Kundalini Splendor

I couldn't resist reprinting this lovely poem to the Beloved, which was the daily offering from Ivan Granger's Poetry Chaikhana (www.poetry-chaikhana.com)

Say it out loud, slowly. Repeat it. Let the words sink in and enter your heart.


The day Love was illumined,

By Abu-Said Abil-Kheir
(967 - 1049)

(English version by Vraje Abramian)



The day Love was illumined,

Lovers learned from You how to burn, Beloved.

The flame was set by the Friend

to give the moth a gate to enter.

Love is a gift from the Beloved to the Lover.



-- from Nobody, Son of Nobody: Poems of Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir, Translated by Vraje Abramian


(Just think. This beautiful poem was written over ten centuries ago, and it still speaks to us. The voice of the Beloved endures for all time. It speaks to us always, if we but listen.)

I have always had trouble with the notion that suffering in this life was somehow retribution or payback for personal misdeeds in some past life. It never made sense to me then, nor does it now. Too many people all over the world are innocent victims of social unrest or chaos; too many people are suffering the effects of bad environment on their health, or are afflicted with other diseases which have no rhyme or reason that we might detect. I think it is cruel and unjust to "blame it on their so-called karma", past actions playing out on this later stage.

However, I do agree that, on the level of personal action, what we do (in "normal" circumstances) tends to affect the world we create for ourselves. Thus, when we send love into the world, we receive love in return. When we send creativity and joy, we receive the same in return. In this way, what we send forth does, in fact, return in full measure.

This comment on karma drew my attention today and I reprint it here:


"Karma illustrates the circular energetic nature
of the universe. Energy doesn't move in a linear format,
but rather arcs back to itself as a vibration in an ever
widening, narrow and concentrated circle.

Every energetic impulse that the self projects eventually
returns to the self, precisely the way it was issued out.

Karma, a gift from the universe, provides a guideline for
the Soul's evolutionary curve. It is the road map through
which the self describes the specific journey of the Soul
in this particular lifetime. Ultimately fair, karma
establishes cosmic justice. The Law of Karma is EXACT...
Karmic Law dispenses the lessons which are uniquely
tailored to the individual student."

KARMA: The Soul Connection by Elizabeth Joyce

As you know, I believe that there is Power in completion, it is a transformer and it opens the door to the future. The future is fluid and in potentia. It contains all the possibilities of that which we are becoming. Where we are going in our Life really matters more than what and where we have been! The Power is in the Now, in the moment, in the joy of the creative process. Growth requires courage, but then it is more helpful to heal our Life than keep on suffering! Let us always acknowledge the past, honor the Journey and move [with gusto] to the future!

Tamara Diagilev, Ph. D.

These words by my long time friend Tamara Diagilev (a gifted psychic counselor and spiritual teacher) are especially meaningful to me at this moment in my life. I am currently undergoing profound life transition/ transformation. I am moving from San Francisco to Southern California in a few weeks. It will be a major shift in my lifestyle in many ways.

I will be moving to the area north of San Diego which is known as the "North Coast." This area is well away from the dominant cultural patterns of either San Diego or L. A. I will be living in one of the small and charming coastal towns scattered along the Pacific coast in that vicinity.

The weather there is said to be among the most moderate in the world, second only to the Canary Islands. I grew up in the sun belt, and seem to flourish in sunny climes, and have more difficulty in climate such as S. F., with its heavy fog and rain and cold for much of the year.

However, my interest in this new area goes beyond the climate. I have met friends there who follow a spiritual path much akin to my own, one which focuses on experiencing kundalini as a link to the divine. It is my hope that those of us who are connected in this way will together form a healing circle, so that we can use these wondrous energies to help and heal others in whatever way. There are many healers and light workers nearby, so the atmosphere will be right. Daniel Jacob refers often to the "gathering of the clans and tribes" which is occurring now, both on the earth level and the inner planes. This is the time I also foresaw years ago, when those dedicated to higher purpose would discover one another, and come together to do significant work together.

So--I will go soon to explore this new chapter in my life. I am full of happy expectations for what the future will bring.

Now--I must return to my packing--40 boxes of books--just think of that!

