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Picture: Lahiri Mahasaya drawing of chakras that represent the three bodies connecting to the Supreme Consciousness

There are advanced stages of meditation in which consciousness effortlessly synchronizes with any one of the three bodies or beyond. Self-mastery is the freedom to move between body awareness with ease. An intellectual may do this when he or she loses awareness of the physical body, or is only vaguely aware of it, and performs a thought experiment. A healer may be aware of life-energy as it moves through in waves or currents from the healer’s body to the healed. The spiritual man or woman phases from the physical, astral or causal bodies and enters a spiritual state of Being that is beyond all three lower bodies. 

These bodies and the spiritual I speak of are not merely theoretical, but practical and very real experiences that are known to the advanced spiritual scientist. Master spoke of the ability to concentrate, and that concentration is required for success in any field of endeavor. One may learn to concentrate on any subject of study, and when concentration is used to focus on God, it is called meditation.

One does not usually need training to focus on the physical plane of consciousness, for this is the ordinary state of most people on the planet. When someone wishes to learn to meditate, he is challenged with memories and projections of the mind from this material plane as daydreams. Suddenly you are thinking of what happened before and what may happen in the future in this world. Imagination, or the ability to create mental images, may also become creative and generate imaginative daydreams.

By continued practice of meditation you may be aware of the life-energy in either a static form, as your astral body, or in kinetic motion. As an astral body, you are filled with a wonderful, vibrating hum of life-energy units, or life-trons, that make up you astral form. Consistent with life-energy creating a form or a body, it also flows directionally or multi-directionally. This life-tron, or prana, is responsive to your will, and also has an intelligence of its own that can dictate what it does and where it goes. Artists, healers and musicians are often aware to some degree of life-trons and are inspired by the astral body and the use of life-energy.

As concentration advances in meditation practice one becomes aware of the idea plane of consciousness. Here deep concentration takes the practitioner beyond the physical preoccupations of this world, and beyond the energy-astral body. There are many theoretical scientists that can perform thought experiments in which various scenarios are thought out. This theoretical thought experiment can then be tested in some form and the accuracy of the experiment can be verified. Builders, engineers, creative types of all walks can be proficient in shifting to the idea realm. Einstein was famous for stopping in the middle of doing something and phasing out of the material realm and into a thought-field wherein he performed a thought experiment—oftentimes to the bewilderment of those around him.

The spiritual scientist’s aim is to go beyond these three bodies or states of consciousness. The physical, astral-energetic and causal-idea bodies are seen as barriers to the entry into a supreme state of Being. The advanced practitioner may instantly phase out of the physical body and phase in to the spiritual. Here the limits of the three bodies no longer pertains, rather there is an expansive freedom in which even an idea is limiting. This freedom is pervaded by a feeling of purity, and while thought is transcended, awareness if very much intact. In this purity is a sublime exaltation—bliss is all-pervasive. So, expansiveness, purity, bliss, and pure awareness are the realities of this spiritual state of being, or God-consciousness.

In this state the constantly restless nature experienced in the lower three bodies finds rest, perfect equilibrium. After being in this high state for some time and enjoying this bliss, a thought may come from that highest consciousness. Only now the thought does not create restlessness, rather the thought is in perfect harmony with highest divinity. From this thought, life-energy may flow as creation, and thought and life-energy may move through the physical body. In all three bodies there is a knowing connection that comes from the highest state of consciousness—a phasing in of the spiritual still-state of the highest consciousness that expresses itself in one, two or three of the lower bodies. The eyes open and the same astral, causal and spiritual states are now all seen as manifesting in the world as all there is; God is known to be all-pervading.

This phasing out of the three bodies in meditation is necessary in order to rise above the three bodies and be established in the highest God-consciousness. Once that is attained, if Divine Will wishes it so, then that highest Source of all that is creates through you by actively manifesting in the three bodies. God creates through you, and as a result you maintain your connection with God even while living in a physical body. In this way the spiritual scientist proves through practical experience that one may be on intimate terms with the Creator and be one with God.  

Picture: Mother–A shining Light of Purpose

Knowing your purpose in life is a remarkably important thing to realize, and to fulfill—for purpose is closely tied to life itself. Every soul has taken incarnation with purpose—its intension for ways to live, grow and learn. If any one of us becomes divorced from our purpose then it induces a crises—it may be a full-scale life threatening crises, or a simmering undertow that is a drag on your energies and sense of fulfillment.

