Innersearch - July 4th Classes; Visit to the Goodlands Temple

July 7, 2014

On July 4th, the Innersearchers and their monastic staff began the day with another visit to the Mauritius Spiritual Park for classes. Sadasivanathaswami began the day with a class on Guru Bhakti. He gave the mic to Swami Parameshananda (from New York) who is here as an Innersearch participant. He expressed his message of "let go and allow." Let go of life burdens and allow God to enter your life. Sadasivanathaswami also introduced a 1000 piece puzzle for the Innersearchers to slowly work on throughout the program. Bodhinatha then continued his classes, which included various meditative practices and discussions about the chakras and man's inner bodies.

From the Spiritual park the participants made a quick stop at the hotel to freshen up, before traveling to the Goodlands temple, just north of the park. The temple had prepared a beautiful homa and Siva abhishekam, complete with enchanting bhajans and a talk by Bodhinatha about the importance of temple worship, as well as worship in the home shrine. Rajen Manick translated the talk into creole for those present. Hundreds of Mauritians from Goodlands and elsewhere attended the event. Afterwards the temple had prepared dinner for the monks and Innersearchers with a very traditional style. Served on banana leafs and with no silverware, the tasty meal was a nice break from the multi-course french cuisine that we have been experiencing.

More notes on the classes of the day

It's July 4th at the Spiritual Park, and at his class Sadasivanathaswami reflected on the meaning of Independence Day, and offered that this was our own spiritual liberation day, independence from worldliness, independence from the instinctive mind.

Here is what he said:

This is July 4th. In America it is celebrated as Independence Day, the day the US signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, announcing that the 13 colonies were sovereign states and no longer part of the British Empire which they were at war with. The war would continue until 1783, but this declaration was the affirmation of shared nationhood and would guide the cause until America gained its independence from England. So today we too can declare our independence: our independence from fear and anger. Our independence from hatred and lust. Our independence from malice and confusion. Our independence from the onslaugut of karma and the bonds of narrow thought and feeling. Our independence from an unsteady will and an aimless purpose.

The second sentence of the declaration is among the most famous ever uttered in English. thomas Jefferson wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

I would like to rewrite that for us today as we declare our spiritual independence, our shared purpose in the battle against the imprisonment of the mind.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are forged in loving divinity, that they are endowed by Siva, the Creator, Preserver and Dissolver, with life's perfect destinies and among these are Light, Liberation and the Joy of Oneness.

The main class followed, on the importance of the Satguru. He called on Swami Paramesananda to speak about this crucial topic and swami sang a sweet guru song with all of us joining in, and then he shared that the important thing is to surrender our ego to the guru and accept, accept, accept.

Bodhinatha's class followed. The monks has swiftly purchased an LeD screen so that the Keynote graphics would show in our brightly-lit tent, and it was a great success. Bodhinatha taught the next increment of the microcosm, the chakras and states of mind and then ended with a great upadesha on affirmations, their purpose and power on the path.