<PUI?

E JOY
3>W?£ JOY

Sondra Ray

CELESTIALAIfS
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For assistance in the preparation of this book, the author gratefully acknowledges Fredric Lehrman and Mallie
Mandel, who proofread the first drafts, and Sandy Asher, who typed the second draft. I thank them all for

their time, energy, love, and constant support. And for Ram Dass Giri, who made additional comments on
spiritual topics, thank you. And especially for the LRT trainers who contributed chapters; and Laraji, for his
words; and R. Coon for his; and most of all to Shastriji,who allowed me to publish his poetry and speeches.
Part of the proceeds of this book will be tithed to the new American Babaji ashram, which will be called

"The Center of the Universe Ashram." This ashram will be located at Baca Ranch, Colorado, in the area of
the Sangre de Christo Mountains.

I would also like to acknowledge Sheila Singh, Ramloti and Radhe Shyam for their inspiration and devotion
to this project. I also acknowledge all those devotees of Babaji who are dedicating their lives to provide us with
this ashram for our purification.

If you would like further information or if you would like to make a donation to help develop the ashram,

please contact: Radhe Shyam, P.O. Box 95, Crestone, CO 81131 or phone (303) 2564655.

Quotation by Will Durant from "The Mantrik Power of Sanskrit," by Vasant V. Merchant, Ph.D., Humanities
Department, N. Arizona University. World Union, Volume XXII, No. 1, January 1982.

Copyright © 1988 by Sondra Ray. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief reviews,
without the written permission of the publisher.

CELESTIAL ARTS
P.O. Box 7327
Berkeley, California 94707

Cover design by Ken Scott

Composition by HMS Typography, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ray, Sondra.

Pure joy.

1. Spiritual life 2. Jov— Religious aspects.

I. Title
BL624.R395 1988 291.4*48 I

ISBN 0-89087-491-3

First Printing, 1988

Manufactured in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 - 92 91 90 89 88

IV
 With deep respect and love
I dedicate this book to:
Sri Trilok Singh (Muniraj)
and
Sri Visnu Datt Shastri (Shastriji)
who constantly show me and the world
the essence of pure joy
and to
all the devotees living and serving
ashrams
in Babaji's
across the world. Thank you all.

Om Namaha Shivai.

Dear Babaji,
May everything I write be something beautiful
for God!

— Sondra Ray
 CONTENTS
Foreword xi

Introduction xv
Chapter 1

HOW TO LOVE GOD 1

Service, 1 Worship, 3 The Altar, 4 Reading Spiritual

Poetry, 6

Chapter 2

PURIFYING YOURSELF 9
Chanting, 9 Meditation, 16 The Highest Thought and
Gratitude, 17 Spiritual Books, 20 A Course in Miracles, 20
Fasting, 24 Solitude, 27 Prayer, 28 Ho Pono Pono,
31 Rebirthing, 32 Indian Sweat Lodge, 34 Fire Purifica-
tion, 35 Bodywork, 36 The Work of Patrick Collard,
37 Body Harmony, 38 Shaving Your Head, 40 Visiting
Holy Places and India, 41 Other Spiritual Purification Techniques,
42

Chapter 3

THE OHANA AS A LIFE-LONG SPIRITUAL

FAMILY 45
The Difference Between a Cult & a True Spiritual Family, 46

Chapter 4

SPIRITUAL RETREATS 51
Purification by Spiritual Retreat, 51

vn
 SONDRA RAY

Chapter 5

MASTERING LIFE 59

Chapter 6

WHAT A COURSE IN MIRACLES SAYS

ABOUT JOY 63
Chapter 7

ETERNALITY 77
Immortality, 77 The Message of the Crucifixion, 80 The Joy
of Meeting Other Immortalists, 81 Easter Everywhere, 84 First Sup-

per, 85 Eagle Gifts of Immortality, 86

Chapter 8

OTHER WAYS OF LOVING GOD: ESSAYS

BY LOVING RELATIONSHIPS TRAINERS 89
"Pure Love," by Bob Mandel 89

"Music As An Expression of God," by Fredric Lehrman 92

"How To Love God Through Sex," by Rhonda Levand 95

"God and Pregnancy," by Meg Kane 98

"Rebirthing As Cellular Bliss," by Peter Kane 99

"Loving God Through Meditation," by Vince Betar 100

"Loving God Through a Holy Relationship," by Yve Betar 104

"God and Children," by Gene & Helene Aptekar Ill

Chapter 9

THE MASTER AS A PATH TO PURE IOY 115

Chapter 10

WHO IS BABAJI? 117

Om Haidiyakhandi, by Ram Dass Giri, 118 Babaji Is Pure Joy, 120

A Speech by Babaji, 128 A Little Speech from Babaji, 129

via
 PURE JOY

Chapter 11

WHO IS SRI MUNIRAJ? 131

Chapter 12

WHO IS SHASTRIJI? 135

In Praise of the Divine Mother, 136 Shastriji Speaks on Loving God,

139

Chapter 13

CLOSING 183

Finding the Australia Within You, 183 Prayer for the Closing of This

Book, 187 Ending, 187

Resources 189

Recommended Reading 190

ix
 FOREWORD
This book could stretch your current reality. In other words, there
are a few things in it which may seem unbelievable. Should I leave
them out just because of this? No, I don't think so. I don't think you
want me to. Should I water them down because they might be easier
to swallow? No, I don't think so. I think you want the whole truth.
Should I worry that putting out this material will affect my reputa-
tion? No, I don't think so. I was asked to explain this now by my
teachers, and I am happy to do so. Should I wait until some future
date when it might be less of a challenge? No, I don't think so. It

is 1988, and it is imperative we all change.

Should I assume you can handle it? Yes, I Think So.
It is my job to stick my neck out. Somehow I have ended up with
this assignment. If I always worry about what people are going to
think, the teachings may not get out. I do acknowledge my publishers
for stretching their reality. Mystical things began happening for them
because they became willing and open . . . Miracles can happen to
you also.

Let's face it. Most people have not been able to maintain PURE
JOY most of the time. Because of old frozen ways of thinking, many
people are stuck in an old reality that is not working today. Now it

is time, and it is possible to go to the reality level that we all deserve

to be at. If we want to be really really great, opening to new realities

may be required. It was required of ma Now those realities seem nor-
mal. Once they did not. I tried not to resist them even though they
seemed "different" than before. This helped. It will be easier on you
if you can do that also.

XI
 SONDRA RAY

Einstein once said, "Great Spirits have always encountered oppo-

sitionfrom mediocre minds." Maybe that was true then. Maybe it
does not have to be true now. I can be a great Spirit and so can you
be a great when we remember who we really are. And that
Spirit

is the purpose of this book. I also know that your mind is not medi-

ocre .just by the mere fact that you are reading this book, I know
. .

that. And I know that really there is no such thing as a mediocre mind

when one remembers who one is. And again that is the purpose of
this book: to remind us that we are not mediocre. We are made of

the substance of Pure Joy — and we can have that experience always.
Babaji and Jesus are Great Spirits who never forget that is who
they are. That why I feel it is important to use them as an example.
is

They are our inspiration. They came to remind us who we are. The
difference is that they do not have doubt. We often do. That is why
we need to read a book occasionally to get out of doubt and remem-
ber how to feel Pure Joy. We may have to do a purification technique
to get back to the joy. The great news is that doing this is joyful in
itself and fun. Reading this book could even be blissful.

It is a joy for me to share this with you.

All my love,

— Sondra Ray

xii
 SONDRA'S PRAYERS
BEFORE THIS BOOK
/ am here with you, God,
I give my body
you
I give my mind
you
I give my voice
you
I give my arms and hands
you
I give my feet
you
I give my spine
you
I give my heart
you
I give my lungs
you
I give my cells
you
and all my organs
I give you my life
I give you my relationships
I give you the Loving Relationships Training
and all my books
— and everything else!
Dear God,
I want to be sharper,
I want to be better
I want to be more alive . . .

More forgiving
More loving
More understanding

I want to let go faster

Xlll
 INTRODUCTION
We all want to experience the joy and wonder of life. Sometimes we
do, yet at other times we wonder why we cannot. We may vaguely
remember Bible verses which imply that we can have joy, such as John
15:11, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you,

that your joy may be full." We may have been told that joy is our
natural state. But we cannot help but wonder, then, why aren't we
in touch with joy more often?
Some people say that joy is the highest expression of God that there
is. For me, joy had always been associated with a feeling of celebra-
tion, as well as a gratitude for the infinite beauty of life I noticed
that whenever I felt clear and had wonderful, positive thoughts, not

only did I feel joy, I felt like sharing that joy with others. And, obvi-
ously then, whenever I was unclear or had dark, negative thoughts,
the joy all seemed to disappear.
But I began to wonder— did the joy really disappear, or had I just

suppressed it somehow? Was it somehow possible to recapture the sim-

ple joy I had known as a child?

—
remembered that childhood joy so clearly the joy I had felt at
I

age six, before I started school and before my father had become ill.
Back then I had always felt on top of the world, always in ecstasy.
I loved everyone, and I showed it. I cared about everything, was

interested in everything. I was always in awe of life. My long, spiral-

ing red curls and freckles may have made me appealing, but it was
what I felt inside that really mattered. People seemed to love to have
me around. I would visit the aged and the poor in my town, roaming
around and spreading joy.

xv
 —
SONDRA RAY

was easy, because I felt it. It was real\

It

But what happened? When did that joy leave me? When did I stop
feeling like that? Well, for one thing, my father became ill. I watched
his slow death, and my own joy seemed to die. After my father died,
I spent twenty years recovering. School was another thing— I became

a serious student and became involved in everyone's problems. When

I grew up I got married, and later divorced — and spent twelve years
recovering from that.
What happened to the joy? As I pondered this question, thinking
back over my childhood and young adulthood, I became increasingly
concerned that the essence of that joy simply had to be recoverable.
If all things are possible, I said to myself, then it must be possible
to return to joy.
I decided to do some research, travelling throughout the world,
reading everything I could, talking to great spiritual teachers. I began
to study techniques of purification, mostly from religious traditions.

I analyzed which method seemed the fastest route to that feeling of

joy for myself, as well as which were the most enjoyable. I also found
that when I used these purification techniques to cleanse myself of
unwanted negativity, confusion, and suppressed emotion, the joy just
came right out of me, bubbling up like a great natural spring.
And so, using the techniques I discovered in my travels and studies
the techniques that are now presented as this book — I found the joy
in life again. The joy returned. It had never really gone anywhere;
it had just been buried deep within myself, beneath layers of nega-
tive thoughts and fears. My ego, I discovered, had been in the way.
The techniques of spiritual purification discussed in this book come
from many different places and experiences. What is written here
is a synthesis of many inspirational traditions. Some of these insights

came about as a result of my personal adventures in the far East and

others as a direct result of using these techniques or of developing
them from inspirational reading, especially reading from A Course
in Miracles.
I wrote this book to ensure my own return to Pure Joy and to share

—
what I have learned and to inspire others to do the same. Ironically,
just as I was writing this Introduction, a man called me on the phone,

xvi
 PURE JOY

and when I told him that I was writing the introduction to my book
titled Pure Joy, he said, "My dear, it is the purity that counts."

Mother Teresa has said that the problem with the world is "spiritual
if we were all spiritually nourished, things would
deprivation." Yes,
be very different. Try to imagine a world where everyone acknowl-
edged oneness with God and their own joy with their own thoughts.
Try to imagine a world where everyone took responsibility for their
actions, where everyone knew that what they do comes from what
they think. Imagine that everyone guarded their thoughts carefully
and nourished only high, loving positive thoughts that produced posi-
tive results. Imagine that everyone spent their time doing what glad-

—
dened them what kept them pure. And if they faltered, they would
help each other get back on track quickly. Imagine a world in which
everyone was moving in the direction of more aliveness and more joy.
Imagine a world with rapid techniques for staying clear and ways
of expressing love to God that were fun and wonderful to do, where
people did ceremonies and rituals together that made them feel
ecstatic, where everyone was in a healed body and in a Holy Rela-
tionship, where there was music and celebration everywhere
These are some of the goals we have in the Loving Relationships
Training Family, which we call "OHANA" (Ohana is a Hawaiian word
which means, literally, "an extended family of people who breathe
together"). Is this an unrealistic Utopia we envision? Perhaps not. Per-
haps if we start now, all of us together, others will come and help
us. Perhaps you will join us in bringing joy and peace to the world.
We welcome you in the Ohana. We look forward to playing with you
and working with you. We welcome your love and ideas.
In this book I share with you some of the writings of members of
the Loving Relationships Training Ohana. These people are trainers
in the Loving Relationships Training, and it is a potent offering to
have their writings about God and about pure joy included here.
The Kingdom of God— which is Joy — is all of us, together.

xvii
 SONDRA RAY

WHAT IS GOD?
What is God? God is unlimited, and, therefore, beyond definition.

God's own answer to this question was "I am that I am."

What does that mean? It means that "I am unlimited potential."
That would be the only answer that God could give.
Some will try to explain that God is "creative principle," "embodi-
ment of all substance," "intelligence," "love," and "power," "contain-
ing all things." Others talk about the seven main aspects of God (from
the Church of Religious God is Principle (for example,
Science): (1)

perfect harmony; God (2) God is Truth (to know

does not change);
the truth about any condition heals it); (3) God is Life (joy is the
highest expression); (4) God is Love (when you love God more than
your problem, you will be healed); (5) God is Intelligence (all things
are possible); (6) God is Soul (that aspect in which God is able to
individualize Himself); and (7) God is Spirit (spirit is that which can-
not be destroyed).
More important than any attempt at definition, however, is realizing
that your life/your power/your health/and your happiness depend on
your acceptance of God and that you and God are one. When you
identify yourself with the truth of your being, life can never again
be disappointing or unproductive. God will be revealed to you to the
degree that you acknowledge the spirit in all people and in all things.

In other words, your spiritual self must come forth, and you must
see the spiritual self in everyone and in everything.

what is JOY?
It has been said that joy is the highest expression of God that there
If we wish for joy in our lives, we must remember that we were
is.

made in the image of God and we are God-like This book will help
you to remember who you are and will support you in joyfully lov-
ing your God-self and God more.
When youare feeling great, and everything is working well, and
you are getting everything you want, it is easy to feel joy and to love
God. But when you don't feel well, and things are not going so great,

xviii
 PURE JOY

and you are not getting what you want, then it seems very difficult

to love God and find joy.

And yet, loving God IS pure joy.
If you could remember to love God at those times when you are
low, then you would be uplifted, heal yourself, and things would start
working.
The suggestions given in this book are those that we as trainers of
The more
the Loving Relationships Training use regularly in our lives.
we do them, the more joy we experience. We have tried to make them
—
a constant— a way of life not something we do just now and then
when we need a high. We try to live this way, practicing these methods
of loving God regularly.
We invite you to join us.

xix
 CHAPTER 1

HOW TO LOVE GOD

Service

The formula and joy that my teacher Babaji gave is

for happiness
LOVE, TRUTH, SIMPLICITY, AND SERVICE TO MANKIND.
Service to mankind has several parts: firstly, your work should be a
form of your worship. This is what He called "karma yoga" or work
dedicated to God. If you dedicate all your work to God and the serv-
ice of humanity, you will have a new experience of working. Look

and see if it is that right now. If it isn't, try to improve your present
working situation so that it becomes more of a service. Or if you can't
seem to do this, maybe it would be appropriate to create a new job
that fulfills this purpose. Of course, we recommend that you have
a job that is pleasurable to you, as sharing that pleasure is naturally
a service.

The second part is seeing other ways that you could serve human-
ity beyond your job. This could mean joining service and humanitarian
organizations that improve the planet and people's lives or serving
some individual or group that you respect. If there is someone you
consider to be a master, for example, someone who is really making
a contribution to the planet, think about offering your services free
to that person. You can get very high doing thisand it will contrib-
ute to your joy. Having been a waitress, a nurse, and a Virgo by birth,
this was quite natural to me. I was trained to pay attention to service
all the time. As I began to study enlightenment, I found that there
 SONDRA RAY

were many wonderful people I could serve in that field. I tried to

do it selflessly, for the sheer joy of giving and pleasure of learning.

Now many serve me and I have never had to ask them to do it. The
Universe gave it back.
If you respect a group that contributes to your spiritual growth
and/or you like how a group is contributing to mankind, consider being
a volunteer. All you have to do to get started is ask "How can I serve
you? ... I have this amount of time per week."
Try it.

At the ashrams in India, there is a time each day for "karma yoga"
where you serve the area by cleaning and beautifying everything. This
could include gardening/carrying rocks/building latrines/cleaning
latrines/carrying wood/building bridges, temples, dorms, etc. You
would be surprised how much devotees get out of this manual labor.
How about it? What can you do now to beautify your neighborhood
and your town?
What can you do to help the poor and the hungry?
What can you do to help the sick?
The third part is to have an attitude of service at all times. Rather
than wait around for your allotted service times, why not always be
thinking in that mode? How can you serve people and places around
you in each moment? How can you make this moment better for your-
self and everyone? How can you raise the quality of thoughts that

are going on in your space now? How can you cheer people up/clean
things up/make things better? How can you serve God at all times?
Think about it!
Think for a moment of a person who helped you, a person who
shared a seminar or a healer who made you feel better, about some-
thing that turned your life around. And then take a minute to appreci-

ate the help and movement you got.

Finally, take time to experience the gratitude you have for that per-
son. You might want to call and/or write and express your thanks.
People will appreciate you for sharing what you know that might help
them. When something is good and works, tell others. Help them
overcome their fear of change and their fear of trying new things.
Do not push them, but become an inspiration. Every chance you
get, tell others what has worked for you in the arena of spiritual
 PURE JOY

enlightenment. Withholding is not your function. Withholding is of

the ego.
Love is extension. "To withhold the smallest gift is not to know love's
purpose." A Course in Miracles says that "love offers everything, for-

ever . "Specialness not only sets apart, but serves as grounds from
.
!*

which attack on those who seem 'beneath* the special one is 'natu-
ral/ Specialness is a great dictator of the wrong decisions." (P. 465,

A Course in Miracles [CIM].

Would it be possible for you to hate your brother if you were

like him? Can you attack him if you realized you journey with
him, to a goal that is just the same? Your brother is your friend
because his Father created him like you. There is no differ-
ence. You have been given to each other that love might be
extended, not cut off from each other. What you keep is lost

to you. (P. 466, [CIM])

What you give away you can have . . . enroll your brother.
Bring him to God with you!

Worship

To worship is to reverence the worth of something or someone. In the

book Being A CHRIST by Anne and Peter Meyer, it is explained that
"worship" stems from the root "wor," which is also found in the words
"work" and "worth." Jesus said, "My Father works, and I work even
now." Babaji repeatedly stated that KARMA YOGA, or "work dedi-
cated to God," is one of the most important things for purification,
for achieving happiness and joy. He said, "Work is Worship." You may
not have considered that before. Consider it now! Dedicate all of your
work to God as a form of worship and see what happens!
The Meyers go on to say that:

Worship is the highest, most non-judging form of love. If we

worship a person, we see no wrong him whatsoever. We
in
open ourselves completely to him and become his willing ser-
vant. If we worship our teacher, we will learn very quickly
 SONDRA RAY

and completely from him, for we will be open and receptive

to all he has to say.

Worship, however, is invalid unless we worship ALL OF

LIFE, for equality is the only Truth.

By worshipping you will gain the most out of life. By worshipping

you will feel the best you can feel. By worshipping you will contrib-
ute to a more advanced civilization. Worship is natural. Not to wor-
ship is unnatural.
There are many religious ceremonies that are forms of worship.
Chanting is a form of worship. It is also a purification and I discuss
this in depth in the following section. The highest form of prayer,
i.e. gratitude, is a form of worship. Everyone knows singing hymns
that are uplifting is a good form of worship. Next I give two exam-
ples of worship: The Altar and Spiritual Poetry.

The Altar
One wonderful way to love God is to prepare one of more altars in

your home. I learned this in Bali when I was working on the God

Training (LRT Spiritual Retreat) and while writing the book Drink-
ing the Divine. I was simply amazed to find that every single home
had an altar. Not only that, but every single home had a temple, and
they actually used these altars and temples daily!
They wouldn't consider starting the workday without doing daily
prayer rituals and ceremonies. Every morning the family members
prepare elaborate flower and fruit decorations, and they use a lot of
incense. These preparations are placed on the altar along with the
prayers. Then, and only then, do they begin their work which is —
all dedicated to God.
The Balinese people were a great inspiration to me. The first thing
I did when I went home was to prepare a temple room. This was
very pleasurable. I found a beautiful antique rosewood table with
Roman columns that I chose for the altar. I asked a friend of mine
to do a large glass etching of my favorite picture of my teacher
Babaji standing on a mountain with robes blowing. This came out
 PURE JOY

beautifully, and I placed it over the altar. Then, on the altar itself,

I put pictures of Jesus, Saibaba, and my other teachers. I placed

flowers, candles, and incense holders. I put out all the mala beads
I had collected in India and other appropriate holy objects. I must

say that this altar has produced a lot of joy and respect in my heart.
It is the first thing that I see when I enter my flat. On Christmas
Eve of this year, I set up another altar in my bedroom and stayed
up all night and meditated near it. Now I have an altar in every room.
You might have resistance to an altar if you have not cleared your
feelings about religion and any disappointment you have around that
subject. To do that I recommend that you go back to your original
church and sit in a pew and breathe a lot. Forgive everything that
was confusing and be grateful for everything that was good and inspir-
ing and loving.
It does not matter what religion you were or were not raised in.

What matters is a reverence and love for God now. An altar will help
you achieve this reverence, this respect. It will remind you to think
holy thoughts and perhaps inspire you to do spiritual purification.
It will remind you of your love for God and your absolute connec-

tion. When people come to your home they, too, will be inspired, and

they will not only treat you with more respect, they will begin to think
of their own spiritual life They will appreciate you for reminding
—
them that they, too, love God but may be forgetting to express it.
One of my favorite types of incense, by the way, is Blue Pearl from
Muktananda's ashram. This can be obtained at metaphysical book
stores or else at Muktananda Centers (Sidda Yoga Foundations).
Sometimes, when I have a problem that seems difficult, I write
Babaji and Jesus a letter. I absolutely bare my soul to them. Then
I place this letter on my altar. Help and solutions come rapidly. It
has never failed yet.

Try kneeling in front of your altar and see how you feel about that.
Do you resist it? Do you feel embarrassed and silly? What do you
feel? This simple ritual actually does help you to feel humble. It helps
you to let go.
Now try lying face down, spreading out all the way in front of your
altar. This usually stirs up a lot of feelings and is, for me, an even
 SONDRA RAY

quicker way to let go. If your mind needs to be "snapped," this could
possibly do it for you. Chances are it will really open your heart.

Reading Spiritual Poetry: The Divine Mother

Have you ever considered the possible JOY of indulging in spiritual

poetry? It is one way to honor and praise God. It can also be purify-
ing for your consciousness. Perhaps you may even begin to write poetry
yourself!
I could give you many examples of this kind of beautiful writing;
however, I am going to single out the poet Shastriji, since I am dedicat-
ing this book to him. You can read all about Shastriji in Part V of
this book, where you will also see a picture of him and be able to
read his speeches.
I want to give a few samples here of his verses because they are
an excellent example of worship. These verses are taken form his book
HAIDAKHANDI SAPTA SATI: Seven Hundred Verses In Praise Of
The Divine Mother Of Haidakhan. I thank him for permission to pub-
lish this. I had so much pleasure reading this book that I asked him
if I could put my favorite verses on tape. He agreed and this tape is

now available.
Shastriji is my supreme teachers about pure joy. He always seems
one
to be in a state of bliss. He is everything you can imagine a Saint to
be. Being with him is Pure Joy. Shastriji is a high Priest, he is an
Ayurvedic doctor, a gifted Clairvoyant and the mouthpiece of Babaji
(for information on Babaji, the Immortal Avatar, see Part V).
Shastriji is, according to Babaji, one of the most learned men on
earth (and one of the purest). Babaji once said that Shastriji has been
a poet in all life times. To me, reading his words stimulates Joy . . .

SOME VERSES IN PRAISE OF THE DIVINE MOTHER Reading

these verses out loud will put you into pure joy.

Oh, Sivai, You are the embodiment of ultimate bliss and con-
scious Energy. You are supreme knowledge of the Absolute.
You are the image of infinite compassion, unfathomable as

6
 PURE JOY

is the deep sea. Oh Durga, Goddess of the universe, I pros-

trate before you.

Oh Universal Mother, you give me shelter. In truth, You are

the one who gives life to all the beings of this world. You are
the physician who curses the fever of the life and death cycles
of this wheel of life. You are the source of life and liberation
to all living beings. We pray to that timeless Energy which
resides as mother Goddess in Haidakhan. Remembering You
is to crown this life with success, to attain liberation.

Oh Mother, the divine beauty of Your forms is beyond all

words. You alone take care that this child of yours safely crosses
the sea of life. Oh Durga, you reside within the lotus-heart
of Eternal Lord Siva, the Supreme Master. Oh, Durga,
destroyer of sins, I bow to you.

You are the embodiment of divine speech and hidden supreme

knowledge. You reside in the temple of Lord Siva's heart. The
prayers of the Vedas are directed to Your divinity. You are the
embodiment of the initial see of "Om" and are rooted therein.
You are the Energy of kundalini, giving birth to creation. The
knowledge of You in this divine form enables the yogis no more
to return to the mother's womb.

You are adorned with a face that is luminous like the full
moon. Your smile is tender and Your forehead is like a flaw-
less mirror that reflects and issues divine light. It is said that

he who meditates on the divine form of Her whose face shines

like the full moon attains all happiness.

You are of sublime beauty with Your luminous eyes. Your face
is of incomparable beauty, radiant with spontaneous JOY and

Your smiling lips of crimson color. The whole of Your appear-

ance has the softness of a budding orange blossom.

Oh, Goddess, who upholds the universe, You give perfection

to all beings. You are the Beloved of Lord Naryana. To those
who take refuge in You, You grant the most precious boons
and give them happiness. Mother, we prostrate before You.
 SONDRA RAY

Your Energy is beyond the power even of Brahma, Visnu and

Mahesvara. Your form is eternal everlasting Peace. You are
the ultimate root of all of the elements. Oh Mother, You are
mistress of the quality of goodness and of all other qualities.
It is to You that the trinity of Brahman, Visnu and Siva address

their prayers. Great Mother, to You we bow.

Praying to You with Medic Mantras, Your annihilate the fear

of those beings of the world whom You protect, giving them
their desired boons and all divine perfection. To You, Oh
Mother, we bow.

Music as a form of worship goes without saying. It is obvious. But

have you really made it a regular habit to listen to the right music?
The music I myself like to listen to is mostly sacred chants I have
collected from all of my travels. I also like classical music and new
age music. I have any one of these playing every day as a way of
worshipping and purifying myself. I am currently doing a little study
on which of my tapes produce the most healing effect on the body
and which of my tapes inspire a respectful attitude of worship along
with joy.

One tape that is most joyful and in the category of Praise that I
recommend is ALLELUIA BY RAFAEL an extremely interesting —
and exciting new age musician.
 CHAPTER 2

PURIFYING YOURSELF
MIRACLES ARE EVERYONE'S RIGHT . . .

BUT PURIFICATION IS NECESSARY FIRST.

—A Course In Miracles, Chapter i, page 1

Chanting

Chanting is a type of singing that is both a form of praise and a form

of purification. However, I am going to emphasize the purification
aspect of it, since the aspect of praise is more obvious.
Chanting a mantra is one of the most powerful things you could
do for yourself. A mantra is a sacred syllable, word, or set of words,
which, through constant repetition and reflection upon, helps one
attain perfection and God realization. "Japa" is a word used in
the East to describe the act of repeating the mantra or repeating
God's name.
The mantra OM NAMAHA SHIVAI is the main mantra chanted
at the Babaji ashrams. My teacher, Babaji, told us all, of all faiths,
to "always repeat God's name whatever you do, wherever you are,

repeat the name of the Lord." He said OM NAMAHA SHIVAI is the

original mantra. (Sanskrit is the original language and it is more
powerful to chant in that language) Babaji told us that OM NAMAHA
SHIVAI is the highest thought that there is.

Its literal translation is: "Oh, Lord Shiva, I bow to thee in rever-
ence." (Shiva is that part of God that burns or destroys our ignorance)

9
 SONDRA RAY

This mantra has many meanings; for example, it also means: "Infinite
Spirit, Infinite Being, and Infinite Manifestation." Therefore, chant-
ing it helps you to manifest the infinite at the same time you are burn-
ing out your resistance and ego. It also means, "Oh, Lord, you are
my refuge, thy will be done," and, "I bow to the God within."
The mantra is like nectar, nourishing you. It is like plugging your-
self into the Source. It charges you up. It leads to remembering your
total union with God. It enlivens the inner consciousnessand helps
us overcome suffering. It provides protection and brings inner peace.
Behold the glory and the power of the Divine Name! The Divine
Name, or mantra, IS divinity. God's Name is the greatest treasure
on earth. The chanting of God's Name or mantra is one of the best
forms of devotion there is. Repetition of the mantra purifies the heart.
You can achieve all things through japa. Japa yoga is the easiest,
quickest, safest, surest and cheapest way of attaining God Realiza-
tion. Take refuge in His name. All troubles, miseries, pains and sor-

rows will come to an end. The Divine Name burns out all your karma
and errors. The Name of God is the master-key for success in life and
God-realization. God's name, or the mantra, is the foundation of
spirituality.

The name of God is also a cure for all disease. (This is called Divine
Namapathy.) You can take this medicine (repeating God's Name) for
curing anything; and you can administer this medicine to others, by
sitting at the side of the patientand singing God's Name with sin-
cere devotion and faith. The only real Doctor is God.
There was a case reported where doctors had pronounced the son
—
of a landlord as dying the case was absolutely hopeless. Devotees
took the case into their hands. They did continuous Kirtan day and
night for seven days around the bed of the patient. Kirtans are devo-
tional songs containing the name or aspect of the deity worshipped
(Lord Shiva, The Divine Mother, Vishnu, etc.). These are to be
repeated as many times as one wants to. The patient stood up on the
seventh day and began to sing God's Name for himself. He had recov-
ered completely.
The mantra is obviously also a supreme "pick me up" in case you
are going into gloom, despair, or low energy. Release does happen!
By singing OM NAMAHA SHIVAI, God's grace is evoked.

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 PURE JOY

To have an experience of the all-encompassing, deeper meanings

of OM NAMAHA SHIVAI, read the following stanzas (perhaps out
loud) from the tape, OM NAMAHA SHIVAI, by Laraji. You will have
a special experience just reading these words. Listening to and chanting
with Laraji's tape is even better.

Om Namaha Shivai

Peace all over the existing Creation, by virtue of the fact

That its Creator is present as Omni-Present Perfection

Be still and feel this everlasting source of beauty.

This everlasting source of Peace
This everlasting Source of Freedom
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and touch this fundamental sense of oneness

This fundamental sense of now
This fundamental sense of Power
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and know this Everpresent sense of freedom

This everpresent sense of light
This everpresent sense of I AM . . . now here with you.
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and feel this underlying sense of Oneness.

This underlying sense of now
This underlying sense of beauty
This underlying sense of WOW
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and know this fundamental sense of feeling

This fundamental sense of here
This fundamental sense of oneness
This fundamental sense of clear
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

11
 SONDRA RAY

Be still and know this everlasting sense of oneness

This everlasting sense of safety
This everlasting sense of order
Om Namaha Shivai . Shanti
. . Om

Be still and know this fundamental sense of purpose

This fundamental sense of here
This fundamental sense of reason
This fundamental felt so clear
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and touch this everlasting sense of presence

This everlasting sense of here
This everlasting sense of union
This everlasting self so clear
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and feel this fundamental sense of reverence

This fundamental sense of wealth
This fundamental sense of prosperity
This fundamental sense of here and now
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and feel this everlasting sense of self

This fundamental sense of "I"

Thus all-pervading sense of now
This everlasting sense of here
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and feel this fundamental sense of oneness

This fundamental sense of Union
This fundamental sense of now . . . here . . . this
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and feel this underlying frame of reverence

This underlying frame of power
This underlying frame of self . , . SUPREME
Be still and feel this everlasting sense of oneness
This everlasting sense of harmony

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 PURE JOY

This everlasting sense of purpose

Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and know this everlasting sense of tranquility

This everlasting sense of peace

This everlasting sense of harmony
Now . . . This Way . . .

Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and feel this fundamental sense of here

This all pervading sense of now
This everlasting sense of self
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and feel that underlying sense of presence

That underlying sense of substance
That underlying sense of power . . . DIVINE
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and touch this all pervading sense of Universe

This all pervading sense of now
This all pervading sense of homeland
This all pervading sense of here
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be still and touch this all pervading sense of self

This all pervading sense of power
This all pervading sense of perfection
This all pervading sense of now
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

Be and Know
Feel
Sense
Touch
Receive
Return
Om Namaha Shivai . . . Om Shanti

13
 SONDFA RAY

Be still and know

Be still and feel
Be still and know
Be still

Just listening to the name Om Namaha Shivai being chanted, you

will experience delight and healing.
Singing devotional songs is a wonderful way of inspiring joy. We
have collected songs sung at Babajfs ashrams, in both book and tape
form. The collection consists of Kirtans and Bhajans. Bhajans are reli-
gious hymns, telling a brief story. The Lord is given praise in all His
glory, in His many forms and manifestations. The underlying theme

is one of joy, gratitude and love.

Babaji said that "Kirtan should come to you naturally, through your
soul . You should sing devotional music in a way that stirs the heart,
. .

in harmony and in slow rhythm. Whenever you make music, singing

or playing it should leave a memory in the mind."
The following is an example of a beautiful song from "Haidakhan
Bhajans." This is called Prabhuji. I will give the English translation:

Beloved Lord those who sing your praises

Are exceptional people.
Those who give their lives for your name's sake
Are Exceptional People

Having made me drink the nectar of your love

Make me now your great devotee (one who wants only you)
The one who pours the nectar into the cup
Is exceptional
The Cup, too, is exceptional
Beloved Lord . . .

In case you are one of those people who may resist anything that
seems "foreign" or anything like "Eastern philosophy" or "Hindu Mys-
ticism" or anything that seems to you almost "anti-American" in
tone— let me suggest the following: Stay open. Be willing to see things
differently. Be willing to see something that is "different" differently.

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 PURE JOY

Try to look at what works. I don't even bother writing about what
doesn't work. I am interested in results, purification, enlightenment,
joy, and anything God-like. I only share what will bring you joy.

Recently I received a wonderful letter from a student/friend who

shared with me what she had to go through in accepting chanting,
Babaji, and Indian philosophy. Her letter makes some very very impor-
tant points:

It was very liberating for me to share with you the chanting

of Babaji's ashram in Hawaii. Up until then I had resisted
Indian religion. I thought it foreign and alien and that relig-
ion was something one gets from ones own culture. I thought
that to adopt the Hindu practices, or whatever, was to deny
my own heritage and try to be something I am not. Well, that
made a lot of sense to me and served me well enough, until
I experienced the chanting of the Arti with you in Hawaii.
All of my resistance left me and I felt the effects of the chant-
ing in my body almost instantly. UWhat A JOY!!!!!

Now I realize that these practices are very ancient and univer-
sal;and so refined that any human being can tap into them
and experience enlightenment. It was a VERY empowering
experience for me. I felt moved deeply and as if parts of myself
deep inside of me were waking from their dormant state and
finding a voice, a form of expression. I am grateful to you for
introducing me to these things and grateful to myself for trust-
ing enough to allow this into my life.

—Love, Martha McKay

Aarati is that portion of the Hindu worship service in which lights

(usually in the form of wicks burning ghee or purified butter) are
waved before an image of God, as a symbol of light overcoming the
darkness of human ignorance. To offer aarati is to praise the name
of the Divine as prayers. The prayers appeal to His grace for the ful-
fillment of all desires and to seek refuge. Aarati is an offering of the
inner self to the Divine.
Every time you sing the Aartari you are blessed with Babaji's energy.
Here is an example of some verses (translated into English):

15
 SONDRA RAY

Holy master show grace to me

Show grace to me, have mercy on me
O Lord Thou art brother of the humble and giver of all

Show grace to me, have mercy on me

Thou embodiment of knowledge

art the trinity— the
the knower and the object of knowledge
Show grace to me, have mercy on me
Thou holy divine master of eternal form —
EMBODIMENT OF JOY
Show grace to me, have mercy on me.

Meditation

Meditation cannot be done by thinking. Nor does meditation mean

making your mind go blank. It is not a kind of hypnosis or suggesti-
bility. It has nothing to do with the occult either.

Meditation might be called a systematic technique for concentrating

and taking hold of our latent mental power. It might simply be a
method for jumping into the unconscious. It does consist of training
the mind so that you can go from the surface level of consciousness
into the very depths.
But to jump there without thinking, a device is needed. This device
will push you to the unknown. The device is an artificial trick to put
your rational mind at ease. Sufis used dance as a technique. Zen
teachers used Koans (puzzles). Rajneesh used a vigorous method called
Chaotic Meditation with catharsis.
Maharishi uses a personal mantra that you are given by an instructor
which you say silently to yourself. This is called Transcendental Medi-
tation (TM). It is the type of meditation I was taught. It seemed most

in harmony with Rebirthing and Chanting. Fortunately we now have

an LRT trainer who was a teacher of TM and was with Maharishi
for 15 years, Vincent Betar. He has written about this in Part IV. Maha-

rishi also teaches Physical Immortality. He has actually scientifically,

statistically proven that TM produces rejuvenation and longevity and
youthing. It is a scientifically proven process to stop aging. If you are
interested in further information, call your nearest TM center.
16
 PURE JOY

You can also make up our own "music meditations" and study the
results on yourself.
In his book Practical Spirituality, John Randolph Price defines medi-
tation as:

. a relaxing of the body, a stilling of the emotions, and a

. .

narrowing of attention so that the mind may contemplate the

inner reality and move into another dimension in conscious-
a gentle raising of vibrations so that one
ness. It is may come
into alignment with the spiritual self.

