We have some informal chat after every arti, the "post-arti party"! But once a week, Jeff Wolverton joins us for some serious mining of the spiritual depths. Join us for conversation, more readings, songs, quotes - you never know what treasures will be uncovered!
Dear folks of Baba,
In this next chapter, Darwin introduces the lifelong work we face of dissolving the many veils that distort our vision within and prevent us from seeing Baba who is always present right before us. Prophet Mohammed once said, “Between you and me there are forty-nine veils. Between Me and you there are no veils.” This is our challenge: to work with Baba at dissolving these veils through ceaseless effort until He is seen face-to-face. The rare and fleeting glimpses we may experience of Baba have to one day become abiding and permanent. To do this, we have to give up many desires and delusions along the way. Thankfully, in compensation we enjoy an increasing measure of inner freedom in spite of the inevitable pain. There is a Sufi line that says, “As long as I feel You here inside of me, I cannot say I am suffering.” It may take decades for the truth of these words to dawn in us. Knowing He is here with us is such an unspeakable privilege which fortifies our endurance to continue the seemingly insurmountable challenges of this inner divine journey.
Darwin defines these veils as “sanskaric thought-patterns” that stand between us and the ever-present vision of the divine within. On an overcast day, we say the sun isn’t out, but when the clouds lift, we see it was there all along. The fastest way to eliminate these veils is to give to Baba all our emotional complexes and misconceptions that fuel the veil-making machine. Psychological and spiritual work on ourselves is helpful, but tuning in to Baba’s presence and giving Him our shortcomings and weaknesses and even our attachment to good is the fastest way to dissolve our veils. Darwin used to say, “The deeper the feeling, the deeper the healing.”
Fortunately, we have a natural and intrinsic longing for a freer life full of substance and love that drives us on, which is really Baba’s very personal, active and magnetic influence from behind the veils. Kitty Davy used to quote Rumi as saying, “I never knew that God too desires us.” She found that Baba was more eager to unite with them, the early Western disciples, than they were with Him.
Over time, often taking decades, these internal veils gradually begin to dissolve through our efforts and Baba’s grace. We begin to see within and develop intuition, insight, inspiration and eventually illumination in the course of our journey. The process is like lifting the hood of the car and observing first-hand the mechanics of the engine and making critical repairs as we go along. In this, we might experience the feeling that Baba is moving closer to us, but it is really the other way around, that we are drawing closer to Him—He is already infinitely close to us. Complexes like unworthiness, our innumerable likes and dislikes and worldly addictions have to be let go of in order to move more deeply into Baba’s intimate being. People are naturally lulled into thinking they have finally succeeded in life when, in Darwin’s words, they have “harmonized” with their sanskaras, whereas the real challenge before us is to harmonize with our own inner divinity which is our Beloved Baba!
Dear one, where did you ever find the courage
to seek such a Beloved when you know
He has annihilated so many like you before!
- Rumi
In His love, Jeff
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