lineage learning
A select few of my teachers have carried a deep lineage learning — information that has been passed down in ethical ways to chosen students from generation to generation. They are teachers crafted by the teachers before them, related or unrelated. The teachers help them develop even more compassion for humanity and respect for the information given to them in this lifetime. While I am not a lineage bearer, I am happy to have learned from extraordinary teachers who transmit the living, embodied wisdom of the ages.
From left to right: Paramatman Shanti Prakash (Bade Bābā or Great Grandfather) • Bābā Ayodhya Nath (Bābā or Grandfather) • Acharya Shunya
I have been working closely with Acharya Shunya since 2011. Her grandfather and great grandfather were Vedic scholars and could trace their lineage teachings back 2,000 years. Her mission is to bring the sister sciences — Ayurveda, Yoga, and Vedanta — out into the world in their original, untarnished form on a global platform. Her heart’s desire is to give a blanket to the poorest people living in streets in the cold with no shelter, and humanity the knowledge with which to care about them.
From left to right: Mikao Usui • Dr. Chujiro Hayashi • Mrs. Hawayo Takata • John Harvey Gray • Lourdes Gray
Lourdes Gray’s reiki lineage can be traced to the original teacher who brought reiki to the West from the original masters of reiki in Japan, called Usui Reiki. Lourdes developed and introduced successful Reiki treatment protocols for HIV/AIDS in the 90’s. She has since diligently taught reiki for many decades in a mission to spread the authentic healing and wisdom of reiki into our everyday communities.
GODDESS LAKSHMI
In the Vedic tradition, a teacher may give their student a spiritual name. This name is a reminder to the student, and it guides them in their life journey and choices to come, especially when the teacher is no longer there to guide them in physical form. The word becomes a compass for the student’s life journey.
The name that Acharya Shunya and hesr lineage bestowed is Lakshmi. Goddess Lakshmi helps us preserve what is good already and helps us make positive steps to make us self abundant, both materially and spiritually. Sometimes that abundance comes in the form of money, but many older statues depict the Goddess throwing flower petals instead of coins. The name reminds one of the abundance of nature, of existing opportunities, of positive thoughts in our mind, and of our own abiding happiness. These are many of the themes I had to learn to embrace in my own life journey!
I treasure this name as it reminds me daily of my purpose in this lifetime. I will answer to any name, but if you choose to call me Lakshmi, I believe the blessings of love, abundance, and health come to both of us, and then blesses back the teachers and ancestors.