as i am out of town; kindly check back in May and refer to blogger postings for last minute updates.

JAI MA

Dear Friends:
As you may know, this is the Nine Days of Mother Divine.
(March 27 to April 3).

During this time it would be good to listen to some Vedic chants for Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati.
(Traditionally, the first three days for Durga, the second three days for Lakshmi, and the third three days for Saraswati.)
For your future reference, you can order quite a variety of Maharishi pandit chants from www.vedic-arts.com in India.
In the meantime, you can also listen to chants for Mother Divine at this website online: http://puja.net/Media/Goddesses/Goddesses.html

JAI MA MA MA!

"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right."
- Ezra Taft Benson

The first aspect of prayer is giving thanks to God for all the numberless blessings that are bestowed upon us at every moment of the day and night, and of which we are mostly unconscious. The second aspect of prayer is laying our shortcomings before the unlimited perfection of the divine Being, and asking His forgiveness. This makes man conscious of his smallness, of his limitation, and therefore makes him humble before his God. And, by humbling himself before God man does not lose any virtue. God alone has the right to demand complete humility.

Self-realization is the ability to see ourselves in all beings. This is
the third eye through which you see, even while your two eyes are wide
open. We should be able to love and serve others, seeing ourselves in
them. This is the fulfillment of spiritual practice." - Amma

Turn off the lights March 28, 8:30 pm for Earth Hour for 1 hour!
www.earthhour.org
click voice of earth and listen away! ]
http://www.neuroacoustic.com/BuyersGuide.html

How God Changes Your Brain
with Loch Kelly and Andrew Newberg, M.D.
Sunday, April 5 at 4pm $12
Part of the Brainwave Series at the Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
Please visit www.lochkelly.org for information, CDs and DVDs

According to the Eastern philosophy point of view there is only one teacher, and that teacher is God Himself. No man can teach another man. All one can do for another is to give him one's own experience in order to help him to be successful. For instance if a person happens to know a road, he can tell another man that it is the road which leads to the place he wishes to find. The work of the spiritual teacher is like the work of Cupid. The work of Cupid is to bring two souls together. And so is the work of the spiritual teacher: to bring together the soul and God. But what is taught to the one who seeks after truth? Nothing is taught. He is only shown how he should learn from God. For no man can ever teach spirituality. It is God alone who teaches it. And how is it learned? When these ears which are open outwardly are closed to the outside world and focused upon the heart within, then instead of hearing all that comes from the outer life one begins to hear the words within. Thus if one were to define what meditation is, that also is an attitude: the right attitude towards God. The attitude should first be to seek God within. And, after seeking God within, then to see God outside.

http://peacefulrivers.homestead.com/Hafiz.html

The exact New Moon occurs on Thursday, Mar. 26, at 12:07 PM,
EDT (Mar. 26, at 9:37 PM in Gujarat) The image is the mountain above and the lake below, or
stillness without and happiness within. This is a time when restraints
and limitations are being felt around the world. The image suggests that we
need to find something within in order to maintain a sense of
contentment and joy. We need to be able to do without or let go of
some outer activities with as positive an approach as possible. The lake
at the foot of the mountain runs off and causes floods. Some barriers
may be needed to stop the flooding. The floods here would be an
overindulgent enjoyment at the expense of others. There is no need to
flaunt things. Keep the light within. Be ready to share and help others
cheerfully. The challenge here is to overcome fear and negative thought forms.
There is so much anger and fear rampant in the world today, control
your reactions. Again the struggle is to control the mind and worries.
Success rarely happens from worrying more. There is a need to let go of
the worries and transcend the fears.

"The new Moon in Pisces on March 26 will be quite auspicious for several reasons. Number one, this new moon will be joined an exalted/retrograde Venus. When Venus or Mercury are exalted and retrograde they're very powerful, because they're closer to the Earth at that time than at any other. We've already seen how the retrograde Venus has restored some confidence in our economy/on Wall Street with some renewed confidence in investing. As soon as she turned retrograde on March 6, the stock market rallied. There were also indications last week that housing might have had a slight up tick as well. This is not surprising considering that this retrograde Venus is happening in the fourth house in the United States chart, with a Sagittarius ascendant.
But besides what it means to our country and economy, this new moon in Pisces shows a great possibility because it connects us to a deep spiritual core and a sense of altruism and caring for each other that we may have been overlooking lately. Since the beginning of this year we have had a lot of energy was concentrated around the sign of Capricorn. We had an eclipse in Capricorn, we had three or four Capricorn there for quite a while. That sign is very much related to self protection and facing our fears, but it may also lead to a withdrawal from each other and to sort of "hunkering down" mentality.
It is time to expand again and reconnect, and this month could be a great time to do it". The way we access that mystical truth however is often through each other, that's why Venus is the indicator of relationships of all sorts. Stepping outside of ourselves and being generous with each other is usually the first step to spiritual awakening. There's a great possibility for this in the next month not only in our personal lives but in our career. It is a great time to take a chance and support uplifting teachings and causes that you firmly believe in and make a commitment to service and beauty. If you work in an industry that is related to these things it could really flourish at this time."

