Sadguru Sant Keshavadas of India, (Temple of Cosmic Religion) my Spiritual mentor, radiated love through the air. Without needing to speak a word, his message to me was profound and unforgettable. We can manifest the love of God, if we surrender our ego to God.

When I was a child, long before I knew a word for it, I felt a fire moving through my cellular being whenever my mother and father came near me. I felt a similar feeling when I was near my grandmother or others who nurtured me. At an early age I became aware of another dimension to this experience. Perhaps the key to this awareness was the prayers my mother prayed for me and later with me as I lay in my crib in semi-darkness. It was more than the sound of my mother's voice. Beyond the quality of her soothing words there was something else I could feel. It enveloped me. It comforted me. It was a living presence when my mother left the room. By age three I would sit up and bathe in the glow of this feeling. I had no words to call it. I needed no words. I just rested in it. As I grew, this fire, this glow did not go away. It expanded in many directions. It was my friend, my teacher. The fire was my center. It was the gyroscope which always restored my balance. The world has always seemed somewhat foreign to me. I felt myself to be a visitor but home was not a place. Home was a feeling. There was something that connected me to people, however, places were just backgrounds. As a youth I enjoyed silence. I was a loner. I did not have a great need to share my thoughts. I thought that all human beings were experiencing basically the same thing. I did not talk about my inner-feelings during the early years. I felt, I observed.

At age nine, as I sat in the balcony of Zion Bethel Church in Portsmouth, Virginia. I heard a story that revealed the vibrant presence behind my mother's prayers. I recognized the same spirit. The preacher spoke of Jesus Christ on the Cross, suffering for the world. Everything vanished and I saw him there. We touched mentally and spiritually. At that moment my soul embraced the man, the suffering, the love and the peace. My mind was changed and I felt a universal connection with the peoples of the world. Suddenly, there was a reason to talk, to share, to do something with the fire. The fire I felt was called love.

Love is not a mere word. It is a motive power that transforms and enriches all who embrace it without resistance. The foundation of the mission of my Spiritual teacher, Sadguru Sant Keshavadas was love. He wrote:

Love is the law of life. To love is to live. This divine love is prem (Sanskrit)

It is the one sun which reflects on all ponds It is the one water which slakes the thirsts of all. It is the one air that sustains all life; it is the one fire which burns in all houses;colors of the cows may be different but the milk is the same; systems of faith might be different but God is one; nectar drunk through any vessel will bestow immortality.

Hate no one, love all, for God is love.

The spirit of love, its way, is to give. Love gives of itself. Love is expanded through the act of giving. As a nine-year old having a mystical vision of Jesus on the cross I was moved by his supreme act of giving. I knew that he was suffering by choice for the sake of others. I was one of those he was sacrificing himself for. In merging with him my experience of myself changed. I knew without analyzing the knowing that I,too, must give my life away, if called for. I knew this because my heart overflowed with compassion and the burden of the world was mine. I, too, felt a love for the people in the world too great to speak of.

God is love, it s taught. It is also taught that mankind was fashioned in the likeness of God. If we use scripture as our spiritual guide then we should understand that the core, the very nature of our being is love, itself. We can measure ourselves by how close or far away we are from love. We are also taught that God is one. Love reflects. The light of love returns to itself. Love is not an object. Love is not a thought. To satisfy thirst we must not look at water nor discuss it's properties, we must drink it. To taste the truth of our being we must allow it to emerge. That is the Zen aspect of this journey. To truly express love we must be love. Only then can we express it effortlessly. Only then can we be genuine.

