Monday 4 October 2010

Friday, September 1st, 2010

Deliberating

Wakefield,Quebec

Not within our meeting but outside this valuable time of gathering, at a casual moment, did one of the attendees offer to spell out the meaning of the word Hope. “Help others to excel.” He also presented to the word fear.” False evidence appearing real.”

It’s expected to have motivational messages like this floating within and around such meetings. And then the word ego made it’s entrance into the conversation. “Edging God Out.”

In sanskrit the word for ego is ahankara. The way in which the word ahankara is described in the Gita as being the delusion that one is in control of things when in actuality one is controlled.

Nature is doing the controlling (BG 3.27) and nature is controlled by the divine Power. Sri Krishna explains in the Gita 9.10 “material nature works under my direction”.

A classic question comes to mind, “Does the living being have any free will?” And ” Is there any scope for independence?”

Answer- “YES! Within our dependence there is independence. Within our constraints or limitations there is freedom just as a prisoner within his cell has some range to enjoy freedom of choice. He can sit, lie, or stand, sing, talk dance or be quiet. He can experience some freedom.

The opening of the meetings for our group this morning began with reading a passage from the book Bhagavatham.Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, explained about the passage on this subject of “choice”. Here it is, “Anyone in the material world, beginning with Brahma down to the small ant has come on account of Pravrtti (inclination)”

It really was the first time I had seen this Sanskrit word in this manner.

This processing of words became a preoccupation for me for at least as few seconds. And the circling around the small lake of our resort permitted me that precious time to analyse these words after hearing and reading them. And after mulling over the aforementioned points on the position of free will versus fate I must admit I liked the deliberations.

2 KM

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