Blessings,
Love and Deep Wisdom from Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and Srimad Sai Rajarajeshwari
(Amma)
I recently had
the distinct pleasure of attending an extraordinary spiritual weekend retreat
led by the very dynamic and brilliant Nigel Taylor who is a special devotee of
both Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba (lovingly referred to as Baba) and Srimad Sai
Rajarajeshwari (lovingly known as Amma [not the same Amma known as the
“hugging” Amma]). Nigel and his wife
Sai Baba and Amma are known by many as “avatars,” the masculine and feminine aspects of God, who both came here, taking physical form and incarnating to help humanity, to be of sacred service and to share their great wisdom, blessings and love.
Sacred “Lingam” and Posts
about Sai Baba
Nigel
showed us a small object that Sai Baba had manifested for him during his visit
to
Sacred lingam created for Nigel Taylor by Sai Baba. Photo from http://www.healingwand.energishield.com.
When I went to “Google” “Sai Baba and lingams" for more information about lingams, I found a virtual sea of blog posts criticizing Sai Baba, some claiming that he was merely a “magician of illusions.” Other blog posts sharply criticized Sai Baba’s "supposed manifestation" of a lingam while the BBC was filming him, noting that the film proved he didn't actually manifest a lingam from his stomach. There are also many other detractors and assorted allegations from angry, skeptical, suspicious and disillusioned people, some of them former devotees.
My Personal Connection to Sai Baba
Sai Baba has been an important spiritual presence in my life since I first learned about him through one of my early spiritual mentors.
When I once
did a guided meditation on meeting my Reiki guides, it was Sai Baba who came to
me, smiling and dancing on the sands of a beach in a vision. I still trust that it is indeed
Sai Baba who is one of my sacred guides.
Several
years ago, a friend of my sister's had been invited to visit his ashram and came
home transformed. When she heard I was interested in Sai Baba, she sent me a CD
of his beautiful Gayatri mantra and some mala beads.
I have
attended several wonderful seminars with Nigel and
I was disheartened
at the glut of negative blogs about Sai Baba
when I came across a blog called “Potent Evidence: Who is Sai Baba?” by R.D.
Awle. Here is the link to it:
http://www.saibaba-aclearview.com/contents2.html. In his blog, Awle has many beautiful pictures of Sai Baba and shares his own personal experiences. He also addresses the many voices of Sai Baba’s detractors.
I am not a
devotee, but Sai Baba is and has been a distinct presence in my life for quite
some time. He is not the center of my spiritual world, but he is a very blessed
part of it. Through Nigel,
As Awle explains,
the “magic” or “the tricks” as some believe are not what is important anyway.
What is most important are his magisterial teachings of love and service and
that we are all divine and interconnected.
R.D. Awle
quotes Sai Baba:
“I am neither Guru nor God.
I am you; you are I; that is the truth.
There is no distinction.
The appearance of differences is the delusion.
You are waves; I am the ocean.
Know this and be free, be Divine.”
Awle also quotes Sai Baba as saying:
“There is only one religion, the religion of love.
There is only one caste, the caste of humanity.
There is only one language, the language of the heart.
There is only one God, and He is omnipresent.”
Awle notes that Sai Baba crafted what he calls a “maha-affirmation” to remind us all of our own divinity:
I am God! I am God! I am not different from God!
I am the eternal undifferentiated Absolute!
Grief and anxiety cannot affect me.
I am always content. Fear cannot enter me.
I am Satchidananda! I am pure Existence, Knowledge and
Bliss.
I am Omnipotent! I am all-powerful; nothing is impossible
for me!
I am Omniscient! I am all-knowing;
There is nothing which is not known to me.
I am Omnipresent! I am present everywhere. I pervade
this universe!
I am
I am Sai! I am Sai! I am Sai!
I am God! I am God! I am God!
Steeped in the Beauty of
Ritual and Ceremony
The retreat
was steeped in meditation and prayer. We all received sacred candles. On each
candle were beautiful prayers from different religions and special prayers from
both Sai Baba and Amma. The candles encircled the room we were in, each radiating a light of blessings for individual souls.
At one point we united all our candles on the floor as Nigel shared a beautiful prayer. It was a very sacred moment to see all the "flames" come together and burn so brightly. It was also a lovely symbol of the connection among all the participants -- and indeed among us all.
