PEACE LOVE YOGA: Odanadi Seva Trust

Burnt To Ash

"All Inquiry is meant for one purpose; to take you experientially into the unknown as efficiently as possible. Once you get there, simply be still because inquiry has delivered you to its destination. The rest is up to Grace. Do not hold onto any knowledge that comes your way. Even the greatest revelations much not be clung to, or you will end up with a head full of memories and a heart empty of substance. The truth is ever new, existing only in the now. The highest truth is beyond knowledge and experience. It is beyond time and space, and beyond beingness, consciousness, and oneness. Just remember that all direct path techniques are meant simply to undermine, to cut away, the one who is performing them. No matter what spiritual path you've walked or what teachings you've followed, they must lead you back to no path and no teaching. A true teaching is like a blazing fire that consumes the itself. The teaching must not only consume you, but consume itself as well. All must be burned to ash, and then the ash must be burned. The, and only then, is the Ultimate realized. True Enlightenment destroys enlightenment. As long as you can refer back to yourself and say, 'I'm enlightened', you not. Enlightenment is authentic only when there is no one left to be enlightened. Even to say 'I am nobody', is one too many. There's a point when you intuitively realize that to be Free you have to give up your attachment to Freedom. You have to quit asking yourself: Is it still there? Am I okay? You have to decide to never look over your shoulder again to see if you're free or if others know you're free. You just have to let yourself burn there - no matter what. This isn't something I can help you with. I can tell you what you need to do, but you have to do it. In the beginning, teachers can help a lot. But the deeper you go, all they can do is point, and clarify, and tell you what you need to do. Only you can take this step. Nobody can push you in to this place."

- Adyashanti

No Expectations

A spirit that lives in this world

and does not wear the shirt of love,

such an existence is a deep disgrace.

Be foolishly in love,

because love is all there is.

There is no way into presence

except through a love exchange.

If someone asks, But what is love?

answer, Dissolving the will.

True freedom comes to those

who have escaped the questions

of freewill and fate.

Love is an emperor.

The two worlds play across him.

He barely notices their tumbling game.

Love and lover live in eternity.

Other desires are substitutes

for that way of being.

How long do you lay embracing a corpse?

Love rather the soul, which cannot be held.

Anything born in spring dies in the fall,

but love is not seasonal.

With wine pressed from grapes,

expect a hangover.

But this love path has no expectations.

You are uneasy riding the body?

Dismount. Travel lighter.

Wings will be given.

Be clear like a mirror

reflecting nothing.

Be clean of pictures and the worry

that comes with images.

Gaze into what is not ashamed

or afraid of any truth.

Contain all human faces in your own

without any judgement of them.

Be pure emptiness.

What is inside that? you ask.

Silence is all I can say.

Lovers have some secrets

that they keep.

(Rumi)

7.3.09

Odanadi ~ One who walks hand and hand with you through life's journeys; a mate, a friend, for all seasons.

It's a sad fact human trafficking exists in the world. But, where there is despair, there is hope, when organizations such as Odanadi Seva Trust exist in the world. Today, I attended this inspiring event created to raise awareness regarding the problem of human trafficking locally, as well as globally. The performances by the children were simply beautiful. A true testament of strength and perseverance, centered around the human spirit.

Following is an excerpt from the program:

"Every day in India hundreds of vulnerable woman and children are lured into the illegal sex trade, bonded slavery and domestic servitude. Over the past 18 years Mysore's Odanadi Seva Trust has rescued and rehabilitated more than 1,850 of these children, carried out 57 brothel raids and brought 137 traffickers to justice. Today there are around 85 residents based on two sites on the outskirts of Mysore. Here they have access to counseling, education, health care, vocational training and a whole raft of extra-curricular activities designed to help rebuild their confidence, recover their strength, to develop and grow. Through your awareness and cooperation Odanadi will continue to fight human trafficking at is roots and provide a safe haven for those who have been affected."

"Self-expression is of vital importance to Odanadi's pioneering rehabilitation model. Through the practice of semi-classical Indian dance, song, drama, art, karate, and yoga, the women and children of Odanadi are gradually able to rebuild their confidence, self-respect, physical and mental strength. The afternoon's program is a bold example of their talent and determination."