 There are two great impediments to spiritual life. The first is attachment to the body and the sensory experience, because when there is attachment to the physical form and the sensory experience there is engagement with the body-mind structure and the belief that you are this small person who abides in the body.
That belief becomes dominant in the mind, and so attachment to the enjoyment of sensory experience and embodiment becomes a hindrance when they overtake the mind and leave consciousness attached to embodiment. The second greatest impediment to spiritual life is the assumption that you are small, that you are limited, that you are not divine, and that all the life around you is not an expression of divinity, but other. It is an outgrowth of the first impediment, the assumption of self and others and the definition of self as limited, confined, restricted, and small. You can be in this world but not of it, not immersed in the belief in your individuality, but rather sailing through the experience of embodiment in human form, human life, and human senses while maintaining an expansive understanding of the nature of yourself. When you dissolve the illusion created by sensory experience of self and other, then you can walk in the world in this physical form but maintain the larger perspective that only the infinite Self, the one infinite divinity exists in all the beings in the world, and in your I-feeling, in your consciousness, in your awareness. Then there is nothing of you that is separate or apart from that integrated whole; that you are one with that divinity. This knowledge of your unity with the divine is your saving grace. It allows you to be embodied in this world but in a state of conscious awareness. Your consciousness is like a beam that focuses attention, and it can focus on sensory experience, it can focus on bodily experience, it can focus on the sense of self apart from others. But it can also focus on the unitary sense of the whole. The beam of your awareness can focus on that unitary sense of the whole. You can draw your attention to it, realizing that all is the manifestation of the one infinite Brahma and that you are in fact, part and parcel of that manifestation of the whole. The idea of your aloneness is an illusion of duality when your very nature is the unbound love, the infinite consciousness of the one eternal essence of being. That is who you are. That is what you are. When you begin to constrict into small definitions of yourself and identify that vast love, that vast consciousness that is you, with this limitation or that limitation, I am...and what follows that? Some form of limitation is it not? I am ugly. I am beautiful. I am talented. I am without talent. All of these are definitions of limitation. When you are all things, when you are the infinite Self of yourself, you are not bound by the ego, or others. These are creations of the mind and of the sensory experience of the two impediments: the body-mind structure and the definition of self and other.
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 Namaskar. Every day is a new opportunity, a new beginning, an opportunity to live the life you truly want to live. Spirituality uplifts the human spirit. It is governed by love, lovingkindness, compassion, and awareness. When the mind and body and spirit are aligned, there is a flow from that infinite one into the mind and the body, and out through the voice, through the eyes into the world. When that is there, there is a diminishment of separation. There is a love that flows from the heart into the mind and out into the world. It permeates the body. That love is unconditional. It does not require that you like this, like that, do this, do that. No; it is unconditional, and it is for everyone. When you align yourself with that divine love, you align yourself with a love that knows no boundaries, that does not see race, that does not see sex, that does not see species, that does not see good and evil. A love that is so unconditional—an unconditional shower of grace… Can you love everyone? Can you give that unconditional love not only to those you admire or are close to but to every living being, even those whose behavior you find abhorrent? Unconditional love does not mean that you approve of all actions or that you even stand by a person in their actions. But it does mean that you care for them, you love them, you understand them, and if they will listen to you, you give kind advice, and if not or if you are in no position to talk to them or have any influence—such as bad leaders—you understand with compassion what has caused them to be as they are. It does not mean you support their behaviors that harm others, but you understand, and you love them; you love the person that they are beneath the difficult behaviors, the wounded child who has grown to a man or a woman and then due to their own wounding and mental, difficulties they enact them in the world and do harm.  For when you are aligned with that shower of grace from the divine, there is nothing else but that, for that is the nature of the infinite aware loving consciousness. There is unconditional love in a shower of grace, and when you align with your divine progenitor, when you make that one the center and the core of your life and you mean it; you align with his qualities, his characteristics; you become one with him, with her; you become one with their qualities and characteristics.
