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IS RADIANT
BEFORE YOU The Dawn Horse - Volume
1, Number 2, December 1975 For more than five years I
have been at work with individuals in intimate
company to communicate, demonstrate, and awaken in
them the sadhana of the way of Understanding. This
way is the special form of instruction which was
implied in my own birth and sadhana. Only recently
have I found, in the case of a small group of those
with whom I have worked in this way, the evidence
of maturity which is the necessary foundation for
the realization of this way. I have given this
group of disciples all essential responsibility for
the future management and instruction of the
student community of my Ashram. I am now, and in
the future, personally and intimately involved only
in the instruction of such mature disciples and
devotees. I have completely put into writing all of
the necessary instructions relative to the final
and technical realization of this way of
Understanding. Therefore, except for the occasional
verbal instruction of mature disciples and
devotees, my special teaching work is, in its
essentials, complete. Now my responsibilities are
not great or pressing in the world. I need only be
present for the random occasions of Satsang, or
sitting in the company of those who come to
me. Because of this change in
the status of my work in the world, because the way
of Understanding is secure as a communicated path,
I have become willing also to accept another kind
of condition in those who approach me. There are very few
individuals in the karmic plane of this world who
are truly capable of fulfilling the profound
requirements of this way of Understanding. The
experiment of my own community is the most
practical evidence of this. The times are weak and
overwhelmed, and human beings are like children,
alive without defenses in a terrible or, at least,
complicated place. The karmas of this time and
place must be penetrated and undermined by a Divine
and sympathetic strategy, full of Compassion and
Grace. My special teaching work has been a service
for a few. The way of Understanding is not itself a
saving gospel that can affect the world at large.
It is a way for the special few who were given to
me in the spiritual planes above this world before
my present birth. Those few were with me then, and,
because their karmas obliged them to be born on
earth again, I have taken the present birth to
complete my work with them. The way of
Understanding has thus been established as path on
earth, and it will remain here, through the
responsible services of my devotees, for all future
individuals who have attained the spiritual status
above this world of those whom I have presently
been born to serve. Apart from such individuals,
for whom the karmas of the lower planes are weak,
there are very few who, by virtue of sheer sympathy
and persistence, will be able to adapt to this
difficult way. It requires an intelligence that
constantly exceeds the power of life's theatre, and
an attachment to the spiritual intimacies and
disciplines of my Company that cannot be attained
by mere effort or conventional
inclination. But I am willing to serve
all beings in this place. My special work has been
for a few, but I am an incarnation of the Divine
Form, and my special work, once fulfilled, can
stand by itself in my Presence. I have become
willing, and now capable, to assume a more general
role for the sake of the spiritual life or
salvation of men. All who come to me may
participate in the eternal Grace of God. It is not
necessary for every one to belong to the special
class of individuals whom it was my unique
obligation to serve in the way of Understanding.
For those few, sadhana in my Company is like the
resumption of a course of study after a period of
recess. Such individuals are already used to my
discipline, my wildness, and the special character
of my appearance and play. But others cannot
identify me in this manner, and they are sensitive
and available only to the most direct expression of
the universal and unqualified Divine in me. For
these many, who are only now becoming available to
sadhana or life in Communion with the Divine
Person, I am willing to do service in another way,
which is the simple way of loving submission and
attention to God. In the future, my community
will serve the world for the sake of the universal
path of God. I will continue to serve disciples and
devotees who demonstrate the special interest and
capacity necessary for realization of the way of
Understanding. And the instructions relative to the
way of Understanding will continue to be available
to all who approach me in my Ashram. But my
disciples and devotees, even the whole of my
community, will be devoted to the service of
mankind in the spirit of a universal effort, for
the sake of the Grace of God among all living
beings. Therefore, many will come
to me, and all are welcome, who are simply
suffering the common failures of life. To all of
them, I simply say, come to me happily, with the
urge to happiness, to peace, to love, and to a
better realization of your born life. The Lord of
all the worlds is Radiant before you. If you will
