The House of God

When Jesus drove out the Money changers from His Fathers house, the message He gave was very subtle yet beautiful and it was not so much in physical act of driving out the physical money changers but also held a significant message about how to view the places where one goes to worship and love God.

In today’s world so many Houses of God are created to make money and bring in money and this is their actual focus, not on worshipping God but to do business and this what Jesus was speaking of when He said to them “It is said, My House shall be called a house of Prayer, but you are making it a Robbers Den.” “Stop turning my Fathers House into a market.”

Let our places of Prayer be built upon those roots where our aim is to Love God and give ourself to Him without the focus being upon how much money can be made to have a luxurious life or what we can get. Ones focus especially when leading others or being in the House of God should be solely on God, we should be focused on opening our hearts to love the Lord and each other as He loves us. 

However one must also realise that all of creation is Gods House in which we dwell and one should understand that He wants us to be this love and give ourself to Him in every minute of every day, focus on Him, let go of all our worries and solely see all of creation the earth, moon and stars as the house of God. Thus helping us to realise that there is no second when we are actually not in the house of God as every breath movement and moment of our existence is a Prayer of love to Him.

Let me Just Love you

Oh Lord I would rather a blank mind that knows nothing, but a heart and soul that loves you with every atom of my being and whom my heart longs for day and night, then having a mind that can answer any questions but a heart that is devoid of love for you.

Compassion and Love

Compassion and love is the basis of all we do, it is the roots of the tree that create society. It gives strength and growth to its various branches such as righteousness| and humility but these can be broken off and die until compassion and love helps them to regrow on your tree of existence for ourselves and society.

However a society that has lost and forgotten the roots of its tree, compassion and love is a society that has declared war on itself, for when the roots of the tree are neglected and cut the tree itself will begin to die.

Nurture the roots of yourself and society, nurture compassion and love so humanity may flourish in its Divinity.

The Mantra of Love

Many many people know the Mantra of Love, however very very few truly know how to chant it...

Open your heart and chant the Mantra of Love from it so that you emanate and radiate this love for yourself and all those around you.

All is one

Our life and existence should be based around praise and love for the Divine and I say the Divine and not God as God begins to bring in religious connections and in truth the Divine which is God has no boundaries or restrictions. 

Don't let Human restrictions from the mind limit your love and praise for the Divine that only limits your ability to fully love, let it flow no matter where it flows from.

All is one

All has always been one 

All will always be one….

Love Incarnate, Become Conscious

How little we actually realise just How much the Guru carries the devotee on His back. More often than not we are completely oblivious to this point however every now and then we are given a glimpse of this by His grace. For it is His grace that sustains us and it is His grace that carries us on His back.

How can you make others understand this or realise this, we can’t in truth and in a conversation I had with another devotee recently we realised that it is only up to that person alone to see or be ready to see His grace and how much it operates in and around us. Only when they are ready to see this can it begin to be shown to them, it does not mean that it is not happening and the grace is not flowing, no no no. It is actually the complete opposite as the grace is always flowing and the Guru is always carrying us, however when we are ready to see and accept this then He can begin to show you.

The term from the Bible I am blind but now I see can be likened to this truth of seeing the Grace of God all around us engulfing all that we do, engulfing us in this love, the pure unconditional love that we are so blessed to be serving day in and day out. For Prem (Love) has manifested on the earth and if we choose to accept this then we can begin to see and when you are ready to let go then your heart can open to something so amazing that no idea, concept, material possession or belief can stand next to it and distract you. It is then that you will begin to be free, free with an open heart that flows with the Grace of the Guru.

Let your heart overpower you, let your consciousness become love pray to God that He make you ready for the blinkers that we put on ourselves be removed so you can see the Grace that sustains you day in and day out. We are in such a special time to be surrounded by Love incarnate pray that the Lord see’s you ready to understand this in your heart.

Love and Unity

It is not about how much we create or how well we do it, it matters most how much unity it is done together with and the love that we do it with.

For those are the true teachings of our Beloved Sat Guru and all the Saints, and we may manage to create much, accomplish many great feats but if we don’t do it with love then we have in truth accomplished very little, then we are in truth living outside the realm of the Divine. 