He goes on to mention the benefits of meditation, which medical

and academic studies have released evidence to support:

Meditation will alleviate stress,

Reduce high blood pressure,

Increase resistance to disease.
Increase the autonomic stability of the nervous system,
Improve the power of concentration,
Tap deep reserves of intelligence,
Contribute to mental clarity,

Stabilize emotions,
Improve human relations,

Relieve insomnia,
Improve coordination of mind and body,
Increase learning ability
and
Boost creativity.

And finally, he states:

But of even greater importance are the spiritual benefits; the

objective must be to establish a channel resulting in an out-
pouring of the higher energy of Spirit.

The Highest Thought and Gratitude

In all of my books, I have defined enlightenment as being certain
that your thoughts produce your results and taking responsibility for
raising the quality of your thoughts. Let's take a look at what A Course
in Miracles says about creating your own reality:

17
 SONDRA RAY

You may believe that you are responsible for what you do, but
not for what you think. The truth is that you are responsible
for what you think because it is only at this level that you can
exercise choice. What you do comes from what you think (p.

25, CIM, Text).

As a man thinketh, so does he perceive. Therefore seek not

to change the world, but choose to change your mind about
the world . . . (p. 415, CIM, Text).

It is impossible that the Son of God be merely driven by events

outside of Him. It is impossible that happenings that came
to Him were not His choice. His power of decision is the deter-
mining factor of every situation in which he seems to find

Himself, by choice or accident (p. 418, CIM, Text).

What you desire you will see . . . you made the world you see.

The Course is always asking why you condone insane negative think-
ing? In the next moment, you can experience Heaven or Hell, depend-
ing on which thought you choose to think. You always have free choice
to go toward the Spirit (positive thinking) or the ego (negative think-
ing). Bliss is only one thought away, and that thought is up to you.
If you return all your thinking to the Holy Spirit you will be in joy.

Say only this, but mean it:

/ AM responsible for what I see.

I choose the feelings I experience, and I
decide upon the goal I would achieve.
And everything that seems to happen to me
I ask for, and receive as I have asked,
(p. 418, CIM, Text.)

Deceive yourself no longer that you are helpless in the face of what
is done to you.
What are the highest thoughts you can think?
Gratitude is something to think about as much as possible I remem-
ber one of my teachers saying that when you get to the point where
you have real gratitude for even the sidewalk you are walking upon,
then you are getting somewhere. You may think you have gratitude
for people, but how deep is it? Is it just a fleeting moment's worth,

18
 PURE JOY

or do you really feel it and experience it? I don't think I was ever
able to know what real gratitude could be like until I was able to
lie on my bed and sob over my deep feelings of love and appreciation

for someone. (Recently, I experienced this for the LRT staff.) This
lasted for quite some time and I said, "Oh, this is real gratitude." Then
I gave thanks to God, but I felt humble. How was I able to arrive
at that moment? By continually clearing myself so that my heart
became more and more open to feeling gratitude at a much deeper
level. Now this often happens spontaneously.
You may feel gratitude, but do you express it? Do you express it

directly to those you feel it for? If not, why not?

Do you thank God for what you have? What you are grateful for
increases. Find ways to express gratitude to God. This will bring
you joy.

Example of High Thoughts for Night Time Programming Fear thoughts,

pain thoughts, and grief thoughts create the ugliness called old age.
Joyous thoughts, love thoughts, and ideal thoughts create the beauty
called youth. Practice acquiring the consciousness of childhood. Visual-
ize the Divine Child within.

/ now realize that there is within me a spiritual joy-body ever

young, ever beautiful. I have beautiful, spiritual mind, eyes,
nose, mouth, skin— the body of the Divine Infant, which now,
tonight, is perfect. Well, dear (vour name) p

there is a divine alchemist within. The divine alchemist is

within my temple, constantly coining new and beautiful baby

cells. The spirit of youth is within my temple— this human
form divine, and all is well. Om Santi! Santi! Santi! (Peace!
Peace! Peace!) I think a happy thought for all the world. May
all happy and blest. Within me there is a per-
the world be
fect form— the form Divine. I am now all that I desire to be!
I visualize dailymy beautiful being until I breathe it into
expression! Iam a Divine Child, all my needs are being now
and forever supplied! Infinite Love fills my mind and thrills
my body with its perfect life.
From: Life & Teaching of the Masters of the Far East, Vol-
ume I, by Baird T. Spalding.

19
 SONDRA RAY

Spiritual Books

Why make a pact with yourself to read only enlightened books

not
for a while? By this I mean why not read only books where the author
understands that thoughts are creative and results come from those
thoughts? These books are not only spiritually uplifting, they are also
able to accelerate your process and help you stay high.
Naturally, I hope you will be inspired to read all the books I have
written and those by Bob Mandel, director of the Loving Relation-
ship Training. There are many other books that we recommend and
sell in our trainings that support our work and produce great results.

We encourage our students to take a year to read nothing but

enlightened books, and we tell them to see what happens. Everyone
who has actually done this assignment has thanked us immensely for
the recommendation. That is what each of us who are now partners
for the LRT did when we started this work years ago. We attribute
our leadership role to many factors; however, reading spiritual liter-
ature as a form of purification is definitely one thing we would all
acknowledge and we are very grateful for.
I remember when I began reading the Life and Teachings of the

Masters of the Far East, a five volume set of powerful books. I read
the first volume and was so shocked and stunned and excited that
I could not tolerate reading the other four volumes until a year later.

The book I am going to single out here is A Course in Miracles.

After you read the following, you will see why.

A Course in Miracles

What would you do if you knew there was someone who knew all

the answers to all problems; someone who had mastered life com-

pletely; someone who would put you into instant joy, someone who
could heal you, someone who had even conquered death? Would you

20
 PURE JOY

What would you do if you knew Jesus was still around and you
could find Him? Would you go find Him? Would you check Him out,
even if you were not raised a Christian? Yes, probably you would.
What would you do if you knew there was a book written by Him
in the last decade, a book written by Him for modern times? A book
that cleared up all the confusion in the Bible, and all the confusion
you might have had in religion, a book that explained everything,
answered all questions and taught you how to heal yourself completely,
and a book that taught you how to have perfect relationships? Would
you read it? What if this book itself was a miracle? Would you read

it? Maybe you would. You might consider it, right?

That book is here. Jesus is here through it. The answers are in it.
That book is A Course in Miracles. It is available now. You can have
the answers now. You can be healed now. You can receive salvation
now. Your life can work now.
Personally, I feel that it is important to learn from someone who
has mastered what we are trying to learn. The problem with learn-
ing from someone like Jesus is that one has to confront all one's feel-
ings on the subject of Jesus and religion —
not an easy topic, because
of all the confusion about religion and religious wars.
Do you know that the foundation of Christianity was actually writ-
ten down about 30 years after Jesus' death and that much of it was
written in a way that can easily be misinterpreted, since it was writ-
ten through the ego? The ego is based on the thought that one is sep-
arate from God. It would be possible for anyone who had that thought
to write something deceptive. In other words, you cannot be sepa-
rate from God. // there is a belief that you are separate at the center
of a thought system, the whole thing can be deceptive.
Maybe it is time to re-examine all of our religious conditioning,
keeping that which feels appropriate, and forgiving that which was
confusing and mixed with the ego. The Course is not a religion or
path. It is a correction.
Ken Wapnick is one of the world's leading experts on A Course in
Miracles, and a respected teacher of mine. He has shared that the
presence of Jesus on the planet was so pure and purged so much ego
that it has taken 2,000 years to process it. Now, after all this time,
we are ready to hear the next words from Him. Now, He is saying,

21
 SONDRA RAY

"You didn't understand before; I am going to give you another chance.

I will explain it again; and so, here is a course in miracles. A Course
in Miracles IS a miracle. The answers you have wanting are in there.
The solutions to your problems are in there. The way to heal yourself
totally is in there. The way to have a perfect holy relationship is in
there. The way to have world peace is in there. What more do we
want? Nothing. Now we have the answers. All we have to do is have
the willingness to read it.

Why
would someone not read it? Maybe they are on a different
path and that is fine. It is not for everyone. Maybe you are one of
those who have never heard of it. Well, if so, I am honored to have
the opportunity to tell you about it. But what if it is for you and you
are just resisting it? Then ask yourself these questions:

• Am I just afraid of having it all and feeling good?

• Am I choosing pain over joy?

• Am I too addicted to my negativity to recognize a good thing like

this?

• Am I angry at God and fed up with anything in a religious tone?

• Am I being stubborn and rebellious and loving my misery?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may have convinced
yourself you do not need the Course and/or you should not read it.

All I am asking is if you are willing to see this differently?

The way I found the Course was a friend sent me xeroxed copies
of the first few chapters. I will always be grateful for this. I bought
the books immediately. I might have delayed otherwise.
If you have never bought the books, I hope you will open them
now. If you have bought them and have never opened them, I hope
you will now. (I do recommend that people sleep with the books
if they can't seem to open them. The vibration of the words will
eventually penetrate enough so that one day you will roll over and
open them.)

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 PURE JOY

There may be a tremendous resistance to the Course at first. This

is just your ego. Go beyond it. As your ego dissolves you will begin
to see how the books make a lot of sense. Then later you will proba-
bly say, "This is the only thing that makes any sense." From time to
time you may avoid them, but you will never forget them. And even-
tually you will crave them in a happy, wonderful way.
The Course should be read according to the directions in the
Teachers Manual. It is designed perfectly, and this should be honored.
Reading ahead to parts for which one has not had proper prepara-
tion may stir up too much ego and cause discomfort. To make it eas-
ier on yourself, you might find it helpful to join a local study group.
In order to grasp the context of the Text, I have written the book Drink-
ing the Divine which you may find helpful. It is a study guide, and
not meant to replace the Course. It was written to clarify the main
points of each chapter and to facilitate the Text.
To give you an idea of what the text is like, I am going to randomly
choose one paragraph from the pages that I read today. Every para-
graph is equally powerful. Notice how much "food for thought" is

here. Be willing to digest it for awhile. This paragraph is loaded, as

is every paragraph.

No right mind can believe that its will is stronger than God's.
If, then, a mind believes that its will is different from Him,
it can only decide either that there is no God or that God's
will is fearful. The former accounts for the and the
atheist
latter for the martyr, who believes that God demands sacri-
fices. Either of these insane decisions will induce panic,
because the atheist believes that he is alone, and the martyr
that God is crucifying him.

Now let us take an example of a workbook lesson. (There are 365

lessons, one for each day of the year.) One of the things that helped
me to remember to do a lesson each day was to write the line in the
palm of my hand in ballpoint pen. Then, I would at least notice it
from time to time. Often people would ask me what that was, and
that would give me an opportunity to share about the Course. Today
I chose lesson #190 just as an example I chose this one because it applies
to the name of this book. The lesson is this:

23
 SONDRA RAY

I CHOOSE THE JOY OF GOD INSTEAD OF PAIN . . .

What does this mean? It means, first of all, that we can and do
choose either joy or The lesson goes on to explain
pain. It is up to us.

that it is our thoughts alone that cause us pain. The explanation is

beautiful:

Pain means one is mistaken in his thinking. If one is in pain,

it is a sign that in his mind illusions are reigning. He is indulg-
ing in the ego. The main point is that nothing external can
hurt you. Only your mind. No one but yourself affects you.
There is nothing in the world that has the power to dominate
you, make you it is you who has the power to
ill or sad. But
dominate all The world you see does nothing. It merely
things.

represents your thoughts and it will change as your change

your mind and choose the joy of God as what you want.
. . .

When one is in pain, one is denying God. But if you do lay

down your thoughts of danger and fear and attack and judg-
ment of yourself, you will begin to find a world without pain.
You will begin to find the joy of God. Pain is illusion. Joy is
reality. Pain is deception, joy alone is truth. And so again we
make the only choice that ever can be made; we choose
between illusions and the truth, or pain and joy, or Hell and
Heaven. Let our gratitude unto our Teacher fill our hearts,
as we are free to choose our joy instead of pain, our holiness
in place of sin, the peace of God instead of conflict, and the
light of Heaven for the darkness of the world (excerpt from
A Course in Miracles, Lesson 190, page 352).

I want to acknowledge you for reading this chapter. I want to

acknowledge you for your openness to the Course. And I pray that
you are one of those who actually will pursue it for the rest of your
life, and I thank you in advance if that is you.

Fasting

People usually think that fastingis hard and boring. I'd like to offer

—
you another approach it can actually be fun and easy. First, you
must let go of all your negative thoughts and belief systems about

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fasting. Be willing to see this differently. Imagine that this is the first
time you have heard of it. As with anything, your experience of fast-
ing will depend upon what your thoughts about it are. If you think
it will be difficult, it probably will. Then you would do well to give

up all thoughts such as, "I need three meals a day in order to survive."
If you read my book, The Only Diet There Is, you will see there

are people who eat almost nothing at all. They live on the light of
God. (It is good to be clear on the lesson from A Course in Miracles,
"I am sustained by the love of God") Fasting is frequently recom-
mended in the Bible. It is a good way of loving God because you are
purifying your body and can therefore channel much more of God's
love and energy. You can do better at everything.
In my experience, when I have really committed to fasting, I have
always received tremendous spiritual rewards and surprises. This is
not a reason for doing it, but rather, a by-product of the purity
obtained.
You can begin by fasting on juice one day a week. Then increase
it to two days, on occasion. For me it is easier to do a five day fast

than one or two days, because I know that I am really going to go

for it; and that way I back up my thoughts and I get more out of
it. To me, the real value comes after the third day. This is when you
begin to get the supreme benefits. And if you can go on to 10 days,
you can be fairly sure that something will transform in you after the
sixth day.

Most people are tempted to quit after the seocnd day. This is a
shame, because it is two days that are hard. About
really only the first

the third day, in my experience, you tend to forget about food and
begin to experience the lack of desire to eat. This is when it becomes
fun and interesting. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of this
experience. Of course, I do admit that this is all easier if you are in
a special setting. If you are doing your usual work routine, fasting
may require more fortitude, especially if your friends keep inviting
you out to eat and you go. Even this, however, can be done I deliber-
ately tried that once. I accepted all restaurant invitations and had
consumme or nothing. It did give me a sense of satisfaction, but it

may be preferable to do it another way.

If you would like to read about different fasts, then I recommend

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SONDRA RAY

the book, "Are You Confused?" You could start on the Master Cleanser
fast, which is a drink made of pure water, lemon juice, maple syrup,
and cayenne. You can carry this with you all day in a bottle and sip

it. I experienced no hunger at all.

Another fast I like is to simply drink fresh fruit juices.While writ-

ing this book, I went on a vegetable juice fast which I found very
rewarding. I put carrots, celery, parsley, and spinach leaves together
in the juicer. It is a very refreshing and nourishing drink.
The longest I fasted on liquids alone (broth and juice) was for 30
days. I was amazed that I never got hungry, tired, or weak. What
I did get, however, was angry. I am sure that is why my guru sug-
gested I do this assignment; it brought up and out my suppressed anger.
I deliberately do not fast to lose weight, although you can do that,
and it works. I try to fast only for spiritual reasons and then it seems
like a reward instead of a punishment. I am convinced that that is

why fasting is fun and easy for me and why I like it so much. If I

felt that I had to fast as a deprivation or punishment, or I put pres-

sure on myself, then I know it would not be the same kind of experience
at all. I enough the importance of the motive, the
cannot stress atti-

tude, the way of thinking with which you approach fasting.

If you tune into your body, it will tell you when you need to fast.

Fasting, for example, every Monday would be good. However, I am

now referring to longer fasts which should be done periodically
every three months, for example, or whenever your body tells you to.

Or when you are not feeling right, or when things are not going well.
If you are a leader or head of a company, you will be amazed how
this kind of thing will affect your whole business. When I go away
into solitude and fast, my whole staff cleans up. I don't even have
to say anything. They automatically begin to clean desks, clean up
the filing, shape everything up. Their communication gets cleaner
and everyone is happier. This is the psychic effect, and it is wonderful.
If one person in a family begins to clean up, the rest are automati-

cally affected. You become an inspiration to them; your love of your-

self and God begins to radiate. You begin to move a lot of energy and
you begin to see the results all around you.

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 PURE JOY

Solitude

Solitude is one of the best ways I know to be spiritually nourished.

It is very different from being lonely, although many people are afraid
to choose solitude because they are afraid of being lonely. And yet,
you must learn to live with yourself before you can expect anyone
to really live with you. So solitude can be an end to loneliness. When
you master solitude, many people will want to be with you.
In solitude you can clear the thoughts that make your life diffi-

cult. People may be afraid of solitude because they are afraid of their
own thoughts! But once you are enlightened and you know you can
easily change your negative thoughts to positive ones, there is noth-
ing to be afraid of. You can be in charge of your mind and your feel-
ings. You will have an opportunity, like never before, to observe your
mind. In solitude, you are not distracted as much from your own divin-
ity. There is an exquisite opportunity to remember your connection
to God. You begin to talk with God naturally whereas other times
you may have forgotten. You may finally begin to listen to the voice
of theHoly Spirit in solitude, that voice that knows your higher good,
that voice that guides you perfectly. That Voice that leads you back
to joy. Often in solitude, your dreams become more vivid, more excit-
ing, more liberating, and more instructive. You become more psy-
chic. New come to you. New
ideas You
ways of clearing problems.
become more and more creative. Your body starts clearing itself. Your
feelings become more sensitive. Everything is more real and exqui-
site. You get to know yourself better and trust yourself more, and this

raises your self-esteem. In solitude, one is often inspired to fast, medi-

tate, or do other disciplines. These, with the proper attitude, are guar-
anteed to bring joy.

In the beginning, you can start out with one day a week for soli-

tude. Do not see anyone, do not listen to TV, radio, or anything. It

is better not even to read books at first, or to write. It is best to do

nothing. It is my opinion that your first experiences in solitude should
be away from your own home. A beautiful spot would be ideal. Some-
one's cabin or guest house would be good, or even consider checking
into a nice hotel room. It is important to be away from constant

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 SONDRA RAY

distractions. Gradually increase the number of days. It would be good

to try four straight days of solitude as the next "stretch" for yourself.
Eventually, you want to give yourself the experience of one full week
in solitude. You will be simply amazed by what happens when you
can commit yourself for that long. Then you begin to open yourself
up to more mystical experiences, religious experiences, if you will,

holy encounters perhaps on the astral plane; all those things you have
heard about that you wonder why may not have happened to you.
The stage must be set. Communion with God is essential.
The longest period I have been able to achieve is six weeks. During
this time, I went away to Bali. Occasionally, I spoke to Balinese peo-

ple to get around, etc.; however, I was, for the most part, completely
in solitude, working on the book, Drinking the Divine. Yes, there were
times I went through a lot, but mostly I was in bliss, because I was
not distracted from reading A Course in Miracles. Solitude is the right
time to study spiritual literature. It goes in deeper. It penetrates you,

puts you in bliss.

Well, all I can say is, "don't knock it until you try it."

Prayer

The best time to do spiritual practices is between 4:30 a.m. and 7:00
a.m. This will give quick, maximum spiritual progress. Immediately
after getting up, take a bath or shower.
It often helps to keep a picture of your favorite Deity or teacher
in front of you. Side by side with japa (repeating God's name), think
of the Lord as present before you and picture His beauty.
Entertain the attitude of a servant while doing japa. Have a sepa-
rate meditation room with an altar. If this is not possible, then at
least a corner of a room set apart with a screen or curtain.
After japa is over, do not immediately leave the place; do not mix
with everyone or plunge right into worldly activity. Take some time
to integrate and experience your feelings and sensations.
A lot of people have given up on prayer, thinking that they have
not received what they asked for. I hope that I can inspire you to look
at the matter of prayer once again. First of all, if you have asked for

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 PURE JOY

something and not received it, maybe you need to know why. Either
you were blocking on the receiving end (with some unconscious nega-
tive thought you were not aware of); or you had too much fear of

receiving what you asked for; or, what you asked for wasn't really
good for you and your higher self knew it.
Let's say you ask for something but you have too much fear of receiv-

ing it. What you need to know is that the Holy Spirit will not add
to your fear, and therefore it would not be good for you to have this
until your fear is worked out. A Course in Miracles explains it this

way: Let's say you are praying for an overnight healing of a certain
disease. However, a sudden miracle may be such a threat to your
thought system that you cannot allow this to happen for yourself.
What you need to pray for first is release of the fear of having a miracle.
Ultimately, pray for help in the resolution of the cause of your fear
(which is the belief in separation).
So, when your prayers are not answered, do not blame God. Only
you can deprive yourself of anything. The source is abundant and
wants to give to you. The giver expands by giving. God wants you
to have all the gifts of the Kingdom.
The initial phase of prayer is one of emptying. Pouring out the con-
tents of the heart ("emptying the cup") —without editing or embar-
rassment, withholding nothing — is a pre-requisite to attain perfection
in prayer. In the privacy of one's inner sanctum, a complete house-
cleaning of all afflicting emotions must be achieved before there is

room for God's grace.

One of the methods of prayer that I learned as a child is very effec-
tive. It contains five parts:
1. Opening
2. Forgiveness
3. Gratitude
4. Petition

5. Closing
1. Opening: This is for setting the stage, creating the ambiance,
establishing the connection: Read from the scriptures or from spiritual
and/or metaphysical books ... for example, this would be a good time
to read three pages from A Course in Miracles, Text.

29
 SONDRA RAY

2. Forgiveness: This where you ask for pardon for anything you
is

feel is your wrongdoing. You also ask to be forgiven by any specific

person, or you forgive someone you need to forgive

3. Gratitude: This is where you specifically express gratitude for

the things you have, for friends, for love, for the life you have, for
your health, etc. Remember that what you have gratitude for increases.
4. Petition: Now you are in the proper context to ask for help or

guidance in any specific area . . . Talk to the Holy Spirit freely, know-
ing, having faith that you will receive help.
5. Closing: This, again, is when you read spiritual literature as

above. My suggestion at this point would be to read your Course in

Miracles lesson for the day.
This prayer technique can be done alone or in groups.
It is very good to do it aloud with friends. This is especially effec-
tive as a daily ritual in families. I have given this prayer ritual to cou-
ples who were in stress in their marriage and on the verge of divorce;
and they have reported to me that it saved their marriage I have men-
tioned this technique in my other books, but it is worth repeating.
Of course, asking and begging is a low form of prayer. The highest
form of prayer is gratitude for and celebration of your connection
to the Source I refer you to A Course in Miracles sequel called "Song
of Prayer." I will quote a few paragraphs here

Prayer is practice of the presence of God. A thankful mind

attracts good. Try to get to the point where you are then giv-
ing thanks instead of complaining/fearing/or worrying.

If youdo petition, pray from the standpoint of already having

what you ask for. (KNOWING THAT THERE IS NO SPIRI-
TUAL LACK.) Give thanks, then, that it is already done!
1. Lay hold of the good you desire.

2. Recognize it is here and now.

3. Have absolute confidence.

4. Express gratitude.

Ask, and BELIEVING, you shall receive Faith is everything. When

you develop a consciousness of the things you seek, they will appear

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 PURE JOY

in your presence. God meets you on the level of your consciousness.

If your consciousness of need is greater than your consciousness of
God, then need will expand. That is because what you think about
expands. WHEN YOU LOVE GOD MORE THAN YOUR PROB-
LEM, YOU WILL BE HEALED. YOUR PRAYERS WILL BE
ANSWERED. God can work through you only when your conscious-
ness and His are One when you stop forgetting that Creator and
. . .

Created are One when you are conscious of your oneness with
. . .

God, then you embody Him. Prayer does help clear the way for accep-
tance of your Oneness, yes; and yet, the more you accept the One-
ness before prayer, the better will be your response from prayer.
Affirmations are also like prayers that you impress onto Infinite
Spirit to create a desired result. Always thinking in affirmations will
keep you in a constant state of prayer.
I find it very effective to talk out loud to God when I am praying.
Again, this can feel embarrassing at first, just as kneeling might. How-
ever, try it. It helps you to stay conscious, produces more feeling and
reality to your relationship with God, and I have found it to be a
very deep experience. Do this in the woods by yourself or even right in
your bedroom while lying down and before or after your meditation.
For my prayers, I usually write and mail my guru Babaji letters, and
talk to Jesus out loud. I don't know why this is, but it always works
for ma They all answer me in their different ways. God speaks through
everyone.

Ho O Pono Pono
It is my great honor and privilege to be able to introduce you to the
ancient Hawaiian technique called Ho O Pono Pono. I truly thank
Morrnah Simeona, supreme Kahuna, for giving me permission to share
this with you now.
This technique, a combination of special Hawaiian prayers and
breathing processes, is one of the sweetest, most gentle and beautiful
ways I know of to free and purify oneself. It is a surefire way to clear
karma from past lives and release emotional and physical attachments

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 SONDRA RAY

to people, places and things. That is the purpose of the process: Free-
dom from Bondage.
can be used to clear your thoughts and therefore heal your body.
It

If you read books on the Huna Religion of the Kahunas, you will find

that they knew exactly what they were doing. They could actually
heal people instantly, change weather, set bones, affect the elements,

and, on occasion, resurrect the dead. I would definitely recommend

taking a Ho O Pono Pono class and learning this technique for your-
self. (Information on when and where classes will be held in your
area can be obtained by writing: "Foundation of the I," Attention:
Connie Weber, U.S. Coordinator, 261 Stanton Avenue, Plymouth Meet-
ing, PA. Phone: (215) 825-2075.)

Rebirthing

I love talking about Rebirthing. Rebirthing healed me. It is a spiri-

tual gift. It is one of the main purification tools we use in the LRT
Ohana to produce Joy. What it does is help you release the blocks
you have that keep you from experiencing your natural state, which
IS Joy. This happens through the power of using your own breath . . .

it is connecting the inhale with the exhale in a relaxed, intuitive

rhythm. Rebirthing is not a discipline, it is an inspiration. It cleanses

your mind and body in a very dynamic way with Divine Energy.
Rebirthing acquaints you with a dimension of spiritual energy
which you may never have experienced. It can be an ultimate heal-
ing experience because breath, together with quality of thoughts, can
produce miracles.
In the beginning we used it remember and re-experience our
to
birth in order to release any trauma that remained. That alone was,
and is, simply a remarkable aspect of Rebirthing; but then we found
out that it does so much more than just that! Rebirthing can literally

transform your subconscious. It creates a safe environment in your

mind and body for symptoms of the past to act themselves out . . .

in this way you can become free of all negativity.

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 PURE JOY

Rebirthing increases your ability to receive love. It definitely

improves your relationships, especially if both you and your partner

are getting rebirthed. This adds tremendous joy to your relationship.
Rebirthing can help you to become more creative and intuitive.
This happens as you clear your ego, so you can experience the availa-
bility of infinite intelligence.

Rebirthing is truly a "rejuvenation process." Your body is rejuvenated

with divine energy. This feeling of "being automatically renewed"
produces tremendous joy in the rebirthee and is very rewarding to
the rebirther as well.
Rebirthing is sacred. To me, it is a way in which you can experience
"making love to God'— because you are communing with the Holy
Spirit.

When I was healed through the Rebirthing process, I was so ecstatic

about the results that I gave up everything that I had been doing and
I gladly began traveling all around the world to tell everyone of the
benefits. Others who try it feel the same. Many people tell us that
Rebirthing is the greatest experience they have had since they were
born! We constantly hear comments like this:

"Every growth experience I have had promised more than it deliv-

ered except Rebirthing. Rebirthing delivered a whole lot more than
it promised."
The Rebirthing process is explained in depth in my books Celebra-
tion of Breath and Rebirthing in the New Age. It is also summarized
in the back of my book Loving Relationships. To me, it is one of the
most important things to commit to, to experience Pure Joy.
A minimum of 10 sessions with the same well-trained rebirther is
recommended (eventually you can learn to rebirth yourself). Rebirth-
ing, for us, is considered a lifelong process that helps us stay pure.
Once you get past the original 10 sessions, things get so interesting,
and you experience so much change, that you really want to go on
and on and on . . .

Top Rebirthers are available at every Loving Relationships Train-

ing (LRT) Center. For information, call our toll free number:
1-800-INTL-LRT.

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 SONDRA RAY

Indian Sweat Lodge

One of the great traditions of the American Indians is the Sweat Lodge.
This is an unforgettable experience, especially when done with peo-
ple that you know in a group seminar or outing.
Usually, this ritual occurs in an appropriate, beautiful, outdoor
wooded setting, preferably by a cold river stream. The sweat itself

is done in a low igloo-like tent holding about 30 people, usually sit-

ting in two circles around the fire pit. The large rocks for the fire
are prepared early in the morning by the team who runs the sweats.
These rocks "cook" underground in a fire and therefore they come
out literally red hot.
Before you go in, you are usually encouraged to fast. When you
gather around the fire to share, there may be a ceremony led by the
medicine man or medicine woman, wherein you pass around a peace
pipe and recite prayers. Sometimes there is a ceremony whereby you
place your most sacred objects on a mound to be blessed by a medi-
cine man. They are left on the mound during the sweat.
When it is time to enter the sweat lodge, usually a medicine man
or his most direct assistant will say prayers over you and clear your
aura with Eagle feathers as you crawl in. The medicine man goes
in first and clears the space; you follow him and sit quietly until
everyone is Then he begins prayers and/or chants ... to evoke
settled.

the Great Spirit. The hot rocks are brought in on a pitchfork. When
the pit is filled with the rocks, the flap is put down and no one can
enter. (It is dark except for the glow from the rocks.)
Then the medicine man usually grates some sacred root and throws
it on the fire. Sparks fly, and the aroma envelopes you as the medi-
cineman reminds you that you are all one. He begins to throw water
on the rocks while chanting. Then you sweat. He chants, you sweat.
You sweat, he chants. This continues for about 20 minutes. Some peo-
ple cry as they let go. Everyone breathes a lot and sometimes some-
one will get the urge to run out. (Usually his surrounding peers support
him through that; but you could leave if you absolutely needed to.)
Finally, the medicine man throws open the flap, and everyone runs

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 PURE JOY

to the cold river stream and immerses. This is exquisite. This cycle
is then repeated two more times.
I did my first sweat with the LRT
was mixed— men
staff and it

and women. In Europe, I did a sweat with only women, and the men
went with only men. This was very sweet and unique, and of course,
intimate in a wonderful way. The feeling was totally different. I recom-
mend you try both. In my second sweat, we did not come out for
breaks in a river. I was not sure people could do it, but many went
all three rounds, and it was amazing.

The feeling of purity after a sweat is something to behold. In the

LRT Spiritual Retreats, I try to take advantage of this wonderful feel-
ing and level of intimacy by having the group come together and share
their experiences.
I feel that it is very important that a sweat be done properly, with
the appropriate guides, spiritual aspects, and rituals. Therefore, I
would definitely recommend that a true Indian Medicine Man be pres-
ent to lead the experience.

Fire Purification

Fire purification is an ancient technique for clearing one's aura and

one's karma, and for releasing anger, guilt, and so on. It is quite
simple — all you have to do is meditate on the fire with your eyes open.
This can be done with a fireplace, an open bonfire, or, lacking these,
even with a candle. Meditate on the fire at the level of the navel to
gain immense strength.
Babaji taught us to meditate on the elements. He also taught us
the ancient "fire ceremony," where you feed the fire with fruits, foods,

incense,and flowers to return your gratitude to the Source. Prayers

and mantras are recited by the High Priest during this ceremony,
which, if done properly, is also a ceremony for world peace. This is
always done at Babaji's ashram in India, and we try to do it at the
Spiritual Retreats — if we can get appropriate fire permits. Often we
do an all night meditation outside around the fire in silence. This is

very powerful. Sleep deprivation is another method of purification,

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 SONDRA RAY

by the way. Try standing up all night once a month and meditating
on a fire!
About this technique, Babaji says:

Worshipping the Fire means worshipping the inner light. Wor-

shipping the Fire burns Karma. It is spiritual purification.
Worshipping the Fire transforms into Pure Love all that is

impure in the heart and mind. The power of the Holy Fire,
the flame of Love unfolds the qualities of the Soul.

Bodywork
Since the mind body can be cleared by using the
rules the body, the
mind. Sometimes body work can assist in speeding up this process.
Anything that makes you feel good, loved, innocent, and whole is right,
and, therefore, body work can be a way of loving God. The better
you feel, the more you can express your divinity.
I would recommend the following types of body work to help you

feel better:
• Massage
• Rolfing
• Body Harmony
• Chiropractic
• Shiatsu
• Treger work
Use discrimination in picking a body worker. If you spend time
purifying yourself with Rebirthing, chanting, the Course, and so on,
and then you use a body worker who is very negative and rough, you
are defeating your purpose. Find a body worker who also loves God,
—
who seems holy and graceful one who is enlightened himself and
choosing life and joy, one who is breathing a lot. You want one who
increases your positive vibrations.
We have recommended body workers in each of the LRT Ohana
centers. You can call a center and find out who my personal body
workers are in that city.

I would like to acknowledge my body workers

regular, personal
who have helped to keep me in such good health and joy. Although

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 PURE JOY

I have some in each city, these have been the ones I have seen the
most often:
• Don McFarland for body harmony
• Patrick Collard for body thought release
• Kermit Stick for rolfing
• Dr. Michael Faila and Dr. Joseph Adler for chiropractic
• Terry Milligan for past life work and adjustments

The Work of Patrick Collard

When I took my friend Patrick Collard to see a clairvoyant in Stock-
holm, the clairvoyant said she had never seen so much light pouring
out of anyone's hands in her life as she saw coming from Patrick's
hands! I had experienced it when he did
understood this because I

body work on me. I had and over again lines

also experienced over
of people, myself included, waiting hours and hours to be seen by
Patrick. This light for healing is not the only gift that Patrick has.

Because of the very unusual circumstances of his birth (he was born
with the cord around his neck) his brain apparently overcompensated
for the fact that he had extreme stifling of left brain activity, result-

ing in stronger right brain activity. He realized this gift of "seeing

and sensing" with his right brain at a very early age. By clearing his
mind and focusing on the right brain, he is able to become very recep-
tive to a person's thoughts and feelings and how they manifest in the

body. He is then able to receive a complete view of the body and rec-
ognize what that person's mind wishes to release from the body at
that time.
The entire basis of his work focuses on the fact that absolutely all
disorders, disease and illness of the body are a result of the mind's
disorder. An ill or diseased thought creates an ill or diseased body.
His skill is to find the thought, release the thought, and support the
body in carrying out its natural function. The body, being a self-

healing, perfectly- tuned system, carries out the commands of the

mind. Patrick, being very clairvoyant, can "see" the thoughts and "see"
where they are in the body. Patrick helps provide the means for the

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 SONDRA RAY

Higher communicate to the body and mind in order to restore

Self to

harmony on mental, emotional, physical and spiritual levels. He

awakens people to the reality of unity or "no separation" between
these levels. Balance of vision creates healthy communication which
creates healthy results.
Patrick himself has been a real gift to me and the LRT staff, and
I would like to publicly acknowledge him for this contribution to us.

He is usually traveling with me, or around the LRT centers, and can
be reached through the LRT International Office. He also teaches

seminars on how to develop this ability in oneself. The toll-free number

of the International LRT office is 1-800-INTL-LRT. When he is not
traveling, Patrick's home contact is: Patrick Collard, 413 Avenida
Teresa, San Clemente, CA 92672.
I would like to acknowledge all the healers and body workers who
have contributed to my well-being over the years. It has all helped
me tremendously to maintain my excellent health while dealing with
a very intense schedule of constant travel. I have been able to handle
this remarkably well, partly because of this support.

If this acknowledgment reaches any of you whom I have met in

my travels, I would like to honor you by saying Thank You!

welcome more people in the healing arts who would like to serve
I

the OHANA (LRT communities of the world). There is an abundance

of work to be done in helping people to experience Pure Joy in their
bodies.

Body Harmony
I strongly recommend this type of body therapy for many reasons.
It is wonderful for you. modern and very "new age," and
It is very
it is probably what you have been looking for to get your body "han-

dled" painlessly. It can help you to release traumas, relax stress, relieve

pain and restore natural body posture and function. It is very subtle
and profound.
Our historical traumas are publicly displayed in our bodies, and
these unresolved situations compress our tissues. These incompletions
impinge on the possibilities of today . . . But, there IS a way out! There

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 PURE JOY

are processes to unwind our historical limitations. Body Harmony is

one of those. Body Harmony is a pleasurable experience that leaves
you with a permanent change.
One of the reasons I like it so much is because it is in harmony
with Rebirthing, which is the main tool we use for spiritual purifi-
cation in our community. Rebirthing changes your body and mind
through working on the inside, while Body Harmony also changes
your body and mind, but through working on the outside. Through
working from two directions, you get quicker results.

