Devotion & Distractions- Mary Magdalene in St. Baume video

How do you fill your days? Is everything you do aligned with your highest values?

I was just listening to Dr. Demartini saying:

“If you do not fill your day with high priority actions that inspire you, your day will fill up with low priority distractions that will not. If you do not bring order to your life, disorder will rule your destiny. The former will empower and vitalize you, while the latter will disempower and drain.”

We’re surrounded by so many distractions! Modern technology increases that exponentially.

That’s why, when I’m involved in a creative project, I tend to go into hermit mode – full on focus for days without communicating with anyone. Creating and sharing beauty is definitely one of my top values.

So is my spirituality. When it comes to my spiritual growth, however, I don’t seem to ever have enough time to really devote myself single-heartedly.

This morning at my altar, I was reading the “Devotion” page of Swami Kriyananda’s book “Affirmations for Self-Healing”. He’s the founder of the Ananda ashram I stayed at in Italy last summer.

“In the quest for God, the unfolding of the heart’s natural love, in the form of deep devotion, is the prime requisite for success. Without devotion, not a single step can be taken towards Him. Devotion is no sentiment: It is the deep longing to commune with, and know, the only Reality there is.”

I’m striving for less and less distractions to live a life that’s fully on purpose.

Netflix is my biggest distractor. When I asked my Team of Divine Helpers to help me stay aligned this holiday season, they inspired me to lead the Holiday Spirit Circle, so that you and I can focus more on the sacred.

Click here to find out more about it, and join me if you get an inner ‘Yes!’. It runs from December 1st to January 1st.

What are the highest values you would devote yourself to?

What can you do today to lessen the distractions in your life? 

Have you ever wondered about living away from all the distractions of modern life to devote yourself completely to your inner journey?

There’s something romantic about the idea of monks in Himalayan caves… until the logistics pop into your mind!

I confirmed this summer that my chances of survival in a cave would be minimal. I just wasn’t trained to forage for food, keep myself warm or even alive in the wilderness.

My distractions would be of a different kind – the sounds of wildlife or my grumbling stomach come to mind…

I visited quite a few caves during last summer’s Mary Magdalene pilgrimage and my time near Assisi. Many have been converted into hermitages or monasteries.

They’re quite damp and cold…

But they’re also filled with devotional energy and history.

The Mary Magdalene Cave in the video above is the first our pilgrimage group visited. 

At the end of our 45-minute uphill hike, we arrived at a small Dominican monastery and the Mary Magdalene Grotto in time for the 11am mass. I was in tears as the singing echoed throughout the cave.

Some say that Mary Magdalene lived a hermetic existence in this cave for 30 years after evangelizing the region of Provence.

Seven times a day, angels carried her to the cliff summit to pray in ecstasy. Read that again… doesn’t it just leave you longing to be fully realized in your union with the Divine?

This state is what’s depicted in the sculpture in the video.

Now that’s what you call devotion!

When the angels saw her last hour approaching, they transported her to the Via Aurelia, near the shrine to St. Maximin.

Our tour leader, Ariana Rose Brackenbury shared that:

“This mountain, sacred to Isis, has been considered holy ground for thousands of years. The energy of the divine feminine is strong here. There are many versions of Mary’s life in Egypt, England, Provence France, Languedoc France and elsewhere – several of which said she was part of the Isis lineage as was Mother Mary. Some say there were sacred ceremonies done in the cave in the traditions of the priestesses of Isis. The natural water here is reported to have healing properties.”

The ashram I stayed and studied at in the summer was based on the teachings of their guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, an Indian Hindu monk.

I resonated with his desire as a youth to live without distraction and to devote himself fully to God. As he writes in his “Autobiography of a Yogi“, he repeatedly ran away from home to follow an inner call to the Himalayas. But that wasn’t his destiny.

Although I’d read the book many years ago, I’d forgotten many of the details. Living at Ananda, I became more intimately acquainted with the stories of his lineage.

His teacher’s teacher’s teacher was Mahavatar Babaji who is said to still live in Himalayan caves today.

“The secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. The deathless Babaji is an avatara. … In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh.”

…

“The Mahavatar is in constant communion with Christ; together they send out vibrations of redemption, and have planned the spiritual technique of salvation for this age. The work of these two fully-illumined masters—one with the body, and one without it—is to inspire the nations to forsake suicidal wars, race hatreds, religious sectarianism, and the boomerang-evils of materialism. Babaji is well aware of the trend of modern times, especially of the influence and complexities of Western civilization, and realizes the necessity of spreading the self-liberations of yoga equally in the West and in the East.”

This is why the photo of Jesus appears on the Ananda altar, along with those of Paramhansa Yogananda and his lineage of gurus.

As explained on the Ananda website,

“(Jesus) said that although his followers still do good works, they have lost the ability to commune inwardly with God. Because of Jesus’s request, Paramhansa Yogananda came to the West.”

That was Paramhansa Yogananda’s destiny – not to live in a cave, but to introduce millions in the west to meditation and yoga for 32 years, starting in 1920.

Was Mary Magdalene in France?

Did Jesus appear to an immortal being in the Himalayas to help westerners reconnect to the inner Path to God?

Are the gospels that have been found in the desert in modern times real?

I’m not one to debate about these kinds of facts.

All I know is that my mind and my heart are expanding with all my experiences and learnings. I trust my Spirit knows the Truth.

The spiritual call was strong in me since I was a child. But I prayed Jesus not ask me to be a nun because I liked boys too much.

There are many ways to devote ourselves more fully to our spiritual Path, no matter what that is. 

You may be inspired to live in a cave – literally or metaphorically. You may be inspired to devote yourself through your work, your service, your family, your worship.

The shape of my Path has changed with time to a more Universal one. What matters most to me is whether something brings me closer to Father/Mother God, to Love & Light.

I’m so grateful for this summer’s pilgrimage and time at the ashram because they reduced my distractions and increased my devotion. I’m now prioritizing my spiritual practice even more.

May you also thrive on your Chosen Path.

P.S. Don’t forget to enjoy the short video at the top!

We start Friday! Won’t you join us for a spiritually enriched holiday season?

December 1st to January 1st. Daily.

You can join me Live at 7am (Newfoundland Time) in our private Facebook Group or participate at your leisure with the recordings & prompts. We’ll be focused on raising our vibration to end this year and start off the next aligned with our Highest Good. There will be daily channeled guided meditations, affirmations, Spirit Calling Card readings and weekly special events to help you connect to your Inner Guidance.

Join here – $111 Canadian is the full price or there’s a $44 Spirit Subsidized price if you need it.