Truth is the very self of man. Truth is the divine element in man. Truth is every soul's seeking. Therefore as soon as the clouds of illusion are scattered, that which man now begins to see is nothing but the truth which has been there all the time. He finds that the truth was never absent; it was only covered by clouds of illusion.

Meditation Magic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9VknNLvnKY&feature=related
How to meditate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0rSmxsVHPE&feature=related

There is a poem by the great Persian poet Iraqi in which he tells, 'When I went to the gate of the divine Beloved and knocked at the door, a voice came and said -- Who art thou?' When he had told, 'I am so and so', the answer came, 'There is no place for anyone else in this abode. Go back to whence thou hast come'. He turned back and then, after a long time, after having gone through the process of the cross and of crucifixion, he again went there -- with the spirit of selflessness. He knocked at the door; the word came, 'Who art thou? ', and he said, 'Thyself alone, for no one else exists save Thee'. And God said, 'Enter into this abode for now it belongs to thee'. It is such selflessness, to the extent that the thought of self is not there, it is being dead to the self, which is the recognition of God.

"A spectacular underwater volcanic eruption spewing smoke
and gas thousands of feet into the sky has created a new
island in the Pacific Ocean."

"The volcano began erupting on Monday and ejected so much
lava that by Wednesday it had formed the island about seven
miles off the coast of Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga.
Satellite pictures revealed the new island still shrouded by smoke,
and a huge raft of pumice floating about two miles north of the
eruption."

"The energy release from the Tonga 7.9 earthquake and
eruption was nearly 1000 megatons. By contrast, the largest
hydrogen bomb in the U.S. inventory had a maximum yield
of 20 megatons."

See spectacular and large pictures of it at:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/undersea_eruptions_near_tonga.html

UN Warns of Widespread Water Shortages
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/12-0

DO READ!
Act now!

Well winter is really over. And the work of bursting into Spring is definitely upon us. I read in The Mountain Astrologer that you can balance a raw egg on the countertop at the equinox which is precisely at 7:44 Am EDT today March 20th. I will try to remember this. If you do it and it works let me know! We can add a little scientific experiment to our symbolic musings. For certain the equinox is one of only two times a year when the day and night are of equal length. Such is the real magic of the Universe.

ENJOY THE SPRING RITES -

Friends, this is a devastating and alarming report on how Monsanto
now owns all the major seed companies (acquired all thru the 90's) and
over 11,000 patents on "seeds" that grow our foods. This means that
they can genetically modify the seeds, which they have done, and then
create pesticides that are necessary to spray on the plants, which they
have done. Corporate America is hard at work - mostly off radar - to do what it did
to the banking system to the food system.

Details: a 10 minute must watch
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/380.html

Stand By Me, http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741

OSHO: Compassion - The Ultimate Flowering of Love
The beauty of Awareness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpfoh47L8iw&feature=related

Our greatest enemy is ourself. All weakness, all ignorance keeps us from the truth of our being, from all the virtues hidden in us and all perfection hidden in our souls. The first self we realize is the false self. Unless the soul is born again it will not see the kingdom of heaven. The soul is born into the false self; it is blind. In the true self the soul opens its eyes. Unless the false self is fought with, the true self cannot be realized.

Even in terrible situations, there are moments when trouble, temporarily recedes; moments when we can still enjoy life's small pleasures. A warm greeting. A lighthearted exchange. A kind gesture. Briefly, at least, we forget the fear, frustration or fury that's casting a shadow. We feel joy, peace, inspiration. These are the feelings we came to this earth to experience. The reason we put up with all the rest. They can't be bought, sold or stolen. Despite the downturn, such experiences are still being had by millions across the world. The upturn will come when we recognise their true value!

"Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to
this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit the evasions. Stop giving
yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the
situation you happen to be in now."

As life unfolds itself to man, the first lesson he learns is humility.

Every moment of our life, if we can see wisely, contains some fault or error, and asking pardon is just like purifying the heart and washing it white. Only think of the joy of humbling yourself before God! ... humbling yourself before that Spirit, that Ideal, who is the true Father and Mother, on Whose love you can always depend ... it is a spark of His love which expresses itself in the earthly father and mother ... and in whatever manner you humble yourself before Him, it can never be enough. To humble your limited self before His Perfection, that is to deny yourself. Self denial is not renouncing things, it is denying the self, and its first lesson is humility. As life unfolds itself to man the first lesson it teaches is humility; the first thing that comes to man's vision is his own limitedness. The vaster God appears to him, the smaller he finds himself. This goes on and on until the moment comes when he loses himself in the vision of God.

~~~ "Religious Gatheka 8, Prayer", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)

Scientists Warn of Catastrophic Rises in Sea Level
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/11-2

Ah! how desirous I was to see the divine Beloved!
It is not the fault of the Beloved that you do not see;
He is before you!
It is the fault of you who recognize Him not.
Everything, whatever you see is nothing else but
The Presence of God!

Every man's pursuit is according to his state of evolution, and so each soul is in pursuit of something but he does not know where it leads him. The first sign of realization is tolerance towards others. There are the words of Christ: 'In the house of my father are many mansions' and those of the Prophet: 'Each soul has its own religion' This means that according to his evolution so man knows the truth and the more a man knows, the more he finds there is to learn.

Whenever the Moon is full, it is full in the opposite sign to the Sun.
Right now, the Sun is in Pisces. This week's full moon is in Virgo.
Opposites either attract or repel. They have more in common than they
think. It is as if they represent extremes of the same basic impulse.
Methodical Virgo opposes intuitive Pisces; logical Aquarius opposes
passionate Leo; practical Capricorn opposes sensitive Cancer; amenable
Sagittarius opposes argumentative Gemini; stubborn Taurus opposes
stubborn Scorpio (I'll explain that another day); and impulsive Aries
opposes thoughtful Libra. Whenever the moon is full, it's always a good
time to look more closely at who (or what) is opposing you!

The Practice Of Recognition:

Actually, there is no shortcut, or longcut to Enlightenment;
As a matter of fact, Enlightenment, or Awakening, has Nothing to do with time at all.
Hang” in the Recognition that you have never done anything wrong,
and that you are, in Essence,
an expression of the Light whose source is endless Love,
And you will begin to experience the flowering of Happiness and Joy for no reason;
and you will be free of the chains that have bound you to the apparency . . .
that the dream in which we find ourselves (The World), is real.
You, your Primal Essence, is Real; the projections and illusions that swirl around us,
like a banshee warning us of impending doom, are short-lived and, ultimately, of no consequence;
you can choose to release yourself from being a Hostage to a world which you yourself have created.
Nothing Real can be threatened, Nothing Unreal exists;
herein lies the Peace of God [from A Course in Miracles]

To Develop Calmness.
To Heighten Awareness
To Gain An Insight Into The Nature Of The Self.
To Penetrate The Unconscious Chain Of Mental Events.
To See Through The Illusion Of Separation And Limitation.
To Break Down Negative Thoughts.
To Experience Release.

~ From Shinzen Youngs Meditation Instructions

Each soul's attainment is according to its evolution.
Commentary by Hazrat Inayat Khan:

Opinion is an outcome of mind. It is an outburst of its reasoning and
judging faculty. And so, according to the evolution of a particular
mind, its opinion is. Opinions clash when two people of different stages
of evolution express themselves. Therefore the wise are more reluctant
to express their opinion, whereas for the unwise it is easy. A simpleton
is only too glad to express his opinion uninvited.
Everyone, consciously or unconsciously, is striving after spiritual
attainment. Sometimes he does not take the same way as we do, sometimes
his point of view and his method differ, and sometimes one person
attains to spiritual realization much sooner than another. It may be
reached in a day, and another person may have striven for it all his
life and yet not have attained to it. What determines it? It is the
evolution of a particular soul.

Mars Changes Signs | Venus Goes Retrograde Today!

It is fascinating that Mars asks is going to change signs the exact same day that Venus goes retrograde. This brings up a very interesting point about why astrologers need to avoid words like good and bad. These are very complex little shifts in planetary energy that are happening right now. A powerful (strong) Mars is often a disruptive force.
