Ok, Darlings, let’s get to it! Let’s get YOU Enlightened! You’ve been meditating and doing your program, doing good deeds, and eating your vegetables. You’ve given up meat, chicken and sex (in that order) and now you’re thinking about going to an ashram, probably in India, or Germany or somewhere the Sattva is “high”, and the teachers are disciplined and dedicated. You’re going to evolve and finally be free of all your ignorance and unhappiness, and maybe this time it will
last – unlike all the other times when it turned into the same-old, same-old. That’s why you saved all your money again, didn’t pay your school loan, skipped Christmas with the family, chartered a plane to the Himalayas, because evolving, is more important to you than life itself.
Darlings, I’m here to save you A LOT OF MONEY, and and a lot of needless concern over your constant searching-itch that’s led you to years of unfulfillment & useless tears. You plead with God, the Divine, Buddha, Jesus, the Guru, Mother Mary and your favorite lucky charm, to SAVE YOU from the torments of your own mind and fabricated stories of possibilities & spiritual success. So Let’s DO IT already! Let’s get YOU Enlightened, OK?
First let’s start with one of the FIRST MISLEADING CONCEPTS you have about Enlightenment:
1. Enlightenment is a goal. I will only get there after I’ve climbed the mountain of samskara (world of misery, karma, Haagen Das, chocolate and videos). After I get really disciplined, the truth/the Self will be revealed to me.
FIRST OF ALL – enlightenment is not a goal, IT’S YOUR NATURE. You don’t have to climb Mount Everest or get rid of your psychological traumas or clean your chakras. It is your Nature, everything else, and I mean EVERYTHING ELSE is a thought, a concept, an idea, something you read somewhere, something someone told you, something you believe. You can still be the “normal/bad” person you think you are and be “enlightened”.
Enlightenment means finally recognizing your Nature, what you’ve always been RIGHT HERE in front of your nose. YOU ARE the silence and the thoughts and images that appear to “override” the silence that you long for. YOU ARE EVERYTHING.
Karma, Misery, the world of pleasure and pain are all ideas projected from the mind, which loves playing and seeing and sensing and feeling everything it can. It is not your Nature, yet you are THAT TOO. If you want to “get enlightened”, RELAX with everything you’re doing to get there and take a breather from all that feverish doing. Enjoy your programs & processes instead of technique-ing them into misery.
Your feverishness is not going to get you there any faster. Why? Because enlightenment is a “tweak” in perception. You suddenly get it, and even after you get it, you sometimes have to get it again and again and again. WHY? BECAUSE IT SO SIMPLE. You are enlightenment right NOW and you’re still searching for it. Honestly, it’s ridiculous how hard you work to get a little “enlightening” experience just to plummet into misery again. UP & down like a yo-yo, hoping the Divine will take mercy on you and cut the string.
THIS IS IT! Right here and right now. The chair you’re sitting on, the dog you’re petting, the letter you’re writing, the music you’re listening to, the socks you’re wearing – everything that you’re doing, looking at, thinking about is IT at this moment. If you sit down right now and close your eyes you will sense a quietude, a space inside you. There may be thoughts, but inbetween those thoughts, you’ll notice some stillness – and that IS YOU. THAT’S WHO YOU ARE.
IN meditation or activity, when there are no thoughts and the silence is thick within, THERE YOU ARE. And when you get out of meditation and you start thinking again and the world comes in again (problems, duties, your mother) and the activity is appearing on the screen of your silence-KNOW THAT the silence HAS NOT GONE AWAY. IT IS STILL THERE. Silence and thoughts – all of it is YOU! A constant Happening on the screen of silence.
That Silence, that space, that emptiness (no thought, no feeling no nothing) is YOU. That is your Nature. That is your God, your Buddha, your Christ, your Guru. Right there, always right there. Do you Get IT? Or will you continue to look for it and refuse to believe the simplicity of it?
Why not take a chance and see where it leads you. Sit down, Be the Silence and watch the thoughts, your world, the universe come up again on the screen of Silence – all of that is YOU – YOU ARE EVERYTHING.
