A Letter from Neelam, March 2008
Dear Sangha,
We have just completed a two week trip to California for our six-month program's retreat. I am happy to report that my body did quite well traveling. It was the longest and farthest trip since I first got sick in November, 2006, that I was able to successfully complete. I really enjoyed the change of scenery and camping in all the beautiful forested campgrounds. Most of all, I enjoyed meeting all the participants in person, coming together for the retreat. It is tremendous, the sharing of Presence, Tenderness and Inquiry and the opening that follows from that. It is deeply nurturing to come together in the commitment to Freedom and to experience the power of what unfolds in that meeting.
Everyday, wherever you are, you have the opportunity to make this kind of commitment. Our lives are often busy and there are many responsibilities that pull on us and want our attention. We forget that our primary responsibility here in this life is to Freedom, to know who we really are and to live from that knowing in every moment. We forget that we really have the choice of what we give our attention to. It is often the force of habit that keeps us engaged in ways that don't create a real sense of satisfaction or fulfillment.
Take a moment to notice Presence. Be come aware of it, right now wherever you are and take some time to savor this experience. Notice how it affects your mind and body and how naturally happy you are, resting in your own nature.
In the business of our everyday lives we need a daily reminder, a regular time for silence and inquiry, to develop the strength necessary to break our habits of following the past. We need to learn to come to presence daily, consistently with resolve and willingness, to follow the deeper call of your heart to nurture itself in its own origin.
I continue to be available through our teleconference programs: Satsangs, inquiry programs, and private sessions. I will be traveling a little this spring and summer and it will be great to see many of you in person again. There is an intensive coming up in Santa Fe at the end of March, my first open intensive in awhile and I am looking forward to seeing you there and teaching in person again.
Nurture Presence. Give all the time, attention and importance that it needs. In return, you will get everything that you ever wanted - a deep, rich, fulfilling life in Freedom and the ever lasting happiness of that.
LOVE
Neelam