Jesse S. Hanson's Blog, page 4

Who is Monica Brinkman?

[image error]Dear Readers, this is the first of a series of author profiles I will be hosting on my blog that will be concerned with some of my fellow writers from All Things That Matter Press. These articles, written by, or about our authors are a good chance for us to get to know a bit about them as real people.

Allow me to introduce my friend, Monica Brinkman. This lady has been very supportive to me in my efforts to promote my writing. In fact she is very much a leader among  the  ATTMP authors to get our work before the eyes of the you, the public.

Hope you will enjoy this series, and as always: thanks for stopping by my blog. Please leave a comment, should you feel so inclined.

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A supporter of the EBMRF Foundation, you will find many articles written by Ms. Brinkman that focus on opening people's eyes and hearts to the E.B. Children.

In fact, Monica M. Brinkman's first authored stage play, 'How Lucky Can You Get' performed in San Jose, CA some twenty-five years ago donated all proceeds to the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation.  With a background in the theatre, Monica has portrayed Lucy (You're a Good Man Charlie Brown), Dorothy (The Wizard of Oz) and numerous other characters prior to dedicating herself to full-time writing.

As a Singing Telegram performer, she learned to stare fear in its face, never knowing what odd circumstances would occur each performance and believe us, they did occur frequently.  How about, dressed as Mae West, knocking on a hotel door, only to find a completely nude homosexual couple staring you in the face.  Needless to say, her eyes never left theirs.

Her great love of animals shows as the 'mom' of five cats and two dogs, all her babies. She now lives in Missouri with her husband of 28 years, Richard.

Monica's novel, The Turn of the Karmic Wheel, has pleasantly surprised many a reviewer with its twists and turns of horror, the paranormal, spirituality and suspense. Indeed, not quite the story they anticipated. A story that she confesses just had to be written to give people hope, purpose and accountability for their actions in life. Ah yes, the magic of karma.

You'll find Monica and co-host Oana interviewing guests who bring knowledge, enjoyment, controversy and excitement to the listeners every Thursday at 8PM EST on their Two Unsynchronized Souls blogtalk radio show.

Websites:

http://theturnofthekarmicwheel.blogspot.com

http://tinyurl.com/237mvru

Radio Show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/monicabrinkmanandoana

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Spiritual Fiction novelist, Judy Croome, reviews Jesse S. Hanson's, Song of George

I just felt that I had to post this particular review of Song of George by spiritual fiction author Judy Croome, not because it's such a flattering review, which it is, but because of the attention to detail, regarding the novel, that she has expressed.
 
I must say that in the comparisons to the work of the old Russian novelists, she has really gone too far. Nevertheless, I really appreciate her sincere focus on specific aspects of a work that I consider an experimental effort.
 
That she referred to that experimentation as pure art was, for me, a deep honor. That she quoted from my poetry, was a  joy. She referred to the book as a challenging read (that that was a good thing) and I am again honored and grateful. And that she addressed the fragile love relationship between George and his followers in such a poignant way was very touching to me. Finally, Judy saw the story as representing a philosophy of hope, which really made my day. I hope my readers will consider Judy's wonderful and compelling novel: Dancing in the Shadows of Love, based, primarily in her native rural Zimbabwean bush country of  South Africa.
 
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 Art & Anguish,September 17, 2011


By 
J. Croome "Judy Croome" (South Africa) – See all my reviews

(REAL NAME)   

 

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Song of George: Portrait of an Unlikely Holy Man (Kindle Edition)

"Song of George: Portrait of an Unlikely Holy Man"is not a novel…it's pure Art. This intense, unusual story contains original prose, poetry, song lyrics and artwork, all welded together by a thread of human suffering reminiscent of the great Russian authors such as Dostoevksy.

Although they are very different stories, at times the struggles and comradeship of George's disciples reminded me of Solzhenitsyn's "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," with its portrayal of just how much anguish humanity can endure despite enormous odds, for "We lay like scattered bones on the floor of her lair, mother earth some, broken splintered things, white against the dirt, the pain is gone."

In "Song of George" much of the suffering comes from in the treatment of the inmates by the guards, but even more comes from their supposed distorted realities. One of the major themes in this nuanced novel is the exploration of how one defines madness (is George mad or is he a visionary? And who is to decide which he is?)

When you pick up this book, expect a challenging read in more ways than one: dense with characters, packed with philosophy and resonating with compassion, "Song of George" forces the reader to examine different realities through the lives, minds and experiences of three students interviewing (mainly) numerous inmates in a prison mental institution.

Despite the need to concentrate hard, the pace of the story is fast and the author's portrayal of his multitude of characters is simply superb. Each character is unique and fascinating, even the less appealing ones such as Jaiden. The author's compassion and understanding for those of us classified as "insane" clearly runs deep.

Throughout the book I felt I was reading profound truths about life. From the suggestion of reincarnation (in Toby's story) to a conversation about "low burning fires" the student Jeff eavesdropped on, the themes of this immense novel are shrouded in a sense of futility and despair at the ugliness of a world that denies ultimate truths in favour of modern commercialisation, materialism and alienation. When George was freed on parole, the collapse of the inmates' fragile serenity at the loss of their holy man, is symbolic of the apocalyptic threat to humanity facing us as we turn away from the universal language of Love and a spiritual path.

And yet this was an uplifting story. The glimpses of hope were there: Harold/Horatio's relationship with his sister Illy, who believed in him against all reason, ultimately becoming his safe haven, almost a "reward" for his innocence despite all that had been done to him. The final scene, despite the ambiguity of the closing paragraphs, also suggests that all hope is not lost when the little girl on the stoop shames the boys tormenting George into helping him.

With its weighty philosophical nature, this novel needs more than one reading to be fully appreciated. Like all good novels that endure, each reading of "Song of George" will, I'm sure, raise more questions and offer new spiritual insights for its readers.

War and Peace – Heroes and Heroines or Failures and Fools… or both?

Finally wrote my review of War and Peace: Original Version. I try to include here, reviews that have some relation to spiritual fiction. Although that is a rather debateable aspect of this novel, I do think it exists, as it does in much classical literature. Hope you enjoy the review. As always: thanks for stopping by my blog. I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a comment if so inclined.

                                           Jesse S. Hanson

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Heroes and Heroines or Failures and Fools… or both?

 

I guess the first responsibility one has in writing a review of War and Peace is to be clear about what version is being reviewed. My review concerns, War and Peace: Original Version, translated by Andrew Bromfield, Paperback, 912 pages, Published September 1st 2008 by Harper Perennial. The 912 pages is short by most standards (Goodreads.com shows 383 editions and the lengths of some of these editions can run into several thousands of pages, divided into multiple  books. The most common versions read by English readers run something less than 1500 pages, I believe.

 

Whew, I'm glad that part's over! It's all quite relevant, I'm sure, on the one hand, which edition/version we're talking about and yet on the other, perhaps not so much so. There are the issues of a "happy ending" or not, philosophical "fill" or not, etc. Leave it to the Tolstoy geeks, I'm sorry. It's not the only good story in the world and, great as he was/is, he's not the only great writer in the world. I don't personally see how saying that detracts anything from his greatness or the novel's greatness.

 

So let me begin by saying, It's a great novel. I felt a strong sense of loss when I finished it. It had become a friend over the nearly five months that I was reading it (I'm a slow reader and I have a very busy life and I was reading other books simultaneously).

 

I must say that if I hadn't been coming into it with the expectation of it being a great novel, I may have abandoned it early on. Those glamorous society parlor soirees, full of gossip and all manner of arrogant types of conversation would have done me in. The fact that the author was obviously critically mocking the characters didn't help much. I think that when it was written, such authorial mockery may have served an important purpose and been quite entertaining, as well, but we've had such a diet of it over the years of my life that I now find it quite boring and repugnant—the stuff of soap operas. Still, I cannot deny, Tolstoy was a master of minute observation and when the stuff of his writing is sincere, I was in constant admiration of that ability.

 

My other problem with the novel was the fact that it was written from the point of view of privileged society in the first place. My Australian Goodreads friend Laurel sent me her thoughts: "With Tolstoy's two great books, Anna Karina and War and Peace, he very much writes about family life. You feel as if you know the families concerned. For me, it is his greatest achievement." I could not help but agree with her about the contribution regarding family, but it's just a personal thing with me: I'm not often fascinated by the family doings of the rich and famous. So when I remarked that I was likely to remain a bigger Dostoevsky fan, that was perhaps the reason. Personally, I am a product of middle class America. From that starting point, in the board game of life, I have occasionally travelled through the slums and the low places of those without "opportunity" as it is usually called, and I have, in turn, traversed, on other occasions, the high roads and visited the lofty nests of the well-to-do. There are good and bad people in all walks, and I'm not comfortable anywhere, but certainly not in the lap of luxury.  

 

I think the greatest delight in reading War and Peace is that the reader is always kept guessing as to the quality of a character's character, so to speak. My favorite one, Pierre is a perfect case in point. For some time I thought that he was the only character with character. Later, I became convinced that the same was true of Prince Andrei. Up and down I was thrown and plunged through my identification with individual personalities. Whether it was in terms of family relations, or those of friends and peers, or those uniquely military or nationalistic, the story always had me going, pulling for this character or that, despairing in his or her shortcomings and reveling in that same one's transcendence.

 

The war scenes, though relatively brief, are very powerful. Ultimately, War and Peace is an anti-war novel. I think it's also a pro-Russia novel; I mean to say a work that revels in the character of the pre-socialist Russia. But it seems so ironic that Tolstoy freely expresses this love of country while he relentlessly mocks every one of his own characters and the entire Russian mentality. He openly portrays the Russian military organism, from the beloved sovereign to the generals to the foot soldiers, as absolutely clueless. He places no value whatsoever on the genius of anyone in command (not even Napolean, the enemy's great emperor hero who is widely acclaimed, even today as a military genius). The business of war, the author sees as baseless murder, yet the business of peace he seems to see as ridiculous comedy.

 

There is really one primary question that I have, and I think the reader must decide for her/himself: are there any heroines/heroes in this great sprawling and endearing epic? I believe there are only three characters who genuinely concern themselves with any higher, spiritual questions or pursuits in their lives; how those questions or pursuits are resolved is, to me, part of the same primary question.

 

I do highly recommend War and Peace. I think it will be a joy to discuss it with others—a joy one won't be able to relate to unless one reads it. 

