From Vedic Shamanism Newsletter:
Thank you to all who attended the Mukti Deekshas in various places last weekend. The feedback has been great and the experience was great.
It has been my experience if Bhagavan tells you something personally you can take it to the bank. He has told you now about the Mukti Deeksha.
Here is my experience on this matter: I had taken vows along with Rani and 6 others at Satyaloka. We were taking on the teaching duties of the monks in the USA. There was no charge for any programs at the time and the teachers paid for everything including the food, ads and hall rental themselves. It was costly work and was a struggle to meet physical necessities at times.
Yet it was observed by the ancients that when a teacher (guru) made sacrifices in behalf of others the people who were sacrificed for became very important to the Divine. So we employed the dynamic of sacrifice to help the people. Some of the people grew in a very big way, experiencing states of sages, saints, prophets and mystics and transforming others through their presence. Most had experienced the Awakening of the Antaryamin in a moment just for the asking.
Amazing to see them for many of them Heaven had met Earth. They had entered the Golden Age which is a state of consciousness as well as an astrological event and there they remain.
Bhagavan sacrificed greatly for us as teachers, giving of his substance not his abundance and we in turn sacrificed for the people that he would touch and speak to through us. It is an ancient tradition and a great blessing to do this.
Almost immediately upon Bhagavan sending message through Ananda Giri that we would be well provided for, money began to come into the house. Within several months I had made well over a good year's salary as an independent sales contractor and really only had to work a few days a month. I could pick up and go to India, help others financially to go as well and continue teaching in this tradition at home and in other states. I was able to go back and forth to Phoenix and speak and give diksha at expos and gatherings without thinking twice.
Bhagavan has told us directly about the mukti deeksha. He means it. If there is a perceived backsliding just recite the mantra for some time and ask him to help you immediately. If you have to ask every minute do it. You will be back in that "Sat Chit Ananda state almost immediately. Do not let laziness or discouragement cheat you of this-you will soon move into enlightenment experiences and then beyond as is this your natural state. The suffering is not natural.
If your car is stalling, you keep increasing the gas, gunning the engine. You do not shut it off leave it there on the road and walk away. As long as the engine turns over you do not call a tow truck or trade it in.
You talk to the car. "Come on, Baby, get me home. just a few more miles, Darling." You are very tuned into it, aware of it as you pull for the sputtering car on all levels-all levels especially your heart. You root for it. You celebrate when it sputters, starts up and rolls. There is gratitude. Pull for your state.
Talk to Bhagavan. Give him that much at least. Many many times he has said, "If only you would ask." That is all prayer is- to simply ask. To worship is to express gratitude.
A backslide is really a blink and not a fall. The mind can be tricky and will battle for security is all. Chant and ask, chant and ask chant and ask. Consciousness on one level is sound based for those who want some science behind it. These are the sounds that will help. Chant and ask chant and ask.
Many thanks to Hilary, http://www.flowerofgrace.com/ to Zelie and Lucia http://web.me.com/luciakmaya/Luminous_Adventures/Oneness_Blessing_Events,_Classes_and_Retreats.html and friends for making last weekend's Mukti Blessing possible for the people of AZ.
It was so wonderful to have the doors open to all once more. There has been a tangible shift in Az and the blessing of unexpected rain in the desert-always a wonderful omen of blessings from the Divine. The desert is alive and flowering, as the landscape and consciousness are intertwined.
While the open to all Mukti Deeksha webcast was a very brief window of opportunity as I expected, it is my understanding that the weekly webcasts have now been discontinued to be replaced with a two day course in many areas that includes it. I apologize for the previous miscommunication about weekly events.
You can find events near you at http://www.worldonenesscommunity.com .
Again much gratitude to those who dropped everything and went to receive the Mukti Deeksha on such short notice and on faith. Mankind has moved much closer to enlightenment.
Namaste,
DD
www.vedicshamanism.com
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
The First USA/Russian Darshan with Kalki Bhagavan
Satyaloka Monastery-Aug 15, 1998:
The previous night, the meditation session with the monks ended early. Acharya Ananda Giri who was conducting the 42 mukti yajna told to us to stay in our quarters and not walk about Satyaloka that night. We could hear music being played through loudspeakers in the distance which was odd as it was normally so quiet there, but we just figured that there was a celebration in the village. We did not go out.
When we arose at dawn, it was quite a surprise. In that secluded place, there was a line of people as far as the eye could see lined up for darshan with Kalki Bhagavan. People were drumming and dancing in the central field. swimming in the lake. There was a marketplace with vendors with Sri Murthis on everything from keychains to handbags. Dance was such a big part of the early process for as we awakened to a truth beyond the 5 senses, we wrote songs and danced with the Antaryamin well into the night. It could not be helped. It was a very joyful, energetic dharma in those early years. Even the suffering, the dark riddle of the Universe, was embraced as one would embrace a guru-as we danced through it.
The monks cooked for all the people who had come from many places for darshan-close to 300,000 in all and the steam was so thick in the kitchen area from the rice cooking you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. Crows were everywhere fighting over bits of rice and guarding piles of coconut shells. The ancient symbolism of the crows was death. It could be a spiritual shamanic death or a physical death. We rejoiced to see the crows as they meant liberation.
Ananda Giriji met with us that morning and prepared us for darshan. He told us to be silent and look into Kalki's (Bhagavan's) eyes and do not even blink as we could only be in his presence a very short time. "Do not waste even a moment by blinking or looking away," he told us. We prayed and were called in for darshan with Bhagavan. Amma did not give darshan there in those days. Bhagavan did not speak then during darshan as he does now, and he rarely opened his eyes. If he did some of the people would just pass out and have to be carried out.
We had been told before we went to Satyaloka by one of the monks that we would reach a state of a christ or a buddha or they would carry our dead bodies out of there. A woman laughed and was asked to leave if she could not take it seriously. We did not know what to expect. There was no going back. Even if anyone wanted to leave the police had come once more and taken our passports.
The monks (dasas) went to the front of the thatch darshan hall with a golden orb on the top to see Bhagavan. They monks were jumping up and down weeping with Bliss and calling out "Kalki! Kalki!". Some collapsed or fainted. Others wept with joy or bawled like babies. Then we stepped forward to get our first glimpse of the physical form of the one they called "The Lord of Enlightenment."
Before that we had been relating the Sri Murthi (an empowered portrait or icon). I do not recall even seeing a photo of Amma until years later. All manner of miracles and supernatural events occurred surrounded that picture. Healings, material blessings, manifestations, miracles. Much later honey began to pour from the hands of a Sri Murthi in California (see Miracle of the Honey on www.vedicshamanism.com). When asked about it, Bhagavan said, “It is a marriage of science and religion. They have been separated for too long,”
Kalki Bhagavan sat in a beautiful carved chair. I had the impression there were eagles on the arms. His eyes were closed. He was not like any human I had ever seen. It shocked me and I jumped. "This cannot be real!" was the thought. He was so empty I though he was dead.
"This is taxidermy- a stuffed person," I thought. But then I saw him move just a bit, and at first doubted my eyes and jumped again. The movement was so shocking and unexpected that another jolt came and I almost fell backwards. I could find no definition for what I was seeing, and all circuits were on overload. I did nothing but stare at him as Ananda Giri had ordered and hung on to the railing.
It was difficult to stare at him-almost painful-like looking at the sun. The mind tilted back and forth. I stared at his closed eyes and was amazed to see that I could see his eyes burning through the lids. It was like fire. I blinked and could still see his eyes through the lids. Suddenly he was a forest, the trees, a leopard, a leopard hunting a mouse, a mouse, a man hunting a leopard, a giraffe, the African continent, the world, my relatives, my loved ones, the people, the crowd the mass. Faster and faster- all that ever was and all that ever will be. He opened His eyes and he was gone yet was still there-in the way you know the fan is there yet the blades are spinning too fast to see.
And I realized that I had seen the formless state of God. Parabrahma. I had thought that Formless meant invisible. It was not that at all. I could find no definition. Love came. My heart broke into a million pieces. Agony, Passion then Bliss. The Universe empty. Everything is there yet there is nothing there at all.
