Namaste SRV students, devotees, and blessed readers of Munda Mala:
We find ourselves at the beginning of another Spring season, brooking an auspicious Gaudapada Karika Retreat on the Columbia River Gorge in late May. The transmigrating collective mind of humanity floats in such teachings of Nonduality, and in other precious ethers of dharmic consistency; it is all a matter of whether one can formulate a safe and stable life raft with which to access them from. In other words, these teachings of high jnanam form the very lifeblood of mankind, but as is the case with hidden stuff — that it seldom gets seen or acknowledged — beings do not “check their blood” until they get sick. That is, whenever life takes a turn for the worse due to the lack of maintaining a healthy and uninterrupted spiritual life and practice, it is only then that people begin to look for subtle causes to these predicaments.
Of course, there is an ultimate solution, a final fix, to this constant flux, this ebb and flow of life’s fortunes and fatalities. It is to take a vow to simply transform every day, every minute of life, to remain in the natural state of nondual Awareness, continually. We are to simply breathe day and night the Holy Name of God as the seed of transforming power that was carefully and with much trouble, planted by the teacher in our hearts. When we rise and go about the daily activities of life, we should wander through countryside or city and consider all sounds we hear to be prayers and praises, arising spontaneously, as the whole universe worships the Lord and Mother of the Universe. When we lie down to sleep at night, we should make a devout offering of our bodies and minds to the Holy Mother. We must then allow our dreams to become radiant meditations on Her. If thoughts of death come to us, we should, with every breath, feel we are dying joyfully anyway, and reflect without cessation on the inevitable dissolution of this body, thinking, “What further teaching has the world to give me?” Is this clear instruction? It should be, having come from our founder, Lex Hixon, through the beloved and revered poet saints of India.
The world might run out of sobering teachings for us, but the guru has many more teachings of a singular nature to give. The latest theme among our SRV sangha during this phase of time has been that of the Dissolving the Mindstream transmission. “Can you say, ‘Five?’” Among the very greatest of all the self-help manuals ever fashioned for the benefit of embodied beings in Maya throughout time is the unique accumulation of cosmic principles in quintuplicated form that make up the three levels of our human life and consciousness, finally lending them to rational contemplation followed by deep meditation. If the struggling soul cannot live spontaneously in its own imminent and immediate condition of naturalness, as described in the previous paragraph, let it take up a radiant regimen like the Dissolution of the Mindstream and settle its issues completely, once and for all. The world is always waiting for, and is in need and anticipation of, rare souls who have accomplished this awesome feat.
Following, please see a quote of mine that is being utilized on one of the five new charts that will be displayed and studied at SRV’s forthcoming retreat on Gaudapada’s Karika:
“A human being has five fingers on each hand, five toes on both feet, and sports five active and five cognitive senses as well. The mind is also fivefold, including dual mind, its thoughts, the intellect, the ego, and, if counted, the Cosmic Mind that it is a part of. The life-force, or prana, that connects all of these facets, is also fivefold. Living beings formulate their bodies amidst the five gross elements of nature, and play in the dream state utilizing five subtle elements. Five sheaths enfold and engross them, associated with five levels of ether, called akashas. They are subject at birth to the fivefold aspects of Maya called name, form, time, space, and causality, and their relations include five types of beings — namely, animals, humans, ancestors, gods, and rishis. Whether consciously or not, they always live eternally by five great spiritual laws. When accounted for, these sets of fives convey a broad hint to the soul that the days of its body/mind mechanism are both symbolic and “numbered,” and that meditation on quintuplications is both warranted and needed.”
For further instruction and elucidation, kindly “wander through the city and countryside” consciously, up the Columbia River Gorge later this month, and find your way to retreat at Windwood Waters….
Babaji Bob Kindler
Spiritual Director,
SRV Associations