One God Notes Archives
2018
One God Note #775. 2018/01/14.
If there were no
darkness, man would not feel their depravity; and were there no light, they
would have no hope of a remedy. So that it is not only just, but advantageous
to us, that God should conceal himself in part, and discover himself in part;
since it is equally dangerous for men to know God without knowing their own
misery, and to know their own misery, without any knowledge of God,
Blaise Pascal –
Thoughts on Religion and Other Important Subjects. Quoted in: Kołakowski, Leszek (1987). Jeśli
Boga nie ma ... [Religion. If there is no God …] Aneks Publications: London, UK.
More on Blaise Pascal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal
More on Leszek Kołakowski:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leszek_Ko%C5%82akowski
One God Note #776. 2018/01/21.
Mental immunity,” the Dalai
Lama explained, “is just learning how to avoid the destructive emotions and to
develop the positive ones. First, we must understand the mind-there are so many
different states of mind-the diverse thoughts and emotions we experience on a
daily basis. Some of these emotions are harmful, even toxic, while others are
healthy and healing. The former disturb our mind and cause much mental pain.
The latter bring us true joyfulness.”
“When we understand
this reality, it is much easier to deal with the mind and to take preventive
measures. (…) And just as a healthy immune system (…) protects your body
against potentially hazardous viruses and bacteria, mental immunity creates a
healthy disposition of the mind so that it will be less susceptible to negative
thoughts and feelings. (…)
Like the ocean has
many waves on the surface but deep down it is quite calm. This is possible if
we know how to develop mental immunity.”
“Yes,” the Archbishop
replied,”(…) the only thing is that people sometimes get quite annoyed with
themselves unnecessarily, especially when they have thoughts and feelings that
are really quite natural. (…) We are human, and sometimes it is a good thing
that we recognize that we have human emotions. (…)
I think it takes time
to learn how to be laid-back,” he continued. “(…) it’s not something that just
comes ready-made for you. No one ought to feel annoyed with themselves. It just
adds to the frustration. (…) Sometimes we get too angry with ourselves thinking
that we ought to be perfect from the word go. But this being on earth is a time
for us to learn to be good, to learn to be more loving, to learn to be more
compassionate. (…)
You are made for
perfection, but you are not yet perfect. You are a masterpiece in the making.”
Dalai Lama, Desmond
Tutu, Douglas Abrams (Ed). (2016). The
Book of Joy. Lasting Happiness in a Changing World. Viking: Penguin Canada.
PP83-92.
More on Dalai Lama: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama
More on Desmond Tutu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu
One God Note #777. 2018/01/28.
A genuinely fruitful
dialogue cannot be content with a polite diplomatic interest in other religions
and their beliefs. It seeks a deeper level, ..., a higher and more
personal knowledge of God than that which is contained simply in exterior
worship and formulated doctrine.
Thomas Merton. Quoted
in: Kilcourse George A. Jr. (1999). When the Heart is
Right. Thomas Merton Contemplative Contribution to Interreligious Dialogue.
More on Thomas Merton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton
More on World Interfaith Harmony Week: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Interfaith_Harmony_Week
One God Note #778. 2018/02/04.
In Mongolia, when a
dog dies, he is buried high in the hills so people cannot walk on his grave. The dog’s master whispers in the dog’s ear
his wishes that the dog will return as a man in his next life. Then his tail is
cut off and put beneath his head, and a piece of meat of fat is cut off and
placed in his mouth to sustain his soul for its journey;
before he is reincarnated, the dog’s soul is freed to travel the land, to run
across the high desert plains for as long as it would like. I learned that from a program on the National
Geographic Channel, so I believe it is true. Not all dogs return as men, they say;
only those who are ready. (…).
Garth Stein, in The Art of Racing in the Rain
(2008)
More on Garth Stein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Stein
More on Ged, the Dog: @ged_the_gsd
One God Note #779. 2018/02/11.
Every moment, in each breath, while eating, sleeping, and working, you
should remember the Lord's name.
Haidakhan Babaji. The Teachings of Babaji.
17 August 1982.
More on Haidakhan Babaji: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidakhan_Babaji
One God Note #780. 2018/02/18.
This morning He kept me sitting in silence with Him, for literally one
hour and I experienced a state of profound ecstasy, engulfed and transfixed by
a golden light at His feet. I hadn’t even noticed that an hour had passed,
merged as I was in silence full of sound, absorbed in an inner music. I feel I
have nothing to search for any more. God will Himself give me what I need and
everything will come at the right moment, I only need to be empty.
