Guest guest Posted October 31, 2002 Report Share Posted October 31, 2002 OM fellow travellers Whenever we are about to get caught up in apparent differences let us remind ourselves of our true nature and view the world through that true nature. Then you see a world of connection, interdependence, purity and divinity. Nothing says that clearly as the following poem by Swami Sivananda. CUP OF BLISS -- Sri Swami Sivananda Sorrow touches me not, Pain affects me not; All joy, all blis I am, Eternal satisfaction I am. The silvery moon, the brilliant sun Are my eyes. The rivers are my veins. The stars, the mountains, The herbs, trees and plants, The Vedas and the Devas Are my expression, my breath. My exhalation is this universe, My inhalation is dissolution. The world is my body, All bodies are mine. All hands, ears, eyes are mine. The fire is my mouth, The wind is my breath. Energy, time proceed from me. All beings throb in me, All hearts pulsate in me. Causation I am, In all quarters I am, Quarters are my garment. All time is now, All distance here; I fill all space, Where can I move? No space to move. Infinite I am, Unconditioned I am, Bhuma I am Bhumananda Svarupoham. a) Bhuma - Infinite b) Bhumananda Svarupoham - I am the True Self of Infinite Bliss OM Namah Sivaya Omprem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2002 Report Share Posted October 31, 2002 Thank you Omprem-ji, now you are taking it to the next level. We must see how Christianity and the Sanatama Dharma are really not so different after all. It seems everyone wants to make Jesus for their own... such is what happens when a great soul comes to Earth. Every faith will make a claim to him/her and say "Only we own Him," or "we taught Him all He knows." I've also heard that "Jesus was a Kriya Yogi par excellence," that in his missing years, when he disappeared from public view to when He began His ministry (a lost period of about 15 years), He pilgrimmaged to India and learned yoga from the great masters. I've also heard that Christ was none other that an Avatar of Vishnu; Krishna Consciousness=Christ Consciousness. Evidence can also be found by Vaisnavites keeping a picture of Jesus next to their statue of Krishna. But there really is no proof of this...unless you go by the statement, "The proof is in the pudding," By looking at his actions and teachings, they are all consonant with Yogic principles. Look at a Catholic Mass: the most important part is the "transubstantiation" where the priest turns bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ which all in turn partake of. Sounds like a tantric ritual to me! Also sounds like everyone is receiving prasad. Further, the priests are all ordained in a line of succession all the way back to Christ. Hmmm...could this be parampara? Christs actions of walking on water, healing the sick, feeding the masses -- not to speak of rising again from death! -- if one believes them, sounds like stories of Siddhas and miracle workers all over India. Truly, if a man could do such things, he must know yogic laws and principles. Finally, what is Christ Consciousness? Among other things: love, devotion, surrender. Sound familiar? As far as close minded Christians not accepting Yoga, fine! Let them. This is a practice taught by parampara, tradition: Do not go outside your tradition and water down the teachings; everything you need can already be found in what you have already been taught. They are only following this principle. Do we look down onourselves when we do not go outside your tradition and learn/accept Christian principles? No. Why should we expect them to do the same? We look at them as being close-minded and they look at us as being close-minded. What we have to see is the mountain-top view of all this: First, it is us/them, us/them ... on and on, never stopping. I know it's easier said than done, but we must stop this and we will eventually. Next we must KNOW that we are all shouting about the same thing: the One God! As all Hindus know, She clothes herself in different forms for the benefit of her children and for her play. Maybe Jesus is yet another costume she has put on to courageously go out and proclaim bhakti -- "Love!" Jnana -- "I and my Father are the same" and Karma -- "faith without works is dead" to the rest of the world. Surely our Mother would not neglect the rest of the world outside of India. Next, we must be happy that Catholics are starting to embrace the Sanatama Dharma, taking up our chants and philosophy! We are moving towards that Oneness...no more divisions. It's been said that the new Satya Yuga is already dawning upon us, where ALL again know and live by the principles of the Sanatama Dharma. Shall we not embrace "them" back? "They" are trying, even it seems from our small point of view that "they" are only trying to convert "us." Who can know God's play? Finally, is our faith in our ETERNAL Sanatama Dharma so small that we think it will be swallowed up by this "newer intruder?" It's just Goddess playing -- She's coming back to be one with us. And besides, Mother Kali's got your back...and she swallows all. No fear! AUM , "omprem" <omprem> wrote: > OM fellow travellers > > Whenever we are about to get caught up in apparent differences > let us remind ourselves of our true nature and view the world > through that true nature. Then you see a world of connection, > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2002 Report Share Posted October 31, 2002 greetings sivadancer! I agree with you whole-heartedly! yes, that indeed was a beautiful poem by swami sivananda! and we thank ompremji fot posting it at this very approriate moment!!! here is my own beloved Rumi and how he views this whole scenario!!! Whoever is loved is beautiful and the converse not necessarily true Lovableness is the root principle from which beauty grew. 