Purpose does not necessarily mean something lofty or otherworldly, for many coming into this life, purpose is very down to earth. I had friends in high school who knew exactly what they wanted to do in life: to be a welder, a truckdriver, get married and raise a family, a physical therapist, a lawyer, a friend who traded stock on paper because he had no money to invest at the time, a doctor etc. Then there were other kids who were much more general in thinking: go to college and figure out their purpose, go to work for one of the better paying companies nearby, and some who took jobs after high school at what they could get. And some kids were stumbling down into dark places of alcohol and drugs, with little direction other than to get high.

It seemed everyone had some kind of purpose they were pursuing—except perhaps for me, and I was in crises. Since I seemed to be alone in the crises I kept it to myself and continued to do some of the things the world expected of me; work and college. My father had dreamed of going into the business that my grandfather had started, and he did—he was one with a strong sense of purpose in life from the start. For me, it is strange to say, the world did not seem to offer what I needed. But, I lived in this world and the world has its demands for survival, and there was no other vision or world in my sights at the time.

In hindsight I can see that I was drawn by a guiding intelligence which gradually revealed my purpose. At first it was an inarticulate knowing, and through sporadic experiences it started to form into something more focused. My Guru drew me to herself and she gave me the template for a blazing purpose, much of which was far beyond my grasp at the time—she was both a distant guiding star and she lit the ground in front of me to take learning-steps into a new world.

My purpose was not more important than my friend who was to become a welder, or my father who grew a business, or anyone else who was in step with their true purpose in life. What is important, even essential, is that each person is in step with his or her own purpose, and that this purpose is life affirming and growth producing. There are those whose choices lead to dark places that are neither life affirming or growth producing—these become lost souls that may wonder in self-produced kinds of hells, moving from one painful existence to another until that pain induces them to reconsider their choices and move toward the light of positive purpose inherent in all souls. Ultimately every individual is led to the Light of his or her own soul—as Elizabeth Haich said, “Eternity is long enough!”

Others may live lives pulled along by the current of the world, doing what others do until they come to a point where they realize they have lived their lives according to the expectations of others and do not really know their true purpose. For some, purpose changes in life, and what had been a clear purpose earlier now no longer fits. This change can require painful adjustments at the time to keep in synch with the soul’s purpose.

Happy is the person who is in harmony with his or her soul’s purpose. Knowing and living out that purpose does not mean there are no challenges, quite often it is just the opposite. A clear purpose may intentionally put you into situations that stretch you to the utmost, but you are exactly where you are meant to be. Nor does it mean that from a worldly standpoint you are an outstanding success. Krishna told Arjuna to engage in the battle, and even if he is killed on the field he is a spiritual success because he is doing what he had come to do. Sometimes, to be in harmony with purpose collides with what others think you should be doing, and that collision may result in disappointment, hurt and anger. This cannot be helped when you are obeying your true purpose. You may trust that when it comes to fulfilling your true purpose, it will ultimately be for everyone’s highest good.

To know and follow your true purpose is the greatest adventure, for the soul’s ultimate purpose leads you to your spiritual Home, God-realization. For those who are awakened to this spiritual purpose there is no reason to stand in judgement of those who are seeking to fulfill more earthly goals, as long as that is their true purpose—you can take joy in seeing that a soul is seeking out what is truly theirs to do. Just as you can affirm that, even when your soul’s purpose takes you out of the common ways of this world, you are exactly where you need to be and you may rightfully feel joy in knowing that you are fulfilling your true purpose.      

Earlier this week our dear Treva Koler left the body. Treva is mother of Reverend Larry Koler and a kriyaban; she has been a member of our Seattle Group for these past forty years. Treva has seven children, and a recent family gathering counted nearly forty family members; amazing to think from two to 37 in a lifetime. Treva was 90 years old when she peacefully passed, surrounded by family. Until the end she had an active intelligence and keen awareness.  

For the past many years when seeing Treva after a Service she always approached me with a beautiful smile, and I felt God’s great love flowing through me for her. She always had some piece of news she had seen in the papers or on television that she found interesting and spoke of with animation, or she would cut out some humorous cartoon to share with me that she found funny and insightful. When she first came to Mother Hamilton, Mother would often observe with admiration that Treva had raised her seven children—for many years she did so on her own due to circumstances outside her control. Mother, herself a single mother of three for many years, spoke very highly of Treva. Most of her children went on to earn college degrees and became successful adults—a great achievement.