We are in a unique scenario living in the abode of the Divine Mother for our consciousness has been elevated to a level that our ego is not yet ready to surrender to. How can we combine the level we are living in and letting our ego surrender to these teachings.

Let our first thoughts be about creating unity with each other as we accomplish our duty for the Divine and when one strives for unity above recognition, above personal gain above all else then we start to feel this love inside of us for each brother and sister that we share our consciousness with.

Final Words from my Heart

Many times over the last few years I have actually wondered what it would be like to stand up here and give this eulogy for Him, How would I feel, What would I say and most importantly How could I best honour him. 

What is death? 

We have all lost loved ones and at some point asked ourselves this and if you have not asked yourself this at some point you will and at some point you should? All the faiths have different understandings about what happens after death, However all faiths have a common belief that the soul is everlasting and continues after death. 

It continues after death so what matters is how we live our lives day by day and when I was looking at my dads life I realised, that yes He had ups and downs but He lived His life always on the go. As we move forward in our lives from now, let us keep this in mind, let us remember that His soul still is, let us remember this for ourselves, so we mourn not for Him but rather smile with Joy from the heart when we think of Him. 

When I got the news on saturday night, it came through in one dose a request asking for prayers for Him as He was in serious condition and then a message straight after that saying your Father was dead. After reading the messages all I could do was go and kneel before the Icons of Jesus and Mary praying to The Holy Mother, The Mother of us all that she please please go and fetch Her child my dearest Father as we are all her children and keep Him safe, to which she replied - He Is safe.

So what can we take from all of this?

The greatest thing that comes from a situation such as this is introspection and seeing inside of yourself what He actually meant to you as a person? 

For each person my Dad meant something different and sometimes we don't realise the depth of what he meant until we are forced to consciously look within, look within the heart. 

For the heart is where the tears we are shedding come from and they are not tears of sadness but tears of love and joy for who He was and what He meant to all of us.

On Sunday night as I was sitting discussing all the emotions about this and what had happened I turned to the person with me as realised something deep within my heart and said to really honour my Dad, I will come as I am for that is what He always wanted from me to be who I am and be proud of it. Follow your heart, follow your dreams and go for it with all your heart and soul. It was then that I realised that the greatest gift He gave me was sincerity. Sincerity towards myself and Sincerity towards others.

It was something that everyone always said about Him that He could walk into a room and light it up, talk here and there and everyone would respond and this was because He was sincere, and in my life this is one of His greatest gifts that He passed onto me and I thank you for that Gordie. Yes He made mistakes and yes He did not always get it right however whenever I needed Him he was always there for me even at 2am when I needed a lift home, He was always there for me teaching me to make sincere choices and actions letting me learn as I went along.

Gordie all I can say is I am proud to be your son and I thank you from all my heart for all you did for me and for all you gave me, which is why when I heard the news I dropped everything and flew back I did this so that I can pay my final respects to you and honour you as my father and as you deserve. Gordie in the last few years as I travelled I know we could not be physically close but I always thought of you and when we got the chance we talked and met up.

The one question He always asked me when we got together was are you happy with the path you have chosen to walk, and when I said Yes all He said was good no more no less about it 

Through Gods Grace I managed to talk with Him during the His last week after His final operation after He had come out of ICU. This was the last conversation I had with Him, it was a beautiful talk that ended with the words I love you from both of us. Now when I look back I thank the Lord that I was able to chat with You one last time and end our last conversation on that note bringing completion to our lives together in this life. 

It ended the way we started with LOVE 

Someone very close to me wrote these beautiful words when I informed Him that my dad had passed and I would like to share them with you as I know Gordie that you are being looked after up in Heaven: 

"Dear I am sorry to hear that, may His soul be at peace and Divine Mother will look after Him"

So let us not mourn but rejoice and this reminds me of a beautiful story of the Christian Saint Philippe Neri. The Saint had just passed and the entire village in Italy was in terrible sadness and mourning at this great loss, when a young boy suddenly started running around the village yelling He is in Heaven now, He is Heaven now, lets us rejoice Paradiso, Paradiso. To which the people realised that His soul has gone to heaven and instead of mourning they started rejoicing. 

