The Jewel in the Heart

Gangaji Community

by Noris Binet

Acrylic on Canvas
12 x 19 cm

When I met Gangaji in May 2000 my whole identity as a visual artist was suspended. I no longer focused on making art but on something else--the inquiry within to know the truth.

After attending a few silent retreats with Gangaji, I was able to meet with her in a small group at Stinson Beach. When I shared with her my experience from the first silent retreat that I attended with her, she just looked at me and said: “You showed your heart, and I went there.” Hearing her say this was both shocking and thrilling at the same time, receiving confirmation of the transmission that had taken place in silence at my first silent retreat.

Amazed by the power of a direct transmission into the heart, this piece of art emerged as a gift revealing the jewel that surfaces when the heart is pierced by love--the flame of the longing setting on fire the whole heart. It is a small painting, the first of two. I felt that this painting needed to belong with Gangaji as a recognition of “this,” the transmission that happened between us. So, I brought it to her and it is now in her hands.

Thank you for this jewel.

Noris Binet

“This is your resting place, your watering hole. Find what supports you, what includes you, and drink it in. Be nourished. Be enlivened. And when you feel thirsty again, drink some more.” —Gangaji

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In Your Own Words

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Acrylic on Canvas
12 x 19 cm

When I met Gangaji in May 2000 my whole identity as a visual artist was suspended. I no longer focused on making art but on something else--the inquiry within to know the truth.

After attending a few silent retreats with Gangaji, I was able to meet with her in a small group at Stinson Beach. When I shared with her my experience from the first silent retreat that I attended with her, she just looked at me and said: “You showed your heart, and I went there.” Hearing her say this was both shocking and thrilling at the same time, receiving confirmation of the transmission that had taken place in silence at my first silent retreat.

Amazed by the power of a direct transmission into the heart, this piece of art emerged as a gift revealing the jewel that surfaces when the heart is pierced by love--the flame of the longing setting on fire the whole heart. It is a small painting, the first of two. I felt that this painting needed to belong with Gangaji as a recognition of “this,” the transmission that happened between us. So, I brought it to her and it is now in her hands.

Thank you for this jewel.

Noris Binet