The Russians were screaming "Come to Moscow!" and singing a song in a horrible way-it was a thousand double parked taxicabs blowing their horns. Raniji started screaming and fell. Louder and louder the sounds came until it was a tidal wave. No one could possibly survive. Others, including a few monks, were carried out weeping with bliss or not conscious-perhaps in samadhi.
I staggered out of the darshan hall. We began to bring buckets of water for the people waiting in line, seeking some shred of reality in the labor. It was like going off a high dive. There was no going back. Would I even want to? Nothing would ever be the same- that I knew. For better or worse-there is no difference. The suffering is in the perception. I must only turn around-step aside to see differently. The transformation is in the perception.
Miles of people there were as far as the eye could see. It was a very hot day but no one complained. Some girls who had just seen Kalki Bhagavan were standing in the open area by the dhyana vihar, weeping. One fell into my arms and cried like a child. She wept and wept and wept until we both were soaked. I gave her some kleenex and she cried some more. There was a man crawling about at our feet weeping with bliss, and he was babbling and kissing the dirt.
By sundown there was no visible sign that the people had ever been there, except the mountains of coconut shells stacked up along the path. Even the crows had departed. I felt as if I had been crying for a million years and could find no more pain. I looked for it like a lost ring. It was an empty feeling not without relief.
Later that week as the mukti yajna progressed I entered a state where there is no judgment, as you see that your thoughts are not your thoughts. You see how thoughts are attached to various places and people and are dependent on many factors. They just happen automatically. It is the same with desire.
Later as the state or way of seeing progressed the experience moved to the seeing of the Universe in everything. I was in the restroom tying the drawstring on my pants and suddenly it was bliss to tie the knot. I untied it and tied it several times. When I looked at it, the knot was everything. Much later, maybe hours, someone found me in the stall happily staring at the knot and led me out of there by the arm. To walk in that state is amazing. The ground appeared as everything and nothing at all. I read once of a scientist who learned, or perhaps saw, something about quantum theory and had to wear snowshoes so he would not go through the floor. It was conceivable that that was his state except he cared one way or another what happened-about the outcome of whether he would or would not be absorbed by the ground. The heck with the snowshoes lets meld into the Earth.
When I passed that spot where the man had been weeping with bliss and talking to the dirt the morning of darshan, I experienced what I feel the man was experiencing. In that place I saw God in everything and I fell and began to kiss the grass in the dirt because there was grass in the dirt.
The experience could still be had in that same spot the following year and the year after that for as you walked through that place you entered that state. You saw God in everything. Just as a lake has warm spots and cool spots, Satyaloka has many spots where experiences folks generally only read about can be experienced for ones self. Like gifts from those who walked there before you.
The previous night, the meditation session with the monks ended early. Acharya Ananda Giri who was conducting the 42 mukti yajna told to us to stay in our quarters and not walk about Satyaloka that night. We could hear music being played through loudspeakers in the distance which was odd as it was normally so quiet there, but we just figured that there was a celebration in the village. We did not go out.
When we arose at dawn, it was quite a surprise. In that secluded place, there was a line of people as far as the eye could see lined up for darshan with Kalki Bhagavan. People were drumming and dancing in the central field. swimming in the lake. There was a marketplace with vendors with Sri Murthis on everything from keychains to handbags. Dance was such a big part of the early process for as we awakened to a truth beyond the 5 senses, we wrote songs and danced with the Antaryamin well into the night. It could not be helped. It was a very joyful, energetic dharma in those early years. Even the suffering, the dark riddle of the Universe, was embraced as one would embrace a guru-as we danced through it.
The monks cooked for all the people who had come from many places for darshan-close to 300,000 in all and the steam was so thick in the kitchen area from the rice cooking you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. Crows were everywhere fighting over bits of rice and guarding piles of coconut shells. The ancient symbolism of the crows was death. It could be a spiritual shamanic death or a physical death. We rejoiced to see the crows as they meant liberation.
Ananda Giriji met with us that morning and prepared us for darshan. He told us to be silent and look into Kalki's (Bhagavan's) eyes and do not even blink as we could only be in his presence a very short time. "Do not waste even a moment by blinking or looking away," he told us. We prayed and were called in for darshan with Bhagavan. Amma did not give darshan there in those days. Bhagavan did not speak then during darshan as he does now, and he rarely opened his eyes. If he did some of the people would just pass out and have to be carried out.
We had been told before we went to Satyaloka by one of the monks that we would reach a state of a christ or a buddha or they would carry our dead bodies out of there. A woman laughed and was asked to leave if she could not take it seriously. We did not know what to expect. There was no going back. Even if anyone wanted to leave the police had come once more and taken our passports.
The monks (dasas) went to the front of the thatch darshan hall with a golden orb on the top to see Bhagavan. They monks were jumping up and down weeping with Bliss and calling out "Kalki! Kalki!". Some collapsed or fainted. Others wept with joy or bawled like babies. Then we stepped forward to get our first glimpse of the physical form of the one they called "The Lord of Enlightenment."
Before that we had been relating the Sri Murthi (an empowered portrait or icon). I do not recall even seeing a photo of Amma until years later. All manner of miracles and supernatural events occurred surrounded that picture. Healings, material blessings, manifestations, miracles. Much later honey began to pour from the hands of a Sri Murthi in California (see Miracle of the Honey on www.vedicshamanism.com). When asked about it, Bhagavan said, “It is a marriage of science and religion. They have been separated for too long,”
Kalki Bhagavan sat in a beautiful carved chair. I had the impression there were eagles on the arms. His eyes were closed. He was not like any human I had ever seen. It shocked me and I jumped. "This cannot be real!" was the thought. He was so empty I though he was dead.
"This is taxidermy- a stuffed person," I thought. But then I saw him move just a bit, and at first doubted my eyes and jumped again. The movement was so shocking and unexpected that another jolt came and I almost fell backwards. I could find no definition for what I was seeing, and all circuits were on overload. I did nothing but stare at him as Ananda Giri had ordered and hung on to the railing.
It was difficult to stare at him-almost painful-like looking at the sun. The mind tilted back and forth. I stared at his closed eyes and was amazed to see that I could see his eyes burning through the lids. It was like fire. I blinked and could still see his eyes through the lids. Suddenly he was a forest, the trees, a leopard, a leopard hunting a mouse, a mouse, a man hunting a leopard, a giraffe, the African continent, the world, my relatives, my loved ones, the people, the crowd the mass. Faster and faster- all that ever was and all that ever will be. He opened His eyes and he was gone yet was still there-in the way you know the fan is there yet the blades are spinning too fast to see.
And I realized that I had seen the formless state of God. Parabrahma. I had thought that Formless meant invisible. It was not that at all. I could find no definition. Love came. My heart broke into a million pieces. Agony, Passion then Bliss. The Universe empty. Everything is there yet there is nothing there at all.
The Russians were screaming "Come to Moscow!" and singing a song in a horrible way-it was a thousand double parked taxicabs blowing their horns. Raniji started screaming and fell. Louder and louder the sounds came until it was a tidal wave. No one could possibly survive. Others, including a few monks, were carried out weeping with bliss or not conscious-perhaps in samadhi.
I staggered out of the darshan hall. We began to bring buckets of water for the people waiting in line, seeking some shred of reality in the labor. It was like going off a high dive. There was no going back. Would I even want to? Nothing would ever be the same- that I knew. For better or worse-there is no difference. The suffering is in the perception. I must only turn around-step aside to see differently. The transformation is in the perception.
Miles of people there were as far as the eye could see. It was a very hot day but no one complained. Some girls who had just seen Kalki Bhagavan were standing in the open area by the dhyana vihar, weeping. One fell into my arms and cried like a child. She wept and wept and wept until we both were soaked. I gave her some kleenex and she cried some more. There was a man crawling about at our feet weeping with bliss, and he was babbling and kissing the dirt.
