Tuesday, December 28, 2010

We are the Self-Luminous One











May the Self-Luminous One shine forever and ever!

May the power of Pure Consciousness pervade all around us!

May the bliss of liberation in life surge up in the whole universe!

May everything flourish as the God who is our very Heart!

May the ego-mind decay and perish!

May there be the shower of the Milk of Being Consciousness and Bliss!

May the Truth of limitless, eternal life triumph!

May the Supreme Consciousness flourish and shine in the Self!

May the eight directions echo the joyous cry, “So-ham…I am That!”

May the Truth that All is Brahman (God) reign supreme!

Someone once asked Sri Bhagavan, “Jesus and other great souls came to the world to redeem sinners; is there any hope for me?” Sri Bhagavan replied in English: “There is hope; yes, there is hope!”

This song above was one of Sri Bhagavan’s favorites, “Saranagati” (the Refuge Song). This is being sung, regularly, at Sri Bhagavan’s shrine in Tamil, his native tongue. What a beautiful blessing for us all as we celebrate the coming in of 2011.

On New Year’s Day here, it will be New Year’s Eve there in the west. Every day, and on this day, I am on the Holy Hill at this particular spot, in the picture above. Be with me here and…

Have a Happy New Year Celebration Every Day …

Being AWAKE & FREE!

We are the Light of the World









This picture was taken on December 21st at Bhagavan Ramana’s Jyanthi, from the same spot I took the previous picture in the Shrine Hall. You could not fit another person in here. And, we sat this way for several hours! ...

It was a sacred time being shared by all.

At the wake of Bhagavan’s birthday celebration (Jyanthi) and Christ’s Birthday, it has been said that the best way to celebrate the birthday of a Jnani, is to share their teaching. Let’s be with the words of these two Illumined Beings and receive the true reason for this holiday season …

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,

Where moth and rust consume

And where thieves break in and steal,

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

Where neither moth nor rust consumes

And where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is,

There will your Heart be also.

[Jesus speaking from the Bible: Matthew 6:19-21]

Know this: To simply abide as and be at one with That,

in the Heart as the Heart,

is itself to contemplate or meditate on it – for It is All.

This One Reality ever dwells in the Heart of All creatures

as the Very Self of each one,

as the Silent Witness without thoughts,

unrelated to anything.

To remain ever-present in It, as It, is its contemplation,

for it is the One Presence and Power of simple Awareness

In which and on which everything is dependent,

and is always, already occurring.

There is, in Truth, no separate-self or individual being.

[From “Realization: Sum and Substance” – Compiled by A. Ramana,

from the works of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi]

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life,

What you shall eat or what you shall drink,

Nor about your body, what you shall put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air:

They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,

And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

Every one then who hears these words of Mine,

And does them will be like a wise man

Who built his house upon the rock;

And, the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew

And beat upon that house,

But it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

[Jesus speaking from the Bible: Matthew 6:25-26 & 7:24-25]

One should not be elated on having his desire fulfilled,

or disappointed on being frustrated.

To be elated on the fulfillment of desire is so deceitful.

A gain will certainly be lost ultimately.

Therefore elations must end in pain at a future date.

One should not give place to feelings of pleasure or pain,

come what may.

How do the events affect the person?

You do not grow by acquiring something,

nor wither away by losing it.

You remain what you always are.

Accept with equanimity whatever happens.

[From “Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi” p. 596]

You are the Light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hid.

Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel,

But on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

Let your Light so shine before men,

That they may see your good works

And, give glory to your Father who is in Heaven

[Jesus speaking from the Bible: Matthew 5:14-16]

This Universal Awareness or One Reality, which is the Divine Self,

or Heart of the Absolute –

ever abiding prior to and beyond time and space –

being one-without-a-second and always complete in Itself –

is Itself the giver of existence to the whole world.

It also gives its One and Only Light of Consciousness to the mind,

which lacks or is itself entirely without consciousness.

This One Self is always, already realized, for there is no other.

