Newsletter November 19, 2008

Synopsis of Last Week's Classes

Friday - 'Religion for Today' - Father Paul - Nov 14
Father Paul discussed Hegel's 'era of reason', when science decided 'the norm' and human reason replaced belief in God and what was historically considered Goodness, Beauty and Truth. Nietzsche's thesis was 'to eliminate extreme tyrannical order' and 'we are truly human when we are free and only free when there is no God'. He meant that (since) no one really lives a God-life with God in their heart, everyone thereby creates their own version of a personal life of truth, rather than in Truth. Dostoevsky stated that people live in and are running away from such lives of anguish, fear and abandonment that God "exists only as a phrase". Jean Paul Sartre's existentialism proclaimed: "essence does not precede existence" and 'I don't exist until I act'. Yet Goodness, Beauty and Truth existed before our personal existence. Deconstructionism of J.Derrida and post-modernism is reaction against science; so many people are disenchanted with world/events that the 'unholy trinity' called: 'me, myself, I' has taken hold, with no 'One-Truth' but "each for their own 'small truth' prevailing. Christ and Swami Vivekananda both exhorted that Experience is what matters - that with Goodness, Beauty, Truth and awareness that 'Father and I are One',- then nothing (more) can be said.

Sunday - Vedanta and Democracy - Swami Yogatmananda - Nov. 16
In democracy, representatives elected by people form the government and they are entrusted with the power to take decisions about their nation's welfare. The system of election in this republic democracy should consider the opinion of each and every individual on the basis of equality and freedom. In spite of this fascinating philosophy, democracy has its downside too. George Bernard Shaw's play 'Apple Cart' points out some of the intrinsic defects of democracy. Sometimes a charismatic leader wins over the minds of people and gets elected in spite of his/her incompetence of ruling. Some times a competent ruler comes into power although that person is not moral. The ideal of equality in democracy confers each and every individual with one vote no matter whether that person is really capable of understanding nation's welfare. Yet we all want democracy because it has scope for equality, freedom and perfectibility which are in fact the ideals Vedanta puts before us. Vedanta tells us that we aspire for equality, freedom and perfectibility because we are all equal, free and perfect at the innermost core of our personality. Ideal of perfectibility in democracy suggest that we are not subject to some authority but we are masters and have the power to take our own decisions. Alexis Tocqueville, the author of the book, 'Democracy in America', writes with apprehension that because of the emphasis on equality, freedom and perfectibility, religion in democratic countries will tend to become pantheistic.
In democracy, many a times appeasement of people overtakes the welfare of people, creating organized blocks of votes and ultimately making the democracy a big failure. We can prevent this if we adopt Vedantic approach of choosing what is right (Shreyas) than what is pleasant (Preyas). Then we will have a meaningful democracy which will bring welfare to the nation.

Tuesday - Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - Nov. 18

The words of Sri Ramakrishna bring us awareness of the divine. He reminds us to look into our real nature, integrating all the dimensions we have, not adding anything to them. Ramakrishna informs us there are two types of people: those who strive and those who help others to strive, named jivakotis and ishvarakotis. The jivas need a guide; they practice rituals, do japa, and meditation, and ultimately reach samadhi. When they do achieve this exalted state, they don't come back to the earthly plane of existence. The ishvakoti, on the other hand, can be likened to a bus driver, transporting individuals to their ultimate destination. It's their job to show the way. They look like ordinary human beings, but their inner awareness is different. Unlike the jivas, they have assumed the body in order to carry out this task. Sri Ramakrishna also speaks about ego. In striving for God realization, the ego of a child, the ego of devotion, and the ego of knowledge are harmless because they are not attached to anything. The vital concept in this is to work with dedication and without attachment. This is what we should attempt to attain. Just as our love at the human level flows through various relationships e.g. mother-child, friends, husband-wife, servant-master etc, so also our love to God will actually start flowing when we form a relationship with God and strengthen it. This could take the form of master/servant, mother/child, etc. Whatever we are comfortable with.
There were some nice questions asked at the end and were suitably replied by the Swami.