Kundalini Splendor

Here is the current newsletter from Anam Cara, the special spiritual center created amd overseen by Lawrence Edwards, Ph. D. I am honored that he began the newsletter with one of my recent poems, followed by announcements for upcoming workshops and retreats which he offers in New York state. If you have not done so already, I urge you to subscribe to this free publication, for what Lawrence has created both in words and spiritual offerings is a valuable gift for us all.
Ever Arriving

"At the still point of the turning world. . .
there the dance is. . .
Except for the point,
the still point,
there would be no dance,
and there is only the dance."
(T. S. Eliot)

I think of it
as the Swirling Radiance,
movement that never ceases,
ever arriving
from the last momentof eternity,
the plundered second
of all that will ever be.

And you, here,
are at the midpoint,
the demarcationof what has always been
and what is perpetually approaching,
your seeing is that which sustains,
carries forth,
enables.

You are the perpetual
witness,
heaven's link to time.

If you listen, you can
almost hear it swish
as it goes by.

Dorothy Walters
August 20 2008

Sept.-Nov. Programs
Anam Cara, Bedford, NY

Saturday Sept. 27th - Kirtan Night! 7 PM
With Satya, Ma, and Kalidas. Join us in this ancient and ecstatic practice of chanting the names of the Divine. Everyone is welcome!

Oct. 1-Nov.5, Wednesday Evenings, 7:15-8:45 (no class 10/22)
5 Week Course
Buddhist Wisdom Treasures for Non- Buddhists
Taught by Lawrence Edwards, Ph.D.
The Buddhist tradition offers great insights into the workings of the mind and how we can be free not only of the mind, but of all suffering. One doesn't have to be a Buddhist to gain the tremendous benefits offered by this ancient tradition of wisdom. Priests, nuns, rabbis, ministers, scientists, business leaders and people from every background have found the teachings of the Buddha enhanced their everyday lives and their spiritual practices. During this course we will explore the foundational teachings and practices that the Buddha offered to anyone who was interested in gaining greater freedom from suffering and gaining access to unwavering joy. There will be plenty of time to discuss how these teachings and practices apply to work, family, relationships, etc.

November 14-16, Friday Evening-Sunday Afternoon
Mysteries of the Divine Feminine and Kundalini Empowerment
Retreat
Led by Lawrence Edwards, Ph.D.The extraordinary power of Consciousness that allows us to directly know the Infinite is called Kundalini in the yogic tradition. In this retreat you will be guided through ancient practices that awaken and unfold the inner power of meditation and yoga, Kundalini. Through this innate power of Consciousness we will explore the archetypal realms of transcendence, wisdom and grace. Through the power of mantra, chanting, breath work, and the profound tales of mystical traditions, including the Black Madonna, Inanna, Kali and Kundalini, we will further access the inner source of true knowledge and ultimate freedom. That source is the Divine within. Through this process you will be empowered to deepen and sustain your meditation practice at home. Many people take this retreat repeatedly in order to delve more and more deeply into the mysteries of true meditation and further unfold the power of Kundalini. Sharings from others who have taken the retreat can be found through the program link below.

Meditation Group
Every Tuesday Evening: starts promptly at 7:30pm at our center at SunRaven in Bedford, NY. All are welcome! Directions are on the Anam Cara website. If you wonder whether the group is being held on a particular Tuesday evening there will always be a message stating if it is cancelled on that night on 914-234-4800.Click here to find out more about the programs....


Dorothy Walters is a dear friend and a wise woman who shares the riches she has mined from the depths through her books, poetry and blog. I encourage you to delight in those treasures by following the links to her blog. Everyone has the heart to be a true friend of the soul, an Anam Cara. By embodying that ideal ourselves we may help another to find it in themselves. Our highest nature is always manifest in relationship - to our loved ones, to all other beings, to the environment, and in relation to our own body and mind. Becoming mindful of the quality of our relationships allows us to learn where the light shines and where it needs to shine more. The ideal of Anam Cara is to continuously endeaver to expand the depth and the inclusiveness of the loving kindness we bring into every relationship. If you have any suggestions, comments or sharings, for our newsletter please don't hesitate to e-mail me and I'll do my best to respond.