 

 

 

Sant Mat Guru, Sirio Carrapa Ji on How to Make the Best Use of a Retreat with the Master

I'm so happy to say that preparations are in the works to have the beautiful Sant Mat Master, Sirio Carrapa Ji come to America next summer for a short meditation/satsang retreat. So when I read the following, I thought: How could anything be more apropros?

The  post is taken from devotee, Annabella Saccone's notes after having recently attended a meditation retreat with Master Sirio Ji at His home in Ribolla, Italy: August 10th through the 21st. The first part is composed of Sirio's reply to a question by a satsangi and at the end are Anna ji's impressions.

As always; thanks for stopping by my blog and I encourage your comments and observations.      Namaste,  jesse

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♣ Leave thousands of urgent work to sit down to meditate ♣

Sant Bani Ashram- Ribolla August 2011

 

 

Satsang Saturday  20 August

 

A disciple asked: "What should be done to fully benefit from the retreat?" (SirioDevJi)" First thing, before the retreat, it's preparing for it. When we went in Rhajstan Sant Ji always advised us to prepare one selves for the retreat; do not arrive there unprepared, in a disaster condition. To begin to meditate more, do more simran and live more in accordance with the Path already before the retreat period otherwise we find ourselves in an environment so rarefied as a retreat, where a program is so intense and we are displaced. In a situation where for months and months you are no longer meditating, totally in confusion. Then a good part of the program goes to prepare one selves for the retreat. Now, if you go to a retreat like this that lasts for twelve days, then one may, by and by, enter the atmosphere of the program, but if a retreat lasts for two or three days, then the program ends before we managed to get into a meditative attitude. We must say that it is very rare a retreat like this. You will not find it everywhere. Most of these masters who go around in cities, give a lecture, then go to another town and yet another conference. What that means I do not know! Certainly better than nothing! Everything does something! Anyhow with regard to the raising of consciousness, entering into deep meditation, or going into meditation many times as it happens during a retreat, there is nothing of this. Once at the insistence of some people I went to see a Sant Mat master; this happened about 15 years ago, after the death of Sant Ji. There was a two-day retreat. There were several hundred people, but there was no program. There wasn't a retreat, all day people were just chatting. There was not a small meditation session with that master, no let alone the possibility of having an interview with him. Nothing! There was a Satsang that began at seven o'clock every night, but that master always arrived quietly at half past seven. Then he spoke of Simran, Satsang, bhajan, meditation, Sach Kand and so on. One evening there was a dinner organized by one of his disciples, and there He certainly was present on time. Many have programs like this. Well, maybe retreats of this type do not need much preparation. But at such a retreat as we do here at Sant Bani, it is crucial. We need a good preparation. Precisely because unless we prepare our mind and it is too dispersed, before we could gather and focus,  it will take time to enter into meditation. In addition we come with all our tensions and frustrations and become a problem for others in the group. We cannot bring harmony in the group. Instead of being fluid such as oil we are rusty and squeal as a grinding wheel. So what it means to prepare prior to a retreat?  It is to begin to meditate more in the early hours of the morning, do some light diet or fasting. I personally before every retreat have two or three days of fasting. Since this cleans the body and therefore the mind. Automatically we are in a receptive condition, calm, deep, pure. So just by getting to the retreat place the air of grace uplifts us tremendously. Then the days we spend at the retreat become sacred for all that time we spend here in approaching the Super Consciousness. Another important factor: how to behave in a retreat? The retreat is intended to completely detach from worldly things, to enter the inner silence, mental silence, oral silence. Three S: simplicity, silence, Simran. And if we keep talking, we do not do the Simran. Little to be done!  Do seva, there are many little things to be done. So be alone when you're at the retreat. You can talk and socialize when you eat a little bit maybe, but then you better stay alone. Work, do seva, but without necessarily talking. Sing the Bhajans. Avoid talking unnecessarily about things that have nothing to do with what we are doing here. Without these desires of wanting to talk about this and that with that person or that yet.  The retreat is meant to stay with the Master, to do Simran and meditation with the Master, not to be with people. People are everywhere. Master Kirpal said to couples, when we went to be with Him: "When you're here you do not have to remember that you are even married. Husband or the wife here has nothing to do any more! You are here to be with the Master." When I was in Rajasthan I never seek the company of anyone. I associated only to people who turned up to be next to me in some way. Not looking for anyone. Because I went for the Master, not to meet people. The people I could find elsewhere. The satsangi I could find them elsewhere. I was not interested in friends and so on. Very often people do not come to the retreats for the Master, but to chat with friends, maybe to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend! In this way our life goes by and nothing significant happens. So you have to go to retreats with the right attitude!

This is time that we dedicate to God, only God and the Master. Everything else can be done elsewhere. Not here! Here you do this! Another thing is these phones. Turn off these phones!! At least here! If you have to talk to someone about important things, then do it at a certain time of day and not having in your hand all day long  these phones. We have all become slaves of the phone. We are phone dependent. A satsangi should be different from all others, should not be a parrot like everyone else. What is the difference? What is the difference between us and others? We only pretend, but it is not so. There are many people who claim to be spiritual people, free thinkers and might criticize the religious people pretending to be better. Nonetheless,  in reality, they behave worse than them! It is easy to talk about others and make comments on others, but how do we live? How are we? We never watch ourselves.  

There is a guru in India who while giving Satsang starts talking calmly then heats up and begins to shout, and then speaks again calm and flat and then goes back to screaming after a while. So the people are truly scolded. Because the purpose of Satsang is to wake us up. Otherwise, what do we do here, we sleep? Or what? So you are only alive when you are attentive, otherwise you are like corpses. What does one do at a retreat? There's a program, and here is strong, there are about 10 hours of spiritual practice daily. And there also you have to be carefully on time, arrive a little sooner and not later. You have to be there when the Master comes, do not arrive after ten minutes. Than again out, back and forth. Our problem is this: we have lost the sense of the Sacred. We cannot give the right sacredness to things. Even the relationship with the Master we must live it in a healthy way. If we can not give and experience the sense of the sacred, we will never get in touch with the Sacred. So follow the program, do seva in your spare time. Instead of standing there chatting, there are many things to do. Little things that everyone could do. And if one knows, and knows that at certain times of the day needs to sleep to be ready for the next meditation, do it! listen to your needs. If you go to sleep for half an hour before meditation mostly that of eleven since that it is the most difficult to stay awake, would benefit from meditation. Since we'll be able to meditate and not sleep. We benefit from the meditation if we are awake, aware, otherwise what's the point? We can meditate for years asleep, and nothing happens. We think we have meditated but we were sleeping instead. There was a satsangi who  lived here for a long period of eight years and every morning we were to meditate at three o' clock. He was not meditating, he fell asleep after 15 minutes. He was good as he got up, he tried anyway, but  poor one he was just sleeping. He could go to sleep sitting for hours. So now if you talk with him will tell you: "I have meditated with Sirio, too. Every morning I got up with him. "The only difference is that I meditated and he was sleeping, that is the difference. And this is a fair difference.  This is the Way we can delude ourselves so much.  Like the Sufi story about a man who was in big trouble and prayed to God saying: "O God, if I somehow solve all these problems, I promise I'll sell the house and I give all the money, I'll give it to you as a donation to the holy cause. Then pray and pray, he really found the solution to his problems. Thus he began thinking: "It's not God who did it, it's really me who solved the problems, I  found a solution!" But he had a certain fear of God and decided to sell his house. In the house there was a cat, then decided to sell the house for, say, around 20 000 euros. He asked for the cat € 19,500 and € 500.00 for the house, so the donation would go to 500 euros and 19,500 euros he would keep them for himself, so he fulfilled his promise." Here this is how we fulfil our promises to God and the way in which we modify the Path according to our will. So if you want to play, it's okay to do so, but if we are serious men, satsangis who seek truly God, then no! You do not do so. The teachings should be followed for what they are, should not be changed. So if during the retreat we behave in this way, we follow the program, we give absolute attention to Satsang, we hear what is being said, let it enter the mind and in the head, if we do this much at the end of a retreat we will find ourselves in another state of consciousness and being. We will have many wonderful experiences with the inner radiant Masters, and moments of great intensity in which we'll fill permeated with God. And you know very well what I'm talking about because you all have enjoyed these experiences. Many of you have told me about wonderful experiences, I know what I'm saying.

Then there is the after. Before, during and after the retreat. Then if you just walk away from the ashram and forget all; such ingratitude would be incredible. Because the retreat was a way to recharge and we should maintain this position until there will be another retreat, meditating going to Satsang. Because there is little you can do! Every time we meditate together, the Master is there, as the divine Presence. If you live where there is a group of Satsang, it is good to come together to meditate and do Satsang, though might not always be easy, perhaps you have to make some sacrifice, because you all live far away, but you have to go. It is the union that makes the strength, if we disperse, we won't conclude anything. Sant Ji in any retreat forever and ever quoted this saying of Master Kirpal: "Leave or abandon hundreds of urgent works to go to the Satsang. Let thousands of urgent works  to sit daily and meditate. " The thing is that we do not have any urgent work, but we find the way to invent it! So how do we want to be? We must choose. The Master can tell us what we should do, but then we have to decide whether to apply His teachings and suggestions on how to live and change. Radical decisions! We need to change, otherwise we forever stay the same. This is the ideal way to live once life: participate in the retreats and  live the spiritual path. However if you cannot attend the retreats with this attitude, come anyway! (Laughs with much Love). It is still better than nothing! "

 

Annabella Saccone

 

Observation & understanding. (Inner dialogue).

When the Master leaves the room of Satsang is a strong time for the soul for three reasons: because he has flipped upside down your inner being to make the mind understand  with His determined wisdom. You have been made drunk with Naam with His Darshan for about one and half hour, third, in the bowels you feel the pain of separation. That uneasiness which would want that His look could be infinitely inside your eyes and your eyes humbly inside His.

 

At Satsang with Master Sirio one completely renews oneself and learns to go along the Path always with new tools. This you will learn and make them your own, just by looking at Him. Watching the Master is watching God in action. And beyond the blessings you receive in the depths of your being in watching Him, because you're watching the divine, you learn to be a MEN. You learn how to be simple and to keep your feet firmly on the ground. When you look at Sirio Ji you become practical and concrete. You acquire a force for which you can go beyond yourself. How can Master Sirio look at all of us in this retreat when we are about thirty, for hours, staring without blinking an eyelid at the least? How is it that when he speaks for about an hour and a half he is immobile, His shoulders do not move? How can anyone who participates in the Satsang, doctors, engineers, professors feel so minute and insignificant when He speaks and exposes us to the Satsang? How could He look into the hearts of everyone present and expressed in His address the Truth that we each need to keep going? How is this possible? How can He be so strong and much like a stable mountain who has in globed the Ocean of Light by meditating on Naam? How can there be this phenomenon of Sirio Ji? There is no question! For Sirio Ji EVERYTHING is possible. He is the Master. He is really THE MASTER. Who has seen Him at least once with the right attitude may understand what I am trying to describe.

