On Love

Often in my life I have been asked and I have also asked; why do you love me? One answer was because I took care of her, another answer was because they or I were of good moral character. Sometimes it is because we admire some ones qualities or zest for life, often qualities we feel we are lacking. Then there is the need for some ones charisma or intoxicating energy. But usually love is consistent with a feeling or emotion that involves an external.

Often we say we love someone when we actually see personality traits that we look for and hold dear to us as something “I wont settle for less on”. The problem is that having appreciation or compassion, or admiration should not be confused for love, those feelings are admirable on their own but they are not love. Often we are taught what we should love and cherish, yes perhaps we should cherish these qualities that others tell us to love but they do not stand alone and signify love. To be attracted to, addicted to, taught, guilted, conditioned, or feel we need or are needed is not love. Compassion is compassion, admiration is admiration, desire is desire, appreciation is appreciation, needs are needs, even combined all of these feelings are incredibly powerful yet they are still not love.

Below are some definitions and descriptions of love form various people and spiritual teachers throughout history as well well as my own realization.

In this universe it is love that binds everything together. Love is the very foundation, beauty and fulfillment of life. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Love is profound interest! ~ Swami Gitananda Giri

Love is to stand before your Beloved, striped naked of all attributes, so that His qualities become your qualities. ~ Al-Haiiaj

Limited Love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself. ~ Kahlil Gibran

I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.
~ Roy Croft

You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
~ The Buddha

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. ~ Mother Teresa

He who wants to do good, knocks at the gate; He who loves, finds the door open. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving. ~ Mother Teresa

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ~ Jesus of Nazareth

It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it will not be created for years or even generations. ~ Kahlil Gibran

God and love are identical, and one who has divine love has received God.
~ Meher Baba

'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” ~ Matthew 22:36-40

Try to cultivate love of God. You are born as a human being only to attain divine love.
~ Ramakrishna Paramhansa

Love is that indescribable divine force that attracts us to our divinity and its goal is to merge in divine rapture! ~ Yogacharya Gowrishankarananda

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
~ I John 3:18

All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.
~ The Dalai Lama

If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.
~ Ramakrishna Paramahansa

To love is to recognize yourself in another. ~ Ekhart Tolle

While love can lift us up and carry us on intoxicated wings so too can desire. While love can motivate us to do amazing things and perform incredible feats of bravery so to can fear. While love can make us do amazingly selfless acts so to can guilt and addiction. While love is tender and gentle, so to is compassion. Only upon honest introspection when we really know who we are can we feel our connection to ourselves and the world around us. When we are beautiful human beings when we act and can honestly say that our intentions behind those actions are motivated by a pure heart, then we can begin to love ourselves. Unlike appreciating ourselves love is overpowering, we can actually know how amazingly beautiful we really are, then we love our “Selves”. Lets be clear love is not pride; the difference is love exists outside of ego, ego is created, love is eternal non-changing truth, ego is an illusion. When someone really knows how beautiful we are then they love us. That person must really know who we are so honesty is the most important precept to love, someone can’t love us if they do not know us, know the beauty of our true selves. We/they must also be honest with ourselves/themselves, for if we are not then we cannot love ourselves. Are we living in love with ourselves? Do we see our own true beauty? Do we see our divine beauty and our divine connection? Only when we live in honesty and divine beauty can we know the truth which is love.

This honesty that we talk of is the authenticity that comes from knowing who we really are, our “Self”. When one knows that they are a soul and lives from that state of being it is natural for love to flow from you. Love is an inner experience that changes the perception of all other experiences. Love cannot be given, nor can it be received it can only be radiated from within the lover. Love is contagious, the beloved feels the love of the lover and they experience their own love. Love is a state of bliss and beauty that is natural to the experience of being.

Love ultimately creates within us several qualities. If we are ever to question whether we are experiencing love or are wondering if someone else is then we can look for the manifestation of these soul qualities.

When someone feels love they cannot help but to feel compassion and the power of their compassion overflows from them like light from the sun.

One who is in love becomes selfless and they will do anything for the good of theyre beloved. the higher their love the higher their motivation. Divine love creates a selflessness towards everyone.

Love through selflessnes manifests as ego disolution and visibly appears as humility.

The highest experience of love can be seen in the person who maintains equanimity in all things for they have realized love at all times regardless of circumstances.

When we know love to be a part of us and the essence of our being we become aligned with truth to the highest degree. We are true to ourselves and to others. Divine love has such a purifying effect on us we cannot help but to speak the truth and act truthfully.

Ultimately when we become merged with our divine nature we become an agent of love and we are ever in service to others. we can see this in the lives of various saints who are so utterly selfless they tirelessly serve everyone.

