Sarvananda's Newsletter

Can you imagine being afraid of your nose? Or, how about being terrified of your ears? Sound silly? It is. One would have to be very crazy to be afraid of his own senses. Very crazy. Yet our culture teaches us to be afraid of one of our basic senses--the sixth sense--our intuition.

In Western European culture, thousands of years of teaching has held that the intuition was bad for you--a kind of spiritual cholesterol--that could mess you up terribly. During the Middle Ages the authorities saved millions of people from themselves by burning them at the stake. Many of these were simply intuitive folks.

So, let's state it plainly: intuition is good for your health. And, since the authorities have given up burning people at the stake, it's a lot safer these days to explore your psychic powers.

We are all psychic. It's our birthright as human beings. In fact, it is our link with the divine. That's why people refer to psychic practices around the world as divination.

Intuition, imagination and creativity are the three sisters that have allowed us humans to survive as a race. Without them we would have long gone the way of the dinosaurs.

What do intuition, imagination and creativity have in common? All three take us into the unknown. All three take us beyond our experience and knowledge into new places. All three involve discovery.

Look at the wheel, for example. It's been around for so long that we take it for granted. Or take fire. It's been quite a long time since human beings, like the rest of the animals, were frightened of fire. But there was a time when there were no wheels. There was a time when our ancestors feared fire.

What happened? Maybe the wheel came in a dream. Could be. Maybe it came as a hunch to someone. Maybe some woman, moving with her tribe yet again, decided to use some round logs so that her load would be asier to transport. Maybe she passed this on. Later, perhaps, the children of the tribe or the children's children's children got the idea of slicing the logs into thinner sections and the wheel was born.

One things is certain. There was a moment when a person or persons stepped into the unknown. There was a point where imagination, creativity and a hunch created a wheel. Think where we would be without it.

Take fire. We humans are the only creatures on the planet who are not terrified by fire. Hasn't always been this way.

Once, somebody got the idea that a fire could be kept burning. They probably approached a small fire from a lightening storm still burning in the forest . Maybe a piece of wood was sticking out and the rest of it in the fire. Maybe this person, very, very gingerly, took the burning stick back to his camp.

Can you imagine? What a moment that must have been. Millions of years of fear dissolved in an instant. In terms of human history this event was infinitely a greater step for humankind than the moon landing.

The discovery of fire and the wheel and the creation of their use were giant leaps into the unknown. And both involved imagination, creativity and intuition.

Once people had made this leaps--once the discoveries had occurred--then the experience could be passed down to future generations. Who wants to reinvent the wheel? Who wants to rediscover the uses of fire?

Our other human attribute is the ability to learn from our predecessors. That is knowledge.

Without creativity there would be no knowledge. Without that special leap into the unknown--the intuitive--there would be no knowledge. Without imagination there would be no knowledge.

Many educators today seem to have forgot that knowledge is limited. They seem to have missed the point: without vision the people perish.

Einstein said it well. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the globe". One of the things we will do in this and other issues of this newsletter is to explore the ways in which we can use our imagination, our intuition and our creativity.

To be afraid of our creativity and intuition is to be afraid of ourselves. It is to be afraid of our noses. There is no need to fear our own power. There is a need to celebrate it.

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Going Home

Up Coming

This will be the place where we will list upcoming events. For the moment, the event, for me, is this website. I encourage you to explore it and taste it and let me know how you enjoy the cuisine. I truly welcome any suggestions for improvement either graphically or substantially.

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It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

We will, from time to time, link with other websites that are of interest. One website of exceptional integrity and interest is that of Vibration Magazine. It is devoted to the use and study of flower essences. Well written and well constructed, it is worth checking out. [I also have an article in there on a homesick remedy that I created for campers and counselors at an Arts camp for children].

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The Weekly Reader

For those who are in the vicinity of beautiful Woodstock, New York, Sarvananda gives card and crystal readings every Sunday (except for the months of July and August) at Mirabai Bookstore.

Located on Tinker Street, Mirabai Bookstore, is a spiritual bookstore both in name and practice. It is soothing just being in it. But be careful. There is an old Native American spell upon this town. According to legend, anyone who visits the area of Woodstock is destined to return again and again and again.