this just in...

well, he didn't come -- but they did. and She REALLY did!

whatever am I ranting about this time?

*grinning*

at the last moment, Sri Kaleshwar was unable to come to America. there was some violence going on in his home state, in India, and the government was concerned for his physical safety if he traveled.

this was a beautiful spiritual gauntlet thrown down for America: I can't come physically, but I can send my energy through my students. are you ready for the miraculous promise that Jesus made to his students, "all these works I've done, you will do and greater," to come true?

most of the people who signed up for blessing experiences and an all-day intensive with Kaleshwar were ready to stand in the divine energy, and its truth, no matter WHO brought it.

and he sent it -- oh, wow, did he send it, especially the energy of the Mother Divine -- through his two beautiful students, to share with the people here in America.

but then I got a letter like this in my email inbox today (names changed to protect the innocent!):

"After listening to your husband and you at a local bookstore and reading one of Kaleshwar's books, I was excited about hearing him on Tuesday night and I paid a pretty penny for the ticket. Upon hearing the Kaleshwar was still in India and not coming, I was very surprised.

When I walked in the Rio Theatre and handed over my ticket, there was no indication that there was a change of plans for the evening. I must tell you I was sorely disappointed. No one offered a refund to any of us or apologized. I am uncomfortable with not being informed and, for me, a sense of dishonesy has emerged regarding Kashewar and his followers. I will no longer participate in any programs at my local bookstore and will toss out the book. To consider that a spiritual leader did not suggest that his followers openly and honestly inform people of a change in plans and let people make their choices abut attending or not is unacceptable. Also unacceptable is that the followers did not take the initiative to be honest and inform the Santa Cruz community of the change of plans.

With disappointment and distrust,

M.M."


well, uh, okay. I can understand this reaction, on a certain level.

but my response was this:

dear M.M.,

yes, I understand that this was a serious blow to the image of Kaleshwar in your experience.

to be honest, we found out on Thursday afternoon, before the scheduled visit to Santa Cruz that he was not, in fact, able to come to the US on this trip because of world turbulence, violence in his home state in India, and the concern of Indian government officials for his personal safety.

it was a huge shock and we did our maximum best -- at subsequent presentations at that spiritual bookstore, including the Friday night Hanuman Chalisa program there, but also at our two Saturday/Sunday workshops, and the Monday night kirtan on the 16th, and just generally did our best to let people know that he was unable to attend physically but that he was utterly dedicated to blessing the area no matter what.

he went to the extreme lengths of taking a yoga samadhi, of leaving his own physical body as though it were dead, and sending his soul into his two students, Clint and Monika, in order that they could still bring his divine energy blessing and presence to the people here.

we explained this in our regular Thursday night satsang, we explained it in a conference call with a process group here on Saturday morning, we explained it over the weekend at our workshops, we explained it at the bookstore on Friday night and again on Monday night, there was a HUGE sign up at the Rio Theatre, prominently displayed as people walked in the door, announcing the change of plans, it went out in an email to every pre-registered (through the sponsoring group's website) attendee of the talk.

I don't know that Jonathan and I personally could have done any better than we did, to let the community know on the spur of the moment that a major change had happened -- and that this was an incredible opportunity for the people here to experience a profound miracle; the yoga samadhi energy of a major saint is about 5 times more powerful than their physical presence could ever be.

the blessing energy that happened earlier on Tuesday, in Boulder Creek, as well as at the public talk, were a testimony to that power, as was the intensive into the Mother Divine channels the next day.

however, this explanation being what it is -- rooted in the depth of experience and not on the surface level of whether or not Sri Kaleshwar showed up in Santa Cruz on the proper date and time, physically -- of course a refund of the ticket price is available through the organization sponsoring his appearance in our community. this refund was also available on the spot, had you asked for it that night at the Rio Theatre.

the sponsoring group completely understands people's upset and they are happy to refund your money -- just contact them directly, even if you bought the ticket at a bookstore, and they will take care of it.

in terms of your personal disappointment and distrust -- we do understand, but also feel that you're making a more extreme case (baby out with the bathwater) than is warranted.

having been around Kaleshwar for years and seen how he operates, we can say with surety that his larger motives are to lift people out of their everyday illusion of what is real and deliver the shakti, the energy, of the Reality underlying this world -- to that degree, giving people the chance to rise to a new level of understanding that the energy is the energy no matter what, the divine is the divine no matter who is bringing it (ie, his students), is to our thinking a brilliant teaching and an incredible challenge to the belief systems of many, many people starving to receive the divine truth.

we have seen him leave a crowd of 350 people waiting in big American cities -- and not once or twice -- and go back to India rather than give a public talk. why? they need to learn patience. he was happy to receive people's misunderstanding, upset, anger, and frustration at his not showing up, in the past, in order to sift and filter and find the ones who would stand for the divine truth, and the transmission of the divine truth, no matter what.

it was important for him to pose that question in the hearts and minds of the people who were so disappointed and angry at being left 'high and dry', as the saying goes, by his absence. it was important for all the angry people to inquire deep in their own hearts, "why is he doing this? if so many people are verifying that he is indeed a high divine saint, demonstrating miracles and healings, why would he act like this? why would any genuine 'master' behave like this?"

in our view, this puts you face-to-face with the reflection of your own beliefs and expectations about what's real and what's not real. that's a high divine gift, whether you recognize it now or not.

what any sincere seeker of the spiritual truth is looking for, in approaching a real sadguru or a master, consciously or unconsciously, is the shattering of their belief systems (which separate them from being able to recognize and embrace the divine energy on the deep level of creation). this shattering allows seekers to receive an experience of the truth, rather than playing on the surface level alone.

the intensity of the energy that we feel from you, regarding your plans for tossing out Sri Kaleshwar's book, and associating this one program with all of that spiritual bookstore's fine presentations, speaks volumes to us about the beautiful intensity of your desire to know god, and to know the truth.

if petulance, however, distorts your hunger for the divine, and you show a pouting child's face as your response to a divine challenge, all it elicits from god is an exact reflection of your own inner disappointment and distrust.

we are happy to do our best to help.

the ball is in your court.

in the divine love and blessings of the Mother,

Alx & Jonathan