Everything Is All Right

Compassion is both a way to connect with the indwelling Spirit, and a manifestation of that connection. A sense of compassionate connection with other beings reinforces the awareness of Oneness that is otherwise too often inwardly-directed. 

I have had a sense of peace and security about my life situation more and more lately as I learn to relax into Love and to surrender to Spirit. My meditations focus on acceptance of the higher Self as my true being, and on giving up the complaints and demands of the egoic self. In many situations that I would formerly have found stressful or threatening my reaction is now not panic or fear, but a gentle awareness that everything is all right. This awareness is not limited to spiritual themes but extends into everyday living. At home, at work, and anywhere else I may find myself, I am learning to accept that nothing can be wrong in Spirit and that, sometimes despite appearances, everything is all right. I am becoming increasingly aware that as I allow Spirit to manifest in my being, so it manifests in my life situations as well.

Recently when I have felt a compassionate connection with another being, I find that it expresses itself in a way that I feel as cherishing. I look at the other with my eyes or with my mind, and the affirmation “I cherish you in Spirit” arises seemingly of its own accord in my consciousness. There is feeling of safety and acceptance that comes along with this phenomenon; acceptance of my being, and of the other, as if we were both cradled in the same pair of loving arms. I can only describe this as the loving power of Spirit flowing through me, and the other, and filling us both with the fundamental loving energy of the Universe. Any anxiety or concern I may have had for the other’s well-being is lifted from me as I become aware that everything is all right.

I am excited at the realization that this profound sense of well-being does not stop at the limits of my  physical body. I feel that not only I, but also those whose life situations attract my compassion, are sheltered in the protective embrace of Spirit. They may not immediately feel the same  sense of security that I do, because they have not cultivated their connection with Spirit. Nor may they be able to see beyond the immediate crisis to the safe harbor beyond. But I hope that my own tranquil awareness that everything is all right may be communicated to them and that they may come to that realization sooner themselves. Their realization in turn should enhance the manifestation of Spirit in their life situations so that, in the end, it will be evident to all that indeed, everything is all right.

Ramana Maharshi on the Householder's Dilemma

 

This Q&A addresses the question I believe every secular mystic must confront: How to live spiritually while dealing with the demands of everyday life.

 

Q:  How can cessation of activity (nivritti) and peace of mind be attained in the midst of household duties which are of the nature of constant activity?

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi:

As the activities of the wise man exist only in the eyes of others and not in his own, although he may be accomplishing immense tasks, he really does nothing. Therefore his activities do not stand in the way of inaction and peace of mind. For he knows the truth that all activities take place in his mere presence and that he does nothing. Hence he will remain as the silent witness of all the activities taking place.

 

Bhagavan is reminding us here that the Sage exists as the silent observer, entirely apart from his body/mind. The activities of body/mind are not his activities. He is free from attachments, and his serenity is not disturbed by the constant stream of thinking, acting, and relating taking place around him. Of course "he" is not "he" but the I am.

 

The value of the quotation lies in the reassurance it gives us that renunciation of attachments does not require the abandonment of everyday relationships and responsibilities. We need this assurance in order that we do not give up on the Path out of concern that it will lead us to abandon those who depend upon us. This is  separate from the pain that ego anticipates from the loss of attachments.

 

Until we attain full realization of the Self, we may believe that complete renunciation of worldly affairs is necessary. We may find this impossible out of love for family and friends, the sense of responsibility we feel, and the compassion for ourselves and others that pushes us to strengthen, rather than loosen, the bonds between us and them.

 

This dilemma is not limited to any particular school of philosophy. Followers of Buddhist and Vedantic traditions are faced with it, but so are Christians. Jesus taught his disciples to leave behind their livelihoods and their closest personal relationships in order to follow him. Taking this literally, as mind/body is wont to do, must have caused many to despair of ever walking in his footsteps.

