Lead Me From The Unreal to the Real – The Muddenahalli Deception

Indian temple
flower offering

Lead me from the asat to the sat.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality
Om Peace Peace Peace.

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28)

 

“Look at the moon, not at the finger pointing to it,” the Zen parable says. A guide points the way but is not the Way itself.  He cannot carry the pupil on his back, can only propose conditions that will support the aim. Spiritual teaching is not a one-way process—the guide must also be a student. It’s an essential chain through which higher forces can manifest on Earth. Mutual sincerity will make the relationship fruitful. If the teacher is not also growing, something is gradually lost: the connection to the higher. His role is to enable you to see, as he does, without judgment. Then your conscience or your soul has room to appear and become the real guide.” Sathya Sai Baba was an inner experience that touched the soul not an entertainer!

 

Video with Photos of the Muddenahalli Group while out and about to the catchy rap music

” Human” – artist Rag n Bone Man 

 

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Currently, in the darkness of our ignorance, we believe ourselves to be bound and limited (otherwise we would not be reciting prayers or mantras in the first place). But the Guru and the scriptures are telling us that, in truth, we are not, never will be and never have been, bound. Eternally we are Sat-Cit-Ananda. The only thing that can remove our ignorance regarding our true nature is a spiritual education at the hands of a True Master – A Sat Guru. At the culmination of such an education, light floods the room, as it were; darkness vanishes and we become wise. This is exactly what  Sathya Sai Baba spent decades teaching us. He said time and time again, we have the source within and the duty of the guru is to point the way.  This was his mission.

Sai Baba  told devotees during 2006 that His mission was already complete. He also told us that Sat Gurus only leave their bodies once they have finished their missions. He directed us away from being attached to His form and asked us to be attached to the eternal Atma which is the reality of all forms. He said that when He left His body He would remain as the eternal Atma,  that He would not come back in any astral form or subtle body. He actually didn’t mention another  means of communication through someone else.

Therefore, if we trust what Sai Baba said, we know that He completed His mission and having completed it, He left His body and remains as the eternal Atma, which is His reality. Since  Sathya Sai  Baba said that illness could not defeat him, we also understand He left His body voluntarily.

Although  Muddenahalli Madhusudan claims otherwise that Sai Baba died prematurely leaving him to continue his mission for so many years. He is blatently contradicing all that Sathya Sai Baba said when alive. That Sai Baba failed to complete His mission before leaving His body and that He, Sai Baba, has therefore had to come back in a subtle body to finish it. Madhusudan is now encouraging devotees to be attached to and seek visions of this subtle body through Madhusudan.

But wait a minute! What Has Sathya Sai Baba actually declared?

Sai Baba doesn’t need or use mediums or intermediaries:”I never speak through another. I never use another or possess another physical vehicle to express Myself. I am not a ghost or spirit to do so, to need some medium. I come direct, I speak direct, I come as I am or as I will to come in fresh created Forms. I do not use weak vacillating human vehicles; I confer boons straight and without any intermediary”. (Sathyam Sivam Sundaram Part 2)

However Madhusudan claims that Swami has also gone back on His word that He never uses intermediaries and is now using Madhusudan as an intermediary to convey messages to His devotees. Who are we going to believe? Swami’s own recorded words or Madhusudan’s unverified claims (which contradict so much of what Swami says)? I choose to place my faith in Sathya Sai Baba while in His physcial body!

Madhu with Sai Baba

Madhusudan World Traveller:

 

