Barnashram

"All I'm Offering You is the Truth"

2012-02-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

"Lift me up out of this illusion, Lord.

Heal my perception,

that I may know only reality."

I read this quote the other day (I'll tell you who by in a moment) and was nearly brought to tears. What more could we possibly and truly want? However, as many people know, Truth often comes at a very high cost. Jesus said, "The Truth will set you free." He didn't say it would make you happy or fulfill all your wants. It sets you free. In India, the word for 'enlightenment' is Moksha or Mukti, literally meaning liberated or freed. It is not so much the airy fairy groovy world that people think it is, but rather the space of absolute freedom from all your preconceived ideas, your hopes and dreams; all the things that make your life "Your Life".

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna's final instruction to Arjuna is Sarvadharman parityajya - "Abandon all your dharmas! Dharma, is typically translated as Religion or path, but the root of dharma is 'dhr', which means to hold or grasp. Traditionally, the thing people hold (or perhaps held) on to most strongly were their religious convictions. But in this case, Krishna is telling Arjuna to completely abandon (parityajya) everything (sarva) that he is holding on to. Not some of it, or the parts you don't like, but to abandon every idea, concept, thought, hope, that one is grasping to. That might even include the idea that Enlightenment or Liberation is something special.

This is why I am so moved by the above quote by the comedian Bill Hicks. If you are familiar with his work, you know that he was no saint. When speaking of the 'Powers that be', such as the government, corporations, advertisers, AND all those who blindly follow them, he would make such endearing comments as "YOU SUCK SATAN'S COCK!!!" Much like Eldridge Cleaver pointed out in the 60's, you're either part of the solution or you ARE part of the problem. So many people want only the good bits and not the bad bits. They want the eggs of the Golden Goose, but don't want to feed it or clean up it's shit. This is ILLUSION.

The Bhagavat Purana states: asa hi paramam duhkham nairasyam paramam sukham - "Hope/desire is the greatest misery; Freedom from hope/desire is the supreme happiness." Buddha made a similar point is his Fourfold Truths - that there is suffering and a way out of suffering and that suffering is caused by desire.

This prayer by Bill Hicks suggests something higher. It is saying, "I no longer wish to live in the world of illusion, to be blinded by what I want or think is right or correct. I want to be healed of these illusions and delusions. I want to know what is TRUE and REAL." Unfortunately, the truth is often painful, even exceedingly so. And I believe this is why so many people now are suffering. I often ask people if they can think of anyone who is truly happy. I have yet to come up with a name. Perhaps this is why 10 percent of the US Population is on antidepressant drugs, and only 1 out of 3 people who are severely depressed are on drugs. When you total that up, it means that close to a third of the U.S. population is depressed! Of course that's not hard to imagine when you know that a woman commit suicide every 90 minutes, and one attempts suicide every 78 seconds!!! That there are nearly 1,000,000 suicides per year and for each successful suicide there are as many as 100 who consider it.

Like Morpheus says to Neo in the movie the Matrix while offering him the red or blue pills, "All I'm offering you is the truth." And what happened? He ended up in a hellish world, eating gruel and wearing worn out clothes and fighting 'the Machine' world.

So how much different is it now? What's the truth now? The truth is we can't live the way were living. We are being systematically lied to by the government, the corporations, the pharmaceutical companies, and the media. We are being poisoned by radiation, chemtrails, fluoride, genetically modified foods. We are taught in schools to be obedient, to sit in one place for 8 hours doing what we're told. And once you're in college, they charge you a king's ransom to learn this useless shit. When we comply with the mainstream views of the world, even a little, we are committing homicide and suicide. When you pay taxes, more than 50% of your money goes to defense! That means you are paying to kill innocent people. Our so-called 'modern conveniences' are convenient at the cost of the planet, the waters, the air, the earth itself, and all of its creatures. When we eat meat, we are not only killing BILLIONS of animals, we are assisting in one of the greatest causes of global starvation and pollution. When we listen to the media (even much of the so-called education or alternative media) we are being fed lies, or at the very least concepts and cultural beliefs that just aren't true. When we vote for nearly any politician (and yes, there are a very few exceptions), we are voting for liars who, for the most part, really in truly don't give a rat's ass for you in the least. There are even politicians now who REFUSE to speak to their constituents! I mean, think about it. Why would anyone really want to be a politician? Because they want to help the world, or because they want the power to put forth their beliefs, and they want shitloads of money (which they don't get as pay, by the way).

Our entire civilization is based on an illusion called money. Remember, those pieces of paper and coins have little or no intrinsic value. They represent value. And now that there is no gold or silver standard, money represents ???? It represents nothing. It represents an idea of value. It is totally another illusion. And yet we base our whole lives upon it. How much do I have? How much do I need? I don't have enough. We're short this month. Do I buy food or medicine this month?

So, we live amidst these illusions, most of them fed to us, but without the discriminating intelligence to see through or beyond them. We choose to maintain our illusions for comforts sake. Who wants to accept that much of how they live and what they support is wrong? Who wants to know truth when lies are so much more comfortable? As Krishnamurti said, "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." And yet, that's what we are. We are addicted to totally destructive and sick civilization, one that cannot last much longer. Look in history, virtually every civilization has eventually collapsed under it's own weight. Our collapse is coming soon.

I totally understand that many of these truths, when you really delve into them, are not in the least attractive. Far better, it seems sometimes, to maintain the illusion. To return to the Matrix, like Cipher, "Why oh why did I take the blue pill," and made arrangements with the machine to be reinserted into the illusion. The vast majority of us, like the billions of innocents trapped by the machines in the Matrix, have no desire to know the truth, enjoy being trapped in the illusion or Plato's Cave.

So, what to do? If you are sincere about Truth, then pray as Bill Hicks did:

Lift me up out of this illusion, Lord. Heal my perception, that I may know only reality.

You are NOT the Body

2012-01-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

"In reality, there is no death because you are not the body. Let the body be there or not be there, your existence is always there; it is eternal." - Nisargadatta Maharaja

The other day I was reading somewhere that some Christians actually believe that you ARE the body. This is part of the reason behind burial - you need your body in the resurrection.

Now to me, this is about as absurd as you can get. There is a common saying these days that 'we are not a physical person having a spiritual experience, but rather spiritual entities having a material experience.' We HAVE bodies. They are there. We ride around in them like riding in an automobile. Now, if you knew someone who thought that they were their car, you'd probably want to put them in a looney bin. It's like thinking you're Napoleon Bonaparte or something. "Hi! Like my shiny body and my ragtop convertible? Wanna see my moonroof?" Of course, some people are so attached to their cars that they almost fall into this category. But in most cases you can convince them that the car is, at best, a possession, not what they are.

Similarly, the idea that we ARE the body is patently absurd. I mean, how often do we say, "I body?" We say "my body". Very simple. We are AWARE of our body, when it feels good, when it feels bad, and so on. We are aware of when our car is running well or running bad, and we take care of it. (Honestly, I have not been all that good in maintaining my personal "Aja" vehicle, but in large part, that has been as Nisargadatta (and nearly all Eastern scriptures) point out - Let the body be there or not be there! However, in order to live like this, you actually have to RECOGNIZE this reality.

The first part of this is hearing it. When I lived in the temples as a student, we heard it consistently, again and again, every day.... "You are NOT the body, you are Spirit." After awhile you begin to have an understanding of this. It works its way into your consciousness and, somehow, you know this to be true. This is the actual beginning of spiritual life.

After you have heard it sufficiently, and you understand it, then it must become a living reality. How is this done? By consistently inquiring, "Am I this body? What is this 'I AM'?" Normally we are totally aware OF our body, our senses, our mind, but we have to turn this awareness around to that which IS Awareness. In other words, we have to be Aware of Awareness Itself. This is what Nisargadatta spoke of as abiding in the "I AM" or Ramana Maharshi referred to as abiding in the Self. However, this takes effort. Most people involved in Advaitic (non-dual) types of philosophies have a tendency (particularly in this age of radical entitlement) to think it will just come instantly, easily and spontaneously. Ramana Maharshi, however, says this:

"Effortless & choiceless awareness is our real nature. If we can attain that state and abide in it, that is all right. But one cannot reach it without effort, the effort of deliberate meditation. All the age old vasanas (inherent tendencies) turn the mind outward to external objects. All such thoughts have to be given up and the mind turned inwards and that, for most people, requires effort."

Here he refers to age old tendencies, in other words, habits. Nearly everything we do is a matter of habits, and the most continuous habit is the habit of looking outward. We do it virtually 24 hours a day. Some people take 5 minutes, 30 minutes, even an hour or two a day to go inward. But imagine the old two dish balancing scale. If 95% of the time you are weighing down one side and 5% of the day you are weighing down the other. Which do you think will win.

Nisargadatta said it took him 3 years of constantly resting as the "I AM." Others have said it also took them 2 or 3 years or more, inquiring within, resting as the Self, abiding as Consciousness, for 10, 12 or more hours every day.

Why do people, who are truly serious about their spiritual growth, so often go to the forest, mountains, caves, etc. to spend years in solitary spiritual endeavors? Even hundreds and thousands of years ago when simple village life was even a distraction. How hard to you think it is today when virtually all of the society, media, government, and even the vast majority of your friends and family are trying to persuade you to enjoy your body and senses.

When I was a teenager (oh so many years ago), my mother always wanted to know why I did that "Contemplating your navel thing." (That was the common expression back in the 60's for someone who meditated or did spiritual things.) Of course, by the time she passed away, they found Course in Miracles books and tapes around her. I have the one book, "Love is letting go of Fear" within which she had been underlining various passages and scribbling her own notes in the margins.

So, don't let the environment dissuade you. What do you want? Benjamin Franklin said, "Who is rich? He who is content. Who is content? NOBODY." As long as you identify as being your body, you can never be content. How can you? Like the car, it will eventually break down, get a flat, a scrape, blow out the engine. The body is temporary. Only a fool would think that the body is permanent. Even in the Vedic literature where it speaks of 'Immortals", there is only a handful of them: Vyasadeva, Parasurama, Ashvattama, and a few more. So, the reality is that this body is dust, sooner or later.

There is a story of a sage who lived beside the ocean. He simply stood on the shore day after day. The sage was extremely hairy. One day, an individual came and said, "I see you sitting here day after day, in the scorching sun and the pouring rain. Why don't you build a shelter or hut." The sage explained, "You see my hairy body? Each day of Brahma (4.32 billion years!) I lose one of my hair. When every one of my hairs has fallen out, this body will pass. So you see, it is very temporary. Why should I bother with building a shelter when in a short time, there will be no need?"

That is the attitude of one who seriously understands that they are not the body. Our time here is extremely limited, and even a half a moment can not be bought back for millions (billions or trillions) of dollars. Why waste our time in simply trying to satisfy the senses which even the most common animal can do (without any kind of societal restrictions). Why not, instead, do that which only the human being (homo sapiens sapiens - man who knows he know), can do - inquire into the True Nature of the Self.

Remember... We are human BEings, not human DOings.

IT'S JUST A RIDE!

2011-10-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it, you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are... And it's fun, for a while... Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: 'Is this real? Or is this just a ride?' And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and they say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid -- ever -- because... this is just a ride...'

And we kill those people."

- Bill Hicks (1961-1994)

I love this cartoon as it perfectly depicts a favorite analogy of mine... Imagine that you're thrown from an airplane and you are plummeting downward...without a parachute. Now, you've already been thrown, there's nothing you can do about that. You WILL hit the ground - there's nothing you can do about that either. So what ARE your options here, eh???

They are essentially depicted by the two characters riding together on the roller coaster ride: You can either be terrified, horrified, worry, fight to stop it, try to figure it out, bitch about it, try desperately to control it, fix it, make it better, OR.... You can just "Enjoy the ride!" I mean, hell, you've got 35,000 feet to enjoy the most incredible experience ever imaginable.

This pretty much defines life. You've been 'born'. In other words, you're already here. Not much you can do about that. You ARE going to die. Thousands of years of history, billions of people, numerous philosophies and religions have reminded us of it, yet to a large extent we are in denial of that reality - in denial to the extent that we are convinced it is a bad thing. It's not a bad thing or a good thing. It just is! At some point, be in a few moments from now or decades or centuries from now, there's a pretty good chance that's you AIN'T gonna be here no more. You'll be dead, deceased, morte, toast, no more, pushing up daisies, or in this analogy, a big squishy spot on the ground.