Although obscured or seemingly hidden,

being covered up by the world of objects,

it is ever available here and now as

the One and Only Presence and Power.

All else is a false appearance, being a product of the mind.

This One Reality is “ever-known” as

the Silence and Stillness of pure Being.

[From “Realization: Sum and Substance” - Compiled by A. Ramana,

from the works of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi]

Being and Sharing in the Spirit of this Holiday Season…

In Stillness & Peace,
em

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Being Blessed & Blissed


I hear Your Silence calling me

So softly calling me

To where I have always been.

I am burning and burning

In Your Grace.

These words are being felt deeply here at Ramanasramam…the home of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. The picture is in the Shrine Hall. I am sitting up against the wall just as you come into the hall, as this picture was taken. People come and go, but the Stillness remains, as It is. The “burning” is a cool melting into the Heart as “I-I” … giving way to This is all that is left to do …

Bhagavan’s family has been very gracious. They have given me a room right up next to Arunachala. I can actually see it, from my window.

I did promise to take you with me and here we are …

There is a schedule that is informal here … it is available to attend as you wish. One finds a natural rhythm and flows into what suits you. My day has found this particular rhythm: The man, who is serving our area, comes with hot water, for bathing, at 4:00 am. It is from another building where a wood fire has been put on earlier, which brings a vat of water to a very hot temperature. You put a large bucket out in front of your door and the guard knows to fill it with hot water. Then, I move on to morning meditation in the Old Hall at 5:00 am. (The Old Hall is where Bhagavan sat and met with people…the energy of his presence remains, as if he is still present sitting on his sofa, as usual.) At this early hour, an offering of flowers, incense and chanting (puja) is done in the adjacent Shrine Hall and at 6:45 am the first milk of the day (from one of their resident cows) is placed on the shrine and then offered to the people attending. 7:00 am is breakfast and 11:30 am lunch. In between this, it is lovely to just go out the back gate and up onto Arunachala for a brisk morning walk. Then, during the day, a number of puja ceremonies are done over the shrine. My favorite time of the day is after our siesta …at 2:00 pm…where it is absolutely quiet in the Shrine Hall and the Old Hall. Just basking in the Stillness is heaven. Then, tea is at 4:00 pm and dinner at 7:30 pm with a sing-a-long chanting session before that at 6:30 pm. A full day… simply basking in the Grace of the Presence of Awakeness…awesome…can you feel it?

My experience of being here is hugely different from the times that Ramana and I would come and bring pilgrims. (This was from 1992 until 2000 before we had our own ashram here.) My schedule was not my own. There was always something to tend to for our pilgrims or Ramana. This was also a time when new programs would create themselves…I SIT, NNP, CC&R for example. This time, it is an open and clear day to follow whatever arises in the moment. Each time has been special for me and absolutely different. I am certainly grateful to have this experience to flow with what comes. It is right on time.

I am being blessed and BLISSED!

By the way, if you would like to visit the Shrine Hall yourself and hear the chanting that is done in the evening, just click onto this connection to our website.

I’ll feel you here…

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Beloved One



It’s been a week now at AHAM Ashram. Tomorrow, I will be going to Sri Ramanasramam for the next two months. I may or may not be able to continue this blog at this ashram. We shall see what the connections are once I move in. If not, it will continue after the middle of February.

In the meantime…

The picture above is taken from this ashram’s middle garden, between the main house and the guesthouse. Notice the large tree on the left next to the Guest House. It was the identical spot where we had planted an avocado plant over five years back. This is such a great story; I’ll just have to share it with you.

Here in India, they have huge avocados with very large pits. They are not easy to find, but we managed to locate a few in town. Ramana and I decided we were going to have an avocado tree from one of these large pits. He described exactly what to do….putting toothpicks into the middle of the pit, on all sides. We suspended it over a bowl of water that just barely touched the bottom of the pit….and waited for some action.