'There are girls more beautiful than Layla', they told Majnoon 'But I don't love Layla for her form' responded Majnoon 'Layla in my hand is like a cup 'It is the wine within I am in love with 'You have eyes for the beaker, 'Of the wine within you are unaware', said Majnoon 'A golden goblet studded with precious stones Containing vinegar 'Or something else other than wine Would be of no use to me 'An old broken gourd of wine Is superior to such a golden goblet And hundreds like it, said Majnoon For a man to tell the wine from the beaker He must be moved with passion and yearning Take two men, one hungry the other full The man suffering from hunger Perceives a living nourishing soul in a piece of bread The man full of food merely conceives the shape of the bread. Rumi Translation by Morteza Anvari ********************************************************************** oh sivadancer, on another note i liked a lot of things you had to say on this subject of christianity versus hinduism... In fact , it is said when Jesus was missing for some 15 odd years , he went to Tibet where he was referred to 'issa' and then he went to BENARAS, INDIA where he learned all the essence of the vedas and the upanishads... but the one thing that bothered jesus christ was the practice of 'caste system' in its most banal form and it seems He fell out with his brahmin fellow travellers and left Benaras saying he will send his missionaries tto root out this corrupt system... now, how far this is true ... God ONLY KNOWS!!! BUT THE POINT IS WHEN I SEE THE VIRGIN MARY AND THE INFANT JESUS in her arms, it reminds me of mother yasoda and baby krishna and i am moved to tears looking at the vatsalya bhava.... when i see a picture oF jesus christ , he definitely looks to me like a great self-realized soul... of course, being a hindu, i believe in 'reincaranation' and 'karma' and the whole nine yards but that does not prevent me from reading the verses in the bible and the many parables therein... take mother teresa for example? is she not the best example of karma yoga and bhakti yoga? so, if a religion teaches you how to love God/ess and the rest of humanity unconditionally, that is the best religion ... when the big LOVE predominates, EVERYTHING ELSE PALES INTO INSIGNIFICNCe... then nothing matters! LOVE thank you siva dancer once again for restoring the 'balance' to a controversial topic- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 1, 2002 Report Share Posted November 1, 2002 OM Sivadancer Thank you also for your excellent post. You are right that there is no difference between Christ Consciousness, Self-Realization, Nirvikalpa- or Asamprajnata-Samadhi. You are correct to point out that no matter how different the paths to the top of the mountain are, the view from the top is the same. "Paths are many, Truth is One." The problem arises not because of the different paths but because some of the people on those paths do not realize where their path is headed and how it will eventually merge into the others. These people are prime examples of avidya or spiritual ignorance. They can produce a lot of disturbance and distraction, leading others to engage in that maya as if it were real thus dissapating prana and internal focus so that the connection with the Divine is temporarily lost. Everyone should practice ahimsa in thought, word and deed, maintain their own spiritual practice and celebrate the unfolding of the Divine Plan. OM Namah Sivaya Omprem , "sivadancer" <sivadancer> wrote: > Thank you Omprem-ji, now you are taking it to the next level. We must > see how Christianity and the Sanatama Dharma are really not so > different after all. > > It seems everyone wants to make Jesus for their own... > such is what happens when a great soul comes to Earth. Every faith > will make a claim to him/her and say "Only we own Him," or "we taught > Him all He knows." > > I've also heard that "Jesus was a Kriya Yogi par excellence," that in > his missing years, when he disappeared from public view to when He > began His ministry (a lost period of about 15 years), He pilgrimmaged > to India and learned yoga from the great masters. I've also heard that > Christ was none other that an Avatar of Vishnu; Krishna > Consciousness=Christ Consciousness. Evidence can also be found by > Vaisnavites keeping a picture of Jesus next to their statue of > Krishna. > > But there really is no proof of this...unless you go by the statement, > "The proof is in the pudding," By looking at his actions and > teachings, they are all consonant with Yogic principles. > > Look at a Catholic Mass: the most important part is the > "transubstantiation" where the priest turns bread and wine into the > body and blood of Christ which all in turn partake of. Sounds like a > tantric ritual to me! Also sounds like everyone is receiving prasad. > Further, the priests are all ordained in a line of succession all the > way back to Christ. Hmmm...could this be parampara? > > Christs actions of walking on water, healing the sick, feeding the > masses -- not to speak of rising again from death! -- if one believes > them, sounds like stories of Siddhas and miracle workers all over > India. Truly, if a man could do such things, he must know yogic laws > and principles. > > Finally, what is Christ Consciousness? Among other things: love, > devotion, surrender. Sound familiar? > > As far as close minded Christians not accepting Yoga, fine! Let them. > This is a practice taught by parampara, tradition: Do not go outside > your tradition and water down the teachings; everything you need can > already be found in what you have already been taught. They are only > following this principle. Do we look down onourselves when we do not > go outside your tradition and learn/accept Christian principles? No. > Why should we expect them to do the same? > > We look at them as being close-minded and they look at us as being > close-minded. > > What we have to see is the mountain-top view of all this: > > First, it is us/them, us/them ... on and on, never stopping. I know > it's easier said than done, but we must stop this and we will > eventually. > > Next we must KNOW that we are all shouting about the same thing: the > One God! As all Hindus know, She clothes herself in different forms > for the benefit of her children and for her play. Maybe Jesus is yet > another costume she has put on to courageously go out and proclaim > bhakti -- "Love!" Jnana -- "I and my Father are the same" and Karma -- > "faith without works is dead" to the rest of the world. Surely our > Mother would not neglect the rest of the world outside of India. > > Next, we must be happy that Catholics are starting to embrace the > Sanatama Dharma, taking up our chants and philosophy! We are moving > towards that Oneness...no more divisions. It's been said that the new > Satya Yuga is already dawning upon us, where ALL again know and live > by the principles of the Sanatama Dharma. > > Shall we not embrace "them" back? "They" are trying, even it seems > from our small point of view that "they" are only trying to convert > "us." Who can know God's play? > > Finally, is our faith in our ETERNAL Sanatama Dharma so small that we > think it will be swallowed up by this "newer intruder?" It's just > Goddess playing -- She's coming back to be one with us. And besides, > Mother Kali's got your back...and she swallows all. No fear! > > AUM > > , "omprem" <omprem> wrote: > > OM fellow travellers > > > > Whenever we are about to get caught up in apparent differences > > let us remind ourselves of our true nature and view the world > > through that true nature. Then you see a world of connection, > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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