Co-Creating a New World: A Multi-dimensional Approach to Harmonious Co-existence

Blue Star Holland Newsletter: June 2010

2010-06-08T16:52:00.001-07:00

Dutch Retreat Being Together

Blue Star Ireland: Upcoming July Retreat

2010-06-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

Blue Star Ireland July 2010

Blue Star Canada Newsletter: June 2010

2010-06-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

June 2010

QUICK LINKS

40 Days 2010 Blog

Blue Star Canada

Blue Star Trinidad & Tobago

What's Up in Cobourg

Blue Star UTube Channel

Talk for Today by Sri Vasudeva

"We are here primarily because of us; others are there to support our journey. They help in our journey, our personal journey to freedom. It is all about our personal journey to freedom. We need to get this right, because if we do not get this right, we will always think that all that is happening to us is because of the world, and we blame any and everybody around us. If we want to co-create a better world around us, it begins with us, not with those around us. It begins with us."

Sri Vasudeva
Meditation Retreat, 40 Days 2010,

Blue Star Canada Board 2010

Congratulations to our new Blue Star Canada Board elected by members

at the Annual General Meeting on Saturday, May 29, 2010!

From left to right: Selita Nandlal - President, Shobha Roopchan - Vice President, Sara Mohammed - Secretary, Nadia Lutchman - Treasurer, Saroj Naidu Singh - Assistant Secretary.

40 Days 2010

....by Sarojnee Naidu Singh

During these 40 Days Sri Vasudeva took us on a journey to different levels of observation.

We were guided to look within ourselves multi-dimensionally, at all our relationships and at our roles as light workers co-creating a more harmonious world. The journey began and ended with us. Each message was supported with a meditation that allowed us to experience the message in a deeper multi-dimensional way.

In reflecting on these 40 Days I have written the article below, using Guruji's words, taken from different messages to create a flow that I hope captures the urgency in these messages for change.

Cobourg - A Great Opportunity to
Accelerate Our Growth

...by Uma (Yvonne Keogh)

The Ganesha Principle

Sri Vasudeva has taught us over and over again that we have come here for the purpose of self-transformation and that everything that happens to us is a stepping stone in that direction. Seeing obstacles as stepping stones is the way of wisdom.

Speaking from a space of wisdom, Sri Vasudeva sees nothing as "negative," nothing as "failure," nothing, no person, no event, as without importance and Divine intention. He teaches that the more we replace the word "challenge" with the word "opportunity," the more we will come to embrace the hurricanes of life as a means to sweep away our ego/karmic barriers to reveal the Divine Self within.

The Wonders of Energy at Work

...by L. D.

This article is based on a student's sharing of her Kundalini experience following a guided meditation with Lee Majewski, a Blue Star Canada yoga and meditation instructor.

The student explained that during meditation class, "as was breathing in [she] was visualizing yellow gold light, like a thick braided rope, coming in from the top of [her] head, filling first [her] abdomen and then travelling down to [her] ankles and toes."

What followed was a feeling of pressure at her third eye and an energy experience, which started in her abdominal area and travelled upwards and out through the top of her head. This energy was a silvery white and blue light. She also said that she saw a vision of a face, which she did not recognize at the time. Only later, when viewing a photograph at the instructor's home, did she realize she had seen the face of Sri Vasudeva whom she had never met.

Each disciple of the Guru is capable of creating a platform," for those who are receptive, to experience the Kundalini energy. This energy is intelligent and will not cause any harm if we just allow it to flow through us to do its work. As a result of her profound energy experience this student decided to go to the Blue Star Retreat Centre in Trinidad to meet Sri Vasudeva and work on her spiritual growth.

From Our Brothers and Sisters Abroad

Namaskar
Blue Star Canada!

It elevates us, and it is an honour to tell you about our journey and the bliss - and about the birth of Blue Star Hungary, founded by spiritual teacher, Sri Vasudeva.

Sri Vasudeva gave us the key to his unconditional love and trust - and understandably like happy children" we took his precious gift. We recognized that this key can only open the doors and windows of our Self when we build it with constant evolution, consciousness and co-operation.

After a few months, however, we realized that it is much more than this. To help the ignition process of Guruji's unconditional love in Hungarian hearts longing for light and spiritual awakening, we must do devoted service and set a good example in our activities.

An Afternoon with an Inspiration

...by Sara Mohammed

(We are a little late in sharing this exciting event with you but felt that this is an article that you would enjoy reading!)

On January 30^th, in honour of her birthday, 11 Blue Star members visited Hannah K. at her home in Milton.

The day began with pranayama and yoga exercises led by Hannah, who proved that the benefits of physical exercise can be enjoyed at any age.

After a wonderful potluck meal, the fun really began!

While Hannah went to change into her "satsang attire" (although she was already wonderfully dressed!) we, including Hannah's energetic dog Harshak, gathered in the family room for chanting and meditation.

Blue Star Cobourg
...by Carol Holt

It's hard to imagine that the Cobourg Blue Star group is now meeting for its fourth year. While our group is small, it continues to grow. Recently, two new members from the area joined us: Janice Olsen and Brenda Crossley. On occasion, we've also been blessed to be joined by Deva, Lucy, Gina and Naseem. Our weekly meetings are based on Sri Vasudeva's 40-Day talks. We begin with a series of breaths to cleanse and focus our minds and then listen to Guruji's discussion and meditation. Based on his message we reflect as a group and individually identify something we want to work on in the coming week.

Friday Night Meetings in Mississauga

....by Selita Nandlal

We have started something new this year at our Toronto West End group!

Members decided to have a different, rotating format and facilitator each week.

What follows is our rotational schedule:

Week 1 - The Joy of Chanting and Meditation

Week 2 - Shiva Mahimna and Meditation

Week 3 - Discussion and Meditation

Week 4 - Inspirational Sharing and Meditation

Week 5 (odd months) - Inspirational
Movie and Popcorn Night

The Blue Star is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization dedicated to the development of human potential at all levels - physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual. Its programs are focused on self-empowerment, total well-being and community service.

Published by:
Editing Team - Madhuri (Margaret Cinanni), Mariann Canning, Marlene Stallabrass
Graphic Design - Karen Procter
Co-ordinator, Creative - Lee Majewski

Day 40: It Begins and Ends with Us

2010-05-04T16:15:00.002-07:00

Welcome to Day 40 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. The topic today: It begins with us and it ends with us. This whole world is about us, not about anyone else or anything else. We are here because we wanted to be here. We are here for our own reasons. We need to think about this carefully, because in our interactions with our world, we think that we are here to help others, we are here because of others. We are here primarily because of us; others are there to support our journey. They help in our journey, our personal journey to freedom. It is all about our personal journey to freedom. We need to get this right, because if we do not get this right, we will always think that all that is happening to us is because of the world, and we blame any and everybody around us. If we want to co-create a better world around us, it begins with us, not with those around us. It begins with us. Do you remember the famous words of Mahatma Gandhi? “You must be the change that you want to see in the world.”

The senses give the illusion of separation

Let us look at this in a very simple way. The senses of your human body allow you to see and experience this world. The human senses allow you to see and experience this dimension. If your eyes were not working, what would happen? You would not see anything around you. If your eyes were not working and you did not have feelings – you could not sense anything with touch – what would happen? The world that you see around you, the colours, the forms, is a product of your senses. Your eyes can be fully good but if the brain is not picking up the signal and not interpreting it, then you would not see anything. The brain is also responsible for seeing, not just the eye.

Where is everything happening? Where is this world taking place? Inside of you; inside of your brain and nervous system, this whole world is taking place. You are really inside of me. You are inside of me. My senses give me this idea that you are sitting there, but a part of me that is not physical gives me the idea that you are with me. When you get into a deeper state of meditation, the forms around you disappear and you feel as though you are filling the whole room. The whole space is filled by you because in truth, we are all existing in the same Source, but the senses make us think that we are separate. This is an illusion of separation – if you can only understand how the brain works, how your senses work – all of this around us is a product of the senses and how it operates. It is worth the study. When you are having an experience with another person, your senses make you think that the person is out there, but your deeper consciousness and awareness make you realise that, “I am feeling that person inside of me. I am having an experience of love or peace and I can actually feel that we are one.” But my senses say, “You are there and I am here.” In the Source we are all existing and there we are one, but the senses give us the idea that we are separate.

This world that I see is in me. This world exists because of me. It is because I have this [body], that I can experience this [world]. Interesting, is it not? When you think the world is outside of you, even science is telling us the world is inside of us. Spirituality is telling us the same; that the world is existing in us, in our being. We are caught up in the illusion of separation, that we are entirely separate. As you grow in consciousness, you begin to realise this more and more. You begin to realise that the senses are creating this illusion, but our Inner Being is saying that we are in unity. And especially if we are all experiencing the spiritual space, we can feel that energy so powerfully. In the co-creation of a new world, we need a shift in consciousness; we need to come into a higher state of awareness where we can actually realise that unity beyond the senses.

See where the blocks are

On this journey to spiritual freedom and to the co-creation of a more harmonious world, we need to look at us, and see where the blocks are in us. I have said to you before that the world is only a trigger to bring out our own hidden weaknesses. You need to look at your world and see what it is doing to you. What is it bringing out of you: the best in you or the worst in you? You need to focus on you first. No change is going to happen in your world or environment unless you do change. Love is not going to happen around you unless you become love. How will it happen otherwise? In any relationship, if you do not manifest true love, how are you going to get it from another? It begins with us. We need to take responsibility.

One of the things I have learnt early in my life is that this world is here to support me in my growth. I gave up all criticising of anybody except myself. I want to be humble towards my world; I want to be understanding towards my world; I want to be accepting towards my world and I want to learn from my world; everybody is my teacher. The Supreme Teacher is using everyone to teach me. I changed my attitude. What hang ups are you carrying about your world, about all those who are affecting your growth? In truth no one can [affect your growth] except you. When you choose to allow the world to pull you down, who is to blame? Just you. If you are wise enough, you had better take stock; look at yourself and say, “It is me, I need to change me. I need to choose better, it is me.” It is all about me.

Pre-requisites for change on the spiritual journey

If you want to create change on the spiritual journey, if you want to grow, a few things are necessary. One is the desire for growth; I have said before that you cannot have your feet in both worlds. The material world that draws you with its glitter but no substance, and the spiritual world that beckons you to a place of deeper understanding and truth and wisdom. You cannot have your feet in both worlds and expect to get the best. The joy is when you go to the spiritual; all comes to you in the best possible way. Why not let go of this one? Why not let go of the one that is pulling you into its drama and involving you in the greed and lust and hate, and allow yourself to be pulled to the highest space where there is peace, love and harmony? When you become stable in that higher space, then the lower space becomes a real joy. When you are unstable in the higher space, you become pulled and pushed every which way when one of your feet is still in the material world.

It is important to have that degree of detachment from your world and attachment to something higher so you can be pulled; to attach to a hand that can pull you out of this world. That is where grace comes and that is where the Guru Principle comes in. The Guru Principle is that principle of grace in the Universe that offers you a hand that pulls you into the world of light. Guru; Ru is the principle of light, Gu is the darkness. Guru is not a man or woman; Guru is a principle that is operating in the Universe. It can work through man or woman or situation.

That desire must be there for something higher and not to be split or diluted by your attachment to the lower world, otherwise you will never make the real gains in spirituality. When your desire is firm, there needs to be a commitment, “This is what I want.” There needs to be a firm commitment to your path. How does commitment express itself? In self discipline. With a firm commitment comes responsibility; you want to take responsibility; you want to take charge of your growth.

Come, let us be light workers

As you begin to develop more and more and become more and more stable, your Universe begins to use you as an instrument of light. It protects you, it guides you and it makes you its own. Where do you want to be; in the insecurity of the material world in the darkness, or in the security of that higher power that will hold you in its being and use you as a light worker? Where do we want to be? This is where I have chosen to be, to be in the light and to work with the light and for the Light.

When you begin to have a passion for the light and a passion for service to humanity, life is telling you or beckoning you, “Come, let us be light workers.” We are the ones who will really co-create a better world. This is our calling. Those of us who are called to the light, those of us who have a passion for the light, we are here to protect our world. We are here as protectors and helpers; to help those struggling in the darkness. That is what we are here for. That is the work of the Blue Star. That is the work of all spiritual organisations that are working with the light and helping the light. That is how we are going to co-create a better world. But it begins with us and it ends with us.

We need to take responsibility, we need to be committed. You see it in my own life; I am 100%, 200%, 1,000% committed. Can I inspire you? Can I inspire you to help in the co-creation of a brighter and better world? That has been the goal of these 40 Days: to be able to inspire you; to create change within you; and to serve in creating a better world.

This is the final talk of the 40 Days morning talks. I hope that you would use these messages to enter your own light and to become an instrument of the light as we co-create a new world.

Closing remarks

Thank you everyone for joining us through these days and for making these days your own. This is a journey. Where we are is not the destination. It is a journey. We are working towards creating a more enlightened world; a world of greater peace, love and harmony. It begins with us and it ends with us.

We can make the difference. Let us hold that vision before us and make that commitment to change.

Have a blessed day every one.

Day 40: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-05-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

The basic teachings are interspersed in all these 40 Days talks so one card doesn't really encompass all of it but helps to focus on a key part of it. One representative Tarot of Life card will be selected for each of the Day's talks and posted. When you read the meanings of the card and compare it to the Day's talk it brings new insights into the teaching. You will see what part of it Guruji is focusing on and what part he is expanding.

“You have only so many seconds of life in the physical body and it is important

that you fulfill the purpose for which you have come into this world

which is, of course,

not just to have babies and to survive

by working in the world for food and shelter –

and your body was not meant just to pleasure it.

You have a higher purpose

and only when you begin to fulfill your higher purpose

will you begin to feel fulfilled in your inner being.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 40: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-05-04T04:00:00.000-07:00

(For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu).

Reflections

We have the ultimate choice – to choose the way of Spirit or the way of the Senses. When we are stable in our Spiritual Being then the world of the senses will be joyful. In the meantime we can oscillate between peace and suffering. We can forget that we are all One. We can forget about co-existence and imagine separation. We can forget that the Universe – the Supreme Teacher – the Guru Principle guides and protects us in imagining that the world is the source of our sorrow. In the latter case we criticise and blame – we hold the world and another or others responsible.

In the way of Spirit we reclaim our responsibility and choice in our DESIRE for growth and our COMMITMENT through DISCIPLINE. We give up criticism and look with in for the lessons we need to pay attention to knowing that Grace will support us in our quest. We try to be the change we desire to see and remember that we are here for our own reasons – our personal journey to freedom. We are not here primarily to help the world and when we think we are we can end up blaming others and the world when it does not change according to our wishes. Our journey is to focus on Truth and Wisdom, Peace, Love and Harmony, remembering that we are guided and protected and to choose to have our world bring out the best in us. It begins and ends with us!

What a wonderful forty days! Thank you to our beloved Guruji and to all those who co-created these days with him, technically, transcribing, uploading and maintaining the blog site and in moderating. A big big thanks also to all those at the ashram and on the net who daily participated in the Sacred Conversations with their wonderful questions. You all helped to show the power of these messages as they can impact in our daily lives.

Day 39: Human Relationships

2010-05-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 39 of our 40 Day Meditation Retreat 2010. We have been speaking about that important subject of Relationships. We have spoken about relationship with our body as a spiritual being. We have spoken of relating to the world from that awareness of our own physical body and its connectedness to the Biological world.

A Field for Spiritual Growth

Today, our subject is Human Relationships. I spoke a little about that before, but today I want to speak a little more about it. It provides by far the richest field for spiritual growth. And human relationships can be the most challenging. As a soul coming into the human experience, we have come: to forge a path back to spiritual freedom; to come back into awareness of a Higher Self; to know that there is a Higher Self within us, and a Higher Self that contains all around us. The Higher Self has certain qualities that we begin to experience within us as we grow, and as a consequence we express that also in our outer world.

Needless to say that the human experience can bring out the worst within us in our lower self, and bring out the best within us in our Higher Self. And fellow human beings trigger both. Of course, the worst within us – hate, greed, lust, envy and attachment lead us to bondage. We become more and more caught up in the world and in its misery and pain, and of course, a little pleasure.

Qualities of the Higher Self help us to open up the consciousness space to experience more Light within our own Being. They also help us to recognize the potential for Light in our world and to express more Light in our world. So when we begin to experience our spiritual identity and we begin to desire spiritual growth, the challenge for us on our goal should be to express higher qualities in the human experience.

Pulled between Two Worlds

What are some of these higher qualities: forgiveness, compassion, humility, charity, understanding. These are all higher qualities that we need to express to bring about spiritual growth. Of course, we are caught between two worlds or two selves, as it were – a Higher Self that pulls us into the Light: the Light of wisdom, the Light of love, understanding, compassion, and freedom, and a lower self that pulls us into darkness – darkness of ignorance, attachment, and bondage.

Where do you stand? Of course, we stand in a transition zone, don’t we? Pulled by forces that tempt us to go lower and in ignorance and pulled by forces that attract us to go higher, we get caught up. Where are you pulled? Where do you allow yourself to be pulled? Because the tendency is to blame the world: “Oh, the world is pulling me and I cannot do anything, I am so helpless.” Why don’t we say that about the higher one: “Oh, I am so helpless, I am being pulled into more love and compassion and more understanding, and I am so helpless.” That is a good pull, is it not? That is a pull to freedom, where you are pulled.

As a seeker in that transition, where are you pulled? Pulled by the lower into the lower leads us into a world of darkness, conflict, greed, hate, lust, jealousy. Pulled by the Higher we are lead into a world of Light, of happiness, charity, togetherness. Do you see where you are pulled every day? Are you temped by the lower self and its drives? Do you give in to it? Do you blame your world and say it is what pulls you? Or do you take responsibility for where you are and for the choices you make? And when you are not clear about your choice, do you look for guidance, wisdom, and help? Help is always there in our Universe.

We have the Power of Choice

The more we embrace the Higher Self behaviour as emulated by the more evolved Souls, we will be drawn into the Light. Our Spiritual Consciousness will open up more and more. We will have deeper spiritual experiences and we will be more of a blessing to our world. We will be more of an instrument of the Higher Self. We need to remember that we have the power of choice in every situation.

Life provides situations every day right before you, to help you to learn and grow in spiritual consciousness in the Light. Every situation that you encounter every day is custom made just for you, to test you that you may bring out your Higher qualities. Do you pass these tests every day? Do you see them as opportunities to really practice what you are learning? Or do you get drawn into failing them again, and having to encounter them again and again? The Universe is the Ultimate Teacher; when you do not pass the tests, it brings it back to you again and again, trying to remind you. It is a wonderful Universe. It keeps on reminding you, helping and supporting you until you learn, until you grow. When will you learn? When will you grow?

For your Self-reflection

Forgiveness

These talks are for those who are serious about spiritual growth. Take a look into yourself. How many people you are yet to forgive? How many? How full is your bag of unforgiveness? When are you going to begin to let go? The truth is, all those whom you think are your enemies are really part of your own self, but you do not know it. We all exist in the same Source and they are really your friends. They may seem to be enemies but they are showing you your weaknesses. However, you do not see it. You think they are weak and you blame them. But you do not see that you are the weak one, because you become angry, bitter, hateful, spiteful, jealous, disturbed. When will you forgive? Forgiveness is a quality of the Higher Self. When you forgive there is healing.

Anger

What brings out your anger? How many of these qualities do you have within you, of patterns that you have embraced and have kept within your soul? Patterns that come back out and show your anger? Do you see them when you become like a demon in your world?

Forgiveness and Understanding

When are you going to clean that up through compassion and understanding, and tolerance? People in our world are growing at different rates. We need to be understanding. We need to help and support. If we are more wise, then we will not think that people are doing so much wrong that we need to criticize them and take their power away. We need to support them through dialogue, and modeling the better behaviour. That is how we bring change into our world. When you make a mistake, what do you expect of another? Not forgiveness and understanding?

Charity

What about charity? Usually, when we are asked to give, we give of the little, of the things we do not need. What about giving of the more that you have, and the things you really value? Why can’t you see the world as part of your being and every opportunity to give as a blessing? Why don’t we embrace charity?