Each participant brought pictures and objects they wished to have blessed along with a “chalice.” We placed our beautiful pictures of family, friends and most beloved animals under and around the sacred candles along with our objects to be blessed. There was a special beauty that radiated from the individual altars.
Poured into
each chalice was sacred water blessed by Sai Baba. Judging by the gray residue
left in my chalice when I brought it home, I am guessing that it contained
some vibhuti or holy ash, which is a hallmark manifestation of Sai Baba.
Magnificent
ritual and ceremony permeated the blessed weekend as we honored Source, all
religions, Sai Baba and Amma for their love and light in the world and for the
blessings of Mother Earth herself, also known as Gaia. We also honored the
highest and best within ourselves, our ancestors and within those fellow
spiritual travelers who attended the retreat.
Perhaps the biggest blessing of all was the experience itself of being surrounded in the blissful energy of so many spiritual blessings, while mingling with like-minded souls in such a divinely guided way.
I am always
amazed at how often I forget about divine timing and order and how there is no
such thing as coincidence. That is, every person who was meant to be at that
retreat was there and everyone there wound up meeting and working with their
“perfect” partners.
Retreat participants mingle and share insights during breaks -- all is in Divine Order and Divine Timing. Photo by Donna Poler.
Friends Deborah, left, and Amber came from New York City to participate in the weekend retreat. I enjoyed a lovely discussion with them during a lunch break. Photo by Donna Poler.
Teams of participants helped each other move back in time to see if we could experience a past life. I had never done very well before with these kinds of exercises. At one point in my meditation, I felt my body splashing into the ocean and noticed I was wearing flippers. I seemed to be part of some deep sea expedition. I have always loved the ocean and have a great affinity for it. I wonder if that has something to do with some past life experiences.
My
meditation was cut short so I never got to explore who I might have been and
what I was doing in the ocean, but the experience of hitting the cold water and
what that felt like, and seeing the relatively small boat bobbing on the water
nearby will stay with me in my mind’s eye. One of the women in my group found
herself back in
There were a number of other beautiful meditations and healing exercises throughout the weekend and Nigel shared some of his brilliant teachings. He spoke of the Golden Age that would soon be ushered in and about the significance of the year 2012. He also read a letter from Sai Baba, sharing that he would soon be leaving his physical form, but noting that he would be reincarnating 12 years later.
Nigel Taylor answers student questions during a break. Photo by Donna Poler.
The finale of the retreat was very special as we were guided in a moving exercise that showed us the gigantic difference of how it feels when we either withhold love or give it freely and what it feels like when it is withheld from us or given to us lovingly and expansively. The exchanges in the exercise made a profound point about how much easier it is to be kind and loving and to come from a place of love than how it feels to shut down and refuse love or withhold love from someone.
I wonder as I write, is there anyone that you are withholding love from that may need your love? And most importantly, are you withholding any love from yourself? How open are you to giving and receiving love?
HeartSpace Zero Point Energy Healing Wands
Blessed by Sai Baba
Nigel and
When I
arrived Sunday morning to find only two left, I knew that I would regret it if I didn't get one too. So I had a discussion with one of
the participants who had been using his healing wand for a time. He enthusiastically told me that he had experienced much
success with it.
His wife even told me that when her heart was in extreme palpitation, her husband gave it to her to wear. After wearing it for a few hours, she told me that her heart returned to a normal rhythm. Her husband bought one just for her so she could always have one with her.
Regina Taylor, left, speaks to a student who told me that she and her husband experienced some very positive healing benefits when they used the HeartSpace Healing Zero Point Energy Wand. Photo by Donna Poler.
I decided to buy a healing wand and have been sharing it with my mother and dog. After my dog wore it for a time (I attached it to an ace bandage that I tied around the back end of his body), he seemed to have more vibrant energy the next day.
My dog Socrates had more energy the day after I hooked the Heartspace Healing Zero Point Energy wand to an ace bandage that I tied around his back end. Photo by Donna Poler.
In the literature about the Heartspace Healing ZPE wand, it says that it works subtly. I am trusting that it is blessed with some special properties and I am grateful to have it.
During a class break, those of us who had purchased a wand began working on a woman who had some severe back pain.
Heartspace Healing Zero Point Energy Wands are used to help a student with severe back pain during a break at the spiritual retreat. Photo by Donna Poler.
