Hari OM
It is going to take a week or two to get into a flow, to establish the pattern. Plan is to make Saturdays the day for posts on saints and sages and what they gave the world and also 'story time'; to help understand the place for the different faces of God, be that Sri Krishna, Sri Ganesh... We are all faces of God. This is the important thing to remember.
Also, 'God' is a term created by Man to describe the indescribable. 'God' is a concept, representing a level of perfection for which we should strive.
In Vedanta, the 'God' principal is encapsulated within the symbol OM. God manifest is known as Hari (among many others!) 'Hari OM' used as a greeting acknowledges the divinity in the one being greeted and in all that surrounds. The same used at the end of prayers is said to make amends for any errors or inattentions.
There is much about vedanta which 'self-directed' Westernised thinkers will recognise; much of it has been reworked, repackaged if you will, as the "new age movement". There is nothing new about the commonsense guidance of the initial disciplines however! Whilst there is much debate about the age of the physical manuscripts, what is known is that the Sanskrit tradition is based in the verbal and what got written down was a gathering together of something that may date to at least as far back again... as much as 10000 to 120000 BC.
Therefore, once one starts to take on board these teachings, what becomes overwhelmingly evident is that Man is Man and has always been Man; he has not changed one iota in his wants and needs and his behaviours around satisfying these.
After the essentials of food and shelter are addressed, pursuit of happiness is the thing. The difficulty is that each and every person has a different concept of what constitutes 'happiness'.
The commonest error of all is to perceive that happiness can be found in the external; in the material world. There are those who seek to escape this, with their 'sea changes' and 'tree changes'. Moving location to a quieter spot on the globe does not necessarily equate to quietness of spirit however! Whatever is within you will remain with you. Start there.
Slowly, gently, begin the peeling away of your inner layers. Seek to understand your true condition. Who are you?
Straight away you have begun to think in terms of your name, your position in society, your relationships, what you own... is it not?! These are merely expressions of you. They are not 'you'. 'You' is the witness who sees it all happening. The names and titles are fine for transactional existence. 'You', however, are so much more. 'You' exist independently of all that is seen.
This is the exploration you begin through vedanta.
It is going to take a week or two to get into a flow, to establish the pattern. Plan is to make Saturdays the day for posts on saints and sages and what they gave the world and also 'story time'; to help understand the place for the different faces of God, be that Sri Krishna, Sri Ganesh... We are all faces of God. This is the important thing to remember.
Also, 'God' is a term created by Man to describe the indescribable. 'God' is a concept, representing a level of perfection for which we should strive.
In Vedanta, the 'God' principal is encapsulated within the symbol OM. God manifest is known as Hari (among many others!) 'Hari OM' used as a greeting acknowledges the divinity in the one being greeted and in all that surrounds. The same used at the end of prayers is said to make amends for any errors or inattentions.There is much about vedanta which 'self-directed' Westernised thinkers will recognise; much of it has been reworked, repackaged if you will, as the "new age movement". There is nothing new about the commonsense guidance of the initial disciplines however! Whilst there is much debate about the age of the physical manuscripts, what is known is that the Sanskrit tradition is based in the verbal and what got written down was a gathering together of something that may date to at least as far back again... as much as 10000 to 120000 BC.
Therefore, once one starts to take on board these teachings, what becomes overwhelmingly evident is that Man is Man and has always been Man; he has not changed one iota in his wants and needs and his behaviours around satisfying these.
After the essentials of food and shelter are addressed, pursuit of happiness is the thing. The difficulty is that each and every person has a different concept of what constitutes 'happiness'.
The commonest error of all is to perceive that happiness can be found in the external; in the material world. There are those who seek to escape this, with their 'sea changes' and 'tree changes'. Moving location to a quieter spot on the globe does not necessarily equate to quietness of spirit however! Whatever is within you will remain with you. Start there.
Slowly, gently, begin the peeling away of your inner layers. Seek to understand your true condition. Who are you?
Straight away you have begun to think in terms of your name, your position in society, your relationships, what you own... is it not?! These are merely expressions of you. They are not 'you'. 'You' is the witness who sees it all happening. The names and titles are fine for transactional existence. 'You', however, are so much more. 'You' exist independently of all that is seen.
This is the exploration you begin through vedanta.