Unity In Diversity

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

Today, 10 September 2011, I attended a fantastic event in Bath that was organised by Region 7 of The Sri Sathya Sai Organisation here in the UK. The event was an interfaith prayer meeting and it was attended by representatives of the Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Bahai and Jewish communities of Bath, and of course, devotees of Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

It was a very harmoneous event with some wonderful devotional singing and an amazingly inspirational video; we were also graced with the presence of The Mayor of Bath himself. But for me the highlight of the afternoon was one hilarious moment when a man called Peter, representing the Jewish community, roped his son, James, into joining him on stage. Then in the middle of trying to teach the audience to sing in Jewish, he grabbed his son for an inpromtu Jewish dance. The hall errupted in laughter…..ahh that wonderful thing, laughter; the universal language that everyone understands; that great bringer together of people. That particular moment along with the afternoon’s events in general proved once again that race, colour, creed, sect and/or religion are no barrier to people coming together in love and harmony.

For me the event summed up what Swami’s teachings have always been about. He never preached religion, instead he encouraged people to always do their best in whatever religion they were born into. He always said that people should simply strive to be good Hindus, Christians or Jews etc. and that we should never criticise the faith of another. As ever Swami’s presence was very strong in the hall and I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. To finish I will share with you a poem by an Irish poet called John O’Donohue, which was read to the group by the minister representing the Christian Community of Bath.

On Meeting A Stranger

With respect

And reverence

That the unknown

Between us

Might flower

Into discovery

And lead us

Beyond

That familiar field

Blind with the weed

Of weariness

And the old walls

Of Habit.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba Never Forgets His Children Part One

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

It’s going to give me great pleasure writing this article because I’m going to tell you a true story about about how Swami bestowed his loving grace onto a truly wonderful man. A man that I have great pleasure in being aquainted with; and a man who was truly deserving of Swami’s grace.

For about the last four years I have been attending, whenever possible, the once- a-month bhajan (devotional songs) sessions at the Claverton Hall in Bath with the Bath Sai Baba group. Because I live around 25 miles away it is not always possible for me to attend, and take part in the other activities that the group organise. I am eternally grateful to my wonderful friend and brother, Satyan, for introducing me to this group after I met him for the first time at an event celebrating Swami’s birthday in 2007. However, I digress slightly. Whenever I went along I noticed that a man called Patrick was always in attendance, and I also found that he was always one of the first to arrive to help set up, and always one of the last to leave after clearing away and tidying up. I learned also that Patrick always got involved with the seva (service) activities that the group organised, such as the feeding of the homeless at the hostel in Bath City Centre. I got to know Patrick after a few visits and quickly became aware that he was a man of great humility with the wisdom of a sage, and I also just assumed that he lived in Bath. I also just assumed that he had been to Prashanti Nilayam on a number of occasions.

Two things, however, really surprised me. Firstly, when I was chatting to Patrick just prior to my first visit to Swami in 2009, I was amazed to hear that he’d never actually been himself. Secondly, I was equally amazed when someone told me that Patrick does not actually live in Bath; he apparently lives in Bradford-On-Avon, which I believe is at least five miles away. Not only that, he doesn’t drive either; he travels everywhere by pushbike. Nothing too unusual about that, but not only is the Claverton Hall at the top of a very steep hill, but it’s also a very long hill, and I remember one particularly bitterly cold Thursday night in December when the group held a Christmas Carol service at the hall, Patrick had been there then; helping to set up and pack away. It’s difficult to believe that someone would be so devoted to Swami that he would go to those lengths to ”do his bit”. Anyway, that’s the background information, now on to the main point of the story.

As I mentioned in a previous article Swami had invited devotees from all over the world to attend a pilgrimage in 2010. The UK had been invited, along with several other countries, to attend in August of that year. Various devotees from Region 7 (of which Bath is a part) were going. Unfortunately, Patrick, being a family man, didn’t have the spare cash to spend on the cost of the flight. However, Baba had other ideas. Because the group booked a bulk ticket the airline offered one free seat for the return journey. So, it was decided that all the names of people who wanted to go but couldn’t were put into a hat. Patrick’s name was amongst them, and lo and behold, his name was drawn. But there was more to come.

I saw Patrick some time after and I was telling him how happy I was for him that he was able to go. What he told me next left me nigh on gobsmacked. Patrick said that he had been at Prashanti for a number of days and did not even think that he would get any personal attention from Swami, especially on the day in question, because when he was sitting in darshan he was quite a few rows back and never in a million years even dreamed that Baba would single him out.

