Bhagavad Gita Discussions - Peace for the Soul2024-03-29T02:41:05Zhttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/groups/group/forum?groupUrl=bhagavad-gita&id=5143044%3AGroup%3A4600&feed=yes&xn_auth=noBurglarizedtag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-11-27:5143044:Topic:2245912014-11-27T01:11:23.081ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p>They got my computer. This group is on hiatus. Om Shanti</p>
<p>They got my computer. This group is on hiatus. Om Shanti</p> IX: 34tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-11-12:5143044:Topic:2245272014-11-12T20:42:05.431ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p>Chapter 9, Verse 34<br></br> <br></br> "Think of me constantly,<br></br> Fill your heart with my presence,<br></br> Become steady on your path,<br></br> And you will come unto me."<br></br> <br></br> Sri Aurobindo:<br></br> <br></br> Love of the world, the mask, changes into the love of Krishna, the truth. Once this secret of the Self is known and embraced, your whole being and your whole life will be uplifted. In place of the ignorance of the egoic nature absorbed in its own outward works and appearances, your eye will open…</p>
<p>Chapter 9, Verse 34<br/> <br/> "Think of me constantly,<br/> Fill your heart with my presence,<br/> Become steady on your path,<br/> And you will come unto me."<br/> <br/> Sri Aurobindo:<br/> <br/> Love of the world, the mask, changes into the love of Krishna, the truth. Once this secret of the Self is known and embraced, your whole being and your whole life will be uplifted. In place of the ignorance of the egoic nature absorbed in its own outward works and appearances, your eye will open to the vision of Krishna everywhere, and to the unity and universality of Spirit. Your weakness and error will be transformed into the all-embracing strength, truth, and purity of the stainless Krishna.<br/> <br/> To make your mind one with the Divine Consciousness, to make the whole of your emotional nature one love of Krishna everywhere, to make all of your works one offering to the Self, and all your worship and aspiration one adoration of him: this is the way to rise out of the mundane into the Divine Existence. This is Krishna's teaching of divine love and devotion, in which knowledge, works, and the heart's longing become one in an intertwining of all their threads.<br/> <br/> Paramahansa Yogananda:<br/> <br/> Thus does Krishna, in the final verse of chapter nine, summarize the resolution of the mystery of transcendence and immanence of Spirit. Through the divine science of Yoga, the Yogi unites with transcendent Spirit, beyond the dreams of manifestation, while also remaining immanent and active with Spirit in the cosmic dream drama.<br/> <br/> In Yoga meditation, O Bhakta, fix your mind unwaveringly on God. With devotion, surrender to him the ego consciousness and all of its dream delusions. In the inner rite of true worship, offer the little self into the Self in the sacred fire of divine communion with Spirit.<br/> <br/> Look solely to him who is the Lord of all, for he is the consummation of the rainbow-chases of birth after birth. In him, all motley-hued desires merge into the one splendor of divine joy in which the soul becomes ever diademed with Spirit. The Self-realized Yogi is a prince of peace on the throne of poise directing his kingdom of activity, wholly devoted to God in heart and mind, and offering to him the fruits of all actions. . . </p> IX: 33tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-11-03:5143044:Topic:2239672014-11-03T21:54:24.665ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 33<br></br></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br></br> "Saintly kings and holy sages, too,<br></br> Seek this goal with devotion.<br></br> Therefore, in this sad and forlorn world,<br></br> Give all your love to me."<br></br> <br></br> Paramahansa Yogananda:<br></br> <br></br> If even sinful men and women<br></br> May retrace their footsteps<br></br> To the hallowed home,<br></br> How unhampered, then,<br></br> Will the journey be<br></br> For the spiritually inclined?…<br></br> <br></br></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 33<br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/> "Saintly kings and holy sages, too,<br/> Seek this goal with devotion.<br/> Therefore, in this sad and forlorn world,<br/> Give all your love to me."<br/> <br/> Paramahansa Yogananda:<br/> <br/> If even sinful men and women<br/> May retrace their footsteps<br/> To the hallowed home,<br/> How unhampered, then,<br/> Will the journey be<br/> For the spiritually inclined?<br/> <br/> Swami Shivananda:<br/> <br/> The body is impermanent. It will perish soon. It brings pain of various sorts. Give up the efforts for securing happiness for this body. If you do not aim at Self-realization even after attaining a human birth, you live in vain. Do not waste your life, only to be caught again and again in the wheel of birth and death.</font></p>
<p></p> IX: 32tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-10-28:5143044:Topic:2234992014-10-28T19:27:46.810ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 32<br></br></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br></br> "All those who take refuge in me,<br></br> Including prostitutes, beggars, and slaves,<br></br> Though they are scorned by others,<br></br> Will attain the supreme goal."<br></br> <br></br> Srila Prabhupada:<br></br> <br></br> Everyone is eligible for the supreme destination.<br></br> <br></br> Paramahansa Yogananda:<br></br> <br></br> For the Bhakta [practitioner of devotional Yoga], all social inequalities are negated. …</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 32<br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/> "All those who take refuge in me,<br/> Including prostitutes, beggars, and slaves,<br/> Though they are scorned by others,<br/> Will attain the supreme goal."<br/> <br/> Srila Prabhupada:<br/> <br/> Everyone is eligible for the supreme destination.<br/> <br/> Paramahansa Yogananda:<br/> <br/> For the Bhakta [practitioner of devotional Yoga], all social inequalities are negated. Unlike societal norms, God never excludes anyone because of occupation, gender, or birth.<br/> <br/> Are we not all children of the Most High, heirs and heiresses to an eternal kingdom?<br/> <br/> Sri Aurobindo:<br/> <br/> Previous effort and preparation, the purity and holiness of a Brahmin [priest], the enlightened strength of a Kshatriya [king-sage] great in works and wisdom have their value, because they make it easier for the flawed human creature to arrive at this wide vision and self-emptying; but even without this preparation, all who take refuge in the Divine Lover of humankind, such as the Vaishya [merchant] once preoccupied by the narrowness of wealth-getting and the labor of production, the Shudra [outcaste] hampered by a thousand hard restrictions, a woman shut in and stunted in her growth by the narrow circle that society has drawn around her self-expansion, and those too, on whom their past Karma has imposed the worst of births find at once the gates of God opening wide before them.</font></p>
