A 'space' of Spiritual Companionship and one that is accepting of people of all Faith Traditions and none in a spirit of mutuality, inter-connectedness and respect
21 October, 2010
AUTUMNAL BEAUTY
Autumn is one of my favourite months. It is a time for celebration and thanks for the bounty and beauty of the Earth. Its hues and colours are signs of nature. It is the season where plants , flowers and trees begin to prepare for their time of rest over the Winter before they once more blossom and flourish in the following Spring. At each of our regular monthly Satsang Meetings we have a centre-piece which is designed to both focus on, and complement, the theme of our meeting The picture below was one we used at our last Satsang Meeting in Wolverhampton. It represents the beauty and richness of Autumn and it symbolises our need to regularly reflect on our own richness, gifts and talents.
See new article on the Resources Page of this website. This records some reflections on a series of Conference Talks given by Sister Ishpriya at Die Quelle - the ISA Sadhana Ashram in Austria.
Week of Prayer for World Peace 17th to 24th October 2010
A Short Reflection by Angela Creagh
This is a week set aside to pray for Universal Peace. Our world desperately needs peace and is being ravaged by violence. There is a deep hunger in the human soul for peace.
This hunger for peace is universal and our Satsang Commitment encourages us to earnestly seek to do all we can to break down the barriers between peoples and to work tirelessly in any way we can to build up relationships of compassion and peace.
Perhaps, Satsang Members could reflect on our need for peace and join in, particularly during the coming week , saying the following prayer. This prayer is adapted from the Hindu Scriptures
DEVELOPING PERSPECTIVES AND RELATIONSHIP OF COMPASSION
A special DAY OF REFLECTION
Saturday 13th November 2010
Friends Meeting House - Wolverhampton
10.30 - 4.30
OPEN MEETING - All Welcome
This day will focus on the important spiritual task of developing a Heart of Compassion. Because it is from this centre of compassion that we can reach out and touch others.
The day will focus particularly on our need to reach out to the wider world and develop a compassionate perspective on some of the 'hot topics' facing our world.
The day will consist of audio and video input from Sister Ishpriya, time for reflection , silent prayer ( meditation) and sharing
Further information on this topic will be published very shortly.
We live in a world full of half-truths , lies and distortions. This can lead to confusion, misunderstanding, prejudice and violence. Finding the truth is often difficult. It requires us to shine the Light of Truth on everything we see , do or are.
In the following Video Clip, Ishpriya explores some of these issues in the light of an ancient prayer from the Vedas - One of the Oldest Prayers
This is a series of quotations from the Universal experience and Inheritance of the spiritual traditions and the mystics. They contain extremely condensed Spiritual wisdom. Each are worthy of deep reflection .
This is the 3rd in our Series Reflections from the World's Faith Traditions and their Spiritual Masters.
Knowing the Source:I have a Source- an origin of my existence… My relationship with this Source underpins all others’
(Sr Ishpriya)
The Attraction of Nature -Although there is repulsion enough in Nature, she lives by attraction.
( Mahatma Gandhi )
Indwelling GodYou God wake up within me, proving that you are there in secret and alone
St John of the Cross(Christian Mystic)
Self Blindness Who makes us ignorant? We ourselves. We put our hands over our eyes and weep that it is dark. (Swami Vivekananda - Hindu Mystic)
Great Sayings of JesusI f anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching
Knowing God?If I had a God I was able to know, I would not be able to regard him as God
(Meister Eckhart)
Searching and Finding! Stop searching for what is not here and then you will be able to see what is here
Sr Ishpriya
The Paradox of Searching.You let us find You. So we would search for you
Unknown Mystic
Self-Inflicted Fear -Why are people so afraid? The answer is that they have made themselves helpless and dependent upon others. We want a Personal God, a saviour, or a prophet to do everything for us.
( Swami Vivekananda)
Blood Transfusion! Unless it receives a new blood transfusion from matter, Christian Spirituality may well lose its vigour and become lost in the clouds
Teilhard de Chardin
All is SpiritualSeva is spiritual practice. Stop seeing work and sitting on a meditation cushion differently. All is spiritual practice Sr Ishpriya
Our world lurches from crisis to crisis and many of these are caused by our difficulty with difference and variety. Our Satsang Companionship exists to encourage and empower us to reflect on the urgent need for all of us to recognise our common humanity and to reach out with compassion and respect towards others.
The following short video clip contains some comments from Ishpriya on this theme and particularly on its importance for Satsang Members. She touches on the wisdom of the ancient Upanishads of Hinduism and particularly the Katha Upanishad. This was recorded some time ago but its message is very current, in fact it is part of the perennial wisdom of the ages.
Further clips of Ishpriya can be found on the ISA Website http://www.international-satsang.org/.
