Newsletter December 31, 2008

Past Events

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Synopsis of Last Week's Classes

Friday - Bhagwad Gita - Dec. 26
Ch. 3- Verses 16-17:The life lived in conformity with the principle of sacrifice, which is described in the scriptures and it is the law for cosmic functioning, becomes conducive to progress; it brings peace and wellbeing to people at all levels. Also, if one does not follow this path, then that life just gets wasted in pursuit of sensual pleasures (= sufferings). Lord Krishna calls that life as sin. (not that such a person commits sins, but his/her life itself is sin).
The progressing life of Yajna, culminates in Absolute One-ness; no more rules, no more sacrifice - for no one to give, no one to take! There is absolutely no possibility of any further progress as the word 'progress' becomes meaningless.
The idea of 'continuous progress' is nonsense; because progress means going towards the goal. When the goal is reached the progress has to stop and thus the rules/disciplines meant for it also become meaningless for such a person. Of course, for all others who are yet to reach the goal, they are still to be followed.

Sunday - Loving God and Loving Neighbor - Swami Yogatmananda - Dec. 28
As mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, Ch. 23rd, Jesus says - "the first and greatest commandment in Law is - 'Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.' And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Why love God? Vedanta teaches us that God being our true Self, the love for God is the only real and unconditional love. God is the only goal of life. We love 'that' which we really want in life and hence God being the only desirable thing, we should love God with all our heart. Love for God brings harmony in life and thus becomes conducive to social life also. For most of us God is an abstract idea and hence love for God can be practiced by loving others as oneself. Thus we see that although these two commandments look apparently different, they are in fact the same. Conscious efforts are required to practice these things till they become spontaneous in life. Jesus had this real love and hence while getting crucified he could say - 'Father, forgive them…'
Sri Ramakrishna's similar teaching is - 'Serve all beings, knowing them to be God'. Kapilopdesha of Srimad Bhagavatam says - 'All ritualistic worship is in vain if one does not recognize God's presence in all the beings around.'

Tuesday - Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - Dec. 30

We learned last week that it is of utmost importance to FEEL THAT WE ARE IN SRI RAMAKRISHNA'S COMPANY. Thanks to M's descriptions and recorded conversations, we can imagine ourselves seated right before the Master. We can see the smile on his face as he looked out at his young devotees. Minds of young persons are not weighted down by worldly worries and can take up the challenge and risk of spiritual life.
Sri Ramakrishna spoke of Rakhal as enjoying his pension. Rakhal once lived with the Master, served him and received spiritual instruction. Now that he's living at home, he still benefits from the prior knowledge he received, hence, a pension. He's living off it.
Another important lesson is the story of the thorn of ignorance and knowledge. One compliments the other. Remove the thorn of ignorance with the thorn of knowledge, then throw them both away. In other words, go beyond both. To do so takes courage and strength. This is what we have to muster up.