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SERVICE : The Heart of Life
an Interview with Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

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Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati is an improbable Guru. Born into a poor Jewish family in Brooklyn, Ma Jaya was befriended at a very young age by the homeless living under the Coney Island boardwalk. Their friendship taught her "There are no throw-away people." That spirit of caring for others is the life force fueling Kashi Ashram, which she founded 27 years ago in Sebastian, Florida. The Ashram is not only a spiritual/educational center and intentional community; it is also the resting place for more than 1,000 souls who died in Ma Jaya's arms. Their ashes lie at the bottom of the Ganga, the sacred pond that serves as the throbbing heart of the Ashram. "They are not forgotten," says Ma, as she is lovingly called by her devotees all over the world. "In honor of them, we keep going. You have to keep going because you have to look in the mirror each day. 
 
Ma Jaya is a highly respected spiritual leader. She is a trustee in the Governing Council to the Parliament of the Worldıs Religions, and is the founder of World Tibet Day. Her work has been praised by the Dalai Lama and by Bishop Desmond Tutu. Kashi's website (
www.kashi.org) cites as its mission to "awaken a profound awareness about one's spiritual self and the issues that face the world today. We believe that an awakened soul is a catalyst that can change the world." These are not just words. Ma Jaya is changing the world. The Ashram's charitable activities (coordinated through its service organization, The River Fund) include The Feed Everyone Program, providing food, friendship and love to care center residents and people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. The Ashram also sponsors Mary's House, a foster care facility for children with chronic illnesses. Not content with taking care of the sick and poor in this country alone, Ma Jaya and her network of volunteers actively support an orphanage in Uganda. "I have 750 children in my orphanage in Uganda," Ma says proudly. "It is run by a magnificent priest, Father Centurio. This man literally takes abandoned children off the streets. There is so much horror there. There are starving people in America, but in Uganda, you have grandmas and you have grandchildren. The mothers and fathers are gone. A whole generation got wiped out because of AIDS or civil war. I had to do more than just watch it on TV and talk about it.
 
"There are many ways of serving," Ma continues. "You can serve in prayer, but how long can you keep your hands together? At some point, your hands have to touch someone because so many have a fevered head that needs the cool touch of one who serves." Ma believes that service is part of humanity's original nature. "The Great Force, the magnetic field that calls you to serve is not outside of you, but deep within your heart. It's a pattern that we take from lifetime to lifetime. When we donıt use it, it accumulates and it puts a lot of pressure on the human heart. It creates a feeling of emptiness. If you do not give to another human being, that which must be given away stagnates. The heart of life is that which one can give to another human being."
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"By giving to another human being, of yourself, certain vibrations inside you are released. You become the Great Mother because you are using that which must be used in honor of humanity. Service is not about religion. My God, itıs not even about spirituality. One and one is two. If the child is hungry, the mother feeds it. It's that simple. If the child is cold, the mother covers him or her. Male or female, when you serve, you become the mother."
 
Ma dismisses the idea that doing service or charitable work is consuming. "If you let service consume you, then you are the type of person who can let anything consume you. Genuine service does not consume; service gives. People come here from all over the world and ask why we don't burn out. The answer is simple. We drink as we pour; we pour as we drink. We keep moving the current of service (seva) through our own selves and bring it out into the world. Serving also brings great joy. But you don't think about that in the moment. In the moment, you don't think, 'Well, this is making me happy!' You think, 'I got a smile out of that kid. I got a twinkle in the eye of that child who is fighting AIDS or cancer.' And you say, 'Thank you God for letting me do this.' I wish there wasn't all this pain in the world, but each of us has the ability to make life a little bit better for someone else. You donıt have to do what I do. You know when you have a big heart, something must fill it up. Caring is so deep in your heart that it must come out. It can be anything. Giving compliments to people is a form of service. When I see a beautiful woman or a handsome man, I'll stop and tell them."
 
"Give away what you want the most for yourself," she advises. "When I go into hospitals or into a county home, the first thing I say to myself is, 'Okay, Ma, you're in that bed. What do you want in this moment?' Most people are afraid of the sick. Most people are afraid to touch a homeless person. You donıt have to, but thereıs never a reason not to smile. I learned that as a very young girl when my mom was dying in a charity ward in Coney Island Hospital. On her deathbed, my mom would tell me to go around the ward and make people laugh. I was 8 or 9 years old at the time, and I did what my mother told me. I ran around the ward and made everybody laugh. When I told her what I had done, she said, 'Who did you touch with your own hand?" I said, 'Nobody, Mom, nobody, but I made them all laugh.' She said, 'Now you go and you hug and you touch.' I said, 'But Mommy, they stink.' And my mom said, 'So do I.' That was my first lesson in total service and giving everything I have of myself. And I never tire. I cry a lot, but I never tire. 
 
"The Native American Indians do not have a word for me. They only have a word for we. The earth is in great need of mothering. All one has to do to become the mother is to recognize that we is more important than me. Women are coming to the forefront of the battle for humanity's needs, but this is the moment for all of us to remember that one does not have to have breasts filled with milk or a womb that was once full to be a mother; one only has to have a motherıs heart. When one embraces the spirit of the mother, then there is no difference between a man's heart and a woman's heart.
 
