In every galaxy, there is a planet of life and order in all that is created.  We, as well as the rest of the Universe, are not a combination of random events, but created and forever sustained by Brahman. 

The Universal Path of the Soul is the path on every sadhana planet and the path the soul naturally follows, regardless of a particular belief or religion. 

The impersonal Atman leads the soul’s growth, outside the soul’s awareness and patiently waits for the understanding to converge with the Atman’s will.

Actions, as well as affections and attitudes, reflect a person’s sadhana or life.  The soul is always moving toward or away from the goal of self-purification. 

Belief in God is not necessary for the soul’s growth, and the Lord even provided a path for those who don’t through Buddhism.     

Whether we believe in God or not, the Atman still pushes against us with a piercing conscience when we don’t follow ahimsa. 

It brings ecstatic joy and a sense of well-being when we eagerly follow God’s teachings.  Though a small portion of the soul, it’s forever divine, rational, loving, and eternal.

In sadhana, the soul can be described as “a diamond in the rough.” Once the ego is extinguished, the whole being becomes divine and the soul is transformed.  The “diamond” emerges, polished with the brilliance of divine light that grows more precious as time goes by. 

Through God’s natural order, three types of sadhana emerge that attract and awaken the soul.  The Atman, or Lord within, identifies the one that is intrinsic to the soul’s sadhana and moves the soul in that direction.

The sun is shining
Come on get happy
The lord is waiting to take your hand
Shout hallelujah
Come on get happy
We’re going to the promise land!

Culture of Oneness

From childhood’s hour I have not been
As others were—I have not seen
As others saw—I could not bring
My passions from a common spring—
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow—I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone—
And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone—
–Edgar Allen Poe

Have you ever gone to a summer picnic alone and felt out of place?  All the couples were engaged in conversation with each other, or family members and you felt like an outsider?  This is the result of a society of duality. 

The Mother’s Way teaches a forward progression of happiness for a society that rises above the current cultural norm to a higher vision of wholeness for the world.

God’s path is not enmeshed in duality but in Oneness just as God is One.  The religions before now have never spoken of such a culture that propels sadhana forward in a direction that’s pleasing to God and good for the soul. 

We can rest assured that if God is pleased, the soul always benefits, and growth is forthcoming.

A society of duality thinks overwhelmingly about couples or coupling.  It’s not Brad or Angie, but Brad and Angie, or if they’re a famous couple, Brangeline.  It makes them appear as if one has no identity without the other and denies their individual sadhana. 

It’s not the wording, but the mindset that’s counterproductive for society.  Carried to extremes, duality possesses a “herd” mentality as we see in the world where one person starts a destructive force against a person or organization and many others follow.

Those who engage in this behavior are many times not following a good cause, but the ego, that wants to dominate and destroy.  When things go awry, they slide back into the background denying their own contribution to the destruction.

Religion should be a contributing light in the world that encourages a Culture of Oneness.  Each person’s sadhana is singular, in nature, and no one goes to Heaven by the merits of belief or following another’s will.  We are each able, if willing, to purify ourselves. 

Each time we lean on another’s mind without seeking our own, we sacrifice a learning experience that was meant for us alone.  This means ultimately, taking responsibility for our own selves and our own happiness.

It’s Oneness that produces happiness and a sense of well-being.  It’s Oneness that sends the soul into ecstatic awareness of God’s love and Oneness that heals the soul.

Spiritually, there’s no situation that’s dual in nature, for no one can experience another person’s perception.

Poe was describing the world he lived in where he felt out of place and alone.  This is not so different from what most people feel today when they show up at a barbecue without a companion or family member.

A Culture of Oneness is about stepping outside of our comfort zone and engaging with the world as one individual.  Oneness is about everyone being accepted and loved for their unique individuality, not who they’re related to.

Oneness is about using our own special individuality to make a difference in the world.  It takes a little bit of strength and a little bit of courage, but this is the path forward to a better way of life and a better world.

–If I Can Dream

Aerosexual Sadhana

 Few only know the truth. The rest will hate
And laugh at thee, great one; but pay no heed.
Go thou, the free, from place to place, and help
Them out of darkness, Maya’s veil. Without
The fear of pain or search for pleasure, go
Beyond them both, Sannyasin bold! Say –
    ‘Om tat sat, Om!’