By sundown there was no visible sign that the people had ever been there, except the mountains of coconut shells stacked up along the path. Even the crows had departed. I felt as if I had been crying for a million years and could find no more pain. I looked for it like a lost ring. It was an empty feeling not without relief.
Later that week as the mukti yajna progressed I entered a state where there is no judgment, as you see that your thoughts are not your thoughts. You see how thoughts are attached to various places and people and are dependent on many factors. They just happen automatically. It is the same with desire.
Later as the state or way of seeing progressed the experience moved to the seeing of the Universe in everything. I was in the restroom tying the drawstring on my pants and suddenly it was bliss to tie the knot. I untied it and tied it several times. When I looked at it, the knot was everything. Much later, maybe hours, someone found me in the stall happily staring at the knot and led me out of there by the arm. To walk in that state is amazing. The ground appeared as everything and nothing at all. I read once of a scientist who learned, or perhaps saw, something about quantum theory and had to wear snowshoes so he would not go through the floor. It was conceivable that that was his state except he cared one way or another what happened-about the outcome of whether he would or would not be absorbed by the ground. The heck with the snowshoes lets meld into the Earth.
When I passed that spot where the man had been weeping with bliss and talking to the dirt the morning of darshan, I experienced what I feel the man was experiencing. In that place I saw God in everything and I fell and began to kiss the grass in the dirt because there was grass in the dirt.
The experience could still be had in that same spot the following year and the year after that for as you walked through that place you entered that state. You saw God in everything. Just as a lake has warm spots and cool spots, Satyaloka has many spots where experiences folks generally only read about can be experienced for ones self. Like gifts from those who walked there before you.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Vedic Shamanism Newsletter
Vedic Shamanism Newsletter:
Book Release: Dr. Sankara Bhagavadpada (Paramacharya) was among the first Acharyas of Bhagavan. To order his book, "Sri Ramana Maharshi's Moksha" visit: http://www.yogiimpressions.com/author-profile/Sankara-Bhagavadpada.aspx
For Vedic Astrology with Dr. Sankara Bhagavadpada visit http://www.indiayogi.com/consultation/vedic/
*********
From the Moksha Yajna-(Retreat For Moksha conducted for those over 55 or the terminally ill)
"While you could write volumes on Moksha very simply it can be understood as liberation from the cycle of births and deaths, The one who attains moksha takes no more births and has no more deaths. He or she merges with Supreme Light."
On aging gracefully: "it is the natural rose that is loved and respected, the one that blooms, and fades. Not the artificial rose."
More on Moksha http://www.vedicshamanism.com/index7.html
*********
On Feb 13 Stellar Light Applications offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to bask in the light of Sirius and experience the benefits of the concentrating of this light spectrum not available on earth. To find out more about the star Sirius, click on this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius. To keep informed of other events visit: http://www.starlightuses.com
*********
From cancer to arthritis to acne-discover the healing benefits of honey and cinnamon. http://www.filipinovegetarianrecipe.com/health_compilation/honey_cinnamon.htm
**********
Healing Diksha
Is the healing diksha offered by the original teachers of Sri Bhagavan the same as the Oneness Blessing? Visit "Awakening the Antaryamin-Moving From Belief to Discovery" http://skyboom1.tripod.com/index17.html
****************
Vayanamasi-Mantra For Miracles-
Already stories of miracles from a mantra Siva Baba recently revealed have been coming in. Visit: http://blogs.sivababa.org/index.php/2010/01/. For more info.
It has a powerful resonance and is extremely effective..
The day I learned about Vayanamasi, I was chanting for some others. One man was out of work . His employment was running out the following week. I chanted Vayanamasi 108 times only. Within 20 minutes the man's phone rang with very good job offer that he did not apply for.
There will be 2 Day Interactive Workshop with Siva Baba in New York City February 27 and 28.
This is sure to be a life impacting workshop. To register visit http://www.sivababa.org/Shopping/Shopevents/Events_Baba85462Seminar
For more on the manta Vayayamasi google: Va Ya Na Ma Si
Utube video on Love and Enlightenment http://www.youtube.com/user/DattatreyaSivaBaba?ob=1
*********
Sri Raniji will be conducting a workshop in Chicago March 12-14. For More Info Visit http://chicagomarch2010.eventbrite.com/?ref=eivte&invite=Mjc1NTE1L2RoYXJtYUB2ZWRpY3NoYW1hbmlzbS5jb20vMA%3D%3D%0A&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=invite
For chanting workshops visit http://www.livinginawareness.org
**********
Humaworm http://www.humaworm.com . Parasites can have quite an impact on consciousness and even food desires. Some who have cyclic depression are sensitive to nerve toxins that parasites give off. When the parasites are cleared up the depression often lifts.
***********
Current estimates by quantum physicists is that the Universe is 70% dark energy, 25% dark matter and only 5% of the Universe is visible matter. Dark matter does not emit or reflect electromagnetic radiation.
***************
Beyond Love and Hate-
Oneness of Ichikuro and Jitsunosuke and the Tunnel of Love http://www.buddhanet.net/nippon/nippon_partIII.html (Scroll to "Beyond Love and Hate").
*************
Tibetan Fountain of Youth- http://fivetibetanrites.com/?hop=billsattic
************
Self Initiation
On August 3, 1922, Nirmala Sundari broke the Hindu religious tradition by initiating herself as Anandamayi Ma: an enlightened being and universal mother. http://eastern-philosophy.suite101.com/article.cfm/profile_of_a_saint
***************
When the honeybee came
I saw the scent of Flowers run
Oh what miracles!
Where the heart went
I saw the brain run
When the god came
I saw the temple run.
....Allama Prabhu
************
Namaste,
Dharma Dharini
www.vedicshamanism.com
To subscribe email dharma @vedicshamanism.com with Subscribe in the subject
Book Release: Dr. Sankara Bhagavadpada (Paramacharya) was among the first Acharyas of Bhagavan. To order his book, "Sri Ramana Maharshi's Moksha" visit: http://www.yogiimpressions.com/author-profile/Sankara-Bhagavadpada.aspx
For Vedic Astrology with Dr. Sankara Bhagavadpada visit http://www.indiayogi.com/consultation/vedic/
*********
From the Moksha Yajna-(Retreat For Moksha conducted for those over 55 or the terminally ill)
"While you could write volumes on Moksha very simply it can be understood as liberation from the cycle of births and deaths, The one who attains moksha takes no more births and has no more deaths. He or she merges with Supreme Light."
On aging gracefully: "it is the natural rose that is loved and respected, the one that blooms, and fades. Not the artificial rose."
More on Moksha http://www.vedicshamanism.com/index7.html
*********
On Feb 13 Stellar Light Applications offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to bask in the light of Sirius and experience the benefits of the concentrating of this light spectrum not available on earth. To find out more about the star Sirius, click on this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius. To keep informed of other events visit: http://www.starlightuses.com
*********
From cancer to arthritis to acne-discover the healing benefits of honey and cinnamon. http://www.filipinovegetarianrecipe.com/health_compilation/honey_cinnamon.htm
**********
Healing Diksha
Is the healing diksha offered by the original teachers of Sri Bhagavan the same as the Oneness Blessing? Visit "Awakening the Antaryamin-Moving From Belief to Discovery" http://skyboom1.tripod.com/index17.html
****************
Vayanamasi-Mantra For Miracles-
Already stories of miracles from a mantra Siva Baba recently revealed have been coming in. Visit: http://blogs.sivababa.org/index.php/2010/01/. For more info.
It has a powerful resonance and is extremely effective..
The day I learned about Vayanamasi, I was chanting for some others. One man was out of work . His employment was running out the following week. I chanted Vayanamasi 108 times only. Within 20 minutes the man's phone rang with very good job offer that he did not apply for.
There will be 2 Day Interactive Workshop with Siva Baba in New York City February 27 and 28.
