Namaste, I hope you are all well and enjoying life after our huge Navaratri celebration. I feel that many, including myself, were transformed by the tremendous presence of Ma Durga in the various meditations, pujas and music we all got to enjoy.
From 20th to 22 October Devaki, Adi Dass and I attended the 24th Universal Peace conference in North India hosted by Sun Yogi. Sun Yogi became famous after not eating for a number of years, pulling sustenance only from the sun. He has an ashram in Bengal and comes to see his Guru, Yogiraj Amar Jyoti, in the Himalayas at the Mahavatar Babaji Meditation Centre. While we were there, we met some fascinating people doing wonderful work across many different sectors of society, all in their own way bringing more peace, wellbeing and contemplative action to the world. It’s a shame we don’t hear more about the many good news stories that are happening in the world.
My topic was peace and harmony among religions. I spoke of how for many people they focus upon the form of the faith and the astral belief system that it entails, but that they have not retained the mystical root that the founders of the faith inevitably had. This leads to confusion as to whether or not teachings are to do with the physical or inner world.
For instance, the teaching that God created the world in 7 days is not and never was meant to be a story pertaining to the physical world we perceive with our senses. The Jewish Torah, which is part of the Old Testament in the Bible, has as its first book, the book of Genesis, as the book of creation. It is an account of the way in which all of the archetypes and prototypes of creation were brought into existence in the soul dimension, or Briah, as it is called in Kabbalah. This is the inner world in which our higher soul resides; one could call it a world of Eternal beauty. The famed Garden of Eden is an apt description of how life would be in Briah. Polarity does not exist in this dimension.
‘Creation’ is a code word for Briah, not Assiyah, which is the physical world. A day in Briah may take several hundred thousand years of physical world time to happen. So Genesis is not at odds with science. It is speaking of a mystical understanding of creation predating physical creation entirely.
Wouldn’t it be a lot simpler if we knew that? Then there is no argument concerning evolution or genesis: science and spirituality would be aligned.
Likewise, if we could remember the mystical roots of religious teachings, there would be no wars, or none that referred to a religious conviction. Any scriptural references to war and any victory would be understood to be about the inner battle of grace over dis-grace, love over fear, good over grubby, light over dark and kindness over greed. There would be little room left for justification of conflict or divisiveness, this being contrary to the very essence of what any spiritual path or religion was ever meant to provide.
We also had our Strength of the Soul cards translated into Hindi and handed out a pack of cards to each participant for their use in bringing spiritual energy into the way in which they handle real world issues. Instead of focusing on the issue or problem, we can focus upon employing a virtue so that we get pulled upwards instead of downwards as we journey through various challenges.
After the conference we remained at the ashram, almost by ourselves with just a couple of residents, plus the cook and the cow herder. The views of the surrounding hills and mountains, sun and water cascading down the stream that runs through the ashram, the many flowers and trees, temples and meditation space make this a haven for the spirit.
We enjoyed some wonderfully rejuvenating rest and integration time. Then, Adi Dass and I made our way to Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Adi is staying for some time in Peedam, and I am going on a pilgrimage to 9 temples in South India with Skanda Mata and Nalin. Over the next few weeks, I will share with you the adventures we have, the temples we are visiting, the stories behind them and how they can help us in our spiritual evolution. Until then take care, and I send you Ma Durga’s blessings. Om Shanti!
Namaste, Shakti Durga
