Aum. Peace. Amen.

The Atoning Blood

2011-04-24T13:07:00.001-07:00

Everyday we crucify the Lord by forgetting Him and walking with a worldly gait.

But He is merciful and kind, He has not forgotten us and is always ready to forgive.

We may resurrect Him with the thought of His holy name and a surrendered heart.

May the thought of Him constantly pump the atoning blood of His grace through our hearts and minds.

Only Thee. Only Thee.

2011-03-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

We must be vigilant on this path.
As we work toward liberation the chains that have bound us,
The Chains we have buried deep within,
Will inevitably resurface.

And what we once thought we had conquered will show its ugly head
And we will be taken aback at our own disdainful actions

And we will sadly wonder how this could be.

We will see, "I am a wretch. I am a wretch.

"Only Thee, Only Thee, can take this from me."
And thus, the battle can be won, once and for all.

But if we have not prepared ourselves well enough,

If we cannot stand up again and fight,

The wretch lives, the wretch lives,

Alas, His Almighty grace cannot be granted.

"The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. " -Sri Sri Yukteswarji

God Is One, But His Names Are Many.

2011-03-10T13:09:00.000-08:00

"ALLAH"

"God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.

"You may say that there are many errors and superstitions in another religion. I should reply: Suppose there are. Every religion has errors. Everyone thinks that his watch alone gives the correct time. It is enough to have yearning for God. It is enough to love Him and feel attracted to him. Don't you know that God is the Inner guide? He sees the longing of our heart and the yearning of our soul. Suppose a man has several sons. The older boys address him distinctly as 'Baba' or 'Papa', but the babies can at best call him 'Ba' or 'Pa'. Now, will the father be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father knows that they too are calling him, only they cannot pronounce his name well. All children are the same to the father. Likewise, the devotees call on God alone, though by different names. They call on one Person only. God is one, but His names are many."

-Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa

Cave of the Heart; Abode of Mahadeva; Enemy of the Great and Abominable Church

2011-02-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

Women and Gold!

Name and fame!

Heavy intoxications!

Lies! Lies!

Lies so magnetic its hard to turn away -

But desires are never satisfied - we continue to ingest them!

Only giving birth to more desires! Want of more lies!

How tumultuous, how exhausting

The storm of thoughts of want in this sea!

The cracking thunder

Always screaming to our senses,

The overwhelming waves

Tossing ideas about in our heads:

Women and Gold! Women and Gold!

The Heart craves naught.

Release the clutch of material -even mystical- aspirations

And live in the cave of the Heart;

Her breath sets you free.

Her dance lightens your step.

Aum namah Kaliya,

Aum Kali Ma, Aum Kali Ma

Aum namah Shivaya.

Aum Shiv, Aum Shiv,

Aum Namah Kaliya,

Aum Kali Ma, Aum Kali.

AUM... Aum... aum...

Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

-Matt 6:20-21

In My Lord's Garden

2011-02-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

My heart yearns for Your sacred grove.

Longing for the human-weight to be lifted.

Last year, in some brief hours,

Your step in the rhythm of my stride,

Every foot raised was my prayer for Your attention.

Come to me, come to me!

My song broke tears in the temple shadows,

The well of devotion, its caverns filled,

Its waters flowing over, sang along.

My heart burst

An awe-filled gratitude in my soul,

Your Holy Breath, meek upon my neck.

You humble me, Lord.

A Story About Tea.

2010-12-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

The sun sets and his chin falls.

His back slumps, his mind descends into subconscious depths.

Awaken, child!

Instant! Chin tucked, back straight, eyes open- cast upon Quan Yin.

Carved stone and drifting smoke lit red through temple doors.

The air does not move. The birds do not sing.

Sit. Sitting. Sit.

Does a dog have Buddha nature?

-Wu.

Thought. Thought. The dog barks, Wu wu! Wu wu!

Does a dog have Buddha nature?

-Mu.