2. I have to meditate, eat well, be pure, before I get enlightened?
That is one of the greatest myth perpetrated on seekers. It is pure nonsense and nothing less. Meditation, and good food and pure living does allow for more silence in the body and mind-easing some of the continuous obsessive thoughts and habits that people have. However, it is not a pre-requisite for enlightenment. There are no pre-requisites for enlightenment, but for some reason, people do follow certain patterns that “seem” to move them in that direction, or at least they ‘think” they do.
Listen to me – it’s all thoughts, nothing but thoughts that make you feel bound. It’s like that wave that you think is going to hit you when you’re sitting on your sofa in Iowa – thousands of miles from an ocean. It’s a “thought”.
A bum, drinking beer for 10 years and living in a hell hole in East LA, can wake up one day and just plain “get it”. And he may or may not stop drinking even after he gets it. Why? Because Enlightenment is his Nature as it is yours and IT”S in plain view to be found. It is in fact, AN OPEN SECRET, available to EVERYONE!
Lilly the Buddha is definitely ENLIGHTENED wouldn’t you say????
Our Yoga Vasistha sessions are graced by Stud the Lama, who listens carefully, nods his head, sleeps, wakes up, listens, nods, sleeps…definately enlightened!!!
Darling Alka, if more of us would be soooo relaxed that we fall asleep in the middle of Yoga Vasistha, how natural would that be? True relaxation brings deep sleep and thennnnnnnnnnTHERE YOU ARE AWAKE, COMPELTELY AWAKE AND COMPLETELY ASLEEP.Snoring for SELF to hear. Has that ever happened to you?
I say sleeping is the BEST…people are so afraid to rest, because they think they’re lazy, or wasting their time, or not doing service or whatever nonsense you have running in your head.
Relax sleep, get rest and see what happens. You may be very surprised when you’re listening to Yoga Vasistha…ENLIGHTENMENT THROUGH REST…
when i look out of a glass window, i see the view outside n at othertimes i see the glass, sometimes i see both n sometimes i dont see anything n yet all the time i am looking…
Our ‘Enlightened’ Gurus, would never give out this knowledge if they had, bcoz they will lose the chelas by becoming enlightened themselves. Or probably they would write a small book and earn plenty of $$$
That’s my teacher… The Looker 🙂 Thank you Alka di for introducing me to Dvorahji’s teachings, writings 🙂
Thank you Dvorahji’ for making it so simple and helping me see the different colors of enlightenment (though there was never any color, not even this name, color exists and yet it does… Blah Blah Blah… Finally Silence… That too the meaning given to the existent.. Non-existent word silence 😀 Right time for me to STOP & Be in this Moment… :X NOW 🙂
I recently heard someone say “Your problem isn’t the problem-your REACTION is the problem.”
This is a notion spouted by many self-help teachers and gurus. Many people believe it with such conviction that it’s become a new mantra for finally figuring our what’s wrong with you and how you can fix your problems.
Darlings, I just don’t get it? Why do you continue to want to suffer with all these useless ideas? The problem isn’t your “reaction”. The problem is YOU THINKING you can control parts of you life. You think, “Well, If I can’t control the problem, maybe I can control my reaction? And if I can control my reaction, I can control my unhappiness”. Such self-defeating NONSENSE that causes you more unhappiness. Why? Because there is no way in Heaven or Hell, you can control your reactions. NONE.
YOU CANNOT CONTROL ANYTHING!!! NOTHING! What part of that don’t you get? Can you control a sneeze? Can you control a cough? Can you control tripping? Can you control getting sick or getting well, no matter how many herbs you take? Can you control dreaming or sleeping or dying? So what makes you think you can control your reactions?
This life, your life in all it’s manifestations and relationships are not controlled by you! They are Happenings, events that occur, then change. Thoughts that occur and change. Problems that occur and change, REACTIONS that occur and change. Everything is happening in it’s own appearance and change.
