Beloved Students:

This lesson is being written on the day called Memorial Day in the United States. As those of you in the U.S. know, it is a day set aside to honor, or bring into memory, those who have died in various wars protecting the U.S. For many, it seems that a day must be set aside to bring to mind those who are no longer alive. On their birthday, perhaps you remember a special friend or family member who has died, or perhaps on the day they actually died. Either way, it is the rolling around of the date that triggers the memory of that loved one.

Others may celebrate various anniversary dates as precious. Perhaps a wedding date is special for oneself, a relative or a friend. Others may pointedly remember the date of a divorce. For some, it may represent a point of freedom. For others a point of personal devastation. Yet the sensitivity is stimulated by the approaching of the specific date.

In general, the date is emphasized to help the individual or individuals to be more considerate or more mindful. Nearly everyone recognizes the ego mind's tendency to forget everything except what it deems important to itself. Thus the use of dates as triggers to remembering seems both helpful and useful. Perhaps such could be helpful spiritually, as well. What kind of spiritual anniversaries do you celebrate? Do you remember (and celebrate) the day you first met your Spiritual Teacher? Or, what about the day you became truly serious about your spiritual path? You might want to give some consideration to finding dates significant to your personal spiritual journey, and using them as mindfulness triggers.

Now of course it's a good idea not to get too attached to them in any way that would engage the ego in lauding itself. The idea is to set aside perhaps one day a year for celebrating, remembering and honoring your spiritual presence in the world, as well as in your own life. In other words, this could be yet another way to take seriously the fact that you are on a spiritual maturation course, and then rise to the maturing part. It could be a private holiday (which comes from the two words "holy day") wherein once a year you take stock of the growth you have generated in the past year. It could also be a day that you experience deep appreciation for all those who have helped you along your journey. It could also be a day wherein you give some effort to reflecting on why you have come into physical being, why you have come to this planet at this time, and re-evaluating the veracity of your choices and decisions up to this point. It could also be a day dedicated to experiencing emptiness, or demonstrating deep wisdom, or a day for attending to the unfinished spiritual business in your relationships.

The important thing here is really to give some concentration and consideration to your journey, and the way in which you are attending to it. Setting aside one day a year to do that is a way to enhance your mindfulness about that journey, and about the one who is taking it.

In another vein, you will notice that there is no written meditation included with this lesson. In the Teaching that accompanies this written lesson, you will find I have put the meditation I would like for you to begin doing at this point, at the beginning of the lesson on the CD. In fact, the meditation is given in track 2 on that CD. This way, each of you will have a copy for your meditation time, and all will be doing the same meditation. I have noticed some of you have not been doing the meditation as given in previous written lessons. Some of you have difficulty maintaining a strong enough focus to complete the meditation, while others of you have not seen the importance of doing it exactly as given. What I would like at this time is to take those of you who are serious about this mind training to a deeper level with the meditation. Those of you who have been doing it daily will notice I have enhanced it for you in this recording. The reason for this is that I want to offer those of you who want it, the next level which moves into tantric practice.

Without seeking to say much about that in this written lesson, I feel it is better for you to simply have the experience of this sort of Deity Yoga. Most find that using this meditation over time will enhance one's devotion and open them to deeper levels of personal interaction with the Teacher. Also, as each of you participate in this work of spiritual maturation, you will be supporting all others in their maturation, as well. In other words, this practice is not only beneficial for creating spiritual community, it is beneficial for supporting and extending spiritual connections across time and space, as will be apparent when you begin to practice this with regularity.

The title of our recorded teaching this month is Becoming the Buddha, a lecture I gave in Denver on May 11th of this year. Please join me in this exploration of meditation, as well as the fruits of meditation. I hope you all enjoy both the given practice as well as the comments about the deeper levels of Deity Yoga. I wish each of you peace and strength as you seek to master the times before you. May you dwell in kindness and abide in love for all sentient beings.

Walk in peace and love,
Djwhal Khul