Chapter 42
Birth of AMI
Excerpt from:
The Heart and Science of Yoga
A Blueprint for Peace, Happiness and Freedom from Fear
©2005

The wood does not change the fire into itself,
but fire changes the wood into itself.
So we are changed into God, that we shall know Him as He is."
George Bernard Shaw
 

As we read and reread Swami Rama's written instructions to "start teaching now," two important memories came to mind.

Our first meeting with Swami Rama took place in May 1991. Although Jenness and I had been studying yoga science and philosophy as serious students since 1976, it was not our habit to attend lectures or retreats. Our personalities seemed better suited to reading the classical and contemporary writings of both East and West, and to fashioning our own spiritual practice based on what felt right in our hearts, minds and bodies.


However, our sadhana had accelerated and expanded to such an extent that we were curtailing social and business relationships in order to give more attention to our studies and practice. As we simplified our lives, we felt healthier and more content, but grew uneasy about the many and profound changes we were making. Although the alterations were benefiting us, no one in our immediate family, social or business community had any interest in, nor understanding of, our spiritual practice. Feeling a bit as if we were out on a limb, we decided to seek advice from someone who had walked this path before--someone we respected.


Although we had never met Swami Rama, by 1991 we had been studying his books for thirteen years. Since both of us acknowledged him as our primary teacher, we decided to write to ask if he would see us. Two days after we mailed our letter, Swami Rama's secretary, Kamal, telephoned us from his teaching facility in Pennsylvania to say Swami Rama wanted to initiate us into the Himalayan tradition as soon as possible. We subsequently learned that Swami Rama had already begun to retire from his worldly activities at that time, and was only rarely initiating students. We now cherish that experience as an auspicious gift.


The night before our initiation, we met informally with Swami Rama for the first time. He asked if I were a teacher. "No," I replied, "I'm an art dealer."


His response was swift and precise: "You are a teacher, and many people will come to you. And I will help you."


The second memory that came to mind as we read the instructions to "start teaching now" was of an August day in 1992. Swami Rama had accepted our invitation to visit our annual painting exhibition in Saratoga Springs. We were very proud and excited as Swami Rama, dressed in his burgundy robe, strolled regally into our gallery with three of his disciples trailing behind him. The August show represented a year's labor and, as we had discussed with him before, it was our only opportunity to sell Jenness's paintings so close to home.


After respectfully greeting the Swami, we slowly escorted him around the exhibition, stopping at each painting as Jenness presented personal and artistic insights. The entire tour took about twenty minutes and, when it concluded, we and his entourage stood at his side, eagerly anticipating the master's comments.


A few suspenseful seconds of silence passed. Then, Swami Rama's lips began to move and his words became audible. "This should not be here!" he decreed.


What could he mean?! We were both in shock. We knew from studying his writings and through our own experience of him, that Swami Rama measured his words very carefully. He was known as a "seer," one who sees things as they are rather than as they appear. His spare sentences were often like riddles to be studied and deciphered. But, "This should not be here!" Why would he say such a thing? Did he think we could have found a better location for the exhibition?


In the interlude of silence that followed, both of us independently decided we could make no immediate reply, although we knew we'd have to contemplate his words very seriously. Under the circumstances, however, "Anyone for lunch?" seemed the easiest response.

Later, as we became embroiled in litigation with the Racing Association, the meaning of Swami Rama's pronouncement that "This should not be here" began to make sense. It became clear that attachments to the status quo had been clouding our vision at the time Swami Rama visited us in Saratoga, but the subsequent pain of the NYRA lawsuit helped us to sacrifice many of our limitations and re-order our priorities.


We came to realize that yoga science was our strongest and most reliable ally. Nothing else could make sense of our predicament. The difficult circumstances motivated us to intensify our sadhana and earnestly align our thoughts, words and deeds with the intuitive wisdom of the buddhi.


By making every choice a means for our spiritual unfoldment, we came to see, in retrospect, that the beneficent force of guru had been subtly advising us that our creative energies had been misdirected for quite some time. At long last we knew the time had come to move on, and that the suffering we were experiencing by defending the artist's constitutional right of free expression was only a reflection of our resistance to that transformation.


Challenging and painful as the battle was, it provided a catalyst for seeing many issues in clearer perspective. NYRA's incomprehensible legal actions were instrumental in our decision to follow the intuition of our hearts, and not to continue business as usual.