Another reason I like it is because it was created by Don McFarland,

a wonderful friend of mine who has given me years of fantastic body
work. I feel I am a "result" of body harmony (along with everything
else in this book), and I thank Don and all the other body workers
mentioned in this chapter.

Don evolved this work from a multitude of practices and insights

of healers and shamens from all corners of the globe. It seems to com-
bine the best of everything. The result: freedom, liberations, feeling

good, expansion, harmony! (According to Don, it is also a spiritual

process to remind our tissues of the glory of NOW.)
One night I had a dream that I was running down the street escap-
ing from my past. I up an alley that was a dead end.
accidentally ran
At the end of the alley there was a band playing a tune just for me.
The tune was called "Harmony," and it was in celebration of the fact
that my body was finally in harmony. I felt incredibly happy and
alive I called Don the next morning to report this. He was astounded,
as he had just decided that he should call his work body harmony.
(I had not known this.) For him, the dream was a clear verification.

On a recent trip to Peru, Don and I were meditating together in

a cave deep inside the Inca ruins of Macchu Picchu. He was receiv-
ing all kinds of new insights and understandings about the body and
his work. It was exciting to watch as his body was spontaneously

"moved" by some powerful force. I received the message that people

should learn to give body harmony to each other; just like they should
learn to Rebirth each other. The message was, "This will be super
important for people in the unstable decades ahead." So that is why
I am taking the time to write this report on body harmony. It is time

39
 SONDRA RAY

that we all begin to operate at maximum efficiency. For information

call (213) 393-6900.

Shaving Your Head (Headshave)

Another thing that will purify you rapidly is Headshave. Notice your
reaction and all that comes up for you just hearing that word! Now,
imagine all that would come up for you if you actually did it, which
is exactly the point. If you want an extreme, rapid, surefire purifica-
tion, this could be it. Again, this may not be for everyone.
For me, was one of the most religious experiences of my life, and
it

it opened me up greatly. (It is also a certain kind of "initiation" if

you are a devotee of Babaji.) This ritual has been done for thousands
of years and so, obviously, it must be of value Shaving your head (and
this includes to the skin with a razor blade) is a very personal, deep
experience between you and God. It is something you choose. Babaji
certainly never made me do it.

In the LRT Spiritual Retreat, we offer the opportunity to shave

your head — optional, of course; and usually one or two people choose
to do it. We then create a beautiful ceremony where the whole group
chants, and I usually begin the shave, and then people who are close
to that person will continue it.

For me, it was a symbolic act whereby I was saying to God, "Look,
I am going to try to surrender as much as possible to you and in this
act, I am demonstrating that willingness."
I have written about my headshaving experiences in other books.
I remain very happy that I did it, and I would definitely consider
doing it once a decade. At Babaji's ashram, the tradition is to leave
it shaved for nine entire months (the period of the womb) for one
to get the full benefit. I am also very happy that I followed that rule
I can sincerely say that it was a very personal act of loving God, and
resulted in tremendous joy. Not only did it open me up and purify
me, but also, because I learned so much about myself, it increased
my self love and commitment.
It can be done in a barber shop, yes, but I would say: do not deprive
yourself of the glory of having this be a deep spiritual ritual. It is

best, in my opinion, when done in that context.

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 PURE JOY

Mundan (headshave) is a radical method of altering one's false

identification with a body. We are so used to seeing ourselves
appear one way as we look in a mirror Mundan changes
. . .

that immediately. It gives us the chance to see that "some-

thing* in us that appears constant, regardless of any change
in the physical. Mundan stimulates all the psychic centers on
the head and creates a singular unit of cosmic reception
(devoid of thousands of hairs) that has a clearer relationship
with universal vibratory state.— Ram Dass Giri.

Visiting Holy Places and India

One thing I would say to all seekers who want to enjoy loving God
more is, do not overlook the possibility of going to India, at least once
in your lifa This, I admit, is my very biased opinion, being a great
lover of India and what it can do for you, and having been there seven
times. To me, India is the Mother, the Divine Mother herself. In my
experience, the minute you set foot on her land, something profound
begins to change in you . . . and you can never be the same again.
The whole country is like an ashram. There, even though on the sur-
face it does not look pure, it will purify you in surprising ways. When
you see beyond the dirt, you see so much love, humility, devotion to
God, and glory that you cannot help but surrender. Usually the first

thing that happens is the WesternMind collapses. There is nothing

to hang on to. This breaking down of your "form" is just the begin-
ning. And then, if you go to an ashram, your life may really be turned

around.
It was in the ashram that I truly learned to love God. Never have
I encountered such an intense stripping of the ego. When I saw what
the saints were really like, I was forever challenged to even begin
matching their devotion ... it is something I always long for. For
me, to be in the presence of my guru Babaji was the most intensely
joyous, all-encompassing, all pervading, marvelous experience of my
life. I have written about my relationships with Babaji in India in
the forthcoming book INTERLUDES WITH THE GODS. There is

information about Him in Part V of this book. If you are at all

41
 SONDRA RAY

interested in visiting Babaji's ashram in India, you may write for

instructions to the following address:
The Ashram of Sri Shri 1008 Bhagwan Herakhan
Wale Baba P.O. Herakhan Vishva Mahadham
Via Kathgodam District
Nanital U.P.
Pine Code 263126
Or contact the InternationalLRT office to see if there is a possi-
bility of my taking a group with me, which occurs every year in the
Fall (1-800-INTL LRT).
In or out of India, I always recommend visiting ancient temples
and religious sites. Especially if there has been centuries of chanting
and praying going on in the area. You will benefit from the vibra-
tions. Don't be surprised, however, if you go through a lot of changes

before you even get there. You may think you just saw a bunch of
—
buildings. It is so much more it is the energy of loving God within
this place that will purify you. It is that energy that will inspire you

to love God more and add to your joy.

Other Spiritual Purification Techniques

There are many many ways of purifying oneself that I haven't dis-
cussed. Some you might consider are:
• Silence

• Sleep Reduction
• Colonics

• Float to Relax Tanks

• Yoga, Tai Chi, etc.
• The Forgiveness Diet (See The Only Diet There Is)

• Celibacy

• Karma Yoga (Work as a form of worship/Work to clear your karma)

• Travel (Especially international travel which helps clear Past Lives)
• Writing (Example: Sentence completion process
"The reasons I feel bad right now are ."
. .

"
"The negative thoughts that cause this pain are . . .

"
"What I am really feeling right now is ...

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 PURE JOY

Undoubtedly you could add more purification techniques to this

chapter. I have covered those that I have tried effectively and

encourage you to make up your own methods of purification.
I have integrated these techniques into my life so that they have
become "a way of life." They are effortless, natural, fun and easy for
me to remember to do. I have trained my mind to gravitate toward
the methods I have discussed whenever I feel stuck, tired or confused.

I like having a variety to choose from, and often use them in combi-
nation.
Spiritual solutions are very pleasurable indeed.

43
 SONDRA RAY

WHY GO TO INDIA?
India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother
of Europe's languages: she was the mother of our philosophy;
mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics;
mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Chris-
tianity; mother, through the village community, of self-

government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways

the mother of us all ."
. .

—Will Durant

44
 CHAPTER 3

THE OHANA AS A LIFE-

LONG SPIRITUAL FAMILY
OHANA is a Hawaiian word that means "extended family." It also
means "a chosen family which breathes together ("ha" means breath).
It seemed like the perfect word to use to describe what I wanted to

have in the Loving Relationships Training Community. I wanted to

have a group of people who felt they belonged to a spiritual family
as opposed to an organization. I wanted people to feel that they were
being empowered by each other to become all they could be: the "mul-
tiple guru" system. We are all teachers and all students. I wanted
people to feel the joy of belonging to a "healed family," a "chosen
family." This we have manifested successfully and are continuing to
expand upon — and improve. It is a family dedicated to life itself.

There is a great joy in having the help of others who care about
your personal enlightenment and joy as much as you do. It is a relief
not to have to do it all alone. It is much more rapid to have a spiritual
family. It is much more fun. It is nurturing. It is enlivening. It is more
creative. It is more releasing and liberating. We have always main-
tained the policy of "telling the complete truth faster" . . . and "no
withholds" (withheld communications). Everything is out in the open.
Everyone helps everyone else with their personal problems in their
and careers. Everyone is good about sharing new
relationships, bodies,
knowledge with each other.

45
 SONDRA RAY

We have 14 LRT centers around the world where you can go and
become an immediate part of the Ohana. If you visit any of the fol-

lowing cities, you can call the center manager and tell them you have
read my books and want to be a part of the Ohana. We welcome you
to participate; and with great joy, we look forward to meeting you.

In the United States:

• New York, New York
• Philadephia, Pennsylvania

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Denver, Colorado
• Los Angeles, California
• Seattle, Washington
• Anchorage, Alaska

In Europe:
• London, England
• Stockholm, Sweden
• Tel Aviv, Israel
• Madrid, Spain
In Australia:
• Auckland, New Zealand
• Melbourne
• Sydney

To find the name and number in these locations, please call our
toll free number 1-800-INTL-LRT.

The Difference Between a Cult

And a True Spiritual Family
Many people are frightened by the idea of a spiritual family because
of their fear of cults. There are major differences between a true
spiritual family and a cult.
In a cult there is one leader who is supposedly "all powerful*—
who makes all decisions to which the group must comply. There is

a feeling of dictatorship.

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 PURE JOY

In a true spiritual family, there is group leadership. There is no

special guru. Anyone who has the highest thought can be a leader
at any time. More experienced people may form small groups; how-
ever, they are always training everyone in the group to become leaders.

Everyone is a teacher and a student at the same time. The highest

spiritual thought rules. Everyone in the group agrees to give up lower

thoughts and surrender to the highest thought. There is no "invest-

ment" in who originates this thought. This prevents control, manipu-
lation, and coercion. Spiritual purification techniques are used by

the group (totally by individual choice) to purify the tendency to use

lower thoughts or control tactics. Everyone is coming from a desire
to serve humanity.
In a cult, there is a feeling that you have to give up your power,
that you are dependent on the whims of the leader. In a true spiritual
family, everyone helps everyone else to gain his own Divinity and
spiritual power.
In a cult there is a rejection of the past. The group may be told
not to speak to parents and blood family members or other past groups.
There is a feeling of rebellion against the past and/ or culture.
In a true spiritual family, there is a sincere attempt to heal all past
relationships. Healing your relationship with your parents is not only
encouraged; it becomes a goal. One works toward feelings of grati-
tude for the past, turning it all into a "win."
In a cult, there is little diversity. Diversity is seen as a threat. In
a true spiritual family, there is unity with diversity. Individuality is

encouraged. Uniqueness is enjoyed.

In a cult there may be defensiveness and rigidity. There may be
a rigid "psychic wall" around the group, or a group thought that they
are better than everyone else. It might be like an exclusive club and
entry into this club is selective. Or it may be easy to enter and hard
to get out. In a true spiritual family, there should be flexibility. The
group knows that ultimately all brothers and sisters in the world are

created equal. Everyone welcome and there is a natural desire to

is

network with other spiritual groups to share enlightenment and

responsibility to humanity. One can go in and out as one pleases.
In a cult, the group may be forced to pool all resources. In a spiritual
family, free enterprise is thriving and everyone works to raise the

47
 SONDRA RAY

prosperity consciousness of the entire group. The group is encouraged

to tithe and to make contributions to any group they feel supports
humanity.
In a cult, you are thrown out if you disagree. In a true spiritual
family, all feedback is expressed freely. Everyone tries to take that
feedback to the highest spiritual thought, utilizing it for healing

purposes.
In a cult, the group itself is everything. It is focusing on itself. Peo-
ple outside may be suspect. In a true spiritual family, all of human-
ity matters. Although the initial purpose of joining the family may
be for personal growth, it quickly becomes clear that this is not for
the purpose of becoming narcissistically self absorbed. After self-

introspection, self-clearing, and self-discovery, members are clearly

guided to an awareness of their spiritual obligations to others and
the planet. This usually happens naturally after one feels clear and
joyful . . . one wants to share that. It is explained and understood
by the group that nothing real can be increased except by sharing.
The group feels committed to sharing enlightenment and peace for all.
In a cult there is a feeling of "brainwashing" and parents may want
their children out of there and "deprogrammed." In a true spiritual
family, everyone is encouraged to think for themselves. They are taught
that their thoughts produce their results; and that they are responsi-
ble for everything that happens to them. Parents are usually impressed
wth the changes they see in their chldren, and they may want to
explore the spiritual family themselves because of this. Sometimes the
parents come first and enroll their own children in the spiritual family.
It can go either way.
In a cult, there may be a tendency to hide the truth or to have
"secrets." In a true spiritual family, everything is exposed. There are
no secrets because there is nothing to hide. There are not even any
"secret teachings" reseved for a select few as in days gone by. All infor-
mation is freely shared and everyone helps everyone else to integrate
it and use it wisely.
In a cult one may not feel free to report anything that seems unethi-
cal. In a true spiritual family, any member has the right to speak up
on the subject of ethics or the lack of them. If someone is behaving
unethically, this is brought to the attention of that person himself;

48
 PURE JOY

and the members help him process his ego. Everything is considered
a "spiritual opportunity" instead of something that has to be punished.
In a true spiritual family, there are clear checks and balances and
there is public peer review.
In a cult there is likely to be fear and/or anger. It may, however,
be quite suppressed. In a spiritual family, there is an atmosphere of
safety, relaxation, joy, fun and aliveness.
In a cult one does not feel free to leave. In a true spiritual family
everyone knows he is there by choice and can leave anytime by choice.
He has self-esteem enough to run his own life. There is no sense of
being trapped in a true spiritual family.
In a cult there may not be room for people to have any skills greater
than the leader. That might be threatening, and talent may be sup-
pressed as a result. In a spiritual family, everyone is encouraged to
be all and sibling rivalry come up,
that they can be. If competition
it is and handled. The group process is one that
expressed, cleared,
encourages everyone to experience their equality and to enjoy the
talents of others. People support each other in getting ahead. A grati-
tude for exceptional people and talents is there. A gratitude for all

of life prevails.

In some cults there may be no mention of God or of spirituality.

In a true spiritual family, this is the main point. But God is not a
"parental figure" The end of separation is the goal. Oneness is what
matters. In other "religious cults" they think that they alone have the
sole support of God and no other group does. This is obviously wrong
because God is with everyone.
In a cult you are required to fanatically submit to the will of one
leader and to his beliefs. In a spiritual family you are encouraged
to share your passion for peace and love with the whole world.
In a cult your fanaticism drives you to proselytize others. In a
spiritual family you share what you value without investment.
In looking around for an appropriate spiritual family and com-
munity, be sure you choose a family that is not a cult.

49
 CHAPTER 4

SPIRITUAL RETREATS
Purification by Spiritual Retreat

Now there is a way that you can practice all these spiritual purifica-
tions in one setting — the LRT Spiritual Retreat. This is a week-long
or 10-day gathering in a resort that represents a "westernized ashram
formodern times" which Babaji asked me to create for the Western
world because there is such a great need. The retreat has been held
at Mt. Shasta, California, Florida, Bali, India, Glastonbury, England,
Southern France, and in Peru. Eventually, we will create our own
temple grounds and center where it can be held regularly.
I will share some of my experiences of the first retreats we did. I
was tremendously affected by these trainings as a teacher and deep-
ly transformed along with the students. I have seen miracle healings,
weddings, and many amazing surprises.
If there is a beautiful resort in your area that you feel might be
ideal for the retreats, please let us know. I prefer hot springs and a
cold mountain stream. An ocean site is next best. Water is essential
for morning immersion rituals. A carpeted hall is necessary, and, obvi-
ously, the holier the vibrations, the better.

THE FIRST GOD TRAINING The first LRT Spiritual Retreat was
at Mt. Shasta. This was perfect for many reasons. Peter Caddy
(Founder of the Findhorn) was there. The mountain itself is therapeu-
tic, rising out of nowhere in the solitude of Northern California, and

51
 SONDRA JRAY

itmakes a strong statement of pure healing energy. Stories of the pres-

ence of St. Germain abound, and his energy can be strongly felt.
Stewart Mineral Springs are nearby, known since Indian times for
their healing waters. I found the recently restored facilities to be per-
There was an Indian Medicine Man available for Indian
fect for us.
Sweats and a cold mountain stream. We were even able to do hot
and cold wet rebirthing.
One hundred LRT graduates came for the two week retreat. We
prepared a tent for the temple room. The routine was simple and
intense:

6 AM Dip in the cold mountain stream, total

immersion

AM 7 Chanting the Aarati in the temple in Sanskrit

8 AM Breakfast
9-10 AM Karma Yoga, blessing the land, serving the
land and making things more beautiful every-
where
10:30 AM - Noon Course in Miracles Studies
Afternoon Alternating Dry Rebirthing, Wet Rebirthing
and Indian Sweats
5 PM Chanting "Om Namaha Shivai" in the
meadow
6 PM Dinner
Every Evening Spiritual studies and lectures

By 8 AM, after the cold water and the chanting, everyone was very
high. The purifications we did after that were gravy everyone . . .

was very happy.

The Indian Sweats were particularly interesting. Charlie Tom, the
medicine man, began cooking the rocks early in the morning. We
would go into the low igloo-sized tent and sit in a circle. His assistant
would bring in the extremely hot, red rocks, and put them in a pit.
The flap would go down and we would sit in the dark. Charlie would
start chanting. Then he would grate some special celery root and throw
it on the fire. Sparks would fly and the aroma would "unite" us. He

52
 PURE JOY

would chant more, and then throw water on the rocks. We would
begin to sweat. Then he would "turn it up." We would be so hot that
we would have to put our heads to the ground to cool off. After twenty
minutes of this he would hurl open the flap and we would all run
out and jump in the cold water stream where it was nice and deep.
Then we would go back in for another round and then another. . .

round after that. Some even stayed on for a fourth round. It was abso-
lutely purifying.
During the day, we took our meals outdoors on the porch or on
the covered bridge over the roaring stream. There was much happi-
ness and was getting incredibly close and having
sharing. Everyone
miracle healings. was extremely pleased with the results the first
I

week. One day we took a caravan up the mountainside and had a

picnic followed by an impromptu wedding of two Australians who
had met in the LRT in Melbourne. Charlie Tom performed a real
Indian-style wedding in the woods. I was the flower girl. Later, we
laid in the sun in fields of wildflowers and chanted.
One evening, I asked the staff if they wanted to put on a talent
show. The Center Managers sneaked into Fred's (my co-leader, Fredric
Lehrman) and my bedrooms and borrowed our clothes to dress up
in. They performed mimes of us teaching. It was the funniest thing

we had seen in years. We laughed for an hour. I was wondering when

they had time to write the lines and memorize them. Later, they told
me they had channeled the whole thing. I thought Babaji must have
come through them for entertainment. That was the night I decided
I would create SHIVA THEATRE. I really got excited about the idea.

One day the whole group spent the entire day in silence and fast-
ing. Many of them had profound major experiences. Late in the eve-

ning we gathered at the temple in silence and listened to Tibetan

music . . . Tibetan bells recorded in the monastery in Tibet.
We had a second spontaneous wedding— Joe and Yoka. It was the
first time I performed a wedding.
The second week, Babaji began showing up in people's dreams and
rebirthings. I had received several calls months before the God Training
about this . . . people telling me that they had had dreams that Babaji
was going to appear at the first God Training. Of course, I was
delighted when it began happening.

53
 SONDRA RAY

The very last day I had breakfast with the assistants in the little

town of Mt Shasta. Afterwards, I stopped at the post office with Terry,

who was going to pick up a package. It was Saturday, and although
the post office was closed, somehow the package department was open.
I went in with Terry. There was only one man ahead of us and he

looked absolutely "gone." I have never seen anyone dressed so crazy

in my life He had on clothes that no one on earth would ever design.
I was convinced of that! The pants were yellow and fuschia checked,

but the checks did not line up. The shirt was all kinds of stripes that
did not line up and looked awful with the pants. The fabric was worse
than polyester. He had carrot red hair. He suddenly turned around
and faced me. "You know Dennis. He is great, isn't he?" I was shocked
this man would know Dennis, a healer we had been working with
at the training. "You know Dennis?" I said, surprised. "Yeah," he said,
"and know Yoganananda." "Yoganananda?" I shrieked. I couldn't
I

believe it. "Yeah, and I know £afca/i.""Babaji?" I was really stunned.

How could he know these names in his condition, let alone have
met them?
Then he suddenly turned around and said to my friend, "Trouble
with your leg, eh?" This surprised me too,
was indeed hav-as Terry
ing a lot of trouble with his leg. I inquired, by
"You are a psychic?"
now glued to this crazy man. "Yeah, I am a healer" he said, grab-
bing my arm and showing me his hand. There was something
extremely unusual about his hands. I could not fathom what it was.
Suddenly the lady behind the package department came up where . . .

had she been? She returned his package to him, saying it was impos-
sible to send because she could not read the writing. I looked at it,

shocked again. The letters were illegible, as if from another planet;

they looked like theyhad been thrown on the package, one by one,
and were actually "shaking" and moving. It was a bit like a magnet
was underneath and shimmering and was clinging to the lines of the
That did it. I began to confront him. "How do you expect
letters.

anyone to read this?" I demanded. "Don't worry," he said, punching

me lightly. "It is Egyptian." I don't remember what happened after
that. Suddenly I was on the other side of the post office glued to this

man. I do not remember walking over there with him at all. He was
looking right in my eyes saying, "I am making a movie, you know."

54
 PURE JOY

"A movie? What is it about?" had to know. "It is a secret," he replied.

I

Then he got real close to me and stuck his face right up to mine and
said, "GAINES, GAINES, GAINES, GAINES." "What is this?" I

demanded, "the thought for the day?" "My NAME," he insisted. Then
he asked, "When are you coming back? When are you coming back?
When are you coming back? When are you coming back?" I had no
answer. But why was he repeating everything four times? Suddenly,
I was in the car, gasping and saying to Fred, "There is a very strange

man in there . . . very strange." And before I knew it, I blurted out,
"I think it's Babaji playing tricks on me." "Let's follow him," Fred
shouted. We tore around the corner, but he had disappeared into
thin air.

I figured it must have been Bababji. He was always playing around

with me about fashion and blowing my mind. He could make up a
body or borrow someone's. and he used to repeat things like that
. .

four times. Then I laid on the floor and I knew it was him because
this joy came through me that was so profound that I laughed and

laughed and laughed and could not stop laughing for 20 mintues.
Later in the afternoon, everyone was packing and getting ready
to leave. I was having a Tarot reading on the swinging bridge. Fred
came running down the path saying Gaines was on the other bridge.
I could not believe it! How did he find me? I temporarily forgot it

could be Babaji. I approached to find everyone glued to him. He had

his nose right up to Dennis's. They were having a heavy debate about

UFOs. When I approached, he announced to everyone, "Here comes

the Virgo." I certainly had not said anything about that! I wanted
to get away. He was reading me straight through and I felt very
exposed. When Fred came, he said, "Oh, very broad Channel." Then
he introduced his children. They had carrot red hair and looked like
they were from outer space. Nobody on the bridge could get that they
were even real.

I was trying to duck out. Dennis and I had> healing seminar that
night in Eugene, and we were trying to get going. As we got in the
car, there was Gaines on the porch eating with these two strange chil-

dren and an even stranger looking wife. He shouted at me, "Oh, you
and Dennis are working in Eugene, eh? I'll be there," he said. And

55
 SONDRA RAY

that was the end of the first God Training. Babaji had come to

acknowledge me, blowing my mind again.

AT GLASTONBURY If you have heard little or nothing about Glaston-

bury, I am happy to expose this mystical place to you. Glastonbury
was the birthplace of Christianity in the Western world and even
before that, had been a great center of Druidic culture and tradi-
tion. People go there because it is said Jesus of Nazareth visited
Glastonbury as a young man, and Joseph of Arimathea came there
after the crucifixion, bringing the Chalice cup from the Last Supper
and vials containing the sweat and blood of Jesus. They go there
because of the Arthurian tradition; Camelot Castle is only a few miles
away and legend has it that King Arthur was brought there to die
after his last battle.
Glastonbury is still significant today. Many believe that the ground
itself comes directly from the continent of Atlantis. It is part of the
famous Somerset Zodiac, which is ten miles across and thirty miles
round, consisting of a circle of effigies depicting the twelve signs of
the zodiac. These signs are molded on the earth's surface through the
use of hills, streams, roads, canals, and footpaths. In this way, the
stars of the constellations above are accurately reduced on the earth
below. These signs can only be recognized from heights above 30,000
feet! The construction happened over 4,000 years ago.
Glastonbury lies at the intersection of two of the best known ley
lines in Southern England. Ley lines are lines of magnetic force which
ancients recognized and used as a means of orienting their temples
of worship. It is no coincidence that a great deal of UFO activity is

seen at points along the ley line. Every year, thousands of Pilgrims
crowd into Glastonbury for religious and mystical celebrations.
The knowledge of the Ancients maintains that there are three major
centers of cosmic power on the Earth. These are situated in Tibet,
the Holy Land, and Britain.
The center in Tibet, dormant now, was opened first, and represented
the Father. The second center, in the Holy Land, represents the son,
and has been active for the past two thousand years. The third cen-
ter, representing the Holy Ghost, is this center which has its heart

in Glastonbury. It is said that when a power center is opened, the

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 PURE JOY

Master responsible always visits the next center to be opened. Hence,

Jesus of Nazareth came to Glastonbury as a young man, just as the
Master who opened Tibet travelled to the Holy Land.
One of the purposes of the Spirit of Glastonbury is to reawaken
within Man his former knowledge of the Forces and Beings beyond
the frequency of physical life. These are to play an essential part in
the evolution of Man in the New Age. Glastonbury is one of those
places where one can cross over into other planes of existence more
easily than elsewhere while still being in a physical body. Many peo-
ple have received inspiration at Glastonbury that has transformed their
lives. men have been reduced to tears, the supposedly incura-
Strong
ble have been cured, the impossible made possible. Once you have
subjected yourself to this power you will never be quite the same again.
You can imagine what it might be like to have a spiritual retreat
at apower spot like this! Many people experienced deep cleansing
and what they called "miracles." One of the miracles we all had was
meeting a fellow Immortalist in a most unusual, magical, rather
astonishing way. This being, a very gifted Immortal Poet named Robert
Coon, touched us all so deeply that we brought him to teach our class
for a whole day. This was an unforgettable experience.

57
 CHAPTER 5

MASTERING LIFE
Mastering life will bring you joy. Of course, all my books and the books
in the LRT Ohana as well as the LRT itself are for learning how to
master life There are many wonderful books and trainings geared
toward this purpose.

There is no longer any reason for being sick, depressed, or misera-

ble. We now have all the techniques available to get you out of mis-
ery.The only question is: will you take advantage of them? You must
use them in order to get out of misery. It takes a lot of effort, strain,
and hard work to create and hang on to misery. Letting it go is always
much easier than hanging on to it.
Some people say they don't have the time to do purification tech-
niques, and yet you can get a lot more done in a shorter period of
time when you are clear. It used to take me a year to write a book.
The time began to shrink to a period of months, and now is a matter
of weeks. I have literally saved years by practicing spiritual puri-
fication.
As regards cost — the best investment you can make is in yourself.
If you take care of yourself, and purify yourself, you can save money
through preventing illness. Your work will improve, and you will make
more money. Most people tell us that the money they invest in the
LRT rapidly comes back to them multiplied. That is because they
remove the blocks to receiving love, and when you remove those blocks,
you are also removing blocks to receiving money.

59
 SONDRA RAY

Mastering means that you know with certainty that your

life

thoughts create your results and you are constantly correcting and
raising the quality of your thoughts. It means that when you make
a mistake you immediately self-correct and continue to love yourself.
You find the negative thought you had that created the result and
you change it so that you will get a better result next time. There-
fore, you keep moving and everything in your life becomes a win.

It means that you accept the atonement for yourself. When you are

totally and absolutely committed to your own spiritual enlightenment,

then you begin to learn how to master life. If you hate life you can-
not master it. If you love life, it will begin to work for you.
A Course in Miracles reminds us that in life, "We see what we expect,
and we expect what we invite."
Mastering life also means mastering relationships. Perhaps you think
that you love God, but not each and every person. Remember this:

What you do to a brother (all mankind), you do to God. What

you do to a brother, you do to yourself. That is because God
has but one son, knowing all as one. No one who condemns
a brother can see himself as guiltless and in the peace of God.
you accept them? When
If your brothers are part of you, will
everyone is welcome to you as you would have yourself be
welcome to your Father, then and then only will you be with-
out guilt. (CIM, p. 246, Text)

You cannot enter into a real relationship with any of God's sons
unless you love them all equally. Love is not special. If you single out
a part of the Sonship for your love, you are imposing guilt on all your
relationships and making them real. You can love only as God loves.
Seek not to love unlike Him for there is no love apart from His. So,
this is what the Course has to say: (CIM, p. 247, Text). It repeatedly
states that you must see only the good and the God in your Brother
or else you are making the ego The Course goes so far as to say
real.

that not only should you love your enemy, your enemy is your savior.
He that you have "set up" as your enemy is the one who will show
you the part of you that needs healing; and in that way he is saving
you from hurting yourself with your own ego.
As we say in the LRT, if there is someone you hate, take them to
lunch and find out what your problem is, remembering that this

60
 PURE JOY

person is your teacher, your brother, your potential savior. And for
today, practice loving everyone.

Part of mastering life is finding the perfect career for yourself, enjoy-
ing doing it excellently, and experiencing success at that. One affir-

mation we give people is this: / am willing for the Divine Plan of

my Life to Manifest. (This is very powerful as an affirmation, so if

you do it, be prepared for changes if you are not in the appropriate
career.) Babaji always taught us that work is worship. It helps so much
to see it that way. If you can't see it that way, perhaps you should
look at how you can emphasize the service aspect of your career more,
or perhaps you should consider changing to a career that brings more
direct service to mankind.
George Bernard Shaw said, "This is the true joy of life: To be used
by yourself as a mighty one."
for a purpose recognized
What is a mighty purpose to you? How do you see yourself in rela-
tionship to the world? We have an obvious spiritual obligation to others
and to the planet. Begin to appreciate your connection with every-
one and everything and use your career as a way of serving and express-
ing the joy of this connection.

61
 CHAPTER 6

WHAT A COURSE
IN MIRACLES SAYS
ABOUT JOY
What does a A Course in Miracles say about Joy? Quite frankly, that
is truly what the entire Course is about — how to experience Joy.

As an exercise, however, I pulled out nearly every paragraph from

the Text that contained the word Joy, then selected the most perti-
nent for inclusion in this book. These excerpts, although out of con-
text, will certainly give you an understanding of some of the main
points of the Course. This is a great deal to digest, to be sure, so I

suggest that you read it through once and then come back later and
reread it again and again — one or two paragraphs at a time, allow-
ing yourself the time to reflect and meditate carefully.

Joy is the inevitable result of gentleness. Gentleness means that

fear now impossible, and what could come to interfere with
is

joy? The open hands of gentleness are always filled. The gen-
tle have no pain. They cannot suffer. Why would they not

be joyous? They are sure they are beloved and must be safe.
Joy goes with gentleness as surely as grief attends attack. Gods
teachers trust in Him. And they are sure His Teacher goes
before them, making sure no harm can come to them. They
hold His gifts and follow in His way, because Gods Voice
directs them in all things. Joy is their song of thanks. And
Christ looks down on them in thanks as well. His need of them

63
 SONDRA RAY

is just as great as theirs of Him. How joyous it is to share the

purpose of salvation!
—Course in Miracles,
Teacher's Manual, Page 8,
from "What Are the Charac-
teristics of God's Teachers?"

LIVING IS JOY, but death can only weep. You see in death
escape from what you made. But this you do not see; that you
made death, and it is but illusion ofan end. Death cannot
be escape, because it is not life in which the problem lies. Life
has no opposite, for it is God.
—Course in Miracles,
Teacher's Manual, Page 50,
from "What Is the Peace of
9
God?'

There is one thought in particular that should be remembered

throughout the day. It is a thought of pure joy: a thought of
peace, a thought of limitless release, limitless because all things
are freed within it.

—Course in Miracles,
Teacher's Manual, Page 39

You will understand peace and Joy when you have become
willing to hide nothing, (p. 8)

All real pleasure comes from doing God's Will. (p. 12)

The ego is AFRAID OF SPIRIT'S JOY, because once you have

experienced it, you will withdraw all protection from the ego,
and become totally without investment in fear. (p. 50)

When your mood tells you that you have chosen wrongly, and
this is so whenever you are not joyous, then know this need
not be. (p. 57)

I am teaching you to associate misery with the ego and Joy

with the Spirit. You have taught yourself the opposite. You

64
 PURE JOY

are still free to choose, but can you really want the rewards
of the ego in the presence of the rewards of God? (p. 62)

God, Who encompasses all being, created beings who have

everything individually, but who want to share it to increase
their Joy. Nothing real can be increased except by sharing.
That why God created you. Divine abstraction takes Joy
is

in sharing. God has kept your kingdom for you, but He can-
not share His Joy with you until you know it with your whole
mind. (p. 64)

The Bible repeatedly states that you should praise God. God
is praised whenever any mind learns to be wholly helpful

(This is impossible without being totally harmless.) The truly

helpful are invulnerable because they are not protecting their
egos. Their helpfulness is their praise of God. God goes out
to them and through them, and there is great JOY through-
out the kingdom. Every mind that is changed adds to this JOY
with its individual willingness to share in it. The truly help-
ful are God's miracle workers, whom I direct until we are all
united in the JOY of the Kingdom, (p. 65)

To heal is to make happy. I have told you to think how many

opportunities you have had to gladden yourself, and how
many you have refused. This is the same as telling you you
have refused to heal yourself. The light that belongs to you
is the light of JOY. Radiance is not associated with sorrow.
JOY calls forth an integrated willingness to share it. There is

no difference between love and joy. Therefore, the only pos-

sible whole state is the wholly JOYOUS. To heal or to make
JOYOUS is therefore the same as to integrate and make one.
(p. 66)

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of JOY. He is the call to return

with which God blessed the minds of His separated Sons. The
principle of Atonement and the separation began at the same
time. When the ego was made, God placed in the mind the
healing, the call to JOY. This call is so strong that the ego
always dissolves at its sound. That is why you must choose
to hear one of the two voices within you. One you made

65
 SONDRA RAY

yourself and that one is not of God. But the other is given to
you by God . . . Who asks you only to listen to it. (p. 69)

Whatever you accept into your mind has reality for you. I
said before that you must learn to think with God. To think
with Him is to think like Him. This engenders JOY, not guilt,
because it is natural. Guilt is a sure sign that your thinking
is unnatural.

Guilt feelings induce fears of retaliation or abandonment, and

thus ensure that the future will be like the past. God offers
you the continuity of eternity in exchange. When you choose
to make this exchange, you will simultaneously exchange guilt

for JOY . . . viciousness for love, and pain for peace, (p. 79)

Whenever you are not wholly JOYOUS, it is because you have

reacted with a lack of love to one of God's creations. Perceiv-
ing this as "sin" you become defensive because you expect
attack. The decision way is yours, and can
to react in this
therefore be undone . . . Decision cannot be difficult. This
is obvious, if you realize that you must already have decided
not to be wholly JOYOUS if that is how you feel. Therefore,
the first step in the undoing is to recognize that you actively
decided wrongly, but can actively decide otherwise, (p. 82
and 83)

A wise teacher teaches through approach not avoidance. He

does not emphasize what you must avoid to escape from harm,
but what you need to learn to have JOY. The Holy Spirit says:
1. To have, Give all to all.

