The Vehicle of Our Divine Heritage

That is how to take control of our lives. That is how to make the frame of reference with which we view circumstance into a Divine frame of reference. In other words, Deity Yoga visualization is the vehicleor the conduitfor Divine Heritage. Deity Yoga is a way of bringing our Divine Heritage in and making it the pre-eminent super-structure. It all comes from the idea of choice. At a certain point, you have a choice. You wake up at the middle of the night feeling this anxiety, and it suddenly dawns on you, “Hey, I can sing a song.”

So, part of the practice is actually remembering that I do have a choice. I feel like that’s what I’m really learning from you today.
Another part of it is that you’re mindful and aware of what’s happening. And then you exercise choice. You actually go in a different direction, and you do it with a sense of joy and fun. “Wow, I don’t have to do this. I don’t even have to be anxious about trying to find a better frame of reference. I can sit down and play in the sand. I can go and talk to God.” I’ve encountered people, and I’m sure that you have, who gloomily say, “Well, maybe you’re having a premonition.”

Remember how Garchen Rimpoche answered the scenario of the cocked gun pointed at his head, and ask yourself, “How do I want to deal with potential negatives?” The way I want to deal with potential negatives is with openness, strength, and an abundance of expression and possibility, because it doesn’t have to be negative.

My teacher told me that you don’t want to take too much stock in dreamsfor the same reason that you were saying that my situation could be post-traumatic stress disorder, it could be after effects of pain killers, it could be travel, and so on. But if I understand you, Sean, it really doesn’t matter, if you’re asleep, what’s been happening in your sleep; you can always jump on this Deity practice, and either sing your song in your head in the middle of the night, or do your visualization practice. Anything that works for you, anything that you’ve done in the past when you’re conscious during the dayyou can invoke that in any situation, whether it’s a small or big crisis. You can even do that if you’re in a traffic accident.

Yogi Sean is the student of Swami Ramananda and a principle officer of the Sadhana Society.