Our Trip to Atlanta ,October 2011

This was my second trip to see Esther Hicks; it was Melissa’s first. We drove down to Atlanta Friday evening and stopped by Phoenix and Dragons. This is the infamous store where Melissa bought her first Vishwavajra (Double Dorje). P & D had assumed mythic proportions years ago to me as a result of Melissa’s often said juicy rendition:
“I walked into a dusty back room where one bare lightbulb hung from a wire in the ceiling…and there, under a pile of random trinkets, lay my dorje…”
That is a Geminian exaggeration of the actual story, but suffice to say, I was anxious to see what all the hubub was about. I can say this much: I found my Shamantabudhri statue. For a reasonable price. Enough said, right?
Just kidding. There was a lot to this store. They had a very eclectic mix of metaphysical items, with an emphasis on stones and eastern mysticism. I was into it. We actually thought of something later we meant to buy but didn’t. I called them monday and that item was shipped to our house on Tuesday. Awesome store.
After our jaunt at Phoenix and Dragons we arrived at our hotel. It was late. We were both tired and hungry. We got room service and it was excellent. The lady who brought our food was strong but pitiful. We tipped her well, as she smartly claimed to be working alone and she was extremely pleasant. I thought later that she may have been lying. Melissa said: “What if all the other waitresses are attending to Abraham?” Her answer was more Abrahamean, so we went with that. And went straight to sleep.
The Abraham show had the place in an uproar. There were little pug dogs everywhere, leftovers from a pug dog convention. There was notably a woman who carried a fine pug dog oil painting on the elevator. I pointed it out to Melissa as I admired it, but she would not laugh. Abraham even worked in a comment about someone “hiding 300 little dogs…” Melissa and I belly laughed for hours about that.
Melissa and I had different experiences at Abraham. During the first part of the show, we were both overcome with emotion. My emotion was of being in the presence of greatness or even holiness…it was how I felt in the presence of a certain Indian Holy Mother Avatar…which I remembered later was a disempowering structural belief. But hanging with Abraham allowed me to wallow in that reverence for a little while. It was bittersweet, not unlike most Coldplay songs.
Melissa was also emotional, primarily from anticipation. And she got to ask her question-it was about her daughter. She believed Abraham would clarify a situation she’s been working on. But Abraham couldn’t or wouldn’t do that. It was strange. We both felt as if her question had been dodged…but after the show was over, and during the breaks, things got stranger.
People kept coming up to Melissa, crying, thanking her for asking her question and telling her how much Abraham’s answer had helped them. There were more than a dozen of them…We’re still a little baffled.
On the way back home we stopped by the Tulles Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. It was formerly the Weiman Mineral Museum, which was another hot spot I had heard a lot about from Melissa. We spent 4 hours with our mouths wide open, amazed at the mineralogical specimens in the gift shop and museum. I got a Rosacite, which is supposed to be supportive of mantra work. Melissa got a specimen of Selenite with Azurite growing right on it. Within the museum, there were ultra high grade stones from meteorites to fluorescent black lit stones to cathedrals you can drive a car through. I really liked the gold nugget case especially. Melissa thought the Dioptase collection was notable. Everything was. If you’re ever down that way…

Basic Training Letter From When I was 18...thanks Sissy!

Ganesha, Christ, and Cosmic Consciousness

 This blog represents the fruits of my meditation this morning; I spent the entire time meditating on the archetypal energy of the Deity Hindus refer to as Ganesha.  Ganesha is one of many deity forms, each of which represents a universal energy that human beings work with, and are immersed in, on a daily basis.
     The main reason spiritual ideas have been conveyed by stories historically is their versatility.  Depending on the hearers’ disposition, perspective, and level of understanding, the meaning imparted to them will be different.  There are always many layers and levels to mythology, spirituality, and religion: just as many different perspectives on the story as there are people who are there to hear it.
     The meditation this morning that begged to be chronicled was regarding the parrallel stories of the Christian Jesus and the Hindu Ganapati.  There are many similarities; the differences in typical understandings of each of each individual story bear lucrative understandings that inform each other on brand-new levels.
     Ganesha was born solely from his mother, Shakti, or Prakrti.  His father, Shiva, was not involved whatsoever.  Jesus was born of a virgin, Mary, with no involvement whatsoever from his father, Joseph.  In Hinduism, the Goddess, Ganesha’s mother, represents the phenomenal world and all aspects within it.  She represents all physical attributes of everything, as well as any aspect of any experience, whether it is a thought, feeling, emotion, or any type of movement.  In Hinduism, the father represents the unseen and unknown counterpart to all phenomenon, the remote, unknown, and the unknowable, perfect equanimity and stillness.
     This perfect equanimity and stillness does not exist on this earth plane in which we live.  The father of Hinduism, much as the father of Christianity, is not for this world.  Even though the father does not exist here on this plane, he is a living experience within us.  Even though, in our outer world, we never see the total silence and stillness of the father, we still understand that he exists.
     Ganesha was murdered by his father, beheaded, and then resurrected, becoming an intercessor for humankind, between the earthly realm of experience, represented by shakti, the mother, which keeps us constantly off balance, and the heavenly realm of perfect stillness and equanimity, which is represented by shiva, the father.  As the intercessor, we understand the unattainablity of the father is the play of all manifestation, the imbalance and growth that the mother, shakti, is.
     Jesus was murdered by his father, by crucifixion, against his will.  He was then resurrected by his father, and became the intercessor for the humans on this world, and the stillness of the heavenly realms of existence on the plane of the father.
     This aspect of ourselves, represented by both Ganesha and Jesus, is the aspect that allows us, at a higher level, to see and experience the interplay of the movement of our mother and all her infinite manifestations against the backdrop of the subtle and overwhelming stillness and peace that underlies all this growth.  These two represent the living ideal for a human, who understands and lives the truth that all growth and manifestation is the imperative and mirror reflection of the stillness and peace we all seek.  This archetypal energy, when mastered allows one to create, through the enlightened perspective, heaven on earth, and earth on heaven, right now in this very moment.  From this perspective, we never see any deficiencies, we never see any problems, we only see manifestations on the backdrop of perfect stillness.
     Jesus and Ganesha are one and the same, the energy of the Lord of Cosmic consciousness, the unity of our earthly and heavenly nature, and the essence of what it means to be a human who has mastered the earth plane.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vasingh/90547849/