Path of the DharmaFarmer: Awakening to Wholeness

2010-02-03T15:56:00.004-05:00

~Up, Up and Away~

This will be my final blog (unless its not), as I am shifting my blogging over to my professional page. I am keeping this page up for a few reasons:

1) I love it. It is a wonderful place for me to see and integrate older versions of me

2) I don't know who might benefit by coming across the path of the DharmaFarmer and want to keep that possibility open

3) I may pick this back up after some time

Currently, there are several core projects on the table that I am developing as best I can. They include:

~Building my coaching niche and practice

~Forming a successful teacher training program for my lineage of yoga

~Writing a book on personal empowerment

~Cultivating a healthy and fulfilling romantic relationship

~Working with yoga and dance studios to host my offerings

~Developing and executing various workshops

~Creating a community of sincere practitioners for this tradition

Whew. So far, this has been a very humbling and self-awakening process.

I am being humbled by my own habits and conditioned ways of thinking. I thought staying in a silent meditative retreat was a powerful way to reveal my inner machinations, but I see now that bringing this meditative reflection into an 'all-in' life move is even more powerful. And, given how much I am taking on, it is requiring more and more of my total energy- what Don Juan called 'impeccability'. Any energy I squander on negative thoughts, beliefs and behaviors is that much energy I don't have to fulfill my purposes. So the edge of development is very sharp and immediate. Cool stuff here.

And this leads to more rapid self-awakening. As the conditioning is seen (with acceptance for what it is free from judgment), a power and clarity wakes up withing this. It's been a wild ride so far, and I am super fulfilled in this process.

So, for those of you that want to continue with me along the next stage of this adventure, come and join me at my professional site: Empowered Journey Coaching and Training. This site includes articles, blogs, and video blogs, all to support your on-going awaking into power, wisdom and love.

Thank you to each of you for the support you have given over the years- whether you shared somehow with me, or even if you just tuned in from time to time and got something valuable from this. I know we are all taking part is something miraculous, and we are all together in this. I am so happy to think of each of you as my companion on this mysterious journey.

In gratitude and community,

Eka

2010-01-26T20:08:00.002-05:00

~A Cushion for Your Head~

Just Sit Right Now

Don't Do A Thing

Just Rest.

For Your Separation From God,

From Love

Is The Hardest Work

In This World.

Let Me Bring You

Trays of Food

And Something That

You Like To Drink.

You Can Use My Soft Words

As A Cushion For Your Head.

~Hafiz, trans. Daniel Ladinski

2010-01-11T12:36:00.004-05:00

~The Activity of Emptiness~

I have encountered many people working with awakening practices that hold a certain view of the realization of emptiness. I have even watched my own mind hold on quite strongly to this same view. It is the view that realizing emptiness (sunyata) or 'essential insubstantiality' would result in an ineffective and unmotivated bag of bones, unable to act in the world for the betterment of the world.

If we took the image of a bamboo flute, this view holds that once we clear blockages in the flute itself, fully surrendering attachments (even the attachment to play this instrument), the flute would become totally mute, dead, and ineffective- because there's no one there to blow through it, right?

But, what we find (and what the sages teach), is that once blockages are cleared from the flute (attachments and identifications are released), the flute plays of its own nature. And it plays itself very, very well. How could this be so?

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, awakened Tibetan master, says it this way:

When you recognize the empty nature of phenomena, the energy to bring about the good of others dawns uncontrived and effortless. Compassion is the activity of emptiness.

The point is that emptiness has an active nature in relative reality (everyday life). When we realize ourselves as inherently empty of anything definable, perceived separation drops away, and there is nothing to impede or obstruct the flow of emptiness, the flow of life living itself. And when life is allowed to live itself free of egoic narrowness, what results could be called 'unsurpassed compassion and harmony'. Pure examples of this are readily displayed in nature, in the stars, in the atom, and even in humanity- though we work very hard no to see this.

'Be aware, don't cling', says Joseph Goldstein. The unattached, non-clinging heart-mind is where all traditions (that I have studied) converge. Even in the writings of Rumi or Hafiz, beings aflame with love for the mysterious-intimate beloved, the practice woven throughout is uncompromising surrender into life itself.

Love is the true activity of emptiness. And emptiness is the true wisdom of love.

offered in humility,

eka

2010-01-07T15:00:00.003-05:00

~Voices of Gaia~

A note written to myself, channeling the wisdom of Gaia-Earth-Mother, India 2006

Justin~

I am you- this is the first thing of importance. I am not this and you are not that- we are It together. To miss this point is separation anxiety in the most real sense. You are me; we are of the same stuff. To think that you are apart from me is to disconnect yourself from your source.

Try as hard as you can to get back to this source, to get back to me. But realize, getting back to me does not involve 'getting' anything, for you already have it; you are already there. All you can do is abide in this realization and act truly from it until you are firmly re-established in me...in yourself.

Thank you Justin for all you have done thus far to awaken to these truths. Surely I know it is not easy in your culture, which prides itself in its disconnection from me. Each effort- large or small- is felt by me and cherished as a son's gift to his mother. Keep pressing, keep striving- find your way home.

I love you.

Gaia

2009-12-28T10:38:00.003-05:00

~La Ilaha Illa Allah~

~God Alone Is~

~Aho~

2009-12-26T15:21:00.005-05:00

~New Year's Revelations~

We are in a time of deep reflection and envisioning...the Winter Solstice, the celebration of the Tree of Life, and the coming of the New Year. It is also, to me, the yearly rebirth of Christ Consciousness along our collective journey of spiritual evolution.

It is in this time of revelation and new beginnings that I share with you a great and beautiful shift in my life. The shift is threefold: life, love, and location.

~

A short backstory:

Almost a year ago around mid-November, during a 3-month meditation retreat, something deep and powerful awoke in me. Though I did not know the moment in which it occurred, I began soon after to see its effects. In fact, the effects were everywhere, because this awakening had fundamentally shifted my cognitive experience. One way I could put words to it (though inadequately) is to say that from that point on, my moment to moment experience of the world has been deeply intimate, inclusive, without separation. To say it short: it's all one.

Though I know this process is not 'over' and continues to deepen and enrich over time, it awoke something in me that has fundamentally changed the way I move through the world. Putting it in a question, 'If it and I and all are fundamentally always One, then does any essential change or growth occur?' And, 'If no essential change occurs in the One, what is the motivating factor for being and acting in the world?' To this, the clear and strong answer continues to ring out, 'To shine with true love for the upliftment and awakening of all beings!'

Though this realization has been ripening and integrating more and more as time goes, this last year has been guided by an ease and a spaciousness and a freedom of heart and mind that I have never before known. And because of this new realization, I have been moving through my own life in a totally unique way. And life, reflecting this truth, has responded in its own unique and beautiful way.

~

And so to the New Year's Revelations. In the course of this past year I have:

(1) connected with a spiritual lineage and teacher that my heart can call guru without hesitation,

(2) seen with clarity my place and calling as a spiritual guide and mentor, and

(3) been blessed to find intimate kalyana mitta: a spiritual love and life partner.

And what does this look like on the immediate level? Well, by the end of January, I will be living with my partner in San Francisco, engaged in my vocation of personal mentoring and facilitating group practices and workshops. I intend to offer myself to this service of mentoring as fully as possible, to all that seek it. And I intend to sustain myself financially through this work. Speaking of which, my new professional website is here, where I offer and explain my personal mentoring services. Take a look!

All of this marks a new phase for me and my journey, and in every way it feels timely and aligned. Life is asking me to jump, all in, and trust, and at this point in my process, I know I can and am doing so fully and joyfully. There are absolutely no guarantees with any of this, yet how can I say no to the sincere guidance of my own heart?

~

And though there is no sadness or longing, there is also a part of me that recognizes and honors the paths not taken, especially in regard to my earlier plan of moving back to the Pioneer Valley and beginning my work there. I have really been blessed with so many good friends over the years, truly lovely souls that have honored and supported my path, unconventional as it may be. And I know a part of me stays in Northampton, as parts of me have stayed in India, Peru, Argentina, etc. But it is also true that parts of these places and people live within me, and they inform and inspire me daily.

So thank you all for your friendship and support. You are each an intimate part of my journey.

I will continue to keep this blog, bringing to you news of the west coast adventures. Please stay in touch! Also, the mentoring services I offer are direct and effective. I mentor on a wide range of human experiences and processes, and I can definitely work over the phone, no matter where you are. If you are interested to know more about these services, please check out my website, or simply email me at integralmentor (at) gmail (dot) com. Entering into mentorship, clients not only receive essential understandings, techniques, and personal insights to evolve their own life situations, they also support me to continue this work of serving others.

Light and Love to you my friends,

Eka Joti

2009-12-16T11:58:00.004-05:00

~Footprints of Healing~

My long-time friend Shira Granote is preparing to do something quite extraordinary, beautiful, and courageous. Early in 2010, she will begin a selfless-service pilgrimage across the country in order to spread the message and work of healing to all beings that she crosses.

Personally, I have no doubt in the success of her pilgrimage, as she is one of the most intelligent, hardworking, caring, focused, and joyful people I know. Below is her short statement describing the why and how of the healing pilgrimage. Please read and feel if this touches something in you, offering a spark into your own creative life process. Blessings!

Dear Friends,

I am very excited to tell you about A Walk for Healing that will begin on March 18th 2010. The message behind the cross country walk is one of healing, transforming, and waking up to life around us.

The driving force behind the walk is to utilize the arts as a mode of healing. There are many forms of arts, such as: music, dance, yoga, handmade crafts, artwork, and in the broadest sense self-expression. These various modalities join the right and left sides of our brain and the result is union with the mind, body, and spirit, to cultivate amazing healing. I have come to recognize the true power of the arts and all of the ways they inspire growth, creativity, self-confidence, and community which is precisely what my mission will be on this walk.

It is on this walk that I am following my own heart path that was spoken to me on my very own Yoga Mat. It is on this walk that I walk for all of those individuals still suffering with their own inner dialogues. It is on this walk that I say let us heal ourselves, let us heal each other, and let us heal this world. This walk will include the following programming in various communities: yoga, meditation, healing circles, music, chanting, dancing, community service, presentations, discussions, laughter, fun, learning, brainstorming sessions to obtain global healing, and walking. It's sure to be unforgettable.

