• Table of Contents
  • Lecture #2 by Swami Veda Bharati
  • One Breath at a Time by Jim Whiting
  • Audios for you! by Ahymsin Publishers
  • Our Place in the Tradition by Sandhya Matthews
  • Changing Loss into Learning by Fiza Mishra
  • Navaratri at SRSG
  • Meditate through Childbirth by Sweta Parikshit Dalmiya
  • Kumbha Mela (part 2) by Pierre Lefebvre
  • Become a Kalyana Mitra by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Silence in Everyday Life? by Denise Harker-Martin
  • Poems Written in India by John David Wilson
  • Children at Saksham School by Sadhana Mishra
  • 2013 Sangha Gathering by Joanne Sullivan (Divya)
  • 2013 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of the SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Our Place in the Tradition

by Sandhya Matthews

It has been years since Swami Rama has transitioned and now Swami Veda Bharati has gone into silence; this may leave us wondering. What is our place in the Tradition? Swami Veda seems to have the transition team of Swami’s ready to assume the lead roles.  Many of us have been studying for decades. What now? We have meditated for years, and YEARS. Done our very best! And now what?

Well, what does your heart of hearts desire? For that very heart of hearts desire IS your place in the tradition. Swami Ji needs us to be the everyday emissaries. Remember this life IS God/the Tradition extending himself through us. The key stone to that extension is for us to live happy, joyful and skillful lives.  Skillful in that, we feel confident that we know how to navigate the blocks, the ups and downs in life. And when we need help, the tradition is there to guide us back home to inner peace. That is the fruit of all our years of practice, to the open hearts, and the access to our peaceful minds. That inner security IS the gift/goal.

Have you taken some quiet time and asked what is your next step? Do not ask how do I make myself better, or what more can I do to GET happiness? Ask instead, what makes my eyes sparkle with love when I think of it/them? What really cool guidances have come to me in the past from out of the blue? What are the touch stones in my life that remind me that Swami Ji is still working in me and through me?  THOSE ARE REAL THINGS! Those instances ARE your personal pathways that the tradition uses with you. Humbly and warmly, these are your most Intimate Moments with the Divine, your personal connection. These are the moments that hold us when we are navigating the eddies in our lives.

Maybe, just maybe, now, after all these years, it is time just to be happy. To use our yoga skills. To appreciate the ease and flow. To let God do his job and run the world, He does so anyway.  Maybe, we come home to our loved ones and see the divine gift that they are to us. Maybe, just maybe, they feel the same way about us, deep down in their heart of hearts.

The last thought that has landed around this issue it this. Are we still trying to be someone that we have decided we wanted to be years ago? We used to love baloney when we were kids. Most of us don’t even think of it anymore; we are so over that. Are we ready to let go of past stages of our development?  Open your mental shutters and let the light of this time and place shine in; the Sunshine of Eternity. Let it in now, by just smiling, right now, actually move those mouth muscles, and be thankful for the warm hug that this Tradition has been for us.

So, what does your heart of heart want to create now? Where is it calling you to go? Be it internal or external. Do you want to hug your grandchildren, pet your cat, snuggle up with your mate. Are you lead to be of service or feel the spring grass under your bare feet? I do. And for this, now moment, that is enough.

Where will Divine inspiration take us in the next now moments of our lives? As my friend Michael Neill put it, “The blank canvas of the unknown is beautiful and relaxing.”

The unknown is beautiful and relaxing because we are held in safety by the Tradition.
With Love,

Sandhya
April 15, 2013
©Sandhya Matthews

Editor’s Note:

Sandhya Matthews, BS, is a Certified Life Coach, a Yoga and Meditation instructor in Schaumburg, Illinois, USA.  Her website:  http://www.sandhyamatthews.com/