July 24, 2008
VIDEO: We Are Human Beings

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:25 AM | Comments (1)

July 23, 2008
The Ten Commandments for Visiting a New Age Ashram

During the past two decades, a curious phenomenon has swept this nation. Inspired by the teachings of several Master souls from the East, an unusually large number of ashrams and retreats have made their appearance on the scene -- spiritual centers designed to provide seekers of the truth with a focused environment in which to practice their particular spiritual path.

While most people who spend time in these places are extremely dedicated and sincere, there still remains a goodly number who, in their attempt to have "an experience," miss the point completely.

Seduced by the Western notion of cause and effect, they somehow think that spiritual attainment is related to the way they act -- as if God were some kind of transcultural Santa Claus looking for good little boys and girls to bring his shiny red fire trucks to.

Not surprisingly, the spirit of the law is all too often traded for the letter -- a letter that, no matter how many stamps are put on it, is continually returned for insufficient postage. Surrender is replaced by submission; patience by hesitation; and humility by timidity.

Alas, in the name of finding themselves, our God-seeking brothers and sisters have tended to lose the very thing that makes them truly human -- their individuality.

Continue reading "The Ten Commandments for Visiting a New Age Ashram"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:32 AM | Comments (4)

July 21, 2008
There Is No Door

I could tell you that my Master
is the one who opened the door,
but that would be a lie.
There never was a door,
I was never on the other side --
we were always in this together,
he and I.
If you call the realization of this Oneness,
the opening of a door,
then I guess we have the beginning of a long poem here,
but since I'm in a really good mood today,
I'll save you the trouble of
hacking your way through
a love drunk's excess of metaphors.
There is no door!
Never was, never will be.
The knocking you hear
is only the sound of your own heart beating.
The One for whom it beats has always been with you,
so what's all this monkey business about a door?

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:40 AM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2008
The Joy of Heckling

If you talk to a thousand people who are (or have been) students of Maharaji, you will get a thousand different impressions of who he is and what he does. Your guess about the accuracy of their perceptions is as good as mine. But if you really want to know the answer, you will need to have your own experience, while being mindful of the words of Anais Nin, "We don't see things as they are, but as we are." Allow me to be more specific.

ACT 1
When Maharaji was 16, he married -- not to an Indian woman chosen by his parents, but to a 24 year old American stewardess. This troubled some of his devotees -- especially those who had chosen celibacy as part of their path to enlightenment. How could Maharaji get married, they reasoned. Marriage was so mundane... such a distraction... so unspiritual. And so, when Maharaji said "I do," a bunch of these folks said "I don't" and split the scene.

Continue reading "The Joy of Heckling"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:09 PM | Comments (1)

July 18, 2008
The Falcon and the Falconer

NOTE: This song of praise to Maharaji is best read aloud...

I am the falcon, you are the falconer. Always I am coming back to you, my soaring skyward just a strategy to gather speed for my ultimate return.

How you have trained me is a mystery -- the way you've tamed my restless heart. It is not with fear. I do not fear you. It is not with food. There is prey enough for me everywhere I fly. It is more the way you offer me your arm, a place to land, a second skin scented with the wild musk of one who waits for me, what I would be if I would be a man.

It is a wonderful game the two of us play -- this coming and going, this circular ballet. Each time you loose the loops around my legs and signal me to fly, I remember what it is to rise for the first time. It is here I find my rest, my home. Untethered, still I do not move, needing only to be close to you, my falconer.

It is this that beats my wings, releases me to sky, rides the unseen currents of the air, and though I notice other things: the tops of trees, a cloud, a nimble rabbit on the ground, all I see is you, holding out your arm to me, even as a thousand other falcons overhead, each within your view, circle closer, spiral down, descend.

