THOUGHTS ON THE CHURCH

PART II

A Kinder Model

In Siddha Yoga, many of Baba’s students and devotees went through a lot of suffering due to the fact that it appeared that the church, or SYDA Foundation, was the only way to remain connected to the power of guru’s grace.  There was enormous suffering attendant on leaving the fold - so much so that there is a group of angry and disaffected people still under the spell of the trauma, as they explore the thread of anger and despair. 

I would like to present a kinder and more beneficial model, a model in which there are an infinite number of paths or spokes radiating out from Baba.  There are the two successors with their followings and there are many other spokes as well.  I think that Shankarananda has presented a version of this model in his Nityananda Tradition website.  He makes categories of swamis with ashrams, teaching swamis, lay teachers, etc.  I am less interested in the descriptive labels and categories and more interested in the recognition of legitimate and viable paths emanating from the fact of Baba’s existence in this world.

We can look at the bloody history of the Christian church to see horrendous examples of schism, strife, war, inquisition and all manner of human suffering arising from the idea of “one true church” or a single belief forced on others.  Whoever first said, “Let a thousand flowers bloom” expressed my sentiments.  I favor a celebration of that flame which lights other flames, a celebration of the lighting of that flame and a celebration of what emanates from the lighted flame. 

In reading about different spiritual traditions it seems to me that when a yogi or spiritual practitioner reaches a certain point of spiritual maturity, he or she begins to act from inner inspiration and begins his or her “ministry,” based on whatever arises from within.  Baba did not follow in the footsteps of his guru, Bhagawan Nityananda, who never created an ashram, never gave public talks, or really did much of anything in an outer way. 

There are so many examples - in Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism and Hinduism – of realized beings flowering in a way that deviated from that of their gurus and creating something new for those destined to benefit from them.  I am in favor of supporting all the fruits of the spiritual process – both the carrying on of the tradition and the creating of something new and different.  

Ladders and Circles

At the swami reunion there was some sharing of how Baba’s naming his successors - someone coined the term “super swamis,” though not in a disparaging way - was disempowering for some of the swamis who were involved in running the Foundation.  Hierarchies and categories are part and parcel of organizations and while there are benefits, there is also a loss, a disempowering or devaluing of the lower categories.  For example, in Siddha Yoga these separating designations included the categories of senior swami and junior swami as well as the categories of swami and householder.  To the American democratic sensibility, these can carry a subtle judgment of superiority and inferiority. 

I don’t really see much relevance in the West between swami and lay person or householder.  In fact most of the so-called “ex-swamis” are householders.  While recognizing the inevitability of outer differences in position, station in life and occupation, I prefer to focus on the essential oneness of all those who received Baba’s grace.  All are part of his mandala, which is a circle, and all are equally holders of the flame. 

Of course, it is natural that those with great abilities, talents and power will shine more brightly than others, but the essential quality of the mandala remains.  The outer labels or designations arise out of and are part of a church mentality. 

In a church it is all too easy to forget the essence and to be seduced by the externals.  To counteract this tendency there are unifying rituals which draw attention to the essence or spirit and reinforce unity.  In the Christian church there is the sacrament of communion.  The name aptly describes its purpose.  The ceremony of tsog (ganachakra feast) in Tibetan Buddhism is reminiscent of this ritual communion where spirit is invoked.  Around Baba, I think that the dancing saptah served such a purpose.  It is circular, ecstatic, communal, uplifting. 

Up and Down - In and Out

Vertical ordering with its levels and hierarchies are inherent in any structure or order.  In spiritual life, the manifestations of verticality represent the movement upward from matter to spirit, from man to God, from earth to heaven.  There are lower and higher tattwas in Kashmir Shaivism and lower and higher chakras in the subtle body.  In the process of purification in which there is effort to raise one’s consciousness, this verticality is meaningful.  It is also painful because of this effort, for effort can bring out egoic striving and judgment. 

I see two different movements of sadhana.  One is this vertical movement in which one tries to move energy up, to purify lower tendencies, to progress upward.  I think that the inward movement is an aspect of this, since the outer is regarded as impure or false and the inner as divine and pure.  It was a revelation to discover that Jin Shin Jyutsu regards the basic energy pattern of a human being as circular – up the back and down the front.  The inclusion of this circular model was very healing for me.

The second movement is the outward movement of expansion – the movement to greater inclusivity.  This corresponds to the tantric approach in which the world is viewed and embraced as divine.  It is the sadhana Baba laid out daily in his motto, “Honor yourself, worship yourself, love yourself; God dwells within you as you.”  He repeatedly exhorted us not to think of ourselves as sinners, as small, but as siddha students - as great and noble. 

A corollary to this is to regard whatever one is going through as an aspect of the sublime process of spiritual evolution.  There are no false steps.  There are no mistakes.  Once awakened, the path is wherever one places one’s foot.  There may be darkness and light, sun and shadow, but these pairs of opposites are contained within the whole which is none other than Paramashiva, containing both form and formlessness.

Recently I was going through the collection of DVDs at the house where I am staying and came across “Dune,” which I watched again after many years.  Watching the DVD brought back to me what I had so loved about the Dune series by Frank Herbert.  I had been riveted by the vastness of the scope and the focus on a spiritual evolution over long stretches of time, intermingled with incredibly complex and Byzantine tangles of politics and history. 

The part of me that deplores politics with its motivations of greed, jealousy, pride and desire longs for the purity and simplicity of the yogic approach with its ideals of renunciation, authenticity and honesty.  Yet, after months of solitary retreat, I found that this lifestyle was not the answer for me.  It was somehow incomplete because it did not deal with the world “out there.” 

