04 November, 2015

Non - Violence - A Day of Reflection

DAY OF REFLECTION

ONE WORLD- ONE FAMILY

The Practice of Non- Violence




Ahimsa & Satyagraha

‘The reality today is that we are all interdependent and have to co-exist on this small planet. Therefore, the only sensible and intelligent way of resolving differences and clashes of interests, whether between individuals or nations, is through dialogue.  ( Dalai Lama)

Sat 16th January 2016   ( 10.30 - 4.30 )

Friends Meeting House Wolverhampton

FURTHER DETAILS

We live in times of rapid changes. There is an  explosion of technology and knowledge with consequential challenges to old certainties and ideas. It is often referred to as a post-religious era where increasingly many question authority , religions , political systems etc. The danger is that we can 'throw out the baby with the bath water'. How can we retain the essence of both Ancient  and Modern Wisdom and use this  to face the challenges of our Modern Times?

This Day of Reflection will provide an opportunity to look at the power  of adopting a Non- Violent approach to the challenges facing our human family. We will have both video and other input famous exemplars of Non- Violence e.g.  from Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.  There will be time for Personal Reflection and Sharing

THIS IS AN OPEN EVENT – ALL ARE WELCOME

PLEASE BRING A PACKED LUNCH

Suggested Contribution  is £5 (to cover costs)

SATSANG        Seeking Together – Helping to Create

   A Planetary Vision  - A Universal Heart of Compassion

01 November, 2015

UPDATE ON SATSANG MEETINGS


Cancellation of  Satsang Meeting in November  & Update

Unfortunately the Satsang Meeting scheduled for Saturday 21st November has had to be CANCELLED.

Our next meeting will be on Saturday 16th January, at the Friends Meeting House. This will be a FULL Day of Reflection ( 10.30 - 4.30)  and our Theme will be NON-VIOLENCE.

This theme will explore humanities urgent need to adopt a non-violent stance. We are created  for co-operation , companionship and compassion and not for competition and conflict.

It will focus on some of the 2oth centuries greatest peacemakers e.g. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Junior.  It will draw from to Universal Inherited Wisdom of the world's Sacred Scriptures.

Further details and a flier will appear later this year.

 Meanwhile , an amended Satsang Programme for 2016  is shown below

Once again , apologies for the cancellation. Hope to see you at our day of Reflection on Sat 16th Jan 2016. Have a happy and peaceful Christmas


Month/Date
TOPIC
Time
Venue
Saturday
October 10 th
TBA ( see Satsang Blog)
1.30 – 4.30 p.m.
Wolverhampton




Saturday
November  21st
CANCELLED
1.30 – 4.30

Wolverhampton




Saturday
January 16 th
DAY OF REFLECTION
Theme- Non- Violence
10.30- 4.30

Wolverhampton




Saturday
March  12th
DAY OF REFLECTION

OUR UNIVERSAL & SHARED HERITAGE
10.30 - 4.30
Wolverhampton




Saturday
May 14th
TBA
1.30-4.30
Wolverhampton




Saturday
June  11th
DAY OF REFLECTION
1.30- 4.30
Wolverhampton

SATSANG 
   Seeking Together – Helping to Create

   A Planetary Vision  - A Universal Heart of Compassion

19 September, 2015

Oneness at the Heart of Creation

SATSANG MEETING Sat 10th Oct 2015

Our theme this year is :-

ONE WORLD- ONE FAMILY

We begin our seies of meetings for 2015/16 with a half day meeting on Saturday 10th October.  Our focus will be :      Oneness at the Heart of Creation.

We are part of the on-going evolution  of creation and our human Family shares in one Source and , although diverse, is united by far more than divides us. We can benefit from Eastern Faith Traditions, who all share the core concept of  Advaita - Non- Duality.  This essentially is the understanding that there is a common Source or Root or Oneness in all creation and yet paradoxically there is diversity .

Our meeting will be informed by a Video Clip from Thomas Keating a well known and respected Christian Monk . He has a long history of Inter-Faith involvement. We will watch a talk from Thomas Keating with the title : -

ONENESS and the Heart of the World

So remember our meeting is on Sat 10th October 2015 at the Friends Meeting House in Summerfield Road Wolverhampton.