I ask you what greater thing could we wish then to know they have gone to heaven and I promise all of you sitting here my dad is in Heaven, so let us rather rejoice for the person He was, and for the fact that He as gone to heaven and is with the Blessed Mother and Father.Let our souls be free with this love and happiness so He can look down on us and see us rejoicing in His honour.

In the words of Frank Sinatra Let us remember Him one last moment

And Now Gordie the end is here

You faced the final curtain

Dad Ill say it clear for all here to understand

And state your case of which I am certain

You lived a life that was full

You travelled many Highways along the way

But Dad You did it your way

Regrets I am sure you had a few

But really to few to mention

There where times I know that you bit off more than you could chew

But no matter what, even when there was doubt

You ate it up and spat it out

You faced it all and you stood tall

You loved, 

You laughed 

and You you cried

You had your fill of loosing

And as our tears subside Gordie

We know you did all that, not in a shy way 

But Gordie in your special way

You said the things you truly felt and lived what you felt

And Gordie the record shows that yes you took the blows from life

But above all else you did it your special way You did it the way of Gordon Frazer Van Notten. You did it so I can stand Here and say Gordie I am proud of you, proud that you were my father and I will always love you 

So To Finally to end off I ask you to close your eyes now for a moment and pray with me and as we pray look within your hearts and find this love and let us send this love to Him:

Oh Blessed Mother, on the Cross your Blessed and glorious Son entrusted all of mankind to you as Your children and you as our Mother. Oh Mother of all, one of your children Gordon Van Notten has decided to return home and we pray and entreat you to care for your child Blessed Mother guiding Him by the hand back to our Saviour Jesus.

And Mother I pray that you help all those who mourn, not only here but around the world to find the love in their hearts, for this love will help them to transform their sadness into happiness helping the the souls that have passed on, this love will nourish and help all of them.

In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit 

Kyrie Eleison

Kyrie Eleison

Kyrie Eleison

Amen

A Simple Thought

Being love is not something we chose to be depending on a situation from time to time it is something we are every minute of ever day and night.

The Lady of the Rosary

Today in 1917 the Blessed Virgin appeared to 3 kids calling herself the Lady of the Rosary and asking all of Humanity to repent for there sins and asking them to do the Rosary. The Holy Lady of the Rosary also gave the children what would be known as the 3 secrets. Asking for proof so that all would believe the Lady performed the miracle called ‘the miracle of the sun’ which included the sun changing colours and spinning.

O Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of the most holy Rosary, you were pleased to appear to the children of Fatima and reveal a glorious message. We implore you, inspire in our hearts a fervent love for the recitation of the Rosary. By meditating on the mysteries of the redemption that are recalled therein may we obtain the graces and virtues that we ask, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer.

First We Must truly believe

We can read from the scriptures about the life of Jesus and we can watch movies on his life, in truth yes they are good and can focus our mind on the Divine. However just reading and watching we can loose site of the beauty that He is, now that in today's world our consciousness has so many books and movies to read and watch that we can lull ourselves into a sense of just watching and just reading another story. So how then do we truly understand and begin to see the magnitude and glory of His life, how can we feel within our hearts how much He did for us by being on the cross and willing giving up His life for us.

First we must truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God, That He is seated at the right hand of the Father, That He and the Father are one and that He will come in Glory to judge the living and the dead. For if we do not truly believe that, if we do not take each breath and glance at the heaven with that deep faith and belief, than there is no need and truth in telling you deeper meanings about His life and teachings.

Glorious things about the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus have been said over many Easters and Festivals and recently when I was listening to one of these talks it came through that until humanity believes that Jesus is truly the Son of God, that Jesus Is seated at the right hand of the Father and that He willing died for the forgiveness of our sins on the cross then they will not truly understand His sacrifice for us.

If you do not have the faith in Jesus then can we truly believe that He relives His passion day in and day out inside Churches around the world, Orthodox, Catholic and Coptic amongst others so that we may be forgiven of our sins, so that we may be lifted up to Him, Him who is seated at the right hand of the Father. How much love must He have for us to go through this sacrifice daily, but if you don't believe in Him with all our hearts and soul then you will not truly see Him sitting on the Paten waiting to be crucified and resurrected inside of us.

Oh Lord make my prayer arise and open my mouth so my lips may talk of your glory and wondrous works.

