Riffin' On the National Parks

“I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” 9.29 Bhagavad Gita The Most Confidential Knowledge

                Truly, the objective, impersonal state of affairs, no matter the particulars of the affairs, is “equality”. This is a perennial, fundamental truth which flowers medicinally as there really is no giving on behalf of a giver regarding this thing we regard as both love and life (vitality) incarnate…they are one in the same (gift and giver…life-force and love, both willful and induced…). To delve into religious frameworks, such is why, in Western traditions, the ultimate sacrament is “communion”… oneness with God is what the impersonal forces of nature force for the very sake of survival. Oneness with universe, at least…

The dynamics of life are as such- we grow into the image of the Beloved. It happens in matters trivial…and also too, it happens regarding our posturing to our very Maker.

        “Equality”…like anything else, it really goes both ways. It’s each and e v e r y t h i n g. It’s the sun burn on your chapped shoulders or any of the many, many blessings you truly cherish in your life. Any man who has faced unrequited feelings knows the sheer h o r r o r s of neutrality… when someone magnetic/emblematic of your north star neither “envies” “nor” is “partial” to you… it flies in the face of universal decency…it doesn’t make sense.

                It is hell.

                And truly, that seems to be the cut of the jib in this era, reality amounting to a cold and aloof world surrounding us small beings of the intellectual vehicle. To “render service” to that which is supreme (which, it turns out…is “love” by the way…egoless…love) with noble/proper egoless (not robotic…just merely not selfish) intent however? Such a person will be regarded by the very universe as a “friend” apparently…and in such will  see beautiful returns on their service-based, love-inspired actions…which is a clunky way of saying…to be in service to the world is truly to actually be in service to yourself…

                The role of the “devotee” is one steeped in a deep romance for the ornate aspects of phenomena in general. We chase an experience of boundlessness and immediate love in each and every thing… and can not properly even begin to get a start on our journey until we regard phenomena itself as boundless…as something far more thorough and rich in potential than we have been habituated into regarding it as in our culture.

Things, for whatever reason, surrounding these genuine, bonafide, journeying Yogi types…can get unbelievably intense…and absurdly “left-handed”…seemingly steeped in sorcery…. all sorts of boundaries and expectations get wildly defied, and somehow the insane “awesomeness” of the Infinite becomes somewhat evident within the psychology of witnessing agents…

                It’s a journey…it’s also potentially frightening by civilized standards…most definitely regarding the sorts of parameters some live within… which are, rather comfortable…

                To regard “the Source” moreso as “Krishna”, as a “friend” at least… can bring with it some important, and rather “natural” psychological shifts within an individual genuinely trying their hand at a form of transcendentalism which is aiming to actively see the Infinite in all things, in live time…

                I fear that the idea of religion as an opiate is lousy (it’s fertilizer, and it’s no mud no lotus in regards to dynamics), even if it’s a messianic take on lousy. You see, the ideation, the fixation on the “escape from suffering” is surgical and cold…which, such methodologies are integral in mastering the philosophical fundamentals, but they do a poor job of reflecting the social reality, which tends to leave one far from richly empowered in regards to using their wisdom in a socially impactful fashion. Things are happening. Things have been happening. To our great people, particularly holy men.

                The phenomena are loaded. There are signs to be decoded. The experiences are daunting. And they are inherently messianic…they alleviate suffering in others. Which we knew to be a true aspect of existence as it was, already…that to live is not just to scrape by, but to do the most meaningful/greatest thing ever. It sets a high bar.

                I long not for an era of reactivity, but of proactive strategy along social-communal lines, regarding an effective engagement of Spirit. To know that unfolding circumstance is routinely pre-determined by the organized actions of the culture- this is what organized religions promised/deliver on at some level… but the endgame is utter saturation, whatever that happens to look like, socially.

                Which is a dream like, magical life…if India and other Dharma cultures are to be regarded as meaningful points of reference. Truly, life changes. It truly changes. The boundaries between the living and the dead erode somewhat… the vibes grow tender…the weather itself balances out… to live enlightened, in a state of communion with source despite also too maintaining a normal social identity…working and maintaining a household… you can not fathom how deeply it all changes…

                But then again if  you remember how pervasively awful we all were when George W Bush was president, you realize that life does have a great capacity to change like rather succinctly…that era feels like a whole different universe by now…  

                It occurs to me, we long as a people, deeply, to be saved by people. We crave, at some latent level, exceptional individuals, and perpetually have gotten a kick, historically, out of all sorts of bombastic interplays between charismatic individuals and systemic-centralized authority structures… we love to see people literally larger than life…larger than systems…uncontainable…

                Somehow, where we are at in the West here has either been…”is God real?” … or… “Everyone has some sort of sly secret the communal frameworks never engage”. I feel like the times themselves have seen us progress to where it ought to be “I hear there are ashrams that have existed in dialogue with society, but are essentially timeless…yet anything but aloof… I hear that the real game is the medicinal engagement of spirit, and that there are small pockets here and there in which it has been absolutely sailing for generations…that no one ever leaves society, and that the social and spiritual mission are inextricably woven together in an endearing fashion…”

                When religion is a thing…how can the idea of pragmatically engaging the idea of Infinity (which, btw, to meditate on the sheer concept of “Infinity” seems to generate positive mental-space/functioning) seem silly? Or rather…if religion was real, how could it be anything short of white fire? White hot, life consuming, soul consuming, body contorting, electricity?

                It’s real…and it’s even something many are deeply and robustly participating in…but there seems to be a mass despondency regarding the idea of it nonetheless, and there also seems to be a disconnect regarding the notion of there being immediate and meaningful results produced by devotional action…no sense that it has shaped the very world we’ve experienced deeply, day in and day out, and that it’s arguably the most potent and engageable vehicle for social change...

But when you say it out loud…it hits hard and seems evidently true…

It's true- there is something happening with devotional individuals...on every level...the very phenomena they magnetize, when sifted through, creates healing for the world itself. They, second to the national parks, are our greatest resource...

Even the untenable aspects are in deference to state of the Individual. As such, we always hold the potential to negotiate their recede.