February 25, 2009
The Courage to Stand Up

Think you have a challenge or two ahead of you? Do you feel hopeless sometimes and find it hard getting back on your feet? Need a reminder about the courage, commitment, and resilience that dwell deep within you?

Check this out. You can do it! Yes you can!

Photo by Live and Learn

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:41 AM | Comments (0)

February 21, 2009
Happy for No Reason

When I was 21, I came within five seconds of drowning. As I was going down for the third time, I looked to the shore and realized that this, my last moment, was the most lucid moment of my life.

Everything else was a cartoon. Unreal. Fake. In the state I was in, only one thing was certain. I wanted to live. And in that moment, which felt like my last, something extraordinary took over -- way beyond my exhaustion -- and got me to the shore.

It swam me, until I -- completely out of breath -- could finally stand. And when I did, I fell to my knees and kissed the ground. I cried. I sang whatever children's songs I could remember. I laughed. In that moment of pure exaltation, I had no philosophy, no religion, no politics, no family, no friends, no future, no past. Only the simple joy of being alive.

When I think about my teacher, Maharaji, and the experience he has shown me, it feels much the same.

In such a simple and loving way, he has connected me not only to the will to live, but to the primal force that moves me. As my teacher, he has taught me how to be a student. And as his student, I have learned that it doesn't matter what I know, but who I am. Or more correctly, what I am.

It's what the poets pray to feel, so finally they'd have something worth writing about. When I feel it -- and I do a lot -- I am happy for no reason at all. Happy like someone on permanent vacation. Completely alive. Content in a way that requires no action to prove itself whole.

Unconditional love it is. No strings attached. First kiss. Second chance. Unexpected snow day for a 10-year old. Home for the holidays. More fun than I've ever had and absolutely nothing is happening. Just the peace that passes all understanding -- even when my hard disk crashes.

Who is Maharaji? I cannot say. All I know is this: When I'm with him, I never want to leave. And when I do, it's like starting over once again -- whatever I once was being left behind like a second skin. I am refreshed, renewed, re-awakened once again.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:28 PM | Comments (3)

February 20, 2009
HAFIZ: Where Dolphins Dance

Again, the work starts as soon as you open your eyes in the morning.

Hopefully you got some good rest last night. Why go into the city or the fields without first kissing the Friend who always stands at your door? It takes only a second.

Habits are human nature. Why not create some that will mint gold? Your arms are violin bows always moving. I have become very conscious upon whom we all play.

Thus my eyes have filled with warm soft oceans of divine music where jeweled dolphins dance, then leap into this world.

Excerpted from The Subject Tonight Is Love by Daniel Ladinsky.

Photo by Kalandrakas. Thanks to Larry Lustbader for forwarding this poem...

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:13 AM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2009
VIDEO: Allow Your Heart to Be Filled With Gratitude

Eight minutes of Maharaji speaking with the elderly and physically challenged -- in both Hindi and English. Very inspiring.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:33 PM | Comments (1)

February 17, 2009
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 around 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 (2)

February 16, 2009
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.

I was just about to have a big piece of cherry cheesecake to celebrate my innovative, time-saving enhancements, but I've... er... outsourced my eating to a woman named Min Yung in Taiwan. I'm down to about 145 pounds, but I'm feeling absolutely psyched about the new contract I just got from GE. Starts next month. Wind generators in Malaysia!

The only thing I haven't outsourced this week is this blog and a visit to my dentist. (Do any of you know someone willing to get a root canal on my behalf?)

PS: While there's nothing inherently wrong with outsourcing (or delegating, for that matter), it's not the heart of the matter. For that, we need to go within.

Insourcing is the name of the game. Not outsourcing.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:20 PM | Comments (1)

February 15, 2009
VIDEO: The Power That We Have

(Thanks to David Klamph for forwarding this link)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:25 AM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2009
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

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,
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 04:02 PM | Comments (2)

February 13, 2009
EXCERPTS: Maharaji in Tel Aviv

On February 11th, at Tel Aviv University, about 900 Israelis, Palestinians and other assorted human beings came together to listen to the timeless message of Prem Rawat (aka Maharaji). What follows are excerpts of his talk as recalled by Jan Buchalter. Please note that these excerpts are close approximations of what Maharaji said that night and are not necessarily verbatim.

"I am the voice for all those who are silent, for all those who pray, for all those who hope for peace. For the 6.88 billion people who silently yearn, I am that voice."

"It is not about me, but that through me you may hear your own heart."

HIGHLIGHTS OF MAHARAJI'S MESSAGE IN TEL AVIV

"Reach deep within and quench your thirst. The aspect of this love, this thirst, is that it keeps increasing. Drink as much as you wish, for these waters are drenching the Earth, cascading down and filling, filling, filling to overflowing."

