The Greatest Gift God Has Given Us - Baiji's Satsang

Mahatma Gautum Baiji did her satsang this Sunday almost entirely in English. Here it is, paraphrased:

Yoga actually comes from yuj, to unite with our self.

So when we do that - when we practice yoga and unite with our selves - we tend to naturally experience questions like "Why are we living?"

Why are we living?

To achieve something.

Obtaining material things? No, we know there is more. So what do we really want to achieve?

Peace.

When we're missing peace, the mind is upset. Without peace, everything else - especially the material things - are useless.

And nobody is selling peace...

Cell phones can do many amazing things. They can make calls, give directions, bring you news, etc. But they won't do any of those things if you don't charge it.

But when you get home at night and are ready to charge it, do you merely set it on top of the charger without plugging it in? No - you must connect it.

In the same way, we cannot find peace outside of ourselves. We must connect to it.

If I say, "God is in my heart..." Is my heart in a temple? Is my heart in a church?

God is in my heart, which is inside of me. (The word yoga itself refers to linking with God.)

So we might then ask ourselves, what is God?

God is energy. Think of electricity. It's not a bulb, but it can light up a room. It's not the air conditioner, but it can cool the room, or heat the room through a heating unit.

Once we realize God is within our heart all the time, we will understand that we need nothing else. This is peace.

But we need the eye to see it.

If you have a mound of sugar and sand mixed together, an ant will always know where the sugar is - such is his ability to focus.

A magnifying glass can burn paper because of its ability to focus on it.

Once we realize that God is within our heart all the time, we will need nothing else.

Without it, we are wasting our life...

The ability to be still and go inside to experience this - to meditate - is the greatest gift God has given us.

In the Bagavad-Gita, it is the technique that Krishna gave to Arjuna.

And yet if someone says "Let's go to a movie," we're ready, but if someone says "Let's meditate for fifteen minutes," we're suddenly too tired. Or busy.

We can have a healthy body, but a sick mind from no meditation and too many worldly distractions helps no one.

If you have a boat in the water, you are fine. But if too much water gets in the boat, you will sink. The same with too much of the world...

With meditation, we can get whatever we want. And what do we want most?

Peace.

 

A Great To-Do List

Start With the Thoughts

Now here

We Need More Gardeners

What a different world it would be...

From crime to mental health issues, homelessness. From students to office and factory workers.

And especially the raising of our children.

"When a flower doesn't bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower" is a statement that empowers us. It doesn't just state a problem - the solution itself is embedded.

And because it's an empowering statement, it doesn't make us victims.

It shifts our perspective and puts us in the driver's seat. That's why I shared it.

Thanks to Alexander den Heijer.

Amen

Let the Light Out

To the Point

We Are Like the Rain - Baiji's Satsang

On Sunday, the baiji said:

What our life becomes... who we become... is largely due to the people we surround ourselves with.

In this way we are like water, which can find itself in many places, and become many different things.

The water that falls from the sky as rain and lands on dirt becomes mud.

The rain that falls into the ocean helps create the pearls found in clams.

Some rain will land on banana leaves and create camphor.*

And without water for the snake, there would be no venom.

Unlike the animals and insects, we are conscious creatures who can direct our lives and choose where we will land.

*A highly regarded waxy flammable solid with an aromatic odor used in cooking and spiritual services 

We Only Have the Capacity For So Much Flux

Why is Ganesh Represented as an Elephant?

Here's a relatively short answer to Ganesh's (or Lord Ganesha's) appearance:

"The ancient sages, in their infinite wisdom, have designed Hindu deities with specific Vedantic attributes in mind.

Lord Ganesha, also called Ganapati or Vinayaka, is presented in the form of a human body with the head of an elephant. This blend of human and animal parts is a symbolic representation of a perfect human being, as conceived by Hindu sages. His head symbolizes wisdom, understanding, and a discriminating intellect that one must possess to attain perfection in life. By worshipping Ganesha, a Hindu seeks God's blessings for achieving success in one's endeavors in the physical world and for attaining perfection thereafter."

And this:

"Lord Ganesha, popularly known and easily recognized as the Elephant-God, is one of the most important deities of the Hindu pantheon. Before every undertaking, be it laying of the foundation of a house, or opening of a store or beginning any other work, Lord Ganesha is first worshipped so at to invoke his blessings. Ganesha has many names. The main ones are Ganapati (lord of the ganas, or attendants), Vighneshwara (controller of all obstacles), Vinayaka (the prominent leader), Gajaanana (elephant-faced), Lambodara (pendant-bellied), and Ekdanta (having one tusk)."

Seeking Union

This Love is Rare

Yin and Yang

Do yoga and be okay with all of it.

Don't Disturb Your Mind With Seeking

to be simple

Rinse and Repeat

Have You Checked to See If You're Truly Free?

A cliche? Perhaps. But still, many of us won't fully embrace our true selves and live a life of joy and freedom.

We're crippled by the fear of being seen as dumb, weird, or stupid, which we're afraid will lead to being ridiculed, humiliated, unaccepted, unloved and ostracized, which would be hell for most of us.

Just for being who we want to be, and doing what we want to do.

So instead, we do what we think we're supposed to do. And we're unhappy.

We could change overnight, but it can be difficult to overcome years of conditioning.

Yoga and meditation helps immensely, and fairly quickly. Counseling and workshops help also.

Being in an inquiry about it is a great open-ended way to approach it. It means that "even if there are no easy or immediate answers, I will continue to inquire and focus on it until I'm healed."

As long as we acknowledge it's there in the first place.

It helps to have a little support.

To sum it up, we pleased X people by doing X things, then later realized we liked Y things. We knew X people didn't like Y things, so we buried it and kept doing X things unhappily, not realizing the Y people were waiting for us to be Y with them.

Then we couldn't bear it anymore and starting doing Y things. X people got confused and went away, but we found Y people and that was good. You can't get mad at X people for not liking Y because they're X people. To them we changed. To us we took off a costume we didn't know we were wearing. Now we feel freer.

The end? No. The beginning. 

Words of Love

Can I Take It Home in a Jar?