 

After His Satsang one cannot talk. Because He has silenced you. He took away your word. Has Injected in You knowledge,  clarity  and honey. Why waste this wealth of God? Speaking and dispersing? Try to slowly dissolve these treasures within you until they become one with the cells of your body. If this happens, one two three and so many times, then you can talk. Because you have become strong! Then you can talk. You can talk of His grace and the freedom you feel when you're with Him in deep contact with His Light. His inner vibration of the Sound wave. I listen to an echo as a sweet and bright wind that turns around the tops of the mountains. As a spiral that I feel inside my belly. I am the sea. The wind. This was born now or there has always been?

 

Why I'm totally caught by the Master? Why by just looking at Him I'm no longer and only have Him inside of me from head to toe? Why in His presence I have a visceral rooted owe and love? I am just a sinner like so many useless ones in this world. How is it possible?

For the Master EVERYTHING is possible! He is to select and send the grace we receive. For this I say and repeat it: BE AWARE.

 

When I sat outside the guests house I meet with a Zen garden. I watch it. I get excited. It touches my heart to see Him working with such strength and determination. I see His hands. Big and powerful. How many times I have kissed them  in these two days. What picture is this Garden? It's called Dedication. Created exclusively by the One who has become living attention. Love living. The order that determines the Path: He is the Master.

When leaving the door of the Satsang room  to return after the Satsang  to His house it is strong  the desire in me to accompany Him. A Master. A true master like him should never walk alone. "Master may I accompany you?" I softly ask Him. "Of course my little one!" He answers me. Smile. Silence. The joy of loving each other and of course, in a most healthy and detached manner. The Master. The Disciple. The Way I have chosen. It chose me. It's there.

His bhajans in the evening, His way of singing, it magically melts and inebriates me. This His way of manifesting enhances awareness and the desire to realize God in this life. Tonight he sings the beautiful Aj Shub Poetry of Love that Sant Ajaib Singh wrote to Kirpal, the same one that I sang to my Irena tonight feeling her Majnu. Sirio Ji sings it with a different tune. I feel like it was a march of seekers who are NEVER going to stop until the end line will not be reached. Then at some point Sirio Ji shifts to the classical melody of the bhajan Aj Shub and starts to laugh, but that laugh! My God, that laugh! What shivers it causes in my belly! A unique beauty that simply sounds as the laughter of a child  eight years old. I think I'll never forget that laugh!

When you do not ask and you place yourself with a humble and sincere heart God is giving you lots of little sweetness, beauty and tenderness. I had imagined being present on the  day of the sacred Initiation at Sant Kirpal Ji's Bhandara. Master Sirio included me in the list of those present and I was so joyful. What a blessing is this? Everything flows. The power and grace of God are manifest.

Meditation. The devotional singing. Simran. The Seva. The communication from heart to heart. The brothers. Sisters. ALL is the Master. Everything is because there is the Master. Master Sawan has created and nurtured Sant Kirpal. Sant  Kirpal has created Master Ajaib. Master Ajaib formed Sirio Ji.

EVERYTHING is because the Master is. How is it that after thirty-eight years, from back in 1973 Master Sirio still cries and becomes full of emotions just in saying the name of His Master Kirpal? How may the love for His Master go beyond all measures? How can such a poignant and living remembrance for all this thirty-eight years? This is the Path! This is  Sant Mat. Being able to express the love so pure, sublime and sincere as what Master Sirio expresses after most of his life. This is the Way of the Saints. It's evident. Perceptible.

 

When I see him walk: so white, bright, radiant, down the road that leads to the langar (free kitchen), my heart exploded and I sang with all my heart: Vola Vola vola animo mio. He comes and looks at us. But He doesn't  come alone. The Masters are with Him, and Ajaib, Kirpal come on His divine face so pure and innocent as a child. They are together. The Masters are one with Him, this is the real importance of the Disciple, working hard to serve with the meditation His Masters to the very  end. To shine and shimmer on His face Their Light.

While singing the song I see I've become the song, or that my being at that moment is the sound and the words that I sing and I'm handing them to Him: to my precious

 Master Sirio Ji.

Surrender. Giving of onself. Union. This has happened.

 

Please Master  don't stop looking at me..

With humility and gratitude

Anna ji

Jesse's Excellent Adventure at the Strawbale Workshop

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June was a very nice month in a lot of ways and at the end of it , I attended a four day workshop at Tim and Beth Reese's Taproot Farm http://taprootfarm.info/ in Capon Bridge, West Virginia, to gain some hands on experience in the craft of building with Strawbales. There were so many great aspects to the workshop–just one in a series on natural building at the farm, this summer–but the best feature of all was the presence of the remarkable designer, teacher, and consultant, Sigi Koko of Down to Earth Design.

 

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That's me working hard as always. Somebody had to keep those guys in line.

 

The facilities at the farm were excellent, from the clean well laid out camping sites, to the delicious food (fine vegetarian alternatives available at every meal), to the river for swimming right on the property, the nice clean outdoor shower and so many more ammenities. An old-time country band played one night and they asked me to sit in. They also asked me to play one of my original songs, so I played The Ballad of One Time, which has elements of blugrass and old-time and they were very appreciative.

 

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The Amazing Sigi Koko

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, we all wanted to keep in touch.

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Tara, showing us where she lives on a map of West Virginia

 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
So, if you want to build naturally, don't forget about Sigi and Down to Earth Design.
 

Sigi Koko ~ Designer, Teacher, Consultant

The Dragon's Song – Jesse S. Hanson, Live at Sant Bani Ashram, Ribolla, Italy

The old dragon and the baby

 
 
The Dragon\'s Song

Spring Has Come Again~12 April Days with Sirio Carrapa in Italy

 

with Master Sirio Ji in Siena-town square

 

 

Spring Has Come Again

~12 April days with Sirio Carrapa in Italy~

 

Let's All Go in Springtime

                       Jesse S. Hanson

Exposed to the elements, one is always subject to change

            the summer is a fine time of warmth and play

            unencumbered by all the trappings of a colder day

            and the sweet grass grown tall is making hay

            but time goes by and the rains don't fall

            love runs dry and our spirits fall

            we run too hot, then sputter and stall

Each season creates its own blend of beauty and illusion

            autumn is known to bring our energy back

            the harvest comes in and the wheel's on track

            the cool night stars shine bright against the black

            yet at the counting, somehow we've come up short

            hard times a' coming is the gloomy report

            so love braces—tentative, wary—with worries of that sort

In the storms of relativity the intellect becomes lost

            when the kind white face of winter lies

            under crisp and light and cold pure skies

            the cheery sparrow flits and flies

            but when the wind blows strong hearts crack like frozen bones

            then tough love strains with creaks and groans

            some warm blood is spilt upon the stones

In despair, at last, one becomes a seeker

            let's all go in springtime to seek renewal

            our last innocence kept in secret as is a rare and precious jewel

            let's go when we can bear no more of the world's love so cruel

            perhaps the kind Master will tell us good things

            He will sing songs of His love, play divine music on our heartstrings

            reveal Himself, where eternal love springs

My relationship with Master Sirio Ji began late last summer. In my despair, my pain of separation, I had been seeking someone to fill the great void of my life.

Like so many others, I was devastated when Ajaib left the body. In my foolishness, in my childishness, I had taken only the most minimal advantage of His offer of a close personal relationship. "I will be happy to have you come and visit me at my home in India," He had written to me, shortly after my initiation. I wrote back some nonsense about not knowing how I would ever afford it. So I never did afford it. The great regret of my life.

But then, Sant Ji had taken me on as a rescue mission. I was not at all a sincere seeker who had prepared himself for the gift of initiation when He found me. I was, rather, a wretched derelict at the end of his rope. I was like a fish floundering on the beach, gasping for breath, or perhaps like the dog that He found that had been shot and had dragged itself, or more likely been dragged by Him, into His presence. What to say about background, I hadn't even led a good present life, to that point.

Nevertheless, I'd had a personal relationship with Him. With an infinite workload concerning the care of us all, with the predisposition of a rather solitary ascetic, with the constraints of primitive communication services (by today's standards), and even with the self-centered and sometimes manipulative questions that I usually put to Him—with all of that—He never failed to answer my letters, and He never failed to answer my prayers.

Well, then He left us, physically… and where could I get that again? No one could tell me. Most people (satsangis) were really hesitant to talk about it. At first—for quite some time—there were no choices whatsoever, it seemed. It was a very bleak time. Was it not bleak? Then, in the course of time, some possibilities came forward and people made choices, perhaps tentatively at first, many made longingly, lovingly. I did the same. And some folks were not, and as of this time, have not yet been moved or pulled in any direction. Some never felt the need, content to follow the Path along their internal relationship with their Master. Among those who did choose to follow someone, in the course of time, some choices were disappointing, some were good, and some were deeply fulfilling—the Friend in His New Coat.

I have to say that I was bothered by a deep, deep longing for an up-close, personal relationship with the Master. Although I was following someone—someone that I'm convinced has something—I wasn't happy. In my very small local satsang, we had all come to the same conclusion fairly early on and all were enlivened and satisfied, but, as time went on, I became more and more restless. I began to have trouble with this thing or that, regarding the teachings—I could never decide whether they were small things or big things, in the scheme of Sant Mat with my feeble intellect and my lack of inner progress—and these troubled feelings grew steadily worse until I was really quite tormented. But the torment, primarily, ultimately, came from that longing, that completely un-intellectual crying in my soul for a personal relationship with someone in possession of that great love that is the Master. It's the only thing I've ever really been able to "take home" on this Path—the notion, no, the experience of being loved unconditionally by that Someone Who is so much more than me: by the true parent, the true protector, the true lover.

