Walking In The New Awareness

Why wait for the next step--walking in the outer world tests--sign me up!!

The morning impulse was to visit the man on the hill. I took Gurudev's suggestion and brought rice and extra fruit. Hung it on the wall outside his door and he appeared. Another smile, so I haven't violated any codes of the mystic world yet.  He came up and joined me on the rooftop and we had an exchange with head nodding, finger pointing, and two different languages.  Even if I say a word used in the native language, my accent and pronunciation make it sound even more foreign. Fun to see where I have walked over the years and what religious sites I have visited.  He pointed out a new one that I hadn't been to, so off I went.

Who is the ashram for? Is everyone invited to Sunday church?

Cows, monkeys, and humans?

Two Durga wall pictures!

Noticing the King Cobra now

The new inner state was still on fire and it didn't slow as I experienced the new ashram. What a gift to be able to walk in to what was once a foreign setting within a foreign country, appreciate what was present, and have my heart on fire.  As I was heading home, the realization just how narrow my path has been to find the possible root of being and how to stay out of pain and suffering. I really enjoyed being on the top of the hill quietly and just hanging out with the man who appears to represent renunciation as a lifestyle. The four months in India will have been spent mostly in the internal process with very little external conversations. The conversations that I have are mostly by email and those are always on topic.  What would I talk about if I had to create light social chit-chat?

Now for the test; approaching the man who was whacking the elephant in the head with a stick. Could I stay in the place that has nothing to do with the outer world other than being an observer and yet know that part of me is a thinking human being with the potential for emotions and outer reactions?  I stood looking into the eyes of the elephant wishing he knew this point of surrender for stepping out of suffering, but maybe he does?  As I have witnessed severe beatings of horses, I watch them disappear within, maybe they do know?  Interesting to observe the root of emotion and the beginning of a felt sense of suffering within myself. Thank you for the continued lesson plan unfolding.

Check mark on the fact check that surrender is the only way out of suffering.  To consider that it is free and always available, why isn't it more widely known?