Retreat

[Guest guest]

Namaste everyone: What a blessing it was to be at the retreat with

everyone of you. What a wonderful ambience the Mandir has. SHREE MAA

and SWAMIJI have such a wonderful presence. Thank you to everyone,

thank you Srini and Ramya, thank you Nanda, thank you Auntiji, thank

you Vishveshwar and most of all, THANK YOU SHREE MAA AND SWAMIJI for

letting us share in your aura and presence and for your blessings.

 

I feel delighted, humbled, elated, honored, blessed ... I could go on.

I felt like Suratha and Samadhi did at the ashram of Medha Rishi. I

felt like I visited Ma Durga herself in the person of Shree Maa at the

time of the sandhi puja. It was like being in the presence of Siva and

Parvati wiht Swamiji and Shree Maa. Shree Maa dancing at the Aarati was

none other than Shri Krishna himself performing his rasa leela.

 

Thank you retreatants for your wonderful presence and delightful

insights at the discussions online and in person.

 

I feel inspired to proceed on ahead with my own sadhana and pray to

Shree Maa for guidance and inspiration all along the way.

[Guest guest]

Namaste Srini,

 

Durga here. Thank you for asking about our experiences of the fall, 2006

Navaratri Devi Mandir Retreat.

 

The effects of retreating inward -- in sanctified space and in the company of

Gurus, Sadhus and Satsang -- are profound. But also these effects are subtle,

rising to awareness with time. At this point, here is my best response to

your request for reflection.

 

What did you feel?

 

We were graciously and enthusiastically invited by Shree Maa, Swami and the

Devi Mandir Sadhus to observe, experience and interact with their daily lives

of selfless offering to the Divine.

 

Shree Maa names three jewels in a sadhu's jewelry box: inspiration,

appreciation and pure love. These jewels shine everywhere and on all levels at the Devi

Mandir (as in the peace prayer in the puja guides: ..."Peace on the earth,

Peace upwards and permeating the atmosphere, Peace upwards, over, on all sides

and further"...) We were invited to bask in the brilliant light from these

shining jewels of peace. To echo Parvati's recent post on Shree Maa's story on the

being with Sadhus, my being does indeed feel permeated with comfort, goodness

and joy from experiencing their sincerity of commitment and bliss.

 

Blessed with the effects of this light, the light of my inspiration,

appreciation and pure love has grown. I am re-inspired to do daily sadhana and seva.

I feel humbled, awed and grateful towards the unfathomable quiet blessings and

shining examples from our Gurus, Sadhus and Satsang. I feel a clearer

connection with pure love -- with my heart, with the inner light, with a devotional

bhav (attitude) toward the Divine, with the light in all.

 

I also feel more resolve about personal dharma (highest ideal of perfection)

for offering to the Divine.

 

What did you learn?

 

(1) Essentially, that an unflappable commitment to offering selflessley to

the Divine is top priority for a yogi; with that, the divine energy flows and

all else falls efficiently into place.

 

(2) Suffering feels personal, but when we suffer, we actually experience a

collective darkness and in this sense, suffering is not personal; it is like

opening a temporary TV channel to a darkness that has nothing to do with our true

nature. Healing in the personal realm - clearing of identifying with that

darkness - results in universal healing because now one more place in the

universe comes to shine.

 

Such reframing assists in removing such non-productive feelings as

victimization, isolation, selfishness, etc. It inspires awareness that each person has

something to offer, compells dedication to offering, generates compassionate

nurturing toward all who suffer (including to oneself), compells coming to

understand of the causes of attachment to/identification with darkness, and

inspires a desire to revel together in light. In healing, we progressively resonate

with our true nature, the light inside, and can bring a little match to the

collective darkness.

 

The act of repeatedly reciting the Chandi, where light battles and overcomes

darkness, makes darkness -- though ever-appearing -- seem less potent, and

brings faith that darkness will always resolve, that light/pure love/the force of

the universe/dharma, will always be victorious.

 

How did you find the ashram?

 

Shree Maa, Swami and the Sadhus are wholly dedicated to offering devotional

love to the Divine through sadhana and seva. There is constant purification of

outer and inner spaces to make way for offering. On the physical plane, this

involves organizing and cleaning of external spaces for offering (e.g. temple,

kitchen, grounds) and organizing and cleaning of the conduits of offering

(e.g. body, kitchen utensils, ritual items).On the inner plane, this involves

making and respecting the promise to use the mind to uphold a focus on offering

love. The energy at the Devi Mandir is pristine. Everything emits a glow --

murtis' faces, fresh altar surfaces, offered flowers, yagna flames, Maa's prasad,

arati dances, sweet smiles, soft eyes, gardens of flowers and vegetables...

 

Swami speaks of seva (selfless service) as 'the privilege of demonstrating

love', coming from an attitude of 'oh great, I get to offer...' vs. one of 'oh

no, I've got to give...'. The Devi Mandir and its inhabitants embody a robust

enthusiasm and gratitude for living the privilege of lovingly offering their

lives to give life to God's love.

 

What could we do better next time?

 

(1) Our efforts to evolve and our faith are always met with abundant grace by

Guru and God, yet still it seems to take time to transition from the outside

world and step into an optimal bhav. The online club discussions and

pre-retreat online classes were helpful for beginning this particular retreat

within. Ongoing sadhana will make for an easier bridge. Here are some further

ideas:

Provide an written orientation that outlines retreat goals and gives gentle

guidelines (vs. rules that sound alienating) on how one can mentally and

emotionally prepare to enhance an optimal focus upon arrival.

To enhance awareness upon landing on 'planet Devi Mandir', include in that

orientation some description of what takes place at the mandir, and a gentle

explanation (vs. rules that sound alienating) of local customs for entering and

inhabiting and honoring that scene most respectfully.

Include in that orientation a list of practical survival basics e.g. clothing

for early morning chill in the temple; an asan if one is accustomed to using

one; a mala, etc. (I heard there was a list but didn't see it -- sorry if this

is a repeat)

Extend the retreat time by a day or two, with more time built in for quiet

reflection and seva.

(2) (Along the lines of your new on-line poll...) Solicit topics of interest

from retreatants before they arrive. Formulate narrow practical topics (e.g.

how to read Hindu calendar, how to breathe life into a murti, how to do the

various forms of nyasah, how to clean a murti, how to develop an optimal asan,

the principle and practice of dakshina), and broader philosophical topics (e.g.

experiencing the nature of Shiva and Shakti; optimal approaches to types of

karma; what seva/karma yoga means; how to meet the particular challenges of the

Kali Yuga; yogic attitudes towards time and space). For grounding the learning

on narrow practical topics, hold mini demonstrations with time for questions

and answers at the retreat. For grounding the learning on broad philosophical

topics, present stories or examples and offer discussion/brainstorming time.

 

With respect for all of the gifts of the Devi Mandir,

 

Durga

 

 

In a message dated 10/4/2006 12:58:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

srini_sadhu writes:

it will be wonderful if you could

take some time to respond to the following - and even

better if you posted it on the group (email to

) for everyone to share.

 

Thanks and Jai Maa

The Sadhus at the Mandir