A Fickle Friend

Oh what a fickle friend fame and praise is, one moment she loves you and the next moment she wants nothing to do with you. She throws her arms around you and will not leave your side, then she scorns you and turns her back.

Praise and fame, how often does humanity search for this, search for this to make themselves feel better, make themselves feel worthy for what they have done or are trying to do. It seems that without this one does not feel as though they have accomplished anything. One of the first questions we should ask ourselves is who are we doing it for and secondly are we the one's actually doing it.

We should answer the second question first, as if we truly understand the truth then we will realise and know that God is the one who is actually doing, we are merely His instruments with Him working through us. The first question then becomes easier to answer and understand, anything we do is done for the Lord our God and no other, everything we do should be done For Him and By Him so He may be glorified through our actions.

If we understand the answer to the above questions, then should we not spend our time praising the Lord. The Saints knew this and praised each other and people very little but rather glorified the Father: Saint Francis of Assisi even went so far as to give sermons to the birds asking them to praise and glorify the Lord.

St. Francis Preaches to the Birds

Father Francis and his companions were making a trip through the Spoleto Valley near the town of Bevagna. Suddenly, Francis spotted a great number of birds of all varieties. There were doves, crows and all sorts of birds. Swept up in the moment, Francis left his friends in the road and ran after the birds, who patiently waited for him. He greeted them in his usual way, expecting them to scurry off into the air as he spoke. But they moved not.

Filled with awe, he asked them if they would stay awhile and listen to the Word of God. He said to them: “My brother and sister birds, you should praise your Creator and always love him: He gave you feathers for clothes, wings to fly and all other things that you need. It is God who made you noble among all creatures, making your home in thin, pure air. Without sowing or reaping, you receive God’s guidance and protection.”

At this the birds began to spread their wings, stretch their necks and gaze at Francis, rejoicing and praising God in a wonderful way according to their nature. Francis then walked right through the middle of them, turned around and came back, touching their heads and bodies with his tunic.

Then he gave them his blessing, making the sign of the cross over them. At that they flew off and Francis, rejoicing and giving thanks to God, went on his way.

Later, Francis wondered aloud to his companions why he had never preached to birds before. And from that day on, Francis made it his habit to solicitously invoke all birds, all animals and reptiles to praise and love their Creator. And many times during Francis’ life there were remarkable events of Francis speaking to the animals. There was even a time when St. Francis quieted a flock of noisy birds that were interrupting a religious ceremony! Much to the wonder of all present, the birds remained quiet until Francis’ sermon was complete.

Next time before reaping praise on someone for actions you feel are worthy, first praise the Lord and then thank Him for His abundant mercy on that person allowing Him to be an empty vessel that the Lord has filled.

Serve rather than self serve....

An environment with a lack of self control from people and trust with others destroys unity as the need to control others and be the person in charge, the control problem is not dealt with inside people.

How is that truly dealt with?
That is to trust others and not offer advice because one feels they know better or can do it better but help truly selflessly at the other persons level WITH the person and not thinking that we know better or can do it better.

When we help thinking we know better we are not actually helping others we are merely putting our egos in-front expanding our chest and saying I know better and I will show you. Even if you help and it is like this you are still helping but from a point of self serving rather than just serving.

Put the ego aside, don't think that you know everything, put the ego aside and don't desire to have control over everything, put the ego aside and don't think you need to voice your opinion, there are 6 billion people on the planet and each person has a different one.


If we tolerated and humbled ourselves before others we are actually humbling ourselves before God.

Trust in God, sometimes their is perfection in imperfection and imperfection in perfection

Do you want to go Home...

Are we truly prepared to do what it really takes to attain the Divine within us and become His pure instrument. It can be the simplest thing to accomplish or it can be the hardest thing to accomplish. The path we chose is not decided by God but by us at the end of the day and how much we are willing to die and be emptied of our ego so that we can be refilled with the Divine. See on our path we are unconsciously doing this anyway little bit by little bit. We are like a bank sometimes we make deposits of Divine and become closer to Him and other times our ego comes in and then we make withdrawals.