simply direct yourself, with whatever power or
capacity you can find within yourself,to the
remembrance of the Divine in my Company,the
Services of God will be given to you. It is not necessary or even
possible for you to "believe" in God or know the
Character of the Divine Person. But if you can see
that you do not exist by your own creature power,
and if you can begin to consider the alignment of
your life with the unspeakable Source or Condition
that is truly responsible for your existence, then
you can do the sadhana or spiritual practice of
Communion with God. I urge and welcome all who can
manage such sympathy, and who feel the contact with
Grace in my Company, to accept the simple and
pleasurable disciplines I will recommend, and to
visit me in my Ashram or any place where I come,
either in person or in the form of my disciples and
devotees. For those who would thus
adapt themselves at least with a little of their
lives, I recommend a way that is easy to conceive
and fulfill. Simply turn to God through me. Submit,
surrender yourself to God through me. Love and
receive God through me. You should assist this
process through two natural disciplines, one which
is practical or humanly based, and one which is
spiritual. The practical discipline
which assists this turning or Communion is the
practice of minimizing the degree and kinds of
exploitation of life in your own case. This
involves, to whatever degree you are able, the
study of listening to teachings about God and
Divinely realized individuals; the maintenance of a
productive work life and the effort of service,
compassion and love for all human and earthly
beings; the keeping of a clean, orderly, healthful,
and pleasurable environment for yourself and your
companions; the adoption of a healthful and
"harmless diet (an essentially lacto-vegetarian
diet that involves, to whatever degree possible,
non-killing of higher creatures, who possess the
sense of independent existence); the confinement of
sexuality to a single partner; and an orientation
toward human community and service to the common
life. This practical discipline should be fulfilled
by you to whatever degree you find the capacity in
yourself. To whatever degree you fail or find
yourself unable to fulfill this discipline, simply
observe yourself, be easy, be full of enjoyment,
make your actions at least an indulgence that does
not harm others, and continue to turn to God with
feeling, from the heart. The spiritual discipline
that should accompany the practical discipline of
this way of Communion is a voluntary exercise of
the remembrance of God from the heart that
coordinates the body, the life-force, and the mind
with the breath. Thus, sit with me, or in privacy,
once or twice a day. Remember me, surrender, love,
and yield your life and circumstances to God
through me, and, at random, breathe the Presence of
God, with attention to the Divine as the Reality or
Real Person which is above, beyond, and also
surrounding and permeating the body, the mind, and
the world. Breathe with your heart. With random
exhalations, surrender your self, your mind, your
life, your body, and all the conditions of your
existence from your heart to God through me. Then,
with random and following inhalations, with your
heart and your whole being, receive, draw upon, and
become full of the Presence, Power, and
Consciousness of God through me. Whatever you yield
from the heart will, over time, be replaced by
Divinely transformed conditions and/or by
intuitions of the significance of any limitations
you must bear in time and space. These represent the
essential discipline of the way of Divine
Communion. The spiritual practice of the breathing
of God from the heart will, over time, show itself
to you as a process in which you are breathed and
lived and loved by God. The spiritual practice and
the practical disciplines should both be exercised
more and more under whatever conditions arise in
life. The spiritual practice itself need not be
reserved only for those occasions when you sit with
me or sit in private, but it should be exercised at
random, at any time, while awake, or even while
dreaming or asleep. Allow it to develop and reveal
the Divine to you according to its own pace. Simply
use the spiritual exercise and the practical
disciplines as a way of Communing with God through
me under all conditions. The spiritual practice may
also be expanded at times to include heartfelt
remembrance of God through the Name or Mantra of
God. My recommendation is that you use the Name
"God," and not any traditional mantric Name, such
as Ram, Krishna, Jesus, or Om. "God" is the Name of
God with which all men are familiar and to which
they are naturally attached through body, breath,
mind, spirit, and soul. Therefore, at random, with
surrender in exhalation, inwardly or verbally, and
with feeling and love in the heart, breathe the
Name "God." Likewise, with random inhalations, feel
and breathe the Divine Presence from the heart with
the Name "God." This is the spiritual practice of
the "God-Mantra" or "God-Name." Those who would try as much
as possible to do this sadhana or practice of
heartfelt Divine Communion should do it in my
personal Company or Presence as much as possible.
