Picture of Swami Vivekananda at the Chicago Parliament of religions :1893.
Every Wednesday evening since the last three or more years a small group of people gather in the hall upstairs at the Vedanta society of Toronto. We sit around a table where a gentle, insightful and soft spoken monk Swami Kripamayananda Maharaj the head of the Toronto center reads to us a few pages from the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. This is followed by each of us young and old..great and small contributing our two cents worth of opinions on what we understand from the reading and how it helps us steer our way in the journey of our own lives..in the world and spiritually....
Our Swami K is often joined by Professor Kumar Murty Chairman of the Mathematics department of the University of Toronto. who is also a founder and trustee of the centre.They give us the Vedantic view of the study..The beauty of Vedanta is that it recognizes the intrinsic spiritual truths of every religion as true and beautiful and so the Vedantists are never limited in their views. The study also helps us understand our own minds and thoughts. The yogis say that one who can understand his own mind can also understand the mind and thoughts of others.
We students are everyday regular folks.. professionals, students, home makers, retirees and just the everyday Tom, Dick ,Raju..and his Uncle looking for answers in life..( however in due respect to their achievements at least half of this group ( not me ) hold doctorate ( PHD) degrees from some of the best universities )
..As a shot of `Spirits' uplifts the spirits of regular Bar goers..a shot of the spiritual uplifts this little group of regulars at the temple..
The miraculous powers such as clairvoyance, prophesy, healing , levitation, ESP Mind reading and other super normal phenomena are not figments of imagination but have been experienced by spiritual aspirants from all religions . There are a lot of people who do not even believe in a God and they have some powers.. Some examples of famous people who have displayed miraculous powers or something that looks like it in the present age are those of Yuri Geller, Satya Sai Baba, Benny Hinn, Trailoga Swami, Paramahansa Yogananda and hundreds of others who may or may not be related to any faith..Deep meditative states and mind and thought control gives one mastery over oneself and the elements says the book. In fact Swami Vivekananda himself said that for every true miracle and saint there are a hundred fakes and charlatans doing the rounds.
This year we met on September 18th after a break of two months for the summer. . Swami Vivekananda speaks from the point of view of Vedanta which is not limited to any one religion or spiritual path but is a logical study and explanation of all the experiences and their effects . Almost anyone with the right guidance and attitude can take on meditation following any one path of religion and discover it for himself..Raja yoga or the Royal meditative method of Kings has very powerful side effects and was not prescribed for every body..
Swami Kripamayananda Maharaj read the paragraphs on miraculous powers and said that true seekers of spirituality and Truth..do not stop here or want these powers he explained.. More people become addicted to the supernatural and lose touch with reality.
Even today serious aspirants attain to these miracles powers with regular practice of deep meditation and spiritual practices. Swami K explained that It is very difficult to go beyond that stage and only those who are true seekers really do so and find the final truth. Swami said that there are power and fame hungry men in all religions who have some miraculous powers and they ultimately mislead and harm innocent , gullible people with them. We all agreed.
I find this view very interesting because a lot of main stream religious movements today in N America, Asia, Africa and India have based their entre faith on miracles and super natural phenomena. Many people actually believe that if your church or temple has no miracles happening then there is no truth in the place..you are losing out on something..and some religious leaders in temples and churches go `haywire' with their miracle and supernatural claims..
With an open mind I have sometimes been witness to these meetings and congregations in certain ' Evangelist' spots of Toronto. I am totally skeptical about anyone who goes on stage and calls himself or herself a prophet or a God man. I however have a very nice opinion of the followers or believers I have seen at these places. For most of them seem to be very simple, open hearted and sweet individuals. Their faith and trust in whatever they see and hear is so true and so touching that I feel a deep affection and compassion for these true believers. The are also some of the nicest and greatest people I have ever met in any church or temple... or anywhere They treat each other with a lot of courtesy, respect and genuine kindness and I cannot say that even about many of the people of Vedanta temples. Many of us lack the sheer faith and guilelessness which the followers of many faith healing and miracle happening churches and temples display. In that respect I will say honestly that I have a lot of respect for these guys.. I am at the same time awestruck at those who can have this kind of blazing faith...I am also sorry for what they suffer at the hands of these self styled "Miracle makers'..I feel sorry for them..and the' False prophets' they believe in
Though Vedanta teaches us not be judgmental or critical of anybodies spiritual path because each is a stage..For me having being a journalist for many years and being trained to analyse the facts..I do not have such a high opinion or much respect for men or women who go on stage in a temple or a church calling themselves prophets and make tall `miracle claims' about themselves and their powers. In my opinion their claims will never stand the test of medical practitioner' or a ' No Tricks'camera. It is also interesting that these 'Miracle claiming prophets' stand on pulpits in N America and make tall claims about feats they performed in Africa or a small village in remote India ( that no body has heard about) and my question is .." so how about bringing a dead man back to life here in Canada and then I will believe you dude ( or Maam as the case may be )" . I see the guileless, innocent faith of the congregations, their true spiritual hunger and longing for their God and for signs of him and my only question is if you believe in the spiritual. and in a God. why do you constantly need miracles and 'Showtime' to entertain you all the while? .."Go deeper and deeper in your heart " as Sri Ramakrishna said ...But to be fair to the miracle guys and their followers give me a thousand of these rather than those who blow up themselves and others in the name of religion. As Swami explained in the class..If a person is genuinely spiritually hungry..he will sooner or later find the right guide and path..
