A Turning Point
There are major turning points in each person’s life. Often we are only aware of them in retrospect. One of those turning points for me was meeting Mother Meera for the first time. Her grace changed the course of my life. There are no words to adequately express my gratitude for what she has done for me and my family—only love.
In 2006, I was living in Los Angeles. This was the most difficult part of my life. My health was poor, and I was dissatisfied with my spiritual path. Mother Meera came to Los Angeles for three days to give darshans, and I went to see her each day.
Each person who comes into contact with a saint has their own subjective impression of the encounter based on their level of spiritual development. I still had much to learn about the spiritual journey, but I could tell that Meera’s energy is powerful and vibrates at a high, subtle level. During her darshans I was enveloped by her enlightened presence. It felt as if I was at one of the holy places in India, such as Varanasi or Tiruvannamalai. My mind became still and my attention was drawn inward. The only other person I have encountered that is similar to Mother Meera is the Dalai Lama.
The grace you receive from a saint removes obstacles to your personal happiness and spiritual progress. Usually your life changes in a gradual and almost imperceptible way, but sometimes the change is dramatic. Within a week or so of seeing Mother Meera for the first time, I moved to San Diego and everything about my life began to improve. She returned to Los Angeles about three months later, and I drove up to receive more darshans from her.
It wasn’t until six months later that I began to recognize just how bad my circumstances had been in Los Angeles. I had become accustomed to not thriving and being stuck in place. And through her grace, I awoke from a bad dream and began a new life.
The Paramatman Light
Each saint has a unique way of helping others progress spiritually. Mother Meera exposes people to the “Paramatman light.” In Hindu spiritual philosophy, Paramatman is a way of describing the divine. And the Paramatman light is the source of everything in creation.
Through many darshans from Mother Meera, I was repeatedly immersed in the Paramatman light. Eventually I learned how to see the light and align deeply with it. Focusing on the light during meditation, and throughout the day, became my primary spiritual practice.
A Real Enlightened Teacher
It is the nature of maya to create obstacles to spiritual progress and keep us trapped in the illusion of separateness. As a result, those who are not spiritually advanced are often the most popular spiritual teachers. For the most part, they are still controlled by the ego and only capable of describing their own limited understanding of the divine and the spiritual journey.
An enlightened teacher is rare. According to Meher Baba there are fifty-five enlightened souls alive on the planet at any one time, and only a small number of them are spiritual teachers. The rest remain unknown to the public.
Most of those who claim to be enlightened are lying about their level of spiritual development. Why would they claim to be something they are not? These charlatans have the same ego-based motivations as other unscrupulous people: money, sex, and power.
A Clear Vessel
Unfortunately it is very difficult for the average person to tell whether someone is enlightened. The best they can do is to make an educated guess.
You often hear seekers talk about the importance of their spiritual teacher. They want so badly for it to be true without really knowing for certain if it is true. Their ego is strengthened by being associated with such a person. They create a belief system around a particular teacher and hold fast to it. Their ideas about their spiritual teacher can be as strong as any religious belief.
At this point on the spiritual path, I can discern subtle variations in energy and tell whether someone is awake. I don’t have to guess anymore. A person’s accumulated karma creates a density to their human form. As their past conditioning dissolves they progress spiritually, and their form becomes less dense.
As with other awakened souls (such as Jesus, Krishna, Ramana Maharshi, the Dalai Lama, and Meher Baba) Mother Meera’s form is a clear vessel for expressing the divine light. She is one of the few enlightened spiritual teachers on the planet, and in her teachings she describes the vastness of her spiritual responsibilities.
Exposure to the Divine Light
The most important benefit you receive from an enlightened teacher is exposure to the light of Source. It is found in their teachings and emanates from their human form. Through exposure to the light, your system learns how to attune with it. Then when you are not in the presence of a saint, you can connect with Source on your own. This is a direct spiritual path that will enable you to make tremendous spiritual progress in this lifetime.
It is a widely accepted meme among seekers that it is okay to follow a spiritual teacher who is not enlightened. According to this meme, you can learn something from an unenlightened teacher that will enable you to progress spiritually.
When you attend a spiritual retreat or read a book from someone who is not spiritually advanced, you are not exposed to the pristine light of Source. Instead the light is diminished and tainted as it passes through their human form. Often the only learning that occurs is conceptual.
True spiritual progress occurs when you escape the confines of the ego-controlled mind and directly experience the deeper reality. Any conceptual knowledge you gain can only point you to the experience. Who do you want to guide you on the path: a person who is still interpreting reality through the thinking mind or someone who is one with the infinite? In my book Into the Formless I provided a list of enlightened teachers that you can rely upon to help you on the spiritual journey.
Being an Avatar
One of Meera’s closest friends, Adilakshmi, wrote a book about her titled The Mother. It recounts many of the spiritual events that happened to Meera as a child and teenager, and how she eventually began using the Paramatman light for the benefit of others. I mention this book because it gives a glimpse into the life of an Avatar that is rarely disclosed to the public. It is an extraordinary account of how an Avatar interacts with the divine and other saints, who are no longer living, to uplift humanity and combat the forces of maya that attempt to keep people trapped in ignorance.
Simple and Profound
Meera works in silence and does not give public talks. Her grace requires no words in order to be received. Yet it removes karmic obstacles and enables people to progress rapidly along the spiritual path.
Meera’s approach provides an important lesson for all of us. If your awareness has always been trapped within the thinking mind, you become accustomed to that way of interacting with the world. Yet only when the mind is silent can you perceive the deeper reality. The words of spiritual teachers and teachings are only a means to an end, which is to become silent.
The teachings in Meera’s books are both simple and profound. She encourages people to think often of God and to take care of their personal responsibilities. So often we make the spiritual path complicated. The ego is sustained by thoughts and enjoys figuring things out. God’s love and mercy are straightforward. We need only find a way to connect with the deeper reality, and then create the habit of turning our attention to the divine at every opportunity.
Darshans
Meera travels around the world giving darshan to anyone who would like to see her. When she is not traveling, she also gives darshans at her home is in Germany on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Friday darshan is a meditation that lasts around forty minutes and is available to watch on www.livestream.com.
On the days that Meera gives darshan somewhere in the world, her grace and light are more prevalent and accessible. So I make of point of meditating and connecting with her. I focus mostly on the Paramatman light. But I also place my attention on her in order to feel the love that she freely expresses toward others. During the rest of the day there is a better flow to my life. There are fewer obstacles. It is easier to stay connected with the deeper reality, and I can get things done with less effort.
A living enlightened teacher is truly a blessing. It is easier for many people to perceive the deeper reality while in the presence of a saint. And then everything changes. The divine is transformed from an idea to something they can feel. I encourage you to seek out living saints such as Mother Meera and the Dalai Lama.