 

Joel Goldsmith paints a stark picture in "A Parenthesis In Eternity":

 

"Few people realize the price that has to be paid for engaging in spiritual work. ... As a rule it means the loss of one's family, and it always means the loss of one's friends because in spiritual work no one has the leisure necessary to enjoy friendships or for time-consuming social dilly-dallying."

 

Although Ramana himself left his family and lived as an ascetic, in the quotation he is pointing out that the real renunciation is internal rather than external. Because his Self realization occurred at such a young age, he never acquired the kind of family and social responsibilities that many of us bear. Because he attained Self realization almost instantaneously, he may not have fully appreciated the difficulty of allowing the I am to emerge as the true Self while simultaneously giving attention to the concerns of the smaller self. Yet his message here is the infallible Voice of a fully realized being, and it is that the body/mind can continue to discharge its responsibilities after Self realization. Surely it must also be true that we can continue to fulfill our daily duties while on the Path. In the words of the Zen proverb, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

 

In a later passage, Goldsmith also seems to acknowledge the possibility of maintaining relationships on a foundation independent of ego:

"Illumination brings freedom from dependence on persons and things, and the only perfect human relationship there can ever be is one in which we do not look to anyone for anything. ... Then we have normal, happy relationships because we are free to share without thinking of any return."

 

Here he seems to recognize that it is not the external relationship, but the internal attachment to that relationship and its rewards that is renounced.

 

The Ramana quotation also reminds me that Self realization consists of bringing into conscious awareness a reality that already exists. I am is the core of every being and rests eternally as the silent Presence in each of us. The tranquil Observer already sits apart from the body/mind and witnesses its frantic comings and goings. Self realization is like removing the blindfold that hides this Presence from us. 

 

The purpose of meditation and mindfulness practice is to unify this core consciousness with the mind/body consciousness so as to escape the world of karma and unite with the Universal Self. As Goldsmith describes it in the chapter entitled "The Mystical Marriage": 

"That which is human and that which is divine meet: the human element is dissolved, and all that is left is the divine. The two become one."

 

 

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The Q&A above is from the Ramana Maharshi Facebook page. There are many other related discussions to be found there.

Spiritual Surrender

Our human existence can be characterized as a series of challenges. Life presents us with one situation after another in which we must choose among many possible courses of action, one of which is not to act at all. Behind those choices is another very important choice, which is whether to be guided by ego or by Spirit. 

Ego almost never chooses inaction. Ego's modus operandi is to stir the pot, to find threats in every situation. Because it is convinced that the Universe is hostile, ego reacts either defensively or aggressively, whatever it believes will best serve its own perceived needs without regard to the needs of others. Ego scorns inaction as passive surrender to the omnipresent enemy.

Spirit, on the other hand, inhabits a cooperative Universe in which love and acceptance are the moving forces. It does not feel threatened because it knows that it is immortal and unchanging. As manifested in us as individuals, Spirit counsels us to act for the benefit of all. In many cases, this means allowing events to play out rather than intervening in order to direct them toward an outcome that favors us at the expense of others. Almost always, it means taking time to assess the situation and to formulate a thoughtful response. Ego contemptuously labels this measured approach as weakness.

In order to choose mindfully between courses of action, we must pause long enough between stimulus and response to become aware of what our choices are. Ego's reactions are often reflexive. They are based on prejudices or the preconceived notion that every interaction is an attack. Quelling the urge to react in a knee-jerk manner is the necessary predicate to adopting a spiritual rather than an egoic response.

Spiritual teachers may refer to this practice as surrender. Surrender in this sense, however, is not the passive acceptance of events and circumstances. Instead, it is the recognition that Spirit is the most dependable source of guidance in any situation. It represents the choice to be guided by the calm Voice that comes in stillness rather than by the shrill rantings of ego. 

In order to hear that Voice, it is necessary to cultivate the ability to establish a zone of internal peace even in the most tumultuous surroundings. This is accomplished by regular meditation practice, and by seeking to live every moment in the awareness of Spirit. If we put spiritual principles to work in the routine activities of our daily lives, their use will become a habit that will serve us well in times of crisis. 