Love is not a concept with rules to remember that we put into practice consciously. That is only a mental construct, an imitation of the real. The real moves naturally, like breathing oxygenates our blood. Those who have faith in God and believe we are born of His nature must go one step further. We must let go of our intellectual scaffolding and allow ourselves to fall back into the very source of our being. This may be terrifying to the thought-driven person but love can conquer even that fear. The word Religion comes from the Latin, religare. It means to bind. In Religion we tend to place all of our hope on embracing or binding ourselves to a symbol of love, be that a person or revered object. At its highest point that object or person is only the symbol for what is represented. The Manifested One. The Loving Master admits this freely, “The Son can do nothing without the Father.” In embracing the object of Love, the wise disciple realizes he must go even further. He must embrace the very Source of Love by surrendering in love to the Unknowable. If we are born out of love, only love can heal us. We cannot heal ourselves no matter how skillful our machinations. If you believe there is such a thing as love, you believe in God by another name. Let love take you, if you would truly experience its power.

Calista, the daughter of Pedro and Kelly Silva, demonstrates Forgiving Mind.

If you live long enough someone is going to do something that hurts you. The wound could be physical but more than likely the blow that upsets your equilibrium the most will be emotional or spiritual in nature. Sometimes a single act passes through all categories. Sexual abuse has a physical side but imbalances the mind and disturbs the spirit of its victims also. We can be bothered by the taunts or misdeeds of strangers who are quick to find and underscore our inadequacies or take advantage of our weaknesses but nothing harms us more than malevolent acts of family members and friends, real or imagined. We may find ourselves filled with rage. Rage, however strong, is a storm. It does not last forever. If we are able to pass through the worst of it without acting we come out of the other side with nothing worse than a headache. What is far worse and far more dangerous to our longterm well-being is lingering anger, hatred or borderline hatred. This emotion tears into our psyche, eating away at out soul while masquerading as an assault on our antagonist. The one you have labeled “the enemy” may be aware of your feelings but the one who is damaged by them is you. You have taken a cancer into your mind. Its tentacles will reach into your soul and sap your life unless you take a deep drink of an elixir that may seem bitter at first. I highly recommend that you drink of this special solution blended from the essence of Mind and Spirit. It is called forgiveness. Forgive!

Forgiveness is a precious gift. Give it!

Ill-will is like holding a hot stone in the brain. It easily becomes the central focus and motivating factor in your behavior. Pain, even cerebral pain contorts the facial muscles and hardens our responses to the people around us. We find that we are more defensive than we have ever been because we unconsciously superimpose our negative feelings for one person or a situation on whoever or whatever we happen to be facing in a given moment. Like the hot stone we become hard and virtually untouchable because our tender and sensitive nature is obscured by a wound we have chosen to prod with the fingers of thought over and over. In this way we keep the wound open to fester.

When a clam is irritated by a grain of sand (In our case, a word or deed) it secretes a protective fluid that hardens around the intrusion. Eventually the sand is transformed. Not only does it lose its power to irritate but it becomes a pearl, an object of great beauty. It does not work that way with us. As human beings when we heap great attention upon a negative experience we only amplify the effect. The irritation does not become encased in something beautiful and positive. We become consumed by it. We begin to lose our luster as living souls.

There are those who think they are justified in holding onto grudges. Perhaps the acts against them cut deep. Perhaps they lost so much from the callous behavior of others., Nevertheless, the greatest danger lies not in what others have done or will ever do to us but in what we do to ourselves. Another person can take many things away from us, people walk out of our lives, places are suddenly off-limit and things can vanish without a trace. Yet, for all their taking, no one can take away the very essence and true treasure of life, itself. That is...they can never take away the vehicle of joy that is your own being. Only you can shut that vehicle down. Only you can cut off the flow of healing that is yours alone. Your soul is your treasure.

Ironically, perhaps, the only way to make room for deeply healing your wounded psyche is to pardon the offender. You must escape a double bind-double-mind situation. When we perceive that a wound is caused by another person that person takes up residence within our mind. Like a noisy upstairs neighbor he or she generates distractions that constantly bring attention to itself. If you are listening to noise you cannot appreciate the music. How a soul responds to music is vastly different from how it responds to noise. A decision must be made. Do you want to hear the music or the noise? If you decide to listen to the music you can wear headphones. Suddenly, the music prevails. The neighbor may still be noisy but that noise cannot disturb you because you have made a place of refuge in the midst of it.

