You Are Not Who You Think You Are

You are not who you think you are.

You are who you think you are.

There is no contradiction!

Perspectives on India

India, where you can take nothing for granted, where nothing runs on time, and to every query of "why?" to this or that, there is the universal response of "no problem!"

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Varanasi

Stunning medieval character, elegance, crumbling into the Ganges, becoming a memory for the tourist.

Hari Chandro said "foreigners come here for peace."  Here to this place so loud, so active the foreigner comes to find peace far from his homeland, which may be so quiet, where no one talks with their neighbors or looks at each other's eyes, where everyone lives behind locked doors.  Relatively peaceful yet internal hell.  Here in India life is lived, in each moment - no time to wonder what life is all about - living it, raw, unashamed, staring, crowded in , everyone talking at once.  Peaceful.  Amazing!

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Personal Space

There is none.  Could it be that Indians intrinsically know, bred in from Rama and Shankara, Krishnamurthi and Pantanjali, that the individual doesn't exist apart from Brahman?  So out with the social niceties of personal space.  Instead, right in your face, staring within the polite Western 6-inch boundary - not one but crowds!  Stopping to stare.  And no physical personal space either - sitting on each other in taxis, buses, trains.  Elbows in your face, head on your shoulder, her baby on your lap.  "No problem!"

"The Unborn," by Zen Master Bankei

A New Interpretation of "The Unborn"  by Zen Master Bankei

Note to the reader: After reading Norman Waddell's translation of "The Unborn," I exchanged references such as "Buddha Mind," "Satori," and "Heart Sutra" with non-Buddhist terms, and therefore I rewrote some sentences for coherence.

Enlightenment is unconcerned with either birth, life events or death. As evidence of this, when looking at things, you're able to see and distinguish them all at once. And as you are doing that, if a bird sings or a bell tolls, or other noises or sounds occur, you hear and recognize each of them too, even though you haven't given rise to a single thought to do so. Everything in your life, from morning until night, proceeds in this same way without your having to depend upon thought or reflection. But most people are unaware of that; they think everything is a result of their deliberation. That is a great mistake! 

The enlightened mind and the minds of ordinary men are not two different minds. Those who strive earnestly in their practice because they want to attain enlightenment (“Self” knowledge), or those who want to increase their mental knowledge (“me” knowledge), are likewise greatly mistaken. Everyone who recites mantras or does spiritual practice have heard through hearsay that the "Self" is unborn and undying. But they haven't sounded the source of the Unborn. They still have the idea that they can find their way to enlightenment by using reason and discrimination. As soon as the notion to seek enlightenment or to attain the "way" enters your mind, you've gone astray from the source of “me.”  Anyone who tries to get enlightened thereby falls out of the source and into secondary matters. You are always already enlightened to begin with, always already what you seek.  There is no way for you to become enlightened now for the first time!  Within this original, there isn't even a trace of illusion. Nothing, I can assure you, ever arises from within it. If you harbor the least notion to become better than you are or the slightest inclination to seek something, you turn your back on what is already prevalent, the “Isness” of “I am.  There is neither joy nor anger in the clear mind you were born with - only the illuminative wisdom that enlightens all things.

Part One: Report on the World Spirituality Conference

The following report published with permission from  Spiritual Lifestyles

The WSC’s three-day conference in Erehwon began with a spectacular fireworks display depicting all the religious symbols in the night sky.   Attendees representing all religious traditions came, many along with entourages in tow, some sprinkling flower petals on the ground for their holy leaders' feet to walk upon, others sprinkling holy water on each other.  Each one wore the garb of their tradition.  All kinds of religious objects were brought: incense, prayer wheels, prayer beads, prayer rugs, prayer flags, meditation cushions, special meditation shawls with mantras or holy symbols imprinted on the cloth, zen robes, sadhu dhotis with matching orange shawls, sacred vibuti ash, crosses, jewelry inscribed with Om and other religious symbols, begging bowls, drums, god and goddess deities in gold, bronze, silver, brass and plastic (glow in the dark), crystals, yantras, pyramids, peacock feathers, photo-realistic paintings of Jesus, Mary and saints, talismans, and more.

People who were hoping to meet their next guru also came, and they were happy to pay the high entrance fees and to be recognized among their peers as spiritual seekers, some of whom had been seeking over thirty years.  Many attendees could be heard boasting about how many years that had been meditating.  Everyone clearly was pleased with themselves for being there.  Feather Truthseeker, a fire-walker from Santa Fe said, “I feel so special!”  Arjuna Rabinowitz, a yoga teacher from Marin County, said, “It’s a great event, sister.  My spiritual family is all here.”

Attendees were given different colored badges to wear depending on their religious affiliation. People with the same ideologies met each other at designated locations marked by flags with their colors.  They tended to stay together as a team for the entire 3 days.  

