Although there is no lack of killings, suicide-bombings, and terrorist attacks around the world, the shootings at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL, have hit home for Americans. The worst such shooting yet in American history has sparked a firestorm in part because the tragedy combines the volatile and extreme perceptions related to LGBT culture, ISIS ideology, and the hedonistic decadence symbolized by the nightclub scene.
What cries out to me as an allegory or a dramatic story is the contrast between the self-righteous and angry self-appointed upholder of moral law bringing down punishment upon the wild and crazy hedonists. It is reminiscent of a movie scene right out of Cecil B. DeMille's TEN COMMANDMENTS where Moses comes down the mountain to find his people worshiping the golden calf and engaging in all manner of immorality to the beat of drums, dancing disheveled and half-naked.
Is not the so-called loose morals of modern times a major gripe with the fundamentalist mentality everywhere and anywhere? (Christian, Moslem, Hindu, etc.) In the shootings in Paris last year, didn't the main focus of the shooting take place at a rock concert with a group whose name was something like "Eagles of Death?" Such places make easy targets, and not merely literally, but symbolically.
In Orlando, FL, the allegory is far richer than that. Alcohol, perhaps drugs, sex, LGBT's, and sensual music! What an incendiary target. (For the record, for all I know, the music at the Pulse Club was mellow and the atmosphere one of calm, table conversation! I'm speaking of perception, not necessarily reality.)
Our nation itself is struggling with these contrasts. It's not just east vs west in the way the killer and most people are defining this. Our nation has been struggling for decades, if not since its birth over two centuries ago, over the balance between personal liberties and social mores.
I believe that the long term direction of the evolution of human consciousness is weighted in favor of personal liberties, including their misuse. But I also believe that where the affirmation of personal liberties is strongest, the counterweight of individual responsibilities is needed. I'm not talking about nightclubs, here, but something much larger. Our national dialogue has been over balanced in the direction of "me, me, me."
Whether selfishness, corruption and greed are greater now than before, or, as I think is more likely, our tolerance of them in public life has steadily shrunk, the national conversation needs to emphasize our individual responsibilities toward the greater good of all.
Where is the conversation about the responsibilities of citizenship? I hear too frequently, "What's in it for me?" Where is the conversation of decency, moderation, reason, respect, sobriety, modesty, self-discipline, and cooperation -- all the attitudes and behaviors which, like oil in a motor, lubricates the commerce and intercourse of society at large? [In mentioning citizenship, I accept that at the present time in history, we weave a delicate balance between enfranchising people to vote and encouraging citizens to be educated about the machinery of government and the principles upon which it is founded.]
As a nation and as an example to other peoples, we've far too often affirmed our freedom and right to "do what we want" again and again. How about affirming the freedom to make the choice to do what is right and good: by the health of our body; the integrity of our commitments and relationships; the honesty and quality of our commerce; the beneficial results of our science; and our genuine interest in the welfare of all nations and peoples.
Where is the acknowledgement in social and political conversation that we should strive towards maturity? How often do we say that self-indulgence is immature and harmful: to ourselves but also to others. When and where, besides church, do we remind ourselves that a mature adult is one who, inter alia, holds in check-and-balance emotions such as lust, greed, anger and negativity? Is it not natural that maturity clothes itself in modesty (of dress, behavior, and self-expression)?
Has anyone ever mentioned that human happiness comes not from technology, high position, money or talent but from maturity, and not from immaturity? When will our national self-image and culture grow out of the adolescence of the 20th century? The "cowboy" image of America is not something to be proud of: boastful, insensitive, and aggressive as it is. [Not a slur on real cowboys, mind you!]
In other words, lets shift the America dialogue about who "we are" from "what I want" to "what is right and good for me and others." We don't need legislation or rules for this. It takes, instead, a shift in consciousness. (How much more smoothly would our legislative bodies function if its members were actually this mature?)
Let the tragedy of Orlando result not only in an outpouring of sympathy, but let us recognize that an attack upon our nation and culture (whether from within or without) cannot be sustained if our national character reflects universal values that all people respect and admire. Such values necessarily result in peace, health, and prosperity.
May the light of wisdom shine upon you,
Nayaswami Hriman
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Friday, June 17, 2016
Why We Need Community
Note to friends: Ananda Community
Open House: Tomorrow! http://www.anandawashington.org/event/solstice-open-house/?instance_id=132275. Stay tuned for a follow up article with some reflections about American society. "Just sayin' "
Our nation
mourns for the latest victims of violence in our country even as calls go forth
for finding preventative solutions for the future. Could this Saturday’s annual
Open House and Solstice Celebration held by Ananda Community in Lynnwood be relevant to the serious challenges in our
time?
