“Personal transformation can
and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is in
us. The revolution that will save the
world is ultimately a personal one.” M. Williamson, A
Course in Miracles
It is a three-day weekend,
and for one morning of life in my sixth decade, I am choosing to write, as
opposed to look at my email. Perhaps
later, when I do skim through the 75 or so messages, delivered to ‘alert’ me to
the dysfunction of American society, I will begin to unsubscribe to half of
them, and dedicate that time to ruminating and writing.
I have been relieved of a time- consuming
academic job at work. It is the type of administrative thing with a lot of
‘academise’ hoo haw that kept me from becoming a teacher forty years ago. (Or was that my desire to be on stage?) I will still be involved in this school
accreditation, but not as a “chair”.
Hallelujah. Thus, those other
eight hours of my Holiday weekend can be devoted to me and my wonderful
soon-to-be sixty-five year old self.
First rumination - Personal transformation. As I grow ‘wiser’
(please note foregoing the use of the term
‘older’) this spiritual journey of transformation is the thing. Joyously, I have found someone to act as my
spiritual guide. Jagadish, a guy who grew up in the San Fernando Valley,
studied in India for 30 years or so, and then returned to help ‘evolve the
planet’.
His tradition is
‘Rasik’. Apparently, there are all sorts
of Hindi sects, Rasik being one of them.
Jagadish holds no judgment over who is the Godhead; his mission is to
deepen your relationship with God, be that Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed or whomever.
This appeals to me. It has always seemed to me that all masters
are teaching similar lessons. Simply,
they are clothed in different ways to approach their different cultures. His humility speaks to me too, as does his
gentle humor.
His 90 year old mother is
always at his gatherings.
“Sylvia, can you hear me?” he projects his
voice.
“Drink
some water.”
Sylvia’s
eyes twinkle as she replies, “Yes sir”
Sylvia
is sharp, taught sacred Hawaiian dancing in younger years, and is a cutie. I project that one of my loved ones might
nurture me in such a way.
Last weekend I attended a
two-day workshop at his home in the Valley. This is about the fifth session I
have had with Jagadish. This intensive
was with ‘Sri Ganesh’ – a Hindi deity who removes obstacles, and in that
tradition is always invoked for prosperity.
Ganesh is depicted as an elephant
figure. One of the tusks is straight, clearing any obstacles, the other is
curved – just in case you might need to re-think whatever kind of prosperity
you want. Sometimes what we want comes with challenges that have to be
addressed.
The aftermath is great
happiness. My heart feels more open, fuller, more able to cope with the
insanity of my workplace – the ‘joint’, a medical prison facility where I teach
GED and Adult Education.
Of course whenever I do these
‘woo woo’ things, there is my sister’s voice in the back of my head.
‘Delou, you are always doing this kind of
thing. “
“You
always say, ‘Life is good,’ but you’re just running away from the deep sadness
in your heart from Daddy dying when you were five.”
Once again, I question the
validity. Will these ‘sacred objects’
(blessed cards, sacred blue lights)
really do the thing? Or is it just my
belief that they will facilitate the change in my circumstances?
And of course, what does that
matter? Truly? If I am feeling lighter in
my heart, laughing more with my inmates as we go through the mandated 15 minute
stretching exercises each class period,
feeling more optimistic, why
should I question with my monkey mind?
I note that one of most
interesting things that resulted from last weekend’s work is - I am wanting to let go of any other meditative
practices. I find so many of these discussions fascinating and
there are hundreds of them online. I have been eating them up since New York
days, Silva Mind Control, Seth Speaks, Tom Kenyon and the Hathors. They speak of the change that is upon us; we
have all come here to be part of that change. Get on board with meditation, or
tapping, or positive affirmations.
Surely, Williamson’s quotes
and the ‘Course in Miracles’ was one of the earlier ‘enlightenment’ paths, in
the ‘Age of Aquarius’. But of course,
enlightenment has been there for us since man first evolved. We just have been hiding behind the veil
making our way forward.
At any rate, although I
wasn’t much of a church goer as a child – except for the summer and winter I
was an actor in the local church plays – it is now apparent that the pursuit is
to find the way to God. The clearer that
becomes, the more all the other ‘manifestation’ issues make their way.
At its center I no longer
need to be looking for that ‘soulmate’ connection. Maybe it will come front and center sometime
soon, for now it is enough to guide my heart toward opening, period. Guess what?
It is feeling just that.
