by Karuna Beaver
There’s a theme to our last two blogs – opening boxes and finding delights within. Sarvaata wrote about opening and then filling boxes of sacred ash from India. Sharada wrote about opening packages from India, filled with beautiful things for the Amaya® shop.
I, too, received a box this week, and I experienced the same delight and depth of feeling. The box I received was filled with things to either be used or set out for purchase at the Shaktipat Retreat this weekend in Boise ID, my hometown.
Last summer, I received an invitation to host a Shaktipat weekend. This was the first box I opened – my inbox! To my delight, Swamiji and the Ashram chose Boise as one of only two Shaktipat locations outside of Pennsylvania in 2013. While the Boise Svaroopa® teachers have been talking up this wondrous event to our students for months, our registrations came in slowly. Until about three weeks ago, we wondered if we would have enough participants to hold the retreat.
But then, another gift arrived in my inbox – a message from Rukmini that Swamiji had committed to the weekend. After that, everything became easy – well, easier! The fence-sitters began to commit. I began finalizing all the details on my end to host the event. Just when I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed with these details and a by the honor and responsibility of having my beloved teacher and Guru visit, the package arrived.
Inside were white woolen asanas, creamy pale yellow meditation shawls, journals just waiting for sweet descriptions of meditation to fill their pages. As I carefully unpacked the boxes to make sure all the contents had arrived safely, I was aware that I too was “unpacking,” unpacking the concern about the external details, unpacking insecurities about having Swamiji visit. As I lovingly put the contents back into the box, I too felt “filled up.” I had an experience of my Self as vast, timeless, unconcerned about the future. I knew that just like the box, I was full to the brim.