Tony Chester (Shiva) will speak on “Facing your issues in order to progress spiritually”. Shiva has written about his time with Rama in his book, “The Fast Path” and he has an evolving E-book “Anthology, a collection of flowers”. In addition [...]]]> “Facing your issues in order to progress spiritually”

Sunday, May 13, 2 p.m. EDT

Tony Chester (Shiva) will speak on “Facing your issues in order to progress spiritually”. Shiva has written about his time with Rama in his book, “The Fast Path” and he has an evolving E-book “Anthology, a collection of flowers”. In addition to his teaching and writing, he also does a weekly Internet meditation (satsang) on Thursday nights. For more information on Shiva, his books, programs and his upcoming Pilgrimage on the Summer Solstice: http://clearlightcommunity.com.

This is a conference call / interview / lecture format (similar to our Career Workshops) suitable for new and old students, teachers and potential supporters. The calls will last an hour to an hour and a half. We’ll include time for questions at the end and the calls will be recorded.

Call in number:  (712) 432-0075

Access Code: 452990#.

Skype Steps 1) Dial “FreeConferencing.7124320075″, 2) Click ‘Call’ to dial into the conference, 3) Locate the Key Pad and enter access code 452990 when prompted ['current version of skype, top bar, lozenge, with key pad']

To learn more about the American Buddhism lecture series please visit the Rama Meditation Soceity Forums pages.

Shiva will be returning for an evening of Love, Light and Meditation. Make plans to attend and bring a friend for this powerful night of Enlightenment.

Donations gratefully accepted

Sounds familiar? If it [...]]]> A friend recently posted this:
“I’ll likely figure out just what I am going to do with my life when I am dead, or too old for it to make any difference. For now I will just follow this meandering crazy ass path and try not to biff it too often.”

Sounds familiar? If it does, then you are in good company. The world is experiencing a time of awakening. There is this feeling that everything is out of kilter. We feel as though our life is just this meandering crazy ass path. After all, this meandering crazy ass path is what we have lived our whole life. This realization is disturbing insight!
Our time in this life is short and it will end.
The good news is that we can make a difference. We can change the world. We do it by changing ourselves! When we no longer lie, cheat, show indifference, or demand that everyone act and believe as we do, then we can truly become a force for change in this world.
It was an incredible insight when I realized that I could not change anyone or save anyone. I know this because no one could really save or change me. It was only when I wanted to change, that transformation could take place. I was the missing element in this process. I had lived the life of a sleepwalker, meandering this crazy ass path, until one day I was ready to wake up. When that happened, my life started to change radically. I lost my job, home, wife and kids and my reputation. It was only after I realized the folly of my life that I was finally able to place my spiritual advancement as the primary motivation in my life. It was then that Rama appeared. Rama was around before, but I was not ready. He made his gesture, but it was I who took the steps.
All the changes takes place within our very own heart. It is only when we stop judging and confronting the chaos outside, and instead turn our attention to the judging and anger that we hold within ourselves and start dealing and cleaning up our own consciousness, that we then become an island of sanity in an insane world. Don Juan told Carlos that this is a planet that is ruled by the insane ape. We can stop the insanity only within ourselves. We can only create peace, when we have realized peace within ourselves. Our job is not to rearrange the chaos, but to settle the chaos within ourselves. It is a monumental accomplishment to become Self-Realized within our own world. The Truth is that we view this life through our own eyes and awareness. It is through the clearing of our vision and developing a deep-seated love and compassion for all of Life, where true peace, joy and happiness can be found. When the focus of change turns inward and personal, we find our reason for being. We came here to discover heaven, while existing in a hell world. This is a true Tantric maneuver.

How much anger are you touching?

How much self-righteousness do you indulge in?

Can you even imagine a world of peace and prosperity?

Do you view humans by focusing mostly [...]]]> What you touch, touches you.

What you focus on, you tend to become.

We touch life is many ways; intellectually, emotionally, occultly, physically, and socially.

How much anger are you touching?

How much self-righteousness do you indulge in?

Can you even imagine a world of peace and prosperity?

Do you view humans by focusing mostly on the criminals, mentally unbalanced or those who are power hungry?

What are you touching when you enter into the states of mind such as greed and selfishness?

What do you suppose the karma is for you when you do?

Why is your life like it is?

What have you been touching?

What has been the focus of your view of life?

It is your life… With a little mental and spiritual potty training, you can become aware of what you are focusing on start to take control the state of your consciousness with wisdom and clarity. In the higher states of awareness, this is a wonderful, beautiful world. All this world needs is for us to awaken and individually start to take charge of our own life…

It was a little over a year ago that Rama, my teacher, came to me in a powerful dream. In this dream, he did not speak, but there were “chunks” of awareness that flew from his being into me. After the dream several ideas and a new direction to take [...]]]> Dear Friends of the Dharma,

It was a little over a year ago that Rama, my teacher, came to me in a powerful dream. In this dream, he did not speak, but there were “chunks” of awareness that flew from his being into me. After the dream several ideas and a new direction to take my teaching started to bubble up in my awareness.