In our calm center, we know that we are safe and that we already possess everything we need in order to be happy. We know that these things cannot be taken from us because they are the only eternal truths in the Universe. By surrendering to the Voice of Spirit not just daily, but from moment to moment, we bring serenity into our lives and, in some measure, into the lives of those around us. Spirit will never guide us into discord and pain, though it may guide us to confront controversy, rather than avoid it, in order that it may be resolved. At the very least, we can contribute peace and loving coexistence in every situation. Perhaps the most important action we can take, in the long run, is to demonstrate by example that actively choosing spiritual surrender is the surest path to happiness.

Thinking About Immortality

Death and dying are subjects that are so taboo in our society, that we often refuse even to think privately about them. The Google dictionary defines "morbid" as "Characterized by or appealing to an abnormal and unhealthy interest in disturbing and unpleasant subjects, esp. death and disease." I suppose that interest in death and disease can be carried to such an extreme that it can be characterized as abnormal and unhealthy. The same is true of any other subject; the pathology then is related to obsession, rather than to the topics themselves. But we often behave as if any consideration of death and dying were a sign of mental illness, and as if any reference to the subject were extremely bad manners.

The very aversion that we demonstrate to the topic of death is an indication of the great importance we attach to it. I have alluded to the subject before. Physical death is inevitable. It seems very likely that ego, which is attached to the physical body, must die with it. It is ego that finds any discussion of the topic unbearable. It is insane to fear the inevitable, but ego is insane and does fear its own extinction. When we live from the ego, we are possessed, often paralyzed by that same fear. What is true for us is also, naturally, true for those to whom we are attached. The passing of a loved one is often even more painful to contemplate than our own. This reflects ego's conception of death as extinction, as well as egoic attachment.

New Age and New Thought adherents often refer to physical death as "transition." This implies a process of moving from one state of existence to another. It is comforting to speak of transition rather than termination, but we should not delude ourselves that "life after death" is just a continuation of our present existence, with no more effect than changing clothes. How much of your personality did you bring with you into this world, and how much did you acquire after your conception? That which was born with the body or acquired by it afterward will likely pass away with it. 

Nevertheless, the core of our being - whether considered as Awareness, Spirit, God, or the Higher Self - is immortal. The I am which observes and - in the spiritually aware person - governs the thoughts and behavior of the small self is a manifestation of the Presence that is the fundamental energy of the Universe. All of the experiences that constitute human existence occur within that matrix and, in that sense, are also immortal. But to cling to the notion that a particular set of experiences that we call "ours" must remain identified with a particular wrinkle in the fabric of the Universe simply represents an attempt to narrow the scope of the Infinite to fit within the limits of our present awareness.

The thread in that fabric that represents a single consciousness may pass through one or many transition events. But when time falls away and all is seen through the lens of Oneness, there are no individuals; there is neither life nor death; there is no past nor future. There is only Awareness, undifferentiated and immeasurable. Therein lies our immortality.

More thoughts on immortality can be found here:

Thoughts On the Passing Of a Friend

Buried Pain

I suspect that many people hesitate to go within because they are afraid of what they will find. It is true that most of us have buried many painful memories and emotions. But even though we have placed them out of reach of our ordinary awareness, their negative influence remains. The only way to eliminate the adverse effects of buried pain is to uncover it and release it once and for all. Doing so removes one impediment to spiritual awareness. The process becomes progressively easier as you learn that you, not the pain, are in control of your life.

The Power of Patience

Another powerful quotation from the Dalai Lama shone like a jewel in the mud on my Facebook page today.  Here is the quotation:

"The most important benefit of patience consists in the way it acts as a powerful antidote to the affliction of anger - the greatest threat to our inner peace, and therefore our happiness. The mind, or spirit, is not physical, it cannot be touched or harmed directly. Only negative thoughts and emotions can harm it. Therefore, only the corresponding positive quality can protect it."