Gaura Devi (2001). Fire of Transformation. My life with Babaji.
Nymet Press, Devon, UK. P.184.
More on Haidakhan Babaji: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidakhan_Babaji
Gaura Devi passed away on 16 Feb 2018. More on Fire of
Transformation can be found here.
One God Note #781. 2018/02/25.
Why then be concerned about the conservation of wildlife when for all
practical purposes we would be much better off if humans and their domestic
animals and pets were the only living creatures on the face of the earth? There
is no obvious and demolishing answer to this rather doubtful logic although in
practice the destruction of all wild animals would certainly bring devastating
changes to our existence on this planet as we know it today...The trouble is
that everything in nature is completely interdependent. Tinker with one part of
it and the repercussions ripple out in all directions... Wildlife — and that includes everything from
microbes to blue whales and from a fungus to a redwood tree — has been so much
part of life on the earth that we are inclined to take its continued existence
for granted...Yet the wildlife of the world is disappearing, not because of a
malicious and deliberate policy of slaughter and extermination, but simply because
of a general and widespread ignorance and neglect.
Prince Phillip, World Wildlife Fund Dinner, York,
(1969). Retrieved from: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Prince_Philip,_Duke_of_Edinburgh on 25 Feb 2018.
More on Prince Phillip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip,_Duke_of_Edinburgh
More on World Wildlife Day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wildlife_Day
Dear Friends,
It has been almost seventeen years to date since
I started sending One God Notes. Some of you “travelled” with me from the very
beginning. I hope that the Notes not only convinced you about the underlying
unity of all diversity of spiritual forms, but allowed you to share some of
these ideas with others. However, continuous eroding of the number of my
subscribers, accompanied by ever increasing cost of the server provider, make
sending Notes in the current form unsustainable, especially in the context of
my upcoming retirement. Thus, with great regret, I inform you that this is
the last Note you will receive by email.
However, I will continue publishing One God Notes
through other media. If you are still interested in them, please, consider
following me on Facebook, Google
Plus or Twitter.
It is also my intention, as soon as I retire, to reactivate One God Notes blog, where I hope to expand on the many ideas expressed through the
Notes. Consider subscribing to it as well. If this is a farewell to you,
please, accept my deep gratitude for your interest, faithfulness, all the
comments, etc.
For all of you who may choose not to follow me
any further, I would like to reach for a quote from Haidakhan
Babaji, from whom I derived inspiration to start One
God Notes. It seems to express the quintessence of all my efforts.
One God Note #782.
2018/03/03.
All
religions are incorporated in this principle of Truth, Simplicity and Love.
Haidakhan Babaji (1981-12-25)(The
Teachings of Babaji. P.13)
More on
Haidakhan Babaji: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidakhan_Babaji
Dear Friends,
after I had announced my decision to
discontinue sending OGN by email, I received many messages from you expressing
appreciation, support and regret. Your kind and heart warming words ... changed my mind. I renewed my
contract with the service provider for two more years. Perhaps, together, we
will reach 1000 Notes. However, if you received my previous decision with relief, you
may easily unsubscribe by sending email to ogn-unsubscribe@onegodsite.net.
In Truth, Simplicity and Love, Pritam.
One God Note #783.
2018/03/18.
Thousands have lived without love, not one without
water.
W.
H. Auden, "First Things First" (1956). Retrieved from: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Water on 18 March 2018.
More on
W.H.Auden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden
More on
World Water Day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Water_Day
See
also: Our Thirsty Planet, Time Magazine, March 19, 2018.
One God Note #784. 2018/03/25.
Balthazar: "Listen: Christ will suffer in
the flesh because he is man. But he is God too and in his divinity he is beyond
that suffering. And we men made in the image of God are beyond all our own
suffering to the extent that we are like God. Look: until tonight man had his
eyes stopped by his suffering the way Tobias' eyes were stopped with bird
droppings. All man saw was his suffering, and he looked himself for a wounded
animal drunk with pain who went leaping through the woods to escape his wound
and took his hurt with him wherever he went. And you, Bariona,
you too were a man of the old dispensation. You looked upon your suffering with
bitterness and said, I'm mortally wounded; and you wanted to lie down on your
side and spend the rest of your life meditating the injustice that had been
done to you. Now Christ came to redeem you; he came to suffer and to show you
how to deal with suffering. Because you mustn't mull over it, or think our
honor consists in suffering more that the others, or
resign ourselves to it either.
