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 Newsletter July 2019 Words to Inspire “It is very difficult to understand that God can be a finite human being and at the same time the all-pervading Soul of the universe. The Absolute and the Relative are His two aspects. How can we say emphatically with our small intelligence that God cannot assume a human form?” --- Sri Ramakrishna Significance of Spiritual Initiation In the Bhagwad Gita it is said, 'This is never to be spoken by you from it. We should not forget that spiritual initiation is a very to one who is devoid of austerities or devotion, nor to one who significant event in life. So, it should be taken with all seriousness. does not render service, nor to one who cavils at Me.' (Ch.18 vs We should not forget that spiritual initiation is a very significant 67). Once the field is ready, one develops love for the name of event in life. Let not initiation be looked upon as a status symbol. God. This is to be remembered by both – those who are seeking Let us not forget that it is a means of God-realization only. That diksha and also those already initiated. Hence it is said in the the moment of initiation is a unique one, should be borne in mind. scriptures that one must be humble, inclined to serve, and must Suppose the guru is speaking something that requires close keep one's life as pure and stainless as possible. attention, but some are inattentive and are thinking of something Before being initiated, our hearts are to be purified to receive else. I mention it to drive home the point that one must have a initiation. Before installing the deity, the temple and its reverential attitude towards initiation. Another point that we want, surroundings must be cleaned well. Only then can we think of the the candidates must be familiar with the life and teachings of Sri installation ceremony. Receiving mantra signifies installation of Ramakrishna, the Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda. This God in one's life. All preparations are aimed only at this. Without helps the recipients to grasp our instructions easily. compliance to these conditions, or even being indifferent to them, The Upanishads declare: 'Knowledge gained from a teacher alone we cannot really install God in our heart. This must be especially becomes fruitful.' The idea behind it is that the guru not only gives borne in mind. the mantra but along with it he transmits some of the spiritual Our conduct should be in tune with our state of being initiated. I power that he possesses to the disciple. To kindle a soul, it is recommend following five codes of conduct at the time of initiation. necessary that there must be some soul that must have already There is nothing secret about it. Everybody should know it. Hence, been kindled. Without that sort of living link, transmission of I speak for everyone. No one can move towards God unless he is spiritual power is not possible. Another point comes to my mind in pure in conduct. To proceed towards God the conduct must be this connection. There are innumerable mantras. If they are all pure. placed before us, we will get confused as to which ones are to be The Sanskrit word diksha or initiation means to take the vow of accepted and which ones are to be rejected. To remove such a making a beginning. What is a mantra? A mantra is a spiritual or confusion the best principle would be to follow the dictates of a mystical formula, the repetition of which brings about liberation competent person who has direct knowledge of them. That person from bondage of ignorance, that is, liberation from the chain of is the guru. births and deaths. That is the purpose of mantra-diksha. A mantra From the book 'Spiritual Initiation-what it is' by Swami is to be preserved very carefully so that no change may occur in Bhuteshananda. its form and character. Nothing should be added or subtracted KARMA YOGA ACTIVITIES It is a great opportunity to provide your services to the Vedanta Society of Toronto. We have started creating groups of volunteers to administer and take care of few operations - maintenance related work in the ashram. Kindly come forward and volunteer time towards maintaining and managing the facilities. If interested in volunteering, kindly send email or contact Abhijit Bhattacharya on 416-569-9401, indicating the Services that you are interested in and days you can be available for volunteering. THANK YOU!! Hints to Seekers of God-Self Enquiry Sri Ramana Maharshi Question: How is one to think of the Self? would discover that just as it is the first thought to appear, so it is the last to disappear. This is a matter which can Maharshi: The Self is self-luminous without darkness and be experienced. light and is the reality which is self-manifest. Therefore, one should not think of it as this or that. The very thought Q: You mean that it is possible to conduct such a mental of thinking will end in bondage. The purport of meditation investigation into oneself? on the Self is to make the mind take the form of the Self. M: Certainly. It is possible to go inwards until the last In the middle of the heart-cave the pure Brahman is thought, 'I', gradually vanishes. directly manifest as the Self in the form "I... I... I... I." Q: What is then left? Will a man then become quite Question: What exactly is this Self of which you speak? unconscious or will he become an idiot? If what you say is true, there must be another self in man. M: No. On the contrary, he will attain that consciousness Maharshi: Can a man be possessed of two identities, two which is immortal, and he will become truly wise when he selves? To understand this matter it is first necessary for has awakened to his true Self, which is the real nature of a man to analyse himself. Because it has long been his man. habit to think as others think, he has never faced his 'I' in the true manner. He has not a correct picture of himself, Q: But sure the sense of 'I' must also pertain to that? he has too long identified himself with the body and the M: The sense of 'I" pertains to the person, the body and brain. Therefore I tell you to pursue this enquiry 'who am brain. When a man knows his true Self for the first time I?' You ask me to describe this true Self to you. What can something else arises from the depths of his being and be said? It is That out of which the sense of the personal takes possession of him. That something is behind the 'I' arises and into which it will have to disappear. mind; it is infinite, eternal, divine.... When this happens, Q: Disappear? How can one lose one's sense of a man has not really lost himself; rather, he has found personality? himself. Unless and until a man embarks on this quest of the true Self, doubt and uncertainty will follow his M: The first and foremost of all thoughts, the primeval footsteps through life. The greatest kings and statesmen thought in the mind of every man, is the 'I' thought. It is try to rule others when in their heart of hearts they know only after the birth of this thought that any other thought that they cannot rule themselves.... What is the use of can rise at all. It is only after the first personal pronoun 'I' knowing about everything else when you do not yet know has arisen in the mind that the second personal pronoun who you are? People avoid this enquiry into the true Self, 'you' can make its appearance. If you could mentally but what else is there so worthy to be undertaken? follow the 'I' thread until it led you back to its source, you The Need for a Guru Every soul is destined to be perfect, and every being, in the end, will attain the state of perfection. Whatever we are now is the result of our acts and thoughts in the past; and whatever we shall be in the future will be the result of what we think and do now. The soul can only receive impulses from another soul, and from nothing else. The person from whose soul such impulse comes is called the Guru — the teacher; and the person to whose soul the impulse is conveyed is called the Shishya — the student. To convey such an impulse to any soul, in the first place, the soul from which it proceeds must possess the power of transmitting it, as it were, to another; and in the second place, the soul to which it is transmitted must be fit to receive it. The seed must be a living seed, and the field must be ready ploughed; and when both these conditions are fulfilled, a wonderful growth of genuine religion takes place. Such alone are the real teachers, and such alone are also the real students, the real aspirants. All others are only playing with spirituality. They have just a little curiosity awakened, just a little intellectual aspiration kindled in them, but are merely standing on the outward fringe of the horizon of religion.