We certainly
think so. The modern trend of globalism is neither all “good” nor all “bad.” It
is complex and besides being an historical fact and a cultural fait accompli,
it is, among other things, a trend that is bringing people of every race and
nation in contact with one another.
What we see
in decline, however, is a sense of community. Our urban and suburban neighborhoods
tend to be a transient admixture of people and families with little in common,
and their paths rarely cross.
On July 30,
1949, at a speech given in Beverly Hills, Paramhansa Yogananda proclaimed that
“I am sowing into the ether” the seeds of the community ideal for the future.
He predicted that a new pattern of conscious, intentional and sustainable
living would “spread like wildfire.” The “wildfire” part still awaits a future
ignition but the increasing violence in the world will unquestionably be one of
the sparks. Economic challenges, no doubt, will be another.
The stage is
being set and Ananda’s founder, Swami Kriyananda, who was present in the
audience that fateful day, vowed to do his part. Before his passing in 2013,
Swami Kriyananda had founded nine such communities throughout the world, including
the Ananda Community in nearby Lynnwood.
The concept
of intentional communities is not limited to its residential forms. Virtual
communities or associations of those inspired and committed to serve their own
local area or the world at large, all count as “communities.”
Our
invitation to you, therefore, for this Saturday’s Solstice Celebration and Open
House is an opportunity for all of us to register “our answer” to mindless
violence by coming together to affirm our kinship with one another and all life.
The power of harmony and friendship will always win, but it takes conscious
efforts on our part.
Since time immemorial, the Summer Solstice has drawn
people together, recognizing intuitively that the powerful rays of the sun at
its diurnal zenith symbolize the healing and energizing rays of the Divine
Light within and without.
Blessings to
all,
Nayaswamis
Hriman and Padma McGilloway
Note details
of the Open House:
Come
rain, sun, thunderstorms! It will be fun and memorable no matter what!
Saturday,
June 18, 3 to 7 p.m. 20715 Larch Way, Lynnwood 98036
3
p.m. Grounds are open; parking in the back. Tours, refreshments, childrens
activities, music, summer fun faire booths with food, organic produce,
clothing, gifts, books and healing services!
5
p.m. Solstice Celebration : a theme of family featuring music & ceremony
6
p.m. Vegetarian dinner (free)
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Beam Me Up! How We Rise Spiritually!
I am Underwater:
A fish doesn't necessarily know that it is in water. The medium of water becomes the "given" and is assumed. "If there was a sound, continuous since birth and omnipresent until death, what would you call it?" "Silence." If there is a YOU, consistent since birth, identified with the same, if slowly changing body, a family, an environment, culture and customs, what do you call it? ME.
You are Other:
If I am ME, then you must be YOU, and you are NOT ME! When, therefore, we contemplate God, we contemplate that which is not ME. As I cannot BE YOU, then I cannot BE God. Or so says logic.
Out of the Labyrinth:
If we encounter the Vedantic and metaphysical teaching that we are children of God and that our destiny is to reclaim our divinity and soul freedom by becoming ONE with God just as a wave is in separable from the great ocean, how then do we find our way out of the labyrinth of ME vs YOU?
My Help Cometh from the Lord:
There has been no time in known history where nations, tribes and peoples were not guided by spiritual teachers, prophets, or guides. In all walks of human life, there are leaders among whom there are, however rarely, great and inspired geniuses. In any successful group dynamic and enterprise, leadership emerges and proves essential. "Help" as if "from above" enters the picture at every crucial juncture of human history. As our intellect and intuition are centered in the heart and the brain (and not the stomach), and as ideas appear as ideas in our mind or heart, so too is all life guided silently and invisibly from a higher realm which we cannot see.
While you may justly claim that "I had an idea," you cannot say from "Whence cometh" the idea. We do not know where our inspiration and good ideas come from. We only know they simply appear, full blown (sometimes) whether in dreams or in our waking hours. It is true that we usually attract ideas by putting out the effort to think things through, to put our mind to the task of solving problems, and otherwise by intense mental or physical effort in a given direction, but the solution itself, we cannot otherwise account for its timing or substance. At the same time, only Einstein received E=mc2. I didn't. No poet did. Neither did a composer or a housewife. We get inspirations (usually) that are personal and pertinent to my life. [Habitual dreamers, those who live in make believe worlds of their own imaginings, may receive all sorts of ideas but they never bear fruit.]
From Whence Cometh the Lord?
Just as you cannot account for the appearance of an idea in your mind, neither can you account for your own existence. You, too, simply appeared: to yourself as an infant, toddler, child and an adult. If however, "you" are a soul and not a body, then we are like prodigal children caught in a foreign land, seeking our way home. We need a spiritual "Einstein," an alchemist, to show us how to convert flesh into spirit. We need a guide. Only one with the proven power to go between the two worlds of Spirit and Matter can teach you how to do it. Do you need to eat? To breathe? Can you stop your heart and breath at will and leave your physical form behind, and then return at will? Why then imagine you do not need an enlightened teacher to show you the way?