Your misery is caused by “thinking” blaming yourself for NOT HAVING THE RIGHT REACTION. You want to have a “wiser” more evolved reaction. Even tho you see that no matter how much you meditate, how much you do yoga, how much you do your affirmations, how much you think and practice about how to react to a situation, when the “Shizam happening” hits the fan-you’re still clueless, wondering what to do and how did this happen to you? How did you get this terrible karma?
The next thing you do is blame yourself, pray harder, meditate more, call your psychic, scream at the moon, and beg for divine intervention. Now I’m not saying those things don’t help, but you’re initial reaction was not what you HOPED it would be, especially after all your hard spiritual work.
I’m here to say: RELAX…relax with all these notions of controlling your life, your reactions to life and it’s situations. Whatever comes up is fine. From my perspective there aren’t any problems you can’t deal with. Why? Because problems will continue to happen and so will your reactions and solutions to those problems.
I love you…Relax and question all these spiritual notions that people take for granted (regardless of who says it). You’re going to find the truth through you’re own inquiry. NO one is going to do it for you, not even your Guru. Although Great Teachers and Masters will inspire & guide you – and that’s all you need. A little love and inspiration.
The following is a quote from the Concise Yoga Vasistha:
“Janaka attained whatever he did by his own inquiry. Similarly, one should pursue the inquiry into the nature of truth til one reaches the very limits of such inquiry. Self-knowledge of truth is not had by resorting to a guru (preceptor) nor by the study of scriptures, nor by good works: it is attained only by means of inquiry inspired by the company of wise and holy men. Ones’ inner light alone is the means, naught else.”–Vasistha
Lilly, doesn’t react to anything…She let’s everything react to her…
You’re going to find the truth through you’re own inquiry. NO one is going to do it for you, not even your Guru. Although Great Teachers and Masters will inspire & guide you – and that’s all you need. A little love and insp
iration. This has become a quote for the day !
And of course…even “your own inquiry” is also a happening…the apple is ripe and ready to fall to freedom…And there happens to be, in this time, in this place in this Lila, lots of apples that are ripe…
Enlightenment really doesn’t matter much, you don’t gain anything…what matters is that you’re more at peace in your life, more able to live your life with the understanding that, “If It Could Be Different, It Would Be Different, and accept your life as it presents itself without all this unhappiness and drama”.
Ease and Quality of life matters. And now-a-days there are some wonderful “teachers & Masters” to hang out with and offer LOVE AND INSPIRATION on your journey…
It’s interesting that people think they can make a “right choice”. There are NO RIGHT CHOICES. Every choice brings with it a myriad of trials, tribulations, joys whatever and more choices. There is no “one choice” that stands alone – it goes on and on and on As a matter of fact, Choice is life HAPPENING.
Sri Sri would say, “There are only two choices, Bad and worse”. I think once you actually cognize that, you’re free to “make choices” recognizing that “CHOICE IS NOT AN OPTION!” IT’S A HAPPENING!….Relax it’s all your inner Guru, doing IT’S THING.
Now if you would just BUY IT! ALL or nothing…! All your choices are like that…every single one of them – no exceptions!
Now if you can catch the full subtlety of this…then you are FREE. Because where is fear of making a choice or regret of making the wrong choice or concern of what other’s will think? Everything dissappears! Why? Because Life is a Happening…and deeds (choices are made) and there is no individual does EXCEPT THE DIVINE.
SO NOW, you can relax and move through your life without all this unhappiness about the way your life shows up…It is as it can ONLY BE.
Ask Dvorahji: HOW do I come to terms with SUFFERING?
Dear Dvorahji:
How do I Come to terms with suffering?
*****Darling:
Coming to terms with suffering? If you’re lucky, deep relaxation/acceptance and that comes with detachment/knowledge/Being
…Coming to terms with suffering is tough especially if you’re a sensitive person because everything is suffering about something in one way or another, at one time or another…
But suffering is very interesting…because it tells you in a very CLEAR WAY that you are NOT in control? And then the question/prayer comes up WHAT IS? Why is it that with all our theories, techniques and prayers, we still don’t know why the good guys die and the bad guys live to make more money? We console ourselves with Karma, until we’re the ones who get sick, or we’re the ones that lose a loved one, or we’re the ones that get in an accident. And that’s when we start praying and that’s when we start longing and that’s when we FINALLY begin to ASK THE right QUESTIONS: What’s going on? How can I bear this, What am I going to do? HELP ME?