Once again, I am totally seduced by this wonderful poem by Rumi, which was Ivan Granger's selection for his Poetry Chaikhana verse today. Thanks again, Ivan, for putting us in touch with such deeply moving verses to begin our day. (If you haven't done so already, go to his site and sign up for a free daily sacred poem--the site is www.poetry-chaikhana.com )

What can I do, Muslims? I do not know myself.

By Jelaluddin Rumi
(1207 - 1273)

English version by Bernard Lewis



What can I do, Muslims? I do not know myself.
I am neither Christian nor Jew, neither Magian nor Muslim,
I am not from east or west, not from land or sea,
not from the shafts of nature nor from the spheres of the firmament,
not of the earth, not of water, not of air, not of fire.
I am not from the highest heaven, not from this world,
not from existence, not from being.
I am not from India, not from China, not from Bulgar, not from Saqsin,
not from the realm of the two Iraqs, not from the land of Khurasan.
I am not from the world, not from beyond,
not from heaven and not from hell.
I am not from Adam, not from Eve, not from paradise and not from Ridwan.
My place is placeless, my trace is traceless,
no body, no soul, I am from the soul of souls.
I have chased out duality, lived the two worlds as one.
One I seek, one I know, one I see, one I call.
He is the first, he is the last, he is the outer, he is the inner.
Beyond "He" and "He is" I know no other.
I am drunk from the cup of love, the two worlds have escaped me.
I have no concern but carouse and rapture.
If one day in my life I spend a moment without you
from that hour and that time I would repent my life.
If one day I am given a moment in solitude with you
I will trample the two worlds underfoot and dance forever.
O Sun of Tabriz, I am so tipsy here in this world,
I have no tale to tell but tipsiness and rapture.

To read earlier posts by Merrilee about her Kundalini awakening, see the following:

December 13th - How Merrilee's Experience Began
October 11th - Kundalini and Sex
October 26th - Divine Union
November 1st - Kriyas, Inner Visions, Hidden Messages
November 4th - Merrilee and Mechtild of Magdeburg
November 8th - More from Merrilee
November 12th - Merrilee's Journey Continues
November 15th - Merrilee's Journey Continues
November 18th - Merrilee's Story Continues--A Study in Contrasts
November 20th - Merrilee's Mystical Vision
November 26th - Merrilee Encounters the Shadow
November 27th - Merrilee Experiences Visions of the Cross and the Crucifixion
November 30th - Merrilee's States of Consciousness
December 4th - Merrilee's Morning
January 3rd - Merrilee and Sanskrit


As Merrilee's spiritual opening continues, she experiences a vision and is told about her gift.

On Sunday, January 22nd, I had a wonderful experience while listening to tracks 4 through 7 of the Chakra Chants CD by Jonathan Goldman.

As has happened during some previous sessions, I had a vision of white light flowing down from above and into my head. The whole top of my head was open, and the light went all the way through my body and down into my feet. The message I received - and this was the main theme of the whole session - was that I am being prepared to do healing, that this is my Kundalini gift. And I'm going to do this healing with other people in a "spiritual community".

Throughout the session I experienced a lot of kriyas which made my body shake and twitch. I was told the kriyas were part of the process of getting me ready to do healing. Additionally I was told I should serve others in the same fashion that St. Clare of Assisi did. She was known for her humility and her kindness to all people.

For the entire session my hands rested in a palms-up position on the arms of my chair, and there was pressure in my palms that made me think of my previous visions where I felt like I was nailed to a cross.

I had been hoping for some kind of more profound listening session, and I certainly got it. January 22nd is my late Dad's birthday, so maybe it was a present from him.

After I wrote the above entry about the glorious scents I experienced when I visited the beautiful meditation garden of the Yogananda ashram in Encinitas, California, I learned more about others who have had similar experiences. One friend, who has been undergoing intense Kundalini awakening for many years, says that for a very long time she smelled what she called "weird odors." I don't know if they were pleasant or not, but they definitely were there. And I heard from another friend about two people who were ill and had sought the help of a Zen priest/healer. Even when they returned home, they could smell the sanctified odors of the healing experience.

