Only God
My teacher, Adi Da, once said:
"There is neither one God nor many Gods.
There is Only God":
A roadside sign in Northern India
on a road that follows the Ganges River
into the Himalayan Mountains
about 15 miles up river
from Rishikesh
When I heard, 'There is only God,' my life of seeking or my denial of God was laid bare, for as Adi Da pointed out, if 'Only God' is Truth, then the implication is clear: I am not really 'seeking' God, rather I am 'denying' God, presently; 'I' is Narcissus, what He described as a spiritual seeker - Narcissus in drag!' Narcissus thinks he is in love with the image in the pond, but he is only in love with his own image; he is love with himself. 'I' is the denial of 'Only God.'
This was a revolution in my understanding of what I thought my life was about. Now I live in that strange place between hearing Truth and Realizing It, but that does not mean I can't fake it and that is what I am doing in this picture . . .
One finger pointing up and one finger pointing down
I mime a classical gesture of 'Only God' in this picture. My pose mimics a 'kriya' or spontaneous movement that occurs when the body is filled with shakti or moving, blissful, creative energy.
I have bathed in the beautiful, clear, sacred river Ganges
and sat in the thunderously
silent and ancient cave
used by the Rishi Vasishta.
Apavitrah Pavitro Vaa Sarva-Avasthaam Gatopi Vaa
Yah Smaret-Punnddarii kaakssam
Sa Baahya-Abhyantarah Shucih
'Whether all places are permeated with purity or with impurity,
whosoever remembers the lotus-eyed Lord (Vishnu, Rama, Krishna) gains inner and outer purity!'