In order to forgive, we must put aside thoughts of retaliation. We silence the negative buzz of those barbed thoughts by giving a blanket amnesty to the offender. This only works when we can do that sincerely. Only with spiritual input can we experience the kind of transformation that permits us to turn back the clock before the offense. It is taught that the forgiveness of God in Christ washes the sinner as white as snow. In other words, the person is made pure and faultless by God's forgiveness. Like-wise, enlightenment restores the mind to its original perfection, all blemishes vanish in The Light. This is not a process we earn. It is an act of grace. You must learn to offer grace.

Seekers of forgiveness rejoice to learn that their darkest deeds can be erased but it is far easier to desire forgiveness than to give it. It is a great virtue to forgive. It brings with it great blessing.

If there is some one in your life you harbor ill-will toward, consider what you feel as you contemplate that. Who receives the pain? It is time to let it go, to really let it go, to cast it out of your heart and mind. If Man is in the likeness of God then you, too,have redemptive power. You can redeem a person by offering your unconditional forgiveness but there is more to this challenge than just saying “I forgive you in secret.” You must make it real, you must make it clear. You must throw open the door of your heart. Forgiveness is not real until you give of your self. Forgiveness dissolves hurt, pain and guilt in one spiritual application. It is a way of emptying the mind and setting the soul free to soar, to breathe to live again. Forgiveness is a gift to yourself, most of all. If you find it hard to summon up the mental strength to set your grudges free, remember that grace is not mental. Use the power of prayer to seek a change in your attitude. Meditate without a goal...just meditate. Forgiveness really is divine. Surrender your ego to The Divine and something extraordinary will happen.

Susan Boyle; a star in sheepish clothing.

This is what a star looks like...this is how she sounds. (Youtube video)

Susan Boyle's appearance on Dancing with the Stars moved me to tears.Sharon Osborne is wrong. Susan Boyle is beatiful.  Beauty touches the soul. Susan is exquisitely unspoiled. I hope she continues to share her gift with us and is protected from those who would wound her heart for a laugh.

This space will feature other unexpected or extraordinary stars from time to time. Practice your gift.

STAR POWER

When The Christ Child was born he was the center of attention on earth and in heaven. While everyone did not know who he was, the dynamic and awesome concentration of Universal Mind and Spirit converged in flesh and the literal, SUPERSTAR, was born. It is often forgotten or underplayed when Jesus Christ is viewed only within the context of a a given Religion, that the Man Jesus is a prototype. He is the completed version of what we were all created to be, "the first born of many fruit, sons of God."Gender, notwithstanding, that includes all human beings. While Jesus may not have always known where he stood with men he knew where he stood with God. "I am the Father are one," he said, but Jesus Christ was not ego-centric, he went further, "I would that ye also be one as we are one."

Jesus had no problem desiring the best for everyone. He wanted everyone to shine with the best that is within them. You cannot always know or see the best by judging the exterior but people do it all the time. We are covered by flesh but we are spirit within it. It is the divisive mind which blinds us to our own wholeness and to the true nature of others. We need to learn to look with more than eyes. We need to become feeling instruments like sonar or radar. We must stop making snap judgments of people, and give them a chance to reveal their true selves. The visual impression is not enough, in fact, it is the chief tool of The Deceiver.

I took great delight in learning about and hearing Susan Boyle of Great Britain. The contestant on Britain's Got Talent, a show like American Idol, had the appearance of a wash woman, plain and unadorned. When Susan opened her mouth to sing, however, she astounded all who listened. I am glad that Susan did not let people discourage her. She is a star. I hope that she will learn to trust the source of her voice more, then she will always shine through the surface and illuminate her vacinity. Don't let anybody, not even your own body obscure your starlight. You, too, are an unique expression of The Great I Am.