Imagine the change if we became conscious about this and made a conscious effort to let our bank be overflowing with Divinity, with Divine Love. But you have to let go of being you if you want to be a disciple of The Lord, you must be willing to die, for only then from the ashes can you be reborn as your true Divine self. The Divine is not outside or above us He is sitting so close within our hearts that every day you are with Him. When you touch your heart with love you are touching him.

Place your Hand on your heart and say I love you Lord, thank you for everything. Thank you for being so close to me through everything I do. That is why this age is said to be the easier to attain God, for His is inside us residing and living simply in our hearts. We must open them up and allow ourselves into our own hearts. Have we not closed our hearts off, are we not distant from them, have we not locked our own door to our own heart. This is sad as our ego has locked ourselves out from the Divine and only by the death of our ego will we truly open our hearts to the Divinity residing in them.

Be at peace and know that The Lord wants the same thing, He desires it more than you in truth for just as a parent wants all His children home, so Gods wants all of us home with Him.

Do you want to go home ......

The Mind of Man

Where there is no Prayer or thought of God the Devil can enter. This is true for own homes and the environments that we spend time in, but Is it not the same or bodies and our mind, when we pray and think of God in the numerous ways  available for us from our Heart then the Devil cannot enter us.

However when our mind and body becomes more about the senses, more about pleasure for it and we forget The Lord then how easy is it for us to be led astray. The mind is like a dog that loves to be taken on walks to the most pleasurable places for it to enjoy itself. The first puppy training it got was for the world, it was taught by society that that the outside world is the place for it to play and run, it was shown that to do its business this was the park and it could run wild.

Now we have to retrain a big dog and show Him the playing park, show Him the new world, the world of Prayer and the Divine. It is not easy as the world of the puppy is so enticing and enthralling that it can easily undo any of the training done in an instant. We have to be so careful where we take the big dog for a walk for His own good to help Him stay focused and on the path of the Divine.

When the mind of man is focused on the pleasures of the senses then the senses are controlling it and it in turn leads the rest of the body down the path. The soul from inside of us is screaming at us to go within and focus on it. Go within and focus on the Divine instead. But it is hard to reign in the mind when it begins a journey with senses and even harder when it gets the body involved. To change its direction once it starts running one needs strength and a complete 100% commitment to want to change its direction or else you will be gone.

Love for Everyday

I could give you roses today, or You could see The Divine in your Heart. I could take You to dinner tonight or You could feel the Love from the Divine inside you. I could say I love you or You could still the mind and hear I love you from the Divine inside your heart.

How much emphasis do we put we getting love from others to make us feel complete, we look outside for the love that we have flowing inside of us. For if we we expect others to give us love it must be coming from somewhere in them. If we have not found this love is us how can we expect others to give it to us, how can u feel cheated, betrayed or unfulfilled then when others don't withdraw it, but just as you have not learnt to keep the love flowing from the heart, so they to are still understanding this. They to are still realizing that it can flow unending from the heart to all, flow from the Divine to all without judgment or the mind interfering.

Is it not time to begin looking within, spending time within instead of throwing yourself to the outside world that loves to consume you and your consciousness without remorse or love. If you are to be consumed why not be consumed by your own consciousness and that of the Divine by going within where the reward is love pure unconditional love.

African Time Part 1

In December last year I got the blessing to fly back to SA and spend three week travelling around South Africa, seeing all the devotees and going to to the Temples around the country. After moving to SPN last year April I was a bit emotional about going back as the Spiritual family in SPN had taken over my heart and I was excited about seeing my spiritual family in South Africa where it all began, where I first found Him, first found Swami. That first encounter is always one of the sweetest  and remains in your heart and the devotees you shared that moment with always remain in your heart part of that Divine experience.

As a resident at Sri Swami Vishwananda’s Headquarters when you travel to other countries and meet Devotees, it always touches my heart to see how eager they are to feast on any story you can tell about Swami and what is happening at SPN. They are so eager to hear His lila's that any small detail left out causes them anguish, no matter how trivial you may think it is for them it is like finding the Pink Star amongst some grass, they will pick it up and treasure it as the most prized possession they have.

