Best Birthday Present

Yogacharya David

Palm Canyon

Picture: Nature’s Living Cathedral, Palm Canyon

Wordlessly a command came to all four in our wandering group, sit here and meditate. Rick, Judy, Carla and I all find repose in a copse of California Fan Palm Trees; a cool respite from a warm sun-baked day. I am spontaneously drawn within, the body and surroundings fade from consciousness as peace envelopes my receptive soul.

This place, Palm Canyon, had been a Native American habitat for many hundreds, perhaps thousands of years; an oasis in the midst of a harsh desert environment. There are places in nature that have pure powerful uplifting currents systemic to their nature. Other places have been the haunts of saints and realized beings that take on their vibration, and that feeling remains. Then there are places that are a combination of both, natural temples that are supported by holy men and women who find it conducive being in a salubrious environment, and making it even more so through their own uplifted states of minds.

An Agua Caliente Cahuilla (Kaw-we-ah) woman had talked about picking up a stone, and the thought that one of her ancestors could have picked up that same stone hundreds of years ago denoted to her an unbroken continuity of time and spirit. To have such a feeling for a place, connecting you with tribe, ancestors, and unity of spirit is a long step towards experiencing the unifying Spirit that ties individual consciousness to the Supreme Consciousness of Omnipresence and Omniscience.

The wind is now whispering to us as it blows through the Fan Palm leaves. We are caressed and held in the sacred feeling of this place. Mother Hamilton came right here in 1958 and also experienced its extraordinary nature. Thus, even as the Cahuilla woman felt her commonality with ancestors when picking up a rock, we experience it too in Mother’s spirit seeping into the peace and tranquility we feel; spanning the decades and making us feel her near. While God is known to be equally present everywhere in His creation, He seems to be more “equally present” in some places than others!

In contrast to this uplifting vibrancy there are definitely places that hold a negative, dark, even evil vibration as well. One day I took a walk in a park that had been a monastery. An outdoor temple was carved in a nook. As I approached the rustic altar, available to the public, I felt a dark, evil wall of energy. Definite thought impressions: this altar had been used earlier for black magic ceremonies, and its residue left an ugly aura behind; immature souls looking to bolster sagging egos.

And now, what a blessing it is to be here, in this sacred place, giving and receiving holy breath; a living cathedral. As we evolve as a race of mankind it is ennobling to think of raising this planet’s consciousness into the highest realms of Spirit; a heaven in and on earth. We begin with our homes, then places we go, both in nature and in the busy marts of man. However, for me, today, there is no better birthday present than to be here in this place of pilgrimage, with Mother and now with all of you in this home of deepest shanti-peace.

Birthday Greetings

Yogacharya David

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Picture: Climbing yesterday on Ladders Trail in Painted Canyon in southern California

Being it is my birthday I have been put into a mood of remembrance. My first memory for the life of this body begins with being in the womb of my mother. I remember the sounds of her heartbeat, the comfort of the womb. I was also aware of who I was as a soul. I had foreknowledge of aspects of my life to come, and recent memories of what my life was before coming into this body. I knew that this life would be difficult compared to the life I had before, and I had some trepidation about it.

Other memories come in. The difficulties I anticipated were of a more psychological and spiritual nature, for my physical needs were taken care of, though I found being in the physical body a challenge compared to the light body I had before. I had a loving mother and a dutiful father, two older brothers who seemed to live in a different world, being just that much older than I.

I remember our family’s first television, when a “play date” consisted of our mother throwing us out of the house and telling us not to come back in until lunch. Tether ball games at the neighbors, basketball in the driveway, playing catch by the hour imagining being Yogi Berra or Roger Maris of my favorite New York Yankees. There was the excitement of the first color television and Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, and watching the Beetles for the first time on Ed Sullivan’s “Really Big Shew.” Imagination turned the whole house into a flying saucer, and made me a general of armies with strategies to plan. Getting up early to watch rockets take off from Cape Canaveral, then almost with held breath watching the first steps taken on the moon.

