Thank you . . . with love,
Michael
http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org
The Kingdom of Heaven is not denied to you based upon your habits. The Kingdom of Heaven is here now. IT is pure love. That is what IT has always been. That is what IT will always be.
Thank you . . . with love, Michael http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org
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SATSANG ON PHILOSOPHY OF THE MASTERS -
https://archive.org/details/01PhilosophyOfTheMasters This is a talk I gave gave following a reading from the spiritual classic: "Philosophy Of The Masters". I hope you like it. :) Yours in the LightSong of Eternal Love, Michael http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org FREE STREAMING AUDIO SATSANGS
BY KIRPAL SINGH http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/audio.htm Enjoy! Yours in the LightSong of Eternal Love, Michael http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org “The moment we are within, the Sound Current is there to take charge of us. The Astral Form of the Master is at the eye focus and is always ready to do the necessary work or guidance. In this process, the limbs and gradually the entire body below the eyes will become senseless. Breathing will continue normally as in sleep; only the attention, instead of being without, will be within. There will be full consciousness within of internal objects, but unconscious so far as as the outer world is concerned.”
(Sawan Singh. “Spiritual Gems”. RSSB. Pg. 245) Thank you . . . with love, Michael SPIRITUAL FREEDOM SATSANG LET IT GROW
by Michael Turner (c) August 1994, 2016 (Note: This article was originally published in the August 1994 edition of the Sonic Spectrum. I have been re-reading it recently as I reflect on my experience of having cancer and now being a cancer survivor, and it seems as applicable today as when I first wrote it. I hope you find upliftment in it. All my love and blessings, Michael) "What shall we say? Shall we call It by a name? Or will we count the angels Dancing on a pin? Water bright as the sky from which it came. And the name is on the earth that takes it in. Will not speak, but stand inside the rain. Listen to the thunder shouting: I am. I am. I am!” - John Barlow/Bob Weir One point stressed over and over again by Shabda Meditation teachers is the need to maintain a healthy body. This theme has been on my mind a lot lately. For a long time, from my late teens through my early 30's, I neglected my physical body. I didn't get enough sleep, ate irregularly, rarely exercised and didn't get any medical or dental checkups. It wasn't really out of any active aversion to being healthy. I was just too busy doing other things. School, relationships, and my ongoing inner explorations occupied my attention and took precedence over maintaining a healthy physical body. There were lots of things I would rather do than exercise – read a good book, listen to music, play my bass, write songs, hang out with friends, meditate, etc. Working out or monitoring my diet was just really low on my priorities list. Besides, I was blessed with strong teeth and a high metabolism, which kept me "streamlined" throughout my teens and twenties. I think I probably also had a bias (common to aspiring mystics) which held physical reality to be insignificant when compared to the beauty of the beyond within - a position which appeared to be reaffirmed by such teachers as Gurinder Singh ("We live in a world of filth") and Paul Twitchell (the physical plane being the "ashcan" of God's universes). Like many, I took this to mean that it was inner exploration that really mattered. The perceived goal was to achieve Jivan Mukti (spiritual freedom while in the physical body) as quickly as possible in this lifetime so I could escape the cycle of death and rebirth, and dump this "mere" earth world for far nicer universes within. For quite a few years, my luck held out. My weight stayed low, my body kept fairly limber and I didn't think much about it. Then a funny thing happened on the way to God-realization: I hit my mid-thirties. My metabolism shifted. Seemingly overnight (with the help of a sedentary job and free lunches) I ballooned from 140 pounds to 170. My back started getting stiff from sitting in a chair all day. I tried doing aerobics and discovered I had weak ankles. I finally went to a dentist and found that my fluoridated "perfect" teeth needed 18 fillings and two root canals. Suddenly I felt old - and I didn't quite know what to do about it. It was kind of humorous, really. I could tell you anything you wanted to know about the astral, causal, mental and soul planes. I could even take you there and give you a guided tour. But I didn't have it together in my physical body. It was most perplexing, actually. I had the choice of changing some 20-year-old habits with which I had become rather comfortable, or face the prospect of getting fatter and creakier every year. I took my present trajectory and extrapolated from it. It was not a very pleasant sight. For the past year or so I have given a lot of thought on how to change this. The message, which has come through consistently, is: "Love yourself, including your human body. Be good to yourself. Be gentle with yourself. And know that you are loved." I started viewing my body as I would my own child, or a dear friend. I started taking better care of it and giving it the love and affection I try to give others. I realized (and am still realizing) that, in order to be a fully active and creative instrument of God-in-expression, I need to be in harmony on all levels. Like a guitar - even if my top five strings are in tune, if my physical body (the low "E" string) is not in tune with the rest, the instrument will still be out of tune. It doesn't matter how much of a virtuoso you are; an out-of-tune guitar still won't play or sound right. As I've said before - and as teachers of this path have stated for millennia - the physical body is a gift from God for attaining self and God-realization. In this universe, the challenges are greatest and the resistance stronger. Anybody who is dwelling in the Soul Plane or in the other pure positive God Worlds can easily and effortlessly grok Divine Consciousness. But on earth it's a whole different story. To paraphrase Frank Sinatra, if you can make it here you'll make it anywhere, baby. So you might as well give it your best shot. Life is to be experienced fully and completely, not rejected, demonized or avoided. This is a beautiful universe, a beautiful planet and a beautiful body in which we each live. What better way to actualize our immersion in the LightSong of Divine Love that is Shabda than to bring It into expression here