SUNDAY DECK TALK AND MEDITATION: Out of the darkness comes Light!

Full moon Image over the Triveni Sangam
a place to bathe and flush away the
old habits and mis takes of the 
intellect. 

Saddhus of the Niranjani Akhara
at a hosted dinner with Swami Kailashanand Giri
photo by Hardy Weaver

Out of the darkness comes Light!

The Triveni Sangam is the confluence of three rivers. 
The Ganges (Ganga), the Yamuna and the sacred Saraswati River.
In Prayagraj. 
The Ganga flows with clear water, while the Yamuna is greenish, The Saraswati has no color. 
Where the two colors flow together there is a myth – 
where the darkness and light meet-
when bathing there, you awaken your consciousness.   

The energy is palpable and the water
has no taste or smell. It actually tastes
like what I imagine chalk would taste like.
As it’s filled with particles, like silica, that leaves 
your skin feeling remarkably soft.  

The last 16 days traveling in India for an Advanced
Teachers retreat, and then going to both Varanasi and Prayagraj
for Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 and watching our Teacher
being inducted as one of 12 Mandaleshwars of our tradition, 
are memories of a lifetime.
All spent with dear friends and cohorts.

Traveling and camping in India takes
a certain amount of perseverance and 
patience.  Both adaptations that this meditation practice
has truly taught me. 
From there, with your meditation twice-a-day practice, 
You begin what can be described as the wringing out 
of old habits of the mistaken intellect and 
making a clearing in your nervous system
for joy in all shapes and sizes to emerge.
You become aware of the “I should do this” and
before you know it, you see the change
of “I don’t want to do that, but feel charmed
to do this”. 
No more dodging bullets, simply Being in the world,
making the decisions that feel right 
for what is necessary and helpful for yourself
and the Collective. 
Learning from other devotees of our tradition
and 
being around the families of India in such Abundance
was truly breathtaking.
Correct inquiry, and knowing
how to decipher what is right and
what is wrong at any given time… 
Q + A 
is the foundation of the teaching.

01.19.2025 Deck Talk available upon request info@fifthfloormeditation.com