Please find it within your hearts to support my walk in any form that speaks to you. If you are called to walk, please do so any distance. If you are called to donate money to the healing fund (which will be offered to individuals we meet along the way) or donate to support food and shelter for participants along the walk, please do so any amount. If you are called to spread this walk of healing to those you know, please do so with openness and love. If you are called to send positive intentions, please do so with the beauty of your own heart.

In gratitude,
Shira

Here are the two sites Shira is using to spread the word and gather donations.

~Wake Up Now Homepage~

~Donate to Wake Up Now~

And to close, an inspiring excerpt from Nelson Mandela's 1994 inauguration speech~

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

LightLifeLove,

Eka

2009-12-05T14:38:00.001-05:00

~A Healing at Ground Zero~

During my time in NYC, the impulse came to visit the World Trade Site. This surprised me somewhat, as I had no personal interest in seeing the site. It was just a non-issue for me.

So I looked into this impulse, and found the guidance to do a shamanic healing there. This made sense, given the nature of the destruction, and the purpose of my visit to the city.

So that morning, I headed over early to the site. Arriving, I began to notice chaotic energies (and this compared to the normal chaos of other parts of Manhattan). I found I could hardly stay centered in concentration. I walked slowly around the periphery, deliberately taking in the atmosphere, sensing into the wound itself. You could say I was probing energetically.

Eventually, I made my way to the observation deck of a nearby hotel. Feeling I had found the spot, I rolled a ceremonial cigarette, and began the inward journey to find a song and a feeling appropriate for this healing. Now mind you, I had no thoughts that I was healing this large wound. What I felt was that I was doing my small bit, offering what I could.

And as I said before, it was unusually difficult to drop into concentration and hear the appropriate song. Eventually though I was able to do it. I had to restrict myself to a single image, a single feeling, and focus on that with all my ability, and then the song began to emerge. Allowing it to grow inside me, the feeling also grew, and I was able to see really what I was bringing down in that moment. Putting bounded words to an unbounded feeling, it would be something like: 'May we know and see the true causes of this wounding. Seeing the true causes, may we accept and forgive. Forgiving, may we become something greater and wiser.'

While I was singing this song and charging the cigarette, a tour group came and stood right next to me. Leading it were two women, both of whom had lost relatives in the attacks, I learned later. Finishing my song, I joined the group, which was just ending. Feeling draw, I engaged with the two women, asking them about the tour group and the work that they were doing. Pat, the one that seemed to connect most with me, had lost her son, a firefighter, that day. We talked a bit, and I could feel her still-healing wound. Reaching out with love and light, we walked and talked as we headed towards the firefighters memorial. At one point, I took my leave to find the firestation alone.

Heading outside, I found the station and memorial. I felt the steel embedded in the firestation exterior...steel that had once resided in the trade tower itself. I looked around, and felt that this was the space to offer the healing tobacco. I sang the song once again, and began to blow the smoke to the sky, the ground, and in all directions. I offered the feelings and words of the italicized statement written above. I held the space like one holds a frightened child. It was a very powerful experience.

As I closed, it was clear in a very strong way that I needed to fully clean myself, with smoke and breath and visualization. I felt my resources somewhat depleted, and found myself walking towards St. Paul Chapel. Upon entering, I collapsed on a chair there, and felt my energies cleansing and recharging. After a half hour or so of this, I stood and anointed my chakras and palms with holy water. Feeling like closure had occurred, I left with a prayer.

Truly, it was a very powerful lesson for me in channeling and healing. I am glad to have had the chance to offer my small but meaningful healing. Here also are a few pictures I took during the walkabout.

Love to you my friend,
Eka

2009-12-05T14:00:00.001-05:00

~A Stroll Through Prospect Park~

Visiting my lovely friends in Brooklyn, I was escorted for several hours through the ebbs and flows of Prospect Park. The day was just beautiful, and the light seemed infused with a golden hue. As we walked, we passed by no less than 4 wedding groups taking their photos in full regalia.

After an hour and some of meandering, we stopped to lay face-down on the grass, easefully passing into a restorative sleep. We woke warmed by the sun on our backs, and began to flow naturally into breath and movement, yoga reaching, inversions and tumbles. All in all, the day was quite magical.

I hope you enjoy these few photos.

In communion,

Ekayana

2009-11-26T10:41:00.002-05:00

~Mystery and Miracle~

Reflecting on this day of thanks-giving, my heart finds gratitude for many things, so many things. In fact, finding one object of gratitude, my heart sees the conditions connected to it, and gratitude increases. Just to have eyes to see this world, how many mysteries and miracles had to come together? To say that the whole universe is the direct cause of a single moment of joy in your life would not be an exaggeration. It is said, 'One cannot pick a flower without affecting the farthest star.' There is a reality to this statement.

Of all the miracles and mysteries I behold, that I behold is the greatest of them. Our authorities- scientific and religious- offer answers of every color to so many of our questions, yet this one question they cannot touch. What Am I? It is also asked in the questions, What is God? and What is Life? The three are actually one.

Knowing this, the mystic St. Francis of Assisi said, 'What you are looking for is what is looking.' Our true nature, the Godhead, is a mystery and a miracle, and is ours to realize.

Below is a short video from Mooji. I have posted this before, and I want to offer it up again, as an incredibly direct and potent expression of the mystery and miracle. Listen to his words from a state of detachment, like how you would listen to rain falling outside while sitting in your favorite chair...

My heart is struck and overwhelmed by gladness for all the light beings who guide us tirelessly, asking nothing in return. May we use our human opportunity wisely. May we be happy and free.

A Great Thanks-Giving to you all,

Eka

2009-11-16T13:07:00.004-05:00

~The Power of a Story~

My friends,

I have been keeping this online account of my travels, internal and external, for almost 4 years now. At first, this was really a simple, effective, and cheap way of keeping in contact with close friends and family while traveling. Yet bit by bit, it has become something more.

I began to understand the power of the story. Not just any story, but a personal account of this human journey. As I reached deeper into my own story, I found myself more and more interested in the stories of others, other seekers making their way, through many different paths and expressions.

And now, after 4 years, I can see with some clarity the real purpose of this blog...why I continue to feel drawn to share with you. It is really almost nothing, in the scheme of the web (let alone the scheme of the cosmos). Yet it is what it is, my story.

And every once in a while, I find that it has, in some way, helped someone: to understand a certain point of practice/philosophy, to connect with a resource or technique, to share spaces and places, or simply to know that they are not alone in this journey up and through and home again.

In both the deepest spiritual understandings and contemporary scientific systems, we are seeing that this collective human experience arises from collective human agreements. We steer this cosmic ship called Humanity through our collective beliefs and understandings, and the resulting actions. Gautama Buddha called them ditthis (views), and said that the world is literally arising from this mosaic of ditthis.

Really seeing this, we see the power of a story. It is the power of what we tell ourselves daily; how we choose to see ourselves and others; how we bring meaning and purpose to our shared world.

And so I put the question to each of us...what are our beliefs, our agreements? What stories, conscious and unconscious, are guiding our life experience, while contributing to the whole? At this time in our collective unfolding, we simply cannot afford to be directed by unconscious agreements. We must see what is driving our journey, and decide whether such agreements and resulting direction is something we want.

One of the greatest dangers I see today in our global society is the forfeiting of our agency over our personal and collective stories to interest groups that have no interest in our individual and communal spiritual development. Government, corporations, mass-media...these are social systems aimed at manipulating and maintaining the social world. We can see daily the decisions they make and the images/stories that they pump out into the airwaves and water-ways simply do not value our spiritual development. And it is our collective belief-power on which these social systems rely; without it they would have no power.

In making such a sweeping statement, I know I am liable to lose something. So please, feel into this for yourself, and if indeed your intuition and insight see the same pattern, then be with this. Ask yourself how you give up your inherent power to these social, impersonal systems, and how you can re-empower yourself.

We are so blessed, as there are still many powerful systems of learning how to see clearly our internal and external environments, and how to move in these internal and external domains with wise intent and action. Discover all your beliefs and self-agreements. It is ours to choose what we see and live out. Beliefs becoming stories becoming perspectives becoming motivations becoming thoughts, words, and actions, we manifest our reality. Come to see this and free yourself. Your freedom is integral to global freedom.

Namaste,

eka

2009-11-13T16:11:00.002-05:00

~What a God We Have~

What kind of God would He be

if He did not hear the bangles ring on an ant's wrist

as they move the earth in their sweet dance?

And what kind of God would He be

if a leaf's prayer was not as precious to creation

as the prayer His own son sang

from the glorious depth of his soul- for us.

And what kind of God would He be

if the vote of millions in this world

could sway Him to change the divine law of love

that speaks so clearly with compassion's elegant tongue,

saying, eternally saying:
'all are forgiven- moreover, dears no one has ever been guilty.'

What kind of God would He be

if He did not count the blinks of your eyes

and is in absolute awe of their movements?

What a God- what a God we have.

~Kabir

2009-11-01T22:44:00.001-05:00

~Playful Heart Collective~

New post on the Playful Heart adventures...

2009-11-01T19:05:00.001-05:00

~All in a Day's Work~

The work of a true bodhisattva is unpredictable at best. Enjoy!

2009-10-31T11:43:00.002-04:00

~The Deepening~

Though my original vision of a playful, cross-country ramble has found its intended closure, I find my ramblings continuing on.

Since returning to Pennsylvania, I have embarked on another journey of celebration and service, this time taking me through Massachusetts and New York. As before, I find myself staying with different heart-friends along the way.

Two of the main purposes of this journey were to drop my sister off at the one-month silent retreat at Insight Meditation Society last week, and to see my doctor about my knee injury and rehabilitation. Both of these purposes have been fulfilled, and I now find myself floating from home to home, offering myself into the need as it reveals itself.

Surrender and Service: these two were the central themes that emerged during my travels, and these continue to be my guiding principles. Surrendering to the moment, as it is unfolding and expressing itself, and aligning with a deep commitment to serve that moment, however the need be.

So I find myself spending Halloween weekend in dear Northampton, among the lovely freaky people that daily rock this town. Halloween supper tonight at Sirius among family, seeing Alex play at the NightKitchen tomorrow night, and then it's off to Hawthorne Valley Farm to offer some work-play with the kids there.