on earth - to be an active participant, rather than a passive observer. One thing that has come through loud and clear to me along these lines is that inner realization is meaningless if it cannot be lived and outwardly expressed. After all, what is the point of having a human body, if not to be a living instrument of God-in-expression? This is the whole point to being a co-worker with God – to open ourselves as wide as possible for Its LightSong to shine through. The more open we are, the more the River of Life will flow through us, lifting ourselves, as well as those around us. The healthier and more in tune we are, the more effective instruments we are for It to play, which in turn allows the LightSong of the Eternal to touch more souls, lifting them into the drawing them into the Dance of Life. The great Sufi Master, Hazrat Inayat Khan made this abundantly clear when he wrote: "The purpose of the body is to experience life fully. The body becomes a vehicle for the (soul) by which it is able to experience life fully. In order to make sound more audible, people build domes and other places where resonance is produced and the voice and the words become more clear. So the construction of the body is intended to make all that is perceptible clear." This is something I'm learning to remind myself every day. Gradually, and gently, I am redefining my perception of myself and my body. I'm adjusting my diet, taking vitamins and herbs, and getting more exercise and rest. And my body, like any other living thing, is responding. I'm losing fat, building muscle, feeling both stronger and looser, awake and relaxed. I'm not always successful. Sometimes I make mistakes. This is just part of living in the material world. But I'm learning to be more patient and forgiving. It's just like in meditation. Sometimes it's deep and profound, and sometimes the mind scampers around like a little puppy, sniffing everything in sight. But, instead of getting angry, or self judging, I just use Simran - inwardly singing the Holy Names of God - to tug on my mind's leash and gently bring it back to center. Any change and growth that is lasting and worthwhile is gradual and takes time. So relax, and be good to yourself. Soul is a happy entity. It wants to enjoy life on all of its levels, in all of its forms. We can enjoy life in this universe far more if soul's human is Healthy, in harmony, and functioning at optimum capacity. On earth as IT is in Heaven? Why not? Thank you . . . with love, Michael Turner SPIRITUAL FREEDOM SATSANG BE LOST IN THE CALL
"Lord, said David, since you do not need us, why did you create these two worlds? Reality replied: O prisoner of time, I was a secret treasure of kindness and generosity, and I wished this treasure to be known, so I created a mirror: its shining face, the heart; its darkened back, the world; The back would please you if you've never seen the face. Has anyone ever produced a mirror out of mud and straw? Yet clean away the mud and straw, and a mirror might be revealed. Until the juice ferments a while in the cask, it isn't wine. If you wish your heart to be bright, you must do a little work. My King addressed the soul of my flesh: You return just as you left. Where are the traces of my gifts? We know that alchemy transforms copper into gold. This Sun doesn't want a crown or robe from God's grace. He is a hat to a hundred bald men, a covering for ten who were naked. Jesus sat humbly on the back of an ass, my child! How could a zephyr ride an ass? Spirit, find your way, in seeking lowness like a stream. Reason, tread the path of selflessness into eternity. Remember God so much that you are forgotten. Let the caller and the called disappear; be lost in the Call." - RUMI Thank you . . . with love, Michael http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org "O you who've gone on pilgrimage -
where are you, where, oh where? Here, here is the Beloved! Oh come now, come, oh come! Your friend, he is your neighbor, he is next to your wall - You, erring in the desert - what air of love is this? If you'd see the Beloved's form without any form - You are the house, the master, You are the Kaaba, you! . . . Where is a bunch of roses, if you would be this garden? Where, one soul's pearly essence when you're the Sea of God? That's true - and yet your troubles may turn to treasures rich - How sad that you yourself veil the treasure that is yours!" - RUMI Thank you . . . with love, Michael http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org You can and will unfold into soul awareness and God-realization. It’s actually very normal, very ordinary in a sense. You just find yourself. Underneath it all, you are soul – an eternal particle of consciousness. As you grow and blossom, you become more the real you all the time. You realize that these self and God-realized states are not not different or weird. You don’t become something different. You become you! On all of the planes of existence – whether it’s the physical, astral, causal, mental, etheric or soul plane – on all these levels, you’re a unique individual. In fact, you are also kind of the same as you are here. There are differences. In your mental body you have far greater mental acuity, freedom of thought and mobility. But each of us is pretty much the same person; you just relax into the best aspects of you.
Thank you . . . with love, Michael http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org As we awaken to the ringing radiance of the Shabda within, IT begins to fill us more and more. We’re already a particle of it. But we have so many layers of matter enfolding us that it’s like layers of grease or grime on window impeding the sunlight. And so we gradually, and very gently, begin to wipe away the layers of buildup of our inner awareness, and a little more light begins to shine through, a little more music begins to be heard. This happens on a very gradual and a very gentle, and frequently very subtle, basis.
Thank you . . . with love, Michael http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org "But it is a real challenge to be in balance here – to allow that Spiritual Musical River to flow through you and while being in a state of equipoise and balance. That’s why the path of the Shabda is actually very gentle, very gradual. That’s also why it is advisable – not mandatory, but highly advisable – to have a living Shabda teacher or master to help you. Choose one with whom you harmonize, create a filial bond with them and follow it through."
(from "RIVER SONG: Discourses on Stranger By The River". Coming soon!) In the LightSong of Eternal Love, Have a Beautiful Evening! Michael http://spiritualfreedomsatsang.org |
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