Evolved Souls are Benchmarks on the Journey

Why don’t we embrace compassion to our world, understanding the different levels of consciousness in our world? If you want examples, do not look at those who are challenged in the world to be your example, thinking: this one is not doing it, so I cannot do it, or nobody is doing it right. Instead, look at the evolved souls, look at those souls who display unconditional love, understanding, forgiveness, peacefulness in every situation. Look at those Souls. They are your benchmarks as a seeker on the journey. They have been my benchmarks, not the ones around me.

On this journey, in every lifetime, we have come to learn specific qualities of our Higher Self. We have come to learn to deal with anger, with hate, jealousy, forgiveness, lust, greed. We have come to learn how to deal with those situations and so we are naturally going to be tempted by our world. Let us use those opportunities for growth, and let us try to observe ourselves on how we respond or react to our world. Let us observe ourselves. It begins with observation. Through change, transformation begins with self-observation and being honest enough to admit to our weaknesses, and being aware enough and humble enough to seek help.

This is our beautiful Universe. It challenges us. It can bring out the worst in us as a revelation, and it showers Grace when we seek it, giving us the support to lift ourselves. We have the most beautiful Universe you can think about.

Reflect upon this: why you are here; the temptations of our world, and the opportunities to grow in Spiritual Consciousness.

Closing Remarks

I sincerely hope that you can appreciate that life is a journey from darkness to Light. I hope that you use every opportunity of every day, every situation and every interaction to grow in the Light and not be caught in the darkness. The choice is yours, especially when you become more aware.

Have a blessed day every one.

Day 39: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-05-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

“Compassion is a heart quality

that drives us

to reach out to others

through a deep understanding

of what they are going through

and where they are.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 39: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-05-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

(For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu).

Reflections

Why are we here? What temptations are there to pull me towards Darkness/Lower Self? What opportunities are there to pull me towards Freedom, Light and the Higher Self? The Universe provides tests/situations every day to help us and support us in our growth and development towards spiritual consciousness. They are custom made for us to test us. Do we pass or fail them everyday?

Human relationships provide by far the richest field for spiritual growth and ARE the most challenging. The Higher Self can bring out the best in us/our world and the Lower Self can bring out the worst in us/our world. Human beings/relationships can trigger both possibilities. Our ‘enemies’ are really part of ourselves and are our’ friend. Our goal in all situations/relationships is to express the higher qualities of love, wisdom, compassion, understanding, charity and so on. There are many different ‘level’s of awareness in our world. If we are more wise we do not need to take their power away but to show compassion, understanding, give support and help (?if requested to do so??). The more we associate with evolved souls the more we are drawn towards the Light.

Day 38: Honouring Nature

2010-05-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 38 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. Today we continue the subject of Relationships. The topic today: Honouring our Relationship with Nature.

Ultimate relationship with body and by extension, nature

The human experience is an experience with nature. We take that for granted and in that ignorance, we work against our own physical bodies and the world around us. Nature is to be respected. Nature is to be honoured. For me, in the human experience, it is possible to have the ultimate relationship with your body and by extension, nature; the ultimate relationship. The human body is fascinating and the human experience is fascinating. It is a product of the human senses; the world around you exists because of this. You are able to see this dimension – which is also called Bhurloka, the earthly dimension – you are able to experience this simply because of this suit that we wear. I have been saying that it is important to be aware of our spiritual being. On the spiritual journey, that is extremely important. Spiritual rebirth, which means acquiring a spiritual identity or realising a spiritual identity, is important on the journey. That begins the spiritual journey, the true spiritual journey.

Understand your body, understand your world

It is important on this journey to give attention to the relationship with your body first. Understanding your body will help you to understand your world a little more. My first question to you is do you really understand your body? Do you understand how your stomach works? Do you understand how your heart works? Do you understand how your bones work? Do you know what a body cell is like? Do you know how many cells you have? Do you know how the body works as a system, protecting you? Do you know? How much do you really know about your body? You carry this body.

We learn a certain amount of human biology at school. Was it an academic subject or was it something you were curious about and wanted to learn and devoured the books? Has the human body ever been something important for you to explore? Do you understand how hormones work? I am saying all of this because it is important to understand your body; it must become fascinating to you. Being awakened spiritually began to give me this fascination for my body, especially as my spiritual growth became greater. As I progressed more on the spiritual path, I became even more fascinated with the human experience. This is important. The reason why this body is here is that the soul can get a deeper experience of itself. The human experience is part of life’s journey, and the soul trapped in the body is really seeking its freedom. It is important in the human body to make that journey to freedom.

If you look at all the species of life, you will see that only us, we human beings, we carry this complex nervous system of brain and nervous system through the body, a network of nerves and plexuses that we carry, that enables us to have the experience of our spiritual being. This body enables that. That is why the human body is given such great importance by all the wise people. Take care of your body. Take care of your brain and nervous system. It is important. Take care of your health. That is why in the system of yoga, there is Hatha Yoga, which is about keeping the body fit.

Learn how to live, learn how to die

Not only that, when you begin to appreciate your spirituality, then you learn how to live with an aging body. How many of you are comfortable living with an aging body? When you identify with your spiritual being, then it is a great joy to look at the aging process, and to keep the body fit at every age, which is a possibility. Our bodies do not have to die out of degeneration. The body has the possibility of aging simply by wear and tear, normal processes and finally, without degeneration, taking its last breath, heart giving its last beat. No stress: the person went to bed, just felt like resting, and they left. No heart shutting down because of some problem, or any organs shutting down. That is simply shutting down out of wear and tear.

The other aspect to life in this body is being able to leave the body when the time comes. I know it is a challenge for our society. We do not ever like to think of dying or dealing with the subject of death. We do not like it, period. But it is also an exciting subject to the spiritually aware. I am not afraid of death; in fact, for me it is going to be a joyous experience. I have seen students of mine leaving the world like this. I have seen how they approach death fearlessly. That is when we have the ultimate relationship with the body: we enjoy the human experience; we keep it fit; we enjoy keeping it fit; we are aware of it; we enjoy the aging process; we respect the aging process and we learn how to leave the body. I always say, “When you learn how to live, you learn how to die.” To learn how to live is to become more and more spiritually aware and more free in your Inner Being. When you are able to do that, you are able to leave the body as well. Learning how to live is also learning how to leave the body and how to transition.

Relationship with the living world

When you have greater appreciation for your body, you have greater appreciation for all the life forms around you. One of the very deep experiences I have had coming out of the 40 Days of 1978, was that when I came out in daylight for the first time – because I would usually come out at night, not during the day, when everybody was asleep I would be out for a little walk. But, when I first came down during the day after the 40 Days, and I saw the potted plants around me, it was an enlightening experience. I saw life in a form expressing itself and that was magnificent. My whole relationship with the living world, of plants and trees, changed, and of seeds; they carry life, they express life, lower life forms that are expressing life. There are those who work with plants in this awareness, producing wonderful crops, in co-operation with the guides or the angels who are in charge of plants. Just as we have guides, plants have guides, trees have guides. It is amazing, the experience of the plant world.

In the same way we have spiritual energies, subtle energies, animals have it too. At the Centre here, we have two birds as pets and it is a joy to be able to feel their individual energies. With one of the birds, I would put my hand on its head and I would be feeling its energies and I would be sending my energies to the bird and the bird would be absolutely quiet, so we can meditate together. It may not be understanding the experience as I am, but it is certainly being influenced by the energy and the bird and I, we are in complete harmony. I love the bird, just to put my hand on the head of the bird is a wonderful experience.

I have learnt how to relate to animals in a different way. I had the childhood fear of snakes but that went away. Of course in this state, my spirit is fearless, so I was eager to transform that fear because it is instinctive, it was there as a child. We have a person who is into wildlife here, and I was able with that person to be able to transform that childhood fear into a joy of really understanding the serpent and bonding with it. That became a wonderful experience as well.

Energies and relationships with nature

Nature has great potential, even planets in the sky, they are sending out vibrations to us that influence our being and it is important to be able to see the influence. When you work with astrologers, you see how different periods, that you are influenced by different energies and it is fascinating how nature itself is so full of energies and relationships. At this stage in our society, we have not been respecting our earth and the balance of nature that is required for keeping the health of our natural system, the ecosystem. Because we have lost that respect, we are spewing all kinds of pollutants, gases, into the atmosphere, that destroys the quality of the atmosphere and now the place gets hotter. We have forgotten the importance of trees; they are like the lungs of the earth. We have no respect for life; species are becoming more and more extinct and we are not seeing the importance of every species on the earth. All these creatures came into being for a purpose. Plant life is there, even with medicines.

We have lost our contact with nature and it is an important relationship to restore. The health of our body also depends on the health of our ecosystem. When we pollute the water, we are polluting our bodies; when we pollute the air, we are polluting our bodies. We use pesticides in foods too much, we over do it; it comes back to our bodies. We need to maintain that relationship with nature. Of course more than anything else, it is important to have that ultimate relationship with our body that I spoke about. It is magnificent when you can understand your own human body and the important relationship that this has with nature.

These are thoughts for you to explore. I am highly conscious of my world and the forces of nature and the beauty of the relationship that we can have and the possibilities. I thought it should be an important subject during these days.

Sometimes the subject of the physical world is not the most exciting one, but I think it is the most necessary one, because the journey towards the light can be shortened, regrettably, when the body shuts down prematurely. Taking care of your body, having the best relationship with it and honouring nature that supports your body - is extremely important.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 38: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-05-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

“We need to create

a relationship with our body

in the same way that we create

a relationship with a child.’

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.

For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 38: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-05-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

(For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu).

Reflections

Our relationship with our body and nature is important on the spiritual journey. It is our vehicle to freedom and if we lose our body prematurely we cut short our opportunities. We can have the ultimate experience in the body unlike all other species in nature. As we care for our bodies we learn also to take care of nature and our world. Also when we know how to live, we know how to ‘die’! We need to enjoy the human experience, keep fit, respect/enjoy the aging process and then shed the body through wear and tear (vs degeneration).

When we pollute nature we pollute our bodies. The greater appreciation we have of our bodies, the great appreciation we will have of nature. We have lost contact with our bodies, with nature and we need to restore our relationship with them.

Day 37: Honouring Relationships

2010-05-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 37 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. Today’s topic: Honouring Relationships in the Human Experience.

Difference between me and my body

First of all, our spiritual being, having entered a human body, we have a first relationship; the relationship of possessing a human body. It is difficult to understand this if you do not think of yourself or do not realise yourself as a spiritual being, because you think you are the human being. Of course you know that is a certain degree of ignorance, “I am a human being.” As you become more aware of a spiritual being inside of you – I have spoken of that as a rebirth – as you become more aware of the spiritual being, there is a new identity in you, a spiritual identity; “I am a spiritual being. I can feel there is a difference between me and my body.” That is an important distinction to know, to understand, to realise. That is the real beginning of the spiritual journey; when you can feel yourself or realise yourself as a spiritual being in the human experience. To really begin to understand this, you need to think of it as a possibility and you need to be around those who have the experience of it; that is how you can catch it. That is what we call the Shaktipat Impulse.

It is phenomenal when you begin to think of yourself living in a body or you understand that, “I am a spiritual being in this body”; it is like a certain degree of freedom. It is possible for you, if only you look at it. Some of you already know or experience spiritual qualities in you, but you do not identify with it as coming from a spiritual being - you do not give it the attention enough, you do not create the awareness enough to see that it is coming from a spiritual being - because you are so caught up in the human experience. This is an extremely important relationship because the human body is a gift in the human experience, to relate to the world, to develop relationships with the world.

Relationship with physical body

When we come in the human birth, we have a body to relate to, whether we understand it or not, and then we have a world to relate to. When you begin to understand your body and your relationship with it, you can keep it healthy. When you have a vehicle, is it not important to take care of your vehicle, so that you can use it for your travel? Is it not important? Do you see this [body] as a vehicle for your travel in the earthly experience? Life is a journey. If you do, you will take care of this [body], though sometimes I see some of you do not really take care of this. You think of the journey as being important, but you do not think that your relationship with your physical body is so important, so you can eat what you want, pleasure the senses; you are making your journey. Soon enough the body will challenge you, it will react to the abuse that you perhaps are giving to it without even knowing. The eating of junk food for example is abuse. Lack of exercise is abuse. Not resting well is abuse. Over working is abuse. Pleasuring the senses in indulgence that becomes addictions is abuse. Soon enough, your body is no longer travel worthy, it begins to give you problems on the way and you consume your time in the problems rather than the reason for you being here. So the relationship with the body is an important one.

The body’s state of well being shows your relationship with it. When you begin to develop the right relationship with the body, you will keep it well, you learn how to keep it fit and ultimately, as you grow more in spiritual awareness, you will know how to shed it, how to leave it when the time comes. That is another learning we need, another wisdom. How when the body begins to deteriorate and it has to shut down, that we can know how to do that process, how to engage in that process of body shutting down. Because suddenly when the body is ready to shut down on us, we do not know how to deal with it. Have you ever considered that? That when the time comes for your body to shut down, that you need the wisdom to deal with that? That is important in this relationship.

Relating to the world

Apart from that, we have the whole world around us in which we relate. Every relationship is meaningful and purposeful; meaningful in the sense that it is part of your world. Every relationship is related to something inside of you. Why did you attract it in the first place? There is a reason. Why do we in particular attract certain things and not other things? There is meaning in that. You can walk on a street, a busy street, and there are so many people on that street, but you notice only a few people, because they have some kind of relationship with some of your experiences and when you leave there, you remember only those. Of all the hundreds of people you would have seen, they were of no consequence but the few you remembered because they are related to you, or some experience inside of you. You carry them inside of you; you remember.

Everything that we have around us in relationships is what we have attracted, whether you believe it or not, this is what you have attracted or what we have attracted; the good, the bad and the indifferent. Those that engage us in very positive processes and those who engage us in very negative or conflicting situations; we are in relationship with them. Not only the external ones, but we carry memories of a lot of relationships. We also carry relationships in our being, in our causal being, where we store all information of our soul. These relationships are also inside of us, we carry them.

Purpose of relationships: conscious evolution

Every relationship in your space needs attention because they have a purpose: some relationships are there to support you, to reward you; some relationships are there to challenge you, to test you. They are all there to support your growth. We human beings have come in this experience not to stay in the pits of pain and misery and bondage; that is not why we came here. We came here for freedom. We are in this human experience for freedom, to evolve.

Whether we know it or not, we are evolving. What is important is whether it is conscious evolution or unconscious evolution. Are you engaged in conscious evolution or are you engaged in unconscious evolution? Unconscious means the world kicks you every way or lifts you sometimes. We say, “This is my life, everything just happens. I cannot control it.” We do not see any other possibility. All these things are going to kick us, lift us, push us, pull us in the evolution process. That is how we evolve; by the world, prodding on us. Conscious evolution means understanding what is around us and co-creating with the Universe the path to freedom. That is working intelligently, wisely, that is conscious evolution; defining your path for freedom and growth and making conscious steps, rather than being kicked and pushed and pulled by life. What are you engaged in?

Look at these relationships around you and look for the meaning in them, and the purpose in them; they are all meant for us to grow in the relationship. Of course the tools to use in the growth process are there for you if only you give attention to them. Grace is in the process, guidance is built into the Universe. The moment you seek help, it comes. That is why we say the Guru Principle is a grace bestowing principle; the moment we call for that help, it appears. The purpose of all relationships, whether they challenge us or they reward us or support us, is to grow in the process. When you begin to engage in the conscious process of growth, you will find that when you see the lessons and you learn the lessons, the Universe begins to move you to more and more desirable places and life becomes easier. When you are engaged in the conscious process of evolution and you begin to improve - based on your efforts and based on your earning of grace, attracting grace, you begin to grow - then things change around you.

Purposeful co-creation in relationships

In ignorance we think that everything around us is separate, but as we grow in spiritual identity, we will see that we are all engaged in a game, in a play, of one self and that everybody is part of me. As you begin to open up in the spiritual consciousness, you will see it is all a play of one self, not many selves. There are no real strangers in the Universe. When the consciousness is opened up, everyone is part of my own being and the engagement becomes different, there is a lot of compassion, understanding, sharing, empathy. That is how we co-create a new world, in the awareness that there is one self.

A lot can be said about relationships and how to work with the challenges that are there in relationships. If you do not use the opportunities before you, to improve in relationships or to learn from them or to grow from them, they will continue to haunt you; they will continue to stay with you, beyond lifetimes they will stay with you. The enemies you create, the conflicts you create, you carry them and you draw back the situations another time. It is so important to understand this. I honour all the relationships in my space, with my body, with my Higher Self; with every human being I honour the relationship. Everybody who stays in my space is worthy of my space and I honour my relationship to them. I use those relationships purposefully in co-creation, to bring more light to my world, more harmony to my world, more peace to my world.

The talk today is about honouring relationships in our world. I hope you would take the few principles that I have outlined for you to help you to engage in the relationship process with the world and of course, relationship to our environment, to all the other expressions of life; it is also important, to honour those relationships as well. This is a very rich subject but I gave you a few thoughts for contemplation.

The most powerful relationship in the space is that with the Higher Self. It supports us in all the other experiences. It is the space of grace, continuous grace. May you honour all relationships today, seeing how important they are on your journey.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 37: Satsang

2010-05-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

blue_star on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Day 37: Questions and Answers

2010-05-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Day 37: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-05-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

“I believe in the power and possibility of every human being.

I believe that each one is sacred.

I believe that each one is worthy of respect

and reverence and love,
each person.

That’s why I will never put myself on a pedestal.

I can’t

because we are all the same.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.

For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 37: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-05-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

(For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu).

Reflections

Again we can see relationships as a mirror for ourselves to grow and become more aware. As we learn our lessons as it were then we see ourselves developing and our relationships are of a different quality – more sharing, compassion and empathy. Every relationship is therefore meaningful and purposeful. Why do we attract some relationships? They are resonating with something inside of us (positively/negatively). Everything around us is what we have attracted. Every relationship in your space needs attention so that we can develop. This is how we can begin to co-create a new world, particularly when we see al relationships as a play/game of One Self. The tools have been given to us and Grace is there. When we seek help it appears.

The most important distinction to make is that between ourselves as spiritual beings and human beings. This distinction helps us towards a certain freedom especially when we begin to realise that our spiritual experiences are coming from our Spiritual Being – our Higher Self. Also when we see our bodies as a gift to develop relationships with our world then we can begin to see the importance of taking care of the body as our vehicle for travel. Otherwise we can abuse it with junk food, lack of exercise/rest, overwork, etc. This can cause problems which distracts us from our journey. When you relate well to the body you keep it well and fit and then also shed it with the times come – this is another wisdom – that of knowing how to engage in the body shutting down.

Day 36: Seek the Light

2010-04-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 36 of our 40 Days Retreat 2010. Today the topic is Light. Seek the Light; Be a Light. Light is a quality of the Spirit. It is the highest quality. Life is a journey from darkness to light. In all our conversations, that has been an essential topic: To live in the Light; to understand the Light, to be drawn to the Light; to stay in the Light; to seek the Light. This has been the essence of all our conversations. Enlightenment is about light.

From darkness to light; Where are you?

I have spoken about being trapped in a human body, with the light becoming hidden as a result. Absence of light is darkness. How do you feel in darkness? It is not a desirable place to be. We are all held there in the unenlightened state. When I say “unenlightened” I mean lack of spiritual awareness, lack of knowledge, and lack of experience of your essential Light.

Where are you in this process, in darkness or in light? Where are you? And are you promoting the darkness or are you promoting light? Take a sober view of you. Are you promoting the forces of darkness or are you promoting the forces of light? Take a sober view. I know you celebrate speaking about light; I know you love to have discussions about light, but how effective are those conversations? Are they holding you in the Light? Are they inspiring you to manifest the Light? Or unconsciously, are you holding on to darkness? You have become accustomed to darkness. Have you seen darkness as being undesirable? It is important to analyze this, to understand this.

Seek the real Light

Self-reflection is extremely important on the journey. And the power of discrimination allows us to have this. I can reflect on what I am saying to you. That allows me to say to you what I think is necessary in this moment. Physical or mortal life in the body traps us in the dungeons of darkness of human existence. Captured by Nature and its instincts and drives, you think that you are happy as you go after pleasures and power. You think you are happy but you are captured by Nature. You think that the little experiences you have are the experiences of Light, but that is a kind of artificial light that is around you, stimulated by nerves and your brain and the experiences of the senses. It is a sort of artificial light that makes you seem happy for some time, but after a while you realize it is an artificial light.

We need to seek the real Light. There is a fire in your Soul; there is infinite Light within your Soul. And in this infinite Light you live in darkness stimulated by some artificial lighting that comes and goes.