We meet from 1.30- 4.30 and ALL are WELCOME

Our Next Meeting is :

Sat 21st November - DAY OF REFLECTION
Details to be notified

05 September, 2015

ONE WORLD - ONE FAMILY

ONE WORLD - ONE FAMILY

We are many and yet we are One


The Satsang Association is a Companionship of Spiritual Seekers who are seriously committed to their  Spiritual Path. They seek to discern and read the ‘signs of the times’ in a world that , at times, is confusing, misleading and is seemingly drifting towards an abyss of destruction.
  
Members undertake to commit themselves to this task and try to live out their Satsang Triple Commitment  . ( see a brief outline below).   This blog introduces our 'theme' for this year - One World- One Family. It opens with this quote from the Isa Upanishad, a 'pearl'  from the Inherited and Perennial Wisdom of Humanity

' The one who sees all beings in her or his own Self, 
  and her or his own Self in all beings,  
loses all fear. 
   When a wise one sees this Great Unity 
and her or his own Self has become all beings. 
 What delusion and what sorrow 
can ever be near her or him?'
                    Isa Upanishad


Satsang Companionship & the Triple Commitment
The ISA is a companionship between those who are open to the Truth in all traditions and who are seeking to know the Absolute Reality, the Mystery at the Heart of Creation, in short, the  Source of all Life. They accept their need for guidance, challenge and support in the concrete living out of their ideals. Satsang Members commit themselves to :

* a personal growth in spiritual awareness and       practice ( sadhana)

* helping to remove the barriers of prejudice 
  and  ignorance which divide persons from each      other.

* building up relationships of compassion and       appreciation across frontiers of race, ethnicity,     culture,language, economic class and religion.

And in so doing each member plays their part in an attempt to :-

‘Create a Planetary Vision 
and a Universal Heart of Compassion’

This  is known as The Triple Commitment


PLEASE NOTE :  

The remainder of this Blog Post is designed to provide both a theme and an opportunity to take some  time for Personal Reflection.  It includes a few introductory reflections, a video clip  ( almost 19 minutes) and further reflections. 

Consequently, you may find it helpful to 'put aside' at least 60 minutes as a time for spiritual reflection.

Each year Members and Friends in  the UK Midlands meet regularly in Satsang at the Friends Meeting House in Wolverhampton . Because both  Angela and I had a long standing commitment and , in addition, were unable to obtain a booking at our normal venue for September 2015, this Blog is designed to provide an Introduction to our Theme and a time for  personal Reflection.

This year 2015/16 our Theme will be :

ONE WORLD - ONE FAMILY



Our duty as men and women 
is to proceed as if 
the limits to our ability did not exist. 
We are collaborators in Creation’

Teilhard de Chardin ( Mystic & Scientist 1881 -1955 )


Introductory Reflection


Our human family has evolved as part of the on-going unfolding of the Cosmos and Creation. Teilhard de Chardin reminds us of our duty and responsibility to play our part in this process. We are co-creators with the Mystery.

In her teachings over the past 30 years, Sister  Ishpriya  has reminded us that we, in the International Satsang Association (ISA),    along with many others, have been , and are aware of the growing and impending crisis facing our world and humanity. Many experts, in a wide diversity of disciplines, agree that this crisis is so profound and immediate , that it could mean the end of the Human Era on this our beautiful and wonderful Blue Planet. 

Our Cosmos has been evolving for almost 14 Billion years, our Solar System is almost 5 billion years and humanity has become part of this steady evolution in the relatively recent past, that is only in time measured in tens of hundreds of thousands years. During this time, humanity has made several crucial choices on its path to the present day. One such choice was the decision of our ancestors to move from the African Rift Valley towards the Middle East and then to move East and West. This choice resulted in the rich diversity of our human family. But , as the Hindu Vedas reminds us, we are all inter-connected. This is beautifully expressed in these words from the Katha Upanishad 

There are not many but only one. 
Who seeks variety and not the unity, 
Wanders on from death to death.


We face a human crisis that is rooted in a  Lack of Compassion There is increasing evidence of humanity’s failure to understand our inter-connectedness. We seem to find it difficult to see the inherent wisdom and truth in discovering and recovering our sense of a common unity amongst peoples. The consequences of this failure were so aptly outlined in the earlier quote from the Katha Upanishad.  They are also evident in the distress and violence that currently besets our human family. A crisis rooted in dualism, where we only see Either : Or. 

We tend to divide , split and contrast as an automatic response to issues. Thus we see our political system as better  ( not different) than another's. We see our religion, class, ethnic group, race etc as better than  ( not different) than another. This failure and lack of wisdom and discernment, dulls our sense of compassion. Thus we seemed doomed to ‘ wander on from death to death’ 



There are many signs of this failure to see our underlying unity and our seeming difficulty to act more consistently with compassion. There is a disconnection between our intellectual knowledge and understanding of crucial issues and our heart of compassion. The result is a broken  world - broken by war, disease, hunger and violence.