The earth needs nourishment. A feminine touch must be felt, or this great, great Mother Earth is doomed. All of us must share the responsibility of alleviating the abundance of suffering on this planet. Anybody can say let me get involved: I'll give a week, I'll give a day, I'll give an hour, or perhaps I'll just talk to somebody as a hotline volunteer. It's not about money, although money is desperately needed. As I said before, it's about what you are willing to give of yourself."
 
Although many spiritual teachers stress meditation and prayer as the key to awakening, Ma believes that the soul finds liberation through service. "My God, you talk about liberation! You're in prison if you donıt take care of another human being. How much time do we need to sit in prayer to take care of ourselves? I teach a sacred yoga that is going out all over the world called Kali Natha Yoga. It combines movement with prayer and worship. It allows for a feeling of health, vitality, and deep inner peace. But it comes right down to this: when there are people who are hurt and you are someone who is capable of stopping that hurt, you have to take responsibility. It's not that God doesn't answer prayers. She, the Mother looks down upon us all and says, 'Take care of my children.'"
 
To find out more about Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati and all of Kashi Ashram's charitable activities, visit
(
www.kashi.org) or call (772) 589-1403. Kashi offers workshops and retreats throughout the year. Classes in Kali Natha Yoga are held in Miami on the second Sunday of each month.

--Sorah Dubitsky is Miracle Journeys founder

This article previously published in MIRACLE JOURNEYS, January, 2004.

 

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His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited Florida International University on September 22, 2004, to give a lecture titled Compassion – The Source of Happiness. The FIU lecture was on the last day of his four-day visit to South Florida.

The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, visited South Florida for the first time in April 1999, when he came to FIU to receive an honorary doctorate in divinity. He is the exiled leader of the Tibetan people and is recognized by them as the reincarnation of the Principle of Enlightened Compassion. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

“It’s a superb honor to have the Dalai Lama among us for the second time in only five years,” said FIU President Modesto A. Maidique. “He’s coming at a particularly sensitive time in our history as a nation, and I look forward to his message.”

President Maidique credits Religious Studies Chair Nathan Katz with having secured this second visit to South Florida. Katz, who has known the Dalai Lama since 1973, was instrumental in having him return for a longer visit that includes several public events and a lecture at the University of Miami. According to Katz, “The Dalai Lama is one of the most remarkable people in the world, and we are honored and thrilled that he has accepted our invitation for a return visit to FIU. This is a spectacular opportunity for our students to hear a voice of wisdom, compassion and peace. We are also delighted to be a sponsor of his public talk and teachings, which offer the public the opportunity to hear and learn from this great soul.”

Dr. Bruce Dunlap, FIU’s Dean of Arts and Sciences believes, “The Dalai Lama’s message of peace, compassion and tolerance is something we all need to hear, and something we need to teach our students. Therefore, we are encouraging instructors in our college to incorporate some of the Dalai Lama’s books or speeches into their course syllabi to maximize his impact. He is, arguably, the most respected religious leader in the world.”

Dunlap has designated FIU’s 2004-2005 academic year as The Year of Spirituality. He believes that the Dalai Lama’s message of spirituality is a “salutary counterbalance to a university’s emphasis on intellectual pursuits. To highlight the Dalai Lama’s message,” Dunlap explains, “I’ve asked Dr. Katz to arrange a series of lectures that will feature speakers from the major religious traditions, all of whom will bring their distinctive spiritual perspectives to FIU.” Among the speakers expected are Drs. Jerry Jampolsky and Diane Cirincione, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Prof. Hal French, Master Chufei Tasi, and Ma Jaya Bhagavati.

FIU’s spiritual leanings can also be seen in the plans to create a Center for the Study of Spirituality. Dr. Nathan Katz is the motivational force behind the center. Its purpose, according to Katz, is to:

1. Reach out to other disciplines, professions and colleges to integrate spiritual perspectives in the proposed College of Medicine, School of Nursing, College of Health and Urban Studies, College of Education, School of Music, Creative Writing Program, Gerontology Program, Department of Psychology, and other academic and professional units within the university.

2. Establish an undergraduate Certificate in Spirituality Studies for pre-med, pre-law, psychology, nursing, and students in relevant disciplines.

3. Establish a graduate Certificate in Spirituality Studies for students in various professional schools and programs.

4. Extend our outreach to other schools and institutions locally, nationally and internationally.

5. Support more faculty and student research and support more students, as well as establish professorships, in the broad field of traditional and applied spirituality.

Dr. Dunlap describes the Center for the Study of Spirituality as a unique venture that would bring “a perspective of spirituality to bear across the curriculum. The mission of the Center will be, first, to provide instruction in the world’s spiritual traditions, and, second, to apply the principles of spirituality to the professions and cognate disciplines. We hope to focus on both teaching and research.”

 

This article previously published in MIRACLE JOURNEYS, July 2004.