This is not a talk about something out there. This is not a talk about people around you. This is a talk about you, about me, about us. This is a talk about us; a talk for self-reflection. There is a fire in our Soul that can bring the Light we need to liberate ourselves and to light up our world. There is a Light in your Soul. It is important to seek out that Light if you really want to move out of the darkness.

Test: Answer the following Questions

How happy are you? How contented are you? How wise are you? Are you so wise that you can deal with any of life’s situations? Are you so wise? Or do you feel confused sometimes, in darkness sometimes? Are you so happy that you are never lonely and sad? That you have no fear? And can you do justice to this creation that you have by lighting it up with the fire of your Inner Being? Or do you live in the darkness of low vitality, in the darkness of loneliness and fear? Do you live in the darkness of ignorance? Are you happy with that? Are you so happy with that, that you go about contentedly? You take a little teaching and you are happy with that, and think that you have all of the Light?

Different Qualities of Light

The Light of Wisdom

This is a wake-up call. This journey only ends when you become the Light. And there are different qualities of Light in your Soul that you can tap into - the Light that is necessary for us and for our world. The most powerful Light within you is the Light of wisdom, the Light of discrimination, the Light of understanding. That is the most powerful Light in the world. If you do not have that, you are confused, you have no compass, you have no direction. You do not know where you are going. You cannot understand what is happening around you. You cannot make decisions.

The most important light is the Light of wisdom. It lights up your mental field; you understand life. Ignorance is the root cause of all stress, all fear, all conflict, and only the Light of wisdom can remove that. Your strongest prayer should be: “Light up my mind; light up my intellect.” Is this your prayer? Do you seek every day to understand more of yourself and your world? Do you seek the Light of wisdom? Do you? Answer that question.

That is the way you can become a light to your world. If you do not have the Light of understanding within you, if you do not have the Light of wisdom, what are you offering to your world? Are you being a blessing to your world or a burden? Are you stressing your world out or are you bringing healing to your world? So the Light of wisdom is the most important. That is what we try to inspire in this space: the Light of wisdom, seeing in a different way, understanding yourself differently.

The Light of Love

Then there is the powerful Light that brings comfort and healing in any space, soothing Light. It is the Light of love, the Light of compassion. Do you have that Light? Do you feel that Light? It is available to you in fullness. Do you seek it? It is in your Soul. It is in your emotional field. It is available 24/7. Do you seek it? Do you want it? It is the healing Light of our world; it is the healing balm. It removes fear, it promotes peace and harmony. It brings people together. That is what love does.

The Light of Vitality

The other powerful quality of Light is the one that fires up the body, restores its vitality, gives us a zest to live, renews your strength. Are you interested in being vital? Are you interested in having all your actions being vital, or in burn-out? Your vitality is available from your Soul, from your Infinite Being 24/7. Are you satisfied with where you are? Are you being a blessing to the world? Or are you a burden to the world in all your actions, in your thoughts? Are you stressing out your world and yourself as a result?

Seek the Light; Spread the Light

This Light is necessary. When do you want this Light? Next week? Next year? When do you want to live in this Light? I could not live without it. I could not live another day in my world without it. I could not. More than anything, I wanted the Light. Grace came; tremendous Grace came; the Grace of Shaktipat; the Grace of that impulse of energy that ignited my flame. The moment I saw the Light I wanted more and more. And I not only sought the Light but I wanted to share it. I could not contain it; I had to give. In everything that I did, I poured Light.

What is your story? The world needs Light today. It does not need us to stay in darkness. The world needs no more burden. The burdens of the world need to be lifted, where are you? Where are you? Are you bringing Light into your home? Are you bringing Light into your workplace? Are you bringing Light into your community? Are you bringing Light into your world? Are you bringing Light? Wake up! Wake up! The fire is inside of you. Give it attention.

Closing Remarks

When I thought of speaking about the glories of the Light to you, I was not inspired. But when I speak to tell you about the darkness and how it enslaves us, and how to wake up, I am more inspired. I am more inspired to tell you about the power of darkness and the need to seek the Light, uncompromisingly. That is what inspired this talk today.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 36: Questions and Answers

2010-04-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

Day 36: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

“All you need to do is to let your light shine bright.

Don’t convert anybody.

A flower doesn’t have to advertise its fragrance.

It just has to ‘be’

and it will draw everybody to its fragrance.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 36: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

(For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu).

Reflections

We are called to WAKE UP, seek the Light, be in the Light and be the Light vs being happy with the artificial light of the sense’s pleasures. These are temporary and keep us in dungeon of darkness, we we are confused, lonely, sad, fearful, have low vitality and experience burnout. Ignorance is the main source of burnout. Main question for self reflection: are we a blessing to our world or a burden to our world. All the other questions are pointing us to see where we are – whether we are promoting the forces of Light of or darkness and how we might be doing that? Are we satisfied with a little teaching or are we more drawn to that Space of infinite possibilities and all knowing?

Day 35: Managing the Lower Self on the Spiritual Journey

2010-04-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 35 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. We have spoken about the lower self, understanding the lower self. Let us go into a little more detail. We are a spiritual being; we have made this case that there is more in the human experience. We are defining ourselves as spiritual beings in a human experience, but in ignorance we think we are human beings having a spiritual experience. Even though we may understand it in the mind - that we are spiritual beings having a human experience - we may not know it in the experience. We may have an understanding in the mind of this possibility but in reality we may be still acting from body consciousness. It is important to understand the influence of body consciousness.

Having come into a body, being integrated in a body as a spiritual being, we experience the body in ignorance as being us, having little or no awareness of any other identity. This is us. Even though we may have some idea that we can be different, and sometimes [we may have] a little experience that we are different, we can still be held strongly in body awareness. How does that influence us? Observe the physical body, it has basic instincts; survival instinct, sexual instinct; it is a physical creature. It needs to reproduce. It needs to survive. Physical creature. But I am a spiritual being in this physical creature. So my consciousness as a spiritual being in this physical creature, can become limited to physical awareness, and I completely think that “I” need to reproduce, though my body needs to reproduce, I think “I” need to reproduce. I need to survive, though my body needs to survive, I think “I” need to survive. My consciousness has become limited and that limited self, we call “Lower Self.”

Moving between basic and spiritual instincts

When we become spiritual aware, spiritually awakened – and I have spoken about the Shaktipat Impulse, the Shaktipat Experience – we begin to experience a rebirth and a new identity comes in. We begin to think that we are more than the physical being. We begin to develop a spiritual identity and then we move between the two from time to time. The spiritual identity also has spiritual instincts: the instinct for freedom, that drive for freedom; that drive for unconditional love; that drive for peace, love and harmony. These are spiritual instincts. Caught into the lower body, into this body consciousness, we are driven by basic instincts; sexual consciousness, survival consciousness, need for food and shelter and comfort in the human experience, the need to propagate the species, to reproduce.

We are driven by spiritual drives of a Higher Self, of a spiritual identity, and lower drives of a lower self. When we are caught in the body consciousness, we become caught in lower drives. When we are caught in the lower basic instincts, that is the breeding ground for hate, lust, greed, attachment. These influence us even as spiritual consciousness emerges, when they are very strong instincts, not managed.

On the spiritual journey, we can be caught up in two worlds, driven by spiritual instincts and striving for freedom, for the unconditional loving and for peace, love and harmony, and driven by body instincts, to survive, to mate. You see how nature produces that strong instinct; nature captures our spiritual being; hormones drive us in the body and we think that we need to survive, to reproduce, so we are driven by nature and its chemistry. The spiritual being becomes lost, thinking that it is hungry; it needs to reproduce, though spiritual being has a different identity, it does not need to reproduce, it is not hungry when the body is hungry.

Spiritualising the drives of the lower self

What happens on the spiritual journey when we become caught up in the spiritual drive, the basic instincts are not managed, there is a tendency for suppression when these come up in the spiritual consciousness if we do not understand it and we begin to think that these do not belong there, we need to fight with it. There is suppression, there is stress and a lot of seekers go through that stress. It is important to understand how to deal with that, how to manage the lower self, because the lower self has drives, energies, physical energy, physical might, sexual energy.

What is most important in this experience as you begin to become spiritually aware is to accept your lower self, not to deny it, not to fight with it, to accept it. It is of the human body. It is the body that you carry. Instead of fighting with it, accept it as part of your own being and try to bring the spiritual consciousness into it. Stop the fight! When you see these drives within you, begin to think, “They belong to the body consciousness, they belong to the lower self.” Have compassion on them, the body needs these drives to survive. Have compassion on your poor body! Begin to understand it. Begin to see it as lower self drives. Give attention to the higher ones and bring that unconditional loving to the body. Bring that compassion to the body.

When you begin to see the body as having its own identity that drives you through the nature qualities, then you learn to accept it and you learn to hold it in your greatest spiritual awareness. That is when you learn to manage these. You do not deny them but you try to bring the spirituality into them. Into the sexual consciousness, you try to bring the spirituality; you begin to bring true love into it. In the survival instincts, the need to eat, the need for shelter, you begin to see those as needs for the body and you begin to move away from the lust and the greed and the attachment to those, but learn to offer the body the best that it needs; satisfy its needs and learn to hold it in the spirituality of your Inner Being. When you begin to do that, you will realise that your body is really your friend and the lower self is really your friend, when you begin to try to spiritualise it. You need to stop the fight.

This is what happened to me as a young man, the fight. I did not want to have these survival needs inside of me. I did not want to be driven by this sexuality. I want my higher drives to come into me, I want to embrace those. When I got into the spiritual awareness and I could see my body as being different to me and I could understand its drives, then I began to spiritualise my body. I began to change my whole way of dealing with it and I began to influence it from my spiritual being. I used the energy of vitality that I could feel in my spiritual being. I used my emotional energy to comfort the body from my spiritual being. I used my mental energy from my spiritual being to try to understand the difference between lower self and Higher Self, and to have compassion for my lower self. I learnt to drive the lower self with management. My vitality was able to manage my lower self drives.

We do not live in two worlds

As I began to open up my consciousness to understand and to accept the lower self and to see it as part of my being, then my whole appreciation for my world became different. The appreciation of food and the gift that it is, to feed my body; the appreciation of the air that I breathe and how nature supports it; and the appreciation of those around me who bring advice and comfort, I began to appreciate my world in a different way by appreciating my whole body. I began to see how in the world, we need to support the bodies, keep them healthy, use them in the light of spiritual consciousness. My whole awareness changed.

I began to realise that in truth, we do not live in two worlds; but we actually live in one world that has everything. When I thought that this is the physical world and this is the spiritual world, I began to realise it is one; it is one world that holds everything in its being. Everything became spiritual. The whole world became spiritual. That is my consciousness now. I can accept everything in my world as being spiritual and I do not fight with my world, I accept my world for what it is. I accept my body for what it is. I treat my world in such a different way now, understanding my own Self.

If we are going to co-create a world of peace, love and harmony, a world of enlightened living, then we need to open up the awareness to accept our lower self, not to fight with it, and to spiritualise it, bring the higher energies into it. When we do, we will find that managing the lower self becomes much easier. It is our lower self.

This is the talk of today: learning to embrace your lower self, to spiritualise it, to bring light to its being and to understand its purpose is really to serve us in the human experience as we seek freedom. It is to serve us through the human experience.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 35: Questions and Answers

2010-04-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Day 35: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-29T04:25:00.000-07:00

“We need to lift our awareness,

because if we do not,

we cannot improve.

We have to ask ourselves,

‘Are we satisfied with

where we are?’

If not, we have to look deeply

and see where we can improve…

We should strive

to maintain the highest standards.

Let us not accept something

if we can do better.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 35: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

(For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu).

Reflections

We have both spiritual and basic instincts and drives so we can think we live in two worlds – that of the body and that of spirit. In Reality, we live in one world and all is part of our Self. Understanding this helps the management of bodily drives and instincts. We can spiritualise the body and transform how we see it and its drives and needs. We can spiritualise sexuality through Love. We can spiritualise eating through offering the body the best food and so on. In that way we use energy of vitality, emotion and mind to understand the body and manage its instincts and drives.

Day 34: Vital Power in the Human Experience

2010-04-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 34 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. The subject of today is on vitality, Vital Power in the Human Experience.

Viewing the body from a different perspective

As we grow in spiritual consciousness, as we grow in spiritual awareness, as we grow in awareness in our spiritual being, we view the physical body differently. It is very different from being held in the bondage of body consciousness. In spiritual awareness - in awareness that we are Spiritual Being or Light Being, or Being of subtle energy, we identify with our body differently. It becomes our body. It becomes a gross suit that we wear in our spiritual body. I am taking time to emphasize this, because on the spiritual path when we are held in gross consciousness, we begin to think of ourselves as a physical body. And the tendency is to think that we are having a spiritual experience in the physical body.

It is very difficult in the human experience to make the shift into spiritual consciousness, to the extent that you begin to feel that your body is something that you carry in your being. If you do not give attention to this, (that is why I say it to you so often), then you keep in the box of body consciousness. If you do not think of another possibility of viewing your body, you are going to be held in the body consciousness. I am therefore inviting you to look at your body differently. Observe your body objectively in the human experience.

Keenly aware of the gross body

As my spiritual consciousness opened up, I experienced my body differently. I was beginning to experience a gross part of me. In washing the body, in using the body, I began to feel that this is my gross body, and I continued to feel that. I do not define myself as a physical body; I carry a physical body. I live in a physical body. And what is the value of that awareness? That I am very consciousness of my physical well-being. The heart, to me, is not a forgotten organ, nor is the liver or the brain. They are not forgotten organs in my experience. They are very precious organs in the human body that I carry, and I am aware of them. I am aware of their condition of health, and I stimulate them as I need to in my human experience.

I am aware of my body cells; I am aware of the warmth they generate. I am aware of my body system and how it fights to keep me healthy. I am aware of that. And I am aware of it not only when I give attention to it; I am aware of it in every conscious moment! I am aware of my body; I carry my body. It is as if you are driving a car and you know that you are in a car; you don’t forget that you are in a car. You are aware that you are using a vehicle and you are aware that you need to look at the gasoline meter, or the water temperature or the engine RPM. You are aware of how the tyres are, and the alignment of the vehicle. You are aware.

Are you aware of the strength of your bones? The strength of your muscles? Are you aware of the health of your heart? When people walk up the steps here (at the Centre), immediately they are out of breath. Are they ever conscious that their heart is unhealthy in this condition? They think they are just out of breath but their heart is giving a message.

Expressions of the body’s vitality

Are we conscious of the level of our vitality in the body? What is vitality? It is that which gives us the extra boost of energy: a spring in the step, strength in the voice, radiance in the body, passion to use the body in the human experience, and feeling a burst of energy in anything you do. Are you aware of your body’s vitality? And I am saying “body’s vitality” because it is the vitality of the body. It is what gives the body the zest to live and act in the world. Are you aware of your body’s vitality? It is a vehicle that you use. Are you aware of its vitality? Are you aware of your radiance, of the health of your body, of your strength? Are you aware of it?

Our health is our responsibility

I see so many people in spiritual consciousness and they are as though they are floating in the clouds. They are not grounded at all. And when they do not take care of their bodies: putting the right fluids, the right food, giving it the right exercise, rest and correct breathing, their bodies wither away. Their bodies lose vitality and they are not aware of it. They are sleeping on themselves everywhere. They cannot finish their task properly. They are not aware of the body’s condition. The body depends on us, as spiritual beings, to keep it healthy, fit and radiant; to keep it bright and vital. Where are you in this?

How do you consider yourself? Worthy of having a human body or dishonouring your body by not taking care of it? If someone gives you a gift, what will you do with it? Will you put it aside and not use it? Or would you use it well so that the person would be pleased that they have given you this wonderful gift. Nature has given us this gift, how are you honouring it? How do you use it? It is because of my body’s vitality that I can speak to you this way, that I can carry a radiance. I am on the 34th Day of this retreat and look at my vitality. Look at it! What is the secret to that? It is being able to tap into the vital energy of our spiritual Being and feed it to the body. Feed it to the body!

Secret to body’s vitality

We do not see this knowledge in the Western world, in terms of tapping into our spiritual power to feed our bodies vitality. However, we see it in Eastern thinking, that in the abdominal area we carry a storage area of vital energy. Hindus call it Prana, Chinese call it Chi, Japanese call it Qi. There is a secret there in the gut area – the navel area. There is a secret there and we can tap into this by use of the breath, and by being conscious of this area.

Have you learned how to breathe properly? Do you use your lungs effectively? Lower abdominal breathing is extremely good for lifting the body’s vitality. Learning how to breathe out properly and learning how to breathe in properly (demonstrated), learning how to store the energy and how to tap into the energy, all help to lift vitality. Here it is available from our spiritual being, from the Source of Infinite Power. Here is available a place for transforming that fine energy of spirit into a vital energy that makes the body strong, radiant, expressive, giving it a zest to live.

When you do not pay attention to this, and when you do not feed the body in the proper way, then you do not get that extra boost to your self-confidence that comes from the body’s vitality. When you feed the body in the proper way: with the consciousness of this abdominal area, with the use of the breath, and with the power of spiritual awakening, you will be amazed at the power you can carry. Even your voice becomes different when it is supported by the energy of this place.

Tap into your energy storage; balance your life

As you become more spiritually aware, this is a power you can tap into, you can explore by giving consciousness to this area. I do that in every conscious moment. I am aware of the storage of the energy in this area. This is like an area of energy storage. The Chinese call it the Dantien area – the area of storage. The yogis call it the Manipura area - the area of brightness.

We need to tap into this. It brings a balance to our spirituality. It opens up new dimensions of well-being. It boosts the immune system as we tap into this area. It boosts self-confidence when we have the body so full of vitality. What are you doing about it? Are you aware of your body’s vitality? Do you take care of it? Are you conscious of that pulse of energy? Are you conscious of the extra boost you can give yourself? This requires a discipline, not to do breathing exercise one day and then you do not do it for a month.

It is a consciousness that you need to carry in your every moment, of your storage of energy that relates to vitality. I am conscious of it in every moment. It is like a meter that you have that tells your vital power. You need to be conscious of this area and how it brings balance in the human experience, and radiance. It is the power we carry; it is a gift that we have.

Points to remember and practice

The experience of the human body is different in Higher Spiritual Awareness. When I meet people I see it immediately – the consciousness of their body and their vitality. Would you give attention to it? Would you give attention to that power that you carry in the belly area? Would you keep a consciousness of that today? Would you use the breath effectively? Would you explore it? It allows you to offer so much more to your world. It helps the mind to be more stable in the human experience, and also emotionally stable. Keeping the body vital is important.

Excerpt from Meditation

Today, I begin my day in this vital consciousness of my body. I love my body. I seek to be aware of its vitality in every conscious moment and to feed my body from the Infinite Spirit, using the breath, using intention and attention, caring and loving my body. My body is my vehicle in my world. It carries the Light of my Being. In and through it I can serve my world. Today I resolve to keep my body vital that I may be a good servant to my world. May I continue to be worthy of the grace of my Infinite Spirit.

Have a powerful day everyone. The Body is a gift; life is a gift. Be as radiant today as you can. Be conscious of your body. Be conscious of its energy and your responsibility to keep the body vital and healthy.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 34: Questions and Answers

2010-04-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

Day 34: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

“Learning how to stay in the seat of your power

is, for me, an extremely important thing.

The secret is in discovering the power

that lies within you,

discovering your full identity as a human being,

growing in your self-awareness

and being able to manage

the tools that you have.

As I say, the only authority that I have

is what I have discovered in myself,

the journey that I have made inside myself:

That is my authority.

That is my strength.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 34: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

(For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu).

Reflections

In belly there is a storage area of vital energy (Prana, Chi, Ki). We can tap into this with the breath (abdominal breathing) and through being conscious of it. This is very good for lifting the body’s vitality. The dantien/manipura is a place for transforming our spiritual energy into vital energy. Paying attention to this place and breathing brings a balance to spiritual life and boosts our immune systems and self confidence. This allows you to offer so much more to the world and to emotional and mental stability.

The body is something we carry around in our Spiritual Being. As we grow in self awareness of our Spiritual Being, we view the physical body differently – we begin to see it as a a gross suit that we wear in our spiritual being. Before this awareness we think we are having a spiritual experience in a physical body. We need to be consciously aware all the time of our vitality, our cells, our organs, our bones, our muscles and see that we are worthy of them and that they are gifts of life and nature. We need to honour them. The body depends on us to keep it healthy, fit and vital.