In Johannesburg where we have the Maha Jwala Narasimha Temple we had various programs at Devotees houses, each time we got together we ended up in long discussions about Swami, I was being grilled and as you would a lemon I was being squeezed for every last ounce of Nectar about Swami they could get. Swamini Vishwamohini who became my travel companion in Johannesburg had a busy schedule, dinners, group Kriya with my Kriya students, weekend Maha Abishek on Narasimha, Om Healing. On the Saturday Swami had created the situation where all the devotees decided to come to Swamini place for lunch and a meeting. I felt so blessed as Swamini and myself were given the honour of cooking for all the devotees that day, it is an honour that can only be surpassed by cooking for Swami Himself for to nourish and serve the Devotees of the Lord is more dear to Him than you serving Him. The meeting that day was 3 hours long filled with Devotees sharing their love for each other and how much the group and Swami means to them in their lives. Each devotee wanted more of the same, more of coming together and being grateful for each other  and Swami in their lives. After 3 hours I came in shouting Haribol, Prasdam Ki Jai as it was time to eat, the meeting was ended off with each person saying one thing that they were grateful for. I can only share mine: I said I was grateful that Swami had allowed by His grace for God to manifest in my heart and seated Himself there so if ever I feel distant from Him I can simply look with and now that He is always with me. For inside of Him we find all His beautiful devotees with their souls shining bright as beacon for all us to be guided and close to Him.

After just over a week I flew to Durban to be with Swami Vishwachakradharananda and the devotees in Durban….

Life choices

Everyone in life always has the same request or wish we could say and it usually has two parts to it. Part one is that they wish to be happy and the second part is that they wish for peace within their lives. In essence these two wishes are rather big in nature or they can be small, the size of accomplishment depends on the person and how they are wiling to be. Living in the outside world one has to be very conscious of everything that we let into our lives. for the world is designed by us to distract us from truly finding happiness and peace.

Being in South Africa for the last 2 weeks and away from the Ashram in Germany, it was interesting to see the difference between the two lifestyles that one can live. Let’s clarify both are beautiful and wonderful it all depends on what you are looking for out of life. Living in the Ashram where every minute is dedicated to serving the Divine, you have very little time to worry about much and all you think of is God 24/7. It is said that you are what you think of and do, what could be more beneficial for you than thinking of the most complete, most pure and most beautiful form of unconditional love than God. This life all though it sounds easy, takes resolve and dedication beyond anything that can be understand unless you have actually lived and are living it. It takes focus and a true desire to be in that state. For challenges will come and unlike in the outside world you have very little to distract you from going within when you are challenged and seeing the problem as being within you and not from the outside. it is when we have very little to distract us that we truly can begin grow, for then you can only turn within yourself and turn to your soul. If you recurse to and continue to refuse to do that in this environment you will not last very long.

The outside world is designed to distract us, designed to keep our senses engrossed in everything but going within. We have constant distractions, constant sensory overload which is why we always feel anxiety and anguish. One always searches for the next sense gratification and latest thing. I was once asked, but in the Ashram / renounced life don't your senses also get overloaded and the answer is yes they do but we should understand the difference. In the Ashram our senses are over loaded with Love for God and that is the difference for God is the only constant in our life and true completeness so one always has room for more and never burns out. Through His grace he keeps you growing and growing so that you can take all of Him in more and more.

You must decide what life you want to live because changes will need to be made in order for you to grow and become more Divine. I say more Divine for what you are searching for in essence is become Divine, become the Divinity that you have inside of you. This Divinity is inside of us and we choose, not God we choose to not recognise it within ourselves and within others. When we feel separate from God, that is our decision for He is always close to us, actually He is always seated within our hearts. As soon as you truly understand that and consciously live it then you will be the Swan that can take only the milk from the water as you live life you will take only the divinity from every situation. For everyone is Divine, everyone has the same light, yes some people are more conscious at this specific point and some are not, don't judge don't see the situation or any person as someone that you can help. See everyone as perfect and beautiful then there will be no need to judge or help them.

To all my brothers and sisters truly realizing the Divinity within yourself I send love and prayers that God will take you on His lap as a parent does with their child and nourish you with His love and compassion.

He does exist

Saint Padre Pio who is one of my favorite Saints and whom I am lucky enough to get to read His writings and experiences each day, had many encounters with Satan directly. Satan used to come frequently to Him in his room late at night and physically beat Him, appear to tempt Him as young naked women, the Pope etc. Satan even came to Him and gave confession one day and Padre Pio was astonished and realized when the Sins confessed where of such a great nature that He asked the person to say I love The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and The blessed Virgin Mother, as with any Demon he could not utter the name of God and He then revealed Himself and threw Father Pio out the confessional booth.