Still I know that I am next and this is the perfect moment of my return.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:26 PM | Comments (1)

VIDEO: Find Peace Within

Here's a one-minute intro to Prem Rawat (aka Maharaji) and the Knowledge he reveals as shown on Brazilian TV.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2008
I Used to Write Love Poems

I used to write love poems,
now I collect them
like small shells on a beach
only the locals know about.
There is nothing inside them.
They are empty.
But when you put your ear to their opening
and really listen,
you can hear the ocean.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)

VIDEO: Go Within

We are here for such a short while -- even if we live to 100. So while we're here, what's the purpose? What is there to experience? Where does real happiness come from? What is life really all about? In this 5 minute video, Prem Rawat (aka Maharaji) gives us all a clue.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:13 AM | Comments (2)

July 14, 2008
The First Annual Last Words Contest

"I wish I had drunk more champagne."

With these last words, John Maynard Keynes, the famous British economist, passed into the Great Beyond. Way to go Johnny!

Conrad Hilton, grandfather of Paris and founder of one of the world's most acclaimed hotel empires, left us with a slightly different message. "Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub."

Thank you, Conrad. I will do my best to remember that.

What about you? What do you imagine your last words will be? Or better yet, what would you like them to be? Oh sure, you may have another 80 years to go, but it's never too soon to get your legacy in gear.

Got it? Good! Now share it with the rest of us. When 7 or more submissions are submitted by Heart of the Matter readers, I'll post them here for everyone to read.

And soon thereafter, our esteemed panel of imperfect judges will bestow one lucky (and eventually dead) reader of this blog with the FIRST ANNUAL LAST WORDS prize (a copy of the book from whence these quotes were quoted). Should be interesting.

If you need some inspiration to get you going, click below to see what Mata Hari, P.T. Barnum, Oscar Wilde and a host of others had to say just before they left their mortal coil...

Continue reading "The First Annual Last Words Contest"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:03 AM | Comments (2)

July 11, 2008
WAITING DOWN UNDER: A Timeless Moment in Amaroo

When asked to explain his highly abstract Theory of Relativity, Albert Einstein made it comprehensible in just two sentences. "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute," he said, "and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute."

I can relate.

There are entire years of my life I can barely remember, but singular moments that seem eternal. The birth of my first child was one of them. So was the birth of my second... as was the first time I saw the woman who would later become my wife... and the time I almost drowned.

"Peak experiences," they're called, moments when time seems to stop and we connect with something timeless -- moments when thinking gives way to feeling and we realize, without words, what life is all about.

And though the catalysts for these moments are different for each of us, the experience is universal.

Something takes us over. Something opens up. A Red Sea parts and we feel totally alive, far beyond the usual ways we measure the world, our worth, and life itself.

I've had my share of these moments and am grateful for each of them. But the most memorable ones have been in the company of my teacher, Maharaji.

Continue reading "WAITING DOWN UNDER: A Timeless Moment in Amaroo"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2008
SLIDE SHOW: Maharaji in Sicily

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2008
Amaroo Slide Show

Many thanks to Chris Tardieu for forwarding this sweet slide show and song from Amaroo. Amazingly, Chris sent this to me just minutes after I posted the previous piece. Serendipity alert! We are all connected!

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2008
Looking for the Real

NOTE: From time to time, I will be republishing postings that have been buried in the archives of this blog -- a kind of devotional recycling for new readers of Heart of the Matter. So...if you see things you've seen before, you're not necessarily hallucinating. Feel free to skip them, read them again, or forward them to friends. The following is one such piece...

See that guy to your left?

Looks a little intense, eh? Must be on some kind of spiritual trip. Or maybe he's just protein deficient. I'm guessing he's into Eastern things. Probably reads the Bhagavad-Gita and doesn't make enough to pay taxes. Maybe he lives in a tent. Fruitarian? Macrobiotic? I really don't know for sure.

Wait a minute! That's me! 36 years ago. (Now you know why my parents were so freaked out when I was in my 20's.)

After all, I was their golden boy, the carrier of the family name, the hope for the future. According to everyone, I was supposed to be a doctor, a lawyer, a dentist. Maybe even a rabbi.

I coulda been a contender.

What happened? Why the long hair, the sallow cheeks, the penetrating I-can-outstare-anyone look?

Continue reading "Looking for the Real"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:01 AM | Comments (5)

July 07, 2008
The Great Mystery

Here is the great mystery:
My thirst is quenched
as much by my longing
to have it quenched
as it is by the waters that come.
Tell me, oh digger of the well,
which do I drink first?