So, again, check out the picture. Which one are you?

All right. Now lets take this from another angle, sort of. What are you doing with your life and why? And one more question - How seriously are you taking your life? Is your life expressing some incredible desire or need? Are you desperately trying to create a life that conforms to some idea of what you THINK it should be? (Including the possibility of not dying?) Are you seeking to make your life some kind of perfect thing - whatever that means to you - famous, beautiful, wealthy, supremely enlightened, stupendously genius-like, or anything else? Hey, that's cool! Whatever it is, that's cool! Really! But remember.... It's just a ride. It will either happen or it won't. Bottom line!!! You might have it fall into your lap like nothing, or you could strive your entire life and never even get close. Either one is okay. Why? Because it's just a ride, and in the end, as much as you think you do, you really DON'T have much control over it. And even if you do, what will you have in the end? A big squishy spot somewhere when you 'Hit' the earth. So, what will you have accomplished. I mean, think about it. There have been billions of people here over the millenia. How many have you heard of? How many have really made that big of impact?

Recently, I came across a recording of my Spiritual Master. He was asked by the interviewer, "What is the purpose of life?" (You know, one of those little questions.)

His response struck me....

"To Enjoy!"

Initially this struck me as odd, and actually spun my head a little, as we had to follow one of the strictest spiritual regimens of any spiritual group. But the reality is that there is more than one way to enjoy. In other words, there ARE certain things that are given and there's nothing you can do about them. For instance, here, in this phenomenal realm, generally everyone is working according to the desires of their own ego, their own self-interest. You have close to 7 billion people on the planet, each with their own agenda. They are never all going to be fulfilled, if for no other reason that some agendas are in direct opposition to others agendas. Your agenda may be that we're all cool and do your own thing and be happy. My agenda may be to screw your agenda up, control you and make you miserable. (This is to a large extent why the Occupy movement is currently going on - see blog on this below.)

The answer: - Enjoy Life! Don't take it too seriously. Or DO take it seriously, but ENJOY taking it SERIOUSLY. Or even worry about it, but ENJOY worrying about it. Huh? I know that to some of you, that may not make sense. How can I enjoy my life being crap? Chances are you can't, but what are your options, eh? (You're gonna hit the bottom.) Another way of looking at it is as the sage Nisargadatta Maharaj said, "You are unhappy because you want what you don't have and don't want what you do have. Simply turn those two around. So, you can still fight for right, try to live forever, seek to know God, try to feed the world, or even just sit around being a complete asshole. But whatever is occurring, enjoy it. If you don't want to do that, do something else and enjoy it! If you want to seek enlightenment, then by all means, do so... and enjoy it. Don't make it a journey of misery. You're doing what you want. If you are in fact totally and completely happy being a jerk, enjoy being a jerk (says Buzzkill Baba). What does our Declaration of Independence say? "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

And if ultimately, you just can't seem to get that happiness thing down, then at least remember....

IT'S JUST A RIDE!!!!

Now, I'd like to introduce you to the beautiful and brilliant comic genius who spoke the quote above. In fact, I'm going to offer you TWO videos of the same exact bit, the famous It's just a ride routine. The first, is of him actually on stage. The second is his voice with a typographical visual instead of his image. If I were you, I'd watch BOTH (several times... let it sink it)

AND.....

ENJOY!!

Health Update on Aja

2011-10-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

In the name of Hypocrites, doctors have invented the most exquisite form of torture ever known to man: survival.

- Edward Everett Hale

(Preface to this blog entry: To many of you this may be simply an unnecessary update on one weird guy's physical/mental/emotional stuff. To those friends/family/students etc. who may have been wondering "What the hell is up with Aja?", this may give some clue. More philosophical/spiritual blogs are coming in the VERY near future - I promise.)

Ooh Ooh, so where to begin? I feel that it is first quite important to understand, if you don't already, my stand on life and death: the body is born and the body dies...YOU don't. This isn't simply a mental or intellectual concept, but from my standpoint, a living reality. I am Consciousness, an infinite Presence in which the body and personality of Aja arises. Therefore, what happens to the Aja body, is of less significance than it is to most people on the planet who deeply identify as BEING their body. (I might add here that this is NOT the place to leave comments on how I am wrong! It is for you to understand, in part, why this progressed to this level.

About 5 or 6 years ago, I began to markedly decrease my teaching, doing so less and less, especially over the last couple years, until, at present the time, I have virtually stopped teaching altogether, even no longer allowing students to come here for counselings, etc. There are essentially two intricately interwoven reasons for this: First was my rapidly declining health. Although I didn't look that different, I was feeling terrible. I had no strength or energy, couldn't walk more than 15 or 20 feet without having to sit down, experiencing essentially continuous pain in many areas of my body..... Secondly, I was growing tired of teaching people who showed no signs of actually wanting to hear the truth, but rather argue with it, or continue their lives unchanged, but expecting some miraculous transformation simply by hearing about it.... the proverbial eat their cake and have it too. This isn't to say that I don't love those people, but repeating the same thing over and over simply to have it dismissed wore on me deeply, and now in hindsight I think, took it's toll very significantly on a physical/emotional level.

Anyway, at the current time, I have become debilitated to the point of feeling like a virtual invalid. The litany of symptoms is so great that it sounds like you're discussing someone literally on the verge of death....a 90 year old body that is really only 57. The question became: Was I surrendering to the fact that the body was dying, or was I 'willing' it? particularly in light of the facts that, living or dying to me made no particularly difference, AND in looking around at what was happening in the world, the incredible apathy, narcissism, entitlement, lack of true spiritual ideals, and on and on and on, there was no question that my 'preference' was not to be here. I was just waiting for the warden to open the prison gates and say, "Okay, you've served your time. You can go Home now."

This has, however, become totally unacceptable to my dear wife, Abhaya, who on discovering her own severe health condition a year ago, completely changed her lifestyle, and is now feeling better than she has in years. She doesn't seem to want me to leave just yet. And so, for her, I begin my weird journey into the world of traditional health care!!!

The first step was seeing "Max", her Nurse Practitioner, who indeed, is a very sweet and qualified man. The initial appointment (after filling out all that extensive paperwork and questionnaires) essentially ended in two other appointments - one with the blood/urine lab, the other to a sleep clinic. (By the way, I might mention here that I had not been to a medical doctor in probably 30 years or more and NEVER had a real physical, in spite of the fact (or because of?) that my father and only sibling were doctors!

The results of all this. First, the sleep clinic. Severe sleep apnea, which of course results in a severe lack of oxygen and causes many severe and life-threatening conditions. I'm going to spend the night in their lab tonight to be tested, and most like will be coming home tomorrow with one of those machines and a mask to wear every night for the rest of my life.

The blood and urine results... Surprisingly, I DON'T have diabetes, which we were almost certain I did. However, I have a cholesterol of 493, and an LDL of 390+. As one friend so appropriately put it, "HOLY SHIT! I didn't even know it went that high."

On my second visit to Max, with the blood results in, amazingly he was not as influenced by my cholesterol (although that is obviously a major concern), as he was with my Thyroid. In his words, I am "Profoundly, profoundly hypothroid!" He called it the 'ultimate contemplative's disease' virtually willing deeper and deeper stillness, virtually into a state of death. I had effectively 'killed' my cute little butterfly shaped Thyroid gland, which of course feeds every other gland and cell in the body. (Now if I can just find the rainbow Unicorn shaped gland and get a good bead on it! :-D )

Max was literally excited by all of this because nearly all of my other symptoms can be directly traced back to this severe hypothyroid condition, and equated treating it (successfully) with a potential "Awakening" of sorts for the physical being.

So, in more or less conclusion, although I am far from 'out of the woods' being a potentially walking heart attack or stroke, and there are potentially other things that may be discovered, there is at least some thought that I might stick around for a bit longer, even if it is taking pharmaceutical medicines and wearing a plastic mask to bed for the rest of my life.

I just thought I should kinda 'Come clean' with all that. Phew! Do I ever feel better. Of course, I will now go on to continue to write why you are NOT this body. :-D

__________________

UPDATE TO UPDATE

"Sleep is the best meditation."

-Dalai Lama

"Laugh and the world laughs with you; snore, and you sleep alone!"

-Anthony Burgess

In the interest of Science, full disclosure, and mostly humor, I thought I would add a brief update to the update on health, providing an opportunity to add these great photos. So, the first photo is me at the sleep clinic. Believe it or not, this is "Mobile Mode", in other words, "Hey, I need to Pee!" All those wires (there were like 22 hook-ups measuring EKG, EEG, eye movements, leg movements, respiration, blah blah blah). So, the idea is, you're having trouble sleeping, we'll make sure you can't sleep. In actuality, it's about not being able to breathe when you sleep. So, they hook you up to all this, tuck you in, measure your everything, and then, if they get the right feedback, wake you up in the middle of the night and add ther CPAP facemask (see below photo). I qualified.

And, here I am at home with my new CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) mask on. This connects to machine about the size of a large loaf of bread, and simply forces normal room air into you. It's actually not as bad as it looks. In fact, it's somewhat comforting. You are no longer struggling to breathe and your body is like saying, "Hey, AIR! I remember you." And this is how I'll sleep from now on. So I guess I better either hope civilization doesn't collapse, or set up a good solar electrical system, or, I'm' Shit out of Air!

Giant Addition for Simplicity Gardens

2011-10-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

"That's the great thing about a tractor.

You can't really hear the phone ring."

- Jeff Foxworthy

The Barnashram Boys are thrilled! Finally, after three + years of farming, all with only a little riding lawn mower and their arms and backs to haul literally tons of compost, produce, and everything else here, they have acquired a tractor.

While I hesitantly admit, my vision of a Vedic Village would probably include more cows and bulls and lots of people than a tractor, it has already made a huge impact in helping the boys in what has become a wonderfully expanding endeavor - Simplicity Gardens. The added tiller on the back has slashed the time of preparing beds for planting, and the overall number of projects we have hoped for over the years now loom more as possibilities than far off dreams.

By the way, they have named it "Boss" as in, "We have 200 pounds of potatoes to get to the garden." "That's okay.... the 'Boss' will take care of it." Sure glad I'm not the boss.

For those of you who might be IN to tractors, it's a Kubota B3300su.

Occupy! The 60's Virus Revisited?

2011-10-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." - Yoko Ono

Some years back, I wrote (I think) a piece called "Trigger the 60's Virus," with, however, little thought or hope that it would ever happen. For those of us who were alive and active back then in the 60's and 70's, it was a time like no other. I know everyone says that about their time, but even historians admit that it was a very unique time, at least in the more recent times. Thousands were coming out to the streets for many reasons, most notably, for peace and against the Viet Nam war. For God's sake, even my 50 something mother who spent the majority of her adult life drinking coffee, smoking Pall Mall cigarettes and reading the newspaper at the kitchen table, came out to protest! - though most probably in hopes that neither of her sons would have to go and come back in a box. (Thankfully, neither of us ended up having to go.)

So, for the last couple of decades, even though most of my energy has been focused on speaking and teaching on Self Realization and Awareness, there was definitely a part of the Aja personality that was somewhat saddened and dismayed by the apparent total lack of interest, the total narcissistic apathy, in what was happening in the world. Thus I was, and am, deeply moved by the Occupy movement that is taking place all over the world, even though under a variety of names. Much of it is still self-oriented, but what else gets people motivated.

Currently, according to Meetup.com there are over 2,000 Occupy communities around the world! Granted, some of these are only a few people, as can be seen from the photo here, there are tens, and hundreds of thousands of people who have actually taken to the streets. While the numbers vary wildly, depending on the day of the week, the time of day, the weather, etc., and although the focus/reasons for each individual being out there, the bottom line is that people are finally getting out there. They are awakening to the fact that things aren't right, and as one Fox commentator noted - If you ask five people why they're there, you'll get five different answers. They've lost their jobs. They've lost their homes. The governments are no longer looking out for them. We're seeing one group becoming phenomenally wealthy while others can't afford basic necessities. Countries are forcing austerity measures. Other countries are going, or have gone bankrupt. The Fed keeps pumping out worthless fiat paper money, and on and on and on....