Treva performed a wonderful service for us when she drove to Shoreline and Mt. Vernon to help Carla organize Mother’s Talks. We were in the early stages of getting Mother’s Talks ready for publishing and Treva’s commitment and organizing skills made a significant contribution to that end—methodically sorting, labeling and checking titles against lists. She would arrive and after we had some pleasant conversation she would get right to work and be steady at it until Carla prepared lunch, then she would continue working steady until it was time to go. She was conscientious and detailed and could be relied on to keep things sorted—attributes I am sure she honed while working for many years in a doctor’s office.

I do not think Treva would mind my sharing an experience she once had. While giving birth to one of her children Treva died. Between the time she died and was revived she had what is now called a near death experience. During the time her body was dead she found herself in a beautiful field, and what she felt was so perfect she never wanted to leave. Then she thought of her small children who needed her, and with great reluctance she knew she needed to return for them; at that moment she was aware she was back in the hospital room and heard the doctor say, “She’s breathing again!” She thought to herself, “Oh, shoot!”, sorry to have left that place of peace and beauty.

Like many who reach the autumn and winter time of life, Treva had a persistent question, “Why am I still here?” It was a question that did not leave her alone and speaks to something we all must wrestle with. For many years it can seem our lives follow along a certain track: education, work, raising a family, looking to accumulate enough to see us through the rest of our lives. Treva always had a strong desire to do what was correct, a moral and dharmic sense for right action. So, when life became less about doing for others in the family and at work, it left the question, “Why am I here?” Which relates to the question, “Who am I?” “Is there purpose beyond these normal tracks of life, which can seem to run out before physical life does?” Ultimately, this is a spiritual question, and one we are greatly benefited to make inquiry into and find an answer from the deeper Self—sooner rather than later. 

I will miss our dear Treva whose bright and inquiring mind always brought forward some new subject, her willingness to serve, and whose legacy of family will carry on far into the future. I know she was ready to move on into her new life, and she will be surprised by how many there are to greet her in welcome. She was looking forward to seeing her father once again—but she is greatly loved by many—both on this side of veil and the other.  

Picture: The Calm in the Storm

A weekend with a house full of children and Family Day on Saturday is a reminder of a life of constant activity, children full of life-energy, having multiple things going on at the same time—in other words, what is more or less organized-chaos.

I have certainly lived with this fulltime at earlier times in this life, and while I feel joy in such circumstances, I realize that it can make finding quiet times a challenge, especially for busy parents. Then, there is the problem that such noise and life-energy all around you can be so stimulating, that though you may dream of peace and quiet, the moment you can have it you find things to do to get things going again—there can be an addictive quality to being rajasic, always being stimulated.

To find a quiet-center-place within you, to be an observer and a witness to the play, all the while being a participant in life and playing the role you have been assigned gives you internal balance. This quiet in the storm connects with your breath and the heart. Anxiousness and desire-nature disturbs this equilibrium, and your task is to learn to attune mind and body to an inner-steady-calm. This should not be imagined as a season-less life, that knows no ups or downs—if that were the case then you would not be participating in life, only observing it. But, you find a place inside that is the calm center even as events are churning all around you.

This requires real spiritual practice. In moments while meditating you find it, then it begins to generalize to when you are participating fully in the world. At such times a sudden feeling of peace fills you, and you realize, “This is one of those magic-moments.” Love fills your heart and overflows to all the world. At such times as these you touch the hem of God—fears and craving-desires subside—life is perfect.

Ah, to be in this state always is a dream come true. And, this is the promise of the spiritually illumined: the world is created out of the fabric of bliss, and it is also part and parcel of your innermost nature—it is yours to discover if you but make the effort to do so.

You need this balance in life: to be in the still-static-state of inward calm, and to be an active participant. In the stillness you know your eternal connection with pure Spirit, God. From that oneness with God you express God’s fullness of Spirit in thought, word and action as you move from moment to moment in your life. That is why you put God first, because when you create in life as God creates, you begin by being ensconced in Spirit, then Spirit flows naturally as creation. When creation has fulfilled its purpose, then all form is withdrawn back into the Infinite.

One way to think of this: you begin your day in meditation, focused on God until you make contact. Then you enter into your day feeling that peace and joy in activity. At the end of the day you meditate on God, withdrawing all the day’s activities back into God-consciousness. In this way you replicate in a micro-sense what God does in the macrocosm.

