Death (and Other False Myths)

[Guest guest]

The following message came from R D.

We had to edit out the long whole earlier message.

We remind all our members to ensure that the tail ends of messages

are deleted when replying.......................jay

 

-

" R D " <jaguarxox

<Ramakrishna >

Saturday, April 24, 2004 06:42

Re: [sri Ramakrishna] Death (and Other False Myths)

 

 

Jagannath,

 

Thanks for your wise words! They had a profound effect

on me. It's so noticeable when wisdom comes from the

heart. Reading scriptures seems empty by comparison.

 

I too have felt regret at wasting time and not doing

my practices- I'm always too busy eating " thorny

bushes " . I've been contemplating my own mortality

recently and this has created an urgency to fulfill my

spiritual yearnings. Having just turned 40, I feel

that I better get focused or this life will quickly

slip away. Age of course is relative. But I have

noticed how quickly time passes as you get older and

that this life is gone in a flash. I'm also struggling

with the challenges of family life. I must admit that

the daily struggle to pay bills and live in a consumer

society can really be a distraction. Since I live in

the US, it's really a struggle to live in a society

that doesn't even acknowledge the value of the true

spiritual life. Our money says " In God We Trust " but

it's the currency itself that we put all our faith in

and the strategies for accumulating it. And this is

Maya...

 

This is a country of failed myths. The first failed

myth is the myth that money will bring happiness and

freedom. This is a joke because the people I know are

up to there eyeballs in debt. The more " successful "

you become, the more you consume and the more buried

in debt you become. The banks send credit cards to

almost anyone and everyone wants to consume beyond

their means. This gets you stuck in a hole so you have

to keep that crappy meaningless job working 40+ hours

just to " survive " . This often means working in a

corporate environment with wordly people who believe

in all the failed myths. If your lucky, your job will

get sent to Indonesia or El Salvador where they pay

children a dollar a day to work 10 hours. And this is

Maya....

 

The second failed myth in this country is the myth of

individuality. Everyone wants to be " independent " .

This creates the great demand for each individual to

have their own car and apartment or house, hence the

need to spend most of your waking hours working. The

cost of housing is outrageous. I just read that the

average apartment in NY cost a million dollars. Then

you leave your kids at daycare so strangers can raise

them. You leave your parents at a retirement home so

they can be ignored. You watch a show called " Friends "

because you don't have the time or energy to have your

own friends. And this is Maya....

 

The third myth is the myth that youth is desirable and

old age and death should not be thought of or even

acknowledged. By leaving our parents for others to

take care of, we don't have to deal with it. We don't

respect or want to deal with older people once their

" productive " years are over. People spend billions of

dollars every year getting cosmetic surgery so they

can look young. Men take pills to regrow their hair or

to stay sexually active. Women get breast implants so

they can be more attractive. Meanwhile most of us are

so stressed out and frustrated trying to keep the job,

take care of the family, and pay all the bills that we

use alcohol, drugs, and TV to relax. TV is the great

Maya-machine. We spend hours listening to mindless

commercials that encourage us to consume more, while

the news and media keep us fearful. And this is

Maya....

>

The message: Be fearful and consume more. Terrorism.

Serial killers. Mercury. Lead. Global warming. AIDS.

Environmental contamination. " Find out why what you

don't know might kill you. Tune in at 11:00 " . And this

is Maya...

 

The solution: Keep making money. Keep spending money.

Buy car insurance. Buy medical insurance (if you can

afford it). Disability insurance. Accident insurance.

Life insurance. Death insurance. Get a home security

system. Live in a gaited community. Take vitamins.

Carry a gun to protect yourself against criminals. And

this is Maya...

 

It's an insane world. How rare to find compassion and

love here. How rare to hear the Lord's name sung with

real joy. How rare to acknowledge the tremendous pain

and suffering that is all around us if we just look.

Yet we must open our eyes and look. Then we must act.

Free yourself first, then serve others. We can't

continue to believe that we can be happy while others

are in pain. True happiness can never be attained by

the denial of suffering, or believing the false myths.

 

Keep God's name on your lips, and with the sword of

discrimination, " Cast off your faintheartedness and

rise up! "

 

Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi

 

Lokaah Samastaah Sukhino Bhavantu.

Jai Sri Satguru Maharaj Ki! Jai!!

 

RD

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/24/04 12:34:34 PM Mountain Daylight Time,

vivekananda writes:

" R D " <jaguarxox

<Ramakrishna >

Saturday, April 24, 2004 06:42

Re: [sri Ramakrishna] Death (and Other False Myths)

Time to build the bridge over the abyss you described. Seek companions of

higher mind, places of worship, sadhana, self study. Be the inspiration within !

Spread Truth.

Om Namah Sivaya

With Love,

Kanda