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2008
So Far Beyond the Blues

OK. Here's the scene. It's December 3rd, five days before Maharaji's 50th birthday event in San Diego, when the phone rings in my kitchen. Its Kate, one of the program coordinators, wondering if I'm available to be the "back up MC."

"Back up, MC?" I ask. Kate laughs and deftly explains that Maharaji has already selected the MC for the event, but they always like to have a back up, "just in case."

"In case of what?" I'm thinking. "A heart attack?"

Two thoughts race through my mind. One is the wow-amazed-humbled-honored-what-a-beautiful-opportunity thought that spontaneously arises from deep within the heart of someone who loves Maharaji and wants to be of service in any way possible.

The other?

Continue reading "So Far Beyond the Blues"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:18 PM | Comments (3)

July 05, 2008
Give Everything You Have

Give everything you have,
and after you have given,
give what's left.
After you give what's left,
give what remains.
After giving that,
give the feeling of having given.
After giving the feeling
of having given,
give what you get
for having given.
Then give again,
never stopping, always giving.
And should it come to pass that you forget,
forgive yourself immediately.
Then begin again,
giving everything you have,
and after you have given,
give what's left.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

It's a Wonderful World Puppet Show

Louis Armstrong...shadow puppets...and you.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2008
ASK YOURSELF THIS: "What Can I Do to Help?"

No matter what path you're on, used to be on, think about being on, can't remember you're on... or disbelieve there is any such thing as a "path," the question always remains the same:

"What can I do to help?"

In other words, how can you participate on planet Earth in a way that serves? Certainly, there must be something you can do to go beyond yourself and make a contribution.

In the end, it doesn't really matter what form your effort takes, as long as you are authentically stepping up to the plate and giving it your best to pitch in.

Continue reading "ASK YOURSELF THIS: "What Can I Do to Help?""

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)

Ahhh... Watermelon!

Somewhere along the line you've probably heard of this thing called a "Zen Koan"-- a question or statement that cannot be "gotten" by the rational mind.

For centuries, Zen Masters have used them as a way to confound their students' habit of thinking too much -- with the intention of shocking the mind into a state of true awareness.

Appropriate responses to a koan may vary according to circumstances. Different teachers may demand different responses to a given koan on a given day. A fixed answer cannot be correct in every circumstance.

Sound familiar?

Continue reading "Ahhh... Watermelon!"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:58 AM | Comments (3)

July 03, 2008
Maharaji in Corleone, Italy

This just in from Jule Kowarsky, Corleone, Italy: 1:43 am

"Corleone is a small town. The bus ride, from Palermo, took a little more than an hour and the route was lined with grapevines, hayfields, mountains, and a picturesque countryside. Grown men, baling and stacking hay, waved at our bus -- the way children wave to train engineers in rural areas.

The Corleone town square, named for two men, many years ago, who were shot for standing up to the Mafia, was smaller than a football field. The local organizers said the event could have been held indoors, but they wanted it in the open air so everyone in town could attend.

Continue reading "Maharaji in Corleone, Italy"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:04 AM | Comments (4)

July 02, 2008
Hidden Goodies for You

If you like what you see on this blog, I invite you to click on the April, March, February, and January links in the archives (located in the sidebar). There you will find another 81 postings which you will not be able to access any other way.

Like this one for seekers with only a minute to spare.

Or this one about the joy of heckling at a dinner party with Maharaji.

Or this piece of cosmic wisdom from Woody Allen.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)

Snow Day

(NOTE: It's summer in Woodstock and probably where you live... so I thought I'd give you a little something to cool you off. Here goes...MD)

Growing up in New York, there were three things I found utterly amazing. The accents of people from other places, baseball, and snow days.

If you're from California, Mexico, or Hawaii, you probably know what the first two are all about. But the third? Please allow me to explain.

A snow day, for those of you who have never experienced winter, is an unexpected day off from school granted by a benevolent universe. You go to bed at night, dreading your history test the next day, and wake up with three feet of snow outside your window -- your mother telling you (having just heard it on the radio) that school is closed.