Day 33: The Power of the Voice

2010-04-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 33 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. Today the subject is "The Power of Speech”. I have been on the subject of energy in the consciousness: observing energy; managing energy; and, seeing the meaning and purpose of this journey of expanding the consciousness through energy relationships in our world, using the mind, using the emotional field. Today, we speak about the voice. It is a very powerful communication tool that we possess. I see it as a gift, a precious gift. Just imagine if we did not have the voice what life would be like. I would not be able to do this with you. See how important the voice is? Through this voice, we can express all kinds of energies when we are aware of it. This voice can make people sad. This voice can be abusive. This voice can share friendship. It can be loving. It can bring joy. It can bring sharing. This voice can uplift, it can enlighten, it can bring light into the space.

Be aware of how we use the voice in expression

We are able to express different energies even without knowing what we are doing. When we try to get someone’s attention, when we try to be favourable with them, are you aware of how loving your voice becomes? When you want to push someone away, are you aware of what kind of energies you are projecting in doing that? When you want to show someone your authority, are you aware of how you use the voice very subtly to do that? When you want to bring healing to someone, are you aware of how you use the voice? When you want to enlighten others, are you aware of how you use the voice? The voice can do so many things. Also, it can contribute to leaving very powerful emotional scars in people when we become abusive. They remember that voice and its abuse and it stays within them as an emotional trap, as bondage, as suffering, as pain. Are you aware when we subtly do this to others?

If you are aware of the power of the voice, what do you think will happen? You will become more responsible for the influence, knowing that a powerful voice, a voice of light, can lift our world, and a voice of darkness, a voice of negative energy, a voice with hidden agendas or negative intentions can destroy, can take away light. It is extremely important to understand the power of the voice and to be aware of how we use the voice in expression, being so powerful.

Begin to listen to your voice

It comes back to the tool of self awareness. When you become completely identified with achieving your ends using the voice, you are not aware of how it is being used. You are not aware of how subtly you are bringing energies into it, seeking your own end, your own desire, your own gratification and sometimes trampling on others or not respecting the right of others. Sometimes we do it so subtly. With the voice you can also deceive. You can show the symptoms of love without really meaning it deep inside and that is when the voice becomes a very dangerous tool, a tool of deception.

Unless you are aware of your voice and what it is carrying, you might be doing a lot of these things, that if you really reflect upon, you may not like, even to be done to you by another. What is the saying? “Do unto others as we would have them do unto us.” Do you remember that golden saying? Look at what the word of others does to you; look. When people are abusive towards you, when people are loving towards you, people are enlightening towards you, bringing more understanding, people are compassionate towards you in their words, look at what the speech of others, the voice of others does to you; look. I am sure you can still remember abusive experiences of childhood, or even in the workplace, or people taking advantage of you, of manipulating you, or going after their own ends. It is extremely important to be aware.

As you develop qualities of the light, as you touch more of your Higher Self, you begin to see how powerful the voice is. When you are so caught up in lower self, you are not aware, you do not see it, you are full of ignorance, you are caught up in what you are doing. You are going after your own ends and you can justify it very nicely; “This is what I want, this is what I need to get.” As you become more aware, self aware, you begin to listen to your voice, something that you did not hear before.

Self consciousness can be a good thing

One of the things as a young man that was very strong within me was self awareness. I would see my thoughts inside of me; I would hear my voice and this sounded strange. People would say, “Do not be so self conscious.” I saw it as a bad thing to be able to see my thoughts and see my voice or hear my voice. I needed to be extrovert, not self conscious; self consciousness was a bad thing. But I could not give it up, it just was there; very conscious of my thoughts, feelings and voice and what I am saying.

When spiritual awakening came, I began to see it even more so, but not as a negative thing, not as a thing that I had to rise above, but something that I needed to grow, because in becoming more spiritually aware, I became more conscious of my thoughts and my voice and my emotions. Now I learned how to move them, how to shift them, how to put energy in them and that was exciting. Spiritual consciousness opened me up to be highly self conscious, joyfully, powerfully. That is how I am. I am aware of all my thoughts, my emotions, my actions, my voice, the qualities of my voice. I have the responsibility, the wonderful responsibility, to use my voice powerfully in every situation, like I am doing now; and to be very responsible for all the qualities that I am bringing to my voice, so that I can lift people and lift my world.

I found as well that my speaking and my singing changed as I grew more aware and more light came within me. I could feel more power in my voice, like I do now. I can intensify that power, I can tone down that power, I can bring all kinds of exciting energies into the voice, for healing in my world, for enlightening others in the world, bringing more understanding. I could do so many things with my voice. It has become a wonderful tool. I saw the gradual changes in my voice; how I speak now, what I perceive now, is not the same as how I felt so many years ago on the journey. Now there is so much more, there is a fullness and there is a management of it.

Every voice is a voice of the Universe

What is beautiful is that in this awareness, that is possible for all of us, is to be able to recognise that every voice is a divine voice. Every voice from every human being is the Universe speaking. That is my awareness. Sometimes when I need to hear a voice, it might be the simplest person in the space who might even be ignorant to everybody’s thinking. But that person might come up with something that is so beautiful; that is the voice that I needed to hear in that moment. I see how everybody’s voice is a voice of the Universe. Of course when you listen to the voice of the more conscious people, the more evolved, it draws you, it lifts you and it brings healing, it brings light; when you listen to the voice of the more conscious.

Sometimes I may get a lot of complaining voices. My whole day might be filled with complaining voices like when it rains, it pours, that kind of feeling. I am watching my day; a complaint here, a complaint there, another complaint there, almost like an abusive voice: “Did you not hear this one; did you not see this; are you not aware of this; look at what is happening in the space; this one is doing this this way and that one is doing it this way and that there and this there.” I say, “Oh my God!” Then I say, “Ah, this is my Universe; I have to bear all of this, so okay.” So I surrender, I listen to everybody: “Yes, okay; I will do this; I will do that.” Inside of there, I am thinking, “Is this what my day is going to be like?” Then out of the blue, someone comes with a healing voice to tell me a lot of wonderful things, and I say, “Thank you, somebody has lifted me,” by saying “Do you know what you mean to me? Do you know how you have been lifting me?” They begin to tell me such nice things about gratitude and about wishing me well and it is like a balm; it heals.

I see how on one hand, my world can give me all kinds of energies and on another hand, it will hold me. It is my world. It is my world; it is a world that I believe in; it is a world that I trust. No matter what comes before me, I accept. It is my world. Every voice is a voice of my world. Sometimes I need to hear all those complaints because if I do not hear them, who will hear them? When they go to another, they may be abused. I willingly listen because then they have a chance to vent and if I am quiet, they may have a chance to self reflect. So I listen; I listen to my world. I have learnt the power of the voice.

Some say that for spirituality we need to be more quiet, to manage the voice. Some people take the vow of silence so they would not use the voice in a negative way. I say, it is not about being silent; it is about powerful use of the voice, it is managing the voice, not to stop the voice but to manage the voice. That is what true spirituality is. It is being responsible and managing the power of the voice. Of course, there can be much said about this, much more. But this is just to lift your awareness of the power of the voice. It is a very powerful energy in our space.

Be self aware today, give attention to your voice and be responsible.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 33: Questions and Answers

2010-04-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Day 33: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

“Silence does not mean

the absence of thought

and the absence of vocal expression.

Silence, for me, means

working in oneness

with the Source within you.

You speak when you need to

without losing that connection –

and apart from that,

you don’t waste thoughts or words

as it is also a loss of vital energy.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 33: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

(For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu).

Reflections

The voice is a very important tool and very precious. Can we imagine life without the voice, without these talks. Through the voice we can express all types of energies when we are aware. Are we aware? The voice can be used to induce sadness, to share in friendship, to be loving, to bring joy, to uplift and bring light into a space. It can also be used to abuse which can lead to emotional scars that trap and lead to bondage. Voice can carry negative attention, destroy and take away light. Therefore, we need to be responsible for how we use our voice and for our speech. Do we use it for loving and healing others or do we use it to trample on others and not respect their rights. You can use it to love and to deceive.

The more aware you become the more aware you become of your voice, its tone, its power, its qualities. As you become more aware you list more to your voice (and your thoughts and emotions). We can move from being self conscious (in all meanings of the term) to being highly self conscious. When we are responsible and manage the energies of the voice we can use it powerfully to lift people and the world. Every voice is a Divine voice. It is the Universe speaking and that includes when an ‘ignorant’ person speaks – it may be the very thing we need to hear. So, even when people complain we can accept and surrender and after awhile we will see the play of dualities when someone comes and is positive towards us. Be responsible and manage the voice. Be self aware today!

Day 32: The Emotional Challenge

2010-04-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 32 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. Yesterday, I spoke about mental energy and the power of the mental field. And of course, this is a happening in your consciousness being. Don’t ever lose that. Thoughts arise in your being and you drive them as you wish, using the reasoning power of the intellect. Don’t forget that; it is all happening in your consciousness. Thoughts arise; thoughts subside. You engage in thinking consciously in that space.

Keenly aware of the energy field

It is always good when you could keep the observer active, and not get so caught up that you lose the awareness of what is happening in a process. For example, I am speaking with you but I am aware of everything that is happening in this space. I am aware of my eyes looking; I am aware of my hands moving; I am aware of my voice; and I am aware of the content of what I am saying to you; I am aware of my body grounding. I am aware. So even whilst I am speaking I am aware of all of these things. And I am aware that in a clear mental field I am producing thoughts based on my intentions. I can feel the energy of my positive thinking. That is the Mental Field.

Mental and emotional identities

In this Consciousness field there is also emotional energy in potential. So we have the ability to generate emotional energy. That is where we get passion from. As you can imagine, emotional energy is of different qualities. You see lower emotional energies like in anger, fear, hate, lust, envy, greed. They tend to hold us in bondage; in slavery to the senses. Of course, in the mental field there are also lower energy thoughts, and coupled with lower emotions they drive us more into the darkness.

There are also uplifting emotions in the field: kindness, compassion, love, hope, faith, trust - all positive feelings. So we have the emotional identity: “I am a passionate person.” And we have the mental identity: “I am a learned or knowledgeable person. I use my reason.” So in our consciousness being using the ego, we engage in observing, in thinking and reasoning; and we engage in emotions. We engage in all of these. We have the power to engage and we have the power to disengage. We can draw everything into a neutral space and disengage. That is the power we have in the space.

Consciousness field of duality

Just to say to you that in this space there are different qualities of energies. However, so far I have dealt only with mental and emotion energies. We have spoken about other energies: gross physical energy, sexual energy, energy of vitality, energy of speech. All these energies happen in a consciousness space. We can experience them in a consciousness space. We can experience the darkness and we can experience the light. In this consciousness field we have darkness and we have light. It is a field of duality.

Darkness holds us in evil thinking, negative thinking, thinking that is destructive to life, to peace, to harmony. And there is thinking that can take us into the light, and not the darkness: kindness, charity, compassion, love. So we have this dual field. We can call one righteous or good, and we can call the other unrighteous or negative. It is important to understand that in the consciousness field, we have darkness and we have light. And this goes across all the energies. Our energies can be caught up in a dark field or a light field. The purpose of all these meetings is to help us to stay in the light field, to come more in the field so that we can use emotions and intellect, and all the energies in a field of light.

Field of the Guru is a field of light

When I spoke of the word “Guru” and of “Guru Principle” I spoke of the “Gu” standing for darkness, and I spoke of the “Ru” standing for light. The field of the Guru is a field where light predominates over darkness; where there is mastery over the lower. That is the Field of the Guru. This is where the Guru Principle pervades. When you come into this field, it is a field of light, where light is in mastery over the darkness. That is what you feel. When you meditate in this field, you sing in this field, your conversations are in this field, there is a strong feeling of light that dominates darkness. This is the Field of the Guru Principle. In the consciousness is the field of light. It is the field of goodness. Goodness takes us more into the light. The field of the light is the field of goodness, while the field of darkness is a field of evil, as contrasted with goodness.

These are the qualities that exist in the space and you would see that even in thinking of the Gunas – the qualities of nature - we see Tamas is the dark quality, the quality that holds us in darkness. Sattva is the quality of light. You see how in nature within our own being there are the qualities of darkness and light.
As we look at energy, the journey needs to be a journey into the light. We need to come into the light, that is why we are having all these conversations so that we can begin to embrace the light. We can begin to generate in our being emotional energies of the light.

Power of emotional energy

Let us talk about the power of emotional energy. Emotional energy is incredibly powerful. It brings passion; it gives us a drive. This emotional energy can be channeled in darkness or light, because we have the power to bring the energy from the Source and channel it in dark energies like anger, hate, lust, greed. We can be passionate about it. Passion is strong emotion, or we can be passionate about the light and wonderful qualities of goodness.

When we are in darkness or ignorance we can be driven by emotions that are low, that are in the dark and we can lose control. We can lose reason; we can lose our mind being taken up in it. So we have to be very careful about how we channel our energies. Even though they are wonderful energies in the space that we can choose, we can also choose dark energies. We therefore need to be very careful in using the discriminating faculty to help us in channeling emotions. That is what we call Emotional Intelligence: the ability to be aware of the emotions in our space, to be conscious, to be the observer, and to see what it is doing to us and the environment around us.

The power of discrimination

Begin to use discrimination to choose wisely other emotions in the space, because if you get carried away by dark emotions you can create disharmony in a space. Do you see how important this discriminating faculty is? And when it is coupled with passion and emotion, the combination is extremely powerful as you can see in the human experience. Those who are passionate about goodness, about freedom, about love and compassion, they bring light into our world. And, those who are passionate about evil contribute to destroying life.

The power of discrimination is therefore extremely important. It allows us to bring the best in the emotional field; to hold the best in the emotional field. It allows direction to guide emotions into the most powerful experiences. That is what I do. I use emotion as a tool to drive light into my field, and I hold discrimination very powerful so I can protect that light that I project into my world. Therefore, when I come to any field and I feel challenged by the darkness of that field, I generate so much light into that field and I protect the light, I protect the emotion. I generate it and I protect it. And I am always aware that I am the one in whom all this is happening.

The goodness inside is what we call “Spiritual”. This comes in a different dimension; it is a non-physical dimension but it brings qualities of uplift, of goodness. It helps us to manifest Spirit. So all of this is happening in our consciousness, and it is important for us not to get carried away by the darkness but to stay in a field of light. When you embrace the company of people who live in darkness, it is going to hold you in that space. It is therefore important to choose good company. Good company is a gift from life itself that helps you to come into a greater space of awareness.

Powerful Forces of the Light

Emotional energies at there best are healing. They bring healing into our space, that is why we engage in them. They bring softness, a gentleness and they promote unity in a space, coming together. It is extremely important to be able to use the energy of emotion in a space to contribute more to healing our world, or bringing more light into our world. Love is a light when it is selfless, and not channeled in greed and lust. Love becomes a powerful light.

Then there is the light of understanding and wisdom which comes from the mental field. Understanding and wisdom are also a light. We need these two forces of the light: the powerful healing emotions that we can generate in our being, and the powerful thoughts that come through understanding and wisdom. We need those in the space; and they both belong to us. It is important that we learn how to use these in our field.

We are Consciousness Beings

Always remember that we are beyond these. We are the Consciousness that can use all of these energies. We are Consciousness Beings with the power to generate energies. We are the Consciousness Beings; we are able to observe the drama from a huge space and we can use the power of will to generate energies in the consciousness space. We are Beings of Consciousness, and Consciousness is far more than you can ever begin to realize, or describe or explain. It is beyond!

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 32: Questions and Answers

2010-04-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Day 32: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

“Emotional intelligence tells us

that we should know when to bring

the right emotion

into the right situation

and not just to bring out the emotions

as we feel them without asking

if this is the right moment now.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 32: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Reflections

All energies happen in Consciousness Space. Our goal: Mastery of Light over Darkness. In Space of Consciousness we have capacity to generate emotional energies of different qualities. Lower emotional energies tend to hold us in bondage to the senses. When these are coupled with lower mental energies we are driven towards darkness. We are held in light when we couple higher emotional energies and higher mental energies.

In our Consciousness Being we engage the ego in observing – engaging – disengaging in a field of duality (light and darkness fields: righteousness and non-righteousness, etc.). Goodness (love, kindness, compassion) takes us more in to the field of Light. Evil/negativity (hate, anger, lust, greed, etc.) takes us more in to the field of darkness. Passion and drive can take us towards Light or darkness so discrimination needed so as not to lose mind or reason. Emotional intelligence comes in here as dark emotions lead to disharmony while light-filled emotions lead towards harmony and unity.

I am the ONE in whom it all arises. So, important to engage the ego to discriminate in our emotional (and mental) field as it is important not to get carried away by darkness. Also when you embrace company in darkness, it holds you and vice versa in relation to ‘good’ company. The latter brings softness, gentleness and unity which contribute to more healing in our world. Love is a light when it is selfless especially when combined with Wisdom. Both belong to us AND remember that we are also beyond all of these with power to generate energies (via will power) in consciousness field which is also beyond description, explanation and understanding.

Day 31: Power of the Mental Field

2010-04-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 31 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. Yesterday, I introduced the idea of energy in play in the consciousness field. Of course when I use the word “play”, I mean in the most powerful sense, this means “sporting”. It means, “Exercising with control and delight.” It means, “Joy of expression.” When I say, “Energy sports in the consciousness field,” that is what I mean. In fact, that is the goal; to manage the energies in the space in such a powerful and joyous or delightful way. That is the goal.

Did you try the assignment of yesterday, to really observe energies at work? I tried to stay away from the traditional labels so that you could begin to see from a new space. Although I used certain labels, they are known labels; they are what you are accustomed to.

Let us come back to that play of energy in the consciousness field. We are consciousness beings so we need to look at this story as being our story; not a story outside of us, our story. Our consciousness is able to expand as I have said before, and able to contract. When we contract, we become small; we are caught up in limited consciousness. For example, body consciousness is limited consciousness, if we think we are body only. When we expand our awareness or when our awareness expands to see more than just physical being, then this is the expansion of consciousness that I am speaking about. Our consciousness is able to expand to see more.

Seeing the different qualities of energy

Do you see the different qualities of energies in your space? Do you really see them? Because in seeing them, in knowing them, you will be able to manage them in a better way. Yesterday, I spoke about gross energy, when we are caught in the physical consciousness. I spoke about sexual energy which features very prominently in our lives and world. I spoke about an energy beyond that, a vital fiery energy, that allows us to manage these (for want of a better word) lower energies. When we become more aware, we do not consider them as lower energies that we want to despise or deny, but we learn to use them most powerfully. Then I spoke about emotional energy, and the energy of speech, and the energy of thought, and the space that contained all the energies, that can observe.

If you were to listen to the scientists of our world, they will say that the consciousness we are experiencing is a matter of brain chemistry; a chemical process. That is why we are conscious. They will explain all the energies as having their roots there, in the chemistry of the body. That is one point of view. When we begin to experience higher awareness, we begin to notice that these energies that we feel are not just gross energies as experienced by the senses, physical senses. These energies have another quality, a non physical quality, an energetic quality that is not physical. We need to shift our point of view to see that. We need to move away from the gross awareness to see that. We are so trapped in the gross awareness; human thinking, human body and human desires that we cannot see another point of view.

Perceiving energies that are non physical

Those who are more aware, they inspire us to look at life differently. Not only inspire us, they are able to impact us with energies, non physical energies that I spoke about before – the Shaktipat Principle, the Shaktipat Impulse – that we too can begin to experience a heightening of our awareness, an expansion, and be able to perceive energies that are non physical. Physical body leads us into that physical awareness of energy. Sexual consciousness leads us into that physical because that is involved in the mating process of the bodies. This fiery vitality that I speak about, it has another dimension to it; it brings another quality into the experience. Emotions bring another quality from another space into the experience. Speech is able to combine those qualities as well and express them. The mind also brings a non physical quality into expression. We say that these qualities come from the spiritual space, non physical, the spiritual space. The word spiritual comes in as being a non physical word that we experience when the awareness expands.

It is true what scientists say, that the experience of energy has a physical dimension. All the experiences of energy in the human body, they have a physical dimension to them and we relate to that. We can feel the experience of these energies in our bodies, but we need to be able to see more, experience more than just the experience in our bodies. Our bodies are the place where we experience these energies.