2. To have Peace, Teach Peace to learn it.

3. Be vigilant only for God and His Kingdom,

(p. 96-103)

What you believe you are, determines your gifts, and if God
created you by extending Himself as you, you can only extend
yourself as He did. Only JOY increases forever, since JOY and
eternity are inseparable. Eternity is the indelible stamp of the
creation. The and JOY forever. To think
eternal are in peace
like God is to share His certainty of what you are, and to

66
 PURE JOY

create like Him is to share the perfect Love He shares with

you. To this the Holy Spirit leads you, that your JOY may be
complete because the Kingdom of God is Whole, (p. 105)

Allowing insanity to enter your mind means that you have

not judged sanity as wholly desirable. In this depressing state
the Holy Spirit reminds you gently that you are sad because
you are not fulfilling your function as co-creator with God,
and are therefore depriving yourself of JOY. (p. 117)

The ego's whole thought system causes tension, and thus blocks
your only function. It therefore blocks your JOY, so that you

perceive yourself as unfulfilled. You do not know your JOY

because you do not know your own Self-fullness. Exclude any
part of the Kingdom from Yourself and you are not whole,
(p. 123)

The Holy Spirit will direct you only so as to avoid pain. Surely
no one would object to this goal if he recognized it. You no
more recognize what is painful than you know what is JOY-
FUL. You are, in fact, very apt to confuse the two. The Holy
Spirit's main function is to teach you to tell them apart. What

is JOYFUL to you is painful to the ego, and as long as you

are in doubt about what you are, you will be confused about
joy and pain. This confusion is the cause of the whole idea
of sacrifice. Obey the Holy Spirit and you will be giving up
the ego. (p. 124)

The Holy Spirit will always guide you truly, because your JOY
is His. This His Will for everyone because He speaks for the
is

Kingdom of God, which IS JOY. Following Him is therefore

the easiest thing in the world, and the only thing that is easy.
A Son of God is happy only when he knows he is with God.
(p. 126)

To fulfill the Will of God perfectly is the only JOY and peace
that can be fully known, because it is the only function that
can be fully experienced. Yet the wish for other experience
will block its accomplishment, because God's will cannot be

67
 SONDXA RAY

forced upon you, being an experience of total willingness,

(p. 131)

If God's Will for you is complete peace and JOY, unless you
experience only this you must be refusing to acknowledge His
Will When you and not in JOY, it can only
are not at peace
be because you do not believe you are in Him. Yet He is ALL
in ALL. (p. 133)

No one created by God can find JOY in anything except the

eternal; not because he is deprived of anything else, but
because nothing else is worthy of him. What God and His Sons
create is eternal, and in this and this only is their JOY. (p. 138)

The Holy Spirit's curriculum is never depressing, because it

is a curriculum of JOY. Whenever the reaction to learning is

depression, it is because the true goal of the curriculum has

been lost sight of. (p. 141)

How can you become increasingly aware of the Holy Spirit

in you except by His effects? You cannot see Him with your
eyes or hear Him with your ears. How then can you perceive
Him you inspire JOY and others react to you with
at all?? If
JOY, even though you are not experiencing JOY yourself, there
must be something in you that is capable of producing it. It
seems to you that the Holy Spirit does not produce JOY con-
sistently in you only because you do not consistently arouse

JOY in others. Their reactions to you are your evaluations of

His consistency. When you are inconsistent you will not always
give rise to JOY, and so therefore you will not always recog-
nize HIS consistency, (p. 162)

Every minute and every second gives you a chance to save

yourself. Do not lose these chances, not because they will not
return, but because delay of JOY— is needless. God wills you
perfect happiness NOW! (p. 163)

Do not forget, however, that to deny God will inevitably result

in projection, and you will believe that others and not your-
self have done this to you. You may believe that you judge

68
 PURE JOY

your brothers by the messages they give you, but you have
judged them by the message you give to them. Do not attrib-
ute your denial of JOY to them, or you cannot see the spark
in them that would bring JOY to you. It is the denial of the
spark that brings depression, for whenever you see your
brothers without it, you are denying God. (p. 176)

O my child, you knew what God wills for you your JOY
if
would be complete!!!!! When you have said, "God's Will is
Mine," you will see such beauty that you will know it is not
of you. Out of your JOY you will create beauty in His Name,
for your JOY could no more be contained than His. The bleak
little world will vanish into nothingness, and your heart will

be so filled with JOY that it will leap into Heaven and into
the Presence of God. The way is not hard but it is very differ-
ent, (p. 185)

Resurrection must compel your allegiance gladly because it

is the symbol of JOY. Its whole compelling power lies in the

fact that it represents what you want to be. The freedom to
leave behind everything that hurts you and frightens you can-
not be thrust upon you, but it can be offered you through the
Grace of God. (p. 193)

Only when you see you are guiltless will you be happy. As
long as you believe the Son of God is guilty you will walk along
the carpet, believing it leads to death. And the journey will
seem long and cruel and senseless, for so it is. The journey
the Son of God has set himself is useless indeed, but the jour-
ney on which his Father sets him is one of release and JOY.
You will see as you learn the Son of God is guiltless. When
you have accepted the Atonement for yourself, you will real-
ize there is no guilt in God's Son. (p. 222)

You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it. Your
exchange of what you made for what you want is the
first

exchange of nightmares for happy dreams of love. Love waits

on welcome, and the real world is but your welcome of what
always was. Therefore, the call of JOY is in it. (p. 238)
 SONDRA RAY

When you have learned how to decide with God, all decision

becomes as easy and is no effort

as right as breathing. There
and you will be led as gently as if you were being carried down
a quiet path in summer. The Holy Spirit will not delay in
answering your every question what to do. He knows and He
will tell you. How can you decide what you should do when
you have already decided against your function? Remove the
awful burden you have laid upon yourself by loving not the
Son of God, and trying to teach him guilt instead of love. Give
up this frantic and insane attempt that cheats you of the JOY
OF LIVING with your God and Father, (p. 261)

God's plan for your awaking is as perfect as yours is fallible.

You know not what you do, but He Who knows is with you.
He would teach you nothing except how to be happy. Blessed
Son of a wholly blessing Father. JOY was created for you. Your
calling here is to devote yourself with active willingness, to
the denial of guilt in all its forms. The inheritance of the King-
dom is the right of God's Son, given him in his creation,
(p. 262)

Peace, then be unto everyone who becomes a teacher of peace.

For peace is the acknowledgement of perfect purity, from
which no one is excluded. Within its holy circle is everyone
whom God created as His Son. JOY is its unifying attribute,
with no one left outside to suffer guilt alone. The power of
God draws everyone to its safe embrace of love and union,
(p. 263)

The Holy Spirit teaches thus: There is no hell. Hell is only

what the ego has made of the present. The Holy Spirit would
undo all of this now. Fear is not of the present, but only the
past and future, which do not exist. There is no fear in the
present when each instant stands clear and separated from the
past without its shadow reaching out into the future. Each
instant is a clean, untarnished birth, and the present extends
forever. It is so beautiful and so clean and free of guilt that
nothing but happiness is there. No darkness is remembered
and immortality and JOY are now! (p. 282)

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 PURE JOY

Do not be concerned with time, and fear not the instant of

holiness that will remove all fear. For the instant of peace is

eternal. It will come, being the lesson God gives you, through
the Teacher He has appointed to translate time into eternity.
Blessed is God's Teacher, Whose JOY it is to teach God's Holy
Son his holiness. His JOY is not contained in time. His teach-
ing is for you because his JOY is yours! Through Him you stand
before God's altar, where He gently translates hell into
Heaven, (p. 284)

I asked you "Would you be hostage to the ego or host

earlier,

to God?" Let be asked you by the Holy Spirit

this question

every time you make a decision. For every decision you make
does answer this, and invites sorrow or JOY accordingly. Every
decision you make is for Heaven or for hell, and brings you
the awareness (now) or what you asked for. (p. 286)

Let no despair darken the JOY of Christmas, for the time of

Christ is meaningless apart from JOY. Let us join in celebratng
peace by demanding no sacrifice of anyone, for so you offer
me the love I offer you. What can be more JOYOUS than to
perceive we are deprived of nothing?

Such is the message of the time of Christ . . . This is the time

in which a new year will soon be born from the time of
Christ .Nothing will be lacking
. . say then to your
. . .

U
brother: I give you to the Holy Spirit as part of myself. I know
that you will be released, unless I want to use you to imprison
myself. In the name of freedom I choose your release. Because
I recognize that we will be released together." So will the year
begin in JOY and freedom, (p. 306)

This is the Year of JOY, in which your listening will increase

and peace will grow. The power of holiness and the weak-
ness of attack are both being brought into your awareness.
Remember that whenever you listened to His interpretation
the results have brought you JOY. Would you prefer the results
of your interpretation, considering honestly what they have
been? God wills you better, (p. 310)

71
 SONDRA RAY

The Holy Relationship is learned. It is the old, unholy rela-

tionship, transformed and seen anew The only difficult . . .

phase is in the beginning. For here, the goal of the relation-

ship is abruptly shifted to the exact opposite of what it was.
This is the first result of offering the relationship to the Holy
Spirit for The temptation of the ego becomes
His purposes . . .

extremely intense with this shift of goals Only a radical . . .

shift in purpose could induce a complete change of mind about

what the whole relationship is for. As this change develops

and is finally accomplished, it grows increasingly beneficient
and JOYOUS. But at the beginning, the situation is experi-
enced as very precarious This is the time for FAITH, (p.
. . .

337-338)

I said before that the first change, before dreams disappear,

is that your dreams of fear are changed to happy dreams. That
is what the Holy Spirit does in the special relationship. He
does not destroy it, nor snatch The special
it away from you.
and guilt, but
relationship will remain, not as a source of pain
as a source of JOY and freedom. It will not be for you alone,
for therein lay its misery, (p. 351)

When you feel the holiness of your relationship is threatened

by anything, stop instantly and offer the Holy Spirit your will-
ingness, in spite of fear, to let Him exchange this instant for
the holy one that youwould rather have. He will never fail
in this It will become the happy dream through which
. . .

He can spread JOY to thousands on thousands who believe

that loveis fear, not happiness. Let Him fulfill the function

thatHe gave to your relationship by accepting it for you, and

nothing wiU be wanting that would make of it what He would
have it be. (p. 358)

Do you not want to know your own Identity? Would you not
happily exchange your doubts for certainty? Would you not
willingly be free of misery and learn again of JOY? Your holy
relationship offers all this to you .All this is given you who. .

would but see your brother as sinless Peace will come to . . .

all who with real desire and sincerity of purpose,

ask for it

shared with the Holy Spirit and at one with Him on what

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 PURE JOY

salvation is. Be willing, then, to see your brother sinless, that

Christ may rise before your vision and give you JOY. (p. 412)

And gentle lessons are

There is no need to learn through pain.
acquired JOYOUSLY, and are remembered gladly. What gives
you happiness you want to learn and not forget . . . Your ques-
tion is whether the means by which this course is learned will
bring you the JOY it promises. If you believed it would, the
learning of it would be no problem, (p. 416)

We have repeated how little is asked of you to learn this course.

It is the same small willingness you need to have your whole
relationship transformed to YOU; the little gift you offer to
the Holy Spirit for which He gives you everything; the very
littleon which salvation rests; the tiny change of mind by
which the crucifixion is changed to resurrection This is . . .

the only thing you need do for vision, happiness, release from
pain and the complete escape from sin. Say only this:

'7 AM responsible for what I see.

I choose the feelings I experience, and decide
upon the goal I would achieve.
And everything that seems to happen to me
I ask for, and receive as I have asked.*' (p. 418)

Happiness must be constant, because it is attained by giving

up the wish for the inconstant. JOY cannot be perceived except
through constant vision. And constant vision can be given only
those who wish for constancy . . . Happiness is constant, so
then you need ask for it but once to have it always. And if
you do not have it always, being what it is, you did not ask
for it. (p. 433-434)

Truth is the opposite of illusions because it offers JOY. What

else but JOY
could be the opposite of misery? To leave one
kind of misery and seek another is hardly an escape. To change
illusions is to make no change. The search for JOY in misery
is senseless, for how could JOY be found in misery? Illu- . . .

sions carry only guilt and suffering, sickness and death to their
believers. The form in which they are accepted is irrelevant.

73
 SONDRA RAY

No form of misery in reasons eyes can be confused with JOY.

JOY is Eternal You can be sure indeed that any seeming hap-
piness that does not last is really fear. JOY does not turn to
sorrow, for the eternal cannot change. But sorrow can be
turned to JOY . . . Reason will tell you that the only way to
escape from misery is to recognize itand go the other way!
(p. 439)

What is dependable except God's love? And where does sanity

abide except in Him? The One Who speaks for Him (The Holy
Spirit) can show you this, in the alternative He chose espe-

cially for you. It is God's Will that you remember this, and

so emerge from deepest mourning into perfect JOY. (p. 496)

The tiny spot you see as sin that stands between you still is

holding back the happy opening of Heavens Gate. How lit-

tle is the hindrance that withholds the wealth of Heaven from

you. And how great will be the JOY in Heaven when you join
the mighty chorus to the Love of God. (p. 511)

Swear not to die, you holy Son of God! The Son of Life can-
not be killed. He is immortal as his Father. You were not born
to die. (p. 572) Life's function cannot be to die. This world
will bind your feet and tie your hands and kill your body
ONLY if you think that it was made to crucify God's Son. For
even though it was a dream of death, you need not let it stand
for this to you. Let this be changed. How lovely is the world
whose purpose is forgiveness of God's Son! How free from fear,
how filled with blessing and with happiness, and what a JOY-
OUS thing it is to dwell in such a happy place, (p. 573)

It must be clear that it is easier to have a happy day if you

prevent unhappiness from entering at all! But this takes prac-
ticing the rules that will protect you from the ravages of fear.
The outlook starts with this:

1. "Today I will make no decisions by myself."

2. Decide how you want to feel, the kind of day you want
and the things you want to happen and then say:

74
 PURE JOY

"If / make no decisions by myself, this is the day that will

be given to me."
something happens that you did not want, say, "I hope
3. If

I have been wrong," and then, '7 must have decided

wrongly on my own."
want another way to look at
4. "I this." "What can I lose by
asking?" (There must be lack of opposition to being helped.)
(p. 583)

75
 CHAPTER 7

ETERNALITY
Immortality The Joy of Living and Living
and Living . . .

Theodore Toethke said, "Being, not doing, is my first Joy." This is

something to think about. Obviously, if you experience joy in being,

you will probably also experience joy in doing. Do you experience
joy in merely being a Being? Are you joyously glad to be alive? Do
you have a burning passion for life itself? If you cannot answer yes
to both of those questions, then you probably won't be interested in
Physical Immortality.
But chances are that if you did discover how to feel good, have fun
all the time, stay healthy and young, have what you want all the time,
and live in perfection and great relationships, then you might want
to stick around, and you might be extremely thankful to God for Life
Itself. The trick here — the "catch-22'— is that the way to experience
all of the above is to have gratitude for life to such a degree that you
want to live forever and choose that constantly.
I have written on the subject of Physical Immortality in my book
Rebirthing in the New Age. I have listed other books on the subject
in the back of all my books. And for this book, I decided to share
with you what A Course in Miracles says on the subjects of life and
death:

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 SONDRA RAY

Death is not your Father's Will nor yours. The death penalty
is the ego's ultimate goal, for it truly believes that you are a
criminal deserving of death. The death penalty never leaves
the ego's mind; for that is what it always reserves for you in
the end. It will torment you while you live; but its hatred is

not satisfied until As long as you feel guilty you are

you die.

listening to the Voice of the ego, which tells you that you have
been treacherous to God and therefore deserve death.
You will think that death comes from God and not from
the ego, because by confusing yourself with the ego, you
believe that you want death! When you are tempted to the
desire for death, remember that I did not die! Would I have
overcome death for myself alone? And would eternal life have
been given to one of the Father's sons unless He had also given
it to you? When you learn to make me manifest, you will never

see death.
The acceptance of guilt into the mind of God's son was the
beginning of the separation. The world you see is a delusional
system of those made mad by guilt. This is so because the
world is a symbol of punishment and all the laws that seem
to govern it are the laws of death. The ego's path is sor-
row/separation/death. If this were the real world, God would
be cruel!
Love (God) does not kill to save. Your will to live is blocked
by the capricious and unholy whim of death and murder that
your Father does NOT share with you.
Each day, each hour and minute and every second, you are
deciding between the crucifixion and the resurrection . . .

between the ego and the Holy Spirit. Crucifixion is always

the ego's aim.
Nothing is accomplished through death. Everything is

accomplished through and life is of the mind and in the

life

mind. If we share the same mind, you can overcome death

because I did!!

Death is an attempt to resolve conflict by not deciding at

all. Like any other solution the ego attempts, IT WILL NOT
WORK. To the ego, the Goal is death. The ego is insane, (p.
280 it 359)

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 PURE JOY

Heaven is not a place or a condition. It is merely an aware-

ness of perfect Oneness.

Error is different than sin. If sin were possible, it would be

irreversible. It calls for punishment. Error merely calk for cor-
rection. Sin is not real. Sin is the grand-illusion underlying
all it, God Himself would be
the ego's grandiosity. For by
changed and rendered incomplete. This is arrogance. The Son
ofGod can be mistaken, but he cannot sin. There is nothing
he can do to change his true reality.

But to the ego, purity is seen as arrogance and the acceptance

of the self as sinful is perceived as holiness. The ego demands
9
punishment (death) for its "sin. And yet, if sin is real, God *

must be at war with Himself. If sin is real, both God and you
are not real.

To the ego, sin means death, so atonement is achieved through

murder. Salvation is looked upon as a way by which the Son
of God was killed instead of you (Jesus). Yet, no one can die
for anyone and death does not atone for sin.

To you and your brother, it is given to release and be released

from the dedication to death.

*No one can die unless he chooses death (all death is there-
fore suicide). What seems to be the fear of death is really its
attraction.

***Death is the result of the thought we call the ego, (i.e.,

"Death is inevitable"), as surely as life is the result of the

thought of God.

From the ego came

and guilt and death in opposition
sin
to life and innocence. The Will of God, who created neither
sin nor death, wills not that you be bound by them. The
shrouded figures in the funeral procession, march not in honor
of their Creator. They are NOT following his Will, they are
opposing it.

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 SONDRA RAY

THE MESSAGE OF THE CRUCIFIXION

There a positive interpretation of the crucifixion that is
is

devoid of fear, and therefore, if properly understood, benign

in what it teaches.
The crucifixion did not establish the Atonement; the Resur-
rection did. Many sincere Christians have misunderstood
this . . . No one who is free of the belief in scarcity could pos-
sibly make this mistake. If the crucifixion is seen from an
upside-down point of view, it does appear as if God permit-
ted, and even encouraged one of His Sons to Suffer because
he was good. This particularly unfortunate interpretation
arose out of projection and has led many people to be bitterly
afraid of God. Such anti-religious concepts enter into many
religions. Yet the real Christian should pause and ask, "How
could this be?" (p. 84)

Is it likely that God Himself would be capable of this kind

of thinking which in His Own Words have clearly stated is
unworthy of His Son?

The Resurrection demonstrated that nothing can destroy truth:

God can withstand any form of evil as light abolishes forms
of darkness.

The crucifixion is nothing more than an extreme teaching

device. Its value, like the value of any teaching device, lies

solely in the kind of learning it facilitates.

It can and has been misunderstood. This is because the fear-

ful are apt to perceive fearfully. The crucifixion represents
release from fear to anyone who understands it. The message
the crucifixion was intended to teach is that it is not neces-
sary to perceive any form of assault in persecution, because
you cannot be persecuted.

When you are tempted to yield to the desire for death, remem-
ber that I did not die. Would I have overcome death for myself

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PURE JOY

alone? I have said that the crucifixion is the symbol of the ego.
When it was confronted with the real guiltlessness of God's
Son, it did attempt to kill him and the reason it gave was the

guiltlessness is blasphemous to God. To the ego, the ego is God,

and guiltlessness must be interpreted as the final guilt that fully
justifies murder!

Easter is the sign of peace, not pain. This week we celebrate

life (Resurrection), not death. We cannot be united in crucifix-
ion and death. The time of Easter is the time for JOY. (pages
84, 92, 217, 224, 396)

THE JOY OF MEETING

OTHER IMMORTALISTS
In our community we share the excitement of learning to master phys-
ical immortality together. Every once in a while we are privileged
to have the thrill of finding a true immortalist, who came to this truth
on his own in another interesting way. When this happens, it is like
discovering a gem. Words can hardly express the feeling of joy and
relief. There is an instant rapport and intimacy. There is an instant
connection of wanting to serve together. It is either "Let's get to work"
or "How can we work together right away?" or "How can I support
your work more right now?" There is a natural desire to be together
as much as possible. That may not be logistically possible, since most
immortalists are spread out around the globe, or they travel constantly.
But there is a passion to work it out so the paths cross as often as
possible.

There is a pervasive sense of wellbeing among Immortalists —

vibration that is unbeatable. It is ecstasy — and it doesn't even have
to be talked about. I thought it would be appropriate to share a recent

experience had when I met Robert Coon. It is my supreme joy and

I

honor to introduce him into your life.

MY PURE JOY OF KNOWING A FELLOW IMMORTALIST I would

like to share the joy of one of deep immortal friendships, as I am sure

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 SONDRA RAY

you will be delighted to find out about the presence of the great
Immortal Poet, Robert Coon, who is currently living in Glastonbury.
In 1985 we had the privilege of doing the LRT Spiritual Retreat

in Glastonbury, England. Imagine the wonderful surprise of being

greeted with a letter, upon arrival, such as the one Fm sharing with
you below:

AN IMMORTALIST WELCOME TO GLASTONBURY The

most radical act is also the most loving act. The most loving
act is the most anarchistic and subversive act. This most lov-
ing is the overcoming of death, the attainment of Physical
Immortality— and the global communication and sharing of
your attainment.

The battle against death must be fought on every front. We

begin by overcoming deathist thoughts, words and deeds in
our own life. Then we must root out the fabric of decay from
relationships and from social structures throughout the world.

One such deathist social structure is orthodox religion. At the

recent Glastonbury Pilgrimmage conducted by the Church of
England, such anti-Christ sentiments as "Glorify God by your
death" and "God in his mercy brings you an early death" were
expressed by church leaders. These ideas are obscene.

The Christ truth is this: You betray God's gift to you by allow-
ing yourself to die. To glorify God means to exalt the atoms
and cells of your own physical body into a purified instru-
ment of Divine Will and Spirit. And the greatest mercy God
may show is the near illumination of the Way to Physical
—
Immortality a Way which is unique and individual for every
9
being. We use the term "Physical Immortality '
rather than
Eternal Life, so that there can be no excuse for failing to
understand what we are talking about.

Many pilgrims journey to Glastonbury to examine its past.

I believe that You who read these words have come here to
contribute to the Living Presence and Immortalist Future of
Glastonbury. We have much to learn and much to share with
each other here at the "Heart Chakra of the World."

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 PURE JOY

For Glastonbury is the heart center of this earth. It is from

here that the truth of Immortality is being fully revealed to
the world. This is the deepest secret of the Holy Grail. To win
the Grail is to overcome death and obtain Immortal Life. To
chain the Grail to a lesser, more easily obtainable goal is a
limitation of vision and is ignoble and unworthy of the Divine
Potential of the Human Spirit.

If the force and enthusiasm needed to communicate this Truth

of Immortality to the world are dependent upon a physical
manifestation, then — —
God willing may that physical mani-
festation occur Now. Of if belief and the ability to hear this
Truth suffice by themselves, then today is the appointed time.

The Word is being made Flesh through Glastonbury. An Inter-

is an ideal vehicle
national Immortalist gathering such as this
for the birthing of the Truth of Physical Immortality to the
world. The Immortals of the Glastonbury Shamballic Focus
bid thee welcome to Glastonbury—Ancient Avalon and New
9
Jerusalem. May this "God Training * be the first of many such
Immortalist gatherings here at the Grail and heart center of
this living planet Gaea.

I charge each of you to share this message with all beings as

rapidly as Love allows. May you leave Glastonbury charged
with the atom of your being
Spirit of Life Eternal in every
and filled to overflowing with the desire to overcome all

things!

—Robert Coon
July 1, 1985

I had never met Robert, and I was looking forward to it, but I cer-
tainly did not expect it to happen as it did. I was told that I should

consider taking my group to the top of the Tor at midnight (the night
before the retreat began). I was told there were going to be ceremo-
nies. Since it was raining, and the training had not really started,
I made it optional. About half the group trekked up the mountain

83
 SONDRA RAY

with Fredric, my and me. We crossed cow pastures and

co-trainer,

climbed fences. It was dark and windy. I certainly did not imagine
Robert would be up there, and was I ever surprised when suddenly
a man appeared who looked like he was from a different era, who
captured absolutely everyone's attention immediately, so much so that
my students begged him to go on and on even though the rain fell

more and more We were all spellbound by this man's presence and
his most alluring "Invocations to Immortalists'1—which none of us were

expecting to hear at all. "Could he have actually written those poetic

words himself?" I wondered. "Could anyone on this plane actually
write that?" I asked myself. I finally ran to him, kissed him, and said,
"You are my brother. Please come teach my class."

Here are three beautiful poems by Robert Coon that I would like

to share with you:

Easter Everywhere

Unseal the Heart and Mind of every Star with this melody of
Perfect truth singing from the temple of your soul . . . Proclaim
Our Word of light made flesh in all beings and speak forth
The laws of heaven forevermora You are the final
Resurrection of this world, born from my womb of infinite
Joy; and I am your Bride, garlanded with a halo of all the
Prayers of love and peace that have been and shall ever be!

Radiate this song with all thy lust of spirit and every nation
Shall be lifted up and quickened by our love . . . Praise all
Things and all times throughout Eternity and flames of divine
Perfection will engulf and illuminate this universe. We
Gave birth to this reality so that all stars might have
Incorruptible bodies — Holy temples with which to praise one
Another in total harmony with Divine Will! Create every
Thought, word and deed with the same alchemy of wisdom and
Perfect relationship and death shall never touch thee . . .

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 PURE JOY

Rejoice in the day when every Star sees clearly the river
Of its light shining through every life and sees only the

Alpha and everchanging Omega of Divine Perfection — for that

Great Day Is At Hand . . . Shout your holy word from every shrine
On earth from Shasta to Glastonbury and your prayers shall
Be glorified in their power. Invoke angels and deities of

Every land and faith to heal, awaken and vitalize the Body
Of our mother planet! Summon all Masters from all planes
Back to earth and may they claim their final diamond bodies . . .

You are God Emanate all your energy and Will through this Rose
. . .

Of your heart in a mighty threefold symphony of Praise, Love

And Gratitude for all things without exception and ye shall
Ignite our Grail of Immortality and transfiguration within
The atom of every God. Heed this song with
soul of every
All your Faith and all your strength and 'tis certain
Ye shall be raised from mortality and uplifted into the
Vibration of a translated being of Light and Total Freedom
To come and go at the speed of love as ye Will in the Body
Of Christ! These Works and Greater do I command and
Promise thee for every woman and every man and every being
Is a Star!

— Robert Coon

FIRST SUPPER
Children of Earth! Feast upon these Fruits of eternal
Majesty plucked from the Tree of Life as all your
Highest dreams converge in a mighty vortex to devour
This Universe in a whirlwind of compassionate frenzy
May this Rising Sun pierce your hearts with swords
Of perfect love dipped in the most sweet venom of
Sacred Truth!

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 —
SONDKA RAY

Drink this chalice of jeweled nectar distilled from

Orgasms of Stars and know that Ye are Goddesses and
Gods ravished with Joy far beyond realms of birth
and death. Your bodies shall be angels of light for
Beholdl Ye shall dare to make All things new with
This immaculate love we conceive endless Milleniums!

Now come and go as the Wind and bathe all eternity

With mighty torrents of love, praise and gratitude
As we enrapture this planet to the very core
Forever and evermore I hear this paradise singing
Joyous prayers lofted high thrue Raindow dew magic
Incense of our previous being returns to its womb
Made fruitful and multiplied by alchemy of these
Words I still hear you saying Oh Let There Be Light!

And if an Angel should appear please bid it stay awhile

And be Thy Lover! Dedicate your passion to the
Highest and let us always greet one another in this
Garden of the heart of Love made glorious with
Total Perfection of the Will Divine!

—Robert Coon

EAGLE GIFTS OF IMMORTALITY

Angel of Revelation! Blaze forth upon Star lanes
Embraced by canopy of Nuit! Herald this final stratagem
Of eagle sages smiling at Shamballa ... Oh let my hymn
Ascend onto the diadem of the new born Phoenix
For I have fathomed the cypher of thy Play!

Fly on thrue limitless caverns of Buddha Mind illuminated

By thy passing torch of clarity and I will follow
In your wake of vision enrobed in lightning
My eyes ever faithful to the pole star of this voyage . . .

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 PURE JOY

Hold fast thy ankh of immortality as we run upon a boulevard

—
From Saturn to the Sun for we have seized the reins
Of Life from death and drive the chariot of the Grail
Into the Holy Kingdom of the City of the Pyramids and beyond!

Serpentine fibers of thy love twine about my heart and guide me

To the roots of the Tree of Life . . . My path is clear!

This — the hour of transmutation spoken of in perfect

Silence at the foundation of this world ... I write this
Sacred oath of alchemy upon a golden scroll:

I shall nourish these roots with laughter of Stars

And Praise of Saint until a Fruit never known
Before in All Creation anoints the tongue of every being
Nesting in this Tree of Aspiration with a taste
Regenerating Paradise!

Now place the capstone of thy Will upon the Summit

Of the Great Pyramid ... All prophecies are fulfilled!

Reveal to all the glorious destiny of our planet!

May every Star assume the rightful Mastery
Of its own realm! Open this gift and show me
Thy eternal Godhood!
— Robert Coon
A selection of Robert Coons prose, essays, prophesies, and poetic
invocations concerning the global unfoldment of Physical Immortal-
ity have recently been published in a special numbered edition by
Griffin Gold Publications. Copies are available, signed, with Immor-
talist Blessing, and the title is: VOYAGE TO AVALON: An Immor-
talises Introduction to the Magick of Glastonbury. This book is
available directly from Robert Coon, 20 Selwood Road, Glastonbury,
Somerset, England. Order by sending checque, cash, or postal order
to Robert Coon in $8.00 U.S. or 5.5 pounds U.K.

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 CHAPTER 8

OTHER WAYS OF LOVING

GOD
Essays by Loving Relationships Trainers

PUBE LOVE
by Bob Mandel

Nothing approaches love in its ability to purify you. If you want to

be pure, find someone you love and let him, or her, love the hell out
of you! That's what I did with my wife Mallie. I had tried many
spiritual disciplines over the years — yoga, meditation, fasting, silence,
chanting, EST, rebirthing, you name it! And each technique proved
valuable in its own way. But until I met Mallie and surrendered to
loving and being loved fully, I never experienced the purity of my
own essence.
Love alone is the ultimate purification process because love alone
is absolutely pura It cannot tolerate impurity, sickness, negativity
of any sort, and brings up anything unlike itself for the purpose of
release. There is no love but the love of God because when you are
in love you are in a state of deep gratitude for all of creation. The
feeling of utter perfection in your heart opens your eyes to all that
God has give you. When you surrender to love, you emerge from
behind your ego and experience your Oneness and holiness.

89
 SONDRA RAY

Spiritual disciplines can be an extremely valuable part of the process

of surrender. In committing oneself to such disciplines, the ego is con-
fronted by a simple, spiritual ritual. For example, silence confronts
the noise of your mind, fasting confronts your addiction to food,
breathing confronts your addiction to lifelessness. In order to
experience pure joy, however, one must go beyond the discipline to
the love As such, spiritual discipline is a wonderful vehicle, but it

should not be mistaken for the destination itself. You can lead a horse
to water, but drinking the divine is an act of personal choice and
surrender.
The appropriate attitude towards discipline, or technique, is not
that hard work produces results, but rather that joyful work is a
celebration of gratitude. If the path is unhappy, the end of the jour-
ney is not likely to be any happier. In each step of the quest you are
faced with the same ultimate choice: to surrender to love and joy or
to resist and create struggle and pain. In surrendering, you are blessed
in the Holy Instant: in resisting you simply postpone your inevitable
awakening.
The reason so many people are spiritual "junkies," chasing each
new spiritual fad compulsively, is that they reach the same point of
no return with each new discipline And that is the point of surrender.
The point of yielding to God's love. The point of transformation. If
one is unwilling to let go, each new path quickly turns into a dead
end. In the long run, the path is only as righteous as the traveler. And
a traveler with a light heart, a heart full of love, will always find the
light at theend of the tunnel because, in a sense, he has already cho-
sen that Light. Heaven is a choice one must make, and continue to
make each step of the way.
All too often, spiritual seekers are stuck in a struggle pattern.
They have transferred the struggle for worldly goods to the struggle
for heavenly riches. Moreover, they tend to use their enlightenment
to beat themselves up for their imperfection, rather than forgive
themselves, learn their lessons, and surrender. They forget that the
first element of enlightenment is lightening up, or not taking oneself
seriously. Instead of laughing, they grunt. And they justify their pain
in the name of God, somehow thinking that makes it better. But

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 PURE JOY

struggle is struggle, no matter what the goal. And God does not give
extra credit to those who struggle for His love the most. On the con-
trary, those who choose peace of mind, and ease and pleasure in the
body, seem to receive the spiritual treasures instantaneously, while
the strugglers seem to wrestle with the truth as though it were the
angel of Death. The joy is there for the having, here and now, not
there and then.
The first choice required is pure love of oneself, i.e. unconditional
acceptance and respect for yourself under all circumstance. This can
seem like a huge sacrifice, but the only things being sacrificed are
your guilt, punishment, and separation. Yes, in order to forgive yourself

completely and surrender to your own true essence, you must relin-
quish all the little lies, all the limiting thoughts you've been hiding
behind. You must confess your own magnificence, letting go of who
you pretend to be and who you fear you might be. In developing such
a holy relationship with yourself, you come to experience the eternal
truths about yourself:

1. You are good enough just the way you are!

2. You are worthy of God's love!

3. You are innocent!

4. You are perfect!
5. You are forgiven!

And, most of all, you are already loved, and once you get your mind
out of the way, pure love is all that remains!
The second choice required is the commitment to loving relation-
ships. All too often, people love God, or say they do, but when it comes

to other people, forget it! This, of course, is a contradiction since God

is Everyone! God's directive to us is to love thy neighbor as oneself,
and even to love thy enemy because the love of humanity is the love
of God. In choosing to love everyone unconditionally, you accelerate
the process of loving yourself unconditionally since everyone you love
is a reflection of yourself. The only enemy is the enemy within, which
is the part of yourself that remains unforgiven.
A one-to-one loving relationship is the ultimate truth test. The love
between two individuals contains the potential for total joy and

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 SONDRA RAY

aliveness.Of course, that love will threaten the defense mechanisms

of the ego more than anything. It is therefore essential to release all
attack thoughts, all thoughts of mistrust and separation, in order to
taste the sweet joy of a holy relationship.
The desire for a special relationship is the most subtle trick of the
ego. It causes you to see your partner as a substitute for God instead
of His expression. If you take your personal separation and add it to
your partner's separation, you have merely found temporary shelter
from a universe you perceive as cold and cruel —which is not God's
universe but your ego's substitute. This path is doomed to failure
because the ego will eventually divide the couples just as surely as
this couple has chosen to separate itself from God.
The solution, and the third choice required, is a holy purpose, a
global focus to lift the couple out of isolation, and allow the cocoon
of love to blossom into the butterfly of global awareness. Global love
is based on the concept that all people are created equal, in the image
of God, diverse individuals, yes, but essentially part of one unifying
energy. Your choice to love equal but diverse individuals is your choice
to love all forms of God's energy, which is unconditional love prac-
ticed on a planetary scale. So it is essential, for ourselves as individuals
as well as for the world, that we all serve the planet as a whole. The
world is your own back yard, and in caring for this yard you expand
yourself to experience the incredible variety of joy available
The final mission is the creation of heaven on earth, which is not
a pipedream but the only reality worth living and loving! This proc-
ess occurs one by one with each new person you meet, at home, work
and play. Can you allow your ego to melt and surrender to the pure
love that wants to make you whole? It is all God asks of you.
The answer is not in the discipline, i.e. the vehicle, but in the driver
itself. Because the driver, at his core, is pure love!

MUSIC AS AN EXPBESSION OF GOD

by Fredric Lehrman

My career as a musician had many roots. was used to

As a child I

hearing music in the house. My father was a self-taught mandoline

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 PURE JOY

player and would often practice popular melodies and light classics
in the evening after my brother and I had been put to bed and were
supposed to be sleeping. I always enjoyed these concerts. We also
learned to sing all kinds of songs as a family, and our long drives to
the country were always musical. As far back as I can remember, we
had a phonograph and a large assortment of records which I came
to know well.
When I was six I saw a bugle in the window of a music store and
soon had learned to wake people up and summon them to dinner or
The next year, I heard a boy play the accordian at school,
to battle.
and came home wanting to learn this apparently very effective method
of impressing girls. This started my formal musical education,
although I soon came to regret my choice of such a heavy instrument.
I continued to drag this thing around for three years, eventually learn-
ing to play well at the intermediate level. But I was still unaware of
what music really was all about.
Sometime around my ninth birthday, I was sitting at my desk doing
my nightly homework. I had the radio on, and was listening as usual
to the top tunes. A song came on which I didn't particularly like, so
I casually turned the dial to find another popular station. By acci-
dent, I crossed the one channel which had classical music, and a sound
came out of the radio which made me stop. It was a clear, high, shim-
mering tone, golden and alive, which seemed to float before me like
a hummingbird. My mind was swept into it. The sound, which was
actually a long trilling pair of notes, began to by slow degrees,
rise

higher and higher. After a long climb it reached the top, and then
a series of smooth cascading scales flowed down and around and drew
me into a trance of concentration.
I remained motionless throughout the whole which turned
piece,
out to be Beethoven's Violin Concerto. I had never heard an instru-
ment sound like this. I marveled at the Tightness of every note.
When the music ended I was a changed person. I felt that through
this music I had been shown something in myself which had never
before been articulated. At nine years old, my mind was filled with
new possibilities. I was inspired to seek this excellence in all aspects
of life.

