When I was performing karma yoga at the Yogaville Community in Buckingham, Virginia in the fall of 1993, the "guru who opened Woodstock", namely Sri Swami Satchidanandaji Maharaj was answering questions in Sivananda Hall. A woman visitor asked, "What is God?" The guru replied, "God is the eternal witness."
Twentyfour years later, today was spent riding around on San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit trains with no particular destination. Deboarding on to buses and visiting various east bay locations at random, resulted in a wonderful afternoon, enjoying the light rain and frequenting bookstores and coffee houses. Continuously watching the mental factory produce thoughts, not attaching to any of them, while observing the activity all around me.
Additionally, I am wearing a large silver pendant of Jesus Christ crowned with thorns and radiating light, the ultimate symbol of non-attachment! My Catholic rosary beads are skulls carved from ox bone, reminiscent of Saint Francis contemplating a skull and pondering the inherent emptiness of all phenomena. Mind absorbed in the Absolute, no place to go.
Everyone on the earth plane is welcome to stop identifying with the body and the mind.
All sages and saints recommend identifying with the eternal witness, and thus be free from rotting in the quagmire of samsara. Spiritual masters of various traditions whom I have asked, shared with me that if you really want to save this world, then liberate yourself first. It's just a matter of having the courage to be what you are.
Craig Louis Stehr
November 26, 2017
San Francisco
Email: CraigStehr@inbox.com
Twentyfour years later, today was spent riding around on San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit trains with no particular destination. Deboarding on to buses and visiting various east bay locations at random, resulted in a wonderful afternoon, enjoying the light rain and frequenting bookstores and coffee houses. Continuously watching the mental factory produce thoughts, not attaching to any of them, while observing the activity all around me.
Additionally, I am wearing a large silver pendant of Jesus Christ crowned with thorns and radiating light, the ultimate symbol of non-attachment! My Catholic rosary beads are skulls carved from ox bone, reminiscent of Saint Francis contemplating a skull and pondering the inherent emptiness of all phenomena. Mind absorbed in the Absolute, no place to go.Everyone on the earth plane is welcome to stop identifying with the body and the mind.
All sages and saints recommend identifying with the eternal witness, and thus be free from rotting in the quagmire of samsara. Spiritual masters of various traditions whom I have asked, shared with me that if you really want to save this world, then liberate yourself first. It's just a matter of having the courage to be what you are.
Craig Louis Stehr
November 26, 2017
San Francisco
Email: CraigStehr@inbox.com
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