On September 5, 1997, Mother Teresa, one of our most treasured peacemakers and humanitarians passed away. I had always admired her work in India and around the world. The enormous strength, courage and compassion that she role-modeled left me in awe of her work. She truly was an incredible human being who left a spiritual legacy for millions to emulate and enjoy.
During my meditation in the week that she died, I made a point of focusing my intention on her magnificent work and good deeds. I received many blessings by way of spiritual insights and gifts. This is the one I want to share with you here.
The evening Mother Teresa passed away; I went into a deeper meditation than normal and felt her presence. As I closed my eyes, I heard a soft, gentle voice say, "Child, look at everyone through my eyes." Without a thought, I imagined looking though Mother Teresa's eyes. To my shock, I witnessed the poverty, suffering and sickness of thousands and thousands of people. It was so overwhelming it took my breath away and I came out of meditation immediately.
I composed myself as she repeated her request softly, but firmly. "Look at everyone through my eyes, not your own." A little tentative because of my first experience, I closed my eyes and again imagined looking through her eyes. I was astounded at the incredible beauty and brilliance. There were thousands upon thousands of people, but this time everyone had brilliant, golden-white light coming through them. Her parting words to me in that meditation were, "Look through my eyes from now on and see the God in everyone."
This is how Mother Teresa saw everyone. She embodied the Indian traditional greeting "Namaste" which means "I honor the Spirit in you, which is also in me." This is another way of saying "I recognize that we are all equal." I feel that Mother Teresa had an impeccable experience of this greeting or Namaskara.
It is, of course, easy to see the God within the people we love. Raising the bar to the level where we greet the divine within complete strangers and people whom we do not like can be the challenge.
Motivation It takes a highly motivated person to change an ingrained behavior and immediately adopt a new pattern or way of seeing the world. The first week I taught the Namaste meditation, the class had a very difficult time holding this vision. They fully appreciated the spiritual value of the meditation and even enjoyed the "good feelings" that come with appreciating versus judging. Sadly, after a few days, they were demoralized and started questioning if they could ever achieve this state. Many of them gave up very quickly.
The following week an unusual astrological phenomenon was occurring. One interpretation of the astrological event was that during those specific days, every thought, word and action would be amplified, due to the beneficial placements of the planets Jupiter and Venus. I decided to exploit this occurrence and add fuel to the Namaste meditation. I suggested that not only would everything be amplified but also there would be tremendous support from the Divine to help us. Furthermore, as a result of putting into practice the Namaste meditation during this time period, the spiritual rewards would be great.
The motivation card played its hand beautifully and the next few classes were bubbling with joy. All forty students were bursting with excitement to share all the gifts of love they had received from family, friends and complete strangers while remembering to live the Namaste meditation.
After confessing that I had embellished the phenomenon, everyone was still grateful for the experience and acknowledged that they actually needed extra incentive to follow in the footsteps of a saint.
I have read and heard many times in my life how Mother Teresa looked upon everyone as a child of God, but had never seen it demonstrated or manifested... That changed last night at our class. Thank you for facilitating such a transformational experience!
- Lucy G. Los Angeles, California.
Words limit the power of this life-changing class and should be experienced as the blessings that it is intended to be. The work and essence of Mother Teresa still lives on through her examples of love and compassion for everyone.
- Charlotte T. Orange, California
Act as ifWhile teaching a class of 30 feisty teenagers, they decided that there were very few public figures and no peers who role modeled the Namaste meditation. "Fake it until you make it" is an age-old secret teenage motto and I noticed that these eager teenagers were adept at applying this motto to other facets of their life. Inspired by Mother Teresa's work and their collective desire for world peace, this rowdy group decided to pioneer the Namaste meditation at my request.
My instructions to these teenagers were very simple. First, they were to visualize in their minds eye thousands of brilliant lights, each light represents a child of God. Second, after holding this image and fully embracing the sensation of joy and unity, their mission was to see this light and beauty in everyone they meet. They were not to expect any specific response during the course of the exercise. They just had to remember that everyone is a child of God.
Although their raging hormones created interesting scenarios and added some confusion to their Namaste meditation, virtually all of them were able to carry out the meditation and live in that space at least once a day for the next month. The spiritual overachievers bragged about profound connections while using their newfound vision. The more adept would sweetly coach the less gifted in loving, gentle ways and share this sacred space. It was a joy to observe each child as each one exercised his or her choice to recognize the child of God within another.
When I am strung out and need to talk down to teachers or my family, I try the Namaste Meditation and when I start feeling good I no longer want to want to shout and scream. If I can find that space I can go deeper and feel good about myself and everyone else - Mother Teresa's work certainly inspired me to search for greater inner peace.
Crystal M. (17 years old) Los Angeles, California
Practice makes perfectThe challenge of Namaste exercise for me is when things are not going well. Occasionally, I may be around people or circumstances that make it hard to see the light of a child of God. Provided I have been diligent in my Namaste meditation, my reflexive response to the meditation will produce the calm, balanced state and I can engage the person or situation in that space.
Alternatively, I have found a very useful method practiced by Dr. Stanley Hew Len a clinical psychologist at the Hawaii State Hospital. It is a part of an ancient Hawaiian practice called Ho'oponopono.
In situations where I cannot evoke the Namaste meditation space, then I step back and
then reflect on the needs of the other person or group of individuals with whom I am engaged. As soon as I recognize the other person's feelings, I feel the fog disappear and a place of healing can occur. Next I clear my judgments, attitudes and beliefs around the person or situation and ask the Divine for whatever blessings can be sent to that person. As my attachments and memories are cleared, I reconnect to the Namaste meditative state and I can see light and the child of God once more. The child of God had always been there, I just needed to adjust my vision.
Some days it is not very hard to see the divine in everyone and everything. On the more difficult days, I "act as if" so that my posturing reflects where I would like to be. On the worst days, I remind myself what a special gift I received from Mother Teresa and relax into the soothing memories of my meditations to re-set my Namaste compass.
I will always treasure this gift and in honor of Mother Teresa, I share this experience and legacy with you. Blessings and Namaste.
Amy Thakurdas
DrAmy@tranquilS.com 
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