Every 17 Years

We had a visitor from town last weekend.
"What's that sound?" She asked, "Is it somebody's car alarm?"

"No.It's the Cicadas. Don't you have them in Winston Salem?"

"Yeah, but not like this."

"There's a lot of trees here, and not much other noise, so I guess they're louder than you're used to in town."

This brood of Cicadas comes out of the ground every 17 years.

About a week ago they emerged. They were all over the road, climbing out of their old skins, drying in the sun, then flying into the trees where they begin singing.

Without the aid of internet or cell phones, every last one of them made their emergence within two days.

Soil temperature and biological change signal it's time to come up, time for metamorphosis.

17 year Cicadas

As humans, many of us feel an urge to meta-morph into something better. We feel an urge to improve, that there is a higher level to pursue.

Insects are programmed to respond to urges and external stimuli.This insures the specie will survive.

Humans are similarly programed to mate and hoard food and possessions as much as possible.
Progress begins when we transform those urges into sharing and loving.
This is just the beginning.
There are multiple skins to grow out of, unhealthy habits and thought patterns to leave behind.

This happens automatically as we grow. If you pull the skin off a cicada before its time, the cicada will die. As it grows, the skin naturally sheds. As we develop spiritually, we naturally leave behind unwanted habits.

 

 A step by step progression has been described;

1) Faith and understanding that you are a spiritual being - Adau Shraddha

2) Find inspiring friends- Sadhu Sanga

3) Engage in a Spiritual Practice - Bhajana Kriya

4) Clearing stage, bad habits drop away- Anartha Nivrtti

As difficult as it sounds, there comes a time when all bad habits are left behind. The practitioner is rid of them forever. The rare people who achieve this stage are naturally attractive, as the good qualities inherent in all of us, are able to shine through, unimpeded. This appears to be an International phenomena manifest in all cultures and traditions, which gives us faith that it is attainable, that the goal does exist.

The next brood of 17 year Cicada will appear in 2030.

How will you evolve by that time?

Water Deeply

This morning I walked by a neighbor watering her garden.

"Water deep", I advised

"Really?"  She's a city girl, new to gardening, new to the backwoods of North Carolina.

"Yes. If you water lightly, the roots grow close to the surface. When it gets hot and dry, your plants will die."

"Oh..." She had been sprinkling a bit, wetting the surface, then moving on.

 "Water deep and the roots will grow deep,where they belong, where they can survive."

"OK, that makes sense. Thanks!"

Seeds of love and understanding sown in our heart also need regular, deep watering to grow. A recommended "watering" process is to hear or read books like Bhagavad Gita in the company of loving devotees.

We often see inspiring slogans and think, "That's nice. I'd like to imbibe that and be influenced by it." Because it doesn't seep in, there is no permanent change. It takes a while for the message to penetrate. Leave the hose at a trickle for a long time, let it saturate to where healthy roots will grow, you'll see a difference. Water deep.

In Costa Rica during the dry season last year I noticed a lush green spot at a neighbor's pasture. He had a watering trough for his horses supplied by a constantly running spring. The patch of tall grass contrasted with the rest of the dry field. Even with horses grazing, the grass stood over my head. It grew faster than they could eat it because of the regular supply of water.

You can see a similar contrast in your own life by deeply studying Wisdom Books of your tradition. We have unlimited access to media, yet feel 'dried up', uninspired. The fleeting messages we receive from the media don't nourish our heart. We require deep watering, don't just wet the surface.

What Can Repression Accomplish?

I've noticed that bean vines in my garden always wrap in a clockwise direction as they climb the poles. All vines in our area move in the same direction, like the threads of a screw, always clockwise.

 While assisting bean vines to climb their poles, I take care to wrap them in the proper direction, otherwise they get confused and undo any help given. While bean vines are not particularly smart, they do have a specialized skill, something that no one else can do. They create beans.

If we are to help anyone, we must observe their nature. Help offered must be in tune with their nature, otherwise we waste time and cause confusion.

Have you ever given help or advice to someone who didn't appreciate it?

Have you ever endured a good teacher who worked against your grain?

"Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows the nature he has acquired from the three modes. What can repression accomplish?"
Bhagavad Gita 3/33

http://vedabase.com/en/bg/3/33

Irrational Behavior

Potatoes are cheap, why should I go to the trouble of planting them? A more productive use of time would be to make money and buy potatoes as I need them."

Such thoughts went through my head last Friday as several friends and neighbors came to help plant 200 pounds of potatoes.

"This is a lot of work, and it's only part of the job. We still need to hill them up and cultivate the weeds as the plants grow, then dig them up in the hottest part of the summer. Most people just buy potatoes in the store. Why do I go through this every year?"

Nine of us shoveled manure into the trenches cut by the tractor. Even 3 year old Audrey made herself useful, gently placing potatoes into the row.  The tractor covered everything up again and in a couple hours we were done, Everyone had a great time, Jago the donkey munched grass nearby. Perhaps he'll help with cultivation if we can find a harness that fits.

From a financial perspective, it makes no sense to grow a garden, yet we feel compelled to plant every year. Sometimes the deer or bugs eat everything, one year it flooded and we lost everything. When things go well, even the surplus can be a problem.

You've got to love it.

 For those who don't, our behavior appears irrational.

"Who Is Crazy?"

In 1965, Prabhupad was 'fresh off the boat' from India. After spending his first Winter in poverty, observing the people of NY, he wrote a short essay. "A materialist will think the spiritualist is crazy, while the spiritualist will think material pursuits are vain. Who is correct? Who is actually crazy?" This essay was printed and became the first Hare Krishna flier to be handed out to the public.

Imagine yourself in 1966 as a monk hands you a flier with "Who Is Crazy?" in bold lettering. Very provocative.

Love will cause us to act irrationally.
I think everyone will agree however, that a life without love holds little value.

Further Irrational Behavior

June 22 we are planning a Full Moon Festival, an overnight campout in the garden, under shade trees. A drama troupe will  perform in the Moonlight as we feast on freshly dug potatoes and garden vegetables roasted over a fire.
Why would you want to sleep outside, under the moon and stars, when you have a home and comfortable bed?

To be rational at all times seems crazy to me.

If you agree, please join us in June.

Scary Dream

Attacked by an unseen force I called out loudly until I awoke to Maharha shaking me,” Wake up! Wake up! It's OK! You're here!”
“That was SUCH A WEIRD AND SCARY DREAM. I'm glad you were here to wake me up.”           
“I've never heard you scream like that. There was terror in your voice.”                 
“Sorry about that. It must have been scary for you too. In the dream there was no one nearby and I had to shout for help. I haven't been scared in a dream like that since I was a little kid”

I was a afraid to go back to sleep again. Instead, I looked up the following quote from my guru, written in 1962;

"A forgetful, conditioned soul is fearful. But a liberated soul is never fearful, just as a small child completely dependent on the mercy of his father is never fearful of anyone. Fearfulness is a sort of illusion for the living being when he is in slumber and forgetting his eternal relation with the Lord. Since the living being is never to die by his constitution, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.20), then what is the cause of fearfulness? A person may be fearful of a tiger in a dream, but another man who is awake by his side sees no tiger there. The tiger is a myth for both of them, namely the person dreaming and the person awake, because actually there is no tiger; but the man forgetful of his awakened life is fearful, whereas the man who has not forgotten his position is not at all fearful."
AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam 1/14/38 commentary
 http://vedabase.com/en/sb/1/14/38

Chase Your Shadow

One day my mother suggested,"Go outside and run around the house a few times. See if you can catch your shadow."
 Our house in Hawaii wasn't very big, but for a 5 year old boy this was an adventure.
"Mom knows what she's talking about." I thought, "I'll catch my shadow and bring it back to her."
 Part of the yard was like a jungle with Bird of Paradise plants towering over my head.
After circling the house a couple times I realized I would not be able to catch my shadow.
By that time I had found something else to do, my mother had rescued me from boredom.

We spend much of our life chasing insubstantial things.
When we meet frustration, we give up for a while, then resume the chase.
A hunger for happiness drives our pursuit.

Material pleasure is described as sruti-sukha: "Happiness that one hears about, but never fully tastes because it stays just out of reach."
At some point we realize the futility of chasing things,
the best things in life are not 'things'.