You have a locator within you

Being a seeker, what I want to say to you today, is that the most powerful energy in the space, the one that you need to give your attention to most, is the mental energy. You would hear the term, “Mind over matter.” It is possible for mind to govern matter. The most powerful energies in the space come from the mental dimension, the mental field of energy. Do you see how we associate energy with certain parts of us? For example: thinking- the brain. Mind- the brain. Speech- the voice. Emotions- the heart; heart based person, emotional person, heart person. Strength and vitality- the gut, the belly. Of course sexuality, you know where that belongs to- the genital area. And the gross- the entire physical. In a sense, we know areas that these energies come from in the physical. In the experience of energies and when you are observing energies, you know where to look for them, you have a locator within you, and you know where to find them.

Mental field

Intellect: tool of discrimination

Let us talk about the most powerful energies in the space, the mental energy, the mental quality. The most powerful tool we have been blessed with in that field to generate energy is the intellect; the intellect, the tool of discrimination. Remember I spoke about Vivek; the tool of discrimination, the intellect. It is called Buddhi, in the Indian wisdom. It is the tool we use to reason and you know how important reason is. If you lost your reason, you know what would happen. If you did not have the ability to reason, you would be like a vegetable.

Observing the experience of different thoughts

And thought, thoughts are sometimes considered to be things because they are so powerful. Of course I have said to you before, “As we think, so we become.” When you bring thoughts to your mind, they bring a certain kind of energy to you and you well know the energy of different thoughts. Negative thoughts for example, what kind of energy do you feel? Angry thoughts, hateful thoughts, spiteful thoughts, loving thoughts, compassionate thoughts, kind thoughts, charitable thoughts; have you ever tried to observe the experience of the different thoughts that play in your mind? When they come do you see what kind of reaction it has in the whole body; to choose the ones that you really want in the space and to be able to manage the thought energy.

Powerful ability to create images

What is also powerful in that mental space is the ability to visualise, not only think, but to create images, powerful images in your mind. These images also carry energy. We can have destructive images within our being, like monsters in our being; the fear, the guilt, the uncertainty, the confusion, the things we worry about. We carry these images within us that disempower us. We also carry very powerful images within us. Do you see what the mental field has? It has the Observer in that field, the one who observes the mind, and the one who observes the process.

That is the most important field, the mental field, in terms of energy. And it helps you to govern the other fields. It brings out the best in your emotional energy when you use the mental energy in the best way. It helps you to manage your vitality, the fiery power. It helps you to manage the sexuality and it helps you to manage the body. The mental field is the one that you need as a seeker to focus on well and to see the power that it has to generate energy, positive thinking, continuous positive thinking. There are a lot of possibilities in that area.

How are you using the intellect?

We need to give attention to this intellect. We can use it to destroy our bodies, to destroy things around us or we can use it to build, so strong is this mental power. We can use it to influence our world negatively or we can use it to co-create a world of peace, love and harmony. This is the most powerful tool in the human experience. How are you using that tool? How are you using the whole mental field that you have? How are you using it? You need to ask yourself this question. This is the tool to lead you to freedom and this is the tool that can hold you in bondage. How are you using that tool?

I will leave you with that question today. Amongst the energies, the mental energy is the most powerful. It carries the most powerful tool, the intellect. This is what helped me on the way to freedom, the powerful use of the intellect.

Though my message of today may be simple in that you may have heard this before, I would like you to think of how important it is to really understand what I have said today and more than that, how to put it into practice.

Let us be a light to our world; our world needs it.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 31: Questions and Answers

2010-04-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Day 31: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-25T05:03:00.000-07:00

“The intellect must become

the guard or watch dog

that helps you to stay centered

and not become trapped in an ego

that has lost connection with the Self.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 31: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For further explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

New today: Reflections on the Diamond

Energy sports/plays in Consciousness Space. Our goal: manage energies in ‘the Space’.

We are consciousness beings. Consciousness able to expand and contract. It contracts into limitation in body consciousness and expands when we see that energy is more than just physical energy.

If we see different (energy) qualities in our space we can manage them better particularly those lower energies (but we do not deny or despise them)

Mental energy is field we need to give most attention to as it is the most powerful (Mind over Matter!), its most powerful tool is intellect (discrimination, reason, visualisation).

What kind of energies do negative/positive thoughts bring? Powerful visualisations carry energy – they can be empowering or disempowering.

Observer is also in that field and governs other fields (thoughts, emotions, vitality, sexuality and body)

In mental field we need to focus on (i) continuous positive thoughts, (ii) a lot of possibilities and (iii) how we use our intellect. We can use intellect also to destroy and influence our world negatively and/or we can use it to build and co-create a harmonious world. How do we use it? It is the tool that can lead us to freedom or it can keep us in bondage. Among the energies the Mental Field is the most powerful.

Day 30: Play in Consciousness

2010-04-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 30 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. I promised you today that I was going to speak about the Consciousness Journey. I am doing this with deliberate intention. Some of us have great difficulties in understanding energies and understandably so, it is not so easy. I want to honour that, respect that, and I want to show you another way. Energy is still there but the focus is different.

Consciousness: the essence of existence

Many times I say in my meditation that meditation is a journey in consciousness, a journey of expanding self awareness and I focus on the meditation, as I begin, in setting up the consciousness space. We are beings of consciousness. Fundamentally, essentially, we are beings of consciousness. Consciousness is the essence of existence. It is the place from where everything emerges and to where everything merges back. Out of this consciousness space that we refer to as the Source, comes energy. Energy is an expression of the consciousness field. It is what creates the play of the Universe; energy. In the Yogic teaching, we can use Shiva and Shakti. Shiva is the consciousness space, the Source. Shakti is what creates the play of existence. It is what creates the quantum field, the field of energy. Everything that is created in the field is done by energies; energies gross and subtle. The body is just condensed energy, we call it gross energy.

Making this personal, you are essentially consciousness and in you, everything exists. In you, everything happens. You would have seen a little while ago, that I am chanting very loudly. To the ordinary eye, someone may say, “Wow, he is so caught up in this singing.” I am not caught up at all. There is a huge consciousness space in my being, immense silence, and from there I am looking at the entire play of energies. The voice is coming out with energy and I can bring many qualities into that voice, just by intention and what comes out of my Source Being. I have been gifted with a body that can transform the energies of that Source into different qualities and I can do so just by intention. That is fascinating, that I can bring different qualities of energy into the space, simply by intention. But my consciousness space looks at everything; it is the director, it is the observer, it is the container, and it is beyond, it has no end. This is where our focus should be; that space. Everything we do, we should be aware that it is happening in our consciousness space.

The human existence is in our consciousness space, but we do not realise that because we are so caught up with the gross existence. The consciousness space has been limited to our gross being. We are so caught up in gross existence. This is gross energy {pointing to body}, and we are so caught up in it - the physical quality of this energy, condensed energy - that we become this, and we have lost our awareness of other energies in the space. We have lost awareness that we are not this, but we are that in which this exists. See how strong the illusion is? We are so caught up in the body consciousness, that we are not even aware that this is existing in my consciousness; this is an experience in my consciousness.

Everything comes out of that consciousness space and the only way that we can really begin to appreciate that is by observing; learning to observe more and more of the things that exist within us. That is why observing is a good quality; observing without being caught in the limitation. That is what Masters teach us; how to observe without being caught, without labelling, so that we can see more. The moment you label, you are caught. Life is an invitation to open up the consciousness space to see more. Those who are the Masters, their consciousness space is so huge, they can see everything in the space, so much more.

Consciousness: the field in which energies play

Let us talk about the human experience in the consciousness space. In this human experience, there are different qualities of energy expressions and it is worth the practice to become aware of it. The energy is the servant; to create, to sustain and to dissolve. It is the servant. The consciousness is the field in which the energies play. The human experience is a play in consciousness and it is a play of consciousness.

Let us take a look at the human experience. Let us look at the different energies that exist in the space.

First there is the gross energy, physical, might. “I can lift this {lifting the cushion}. I can tear it apart.” Physical might. “I can feel the substance of this.” The scientists will say now it is real, because I can feel it. I can smell it, I can taste it, I can touch it, and so it is real. That is their reality. This physicality, this gross experience, is one of the energy experiences we have. That is why we like to build the muscles and the strength of the bones, because we feel that we are becoming stronger. “We” are becoming stronger. That is one of the fields we play in and we compete with; who can lift more and the champions become those who lift the most. Those who are physically stronger become mighty in the space. They have power. They lead the pack. That is one kind of consciousness; gross, physical consciousness. Every energy expression gives us a certain identity. “I am a strong person, mighty. I can roar! Powerful.” It gives us a consciousness; gross consciousness. That is why when we see people get caught up in that; we say they are very gross.
Another energy in the space, a very powerful energy, is the sexual consciousness, the mating consciousness. This can also grab us in its hold, where we want to express that energy in the field and enjoy the pleasures of that journey. We are caught in another consciousness, another energy field. We become the mate, with mating instincts.
There is another energy experience that begins to control these lower two, with a new kind of fire, a new kind of radiance, a vitality, a life force. We begin to see that there are some that come into the pack with a different kind of energy and they use a different kind of strength, a different kind of fire, except the might. You see how martial artists, they use this very powerfully; a kind of life force, a vitality that is much more powerful. They can take huge people and floor them. You see people with a different kind of might; vitality.
Then there is the emotional energy. Emotions come into a space; compassion, kindness, hate, anger, and fear. We see another kind of energy expression and we become an emotional person. We have an emotional identity, an emotional consciousness, very powerful because it is passion and the opposite of that, depression.
Then there is another quality of energy in the space, that of the speaker. I can use speech, I am a speaker, I can inspire. Even those who are mighty and strong can bow to my speech. I can bring different qualities into the speech. I become the Speaker with a kind of energy that comes in speech.
Then I have a mental being. I can use the power of thought, intellect, imagery, and I become the mental person, the thinker, the learned person. That is another quality of energy that I can experience.
Then I can go beyond that, into a space that unites all of these, and is beyond; a unitary consciousness, a unity consciousness. That is a different kind of feeling.

These are typical energies in the human experience and in the space.

Open up the field to see more

What is important is to observe yourself in these various experiences and try to identify energies. We are so caught up in the gross that we do not look at the fine energies in the space; fine is what we call subtle. We do not see it because we are so caught up in the gross experience. In every exchange in our world, all these exist. All these energies exist and they exist in a consciousness space. The more we embrace the consciousness space and observe, we are going to see these. But if we become locked up in a particular frame of energy, we will miss the ones outside. The tendency to become locked in a particular field, we need to avoid. We need to open up the field to see more. That is what I have done. That is what I have been blessed to experience; an open field, where I can see all the energies playing in my being, and I can use them in a masterful way. That is the play; a play of consciousness and energy in an open field. It invites us to become masters of this.

This is going to begin a series of talks but the idea is the consciousness is where everything happens. We are consciousness beings and we need to focus on that. The energy experiences are there but they are for us to engage in the play, the play of life.

I would like you today to observe, just observe energies and try to see if you can distinguish between the different qualities I have spoken about, and see how it features in your world. Just observe. That is your assignment from this talk; just observe.

Embrace your journey

This is your journey. This is not just a talk; it is your journey. It is helping you to identify your journey. It is not a talk; it is our story. Embrace it!

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 30: Satsang

2010-04-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

Watch live streaming video from blue_star at livestream.com

Day 30: Questions and Answers

2010-04-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

Day 30: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-24T04:13:00.000-07:00

“Find that place within

where you can change the way

you perceive the drama.

Bitter or sweet life can be a joy

if you are centered

in the right place

and have the right perspective.”

Sri Vasudeva

See also Day 1. To read the full teaching click here.

For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 30: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 29: Meeting the Challenge

2010-04-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 29 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. The last two days we have been speaking about Shaktipat Impulse and Principle. I am speaking from direct experience of shaktipat. I want to bring to you interesting experiences that I observed.

Reaching out to others

During my journey through India, after being in a certain ashram, at one of the other ashrams in India I met an artist whose drawings I was very impressed with. He did very beautiful ink drawings and he was in an ashram, so I was impressed. I therefore spoke to him about this wonderful ashram that I had been to, and its energy. He became so inspired that he wanted to visit it. Then on my journey in a train I met another person and I saw that she was quite restless, complaining about everything. So I thought that I will invite her to this place that I thought was so peaceful.

We are impacted at different levels

When I returned to the ashram they both came, but it was very interesting to see what their experiences were. After a few days the artist obviously felt something, but he wanted to know what kind of evil power was there. He saw it as some kind of controlling power over him and after a few days he left. The lady who was complaining on the train about various people and other things, she too spent a couple days but there too she complained about everything. She criticized everything and so left as well. Those were similar experiences of the same space that I had been deeply touched by.

What does it mean? It means that when we come into a space of strong energy, we are impacted based on who we are; what predominates our minds. When that impact comes we may be inclined to interpret the whole experience in a totally different way. I found it to be very peaceful, powerful and awakening, but these two people had different and contrasting experiences to mine.

When we come into a space of higher energy, our experiences may vary depending on where we are. So it is very important that we observe how we interpret the high energy space. At times it may bring out the worst within us, and at other times it may bring out the best within us. When it brings out the worst within us, we may begin to complain about the space, not being able to appreciate that something good is happening.

Challenges begin the cleansing process

These are also experiences that come from the Shaktipat energy. Obviously, they were interpreting energies. As I mentioned before, we are impacted at different levels when we come into a space of high spiritual energy. What predominates our being in terms of thoughts, attitudes, intentions, emotions, they arise and then we think of how we feel when we come into such a space. When we are challenged it is important to observe. This is what we call the Cleansing Process. When we find that we are challenged with the darker side of us or a lower side of us, in a very beautiful environment that should be lifting us, it is actually beginning a process of cleansing.

Of course, I had my issues at this ashram as well. I found people to be quite selfish and full of ego, but I learned very quickly not to judge. I assumed a different kind of posture. I said to myself, if the Guru had people in these places then there must be a reason for it. So I interpreted them as being divinely placed. I decided that I needed to deal with myself and my ego, so I submitted to everything they said. I never had an issue in the whole ashram. I just saw them as instruments of the Guru. Whether they had an ego or not was not important to me. I just did what I needed to do. My main focus was on the energy that I felt, and getting more of it. But, of course, my experiences were very positive apart from these challenges that I saw as part of my transformation, and I accepted them.

Need for Guidance

When the shaktipat experience comes, it may bring out emotions in us, both positive and negative. It may bring out thoughts from within us, positive or negative. It may bring feelings within the body, positive or negative, painful feelings sometimes and very beautiful energies sometimes. It is therefore important that you seek guidance to deal with this. And that is what I offer - the ability to deal with these experiences when they happen, and to interpret them differently.

How ready and open are you?

It is extremely important to be ready as a student. If you are interested in spirituality, it is important to make yourself ready and open. What does readiness mean? – That you must really desire the spiritual awakening because you cannot have two feet in different worlds. If you are still caught up in low emotions, you will be drawn there and challenged whilst you are trying to go on the other side. The more detached you are from the lower self, the more you can embrace the Higher Self This is what we read in the Guru Gita. You read two words in the Guru Gita every day that you sing, they are vivek and vairagya. Vairagya means dispassion towards the world. Vairagya is detachment and dispassion. Vivek means discrimination, being able to see how you are being pulled.

Therefore, you make yourself more ready when you look at the world using discrimination, and seeing where low desires take you, and beginning to contemplate where higher desires can take you. I followed the way of the higher desire. I knew immediately where lower desires would go and I detached myself from them early in the game. So if you still hold on to the low desires while you try to go to the high, you are certainly going to be challenged. That is what happens in the space.

Follow the Light

Are you a true seeker? When challenged, can you really meet it with wisdom, with vivek? Can you really understand the world, that you can detach from that which you do not need? Are you a true seeker? Are you ready to be liberated? Are you ready for the Moksha that you are praying for? When you are challenged, could you try to understand the challenge in a deeper way and really work towards it? If you are dragged into the lower world, that is where you are going to be. That is why day after day, I try to impress upon you: observe the world, try to understand, use your discrimination, see where the lower self is pulling you, see where the Higher Self is attracting you. Follow the Light, not the darkness.

However, sometimes we can become so addicted to the darkness that we do not even know that we are so addicted to it. We want to stay in the dark, we prefer to be a victim. It is never the best place to be when we begin to embrace victim consciousness. Sometimes we cannot see it, but it is a miserable existence.

The way of the Light is the way of freedom. The most exciting thing is that the more you go into the Light, the more you can appreciate the darkness for its blessing, and the more you can deal with it. Do you see how much I appreciate the darkness? I see it as part of my world and I never judge it, no matter how it appears in people because I know the light is just behind, so much more powerful.

Become spiritually aware

We therefore need to become more spiritually awake and aware. Places of high energy help us to go into this awareness. We need to be strong especially when challenged with the lower self and embrace the challenge. Seek the wisdom; seek the support of these spaces the whole journey through that transition period, and let it lift you into the Light.

My greatest joy has been knowing that these places exist. And when I saw the free Being - the Guru, I was so touched because there are not many in the world. And to see such humility, such strength, such presence is awesome! That is how it was for me. I completely bowed to it and I did not want to let it go. In fact, I never let it go. It took me to freedom. So where are your feet planted on this journey? And when you come into a space of higher energy, how do you operate?

Next: Consciousness journey

This journey to freedom is not a journey just of energy, because we have been speaking about energy. Energy experiences are there to lift us into a new consciousness. What is more important is not just the observation of energy, but the Consciousness that emerges. It is the consciousness that we need to keep the attention on, not the energy. So whether you have energy experiences or not, that is not important, it is looking at where the Consciousness is placed.

This is a journey of consciousness where energy plays the game; where the shakti creates and re-absorbs. It is the Consciousness that is everlasting, changeless. You need to know where your Consciousness is placed in this journey of energy, this Consciousness.

This is what the next talks will embrace – the Consciousness Journey and the Energy Expressions. We have different qualities of energy that we manifest and we have different levels of consciousness that allow these manifestations.

I am looking forward to sharing this part of the journey with you.

Have a blessed day everyone.

blue_star on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Day 29: Questions and Answers

2010-04-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

Day 29: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

The basic teachings are interspersed in all these 40 Day talks so one card doesn't really encompass all of it but helps to focus on a key part of it. One representative Tarot of Life card will be selected for each of the Day's talks and posted. When you read the meanings of the card and compare it to the Day's talk it brings new insights into the teaching. You will see what part of it Guruji is focusing on and what part he is expanding.

“Treat your memory as precious space

and fill it only with the best thoughts and images you would like to keep.

The mind should not be like a garbage dump or a zoo.

Do not fill the mind with trash

or allow restless and negative thoughts to take residence there.

Be more mindful of what you think.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 29: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 28: The Shaktipat Principle

2010-04-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 28 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. Yesterday I spoke about the “Shaktipat Impulse” and I spoke about reading from Swami Vivekananda, how important it is to get this impulse from another soul. That inspired me greatly. I wanted an impulse from another soul. I did not know what this meant. Later on I understood that this meant “Shaktipat”: the descent of Shakti, the descent of spiritual energy from the Master to the student. What is very interesting about this is that when my own energies were awakened from this impulse, “my” energies - of course I knew it was coming from the Source of all energies, that impulse - I saw the Guru as an instrument. The energy flowed through the Guru, [and] impacted disciples or students whose own energies were awakened. As they aligned themselves to the power that was flowing through him, that Supreme Power was flowing through even the disciples, the students.

Aligning to the Greater Power

The space seemed to be pervaded by the energy of the Supreme. That is what I got to understand eventually. It was not a person; it was the energy of the Supreme flowing through all. It was a co-creation; one power, all instruments. I was taught that so strongly by life, because I was not able to meet the physical Guru - no matter how much I tried - during that first visit to India. I even tried to go where he was in the United States, but it did not work.

Throughout the many months that I stayed in India, that inner power grew in me. Like I said, on finally meeting the Guru, I thought, “I know a power inside but I do not know this man.” I had to focus on that power to really understand what was happening inside of this man. Then I understood that it was not a man; that man is an instrument of a Greater Power. I began to lose the visibility of the man and saw the power; same power in me, same power in him. One power. Of course I had great respect for this man because his footsteps were very powerful footsteps. A perfect instrument is an unusual being, because we are all caught up in the illusion. Those are powerful footsteps to walk in. I had great admiration for such a being who could be such a perfect instrument, who could be so much in surrender in every moment, who could allow this huge energy to flow in and through him, to touch so many people, to awaken so many people.