Letting Go
We cannot fall asleep consciously for the simple fact that the subconscious state is not the conscious state. To enter the state of sleep we must "let go" of the conscious mind and "fall into" sleep. Sleep is a lower state of awareness. In sleep we are either unaware or our dreams are an incoherent jumble (most of the time).
Superconsciousness lies at the opposite end of the consciousness spectrum. Unlike sleep, we are, in superconsciousness, vibrantly alive and awake. But like sleep, superconsciousness is not under the control of the conscious mind. And, therefore, like sleep, it also entails a kind of letting go. Swami Kriyananda, in his landmark book on consciousness, "Awaken to Superconsciousness," describes this process as "upward relaxation [back] into superconsciousness." The conscious and subconscious states are but derivatives of the superconscious mind.
The experience of superconsciousness is not the product of an intellectual assent or mere affirmation of will. It is a state of being which is very subtle relative to the vibration or frequency of ordinary thoughts and emotions. Superconsciousness lies as a horizon line between the lower state of sleep and the conscious state of wakefulness. To use another image: think of superconsciousness as the top point of a pyramid: the two lower and opposite corners are the states of the conscious and subconscious mind. To ascend to superconsciousness we must strip away the heavy baggage of passing thoughts, heaving emotions and body awareness that the very light balloon of pure awareness might rise.
The Movie
Our conscious mind and subconscious mind are more like the appearance of reality on a movie screen: the hero and the villain, as it were; day and night. Both emerge from the singular beam of superconsciousness from the projection booth of Spirit. The images are caused by the darkening imprinted dots on the film. These are our restless, body-bound thoughts and emotions. The beam of light is otherwise unaffected by the film crossing over it. The images on the screen continue until the film is over or the operator removes the film to reveal just the pure beam of light on the screen.
The Transmission
To switch metaphors, but like a transmission of radio signals, superconsciousness requires a sender and a receiver. The sender has to have a sending "unit," which is to say, must be already in superconsciousness, while you, the receiver, have to be turning your dial to the frequency of the sender. Bit by bit you refine, clarify, and purify the frequency of your receiver, thus showing your readiness and attunement to the sender's wavelength and frequency. This is the guru-disciple relationship. As St. John in Chapter One of his gospel writes of Jesus Christ: "To as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God."
In meditation we learn to focus calmly but deeply and intently, at the point of singularity (this horizon line) in the forehead. There, awaiting the transmission "signal" given to us by the guru's invisible presence, our breath can be snatched away (temporarily, at first) as we enter into this sacred land of the soul. [It is not necessary that the guru be in a human body at that time or physically present for us to receive his transmission, for we are speaking of higher states of consciousness which are independent, indeed the very source of, material and physical realities.]
Being
Superconsciousness is not born of ego. It is a state unto itself: universal and omnipresent, stripped of the characteristics of ego (memory, desires, senses, personality, and bodily identification). The ego therefore does not possess the right frequency to tap into superconsciousness alone. The ego frequency is, as stated earlier, derived FROM superconsciousness and is a lower vibration, rate of frequency and so on.
No mere book or course or ordinary (if brilliant, witty, and even wise) teacher can take us to this "land beyond our dreams" (as Paramhansa Yogananda called it). A true teacher is one who already is awake and living in superconsciousness and who can transmit it at (the command of divine) will.
"Beam me up, Scotty!"
Joy to you!
Swami Hrimananda
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Bhagavad Gita : The Voice of the Ancients “Calls to Us to Awaken in Him”
Once again, the following article is taken from an email to Ananda members in the Seattle-area Sangha:
Each Sunday
at the weekly Service we read a stanza from the Bhagavad Gita. What is this text, this “The Song of God,” quoted by
so many great people of influence?
Ralph Waldo
Emerson said of the Bhagavad Gita: "It was as
if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene,
consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate
had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.”
Henry David Thoreau wrote, "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the
stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita in comparison with which our modern
world and its literature seem puny and trivial.”
Mahatma Gandhi confessed that "When doubts haunt me, when
disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the
horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I
immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who
meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every
day".
And finally, J. Robert Oppenheimer,
American physicist and director of the Manhattan Project (that created the
world’s first atom bomb), learned Sanskrit in 1933 and read the Bhagavad Gita in the original, citing it
as one of the most influential books in his life. Upon witnessing the first
nuclear test in 1945, he quoted the Gita: “Now
I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
What is this extraordinary work of
literature, allegory and divine inspiration? The “Gita” is the most beloved of
the great scriptures of India. It is one chapter in the midst of the world’s
longest epic, the Mahabharata (over
100,000 couplets). The Gita itself has about 700 verses arranged in 18 chapters:
not very long in itself. The Mahabharata makes
an allegory of an actual historic and apocalyptic battle that took place not far
from what is now New Delhi sometime after the first millennia B.C. It’s a “good guys” vs the “bad guys” story,
with the good guys winning, but just barely.
