Sunday, February 19, 2023
Worship Service
11:00 a.m.
“Living Amidst Impermanence”
Service conducted by
Srimati Karuna, Minister
Sunday Bulletin
Millions of people around the world will observe a season of renunciation and prayer beginning with the day known as Ash Wednesday. Repeated is the statement: “From ashes to ashes and dust to dust” and as the book of Genesis states: “For dust you are and to dust you shall return.”
The tradition of ashes placed on the forehead is a practice in various faiths and religious traditions. The material and symbol of ashes brings us powerfully to the meaning of both the temporal and eternal. Upon the death of the physical body the Soul renounces this mortal garb and the body is reduced to its most basic element.
Seeking the changeless within the world of change and the infinite amidst the finite, the wisdom of Soul guides us through this known-unknown mystery.
“There is a mystery about death; some say death exists, while others contend that death has no existence. I desire to know the truth. Illumine my consciousness with wisdom.
”The wealth of the world is transitory. The powers of the senses will come to an end. Even the longest life is but a moment in eternity.
“Life in this physical plane of consciousness is as impermanent as the fleeting moments of time. One who has been initiated in the Light of the Self can never limit his ideal of existence to the evanescent pleasures of the phenomenal world.”
—Katha Upanishad
Translated by Swami Premananda Giri
From Eight Upanishads