At this Summer retreat, we have had the chant CD of Om playing. This is the background noise that our subconscious mind can work on, instead of worldly topics or activities. The purpose of this is to give you a more wholistic retreat with less distractions and mental leaks. Being up here on Strawberry Mountain isn’t what brings the peace and energy. It is what we do up here that brings the peace and energy. We can also have the peace and energy down in the city, if we make the effort.
The retreat comes once a year, and lasts for a few days, which allows us to leave behind our responsibilities and duties to come up here, and focus on the Divine. Being up here in a special environment is not what will give us peace and a good retreat. It is knowing about the Open Path, knowing that we are created in the image of God, knowing that life itself is created in the image of God, and if we identify with that, Wholistically, we will feel and experience the Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, the unlimited potential of the Soul. It doesn’t take enlightenment or realization to feel Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. Enlightenment or Realization are just terms for someone who experiences their nature of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram at all times.
I have pursued Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram my whole life. My early poetry is about experiences within the idea of separateness. I was writing to my Beloved. I was praying to my Beloved. I was spending time enjoying and appreciating my Beloved. There is very little of my poetry that is about the oneness, because if it is about the oneness, there is nothing to say, there is just the experience of the pure state of transcendence or Satyam. Even this year’s retreat poem is about the separateness, the being in love with the other, the Shiva and Shakti ever in union. We have to understand that the retreat isn’t about being up here in the mountains. It is about being in our spiritual awakening, wanting to experience Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, our true nature.
All needs of the lower ego exist because we believe we need something external so we can be happy, have love, have power, and have security. The lower ego is about possessing, owning, getting what the lower ego believes it needs. If we understand the nature of our needs, then it becomes easier to say, “If I want to be happy, I just need to identify with my Om Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram nature.” It is so much simpler than trying to create God in our image, or trying to control the environment or other people so our needs are met. This wholistic view is more enjoyable and educational, rather than excluding the rest of life because it doesn’t fit into our image of what we believe we need to be happy. When we define our goal as the desire to want to feel more love, to feel more Satyam, our happiness becomes simpler to attain. Then we say, “I am Om Satyam.” We make this the object of our focus. We begin to affirm our nature until we feel the connection with Om Satyam. Once we feel it, we continue to identify with it. We don’t have to constantly chant, “I am Om Satyam.” Once we feel the Satyam, we just keep that connection with the feeling of Satyam.
To identify with our Wholistic nature doesn’t mean that we stop chopping wood or drawing water, that we stop doing activities. It means that we are identifying with, and feeling, the Satyam while we are chopping wood and drawing water. The material creation is legitimate. We can be in Love and feel the Om Satyam while chopping wood and drawing water. I loved athletics in my youth. I had that blissful, intoxicating Satyam feeling in training, in competing, and in excelling in athletics. I also felt it while dancing. I can feel it with work, with nature, puppies, kittens, and in the forest. I feel it when I see the beauty of people’s Soul radiating out. I see and appreciate the Physical creation. I feel Om Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram when I see these things, I just don’t get caught up in wanting to possess or own things which usually results in the exclusion of the rest of life.
I also love music, but understand that what I love is the poetry of the singers and songwriters. Most songs are about the male/female relationships, the dynamics of being alive, relating, and interacting with others. I also enjoy movies, which are someone’s interpretation of the interaction between human beings. This is the appreciation of the second chakra. The third chakra is that we can appreciate and work towards a more harmonious international community. I try to watch the world news a little each day to see what is happening around the world. I chant out the Sacred mantras, and offer uplifting thoughts while watching the news. I know my thoughts alone will not feed the starving children, but my thoughts may influence others to think about the problem until someone says, “Hey, we need to do something to get aid to this country.” When we do this, our thoughts influence others, and we begin to act as world citizens. When we get a pain in our body, we check to see what is causing it, and our whole body works to get rid of the pain. If we begin to live as world citizens, then we are beginning to rid our Wholistic body of the pain by providing a solution for it. We need to begin to think of others. We need to study life and others, because “others” are truly our larger Self.
