Newsletter May 02, 2012

Weekly Classes

(All classes given by Swami Yogatmananda, unless otherwise stated.)

Bhagavad Gita class – April 27, Friday

Ch 13, Verse 27-35:  God is not something that’s distant and separate from us, but within us.  We are all governed by “Parameshwara,” or the Supreme Lordship.  The governance of the Lord cannot be avoided or transcended, because Godrules from within. The sky doesn’t get tainted by the clouds which appear, dissolve, and re-form; so, too, is the Self unchanging and eternal, unaffected by the comings and goings of the thoughts, mind, and body. 
In the final verses of this chapter, Sri Krishna explains that the aspirant who is able to see the One Self in all beings, alone sees the Truth.  Ignorance of this truth causes us to see a division between ourselves and the world.  But the Self is One, pure and uncontaminated and illuminating all forms, just as one sun illuminates all parts of the world.  True spiritual practice is knowing that we are that Self, that we are not the body and mind.  We should strive to see the distinction between the body and our true, divine Self, to hold on to the unchanging in the midst of the changing.  Once this knowledge percolates through our whole being and informs our every action, the false division between us and the world vanishes and thus our desires vanish, and we will experience true freedom, bliss and peace.

Sri Sankara and Buddha - April 29, Sunday

Sankara and Buddha lived about 1,200 years apart, yet both oriented their spiritual messages in a rational manner.  Such a rational method is still needed today, as when we are presented with a system based on cause and effect, it is understandable to us; then we can have faith in it and practice it with conviction. Religion then becomes acceptable to us when it is democratic and each person can attain the Divine.  Buddha preached a doctrine that was easy to understand and had no "middle man" in the form of a priest; rather, he taught each person to depend on himself and the four Noble Truths, succinctly put: life is suffering; there is a cause for the suffering; suffering can be removed; and there is a way to remove the suffering.  Buddha did not preach God, and yet he himself was deified into a God. His teachings spread through enormous love and compassion because they were easy to understand. As highlighted in Swami Satprakashananda's book, Swami Vivekananda's Contribution to the Present Age, Sankara took up the metaphysical questions on which Buddha had kept Noble Silence. Sankara did not deny God, but emphasized that He is none other than our true Self. His logic was basically as follows: The perceived can be doubted because it depends on the sense organs, which are unreliable; thoughts are also always changing, so they too are unreliable; but the existence of the doubter can never be doubted. Sankara gave full scope to all worship, popularized the Bhagavad Gita, and accepted the authority of the Vedas. Where Buddha left off, Sankara took up: That which does not come does not go away.  It Is. We are not the changing things; we are the ever-Present, the ever Blissful.

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – May 01, Tuesday

Sri Ramakrishna is trying to share the bliss of Satichidananda with His devotees. His personality is devoid of any ego or desire except the desire to share the bliss of divinity. For the majority of people, the world is centered on ego and hence everybody's world is different. Sri Ramakrishna had no ego and hence there remained no distinction between me and the world. This background must be kept in mind while studying the Gospel.
Sri Ramakrishna was narrating the visions he had regarding the devotees. He had seen most of His devotees like Balram, M, and Keshab Chandra Sen. etc. in those visions, even before they came to Him. We depend upon the sensory organs to acquire any knowledge. Therefore that knowledge is limited to the scope of time and space. Sri Ramakrishna is trying to convey us deeper levels of realities which are difficult to understand with the limited instruments of knowledge. We all can perceive those deeper realities by detaching ourselves from time and space. There are different scales of perception. Sri Ramakrishna could see all those scales but we get attached to only one.
He also narrated His vision about Narendra and His prayer to Divine Mother to keep Narendra entangled in maya.