Ecstatic song of finding God

Mirabai was a medieval Rujputani Indian princess who abandoned court life to seek the saints.

If by bathing daily God could be realized
Sooner would I be a whale in the deep;
If by eating roots and fruits He could be known
Gladly would I choose the form of a goat;
If the counting of rosaries uncovered Him
I would say my prayers on mammoth beads;
If bowing before stone images unveiled Hime
A flinty mountain I would humbly worship;
If by drinking milk the Lord could be imbibed
Many calves and children would know Him;
If abandoning one’s wife could summon God
Would not thousands be eunuchs?
Mirabai knows that to find the Divine One
The only indispensable is Love.

—Translated by Paramahansa Yogananda
Autobiography of a Yogi
1945

Exercise, week starting Monday, July 26, 2009

The group finished the chapter "The Lord Thy God is One".

Exercise:
Spend the week looking for evidence of the one-ness of God. Look both within and without.

He gently slapped my chest over the heart.

"Your heart's desire shall be fulfilled."

Sri Yukteswar seldom indulged in riddles; I was bewildered. He struck gently on my chest above the heart.

My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some huge magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness I knew that never before had I been fully alive. My sense of identity was no longer narrowly confined to a body, but embraced the circumambient atoms. People on distant streets seemed to be moving gently over my own remote periphery. The roots of plants and trees appeared through a dim transparency of the soil; I discerned the inward flow of their sap.

The whole vicinity lay bare before me. My ordinary frontal vision was now changed to a vast spherical sight, simultaneously all-perceptive. Through the back of my head I saw men strolling far down Rai Ghat Road, and noticed also a white cow who was leisurely approaching. When she reached the space in front of the open ashram gate, I observed her with my two physical eyes. As she passed by, behind the brick wall, I saw her clearly still.

All objects within my panoramic gaze trembled and vibrated like quick motion pictures. My body, Master's, the pillared courtyard, the furniture and floor, the trees and sunshine, occasionally became violently agitated, until all melted into a luminescent sea; even as sugar crystals, thrown into a glass of water, dissolve after being shaken. The unifying light alternated with materializations of form, the metamorphoses revealing the law of cause and effect in creation.

An oceanic joy broke upon calm endless shores of my soul. The Spirit of God, I realized, is exhaustless Bliss; His body is countless tissues of light. A swelling glory within me began to envelop towns, continents, the earth, solar and stellar systems, tenuous nebulae, and floating universes. The entire cosmos, gently luminous, like a city seen afar at night, glimmered within the infinitude of my being. The sharply etched global outlines faded somewhat at the farthest edges; there I could see a mellow radiance, ever-undiminished. It was indescribably subtle; the planetary pictures were formed of a grosser light.

The divine dispersion of rays poured from an Eternal Source, blazing into galaxies, transfigured with ineffable auras. Again and again I saw the creative beams condense into constellations, then resolve into sheets of transparent flame. By rhythmic reversion, sextillion worlds passed into diaphanous luster; fire became firmament.

I cognized the center of the empyrean as a point of intuitive perception in my heart. Irradiating splendor issued from my nucleus to every part of the universal structure. Blissful amrita , the nectar of immortality, pulsed through me with a quicksilverlike fluidity. The creative voice of God I heard resounding as Aum , ^14-1 the vibration of the Cosmic Motor.

Suddenly the breath returned to my lungs. With a disappointment almost unbearable, I realized that my infinite immensity was lost. Once more I was limited to the humiliating cage of a body, not easily accommodative to the Spirit. Like a prodigal child, I had run away from my macrocosmic home and imprisoned myself in a narrow microcosm.

My guru was standing motionless before me; I started to drop at his holy feet in gratitude for the experience in cosmic consciousness which I had long passionately sought. He held me upright, and spoke calmly, unpretentiously.

"You must not get overdrunk with ecstasy. Much work yet remains for you in the world. Come; let us sweep the balcony floor; then we shall walk by the Ganges."

...still unprepared...

Patrul Rinpoche was a great master whose life was full of eccentric episodes that would bring the teachings to life. Instead of celebrating New Year’s Day and wishing people a “Happy New Year” like everyone else, Patrul Rinpoche used to weep. When asked why, he said that another year had gone by, and so many people had come one year closer to death, still unprepared.

Movement Meditation class this Tuesday evening, July 28th

All are cordially invited to join Nikki Hu's Movement Meditation class this Tuesday evening, July 28th, at the Old Ship Labyrinth in Fellowship Hall: 107 Main Street, Hingham. Please arrive at 6:00 p.m. to get acquainted with Nikki and the Labyrinth space. Following the class Liliane Verdier will conduct a guided workshop on how to walk the Labyrinth.

Please RSVP to nikkiandorguy@comcast.com

... thou art there ...

“Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there thy hand leads me, and thy right hand holds me.”

Psalm 139:7-10

"VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT."