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Madhusudan, unlike Sai Baba, travels the world. He does so business class!  Needless to say his travels are costly. From the travel reports send out to followers, we read about his expensive trips abroad, we gather nothing about them is cheap. He is travelling in style!  So what about money? Like everything else, “the spiritual” must be paid for. Rent is due, and gas and electricity aren’t free and plane tickets are expensive and Hotels do not come free!  Madhusudan, like so many other self-styled gurus, demand and get huge sums from hopeful followers who somehow believe that the more something costs, the more valuable it is.  That standard may apply to consumer goods but “authentic gurus” tend to live simply.  If a luxurious lifestyle is given as proof of efficacy, you may have cause to question the teacher and the teaching, and your own values. Do you  really value imitations more than the real thing?  Sathya Sai Baba darshans was always a deep experience that gave us a radiance that was found nowhere else. With Madhusudan its sheer entertainment! – A mere shadow of what is truly real.  While on the subject of the “Real Thing”  what about the ancient practice of  Tithing? (To give monies for aid.)  If a spiritual community supports the helpless and softens the harsh division between those who have too much and those who have not enough, tithing is blessed. But there is no spiritual gain from supporting some charismatic “rascal”  who turns spiritual seekers into his own ATM machine by  actively engaging in tithing. (Taking donations from followers.)

Be wary of cults, they are easy to join but hard to leave. A genuine teaching on the contrary may be hard to find and harder to enter, but very easy to walk away from. Are you being courted? Cults seek recruits. Speak to followers who left, not just the ones who stayed: how were they treated? Are they grateful for what they received?

 

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Tithing

To exact a tithe from (a person, community, parish, etc.

Offering of Flowers To Sathya Sai Baba – Source Sai Baba Of India

Madhusudan – offering a double blessing – but what’s the expression on his tired looking face, if it is not  one of sadness

A Stranger Is A Beautiful State Of Being- Spirituality

 

Do not be misled by what you see around you, or be influenced by what you see. You live in a world which is a playground of illusion, full of false paths, false values and false ideals. But you are not part of that world.  ~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Here is a small interview with Satish Kumar the Indian Activist, that I thought I would share with you today.

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Satish Kumar: When you accept the state of being a stranger, you are no longer a stranger. I have been an exile when everything around me seemed strange and everybody was a stranger. Once I accepted that I didn’t have to belong and I didn’t have to be part of the world, then I was free to be part of it. There was a paradoxical release of the spirit. The world became mine when I was no longer holding on to it. I experienced a deeper monk-hood after leaving the monk-hood. I felt much more release of spirit and was at ease with the world

Parabola: Why do you think that human beings find it so difficult to feel at home?

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SK: What happens is that human beings are, from the very beginning, brainwashed. Our parents, our teachers, our churches, impose a particular set of values and living style, telling us what we ought to be and do. So our minds are conditioned by society, schooling, media. It’s not the fault of the human being, which is a pure soul. It is a society which tries to imprison the free human being. When teachers like the Dalai Lama or the Buddha or Mahatma Gandhi speak about an unconditioned mind, we find it difficult to understand because we are so conditioned over twenty or more years. You have to have patience. If you have been conditioned for forty years, you have to allow at least ten or twelve years to be deconditioned.

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Parabola: Babaji, the wise man that you met in Benares, told you, ‘With the third eye one can see and experience the whole, the totality.” If this is possible, to experience the totality, does one feel oneself more or less a stranger in the world?

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SK: If you can see with the third eye―which is seeing reality when you close your eyes, because there is something more to the world than meets the eye―then you find that what is around you is a metaphor, and then you find that metaphor beautiful. Then the trees and the ponds, the lilies and lotus and birds and animals and parents and children and women and men, everything becomes beautiful. It is a transformation of your perception and of your consciousness, so you see the world with fresh, new eyes―which is the third eye, the eye of the heart. The Buddha told us in his Lotus Sutra that when you sit by the pond and meditate on the lotus, you see the lotus has its roots in the mud, deep under the lake, but the petals always remain above, and that beauty to me is wonderful. And in the same way, being a stranger is a beautiful state of being. So it is difficult to answer whether you feel more or less a stranger.

Source: Satish Kumar, Indian activist, editor,  Parabola Magazine 1995 issue, “The Stranger.”

 

A Level Of Commitment – The Value Of Kindness

Image: Harris Rosen with young girl in Tangelo Park.

The purpose of our human life is to help others as best we can.  Research indicates that those who consistently help other people experience less stress, enjoy higher levels of mental health, feel more connected to your spirit, feel more grateful for what you have and less invested in the ‘rat race’ that causes stress for so many of us. Religion begins with an obliging nature. Happiness begins from the moment we do something for others. I cannot see why on earth we are born if not to help others. Okay, there are times when we can’t always do our best, but when we do, it is like a light going on.

