Luminous One

Bliss of Identity

by Sri Aurobindo

All Nature is taught in radiant ways to move,

All beings are in myself embraced.

O fiery boundless Heart of joy and love,

How art Thou beating in a mortals breast!

It is Thy rapture flaming through my nerves

And all my cells and atoms thrill with Thee ;

My body thy vessel is and only serves

As a living wine-cup of Thy ecstasy.

I am a centre of Thy golden light

And I its vast and vague circumference,

Thou art my soul great, luminous and white

And Thine my mind and will and glowing sense.

Thy spirit's infinite breath I feel in me;

My life is a throb of Thy eternity.

The Vision of the Universal Form

Lecture by Swami Atmajnanananda

I have no plan for my life.
I accept the plan life has for me.
I follow that plan and what it provides me moment to moment.
I am not the roles I play in following the plan.
I am the witness of all that I interact with in my life.
I was a child, an adult, and will soon be an old woman.
I was a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother.
I was an artist, a business owner, a dancer, a spiritual practitioner, a friend.
I have been healthy, sick, successful, a failure, awake, and asleep.
Behind all those changing experiences, 
I am the changeless consciousness that is constantly present.
I am that I am, in spite of the changes that "I am" experiences.
I AM THAT.
My present is pregnant with all my past.
My future unfolds from the way I live my present.
My being manifests in the present.
I AM PRESENT.
I am at home in the eternal now, living the plan life has for me.

- Amrit Desai

The Moral Gymnasium

Lecture by Swami Brahmarupananda

Remember: 

Though weighed down by past life samskaras, 

The soul (ball of energy) within you is a part of 

The mother field of Brahman (God). 

You are this ball of energy. 

You are NOT what you see in the mirror. 

YOU were born with the stars.

Evolution is in nature, 

Not in the soul. 

Evolution of nature, 

Manifestation of the soul.

- Swami Vivekananda

Purifying Fire of Austerity

The Soul That Does not Live in God is not Alive

Spring makes red and white flowers appear on the trees,

But the spring that is the origin of colors is colorless.

Understand what I have said, and give up all talk;

Run to the Origin without color and unite yourself to it.

Annihilate yourself before the One Existence

So that thousands of worlds leap out of you

And your pure existence flames out of itself

And goes on and on birthing different forms.

Of course, none of these forms will last.

Happy is the one who knows this mystery!

Happy is he who gives his life to know this!

He leaves this house for another far more radiant.

You cannot understand this mystery through reason;

The Way to Knowledge winds through suffering and torment.

If you do not feel pain, you do not look for healing.

The soul that does not live in God is not alive.

She seems like a soul, but does not deserve the name:

She has not been made alive by the Beloved.

The soul is given life by the four-elements

Like a lamp that burns through the night:

The light is from oil and wick, it is not eternal.

While the oil exists, the lamp burns, but then goes out.

The one made alive by God will never die.

He lives through God and not through gold or bread.

God is the Light, the Eternal Source of Lights.

The Light is causeless, as is His fiery radiance.

Like gold, God’s value comes from His pure, perfect essence.
- Poem by Sultan Walad (Rumi's eldest son)

Tapas
Lecture by Swami Mahayogananda

Read the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Online

Mastering Self-Control 
Article by Swami Adiswarananda

Unity In Diversity

I believe that there are no coincidences in this life. We are destined to meet people and have experiences which will expand our hearts and our spiritual journey. And so what a blessing it was to discover that devotees: Visnupatni Devi Dasi, Raja Guhiam Das and we were united at the core of our being in this eternal oneness. As Californians traveling in Quito, Ecuador, my husband and I experienced unity in diversity first hand. Miraculous it seemed that in a country where 95% of religious worshipers are Catholic, we found each other and shared an immediate bond with these divine souls. Joined by words like the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads our conversation in broken Spanish had us praising the similar rather than the differences in each other. Words like Krishna, Rama, Ganesh, Shiva, and Swami Prabhupada, became clear evidence that ours was a supreme uniting love. Though our visit was only for 30 minutes it was one we shall never forget. We shared prayers, mudras, hugs, cries, and even bhajans music via my iPhone. The fact that it all happened on a very auspicious day, Christmas Eve, proved to us it was meant to be. Finally we said our Sanskrit farewells; "Namaste" and "Hari Om Tat Sat" an ancient mantra from the Vedas, promising to meet again if the Lord wills.

The Bhagavad Gita As It Is

Divine Incarnation

Jesus in the Light of Vedanta - Lecture by Swami Bhaskarananda

In the Bhagavad Gita an ancient religious text, Krishna tells Arjuna:

"Whenever there is a decline of righteousness and rise of unrighteousness then I send forth Myself. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being from age to age."

The Hindus refer to such people as Avatars – divine incarnations or divine manifestations. The word itself is derived from the Sanskrit Avatara and is translated as descent. Every so often an avatar is born to relight the flame of religion in the heart and to reinvigorate truth and righteousness. There have been many such avatars in the course of world history and there will surely be many more to come. They usually appear at times of stress or crisis in the world or in a particular society, during times of social and political upheaval or tension. It is extremely important that we respect each others Gods and that we treat with great respect, tolerance and sensitivity the religious beliefs of all people. Let us respect each others Gods. Let us respect each others Avatars.