Remembering Sharry Lachman

Sharry Lachman
(photo by Meg Blanchet)

On Monday, June 3, 2024, as six planets aligned in the sky, our dear friend Sharry Lachman passed.

Sharry was a one-of-a-kind treasure who lived her life with equanimity, artistic flair, and great heart. Her keen wit, sense of humor, and spiritual depth will be sorely missed by those of us lucky enough to have been touched by her spectacular humble self.

A memorial service at CSS is being planned for 5 PM on July 31, 2024.

Aging and the Spiritual Path

Have you suffered when approaching a certain age?  Have you cast off birthdays altogether?  Have you observed others suffering over the notion of aging?  What are the common stories we tell ourselves about aging? And how does this relate to the spiritual path?

In a Sunday Talk on March 24, 2024, Merry Song and CSS participants explored these questions and shared insights on aging—the fear of it and the dissolution of those fears. Below you will find three short pieces written and shared by participants Wesley Lachman, Laura Betty, and Bev Forster.

Wesley wrote:

I am standing alone in a vast desert.
I am tethered to a large outdoor signboard 
that stands right in front of me.
What lies behind the signboard I do not know.

Upon the signboard is printed my story of I.
Including all that is I, me, or mine.
I am so fascinated by my story that
I read or listen to it almost all the time.

But as I age, something is changing.
More and more parts of my story are becoming lost:
memories fade, friends die, and objects disappear.
My story is getting a little hazy.

But I notice—it seems for the first time—
that when someone or something is lost,
a hole appears in the signboard 
right where each one used to live in my story of I.

And wonder of wonders, I observe that
each hole retains the shape of what was lost,
so whatever has been lost is still found,
Each empty shape proclaims what has gone away.

This has been happening all my life,
but with aging it has become much more apparent.
And my story has become like a lace tablecloth,
with each hole showing its own particular shape.

And now there are more empty holes than cotton thread, 
for aging has opened so many of them.
As I look through the holes what do I see?

Why it’s my true Self, my true Self, indeed,
the open, clear, crisp emptiness of—may I say—my Self,
the open clear, gentle holding
for whatever shows up.

I had so many glimpses of this during my younger years, 
but now, ironically, my story of I—through its losses— 
reveals my true Self to me.

Give glory to the Beloved, my friend, not to me, 
for it wasn’t me who did this.

Laura wrote:

I look in the mirror and wonder, Who is this looking back at me?

I remember how I judged myself in my youth—somehow never quite measuring up to some imaginary standards.

Now, looking back, I have regrets that I wasn't able to relax and enjoy the unfolding of life.

But I notice that in stillness that eternal sense of being is exactly the same. There has been no sense of change or aging.

The nagging peer pressure to "fit in" is gone. Gratitude and appreciation of friends, family, and events fill that space.

By being involved with CSS, a path has opened, where surrendering to What Is has taken at least some of the fear of the unknown—mainly death—to an interesting feeling of comfortableness.

The face and body are aging, but whatever is me is exactly the same—unchanging.

And I am now wondering if this "unchanging" me could be Consciousness, itself.

Bev wrote:

Gracefully Aging:

Or so the saying goes.

As I look through eyes
Impaired by ARMD: age-related macular degeneration
Thankful for sight-seeing eye injections.
Have only to surrender night driving, which shrinks my world to daytime adventures.

Now there is a knee waiting for repair.
Torn meniscus, now no meniscus
Still waiting...months for surgical consult, more months for surgical intervention.
Waiting along with other aging bodies for repair.

2024…. 80 years since 1944
BIG  8-0 Birthday looming
Sounds old, sometimes feels 100
Limitations, Impermanence, reminders all
To live in the moment
Do what you can when you can,
And be grateful for it All.

Now Spring’s colors crest like a wave, undulating green grass, flowering trees,
Brilliant colorful flowers bursting forth
Reminders all of new life, birth and infinite potential.

First and only grandchild expected in JUNE
I’ll still be 79, maybe not the oldest first-time grandma
Already LOVING that baby bump and stirrings within
My baby girl’s belly!

New life, new expectations for mom, baby, and grandma
New roles to play, stories to tell
Gratefully accepted…In the March of Time.