And that’s when the answers begin to flow, when you finally need some guidance, your life is finally beyond your control. And then…..you see what happens, you see what comes up for you…
And the good news, is that now-a-days, there’s lots and lots and lots of help everywhere…It’s literally raining Knowledge, love, teachers, Gurus…and one will grab your heart and you will never be the same again…you will be OUT OF CONTROL and finally in LOVE with YOURSELF and your life as it — in-spite of the suffering.
You may still yell and scream and curse and ask Why – but the doubt will fade in the distance because all you can BE is your BEING, everything else will disappear into space…and “Y” will be a letter, not a question.
I have great love and compassion for suffering, I know how painful it can be…. I want you to know that the Divine loves you, and your friend Dvorahji loves you.
Surrender…and see that suffering is not of your doing, unfortunately it’s happening to you…There are a million reason why, but they don’t matter, they will fade – But the Divine loves you always….and is YOUR NATURE to keep you company.
It is very difficult to smile when you are in a lot of physical or emotional pain, it’s not natural. But if per chance, you’re one of those lucky ones that can crack a joke in the middle of an excruciating headache or the sudden tragic loss of one of your family, then you’ve obviously been given a “wicked sense of humor”.
I’m not one of those people that grins and bears it. I scream alot, yell a lot and complain a lot at how stupid it all is! And trust me, when you see thousands of dolphins or children being brutalized-all you can do is cry your heart out & tell God how stupid & merciless He is!
Then the amazement of all that suffering, your utter agony somehow (if you’re a lucky one) turns to BIG PEACE flavored with bliss. It encapsulates you in LOVING SILENCE and there’s a natural relief that doesn’t make sense, but is there anyway. This life is a WONDER. LOVE/PEACE/SPACE is your ONLY TRUE SAVIOR.
the lovely space, yep yep yep, that’s the saviour when the mind capsizes like a dodgey boat…space where there’s just you and your breath and silence and you realise there’s nobody at all drowing for the time being lol. Yay for space!!!
for a person like me, recuperating from a major illness,you have made me realize that being miserable does no good to any one. Having an implicit trust in Divine and living joyfully, with whatever comes is the best way to live.
Great Vijay….people have no choice to LIVE what IS, what comes…what good is it to fight against the current? especially (contrary to most belief systems) it’s a happening and NOT your fault?
It happened and now, we move along, we continue (again, we have no choice), So why not continue knowing that the DIVINE IS YOUR NATURE and you are always safe IN SPITE OF YOUR thoughts, feelings and actions?
if it Could Be Different, It Would Be Different! And since it’s NOT different…we accept WHAT IS and continue this life’s path with FULL CONFIDENCE that IT IS as it can ONLY BE.
Look at your dreams. See how all these forms appear and dissappear and vanish as soon as you wake up…The central figure/awareness in these dreams is you…YOU are all the forms…in the same way in the waking state, YOU are all the forms…When you don’t see, or think about a form, it dissappears, just like in a dream. It’s gone!!! Your mother, your child, your money, your house–GONE. NO thought, no family. NO thought, no job. NO thought, no life. No thought, no Guru. Thoughts are what make up this entire creation…
Even going near this understanding, this SPACE, STOPS YOU IN DEEP SILENCE. THERE IS NO WHERE TO GO in the face of this MYSTERY…THE SEARCH STOPS! It just stops. YOU ARE HOME AND IT IS UNKNOWN with NO FORM WHATSOEVER. NOTHING AND EVERYTHING…
Dvorahji: if life was so meaningless, what is the point in all this struggle in life? why isn’t everyone living without working, having a family, sacrifices etc.? and if everyone realizes it what would happen to the world?***
Darling: What’s the use of cutting your hair you know it’s only going to grow back? It’s not MEANINGLESS…it’s “AWESOMELY MEANINGLESS”…it’s a place of wonder, it’s not static and dead…it’s electrifyingly active and moving and dynamic, always changing. Does the wind have meaning? When a flower buds, blooms & dies, does it have meaning? When the Sun comes up every morning to offer you Vitamin D & warmth, does it have meaning? It just does what it does, just like you. YOU DO WHAT YOU DO.