He may be the disruptive force that compels us to grow and become stronger ~ but it is still disruptive. A weak Mars often lacks courage, discipline and power to take us where we want to go, but we may be a little bit more peaceful and happy at the time. A strong Venus may bring happiness, comfort and connection, but also a bit of laziness and attachment if we're not careful. A weak Venus is often disruptive to our pleasure and happiness, but may be quite creative in allowing us to look beyond just satisfying our desires. Although many factors must be looked at. At this time, a very prominent and powerful Mars is now getting into a weaker position. For the most part I think we will feel this in more of a positive way. That's because Mars has been such a dominant position lately, not only exalted but joined up to four other planets at times, with many of the other planets being weak. We may feel a softening of our opinions and combative attitudes now that he's leaving his exaltation sign. As for Venus, her retrograde status will always awaken a lot of internal desires that revolve around our value systems, our level of appreciation, our connection to beauty, love and harmony. Many of these issues play out in relationships naturally, that's why Venus has domain over these things. Given that Venus is also exalted, she is particularly strong in delivering these psychological impressions ~ but we are not so confident moving forward with them. That's the nature of the retrograde planet, it awakens deep psychological/internal drives which often comes as a result of external confusion. With Venus, because she's so important in relationships with all people, we start looking at ourselves and others around us assessing our level of value, respect and appreciation ~ but we may feel confused as to what to do to improve it or ourselves in relationship to it.

* * * * * *

Venus is stationary. From now till mid-April she slips slowly backwards through the zodiac each evening. That takes her closer to the Sun, making her progressively harder to see. Right now, though, the planet of romance, creativity, luxury and friendship is as bright and beautiful as she ever gets. Plus, she is now at her most influential. If you want to rewrite rules - or there is a process you want to stop or reverse, grab your chance. Though Venus is officially a planet, not a star, those who wish upon her this weekend may just get what they want!

The work of the Divine Mother is the transformation of humanity into God, of time into eternity, of matter into Divine Matter. Her work is a work of transformation, and it has no end. Let the Transformation of the earth be accomplished. Let her work be done.

JAI MA!

Man creates his own disharmony in his soul and then treats others in the same way; therefore he is not satisfied with his own life, nor is he satisfied with others because he feels that he has a complaint against others, although mostly it is caused by himself. What he gives he receives back, but he never sees that. He always thinks: what the depth of his being yearns for love, goodness, righteousness, harmony and peace everybody must give to him. But for him when it comes to giving he does not give because he lives in the other life he has created. ...

Raise not dust from the ground; it will enter into your eyes. Sprinkle some water on it that it may settle down and lie under your feet. To delve into a matter which matters little, is like raising dust from the ground.
Man forms his future by his actions. His every good or bad action spreads its vibrations and becomes known throughout the universe. The more spiritual a man is, the stronger and clearer are the vibrations of his actions, which spread over the world and weave his future. The universe is like a dome: it vibrates to that which you say in it, and echoes the same back to you. So also is the law of action: we reap what we sow.

Some men see things as they are and say: Why?
I dream things that never were and say: Why not?
~ George Bernard Shaw

We are all born during interesting times, and the present moment and circumstances certainly seem quite adventurous and challenging. Every day we live we may go through psychological and economic concerns. Many have discovered that one’s attitude is the key to happiness, friendships, and business growth. In fact, it could be said that personal and professional success is 90% attitude.

Leonard Cohen Hallelujah Beacon Theater New York 2009
fyi Leonard Cohen is now 74, step aside Mick Jagger ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOf-h5ydZgg

Everything is gestation and then bringing forth, to let each impression and each germ of feeling come to completion wholly in itself, in the dark, in the inexpressible, the unconscious, beyond the reach of one’s own intelligence, and await with deep humility and patience the birth-hour of a new clarity: that alone is living the artist’s life."

- Rainer Maria Rilke in his book Letters to a young Poet.

I know that nothing has ever been real
Without my beholding it.
All becoming has needed me.
My looking ripens things.
And they come toward me,
To meet and be met.

"Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul."

~Max Ehrmann

The deeper we look into life the more it unfolds itself, allowing us to see more keenly. Life is revealing. It is not only human beings who speak; if only the ears can hear even plants and trees and all nature speak, in the sense that nature reveals itself, reveals its secret. In this way we communicate with the whole of life. Then we are never alone, then life becomes worth living.