Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,or stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf … Continue reading
Here Krisha encourages Arjuna to seek “the Self” (read Brahman or God) through meditation. The world without leads ultimately to restlessness and dissatisfaction. But those who practice meditation will be “free from affliction.” My favorite image here is that of the mind as an “unwavering flame in a windless place.” Seeking satisfaction in the world, we can be like a flame in the wind, this … Continue reading
In this excerpt, Krishna refrences some crazy Hindu beliefs about rebirth (whooops, that’s not very pc is it? – yes, I went there), and more importantly discusses the freedom that comes from being “established in the Self.” This is basically the Hindu way of saying “He must increase and I must decrease” or “not I, but Christ (God) in me.” The more you are filled … Continue reading
Although The Bhagavad Gita is not conventionally classified as the most authoritative writing in the Hindu Scriptures (as it is not a part of the Vedas), it may be the most influential and widely read. Embedded in the middle of the Mahabharata, the great battle epic of ancient India (think Iliad), the Gita is an extended aside that bears the vivid stamp of personal mystic … Continue reading
“The soul that is attached to anything however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for, until the cord be broken the bird cannot fly.” – St. John of … Continue reading
Synopsis: The Perennial Philosophy, which Huxley defines as “the metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and minds; the philosophy that finds in the soul something similar to, or even identical with, divine Reality; (and) the ethic that places man’s final end in the knowledge of the immanent and transcendent Ground of all being,” is the “philosophy of … Continue reading