You have each come from your own journey of life to converge in this moment, at this place, to share in this Sangha. But despite your differences and your unique backgrounds, you share something in common, and that is a love for the Divine. A longing to be close to that Divinity and to have that Divinity be an integral part of your life. That intention has brought you together in this weekend. That intention has brought you here. Let that intention carry you on in all the work that you do, in all the places and situations that life brings before you. Remember that intention, feed it, nurture it, never forget.
Sometimes the various commitments you have in your life seem to be more important than your spiritual journey, than your connection to your Divine source. They seem like practical important things. But there is nothing more important than your connection to your Divine source. it is the very essence of your being.
Many are the forms that Divine being may appear to take but One is the nature. One singular existence, One singular Divinity. There is but One. There are many different people who have had deep realizations or have merged themselves into the Divine and become pillars of light in the world. Their forms vary. They represent different cultures, different people, different ideas, beliefs, but they all share one commonality and that is the surrender to Divinity and the allowing of Divine flow, Divine expression to move through the body and the mind and to be expressed in the world.
So according to your particular belief system, according to your cultural norms and the subculture of your family and friends, you will hold slightly different beliefs. You will use different words. You will sing the praises of different masters. You will understand things a little differently. But despite these differences, the truth remains one and indivisible. Held in unique ways by different people in different cultures, yet that Divine existence remains entirely unique, entirely homogeneous. On my hand there are four fingers and a thumb. Each has its unique characteristics. The little finger doesn't look like the thumb but yet they are all part of the same hand. They function together in the same hand. They are not separate. They are part of one expression. Likewise, the masters are unique expressions of one truth. There are not many. There is only One.
Some people feel they need to go out and greet pilgrimages, climb mountains, walk for miles and miles, hundreds of miles, cross seas, go to foreign lands to find Divinity, to find the real truth. But after all their travels they may come home and find the real truth is right next to them and has been all along, only they didn't have the eyes to see it or the ears to hear it. Real Divinity, real truth isn't in some far away land or on a high throne in a holy heaven. It's right here, right now, with you, in the sound of a bird, in the flight over the mountain on a bird's wings, in the river, in the lake, in the sea, in the trees, in your home with those you love and care for. Divinity lies all around you, even in the breath of your breath, the beating of your own heart, in your mind, in the cells of your body. It permeates you. Divinity is omnipresent, omnipotent. That Divine presence, that Purusha, consciousness, is all around. You are permeated by it. It is time to awaken from your slumber and to notice the Divinity which surrounds you, which lives in your own body, which lives in the form of your mind and the thoughts in your mind.
That Divine being is so close. That one is your most intimate companion, as close as your own I-feeling. You cannot be separated from that Divine love. That one knows your deepest secrets, your greatest joys, and your deepest disappointments. For the Divine being is the one who witnesses, just there, near to you, melted into you. Your very existence has no separate life but the flow of Divine existence which is the soul of your soul, the heart of your heart. So whatever name you call the Divine. Whatever gurus, masters, teachers you have found, that Divinity is one and indivisible. A living vital consciousness, being, aware intelligence that lives, breathes in all of life, permeates all existence. That One is everywhere. There is nothing outside of that Divine presence. Surrender. Surrender. Let go.
As you go home, as you think about your daily life, your engagements, your interactions, your work, remember the sweet knowledge, the infinite Brahma, the one eternal Divine One is in every particle of this universe. Is in every thought, in the breath of your breath, in your work, in those you meet, in the struggles in your life as well as in the joys. You are never alone. Let your heart open to the Beloved in your everyday life remembering the sweet knowledge that that one is always with you, always around you. You are meeting Him, you are meeting Her in the form of every person you meet, every living being, the ant crawling, the cat, the dog, the bird. For those with eyes to see, the Divine one is everywhere, calling you home in bird song, calling you home in the love and the sweet moments where that Divinity shines through, in the eyes of loved ones, in the moments of connections, and even in those struggles where you are taught the way not to go. So as you go to your daily life remember, remember, and surrender, let go. Not my will but Thine.