Catherine
Ingram, May 4, 2003, Chicago
Hi, I went to go see Catherine Ingram, a spiritual teacher whose
teacher is Poonjaji at the local new age bookstore in Chicago for
a little talk and book-signing. Her new book just came out and it
is called "Passionate
Presence - the seven qualities of awakened awareness." She
is a delight, very friendly, down-to-earth, humble, sweet,
sincere, absolutely radiant. I literally fell in love with her. I
know you are not supposed to fall for the guru, but I did, I
couldn't help it. I know that happens to Gangaji sometimes too.
Anyways, she was a Buddhist for over 20 years and was a serious
meditator. Eventually she couldn't practice that anymore and went
through a dark night of the soul for a couple of years. She
eventually found her way to Poonjaji and he was to become her
teacher and she woke up in his presence, due to his intense
awakened presence, it awakened her own presence. He did not teach
her anything, he just told her she was already free, and with his
presence she actually understood and felt what he was referring
to. She has been giving Dharma Dialogues, she calls it, ever
since, after doing a retreat with Ram Dass and his suggestion that
she should be giving satsangs.
She has been giving these Dharma Dialogues for awhile now and
retreats and has noticed that certain qualities appear at these
retreats when people become quiet and relaxed. Then one night she
had a dream in which these 7 qualities were revealed. She knew
this was the basis for a book and wrote this book. The 7 qualities
are silence, tenderness, embodiment, genuineness, wonder,
discernment, and delight. She shared some stories that are in the
book that discuss these qualities. One I remember was about
tenderness and it involved the Dalai Lama. She was in India and
she was invited to this meeting with him and others to observe
this dog boy, they called him, a boy who was raised by dogs and
had no human contact and acted like a wild animal, not like a
human. She thought she would have more compassion for the boy, but
he scared her. The Dalai Lama had the tenderness to go up to this
wild boy and pet his head like a dog, this is all he knew. He
stroked and petted this boys head over and over, just like you
would a dog. The boy curled up by his feet and seemed to feel
comfortable and enjoy this affection. This story, which was told
much better than I told it and is in the book, brought tears to my
eyes, it truly touched me and moved me.
She went on to say that we all have these qualities in ourselves,
it is not something we need to attain or acquire. It is just a
matter of relaxing, easing our way into our own presence, which is
a very alive, passionate, loving presence. And silence is the
quality that conveys the most teaching, has the most impact on
others and the world. She shared the story about how Indira
Gandhi, the prime minister of India was troubled and went to go
see the Shankarachya, which is similar to our Pope, he is the
religious leader for many, and came out of this meeting
transformed. Her companion asked what he had said that made such a
difference in her, she said I asked all of my questions and he
answered all of them, and neither of us spoke a word. Catherine
said it was his presence that changed her, that transformed her. A
quiet powerful presence can work miracles.
So I got out of this evening that we do not need to get any of
these qualities or work for them, but that they are naturally in
us, inherent in all of us and they come out when we are relaxed
and at ease, they are our natural state of being. I left there
very empowered and feeling good about my true nature. It was a
very powerful meeting and I definitely felt her awakened presence.
What a beautiful gift we all have to share.
* – This
is an expandable set of pages. If you've been to see any of my
listees and would like to offer an "objective" report, ie
from one not already "attached" to the teacher in question
or full of ideas based on attachment to a "competing"
teacher, send it in (Feedback)
and i'll be happy to put it up. Other Reports
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