Facebook - or the little slice of it that is reflected on my page - seems to be increasingly devoted to the expression of individuals' social and political imperatives.  As such it mirrors our ever more polarized society.  Dialog seems to have largely vanished from the forum of opinion, to be replaced by strident voices shouting from soapboxes on every corner.  People are more devoted to their own ideas, prejudices and agendas than they are to other people.  In spiritual terms, this is another manifestation of the power of ego to dominate any situation in which it its influence is not tempered by love and the awareness of Oneness.  

There is no question that love and patience go hand in hand. Loving another person sometimes requires a patient understanding of that person's thoughts, emotions, and felt needs. Loving oneself requires the same patience. Loving a society, or the world, or the Universe requires patience and acceptance of the truth that regardless of the scope, events will not proceed according to our own personal values and priorities.

Ego is not patient.  Ego wants what it wants, and it wants it now.  Ego is angry. Spirit as manifested in the Universe has no need of patience because it exists outside of time; but as manifested in each of us, Spirit brings the patient ability to put today's emergencies into the context of eternity. A life spent in Oneness is a life of equanimity, knowing that every external tempest - including the tantrum of personal ego - is only a departure from Love and will be calmed by a return to stillness and the fundamental peace of Spirit.

Peace will not be found by out-shouting other egos.  Peace comes from the realization that Love is All There Is -- right "now", right "here", not in some imagined (but unattainable) future time when the mind's priorities have been fully realized. As we go through our human existence working as hard as we can to produce the good that we wish for all beings, we can stay on course by returning daily to the inner awareness that the peace of Oneness is ours for the asking at any time and in any place.

Who am "I"?

Sri Ramana Maharshi invites us to meditate on the question, "Who am I?" ... ultimately "I" discover that "I" am nothing apart from God. Still "we" cling to "our" illusion of individuality, twisting and jumping from one concept of "self" to another like a fish on a line. Each time mind presents another rationalization for the belief that "I" am separate and unique, "I" must struggle to overcome and release such thoughts. Yet it is impossible to release them completely while living a secular life. "My" family, "my" friends, "my" job, "my" possessions, all seem to have meaning. "My" senses testify that other people also are unique individuals. Only when "I" take sanctuary in meditation can "I" approach the understanding of Oneness. Then dualities fade and "I" passes from awareness for a time in the presence of I am.

How Should Disease Be Treated?

A discussion of an alternative or naturopathic cancer treatment led me to meditate on the choice between such therapies (which for want of a better term I will call "alternative" medicine) and conventional medicine (i.e., the medicine of Western science, doctors and hospitals).  The understanding that came to me is that physical illness -- by itself, clearly a phenomenon of the material universe -- may have many causes.  Some causes are themselves material (such as exposure to toxic substances, viruses and bacteria, or congenital physical defects). Other causes are energetic (arising in the aetheric boundary between the material and the spiritual), and still others are purely spiritual (such as karma).  Similarly, physical illness can be treated on a variety of levels, ranging from the purely material to the energetic to the purely spiritual.  In each case the treatment will not be considered "successful" unless the physical manifestation of the underlying cause is removed.  That is, the "cure" must manifest in the material universe, on the same plane as the condition being treated.  However, if the underlying cause is energetic or spiritual, it seems the physical condition (or another just as undesirable) is likely to recur unless the non-material cause is also dealt with in some fashion.  There appears to be a hierarchy of cause and effect in which events at the spiritual level have effects on the energetic and material universes; energetic practices affect the material plane, but not the spiritual; and material approaches affect only material manifestations. 

So, for example, some may treat cancer by seeking to modify or release its karmic causes on the spiritual plane.  Some may apply pranic healing, qi gong, or other energetic methods.  And of course, some may treat the condition purely on the material plane, by removing tumors, administering chemotherapy, or applying one of the available alternative remedies. 