Now anyone who is familiar with Baba will know, that during the last few years in his physical form, he was in a wheelchair. This particular day Patrick was sitting in line with the throngs of people and Swami was being wheeled along in the gangway area specially left clear for his wheelchair (the days when Swami would glide amongst the masses like an orange-robed angel were long since gone). All of a sudden the wheelchair stopped and Baba looked over towards Patrick. As he did so a man sitting a few rows in front sat up obscuring Patrick’s view. Patrick said he quickly moved his head to one side just in time for Swami to make eye contact with him and say ”so you have come at last”.

I was overjoyed to hear this and I can just imagine how he felt. Out of all the thousands and thousands of people in darshan Baba chose to shower his grace on Patrick. I was over the moon for him.

I will close by sharing an experience that occurred just six days prior to writing this article.

I had not been to the hall for what must have been over six months and I was having an ”inner calling” to attend. I wanted to get there at 13:45 in order to take part in the study group prior to bhajans. But due to circumstances I wasn’t able to get there until the bhajans were about half-way through. As I entered I noticed empty seats at the front where Patrick was sitting. I sat down and we acknowledged each other. Within seconds of sitting down Swami enfolded me in his Omnipresence and I felt my heart bursting with love; my eyes just filled up with tears of joy. It was as though my loving Father was welcoming me home. When the bhajans were over I was able to have a brief conversation with Patrick. As ever I found a few minutes in his company so uplifting and inspirational. It was like a double whammy for me. Baba showering me in his love, and words of wisdom from Patrick; a truly perfect afternoon.

Extracts

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

The following are extracts from my book Astral Travelling, The Avatar and Me.

To buy at the discounted price of £7.49 (inclusive of postage and packing) click on the link. http://ukunpublished.co.uk/ukbookland/9781849440738.html

Extract One: ”At some stage, I really can’t remember when, I’d started having strange experiences during the night. I either dismissed these experiences as dreams or tried to convince myself that they simply hadn’t happened. One of the earliest that remains really vivid to this day was when I found myself travelling through the air at a terrific speed. It was quite dark and I found myself heading towards trees. It was a very hairy experience. I braced myself waiting for the impact, convinced I was going to get impaled on the branches. I was amazed when I realised I was simply flying through them as though they were not there.”

Extract Two: ”One of the most incredible of those early journeys was when I was transported to a house. I was dropped off outside and I remember stepping through the door and finding myself in a place that was dark. Whenever I recalled this experience I always referred to the house as “the dark and dingy place”. I seemed to step onto a landing and I was just standing there when all of a sudden my right hand felt warm. I looked down, and to my amazement, there was a small black child holding my hand. I recall at some stage that a rather rotund black lady appeared on the scene. I understand that I was being shown this house as a place that I was connected with in a previous life. It was a house where children suffered but the large black lady and I did our best to help these children.”

Extract Three: ”Without any prior indication, I entered into an involuntary state of meditation. I felt myself being bathed in pure love and all of a sudden I heard the most beautiful, sweet voice in my head. I can’t remember the words that were spoken because of my heightened state of being, but they were so, so sweet; like I was being spoken to by a father who loved me dearly. They were truly Divine words of love letting me know that Baba was with me. I just wish that I could remember exactly what was said. I didn’t want the experience to end, but I remain to this day, so eternally grateful for having had it.”

Extract Four: ”When I got to the steep part of the road I just gripped onto the wheel for dear life; it was at this point that I learned the meaning of white knuckle ride I was screaming for Baba now, literally, and I continued to hold onto the wheel for all I was worth. The car skidded, and even though I’ve known for ages that you are supposed to steer into a skid, what did I do? I can’t believe that I steered against it, but that’s what I did. The inevitable happened. I screamed some more and the car stalled again with the back end appearing to be in a ditch.

”I can’t remember if I got out of the car at this stage but I do remember starting it up again and putting it into gear. As before, I gave it a few revs, eased off the clutch and the car just started moving. Unbelievable! My heart rose as I thought I recognised a land mark through the whiteness that told me I was near the bottom of the hill. But it sunk again just as quickly when it appeared to be not so. As it turned out it was only the whiteness playing tricks on my eyes, and my heart rose again when I realised I was virtually at the bottom of the hill. “Nearly there”, I thought as I tried to gather myself for the last stage of the journey.”

The Uncreated Wilderness Of Bliss

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

We all start off as a tiny micro-atom within that great uncreated wilderness of bliss, the ”Infinite Absolute”, the super-conscious mind of God. Then, as if at the behest of a Divine whim, we make the transition from the uncreated to the created, from the formless into form and become a tangible part of ”The Divine Puppet Master’s” grand plan. From the uncreated (God The Father) we descend into matter and mingle with and become a part of the cosmic vibration (The Holy Spirit) or ”Aum”, that flows through the whole of creation like a life sustaining blood stream flowing through a human being.

From the very nano-second that we descend from the ”Cosmic Bosom” of The Divine Mother, our sole (and soul) reason for being is to make our way back. But how?

