The Heart of the Matter
September 29, 2012
Radiant Being of Light

35461_4557661901479_2089615615_n.jpg
Radiant being of light, vortex of love, alchemist supreme, magnifier of prayer, the one I dream about and the one who wakes me from the dream, why the dervish spins and the earth, teacher, teaching, and the taught, first breath, last breath, what lovers look for in each other, but rarely find, center around which everything revolves, endless night of love and the ecstatic aching of a moon-howling heart that does not want the morning to come.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)

Prem Rawat Honored at Peace Forum

More about this on TPRF.org
Videos of Prem Rawat
Humanitarian aid

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2012
7 Billion Reasons for Peace

148876_10151262611966995_302499381_n.jpg

The following just posted on The Prem Rawat Foundation website.

"As this is being posted, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Prem Rawat is receiving a prestigious International Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation (APBF), a non-profit organization in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific.

prem-rawat.jpg

The intent of the award is to honor individuals whose contributions have enhanced the well-being of society and made our lives more comfortable.

APBF recognizes many outstanding people, but only three others have received its Lifetime Achievement Award: Hilary Clinton, Nelson Mandela, and Heinz Fischer.

Stay tuned for more news on tprf.org as the story unfolds".

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:10 AM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2012
Listen to Your Heart

3 listen to your heart.jpg

Prem Rawat's confirmed events
2-3 minute audio clips
Virtual Peace Cards

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:21 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2012
Perception, Reality, and Resolution

SpiritDancing.jpg

Part #1 of this blog post is a brief story I wrote two weeks ago at a retreat center in Australia, based on my observations, in an amphitheater, on the day my teacher, Prem Rawat, had a Reception Line for his students.

Part #2 is the response I received, a few days later, from one of the players in Part #1.

Part #3 is a summary of what I learned from the experience.

perception_vase-1.gif
PART #1: The Perception

I am sitting in the amphitheater watching hundreds of people returning from the Reception Line, Maharaji's favorite music playing in the background.

On the large screen is an endless stream of photos of happy people, smiling, laughing, or just being totally focused. The line keeps moving, each person a universe folded into itself.

Everyone is radiant, self-contained, walking more slowly than usual.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a woman, on the line, dancing. She, too, has just returned from seeing Maharaji. The only thing different is SHE IS DANCING -- the most beautiful dance I think I've ever seen -- a dance of uncontainable joy.

The security guy takes note and, mindful of his duty, starts to approach her from behind as she dances by.

She cannot see him, bouncing and bounding from one step to the other, arms to the sky in perfect sync with her invisible dance partner.

Those of us in the audience are watching this little scene unfold, silently rooting for the dutiful security guy to keep his distance and let her keep dancing up the aisle.

He seems concerned, like there is something he is supposed to DO, but the closer he gets to her, the more it seems like there is some kind of invisible force field around her, protecting the dancing from any kind of disturbance.

Her dancing trumps his security and, as the song she is dancing to ends, she keeps dancing up the aisle, eyes on fire -- the rest of us madly clapping -- for her, for the dance, and the extraordinary perfection of this little moment in time.

reality-check.jpg

PART #2: The Reality

A few days after I posted the above story on Facebook, I received the following comment from Michael Nelthorpe -- the "Security Guy."

"Nice story Mitch. I was the guy. Not quite the way you saw it.

I slipped in behind her so no one stopped her dancing or interrupted her 'space'.

Times change, Mitch. We treat EVERYONE as his guest no matter what."

PART #3: The Resolution

What did I learn from this little episode? A lot.

To begin with, what I think is happening and what is actually happening are sometimes two very different things.

It was easy for me to conclude that the "security guy" was doing the traditional "security thing", when, in fact, what was really happening was quite the opposite. He was not attempting to interfere with the beautiful dance going on. He was trying to protect it!

He was protecting. I was projecting.

Why did I assume what I assumed? Because I had an outdated concept of "Event Security". So outdated, in fact, that I did not even know that "Security" wasn't called "Security" anymore -- but "Safety".

You might quibble that this is semantics, but from what I can tell, it's far more than that, as evidenced by Michael Nelthorpe's crystal clear feedback to me -- given, by the way, with elegance, feeling, and the spirit of "we're all in this together" -- which, I now understand is what his commitment was to the dancing lady.

As a writer (or human being... or man... or Virgo... or baby boomer.. or whatever), it's easy to default to habitual ways of looking at things, based on my past experiences and assumptions.

The fact of the matter, is, however, that every moment is a new one. If we really want to appreciate what's going on, we have to let go of old ways of seeing.

It's a bit like the classic story of the five blind men trying to figure out what an elephant looked like. Each of them were touching a different part of the elephant and they each concluded something different, based on what part they were touching.

The guy who was touching the tail got a very different impression of the elephant than the guy who was touching the trunk... or the leg.

This seems to be our challenge. Each of us are looking through our own lens, trying to make sense of things. Then, based on our limited perceptions, we proceed to proclaim to the world what we see -- as if what we see was the only reality.

"When a pickpocket meets a saint, all he sees are pockets," goes the old adage.

I saw the "dancing lady" and the "security guy" and made my own poetic leap to a false conclusion, then proceeded to write about it and get a whole bunch of confirmations -- 68 Facebook LIKES.

Yes, I know the essence of what I was writing about was real and that, indeed, similar scenarios play out, in many ways, every day of our lives.

But the FACT is: my conclusion at the Amaroo amphitheater was faulty.

uvasacred_03_0.jpg

This was a great lesson for me.

It gave me (and gives me) pause. I am more conscious now of not jumping to conclusions... of allowing more space and time before I proclaim anything to be true.

