Arunachala calls us all

 

I had a conversation the other day with a young woman at a cafe I go to regularly. It didn't flow very well since she spent most of the time insistently relaying the progression of her spiritual life. Well, rather the chronology of her psychedelic drug use and resulting insights. Not a bad way to spend an hour however it then morphed into an infomercial selling her services. 

There are many Travelers I have met that are doing the same thing. Leaving their homes and comfort zones, having life changing experiences and then selling these experiences to others. Somehow it always leaves a slightly bitter taste. In many cases it is a version of Multi Level Marketing where the original teacher then becomes the teacher of teachers and so on creating a pyramid of never ending students flowing upwards.

I saw her again at the Friday night Bhagan session at the Nomad Cafe in Tiruvannamalai. We talked for a bit and I mentioned where I was renting a small apartment. Her comments made it clear that this was not the cool part of town and when I asked why she paused and pointed out that they were killing the deer to develop that land and those building there were too good. By this she meant they were well off Indian citizens.

I guess this is classism, or prejudice against a particular social class. It runs rampant here with travelers, hippies and western spiritual seekers. Such a perspective is ironic given the background of Tiruvannamalai as a pilgrimage site that grew up around the sacred mountain Arunachala. It is often said that people are drawn here by the power of Arunachala. If this is so it means that all are drawn here regardless of social class, place of residence or other qualities.

Yogi Ramsuratkumars' words come back to me, "If you want God alone, why do you accept the existence of anything else." Such a perspective comes after long and consistent practice of looking into the source of who we really are. To discriminate based upon outward qualities and not inner realities is an obstacle created by and cultivated within the mind that is focused outward. It causes endless passions, desires and disappointments.

Taking Time Out

"...we can deceive ourselves into thinking we are developing spiritually when 
instead we are strengthening our egocentricity through spiritual 
techniques.  This fundamental distortion may be referred to as 
spiritual materialism."

Chogyam Trungpa

Last week I was answering questions after a meditation class and it became clear that several people came to learn new techniques. I led an open meditation that evening where I brought up the question "Is what I'm doing meditation." In the conversation that followed the half hour meditation, one woman admitted that she was expecting guidance and had a difficult time when we were silent.

Isn't this a basic problem when we begin our meditation? Are we moving into memory to recreate the past or moving forward into planning to build a better present. How difficult it is to be present in this fast paced, results oriented, nano second controlled culture.

I have recently taken a major Time Out in my life to take care of my Mother who had a sudden and sharp downturn in her health. One of the first obstacles to confront me was my sense that I would loose momentum in my job, teaching and relationships. Many of the constructs that define me were called into question immediately by simply stopping my routine and taking care of what was in front of me. Of course, this translated into a whole set of logical, practical and well intentioned rationalizations.

In fact, a sense of spaciousness and ease flooded me in the weeks that followed as I immersed myself in the moment to moment work of taking care of 'activities of daily living.' The freedom of doing the next right thing took hold. What evolved was less focus on 'me' and a growing absorption in the reality of not being separate from this person.

But my spiritual practices fell off at first. That is, the routines I had come to label as spiritual, when the real spiritual work of service to others was filling my life. It's so easy to be diverted into high profile service when the real meaning of life is usually looking at us with a familiar face.