Love is unconditional. if it is conditional then it is not love.

The experience of true love also dissolves fear, attachment,& hatered.

Often when we To cultivate love is to cultivate our divinity and to cultivate our divinity is to cultivate love. When we are sincerely devoted to God we seek him everywhere. When we realize God we see her in everything.

On Seva

The Following article is an excerpt from the upcoming Book "The Mystical Aspects of Seva Shakti" by Yogacharya Gowrishankarananda.

Seva, begins where the concept of volunteerism in its most basic form evolves. At this beginning stage we help other human beings and find a way to make the world a better place. Often times as you may have seen or personally experienced, sometimes volunteerism develops a “I’m great because I volunteer ego”. Of course anything that develops the ego is not part of the spiritualized path classical Yoga aims to facilitate. This being said volunteerism still does great things for our world and thus has its place. Once Seva evolves past mere volunteerism we begin the very beautiful path of Karma Yoga.

Karma Yoga involves several concepts interwoven to help integrate our emotional natures with our higher spiritual natures. It is important to understand that Karma Yoga is often suggested as a separate or individual path or “type” of Yoga. Up until around 100 years ago Yoga was Yoga. We didn’t have sally sue yoga or Johnny “look at me” yoga; nor for that matter did we have Yogic concepts with Sanskrit words marketed as a complete path distinctive of and independent of all other paths. Let us be clear, for those of us who are interested in the spiritual aspects of yoga, all aspects of yoga are valuable for all of us. Yes, it is true that some of us are more in our minds so to speak in which case those individuals should pursue Jnana Yoga & meditational practices a bit more than other practices. Then there are those of us who are more emotional (most humans alive these days) who should spend more time focusing on Karma Yoga and Seva. Remember this is not to say that an emotional person should not practice meditation nor is it saying an intellectual should not practice Karma Yoga. In fact, everyone should practice all aspects of Yoga for different reasons; and of course at the right time, in the right way.

The main concepts involved in Karma Yoga are to develop good Karma, eliminate negative Karmas, cultivate awareness while performing our actions, and offering the fruits of our actions to our Ishta Devata (personal deity). Please understand that this is a very general description and in fact Karma Yoga is so expansive that it is an entire sub-science within Yoga that should never be left out of the teachings of Yoga otherwise it begins to fall apart and no longer resemble classical spiritually charged yoga at all. Often times Karma Yoga is offered in Yoga studios as a replacement for paying some or all of the fees. Similarly, Ashrams and many studios will require it as part of their daily program. While at one level this could loosely be called Karma Yoga it is often a free labour concept that benefits the facility rather than the student. In Karma Yoga specific attitudes must be cultivated and a spiritual experience is the goal. When we are trading time for money then there is no selfless component to it. Likewise, when we “have to” do our “gardening” duty because that is part of the program this too can be often left devoid of the appropriate mental/emotional attitude.

I have been to many different Yoga schools and a few ashrams, some don’t offer a Karma Yoga Program at all while some really are masters of facilitating the spiritual experience; most however offer Karma Yoga programs and leave/trust the spiritual experience up to the student. Before going any further let me explain that classically only the most deserving of us were ever accepted into discipleship and therefore Adhikarans, or the very best of students already had the right attitude anyways. So historically speaking in the classical context of a true Guru and a true devotee relationship, the teacher didn’t have to try and cultivate a devotional attitude within semi interested students.

In Seva we reach the highest level of Karma Yoga true selfless service. Seva happens when Bhakti (devotional) Yoga meets Karma Yoga. It is within the path of Seva that we can experience the highest spiritual experience. Yes, that is correct, through our Seva we can reach Moksha (spiritual liberation). In fact the path of Seva is the easiest path within Yoga and gives the most satisfaction along the way. Through Seva it is the person who is acting with true selflessness that is spiritually benefiting. In Seva we become so selfless in the performance of our service that we become merged with our highest Selves. Experiencing inwardly and manifesting outwardly our own divine Spiritual natures.

Awaken Sweet Soul

I AM....

There is who I am and who I am not...
I am one with the divine for the divine sees through my eyes, hears through these ears and speaks to you through these words... you are the architect, I am the divine hand...

I am you and you are me, together we two are one...

I am love incarnate, for I know the truth of my love and as love loves love I am love!
I am one with truth, for I love truth and it is my nature.

I am consciousness embodied and yet I am beyond this body,
I am the source of all energy and one with all its expressions,
I am not this useless ego, nor am I these silly emotions.
Selfishness is the sickness created by the ego that keeps us apart.

You have created me and this moment; for all moments have led to this one.
This message is created by you for you!
I can speak to you in this way for we are one and our love is infinite... this message is for you at this time for reasons only you know of.