W. B. Yeats (the great poet/occultist of Ireland in the first part of the past century) reported that his house was filled with the smell of roses the night his son was born. (He also sensed noxious odors at other times).

And I remembered that once, many years ago, I could smell the odor of violets in my palm, and when I offered my hand to my friend, she could smell them too.

After I came back from my visit to southern California, I noticed that a particular soup tasted extremely salty and strong. However, a few days later, the soup was bland rather than pungent.

Now I am wondering if these acute sensory responses occur when one enters a heightened state of awareness, so that even a tiny variation in the sensory field becomes detectable. On the other hand, I love to believe that this effect comes through a kind of grace, a token from the divine of sacred love and holy embrace.

In any event, it feels like a blessing bestowed by heavenly beings, the unseen spirits who surround us and lift us forward in our lives.

I am sorry to be absent for so long. I have been traveling in southern California, and have had some marvelous experiences. As a matter of fact, I have decided to move there, in an area north of San Diego, where I have some warm and welcoming friends, who are eager for me to join them in a lively spiritual community. I am looking at the coastal towns such as Encinitas (which has been called a spiritual vortex which attracts many seekers and practitioners of various kinds) and others in that locale.

My life now is undergoing major transformation, and I seem to be showered with blessings as I move forward with this transition. It is good in all ways. This is clearly a special time for me, and I feel as though I am being led forward by loving inner guidance to make this move. And, by the way, the climate in the region is said to be one of the best in the world, second only to the Canary Islands. It has a very good feel to it.

While I was there last weekend, I had this amazing experience. I have heard of others who have had a similar experience, but I had known it only once or twice before, and then for a brief interval.
Here is what happened:

I went to Encinitas (north of San Diego) last weekend to take a preliminary look around. While I was there, I visited the meditation garden for the Yogananda ashram, which (the garden) is located on a cliff overlooking the Pacific. While I was there, I smelled wondrous aromas and scents. I thought, oh, how beautiful the scent of these flowers and plants. Then we went down a few blocks to the ashram gift shop. Once again, when I went out, I smelled these wondrous odors. Oh, I thought, the wind must be bringing the smell of the flowers here as well. Then we went downtown. When I got out of the car, there was the scent again--it seemed to be a mixture of perfume, flowers, and maybe a tad of something good to eat. Well, I thought, this lovely odor pervades the entire town of Encinitas. Then, when I landed in S. F. coming home, I took the shuttle into town. I was the only passenger. The windows were slightly down. Again, I smelled that mesmerizing scent. And when I got home, I gave my housemate a hug, and she said, "Wow, what do you have on? It smells fabulous."

I do not know exactly what causes this, but sensing wonderous odors is one of the classic signs of kundalini awakening. It is but one of the many blessings I have experienced recently as I prepare for major life change. I feel profound gratitude for this gift.

Here is a beautiful poem from the Tao Te Ching, that great ancient book of Taoist wisdom. It gives us perfect advice for dealing with our lives at this significant time of new beginnings--of the year and of a new era.

The Master sees things as they are,


Without trying to control them.


He lets them go their own way,


And resides at the center of the circle.


He or She understands that the Universe


is forever out of control,


And that trying to dominate events


Goes against the current of the Tao.


Be content with what you have;


Rejoice in the way things are.


When you realize there is nothing lacking,


The whole world belongs to you.


~ Tao Te Ching

Once again, Ivan Granger has posted an irresistible "love poem to god" on his poetry-chaikhana site. Further, his own "thought for the day" plus his commentary bring additional insight and richness to the poem. Thanks, Ivan, for this and all the other wonderful gifts you offer in service to the Divine.


Where I wander -- You!

By Levi Yitzchak of Berditchov
(1740 - 1810)

(English version by Perle Besserman)

Where I wander -- You!
Where I ponder -- You!
Only You everywhere, You, always You.
You, You, You.
When I am gladdened -- You!
And when I am saddened -- You!
Only You, everywhere You!
You, You, You.
Sky is You!
Earth is You!
You above! You below!
In every trend, at every end,
Only You, everywhere You!



