MYSTICAL SIGNS ON THE PATH

PRAYER TO SARASWATI – A MYSTICAL MANDALA ACROSS THE  AGES

We are all given Signs across the ages.

Clear signals of our path of pathlessness that can span thousands of years, many lives and many worlds.

Guidance in how to walk in the footsteps of the Divine.

Signs often come from unfathomable sources, people or events that turn up out of the blue, with no seeming connection to where we are or what we are doing, and yet with an obvious message of who we are and how we are to serve on this planet.

I would love you to share one of your Signs.

Here is one of mine.

The Goddess Saraswati*, has been worshipped throughout Tibet, India, Nepal and Japan for over a thousand years.

Her earliest mention was in the Rigveda nearly four thousand years ago as the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, music and art.

She has given me incredibly direct Signs of Her Presence in my life over many lifetimes including this one.

In the time of Padmasambhava in the 8th century my name was Palmo Shonu, manifesting the Wisdom of Saraswati as Princess Mandarava’s astrologer.

I was of the Mingpo Dawa Lineage and studied Saraswati astrology deeply.

In this lifetime I have had a natural ability with many forms of astrology and the stars since birth.

A famous astrologer met me when I was just a young boy and predicted I would meet many famous people and work with them through the Light of Wisdom of the Stars.

All of that came true.

In the time of 16th century, I was a Raj in Northern India.

I was a devotee of Saraswati.

In this lifetime I was paid a visit by Krishna when I was living in Krishnamurti’s house in India in my twenties.

He appeared to me as a female wandering sannyasi in the middle of a storm in the middle of the night.

He told me many details of this 16th century past life as well as giving me an ancient scroll of Saraswati and the Bhagavad Gita and gave me a precise description of the three significant relationships I would have this lifetime, three souls I had known and had relationships with as the Raj in Northern India.

All of that came true.

Krishna told me no matter where I went Saraswati would always be with me.

When I moved here to Japan ten years ago we decided to buy a property out in the country.

We asked my wife’s parents to help us.

We found a lovely piece of land near a forest that we could build.

When we explored further we discovered the forest was next to a beautiful shrine and temple of Amitabha Buddha, Guan Yin, Amaterasu and Saraswati (Benzaiten).

A short distance away by car there is another most beautiful group of temples dedicated to Saraswati.

Some time after we arrived a friend took us to a mysterious temple in Kamakura.

“This feels like you” she said to me.

“That feels more like me” I said pointing to a stream that led to an underground tunnel.

“I haven’t been down there” she said.

“I have” I said (although I hadn’t in this life) but I really felt like I had.

I walked along the stream, underneath the natural archway and into a hidden underground cave.

Devoted to…

Saraswati.

It must have been there for centuries, just not a very accessible tourist spot!

In the last year I was at a business meeting when a Saraswati picture mysteriously arrived, delivered by an unknown sender.

How anyone in Japan knew I was connected to Saraswati I really do not know.

I still have the picture which was such a surprise gift and an amazing blessing.

Several nights ago I had a vision of Yeshe Tsogyal.

I was following Her in the plains of Tibet towards the mountain ranges.

It was exquisite.

I could feel every step.

And I could feel Her.

Deep in my Heart.

At Zabbulung.

Where She attained the Rainbow Body.

In the morning I opened a terma I was absorbing and read these words by the Four Divine Great Sages

“Yeshe Tsogyal…who has discovered the Supreme, the Miraculous

In the past you were our goddess, our sister,

And wise aspiration brought you great wisdom

Leading the celestial musicians with the sound of your lute

We adore you as the Goddess Saraswati”

And in confirmation of the many years of Alchemy I have studied with the Merlin Source group at Avalon, and the years of Kriya Yoga with Babaji and Yogananda the same terma also said

(where Lady Yeshe Tsogyal here is speaking to Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava)

“We practiced meditation…

Then we extracted the essences of medicinal herbs and used them for alchemical metamorphosis of my body.

Then I imbibed the essences of minerals which alchemically transformed my body-mind.

My body became like a Vajra, it could not be pierced by weapons.

My voice gained the quality of Brahma, so that a tigress would be pacified.

My mind became set in samadhi.

Through meditation on Emptiness of the Deity I attained union with that deity.

I repeated mantras such as

The One Hundred Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva,

Practiced Kriya Yoga Tantra,

Recited Mandalas of UpaYoga Tantra…

And transformed…

And now as Lady of the Lake I will serve others.”

(From ‘The Secret Life and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyal’)

PRACTICE

Here is the basis of the meditation on Emptiness of the Deity that Lady Yeshe Tsogyal mentions in a simple practice to try called THE YOGA OF SLEEP by the Third Dalai Lama.

You can do it with Saraswati or Avaalokiteshvara or Amitabha or any root deity such as Yeshua or Mary Magdalene.

At night before you go to bed see yourself as the divine Saraswati or Avalokiteshvara or Amitabha or Yeshua or Mary Magdalene seated above the crown of your head.

(I was listening to the Dalai Lama in a Medicine Buddha empowerment he gave where he joked at this point that because one of the Lamas he was friends with was totally bald, so he said the Lama should be careful doing this exercise because the Buddha might slide off!!)

