ENCOUNTERING GODEscaping the ‘Jaws of the Tiger’
Attaining my ‘higher self ’ became the primary
focus of my day-to-day existence. In between and
after college classes, I used every available hour
to pursue the goal of ‘reaching enlightenment.’
The Hindu Bhakti poet, Surdas, warned:
“Without devotion to God, you will make
yourself into a stale crumb to be eaten by the
tiger of time.”5/*
Appalled at the thought of becoming a stale
crumb, the following spring, I decided to use my
time more wisely, quitting school to escape the
‘ jaws of the tiger.’
Packing up my belongings, I left Florida State
University in Tallahassee, Florida, to help start
an ashram in Daytona Beach (a commune where
yoga devotees live together to more effectively
practice their disciplines). Every day involved
many hours of meditation and Mantra Yoga (the
chanting of certain Hindu words and phrases
designed to carry a person to higher levels of
awareness).
We also devoted ourselves to the study of