Accepting surrender….

RohiniPracticing, Reflections, Uncategorized

Surrender is not throwing away or giving up and losing. Surrender is giving up the fruits of the outcome. Acting complete in every minute without expectation of winning or losing. Outcome is off the point. The question is, “Did I play with integrity and authenticity, and without thinking? Did I give my all without seeking any reward?” In his introduction …

Exceptionally Mediocre….

RohiniReflections, Stories and Occasions, Uncategorized

While away on a campaign, Zhuge Liang, the great Chinese strategist, became fatally ill. He wrote letters of advice to his nephew and son before he died. To his nephew, Zhuge Liang wrote: “Aspirations should remain lofty and far-sighted. Look to the precedents of the wise. Detach from emotions and desires; get rid of any fixations. Elevate subtle feelings to …

The Great Stories….

RohiniReflections, Stories and Occasions, Uncategorized

It isn’t that we don’t know the stories. But the important thing is that the great stories are always teaching us. There are many great stories. Within them, at every moment, the great beings choose to live completely—not to settle for a mediocre, unconscious life that depends on emotion for its heights. The stories teach us the great lessons of …

The Oncology Lesson….

RohiniReflections, Stories and Occasions, Uncategorized

I have always approached my yearly meeting with my oncologist with great trepidation. It means returning to the scene where I played the part of the patient. Dr. Fetting has always engaged willingly and graciously with my dialogue of facing my fear, of wanting to conquer both fear and my desire to remain in this body. Looking back, as the …

Avian Samadhi….

RohiniReflections, Stories and Occasions, Uncategorized

The winter was brutally cold. Weeks on end below zero degrees Fahrenheit, with wind chill minus 20 to 30. Even when the sun came out, it was bitter cold and dangerous to go outside. Our acre garden spent the winter covered in snow. No hellebores blooming through February for us. A couple of years ago we began feeding the birds …

Becoming Human….

RohiniPracticing, Reflections, Uncategorized

Are you a sinner? No. Is your proxy a sinner? Yes. Being truly normal is being truly human. We are made in God’s image, and we should act it. Stop thinking of God as a selfish being. We believe that, since we are made in God’s image and we are selfish, then God is, too. But to act as God …

True Normal….

RohiniPracticing, Reflections, Uncategorized

There is a difference between conventional and normal. Most people, when they hear the word “conventional”, tend to think in terms of other people and see particular situations, groups, cultures, or religions. The word “normal” tends to encompass a larger, vaguer area, and people tend to think of it as applying universally. Many times we conflate the two words, and …

Shakti and Wisdom….

RohiniMaps and Principles, Reflections, Uncategorized

Everybody loves energy. It is everywhere, and manifests in countless ways. Without energy, there is no life. In my tradition, the term for energy is shakti; the shakti is God’s power of manifestation. Spiritual energy is latent, asleep, in each of us. And the term for that spiritual energy is kundalinī-shakti. In order to return home to who we really …

Imagination Isn’t Practice….

RohiniPracticing, Reflections, Uncategorized

Sit in the room and be realized. Do not offend anyone or make anyone uncomfortable. Then leave and resume your ordinary habits. Is this what you think sādhana is? Around Baba, there were people who did just sit around and then go home. Their discomfort came from their fellow ashramites, so their interactions and relationships looked very much like the …

My Apparently Useless Gift….

RohiniGuru and Disciple, Reflections, Uncategorized

When I owned my school of Tai Chi Chuan in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I had a lot of energy. People would feel it and even I would be overwhelmed by it, yet I had no wisdom. People thought I was something more than I was because they were entranced with the energy and identified me with it. The energy knew things; …