Miserable scenes from Greece…

How can you,
why should you
blame the world
when you yourself
are fully responsible
for your self-made misery?…. Sri Chinmoy

 This period in my life will go down as one of my worst. Deep down I’m a believer in self flagellation. So i thought…. why not give myself a good flogging for the purpose of self purification and punish myself with a hellish trip to the Greek Islands……for three months. Believe me…its been misery so far!

 The misery starts with an early morning meditation, then i walk out on my balcony to view the ocean from my cliff side hotel, just to rub the depression in. After a coffee and pastry i jump on my scooter and head off for a remote beach to do some snorkeling followed by a beach meditation. I repeat the process for half a dozen beaches just to remind myself….that the Catholic church was right after all- punishment really is the purpose of life.

When I feel that I am suffering for myself,

It actually means that I am suffering from myself.

When I feel that I am suffering for God,

It means that God, out of His infinite Bounty

Has made me a chosen instrument of His….CKG

After a hard day hooning around on my scooter, up hill and down dale (one of the benefits of being an expatriate is that you can ride scooters unabated), thinking of all those unhappy prisoners in the centre, its back to my little village by the ocean for some more misery….Greek food. Some times I don’t know how i do it! Christ had it easy on the cross compared to me. After five courses plus dessert (self flagellation is hard work you know) i head back to my hotel on the cliff side over looking the ocean to put my feet up on the balcony and watch the sun fall away over the horizon. This path of misery i have been chosen to tread is not for the faint hearted.

 Just to rub the salt in, in the morning I’ll jump on a ferry to another island to do it all over again. My path to purification is not one i would recommend to those with high blood pressure or low self esteem. I have decided to endure a whole three months of this indescribable hell for my own spiritual progress and for the betterment of the planet. No doubt the Supreme is singing my praises across the inner world for my God ordained sacrifice.

Go to hell…. because thats were i’m right now

Eamon

A nice pic of a young Guru and Alo back in the glory days

“Who writes his dreams?
God the Creator.

Who publishes his dreams?
God the Preserver.

Who distributes his dreams?
God the Fulfiller,
God the eternal Lover.” Sri Chinmoy

 I had this amazing dream last night lying in my bed in Neapoli, Greece. I was walking with Guru, he was in a young body. We were at a castle and where ever Guru went everything collapsed. There was major castle structures and big turrents, it was like a Earth quake. At the end of the dream there was a massive collapse and the castle fell over, much like the trade towers fell down. Guru was 100% focused on what he was doing and looking ahead. I was absolutely amazed at what he was doing. Where ever he set his foot everything collapsed. It was destroying the old to make way for the new. The castles represented the old way of life and thinking and being. I congratulated him in total amazement but he ignored me as he was totally focused on looking ahead and would not tolerate any disruption to what he was doing.

 Look at what happened to the world during Guru’s reign on Earth, what massive transformation took place all over the globe. From the 1964 to 2007 what gigantic gloable transformation took place. But it hasn’t finished yet. I think the real global transformation is just about to take place.

And an interesting comment from Guru on destruction……

When we reach the Pralaya, how can the souls who have not attained the highest and are not pure blend into the Divine Purity if they themselves are not pure?

Gauri (Mrs. Graciela Todd)

San Juan, Puerto Rico

January 4, 1968

Sri Chinmoy: Pralaya is the dissolution or the final destruction of the universe. Now where is the destruction? You feel, Gauri, that when the Pralaya takes place, there will be souls who will remain unrealised, who will not realise God, that everything will be destroyed. But where will the Pralaya be? It will take place in the earth’s atmosphere, not in God’s Consciousness. There is no destruction in the infinite Consciousness of the Supreme. In destruction we only see that a few trees are blown out or a hurricane has taken place, an earthquake has occurred and thousands of people have died. But this destruction is not the destruction of Consciousness. Although we say that the world is destroyed, it is not destroyed in God’s Consciousness. It is only destroyed, part of the world, in the physical, geographical sense, but not in the sense of God’s infinite and immortal Existence.

When a country is destroyed, you think that all human beings are likewise destroyed. No. Only the earth, the external manifestation is annihilated. But the beings go back to their Eternal Abode. That Eternal Abode is the Supreme’s Consciousness. There they have their own shelter. Then they can, at God’s own hour, be given the chance to come back to earth to fulfil God’s mission or their own self-realisation.

When they come back, do they come all pure?

Sri Chinmoy: No, they do not come at all pure because purification has to take place here. However, they will not be destroyed because the soul is immortal. Purification and realisation—everything—has to take place here. Here is the field of experience; here they have to be purified; here they have to realise themselves. When we are speaking of the dissolution of the manifested cosmos, Pralaya, we have to be aware that destruction does not take place in consciousness. It takes place only here in the manifested material world. A few million miles may be destroyed, but consciousness can never be destroyed. Human consciousness can never be destroyed unless it is the Supreme’s Will.

“My mind,
who told you
that you are infallible?”…..Sri Chinmoy

Simple minded people fall for the trap of infallibility. I know, i grew up in the Catholic church. We were lead to believe that the Pope was nothing less than the hand of God. It turned out that the infallibility clause was penned in by a deluded Pope 200 hundred years ago and they were all just humans after all…

I don’t believe Avatars are infallible, just extremely divine human beings who have mastered the spiritual realm. Take Lord Buddha, he refused to allow women on his path until his son petitioned him to accept his wife.