Really, I think that until we become God-realized ourselves, we can't truly know who is the representative of God, who is the Guru, who is the successor of the Guru. We have to make our choices based on certain things we've been told by the previous Masters, of course. But frankly, I always find a way to become confused, even by the Master's words on many subjects, including this subject of who is the Guru. So I think it comes down to the impressions made upon us by someone—what we know of their personal life, their way of presenting the teachings, their way of giving the Darshan, and then, at least in my case, the experience of love and protection. God forbid, it should be because we follow the choices of our friends or family. Or because we listen to hearsay or to the proclamations of damnation that many are fond of spreading, regarding this person or that person. Sirio Ji speaks of the importance of affinity between the Master and the disciple in His written collection of satsangs, letters, etc., entitled, One Word-One Melody-One Glance:

"When I went, the first time, to see Sant Ajaib Singh, I had not the least doubt that in Him I would have found my Master Kirpal in His new physical dress. Before meeting with Him I had met with some other of Master Kirpal's disciples who had become Masters and were carrying on His work, but they were not fit for me, they were not appropriate for me, there was not the right love and affinity. Consequently, I did not recognize in them my Master. On the other hand, with Ajaib Singh Ji there was a sudden reconnection, an immediate great love. It is clear; He was the right one for me. I was very convinced I still needed a Master who would guide me farther on the spiritual Path and show me the way to become a 'real man'."

 and again, as He quotes Maulana Rumi:

 "As dawn came, the king was sitting up in the belvedere on his roof.

He saw someone coming, a person like the dawn. He ran to meet this guest.

  Like two swimmers who love the water their soul knit together

 Without being sewn, no seam."        —Rumi

"Here the great Sufi Master wants to make us understand that up until we have the good luck to meet our Master, towards whom we feel a spontaneous attraction and an innate soul affinity, in no way anything really meaningful may happen in our spiritual life. There can't happen that opening of the heart, that falling in love that is a sine qua non conditioning for a real spiritual awakening."

He also speaks of having the right loving attitude toward others:

"Do not be afraid of changes, do not be afraid of making mistakes, we are all His children, and He will take care of us all. We should never be afraid to associate with any of those who have been initiated by our Master, and those who are going to carry on the Master's work. We should never listen to those who want to divide the Master's children by saying, about any of their brothers, that they are misled by Kal or whatever. We should always keep far from those who see Kal in everybody, and we should always associate with those who see God in everybody. Remember, Master Kirpal did His very best to bring together people from all countries, all communities, all religions; can't we children of the same Father love and respect each other, whichever the direction we may choose to take? If not, is very disappointing; we have learned very little."

So, I'd like to relate some of the details of my trip—a trip, which was, for me, so very much a second chance. Of course, I still deeply regret never going to Rajasthan to be with Sant Ji at His home, but I feel that I have now been given the most wonderful consolation, in having been with Sirio Ji at His home in Tuscany:

My flight had a nine-hour layover in Boston, so I had contacted my friend, Steve Rose; he picked me up and we spent the day together. Among other things, he showed me the beautiful Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge where we climbed a marvelous old cut stone tower for a view of the city. At the top I read out loud, Sirio's bhajan, Gloria al Satguru, in which He speaks of the difficulty in loving the past Masters or the Incarnations, or even God "who threw me into the cruel arena of creation", how for Him, Kirpal and Ajaib are the incarnations that He loves. Sirio was initiated by Master Kirpal in 1973, so His time with Him was relatively short. He then spent twenty years under the guidance and protection of Ajaib Singh (Sant Ji) and He consistently refers to them both as His Masters.

Steve and I also visited the site of Thoreau's house at Walden Pond. This is something I'd wanted to do for a long time, having passed right by many times during visits to see the Master in New England. The Pond (a small glacial lake, really) and the house site were altogether more attractive than I expected for some reason and of course, there was also sweet remembrance of Kirpal, who had spoken occasionally of Thoreau.

Lastly, we had a short meditation at Kirpal Satsang Ghar in Acton, which was a very nice sendoff for my flight to Italy.

The flight to the Rome airport (Aeroporto di Roma-Fiumicino) was also nine hours… and it was about forty-five minutes late. The plan was to go to Ostiense in Rome by city train where I would meet my friends, Andrea and Dafne. Andrea is working nights and didn't get off until nine a.m., and since my arrival at Ostiense was scheduled at eight, I was concerned about the rendezvous with Dafne. But, as in all the rest of my trip, coming and going, Master took my care and a young man—unfortunately, I just can't bring his name to mind—began speaking to me on the train. He scarcely knew any English and I was completely at a loss in Italiano, but it gradually became clear to him that I was not a tourist but someone on a spiritual path—not quite religious, not Catholic, not quite Buddhist. He didn't know about Ribolla (the address of Sant Bani Ashram, Italy) or Sirio Ji, but he took it upon himself to help me, since he was also getting off at Ostiense. My new friend helped me find my way through the station, bought me a café and then called Andrea's cell for me. Andrea was by now off work so he walked over from his apartment, "only about a hundred meters" from the station. 

Another satsangi, Kriszti ji, from Budapest, had arrived earlier. We spent about three hours at the apartment; Andrea and I meditated in their tiny but lovely living room, where Master Sirio Ji had meditated with them and given satsang many times, while Dafne made a nice lunch. Then we were off on the train to Grosseto, a small city, which is the closest stop to Ribolla. The train ride was extremely pleasant with the small mountains to one side and the Mediteranean Sea on the other for the majority of the trip. I spent much of the ride practicing my complete lack of video skills with the very nice HTC Aria phone that my son, Jesse Allen had thoughtfully loaned to me for the trip.

In Grosseto, Dori ji, picked us up and we had just barely enough, but enough, room to squeeze ourselves and our luggage—I have a bad habit of traveling heavy—into the car. A fairly short ride to Ribolla, then a fairly rugged road up into the ashram. The ashram is set in the quiet pastoral beauty of Tuscany: lovely hills and valleys, peacefully agrarian, with tracts of olive trees and grapes broken by pastures inhabited by sheep or cattle. Then, through the ashram gate and we were there.

The first building happened to be the men's dorm. Actually, I soon learned that the other end of the same building was the new satsang room. But at the men's dorm we stopped, and since it was determined that the Master was not home just then, Andrea and I unloaded and moved in. In a couple of minutes we went out to where the ladies were in front of the satsang room and a car drove up. It was Sirio. He got out of the car, greeted everyone, I think He spoke something to Andrea and Dafne in Italian, and then came over to me smilingly, lovingly, and gave me a hug, while I found myself in tears and unable to communicate much of anything at all. He asked, in English, about my trip and I managed to get out that it had been perfectly "smooth", as that was the word He had used to wish me well on my journey in an email before I left Pennsylvania. Then he went to the back of the station wagon and opened the hatch, began taking out bags of fresh fruit and vegetables and cheese, etc., asking Andrea that we take the rest of the food down to the langar and then park the car.

It was the day before the retreat was to officially begin, but after about an hour, we had our first meditation sitting. Sirio Ji sang Bhajans with us and put us into meditation (He meditated with us) and then sang more Bhajans with us. That turned out to be the routine for twelve days (the spring retreat is officially eleven days). The daily schedule was as follows:

Darshan, Bhajans, directed meditation, bhajans, darshan at 4 a.m.

Darshan, Bhajans, directed meditation, bhajans, darshan at 7 a.m.

Breakfast (self serve) at about 9 a.m.

Darshan, Bhajans, directed meditation, bhajans, darshan at 11 a.m.

Lunch prepared by two different people each day at about 1 a.m.

Darshan, Bhajans, directed meditation, satsang,  darshan at 4:30 p.m.

Bhajans and other events at 8:30 p.m.

Sirio Ji loves the Bhajans. He knows about 300 of the Punjabi bhajans from "Songs of the Masters"  some of them by heart and has written scores of Bhajans in Italian. The devotees are quite familiar with both and we would go from singing in Pujabi to Italian without a hitch.

After the morning meditation, one day, He tells us He has to go into a city to do something for his work (Sirio Ji makes His living giving Ayurvedic massage and treatments plus teaching them as well); we can go along if we wish. We can have satsang there also.

A group of us decides to go and within about half an hour, we are on our way to Siena with three cars. I am most fortunate to ride in the car with the Master. Annabella ji is the driver and I sit in the back driver's side, where I am able to communicate with Him, to an extent, where He is in the front passenger seat. On the way, He sings some Bhajans, including a part of Kabir's  beautiful Guru Dev. It turns out that, after a conversation I'd had with Anna ji, regarding this bhajan, she'd asked Him about it and he knew some of it. I asked Him if He knew why it had never been included in the book, and He replied that He was also curious about it. I believe it was shortly after that, that He comments about some flowers that He sees just off the road. I wasn't sure but I think that He decided to pick some later.

Later, He asks me if I have any knowledge of Siena. I don't. He tells me that it is an old city with a history of Christian Saints, the most well known of which is St. Catherine. I ask if they were real Saints, having the idea that the Catholic Saints, were largely by name only, but also having the knowledge that Sirio Ji considers St. Francis of Assisi to have been a perfect Saint. He says that they were true Saints and gives certain details to explain, of which I would probably misquote, should I try to repeat His words from memory.

When we arrive in Siena, we climb an extremely picturesque street, on the edge of a small mountain, to a great height and park the cars. We walk briskly through the narrow winding streets, which more closely resemble my notion of alleys, with tall buildings, mostly apartments, on either side. We come to a wooden door in the wall and Sirio Ji unlocks it. We go in, shuffling around in the two medium sized rooms, while Anna Ji transforms one of them, with beautiful pieces of cloth that she manifests from, I don't know where, into a satsang room. We proceed to sing bhajans and have a short satsang, in which the Master thanks us very emotionally for coming and effectively blessing His workplace, where He spends so much time, with satsang. He tells us that we are His best friends and how important it is to Him that we have come there.

After the satsang, He shows us some steps going down and that there is an underground cave-like place below His workplace. I try to snap a picture as He is coming out of the cave's opening, but I'm too slow with the camera and when I take the picture, it's mostly a blur.

Then we go back out onto the streets and we follow Him as He walks through the streets. He is so full of energy and He walks so fast that it is difficult for one of the Hungarian ladies to keep up. A Hungarian fellow called Feffa and a young lady, Vicky, were staying back with her, so I did that also and we tried our best to follow the group with the Master. At one point, we actually miss the turn that the Master and the others have taken, but we soon realize our mistake, go back and turn into a large open court or square, where the Master explains about the annual "Il Palio Festival" and horse race that is held there. The square is bordered by some very impressive cathedral type buildings, among the other very old and interesting structures. I jokingly say to Him that Sant Ji said we should not go sightseeing, but that I imagine it's alright if the Master takes us sightseeing.