In the beginning was the word and the word was Aum. But the Aum alone did not have the intelligence, so God also injected The Christ Consciousness (God The Son or The Only Begotten) into the equation. Thus could we begin our journey from form back to the formless, from the created back to the uncreated. In our physical state we lose sight of who we really are, being only able to relate to the “outer” world as we succumb to the tricks of the mind and the five senses. But we have also been given the tools to make inner enquiry; enabling us to know God (ourselves) through actual experience as opposed to the theological concept taught by religion. This also is an explanation of the Holy Trinity.

From beyond vibratory creation (God The Father) came the Aum, the vibration (The Holy Spirit), and into the vibration God injected intelligence or Christ Consciousness (God The Son). Jesus never claimed to be the only son of God, indeed he proclaimed that we are all sons and daughters of God, and the reason that God made manifest his ”Only Begotten Son” or Christ Consciousness in its purest form in the body that we knew as Jesus, was so that Jesus could teach us that we all have the potential to be like him, ”But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God” John 1:12-13

The second coming is not going to be the day that a man with long hair and a beard, wearing a white gown and sandals comes walking down the street. It will be the day that as individuals we resurrect the Christ Consciousness within ourselves, allowing us once again to ascend back to that uncreated wilderness of bliss.

Video Message Of The Week #10

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

Please go to the page VIDEO MESSAGE OF THE WEEK to view the latest video.

Can You Ever Be Victorious Without Winning?

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

In the aftermath of the riots here in the UK, and in view of all the drug, knife and gun crime that has swept the nation in recent years (which incidentally the media seem to delight in sensationalising) I thought it would be appropriate to write about something positive; because lets face it, the true nature of the human race is that of love and harmony; not violence. I was therefore prompted to recall an incident that occurred back in the Summer of 2002 during the latter stages of the football World Cup, which was hosted by South Korea and Japan.

Anyone who is familiar with this tournament will be aware of the rather pointless match, that takes place prior to the final between the two losing semi-finalists, to see who finishes in third and fourth place respectively. I say pointless for a couple of reasons. Firstly, anyone who plays a competitive sport generally does so in order to win. So for a professional football team to lose a final would be considered by most to be a failure; after all, no one remembers the losers? With this in mind then, what professional footballer would want to finish third or fourth? Because of this, over the years, countries have been inclined to use the third and fourth place play-off as a platform to give younger and squad players a kick-about. Also because of the rules it is actually possible for a team to be considered the third best in the world without actually winning a match in normal playing time during the whole tournament. For example, a team could qualify for the knock-out stages by drawing all three matches during the group stage and then draw their games in the knock-out stages but go through to the semi-finals by winning penalty shoot-outs. They could then lose in the semi-final, draw the third and fourth place play-off, but win the match via a penalty shoot-out and thus be considered to be the third best International team in the world. As I said….pointless!

But back in 2002 I remember visiting my mother one Saturday afternoon whilst the World Cup play-off for third and fourth place was being shown live on TV. South Korea were playing Turkey and the final score was 3-2 but I can’t remember who actually won (the word ”pointless” springs to mind)! The crowd was made up largely of South Koreans who were absolutely delighted that their small country had made such an impact on the tournament, but there were also lots of other nationalities too. At the final whistle something quite incredible happened that I’d never seen at the end of a football match before; I haven’t seen a repeat since either. Both sets of players intermingled and joined hands in a long line and ran towards one section of the crowd. That simple gesture of togetherness seemed to have a real impact on everyone in the stadium. There was a surge of cheering and happiness, and in that moment as I watched from across the miles, my heart was touched and I had a tear in my eye as I felt the tangible feelings of harmony that existed between players and spectators alike throughout the stadium. It was a truly amazing moment that will remain with me forever.

It may have been a pointless game that no team could truly win, but it spawned a great victory for the human race.

Why Would You Need A Sidekick To Astral Project? 3

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

Just when I thought it was safe to go back to the astral planes…. someone queried (and very validly) a point I made, or rather didn’t make, in the previous article. Namely, if we have already learned lessons and gained knowledge from previous incarnations, why are these lessons then blocked with each subsequent incarnation, thus making our journey more difficult than it needs to be? This query was prompted by what I said about the memory being temporarily veiled just prior to incarnation. This is the answer I gave.

The lessons we have already learned are not blocked as such; once a lesson has been learned it does not need to be re-learned over and over again. Further, with regard to lessons already learned, our inner guidance prevents us from falling into age old traps. For example, would anyone with half an ounce of spiritual understanding contiunue to put their hand into the fire in the knowledge that it’s damn hot and going to hurt like hell?