You need not despair that you live in organized-chaos, rather you need only find the balance in life that anchors you in the Divine; giving your life a higher meaning and an inner source of joy that is not dependent on there being smooth waters around you. It is veritably God living His life in your form, and He loves the life He creates; for at each stage of creation He pronounced, “It is Good.” To truly know this you must, of course, be in harmony with His will. As you thus harmonize, you will find that you are truly made up of the fabric of God, and it is so woven into your being that you and He are inseparable–even in the midst of organized-chaos.

Picture: Mother with her children: Billie, Mother, Gari, and Barbara

By these manifold activities, Lahiri Mahasaya sought to answer the common challenge: “After performing one’s business and social duties, where is the time for devotional meditation?” The harmoniously balanced life of the great householder-guru became the silent inspiration of thousands of questioning hearts. Earning only a modest salary, thrifty, unostentatious, accessible to all, the master carried on naturally and happily in the path of worldly life. (Autobiography of a Yogi; p. 204)

Upon meeting his Sat-guru, Lahiri Mahasaya felt he wanted to stay in the Himalayas with Babaji and company, but his role was to be different—to prove to all that a householder, a future father-to-be and office worker could also be a fully illumined spiritual master. Sri Yukteswarji also had a householder role for many years as did Mother Hamilton. Each one faced the common challenge of how to balance an active life in the world along with the requirement for spiritual discipline that deepens contact with God.

While each had their unique challenges, and each had their own ways of dealing with them, so did they rise to the challenges and go all the way to complete realization. It is tempting to imagine that if you did not have family responsibilities how much easier it would be to focus on God, yet my pilgrimages around this world have shown to me that monks and renunciants do not necessarily make great spiritual progress, even though that is their stated purpose.

Here is a question-answer time in one of Mother’s Talks, when her daughter, a young mother at the time, brought up an important point:

Mother: Now, what are some of the other obstacles to keeping your attention upon God? Yes, Billie?

Billie: Being exhausted. [Mother’s laughter here.] Meditation when your kids are still awake, or waiting ‘til you’re half dead and you’re asleep.

Mother: Well, it is very difficult, I know, when you’re raising youngsters and the exhaustion is an obstacle. I’ve been through all these things, so I have understanding about them; but nevertheless, if your love for God and your Guru is great enough—and I include that because of what I experienced with my own Guru. My love for him was so tremendous! I was so glued to God in him that I was meditating upon his form, upon him, all the days of my life—morning, noon, night and in between. And I think that I probably have lived one of the busiest lives that anybody could. I was lucky if I got four and five hours of sleep a night for years! I had children too, and I had to go out and work for 35 years straight. And it wasn’t exactly what you would call easy or simple to find time to meditate. So I learned to meditate through keeping my consciousness upon God in my Guru—of loving him, of serving him, of putting forth everything that I could to promote his work; to speak to different people whenever I had an opening, a foothold, and all this sort of thing.

Marriage and family are essential parts of a healthy, functioning society. We have seen the damage from families that have not properly formed, or those that have not stayed together—damage to children and adults both. To have a spiritual core to the family makes such a difference. Although this does not guarantee all will go smoothly, it does promise that whatever individual and collective karma there is to go through will be greatly helped when a spiritual core is made and kept in the family.

Children will ultimately respect what parents respect. It doesn’t mean that children will always follow their parent’s spiritual path, but a seed is planted in the child’s mind that will remain—sometimes dormant and sometimes coming to full fruition in this life. We can think spiritual parents will assure that children will behave, be ok, not have major obstacles, but that does not respect the child’s own karma he or she has come with, or free will. It is beautiful when children do feel spiritual kinship with their parents and family, but that is always an individualistic choice. Even a spiritual seed that lies dormant in a soul for years or even lifetimes will ultimately greatly benefit a soul—who knows how many such examples we have had over many lifetimes that culminate in our focus upon, and desire for, God alone?

Each of us must find our balance in family life, to give unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s. (Mark 12:17) To love and care for those who God has given to us, and all the while be free of the idea that “I am the doer,” and attachment to outcomes. What makes us know we are making progress? It is the increasing spiritual freedom we experience even while discharging our worldly duties. Whether it is running a company or washing the dishes, we feel God’s Presence with us—His strength, joy and wisdom flowing through us at all times. The family home is our ashram, and just like a monk’s ashram, the everyday chores must still be done, food selected and lovingly prepared, work that supplies the needs for food, shelter and more, as well as working through the rough edges of interrelationships that rub up against one another. Our home is our ashram, and what makes it so is our love, dedication and surrender to God. 

