Blayne Chandler, who received the name Samata
Blayne Chandler, who received the name Samata, was born in Houston, Texas, and raised by very youthful and deeply religious parents who were involved in the Christian church. His father had a religious history degree, and Christian faith was an integral part of family life.
The notion that Jesus is the only way was deeply embedded in Samata’s upbringing. Nevertheless, as is often the case with those who eventually find their way to Vedanta, he began to have experiences that caused him to question the ideas with which he was brought up.
Early on he began to experience some worldly successes, winning awards in the fields of martial arts and music. Despite these external achievements, he felt called to go deeper within. He began to explore meditation and had experiences that caused him to refine his understanding of the nature of reality. This, of course, was difficult without having a guide.
While researching the idea of “dissolving the mind” on the Internet, Samata came across the teachings of Babaji and SRV. He began an email correspondence with Babaji. The importance of having a teacher and securing a mantra was imparted. Additionally with several months of immersion in SRV classes on YouTube and participation in the Raja Yoga classes, the teachings began to take hold and he was convinced that the purpose of embodiment is to remember our eternally pure nature.
The obvious next step was to attend classes in person. Fortunately, the summer retreat in California was coming up. Though attendance at the retreat at first seemed logistically difficult, everything soon began to fall into place. A job appeared and money for travel and tuition was secured.
The retreat was an experience beyond time. All questions were answered. The teachings regarding the three states of consciousness and Dissolving the Mindstream got imbibed by him deeply.
Directly on the heels of the retreat, Samata had the desire and good fortune to be able to stay at the Portland Ashram and attend the series of classes offered by Babaji. The ashram atmosphere was highly conducive to solitary study and contemplation. Auspiciously, a room opened up in the ashram and Samata made the decision to move into the ashram as a full-time resident.
Samata’s commitment to spiritual life was firm and clear and the decision was made to follow the tradition and take initiation on Durga Puja during Babaji’s’s next visit.
Since then, initiation the teachings have been settling in on deeper levels, and Samata feels that veils seem to be slipping away. He continues with his studies and has also taken up practice of the autoharp, for which he seems to have an easy facility.
Samata has recently found a part-time job. He is balancing the worlds of work and spiritual practice with the qualities contained in his spiritual name. Samata means equanimity of temperament, equal vision, and a mind that is expansive like the ocean.
We welcome our new spiritual brother.