It is easy to love Sharon as our guru. She is honest and open, at times to the point of herself being overwhelmed by her feelings, by her love of her own dear, now departed guru, and she is joyful in her declaration of her passion for Jesus, for the environment and veganism as the only responsible way of living on the planet today.She is ever-vigilant in reminding us of being present to Attah, Now, and our connection to Allaha, That which Jesus spoke of when he said, (English, King James translation) “I and my Father are One”. And at the same time she is very hip, irreverent, spontaneous and playful, and downright fun. She rooms right beside me and we can hear her through the walls, giggling and laughing and talking into the evening after Satsang with whomever is visiting. It all contributes to that college dorm feeling and as the week goes on I want to visit from room to room and connect with everyone.
Throughout the course of this intensive, our study is constant in finding the meaning through clear interpretation of Patanjali’s sutra, and letting it resonate through us, through deeply strong and joyful chanting of them. And we are reminded that we can in our practice, become stuck in it, experience limitation through it, develop self-righteousness about it, and not be getting what we want from it! “Enlightenment is ecstasy in every cell of your body, not just physical disciplineone needs to keep the sukkham – the sweetness, the joy, the sprinkling of fairy dust.” And that, “whatever you want for yourself from your practice (or whatever) will happen easier for you if you make it happen for others”. And I am reminded of the fairy godmothers!
Morning meditation is perilously hard for me, without a kneeling bench. My legs scream for release and my feet fall asleep. But by day three of the intensive I have realized that my main challenge which I stated on day one has changed to that of, opening the space in time in my day to make room for this, every day, because the aches and pains I came with are gone or going.
On the morning of day four we start with walking meditation, and venture singly and in groups up the hill towards the road through a meandering path of fragrantly wet, West Kootenay cedar brush, and back again to the Ashram, and on the way, she finds me, my Blessed Mother, my mom, in the tall standing giants I pass along the way. Cedar, Tamarack, Fir and Spruce, they are all Mother to me, and my eyes are as wide and full of wonder as the seven month old babe brought by the couple from Vancouver, and contentedly babysat during the intensive by one of the Ashram youth residents. Our chanting of Om, Hari Om is like that of a church full house of black gospel singers, and I feel uplifted, and “guapa”, the Spanish adjective for “handsome, strong, beautiful, in a female sense”, as contrasted by and not to be confused with “pretty”.
Thank you my guru, Sharon, thank you all of my gurus, for sharing with me. Thank you for providing me with the beautiful paths to walk under apple, maple and horse chestnut, walls and roof to shelter me, incredibly delicious meals to be nurtured by, and the Temple of Light to gather with others in to raise the instruments of our voices, to invoke the sound of God, Yasodhara Ashram.
Namaste,
Jan Klimek
Invermere, British Columbia