Release, receive, renew

Breathing in: I’m grateful for Life’s Flow
Breathing out: I remember impermanence accompanied by many Blessings!

The Space of My Consciousness

by Wesley Lachman

Wesley Lachman

     If I could just be faithful at the end. I want to be calm as I fade away. You might suppose that I would break down at the feet of imminent death, but I don’t think I will. I imagine that everything that is “me” will disappear at death. My body will dissolve away in a water cremation tank. But something will be left.
     What will remain is the consciousness in which these words appear and are placed in this sentence. This consciousness is open, empty, and immense. It is who I am at center.
     If you are basically nothing at all, what can happen to you? When every perceivable part of you has gone, what will happen to the space in which it has appeared? How can your emptiness be overcome? Of course, you can fill up an empty shelf with books, but the space is still there, providing room for the books. Now you see the space, now you see the books. You can remove the books, but how can you remove the space, filled or not?
     I am such a space, not as you see me now but as the essence of what I have always been. And so when my days are ended, if this is my essence, where can I ever go?
     And you, dear reader? Is there anything in your life more ever-present, more permanent than the empty consciousness in which everything in your life appears?

Spring Retreat with Andrea

Andrea

A non-residential retreat with Andrea was held in our Saratoga meeting hall on April 12-14, 2024. Together we practiced directly looking to expose the ephemeral sense of a separate entity involved in the knowing of appearances. We looked directly into the mistaken conditioned sense of an independently existing “I”. The dissolution of any separation of awareness and appearance revealed non-dual omni-directional presence and compassion in the midst of any confused veils of separation.

Another three-day retreat with Andrea is planned for August 2-4, 2024.

Finding the Center

Contributions from Laura, Jed, and Mark

Laura Betty

    I had been doing Tai Chi and Qi Gong with Machiko at the YMCA for a couple of years, when Matt Sieradski invited our class to come to a workshop led by his Tai Chi teacher from Seattle. We all went. I was so impressed with the Qi Gong that I ended up choosing Matt's class over Machiko's. Why a choice? Because Machiko said I could have only one teacher.

-Laura Betty
Since 2011, Laura Betty has taken many service roles at the Center. Her generosity and uplifting personality are great contributions to all of us.

Jed Hazen

      If a farmer works the land year after year, depleting the soil, wearing out his tools along with his body, all the while harvesting no crops, taking nothing to market, what is the point? Just fruitless labor. Hope and obligation can drive you for a long time, but eventually exhaustion will creep in and take over.
     This is where I found myself: years of perpetually seeking--self righteous judging--fighting to make my experience the way I thought it should be. When exhaustion found me I became dominated by it. I had fought so long and so hard that the crash was catastrophic. I knew I needed to change and I knew I needed help.
     I looked through the internet at many counselors and therapists until one just jumped out at me and felt right. I called and got on a weekly schedule. About a year or so into my sessions, my counselor asked me if I ever go to The Center for Sacred Sciences. I said no and that I had not heard of it. He told me that he had gone for years and that the topics we were going over in therapy were the same as the topics discussed at CSS. So I gave it a shot.

     I felt odd at first, but curious. Eventually I enrolled in the Foundations Studies class at the suggestion of my counselor. CSS became like a group of kindred spirits that revealed themselves to one another on Sundays at 11 at the Center. I had found others who helped me see that I was not alone. For two decades after the event I referred to as a "near death" experience, I had felt very alone in my perception of life and the universe. The Center showed me that we are surrounded by people all the time who are just like us, and it was my prejudice that I projected that created the separation I had been suffering.
     I now feel transformed. Like a seed in dry ground that finally receives rain, the wait is worth it. Thanks for being CSS.

-Jed Hazen
Jed Hazen lives in Eugene with his family including two teenagers. He spends much of his time marveling at ubiquitous perfection.

Mark Hurwit

It all started at a party, as so many important life events do. It wasn’t really much of a party as I recall, but there were some interesting characters there. One of them, who ended up sitting next to me for a while, had a kind of glow going, long hair and a bit of a goatee. He reminded me of Alan Watts, and it wasn’t long before we were deep into a good conversation.