Our theme is particularly relevant given the current world situation and particularly the millions of refugees caused by the situation in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. 
We are one people - one family and intimately inter-connected with each other and the Source of all life.


To introduce our Theme  and develop it still further the following  their is  a Video Clip from Sister Ishpriya. 

However, before that their is a short Introductory Video, based on a Tagore Poem. This poem describes how Nature can be viewed as the 1st source of Revelation.

You may wish to use this as a way of preparing for the time of Reflection



Boddhi Tree

SILENCE MY SOUL


Silence my soul, 

these trees are prayers.

I asked the tree, “Tell me about God”;

then it blossomed.

Silence My Soul ( Tagore) A Focusing Video( Click Here)


Now its time for the Main video clip from Sister Ishpriya. This sets the scene for our Theme.


WE ARE ONE GLOBAL FAMILY     

Click here to view Sister Ishpriya (video length 18 min)


TIME FOR SOME PERSONAL REFLECTION

A major problem or issue, particularly in our busy, modern times; is that we can so often fail to put aside sufficient time for moments of silence and quiet reflection. We tend to adopt and work out of a Reactive and not a Reflective Brain.

This failure is counter-productive as it is only from a depth within ourselves that we can learn to resist the 'instinctive fear' that Ishpriya talks about.

She also quoted the following lyrics of a song from the Musical 'South Pacific '.  It indicates how our family and culture can carefully and unconsciously teach us PREJUDICE .

It's interesting to realise that this premiered in New York in 1949. This was before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and other Civil Rights struggles of the late 20th Century.


You've Got to be Carefully Taught

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!


This is not too dissimilar to the sentiments   of the  following poem by Rabindranath Tagore a Hindu, Bengali Mystic of the early 20th Century 

Note:-  When reading this it can be helpful to 'personalise the sentiments of Tagore's poem  by changing the last line ( as shown below)


      WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

(Into that heaven of freedom, my Lord, let ME awake ! ) 


Rabindranath Tagore




It can be helpful to read both the poem and lyrics slowly and see what 'jumps out' for you. Then spend some time quietly reflecting on this and begin to challenge your own instinctive prejudices.



Instinctive prejudices exist for the vast majority of us. We inculcate these from our childhood. They are part of our unconscious ' Ego Self' . This 'False Self' needs to be slowly stripped away in order to reveal our true inherent identity.



Perhaps this month we could all begin to face some of our false, instinctive fears and begin to realise how these fears can trap us into a very small, selfish and mean-spirited world.



Perhaps we could all benefit by facing and challenging these fears and any tendency to erect barriers between ourselves and others.



Perhaps, as Ishpriya suggests, we could try to regain and retain a sense of connectedness with the cosmos, the Source of all life, ourselves and others 



Then in truth we can move nearer towards to goal, outlined in the words of the Hindu Vedas , taken from the Isa Upanishad



 The one who sees all beings in his or her own Self, 

 and his or her own Self in all beings, 

loses all fear.






Finally

We are all part on the Web of Creation, we are paradoxically not many but One. 

We share far more than our small ( and so often petty) Ego differences.
We participate in the on-going evolution of consciousness and of creation. 

You are very welcome to join us at our next Satsang 
Meeting on Saturday 10th October , at the Friends 
Meeting House in Wolverhampton



01 August, 2015

Our Long Journey with Mystery-Conclusion

Our Long Journey with Mystery
Summary on our Six Faith Traditions


Our duty as men and women is to proceed as if the limits to our ability did not exist. We are collaborators in Creation’  Pierre Teilhard de Chardin


This is the last  in a series of personal reflections on Spirituality and Religion. They have looked at six of the world’s major Faith Traditions and set out to  chart the  important part  that spirituality has played in our human story and our long journey, over hundreds of thousands of years, in search of the Mystery that lies at the heart of creation. In this search, we have looked through the 'lens' of  six Faith Traditions; three from the Eastern Tradition (Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism)  and three from the Western Tradition (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). 

All six  Faith Traditions have arisen in the past 5 or 6 millennia and are , in a sense, different cultural and historical  attempts to understand, explain and express the Mystery that is beyond all religions. Each tries to shine a light on the Mystery or Absolute Reality  that existed before time began and  is a Reality that is experienced   as both  Immanent and Transcendent.  