Oxherding

The famous oxherding pictures, a series of ten pictures and poems from the Zen tradition, tell the story of the phases of the spiritual path simply and brilliantly.  In the first picture, titled “the search for the bull,” the seeker, overcome by suffering, searches for a way out.  His quest bears fruit as he goes through the phases of “discovering the footprints” and “perceiving the bull.”  The path proceeds by stages to full enlightenment.  The ninth picture is “reaching the source” and then surprisingly, the direction shifts and the tenth and final picture is the return to the world. 

Once the source has been attained, there is no more seeking, no more problem, no more effort, no more deploring of the world and its politics.  In Paul Reps’ commentary on the 10th picture he says, “Why should one search for the footprints of the patriarchs?  I go to the market place with my wine bottle and return home with my staff.  I visit the wineshop and the market and everyone I meet becomes enlightened.” 

I don’t interpret this to mean that everyone he meets becomes enlightened as a result of seeing him, although that meaning is there.  Rather, I think of it as saying, “I see that everyone is enlightened already.”  It is the state of the present moment - perfection in the now.  One only perceives imperfection when one strays by so much as a hair’s breadth from the natural state, which Baba called sahaj samadhi.

As I ponder this, I relax my tendency to disapprove of those who exert control over others in the name of the church and look at the positive side in which many are served, as I was, by the existence of structures which offer the promise of providing the path laid out in the ten oxherding pictures.  At the beginning of my quest, I would not have been interested in a bedraggled yogi wandering through the market place holding his wine bottle and smiling blissfully upon all. 

In 1970 I was not able to perceive the higher dimension in apparently mundane phenomena and thus needed a time-honored system to join.  I had prayed for a guru and what appeared was Baba Ram Dass with his story.  I jumped on that thread and embarked on my quest which led me to India and Baba. 

Even though I met several gurus before meeting Baba, I was attracted to his scene.  In addition to karma, I think this attraction was also due to the power of his display, his entourage, his ashram, the sheer number of his devotees and other outer aspects which enchanted me.  It felt safe to join something which was already established and which was attractive to so many others.  Although radical in essence, the scene around Baba did not seem in any way experimental to me.

We all need comfort when embarking on the journey into the unknown.  Baba called it the Self, which is very comforting, since it sounds so close and familiar.  The Buddhists call it Emptiness which is very off-putting for many.  The poem connected to the eighth oxherding picture describes this beautifully:  “Whip, rope, person and bull – all merge in No-Thing.  This heaven is so vast no message can stain it.  How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?  Here are the footprints of the partriarchs.”  This phase of Emptiness naturally moves on to the final picture of the return to the marketplace. 

There is no time frame suggested for this progression.  It may take many lifetimes to move from one stage to the next – or the blink of an eye.  There are a variety of other frameworks to describe the stages, such as the tattwas of Kashmir Shaivism and the bhumis of Tibetan Buddhism.  They are just conceptual frameworks and do not necessarily describe actual experience.  It is said that enlightenment can be gradual or sudden, or a combination of both.

Motivation as the Key

The stages may unfold easily and naturally or may involve struggle and great suffering.  It is a process of purification by which all that holds us back from being who we truly are is seen through and left behind.  At the end we are left with our prarabdha karma, our destiny, as it were.  If it is our dharma to defend and protect the church, then that is what we will do.  It can be done with the attitude of the bodhisattva, with the enlightened attitude of loving kindness.  It can be done with wisdom and compassion rather than a punitive or judgmental attitude. 

Since we can’t really know another’s inner motivation and attitude, it seems that the best approach is to investigate our own and to make sure that it is as clean as it can possibly be.  If there is anger, it is a clue that it is flawed and will not result in upliftment and benefit for anyone.  Of course, there can be the manifestation of anger without its being real – something which was dramatically demonstrated by Baba. 

He would blast someone with a torrent of fire and then immediately turn with a smile to Amma and say, “How was that?” or some such thing.  He was like a mother punishing a child for the sake of instilling good habits for the future well being of the child and not out of any personal anger toward the child.  Baba manifestated the divine quality of wrath as opposed to the personal quality of anger - the difference being the motivation.

Benefit From Loss

An organization or church can hold firm to its standards and values without anger and punishment - or it can demonize those who disagree, practice vendettas and issue fatwas.  There was a time when I was shunned by the swamis, the people who had been my peer group for many years.  This was devastatingly painful yet the aloneness in which I was plunged did provide an experience of renunciation which was valuable and useful. 

In my aloneness, all I had was God, and my communion with this inner core of truth became a powerful reality.  The experience of the Self can come about in infinite ways.  One feature that marks this experience of connecting with one’s inner truth is the stripping away of outer distractions, whether positive or negative.  The comfort of relationship, as well as many other ordinary human comforts, can keep us from our true nature.  Adversity of all kinds can be a boon, as many have attested. 

My bout with cancer was such a boon. 

The Vijnana Bhairava teaches that one can regard any experience as a portal to the Self.  Contemplating the dharanas provides practice in shifting one’s mind from the ordinary to the extraordinary which exists at every moment in every manifestation.  This is the path of tantra, which was Baba’s path. 

It does not matter where one’s outer circumstances fall along the continuum between the poles of traditional structure and radical experimentation.  One can always practice and find the wisdom and love inherent in life itself.   My prayer is that all beings have the grace to practice!  Sarva Mangalam!!