In an unofficial report, several apparent members of a non-duality group were distributing flyers stating “If there was a Conference for Jnanis, no one would come.”   Conference security staff escorted them off the premises.

It was a truly festive event.  Tents, stages, and booths were arranged in a circle, with a main event tent at the center. The spiritual musicians were there, many with their latest CD's for sale.  Many people were dancing ecstatically, arms raised to the sky. 

There was a  special satvic vegetarian food tent, with communal tables.  Only holy water was used and all food was either blessed by prayers or disbursed as prasad, depending on which line you queued in.

There was a special tent set up to buy books written by the participants, photographs of their holy blissful faces, and CD's of their talks.  Bibles, Torahs, Korans, and other holy books, as well as truckloads of religious objects were sold, along with tapes, videos, and DVD’s.  Specially printed stationary, stickers, pens, and notebooks with the conference logo were available along with yoga mats, yoga bags, yoga clothing and yoga towels also embroidered with the conference logo. 

Great fire pits were dug in the ground for all sacred rituals.  Monks chanted round the clock accompanied by celebrity musicians and singers.  Musical instruments were also available to purchase.  One yogi was buried in a box to demonstrate his siddhi skill of stopping the breath. When he was lifted out after 72 hours, the crowds began prostrating to him with reverence and awe.  People lined up to register for his “supernatural powers” course. 

There were forums and discussion panels to attend every hour.  Popular religious leaders were chosen to begin and end each session with special prayers and blessings.  Although some arguments broke out among panelists who were proselytizing their own point of view, most everyone recognized that the way to handle these outbursts was to refer to the spiritually correct code that they were not the “doers,” particularly the neo-Advaitins.  When questions were allowed from the audience, most everyone remembered not to use personal references such as “I” or “you.”   Those who paid the V.I.P. entrance fee received transmissions, special initiations and dikshas, custom mantras, and spiritual names.  Barbers were available to shave the heads of the newly ordained monks.  One retired professor, an eclectic seeker, exclaimed, "I have always wanted to wear ochre sadhu robes and shave my head!"   Film makers were eagerly interviewing new monks as they emerged from the "spiritual make-over" tent.

Continued in Part Two, Report on the World Spirituality Conference

Part Two, Report on the World Spirituality Conference

Some of the workshops were presented by yoga centers that were giving free introductory lessons in order to sign up new students to their longer courses.  The most popular course "How to become a Professional Guru," filled up first. (Note: a special report will be published in the April edition of Spiritual Lifestyles).  Second was "Marketing and PR for Satsang Promotions." Ganeshaji, one of the lucky ones to get into the "Guru" course, said she had been researching promising new career tracks, and was thrilled at the prospect of becoming a certified guru.  There was also considerable interest in the course entitled, “Multi-Dimensional Diksha.”  The buzz was that a couple in India had incorporated spiritual practice with multi-level streams of income to be derived by paying 5,000 euro for a Diksha which then entitled the receiver to charge others doing the same thing.

Given the range of "enlightenment" courses involving from one to twelve steps (paths, disciplines, inquiries), those new to spiritual seeking opted for the week-end seminars while veteran spiritual practictioners argued that enlightenment took a lifetime, and most often lifetimes to attain.

New Age practitioners, psychic healers, channelers, astrology and tarot readers were present.   Some of the offerings were: prayer circles, “rescuing the inner child” workshops, seminars on healing various psychological traumas, chakra tuning and balancing, light and sound practices, and the laws of attraction.  The “born again” pundits and those wanting “past life readings” shared the same tent.

On the last day, something happened that changed everything.  The final celebration was held in the big tent.  There were three circular stages where spiritual practices and rituals were demonstrated, such as Sufi dancing, devotional singing, pujas,how to wear and fold monk robes (especially Zen), a spiritual fashion show, correct meditation postures, mudras, Hatha Yoga asanas, levitation, breath control, advanced chakra balancing, to name a few.  Extreme ascetic practices of self-flagellation, mortification of the flesh, hair shirts, sun dance, nonlethal crucifixions (performed on Good Friday in the Philippines) etc. were demonstrated in a curtained-off section.

These in-depth demos took a long time, but attendees were rapt with attention, taking careful notes in their already jam-packed notebooks.  Announcements were made that videos of the entire event would be available to purchase.

When the demonstrations came to an end, just before the MC was preparing to begin the finale of accolades for the conference, a small child with his mother started crying.  The child's mother was heard to ask, "What's the matter, honey?"  The child wailed, "I don't want the circus to end!"  A hush came over the crowd.

Some started whispering, others turned white, and after a few minutes two people got up and left.  Soon, others followed.  Within 15 minutes the big tent was empty.  Silence.  Not a person was speaking, only the sound of receding footsteps could be heard.  Complete silence.

Spiritual Marketing, Inc., the promoters of WSC, has since announced that the next conference is cancelled.  They are now selling second-hand religious apparel, and religious objects.