They should come to me in my Ashram as often as
possible, or sit for meditation and instruction in
the company of my disciples and devotees, who will
at times travel about or present themselves in the
places of my Ashram in order to serve those who are
interested in trying to live this
practice. My Ashram community will,
in the future, be composed of all who come to me,
to extend their involvement either with the way of
Understanding or with the way of Divine Communion.
Those who come will be given the option to engage
in the study of either path, and anyone may choose
to change their practice from one path to the
other. The obligations of the way of Understanding
are more severe, and its communications are more
complex. The way of Divine Communion is simpler in
concept, and its disciplines are obligatory only to
the degree each individual chooses or finds the
capacity in any moment. In any case, I am Present
always for the sake of anyone who comes to me, and
I yield to each the Grace or consideration he or
she requires in God. May all beings find God and
Happiness in good Company. Bubba's written
instructions December 1, 1975
For those who are assuming
the way of Divine Communion there need not be any
courses of study relative to the way of
Understanding (unless they desire it), no sadhana
groups, no interviewing (unless they request it)
and no obligations to the community other than the
tithe. Disciples and some others will have the
essential responsibility for instructing groups
(and the public) in the way of Divine Communion as
well as the way of Understanding. Study for those
in the way of Divine Communion is essentially to be
in the form of traditional God-literature, and my
own writings in this vein. In such study meetings,
discussion should be about God, life in God, and
the qualities of Communion and life in my Presence.
There should not be endless, complicated and
personal discussions of problems, yoga,
esotericism, etc. A program should be developed to
manage service to individuals in both paths. A
public education and meditation program should also
be developed. Those who live at Persimmon
and in the formal community of the Dawn Horse
should generally (absolutely if possible) be those
living the way of Understanding. All others should
have a formal relationship with me and the
community, but one that permits easy access to me
and the services of the community. A person newly entering the
Ashram should simply study the two forms of
approach and begin the practice of practical
disciplines and the formal approach to me through
Prasad and the conditions. When they decide which
approach to follow, they may then take up either
the spiritual practice of the way of Communion or
the study courses of the way of
Understanding. Bubba's written
instructions December 1, 1975
by the editors On December 1, 1975, Bubba
Free John addressed a letter to his Ashram that is
extended to all interested in his life and
Teaching. Published below in its entirety, this
letter marks a major transformation in both the
availability and services of Bubba and his
Community. Here Bubba Free John, a Siddha-Guru,
offers to all men "the Way of Divine Communion"
through him with God. Though it has been inherent
and in fact alive in his work all along, the Way of
Divine Communion is now to be formalized as a path
distinct from the Way of Understanding that Bubba
has brought to the world. Less severe and more
simple than the Way of Understanding, this "new"
path is a direct invitation to Satsang itself, and
a direct expression of Bubba's Graceful compassion
for all beings. This letter is only the
beginning of Bubba's communication to us about this
specific way of participating in Satsang with him.
The letter itself easily deserves a small volume of
commentary and interpretation, and Bubba is even
now elaborating on it with many other written and
spoken communications. So all we will do now is
simply present the letter and give some basic
background in this preface for understanding it in
the context of Bubba's full Teaching. As you will see, this
letter is a perfect expression of the single path
offered to man by all the Siddhas through the ages:
the way of Satsang or Divine Communion through the
Siddha in God. A Siddha is not a human being. He is
God, absolute Reality, alive in the earthly form of
a man. Not exclusive God, not an incarnation that
somehow is "more God" than all the rest of
existence, but very God, living God, manifest in
continuous and perfect relationship to all that
appears and does not appear. The Siddha is tangible
Grace. His simple appearance among men is already
Divine Grace, and his true and absolute expression
as Guru is the silent, already perfect activity of
Grace. His relationship to his devotee is the
unqualified enjoyment of Satsang, and that is
already realized Grace, known and lived ever more
perfectly by the world itself, through, in, and as
the devotee. The Siddhas, the "Completed
Ones, " appear throughout the conditional and
unconditional worlds as the perfect or unobstructed
agents of Absolute God. They enter into such
circumstances to live with and discipline those who
are naturally drawn to them. They are born "for the
sake of their own. Some of those whom he
contacts during the period of his life may be those
with whom he has had an association in the past, a
manifest contact in some place or other, some form
or other, perhaps in the earth plane, perhaps in
another material dimension, perhaps in the
uncreated worlds. Even so, there are many others
who also identify him, although not through
anything remotely like memory. They identify his
very Nature, the Truth he manifests. They become
sensitive to him in various ways. And of those who
discover him, some of those might not be "his own.