And what is the characteristic of that most precious divine one that you know in the core of your heart? The main characteristic is unconditional loving consciousness, is it not? You feel that shower of grace. It does not mean that it changes the world so that everything goes your way. No, that is not what grace is. Grace is not imposing your ego on the world. Grace is receiving this unconditional love, attuning and aligning yourself with the nature of divine being. When you attune and align yourself with that nature of divine being and you go to the Guru within, the Guru of your heart, the love of your life, and you surrender, you say, “Lord, Lord, there is nothing for me in this life but you. I want to walk in your footsteps,” then, bowing down and giving all of your assumptions and beliefs and vanity to the infinite one, that one takes you. You surrender yourself. What remains but that flow of unconditional grace and love? For that is the very nature of that divine one. That one loves everyone; be they good or bad, still they are all his children. They’re all the children of Parama Purusha. And that love is for everyone. It does not discriminate. When you truly align with that divinity within, with that Guru of your heart, then you align with this love, with this shower of grace. And it becomes who you are. The love you seek comes from within. And when you seek it within and to everyone without, you just allow the shower of grace and love to flow through you with kindness and support for all living beings, be they human, animal, plant, or even inanimate objects like a rock or a mountain. Can you not love it all, love this creation? For it is the form of the beloved of your heart. That one has complete love for all beings, complete love in the shadow and in the light, in the dark, in the sun; all is of the one. Aligning yourself with that beloved of your heart, you become a vehicle of love unconditional. That becomes your nature. And the more you align with that one, the more that nature rises to the surface, and you become that infinite love. You become one with the beloved of your heart. That divinity flows through you in this grace and love. This is your natural home, and it is from that one within that you find your deep love. Some people may return your love; others may not. But can you love them either way? Not seeking the return from them, but knowing it is within you, in the heart of your beloved. There lies the love. There is the one who gives you love, who always loves you, who always cares for you. Others may show kindness and care and love, or they may not. It doesn’t matter. You give love to everyone. Then you begin to truly know your Baba, then you begin to truly know who you are and who Guru is. And you align yourself with Guru, with that infinite grace. Take this message to heart.  Today is a new day, a new beginning. Each day of your life brings you closer to your destiny. Whether you are young or old is irrelevant. What is relevant is what you do each day. Each day is a new beginning, a new opportunity to be what you truly want to be. The individual self, the ego self has many desires, and wants many things. But the eternal being wants only one thing, that all beings, all creation, return to their source, return to an infinite being. There is no separation between you and Parama Purusha, between you and that infinite consciousness. The only separation is an idea held in the mind. For that infinite being is manifest in all creation as well as in the silence and stillness of the unmanifest. That infinite being resides in you and all other beings. Not inside of you as if you have the infinite being inside of you, but is everything of you—that which you think of as you, resides inside that infinite being. Every molecule of your body, every thought in the mind—be it a thought towards unity or a thought that brings you into ego orientation—all of it resides within this cosmic entity. There is no separation, no duality between you and the eternal essence of being. You do not reside apart from that divinity. It is not only the core of your being; it is all of you. You are within eternal essence. There is no thought you can have, no action that you can do, that is outside of that divinity. For all is that. It is the assumption in the mind due to the experience of embodiment in human form that brings you to believe you are an individual, a separate entity. That is called—that assumption is the essence of ego. That is the core belief that you have, that you are apart, separate, an individual. It’s because awareness, consciousness, is embodied in form, the sensory experience, making the perception within consciousness of “I” and “thou,” that you are separate from all else, that all forms are individual, apart from each other. And this very notion of separateness which allows the ego to function, which allows you to function in the human body, also causes you your deepest pain. It is the root of your pain: The pain of separation, the pain of duality, is the root of all other pains. The Yogis of ancient times realized that in deep introspection, the root cause of their suffering, of human suffering, is this idea, this understanding that you are separate, that there is a separate person apart from everything else. And naturally, feeling this body identity, you fear death. And you struggle to achieve to bring to you that which will allow your survival and allow your individuality to survive, your body-mind to survive. And you fear that which will threaten that survival. But old age and death come to all who are in form. And this struggle, to win, to achieve, and to survive, is ultimately doomed.  So, if your entire consciousness is immersed in that struggle, there is pain. Failure. Times when life does not work out. It doesn’t go your way. Because the cosmos truly does not revolve around you. You are part of an integrated, interwoven whole of being.