The Gita itself consists of a dialogue
between Lord Krishna, the charioteer and guru for Prince Arjuna (a good guy),
one of the fiercest warriors of the two opposing clans. Their conversation
takes place on the eve of battle.
Arrayed against his own cousins (who
usurped his and his brothers’ rule of the kingdom), Arjuna asks his guru, “What
virtue, what victory is there to be found in killing my own family? They are
far from perfect, but I don’t seek riches or power? Why must I fight?”
And thus begins the greatest story ever
told: your story, and mine. This is the story of the challenges we face, the
victories and defeats we experience, and our quest for the Holy Grail of
Happiness.
The greatest work ever written by Swami
Kriyananda, “Essence of the Bhagavad Gita,” was inspired by the commentary on
the Gita dictated by Paramhansa Yogananda in the early months of 1950 at his
desert retreat in 29 Palms, CA. This book will change your life. At the
completion of his dictation efforts, Paramhansa Yogananda declared to Swamiji
“Millions will find God through this work. Not just thousands: millions! I have
seen it. I know!”
Joy to you,
Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
What is Kriya Yoga?
Padma and I (and others) just returned
from a four-day retreat at Ananda Village whose theme was the art and science
of kriya yoga. Kriya Yoga is the central practice of the meditation teachings
brought from India to the West by Paramhansa Yogananda and which are at the
heart of the spirituality of Ananda worldwide. This article was sent to Ananda members in the Seattle area.
Kriya Yoga is an advanced form of meditation known and
recognized throughout the world. It was re-introduced to the world in 1861 to a
humble Hindu accountant, Shyama Charan Lahiri (aka Lahiri Mahasaya) by the
mysterious Himalayan saint known only as “Babaji” who gave “Lahiri” permission to
initiate any sincere seeker of any faith whether monk or householder.
Through the traditional transmission from teacher to student-disciple-teacher,
the spread of Kriya Yoga was destined to encircle the globe. It is well suited
to the modern age where the emphasis is upon personal experience over belief. Paramhansa
Yogananda’s now famous life story, Autobiography
of a Yogi, put Kriya Yoga on the world map of popular meditation techniques.
Both by tradition and by intention, Kriya Yoga (KY) has been
given only to those who have received preparation and training using various
preparatory meditation techniques. Traditional yoga training
includes a healthy diet, right attitude and moderation in sense faculties,
study of spiritual teachings, and physical exercises in addition to a spectrum
of meditation and purification practices such as yoga postures and breath control.
The basic purpose of this training is both to test the
aspirant’s sincerity AND to prepare the body, nervous system, and the mind for
deeper and more advanced meditation practices and experiences. With the popularity of meditation ever growing, most people naturally seek physical and mental benefits. For this purpose, mindfulness techniques (such as the Hong Sau - "Watching the Breath" - technique taught by Yogananda) are more than adequate. Kriya Yoga is for those seeking enlightenment (using any number of other possible words or terminology).
The other prerequisite intended by the reintroduction of KY
into popular use is the recognition — part in gratitude and part as a
transmission of actual spiritual awakening — of the need for a God-realized
guru or preceptor. Such a person is no mere ordinary spiritual teacher; nor is
the intended transmission thwarted by the guru’s no longer being in living,
human form. Any technique given as initiation, including the Kriya technique, functions
as much as a “channel” for the transmission of higher consciousness as it does
a technique of meditation. Without the former, the latter is only partly
effective. As we are “Spirit” and not merely a body with a personality, so the
spiritual freedom we seek cannot come through merely material means or
psychological efforts alone.
The true Goal of advanced meditation practices transcends
ego, personality, body and matter: it “lives” in a realm without second,
without form, and in unconditional consciousness. Such a state is therefore its
source and being beyond ordinary perception must be channeled and received
bit-by-bit just as a computer or a cell phone conversation carries information
bit-by-bit. The technique is to the goal as a cell phone is to the substance of
a conversation. The cell phone alone cannot substitute for the conversation
even as the cell phone makes the conversation possible.
But as the guru or preceptor is a transmitting station, a
sub-station and transformer, for the ultimate Goal, we must recognize that the
preceptor, too, has no substantive personality. Our “discipleship” is not to a
person but to an “instrument” (a rather “conscious” cell phone tower, if you
will) sending us transmissions from Infinity. In this somewhat limited sense,
then, the technique itself can become our guide and guru because it allows the
transmission of higher consciousness to reach us. As Yogananda said of himself
in the role of guru, “God is the guru. I killed Yogananda long ago.” Just as we
can no more pick up our cell phone and call the President of the United States,
so we must call the switchboard and talk to one of God's reps! Eventually, by
building a relationship of trust with those who have His ear, we’ll get through
to “the top.”