I remember a sweet story from Sathya Sai Baba that dealt with this very topic. The story goes like this: A married couple asked him what was the most important piece of advice he could offer. He replied. “To serve. It does not matter what your station is in life, as long as you help others. It does not matter what career you have, what house you live in, large or small, none of these material gifts matter. All that matters is how much you have loved and how much you have shared.”

There are many times  when people need our kindness and at other times we need kindness from others. To withdraw kindness from another person is like turning off the light.”

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I read in the Dalai Lama’s book – Ancient Wisdom, Modern World, (1999) the following: “On a recent visit to New York, a friend told me that the number of billionaires in America had increased from seventeen just a few years ago to more than 350 today.  So clearly the number of rich people in the world is growing. Yet, at the same time, the poor remain poor and in some cases are becoming poorer. This I consider to be completely immoral. It is also potentially a source of problems. Whilst millions do not even have the basic necessities of life – adequate food, shelter, education and medical facilities – the inequity of wealth distribution is a scandal. If we were the case that everyone had sufficient for their needs and more, then perhaps a luxurious lifestyle would be tenable. If that was what the individual really wanted, it would be difficult to argue that they need refrain from exercising their right o live as they see fit. Yet things are not like that. In this one world of ours, there are areas where people throw food away while others – our fellow humans, innocent children among them, are reduced to scavenging among rubbish  and starvation.

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Thus, although I cannot say that the life of luxury led by the rich is wrong of itself, assuming they are using their own money and have not acquired it dishonestly, I do say that it is unworthy, that it spoils us. Moreover, it strikes me that the lifestyles of the rich are often absurdly and pointlessly complicated. One friend of mine, who stayed with an extremely wealthy family, told me that every time he went swimming, he was handed a bathing robe to wear! This would then be changed for a fresh one each time he used the pool, even if he did so several times in one day. Extraordinary! Ridiculous even. So complicated! It is not as if living like this adds anything to one’s comfort. As human beings we only have one stomach. There is a limit to the amount we can eat. Similarly, we have only eight fingers and two thumbs. We cannot wear a hundred rings. Whatever extra we have is to no purpose in the moment when we are actually wearing a ring. The rest lie useless in their boxes. The appropriate use of wealth, as I explained to the members of one very prosperous Indian Family who came to see me long ago, is found in philanthropic giving. In this particular case, I suggested, since they asked, that spending on education is perhaps of most use. The future of the world is in our children’s hands.Therefore, if we wish to bring about a more compassionate, and fairer society, it is essential that we educate our children to be responsible, caring human beings. When a person is born rich, or acquires wealth by some other means, they have a tremendous opportunity to benefit others. What a waste it is when that opportunity is squandered on self-indulgence.”

 

Harris Rosen: “Tangelo Park does not have to be an exception, it is possible to help communities all over America. “

“I” Or “Me” Or “Mine” – Spirituality

Source Beauty Of the Arts

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The undisciplined mind is like an elephant so I  have suggested that, if we are to be genuinely happy, inner restraint is indispensable. We cannot stop at restraint, however. Though it may prevent us from performing any grossly negative misdeeds, mere restraint is insufficient if we are to attain that happiness which is characterized by inner peace.” ~ Dalai Lama quotation from Ancient Wisdom, Modern World

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I am not ashamed of my very human responses to the painful and difficult things of life. I get angry, hurt, and despondent just like anyone. I do things that greatly embarrass me at times. I have plenty of shadow stuff to work on, just like anyone. But I have learned that *whatever* arises in my thought, and heart, is something that needs my attention, something that I need to look into, with curiosity, compassion, and loving-kindness.