Darling: Knowing it’s meaningless, Doesn’t stop you from doing what you do? Why? Because you’re as much a part of this magical HAPPENING as the Ocean, or the Cosmos or the Tree. Everything is AWESOMELY HAPPENING. This knowlege gives you peace, relaxation, celebration – not depression and uselessness. This knowledge let’s you flow easily, happily, innocent like a child, instead of binding you in blame regret and dissappointment.
Look at me…have I stopped living, or writing or laughing because Life is “awesomely meaningless? NO! Life continues and does everything that it’s MEANT to do. Nobody stops working or having a family or a Chihuahua. It ALL CONTINUES EXACTLY AS IT DOES………It’s a MEANINGLESS/MEANINGFUL world, full of wonder.
And the world itself? Well that’s another realization! You’ll have to ask the questions, “What is this World all about?” and “Who Am I”…and then let’s see what comes up! Meanwhile, have some FUN in this meaningless world. Sing a meaningless song, dance a meaningless dance and have a meaningless laugh! now about some meaningless ice cream or chocolate or have some meaningless…..(guess?)
love you, your meaningless friends, Dvorahji……..
What’s the point of loving a doll? It’s not real anyway? Why? Because it’s AWESOMELY MEANINGLESS…….
Hi Vijay…I’m glad you’re happyyyy, that’s really coooool! “Realized” is a really loaded word full of conceptual misconceptions, like I’m a special person and I’ve got something you don’t have, which of course is ridiculous. There is an understanding here, But my NATURE is the same as YOURS.
I don’t think of myself as a “realized person” I think of myself as a Dvorah-gee who loves writing stories.
Neelam, honestly you’re in my presence all the time, Doesn’t it feel intimate when you’re reading my posts and when i answer you? doesn’t it feel like you’re really talking to me? It’s certainly feels intimate to me…
I was so enthusiastic about the last time I saw Sri Sri that I couldn’t wait to see him again. I heard he was coming in April to give a week-long course. I made sure I was going to be there. It didn’t matter what I experienced, I just wanted to be near him. As I was leaving for the course, I noticed my old purple hat. I’d had it for ages, and it looked ridiculous on me. Yet I picked it up on instinct and stuffed it in my suitcase. Now I was ready to go.
During the entire course, I made sure I sat in the front row, looking my feminine best. My hair was down and my dresses were long and silky. Nothing unusual happened and I was just happy to be there feeling peaceful.
On the day we were leaving, a group of people surrounded Sri Sri. He was answering as many questions as he could, but there were still many more. Seeing it was going to take such a long time, I decided to go up and change into a nice traveling dress.
When I got upstairs I noticed my big, floppy, purple hat on the chair. A mischievous idea popped into my head. “I know,” I thought. “I’ll put on my black motorcycle jacket, black pants and my purple hat and play a joke on Sri Sri. I’ll bet he’ll never recognize me.”
I pulled my hair up, put some unusual bright make-up on, and topped it off with big, black sun- glasses. I looked completely different. I went downstairs and headed straight for the hall. Sri Sri was still talking to people. I moved in strategically close and prepared myself. “I’ll jump in front of him,” I thought. “I’ll pull my hat off and jokingly say, “It’s me Sri Sri! Do you remember me?”
The thought hardly left my mind when I found myself doing just that. I dramatically pulled off my hat, bowed and cheerfully said, “Sri Sri! It’s me! Do you recognize me?”
He glanced at me blankly. He seemed preoccupied with someone else. My timing was completely off. I felt silly. It wasn’t very funny anyway. Another one of my stupid ideas.