This is sure to be a life impacting workshop. To register visit http://www.sivababa.org/Shopping/Shopevents/Events_Baba85462Seminar
For more on the manta Vayayamasi google: Va Ya Na Ma Si
Utube video on Love and Enlightenment http://www.youtube.com/user/DattatreyaSivaBaba?ob=1
*********
Sri Raniji will be conducting a workshop in Chicago March 12-14. For More Info Visit http://chicagomarch2010.eventbrite.com/?ref=eivte&invite=Mjc1NTE1L2RoYXJtYUB2ZWRpY3NoYW1hbmlzbS5jb20vMA%3D%3D%0A&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=invite
For chanting workshops visit http://www.livinginawareness.org
**********
Humaworm http://www.humaworm.com . Parasites can have quite an impact on consciousness and even food desires. Some who have cyclic depression are sensitive to nerve toxins that parasites give off. When the parasites are cleared up the depression often lifts.
***********
Current estimates by quantum physicists is that the Universe is 70% dark energy, 25% dark matter and only 5% of the Universe is visible matter. Dark matter does not emit or reflect electromagnetic radiation.
***************
Beyond Love and Hate-
Oneness of Ichikuro and Jitsunosuke and the Tunnel of Love http://www.buddhanet.net/nippon/nippon_partIII.html (Scroll to "Beyond Love and Hate").
*************
Tibetan Fountain of Youth- http://fivetibetanrites.com/?hop=billsattic
************
Self Initiation
On August 3, 1922, Nirmala Sundari broke the Hindu religious tradition by initiating herself as Anandamayi Ma: an enlightened being and universal mother. http://eastern-philosophy.suite101.com/article.cfm/profile_of_a_saint
***************
When the honeybee came
I saw the scent of Flowers run
Oh what miracles!
Where the heart went
I saw the brain run
When the god came
I saw the temple run.
....Allama Prabhu
************
Namaste,
Dharma Dharini
www.vedicshamanism.com
To subscribe email dharma @vedicshamanism.com with Subscribe in the subject
Friday, January 1, 2010
The Bat
When I was a little girl. I loved animals. I got bit and scratched quite a bit. One day when I was 8 or so, my mother who had just found out the boa constrictor that I had been playing with had been diagnosed with lice, had about enough, and she told me not to pet strange animals because I could get rabies or lice.
The lice did not concern me. I loved insects as well with the exception of spiders. I looked up rabies in the encyclopedia, and from what was there I took the idea that people who got rabies generally died of thirst. So if I played with a dog I would drink large amounts of water just in case. On seeing this extreme thirst, my mother would take me to the doctor, convinced that I had diabetes or a fever or something worse. I never did tell her that the "thirst" was because I had been playing with a dog.
In those days if a child was bit by a dog the child was often punished for going into someone's yard or bothering an animal when it was eating or sleeping. It was a crime right up there with if you were seen crossing the street without looking both ways or playing chicken on the railroad tracks with the Bessemer and Lake Erie trains. The animal was rarely put down if it bit someone.
Decades later, in 1998 when I was getting ready to go to Satyaloka there was a good 6 months of preparatory cleansing of traumas and looking within at what was there and working through illogical childhood decisions. The monk who was helping us to get readty said the 42 day process at Satyaloka would be like putting a jet engine into a Volkswagen so we had to prepare. None of us really knew what would happen.
Some made wills, others prepared survival kits in case they needed to "escape" into the mountains. The rest of us were so in touch with the existential suffering of man that we were well beyond caring what happened. This type of spiritual suffering comes with a deep sense of meaninglessness. It is the sadness of the dream realized, the man who wins a coveted award on Tuesday and thinks "So What?" on Wednesday. It is the day after Christmas for the child of 6. It is perhaps the darkest riddle of the Universe-the existential suffering of man. Others were just trying to get past the predawn cold showers followed by hours of chanting and sadhanas, the celibacy, the fasting. We called each other from coast to coast for support. sometimes at 4:00 AM. For the most part we just suffered through it, and did the recommended predawn cold showers and sadhanas, fasted and hoped the water was warmer at Satyaloka.
At a preliminary meeting with a monk when the event was announced, the room at the Kalki Temple was quite full. He announced that we would reach states as high or higher than that which was given to a Christ or a Buddha or they would carry our dead bodies out of there. Some gasped. Others rolled their eyes. A woman laughed and she was told if she could not take it seriously she should leave-that he meant it. On the next meeting the group dwindled to just a few. Even less came to the third once the required list of sadhanas was passed out. Only 5 went from the Pittsburgh group yet we were among 8 Americans only who completed the 42 day retreat and took teacher training, dikshas (spiritual initiations and vows at Satyaloka. We were to take over the teacher responsibilities for the monks and were to still adhere to the sadhanas.
Upon arriving at Satyaloka I immediately bonded with a brown dog I called Chuck. His front paw was smashed and deformed. His toenail was growing into the pad, causing a wound and he could not walk on it. I took some nail clippers, cut his nail and pulled the sharp end of the claw out of the pad. Then he bit me.
Just then a monk walked by and said, "You must not pet the dogs. You could get rabies." An old uneasiness rose.
During the time of preparation for Satyaloka I did not pay much attention to this particular childhood fear of rabies, but it was still there. I guess you could say there was some hydrophobiaphobia still lurking about.
I had been doing alternative therapy consultations for vets and farmers and knew that 10 days was the average incubation period in a dog so figured I would just keep an eye on Chuck for ten days. Chuck, now using all four legs at least with every other step, took of for the village. I watched him disappear into the trees.
So I took my gallon water bottle and did what I had always done when bit by a dog. I went to the tap and filled it and drank and drank and drank. A lady asked me if I had been checked for diabetes.
Chuck returned off and on during the 9 week stay-usually at meal time. He seemed to be fine. I forgot about rabies. Some nights he slept on the steps outside of the women's quarters. We slept on mats on clay floors, a certain number with our heads to the East and a certain number with our heads to the North. The sleeping spaces had been chalked out on the floor. Some of the women did not like Chuck and they would kick him or throw sandals at him. We were not supposed to have outside food as the monks cooked for us nor was there to be talking yet some ate and chattered almost non stop.
When we would leave the building Chuck and the other dogs would sometimes sneak in and take their food and mark someone's sleeping bag. So some took to hanging their food from the rafters over their mats with rope or twine. At night a big spotted threadbare looking rat would cross the rafters, climb down the rope and eat part of the bread, cookies or potato chips, swinging like a bizarre pendulum over a sleeping woman's head.
I remember thinking that some of the ladies probably should not be so hard on poor Chuck as when he slept on the welcome mat at the front door he kept the snakes out of the dorm. I wondered if the ladies would be so quick to run him off if they knew about the cobra that stayed under the porch. All in all Chuck provided a very good service.
******
The next summer as I was preparing to return to Satyaloka and was doing a preparatory predawn sadhana, I heard a whirring noise in the laundry room. It sounded like the cat caught a cicada. I ignored it for quite some time.
Later I saw it was not a cicada but a bat. I had no idea that they could make that kind of sound. The bat was very frightened and angry. The cat had left a cut on his head. I grabbed the cat and took her out of the room. The bat looked at me, bared his teeth and hissed. I opened the front door and he did a terrible flopping swimming motion across the living room floor, and out the door. The he then climbed up the siding, turned upside down and hissed.
I went back in the house and sat down. The cat climbed up on my lap and bit me hard. It was only then that I remembered that she was behind on her rabies shot. I called the vet and woke him up.
He said, "Bring her in in the morning for her shot, she will probably be just fine, just don't let her bite you." And he laughed.
My blood ran cold. I pour a large glass of water and then another.
I was leaving for India in 5 days. Would I become rabid At Satyaloka? Just what they needed. What if someone drank from my glass? The medical article said incubation could be 5 years in a human and i had read that Edgar Allen Poe had possibly died of rabies. I began to beat myself up thinking I should not have let the bat go. I should have captured it for testing. Then I would know for sure and end all this worry. How foolish I was.
I called a monk in the morning and explained what happened and asked if I should stay home and get rabies shots in case. She said to just come, that it was a just childhood fear stirring up trouble. I told the pet sitter about the cat and the bat. She was unconcerned as well.
That night, still worried, I prayed that I would be able to find the bat and have it tested. "Please give me a second chance." I begged.
