Shyamatara Das

In the Service of the Divine Mother

What I’m Reading: Dr. Tony Nader

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Nader Book CoverDr. Tony Nader is a Medical Doctor (he has an M.D. in internal medicine and psychiatry and also a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of Brain and Cognitive Science). He was a Harvard Medical School Fellow at Massachusetts General teaching hospital.

In his book One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness, he challenges the assumption that human consciousness is merely a function of biology, that our thoughts and emotions are nothing more than the consequences of physiological processes. He has come to believe that consciousness did not arise from the evolution of life on our planet, as is often implicit in any discussion of the subject – but that it is the cause of that life, and, in fact, the cause and essence of everything that exists.

This idea is startling enough, but Nader goes on to make the case that in meditation, we can experience this field of consciousness directly, and, further, that this experience can help us to lead fuller, happier, more productive and more peaceful lives.

I have experienced for myself fleeting moments of the sort of light and clarity that he describes, and was tempted toward some of these same conclusions, but had only an intuitive sense of the truth to lean on. With a precise and detailed analysis based both on science and on the wisdom of the ages, this book is an affirmation that I’m on the right track, and it offers an opportunity to learn more. For those who have yet to explore these vistas of consciousness, or for those who still hold to a strictly materialistic view of our lives and our universe, I would highly recommend this well reasoned and compelling book.

Seva

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I have worn eyeglasses since I was twenty years old. In my mid 50s, I started noticing that when I put them on, it seemed like the right lens was smudged. I’d take them off, and clean them, but things would still look blurry when I put them back on.

It turns out that this was the early manifestation of a cataract in that eye. I put off having surgery for as long as I could, but it got to the point where no prescription could correct my vision in that eye. My sight was something like 20/400 in it, and I began noticing a lot of strain on my other eye toward the end of the work day. So I had surgery in 2017. It is a relatively routine procedure, and once I healed up, my eyesight in that eye was better than it had been for thirty years. Between the bill for the surgeon, the surgery center, anesthesiology, and my own optometrist’s follow up, I believe it cost four or five thousand dollars out of pocket, but it was worth every penny.

I knew at the time of that first surgery that my left eye would eventually need to be done as well. It was in the early stages of degeneration already. Again, I put it off longer than I probably ought have (and, because of the pandemic, even longer than I had intended). By the time I finally got everything arranged a few weeks ago, the sight in my left eye was almost more useless than the right had been.

Two weeks post-surgery now, both eyes are in the 20/25 to 20/30 range uncorrected. This is truly a miracle, and I feel incredibly blessed and grateful to have clear and sharp sight once again.

This morning, I happened almost by accident (read that “grace”) onto a link to the Seva Foundation website. I had no idea what they were about, but I knew that “Seva” means service to God in Hindu. So I was intrigued by the name. It was a surprise and a delight to learn that the organization provides sight saving cataract surgery to folks in need around the world who would not otherwise be able to receive it. When I read that each $50 donation could restore someone’s sight, I was overwhelmed with joy, and signed up as a monthly donor, in gratitude for my own newly clear eyesight.

After I signed up for the donation, I read more about the organization’s history. Tears were streaming down my face at the realization that it exists by the grace of Maharaji. The wonder is that, having been exposed to the stories of Larry and Girija Brilliant (and also being a huge fan of Bobby Weir, who is a big supporter) I had never run across Seva before, or at least hadn’t bothered to learn about it, until this morning.

Here’s some information from Seva’s website.

Over a billion people have a vision impairment that was preventable or is treatable. Almost 90% of people affected with vision impairment live in developing countries, where not being able to see often means a life of poverty. It’s nearly impossible to work, feed yourself, or meet your basic needs.

90% of vision impairments can be prevented or cured, and more than half of the world’s blindness is caused by cataracts. What a wonder that it can be reversed with a 15-minute surgery costing only $50.

I consider it a great blessing to be able to help in the efforts of this organization, and commend it to your consideration.

Learn more at this link: https://www.seva.org/site/SPageServer/?pagename=donate.