Suffering is a common thing, a natural fact,
that you ought to accept as if you had it coming to you, and it is unbecoming
to talk about it too much, even for yourself. Come to terms with it as soon as
possible, snuggle it down nice and warm in the middle of your heart like a dog
stretched out by the fire. Don't think anything about it, unless it's that it's
there, as that stone is there in the road, as the night is there all around us.
Bariona, or the Son of Thunder. [In]: The Writings of Jean-Paul Sartre. Vol.2.
P.129-130.
More on Jean-Paul Sartre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre
One God Note #785. 2018/04/01.
O death, where is your
victory? O death, where is your sting?
1
Cor 15:55
More on Easter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter
Dear Friends, a few of you offered to make
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I thank you all in advance. With Love and
Support, Pritam.
One God Note #786. 2018/04/08.
The
Mahamrityunjaya Mantra reads:
In Devanagari script:
ॐ त्र्यं॑बकं यजामहे सु॒गन्धिं॑ पुष्टि॒वर्ध॑नम् ।
उ॒र्वा॒रु॒कमि॑व॒ बन्ध॑नान् मृ॒त्योर् मु॑क्षीय॒ माऽमृता॑त् ।
In IAST transliteration:
Om tryambakam yajāmahe
sugandhim puṣṭivardhanam
urvā rukamiva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya mā'mṛtāt
Om Three-Eyed One, we worship you, the sweet
fragrance of the fullness of life, who nourishes, strengthens and restores us
to health, like a big peach.
Free me from death, but not from immortality.
More on Mahamrityunjaya_Mantra:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamrityunjaya_Mantra
One God Note #787. 2018/04/15.
The man who wants to
deepen his existential awareness has to make a break with ordinary existence,
and this break is costly. It cannot be made without anguish and
suffering. It implies loneliness and the disorientation of one who has to
recognize that the old signposts don't show him his way and that, in fact, he
has to find the way by himself without a map. True, the monastic life
provides other signposts and other maps: but the trouble is that too often the
signposts point merely to a dead end, and the maps are like those curious
productions of fourteenth-century cartographers which inform us that "here
are many dragons." The real function of discipline is not to provide
us with maps but to sharpen our own sense of direction so that when we really
get going we can travel without maps.
More on Thomas Merton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton
More on Baha’u’llah: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h
One God Note #788. 2018/04/22.
Think
of the earth as a mother. This is one earth. Don't be divided by thinking of
yourselves as belonging to different countries. We belong to one earth. Proceed
with this in mind. Look to the future with a vision of good deeds for the whole
world, not just one county. Have great courage and patience - be not afraid of
water, fire or great storms – face them bravely.
Haidakhan Babaji – The
Teachings of Babaji. 1983-04-07.
More on Haidakhan Babaji: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidakhan_Babaji
More on Earth Day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day
One God Note #789. 2018/04/29.
Death and taxes and
childbirth! There’s never any convenient time for any of them!
Margaret
Mitchell, Scarlett O’Hara, in Gone With the Wind, vol. 2, pt. 4, ch.
38 (1936).
More on Taxation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax
One God Note #790. 2018/05/13.
My
God! I have often regretted that I was born! I have often wished to fall back
even into nothingness, rather than advance through so many falsehoods, so many
sufferings, and so many successive losses, towards that loss of ourselves which
we call death! Still, even in those moments of terrible faintheartedness, when
despair overmasters reason, and when man forgets that life is a task imposed
upon him to finish, I have always said to myself: "There are some things
which I would regret not to have tasted — a mother's milk, a father's love,
that relationship of heart and soul between brothers, household affections,
joys, and even cares!" Our family is evidently our second self, more than
self, existing before self, and surviving self with the better part of self. It
is the image of the holy and loving unity of beings revealed by the small group
of creatures who hold to one another, and made visible by feeling!
Alphonse de Lamartine, Les
confidences (1849), trans. Eugène Plunkett, New York: D. Appleton &
Co., 1857, Book I, Note II, p. 19. Retrieved from: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Family on
13 May 2018.
More on Alphonse de
Lamartine:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_de_Lamartine
One God Note #791. 2018/05/27.
Whereas some ascetics
and Brahmins remain addicted to such unedifying conversation as about kings,
robbers, ministers, armies, dangers, wars, food, drink, clothes, beds,
garlands, perfumes, relatives, carriages, villages, towns and cities,
countries, women, heroes, street- and well-gossip, talk of the departed,
desultory chat, speculations about land and sea, talk about being and
non-being, the ascetic Gotama refrains from such
conversation.