Yogananda, as the guru, is no longer present in a human
form. Far too much is made these days by prospective and otherwise sincere
devotees of the fear or doubt surrounding a discipleship relationship with him since
it must needs be an inner relationship alone. Recognizing that through kriya
yoga practice one can consciously draw on the spiritual power of Yogananda’s
omnipresent consciousness is hardly a threat, except perhaps to the obstructive,
no-saying donkey we call the ego!
Nor does such a relationship prohibit the recognition of
other God-realized channels, for in God consciousness, there are no
distinctions and no competition for loyalty. Whether world teacher or unknown,
a free-soul is no more, or no less, free in God.
Given, however, that few devotees, even among the most
committed, can spend more than an hour or two each day in the practice of kriya
yoga, it must be recognized that the company of other (and especially more
advanced) devotees is one of the most important ways of drawing on that
spiritual transmission. This outward “transmission” is necessary so long as we
are “outward” in our consciousness and self-definitions. Serving the outward work
of the guru’s transmission with fellow devotees is easily one of the most
important ways to advance spiritually and transcend ego consciousness. It
doesn’t necessarily mean being a teacher: there are many ways to serve, each
according to what is best spiritually for him. If one’s life circumstances
permits such association but one balks at this opportunity, one would do well
to question his spiritual readiness.
A wonderful description of Kriya Yoga can be found in
Chapter 26 of “Autobiography of a Yogi.” The book can be read online for free
at www.Ananda.org. You can also watch
several video presentations by Padma and I on our own website: www.AnandaWA.org/kriya-yoga/ .
Sincerely and with unceasing blessings,
Nayaswamis Hriman and Padma
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Ananda : Who Are We?
This is an email sent to members of Ananda in Seattle, WA (USA) (today, May 20,2016)
|
We understand that Ananda is seen in various ways, some of which seem at opposites: to some, we are a specific spiritual path (kriya yoga) following the inspiration of a modern spiritual teacher (Paramhansa Yogananda). In this view we are not unlike churches or temples everywhere and in most faith traditions. Indeed, our legal name is Ananda Church of Self-Realization of Seattle! We are, in fact, recognized as a “church” by the I.R.S.
This message was sent to hrimananda@gmail.com from:
Hriman & Padma | friends@anandaseattle.org | Ananda Seattle | 23305 Bothell-Everett Highway | Bothell, WA 98021
|
Email Marketing by
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Friday, May 6, 2016
Divine Mother's Day!
Sunday, May 8 we celebrate "Mother's Day." It may interest you to research the history of Mother's Day. It is interesting though it is not my subject today.
Somewhere in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna laments the consequence to society when gender roles and energies are out of balance. Well there's good news and there's bad news and both are based in the same reality: gender roles on this planet ARE out of balance, but the good news is that society is heading in the direction of balance and equality.
Imagine if you were to step away from this earth and see the hot spots and troubles we face on this planet in an entirely new light. Conflicts in our homes, offices, schools, battlefields, cities.....anywhere where arguments, violence, disagreements and fighting take place ...... and ..... then .... Imagine these conflicts as reflecting an imbalance of male and female energies. I won't take the risk to attempt to define the positive and negative aspects of each gender. We know it when we experience it. Just take any conflict anywhere and see if you can't view the conflict as having its roots in a gender imbalance (one way or the other).
Just some of the ways today's conflicts can be viewed in gender terms:
At the Ananda communities, centers and groups, we honor the Indian tradition of approaching God in the feminine form (though not exclusively). Paramhansa Yogananda worshiped the goddess Kali of his Bengali heritage. "The mother," he said, "is closer to the children than the father." But these archetypal roles are changing, too. Nowadays, hardly a nod is given to that father who plays the role of "mom" while mother goes off to work.
However, it must also be pointed out that the highest view of gender roles is to transcend them altogether. This trend, too, in society can be seen: the trend toward gender neutral. One notable characteristic of the Ananda Communities (there are nine throughout the world) is the natural way men and women relate to one another without pretense or competition.
Let's, then, celebrate Mother's Day not only to honor our own mothers but to honor the Divine Mother who has descended to earth in many forms (both male and female) to invite us to live together with respect, harmony, and cooperation.
Happy Mother's Day!
Nayaswami Hriman
Somewhere in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna laments the consequence to society when gender roles and energies are out of balance. Well there's good news and there's bad news and both are based in the same reality: gender roles on this planet ARE out of balance, but the good news is that society is heading in the direction of balance and equality.