It doesn’t really help to think, “I shouldn’t be thinking such thoughts or having such feelings.” It’s too late. You already did! These feelings or thoughts, which arise due to causes and conditions, we identify as “I” or “me’ or “mine.” And it does not help to deny it or to suppress the arising. Yes, sure, it’s a red flag, maybe even a neon sign flashing for immediate attention! The arising thought or feeling may point to some serious stuff. Our moral sense of the wrongness of something is *essential* to a healthy being. Never try to suppress or ignore your moral nigglings and alarms! But the first step to freedom is being honest enough with ourselves to admit the “truth” of what has shown up for our attention. And the “truth,” in this sense, is simply *what is* — yes, I am feeling this, yes, I felt that, yes, I am thinking this, yes, I thought that, yes I am doing this, yes, I did that. Just the facts, ma’am!

I find that genuine regret and remorse only arise when I am unmindful of some painful arising of feeling as “I” or “me” or “mine” and don’t give it what Buddhism calls “appropriate attention.” Some thoughts and feelings can be looked into and quickly dismissed; others may require deep self-investigation and courageous path-finding. If you really listen to your heart, you will know what to do.

But don’t ever be ashamed of being human and for having your human feelings. You can’t control the thoughts and feeling that arise as “I” or “me” or mine.” They come unbidden, whether we want them or not. And they tell us all about ourselves, sometimes more than we want, or even sometimes can bear. That’s OK! The good news is that what we can always own, and should own, is our *response* to what arises as “I” or “me” or “mine.” Let that response be mindful, attentive, curious, wise, patient, and compassionate.

Sometimes, we may think we are our own worst enemy, and I suppose in a certain sense that’s true, in that we cannot escape the effects of our own unskillful, selfish, ignorant thoughts and actions. But we are also our own very best friend, for everything we think and do tells us something about us we need to understand and know. If we will only get to know ourselves and investigate ourselves, we will indeed find we are our own very best friend. As we learn this, we become, as the Buddha once said, lamps unto ourselves, and the light in our hearts will take us all the way home.

Eve in Collusion with Steven G.

Comments – Saying Nothing At All – Poetry

Just saying:  

My thoughts for today were about weeding the garden but instead, and after a thorough search on my blogs followers, I am beginning to question the authenticity of my followers. I wish I could WEED some of them from  my blog. I have well over a thousand, yet I only hear from a handful of those! Now something is dreadfully wrong here! My blog is over four years old, thus, I suspect, most of the original followers have long since left blogging. ( Makes sense due to the fast pace of today’s lifestyles. )  Then why can’t I delete them? A question I should be asking  “The  Happiness Word Press Team”, I suppose. Then there are those that follow and “like”, but never comment. How can anyone like a post, almost each and every one, and not comment? Beats me! I would like to suggest that there are fake “likers”, and “speedy likers”, who are hoping you will “like” them back. This is not really blogging is it? I had hoped blogging was about sharing like-minded interests and building a blogging community. Am I wrong?

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The idiots Guide To blogging says:

Blogging Rules and Etiquette 

Your blog is your own space on the web, and depending on your goals, you can publish the type of content you want and not publish the type of content you don’t want. That’s where blog policies come into the picture. Policies are intended to protect you and your audience as well as set expectations about the type of content that will or will not be published on your blog.

Comment Policy

As your blog grows and your posts receive more and more comments, you’ll undoubtedly receive comments you don’t want to publish on your blog or that require minor editing before you’ll publish them. For example, hateful comments that attack individuals usually aren’t welcome on blogs, and comments that include obscenities could be offensive. Similarly, comments that might be spam can hurt the user experience on your blog and should be deleted.

A comment policy allows you to define what types of comments you will delete or edit using the comment moderation tools in your account. Your comment policy also protects you, so you can refer visitors whose comments are edited or deleted to your established policy to understand why their comments were revised or not published at all.

 

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After reading Maureen McCabe’s post,  “ActiveRain – Saying Nothing At all”, I became aware of the discussion revolving around leaving GPTFS (Great Post, Thanks For Sharing) comments on a post. Is there value for anyone in doing it? Personally, I believe there is value, but that is because I think compliments are gifts. However, it did make me think — how can I write better comments myself ? I came across some good, basic advice from Meredith Farkas — 31 Day Comment Challenge.  She is “Head of Instructional Initiatives” at Norwich University (VT) and teaches a class on blogging.

http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/

 

 

Comments should be  as below listed.  The point is most people do not receive comments or if they do, they are few and far between.