Anyway, the bottom line is the people, the 99%, our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, our children, our friends - they are OUT THERE. And for whatever reason they are there, to each and EVERY ONE of them, I make a very deep and heart felt bow of love and humility. Consider joining them! Be the Change!

Why the Blight of Blogs?

2011-05-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Mine is Smaller and White!

So what's the deal with the sudden 'Bum's Rush' of Blogs? It's my 'White Board'. I know...the picture at left is really a blackboard, but it's a more exciting picture than my white board. (Originally, the caption for this was, "And thus, you have the basic formula for understanding women."). Anyway, I got two primary things for my birthday a couple of weeks ago - a big white board and an Amazon Kindle (more on this at a later time and the upcoming "In This Moment Kindle Book")

The story goes like this: I had once,, in passing, mentioned to my wife that it would be cool to have one of those giant boards for writing down stuff - you know like the "Theory and formula for EVERYTHING" or figuring out "Who-dunnit?" like in the detective shows. So, everyone else chipped in for the Kindle, and my daughter got the white board. (Yeah! - Somebody listened when I spoke.) So, it took a few weeks, but the other day I finally got it up (well, actually Abhaya and Gopal - my wife and son put it up), and immediately I started writing down blog ideas. They come in to my consciousness all the time, I just never get around to writing them down, or jotting down the ideas before they fade into the ethers.

So now, here's this giant board, just beckoning me to write something on it,and as it gives me an opportunity to snort some white board marker ink (to kill a few more braincells) I quickly try to write down the ideas before they disappear forever. And guess what? It works...at least for now. I still have 2 or 3 written up there, so more blogs to come, and hopefully ideas will keep on coming. Have any suggestions? I know everything, you know! Or at least my wife would say that's what I believe. Actually I don't, but there is a big access point into infinite knowledge, and if I don't know, I'll maybe tell you the truth, or perhaps just make something up. Who's to know, right?

Or, if nothing else, I'll pretend I'm a detective and paste up pictures and make arrows, add suspects, clues, and solve mysteries, like "Why do people think I'm a 'whack-job?' (Too easy!)

Send Me Some Love!!!

2011-05-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

Heart to Heart!

Ironically, when I first contemplated writing this blog, it was about how 95% of the time, due to my health, I am at home at Barnashram, and most of that alone, and I am currently at a coffee shop. (In my defense, however, I am on my way home from the doctor.)

So, anyway, there I am, lying around, spending most of my time between reading, sleeping, meditating, etc. and it comes to me...what else can I do for folks? You can only sleep so much, my eyes get too tired and blurry after awhile for reading, and eventually there's a blank spot. So, I thought, I could send out some love.
Now, most everyone is familiar with texts or SMS (Small Message Service) on cell phones, but what about Send Me Some Love (abbreviated SMSL). Absolutely no equipment is required, only an open heart. Often, I consciously do this anyway, send out love to some of my favorite people, or simply those who come into consciousness, but perhaps there are others who are dying for some Love but just don't know where to get it. I mean, who doesn't want to get some Love, right?

So, here's the deal. Would you like some Love? Do you feel in need of Love, or perhaps just a little extra from time to time. Don't be shy. I'd be more than happy to send it to you. After all, there really IS an Infinite supply of it, and it's not really mine, so I'm more than happy to share. Now you could just send me a heart message saying 'send me love' and I'd probably get it (perhaps not consciously), or you could send me an email and say, 'I'd like some Love', and I'll add you to the list. (If you would, I'd love to have you send a small picture of yourself so I know who I'm sending to - not that it matters.) Then, at some point most days, as I'm lying around too tired to move, I'll send ya some lovin'. Good old fashioned heart to heart, warm, caring, you are in my heart, Love. And, hey, if you get too much, feel free to send it on to someone else. After all, we can all use some, right? Especially these days!

(I'll bet you thought this was a plea to send ME love, huh?)

So, remember, whether you send that email or not, and whether from me or not, you ARE loved, and you ARE LOVE!

So Now I'm a Terrorist????

2011-05-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

Do I look like this?

Nearly 30 years ago, I did an apparently radical thing,,,I declared my sovereignty, i.e. I became a "Sovereign Citizen". What does that mean? It's the same thing the founding fathers did 200+ years ago when they wrote the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. They said there was no one between them and God, such as the King of England or the East India Company (yep, even then - governments and corporations).

Now, I didn't do it because I particularly disliked our government, it was simply one of the many things I have done through this life in a question for FREEDOM! And, I might add, there actually was a great sense of freedom that arose, like one more veil was lifted...one more thing that I didn't have to identify myself as; one more false conception to cling to or to burden me....there was just Aja and God.

I've never made a very big deal about it, really. Yes, it did entail sending out various letters to various government agencies and so forth, rescinding my original signature on my Social Security application, not re-applying for a drivers license, and so on, and also not paying taxes (the vast majority of which go directly to the defense department). I've never been very big on politics. I haven't even voted since McGovern lost in 1972. My primary objective in life has been for Truth and Freedom.

So, what a surprise when I find out (via the most recent "60 Minutes" that according to the FBI, I (well, all "Sovereign Citizens") am NOW considered one of the "Top Domestic Terror Threats" - ME! Okay, I admit I get cranky from time to time, I even raise my voice once in awhile. I've may have even suggested that the government may have a number of crooks in it. But TERRORIST?

Okay, so I hold a few radical views: I'm more or less an anarchist (in other words I don't feel humans need any government if they live humanely and with love); I feel that we'd be far better off in a simple communal spiritual lifestyle, rather than our present "civilization" which is totally greedy and unsustainable. In other words, I would love a world where we lived according to the principles of the Tao, Daiva Varnashrama, Vedic Society, whatever you want to call it - cultivating Simplicity, Community & Spirituality. If that's terrorism, then, well, get out the thumbscrews! I confess.

Brief Update on Tower

2011-05-14T11:06:00.001-07:00

So...the comment period ended (last month), which is followed by a 60 day period ,before the final decision. (Thanks everyone for your emails and letters!)

Once the decision has been made it can be appealed (for$250) and then a hearing will be set - about a month or more later. So right now just sort of a waiting game.

We'll let you know.

What a Beautiful Tree...OR IS IT???

2011-04-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

"Took all the trees, put 'em in a tree museum...

And charged the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em"

What you're looking at to the left is NOT a tree, but rather a giant cell phone tower. Isn't it pretty? Now, here's the good news (NOT)... they are planning to put one up right on the other side of our property. Yes, just a few hundred feet from Barnashram, the bastion of simplicity, spirituality, organic, natural anti-"civilization" living, they are planning to build a (get this!) "120 foot tall wireless communications tower - STEALTH MONOFIR DESIGN." (Their words, not mine!!!)

You see, there are only so many objections you can make to technology, and since President Clinton signed into law the telecomunications act of 1996 (yes 15 years ago), it is illegal to bring up health issues when commenting on cell phone towers. Of course, in that 15 years, hundreds, if not thousands of studies have been done showing the dangers of EMF and RF emissions with human and environmental health impacts, and hundreds of tumors, cancer clusters, and other miseries perpetrated, but we're not allowed to mention that. So, you're stuck with environmental impact, how they look (thus pretty green cell towers), and mostly, HOW THEY WILL IMPACT PEOPLE FINANCIALLY. In other words, if we can prove that we will lose money (like we have any to lose), by that monstrosity being here, we might have a case. (It's ALWAYS about money. We're just trying to serve God and Mother Earth, but that don't matter in this culture, does it?)

So, I feel like I'm back in the 60's (1-2-3-4....We won't fight your F**KIN' WAR!)

We were sent this "14 Day Opportunity To Comment" on Saturday. We happened to go the mailbox on Sunday, and realized we were screwed. So, I quickly called the Multnomah Land Use and Transportation Program to call Kevin Cook (503-988-3043 ext. 26782 hint hint) only to find out their offices are closed on Mondays. I called them twice today, only to be told he was swamped and that I should leave a message, and that he would get back to me within 48 hours. After the second call, I received a call back from the very nice receptionist promising that he would call me back tomorrow (Thursday). Remember now, we're less than 8 days from the end of the comment period.

Now, the instructions say, "Written comments regarding this application will be accepted if received...by 4:00 pm, April 22nd, 2011" So, in the meantime, I don't know if calling them or emailing them (kevin.c.cook@multco.us hint hint) will do any good, or if it has to be in writing to:

Kevin Cook
Multnomah County
Land Use and Transporation Program
1600 SE 190th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97233
(and once again)
503-988-3043 ext. 26782
kevin.c.cook@multco.us

Case File: T2-2011-1484

I might also mention that you could call the Site Acquisition Manager
Mr. Noah Grodzin with Cascadia PM (psst... isn't that a nice GREEN name? Now go to this link http://www.cascadiapm.com/cpmprojects.htm and look at their client list). He can be reached at:

Mr. Noah Grodzin
971-285-6645
noah.grodzin@cascadiapm.com

This whole thing is simply overwhelming. I have talked to people at Respectpdx.com who have been wonderful!!! As well as folks who helped defeat a similar tree up near Mt. Hood, also connected to Mr. Grodzin (interesting that they claim to have a 100% success rate...Cascadiapm that is). The problem is they have given me a wealth of information, areas of research (environmental impact, historical, Native American, marshland etc.), and I don't even know where to begin. Others have suggested finding a lawyer to handle it pro-bono, canvassing the neighbors (yeah, me, who can barely walk up to the car), and a few suggestion I would of course NEVER do, like filling nice environmentally green garbage bags full of waste and leaving them in the yard of the owners of the land (who surprisingly DON'T live where the tower is going), or just waiting for them to build it, and then in a giant act of rebellion as Derrick Jensen would suggest, blow it up. But again, I want to emphasize that I, nor any one on this property would EVER do that or propose it. My best thought is that if anyone knows where I can find a 250 foot dog to pee on the tree.....

I did call the land owners, by the way, in hopes that they might have a conscience. They didn't answer, but I did leave a cordial message. (I do have their number if anyone wants it.) You see, they tried to sell the land but couldn't, so they're growing christmas trees or something, (including a 120 foot metal one - I don't think you'd even have to plug in any lights that you hung on that tree...they'd just glow!). So, they opted to lease the land. No one will tell me how much they'll get, but the people near Mt. Hood would have received, and a general average is around $1,500.00 per month for 30 years or something like that. (Geez, if we made that much, we'd be well off...why didn't we sell out first!?)

So, time is short, and if we've helped you in any way, if you would like to see Barnashrram remain as free from EMF and RF or whatever rays, for environmental, financial (you won't make donations ?), philosophical, spiritual, organic, or you're just plain fed up with their being NO PLACE where you feel you can get away from the MADNESS that is this 'civilization', THEN PLEASE HELP US! Many of you I have spent countless hours talking with, consoling, and yes, occasionally even cajoling into Awareness, (for no charge I might add). So, maybe you could take a moment to send a letter or postcard to the above address, or make a quick phone call or email, or pray.... (maybe that it gets hit by lightning if it is built).

My other option is the one I have been working on...."Be at peace, and die well". I guess I can put that off for another 8 days at least. Oh, one more link if you want it... here is the 14 day comment sheet we got in the mail (It's a 10 page PDF):

http://web.multco.us/sites/default/files/land-use-planning/documents/t2-2011-1484.pdf

(Imagine....someone trying to out-buzzkill Buzzkill Baba!!!)

And do try to remember... I love you madly and passionately, even if I sometimes don't seem to act like it.
In Holy Love,
Aja

-----------------------------------

ADDENDUM - A Proposed Letter of Opposition

Many of you have blessed us by writing letters of your own to Mr. Cook of Multnomah County expressing your opposition to the proposed tower. Others, not sure what to write, have asked us for a letter or some kind of guidelines. The letter that follows is VERY closely based on the letter I sent. Ideally, you might take some of the salient points, along with any others the occur to you, and write your own letter. When I say letter, I HAVE confiirmed that any emails are considered letters, so you don't need to 'mail' them in, simply email them. BUT they should be emailed before 4:00 pm Pacific Time, this coming Thursday.
With Many Heartfelt Thanks and Deep Love & Gratitude,
Aja

.......