_{— Swami Vivekananda}

Aerosexual refers to one flying over sex and aerosensual, over the senses.  This describes the path everyone should engage in before the twenties as an individual, undivided in their attention in sadhana.

Through all the stages from infancy to adulthood, the chakras slowly open as the body matures. 

The mind doesn’t physically mature until a person reaches twenty-five so living as an aerosexual into the twenties is the only optimal way to know what makes the soul happy.

A small child only thinks about learning to walk before he can.  If he focuses on two different things at the same time, he falls. 

By focusing on a companion before the twenties, a person’s sadhana becomes unmanageable.  They lose track of their own individuality and become confused while trying to please someone else.

This requires a Culture of Oneness in the church as each approach one another in love and friendship.  Do you love your role as a mother or father?  Then love other children in Oneness like your own.  The world needs more mentors in guiding the world’s youth.

Maybe the parents are working long hours and they can’t attend to the child’s needs of companionship and interests. 

A church of friends should fill in as brothers and sisters with activities that encourage their sadhana.  If not, the child will look for companionship in the world.

The natural inclination to “pair up” starts early in life and is a result of duality thinking and the sex samskara.  If not kept in check, it clouds a person’s judgment and actions, followed by negative consequences. 

A Culture of Oneness doesn’t emphasize romance, but individual sadhana as the clear path to God into the twenties. 

In following this path until the mind physically matures, the soul can make clearer decisions about what happiness means for them.

I’m like a bird
I’ll only fly away
I don’t know where my soul is (soul is)
I don’t know where my home is…

_{(Song by Nelly Furtado, aerosexual sadhvi)}

This is the example of a natural or lifelong aerosexual sadhvi who doesn’t have a soulmate. 

She is happiest without a love interest and wants many good friends over one isolated friend. This is the drive within her being-state as independent of all others.

Many, like her, are hiding in the world, unaware of their nature as an aerosexual since society nor religion has ever supported any other option.

Some move to convents since they enjoy the atmosphere it provides, but many like living and working in the world and enjoy popular culture.

At the end of the video, she lands in the arms of many people, and look at the masses that are holding her up! The people represent a group that supports friendship without romance or living in isolation and they’re all hiding in plain sight!

This is the culture the church should embody as we approach one another in friendship and Oneness. 

They know not truth who dream such vacant dreams
As father, mother, children, wife, and friend.
The sexless Self! whose father He? whose child?
Whose friend, whose foe is He who is but One?
The Self is all in all, none else exists ;
And thou art That, Sannyâsin bold! Say—
“Om Tat Sat, Om!”

_{–Swami Vivekananda}

It’s crucial for the aerosexual to abstain from any sexual or romantic touching since this reinforces the sex samskara and leads away from their sadhana in union with Self.

It means regenerating one’s sexual energy into spiritual pursuits that lead to self-purification.  It’s turning the sex samskara’s energy on its head with crushing blows as the soul transforms this energy upward toward God through karma and raja yoga. 

An aerosexual may find more peace in meditating with friends every day, rather than alone, or find more joy in the companionship of many friends during daily exercise.  

Aerosexual sadhana is flying on the highest wings of Self-love; one wing is karma yoga and the other raja yoga and oh how sweet the bliss when the soul awakens each morning afresh and ready to fly again!

O Mother-Progress, the dance of Thy life we hear in the
tinkling bells of little laughing harmonious lives.
On the floor of my tender thoughts,
Thy inspirations softly dance in tune with the music of
the spheres.

In the Hall of Creation, everywhere, O Kali, I hear the
rhythm of Thy footsteps,
Dancing wildly in the booming thunder, and softly in the
song of atoms.

–Swami Yogananda

Heterosexual Sadhana

Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup, but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone.
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

–Kahlil Gibran

There’s a large portion of the population that after living as an aerosexual into the twenties, feel the natural longing to have a romantic relationship. 

The Atman’s goal as they continue their progression in life is to find their soulmate; for they are not happy without companionship.

Within the soulmate union, there is only one who is meant for you.  God places great emphasis on this union by creating many lifetimes where boy meets girl or girl meets boy and the Lord reunites soul-lovers again and again.  How much sweeter the reunion from one life to the next!

The male’s strength is his mind or wisdom, and the female’s is her heart or love.  The male is drawn by the female’s love and the female is drawn by the male’s wisdom. 

This is not to imply that males don’t have love or females don’t have wisdom.  This is merely describing the natural attraction between males and females.

“Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.”
–Kahlil Gibran

Spiritually, their souls are intertwined as her love and his wisdom flow together in unison and they grow stronger together in love and wisdom through the chakras.

Wisdom is before love so if his sadhana moves forward before hers, he waits for his true love, and with wisdom and compassion keeps her in his sight.

“And think not you can direct the course
of love, for love, if it finds you worthy,
directs your course.”
–Kahlil Gibran

Timing

“Yet the timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness,
And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.”
–Kahlil Gibran

Since the mind doesn’t physically mature until a person reaches twenty-five, dating before the twenties may reap poor decisions and regrets that may take years, if ever in a lifetime, to unravel.

Sadhana in aloneness up until that time is needed for a person hardly knows themselves or what makes the soul happy before then, and you must know yourself before you can love another. 

Aloneness means having friends without a romantic association.  Group gatherings with those in your church or ashram or being with those who enjoy the same hobbies is wonderful sadhana. 

Keeping the mind actively engaged in activities that bring inner joy helps the soul reconnect with Self.

“But if in your thought you must measure time into seasons,
let each season encircle all the other seasons,
And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.”
–Kahlil Gibran

It’s possible that a person might meet their soul-love early in life but keep him or her as a friend until the twenties.  If the soulmate union is there, the love will not lessen in those years. 

It is most optimal since the mind is not physically mature and one or both, due to immaturity, may take advantage of the other.  This will cause deep heartache inside if one leaves due to the indiscretions of the other. 

Imagine the years ahead and living with the piercing regret of having lost your one true love and friend!

All too plainly in my crowd of women
her looking found me, and I feel ashamed.
So thoughtlessly I acted, Radha left.

Forgive me for the things I’d not repeat
with one so beautiful who haunts my sight.
So thoughtlessly I acted, Radha left.
–Gita Govinda

Dating–With No Strings Attached

“Oh companion of my soul, where are you? Are you
Praying in the temple? Or calling Nature in the
Field, haven of your dreams?”
–Kahlil Gibran

For those looking for romance, my exhortation is to protect the soulmate union at all costs.  Dating allows one to find out who their soulmate is but should be done cautiously. 

The proper way is to meet and get to know someone in a public setting or better yet, on group dates. 

Meet with others and enjoy a meaningful evening of friendship.  If there’s a feeling of “magic” in the air, make another public date and talk some more.  This is better for the female’s safety, especially if she doesn’t know the fellow very well. 

Knowing someone is not the same as being introduced through a friend of a friend’s friend.  What if he’s really a snake in the grass and your friends didn’t know it?

Maybe the conversation didn’t go so well, and you’re not interested.  If that’s the case, then you are both free to date others. 

There are fifty-two weeks in a year so it’s possible to date that many people within a year’s time—with no strings attached.  As you can see, the world’s meaning is not the same as mine.

Courtship

“Where are you now, my other self? Are you awake in
The silence of the night? Let the clean breeze convey
To you my heart’s every beat and affection.”
–Kahlil Gibran

So, you’ve had three public dates, you’re still interested, and “sparks” are flying.  Now, you might want to spend more time together and the both of you may decide to make the relationship exclusive. 

Continue to find out more about the other person and make friendship your priority.  Take bike rides, walks on the beach, or whatever you might like to do together, and yes, all without romantic touching.

What if, after ten dates, you find out your interest has diminished?  You are both free to go your separate ways as friends and the soulmate union is preserved for the one you’ve really been searching for. 

She’s still out there somewhere and searching for you.

Two drifters
off to see the world
There’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after the same rainbow’s end
Waitin’ ’round the bend
My huckleberry friend
Moon River
And me
–Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Maybe you find this person interesting and fun to be with and think they just might be the one.  Then continue to see them without touching. 

Once you identify with the body, the spiritual connection gets lost in the “shuffling of atoms,” and the sex samskara clouds the judgment.  It will confuse and fool your heart into thinking he’s your soul-love and what if he’s not?

How deep is your level of intensity in sadhana?  A suvisadhu will wait six months before touching.  It might also apply to couples who meet while very young in life but are wise enough to wait until their twenties before approaching one another romantically.

The bodhasadhu, who is more serious about their sadhana, will wait a year before touching because they understand how precious the soulmate union is.

The aghorisadhu with their deep passion and fire for God, will court for two years without touching for they are the most determined in finding God-realization, and how much sweeter with their beloved by their side!