Then there was my first car, a jeep inherited from my older brother, then in the Marines. Playing baseball, football and wrestling were major themes, unfortunately academics were ignored (one teacher commented that I did more work trying to get out of doing school work than if I just did it, and I rejoined, that was true, but it was more fun this way! What could he do? Not until college and I was paying for my education did I take it seriously and had to make up for all those lessons I had not learned earlier!

The first time I “fell in love” took me into a new world. The break up of that love took me into another new world that had been germinating all my life, a spiritual awakening. It was not my second birth, but it was the dedicated gestation period to being born again that would take many years to accomplish. Learning to drive a semi-truck, moving to the west side of the mountains, working for a year or so then going to one more year of college as I could afford it, traveling to Europe and Africa, and of course meeting Mother Hamilton which stands above all other life-experiences.

It is amazing now to slide in review over so many years, consolidating so many experiences. Life takes on an entirely new view when seen from the rear view mirror, smoothing out bumps, soothing wounds, and clarifying lessons. What seemed an eternity of time then, seems only a blip on the screen now; remembered but pacified. One other thing, all these experiences now are placed in a context of meaning that was oftentimes absent at the time. I see the great adventure of this life as refining and purifying consciousness, to make it ready for a true New Birth.

And this is the great lesson for me, from the time I was in my mother’s womb to today, the meaning of life found in the evolution of consciousness and its ultimate merging with Divine Consciousness. And really, it is finding union with the Divine that places all life-experience into its proper role. All life serves one ultimate, glorious purpose that makes it all worthwhile. And that is what is monumentally clear to me as I turn 62.

Overcoming Fear and Anger

Yogacharya David

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Picture: Boondocking in the desert

There are tests that come to all people regardless of their belief system or spiritual development. Highly realized souls can take on the world’s “sins” (errors) in ways that others cannot due to their identification with God. Some imagine that realizing God will be the end of all challenges, however God has become everything there is, and therefore there is nothing outside of His purview or that of His beloved ones.

When you are in intimate connection with God how can you not also know His creation; the good, the bad, and the ugly. The difference for the realized Master is the certain knowledge that God is his, and he is God’s. Normally souls become deluded when they meet the bad or the ugly. In this delusion there is felt to be a vast separation between the soul, the world, and God.

Recently I came up against a case of murderous anger in a soul; in reality this anger stemmed from a deep fear. In self-absorption this individual felt the world was not meeting his or her needs. Such anger and fear is not uncommon, but how sad it is when it results in a looping dialogue for which there is no solution. It is because fear and anger are emotionally charged and self-sustaining; if there is a change in one area of dissatisfaction in life then another will crop up that will be found to be equally dissatisfying. Thus fear and anger leads to a never-ending cycle. This person’s anger clung to me, like cigarette smoke permeates clothes and hair and everything it touches.

The real solution is to realize the Divine Intention behind all the world’s activities, even the bad and ugly. With this solution alone a peace that surpasses all understanding comes into the heart and soul; a peace unshakable. Without this solution fear and anger will corrupt the soul, making it ugly and distorted beyond the recognition of its original design by the Creator.

This solution of knowing God must come to every soul, and it begins with genuine surrender and humility. A heartfelt prayer must ask for Divine intervention to let go of all fear and anger. Then with one’s whole thought, feeling and will he or she must align individual will with Divine Will.

As I witnessed firsthand with both Mother and Swami Satchidananda a spiritual life is not hiding from the difficult parts of life and all of its complexities, rather it is often putting yourself right into the middle of it. The difference is that you have now placed yourself on God’s side, there is no separation, and that makes all the difference. As I placed this individual’s anger at the feet of God, lit some incense and gave it all to Him, the residue left me, leaving only peace and compassion.

If you have not yet realized God fully, it means you are harboring fear and/or anger that does not allow you to experience this surpassingly beautiful peace. Expose your innermost workings before God, surrender all that you knowingly or unknowingly are keeping for yourself, then lay it all at the feet of your infinite Beloved. Experience His peace as never before, then you will go on to be a Light unto this world.

Health Update: All is going along very well in our continued pilgrimage; we are in a beautiful desert on the border of Joshua Tree National Park south entrance. Rick and Judy are our close neighbors; we are boondocking on BLM land under a full moon and magnificent star-scape.

