others, I’m sure I’ve written to some extent on Buddhism and Baha’iism. Regardless of what I write here or how I feel, or what Truth I think I’m seeing from where I sit on my current path – none of it matters. Not really. And luckily, despite how critical I can be of one religion or the next, I’ve never actually hated someone for their religion. I’m fortunate enough to have many friends, family members, and friends who are like family that adhere to a religion I don’t agree with – and every time we get together things are amicable and lovely. This difference between us simply doesn’t factor in.

And it occurred to me today that hating someone because of their religion is not terribly different from hating someone because they have a preferred Saturday morning cartoon that you don’t like to watch (assuming Saturday morning cartoons are still a thing – I honestly don’t know). My brothers and I used to LOVE watching X-Men on Saturday mornings. I mean, we loved X-Men in general but I recall making sure I never slept beyond 10:00 or 10:30 on a Saturday morning, no matter how late I was up the night before, because that’s when X-Men came on and I wasn’t about to miss an episode – even a rerun.

But what is a cartoon, truly? It’s a fancy and colorful concoction that serves a variety of purposes depending on the audience. For some, it’s merely a distraction. For others, it’s even less – hardly good for background noise. And yet others use cartoons to convey lessons to whomever might be watching or listening. (For me, one cartoon was THE best part of Saturday. That 30 minute part of the whole day was a part I wanted never to miss.) The cartoon doesn’t change. Often the content or elements of it like characters and back storyline don’t change. The bulk of all that changes is who might be paying attention. Right? Did you watch cartoons this Saturday? Or were you watching last Saturday? Both? Neither?

Religion really isn’t different and it’s not inherently any more consequential. For some Christians, Christianity is a distraction. For others it’s not even got that value – they just do it. For some, it’s everything and is THE axis upon which all of reality rotates. But those distinctions don’t matter. At all. And none of them really have anything to do with the Christianity so much as with the Christian, and I think that’s important to know and remember.

Things like that are, I think, a big part of why the Sahaj Masters tell us that religion is like kindergarten. It might have a use and good purpose at some point, but otherwise simply doesn’t matter and can be used in a million different ways like any dumb hammer or spoon. Religion is like Saturday morning cartoons and just about as important. And guess what? I no longer watch Saturday morning cartoons. Do you?

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha | Aum Shanti