So naturally sometimes your being is supported; sometimes it is not. Things that seem not to your welfare but to the welfare of another occur. So what to do in such a difficult world? The Yogis of ancient times realized there was only one solution: to go very deep. To unwind, and deconstruct, the assumptions and beliefs that have led to the bondage and suffering in human life. How to deconstruct those beliefs? How to find lasting happiness? It can only be found when your mental capacities, your thoughts, and feelings are suspended from everyday thinking, from all of the engagements with the senses, quieted so that you begin to feel yourself; you become aware of your existence. You begin to realize the self-deprecating, self-defeating thoughts that you have, perhaps the bad feelings that you have about yourself, as well as the pride and the ego, and you begin to go even deeper than those thoughts, those beliefs. They are more than just thoughts; they become assumptions about who you are and what you are. You go deeper underneath those. Putting the thoughts aside, putting the assumptions and beliefs you have held about who you are aside. Having the innocence of a newborn baby, the innocence within you, letting go of all of these burdens you have carried. Find the depth of your being. And when your attention and awareness focus on your innermost self, you begin to realize there is something more, that the assumptions you have made about who you are, what you are, they’re not true. They’re based on actions and reactions to actions, Samskaras, from the past, held within the mind, in the subconscious. When you move the conscious awareness through this subconscious mind to the superconscious mind, to the collective unconscious, you begin to realize you are not separate, that that which is assumed is not your true identity, that you are held within an identity that is far more vast. You are held within a consciousness that lives in all things. You begin to feel in the depths of awareness when your attention is shifted from the senses and the assumptions to your innermost consciousness. In the stillness of being, in the depths of yourself, you find that that which you have thought of as you are but a passing dream in a vast stillness, in an eternal love that does not move with time. It always is as it is. There is no time, no place, for there is no dream. It is only in the dream that time and place exist, that there is movement. But beneath it, all is the stillness, the love, the eternal home in which you abide. You have not only come from there, you abide within it, always, knowingly or unknowingly. The dream is in the mind of the dreamer. Whether the dream character realizes they are in the mind of the dreamer or not, they remain within the mind of the dreamer. Likewise, you remain an eternal being as the dream of creation plays out, interwoven, interconnected, a whole. You are part of that network, that whole. That which you have called you is an essential element in a whole of creation within the mind, within the awareness of infinite being. You do not have an infinite being within you; you are composed of infinite beings. There is nothing in you outside of the infinite being. There is nothing that you can see, hear, or touch, that is outside of an infinite being. So when, through deep contemplation and meditation, you make this deep association with the divine one, with the heart of your heart, the soul of your soul, the infinite love which binds all things, the peace that never changes, when you realize this is you, you are the drop of water in the ocean of eternal being, then what happens? Through continual association, the dreams, the beliefs, the assumptions, begin to fall away. You know you are not this and that idea that you have had about yourself, a belief based on experience. You are instead the eternal one, the knower, the consciousness that is aware. You are instead the love that is so deep it cannot be put into words. This is your true nature and as you abide by this, it becomes more consistently your experience. There is no difference between waking, deep meditation, and sleeping—we think that there is a difference, but as you grow deeply into the nature of the Self, as you grow deeply into the beloved of your heart, into your Baba, into your source, you realize that is all around you. You live in all that is. All that lives within you. You reside in an eternal being. Eyes open, eyes closed. It remains the same. There, what you have known of as you dissolve in surrender into the whole of being. There, lover and beloved are one. There is no duality. Take that with you. Stay in association with your eternal nature and you will find that it becomes your constant experience. You live in a body; you have senses. It does not mean you need to be separate. See divinity all around you. Feel the divine beloved of your heart in every form and your form. Let your love flow. Release the gates of your heart. Let go. Let go. Dissolve into one. Remember. Namaskar.  Namaste. The world today is a changing place. Finding your dharma, your place and your right action in a world that is shifting and changing in a process of transformation from one age to another can be difficult. To know your place, to your know dharma at this time can be challenging because there are so many distractions, so many electronic engagements to be made, so many ideas available by so many people, and so many beliefs. The world of information is vast, encompassing knowledge from all parts of the globe, encompassing the ideas of all manner of people. And so, people follow different leaders, some opposed diametrically to others. It is confusing and easy to become polarized for in times of great change polarization is natural, it occurs. But for those to aspire to think of sadvipra, one who encompasses all of the different points of view and connects with the divine flow, then it is not taking one side or another but going within and finding the light within, the guidance within. And from that guidance find your true path for you amid all of the ideas, confusion, beliefs, doomsday predictions, and so on between the emergencies, the fears, the literal storms of weather, the droughts, the hurricanes. Amid all of this, do not look with fear to the outside for answers, but calm your mind, go within, and there, with your divine guide, find your dharma. Find what it is that will be in harmony with all life and with the divine flow. I have said this year that divinity will come closer to the earth plane, and be more accessible to living beings, but this means that there will also be more turbulence because that subtle frequency disrupts the status quo, but it is a push to the times to come, to the age to be. Sattva guna will be increasing on the earth plane, but this increase in sattva requires that there be change. Change that is so fundamental is not only a change of attitudes, a change of beliefs, a change of habit, but a change of frequency. For those attuned that will be a great relief. For those not attuned it will cause disruption.  There is a wavelength to the time that has been for some years prominent in the world. A time of materialism, a time where philosophy and the thinking of people made the material world the sum of their ideas. But that time has changed. That is breaking down and the spiritual realm, the subtlety of sattva guna is coming into play.