Gautama Buddha M. Walshe,
trans. (1987), Sutta 1 (Brahmajala
Sutta (Theravada)), verse 1.17, p. 70
More on Gautama Buddha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha
One God Note
#792. 2018/06/03.
The ear of
the faithful retains the inspiration,
because such an ear is close to the caller,
just as an infant's ear is filled with its mother's words
until it learns to speak.
Rumi, Mathnawi IV, 3030..., quoted in: Helminski, Kabir
(2000). The Rumi Collection. P.116.
More on Laylat al-Quadr: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laylat_al-Qadr
More on Rumi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi
One God Note
#793. 2018/06/10.
It is difficult to be called a Muslim; if one
is truly a Muslim, then he may be called one. First, let him savor the religion
of the Prophet as sweet; then, let his pride of his possessions be scraped
away. Becoming a true Muslim, a disciple of the faith of Mohammed, let him put
aside the delusion of death and life. As he submits to God's Will, and
surrenders to the Creator, he is rid of selfishness and conceit. And when, O
Nanak, he is merciful to all beings, only then shall he be called a Muslim.
Guru Nanak, 'Sri Granth
Sahib,' page 141 line 11. Retrieved from: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Muhammad on 10
June 2018.
More on Eid al-Fitr: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Fitr
More on Guru Nanak: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Nanak
One God Note
#794. 2018/06/24.
Mercy
listens — really listens, with interest and concern — then smiles, and reaches
out her hand.
J. M. DeMatteis, Mercy (1993).
Retrieved from: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mercy on 24 Jun 2018.
More on the concept of mercy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy
More interesting quotations on the subject
of mercy: https://www.onegodsite.net/mercy.html
One God Note
#795. 2018/07/14.
(…) the notion of continuity of consciousness can come to be seen to be
in accord with both the nature of our environment and the nature of our mental
experience. (…) it gives us a more
profound ability to understand and to explain the nature of our existence and
of the universe. (…) this notion of continuity and causal interconnectedness
reinforces a sense of consequences for our own actions, in terms of both the
impact on ourselves and the impact on others and the environment. (xix)
It is through reflection on the above themes: the law of cause and
effect, dependent origination, the dynamics of our physical environment, and,
based on our analysis of the nature of mind, the mode of the arising and
subsiding of thoughts, the shifts in the modalities of our consciousness
between deep sleep, dreams and our waking state, etc., that the notion of
continuity of consciousness may first be established as relevant to the
understanding of our current condition. Once the notion of this continuity has
been confirmed, through reflection and experience, then it becomes logical to
prepare oneself for death and for future existences. (xix-xx).
(…) as to the nature of the actual preparation itself, this will depend
on each individual’s depth of spiritual aspiration. For example, is an
individual is simply seeking a favorable rebirth as a human being, there is no
need to engage in a sophisticated meditative path related to the process of
death and rebirth. Simply to live a virtuous life is seen as sufficient. (…)
(xx)
(…) the practices of Highest Yoga Tantra present a spiritual path which
enables the individual to attain complete Buddhahood within a single lifetime,
prior to the moment of death. Yet, for those who are unable to achieve this, it
becomes crucial to use the transformative opportunities offered by the
naturally occurring processes of death, the intermediate state and rebirth.
Hence, in Highest Yoga Tantra, it is not merely the preparation for a more
developed future rebirth which is important, but of more fundamental
significance is the personal preparation for using one’s own death and subsequent
states as a means of achieving liberation. (xx-xxi)
(…) the rehearsal of the process of death, and those
of the intermediate state, and the emergence into a future existence lies at
the very heart of the path in Highest Yoga Tantra. (…) because of this I
somehow feel a sense of excitement when I think about the experience of death.
At the same time, though, sometimes I do wonder whether or not I will really be
able to fully utilize my own preparatory practices when the actual moment of
death comes! (xxviii)
His
Holiness The Dalai Lama. Introduction to The
Tibetan Book of the Dead. (2006). Penguin Books.
More on the Dalai Lama: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama
More on the Tibetan Book of the Dead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo_Thodol
One God Note
#796. 2018/07/22.
If good circumstances prevail [at the time of death],
and if there is minimal impairment of the vital organs, and clear mindfulness,
and if one’s spiritual leader and fellow practitioners gather together, with an
inspired perspective, and if serum and other signs appear at the crown of the
head, and consciousness is transferred from the crown of the head, then, it is said
that one will achieve liberation, or take birth among the higher realms.
