Real-time Satsang Opportunity
Would you like to meditate with others this month? If so, get an extra boost with this month’s theme of Spiritual Fellowship, and join our passage meditation community for a virtual meditation on Saturday mornings at 6:30 a.m. San Francisco time. We use Zoom software which allows us to videoconference with each other.
We'll start the virtual meditation with a volunteer reading a passage from God Makes the Rivers To Flow aloud. Then we'll meditate silently together for 30 minutes. We’ll ring a bell to signal the end of meditation, and ask for another volunteer to read aloud Easwaran's "Thought for the Day". Then we'll end by asking for comments or suggestions.
We'll start promptly at 6:30 a.m. every Saturday and meditation is from 6:35a.m. to 7:05a.m.
Reading Study
In the reading that follows, Easwaran shares how important rich personal relationships are for everyone – and in fact they “constitute one of the great blessings of this earth.” He also reminds us of the important role that relationships have in helping us train ourselves to become more selfless in daily life. Do you have examples of how you can see this blessing in your daily life? We’d love to hear about how your relationships are helping you whittle away your self-will.
This is an excerpt by Easwaran from Passage Meditation.
Living Together
I am told that people now want to be loners and live by themselves. If you ask why, they will say it is more convenient; they can do what they want, when they want, in the way they want. When they shuffle in the door from work, tired and edgy, they don’t need to concern themselves with squabbling children; they can kick off their shoes and drop their clothes anywhere. No waiting to get into the bathroom; they can turn on the hot water – there is always plenty of it – put some bubble bath or their little yellow duck in the tub, and stay as long as they like. And when they have finished, there is no partner or roommate to listen to. They can fix the perfect martini, set the stereo to the volume they like, and pet the turtle in the terrarium, which is always grateful for any attention it can get. All this is called freedom. I call it sterility and the surest road to making ourselves more separate and self-willed.
You occasionally hear it said that spiritual aspirants should drop everything and set off for the woods, or go to India and wander about on the slopes of the Himalayas. But only through daily contact with people – not trees or brooks or deer – can we train ourselves to be selfless in personal relationships.
When we keep company with those who are spiritually minded, we help each other grow through mutual support and example. Yet since we are all human, we give each other plenty of opportunity for developing patience too. Either way, we move forward. If things are going well, fine; we can look for new challenges. If they are not going well, we have the challenges right there in front of us. But none of this is possible if we live in isolation. How can a basketball player achieve excellence if he never touches a ball? Doesn’t a ballerina have to put on her slippers and a pianist sit down to his Steinway? In like fashion, we need to be with people if we want to learn to live in harmony with them.
People sometimes tell me, “I’m living with my family, but it’s a terrible place for the spiritual life. My father says meditation is hogwash, and my mother’s afraid I’ll turn into a zombie. Should I move out?” As a general rule, it is much better to stay. No matter what the initial reaction may be, no matter how much teasing or ridicule we may have to bear for a while, everyone responds deeply to the growth of goodness and wisdom in a child, a partner, or a parent. All of us begin meditating in less than ideal circumstances. But if we are giving our best to these eight basic disciplines, we can be sure we will get all the opportunity we need for spiritual development.
So if you live with your family, fine; if not, wherever practicable, live with friends. The important matter is the day-to-day involvement. It is not enough just to take a room in a big house and eat by yourself – a house where the only thing you ever say to anyone is, “Has the mail come?” Get to know your friends and the people you live with. Is there anyone you ought to know better? Ask about their work, studies, or projects. Exchange views about space probes or vitamin C or mulching or trends in fiction. You will come to realize that rich relationships with a number of people constitute one of the great blessings on this earth.
Some people sparkle when things go well for them but withdraw into a shell of isolation when things go poorly. But dwelling on yourself only keeps you stuck in depression. When you feel inclined to brood, that is precisely the time to come out and be with people – to turn yourself outwards and away from your problems, which isolation only magnifies and distorts like a fun-house mirror.