The Bliss Soaked Cafe
Walking in Brother Lawrence's Footsteps
In 17th century Paris there was a monk named Brother Lawrence who was in such a state of bliss while making soup that people waited in lines to watch him from outside the kitchen door. We had his book in our monk-run coffee shop, which was just next door to our Sun Garden Cafe. Lawrence became a guiding light for our little kitchen.
It was thus a very peculiar kitchen. Many kitchens are built on stress and speed- places where people go who don’t fit in with the mainstream society, and often enclaves for functional alcoholism and addictions. Our kitchen had plenty of speed, and we absolutely did not fit in with normal society, but it is such a different feel when everyone is essentially praying and doing mantra meditation.
We were whirling dervishes dancing with fire and knives and pots. Ingredients were tossed, sometimes behind the back. Food was flung from the pan onto plates. Burritos were wrapped with the loving care of an aged Japanese craftsperson.
We often made plates of food on impulse, only to then discover that those dishes had just been ordered. I never tired of peaking over the kitchen doors to see the bewildered look on the customer’s faces. Once in awhile, the server would simply tell the customer, “No, this isn’t old food reheated. Our cooks are sometimes very psychic.”
Total strangers would come in, with no apparent interest in spirituality, and finding the Ishaya they were apparently destined to connect with, would proceed to bare their soul and cry their eyes out at a corner table or in the faery-inhabited back-garden.
One day, customers were manifested to spectacular effect. This was God’s fulfillment of one of my oldest desires. I wanted to experience a manifestation so improbable that my rational mind couldn’t file it as anything else but that. First, a table of 20 came in minutes after I verbally put the desire out. We served them so quickly, they also thought the food was reheated. Next, I verbally put the desire out for a party of 18 to arrive, which also happened minutes later. Alone, these were very unusual, as the largest party we had ever had was 8 people. Together, within minutes of each other, immediately after I voiced the desire, that was my definitive proof that the world is fundamentally made of magic.
One day, while chopping potatoes, it dawned that all of the thoughts and sensory information I was experiencing amounted to nothing but little leaves floating on top of an enormous ocean of awareness that was the truest thing I’d ever experienced. In fact, I realized that I hadn’t been really thinking for God knows how long. The normal tension that narrowly associated me with a particular body and mind was almost completely gone. In its place was vastness. The cafe and all of us working in it, and all of those coming to eat and drink and be sustained by more than bread, and all of the cars driving on Hwy 101, and the ancient trees, and the vast ocean were all dancing fractals of the great wholeness.
Upcoming Courses and Events
Meditation, Magic, Prayer, and Manifestation- a 5-Week Class, meeting Sundays from July 5th until August 2nd- 6pm to 8pm UK time.
Within this class, we’ll be immersing in practices of meditation and prayer from both the Hindu and mystical Christian traditions, using mantras and prayer-forms in an effortless way, in addition to practicing with malas/rosaries. We will also delve into the ways in which meditation practice strongly dovetails with magic, synchronicity, and manifestation. This facet of the course will be informed by the experiences of my life, the great mystics I have known, and insights mined from the lives and teachings of such figures as Hildegard of Bingen, Neville Goddard, Carl Jung, and Paramahansa Yogananda.
If you enter the class without a solid meditation practice, you will certainly gain at least one or two everyday practices during the five weeks.
The early bird rate is $175 USD, which is open until June 30th. After that, the regular course fee will be $200.00. There is also a sliding scale option in which you pick a price that works for you, as we never turn people away for a lack of funds. If you’d like to pay on the sliding scale, whether less or more, that can be done through PayPal, Zelle, or direct bank transfer.
Open Circle Gathering- July 11th- 10am to 12pm Pacific Time
I once again have the joy of presenting to the online Open Circle community.
When the mind settles into Silence, the heart opens to the great mystery hidden everywhere in plain sight. The formless takes the form of Love, melting the barrier between self and world, reconnecting us to primordial Wholeness. This Wholeness is like a song that is already playing within. Every moment of life- sublime or awful- can be experienced as a flowing wholeness.
We’ll practice an effortless way of melting into wholeness: easeful mantra practice. Instead of using mantras like cudgels and performing meditation as chore, effortless practice opens into the natural delightfulness of meditation. Using Shakti Bija mantras in a gentle manner is a means of letting Presence move through us like a song; praying until we become the prayer. Woven into shared practice will be time for questions, answers, and conversation.
Here is the link for registration.
About Me
I am a meditation teacher, writer, gardener, and an evolutionary astrologer. You can find more information about my vocations through my websites: www.ascension-meditation.com and www.awakenedlightastrology.com. I also have a youtube channel, which is starting to get as much attention as the garden.