The adventures we face with each sojourn into the flesh represent things that still need to be resolved in order for us to take further steps towards enlightenment; not things that have already been resolved. So, if we had prior knowledge of the answers it would render doing the exam pointless, and we would never truly be able to move on from where we are stuck. To use an anaology to clarify this further; I could go on the internet and purchase a bogus degree in nuclear physics but it wouldn’t make me a nuclear physicist. The worlds greatest leaders and spiritual teachers, sports professionals etc. achieved success by making great sacrifices and enduring great hardship. What I’m trying to say is that no one ever achieves anything truly worthwhile by ”breezing” through a process. There has to be some form of sacrifice along the way.

The phrase ”no pain, no gain” springs to mind.

Video Message Of The Week #9

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

Please go to the page VIDEO MESSAGE OF THE WEEK to view the latest video.

Why Would You Need A Sidekick To Astral Project? 2

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

So, in the previous article we established why I have been escorted to various astral locations. But in doing so the question arose as to why, if I already have experience of these places at various stages of my existence, do I have to experience them again in this lifetime. The answer to this question, I believe, is simple and I shall now endeavour to explain.

We know that when we incarnate into flesh our limitless “God memory” is temporarily veiled from us. We also know that each incarnation into flesh represents a gradual unfolding of awareness that leads us to a greater understanding of who we really are. This unfolding is achieved via our experiences, regardless of whether we perceive them to be good or bad. If our memories were not temporarily veiled from us we would still have access to ”the wisdom of the ages” during our time within the Earth dimension and we would be able to breeze through life, thus rendering the whole journey completely pointless; it is via our greatest hardships that we gain our greatest strengths. We also get to know more about ourselves through our trials and tribulations. So, with all this in mind it is apparent to me that the whole purpose of my astral journeys is to give me access to certain detail that has been temporarily screened from me. It then jogs my memory to the extent that I have been able to write about the experiences, and in doing so, I have given others a glimpse into areas of creation that they would not otherwise have; areas of creation that exist beyond the Earth vibration.

I have been able to share with others such truths as; we are solid beings no matter what dimension we dwell in, we communicate mainly via telepathy beyond the Earth plane and that our thoughts materialise instantaneously on the astral planes. These are just three examples but I think the reader will get the gist of what I’m trying to say here.

All that remains is for me to thank Melissa in sunny California for planting the seed in my head and prompting these two articles. Thanks Melissa and I hope I have managed to satisfy your curiosity.

Why Would You Need A Sidekick To Astral Project?

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Author Richard F Holmes

Someone wrote a review of my book, Astral Travelling, The Avatar and Me, recently. It was by no means a bad review, but it posed a question that had only ever fleetingly popped through my mind; “why should you need another soul on hand to assist you if you astral project?” Why should you indeed! I must admit that it made me think; I’d never given it any serious thought before, I was just grateful for all the amazing experiences I’d had over the years. So, the question having been posed, my brain whirred into action.

The first thing that occurred to me is that I don’t consider what I do to be astral projection. To me ”astral projection” implies that you are going to project yourself to a predetermined destination; therefore, you are setting off with a clear goal in mind. I have indeed astrally projected in the past, but this has always been on an inner level; usually in a group and usually for the purpose of clearing a house where there are negative energies causing mischief. I have also astrally projected on my own, on an inner level, to visit people I know for various purposes. What I wrote about in my book, to me anyway, has got nothing to do with astral projection. It’s also got nothing to do with what are commonly referred to as near death experiences, where someone may find themselves hovering over their own physical body.

I’m aware that people may have their own definitions and opinions of these subjects and may disagree, but I would like to point out as well that I am not “of the norm” shall we say. With very few exceptions I avoid the company of other mediums and psychics like the plague and also steer clear of anything remotely resembling mainstream new ageism, spiritualism and religion etc. I have been guided in a certain direction, and that is the direction I’m going to take; in fact, I believe very strongly indeed that I have barely started my spiritual work yet.

When I astral travel, I never know where I’m going to end up; this is why I believe I get escorted to the destination. I also firmly believe that everything happens for a reason, and these destinations are carefully selected for me to gain the experience of them. After all, I never get brought back; I always make my own way back simply by using the power of thought, or I seem to instantaneously end up back in my body if it’s just a fleeting visit. So, what criteria are used to determine which particular destination and when?

The destinations are chosen because they represent significant points; milestones even, in my existence. They are places I have visited on many occasions in the past; places where I have lived and places where I have worked. Each and every one of us is a timeless and formless being of light. But we have taken form at various stages and eras in imaginary time, in many dimensions and for many different purposes. These places are places that I have no memory of whilst I am encased in flesh within the Earth dimension, but they are places that I actually know very well indeed. This would explain why, when I encounter other beings on my travels, that they quite often appear to know me. This has now thrown up another question. If I have already experienced these places in the past, why do I need to experience them again during this sojourn into flesh? Hmmm I feel another blog post coming on….. watch this space.