When the DA appeared in my life in 1996, I wasn't looking for anything else. I was immersed in Vedic practices for about 22 years (Jappa Meditation, Vedic fire ceremony, Bhajan singing & Karma Yoga), which I got to know while living and working in India. I wasn't short on experiences: On the one hand I experienced glorious highs like presence with its manifold manifestations such as vastness or spaciousness, joy or beauty, exquisite stillness or an unshakable inner sense of strength, you name it. On the other hand I experienced tremendous difficulties, with a continued sense of being troubled by feeling the influence of my childhood on a daily basis. I just had to acknowledge that some patterns, the way I experienced myself and the world, would not change or even open up. I didn't have the tools to fully understand them. I did not know how to bring those apparent opposites together much less be able to understand their meaning. I felt saddened and frustrated about the split I experienced in my life. I felt the strong desire to integrate it, become it, and live it by being it. So the timing of the DA Work arising in my life was a true blessing.
Over time, I learned to comprehend and work with the psychological issues and began to experience how closely they were associated with my various different inner states of being. Suddenly these missing but so important pieces started to be contributed to my life. The understanding and integration of the experiences I’d had in India came into picture. And not only that, I realized that I can actually use my daily life as a venue for inquiry and discovery; that daily tasks as well as daily agitations (moments of frustration or moments when I feel discouraged), are, in fact doorways to our consciousness which can help us to increase the awareness of the present. And as we do that, it is not just to get to Essence, but it actually is transformative as we go. It certainly does not mean that it is always easy to understand and be open to your experience in a fully embodied way that changes your life. What I love about being a teacher is seeing that what happens for my students is deeply enchanting and contenting. It is the mystery, the surprise and the satisfaction that I love sharing with others.