When the topic moved to meditation and “spirituality,” this novel person —I’ll just call him “Vip”— mentioned that he had some association with a spiritual center that I might want to check out. This was back around 2008 or so; and, having in the back of my mind how much I’d allowed my meditation practice to seriously lag, I hoped that something like this may spark a renewed regularity.

“Vip” had also mentioned that there was a really good teacher at this place that he thought I’d really like. So, with his signed invitation firmly in hand, I showed up one Sunday morning. I remember keenly what happened. I kept watching as people posed spontaneous questions to Joel, and every time he responded I thought, “That was a really good answer!” Each one, one after another. I was, like, “Who IS this guy?”

I’d been around a lot of teachers of different stripes, but I was super drawn to Joel’s clarity, the broad sweep of his spiritual knowledge, and a demeanor that was at once powerful and assertive, while also being sensitive and selfless (though I probably wouldn’t have used that word at the time).

I’ve also had a number of experiences with my wife, Oriana, going to listen to different teachers, and I knew that we tended to be on the same page a lot with such things. It was with both excitement and trepidation that I brought Oriana to the Center several weeks later. As the meeting went on and Joel was answering questions again, I kept glancing over at her… sitting there with her arms crossed and her face in a squinch. “Uh-oh,” I thought, this doesn’t look good.” But when the end of the meeting came and I asked her what she thought, she just turned to me with a really big nod.

So, with my own impressions thoroughly stoked, and both Oriana’s Seal of Approval and Vip's invitation taped to my wall —yes, I am speaking metaphorically!— I became a card-carrying member. And over the years, I’ve invited a lot of people to come, and have continued to be baffled that others have not grokked the immense value of what’s here. I dunno… whatever! There’s no accounting for taste (or, as my dad used to say, “That’s what makes horse races.”)

Sincere gratitude to Vip Short for “seeing me.” And, he told me, I’m the only person he’s ever invited who’s stuck around. So I guess I’ve earned my place in the Vip VIP coterie.

-Mark Hurwit
Mark lives in Eugene, Oregon with his wife and cats. For several years he served the CSS community as the newsletter editor.

Goods Give-away and Potluck

Laura, Genie, and Doug

On Saturday 8 June 2024, the CSS community held a goods give-away and potluck on the theme of Stewardship, which is one of the Center's precepts. People brought items to give away, took items others were giving away, shared brunch food with local ingredients, and socialized with each other. The purpose of the event was to facilitate the re-use of items by providing a space for members of the CSS community to give away valued possessions no longer being used. It was a warm and intimate gathering of spiritual friends, including light music and delicious coffee.

Guest Speakers: Jim and Kimberly Carson

Jennifer, Joel, Jim, and Kimberly

Our Sunday May 5, 2024, public meeting featured a talk by guest speakers Jim and Kimberly Carson, members of the CSS community based in Portland. The title of their talk was "Maps of Consciousness in Kashmir Shaivism.” This presentation guides participants through recognizing Trika – the Shiva, Shakti and Anu facets of consciousness; the 5 fundamental activities of consciousness – creation, sustenance, dissolution, concealment, and revelation; and the 36 levels by which transcendent consciousness immanently manifests itself as this tangibly experienced universe.

This is the third of a three-part series of talks. In the first talk Jim provided an overview of Kashmir Shaivism, a very influential Shaiva-Shakta Tantra nondual tradition originated in Kashmir c. 850 CE. In the second talk, Jim and Kimberly delved into the devotional aspects of the tradition. This final talk explores the levels of cosmic manifestation. The Carsons have studied, practiced, and taught the powerful teachings of this tradition for over 25 years. Watch the video of Jim and Kimberly's talk here.

Merry Song Presents at the Awakening Together Satsang

Merry Song was invited to be a guest of Awakening-Together at their monthly Satsang meeting on March 17, 2024. In this meeting, Laura 'Joy' Bedford interviewed Merry Song about her spiritual journey, her teachers, and her unique method of teaching through spiritual writing workshops. Awakening-Together is an online assembly of peers dedicated to recognizing and embracing universal wisdom regardless of the form in which it appears. For more information, see their website: Awakening-Together.org.

New CSS mailing address

The postal address for CSS recently changed to 1711 Willamette St Suite 301-164, Eugene, OR 97401. Please update your records, including notifying your bill pay service if you use one.