It's a snow day!

Continue reading "Snow Day"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:54 AM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2008
Excerpts from Maharaji's Talk Today in Palermo, Italy

What follows is an in-the-moment report from Jule Kowarsky, who just attended an event with Maharaji, in Palermo, Italy.

Jule notes that Maharaji addressed 1,200 people in a magnificent historic opera house. She goes on to say that several local dignitaries spoke and a book about Palermo and another award were bestowed upon Maharaji.

Click below for selected highlights of Maharaji's talk as remembered by Jule (not a verbatim transcript of his words).

Continue reading "Excerpts from Maharaji's Talk Today in Palermo, Italy"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)

I'm Moving to a Blog Cabin in the Woods

I see the future.

Everyone will have a blog. Every blogger's pet will have a blog. Every blog will have a blog. Every blog's blog will have a blog. No one will be reading any of these blogs because everyone will be too busy writing blogs. Bloggers will occasionally visit other blogs, but only for the purpose of leaving comments that will direct readers back to their own blog. Letter writing will become popular once again, gaining a new lease on life after the internet crashes repeatedly because of the profusion of blogs and youtube videos created by 5-year olds and terrorist groups.

Why all the blogging?

Because people want to connect. And WHY do people want to connect? Because there is a fundamental need inside each of us to feel connected.

"Connected to WHAT?" is the question. Connected to ourselves.

Bottom line, for each of us to feel truly wired, we need to connect with ourselves. Then, and only then, does it make sense to connect with others.

Otherwise, all our efforts to connect will be fundamentally flawed -- tinged with the slightly neurotic need for approval and completion -- neither of which are really necessary once we master the fine art of tapping into who we really are in the first place.

And speaking of the future -- high rises are out. Blog cabins are in.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:42 PM | Comments (3)

June 29, 2008
HEART OF THE MATTER Readers Chime In!

On June 18th I posted my "34 Reasons Why I Like Being With Maharaji."

At the end of the list, I invited Heart of the Matter readers to add their own reasons -- why they like being with Maharaji. Nine people responded.

Thanks!

Click the link below to see what was added to the original list...

Continue reading "HEART OF THE MATTER Readers Chime In!"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:11 PM | Comments (2)

June 28, 2008
Selma Speaks

My mother, Sylvia, was a Jewish mother. She played canasta. She ate bagels. She got her hair done once a week. And, knock on wood and spit three times, she thought I could do no wrong.

That is, until my 24th year when I received Knowledge from that "boy Guru," Maharaji.

Bottom line, my mother had no way to relate to the whole thing. First of all, Maharaji wasn't Jewish. Second of all, he was from India. And third of all, see reasons #1 and #2.

Of course, my over-the-top proclamations about Knowledge and Maharaji's perfection didn't help matters in the least. Nor did my sudden habit of lighting incense in my parent's home.

It wasn't enough that my girlfriend wasn't Jewish (a shiksa!) -- now I had an Indian Guru.

As they say in the old country, "Oy Vey."

All of which led my mother, one fine Spring day, to forbid me -- for all time -- from ever speaking about the Guru in her home.

Continue reading "Selma Speaks"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:16 PM | Comments (1)

"Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." (Helen Keller)

Feeling a little off today? Cash flow problems got you down? Relationship a bit shaky? Wondering how you're going to pay the rent?

If so, you may want to reflect on the above words of Hellen Keller, the inspiration behind The Miracle Worker, and the first deafblind person ever to graduate college.

Hey, you can SEE! You can HEAR! You can SPEAK! She couldn't -- and still she found her way through the obstacles to become a prolific author and a leading supporter of women's suffrage and worker's rights.

Hellen Keller was right. Security IS mostly a superstition. Life IS a daring adventure or nothing. The key, for all of us, is to stay conscious of this, make our little effort, and have some faith.

Everything happens for the best! Enjoy the adventure!

