A Word to the Wise: Maya

A painting entitled "Maya The World of Illusion" by Kathleen Scarboro. This contemporary painting illustrates parallel dimensions and states of consciousness.

The Vedic Studies Class, "A Word to the Wise," had its seventh meeting on Monday, May 20th at Shiva Sai Mandir Center for Vedic and Yogic Studies. The word we discussed was "Maya." Below follows an introduction to the course so named:

A painting entitled "Maya" by Julia Guthrie. A contemporary interpretation
of Maya Devi, she is swathed in veils depicting the cosmos and elements
of manifest creation, including time. She is beckoning us to move with her through
portals into other dimensions.

Illusion and Reality

What is seen is not the Truth

What is cannot be said

Trust comes not without seeing

Nor understanding without words

The wise comprehends with knowledge

To the ignorant it is but a wonder

Some worship the formless God

Some worship His various forms

In what way He is beyond these attributes

Only the Knower knows

That music cannot be written

How can then be the notes

Says Kabir, awareness alone will overcome illusion

-Kabir

Maya Devi showing her manifest forms,
likely a Nepalese image.

I imagine into being the whole world, moving and unmoving, through the power of my Maya.

Yet that same Maya is not separate from me; this is the highest truth . . .
In me this whole world is woven in all directions, O Mountain.
I am the Lord and the Cosmic Soul; I am myself the Cosmic Body.
I am Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra, as well as Gauri, Brahmi, and Vaishnavi.
I am the sun and the stars and I am the Lord of the stars.
I am the various aspects of beasts and birds; I am also the outcase and thief.
I am the evil doer and the wicked deed; I am the righteous person and the virtuous deed.
I am certainly female and male, and asexual as well.
And whatever thing, anywhere, you see or hear,
That entire thing I pervade, ever abiding inside it and outside.
There is nothing at all, moving or unmoving, that is devoid of me;
For if it were, it would be a nonentity, like the son of a barren woman.
Just as a single rope may appear variously as a serpent or wreath,So also I may appear in the form of the Lord and the like; there is no doubt in this matter.
The world cannot appear without an underlying basis.
Accordingly, the world comes to be only through my own being and in no other way.

–from the Devi Gita
(from Teachings of the Hindu Mystics, edited by Andrew Harvey, Shambhala, 2001, pp. 49-50)

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We have a discussion going and class material on this subject. Please let us know if you would like to be a part of the class. Materials are available for registered participants. For more information and to register for the class, follow this link: http://www.vedicstudies.org/a-word-to-the-wise.html — at Shiva Mandir Center for Vedic Studies.

A Word to the Wise: Samsara

Samsara

Oh! I watch this wonderful game in a lonely park.
A millionaire strikes a small ball with his iron club
And it flies to infinity, 
He goes behind that happily.
The poor sinner caddy too crawls towards him
with a heavy bag that [is] full of debts on his oblique shoulder[s].

--Nimal Dunuhinga

We will discuss the implications of this poem and the following in our fifth class on May 6th, at Shiva Mandir. If you would like to take part and receive the class materials, as well as access to our class forum,  please let us know by registering for this class at the following link: http://www.vedicstudies.org/a-word-to-the-wise.html — at Shiva Mandir Center for Vedic Studies.

Excerpt from The Turning Seasons of Hell: 

I was an actor on Shakespeare’s stage, and there composed the best of his lines

I was a poet in France and walked across the Alps

I was a singer in Milan, where my reputation was ruined

I was a painter on my back daubing plaster and bright scenes on chapel ceilings day and night

I was a sculptor in stone and clay, making hands and feet for the master

I signed the documents to set this country free

I fought alongside Sitting Bull and killed Custer’s men,

I slept under a tree, and out in the open field,
I contemplated, I practiced,
I slept sitting up, I slept in cemetaries,
I laid down and stayed wherever I happened to be,
I starved my body and my mind and lived on mud and insects,
I ate everything at once, I stopped eating at 5:00 every day
I mastered the sciences of language, logic and philosophy, of medicine and of arts

I was a soldier in a war of the most horrific demise,

a sailor who drowned before the sharks circled in,

a seer who touched the face of the sun,

a prophet, a scoundrel, a rebel and a rat.

A bubble, a lightning flash, a grand revelation, a disco ball, a star and a starship sailing through galaxies, the moon in the water, a pure purple, red, then white, then black, then white, then red, nothing.

a reflection, a reflection, an emanation, an emanation.

