Dear Divine Ma,
What Do You Want Me to Learn Today?
We just passed Swamiji’s Moksha Anniversary. I am realizing that to be able to include the devotion to my guru in my Kriyas, that I need to have a favorite photo of him on my altars. My favorite photo of Swamiji is the one in orange robes offering prayers and incense to his own gurus. It’s in that photo that he is meditating turned in the same direction I always perceived him. Just like the times he invited the community to meditate with him inside the Crystal Hermitage dome. The image of those early group meditations is imprinted in my consciousness. Whenever Swamiji was in the room with me, I knew WHY I was meditating. During one of his annual visits, I was meditating early morning in the Ananda Palo Alto community temple, and I was surprised how good my own meditation was going. For some reason I turned around on my meditation bench in the middle of this great meditation, only to discover that Swamiji himself had silently slipped into the temple and was seated right behind me. Well, I was thrilled. No wonder my own meditation was going so well!
A beautiful reflection, Biraj! Thank you!
Isn’t it so, that when we are in the presence of a Great One, devotion comes much more easily? Obviously, we don’t have the physical presence of our beloved teacher most days. Or even ANY days now that he has passed out of his mortal body. But, can’t we be “in His presence” any time we put our mind on him or our guru, or on any of the true saints of all the world’s religions. You yourself told us you had amazingly deep experiences in both of the buildings where Anandamoyima and Ramakrishna’s guru Totapuri lived. These aren’t teachers on Ananda’s path, but they ARE teachers of Self-realization. They, too, knew the way to the Divine. Whenever we attune ourselves to those who “knew the way,” our meditations will always be leading us in the direction of the Divine Bliss they all experienced.