All six  Faith Traditions acknowledge this Immanence and Transcendence  but arguably the East focuses more on the Immanent nature and the West emphasises the Transcendent Nature of God.   These aspects are neither  an either-or  distinction  nor  an assertion  that one is better than the other. Such false distinctions are totally man made and can, if not challenged, lead us to design a God made in our own image.  

Buddhism and Daoism advise us about using our understanding  'to tie God down' and remind us that ;' The finger that points at the moon is not the moon'.  All Religions merely attempt to express the inexpressible nature of God. Each tries to 'highlight' aspects of the God , Mystery or Absolute Reality that have been experienced and thus can prove to be very helpful. The Mystery is way beyond our human understanding but the Faith Traditions, and their collected universal spiritual inheritance, can be a useful and helpful support on our journey back to the Source ,  the Mystery of all life.

Throughout our long journey, humanity has always pondered some deep questions, such as  : Who made all this? - Who am I ?  What is the purpose of life ?  and many others. The mystics and sages, of all Traditions, have advised us to seek the answers to these questions at a deeper level.  This is a level beyond mere human senses and intellectual knowing. It is one that requires us to be open to the Presence and the Grace of the Indwelling Mystery. Those who have experienced God at this level, suggest that  there is a deeper Mystery at the heart, or root, of all creation and that it is wise  to journey inwards in search of this Mystery . If we do, then our human family will find a more authentic, safe and surer, peaceful and more joyful  evolutionary path. 

For Mystics this  is a path that leads towards union with both  the Mystery and each other. It can provide us with a way out of the  many current crises that threaten us, our planet and our soul.  One of the root problems  is that  we have lost sight of the  underlying unity and oneness of our one human family . We share the same Source and live, in this  body psyche,  on our small  planet Earth.  This sense of unity and oneness is found at the heart of  all  Faith Traditions.  Perhaps this  is best expressed by the following quote from the Hindu Vedas - the Isa Upanishad 

  ' The one who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings,  loses all fear. When a wise one sees this Great Unity and his own Self has become all beings. What delusion and what sorrow can ever be near him?'. 

This sense of oneness is echoed by St Paul , a Christian Mystic in Galatians.

 'There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.' 

The great Faith Traditions have so much in common. We are not in competition with each other. False competition leads us down the path of discord, disunity and conflict . We are created for co-operation not competition by the Unity that unites and enfolds all Creation. This Unity is the Great Mystery, or  Great Spirit of the Aboriginal peoples , that the Mystics and Sages have shown us. Their path  leads inwards. This is an ancient path of contemplation that people of all faiths and none can safely follow. However, it is a path  that requires  courage, patience, wisdom and , above all, grace which is a free gift from God .

I would like to end these reflections with a blessing from the Celtic Christian tradition, a tradition that underpins my personal journey of Faith. Celtic Christianity shares much with both Hinduism and Buddhism, it sees and senses God's Presence in every situation. This is a prayer for 'New Beginnings' and is adapted from John O Donohue's  book ' Benedictus

New Beginnings - A Blessing 

'In out of the way places of the heart. 
Where your thoughts never think to wander.' 
This beginning has been quietly forming. 
Waiting until you are ready to emerge....    
Awaken your spirit to adventure; 
hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk; 
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm. 
For your soul senses the world that awaits you'.    


 As Jesus says :  'On that day, you will know that you are in me and I am in you'  . John 14:20.


Our human family stands  on the threshold of a new beginning and the Faith Traditions have so much wisdom to offer us which essentially is:

Be still and know that I am God the Mystery  (Psalm 46:10)

Peter Creagh

13 July, 2015

Our Long Journey with Mystery Part 6 - Sikhism


Sikhism -  
Ek- Onkar -One God - One Truth

‘Killing all the temptations of the world, one controls the uncontrollable and thus gains knowledge and merges into the Eternal 
( Guru Ram Das )

Sikhism, the 5th largest of the world’s religions was founded by Guru Nanak (1469- 1539) whose basic spiritual teaching is to be found in the most Holy of Sikh Mantras – the Mul Mantra, composed to honour the God he called Sat.


The Mul Mantra

Ek-Onkar (One God) , Sat (Truth) is the name,
 the Creator, without fear and hate, 
Omnipresent, pervading the Universe. Neither born, nor dies to be born again. Truth is revealed through the grace of the Guru. 
Before time itself there was Truth. 
When time began to runs its course, there was Truth.
 Even now, there is Truth 
and ever more (says Nanak) shall Truth prevail’.


