A Living Flame--Shape is Gone, Spirit Continues to Shine: Pt. 1

By Swami Yogatmananda

Living Flame- This was part of his email name - Father (then Bishop) Paul livingflame03@yahoo.com. 

If I remember right, it was sometime in 2005 (if not even before) that I got to meet him at the Boston center of Vedanta, introduced by a close devotee from Boston, Srinivas Gandhi. He knew Father Paul since 1999 and admired his sincere approach to religious practice that did not shy away from going beyond the cultish limitations.

The most important point that struck a common chord between myself and Father Paul was the conviction that God can actually be seen/experienced, and various religions are the paths enabling human beings to do that. Father Paul had a tumultuous relationship with the Catholic Church, in which he was initially ordained. I did not ask much about his breakup from it or from another order. We were both interested in moving forward on the path to realize the goal - to see the God.

He had tremendous admiration of Sri Ramakrishna born out of the fact that Sri Ramakrishna actually saw God; nay was ever merged in God. ‘I am convinced that who was born as Jesus was also born as Sri Ramakrishna’ – he declared to me several times and also spoke in lectures/discourses he gave at the Vedanta Society. Soon he became a regular guest speaker here. He had also studied the lives of many Indian and European saints and gave very inspiring speeches on them.

Thoughts on Discipline and the Sound-Brahman

By Brahmachari Aadi

While working on our mind's discipline, the progress seems slow at times, but just look at the heights covered by that ideal of discipline! Ah, it's hard to see all the way up there. The mountain breaches the cloud's mist and extends onwards and upwards. An electrifying silence touches the onlooker.

That Mount Meru (the mythical high mountain mentioned in Puranas) is difficult to measure. How to know if one will summit it in this life? We cannot know, but we can surely determine what the next steps are and proceed methodically. Then we will not lose our footing. Swami Brahmananda says, "Follow your routine." Before climbing El Capitan without a harness, the renowned climber Alex Honnold visualized himself climbing the entire route, which extends 3,000 feet up through dozens of subsections that the body must be meticulously maneuvered through. Honnold completed this mental working out of his path and exact movements over the course of about a year, and in the month before the climb, he removed all social media from his phone and stopped responding to emails so that nothing would vie for his attention. By the time he was to begin the ascent, every movement had been memorized through his disciplined visualization.

Reflections on Swami Satprakashananda's Reminiscence of Maharaj, part 2

 By Br. Aadi

Staying with Maharaj began to kindle a light in Harish's heart. Maharaj told Harish, "You will have a new life," and he began to feel that the spiritual realm was an open book. This is a wonderful idea that the meaning of the universe can be read. It is a poetry of Brahman. And we can also write it. If we cannot read the universe then we cannot read a book either, then words are empty and dry. By reading the universe we see the commonality of all ideas, events, and people, and we get to know the Writer of it all. Until then, our lives are made up of disconnected chapters, more like a pile of unfinished stories than a book. The love of God, the continuous attention to That thread which runs through the happy and sad chapters of spiritual lives, is the strong spine holding together the pages of the good book of His life.

Reflections on Swami Satprakashananda's Reminiscence of Maharaj, part 1

By Br. Aadi

Swami Satprakashananda was exposed to Ramakrishna Mission's ideals from a young age. Then he was called Harish, and the desire kindled in him to meet the living beings from whom these ideals emanated. He went to the field of the Lila and first saw Holy Mother and M. A day or two later, he went to Belur Math to see Maharaj, a.k.a. Swami Brahmananda. When Swamis Prabhavananda and Akhilananda first went to Belur Math, Maharaj was the very first person that they saw. Young Harish had the same luck but said that he would have taken this auspicious event as a mere coincidence if not for having heard that those two had the same experience. 

Harish saw Maharaj irregularly for the next few years; whenever he was at Belur Math, Maharaj happened to be away. During that time Harish became close with Swami Premananda. One day at Dacca, Swami Premananda introduced him to Maharaj, saying that this boy is trying to secure a plot of land for the mission. Maharaj said that he knows this boy from a few years back.  He asked Harish if he could find a place for us. Harish initially thought about the land that he was trying to secure and, a bit confused, replied "It is all for you, Maharaj." Thinking back later, he saw the hidden and more real meaning of Maharaj's question. It's not that Maharaj wasn't asking about the land, but that more importantly he was asking if Harish could find a place in his heart for the Divine presence. Maharaj's words often had a deeper meaning that would only be revealed some time afterwards.

The Beloved Faucet

By Juhi

There is a water tank on the roof of a house and multiple faucets throughout the house connected to the tank. A man who is thirsty can approach any faucet, receive the water and be fulfilled. What is essential is the tank, the choice of a particular faucet is inconsequential. Similarly, in spiritual life, Sri Ramakrishna = Sat-chit-ananda is the tank, and the Guru is the faucet. Only Sat-chit-ananda can quench thirst; the Guru is only one of many possible connections.

But how many even recognize their thirst? And how many feel the presence of water and understand that a faucet can give them water? How many Saunakas (of Mundaka Upanisad) are there who approach Angiras saying, “What will quench my thirst? I know you can quench my thirst, please quench it.”

A Learning and Fun Weekend At Vedanta Providence

By Aishanee Acharyya

This was my second young adult retreat, and I had a really good time. From climbing trees and doing cartwheels in the park to doing karma yoga sweeping the chapel, it was a lot of fun. The topic of compassion felt really relevant and important. I will be trying my best to implement some of the main things I took away from the past few readings and lectures. Of course, there were the lessons relating to compassion, but I also learned other good habits during my stay. I wanted to gain discipline regarding sleep and prayer in my life, and this weekend I did manage to do that with strict bedtimes and 5:45 a.m. wake-ups. I also built my stamina for focused meditation, which is a habit I want to continue practicing at home. 

As for compassion, I feel that I got a good grasp of not only what it means but also how I can change my understanding of the world to be a more compassionate person. Compassion comes from a sense of unity and oneness amongst all beings. The biggest obstacle to compassion and acquiring knowledge is having an ego. Even thinking that “I am trying to help or save the world” shows ego, because it implies that we feel we are mightier than God and are criticizing God’s creation of the world. 

Gems from Young Adult Retreat 2022

By Kanna Pichappan

Last weekend, I had the good fortune of being one of the participants in the Young Adult Retreat, centered around the topic of compassion. We were surrounded by opportunities to learn: the content of readings, the compassion of volunteers, the questions of peers, and the ideas of lectures.

Below, are a few of the gems I learned over the weekend:

•  What is compassion? Compassion is “feeling together.” It is when one body is in a situation, and another body feels for and acts on it. 
  
•  Where is the Oneness that causes us to feel compassion? Our Oneness is seen in how all of us make choices that are driven by the desire to increase happiness and eliminate suffering. For example, we all may choose to have a different type of cream cheese with our bagels in the morning. However, we all choose the cream cheese that we feel will make us the happiest.