One of the key elements of this vision was to establish a virtual meditation that would be Live over the Internet. I have never lost sight of that task.

Initially, we began to hold a weekly Dharma talks over the phone using the Maestro conferencing program. For several months now, I have used this media to develop my broadcasting skills as I give Dharma talks, meditated and answered your questions over the phone. This has been a great step towards preparing me for the next step in fulfilling the charge that I was given. I am so grateful to all of the wonderful people who have worked with me in making this happen.

Recently, we have started refining the next step in fulfilling Rama’s dream of an Electronic Tribe using the Internet. For several weeks now, we have held a live streaming Dharma talk and meditation on the Internet. During the beta testing phase of this new media, we restricted our broadcast to a few select people spread throughout the US. Even though we are still in the infancy of this new media, it is definitely a step in the right direction. We have now come to a place where we are ready to open up this new way of spreading the Dharma to everyone.

As a result of our new focus on the Internet, we will no longer be conducting the teleconference phone in calls on Monday evenings. Instead, we will be placing our full attention on the Livestream Broadcast over the Internet.

I encourage you to tune in Thursday evenings, at 7 PM Pacific Time to sit with us in community. I also encourage you to invite your friends to tune is as well. Simply click onto this link (http://www.livestream.com/clearlightcommunity ) and there it is! How cool is that!

There is a special empowerment that has is given to us when we actually sit together at the same time and with the same focus. This is really special and I hope that you will join us each Thursday as we dissolve into the Light together.

In the future, we hope to have other teachers become a part of our Clear Light Community Broadcast Channel. We have this Channel available to us 24/7, so there is plenty of room for everyone who is serious about spreading the Dharma in this way.

Once again, thanks to all the people who have so wonderfully supported the Clear Light Community’s efforts in spreading the Dharma, and I look forward to sitting with you soon.

Love,
Shiva (Tony Chester)

I once had a dream that I was walking around with my chest open exposing thousands of wires, like a huge undersea telephone cable.

I watched as one of my friends came up and she picked out a gold wire, a purple with gold stripe, silver, silver [...]]]> From A Collection of Flowers by Shiva

I once had a dream that I was walking around with my chest open exposing thousands of wires, like a huge undersea telephone cable.

I watched as one of my friends came up and she picked out a gold wire, a purple with gold stripe, silver, silver with gold stripe, white, white with gold stripe and weave them together. She held these wires in her hand and said, “This is who you are!”

I answered, “Yes, but that is not all I am. I have thousands of other wires too.”

She would not even acknowledge what I had just said. She was so intent upon looking at the wires she had in her hand. I recognized that was all she thought me to be.

Another acquaintance came up and pulled out a black wire followed with a, gray, gray with black, red, red and black, blue and gray, brown and black, purple and blue and at last a green with brown stripe. He wove these wires together and tightly held them in his hand as he said, “This is who you are!”

I said, “Yes, but that is not all I am. I have thousands of other wires.”

He too would not even acknowledge what I had just said. He was so intent upon looking at the wires he had woven together. Again, I knew that that was all he thought me to be. I watched as person after person came up and picked wires and said this is who I was. No matter how I tried, it was almost impossible for me to get them to acknowledge that there was more to me than what they held in their hand. When I did succeed, they accused me of being a hypocrite or deceiving them. Rarely did they openly accept that there was more to me than they had figured out.

I knew that I was the total of all of the wires, not just the few that they held in their hands. I resented that they held me in such a narrow view.

Then I slowly began to acknowledge that only a couple of thousand of my ten thousand wires were exposed; that there were thousands of other wires that even I myself did not know were there.

I also began to notice that new wires were occasionally being exposed. Then I realized that I too seemed to have fallen into this trap. I had limited the awareness of my being to only those wires that were exposed.

The knowledge of having thousands of more wires inside myself opened up a vast range of attributes and potentials that I needed to explore within myself.

So This Is Who You Are! Commentary:

Other people’s perception of us and our perception of them is determined by our own limited awareness of who we are and who they perceive themselves to be.

A fully “Enlightened” soul would have the full knowledge of all the “wires” contained within its soul. No wonder that no one understands Enlightened Teachers. Our grasp of them is limited to what we can hold in our hand. What we hold in our hand reflects how much we have explored the vast regions within ourselves.

The spiritual aspirant seeks to hold the wires loosely, not braiding them so quickly or tightly. Because once a person is fixated, it is almost impossible to change that perception.