Jung carved a Latin inscription above the door of his house in Kusnacht, Switzerland: "VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT." In English translation, the inscription reads: "Called or not called, the god will be there."

Aniela Jaffe says: "It is the answer the Delphic Oracle gave the Lacedemonians when they were planning a war against Athens" (1979: 136).

In a letter of November 19, 1960, Jung explains the inscription:

By the way, you seek the enigmatic oracle Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit in vain in Delphi: it is cut in stone over the door of my house in Kusnacht near Zurich and otherwise found in Erasmus's collection of Adagia (XVIth cent.). [Jung had acquired a copy of the 1563 edition of Erasmus's Collectaneas adagiorum, a compilation of analects from classical authors, when he was 19 years old.] It is a Delphic oracle though. It says: yes, the god will be on the spot, but in what form and to what purpose? I have put the inscription there to remind my patients and myself: Timor dei initium sapiente ["The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."] Here another not less important road begins, not the approach to "Christianity" but to God himself and this seems to be the ultimate question. (1975: 611)

http://www.jungnewyork.com/photo_vocatus.shtml

All we need to do to receive direct help is to ask.

All we need to do to receive direct help is to ask. Didn’t Christ also say: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. Everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth”? And yet asking is what we find hardest. Many of us, I feel, hardly know how to ask. Sometimes it is because we are arrogant, sometimes because we are unwilling to seek help, sometimes because we are lazy, and sometimes because our minds are so busy with questions, distractions, and confusion that the simplicity of asking does not occur to us.

The turning point in any healing of alcoholics or drug addicts is when they admit their illness and ask for aid. In one way or another, we are all addicts of samsara; the moment when help can come for us is when we admit our addiction and simply ask.

- Sogyal Rinpoche

Two people have been living in you all your life.

Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating; the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to. As you listen more and more to the teachings, contemplate them, and integrate them into your life, your inner voice, your innate wisdom of discernment, what we call in Buddhism “discriminating awareness,” is awakened and strengthened, and you begin to distinguish between its guidance and the various clamorous and enthralling voices of ego. The memory of your real nature, with all its splendor and confidence, begins to return to you.

You will find, in fact, that you have uncovered in yourself your own wise guide, and as the voice of your wise guide, or discriminating awareness, grows stronger and clearer, you will start to distinguish between its truth and the various deceptions of the ego, and you will be able to listen to it with discernment and confidence.

- Sogyal Rinpoche

Exercise, week starting Monday, July 6, 2009

This week, watch for times when you "lose your balance", i.e., get sad, angry, fearful, etc. What is the process you use to "get back in balance"?

via Penny

Report on Congress 2009 - Win Howie

Report on Congress 2009

SACRED MYSTERY: Coming Home to Self

Dear Friends

This is a brief summary of the good news I personally came away with from Congress this year. I’m sure full reports will be forthcoming in Venture Inward and on the Edgar Cayce home page. But here is my nutshell version.

· Despite a tumultuous year with financial shortfalls necessitating cutbacks, staff spirit remains strong and focused. There is a lean machine in place to carry the Work into the future.

· Extreme gratitude was expressed to me by Charles Thomas and others for the generous support of Ned Hauptner (Milton, Massachusetts) whose gift will fund a video on how to “reach out” including how to from a study group. The Ned Hauptner Fund for Spiritual Study will be a permanent fund, its interest being used to support small group study and local activities.

· Atlantic University will now offer online CEUs (continuing education credits) to professionals in many health and wellness fields. Professionals require periodic classes to maintain their certification. For a fee, certificates can be earned by reading, watching lectures, and then passing an online test. Earned certificates can be downloaded and printed immediately…an attractive feature.

· Cayce-Reilly School of Massotherapy has been approved by the Federal Government to offer federal financial aid to would-be students. This is a real boon because in the past many could not attend this highly praised and award winning school because they could not afford the tuition.

· Members can now download circulating files directly from the Edgar Cayce web page in the members-only section. Check out the list. More files are being digitized and added on an ongoing basis….dependent on funding, of course.

· Ownership of the Houston ARE center has been officially turned over to Virginia Beach. Soon all the programs and services available in Virginia Beach will also be made available in Houston. Eventually (way down the road) the goal is for similar centers in California and the Northeast.

· In Egypt, permission has been granted to excavate beneath the sphinx. A chamber filled with water has been discovered. We know that the Source told Edgar that records from Atlantis are located by the paw of the sphinx. ARE together with a generous ARE benefactor have stepped forward with funding enabling researchers and the Egyptian government to precede.

· In Bimini, exciting underwater excavation is being carried out as I write this. Mapping has been completed the next step with be to blow away sand. Who knows, Atlantis may be discovered in our lifetime.

· On the Region level, hopes are high that study groups, small programs and retreats will continue. Cyber-space, busy life-styles, a “graying” membership and the economy…. are seriously challenging the way the ARE has functioned in the past. It appears that an awareness of this challenge, prayer and openness to making changes will be required of all the regions. To this end, the Northeast region is planning a special RETREAT in Litchfield, CT on November 6,7,8, with a talented and gifted visionary…JUDITH PENNINGTON entitled “SURFING THE WAVES OF CHANGE”. Judith was at Congress and she is looking forward to our retreat and is offering her special assistance with the planning.

