srini_sadhu: USA, Barbados, Holland, India talking together
henny_v_i: wonderful, isn't it?
kaliananda_saraswati: sure is
srini_sadhu: Welcome Debi!
Cynkay Morningsong: what a blessing that we have the opportunity for this global satsang!
srini_sadhu: Yes indeed!
srini_sadhu: Namaste Tara!
Tara Boyce: Namaste everyone!
Cynkay Morningsong: namaste' Tara
srini_sadhu: Om Sang Saraswatyai Namaha!
srini_sadhu: We have three Sutras for discussion
srini_sadhu: Swamiji says "Sravana, Manana, Niddhidhyasana"
srini_sadhu: Read/listen, contemplate, Put into Practice
srini_sadhu: May Goddess Saraswati bless us all with illumination
srini_sadhu: Sutras 7, 8, and 9
srini_sadhu: Sutra 7
srini_sadhu: When one attains the radiance of Maya, one attains to the attainment of all attainments.
srini_sadhu: That's the Sutra!
srini_sadhu: The first thing is what is Maya?
Tara Boyce: the illusion
marsha lange: Swamiji talked about three forms of Maya in the Tripurasundari Trishati
Ramya: Tara, what is the illusion?
Tara Boyce: Maya?
Tara Boyce: or the veil that keeps us from knowing our divine nature?
Ramya: Yes Marsha - i think in one of those forms of Maya - He says Maya is illusion - just like Tara is saying!
Ramya: That is the Maya of Tantra
Ramya: sorry that is Maya of Sankhya
Tara Boyce: how do they differ?
marsha lange: One was getting caught up in the things of the world and seeing them as the reality. Another was seeing Divine Mother in everything. I can't remember the third at the moment.
srini_sadhu: The third is there is only one infinite consciousness, no duality
Ramya: The first one is Maya of Sankhya - Swamiji says many see many - i.e. we are caught up in the world, as Marsha and Tara are saying
henny_v_i: is it not part of the illusion that you don't know it is an illusion, while if you see the illusion you can appreciate the play?
Cynkay Morningsong: my understanding is that it is everything that can be perceived, conceived and known
Ramya: Henny -- so good!!!!
marsha lange: Thanks Srini. I like the idea of not making Maya "the bad guy" sometimes She is just play. or balancing out the excess of our over thinking.
srini_sadhu: Sankhya: many seeing the many (everyone watching their television sets, different channels); Tantra; many seeing the one (everyone watching the same show on TV, the Divine Mother show); Vedanta; only one remains
Tara Boyce: so once we know Maya we can play with Maya?
srini_sadhu: That icon was unintended
kaliananda_saraswati: Mother's play
Ramya: My understanding - when we are caught up in seeing each being as separate - in the illusion it is Maya of Sankhya - when we see it is all ONE - we think it is illusion - we are in Maya of Vedanta.
srini_sadhu: Thanks Marsha, I also feel like that.
Ramya: Morningsong - The maya you describe - is it Maya of Vedanta?
Cynkay Morningsong: maybe? not sure, it seems so since it is all one
srini_sadhu: Tara, I doubt if we can play with Maya. Once we can watch Her dance, we become Lord Siva
Ramya: Thanks Morningsong! i guess our goal then is to be there -- perceive it all as one!
srini_sadhu: What is the Radiance of Maya? Any ideas people?
marsha lange: She shines over and through everything?
Tara Boyce: which Maya are you talking about?
henny_v_i: Well, my association is with the exuberance, the joy of Life expressing Itself...
srini_sadhu: Tara, the sutra says that the highest attainment is the attainment of the Radiance of Maya
Cynkay Morningsong: that maya is so brilliant it keeps us completely engaged in Her lila
Debi GLSDM: When we come to enlightenment
Tara Boyce: Becoming the goddess
srini_sadhu: Also Tara, Swamiji says, the broader the definition of maya, the higher the attainment
Tara Boyce: thank you Srini
srini_sadhu: What is the Maya live in?
srini_sadhu: Sorry
srini_sadhu: What is the Maya we live in
srini_sadhu: Sankhya, Tantra, or Vedanta?