That does not mean all will be smooth, for a sattva increases as the subtle energies of Parama Purusha become more available and the frequency in the earth begins to shift. The minds of people will be changing and in confusion many times not knowing where the ground is, where they belong, and confused as to whether what they believed in the past is truly the way. But out of that confusion, out of that disruption, humanity will rise like the phoenix to meet the day, to be aligned with the infinite. That is the new dawn rising. That is the new beginning. The question to ask yourself is, will you align yourself with that infinite one? Will you increase sattva guna in yourself? Will you surrender what you have been to the divinity which lies within you and all around you? Will you take this opportunity to walk with the divine, to let the divine permeate you and guide you to move in harmony with the great? Doing this, put aside looking outward. Find your ground, your center with the divine Beloved and let go—let go. That divinity is coming closer; through this year that will come closer still. There will be more access. That means you will have what you need for spiritual alignment. Lord will be there. Surrender. Let go. Let go of what you have held onto. Hold to the infinite one. Let that one fill you, guide you, and align you with dharma. Do not look to organizations, do not look to leaders, do not look to social norms to be your guideposts. Let the infinite one, let Parma Purusha be your guidepost, your polestar, your bright light in the night. Then you have nothing to fear. And being aligned with that one, being aligned with the harmony of the universe you will find your way to live in truth, in love divine, in care and compassion for all beings. And right action will ensure; dharma will prevail, and you will be part of the forces of light that are shifting and changing this world Surrender and act in harmony with this flow from the infinite. You will be more accessible to you as the year goes forward. Remember this, alright? Are there any questions?  For hundreds of thousands of years humans have lived upon this planet. They have, each one, struggled to exist, to survive, to have a good life - to live. And in this time throughout history people have encountered various obstacles, difficulties, struggles of the life. These struggles are a natural part of human existence; a natural part of living in this world. There is no time in human history when there hasn't been some sort of difficulty, large or small, personal or collective. Difficulties always arise. But in addition to difficulties there are always periods of personal joy, personal fulfilment, personal expansion. Times when life seems very good. Times when you feel very connected to friends, family, loved ones. Times when you feel there is abundance in your life. These are also natural human experiences. And throughout history people have had both the difficult experiences and the joyous experiences - times of struggle and strife, times of peace and integration. Some people may ask why are there are periods of struggle and strife? Why do obstacles and difficulties arise? Without them, how could you grow without both the personal and collective, obstacles, struggles, and strife? For each human being loves their life, wants to survive, wants to do the maximum to fulfil their destiny and to find true happiness. But in that search and effort to find happiness, many times the happiness of others can be stepped upon. The happiness of one can be at the expense of the happiness of others. And, for the happiness of one, another may suffer - living beings of all species may suffer. And so, as society goes on and the disparity between those who are well off and see profit from the way the society is operating and those who suffer, be they in human form or in other forms, becomes highly divided. There is bound to be some sort of circumstance which begins to level this off, begins to change the situation. In today's world many animals are highly exploited. There has been a degree of human exploitation of the planet that there are many species dying today, completely disappearing from this world. The world is out of balance and to bring that balance back there are forces in nature which adjust, which naturally bring harmony back to the natural world, back to all the living beings. And so, this is a time of adjustment.  It is one adjustment. Until human beings awaken to the harmony they have with all other living beings, rather than trying to put themselves above other beings and exploit others, when they begin to live in harmony and mutual love and respect with all beings, then the world will change.
So, in collective life as well as personal life, there are lessons to be learned from the trials and tribulations and difficulties that arise. Those are nature's way of teaching us, of showing us when we have gone too far down the wrong path, and allowing us to make adjustments, corrections. When people become very extroverted, trying always to find their happiness outside of themselves, then they may be very successful for a time and then hit a period where that success fails them. And you think why is this happening to this person? But, if you saw the entire scope of that person's life and many lives before, you might see that that person has come to a point in their own evolution where what they've been doing, the way they have been approaching their life, is not working. Is not for their higher good, not promoting their true spirit to awaken and arise, not promoting their path home to their source. And so, certain circumstances might arise to make a correction in that path. When that happens then there is an opportunity in life to adjust, to make changes. And the same is true in collective life. It provides an opportunity. So never be daunted by the difficulties that life presents individually or collectively. But, take them in stride as an opportunity to change, to grow, to expand, to go inward to know your inner most self, to become connected to the entirety of your being. Such are the ways that nature adjusts, and the laws of the universe are sustained. This is the path of dharma.  