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<p></p> IX: 31tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-10-23:5143044:Topic:2237132014-10-23T01:02:00.364ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 31<br></br></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br></br> "Swiftly they become pure<br></br> And their hearts find lasting peace.<br></br> This is certain, Arjuna..<br></br> Those who love me will never be lost."<br></br> <br></br> Sri Aurobindo:<br></br> <br></br> A movement of complete self-giving opens wide the gates of Spirit and brings in response the descent of</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">himself…</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 31<br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/> "Swiftly they become pure<br/> And their hearts find lasting peace.<br/> This is certain, Arjuna..<br/> Those who love me will never be lost."<br/> <br/> Sri Aurobindo:<br/> <br/> A movement of complete self-giving opens wide the gates of Spirit and brings in response the descent of</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">himself in to the person.<br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/> At once, everything in you is reshaped and assimilated to the law of the divine existence by a rapid transformation into the spiritual nature. The will of self-giving forces away by its power the veil between you and</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font><font size="3">. It annuls every terror and annihilates every obstacle. When you give up your ego and its works to the Divine,</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">comes to you and takes up your burden.<br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/> To the ignorant,</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">brings the light of divine knowledge.<br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/> To the feeble,</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">brings the power of the divine will.<br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/> To the sinner,</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">brings the freedom of the divine purity.<br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/> To the suffering,</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font> <font size="3">brings the infinite spiritual joy and Ananda [bliss].</font></font></p>
<p></p> IX: 30tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-10-16:5143044:Topic:2233612014-10-16T00:53:38.730ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 30</font><br></br> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br></br></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">"Even hardened criminals,<br></br></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">If they turn to me with their whole hearts,<br></br></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Will grow into sainthood<br></br></font></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">As they move towards me on this…</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 30</font><br/> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">"Even hardened criminals,<br/></font> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">If they turn to me with their whole hearts,<br/></font> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Will grow into sainthood<br/></font> </font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">As they move towards me on this path."<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Sri Krishna Prem:<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">You may miss the mark a thousand times and by those actions become so enmeshed in the snares of Maya that it is nearly certain that you will miss the mark again the next time around. It is nearly, but not quite certain, for in everyone shines the Self, and where That shines unobstructedly in your heart no bondage can be found.<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Always it is within your capacity to turn and journey towards the Light after stumbling, for the divine freedom that lives in your heart can never be annulled, and even the very power by which you err, traced to Source, springs from the Stainless.<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Paramahansa Yogananda:<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">No one is so depraved as to be outside the pale of divine mercy. Such are the potency and mystery of divine workings that sometimes even the most evil of people have become transformed into saints.<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3">Vicious people, convicting themselves by their own consciences, may judge their souls to be lost forever, but Krishna</font> <font size="3">gives assurance that they too may recover their long-forgotten spiritual heritage. No mistake is unforgivable and no evil insuperable, for the world of relativity contains no absolutes.</font><br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Mahatma Gandhi:<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3">Undivided devotion will help you discern the will of God and act in harmony with it.</font></font></p>