Is such a lifestyle considered a career? I'm not sure what it is, except that it's more and more aligned with my intuitive wisdom, and seems to be gaining a momentum that is totally beyond me.

And as it gains momentum, the truth emerges that I am not in control of this...it is a journey without a journeyer. 5-year plan? I don't even have a 5-week plan. Actually, I recently switched to an eternal life plan...it's free, and it gives great benefits ;)

Love to you, whoever, where ever, and however you are.

Eka

2009-10-31T11:32:00.002-04:00

~Beautiful~

So my friend from IMS, Hanuman, is putting together a music compilation, called Dhamma-Gita (Song of Truth). It is meant to include works from young Buddhist practitioners. The songs do not have to be overtly Buddhist, or even spiritual, but really coming from that place of deep inspiration and exploration.

So I reworked one of my favorite songs, and sent it in. Don't know yet if I made the grade, but we'll see. It was wonderful working on the song. I used very simple hardware and software: a Zoom Handy recorder and Audacity audio editor. Combine that with a quiet, inspiring environment, and this is what you get~

~Beautiful~

In gratitude,

OneLight

2009-10-31T10:48:00.000-04:00

~Art as Awakening~

Today for you a lovely piece by Ann Dennison, who creates all kinds of intriguing mandalas posted on her website. This one is entitled 'Cross Mandala', and when I saw it, I was immediately taken by the colors and shape.

As I gazed at it, an image arose of four golden robed beings, co-creating in the center an offering of concentrated light, each being encased by an energetic envelope. I wonder what you will see? Enjoy!

In co-creation,

Eka

2009-10-27T18:07:00.001-04:00

~Movement of Spirit~

Another short yet powerful quote from Dr. Howard Thurman.

The movement of the spirit of God in the hearts of [humans] often calls them to act against the spirit of their times or causes them to anticipate a spirit which is yet in the making. In a moment of dedication, they are given wisdom and courage to dare a deed that challenges and to kindle a hope that inspires.

Amen, Reverend.

2009-10-27T18:00:00.001-04:00

~Coming Alive~

My inspiration for writing today comes from the subtle and deep words of Reverend Howard Thurman. Dr. Thurman's career was distinguished by many honors, and he served as Dr. King's spiritual adviser.

He said:

Don't ask what the world needs.

Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs
is people who have come alive.

When I heard this quote, a strong resonance activated in me. Feeling this resonance, I went into it, asking why I responded so strongly. And this exploration brought a realization to the surface. In this one pithy statement, Thurman is bringing to light the difference between the intellect-ego-mind organ and the deep heart-intuition-god guidance.

So often we have such good intentions, such a sense of wanting to do good that sits underneath our decisions and actions. Yet, because we know no other outlet, we channel all this solely through the rational organ, the mental intellect. Though such action can seem very productive, very busy, it doesn't touch the core of the issue at hand. It remains heady, myopic, dualistic, hollow, and most importantly, it's source quickly fatigues.

Instead, we need to 'come alive'...we need to take a deep, honest, and fearless look into ourselves to find out what we are living for. Are we living for another's ideals or feelings or desires, grafted on to us through indoctrination and conditioning of one sort or another? Such an orientation to one's life simply cannot be sustained and does no one no good. On the other hand, to touch into the soul, that deep well in us of mystery and life, will bring forth a spring and often times a geyser of incredible inspiration, power, tenderness, focus, and reality.

And this is what the world needs...

not disconnected people offering disconnected solutions for a disconnected world...

but beings that have come alive through self-inquiry and self-love, responding and offering in the fullness of their joy.

In my limited experience, this is the only real action that creates personal and collective (r)evolution. And folks, that's exactly what we need right now. I am putting it to myself to do the best I can in this. And I am cheering for you too, holding a deep hope and vision that you find your aliveness and spread it far and wide.

Journey well my friend.

~

A few links to more information about Dr. Thurman:

Wiki

Annotation

PBS

2009-10-19T10:18:00.003-04:00

~This That Is~

Held in the goodness of family, friends, and strangers alike, for near two months I traveled. There was music, there was laughter, there was confusion, there was beauty, there were pains, there was surprise and wonder, there was struggle, and there was trust. All things human, moving and dancing, always bringing insight and unfolding to the eyes ready to see.

And so often I found myself. So often I found god and spirit and mystery staring back at me, through the whispering ways of all things. there is nothing in this world we can truly understand, and yet there is nothing estranged. All is intimate and inclusive, yet without a center. So full and so empty. Ahh, my mind breaks, shatters, and falls to pieces upon entering the mystery.

So now I gaze through my window and see a cold and cloudy day, gold-bronze farm fields, lush wet grass, and trees with leaves of red, green, and gold. Only days before I looked out upon the sun-burned chaparral, eucalyptus groves, and citrus trees. All has changed, yet All is the same. Here and Now, alive, aware, radiant. Beyond understanding yet known completely.

If only we could for one moment fully release into This That Is, we would arrive at complete peace and yet total amazement and wonder...always fresh and new, tender, yet ancient and immutable.

May we all come to see, quickly and easily, this reality, this mystery without and within, and finally begin to truly live.

EkaJoti

2009-10-14T18:21:00.004-04:00

~See, Be, Create, Nourish~

What do I wish to see, be, create, and nourish in this world we share?

~Conscious, deliberate community with others seeking to know and embody truth: sat-sangha.

~Spaces and methods of play, exploration, wonder, and discovery for all ages.

~Sincere and sensitive music and movement, as yoga, as prayer, as play, as release.

~Kind speech and compassionate listening among all beings.

~Altruistic offerings of healing and guidance/selfless service.

~Awakened Earth Stewardship: wise homesteading/soul permaculture/dharmafarming.

~Kind and skillful embodiment; caring for this wondrous physical vehicle.

~Silence of ego-mind, radiance of soul-heart.

~Deep Kalyana Mitta: a loving partner with whom to walk this mysterious wonder.

Aho!

2009-10-02T23:52:00.000-04:00

~Turning Japanese~

My final day in San Fran was an Asian extravaganza. Starting off with the incredible Asian Arts Museum, then heading over to Japantown for manga, incense, and tea, finally ending off at Cha Ya, an incredible vegetarian sushi place. A lovely day all in all.

Here is a selection of photos from the museum. Enjoy!

2009-10-02T00:08:00.002-04:00

~Bay Area Adventures~

Following Burning Man, I caught a ride over to San Francisco, to spend a few weeks with friends and sit a retreat before heading down to San Diego, my final destination.

First stop was reuniting with my dear friend Kieran. It had been 2 years since our last sharing. It was an overdue meeting of two good friends, and the hacky sack that soon ensued was the stuff of legends. He also taught me a new tai chi form, which is lovely and healing.

Over the next few weeks, I was able to see and do so much, and see several friends that I had known on the east coast. So blessed!

And just a few days before my plans to go up to Spirit Rock for a meditation retreat, I seriously injured my right knee. And so, I was not able to do the retreat (I had signed up to do work-exchange to cover the cost), and yet, it worked out so beautifully that I got to do my own sort of retreat up at Spirit Rock, getting to know the land and air and staff and teachers. And I was blessed with some clarities concerning some life situations and my deep vocation. And, to top this, I got to spend much time with an old friend from my travels in India. Gratitude!

Oh what else? Muir Woods, Baker Beach, Asian Arts Museum, Adyashanti Satsang, backyard barbecues, farmers' markets, people watching, cafes, cookies, music, open-mics, tea, love...

Here is a smattering of photos from my time all over SF. Enjoy!

2009-10-01T23:19:00.000-04:00

~Burn '09~

When I was last in the amazon, I got some guidance concerning Burning Man. Go, the energy said...which was very surprising for me. I'm not a festival-type person, and I had not yet any desire to go to Burning Man, even though I had several close friends that usually went. But this guidance was clear. But nonetheless, I asked the question- But why? Why Burning Man? Why now, after all this release and falling away following 4 months of deep retreat? And the response was, to learn more about true service; to touch and be touched by other light workers; to bring your gifts and share them; and to practice humility. And then I asked, but how will I get there, and with whom will I go? They response was, don't worry yourself about all that. Your travels will fall into place, and you will find the right community to be with. Alrighty then...

So at some point I realized I would most likely be going out to San Diego to celebrate my cousin Brooke's wedding, and saw the very real possibility of making a stop at Burning Man. Then, during my time working at Hawthorne Valley, I met up with three remarkable young light workers: Dawn, Jordan, and Lachlan. Over the course of a weekend workshop, we strongly connected on various levels, and I learned that these three were putting together a group to go cross country, kicking off the tour at Burning Man. I knew I had found my group.

Mercury, as this group was to be called, was interested in doing experiments and research into 'spiritual science'. Our goal was to learn about the skillful cultivation of spirit within ourselves and our community, and how to bring spirit down into the everyday human experience. Right on as far as my own heart was concerned. And our group committed to doing the whole of the trip- including Burning Man- drug-free. This included alcohol and cigarettes.

And in short, the Burn was awesome...truly. It was beyond description. I learned so much, and had such wonderful opportunity to serve. And the mysterious amazon guidance from 8 months back finally made more sense. I was able to personally witness the good, bad, and ugly of this consciousness revolution and spiritual awakening that is now in full swing. And I am so grateful for this.

So, below are pics from Burning Man '09. Mostly I will let the photos speak for themselves...for really, Burning Man is way beyond my ability to convey.

Much of the really beautiful and awe-inspiring stuff was at night, but between the dust-winds and my lack of professional photographic skills, mostly what I am offering is day shots. The scenery shots, especially at dawn and dusk, are just breathtaking. What a landscape!

2009-10-01T19:02:00.001-04:00

~Oh the Possibilities~

Shira and I visited Possibility Alliance (Wrensong) during our time in Missouri, just a few miles down the road from Butterfly Hill Farm. We came during their Permaculture course. This was the first Permaculture Certification Course offered on donation basis in the United States. Respect.

If we are to see a successful return of humanity to itself, such techniques of self-reliance and awakened earth stewardship must be available to the masses, not only to the minority that can financially afford it. ~My Two Cents~

Wrensong is most definitely doing their part in this, and I honor them for this.