I am also newly committed to entertaining diverse inputs (second opinions and reality checks) before I go dancing off to the races.

What conclusion have you come up with lately that might be bogus? What assumption have you made -- about someone or something -- that might be completely unreal?

Long videos of Prem Rawat

Short videos of Prem Rawat
More about his message

Illustration

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:35 AM | Comments (6)

September 25, 2012
The Light at the End of the Tunnel

IMG_5475.JPG

We are sitting in a tunnel, checking our email, thinking about yesterday and tomorrow, when just behind us, brighter than a thousand suns, is a light streaming in from a place astrophysicists will never find. We're looking down. It's looking in -- illuminating our chance to turn around, stand up, and be amazed.

More
Photo: Mimi Ditkoff (15)

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2012
The Perfect Surgery

DSC00298(edited).jpg

He has performed the perfect surgery and removed me. I have no idea who is writing this or how the operation was performed with no visible instruments, just stories and laughter. Everything unnecessary is gone now. Only the core of pure being remains. I am so glad there is a ground I can collapse onto, and I do, arms outstretched, looking up at the clear blue sky.

More
A field? The laundry room? It doesn't matter
Words of Peace Global

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:26 PM | Comments (2)

Right Now

6 right now.jpg

More

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:53 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2012
Prem Rawat's Peace Day Message

Here is a very clear, 2-minute video of Prem Rawat talking about the need for peace -- his contribution to International Peace Day, sponsored by the United Nations. It will be shown at the Peace One Day Concert 2012 featuring Elton John and James Morrison, available live on YouTube.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2012
Celebrate International Peace Day with the Florida Peace Initiative

necessityofpeace.png
To celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace, on September 21st, the Florida Peace Initiative will present the Necessity of Peace Global Webcast -- 24 hours of uplifting, streaming video.

A wide variety of peace programming, showcasing diverse perspectives, will be shown, including Prem Rawat's unique message of peace.

STARTS: Thursday, 9/20, EDT (Miami, FL) and Friday, 9/21, 12:00 AM, Auckland, New Zealand

ENDS: Saturday, Sept 22 at 6:00 am EDT (Miami, FL) and Saturday, Sept 22, 12:00 am (Honolulu, Hawaii)

The Livestream webcast will be available on the FPI website.

orange.jpg

The Florida Peace Initiative is a voluntary association of people working together to increase awareness of the innate capacity for peace that all human beings have.

Their goal:

1. To intensify focus on the necessity of peace

2. To engage university audiences in a meaningful exploration of peace

3. To create an ongoing impact on local and international peace initiatives

More info

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:16 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2012
There Is No Door

Here is a 4-minute video for your enjoyment. It is a collaboration between three students of Prem Rawat: Fernando Garcia (video editing), Stuart Hoffman (music), and Mitch Ditkoff (poetry). If you like it, LIKE it and forward it to your friends. Thanks!

Two other collaborations of ours:
This Thirst
The Beautiful Sadness of Longing

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:50 PM | Comments (8)

September 18, 2012
Simple Words to Live By

Gentle 2.jpg

More

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:27 AM | Comments (2)

September 09, 2012
The Amaroo Diaries: Part 1

Amaroo-Ipswich-460x344.jpg
NOTE: I just found this diary entry of mine, written three years ago at Prem Rawat's Amaroo event -- a good reminder about the feeling of being in that very special place. Hope to see you there, in September.

Greetings from my tent at Amaroo. It's 9:10 PM and the jet lag is setting in, so if I fall asleep in the middle of this post, you will know why.

Today was a day of unpacking, settling in and just walking around with nowhere special to go. Seems like everywhere I went, I just happened to meet the right people at the right time without making any extra effort -- kind of like we were all actors in a play that required no script to know our cues.

Amaroo is the kind of place where it's easy to realize that everything is perfect just the way it is -- that there's no need to move any faster or slower than the rate at which you are already moving.

There's no hurry to get anywhere because you have already arrived.

bread-cheese-fantasy-novel-meal.jpg

One woman, at lunch, after sharing her bread and cheese with me, said a very interesting thing which is still ringing true eight hours later -- as the crickets, outside my tent, call to each other like they've being doing for millions of years.

She said that one thing she loves about being at Amaroo is that she moves at her own pace without the need to get anywhere special -- that wherever she is just happens to be the perfect place at the perfect time.

This, to me, describes at least a little of the impact of Prem Rawat's teaching.

It's all about being. Being who you are. Being where you are. Being present to the moment with whatever is happening.

Being rooted in the knowledge that peace is within you and that it's not only possible to be in this peace, but it's natural and easy, simplifies the whole game of life.

Looking inside replaces looking ahead.

Oh, by the way, even though I registered months ago for Amaroo, my name is not on the seating list. I waited on line and asked the seating lady, but she informed me I was not on the list and have no seat for tomorrow. At least that's the way it appears at the moment. We shall see in the morning....

Info about Amaroo, 2015

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:07 AM | Comments (7)

September 07, 2012
When You Walk Into The Room

dancer.gif

When you walk into the room,
all the poets
feel a sudden urge to praise,
all the dancers want to move,
singers ache
to raise their voices high
for all those times
they foolishly chose silence instead.

This impulse to express,
this surging forward into form,
is absolutely involuntary, tidal,
primal, pure.

The poet's fingers twitch,
the singer clears her throat,
the dancer moves inside her shoes,
already receiving roses
from the grateful choreographer of her heart.

More

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

Welcome to Mitch Ditkoff's blog about what's really important in this life: Peace, gratitude, love, joy, clarity, and the effort required to wake up and smell the roses. Enjoy!

   Contact me   
© MITCH DITKOFF