For more
information on the HeartSpace Healing ZPE Wands, go to:
http://healingwand.energishield.com/Shun_Shen_Tao_Healing_Wands/Future_Healing_Now.html.
Great Gifts of Sharing and Non-Attachment
At the end
of the retreat, although I will not share exactly how it happened so as not to
ruin the surprise for future retreat attendees, I was asked to pass on a gift
to someone I had never met before. The gift I had was a white vanilla-scented candle
that came in a pretty gift box with green ribbon. After saying my goodbyes, I
headed out the hotel door.
At the door where I exited right by the pool there was always a flurry of people. I thought I might find the right person to give my gift to just outside the door. But when I walked out, there was no one there.
Divine Timing and Grace of Giving
As I
continued on, I looked back and noticed a woman in her 30's with blond hair
coming towards me, looking very stressed. She asked me if I knew where she
could put the butts of her cigarettes if she wanted to smoke. I said I didn’t
and checked in with Spirit to see if she was the right person to receive my
gift. I didn’t feel any affirmative answer and decided she was not the one.
Then I
spoke to her about the possibility of quitting smoking. With family members who
have died of lung cancer and who also suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease (COPD), I am especially saddened when I see young women who smoke.
The woman
then told me that she had stopped smoking for three months, but went back to it
because she was feeling so depressed. And then I checked back in with Spirit
and got a big affirmation. It clearly was the person who was supposed to get my
gift.
I told her
that I had something for her and asked her to come with me to my car just a
short walk away. She was happy to do so and seemed quite surprised. “Really?”
she asked. “Yes, really.”
I handed
her the gift. She nervously opened it, smelled the candle, smiled and thanked
me. We hugged. I then suggested that she go back in the hotel and find
I felt so good about giving my gift to a woman who felt uplifted upon receiving it. I told her whenever she felt the need to smoke to also light the candle and to know that somewhere there was someone thinking about her health and well-being and sending her love and light. The candle turned out to have been a perfect gift for her.
My Gift Challenge for You
I was
thinking as I pondered the experience with the young woman that I should always
have some kind of small gift in my car to give to someone I have never met
before when I feel it is the right thing to do – when the divine timing is right
and I am being called to do so. I purchased a few items that could serve just
such a purpose. A key to this exercise is that the item has to be something I really like and would want to keep for myself.
Here’s
my challenge to anyone who reads this blog post. I am asking you to either go
out and buy some small gift -- something you really like – or find something
you already own that’s meaningful that you would like to share. Then
wrap it and give it away to someone you’ve never met before. If you give
yourself a specific time limit of perhaps a few days to a week that will also help to
motivate you to have the courage to do it when you meet the right person and the
timing is right.
The exercise of giving these gifts is not only a way to practice love and service, but because you will be giving away something that either really means something to you or that you like well enough to keep for yourself, it is also an exercise in non-attachment, in being able to give away something you hold dear.
I would
love to collect the stories of your experiences – who you are, what gift you
gave, who you gave it to and what happened, if anything, as a result. How did
you feel? How did the person feel? Were there any transformational experiences?
Were there any surprises or disappointments? Did you learn something about
yourself, about giving or about the other person?
If I get
enough responses, I plan to combine the stories in a future e-book. If you’d
like to be part of such an e-book, please share your stories with me by sending them to [email protected]. You can also ask the person receiving your gift to send me their stories too. The
working title could be something like: “Transforming Lives One Gift at a
Time” or “An Exercise in Non-Attachment: The Glorious Gift of Giving.” Or how
about “Stories from the Heart: Gifts of Love and Transformation”?
It would
also be wonderful for those of you who do take me up on my challenge to try to
take some pictures of yourself, the gift and the person you choose to receive
your gift. It would also be fabulous if you could get someone to take a picture
of both of you together or you could hold the camera up and face it toward both
of you.
Probably in the spontaneous way that this will happen, you can just use
your cell phones to take pictures. I’m sorry that I did not think about taking
a photo of the woman that I gave my gift to.
If you
don’t have the time to share your stories with me for possible future
publication in an e-book, please feel free to share your stories more briefly in
this blog. And you are certainly welcome to do both. If you don't, however, feel like sharing what happened, that's okay too. Regardless of whether you share or not, I'd love for you to have the rich experience of participating in this kind of fun gift-giving exercise.
