First, as the April/May Dharma Visit nears, with its Seattle retreat on the excellent teachings of Lord Vasishtha, I encourage everyone to plunge deep into the superlative scripture, Yoga Vasishtha, in preparation for spiritual growth and comprehension. As spiritual guide for this retreat, I will not restrict myself to only the charts found in that book, but will weave others from other darshanas into the flow of the retreat Thus, all present will spend a very beneficial three days in the Jnana Yoga atmosphere, and all the richness that it entails. The more we can “saturate the mind,” as Thakur has said, in Atmajnana, especially while it has presented itself to us due to good graces, the better it will be for all aspects of our life. For, “you must have noticed” by now that your soul is being prepared in this lifetime for formulating a foundation that is unshakable by relativity and its phenomena, and impervious to all mayic intrusions. But as Swamiji has said, “We can compare notes later.” For now, here in the body, we must “bolster ourselves up” and “work the plan.”
Company and Community — these two are most salubrious. SRV has enjoyed the first for nearly two decades, but is still searching for a deeper version of the second. The benefits and advantages of spiritual company, as advised by our Great Master, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi, and Swami Vivekananda, are our constant resource and refuge in this life. Now, as our Association, based upon Their auspicious Names, gains in age and maturity, we are striving to add the element of spiritual community to spiritual company as well. Regarding this, please read on:
The trend towards finding a fine piece of land in Hawaii whereupon some committed individuals can live has been introduced to our wider sangha. For those “set in their ways” around location and living quarters, this sanctified area will be a way to interface with Guru and Sangha throughout life via the modes of visitation and retreat, etc. For those who cherish a different Ideal, however – one of living in proximity with the teacher and enacting a committed life of daily sadhana in rarefied atmosphere – this will be an opportunity to finalize, in this lifetime, all karmas binding one to the world and the body; in short, to meditate, study, and directly serve God in living beings until a conscious exit from the body is successfully effected.
As far as the latter group of individuals are concerned, the consensus is to establish a self-sufficient lifestyle simultaneous to ongoing spiritual endeavors where healthy and exemplary aspects of life such as cottage industries, organic gardening, the education of children and teens, and a wealth of other positive undertakings can flourish. In other words, it is rather like a return to the spiritual communities of the 70’s and 80’s, but with the one main element that was missing from all of them left intact – focus on and dedication to God, first and foremost. For those interested in following this singular course, please contact Annapurna, Kanyakali, and others who are spearheading this most worthy effort here in Hawaii.
With the two imminent matters laid out above, the emphasis can turn away from the practical and towards the ever-perfect. What we want most definitely in this life, and in whatever lives that may come, is an intense inner realization. For that, as Holy Mother and others have vouchsafed to us, we want a mind that is “….empty of all contents except its essential nature,” as Lord Vasishtha has said. The recent series of SRV classes and teachings, and the recent retreat on Dissolving the Mindstream, has reflected this inner urge. I want to announce that a book with that title is presently in the process of being conceptualized. It will be much like SRV’s last published work, Reclaiming Kundalini Yoga, in that it will sport several essential charts on the subject and will be of similar size and length. Its main purpose will be to both introduce the dissolution process (also known to members of the Sanatana Dharma as “Involution”) to the general interested public, and also to deepen the knowledge base and practice of this subtle and powerful spiritual art form among the devotees who are committed practitioners. It is possible that some recorded media will be attached to the book that will act to guide practitioners in direct meditation via this most precious inner mode.
As usual, I am calling for greater and better attendance among all the SRV members for this forthcoming April/May dharma visit. Since all know, or should know, SRV’s schedule far in advance, it is meet that all arrange to adjust their own family and business schedules around these most critical junctures. May none of us ever have to utter those famous but unfortunate words, “You don’t know what you’ve got til its gone.” As Vivekananda has put it,“Life is constantly throwing up wave after wave of disharmonious maya,” but those are not waves we care to encounter. Rather, and quoting him again, “….there must be a spiritual center round which all other elements will gather themselves, and then fall like a tidal wave upon the society, carrying all before them, washing away all impurities.” A “tidal wave” of spirituality – now there is a wave we can welcome in this world. Please be among those who will usher it in by recognizing the difference between acts and events of mere fleeting significance, and“drops in the dharma bucket” that add up immeasurably. To put it in our founder’s, Lex Hixon’s words, “Please come!”