 

1) Relevant to the post 2) Thoughtful and insightful 3) Use your unique voice 4) Keep it civil 5) Make it short and readable, but also meaningful.

Her own personal, reflective thoughts and commitment to commenting

1) Commenting is a critical component of community-building in the blogosphere.

2) I feel more connected to others when I comment.  ~ (My thoughts exactly)

3) I take commenting very seriously and that’s ok.

4) Never comment when you’re angry or frustrated. (errrr well, my mistake sometimes)

5) I need to be better about responding to comments. (Yes indeed, we all should) 

 

Good thoughts to remember. In the future, I will try to keep her points in mind, but if I should ever slip up and just pay you a simple compliment — don’t deduct points from me.  🙂

 

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Humour is always a great way to end on, so here’s a song and a poem. 🙂  ( I wish you all a happy blogging Sunday. 🙂 )

 Music When You Say Nothing At All – for all the silent ones. 

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Could Be A Bloggers Lament? Smile. 🙂

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Sometime when you’re feeling important;
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom
Sometime when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions
And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you will be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop and you’ll find that in no time
It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example
Is do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There’s no indispensable man. –

—  Saxon N. White Kessinger, Copyright 1959

 

Any thoughts on this topic? Merci   –

The post is sticky for now.  By making the post sticky, I feel, it gives an opportunity to new bloggers to get acquainted with the ups and downs of the blogoshere.  There are also a number of very interesting comments posted by others on this topic. Do read. thank you.

 

The World As Sacrament – Faith

 

FROM MY HOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE, WISHING YOU ALL A BLESSED EASTER…

 

THE WORLD AS SACRAMENT

“The whole universe is a sacrament, which mirrors the divine reality. Each created thing, though nothing in itself, is of infinite value and significance, because it is the sign of a mystery which is enshrined in the depths of its being. Every human being is not merely an isolated individual carried along on the flux of time an doomed to extinction, but a member of a divine society, working out its destiny in space and time and subject to all the tragic consequences of subservience to the material world, but destined to transcend the limitations of time and space and mortality, and to enter into that fullness of life where there shall be ‘neither mourning nor weeping nor pain any more’. The suffering of this world can have no meaning as long as we attempt to judge it in the light of this present time. We are like people who hear snatches of music, which they have no means of relating to the symphony as a whole. But when we have passed beyond the conditions of the present life we shall then have that integral knowledge in which the whole is known in every part, and every past is seen to mirror the whole.”

– Fr Bede Griffiths, ESSENTIAL WRITINGS (ISBN 9781570752001)

 

Lucid Dreaming – Stephen LaBarge -Spirituality

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Just  found an old  document about lucid dreaming.  I’d forgotten all about it, simply  because I do not lucid dream anymore. I used to. When away in India and meditating daily, I found my dreams changed dramatically. I’d fall asleep and find myself literally flying. I could fly anywhere and the feeling of lifting off and flying all over the place was liberating.  In those dreams, I was utterly alive and a feeling of joy and freedom flooded my being. I felt the same euphoria  as (A.F., Bay City, Michigan) describes in paragraph one of the book excerpt posted below. When I stopped meditating daily, my lucid dreams stopped. Also long spells away from India and the guru, also rather took the shine off my dream-world. To truly lucid dream, one does have to be in a heightened state of awareness and fully focused on reaching a higher spiritual state. This is not easy to achieve by any means. 

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w York, 1990…               

 

Here is a small excerpt from:

Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming

Stephen LaBarge, PH.D and Howard Rheingold. Ballantine Books. N.Y. 1990 – Lucid Dreaming

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“I realized I was dreaming. I raised my arms and began to rise (actually, I was being lifted). I rose through the black sky that blended into indigo, to deep purple, to lavender, to white, then to very bright light. All the time I was being lifted there was the most beautiful music I have ever heard. It seemed like voices rather than instruments. There are no words to describe the JOY I felt. I was very gently lowered back to earth. I had the feeling that I had come to a turning point in my life and I had chosen the right path. The dream, the joy I experienced, was kind of a reward, or so I felt. It was a long, slow slide back to wakefulness with the music echoing in my ears. The euphoria lasted several days; the memory, forever.”