In returning to my country, something marvellous happened. As I began to practice what I learnt in India, I found that something was happening in the space around me. Of course I was no Guru, but something was happening in the space around me. People became influenced by what I was doing. All I was doing was aligning myself to that Great Power through the inspiration of this powerful instrument that we call Guru, with great respect for the human Guru, but even greater respect for the power that flowed in and through him. Then I realised that when I came into contact with people around me, they were being influenced by something inside of me, especially when they were receptive. “But I am no Guru. I have no power of Shaktipat, so what is this?”

Power to influence those around us

I found that I too was becoming an instrument to influence the other. I had no great power of Guru but I was becoming an instrument to help the other. And they were experiencing all kinds of energies as well, of awakening. In fact my whole family became influenced. In the workplace where I was teaching in a secondary school, students became influenced. I was seeing the effect. Then I understood that shaktipat is a principle, not only an impulse. It is a principle. Great Masters show it very powerfully. They can move the mass or the masses with this energy, by being able to awaken such incredible power in people. But even us, little students, we had some kind of power as well to influence those around us. Not in this magnificent and in this huge way as the powerful Gurus, but with the same principle: our look; our touch; our word; our thought. We could impact the space. That for me felt powerful. When I saw this, I saw that shaktipat was a principle. It was a principle that belonged to all of us who carried some kind of spiritual energy and who were instruments of a Greater Power. That put greater responsibility in my hands. I needed to be more careful with this energy that I carried that flowed through my eyes, my voice, my touch, my thoughts.

Then I realised the power of groups. When we got together and we started to practice spiritual principles together, we create a kind of field, a great kind of energy, that brings that same kind of Guru power there. I learned that disciples or students who are aligned to that Supreme Guru, through the instrument of Masters, can create power in a group, incredible power, without the physical presence of the Master. They can become instruments or channels of that Supreme Power, by aligning themselves to that Power. If I remembered the Guru for example, and I got into that state of energy, then I too became an instrument of that power flowing through the Gurus and flowing through me.

How are you channelling your power?

Are you aware of the power you have as an awakened soul to influence those around you? If we are to create a world of light, of love, of peace, of spirituality, are you aware of your power and how you are channelling it? When it is awakened within you, do you feel a sense of responsibility for manifesting the purest energies through you and channelling even more as you grow in consciousness? If you feel responsible for the co-creation of a new world and a world of peace, love and harmony, are you doing something about it? Are you trying to get to the purest energies within you and channelling that to your world? Or when your spiritual energies become awakened, do you go back to your lower nature sometimes? When you fluctuate between Higher and lower self, do you go back to your lower nature with this kind of little power that you have of shaktipat, of the Shaktipat Principle, and bring that power into low energies that disturb the space? We need to be careful about that because as we become spiritually awakened, we carry power.

Have you noticed how your words influence another person, especially when your consciousness is more open, and you are more spiritually aware? Do you notice how you impact another person? Do you notice what your look does to another person? Do you notice what your words do to others? Do you notice what your touch, the human touch carrying spiritual energy, does to others? Do you know what your thought in a space does or your wish for someone; do you know what it does? It can lift or it can damage.

Responsibility when spiritually awakened

When you are spiritually awakened, when you can feel energies flowing through you, there is a need to be responsible. That is the responsibility that I accept. Before I became stable in this state, I had to protect myself very much and that is why I kept only good company. During my years of spiritual practice, I ensured that I kept the best company. I did not feel any guilt about that; that I did not want to associate with those who I feel that they were taking something away from me. I did not feel any guilt because I thought it was more important that I grow in this consciousness. If I am to be of any blessing to my world, I must grow in this consciousness. I felt it was divine knowledge in understanding this and divine responsibility to follow through with my actions. You can see the impact of that. Every day I hold that responsibility. Now it is stable, I do not have to protect myself. It is there, I have no choice. I do not need a choice. I want to be fully in service to humanity and I have only one passion, a world of light, a world of love, a world of harmony. That is how I serve you every day. You are my Universe, you are my God, you are my purpose, and I serve you.

Selflessness: the means to create a better world

I do not think that I do anything. I am simply an instrument of that which is Greater. That is all that this individual ego wants; only to be the purest instrument of the Highest Power. I want nothing else. That is my greatest joy; that is my liberation; that is my freedom; to want nothing but to give everything. That is what is going to bring a better world, “Selflessness.” Are you selfless in your actions? Everybody, every person that you meet and interact with is a part of your self; it is your self in the other. It is your source in the other. Looking through the eyes of another is your own being deep inside.

In understanding the Guru, I became the Guru. In honouring the Guru, I became the Guru. I can feel I did not become another human being. I did not take up another human being’s personality, but I became in oneness with that power that flows through the Master, working through my own personality. That is how powerful we all can be. That is our destiny and that is how we are going to create a world of peace, love and harmony - by taking responsibility, by being instruments of peace, love and harmony. That is how we are going to do it; not in any selfish way, but in a selfless way.

Let us honour this power that we have, coming from that wonderful principle of being able to create impulses that can touch our world, impulses that come from our spirit to touch our world. Let us honour the power of look, the power of speech, the power of touch, and the power of thought. Let us honour it and let us work together to create a world of peace, love and harmony.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 28: Questions and Answers

2010-04-22T14:02:00.001-07:00

Day 28: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

“Sometimes surrender

is seen as a passive attitude

and one that is adopted

only by the weak willed

who have no other choice.

I see surrender as an action of the wise

that can only be done

when the intelligence of the universe

is seen and understood.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 28: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 27: The Shaktipat Impulse

2010-04-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 27 of our 40 Day Retreat 2010. Yesterday I spoke about Spiritual Awakening and the initiation process.

Belief is not experience

For many years I had been seeking, undergoing all kinds of practices: fasting, chanting, attempts at meditation, reading, contemplation. For those of you who have made this journey finding nothing, then you will understand what my experience was, nothing! I had lots of ideas in my head as well as beliefs of possibilities: God is everywhere; it is possible to rise to a level of Spiritual Consciousness; I believed that reality was more important than this. These thoughts and beliefs were in me but I had no experience, and you need the experience to believe, to really know and to realize. I craved that experience, and I am sure that a lot of you will empathize with me. You can have all these concepts in your head but no experience. So, there is a craving, a longing for this experience.

Inspiration from a book

A number of people wanted to be my teacher giving me ideas or telling me about practices, but I was never really inspired by them because I did not see a certain depth in them. I had no help. Then one day a book inspired me. It said if you really want to experience your spirit, “To quicken the spirit you need an impulse from another Soul.” These words are from Swami Vivekananda from his lectures on Bhakti Yoga. Those words struck me.

I wanted to find a Soul from whom I can get an impulse. Today we know quantum science that is about impulses of energy. I wanted to experience that. Then my search began to find a Soul who could create that impulse. But I also realized that for an impulse to happen, you not only need a Soul who could give the impulse, but you need to have the readiness. But, of course, seeing no other option I wanted to experience this. “Let me see if I am ready.” So in India I got that impulse. That impulse is called Shaktipat.

Transforming power of an energy field

Shaktipat is an energy transfer that wakes up our Spiritual Consciousness. You can actually feel that something is happening in that transmission of energy. But it did not happen from a single Master, rather it happened in an atmosphere that was co-created by disciples of the Master by their discipline, their focus and devotion. They created a certain kind of energy field that I felt immediately. I did not know what it was. The place just felt differently. It felt comfortable, peaceful and inviting to me. As I entered the space I almost felt that I was coming home. I had no idea about energy, I had no real idea about shaktipat but I just had this home-coming feeling. I felt comfortable.

After a few days I began to feel an elevation in my Being. My mind began to become peaceful. I started to feel a kind of love coming up inside of me, a happiness and a certain degree of witnessing. I was seeing life a little different. I understood then that it was shaktipat.

Understanding Energy

The Guru of this ashram certainly had an impact; however, it was not in the physical sense. It was in the energy that was co-created in that space. Then I realized that people can influence us with their energies. I started to understand what “energy” meant. Those of you who have difficulty understanding this subtle field of energy, it is because we are so accustomed to the gross, that in our minds we cannot even imagine something different. We associate all our experiences with the gross.

When you experience real love, when this feeling comes up inside of you that inspires real love, an openness, a wanting to reach out, a feeling of lift, do you ever notice that there is something more than just the physical experience? If you do not spend time to notice that and how it feels with different people in that relationship of loving: how some people draw your love faster than others; how with some people their love seems to open up more and grow; if you do not investigate that, then you would not be able to understand what subtle energy is. It is right there before us but we are so focused on the gross experience of the body: “Oh, my body feels nice. It is excited.” But is there more?

Explore the possibilities of looking

When you get a boost of positive energy by associating with a positive person, do you ever analyze that to see where that experience is coming from? Is it only physical? And with different people who are positive, do you see different levels of energy? If you begin to notice this then you will begin to have an appreciation of energy, beyond the physical.

When you begin to feel that a part of you is opening up to peace and love to a greater degree, do you associate that only with your brain, and the physical feelings? Or can you begin to see that there is another dimension to your being, one that is more than just physical, that opens up your spiritual consciousness? Giving attention to this and investigating: how does it feel in different spaces, how does it feel with different people’s energies, then you will begin to have an appreciation. So it requires the “looking”.

Sometimes at Management Courses they give you a drawing in which you can see two different images, but you have to look carefully because if you are tied up with the first impression you may be stuck there, not able to see the other side of the drawing. Then suddenly, when you move away from the old way of seeing, you have the possibility of seeing the new. When this happens, you may not be able to go back to the old. Then after a while, you can see both. In the human experience, therefore, there are more possibilities.

We have the power to touch another

What is remarkable, however, is what I want to speak about. It is that human beings have the power to touch another being. Swami Vivekananda described this as “impulse”. We have the power to touch another human being through look, touch, word, thought. Have you ever looked into the eyes of another person and seen the impact of that, what it does to you or how it impacts them? Have you seen how your words can lift people or disturb them? Can you feel some kind of energy flowing in your words?

Do you feel sometimes when you make a wish for someone and you think about it that something happens? You begin to see a space change. If you are in a meeting with someone or a group and you make a deep wish there, you see that things begin to change. It is the power of thought and intention. So through the look, through the word, through the touch and the thought, we can touch each other. This is the essence of shaktipat. “Shakti” means spiritual energy and “pat” means the descent from a source to a need.

Knowledge becomes a realization

The Masters who are established in Spiritual Consciousness have this power. Evolved souls also carry this power to a certain degree. That tells us something – that when we come into a group, we are influenced by energy; when we meet a person, we are influenced by energy. This opens up a lot of possibilities for us human beings, inspiring each other energetically. That is the essence of shaktipat. Where there is a source and there is a need, there is a flow; and where there is an openness from the source to give, and an openness where the need is to receive, there is a flow. That is Shaktipat.

Sometimes, in the presence of a Master, the Master need not say anything, but just open up his or her energy to the space, and those who are around receive in different ways. This is called Shaktipat Deeksha or Shaktipat Initiation, when we get a boost of energy from another. And when it comes from the Masters it becomes a very powerful boost. They grant us different initiations that I have been speaking about. That is what I got; that is what made the difference – an impulse from another human being. I got that impulse. Then I understood what the book said. I understood what the spiritual terms meant. It became a realization, but I needed that impulse from another Soul.

Seek good company, and seek out that impulse. It is there! There is a saying: When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. The teacher need not only appear in person. The teacher can appear in a dream from another dimension. A teacher can appear through another when the other becomes an instrument, like a group that is dedicated to a certain powerful practice.

Closing Remarks

When we get an impulse of the energy called Shaktipat or inspiration, even if it comes through an evolved person, a spiritual Master, then as a group we are impacted at the level where we are. So if we are physical beings, predominantly in physical consciousness we are impacted in a certain way. If we are emotional beings we are also impacted in a certain way. If we are predominantly mental beings we are impacted in a certain way. The shaktipat transmission may impact us in various ways, as we are different human beings with different personalities, different ways of viewing the world. Therefore, how someone else may be impacted may not necessarily be the same way for us. We have to be aware of this.

We will talk more about this and the possibilities.

Have a blessed day everyone. Namaskar.

Day 27: Questions and Answers

2010-04-21T14:24:00.001-07:00

Day 27: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

“When we meet someone who is very positive,

they inspire us by their positive energy.

Can you imagine someone who is spiritually very elevated,

when they come in our presence,

the feeling they create?

They can wake up our own sleeping energies.

That is why we are inspired

by strong personalities –

it’s the energy field they create!

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.

For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 27: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 26: Spiritual Initiation

2010-04-20T07:06:00.001-07:00

The theme of this entire retreat is, “Co-creating a New World,” a world of peace, love and harmony. Often we hear the statement, “Go light up your world, light up your world with the light from within,” and the symbol of light is used. It is a very powerful symbol on the spiritual path. We see light in many spiritual ceremonies. It has the power to drive away the darkness. The light of the sun drives away the darkness of the night. And light is a very nourishing quality.

Illuminating qualities of spiritual being

If we are going to light up the world with the light from within, then we need to understand what this “light within” means. What is this light within us and how can we light up our world with this light? The light within us is our spiritual being. We hear the statement that, “We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Spiritual being is a light being, it is a being that radiates light. Light is energy: it has radiance, illuminating qualities, and it has warmth. Your spiritual being has those qualities.

When your spiritual being becomes awakened, love of a different nature comes into your space. What happens when love enters the space: eyes become brighter; touch becomes different; words become different; presence becomes different. When spiritual being is awakened, understanding comes, wisdom comes. When understanding comes in a situation, how does the “I” look? How does the being feel? When you understand something, when you feel wisdom coming into the space, how do you feel? Wisdom has this illuminating quality; love has this illuminating quality.

When love comes into a space, it brings a kind of warmth, a kind of comforting feeling in a space. Your spiritual being has these qualities. Have you noticed? These are certainly different qualities to when you have only physical consciousness, and there is no consciousness of spirit. Human warmth is there but it is certainly different from the warmth of spiritual being. Can you distinguish the difference between just physical warmth and spiritual warmth; physical love and spiritual love; spiritual wisdom and just the wisdom of an ordinary physical brain, or the knowledge? Spirit has these illuminating and comforting qualities.

Process and stages of spiritual awakening

My point today is how is this awakened in us? And when it is awakened, what happens? We call this “Initiation.” Something new happens inside, a change happens, a rebirth happens. With spiritual awakening, there is a rebirth, there is a change, there is rebirthing. If you have experienced that sort of spiritual rebirthing, you need to revisit that and see what happened there. There is a shift from darkness into light.

This rebirthing process can have different stages - and I am going to divide this in three stages - so you can have different kinds of initiation along the way. You would have heard me speak of the Granthis before. I am going to use the same analogy: the Brahma Granthi; the Vishnu Granthi, and; the Rudra Granthi. Granthi means knot. I am going to use this to show three stages on the journey and three different kinds of initiations. It is important, that ‘our light’ begins to emerge.

Brahma Granthi

In the first stage of initiation, we are in body consciousness and we begin to feel some sort of tremor of spirituality or spiritual consciousness. We become like a human being having a spiritual experience, not a spiritual being having a human experience. We become a human being having a spiritual experience. “Oh, I can feel something different. I do not know what it is but I can feel something different and it feels good, it feels comforting.” Brahma granthi. It is the creation of some new feeling in us, another possibility. Then we get into some kind of worship in this recognition. We are still held in human consciousness, but we are aware there is some kind of spirituality that exists, some Great Being that exists, some new dimension that exists.

Vishnu Granthi

After we continue to do that for a while from that sort of initiation, then comes another level of initiation, where we begin to feel that there is some kind of presence in us, that there is some kind of spiritual energy in us, and when we worship, or we give our attention to spirituality, it wakes up more. We can identify a spiritual self in us, but we associate that with whatever created the awakening, whether it is a Guru, whether it is a symbol of God or image of God, we attribute this awakening and experience to that. We hold onto it for support and we believe that only in holding on to this are we supported. We feel a spiritual being in us, a spiritual identity in us, but we give the attention to the support, and we hold on to the support. We feel without that support, this cannot be nourished.

We are in the stage of the Vishnu granthi. This is a new level where we are supported; Vishnu is the supporting energy, so we are supported. Our worship, our spiritual practice becomes giving attention to the outside support. This continues for quite a while, because we enjoy this experience, and we sometimes do not think of even going further. We do not want to take responsibility; we prefer to give the responsibility to someone else. We are very much in contact with this God in terms of our worship and communication and we want to stay there, we are happy with that.

Rudra Granthi

At some stage, we may find this not enough, that we do not want to be so dependent on something on the outside, because if that contact is loose for whatever the reason may be, we feel loss, we feel separate, and we do not feel that this is the fullness of light, of energy, of communication, of spirituality. That is where the last stage of initiation comes, where we begin to identify with that power, and begin to believe in the possibility that we can be the light, that the light is not just something on the outside of us that we need to look at and stay with, but we begin to believe that the light is me. “I am the light.” That is when the Rudra granthi is pierced. We begin to own the light and we begin to own our journey. We begin to feel that we can make this journey now because we feel supported by a Higher Power. We are in the Higher Power; our existence is in the Higher Power. This becomes the last initiation in the journey where we take responsibility, knowing the power is behind us, but we feel very responsible.

Enter the space of our own light

This is the way that we become lit up inside in different stages. How do we become the light? It is in stages. Now if you observe your own life, what stage are you in? What are the other stages possible for you? Do you want to take full responsibility for your light? Or do you want to continue to depend on that which is outside? Or do you think that you are just a physical being, having a spiritual experience? On the first stage, you begin to know that you are a spiritual being having a human experience. In the second stage, you believe there is a spiritual being within you, but you are still caught up in the humanity, and you are using that spiritual being to support the humanity. In the last stage, it is the spiritual being that is holding the humanity and driving the humanity.

This is the process of initiation, and this is what is possible from the Source through which this initiation comes, whether it is a Guru or whether it is the Supreme itself. Sometimes we need different Gurus for the different stages of this journey. But this is how we begin to enter that space of our own light and it is only this way that we can light up our world, by experiencing the light from within.

This is the process of spiritual initiation. It is important to observe your own process, see where you are, see where you want to go, and begin to look at the process of how to do that. This is why Gurus are important for that initiation. This is why spiritual groups are important for that initiation. But we need to understand the process of initiation and the stages of initiation. I leave you with that today. How do we light up inside? How does our spiritual being come alive?

Become the light fully

The only way that we can light up the world is when we begin to realise that we are the light and we can take charge to keep that light shining brightly in all our interactions with our world.

Let us become aware of our light and let us strive to become fully the light. Grace is always there in support of this process.

Have a blessed day. Namaskar.

Day 26: Questions and Answers

2010-04-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Day 26: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-20T04:31:00.000-07:00

“In the journey of life,

your destination is the Self within you.

Do not ever forget that life is a journey

and that you are the traveler.

The physical body is your vehicle

and the mind is your control instrument.

Therein lies total fulfillment of being.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.

For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 26: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 25: Understanding Guru Consciousness

2010-04-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spoke to you on the subject ‘We are all Gurus’. Sometimes this can be misunderstood. Some may say, “How can we be Gurus? That is a space beyond us? There are so many limitations within us, how can we be Gurus?” What I actually meant was that we are all potentially Gurus. Whether we accept that now or not, we are!

Guru Potential is within All

The capacity to be Guru is within us. It is a consciousness that is inside of us. It is an ability that is inside of us. When I say that we are all Gurus, it means that the Guru potential is within all of us. That is the first thing that we need to understand and to embrace. “Yes, there is a Guru within me.” Otherwise, if you keep the thought, “I am not Guru, I can never be Guru,” as you think so you become. Your consciousness becomes limited. To open yourself to the idea that there is a Guru inside, is the first step in embracing this. What does this Guru Consciousness really mean that I can begin to accept this consciousness as part of me?

Leaders and Followers

In our world there are leaders and there are followers. Have you noticed, there are people who love to follow and there are people who love to lead? If we have only followers in the world, can you imagine what will happen? We need to have leaders. And if we have only leaders in the world, can you imagine what will happen? If they are true leaders we will have the best followers. Think for a moment; a good leader is a good follower, but it is not always that a follower can be a leader.

