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Greetings and Namaste!
In the northern hemisphere, especially in the northern
latitudes, our nights have lengthened as we move
towards the winter solstice with its longest period of
darkness in the year. In a sense it's the darkness that
calls forth the light. This age is known in the Eastern
traditions as the dark age, Kali Yuga, where the Light
of Dharma, the Light of
Love, the Light of Spirit is most challenged by the
darkness of the ordinary ego mind - individual and
collective - with it's profound ignorance and emptiness
driving it into states of craving, fear and mad grasping
at power. We all see how this is inflicting untold
suffering and death on countless beings. This nearly
overwhelming darkness calls to each one of us to
bring forth the Light. The Buddha said he chose to
take birth in Kali
Yuga because of its darkness and this being the time
of the greatest need of
all beings for relief from suffering.
Whether we see ourselves as honoring our
Buddha
nature or our Christ nature or our Divine nature or our
Goddess nature or simply our highest human nature -
by radiating Light into the darkness through our acts of
generosity, compassion and loving kindness we are
serving the Divine in all Her forms. We must never
give in to the numbness that this time of tragic
suffering on such massive scales can bring. You are
that seed of Light, that flame that can always beat back
the darkness, always.
When the ordinary
ego mind awakens and discovers its purpose is
simply to serve through love and compassion, it also
sees how insignificant it is, how small in comparison
to the task the Divine has given it - to relieve the
suffering of others. It can feel overwhelmed until it
sees that it can fulfill that Divine command by simply
helping whoever is near in whatever way it can. That
simplicity sets us free from overwhelm and numbness
and the ego inflation of trying to take on all suffering
only to collapse. We can always take action, however
small, to bring love, compassion, patience and
kindness into the world.
May our every
breath, every thought and every act help to alleviate the
suffering of others. This is the way of Christ, Buddha,
bodhisattvas, sages and saints of every tradition. This
is what it is to realize our most sublime human nature.
This has been a wonderful year for Anam
Cara. Through your suppport we were able to
host kirtan singers, bring Swami Chetan Jyoti Ma and
her music institute director Shivananda Sharma here
from India, offer retreats on the Divine Feminine and
Kundalini Meditation, offer silent meditation retreats
and weekly meditation programs. Thousands of
people have downloaded the MP3 meditation
instructions from the website and began their own
explorations of this transformative practice. We look
forward to all the opportunities that 2008 will bring for
us to do our seva, our selfless service together!
Thank you all
for your notes of
appreciation
for our newsletter.
You've helped to expand the Anam
Cara
community to over
1500 people around the world! Everyone has
the heart to be a true soul friend! Please keep
forwarding the newsletter to others.
If you
have
any
suggestions, comments or sharings, 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. Your tax
deductible
donations enable Anam Cara to put on
free
programs
and expand its work in sharing the practices of
meditation.
While we welcome your
donations, this time of exceptional suffering demands
that we give generously to those in dire need. You
probably have your own favorite relief organizations
that you give to, so give generously, even if it means
not donating anything to our Anan Cara organization.
Non-profits like Save the Children, Save Darfur, Oxfam,
the World Wildlife Fund, the Seva Project, and Second
Harvest, just to name a few, provide ways for us to
help relieve even more suffering. If you've been
blessed with abundance in any form, pass it on. It will
blossom around you and transform the world.
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.
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