Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Hinduism is a Dharma, Not a Religion

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the great philosopher, statesman and former President of India has described what is Dharma in these words:
“Dharma is that which binds society together. That which divides society, breaks it up into parts and makes people fight one another is Adharma (non-religion). Dharma is nothing more than the realization of the Supreme and acting in every small act of your life with that Supreme present in your mind. If you are able to do so, you are performing Dharma. If other interests pervade you, and you try to translate your mind into other regions, even though you may think you are a believer, you will not become a true believer. The real believer in God has his heart always lifted to Dharma”.
According to Swami Sivananda,
“Hinduism allows absolute freedom to the rational mind of man. It never demands any undue restraint upon the freedom of human reason, the freedom of thought, feeling and will of man. Hinduism is a religion of freedom, allowing the widest margin of freedom in matters of faith and worship. It allows absolute freedom of human reason and heart with regard to such questions as to the nature of God, soul, form of worship, creation, and the goal of life. It does not force anybody to accept particular dogmas or forms of worship. It allows everybody to reflect, investigate, enquire and cogitate.” 





Peter Matthiessen The Snow Leopard


“Today most scientists would agree with the ancient Hindus that nothing exists or is destroyed, things merely change shape or form…the cosmic radiation that is thought to come from the explosion of creation strikes the earth with equal intensity from all directions, which suggests either that the earth is at the center of the universe, as in our innocence we once supposed, or that the known universe has no center.”


                                                                       


- Swami Vivekananda

"The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free."

Image may contain: 1 person

― Gabor Mate, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“Above everything, he aches for unity with the external feminine caritas—blessed, soul-saving, divine love. Divine here refers to not a supernatural deity above us, but to the immortal essence of existence that lives in us, through us, beyond us. A search for the external extends far beyond formal religious concepts. One consequence of spiritual deprivation is addiction.”



― Manly P. Hall

“All doctrines which seek to unfold and preserve that invisible spark in man named Spirit, are said to be spiritual. Those which ignore this invisible element and concentrate entirely upon the visible are said to be material. There is in religion a wonderful point of balance, where the materialist and spiritist meet on the plane of logic and reason. Science and theology are two ends of a single truth, but the world will never receive the full benefit of their investigations until they have made peace with each other, and labor hand in hand for the accomplishment of the great work – the liberation of spirit and intelligence from the three-dimensional prison-house of ignorance, superstition, and fear.”



Artist: Pierre-Alain D


Image may contain: one or more people and text

The One Mind.

The human mind is a spark of the almighty consciousness of God. I could show you that whatever your powerful mind believes very intensely would instantly come to pass. Thought is a force, even as electricity or gravitation. This is a bid idea — one which deserves contemplation, reflection and I would suggest implementation in our daily lives. Consider it. Consider what its truth means for your life. Consider that if you change your thinking, you can change your life and ultimately you will be a part of changing the world. Imagine what it truly means if each and every individual mind is a part of a greater consciousness — the One Mind. 

                                                                




Man in Search of Happiness* Swami Paratparananda

Again, speaking about happiness, Sri Ramakrishna said that there were three
types—vishayananda, pleasure one gets in the satisfaction of the senses; bhajanananda,
happiness one derives out of the spiritual practices, and brahmananda, the bliss that one
attains on realization of Brahman or God. The last one cannot be measured or compared
to any other happiness; it cannot even be imagined. The Upani
shads have tried to give
an inkling of its vastness in various ways. For example, in the 'Taittirya' we come across
a passage where the happiness of the different types of beings, beginning from man to
Brahma, the Creator, is described and compared. Then it goes on to state that even the
bliss of the Creator is nothing compared to that which one gets on realizing Brahman. In
another Upanishad we read that the whole creation is sustained by an infinitesimal
fraction of this bliss, matrena upajivanti. Now the question arises: "If this were so, why
does man, an intelligent being, a being endowed with the faculty of thinking and
discriminating, run after the petty and worthless things of the world neglecting such a
mine of bliss which is his birthright?" There are two answers to this question: (1) that
many do not know about the existence of such a kind of bliss and as such do not seek it; and
(2) that many though aware of its existence find it difficult to overcome the pull of the
outward going senses.

 

                                                                     




Tuesday, July 30, 2019

~Ramana Maharshi

"The Real is ever-present, like the screen on which the cinematographic pictures move. While the picture appears on it, the screen remains invisible. Stop the picture, and the screen will become clear. All thoughts and events are merely pictures moving on the screen of Pure Consciousness, which alone is real."



-Deb Ozarko

“Contrary to indoctrinated belief, we are not more valuable than any other living being. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. No earthworms and we perish. No bees and we are gone. No trees and we suffocate. No living ocean and we fry. Biologist Jonas Salk summarized it well: ‘If all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years all life on earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish.’ What a profoundly tragic statement.”