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:20 PM | Comments (1)

A Stroke of Insight

This 20 minute video is extraordinary. It's the story of a brain scientist, Jill Bolte Taylor, who had a severe stroke and, in the process, experienced the true essence of who she was. She makes a compelling case for the choice we all have -- separateness or unity, struggle or peace. Well worth watching. In the words of an old song whose name escapes me at the moment, "You are not your body, you are not your mind..."

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:46 AM | Comments (1)

June 27, 2008
This Kid Has Not Yet Memorized His Social Security Number, Nor Does He Have Any Problems. Ahhh! Freshly Falling Snow!

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:06 PM | Comments (1)

Sweeping the Path

As a middle class American male with a healthy dose of resistance to household chores, the broom has never been one of my favorite tools. While I've certainly appreciated its timeless design and universal appeal, the act of sweeping has always felt like somebody else's job.

This belief radically changed for me one fine Spring day in 1980. That was the day I got word that my teacher, Maharaji, was coming to visit the house I was living in -- a funky old dwelling on Detroit Street in mile high Denver, Colorado.

Clearly, my housemates and I weren't ready. The kitchen was dirty. The bathrooms were a wreck. The lawn needed mowing. Mucho stuff needed to be done.

My task? To sweep.

Continue reading "Sweeping the Path"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:09 AM | Comments (2)

June 26, 2008
Introducing Maharaji

Here's a good 27 minute introduction to Maharaji and his work in the world. If you want a simple overview of what his message is, viewing this video will be well worth your time....

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:01 AM | Comments (0)

Speechless

It's not what I say,
it's what I don't say.
But every time I say nothing,
what I don't say
leaves so much to be said,
I am speechless.

Maybe that's why Groucho
raised his eyebrows
and Jesus raised the dead.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:45 AM | Comments (1)

June 25, 2008
I Want to Tell You About My Master

I want to tell you about my Master, the one who teaches from within, that like a heartbeat longing to be heard becomes the twin I never knew I had.

Him! That one! He is calling me, not with music, that would be too easy, but with laughter -- that's his choir!

I cannot describe this man, my words only exclude. Better simply to say, "The one I love," answer to a prayer much too subtle for anyone else to hear. Keeper of the flame, who I am, was, and will be when there's no one left to remember my name. Why you like candlelight, want a child, dream.

The one with no other master plan but love.

I have met this man, or should I say observed, struck dumb by his simplicity and the unspeakable glory of seeing what these eyes first opened for.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2008
Falling in Love?

There's a phrase in the English language that makes absolutely no sense to me even though I've used it hundreds of times:

"Falling in love."

Falling? Really?

Certainly there must be a better way to describe one of the sweetest feelings a human being can have. Falling isn't exactly the word we associate with great experiences.

The stock market falls. The temperature falls. Civilizations fall. Adam fell from grace. Nobody in their right mind really wants to fall.

Continue reading "Falling in Love?"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:31 AM | Comments (2)

June 21, 2008
May I Stay Here Forever

May I stay here forever
in this perfect place of peace with you --
the sacred space between in breath and out,
the final coming home,
timeless moment before the need
for anything has risen,
Buddha enjoying his late afternoon nap
with no one around
to extract any meaning from it.

First, there is a breath,
and then, there is a second.

This is how I begin my
long walk with you by the water's edge,
cool white sand beneath both our feet.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2008
VIRTUAL TEAMWORK CARDS: A Simple Way to Help You and Your Team Succeed

Here's a paradox:

Inner-directed people on the "spiritual path" who experience joy, happiness, and peace within themselves sometimes lose it when it's time to collaborate with others.

Somehow, the challenge of "being on a team" pushes buttons. Patience wears thin. Judgment abounds. Trust goes out the window.

But it doesn't have to be that way. It is possible for teamwork to thrive -- even when working with lots of strong personalities.

And so... if you are looking for a way to raise the bar for teamwork, all you need to do is click here or scroll down the page and click on TEAMWORK CARDS (in the sidebar).

When you do, a pop up window will appear -- one of 55 team building cards now available to you on this blog. Each one addresses a specific challenge that you and your team will need to resolve if you expect to perform at a higher level.