I stood there holding my purple hat, feeling like an idiot, when I felt a deep emotion well up in my throat. I began to cry. The humiliation. My deepest fear began to surface. As I closed my eyes, I heard my frightened self say, “All my life, I’ve been afraid God would forget me. The trumpets would blow, the chariot would come, and somehow I would miss the boat. I’d fail again, only this time irreparably.”
I don’t remember how long I stood there, but when I opened my eyes, I noticed that Sri Sri was just leaving with someone. As he moved away from me, he unexpectedly turned his head and looked straight in my direction, projecting softly. “I would recognize you in any form!” he confirmed. “You are my very Self.” Then he quickly turned and left.
I closed my eyes again, feeling completely loved and taken care of. A deep wound had been healed, and I felt whole again. I pulled on my magical purple hat, put on my big, black sunglasses and skipped away joyously, like a child. “God remembered me. And He always would.”
Wow Dvorahji you really put yourself out there to be recognized by the one person that matters to you so much and you let yourself down so heartbreakingly. I can relate to everything you said like I am in your shoes, but I am not in your shoes. I also know this feeling of wanting to be recognize by people like Sri Sri yet I tell myself “who am I … Read More
It doesn’t matter so much that he recognizes you – it’s matters more that you recognize Him/Yourself….However, at different times, people need/want/get different things…At that time, that’s what was happening…
These stories were written about ten years ago…and can be read on my website shutupguru.com….I’m in the process of redoing the website so you can download the entire booklet with great quotes from other saints and devotees from:
“My LIttle Guru” And Other Wondrous Adventure Stories and Divine Quotes of Love.”
Yes but before that there was searching & pleading and crying and meditating 2 hours twice a day and running around all over the globe and looking for my Dvorahji’s nose that was already attached to my face….and dragging my kids to every meditation retreat that existed – and teaching meditation and what a continuous mess or searching!!!!!!
UNTIL ONE DAY…I was
listening to an Ashtavakra tape and I heard Guruji say on the tape; “Well when will you get it”, and I heard a inner voice say “NOW”…and the whole thing began to unravel…and even then it was a mess..
I went around telling everyone they were crazy…everything is an illusion, people thought I was NUTS!….Then again I’m sitting in Guruji’s room, happy as a clam, and he looks over at means and says VERY LOUDLY, ALMOST YELLING – “WELL, Dvorah, have you had a enough!”….and that’s when I began to settle down with all this “NO, not this, even this is an illusion, NO , and NO and NO! Everything is an ILLUSION!”… Read More
Liz – everything is a story and all of us have pretty much thought or heard everything…so really there’s nothing to be ashamed or shy about, we all put on our underwear one foot at a time unless you’re a monkey and then you just put it on your head!
Dear Dvorahji: Does enlightenment look a certain way? Will I see things a certain way, or perceive the outside world in a certain way? Will I live with NO ME, see through a fish eye like UG, or have experiences like Byron, or some of these other Guru Teachers, like Da, or Osho, or Adi, or Gangaji, or Francis, or Sri Sri, or the Advaita guys or even you. What does Enlightenment see? What does Enlightenment physically look like?
Darling:
Where most seekers bite the dust and I have for years – Is they have expected these experiences of NO ME to be apparent at all times (in our physical perception at all times) like a physical continued expression/or experience. As if the PHYSICAL eye/seeing perception would change.
Now in some cases that may be so, because ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN CONSCIOUSNESS. Some Teachers, Gurus have certain powers, Siddhis i.e. they can disappear, or duplicate themselves or naturally know what you’re thinking. But these are natural occurrences and its’ their gig. That still doesn’t mean they perceive “see” the world differently with an altered perceptive apparatus.
However, all the written material on “enlightenment” or liberation from Ramana to Gangaji to Tony to Maharaji to Mother Mary and all the rest….points to an ABSOLUTE EXPERIENCE AT ALL TIMES OF “NO ME” or some sort of “OTHER” then normal seeing, hearing, thinking and feeling. And that has caused MASSIVE CONFUSION even in the seeker who IS naturally happy, enlightened & RELAXED IN LIFE. For some inane reason some seekers (who have been in this enlightenment game for a while) CONTINUE this search, this seeking for “NO ME” .
