Vedanta Society of Toronto (Ramakrishna Mission) 120 Emmett Ave. Toronto, ON M6M 2E6 CANADA Tel.: 416-240-7262; Email: [email protected]; Website: www.vedantatoronto.ca Celebrating Golden Jubilee Year 2018 Newsletter September 2018 Words to Inspire “Always discriminate—your body, your house, the people around, and the world are all unreal like a dream. Always think that this body is only an inert instrument. And the Atman within is your real nature.” --- Swami Vivekananda Once Sri Ramakrishna said of an experience of his that projected, in which we have reflected ourselves; that is all we suddenly a boy came out of his body, a sixteen-year-old boy are doing. This is the idea. So Vedantists say since everything with a shining form; he also became a sixteen -year-old boy, is really an incarnation of divinity, if some incarnation smiles and the two began to run and play for a long time. He said back at us and says, ‘Yes, here I am; what do you want? Come there came a mist of joy; the whole world vanished away, and on!’ then he becomes the Divine Incarnation. And why not? they played like this. You might think that was some kind of Why not? All the talk about prophets who laid down the law, all fantasy. Nothing of the kind. Divine nature has a tendency to the struggles, and all the conceptions that we are steeped in see Itself magnified in infinite forms. That is what creation is. ignorance—all these ideas belong to a lower vision of He is the One, He sees Himself reflected in an infinite number ourselves—a lower vision which we can at this moment of forms; that is His joy. Just as a vain person will surround discard, because everyone is capable of a higher vision—now. himself with mirrors, look at his reflections all around him, and Even the greatest sinner can say, ‘Lord, I am a miserable admire his eyebrows or lips or eyes and curl his hair like this sinner; I know You are my only hope.’ In that very statement or like that—that is what the Lord is doing. That’s the great fun. the miserable sinner has access to the higher vision. He may You think that only the foolish enjoy such fun? Everybody is not use this grand language, ‘I am God’, but when he says, doing it; you understand another person to the extent that you ‘You are the only one I have’, he is making the same see yourself reflected there. Do you see anything more than statement. So you see, anyone is capable of having a higher your own reflection in another person? You don’t. That is why vision, only he may use different language. The moment he Christ said, ‘Judge not that ye be not judged.’ When you say, has that vision, the whole world changes for him. Why should ‘there is a bad man’, you are saying, ‘The badness of my mind we not have that vision? All this talk about who created this is comprehending the badness there’, and thereby you are world, who destroys it—this is the talk of of those who do not being judged. You are not judging the other person, you are want higher truths. But when they want divine truth they say, ‘I judging as much of yourself as you can catch in the other form. don’t care whether You create or destroy or don’t create or Everything is one’s own reflection, a judgement of oneself. Can destroy. I want You. Let us go and talk. Come on! No creation you deny this? If you think deeply, you cannot deny it. That is this time!’ That’s the language of the devotees’s heart to God; the mystery of the whole creation: we are the One. We are and it is said that in the Divine Incarnation that longing is seeing the dead part of our being as matter, dead matter. The fulfilled. It is said that God becomes incarnated not for sinners, ferocious part we are seeing as tigers and lions and so on. but for already illumined souls. You see, when God takes There is a good part also; we are seeing it as saints. That is human form, there is an intimacy in which the soul enjoys Him what is happening. If you go deep, deep down and investigate much more than in flights of ecstasy. And it is for these souls all the layers of your mind and see how consciousness that God becomes incarnated. It is said that it is the most functions in each of these levels, you will be astonished. Some intimate purpose of a Divine Incarnation. part of this mind is creating this vast universe; another part is From the book ‘Meditation ecstasy and illumination’ creating the gods. We are all seeing ourselves in so-called by Sw Ashokananda Pgs 224-227 others. There are no others, there are just infinite forms GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATION – Tickets details Vedanta Society of Toronto completes 50 years in 2018 since its inception in this country in 1968. Ticket details as follows: • The tickets priced at $50, $100, $150 can be purchased at the Living Arts Centre with their service charge of additional $2 per ticket, or online with their extra fee of $6 per ticket. • If you want to purchase the tickets from the Vedanta Society, please contact Abhijit @ 416-569-9401 or Asha Burman @ 416-494-1765 ; pay the amount (say 1 x $100 tickets +$2 = $102), by issuing cheque on “Vedanta Society of Toronto” and mail to reach us before September The8 ContemplativeOR in person at theLife Society between 5.30pm to 7.30pm any day by Cash/Cheque/Credit or Debit cards. The tickets can be collected Mostimmediately. Revered TICKETS Swami AtmasthanandajiWILL NOT BE ISSUED Maharaj AT THE GATE ON SEPTEMBER 15. Most• Kindly Revered note that Swami NO TAX AtmasthanandajiMaharaj RECEIPTS will be issued for ticketswas the purchased. present Donations President for theof theGolden world Jubilee-wide celebration Ramakrishna can be madeMath separately, and Ramakrishnafor which Tax Mission. receipts will In issuedthis article as usual. Most Revered Maharaj provides guidelines on how to lead a contemplative life citing • Please order and collect your tickets as early as possible to avoid disappointment, since these will be sold on first come first served manybasis personal and we doreminiscences not have any controlof senior on thismonks process, of the it Ramakrishnabeing managed traditionby Living who Arts leadCentre. inspiring spiritual lives. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT ! Contemplative Life SADHAN-BHAJAN or spiritual practice - japa, prayer and meditation – used to go out walking on the bank of the Kanchan River. Sometimes should play a very vital role in the lives of all. This is a sure way to peace he would ask if I would like to go with him. During the walk he would despite all the hindrances that one has to face in daily life. The usual suddenly ask: ‘What are you thinking as you are walking? Always think complaint is that it is very difficult to lead an inward life of sadhana or of Him, of God. “Ho jayeterenam vasa, ho jayeterenam vasa" - May contemplation amidst the rush and bustle of everyday life. But with your name become my refuge, may your name become my refuge.” earnestness and unshakable determination one is sure to succeed. Sri Whenever you walk here and there, you must mentally think like this.’ Ramakrishna has said that a devotee should hold on to the feet of the He would find a nice place to sit by the riverbank, and would soon close Lord with the right hand and clear the obstacles of everyday life with his eyes and start meditating. What could I do? Not knowing what the other. meditation was, I started imitating him. He would be very still and There are two primary obstacles to contemplative life. The first one is appear very happy. I imitated him, and in this process, discovered posed by personal internal weaknesses. One must have unswerving something happening within. The swami also allowed me to determination to surmount these. The second one consists of external occasionally spend the night at the Ashrama. There were not many problems. These we have to keep out, knowing them to be harmful rooms there, so he let me stay in his own room. And there I saw impediments to our goal. For success in contemplative life, one needs something wonderful. Whenever I happened to wake up, at midnight or earnestness and regularity. Study of the scriptures, holy company, and any other time, I found the swami sitting and meditating! I was amazed! quiet living help develop our inner lives. I have clearly seen that all the You see how holy company works! Swami Gadadharananda was great swamis of our Order have led a life of contemplation even in the nothing short of a saint. I have never seen him hating anyone. He was midst of great distractions. They lived this life amidst engagement in always ready to serve anybody in need. Even his way of collecting service to the Lord through whatever responsibility they were assigned. flowers, making garlands, and preparing for the arati impressed me. I I have been very fortunate to have come in close contact with some of could not help following him and assisting whenever possible. As the very illustrious monks of our Order like the revered Swamis mentioned earlier, even before I met Swami Gadadharananda, I used Virajananda, Achalananda, Shantananda, Jagadananda, to do puja at home.