An important fact, and one that needs to be stressed repeatedly until everyone understands it, is that none of these methods should be considered to exclude the others.  Far from detracting from the efficacy of conventional medicine, for example, energetic and spiritual treatments have been found to complement conventional approaches to the treatment of disease.  And the application of conventional methods should not be considered inconsistent with energetic and spiritual treatments, or with some alternative methods.  It has been said many times that sometimes God sends help in the form of a doctor.

Now, conventional and alternative medical treatments, in general, both operate solely on the material plane.  There may be some situations in which they are in fact mutually exclusive -- e.g., if a skin cancer lesion is removed by one method, it cannot also be removed by another.  What is not helpful to the patient is that practitioners of either kind often denigrate the practices of the other for non-scientific reasons, such as ego identification with their own specialty or the superstitious belief that only their chosen approach (be it conventional or alternative science) can be efficacious.  Medical science must forsake the illusion of its own infallibility, and acknowledge that some alternative treatments can be effective. Alternative practitioners must similarly respect the methods of conventional science.

Insofar as purely material approaches to the treatment of disease are concerned, I prefer the methods of conventional medicine.  The material universe is truly the domain of Western science, which is constantly expanding its understanding of the physical causes of physical events.  If conventional medicine rejects an alternative treatment on scientific grounds (rather than superstition or prejudice), I am prone to respect that position.  At the same time, I will not fall into the fallacy of supposing that physical disease can have only physical causes. If the cause is energetic or spiritual, then material procedures must be accompanied by an appropriate non-material treatment. I will continue to respect energetic and spiritual treatments in conjunction with the material approaches of conventional and alternative medicine, as the situation dictates.

New Challenges

Meet every new challenge with respect by giving it your full creative attention.  Treating new challenges as if they are old ones leads you to apply old methods and solutions, which may or may not fit the current situation.  This is especially important to remember if you are an "expert".  Expertise is more than experience. It requires the ability to discern what is unique in the present circumstances and to modify old solutions accordingly.  Knowledge must be tempered with the wisdom to realize that you don't know everything, and that the present moment is different from any moment in the past.  Relying on knowledge alone leaves you frozen in the past.  The present is fluid and constantly new, but welcoming if you are willing to plunge in, swim with the tide, and learn new lessons.

Universal Mind

The things you write that you believe are thoughts newly coming to you from Universal Mind are really memories, or rather impressions penetrating the illusion of separation. You are dimly aware of the state of Oneness with Source and these writings are imperfect descriptions of that imperfect awareness. Others who read and appreciate what you have written do so because their own awareness, albeit as imperfect as yours, is stimulated. Thus the process of writing and reading is itself part of the reawakening for both.

IMPERMANENCE

This flower is already withered,
this moment now is past.

This cup already broken,
this breath will be my last.

Each thing I could not live without
is just a memory.

Each precious trinket that I owned
has gone and left me free.

This body has been dust long since,
this town a sterile plain.

This land has sunk beneath the sea,
and I am home again.

I've watched the planet Earth dissolve
in her Sun's nova flame.

I've seen the galaxies burn out,
yet I am still the same.

I am the One I've always been,
unbound by time or space.

I am unborn and never die.
I am eternal Grace.

I am the planets and the suns,
the flower and the breath.

I am the Spirit that transcends
my birth, my life, my death.

I am the truth within my lie,
the solace in your pain.

I am the Voice that softly calls
you back to me again.
 

Listen

It's not true that God speaks only to a chosen few. Only a few choose to listen.

Sweetness

Don't seek to enjoy life, but to experience it.  There is wisdom in bitter fruit, and sweetness in wisdom.

Understanding Oneness

.
The Teacher said,


In order to understand Oneness, you must learn a new way of visualizing yourself in relation to God.  You say to yourself, "How can I be one with God?  God is infinite and I am limited; God is everywhere and I am only here." You can accept yourself as a part of God; yet God as the infinite unbounded Oneness has no parts.  In God there is no great or small, no here nor there; for those are dualistic concepts that cannot describe attributes of Oneness. Indeed Oneness has no attributes, because attributes exist only for purposes of comparing one thing with another.  All That Is comprehends all attributes and therefore has none.


