When people say there is nothing like a mother’s love, I ask them what they mean. The usual responses to my question are unconditional love, warmth and compassion, softness, caring, and giving. For me those qualities are not limited to a mother’s love. They are not gender based. I have met men with these qualities. My Guru, Swami Muktananda, lived …
Knowing the Road….
The reason I started down this path was that I had to. I knew that what I wanted to know was there, wherever “there” was. What did I want? Happiness and peace. Knowing the Truth, the bottom line of life, I knew would give me lasting peace and joy. Thus began my treasure hunt. From science back to my first …
Internal Only….
Exoteric and esoteric are two terms I rarely if ever use. They basically split everything into external and internal. While in the UK recently, I met up with a dear friend from the ashram. He said that Baba taught both exoteric and esoteric practice, and that most people went to the ashram for exoteric practice, thinking and believing it was …
Believing in Baba….
Let’s get this out on the table. There are people who received tremendous gifts from Baba, but once the “sex scandal” came out they left. These people say they cannot come to grips with what he did. What did he do? That is the question. Did he have sex? Apparently not: no one I know of has said he did …
Grace Personified….
When I went to Baba I knew he had what I wanted. I did not want to be the person in the back of the Hall soaking in the shakti and learning nothing in the bliss of it all. I wanted all that Baba had to offer. I knew what I was looking for and knew he had it; I …
Right Effort and Grace Await Each of Us….
The Guru is not a person. My Guru, Muktananda, became and embodied the Guru. So he was and is the Guru. There was nothing of Muktananda that was not the Guru. His vehicles were enlivened by the Guru. Muktananda, like any great being, had surrendered and become the Guru. So what he wanted was not personal. His wants were the …
The Business of All Businesses….
St Bernard called this work we do here “the business of all businesses”. And it is. I am in the business of going to God; going home to God. That is my business, my profession. If you are looking for winter clothes, you came to the wrong store. If you are looking for a mommy, you came to the wrong …
What Does the Guru Do?….
The Śiva Sūtras say the Guru is the means (Sūtra II.6). For me, my Guru, Swami Muktananda, Baba, has been and is the means. In all the years I knew, studied and worked closely with Baba, he never let me down. He was and is always guiding me to the state of union with God. If the Guru is the …
Mother’s Day….
Today in the States we celebrate Mother’s Day. Baba was for me both my mother and father. He brought me up; he cleaned me up. My first mother and father were my first teachers. They continue to teach me my life lessons. I owe them much, since they introduced me to the part I am playing and helped reveal the …
Ganesh….
Baba used to call me Ganesh. At the time, the name did not bring joy into my heart. What am I supposed to learn from this? Why is he calling me Ganesh? These were my questions. Yes, I was in charge of security for the ashram. Yes, Ganesh was the guard at the door for his mother, Parvati. Yes, I …