Imagine if you were to step away from this earth and see the hot spots and troubles we face on this planet in an entirely new light. Conflicts in our homes, offices, schools, battlefields, cities.....anywhere where arguments, violence, disagreements and fighting take place ...... and ..... then .... Imagine these conflicts as reflecting an imbalance of male and female energies. I won't take the risk to attempt to define the positive and negative aspects of each gender. We know it when we experience it. Just take any conflict anywhere and see if you can't view the conflict as having its roots in a gender imbalance (one way or the other).
Just some of the ways today's conflicts can be viewed in gender terms:
- Hierarchical political and leadership models being replaced by more cooperative approaches
- Warfare as a solution being mitigated by efforts to dialogue, respect, and appreciate differences
- Movement toward social, economic, and legal equality between men and women
- Religion vs spirituality (the latter being viewed as universal)
- Sustainable utilization of natural resources
- Holistic approach to health and healing
- Each of the above has multiple applications: e.g.: in sports, science, military, earnings
At the Ananda communities, centers and groups, we honor the Indian tradition of approaching God in the feminine form (though not exclusively). Paramhansa Yogananda worshiped the goddess Kali of his Bengali heritage. "The mother," he said, "is closer to the children than the father." But these archetypal roles are changing, too. Nowadays, hardly a nod is given to that father who plays the role of "mom" while mother goes off to work.
However, it must also be pointed out that the highest view of gender roles is to transcend them altogether. This trend, too, in society can be seen: the trend toward gender neutral. One notable characteristic of the Ananda Communities (there are nine throughout the world) is the natural way men and women relate to one another without pretense or competition.
Let's, then, celebrate Mother's Day not only to honor our own mothers but to honor the Divine Mother who has descended to earth in many forms (both male and female) to invite us to live together with respect, harmony, and cooperation.
Happy Mother's Day!
Nayaswami Hriman
Thursday, April 28, 2016
For Wisdom, too, We Hunger! The Battle of Life
Paraphrasing in the title above the words of Paramhansa Yogananda in "Autobiography of a Yogi," we are reminded that all the material success, pleasure, security and popularity in the world can never bring us lasting contentment and true happiness.
Long ago, in the mists of pre-history, on the eve of a great battle between the forces of light and darkness on the Gangetic plain of northern India, a warrior in his chariot, driven by his friend and mentor, pulled up to a stop between the lines of opposing warriors: thousands of warriors, war horses and elephants in armor, death dealing weapons, their sharp edged steel glinting in the sun, mighty chariots bedecked in regal symbols and flags of certain victory, all arrayed for the dreadful moment that was soon to begin.
Troubled by the sight of his own kith and kin against whom he must fight and the thousands he would send to their doom, this warrior, the famous archer, Arjuna, slumped in his chariot in despair for the ugliness, violence, and seeming uselessness of the pending slaughter.
"Why must life be such a struggle?" he, speaking for you and I, echoing humanity's ageless paradox, asked his guide and guru, the avatar and prince, Lord Krishna. Life is so unfair: sunny, today; stormy, tomorrow. Bright and promising in our youth; burdensome and complex in middle age; bitter tasting with regrets and ills in old age.
"I'm not greedy and don't need that much from life," he said. "Can't we just live in peace with one another?" "Can't we just talk this through?" But no, the Dark One is selfish and wants it all. He doesn't like you; he doesn't trust you; he wants you to disappear.
Oh think how easily the competition and rivalry among siblings, nations, the haves and have nots, and competitors could be settled to mutual benefit if we could just learn to get along! Can't the leaders of political parties and factions just sit down and work out compromises in the name of serving the citizens of the nation they are pledged to defend, protect and serve?
Why can't the Golden Rule hold sway over the hearts of all? I pray my way and you pray yours but we both pray our own way each and every day. So why are we not friends? Can we please the Lord of Life with our prayers at odds? Surely not!
Paramhansa Yogananda wrote: "The drama of life has for its lesson the fact that it is but a drama." It is not the destiny of this planet and its incarnate humanity to achieve ever-lasting peace. Who can persuasively say why this must be. But it has ever been so since dawn of time. He who rests comfortably on the laurels of his life may find his bed soon wreathed in the flames of destruction.
Life, earth, water, fire and air vie ceaselessly in endless ever-changing forms. Change is the constant of incarnate life.
The simple pleasures and goals of life all too often betray their true nature by overtaking our, at first innocent, enjoyment and modest intentions with ever increasingly obsessive indulgence and desire. The pleasure of drink becomes the horror of hangover and grows to a compulsive addiction; the pleasure of sex turns dark with selfishness, moods, fights and betrayal. The joy of romance may lead to family life, with its bills, screaming children, and fighting parents. The goal of financial success and security yields but ceaseless struggles to get ahead, the fruit of which is mounting debt and endless responsibilities eclipsing all hope of a balanced and stress-free life. Years of saving for retirement may bring early death from cancer. Such are in the insecurities inherent in material life.
