Sunday, June 25, 2023
Philosophic Worship Service
11:00 a.m.
Luncheon Following Service on June 25, 2023
We invite you to join us for a vegetarian potluck lunch and enjoy fellowship and food following our Sunday worship service. This will be the final service before the Church and Gandhi Center begin a summer recess for the months of July and August. Services will resume on the first Sunday in September.
“Our Legacy and Our Future”
Service conducted by
Srimati Karuna, Minister
Sunday Bulletin
It is natural for us to look back upon all that we inherit from those who have preceded us. The story of humanity’s past gives precedent for the future. We draw from examples who have attained varying degrees of realization and joy. And we add to that our own unique experiences and attainments.
Spiritually speaking, life is a continuum. In the consciousness of the present, lies the eternal. To realize the timeless realities of truth, good, and beauty we need look no further than the unfoldments of our own soul. And in order to cultivate the awareness of the eternal present, we have countless examples to assure us through their wisdom, will and love.
“Every soul bears that essential Divinity that is itself creative and original. Just as great masters came in the past to guide humanity, they will surely come again. If we subscribe whole-heartedly to their life message, we will pour our energies into what we have received from them with the same honesty, humility and creativity they nobly offer us.
Sadly, even great masters are often ill-served by the limited capacity of their own disciples who, though well-meaning, confine the teachings to their guru’s person or heritage and then cannot progress on their own. Whatever the initiation, as per its meaning, it is only a beginning. Buddha, master and guru that he was, wisely pointed his disciples to the ultimate responsibility that could lead to their own enlightenment: ‘Be ye lamps unto yourselves’ on the path of the eternal law.
‘There are hundreds of gurus, but it is hard to find one true disciple.’ There are more people desiring to be teachers than there are those wanting first to faithfully follow noble teachings and thereafter go on to a creative life. The aura of being a teacher is usually more alluring.
Every true disciple should continually strive to become a better disciple, to become the best and purest devotee of the wisdom and message that he can be. Truthfully, which is the higher calling? A guru’s is no higher and no other calling than that of the disciple, for God alone is the Supreme Guru, and we are all always disciples of God.”
—Swami Kamalananda, The Breath of God and Pranayam