Around 3 AM I heard a whirring cicada sort of noise The cat had the bat in the bathroom one more. I recognized him by the gash on his head. I was elated. God answered a prayer!
I grabbed a coffee can, poked holes in the plastic lid and captured the bat. I was so happy that my prayer was answered. I would not need to be worried now. Then a dark thought came. Testing would mean death for the bat. They would sent his head only to the lab. I opened the lid and looked at him. He was just laying there with his wings out like a little fallen angel on the cold metal. He raised his head and hissed half heartedly-the picture of misery. He was doomed. I felt his heart. What it was to soar about in an ocean of sound in the night sky. To sleep upside down with the sun.
" I can't do this." I thought.
I carried the coffee can to the front porch and opened it on the concrete. The bat crawled out and did his creepy swimming motion across the porch and climbed up the siding on the farmhouse, turned upside down and hissed. I went back in, turned off the porch light.
When I went back outside with some peroxide for his head wound, he was gone.
I left for India in 3 days.
After that there were no thoughts of rabies.
They left with the bat.
The lice did not concern me. I loved insects as well with the exception of spiders. I looked up rabies in the encyclopedia, and from what was there I took the idea that people who got rabies generally died of thirst. So if I played with a dog I would drink large amounts of water just in case. On seeing this extreme thirst, my mother would take me to the doctor, convinced that I had diabetes or a fever or something worse. I never did tell her that the "thirst" was because I had been playing with a dog.
In those days if a child was bit by a dog the child was often punished for going into someone's yard or bothering an animal when it was eating or sleeping. It was a crime right up there with if you were seen crossing the street without looking both ways or playing chicken on the railroad tracks with the Bessemer and Lake Erie trains. The animal was rarely put down if it bit someone.
Decades later, in 1998 when I was getting ready to go to Satyaloka there was a good 6 months of preparatory cleansing of traumas and looking within at what was there and working through illogical childhood decisions. The monk who was helping us to get readty said the 42 day process at Satyaloka would be like putting a jet engine into a Volkswagen so we had to prepare. None of us really knew what would happen.
Some made wills, others prepared survival kits in case they needed to "escape" into the mountains. The rest of us were so in touch with the existential suffering of man that we were well beyond caring what happened. This type of spiritual suffering comes with a deep sense of meaninglessness. It is the sadness of the dream realized, the man who wins a coveted award on Tuesday and thinks "So What?" on Wednesday. It is the day after Christmas for the child of 6. It is perhaps the darkest riddle of the Universe-the existential suffering of man. Others were just trying to get past the predawn cold showers followed by hours of chanting and sadhanas, the celibacy, the fasting. We called each other from coast to coast for support. sometimes at 4:00 AM. For the most part we just suffered through it, and did the recommended predawn cold showers and sadhanas, fasted and hoped the water was warmer at Satyaloka.
At a preliminary meeting with a monk when the event was announced, the room at the Kalki Temple was quite full. He announced that we would reach states as high or higher than that which was given to a Christ or a Buddha or they would carry our dead bodies out of there. Some gasped. Others rolled their eyes. A woman laughed and she was told if she could not take it seriously she should leave-that he meant it. On the next meeting the group dwindled to just a few. Even less came to the third once the required list of sadhanas was passed out. Only 5 went from the Pittsburgh group yet we were among 8 Americans only who completed the 42 day retreat and took teacher training, dikshas (spiritual initiations and vows at Satyaloka. We were to take over the teacher responsibilities for the monks and were to still adhere to the sadhanas.
Upon arriving at Satyaloka I immediately bonded with a brown dog I called Chuck. His front paw was smashed and deformed. His toenail was growing into the pad, causing a wound and he could not walk on it. I took some nail clippers, cut his nail and pulled the sharp end of the claw out of the pad. Then he bit me.
Just then a monk walked by and said, "You must not pet the dogs. You could get rabies." An old uneasiness rose.
During the time of preparation for Satyaloka I did not pay much attention to this particular childhood fear of rabies, but it was still there. I guess you could say there was some hydrophobiaphobia still lurking about.
I had been doing alternative therapy consultations for vets and farmers and knew that 10 days was the average incubation period in a dog so figured I would just keep an eye on Chuck for ten days. Chuck, now using all four legs at least with every other step, took of for the village. I watched him disappear into the trees.
So I took my gallon water bottle and did what I had always done when bit by a dog. I went to the tap and filled it and drank and drank and drank. A lady asked me if I had been checked for diabetes.
Chuck returned off and on during the 9 week stay-usually at meal time. He seemed to be fine. I forgot about rabies. Some nights he slept on the steps outside of the women's quarters. We slept on mats on clay floors, a certain number with our heads to the East and a certain number with our heads to the North. The sleeping spaces had been chalked out on the floor. Some of the women did not like Chuck and they would kick him or throw sandals at him. We were not supposed to have outside food as the monks cooked for us nor was there to be talking yet some ate and chattered almost non stop.
When we would leave the building Chuck and the other dogs would sometimes sneak in and take their food and mark someone's sleeping bag. So some took to hanging their food from the rafters over their mats with rope or twine. At night a big spotted threadbare looking rat would cross the rafters, climb down the rope and eat part of the bread, cookies or potato chips, swinging like a bizarre pendulum over a sleeping woman's head.
I remember thinking that some of the ladies probably should not be so hard on poor Chuck as when he slept on the welcome mat at the front door he kept the snakes out of the dorm. I wondered if the ladies would be so quick to run him off if they knew about the cobra that stayed under the porch. All in all Chuck provided a very good service.
******
The next summer as I was preparing to return to Satyaloka and was doing a preparatory predawn sadhana, I heard a whirring noise in the laundry room. It sounded like the cat caught a cicada. I ignored it for quite some time.
Later I saw it was not a cicada but a bat. I had no idea that they could make that kind of sound. The bat was very frightened and angry. The cat had left a cut on his head. I grabbed the cat and took her out of the room. The bat looked at me, bared his teeth and hissed. I opened the front door and he did a terrible flopping swimming motion across the living room floor, and out the door. The he then climbed up the siding, turned upside down and hissed.
I went back in the house and sat down. The cat climbed up on my lap and bit me hard. It was only then that I remembered that she was behind on her rabies shot. I called the vet and woke him up.
He said, "Bring her in in the morning for her shot, she will probably be just fine, just don't let her bite you." And he laughed.
My blood ran cold. I pour a large glass of water and then another.
I was leaving for India in 5 days. Would I become rabid At Satyaloka? Just what they needed. What if someone drank from my glass? The medical article said incubation could be 5 years in a human and i had read that Edgar Allen Poe had possibly died of rabies. I began to beat myself up thinking I should not have let the bat go. I should have captured it for testing. Then I would know for sure and end all this worry. How foolish I was.
I called a monk in the morning and explained what happened and asked if I should stay home and get rabies shots in case. She said to just come, that it was a just childhood fear stirring up trouble. I told the pet sitter about the cat and the bat. She was unconcerned as well.
That night, still worried, I prayed that I would be able to find the bat and have it tested. "Please give me a second chance." I begged.
Around 3 AM I heard a whirring cicada sort of noise The cat had the bat in the bathroom one more. I recognized him by the gash on his head. I was elated. God answered a prayer!
I grabbed a coffee can, poked holes in the plastic lid and captured the bat. I was so happy that my prayer was answered. I would not need to be worried now. Then a dark thought came. Testing would mean death for the bat. They would sent his head only to the lab. I opened the lid and looked at him. He was just laying there with his wings out like a little fallen angel on the cold metal. He raised his head and hissed half heartedly-the picture of misery. He was doomed. I felt his heart. What it was to soar about in an ocean of sound in the night sky. To sleep upside down with the sun.
" I can't do this." I thought.
I carried the coffee can to the front porch and opened it on the concrete. The bat crawled out and did his creepy swimming motion across the porch and climbed up the siding on the farmhouse, turned upside down and hissed. I went back in, turned off the porch light.
When I went back outside with some peroxide for his head wound, he was gone.
I left for India in 3 days.
