Newsletter March 26, 2008

Synopsis of Last Week's Classes

Friday - Bhagavad Gita Class - March 21

Ch. 2 Verses 47-49: Lord Krishna diagnoses the problem of suffering and gives the proper remedy. The correction is to be applied to one's awareness. Instead of the mistaken awareness of 'I & mine', we need to have the true awareness that God is everything. This transformation of awareness comes by following the discipline and that is the meaning of Yoga. Determination and one pointed attention are required.
Learning to work without expecting results is one of the keys to be a Yogi. By expectation, we get bound. Whether success comes or failure, one must diligently do one's duty. The equanimity in success or failure is Yoga; it's the attitude that counts. Work can become worship by adopting an attitude of sameness, not worrying about success or failure. Working with desires for the fruits of the work, is miserly, petty-mindedness. By working like that, we miss the tremendous liberating potential of work. It is like discarding the banana and eating the skin.

Sunday - Let Us Resurrect Too - Swami Yogatmananda - Mar 23
Incarnations of God like Jesus Christ teach, through their exemplary life, the great spiritual truths. Crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus bring us the message of being crucified to flesh and becoming alive to the spirit. In the book 'Hinduism and Christianity', Swami Satprakashananda mentions that Jesus' resurrection was not physical but spiritual and quotes from St. Paul which supports this idea: ' ….It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.' Jesus proclaimed that 'I am the goal and I am the way'. No resurrection to spiritual awareness is possible if one is not willing to crucify worldly attachments. Life bound to the matter needs to be transcended by experiencing that we are all-pervading Spirit. God lives in our heart. Meister Eckhart, the great German theologian says that, God wants the creature to get out of his way; for then alone God can fully manifest there. He emphasizes essential unity of God and human beings. To experience this unity is resurrection, which is possible only when we give up the world of matter. The old man (the one who is craving for creature-comfort) must die to resurrect into spirit. The custom of baptism symbolizes new birth that gives us the opportunity to realize our divinity. In spirit alone lies real immortality and freedom. Jesus also says, '…. seek ye first The Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.' The cycle of transmigration of the soul continues if the person does not resurrect in spirit at the time of death. Hence Upanisads proclaim that - Arise, awake and know from the sages the way out. This path is difficult because it is not a beaten track to which we are accustomed. One has to persistently keep up with the spiritual practices; then gradually the journey becomes a joyous endeavor. We need to remember that to resurrect to the pure, blissful, eternal life, each one of us will have to get crucified; there is no compromise between the life of matter and the life of spirit.

Tuesday - The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Class- March 25

Surendra is a householder-devotee immersed in worldly activities. Sri Ramakrishna emphasized the need for inner renunciation by the house-holders and this means freeing oneself from the attachment. One big source of attachment is money. It can overtake everything else in life if we get too attached to it. We have to make good use of it, not cling to it or get miserly. Money has the potential to debase our life when used with the wrong attitude.
When Surendra says that he cannot meditate, but just thinks of the Divine Mother lying on the bed before going to sleep, Sri Ramakrishna first consoles him saying, "good, that is enough" and then encourages him to surrender everything at the feet of the Divine Mother, for she is everything, including our minds.
In Vedanta, there's One Creator, and that too, according to non-dualistic idea, does not 'create' but 'manifests' as both the good and evil, beautiful and ugly, just and unjust. No separate 'devil' is to be thought of as the creator of the evil.

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