The Greatest of All Wonders

By Moomookshoo

The inspiration for this poem comes from Swami Vivekananda's  talks on Maya given in the second volume of the Complete Works and King Yudhishthira's answer to Yaksha's question given in the Mahabharata.

Do you sometimes wonder
What is the greatest wonder?
The ancient world had its seven wonders;
The modern world boasts its own wonders;
The future may bring even greater wonders.
But, curiously enough, we miss the eternal wonders!
Isn't this  the greatest of all wonders?

We look around and find a world of constant change,
Nothing ever remains the same, except that things change.
Yesterday's child is today's  young man,
Only on the way to be tomorrow's old man.
What we today  fondly call "mine", many in the past called  "mine",
And many more will do the same, in the relentless march of time.
The present undoubtedly  is ephemeral,
Yet it feels  reassuringly  eternal!
Isn't this a wonder eternal?

Catching Train at Platform 9&3/4

By Swami Yogatmananda

Humans have a tremendous attraction for the mysterious. We all keep imagining the world that lies beyond ‘this world’ – i.e., the world which we can grasp and measure by our senses. Of course, we are conscious of a lot of things that elude the senses. For example, we all are conscious of beauty, joy, wonder, love, peace as well as their opposites. And of course, the most important and constantly experienced, yet most inexplicable phenomenon of ‘I’! But none of these can be precisely presented in terms of mathematical measurements or logical constructs. The expressions of these emotions can be understood as brain-functions and can thus be reduced to mathematical terms, but not the emotions themselves. The spiritual urge in us therefore wants to go beyond the boundaries of reason, which is truncated by the limits of whole numbers. Mathematical logic, which is also related to set theory, has to work within the whole-number frame-work: we cannot conceive of a set having 5&7/10 objects; it has to have either 5 objects or 6, but not ‘in between’. In arriving at a conclusion using formal logic, we have to go step 1->step 2 ->. . . .  If, for simplification, we put a step between steps 1 & 2, then that becomes step 2 and what was earlier called step 2 becomes step 3. Absolutely no possibility of having step # 1&1/2!

But suppose we can sharpen our basic faculties and are able to actually conceive a logical system that goes in between?

The Quest

By Arunim

I see it sometimes…
The fleeting glimpses
In that moment everything is right
Every pixel perfect

     Then a fog comes down
     Envelopes it all.
     Through it I keep searching…
     Tripping and falling.

I hear it sometimes…
The heavenly song
In that moment everything is right
Every note perfect

     Then a tumult rises
     Drowns it all.
     Through it I keep searching…
     Shouting and screaming.

Surrender and Service to Guru

by Romaharshā ("lady with horripilation")

Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati (also called “Maha Periva,” meaning “a great person” in Tamil), the former head of Kanchi Peetham in Tamil Nadu (India), was known for his simplicity, erudition in scriptures, and more importantly, as a God-realized soul. He traveled across India on foot, camping at various places while his traveling disciples arranged for the daily worship of Chandramouleeshvara (Shiva Lingam handed down the lineage by Sri Sankaracharya). The following is an incident narrated to me by a disciple of the great saint.

Once when in Andhra Pradesh (India), Maha Periva decided to camp for a few days. The disciples, to their predicament, found no bilva trees (whose leaves are used to worship Shiva) around. The next morning, Maha Periva was informed about the unavailability of bilva leaves. Eventually, someone spotted a basketful of bilva leaves outside the camp from an unknown source. That day's worship was done. The same event happened the next day too. On the third day, a 12-year old boy was found to be the source of those leaves. The boy was taken to the saint who thanked him for the leaves. He asked the boy how he knew to pluck the leaves in the right way to be suitable for the worship.

ABC ... of Life

by Devotee

Sri Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi in India is revered by millions all over the world as a saint or God Himself. His biography can be read in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sathya_Sai_Baba

I had never been a big follower of him - he has his fair share of ardent followers, admirers and detractors too. In fact, more often I was a skeptic of his motives, but so I was about every person who wore an ochre robe. But what I admire most and I have to admit is the serious devotion, goodness, simplicity, moral and spiritual discipline that his devotees imbibed through following him. In fact the reference given below is a testimony to this fact. I had seen numerous such people since childhood: a devoted family  who were poor financially and with a paralytic as the family head, but always had evening aarati and meditation on him at their home; another person who worked in office but distributed Baba’s pithy spiritual and moral short sayings to children of various schools during his off-work hours so as to inspire the children etc. Besides the devotional and spiritual focus, his organization also does a lot of welfare activities: They run schools/colleges, hospitals, build homes, lay water supply network to their home district (county) etc.

The Baba had given his teachings as ABC … of Life to a close devotee who presented the same to a large gathering [1]. The gist of that presentation is being given here:

ABC: Always Be Careful,  Always Be Cautious, Always Be Compassionate, Always Be Concerned, Always Be Charitable, Always Be Cheerful, Avoid Bad Company

D: Duty, Dedication, Devotion, Discipline, Discrimination

Summer Young Adult Retreat 2015

by Rishi

I really enjoyed the youth retreat in July. This was my first time coming to the retreat, and I am really glad I came! Every morning was 30 minutes of calming meditation followed by yoga. We had inspiring lectures on the topic, studying the mind, by Swami Yogatmanandaji. All of us youths got to spend time together through a little bit of karma yoga (service) at the center, as well as sharing our thoughts, talents, and experiences with each other. The food and overnight accommodations were beyond exceptional! I would like to thank Swamiji as well as all of the volunteers at the Providence center for this amazing learning and growing opportunity.

Retreat at Rochester

by Srikanth

Narada Bhakti Sutras retreat at Rochester was an enriching experience of devotion attended by about 25 devotees. Swami Yogatmanandaji followed the commentary written by Swami Bhuteshanandaji ("Narada Bhakti Sutras," published in 1998), who delivered lectures on this subject in Japan.

The Sutras do not conform to the literature rules seen in aphorisms that are characterized by their pithiness. The scripture itself begins with the necessary qualities of the student to read the Sutras and then deals with the description of the goal called supreme devotion, which is of a blissful, ever-satisfying and immortal nature; why devotion is superior to other yogas; Gopis of Vrindavan as the ideal devotees who on the face of it seem to be scandalous but their love is divine only because of their awareness of Sri Krishna being God incarnate; and how to practice devotion: both the do's and don'ts.

Narada asserts that the devotion does not require any other accessory like knowledge or other yogas for its inception. Even the definition of God, to whom the devotion is directed, is not necessary, as love is present in every person. The Sutras present the processes to cultivate devotion as applications of other yogas. However, Narada doesn't acknowledge his methods as the mainstays of other yogas, thereby maintaining the tenor of his Sutras where devotion was glorified up to the hilt, sometimes making you feel as though it's a bit of an oversell. He arbitrarily claims the path of devotion to be superior to other yogic paths, only because the goal and the means are the same (love) in the path of devotion unlike in other paths. Also the insinuation that other yogic paths involve pride, and God, therefore, prefers devotion is somewhat preposterous.