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His Life and Philosophy II:
http://www.gandhiserve.org/audio/GANDHI_-_Life-Phil-II.ram
South Asia Books has their early winter discount
flyer
out right now, and one of my all time favorite books is
on sale. It is the Bhagavad Gita with commentary by
Mahatma Gandhi. His commentary is considered to one of
the most revered of modern commentaries, along with S.
Radhakrishnan's commentary. It is at a rediculously low
price of 4.50.....that price is just nuts, and everyone
would do well to get a copy of it. The number of South
Asia Books is (573) 474-0116. Tell them you want to order
from the 'Early Winter 2002' flyer, #137.....
_______________________________________________________________
GILL EARDLEY
from Allspirit
From: 'Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers'
by Thich Nhat Hanh
In East Asia, we speak of the human body as a
mini-cosmos. The cosmos is our home, and we can touch it
by being aware of our body. Meditation is to be still:
to sit still, to stand still, and to walk with
stillness. Meditation means to look deeply, to touch
deeply so we can realize we are already home. Our home is
available right here and now.
Jesus Christ practiced meditation. When John baptized
Jesus, he made it possible for the Holy Spirit to be
born, or manifested, in Jesus the human being. Then
Jesus went to the mountain to spend forty days in
retreat. He practiced meditation and strength- ened that
Spirit in order to bring about a total transformation.
Although it's not recorded in what position he practiced,
I am sure he did sitting and walking meditation, and
that he practiced looking deeply, touching deeply, and
nourishing the energy of the Holy Spirit in him. Maybe
he sat under a Bodhi tree like the Buddha.
Jesus had the power to bring joy, happiness, and healing
to others because the energy of the Holy Spirit was full
inside him. We have the seed of the Holy Spirit in us.
In the Buddhist circle we speak of Buddhahood. We speak
of mindfulness. Mindfulness is the energy that helps us
be still; to be present to look deeply and touch deeply
so that we begin to understand and realize that we are
home.
____________________________________________________________________
VICKI WOODYARD
Speaking to the Soul
As I sat in my chair this morning, I was thinking of
Ramana Maharshi and how his presence is still felt by
many people. This is because he was speaking to the
soul.
Speaking to the soul is something that all awakened
beings do. Having seen through the illusion of
separation, they transmit truth by just being in the
silence, at home in the Self.
Completion comes first, not last. It involves conscious
wholeness, which has the power to heal. Too many
would-be spiritual students forget that the mind must be
left behind.
Speaking to the soul of someone means that no response is
required. Fullness is felt, accepted and returned in
silence. Vibrations of value don't come cloaked in
noise. Words have their place, which is as an
instrument, but how many people use them like that?
A realized being uses words to end your sentence of
thinking you are separate from him/her. They never
expect a response, for that would imply incompletion. If
and when you find a true teacher, they will be
transmitting the whole truth and nothing but the truth
and you will know it.
Vicki Woodyard
http://www.bobwoodyard.com
JOHN METZGER
Greetings Vicki,
Silence vibrating is Creation
Silence flowing is Love
Silence shared is Friendship
Silence seen is Infinity
Silence heard is Adoration
Silence expressed is Beauty
Silence maintained is Strength
Silence omitted is Suffering
Silence allowed is Rest
Silence re-circled is Scripture
Silence preserved is Our Tradition
Silence given is Initiating
Silence received is Joy
Silence perceived is Knowledge
Silence stabilized is Fulfillment
Silence alone is.
~ Author Unknown ~
http://www.puresilence.org/a_tradition_of_silence.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
The November issue of the TAT Forum is now on-line at
http://www.tatfoundation.org/forum.htm
__________________________________________________________________________
"V. Krishnamurthy"
Subject: Re: Gita Satsangh: Chapter 9 - Verses 7 to 10
(from the Advaitin list)
Namaste
We continue our thoughts on Sloka 10.
The declaration that the Lord is the Ultimate
Agent-Provocateur of everything in this universe is
indeed a difficult pill to swallow by those who want to
swear by the Free Will of Man. The concept of Free Will
in Hindu Philosophy is too subtle to admit of being boxed
in a single pigeon-hole. Even in our day to day
activities we come across incidents which bear testimony
to the presence of a holistic objective in the powers
that are beyond us. I myself could give you probably a
dozen or so of incidents and sequence of incidents in my
life and lives known to me, that speak very powerfully of
The Power that is beyond us and that works our way
through life as an ‘adhyaksha’ (cf. Gita IX – 10).
But I found a graphic description of such an incident in
quite an unexpected source. It is a book entitled
‘Miracles’ whose author I failed to note. I bumped into
the book in a Library. It says that the following is a
true story.
Two American youngsters living 100 miles south of New
York plan to spend a Saturday afternoon in a public park
near New York along with some of their friends (living
North of New York) who promise to join them at a
specified time right at the entrance to the park. The
plan is perfectly made, almost to the minute. But the
two, on their way to New York meet, first with a tire
burst (1), then half-way up with a hold-up (2) by no less
than the sheriff of the area for speedy driving – both
these incidents taking away two hours from their
schedule. And then, after the hold-up, when they start
the car, the engine refused to ignite (3) and this caused
a further delay of another two hours or so because the
cause was traced to battery failure. But since they were
only 25 miles from the park they decided to give a try
even after the delay, even though they fully knew that
their friends might have given them up by that time. But
soon after, they had to negotiate a long diversion of the
route in view of a nasty accident (4) on the highway
ahead of them. And this diversion delayed them as much as
another hour, because they lost their way (5)!
Thus there were five coincidences all working against
them and when they finally reached the park it was late
evening and in fact the park was closing its gates. Still
they entered and wanted to look for their friends. The
park was deserted since everybody had left. They were
about to curse their fate and return to their car when
they heard cries for help from a lake in the park.
Rushing there they saw two boys almost drowning. They
jumped in and being first-aid-certificate holders
themselves they were able to save the two little boys of
ten and twelve from certain drowning and death. They
thought of the sequence of events that happened to them
during the whole trip. A few minutes earlier they had
thought that their journey was nothing but futile, and
that their day had been spent in vain, but now it became
clear it was not so; because if they had not arrived at
that late hour near that lake, those two boys would have
died by drowning!
This is a true story. It appears the Almighty has a
purpose for everything! (Sloka 10 !). Then what does it
mean to say ‘udAsInavad-AsInaM’ (Sloka 9) ? This
conundrum is the YOGAMAYA (VII – 25) of the Lord!
praNAms to all advaitins
profvk
----------
Prof. V. Krishnamurthy
My website on Science and Spirituality is
<http://www.geocities.com/profvk/ You can access my book
on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and
Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's
manuscripts from the site.