She sings. He feels Her. He struggles against Her. He steps back.

Wu wu! Wu wu!

Does a dog have Buddha nature?

-No.

Hush thunders. Silence lulls.

Peace transcending all understanding.

She sings, the dog barks.

Wu wu! Wu wu!

He steps aside. He falls.

Hush hush, slip. Quiet.

Back slumps, head nods.

Wu wu! Wu wu! AWAKEN, child!

Fury boils, crawls, thunders in his veins.

Chin tucked, back straight, eyes closed.

As one peels a sticker from an orange.

Bodhidharma lifts his hands and tears his eyelids from his face.

The air moves gently. He throws them at Quan Yin's feet.

A dead leaf drags across the floor. Blood trickles through the tile cracks.

Chin tucked, back straight, eyes...

Open.

Dusk. Twilight. Dark.

The air does not move.

Wu wu, wu wu.

Inevitable. Darkness. Sleep enshrouds his soul.

Hush, child. Protection comes...

Dark. Twilight. Dawn. Eyes...

Open.

The air moves. The birds sing.

Where there was blood there is roots.

Where there was flaps of skin there is a tea plant.

The Iron Goddess of Mercy sings
Wu wu! Wu wu! Awaken Bodhidharma!

Does the dog have Buddha nature?!

-Mu!

To be in AWE.

2010-11-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

Its the twilight sky
Revealing an expansive ocean.
Waves of the primordial soup
Crashing on the sand
And the life that grows and crawls
Within Her womb.

The road to AWE
Is to stand all amazed
As wisps of cloud
Drift overhead.
His face taking the first breath
And her body lying still in the
Mountain's silhouette.

The raod to AWE is the vines
Growing in the hedges
Creeping up Her limbs
To taste His sweet Light.

The road to AWE
Is simple,
Is difficult.
It is to stand in awe
Without flinching.

*Inspired by "The Fountain"

The Highest Endeavor:

2010-02-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

You may control a mad elephant;
You may shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger;
Ride the lion and play with the cobra;
By alchemy you may earn your livelihood;
You may wander through the universe incognito;
Make vassals of the gods; Be ever youthful;
You may walk on water and live in fire;
But control of the mind is better and more difficult.
-Thayumanavar the great South Indian sage.

I Am the Self in the Heart of All Creatures

2010-02-07T19:48:00.000-08:00

Arjuna:
O Krishna, O Origin of beings, O Lord of all creatures, O God of gods, O Sustainer of the world! verily Thou alone knowest Thyself by Thyself. Therefore, please tell me exhaustively of Thy divine powers and qualities by which Thine Omnipresence sustaineth the cosmos. O great Yogi! how shall I always meditate in order to know Thee truly?...

Krishna:
...I am the Self in the heart of all creatures: I am their Origin, Existence, and Finality.
-Bhagavad Gita X:15-17,20

"What one finds if one studies the various forms of mysticism is that the doctrines of the mystics are much less diverse than are religious doctrines. My interpretation of this is that mysticism is concerned with very fundamental laws... I consider mysticism to be something universal like scienece [and that] religions are based on the facts of science. Thus mysticism is a kind of universal foundation for the diverse and different religions. I should mention here that I'm not talking entirely about Eastern mysticism, because there is Western mysticism as well: e.g., Christian mysticism, Islamic mysticism (Sufism), and Jewish mysticism. These all say rather similar things.
"...Mystical experience by self-development through meditation, etc., is not only the key to one's own development but also the key... to putting this attempt to synthesize science and religion on a solid foundation... If we follow this path of a system of science with religion (using meditation as an observational tool), what we are doing is using our own nervous systems as instruments to observe the domains in which God works. Ordinary scientific instruments like telescopes, galvanometers, and particle detectors are not going to be good in this context because they are designed to function in the material domain. Our nervous systems, on the other hand, are designed to allow us to interact not only with the material level of existence but also with the spiritual levels. ...All the different levels are open to exploration if we develop our nervous systems so thet they tune in. One can imagine that this would be a part of the scientific training of the future."
-Nobel physicist Brian Josephson of Cambridge University, 1985

Though My Lover is Gone, Thou Love Me Still

2010-01-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

Thou didst come to me as a lover
But now she is gone
That I may see Thee in family and friends
In the peace of the path
In the glories of Gurus

Though the pain of that love
Lingers writhing in my chest
I seek Thee still
Striving
Striving
Striving
One day behold!
In Thee I rest.