Here are a few photos we took during our wonderful stay.

2009-10-01T18:27:00.000-04:00

~Butterfly Hill Beauty~

Hey gang. Here are some photos of the lovely Crawford homestead, also known as Butterfly Hill Farm.

Enjoy!

2009-10-01T17:47:00.001-04:00

~Love is Truth~

Continuing on the previous post, I wanted to speak a bit more about love and freedom.

By 'love' here I mean, 'seeing something or someone (self included) beyond limits or judgments, with a total acceptance of how and what they are in the moment'. I believe this kind of love to be essential for positive inner growth, healthy relationship, and ultimately for realizing freedom. I also believe this kind of love to be the prerequisite to deep and lasting socio-political change.

It is said, 'love is truth'. Why? Love is awakening to the vision and corresponding action that we are beyond any and all limits we could set for ourselves...and this is also truth. This is also freedom.

Try it for yourself...it's really a moment-to-moment practice. At any moment take a given sensation or experience or situation and just let it be completely as it is...ask nothing of it...just bare witness to it...sense it directly. You may notice in that moment a deep sense of spaciousness and peace...a sense of slowing down and balance. These qualities are always there, at the core, but are obscured and covered over by agenda, by a need for it to be otherwise...in other words, by a lack of love.

And something I have found to be so incredible is that when we are truly loving something, we are free of it, and we are allowing it to be free simultaneously. And when this is happening, we actually have a greater availability to play within this world, within our experience. In our love, we are at once less bound by the world, and yet deeper in it. This is definitely one of those spiritual paradoxes.

Of course, this is my insight coming from my own experience...I fully invite you to try this out, and arrive at your own conclusions. Please feel free...

In love,

Eka

2009-09-27T18:30:00.007-04:00

~Falling in Love~

Years ago, I got into meditation and the path of (what I perceived to be) transcendence in order to do just that- transcend this life, this world, this suffering...gettin outta Dodge.

And one day, in the midst of all of this, I woke up and realized I had somehow fallen deeply in love with my life, with my suffering. And that, to my amazement, I saw this love was also the beginning of the transcendence I had been seeking.

It all rested on my willingness to contact this moment-to-moment experience, to be touched by the world, to really and truly face my suffering...to sit in my abundant heart free of preconceived notions and bare clear witness to the mystery in and around me.

And as I more and more allowed myself to know this life, this world, this suffering, I grew to love it...for I began to see that it was the stuff of awakening...that it's very nature was already transcendent.

And this process of loving and letting go continues on...taking more and more of me into the oblivion of love. I am madly in love with life, yet with such playfulness and peace...it is the most incredible journey I have ever been lucky enough to take.

And you, do you think you are any different? My dear brother and sister in arms, do you think you can escape without completely and utterly falling in love with each and every part of yourself? Oh, it is already too late for you...I'm sorry...you might as well just sit here now and fall in love with everything...breath...by...breath.

OneLight

2009-09-27T16:58:00.003-04:00

~A Quick Stop in the Windy City~

My first adventure-ette was a stop-over in Chicago. Just enough time to walk around, talk with random people, re-up on kombucha, and score some authentic (I think) deep-dish. Took only a few pics, as mostly I was just soaking it in. Here are the random few. Enjoy!

2009-09-23T23:43:00.000-04:00

~Touchdown~

Almost a month has passed...so full...so very full that only now do I find I can begin to write something about everything.

And these experiences and people and places I wish to share are so powerful, so beyond description. Ahh, the beauty of the poem unwritten...

I am currently sitting at my friend Eva's house, just north of San Francisco, enjoying the dryland hills surrounding Spirit Rock meditation center. Between Butterfly Hill Farm in Missouri and here lies the service-based living experiment of Possibility Alliance, the possibility of Playful Heart land, the outlandish adventures of Burning Man, and the rolling ramblings through San Francisco.

I have many stories, and have been accumulating many photos. So much has been passing for me personally and for the Playful Heart Collective...things seem to be moving very fast now.

So for the moment I will leave it as this. Detailed updates to follow...

much love,

onelight

2009-08-26T20:33:00.000-04:00

~Finding NEMO~

So, Shira and I have just had our first full day here in North East Missouri (NEMO). We have been graciously and humbly welcomed into Butterfly Hill Farm, had a full night's peaceful sleep, been fed right proper, been shown around, and educated a bit as to the local culture and ecosystem.

Already there is much synchronicity in this playful ramble, and the repeating theme is, 'stay present, trust, engage fully, release'...sounds like shampoo instructions for the soul.

So it looks like Shira and I will be here at Butterfly Hill Farm through the week, spending the next two days looking at potential plots of land, and maybe exploring the town of Kirksville a bit north of us. Then we plan to link up with Possibility Alliance for the weekend. I look forward to finally meeting Ethan and Sarah, and the rest of the everyday superheros that live petro and electricity free.

By Sunday night I will be in Kansas City, getting read to fly to Nevada and begin my next experiment in conscious surrender.

Much love to you all...you are in my heart.

eka

2009-08-24T06:17:00.004-04:00

~Flowetry~

Bit by bit, I've been putting up my spoken word/word-play. They are all under the category 'Flowetry'. I invite you, if you want, to read them out loud, and find the flow that runs through them. Really, they are not meant to be read, but vocalized.

Here's a shorter, and more recent one. Enjoy!

Wakeful Throne~

sending you positive love and bliss

never miss the spirit kiss

through the mist comes fresh and crisp

flowing round the toes and tips

inner-wish to know...

kings and beggars both bow low

pressing head to earth

the chanted om...

the wakeful throne...

we're always home.

~Hawthorne Valley Farm, 2009

2009-08-23T11:33:00.000-04:00

~Sand and Foam~

Some selections for you from Gibran's book Sand and Foam:

'I am forever walking upon these shores, betwixt the sand and the foam. The high tide will erase my foot-prints, and the wind will blow away the foam. But the sea and the shore will remain forever.'

'Only once have I been made mute. It was when a man asked me, "who are you?"'

'We are fluttering, wandering, longing creatures a thousand thousand years before the sea and the wind in the forest gave us words. Now how can we express the ancient of days in us with only the sounds of our yesterdays?'

'We measure time according to the movement of countless suns; and they measure time by little machines in their little pockets. Now tell me, how could we ever meet at the same place and the same time?'

'You are blind and I am deaf and dumb, so let us touch hands and understand.'

'Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you.'

'A sense of humor is a sense of proportion.'

'The real in us is silent; the acquired is talkative.'

'If I were to choose between the power of writing a poem and the ecstasy of a poem unwritten, I would choose the ecstasy. It is better poetry. But you and all my neighbors agree that I always choose badly.'

'Poetry is wisdom that enchants the heart. Wisdom is poetry that sings in the mind. If we could enchant man's heart and at the same time sing in his mind, then in truth he would live in the shadow of God.'

'Lovers embrace that which is between them rather than each other.'

'How shall my heart be unsealed unless it be broken?'

'Only great sorrow or great joy can reveal your truth. If you would be revealed you must either dance naked in the sun, or carry your cross.'

'You see but your shadow when you turn your back to the sun.'

'You may judge others only according to your knowledge of yourself. Tell me now, who among us is guilty and who is unguilty?'

'I have no enemies, O God, but if I am to have an enemy let his strength be equal to mine, that truth alone may be the victor.'

'Should we all confess our sins to one another we would all laugh at one another for our lack or originality.'

'Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches; yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth.'

'If it were not for our conception of weights and measures we would stand in awe of the firefly as we do before the sun.'

'If the Milk Way were not within me how should I have seen it or known it?'

'Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too self-ful to seek other than itself.'

'Birth and death are the two noblest expressions of bravery.'

'A hermit is one who renounces the world of fragments that he may enjoy the world wholly and without interruption.'

'Great beauty captures me, but a beauty still greater frees me even from itself.'

'He who would share your pleasure but not your pain shall lose the key to one of the seven gates of Paradise.'

'When I stood a clear mirror before you, you gazed into me and saw your image. Then you said, "I love you." But in truth you loved yourself in me.'

'Our God in His gracious thirst will drink us all, the dewdrop and the tear.'

'You may sit at your window watching the passerby. And watching you may see a nun walking toward your right hand, and a prostitute toward your left hand.

And you may say in your innocence, "how noble is the one and how ignoble is the other."

But should you close your eyes and listen awhile you would hear a voice whispering in the ether, "One seeks me in prayer, and the other in pain. And in the spirit of each there is a bower for my spirit."'

'You may have heard of the Blessed Mountain.

It is the mightiest mountain in our world.

Should you reach the summit you would have only one desire, and that to descend and be with those who dwell in the deepest valley.

That is why it is called the Blessed Mountain.'

Thank you Kahlil.

2009-08-22T10:00:00.003-04:00

~A Playful Ramble~

My friends.

My time at Hawthorne Valley is at a close. Passed are the 6 months since returning from the jungle. The visions of Playful Service that drew me to Hawthorne now draw me on.

I feel more ready, more skilled and sober than 6 months ago, when I began this Playful Ramble. The underlying impulse and direction is the same: live awake, in awakened service, and be a catalyst for the awakening of others. The themes of community, youth, and awakened earth stewardship still feel like the main avenues of expression of this awakened service.

Yet all the lessons that have come in so short a time have honed me, tempered me, pushed me beyond my previous limits. I am pushing through my layers, through my shells...sometimes very uncomfortable, but necessary and rewarding. And now I find myself on the other side, grateful for grace...and grateful for what comes next.

For now begins another Playful Ramble, across the country. In the spirit of awakened service, my main aim is to be available for the needs of the situation, wherever and with whomever I find myself. It is said, 'Love where you are, what you are doing, and who you are with.' This is the basis of unconditional love.

So I wish for this unconditional service and wakefulness to be my guide, as I visit communities, families, close friends, random people, and eventually, my own blood family. May I have the strength and courage to walk such a path!