~ The Supreme Discovery

When all shall know this, the promised day of great transfigurations will be at hand. When in each atom of Matter men shall recognise the indwelling thought of God, when in each living creature they shall perceive some hint of a gesture of God, when each man can see God in his brother, then dawn will break, dispelling the darkness, the falsehood, the ignorance, the error and suffering that weigh upon all Nature. For, "all Nature suffers and laments as she awaits the revelation of the Sons of God."
This indeed is the central thought epitomising all others, the thought which should be ever present to our remembrance as the sun that illumines all life.
That is why I remind you of it today. For if we follow our path bearing this thought in our hearts like the rarest jewel, the most precious treasure, if we allow it to do its work of illumination and transfiguration within us, we shall know that it lives in the centre of all beings and all things, and in it we shall feel the marvellous oneness of the universe.
Then we shall understand the vanity and childishness of our meagre satisfactions, our foolish quarrels, our petty passions, our blind indignations. We shall see the dissolution of our little faults, the crumbling of the last entrenchments of our limited personality and our obtuse egoism. We shall feel ourselves being swept along by this sublime current of true spirituality which will deliver us from our narrow limits and bounds.

Unknown



Swami Vivekananda

We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonising the Vedas, the Bible and the Koran. Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of The Religion, which is Oneness, so that each may choose that path that suits him best.





Milarepa of Tibet

"I have understood this body of mine to be the product of ignorance, composed of flesh and blood and lit up by the perceptive power of consciousness. To those fortunate ones who long for emancipation it may be the great vessel by which they may procure Freedom. But to the unfortunates who only sin, it may be the guide to lower and miserable states of existence. This our life is the boundary mark whence one may take an upward or downward path. Our present time is a most precious time, wherein each of us must decide, in one way or other, for lasting good or lasting ill."
Images of India

Mother Meera

"Duality exists until we merge in the Divine; then there is only the One. As love grows toward the Master we merge gradually in the Divine. The process goes slowly so that we can have a growing taste of the Divine. If it doesn't go slowly then the body cannot feel it. If we don't feel it then the devotion we need for our transformation doesn't grow. When we get complete realization then every aspect of us goes into the Divine."
Rainbow over Sedona hills, Ariz (Dick Canby)

— Adyashanti

Your intrinsic nature is still as pure and clear as it was before you ever took this birth. If you would just turn your attention away from the various trance-inducing states created by your mind and realize the intrinsically innocent and pure nature of the unseen seer, you would at once experience a great relief and freedom.

                                               







The Tao Te Ching

Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities.
— D.T. Suzuki

We join spokes together in a wheel,
But it is the center hole
That makes the wagon move.
We shape clay into a pot,
But it is the emptiness inside
That holds whatever we want.
We hammer wood for a house,
But it is the inner space
That makes it livable.
We work with being,
But non-being is what we use.
— The Tao Te Ching


Image may contain: sky, mountain, outdoor and nature

H. P. Blavatsky

People keep repeating that the main things are love and compassion. Certainly love and compassion are the main things, but it takes knowledge to make love and compassion fruitful. It takes just a second to say ‘love’. But to acquire knowledge for the well-being and blessing of humanity requires an eternity.

                                              




Anais Nin

Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.


                                                                             




Wu Hsin - Being Conscious Presence

If you owned a priceless jade which
You have misplaced in a room filled with clutter.
You’d remove all the clutter
In order to find it.
The real essence has been

Misplaced in a room filled with thought.
Remove the clutter and
What has been obscured will be found.


                                




Monday, July 29, 2019

― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun

“The truly wise are meek. Yet being small and meek do not make one weak. Arming oneself with true knowledge generates strong confidence and a bold spirit that makes you a lion of the Universe. 
The Creator does not want you to suffer, yet we are being conditioned by society to accept suffering, weak and passive dispositions under the belief that such conditions are favorable. Weakness is not a virtue praised. How could Creation desire for you to be weak if it tells us to stand by our conscience? Doing so requires strength. 
However, there is a difference between arrogance when inflating your ego, and confidence when one truly gets closer to the Source. One feels large, while the other feels small. Why? 
Because a man of wisdom understands that he is just a small pea in a sea of infinite atoms, and that in the end — we are all connected. And did you not know that the smaller a creature is, the bolder its spirit?” 



— Adyashanti, from “The Philosophy of Enlightenment”

“The authentic spiritual impulse is a desire for truth, God, peace. It’s a desire to experience the ultimate reality. It also includes the welfare of all beings. Otherwise, it’s inherently a narcissistic pursuit, a complicated form of self-obsession—the ego wanting to have the best experience it can have.”