Giving thanks is not so much in the words or the actions as it is in the feeling.
Yet it is in the traditions that we give ourselves the invitation, the opportunity, to rest in those sublime feelings that culture a life well lived.
This is, in the larger sense, called cultural integrity. Traditions culture the heart and soul of the members of that culture.
Traditions are no more arbitrary than is our daily bread…
The Truth about Religion and Flatlining
A few of things:
1} Rayshan is doing a beautiful job with the Chinese blogs. The english is there also so do check them out… accessed through the homepage of this website
2) Joy Anna is doing a beautiful job with Mount Soma on Facebook. Please check that out as well.
3) I often hear that people like the blogs but are shy to comment. Know that if you do not enter you name, it posts as “anonymous”. That is fine by me or you can just make up a name if you prefer. But it helps me (and the website) a lot if you do post comments… even if they are very short. Sometimes I feel like no one is reading them!!… except for the fact that in passing people often tell me how much they and everyone else they know do like them.. PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS!
Thanksgiving has always been a day that reminded me to not focus on the problems and the lack in my life, but rather to be thankful. However, since I started studying with Maharshi, I’ve noticed how each and every day becomes more and more like “thanks-giving.” It is getting quite rare to have a day that I don’t feel deeply grateful to my guru and to my evolution. Self is closer and closer. Life is good.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
When you talk about traditions, it makes me wonder, since there are so many traditions I don’t enjoy. On Thanksgiving, I do enjoy feeling gratitude and getting together with those I am most connected to. Though, I have to admit, my favorite thing about holidays is that I get more work done because the interruption factor is so much less. People are busy celebrating, so I can work in peace. I love doing work I believe in and I am so very grateful to be in the Mount Soma Ashram.
Beautiful blog. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
This is nice to hear about traditions. I’ve often dismissed them at times in my life and also enjoyed them. I believe my dismissal was because I didn’t hear the “Feeling” as you described it… So the tradition felt empty.
Thank you Maharshi for every thing you do and all you have given us over the years. I deeply appreciate knowing you and the impact you’ve made in me since 2000, at least in this lifetime. 🙂
your blogs help me stay connected and help me share with others the gifts you offer.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and all the Mount Soma community!
Happy Turkey Day Everyone! Minus the Turkey of course:) Gobble… Gobble…
I am so grateful for Mount Soma and for Maharshi, and to have all of you in my life. I couldn’t imagine doing or being anywhere else. T
his week I have been reflecting about Thanksgiving and it’s importance. Last weekend someone mentioned that maybe we shouldn’t celebrate Thanksgiving because of the visitors and all the extra work etc. It really hit me, and my response was like,”no, we have to celebrate Thanksgiving.”
On a feeling level I just knew that it is important that we celebrate Thanksgiving, and this blog helped me clarify why. I think it is about cultural integrity, and it is important that we maintain our traditions. Especially traditions as wonderful as Thanksgiving (and Christmas too:). What a blessed time of year.
To everyone out in the “real world.” I miss you guys, and I hope that many of you are able to make it to the Deep Dive!
I am thankful for your blogs.
I LOVE Thanksgiving…
I love cooking and eating and sharing food. I love celebrating.
But I think what I love most (as a middle child) is to gather with my family, my community, the people I love and walk through life with… just to feel our together-ness. Thanks so much to everyone in the Mount Soma community–here, far away, and yet to come. (We are continually growing and that is part of the fun, always welcoming new people in).
Thank you Maharshi, Guruji, Brahmarshi, Michaelji! The name feels irrelevant, because who you are and what you offer is so much deeper than a word. Thank you for giving us something REAL in this world to gather around… helping us to see the ground of being from which we all spring.
And to other shy posters… It has comforted me to know others are shy, too. That encourages me to “just post it” (okay, I read it over once first, then post it and don’t read it again!) It helps to notice that when I read others’ posts, I feel closer to others out there, all of us trying to integrate these teachings in our own human ways. Besides, this community has always impressed me with the space we allow each person, to be themselves. We have that Cosmic Cushion supporting us… So Just Post It!
I invite everyone to “Like” the Mount Soma page on Facebook… (different than “Friending” our profile) AND share it with your friends! Facebook is a wonderful tool to make information about Mount Soma and Maharshi’s teachings easily accessible. And helps people feel (and be) more connected. If you don’t have a Facebook account, it MIGHT just be worth getting one JUST to see our daily posts… glimpses into the daily joys of living here, and connecting with community. It is fun and I have a feeling our presence on Facebook could take on a life of it’s own!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. <3
Very beautiful prose, gently strikes the right notes!
Henry David Thoreau:
” I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.
It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite – only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety.
I am ready to try this for the next ten thousand years, and exhaust it. How sweet to think of! my extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me.
O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment. ”
–Henry David Thoreau
thank you
Thanksgiving this year was wonderful. The room at the Mount Soma potluck was filled with so much love it looked ablaze with light when I opened the door. (And from there things only got better.)
We spoke of many things, including names. The latest blog post came from “Michaelji” which is such a wonderful name blending eastern and western cultures. And the blog page included many other names as well.