Moving from the vague to the precise, my plans are as follows:

August 24th: entraining for La Plata, Missouri...36 hours of train travel

August 25th-30th: in La Plata, meeting up with Shira, staying with the family at Butterfly Hill Farm, exploring land opportunities, visiting with Dancing Rabbit, Possibility Alliance, and other surrounding farm communities/homesteads

August 31st: fly out of Kansas City to Reno, meet up with Mercury Across America for 7 days of Burning Man

September 8th: head out to San Fransisco, reunite with my good friend Kieran

September 8th-22nd: hang with Kieran, sit Zazen across the street (his dad is the abbott), take tai-chi lessons in the park, see Adyashanti in Palo Alto, see my old teacher in Los Altos, visit other friends, play music, give food, dance, celebrate, and generally spread the good vibe through awakened service

September 22nd-30th: doing a work exchange insight retreat up at Spirit Rock meditation center

October 1st: saying goodbye to the bay area, flying down to San Diego

October 1st-12th: hanging with my family in Escondido, Encinitas, and surrounding area. October 10th is my cousin Brooke's wedding! Dance, Sing, Celebrate!

October 13th: return to PA, figure out rest of my life.

Done!

So, if in reading this itinerary, you want to meet up with me, please let me know. Things are pretty open and flexible within these basic limits. I hope to visit with many friends, especially at Burning Man and once I get to Cali. Please keep in touch!

All you that know me and have touched my life, I take you with me in my spacious heart, in deep gratitude. You are each a part of me, and inform my meaning and purpose in every day and each of my actions.

In family,

one light

2009-08-17T18:04:00.005-04:00

~The Human Experience~

These past weeks, I have had the opportunity to undergo deep journeys with sadness, longing, anger, fear, and the like. What fierce grace it has been!

Two major events I can see as causes. I began to say goodbye to my workplace and home of the past 5 months. And second I had to let go of a being that had gone deep into my heart in a short and intense period of time.

I am writing, not to relate these stories or simply express my feelings, but to share with you the insights that arose from meeting head-on these painful energies.

One thing that was strongly noticed, was how pre-disposed my mind was to seeing these feelings as 'bad'. Looking at this tendency, I found it interesting to question what my mind meant by bad. Bad meant, 'I don't want it'. And, to my chagrin, when asking the mind, 'why don't I want it', the response was, 'because its bad'. Ahh, we need such humor on this path.

Sadness was inherently bad, so said my mind. Yet when I really was able to be with the sadness, with the pain and gnawing in my gut, and the sense of low, dark energy, I found that, yes, there too was the abundant heart of awareness. Even in the midst of something the mind found completely unbearable, the spiritual heart continued to pulse away on its love and light and joy.

The continual re-lessoning of letting go was also present. It became so clear that, whenever and however I grasped hold, I would bring suffering into the equation- suffering for self and other. So the question and challenge became, 'how do I give space and expression to such a deep and intense love, while remaining open and uncontrolling in this extreme vulnerability?' I'm still working on that one...but I'll let you know if I get anywhere.

Many times I had conversations with my fear. It was a fear of losing something so good, so powerful. It was the mind spinning out into its worries of whether something like this could ever happen again. And of course, there is no way to know. There is no way to know even the next sensation we will experience, let alone something as complex as the meeting of two beings. And when I really investigated, I saw that so much goodness had come into my life because I had made room for it, because I had trusted and opened up, and let myself fall fully into my experience here-and-now. And now, this fear said, 'don't be so vulnerable, don't trust the path unfolding, because I need to know and control.' It is so small and narrow, this fear, and I cannot believe it. Not with so much of my experience saying otherwise.

So for me, a fundamental lesson coming out of this experience is trust. Simply trust; trust the unfolding, even when we have no sense of where it is going. The inconceivable intelligence moving through life is taking care of all this. Just trust.

The other fundamental lesson is that each movement, each energy, has its compliment. To feel such elation, such upliftment, such pleasure, a balance must eventually be found in the coming down. And this coming down is not to be avoided. It is a part of the complete dance, that is all.

Kahlil Gibran brings beautiful words to this truth in The Prophet:

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.

And he answered:

'Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.'

Ahh, Gibran was truly human.

in love,

eka joti

2009-08-15T14:22:00.001-04:00

~Camp Olympics~

Here are some pics from our olympics day, the equivalent of 'color day' at other camps. It was great fun, and everybody won! Tis the waldorf way.

The whole camp was split into three teams: red, blue, and green. We were judged on three aspects: team spirit, effort, and sportsmanship. They all kind of seem like the same category, I know ;)

Games included: soccer, standing long jump, high jump, home run derby, tetherball, four square, limbo, ping pong, beautiful dive, relay races, and crazy dive.

Enjoy the pics!

in communion,

onelight

2009-08-12T04:38:00.002-04:00

~The End of Things~

I write now from a point of incredible fatigue and happiness. 5 months have gone by since I arrived here at Hawthorne Valley, fresh off a trip to the Amazon, and 2 months have passed since the true beginning of summer farm camp, and I am so drained on every level.

And, I am happy. For this draining out has come along with wonderful, indescribable experiences of discovery, challenge, celebration, and letting go.

And still further, this has all been happening in the context of an adventurous, youthful, joyous community of peer-workers, set in the larger context of a beautiful, vibrant farming community unlike any other. I feel such gratitude for this place and for all my family here. You have all made this summer experience incomparably special.

So now, as always happens, we shift into a space of closing down, of transition...an exhale of all we have known and loved...so that newness may enter into our space of exhalation. And for me, this brings strong and complex feelings. Sadness is marked by gratitude, excitement with anticipation, vulnerability with tenderness. All of it swirling around inside the deep heart of consciousness...

Ahh, what may come...

in gratitude,

eka

2009-08-10T19:24:00.002-04:00

~Unbound and Unbecome~

I feel you friend. I know you are there. For you are everywhere.

Everywhere I look I find you shining through. Every time I stop, there you are waiting. Every being I meet, you are there beneath.

Your constancy is mind-blowing, heart-exploding, beyond knowing.

In the stillness and silence and non-assumption of my being, you are there...already and always.

There is nowhere I can look, nothing I can feel, that is not simply a movement in your infinite body.

There is no space between your infinite, eternal body and this finite, temporal body. Not even an atom of separation.

My knowing is your knowing, unbound and unbecome.

All I can do is exhale into this mystery...and trust.

2009-07-28T15:22:00.001-04:00

~Down Home Goodness~

This past week, we invited friends over from neighboring Hudson, and put together a meal that was about 75% from our farm. We decided, given what was ready to harvest, to make a green salad, a beet salad, a cuke salad, and pizzas fired in our cob oven. Our own sauerkraut garnished the main dishes.

It was a wonderful, hectic, and educational time, and we all ended the day fat and happy. Here are a few pics from the preparation...

in peace,

eka

2009-07-26T13:11:00.001-04:00

~Quickie~

About two weeks since my last post. The time between has been so full of experiences subtle and intense...human adventures and endeavors that words have a hard time expressing.

It continually magnifies the challenge and constant motion of this human life. Highs and lows seem to come together, even simultaneously. Paradox is the rule, and there are always, always more questions than answers.

Ahhh, I give great thanks for this path, for the conditions that lead to waking up and letting go, and for all of you sharing in this sacred, foolish journey with me. What beautiful fools we are!

Also, I give great thanks for this new mayan year, Yellow Self-Existing Seed. Day Out of Time was yesterday, full of intense energies, movement, the stirring up and burning down of illusions, and a sense of service- 'love made visible'. Now we move from our previous Electric Storm year into a year guided by energies of self-germination, fertile ground, creation and gestation, opening, possibility, and sowing focused intentions.

Oh, my friends, regardless of time or place, select the best seeds and sow them far and wide, tend them well, and enjoy their fragrant blossoms and sweet fruit. Now is the time!

In the world of practical manifestation, farm camp is going very well. Our group is full of flavor...so much diverse energy and vision. I am staying healthy, engaged, and ever-stretching into the daily challenge. Also, plans for the late summer and early fall are taking concrete shape. My journeys will take me by train, plane, and bus across the states, coming through San Fran, and coming to rest in San Diego. I will post the specifics a bit later on.

Much love and light to you all...one tribe, one vision, one world.

Eka.

2009-07-12T18:48:00.002-04:00

~Body and Mind as two expressions of Consciousness~

Below is a piece written by Kyla's yoga teacher Patty Townsend. The piece speaks about mind-body oneness, the aproach of true yoga, and the underlying field of consciousness. Patty's studio is located in Amherst, MA, offering an approach to mind-body practice called Embodyoga.

Yoga means unity. The practice of yoga is not a return to unity because we never left it. Unity is what is happening, but it may not be our experience.

Yoga consists of the practices that bring the embodied experience of unity into the forefront of each individual practitioner’s personal awareness. Using body and mind we turn our awareness inward. We direct the flow of consciousness back inward and onto itself. This practice of inner sensing and inquiring leads us through the grossest levels of body and mind and we gain access to the deeper, subtler expressions of life that we are.

This is as absolutely valid in the body as it is in the mind. Every cell is awake, alive and present. Full realization is not just a state of mind. Full realization is a full body-mind-consciousness experience. Each cell is as awake and alive as every other. Each aspect of personality is radiating in clear and perceptible expression of its true nature and is only lightly veiled by the colors of individuality.

In the mind we follow our thoughts, qualities and traits inward to discover their source. In the body we follow sensations, qualities and traits to their source. The body-mind field is the field of chitta – consciousness. Body and mind are utterly and inextricably linked. We can enter the body through the mind and we can enter the mind through the body. As consciousness exists in every cell it is entirely reasonable to consider delving deeply into the field of consciousness by delving deeply into the field of cellular awareness.

As we deepen our experience of body we come to realize that there really is no separation between body and mind at all! What we find at the subtle levels of body is consciousness and what we find at the subtle levels of mind is consciousness. In fact wherever we go in to the body-mind system ultimately leads us to the same source - the limitless field of pure-being, cosmic intelligence.

Well-said...

Eka

2009-07-12T11:00:00.001-04:00

~The 80's Descend on Cairo Roller Rink~

So, as part of our collective exhale, and in honor of several consecutive birthdays (10th, 11th, 12th), about 15 of us dawned our best 80's gear and hair-styles to bring the party to Cairo. Basically, we rocked it.

One of the most fun experiences I have had in a while (and I am having fun experiences all the time too!). The owner was way into it, and played almost all 80's and early 90's hits. There was a disco ball, couples songs, dance-offs in the middle, and general ridiculousness all around. Much love to all my roller-buddies. Enjoy the pics!

with humor and love,

Eka

2009-07-12T10:53:00.000-04:00

~The Long Exhale~

I sit now on a lovely Sunday, quiet here at the farm. Yesterday parents and family members came from all around to reunite with their campers. They have all left, and we are now exhaling back into ourselves.

