Darshan

When I lived in India, and after (for lack of better words) a Nirvacalpa Samadhi experience that exploded spontaneously within me as I was reading a chapter in a book called (interestingly enough) “Vision of The Divine”, I became intensely drawn to the process of inquiry into the nature of the Self.  Simultaneously arriving alongside this interest, two books were given to me. “Talks with Ramana Maharshi”, and “I AM THAT” (conversations with Nisargadatta Maharaj). 

Although some ashram inmates might have felt that reading anything but Swami’s direct teachings was a ‘no, no’, I did not see any difference, especially since his verbal directive to me, along with the “internal” happenings of ‘my’ mind revolved around the inquiry “Who am I?”  That the books came my way without my searching them out was another of his gifts, I believe.  (As an aside:  When I use the terms ‘He, Him, His, or even Sai’ very often I am speaking of that HE…that SAI who is in fact my very own Self manifesting as the Beloved teacher dressed in orange, as well as all that is manifest and that which is not.)

As He also directed my husband Lee when once we sat together at his feet to “Inquire…who am I?”, we have made it a part of our mutual daily practice at home “in the world”.  Along with my morning ‘sits’ (I hesitate to call them meditations, since they differ so radically from the long ago experiences of Oneness and bliss), Lee and I read daily the words of those Gnanis who have tread that path and realized that Self through inquiry.  To me it is darshan (a glimpse of the Real).  And as such, it is much more than just reading and listening.  The words are alive with essence when the mind is quiet enough to feel it. 

Imagine, (those of us who might call an experience of “Reality” however fleeting it might be, darshan), how exquisite it would be to experience the ‘world’ in its entirety as THAT; just for one moment; the world as it is, in all of its aspects…darshan of the ONE.