In fact, we could find only one real motivation for maintaining the status quo, and that was fear--fear that we wouldn't be able to find another creative outlet for our energies and talents while still making a living. Ultimately, however, our fear, powerful as it was, was not enough to keep us from exploring other possibilities the universe was presenting to us.


In retrospect, we recognized that we had spent twenty years creating and selling horse racing paintings of Saratoga. At the half-century mark of our lives we had to ask ourselves realistically, "How many twenty-year periods do we have remaining to give to any worthwhile project?" The answer was sobering, and although we found it difficult to admit, our course now seemed obvious.


As part of our sadhana, we decided to renounce attachment to our fear. Jenness would no longer paint images of Saratoga horse racing. As an act of faith in yoga philosophy, we sacrificed the sporting art market that had supported us for most of our adult years, opening ourselves up to whatever Divine Providence would bring into our lives. From that moment on, we agreed, Jenness would apply her artistic talents to other subjects, and together, we would offer to students a practical teaching we understood through our own personal experience.


Having received direct instructions in the summer of 1996 to "start teaching now," we began to discuss the form, content and location of that teaching. At first we assumed that we should teach at Swami Rama's ashram in Pennsylvania where we had been initiated. To our surprise, however, the new director of that organization refused our numerous attempts to discuss the matter.


After that rejection and a great deal of soul searching, I finally understood the meaning of Swami Rama's first words to me in May of 1991: "You are a teacher, and many people will come to you. And I will help you." Had Swami Rama known immediately that students would seek me out where I lived? Suddenly, my path was clear: I was to teach where I lived, and through our earnestness Providence would sustain that effort.


We also gained clarity on the issue of what to teach. We decided that the only subjects we could offer with honesty and authority were those we practiced. We knew their merits well. Throughout the emotional onslaught of the legal battle, the dissolution of our livelihood and the loss of friends and business associates, our spiritual practice had kept us balanced, upright and creative.


If the practical application of yoga science and philosophy worked so well for us in such demanding circumstances, we concluded, it could work for others as well--assuming they were interested and earnest. So, we started outlining a curriculum of the practices that formed our own daily sadhana.


What evolved was the birth of a growing number of classes and an association of students that we eventually named the American Meditation Institute for Yoga Science and Philosophy. We did not choose this name casually. In addition to honoring the lineage of teachers who preceded us, we wanted our teaching to reflect our own American roots. After all, we were part of the post-World War II American baby boom. We were the first generation influenced by television and such personalities as Davey Crockett, Roy Rogers, Eleanor Roosevelt, Elvis Presley, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Our early lives had been shaped by experiences of the Cold War, the Peace Corps and Vietnam; by liberalized sexual mores, the increasing availability and reliance on drugs and by a rampant materialism embraced as a remedy for our persistent mental and emotional pain.


Although we were Western by birth and experience, our earnest desire to diminish our own dis-ease had led us to investigate the messages of the East as well as the West. In that search, we discovered that the essence of Eastern thought is present in Western philosophy and science. Through our study and practice, a rich tapestry of Eastern and Western wisdom began to reveal itself.


Again and again the same message appeared to us in the context of many different traditions. The scriptures of the Old Testament, New Testament, Quran, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Dhammapada, Talmud and Kabbala supported and enriched one another. The philosophies enunciated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, St. Francis of Assisi, Shakespeare, Meister Eckhart, Teihard de Chardin, Rumi, Kabir, Black Elk, Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman all began to echo and reinforce one another. Our study and practice helped us realize that on the highest level of consciousness, only one truth exists. Names and forms, places of origin, personalities, historical and cultural contexts may differ, but truth remains the same.


For us, the science and philosophy of yoga represents a practical, common sense methodology for experimenting with truth--a profound process for transforming the energy of the mind into meaningful, creative and joyful life experiences.


But please, don't believe us. If you are at all interested, take the knowledge we offer and experiment with it every day in your life like a real yoga scientist, because your own experience is the only mechanism by which you will come to know the truth of this knowledge. Then, experience by experience, take what resonates as truth and consciously discard that which does not. On your journey, never be guided by the suggestions of others--unless those suggestions are endorsed by your own common sense, your own discrimination, yourown heart, your own inner guru.