There is a leader inside of us, and there is also a follower inside of us. When we begin to experience that leadership inside of us, that Self leadership, we are beginning to experience Guru Consciousness. It is only then that we can take charge of our own process, otherwise we will be dependent on another person. We will be a follower. And when you are a follower only that is a difficult place to be, because if there is no leader around, you are confused, “What do I do? Where do I go?” It is as if you have no compass inside.

Tapping into Leadership: the Process

An important step on life’s journey is learning to accept leadership. To believe that there is a leader inside, to search for this leader inside, and begin to experience and manifest this leader inside. Guru Consciousness is that consciousness of self-leadership, and not only self leadership - which means being able to know where we are going – but also self-management. We need to be able to manage a process as well; not just to lead the process but to manage the process. The Guru Consciousness is self-leadership and it is also self-management.

Therefore, on the spiritual journey as well as the journey of ordinary material or secular life, we need to learn how to get in touch with that Leader, and how to tap into that leadership. That is what Guru Consciousness is. We spoke of the word “Guru”, “Gu” standing for darkness and “Ru” for the light. When that light comes inside, we begin to become more aware of: who we are; the tools we have; and the ability that we have inside to lead. The Guru Consciousness comes alive. It may not be perfect in the beginning but we begin to develop the ability to lead. Like a child learning to walk, the walk may not be perfect in the beginning. It may stumble at first, leading sometimes, following sometimes, until the child begins to walk and can lead itself.
Guru Consciousness is also a process that will lead into the fullness of Guru Consciousness where leadership becomes natural. And in a good leadership process, the process of following is also there. Good leaders also follow: they follow principles, they follow laws, they follow a process and they have the ability to lead, to inspire, to guide.

The Search for Wisdom

In my own life and on my own journey what I wanted most as a young person was to be able to manage myself. I never liked a wayward mind, a scattered mind. So one of my desires as a very young man, was, “How do I control my mind? How do I manage my mind? How do I manage emotions? How do I manage the drives of my lower self? How do I manage it all? And that drove me into the search for wisdom. So I know the feeling of helplessness and where we need to follow; where we need a leader.

When my spiritual experiences came, however, and I began to experience other parts of me, other dimensions to my Being, this wonderful quality also came in; the ability to lead myself, the ability to manage myself. When I began to see my Being as being more than my mind, and my mind was operating in me, and emotions were operating in me, my awareness changed and the knowledge also came that I can manage this process. I can look at my mind and say, “I don’t want to think this.” And I can look at another possibility of thinking and I can embrace this and leave that out. I learned how to manage my mind. I understood that I had a choice. I can embrace what I want to think. Of course, you can imagine how wonderful that could be, when you can push away thoughts you do not need and embrace thoughts that you need.

It was the same with emotions. I could see what emotions were doing to my entire Being: disturbing my mind, putting stresses in my body. I also learned how to see emotions differently as existing in me. I had then to manage them. So this Guru Principle was awakened in me. Of course, it was not fully, as there were certain thoughts or emotions I could not manage and then I needed help. I had to look for those Masters who mastered those in order to help me. I was a follower, but though I could lead myself, I also needed to follow.

Humility in Leadership

What happened as I began to lead myself? People were drawn towards me saying, “How do you do this? Can you help me? I love what I see in you.” Automatically, I became a leader outside as well. And what I did not know I said, “I can’t help you in this. I do not know about it; I am still learning this.” And people would still be interested saying, “When you learn, teach me more.”
I naturally became a leader realizing that I did not have the fullness of leadership. That created a certain kind of humility within me that I loved. When I did not know, I said “I do not know”. And then I searched, even whilst leading, for the greater capacity to master myself and to be able to lead. And that is what the 40 Days of 1978 was, when I reflect upon it. It gave me that fullness of leadership.

What does the “fullness of leadership” mean? It means that I have become the best follower there is. I know that I do not know anything. It is the Universe that knows everything. So I become the best servant of the Universe. I learn how to align myself to the Universe. When I listen to you, I don’t know anything; the Universe is what guides me. It brings the thoughts and it brings the information. But I know how to connect and in that connection I feel infinite! I don’t know anything, but what is in me knows everything. He who knows that he knows not, knows and is wise. He who thinks he knows, knows not and is ignorant.

The truly wise never claim that they are anything. The true leaders never claim that they are leaders, they say the Universe is. They say, “I am just a humble instrument of that” because they know that they can never bring the Universe into the finite. True leaders are really humble when you meet them. They have this amazing capacity to intuit wisdom but never claim it is their own. That is what Guru Consciousness is. It is aligning yourself to the Universe and allowing the Universe to lead you and to lead others in the process, not claiming that you are anything.

Aligned to the Universe

When I go to groups I say, “I can’t give you anything that you do not already have. I have come as a friend to remind you.” People call me Master, they call me Guru, but what am I? I am a humble servant of the Universe, I know nothing but the Universe knows everything. How can I claim to know when these thoughts arise in my mind to guide? When these energies within me come to inspire, how can I claim it to be my own? That is what Guru Consciousness is.

It is being in that space where you feel connected to everything. All information is yours to intuit, to express, to share and that is what I do every day. I share the vastness of my inner space, and my individuality is in humility always. I see you as my Universe, I see you as my teachers, I see you as my guides, I learn how to follow the Universe everywhere. That is the vision.
Can you accept that? Can you embrace that? Can you see the leader in you? Can you see how important that leader needs to be? Can you really see Guru Consciousness in another, rather than as an impossible place to be?

We are all Gurus, if you really understand. I hope you will appreciate this message.

Closing Remarks

Whatever you have learned in this world, whatever you know, know that it comes from that place of all knowledge. Know that that space is vast, infinite and you can never fathom that space completely. That space is larger than all of us.

When you are called upon to lead and you feel the power to lead, lead from that place of all possibilities. Seek to bring your Higher Self into the experience, using all the knowledge that you have, but staying humble and aware that knowledge is Infinite, as the Universe is. This is what true leadership is. This is what the Guru Consciousness is.

Have a blessed day everyone. Namaskar.

Day 25: Understanding Guru Consciousness

Day 25: Questions and Answers

2010-04-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Day 25: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

“If you persevere you will actually get the gift of the brow.

This is a tremendous gift.

It is called ‘the third eye.’

You see more (perceive more)

and your power is greater.

You understand more when this is awakened,

and slowly you can become your own leader.

I wish that everyone in our world could be awakened to this.

And more,

I wish every young person who is now learning to think, understand and relate to the world,

could develop this ability.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 25: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 24: You Are the Guru

2010-04-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spoke about the Guru Principle, Guru Tattwa. I tried to move your perspective into a more universal way of seeing that the Guru is everywhere, manifesting beautifully within pure human beings, those who have purified their egos. But also manifesting in the entire Universe, sometimes even using the ignorant to help us, by drawing the ignorant towards us, that we may learn, that we may grow. So the whole world becomes Guru. The Universal Consciousness itself has the quality of Guru, has Guru Tattwa. Guru is everywhere.

Outer Guru: help to awaken inner Guru

What is the purpose of this Guru in the Universe, in people? What is the purpose of the Guru? This is the subject today. Of course one may say it is for liberation, that we be liberated. But what is the process of liberation? What does liberation involve? It involves the inner Guru becoming awake. It is not that we are to become dependent continuously on outer Gurus, on the Universe to support our journey, on physical Gurus to lead us. When will we lead ourselves? When will we become responsible for our own behaviour, for our own lower self behaviour? When will we become responsible? Until we become responsible, we will forever need those on the outside.

What is the Universe trying to tell us? What is the message of the Universe in having the Guru Consciousness outside of us? It is to help us to wake up to our own Guru. The purpose of the outer Guru is to wake up the inner Guru. Your question should be to yourself, “How awakened is my inner Guru? How much am I guided by my own inner Guru?” That is the pertinent question in transformation.

Make sure you have the right understanding

The Beings of Light who come into our world are not here so that they can create, or co-create with us a world of enlightenment. They are here to guide us, to inspire us, to light our light, that we may all responsibly co-create this world of Light. If we keep on lower self behaviour, if we keep on staying in the darkness, if we keep on holding onto lower self, all the Gurus can be here and the world will still have darkness.

Who is responsible for change? Is it the Gurus that are sent into our world? It is us, working together with these Masters of the Light, to transform our own lives. They are there to model. Sometimes we destroy them - when they come - with our darkness. But the wakeup call here is that our inner Guru needs to come alive. This tells us how to work with the outer Gurus that we are blessed to have. We need to listen to them carefully, because sometimes we think we understand them, but our own ego interprets in our way. So it is always important to clear it up with the Guru and to make sure that you have the right understanding, because you can go away with the wrong message when you think you know. It is always important to test it with the Guru, “Do I understand this correctly?” Because the Guru is in a clear field, a field of Light, and the disciple is in this field of ignorance, darkness.

Look at the results

When you practice what the Guru tells you to do, or advises you to do, then you look at your experiences. Are they in line with what he is saying? Are they experiences because they verify what you are doing? You do not just practice open ended, you look at the results. What kind of results are there? How is my home? How is my family? How am I treating with the people around me? That is where the results are. That is where you know if you are really practicing the teachings. How are my thoughts every day? How is my speech? That is how you know if you are practicing the teachings. How do I relate to my world? That is how you know.

You need to also look at the results and to see if they are consistent with what the Guru is saying. He says, “When you do this, this is what will happen. When you begin to create light within your own space, the people around you will be inspired,” he says. “And be patient” he said, “Be understanding, be tolerant and you will see, change will come gradually.” Is that happening when you put the teachings into practice? Or are you putting the teachings into practice, not giving attention to what is happening around you? “Oh, I am practicing them.” So what is the impact?

We are all Gurus

The idea is to become like the Guru. There is a verse in the Guru Gita, a line that says, “Sa eva ca guruh sakshat.” It says, “The devoted disciple himself becomes the Guru.” So what is the goal? That we too manifest Guru Consciousness. This is what the Guru wants. When we manifest Guru Consciousness, we will actually feel in oneness with the Guru. Wow! We feel that we have become the Guru. Do you know what a joy it is for me to listen to disciples who are in Guru Consciousness? I do not need to say anything; I do not need to do anything. When they are in the space and they are manifesting Guru Consciousness, my whole being opens up and I feel so huge, just by their experience. When they speak from Guru Consciousness, when they act from Guru Consciousness, I feel my own being expanding. Suddenly, they have become me and I am speaking through them and they are speaking in me. It becomes such an experience of unity. There is no need for me to say anything, there it is being said. There the Guru is saying it. It is one Guru. It is one Principle. There, the Principle is saying it. My whole being feels free, it feels empowered. It feels full.

Anybody who manifests the Guru Consciousness brings power to all the Gurus. That is how Light will light up our world. The Guru is like a light, a light of Higher Consciousness. When our lights light up, the brightness is huge. So we need ultimately to move from the idea that we are just disciples. The truth is we are all Gurus. We are all Gurus and we need to wake up in that consciousness.

Manifesting Guru Consciousness

My 40 Days in 1978 was a transformation. I never thought for a moment that I could ever have any kind of Guru Consciousness. I was very pleased with disciple consciousness. Then the first week of the 40 days, this power inside of me was trying to coax me very gently into coming into Guru Awareness. And I am saying to myself, “Me?” It took me an entire week to understand what this power was doing, where it was carrying me. Then it protected me by saying, “Do not look at anybody, do not mix with anybody.” It protected my transformation inside because I did not know what to do. Gradually, after an entire week, then I saw what it was doing. “So this is what it is!” Then I embraced the fact that I could have the Guru Consciousness. It took me an entire week before I could embrace that. But when I did, the rest of the 40 days was just magnificent.

I embraced the new consciousness, I thought I was worthy of it. Then I respected all the Gurus, and I wanted all the support, I wanted to feel this more and more. And through the 40 Days, every day was magnificent; the unfolding of an inner Guru; taking responsibility for the Light; using the knowledge from everywhere and trying to manifest this Higher Consciousness. At the end of the 40 Days, I was not Guru, I was not disciple, I was a part of everything. I could assume any role. I am always a disciple. I could feel the Guru Consciousness in me coming when I need to lead. Beautiful! I am beyond. I can assume the role of disciple, I can assume the role of Guru, I can assume any role. That is where the real Guru Consciousness is.

Taking responsibility for the Light

These Beings of Light who come into our world, they are precious beings. The Shiva Sutras says in one of its sutras,”Gururupaya”; that the Guru is the means to the Higher Consciousness. The one who has realised the Self is the means to the Higher Consciousness. So we need to use these precious beings to become aware of our own power and freedom and to take the responsibility for that journey and not leave it in the hands of others. “Sa eva ca guruh sakshat.” “The devoted disciple himself becomes Guru.”

This world will only change when we begin to embrace Guru Consciousness, when we begin to take responsibility for the Light. We all are Lights, we all are Gurus. So begin to understand the true message of the Guru. It is not forever to have you in dependence; it is to wake you up to your own independence. What is beautiful about that is then you have the best relationship with the Guru. Then you realise who Guru is and you feel so much in oneness. The love, the bonding, the understanding, the camaraderie; it becomes so beautiful. The Guru becomes your best friend and you become the best friend of the Guru because you carry the same consciousness. You become brothers or sisters in the Light, working for the welfare of humanity.

Do not be afraid of your Guru Consciousness; embrace it like I did. Be responsible and let the Light shine in and through you.

May you be blessed by all the Gurus and may your own Guru come alive. Do not hold it back.

I hope that you have been inspired to embrace your own goodness and to be a responsible agent for change in our world, for creating positive change. Together we can co-create a world of peace, love and harmony. Let us do it together.

Have a blessed day.

Day 24: You Are The Guru

Day 24: Questions and Answers

2010-04-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Watch live streaming video from blue_star at livestream.com

Day 24: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-18T04:33:00.000-07:00

“Life's true treasures are within you

and the tools

for acquiring all that you need

are also within.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.

For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 24: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 23: The Principle of Grace

2010-04-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 23 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. I have been speaking about our being imprisoned in our self created cage, with the door being unlocked and the potential being there to be free. In wanting to come into a space of higher awareness - and I have been inspiring you, or seeking to inspire you to come into a space of higher awareness and to view your world from there - this is a shift in consciousness.

In the process of creation, we have become involved in limitation. The potential is there for higher consciousness but in coming into a limited human form, a physical form, we have come into limitation. In the same way that the Universe created us, holding us in this limitation, it has also built into the system, liberation, the ability to break free from this limitation, that is also there in the system. We call it “Grace”; that whenever we seek to be free, the Universe is going to comply, it is going to listen to our call and shower us with Grace.

Breaking free from limited awareness

This grace bestowing power in the Universe, to lift us from ignorance into freedom, is called the “Guru Principle,” or Guru Tattwa. At this point in my talks, I want to bring in this subject, because we need to make a shift. We need to move from the limited awareness that holds us, when we feel enclosed in this prison and we feel that we cannot break free. It is difficult to break free. No matter what we try, it is difficult to break free. Here we need to understand that a helping hand is there in the Universe. The Universe reaches out to us but we need to be able to see this hand reaching out to us, because many times we cannot interpret it.

What is this Guru Principle? Of course in the Guru Gita, that we have been singing, one of the verses says that the letter “Gu” stands for darkness and the letter “Ru” stands for the light, or that which removes darkness. So the Guru Principle is that principle that removes darkness, the darkness of ignorance.

Support comes to the seeker

How does this principle operate in the Universe? From the moment you start seeking, this principle starts its operation. When we hear of “Guru” we tend to think of a person, someone who can help us out of the darkness, a person like ourselves. We are accustomed in our Universe or in our world, to people like ourselves helping us – our parents, our teachers, our friends - so we think of a person coming to help us. I thought the same way. But now I realise that the moment I started seeking, a principle in the Universe started supporting me, started guiding me in so many ways that I did not realise. Even though I was waiting for a human person, a principle was already engaged.

Can we open our minds to see that this Guru Principle in the Universe is a principle that is above person or personality; a principle that can engage the whole world and all expressions of divinity into this act of helping to liberate us from ignorance? Can we see that when we begin to seek, that the Universe sends information to us in all kinds of ways, but sometimes we do not see it, information to help us on the next step. Do we always need a person to be in front of us to tell us? Can a book guide us? Can a situation awaken something in us? Can a group of people inspire us? Can an object awaken something in us?

When we begin to see the many ways in which we can become awakened to our true being or to our Higher Self, we begin to see that in the Universe, there is the Guru Principle, not just a person. It may manifest in and through a person, when the person is manifesting Higher Self qualities. It may manifest in several persons of different states of evolved consciousness. Can we see in all those instances where we are supported on this journey to enlightenment that a principle in the Universe is reaching out to us and move away from the idea of one person? Can we see several persons; can we see several evolved persons helping us on the way?

Guru: realising the power inside

Initially I thought that I needed to see a human being, but when I went to India, a centre, a spiritual centre, awakened my spirituality, not a single person - the energy of a spiritual centre, the energy of a discipline, the commitment of the people. Then ultimately, when I met the person who inspired this, I thought; “Well now here is the person I am going to meet who is going to give me that ultimate push.” But when I met the person, I could not relate to the human form, because for years I had been experiencing a power inside of me, and I related to that power as “Guru”.

It was only when I was able to move away my focus from the physical person, and focus on the power inside of me, whilst listening to the person, could I feel what the real Guru is; it is the power inside of me. That person outside is making me realise that what is in him, is also in me, because when I heard him speak, I could feel that something in me was resonating. The more I closed my eyes and listened to him, the stronger this feeling came inside of me, that what is speaking in him, that power that I am seeing, and admiring, is also inside of me. The more I listened to his words, the more I felt my own power started to open up. Then I really understood that what the Universe was trying to tell me, that he represents what is in me, and I need to focus on what is in me and not get caught up in what is outside. That is how I made a shift from the idea of personal Guru to the idea of Guru within me and Guru in the Universe. Because the more I felt it within me, the more I could see how the whole Universe is supporting me in terms of my spiritual growth and evolution.

During these 40 Days that I have spoken about, a family came around me and every member of the family was important in terms of co-creating that space for me. Everything that it did, each one was important to me. I saw how the Universe was co-creating a space, that this Guru Principle was working through everyone to guide me. Even when I looked out my window when no one knew and I saw what was happening, I marvelled at this principle operating through everybody in such a perfect way.

During those days, I began to see this power inside of me. The words of Gurus came alive as I went inside. It brought about deeper realisations within my own being of my own power. So the whole idea of Guru for me has changed. I moved away from the idea of a physical Guru to the idea of Guru within me and Guru within the Universe. That moved away the idea that I have a single Guru. Of course there were Gurus along the way who supported me, who have helped me, some in the flesh, in the body, some beyond the body. I feel the grace of these Masters and then I know that all these Masters are operating in one principle. I should not be caught up in their personalities but I should look at that one principle in all of them and appreciate all of them alike; whether it is the Guru who helped in the first step or whether it is the Guru who helped in the last step, because the first step is also important. Every step along the way, each Guru is important.

Recognising the Universal Guru

Can we expand our minds to see how the whole Universe can become a Guru to us? How the Universe can use even a negative situation and a limited person to teach us, where the limited person is not the Guru, but the instrument of a Higher Power? We may attract such a response from the Guru - from the Cosmic Guru or the Universal Guru - when we need it.

We should consider every master or every teacher along the way as a gift and not get caught up in the idea that one person is the Guru and this is the best Guru, because ultimately, we need to find the Guru inside. That is why we speak about the “Push Pull Principle”; that Gurus outside, they lead us within and their goal is to help us to find the inner Guru. And in finding the inner Guru, we will begin to experience more and more the Cosmic Guru and that the whole Universe is operating as a Guru. Can you open your minds to see that? This is the view that I have.

It is important in the journey to higher consciousness to seek that support from the Universe. That can only happen when we have a strong desire for release. We are not going to be released from this self imposed prison or self created prison unless we have a strong desire to come out of it. To the extent to which the desire is strong, so also the response of the Universe would be: the stronger the desire, the stronger the response; the weaker the desire, the weaker the response. And when your desires are mixed, the responses from the Universe are mixed. Consider this; we get only what we deserve and where we are now is what we deserve.

To summarise, there is a liberating principle in the Universe, the grace bestowing principle, that can lead us from ignorance to enlightenment. The principle can operate in the entire Universe through all living beings in the Universe and it can express itself in the most beautiful ways in those who have purified their egos and as a result, are instruments of the Divine in the best expressions.