<p></p> IX:29tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-10-09:5143044:Topic:2228782014-10-09T19:13:22.017ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 29</font><br></br> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br></br></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">"I look upon all creatures equally,<br></br></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">But those who bring me into their hearts<br></br></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Realize that they are a part of me,<br></br></font></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">And I come to life in…</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 29</font><br/> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">"I look upon all creatures equally,<br/></font> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">But those who bring me into their hearts<br/></font> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Realize that they are a part of me,<br/></font> </font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">And I come to life in them.<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Sri Aurobindo:<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">It is an all-encompassing adoration that makes the indwelling presence of God in humanity a conscious thing, an engrossing union. An intense love of the highest and a total self-surrender are the straight and swift way to the divine oneness.<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Sri Krishna Prem:<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">No special privileges are to be found on this path. Those who seem to climb with glorious ease today are reaping the fruits of arduous struggles in the past, while those whose breath comes hard upon the mountain path may know for certain that, if they but persist, the time will come when they, too, will gain the mastery.<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3">The way to Krishna</font> <font size="3">is to give the self to him in service. By your own efforts, you climb the path, but always</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font> <font size="3">stands within you, beckoning. You climb sometimes in weary aloneness, but this loneliness is an illusion, for there, unseen and closer to you than your breath itself, stands your Eternal Friend and Inmost Self. Nothing obstructs you except the veil of egoism which you yourself have woven and which is thinned by each unselfish act of giving.</font><br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Srila Prabhupada:<br/></font></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3">Anyone in the world may have a charitable disposition, and yet there will be a special interest in their own children. For Krishna</font><font size="3">, every living entity is his child. He is like a cloud which pours rain all over, regardless of whether it falls on rock, earth, or water. However, to his disciples he gives extra attention. There is a special, transcendental reciprocation in their relationship.</font><br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><br/></font> <font size="3">When a diamond is set in a golden ring, it looks very nice. The gold is glorified, as is the diamond. Krishna</font> <font size="3">and his disciples glitter eternally. When people become inclined to the service of</font> <font size="3">Krishna</font><font size="3">, they take on the luster of gold.</font></font></p>
<p></p> IX: 28tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-10-03:5143044:Topic:2228092014-10-03T17:52:50.314ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Chapter 9, Verse </font> <font size="3">28</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">You will be freed from</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The results of your actions,</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Good or harmful.</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Unfettered and untroubled,…</font></p>
<p></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Chapter 9, Verse </font> <font size="3">28</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">You will be freed from</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The results of your actions,</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Good or harmful.</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Unfettered and untroubled,</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">You will come to Me.</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Father Bede Griffiths:</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Anything done selfishly will bind you. </font> <font size="3">When you eat for your own pleasure or for your own health, as most people do, you are bound by your eating and will reap the consequences.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">You may have good health, but that is a limited thing.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">It won’t last.</font><font size="3"> </font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">If you make an offering of what you are eating, then you transcend this world, and your eating itself becomes a sacred action. </font> <font size="3">Then you are free.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Even good results are limited.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">They won’t take you to God.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">There is no finality in them.</font></font></p>
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<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Krishna</font> <font size="3">Prem:</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The smallest act of giving is a step upon the path and leads to that sublime stage where the whole personal life, with all its acts and thoughts and feelings, is dedicated to the service of the Christ-self in all, where acts can bind no more since the little self is dead, and naught remains that can be bound by action.</font></p>
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<p></p> IX: 27tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-09-29:5143044:Topic:2223372014-09-29T20:22:35.766ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Chapter </font> <font size="3">9,</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Verse</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">27</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">“Whatever you do, Arjuna,</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Whatever you say or eat</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Or pray or enjoy or suffer,…</font></p>
