Wishing You Merry Christmas And Happy New Year

Wishing You Merry Christmas
And
A Prosperous New Year

We all celebrate religious occasions. Do we know the real meaning of Religion?

What is Religion?

Religion has become an integral part of human civilization. Religion is also known as faith. The English word 'religion' has Latin Origin, from the word 'religare'. Religare means 'reunion'. So the original root of religion is 'union'. If religion is 'reunion'; in the beginning there must have been a union, but many people have forgotten this meaning. The foundation of religion is to be united. The question is with whom to be united.

In religious thought people want to be united with a holy way of life, with the goal of life, and ultimately, with God. Different religions have different names of God. The concept of God is also in the philosophy of Yog. The root meaning of Yog is 'to be united with'. Yog, like religion, seeks reunion. Freedom from misery can only be achieved by reuniting with the source.

Ultimately all religions presuppose that we were once united with God, absorbed in God consciousness, but now we are separate from this divine consciousness. This separation arose in ignorance, because of our forgetfulness. Our minds play a mischievous role to create this separateness. Separation is also caused by the free will given to every human being.

Free will can take us away from God. It can be thought of as the play of Maya, as the Hindus describe it. Maya is the illusive power that prevents people from experiencing reality. Union was the beginning, in the middle there was separation, but this separation is not real, it is only apparent. The end must be reunification.

Consider Ocean and the wave. Are waves ever separate from the ocean? The answer is no. The waves remind us of the ocean; the waves are born on the lap of ocean, live there and ultimately merge into the ocean. The ocean is the reality. As waves appear and disappear, ordinary people are fascinated; they notice only the waves without comprehending the vastness of ocean. The ocean and the waves are creator and creation. When you live with the consciousness of wave (individuality) and forget ocean (totality), you are ignorant, mistaking the apparent reality for the ultimate one. In life this kind of ignorance creates illusion, comparison, ego, emotion and as a result, many negative situation arise.

When you want to unite with the source again, this is the realm of religion - reunion. Reunion is possible by transforming our minds and our lives.

Swami Vivekananda defined religion beautifully. He said, "Religion is the manifestation of the perfection that already exists in man." Thus, perfection is just the experience of divinity or godhood, which is already there, but we are separated from these divine qualities. If we try consciously, intelligently, to go back to the source, we will be united with God.

On this holy occasion, I humbly pray, may we all be reunited with the source, with God.

Namaste

INDIASPIRITUALITY

Extracted from: Spirit of Religions - Paramhansa Hariharananda, p:7-9

Why has God put us in the world?

About nine o'clock in the morning Sri Ramakrishna was seated in his room with Rakhal, M., and a few other devotees. It was the day of the new moon. As usual with him on such days, Sri Ramakrishna entered again and again into communion with the Divine Mother. He said to the devotees: "God alone exists, and all else is unreal. The Divine Mother has kept all deluded by Her maya. Look at men. Most of them are entangled in worldliness. They suffer so much, but still they have the same attachment to 'woman and gold'. The camel eats thorny shrubs, and blood gushes from its mouth; still it will eat thorns. While suffering pain at the time of delivery, a woman says, 'Ah' I shall never go to my husband again.' But afterwards she forgets.

"The truth is that no one seeks God. There are people who eat the prickly leaves of the pineapple and not the fruit."

Devotee: "Revered Sir, why has God put us in the world?"

Sri Ramakrishna: "The world is the field of action. Through action one acquires knowledge. The guru instructs the disciple to perform certain works and refrain from others. Again, he advises the pupil to perform action without desiring the result. The impurity of the mind is destroyed through the performance of duty. It is like getting rid of a disease by means of medicine, under the instruction of a competent physician.

"Why doesn't God free us from the world? Ah, He will free us when the disease is cured. He will liberate us from the world when we are through with the enjoyment of 'woman and gold'. Once a man registers his name in the hospital, he cannot run away. The doctor will not let him go away unless his illness is completely cured."

Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Sannyasi is a world teacher

Looking at Nityagopal, the Sri Ramakrishna said to the devotees, "He is in a lofty mood.

(To Nityagopal) "Don't go there too often (to a middle aged female devotee, who treated Nityagopal as her son). You may go once in a while. She may be a devotee, but she is a woman too. Therefore I warn you.

"The sannyasi must observe very strict discipline. He must not look even at the picture of a woman. But this rule doesn't apply to householders. An aspirant should not associate with a woman, even though she is very much devoted to God. A sannyasi, even though he may have subdued his passions, should follow this discipline to set an example to householders.

"Worldly people learn renunciation by seeing the complete renunciation of a monk; otherwise they sink more and more. A sannyasi is a world teacher."

Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna