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Opening to abundance
Brad picked up Elly at the San Francisco International Airport arrivals level, after a red-eye flight. Popping the trunk of his Toyota Corolla, he began loading her luggage, which was heavy with scrumptious cookies and stylish ladies apparel from Japan. “How were your meditations, hon?” he said, excited to share his results. He closed the trunk and gave her a quick hug and a kiss. “I didn’t do any,” she said. “There was too much going on with my family, and my parents needed help. They can’t keep things clean and organized like they did when they were younger.” They got in the car and he nodded at the traffic…
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Enlightenment and the Dark Night of the Soul
Elly’s support for Brad was unconditional, even after he turned the temple trip into a competitive sport. The monks had beaten him at every form of spiritual practice, which made him bitter. “They played me,” he said, as they prepared for the 10 hour flight back to California. “They set me up for the hardest practices, and then laughed at me when I failed.” “Honey, nobody was trying to win anything. And they weren’t laughing at you. They are actually happy! You should try it. How can you expect to beat monks who practice every day for years? They didn’t go to medical school, you wouldn’t expect them to come…
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Throwing oneself to God
The monks were in constant motion, chanting scriptures, maintaining the temple grounds, and doing Gyo. The Master did not believe in being idle. He would explain that Gyo was the practice of “throwing oneself to God,” and would purify the spirit. Eventually it would bring Enlightenment which was the goal of all monks. When foreigners came, they mostly did basic forms of Gyo, like walking around the temple grounds lighting candles, or sitting in the hall chanting for world peace. The more energetic ones might do the Hyaku Gyo, walking back and forth between two engraved marble posts 100 times, while chanting blessings, which took about 2 hours. Brad had…
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Wanderers to a Buddhist Temple
The naked monk, holding nothing but a plastic bucket, stepped into the small pool at the foot of the little waterfall. Brad could hear him gasp as the shock of the icy water went through his body. Following the path of the flashlight held by another monk, he waded in and sat down, the water up to chest level. Then he began chanting the Heart Sutra. “Kan ji zai bo sa gyo- jin han-nya ha ra mi ta ji…” As he chanted, he pulled the bucket through the freezing water and splashed it onto his face and chest, again and again. his voice tremulous, shouting as if to fight off…
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Enlightenment lost to life’s illusions
Brad made a second trip to India, less than a year later. The taxi dropped him off at 5 am near some cheap hotels near Lachsman Jhula, and just minutes walk from ShantiMayi’s ashram. After an 8 hour ride from New Delhi, as if to test his desire for attaining Enlightenment, he sat shivering on a bench until the sun rose. The hotels began to open for business, creating a mystical setting in the foothills of the Himalayas. Smoke drifted in the morning glow from fires lit up and down along the hillsides. It would be hours before the sun would shine directly into the valley along the Ganges River,…
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An Enlightened Guru on the Ganga
John adjusted his glasses and pinched his beard. “Oh yeah, there’s some real good gurus all up and down the river. I’m going to a different one every day. But nobody can make me meditate like Andrew Cohen does, that’s why I’m here at his retreat.” “I need to see a spiritual teacher I can talk to,” said Brad. I have a hundred questions, and Andrew couldn’t give me an answer to the first one!” “Oh!” John replied. “If you want someone who will answer questions, go see ShantiMayi. She might not give the answer that you want to hear though!” John laughed, and a pained expression came across his…
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A ticket to India
An Indian driver speaking perfect English, dropped Brad off at the San Francisco International Airport. Forty hours later, another Indian driver speaking less than perfect English dropped him off near an ashram in northern India. The connecting United Airlines flights halfway around the world, and the all-night drive from Indira Ghandi International airport had him exhausted, but the driver kept him awake with stories about the holy area, including warnings about the monkeys hanging overhead in trees. Embodiments of the god Hanuman, it was forbidden to harm them even when they plundered food from unwary travelers. They had driven by the ashram where the Beatles had their magical mystery tour…
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Finding what is missing – the search for Enlightenment
A gift came after Dr. Sherman helped heal Brad’s traumatized inner child. Gone was the fear of failure that drove him out of bed every morning to work until he would drop late at night. The need to find and conquer an endless series of challenges, a need that had constantly goaded his mind and body, was gone too. It amazed him that he could sit and do nothing, and not feel guilty or worthless. Going to work and taking care of people with aches and pains became a welcomed routine, and getting STAT trauma calls nights and weekends was not missed at all. It didn’t take long for a…