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 SONDRA RAY

In the years since that discovery I have followed the path of art
outwards into the world and inwards into myself. Eventually both
directions lead to the same place, a state of being present.
I think that the finest expression is that which lets an impulse, an
energy, or a perception come through unmuted, just as it is, but with
a quality of caring wrapped around it. Caring is the individual say-
ing "I love this." It is both oersonal and impersonal; it is God-like;
it presents and represents ui the same moment. When the greatest
musicians play, the successive layers of craft vanish . . . the instru-
ment, the notes, the body and its techniques, even the compose and
the theme all dissolve, leaving the listener with a direct and wordless
knowing of the Universe and the Self shining through the polished
crystal of art.
Art may be used for less than this. It can be used to distract, to

amuse, to polemicize, to anaesthetize, to seduce. And life imitates art

in thesesame ways. We reveal ourselves by our choices of style and
by our ways of using energy. To what degree of excellence do we take
our awareness?
If we are to know the purest joy we must, like God, contain and
express the whole Universe. God is the ultimate artist, and reality is
the highest form of art. We imitate God's function when we express
our mastery. This is why we honor, adore, and reward the artists in
society. When they work their craft to the point where the physical
becomes transparent and smooth, they open a window into our com-
mon Godness.
If you want to know God, become an instrument. Feel your way
and find your proper tuning. Practice until
to balance; listen deeply
come through you as if
the elements begin to integrate and start to
you were dreaming them, without effort. Then start again and refine
it all once more By this practice, like the alchemist's repeated distil-

lation of the same quantity of water, you will gradually come to the
attunement of inner and outer, the Philosopher's Stone which trans-
mutes everything to gold.
Practicing music is like repeating a mantra. I let myself be reshaped
by the tones I play until they cleanse me of my clumsiness, my fears,
my defensive control patterns. Mechanical practice does little; for this
reason I suspect that mechanical devotion does little as well. If you

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want to be a window for God, you must practice life with aware-
ness. Pure joy involves living artfully with truth, love, simplicity, and
in a mode of service. You can choose the style, but you cannot change
the purpose. "Your life is God's gift to you what you make of it
. . .

is your gift to God." Make your life a musical offering, and God will
sing with you and through you.

How Love God Through Sex

to
And How That Leads to Joy
by Rhonda Levand

When Sondra asked me to write a chapter for this book on how to

love God through sex and how that leads to joy, I thought, that's great,
and it be easy. After all, I have spent the last 20 years exploring
will
sexuality and what it means to be a woman. I had even committed
to write a book on sex and sexuality. But, like everything else that
is good for me, I put off writing this and procrastinated to the last

minute Of course, writing about God and sex will only teach me more
and make me look closer at what makes me click sexually.
I really love sex. Sex is one of my favorite pleasures and always makes

me happier. A Course in Miracles, Lesson 101 states, "God's will for

me is perfect happiness." Allowing myself to love physically in the
presence of another is really God's will for me because it leads me
to happiness and peace of mind.
I want to backtrack a little and was not always a joy
state that sex
and easy for me. Through all the work I have done on myself, espe-
cially Rebirthing, The Loving Relationships Training, and A Course
in Miracles, sex has become the pure joy that it is supposed to be for me.

I came into this world with the implication that I would be a boy.

My parents already had two daughters. They waited 10 years to try

one more time for a boy. Initially at my birth, their reaction was dis-
appointment. And I made the decision that I am a disappointment
because I am the opposite of what my parents wanted.
I am a girl,

not a boy. Of course,my parent's initial reaction, they were

right after
thrilled with me and loved me dearly. But I carried with me the uncon-

scious decision that I have to be opposite of what I am to please my

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parents who love me So all my life I tried to be the boy my father

wanted to please him. I was athletic, tall and skinny, outgoing, and
had all the characteristics a good son would have. Somewhere around
the age of 13, my father was gone a lot, commuting from L.A. to
Chicago, for a year. Since my father wasn't there to please, I started
to get into a rebellious mode. After the age of 13, unconsciously I

rebelled and was always doing the opposite of what my parents or

I wanted. Coincidentally, this was also the time I started menstruat-

ing, demonstrating that I was a woman not a man. I even mar-

. . .

ried a man completely opposite to what I wanted in order to prove

that since I am the opposite of what my parents wanted, I don't deserve
what I truly want. I spent years trying to prove that I was wanted
and desirable as a woman through sex. I could never be satisfied; how-
ever, I did become good at satisfying men.

After taking The Loving Relationships Training and rebirthing regu-

larly, I started to learn to love myself completely and uncondition-

ally as a woman. I started to celebrate and enhance my femininity.

When I totally accepted that I had chosen to be a woman and rcog-
nized the gifts I had received from my parents, my whole life took
a new turn. I realized that I was a surprisingly wonderful woman.
I no longer had to seek recognition from the outside that I was wanted

as a woman. I knew it deep within my core I recognized my beauty,

purity, and God-self that had been sleeping inside of me.

Once I had awakened the God within me, sex took on a whole new
meaning. The God within me was looking for the God within a won-
derful loving man to unite with. As soon as I had accepted the God
within myself, I did attract a wonderful man, Jeff Baker, who recog-
nized that in me and in himself.
my life, I was surrendered enough to my femi-
For the first time in
nine self that was able to receive the total joy, bliss, and that at-one
I

feeling that you feel when you are really connected to God and the
oneness of all life. Looking into the eyes of someone you love is like
looking into the mirror of your own God-self.
At the same time that I was experiencing this wonderful love affair
with myself and with Jeff, I had started a six-week intensive training
on sex called "Lightening Up On Sex" for women only. Sondra and
I had worked on the outline of the class together. I had thought the

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purpose of the class was to get information for the book on sex I wanted
to write. Of course, it became much more than that.
Over and over again, I am learning that we teach what we need
to learn. The six people in the group all became my teachers. I received
tremendous and perhaps got more out of the six-week experience
gifts

than anyone. What we started to do was tell the complete truth about
sex. Since I had so much experience with sex, I thought I was an expert,

but in reality, I was just a baby. One of the truths I discovered was
that I had lied about having orgasms to please the men in my life.
Since in the past, I was denying my femininity, I was also denying
my ability to receive joy and pleasure as a woman from a man. I went
from being lucky to receive one orgasm to having multiple orgasms
on a regular basis. Having an orgasm is allowing yourself to totally
trust yourself and your partner.

It means to totally relax and let go in the presence of another, as

you can when you masturbate. Breathing a lot helps to let in more
pleasure and love. The pure joy in orgasm is allowing yourself to be
totally defenseless, and completely vulnerable.
A Course in Miracles can be a textbook for sexuality. The lessons
help you to strip away your defenses. The purpose of A Course in
Miracles is to end separation and to establish atonement. Atonement
means At-one-ment with God. The ultimate, physically, in being at
one with your brother is the sexual union. In order to have bliss and
joy in sex, we must strip all of our judgments and disapprovals away.
"Forgiveness is the key to happiness." (CIM, Lesson 121) The more
we forgive and let go of the past, the more able we are to recognize
the God in ourselves and everyone else. Forgiveness is essential for
living in the moment, which is God's time.
The more I strip away my defenses, judgments, and my addiction
to being right, the more capable I am of truly loving myself and my
neighbors, because everyone is a part of me. In the LRT we say,

"Become the person you are looking for." I had to become the uncon-

ditionally loving God-Being I wanted before I could attract that into

my life. One of the ways I did this was to practice celibacy for seven
months. This allowed me to learn to and not depend on
love myself
someone else to do that for me. Instead of coming out of a need
for someone to love me, I could come from a place of celebrating

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how wonderful I was with another person, and celebrating their

uniqueness.
I am letting more and more my life. I notice
love, joy and sex into

there are many times I still go unconscious or asleep on my lover. There

is a part of me that still doesn't want to be 100 % there and into joy

at every moment. I am going in that direction, however. By recog-

nizing all that I don't want in my life, unconsciousness being one of
them, I am allowing myself to create more and more of what I want.
Having pure joy means to me being grateful at every moment for
all the wonderful people and experiences I have in my life, acknowledg-

ing the presence of God in my life, daily seeing the God in everyone,
in the grains of sand, in the ocean, in the waves, in the sky, and see-

ing the oneness I have with every particle in the Universe.

Sex is a way I experience on a very physical level that at-oneness
with another being. Having the feeling of all my cells uniting with
all the cells of another person; feeling that person's excitement, bliss,

and physical sensations running through my body.

God and Pregnancy

by Meg Kane

The first thought that comes to me in thinking about God and preg-
nancy is how the simple act of making love can create such a major
miracle! Creating a baby may be one of the simplest and most nor-
mal acts in the world, but trying to grasp the significance, wonder
and miracle of a new soul coming through your body is impossible
It is a time when mere biology cannot begin to make a dent in ex-
plaining what's going on in there; when we know God has been at
work, because surely Peter and I couldn't have begun to do all this

on our own.
Pregnancy is a time for returning to the source, to God, especially
since you are in such a state of creating yourself! It is a time to feel
close to the earth. During the spring and summer, as I felt nature
more deeply, I remembered when I was young. I would keep a close
eye on the trees to see when they began to bud, and then watch the
leaves unfold, feeling the joy of God through nature Pregnancy is

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like that;what is going on inside feels in harmony with the cherry

blossoms and flowers, that life is constantly unfolding. The affirma-
tion, "the world is my womb" feels very true to me as I feel more

and more bonded to this baby, nature, God, Peter and to myself.
As I talk to this baby, I am deeply impressed with how this is not
just all of its own. I often tell "Baby Kane"
a baby, but a unique being
it is and
a perfect, divine
spiritual being (it usually feels like an affir-
mation it already knows!). The joy that this being has taught me is
immeasurable; as I talk to it, I find myself talking to two children
sometimes, and "they" are loving me back. Being with this baby has
brought me closer to God in a very real way; not only because it is

such an unbelievable miracle, but because it has taught me to love

in a deeper, more innocent and unconditional way. I understand the
deep, unconditional love of God, and how easy it is for God to give
such powerful love.

Being pregnant (I've two-and-a-half months to go as I write this)

is sometimes an emotional rollercoaster that teaches me all kinds of

interesting things about myself; it is also a state of grace to be a co-
creator with God. It has shown me that all our creations, whether
painting or writing or making a baby, are indeed co-creations, and
by realizing this we can recognize God's joy in all our creations, and
especially the one we are constantly co-creating with Him: ourselves!

Rebirthing as Cellular Bliss

by Peter Kane

Rebirthing is a celebration of pure joy. It is a breathing process which

fills the body with oxygen and aliveness, life energy, spirit, prana,
chi, and a sense of God. There have been many attempts to describe
this energy. It is as varied as any life experience. Each term is limited,
so I use them all, as each brings out a different quality. The name
"rebirthing" is not used to imply a religious experience of being "born
again," although it is often a spiritual experience because of the renew-
ing effects of this breathing process.
Often ones separation from joy can start at birth. The effects of
our first experience of life outside the womb have been well

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documented by studies in perinatal psychology which have appeared

in the last decade. Rebirthing helps to dissolved the sense of separa-
tion at birth and puts one back in touch with the original source of

joy, which is life itself.

As a physical experience, rebirthing cleanses away physical tension.

The result is greater peace and aliveness physically. Life energy seems
to neutralize anything which is contrary to it. The body is the store-
house of feelings. Thus, by starting with physical cleansing, rebirth-
ing confronts mental and emotional issues in the body and provides
the energy to release them with a minimum of struggle. Rebirthing
is like letting God in to clean house, sweeping away the tensions, the
points of separation, leaving you in touch with yourself, with joy, with
aliveness, and with God.
When I began rebirthing, I was studying psychology. I was becom-

ing disenchanted with the slowness of the methods; I was looking for
something that would work faster and on a deeper level. Rebirthing
got me became impossible to beat myself up. In the
so high that it

middle of such pure joy and alivenenss, I could not focus on the nega-
tive issues. I was home; rebirthing gave me cellular self-esteem. It

was bliss, a dance of God in my body. My life began to change. I

had new strength and my psychological issues began to be resolved.
I believe that personal growth comes through conscious awareness

of one's issues and taking practical action to choose out of one's nega-
tives habits. I feel it is important to practice many of the established
approaches to psychological transformations. But rebirthing is one
of the most blissful and has helped me invoke a spiritual energy in
my life that is miraculous!

Loving God Through Meditation

by Wince Betar

When I was about 12 years old, I died, or at least seemed to. During
remember experiencing an amazing sense of expan-
this brief period, I

sion, joy and unconditional love and then consciously choosing to come

back into my body and live. I suppressed this experience for quite
a while, yet I can see that for years it served as an unconscious

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motivator. On some level, part of me knew that this kind of aware-

ness was supposed to be part of being alive. I had had a glimpse of
another reality, of what it felt like, perhaps to "be enlightened" if

only temporarily. My sense of "self" shifted radically and yet I still

needed to somehow learn to ground that experience, to be able to
and expansion without leaving my body.
feel that level of joy, love

When I was aboutmet an Indian Yogi visiting Sydney, was

16, I

initiated into meditation, and began studying yoga. At that time I

was working in the fashion industry, and my biggest passion had been
surfing. I found him to be a tremendous source of inspiration and
continued studying with him for the next three years. I was then
introduced by some friends to Transcendental Meditation and
experienced another profound shift. After a year I decided to go to
Europe to train as a TM Teacher with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. For
the next eleven years I traveled throughout the world, continuing my
studies and research in the field of consciousness development, estab-
lishing TM Centers, teaching meditation and TM siddis and par-
ticipating in advanced, long-term experimental meditation courses
with Maharishi. In 1976 I was awarded a Masters Degree in Vedic
Science from the Meru Institute in New Deli, India. In short, I have
had a long, intimate relationship with meditation and believe that
it can have a profound effect on the level of joy, love and connection
that we experience in our lives.

About five years ago I discovered Rebirthing and the LRT and began
a process of integrating what I had mastered inwardly via the proc-
ess of Eastern meditation with Western forms of Consciousness Tech-
nology. I went to America and participated in the EST Training, the
EST 6-day, Insight, the LRT and a number of other courses and began
an intensive training program with the LRT Institute. As I worked
with rebirthing and began integrating all I was learning, it seemed
that life itself became the ashram. It is interesting that it was during
this time that I got married, because what was going on for me inter-

nally during this time was a marriage as well. A union was going on
inside me between east and west; between the inward stroke of medi-
tation and receptivity and the outward stroke of action in relation-
ships and the physical world.

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 SONDRA RAY ,

When Yve (my wife) and I teach about relationships, we often

include the idea that there is an internal relationship going on within
each one of us, of which most people are unaware. We have found
that our external relationships, especially our most intimate one, tends
to in many ways be a reflection of our internal one.
Our inner female is our yin or receptive side. Our inner male is

our yang or active side. In an ideal situation, there is a passionate

and intimate relationship going on between these two internal aspects.
Our yin side could be called intuition. It is our connection to the Source
(to inner guidance, or spirit, or the directing intelligence of the Uni-
verse). In the ideal loving internal relationshp the yin side is open
and receptive, constantly receiving inspiration, guidance, informa-
tion, insight and and our yang side is backing it up with
direction
action and getting the job done on the physical plane.
The problem for most of us, however, is that between our intuitive
aspect and our manifesting aspect we have what we call an "ego fil-
ter" that prevents or distorts real internal intimacy. Our inner aspects
seem to be distanced or disconnected from each other by this set of

conditioned beliefs and reactive patterns.

According to A Course in Miracles, the ego is a set of limiting, nega-
tive beliefs about ourselves and how the Universe works that we
empower with our life energy. The problem with these beliefs is that
they are based on mis-perceptions and false conclusions. Ultimately,
they are not true, but since we are each the creators of our own
experience of reality, they seem to us to be true because we believe

in them and we see evidence for them reflected out in the world.
The beliefs that crystallize into what we call the ego (and this defi-
nition of ego is a bit different than the classic Freudian one) center
around the illusions of separation, limitation, guilt, fear, lack, loss,

and pain. In the ego's movie, the Universe is a some-

struggle, sacrifice
what hostile place where you are a victim of forces outside yourself
over which you have little or no control.
Over the centuries, continued group belief in the ego's movie has
created a somewhat insane reality in which we learn early that we
have to be defensive, that we are not safe being fully alive and that
we can't trust ourselves, other people or God. We have taken the inter-
nal splits and distortions we experience and projected them out into

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the screen of external reality. It looks to most people that the best
we can hope for is to somehow learn to cope or adjust to this "nor-
mal" level of insanity.

Healing this deep internal split and its mass projection onto "external
reality" involves making changes on many levels, and in my experience,
meditation can be of enormous benefit in this process.
Meditation is a very receptive or yin activity. Whether it be chant-
ing a mantra such as OM Namah Shivia out loud, or repeating a man-
tra gently inside to one's self, one of the major purposes of all

meditation is to allow us to transcend our mind and ego open

filter,

up awareness of our feminine side or connection with the Source and

experience our "self" on the level of "Being," at the Source of all

thoughts.
In Yogic philosophy this state of Being is considered to be at the
source of all knowledge. It is called The Home of the Vedas' because
itwas through the awareness of this state that the Vedas were chan-
neled. It is the home, or basis of all knowlege and creativity, the point
at which all individuality merges in the oneness of infinite intelli-
gence and being or God.
According to George Leonard in The Silent Pulse, we are constantly
vibrating or pulsating in and out of this "other reality" thousands of
times per second but we are unaware of it on the conscious level. By
going inside and transcending the ego during meditation, we become
consciously aware of this 'other side' of reality. If we can learn to be
open and receptive, we do eventually become more conscious of our
essence, or our connection to the Source and can create an opportu-
nity for tremendous internal healing, not to mention stress release
and relaxation.
In terms of our history as a species we have reached many levels

of achievement, but a deep integrated sense of wholeness is still lack-

ing for most people. In the East they have achieved a level of mastery
of the inward stroke of meditation, but it does not seem to be backed
up on the physical plane with action.
In the West we have achieved a high level of action and achieve-
ment on the physical plane, but it is rarely intuitively guided. It does
not always come from an awareness of unity, or awareness of the whole.
Believing our egos are real, and lacking an experience of connection

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to the Source, most of our action is based on fear, guilt, survival,

defense, justification, the desire to be 'right/ the desire to please peo-

ple or get approval, the desire for revenge, status, money, sex, con-
trol, and so on.
However, we are at a place in history now where we have the tech-
nology available to take the next step, to bridge the gap between intu-
ition and and to create a holy relationship with ourselves that
action,
when reflected outward could become the beginning of the next stage
of our evolutionary journey toward wholeness and unity.
There are many tools that we can use to support this transition and
in a way, that is what this book is about. Sometimes the idea of lov-
ing God seems abstract and hard to fathom. However, one of the
benefits of meditation, chanting and rebirthing is that they are all
yin techniques that open our receptive side and allow us to experience
our connection to God/ the Source in a much more real and experiential
way. Opening to our Being and our intuition and then trusting it and
backing it up with action is a very powerful way of loving God. It

may also be extremely essential not only to our transition into the
next stage of evolution, but to our very survival as a species as well.

Loving God Through a Holy Relationship

by Yve Betar

As we all know, love is the greatest healer. Whenever we love, we

experience an opportunity to grow, to expand our level of aliveness
and to become more whole Every relationship offers us a unique and
powerful opportunity to heal ourselves we are willing to take advan-
if

tage of it. Those of you who have taken the LRT know that this is
what the Training is all about. The "problem" has been that when
we experience love, all our fears and patterns from the past can get
activated. Th result is that we want love and intimacy and at the same
time we fear it and unconsciously defend ourselves against it.
The Course says "all healing is release from fear." As we look within,
we find that we all have the same bottom line fear. Underneath all
our surface fears is the fear that we are separate— separate from God,
from Spirit, from our own internal Source of love and aliveness. And

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because we fear that we are separate from our own essence, we also
fear that we are separate from each other. The Course calls this illu-
99
sion of separation the "detour into fear; and says that it was our origi-
nal "mistake." The healing of this illusion it calls the "atonement**
(at-one-ment) which means the undoing of all wrong thinking and
the return to unified consciousness or wholeness. It says that to accom-
plish this the Universe immediately created the "Holy Spirit" (the spirit
of energy of wholeness or healing). This is similar to the aspect of
God the Hindus call "Shiva," the "destroyer of ignorance." Part of the
process ofbecoming enlightened is to let go of our fear of being healed
and invite this powerful energy into our lives and relationships.

THE ONLY REAL RELATIONSHIP In a way, we could say that there

is only one real relationship going on for any of us. It is the relation-
ship inside of us: the relationship between Spirit and the body that
Spirit is bringing fully to life All the other relationships we experience
"externally" are a reflection of the one we experience "internally."
Body and Spirit long to consummate their relationship, they long to
unify, to become one This is the immortality process, the process of
raising the vibration of the body and aligning it with the vibration
of Spirit. It is the process of letting go of all ego illusions and becom-
ing fully whole, alive and in love Spirit knows that the perfect com-
pletion of this process is inevitable. It is a patient, wise, loving and
determined teacher, moving as deftly and quickly as we are willing
to allow it to move.
The problem in this internal relationship is that as a result of the
mistake of thinking separation is real, we have created a sense of false
identity we call the "ego" based on a whole series of misperceptions,
false conclusions, erroneous beliefs and defenses.
In order to complete the process of becoming whole and fulfill our
purpose of becoming fully alive, body and spirit must move together
through the illusion of the ego, see that it is not real, and allow it
to disappear.
In order to accomplish this, we have to see that our ego beliefs in
separation, limitation, lack, loss, guilt, pain, struggle, defense, and
death are not real. We also have to realize that the level of passion,
fulfillment and unity that we long for cannot be found "out there"

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 SONDRA RAY

where the ego is looking for it. It can't be found in our relationship
with our egos or by trying to satisfy our ego desires. It can't be found
in another person who we think will fulfill our lacks or needs, it can't

be found in money, it cant be found in possessions, it cant be found

in drugs, it can't be found in fame, it can't be found in glory, it can't
be found in food, it can't be found in beautiful clothes. It can only
be found inside. It's not that any of these things are necessarily wrong
or bad — they are simply not the Source — and what we long for is

the experience of our complete connection to the Source.

We have identified so strongly and so long with our ego beliefs that
we feel split inside and seem to have two internal relationships. Our
belief in separation leaves us feeling split off from Spirit, and the illu-
sion of relationship with the ego may seem more real or more impor-
tant to us than our relationship with who we really are.

SPECIAL AND HOLY RELATIONSHIPS Just as there seem to be two

kinds of relationships we can experience inside, one real and one an
illusion, there are two kinds we can experience outside. The Course
calls these "special"and "holy." (The word "holy" comes from the
same root as the words healed' and 'whole.') In the LRT we apply
4

this to what we call "mortal" and "immortal" relationships. What's

going on outside always reflects what's going on inside. This holds

for relationships as well as anything else.
Special relationships are a reflection of our relationship with our
egos— in fact, they are relationships between egos. Holy relationships
are a reflection of our relationship with spirit — they are relationships
between essences in the process of dissolving the illusion of separation.
The key difference between them lies in their purpose The pur-
pose of a holy or immortal relationship is healing, wholeness and unity.
It is a relationship in which both partners are committed to seeing
themselves and the other become all they can be. In a holy, immor-
tal relationship partners do not see themselves as having separate
interests, nor could they imagine that if one of them loses, the other
could possibly win. The purpose of the relationship is to support both
of them becoming the immortal masters they are potentially capable
in

of becoming, and in supporting each other in going through their

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process without 'buying into' their egos and making themselves or

their process wrong. A holy relationship is a path to enlightenment.
". . . .an unholy relationship is based on differences, where each
one thinks the other has what he has not. They come together, each

to complete himself and rob the other. They stay until they think there
is nothing and then move on ... A holy relationship
left to steal,

starts from a different premise. Each one has looked within and seen

no lack. Accepting his completion, he would extend it by joining with

another, whole as himself." (Text, p. 435)
Sometimes it seems like people are afraid that a holy relationship
is one that is pious, serious, celibate or boring; but fortunately, it is

nothing of the kind. The Course says that "God's will for us is per-
9
fect happiness' and that we should not believe that "happiness could
ever be found in taking a road that leads away from it." A holy rela-
tionship is a road to happiness — that's its purpose. It is a relationship
which supports us in letting go of ego illusions and experiencing more
of our essence, of who we really are. It is a relationship in which we
are committed to enlightenment and to the actualization of each per-
son's highest potential. It is devoted to the purpose of having fun
becoming all we can be, creating heaven on earth, and experiencing
everyone's divinity and innocence (although may bring up every-
it

thing unlike these results along the way). Once we start realizing this
kind of relationship is possible, how could we settle for anything else?
A special relationship, on the other hand, is subconciously designed
to reinforce the illusion of separation. It tends to be based on the
dynamics of need-obligate, sacrifice and manipulation through guilt.

Within it partners feel they cannot share themselves completely and

tend to withhold from each other, afraid to tell each other the com-
plete truth. It ultimately seems to diminish its participants. It leaves
them feeling less alive and passionate and more guilty and afraid.
They end up rationalizing their feelings of separation, setding for less
than they really want, and getting to be "right" about how unsatis-
fying life or relationships can be.

HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT CREATING A HOLY RELATIONSHIP?

In this world (the ego-based reality in which most of us live) most
relationships start out as special relationships. They are transformed

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as we begin to understand that our reality is a reflection of our

thoughts, our beliefs, and our own sense of identity. Transforming
our relationships is a big commitment and involves being willing to
change our entire belief system, including our sense of who we are,

as well as developing the ability to trust the Universe and expect

miracles.
Illusions seem real only because we believe in them. Our beliefs

hold them in our experiencce and keep them manifest on the physi-
cal plane. In order to make illusions disappear, we have to be willing
to withdraw our belief in them, for it is only our belief that gives
them life. We have to be willing to see differently, to see that they
are not real and stop acting as if they are. It can seem like quite a
challenge, but the results are worth it. It might even seem like an
impossible task, but as the Course reminds us, we do not have to do
it alone. Our job is to be willing to trust, commit and surrender to

the process, and the Holy Spirit will do the rest. I experience this as
true; and that once we make the commitment, (even though we may
experience doubt along the way), we can count on miracles and an
amazing level of support from the Universe to get us through to the
other side.

RECIPE FOR A HOLY RELATIONSHIP

1. Commit your relationship to the single purpose of supporting
each of you in becoming more whole, alive, happy, fulfilled and
enlightened. Turn your relationship over to the Holy Spirit.
2. Work together on changing the ego beliefs that do not support
your purpose and only create illusions of limitation, separation, guilt

and fear.

3. Practice seeing your interests as the same, always going for the
highest thought and creating win-win situations whenever the illu-

sion of conflict appears in your relationship.

4. Consciously and lovingly support each other in letting go of
behaviors that constrict your energy flow and reinforce the ego's illu-

sion of separation. These include:

• withholding or lying
• blaming (each other or anyone else)

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• thinking loss is real (every apparent loss is a gain not yet recog-
nized)
• holding onto guilt
• manipulation through guilt
• holding on to the illusions of the past and using them as our
reference point
• acting out of obligation (this eventually leads to resentment)
• saying yes when you mean no and no when you mean yes
• doing things you don't really want to do in order to get
approval or avoid disapproval
• struggling

• defending and justifying

• judging
• making yourself wrong
• sacrificing
• being motivated by fear or guilt
• needing to be needed
• perceiving others as being lacking or needy
• saving and rescuing people (learn to be supportive without the
invalidation of rescue)
• needing to be right or making being right more important than
being happy
5. Become fast friends.
6. Make your relationship a top priority in your life. Have fun
together. If you both have busy schedules, schedule in time for plea-
sure together, time to share and be intimate, time to be outrageous,
time to relax.

7. Recognize that your partner and his/her reality is also part of

your mind. See him/her as your perfect mirror and know that he/she
is not separate from you.
8. Practice forgiveness and gratitude constantly. Remember that
if you can forgive one person totally and completely and hold no
grievances, you can forgive everyone. If you can love one person totally

and completely, you can love everyone. When you can see only your
brother's innocence as real, you will be able to see your own inno-
cence as real. It's time to withdraw the power of our belief from the

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illusion and enter the kingdom of Heaven on earth together, for it

cannot be entered alone.

I want to close with some quotes from the Course that I read for
the wedding of some wonderful friends of ours, Gayle and Pierre Char-
bonier, when they were committing to their holy immortal relation-
ship. These quotes are taken from the text, Chapter 20, "The Vision
of Holiness."
"In this world, God's Son comes closest to himself in a holy rela-

tionship. There he finds the certainty his father has in him . . .

"The ark of peace is entered two by two, yet the beginning of

another world goes with them. Each holy relationship must enter here,
to learn its special function in the Holy now that it shares
Spirit's Plan,

his purpose. And as this purpose fulfilled,

is new world arises in
a
which sin can enter not, and where the Son of God can enter with-
out fear . . .

"Here there is only holiness and joining without limit. For what
isheaven but union, direct and perfect, and without the veil of fear
upon it? Here we are one, looking with perfect gentleness upon each
other and on ourselves. Here all thoughts of separation between us
become impossible. You who were prisoners in separation are now
made free in Paradise. And here I would unite with you, my friend,
my brother and my Self.

"Each of you now will lead the other to the Father as surely as
God created his Son holy, and kept him so. In your brother is the
promise of your immortality. See him as sinless, and there can be no
fear in you.
"So do the parts of God's Son gradually join in time, and with each
joining is the end of time brought nearer. Each miracle of joining
is a mighty herald of eternity. No one who has a single purpose, uni-
fied and sure, can be afraid.
"Each herald of eternity sings of the end of sin and fear Two . . .

voices raised together call to the hearts of everyone, to let them beat
as one. And in that single heartbeat is the unity of love proclaimed
and given welcome. Peace to your holy relationship, which has the
power to hold the unity of the Son of God together. You give to one
another for everyone, and in your gift is everyone made glad.
"The Holy Spirit's temple is not a body, but a relationship."

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God and Children

by Gene h Helen Aptekar

Founders of KLS (Kids' Love Shop)

A Version of the LRT for Children

When Sondra first asked us to write a chapter on "God and Chil-

dren" for her new book, we didn't believe that she actually wanted
US to write "Why US? We're not writers. What
something for her.

do WE know?" was our first reaction. We laughed, we expressed how

much we really love Sondra, and we forgot about it. But Sondra had
planted a seed.
A few weeks later, we were flying down to Florida to do a
while
KLS, we had this great thought: Add a section on GOD to tomor-
row's training and have the assistants write down what the kids say,
and we'll get material for Sondra's chapter directly from the kids. It
was inspiring! We tried it out first in Florida and have done it in every
training since then, in Atlanta, Denver, and New York. The results
have always been the same; the kids love doing it, the room feels real
warm, loving, and peaceful, and the sharing is great.
Even though their bodies are small, they do think about "grown
up" things. Here are the main thoughts kids have about GOD. The
responses were culled from 165 kids, ages 8 to 15.

The main thought I have about GOD is:

1. God always forgives.

2. God is beautiful both inside and outside.
3. God's presence is everywhere.
4. God is always there to talk to.
5. God is very caring.
6. God loves everyone unconditionally.
7. God could be young or old. He is ageless.
8. God is love.
9. God is our inner peace.
10. God is the light within us.
11. God only does good.
12. God wants us to use His power.

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 SONDRA RAY

13. God is wonderful for creating feathers.

14. God doesn't always make it come out the way we
expect it to.

When the kids were given the opportunity to tell God something,
some asked questions, some expressed gratitude, and some
acknowledged God. And some said "The thing I'd like to tell God
. . .

"
is, 'I forgive you for making my cat run away.'

Questions: Why is there war? Why is there killing? Why

is there crime? Why did You create us?

Gratitudes: Thank you for my life. Thank you for giving us

freedom of choice. Thank you for watching over
me, my family, and my friends. Thank you for
all the living things.

Acknowledgments: I think you did a great job with the universe,

especially the earth. I just want to tell Him that
I love Him.

One we adults can learn a lot about from the kids is

of the areas
in letting more God into our lives. There is no doubt in our minds
that kids are closer to the God inside of them. Yes, you can see some
doubts, some judgments, some hatred, some ego, but for the most
part their innocence just keeps on shining. ". . . .And a little child
shall lead the way."

Our children are leading the way. They are eager to share their
favorite way of letting more God into their life. Since they are closer
to God they really know Who wants to follow?
. . .

"My favorite way to let more God into my life is:

1. be more loving.
2. trust God more.
3. acknowledge God more.
4. talk to God more.
5. express gratitudes more.
6. get rebirthed.

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7. be less judgmental.
8. enjoy my life more.
9. enjoy other people more.
10. laugh more.
11. play more.
12. be myself more.
13. by forgiving every thorn bush that ever pricked me.
14. by being nice to nature.
15. by giving up blame.
16. by practicing forgiveness.
17. by meditating more.
18. by sharing myself more with other people.

Surely out of these 18 suggestions every grown-up could find one

thing that they could do. And wouldn't it be nice if we acknowledge
our children for their leadership in this area!

Thank you, Sondra; we consider it a blessing that we get to do a

section on God in the KLS (Kids' Love Shop) which is already filled
with so many blessings. You are a constant inspiration. We love you
forever.

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 CHAPTER 9

THE MASTER AS A PATH

TO PURE JOY
Some people mistakenly think that if you have a guru or master, then
you have to give your power away .... In my experience, nothing
could be farther from the truth. My experience is that the master helps
us to achieve our own power and stand on our own feet; and this hap-
pens as fast as you can take it. In the presence of the master we are
able to touch our own wholeness and our own perfection faster. As
you get closer to the master, you find less and less of him and more
of yourself. The guru is a mirror. Only in this case, it might feel like

you see yourself magnified times one thousand or mora It can be very
intense. You have to face yourself like never before.
For me it was a deep deep yearning for the truth, a deep longing
to know perfect love, a desire to know all that life could be, a craving
and pure joy that caused me to be a seeker. My experience
for divinity
was that Babaji, who responded to this yearning and longing in my
heart, helped dispel my ignorance, my limitations, my fears, my
karma, my ego, and all that kept me from knowing my own inner
divine nature. I could not resist his outpouring of Divine Love. Why
should I, when it was there for the asking? I asked and I was answered.
He was and is a me and he is a gift to all humanity. He has
gift to

awakened me. He has helped me to become strong so I can stand on

my own two feet.
The true Guru is merely a path to your own inner self.

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 CHAPTER 10

WHO IS BABAJI?
All of my books are dedicated to Babaji, who is my teacher, guide,
inspiration, and best example of Pure Joy. Babaji, also named Sri Sri
1008 Bhagwan Herakhan Wale Baba, is an immortal maha avatar
and yogi master ("avatar" means "descent of the Divine into mat-
ter"). Babaji is an emanation of Divine light, who, out of compas-

sion, manifested in human form on earth to urge humanity to progress

on the path of truth, simplicity, love, and service to mankind. He is

the power of the Eternal Father, Mother, and Divine Child. He can
assume any form He wishes and can change that form at any time.
He is known as the historical Sada Shiva in Hindu religious litera-
ture. In fulfillment of ancient scriptural and prophetic predictions,

He materialized a youthful body in 1970 in a cave near the village

of Hairakhan in the Kumaon foothills of the Himalayas. There are
Indian devotees who tell stories of this, and Yogananda wrote about
him book Autobiography of a Yogi.
in the
Babaji was accessible for 14 years on this last visit. And yet He has
not left, because He does not come and go. He was, and is,
omnipresent. His form is limitless and beyond the scope of time. He
is the essence of all religions and transcends every belief. He teaches
through vibrations and direct experience in a way that words can not
express. Him on paper seems inadequate. To be with
To try to explain
Him or experience Him answers all questions. It is my desire to share
Him; and since I have had so many requests, I will attempt to do

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so here by also including words from those who lived near Him for
years and years.

It is my humblest desire to make it known to you that any story

I relate to you about Babaji is given with the intention to let you know
that He is just as available for you and for all as He is for ma His
healing presence is omnipresent in the whole universe, and you may
have miracles in your life with it the way I have in mine (although
each person's relationship with that aspect of his higher self is, how-
ever, unique to him).
I wish to include you in my relationship with Babaji as an inspira-
tion, as a way of spreading more joy, and especially to remind you
that this is available always to everyone.
This next section was written by Ram Dass Giri, a yogi who spent
five years at Sri Babaji's ashram in Herakhan. I am pleased to
introduce you to Babaji in this chapter, and now let's read what Ram
Dass Giri has to say as he introduces you to Babaji:

Om Haidiyakhandi
by Ram Dass Giri

Pure joy is our natural condition. Some of our brothers and sisters

have said that pure joy is our birthright and this is relatively cor-

rect. Yet, seen in its largest perspective, pure joy is that which gives
birth to us.
We are a spontaneous expression of the most evolved, most mys-
terious creative force of life itself. None of the saints and sages who
have visited the earth plane have ever been able to use words to express
why this happens. The most frequent communication of why this hap-
pens emanates from them as laughter, gleefulness, tears of joy, a twin-
kling eye and the most profound transmission of cosmic silence.

To sit in utter stillness at the feet of the Master with a quiet mind
and an adoring heart are prerequisites for the dissolution of all afflict-

ing emotions that create noise patterns which obscure the extremely
subtle yet all pervasive state of pure joy.
The Master may appear as a body. It may appear as a light or a
sound or a feeling, yet, regardless of the form It may take, it is located

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in the depth of the heart. The Divine Master is pure joy Itself, con-
gealed into a form that is recognizable. The more one focuses on it,
the more concrete it becomes.
Prana (life force) has its home base in the body at the level of the
heart. The masters of China have stated that the energy which con-
geals in the body to form the heart is pure joy itself. In India, the
heart is seen not only as pure joy but also the seat or home of the
Divine Spark that has pulsed into existence as a "separate" form. It

is called jivatma — the Soul in singularity. It is from this Spark of pure

joy that the rest of our bodily being arises.
If you lie down and close your eyes, placing your hands on your
heart or on a blood vessel, the pulsing in the heart becomes appar-
ent. Now, consider, are you responsible for that beating heart? How
did it begin? What started that pulse? Does it have a beginning and
an end — a limited existence? With continued investigation you will
find that prior to the formation of body tissue there is a pulsing, the
pulsing of creation — the Creatrix of the Universe— the Divine Mother.
And if you continue to investigate that pulsing you may experience
the moment of "arising" that gives birth to the creative power of life
Itself. It is a never ending process of waking from stillness and dis-

solving into that stillness again— the stillness of pure joy.