"One day, we will have to return to this dirt. It is the miracle of breath alone that separates us from the dirt we are destined for. So before it's too late, before missing what you have no longer, try appreciating what you have right now in front of you."

"Make no doubt about it. You are real. So much may be fake around us, but our life, our being alive, is a divine act of God. We should know this."

"Fidgeting and fumbling our way through life is not the way. Breathing in that loveliest aroma, surrounded by comfort, resting in contentment, and riveted in love's singular canal where the ebb and flow of the current keeps washing over you, is what we are meant to experience."

"You are not who you think you are. 'But what about all my years of studying for med school, or to be a lawyer?' you may think. Go beyond that! Go back to your simplicity -- the simplicity of this river of breath."

"Have you ever smelled the perfume of God?"

(Photo by A.M.Slater)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:38 AM | Comments (2)

February 12, 2009
DOWNLOAD THIS: Maharaji in Sicily

Every year the citizens of Agrigento, Sicily celebrate the Festival of the Almond Blossom. This year the festival was celebrated in a unique way. Prem Rawat (aka Maharaji), Ambassador of Peace, was invited by the local government to light the torch and then speak to the people of Agrigento.

"So many nations have come and gone," Maharaji said, upon opening the ceremony. "But throughout history there were always voices begging for peace. Were they heard? I don't know. Were they listened to? I don't know. But I do know that we are here to make a voice for that peace."

Click here to download a beautiful pdf of the event, created by the very talented Wendy Lewis.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:01 PM | Comments (2)

Sneakers

Here's one of the simplest ways I can think of to describe the value that Maharaji (aka Prem Rawat) provides a human being.

This morning I was just about to leave my house and drive to my local health club when I realized I couldn't find my sneakers. I looked in my backpack where I usually stash them. They weren't there. I looked on the shoe rack. They weren't there, either. I looked in the hallway, the mudroom, the kitchen, and closet. Not there, not there, not there, and not there.

Then I looked down. Doh! I was wearing them!

What Maharaji does is show people what they already have, but aren't necessarily conscious of. Me? In my life? I was looking everywhere else for what seemed to be lost -- in places, in things, in people, in books ... but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Then Maharaji showed me where to look -- and what was waiting for me there. Voila!

Ah... I can hear my dear, sweet mother now. "Mitchell, for this, you're making such a big deal? A man who showed you what you already had? Oy vey!"

My mom's reaction, God bless her, is similar to the way many people describe a consultant: "Someone who tells you the time with your own watch."

But here's where the comparison breaks down. Maharaji doesn't just tell me the time... he tells me the timeless. And far beyond telling, he shows me.

(Oh, by the way, I made it to my health club and read People Magazine on the Stairmaster)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:35 AM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2009
VIDEO: Thirst

Video by Garik from Slovenia. Thanks to Cindy Lategan for the link.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:54 AM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2009
Jumping for Joy

A few months ago I had a beautiful dream. I was a guest at Maharaji's residence, along with a bunch of other people and was walking around his very spacious grounds when, out of the blue, he signals me to climb an extremely tall tree. In a flash, I find myself climbing, branch over branch until I reach the top. Thrilled, I raise my arms high overhead in a classic "I did it!" pose when suddenly Maharaji signals me to JUMP into the pool below. The pool, however, is very far away -- way further away than even the best of jumps could ever possibly come close to. A wave of fear comes over me, but I decide to jump anyway. As I do, the pool moves towards me. I land in the center. Splash!

(Photo by Divya)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:46 AM | Comments (1)

February 08, 2009
VIDEO: Maharaji in Agrigento

This just in from Italy -- mostly in Italian. So go on down to your local Italian restaurant and ask for a translation. (Hmmm... not a bad way to let people know about Maharaji's message). Fettucine for everyone!

PS: If you DO get this video translated, let me know what happens and we'll post a few stories here...

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:06 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2009
Maharaji in Agrigento, Italy

This just in from Agrigento, a city on the southern coast of Sicily. Details to follow. Stay tuned.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:46 AM | Comments (3)

Go Beyond Anything You Can Imagine

OK, movers and shakers, lovers of Knowledge, humbled ones, happy ones, gopis, fools, lunatics, learners, Luigis, and other assorted humanoids sometimes bummed by a crumbling economy, shaky world order, and the rising price of cappuccino -- it's time to realize that whatever difficulties you're experiencing these days are actually gifts -- each lovingly wrapped with silver linings beyond anything you can imagine.

Really. There's something in it for you. Know that everything happens for the best.

Say goodbye to the old. Let it go. The old forms are dying. Their time has come and gone. But YOU are still here -- YOU, the crown of creation!