First Night

One night I dreamt I was a native paddling down the Amazon River in a long dugout canoe. I was seated at the front and a member of my tribe was paddling in the rear.

As we paddled down the river, I saw [...]]]> From A Collection of Flowers by Shiva

First Night

One night I dreamt I was a native paddling down the Amazon River in a long dugout canoe. I was seated at the front and a member of my tribe was paddling in the rear.

As we paddled down the river, I saw a small boy swimming in front of us just ahead. He was a member of a tribe that we had experienced some conflict with in the past.

I started guiding the boat toward the young boy. As we started to glide past the boy, I reached behind and grabbed my spear. I then bent over and caught the young boy just under his chin and the tip of my spear exited though the back of his skull. I pulled the twitching body on board and withdrew my spear. I then tossed the body back into the river, washed my spear and hands and started to paddle again.

I awoke from this strange dream shaken and disturbed.

Second Night

The next night I dreamt I was a native paddling down the Amazon River in a long dugout canoe.

I was seated at the rear and a member of my tribe was paddling in the front.

The man in the front changed the course of the boat and soon a small boy who was swimming in the river came into my view. He was a member of a tribe we’d had some problems with in the past.

I smiled and remembered swimming in the river when I was a child.

I then saw the man in front set his paddle down and reach for his spear.

“He’s only going to scare the boy!” I thought.

Then he leaned over and speared the boy like a frog. He pulled the body onto the boat. The boy twitched and then went limp.

I was horrified! He was just a little boy! I thought of his family and playmates and the incredible anguish and sorrow that this senseless act would cause. Visions of the funeral and the intense void that had been suddenly inflicted upon a whole tribe overwhelmed me.

The man then callously removed his spear and tossed the boy’s body back into the river. I saw the child’s lifeless face as it floated by. The man in front washed his spear and his hands of the blood and then calmly started paddling again.

I awoke crying and outraged.

Third Night

On the third night, I dreamt I was swimming in the river. The water was warm and it was fun.

Suddenly I turned and saw a boat right upon me! Then a brilliant white light!

I awoke somewhat surprised.

The River Dreams Commentary:

Who Suffered The Most?

The man in the front of the canoe?

The man in the back of the canoe?

The young boy in the river?

The man in the front did not suffer. He was too callous and caught up in himself to have any feeling at all. He did not take into consideration the outcome of his actions.

The young boy did not suffer. All he experienced was surprise and white light!

Obviously the one who suffered the most was the man in the rear, he was the witness. He identified with the victim. He took into consideration the impact of this monstrous act. He was the only one who placed judgment upon this event. He was the one who was outraged. He was the only one who suffered!

We who witness and can see the impact of callous acts are the ones who suffer the most.

There once was this Guru that meditated high upon a mountain. He lived in a cave and, after many years, his spiritual advancement was such that word spread and he had a steady stream of spiritual pilgrims journey to his cave. His insights and recommendations were always so [...]]]> From A Collection of Flowers by Shiva

There once was this Guru that meditated high upon a mountain. He lived in a cave and, after many years, his spiritual advancement was such that word spread and he had a steady stream of spiritual pilgrims journey to his cave. His insights and recommendations were always so wonderful and created both insight and the awakening of awareness in everyone who visited him.

After a few years he decided to travel down from the mountain to visit a nearby city.

Once he entered the city he was assaulted by the hustle and bustle of the teaming life that was always going on around him. The traffic, the loud noises and all of those people who were constantly bumping and shoving up against him were most distracting. After a while it really started to irritate him. Then, as he was crossing the street, a man honked his horn and yelled at him to walk faster.

The Guru got angry…

The Guru returned to the mountain and once again meditated deeply. During his time of contemplation, he relived his visit to the city many times. He examined his reactions and sensitivities during his visit to the city.

After many months of meditation, he once again decided to go into the city.

This time it went a little easier, but after a couple of days, he noticed that his field of awareness was beginning to drop. So he once again returned to the mountain cave and resumed his meditation and contemplation.

The Guru traveled to the city many times over the next few years. Each time returning to the mountain cave to meditate and contemplate how the city would negatively affect him.

One day he found that there was no difference between the city and the cave. They were one in the same to him. It was all light and God.

Comment:

As the spiritual aspirant grows in awareness, so does the sensitivity. One can even reach a certain level of Enlightenment and still be trapped by this sensitivity. However, achieving Liberation is a monumental achievement. When you reach the point that Jesus did as he walked through the leper colony, with lepers clawing at his arms with diseased fingers, and not be affected in any way, is a true measure of both Enlightenment and Liberation.
Rama said, ”Enlightenment! Don’t go anywhere without it!”… Liberation makes that possible.