Email your letter to:
kevin.c.cook@multco.us

Kevin Cook
Multnomah County
Land Use and Transporation Program
1600 SE 190th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97233
kevin.c.cook@multco.us

Re: Case # T2-2011-1484, location: 10509 NW Cornelius Pass Rd

Dear Mr. Cook,

I'm writing on behalf of the Bhaktivedanta Society, Inc., a 501c3 religious non-profit organization that owns the land immediately adjacent (south) of the above property where an AT&T Cell Tower site has been proposed. We are opposed to the construction of this cell phone tower.

For more than 20 years the people at Barnashram, the spiritual and farming community residing at that property have sought to create an escape from the myriad pollutants of the city (including the many radio, cell, telephone, gas, billboards, buildings, etc.), and to create a place for others to similarly escape and find a sanctuary from the insanity and stresses of daily life!

While it has become apparently "normal" for people to think they can live in such a polluted atmosphere, and to defend such lifestyles, nearly everyone will admit that they like to escape that atmosphere thick with stress and negativity and retreat to a place which represents the basic tenets of places like Barnashram - Simplicity, Spirituality, & Community. I certainly do, and the construction of this cell phone tower would certainly have a negative impact on that positive lifestyle and the number of us that find solace there. While we may not be able to legally address health or energy issues with regard to the cell tower, it is obviously this kind of technological device is in direct opposition to the simplicity and purity that they have so lovingly tried to offer us.

While we can't directly say what the cell towers effects are on our living cells, our brains, and systems of the body, there are ever increasing studies both from the U.S. and abroad that show significant negative impact on human physiology as well as the lives and living patterns of non-human species as well - including reproductive and migratory patterns.

Recognizing that there are some who would like better cell phone coverage, I would suggest that it really isn't needed. Anyone who lives in this area can certainly get landline coverage at a fraction of the cost of cell phones. So, it would really only be helping those who are driving. Cornelius Pass Road has already been dubbed "The Ribbon of Death" for good reason. It is a treacherous road. The residents of Barnashram have personally had to discover two dead bodies feet from their front yard, numerous accidents through their property line and fences, and road closures in front of their home because of multi-car accidents. Do you suppose we need MORE people talking and texting illegally on this road?

And truly, in your hearts, which would you rather have for yourself or your children - a better ability to spend additional time plugged into their cell phones, texting, emailing, twittering, facebooking, under the shade of a giant electric stealth "tree", or sitting amidst real, living trees, healthy trees and eating fresh, organic produce, lovingly planted and harvested, free from as much negative EMF and RF emissions as possible, and the possible negative impact of an out of balance environment where the birds, bees, and other required components of a healthy world, are fully alive and present?

Please don't take this away from us, the many who currently need and appreciate it and those who will seek it out in the future; please don't take it away from yourselves and your children!

I would like to simply add a quote from Albert Einstein, one of the greatest and certainly most loved scientists of the last centuury, who I believe was not speaking only to nuclear devices, but all technology when he said,

"It has become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity."

With Hope and with Love,

(Your name obviously)

A friend of Barnashram

NO ‘GREEN THING’ BACK THEN

2011-04-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

That’s right, they didn’t have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from
satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But they didn’t have the green thing back then!

(Received as an email)

Our Technology Has Surpassed Our Humanity

2011-03-26T12:52:00.000-07:00

"It has become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity. I hope that someday, our humanity might yet surpass our technology." - Albert Einstein

I have not written much lately, and I perhaps should apologize for that. But, as anyone who has looked around has probably noticed, there is a lot going on right now. And because I often point this out to people, they tend to steer away from us, avoid us. I have even come to call myself Buzzkill Baba, since rather than point out all the sweetness and love and light of the world, I point out the pain, the evil, the dark side. But in light of what occurred to me, I'd like to explain this a bit, not as a rationalization, although to many it may seem that way, but a realization of how this works, and my experience of it.

Let me begin with an often quoted phrase of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:
"Wisdom is knowing I am nothing, love is knowing I am everything, and between the two my life moves."

I'd like to point out here that this 'knowing' is not just the mental knowing of most, but the actual realization of knowing. Since 1990, I KNOW that I am nothing. When one inquires into the Self, they recognize that the individual persona is an illusion – that what each of us is, is Consciousness, boundless, unattached, and thus nothing. But that nothing encompasses Everything. So when you look or see "outside" you recognize that Self is everything, without exception.

Most people are under the delusion that they are only their individual persona. They don't recognize who they are as nothing or consciousness or spirit - in other words that infinite presence of Awareness - nor do they recognize that they are the All. Oh sure, nearly everyone knows it as knowledge of the mind, but not the direction REAL-ization of it. So, while someone may speak of compassion, the direct experience of it is different. The word compassion means to pity or suffer (passion) WITH (com). This is a very important understanding. When you directly recognize that you are everything, you suffer and feel all of that as YOU! Since the true you is not an individual, but are nothing or everything, you cannot help but experience that pain and evil and anguish and darkness and death all over the world. Try to get your mind around THAT1

Let me offer another Einstein quote here:
"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

I might add here to his last sentence, "the whole of nature in its beauty" AND it's pain and ugliness. And just so you don't think Einstein was much more of a fuzzy bunny than I, here are two more of his quotes:

"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."

Oh wait, one more:
"He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."

We are currently under the reign of conspiratorial pathological criminals with the technology to destroy the planet, and are presently doing so. I am dying. I know this, although most don't want to hear me say it. I can feel it. But the sad truth is, so are you, and I can feel this too. And for at least 40 years, since the sixties, people have been begging the world to Wake the hell up! But no one has listened. For the last 20 years, I have been trying to get people to 'spiritually' wake up, but again, very few have listened. So, as we have merrily glided down into our present situation where we are dumping millions of tons of garbage into our waters, the earth, our food, they sky, and even space; animal and plant species are dying off left and right (think of the canary in the mine); and the governments, media, corporations, all all those who control our daily lives, consistently and without exception lie to our faces, without a shred of guilt (definition of pathological); and I feel all this too. And hopefully, more and more of you are at least intellectually waking up to this.

What is the reason? Ego – that persistent and consistent sense that "I" am an individual and "I" am all that matters (and perhaps those very few around me). But look again above at what Einstein wrote… "Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature". The ONLY way to do that is through the Direct Recognition of who/what you truly are. You are not this tiny personality (or at least not only). You are No Thing, and thus Every Thing. No boundary, no escape from it all. You are it all. You share it all. As a small focal point of the Great Whole, you experience everything, but choose to avoid it.

One last thing. It is not that it is only horrible. I can't tell you how beautiful the beauty is! The pure elegance and mystery of a single blade of grass is utterly astounding. Multiply that times billions, and try to imagine the bliss!! Now imagine that literally evil, dark agents are systematically torturing and killing that at every turn and you feel that too! Now do you get an idea of who Buzzkill Baba is and why this message of Spiritual Awakening is so important and so painful? I mean, after all, why wisdom and pain when you can have delusion and comfort?

With deepest Love Always and All Ways.

The "A-B-C's" of All That Is.....And the "Individuals" which Inhabit It

2010-09-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

First, I have to apologize, as this turned out much longer than I had anticipated. However, it is one of the more comprehensive things that has been written, and if you can truly read it all AND seek to fully understand it, it has the potential to forever change your life!

Okay, I know that sounds like a pretty highfalutin title, but it is, from our direct experience, what all of this manifestation (and pre-manifestation), is. I know I went through these ABC things before, but it is VERY important and the basis of understanding the whole principle of 'Waking Up' etc. So let's begin again.

First, for all of those dyed in the wool Advaitins (non-dualists) out there, yes, there IS only one thing happening, AND / BUT that one thing is also manifesting as MANY things. Just as on the planet earth, there is only the planet earth here, and EVERYTHING that is arising on, in, from Earth is just some manifestation of Earth - be it trees, dirt, shit, pizza, saintly bodies, sinner bodies, beauty, ugliness, land, water, etc. etc. etc. is only Earth! But the thing from earth called you, is seeing/tasting/smelling... the thing coming up from the Earth as poop, beer, rainbows, etc. All right, we good so far?

Now, everything is going to sound a little backwards, but try to stick with it. On the level of Infinite All, we are going to start with "C." In our little picture above, C is at the bottom. C is God, the Infinite, the Absolute, All That IS, Divine Isness, Being, whatever the heck you want to call it.

The surface (only) of C. is A. A. is manifest creation - all of it! A. is all of the universes, your body, and mind, everything that arises as phenomena that YOU are AWARE OF., But A. is NOT who or what you truly are. What you are is B. B. is an arising of C - a small drop or wave of C-ness, if you will. In the diagram above, on the far right, you see B, begin to arise as a wave, then as we move to the left, it appears to sort of separate, and ultimately on the far left to become it's own little A+B bubble.

So, what are the differences between A+B+C????

First, remember that they are all aspects of the same one thing - C-ness. So, in reality A+B+C=C or rather the all. So C, is all of it, but once semi-removed, C remains as it is.

B is the part of C which is qualitatively NON-DIFFERENT than C, but quantitatively infinitesimal compared to infinite C.

A. is the "skin" if you will of C. or 'external energy' of C.

C is Infinite and Absolute Consciousness.
So is B.
A. is kind of like the scum on the ocean of Consciousness. That sounds a little more judgmental than I really want it to. Maybe think of it like hair. Your hair is you, but not. You feel free to cut it off, but as long as you have it, it expresses a lot about you. So A. is the expression of C. In order to experience the expression, in billions and billions of ways, B arises.

All of what MOST (nearly all) people think they are is A. In other words, A includes the body, the mind, the emotions, your memories, your likes and dislikes. In the Vedic literature, all things manifest in the three modes of nature: Goodness (sattva), Passion (rajas), and Ignorance or Illusion (tamas). Most of what arises is fairly unmalleable or unchangable. In other words, for a fairly long duration, a rock is going to remain a rock, a tree a tree, etc. Some change more quickly. A flower will fairly quickly grow, bloom, decay, and return to the earth. That which manifests as the person - you - will stay pretty much the same body-wise, though over a period of years it will grow, deteriorate and ultimately die. However, your thoughts and emotions will come and go very quickly, many thousands coming and going, over that same period of time. So, your 'life' may tend to be more sattva, rajas, and tamas, and very often there's not much you can do to change them in the short haul.

Now, the REAL YOU is B - an aspect of consciousness, which is AWARE OF the things you consider to be 'you' - your body, your mind, your emotions, your elation, your guilt, your fears, etc. You are NOT these things, YOU are aware of them. This is the MOST important part to understand.

So, let's look at it as equations.

(A+B+C) = the All

(A+B)= An individualized 'piece' of Consciousness (B) IDENTIFYING with a 'Persona' (A). Like a piece of Consciousness arises and identifies as "Aja" (me). Aja has a particular karma (perhaps genetics, memetics, whatever) that makes it a particular way. It won't change a whole lot from whatever it starts as. Sure, it will go through phases - youth, childhood, adulthood, and ultimately death - but it's not going to go from male to female, or from 5'10 to 7'4 overnight (probably). Unfortunately, some of this is hard to talk about without getting into the whole question of fate versus free will which I'm trying to avoid for right now, and just explain the basics.

So, essentially everyone fits into one of the following categories.

Total Illusion: Nearly everybody is aware of themselves as A only, not even recognizing that they are B aware of A

A material person trying to have a spiritual experience: They still think of themselves as A, but have some clue that B is. Comical, really, because they are B, identifying with A as having a B.

: This is essentially the first phases of Self realization. They fully 'Know' that they are B - Consciousness - and that B is having some kind of experience as A. But they truly recognize that they are NOT A..... A is simply objects arising in Consciousness, while THEY are B, the Consciousness which is aware OF A.

An Awake Person: Essentially this is B, aware of A, and also of C. Here, B, YOU as Consciousness are aware of A, but could really care less about it - it's simply happening in the background. And there is also C, the Absolute, which YOU recognize that YOU are non-different from, and which calls you, and to which YOU are drawn. Even to the point of often being unable to differentiate between yourself (B) and the Absolute (C), but never totally identifying with the phenomenal world (A) again.

