The Four Yogas and Contemplative Life

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone,

 

Thanks to our member who reminds us that we are sisters and brothers on this

list; this is especially important to remember, as Sarada-Ramakrishna Vedanta

itself places emphasis on the Divine Mother--the feminine aspect of the Divine.

 

Thanks also to Swami Yogeshananda for pointing out that Vivekananda proposed the

idea of a true integration of the four yogas in our spiritual practice and

spiritual lives.

I think we can see that each of the yogas specializes in the spiritual

development of one of the characteristics of human beings: Jnana (philosophy)

intellect; Bhakti(devotion) heart; Raja(meditation) mind; and Karma(activity)

physical life.

 

As a contemplative person, I have always felt a strong necessity for the

blending and harmonious integration of these four yogas in my own life; and when

I work as a contemplative adviser with others, I try to assist them to find this

kind of integration in their contemplative lives also. Swami Vivekananda taught

the importance of thinking of ourselves as whole beings.This teaching has been

very important to my own growth in contemplative life.

 

I belong to the Interfaith Contemplative Order of Sarada (OSA), which is an

Order of Contemplative Vedanta, with its home base in Nederland, Colorado, USA.

We are an interfaith group of contemplatives from backgrounds as diverse as

Cherokee, Tibetan Buddhist, Episcopal and Catholic Christianity, and

Sarada-Ramakrishna Vedanta. Vedantic persons who are contemplative in

temperament, as well as interfaith, join the Order of Sarada after a period of

contemplative advisement and adjustment.

 

The Order is nonlocal and nonresidential; we maintain the contemplative

community through telephone, email, and visits when possible. We also have the

Contemplative Vedanta Support Network (CVSN), which allows us to dialog with

other interfaith contemplatives coming from many different faith traditions.

 

The website for the Interfaith Contemplative Order of Sarada is currently in the

planning stages, and hopefully will be up soon. Since the Order's founding in

1994, we have helped many persons exploring a truly interfaith approach in

contemplative life.

 

In Holy Mother,

Sister Judith Thackray, OSAh

[Guest guest]

Dear Sister Judith,

 

Harmonious integration of Jnana,Bhakti,Karma and mind

between different faiths is a very serious way to look

at " Spirituality " development in human hearts. Total

development and total integration of human race is the

answer for tomorrow. May God bless you Sister, may He

protect you for ever and ever more. Om tat sat.

 

Asis Bagchi