If you want a downloadable pdf version, simply send me an email. "If not YOU, who? If not NOW, when?"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2008
PASSAGES: A Video Retrospective of Maharaji's Message

Billy Fairchild just sent me this link to a fabulous series of eight online videos (repackaged for the internet from the original PASSAGES video produced by Kate McGowan and John McNelly in 2001 to celebrate Maharaji's 30th anniversary in the West). These 9-10 minute videos capture the essence of Maharaji's message, his spiritual roots, and the evolution of the way in which he's communicated his message since arriving in the West in 1971.

Includes engaging interviews with some of the people who were on the scene in the very beginning: Ron Geaves, Joan Apter, Charananand, Glen Whittaker, Peter Lee, Tim Gallwey, John Hampton, and others.
Enjoy!

(And if you haven't had a chance to respond to the recent Heart of the Matter poll click here. Will take you three minutes.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2008
TA DA! Results of the June 14th Heart of the Matter Poll

One of the good things about life, the universe, and blogging is that they are all interactive. Or at least, they're supposed to be. No man is an island; neither is he an isthmus, peninsula, or archipelago.

Which is precisely why, a few days ago, I asked readers of this blog for their feedback on WHAT, specifically, they'd like to see featured here. 45 people have responded to the poll so far.

Click on the link below for the results.

Continue reading "TA DA! Results of the June 14th Heart of the Matter Poll"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2008
Open Window

Alone in my room
at the end of the day,
I open my window and
release my breath like a dove
that it may find its way
to you, oh precious one.

It leaves the shell of my body,
carried by an unseen wind,
small wings beating
against a very big sky.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2008
I AM LISTENING TO YOU: Please Respond to This Simple Poll

Dear Heart of the Matter Reader:

Now that this blog is a few months old, I'd like to get some feedback from you. Simply put, I want to find out what aspects of the blog are most compelling to you so I can continue to create it in a way that has the most impact.

If you are willing to participate, all you need to do is click here. The whole thing will take you no more than three minutes.

I'll post the results here some time next month. And thanks for all your support so far. It's been a fun ride.

Mitch

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2008
What's in a Name?

Whenever a person who has received Knowledge from Maharaji tries to describe their relationship to him, they usually end up using one of the following five words: student, devotee, follower, friend, or premie.

I'm sure you've heard at least a few of these words before in one context or another.

Each of them describes an aspect of my relationship to Maharaji, but only an aspect.

None of them describes the whole shebang. In fact, each of these words has been known to confuse, distract, or repel since each one carries a kind of cultural baggage.

Allow me to explain.

Continue reading "What's in a Name?"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:41 AM | Comments (3)

June 11, 2008
This Thirst

There is an aching deep within my heart
that cannot be explained.
It wakes me in the middle of the night
and write these lines --
a kind of fishing in a great sea I cannot find by day.
This escapade is not the search for something new.
It is not the need to find --
more it is the being moved,
my being pulled by an unseen moon,
how small birds, when days get cold,
make their way across dark skies
to the place where they were born,
how a feather falls to earth
and a child, finding it, looks up,
why dogs pace back and forth before a door
as their master turns for home.

Ah, this restlessness, this thirst, this ache,
this silent undertow inside
that takes me back to the hidden spring
where lions come to drink,
and snakes,
why birds sing when they are all alone
and the long ride home on an empty train
often feels like an arrival.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:50 PM | Comments (1)

Rhythm of Light

Here's a new musical collaboration from Stuart Hoffman and Tara Liz Driscoll celebrating the words of Maharaji and the magnificent images of light in our universe:

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

Twinkle Twinkle

So there I am, about a decade ago, putting my 3-year old son to bed, when I notice, upon glancing out the window, that it's an especially clear night, a perfect time, I think, to introduce him to the ancient art of "wishing on a star."

Scooping him up in my arms, I tenderly carry him across the room, part the gauzy curtain, and position him just right so he can see the fullness of the brilliant night sky.

"Jesse," I whisper, pointing up at the sky, "do you see that twinkling star? If you make a wish right now while looking at it, your wish will come true."

He turns and smiles, looking at me as if I had just revealed the secret of the universe.

"Really, Dada?" he says.

