Do Things Have to Change Collectively?
December 12, 2004
Adi Da Samraj
DEVOTEE: Jaya, Bhagavan Adi Da Samraj. Beloved, You are indeed victorious. Any time I gaze at You, behold You, in this room or in Darshan or in meditation, You always set my heart free. You have freed me of so much bewilderment. You have helped me, Beloved, to start leading a more renunciate life in Your Danda in Europe – simple, a life of meditation, a life of service. I thank You for that, Beloved.
Beloved, my life of practice has become more serious in the last year, particularly also on this meditation retreat that I’m on. Beloved, I am sick and tired of the beginning stage of practice. What I’m seeing more and more is that to change Your circumstance I simply have to behold You and hear You; otherwise, my practice is still superficial and in the periphery. You have given us all, Beloved, the glorious practice of Ruchira Avatara Bhakti Yoga, a truly Seventh Stage Practice. I’ve seen this over and over again. Just to behold You unconditionally is setting me and all of us free.
Beloved, I want to hear You. I know what to do. You’ve given the practice completely, but I’ve also noticed another thing that my question is about, Beloved, and that is that over the last year or so I’ve seen that my practice is not my own practice. In the first place, You are doing the practice. You are renouncing me, but also, Beloved, I’ve seen that my practice depends on my fellow devotees. And it seems to me, and this is what my question is all about, that this dependence is more than just inspiration or expectation.
It seems like we as a collective of Your devotees are bonded together, interconnected, to the point that if we collectively balk we will not move, but if we would surrender to You and practice truly, we would move fast forward. My question is, Beloved, is this indeed true, that we are this collective bonded together more than just inspiration and expectation in the human sense, like having a wonderful chanting occasion and inspired by each other, but that indeed we are bonded and that we have to collectively change.
[laughter]
AVATAR ADI DA SAMRAJ: You’re asking me if a collective change is required, Franz?
The Answer