Debi GLSDM: The illusion that we are not part (one with) God?
Ramya: Debi - i think that is Sankhya - we are many looking at many
Debi GLSDM: ok
henny_v_i: speaking for myself, I'd say the Maya of Sankhya, striving for the perception of Maya of Tantra and who knows what happens next
marsha lange: Depends on you which Maya you live in. I would think we live in all three.
Tara Boyce: Sankhya, until we merge with the Goddess?
srini_sadhu: Thanks Marsha!
srini_sadhu: How do we move from maya of sankhya to Maya of Tantra?
marsha lange: Through satsang and the love of Mother Divine. Trying to be the best person we can be.
henny_v_i: Always remember the Guru
Tara Boyce: by doing our sadhana and practicing seeing Maa in everything, and also being around Great Beings....Maa and Swami
srini_sadhu: I asked Swamiji how do we cultivate intuition and He gave an answer that was relevant to this question
Cynkay Morningsong: by realizing that there is only one who sees
srini_sadhu: He said from time to time, when you are doing your work, close your eyes and remember that you are doing God's work, Divine Mother’s work
srini_sadhu: If others ask you what you are doing, just tell them that you are thinking
srini_sadhu:
Ramya: Maa said that every moment surrender to God and remember you are doing Divine karma!
marsha lange: Yes making all you do an act of worship.
Ramya: The technique Swamiji is teaching is to stop and remember that from time to time - till it becomes instinctive.
kaliananda_saraswati: in trying to remember to chant mantras with all actions it is really helping my concentration on Gurujis and there is more often than not a kind of bliss joy that cannot be described.
srini_sadhu: Thanks for sharing Kali!
Ramya: Wow!!! Kali -- sooooo beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing!
kaliananda_saraswati: Jai Maa
srini_sadhu: Could we discuss Sutra # 8
kaliananda_saraswati: yes
henny_v_i: ok
srini_sadhu: Sutra 8 says "By cutting bondage we attain the eternal Siva"
srini_sadhu: What is this bondage, to what are we bound?
Cynkay Morningsong: f: our own ego
Tara Boyce: knowledge
kaliananda_saraswati: attachment to the unreal
srini_sadhu: Thanks all!
marsha lange: The idea that "the many" is the sum total of all existence. We are separate being that can do unto others with no effect on ourselves.
Ramya: Tara - can you explain?
srini_sadhu: A saint said, we are = Habits + Consciousness. If we drop our habits we become consciousness
henny_v_i: ah, that's nice, Sriniji. A formula easy to memorize
Tara Boyce: knowledge of the unreal can keep us bounded and caught in our minds
Ramya: thanks Tara!
Ramya: Frances - do you think that what Marsha (orca991) is same as ego?
Debi GLSDM: reacting with the unreal keeps up bound by karma?
Cynkay Morningsong: f: definitely!
Ramya: Thanks Frances! This is helping me understand.
srini_sadhu: Debi, I find it hard to think in terms of real and unreal.
srini_sadhu: I think it easier to think i that I am limited by my samskaras and this binds me to patterns of behavior that may be forget my true nature
srini_sadhu: make me forget my true nature
Ramya: Debi - i think in an earlier sutra we were discussing different types of karma - and when we react (without thinking) we create karma that will not help us reach our goal.
srini_sadhu: How would go about remembering this Sutra this week?
srini_sadhu: Ideas?
kaliananda_saraswati: Habits + Consciousness. If we drop our habits we become consciousness
Debi GLSDM: ok bonds of attachment
Ramya: We may have good habits too!