Excerpt from

The Heart and Science of Yoga:

A Blueprint for Peace, Happiness and Freedom from Fear

by Leonard Perlmutter * Available September 7, 2005 at your favorite bookstore.
©2005 BY LEONARD PERLMUTTER

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Elvis is Guru An acquaintance once asked, "Wasn't Elvis Presley's life a tragedy?" The question opened a floodgate of memories. My relationship with Elvis Presley had begun in 1956. As a teenager, listening to Elvis's music was one of my first experiences with meditation. Every time I listened intently to his music I felt happy--so happy in fact, that I began to associate Elvis and his music with my happiness. As Paul McCartney similarly observed, "I always knew that no matter how I felt, if I played an Elvis record it would make me happy." Because of this experience, over the years I continued to freely give my attention to Elvis Presley. For me, Elvis had charisma. To some extent, each of us has experienced the power of charisma. When someone has charisma, we feel an overwhelming, magnetic attraction that demands our attention. But from a yogic perspective, it's interesting to question the karmic purpose of such a phenomenon. What is to be learned from an individual who commands our attention, our love, or even our anger? Before responding about the tragedy or non-tragedy of Elvis's life, I began to process some memories of him from the unconscious portion of the mind known as chitta. Because I had given Elvis my attention over the years, I actually knew quite a bit about his desires, choices, achievements and some of the painful consequences he experienced--many of which appeared to result from serving the passing pleasure of ego or sense gratification (preya). Elvis Presley was obviously a generous and loving man, yet many of his actions were not in harmony with the guru in the cave of my own heart. Observing all this, I knew that as a yoga scientist, Elvis Presley's life was not a tragedy for me. Because I had been attentive to Elvis's life, I was able to receive many important lessons that instructed me what to do--and what not to do. Yes, even Elvis can be a vehicle for guru. In order to be open to the ever-present light of guru, in whatever form it may appear, each of us must be willing to be as innocent, open and non-judgmental as a child. When the outer guru reflects the truth of the inner guru, the advice is to be heeded and served. When a suggestion from the outer guru is not in harmony with the inner guru, as reflected by the purified buddhi (conscience), the advice is to be honored, respected and lovingly rejected, with gratitude--for your teacher has just taught you what not to do. It's all so very simple. Logically, it must be simple. In order to be available to every human being on an equal basis, the pathway to Happiness must be the common denominator, and that common denominator is pure consciousness--awareness within. You don't have to be of a certain race. You don't need a high school diploma or college degree, or to be the follower of any particular religion. You are merely asked to be awake, like every great sage, to hear and to serve the wisdom of guru in mind, action and speech. Excerpt from The Heart and Science of Yoga: A Blueprint for Peace, Happiness and Freedom from Fear by Leonard Perlmutter. Available September 7, 2005.

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QUESTION: I have heard that the six-pointed Jewish star is actually an ancient yoga symbol. Can you explain?

LEONARD: The heart chakra (anahata chakra), found at the level of the physical heart, can be considered a demarcation between the animal consciousness of the lower chakras and the Divine consciousness of the higher chakras. Its symbol is two intersecting triangles--the same symbol that represents modern Judaism as the six-pointed Star of David. The first triangle is turned upward--an ascending triangle symbolizing the fire, or resolve (sankalpa), of human effort. This ascending force is our conscious discrimination between the preya and the shreya in mind, action and speech. The second triangle depicted in the symbol of the heart chakra points downward. It represents grace (kripa). If you are consistently able to serve the shreya and surrender the preya, the light of the descending force of grace automatically appears in your life as love, fearlessness and strength.

Healthy Eating

Medical research confirms that vegetarian diets reduce the risk of most serious
illness--including cancer and coronary heart disease. Steamed rice, beans and vegetables have no cholesterol, are low in fat, provide a complete protein and all the essential amino acids. Mung beans are considered the queen of beans because they produce minimal amounts of gas. Here is a simple recipe made from split washed mung beans.

QUICK AND DELICIOUS DAL (Split Washed Mung Bean Soup)
Preparation time: 35 minutes, plus soaking time. Serves: 6 - 8

Ingredients:
1 cup - washed split mung beans
4 1/2 cups - hot water
1 tsp. - salt
1/4 tsp. - turmeric (optional)
2 tblsp. - ghee (clarified butter)
1 medium to large red onion
Mrs. Dash Original flavor seasoning
(6 or 7 hard shakes)
 

BEAN PREPARATION: At least one hour before cooking
Pick through beans, removing any organic debris and tiny stones. Rinse well and soak in the refrigerator (at least one hour and up to 24 hours). The soaking reduces the amount of gas generated during digestion. Water level should be about 1 1/2 inch above beans.

