April 19th Homa

After observing Sadhu Paksha for several weeks, the monks return to their usual schedule, conducting this morning\'s homa, beginning the new phase. Satguru Bodhinatha is traveling in Texas so Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami helped to burn prayers and gave an insightful talk about responsiveness which was critically important to Gurudeva. He read a related answer given by Gurudeva to a question from a devotee:

A cyberspace devotee in White Plains, New York wondered, "What is the greatest thing a sishya, or devotee of a guru, can do for the guru?" Gurudeva answered: "At this day and age, in our technological age, the best quality in working with the guru is intelligent cooperation. There are many, many things to do that we could not do even 10, 20 years ago. Intelligent cooperation, responsiveness to the guru, and the sishya all working together in harmony. Settling their differences before bedtime, so that they don't pile up and become a mountain of problems to be solved, deterring each one involved from his particular path. So, intelligent cooperation is the best way to serve your guru."

For the monks, responsiveness is an ideal spoken of in our vows. \"Obedience, for the monastic, is an inner quality that allows him to remain consciously tractable and responsive.\"

Tractable means you can flex, cooperate, follow directions. Tractable means you can surrender your ego and intellect to a higher purpose.

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