Tara Boyce: Any thought that keeps me separate from the divine is bondage
srini_sadhu: I asked Swamiji how to cultivate Vairagya or detachment
Cynkay Morningsong: f: to be completely conscious of who we are in Ma and practice the gifts of God
kaliananda_saraswati: our good habits will bring us to the goal faster and then they too go
kaliananda_saraswati: no attachments
srini_sadhu: He said, become extremely attached to your object of Worship
henny_v_i: when we get to the roof, we don't need the ladder anymore, you mean, Kalia?
Ramya: its so beautiful Frances -- practice the gifts of God!!!
kaliananda_saraswati: kind of, you then become the roof
henny_v_i: Yes, and the ladder too
srini_sadhu: Should we pick one habit or behavior that binds us and think of how we can loosen its hold on us
kaliananda_saraswati: yes, Henny, so true.
Cynkay Morningsong: it also seems important to remember that even when we forget we have the opportunity to remember again
srini_sadhu: Jai Maa Morningsong!
marsha lange: Knowing that what ever you do there will be consequences and how we react to them will bring us closer or take us farther from the goal and knowing that this is all part of something larger that ourselves - Maa. So don't give up.
Ramya: Morningsong - that is so true and so wise!!!
srini_sadhu: Fall, Get up, dust ourselves, and walk to the Goal.
marsha lange: Yes I like the way you put it better Srini. Thanks
srini_sadhu: Swamiji talks about different ways to reduce our bondage
srini_sadhu: One more thing
srini_sadhu: He said yesterday, we always live in the world wherever we are,
srini_sadhu: It is our attachment to worldliness that we should reduce
srini_sadhu: What are some steps we can take to reduce our worldliness?
Ramya: What is worldliness?
Tara Boyce: our attachment to objects of the senses
henny_v_i: to think you 'must have' this or that for your personal welfare
kaliananda_saraswati: Attachment, being caught up with say fashion for instance
marsha lange: Judging others.
Ramya: Kali - its so interesting you say this - one time somebody was saying to Maa that she likes to buy some things that she may not really need, and that is an e.g. of selfishness.
Tara Boyce: maya-sankhya?
Ramya: Maa said - Why is it selfish? You are appreciating beauty and getting it. She made is so sublime and beautiful1
Cynkay Morningsong: the belief that the world of objects and relationships is the full truth
srini_sadhu: Swamiji, says that from the moment of birth we are conditioned by the world to become somebody. We believe this and go after money, name, and rolls royce. This would be worldliness
Tara Boyce: sweet Ramya
srini_sadhu: When we meet a Saint they tell us the goal is to become a nobody
marsha lange: To become one with God.
kaliananda_saraswati: Thanks for sharing Ramya.
Cynkay Morningsong: f: to remember to not get caught up in what is not in integrity with our spiritual practice. To know what you have right now in God is all you need.
srini_sadhu: The constant hankering in our mind to become somebody, wherever we are, is Maya, bondage, worldliness. What do you think?
Debi GLSDM: good
kaliananda_saraswati: A bit of all I think.
Tara Boyce: yes!
Tara Boyce: they all seemed intertwined
srini_sadhu: Sutra 7 is about Maya, Sutra 8 is about bondage, Sutra 9 says ....
srini_sadhu: The conflict between wisdom and ignorance makes great confusion.
srini_sadhu: Its a pity that we have only ten minutes to discuss this. But ...
srini_sadhu: How do we experience this conflict in our daily lives?
srini_sadhu: What do we do when we feel like we don’t know what to do next?
henny_v_i: we do not do what we should and what we should not, we do; constant arguments in the mind etc.
marsha lange: In my experience - anger
kaliananda_saraswati: anger, distrust
Cynkay Morningsong: f: mind chatter
Ramya: The mind is conditioned by past habits and it is not still enough to decide. it just does some random stuff sometimes!
Cynkay Morningsong: try to rewrite the past and trip in the future
Cynkay Morningsong: to rewrite
srini_sadhu: The only thing that is real is the present. Thanks Morningsong
henny_v_i: ideally, Srini, when we don't know what to do, we pray for wisdom....