(-- from The Way of the Jewish Mystics, Edited by Perle Besserman)

============

Thought for the Day:

All your loss, hurt and hope --
gather them up
into a great pure ache
until the Beloved has no choice but to kiss
your naked heart.

============

A beautiful poem today filled with the ecstatic recognition that God is in everything, IS everything...

Levi Yitzchak of Berditchov is a greatly beloved figure in Eastern European Jewish history. He introduced Hassidism to Poland as part of a spritual reform movement that confronted the more rigid, intellectual, and unengaged forms of Judaism that dominated rabbinical practice in the region. Rabbi Levi was a student of the Hassidic master Dov Baer, the Maggid of Mezhirech, who was the chief disciple of the Baal Shem Tov. Rabbi Levi's teachings emphasized joy, intensely devout prayer, and the importance of recognizing good in all people.

A chant that can open the heart and eyes:

Only You everywhere, You, always You.
You, You, You.

Ivan

Here are some important workshops which are coming up, two on the East Coast and the other on the West Coast

The first two are being given by Lawrence Edwards, Ph. D., who is a personal friend of mine. He is Jungian therapist who has dedicated his life to the service of the Divine. He has counseled hundreds of people undergoing kundalini arousal, and is a recognized authority on that subject. I recommend him most highly.

Meditation:

The Power To Change Your Life

A ONE DAY MEDITATION COURSE
SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2006
GREAT FOR BOTH NEW AND EXPERIENCED MEDITATORS!
Makes a great holiday gift for someone special you truly care about. Give the gift of inner peace and great health.


Registration Fee: $120 (includes light lunch)
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Anam Cara, Inc., Bedford, NY

Taught by: Lawrence Edwards, Ph.D.,
Internationally known meditation teacher and author of:

The Soul's Journey: Guidance From The Divine Within

For more information: www.thesoulsjourney.com

Give yourself a day to let it all go and discover what is beyond!
Meditation heals the body, even lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure. More than that, it calms the mind, bringing inner peace as it opens the gateway to the extraordinary domain of pure Unbounded Awareness. Through guided imagery, healing mantras, chants, gentle movement and ancient teachings you will mine the riches of meditation and deepen your access to your powers of healing and self-renewal.


For information or to register call: (914) 234-4800


Mysteries of the Divine Feminine:
Kundalini Awakening and Empowerment.

WEEKEND MEDITATION AND EMPOWERMENT RETREAT


by Lawrence Edwards, Ph.D.
Author of The Soul?s Journey: Guidance From The Divine Within
The extraordinary power of Consciousness to transcend the mind, body and even the world, to know the Infinite as your very own Self, is symbolized as the Goddess Kundalini in the yogic tradition. This great power is known in some form in every spiritual tradition. Awakening Kundalini marks the most important turning point in the soul?s journey. In this retreat people will be guided through practices that awaken and unfold the inner power of meditation and yoga, Kundalini. With that power we will explore the archetypal realms of transcendence, wisdom and grace. Through mantra, chanting, breath work, and the profound tales of Inanna, the Black Madonna, Kali and Kundalini we will further access the inner source of true knowledge, wisdom and freedom. That inner source is your highest Self, the Divine within.
February 24-26, 2006
Friday: 7-9pm, Sat. 9am-5:30pm, 7-9pm; Sun. 9am-3:30pm
Anam Cara, Inc., Bedford, NY
914-234-4800
$250 (includes lunch Sat. & Sun.)
Accommodations and additional meals extra
For more info: www.thesoulsjourney.com

Sponsored by Anam Cara, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching meditative practices. www.anamcara-ny.org
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The other workshop is devoted to Svaroopa Yoga, a method which lead to the experience of deep bliss of the divine within the body. Although I have not experienced this particular yoga myself, I do know teachers of this form, and am sure it would be a most memorable experience, especially for those following a kundalini path. You can also look up the name of this yoga, or its teacher, on the internet and get more information. It is quite fascinating, I think. (Mount Madonna Center is a wonderful ashram/retreat center located in the mountains near Santa Cruz. It is an ideal place for a workshop of this kind. It has wondrous energies throughout.

from Mount Madonna Center:

You are invited to attend a New Workshop with Rama Berch
at Mount Madonna Center...

