True Vision

May 16, 2020 Self-Revelation Church

The audio service “True Vision” will be offered by Srimati Karuna on Sunday, May 17, 2020.

Many of you were able to join us at the eve of this year on December 31st for our New Year's Eve Music and Meditation. You may recall that the response to that gathering was extraordinary. We had more people here in our Church for that beautiful hour of music and meditation than we had even anticipated. A large number of the people came to our Golden Lotus Temple for the first time. It was an inspiring and moving experience to realize the hunger for spiritual expression on a day that is usually observed in a more social and celebratory fashion. It gave us great hope for the new year.

You may also remember my prayer and remarks for that occasion in which I shared a message of 2020 as a year of "Perfect Vision," not with the eyes of sensory vision but with that of inner vision. None of us could have known then that this year would be met by a most "inward" practice of literally staying home and staying inside. This response by not only our country but every country on this earth has been met with countless challenges but also creative and visionary opportunities.

Let us reflect on this "true vision" of the oneness of life with all of its struggles and joys and the meaning that it carries for each of us. It is our responsibility and blessing in the life of yoga.

The Salt of the Earth

May 2, 2020 Self-Revelation Church

Srimati Karuna will share an audio recording of “The Salt of the Earth” on Sunday, May 3, 2020.

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
Let them see your good works and give glory to God.

This message from the Sermon on the Mount may guide our thought, word and deed in the direction of goodness. Often, we struggle to see the good acts that people do. When we become overwhelmed by the harmful and negative actions of fellow beings on this earth, let us remember Gandhi's words:

"Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

Yours, Mine, Ours

May 17, 2019 Self-Revelation Church

Consider the language we use on a regular basis. How often do we use possessive adjectives to describe the things and people of our life? This is mine. That is yours.

If we bring our awareness to how much of life’s conflicts arise in the separation of ourselves from God and others, we will begin to realize the challenge in the life of yoga. For where we can find oneness in such separation?

Beauty of Yoga

May 1, 2019 Self-Revelation Church

Through the conditions of constant change and conflict of desires, how do we witness the perfection of soul. Will the peace of a balanced mind and the elegant beauty of equipoise direct us to a state of higher living? Is there an art as well as a science of yoga?

Salutation Unto Thee!

April 26, 2018 Self-Revelation Church

In the 11th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita are given the words “Salutation unto thee, a thousand times salutation unto thee, and again and again salutation unto thee.” These are the words uttered by Arjuna after witnessing the divine universal form of God in its entire multifarious splendor. His mind and devotion are not shattered into a thousand perceptions and appreciations by this experience but are inexorably drawn to God, the One who is the source and essence of all. This is the path of yoga, of oneness. In all the experiences of our pilgrimage through this vast munificent emporium of God’s manifestation let us always and forever more seek and find the essence of the One. Salutations unto thee, a thousand times salutation unto thee!