The past two weeks have been incredible. So full of challenge and growth; so many things to improve on, and so many things done well. To be with children and youth in this way gives such clear and immediate reflection of one's own fears, self-imposed limitations, and contradictions.

I could write a long time on the particulars of things done well and things at which to get better, but at the moment I don't feel like writing too much. Maybe its all part of the long exhale...coming out of a space of intense and near-constant extroversion...needing time to rest and digest this fierce grace.

I will instead offer these photos taken over our camp time to give a summation of all the unique and diverse energies that came together. Oh, also I turned 28 today. I am remembering myself...

in great gratitude,

Eka

2009-06-21T20:32:00.001-04:00

~That Which Illuminates~

So, there is a world. At least, we sense something. We see, smell, taste, touch, hear...there is a sensuous experience. When we look to find what these sensations are, we are confronted with an emptiness, a mystery. For substance gives way to molecules, molecules give way to atoms, atoms to electrons, electrons to quarks...at at each stage 99.9 percent of what we find is space, changing trillions of times each moment. And what do quarks give way to? It is truly a mysterious, ineffable emptiness, yet an emptiness that is full of reality. So humbling this discovery!

So we are having an experience, an experience of mystery and wonder; yet, what enables this mysterious wonder to be known? To discover this we must turn inward...not to the inside of our bodies, but to the consciousness itself. In the west I have read all sorts of pieces putting forth just how and where consciousness is produces within the physical organism, yet none of these have been able to answer more questions than they raise. Consciousness, even in this age, remains the greatest mystery, and also the greatest discovery.

Do not try to use the mind, for we can see that the mind lies within consciousness. If not, how could we know the contents of our mind, or the unfolding of thought process, or even (if we are quick enough) the filtering of raw sense experience through our concepts? No, to the mind consciousness cannot be known to satisfaction. Consciousness itself must be utilized in order to arrive at this intimate understanding.

But how to do this? One way that has come through for me is touching into the sense that 'everything is illuminated'. This consciousness, this knowing, is like a light, shining through everything, making it visible (experienceable). What is it that illuminates? We gradually train ours minds to let go of fixation on objects, and shift attention to the ability to know the objects. It is very subtle, and unavailable to the mind enslaved to objects. As Nisargadatta said, 'the child plays with the toy; the wise mother pays attention to the child, not the toy.' So we must do the same if we are to come into direct contact with this mystery...this mystery of our own true nature.

What is it that knows this right now? What enables it to shine forth? It feels like the raw life current itself, the source allowing all to happen, the totality, god, reality, truth. Just relax and feel the pulse, the pull, the alarm clock gently gracing you awake. It is all around, unavoidable, inevitable.

In presence,

eka

2009-06-21T11:02:00.000-04:00

~Jamming!~

This week the just-arrived counselor group along witht the assistant cooks took a trip to the local organic strawberry farm. In about an hour we picked just over 130 pounds of strawberries!

The next day we set up a no-fooling-around production line to process and jam all these lovely berries. We ended up with about 30 quart mason jars, and at that point decided to puree and freeze the rest for various tasty treats later on.

A wonderful and delicious excuse for a community-building activity. Here's a slideshow of our wonderful process.

light and love...

2009-06-14T13:02:00.001-04:00

~Diving In~

So today four months of preparation here at Hawthorne Valley Farm culminates in the official beginning of our summer camp season. Though we still have two weeks before any of the kids arrive, today the Field Camp counselors begin their two week orientation period.

I feel happy, and ready, to welcome these four counselors to the farm, and to the kind and vibrant community of Hawthorne. It will be my duty to guide these four into a deep understanding of the farm, market garden, bakery, dairy, deli, sauerkraut cellar, camp facilities, health and safety, swimming, off-site trips...basically every aspect of our camp.

So in a very real way, what I know, the degree to which I know it, and how well I can articulate it will have a large impact on the overall skill and readiness of our eventual Field Camp team. This is exciting...calling forth the best from me.

So, for the next month or so, most of my energy will be bound up in this joyful undertaking; and when I do have a free moment, I will be directing that towards the ever-evolving Playful Heart process. Of course, I will take many pictures and eventually put up posts about our farm adventures, but I can't guarantee too much right now.

Until the next time...

with a warm heart,

eka

2009-06-14T10:06:00.001-04:00

~To Work and Play the Day Away~

There is a community here, called Triform, where youth, adults, and families work along side special-needs people 18 and up. They describe themselves this way:

Triform Camphill Community is a rural, residential, therapeutic community serving young adults with special needs. Triform seeks to build a vital community life that provides each young resident the possibility for healing, self-development and fulfillment of his or her potential.

I visited them just recently for a morning garden group followed by a community meal, and then later on in the week for a tour of all that goes on at Triform. The idea is that our summer camp will visit Triform for a morning work group and a communal meal, to facilitate exposure between adolescents and special-needs groups.

What I found there was truly beautiful. Yes, the land and spaces are beautiful; but I am speaking here about the special-needs people themselves, and the houseparents that are so committed to them. As I entered the gathering hall for the monday morning meeting, even in the midst of a song, I saw so many faces turn to meet me, inquiringly, with a sense of wonder. Immediately I realized that this is the same look/energy I feel from children. It is a sense of not-knowing, and the discovery that results. As the meeting progressed, I found myself feeling into this energy, which was very strong. It was not directed at me per se, but at the experience in general.

When I was invited to introduce myself, I was greeted by many unprompted 'hellos' and 'welcomes', many smiles, and even many questions as to if I was staying for the morning, the meal, or even if I was planning on living there. It was just such an upfront innocence, with so little self-referencing...the kind of energy I also find in life-long practitioners of self-inquiry and letting go.

Later on, as I worked alongside these very special people in the gardens, I found such a unique, polarized mix of simplicity and complication. Certainly, it is not easy having these special needs, or trying to meet them. There is a complexity and challenge in it. Yet at the same time, it was so much more simple than a typical day in the garden...a real sense of 'just being with'. Almost a sense of no agenda- though of course, there were many things to get done along a certain schedule.

Lunchtime was more of the same: a strange mix of simplicity and challenge. Yet throughout all of this was the very palpable energy of unconditional acceptance. They were ready to meet my gaze and hold it, looking deep into me as them allowed me to look into them. Really, a very evolved state in many ways.

So here are my pictures from those two days at triform. Please enjoy, and inquire further if you feel the spark.

in gratitude,

eka

2009-06-10T13:58:00.001-04:00

~A Playful Heart Process~

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to our community/healing center project, Playful Heart. Our website is about 70% up and full of our vision, mission, personal bios, a brochure, and a weblog explaining the ebbs and flows of this challenging and dynamic process.

Please check it out, see if our work/play speaks to you...and who knows, maybe you will even feel a call to get involved =]

one family,

onelight

2009-06-08T18:51:00.002-04:00

~Greylock~

Just got back from a lovely solo hike at Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts. It is the highest point in the state, and is woven through with many trails, including the AT.

Basically, I was checking out a route and camp site for later on in the summer for our big, overnight hike with the campers. The weekend was ideal, with clear skys and warm yet dry air. All in all I hiked about 10 miles over 24 hours, and found the adventure perfect for a group of 14 year olds.

Here is a slide show of my hike.

~Tendai Buddhist Institute~

On my way back to the farm, I almost missed a sign for a zen buddhist center in Canaan. I decided to stop and poke around. I'm glad I did, as I was able to meet and talk with the abbott there, a warm and mellow older man named Monshin that had spent much of his life in Japan.

He showed me around the land and their strikingly beautiful meditation hall, and described in fascinating detail different aspects of the zendo and this particular lineage, which is Tendai Buddhism as founded by Saicho in the end of the 8th century.

Interestingly, this lineage is also known as Ekayana, distinguishing it from Mahayana and so-called Hinayana traditions. Eka means one, and yana means vehicle. The approach of this school blends aspects of many schools, including Zen, Chan, Pure Land, Theravada, and Tibetan traditions.

As we finished our dialogue, Monshin invited me to stay and sit, which I did, and during this time I was further struck by the focus and simplicity of the space.

The zendo holds dharmatalks and sittings every Wednesday, and longer weekend services periodically. Their website it www.tendai.org

Below are some images of the land and zendo. Enjoy!

In gratitude,

Eka

2009-06-03T07:40:00.000-04:00

~So Near~

Before finding Me,

Mankind spends many lifetimes searching for the truth.

He tries so many devious ways of reaching it,

And yet how few have really found Me

Within the center of their very being.

They found it too difficult to think of Me,

Creator of all things,

As within themselves.

Yet here I Am.

And all man has to do is to seek and he will find.

But he seeks in every place but the right place,

Within himself.

I am so near that he does not recognize Me.

excerpt from Foundations of Findhorn, one of our guiding books for the co-creation of Playful Heart.

Eka

2009-06-02T14:01:00.001-04:00

~Always That~

God is love-love is truth-I am that-always that

I am you-you are me-we are that-always that

All is self-self is real-realize that-always that

Something I wrote in India 4 years back. Still quite potent for me.

Eka

2009-05-30T18:01:00.002-04:00

~'Shatter Your Ideals on the Rock of Truth'~

Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sufi master, and founder of Universal Sufism.

His wisdom legacy to us:

There is One God, the Eternal, the Only Being; None exists save He.
There is One Master, the Guiding Spirit of all souls, Who constantly leads all followers toward the Light.
There is One Holy Book, the Sacred Manuscript of Nature, the only Scripture that can enlighten the reader.
There is One Religion, the unswerving progress in the right direction toward the Ideal, which fulfills the life's purpose of every soul.
There is One Law, the Law of Reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience, together with a sense of awakened justice.
There is one Family, the Human Family, which unites the Children of Earth indiscriminately in the Parenthood of God.
There is one Moral Principle, the Love which springs forth from a willing heart, surrendered in service to God and Humanity, and which blooms in deeds of beneficence.
There is One Object of Praise, the Beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshipper through all aspects from the seen to the unseen.
There is One Truth, the true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of Wisdom.
There is One Path, the effacement of the limited self in the Unlimited, which raises the mortal to immortality, in which resides all Perfection.