<p></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Chapter </font> <font size="3">9,</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Verse</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">27</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">“Whatever you do, Arjuna,</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Whatever you say or eat</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Or pray or enjoy or suffer,</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Do it as an offering to Me.”</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Swami Satchidananda:</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Doing things for others without expecting anything back is the essence of worship. </font> <font size="3">That’s Karma Yoga.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Sometimes people ask me, “When I go to work and get my own salary, how can I call it Karma Yoga?”</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">It can be.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">What are you going to do with your salary?</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">You are eating.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">You have clothing.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">You have a house to live in.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">The real question is why do you want to eat?</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Why do you want to dress?</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Why do you want a house?</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Why do you want even to live?</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">To serve others. </font> <font size="3">If you’re living to serve others, then you need to eat.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">How can you serve without eating?</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">You have to fill up the tank so that the car will go.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">You have to keep the engine greased and the car fueled.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Can you do that without a salary?</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">With that money, you equip yourself with enough energy to give the energy back to others.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Then your eating, sleeping and drinking become Karma Yoga because you do them with the intention, “I’m only keeping myself fit to serve others.” [or, “…to serve Krishna</font> <font size="3">who lives in the hearts of all.”]</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Live to serve others.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Then your entire life becomes Karma Yoga.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">If you live for the sake of everybody, serving God and His creation every minute with every breath, you are worshiping constantly.</font><font size="3"> </font> <font size="3">Your life has become worship and every act is a part of that worship.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Paramahansa Yogananda:</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Here the Lord offers the sweetest solace and the highest hope to all of His children, even the erring and the bewildered. </font> <font size="3">Through steadfast Yoga meditation, renunciation of desires by loving dedication of all actions to God, repentance and right resolution, not only can the righteous attain Liberation, but even the most wicked may speedily emerge from sin into sanctity, from ignorance into the healing light of Wisdom.</font></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman">A friend: </font></p>
<p><br/> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Srila Prabhupada used to talk about engaging the senses in Krishna's service, or using the senses for spiritual engagement…seeing the Guru, the Chelas (students/disciples), and the Murtis (statues) in the temple, hearing Kirtan, Japa and words of wisdom, smelling the incense offered in love, touching and tasting Prasad [blessed food], and so forth. SP said that we can't artificially stop the senses but can use them for service, working for God, and then they become spiritual senses, so that all day long, not just in meditation, we are “rightly situated."</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p></p> IX: 26tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2014-09-23:5143044:Topic:2223172014-09-23T21:13:00.856ZKrishna Jayahttps://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/KrishnaJaya
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 26<br></br></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br></br> "Any offering...<br></br> A leaf, a flower,<br></br> A piece of fruit,<br></br> Or a cup of water<br></br> I will appreciate<br></br> If it is given<br></br> With a loving heart."<br></br> <br></br> Swami Satchidananda:<br></br> <br></br> It's the heart behind the offering that counts. It's not the amount or the elegance of the gift. It's the heart that God looks for. The same goes for your practices: chanting,…</font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Chapter 9, Verse 26<br/></font> <font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><br/> "Any offering...<br/> A leaf, a flower,<br/> A piece of fruit,<br/> Or a cup of water<br/> I will appreciate<br/> If it is given<br/> With a loving heart."<br/> <br/> Swami Satchidananda:<br/> <br/> It's the heart behind the offering that counts. It's not the amount or the elegance of the gift. It's the heart that God looks for. The same goes for your practices: chanting, Puja, Mantra, and so on.<br/> <br/> How much of your heart is really in it?<br/> <br/> What good is it if it is heartless?<br/> <br/> Jesus:<br/> <br/> Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes, have the best seats in the synagogues, the places of honor at feasts, and who make long prayers.<br/> <br/> And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the multitude putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. Then a poor widow came and put in two copper coins, which make a penny. He called his disciples to him and said to them...<br/> <br/> Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of these others, for they contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she has, her whole living. (Mark, 12:38-44)<br/> <br/> Paramahansa Yogananda:<br/> <br/> Jesus was not only observing the people and the amount of their offerings, but with his intuitive perception he was also analyzing their motivating spirit. He called to the attention of the disciples the action of the widow, because her generous spirit made her tiny gift shine before God. Jesus cited the incident as a beautiful illustration of a divine principle...<br/> <br/> Although the poor widow put only a penny in the temple treasury, her devotion magnified the offering. In the eyes of God, she gave far more than all of the rich and indifferent people who gave a greater amount but without devotion in their hearts.<br/> <br/> Those who made impressive contributions were disbursing only a token of their abundant riches, at no inconvenience to themselves, while the widow, notwithstanding her own needs, gave to God's cause all that she had.<br/> <br/> In Oriental temples, flowers, fruits, and monetary donations are given as offerings to God. These help to maintain the temple, and God himself receives the devotion that rises from sincere human hearts expressed in those gifts purely offered as spiritual oblations.</font></p>
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