In human life, there are many different types of experiences. There are those times when conflict arises between people. You have one opinion; another has another opinion. You have a judgment of the actions of another person. Conflicts can become collective when leaders assume positions opposed to the ideas of another and then the conflictual tension of the leaders is reflected through the masses that follow those leaders. When those conflictual situations where different ideologies, different approaches, come in contrast and in conflict with each other and the people that hold those ideologies or approaches, then there is hostility and even war. War can be between two people, it can be between two groups, or two political views, or between two nations. There are different levels of war depending on the situation. The fundamentals of conflict are that two separate views are held, be they between two feuding people, two feuding families, two feuding political systems, two feuding nations: between any two entities with opposing views. Some conflicts are easily solved by finding common ground. But there are conflicts where the common ground is not there. And in today's world, there is a polarization of people. You will notice there is one side and another. Some want the globalization of the planet. They hold ideologies that put focus on humanity and going forward to save the planet. Some want to maintain the era of capitalism, the Vaishan era, and maintain the values of that system and have the successes they have seen in that system of that thinking approach in the past. Naturally, these two forces clash and as the strain of the situation grows people are polarized—they are in one camp or another camp. And it seems that the amount of people who can be in the middle is becoming almost non-existent because there is such differentiation, such pull to opposites. This happens between people. It happens at all levels. And soon if it goes on, there is an entire separation between people who are of another ideology, another way of thinking. So what to do? One wants to eliminate the other. When this happens between large bodies of people it leads sometimes to physical violence because they can find no way of settling their differences. They find no common ground, and the only solution they can see is to eliminate the other because the other is a threat. This approach has been common in certain phases of human development. And it is common today. Family members do not talk to each other; they do not work out their differences. This is more common than in the past. Children not speaking to their parents, unwilling to sit down and find their common ground, to find their way through to harmony and love. It happens between groups of people. It happens between political ideologies. And unfortunately, the very commonality of humanity and the love divine which binds all life together becomes forgotten in the conflict. What is seen is the other; someone different, separate, and to be disliked. The commonality of your feelings towards your children, the commonality of your love in your heart becomes unreachable because the opinions, beliefs, and actions vary so greatly. What to do when polarization dominates the field of the human mind, individually or collectively? There is only one true solution, to realize that everyone is connected to you. You are all part of the same whole. You are all children of the Great. Differences may be there in beliefs, ideologies, and definitions of right and wrong, but the supreme loves everyone. The Divine showers grace on all. The Divine does not care if you are a Christian or a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist or an atheist. The Divine loves all equally. The shower of grace is there for everyone. The rituals and the customs will vary, but in the heart of the rituals and customs is the love of the human heart, is the devotion, is surrender, not to ideologies, but to the infinite one. How to Live in Harmony with Each Other Cont. |
 | The teachings of the Tao come from the ancient teachings of dharma. When a being follows the Tao, they are in alignment with their inherent nature and they follow the laws that govern that inherent nature. These laws, the principles and operating forces of the universe, are the fabric of existence. Without them, the natural world would lose its integrity. |
To understand the Tao is to understand the inherent nature of human beings, the inherent nature of rocks, the inherent nature of water, the inherent nature of Earth, and the inherent nature of each and every type of living being. When beings are in alignment with their inherent nature, dharma flows naturally. A sense of harmony with all life is the result. The Tao is the Way. Dharma is also called the Way, the law, the path. Dharma is inherent in all things.
Human beings have a longing for the Great. There is a restlessness in the hearts of people, because there is dissatisfaction with duality and feelings of separation from the whole. Sooner or later, most people experience the existential pain of separation from the unconditional love that is the source of their being.
This separateness, and the restlessness that emerges because of it, brings a search for wholeness that may take many forms. People try to acquire things to feed the need inside of them. They grasp for solutions, not only in the physical world, but in the psychic and spiritual worlds as well. However, this need to reconnect with wholeness is met only when dharma governs a person’s life and they move in harmony with their innermost Self.
Bhagavat Dharma, our human dharma channels our restlessness towards the Great. When we do this, our unique human expression moves towards unity and wholeness. We align ourselves in perfect harmony with our inherent, natural state of being. Dharma is followed when you are in alignment with the natural laws of the universe, with the laws of the Divine Mother. When people find harmony with all that is, life becomes an expression of love, a seva, a service to others. One feels alignment with the Tao.
When you are in the flow of dharma towards the Divine, all that you have seen and known comes into a harmonious alignment and becomes directed towards your innermost Self rather than towards pleasures or worldly acquisitions. When dharma governs your life, the little sense of “I” melts away and is surrendered to the love that is unconditional, that is the larger Self. The pain of duality is dissolved in Moksha, liberation from ignorance, a movement from ego-centered pleasure seeking to selfless love in the flow of dharma. This movement towards unitary wholeness and liberation is the natural, essential flow of human life, inherent in your own being.
Each person’s expression of this flow of dharma will be unique. You move on the path of dharma when your life becomes a flower offered to the Infinite. When you live in love with all beings and with honor and respect for all life, when you direct the restlessness and pain within to the one true Self, you move on the path of dharma. Let love flow in you and through you, in all that you do, all that you say and in all that you are. Then, following dharma, you live in harmony with the natural laws and in harmony with all life. This is knowledge of the Tao.
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This Blog is an excerpt from:
Dharma for Awakening and Social Change
 | The type of service best suited to each person may differ. Every human being has their own unique, personalized path in life, determined by the karmic coverings of their mind and their disposition. Within the vast expanse of our shared human dharma, Bhagavat Dharma, everyone is being moved in one direction towards Truth. |
Yet each individual, according to the configuration of time, place, and person, is a unique flower opening to the vistas of the sublime and each has a different and unique way. If you are here, now, and another is in a different time and place, and, of course, has a different personality, it may appear that you are moving in different directions. But, in fact, you are both moving toward the same center, which is Truth. You both are being drawn towards a unified purpose and, in reality, moving in the same direction.