Within that stillness there exists an unimaginably vast potential

for knowingness — a knowingness that has no sense of separation from
ultimate joy — yet, may congeal itself into a recognizable mass of con-
sciousness. This is the state of "Sada Shiv," as the Sanskrit scholars
would say. In English we would say the "I am that" consciousness.
And eventually, that consciousness can, at its own will, congeal a phys-
icalbody into existence amidst the phenomenal world. That physi-
cal body is known as Haidakhan Baba, the Mahavatar.
All humankind experiences the progression of consciousness into
human form, yet Mahavatar Babaji is one of the very, very few who
manifests a body directly from the state of pure joy.
He is the Mahavatar, the "greatest manifestation of Divine Joy into
human form." He is pure joy Itself. He has been with us since the
dawn of creation.
On certain occasions He will manifest a human form when human
beings become too insensitive to know and feel His presence as their

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original condition. At all other times, He remains in the Unmanifest

state, yet is experienced in the delight of a child with a puppy, the
warmth of a lover's embrace, the bliss of meditation — the opening
of the heart in any form. He is the essence of all that you are . . .

pure . . . purer . . . purest joy.

Babaji is Pure Joy

There is a ceremonial prayer called the Aarti which is sung in San-

skrit. One of the lines that I love the most from it is this: "Thou art
a never failing spring of bliss."

That and always has been, my experience of Babaji, who has

is,

been with us on earth in human form countless times since life began.
Some of his lifetimes are well-known Shiva, Ram, and Krishna, for —
example. In other lifetimes, he was known to relatively few. Jesus is
said to have visited Babaji in Benares during Jesus' travels and studies
in the East. It was there that Babaji shaved Jesus' head and blessed
Him before Jesus started His ministry.
In many sacred texts it was written that, when righteousness
declines, God creates for Himself a body and comes to live on Earth.
He appears and makes Himself known to those who seek Him. The
Bhagavad-Gita 4:9 reads as follows:

When righteousness is weak and faints and uprighteousness

exults in pride, then my Spirit arises on earth.

For the salvation of those who are good, for the destruction
of evil in men, for the fulfillment of the kingdom of right-
eousness, I come to this world in the ages that pass.

He who knows my birth as God and who knows my sacrifice

when he leaves his mortal body, goes no more from death to
death, for he, in truth, comes to me.

The Gospel of St. Thomas says:

If you see him who has not been born of a woman, throw your
face to the ground and worship him—he is your father.

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In fulfillment of ancient scriptural and prophetic predictions, Babaji

reappeared in a youthful body in 1970 in a cave near the village of
Haidahkan in the Kumaon foothills of the Himalayas, and he stayed
in Haidakhan until 1984. Haidakhan is the ancestral home of Lord
Shiva. In 1922 he ended one lifetime by disappearing into the con-
vergence of the Gauri and Kali Rivers on the Napalese border before
a group of followers. In 1970, when he reappeared, he climbed to
the top of Mount Kailash and sat for 45 days without sleeping or eat-
ing. Then he began to teach his message to villagers who gathered

around him.
During the 1970s and '80s, he oversaw the construction of the
Ashram and Gardens. When he left again on Valentine's Day 1984,
he asked one of the devotees to watch over some of the items in Haida-
khan for him until his eventual return.
Babaji can assume any form he wishes and can change that form
at any time. He is the embodiment of the power of both the Eternal
Father and Mother, and on one occasion after he "left" in 1984, he
—
appeared to me as a woman walking on air. This was the most
—
incredibly beautiful female I have ever seen in all lifetimes that was
—
my response and yet it was definitely the same energy of Babaji
which I have always felt with him.
Since he is an Immortal Spirit Avatar, who has the ability to
dematerialize and rematerialize at will, he can obviously turn his body
into a ball of light and travel anywhere in the universe. He can also
bi-locate and be in two places at once. His physical bodies change
rapidly, partly because he processes his devotees' karmas rapidly. He
can also drop a body whenever he feels like it for whatever purpose.
He always has a sense of humor, and on February 14, on Valentine's
Day, he said, "I am going to explode my heart and give a piece to
everyone' 1— and consciously gave the "appearance" of a kind of heart
attack. This, I believe, he did to process out the death urge of devo-
tees and to force us tobecome independent. I was not upset at all
because knew that it was a "Lila' 1— a divine play of God in human
I

form — and that he knew exactly what he was doing. Probably he was
merging his electrons with the universe, fortunately, for us.

For the following two weeks, he began appearing to me in differ-

ent bodies, sometimes when I was asleep, but even when I was awake,

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to remind me that he was not really dead —which I knew anyway.

Since then he has appeared to many of my students in Rebirthings
and at night.
For the present, life goes on as usual at his ashram in Haidakhan
and at all his other ashrams and centers all over the world. The West-
ern World was first introduced to Babaji in 1946 with the publication
of Paramahansa Yogananda's fascinating accounting The Autobi-
ography of a Yogi (especially chapters 33 and 34). You can also read
Hariakhan Baba: Known and Unknown, by Baba Hari Dass, pub-
lished by the Sri Rama Foundation in Davis, California.
As soon as we are mentally connected with a Supreme Power like

Babaji or Jesus, our mind is absorbed in God, and we are filled with
Divine Glory. Imagine how absolutely great it feels to be filled with
Divine Glory. Listen to the song entitled "Babaji" sung by the rock
group Supertramp on the album In the Quietest Moments."
Babaji is beyond He is the Essence of all religions, the
all religion.

Source of Religions. He teaches that all faiths ultimately lead to the

same goal. Babaji transcends every belief. He teaches through vibra-
tions and direct experience in a way that words cannot express. The
only religion you could possibly call it is the Eternal Religion of
Humanity. He came to show, by his example, how to live.

His teachings reflect man's spontaneous urge to acknowledge the

unity with the Supreme Spirit. Spiritual practices for achieving this
unity are basic natural practices like work and service to God and
humanity, repetition of God's Holy Names (chanting mantras), devo-
tion to God in constant awareness of the Supreme Spirit through
remembrance of God, and living in love, truth, and simplicity.
He Karma Yoga (work dedi-
taught that through the practice of
cated to God), man purifies and protects himself. "Work is Worship"
is a statement he often made. He taught a philosophy of action. He
would often say, "An idle man is like a dead man."
He always said that the simplest and most powerful method for
bringing peace and understanding to the mind is through the sing-
ing or saying of the mantra Om Namaha Shivai. To quote Babaji about
this mantra:

This is the Mahamantra, the great original mantra, given by

the Lord to humanity. Everyone should repeat it. It can be

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given to everyone and everything can be achieved through it.

The power of Om Namaha Shivai is infinite. This mantra is

more powerful than the atomic bomb.

He also said this:

The Lord's name is like divine nectar, Amrita: Repeat it all

the time.

And, from Proverbs 18:10:

The Name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run-

neth into it and it is safe.

(Om Namaha Shivai — as I mentioned in the section on chanting

means "I take refuge in God" or "I surrender to Shiva, that part of
God that destroys my ignorance." It also means "Infinite Spirit, Infinite
Being, and Infinite Manifestation")

Babaji always said, "My love is available, you can take it or not."
I say, Why not? It is he who encompasses the entire universe, who
resides in the center of the heart, shining like a bright pure crystal,

he who is eternally omniscient, conscious and blissful, an ocean of

grace, radiating Joy!
Babaji said:

/ am Bhole Baba, the Simple Father. I am nobody and noth-

ing. I am only like a mirror in which you see yourself. I am
Dont keep too far away or you will not get the
like fire.

warmth; but dont come too near, or you will burn yourself.
Learn the right distance. My name is Maha Prabhuji, the
Great Lord. I have come to give, only give. Are you ready
to receive? I give everything, but few ask for the real thing
I have come to give. I am no one's guru, and yet the guru
of gurus.

We devotees were always amazed that the unique fragrance of his

presence would often linger on things, even up to six months. Even
now, he sometimes manifests that fragrance, instead of his body, just
toshow us that he is "around." Last time we were in Haidakhan, he
came as that unmistakable "ball of fragrance" and stayed with us for

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over ten minutes. Everyone in my party suddenly cried and had an

instant rebirth.
Being around hisbody was very dramatic. However, one his
astounding Lilas is his power to bless and guide yogis and devotees
all over the world without his actual presence While Babaji was phys-

ically present with us, and while we would be standing right there

with him, he would also be busy all over the world at the exact same
time! The glory of him is greater than the mind can grasp. At times
when he walked, he left no footprints. He would run up a hill as
though wings were attached to his feet. Some people who picked him
up reported that he weighed almost nothing. Yet on a scale, he regis-
tered 165 pounds.
No scholar has been able to really say where Babaji comes from
or where he goes. One book in Hindi describes the cosmic significance
of every part of his body. He seemed to carry the earth in his belly.
He used to say he was pregnant with five babies—earth, air, fire, water,
and ether.

From time to time certain symbols appeared on the soles of his feet
which are known in the Indian spiritual traditional as cosmic marks.
These markings have been seen at various times by individuals and
have shown up in photographs. Over the years, the following marks
have been identified:
the Sanskrit letter OM (the sound of creation, essence of the uni-
verse);

the Shesh Nag (five-hooded snake, symbolizing the five senses and
five elements of creation and where God was seated before the cre-

ation of the world);

conch shells (symbolizing the element of sound used in worship)

a Trident (the emblem of sovereignty and symbol of Shiva)

head of a bull (Lord Shiva's attendant and vehicle)

swastick (symbol of peace and success)

a peacock

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a lotus flower

a Dhanush, or bow;

a Chakra, or wheel;

the crescent moon (indicating perfect mind control);

all the signs of the Zodiac;

the serpent (representing wisdom and eternity, as well as

fearlessness and immortality);

the sun;

an octagon;

a hatchet;

an eagle;

a club;

the planetary system, with sun and moon at its center.

These marks fulfill when

the predictions delivered long ago that
Shiva was next to appear inhuman form, he would have these symbols
and a scar on his lower right leg and upper left arm (which he did).
His spiritual significance has always been beyond comprehension.
"Shiva" means eternally happy and auspicious, the God without sec-
ond who has been moving in this world in his form since creation,
watchful for eternity over the welfare of mankind and the universe.
He is described as ever-pure, changeless, all-pervading, eternal, the
immortal essence of the universe, the universal Self, the self resplen-
dent light of Lights, the embodiment of wisdom, capable of doing
anything at any moment, or whatever magnitude.
Yogananda wrote of Babaji materializing a palace in the Himalayas
out of his thought waves. You can visit this location where we cele-
brate the Divine Mother Festival every year. The temple is built in
the same shape as the one that Babaji materialized on the same spot!
It is surrounded by the beautiful Himalayas. Babaji said if you visit

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SONDRA RAY

this spot during the Divine Mother Festival, it is so powerful that one
day equals 12 years of clearing your karma!
To see Babaji is the highest honor of a lifetime. To visit any of his

ashrams is also a great gift. Once you do, your life will never, ever

be the same. However, the value of your visit will be determined by

your own personal purification. Being in the energy of the guru is
just getting yourself magnified by thousands. So if you go with doubt,
you get more doubt. If you go with an open heart, you get every-
thing. It is a rapid spiritual progress that is in store for you if you
surrender.
You do not give your power away to the guru — that is not the pur-
pose. The guru become your own guru as fast as you
teaches you to
can take it. The guru teaches you who you are —
which is why Babaji
said, "I am nobody's guru and yet I am the guru of gurus." The guru

helps clear your karma. The guru helps you keep your ego in check.
The guru helps you get off the birth-death cycle The guru helps teach
you spiritual mastery. The guru helps you get out of misery. The guru
helps you to protect yourself. The guru helps you learn to clear your
body and maintain health. The guru enhances your creativity. The
guru is Joy Pure Joy.
Why not think about going to Haidakhan, Babaji's home? Babaji
said,

This is the holiest religious place in the world, holier even than
Benares. The water of this river purifies you from all sins.
Haidakhan is the birthplace of all yogis and the deity of Yogis
as the source of inspiration. By merely sitting here you reap
the results of hundreds of lifetimes of penance. Those who live
here for some time automatically get many kinds of yogic
powers. Those who have darshan at this place will have all

their wishes fulfilled — both material and spiritual desires.

They will have the assurance of complete success.

But only he can come here in whose life a turning point has
come, when the spiritual energy is rising. Lord Rama said only
he can come here who has done great penance in his previous
lives . . .

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If you want to make the annual trip with me, please contact RAM-
LOTI, P.O. Box 95, Crestone, CO 81131 or phone (719) 256-4108 at
the U.S. Ashram. You must be an LRT graduate and have been
adequately rebirthed as preparation. The address of the ashram is

as follows: Haidakhan Vishwa Mahadham, Via Kathgodam Dist.

Nainital., U.P. 263126, India.

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 SONDRA RAY

A Speech by Babaji

Love and serve all humanity.

Assist everyone.
Be cheerful. Be courteous.
Be a dynamo of irrepressible happiness.
See God and good in every face.
There is no Saint without a past.
There is no sinner without a future.
Praise every soul.
If you cannot praise someone . . .

Let them pass out of your life.

Be original. Be inventive.
Dare, dare, and then dare more.
Do not imitate. Stand on your own ground.
Do not lean on the borrowed staff of others.
Think your own thoughts.
Be yourself.
All perfection and all virtues of the
Diety are hidden inside you.
Reveal them.
The Saviour, also, is already within you.
Reveal Him.
Let His grace emancipate you.
Let your life be that of a rose.

Though silent it speaks in the language of

fragrance.
—Baba

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A Little Speech from Babaji

We are all made up of the five elements.
We are all from one spirit.
The whole human race
birthright of the
Is to love and follow God.
In every way we are one humanity.
One human family.
Being a human being is the most
Important element in life.

It is the only valid religion:

Be an example of tolerance and forgiveness.
—Sri Babaji

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 CHAPTER 11

WHO IS SRI MUNIRAJ?

was given the title MUNIRAJ
Trilok Singh, Sri Babajfs closest devotee,
by Sri Babaji. means "King of Sages." Babaji said that Sri Muniraj
It

is no longer bound by the law of birth and rebirth. By his own will

he came to earth to help humanity. Babaji charged him with the task
of continuing his work, and mentioned further that Muniraj is an
incarnation of Dattatreya, the first master who was a combination
of Vishnu, Shiva, and Rama.
In recent times there was another guru who entered Muniraj's body.
His name was guru Om Karnath Sita Ram Dass, who had 62 ashrams
in India and thousands and thousands of devotees. He accepted Babaji
before he took Samadhi, and Babaji gave him permission to enter
Muniraj's body. We asked Muniraj how it felt when that happened,
and he then asked us, "How does it feel to add water to water?"
Muniraj was born in the area of Chilyanaula, where the Divine
Mother Festival is held. Muniraj was given birth there on purpose
because it is called the Land of the Gods. It is a very ancient space
going back before the time of Rama. It was the Divine Mother's home
20,000 years ago. On the spot where the temple is Babaji gave initia-
tion to Lahiri Mahasaya (Yogananda's guru's guru) and near where
Babaji materialized the palace out of his thought waves. Muniraj gave
the land back to Babaji and the devotees.
Muniraj has been called by some the "King of Silence," for he says
little. However, to be with him is to understand why he was chosen.
On my first trek to find Babaji, I met Muniraj in the town of Haldwani
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 SONDRA RAY

in the province of Uttar Pradesh at the foothills of the Himalayas.

Muniraj "checked me over" and put me on the right path. I remem-
ber thatmy first thought about him was, "This is the most peaceful
man I have ever met on earth!" Once, years later, Babaji made me
wait under a tree for Muniraj for approximately 12 hours. When I
finallysaw Muniraj hiking up the riverbed toward us at the ashram,
I felt That was also the day I saw Babaji himself Pra-
incredible joy.
nam (lying face down at his feet) to Muniraj. Muniraj was the only
one I ever saw Babaji bow to.
Sri Muniraj now represents and carries on Babaji's work. When
asked about Babaji's next reappearance, Muniraj said, "Certainly he
will reappear. In the meantime, we try to spread his message and
live accordingly in order to be prepared for his reappearance."

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©1986 Wm. Terrell Hasker
 CHAPTER 12

WHO IS SHASTR1JI?
Shastriji is Babajfs "High Priest." He is the mouthpiece of Babaji.
He is, along with Muniraj, the pure essence of Babaji. He is, accord-
ing to Babaji, one of the most learned men on earth. He is a Saint
and everything you imagine a Saint to be! Furthermore, he is an
ayurvedic doctor, astrologer, and pure clairvoyant. He has great wis-
dom of the Vedas and their rites and is an interperter of Indian myths
and the Santana Dharma, as the Indians call their religion. About
the books he has written, he says that they are pure inspiration: all

of them are in mantric verses. His main work of historical content

is a vision about Shri Babajfs incarnations through all times. The
book "Sadashiva Charitamrit" has over 1200 pages and is now being
translated into English. Another work, the Haidakhandesvar Sapta
Sati, 700 Verses in Praise of the Divine Mother of Haidakhan, is avail-

able in English and German. I am very honored that he has allowed

me to publish a few of my favorite verses from that book for your
joy and pleasure on page 00. Shastriji also fulfilled my request to write
something just for this book. He wrote "How To Love God and Be
Happy" on the following page. Later he agreed to let me publish his
amazing speech at Schweibenalp, the ashram in Switzerland. These
brilliant speeches help us to understand Babaji and the rituals and
ceremonies he taught us.

Babaji once said that Shastriji has been a poet in all life times. He
certainly does have exalted thoughts. To me, he is in a constant state

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 SONDRA RAY

of prayer. He is constantly praying out loud. To be with him feels

like living a miracle. Babaji said he is one of the purest men on Earth.

Spiritual Poetry in Praise of the Divine Mother

MORE VERSES TO THE DIVINE MOTHER

Oh Devi, You are prosperity and the Power of Increase. To You we

how. You are radiant light; we how to You. Benefactress of the world,
We how to You.

Salutation to You, Mother of the universes; we how to You who lives

in them forever . . . through all the ages. Your form is beyond the
decay of time; inherent in everything, You are immortal. You are
beyond being known, of unfathomable mystery. Great Mother, we
bow to You.

The universe is full of Your glory, Oh Mother; to You we bow who

is beautified with that glory. You are the Goddess of every desire,
taking even the forms of desire, fulfilling them all. We bow to You.

As Sri Vasant, Goddess of spring, You give happiness to the world

and all its beings. You know the root of all the troubles in the world
and support the entire universe, being its central axis. You dwell on
the island of Manipura. To You we bow.

It is who churn the mind, You who are the giver of sexual desire
You
and it is You who grant great fortune. Glory be to You, whose names
are Medini, the earth, and Mahima Devi, Goddess of Majesty. We
bow to You again and again as Mandavi, as Mahadevi, the great God-
dess, and as Manjula, Goddess of Beauty.

You bestow Your grace on perfected beings and on Yoginis who, too,

are aspects of You when they take care of Children. The universe bows
to You who annihilates the pain of the world.

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 PURE JOY

Oh, Mother, You are the luminosity of the moon and the sun's divine
light is Yours; even the pure radiance of the planets is a reflection
of You. You are the fire's ardour and the softness of water, the strength
in the earth; Yours is the Power to sustain the earth. Yours is the Power
in the universe and it is You who, in Lord Visnu, is the preserving
Energy.

PRAISES TO THE DIVINE MOTHER

You are the one who takes the form of truth-consciousness-bliss. You
are the purity of this world: to You we bow, Oh Devi. You are the
embodiment of beauty. Oh, Goddess, You are Sinhika, mother of the
titan Rahu, and are also known in the world as "She who speaks the
truth."

You bestow happiness on all the universes and shower grace on Your

devotees and give them nourishment in plenty. You are radiant with
divine effulgence. As the fierce Candi, Goddess of destruction, You
annihilate fear. To You the supreme Energy of Lord Narayana, we
bow again and again.

As the supreme Being, oh timeless Goddess, Mother Haidakhandes-

vari, You are the Mistress of all yoginis; we pray to You that all the
goddesses would have compassion on us and grace us with their
benevolence.

You always reside in the heart of all beings as their own self. As Maya,
the cosmic illusion, You adorn life with the most beautiful glow; You
YOU ARE
are ever perfect in Your divinity as supreme knowledge;
THE ULTIMATE POINT IN THE INFINITY OF COSMIC SPACE.
As the universal Self, You shower the rain of divine nectar on the world
and let the rain of bliss drown all the fears of this world. Oh Mother,
we seek refuge in You.

Oh Mahalaksmi, Goddess of great magnificence, Your eyes have the

beauty of the lotus; come and bless me with one glance of mercy and

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 SONDRA RAY

give me initiation. Oh Mother, You clear the path of obstacles of him

who has obtained Your mercy. You are the fount of true knowledge
and grant boons to him who is under Your protection. Oh, Savesvari,
protect me

VERSES FROM HAIDAKHANDI SFIA SAIT: SEVENHUNDRED

VERSES IN PRAISE OF THE DIVINE MOTHER OF HAIDAKHAN

OM, I BOW TO HER WHO GIVES JOY TO THE SOUL..

OM, I BOW TO HER WHOSE FORM IS BLISS..
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS FULL OF BOUNDLESS MERCY.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE SUPREME MOTHER.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO FULFILLS ALL DESIRES.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO BESTOWS GOOD FORTUNE.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE EMBODIMENT
OF KNOWLEDGE.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS PROSPERITY.
OM, I BOW TO THE GODDESS OF HEAVEN.
OM, I BOW TO THE DIVINE ENERGY.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO REMOVES ALL FEAR.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO GIVES DIVINE PERFECTION.
OM, I BOW TO THE ETERNAL ONE.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO GIVES LIBERATION.
OM, I BOW TO THE GODDESS WHO PROTECTS.
OM, I BOW TO THE GODDESS OF FORTUNE.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE EMBODIMENT
OF MAGNIFICENCE.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO GIVES WEALTH TO ALL.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO REMOVES THE TROUBLES
OF THE UNIVERSE.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS ROYAL MAJESTY.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS SAVIOR OF ALL.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO ALWAYS SHOWERS NECTAR
OF GRACE.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE EXPERIENCER OF JOY.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO ELIMINATES ALL SICKNESS.

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 PURE JOY

OM, I BOW TO HER WHO RESIDES IN THE CAVE

OF HAIDAKHAN.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS ETERNAL.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS IMMORTAL.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS EVER VICTORIOUS.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE SOURCE
OF SUPREME LIGHT.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE EMBODIMENT OF GLORY.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE EMBODIMENT OF ART.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE EMBODIMENT
OF FORGIVENESS.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE EMBODIMENT OF PEACE.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO RESIDES IN THE SPINAL CORD.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO IS THE EMBODIMENT OF JOY,
THE OCEAN OF JOY.
OM, I BOW TO HER WHO GIVES ABUNDANTLY THE NECTAR
OF JOY!

Shastriji Speaks on Loving God

HOW TO LOVE GOD AND BE HAPPY The Divine is the Absolute
element of the soul and the soul loves the soul utmost. In the Vedas
it is mentioned that "a husband is a beloved not because he is a hus-
band, but he fulfills the desire and hence he is a beloved; a wife is

beloved not because she is a wife, but as she is the vessel to fulfill

the desires so she is a beloved." With this Vedic Mantra the sage Rishi
Yajnavalka gave the teachings of the Soul element to his wife Aatreyei.
He also made it clear that in this life the Soul is the most beloved
and what the Soul loves, one loves all the time This Soul is a small
atom of the Source—The Great Soul. That's why when a human being
loves the parents, husband, wife, son, or daughter, he or she is con-
templating a form of the Lord in his beloved relationships, and finds
happiness. A man loves
no one more than his own kith and kin. All
relationships, loveand the things of joy are nothing in comparison
to the Divine Love. It is beyond everything! That's why to contem-
plate or meditate on the Divine all the time is the highest form of

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 SONDRA RAY

discipline. In every little thing, when a man sees the Presence of the
Divine, he will surely be able to love them all. In every form, when
he loves the Divine, then only can he find true joy and happiness.
For example, when a chick has just hatched from the egg, or a new-
born calf awaits its mother's return to feed it, they are looking one-
pointedly in the direction of the mother's arrival; also like a newly
wedded wife whose husband has gone off to battle, she waits for him
to return and during this period of separation she endures much agony
and turmoil. So it is same thing happens when a man's soul
that the
starts to long to be one with the Divine and become One within, for

then only can he truly become joyous and know bliss and he has made
the union total. The feeling of separation disappears completely! This
is truly the ultimate bliss and it is the great "Ananda" (Joy). In truth,

total surrender from the heart is the element of great joy!

— Shastriji
12 June, 1986

A TRANSCRIPTION OF SRI SHASTRIJVS SPEECHES AT SIDD-

HASHRAM SCHWEIBENALP, SWITZERLAND, MAY, 1985

This beautiful spot, Schweibenalp, is located in the Bernese Alps. This

consecrated sacred place is an ashram of Sri Babaji, offering all of
the basic devotional practices and traditional rituals and festivals.
Schweibenalp also maintains its character as a Center of Unity. Every
religious form or spiritual practice is respected and openly welcomed
in addition to Babaji's Hindu practices.
Schweibenalp is devoted to transforming personal, social and
spiritual consciousness. Schweibenalp has as one goal to realize a har-
monious balance between family life, community interaction and reli-

gious discipline One of the unique aspects of Schweibenalp is

combination of ashram routine with a wide palette of seminars,

spiritual healing and purification techniques. One can have a won-
derful transforming experience at this power spot.

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 PURE JOY

MAY 7, 1985

Shastriji Speaks:
Ladies and Gentlemen!

Today, when on this most auspicious occasion, on this most sacred

earth, I set my foot, I felt the vibrations of this ashram and all of
you, I can't tell you how happy I was!
With the grace of Sri Mahaprabhujfs lotus feet I have visited many
sacred ashrams and had the occasion to be on sacred sites many times.
But when I set my foot on this most sacred place, I entered such a
consciousness that I forgot myself, the universe, I forgot the world
and just felt bliss and happiness so deeply that I cannot put it into
words. At the same time the thought started coming into my mind
and heart: "Who is this great man who has done tapas (penance) for
thousands of years? With whose great tapasya with the inspiration
of the Divine Mother Jagadishvari Shri Siddha Siddheshwari and of
Lord Haidakhan has arrived here and made this Her sacred place?
And believe me when I say that this place will one day become the
most leading centre of the Western world. And as far as knowledge
is concerned, the whole world believes India is the leading country.

And for the material knowledge, the Western world is foremost. But
I feel that knowledge, the sun of knowledge, will rise from this place

in the world.
The incarnation of Lord Herakhandi Bihari Deva has taken place
knowledge and bliss to the whole world.
to give the benefit of true
With His infinite compassion and grace Sri Mahaprabhuji remained
with us for more than 5,700 days. It was His divine grace that He
gave darshan to thousands of people, but at the same time there were
many who were there but did not have the grace to have His darshan
and when He wanted to grace some people, He called them from thou-
sands of miles to Him. Some were called from thousands and thou-
sands of miles away, some were just a few hundred miles away, some
were a few miles away, and some were just near but they just did
not have the occasion to have His darshan, because it was just not
their destiny.

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 SONDRA RAY

Sri Mahaprabhuji, when He was with us in His physical body, gave

to us the ultimate root of the Vedic principles which prevailed dur-
ing the TVeta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga, that is about 5,000 and 2,000
years ago, in a very simple manner: He made them available to the
world, to the common man. He was the Supreme Brahman but still
came to us as a master in Human form. Whatever He wanted His
disciples and devotees to do, He Himself did and showed in a practi-
cal manner. There were eight principles of Sri Mahaprabhuji's teach-
ings. Today I will throw light on just a few.
Sri Mahaprabhuji renewed the fire ceremony which prevailed in
ancient times. He demonstrated how to perform it and gave it to us
in a very simple form, since it had disappeared with the passage
of time.
Before the creation of this universe, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh-
wara (that is Shiva) used to perform yagnas to the Divine Mother.
The Divine Mother was pleased by this and gave them each a boon:
Brahma was to create the universe, Vishnu was to preserve it and Shiva
to destroy it. That is why it is said that the fire ceremony is like the
support of the earth.
How could Sri Mahaprabhuji give a boon to the world without per-
forming yagnas? This is why He showed us how to do it.

The fire ceremony, or yagna, is based on scientific principles. In

the fire ceremony, when you give an offering to a particular deity,

it reaches that particular deity in its totality. In the Vedas it is writ-

ten that the mouth of the Gods is fire—"agni." To whichever God you
are giving the offering, by saying the mantra and adding the name
of that God plus the word 'svaha' makes the offering complete; that
is, you reach that particular God. The wife of 'Agni,' the lord fire,

is 'svaha.'

To give a simple example: when you want to send money to someone

in another place, you fill in a money order form and with that money
order form you mention the name and address of the person who is

to receive the money. Then you go to the post office; you are charged
the money and get a receipt after which the entire responsibility of
how to send it, where to send it, whom to send it to, is with the post
office; it's no longer your business.

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 PURE JOY

That is why our only duty is to chant the mantra with faith, devo-
tion and the proper pronunciation. Take the name of the God to whom
we are offering this ahuti, this offering, and then give it to the fire.
The law of nature, or life, is to give and take, as a farmer will sow
a seed of rice in his field. He sows one seed but in return he gets much
more than what he has sown. No computer can give you an account
of how many billions of times it has given you more in return than
what you sowed. That one grain of rice which you had sown, until
such time as it doesn't go bad, will continue to give you tons and tons
of rice —
unless it goes bad —
for when it goes bad, naturally, it can't
produce anymore.
And it would be indeed very selfish of us, that, when the Divine
gives us so much food, so much grain to pacify our hunger, gives us
water to quench our thirst, we just keep on eating and drinking. But
it is absolutely justified that when the Divine is giving so much, we
should in return offer something back to the Divine and not just keep
on eating it for our selfish pleasure. That's why we offer to the fire:
when we receive so much grain to pacify the fires of hunger in our
stomach, we should first offer of whatever we are earning, of what-
ever we are receiving, a little offering to the fire to pacify it and also
give a little food or offering to those people who are hungry, to pacify
the fire of their hunger.
And that's why it is said that a person who doesn't offer anything
to the fire in a yagna or to the hungry people, just keeps on eating
for himself, he is eating his meal in a very sinful way because he is
only concerned with his own selfish hunger, with his own self. That's
why he or she can never reach the spiritual heights of the purity of soul.
(Sri Shastriji has just recited this Vedic mantra which says that the
person who cooks for himself or herself is a sinner because he or she
does not share it with anyone.) Sri Mahaprabhuji showed this to us
as long as He was with us in His physical body: He never took leave
from the fire ceremony, every day He performed a yagna. Besides His
daily yagnas, Sri Mahaprabhuji performed 171 very big yagnas in
which hundreds of thousands of people came. He spent millions of
rupees just on the fire ceremony and feeding poor people. Just as He
performed the fire ceremony, the same way He satisfied the fire of
people's hunger and all of you, or many of you, have witnessed that

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 SONDRA RAY

in Haidakhan every day many people — 20, 50, 100—were fed by Him:
He pacified the fires of their hunger.
Sri Mahaprabhuji gave us the practical example: when He Him-
self, the Divine, performed the yagna and gave food to the poor peo-
ple, thismeant that you common men should follow my example,
because by doing so, by giving food to the poor, to the hungry, by
performing yagnas, you are doing good to your own soul. It is an act
to obtain happiness, bliss and peace in life, so follow the example.
There are many instances in the cultural history of India, of great
kings of the past, Ambrish Nabhak, etc., of kings who performed
yagnas, who gave away their whole kingdoms, their prosperity, their
money, everything they had, using it up for doing these yagnas, until
eventually one of them had just one earthen pot left. He had given
everything to the fire (I mean he used up everything to pay the expenses
of the fire ceremonies). He lived in the jungle just with an earthen
bowl. Once a rishi came to him, asking him for something and the
king said, "Your holiness, take this pot, for this is all I have and I

am offering it to you."
Sometimes it happens that a child, when it is born, becomes the
owner of millions and millions of rupees (or francs); he has acres and
acres of land, he has everything that man could ask for— this is his
destiny, while at the same time, another child is born who has no
father, the mother is poor, so that the child doesn't even have the means

to be given even milk, or any food, and his only sustenance is the name
of the Lord. He can only repeat 'Rama, Rama.' This is the destiny
of two children, born at the same time.
The one who has been blessed with all the prosperity, all the wealth
of the world is the one who, in his past incarnation, had fed the needy,
who had done the yagnas, and the result of his good deeds was that
he got everything when he was born; he was born with a silver spoon
in his mouth.
And the other one who was born in the poor house, where he had
to strive for even a grain of food, was the one who in his previous
lifehad not done anything to collect any good deed, any good karma;
that's why he was given nothing, though the same Divine had created
these two children.

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 PURE JOY

It is written in the Vedas that when you meet a person, you can
immediately know what this person's past karmas have been, because
through the way he or she is born and through the way they live, it

is obvious what their karmas were.

Mahaprabhuji knew therefore the root cause to give happiness
Sri
to mankind and that's why he started pleasing the gods first for the
benefit of mankind by doing yagnas. We all have seen the result of
what Sri Mahaprabhuji did: before He appeared, India always had
to beg the United States for food grains. We were always the beggars
and they were always the givers. They kept on giving us millions of
tons of food every year. After Sri Mahaprabhuji appeared and had
started perfoming yagnas, India Now the same
had a grain revolution.
land is growing so much food that we have bumper crops. Now there
is so much grain in stock that the government doesn't have enough
places to stock it. We certainly don't have to ask any other country
for more grain.
As long as one can afford it one should always perform both kinds
of yagnas: the first yagna is to feed humans, the second to feed the
fire. I could tell you much more about this first principle but as there

is little time, I will come to the second principle

(Sri Shastriji is now discussing the second principle that is Sri

Mahaprabhuji's ritual of giving chandan.)

In India, our forefathers always put chandan on their foreheads
every day, but the same Indian people, in present times, behave very
differently; for instance, we have a custom that when a son-in-law
comes to marry the daughter, the mother-in-law, on receiving him,
puts a tika, a sign, on his forehead, and then gives the bride away.
Then the groom, the moment he left the house, would take out his
handkerchief and wipe the tika from his forehead.
When Sri Mahaprabhuji started the ritual of applying chandan,
the same people of India, barristers, lawyers, doctors, actors, all the
fashionable people, used to queue up and vie with each other about
who should be the first one to whom Sri Mahaprabhuju would apply
chandan.
There is great importance in applying chandan, for it changes the
lines of your destiny. Maybe most of you have heard or read about

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 SONDRA RAY

the famous story of Lord Krishna and his childhood friend Sudhama.
The Lord Krishna— when he was a child and study-
story goes that
ing in Sandipani's ashram— had a brahmin friend who was from a
very poor family. His name was Sudhama. Both of them studied
together and were great friends. Then, when they had finished their
studies, Krishna came to mathura and became the king and Sudhama
went back to his father's house, because he was a poor brahmin. With
the passage of time his poverty became more and more acute. He had
children and his wife kept on telling him that we are so poor that
we don't have enough food or milk to give to our children. And they
are suffering, we are all suffering, what is the use of you having a
friend who is the king, who has got everything, why don't you go
to him and ask for some help. And Sudhama, who was basically a
very shy person, did not want to take advantage of his friendship with
the king, so he kept on refusing to go. But his wife was desperate,
and one day she literally forced her husband to go to Krishna and
ask for help.
Sudhama was very badly dressed because he was so poor, he had
all his clothes torn, he had not even sufficient clothes to put around
his body.When he came, Krishna recognized that it was the poor
brahmin who had studied with him in the rishi's Sandipani Ashram.
As he was a brahmin, according to the custom, he called for a bowl
of gold and some water and washed Sudhama's feet in a golden plate.
After washing them, he took the water as prasad. And Krisha made
Sudhama sit with him on his personal throne of kings, of the King-
dom of Dvarika. Then Lakshmi, who is the wife of Vishnu (in

Krishna's incarnation, she was the queen Rukmini), said to Krishna:

"Oh, my master, what is this, what is this irony of fate that you are

the king of Dvarika and your friend is such a poor man brahmin,
this is very bad." So Lord Krisha started laughing and said: "My
Queen, why are you worried, it is the result of his karma." So the
queen said; "My Lord, you are a divine being who can change the
laws of karma." The queen kept on insisting and eventually Krishna
relented and said: "Very well, bring chandan."
Like Sri Mahaprabhuji used to apply chandan on our foreheads,
the same way, when Rukmini had brought the bowl of chandan,
Krishna held the head ofSudhama and put chandan on his forehead.

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Then Lord Krishna said: "Lakshmi-Rukmini, on his forehead is

written 'KSHA-YA-SHRI' which means 'annihilation of prosperity,' that

there is no prosperity on his forehead."