A little later, on another street, we stop in front of a frozen yogurt shop, where Francesco treats us all and Master makes it parshad. On the way back to the cars, I am nearly run over a few times (once by a bus) as I am taking pictures. The truth is, I really have lived my life in a rather careless way in some ways and I think, that without Master's protection, I would been the victim of my own lack of attention to the dangers of the world long ago. So, having lived through it, and having been so fortunate as be on this magnificent, intoxicating excursion, we go back to Sant Bani, It, where we will continue with the scheduled program. On the way back, we stop to pick some of the flowers, from the side of the road, that I had mentioned previously. I believe it is the same night, after satsang, that He has a gift of special prashad for us in the form of a kind of pakora that He has made for us, Himself, from the flowers.

Oh, one more thing, regarding the trip. At home, I had learned guitar chords to Gloria al Satguru, and I was hoping that Sirio Ji would let me play them for Him to sing. So I asked Him about His guitar. He said, that He was thinking that one evening, I could play a small concert for the group. So two nights later, I did play four songs at the evening bhajan session. Master listened with full attention and eyes closed and was very appreciative. The next day, I asked when I could return His guitar and He told me to just keep it and play on it when I felt like it. A couple of nights later, He did sing Gloria al Satguru at the evening session and then, again, asked me to play a bit more. Along with that, I also had some fun times playing out on the grounds and jamming a bit with my new friend, Ernő from Budapest.

I don't know what the meaning of it all is, that I struggled with repressing my music and writing for so many years, and now I was actually being encouraged in that area of my life. All I can really imagine is that, that's what I needed then, and this is what's happened now. So I'm grateful to Sant Ji and I'm grateful to Sirio Ji. And although they're so very different, quite often, I have the most powerful feeling of being in Sant Ji's presence, when I'm in Sirio's presence.

So we continued with the program. We had a day of personal interviews in Sant Ji's house, which is kept locked except for the interviews, initiations, and for Sirio to meditate in. We had a question and answer session that took four or five days (I don't remember if there were four or five questions). He spent a whole satsang on each question. Some men came and pruned the olive trees and we gathered the pruned branches for burning.

And on the day I had to leave, the Master, with Dori ji driving and her sweet baby boy, Jancsi, along for the ride took me personally to the train station in Grosseto. On the way we stopped at a wonderful, peaceful, clear water lake where He goes swimming. It's a near perfectly serene place and as we came out onto the dock, He told me that they've had a number of satsangs at that very spot. I wanted to take a video of Him there so He kindly turned His back to the lake so that I could have it in the video as well. It was yet another very intimate and sweet loving occasion that I'll never forget.

At the train station, He ran to help me with the train ticket, when the lady spoke no English and there was some confusion with the train schedule. Then we had some time, so we went into the little station diner. He talked about some of His visits to see various, current Sant Mat Masters. I bought a bag of crackers after He read the Italiano ingredients (just to be sure about lard, etc.) at my request, and then He made it into parshad for my trip, at my request.

As a last gesture of concern, out at the tracks, when the train arrived, He told me to get on board and then He lifted my bag up to me. He and Dori and Jancsi ji stood on the platform waving as the train pulled away.

The people were so loving, such sweet sevadars. A very small group by some standards, but the love and respect, the adoration for the Guru: no less than that of satsangis anywhere in the world. I'm thinking, how wonderful for a Master to manifest in Italy, a land famous for the love of Christian Saints, as well as for the worldly love (many have tried to pervert that fame into the fame of sexuality, but a much more pure love—Romeo and Juliet, for instance—is very profound there). A land famous for the expression of emotion in song, and Sirio is a veritable incarnation of emotion in song.

I've also thought a lot about the human qualities of the Master—of any Master. I've always been so enamored by the concept, by the fulfillment of the concept of a Godman. Just consider the famous John Donne couplet, quoted by Master Kirpal: "God cloth'd himself in vile man's flesh, that so, He might be weak enough to suffer woe" The Master is God and man at the same time. I think we get so caught up in the God part of the Master that we forget about the human reality. I mention it because I witnessed some emotion in Him that, at first, I thought was too human. He's very hurt by the fact that certain of His long time friends have rejected Him and that they now consider Him doomed by Kal. It's a deep pain for Him: I think both their opinions as well as the lack of association with them.

Some of it cleared up for me the last night of the retreat, when quite a few of the satgangis had already left. I could be wrong, I know, but it seemed as if He was deeply saddened by their departure; like we really are His friends, His best friends; that it's a two way street.

Well, the reality is that the few who are receiving what He has to give are uniquely fortunate in all the world. At some risk to that reality of smallness is another reality: that I believe there are those souls out in the world who are desperately in need of, are perhaps crying out for this kind of love, this kind of connection with the God into expression power. I hope that if they are out there they can somehow lay down their pre-conceived notions about what is or isn't possible. It's possible that a Master doesn't have to come from India—that a Master doesn't have to have a huge following to be genuine—that a satsangi could possibly be a representative of the Master and then become the Master—that a Master can present the teachings in a unique way (I don't know if there ever was one Who didn't). These are just to mention a few. What have we really got to lose? Einstein said that the question is, "Is the Universe friendly or not?" If we don't ultimately believe, or at least hope, that the Universe—God—is friendly, then we've given up before we've started. Yes, Sant Ji wrote a lot about the false Masters. But how many of us are there who can tell the difference from an intellectual point of view. Well, there are some things that would look pretty bad, alright. And likely we'd eliminate someone if we knew about some secret failing of theirs. Yet even Swami Ji smoked a hooka. Masters sometimes do things to keep the flies away. And also there are some things that look pretty good, like high inner experiences for instance, and yet people have become disillusioned with Masters even after such experiences. So the definitions get kind of blurred. It's certainly a personal decision in my mind. But if we don't seek, we shan't find. If we don't knock, no door will open up to us.

Maybe you could take a look. I'm just saying'…

 

For You I'm Lost

                  Jesse S. Hanson

The affection you convey to me in your kindness

buoys me up from my drowning condition

and holds me above the waves, as it were.

I cast my gaze out upon the waters, hoping for a glimpse of you

to see you walking over the crest—as if it were even significant as a miracle.

The miracle is in your very existence

it is in you seeking your scattered, orphaned, homeless waifs

who wander directionless upon deserted isles

bewildered and bewitched by each new ghostly mirage

until you come, your glance of complete solace and all comprehension.

Oh creator of this longing so deep in my breast

see how I thrash about, losing my strength in my ignorance

I haven't learned swimming and now I'm old

and there is no time.

Oh take me aboard—my waterlogged soul, my terrified mind

Some boats have come by

but either they didn't notice me, or I ignored them, hid from them

knowing that rescue by them would only leave me stranded

on some other strange and evil foreign shore

wordless and without hope

I dream of winds that fill your sails, of your strong heart that never fails

I live only for you to rescue me

where upon these rocks I'm dashed and broken

where for all these years this thing I've spoken

For you alone I'm lost at sea.

April Newsletter, Sant Bani Ashram~Ribolla, Italy, Retreat with Sirio Carrapa Ji

Master Sirio Carrapa Ji

 

Sant Bani Ashram

Dedicated to the teachings of Master Sawan Kirpal, Ajaib

Podere Valdivia, Ribolla 58027 Grosseto ( www.santbaniashram.it )

( www.santbani.hu ) mail: sirio12@interfree.it 

Invitation for the spring retreat (April 23, May 1) 

                                                                                                         

Satsang …

(Sirio) 

The Satsang, Darshan, Bhajans,

the Simran sung or done mentaly, Dhyan,

but what could be better? 

The air tastes like wine,

The sweetness is in the heart,

Light in the cells,

consciousness vibrates,

the mind is quiet,

but that could be better? 

Humanity is lost

because it is devoid of this food

consequently  the discontent reigns everywhere.

(Preganziol, 5. 02. 2011) 

Attention!

(Sirio) 

Attentive to what?

To all: the immanent and transcendent,

action and inaction,

to finally enter into deep meditation. 

Activate attention

Acting with total concentration,

Only in this way, life becomes a continual blessing

and His presence always acute

in movement and stillness.

(Preganziol, 5. 02. 2011) 

The body …

(Sirio) 

The body, mind, senses:

inseparable, intertwined,

do feed  each other,

do downgrade each other,

make  sick each other,

heal  each other,

certainly they do influence each other! 

We want to heal the body?

Let's  take care of our mind!

We want to treat our mind?

Let's take care of our body! 

They are inseparable,

take care of the one and the other will be fine;

damage one and the other one will also be damaged.

(Preganziol, 6. 02. 2011) 

The thrill

(Sirio) 

Thrilling, yerning for His Darshan

is what all mankind should be doing. 

And why not, we should also pray,

meditate, to contemplate His  shining face. 

Distract the mind from nagging thoughts

That invade us as untamed horses. 

Stop wanting the trivial world

Develop the spiritual eye to contemplate the Real. 

And also infuse in the soul such a sweetness

that may melt the heart in a pool of beauty. 

Love and even more to help all those who tired of the world

yearn to get out of this crazy ring-a-ring-o-roses. 

To move beyond, to the land of the pure ones

where do fall forever all the inner walls. 

Believe me,  we can do it if this priority

We have in the first place in our reality. 

 

 

Parmarath (spiritual practice)

(Baba Jaimal Singh ji … from  Spiritual Letters) 

Now I want to talk a little bit of Parmarath.

When you have free time enjoy a good night's sleep.

Before going to sleep divert the mind from all worldly desire.

Repeat Simran and concentrat Surat in the Sound;

listen with a longing.

You will feel the bliss of the Sound even if only briefly.

'Do this always when you have free time.

You inhale twenty-four thousand breaths each day, your free time

 should be used wisely and not wasted

by acts of fruitless nature be mundane or "spiritual."

So use them either to carry out your obligations to the work

Or meditate on the Light and Sound.

If you will keep the mind within the fence of Satguru's instructions

 then all your work: your employment and your

spiritual practice will occur spontaneously and harmoniously. 

Oh, great! I'm very glad that my Satguru have inspired me to comment one of the many letters written by Baba Jaimal Singh to Baba Sawan Singh in the ten years or so, of Their association.

