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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 31 - The Initiation

Curiosity and apprehension gripped me. This was a special night.  Rama said that this night he was going to initiate us as monks.  This was, to me, the most important graduation I had ever attended.  

All of the students had arrived dressed in their finest attire.  I gazed around the huge meeting hall.  The room was beautifully decorated and had the most beautiful tankas I had ever seen.  There were beautiful balloons and flowers.  I was overwhelmed at the beauty of the room.  No expense had been spared. 

Rama sat down and talked about how, this evening, the Dharma had finally won out for good.  He stated that we would be able to continue to shine the light no matter what happened to him.  This was a graduation for all of us.

Throughout the talk the room was filled with a blinding golden white haze that distorted the walls.  The various tankas seemed to come to life and the veil between worlds was thin and at times totally transparent.  My spine was locked into a rigid posture and waves of powerful energy surged up my spine.

Rama then had us form a line and come forward for our empowerment.

Finally, there I was standing in front of him.  He stands about six foot three, but on this night he seemed much larger.  I closed my eyes and he put his ring and middle finger on center of my forehead in an area known as the third eye.  He pressed a little harder on the left side of my forehead and the strangest thing happened.  I felt the energy flow down to my feet and fill up the left side of my body with what seemed to be a golden oil.  When the energy reached the top of my head, he pressed harder with the finger on the right side of my forehead.  Once again I had the sensation of golden oil flowing down to my feet and filling up that side of my body.  The second that the energy reached the top of my head, he removed his hand from my forehead.  Then he said, "Good, move to the side."

I don't know how I managed to move at all.  But I must have. In fact, I don't remember much of anything for the next couple of hours.  I was definitely in a state of extended awareness.

Later, as I drove back to Mount Kisco, it really hit me.  I was now a monk!  It felt good!  I realized at that time that this wasn't the first time I had been initiated as a monk.  Memories of Tibetan temples and monasteries flooded my mind. 

Being a monk was a conscious decision to follow the Dharma for the rest of my life!  I was thrilled to have once again taken this commitment, especially with this Teacher!  I walked on clouds for days!

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