Days went by and nothing happened. Each time I would bring the avocado pit & bowl to Ramana to show him there was no progress. He would tell me, “Wait…be patient…let it be.” Then, weeks went by, still nothing happened. Ramana’s response was the same, “Wait…be patient…let it be.” I thought it was dead and was a lost cause, but not Ramana. He had me continue keeping the water in the bowl. Then, after about a month, when I went to show Ramana the avocado, there it was…a gorgeous root growing down into the water and a green leaf coming up to the sun. What a beautiful sight. Ramana was right…it just needed patience, simply letting it be and not buying into appearances.

That isn’t the end of the story…it was planted in a large pot and was put in the kitchenette area by our rooms, at the front of the Main House. Before we left India for U.S.A., one of our India Staff and I went out and planted the avocado plant.

And, here it stands, now as a shade tree over our Guest House to keep the sun from baking that side of the building and anyone staying in that particular room. No avocadoes, as yet…these are still to come.

So, there was such a huge insight in this for me, at the time, and even now as I share it with you. The words of Ramana, “Wait…be patient…let it be” giving us the experience to allow the natural course of things to unfold even when the appearances are not giving us any evidence of anything happening. And, now we can all appreciate this beautiful avocado tree functioning as a shade tree. This might never have happened, if we had of bought into the appearances.

This story fits where I am right now. Not knowing the outcome of this story…just being patient and letting it be…it is all unfolding, moment by moment, in its own natural way. We shall see what comes.

Thank you, Ramana, for this gentle reminder and for the years of your endearing friendship and Love. Leaving this very familiar space, that we’ve had truly beneficial times together, and moving into the unknown. These 32 years, that we have travelled together, have prepared me to fly out of the nest. I am ready.

I feel You as “the wind beneath my wings”…

Like falling leaves, floating away,

Words disappear

And, all I can say is,

I Love You.

I was born to love you.

Beloved One, You set me free.

Beloved One, You set us free.

- A song written by Kamala Devi


Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Sweet Selfless Service

This path to God
Made me such an old sweet beggar.

I was starving until one night
My love tricked God Himself
To fall into my bowl.

Now Hafiz is infinitely rich,
But all I ever want to do
Is keep emptying out
My emerald-filled
Pockets

Upon this
tear-stained
world.
- Hafiz




Well, I arrived in India just a few days back and have nestled in quite nicely at AHAM Ashram. Jan Sundell and Sue Cowie greeted me with open arms. After lunch, we headed out of the main building to the Guest House rooftop…a great place to see Arunachala and sit back and relax together.

Over these past few days, it has been very revealing to see what happens here at AHAM Ashram. Jan has been the manager here for a number of years. She has also been a significant part of its creation, as well. In order to care for this ashram, she has stayed over the entire year through the heat of India’s summer months. I am seeing in Jan, first hand, a true demonstration of selfless service.

It is not just the ashram here that she cares for, but the kind attention she takes with those who work here and come by day to day. Watching her tend to the smallest details with love and grace is awe-inspiring. And, if that isn’t enough, she has many calls that she conducts over Skype with Sponsees and various folks in the community.

My deepest appreciation goes out to Jan, for her dedication to keeping sacred the Samadhi site of our Ramana. As the sun comes up each morning, she and Rajasakar and one of the Indian staff, honor his Samadhi in the traditional Indian way. Many of you know what happens in India as the sun comes up and goes down…mosquitoes come out in masses. This does not deter these three in the least. The site is cleaned and flowers are offered. Then the fire and incense is lit and offered. By this time it is 6:45 am (Heart Time). A walk three times around the Samadhi is given to complete the puja. As an observer of this process, there is a definite energy of stillness and peace that is being invoked. This process, traditionally, continues to keep alive the Grace-full Presence of what and who Ramana is. What an uplift to humanity this continues to be.

Thank you, Jan, for all that you contribute to AHAM and to those who come into your space. We love you, Jan, and acknowledge the important service that you are rendering for AHAM and all mankind.