The question came to me early this morning, “How do I create a mental image to direct my body on a cellular level, and continue to be tumor free?” I have had a generalized thought of Light flowing into the affected area, but that did not seem to be sufficiently powerful; I knew I needed something more specific.

I thought of white blood cells, the body’s combat ready soldiers to cordon off and destroy the microscopic cells that do not belong. Even more powerful are the “special unit” soldiers, “take no prisoner” combatants, the battle hardened killer T cells. Killer T cells can drill holes into the seemingly impervious cancer cells and with repeated penetration the cancer cells collapse and die. Visualizing these white and killer T cells surrounding and killing cancer cells and prohibiting them from migrating elsewhere has given my mind a useful and powerful focus. I see these soldiers of the immune system filled with an inner Light of Divine power and energy; taking the fight to cells that do not belong! Yes, that will do nicely.

P.S. Please keep Lois Hickenbottom (a kriyaban and my sister-in-law) in your prayers. This last week it was confirmed that she has a cancerous tumor in her colon. The medical opinion at this time is that the surgical removal of the tumor may be all that is needed at this point; more will be known after the procedure. May all souls strive for and attain perfect health in the body, mind and Spirit!  

Living In the Present

Yogacharya David

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Picture: Lake Mead from campsite the morning after the storm.

We have returned to our pilgrimage south and rejoined our “Heaven on Wheels” tour of North America. I do not consider it a break from our pilgrimage that we should have returned to Camano Island for surgery and treatement, only that pilgrimage has taken us on twists and turns not anticipated.

Thanks to Rick and Judy our RV was in excellent shape on our return to Lake Mead campground. We were, in fact, just parked feet away from where we had last left it, only in a fenced storage area, and now we are camped nextdoor at Boulder Beach overlooking Lake Mead.

It is interesting how the mind processes the past in the here and now. It is as if the surgery just 10 weeks ago today and the subsequent recovery was but a dream. When at Anandashram we sat with Swami Satchidananda out in a cultivated field on facing concrete seats made for our daily visits. Swamiji led us in the song, “Row, row, row your boats, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream.” Those were sweet moments, and when taken deep witihin, this song is very meaningful.  

Our higher human brain functions mean that we can ruminate more on the past and spend more time anticipating the future. While these functions enable us more far-ranging thought, it can come at a price as well. Past experiences, especially traumas, can loop in the brain like a film played over and over, creating new feelings of distress every time it plays as if it is all happening again. Our anticipation of the future can take an obsseisive turn in which we think of what is to come; when it is a happy thought then we are happy, but when they are troublesome thoughts then we become very anxious.

This focus on the past and the future can absolutely rob us of the the present. God-experience occurs only in the present; it also heals us of past trauma and anticipates being wrapt in the Divine Presence, always. God-experience places both future and past into its right perspective, and gives us the great joy of living in the present.

There are some who never find joy from living in the present. Instead, they heap loads of trouble borrowed from the past, and imagined anxiety from the future, feeling that life is an unbearable burden. Is there no place, then, for anticipating what life may bring? Of course we benefit from preparing for what may come. However, there is huge distance between living in constant angst, and responding to a concern for what is coming.

Last night a storm came through. In anticipation we placed outdoor chairs under cover and did all we could to prepare for wind and rain. That preparation was done in the here and now, and while preparing we sang the Name of God (or we could have sung, “row, row, row your boat!”), feeling joy in the activity. And when the storm came we felt we were wrapt in the warm protection of the Divine Presence. Then when cleaning up after the storm this early morning I also sang God’s Name, feeling joy in doing what needed to be done.

As Jesus of Nazareth asked, can you grow taller by anxious thought? We may need a shot of adrenaline now and then to accomplish some task, but constant anxiety is such an aweful waste. Let us learn to have God-experience here, now. Watch how the here and now God-experience lends a halo of peace and joy to both the past and the future. In this way the omnipresence of the Infinite glows from every nook and crany of your mind and life-experience. Now peace, love and joy are your constant and abiding companions through every moment of every day for your pilgrimage through life!

Quiet Determination

Yogacharya David

 

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Picture: Quiet determination to bring about the transformation of Man

A devotee was telling me about her sister who had had cancer. After her treatment was over the staff wanted to leave her port in, just in case the cancer returned and they would need its use again. The sister said absolutely not, the cancer was not going to come back!