At any given moment in time and space you may be needed to express the greatness within you. Do not faint, rise up and stand strong in confidence. You may be the star of right now.

Neti Neti. Every situation cannot be measured by profit and lost.

Dance and song are both express of timing and rhythm in different ways.  While a contest  is narrowed down to winning or losing, life is not like that. There is a kind of winning that does not involve a loser. A contest has only a single number one but The Creator of  All has only The One, you are an expression of The One. Know that and act accordingly but never forget that every person you meet is also a reflection of THAT. Susan Boyle made me happy as does everyone who refuses to fit the mold at the cost of their uniqueness. I dreamed a dream...and it is coming true day by day. You are in it.

Vernon Kitabu Turner/Kitabu Roshi

THIS IS NOT BUDDHA!

Photo by Sabine Kleftogiannis

One year I stood in the midst of hundreds of thousands of people screaming in the New Year at Times Square in New York City. I had witnessed the event many times before on television. That night I was made certain that I do not belong in multitudes. Many people really enjoy crowds. For those in the world of Religion the choice may seem to be that they stand as one of the multitudes at the feet of God or face the unmentionable alternative. For those caught up in the world, following the crowd may appear safe, also. Such is the broad picture of life. The Broad Path, however, is not THE PATH. The Path, that leads to awakening is singular. You really must travel it alone but you are not without help.
In Japanese, the word, sensei means, “one who has gone on before.” Our Creator sent those ahead of us to guide us pass the traps that would bind us to delusion. To believe in the words they left is merely Religion. To practice them on ourselves is The Path, the traceless road to realization.

THE BODY OF CHRIST/THE BODY OF BUDDHA is a message that will speak to you if you hear the inner-call. Its for your spirit, not your head. It is spoken to help you become, not merely believe.

Nadya Suleman talks to Ann Curry of "The Today Show."

To me, there is nothing more exquisite or as beautiful as a child. There is not to be found a more trusting and innocent being than a baby. The opposite complement to children would be the love of the mother. She opens her heart and takes the little life unto her breast.  If she is truly endowed with motherlove, there that child will remain throughout life, close to her proverbial breast. How many children or offsprings can a mother love? I suspect the answer is "This many..."

Children are innocent.  They  act without knowledge of cause and effect, without awareness of  the consequences caused by their spontaneous actions and utterances. Those of us who went to public schools may still remember the sting of  the insults we endured because of our too large ears, bulbous noses or oversized heads. Whatever a classmate saw as a flaw quickly became the group joke until some other poor student became the target of the week. The class comedians may have thought they were funny or justified but what they did for a laugh may have caused tears to flow for  many years later.  A young child has no intent to do harm. A young child lacks sufficient experience to comprehend what  happens to another human being when they are  publicly ridiculed.

As I watch the media and public reaction to the case of Nadya Suleman, the woman who is now being called Octupulet Mom, I am not only reminded of those days in school but grieve at how easy it is for human beings to assume a position of false superiority.  The eight  childlren are now in the world. They are living beings. How they were conceived may be a point of interest but of more interest to me is that each child is a vital living being.. They will need the love and attention of their mother. To take on such a herculean role,  granted, one  she chose,  Suleman must be in a positive frame of mind.  Those who decry the births have no obligation to contribute to their upkeep but  to continually take snipes at the mother and, in atleast one case ,to threaten her life are sick acts. So to deprive 14 children of their mother would be the higher road in someone's mind, than having them?  I have no doubt that one woman could love so many children. A mother's love is not determined by Math.

Jesus Christ compared his love to that of a mother. His love was so vast he wanted to shelter all living beings.

Christ holding the Universal Child is an original Soul Sword Zen work of art created by Sabine Kleftogiannis. You can bid on owning the original signed copy by writing Wordmasters@Peoplepc.com attention Art Director.