On many occasion Satan reveled to Padre Pio why He attacked Him so frequently and on one occasion Satan said that it was because Padre Pio was making people aware that Satan actually existed. For Satan's greatest assets is the fact that most people think He is just part of our imagination and this allows Him to lead us astray, away from The Lord with greater ease. For if we acknowledge that He exists then we must also acknowledge that we sin and need to correct our actions and be mindful of ourselves.

Saint Herman of Alaska also had experiences where Demons and Satan came to Him and tried to get Him to do things. One day a Bishop came to Him and went into His house, the great Saint did not acknowledge Him and after some time he asked the Saint why this was so. Saint Herman told Him the story and said that unless when they enter His Hut or before He speaks to anyone they must recite Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior, for Demons and Satan can't utter such words and go away. The Bishop spoke these words and spent time with the Saint to which Saint Herman told many of His experiences.

In another Orthodox writing, beautiful words where written that said we should have an attitude of repentance within and without and move forward with each action as such. For when we move forward in this manner we are conscious of God and each soul around us. Saint Sofia of Kleasora also spoke about repentance but not that we see ourselves as bad or that we are hard on ourselves but so that we become conscious of those around us and try and do no hurt to them for them we do Hurt to Jesus our savior. For each day during the Liturgy our Lord and Savior Jesus allows Himself to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins. How merciful He is, each drop of His blood shed for us is His grace removing our sins. How long brothers and sisters must He be crucified how long will we keep going on without repentance and realizing that it is time to change to become more conscious, to become more Divine love in nature.

The question then must be asked why we allow Satan not be acknowledged by us? Why do we keep allowing Him to run amok outside and inside of us, are we afraid of Him? When we have the Lords name on our lips and reverberating in our hearts He cannot come close. Or is it the fact that if we acknowledge Him it means we have to acknowledge that we Sin, that we need to be more conscious, change and repent more for our actions. We should realize at some point we will need to look inside ourselves with honesty and take stock of our actions either now or before God when our souls leave the body. There is one thing all the Saint say, rather do this now and change now before you are standing before God the Father for then it is to late.

May The Lord and Savior guide you and protect you.

Silence

Going into silence to retreat into oneself is counter productive and makes your growth retreat instead of expand. So many people go into silence to be with themselves and to find themselves.   

How can one find oneself when one is retreating, surely one truly finds oneself when one is growing and being one with oneself but also one with the world around oneself. Growth comes from accepting all around and all within then true permanent growth can occur. We are all Divine in nature and running inwards to run away means you will not grow and learn to be one with the world accepting the good and the bad and rising above both. Once you rise above both then you will find true silence, silence in the mind, silence in the heart and silence in the soul that will explode from you, go into silence and remain one with all around you untouched serving God and humanity.

Becoming love through remembrance

We do our Sadhana to remind us of this love, this love that we have inside of us, this love that we are in essence. We are Divine love and it is a Divine that love that flows as Bhakti / devotion for God through us, as we immerse ourselves deeper in the love so all everyone around us immerses themselves in this love.  That is why we do our Sadhana to help us remember and be this love, for we can be no other way but this love. It is the final part of our journey, just a fully blossomed flower started as a seed in the dirt so we incarnate and grow towards the light, each time reaching further and further up, becoming more and more this pure essence this love. Just as the beautiful flower begins to fully realize it's essence and opens its self up for all to feast on its beauty and grace so we to reach the ever flowing love from within that others long for and is then given freely by you.

Be this love from within with sincerely, do not be the snake dripped in honey for others by pretending to be this love rather just be the love. Sincerely be the open blossoming flower for all to gaze on and soak up, your Sadhana practice will guide you and help you to be this love. Always remember the Divine for the Divine name is the compass that always keeps you pointing in the direction of freely giving this love and the Divine name is the limitless reservoir that always fills you up so you may over flow. As your love spills over so others will be bathed in the beauty of the Divine and begin themselves to want to remember who they are in essence.