About Rama

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Ch 1 - The Dinner Ch 2 - Mickey Ch 3 - Elizabeth Ch 4 - The Poster Ch 5 - Self-Discovery Outing Ch 6 - Shawn’s Boyfriend Ch 7 - Taking The Step Ch 8 - My First Student Meeting Ch 9 - Don’t Trash Ch 10 Meditation & the Wreck Ch 11 In The Desert Ch 12 After The Desert Ch 13 The Ebell Theater Ch 14 So, You Want To Be A Teacher? Ch 15 The Visit Ch 16 The Golden Oldies Ch 17 The Correction Ch 18 The Gift Ch 19 Disneyland Ch 20 The Letter Ch 21 Starting Out Ch 22 First Night As A Teacher Ch 23 The Thank You Card Ch 24 Priorities Ch 25 Corrected Again Ch 26 Returning Home Ch 27 The Call Ch 28 On The Road To New York Ch 29 Christmas At Golden’s Bridge Ch 30 Jumpy Ch 31 The Initiation Ch 32 Time To Leave Ch 33 Keeping It Clean Ch 34 Looking Back Epilogue   Visit Shiva's web site   About Rama

Chapter 8 - My First Student Meeting

I stood outside the Unity By The Sea Church in Santa Monica. The air was cool and I could smell the sea breeze.  This is the place where I was told the student meetings were being held.  I noticed a line of people standing outside the building.  Everyone was happy and excited.  I joined them and soon found myself walking into a whole new chapter in my life.

As I entered through the doors, I was a little nervous and felt awkward as I walked into the greeting area where I was registered.  I was then ushered into the large sanctuary.

The main hall was supposed to hold over six hundred people and it was full.  I sat and listened to the strange but wonderful electronic music and felt waves of energy flow through the room.  The crowd would start to murmur and talk softly, a wave of energy would flow through the room and everyone would be quiet, and then slowly the murmuring would resume and increase again until the next wave when everything would be quiet again.

Finally, Atmananda walked into the room and the energy rose to startling heights.  We meditated to Tangerine Dream and I was absolutely blown away. 

At the end of the meditation he stated, "Looks like the Tibetans are finally arriving."

I had no idea what he was talking about.  I didn't see any Tibetans.  Then I noticed some of the students were looking at me.  Now I was really confused.

He talked briefly about a desert trip he and a few of the students had just returned from after the public meditation.  He asked one of the students to relate what had happened out in the desert.  There was a gasp from the students that could hear.  I couldn't quite hear enough to understand. 

Then he looked at us and said, "For those of you that didn't hear what was just said, my name is no longer Atmananda; I am Rama." 

The room turned gold and I don't remember much of what followed.  I do have a clear sensation that whatever it was must have been pretty incredible.

The following days I discovered that it was extremely easy to set up a meditation routine, and my meditations really took off!  I had meditated before using techniques I had picked up in Transcendental Meditation, a few meditation seminars at Zen Centers, and a variety of other spiritual workshops and seminars.  But, until now, sitting down to meditate had always been a chore.  I had never been able to manage any consistency much less be able to stop my thoughts.  Suddenly it was easy and powerful. 

I started to change in new and magnificent ways.  I resigned my ministerial position at the L.I.F.E. Center.  It just didn't seem right for me anymore.  As I left, I installed Shawn to take it over.  Even though she was now a student of Rama, she still liked being a part of the L.I.F.E. Center.  Shawn was perfect for this new role.

I was now a student, and I was headed in a whole new direction.

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