Lord Krishna continued, saying: "But when I applied chandan on

his forehead, I wiped out KSHA-YA and the opposite appeared: 'YAK-
SHA SHRI,' which means treasurer of the gods and treasure of the
world bank . .
." So Sudhama became the master of all the banks'
money.
When Sudhama came home, his mud hut had gone and instead
he had a palace. So he prayed to the Lord, saying: "You were so kind
and gracious that with your divine hands you took hold of my head
and applied chandan, changing thus my destiny so that I have become
the most prosperous man on earth." And this is the great importance
of chandan. And why Sri Mahaprabhuji changed the destiny
that's

and luck of all of us, you, me and everyone, by putting chandan on

our forehead, He changed the line of our destiny.
Every man and woman has the chandan lines on their foreheads,
even without chandan. You have a look into the mirror: either you
have the three lines like this (
= ), or like this (III ). These are the
lines of fortune written by destiny. Those people who really know
about reading the future, they don't look at your palm, they don't
look at your face, they don't need to look at your horoscope either.
They just look at your forehead and the lines on it, and they can tell
you what is your destiny, what is your future life.
I want to share with you the principles of Sri Mahaprabhuji, the

knowledge of which He showered on me with His grace in the thir-

teen years and more days I spent with Him. I am an old man, but
when Sri Mahaprabhuji has bestowed such grace on me and He has
sent me to you in my old age, I would like to give you whatever I
have got from Sri Mahaprabhuji through His grace. I want to share
with you everything He told me with His infinite grace, for I should
not be a selfish man and take all that grace with me. I want to give
to the people inJagdambe this world whatever I have received through
Sri Mahaprabhuji by His infinite grace. He used always to distribute
whatever we offered to Him, and He never kept anything for
himself — immediately He used to give things away as prasad. The

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 SONDRA RAY

same way this prasad which He gave me with His grace I want to
give and share with you all.
BHOLE BABA KI JAI
SADGURU BAGHAWAN SRI
HAIDAKHANDI
KI JAI
PARAMGURU SRI MAHENDRA
MAHARAJA KI JAI
MATA KI JAI
HAIDAKHANDESHWARI MATA
KI JAI
JAI VISHWA
SRI MUNIRAJI MAHENDRA KI
JAI
JAI MAHA MAYA KI JAI
BHOLE BABA KI JAI

MAY 8, 1985

With the Divine Grace of Sri Mahaprabhuji, I threw some light on

two principles of Sri Mahaprabhuji's teaching: chandan and the fire
ceremony, yagna. I shared with you in a very short manner whatever
had to be told.
Today I would like to speak to you about mundan and the mantra
"Haidiyakhandi."
Indian culture is deeply associated with the Vedic culture, and when
a child is born in an Indian home, till it dies, there are 16 stages of

consecration which are performed on him or her. And these 16 Vedic

sanskaras are not only part of Indian culture, for the Vedas are the
support of the whole of creation, of the world, of the universe, and
that is why these 16 stages of consecration are meant to be performed
on each and every living creature.
The origin of the Arian race is, as you all know, from Europe, but
they wanted to explore the world and that is why they started to go
outside of Europe. And with the passage of time they reached India,
more precisely the Himalayas. And there, in the Himalayas, they

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discovered the holy rivers Yamuna and Ganga. Himalayan beauty

enchanted them so much that, in the search of knowledge, they
decided to settle down there. They became the great sages and the
rishis of the Himalayas, but while they lived there, they kept contact
with the people they had come from. They kept on coming and going
between Europe and the Himalayas, and they kept up the contact.
It is also a well-known fact that the origin of the Vedas and its criti-

cism was from Europe. From Europe also we collected many things
and took them and taking
to India. In this continuation of giving
the culture was preserved. The com-
sages were very keen that the
plete culture of the Arian race should be shared by the whole world
and that it should become one. But in those days the coming and going
—
was not so easy as the aeroplanes did not exist then, and therefore
because of these difficulties it was not possible to communicate the
Vedic culture to the entire world. Yet everything still depends on the
Vedic culture.
I mentioned the 16 sanskaras: of the 16 stages of consecration the
first one is the stage of conception. When the child is conceived in
the mother's womb, this is and when
considered the first sanskara,
the embryo is seven months old, there is another ceremony which is
known as the simanta ceremony. When the child is born, and when
the placenta is cut, this is considered the third one. And the fourth
sanskara, the mundan sanskara, which is known as the jhaule san-
skara, is performed in the sixth month. And this sanskara is neces-
sary for every human being. Keeping this in mind, Sri Mahaprabhuji
made it more or less obligatory in Haidakhan that everybody should
have a mundan. Before the initiation is given, before the sacred thread
is given, the mundan sanskara is necessary. At this point it was per-
formed regularly.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna that this human
body is like the tree called pipul tree, the ashwata tree. I'm sure many
of you who have visited Haidakhan have noticed that there are two
ashwata trees near Sri Mahaprabhujfs kutir. When Lord Krishna com-
pared the human body with the ashwata tree, he meant that the roots
of the tree are up above, and the branches face down, that it is not
perishable, and that body is the ashwata tree. The wishes and desires
of a human being are the leaves of this tree. Those who know this

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 SONDRA RAY

human body to be like the ashwata tree are the real knowers of the
Vedas. In the human body, the crown chakra (sahasrara) is the root
of the body and from that root the small twigs are the hair. And any
good gardener knows that when he wants to plant a healthy tree and
wants that tree to be strong, he will dig a sizeable hole. Further, from
that small tree he will try to cut away all the small unimportant roots
and keep on adding fertilizers to make it stronger, so that when the
tree grows, it turns out to be a really solid tree.
The same way like the twigs of the ashwata tree, if the master doesn't
get the hair removed from the head, a man does not grow in his
spiritual pursuit, because the sahasrara (crown chakra) is the root of
spiritual knowledge. The direct touch of the guru's hand on the head
gives you the initiation of the shaktipat with which the kundalini
energy is awakened. But if the hair remains on the head's crown and
the guru touches it, the energy of power does not reach the sahasrara
properly. And another thing: in a human horoscope, Saturn always
tries to stop the progress of spiritual and it is believed that Saturn
life

lives in the hair. Until the hair is removed, Saturn keeps on pestering

and impeding progress and is not pacified. And the power of thought
doesn't develop, either, as much as when you have mundan. I am sure
you will have had the occasion to observe that in those places where
mundan is not done, people's minds are not as developed as it is in
many places where this ritual is being observed.
Bearing this Vedic culture in mind, Sri Mahaprabhuji had this ritual
performed as a necessity for the spiritual growth of his disciples. And
while He was here with His physical body, whenever anybody came
and whenever he thought that a person needed it, Sri Mahaprabhuji
ordered that His disciples went through the ritual of mundan. And
with this ceremony the disturbing influence of Saturn was annihilated.
Now I will share with you the most secret aspect contained in the
mantra "Haidiakhandi."
With the grace of Sri Mahendra Swamiji Maharaja, the book "Shri
Sadashiva Charitamrit" was written and published in 1961. Within
his lifetime, the criticismand interpretation of this book was also writ-
ten, but was not published then. A short while after Sri Mahaprab-
huji appeared in 1970, Sri Mahaprabhuji said to me: "In your house
there is a written book ready, please bring it here" And when I brought

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this book, "Shri Sadashiva Charitamrita" to Him, Sri Mahaprabhuji

heard it from my own mouth from the first chapter to the end. And
after having listened to the whole book, Sri Mahaprabhuji commented:
"This is perfect, this is what I wanted." Sri Mahaprabhuji wanted
that all religions should be united and that there should be a book
in which they were given a common base, a universal book.

And I requested Sri Mahaprabhuji: "Now that you have appeared

before the world, you should givesome teaching on kriya yoga."
it

For kriya yoga had not been given fully, so I wanted that Sri
Mahaprabhuji should complete His teaching on it.
Sri Mahaprabhuji told me that now the time is not ripe for the
world to know the secrets of kriya yoga. When the time comes, he
would open the treasure of this knowledge and give it to the world.
As you might have read in the "Autobiography of a Yogi," there is a
mention of kriya yoga, and also in many other books like this. But
there is no book in which there is a description of how kriya yoga
should be done, or how it should be taught. Everyone was told to
go to the master, to the guru, and find out what it was.
These disciples in search of masters kept on wandering here, there,
everywhere, and then would find a master who whispered something
into their ears, telling them that this is how kriya yoga is done. But
in our Vedic literature and all other religious books, nothing is secret,
everything is open for everyone to interpret as they wish.
After my repeated prayers to Sri Mahaprabhuji that He should tell
me what I should write, He told me that I should compose a ninth
chapter. For each chapter He would tell me what I should write. And
whatever Sri Mahaprabhuji told me, I wrote: it was the complete
description of kriya yoga in His presence. Many times He listened to
what had written. But when He had finished, I prayed to Sri
I

Mahaprabhuji, saying: "It will be impossible for the present man-

kind to follow this kind of yoga, because today at this stage, human
beings eat all lands of food which is not pure (as are vegetables, ghee,
etc.), I mean, all the lands of chemical food, and this is why it is impos-
sible for them to follow this deep and difficult yoga."
So when I protested to Sri Mahaprabhuji that
nobody would be
able to do this yoga of present mankind, Sri Mahaprabhuji laughed
and said: "Shastriji, don't worry. This yoga will be followed by someone

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 SONDRA RAY

who will be born— there is no end to time, and there is no end to

the universe— somewhere, a human being will be born who will

understand it and do this yoga. Maybe one person only, maybe five
persons, or maybe a few more will understand it and will be able
to perform and live this yoga and this will be sufficient to make it

available to mankind, for it should no longer remain secret."

At the same time, Sri Mahaprabhuji told me: "If you are satisfied,
if it makes you happy, I will teach you to present mankind of this
yuga (era), the yoga of 'Haidiyakhandi.' " And as I was writing this
literature on Haidakhan Babaji (in the '50s), Sri Mahendra Maharaja

one day came by car to my house and told me: "Shastriji, all this time,

we have been writing on Haidakhan, on Haidakhan Baba, etc. But

now I have been given the permission by Babaji to tell the world the
meaning of the name of 'Haidiyakhandi.' " So when I prayed to Sri
Mahendra that he should tell me the secret mystery of the name
Haidiyakhandi, he said that at the moment it is all right to just explain
what is Haidiyakhandi: Haidiyakhandi is the one who lives on the
continent of Haidakhan. Just as we have the European continent, or
America and Australia are known as continents, the same way in India
in ancient times, the different regions were known as "continents,"
and so Mahendra Maharaja said that this was sufficient for the world
to know, that Haidakhan is the continent of Haidakhan Baba who
lives in this continent. And Sri Mahendra Maharaji also said to me
(Shastriji): "I'm revealing to you only a very small portion of what
Haidiyakhandi means, but when Babaji appears to you and the world,
He Himself will reveal to you the whole mystery of this name."
And when Sri Mahaprabhuji told me that He could tell me the
secrets of the mantra "Haidiyakhandi" immediately, I was reminded
of what had happened with Mahendra Maharaja years ago, when
he had told me that, when Sri Mahaprabhuji appears, He Himself
will tell you the real meaning of Haidiyakhandi.
And while explaining the meaning of this great name, Prabhuji told
me that, when the actions of yoga start in the body, they start first
in the muladhara chakra, from below. But this "Haidiyakhandi yoga"
is a very special yoga which starts from the sahasrara chakra, from
the top. And one by one, from above downwards, it will pierce all
the chakras. When I further questioned Him to explain to me more

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precisely, Sri Mahaprabhuji told me that there are five syllables in

"Hai-di-ya-khan-di": In the Sanskrit alphabet, each letter has a par-
ticular place in the body. "Hai" has a place in the throat. According
to the rules of grammar, "ai" is mixed in "Hai" and pronounced from
the talu — the throat. Each of the five syllables has a letter both pro-
nounced from the throat and belonging to the topmost chakra, so that
in reciting these five syllables constantly, one travels only in the upper-
most chakras, purifying them. And this Haidiyakhandi yoga, which
gives everything to a human being who follows it, is a yoga between
throat and crown chakra and has no connection with any of the lower
parts of the body: it rules all the chakras from the sahasrara, from
the top. By constantly chanting the mantra "Haidiyakhandi" all the
chakras of a being are pierced — and he becomes the owner
human
of all — the great powers which are known as the ashta
the siddhis
siddhis — the eight divine powers, and the nau nidhis — the ninefold
divine blessings. And this is one of the most important points of this
yoga which Mahaprabhuji showed to us.

And one day— every day I was reading the "Haidakhandi

SaptaShati' 1— while reading the last stanzas, I came across a sloka
which I noticed immediately, for it contained these words: "By chant-
ing constantly and repeatedly My name, a man obtains all the
siddhis — all the powers of yoga."
Then again, Sri Mahaprabhuji showed me another mystery: accord-
ing to the grammatical rules, when you join two words, it becomes
different. The same way Sri Mahaprabhuji explained that the one
who resides in "Haidakhan" is "Haidiyakhandi." And according to
the grammar of Panini, one of the most famous Indian grammarians
of Vedic times, you have to add T to the name, whenever you want
to change a male gender into a female gender. Then you have the
feminine gender, like 'Shiva': Shiva is the male gender and when you
want to make it female, it becomes 'Shivani,' by adding T to the last
letter. Also: Yam-Yami, Indra-Indrani, the same way: Haidiyakhandi.
On this earth, there is not a single name in which, as it stands, has
the male and female joined into one. Like 'Sita' is the female and 'Ram*
is the male. They are two different names, but they become one by
joining them, but they are two different names. 'Sita' is the shakti,
the energy, and 'Ram* is the brahma. 'Radha' is the energy, "Krishna"

153
 SONDRA RAY

is the brahma. That why the one who resides in Haidakhan is called
is

'Haidakhandi,' that is the masculine energy. Then, who is the female

energy? It is the queen, Mahamaya — Haidikhandi, the female energy,
she is also part of this name — Haidakhandeshvari.
Many people offered prayers and did aarati to Sri Mahaprabhuji
as Sri Mahaprabhuji. But there were times when people put a sari
on Sri Mahaprabhuji, worshipping Him, offering aarati to Him as
Mahamaya. And He proved it to us, that within Himself, Brahma
and Mahamaya, both resided together. He proved to us that there
isno need for us to do a separate sadhana, separate yoga for the male
and the female energy, for Brahma and Mahamaya. By chanting, or
doing japa of 'Haidiyakhandi,' we worship both together. For the
universal good of mankind, Sri Mahaprabhuji has given us the great
boon of this mantra. And when I finished the ninth chapter, I closed
the book, so Sri Mahaprabhuji asked me: "You have finished?" So I
told Sri Mahaprabhuji: "Yes, I have finished writing this book." So
Sri Mahaprabhuji laughed and he said: "Well, now that the book is

finished, and all is written down, what is the need for me to be here
any more?"
BHOLE BABA KI JAI . . .

JAI VISHWA!

MAY 9, 1985

Sri Shastriji says that today he has been instructed to speak to you
about fasting and worship. The subject of worship is a very vast one,
and the whole of the Vedas deal with worship and in it; there is one
whole chapter on this subject alone.
It is a great fortune for a man to be able to do worship. To be able
to do puja, worship, is the greatest sadhana in life. The human body

is, as you all know, made up of the five elements: earth, sky, water,
ether and wind. The human body is created of these five elements
and it returns (dissolves again into) these five elements. The whole
of this complete universe too, composed of these five elements, and
is

when it is destroyed, it same five elements.

dissolves again into the
It is by the divine grace alone that a human body is created out of

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these five elements, and life enters into it with the divine grace alone.
And as this body is made out of these five elements, consciousness
is contained in composed also of five organs. Actually there
it and is

are nine organs, but five of them are considered the most important
ones. And in this beautiful universe, they are interconnected through
these elements.
And we have indeed been very fortunate to have the darshan of
this most beautiful ashram. And the man responsible for this beauti-
ful creation, this ashram, is Sundar Baba, and he is worthy of wor-
ship and darshan. And this indeed is the grace of Sri Mahaprabhuji
on Sundar Baba. The Ramayana of Valmiki was written thousands
of years ago, and from it the Ramayana of Tulsidas was created. In
both these Ramayanas, there is a whole chapter, each called "Sun-
dar Khand." The meaning of "Sundar" in your language is: "beauti-
ful." And in these Ramayanas the most beautiful parts are contained

in the "Sundar Khand." (Sri Shastriji is reciting this sloka which means:
"Who is beautiful?— the person who is beautiful is beautiful both out-
side and inside.") And it is a fact that he is a man like this, who is
beautiful outside and inside. This is why Sri Bhole Baba inspired him
to start this beautiful ashram on this beautiful mountain. This ashram
is the ashram of Siddheshwari Mahamaya. And when the Divine
Mother Herself is dwelling in this beautiful ashram, a question about
Her worship arises.
As far as my knowledge goes, I don't think that in the near or even
further neighbourhood there is any place of the Divine Mother's wor-
ship. Wherever the Divine Mother does not reside, there is no peace.
So it is indeed a great fortune for all of us that the Divine Mother
has chosen to come Herself and dwell here I would like now to express
my thoughts to you and all about how to worship Her.
As I mentioned before, this whole universe is made up of five ele-
ments, and there is nothing beyond it. So, with the same five elements,
we can offer worship to the Divine Mother. The first element is Mother
Earth. Yet, according to the process of creation, the first element is

ether, the last element on earth. The definition of the element earth
is: smell, fragrance. That is why the first step in worshipping the Divine
Mother is that we offer flowers full of fragrance, because with Her
grace, Mother Earth is producing beautiful fragrance, that is, flowers

155
 SONDRA RAY

on earth. Now, a man might dedicate his whole life to create a flower,
but even with total dedication, he cannot create a natural flower.And
when the Divine Mother has given us this gift through Mother Earth,
it is our duty that we offer Her her own creation —
the flowers. This
is why we offer beautiful flowers to Her as the first step in worship.

Furthermore, there are different types of worship. You may begin

five times, then increase to 16 times, then 100 times, then 1000 times,
then 100,000 times, and then millions of times, depending on your
devotion, and on how to want to offer worship. First of all, you fold
your hands and meditate on the Divine Mother to call Her. After that
you offer Her a seat, an asan. And to give Her a seat, you take a flower
and put it there. This becomes Her asana. Then you offer Her water
five times. First, to wash Her feet. Second, you offer Her water with

your hands. Third, you offer Her water to drink. Fourth, you give
Her a bath, and fifth, you give Her water to please Her. Water, too,
is the Divine Mother's grace, because in spite of man trying, he can't
create even a single drop of drinking water.
We offer water these five times to show our gratitude, for it is Her
grace alone that She has given us this element of water, and without
water we would all have died of thirst. Then the third step is to show
Her the why the aarati is being done. Why do
light-element. This is

we offer Her light? Because, when the Divine Mother is seated before
us and we are like an atom in comparison to Her greatness, we offer
Her light as a symbol that it might remove the curtain of the dark-
ness of ignorance separating us from her, so that this speck of light
might unite us with Her infinite light, so that we may become one
with Her.
After that, the fourth step is the element of wind. With it, we try
to touch Her, because the wind-element is considered the element
of touch. You will have seen that the pujari always waves a piece of
cloth before the murti, after the aarati — this is how it is symbolized
that with each stroke we are touching every organ of the Divine
Mother.
The last step is the bells and the mantras we sing, the aarati we
sing, because word and sound belong to the element of ether and with
it, we are in contact with ether. Apart from thse five main elements,
there is nothing on this earth which we can offer to the Divine. This

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 PURE JOY

is why we prostrate before Her, telling Her: This body is created by

You and I am offering my body back to You. This is the most basic
principle of daily worship. By offering worship, one obtains complete
mental To have mental satisfaction is the greatest gift
satisfaction.

to mankind. Brahma, the Divine Mother, has given us the power of

touch. Touch gives us an immediate, direct experience. Touch com-
municates the most varied of experiences to man — this is the gift of
the Divine, of the earth-element to mankind.
The sense of taste on our tongue has been given to man through
the water-element. There are six kinds of taste. The tongue has been
given this gift of taste from the Divine through the water-element.
If, by any chance, the Divine Mother was to take back this sense of

taste, even the most delicious food could not be experienced by us.

The third gift to us is through light. The light-element is given to

us through our eyes. When we are seeing through our eyes, it is the
Divine grace we are using. If this Divine grace was to be taken away
from us, we would be totally blind, in darkness, and the most beau-
tiful natural sight, cinema, or theatre, would become useless to us.
The sense of smell is given to us by the element of wind: with our
nose we can smell the most delicious fragrances, all the perfumes,
all the natural smells. If this gift was to be withdrawn, although the
nose might be a very beautiful nose, it would be a most useless nose.

The ether-element has bestowed us the gift of hearing. If this gift

was to be withdrawn, we could not hear the most divine music or
even any sound. would be futile to live without the sense of hear-
It

ing. Indeed, there would be no sense even in living without the five

senses, even with this divine gift of a body, made of bones, blood and

different kinds of nerves. We need to show our gratitude to the Divine,

for we can't offer to it the worship of these five basic elements, we
if

would really be the most useless creatures. And I have shown you the
shortest and simplest form of worship of these five elements.
Apart from these five elements, there are five kinds of air in the
body. The wind-element has given us power in the body to use our
arms, to be able to walk, to sleep, to stretch, to breathe, etc.

Shastriji has recited a sloka which means that, with the first step
we take, we pray to the Divine Mother: "You are my soul-element."
When we pray to the Mother, we say that my my mind is
intellect,

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 SONDRA RAY

the Parvati-element (= essence of the Divine Mother). And Prana,

the breath, are my friends who are always with me. And this build-
ing around is my house in which I dwell, that is, the body. Oh, Divine
Mother, I spend a money to protect, to maintain
lot of time, energy,

this body. This too, is And when I go to sleep, it is

worship of You.
just like being in samadhi. And when I move about, accept it that
I'm going around You in pradakshina (= sacred circum ambulation).
All the sounds that come out from the mouth of human beings and —
all creation sings Thy praise. Whatever I work, whatever action I per-
form, is worship of You, oh Divine Mother.
And when this kind of feeling will be constantly with you, then
this is real knowledge, when the whole sloka (prayer) recited above
will become a way of life for you, then your whole life will become
an act of worship. And then, slowly, slowly, you will become detached
from this material world and attached to the divine world.
This why Sri Mahaprabhuji in Haidakhan has given us the prac-
is

tical telling us to do karma-yoga always. And when we

example by
were collecting stones, when we were collecting earth, when we were
collecting wood from the forest, or when we were washing dishes,
or when we were cooking, we were doing the worship of the Divine
Mother, for every act of karma yoga that we did was to offer it to
the Divine Mother. This is what Sri Mahaprabhuji always said and
this is why He kept on emphasizing and shouting: "Do karma yoga!"
for was your offering to the Divine. Because with His omniscience,
it

Sri Mahaprabhuji knew that when He had called His beloved prin-

ciples from far-off lands, He wanted to teach them the basic element
of the Divine.
This is why He stressed so much the need for karma- and japa yoga.
Because in this Kali-Yuga, by doing karma yoga and japa yoga alone,
one can achieve all the Divine powers (= siddhis). Keep on working,
keep on doing your job, and at the same time, with your mind, or
with your tongue, keep on chanting the name of the Divine. What
people used to achieve through pranayama (= breathing yoga), medi-
tation and other disciplines, with Sri Mahaprabhuji's grace, one can
achieve in this age by doing karma yoga and japa yoga (reciting the
Lord's name).

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 PURE JOY

When you are repeating the mantra which has been given to you,
you pierce the five chakras with the wind-element in your body. And
while breathing and repeating the mantra, what you could have
achieved by doing a lot of pranayama, you achieve by simply repeat-
ing the mantra: with the power of the mantra, through the normal
breathing cycle, you pierce all the five chakras of prana, apana udana,
vyana and samana (= forward breath, downward breath, ascending
breath, diffusing breath, assimilating breath). And whatever there
is in this whole universe, is also in the body of man. Whatever you
want to search from within, the whole body will come before you.
There is all knowledge in a child: if we want to make him a doctor,

we start him by doing studies of biology, and other things which are
needed to be a doctor; one day, as he grows up, he will certainly
become a doctor. And if the parents want that same child to become
an engineer, if right from childhood he is taught mathematics, etc.,

one day he will become an engineer. And if the parents decide that
the child should become a lawyer or a barrister, by teaching him law,
one day he will become a lawyer. And this proves that in the human
body, all knowledge is hidden: whichever thing we want to be, if we
search for it, we will be able to realize that thing. And if we want
that child to be a pickpocket or a thief, if we put him into this environ-
ment, one day he will become the most expert pickpocket. This proves
that all the good and bad qualities are within the body, and that
whichever way we want the body to act, will be realized by it.
And the same way, all the gods, like Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwar
(= Shiva), the Mother, every deity is in this body. And when any-
body goes to a master for initiation, the master, with his Divine knowl-
edge, will look into the person's heart and will immediately know
that in the past life, this human being had been a worshipper of this
particular deity, of the Divine Mother, of Shiva, or Rama. According
to the knowledge of whom he had been worshipping in his last life,
his master will give him the mantra of that particular deity. If he
had been a disciple of the Divine Mother, he will give him (or her)
Shaktipat (= initiation into the energy of the Divine Mother). This
is why, in the initial stage, one needs to be with a master. For after
showing the disciple the right direction, he progresses on his own later

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 SONDRA RAY

on. This is why, in this Kali-yuga, karma-yoga and japa-yoga are con-
sidered the most important forms of yoga.
And for these two yogas, fasting is supplementary. To purify the
elements in the body, to find oneself, to purify all five elements in
the human body. It is necessary to fast at least one of seven days. If
you are traveling a long distance with a car, after a particular mile-
age, one stops, and opens the bonnet of the car, and allows it to cool
off. In the same way, if a human body is just being fed, fed, fed,
there is definitely a danger that one day this body will suffer many
diseases.And Sri Mahaprabhuji always used to advise people to fast
on Monday, for Monday is considered to be the day of Shiva. At the
same time, the chief deity of Monday is the moon, and the moon is
supposed to be the chief deity of mind. And to those people who do
not have a sufficient balance of the fire-element, He said to fast on
Tbesdays.
Probably you are aware that there is a religion called *'Jainism."
In Jainism, fasting has been given so much importance that they say
continuous fasting is the only way of reaching self-realization. In Islam
also, one month in a year, in the month of Ramadan, for 30 days,
a continuous fast is observed. But this kind of continuous fasting is

not good for thehuman body. Because there is an immediate loss of

energy, and other detrimentary effects. That's why, if a man fasts
once a week, once in seven days, it is much more healthy.
You must all have been terribly bored by listening to all these things,
so I will tell you the last thing and finish it off.

Do not think that the worship of the Divine Mother Siddheshwari

is a very common thing. Sri Mahaprabhuji has given you this most
important Divine gift of being able to offer Her Divine worship. All
of you will have heard the name of Shankaracharya (8th century A.D.).
He was the one who established the advaita ( = non-dual way of relig-
ion). In order to establish his theory that there is only one Brahma,
one ultimate Absolute, One Supreme Being, he went to different places
and held discussions with many wise people and philosophers and
established his schools everywhere On his way, while meeting all these
wise men, wise teachers, he reached the extreme northern point of
India, which is called Kashmir. And there he invited all the wise

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philosophers and teachers to come and discuss with him that there
is only One Absolute Brahma.
But happened that, after inviting all these people, Shankara-
it so
charya had a very bad attack of diarrhea, so that he was not even
able to walk a single step. As he was in the forest he told the people
who were with him to take him out from the small hut in which he
lived under the nearby tree. He was miserable, and suffering very
badly, when a very small girl appeared before him. It was the Divine
Mother in the form of a young girl. She came and said: "Oh, Brah-
machari what is wrong with you, why are you so sad?"
(celibate),

And he said: "I have become without energy." So the Divine Mother
in the disguise of that little girl, started laughing and said: "Oh, young
man, on one hand, you are destroying energy and on the other hand,
you are trying to establish the belief that there is only one Brahma.
How is it possible that you can give importance to Brahma and ignore
the energy, Shakti?" When he heard these words, Shankaracharya
immediately realized his ignorance, his mistake and he prostrated
before this young child, saying: "Oh, Divine Mother, forgive me, I
understand my mistake!"
Without Shakti, there is not shaktiman, that is masculine energy.
Without Shakti, nothing exists in the universe. From that moment,
Shankaracharya started to worship the Divine Mother. And it is indeed
the duty of each of you to come here now and again and to offer wor-
ship to the Divine Mother. Because this Divine Mother is the one who
is protecting us from everything, who is the one who gives us every-

thing in the world. To this Divine Mother, you should offer your love,
your devotion, worship, your work, everything that you can, you
should offer Her and feel grateful that you are given the chance to
live in this world, because it is Her
You should take this mes-
grace.
sage and spread this message of the Divine Mother and Her worship
to different parts of the world from wherever you come. Teach peo-
ple the feeling behind this worship and establish at different places
temples of the Divine Mother and feel worthy of offering Her wor-
ship. And you all have all the material things one can ask for. You

have lovely buildings to live in, beautiful cars to go around in, good
clothes to wear, everything the material world can offer, you have.
But unfortunately, you only lack one thing: the peace of heart and

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mind. And to get that peace, you all run here, there and everywhere,
looking for You will find it only in the place of the Divine Mother.
it:

And this is why my

request to you is this: whatever I have talked
to you about today, try and understand it, meditate on it, think over
it and make the most of it.

BHOLE BABA KI JAI!

JAI VISHWA!

MAY 10, 1985

Bhole Baba Ki Jai!

Ladies and gentlemen, and children! You all are indeed very fortunate
to be sitting in the court of Lord Haidiyakhandi, listening to the sto-
ries of His divine lilas.

Today I am going to throw some light on the incidents, on the back-

ground of how Lord Haidiyakhandi took human form and came on
this earth for the good of mankind. Lord Haidiyakhandi is the abso-
lute Brahma. To describe how He came to earth in human form is

beyond speech, beyond the intellect of man. Thousands and thou-

sands of people had His darshan, but there were very few to whom
He revealed Himself, and they were the fortunate ones witnessing some
of the things that happened.
To bring Him form on this earth was due to the
into a physical
prayers of a great saint called Mahendra Maharaja. Sri Mahendra
Maharaja was born in the province of Bihar in India, in a small town
called Manka. At the age of six, when Sri Mahendra Maharaja was
still a child, he suffered from an incurable disease and to save him

from this disease, Lord Mahaprabhuji appeared before him. And in

the child's pure heart, the image of that saint remained inscribed in
his heart. As he grew up, he kept thinking and meditating on the image
of this saint in his heart.When he was nine years old, one day it —
—
was his birthday his mother asked him to go to a sweetshop and
buy some sweets. She gave him some money and when he went to
the sweetshop, he saw the same saint whom he had seen when he
was a six-year-old boy. The saint, who was Sri Mahaprabhuji, blessed

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 PURE JOY

him and told him: "Son, here are some sweets for you, go home, today
is your birthday. I give you my blessings." When Mahendra Maharaja

came home and gave the money back to his mother and also the sweets,
she was very surprised and asked: "Who paid for them?" He told her
the story, that there was a saint who paid. She took the boy with her
and went back to the sweetshop, looking for the saint, but he had
already disappeared. From that day on, Mahendra Maharaja's heart
was very sad, as he always missed the saint, longing to meet him again.
Mahendra Maharaja studied his maternal grandfather's books, who
—
was a very learned man and received a lot of knowledge from read-
ing. By the time he grew up, his intellect and consciousness had devel-

oped so much that whatever he had read once stayed with him
indelibly, for he had a photographic memeory. After some time he

was not happy in the house and so he left home. But he continued
his studies always. And he received his Masters Degree from Bhagal-
pur Then he came to Northern India and started to walk
University.
from Northern India to the west coast of India, to a place called Mount
Abu where there is a famous siddha pith, a sanctuary of the Divine
Mother called Ambaji.
And in search of his master, whom he had met as a child, he kept
on doing penance at Ambaji for 22 years, still always searching for
his master. After 22 years of penance, the Divine Mother Amba
appeared before him, manifesting before Mahendra Maharaji, tell-

"My child, the guru you are looking for you will find in the
ing him:
Kumaon region, the foothills of the Himalayas. Go there and you will
find your master." Mahendra Maharaja started walking, crossing one
mountain top after another, always looking for his guru. The whole
day he used to walk and whatever he came to at night, there he paused
to rest. After having walked for days, one day he came to a place called
Shitlakhet. Night had fallen, and in this place there was a teashop
whose owner was a man called Shiromani Patak. When he saw Mahen-
dra Maharaja, he realized that this was a great saint, so he requested
him that, since night had fallen, he should come to his house as a
guest to spend the night there. But Mahendra Maharaja replied to
Mr. Patak: "I will not come to your house, but rather show me a place
where I can spend the night in meditation and remembrance of the
Lord." Mr. Patak said to him: "Mahendra Maharaji, there is a beautiful

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 SONDRA RAY

place down the hill, on the other side of the mountain, which is called
Siddhashram. Spend the night in my house and tomorrow morning
I will send my servant to take you there. You can live there as long
as you want to." When he came to Mr. Patak's house, he went and
sat down in a place where the old Haidakhan Baba in His former
incarnation used to come and sit. When Mr. Patak saw that Mahen-
dra Maharaja was sitting in the same place as old Haidakhan Baba
had been sitting, he fell down, prostrating at his feet, and started
to cry. Quite overwhelmed, he said: "Mahendra Maharaja, I'm very
happy and honored that today you are sitting in the same place as
sit; all the memories are flooding back into
the old Babaji used to
my mind."
And he was so overwhelmed by this experience that Mr. Patak
started narrating story after story about Herakhan Baba to Mahen-
dra Maharaja about what a great divine being he was, and about
all the things that had happened during his presence on earth. He
brought out all the literature he had written and showed it to Mahen-
dra Maharaja. The whole night both of them spent talking about
Babaji, and in the morning Mahendra Maharaja said: "Please send
somebody, or you come and take me to Siddhashram." And as they
were talking, suddenly they saw a man coming down from the hills
who shouted and said to Mahendra Maharaja: "I would have come
most happily with you but I just saw the pujari of Siddhashram who
will accompany you there. I will come later and bring the foodstuff
with me."
Mahendra Maharaja and the pujari went and when they arrived
there, Mahendra Maharaja was very happy to see a most beautiful

and peaceful ashram, and there was a spring also next to the ashram.
The pujari told him that, when old Haidakhan Baba first came to
this ashram, there was no water there and because there was no water,
they asked forsome people who looked for water with a divining rod.
But even with a lot of effort, they could find very little water. So one
day, old Haidakhan Baba took a bowl of water with Him and went
there. FirstHe smelt the water bowl and then He just started to dig
in the ground with His hands when a strong spring welled up, wide
like an elephant's trunk, and now there is a constant flow of water.

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 PURE JOY

Mahendra Maharaja went to this spring and took some water, drank
it and then took a bath also. There is a nearby very old Divine Mother

temple of Vaishnavi Devi where he offered worship. Mahendra

Maharaja described all these incidents in his autobiography called
"Anupam Kripa." After a while he started to meditate there, but he
realized that his mind was not in the meditation and he was not com-
fortable there, so he stopped and then fell asleep. He dreamt that the
Divine Mother Vaishnavi Devi appeared before him, saying: "My son,
I am hungry." So Mahendra Maharaja replied: "Oh, Divine Mother,

You are feeding the whole of creation. It is not You who is hungry
but this child of Yours who has not touched any food for the last three
days and that is why You have pangs of hunger."
When he woke up, he saw Mr. Patak coming with a man, bringing
everything to prepare food. In a short while food was cooked and
offered to the Divine Mother Vaishnavi Devi as prasad, and then they
all ate. For two to three days Mahendra Maharaja was quite content
to be there, but on the fourth day he thought: "To live like this is no
good. If by tonight my Lord and guru, the Supreme Divine Being,
does not appear before me, I'll end my life here." Around one o'clock
at night he woke up, went out of the cottage, and when he saw the
studded sky, he became even more depressed. So again he went inside
the cottage and locked the door from inside. After a short while, when
he looked up, he saw Sri Babaji standing in full human form before
him. He offered his pranams at His lotus feet. Babaji said to him:
"Brahmachari, what is ityou want?" So Mahendra Maharaja replied:
"Only your grace." So Babaji put His hand on his head and said: "What
else do you want?" Mahendra Maharaja replied: "Oh Divine Mas-
ter, the way I am seeing You before me, I want all humanity to have
Your darshan. Come and make the world happy." To which Babaji
replied: "Your desires will be fulfilled."

