Amma's Birthday

When I first met Amma, I knew she knew me. Like we were the most intimate of friends. She knew everything. So, there was nothing to hide. What a relief! And over the decades that intimacy has deepened, and become unlike anything I could have imagined.

Now, She is here. Always. I sometimes experience a bit of sadness every now and then, because being in Her physical presence is so much fun, and I don't get to see Her as much. But as soon as remembrance of Amma happens, the Amma presence that is in my heart responds. She IS my heart. She breathes me. She guides me. I feel Her moving my fingers as I type. She is waking up my very nervous system to Her, so that any separation dissolves. She guides me towards certain people, and sometimes She guides me away. I have faith in this guidance, because it has nothing to do with the mind. The guidance is very quiet. Mind is watching all this guidance taking place without mind's interference, and so mind can rest. Mind rests within the Amma heart.

In fact, there is no "me" being guided. There is only this Amma/Life, living itself. The Infinite Reality, pure consciousness, taking over occupancy of the physical form. Quite delightful for the form, since this is what it was designed for. Its a perfect fit. Pure Love inhabiting the Lover. And the eyes look down at these hands in awe of it all.

Happy Birthday to the One Reality that never was born, and will never, ever die.

Autumnal portal

I got some news today that my dear father was in an accident. He got pretty banged up and needs some surgery. He says he'll be OK.

I felt all shook up inside, the kind of shakiness that happens when you feel out of control. It was good to experience that feeling again, and to feel the invitation to lose control.

Coming into the new season there is a softening. The heart wants to explore its own tender Self. And if it wants to come in the form of shakiness, it can. As long as I feel connected, that is all that matters. Connected and Real. Returning to a place of extra-ordinariness. And every part of my experience is a way into the most alive and conscious existence that is possible, right now.

Not for me; for us.

When I look at the devastating news these days-especially regarding the Syrian children, I am overcome by a real concern. It seems a large portion of the world doesn't seem to care enough to feel affected by the crisis. People are so wrapped up in their own subjective lives, and because of this, they remain in a subject-oriented world. An unconscious trance-state of "my life."

 A deep evolution in our Being, allows the embodied consciousness to move out of the subject-oriented world. We are no longer coming from my life, what "I" want or need or even "my awakening." We no longer need those nice little spiritual "goodies"; the great meditations, the awakened experiences, or even periods of "no problems." We have lost the need for anything for "me." The center is fading, and in its place is a deep, intimate sense that we are all in this together. And unless we start living from this realization, as an awakened community, our species could wipe itself out.

Coming from a deep love, a love of the whole of existence, is what continues to take this life beyond any ideas of what it should be. There are no more ideas about success, or future, or even enlightenment. This life is moving beyond me. And "I" am not the one that is making this happen. "I" am being taken out of the equation. And by doing so, maybe life can get freed up to serve "us."