I hope that we can appreciate this grace that comes in the form of the Guru Principle. It is the Grace that we need in seeking freedom.

Have a blessed day.

Day 23: Principle Of Grace

Day 23: Satsang

2010-04-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Watch live streaming video from blue_star at livestream.com

Day 23: Questions and Answers

2010-04-17T14:55:00.001-07:00

Day 23: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-17T04:41:00.000-07:00

“When you make a wish

or say a prayer

(a prayer is a way of making the wish)

or you hold a vision,

then you trigger the Universe around you

to help and support you.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.

For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 23: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 22: Life as a Drama

2010-04-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 22 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. Yesterday we took that view of the world of the Dancer on the stage of Life, of the actor – Nartak Atma. Today, let us take another view.

The World as a Play of Life

How does life itself appear in this Self awareness, when we become aware of ourselves as a dancer on the stage of life, as an actor. What do we see around us? What is the external view? Interesting, isn’t it? If we see our self as an actor or a dancer on a stage, then how do you think we will see the world? How will we see the world from this new understanding of our self? We see the entire world as a drama, as a play of a Supreme Power supporting all of existence. We see all living beings, being expressions of this Supreme Power manifesting consciousness in varying degrees, in ignorance to evolved awareness, or what we may call enlightened awareness. We see all the degrees of manifestation of this Consciousness.

Interacting with New Meaning and Purpose

What happens when we see that? The world takes on a different meaning. We see the world differently. We see new meaning and purpose in the play. Then it becomes no ordinary play, but it becomes a magnificent play - a play where we engage to learn and grow. A play where we participate as an instrument in helping others to learn and grow. So we see interactions where we all learn and grow in a co-creation.

New approach in Dealing with Ignorance

How does this take place? As we grow in consciousness we begin to see those who are operating in ignorance. It becomes very clear to us that people are not true to their Higher Self. They are operating instinctively, as it were, carried away by lower self behaviour. And what happens when we see that? Do we fight with it? Do we become part of the ignorance when we have a higher awareness? How do we deal with it? How do we treat with it?

We treat with it differently in this new awareness. There is compassion for the ignorant people who are driven by anger, lust and jealousy. When they are seen by the more evolved, they are seen with compassion. And you will find that the more evolved will not want to go into that when the ignorant cannot see better. They will be very careful with their interactions with the ignorant, participating in the play meaningfully if they can help in the ignorance. And delightfully and compassionately looking on at the play when they can’t, knowing that in this play there are lots of instruments who will help and support, when the more evolved is not appreciated. It sees no reason to enter into the fray. So there is a whole new approach in dealing with ignorance in the play.

Caution with those who Fluctuate

What is also seen in the world is not just ignorance but a mixture of ignorance and evolved awareness, those who fluctuate between two – the Higher and lower self. And then more awareness is needed in those interactions. So when Higher Self is seen we are drawn to it, and when lower self is seen we become more protective. You see how those people move from one to another and we have to be very careful of being trusting in those situations. We have to be wary. So the wise become very cautious in those interactions not knowing what to expect sometimes. Compassion is there when people operate from ignorance, and joy of interaction is there when they are operating from a Higher Self.

Synergy with the Evolved

There is the other dimension of when evolved people meet other evolved people and the possibilities of co-creating synergy in a space, and the possibility of growing through the synergy. All these possibilities appear in the stage of life, as we interact with the ignorant, as we interact with those who fluctuate between Higher and lower self, and as we interact with those who are more evolved.

The Wise are aware of their Roles

We therefore need to be very wise in our interactions with the world, otherwise we become consumed by the world. How do you treat with your world? The wise begin to see how they are drawn into the world and to see the role that the Universe is inviting them to play. So sometimes they are drawn to the ignorant people. And they know exactly what is going to happen, but they become like a sacrifice displaying the qualities of goodness despite what happens, knowing this is the role that is meant for them in reaching out and helping those who are in ignorance. And then becoming an instrument even with those who are fluctuating believing in their good sides and staying with them through the bad times, helping them in the process. Then seeing the support and grace that comes from association with the more evolved and seeing the possibilities for co-creating a whole new world.

Possibilities of Co-creating a New World

Can you imagine if the world is predominated by ignorant people? What are the possibilities of co-creating a new world? There are no possibilities. That will have to take its own course until life itself, through its many interactions, produce a shift in consciousness.

What are the possibilities for co-creating a new world when there is a mixture of the lower consciousness and the Higher Consciousness? Then there is a lot of churning, a lot of processing. Where do you see us in a world like this where there is the mixture? What does a world like this invite us to do? It invites us to treat with ignorance in a different way, and it invites us to bring together those who are more aware in a better way, believing in the Higher Self. That is the invitation for all of us who live and act in Higher Awareness.

Think of the possibility of co-creating a whole new world. This is where I believe those of us who are more aware need to come together, as we do, to strengthen ourselves by our association, by our conversation, by the communities we create, to grow the Light that is so strong that it can protect us from those around us who are ignorant. And as we grow we will attract more souls from the other dimensions to come to be with us, as we continue on this evolution on a collective scale of consciousness that we are evolving individually and we are evolving collectively.

Where do you Stand in all of this?

These are the possibilities on the journey. Where do you stand when you interact with your world? Are you caught up in the ignorance of the world? Do you fight with it? Do you become consumed in it? What does it say about you? Do you see when the mixture is there in people and they are expressing both Higher and lower self? How do you treat with that? Do you despise them because of the lower self behaviour? Or do you try to bring out the best within them? And do you nourish yourselves by association with those who are more evolved?

The Choice is Yours

These are the possibilities when we take the external view. Then we see that all of life is a drama. It is a drama perfectly orchestrated by a Super Intelligence. All of life is a drama, and we are all on a stage. We can operate in ignorance or we can operate in enlightened awareness. What do you choose? What do you choose to be on the stage- ignorant or enlightened? We can become anything we want to be. All the possibilities exist for us.
That is the external view and those are the possibilities. And what we are actually in now is that community. Whether it is global or local, we are in that community of souls of varying qualities. And here we have the opportunity to treat with it with wisdom, with Higher Awareness.

That is the invitation. And that is the invitation I see every day in my world.

Closing Remarks

Have the presence of a physical world around you in the joy of a Higher Self, in higher awareness as you think of a new day. “Today, I seek to live in Higher Self awareness as I interact with my world, understanding the nature of my world, appreciating the nature of my world. I seek to be an instrument of peace, love and harmony. I seek to be a blessing to my world. I give thanks for all the blessings I have received. I pray to engage in the perfect dance as a dancer in the world stage. As I engage in the dance in the collective drama, I pray to make all the perfect moves being guided by my Higher Self.” (Excerpt from meditation)

My wish today is that you will assimilate this lesson as you interact with your world, being very careful with those who are ignorant, being very discreet or wise with those who fluctuate, and being able to appreciate the nourishment that comes from those who are more evolved.

May you continue to seek and keep their company that you may be nourished.

May we all be blessed.

Day 22: Life As A Drama

Day 22: Questions and Answers

2010-04-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Day 22: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

“Those who are strong can lift those who are weak

so it is extremely important when we want to develop inner strength

to keep the company of those who are strong.

If we are weak and enter the presence of those who are also weak

we are likely to feel even more drained.

When we are together with positive and loving people

we feel our spirits lifted.”

Sri Vasudeva

Today's message touched on many teachings and it would be worth having another look at "The Messenger is the Message" card of Day 4. For this card, to read the full teaching click here.

For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 22: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 21: Acting in Higher Awareness

2010-04-15T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday’s topic was “Living in a Higher Awareness”. Today we continue with that. Yesterday I spoke about when we begin to experience a Higher Self, the witnessing becomes different and that we have been imprisoned in this earthly consciousness that limits our awareness. I spoke of my own joy of being awakened and experiencing my body in a different way and experiencing energies of another dimension. Today I am going to continue.

Nartak Atma

As we begin to experience more of ourselves, more of our essential nature, as we begin to become aware of another dimension of being, a new experience comes and this is important to observe. One begins to feel as though you are on a stage like an actor. This reminds me of a verse or Sutra from the Shiva Sutras, “Nartak Atma”. It says that the Self, the Atma, is like a dancer on the world’s stage, an actor. The reason I am saying this is because we begin to see life in a different way. We begin to go beyond the roles we play and to see the roles as we engage in them. That is a little different to being consumed in the role or being fully identified in the role, for example, the one who is eating. When you are eating, you are no longer consumed in the eating and consumed in the experience of eating, but now you can observe the eating process.

You begin to see the eating in a different way. You can feel the pleasure of the eating. Before, you were consumed in the pleasure of the eating; now you are seeing the pleasure of the eating and you are looking at it. And you can feel that you can disengage from this, you can eat in a disinterested way. You are looking at the pleasure and you are seeing the eating, but you can disengage in a way of not being consumed in it, or not being caught up in it. If you think of this dimension of the experience, it is amazing.

When this consciousness becomes stable within you, you begin to realise that in everything you do, you can do the same thing. You are witnessing the experience, the role, and you realise that you are beyond the role. You can engage in the role, not in the way as before, being consumed in it, you can engage in the role but it is a conscious engagement. You see continuously that you are making a choice in being in the role. In engaging in the pleasure of eating, you can become engaged as it were, not consumed, but engaged in the pleasure of the eating and you see differently. You see the pleasure is there. You see the eating is there. You see the one who is observing all of it.

Even when you are engaged in a relationship with a person, you can see all the feelings that are coming in the relationship and you can actually feel the Observer in it. This detachment brings a kind of neutrality, so you are looking and you can see how much you can engage, whether you can engage more or less, or whether you can be neutral to the experience.

Trueness: Permission to engage

Now what happens in this sometimes, as it did to me initially, it makes you feel that you are not true to what you are doing, because you are not fully engaged in it. Until you begin to realise that this is a more conscious way of seeing the whole experience. This is an advanced way of seeing the experience. This is a truer picture of what it is. Then you realise that what the trueness really means is the conscious engagement, giving yourself the permission to engage and being true to your Higher Self in the engagement. You are consciously bringing the qualities of your Higher Self in the engagement, so you can bring more love in the engagement. And the trueness there, is bringing the love from the Higher Self in it. So you are making a choice at each stage; you are not consumed, but you are making a choice. It is a conscious engagement.

This is what I learnt from the experience; that I engage myself in any role that I want to, but I am not the role. This is a whole new experience of being and it makes this Sutra come alive. You really are on the world’s stage and every role you play, brother or sister, employer, employee, it is only a role and you witness the role in a different way, as you become more aware of your inner being.

When this happens, it gives you more management over what you are doing, because now you can see more possibilities. You can see the old ways in which you were consumed in doing things and it brings that freedom to explore and to perform the action in a much more conscious way. For example, if an actor is on a stage, they are actually observing how they are acting. They become true to their acting when they become totally engaged in the role, and they can change from one emotion to another in a moment, very consciously, very engaged. They can manage the roles, moving from one to another, and you who are looking do not know the difference. This is what higher awareness brings. The feeling is not as before.

Those of you who begin to have this higher awareness and you feel that you are not true to your actions, it is a more conscious way of living, where you give permission to the engagement, where you are in the engagement but there is another part of you that is looking at the whole process continuously. So it is going to shift from one role to another without feeling guilty that you have moved from one role to another, but now you are consciously engaged from a higher place.

Intuiting guidance for every activity

What is also wonderful about this experience is that you have become more aware of guidance from your Higher Self. For example, what this brought to me was knowing how to engage in every activity. If I got into an activity and I felt that something inside of me was supporting the activity, then I would feel more energy coming into the space from inside of me. It was as though a Higher Self within me was giving me permission to come into the space. And if in this space I felt a limitation and I felt as though my Higher Self wants to contract, as though part of me is saying, “No, do not go there, do not go there,” then I begin to listen. But because I am engaged differently, in a disinterested way, in a more detached way, I am able to follow the dictates of a Higher Self inside that guides me in what I am doing.

This was the sense of guidance that came to me and I loved being guided because I did not have to make decisions [as] before, I could actually feel now that something is helping me to decide. So this is what happens in higher self awareness; you know exactly how much to speak; you know exactly which emotion to bring into the space; you know exactly which environment you should stay in and which you should move away from as you begin to give attention to this Higher Self in the engagement.

This higher awareness brings a new way of looking at the activity and a new way of intuiting guidance for the activity. This is what living in higher self awareness means - it makes you feel like an actor on a stage, seeing all the roles that are before you, but knowing that these are roles that you engage in. But your essential self is different to all the roles that you play.

I want you to think about this very carefully. It is worth the exploration. For example, I am singing and those of you who are looking at me sing think, “Oh he is so into the singing.” Yes, I am engaged in the singing but another part of me is very silent, looking at the whole singing and enjoying the whole process of energy flowing in the singing, words coming out in the singing. But another part of me is looking at the whole experience, and I can stop the singing - no matter how loud it becomes - in a moment, and I am completely silent. I can choose another role exactly in that moment. That is because of that awareness.

If I am speaking with someone and I feel a lot of anger is being generated and I can feel that, I can immediately shift and be detached from the whole anger process. I can contain the energy in the space just by coming back and looking at the whole process, and not allowing myself to engage. I can engage differently by containing what is before me or I can shower love into the process consciously whilst the anger is coming towards me, containing it and neutralising it when I can. But it is another way, a whole other way of engaging in every process. This is what living in higher awareness brings. It is worthy of the contemplation.

Tomorrow we will continue with another dimension to this experience.

Post meditation remarks

For those of you who struggle with trying to get into the space of awareness, be patient. Contemplate what I have been saying and consider another dimension of awareness. Listen to my words, contemplate them and consider the possibility of another way of seeing yourself and your engagement with the world. The grace will come to experience it, be patient; it is all going to come in the perfect time. Continue striving. It is the one who continuously strives who will achieve.

Have a blessed day. Namaskar.

Day 21: Acting In Higher Awareness

Day 21: Questions and Answers

2010-04-15T16:11:00.001-07:00

Day 21: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-15T06:56:00.001-07:00

“It is not simply in giving up the world

that we will find peace but rather in not being attached to the world.

We need to live in the world

but need to be not of the world.

True renunciation is giving up

the attachment

to worldly possessions, pleasure

and power.

We can have these things

but not be controlled by them.”

Sri Vasudeva

See also the card for Day 4 "Be the Message," which Guruji again touched on in this talk. To read the full teaching click here.
For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 21: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.

Day 20: Living in a Higher State of Awareness

2010-04-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 20 of our 40 Days Meditation Retreat 2010. Today my talk is based on Living in a State of Higher Awareness. How does it feel to live in a higher state of awareness? What are the possibilities in the human experience, when we are in a higher state of awareness and we act from there?

When Spiritual Being is Earthbound

Coming into a human body we become earth bound, and here I am speaking of the Soul, Spiritual Being coming into a human body. We become bound to the physical world, so we need to analyze what that experience is. It is strong identification with our physical being and physical world, so much so that all our thinking is based on the physical world: its comfort, pleasure, pain and the rest. There is strong identification with the gross body; we think we are this. We fear death, we fear disease, we seek pleasure and comfort. We display physical might in our world and there is the fight for survival – human survival of the material. This is when spiritual being is earth bound.

Possibility of Freedom Awaits Us

What I have been trying to do with you in these talks is to try to get you to become more aware, or to inspire you or guide you. I want you to become more aware of your spiritual being, and to realize that the prison our soul has come into takes away our freedom. But it is a prison where the door is unlocked and we have the freedom to come out. It is like a bird in a cage and the cage is unlocked, but the bird chooses to stay in the cage. And if the bird never knew about flying, it would think that flying is impossible. It will not be able to fly. Only if it sees another bird in flight and is inspired by that bird will it ever think of the possibility of flying. That is why we need those birds that fly, because it brings to us the possibility that we too can fly. We need to understand as well that the cage is unlocked and it is only we who keep ourselves in the prison.

Therefore, the question here is: Do you want to come out of that cage or that prison that we have been caught in? Do you want to experience something higher? How strong is your desire to want to come out of the cage? Or how strong is your desire to stay in the cage and enjoy the security that the cage seems to have? And how does it feel to come out of the cage and begin to explore what it is like outside of the cage, like a bird coming out of the cage and beginning to learn how to exercise its wings on the outside and get an experience of the wind?

Coming out of the Cage of Body - Consciousness

As we begin to experience any form of energy awareness, any form of identity that is non-physical, we begin to open that cage. I have been showing you, as I did yesterday, how to use the breath to open that cage that can take your awareness from being earth bound or physically bound - “I am breathing” - into the idea that breathing is happening in me. When we come into the idea that breathing is happening in me, the cage is opening.

Whenever we come into that space where we feel that we are more than the body; we begin to feel a lightness of being; we begin to feel a sense of floating inside; we begin to feel the presence of another part of us, we are coming out of that prison that binds us to the earth. This is an experience that we need to explore: How to live in that state of freedom? How to come out of that cage? How to begin to explore the freedom that exists outside of that cage, and the wind that can help us to fly, the support that can help us to fly?

Experiencing a Shift in Consciousness

As we begin to come out of this cage of the physical consciousness we begin to experience an expanded awareness, almost like a dual consciousness. On one hand there is the experience of the physical and on the other there is the experience of the lightness of being – another form of identity.

In my experience in this kind of awakening, and it was a huge experience for me like the difference between night and day, I felt a shift in my consciousness. Suddenly I began to see that I was not just a body, but something more. Something more came into my experience. I felt that my hands and body were almost floating. I began to experience a lightness of being, and the presence of another “me” inside of this. And when I was walking, it was as though the walking was happening for itself and with such softness. I could feel that an energy part of me was walking in a gross part of me.

That experience continued as I gave attention to it. I considered it Grace because it came when I did not even expect it. I did not know what deeper spiritual experiences would be like, and I was feeling this shift in consciousness.

What was important in the experience is that my “I” Consciousness changed. I began to see that I was more than a body and that my life was not defined by body experiences but another level of experience – an Energy Being. I began to identify with an Energy Being. All my physical actions seem to have an energy dimension, and by intention my energy dimension could be activated. If I thought of moving my hand, I could feel my hand moving. If I thought of shifting my body one way I could feel an Energy Being involved in that shifting. And when I sang, as I love to sing, I could feel that my voice was being supported by the energy inside that made the voice more free.

What was interesting about the experience was that I felt that something inside me was supporting this experience. Then I began to relate that to God within me – some Great Power within me. And I became fascinated by this support within me in that experience. I became completely fascinated by the experience and I started to explore it. I wanted it desperately because it was bringing some kind of freedom, some change from the gross to another level. My “I” Consciousness was expanding.

Witness Expands the Awareness

As that began to happen, I realize now that I can witness my body in a different way. Now I can look at the feelings in the body differently. When the body was hungry I could see that another part of me was not hungry at all, but my body was hungry. When I was singing I could see my body bringing the voice out but another part of me was looking at this and supporting it. So the Witness in me became different; it was witnessing more. It was a more expansive experience and that brought me joy and a sense of freedom that I could bring another dimension into this. The “I” in me seemed to grow. The Witness in me became greater and the power in me became greater – the power to influence the physical.

Now I could see from this experience that my physical being was an organism that was different from me. I could feel that my heart was not mine, but my body’s. My body became a whole different experience. I was more than my body. This is the beginning of the Higher Consciousness coming inside of me that changed my relationship to the awareness of my body. And consequently, it changed the way I related to my world.

Contemplate

How does it feel to live in a higher state of consciousness? What does it mean? What are the possibilities for all of us in the human experience to be free? To be not bound to this limited physical world but to experience the degrees of freedom that is possible for us in the entire sphere of our existence.

I am going to continue on this subject. But it is a very interesting exploration and I will like you to begin to contemplate what I have said today. There is so much more to say and I am going to take the time to say it all to you.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Day 20: Living In A Higher State Of Awareness

Day 20: Questions and Answers

2010-04-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Day 20: Contemplation - Tarot of Life

2010-04-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

“What happens in the energy flow between us and another person,

the hidden field of communication

that is a different kind of body language,

is an energy language

and it requires a certain kind of sensitivity to feel that

and it requires a certain kind of competency or ability

to manage that in the interaction.”

Sri Vasudeva

To read the full teaching click here.

For more information on this Contemplation Aid click here.

Day 20: Contemplation - Diamond

2010-04-14T06:53:00.001-07:00

For contemplation of the message of this day the following Diamond may be helpful. For explanation of the principle of a Diamond, please read the Contemplation Aid section from the top menu.