The "God-Realized" Person: This is similar to above, but they are totally immersed in C, in God, the Absolute, etc. We might call them God Conscious, Krishna Conscious, a Perfect Buddha, or even crazy!

Take note, that while the Truly Greats of Spiritual literature have usually been in one of the last 2 classes, essentially telling us to "Lay not up thy treasures" in material stuff, or to Transcend the material world, the vast majority of so-called spiritual teachers are, in fact, in the lower levels, trying to 'fix' the material or phenomenal world. The problem is NOT with the phenomenal world, the problem is the mis-identification with it. If you watched a certain TV show all the time, and totally identified with the characters, we would not fix you by trying to fix the TV show, but rather, by getting you to recognize YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU ARE AWARE OF! You are NOT the TV show. You are the SEER of the TV show, and as long as you try to change the TV show, make it different, make it better, you WILL suffer! Yes, sometimes it will be very Sattvik and wonderful. Other times it will be Rajasik and a lot will get done. And other times, it will just plain suck. This is karma (genetics, fate, memetics, habits, etc.) The goal is NOT to make a nice A, a nice phenomenal world (which will ALWAYS be temporary), but to recognize the transient nature of A. - it's illusory nature, and that starts with the recognition that YOU are B, Consciousness, and meant to return to, experience, serve C.

Let's look at it another way. Every cell of your body is simultaneously part of and not part of your body. When all the cells work in harmony with each other and the whole, everything works fine. When, however, they declare their independence, try to work for themselves, enjoy for themselves, they become cancer cells and destroy the host! This is what is happening here. We have billions of "A+B"s, trying to get more and more for themselves; a few "A+B"s trying to sort of work together to make A all nice for everybody, but still motivated by egoic nature, and then a VERY FEW "B"s who recognize the illusory nature of A, and trying to either remain as B (SELF), or go deeper into "C" - God, the Absolute.

All TRUE spiritual practice ultimately has nothing to do with A, except to recognize that it is our identification with A that occludes our recognition of ourselves as B and of God, the Absolute, as C. And that the techniques are there to remove the obstacles to True Realization. The Self and God shine on their own, and need no fixing. It is only the removing of the scum, our identification with that which is not, that which is illusory and temporary, that maintains our suffering. Look at it this way. If you are having a nightmare, you don't try to turn it into a happy dream. Rather you recognize you are dreaming and WAKE UP!

Or as one teacher said, "If you want to do 'Self Improvement', first find the Self, and then see if it needs any improvement."

Trust me, it doesn't. Just as God doesn't need any improvement. We simply need to let go of things being a certain way, and surrender into what God is.

How do we get from identification with A to B, and ultimately C. Well, first, if you've read this far, you're probably on your way. Secondly, through Self Inquiry - the constant inquiry into Who and What am I? What is this (B) Consciousness which is aware of everything? To Whom or to What is all of this arising? This is the simplest thing and the hardest thing you will EVER do. But it is absolutely the most important. In fact, it is THE purpose of it all. So do not stop. This is the only road to Freedom! Making the prison cell nice and cozy will never free you from its bondage. .

Why is Krishna Called the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

2010-09-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

My Spiritual Master referred to God or Krishna as the "Supreme Personality of Godhead." For years, I didn't think much about it, as we often don't really look at things or analyze them much. We just grab onto a concept and repeat it. It becomes one more 'meme' in our lives. (btw - if you don't know what a meme is, look it up. Or ask me about it. They are a fascinating subject and explain much of who we are.)

Anyway, as the years passed on, and various phases of the journey were gone through, it sort of arose, "Exactly what does that mean?" After all, it seems very one-sided or "Only Way-ish" if you know what I mean. Like accept Krishna or you go to hell!!!!

But if you analyze it, it actually makes a HUGE amount of sense. So let's take a look at the actual words involved in 'Supreme Personality of Godhead':

Supreme - Pretty obvious. Topmost, best, ultimate, nothing higher, final, Greatest in power, authority, or rank, etc.

Personality - Ahhh! here's the keyword. What is a personality? As we have spoken of many times, we ourselves are personalities. Personality or Per-sona, refers to that through which (PER) sound (SONA) comes. So Per-sona means "Sound Through" and goes back to the masks worn by actors in the ancient Greek plays. They wore the mask in front of their faces and their voices (or sound - sona) were heard through (per) the mask. So one individual may have many per-sonalities. You are your parents child, your children's parent, your siblings' brother or sister, your boss's employee, your husband or wife's spouse, and so on. Most often each of these is slightly different, but the same consciousness or individual is behind each one. Each personality is responsible, so to speak, for a certain aspect of your life; a way of expressing a particular aspect which would be, perhaps, inappropriate in another context. For instance, you probably wouldn't ask your boss if they wanted to make love tonight, or ask your spouse for a raise. (well maybe!)

Of - It's a preposition, DUH!

Godhead - Here are the two primary definitions that kept coming up: 1. Divinity; godhood, 2. The essential and divine nature of God, regarded abstractly. Here's a few more: the essential being of god; the Supreme Being; Almighty, Creator, Divine, God Almighty, Jehovah. Anyway, you should get the picture. Although most of these suggest personhood or individuality, it is not exclusive. In other words, it is the Absolute - personal or impersonal, in form or formless, etc. All of it!

Krishna - The word Krishna has a number of meanings: The root is krs (pronounced krsh) a verbal root which means: to lead, to attract, to draw out or draw to oneself, to take away, to pull to and fro; to torment (all from Monier Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, Digital Edition) When you add the suffix 'na' it is like the English 'er' attract(er), draw-to-oneself-(er), etc. even torment(er). More importantly, though, is Who Krishna is in terms of Who and What He is and does. Most often, when we consider God, we (in the West) conceive of the Ancient, white robed, bearded God of Abraham...fierce, angry, jealous, and so forth. Even within Hinduism, the various Gods and Goddesses all have various functions or characteristics for which they are known or responsible. What does Krishna do or represent? LOVE! That's it. Krishna does not create, maintain or destroy. He is not known for removing obstacles. He doesn't manifest this or that universe. He LOVES. He represents LOVE FOR THE SAKE OF LOVE. He is the embodiment of Love. He dances in the beautiful forests of Vrndavana, playing His flute, attracting all living entities and dancing with the Gopi milk maids. Oh sure, occasionally he kills the odd demon or two, but don't we all do that? Even if you consider the term Krishna as Tormentor, who hasn't been tormented from time to time by a lover. In fact, the highest form of Love is considered to be parakiya rasa, the ecstasy/torment of Love in Separation! There are many stories of a devotee being granted a glimpse of Krishna (or some other 'form' of God) and then spending the remainder of their life in ecstatic seeking of that Beatific Vision/Experience.

Put it all together and what do you get:

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be 'translated as' something like....

Krishna = Love; Supreme = Ultimate; Personality = Expression; Godhead = Divine Essence.

LOVE is the Ultimate Expression of THE Divine Essence.

So, there you go. It's not so much a one-view, particular religion, dogmatic form as it is a well established sense within everyone. What is higher than Love. What did Jesus teach? Love. What makes you feel better than anything else? Love. What's at the end of the yellow brick road? Oz, I mean Love.
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When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix

Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence. - Eric Fromm

True surrender is the love of God for the sake of love and nothing else, not even for the sake of salvation. Love Him unconditionally. - Ramana Maharshi

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. - Rumi

The day will come when, after harnessing the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of Love. And on that day, for the second time in the History of the world, man will have discovered Fire. - Teilhard de Chardin

Cocooning and Other Random Ramblings

2010-08-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Simplicity Gardens
Number of new things around here. Of course, there's always the Simplicity Garden Boys and their booth at Montavilla Market (Sundays 10-2 @ Southeast 76th & Stark). Recently they doubled their space... More pure and fresh produce, honey & eggs for you. Eggs & honey (if they have them) go VERY quick, so get there early. Hint that you know me (Aja) and what a great father they have, and they might give you a discount!

Cocooning
Lately, over the last year or so, I've been tending toward what I'd call Cocooning - just staying at home more,
becoming more introspective, having very little motivation to go out or do other things. And from what I can tell, there is a lot of this going on. I hear from people all the time, on one level or another that they just tend to stay home. Some would almost even call it depressed (by normal society's standards) but if they analyze it, they really aren't depressed - they just feel like they're being pulled inward more. There is not so much of a draw to go and be "DOing" something. Like it is a time to kind of let go and just be present, see what happens, abide!

Looking for comments here folks, so comment away.

Sanskrit App

Yeah, I know I make fun of I-phones and stuff, but the truth is I have one and I found an amazing application if you're into Iphones (or Ipod Touch or Ipad) and Sanskrit. It's called Sanskrit Primer, available on Itunes for a mere $1.99. (For you Android users - they are working on a version for that OS as well.) This App contains virtually anything a Sanskrit student would want - beginning with the Alphabet, going into basic grammar, nearly all declensions, conjugations, indeclinables.... It even includes some basic conversational sentences, a mini vocabulary, and if you don't' know the pronunciation, it has audio buttons as well. With this app and a Sanskrit English dictionary, you've practically got what you need. HIGHLY recommended.

A Big Thank You
To Shaila and Chris for your very generous donation. And while we're on the subject of donations, see the new donate box above and to the right. I have to admit, I stole this idea from another blogger, but the idea is, if you like this blog at all, you don't have to make a giant donation, just give enough for a cup of coffee or whatever. The work we are doing here is very important, and will become more so as they days go on. So, please feel free to be generous and lend a hand. Every little bit is deeply appreciated!

Come On Out
There are lots of great reasons to come on out to Barnashram.
To get away from the city - Barnashram, is gorgeous with green galore and gardens and chickens, and it's just a peaceful place. I even call it Braja Barnashram Dham - it's like the Holy place of Vrndavana (Braja), which is one of the reasons I rarely leave here. Where is there to go when I'm in paradise? Giriraj (a form of Krishna) is here, and with over 108 Shaligram Stones (Sacred stones from the Gandaki river) according to Vedic scriptures, Barnashram IS a holy dham.
To Help Out - There is a LOT to be done here, far more then we can handle. Work in the garden, or help with general maintenance (trimming blackberries, cutting grass, planting flowers). We also want to construct more buildings, including places for people to stay overnight or for longer periods. We anticipate there will be a time in the not so distant future when many more people will want/need a safe haven out of the city, and at this point, we really don't have anywhere for people to stay.
To Speak with Aja - My only function and purpose these days is to sit and be and teach any that come along. If you have serious questions about your spiritual path, and want some clarity, I am most happy to talk with you. Not looking for arguers here, but individuals who are serious about wanting to wake up, or to understand the nature of Consciousness and about surrendering to the Absolute/Godhead.. Or who just want to sit and chat a bit, address their confusions about their journey and get another perspective from someone who has been doing nothing but that for the last 40 plus years. If you want to know more about me, click the "Aja" tab above.

The Music & the Dancing Baby
I have to admit, I love this music and the Baby, but I also recognize that they take a little time to download, and get old after awhile. So again, I'm seeking your comments. Do you like them? Hate them? Don't care one way or another? Ultimately, I'll probably take them out, but wanted to share them. I just sort of like how the baby seems to be doing Bollywood dancing to the music. (The music, by the way, is a station called Priyawaanie, available on Shoutccast. It is all devotionally oriented music, but with more of that semi-modern Bollywood flavor, as opposed to pure bhajan in the traditional sense. I find it fun and uplifting.) So again, conmment away.

Well, I think that's all the news that's fit to print for now. We'll get some more blogs up soon. Also feel free to email us with questions or comments. Email: barnashram (at) gmail (dot) com.

Am I a Hindu if I Practice Yoga?