She then turned to me and said, “I have not heard that kind of statement from you.” I told her that I had that as a mental attitude, but that God had not confirmed that there would be no new cancerous growths. However, her statement has made me consider the subject about making a bold declaration that cancer would not return.

I thought about my mindset; the way I have felt guided in making decisions about treatment and ways to focus my mind. I made note that my whole orientation has been to remove the tumors, and now that is done to research, inwardly and outwardly, into what I can do to keep this body tumor free.

I have not had a port, nor has there been occasion that required me to make a bold decision that would proclaim an absolute faith in being cancer free into the future. So what do I say?

As I thought this over, I came to realize that my attitude, and how I have felt guided by Divine Will, is a quiet determination to remain cancer free. Tumors do not belong in this body, they are destructive to this body, and I reject their presence!

One of my mantras has been, “I have a clear mind (memory and concentration were affected by the anemia), I have clear vision (also affected by the anemia), and I have a clear abdominal cavity (past location of tumors).” My memory, concentration and vision have all vastly improved and the tumors are gone. When I say the word “clear” I experience Light and life-force sweeping through, making all clean, clear and operating at its highest caliber.

Since childhood I have had the sense my life would really begin when I turned fifty, and I would live until my eighties. It is true that my life took on new dimensions that made me live in a completely new way when I started my sixth decade, and it continues to resonate that living into my eighties seems right.

It is not in my nature to make bold proclamations, but this quiet determination has been more of my style in life, and continues to be so now. There is no part of me that feels that life is over; I will love astonishing my oncologist by having a long life! Without a hint of defeatism, I am at peace, surrendering the results to God.

For many people surrender means defeat, but not for the devotee of God. For the devotee surrender means being in the loving care of a most beneficent God who will see to it that every part of life is fulfilled for the highest good of all. I stand in that Light and rejoice over the opportunity to live life to its fullest, to be His servant every moment of every day, and surrender my life at His sacred feet.

Post Note: I do hope you are not tired of reading about my journey to perfect health. I do not see it as my journey alone, but that this is a description of all journeys in life, encapsulated in the clothing of this narrative. The choice of attitude we face life’s challenges with is what is common to all of us. I have heard from many of you that you have valued my descriptions and have received benefit from them. I will only say that my intention is not to focus undue attention upon this body, but to see it as a paradigm for inner attunement to the one living God and the spiritual Masters we have been blessed by who have walked this earth.

P.P.S. Carla and I leave for Boulder City Nevada early Sunday morning where we will once again begin our southern pilgrimage. We will return March 15 in time for the first vaccine injection and for Easter celebration here on Camano Isl.

 

 

The Sword Is In Krishna’s Hand

Yogacharya David

 

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Picture: Krishna dancing on the head of the poisonous snake Kaliya

The internal journey of a life is where life is really lived, for it is the creator of all activities. It may come as a surprise to many how much of an internal life we have, even as infants and small children. In fact it is only through conditioning by this world that mental reflection is sometimes blocked out, in favor of living a life that is simply reactive to the conditions of this world.

It is in the practice of meditation we come up against how conditioned we are by this world. Even when in a safe meditation place the mind races with preoccupations of this world: “What happened yesterday? What will happen today? A careful recall of things that happened years ago (or lifetimes ago). What will happen years from now?” All these thoughts can fill your mind when your whole intention is to become still in the here and now.

In these past weeks I have been absorbing what doctors have been telling me, what different books and people are saying; taking it all in and digesting it for possible future action. In addition I have been witness to how this mind and body are reacting to all of this information.

When I focus on the condition of the body in the here and now, I feel fine. I know that it can take some months for the anemia to completely right itself, but I can walk up hills and run on my rebounder each day with a building endurance that replicates times of past good health. My incision is healing very nicely and there are no tumors. Life is good.

In the midst of all of this is what doctors tell me is a looming problem, what the oncologist called the sword of Damocles. Now, in the story the sword of Damocles is held by a hair and hangs over the head of the king; it may give way at any moment. The other day I was running on the rebounder, listening to a song about Krishna and looking at a beautiful picture I have of the Master. Suddenly a mental image came to me of the sword of Damocles above me, and instead of hanging by a hair it was held by smiling Krishna. How lovely is that!