Ramya: Yes - Henny, if we can remember!
henny_v_i: Exactly
srini_sadhu: I try to say a Mantra before I start anything, especially when I am doing something for Maa or Swamiji.
srini_sadhu: Swamiji says to chant the Gayatri Mantra whenever we want more wisdom
marsha lange: I find that chanting my personal mantra in the morning before going to work or just starting the day helps quite a bit.
Cynkay Morningsong: f: I totally agree with Mantra's! Each step you take is guided!
Ramya: There are forces within us - asuras - that lead us to separation - reinforce ego - and take us away from unity - Asuric forces.
Ramya: And there are forces that lead us to unity - Devas. These forces are in constant opposition all the time!
Ramya: We want to help the Deva within us! They like mantras! Yum, yum...
henny_v_i: the good thing about a mantra is that if you make it a habit of reciting it, it sometimes starts up on its own if you forget...it helps you remember
Debi GLSDM: On conflict between wisdom & ignorance. What about this: even what seems ignorance is not necc. so.. We have to start some where. Why not with a stupid question. In the ignorant mind it is not stupid it is a valid question but to someone thinking they themselves enlightened it can seem ignorant.
kaliananda_saraswati: This is true Henny - good
Debi GLSDM: On mantras - they sure have helped me through the unenlightened moments I have had.
srini_sadhu: Yes Debi, we are all here to learn, so till our mind becomes silent we can keep asking and God and Guru will patiently answer
henny_v_i: That's a good point, Debi, I think. To think a question is stupid must be a manifestation of ignorance indeed.
Tara Boyce: mantras make ordinary life divine life
marsha lange: Hi Student1754 - yes I agree we all have to start somewhere.
srini_sadhu: Baby steps
Debi GLSDM: ant steps for me
marsha lange: Do what you can leave the rest up to Mother
srini_sadhu: Be content with small gains no matter what anyone may say. Because it is only you and God
Debi GLSDM: yes Jai Maa
kaliananda_saraswati: The one looking to the One
Debi GLSDM: that’s good
kaliananda_saraswati: thanks
Ramya: Moving from ignorance and bondage to unity, wisdom and freedom. What steps to take this week? ideas?
kaliananda_saraswati: keep focused on the feet of the Guru and continue to recite our mantras whenever we can, offering every action
Ramya: Thanks Kali!
Debi GLSDM: ok: wisdom & freedom: goals, mantras, studies, discussions, Puja, meditation.
Debi GLSDM: yes offering every action
srini_sadhu: Pick one small activity and try to divinize it every time you do it
Tara Boyce: stay connected to our Beloved, remember, stop to remember when forget
Debi GLSDM: ok
kaliananda_saraswati: nice tara
srini_sadhu: Thank you all!
henny_v_i: Ah, I like that one, Srini: baby steps. I think I'll focus on my cooking habits
Ramya: Think about your goal - and breathe life into it everyday -- to remember steps towards unity
marsha lange: Beautiful Ramya
Cynkay Morningsong: great word - divinize... I'll divinize my life everywhere and whenever I can remember
Debi GLSDM: ok
Ramya: Thanks Henny -good luck!
srini_sadhu: Om Gam Ganapathaye Namaha!
Tara Boyce: Jai Maa!!! thank you all for your wisdom and love
Ramya: Thanks everybody -- looking forward to a divine week with all of you!!!! Thank you so much for the inspiration! Jai Maa!
kaliananda_saraswati: I will go with morningsong and try to divinize whenever and wherever
marsha lange: Divine mother is no farther than your hand and no closer than your heart.
Debi GLSDM: thank you for being here together & sharing you wisdom
kaliananda_saraswati: Jai Maa. Nice week to all
Ramya: Jai Maa! Thank you! Thank you!
Cynkay Morningsong: Jai Maa Namaste' and thank you
marsha lange: Again another great satsang. Blessings
henny_v_i: thank you all, may Divine Mother bless you, see you next week!