So I’m here to unreservedly say SHUT UP AND RELAX…with all these concepts you have about “what enlightenment looks like!!!” MANY OF YOU are already happy and intuitively already exist/are absolutely AWARE COMPLETELY/WITHOUT A DOUBT – that life is a living dream and that EVERYTHING, AND I MEAN EVERYTHING, from your latest subtle experience of “NO ME” – to getting mad at your husband, to seeing your Guru, to eating potato chips is a ever-changing Happening that comes & goes. IT IS A HAPPENING and YOU are part of that HAPPENING.
When Dvorahji, looks out her window she sees the Sun. And when Dvorahji looks at her dog, she sees a dog and when Dvorahji has a choice between a milkshake & a turkey, guess which one she’ll choose???? Enlightenment doesn’t look like anything? Freedom COMES IN DIFFERENT FORMS…but it sees everything the way YOU DO…OR NOT (because anything is possible)
It’s a Play, a Lila, a MOVIE, a HAPPENING…AND You and everything You think, feel, say, do, Is part of that play. BEING AWARE that it’s a play and intuitively/realizing that it’s a play, and having some experiences that demonstrate to you that it’s a play….Is enough to SHUT UP AND BE HAPPY and stop this miserable searching and confusion and let Life present you with what ever it wants to. YOU ARE ALWAYS HOME. YOU ARE ALWAYS ALREADY ENLIGHTENED. YOU ARE ALWAYS PEACE.
I love you, relax…..love Dvorahji
PS. The really cool experiences, the ones the so-called “enlightlened” ones are always talking about come & go like everything else (just like they do in you).
Wouldn’t it be great, if eveytime someone GOT IT – they put on a HAT and started parading all over Town telling the good news?
I love the name Shut Up Guru – Why? Because it’s enough with all this serious Guru BULL#@#@. The Guru is YOUR NATURE. PERIOD. NOTHING other then YOURSELF. PERIOD. This seriousness, phony humbleness, idol worshiping this constant separation is uncalled for.
Seekers fool themselves & teachers fool themselves thinking they are higher, know more, are more intelligent, understand the in & outs of enlightenment, are more evolved then their students. And that includes the students of the Dai lama, Ramana and the hundreds of revered Gurus & Teachers, students are constantly bowing down to.
Now Look, I have a Guru, I honor my Guru, I’m grateful I have a Guru, and I love so many teachers & Guru’s but I don’t want to BE LIKE MY GURU. I don’t want to look like him, talk like, him or be revered like him. I’m a Dvorahji. And that’s good enough for me. Like Being an Alexji, or Manjulaji, or Gayleji, Lakshmiji is good enough for you. I just happen to be a writer a teacher…Others are blackjack dealers, bus drivers.
From now on, you can call me the Shut Up Guru, and my favorite phrase in the whole dictionary is Shut Up and Be Happy! And don’t put me on any pedestal cause you are going to be sorely disappointed. Just be NATURAL, fully at ease with yourself and all the stupid/holy ridiculous things you say and do.
Be Happy with your life exactly as it shows UP. If It Could Be Different – It would BE!
In my unquenchable thirst for Knowledge, I decided to follow Sri Sri around for awhile. I wanted to become whatever he was. I went wherever he went, laughed whenever he laughed, sat wherever he sat, and just plain hung around him. Maybe, I just might get IT! (Whatever “it” was.)
I followed him to a retreat in Canada. It was beautiful, and about 200 people showed up. Some of the regulars had spent a lot of time with him. I decided to be one of the in-crowd and began to follow him around.
Wherever he ended up, I made it my business to be there. If he stuck his head out, even for an instant, I was there; smiling, making chit-chat and waving. When the evening meetings were held, I made sure I sat in the front row, so he would see me with all the others that longed to be just like him.