Always the fly lands in the soup; the ants invade the picnic; the neighbor is a schmuck. Famine, war, plague and depression visit our lands with unpredictable predictability.
Yes: there are many moments of peace and enjoyment. But just as much, most people live for the future, always hopeful that things will be better. Self-reflection, however, and only a little is needed, prods us to stay focused and centered, for "you never know!" (My favorite saying!)
"The only way out is IN" it has been said. Not in an escape FROM reality but an escape TO reality. The center pole around which life swirls is our own self-awareness. When things are too good to be true, the "I" of the knowing Self knows this to be so. When things are bad beyond belief, the "I" knows this too "will pass." Only the Self endures all. You were you as a child; a teen; a young adult; and so, on to old age and to your deathbed. The great movie of your life is for your, and for others', entertainment. Have you enjoyed it (yet)?
We receive respite in sleep but no relief from the troubles that spring upon us by day. To those dogmatists of orthodox Hinduism who claim that bathing in the Ganges will forgive sins, the rishis, knowers of the Self, say that one's sins hide in the trees on the banks and jump on you when you come out of the Ganges! "There's no getting out of it, alive!" I like to say.
Is this all too pessimistic? Perhaps. But likely those content with life have either achieved the wisdom of which I speak, or simply haven't suffered in the way that millions, indeed billions, of others on this planet have or living in right now, today. Good karma, for now, but even now you are using up your storehouse of it.
When the soul awakens "to the anguishing monotony" of endless rounds of rebirth, then it cries out in rebellion for a way to freedom.
Imagine yourself gazing out at a glorious panorama: perhaps the Grand Canyon, a sunset at the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii or Big Sur, California! You gaze out, soon lost contemplation and enjoyment (meaning all thoughts have ceased), and suddenly the conscious enjoyment of the scene simply vanishes and there's nothing left but "I." Like staring out a window, daydreaming at first, but soon the daydream vanishes and you are simply "self" aware. No thoughts intrude, no object in the field of vision (or touch, taste, smell or hearing) is being studied......just "I, I, I, everywhere."
This is what it is like to return to your core; to your consciousness; to your spirit. It is not an end in itself; in fact, it's only a beginning. With practice, we call this meditation. Various techniques, especially using thought or focusing on the breath, exist to make this experience a regular and consistent foray into the land of Self-awareness.
As this experience deepens, our awareness of "I" grows beyond I and enters the field of being that encompasses past, present, future, all space and beyond. For many, indeed, most, this state of consciousness is approached in a devotional way. We seek the deep connection that we give a name, and even in image or symbol: God, Divine Mother, a deity, or our guru. Since "infinity" is a pretty large thing (being no-thing at all), there's no end to how it can approached or described, but, like good art and good food, we know it when we see or taste it!
To win the battle of life we need the right weapons; we need to be on the side of the good guys; and, we need to know what we are fighting for. Our most powerful weapon is the mind; it activates right attitude and right action. (To develop the power of the mind we have the tool of meditation.) The good guys are those seek harmony with all life and especially those souls who have achieved the goal. The goal is lasting happiness, unbroken by the vicissitudes, the ups and downs, and simple facts of material life.
Be not afraid, O Arjuna: take up the battle of life and be victorious!
Joy to you,
Swami Hrimananda
Long ago, in the mists of pre-history, on the eve of a great battle between the forces of light and darkness on the Gangetic plain of northern India, a warrior in his chariot, driven by his friend and mentor, pulled up to a stop between the lines of opposing warriors: thousands of warriors, war horses and elephants in armor, death dealing weapons, their sharp edged steel glinting in the sun, mighty chariots bedecked in regal symbols and flags of certain victory, all arrayed for the dreadful moment that was soon to begin.
Troubled by the sight of his own kith and kin against whom he must fight and the thousands he would send to their doom, this warrior, the famous archer, Arjuna, slumped in his chariot in despair for the ugliness, violence, and seeming uselessness of the pending slaughter.
"Why must life be such a struggle?" he, speaking for you and I, echoing humanity's ageless paradox, asked his guide and guru, the avatar and prince, Lord Krishna. Life is so unfair: sunny, today; stormy, tomorrow. Bright and promising in our youth; burdensome and complex in middle age; bitter tasting with regrets and ills in old age.
"I'm not greedy and don't need that much from life," he said. "Can't we just live in peace with one another?" "Can't we just talk this through?" But no, the Dark One is selfish and wants it all. He doesn't like you; he doesn't trust you; he wants you to disappear.