What is here is everywhere.  You draw a circle around yourself and say, "The part of the Universe that is within this circle is me; the rest is not me," even though God is both inside and outside. With this limited image of yourself, it is no wonder that you cannot understand Oneness.


It can be shown mathematically that every point outside a circle corresponds to a unique point inside the circle.  This means that there is just as much infinity within the circle as without.  But you say, "I can easily measure the distance across my little circle -- I can never measure the distance to infinity outside it." This is purely because of the limitations on your own artificial conceptions of distance and time.  It is quite easy to define time and distance in such a way that the distance from any point outside the circle to its perimeter is equal to the distance from the perimeter to the corresponding point on the inside.  Then the depth of the Universe within equals the infinite breadth without.  You can no more plumb the depths within you by limited ego-based thinking than you can travel to the end of the outside Universe.  The journey would be endless in either direction. 


Only by abandoning time and distance altogether can you realize Oneness.  If every point outside your little circle equals a point on the inside, then it is only a matter of perspective whether what you consider to be "yourself" is on the inside or the outside. Try to visualize yourself being the outside rather than the inside; your own being extending without limit in all directions.  Then expand yourself even more to include the infinity within the circle.  Now the circle that is the limitation that your ego placed on your being can be seen as artificial and unnecessary, and dissolves back into nothingness.  What remains is you, and also is God, and All That Is.  This is Oneness.   

Love or Attachment?

It's easy to mindfully distinguish love from attachment.  Love unselfishly desires the happiness of others.  Attachment desires the attention of others to gratify one's own perceived needs.  Ego is not capable of love, but ego is all about attachment.  Spirit knows that it is Love and, being aware of its Oneness with All That Is, understands the futility of attachment. When you allow yourself to be controlled by ego, you find yourself grasping at objects of desire whether they are people, things, or ideas. The more of your consciousness that you devote to Spirit, the more you will manifest unconditional Love. The two forms of consciousness cannot exist simultaneously, though sometimes we vacillate so rapidly between Love and attachment that we find it difficult to distinguish between them, and even believe that they are two names for the same thing.  We can escape this confusion by being aware of their very different consequences.  Attachment is associated with anxiety, fear, jealousy, and discomfort; Love is associated with calmness, confidence, generosity and bliss.  To focus on Love is to dwell in Spirit and, therefore, in harmony with All That Is. 

Ego and the News

Contemporary spiritual teachers advise against paying too much attention to the news media because they appeal pruriently to the ego, which is obsessed with self-preservation yet drawn paradoxically to the adrenaline rush of danger.  Maybe the co-existence of those two factors explains the popularity of horror and violence in entertainment media -- we are able to feel the physical/emotional reaction without being in any real danger.  The simulation of imminent danger also promotes ego's agenda to focus consciousness on personal survival rather than on Oneness. I wouldn't discount either the grotesque satisfaction ego draws from the experience of remaining safe while watching others endure hideous suffering.

You Will Call, I Will Answer

Harvard Law professor William Stuntz discusses his impending death. He describes his feelings about issues that most of us are not forced to confront on a daily basis. His thoughts deserve a place in your consciousness.


You Will Call, I Will Answer

Surrender

Surrendering the belief in good and evil means it is no longer necessary to look for the good in evil people or circumstances. Surrendering personal will means abandoning the need to impose your own conceptions of good and evil on your surroundings. Acceptance of the Universe as it is allows you to surrender to the Spirit within and let God's will manifest through you; and ultimately to dissolve that ego-imposed sense of separation that denies you access to Oneness with All that Is.‏

