I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.
I do not fully agree with this quote, but do agree with the direction it is leading. My point is that truth dwells within your soul, i.e. at the depth of your being. Only if you listen to that will your heart be true.
And only if you think in accord with what such a heart knows, will your mind be clear, true, and pure. Only then will it be your genuine Church.
No matter how well intended, a mind overtaken by creed is no Church. Just as a church overtaken by creed, is no house of God.
No matter how pious it presents itself to be, a life lived in servitude to such superficiality is not a path to God. It is a path to the underworld. It is the path, not of the righteous, but of the coward fancying himself righteous, but setting himself up for a terrible awakening to come.
To live true to the whispers of your soul is to live true to your God. It is a path strewn with the temptations of simplistic ways out that present themselves as proper, yet lead to a barren wasteland.
A mind not in accord with the heart of your being is not your Church. It offers innumerable rationalizations, which are, in actuality, only escape hatches to oblivion.
This all has more to do with the listener than what they are listening to. A truly enlightened individual sees truth everywhere. Yet even the unenlightened may believe they see that also. Echoes of truth perceived as truth hold truth at bay for lifetimes. Religion, all religion including Hinduism, is expressed through the eyes of the beholder. Yet the root of every religion is Truth.
The ‘ace in the hole’ for a Vedic Temple is that the chants, etc. are cognized and thusly pure. However, what is received and done with them is still up to the beholder. But in the case of Vedic cognition, at least the direct pipeline to the absolute is in tact. Yet it is up to you to find truth. It can not be spoon fed. Best to start with the purest source available and proceed forward.
Admittedly, just as every drop of water returns to the ocean, every path leads to God. Yet some drops of water take a direct route to liberation, while other get stuck in mud puddles for time immeasurable.
How do the prayers and offerings and chants in the temple differ from a creed in a church?
So, if we are being asked by in laws to perform religious ceremonies with our children to “save” them, do we decline, or do it, for the sake of there resting in a place of harmony/contentment?
These are valid questions. But my words only elicited questions that have already been there. People ask for concrete answers where there are none. Many may lie to you by providing simplistic answers. I will not do that. I give you tools to reflect and ponder. As wisdom blossoms through that process, you will handle them better. But there is no bottom line. All you can do is your best. What I offer will help you to evolve, that is to say, will help you to make your best better than it was. It is a process. It has no handle, no quick fix, no simple answer. So the most honest and sincere responses to both Bautista and Logan are one in the same. Namely, YES, correct. exactly. Life is what it is.. a paradox. You may feel I am not giving you what you want or need. But if you are understanding me, you will know that I am giving you what everyone needs… the truth. The truth is that wisdom dwells within you and you must find it there. Your questions are excellent. Now reflect and ponder. Consider my words. Then make your decision of what way to go, then go that way, see what happens, and adjust accordingly as needed. I tell you this as an invitation to find your self… temples, techniques, etc.etc. are simply tools to help you do that. It is up to you to use them wisely
This is all very troubling. The entire discussion seems too ambiguous and just the beginning of what should be a larger discussion. Where is the razors edge of discernment ? How does someone know that the chants, mantras, etc that any priest is performing are truly “pure” and not introducing a distortion that can lead to further complications and problems ? There is still a required “leap of faith” to even enter a temple and then again to proceed with any activity designed by even the most well intended priest.
So, if anyone enters without taking basic precautions, doing their research, educating themselves, then they seem to be casting their fate to the winds.
I am very worried about my teenage daughter finding “truth dwelling within her soul, i.e. at the depth of her being. Only if she listens to that will her heart be true.” If she is just listening to her heart and “her” truth dwelling in her soul then she will have an excuse for nearly anything. This is a very delicate area. She is a very sober and smart girl, but I am seeing areas where she is so vulnerable. If I tell my daughter that the chants performed in a Vedic Temple are pure, she will ask the obvious questions and I will lose all credibility with her. She will call me a believer.
I will be blogging on this in the next day or so and if people desire, we can discuss it at the upcoming San Francisco class, November 4-6.
Thank you for the response. Unfortunately we will not be attending class in November due to a family wedding but, would love to hear more on this.
The only comment I can contribute is from the experience of sitting through yagyas and the Temple Consecration. I was raised Roman Catholic and a part of me feels sadness that I no longer feel comfortable attending Mass. I am not sure if that is because of some deeper truth inside me. At one time the rituals I felt were so beautiful seem like hollow motions? This started to happen before I be
However sitting in Mount Soma vedic ceremony I honestly have no idea what the Priest may be saying. (every once in awhile I cath a name of a God or Goddess) I do not understand the actions He is perforning. However it was the most life changing experience for me that I felt in every fiber of my being. I hope it was not oblivion…it was a place I wanted to be forever.
I also attended a cermony a long time ago with my daughter’s grammar school class at a temple in MA outside Boston. I remember being touched but at the time it was more perhaps novelty? I do not know but I do remember I did not want to leave the Temple.
It may not be possible for everyone to get to Mount Soma to attend the Vedic Temple but I hope that sometime in your lifetime you can get there. This past Mother Divine weekend I had different ceremonies performed for each member of my family and things seem to be moving in a better direction for all of us.
The other day I was driving around and thinking about all that Brahmarshi has accomplished. it amazes me. Today I was lucky to just drag my body out of bed. Brahmarshi has built Mount Soma, an incredible Vedic Temple and on and on and does not stop. I am so humbled and inspired. I think my Church is inside me and all around me? But I miss Mount Soma and the Vedic Temple immeasurabley.
I would think that the best way to do it, just by experiencing it with open heart, you will feel your inside church has the almost the same wavelength in the church or temple you are in, or not in the same wave at all. First try to leave your condition aside.
In response to “brahmarishi says,October 18, 2011 at 3:07 pm” and the larger context as well…
I was rough with this and sent some of my angst towards you…I can see now that it was my misunderstanding, as I do reflect upon several times in class when you spoke those words…please accept my must humble apologies. I forgot that you said that you were only preparing us with tools for self discovery…You never said you would tell us how to think or that you would direct our path…only that you would show us the door to truth…you did and continue to do so. This hurts…at many levels…I trust the damage can be healed…I miss you…and will look forward to seeing you again.
I realize it is our responsibility to use the tools wisely and not to simply grasp the tools and hold on to them. This has helped hammer the lesson home…
Hi Craig,
I know full well that I ask a lot of my students. From time to time a student may recoil, or get upset, or even quit. It always breaks my heart when that happens. But I have freely chosen my role as a teacher of this most precious knowledge. I do understand that few are willing to pursue deep spirituality. In fact, more often people look to spirituality as an escape from reality instead of an embrace of truth wherever it may lead. I do ask that people do their best to act respectfully. I also understand that from time to time most everyone loses their balance. If angst rises again in the future, perhaps it can be more appropriately directed to a pillow instead of me. The energy we send is real and I do feel pain. Dear friend, you are most welcome to be my student. The love in my heart seems to have no limit. I see Divinity in everyone. I am deeply committed to all those who come to me, just as I am deeply committed to doing all I can to remove the suffering that plagues most all beings on our beloved Earth.