Therefore, it is important [to create] the right circumstances at the time of
death.
The Tibetan
Book of the Dead. (2006). Penguin Books. P.178.
More on the Tibetan Book of the Dead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo_Thodol
More on Vassa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassa
One God Note
#797. 2018/08/06.
The world is full of contradictions, hence your search
for harmony and peace. These you cannot find in the world, for the world is the
child of chaos. To find order you must search within. (…).
Millions eat bread, but few know all about wheat. And
only those who know can improve the bread. Similarly, only those who know the
self, who have seen beyond the world, can improve the world. Their value to
private persons is immense, for they are their only hope of salvation. What is
in the world cannot save the world; if you really care to help the world, you
must step out of it.
Sri Maharaj Nisargadatta. (2005). I am That. Durham,
NC: The Acorn Press. ISBN 0-89386-022-0. P.207.
More on Sri Maharaj Nisargadatta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisargadatta_Maharaj
One God Note
#798. 2018/08/12.
We are cast like sunlight upon the earth.
And our light, passing through the body
as if it were an open window to our Source,
returns, purified, to you.
Whoever sees that sun says,
"He is alive,"
and whoever sees only the window says,
"He is dying."
Rumi, Furuzanfar
#2399, quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi
Collection. P.121.
More on Rumi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi
One God Note #799. 2018/09/16.
Gurus are as numerous as lamps in every
house. But, O-Goddess, difficult to find is a guru who lights up everything
like a sun.
Gurus who are proficient in the Vedas, textbooks and so on are numerous. But, O
Goddess, difficult to find is a guru who is proficient in the supreme Truth.
Gurus who rob their disciples of their wealth are numerous. But, O Goddess,
difficult to find is a guru who removes the disciples' suffering.
Numerous here on earth are those who are intent on social class, stage of life
and family. But he who is devoid of all concerns is a guru difficult to find.
An intelligent man should choose a guru by whom supreme Bliss is attained, and
only such a guru and none other.
Kula-Arnava, 13.104 - 13.110, Translated by Georg Feuerstein.
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru on 26 August 2018.
More on Guru Purnima: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Purnima
More on gurus, saints,
prophets, spiritual fathers, etc.: http://onegosite.net/saints.html
One God Note #800. 2018/09/23.
Forgiveness is
the renunciation or
cessation of resentment, indignation or anger as
a result of a perceived offense, disagreement, or mistake, especially those
involving renunciations of demands for punishment or
restitution. Forgiveness is often distinguished from condoning (failing
to see an action as wrong or in need of forgiveness), excusing (not
holding the offender as responsible for the action), pardoning from
normal consequences of such actions (granted by a representative of society,
such as a judge), forgetting (loss of awareness of the offense
from consciousness), or reconciliation (restoration of a
relationship, with or without forgiveness).
Retrieved
from https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Forgiveness on 23 September 2018.
More on Ksamavani: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kshamavani
More on forgiveness: http://onegosite.net/forgiveness.html
One God Note
#801. 2018/11/04.
In Ahmadiyya Islam, Jihad is a radical concept. It is primarily one's
personal inner and outer struggle for self-purification. Armed struggle or
military exertion is the only to be used in defense. However, even then it can
only be carried out under the direct instruction of a Caliph, purely for the
sake of God and the preservation of religion.[1] It is not permissible that jihad be used to
spread Islam violently or for political motives, or that it be waged against a
government that maintains religious freedom. Political conflicts (even from a
defensive stand) over independence, land and resources or reasons other than
religious belief cannot be termed jihad. There is a clear distinction, in
Ahmadi theology, between Jihad (striving) and qitāl
or jihad bil-saif (fighting). While Jihad may
involve fighting, not all fighting can be called Jihad. Rather, according to
Ahmadiyya belief, qitāl or military jihad
is applicable, only as a defensive measure in very strictly defined
circumstances and those circumstances do not exist at present.
Ahmadiyya
claims its objective to be the revival and peaceful propagation of Islam with special emphasis on defending and extending Islam 'by the
pen' and by argumentation. Ahmadis point out that as per prophecy, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (whom they believe to be the promised
messiah) rendered Jihad in its military form as inapplicable in the present age
since Islam, as a religion, is not being attacked militarily but through
literature and other media, therefore the response should be likewise.
Retrieved on 4 Nov 2018 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadiyya_view_on_Jihad
More on Ahmadiyya Islam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadiyya
More on Mirza Ghulam Ahmad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirza_Ghulam_Ahmad