Aum. Amen.

What Are the Chains that Bind You?

2009-12-23T22:42:00.000-08:00

Tonight I saw a one man show performing "Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol". Never have I fully realized the depth of this tale.
Something that struck me in particular was the punishment that Jacob Marley received upon entering the afterlife for it was the very same thing that weighed him so passionately yet so heavily in his life.

The ancient philosophers of the East talk of this very subject. They call it Karma. Karma literally means action.

Jacob Marley was to be chained to cash boxes and ledgers for the rest of eternity as they slowly grew into his skin and as he slowly morphed into them. His vice, its seems, was monetary.
When he first arrives at the after life he notices everyone around him chained to something, or that they have become that something. Some were draped in jewels, some chained to fiery demon women. These were the things that they most loved or hated in life. There were their foremost motivations in their dealings.
And so, Karma, is this chaining. It seems so tragic and cynical, but there is a Savior in this world. But before we meet the Savior we must ask ourselves, "Why? Why do I act in the way I act? What is my motivation?" What do we chain ourselves to here on this temporal world? And thus, in the story the Ghost of Christmas past is the facilitator of the hellishly introspective life review that Jacob and Scrooge cannot escape as they so often did throughout their lives.

In Eastern philosophy Karma is action, and action is a binding force. But there is such thing as Non action, or Akarma. Akarma is the performance of an action without any desire for fruit but for the pure simple joy of doing the Almighty's will. It is the sponteneity and wisdom of the PRESENT moment. This is what leads to liberation. This leads to Krishna Consciousness or Christ Consciousness. This is the true Buddha. This is the Dharma. This is the Sangha. And in the story of Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge it is the Spirit of Christmas PRESENT (you cannot love God in the past, you may not live him in the future, you have only now and now is all you will ever have).
In the story Jacob is not to play the part of the Spirit of Christmas Present (as he did the Ghost of Chirstmas Past), or to even call upon the Spirit -he is to LIVE it. And as he lives it he seems both in control and free to choose yet he acts spontaneously with the guidance of this divine power, he is in supreme joy, he is blissful and free to give of himself without a thought. And as Scrooge and Marley sit and watch the Cratchit's Christmas celebration and they gather to sing a lullaby to their crippled youngest, he sees a brilliant golden light connecting each person in the family to one another, then beholds the light circling back to him and his wonderful realization of the uniting force of the Holy Ghost -the uniting power of creation and the Spirit of Christmas Present or God's Divine love; the Pure love of Christ.

With Scrooge's change of heart Jacob Marley is liberated from the chains he so diligently crafted during his Earth life. Through this journey and awakening he is set free and steps outside the door to behold the universe unfolded before him. And there he stands in awe for how long? An hour? A Century? Then he sits staring, still in rapture, into the infinitude of creation. For how long? Eons maybe?
Then he humble steps back inside the office, ready to help and continue the mission we were all sent to do.

What are the chains that bind me?
What is my most prominent motivations?
I hope to reflect on my actions, past and possible future, and ask myself "Why?", for this question when honestly and deeply analyzed can bring about an awareness that can lift us ever higher and allow us access to our higher selves and to the will of God, lest we experience harder and harder lessons until we awaken to our Divine potential.

"Don't you know that ye are Gods?"

May we realize our unity and at-one-ment with our Lord and Savior this Christmas.