After that there were no thoughts of rabies.
They left with the bat.
Prosperity Pets
Dogs can change your fortune-you can adopt a dog and have a shift in finances.
Kaala Bhairava, a manifestation of Lord Shiva, is the God of Time. Feeding and taking care of dogs is a way of showing devotion. If you do this well time will be on your side. You will always have time to do what you need to do.
I have experienced a amazing shifts in time since getting my own dog, a mixed breed who showed up, hungry and bruised at a machinery shop in the desert as a puppy. She has a little head, a big round body, thin legs, a bristly squirrel ticked coat, yet her head is as soft as velvet. On her front leg is lightening bolt scar from learning about rattlesnakes the hard way.
I was not looking for a dog when she came to me. She was in need of a home as the shop where she lived was closing. I am very fortunate to have her and will say she has brought me luck and the most valuable thing of all- Time.
I thought I did not have time to take care of a dog, but since she moved in there has been more time. And money. I have observed it is very beneficial to feed and take care of your dog very sacredly (meaning "with purpose") and respectfully. Serve him or her as you would tend to your alter or a welcome guest and miracles will happen as the love between you grows. If the realization is there that the dog (time) is serving you by being there, rather than the dog owes you its keep, that is when the miracles start. To take an animal in an not treat it well-to chain it to a post or abuse it may have the opposite effect.
I have particularly noticed that for the most part, even if I leave for the airport or an appointment late, I get there in plenty of time-against all odds. If I have allotted 4 hours for a task it is done in 1-2 hours. I am rarely tired or stressed, as thanks to the relationship with my dog, I always have enough time.
Last week I saw a homeless man sitting under a tree. He had a sign and a cup for money. He also had a big shaggy dog in very good condition. People (myself included) were actually pulling over and getting out of their cars to give him money and food. It's like that.
Visit your local shelter. Save a life that will ultimately transform yours.
Ancient Asian legends say that black and white cats bring good luck and fortune.
Kaala Bhairava, a manifestation of Lord Shiva, is the God of Time. Feeding and taking care of dogs is a way of showing devotion. If you do this well time will be on your side. You will always have time to do what you need to do.
I have experienced a amazing shifts in time since getting my own dog, a mixed breed who showed up, hungry and bruised at a machinery shop in the desert as a puppy. She has a little head, a big round body, thin legs, a bristly squirrel ticked coat, yet her head is as soft as velvet. On her front leg is lightening bolt scar from learning about rattlesnakes the hard way.
I was not looking for a dog when she came to me. She was in need of a home as the shop where she lived was closing. I am very fortunate to have her and will say she has brought me luck and the most valuable thing of all- Time.
I thought I did not have time to take care of a dog, but since she moved in there has been more time. And money. I have observed it is very beneficial to feed and take care of your dog very sacredly (meaning "with purpose") and respectfully. Serve him or her as you would tend to your alter or a welcome guest and miracles will happen as the love between you grows. If the realization is there that the dog (time) is serving you by being there, rather than the dog owes you its keep, that is when the miracles start. To take an animal in an not treat it well-to chain it to a post or abuse it may have the opposite effect.
I have particularly noticed that for the most part, even if I leave for the airport or an appointment late, I get there in plenty of time-against all odds. If I have allotted 4 hours for a task it is done in 1-2 hours. I am rarely tired or stressed, as thanks to the relationship with my dog, I always have enough time.
Last week I saw a homeless man sitting under a tree. He had a sign and a cup for money. He also had a big shaggy dog in very good condition. People (myself included) were actually pulling over and getting out of their cars to give him money and food. It's like that.
Visit your local shelter. Save a life that will ultimately transform yours.
Ancient Asian legends say that black and white cats bring good luck and fortune.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Enlightenment and Earth Changes
Following is an article written in early 2000.
Enlightenment and Earth Changes
by Dharma Dharini
Enlightenment or mukti can be simply described as liberation. This leads to an important question: liberation from what? According to ancient tradition, enlightenment is considered to be liberation from suffering. To understand this, there must be the realization that ignorance is the parent of all suffering. Suffering can be likened to the symptom of a disease, a disease called ignorance. Little can be done to obliterate suffering if approached directly, as suffering is a constant, however the ignorance which is at the root of the suffering can be obliterated.
I am often asked what impact enlightenment would have on the environment of this planet. With the ecological and environmental disasters and threat of Earth Changes due to global warming and other factors, why we would focus on such an apparently frivolous subject as enlightenment? How can enlightenment help the ecology of Earth?
One simple factor is to look at what is at the core of mankind. The core of man is not peace, love, kindness, or bliss. Suffering has become the core of man. Do you know that you are suffering?
Perhaps it is with some physical suffering such as disease, disfigurement, obesity, pain, or perhaps not having enough to meet your physical needs such as proper food or shelter. Maybe it is some psychological suffering that is generally experienced when things do not go our way. Feelings such as anger, frustration, jealousy, grief, guilt, greed, craving to be loved or recognized, along with a whole host of other psychological miseries. Or perhaps you are suffering from the most terrible and hardest to bear suffering of all: the existential suffering of man or simply put, “spiritual suffering.”
This spiritual suffering is characterized by boredom which we see so evident in even very young children. It is also characterized by loneliness, the sense of separate existence so brutally suffered by our seniors. And it is a sense of meaninglessness. An example would be the one who wins an Olympic Medal after years of training and the following day wakes up and thinks, “So what?” It is the sadness or let-down often experienced after a realized dream.
An important realization in the journey to liberation from suffering is that suffering is constant. To help you understand, I will use a mathematical example and tell a story of a man who is very ill. Imagine for a moment that the constant of suffering in this patient equals a total of 10 points. When a being is very ill or in pain, he becomes almost totally self- consumed as the physical body is fighting for survival. So we can put 9 of his 10 total points of suffering in the realm of physical suffering. Perhaps he is a bit afraid or is experiencing some anger at his condition so we will give 1 point to psychological suffering. Boredom, loneliness, or a sense of meaninglessness are virtually non-existent at this phase of his illness, so! we will give 0 points to spiritual suffering.
As he begins to recover, suddenly he becomes very demanding. He is very angry that people did not come to visit him or care for him as he thought that they should. He is furious at the feeding tubes and IV’s and tries to rip them from his body. He is angered at having to be cared for like a baby and becomes a miserable patient. His physical suffering is now at 3, his psychological suffering is at 6, and he is beginning to experience some boredom. We can put his spiritual suffering at 1. A week goes by and he is feeling quite well, though still confined to his bed per the doctor. His physical suffering is at 1. He is still angry and feeling quite unloved as no one now comes to visit him as they did when they thought he was dying, so we will give him a 4 in the psychological suffering category. He is also very bored and lonely. Crossword puzzle books litter the room. He is always on his cell phone or watching TV to manage the! boredom and loneliness. 5 points can be allocated to the category of spiritual suffering. By the end of the week his boredom and loneliness becomes very intense, and an intense sense of meaninglessness comes. It becomes very very difficult to bear, and begins to trickle down into the realm of psychological and physical suffering. He has a relapse or perhaps his allergies flare up, or he begins to get indigestion. Physical suffering-7, psychological-3, spiritual-1.
Physical suffering, considered to be the lowest form of suffering, is the least difficult to bear. When psychological or spiritual suffering become too intense, it will pour down to the physical realm - much like the saucer which accommodates the cup of over-poured coffee.
How do we handle or anger, our loneliness, our boredom, our craving to be loved, our stress? What is a Sunday drive? What is a movie theater, a video arcade, a bar, a sporting event, a shopping mall, a beauty salon, a health spa? Fun! damentally they places we go or things that we do to manage our sorrow. Reflect on your life for a few moments. How is it with you when someone hurts you, when you have had a bad day at work, when you are lonely? Perhaps you pick up the phone and call someone, take a drink or a pill, turn on the computer or the television. Or maybe you run to the refrigerator or go to the mall. Generally what we call suffering is merely running from suffering.