Book Review: Chants of a Lifetime by Krishna Das

Sometimes when reading a book on a spiritual topic, I realize that I am not really reading to learn something new, but only seeking validation of what I already believe. The author will state a point and my inner judge evaluates it, concluding “Yes, this is consistent with what I believe,” or “No, this is wrong, this is all rubbish.” It is a difficult thing to suspend judgment and simply allow the author’s ideas to flow through my consciousness, particularly when the book is one I have been invited to review. When that does happen, though, I find the inner voice is still there, but in a different tone -- “This Truth feels familiar … This Truth is one I have not experienced yet.” This state in which reactions come more from the higher Self than from the small self is difficult to attain. What surprises me in retrospect about the experience of having read Chants of a Lifetime is that Krishna Das managed to evoke that less judgmental state naturally, without my being aware this was happening. By the time I had finished reading I had accepted his truth -- not necessarily as true for me, but as unquestionably authentic for him; not that these truths are different, but that each of us sees truth from a different angle.

The book includes a CD of Krishna Das performing his moving and powerful music. Yet Chants of a Lifetime is not a book about chanting -- or singing; Krishna Das uses the words interchangeably. Nor is it an autobiography, though it does remind one of Autobiography of a Yogi. It is more in the nature of a memoir, the memoir of a lifelong love between Krishna Das and his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, or Maharaj-ji as he is most often called in the book. Maharaj-ji is named in the first sentence of the Preface and in the penultimate sentence of the final chapter. His name is to be found on almost every page. Krishna Das’ devotion to his guru’s physical incarnation is the theme of the first part of the book: how he traveled to India to meet Maharaj-ji; how the experience changed his life; and ultimately, how their separation and the guru’s physical passing threw the disciple into a tailspin that lasted years. In the subsequent chapters, Krishna Das describes how he came to realize that the loving relationship he believed he had lost was just as real and as present as it had been in the days spent in the guru’s entourage in India. Ultimately, we learn how he found peace in the arms of his guru long after the latter had left his physical form.

Except for the accounts of time spent with Maharaj-ji in India, Krishna Das devotes little attention to the actual events of his past, but takes the reader through an intensely open and honest experience of his mental/emotional/spiritual roller coaster of a life. He shares with us the insights he has gained -- purchased at the cost of much suffering, not because of the guru relationship but in spite of it. He paints a picture of Maharaj-ji as almost a reluctant teacher. This was a saint or boddhavista who had chosen to incarnate for the purpose of guiding his disciples to a higher understanding, but who stubbornly refused to spoon feed them. The lessons learned from the guru did not fall from his lips like pearls, but were planted like seeds in the consciousness of the disciple to bear fruit only when the student was ready and able to receive it. It seems that much of what Krishna Das learned about himself from his teacher came to light after his guru’s physical passing, as he reflected upon and experienced the flowering of what had originally seemed relatively inconsequential remarks heard and remembered, but not initially understood.

Chanting does play an important role in the book, as it does in Krishna Das’ life. He is a professional musician and leads kirtan -- “chanting the Divine Name”, according to the book’s glossary -- throughout the world. The defining experience of his time with Maharaj-ji in India was that of chanting the Names of God. Most importantly, chanting became his spiritual practice. Krishna Das describes the ways in which chanting brought him at last to a condition of love and peace. Clearly he believes this practice can do the same for each of us. He describes chanting in the way that others describe silent meditation, which he himself found unsatisfying. It is easy to believe that chanting would provide the same experience to anyone who performed the practice with the same love and devotion as he.

Chanting is well known to us in the West, whether it be the enthusiastic chant of the Hare Krishna movement, the repetition of a guru-given mantra as in Transcendental Meditation, or even the recitation of the rosary. Thomas Ashley-Farrand, a Vedic priest who has devoted his life to teaching Sanksrit mantra, asserts that the very words carry a vibrational energy that in and of itself has the capacity to shape our experience. I believe that Krishna Das would ascribe greater importance to the intensity of feeling with which the Names are spoken or sung. Repeating Om, or Ram, or any of the other Names of God is not the key to a higher experience if performed mechanically; it is the love that the chanter feels for the Divine, and expresses through the chant, that leads to the dissolution of the small self and to the peace and joy that come from the realization of Oneness. The book therefore is a testament to the transformative power of spiritual practice of all kinds, of which chanting is only one. The understanding of what the practice has meant for Krishna Das is the greatest lesson I learned from the book, a lesson that by itself would justify spending the time to read it and get to know this remarkable individual. This experience taught me much about myself as well as about Krishna Das.