Jah. Jahovah. Wakatanka. Jesus. Buddha. Hare Krishna. Moon, Earth, Mother. Goddess Gaia. Isis. Devaki. Mary. Queen. Omega.
Heavenly Father. Divine Mother. Friend. Beloved God. Mahavatar Babaji. Lahiri Mahasaya. Swami Sri Yukteswar. Paramahansa Yoganandaji. Saints and Sages of all religions. I humbly bow at Thy lotus feet.
Lord God, may we saturate ourselves with longing for Thee. May we be immersed especially by Thy love so perfectly eminated through the Christ Jesus. May our motivation be Thee, for Thou hast no chains to bind us.

Aum.

Peace.

Amen.

Mindfulness is the Refuge

2009-11-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

Many years ago I encountered some children on a beach in Sri Lanka. It had been a long time since I had seen children like that, barefoot children on a very green island with no sign of industrial pollution. These were not children of the slums; they were of the countryside. I saw them, and to me they formed a beautiful part of nature. As I stood on the beach alone, the children just ran toward me. We didn't know eachother's langauge, so i put my arms around their shoulders-all six of them, and we stood like that for a long time. Suddenly I realized if i chanted a prayer in the ancient Buddhist language of Pali , they might recognize it, so I began to chant, "Buddham saranam gacchami" (I take refuge in the Buddha). They not only recognized it, the continued to chant. Four of them joined their palms and chanted, while the other two stood respectfully. This chant is a common prayer, like the Our Father. "I take refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the Dharma. I take refuge in the Sangha."
I motioned to the two children who were not chanting to join us. They smiled, placed their palms together and chanted in Pali, "I take refuge in Mother Mary." The music of their prayer did not differ much from the Buddhist one. Then I embraced each child. They were a little suprised, but i felt very much at one with them. They had given me a deep feeling of serenity and peace. We all need a place that is safe and wholesome enough for us to return to for refuge. In Buddhism, that refuge is mindfulness.

-Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

The Last Smile

2009-05-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

"The Last Smile"
Swami Paramahansa Yogananda
Highest Divine Swan of Yoga-Bliss

Taken an hour before his Mahasamadhi
or final conscious exit from the mortal body.
March 7, 1952

In his eyes I see the culmination of a lifetime of
Compassion
Service
and Love for the Lord.

This is one of my favorite photos of Him.

Like a few other great saints
Yoganada's body remained immutable
even after his departure.

"No physical disintegration was visible in his body even twenty days after death... This state of perfect preservation of a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals, an unparalleled one... He looked on March 27th as fresh and as unravaged by decay as he had look on the night of his death."
-Mr. Harry T. Rowe
Los Angeles Mortuary Director, Forest Lawn Memorial-Park.

It is a symbol of his continued service
To his faithful devotees
And to humanity.

"My countless brothers! I shall wait for all... through Whispers from Eternity I shall gently say: 'Awake! Following His ever-calling voice, let us go home together.'"
-Paramahansaji

Aum, Peace, Amen.

It Rained Last Night; Easter Came Early

2009-04-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

It rained last night. My bedroom window was wide open. I awoke this morning with the fresh air in my lungs -life woven between the water and air molecules. The space has been sanctified.
Let us all have new beginnings! Let us die and resurrect only the things that will bring us closer to our Divine Nature. It is our birthright. It is our mission.

"Did you know that the ant has a tongue
with which to gather in all that it can
of sweetness?

"Did you know that?"*

Today I gather all I can of sweetness
For the love in rain is unconditional and cleanses all.

*See last post.

Whatever it is: Let it go.

2009-03-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Flare
by Mary Oliver

     1.

Welcome to the silly, comforting poem.

It is not the sunrise,
which is a red rinse,
which is flaring all over the eastern sky;

it is not the rain falling out of the purse of God;

it is not the blue helmet of the sky afterward,

or the trees, or the beetle burrowing into the earth;

it is not the mockingbird who, in his own cadence,
will go on sizzling and clapping
from the branches of the catalpa that are thick with blossoms,
that are billowing and shining,
   that are shaking in the wind.

