Institute for Applied Meditation, Inc.
June 2001
Volume I
We heard from you that you'd like to stay in touch with us. We feel the same. There is much to share with you - 2001 has been a very exciting year. In addition to letting you know about what is happening at IAM, we'd like to share thoughts from others dedicated to the Heart. Each newsletter will be organized around a topic. Remembrance is the topic of this one. Heart Rhythm Practice, as many of you know firsthand, provides a powerful method for opening your heart. The Practice of Remembrance, instead of focusing on the development of the person, is a practice whose focus is the development of the universe, in which we are all intimately involved. This begins the real spiritual work.
Feedback is always welcome. We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the annual retreat at the Abode this year.
With love,
Puran (or the editor)
Contents
Remembrance
New @ IAM
>Practicing Remembrance at the Abode
>HRP Curriculum
>Web Course
What
are we remembering?
A breath that does not think the name of God is a wasted breath
Kabir
There is one thing in this world that must never be forgotten. If you
were to forget everything else, but did not forget that, then there would
be no cause to worry; whereas if you performed and remembered and did
not forget anything else, but forgot that one thing, then you would have
done nothing whatsoever.
It is just as if a king had sent you to another country to carry out a specified task. You go and perform a hundred other tasks, but if you have not performed that particular task, it is as though you have done nothing at all.
You have come into this world for a particular task, and that is your
purpose; if you do not perform it, then you will have done nothing.
Rumi
Why do we need to remember?
"Man develops in himself a false idea, and that false idea is identification with something which he calls himself. He says, "I'm a professor, a lawyer, a barrister, a doctor," or, "I am a king, a lord, or something." But whatever he claims, he is not that. His claim may be humble or proud, but in reality he is not that.
The person on the spiritual path perseveres in wiping out this false
idea as much as he can, by meditation, concentration, by study, by everything
he does. Her one aim is to wipe out so much, that one day reality,
which is always there buried under the false idea, may manifest. And by
Remembrance what the person does is to awaken the spirit in the heart
in order that it may manifest. It is just like a spring, which rises out
of the rock and which, as soon as the water has gained power and strength,
breaks even through stone and becomes a stream. So it is with the divine
spark in man. Through concentration, through meditation, it breaks out
and manifests; and where it manifests, it washes away the stains of the
false ideas and turns into a greater and greater stream, which in turn becomes
the source of comfort, consolidation, healing, and happiness for all who
come into contact with that spirit."
Hazrat Inayat Khan
What is needed is to remember what we already know. That which you've not quite forgotten, but which is perhaps not consciously known either, is the connection between yourself and the rest of the universe, between your humanity and your divinity. This is what we must remember if we are to awaken to the purpose of our lives: that the universe and the individual are each reflections of the other, connected through a spectrum of consciousness with no division. There is only one life, one being who lives, one lover, one beloved, one love, and one heart that contain it. As this is the ultimate truth, all existence already knows it, but it must still be remembered. Once we know that we know it, we can become truly useful.
By the ancient process of Remembrance, one can receive inspiration and guidance that is very specific and personally appropriate, even if it is also very challenging.
Puran & Susanna
Practice of Remembrance Retreat
in New Lebanon, NY (near Albany)
Come and join us at our Third Annual IAM Conference! Together, we will learn and experience the Practice of Remembrance. Day after day, our rhythms will get slower and slower until we find the stillness of peace in our hearts. Then we will let joy and magnetism emerge to fill our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
We hope you will be able to join us for 5 1/2 days of intensive heart work, from July 6-11. Find out more, or call Una at 888-310-7881
We have added an in-depth Heart Rhythm Practice curriculum on our website at http://www.appliedmeditation.org/HRP/curriculum.htm. You will also find there the public schedule with dates and location for the new seminars. We have already introduced: The Map of the Emotions, Restoring Optimism and Seeing with the Heart. These seminars are powerful, transforming and complement Level I Heart Rhythm Practice.
(Two attendees' quotes from the evaluations)
Puran leads a Web Course in September
Finally very exciting news! Puran will be teaching a web course beginning
in September. It will be the last he'll be teaching for a while to come.
Space is limited to 17 participants, and there is no doubt that this will
fill up quickly. The Meditation Dome has been updated and improved for
smooth transitions between rooms.
http://www.appliedmeditation.org/seminars/webcourse.htm
(Two quotes from past participants)
If you are interested in helping to organize a workshop in your area, please call Una at 888-310-7881 for details on getting it set up.
The eyes see, the ears hear, the nose smells:
they all report to the heart.
When the tongue announces
what the heart concieves, only then
does anything take a step
from nonexistence into being.
Egyptian, third millenium B.C.E.