For the unknowing ones Baba Jaimal Singh was the Satguru of Baba Sawan Singh because each Master had his Master and when it is not so then, poor them. Those gurus who have not had the good fortune of having had a spiritual instructor usually have a swollen ego up to bursting, not very different from those famous sports man, singers or actors who could open a shop of vanity. Yes, they each sing, or recite or do their sport while others teach some kind of meditation, but the substance, in my view, is not very different. So much pomp, the fake, so much vanity, so thirsty for money, luxury cars, mansions and luxury to live with air conditioning, finger rings that weigh more than the finger in which they are inserted,  bracelets so heavy that bend the arm, necklaces, Rolex collections, collections of Rolls Roys, Jaguar, Mercedes and so on and so forth to get where? Personal aircraft!

Then of course, some intelligent people are a little puzzled to see such things, do judge and condemns all gurus in general by considering every one the same. Of course, the most famous gurus  are of this kind and almost all the common people only hear about them. The real ones are very humble, simple, unsophisticated or not vain, although decent, sincere, and selfless individuals. Generally are not known because they do not like the advertising through the media.

Anyway, here we are examining the exemplary relationship between a perfect Satguru and a perfect Gurumuck. Nothing better than this special relation. "No father, no mother, no husband, no wife, no sons no doughters,  nor uncles and cousins ​​, nobody knows how to love with a sincere heart,  and selfless as  a Satguru may love a loving Gurumuck that relies entirely on Him and obeys  with pleasure his instructions.

One, in short, that takes to heart the sacred mission of his Master  doing his/her best to cooperate with him in bringing the messages or teachings of the masters to all those who are attracted to it and Him.  No doubt  Baba Sawan was such a disciple of Satguru who loved him with all his heart and soul and always considered him as the greatest thing in his life.

Just think about the meaning of the story that follows. On one occasion some missionaries… of course some Christian missionaries, those Christian missionaries who in their arrogance have always considered that other religions were inferior to their and have always sought, and seek to convert anyone to their  by making to them psychological violence  in various ways, if not physical . From North to South America with the natives of those geographical areas, with indigenous Africans, with the aborigines of Australia and New Zealand, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in India and … the story does not end here. Well two good missionaries of thi kind came  once  to Sawan ji at the Beas Station  and made ​​various applications. At some point, since were not having the beast, asked: "Who do you think is greater  Jesus, Guru Nanak, Kabir  or Baba Jaimal Singh?" He, with the intelligence of a typical real and practical parson said: "You see, I never met Jesus, Guru Nanak (who was the founder of the religion in which he was born) and Kabir, I do not know who they are, if you are able to bring them forward then I will compare them with my Satguru (Jaimal Ji ) and then I can tell you who is better. "Well, this is called practical intelligence! These religiones for centuries and millennia, continue to venerate the mythical people who do not even know how their face was, perhaps not even existed, but … they have been filling their head  with stories since they were born and consequently have become convinced that the founder of their Religion is the so-called only-begotten Son of God and that everyone else except him are "wolves in sheep's clothing."

To return to our two characters very real and concrete. Well, Baba  Jaimal in turn loved his devoted disciple in  an unparalleled way and by what emerges clearly from these letters it is obvious  that guided him and taught in every detail of his life: work, finances, family (wife and three children) and spiritual practice. Even told him how to dress: never to wear clothes that were not his and were given by someother and so on. All that holiday from his work Sawan ji used to spend at the ashram of his beloved Satguru, and only when the latter told him to visit for a few days his family went there and not otherwise.Now we have to understand that Baba Sawan lived hundreds of miles away from his family to earn his livelihood, and their, therefore, he wasn't coming back home at night, not at all! In the week end, no! He even  spent almost every holiday with his Master. So what was the relationship he had with His family? One may well ask. Not that kind of maniac  relationship that we are used to have in the West. Those  fiery and sticky relations  while it lasts sexual attraction, and then often becomes violent and hateful relationship when that passes and have to share a daily life without respect, without cooperation, without  true love that  is not sex, without direction towards  common spiritual goals: the search for Truth "

No, theirs was a relationship intended to collaboration, respect, with the intent to grow well their children, make them study and help them go through this existence in the most honest and dignified way possible. If we come to know the quality of the tree by tis fruits, then we can deduce that the education  Sawan ji and his wife gave their children was more than special because one knows very well that His children loved and revered Him as the living form of God Himself. They were good workers and great devotees at the same time: excellent satsangis. 

… "I want to speak of spiritual practice (Parmarath). When you have free time enjoy a good sleep, but before going to sleep divert the mind from all other thoughts, repeat Simran and then try connecting with the Sound Current. Listen to it with longing. You'll hear the sound and feel the bliss if only for a while. " 

Well, the first part of this precious letter shows this fatherly  wonderful relationship between the two: master and disciple, yes, but also Father and son. In fact, as a mother or a father advised Him to rest more on His free time and than to devote even more time for spiritual practices.

Ordinary people when they have free time do not know what else to do  to gratify their desires and wishes; disco with deafening rock or metal music  to stun themselves with it, but not only that,  alcohol and drugs of any kind to kill the boredom and forget about it -at least in the usual way-All  prey of the so-called "Saturday Night Fever." It seems that a quiet life is not possible because people are so empty that when they are alone with themselves and, perhaps, in silence, begin feeling going up a fit a crazy boredom or scary depression. Everyone likes the countryside, but only for an afternoon outing, no more!Otherwise I go into depression. Feeling good about yourself, alone, reading edifying books  and spiritually uplifting, a walk observing the peaceful nature and its continuous movement, to do Simran, sing bhajans and then sit in meditation, as here Baba ji says ,"To contact the Light and Sound in us": well for most humans seem inhuman "a waste of time."

Seechers after Truth must of necessity be different from all the people of this mundane world and should be content with simple things as the great pleasure of their lives will not be from sensory perception, but from the spiritual one. We are that swans separate the watery part of milk from the most nutritious and just swallow it, not crows that feed on carcasses of dead bodies found along the streets. What a difference between a crow and a swan! The latter seems so pure, so untoucheble for fear of contaminating him, so graceful, gliding around in the water, so royal that spontaneously in India is compared to the holy souls. In fact, the Masters are also called Paramhansa which means supreme swan. And the Magpies, how they are? Cunning and deceitful to death, always looking for every possible thing to swallow, moving in a clumsy and awkward, throwing rattling screams at all unpleasant to hear. I know them well because we see them a lot in Valdivita and are so smart and such thieves in the summer, when  fruit is ripe that they are able to take with their beak  a fruit while flying and mouve away without even stopping.

Well, most humans have the nature of the crow or magpie and only a few are hansa or swans, while very few get to be Paramhansa or Supreme Swan. What can be done,  neither Krishna, nor Buddha, nor Moses, nor Christ, Guru Nanak or Kabir  have managed to change the world, that was, is and like this will be for ever. It has never been and never will be a paradise. Yes, there may be times better or worse, a bit like the seasons of the year, but spring and summer are inevitably followed by autumn and winter. The history of quantum leap so praised by some members of the new age movement to me  are not very convincing,  at all. Humanity,  ready to go to a quantum leap of consciousness. That we have come to the great historical moment in which all humanity will be cast in a state of higher consciousness and true Light. But which humanity?  There is such a difference between humans that would be like saying a gnat or an ant, an eagle, a lion, a cow or a horse can all of a sudden disappear as such and  all of them turn as human beings. Maybe, but I don' belive it!

Well, here  Baba Ji, on the other hand, indicates to his beloved spiritual son Sawan ji  the lifestyle that he, as a genuine searcher of Truth, must live in order to have access to the bliss that comes from contact with the  God into expression Power that occurs as inner Light and Sound Corrent. Stand alone as much as possible, rest  and meditate doing Simran and listening to the Sound Current that he gives: This brings the blessing of God. It should not be done as rutin, not as a monotonous habit, feeling it as a burden, no! It must be done with yearning says our Jaimal ji. Without it certainly will not be, listened to and there will be no happiness, nor mystical rapture, ecstasy, of any kind. Besides, when  we meditated  with Sant Ji, He always told us that we should: 

"Do meditation with love, not considering it a burden because if done with love attracts some of the blessing of the Master and makes him happy." 

Whatever you do, if done with love, passion, yearning, becomes a great pleasure. Even washing dishes or cleaning the house if we do it with the fun of it will make us happy. The more  Meditation on the divine Links will make us happy, content and gratified. 

'Do this whenever you have free time. You inhale twenty-four thousand breaths a day, your free time should be used judiciously and not marred by acts of fruitless nature either  worldly or spiritual. " So use them or to carry out your obligations at work or for meditation on the Light and Sound. " 

The preciousness of time is certainly something to consider. Who uses his time well make their lives, those who use it badly devastat their lives. We lose so much precious time on frivolous, useless if not harmful actions. When the Master tells us to meditate at least two hours per day, we think, "But where shall I find the time to meditate so much? And yet we are ready to spend, throw away so many hours in idle talk, to criticize anyone and everybody with great pleasure, as if we were so perfect that one can sit on our teaching post and promote or rejected all. Here is a brush the famous saying of Yeshua (Jesus as a name for Him I do not like, I think is offensive): "Thou hypocrite who tries to remove the speck that is in your brother eye and you do not realize you have a beam in yours. " Indeed that is what everyone is doing and one of the main perverse pleasures of humans is precisely to blame, criticize, belittle, denigrate and so on. up to, if possible, destroy the other. While we, though  we are full of defects from head to tose we justify ourselves always, we reward ourselves, we justify ourselves and are never ready to do some introspection to become aware of these evil mechanisms that dominate us and try to eradicate them from our within.

Thus Baba ji tells us that our free time is precious and should not be marred by acts of   frivolous nature, worldly or spiritual. Well the nature of mundane acts  we saw in part, remain those of a spiritual nature. What does  He mean by acts of, I would say religious nature. Well  on the ath of theMasters  so much importance is given on the practice of Surat Shabd Yoga, namely: to establish the union with the divine Light and Sound Current in us. To these we add the key practical aids: singing devotional hymns written by Paramhansas, receive the darshan of Satguru  with a completely open heart, to surrender and be available, His precious Parshad, the constant repetition  of Simran while doing our daily work. Introspection, of course, to see a little how much our ego, lust, violence, greed, attachment, etc.. have subsided, have given up or not. These are the spiritual practices that are given consideration by the Masters, and religious rituals, repetitive and empty with no room for any spontaneous moment of inspiration that comes directly from an immediate perception of Truth, they are considered empty of meaning and f transmitters of a sense ofvacuum that has been seizing the church of today. And I must say, all religions are more or less the same even if the  one lived with less fervor is the religion of Western Europe and America. The Orientals know how to be more fervent, more spontaneous also within the fixed and rigid religious rules.