   2.

   You still recall, sometimes, the old barn on your
great-grandfather's farm, a place you visited once,
and went into, all alone, while the grownups sat and
talked in the house.
   It was empty, or almost. Wisps of hay covered the floor,
and some wasps sang at the windows, and maybe there was
a strange fluttering bird high above, disturbed, hoo-ing
a little and staring down from a messy ledge with wild,
binocular eyes.
   Mostly, though, it smelled of milk, and the patience of
animals; the give-offs of the body were still in the air,
a vague ammonia, not unpleasant.
   Mostly, though, it was restful and secret, the roof high
up and arched, the boards unpainted and plain.
   You could have stayed there forever, a small child in a corner,
on the last raft of hay, dazzled by so much space that seemed
empty, but wasn't.
   Then--you still remember--you felt the rap of hunger--it was
noon--and you turned from that twilight dream and hurried back
to the house, where the table was set, where an uncle patted you
on the shoulder for welcome, and there was your place at the table.

   3.

Nothing lasts.
There is a graveyard where everything I am talking about is,
now.

I stood there once, on the green grass, scattering flowers.

   4.

Nothing is so delicate or so finely hinged as the wings
of the green moth
against the lantern
against its heat
against the beak of the crow
in the early morning.

Yet the moth has trim, and feistiness, and not a drop
of self-pity.

Not in this world.

   5.

My mother
was the blue wisteria,
my mother
was the mossy stream out behind the house,
my mother, alas, alas,
did not always love her life,
heavier than iron it was
as she carried it in her arms, from room to room,
oh, unforgettable!

I bury her
in a box
in the earth
and turn away.
My father
was a demon of frustrated dreams,
was a breaker of trust,
was a poor, thin boy with bad luck.
He followed God, there being no one else
he could talk to;
he swaggered before God, there being no one else
who would listen.
Listen,
this was his life.
I bury it in the earth.
I sweep the closets.
I leave the house.

   6.

I mention them now,
I will not mention them again.

It is not lack of love
nor lack of sorrow.
But the iron thing they carried, I will not carry.

I give them--one, two, three, four--the kiss of courtesy,
of sweet thanks,
of anger, of good luck in the deep earth.
May they sleep well. May they soften.

But I will not give them the kiss of complicity.
I will not give them the responsibility for my life.

   7.

Did you know that the ant has a tongue
with which to gather in all that it can
of sweetness?

Did you know that?

   8.

The poem is not the world.
It isn't even the first page of the world.

But the poem wants to flower, like a flower.
It knows that much.

It wants to open itself,
like the door of a little temple,
so that you might step inside and be cooled and refreshed,
and less yourself than part of everything.

   9.

The voice of the child crying out of the mouth of the
grown woman
is a misery and a disappointment.
The voice of the child howling out of the tall, bearded,
muscular man
is a misery, and a terror.

   10.

Therefore, tell me:
what will engage you?
What will open the dark fields of your mind,
like a lover
   at first touching?

   11.

Anyway,
there was no barn.
No child in the barn.

No uncle no table no kitchen.

Only a long lovely field full of bobolinks.

   12.

When loneliness comes stalking, go into the fields, consider
the orderliness of the world. Notice
something you have never noticed before,

like the tambourine sound of the snow-cricket
whose pale green body is no longer than your thumb.

Stare hard at the hummingbird, in the summer rain,
shaking the water-sparks from its wings.

Let grief be your sister, she will whether or no.
Rise up from the stump of sorrow, and be green also,
like the diligent leaves.

A lifetime isn't long enough for the beauty of this world
and the responsibilities of your life.

Scatter your flowers over the graves, and walk away.
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.

In the glare of your mind, be modest.
And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling.

Live with the beetle, and the wind.

This is the dark bread of the poem.
This is the dark and nourishing bread of the poem.