Wednesday, December 25, 2019

~Merry Christmas~

On the eve of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, am at The Plumeria Hostel Alternative in Honolulu, Hawaii.  It was time to move on from 40 years of living over the edge in postmodern America so that peace & justice activism and radical environmentalism could be fully participated in.  So after two previous visits, the move is now complete with SSA/SSI benefits transferred, the Hawaii SNAP (food stamps) eligibility interview is Thursday morning, and I've joined the housekeeping team here to earn money so that I have some.  [This entailed paying $20 to the Hawaii Department of Taxation, in order to officially become an independent contractor.]  
         Meanwhile, am identified with The Eternal Witness, regardless of general mental turbulance accompanied by a variety of mental states which range from mild nervousness to anger at just about everything political.  I've stopped reading the news.  Feelings of extreme aggression in response to the insane global military binge are subsiding this week.  I mean, if the human race destroys this conflicted civilization, and the planet earth's ecosystem as well, why should my gentle mind suffer because of it?  Fortunately, this physical body is in good condition.  Otherwise, Kaiser Permanente medical center (where I've got a senior HMO membership) is one block away.  
          On the eve of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, I am actually excited to be moving on to my next highest good, and beyond that, am looking forward some day to mahasamadhi; that's yoga talk for going into a deep meditation and never coming out of it.  I think that I'd like to go where Jesus went.  How's that for a retirement plan?  ~Merry Christmas~😀

Craig Louis Stehr
December 24, 2019
Paypal.me/craiglouisstehr
Blog: http://craiglstehr.blogspot.com

Monday, December 23, 2019

Swami Sivananda Instructs

The Jiva (Individual Soul) melted in the fire of Jnana, kindled by Sravana etc., is cleansed of all impurities and shines by himself like burnt gold. The Atman is the sun of knowledge that rises in the Akasa of the heart, destroys the darkness of ignorance, permeates and supports all, shines and makes everything shine. That actionless Paramahamsa who has given up the limitations of direction, place, time etc., who worships and attains the Atma which is all-pervading, eternal, bliss, spotless, and which destroys cold etc., becomes all-knowing, all-pervading, and immortal.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Swami Chidananda Spells it Out!

You always focus upon the human consciousness and give it power which it does not really have. If the same focus of attention and importance were directed to your Divinity, the whole situation would change here and now!
- Swami Chidananda

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Ryokan Instructs

Without a jot of ambition left
I let my nature flow where it will.
There are ten days of rice in my bag
And, by the hearth,
A bundle of firewood.
Who prattles of illusion or nirvana?
Forgetting the equal dusts of
Name or fortune,
Listening to the night rain
On the roof of my hut,
I sit at ease,
Both legs stretched out.
- Ryokan (1757-1831)

Swami Krishnananda Instructs

The quality of meditation is dependent upon the character of the object of meditation. When the mind contemplates upon the divisionless Being, it itself becomes divisionless and vanishes into the Absolute.
- Swami Krishnananda

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Swami Chidananda Instructs

Whatever your Bhava is that you become. Think yourself as a worldly person; you will function as a worldly person. Think yourself as a spiritual being, you will begin to function as a spiritual being.
- Swami Chidananda

~Daily Zen~

This mind, perfectly and fully realized,
Moves with a clear, tranquil spiritual awareness.
It encompasses heaven, covers the earth,
Penetrates form, and rides upon sound.
- Daito (1282-1336)

Friday, December 13, 2019

Hawaii Five-OM

Hawaii Five-Om

Mind centered
Within heart's glowing space
Chanting 
the panchakshara mantra
In the fourth dimension





Craig Louis Stehr
11.XII.'19
Paypal.me/craiglouisstehr

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Relaxing @ Waikiki

Sitting in a wooden rocking chair
On the 2nd level of International Marketplace
Overlooking the courtyard
Tried ten times to add more words
Finally surrendered
Peace

Craig Louis Stehr
11.XII.'19
Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com
Paypal.me/craiglouisstehr

Monday, December 9, 2019

Chanting Om Namah Shivaya: Responding to an Adharmic Civilization

After successfully closing out 40 years of frontline peace & justice service work and direct action radical environmental activism, am in Hawaii at The Plumeria Alternative Hostel on Piikoi Street.  With a small balance in the bank checking account, social security benefits and food stamps, have tonight a private room with compatible podmates.  
        The aggregate societal confusion and worsening political insanity makes living in postmodern America an exercise in futility.  The only way, is to give up fantasies of somehow discovering a satisfactory "middle way", and face the fact that living here on planet earth is a constant war with the forces of materialism.  Therefore, am spending all of my time engaged in sadhana, beginning with chanting the protective mantram "Om Namah Shivaya", while being identified with spiritual reality, not the body nor the mind.  It's as simple and powerful as that!
        Meanwhile, am advocating automatic writing to receive and disseminate spiritual messages, being continuously identified with the witness of the mind, non-attachment, and accepting the fact that the condition of a civilization deep in delusion is comparable to the faecal matter of a pig.  
         For those who have successfully faced the mirror, I invite you to join with me in spiritual warriorship, understanding that the only resolution to the entire delusional entrapment is to appreciate scriptural prophecy of several traditions, that avatars will come to destroy the demonic and return this world to righteousness, and that we be prepared.  ðŸ”±

Craig Louis Stehr
December 8, 2019
Paypal.me/craiglouisstehr

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Automatic Writing

Sitting in the basement serials section of the Honolulu Public Library, notebook of blank pages open and a pen in hand, body and mind relaxed and thus useful for automatic writing.  This is the method that spiritual authors have adopted since recorded history, in order to write down the essential messages for their civilizations and for future generations.  This is the method of mystic writing, particularly poetry, sacred literature, drama, and song.  Mystical poetry is widely read, available on the internet, as are epic literary monuments such as Sri Aurobindo's "Savitri".  "Savitri" is an extraordinary example of automatic writing, which testifies to the incredible power of the Divine Absolute which works through the non-interfering instrument of the individual body and mind.  >>>Exactly what automatic writing amounts to, is sitting down at a writing desk, holding a writing instrument in hand over a blank page, and waiting for the words to flow onto the surface of the paper.<<<
       Sri Aurobindo reported that at times nothing would happen and that at other times many pages were filled.  Most crucial is that he maintained a regular schedule, which resulted in the epic work "Savitri".  
        Right this moment, I am not interfering with this pen writing down all of these words, none of which were pre-conceived, and this was not previously pondered, and there is no rough draft.  Sitting here comfortably in a chair at a desk in the basement serials section of Honolulu's Public Library, the pen easily moves and the words flow onto the blank pages of the writer's notebook, line after line, page after page.  The physical body is relaxed, and the mind is at ease.  There is an absence of tension, because the ego is not the author.  There is a hand holding a pen, a relaxed mind, a slight smile on the face, and where are the multifarious hells of postmodernism?  Where is the hopelessly crazy fear of death?  Where is the American devotion to consumerist capitalism?  Where is the absurdity of Washington politics, and the spectre of nuclear war?  
         Without any prior consideration, absolutely no forethought or pre-planning, and no rough draft, the ballpoint pen continues to move and the words appear.  This is automatic writing.  This is a perfect activity for a very troubled world.  Everybody is invited to join with me in a collective automatic writing group.  Take up this sacred activity, and answer the impossible philosophical question: "What would you do in this world if you knew that you could not fail?".  OM Shanthi

Craig Louis Stehr
7.XII.'19
Paypal.me/craiglouisstehr