May we all know the One...the One that is I, You, and We.

In communion,

Eka

2009-05-24T16:18:00.029-04:00

~9th Grade Practicum~

This past week I had the pleasure of working and playing with the 9th grade class from Hawthorne Valley School. We tented out in the woods for the week, opening to experiences of farm and nature. Truly, my heart feels such joy in seeing these young adults, coming into their own, eyes open, minds full of wonder, hearts seeking for true connection. In many of these youth, I saw readiness...a readiness to move into and heal the accumulated wounds of our collective inheritance. An uprightness and courage of heart; a knowing, maybe not yet fully-conscious, of a real and wonderful task that humanity and the world at large need them to take up and see through.

In truth, I felt honored to have the chance to work with them, to find inspiration in their inspiration, and to know that, at least, I can let them know they have a divine purpose here that is undeniable.

With great gratitude,

Eka

2009-05-23T15:11:00.005-04:00

~Awakened Words for All Planetary Passengers~

Below are the first few paragraphs of a commencement address given to the University of Portland class of 2009 by Paul Hawken. Read this and release into its truth. Feel it resonate within your cells, and pay close attention to what urge rises up within you. Find your path in this age of good work. We are all together in it.

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was "direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful." Boy, no pressure there.

But let's begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation...but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like "don't poison the water, soil, or air, and don't let the earth get overcrowded, and don't touch the thermostat" have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food, but all that is changing.

There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn't bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH HIS HIRING...

...link to full speech...

In Family,

Eka

2009-05-18T17:01:00.001-04:00

~The Awakened State~

This state, if it is the 'natural state', should be there when we let go of everything, when we give up trying and trying to not try, when we put down all belief, all presumption, all memory and expectation, when we sit awake and completely vulnerable in our raw experience, this reality should be recognized directly.

In other words, we aren't 'doing' this state, it is not another manipulation...it is letting go of all manipulations, to rest that which does not change, that which is essential.

OneLight

2009-05-13T16:30:00.007-04:00

~Radical Simplicity~

By all accounts, Ethan Hughes is an everyday superhero. Founder of the Possibility Alliance and the Superheroes Bike Ride, his work is incredibly simple, straightforward, compassionate, and revolutionary. Below are four links to interviews with him, the first one offering an audio file of very inspiring interview.

Possibility Alliance audio interview

Living Car-Free and Off the Grid

Superhero Bike Ride

Reasons for Hope...Real Life Superheroes

blessings,

Eka

2009-05-07T11:41:00.003-04:00

~Sprouts of Spring~

2009-05-05T11:48:00.007-04:00

~Personal Affirmation: Highest and Best Vision of Eka Joti~

I accept all beings, myself included, and all situations with clear presence and deep kindness, and thus am conscious and at ease in all experiences, all circumstances.

Fully groking my inherent, innate completeness, I am at peace, and do not engage with the world seeking and expecting egoic gain, satisfaction, validation, etc.

Being at peace and seeing the inherent perfection of reality, I move in the world solely in service of the awakening of all beings.

Understanding the profound interconnection of all beings and all energies, I apply my time and energy through loving-care in the service of universal welfare.

Not only in my actions, but in my very thoughts and energetic presence, I maintain the highest vibration possible to be as a beacon to others, inviting and calling forth their highest and best selves.

I do not engage in actions that would make me less available to offer service or less conscious to respond to others with skill and ease.

When coming to a moment free of obligation or activity, I rest in my Self, saving my energy and reaffirming my connection with the Real.

Whenever possible, I choose thoughts, visions, energies, beliefs, foods, and environments that care for and nourish the mental, emotional, and physical body and support awakening.

~

Note: this affirmation is not where I always am. I come in and out of contact with this 'highest and best' version of myself. Sometimes I feel very far from this affirmation, but with sincerity and resolve, I am clearly seeing this Life and Being coming into greater and greater alignment. And at times I find I have dissolved into this truly divine expression of my Self, and know that I am home.

What is your highest, greatest, most beautiful vision or thought about yourself? What would it look like if you lived this thought every moment? Vision become inspiration, inspiration becomes action, action becomes physical reality...this is how we create our selves and our world. It all starts with a vision.

OneLight

2009-05-01T10:46:00.004-04:00

~The 3rd Way~

We live in a world where, it seems, there are only two choices when an experience or impulse arises: either to reach for it or push it away. With either decision, the pattern- and therefore the bondage- is strengthened.

But what about those that seek freedom from bondage? There is a 3rd choice, a 3rd way...neither to pull nor push, but to know. To rest in knowing, allowing the experience or impulse- whatever it may be- to express itself fully and unhindered, is this 3rd choice. It is the only 'choice' that leads to and reveals freedom.

This 3rd way is the path of advaita, the 'non-dual', the Buddha's 'middle path', Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, the Taoist path, and most likely many more teachings that I am not personally familiar with.

Resting in knowing, we eventually come to ask the question, 'what is it that knows?'. And we turn knowing in on itself, directly, with purpose, saying, 'to whom does this all arise?' And we come to see just how far the existential rabbit hole goes.

Beautiful is the yearning, beautiful is the journey, beautiful is the release.

Kalu Rinpoche- 'We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality; we are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing. Being nothing, you are everything. That is all.'

With a warm heart,

Eka

2009-04-30T10:49:00.001-04:00

~Quickie~

Finding God is not difficult. Somehow convincing youself that you are apart from God...now that is difficult.

Eka

2009-04-29T10:43:00.000-04:00

~More from Mooji~

OneLight

2009-04-27T10:32:00.002-04:00

~Dad comes to visit~

On a lovely Saturday, full of the first strong expressions of spring, dad came to visit the farm. We spent our time walking on the farm, feeding the animals, getting some supplies in town nearby, going to a community barbeque, and on Sunday we went for a scenic bike ride and cooked up a great breakfast with farm products. All in all a visit just right. Thanks dad.

below is a pic of us at Hawthorne from 5 years back, and one from this weekend. Changed yet the same...

OneLight

2009-04-15T13:43:00.004-04:00

~Finding the Sacred~

How is something sacred...made sacred...experienced as sacred?

Just to share a brief moment...

I was towelling off after a shower, fully present with the sentation, not wanting to be anywhere else, not even wanting to be there at that moment...just letting it all be. And as the presence crystalized and penetrated, I was suddenly no where to be found. There was simply toweling off...not 'me' towelling off. In that moment, it was sacred. Totally mundane, ordinary, a moment that is usually skimmed over with some distracted thinking. Yet I allowed myself to be totally there, without a need for it to be any way in particular, and it was sublime.

So what is the lesson here...the lesson about sacredness? It seems that sacredness is not some thing, not a quality of an object, or contained within an object, but the reality of everything, when engaged with fully. Thus, brushing one's teeth could be sacred, a direct portal into truth and awakening; and ritualized meditation or prayer could be nothing more than distraction, an empty gesture downbound in ignorance. It is all a matter of the quality with which we meet these things, these actions with...the relationship we cultivate with life itself. Nisargadatta said that sincerity alone is the necessary ingredient for awakening. We must sincerely engage with whatever is present for us moment to moment...be it sadness or pain or bliss or bordom...it is not so much about what is being known, but connecting with that quality of knowing. It is the knowing that brings us home to ourselves.

LightLifeLove,

Eka

2009-04-12T13:08:00.003-04:00

~Trip to the Ice Glen~

A very magical place, full of coves, high ridges, moss-covered boulders, deep valleys, ice-flows, and caverns. Very fun.

OneLove,

OneLight

2009-04-12T07:38:00.002-04:00

~Unassailable~

We are not our experience, but that which knows our experience.

We are not our thoughts, but the knowing of our thoughts.

We are not our fears, our beliefs, our desires, our sadness, our bliss, but the witnessing of these experiences.

Do you see how changeless your are, how unassailable is your true nature?

Remember your rightful place as pure awareness, and be at peace in all movements, all experiences.

This is the only true freedom that exists.

2009-04-10T07:44:00.002-04:00

~Maple Festival~

This week Hawthorne Valley School held its annual Maple Festival, where we boil down hundreds of gallons of sap the kids have collected over the 2 weeks previous. The boiling down takes place in the context of a joyful gathering, with music, ceremony, thanks-giving, and beautifying of the forest and especially maple trees. The younger students invite the VSP over to join in, so we took the morning and afternoon to share in their special day.

It was a wonderful, and tasty, event, with much child energy and nature reverence. Lovely!

Crazy Dancin' Nick

Boiling vats

Group shot

Making maple-dough-mellows...

...and toasting them

Thanks-giving to the trees

Making gnome houses for the maple tree spirits

Lovely

With great gratitude,

Eka

2009-04-03T13:03:00.001-04:00

~A Day at Hawthorne~

The Hawthorne Valley is so full, so dynamic; so many things go on here every day, and I am only just beginning to see the complexity and human investment that is Hawthorne.

Just to give a small sense, there is the Hawthorne Valley Association, the Hawthorne Valley School, the Hawthorne Valley Farm, the Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, and the Hawthorne Valley Farm Visiting Students Program...and I'm sure I left something out ;)

So I want to offer a few pictures from different areas of the Valley, giving some sense of the daily dynamic here.

Our sow Bubblegum gives birth

Several were still-born, a few were crushed during the two-hour birth...only 3 survived. Mother nature can be both sweet and sharp.

Taking care of our woods

Prepping and packing sauerkraut with Seth

Katie lights the cob-oven for bread baking

Some inside shots of the Dairy

The processing floor

The copper milk vat

The newfangled yogurt do-hicky

Filling yogurt

So much yogurt...

Where does all this milk come from?

The herd

Milking equipment

Farmer Lisa hand milking an injured utter

With a warm heart...

2009-03-29T19:58:00.000-04:00

~FarmScape~

OneLight

2009-03-26T13:04:00.000-04:00

~First Week Pics: Rudolph Steiner NY 10th Grade~

2009-03-25T15:57:00.005-04:00

~The State of Authentic Play~

What is it to play...to truly be playful, childlike, innocent? What is innocence for that matter? People seem to love discussing the difference between children and non-children, and it usually resolves to a point about innocence lost. But I have rarely heard anyone arrive at a satisfying definition of innocence.