But to view this clip on Unity in Diversity click on arrrow, next to the speaker symbol, on the icon below
A series of reflections from the different Faith Traditions. These show both the richness in diversity and the Unity in the Spirit, which the human family shares and can give us insight into the meaning and the message of God.
This week’s theme is one that is vital for our spiritual welfare. It is:
Breaking Down Barriers
We indeed created man, and We know that his soul whispers within him, and We are nearer to him than the jugular vein
The Qur’an (Muslim Scripture)
Beloved is a man, for he was created in the image of God. But it was by a special love that it was made known to him that he was created in the image of God
Judaism ( Abot )
Let none deceive another nor despise any person whatever in any place. In anger or ill-will let him/her not wish any harm to another.
Metta Sutra (Buddhism)
Let the whole universe be blessed. Let al beings be engaged in one another’s well – being. Let all weaknesses, sickness and faults be diminished and vanish. Let everyone, everywhere, be blissful and at peace.
Jain Scripture
It is quite clear that wherever our Lord is, peace reigns and anger has no place. I could see no sort of anger in God, however long I looked. Indeed, if God were to be angry for just a moment we could not live, endure, or be! ………. And though we wretches know from our own experience the meaning of discord and tension, we are still surrounded in every conceivable way by God’s gentleness and humility, his kindness and graciousness.
Julian of Norwich(Christian Mystic)
The man who has good will for all, who is friendly and has compassion ; who has no thoughts of ‘I’ or ‘mine’, whose peace is the same in pleasures and sorrows, and who is forgiving ;
He whose peace is not shaken by others, and before whom other people find peace, beyond excitement and anger and fear – he is dear to Me.
Bhagavad Gita ( & 15) Hindu Scripture
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Welcome to this, the first of hopefully many, video clips on our new Satsang Blog. We live in a world where peaceful co -existence and mutual respect is far too rare. We seemingly focus too much on difference and division rather on the underlying unity in the richness of our diversity.
This vidoe clip is short talk from Ishpriya based on the well known story from the Jewish Scripture. It highlights the internal longing for peace.
Given the state of our world today, and particularly the tension between many in the West and Islam, a tension based on ignorance and prejudice, it is even more important that people of good will stand up and be counted.
As Members of Satsang we need to act out of our inner selves and continue to play our part in :
Creating a Planetary Vision and a Universal Heart of Compassion
' His breath is the wind that blows and the whole Universe is his heart'
Mundaka Upanishad 2/114
Today is Thursday 9th September and on Saturday the 1th a Pastor in the USA is threatening to burn copies of the Quran , Islam's Holy Book. He apparently attempts to justify this action with the misguided idea that somehow it is both a 'payback' for the violence of the bombing of the Twin Towers and also because of his mistaken belief, founded on ignorance, that Islam is somehow wrong.
He seemingly fails to understand or realise the richness of Islam and the gifts that Islamic Art and Science have given to the World. He also mistakenly assumes that because the people who committed the violent attack on 9/11 professed to be Muskims, that means that all 1 billion Muslims are to blame and that their religion is wrong. He also seems ignorant of facts that 80 years ago in Nazi Germany, a supposedly Christian Country, the pograms against the Jews started with the burning of books.
This type of action is an extreme position that defies logic, emotions, intuition or any human understanding . It is a purely negative, ignorant and prejudiced response. that seeks to apportion 'blame' and to do so on those who are not responsible. Evil and Violence cannot be opposed by evil and violence. History shows that any attempt to do so, merely adds fuel to the flames of intolerance.
This whole story of a small fundamental Faith Group in the USA is a great example of the dangers of adopting a blinkered approach to life and our world. It is fuelled by ignorance and breeds prejudice. These two negative aspects narrow our vision of the world and dampen down any charity or compassion we may possess. It is based on a failure to understand how we are all inter-connected, with each member of our human family, with our Planet and the Cosmos.
Our Satsang Commmitment challenges each of us to oppose prejudice and ignorance but to do so with compassion and peace in our hearts. The very wory Islam comes from a root meaning PEACE. Our Satsang was founded and continues to be guided by Sister Ishpriya , or to give her the Indian title , Ishpriya Mataji.
The article ( linked to this post and whose title leads this Blog,) was written some time ago by Ishpriya, mainly for members of her own Christian Community. It records some reflections on her living as a Christian Sannyasi amongst people of a different Faith Tradition. This is an example of how when we live and work with peoples of diversity, somehow the barriers that ignorance and prejudice erect between peoples dissolve and melt away. Our world desperately needs people who will face the challenge of difference, see the richness of diversity and be prepared to 'live in another temple' .
As Satsang Members we are all called to be and act in ways that '''
'Create a Planetary Vision and a Universal Heart of Compassion'
To View the article, written by Ishpria Mataji rscj, click on the link below.
