Picture: Two Medicine Lake
Having a guru-lineage in this culture, day and age is a tremendous boon to all those who have accepted it into their lives. When I met Mother I had heard of a guru, having read a story of a man meeting his guru I had thought, “That is what I need, to meet someone who has gone the way and can show me how to achieve realization.”
It seemed a very long time in looking, but in reality it was less than five months since reading that story before I met Mother. My desire was very strong and the spiritual crises I found myself in was very deep. Mother was totally unexpected to me, an American woman with a universal message that included strong overtones of the story of Christ. However, her spiritual power and her ability to lift me up whenever I saw her was a wonder and convinced me to my bones that she was my guru.
With time I discovered, first through Mother’s stories and then through their own writings, her guru Paramhansa Yogananda, her param-guru Sri Yukteswarji, her param-para guru Lahiri Mahasaya, and the heads of this guru lineage—Babaji and Jesus Christ. I was in awe! It took time to slowly assimilate the profound meanings of my relationship with these personages. Then we also had the powerful spiritual personalities of Papa Ramdas, Mother Krishnabai and Swami Satchidananda—there seemed no limit to the spiritual riches that was simply handed to me, to us.
In writing about this now I melt in gratitude, knowing that I am a nothing in the light of these exalted beings. As I melt I merge in the oceanic bliss of cosmic Spirit. The mind drops to its knees in acknowledgement that it cannot possibly fathom such profundity. To one who has not come into real contact with this kind of relationship my experiences will simply sound incomprehensible, however to those who have known a true guru relationship, there is a kindredness of spirit in shared humility and powerful transformation.
When Mother asked me to teach she taught me to relay my inner experiences to the world. I felt shy in doing so for these experiences are what are most near and dear to me. It can be painful to relate what is most intimate to one’s heart and soul and have it not comprehended or misunderstood. That fear is now long past for me, for I know that those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will find truth in what I say; for others there is nothing lost because they will go on with their lives none the worse off and I will know joy in finding others, or even just one, who will be inspired by what I say. I know this transformation occurs because I feel the power of truth in me and I know truth has the ability to awaken itself in others.
In fact, words are too small to hold my meaning, however those who receive the spirit that inspires the words will receive both words and spirit and be lifted up into higher regions of thought and spiritual consciousness. When Reverend Bob Raymer first met Master, Sri Yoganandaji repeated the names of the gurus in his ear. Bob was unfamiliar with the sounds of these exotic names and had no idea of what he was saying, but he never forgot the whispers of the master.
I too hear those names whispered into my ear by some mystic means as Master repeats, “Sri Yukteswarji, Lahiri Mahasaya, supreme master Babaji.” In those words, I hear the echo of infinity. In saying this, is it madness to think others may hear endless, unfathomable bliss in this ecstatic Reality? Oh, I know there is ground prepared, and even new ground being prepared for these seeds to find rich soil in which shared visions of infinity merge us all into one Reality.
It is in this loving Spirit that I send out on etheric waves the untold blessings that come with inner attunement to our beloved param-para guru-lineage. We are blessed beyond comprehension through our deepened connection with these God-tuned beings—perfected in the fires of testing and blazing with the pure Light of Divine Consciousness.
Health Update: As we have been living in Nature’s Cathedrals this body has grown in strength and endurance. Hikes along lakesides with powerful glacier cut peaks above, vivid-colored alpine spring flowers at our feet, powerful waterfalls surging and pounding their way in freefall running past us, this has been just what the inner doctor ordered. Thank you for your positive, loving, prayerful thoughts; they truly make a difference. We are now making our way back from Glacier National Park. I highly recommend the experience to anyone who feels the inclination to go. A very happy observation has been the quality of young people working as park rangers. They have been universally positive, informative, and proud to wear the green and gray colors and distinctive hat of being a park ranger.