When you're ready to cook:
Peel and cut onions in half, top to bottom. Place cut side down and cut into very thin slices. Set aside. Discard soaking water from beans, rinse once, add the 4 1/2 cups of hot water and bring to a boil on high heat. Immediately lower heat to medium and continue boiling. A white foam will form. Remove the foam by skimming with a large spoon. Lower heat, add turmeric (if desired) and continue to simmer.

While the beans cook, place 2 tablespoons of ghee and the onions in a medium skillet on medium heat. Cover pan. Stir occasionally as onions brown, loosening any areas that stick and always replacing the cover after each stir. Continue until about half the onions have browned and all are translucent and limp--about 20 minutes. When the beans begin to lose shape and form a creamy soup, add salt, Mrs. Dash and cooked onions with the ghee. Reduce heat to very low, cover and simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors. Serve over rice with a side of mixed vegetables. Bon appetit!





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New Year's Eve
Celebration

Dinner, Music and Fire Ceremony
Saturday, December 31, 7:00-12 Midnight
AMI HOME CENTER
You are cordially invited to a FREE
pitch-in vegetarian New Year's Eve dinner.
Please bring a dish to share.
Friends and family members are welcome.

                                                                                         RSVP by December 23

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The Miracle of Illumination
 

The Miracle of Illumination
Shantideva - 7th Century Buddhist Saint


As a blind man feels when he finds a pearl in a dustbin,
so am I amazed by the miracle of illumination rising in my consciousness.

It is the nectar of immortality that delivers us from death,

The treasure that lifts us above poverty into the wealth of giving to life,

The tree that gives shade to us when we roam about scorched by life,

The bridge that takes us across the stormy river of life,

The cool moon of compassion that calms our mind when it is agitated,
The sun that dispels darkness,

The butter made from the milk of kindness
by churning it with the dharma.

It is a feast of joy to which all are invited.

From God Makes the Rivers to Flow, by Eknath Easwaran, ©1991 Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, nilgiri.org
 

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I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant and kindness from the unkind. 
I should not be ungrateful to those teachers.
Kahlil Gibran

Divine knowledge is realized, not taught.
Shirdi Sai Baba

The lust for comfort is a stealthy thing that enters the house as a guest, 
then becomes a host, and then a master.
Khalil Gibran

Your own Self is your own teacher. The outer teacher is merely a milestone. 
It is your inner teacher that will walk with you to the goal, for he is the goal.
Nisargadatta Maharaj

In the ancient teaching the first demand at the beginning of the way to liberation was: Know thyself.
George I. Gurdjieff

A guru is like a fire; stand too close and you'll get burnt; stand too far away and you won't get heat.
Tibetan Proverb

True teaching liberates the student from his teacher. 
He will find the teacher within himself. This will not make him arrogant or egotistical; 
rather, he will have a deep sense of humility, as we should have when we face the Great Reality.
Ernest Holmes

The teacher, however great, can never give his knowledge to the pupils, 
although, he can kindle the light if the oil is in the lamp.
Hazrat Inayat Khan

The real purpose of teachers, books and teachings is to lead us back to the kingdom of God within ourselves.
Joel Goldsmith

A bus driver is the best example of a guru. He is totally involved in taking you to a destination, 
but he is uninvolved with you as well. His job is to pick you up and to deliver you.
Yogi Bhajan

Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn from him.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tell a Friend about AMI

If you know someone who might benefit from our American Meditation class, let them know about the AMI program or call us with their name and address and we'll send them a brochure with our current class schedule.

Karma Yoga --- the practice of selfless and skillful action

If, as part of your practice, you have a few extra hours during the week and are interested in helping grow the American Meditation Institute, we need your dedicated, volunteer energy. As a student of yoga science, you are already familiar with the kinds of practical services the Institute provides. Each month we write, edit and publish this newsletter, teach an average of thirty new meditation students and present stress-reduction seminars to various businesses and organizations. We also invite visiting speakers of interest to our area, organize seminars on yoga science and do continuing personal counseling.

Our immediate needs include press relations, seminar management, clerical assistance and general delivery work. Remember, whatever time or talents you possess will be put to meaningful, productive use.

If you have the time, please call the Institute at (518) 674-8714.

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