The magic that yoga offers to the body is only a starting point! Yoga can also work magic with your mind and your heart. Emotional issues have a profound effect on the way you handle your life, impacting your ability to see life clearly, your ability to plan and make decisions, and your ability to enjoy life.

Using the tools of Svaroopa® yoga, Rama will teach poses to open your heart, while she shares teachings about the true nature of the mind and emotions. She will include a wide variety of tantric practices to provide you with a profound depth of experience, including yoga poses, breathing, chanting, meditation, contemplation and study of the related sutras. These ancient practices transform your body while they heal hidden emotional issues and provide you with the means to dissolve their power. This program is accessible to all levels of yoga practitioners


About Svaroopa® yoga

Svaroopa yoga offers a significantly different paradigm. The Svaroopa yoga practice is both physical and more than physical. When your body is contracted, it shuts down and you lose the ability to feel it. Svaroopa yoga uses precise alignments in carefully selected poses, along with meticulous placement of props, to open up the deepest tensions of your body. This also opens up conscious access to the ever-expanding inner realms of being. Rather than using hatha yoga as a sophisticated form of exercise, Svaroopa yoga pursues the search for an understanding of the deeper purposes of yoga: the understanding of your own essential nature.

We specialize in the inner opening. Our poses release the tensions in the deepest layers of your body - the layers of muscles wrapped around your spine. As soon as you experience this physical opening, you realize that something has opened all the way through your whole being. The physical changes are profound and reliable, but they become less significant to you as the practice provides an inner transformation that gives you new eyes through which to see. Your life and the whole world begin to look perfect, even though it is the same world that used to drive you to despair. The most profound shift is the inner one.


RAMA BERCH teaches yoga according to the ancient tradition as a path that leads you to Svaroopa, the bliss of your own being. Teaching since 1976, she has trained over 1,000 teachers in her trademarked style Svaroopa® yoga. As founder & director of Master Yoga Foundation, former director of yoga for Deepak Chopra, and President Emeritus of the national Yoga Alliance, she is committed to creating a supportive and unified environment within the yoga community.

For more information see www.masteryoga.org.

Tuition: $200/weekend, $560/week, plus fees.

Deposit: A deposit of $100 is required to register for this program.

Credits: This program offers the following educational credits...

Continuing Education Credit for nurses, MFT/MFCC's, and LCSW's.
Fulfills the spiritual practice prerequisite for John F. Kennedy University's Graduate School for Holistic Studies.
May be used as an elective for Mt. Madonna Center's Yoga Teacher Training 500 hour program.


MOUNT MADONNA CENTER is a community designed to nurture the creative arts and the health sciences within a context of personal and spiritual growth. The Center is inspired by Baba Hari Dass and is sponsored by the Hanuman Fellowship, a group whose talents and interests are unified by the common practice of yoga. Located on 355 mountaintop acres of redwood forest and grassland overlooking all of Monterey Bay, the Center offers a supportive community atmosphere for relaxation, reflection, and a wide variety of learning experiences. Program participants are invited to join in all ongoing Center activities - celebration, work, and play.

Here is a lovely poem by an ancient Taoist writer, with a wonderful commentary by Ivan Granger (www.poetry-chaikhana.com)

People may sit till the cushion is worn through,

By Lu Tung Pin
(755 - 805)

(English version by T. C. Lai)

People may sit till the cushion is worn through,
But never quite know the real Truth:
Let me tell about the ultimate Tao:
It is here, enshrined within us.



Lu Tung Pin (Lu Dong Bin, sometimes referred to as Immortal Lu) was one of the Eight Immortals of Taoist folk tales. It is difficult to separate out legendary tales that have accumulated around him from possible historical fact, or whether the poems attributed to him were written by the historical person or attributed to him later.

Lu Tung Pin is said to have been born in 755 in Shansi province of China. As Lu grew up, he trained to be a scholar at the Imperial Court, but he did not pass the required examination until late in life.