-By Caroline Kroll

A Word to the Wise: Kama

The Vedic Studies Class, "A Word to the Wise," will have its third meeting on Monday, April 22nd at Shiva Sai Mandir. The word we will discuss is "Kama." Below follows an introduction to the course so named: 

Lord Kama, You are the longing of love, delight of the senses, drama of the play, truth behind the tryst; enjoyment, sorrow and satisfaction. You are King of All Desire.

You ride your parrot across all the realms of existence, shooting arrows of sugar cane from a bow of buzzing bees. Your arrows strike us, stirring our mind and enchanting our senses. You bring happiness and havoc wherever you go.

Oh Lord Kama, how are we supposed to live with you? How are we supposed to live without you? You are the source of beauty, art, power, achievement and glory. You are the source of want, waste, war, loss and heartbreak. In every society, in every era, every one of us has a quandary. Shall we exalt you or disdain you? Codes of conduct, ethics, morality, dictates of fair play, rules for living, philosophy, religion, even civilization itself is nothing but collected strategies to come to terms with you.

Oh Lord Kama, even the gods, or perhaps especially the gods, succumb to your influence and antics. Wherever we are, you are there with us. You are an aspect of our very own nature.

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We have a discussion going and class material on this subject. Please let us know if you would like to be a part of the class. Materials are available for registered participants. For more information and to register for the class, follow this link: http://www.vedicstudies.org/a-word-to-the-wise.html — at Shiva Mandir Center for Vedic Studies.

A Word to the Wise: YUGA

The Car of History Clock, by Carlo Franzoni (1819)

The Vedic Studies Class, "A Word to the Wise," had its second meeting on Monday, Apr. 15, at Shiva Sai Mandir. The word that we discussed was Yuga. Below follows an introduction to the course so named:  

Imagine a chariot of time, flying through space. The chariot has two wheels with a common axis. The axis of the chariot’s wheels is also the axis of the earth’s rotation.

This axis is also that of earth’s destiny as enlightenment expands and contracts and earth’s civilizations rise and fall. The rotation of this axis is calculated by the astronomers who ride this chariot of time. They observe the starscape’s change as the chariot flies through space.

Each rotation of the chariot’s axis is also figured as epochs of time where humanity turns from bruteness to radiant near-immortality and back again. This is the eternal rotation of evolution and dissolution.

We have a discussion going and class material on this subject. Please let us know if you would like to be a part of the class. Materials are available for registered participants. For more information, follow this link: http://www.vedicstudies.org/a-word-to-the-wise.html

 — at Shiva Mandir Center for Vedic Studies.

The Vedic Studies Class, "A Word to the Wise" has Begun!

The Vedic Studies Class, "A Word to the Wise," started on Monday, Apr. 8, at Shiva Sai Mandir.

The first lesson is on “Kala,” Sanskrit Word for Time. We think of time as immutable and irrefutable. We live it on a line; our “timeline” with a “deadline.” We run the line through a grid and we box ourselves into a calendar.

But nature shows us that time is not a line but a circle, a cycle. Buddha learned that time is a rotating circle, the Kalachakra. Buddha discovered what the mystics of old and the scientists of now know. Time is a wheel of possibility, a circle dance of probability. There is nothing immutable at all, time is much more changeable than the mind. Which reminds me -- Past, Present and Future walked into a bar…it was a little tense.

We have more about this conversation. Please let us know if you would like to be a part of the class. Materials available. For more information, please follow this link:http://www.vedicstudies.org/a-word-to-the-wise.html

 — at Shiva Mandir Center for Vedic Studies.

VEDIC STUDIES -- “A WORD TO THE WISE”. SPRING SESSION

Mondays, April 8, 15, 22 & 29, 7-8:30 pm

In each lesson we will examine a single Sanskrit word and the philosophy and significance behind it. We will include commentaries from different Vedic masters on the teachings behind the word. The classes will be led by Anjana Rao and Mairead Kerr, certified teachers of Swami Kaleshwar. This is the first class of the Spring session. The word for this lesson is “Kala,” the eternal impermanence.

Conference call option, 1-712-432-0900, participant code 915326#; call 1-712-432-0990 for a recording. If you would like the presentation notes emailed to you, please contact us at shivamandir@gmail.com.

Donations of any amount are appreciated and go toward our temple building fund. For more information about the course, go here: http://www.vedicstudies.org/a-word-to-the-wise.html. to donate to the temple fund, please follow this link: http://www.saioutreach.com/.