Let us love the life God has given us, and while we can make plans to build a future that serves us perfectly, we also love life in the process—what we have right here, in this place and at this time. The love and gratitude for what you have now opens the door for God to create through you all He wishes to express in your life. And His will for you, even when it challenges you to your core, is in truth pure ananda-joy. His love, His wisdom thoughts, His bliss are not for some distant future in your life, but are with you even now when you are fully open to it. This is what was discovered by Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswarji and Mother while living in their family-ashrams. This life is a voyage of God-discovery, and your family is not a distraction, but the very means by which you attain the universal vision.

 

 

 

 

My dear Ones,

There are times when I seem to be not quite of this world. In seeking to serve God and Gurus, I am finding They take me on diverse roads of Their own making. This poem below expresses some of what I experience, and what I most fervently want–that we all share in this heavenly kingdom that Mother, Master, Jesus, Babaji, and all great masters have all come to inspire us to seek by sharing their Light with us. Even though I am not giving a Talk this morning, know that I am with you in Spirit, and like the mariner in harbor who feels the power of the ebbing tide and first senses the wind that will fill his sails, so am I pulled out to the ocean of infinite bliss.

Spirit Calls

I soar upon wings of bliss;

Circumferenced never,

Open, clear, expansive, and joyful–

Oh what remarkable freedom is mine!

 

It is the bliss long-sought, a freedom hard-won.

How many years in the making?

How many tears shed in sorrow?

Only to discover the keys to freedom

were in my hands all the time!

 

Now I soar and soar and soar.

Sometimes my feet touch the ground,

Other times I am born of the air–

No tethers, no gravity, and no limits.

 

Whether of the earth or of the air

I serve the Infinite One–

And with fire He scorches,

Removing ignorance from this world.

 

Dear ones, let us soar together;

Successfully fighting the worldly-gravity that binds,

And be as one with our Infinite Beloved.

For even now, the Song of Spirit is calling to us all.

 

 

Picture: Garuda is the eagle who carries Vishnu–his powerful wings and clear purpose do not allow stall points.

In the life of a sadhaka there can come plateaus—times when it seems there is no progress. This is a sign that you have run up against an inner obstacle of some sort. Not all obstacles come in the form freight trains that run you over, many come in dark whispers or stuck energy; these signs are a call to action.

There are any number of reasons you get stuck, usually it entails a cooling off of your intensity in your spiritual practice combined with a vulnerable spot in your psyche. The simple fact that you have separation from Divine Consciousness means that you will encounter oppositional forces along the way. Some are mental, others emotional and some are physical/material—and usually they come in some combination of all three.

 When an airplane is taking off and has not gained enough altitude, a stall in power will cause the plane to drop to the ground like a rock. However, if there is enough altitude, then the plane can gain speed and recover from an impending crash. In sadhana the aspirant may have a “drop off in power” when there is not enough focus in spiritual practice to keep climbing. If there has not been enough progress gained, then ignorance clouds around the devotee and he or she crashes to the ground—it is as if there had never been a spiritual pursuit to begin with, or it feels that it was something done in some distant past. If the aspirant has gained enough spiritual altitude, then with renewed effort he or she may start to climb again—and if the spiritual effort is not made, no matter the altitude, then that one will lose all that had been gained.

That is why as soon as you are aware of being stalled you must make a sincere and intense effort to put your mind back on God. You sense the stall and a lack of progress when feeling inwardly neutral, or there is a growing desire-nature for this world that outdistances your desire for God. When you are aware of these counter-feelings you fiercely cut away all oppositional thoughts and desires the moment they show up, avoiding temptations you chant God’s name and meditate until God-contact is made—these are the ways that you can power through a stall.

When your soul is once again humming in tune with Spirit, point out to yourself how real your current spiritual freedom feels. Compare this true independence to the ephemeral freedom the senses promised you. Work through your mind scenarios in which the false premises of the senses lead to imprisonment in endless sense entanglements. Then feel the bliss and freedom of God and compare its superior attributes to materialistic and sensual pleasures. Educate your mind to realize that the oppositional forces often come in the guise of a friend, but in fact they destroy lasting happiness and bring you restlessness.  

Full realization comes when every part of you knows God and there are no dark corners of opposition left. Then you can no longer stall or crash, for every part of you knows the truth and you will never have even the slightest desire to trade that freedom for anything else—it simply makes no sense to you to do so on any level.