Your unique path towards dharma requires dynamic movement of both rasa and seva and is influenced by the type of seva you perform. There is service in the physical sphere, service in the psychic sphere, and service in the spiritual sphere. According to your inclination of mind, you will be drawn to do service in different areas. Everyone may realize the greatness of their essential nature, or Truth, but through different means.
In the garden of this world, the Divine has created endless varieties of beautiful expressions. Each of you, like a beautiful flower, is unique and special, with your own qualities and characteristics, your own capacities, your own development, and your own specific potentiality.
The realization of your own unique potential constitutes your Svadharma, your personal expression in the world, and your unique path to enlightenment. It depends on the inclination of your mind, the development of your spiritual nature, and the samskaras (reactions to past experiences held in the subconscious) which have given you your specific manifestation. Just as each flower in the garden of the Great has its own singular loveliness and no two are alike, though they share the dharma of flower-hood, so you are unique in your Svadharma, though you share with all people the common bond of human dharma, of Bhagavat Dharma.
Bhagavat Dharma is the core flow for everyone. But how do you move in this Bhagavat Dharma? What does it look like for each of you? Is it the same exact movement? Do you move like soldiers, each one exactly the same, wearing the same uniform, arms moving up and down in unison, legs marching to the same tune? No, that would be preposterous!
That is not at all the way of dharma, certainly not the chosen method of Parama Purusha, the Supreme Consciousness. The Divine loves variety. This entire creation is made of variety. No one can possibly imagine all of the variety that there is in the universe. In this variety, you are unique in your journey, unique and special. You have your own way to move, your Svadharma.
To maintain Vistara or vision, you need a consistent meditation practice, called sadhana, and to have rasa, the feel or taste of life. You also need seva. The seva that is right for you, is unique to you and will be different from the seva of others. How a rose grows from the ground and blooms in the sun is different from how a lotus flower grows in the mud of a pond and blooms in the sun.
One is coming through the water, and one is in the air. and their leaves take different shapes, their buds are different, and their color and their fragrance are unique to each. Yet they both grow towards and open to the sun. In a similar way, your Svadharma is unique to you and yet in harmony with the collective movement of all beings to open to the deep Source of Being.
Your unique path towards dharma requires dynamic movement of both rasa and seva and is influenced by the type of seva you perform. There is service in the physical sphere, service in the psychic sphere, and service in the spiritual sphere. According to your inclination of mind, you will be drawn to do service in different areas. Everyone may realize the greatness of their essential nature, or Truth, but through different means.
In the garden of this world, the Divine has created endless varieties of beautiful expressions. Each of you, like a beautiful flower, is unique and special, with your own qualities and characteristics, your own capacities, your own development, and your own specific potentiality.
The realization of your own unique potential constitutes your Svadharma, your personal expression in the world, and your unique path to enlightenment. It depends on the inclination of your mind, the development of your spiritual nature, and the samskaras (reactions to past experiences held in the subconscious) which have given you your specific manifestation. Just as each flower in the garden of the Great has its own singular loveliness and no two are alike, though they share the dharma of flower-hood, so you are unique in your Svadharma, though you share with all people the common bond of human dharma, of Bhagavat Dharma.
Bhagavat Dharma is the core flow for everyone. But how do you move in this Bhagavat Dharma? What does it look like for each of you? Is it the same exact movement? Do you move like soldiers, each one exactly the same, wearing the same uniform, arms moving up and down in unison, legs marching to the same tune? No, that would be preposterous!
That is not at all the way of dharma, certainly not the chosen method of Parama Purusha, the Supreme Consciousness. The Divine loves variety. This entire creation is made of variety. No one can possibly imagine all of the variety that there is in the universe. In this variety, you are unique in your journey, unique and special. You have your own way to move, your Svadharma.
To maintain Vistara or vision, you need a consistent meditation practice, called sadhana, and to have rasa, the feel or taste of life. You also need seva. The seva that is right for you, is unique to you and will be different from the seva of others. How a rose grows from the ground and blooms in the sun is different from how a lotus flower grows in the mud of a pond and blooms in the sun.
One is coming through the water, and one is in the air. and their leaves take different shapes, their buds are different, and their color and their fragrance are unique to each. Yet they both grow towards and open to the sun. In a similar way, your Svadharma is unique to you and yet in harmony with the collective movement of all beings to open to the deep Source of Being.
 | Moving Into Harmony When you move on the path of dharma, you move in harmony with your own nature and with the essential nature of all beings. Can you feel those moments when your thoughts, words, and deeds are in harmony with life? When you sense such harmony, such alignment, then you are truly following dharma. |
When that harmony is entirely present, your thoughts, words, and deeds become surrendered to the Divine and you perceive the Sublime manifest in everything. When this happens, you begin to notice all the synchronicities, to see the great tapestry that is being woven in the universe, and, beholding the harmonious substantive nature of all manifestation, you feel the shower of unconditional love falling gently upon you and every other being.
