Channels for the Light

Posts Tagged ‘god’

I’m currently reading a great introduction to Hinduism titled The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Hinduism, 2nd Edition. I found a few great quotes while reading tonight that I thought were worth sharing:

This universe is the outpouring of the majesty of God, the auspicious one, radiant love. Every face you see belongs to him. He is present in everyone without exception. — Yajur Veda

Everything in the outside world changes constantly. But the Lord of Love in the inner world never changes. He rules both inner and the outer realities. Meditate on Him. Merge in Him. Wake up from the dream that you exist apart from Him. — Shvetashvatara Upanishad

God’s grace is like a strong wind that’s always blowing. All we have to do is raise our sails. — Ramakrishna Paramahansa

If you are interested in exploring and learning about Hinduism, I highly recommend this book:

Namaste!

This is a meditation I did this morning that really helped start the day out on a positive note.

Sit in a dark, quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Find a comfortable position so you can be relaxed. I used a couple of old pillows and propped myself up against the wall in my bedroom, but anywhere is fine.

Close your eyes, take several deep and relaxing breaths, and begin to imagine the Love of God filling your inner being. With each deep breath in, feel Love filling and infusing every fiber of your being. With every breath out, send that Love out into the world and envision it enveloping not just the world at large, but your family and your friends and everyone you care for. Love in… Love out… See yourself as a channel for the Light… A channel for Love…

And see if that doesn’t set the stage for a wonderful day ahead…

Namaste!

Better than the one who knows what is right is he who loves what is right. — Confucius

Not much to add to this, is there? It is possible to know what is right and choose not to do it. It is also possible to love what is right and choose not to do it. St. Paul knew this struggle well and expressed it in a well-known passage in Romans 7:

   
⁷ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. ⁹ I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.   
¹³ Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:7-25, New King James Version)

Paul looked to God as he understood him for help. We can do the same today. Whether looking to God as you understand him is your path or not, I want to encourage you to not just love what is right today, but to make a conscious choice to do it — and in the process make the world a better place!

I believe it’s time — actually way past time — for humanity to relegate religious fundamentalism — the belief, essentially, that OUR beliefs are the only valid and correct ones and everybody else is deceived and wrong and/or “evil” — to the past. The various holy books that we revere do have a lot to offer us such as wisdom, guidance, and inspiration, but none of them is literally true. There is no such thing as a literally true holy book or a literally true religion, but the belief that there is has historically done much damage to our world.

I’m a big fan of Yanni and much of his incredible music. I also have found a great deal of value and truth in what he has had to say during his concert tours. Back in the mid-1990’s when Yanni recorded his “Tribute” concert in India and China, he made the statement that there are as many ways to live life as there are people on this planet. Within reason, of course, I fully agree with him. There is no single correct way to live life, and by extension there is no single correct way to relate to God.

I believe that there are two extremely important truths that, if realized by the majority of humanity, would change our world immensely for the better. Those truths are:

1. GOD IS LOVE.
2. WE ARE ONE.

Whatever our differences may be, we are all living, breathing, thinking, feeling human beings. We have the same Creator. We all share the divine spark — the soul, the atman — or whatever name you wish to call our immortal spirits by, that our Creator placed within us all. We all have similar needs and similar desires. We all share many common bonds that transcend racial, gender, religious, or political differences.

God is Love. We are One. What would our world be like if humanity as a whole realized these two great truths and lived them? What would our world be like if we chose to stop hating each other and chose to stop fighting each other over our differences? What would our world be like if we chose to live in peace and in love towards one another instead of living, as we have for much of our history, in hatred and conflict?

²⁷ So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
(Luke 10:27, New King James Version)

What would our world be like if we all lived Luke 10:27? Think about it…

LOVE IS ALL

Please listen closely to what Yanni has to say in this video. I fully agree with him, and I hope you will too. I believe it’s a message that our world desperately needs to hear. He sums up perfectly the thoughts I wished to express in this post.

NIKI NANA – WE’RE ONE

This song is a celebration of life and the fact that we are one. Enjoy!