Oh think how easily the competition and rivalry among siblings, nations, the haves and have nots, and competitors could be settled to mutual benefit if we could just learn to get along! Can't the leaders of political parties and factions just sit down and work out compromises in the name of serving the citizens of the nation they are pledged to defend, protect and serve?
Why can't the Golden Rule hold sway over the hearts of all? I pray my way and you pray yours but we both pray our own way each and every day. So why are we not friends? Can we please the Lord of Life with our prayers at odds? Surely not!
Paramhansa Yogananda wrote: "The drama of life has for its lesson the fact that it is but a drama." It is not the destiny of this planet and its incarnate humanity to achieve ever-lasting peace. Who can persuasively say why this must be. But it has ever been so since dawn of time. He who rests comfortably on the laurels of his life may find his bed soon wreathed in the flames of destruction.
Life, earth, water, fire and air vie ceaselessly in endless ever-changing forms. Change is the constant of incarnate life.
The simple pleasures and goals of life all too often betray their true nature by overtaking our, at first innocent, enjoyment and modest intentions with ever increasingly obsessive indulgence and desire. The pleasure of drink becomes the horror of hangover and grows to a compulsive addiction; the pleasure of sex turns dark with selfishness, moods, fights and betrayal. The joy of romance may lead to family life, with its bills, screaming children, and fighting parents. The goal of financial success and security yields but ceaseless struggles to get ahead, the fruit of which is mounting debt and endless responsibilities eclipsing all hope of a balanced and stress-free life. Years of saving for retirement may bring early death from cancer. Such are in the insecurities inherent in material life.
Always the fly lands in the soup; the ants invade the picnic; the neighbor is a schmuck. Famine, war, plague and depression visit our lands with unpredictable predictability.
Yes: there are many moments of peace and enjoyment. But just as much, most people live for the future, always hopeful that things will be better. Self-reflection, however, and only a little is needed, prods us to stay focused and centered, for "you never know!" (My favorite saying!)
"The only way out is IN" it has been said. Not in an escape FROM reality but an escape TO reality. The center pole around which life swirls is our own self-awareness. When things are too good to be true, the "I" of the knowing Self knows this to be so. When things are bad beyond belief, the "I" knows this too "will pass." Only the Self endures all. You were you as a child; a teen; a young adult; and so, on to old age and to your deathbed. The great movie of your life is for your, and for others', entertainment. Have you enjoyed it (yet)?
We receive respite in sleep but no relief from the troubles that spring upon us by day. To those dogmatists of orthodox Hinduism who claim that bathing in the Ganges will forgive sins, the rishis, knowers of the Self, say that one's sins hide in the trees on the banks and jump on you when you come out of the Ganges! "There's no getting out of it, alive!" I like to say.
Is this all too pessimistic? Perhaps. But likely those content with life have either achieved the wisdom of which I speak, or simply haven't suffered in the way that millions, indeed billions, of others on this planet have or living in right now, today. Good karma, for now, but even now you are using up your storehouse of it.
When the soul awakens "to the anguishing monotony" of endless rounds of rebirth, then it cries out in rebellion for a way to freedom.
Imagine yourself gazing out at a glorious panorama: perhaps the Grand Canyon, a sunset at the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii or Big Sur, California! You gaze out, soon lost contemplation and enjoyment (meaning all thoughts have ceased), and suddenly the conscious enjoyment of the scene simply vanishes and there's nothing left but "I." Like staring out a window, daydreaming at first, but soon the daydream vanishes and you are simply "self" aware. No thoughts intrude, no object in the field of vision (or touch, taste, smell or hearing) is being studied......just "I, I, I, everywhere."
This is what it is like to return to your core; to your consciousness; to your spirit. It is not an end in itself; in fact, it's only a beginning. With practice, we call this meditation. Various techniques, especially using thought or focusing on the breath, exist to make this experience a regular and consistent foray into the land of Self-awareness.
As this experience deepens, our awareness of "I" grows beyond I and enters the field of being that encompasses past, present, future, all space and beyond. For many, indeed, most, this state of consciousness is approached in a devotional way. We seek the deep connection that we give a name, and even in image or symbol: God, Divine Mother, a deity, or our guru. Since "infinity" is a pretty large thing (being no-thing at all), there's no end to how it can approached or described, but, like good art and good food, we know it when we see or taste it!
To win the battle of life we need the right weapons; we need to be on the side of the good guys; and, we need to know what we are fighting for. Our most powerful weapon is the mind; it activates right attitude and right action. (To develop the power of the mind we have the tool of meditation.) The good guys are those seek harmony with all life and especially those souls who have achieved the goal. The goal is lasting happiness, unbroken by the vicissitudes, the ups and downs, and simple facts of material life.
Be not afraid, O Arjuna: take up the battle of life and be victorious!
Joy to you,
Swami Hrimananda
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