Moving in harmony, the foot does not crush the ground beneath. Moving in harmony, all nature becomes one flow. Thoughts, words, and deeds express only the unconditional love of the Divine. The lotus growing in the mud and water brings forth buds that open to the sun. The rose winding around the trellis climbs upward and blossoms in the sun. Moving in harmony towards the Source, all beings have their place. Sun, moon, and stars have their place in the harmony of all things. There is a balance in this universe, finely maintained, sublimely intricate, yet simple. To be in this balance, to move in this harmony, to breathe with the rhythm of the stars, is the way of dharma.
For one immersed in dharma, the words they speak become truth, not because they have foretold the future, but because, being ensconced in dharma, they are in the rhythm of life. They live in truth. The words of one established in dharma are a balm to the heavy hearts of all beings, for true words are spoken from the heart of hearts, not from the mind or the desires.
Walk in silence. Be still in the wood. Be as wild as the breeze upon the prairie. Be as vast as the night sky. Fly with the eagle above the mountain tops. Soar on the night breeze. Dive to the depths of the ocean. Live in the rhythmic harmony of the universe. This is dharma.
Can you walk this path? Really, can you? All religions have attempted to teach people how to live and act in harmony and to define in words the path of right action. But the way for each person is unique. You cannot define it or put it in a box because of the way it moves outside of all boxes. To become whole, to learn to walk in the way of the universe, to move towards the essence of beatitude, to the depths of silence, follow dharma always. Stay connected to your innermost nature.
Moving in harmony, the foot does not crush the ground beneath. Moving in harmony, all nature becomes one flow. Thoughts, words, and deeds express only the unconditional love of the Divine. The lotus growing in the mud and water brings forth buds that open to the sun. The rose winding around the trellis climbs upward and blossoms in the sun. Moving in harmony towards the Source, all beings have their place. Sun, moon, and stars have their place in the harmony of all things. There is a balance in this universe, finely maintained, sublimely intricate, yet simple. To be in this balance, to move in this harmony, to breathe with the rhythm of the stars, is the way of dharma.
For one immersed in dharma, the words they speak become truth, not because they have foretold the future, but because, being ensconced in dharma, they are in the rhythm of life. They live in truth. The words of one established in dharma are a balm to the heavy hearts of all beings, for true words are spoken from the heart of hearts, not from the mind or the desires.
Walk in silence. Be still in the wood. Be as wild as the breeze upon the prairie. Be as vast as the night sky. Fly with the eagle above the mountain tops. Soar on the night breeze. Dive to the depths of the ocean. Live in the rhythmic harmony of the universe. This is dharma.
Can you walk this path? Really, can you? All religions have attempted to teach people how to live and act in harmony and to define in words the path of right action. But the way for each person is unique. You cannot define it or put it in a box because of the way it moves outside of all boxes. To become whole, to learn to walk in the way of the universe, to move towards the essence of beatitude, to the depths of silence, follow dharma always. Stay connected to your innermost nature.
If you would like to read more articles like this one, please go to www.yogama.info under Teachings.
 | The question comes in all spiritual practices, in all spiritual life—who are you? Who are you and what is this life of yours? When you begin to answer that question perhaps different answers come, many answers, that have limitations of time and place, that ground you to different experiences of your life. But then the question comes: Who is having these experiences? Who is knowing the experience? |
Then, when you come to that, you realize that there is within you a conscious awareness, an intelligent awareness, that knows everything you think; everything you say; everything you hear, feel, touch. Without that knower there would be no one to be aware of all of this.
There is a fundamental awareness, a fundamental knowing. And without this fundamental knower, without this aware consciousness, all that you experience would be for naught. So, there is more to you than the experiences you have, than the identities you put around yourself that you feel you are this way, you are that way, you are successful, you are unsuccessful, so on and so forth. There is fundamentally someone who witnesses all of that, who knows, who’s consciously aware.
When you realize that there is this conscious awareness of everything you do, of every identity you have, that without awareness there would be no self, no person that you are. So this fundamental awareness creates a basis of being, but again the question comes: Who or what is this fundamental awareness?
Is this consciousness only aware of you? Does it only entail your thoughts, feelings, physical body? What is this conscious aware intelligence that is fundamental to your being, without which you would cease to exist? Is this awareness separate from you? Or are you this awareness? If you are this awareness, where does your consciousness, your being, your fundamental awareness begin and end?
The Yogis say that the Jiva, the individual self, is witnessed by the Atman, that is this knower, this consciously aware beingness that knows even your I-feeling, your own I-feeling, your fundamental sense of self, could not exist were there not this knowing consciousness within you. But this Atman, this knower, the one that knows your existence, this Atman, this Self of you, the Yogis say is the same as the Paramatma, the Self of all beings, the witnessing consciousness of all existence.
That awareness is not bound by time and space, nor is it bound by anything it witnesses. So when it witnesses all of your thoughts, feeling, desires, your very sense of “I am”-ness, that witnessing consciousness, that fundamental Atman, your soul, is of the same substance as the soul of all beings, the Paramatma, the infinite conscious beingness.