Reading Patanjali

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Page from the Yoga SutrasI have begun to read the yoga sutras of Patanjali. It is the classic text on the theory and practice of yoga, dating from some time during the centuries just before or just after the beginning of the Common Era. Along with the Bhagavad Gita, it is the primary source for much of Paramahansa Yogananda’s lessons. It is also at the core of Ryan Kurczak’s teachings.

My wife, Claudia, had the book on hand, so when I mentioned wanting to read and study it, she loaned me her copy. It is relatively short, so I read one chapter a day, finishing it in short order. I’m going back through to study more carefully now, using Kurczak’s Kriya Yoga: Continuing the Lineage of Enlightenment as a study guide.

Although only four chapters in length, the book holds a depth of wisdom that might take a lifetime to absorb. It is presented as a series of aphorisms, each of which can be the object of nearly endless contemplation. In this respect, it reminds me of the Tao Te Ching.

Although some of the aphorisms seem a bit inscrutable on first read, each of them seems to ring true.

I would welcome any insights that you have on the text, any resources, or any experiences you have had integrating their wisdom and practices into your life.

Polishing the Mirror of the Heart

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Having polished the mirror of my heart with the dust from my Guru’s lotus feet, I sing the pure fame of the best of the Raghus which bestows the four fruits of life. – From Tulsidas’ Hanuman Chalisa

Many of us, when we begin getting serious about spiritual practice, do so in order to “improve” our lives and ourselves. We may be unhappy, or we may recognize faults in our outlooks or behaviors that we would like to change. We want to become better people.

The truth is that along the way we may very well note changes in our lives that we would consider to be improvements, but we aren’t really improving ourselves with spiritual practice. We are revealing ourselves.

I have come to see each of us (and for that matter, everything in our universe) as an expression of the one, changeless, eternal, divine consciousness. This source of pure light and love is projected into time and space, and becomes what we experience as material reality.

Human beings are manifestations (or reflections) of that light and love. Perfect. Limitless. Beautiful. Brilliant. Every single one of us.

But that brilliant perfection is dimmed by all of the muck and garbage that we collect from the time that we arrive in this material world. So we fail to see what we really are, and we fail to act like it.

We obsess about self-improvement, about changing ourselves, about becoming someone else. We are judgmental toward others, and loathe our own sorry asses. It is ironic that this sometimes seems especially true once we set our feet on a spiritual path.

But the process of spiritual development isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about realizing the true self who is already there. All we have to do is clear away the garbage and muck, and there we are.

So if, by love and right living, you wash off the filth that has become stuck to your heart, the divine beauty will shine forth in you. – From a Sermon of St. Gregory of Nyssa

It is difficult to see the light in the midst of the ugliness, the meanness, the greed and hatred in this world and in ourselves. Many of us spend much of a lifetime trying to find answers, trying to find a way to mitigate the madness. We look high and low, near and far, trying to find the solution somewhere out there. I know that I did.

We won’t find the answers out there. We won’t find the answers in new and improved versions of our garbage covered mucked up personalities and egos.

We meditate. We pray. We chant. We serve others. Day by day, little by little, we polish our hearts.

See how they shine!

 

Tofu Scramble

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Although I have yet to become a committed vegan, I do my best to observe a largely plant-based diet, and am always looking for tasty and nutritious meals that don’t contain meat.

I generally stick to simple recipes of rice, grains, vegetables and fruits, and also sometimes just leave meat out of recipes that call for it but are fine without (chili, pasta sauces, etc.). “Meat substitutes” have not been a huge part of my cooking vocabulary. I do like to experiment, though, and lately have been cooking with Field Roast products (sausages and burgers which are made from vital wheat gluten and are surprisingly good), and have also used tofu a few times.

For supper one evening this week, I made a tofu scramble that turned out really well. The trick for getting an “eggy” flavor is to use a Himalayan black salt called “Kala Namak.” You can read about the process and recipe on my food blog.

This time I included mushrooms, spinach, grape tomatoes and green onions. I also fried up some Field Roast vegan breakfast links to go along.