The Mantra contains the essence of the Guru’s spirituality and teaching about One God. After a deep spiritual experience, he became critical of many of the religious practices of his day, particularly about caste, the division of people and the treatment of women. He set out to offer an alternative path to both Hinduism and Islam and appointed his successor Guru Angad. Thereafter each Guru appointed their successor until the 10th Guru (Gobind Singh). He instituted the Sikh Kalsa (more on this later) and compiled a collection of the Gurus teaching, including writings from Hinduism and Islam. This forms the Guru Granth Sahib (or Adi Granth) the Sikh Holy Book. This became the 11th Guru that is central to Sikhism and the focus of worship in the Gurdwara (Temple), which is Punjabi for ‘the door to the Guru’.

The name Sikh means ‘disciple or learner’ and denotes one who believes in; One God, the Ten Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib. In addition, Sikhs believe that the Gurus represent One Divine Inner Voice, they are all one. Their forms changed but their lights merged. In other words ‘the Gurus are vessels for a single spiritual torch’. The 5th Guru Arjan built the Golden Temple at Amritsar, which is the most sacred place for Sikhs. In this short reflection it is not possible to explore all ten Gurus. We will look at the 10th Guru Gobind Singh and end with a quote from the founder Guru Nanak.

The Kalsa (Pure Ones) and  the Five Ks     Guru Nanak’s alternative spirituality and its emphasis on standing up for the marginalised and oppressed, led to a long period of severe persecution of Sikhs by the Mogul rulers of Northern India. By the time of the 10th Guru Gobind Singh a tradition of saint-soldiers had developed. It was during this time that the Guru created the Kalsa, which essentially created Sikhism as we know it today. He did so in 1699 with a unique initiation ceremony. Before outlining this, it is important to read an extract of some of the Guru’s words concerning the ethos of those who become the Kalsa. This comes out of the ethos of those times in India and proposes an alternative way.

‘ The one who repeats night and day the name of God, whose enduring light is unquenchable, is one who bestows not a thought on any but the One God  and who has love and confidence in God and places no confidence, even by mistake, in fasting, worshipping at tombs, places of cremation or where yogis meditate. This is one who recognises only One God( Ek Onkar) and cares not for pilgrimages, alms, penance and austerities. It is one in whose heart the light of the Perfect One shines and such a one is recognised as a member of the Kalsa’


In 1699, accompanied by his wife, he gathered Sikhs from all over India. He selected 5 people, one from each of the 4 castes of Hinduism and the 5th an Untouchable, to be the first to be initiated into the Kalsa. His wife held the cup of nectar (Amrit) used in the ceremony. It was then that Sikhs adopted the custom of wearing the 5 ks , so called because each begin with the letter K. These are; Kes – uncut hair (hence the turban), Kara – bangle or bracelet, Kangha - comb, Kirpan – dagger and Karcha – underpants. All males were required to take the name Singh and females Kaur (princess). This ceremony marks the formal birth of Sikhism and is celebrated each year by Baisaki 
( Spring Festival).

Seva (selfless service).  Sikhism extols 5 very important virtues. These are Compassion, Truth, Contentment, Humility and Love.  One very important practice in living out these virtues is the tradition of Seva a central aspect of Sikhism. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the Langar – a kitchen attached to every Gurdwara. Here, in the spirit of Guru Nanak’s teaching, all are freely welcomed and fed, regardless of gender, race ethnicity or class. As one of the many non-Sikhs who have been often welcomed into a Langar, I have been impressed by the spirit of service and hospitality I have received. It is a positive example and one that other Traditions could benefit from.

Guru Nanak, like other founders of Faith Traditions, was both a mystic and a deeply spiritual human. His writings exude a spirit of compassion, wisdom and mysticism. I would like to end this short reflection with one of his quotations (In Praise of Woman) on the importance of women. I have chosen this because, in the context of 16th Century India, where women were considered to have no rights, this demonstrates Guru Nanak’s teaching about equality in a society that was deeply entrenched in caste and male sexism.


Of woman we are conceived, of woman we are born, t
o woman we are betrothed and married. 
It is woman who is your friend and who travels the road with you. Another woman is sought when the companion dies. 
Man is bonded to woman. 
Why should we consider woman evil. 
When from woman kings are born? 
From woman alone is born a woman. 
Without woman there can be no human birth. 
O Nanak, without woman, only the True One exists.