Nonviolent, Local Hero

In town, the news is in your face. The front page shows a death toll and a frantic woman on her cell phone. When I come to town I realize how isolated we are, living in the country. Insulated may be a better word. The event is on our mind, but not 'in our face'.

I observe the people in Winston Salem, recent events hang over them like a shadow.
'Old Salem Tour' was written on what looked like a ski lift ticket, clipped to a man's jacket.
“I see you've taken the tour of old Salem. How did you like it?” This is a friendly town, it's easy and natural to start conversations with strangers.
“They're a very interesting group.” he replied, “Very communal. I wonder how much of their culture is still in place at this time.”
“I've been there myself, walking around talking with the people in their period dress. I think everyone was communal 300 years ago, you kinda had to be.”
“I mean the Moravian culture, have they been able to incorporate it in modern society? You know Andy Griffith, of the Mayberry RFD TV show ?”
“Yeah, great show. From the 60s?”
“I learned today that Andy Griffith was a Moravian. He didn't talk about it or preach about it but you notice in his show that he never carries a gun. That's one of their principles.”
“Yeah, come to think of it that is odd for a Sheriff.”
“In all other cop shows, they use violence to solve problems. They carry guns and use them.”
“Andy Griffith was an actor, did he control the content?”
“He wrote a lot of the scripts. It was his show.”
“I remember, who was that guy, the goofy guy, Don Knotts?”
“Yes, Don Knotts.”
“I remember him getting excited, pulling out a gun and loading it up, but then Andy would say in a calm voice,'Put that thing away. We're gonna try something else here.”
“Yep, using a gun was shown as a reckless, thoughtless act. Recently I've heard that if you eat junk, you'll feel like junk. What we read about or hear about or watch on TV is another form of eating. Media is supplying society with violent entertainment. It's natural that some will turn to violence. It's portrayed as glorious, fun, exciting, entertaining.”
“That's why I've come to town with these books....”, I replied. The discussion went deeper with the new material.

Later that day.....

“Excuse me. I'm showing these books to people with tattoos.”
A man in his mid twenties stopped,”Uh OK.” and accepted a book from me.
“Does this tattoo mean anything?” I pointed to a rose permanently drawn on his arm.
“Yes, it marks a period of transformation in my life.”
“And what was that, if you don't mind sharing?”
“I was able to break my addiction to dangerous drugs.”
“How long have you been free now?”
“Five years.”
“Congratulations! Is this an improvement?”
“Absolutely.”
“Can we say that by practicing self discipline you experience greater freedom?”
“Yes, certainly.”
“We all practice self control. Imagine if you see someone eating a jelly filled doughnut. “I'm bigger than her, I'm just going to take that.”
My new friend laughed at the thought.
“Such a person would not have much freedom. Very soon he'd find himself locked up. There is a wide range of thoughts and actions that we can gain control of . Once we do, we experience freedom beyond our imagination. That's what yoga is about, that's what this book directs us toward.”
“I like the pictures.”
“Perhaps your next tattoo will come from this book if you find it transformational.Transformation goes on for a long time. We have a lot of cleaning to do, it seems endless, but there is a point where bad habits are cleared entirely. At that stage we gain access to a higher platform.”
I hand him another book,”Bhakti is a sanskrit word. It means love. 400 years ago, the author of this book defined love as the highest goal, beyond anything else one could aspire for such as fame, money, physical strength,skills..”
“I agree. There is a girl that I've been seeing, we've been sharing things..”
“Yes, that is a glimpse of what is discussed here, but until we become pure, what starts as love can easily degrade into selfishness.”
He nodded in agreement. I was surprised how thoughtful people are today, sharing wisdom and taking lessons.

That evening, I visited my friends at Kindred Spirits Gift Shop on Trade Street. A variety of bumper stickers were on display, one of them read,”There is no violent solution.”

I thought about our local hero. Folks around here are 'right proud' of Andy Griffith. He's from right up the road in Pilot Mountain. He exhibits the good qualities mentioned in Bhagavad Gita, keeping his cool under pressure, not acting out of anger, being resourceful. He resisted the flow of society to quietly make a subtle point.

“Well good for Andy, sticking to his principles. He made a great show without giving in to society's demands.” I thought,"I can learn something from that."