Wouldn’t it be exciting if on any given day you were giving away and receiving unexpected gifts and blessings? Giving my gift to this woman reminded me a little of the wonderful film, “Paying it Forward” with Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment.
Tellington TTouch Gift Exchange
In one of
the NJ Tellington TTouch trainings I organized, Linda Tellington-Jones was the
instructor. On the last day, she asked everyone to bring in a gift. She asked
me to bring in some music to play during the gift exchange event.
Toward the
end of the day, I played some music while the class of students walked
around the room, with two lines of students circling around one another. When I
stopped the music, whatever students wound up facing each other exchanged
their gifts.
It was such a lovely exercise. Although I didn't get to participate in the exchange with students, I received a most cherished gift from
Linda that day – a beautiful bracelet with jungle animals on it made in
The beauty
of such a blessed weekend retreat with Nigel and Regina and the wonderful souls I was graced to
meet will hold a special place in my heart. I would encourage all of you to
spend some time with Nigel and
Nigel also has a wonderful collection of meditations on CD. You can go to www.nigeltaylor.com for more information about them and about upcoming events with Nigel and Regina.
Remember to love and serve well and give love freely, but to hold all that you love and hold dear with a very light attachment. I personally know how that is much easier said than done. It takes a great deal of practice to develop “loving and yet very light” relationships with people and things.
Attachment and Loss
All of us have such deep and meaningful attachments, some to people, some to animals and some to both. And for some, there is a deep attachment to material things. Most of us have become very attached to all the material goods that provide comfort in our lives. People whose power goes out during heat waves get to experience first-hand what it feels like when something so important is taken away. And those of us who have watched scenes around the world ranging from tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and raging brush fires all feel deeply for those who have lost so much, as we think, "There but for the Grace of God go I."
And those same twinges of alarm strike at our hearts when we learn of yet another person who has lost his or her job, suddenly gotten sick or had something very challenging happen in his or her life. We all will be challenged in some way with whatever we are attached to and with what we hold most dear.
Most of us are also very attached to what is familiar. When the applecart of the familiar is upset, many of us also feel tremors of fear and nervous anticipation as we await the unknown, the new and what will next be ushered into our lives.
Carolyn Myss talks about certain soul contracts that we have with people before we even incarnate. I believe we also have soul contracts with animals. Sometimes when a contract is up or coming to an end, it can be a very difficult experience, especially if it involves death or divorce.
Even friendships that end can be very painful. When you find that a once important relationship with a person has so deeply changed, you know that your contract is probably coming to an end because the purpose for coming together has already been completed.
There is a popular e-mail that makes its rounds every so often that speaks to the fleeting nature of relationships as it tries to help with the aftermath of pain when someone moves on from our lives. The author is unknown and it is called "A Reason, A Season or a Lifetime":
A Reason, a Season, or a
Lifetime
People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON . . . It is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrong doing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, and their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered. And now it is time to move on.
When people come into your life for a SEASON . . . Because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons and things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
I'm not sure that any of us can prepare well for these life challenges when what we love so well will be taken away, move on or be lost forever. All we can hope is that we will rise to the challenge and do the best we can in any given moment.
Attending enlightening retreats can certainly help open both your heart and mind to important insights to support your soul and spirit with, as William Wordsworth has said, "truths that wake, to perish never."
In his brilliant poem "Ode: Intimations on Mortality from Recollections of Early Childhood," where the quote above comes from, Wordsworth well understood just how very vulnerable the human heart can be as he concludes his ode:
"Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, its fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."
Wishing all
of you much love and light, lots of fun for those who participate in the gift-giving challenge, and many unexpected gifts of love, service and abundance for everyone…
Blessings and Namaste,
Donna
Alternative Health Consultant for
People and their Pets
Certified Tellington TTouch®
Practitioner
Certified Reiki Master
Animal Communicator
Angel Energy Lightworker
Intuitive Oracle Card Reader
Writer and Author of forthcoming
E-book, “100 Plus Tips for Maintaining a Happy and Healthy Dog”
E-mail - [email protected]
Website - http://www.DonnaPoler.com
Blog - http://www.donnapoler.typepad.com
To arrange a Tellington TTouch® or animal communication session for your pet, a
Reiki session for either you or your pet, a health consult for your pet, or an
angel, crystal or animal oracle card reading for you, please contact me at [email protected].
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