Then Mahendra Maharaja was in seventh heaven, ecstatic with joy

and after some time, he left Siddhashram and went to Haldwani. In
Haldwani he said to some people: "Now that the Lord is coming on
this earth, I have to go and do some work. I have to prepare the ground
for his arrival. I have to prepare some literature so that people will
know about Him." After that he lived in Vrindaban for some time
or in Lobhan. In Vrindaban he used to stand in the queue of the

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beggars, begging for food, moving here and there. At night he used
to sleep on the roof of the Shiva temple in Vrindaban called "Gopesh-
wara." And he
kept on visiting one place after another on foot. But
later on in life, he used to go also by cars and trains. Once he was
visiting a place called Bandikui in Rajasthan. In Bandikui, my youn-
ger brother was living who was a District Magistrate. One day a lawyer
friend of his told him that a great saint had come, so he should go
and have his darshan. My mother had been suffering from paralysis
for 22 years. Therefore my brother always used to go to these saints
and ask for a cure and blessings for my mother, but nothing had helped
so far. After my brother arrived at Mahendra Maharaja's place and
had his darshan, he realized that he was a great saint as well as a
great man with much knowledge. And my brother requested him to
come to his house the next day. Mahendra Maharaja replied: "Yes,
I'll see." The next day, Mahendra Maharaja came
early in the morning,
with one of his followers to my house.
My mother was totally bedridden and could not move at all. When
Mahendra Maharaja blessed her, touching her, what did we see? The
next moment, she sat up in bed by herself! My brother then requested:
"Mahendra Maharaja, please cure her completely," but Mahendra
Maharaja said: "That is enough. Whatever had to be done, as much
as she could be cured, I have done." Mahendra Maharaja then talked
to my father, asking him: "How many sons do you have?" Then he
also asked about the family. My father replied: "I have two sons: my
elder son I have taught Sanskrit, and this is my second son whom
I have taught law and he is a magistrate. We are a brahmin family

of a town called Alwar and our family is the family of the 'raga gurus'
(teachers of princes, heredetary advisors of the royal family). They
used to perform all priestly functions at the court." (Shastriji belongs
Mahendra Maharaja
to this family of princely advisors. His father told
nowadays the maharajas were no more, so he worked and his son also
worked and that was how they ran the family.)
After some time, Mahendra Maharaja wanted to leave for Vrin-
daban, so my father, my brother and some servants took him to the
railway station. And as luck would have it, I came by the same train
from Alwar (Rajgarh). As I stepped onto the platform, I was surprised
to see my father, brother and servants with a bearded saint— obviously,

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 PURE JOY

the saints wear safron clothes, so I understood him to be a saint. I

wondered who was this man and quickly went to offer my respects
to my father who said: "Son, here is a great saint, bow to him." With-
out asking a single question, I fell at his feet to offer my pranams,
but he just took me in his arms, embraced me and, calling me by
my name, said: "Oh brother Vishnu, now I have met you!" So as the
train started to move, my brother asked Mahendra Maharaja when
he would see him again, to which he replied: "After one month, when
you both will be together in one place, I will come and give you dar-
shan." And exactly on the thirtieth day, my brother was transferred
from Bandikui to our native town of Rajgarh where I used to live.

After that, I had many experiences and witnessed more miracles with
Mahendra Maharaja. One day I will share them with you; now I just
want to speak to you of my first meeting with Mahendra Maharaja.
What has he not given me! One day in Rajgarh, Mahendra
Maharaja just touched my head and from that moment onwards, I
started composing poems in Sanskrit which is a very difficult thing
to do —but they just started to flow through me. And he said: "Today
is the eighth day of the new moon and the Divine Mother's grace is

on you, so whatever you want to write, start writing." After that,

whenever I would sit down to write, a kind of plate of written words
used to appear before me, and I would just copy it and keep on writ-
ing. And within ten days I wrote my first book called "Sadguru

Kusumanjali." I took this book and offered it to Mahendra Maharaja

in Vrindaban. And when Mahendra Maharaja had read the book,
he said: "I'm very happy. You have written like the great old master
poets of India, like Kali Das and all the others. Your language is as
good as theirs, if not better. You have written everything I wanted
the world to know about my Lord Haidiyakhandi." Then he wrote
a letter to Mr. Vora, a publisher in Bombay to publish this book
immediately. And Mahendra Maharaja made one comment: "Son,
your Sanskrit poems are beautiful, beyond fault, but your Hindi trans-
lation is not as good as it should be. I would like you to write in such
a manner that, after 450 years, the world will say that 'yes, he was
"
another TulsidasV
After that I stopped writing in Sanskrit and concentrated on writ-
ing in Hindi. It just kept on flowing. Then, during the nine-day festival

167
 SONDRA RAY

of the Divine Mother, Navratri, Mahendra Maharaja sent someone

to call me to come to Vrindabar. And it was the night of the seventh
day of the festival. When I went and offered him my pranams, he
said: "Now the time has come when you can start writing poems in

Hindi as well." So I requested him, saying: "Please, give me some out-

line for this book/' And he turned and took a small photograph from
the shelf and that photograph was of the old Haidakhan Baba and
it was covered by garlands. So he removed the garlands and took that

photo and gave it to me. He also gave me the garlands and said to
me: "Now go back home and put this garland on your little daugh-
ter (whom he had named Saraswati). She will tell you what to write."

Saraswati was then four years old. When I had arrived, as I was
instructed by Mahendra Maharaja, I put the garlands on my four-
year-old daughter Saraswati, and the moment I put the garlands on
—
her neck— she could not walk, so I was carrying her she felt for my
pen. So I took it out and from that time outwards, my daughter would
just come, draw all kinds of lines on the blank paper that was lying

there. Every day she would draw all kinds of lines, straight, crossed,

or anything on several sheets of paper and I would just fill up as many

pages with beautiful poetry. And as I would come to the last page
which she had marked and made her lines, she would come running
from where she had been playing outside and say: "Give me the pen,"
and she would again draw more lines on five, ten pages, so I kept
on writing. And the whole of my family was amazed at what was
happening. This was the happiest period of my life because at that
time, Mahendra Maharaja visited my house at least 40 times. And
whenever he came, he would say, "Come on, write, finish it off quickly,

because when Sri Mahaprabhuji comes, when will you find the time
to write? Finish it as quickly as you can, don't be late!" And my
brother, who was a great devotee of Mahendra Maharaja, used to come
and visit Mahendra Maharaja every Saturday and then go back to
his work. He said to Mahendra Maharaja:
"You make my brother write
all these pages but without the presence of the deity, how will peo-
ple understand who He is? There should be a murti (statue) deity
about whom you are writing."
Mahendra Maharaja instructed my brother to go to Jaipur and there,
my brother got three statues made and brought them to Mahendra

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 PURE JOY

Maharaja. Then the question arose where these murtis should be

installed. A place called Kathgharia near Haldwani was selected and
there a temple was built and the murti of old Haidakhan Baba was
installed. According to the Christian calendar this was in 1958. And
the night before the installation, thousands of people were there for
this ceremony. A divine light was seen by all of them which had the
form of Babaji. And these thousands of people, men, women, chil-

dren, all saw this with their own eyes, going into ecstasy on seeing
this manifestation of Babaji appearing before them. Mahendra
Maharaja called out: "He is here, He is here! The eternal form of Lord
Shiva, Lord Haidiyakhandi is here!"
In 1969 my brother died in Ganapur while he held the post of Dis-
trict Judge. I wrote a letter to Mahendra Maharaja saying that "your
servant my brother, has died and I am without any sup-
and devotee,
port now." My brother left his body on June 10, 1969, and my letter
reached Mahendra Maharaja on June 23, 1969. When he read my
letter, tears started streaming from his eyes and he said: "When such
a good devotee of mine is no more, what am I doing living in this

world?" And he left his body, and in 1970 Sri Mahaprabhuji appeared,
and on February 25, 1971, He was brought to Vrindaban. And this
date, February 25, is the 12th day after leaving His body (= Sri
Mahaprabhuji ie. February 14, 1984). And for 13 years Sri Mahaprab-
huji kept on giving darshan sitting on His asana in Vrindaban. He
went and gave darshan in many places, but these were the two main
—
places where He resided Haidakhan and Vrindaban.
Mahendra Maharaja used to keep on praying to Sri Mahaprabhuji:
"Oh Lord, please come on earth and be involved with us, because
when you are not involved with us, you are beyond the human mind,
beyond the human race, and if you come down to this earth and you
are with us, you can lift us up."
Sri Mahaprabhuji performed thousands of small yagnas, but His
great yagnas were 171 in number, in which thousands of people par-
ticipated, ate the bandharas. Hundreds of quintals of offerings were
given into the sacred fires. And who has the capacity to bring down
the Divine Supreme Being, the Divine Supreme Brahma, from up
there to this earth? The great tapasya and self-sacrifice of Mahendra
Maharaja could do this! And for just a minute manifestation, or for

169
 SONDRA RAY

a minute realization of the Supreme Divine Being, great sages have

spent life after life in penance, in prayer. But with the prayer of Mahen-
dra Maharaja, Sri Mahaprabhuji was brought down to this earth and
we had the privilege and grace to see Him day after day for 13 years!
And when Sri Mahaprabhuji wanted to reveal Himself to someone,
even though that person was very far away, He gave that person indi-
cations revealing Himself to him or her, but when He did not want
to reveal Himself, even those who were very close and lived with Him
for 24 hours did not see anythng. His sole purpose of coming was to
give grace to mankind. And every day, as long as He was here on this
earth, He spent all His time, all 24 hours, to propagate "Om Namaha
Shivaya," karma yoga, and the fire-ceremony, as you all have witnessed
when you visited Him. In between His teaching karma yoga, the fire
ceremony and "Om Namaha Shivaya," Sri Mahaprabhuji often used
to emphasize that very bad times were coming and that there would
be a revolution. And to counteract this great revolution, that it might
wipe us out, we should partake in the great spiritual revolution. And
the only way of not being wiped out by this great revolution is to par-
ticipate in the great spiritual revolution by repeating the great man-
"Om Namaha Shivaya," by doing puja offering devotion
tras, like —
and worship. These are the only three things which can save man
from the catastrophe. Whenever Sri Mahaprabhuji used to come out
of His rooms —
many of you who were in Haidakhan will have heard
this call: BE ALERT! BE PREPARED!
And as He has taught us —we must change our hearts for the bet-
ter. Once the bad heart changes into a good heart, from individuals
to nations, there will not be any war but peace among nations. And
if mankind is to be saved, Sri Mahaprabhuji appeared before and had
told us, it is He had come to give us blessing and showed
possible, since

us the path, then we must change our hearts, we must take part in
the spiritual revolution. Only then can we be saved. Shastriji has just
quoted Mahendra Maharaja who had written that by a change of
heart, the face of the earth can be changed. The change of the heart
can change kranti into shanti (kranti — Hindi word for revolution,
shanti — Hindi word for peace). And as great scientists are working
every minute of their waking hours to create nuclear and other
weapons to destroy mankind, the same way you should be partaking

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 PURE JOY

in this great effort of repeating "Om Namah Shivay" or any other

great mantra that you want to recite, and with this force, change the
course of annihilation into peace. For spiritual strength is much greater,
thousands times greater than material might. Sri Mahaprabhuji
appeared to us for the benefit of mankind, to give all the good man-
kind was lacking. He wanted harmony and for mankind to be one
family, only that there should be no class or caste distinctions. He
wanted all the world to live together in harmony. Every country, all

nations should be brothers. There should be no distinctions between

colours, black or white or yellow. Everybody in harmony, unitedly,
enjoy this beautiful creation of the Lord. And as you all have gathered
here and are doing this beautiful job in this most beautiful place, the
same way, spread the message of Sri Mahaprabhuji, of truth, sim-
plicity and love to the maximum amount of people, to all corners of

the world and start gathering together in harmony, in peace, in love

and truth and simplicity, to live in that manner and unite the world
as one big family. And at the end of every speech, Sri Mahaprabhuji
always used to say: "Be fearless and the moment that you become
fearless, nothing on this earth can touch you, no catastrophe, no other

adverse force can touch you!"

BHOLE BABA KI JAI!
JAI MAHA MAYA KI JAI!
JAI MAHAPRABHUJI KI JAI!
JAI VISHWA!

MAY 11, 1985

Shastriji answers questions.

Bhole Baba Ki Jai! To the people who are dwelling in Switzerland,

ladies and gentlemen, I'm very happy to stand before you today.
For thousands and thousands of years, the soul comes and moves
around Today we are all here, assembled and so many souls
this earth.

are here and nobody knows who was whose father, who was whose
daughter, who was whose brother, since we have no awareness of that.

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 SONDRA RAY

We keep on coming and keep on moving from one place to another,

from one life to another, without knowledge of the past.

I don't know what the reason is that has brought me here from
thousands of miles away, I came here. What the relation is I have
with you all, or what the relation is you all have with each other,
all who have come here. But there is definitely some mystery to it.

It is the most divine grace of Lord Haidiyakhandi, and the Divine

Mother Siddheshwari Devi. The grace of Sri Mahaprabhuji made it
came here, and the most magnificent attraction of the
possible that I
Divine Mother brought me here. This is certain.
Indeed, coming here, I received great joy and happiness to see that
in this world there are still people who are simple in their devotion
and simple in their hearts. With that divine grace of Sri Mahaprab-
huji, it was made possible that the hymn to the Divine Mother Haidak-

handeshwari Devi was published and translated, due to the great effort
Malti and Sheila put into translating it. It is not of little significance
that this has happened, but is a great event that this hymn to the Divine
Mother has been published, for once it reaches all people, it will drown
them with the great mystic power that it has.
I would like to ask your forgiveness but would like to say that in
spite of your being able to spend millions of francs or dollars or what-
ever you want to spend, you won't be able to produce a Milton or
a Shakespeare here at this moment, if you wanted to. The same way,
even if we spent millions of rupees, we would not be able to produce
our great poets Tulsidas or Surdas today. In like manner it is only Sri
Mahaprabhuji' s divine grace that this old servant of His is before you
today. When you will start reading this book, you will remember in
your heart and in your mind: "Yes, we have seen the old man who
has created this work," and you will also say: "This old man visited
our country." And I can assure you of one thing: that if you read this
book "Haidiyakhandi Sapta Sati" with concentrated mind, you will
most certainly feel the presence of the Divine Mother before you. I'm
not just saying this for the sake of saying it, and whatever I say is

being recorded. It is my faith and my belief and my promise to you,

that the Divine Mother will manifest Herself and reveal to you what-
ever She wants to tell you before you, if you have faith and if you

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read this book with devotion. And the time is coming when you will
all feel the taste of the yoga of devotion.
It is a most auspicious occasion that I have been able to say a few
words and express the feeling in my heart to you. Now I would like
to throw some light on the way you all are doing kirtan with devotion.
You all have been singing with great devotion and love "Haidiyak-
handi, Haidiyakhandi, Haidiyakhandi sata chita ananda bol." In this
there is three times the repetition of "Haidiyakhandi." And to fill the
metre of this "Haidiyakhandi, Haidiyakhandi, Haidiyakhandi bol,"
match them.
there are in the next lines exactly three words given to
The first one is that Haidiyakhandi is the Supreme Divine. The sec-
ond one is that Haidiyakhandi is the divine consciousness, and the
third one is that Haidiyakhandi has the form of joy, happiness; that
is, it gives complete happiness.
And the second stanza is "Samba Sadashiva, Samba Sadashiva,
Samba Sadashiva bol," related with the word "palaka" which means
"the one who takes care, who looks after things, the Haidiyakhandi
who looks after the whole world." The second word relates to "prer-
aka." "Prerak" means "to inspire" which is the "Haidiyakhandi who
inspires you to do something." And the third one is "jagapati."
"Jagapati" means the "Lord of the whole universe, master of all the
worlds." And what a kirtan full of devotion it is, how much feeling
it expresses! Nothing is left out. So why should one go anywhere else

to get anything, what will one get elsewhere?

The Lord Haidiyakhandi, Sri Mahaprabhuji, blesses you with His
divine grace that you may all prosper, be happy, healthy, wealthy,
wise, and lead a fulfilled life. May all your desires be fulfilled and
may you get the blessings to be at His lotus feet always. You wanted
to ask some questions, but I'm not a very learned man who knows
everything, I'm just a humble servant at the Lord's feet. Yet I will
try and give answers to the questions which have been sent to us; Sheela
will read them to me, and then in short I will try to answer them.
The first question is: "How can I help nature and the dying trees
without joining an organization?"
Nature and man, both are external, man that is the Universal Self.
Whatever nature lacks, whatever are negative qualities nature has
to suffer from, no man can remedy, only the Supreme Brahman (Self,

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 SONDKA RAY

God) can take care of it. The only solution that could be given is that
you should all pray to the Divine: "Please let there be the rainfall

of your nectar." Only then could it be saved. It is only pollution that

has occurred with man's progressing technology as the reason for all

this destructionhappening to nature.

Babaji has spoken of great changes on the earth: "Where there are
mountains, there will be sea; where there is sea, mountains will rise.
Will it be suddenly over the whole earth, and when will this be?"
This creation has been there since billions of years, so it will not
disappear like a soap bubble. Even to break up a huge rock, it takes
a lot of time. There are all kinds of changes that do occur on this
earth, but there won't be any sudden changes at any time. There are
The first type is day by day change
three types of changes, of "pralaya."
These are changes that are happening already always. The second
one is long-term effect pralaya (khanda pralaya). The changes of this
could be happening due to earthquakes, for instance, and that is also
happening in many places. The last one is mahapralaya total dis- —
solution of creation at the end of tima In the place where Sri Shas-
triji lives, in Rajasthan in Central India, this last type happened. Once,
suddenly thousands of buildings just collapsed and all over the place
there was just water and nothing else. So these kind of changes do
occur, although we are not aware of them every day, but still they
happen. For the great Divine Being, for the Universal Self, one day
is equal to millions of years of our time. When we count ten thou-
sand years, this is just one twinkle of an eye for the Divine Mother.
When She blinks, it is equal to ten thousand years of our time. What
Sri Mahaprabhuji predicted, if you try to interpret it according to
your Swiss timing, you will certainly be mistaken. It won't happen,
because what He spoke of was on a universal level: pralaya will hap-
pen, but it will take some time.
The third question is: "I read a book that says that the centre of
the earth is being prepared as refuge for higher extra terrestial beings
for the coming possible holocaust and that this will be for the people
who are devoted to God and will so be prepared more fully for the
New Age. Is this true?"
As we are on this earth, there are six other worlds (lokas) above
us. The first one that is "bhu loka," the earth. Above that is "bhuva

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 PURE JOY

loka," the third one is "svaha loka ," the fourth one is the "maha loka,"
then there is "gyana loka," and then the seventh, last one, is the "satya
loka." Over all these seven worlds there is the world which has been
imagined by the mind as "manashakti," the residing place of the Divine
Mother, "manipura." So you must imagine that as on this earth, we
are being governed by different governments and many programs,
so many things are happening every moment, every day, year after
year, the same way, in all the different worlds above us, every day,
every moment something or the other is happening. And that is why
in the Vedas, it is quoted that like the pores of your body, so in each
pore of the Universal Self there are billions of universes. So what is

this universe? It has a relative significance The real form is the greatest
of great Universal Selves is that in each pore of His skin, there are
billions of universes.

The fourth question is: "Is there still, in a hidden place in the
Himalayas, Babaji physically present? Can one go there and have His
darshan?"
Sri Mahaprabhuji, Babaji, is not hidden in the Himalayas only. He
is everywhere, all over the universe, in every atom as the Infinite Being,
and it is your love and devotion which will make Him manifest before
you any moment when your devotion and love will call for it. If there
were to be one person amongst us like Mahendra Maharaja, Sri

Mahaprabhuji would not be able to refrain from physically being with

us. Is there anyone like that among us?
The fifth question"What is the significance of the trishul?"
is:

Thetrident, or trishul, is the chief weapon of Lord Shiva. It has

three points — this is why it is called the trident, or trishul. Lord Shiva
uses this trishul, this trident, as a weapon for removing the three thorns
which are in the hearts of His disciples. They are the spiritual thorn,
and the second one is the thorn that has come accidentally from the
Divine, and the third one is the thorn which has come to you by acci-
dent from nature. Shiva uses this trident to pick out this thorn from
your body like you extract a thorn from a banana. The trishul is a
weapon and is always in Lord Shiva's hands. Lord Shiva is consid-
ered the master of weaponry. There are two types of weapons: one
is called "shastra" and one is called "astra." The trishul is a shastra,
a weapon which you keep in your hands without letting it go from

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 SONDRA RAY

your hand. Astra is a weapon which is like a bullet, which comes from
the rifle, destroying whatever you want to destroy. When you read
Indian religious books, you will come to understand the meaning been
given to things, that Lord Shiva is always shown moving with the
trident in His hand, to protect His devotees from accidents with the
three things we talked about, the spiritual thorn, nature's thorn, and
the divine thorn. Further the three gunas (qualities), the "sattwa guna,"
the "raja guna," and the "tarn as guna" are there since the creation
of the worlds and Shiva uses the trishul to discipline nature with these
gunas or qualities (= to restore its balance). With the trishul, the
"damru" (drum) is always shown which we play during aarati. I'm
sure you all it and it is always tied to the trishul. Lord Shiva
have seen
has used thisdamru to create language, the sounds of all the languages.
From the damru comes the original sound, or sounds. And when Lord
Shiva saw that the worlds, the universe was to be created, He also
saw how it would be created. From ether came the word, for the word
is sound. This was the first creation of the universe. It is said in the

Vedas that when the universe was created, Lord Shiva started to dance,
saying "Om Namaha Shivay . . . Om Namaha Shivay," and He danced
the "tandava" dance. Lord Shiva repeated "Om Namaha Shivay" in
His heart. When Lord Shiva played the damru, the word that came
out was a Sanskrit word of 14 letters. What Shastriji just said, I can
never say in seven lifetimes. These 14 letters (Shastriji will repeat them
again) were what came out when Lord Shiva played the damru. And
from these 14 letters, Panini, Katayayani and Patanjali created the
14 sutras and the whole grammar of all languages. And it is said that
from these 14 letters the great grammar of the Sanskrit language would
be created for mankind to use in all times to come.
The sixth question is: "What is the significance of chandan and
its colours?"
In chandan, the yellow colour gives prosperity, it increases
prosperity. And the red spot made in the centre, on the "ajna" chakra,
is the seat of the Divine Mother and is being put there to give protec-
tion to that chakra. And the rice that is placed on the red spot is to
give satisfaction to the soul. Many times you put the rice but it will
fall off. Somewhere you can't stop and are not even aware of where
it

it has fallen. It is the greatest sacrifice of its kind. About this there

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is a story: One day Parvatiji, Lord Shiva's wife, applied chandan and
then put the red spot (kumkum) on and then rice. Lord Shiva and
it

His wife then went for a long, long drive, and when they came back
again, the box with chandan, kumkum and rice in it was opened.
To that box however there was now an end which is life's end. And
Lord Shiva said to Parvatiji: "Before this end was put into this box,
food was already supplied to it, to keep it alive. In the same way the
Lord provides milk for a child before the child is born, whether it's
a human child, or an animal, to keep it alive, the Lord gives milk
into the mother's breast and for the animals it is the same." Secondly,
Lord Shiva is also the Lord of food. Sri Shastriji just recited this mantra
from the Yayur Veda, in which it is written that every grain of food
has the element of the Divine, the Absolute Self (Brahman) in it,

because it gives life.

The seventh question is: "How do the mantras work on the body:
Om Namaha Shivaya, Om Haidiyakhandi, and Om Hrim Shrim
Haidakhandeshwaryai Namaha!"
I have mentioned before that whatever is outside in the universe,
is also in the body. The same way, there is a place for each deity in
the human body. It has its place there, like Lord Shiva, like Lord
Haidiyakhandi, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, the Divine Mother,
Isamasai = Jesus Christ, all the divine beings, all the gods have a
place, a seat in the human body. And the maker of this body has also
given keys to these different places and these keys have different
numbers — the mantras, to open the places with these keys, so as to
reach that particular God. Sri Shastriji says that these different let-

ters and these different words have different ways of reaching differ-
ent places of your body through all the channels of your veins, carried
along by the five airs "vyana," "apana," "prana," "udana," "samana."
And they pierce through with your breathing cycles, reaching the
places that when you say a particular mantra like Krishna, Rama,
Hrim, the sound for the Divine Mother. So every mantra, every let-

ter has way of getting collected through your breathing at one spot,
a
piercing that spot and reaching the deity residing there. And by repeat-
edly repeating this mantra, this name, you create a sort of a collec-
tion of energy there, and the key fits the lock and the number of the
lock opens. And the greatest of great yogis used to do this kriya, this

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 SONDXA RAY

work, to open the different chakras by repeating these mantras. But

the sages of ancient times realized that by doing these different man-
tras to reach different gods, it will take a very, very long time. So they
started experimenting with different letters, with different mantras,
and they created many, many mantras, to see which was the quick-
est, fastest way to reach that spot —
and it is the same way that we
are trying to develop all the nuclear weapons: all the scientists of the
world are concentrating on finding out how to create the most expe-
dient weapon. The same way these mantras can act. Om Haidiyak-
handi (three times) is the ultimate Divine Mother, the great knowledge
and mistress of all the ten great types of knowledge. In this world
there are different kinds of religions, different kinds of people and
they all believe in God in different aspects, by different names, but
the Divine Mother the whole world acknowledges, and Her worship
is offered with the same kind of ritual everywhere. And you will ask
how and why?
You will see in the early morning all the young children, girls and
boys, will all collect their books and get ready to go to school. And
when it is office-time, all the doctors, judges, all the lawyers, and
all the businessmen will pick up their files and go to their offices.
And this identical system exists in Russia, America, India, Switzer-
land, Japan, everywhere. And this is the worship of the Divine Mother
Saraswati who is the chief giver of all knowledge. She is the mistress
of knowledge. And whether it is in India, Russia or any other part
of the world, all the children, the elders, in order to gain knowledge,
have to to their place of work with their books, they have to pray
to the Divine Mother called Saraswati. And the world over, all

businessmen go to their factories, their offices, their shops, or wher-

ever, they all worship the Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of money.
And the world over, all businessmen have the same attitude, that when
a customer comes, he is talking to a customer, I mean explaining every-
thing to him, but in his mind he has this one thought: "The sooner
I sellhim my goods and the sooner I get his money into my pocket,
the better it is." This is the same everywhere, a kind of sadhana, like
the yogis who are sitting and waiting, doing their sadhana to reach
Brahma, the same way a businessman is sitting at his place of work
from morning till evening, trying to get your money into his pocket.

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 PURE JOY

This is the worship of Mahalakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity. All

the armies in the world, every defense budget, is being established
to create new weapons, and all armies are doing their marching "left-
right-left-right" every day without fail, and they are guarding all the
borders, and you will see the soldiers trying out new weapons, new
guns, new tanks, new aeroplanes are being flown and new atom bombs
and nuclear weapons are being created every day, the world over. Isn't
this thesadhana of Mahakali, the Goddess of destruction? And all
the world over, each and every human being, in some form or other,
does a sadhana, offering worship to the Divine Mother, Saraswati,
the Goddess of knowledge, Mahalakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity,
and Mahakali, the Goddess of destruction. There is no exception in
this anywhere The only difference is how and where, in which manner

you offer your worship. There are different forms and different rituals,
that's all, but otherwise the whole world is offering, worshipping that

divine energy of Paramba, the great Divine Mother.

The eighth question is: "What is kriya yoga? I want to learn it."

What Sri Mahaprabhuji said about kriya yoga is being translated

into English by Srimati Malti Devi, and very soon this book will be
published and you can read it and find out what kriya yoga is. It

is a big book of 1300 pages and it will take a little longer than Haidik-
handi Sapta Shati to translate, but it will be ready very soon.
The ninth question is: "What is mansa yoga? It was taught by
Mahendra Maharaja and why does it not get emphasized?"
This, Sri Mahaprabhuji with His own divine lips has explained also
in the same book which is being translated by Malti. And I'm indeed
grateful to you all for listening to me all these days with such con-
centration,and accepting whatever I said in my broken language and
giving me so much love and attention. I would like to express my grati-
tude to you and give you this, that you may prosper, may you always
remain with your devotion in the presence of Lord Sri Mahaprabhuji.
BHOLE BABA KI JAI!
JAI MAHA MAYA KI JAI!
JAI VISHWA!

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 SONDRA RAY

Sundar Singh speaking:

I would like to thank Shastriji for the very great teaching he has
given us during these afternoons. I feel that his knowledge is just end-
less and we are getting the deepest truth. I also feel that I found a
teacher as never before in my life in these few days and I want to
thank him so much for that.
For information: Contact Sundar Singh (with his family pictured
above) at: SCHWEIBENNALP, Chalet Zimmer Massenlager, 3855
Brienz, Switzerland, (036 513289).
For information on going to India in my group, contact Ramloti,
(719) 256-4108.

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 CHAPTER 13

CLOSING
Finding the Australia Within You

I wrote this book in Australia, a country I love dearly. Of course each

country of the world has a special place in my heart, and each brings
me something unique Now I bring you the energy of Australia.
A Japanese teacher once said, "India is the roots, China is the trunk,
Japan is the branches and trees, and Australia is the fruit." Maharishi,
founder of the Transcendental Meditation Movement, has said that
Australia will be the first country to get totally enlightened in the
New Age. And many other people say that Australia is the "future."
Of course, anywhere could be the future at any time, but it behooves
us to consider what is going on in Australia at this time and incor- —
porate that energy now.
Australia is a beautiful, self-supporting country that, among other
things, can boast the presence of Ayer's Rock — the largest rock in the
world. But it is no ordinary rock, not by any means. It is a rock made
of iron — a magnet — a power chakra and major spiritual center that
is sometimes called the "Solar Plexus of the Earth." Recently, Ayer's
Rock was ceded back to the Australian Aborigines.
Now, in considering Australia and its spiritual energies, we have
to think about the Aborigines — the oldest surviving "race" or "cul-
ture" of humans on earth, having been around for something like

75,000 years! I am in awe of the fact that the Aborigines had a natural
spiritual purification of their own through "fire ecology." They

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SONDRA RAY

consciously started bush fires for the purpose of regeneration. (Babaji

has spoken often about the importance of this type of purification
by fire.)

Along with this ancient culture, Australia also encompasses such

newness, such aliveness right now. It's a unique spirit — a freedom
from tension, a willingness to enjoy the moment, to party, to have
fun now. When I was considering a retreat
work on this book, I
to
discussed the many possible locations with a Kahuna from Hawaii.
Australia became the obvious choice I was already heading in that
direction on a tour. Why not go two weeks early to some remote spot?
In a flash it was decided. And one telephone call later I was offered
a resort house two-and-a-half hours from Melbourne, in the little beach
town of Sorrento. Since the resort hose was owned by Anne Le Souef
the Center Manager of the Melbourne LRT at the time, I felt right
at home.
Being there reminded me of my hometown. I grew up in Grafton,
Iowa— population of 300. There, people were warm, sincere, simple,
and wonderful.
Since I was there to "retreat," I spent a great deal of my time fast-
ing and remaining in solitude. For the first week I did nothing but
my devotions — chanting, meditation, studying A Course in Miracles,
rebirthing, and doing Ho'OTono Pono. I had no book in mind when
I went though I knew that one was "coming." I was about to
there,

"conceive." I decided not to control the situation. I tried to be com-

pletely open. Usually, I have a book in mind that I want to write,
often with the outline completely done before I go into solitude, but
in Australia, it wasn't like that. This time was different. I was trying
to surrender to God more, to the moment, to the energy there.
I asked my teacher, Babaji, to guide me.
In one meditation, I heard the instruction, "You must teach peo-
ple to love God more."
"What a great assignment!" I thought.
"Well, then, what is the title?" I asked.
Then heard the words: Pure Joy. And I was thrilled.
I

So I began to work, and after ten days, I knew I was on the right
track because Babaji paid me a visit one night on the astral plane—
was suddenly "going to India." I was flabbergasted, because I had

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 PURE JOY

actually visited India twice just the year before. I couldn't believe
that was going back so soon. Then, suddenly I was there, and there
I

he was. He called me up to him in front of a large group of people

and told me to sit next to him. I was very startled to see that he had
a ball of fire in his left hand, coming right out of his palm. When
I sat down next to him, he placed the fire on the ground.

I probably wouldn't have remembered this experience on the astral

plane, except that just as it was happening, I was startled into wak-
ing consciousness by a loud crashing on the roof. It sounded as if trees
were falling onto the cottage. I sat straight up in bed and realized
that there were no trees falling. And then I knew that Babaji had
awakened me with this "noise'— so that I would remember the astral
plane experience with complete and vivid recall. I felt as if I'd had
a "fire purification." I was in an altered state. My body cleared. I
was very inspired to continue writing and was flooded with enthusi-
asm and creative energy.
There is a "light" in Australia that can not be denied or extinguished.
There is a real willingness to "go for it!" I have been very impressed
with the rapid success of the Loving Relationships Training there. I

truly acknowledge Vince and Yve Betar (who are now trainers of the
LRT) for opening the Melbourne Center and for successfully passing
it on to Jennifer Blackie and Anne Le Souef, and I acknowledge all

the graduates who have chosen to share the message of the LRT in
their country. I acknowledge all those who helped start the Sydney
Center also.

There's an attitude in Australia that I really like. The people there

will use the phrase, "No worries, mate," which means no problem,
it's handled. Another saying is, "She'll be right!'— which means that
everything will be okay. Other phrases include: "Fair Dinkum," which
means True; "For Real," or "Ultimate Truth . . . sealed," which are
both common comments and greetings.
Australia is booming. There is a tremendous amount of space (Aus-
tralia has a land mass the size of the United States minus only the
area of Washington state and the population of New York state), and
there is so much and everyone knows there is enough.
air to breathe
There's a longing for the truth and a real response to the truth. There
is an opportunity to purify oneself very quickly in Australia.

185
 SONDRA RAY

One of my psychic friends said to me that Australia has a "spleen

energy—an energy of encouragement, support, and enthusiasm. Let's
incorporate that spirit again and again in ourselves, that spirit which
is always available everywhere.

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 PURE JOY

Prayers for the Closing of This Book

I accept the Atonement for myself

I place what I think under the guidance of the Holy Spirit
I commend my Spirit into the hands of the Father
I offer my faith to the Holy Spirit
I choose to be led by the Holy Spirit in Christ's Service
May the mind be in me that was also in Christ
I allow the Holy Spirit to undo all my wrong-thinking
I return my whole mind to God

Ending

"There one thought in particular that should be remembered

is

throughout the day. It is a thought of PURE JOY: a thought of

peace, a thought of limitless release, limitless because all things
are freed within."

—A Course in Miracles,
Teacher's Manual

187
 RESOURCES
For ordering pictures of Babaji and tapes, write or call:

Haidakhandi Universal
Ashram
P.O. Box 9
Crestone, CO 81131
(719) 256-4108

The following bodyworkers are highly recommended. Their specialties

are noted in parentheses after their names:

Don McFarland (Body Harmony) Dr. Michael Faila (Chiropractic)

1535 Sixth St. (103) 1666 E. Olive
Santa Monica, CA 90401 Seattle, WA
(213) 393-6900 (206) 323-1666

Patrick Collard (Body Thought Dr. Joe Adler (Chiropractic)

Release) 350 Central Park West
413 Ave Teresa New York, NY 10025
San Clemente, CA 92672 (212) 749-7110

Kermit Stick (Rolfing) Terry Milligan (Past Life Work &

3876 Bridgeway N. Adjustment)
Seattle, WA Box 6092
(206) 547-8382 Marietta, GA 30065
(404) 422-5691

189
 SONDRA RAY

Recommended Reading
The Autobiography of a Yogi, by Pramahnsa Yogananda (Los Angeles, CA: Self
Realization Fellowship, 1974).

Beyond Mortal Boundaries, by Annalee Skarin (Marina del Rey, CA: De Vorss
& Co., 1972).

A Course in Miracles, (Tiburon, CA: Foundation for Inner Peace, 1975).

The Door of Everything, by Ruby Nelson (Marina del Rey, CA: De Vorss & Co.,
1963).

From Here to Greater Happiness, by Joel M. Teutsch and Champion K. Teutsch

(Los Angeles, CA: Price Stern Sloan, Inc., 1975).

The Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East, Volumes 1-5, by Baird
T.Spalding (Marina del Rey, CA: De Vorss & Co., 1924-1955).

New Teachings for an Awakening Humanity, edited by Virginia Essene (Santa

Clara, CA: S.E.E. Publishing Co., 1986).

Starseed Transmissions: An Extraterrestial Report, by Raphael (Kansas City, MO:

UNI-SUN, 1983).

Vision, by Ken Carey (Walpole, NH: Stillpoint Publishing, 1986).

Ye Are Gods, by Annalee Skarin (Marina del Rey, CA: De Vorss & Co., 1973).

Books by Sondra Ray

Celebration of Breath (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1983).

Drinking the Dit>ine(Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1984).

/ Deserve Love (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1976).

Ideal Birth (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1985).

Loving Relationships (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1980).

The Only Diet There Is (Berkeley, CA: 1981).

Rebirthing in the New Age, co-authored with Leonard Orr (Berkeley, CA: Celes-
tial Arts, 1983).

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 PURE JOY

Books by Bob Mandel

Open Heart Therapy (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1984).

Two Hearts Are Better Than One (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1986).

Co-Authored by Sondra Ray and Bob Mandel

Birth and Relationships (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1987).

The Loving Relationships Training

The Loving Relationships Training (LRT) is produced by

Guided Productions, Inc. By using this name we recognize
that our job is to serve a higher purpose and to be guided
by something bigger than ourselves. At this time, there are
four partners in Guided Productions Bob Mandel, Mallie —
Mandel, Fredric Lehrman, and myself.

For information on the Loving Relationships Training, please

call us at our toll-free number: 1-800-INTL-LRT
(1-800-468-5578).

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$9.95 ISBN 0-89087-491-3

Life
can be filled with pure joy and love,
and there are many spiritual practices, thoughts, and sacred texts to help us find that

joy. Here the author of Loving Relationships and The Only Diet There Is shares

her discoveries of the many spiritual practices available to help us on our upward
paths— practices learned during Sondra's life-long spiritual quest and leadership and
her incredible spiritual journey through India.

In addition to Sondra's inspirational writing, Pure Joy also contains essays written

by staffers of the LovirigRelationships Training, offering additional insights and

guidance on ways to find and maintain a life filled with love and joy at its purest.

CELESTIALARTS
Berkeley. C a I i
J o r n i a