Concepts/Definitions explained

These are terms/words that we used in the group. These definitions were given to us by the spiritual master and are not necessarily accurate (but they should enable you to understand the interviews better.)

Truth = God can be experienced directly after being revealed to an open-hearted being by a spiritual master.

The Highest = Used in many ways. The Highest Truth. The Highest Choice (choosing God). Serving the Highest (serving the master).

The Knowing = The direct experience of God that can be revealed by an awakened master (also called The Knowledge in the beginning, and The Dahlia for a brief time in Austin).

The Ascension = (or The Ascending Breath) A meditation technique that was revealed by the master in later years. [It's actually a pretty cool technique. It comes from a DVD called Sacred Science of Meditation -- which the master ordered from an ad in the back of the Yoga Journal. You can order it for yourself here.]

Spiritual Master = Someone who can reveal The Knowing to others. This can only be a “living” master (to discredit those silly Christians). It was said many times that “Dead masters don’t kick ass.” Meaning that only by serving a living master could your ego be crushed so that you could realize God in this life.

Disciples = Devoted followers of the master

Aspirants = Those serving a spiritual master who aspire to have The Knowing revealed to them

Beings = People

This Being = “I”

Buddha Field = The most-often-used name for the group, it symbolized a field where buddhas grow. We sometimes called ourselves a Mystery School, because we were learning about the greatest mystery of life. Years ago, we called ourselves Holy Company but that fell out of favor when we relocated. I think we were also called (Satsang or The Satsangers) years ago because that was what the main meetings were called.

Holy House = (or Ashram) A dwelling where more than one disciple lived. We had to ask permission to be moved in with other Holy Company. In a way, that was a sign that we were ready to receive and obey his guidance. We were told where to live, who with and how much rent we should pay. Each Holy House usually had a Disciple living there that had been revealed The Knowing – the idea being that their “clarity” would be available to the newer beings.

Inner Circle – We were actually discouraged from using this phrase because the “story” was that such a thing did not exist. But in actuality, it was the people that spent a great deal of time interacting with the master so they were supposedly more integrally involved in what was going on. They had more information than was given to the whole group and they had the master’s ear if you needed to communicate something to him.

The Dead – Everyone was deemed “unconscious” or “dead” if they were not in the group, serving a living master. One phrase was used quite often, “Let the dead bury the dead.” I think the quote was attributed to Jesus. But it meant, let unconscious people worry about unconscious people and things while we concentrate on the Highest.

The physical parents = Birth parents (signifying that they gave nothing more to you than DNA)

Conscious food = Although it SOUNDS like food that has awareness, it simply meant food that a conscious being eats (sugar-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, non-processed, prepared in love, etc.)

Sharing Satsang = Sharing Truth with someone

Sharing = Talking with someone while connected to Truth/Love

Being in your mind = Not being connected to meditation so everything you said is "off" and can be ignored.

Guidance = Whatever the master told you to do. The idea was that the master could see our karma and life path much more clearly than we could, so any suggestions he gave were to be considered a high blessing. Sometimes people asked for guidance, but sometimes the guidance was given unasked-for. Guidance could be on what brand of toothpaste or hair gel to use, medical/career advice, or what relationships to have or not. There was nothing too small to seek guidance on for some. To not follow guidance was a sign of very low evolution and a bad disciple.

SatSang / Sharing Satsang

SatSang means several different things. Literally, we were told it means “sharing of Truth.” So, the word was meant to be used for when you shared with someone and spoke of the ultimate Truth. Satsang was also what we called our meetings when we would get together and share Truth. The word morphed over the years. Anything the master says is satsang because he is “in Truth” so everything he shares is directly from God. Similarly, we took his lead in that – so anytime we spoke, it was satsang if we were connected to Truth (or him). So the word “satsang” became implied and taken for granted. We would speak of “sharing with a being” and it simply meant having a dialog with someone. By the time I left, even the formal meetings were referred to as Sharings more often than they were called Satsang.

Namaste

Literally meaning “you and I are one,” this is a cool concept. When I first came around, it was normal practice that when someone in the group entered or left the room, they would say “Namaste,” then everyone would stop what we were doing and, bringing the palms of our hands together as if in prayer, we would close our eyes for a moment and connect to the place in ourselves where “you and I are one.” After connecting, we would open our eyes, acknowledge the person that entered and then continue with whatever we were doing. At a high-traffic house where there were a lot of comings and goings, it was always very amusing. After a few years, we became more discreet and the guidance was to connect inwardly, without closing our eyes and doing “prayer hands”… except with the master. When he entered and left, we continued to do that. Many people that were not around for that exercise years ago, would simply use Namaste as “hello” and “goodbye” because that’s what it appeared to be on the outside.

Open-eye Meditation

Looking someone in the eye and connecting to meditation. It happens instantly and in a moment; however, that moment may stretch out for an undetermined amount of time. At one time, the master said that blinking was a signal that we were being distracted by our thoughts, so some people turned this into a staring contest to see who could remain unblinking the longest.