· Finally, we paid a gracious tribute to Helen Ruth Schroeder, a dedicated Cayce volunteer, mentor, teacher and region coordinator. After viewing a memorial brick inscribed with her name prominently placed in the labyrinth and watching a video tribute prepared by her son, we gathered in the meditation garden and with flute music softly playing we scattered her ashes as was her wish.

I close with a quote from Helen Ruth Schroeder.

“Love God. Love your neighbor. Love yourself”

In Service,

Win Howie, Contact

Edgar Cayce’s ARE--Northeast

..just earth in your eyes.

My father helped me up and wiped the earth out of my eyes. As he was doing so, this reality, this place, this Earth disappeared, wiped away by his handkerchief. I saw my earthly reality as a dark stained mark on that white cloth in his hand, and it all pulled away from me as he withdrew the cloth and crumpled it up, closing it in his fist. He said, "You know, you ought to be careful not to let that earth get in your eyes. If you do, you soon lose all contact with who you really are, getting all wrapped up in that strange place, believing that it is real." Then he said, "You can live a lifetime there and not know that it is just earth in your eyes."
The thought then occurred to me, how strange the experience was, that I actually had a whole life in that place, a place that had such things as cats and dogs. I thought that it was all very weird; nothing like that really existed. I was glad that I had returned to reality, as a kid in my father's arms. The Earth was just a dream.

www.sagewisdom.org/catsanddogs

When longing is strongly expressed deep in our heart, things happen.

The kind of bhakti we talk about in the lessons is the "up close and personal" kind. It is a non-sectarian approach. Here, bhakti is about you, your nervous system, your desires, your practices, and your experiences. When we talk about bhakti as "love of God" here, what we mean is, what is our highest desire? What is the highest ideal we aspire to for ourselves? Maybe so far it is only a question we want to answer, like, "Is there more than this?" If we ask that question in our heart with sincerity and give our emotions to it, we will have some good bhakti going. Real bhakti is very personal. It is about our innermost desire to become something more in our life. It is about wanting to know the truth and using our emotions to move toward it. It can be as simple as the bare wanting -- hungry with wanting to know. This is bhakti. Or it can be very involved as a relationship with our chosen ideal, our ishta. This is bhakti too. In whatever way it is occurring, the process is the same -- the emotions are harnessed toward an ideal, which moves energy through our nervous system, purifying and opening it.

When longing is strongly expressed deep in our heart, things happen. Answers start coming. Practices come to us. Then we begin to open and want to go higher. Then there will be more opening, more answers, more practices. Like that. Bhakti is like magic as it spirals up. It corresponds with the opening of our nervous system. We have called the nervous system the gateway to the infinite. That goes both ways. We can see out into the infinite through our nervous system as it becomes purified. And God can come in through our nervous system. God comes in as bhakti in our heart. God, the guru, and bhakti inside us are all the same thing. It is the infinite, responding to our inner cry, coming in through the gateway of our nervous system.

Advanced Yoga Practices

Totem Pole Blessing Ceremonies at Brockton VA

We can filter out the noise ...

God can speak to us, and does all the time. It can come through kundalini or any other God-channel we choose. By choosing and focusing on a spiritual ideal, we can filter out the noise in us and receive guidance constantly. In time, we become one with the guidance, for the guru/God is in us, and is us. It is not so much in the mind. God does not speak to the intellect, so be careful about the mind games we can play with ourselves -- we can build castles in the air in a hurry with the intellect. He/She speaks to us in the heart with feelings and intuitions. This is also how we speak to God, with our heart, with our feelings. If we are intense in our bhakti to our ideal, our needs will be communicated automatically and we will know what to do next. It is like that, a very intimate process that emerges as a oneness inside us on the inner levels of feeling.

We experience a knowingness deep inside before we know. If that is how it happens you can be sure it is divine guidance, and not some trick of the mind.

The best way to cultivate bhakti is to purify the heart, which is done through all the advanced yoga practices we have discussed to date -- especially meditation. A purified heart is a blissfully silent heart. Meditation brings up the "silent witness" in us, which is the deep heart awareness that enables us to choose what direction our emotions will go in. Before the witness, we were dragged every which way by our thoughts and emotions, because we were identified with them as our self. With the silent witness we experience our self beyond all that, so thoughts and emotions become like objects we can redirect before they manifest outwardly. We can pull an ongoing "inside job" on our thoughts and emotions and avoid problems that come up when everything flying around inside us shoots out. In essence, working from the level of the silent witness, we are able to develop the habit of redirecting thoughts and emotions deep in the mind before they reach the surface. This was mentioned in the first lesson on bhakti (#67).

http://www.aypsite.org/109.html