He met his teacher Chung-Li Chuan in a marketplace where the Taoist master was scrawling a poem on the wall. Impressed by the poem, Lu Tung Pin invited the old man to his home where they cooked some millet. As the millet was cooking Lu dozed and dreamed that he had passed the court examination, had a large family, and eventually rose to a prominent rank at the court -- only to lose it all in a political fall. When he awoke, Chung-Li Chuan said:

"Before the millet was cooked,
The dream has brought you to the Capital."

Lu Tung Pin was stunned that the old man had known his dream. Chung-Li Chuan replied that he had understood the nature of life, we rise and we fall, and it all fades in a moment, like a dream.

Lu asked to become the old man's student, but Chung-Li Chuan said Lu had many years to go before he was ready to study the Way. Determined, Lu abandoned everything and lived a simple life in order to prepare himself to study the Great Tao. Many tales are told of how Chung-Li Chuan tested Lu Tung Pin until Lu had abandoned all worldly desires and was ready for instruction.

He learned the arts of swordsmanship, outer and inner alchemy and attained the immortality of enlightenment.

Lu Tung Pin considered compassion to be the essential element of realizing the Tao. He is greatly revered as a physician who served the poor.

Ivan

Here is another entry in Merrilee's continuing saga. Once again, we include her very frank description because it reveals just how intense and powerful the goddess Kundalini can be in the opening stages. All the feeling centers may be opened, and each opening may be sensed as an affirmation of divine connection. Walt Whitman said, "I Sing the Body Electric" and her account reminds us of how fully alive the body may become under the right circumstances.

To read earlier posts by Merrilee about her Kundalini awakening, see the following:

December 13th - How Merrilee's Experience Began
October 11th - Kundalini and Sex
October 26th - Divine Union
November 1st - Kriyas, Inner Visions, Hidden Messages
November 4th - Merrilee and Mechtild of Magdeburg
November 8th - More from Merrilee
November 12th - Merrilee's Journey Continues
November 15th - Merrilee's Journey Continues
November 18th - Merrilee's Story Continues--A Study in Contrasts
November 20th - Merrilee's Mystical Vision
November 26th - Merrilee Encounters the Shadow
November 27th - Merrilee Experiences Visions of the Cross and the Crucifixion
November 30th - Merrilee's States of Consciousness
December 4th - Merrilee's Morning

(Note: the following entry begins with a reference to a poem with commentary by Ivan Granger, which Ivan published earlier on his Poetry-Chaikhana website:

from Ivan:
This poem by the controversial Sufi saint al-Hallaj beautifully evokes the sense how, in the sacred state, movement ceases for the individual, though there is not inactivity. All action -- inner and outer -- becomes only an appearance of self-governed movement, when, in reality, it is seen to be the natural flowing of the Divine through us. The individual identity only pretends to be directing the movement but, like a gull resting on the ocean waves, it is simply carried along by the moon's tug upon the tide.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from Merrilee:
Ivan's comment is wonderful. It reminds me of how I feel when I listen to my CD's and do my hand and arm dancing. I am there, but I am much more watching than doing. I can stop if I want, and I can even influence what is happening a bit, but I am definitely the gull on the waves being carried along.

I had some interesting experiences earlier this morning when chanting "Om Namah Shivaya" ("I surrender to the Self"). On occasion, when I got to last syllable of the chant, I had an orgasm. It surprised me as I wasn't expecting it, in part because I didn't feel any kind of "build up" on the preceding syllables. This even happened as I chanted during my morning walk.

I did a lot of chanting (in my head) and some small hand dancing movements on the van, too. I noticed that I could avoid having an orgasm on the last syllable of the chant if I visualized the Kundalini energy not going all the way up my spine, but rather just spreading out into my upper back or staying in my neck. That was actually quite wonderful, too, as I felt sweet, soft, blissful energy flowing throughout my back and my neck over and over as I chanted. (Note: when I do have orgasms, I don't visualize anything. I think the energy just goes all the way up my spine of its own accord.)

One more interesting thing - after I got to work I started chanting (in my head) "Thy will be done", which is very similar to "I surrender to the Self", and (of course) I had orgasms! Eastern or Western - they both work for me!

I can think of no better thought with which to begin the new year than the following:

Sufi Wisdom


When you lose yourself, you find the Beloved. There is no other secret. I don't know any more than this.



Ansari of Herat