Satsang Roundup

Although meditation is clearly a major part of the spiritual practice founded by Eknath Easwaran, there are a total of eight points. Each of these points helps us to carry the benefits of our meditation throughout the day, and also helps us to prepare for our meditation the next morning. For many people, the seventh point, Spiritual Fellowship (satsang), can be tricky, but worth the effort!

This week we want to share with you ideas – some conventional, some not – for how you could find satsang. We’d especially like to hear from you on this. In the comments below, share your strategies for finding, creating, and maintaining satsang!

YA eSatsang

The YAeSatsang is a closed email fellowship group comprised of YAs from around the world who are committed to a regular meditation practice. You’ll hear from meditators of all backgrounds sharing a story, asking for help with a particular point, or offering tips. It’s surprising how much you get to know all the other participants, even without ever meeting in person. You can read more about the YAeSatsang and how to sign up here.

Retreats

If you’re craving in-person satsang with fellow YAs, you can’t go wrong with a YA retreat at the BMCM headquarters in Tomales, CA. There’s a YA retreat coming up on November 7–9, 2014, and if you can’t make it to a specific YA retreat, you’ll also find great satsang at other types of BMCM retreats. You can read here about Isaac’s reasons for attending YA retreats, and read here about Gary’s impressions attending his first weeklong retreat with different ages. 

A sliding fee scale and scholarships are available, so don’t hesitate to get in touch to help you figure out how to attend. You can find a full list of BMCM retreats here.

DIY: Book Club, Email Group, Phone Calls

Sometimes geography can make it difficult to have in-person satsang with other passage meditators in your life. In this case, a little creativity might be just the answer – and it might be a great opportunity to take advantage of technology! Some YA friends have regular phone/online video chats where they read an excerpt of an Easwaran book and provide support for their practice. You can read here about an example of a book club where participants live far apart from each other but chat via phone every couple weeks to discuss a chapter of an Easwaran book. Be creative! Figure out what would be most helpful and find a friend who’d like to participate!

Local Satsangs 

There are BMCM satsang groups that meet regularly around the world. Though there aren’t many YA-specific satsangs, our BMCM satsangs are full of enthusiastic meditators of all ages who are eager to connect with anyone else embracing this practice. 

Webinar

We know it’s only virtual, but somehow even that virtual connection can provide a boost! Last week the BMCM held its second webinar with over 300 people from 12 countries. If you missed it, you won’t have to wait that long, we’ll be holding another webinar on January 24, 2015! 

A Passage for October

A recent photo sent in from a YA satsang gathering in Santa Cruz

There are many aspects of Easwaran's method of meditation that appeal to us here at the YA Blog Team, but our favorite is the passages. After last month's look at "Just Because You Are My God", we wanted to memorize a passage that didn't have any traditional religious language in it. We chose "United in Heart" from the Rig Veda and it has been a great addition to our meditation repertoire.

Many YAs, and non-YAs, struggle with being "allergic" to certain passages. Sometimes these allergies come from something specific in our background, sometimes it's just that the words of a passage don't appeal to us. What is so powerful about this type of meditation is that there are so many different passages from so many traditions and authors. We can choose passages to inspire us, to comfort us, and even to challenge us.

We'd love to hear about a time when a specific passage spoke to you. How did you choose it? How did it impact you? Share your thoughts in the comments below:

• What's an example of a time when you used a particular passage to support or challenge your daily life?
• If you meditated on "United in Heart", what qualities might you gain?

Note: If you're interested in learning to meditate, or would like to share this form of meditation with a friend, you could take part in our free one-hour webinar on this Saturday, October 4th. Visit the website for more details and to register.

---

United in Heart – The Rig Veda

May we be united in heart. May we be united in speech. May we be united in mind. May we perform our duties as did the wise of old. 

May we be united in our prayer. May we be united in our goal. May we be united in our resolve. May we be united in our understanding. May we be united in our offering. May we be united in our feelings. May we be united in our hearts. May we be united in our thoughts. May there be perfect unity amongst us.

The Cohort Experience

Earlier this year the BMCM launched a new extended program for YAs, the Cohort Program. We've already heard from Gary about his experience in his first weeklong retreat as part of the program. This week, Chanel shares her overall experience as a cohort and how it's impacted her practice since the program finished in July.

Easwaran once said,

"In mountain climbing, you tie yourself to others with ropes so that if somebody slips you do not say, 'Have you hit the ground?' or 'Good riddance'; you try to prevent that person from falling by hauling him up and saving him. Similarly in living with family or friends, if somebody slips you do not say, 'Aha! Served him right,' or 'You’ve been asking for that for a long time.' Instead you pull him up."

This is how I found the cohort program to be; YAs that have the opportunity to support each other in our practice and pull one another up when we slip.

The cohort program consisted of three video discussions, a weekend retreat, a weeklong retreat, and a stay at a beach house in Tomales Bay. Each piece of the program was a brilliant amalgam of unique insights and perspectives.

During the weeklong we got the chance to interact with meditators from all walks of life. Sharing how we can realistically weave the eight points into our days with work and school and family life has always been my favorite part of retreats. Being at an all ages retreat made this experience rich with diversity. Doctors, teachers, students, long-time meditators, short-term meditators – we were all together sharing and supporting each other on our path. Prior to the weeklong retreat, I was worried the schedule might be too intensive for me. This was not so. Every day was built with reflection time as well as a delicate balance of eight points and recreational activities. Let's just say there was ample time for naps. The cohorts had time for retreat-friendly parties as well including (but not limited to) a garden party, ice cream soirée and a hybrid game of volleyball mixed with a bit of soccer, creatively named "soccer-volleyball".

Chanel (far left) participating in "soccer-volleyball" during the weeklong retreat.

And the food... (I won't go into too much detail because that constitutes it's own blog post in itself) so, for now, one word to describe the food spread: inviting. And that is putting it mildly.

I can honestly say I built and strengthened my friendships with several YAs (and yes we talk outside of meditation retreats and yes we talk about more than just meditation). I cannot express enough how wonderful it is to be with other young people that share a similar spiritual goal. It is unlike any other connection I have known.

There were many aspects of the program that stood out to me. The beach house weekend was definitely one of my favorite times. We really had the opportunity to experience what it means to live in a spiritual household. Rather than trying to motivate ourselves, we had each other to inspire and practice the eight points with. Weaving the eight points throughout our days was easy and seamless. In the midst of all this, we were having so much fun hanging out, cooking together, baking tasty delights, writing birthday rap songs, singing and beach walking. We fell into a natural rhythm with each other and the eight points as our collective drum.

Chanel (right) serving dinner made at the beach house weekend.

Overall, the chance to dive deeper into the eight points and have the support of friends as we climb the meditation mountain is a chance I am grateful to have and will continue to share forever.

"It is marvelous to watch this team of dedicated, aspiring young climbers on these precipitous slopes, each tied to the one ahead and all tied together to their teacher. Life is like that, a vast web of delicate relationships binding us together in love.” – Easwaran in Climbing the Blue Mountain

I'd like to thank my fellow cohort, Jan, for digging out these Easwaran quotes for me and with so little clues.

Registration for the 2015 Cohort Program opens on October 1, 2014. Visit YAmeditation.org/cohort to learn more about the program.