A Night At The Astral Ashram

Last night I dreamed that I was at an ashram, or a new age academy of some kind. Everyone was trying very hard to get enlightened. It was a busy place. We were entangled in gossip, spiritual competition, and the busy-ness of out-doing one another at "seva," service.

We were all rehearsing kindness - so that, presumably, when we got home we could try it on the rest of the world. Whenever you saw a sweet person coming down the path to be kind, you would of course smile. And they would smile back even harder. But inside, you were saying, "Uh oh, here she come again," or, "O God, deliver me from Mr. Nice."

No one ever got around to actually sitting quietly together, walking alone in the lovely forest, or going to satsang. Nor did anyone ever attend the Big Guy's darshan talks. I didn't even know who the Big Guy was, if there was one.

I tried very hard to be sweet, but no one liked me. Unintentionally, I offended almost everybody. With each attempt to do good, to soothe and comfort people, to advise them on their spiritual path, I simply interfered with what was none of my business. The women all thought I was coming on to them, the men all thought I was a conniving son of a bitch. So I tried even harder to act nice.

Maybe this dream was only a minute long. Or maybe it was a thousand lifetimes. But when I woke up this morning, I felt so glad that I was at home in my own bed, and not in the ashram. Through my dawning breath, from somewhere beyond thought, came a soft voice of intuition, whispering:

"The more your mind tries to please people,
the more you annoy them.
But if you are simply you,
your very presence will refresh them.
All this effort, all this talk
about serving humanity!
Take a sabbath from service.
Just radiate Being.