(A.F., Bay City, Michigan)

“I was standing in a field in an open area when my wife pointed in the direction of the sunset. I looked at it and thought, “How odd; I’ve never seen colors like that before.” Then it dawned on me: “I must be dreaming!” Never had I experienced such clarity and perception — the colors were so beautiful and the sense of freedom so exhilarating that I started racing through this beautiful golden wheat field waving my hands in the air and yelling at the top of my voice, “I’m dreaming! I’m dreaming!” Suddenly, I started to lose the dream; it must have been the excitement. I instantly woke up. As it dawned on me what had just happened, I woke my wife and said, “I did it, I did it!” I was conscious within the dream state and I’ll never be the same. Funny, isn’t it? How a taste of it can affect one like that. It’s the freedom, I guess; we see that we truly are in control of our own universe.”

(D.W., Elk River, Minnesota)

“One night I was dreaming of standing on a gentle hill, looking out over the tops of maples, alders, and other trees. The leaves of the maples were bright red and rustling in the wind. The grass at my feet was lush and vividly green. All the colors about me were more saturated than I have ever seen. Perhaps the awareness that the colors were “brighter than they should be” shocked me into realizing that I was in a dream, and that what lay about me was not “real.” I remember saying to myself, “If this is a dream, I should be able to fly into the air.” I tested my hunch and was enormously pleased that I could effortlessly fly, and fly anywhere I wanted. I skimmed over the tops of the trees and sailed many miles over new territory. I flew upward, far above the landscape, and hovered in the air currents like an eagle. When I awoke I felt as if the experience of flying had energized me. I felt a sense of well-being that seemed directly related to the experience of being lucid in the dream, of taking control of the flying.”

(J.B., Everett, Washington)

an excellent website on the subject of Lucid Dreaming.

https://altered-states.net/barry/newsletter429/

O My Heart – Myth And Legend

Our thoughts are powerful, and just like the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul said and I quote  here: “The average man is often the victim of his own thought forms. He constructs them, but is neither strong enough to send them out to do their work, nor wise enough to dissipate them when required. This has brought about the thick swirling fog of half-formed, semi-vitalized forms in which eighty five percent of the human race is surrounded.”

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There is an ancient image of the heart and its function that likens it to the way a sound arises from an underground cave. To an older way of thinking, thought begins below in our hearts.  Then ascends to our brains, where it brings insight and intelligence to our awareness. Silence is a requirement. When our thoughts has collected sufficiently, they are ready to be carried outward, in words. Only then do our voices call to express what  needs saying as it was meant. Then, we speak truly. Our words are heartfelt. All is well, we hope.

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That The Heart No Longer Moves – Sufi Tale

Long ago, in Andalusia, a Sufi merchant awaited the arrival of his shipment of goods. A messenger came running to inform him of a great mishap – the boat had sunk, carrying the livelihoods of many to the bottom of the ocean. Upon receiving the news, the merchant paused, cast his eyes downward, and softly said, “Praise be to God – AlhamduliLah.”

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Some weeks later, the messenger joyfully appear at the merchant’s door.

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“O Merchant,” he cried out. “Your goods arrived safely and are at this very moment being unloaded on the dock. The ship did not sink after all!”

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At this the merchant again lowered his gaze and murmured, “All praise is due to God.” The messenger inquired, “What is this pausing and lowering of your gaze?” The merchant replied, “In both cases, I was checking to make sure my heart didn’t move.”

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-Retold by Gray Henry

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To end on a wise quotation from the Peaceful Warrior. 

“You haven’t yet opened your heart fully, to life, to each moment. The peaceful warrior’s way is not about invulnerability, but absolute vulnerability–to the world, to life, and to the Presence you felt. All along I’ve shown you by example that a warrior’s life is not about imagined perfection or victory; it is about love. Love is a warrior’s sword; wherever it cuts, it gives life, not death.” – Dan Millman