Shelter in many areas or the world is a physical necessity. A house in the best neighborhood is a psychological need. Food is a need of the physical body. Dinner at a favorite restaurant is a psychological need. Clothing can be a physical necessity. Designer label is a psychological need. What is all this? It is nothing more than man's psychological suffering, his craving to be loved. Not able to find the seldom discovered state of unconditional love, man has settled for conditional love. Securities and images must be built to pe! rpetuate and retain conditional love. The beauty industry is an illustration of this tragic compromise. This conflict between what one is and what one wants to be is perhaps the oldest and most terrible battle that man has ever waged. It is responsible for untold insecurity, guilt, and self-hatred, and is responsible for much of the misery in the history of mankind.
If we would stop for a moment and see how we manage our suffering, tremendous realization would occur. Perhaps in your life there is non-stop shopping, non-stop working, non-stop worrying, non-stop eating, non-stop pill taking - supplements included, non-stop talking, non-stop gambling, non-stop whoring, non-stop praying, non-stop reading, non-stop social or volunteer work. Perhaps we collect things. Maybe little things, or maybe fast cars, fine horses or house pets. If we could only stop and see how we are reacting to stress, to hurt, to loneliness or boredom, we would come to the realization that a great portion of our daily existence can be summed up in just two words, "Sorrow Management".
Consider for a moment if all of mankind was to suddenly be liberated from suffering - enlightened in the ancient sense of the word. What if there was no more boredom, loneliness, or craving to be loved? What if man were to suddenly be able to determine what was necessary for his survival on this planet during this time and what was irrelevant? Can you realize the impact that this would have on the environment?
Consider for a moment the amount of fossil fuel that goes into the heating and lighting of these places of sorrow management such as malls, restaurants, video arcades, sporting arenas, etc. What about the driving here and there to manage the boredom - the quintessential Sunday drive? How much is drained from the Earth and how much toxicity or pollution is poured back into the Earth in the manufacture of items used to manage our sorrow? So much is taken so that we can f! eel better for a time, so that we can build some security. Consider any industry. It that manufactured item a necessity? Or was it created to help someone somewhere manage a suffering? The solutions have become the problems. If a man was enlightened, if he no longer suffered he would be able to determine what is necessary for survival in this time on this planet and what is irrelevant. View the items around you and consider for a moment if they are necessary for your survival. Consider again how much energy and natural resources went into the manufacture of each item. What was the sacrifice?
The outer world, particularly in the USA, has become a virtual paradise. Pick up a telephone and someone brings food to the door. The drinking straw even bends in the middle so we do not have to learn over so far to take a drink. Yet for all the outer world changes and technology there has been little or no advancement in the spiritual realm of man. He is still suffering.
The human body was originally designed to experience bliss. True experience, to truly touch, to hear, to see, to smell, to taste is bliss. What we now call “experience” is quite often merely the constant commentary of the mind. See for a moment what this ancient storyteller is telling you today. Are you One with what you see, in a state where there is no difference between the experience and the experiencer? Is there bliss in smelling garbage as well as the sweet perfume of a flower? Or is there judgment and constant commentary such as “Oh what a beautiful sunset. I wonder what is for dinner?” Perhaps you is not even there at all. Like a monster, the commentary of the mind has swooped down and dragged you away to some future projection such as what should be done tomorrow or to a memory of the past.
Think for a moment if man as a whole could experience various states of enlightenment. If you were in a state were you could see God in everything (not merely a concept b! ut if you were actually experiencing this) would you need to go to the movies or to a boxing match? Or would you be kiss the grass in the garden because there was grass in the garden? What if you attained a state devoid of judgment where you were liberated from the constant commentary of mind and could truly experience reality as it is? Would you then go the mall or eat a pizza, drink several beers and a consume a box of chocolates? What if you were in that state of non-judgement and suddenly realized the dependently arising nature of the Universe and suddenly were able to see the entire Universe in everything you saw? Would need to leave your backyard? And what is you were in a state where you were one with everything you saw? Would you still take Prozac or Zoloft?
The suffering of man has become so intense that the Earth does not seem to have much to offer anymore. He no longer experiences bliss at the sight of a dandelion, the flight of a bird, the bark of a dog, the feel of rain. He no longer takes solace in a sunset, a rising moon, the touch of a leaf. A great sage once said that a man (in his current condition of suffering) trying to reach God through nature is much like trying to relate to a carpenter by talking to a chair.
The Earth can no longer heal mankind if it chooses to remain in a degenerate and fallen state of suffering. We have become like a disease to the Earth. The Earth is now fighting for survival. What can she do but shake man off like so many fleas? There are some 6 billion inhabitants oblivious to her needs. Hear her weeping. Hear her screaming. You will not have to listen very hard or very long.
Many factors, some planetary, make it possible for many to experience states of enlightenment. The very first step is knowing that a permanent, irreversible state of enlightenment is possible for all who seek. This means you. You do not have to be a righteous person or a saint or a guru or a mystic. Enlightenment is in fact a very natural state of consciousness. Suffering is the abberation. The second step is realizing your condition. The journey must begin from where you are and not from where you want to be. Authenticity is the key in this phase. This will involve the often nightmarish task of confronting oneself, but it is necessary if you are to be liberated from suffering.
The future of the planet depends on your personal liberation. The macrocosm is affected greatly by the microcosm. As more and more reach a state of mukti, mankind on the whole moves one step closer to enlightenment. So much depends on you.
It is Ignorance and its terrible spawn, Suffering which is destroying the planet. I have but two questions that may help you to decide whether or not to seek liberation. They are: Are you suffering? And: Do you want to be free of that suffering?
http://www.byregion.net/articles-healers/Enlightenment.html
Enlightenment and Earth Changes
by Dharma Dharini
Enlightenment or mukti can be simply described as liberation. This leads to an important question: liberation from what? According to ancient tradition, enlightenment is considered to be liberation from suffering. To understand this, there must be the realization that ignorance is the parent of all suffering. Suffering can be likened to the symptom of a disease, a disease called ignorance. Little can be done to obliterate suffering if approached directly, as suffering is a constant, however the ignorance which is at the root of the suffering can be obliterated.
I am often asked what impact enlightenment would have on the environment of this planet. With the ecological and environmental disasters and threat of Earth Changes due to global warming and other factors, why we would focus on such an apparently frivolous subject as enlightenment? How can enlightenment help the ecology of Earth?
One simple factor is to look at what is at the core of mankind. The core of man is not peace, love, kindness, or bliss. Suffering has become the core of man. Do you know that you are suffering?
Perhaps it is with some physical suffering such as disease, disfigurement, obesity, pain, or perhaps not having enough to meet your physical needs such as proper food or shelter. Maybe it is some psychological suffering that is generally experienced when things do not go our way. Feelings such as anger, frustration, jealousy, grief, guilt, greed, craving to be loved or recognized, along with a whole host of other psychological miseries. Or perhaps you are suffering from the most terrible and hardest to bear suffering of all: the existential suffering of man or simply put, “spiritual suffering.”
This spiritual suffering is characterized by boredom which we see so evident in even very young children. It is also characterized by loneliness, the sense of separate existence so brutally suffered by our seniors. And it is a sense of meaninglessness. An example would be the one who wins an Olympic Medal after years of training and the following day wakes up and thinks, “So what?” It is the sadness or let-down often experienced after a realized dream.
An important realization in the journey to liberation from suffering is that suffering is constant. To help you understand, I will use a mathematical example and tell a story of a man who is very ill. Imagine for a moment that the constant of suffering in this patient equals a total of 10 points. When a being is very ill or in pain, he becomes almost totally self- consumed as the physical body is fighting for survival. So we can put 9 of his 10 total points of suffering in the realm of physical suffering. Perhaps he is a bit afraid or is experiencing some anger at his condition so we will give 1 point to psychological suffering. Boredom, loneliness, or a sense of meaninglessness are virtually non-existent at this phase of his illness, so! we will give 0 points to spiritual suffering.
