Achariya George Adams
Speaks on "Science of the Soul"
Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 11:00am
This Sunday we have chosen for our meditation the subject “Science of the Soul.” We will explore such questions as: “Why cannot the science of religion be like any other science?” “Why, if such a thing as the soul of man really exists, if it is immortal, can it not be known here and now and realized within one’s own consciousness?”
Seekers after Truth have been studying religious systems for thousands of years. When they could not reason out these Truths, they were told to "believe!" The more powerful even forced their dogmas of belief about Truth upon the citizenry.
But there were those who were not entirely satisfied with this superficiality. "Is there no way out?" they asked. One does not speculate that way in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Why cannot the science of religion and the soul be like any other science?
The Science of the Soul proposes that it is possible to go beyond mere speculation about Truth and points to those who have realized God. Truth is not the dictate of a religious authority, or other temporal power, or mere speculation. It is direct experience, the realization of the Absolute within the consciousness of the individual.
The goal is to reach the Absolute, the eternal changeless Reality. It is to transcend that which is transitory and unite one’s consciousness with that which is the one without a second, the Source of All. There is a way to complete the Scientific experiment and that way is enshrined within each of us. That way is Yoga, the Science of the Soul.
Please join us this Sunday! All are Welcome!
—Achariya George
From the Gurus and Swamis: AUM
"Experience is the only source of knowledge. In the world, religion is the only source where there is no surety, because it is not taught as a science of experience. This should not be. There is always, however, a small group of men who teach religion from experience. They are called mystics, and these mystics in every religion speak the same tongue and teach the same truth. This is the real science of religion.
"Religion deals with the truths of the metaphysical world just as chemistry and the other natural sciences deal with the truths of the physical world. The book one must read to learn chemistry is the book of nature. The book from which to learn religion is your own mind and heart. The sage is often ignorant of physical science, because he reads the wrong book—the book within; and the scientist is too often ignorant of religion, because he too reads the wrong book—the book without."
—Swami Vivekananda, "Science and Religion"
Never was it born, nor will it ever die. Nor, having existence, will it cease to be. Birthless, deathless and changeless is the Self. Without beginning, without end, self-existing , it pervades all. It is not destroyed with the dissolution of form.
The Realization of the supreme Self, which is indestructible, eternal, without beginning and without end, destroys the illusion that the self is annihilated at the highest state of self-realization.
As the self progresses toward the realization of its absolute perfection of wisdom, existence and bliss, it passes through various states of consciousness. Leaving the lower behind, it enters the higher states in which it finds greater joy and new inspiration.
Passing through the stages of duality, the Yogi realizes himself as above all dualities and free from their effects. He realizes himself as birthless, deathless, all-pervading, and free from the chain of cause and effect. He realizes that he is eternal. Yet he finds himself unable to express this realization in words. Here all suffering ceases, and the Yogi attains the state of eternal, conscious bliss.
—"The Srimad-Bhagavad Gita," translation and spiritual interpretation by Swami Premananda
Noble Thoughts:
"In the cosmic process, we find that life uses matter for its instrument. Similarly mind uses the living organism. The highest order of being called spirit, which is mind illumined by the ideals of truth, goodness and beauty, is rooted in human intelligence and grows from it. The universe attempts to realize these ideals and cannot be understood except in the light of them. They are not only the goal of the universe in the temporal sense, but are the timeless principles in the light of which alone, the universe becomes intelligible."
—S. Radhakrishnan,"The Spirit In Man"
O' GREAT SPIRIT
help me always
to speak the truth quietly,
to listen with an open mind
when others speak,
and to remember the peace
that may be found in silence.
—Cherokee Prayer
"Purnam adah purnam idam
Purnat purnam udacyate,
Purnasya purnam adaya
Purnam eva avasisyate.
SHANTI SHANTISHANTI”
“That is Perfect; this is perfect;
Out of That Perfection emanates this perfection;
In the ocean of Perfection surge the waves of perfection;
Yet That Perfection is never lost.
PEACEBLISSPEACE”
—Ancient Invocation