Love can not be measured in dollars and cents. I have heard estimates of how much it will take to raise 14 children. If our parents had to calculate the dollar expediture of keeping us through the years based on their  minimum wage budgets, most of the people in my school would not have been born. Most of the children in the world today would not have been born. Buddhist recognize that human birth is a great privilege. It is a gift to the being who experiences it. Reflect for a moment on your own life. You breathe, feel, taste, touch, and smell. You have unlimited ability to expand your life experiences. Be grateful that your parents permited you to be born in this world. This is their most precious gift to you. They did not take the opportunity away...they could have.

Nadya Suleman explained to Ann Curry on ""The Today Show," that she always wanted a large family. I do not know why she felt the need to take the great risk of multible implants.  However, human beings are endowed with a precious ability that is being threatened more and more each day. It is called free-will. You do not have to like other people's choices. If you make a strong effort to curtain their right to choose, even to make an unpopular choice, you will put a knife to your own free-will. If a person is not directly causing you harm in violation of your right to enjoy life and well-being, your opinion of their decision does not bear the weight of law.

What I am witnessing is that people seem to think because they don't agree with Nadya Suleman they have a right to threaten her physical and psychological well-being.  Instead of giving birth to only eight children, she has given birth to millions of  name-calling little boys and girls.  One blog spoke of Suleman in the same breath as Casey Anthony. Anthony is alledged to have taken her child's life. Suleman has given life and promised love. Now it is up to Suleman to find her way to do just that, raise all of her children with love.

Students of The Way should know that we are all imperfect. It is easy to see the glaring faults of others and rise  up to point the finger. That is because our vision looks outward. We see others not ourselves. People become animated in their criticism, not realizing that they are only indicting themselves.

There is a reason The Scripture say "Judge not that ye be not judged." Meditate on that. Judge and you will be judged.

Spiritually,you cannot achieve what you will not allow others to possess as well. So if  you find yourself trying to tear a person apart for exercizing their right of choice, no matter how unconventional it is, you, yourself are a prisoner of conformity. That may keep you out of the news but it is one of the worst of all possible spiritual conditions. There is no progress on the enlightenment path for you so long as you hold to a rigid mind.

We are not in grade school anymore. We know that words and deeds have consequences. We should do what we can to help in situations or hold our peace. This is only a mandate, if your desire is to be an instrument of peace and change. You may be  a person who  likes conflict.  You  may operate under the delusion that you can be free and everyone else must follow your view of the ideal. Eight  new children are here now. They would no more know the circumstances of their birth than you do yours...but of course the media will tell them, and they may suffer for that knowledge one day. For now they know nothing but they can still sense the spiritual state of their mother. The Lord says , "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for such as they is the kingdom of heaven." He  would not exclude the Suleman babies and neither would I. The babies are here now. They need love. More important than analyzing the mother is the welfare of the children. You cannot help the children by targeting the mother. The children are here now. Time for the critics and pundits to be mindful of the damage they may be causing. Do pray for the children...all of the children of the world. Pray for their mothers for their love can be godlike in its sustaining power. Pray for the fathers that they may stand close and be a strong pillow of faith and the doer of good deeds. More than even that, pray that each of us will reach out to the children of the world in true compassion....

It still takes a village...

The great advancement in technology stills proves the saying originally taught in my motherland of Africa. "It takes a village to raise a child." Whether children come from one mother or a group of mothers they need help. Positive role models can  fill the void in families, and help children live rich lives. In the picture below, Joseph Daniel Duncan, a part of the Soul Sword Zen Community (He is scrunched down in back) is seen with some of the boys from a community center in London, England. ,He teaches them Warrior Exercizes, among other things. He is currently studying  for his Masters, and is dedicated to helping youth. Joseph has no children of his own. He is still in his twenties but he knows how to be a big brother to those youth needing guidance and attention.

Look for ways you can make things better. That is our way.

Joseph Duncan (London) with the boys he trains in Warrior Exercises.