2010-08-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

You bet your Assana! Try to look up the word "Yoga" without it making reference to Hinduism. The truth is, Yoga is one of the six schools of Hindu thought:

The six schools of thought in Hindu philosophy are:
1)Sankhya -distinction between mind and body
2)Yoga - meditation
3)Nyaya -logic
4)Vaisheshika - says that all objects in the universe can be broken down to atoms
5)Mimamsa -ritualism
6)Vedanta - knowledge

Now, this is a very simplistic list, with simplistic definitions, but enough for here. The point being is that it is DEFINED as one of the six darshanas or teachings of Hindu Philosophy. Now, you can argue that all you're doing is some physical exercises, and if that's what you're doing, then CALL THEM PHYSICAL EXERCISES, or Indian Stretching poses, or something. Don't call them Yoga. It's like I can drink wine and eat crackers, and call it drinking wine and eating crackers. But if I decide to start calling it Eucharist, then I AM a Christian. Eucharist is a Christian term relating to taking wine and crackers which either ARE (Catholic) or REPRESENT (protestantism) the body and blood of Lord Jesus Christ. Similarly real Yoga is a Hindu system for knowing/approaching the Absolute, to 'yuj' or unite with the Absolute.

Of course, a vast majority of those 18 million + people in the US that claim to practice "Yoga" would vehemently disagree, but this is how the Western world is today. They take what they want, do what they want, call it what they want, and everyone else be damned.

Some like to say, "Well, we're practicing "Hatha Yoga", claiming it means Sun and Moon. Here, according to the Sanskrit dictionary is the definition of Hatha Yoga....

m. a kind of forced Yoga or abstract meditation (forcing the mind to withdraw from external objects ; treated of in the Hatha-pradipika by Svatmarama and performed with much self-torture , such as standing on one leg , holding up the arms , inhaling smoke with the head inverted &c.)

Yes, I'm quite sure that's what millions of Americans are doing as they are seeking the perfect "Buff Yoga Bod! In fact the word Hatha means 'violent' or 'forceful'. I'm taking this too far, you say. Perhaps, but we now live in an Orwellian society where to lie means to tell the truth, ignorance means knowledge, up is down and down is up and nobody gives a flying 'you know what'.

I have no problem with people practicing these exercises, particularly if it does draw them deeper into an actual spiritual practice. But for most, since it's all about the body for them, it's the equivalent of me drinking vast amounts of wine, learning to make wine, etc. calling it Eucharist and saying it's spiritual.

Okay, now can we define, "Bullpuckey"?

What is Maya?

2010-08-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

When I lived in the temples, there was a story passed around of a conversation between our spiritual master and a Godbrother. Of course, we never knew which of the stories were actually true and which were fabrications. In many cases, it didn't really matter as they were simply instructive stories anyway, and the point was in the point, now where they originated. So, I would like to share my version of this one with you. It's called 'What is Maya?' or might be called, 'How to be a Nobody, part 2':

So, one day, a certain disciple asked the master, "What is Maya?" The teacher looks at him for a moment and says:

"In the Infinite and Absolute Vastness of the Spiritual Skies, one small portion of it is touched by the material covering, within which there are infinite numbers of material universes. Within each of those universes, there are trillions and trillions of galaxies. Within each of those galaxies there are millions and billions of solar systems filled with innumerable planets. In one such solar system there is a planet called Earth. Upon that planet Earth, inhabited with close to seven billion humans, there are hundreds of countries. In one such country, America, there is a state called Oregon, within which there is a city called Portland. In this city, which has many hundreds of thousands of people, there is a street called Cornelius Pass Road. On that street, there is living a man named 'Aja' (or insert your own city, street name etc. here) who is asking "What is Maya?" and also thinking that he is the center of the entire, infinite experience AND a bag of chips. THAT is Maya? Any questions?"

"Um, just one. You mean I'm NOT???"

Okay, it's embellished a tad, but that's the story (and it really wasn't 'me' although it easily could have been.) Also, another major point is that even given the vastness of it all, and hopefully some little understanding of what an insignificant, infinitesimal part of it any one of us is, somehow, we are still convinced that we are, if not THE most important, still certainly one of the top 10 or so.

As Einstein is 'said' to have once said, "There are only two things which are Infinite: The Universe and man's stupidity, and I'm not positive about the first."

May we all pray for a smidge more humility!

How to Be a Nobody

2010-07-31T17:44:00.000-07:00

There is a basic dichotomy in spiritual circles that a lot of people just don't get. It may not be totally conscious. In fact, it is probably for the most part unconscious. But it looks something like this. No matter what spiritual path you're on, and particularly if it is somehow related to non-dualistic tendencies, i.e. Advaita Vedanta, most aspects of Buddhism, etc. the principle is that the 'individual' CAN'T get it. Why? Because the individualized person is an illusion, or at the very least, a temporary manifestation. Enlightenment, Awakening, Self Realization, God Consciousness, etc. are about either destroying, bypassing, avoiding, transcending, obliterating, or recognizing the illusion of that ego-self.

BUT, what is it that WANTS enlightenment? The Ego self! That part which is already always awake has no need of 'wanting' anything. For various reasons, depending on the philosophy, consciousness arises as, and/or, identifies with an individual egoic persona. That persona is an object of Awareness or Consciousness and can not (NEVER) be enlightened. And yet, a large percentage of people seeking 'enlightenment' DON'T get that. They want to BE the one who becomes enlightened. You know, the checklist model.... Graduate from college, get the mate, good job, get ENLIGHTENED, nice house, Ikea stuff, buff yoga body, etc. This is why they say the price for enlightenment is EVERYTHING!!!!!!

Or as Ashtavakra Samhita says it - "When there is an "I", there is BONDAGE; When there is NO "I", there is MOKSHA (Liberation)." So the prerequisite for Enlightenment is where there IS NO "I".

How I see this translated is something like a whole series of 'new age' or 'spiritual' books on the shelves of Border, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and of course on Oprah, with titles like:

How To Successfully Be A Nobody!
Nobodiness for Dummies!
Achieve Supreme Nobodiness NOW!
Everybody's Guide to becoming the Best Nobody Possible!
Being a Nobody for Fun and Profit!
The Perfect Guide To Being A Perfect Nobody!
The Better Guide To Being A Perfect Nobody!
The Best Guide To Being A Perfect Nobody!
Be a Better Nobody Than All Those Nobody Wannabes!
Be the Most Abundant, Cool, Prosperous, Good-Looking Nobody in the WORLD!
Screw All Those Other Nobody Posers - Be the REAL Nobody.

Of course, this would also open things up for innumerable satsangs, intensives, vacation retreats on how to become a Nobody, and how easy it is to be a Nobody, so you too can put out your Nobody shingle and be the world's most famous Nobody - more prosperous, beautiful, saintly, healing, loving, compassionate, etc. than all the other Nobodys (which of course translates into being able to charge a helluva lot more than the other Nobodys).

All right, I think we have MORE than driven the point home. So what is it REALLY to be a nobody? How is this 'achieved'? That is the quandary, isn't it?!

First, the simple part. What is it that stops you from actually being a nobody? It is the 'idea', the feeling, the experience that you ARE in fact a somebody. No matter what else is going on in your life, it appears to be predicated upon a sense of a 'YOU'. It all revolves around that. "I" am here. "I" experience this person here. "I" experience the world. "I" AM what is present. Even removing everything else, that basic feeling of "I AM" continues. But is that real? Who or what is 'aware' of the sense of "I AM"?

This is where "Self Inquiry" comes in. The 'process' is simple, but the undertaking of it is not necessarily. Depending on what 'process' you follow, it generally looks like one of these, or some variation of them:

1. Neti Neti, (not this, not that). Keep looking at whatever arises and separate it from the Awareness which is aware of it. "I am not the world because I am aware OF the world. I am not my thoughts or body or emotions because I am aware OF those things." And so on and so on until you're left with simply...
2. Abiding as the "I". This can also be called 'watching the watcher', or 'Being Aware OF Awareness'. Resting or abiding as the "I AM".
3. Resting in the 'Knowingness' that there IS ONLY ONE THING here, which includes both the Seer and the Seen and there is no REAL boundary between those apparent 'two'.
4. Contemplating that there is NOTHING BUT GOD, anywhere, ever, including that apparent something which is apparently contemplating it.

And so on...

The real key, however, is not so much which you do, but that you do it CONSISTENTLY AND CONTINUOUSLY. It is not a practice of 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night. It should be done as much as possible 24 HOURS A DAY. Even then, it will generally be a few years of constant practice before YOU get it!!! :-D Ha Ha, get it? YOU get it?!! Oh, never mind!

Wait, that's IT...... "NEVER MIND!" NO MIND!!!

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(So, How's that Clever thing working there for ya, Aja?

"OH SHIT!" )

Old Poll - - - - New Poll

2010-07-31T14:42:00.000-07:00

OLD POLL

Yes, that's right. The results are in for the all important, "Should Barnashram get Cows or Goats."

Final tally:
16 people (76%) said we should get goats;
6 people (28%) said we should get Jersey cows;
4 people (19%) said we should get Indian type cows (zebu/brahma);
4 people (19%) said they would help with aninmals.

Okay, couple of problems here....
1. First, if you add up the percentages, they come up to 142% !!! What's up with that? Of course you COULD vote for more than 1 item.
2. Ultimately, we're gonna do what we're gonna do. A brief poll doesn't account for all the reasons we want (or are inclined toward) cows over goats (for instance, have you ever tried using goat dung on a homa fire? Ever tried to get butter or ghee from goat milk? etc.)
3. Although 4 people polled said they would help (AHEM!!), unfortunately, we have no way to know WHO you are. So, please feel free to 'fess up' and let us know via email, or whatever. It may be months or more before anything ever happens. A lot of pre-work would have to be done, like new fences, a new animal space/barn/shelter, etc. And of course, if you're willing to help with that, let us know as well.

NEW POLL

And that brings us to the New Poll:

Who or What are the Real Terrorists......
1. The So Called Terrorists (Al Khaeda/Taliban/Osama Bin Laden, etc.
2. The Federal Government
3. The Banks & Corporations
4. Our Own Minds and Egos

Voting is over in two weeks (August 14th). Go ahead. Make a statement. The whole world will be watching this poll!!! Really!!! Fer Shure Dudes!!!

My Tribute to John Callahan

2010-07-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

I hope you will forgive me if I ramble a bit (again) here. First, I want to say, "It's not my fault." I know that the last several of these blogs have, at the very least, mentioned death, if not specifically been about it, but I can't help that John died. Or could I? If it is all a projection of 'my' consciousness, as some non-dualists would tell you, then perhaps it IS my fault. (I'm hoping to include a photo of John I took, but currently having trouble getting the damn blogger upload photo widget to work again. If it's there, you'll see it.)

My relationship with John was a little different. Of course I had heard of him, and knew of his cartoons, but didn't really realize how world famous the guy actually was. In my case, he would sort of chase me down (not much of a match considering his wheelchair). He rolled up and down the streets of NW Portland, living in that area, and often frequented New Renaissance bookstore. Katie, who worked there at the time, mentioned to me that he had purchased my book on consciousness - In This Moment - so one day while in New Ren, he was pointed out to me and I introduced myself. It was the beginning of a different type of relationship. You see, what I knew of John was mostly his interest in the Absolute, his experiences thereof, and his own frustrations and sorrows that arose from his feelings of confinement, not only to his chair, but to his mind. He once asked if Barnashram was 'wheelchair friendly', and we had to admit it wasn't. (After all, it is a country farm. These days, I don't even dare wander around myself on it without a cane.)

(Okay, I got the upload pictures to work. Here's one he did of me the same day I took the photo of him above.)

After our initial meeting, I would often run into John down in NW, and we would talk - in New Ren, at Starbucks, out on the street, wherever. Sometimes, just me standing there, and him in his chair (which as Francine Rose so aptly put, "He was a magician at making it disappear. Or he could play it like a Stradivarius." (http://www.examiner.com/x-20031-Cultural-Humor-Examiner~y2010m7d25-Wait-up-John-Callahan)

Since my only relation to him was in relation to the 'teachings', I have no idea how he was with others. Perhaps he was totally open with everyone. I suspect he was to some extent. I mean, when you're sitting as a quadriplegic and have exposed yourself in your art and music, how much more is there to hide. But he would speak of his own pain - mental, emotional and physical. He was often depressed and depressing, but his words were very real! He would say what I'm sure many of the others who come to visit me won't say, or what he may not have said to all others, for fear of showing their true selves - their 'vulnerable' side. Often, he would speak of his love for beautiful young women (not much of a secret, it turns out) and of course, the frustration that comes with that. But more often, it was just about the general pain - existence - and how to transcend or accept or surrender into that - something that on occasion he did have much success at.