Really all of us are beyond names. How can a single name contain the unbounded essence of Consciousness? So we all have many names, Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, Friend, Neighbor. In the west we may express respect by using Mr. or Sir, or Doctor in front of a name. It is said that Mother Divine has a thousand names. Does She have even more than that?
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi used to tell his students a story about his teacher Swami Brahmananda Saraswati who became the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math in India. Other people called this great teacher Shankaracharya. But for Maharish Mahesh Yogi, that “official name” was inadequate to express the fullness in his heart for his teacher. So Marharishi Mahesh Yogi called his teacher “His Divinity” or Guru Dev.
I think the main point I am trying to express is that this dilemma about names is not a new one and maybe it is completely natural that more than one name per person or teacher is appropriate in different circumstances and for different cultures. Our “personal name” for our Teacher that expresses our heart, need not match the “official name” that others use.
Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity to express gratitude for the essence of our friends, families and Teachers, whatever their names may be.
I am thankful for the peace and calmness I feel in my soul when I sit and do nothing. It might be at anytime however one of my favorites is when I first close my eyes to fall asleep. There is no greater gift than the amazing people in my life and I am truly thankful to have everyone..because life is all about people. Brahmarshi..I am thankful for you because you facilitated the removal of confusion that allowed me to feel that peace! Happy Thanksgiving to my family at Mount Soma:)
I am thankful for all of the comments. Hopefully everyone, including “anonymous”, will keep them coming for a long time to come!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Glad the anonymous tribe stepped up. Still too many words and not enough Gap, for my taste.
Is this really a conversation ?
What kind of conversation is a Blog ?
How do we reflect, touch into our deeper wisdom, hopefully access some real knowledge and then speak if it ?
I suppose I’m not quite comfortable with this forum.
“Sometimes I feel like no one is reading them!!… ”
We are reading them!
Thank you 🙂
My heart is filled with the love I feel for every single person in my life. I’m grateful, for the opportunity, to be a part of Mount Soma, Guruji, and my friends and family. Wishing many blessings to all of you.
To “The Dude”,
I am not quite sure if you have a better alternative in mind? … or are just hoping someone else can think of one?… How can I help? I’m open…
The names Maharshi, Brahmarshi, Guru Dev and the like have very spiritual meanings in India; in the Vedic literature.
It might be helpful to remember that the name Michael at its roots, is also a very spiritual name in the west. The name Michael comes from the Hebrew name Mi-cha-el (pronounced MEE – CHAH – with a soft ch – ALE) which translates as “Who is like God.”
So in that context, having a Teacher named Michaelji, one “Who is Like God” seems very fitting.
There are moments of spontaneous feelings of thankfulness on many of my days now, sometimes they bring tears to my eyes. I struggle a bit with the official day of being thankful; I can’t force that feeling to happen. So Thanksgiving for me is more about the enjoyment of sharing a meal and being social.
I do feel incredibly lucky and thankful to have been born into this life with Maharshi as my teacher.
RE: “I am not quite sure if you have a better alternative in mind? … or are just hoping someone else can think of one?… How can I help? I’m open…”
Maharshi: thank you! I do like reading your blogs, very much.
When I first heard you speak at the Commonwealth Club, years ago, I knew my life would never be the same. They introduced you as the ‘teachers teacher” and I couldn’t agree more.
What really moved me in the room was how you filled the empty spaces (the Silence?). It happened while you talked and when you engaged us in Questions and Answers.
The Gap or pauses seemed pregnant with knowledge – far far more than the question asked.
Those silent moments seemed to be lapses in the day to day reality. They seemed Holy ?
My friend said some kind of magic was active in that room. I felt something like that but it also felt like a physical thing, a living thing. It WAS tangible!
I cannot come to your lectures and classes at this point in my life it seems. But I love what I remember from your lecture.
I want more!
I have taught for 20 years and know many teachers who truly love the exchange between a student and teacher. You ARE a teachers teacher – in a class or realm all of your own. (I apologize if that sounds too grandiose or flattery.)
But I think a Questions and Answer (Q/A) session might work better. Not to replace a Blog.
1. Q and A forum
2. Interactive forum
3. Interacting with the student in the moment.
Maybe an interactive Video Conferencing or Web-based presentation with Chat room for Q/A ?
Thank you
The Dude
I love these blogs to much and the comments.
I hope you never stop doing it.
If you need more comments im glad to help!
Dear “The Dude”,
I am certainly open to doing a Q & A forum in English. We are currently setting one up for the Chinese speaking students worldwide. We are also planning to do something in German. I also hope to be going to India to teach soon. For english speaking people I have been doing the blogs and also classes in SF and at Mount Soma. I am open to doing more in english as well. It is just a matter of finding the time. Much of my time is also allotted to further developing Mount Soma. However, I do very much appreciate your suggestion and kind words. Let me see if we can do something like you suggest in English.
Beautiful ! I am intrigued by the possibilities and the interaction.
(I am not a fan at all of relying on email, written word, and strongly prefer face time. However, I have made the current technologies work pretty well…as long as I include people’s voices. )