So how are you separate, how are you alone when your fundamental nature is one? Not governed by your I-feeling or your thoughts or desires or whatever you think of yourself, not governed by that, but a cosmic knowing. The knower of all beings is the same as the knower of your own self. You have an intimate relationship to that awareness, to that consciousness. That is the core of your essence.
Your Atman is your soul, is your essence. And that fundamental consciousness that is you has no separation from the fundamental consciousness of all beings. It’s the same. That which is core to you is the same as that which is core to every other person, to the birds, to the trees, to the grass. The witnessing awareness of all creation, the Paramatma, the supreme soul, the Self of yourself, abides forever, eternally, never dies, never is born.
Though all that it witnesses changes and changes again, that awareness is changeless. That conscious intelligence, that knowing existence never changes, doesn’t erode with time. Though so much happens that is witnessed, the witness remains ever the same. That is Purusha is Sanskrit. Purusha meaning conscious awareness, beingness.
That essential being remains, knowing all that is but never changed in the process of enfolding in the witness-ship of all creation, including your own being; your I-feeling is witnessed by this Atman, and all that you are. When you ask yourself: “Who am I?”—really, are you not this Self of yourself, this soul, this Atman, this witnessing awareness? And where is the difference between you, between the witness, the soul, and all others?
In the whirlwind of life, in the rising and falling of pleasure and pain—is not this aware consciousness the quiet, deep shore, the quiet depths where you find peace, home, resilience through everything, even the changing of forms? So, the life of those who seek the depths is one of coming to know this infinite Self and learning to rest in that.
There is a fundamental awareness, a fundamental knowing. And without this fundamental knower, without this aware consciousness, all that you experience would be for naught. So, there is more to you than the experiences you have, than the identities you put around yourself that you feel you are this way, you are that way, you are successful, you are unsuccessful, so on and so forth. There is fundamentally someone who witnesses all of that, who knows, who’s consciously aware.
When you realize that there is this conscious awareness of everything you do, of every identity you have, that without awareness there would be no self, no person that you are. So this fundamental awareness creates a basis of being, but again the question comes: Who or what is this fundamental awareness?
Is this consciousness only aware of you? Does it only entail your thoughts, feelings, physical body? What is this conscious aware intelligence that is fundamental to your being, without which you would cease to exist? Is this awareness separate from you? Or are you this awareness? If you are this awareness, where does your consciousness, your being, your fundamental awareness begin and end?
The Yogis say that the Jiva, the individual self, is witnessed by the Atman, that is this knower, this consciously aware beingness that knows even your I-feeling, your own I-feeling, your fundamental sense of self, could not exist were there not this knowing consciousness within you. But this Atman, this knower, the one that knows your existence, this Atman, this Self of you, the Yogis say is the same as the Paramatma, the Self of all beings, the witnessing consciousness of all existence.
That awareness is not bound by time and space, nor is it bound by anything it witnesses. So when it witnesses all of your thoughts, feeling, desires, your very sense of “I am”-ness, that witnessing consciousness, that fundamental Atman, your soul, is of the same substance as the soul of all beings, the Paramatma, the infinite conscious beingness.
So how are you separate, how are you alone when your fundamental nature is one? Not governed by your I-feeling or your thoughts or desires or whatever you think of yourself, not governed by that, but a cosmic knowing. The knower of all beings is the same as the knower of your own self. You have an intimate relationship to that awareness, to that consciousness. That is the core of your essence.
Your Atman is your soul, is your essence. And that fundamental consciousness that is you has no separation from the fundamental consciousness of all beings. It’s the same. That which is core to you is the same as that which is core to every other person, to the birds, to the trees, to the grass. The witnessing awareness of all creation, the Paramatma, the supreme soul, the Self of yourself, abides forever, eternally, never dies, never is born.
Though all that it witnesses changes and changes again, that awareness is changeless. That conscious intelligence, that knowing existence never changes, doesn’t erode with time. Though so much happens that is witnessed, the witness remains ever the same. That is Purusha is Sanskrit. Purusha meaning conscious awareness, beingness.
That essential being remains, knowing all that is but never changed in the process of enfolding in the witness-ship of all creation, including your own being; your I-feeling is witnessed by this Atman, and all that you are. When you ask yourself: “Who am I?”—really, are you not this Self of yourself, this soul, this Atman, this witnessing awareness? And where is the difference between you, between the witness, the soul, and all others?
In the whirlwind of life, in the rising and falling of pleasure and pain—is not this aware consciousness the quiet, deep shore, the quiet depths where you find peace, home, resilience through everything, even the changing of forms? So, the life of those who seek the depths is one of coming to know this infinite Self and learning to rest in that.
Author
Maetreyii Ma: a teacher of yogic wisdom & practices
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