The same mentality exists in the Sri Chinmoy centre. There are those simple minded people that think Guru was infallible. Sure, he was a Master of the highest order, sure he was an Avatar but that does not mean all his decisions were infallible. If Guru had modified his approach to life a little then i think he would have been infinitely more successful. Maybe the way he was brought up lead him to believe that we could all get through life on sheer spirituality alone and without an education and a career, big mistake. I actually don’t think he really understood how western society operated. Or maybe the fusion of Eastern and Western was not meant to be. The end result was mass unhappiness in the centre. There were mass,s of disciples that were lost, unhappy and unfulfilled due to a lack of outer purpose. I think a balance between the outer and the inner is needed for a truly fulfilling spiritual life. For most people Guru’s approach to life was maybe too one sided in that it involved only spirituality. There was no room for career and money transcendence.

Guru’s approach to celibacy almost mimics the Catholic church’s which is a disaster. The Catholic church used the claim to infallibility as a controlling mechanism for power over the mass,s. Add manipulations to the bible and heresy’s and canon laws and you have fear, rules and control.

Dhanyavada remarked that Guru said that one day his spirituality would be for everyone. So clearly it will trickle down to the mass,s over time. It will not be just for the aloof  and closed off minority.

Guru admitted that his approach did not work in the end, i was there at the tennis court when he said, “I have failed”. I think he was to embarrassed to admit he was wrong so he stuck to his guns and clung to the sinking boat.

One idea i think would have worked wonders would have been if Guru had a rank and file  caucus where seekers aired their views openly. Then Guru could have modified his path a little to accommodate more people, but controlling institutions don’t allow for things like free speech.

On the Earth plane there is no such thing as infallibility because we are in the thick of ignorance. I think the only real infallibility is when one surrenders to one’s Inner Pilot. The belief in infallibilityis the result of mindless people who have not developed the capacity to use their questioning mind. Illusions and delusions of Guru,s infallibility is ignorance!

“My life is infallible and invincible
when I follow the footsteps
of my Inner Pilot.” Sri Chinmoy

Eamon

So you think you have seen spiritual living at its best? Well try Meteora in Northern Greece. I just knocked it off a few days ago. The monks and nuns have set themselves up on top of incredible rock formations largely for protection from invaders. They have literally lifted themselves off the Earth plane, and set up themselves up half way to heaven.

 Its is a spectacular ride up the mountain just to get there and most of the monasteries have steep winding stairs just to reach the entrance. As with all monasteries, the churches are decked out with fabulous Greek iconic art. Its a total inspiration just to walk into them.

 I was talking to a barber in Corfu the other day and he said the Greek orthodox church is worth 63 billion dollars. I made i point of getting to the monasteries early to beat the rush, when i arrived there were at least ten tour bus’s at each monastery. The nuns and monks just sit there all day collecting entrance fees, what an easy way to make money. They definitely have the divine enterprise thing down pat!

 One thing that has struck me about the Greek Orthodox religion is that it is all tolerance. Unlike other Christian sects they don’t proselytise or try and convert you. They are at peace with themselves.

 I stayed an extra day in Meteora just so i could do some hill work, its an awesome run to the top. I also saw the most incredible attempt at building ever. Some monk attempted to build a monastery on the side of a vertical rock formation. He layed about 15 metres of brick work then he must have given up. How he managed to lay bricks 50 meters up a vertical rock face is beyond me. That’s self transcendence!

Eamon in Greece.

Pics by me!

Anyone who thinks that human darkness cannot flourish unabated, even under the nose of an Avatar, think again. I was having a conversation with this advanced seeker that comes to my meditations and we were discussing the future of the Sri Chinmoy centre. We were talking about how long before it becomes totally corrupt. Look what happened to Christianity. Three hundred years after Christ died, Christianity became politicized with the council of Nicea. Not long after crusades were taken out on groups that had different ideas to the Catholics Church.

In 1979 Francis Ford Coppola made one of the most awesome movies of all time, “Apocalypse Now”. It struck a chord with movie goers all over the planet because it high lighted how human nature can become totally corrupt. The plot of the story is about Colonel Kurts who becomes deluded by it all, retreats into the jungle and sets himself up as a god amongst the natives, and how the hierarchy try to cut him down.

A similar thing happened in the last SC centre i was in in Australia. Perth is one of the most isolated centres in the world. The centre leader set himself up as a god, and preceded to lord it over all the disciples in the centre. It was the worst human behaviour i have ever experienced, compounded by the fact he was a disciple of a spiritual master, who was still in the body!

The ignorant human capacity for narcissism is universal. I was a victim of four narcissist centre leaders in Australia, not just one. Incredible hey! Even more incredible is that fact that i survived and even thrived and eventually came out on top. They must be so pissed off…lol

It draws parallels with the Catholic church in that that institution also has a hierarchy that is totally unelected from the rank and file. Look at what has happened to them- ultimate corruption!

So what is to stop full blown corruption in the SCC now that Ckg has left the body? Annual centre elections of course. And do you think the centre hierarchy will adopt a democratic process? Not likely. Why? Because all the heirarchy care about is power.

Im enjoying the exact opposite right now to my “Apocalypse now” Perth experience writing this post munching on great Greek food over looking the ocean on the Greek Islands.

When the power of love replaces the love of power, the Sri Chinmoy Centre will have centre elections i say.

“As the corruption of the mind thrives,
even so, the aspiration of the heart
can easily thrive.’ CKG

Eamon