by BeJoy
They claimed, “It’s One!” Unity without division.
Conjured by false ego, these are mere delusion.
But now, Mother! I feel it’s got to be Two.
What’s life but an endless saga of just me and you!
www.vedantaprov.org
Your Goal of Life
by Abhijit
I recently found out about your Goal of Life. I know! I know! Who am I to talk about your goals? True, I don’t know anything about your goals. But when it comes to your Goal of Life, I just found out about it.
Let’s say your Goal of Life is Goal-A, whatever that may be. Imagine you achieve that. Just imagine. What next? Life continues…What Next? Well, then you would have to have another goal set, say Goal-B. That makes Goal-B the Goal of Your Life (not Goal-A). That too when fulfilled, will have to replaced by Goal-C. And so on, there is no end to it.
So, with this mind-experiment, we figure that “the Goal of Life is the one whose fulfillment leaves nothing else to be desired.” And that definition holds good for me, and you and everyone else. I figured this out in the recent retreat held by our Swami at Ridgely Manor, NY. The title of the retreat, quite meaningfully, was “Stop not till The Goal is reached.”
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Conserving Energy to Find the Solution
by The Father’s Child
I whine a LOT ! Just as I was whining about how life has panned out to my Father, he asked, “Didn’t you complain about all this two years ago?” Quite right, but you haven’t helped much to alleviate my situation … except how could I say this outright? He is my Father, and I could tell him without a second thought, but what stopped me was the guilty conscience that I wasn’t reporting my problem to him with the idea of self-improvement, but rather to have him wave his magic wand and change the world around me – just so I may tread this dream in all joy rather than tears. My Father doesn’t like cowardice and I well know that.
“How much energy have you wasted by dwelling and whining about the problem? Conserve your energy and use it to only find THE solution.” I was tired and ready to give up. The only one thought that doesn’t let me give up yet is the fear of the unknown. If I’m reaping the flowers of the seeds I sowed, what will be the flowers that will be borne by the seeds of “giving-up”? Just as I was wandering aimlessly, Swami Turiyananda stated loud and clear, “…But if one cannot do that [renounce the world], the next best course is to turn everything over to Divine Mother and abide by Her decree. Know Her to be the only guide in life under all conditions … Be always content with what Mother ordains. She knows what is best for us.”
Father bless me that I may turn to Mother and leave the rest of the solution-search to her !
www.vedantaprov.org
Meditate-a-thon
by Vedanta Society of Providence
Last weekend (6:00 PM Friday, Aug. 23 – 2:00 PM Sunday, Aug. 25), a residential meditation retreat was held in Vedanta Society of Providence. As its name “meditate-a-thon” suggests, this retreat was exclusively dedicated to long hours of meditation with some short readings and breaks (optional) for meals. About 25 people participated in this retreat and their experiences are being shared with others via comments for this blog post.
www.vedantaprov.org
Comments on Zohar
by Charles (Prana) Feldman
I reserved the book The Zohar Annotated and Explained, which is translated and annotated by Daniel C. Matt, because I knew Swami Y was using this book in his summer Zohar classes. I was curious to read it for myself. Yet after the book was due back in the public library system, whoever had it out didn’t return it. Finally, the book came in and I showed it to someone at the Vedanta Society, which led to much hilarity, because I found out that it had been Swami Y who had had the book out, and had tried to renew it but couldn’t, because someone (who turned out to be me) had asked to take the book out next.
I think that the Zohar shows that different religions have mystical paths, and all have the same mystical essence to them. I am glad I got to take this excursion into mystical Judaism, since Judaism is my birth religion. I do find Vedanta easier to understand and more straightforward. When I was in second grade, in Hebrew School they presented bible stories to me, which I thought I was supposed to take as literally true, which spoiled them for me. I have never gotten over that.
Anyway, Swami Y suggested I put something on the Vedanta blog about this book. If I wasn’t going to write on the blog, I don’t know if I would have finished the book, because it is hard to remember the esoteric terms from one chapter to the next. I still don’t remember most of them.
It says that the Torah, the Jewish Bible, reveals its secrets only to those who are ready for them. It talks about a number of stories that bible readers are familiar with, but adds a mystical meaning to them. It talks about the sefirot, which
are the ten sparks or manifestations of God. It weaves the Shekhinah, the Divine Mother, into the stories.I think that the Zohar shows that different religions have mystical paths, and all have the same mystical essence to them. I am glad I got to take this excursion into mystical Judaism, since Judaism is my birth religion. I do find Vedanta easier to understand and more straightforward. When I was in second grade, in Hebrew School they presented bible stories to me, which I thought I was supposed to take as literally true, which spoiled them for me. I have never gotten over that.
I tend to get my spiritual sustenance from books, which may be why I am writing this at a time when many of my friends are involved in a meditation retreat. Maybe I will be ready to do that next year. Yet, Judaism does emphasize study and learning as a practice, which may be why my temperament is in that direction. The book closes with Moses Cordovero, a Kabbalist, saying: “For each soul has a unique portion in the Torah.” This is similar to the idea in Vedanta that we each have different temperaments and constitutions, so we each take different paths. Swami Vivekananda even said that the ideal would be for each of us to have our own religion.
This book may be interesting, especially for those who are familiar with bible stories.
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