When we speak of the mind, we mean many things.

There is the thinking mind with its constant stream of attachments and worries. We are all very familiar with that. But there is also the higher mind, the mind of intuition, which sometimes has been called “the still, clear voice within the heart.”

This is the intuitive intellect, attuned to the mind of God in us. Intuition opens the inner senses of perception and gives wings to our otherwise earth-bound existence.

Intuition breaks open the door of our internal prison. And it does that through love.

Everything is inspired by love. This love is not a fuzzy emotion. It is the unshakable assertion of our inherent divinity. It is our ability to see the whole world shine in the light of the soul. It enables us to see in each other our fundamental oneness and to treat each other with an intimate caring we thought was reserved for the Gods. Yes, we can love each other that way!

My guru, Neem Karoli Baba –Maharajji, attracted me from the beginning through the promise of this amazing closeness with other beings. It was in 1971, when I found one of the first copies of the classic “Be Here Now” that had made its way across the Atlantic to Europe. I opened the book and saw his picture.

At that moment I received a very high intuitive transmission. I felt the living presence of the satsang, the community of the people who had grown close in their association with him. I sensed with a clarity beyond doubt, that these people shared a love that surpassed anything I had known. It thrilled me profoundly. If this love existed here in this world, then there was hope. If I could connect myself to this way of being, then I could learn to live without the sense of alienation and separation that caused me so much pain.

Until that moment I didn’t even know how much pain I felt in this prison of my ego-existence. It became clear to me only once I was able to sense for the first time the joy of feeling truly connected, soul-to-soul, heart-to-heart, without expectation, in the freedom of the awakened state.

Here I found community in the true sense, people of very diverse backgrounds, who found each other in the joyful realization of their fundamental oneness. This is what I wanted! This was the key to living well in this world. This is what attracted me so powerfully that I was able to leave my family, friends and country and seek the promise of this love, half way around the world.

And now, here, I am learning that I no longer have to seek it in a hidden valley in the Himalayas. I am learning that we have the power to build Shangri-La wherever we are. It already exists here, in the cave of the heart. The question is: are we able to realize the potential of love in us with each other?

How else are we going to manifest the life of the spirit in this world, if not by creating enlightened community? How else are we going to help each other shed the burdens of lifetimes? How else are we going to save our world and each other?

We have the potential for that love within us, and we have the guidance of the true master, the guru in whatever form he or she may come to you. For me of course it is the maha-siddha Maharajji, who is able to guide us with his deathless presence from within our own hearts.

The guru in all of us is nothing other than our own deepest voice that calls us in stillness to a greater happiness, a greater fulfillment than we have ever known.

To listen to that call means to follow it, means to find guidance. What could resist the heart’s true yearning? No force in this world.

with love,
~ Ram Giri