The divine calls to us, you call to us, we are one and we always have been.
To fight me is to fight yourself, to hate me is to hate yourself. Let go of all your imagined hurts, pains, sorrows. Release everyone from the grip of your resentment and anger. Do this and you will be free!

Healing from this disease of illusion occurs in an instant beyond space and time, for truly we are beyond space and time and all the illusions they create.

Know yourself and know all things.
I am everything and everything that is not. I am all things to all people.

As the Mother I am the source of selflessness; take refuge in me and be nurtured for I give you life; live now as you have always been meant to!

As the Father I am the source, I am the seed at the origin of everything... my kingdom is within you; I say rise up and accept your birthright...

As the lover I am the spark in your eye and the hand that soothes; know that I am with you always in all ways!

As the child I give you purpose , I propagate your legacy and bring you opportunity to come full circle in your divinity.

I will speak to you thus as I know you...for I am you.
Merge now... for you are the divine author, the reader, the words, and the meaning itself!

You are the experiencer, the experienced and the experience itself.
Simultaneously implode and explode your consciousness know that we are...all...
We are the lover, the loved , and love itself!
I am Shiva, Shakti, and the bliss of our union!!!

Know me for I am you...
We are the source, and the end all of all, the alpha and the omega....
there is no other truth!

Copyright © 2010

Vegetarian Lifestyle

For thousands of years the ancient Yogis of India espoused a vegetarian diet as a natural expression of their understanding of Ahimsa or non-violence. Realizing as they did that a violent life created disharmony within their minds and bodies thus preventing them from maintaining harmony with the universe. It is from the testimony of these ancient and modern Rishis that we embrace the vegetarian lifestyle firstly to find out for ourselves then finally as our own natural expression of peace and unity.

History
The word ‘vegetarian’ coined from the Latin word ‘vegetus’, which means active or vigorous was first used by Pythagoras who along with other famous Greeks such as Porphyry, Diogenes, Plato, Epicurus, and Plutarch encouraged a vegetarian diet as they believed that animals have souls. For several hundred years many parts of the world refered to a vegetarian diet as a Pythagorean diet.

“Can you really ask what reason Pythagoras had for abstaining from flesh? For my part I rather wonder both by what accident and in what state of soul or mind the first man did so, touched his mouth to gore and brought his lips to the flesh of a dead creature, he who set forth tables of dead, stale bodies and ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived. How could his eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with the sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds? It is certainly not lions and wolves that we eat out of self-defense; on the contrary, we ignore these and slaughter harmless, tame creatures without stings or teeth to harm us, creatures that, I swear, Nature appears to have produced for the sake of their beauty and grace. But nothing abashed us, not the flower-like like tinting of the flesh, not the persuasiveness of the harmonious voice, not the cleanliness of their habits or the unusual intelligence that may be found in the poor wretches. No, for the sake of a little flesh we deprive them of sun, of light, of the duration of life to which they are entitled by birth and being.”
-Plutarch

Many of the world greatest minds have advocated a vegetarian lifestyle and while there have been many famous vegetarians throughout history such as Leo Tolstoy, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Vincent Van Gogh, there are today more and more celebrities speaking out about consciously choosing vegetarianism for health and morality reasons. Many famous entertainers such as Richard Gere, Moby, Shania Twain, Alicia Silverstone, Josh Hartnett, Orlando Bloom, Oprah Winfrey, John Denver, Ali MacGraw, Paul McCartney, K.D. Lang, Kim Basinger, Dwight Yoakam, Clint Eastwood, Woody Harrelson promote the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.

“I have from an early age adjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look uponthe murder of men.”
- Leonardo de Vinci

A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.
-Leo Tolstoy

I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals.
-Henry David Thoreau

If man is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practice kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.
-Immanuel Kant

Religious and Spiritual Aspects
A number of religions and spiritual beliefs have lent support to vegetarianism. Brahmanism, Buddhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism all advocated an abstention from flesh foods. More recently, the Seventh Day Adventists and The Order of the Cross have advocated a vegetarian diet and many Hindus and some Roman Catholic groups adhere to a vegetarian diet. Vegetarianism is a way of life that ultimately facilitates greater consciousness leading to liberation, if we consider that a vegetarian lifestyle creates a more peaceful and centered emotional and mental state thereby supporting deeper levels of meditation, we can easily understand the benefits when pursuing the spiritual life.