One day, as I was waiting for him to come out of his cottage, I felt an acute attack of boredom. Here I was, waiting to see one of the greatest sages I’d ever met, and I was just plain bored. “What am I doing?” I thought. “Haven’t I learned anything yet? My knowledge isn’t inside of Him. It’s inside of me. If I want to gain love, it’s going to have to come from inside of me, not from following around the ‘form’ of love.” I felt a voice say, “The kingdom of heaven is within you. Look there.”
I quickly ran back to my cabin and sat down to meditate. When I finished, I naturally went into silence. I’d talked quite a bit on this course. Now, it was time to listen.
When I went to the evening meeting, I moved my backrest to the back of the hall. “Let someone else enjoy sitting near him,” I thought. I didn’t need the proximity anymore. After all, it was all inside of me.
During the evening, people began to sing bhajans (devotional songs) and dance. I sat in silence, enjoying them quietly. As I looked around the room everyone seemed so unbearably beautiful, I could hardly breathe. A tender wave of compassion and love washed over me.
“Dear Lord,” I prayed, “I can’t stand the beauty and I can’t stand the pain. What am I going to do? It’s all so unendurable.” With that thought, tears of compassion, relieving my predicament, began to flow.
When I calmed down, I saw Sri Sri sitting in meditation. He looked so royal and elegant, I could barely endure his radiance. What good was he anyway? Just an image of the Divine. All my staring wasn’t going to rub off and bring me closer to God. I’d have to do it myself – and go inside.
After the meeting (it was more like a celebration), I felt empty. I didn’t know what to do. Usually I went back to his cottage, to see if he’d come out. Tonight it seemed foolish, so I went back to my cabin. After awhile, I realized I wasn’t tired and couldn’t fall asleep, so I decided to go for a walk in the direction of his cottage.
As I walked by, I saw a group of people sitting on a bench just outside his door. There was room for one more, so I sat down in silence. Someone noticed how quiet I was and asked incredulously, “Are you in silence?” I felt a little foolish since most of the time I can’t stop talking.
“Yes,” I nodded as they playfully continued to chide me. “Dvorah’s in silence.” They laughed. “This must be a special night.”
I closed my eyes and continued my silence. I felt very peaceful, not caring what happened. Suddenly the door opened. There was Sri Sri holding a box of sweets. “Prasad?” (a sweet offering), he asked. “Oh, yes,” everyone gleefully answered, “Yes.”
I opened my eyes just as he began putting sweets in everyone’s waiting hands. As he walked by, he would occasionally call people by name.
“Oh, my God,” I innocently thought. “He’s actually going to give me a sweet. How wonderful!”
I held my hands open, cupped near my forehead, and sat patiently. When he approached where I was sitting, he stopped. I heard someone on the sidelines jokingly say, “Dvorah’s in silence. She’s not talking today.”
His eyes opened in a feigned expression of surprise. “Really?” he asked curiously. “How amazing!”
I began to feel very light as he continued to stand there. I felt completely rested, waiting for my precious Prasad. Then, I heard the most endearing voice. It sounded like a bell praising my name, “D-vor-ah,” it lovingly sang. “A-dor-a-ble D-vor-ah.” I swooned in loving ecstasy, still conscious of his presence.
A piece of sweet halvah touched my palms, as I slowly slid from the bench, down on my knees. I instinctively lowered my head, touching his feet. The Divine had called my name.
****
Isn’t it amazing that when you stop searching, you have a chance to be found. The moral of this story is very simple. If you’re looking for God – Stop! Be still. Sit down on a bench, fully at rest, with open palms. Then listen. God will find you and, in adoration, praise your name.
It not necessary to bow down…it’s ONLY necessary to RELAX and open your heart…
Yeah…actually I feel that on the surface level there is a lot of observation, perception n conclusion happening constantly in our lives…which is so relative n illussiory..if I may say so…Siiiilllleeeennnnnccccceeee is the key word…not of speech!!!Yeah that tooo is important!!!….It’s a beautiful mystery….:-)