You Will Leave It Too

Dr. Madhu Patel told this story at Satsang:

One Sunday morning there was a wealthy man who was sitting on his balcony. He was having his coffee and enjoying the sunshine.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed an ant carrying a big leaf. The leaf was several times the size of the ant, but he managed to carry it across the floor of the balcony.

For almost an hour the man watched as the ant encountered obstacle after obstacle. It would pause occasionally, or take a detour from his path. Whatever was necessary to complete its mission.

Once, the ant encountered a crack he couldn't cross. So he put the leaf over the crack, crossed it like it was a bridge, then picked it up again and "carried" on toward his destination.

The man was amazed that one of God's tiniest creatures had so much to ability to get a task done. Even though it was so small, it had the brains to reason, to contemplate, explore, discover, and overcome any stumbling blocks.

Then, it finally reached its destination: a tiny hole in the floor that led to his underground dwelling. The man wondered how this leaf was going to fit into that tiny hole.

After all, the ant had managed all the obstacles and difficulties, had come all that way, with all that hard work, using all his skills... but ultimately it had to leave the leaf behind in order to enter his home.

The ant probably never thought about the end before he began his challenging journey, what a burden it was. And the creature had no option but to leave the leaf behind to reach his destination.

The man thought about this and related it to humans. He thought, "We worry so much about our family, our jobs, how we are going to earn a living, where we're going to live, what kind of car we're going to buy, what kind of clothes we're going to wear, what kind of upgrades we're going to make to our appliances and gadgets that we have...

Only to abandon all these things when we reach our final destination. We'll just leave it before we go.

The Art of Remembering

Satsang by Mahesh Shastri 

"No one escapes life and death. It’s important to understand this cycle. 

The mind gets involved in the material world. You play in the material world with the conscious mind. 

But everybody sleeps at night. They’re connected with God there unconsciously. 

And because they are connected, they are very peaceful when they get up. 

But if they know how to meditate with the conscious mind, then, during the daytime in the material world, it will help them connect with their deeper self.

If they know this.

If they don’t do this, they will have more difficulty at the end of their life.

Lord Krishna maintained that one could be a cruel person in life, but if they remember Him at the end of their life, if they remember the Holy Spirit, they will be forgiven. All will be forgiven.

Providing… they remember.

How to remember? 

That's what we teach at the ashram. The art of remembering. Of connecting."

Live and Love

My mother-in-law is in hospice care.

She didn't reach this stage suddenly. We're sad, but relatively prepared (my children, less so). She's hasn't remembered very much for some time, and now she simply cannot stay awake for visitors, so we mostly just sit with her in silence while she sleeps.

I feel sad for my family and myself, of course.

And I can't help but contemplate my own mortality. 

Especially when friends around you are experiencing their own pain over a sick loved one.

I have a dear friend who has a sister in ICU. She is very, very fragile.

I wrote about a couple I know who lost a grandchild recently.

We don't have all the answers. Sometimes all we can do is just be with it, which is made easier with the love and support of our family, caring friends in our community, and whatever faith we have.

None of this new to humanity, of course, but it's new when it happens to us. At least one message is always the same and never gets old: life is fragile, so live today, in the present. Live now, because tomorrow may not come.

Live, and love.

Tragedy Brings Out the Best in Our Community

I experienced the power of community yesterday when I learned during the satsang that the granddaughter of devotees had died in a car accident. It is such a profound loss. With open hearts, we honored their granddaughter with a memorial and special prayers. To our fellow devotees - our family - we offered condolences and whatever we could, usually with very few words because words can be so inadequate. But we were all together, sharing what we could, and that’s what mattered. And they know we're there for them for whatever they need. 

My Goal Is To Stop You From Reading This Blog*

First, here are the reasons I write this blog:

1. To express the amazing experiences I’ve had since starting yoga and meditation, not caring if even one person reads it (although I’d prefer a few readers...)
2. To process the profound changes in my life as a result of the practice
3. To help others find or create a similar type of community
4. To inspire others to start their own blog about their community

In other words, my goal is to have lots of people read this blog… until they don’t have the time because they’re too busy writing their own spiritual community newsletter/blog, or are too busy contributing to that community.

So if you do it right, your life will be too busy to read this blog!

And I’m not talking about the kind of busy that keeps you running like a hamster in a wheel.

I’m talking about the kind that fulfills you, feeds your soul, and maybe even makes the world a better place.

It’s the kind of busy the comes when you don’t want anything for yourself – which is a real gift to realize – and you now have the time and space to give to others who haven’t gotten that gift.**

For instance, the baijis at my Ashram have devoted their lives to service and are already very busy, and when we raise all the funds to build a bigger studio to allow more students, they would like me to lead some yoga classes so they’ll have more time for their ministering duties. There are also fundraising duties for the two old-age homes (the baiji’s sisters run those) and an orphanage in Nepal (all of which I plan to visit in the next year – busy-busy). There is also the wonderful Sunday afternoon satsang service followed by a delicious vegetarian meal.***

There are also tabla lessons, harmonium lessons, and vegetarian cooking lessons when they let me peek into the kitchen on Sunday afternoons. At our Ashram there’s even a Homeopathic specialist with years of study in natural healing you can occupy yourself with.

So I dedicate this post to the givers out there who are taking steps to make the most of their day. You might as well: it could be your last.

*Except for those at my Ashram. You better keep reading – I might mention you.

**Another name for that gift is “the present.”

***On that day I’m "busy" right through to dessert.