The reality is that facts are not always truth. The fact is there is a statistical probability of new tumors growing. The truth is, no one knows for sure. Another truth is that the mind is a powerful player in health; hope, faith, love and trust all enhance the health of the body. Also, there are healthy habits of eating and exercise that helps create an inhospitable body (what one researcher calls the “terrain”) for cancer cells.

So, first of all, I choose God (smiling Krishna is in charge of the sword), I choose empowerment of choice for healthy habits, I choose love, and I choose to continue to learn, grow, serve and to be happy!

There are many examples of people who live long lives unfulfilled and unhappy. There are other examples of those who had shorter lives but were quite the opposite, in fact they changed the world in infinitely better ways. The lives of Jesus, Adi Shankaracharya, St. Francis, Swami Rama Tirtha, the “Little Flower” St. Teresa, and Swami Vivekananda may have been short, but oh what lives they lived!

The sword is in Krishna’s hand, and while I am here I will sing, and dance, and serve, and be in the joy of God for all the days of my life. And who knows, God may not be done with me yet!

 

Mother’s Silver Anniversary

Yogacharya David
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Picture: Mother’s Silver Anniversary Card

What a joy it has been to mark the Silver Anniversary of Mother Hamilton’s Mahasamadhi. As the saying goes, Many hands make light work. Larry designed a card to mark the occasion; Jill created a beautiful cake for the potluck along with all the devotees whose loving contributions made for a delicious lunch after service.

However, what stands out most for me from the day is the feeling of Mother’s presence; her thoughts and her love pervading the Service and the day. I had the thought that I should say something about Mother’s place in history and her role in the evolution of world-consciousness, but in the moment that seems distant compared to her loving intimate divine presence; the cherished merging of Guru and disciple.

It often happens that when giving a spiritual talk I am keenly aware of Mother’s thoughts and spiritual power in close connection to my own. That presence has all the hallmarks of God’s Presence, only it has the unmistakable print of Mother’s personality and consciousness upon it. It is a most remarkable communion with Mother that manifests all the purity, wisdom and power of unalloyed God-consciousness.

And this is part and parcel of Mother’s teachings and life example; you must strive to overcome ego in order to know God, and when that is accomplished then it is God who manifests as the Divine Ego. This is described in the Mystical Crucifixion when Jesus gives up the ghost (the ego) and returns with the power of the Holy Ghost (or the Divine Ego).

The Divine Ego is enabled to manifest all the attributes of God; for then, in truth it may be said, “I and Thou are one.” This great event is a tremendous boon to the world, for it brings all the purity of God into this physical realm in ways that are unique. Mother was, and is, just such a blessing for this world.

For all those who recognize the truth of Mother’s existence a deep and personal blessing is theirs. Through inner attunement Mother’s love, wisdom and power are available. Just as a radio can receive messages from invisible signals, and a transmitter can broadcast the same, so built within a human being a soul may receive and broadcast spiritual consciousness.

The source of that power may come from a spiritually charged place on earth such as an ashram or a holy site; it can also be derived from making connection with an embodied or transcendent spiritual Being, or directly from the Source-Being of God. An attuned receiver may in turn become a transmitter, sending out those blessings to all the earth. It is a fact that we all have that capacity; only at this time most individuals are filled with radio-static of worldly concerns and attachments.

By going deep into meditation, setting aside all limitations and knowing God you may be just such a receiver/transmitter. All the wisdom of God, all the love, joy and bliss may be yours, and you may in turn give that same Spirit to one and to all. There would be nothing more pleasing to Mother or any of the great spiritual Masters this world has ever known than for you to follow in their footsteps and become what they became; for there is no limit to God’s power, love and wisdom.

The more joy you manifest the more joy Mother feels for you, and adds to her already superabundant joy! So let us honor Mother’s life and teachings today and everyday by being all that we are meant to be in divine consciousness, until we merge our little selves in the universal Divine Being, God, even as Mother did.

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Jill’s cake offering to Mother topped with rose petals

 

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