At the center of your Heart is your Light Syllable.

I use HRIH, it could be OM or pure Light or AMEN.

As you go to sleep the deity (Saraswati or others) and the Light Syllable (HRIH or another) transform into mystic drops (about the size of a mustard seed) of radiant light and unite in your Heart.

Maintain this Vision of Light and Love in your mind and heart as you sleep.

Then as the clear light of sleep comes upon you gently lift this radiant drop to the throat center with deep reverence and gratitude.

Observe any dreams or visions that occur.

Transform them by dissolving them into emptiness and fill the skies of your vision with ambrosia (golden amrita), clothe the beings in your dream with divine raiment (clothes of light) and see all places as mandala palaces.

Try to see and feel the world as you wake up as a pure buddhafield or christgrid peopled by buddhas and christs or deities.

* NOTE 1 : In Tibet, Saraswati is known as Yang chen ma (Singing/Music Goddess), or Yang chen drolma (Singing/Music Tara) considered the consort of Mañjuśri, Buddha of Wisdom, Saraswati is one of the 21 Taras.

Saraswati is the Divine Embodiment & bestower of Enlightened Eloquence & Inspiration, patroness of the arts, sciences, music, language, literature, history, poetry & philosophy, all those engaged in creative endeavours in Tibetan Buddhism.

This is very relevant to me in this life as I am a performing artist in drama music and dance in this life and my god-daughter is graduating this year from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts as their top performing artist in drama music and dance.

NOTE 2 : The picture above is a rare painting of Saraswati riding a Dragon with a Chintamani Stone.

You will note the similarities to Avalokiteshvara/Guan Yin riding a Dragon with a Chintamani Stone.

This is a special blessing for me because of the Chintamani Stone (a rare deep sea ocean pearl) I received from the Heart of a Guan Yin statue.

Sarasvati, is a Sanskrit fusion word of sāra (सार) which means “essence”,

and sva (स्व) which means “one self”, the fused word meaning “essence of

one self” and Saraswati meaning “one who leads to essence of self-knowledge”. It is also a Sanskrit composite word of surasa-vati (सुरस–वति) which means “one with plenty of water”.

NOTE 3 : My super full Dragon moon adventure this past week was very moving in so many ways.

I always enter into such portals in the spirit of total surrender.

So expect nothing, offer all my Blessings from my day to all beings for their liberation and go about my day practicing as normal.

So the first thing that hit me was a massive headache.

I have had them before, like a sinus headache as I am very sensitive to environments, pollution, noise pollution and so on and here I am traveling from the country to and fro from Tokyo!

My wife made me an appointment with the local doctor who is a very jovial fellow like the Laughing Buddha, so I had the day off and went instead to my daughters preschool which Maia will go to in April.

The first thing we were introduced to was a room full of children practicing mindfulness and being taught how to sit straight and still.

The next room was a teacher doing creative dance to indigenous music.

In the third the teacher told us all a story about a Dragon that was birthed from an egg.

It seemed somewhat surreal on the full moon.

Then we proceeded on to the doctor.

He speaks English and when he poked the endoscope up my nose he said “You have chronic sinusitis”.

He showed me the video and said

“Your right nasal passage is normal.

Your left is shaped like a Serpent.

That is somewhat rare. I haven’t seen one before.

I think I will send you to the hospital for a CT scan to check for further infection.” 

I was somewhat taken aback.

Anyway my wife and I went, got the scan done and brought the imaging back to the doctor.

“Oh” he exclaimed. “There is hardly anything at all there now.

So little! You don’t need any medicine”.

Both my wife and I looked at each other.

Instant full moon creative manifestation?

It was a very surreal day.

So we got home and Maia said she wanted to draw.

What she drew was most unusual. We asked her to explain.

Being only 3 she said most confidently.

“This is a Rainbow, this is a Serpent, this is New Zealand.”

When you turn the painting on its side she drew New Zealand like a whale.

I decided to go to bed early so after watching the Dalai Lana’s teaching on The Stages Of Enlightenment I had a bath.

As is my practice I use all methods and ways, sitting standing lying sleeping breathing eating bathing as meditation practice.

I drifted off in the bath and then got a sudden shock.

Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava arose as Maitreya in bright radiant extraordinarily stunning blinding light and looked straight at me and drew His finger in circles in the water.

It was a spine chilling vision in terms of how deeply it touched my heart. Goosebumps in a hot bath lol.

Then I emerged filled with awe and went to sleep practicing dream yoga.

I had 3 dreams, one as a child, one as a teenager, and one as an adult, each one teaching 5 people.

The first dream was to remember who we are,

the second to recognize form as form,

the third to know your dharma or personal teaching for your path.

So a very beautiful creative day.

Padmasambhava/Maitreya’s teaching to me was simple.

“I am without Beginning or End. I AM Absolute Being”

I am moved to tears by love.

Over all this time, as I mentioned, I was watching a series of teachings by the Dalai Lama called The Path to Enlightenment.

The Dalai Lama said over and over again…

All religions and spiritual paths have one universal message.

Unity, love and compassion.

The only difference is the paths we use to get there.

Any persons arguing over differences argue only from their own ignorance of the other person’s path.

Love and blessings

Altair and Mother