The photo on the left is the tofu browning in the pan before any of the sauce was added. It’s amazing to me that such a thing eventually approximates a nice, rich, plate of scrambled eggs. 🙂

Praying the Rosary

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Rosary and Prayer Booklet“A Very Powerful Prayer”

One of the first devotional activities that I learned during early explorations into Catholicism was to pray the Holy Rosary.

I had grown up in an Evangelical Protestant home, but stopped attending as an adult, and had observed no religion for a decade or more. I was drawn to a notice in our local newspaper about a session for anyone interested in learning about the Roman Catholic Faith, and decided to attend. I soon found myself there each week as an Inquirer to the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.

The RCIA sessions focused mostly on the “Big T’ Traditions of the Church, but we also learned about the vast and beautiful trove of Catholic culture and customs. The Rosary has been one of the most beloved and widespread Catholic prayer practices for centuries, so naturally it received some attention.

I obtained a Rosary and an instruction book, and began to learn how to use them. When I casually mentioned this to our Director of Religious Education, Sister Ancilla (a Springfield Dominican), her face grew serious, and it almost seemed as if she was in another world for a moment as she said “The Rosary is a very powerful prayer.”

A Brief History of the Holy Rosary

The use of beads or knotted ropes to count repetitions of mantras or prayers goes back thousands of years across many cultures. In Christianity, the Desert Fathers are known to have been using prayer ropes in the 3rd Century of the Common Era, praying the Jesus Prayer – “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

It is thought that the use of 150 knot prayer ropes by the laity was practiced in imitation of Monks and Clergy, who prayed the 150 Psalms each day. Since most laymen were not literate enough to read the Psalms, they pronounced the Lord’s Prayer on each knot as a substitute.

Then, in 431 C.E. at the First Council of Ephesus, Mary was declared “Theotokos” – the Bearer of God. This declaration by the ecumenical council set in motion the more widespread adoption of Marian prayer.

The Latin word “Rosarium” means a crown or garland of roses. Dominican tradition says that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1208, giving him the form of the prayer. The Dominicans continued to teach and practice the devotion, and its use spread throughout Christendom. Pope Pius V (a Dominican) established the Rosary as an “official” devotion of the Catholic Church in 1569.

And so Dominic looked to that simple way of praying and beseeching God, accessible to all and wholly pious, which is called the Rosary, or Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which the same most Blessed Virgin is venerated by the angelic greeting repeated one hundred and fifty times, that is, according to the number of the Davidic Psalter, and by the Lord’s Prayer with each decade. Interposed with these prayers are certain meditations showing forth the entire life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, thus completing the method of prayer devised by the Fathers of the Holy Roman Church.

The “angelic greeting” is that of the Angel Gabriel in Luke’s Gospel “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”

In 1917, three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal reported that they had seen apparitions of “a Lady more brilliant than the Sun.” She asked the children to pray the Rosary every day to bring an end to World War I and to bring peace to the world. Recitation of the “Fátima Prayer” at the end of each decade of the Rosary became a widespread practice thereafter.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II issue the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, declaring October 2002 to October 2003 the “Year of the Rosary” and giving us five new Luminous Mysteries to contemplate during the prayer.

The Rosary and the Prayers

The Rosary has a crucifix, a centerpiece and fifty-nine beads. The first five beads lead from the crucifix to the centerpiece. The others are arranged in sets (“decades”) around a loop from the centerpiece.

To pray the Rosary, we begin in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, with the crucifix in hand, making the Sign of the Cross. We then recite the Apostle’s Creed.

I believe in God, the Father almighty creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Then, on the first bead, we recite the Lord’s Prayer (which Catholics usually call the Our Father prayer).

Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

As we grasp each of the next three beads on the way to the centerpiece, we recite the Angelic Greeting (Hail Mary prayer).

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Then the Doxology prayer (Glory Be).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

On the last bead before the centerpiece, we begin the first decade of the Rosary. We would proclaim the first mystery to be contemplated, and perhaps read a short reflection about the mystery, and then pray the Our Father. Then, on the next ten beads, we pray the Hail Mary as we continue to contemplate the mystery. We end each decade with the Glory Be and the Fátima Prayer.

O my Jesus, forgive us of our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls into heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. Amen.