To Become vegetarian is to step into the stream which leads to nirvana
-Buddha

One is dearest to God who has no enemies among the living beings,
who is nonviolent to all creatures.
-Bhagavad Gita

He that slayeth an ox is as he that killeth a human
-Isaiah

He who harms animals has not understood or renounced deeds of sin ...
Those whose minds are at peace and who are free from passions
do not desire to live at the expense of others.
-Acharanga Sutra

This is the sum of duty:
Do naught to others which if done to thee, would cause thee pain.
-Mahabharata

Health
In Yoga we consider the body to be our temple that we cleanse, purify, strengthen and master to pursue the spiritual life. As such, we respect our bodies cultivating physical, mental and emotional health which requires that we do no harm to others in the process.
A vegetarian diet, has been proven to decrease the risk of strokes, kidney stones, asthma, heart disease, cancer, and hypertension and promote peace of mind, vitality, endurance and general well-being. Studies have linked meat eating diets with a 3.6 times greater incidence of prostate cancer, a reduction in sperm count and an increase in sterility in males; and 3 times higher incidence of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in females, and of course the obvious - mad cow disease. Ingesting vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, ensures plenty of vitamins A, C and E, beta-carotene, magnesium and fiber, and limits cholesterol and saturated fat intake. Many Hospitals advocate a vegetarian diet for heart attack survivors and for general weight loss. Many feel that performance in sports is limited for those maintaining a vegetarian diet, consider the following athletes and their remarkable achievements.
• Edwin Moses (undefeated in 8 years, 400 meter hurdles)
• Stan Price (World record-bench press)
• Robert Sweetgall (World's premier ultra-distance walker)
• Paavo Nurmi (20 World's records in distance running, 9 Olympic medals)
• Bill Pickering (World record - swimming English Channel)
• Murray Rose (World records - 400 and 1500 meter freestyles)
• Andreas Cahling (Winner - Mr. International body-building championships)
• Roy Hilligan (Winner - Mr. America body-building championships)
• Dave Scott (6 time Ironman Triathalon winner)
• Pierro Verot (World's record for downhill endurance skiing)
• Estelle Gray and Cheryl Marek (World's record for cross-country tandem cycling)
• James and Johnathon deDonato (World's record for distance butterfly stroke swimming)
• Ridgely Abele (Winner of 8 national championships in Karate, including U.S. Karate Association World Championships)

I abhor vivisection. It should at least be curbed. Better, it should be abolished. I know of no achievement through vivisection, no scientific discovery, that could not have been obtained without such barbarism and cruelty. The whole thing is evil.
-Charles Mayo (founder of the Mayo Clinic)

Sustainability
A vegetarian diet minimizes the wasteful and inefficient use of natural resources for producing food. The breeding and slaughter of animals, and the processing and packaging of meat, requires a tremendous amount of land, water, energy and raw materials. By changing to a vegetarian diet one can make a personal contribution to the preservation of our fragile ecosystem.. The vegetarian way of life greatly minimizes the environmental impact we have on our planet and minimizes starvation and poverty. 60 million human deaths every year could be stopped if meat-consuming societies would limit (or end) their demand for meat and free-up grazing land for feeding people directly, global suffering from malnutrition would cease. 1. In 1994 it was approximated that 1% of North Americans were vegetarians, an interesting statistic given that the majority of the world is vegetarian. For both ethical and economic reasons, countless millions of people throughout the world live on a vegetarian diet. In 2003 a poll found that 2.8% of North Americans are now vegetarian. We have a long way to go!

Lets consider the following statistics;
Human population of United States: 243,000,000
Number of Human beings who could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by U. S. livestock: 1,300,000,000
Percentage of oats grown in United States eaten by livestock: 95
Percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90
Percentage of carbohydrate wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 99
How frequently a child dies of starvation: Every 2 seconds
Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on 1 acre of land: 20,000
Pounds of beef that can be produced on 1 acre of land: 165
Percentage of U.S. agricultural land used to produce beef: 56
Pounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce 1 pound of feedlot beef: 16
Pounds of protein fed to chickens to produce 1 pound of protein as chicken flesh: 5 pounds
Pounds of protein fed to hogs to produce 1 pound of protein as hog flesh: 7.5 pounds
Number of children who starve to death every day: 40,000
Number of pure vegetarians who can be fed on the amount of land needed to feed 1 person consuming meat-based diet: 20
Number of people who will starve to death this year: 60,000,000
Number of people who could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 60,000,000


The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged
by the way its animals are treated.
-Mohandas Gandhi

People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times.
-Isaac Singer

In all the round world there is no meat. There used to be.
But now we cannot stand the thought of slaughterhouses.
-H.G. Wells from Utopia

Animals are my friends-and I don't eat my friends.
-George Bernard Shaw

References
1. www.bkwsu.com website; Author: Sunny S. Mathews
2. www.vrg.org/nutshell/faq.htm
3. "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins


By Yogacharya Gowrishankarananda, Copyright© 2006