Destruction of ignorance

"As the sun appears after the destruction of darkness by dawn, so Atman [the Self] appears after the destruction of ignorance by knowledge."

~ A verse from Atmabodha

Karmas

The karmas are being woven back together, almost fluid, the colors mixing. All distinctions of pain and concern are coming together in a gently flowing, living tapestry of "all."

I see it with my mind. I feel it with my breath.

Jagadanandana

"If you want to advance on the path of suddha bhakti, not many rules and spiritual practices are necessary. Simply beg for the complete shelter of krsna-nama and thus purify your heart and consciousness."

Srila Gauranga's instructions are for grhastas as well as vairagi devotees. He said:

"Take great care not to let a moment pass without uttering krsna-nama."

From the teachings of Srila Jagadanandana Pandita

Photo: Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust Intl

Spiritual experiences

Nothing is ever new and permanent, and all the time. Except this: when I look within, there is no barrier or break between myself "inside" and "outside." It's a continuum.

The Flammerion Engraving (1888) 

So... What??

It seems like it's not much of a difference. But for me it is the difference between rattling around in my head, and feeling and dancing with the shakti: spiritual experiences, for me, are not about making progress towards having "them" in every moment as realization.

They are about now.

They don't mean anything, at least not to my mind, the mind that is always trying to figure everything out, including realization.

The swirl of love and light, mystery and passion, are now. They're just now. Experience them. Be changed by them. Be grateful and happy. Love the shakti, the guru. Everything is made of them. Because that is what happens when I tune into the shakti swirling in me, uplifting me. A divine purpose that is far, far beyond my mind.

Salt Lake City LDS Temple ~ I grew up in Salt Lake City Utah

I don't know what is happening(!) I don't do that. Look, I was raised a Mormon. Mormons are very thoughtful, and have a complete system of understanding and living in the world. Mormons continuously and somewhat suspiciously monitor their actions, thoughts and motivations. Mormons figure out everything. And everything is leading to something. God has big plans for my future. This is certain.

When I feel love and expansion fill me, I am hard put to keep my mind quiet, to stay with the feelings without thinking and drifting away. My busy mind!! I am lucky if I make it ten seconds! I don't want everyday feelings, I always thought. I want TRANSFORMATIONAL feelings that turn my life into something better. Always getting somewhere. Trying to hitch a ride to a new future on every spiritual experience.

No. Stop that. I am stopping. It has taken so many years of sadhana to see and challenge this thing. Why? Because it gets in the way.

The real deal is only now. It is so exquisite, playful, mysterious, delightful. This is what I have always wanted. This.

The Flammerion Engraving (1888) - color added

Hold

Steady.

This pulls me. That repels me.

Emotions and sensations happen.

I wobble. But I don't elope with them.

I want not to want.

I don't want to avoid.



No. Steady. I feel the pull.

Hold.

A vision

I had a dream, a vision.

It happened in a split second from fully asleep to a silent, kinetic image, followed by being fully awake, though I did not open eyes for several moments.

I saw before me a golden bird cage covered with a mottled, purple silk scarf which was in motion, being pulled off in an instant. I could not see what was pulling the scarf upward.

During the instant, I saw a small creature jump or fall from the bottom of the cage, disappearing down out of view. It was the size of a small monkey, and seemed to be sort of like a monkey, though it was symbolic.

I immediately felt great hope for my sadhana, which has been so discouraging. "Thank you," I said to my Guru, over and over. "I needed this so much."

SYMBOLISM

It happened in between sleep and awake, when the mind is not conscious.

It happened so fast, there is no story. It just was.

It was instantaneous. There was no sadhana. No recipe of action.

I viewed it from outside of the cage. It was a communication via symbolism, rather than an experience.

INTERPRETATION

Recently, the freedom of my enlightenment seemed just in reach, then crumbled with the cycles of my wandering mind.

I just didn't know. Finally. Not even if there was anything to know.

Illusion will be removed all at once. I will see out of the cage. The ego will fall out of the cage.

What is next was not in the dream.


MORE

A couple of days ago I was wondering if it was difficult for my fish if I turned their lights off (put them to sleep) at completely different times every day.

Then I thought of the neighbor I once had who had a bird, and how birds go to sleep (become silent) when their cage is covered.

If my cage is uncovered, I will be awake.


I am so grateful. My sadhana is real. My enlightenment is real.

Quieting and disciplining my mind is a part of becoming steady and undistracted. I can shape my mind, forming it to see what I believe is to be real, liberation. But the mind is cyclable by nature. Whatever is, will eventually not be. It's a cycle.

My Guru has it well in hand. She has a plan.

Sangham

For the first time, I feel that my Guru's teaching for the year is for me.

Instead of trying to find my way outside of the sattvic sadhana of the sangham. The sadhana--my sadhana--is sangham.

It is something that unfolds. No intellect or comparisons apply.

Pure shakti.

Painting by Rajhastani (1950)

The Tower tarot card

I am so confused.

It's Makar Sankranti. The long arc of the sun is slowing to a stop and beginning its journey back again.

It's like a Maha-Tower tarot card: energy shaken up and not yet in flow.

Pure gold

In this moment, the shakti wells up as bliss... and I remember the stories with sadhakas who sat and swayed in a state of bliss. I thought I was so far away from this state.

In this moment, this is my sadhana.

I have had a crisis for a few weeks. What is my sadhana? I thought it was to shape my consciousness with my will, to see and experience what is truth, and real.

But then I found that my mind crumbles and rebuilds itself. There will be no permanence there, no matter how strong my will.

Without the discipline, I have been thrashed around, undercut by fear, falling into whole caverns of dark confusion.

I threw out my goals. Becoming perfected in this moment doesn't work without a way to STAY perfected. And I am changing every moment. So confusing.

I need my guru's phone number!! No, she teaches me inside.

Well. What, what then? What is my path??


Today, I am swaying with the bliss that is bubbling up again.

In this moment, my path is bhakti. Bliss. I am being purified and transformed by bliss. It dissolves my mind. It dissolves my ego, the ever changing field of my being.

Slipping away...

This bliss, Mata Kundalini, is made of pure gold.

Together in joy

The bliss bubbles up from the springs of my being.

I was miserable when it stopped. I burned the sodden, the twisted, the torn and trampled. Days. Weeks. I lost all hope. Martin Luther. Mother Theresa. The crisis of faith, the days of spiritual dryness. I remembered them yesterday--sadhakas like myself--and today the hope has returned.

Now I know it when it comes, the bliss bubbling up, the fountain of eternal life, of God's love. A personal, inner grasping, liquid, we are falling together in joy. Eternally, like a fountain.

I finally understand, recognize. This spring is sacred and wild. It is the fundament of my being. I worship it as it frees me. I reach to it, and it is always there.

Lord Krishna peeks in and laughs. Ha ha, I was here all along, you silly goof!!

The path of bhakti is embodied by Mirabai
Painting by Raja Ravi Varma

Confidence is my constant

It's all love in motion.

Confidence replaces self-doubt and reprobation.

Confidence.... and I can open my eyes... and trust what I see.

And then I can feel.... the love.

LOVE comes in all the forms I love.

There is no division between myself and those forms.

I feel that ALL has the same heart. Everything is joined in the heart.

ALL reflects the golden sun rising from the horizon. My eyes are golden. My heart flies open.

Open.

I can only keep my heart open with CONFIDENCE.

All is One

God's light fills me up.

Within and without, it is continuous.

All is One.