PRESENCE IS THE GIFT

PEACE ON EARTH: HOW TO RECEIVE THE GIFT

It was dark. I stood at the door of the American Vishwa Dharma Zen Temple (Soul Sword Zendo) and my attention was immediately attracted by a single bright star shining close to the earth. The star was so bright above the house across the street that I knew that it could be no ordinary occurence. I walked out to the street so that I could get a clear view through the trees. There it was, unnaturally brillant, radiating through the night. It was an electric star mounted on the chimney of  the neighbor's house.

Many of the neighbors had elaborate decorations. Their houses were illuminated by hundreds of lights. This man, a person I knew to be a Christian, chose to raise a single shining star into the heavens above an otherwise darkened house...  In that one glance I was transported 2000 years to the star that shone above a Bethlehem stable. I have always felt a spirit of peace come upon me when I gazed upon the starry  sky. A single, star, however evoked a different feeling, something deeply personal...a feeling that connected me to the vastness.

The Baby Jesus was born under such a star, and that star cast light around  the world and through the centuries but mankind, most of mankind, still fail to understand the significance of Jesus or the signle star. We are still too victimized by our worship of the intellect and by the curse of a divided mind. We are too busy trying to figure everything out with the ego-centric consciouness which makes us the prime operative of the universe. We don't know how to yield and receive , like a baby, like the Baby Jesus, and so we miss it.

On Christmas, the name we give that  awe-inspiring day when The Christ-Child was born, mankind was also born anew. It is not something we can get with our mind. It takes faith to leap beyond knowing to the unknown. It takes faith to believe that we are one despite our obvious differences. It takes faith to believe that one living being can send soul freeing power all the way down the line to the present day, just as it takes faith to believe in One Mind

This season, as always, we will celebrate with things. We will shop until the stores close to bring home stuff, not  necessarily to give out of love but out of a sense of obligation. We believe in stuff. We believe in what we can see, touch and prove with out senses. So Christmas becomes about stuff using the flimsy reason that the Wisemen gave gifts to the Christ Child. It is true, they gave gifts of precious things of the world but what they received in return was not tangible. They travelled by camel from another country to give...they got NO-THING back.

It is this what we cannot see, what we cannot measure in terms of our five-senses that is the mysterious gift The Christ Child brings.  "Peace on earth."  You can have that...no not the whole world, you can have peace on earth when you reach out to receive the intangible gift.  Each of us were born receving instruments but we had no power to discriminate what we were receiving. We took in delusion upon delusion. How can we know The Way when our receiving instrument is tainted. Help is needed. Help is needed in so many ways. The Christ Child would grow up to say "I am The Way, The Truth and The Life, no man comes unto The Father (The Supreme) except by me."

If you think, how can a man born 2000 years ago help me now? My answer is electricity. The Bible poses the question, "What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of  Man that thou visiteth him? The quest of Zen is to discover what you really are directly, not in ideas or concepts but by direct perception. So we say Man is one. In essense  you are that one. If you are disconnected from your true self, a little jumpstart, living current shot from the empowered to you clears up what ails you in a flash of light. Your response could be anything from ahhh sooky sooky to thank you Jesus.

This Christmas give yourself the gift of humility. Recognize that you do now know the answer to the essential question. It is highly likely you have no clue as to what you really are. Become a seeker of  The Star in your heart and help will manifest some place in time and space. The person you meet will not be the new born Christ Child in a Bethlehem stable but under that ever-shining star you will discover that The Mind and Spirit of Master continues and can speak through any vessel God chooses. It is not what you see in the miror that is crying out for guidance. It is not who you see with your eyes who will reach out to help.

Christmas, The Very Spiritual path, itself, is never about stuff. After all, we are not the bodies we use temporarily. Without using a word...what are you then?

Only the source of the Star of Bethlehem can reveal that. Be humble. Be still. The greatest gift of all is already present. The star is only a reminder of  The Light within you.