We continue on in this fashion through each set of one plus ten beads, until we have reached the centerpiece once again after the fifth decade of the prayers. We then pray the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen).

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our Life, our Sweetness, and our hope. To thee we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, Thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us, the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God, That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.

We conclude with this final prayer.

Let us pray. O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

The Mysteries of the Rosary

The Mysteries of the Rosary call to mind the most significant events of the Gospel. The are grouped into sets of five.

Joyful Mysteries Luminous Mysteries
The Annunciation The Baptism of The Lord
The Visitation The Wedding at Cana
The Nativity Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
The Presentation The Transfiguration
The Finding in the Temple The Institution of the Lord’s Supper
Sorrowful Mysteries Glorious Mysteries
The Agony in the Garden The Resurrection
The Scourging at the Pillar The Ascension
The Crowning with Thorns The Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
Carrying the Cross Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Crucifixion Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven

My Own Experience With The Rosary

I have found that Sr. Ancilla was right. The Rosary is, indeed, a “very powerful prayer.” For me, it is very much like devotional chanting, in that it seems to foster trust and surrender. It is when I let go of my need for control that I make way for marvelous things to happen in my life.

I have no data on this, but I also believe that the practice leads to a brainwave state which nurtures a sense of grounding and serenity. I can attest that I certainly feel more grounded and serene when I pray the Rosary daily.

Over many centuries, this practice has created something of an égrégore, to which our own intentions are joined when we pick up the beads. The Rosary connects me to generation after generation of others who have kept a devotion to the Holy Mother, and to her nurturing spirit of peace and compassion. There is power and beauty in that.

There is also power and beauty in creating a personal ritual or set of habits in relation to devotional practices such as this. I sometimes will light a cone or stick of rose incense and a Marian votive candle before beginning the prayers of the Rosary, and I still like to use the same Celtic Cross beads set that I first began praying with nearly thirty years ago. This helps to promote a sense of continuity with the grounding and serenity noted above.

Resources

Although the structure of the devotion described above may seem a little overwhelming at first, there are lots of resources available nowadays to make it simple to begin. There’s no need to memorize the prayers, or even to have a set of beads in your hands (although they are widely available and relatively inexpensive). Here are  some links that may be helpful if you have an interest.

Rosary Army – Dear friends Greg and Jennifer Willits began making and giving away all-twine knotted Rosaries two decades ago, and they are still doing it today. You can request yours, for free, on their website. They also have an app that will lead you through the prayers of the Rosary.

Rosary Center and Confraternity – This site offers instructions on how to pray the Rosary, along with articles, videos, an online store and more.

How to Pray the Rosary – From the USCCB.

The Mysteries of the Rosary – From the Vatican Website

 

The Hanuman Chalisa

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Prayer Book Hanuman Chalisa

“Having polished the mirror of my heart with the dust from my Guru’s lotus feet, I sing the pure fame of the best of the Raghus which bestows the four fruits of life.”

So begins the stunningly beautiful Hanuman Chalisa, a poem of devotion to Lord Hanuman composed by Tulsidas in the 16th Century.

Maharaj-ji said that every line of the Hanuman Chalisa is a Mahamantra. In my own experience, it does seem to be an extremely powerful prayer. It has certainly helped me trust and surrender to God more.

This is one of the chants that Devadas includes several days a week in his daily livestreamed sadhana. Also, Shyama Chapin has been livestreaming the Chalisa, along with other chants and readings from the Ramayana, each morning at 7 AM Eastern Time for nearly a year on her Facebook Page.

The photo above is a page from the Kainchi Temple prayer book available from the Taos Neem Karoli Baba Ashram’s online store.

Sadhana January 2021

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Blue Sky and Clouds

As my practice develops I thought it might be good to keep track from time to time of my daily sadhana routine. Here’s what I’m doing at the current time.

Morning Practice

Now that the holidays are behind us, I do my best to rise around 6:30 AM Central Time. This gives me an opportunity to brew coffee for the family, and spend some time in meditation before the day begins in earnest and the kirtan stream from Brooklyn begins at 9 AM Eastern.

