The meetings

What is shared at meetings comes from Patrick’s exposure to the lives & wisdom of several major ‘Lights’ that he was drawn to – all of whom appear to have been predisposed directly or indirectly to the core tenets of Christianity and/or Hinduism: The similarity between the Gnosticism of Christianity and the Advaita of Hinduism being quite remarkable.

The Advaita of India had its roots in the Indo-Aryan culture that existed in the Himalayan region of north India. More specifically from the Indus valley which gave birth to the Hindu culture which the Sage Sri Ramana Maharshi* was born into. The language was Sanskrit and the meaning of Advaita in this language gives a hint to where it is pointing: It is a compound of two elements ‘a’ & ‘Dvaita’. ‘Dvaita’ in Sanskrit means ‘two’, where ‘two’ is a metaphor for duality (as in the metaphor of the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil” referred to in Genesis).

When a Sanskrit word is prefixed by an “a” it implies the negation of the original word in much the same way as the prefix “un” negates what follows (as in uncommon). The literal translation of Advaita is therefore “not two”, the ramifications of which are profound, as is the statement of Christ when He uttered the words “I and the Father are One”. The opening two words of the Lord’s Prayer are equally profound as they infer that this ‘unique relationship of Father to son’ is not exclusive to Jesus (the marginalized avatar of the west).

In these meetings & retreats participants are encouraged to share their viewpoints, ask questions and to voice disagreements or confusions. One of the aspects of such gatherings is this open dialogue of engaging and exchanging as it is in such interactions that clarity and cognitive shifts* are made possible. The cognitive shifts and sense of surprise that can be evoked in such moments of clear seeing are noteworthy.

Another aspect that has increased significantly in the community since lockdown is the growing awareness and appreciation of the metaphors, wonders and mysteries inherent in all aspects of Nature. This has been beautifully put by Albert Einstein when he said that “there are only two ways to live your life: One is as though nothing is a miracle and the other is as though everything is a miracle.”

The shift. The shift from ‘the way of AnD’ to ‘the Heart’ of AND came about just after the start of lockdown (27 March 2020) when several unusual phenomena in Nature were witnessed on Peloha which touched the hearts of many. The name change had less to do with any amendment to the subject matter relating to the way of AND than it did with the feeling of heart/empathy/connectedness to Nature that was starting to be felt more keenly since the advent of the ’Starling puja’*

—oo0oo—