This week, we’ll focus on the last of the eight points: Spiritual Fellowship and Spiritual Reading. These are topics that are typically experienced in person during a weeklong retreat in Tomales. For us here on the eSatsang, we have the following opportunities to experience these virtually as a community.
Meditate with Fellow Passage Meditators
You might consider joining fellow meditators for a virtual meditation next Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time. This is the same time of day that retreatants meditate together in Tomales at Gokalum, our retreat house.
The virtual meditation will start with a volunteer reading aloud a passage from God Makes the Rivers To Flow. 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 any mantram requests.
We use Zoom software which allows us to videoconference with each other.
We'll start promptly at 6:30 a.m. every Saturday and meditation is from 6:35 a.m. to 7:05 a.m.
Easwaran’s book, Seeing with the Eyes of Love, is his commentary on the passage “The Wonderful Effects of Divine Love” by Thomas à Kempis. At many points during a weeklong retreat this year in Tomales, retreatants focus on this passage together as an enjoyable and meaningful way to experience a deeper sense of satsang together.
Can you think of ways to engage with this passage in a manner that is meaningful to you? This week, we’re inviting you to join Thomas à Kempis and your fellow eSatsang friends, by spending time with “The Wonderful Effects of Divine Love”. Feel free to just enjoy being with this passage, without worrying about committing it to memory (though memorizing it would be a great bonus!).
Some examples might be reading the passage in a relaxed way, in your favorite chair or an outdoor space. You might write it out with colored pens, or draw some images the passage evokes for you. Or maybe you’d like trying to identify patterns for memorization that you see in the words and letters – it’s up to you!
Here are a few more possibilities for continuing your experience with Easwaran and Thomas à Kempis:
Listen to Easwaran reading the entire passage (below).
Begin reading the entire book Seeing with the Eyes of Love.
Explore the entire Thomas à Kempis audio series by Easwaran (on which the book Seeing with the Eyes of Love is based).
Is there something you would like to you try? Let us know if there’s already something you do to familiarize yourself with passages in an enjoyable way, and then share your ideas with us!