If I were to pick one word that is central to my spiritual worldview, it would be Grace. And yet, I often find it to be the most difficult to talk about. It is profound as Truth and simultaneously problematic as a concept. It is a word that points to the deep nature of Reality and our soul’s relationship with God, but any explanation I can possibly think of is problematic if taken literally and applied inappropriately.

I have found it important to have a clear map of the different planes of consciousness. Our maps are how we see the world, and without a proper one, we are going to unconsciously view our experiences from whatever existing maps we already have in place. Many of the paranoid worldviews I have encountered are formed from a combination of having a non-ordinary experience, an inadequate map, and unfamiliarity with the various planes of consciousness.

Below is what I wrote the night I learned Ram Dass left his body. Writing is one of my main ways that I work through grief, and crafting these words was incredibly healing. Since then, I did go to Maui, and I got to touch his feet. I will forever have burned in my mind the power and beauty of staying up through the night in satsang, doing puja, singing bhajan, and performing aarti to his body as it lay covered in flowers in the early morning hours before sunrise.

“We often think of ecstasy as the pinnacle of pleasure,
but it's really a fierce melt
into horror
and bliss.”

Become a drunk poet
and wail-moan
for Love scraps.