Mostly everything you've depended on in your life has revealed itself to be completely undependable. Your job? Your finances? Your relationship? Ha! Now you see them, now you don't. Seductions, one and all.

Security? Good luck! Helen Keller said it best. "Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

OK, maybe your cash flow isn't flowing, but that doesn't mean that YOU can't flow. YES YOU CAN!

Dudes and Dudinas of the world, it's time to say goodbye to whatever it was that's been propping you up or providing you with a temporary identity to trot out at parties in between the brie and the creeping conclusion you probably should have stayed home.

What remains when all the conditional stuff of our life is gone? What remains when the veil disappears and the show leaves town and everything we think we are or have reveals itself to be nothing but a few flickering shadows on a few flickering walls? Ah, Grasshopper, that is the question.

My big fat opinion?

I can say without a shadow of doubt that there is at least one human being on the planet who not only knows what remains after all the conditional stuff of our life is gone, but has the knack of awakening the rest of us to that place.

Is he the only one? God only knows. Maybe there's a million. Maybe there's 23. Maybe all these Wise Ones are break dancing in a cave in the Himalayas or maybe they're meditating in a mall in New Jersey.

What does Maharaji have to say about this matter? "Go search the four corners of the world for this peace and if you cannot find it, come back to me. I'll be wherever you are."

In that primeval place, there is no past, no future, no Wall Street, no Wal-mart, no alimony, no acrimony, no cholesterol, no anti-oxidents, no anti-Christs, no waiting, no lines, no hanging chads. In that place, EVERYONE gets bailed out. And the currency is LOVE, sweet sweet love. Not love of this or love of that or love of him or her. Just love. Love with no bounds. Love with no agenda. Love with no strings.

That's it, folks! LOVE! What everything comes down to. Love, the universal donor. Love, the back stage pass. Love, what you do everything for. What moves you... and where it moves you to.

So let it be and let it go and let it rip. Take the wonderful bull of life by the horns (or at least wave the red flag instead of the white).

Now's the time. Everything up to this point has been prelude, the universe clearing it's throat so it could say something, far beyond words, and say it through YOU!

Oh great people of the blogosphere, don't hold back. Sing it out! Dance it out! Write it out! Speak it out! Be your beautiful self! And should it come to pass that you choose to ignore the lovely verbs in the previous sentence because they sound like too much of a rant, so be it! No problem. Whatever. No matter. But whatever you decide to do or not do, do it all the way.

There, you have it in a nutshell. Do it all the way! Do not hold back. Do not covet thy neighbor's lawnmower, i-phone, or URL. Do not worry about the Dow. The Tao? (No need to worry about that either). Your finances? Oy vey! Don't ask. Let go! Dive in! Have fun!

And remember... YOU ARE NOT IN THIS ALONE! OK, so maybe no one's going with you when it's time to leave your mortal coil, but while you're here? Rejoice! Reach out! Connect! Find your tribe! And when you do, make whatever effort it takes to get in the groove.

In the words of that famous hip hop philosopher, Johann von Wolfgang Goethe, "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

(Photo by Dujarandille)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:03 AM | Comments (4)

February 05, 2009
Feel What You Cannot Think About

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:25 AM | Comments (0)

February 04, 2009
"Every act of creation is, first of all, an act of destruction." - Pablo Picasso

No one likes change. No one likes chaos. No one likes starting all over again -- especially the older we get. Get over it, folks! The only way the species survives is by adapting to change -- and change is what's upon us now. The economy is crumbling. The old institutions are dying. Nothing, on the outside, ever stays the same. Picasso knew this. YOU know this, too. So, let the old forms die. Let what no longer works fade away. Then, help usher in the birth of WHAT'S NEXT that will emerge -- before that, too, fades away... only to be replaced by what's next after what's next. And the wheel goes round and round...

(Thanks to Dalit Fresco for the idea for this posting)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:23 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2009
Homegrown Words of Wisdom

Thank you to David Gittlin for these words of wisdom -- his own.

What you believe to be your upper limit is only the cracked ceiling you have been staring at for too long. You can go higher. Guaranteed.

Surrendering to self-doubt is the same thing as making a deal with the devil. Instead, make a deal with your dream and soar.

God never says, "I hear ya' knockin' but you can't come in." Keep knocking.

If you want to be great, stop trying to fit in.

The greatest challenge is to enjoy the process of getting from here to there.

Get to know the genius inside you on a first name basis. It is necessary to develop a tough mind as we mature, but not at the expense of a sensitive heart.

Don't judge yourself by the bad things you've done. Focus on the good thing you are about to begin.

The secret to lasting happiness is a heart full of love connected to a mind full of positive thoughts.

Photo by RJeudin

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:50 AM | Comments (0)