Silent Mantra Meditation – Usually while coffee is brewing I sit for my first meditation of the day. I begin with a short prayer of invocation and some breath work. Some days it is just a few deep breaths or cyclical breathing, some days I also include a couple minutes of breath of fire to really clear out the CO2. Then I begin the mantra repetition, and continue for twenty minutes or so. At the end I bring my hands into prayer mudra and give thanks for another day in this life.

Daily Draw – I have been in the habit for nearly two years of drawing a Tarot card each morning, reflecting and journaling. These daily draws are the practice that first brought me out of the darkness. They led me to sobriety, meditation, and the other habits and resources that have helped me develop. They’re still teaching and guiding me.

Office of Readings Combined With Lauds – I began the daily scripture and prayer discipline of the Divine Office for Lent 2020. In prior years I have left off the practice at Easter, but this time continued with it.

Daily Word – This short daily reflection from Unity has been a source of great comfort and encouragement to me since I began reading it in May of 2019. It’s uncanny how the messages and scripture passages so often relate to things in my life, and also relate to the scriptures in the Divine Office, and to the card that turned up that day.

Gratitude – This is the time that I set aside to write down a few things for which I am especially grateful. Sometimes they will be things that have presented themselves already in the morning, or sometimes they are things that I remember from the prior day. I find that starting each day with gratitude and thanksgiving is the foundation for a happy life.

In all, these morning devotional practices usually take less than an hour, and they help me bring a calmer mind and a better sense of purpose to everything that I do for the rest of the day.

Morning Chants

At 8 AM my local time, Devadas’ Daily Kirtan begins streaming. I  find that hearing and chanting these ancient names of God have brought innumerable graces into my life. The main benefit of the practice, for me, has been surrender.

There’s a great story about Swami Prabhupada. He had come to New York City at the age of 70, with little money, no connections, and no worldly support. His guru had told him to spread the practice of bhakti to the West. At his lowest point, he wrote a poem saying that though things looked hopeless, he trusted that there must have been some reason that the Lord had brought him to America. His words were to the effect of “very well, Krishna – make me dance as you wish.”

I cannot explain how bhakti works in this way, but it does. When one feels like a feather on the breath of God, everything in life is sweeter and easier.

Evening Practice

I’m a lot more flexible with my practice later in the day. Without fail I pray Vespers each day. I nearly always spend twenty minutes in meditation as well, and lately we have been praying a Family Rosary before bedtime. I’ve also been delving into Paramahansa Yogananda’s lessons lately, and beginning to learn some of the techniques that he taught. These afternoon and evening practices are a lot less routine and fixed for me, though. I depend on the morning practice to do the “heavy lifting” and am able to just enjoy whatever I do later in the day as it comes. In this respect it’s something like the combination of a structured fitness regimen and open gym.

Other Times of Day

I may spend time in meditation or other edifying activities of some sort at other times of the day as well. This might be a short break for meditation, prayer or (most often) chanting.

But I set aside specific time for practice morning and evening each day without fail. I only wish that I had developed the habit in the days of my youth.

Do you have thoughts or questions? I love to read your comments.

Renunciation Versus Karma Yoga

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Brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from anxieties. – From the First Letter to the Church at Corinth

At the time this letter was written, there was great discussion among Followers of the Way about whether or not they ought to completely renounce life in the world, and spend every moment waiting in rapt anticipation. St. Paul’s counsel is that people should continue to go about their daily lives and activities (married life, mourning, rejoicing, commerce, etc.) but to do it all without attachment to any of it.

It seems to me that this is identical to Sri Krishna’s instruction to Arjuna. “Be not moved in success or failure, for union with God is evenness of mind.” The path of renunciation is not required. Instead, we are to continue to perform the duties of life, but remain unattached personally to the outcomes of our actions.

We should not pretend that our human lives and experiences are divorced from the material realm. The idea is to figure out how to live in the world, to be here now, in a way that is better – a way that expresses the values of heaven: compassion and kindness and patience and humility and joy – to feed each other, to be at peace, and to live with ease of heart.

“I want you to be free from anxieties.”