. . no Siddha arises on his own, but manifests with
the eternal cooperation of all the Siddhas in very
God. Therefore, every Siddha is all the Siddhas,and
one who surrenders in the company of any such one
will certainly be drawn by grace into the perfect
form of Truth. What is important at last is not
destiny but whether you are drawn into the
influence of any Siddha at all, and whether you
surrender in perfect Satsang with that one. Truth
is the nature of this work. Truth is the nature of
that relationship, that Satsang. To find the Guru
in the form of any Siddha is grace. The Siddha's communicated
Presence and region of influence is certainly not
limited to "his own." How can it be? Even as he
walks, talks, and speaks, he is living all beings,
animating all the worlds. But this perfect Activity
of living Only God goes unnoticed in the world.
Thus, the living expression of the Siddha also
takes on many apparently conventional forms his
written and spoken teachings, and the presence of
his Community of disciples and devotees all of
which serve as consuming influences in the lives of
those who approach him, and as an influential
presence in the world at large. So one aspect of
the work of Bubba Free John has been to establish
and disseminate his Spiritual Teaching as fully as
possible. For each Siddha, such
Teaching work takes on a unique and peculiar form.
If it is to survive, that work must be founded in
the very lives of other individuals whose destiny
it is to enjoy and serve such a process in the
world. These are the Siddha's "own," those, as
Bubba describes them, "who were rendered to me
before all time, as the expressions of my
appearance in the uncreated world of
Light." Thus, Bubba Free John has
spent the last five years creating a vehicle for
the perfect gift, the "Siddhi of the Real," that he
and all the Siddhas bring into the worlds. Bubba
has worked intimately with "his own" through the
radical and inexplicably compassionate way which is
unique to his appearance and Teaching in this time
and place. Finally, with the taking of disciples
(see "The First Disciples" on page 19 of this
magazine), the Way of Understanding among men has
been established as a reality on earth, and its
realization has become a true possibility. Bubba
has completed the necessary technical instructions.
The Way of Understanding has now been fully brought
into this world. My life was born as a
distraction for the sake of my friends. When
Knowledge appeared, I was moved to speak and act
for men. But the speech and every deed have begun
to be economized by this same Knowledge. I think I
have said and done the fundamental complication for
which I was born. I speak less, I do less, I am not
moved to explain beyond these explanations, to do
any more to prove the path. I am not leaving this
place, but, more and more, I am only present, and
not full of words and acts. My function is Satsang,
which is Silence, the Siddhi that is Silence, not a
matter of words or acts, not a matter of proof or
"influence. "
Thus, the Way of
Understanding is not for everyone. To this point,
in fact, after five years of work, the formal
Community of The Dawn Horse Communion consists of
only seventy-odd people, and the extended
community, including pre-students, is only a few
hundred. But the Grace of the Siddha is not limited
to a few. Therefore, Bubba Free John announces
below that he is also available for Satsang through
another, distinct path, the Way of Divine
Communion. Through this other way of sadhana, Bubba
welcomes all men who have found sympathy with his
Teaching and who have recognized the "universal and
unqualified Divine" alive in him, to "participate
in the eternal Grace of God." For those who are familiar
with Bubba's demands in the Way of Understanding
and his criticisms of all the paths that have come
before, the Way of Divine Communion may seem a very
paradoxical offering indeed. But if you understand
what Bubba means when he speaks of the radical work
of all the Siddhas, then the unbounded Grace this
path represents will become clear to you. Here
Bubba has set out the true path of all the Siddhas
in its most perfect expression. It is simply the
Way of Satsang Divine Communion lived by both Guru
and devotee. The Siddha gracefully performs the
radical work of living God to his devotee and
consumes him in Consciousness, Light, and absolute
Fullness, while the devotee, for his part, adapts
to simple disciplines and the direct invitation of
his Siddha-Guru to love, adore, and meditate on God
through him, the Guru. The path of the Siddhas is
always a life of surrender, devotion, adoration,
and love. It is a way of always bowing at the
Guru's feet without guile, always accepting God in
one's life without hesitation, always yielding to
Grace without striving, but with heartfelt
gratitude and simple happiness. It is not a way of
seeking an absent God, but of surrendering all one
has and is to the present God. This is the ancient
way of all the Siddhas, no matter what particular
dharma they came to establish or teach, and this is
the very core and whole of the Way of Divine
Communion offered by Bubba Free John. The Way of Divine Communion
and the Way of Understanding are both to be lived
in relationship to Bubba as Siddha-Guru.