In this regard, enfasazing  this  idea I like quoting a phrase from Yogananda which, in my opinion expressis well this idea: "Make your mind free of theologic and dogmatic debris, let in the cool, healing waters of direct perception." Well, what else can be said to make the idea that I would like to highlight here? In short: Do a clean sweep of all these religions beliefs that you were taught since you were born, all the concepts about the nature or the absolute transcendence of God, all the doctrines related to it, all the absurd dogmas and so-called "mysteries of faith" , all the anecdotes and  phantasmagoric stories invented  about the fonders of this faiths , throw them all into the sea because they  clog the mind just as if they were: debris. Let the Supreme Truth in every moment to manifest to you as It sees fit, without any sort of mold conditioning. This is the freedom that everyone fears because without  strong beliefs that feed our selfishness and make us feel superior, which come from the tradition in which we were born: if we don't identify with the various areas: religious, social, cultural, familial, economic, etc., we feel lost, like, non entities. But this kind of entity is wholly illusory, self created, false, hypocritical, preventing us from refusing oll  concepts, all theology, doctrine, ideology, and to observe the Truth / Rality as spontaneously unfolds before our life without interpreting , conceptualizing.

Therefore, your precious time said Baba Ji  to Babu Sawan (as He was called during the life of his master) should not be wasted on fruitless acts of secular or religious nature, but can be dedicated to those practices that will help you reach Sach Khand (the Plan of Truth ). 

"If you will keep in mind the fence of the instructions of the Satguru, then all your work and  your spiritual practices will occur spontaneously and harmoniously." 

After being initiated by Satguru Kirpal, in the period of a year and a half that lasted our relationship guru / disciple, I wrote Him two letters to which He replied, as he always replied to everyone. However, one of his advice was this: "Listening to the Satsang acts as a protective fence around the young plant of Initiation." In essence Baba Jaimal ji here says the same thing to His disciple.

We all tend to modify the Master's teachings to our liking, to adapt them to our taste, our limits, so that after years and years on the Path we do not change one iota because we did not follow the teachings of the Satguru, but the twisted change we have made. Therefore, we continue to swim in a sea of troubles because we have around us, the protecting fence of the teachings of the Master as He gave them to us.

The teachings totally transform those who live them a hundred per cent and certeinly led him / her to the goal. If they are lived to the seventy,  fifty,  twenty or  0,1 then the transformation will be accordingly..

Lived a hundred percent, they (the teachings) will give total protection from any danger, grace is reduced to the percentage we have chosen.

Therefore it is up to us, we can choose according to our God-given potential how much we want to comply and be transformed by the teachings of Satguru. I have this theory: that we human beings come into this world with a certain potential, force horses, so to speak. So with an engine that has the strength of a horse, you may not do work that requires a force of three, six or ten. No! Otherwise it melts! It 's true that the strength increases with training so we can alter the strength with which we come into the world, ifwe train ourselves and do a sort of extension of our potential hours by the end of our spiritual training we could become an engine with more power  than we had in the begining.

However, what Baba Ji says here is very true: if we follow the teachings of the Master without altering them in any way then our life in the spirit and in the world would be something fantastic, magical, miraculous in astounding ways. When we saturate the mind with Simran, when we are full of devotion and love for the Master, when our meditation is a constant communion with the Light within us, then we are  transported to another plane of being, what I call the Plan of Enchantment, a miracle of perfect sinchronicity, in which everything is moved by a superior hand more intelligent and every thought, every word, every action is perfect and true according to current realities. In essence here as Baba ji says, "Everything happens in a spontaneous and harmonious way."

Thanks Baba Jaimal Singh ji, my spiritual grand-grandfather, Your valuable lessons have inspired me, and I hope will also be an inspiration to all who will read them later. You, really simple, not artifact, great meditator, pure and very real. 

Between meditation and Ayurvedic Massage

Florence, April 2, 2011 

I have spent and enjoyed  of a beautiful day with  Master Sirio in Florence, where he held a public meeting of three hours and then later worked for about four hours with ayurvedic massage.

At5.15 in the morning I left home to travel by train and arrive early – half an hour before the Satsang. Like a true loving father Sirio ji came to get me at the train central station in Florence  with Genny, the woman who organized the public Satsang. This thing has touched me and lifted my heart for the whole trip. The day before I was in agreement that I reached the place on foot as it very close, but the love and thoughtfulness of the Master and Father's is great. The place of Satsang is a beauty place in an old building of historic Florence. In the city center. Very elegant and clean. With high walls, a large courtyard with guard accompanying us to the front door. 

In the room – despite its small size-about fifteen guests are grouped around the Master ji, and some people sit outside the room. Without hesitation I sit next to Him and I feel honored to be able to be so closely. When all have arrived and settled down, Sirio ji began his speech with so much tranquility, which I reproduce in my diary in a very short reeds if authentic. 

(Sirio dev Ji) "Well, we're here to talk about meditation. What is meditation? Around and around the world there are a lot of different kinds. The most important thing to be able to meditate  is openness. If one is closed, you can not meditate. Let us therefore first of all open up and be available to receive and enjoy  this our meeting.

Be open and be confident of what we see and hear at first hand, what we experience subjectively. To be able to meditate, you should stop thinking, still the mind. That's not easy because of the way we are accustomed to live, because we let ourselves be overwhelmed by thousands of external affairs and we are always stuck on "what we were told by this or that person" consequntly, on the past, or fantasize and imagine how it should be or should go  our things tomorrow and all our programs, therefor always projected into the future. To meditate we should strive to be here, right now at this time. Here and now. There is only this moment. In ten minutes this building could collapse and we would disappear with it. So there is the  now only,  only the fleeting moment, as the saying goes. To create the right atmosphere I'm going to sing a bhajan written in Punjabi." 

Aja aja pyar Satguru – Come beloved Satguru come. I Sing with Him in the chorus and it is wonderful to connect to the  sound of His voice. As always, His singing transforms and sweeps away all tension. The air is no longer what it was before, and everyone seems to be amazed and intent to follow him. 

"The meditation we do is called Surat Shabd Yoga. Surat means attention, Shabd is the Light and  Yoga means union. So union of attention to the Divine Light. I always liked to think of God as truth. How many concepts are attributed to God; Too many theologies and doctrines. I have always believed in God as Truth until I met my Master Kirpal. When I met him, I naturally thought to have seen and met God within this man. 

To meditate you must assiduously cultivate  the attention. It's not something you do with your muscles, Through physical effort. Quite the contrary, stay relaxed and focus the attention. We are nothing but attention. Focus in the middle of the forehead, where  naturally gathers our attention. Look, when we close our eyes, we see a dark veil and the gaze goes at the center of the forehead. In all other parts of the body we should direct the attention, while at the center of the forehead it gathers  spontaneously. We focus on a name and a face of a loved one, a color, and remain there the more you can. Here come the thoughts, a preoccupation, and with patience we refer back to the center. You see itis saed that if you can stay focused in the center for a few minutes with the absence of thought and mind,  manifests the inner Light. We now experience life in a totally changed way,  and we can not be any more like we were before. Meditation is a subjective matter – everyone lives and sees  unique  and subjective experiences. Meditation is definitely a personal or subjective inner journey. The subject who diligently researches the object to become one with it. The subject that unites to become one with the  contemplated object." 

The Master then recounts with much love and transport the meeting he had with his Master Kirpal and what led him to search for it. His trip overland to India. And the effect He had by that unforgettable experience that overwhelmed his entire life. 

After about an hour and a half, the Master invites everyone to get comfortable and relaxing, with no muscle tension, close your eyes and try to practice what has been said in words.  He sang  from Guru Arjan Dev - Tu mere pita Tu mere mata - then again in Italian His own composition:  You are inside of me You're out of me, everywhere I look for you but you come when you want. He guides us in meditation and it is wonderful what comes out. An atmosphere full of light and energy overcharged. Everyone feels touched by the peace and brightness that Sirio Ji injected to all present including me. At the end of meditation there is a wonderful joy and all speak in general to have entered in a state of relaxation and inner happiness. 

Ji glad asks guests if they have questions. One boy asks, What was that first experience that led him to seek for a master. 

(Sirio Devji) "When I was young, I was happy. Joyful. I did not miss anything. Easily got what I liked and wanted. Then  at some point I fell into a dark condition. In that state where you see the darkness of life and there stands out this agly aspect everywhere right before your eyes. I was then given a book  by a friend about Buddhism, which originally was a philosophy not a religion. It was very inspired by that book in many ways, it hanswered many my questions. I felt much better, but my condition didn't complitely change. So when once I was again in that dark mood and I was sinking in this state I remembered a sentence I'd been reading some months before which saed:" life is nothing but love in reality there is no other, everything is love! or something like that, I do not remember exactly. In the repetition of the statement Icould go into a stunning upliftment by making a big jump. It was like tapping a spring and jump in an extraordinary state of consciousness. And then everything changes for me. I understood what was really important and what's superficial and unimportant.  I had such a clear perception abouth the porpose of my life which was ment to be finding God. Then after a while I felt the need to have a spiritual guide, otherwise I would have  been lost for sure, I'd be disoriented. And so began my spiritual history … that now has almost forty years." 

Sirio Ji blessed with love some candy to distribute to all as parshad (blessed food). 

After the public Satsang every visitor approaches to greet and thank closely. Then come to me as His assistant by asking questions or just greetings. 

At 13.30 Genny  accompanies Sirio ji  to the  Ayurveda workplace – and I follow him and I stay, where he is … for as long as he remains in that city. We eat a light lunch at a terrace outside the home of Connie, a dear friend of Master and Irena. While he was working, I stay in the company of Conny and children who happened to ask me how my meeting with the Master was and my spiritual life through His teachings. 

In the breaks between a massage and another I prepare and take to the Master Ji a good hot Indian Chai, and also offer it to people who come to seek treatment from Him. It is very nice to be helpful to the Master in practical things. In this house I met several women who come for the massage. I keep in touch with these friends-patients of the Master- going from meditation to Ayurvedic massage, I see the light of the Master on their face, I'm comfortable with them and they with me. I speak in a spontaneous way of their life and the daily torment, I listen to and remain immobile. Inspired by the heart and the Light in a spontaneous way, I sing  to Francesca, sitting on the ground, Sawan Dayalu ne, and it's amazing how we are united in the same wave of light. She gets the massage from the Master, while I meditated, but it's the same thing, we are nurished by the same energy. We are both beggars at His door  asking for Naam.

