The Veil

(Interesting to find this poem in a folder. I wrote it 12/5/2012--fun!)

The Veil

What is a veil?

Is it the enchanting orange robe of the Guru that keeps us from the mystery of what lies underneath?

Is it the endless patterns and colors of the woman's saris or flamenco dresses as dictated by the culture?

Or is it the veil of black with small touches of embellishment to shroud the underlying presence of the female?

How do veils act?

Do the veils create obscurations from truth, beauty, and love?

Do we live with our soul essence wrapped in the veil of humanness?

Do we seek the unveiling of our true nature?

Do we need a veil?

Is it otherwise overwhelming to behold the presence of the Divine?

Is it too much information to fully observe the Self?

Is it part of the play with colors, bangles, shapes, patterns, textures and more as the fun of personal decorations?

Or Is it less shocking to pick a shroud of fabric whether wrapped or tailored to infold our physical nature?

Do we wear the veil or put the veil over others?

What happens when the veil is lifted inwardly or outwardly?

Is the path to remove our personal veils of limitation, so we can live without judgement, condemnation, and pretense?

Or is the practice to accept, love, and have patience for others with veils?

Priority Order

Cooling off

Now I better understand what I have been doing for the past six years--moving the concept of God ahead of money on the life list. God represents Absolute Truth and Love, so each person has his or her version of how that is represented. There does appear to be a consensus at a higher level that Absolute Truth and Love are the common vibrations of Oneness. How a person gets to this recognition is labeled spirituality, but what that means to each person is unique. One person may weed a garden, another herd a flock of sheep, someone else reads texts and so on.

My life path just got simplified by Gurudev. There is a recognition that I have moved the God concept to number one, so now to return to the work force and start working on the number two concept, money. If I feel like reading something inspiring fine, if I feel like meditating okay, but use the energetics from the meditation as a guide point for living from this new order. Live with childlike inner joy and peace, pick a job that supports this awareness (okay that is easy—horses), and go for it! Life will have challenges, but my priorities appear to be in order.

1. God
2. Money

Religious graffiti on random granite

Gateways

Gateways

One side of the gate--floating palace.

The other side...Amber Fort

I am always fascinated by gateways, doors, portals and more. Nice to walk. Seeing friends on the routes. Saw the progress of a baby elephant in training--very cool.

Amazing how much can shift in a week under the guidance of a Master. Pranam. 

Complacency

Wall walking

Nothing better then some walk walking to sort out the inner discord. I see it now, complacency has arisen from living in a less challenging environment and not having access to a physical manifestation of fully realized Divinity. The blindspot of complacency was brought out and the wisdom of Gurudev's first words to me, "I don't teach Satsang. The teaching is done interiorly." The inquiry of my blindspot was from a conditioned response to my own inner journey, what is needed, and the Voice. Gurudev's fully realized resonance of Absolute Truth and Love provides a reflection for examining the Self in a remarkable way. I can better understand how preaching and teaching are aiding in providing information, insight, and wisdom but the work is still the knowing thy Self. Nice validation for how important these visits are for my soul's evolution. Jai Guru!

Falling down and standing up are so cool! 

Master In Stillness

To observe a Master in stillness. One can only imagine the depth. It creates such humility to recognize what an infant I am on this journey. The tireless service he offers to help us all in our awakening. Pranam.

All managed with such care and attention to detail. 

"Know Thy Self."

Upon returning to the Ashram there was no doubt that I would get my next homework assignment or clarification on one in progress, so how lovely to experience the three point system I was in contact with on my other visits:

1. Sit in inquiry to Pahari Baba and the Divine Genealogy while questioning a way to work with moving through an obscuration.

2. Walk, read, and live with the Voice's suggestion while I worked out what I needed to let go of in order to synchronize with the new unveiling.

3. Clarification and fact check with Gurudev after it was simplified to a few sentences.

The challenges of the cultural differences was underlining a limit in my evolution. I began to ask why this challenge was really any different then any other challenge and I realized that it wasn't. Only my ego and mental construction playing up. My inquiry was based on this observation, so I asked if I was overlooking something. The reply was to stay focused on seeking Divine Nature. What a relief to get to sink into the exquisite nature of what continues to unfold as a deeper felt sense of self.  Fact checked my self imposed homework assignment of continued self examination relative to the every expanding inner awareness when disturbed by something on one of the three planes of awareness--until I leave this body.  Head nod and wisdom, "Know Thy Self."

There didn't really appear to be another way, since the only view point I can know is through my self, so the limitation has to exist within. Thankfulness for the growing inner joy and peace.  Lesson post wisdom: turbo joy was opened up just as I was about to go to irritation. An amazing teaching to experience such heart opening joy while the mind and body are entering disturbance mode. Grace! These markers are what significantly show me another possibility. The mind is so out voted that it can only sit stammering silently in the background while the heart is in deluge state.

Contrast

The contrast available here is remarkable. The inner and outer world grow farther apart even knowing  they are One. Sheer number of two-leggeds is a game changer when coming from a culture with more solitude and privacy.

Homework activated immediately--tolerance, compassion, and more under all conditions. The constant discipline of self examination.

There are aspects of India that I never appear to get use to: spitting, urinating, and staring.

Getting back on track with exercise, photography, and sitting from within. Useful listening to E. Tolle and A New Earth while exercising indoors. The spiral staircase in full.

Water buffalo and not logs...

Patiently waiting

Elegant ears