"Oh yes," I reply, waiting for my first born to make his first wish on this perfect summer night.

He continues staring out the window, searching, it seems, for some deep inner sense of what he really wanted from life.

"I... I.... wish...."

(I couldn't believe my good fortune, the amazing honor of being allowed to witness this, his first real act of longing... his first real act of intention.

"I wish... I wish" he says, looking up at the sky and pausing ever so slightly, "for... a lotta pretzels."

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:37 AM | Comments (0)

RUMI: Move Into Your House of Joy

If you knew yourself for even one moment,
if you could just glimpse your most beautiful face,
maybe you wouldn't slumber so deeply in that house of clay.

Why not move into your house of joy
and shine into every crevice!
For you are the secret Treasure-bearer,
and always have been.

Didn't you know?

-- Rumi

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:12 AM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2008
34 Reasons Why I Like Being with Maharaji

This past weekend I attended a two-day event with Maharaji at the Palace Theater in Albany, NY. As always, I enjoyed the experience immensely.

On the way home, I started thinking about why, specifically, I enjoy being with him as much as I do -- and how I might describe these benefits to others, especially those intrigued by Maharaji's message, but not totally sure if it's really for them.

Well... at the risk of trying to explain the unexplainable, here goes:

Continue reading "34 Reasons Why I Like Being with Maharaji"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:56 AM | Comments (8)

June 08, 2008
Outsource This!

Need more time in your life? Feeling overwhelmed by your day job and other "worldly responsibilities?"

Check this out...

In an extraordinary move, destined to be emulated by movers and shakers everywhere, I've just outsourced all my sleep to a guy named Namdev in New Delhi. Yes, it's true. I no longer need to sleep. Namdev does it for me. It's astounding how much more productive I've been this week.

And, as if my sleep breakthrough wasn't enough, I've also outsourced all my exercise to a guy named Sung Lee in Malaysia. God bless Sung Lee! He's been on the treadmill three hours today, as I understand it, and will be working on our delts and pecs tomorrow. Needless to say, I'm feeling exceptionally buff at the moment.

Continue reading "Outsource This!"

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)

Home Base

Throughout the ages and even last week, many people have tried to describe the experience of Knowledge -- the gift that a true Master gives.

In a grand attempt to be thorough and profound, they have cited a wide variety of inspired sources to make their case: the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Koran, the Talmud, and hundreds of other holy books.

Their efforts have been, as far as I can tell, well-intentioned, noble, and sincere.

At the same time, bringing in all of that heavy artillery can confound matters. Scriptures have a tendency to be a bit off-putting to some folks -- especially those who have had negative experiences with religion or don't particularly resonate with "things spiritual."

And so, for everyone out there who has some interest in Maharaji's Knowledge, but is not yet sure it's actually for them, allow me to present a simple metaphor of what it's like. (And remember, folks, this is only a metaphor).

Knowledge is like home base in the child's game of tag.

When you're experiencing it, you are completely safe. Connected. At ease. Beyond the madness swirling all around you. And while you are free, at any time, to run around and play the game, you know where home base is.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:43 AM | Comments (2)

MAHARAJI: Albany, NY -- 6/07/08

"Here's a new definition of life: Your opportunity to spend time with the best friend you ever had... with the ultimate kindness... with the infinite... with the ultimate joy."

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:17 AM | Comments (2)

June 07, 2008
A Six Pack of Kabir

Friend, hope for the Guest while you are alive.
Jump into experience while you are alive!
Think... and think... while you are alive.
What you call "salvation" belongs to the time before death.

If you don't break your rope while you are alive,
do you think ghosts will do it after?

The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic
just because the body is rotten --
that is all fantasy.
What is found now is found then.
If you find nothing now,
you will simply end up with an apartment
in the City of Death.
If you make love with the Divine now, in the next life
you will have the face of satisfied desire.
So plunge into the truth,
find out who the Teacher is,
believe in the Great Sound!

Kabir says this:
When the Guest is being searched for,
it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest
that does all the work.
Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity.

(Translated by Robert Bly, from Kabir, Ecstatic Poems)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:55 PM | Comments (1)

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