Why the Grape?

Like Hafiz, in my mind, grapes, wine and the Divine are intertwined.

We are all from the One Source however you name it – God, Allah, The Unknowing, The Universe.  The Source is the dark void, the earth, from which our universe sprung. Like a grape vine, Creation grows towards the light, spreading its tendrils in every direction possible.  And when the universe is ready, and only when it’s ready, a grape is formed.

We are the grapes, the tiny round orbs of God.

The thin skin is the simple covering holding the space for the flesh to exist in this realm.  Our memories and thoughts are stored in the flesh of the emotional body surrounding the seed.  The flesh is either sweet or tart, depending on how it was nourished. We are not our skin, nor our flesh.  Our essence, the part of us that will live on and create again, is the seed.

The Source loves nothing more than creating an abundance of grapes.  Each grape lives its purpose and when its life is complete, it falls from the vine and the seed returns to the Source.

Why Cosmic?

“Spiritual maturity comes not from you intellectually understanding some principle.

It comes from the ability to sit down and to begin to meditate and to get beyond the state of consciousness that you normally exist in.

This takes practice, it takes discipline, and it takes focus.  The rewards are COSMIC.”

– Sri Shambhavananda