As he begins to recover, suddenly he becomes very demanding. He is very angry that people did not come to visit him or care for him as he thought that they should. He is furious at the feeding tubes and IV’s and tries to rip them from his body. He is angered at having to be cared for like a baby and becomes a miserable patient. His physical suffering is now at 3, his psychological suffering is at 6, and he is beginning to experience some boredom. We can put his spiritual suffering at 1. A week goes by and he is feeling quite well, though still confined to his bed per the doctor. His physical suffering is at 1. He is still angry and feeling quite unloved as no one now comes to visit him as they did when they thought he was dying, so we will give him a 4 in the psychological suffering category. He is also very bored and lonely. Crossword puzzle books litter the room. He is always on his cell phone or watching TV to manage the! boredom and loneliness. 5 points can be allocated to the category of spiritual suffering. By the end of the week his boredom and loneliness becomes very intense, and an intense sense of meaninglessness comes. It becomes very very difficult to bear, and begins to trickle down into the realm of psychological and physical suffering. He has a relapse or perhaps his allergies flare up, or he begins to get indigestion. Physical suffering-7, psychological-3, spiritual-1.
Physical suffering, considered to be the lowest form of suffering, is the least difficult to bear. When psychological or spiritual suffering become too intense, it will pour down to the physical realm - much like the saucer which accommodates the cup of over-poured coffee.
How do we handle or anger, our loneliness, our boredom, our craving to be loved, our stress? What is a Sunday drive? What is a movie theater, a video arcade, a bar, a sporting event, a shopping mall, a beauty salon, a health spa? Fun! damentally they places we go or things that we do to manage our sorrow. Reflect on your life for a few moments. How is it with you when someone hurts you, when you have had a bad day at work, when you are lonely? Perhaps you pick up the phone and call someone, take a drink or a pill, turn on the computer or the television. Or maybe you run to the refrigerator or go to the mall. Generally what we call suffering is merely running from suffering.
Shelter in many areas or the world is a physical necessity. A house in the best neighborhood is a psychological need. Food is a need of the physical body. Dinner at a favorite restaurant is a psychological need. Clothing can be a physical necessity. Designer label is a psychological need. What is all this? It is nothing more than man's psychological suffering, his craving to be loved. Not able to find the seldom discovered state of unconditional love, man has settled for conditional love. Securities and images must be built to pe! rpetuate and retain conditional love. The beauty industry is an illustration of this tragic compromise. This conflict between what one is and what one wants to be is perhaps the oldest and most terrible battle that man has ever waged. It is responsible for untold insecurity, guilt, and self-hatred, and is responsible for much of the misery in the history of mankind.
If we would stop for a moment and see how we manage our suffering, tremendous realization would occur. Perhaps in your life there is non-stop shopping, non-stop working, non-stop worrying, non-stop eating, non-stop pill taking - supplements included, non-stop talking, non-stop gambling, non-stop whoring, non-stop praying, non-stop reading, non-stop social or volunteer work. Perhaps we collect things. Maybe little things, or maybe fast cars, fine horses or house pets. If we could only stop and see how we are reacting to stress, to hurt, to loneliness or boredom, we would come to the realization that a great portion of our daily existence can be summed up in just two words, "Sorrow Management".
Consider for a moment if all of mankind was to suddenly be liberated from suffering - enlightened in the ancient sense of the word. What if there was no more boredom, loneliness, or craving to be loved? What if man were to suddenly be able to determine what was necessary for his survival on this planet during this time and what was irrelevant? Can you realize the impact that this would have on the environment?
Consider for a moment the amount of fossil fuel that goes into the heating and lighting of these places of sorrow management such as malls, restaurants, video arcades, sporting arenas, etc. What about the driving here and there to manage the boredom - the quintessential Sunday drive? How much is drained from the Earth and how much toxicity or pollution is poured back into the Earth in the manufacture of items used to manage our sorrow? So much is taken so that we can f! eel better for a time, so that we can build some security. Consider any industry. It that manufactured item a necessity? Or was it created to help someone somewhere manage a suffering? The solutions have become the problems. If a man was enlightened, if he no longer suffered he would be able to determine what is necessary for survival in this time on this planet and what is irrelevant. View the items around you and consider for a moment if they are necessary for your survival. Consider again how much energy and natural resources went into the manufacture of each item. What was the sacrifice?
The outer world, particularly in the USA, has become a virtual paradise. Pick up a telephone and someone brings food to the door. The drinking straw even bends in the middle so we do not have to learn over so far to take a drink. Yet for all the outer world changes and technology there has been little or no advancement in the spiritual realm of man. He is still suffering.
The human body was originally designed to experience bliss. True experience, to truly touch, to hear, to see, to smell, to taste is bliss. What we now call “experience” is quite often merely the constant commentary of the mind. See for a moment what this ancient storyteller is telling you today. Are you One with what you see, in a state where there is no difference between the experience and the experiencer? Is there bliss in smelling garbage as well as the sweet perfume of a flower? Or is there judgment and constant commentary such as “Oh what a beautiful sunset. I wonder what is for dinner?” Perhaps you is not even there at all. Like a monster, the commentary of the mind has swooped down and dragged you away to some future projection such as what should be done tomorrow or to a memory of the past.
Think for a moment if man as a whole could experience various states of enlightenment. If you were in a state were you could see God in everything (not merely a concept b! ut if you were actually experiencing this) would you need to go to the movies or to a boxing match? Or would you be kiss the grass in the garden because there was grass in the garden? What if you attained a state devoid of judgment where you were liberated from the constant commentary of mind and could truly experience reality as it is? Would you then go the mall or eat a pizza, drink several beers and a consume a box of chocolates? What if you were in that state of non-judgement and suddenly realized the dependently arising nature of the Universe and suddenly were able to see the entire Universe in everything you saw? Would need to leave your backyard? And what is you were in a state where you were one with everything you saw? Would you still take Prozac or Zoloft?
The suffering of man has become so intense that the Earth does not seem to have much to offer anymore. He no longer experiences bliss at the sight of a dandelion, the flight of a bird, the bark of a dog, the feel of rain. He no longer takes solace in a sunset, a rising moon, the touch of a leaf. A great sage once said that a man (in his current condition of suffering) trying to reach God through nature is much like trying to relate to a carpenter by talking to a chair.
The Earth can no longer heal mankind if it chooses to remain in a degenerate and fallen state of suffering. We have become like a disease to the Earth. The Earth is now fighting for survival. What can she do but shake man off like so many fleas? There are some 6 billion inhabitants oblivious to her needs. Hear her weeping. Hear her screaming. You will not have to listen very hard or very long.
Many factors, some planetary, make it possible for many to experience states of enlightenment. The very first step is knowing that a permanent, irreversible state of enlightenment is possible for all who seek. This means you. You do not have to be a righteous person or a saint or a guru or a mystic. Enlightenment is in fact a very natural state of consciousness. Suffering is the abberation. The second step is realizing your condition. The journey must begin from where you are and not from where you want to be. Authenticity is the key in this phase. This will involve the often nightmarish task of confronting oneself, but it is necessary if you are to be liberated from suffering.
The future of the planet depends on your personal liberation. The macrocosm is affected greatly by the microcosm. As more and more reach a state of mukti, mankind on the whole moves one step closer to enlightenment. So much depends on you.
It is Ignorance and its terrible spawn, Suffering which is destroying the planet. I have but two questions that may help you to decide whether or not to seek liberation. They are: Are you suffering? And: Do you want to be free of that suffering?
http://www.byregion.net/articles-healers/Enlightenment.html
Friday, December 4, 2009
The Pratyangira Temple Photos
There are photos of a Pratyangira Temple at http://ekatvam.org/yatra-blogs/mother-pratyangira.html
Locations of Pratyangira Temples
Ayyavadi(Aivar Padi) near Kumbakonam in South India). She is lion faced with 18 hands.
Vedian Enthal a village near Manamadurai in South India
In the the Karumariamman Temple in Chennai
Locations of Pratyangira Temples
Ayyavadi(Aivar Padi) near Kumbakonam in South India). She is lion faced with 18 hands.
Vedian Enthal a village near Manamadurai in South India
In the the Karumariamman Temple in Chennai
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