Good morning Satsanghers;

Thank you for all of your valuable posts regarding the issue of
ashrams, teachers, traditions. We may not have exhausted all sides
of the discussions, but this has been important for me, at least.
Preparing to travel to India to become a Sannyasin, I must be certain
regarding my own mind and committment to serve a lineage, a guru and,
of course, God, the Divine, MySelf, or whatever words any of us may
use to indicate the presence of Grace in our lives.

It is encouraging to discover that there are so many seekers, who
like myself, have struggled to improve the spiritual quality of their
lives while working, raising families and so forth. It is also
encouraging to know that I certainly am not the only 'seeker' to
question the significance of monasteries, ashrams, lineages and
teachers.

That one may receive the blessings of Grace while working and doing
one's Sadhana in the world is true.

That one may receive the blessings of Grace while participating in
the life of the ashram, monastery or the devotee of a particular
Teacher or tradition, is also true.

The important thing is quality of life. There are many ways to enjoy
quality of life. We are fortunate to have many choices available to
us. We can stay at home and go nowhere, we can live in intentional
communities, we can discover life in foreign lands, we can probe
relationships that are new and different--so many choices. Not all
equal, not all the same, but none essentially superior to another.
Just different for different reasons.

Thank you again for challenging me and assisting me in knowing my own heart.

In devotion,

Madhya

Dear Madhya Nandi,
thanks for your questions and perspective. The deep unfolding of our own
nature are the things of discovery. Maybe it is like the way you write your
poems. This is not something that you could ever learn from another. You
could learn syntax or be around other poets, but the process is individual.
The quality of life that you talk about means for me relaxing enough to take
in the mystery. IMO going on a spiritual quest is always worthwhile. There
are many great teachers and great teachings. Undertaking this journey is a
way of opening to the universe. To show up and be willing in an outer
relationship is an acknowledgement of our inner relationship - our journey
to a Self that was never separate. When you are with a great teacher, the
words that are spoken are almost irrelevant. There is a kind of learning by
osmosis that happens. Once this transmission has started it can happen
anywhere or any moment. Then being in the cave or riding the subway are the
same. Then the journey has become the internal journey and the cave is the
cave of the omnipresent Being.

Namaste,
Dirk

madhya nandi wrote:

Gloria:
You also may wish to consider the fact that you are bringing forward
everything that you have ever known from your past and with it a
mission. In my case it was to ground spirit into the family vibration
and then take it out in the ripples from there. This is a powerful
example of fruit which in many ways is more beneficial and helpful for
people then you can possibly imagine. In a real sense you work with
energies and transformation.
I knew from early childhood that I had work to do, it wasn't about
teaching in the normal idea of the word, but about working in
relationships so that the energy brought through it would be
transformational because of the ability to surrender to God and allow
God to work and bring the many parts together. I met my husband when I
was 11, he was 14, he recognized me and knew he would marry me and put
all of his focus from then on in this which wasn't easy since he lived
in California and I was in Nevada. We married when I was 17 had both our
daughters by the time I was 20. Even in the marriage I surrendered to
it, I said well God, this sure must be what you want to happen since
this person is totally convinced of it. When I had the dream three
months after being married that a little girl asked me if she could come
back with me ... and I woke up and told my husband it was time and she
was born 9 months later, it gives you the idea of how things were set
up. Everything from that time on has been like this including the 20
plus foster children we have helped raise. So, don't think for a moment
that the only place to do this work is from one specific thought form
about what is right. There is no right or wrong, but what is unfolding
for you in the present. And the mission you came into this life to
manifest, this mission may be to live in the ashram but it may not, only
you can know this.
>
> From: madhya nandi <madhya@...>
>
> Good morning Satsanghers;
>
> Thank you for all of your valuable posts regarding the issue of
> ashrams, teachers, traditions. We may not have exhausted all sides
> of the discussions, but this has been important for me, at least.
> Preparing to travel to India to become a Sannyasin, I must be certain
> regarding my own mind and committment to serve a lineage, a guru and,
> of course, God, the Divine, MySelf, or whatever words any of us may
> use to indicate the presence of Grace in our lives.
>
> It is encouraging to discover that there are so many seekers, who
> like myself, have struggled to improve the spiritual quality of their
> lives while working, raising families and so forth. It is also
> encouraging to know that I certainly am not the only 'seeker' to
> question the significance of monasteries, ashrams, lineages and
> teachers.
>
> That one may receive the blessings of Grace while working and doing
> one's Sadhana in the world is true.
>
> That one may receive the blessings of Grace while participating in
> the life of the ashram, monastery or the devotee of a particular
> Teacher or tradition, is also true.
>
> The important thing is quality of life. There are many ways to enjoy
> quality of life. We are fortunate to have many choices available to
> us. We can stay at home and go nowhere, we can live in intentional
> communities, we can discover life in foreign lands, we can probe
> relationships that are new and different--so many choices. Not all
> equal, not all the same, but none essentially superior to another.
> Just different for different reasons.
>
> Thank you again for challenging me and assisting me in knowing my own heart.
>
> In devotion,
>
> Madhya
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Check out our new web site! http://www.onelist.com

--

Enter The Silence to Know God ... and... accept life as the teacher.
Gloria Joy Greco
e-mail me at : lodpress@... and visit our homepages at:
http://users.intercomm.com/larryn/
&
http://www.freeyellow.com/members/zg888/
Hope you enjoy them!

Haueter, Dirk wrote:

Gloria;
Hi Dirk, glad to see you sharing. It is wonderful to feel the spiritual
dynamics at work and real soul connections being made. Madhya is great
at bringing the conversations out and focusing them in a way that people
can easily join in.
>
> From: "Haueter, Dirk" <Dirk_Haueter@...>
>
> Dear Madhya Nandi,
> thanks for your questions and perspective. The deep unfolding of our own
> nature are the things of discovery. Maybe it is like the way you write your
> poems. This is not something that you could ever learn from another. You
> could learn syntax or be around other poets, but the process is individual.
> The quality of life that you talk about means for me relaxing enough to take
> in the mystery. IMO going on a spiritual quest is always worthwhile. There
> are many great teachers and great teachings. Undertaking this journey is a
> way of opening to the universe. To show up and be willing in an outer
> relationship is an acknowledgement of our inner relationship - our journey
> to a Self that was never separate. When you are with a great teacher, the
> words that are spoken are almost irrelevant. There is a kind of learning by
> osmosis that happens. Once this transmission has started it can happen
> anywhere or any moment. Then being in the cave or riding the subway are the
> same. Then the journey has become the internal journey and the cave is the
> cave of the omnipresent Being.
>
> Namaste,
> Dirk
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> We now have over 85,000 e-mail communities. Check out our new web site!
> http://www.onelist.com

--

Enter The Silence to Know God ... and... accept life as the teacher.
Gloria Joy Greco
e-mail me at : lodpress@... and visit our homepages at:
http://users.intercomm.com/larryn/
&
http://www.freeyellow.com/members/zg888/
Hope you enjoy them!