I will confess here. He once called me during one of his many brief (or extended) stays at a hospital, and left me a voicemail asking to come see him. I don't remember exactly what happened. I think he neglected to say which hospital he was in, and by the time I found out, he was out. But I did apologize to him later.

So, perhaps what I can best say about John that others might not be saying, was that he was a true seeker of the Real. One of the 'blessings' of limitations is a true desire to seek what is beyond all limitations. From my calculations, he had spent some 38 or so years in that wheelchair, longer than many of the readers here have even been alive. That gives you a lot of time to think about things. Interestingly enough though, I don't think we ever spoke about death!

John, I will miss you, and while it's true that "He won't get far on foot", perhaps he will get a bit further on the wings of an angel. Love You!

Death & Collapse - Both Inevitable (Sorry Folks)

2010-07-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right... Buzzkill Baba just can't go very long without bringing up something totally depressing - in this case TWO OF THEM: Death & Collapse of Civilization.
So, doing a little writing today, and being somewhat obsessed with ideas of death, I wrote, "Death comes to everyone with virtually NO EXCEPTIONS. So why is it so 'unexpected', ignored or demonized? It is a totally natural and inevitable part of life!"

Or, as I've mentioned before, in the Mahabharata, King Yudhisthira is asked 100 questions by Yaksha/Dharma in the forest, one of which is:

"Yaksha:What is the most wonderful thing?
Yudhisthira: The most amazing thing is that even though every day one sees countless living entities dying, he still acts and thinks as if he will live forever."

The bottom line is that people would rather just ignore it, and our culture certainly doesn't make that too hard. Most people die in hospitals now, NOT in their homes, so people are greatly insulated from reality. Just as Siddhartha Gautama was insulated from the realities of birth, death, old age and disease by his father, until he snuck away, so our culture wants us to pretend it doesn't exist. But it was also the harsh realities of these realities that prompted the future Buddha to leave everything and seek a solution!

So, now lets hop and skip happily into a similar vein - our current civilization. Just it has a tendency to hide from us the realities of birth, death, etc. it also hides from us the inevitability of it's own death. Come on! Look! EVERY culture or civilization has had a beginning, middle AND an end. Greece, ancient Rome, Mesopotamia, Angor Wat, the Anasazi, the Mayans, ancient Egyptian culture, the Third Reich (and presumably the first two - what were they anyway????) This one will be no different. I certainly can't tell you when (today, tomorrow, next year, 100 years), but all the experts, in ALL areas, who are the ones actually willing to look closely at what is going on in the world, tend to say it's going to be sooner than later.

Yes, I know, people have been talking about it for literally centuries, but one thing IS substantially different. For thousands and thousands of years we lived in exactly the same way. Then starting about 10,000 years ago, we changed a little. Then around 250 years ago, we changed a lot, and then starting around 1950, we REALLY started changing and FAST!!!! Huge exponential changes in EVERYTHING from population to pollution to technology, etc. But one thing that hasn't changed, the relative size and resources of the earth. (We are currently said to be using 125% of the Earth's resources and to get everyone enjoying at the same level as the average Westerner would take 5 Earths!) As we've already seen, our complete fractional banking system is just a big pyramid scheme, based on totally imaginary money (that's right...there's nothing there, folks! It's pretend! Think about it, or better yet, research it.)

Our oceans are filled with giant islands of semi-disintegrated plastic; there is said to be virtually NO water anywhere in the world that is uncontaminated by pollutants; BP oil spill and another recent one in China! Dispersants to clean up the oil mess that are four times more toxic than the oil itself; Chem-trails (yes, they have admitted that they are real, as if they had to for those of us that remember that 30 years ago there WERE no chemtrails, only contrails).

Just as when you're looking at somebody in the hospital (or at home) and he has tubes going into and out of every orafice, and his kidneys are failing, his liver is failing, he can barely see you or hear you, he slips in and out of consciousness and you ask him how he is, inevitably he'll say, "Oh, I'm fine!" He's lying. Nor will any honest person say, "Hey! He'll be up and at 'em any day now." If they do, they're lying, or TOTALLY deluded!

Now, I'm certainly not asking you to be fully absorbed in either death or the upcoming collapse, but I'm also saying, if you don't look at it, you are totally deluding yourself, and when either DOES come, which they both will, are you going to be caught a little off-guard, like my friend in youth, whose last words when he neglected to tie a certain knot while rock-climbing, were, "WHAT THE FU**!!!!!"

Okay, back to whatever you were doing. You know, just one of those little wake up calls.

Screw Facebook - How about Reallife?

2010-07-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

Hey, I've got a novel idea. What if we started one of those "Social Networks" where, you know, people get together and connect. We could actually go and visit one another, enter into each others homes and lives and share on a really deep level. We could talk WITH each other, actually using our voices, our hearts and our ears. We could perhaps reach out and touch each other from time to time - a gentle touch on the shoulder, a tap on the arm. We could look into each others' eyes and feel and really empathize with the other. Instead of collecting innumerable 'friends' we could actually develop friendships! Instead of useless little games or clever little quips, we could establish some real m
eaningful communications. Perhaps if you tell a joke, you could actually hear me laugh. And if I cry, you can feel my pain. Perhaps if you are going to have a baby, I can share in your exultation. Or if I am dying, you can hold my hand as I slip away. Or is this all too real for us?

I know that many people still have actual human friends in form, and that for some, cyberspace is the only thing they have available. But for many, for thousands, even millions, it is beginning to take the place of reallife. You know, it wasn't very long ago, a few years ago, a few decades ago, and for the thousands upon thousands of years prior to that, that ALL friendships were face to face and not facebook. And then we got industrialized. We got corporatized. We got cyberized.

For thousands of years, EVERY child was born at home. For thousands of years, EVERY illness was bourne at home. For thousands of years, ever illness was suffered at home, and for thousands of years every death was mourned at home. Our conversations were long and thoughtful. Or our silence together was deep and fulfilling. Our coffee or tea or beer was brewed at home and the slice of bread we shared was baked at home. Now most people in the west wouldn't know how to do this if they had to. It all comes to them served in styrofoam, or wrapped in plastic, and sealed with a corporate logo. We listen to others music rather than making it ourselves. We watch other people play games rather than playing them ourselves. We watch other people on youtube rather than living dreams ourselves, and we read others little bits of conversations rather than risking unmasking ourselves to another human being.

Yes, we may have 100 or 1000 or more 'friends' out 'there' in cyberspace, but which of them will truly hear you when you need an ear? Who will hold you when you need to feel? Or share a joke, or a secret, or look at you in that way that you know you are loved. Or hated? Bit by bit, (or perhaps byte by byte) we are losing our humanity. And with our humanity, our true spirituality.

One TRUE friend is worth a billion on facebook. I hope and pray that you have such people in your lives. If not, consider coming out to Barnashram. I'll put a kettle on.

Passing of a Beloved Friend

2010-07-15T11:06:00.001-07:00

I am saddened to share with you the passing of a beloved friend and student, Indumathi Subramanian (Indu). Many of you local Portlanders may remember her from Sanskrit or yoga classes at the Yoga Shala, or Satsangs with myself at Barnashram and our old Belmont location. She was also a semi-regular visitor to the Simplicity Gardens market booth, where I took this photo of her late last season. A few months back Indu called me to say 'good-bye' as she was returning to India (Chennai) to help take care of her ailing parents. I was already saddened by her leaving as I so fondly recall her hearty "Hi Aja"s in that deep South Indian accent of hers.

I received the sad news this morning via an email from her sister Shobana, who I'm sure many of you also remember. Shobana moved to California awhile back, but is presently also in India due to Indu's death. (Her death appears to be an accident, but you can find out more by 'googling' Indumathi Subramanian, or clicking on this link: http://snipsly.com/2010/07/08/vodafone-official-indumathi-subramanian-dead-video-pictures-images%E2%80%A6/

Our deepest love & prayers go out to Indu, Shobana and their loved ones.

"For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain. "

Does the Word "God" Scare You?

2010-07-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

I know that's kind of a strange title - Does the word God scare you? Perhaps another way of saying this might be, "Are you adverse to the word 'God'?" But in either case (or even several other possible ways of phrasing it), the question I would pose is, "WHY?"

Is it what that word represents? Does it relate to your own 'religious' upbringing, where God was a stern and judgmental old man? Or, is it unscientific to think of a personal God? Is it that God somehow seems like a childish concept, a myth, something make-believe? Or is it, perhaps, something more egoic? For instance, if there IS a Supreme God, a Divinity, a Creator, does that somehow belittle your image of yourself?

Oh sure, we recognize and are willing to pay lip service to the idea that we are all God, that we are all One; we are all equal; we are none of us higher or lower than anyone else. We understand that intellectually, and that goes well with our general philosophy of life, which now, most people dub as "Spiritual, but not religious." But it still kind of leaves a lot unexplained. If there is ONLY this singularity of the One, everything is God view, then how did it all manifest? Is this universe real or illusion? Is it a dream? Are you creating this dream? From what? Based on what? Is it a sponteous arising from ???

I can't answer these questions for you, but perhaps I can shed some light on a few things that havre occurred to me and that may mean nothing to you.

Now, I grew up in a completely non-religious family. No thought or word was given to religion or spirituality at all. The ONLY reference I remember at all to either of my parents speaking of Godf was once, driving along the beach and my father saying something like, "How could anyone look at this beauty and NOT believe in God." That was it. I was baptized at my Norwegian Grandparents' wishes, not that they were all that religious either. And yet, in spite of that, at an early age (say 8 or 10) I defintely began wondering about where all this came from and began to inquire into the nature of God or a creator or ???

Of course, in junior high and high school, there was the brief sort of "gang christianity" thing. You know, all your friends started getting into Jesus, so you did too. But it was pretty short lived and superficial. I do remember praying and asking, "If you are Supreme, great; but if not, please guide me to That which is."

Over the next few years, I got into studying all kinds of 'metaphysical' things, meditating, joining various movements, and ultimately becoming a Hindu Monk and Priest in India. But even that was given up after some 15 years as I began to seriously inquire into Who I am? In doing that, I recognized I had to let go of my 'belief' in God in order to recognize Truth. Now here's the rub. Giving up a belief doesn't mean it isn't true!!! It only means that you're not looking at that right now. You have to let go of the assumptions about the one to get to the truth of the other. Now it may very well come back in the end to that original belief, but now it is discovered from a whole new light. (excuse the possible pun)

Let me give you an interesting example. Interest in Buddhism has exploded exponentially over the last few years, while the interest in Hinduism (which was quite big a couple of decades back) has virtually faded into the background. Check any bookstore...whole sections on Buddhism and perhaps a shelf or two on Hinduism (depending on the bookstore). Why is that. Is it that Buddism doesn't believe in God? Or is it that people are looking for a spirituality that doesn't require them to believe in God? In reality, God is a moot point in Buddhism. It's not what it was about. It was about the obvious truth that there IS suffering; that suffering was caused by desire; that desire was avoidable, and the method was the 8-fold path. God didn't have anything to do with it. Now that's fine. It is a science of suffering. It's like studying medicine. You don't really need to believe (or not believe) in God to study medicine - although from time to time it may come up.

We've also seen this gigantic interest in Advaita or non-dualism, which originally is one of the schools of Hinduism known as Vedanta. This particular school is actually Kevala Advaita Vedanta and was promoted by Shri Shankaracharya some 1200 years ago. Shankaracharya himself was a very devotional saint who wrote hundreds of verses in praise of the various aspects of God. However, the philosophy states that all is One - utilizing a number of aphorisms from the Upanishads... aham brahmasmi (I am Brahman, the Absolute); tat tvam asi (You are That); Brahma Satyam Jagan Mithyam (The Absolute is Real, the World False), etc.

