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Greetings and Namaste!
In this month when Love is given special
attention and celebrated in Her many forms,
adoration, the pouring forth of our Love for
the Divine, usually takes second place to
love for spouses, girlfriends and boyfriends,
children and others. Though the same
water may fill a cup or the ocean, one can
only plunge into the ocean. Diving in, mystics
drown the mind in adoration, diving deeper
into Love than the ego mind can ever hope to go.
Once in meditation, out of the stillness
erupted what sounded like a huge choir
singing over and over, "O Come Let Us Adore
Her! O Come Let Us Adore Her! O Come Let Us
Adore Her! Jai Kali Ma!" Waves of ecstasy
swept away the last remains of I-awareness,
while all the radiance beyond the mind remained,
Self-luminous, Self-aware, All-embracing
Love.
The same sweet Love flows through our human
relationships. In the Upanishads there is a
very famous dialogue between the sage
Yajnavalkya and his second wife, Maitreyi,
who was attaining enlightenment.
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Brihardaranyaka Upanishad
(Shiva and Shakti statue)
One day
Yajnavalkya, when he had
chosen to
leave his home forever to
begin the life of a renunciate, said:
"Maitreyi, my dear, I am going to renounce
this life to become a monk. I'd like to make a
final settlement between you and Katyayani"
(his first wife).
Maitreyi wisely asked: "Venerable Sir, if
indeed the wealth of the entire earth
belonged to me, would that make me immortal
or not?"
"No," replied the sage, "your life would be
just like that of any who are rich. There is
no hope of immortality through wealth."
"Then tell me, venerable husband," said
Maitreyi, "only that which you know to be the
sole
means of attaining Immortality."
"My dear Maitreyi, you have been
my beloved even before," Yajnavalkya
replied, "and now you have
chosen to know what draws my heart. If
you wish, my dear, I will explain it to you.
As I explain it, meditate on what I say."
"Everything is the Self, O Maitreyi!"
Yajnavalkya continued:
"Verily, it is not for the sake of the
husband that the husband is loved, but he is
loved
for the sake of the self whose true
nature is one with the highest Self.
"Verily, it is not for the sake of the wife, my
dear, that the wife is loved, but she is loved
for the sake of the Self within her.
"Verily, it is not for the sake of the sons, my
dear, that the sons are loved, but they are loved
for the sake of the Divine Self."
"Verily, it's not for the sake of wealth, my
dear,
that wealth is loved, but it is loved for the
sake of the Self."
"Verily, it is not for the sake of the
animals, my
dear, that the are animals loved, but they are
loved for the sake of the Self."
"Verily, it is not for the sake of the
brahmin, ...the kshatriya, ...the worlds,
...the gods, ...beings, ...Vedas..."
"Verily, it is not for the sake of the All, my
dear, that the All is loved, but it is loved for
the sake of the Self."
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Kundalini Research Network Spring Conference
May 14-16, 2010 at the Himalayan Institute
Perspectives
On Kundalini: Clinical, Research and
Traditional Views
Fri. 7:30pm
- Sun. Noon
Co-sponsored by the Himalayan
Institute, Honesdale,
PA
Registration Fee: $150
Register
before March 15th for
$125
Featured
Speakers include:
Lawrence Edwards,
Ph.D.
President of KRN
Pandit Rajmani Tigunait,
Ph.D., Spiritual Head of the Himalayan
Institute
Barbara and Charles Whitfield,
MD, celebrated authors and
teachers
Jyoti,
Ph.D., Spiritual teacher, author and founder
of Kayumari
Sat Bir Khalsa, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard
Univ. and leading researcher on Yoga
Dorothy Walters, Ph.D., retired professor,
author and poet on Kundalini
And numerous
more presenters!
Please click HERE
for more information.
This conference will offer participants and
presenters the rare opportunity to gather and
discuss the powerful impact that yoga and
meditation practices, spiritual emergence,
transcendent experiences and the
transformative power of Kundalini have on
individuals. Through keynote presentations
and panels of experts we will explore what
the Kundalini inspired process of
transformation and change looks like from
clinical, research and traditional spiritual
and yogic perspectives.
Saturday
evening Satya Franche will be leading kirtan,
the ecstatic practice of chanting the names
of the Divine.
The conference will be held at the wonderful
retreat setting of the Himalayan Institute in
Honesdale, PA. People attending the
conference can also participate in the yoga
classes, make use of the relaxing and healing
services of their spa and stroll the hiking
trails that cross their hundreds of acres of
hills and forests. Delicious vegetarian meals
are included in the modest accommodation fees
for those staying at the Institute. There are
also hotels nearby that people can stay at
while attending the conference.
Accommodations at the Institute and
conference registration can be done directly
with the Himalayan
Institute.
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Thank you all
for your notes of appreciation for our
newsletter.
Everyone has
the heart to be a true friend of the soul, an
Anam
Cara. By embodying that ideal ourselves we
may serve to help
another to find love and compassion within
themselves.
Our highest nature is always
manifest in
relationship - to all other beings, to the
environment, 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 endeavor to expand the depth
and the
inclusiveness of the loving kindness we bring
into
every relationship, every moment, every breath.
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.
The Anam Cara
Foundation 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 the
meditation page of our website.
Thank you for the many ways you have shown
support for The Anam Cara
Foundation. Because
of your gifts we can offer free programs and
instruction to thousands of people. If you
would like to
make a tax deductible donation please send it to
address listed below or go to our website
where you
can make a secure online donation. Click HERE.
That link will also bring you to our links
with Sounds True and purchasing gifts and
products from them will help support
The Anam
Cara Foundation.
I look forward to welcoming you
in person to our programs.
With
all my
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 love.
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