Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Gifts of Sydney Banks

How will I ever repay the tremendous gift of my own fortunate birth--to a courageous father who would follow a call to go and meet a man on a small and quiet island off the coast of Vancouver Island, Salt Spring?

Indeed the very salt of the earth sprang forth from this place in the form, the presence and the words of Mr. Sydney Banks. A welder with a ninth-grade education, his profound awakening, without a spiritual "path," without religion, without a form of meditation, a self-help technique or psychoanalysis; his "death" to ego, speaks so very much to us all.


Spiritual truth lives within us, it is alive within us. As it was alive in an "ordinary" person by the name of Syd. As it is alive within you!

This week's radio show reflects on both the gift of Sydney Banks that he shared with my father and the world, the "Three Principles" of Mind, Consciousness and Thought ... and the simple fact of his being--with honesty, love, kindness, generosity, humility and at the same time, great power and even ferocity.

And then there is the moment in which we each must "grow up." To turn our attention away from the form of the teacher, the guru, and within, toward our own connection to living, infinite truth. When Mr. Banks died, those of us who were his students, in one form or another, were given the tremendous opportunity to find the truth that he shared inside of ourselves.

How do we meet this challenge? Can we trust that, as Mr. Banks said, "the truth lies within?" Can our lives be a testament to this fact?

I think you know my answer ;) ...

Tune in on Friday and join the discussion at www.cscmediacenter.org. Or listen to the archive at a later date. Your comments most welcome!

With Great Love,

Yours Mystical Mama

Note: the photo was taken on the evening of Syd's memorial service in Victoria, BC.