The Non-duality which we have expressed mostly now in the west is really more accurately calledf 'Neo-Advaita' or the new-non-duality, and like western yoga to the original Hindu Yoga, is only a shadow of it's original teachings - primarily based on personal experience rather than philosophical intellectual understanding and direct recognition of Truth. It leaves out, for the most part, any reference to God, other than the continuous exclamation by proponents that "We are all God." While this is not UNtrue, it is only a part of the picture (ironically). What many people don't quite get is this. Advaita was not a question of whether there was or was not a God. This philosophy came from a culture where the idea of God was taken for granted. Of course there is a God. That's not the question. The question is (or was) are we one with or separate from God? What most people in the west DON'T recognize is that non-dual vedanta is only one of 4 or 5 major schools of Vedantic thought, most of which tend to be at least partially more dualistic. Interesting that in the 'scientific', narcissistic, individually aggrandizing west, that we should choose the form which has the most room for the denial of a personal God. Is it perhaps because the recognition of the possibility of an Original God, a Supreme Godhead, would suggest or require some type of humility, some sense of surrender to, or devotion for that God which might somehow stifle our self-absorbed 'buzz'??? Would we then have to CONSIDER the possibility of letting go of some of our self-absorption, our total service to our own ego, to our own comforts, to our own desires, and consider how does this larger God fit into the Big Picture?

So again, I ask, "Does the word God scare you?"

How about another approach - a little different. Are you perhaps afraid of what OTHERS will think of you if you mention God? This is another very big possibility for many. In our scientific, post modern culture, God is some archaic remnant of past, ignorant generations. Let me give an analogy. Although it is perfectly normal now, when I was a child, nearly all women were mothers and 'home-makers'. Then the 'feminist' movement came along, and it became nearly shameful for a woman NOT to have a job or career outside the home. Women who wanted to simply be mothers and home-makers were even shunned to some degree. I even remember walking down the street in downtown Seattle one day and realizing I no longer ever saw women (other than very old women) in skirts or dresses. It was as if all of a sudden, all women were required to wear pants, whereas prior to that you rarely saw women in pants. ( I know this is partly due to styles which come and go, but his was different.) Of course as time went by, it no longer became unacceptable to be a mother only, and many women re-asserted their right to stay at home if they wanted. (And of course, there was the option for dads to stay at home as well.)

So, in this culture, where God tends to be seen as the archaic remnant of a negative, patriarchical, destructive culture, why not choose philosophies which denied God's existence, or at the very least ignores it. And by claiming a belief in, or allegiance to God, you are essentially saying that "I am a completely backwards and ignorant, non-thinking, acceptor of a childish myth!"

Anyway, as I am myself VERY guilty of promoting an advaitic-like philosophy for many years, based on my own direct recognition of an Infinite, and Absolute Self, I never denied the possibility of a Personalized Godhead. In fact, by definition, if God is Everything, God must be both personal and impersonal, infinite and finite. And that in our desire to make the Absolute fit OUR ideas of what it should be, rather than truly delving into the depts of it, we may VERY well throw the baby out with the bathwater. And that is a very 'egoic' thing to do.

So once more, "Does the word God scare you?"

Enlightenment - No Big Whoop!

2010-07-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

Twenty years ago this month, "I" 'woke up'. What did that look like? Well, having gone through more than 15 years as a Vedic priest, monk, etc., and then hundreds and hundreds of hours of intense inquiry into the question, "Who Am I?", both alone and with others, gradually what began to be recognized, first in rather small glimpses and finally in one colossal boom (so to speak) was the realization that who I am, or really more appropriately What I Am, is Consciousness or Awareness or Presence, or ??? - Lots of names point to it, none really fully cover it. There was a shift which exposed that I wasn't so much the body/mind thing, as the Awareness within which the whole Aja-thing was occurring, along with everything else. The entire universe rested upon, and was permeated by that Awareness. Where was "I"? Where was this Awareness? Everywhere and no where. It just was. (And IS.)

Now, at the time, it seemed ultra cool, so to speak, which also means that immediately the ego was stepping in and claiming it (i.e. 'ultra cool') However, 20 years 'later' I recognize that it is no big whoop! It is NOT an end; it is not a big deal; it is not the ultimate of ultimates. It is, like most anything else, simply a transition, a step along the stage, very much like reaching puberty, or in other ways like seeing yourself in a mirror for the first time.

Very often I hear people talking about having their astrological chart done, or finding out their enneagram, or their IQ, or their whatever, as some incredible revelation. It's not. While it may be helpful in understanding who you are, it doesn't really change anything. It's like seeing yourself in a mirror for the first time. "OH!!! That's what I look like." It doesn't change anything - it simply reveals what has always been the fact.

Waking up to 'Who' or 'What' you are is the same. You have ALWAYS been Awareness, and NOT limited to this small personified ego. You were only SO identified and enmeshed in that ego that you failed to look at what you are in addition to, or prior to that limited persona. You failed to ask, "Who or What is it that is aware OF that persona?" Once you do, it's like, "Oh. THIS is what I am." and eventually it's rather obvious and taken for granted.

I liken it very much to (and excuse the analogy) of finding out what sex you are. You may go around wondering, "Am I a man or a woman, a man or a woman, a man or a woman?" One quick glimpse downward will generally reveal what you have always been - a man or a woman. And then what? Big whoop. You simply now know what was already the case. And what will you DO with that? Will you use that knowledge to go more deeply into being a man or a woman? Will you ignore it and act like the other gender, as many now are choosing to do? Will you actually use that sexual gender for its function in the sexual/reproductive act? Or will you more or less ignore it as a 'big whoop'.

"When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 1st Corinthians 13.11

Wakefulness, like puberty (or recognizing what sex you are) is a simple and rather natural transition. Many have it and ignore it. Like my friend Ram says, "There are probably 10,000 enlightened housewives in India." Many others have it and try to lead others to it, making it a big deal, which it is if you haven't recognized it. And many make it a collectible (or rather the ego does), "First, I'll get my degree, then a good job, then I'll get enlightened, then I'll get married, then I'll shop at Ikea for a nice bedroom set, then I'll ....." Taking this approach, most often find that they are still at the mercy of the ego persona. They know who they are, but they continue to identify back with the individualized persona and seek to fulfill all its desires. But this is what caused the suffering in the first place. It is at this point, that if one truly wants to 'grow up' or continue on the upward growth path they begin to ask some new questions - What is this world? What IS this Awareness that "I" arise from? What is God? Where does the suffering come from? In other words, it is time to put away 'childish' things. In THIS culture, at this time, this is far more difficult. Why? Because virtually EVERYTHING in this culture advocates continuing to play with every childish toy in the world, to the neglect of actually growing up (i.e. wiser). In other words, figuring out a newer or different way to satisfy the ego's desires is not giving up childish things. It is not maturing. It's the same old game.

Imagine if every cell in your body decided to act only for it's own satisfaction, refusing to 'die' and expanding like crazy while devouring everything around it. We have a term for that. It's called Cancer! And that is essentially the nature of the world today. You have billions of humans all wanting what their ego tells them. The real benefit of waking up is the recognition that 'you' don't really mean much. You (as ego) is just one of the millions of fluxes in infinite Awareness. So, then, with any luck and grace, you begin to inquire more deeply into what IS this Awareness? Where does IT come from? And gradually, THIS is the beginning of the Real inquiry into what is GOD! The SOURCE! You begin to want to be of service to the Source, to God, to the Whole, and not continue to pursue childish and selfish ambitions. So, this is the real import of waking up, just as the recognition of sexuality precedes having a child, so does recognition of What you are as Awareness precede the real inquiry into God. NOW, you are in the same playing field, and the real journey begins. It is like trying to climb Mt. Everest while still in your living room. First you have to get to the base of the mountain, THEN you can actually begin the climb.

Okay, so it's a little more than "No big whoop", but it is also certainly not the end of the journey! The journey just continues into a more and more deeply intimate absorption into the Godhead.

Sunday Market Expansion & Request for Assistance

2010-07-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

For those in the Portland area, just a bit of news on Simplicity Gardens. As our second year at Montavilla Market continues, Simplicity Gardens will (starting this next Sunday) move to a double size booth, so more product. Come by and see, every Sunday and SE 76th & Stark.

Also, in preparation for our Sunday Markets, every Saturday afternoon/evening from about 4 until 8 pm, there is a mad dash to harvest produce, wash it and otherwise prepare it for Sunday market. So..... Simplicity Gardens is seeking 2 people who would like to come out each week and be a part of that harvest FUN! In return, you'll be given a wonderful vegetarian dinner, AND some garden booty to take with you.

Send us an email if you're interested! Hope to hear from you.

Poetry and Reality

2010-06-28T12:28:00.001-07:00

Very often, with regard to the teacher, one hears the phrase....

"Hard as a thunderbolt, soft as a rose."

That is so very poetic, and gives you a sense of the depth of the teacher, and how wonderful it must be to live/learn with such a wonderful being.

Let me translate, "Soft as the rose, Hard as the thunderbolt" for you.....

"Oh, he/she is Sooooo Sweeet!!!!! WHAT A FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!"

In other words, it all sounds sweet as poetry, much as you might be able to describe moldy fruit in a way that almost makes it sound delicious. But when you get your nose right into it, you find a reality that betrays the poetry. Yeats wrote, "Truth is beauty, beauty truth," however I would guess he was speaking more as I am than what many may perceive as an "Oh, everything is just so beautiful," kind of approach.

For REAL Truth, for Real beauty, untruth is the 'enemy'. And for the most part that takes the form of the false ego, the false sense of an important "I".

Recently I was watching a television show ( I don't remember which one) and a woman comes up to the protagonist of the show and says, "Don't you know who I am? I write a VERY IMPORTANT BLOG!"

To which the response was, "Now THERE'S an oxymoron."

There is a Vedic verse which says, "One should not become a mother, a father, a teacher, or worshipable demigod, unless one can liberate their dependents from the cycle of birth and death." I might add to that.... a blogger! (Of course, I would have to be willing to add my own blogs to that as well.)

We are all like the opera singer, warming up their voice to prepare to sing.....

ME..ME...ME...ME...MEEEEEEEE!!!!!

An expansion of the 'Social' craze - Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. And why? Because we are all desperate to be heard. We live in a culture where Radical Narcissism is the way and the life of all. There is no greater Truth than "ME", and that 'ME' cries out to be heard, to be understood, to be LOVED! But that 'ME' is the ego. It will never be satisfied. So one must recognize that, while perhaps 'enemy' is too strong of a word, the illusory nature of the ego must be examined, explored, revealed for the illusion it is.

The part of the teacher that appears as 'Rose' OR 'Thunderbolt' (read - Asshole) is being seen BY the ego. Go beyond the ego-response to the part that says, "Yes, I accept this, and I will dig deeper into the Reality of what is. For the function of Truth, of the Teacher IS to disillusion you. And if you aren't being dis-illusioned, then you best keep looking for another teacher. I believe it was Gloria Steinem who said, "The Truth will set you free, but FIRST it will PISS YOU OFF!"

Look around at what is really happening in the world, and in your own consciousness. Don't be an idiot and just try to sugar coat everything. It's okay to get mad. In fact, it's important. No real change (internal OR external) ever came from people saying, "Oh. It's okay. It's just swell. It's beautiful as it is. Now let's have some strawberry ice cream." Whether it's the world OR your own ego... GET MAD and then DO something about it, even if that 'doing' something is to actually recognize the deep and abiding peace behind it - not falsely, not superficially, but truly. If you fake it, it will quickly arise again.

What Is Alive?

2010-06-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Right now....What is it that is "Alive"?

When we are dreaming, we assume we are awake.

When we awaken, we assume that there is a 'someone' that is alive.

So....

What is Alive?

Welcome to our New Barnashram Website

2010-06-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

Namaste - Greetings - Welcome - Hi, How are ya?

This is just a little blog entry to hang out for a bit. Much of the site is done, but we still have some tab pages to fill up, re-organize, etc. as you'll see if you start to explore a bit. Howeverr, as we've already started to get gawkers, readers, followers, etc. I thought it might be nice to say hello and have something there besides a year and a half old entry. So your patience is requested; your interest is appreciated, and we look forward to more formal sharing as our times goes by.

With Infinite Love & Peace
Aja