To a question about why the incarnations and world saviors such as Christ , Krishna , Moses and others used their miraculous powers..Swami said that the God sent prophets.
had to work miracles to establish their authority .Their very lifes and miracles served the purpose of waking up the people of that society to the truth ..it proved that the prophets came with a higher, divine purpose and were not mere mortals..their job was to change and save mankind for all ages.."even saints who have those powers have often shunned them" said the Swami.citing the example of the Italian saint Father Andre."because these powers brings the wrong kind of people to the church and the temples...people who want miracles and not those who love or seek their God..." Swami K emphasized that SrI Ramakrishna Paramahansa on whose teachings the Vedanta societies of the West are based hated and shunned all miracles, miracle mongering and show and said it was not the right path to seek these powers.
We all talked about how the work place today has become one of such stress and melt downs and even extreme melt downs such as the one of Washington DC recently were a pattern of the times.and lack of spirituality in their lives...The Swami explained.." this is a stress ridden , individualistic society where no one has any kind of support..no family..no true friends. Relationships and marriages are mostly money and status driven and there is no spiritual upbringing, discipline or belief and thus people lose their sanity and their balance. Someone remarked that the DC killer had at some point tried to seek God..( mentions to his reading of Buddhist literature) and the Swami said..that if he had found a true spiritual mentor, path and guide maybe the man would have changed himself..Animeshda a business man spoke of how whenever he is bombarded with business worries he goes into a room and meditates and then is able to solve his problems with a calmer mind
The discussion continued on what comes after one rejects miraculous powers..? The study said..meditation has to become internalised..in which one can hold on to the idea of his God for a long period of time without break..( Samadhi)..then the point when the meditator and the Object ( his God) merge and finally ..total loss of identity and self and ego ..where even the seed of any further action that binds is destroyed and burned up..it is called Nirbija Samadhi in Sanskrit which means Seedless Samadhi..which goes beyond seeking any more fruits for your actions...When a person reaches this state he loses all sense of ego..he
cannot seek name or fame or anything even remotely related to his identity..such individuals bless the earth just by their existence . They steer far away from worldliness of any kind..in the history of India there are many many sages who were known to live far away in forests and mountains away from the eyes of the world..and yet their spiritual legacy lives on till this day..
This state of Samadhi is experienced only by one in millions since few can conquer the lust for power which miracles bring..( NOTE : None of us students claim to have ever had or reached any where near these states ( such as miracles powers etc)..for us..it is an awe inspiring journey into unknown dimensions and the discovery of the meaning of life through meditation.
Yet we all believe in the little miracles and blessings that happen around us all the time..personally in my own life..My father and grand Father were both men of truth integrity and great spirituality. Unknowingly the words they uttered about the future often became true..my fiancé Brian often has dreams that play out in real life and he can sometimes predict what is going to happen by the end of the day ..and it really does.. for me the only thing I can predict is when the telemarketing calls. will start coming in : (
Back to the class..the students enjoy hearing of higher truths from our Swami K . Like most people who are every day Joes and Jannardhans ..we have our ups and downs, successes and failures...joys and sorrows..the class helps us to deal with life and we strive to make ourselves into better persons with a more noble and peaceful purpose in life..
The other subjects covered were attachment and detachment. Words of wisdom..:and the spiritual nuggets were :
Love and serve every member of your family and those in your life with deep love and
affection and respect but know that finally you and they all belong to God..l The secret of spiritual masters is that they can love truly and deeply and also detach themselves when the times comes to give up..attachment and detachment like water on ducks back ..Finally the only truth is God
The mark of a holy man is that his anger is never harmful..he can never curse..his anger is like the mark of water....it dries up easily..
The mind is like clay..it takes on the shape of what you are constantly thinking of so beware of your thoughts..you become what you think of...
The class was followed by 'Prasaad' which is the sharing of consecrated food in a spirit of camaraderie and faith. Many people ask about this Indian or `Hindu' custom of dining at a temple. This is a practices which is actually a part of EVERY religion and faith.
It is one of the best parts of our spiritual heritage that just as Christ broke bread with his people and fed his followers , just as Ma Sarada fed her beloved devotees..our Swami K makes sure that each class has a very happy ending..no one goes home sad or hungry. we share our meal together in a spirit of friendship and brotherhood and.that is Vedanta ..at the Vedanta society of Toronto..Canada..
( Watch this space next week for more or the next class)
Picture of Swami Vivekananda in meditation..
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