Here comes the Master on the terrace. He finished his work, I offer Him an extra Chai and his face is so happy to see me serve Him and others in a free and natural way.

At 19.30 the master departs. I regret a little. I wished that that day never ended. But unlike the other farewells, I notice that I'm getting a little stronger, maybe more grown up. I do not cry after His departure, as always happened in the early years, and is no longer so heartbreaking to part with Him physically. Maybe in two weeks I can see him again and  sit in front of his  pure and beautiful face? And before His soft smile? So it is.

I am grateful to genny for the excellent organization and cooperation, Conny for being so close and friendly to the Master Ji and the Divine Light that Sirio ji reppresents in life.

With a humble heart, Anna Ji.

Letter from an aspirant for Initiation.

Good morning Master

… Your last Satsang at your studio I had the chance to meditate alone with you. I was honored. I do not know why, but I think that many words are not worth a look or a feeling.The language is never what it seems and so often, the exchange of thoughts may be in silence. However, a library of books would not suffice to expressing my gratitude. I'll tell you anyway, and I imagine you have the insight, I had a very strong experience. I saw the whole environment swallowed by a white blanket, a benevolent powder, a steam emanating from your presence. You  have you  in Sant Kirpal Singh and Sant Ajaib Singh under my eyes, then become a single body, belonging to no one, to the Nonbeeing, maybe. Not only your physical body has been changed before my eyes, but on your skin, there has been gashes from which emerged a dark complexion. Your aura was very enphasized and fluorescent. On the couch, as if a very vivid shadow  was obliquely projecting your double. In normal perceptions in reality there was no shade. The form seemed made from a mold in which has been cast the gold of the sun. It shone bright and imperishable.Symbolically, I saw a great lion whose eye shoots a spark to the noble lost hearts  and brings them back to a primordial stillness.

I cried on the motorcicle all the way home because I was overwhelmed by this Your compassion and courage. I cried even for repentance after doubting the validity of the Way of the Masters. I pray still to understand more and more. I have also written letters longer than this, but then I binned because I think too many words are useless to describe the indescribable. However, rivers of pages would not be enough to say thanks.Therefore, from the depths of the soul, Maestro, Namaste.

I will continue to pray for my poor heart to banish my mind and have the humility to become more sincere and compassionate on the Way.

I look emotionally after the coming retreat, and in the meantime I will try to pray more hours a day.

Namaste again beloved Satguru

Guest Post by author Vishoka dasa~Worldwide popular author endorses Krishna and the Vedas

The following is a guest post by my author friend, Vishoka dasa, who is a great devotee of his mentor, Jayananda Thakur. I've read his book, The Beautiful life of Jayanada Thakur, and was very impressed by the style as well as the sincerity. Vishoka is currently working on a follow-up to that work, and I am fortunate to be helping with the line editing.

Vishoka ji began his years in the Hare Krishna movement at the temple in San Francisco during the early 1970′s, and Jayananda dasa was their leader, as they worshiped Krishna and did Guru Bhakti to their spiritual Master, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.  a resident of the New Vrindavan Krishna Community near Moundsville, WV.

At the end of the post are links to Vishoka's writings and to websites in memory of Jayananda dasa and to Srila Prabhupada.

As always, thanks for stopping by my blog. Please leave a comment if you are so inclined.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jayandanda Thakur

Worldwide popular author endorses Krishna and the Vedas:

Dan Brown stunned the literary world with his global phenomena, "The Da Vinci Code," with off-the-charts book sales all over the world. Brown is well known for his towering IQ and genius penmanship, and being a Harvard grad, his scientific vision is highly regarded by his readers. 

His next novel, "The Lost Symbol" has been eagerly received by fans over the world. In chapter 15 he makes major scientific postulations that "we have barely scratched the surface of our mental and spiritual capabilities," and, "the scientific wisdom of the ancients was staggering … modern physics is only now beginning to comprehend it all," and, "there will come a day when modern science begins in earnest to study the wisdom of the ancients … that will be the day that mankind begins to find answers to the big questions that still elude him."

In his narrative, Brown references Krishna and His Bhagavad-gita and the Upanisads. A comment is made by his female character, Katherine, that Krishna and Vyasa did not mention "multidimensional cosmological models." Perhaps so, the reason being that the ancient authors of the Vedas were not really concerned with the material world, but they gave extensive and detailed descriptions of the spiritual world, which is a multidimensional world of ultimate importance to mankind.

To give a crude example; a man reads a vacation brochure which describes an idyllic countryside with a lake full of swans and lotus flowers, and towering snow topped mountains in the horizon. And so the man books his vacation and travels by train through the mountains. On his way he is delayed at some train station, wherein the custodian, who works there, is fascinated with the station and he tells the vacationer all about the captivating details of the infrastructure of the station. He narrates of how some master architect designed the many intricate facets and nooks and crannies of the structure, and how incredibly interesting it all is. And so the custodian is going on and on about the glories of the terminal station, and meanwhile the traveler just listens in a polite mood, but he doesn't really care at all, because he is meditating on his destination which has superior qualities of many natural and beautiful wonders.

In the same way, the ancients in the Vedic tradition were not so interested in the complexities of the material world, which are in themselves very fascinating. Rather, they were mesmerized by the matchless wondrous details of the spiritual worlds, which are extensively described by the great teachers of Vedic truths to be the true goal of human perfection. The Vedic texts describe the material world as being the inferior nature, and the spiritual worlds as being the superior nature.

Unbeknownst to author Dan Brown, and hoping he will become aware of someday, is the erudite commentary of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta on the ancient text of "Sri Brahma-samhita," wherein the descriptions of the material world and the multi-faceted glories of the spiritual worlds are given in great detail, and which there is mention of multi-dimensional attributes of such worlds.

Krishna and His Vedas do not touch upon the modern physicist's hot topics of the day, which are theories of postulations that may be true, or may not be true. Reason being, they do not hold such topics as being very important information for mankind. What is really important information, that which is promulgated by Krishna and the Vedic scriptures, is the crucial fact of ultimate knowledge … being that we are spiritual beings separate from our material bodies … and we are constantly transmigrating from one body to another, and suffering in this material world, with fewer material pleasures. The highest goal of life, in their opinion, is to factually realize this spiritual information via the aid of a bona-fide spiritual master, and reach our real home in the spiritual sky. Knowledge of the physics of the material world will not help us in our ultimate journey back to the spiritual world of Lord Krishna's abode.

Hare Krishna ys Vishoka dasa.

More commentary –

The trick is to catch the train that goes straight back to the mountain resort [the spiritual world], but some of us get distracted at the train station, thinking the station is important business. So many trains come and go, but we get sidetracked at the gift shop or food court or arcadia room and other sense gratifications. A tendency is to try to fix station problems, spend too much time to make it better. Time is best utilized to preach about the resort to other travelers, tell them about the eternal world, and then we can catch the Garuda express and chant our way back home at the end of life. Whatever the situation is in the station, we simply deal with it, make choices that help others and ourselves, but at the end of the day, the train station is only a temporary pastime, and time will always run out at some point. At the time of death if we don't board the train back to the eternal resort in the sky and serve Krishna forever, we will catch another train again to some other temporary train station to deal with more illusory problems. Change of heart to love of Krishna is most important. Knowledge helps along the way, but often education will have the effect of making men more clever, as opposed to change of heart and loving God, which is the only ticket to board the Garuda express to go straight to Goloka.

Some of my links-

The Jayananda website -

http://vishoka.com/visoka/Jayananda/Jayananda_Website.htm

and

The Online Jayananda book with hyper text -

[hyper text is kind of fun  (: ]

http://vishoka.com/visoka/Jayananda/jayanet2.htm

and Gunga Express –

http://vishoka.com/visoka/Jayananda/gunga_express.htm

Glamorous Lords, a review of The Killer Angels, plus an original song

Hope you will enjoy my review of The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Also hope you'll enjoy the lyrics of my original song, Glamorous Lords at the end of the post.

As always, thanks for stopping by my blog. Please leave a comment if you're so inclined.           jesse s. hanson

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The Killer Angels

by Michael Shaara

THe Killer Angels

jesse hanson's review
Mar 23, 11  · 

bookshelves: books-i-ve-reviewed

status: Read from March 20 to 21, 2011

-Glamorous Lords-

It's hard to explain. There's a quote at the end of this book: "Thus ended the great American Civil War, which must upon the whole be considered the noblest and least avoidable of all the great mass conflicts of which till then there was record." –Winston Churchil, A History of the English Speaking Peoples.

I couldn't agree with that.

Everything in my being says that it wasn't handled right. The north just had a different way of handling it's slaves. It called them employees. Not only that, but during the "noblest and least avoidable conflict" the US Army was also busy exterminating the Native Americans to further the white man's God given dominion over the whole country. I guess we screwed up, losing part of Mexico and all. Will the real hypocrites please stand up!!

But the book is a page turner alright. Brilliant in capturing the simplicity of it all. A special note: I was surprised to see Lee portrayed as much less than perfect–deeply and vastly loved by his army, as well as the entire South, but much less than perfect.

Highly recommend this book. Draw or re-draw your own conclusions.

p.s. I've included this review on my blog http://jesseshanson.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/glamorous-lords-a-review-of-the-killer-angels-plus-an-original-song/ along with an original song of mine, Glamorous Lords, that was inspired by just such "noblest and least avoidable conflict"s. Oh well, Winston, no matter how great a man, in many ways, was a "Glamorous Lord", himself, no doubt.

 

GLAMOROUS LORDS

                                    Jesse S. Hanson

You speak so carelessly about death

As if there was only your part in it

And when the killing's finally over with

You wish to once again begin it

          All your wars, you mighty butchers

          Glamorous Lords, you find yourselves

          You break down doors, you private lookers

          Flesh and blood on swords is where your perversion dwells

They came like demons and they came like priests

They came like vampires in the darkness

In the names of gods and in the names of beasts

We fought and we fled and we became heartless

With colors flying and bright metal shining

The ground is shaking before the horde

Elephants and horses and dark angels riding

Beware the servants of the Lord

          All your wars, you mighty butchers

          Glamorous Lords, you find yourselves

          You break down doors, you private lookers

          Flesh and blood on swords is where your perversion dwells

Some speak of the past as if it's past

As if we are somehow above it

But they've gone to every corner, all unasked

Until there's no place left to love it

 Out of all the earthly six directions

A sound that for all who hear portends

For dominion lost in derelictions

And lost, it does not come back again

and lost, it does not come back again

and lost it does not come back…

come back again…