Anam Cara, Inc. is a 501 (C) 3, non-profit educational organization dedicated to teaching meditative practices. Our non-denominational programs are open to all. There are free meditation instructions and downloadable audio files of guided meditations on our website.Thank you for the many ways you have shown support for Anam Cara, Inc. Because of your gifts we can offer free programs and other supports for meditation practices.I look forward to welcoming you in person to our programs. With great appreciation and love, I thank you all.May all beings realize complete freedom from suffering and may all our actions reflect only wisdom, compassion, patience and loving kindness.Lawrence Edwards, Ph.D. Founder and DirectorAnam Cara, Inc.All newsletter contents copyrighted 2008email: le@anamcara-ny.orgphone: 914-234-4800web: http://www.anamcara-ny.org

# posted by Dorothy : 8/23/2008 06:13:00 PM

Preface

These poems speak in many voices. Some are clearly of an overtly “spiritual” nature, and the debt to Rumi and other early writers such as Kabir and Mirabai will be obvious. Others are more secular in tone (poems on contemporary poets and artists, as well as nature), and still others are downright oracular, as if they were written by ancient priests or prophets. We poets take whatever gifts may come.

But all are serious in their way, and all are intended
as offerings which give us a larger perspective on how it is possible to live, even to experience rapture itself, in a world where the divine nexus so often seems to be broken.

As for the obviously sacred verses, they unabashedly allude to the connection of human and divine without trying to name the latter or present a fixed belief system. Sometimes the poet even uses the word “god,” but note the term bears no capital. In these passages, I am not speaking of the old god, the thundering patriarch who drove our ancestors near mad with his commandments and interdictions and who even today finds his followers. I am speaking of that other, softer, more hidden reality, who led Rumi to the sweet secrets of his poems, who met St. John in the darkness of night where they consummated their sacred love tryst, who danced with Mirabai on the roads. This “god” is, of course, also the goddess, for she is beyond gender. She is ultimate expression—the divine presence, the undeniable essence, the pulsating stream of love which informs everything that is, in blessing and joy when we open our hearts sufficiently.

All of us yearn for this holy embrace, to know more intimately the hidden mystery which hovers near. Sometimes we catch glimpses through the door, taste a sip of something a bit ambrosial, smell a whiff of some indefinable perfume. Traces of the Beloved.

At times, however, the transition is more abrupt. An unexpected event, a surprising occurrence triggers an awakening beyond all we have known before. Katherine Anne Porter called such pivotal encounters “the moment which changes everything.” Some years ago I experienced such a moment. For me, it occurred through what is called spontaneous Kundalini awakening, and its consequences have rippled through and shaped my life ever since. It was then that I discovered that the Beloved (the term which mystics so frequently use to express the Divine Presence) was not a metaphor, but a reality, a felt feeling in the blood, and a discovery convincing beyond all textbooks or words.

Union with the Inner Beloved may involve states of rapture unlike anything we experience in our ordinary life. The awakened energies are often quite sensuous in tone, though they are markedly distinct from sexual experiences. They can be intense or gentle and soft, depending on the circumstances. In the early stages, they can be quite dramatic, as the many feeling centers of the body open. As time passes, the sensations diminish, and ultimately they are more like light playing through the body or perhaps the echo from a peal of distant mountain thunder. The language which poets traditionally use to describe these profound episodes is that of human love. Some suggest that such experience is the end and goal of all spiritual striving, final embrace by Infinite Love.

As all mystics and seekers know, the spiritual journey (like life itself) does not always advance in a fixed, logical progression of say, longing, preparation, and final union. Rather, it shifts back and forth, oscillates between yearning and apparent arrival, often to lead once more to new beginnings and repeated struggle. So with these poems, for they mirror how things really are on the long inward journey.

This book contains both poems of the heart and verses of the mind, for both are needed if we are to discover the resolution we are seeking. This fusion of rapture and thoughtfulness will, I think, bring us to the next stage of our ongoing evolution of consciousness, and transform us and our world.

June, 2008/ San Francisco

A CLOTH OF FINE GOLD

You may think
that first lit flame
was the ultimate blaze,
the holy fire revealed.

What do you know
of furnaces?
This is a sun that returns
again and again, refining, igniting,
pouring your spirit
through a cloth of delicate gold
until all dross is taken
and you are sweet as
clarified butter
in god/the goddess’ mouth.


UNTIL EVEN THE ANGELS

What the heart wants
is to follow its true passion,
to lie down with it
near the reeds beside
the river,
to devour it in the caves
between the desert dunes,
to sing its notes
into the morning sky
until even the angels
wake up
and take notice
and look around
for their beloved.

A LANGUAGE YOU ONCE KNEW

There will be an invitation.
It will not come tied in ribbons
nor a message streaming down
from the sky.

There will be no Roman candles
sizzling
nor brilliant colors
exploding overhead.

Instead there will be a soft
whisper
in your ear,
something in a language
you once knew
and are trying to learn again.

In order to hear it,
you will need to
put down all your packages,
stop everything you are doing
and stand very still
then wait. . .
until something stirs inside.