Understanding is no less a matter of devotion,
surrender, and love, and if it is not founded in
the simple joy of Satsang from the beginning, then
it is not real understanding. But the Way of
Understanding is steeper, less accessible to the
ordinary man. The Way of Divine Communion is simply
an extension of Bubba's Grace that provides all men
with a simple and direct means of approaching him
as Siddha-Guru, as God. Like the Way of
Understanding, it serves the realization of Truth,
but in another form. The following letter speaks
of all this and outlines the two natural
disciplines of the Way of Divine Communion: the
first practically and humanly based, "the practice
of minimizing the degree and kinds of exploitation
of life in your own case"; and the second
spiritually oriented, "the voluntary exercise of
the remembrance of God from the heart that
coordinates the body, life-force, and mind with the
breath." Members of the community,
correspondents, and others should read about and
consider the Way of Divine Communion as a real
possibility, but no one should undertake it until
educational services and further elaboration's of
the path are complete. We urge all who would like
more information on this path to write The Dawn
Horse Communion, Correspondence Department, at
Persimmon. The Dawn Horse magazine will continue in
future issues to publish information pertaining to
the Way of Divine Communion. We suggest that, after
reading this preface and considering Bubba's
letter, those interested study "The Gospel of the
Siddhas" in The Method of the Siddhas, pages 320 to
344, for a more detailed description of the
appearance and "method" of the Siddhas, the "Heaven
born ones.
All members of the Ashram should consider what I
have written about the two ways of sadhana in my
Company. Each should consider the obligations of
the two ways and their own capacity, and
communicate their intentions relative to which path
they intend to follow to the disciple
group.
ANNOUNCING THE WAY OF
DIVINE COMMUNION
In itself, the Way of Understanding is peculiar to
the life and Teachings of Bubba Free John. It is
the essential form and expression of his appearance
in this time and place, and it cannot be aligned or
compared to any existing or ancient paths
communicated in this world. The Way of
Understanding is a radical expression of the Divine
Process communicated and realized among men via the
perfect Presence of all the Siddhas. It transcends
and includes the realizations of all teachings in
the great traditions of esoteric spirituality
without any resort whatsoever to the ways of
seeking. It is the living path of the very Heart,
real Consciousness, and it is uncompromising. To
one who would undertake the Way of Understanding,
Bubba makes an absolute and immediate demand. The
Way of Understanding requires, immediately and
forever, everything a man can surrender. To be done
properly, with intelligence, this radical Way
demands of him a certain predisposition to
understanding itself, which is prior to all
conventional forms of spiritual consciousness and
action, even the kinds of discriminative wisdom
found in the classic traditions. But it is not a
heavy, negative discipline. Real understanding is
Satsang absolutely realized, Grace received it is
an utterly joyous, humorous, vibrant practice. Nor
is the Way. of Understanding a secret path. All are
encouraged to approach Bubba through the free and
delightful paradoxes of its disciplines; this Way
is available to all. Only, because of what it
demands in life and consciousness, most men are not
available to it.