Newsletter July 23, 2008

Past Events

1) Swami Yogatmananda conducted a retreat on 'Spiritual Canticle of the Soul' at Vivekananda Monastery/retreat in Ganges MI from June 27th - 29th. About fifty devotees attended.

2) Twenty-six devotees attended residential weekend retreat on 'Integration of Personality' from July 11th - 13th at Providence Vedanta Society. The retreat included three lectures on 'Integration of Personality' by Swami Yogatmananda, guided meditation, readings, video shows, early morning and evening meditations, walking meditation and Karma-Yoga etc.

3) Guru-Poornima was celebrated at Vedanta society of Providence on Fri. Jul 18. The prgram included ritual worship, food & flower offering, readings, a brief talk by Swami Yogatmananda, devotional singing and Prasad dinner. About fifty devotees attended this program.

Synopsis of KABBALAH Classes

Tuesday - Kabbalah 1 - July 08

The Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism is not unlike other mystic religious traditions in that it goes to our very core of existence. 'Why should a Hindu Vedantic monk speak on this subject?' It's not from a sense of authority, but rather an exercise in humbly educating oneself. Vedanta encourages to learn good thoughts from all directions.
Religion has two aspects. 1. The social/political aspect which is popular, consists of following certain rules and customs. 2. The internal search for The Truth or the ultimate meaning. It begins with inquiries like, "who am I," "Can I see God"?. One can see God, but it takes great yearning.
The Kabbalists maintain that Kabbalah is not something new but derived from the Torah and they are only following its inner meaning. But the term came into being in the 11Th century mostly in Spain and the other Eastern European countries. Judaism encourages questioning, so unlike Christian seekers, the Kabbalists were not deemed heretical or burned alive. Each scriptural teaching has four levels: 1. word meaning (peshat). 2. allegory. (remez) 3. Science of studying scriptures (Derash). 4. secret inner meaning (sod). It came down through oral tradition and there are initiations involved. From God to teacher to student.

Tuesday - Kabbalah 2- July 15

There' s a circle of secrecy around the teachings of the Kabbalah. The word "secret" is used only because so few actually aspire to learn and pay the non-negotiable 'price' of giving up the untruth. The Kabbalists claim all that we see is an emanation of that One.
The Kabbalah speaks of The Tree of Creation - Sefirot. This tree has various limbs and almost corresponds to a human body. The very top part (Keter) of the tree of creation is ironically, the root. (See the similar description in Bhagavad Gita Ch 15) After that is the Beginning, the awareness of ego. On the other side of this is The Mother - the female principle. (These two seem to be akin to the Iswara and Maya). Below this we have the right arm which signifies love. Then the left hand which is justice and power. A little below and in the center is the Son which is all harmony and beauty. The left leg embodies secular knowledge while right one is eternity or karma. The life forces and all sexual enjoyment is the center bellow that and the final one is this world of senses. This is all earthly existence and is considered the daughter of the female aspect above.
The Kabbalah believes that man is created in the image of God, therefore divine. He has an intellectual self, and a lower self or just residing pretty much in the body. Sefirot also shows the way out to the ultimate truth.

Tuesday - Kabbalah 3- July 22

We get to the truth through language. The mystics, however, see a deeper meaning in the words and try to convey them to us. In this case, ordinary words take on a different connotation because they are being delivered by God-realized persons to convey the divine experience, which is beyond words. The real meaning of their words is fathomed through meditation which the Kabbalists advocate. Meditation is used to try to understand this. Truth can come not by reason, but by going deeper and transcending the limitations of ego. Then you can become one with Truth and reach the experience 'I am That'.
The Kabbalah believes the first stage of creation are the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The letters indicate sounds. All things are really just 'sound'; therefore all creation comes from the sound. This is just like Vedanta with AUM.
The Ultimate Truth or God is termed "Ein Sof' = The Infinite. It is beyond any description or conceptualization. It is in everything and yet really not in anything. This is exactly like the what Lord Krishna says in the 9th chapter of Gita.