A New Perspective

During Pranananda’s visit to Australia, I had many beautiful experiences of God’s love, as well as immense healings, lessons, and blessings. The vibration of love that I experienced and the amount of pain that left my heart by way of His grace was enormous, the effects of which are still coagulating within me, birthing a new experience of myself and of God, which I witness daily as the love redefines me time and time again.

One of the greatest blessings I received was the gift of sharing a home with my Guru during His stay. I live in an ashram. I have chosen a life that sources my journey to the self-love, and the experience of my own divinity---which I have so hungered for. I have chosen God as my life. But how much have I truly allowed myself to feel and experience God’s presence and love in my everyday life? The fact is that I have often made the choice to intellectualize the truth that God is with me. I had been living as though the experience of God was a temporary feeling of peace or bliss, brought on by some form of sacred practice or by being with my Guru. I had indeed limited my experience to a large degree, prior to my Guru’s arrival; yet, with His presence it all came rushing back again. What was most profound and unique about my time with Him was the new perspective which I was now being offered.

There is something to be said about what is opened up in one’s heart in the presence of a Master. As though I had been transported into another realm, this ashram home of mine started to look quite different to my eyes. A romance started to form, and an excitement began to move me. I watched as, suddenly, the roses shone with more luster. The whole garden appeared to stand up tall, as though trying to look its very best. The house emanated a current; a soft, warm vibration that commanded and echoed a peaceful silence, even when the house was filled with activity. I looked more carefully and saw things more fully, as God’s reality began to reveal itself within me. With new eyes I began to see not merely heaven on earth, but heaven in my own home... in the simplest of tasks and on the most "uneventful" of days. By way of His example, I felt a new reverence and respect for the walls which have housed me. For Him, everything is God, everything is sacred. To watch that truth in action is positively enchanting.

I discovered that the smallest action can become a meditation of love, whereby buttering a piece of toast is as much a sacred act as setting up a room for an event. My heart was constantly swelling with love, and I was often close to tears while arranging a vase of flowers or making a bed. I learned, through Him, how everything becomes a prayer and an act of supplication. I experienced a dream-like flow and rhythm to all things.

My Guru illustrated the fullness with which one can live every moment of life in communion with God. When I tap into this knowing, a veil is lifted and I feel God’s presence romancing me, calling to me, wherever I am. I was reminded---by the mere presence of Guruji---that heaven lives within my heart and I can access it in any situation. Pranananda takes heaven wherever He goes.... Why shouldn’t I?

The perspective I gained during Pranananda's stay in my home is a new understanding of freedom. And this is a Gift among gifts for me, one from which I have continued to learn, long after my Guru boarded His plane for America.

- Bonny Howarth
Melbourne, Australia