So, let's start with true play, authentic play, and go from there. In my practice, my journey, I have found that there are certain states or qualities associated with freedom, with awakening...certain states or qualities that lead to a remembering of what is Real. In my exposure and work with youth of all ages, I have observed that they sometimes effortlessly come into these same states and qualities.

As far as I can see, the commonalities between these qualities of awakening and these qualities of authentic play allow for a basic description:

a state of presence, vulnerability, spontaneous expression, and joy; an unassuming state free from memory and expectation, free from fear of the unknown, marked by sincerity, wonder, and discovery.

Most likely, the mind reads this and has some resistance. Quite possibly, the mind believes that people cannot really live this way- it is simply not possible to reclaim this childlike beingness once we have lost it. Maybe reading this makes the heart warm, but the rational, adult part of oneself comments that, 'it's a nice dream, but the real world doesn't work that way'. Maybe it pictures a world run amok should people actually start living from a place of authentic play, with everyone out running naked through the fields and no real work getting done. But through my own experience, very much living in and egaged with the active world, I have found it to be quite otherwise. See for yourself, o fellow cosmic traveler...

Maybe what we find when we sincerely attempt to connect with Authentic Play, is that the mind's resistance stems from its own discomfort. It is the reality that in a place of presence, vulnerability, and the unknown, the mind/ego suddenly finds itself stripped of the illusion that it can control the circumstances and experiences of its existence, and this can be deeply disorienting and painful. Yet this pain is like the unpleasantness of bitter medicine, the sting of sterilizing an infected wound with iodine, or the sharp pain of the surgeon's knife while removing a tumor. In other words, there is pain because of illness; and there is illness because of being out of touch with Reality, with how things really are.

In this way, beginning a practice of Authentic Play can be uncomfortable, disorienting, scary, and difficult. Yet, with sincere application, it quickly ripens into very sweet fruit, and becomes the most cherished aspect of one's life here and now. It becomes a conscious, embodied return to innocence, now deeply enriched and Self-aware.

Each truth-speaker expresses this reality and recognition with particular words and images, yet the truth of it remains the same. Here Mooji offers us his beautiful, potent words on this state of 'thusness'

OneLight

2009-03-17T19:07:00.000-04:00

~Coming Home to Hawthorne~

This post marks my first week back at the Hawthorne Valley Farm. Working here 5 years back, I fell in love with this place, this way of life, this intention for healthy community. The farm was my first powerful experience of farming, healthy community, and youth fostering. And, those of you that have read the introduction to my thesis know, this was also the place where I first received a vision of DharmaFarming.

For those of you that haven't read this introduction, here is a brief piece, speaking to the impact Hawthorne had on me during that formative period of seeking...

~

Dusk and the DharmaFarmer

The universe we live in is deeply connected--I know this to be true. I experienced it once, I remember. A vivid landscape, green on green, field upon field, a valley tucked into the lay of great hills. Between the Catskills and Adirondacks, at a place called Hawthorne Valley, I knew connection--spirit and soil and sublime surrender.

I can even locate this experience to one particular scene: sitting out in the simmering summer dusk, propped up against a heave of grass, I read the lines of a book close to my heart:

If one fathoms deeply one’s own neighborhood and the everyday world in which he lives, the greatest of worlds will be revealed.

A commonplace world surrounds us--immediate and mundane; yet its underlying pattern runs sacred and subtle.

I am pulled back to my own surroundings, mundane yet subtle, immediate and sacred. The deep twilight glow heating my skin, the pasture and cropland stretching out stoically, the sounds of children, the sense of fullness and life: I am overwhelmed by the intimacy of Here and Now. I begin to silently cry--not from grief or joy--but from a profound experience of Connection and Oneness.
~

The book I was reading was the One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka, and to this day it is one of the most poetic and precise descriptions of DharmaFarmering I have found. To Fukuoka, farming was the growing of people as much as the growing of food.

And working and living and playing at Hawthorne, I began to see this...the transformative grace of living close to the source of things. 5 year later, returning to this special place, I am immediately swept up once again in this mysterious grace. I say mysterious because what we do here seems so practical, so ordinary, the very definition of mundane. We live together and grow food and tend animals and care for the land and raise children...it is the bare bones of human co-existance, no? Yet somehow it brings release to the heart, steadiness to the mind, health to the body. It seems to bring the highest and best of human experience.

For for the next piece of time, I will be here, in conscious co-existence with farm, nature, and community. My next posts will offer up some photos of the various aspects of farm life with the kids.

With a warm heart,
Eka

2009-03-05T19:32:00.000-05:00

~Remembering My Name~

Somewhere during the last 6 months, during the long retreat and the last round of plant-spirit medicine, I decided to fully take on the spiritual name I was given 2 years ago. I want to be clear on the reasons behind this.

To change my name, to leave behind my birth name, my given name, may bring up the thought that something was wrong with Justin Sarno, with this personality, this identity, this history. I don't want to give this impression.

Taking the 'spiritual' name occurred after a series of experiences. Put simply, I began to see that I was fundamentally something other than Justin Sarno. I write about this 'something', this consciousness, this pure knowing, this mystery, and through a few simple yet illuminating experiences, I saw that I simply was not Justin.

Now here's the interesting thing. Justin is still around. This body-mind-personality, born to Albert and Joan, with a history, with memory, with preferences and beliefs...the whole thing, this is appropriately called Justin Sarno. Justin moves through his life, day to day, touching his world, being touched by it, changed by it, moment to moment. And the one light watches.

This is Eka Joti, the one light. In no way am I the one light. We are each and all eka joti...this name, in one way, is a tool to help me remember what this whole reality is at the core. Just one mysterious, fathomless, all-encompassing light of being, consciousness, bliss. Satchitananda Ekajoti...

So I give great gratitude to Justin, to the life given to him. All of it, each pain and pleasure and confusion and clarity, all of it, through grace and design far beyond my understanding, brought me to a direct experience of Self, of Emptiness, of the One Light. Love to you, Eka

2009-03-01T17:41:00.001-05:00

~Why not write on politics?~

If you keep up with the themes and moods of my posts, it is probably clear that, and I don't really blog on the economy or politics. This is not because I don't think about or am not affected by the economy or political issues and current events. Nor is it that I feel thought and action in the economic and political spheres are worthless. Truly I do not believe this.

Generally, I have written on a small number of topics: homesteading/permaculture, spiritual view and practice, curanderismo/plant-spirit medicine, and personal current events (mostly for family and friends). I have stuck to these topics largely because I have direct exposure to them; they are where my time and energy is spent. But in the last year or so, I find I am being drawn to write almost exclusively about one thing. This one thing is consciousness...aka awareness, presence, tao, being, buddhanature, atman, etc.

I do not subscribe to a western or Cartesian model that views consciousness as something produced by the physical organism. In my own experience, I have come to know that it is the other way around...that the physical organism arises within consciousness. Thus, for me, consciousness is the prime, the source. All things and the world come to be known by virtue of consciousness.

I know many other areas of discourse exist...two large ones that are forever on the front page of our lives are economics and politics. Here are the two main reasons that I write on issues of consciousness/unfoldment of awareness and not economics or politics.

First, my gifts/virtues/tendencies/leanings all point me away from the political sphere as it now stands. I simply am not drawn to it, do not feel natural in it, do not have the skills that a savvy politician would need, and really have not been adequately schooled in politics. Generally the same goes for economics as it currently stands. I have this qualifier, because I find that I am interested in local currencies, demurgent economies, consensus governance, decentralization, etc., and believe that if the political and economic realms were to shift in this direction, that I would find myself more naturally drawn in.

The second, and more important reason, I touched on already in this post. I believe that, if we are to succeed in bringing about a deep and wide revolution of compassion and wisdom, we must focus our energies most skillfully. While political action and economic action are important, valuable, and necessary, they are not the source as I have found it. By 'source' I mean the greatest point of leverage...where we are each most powerful, or have the most agency. Where is this greatest point of leverage? The place from which you are knowing right now the words you are reading. Do you understand what this point is? Do you know from where it comes? Can you understand the wonder, mystery, and potential of consciousness?

The cart before the horse: we try to understand the world before we understand what we, at our core, truly are. We try to change things half asleep, and then we rage at ourselves and at others when we make it worse instead. Even when our actions are coming from a desire to bring about goodness, if they are committed holding to energies of separateness, fear, longing, doubt, etc., they will only resonate and reverberate this same quality of energy, no matter what. This is the law of causality, as firm as the law of gravity.

Only when we really have remembered what we are, free of any projection, assumption, filter, concept, doubt, fear, desire, etc., will our actions produce freedom. We will act in full awareness of our inherent satisfaction, fearlessness, and joy, and thus whatever we do will produce the same. Sow the seed (of consciousness), so the fruit (of matter)...

This is why I now write mostly about consciousness; either from my own personal experiences, or from others now living or long gone. To me, this is the most important thing: to recognize what we are not, and to remember what we are. All goodness and virtue will flow from this one thing. I challenge each of you to challenge this axiom.

P.S. I do not wish to alienate anyone with this post. Truly, I support and am grateful for the work many of us are committing our lives to in the desire for peace, equality, health, and happiness...not because these actions will bring about true peace, etc., but because such intention and resolve causes us to grow and deepen and awaken to our inmost truth.

With a warm heart,
Eka

2009-02-17T17:24:00.003-05:00

~To Be, not To Seek~

As we begin to awaken, we may be struck by a glaring incongruity of the 'normal' approach to life. Generally speaking, we spend every day moving through our life looking for, seeking out satisfaction, happiness, joy, peace, etc. We have assumed, usually unconsciously, that these qualities are to be found in the world around us. Waking from the trance, we come to see so clearly...we are not here to find contentment or peace or joy or happiness, but to be it, to radiate it. Our very being is satisfaction and peace and joy. Why would happiness seek what it already is? It makes no sense to eyes opened in wisdom.

-Michael Beckwith-''The world has nothing for you. You are a gift of divinity. You have incarnated here to share your gifts, talents, and capacities. The world can't make you happy, there is nothing in this world that can bring you joy. You are here to bring joy, to bring love, to bring happiness, to bring peace. This is your mandate.'