But let there be spaces in your togetherness.

And let the winds of heaven dance between you.”

–Kahlil Gibran

It is worth noting that God blesses the heterosexual path as much as one honors their soulmate.  The brevity of the situation is the bond can be broken by the actions of one or the other if done repeatedly. 

God’s assurance is based on the commitment that each will search and remain faithful to one another until they meet again.

The soulmate union is holy in the eyes of God and should be cherished by all for there is no greater love between two souls than to share each other’s hopes and dreams; with a deeply spiritual connection that grows stronger with each lifetime.

This advice is given for the benefit of joyful and optimal sadhana and will bring many lives of lasting happiness as you and your soulmate grow together toward the Lord!

Some enchanted evening, someone may be laughing.
You may hear her laughing across a crowded room.
An’ night after night as strange as it seems
The sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams.

Who can explain it, who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons, wise men never try.
–Some Enchanted Evening

Gopi/Gopa Sadhana

“The Gopis, eyes desirous to see, rushed out and gathered around him – whose locks, with a bundle of peacock feathers and forest flowers, were covered in cowdust – whose eyes are enticing – who laughed beautifully, playing the flute, with his followers singing his praises.”
—- Krishna’s 10 rasas with the Gopis

There is a subdivision within the aerosexuals who follow the gopi/gopa path in sadhana.  Gopi represents the female and gopa, male, who seek union with Krishna/Radha or the Supreme Being as their path to enlightenment.

I do not care about social norms
Nor do I keep my family’s honour.
I cannot forget, even for a moment,
The beauty of my lover.
I am dyed in Hari’s colour.
–Mirabai

When the Atman leads the soul in the path of the gopi/gopa, a person starts to lose their spiritual attractiveness to the opposite sex, thus Mirabai’s words, “I am dyed in Hari’s colour.” 

Where the aerosexual seeks union with Self, the gopi/gopa seeks union with the Divine.  The deeper in sadhana, the more obvious the changes.

My Lord, the love that binds us cannot be broken.
It is hard as the diamond that shatters
the hammer that strikes it.
As polish goes into the gold, my heart
has gone into you.
As a lotus lives in its water, I am rooted in you.
Like the bird that gazes all night at the passing moon,
I have blinded myself in giving my eyes to your beauty.
She who offers herself completely asks only this:
That her Lord love Mira as fully as he is loved.
–Mirabai

The above poem is about the gopi/gopa’s spiritual passion for God, as they look past male and female attraction into the highest spiritual pursuit of union with the Godhead.

Elvis Presley is an advanced gopa and his spiritual passion for the Lord is obvious in the next video.

_{–Elvis Presly, gopa bodhisattva}

I’m not in the dark, but I’m not sure if I’ve gone far enough
From the voices that tell me that I’m not made for love
You’re the only one who knows that I’m still curious
If you’re with me then I know that I will
–Nightbirde, gopi

This describes a gopi in the fourth chakra confused about her sadhana while living in the world.  Isn’t this passion she feels inside meant for the males? 

She confuses the two, though the Atman or voices is pushing her past the male/female dynamic.

She was “unlucky” in love as her husband left her before she succumbed to cancer.  Like the phoenix, she will rise again from the “ashes” to resume her sadhana in her highest spiritual passion for the Lord.

Can you see it in my zombie stare? I’m only half there
The rest of me in another universe somewhere
A hundred miles away in slow motion
All I wanna feel is some analog emotion
–Lyrics to Girl in a Bubble

This is another song from Nightbirde called Girl in a Bubble.  The video describes her path as different from the rest. 

Her white dress represents her sadhana as a gopi but when the others tried on the same “outfit,” they didn’t like it!

Summary

These are the three types of sadhana as the soul progresses through the chakras.  Though more common, the heterosexual path is not meant for everyone. 

There are those who feel the heterosexual path to be too confining and are driven by freedom and independence for their happiness.

By carelessly engaging in romance before the twenties, the soul may have difficulty distinguishing which direction the Atman is leading; and the sadhana that is best is the one your Atman chooses. 

Pursue that path in every lifetime and you will be the phoenix who rises again in triumph!

Dark the day the dragon rose,
A great unholy blight;
The greatest of the Haven’s foes,
A scoundrel of the night.

Yet brighter still the phoenix’s fire
Which scourged the dragon’s sight,
And stronger still the phoenix’s pyre
Which filled the day with light!
–AxisRogue