When Krishna Das saw his guru in life for the last time, Maharaj-ji asked him “How will you serve me in America?” The disciple replied, “I will sing for you in America.” Many turbulent years passed before this prophecy was realized, but sing he does, and his song resonates in the heart of the reader after the last page has been turned.

Chants of a Lifetime, a book and CD by Krishna Das, is published by Hay House, www.hayhouse.com. It is copyrighted by Krishna Das. Krishna Das has his own website, www.krishnadas.com.

Federal regulations require me to disclose that I received a complimentary copy of Chants of a Lifetime, including the accompanying CD, from Hay House for review purposes.

Surrender as a Constant Practice

Surrender is the recognition that seeking God is pointless because God is nowhere to be found; but that God will come to you if you are open and accepting. This openness is first achieved in meditation or other spiritual practice, where the demands of body and mind are set aside in favor of your relationship with Spirit. However, few if any are so fortunate as to be able to spend all their time focused exclusively on a formal practice. Eventually the demands of the world must also be given some attention. For most of us, the great majority of our time and attention is devoted to worldly matters.

It is essential, then, that we learn to carry the attitude of surrender with us as we go about our daily affairs. This does not mean to be passive, but rather to conduct ourselves always in ways that are attentive to the inner Voice that first comes to us in our practice. In fact, we will find that maintaining our intention to surrender to the will of God is a very demanding exercise out in the world. First of all we must be mindful; mindful of the influence of body and mind on our attitudes and behavior, and mindful also of our interactions with people and with worldly situations, aware that these too are Divine creations. We must provide food, clothing and shelter for ourselves and any others who depend upon us, yet we must seek to do so in ways that are consistent with our commitment to Spirit. In the time-honored phrase, we must be "in the world but not of it". This requires continual self-discipline, recognizing and dealing appropriately with the demands of the small self from the perspective of the larger Self.

Joel Goldsmith reminds us of the ancient teachings that God will provide for those who surrender to It. In more contemporary terms, "being in the flow" means that by maintaining our connection to Spirit, we navigate easily the straits and shoals of worldly life. God provides the ship, the wind and the sails; all that It asks of us is to steer. With a firm and steady grasp of spiritual practice as our rudder, we are sure to bring ourselves and our communities safely to harbor.

Happiness and Buddha Nature

From Krishna Das' forthcoming book, Chants of a Lifetime:
"Ultimately, we'll come to live in a state where our hearts are so expansive, so open to love, that everyone and anything is free to come and go without being judged or pushed away."

What Am I?

What am I?

There are so many things I sometimes identify with that are not me.  I am not my car or my house.  I am not my computer.  I am not any of my belongings.

I am not my friends or my family.  I am not any of these precious relationships, no matter how closely I may cling to them.

I am not this hand, this foot, not even this heart and lungs, not even - dare I say it - this brain through which all my experience surges ceaselessly like a storm of lightening.

I am not this thought that is passing through my consciousness at this instant.

That which I am would exist if all these things were destroyed, or if they had never existed.

I am none of these things that seem to distinguish my being from any other.  I am Universal Spirit; I am Oneness; I am that which is real and has no opposite; I am Life.  Existence coalesces around me, individual elements lose their identity. I am the swirling black hole at the end of this Universe into which matter falls and becomes undifferentiated energy, or at the birth of the next spewing individuality newly re-formed.  I am Universal awareness, spinning the mandala of existence, consciousness without duality, without judgment, surpassing time and space ... I am no thing but that without which no thing, no condition could appear ...  I am that I am.