Elijah the Prophet Presentation Sunday, Nov. 2, 11 AM, Vedanta Center of Atlanta

I will be making the following presentation at the Vedanta Center of Atlanta on Sunday, November 2, 2014. The program begins with 30 minutes of meditation starting at 10:30 AM. My presentation will begin at 11 AM and last for one hour. There is a little meet and greet coffee session afterwards. The public is welcome, there is no charge (although donations are accepted, but no plate is passed around) and no reservations are needed. The Vedanta Center of Atlanta is located at 2331 Brockett Road, Tucker, GA 30084; 770-938-6673. It is at the corner of Adrian and Brockett, one block from LaVista.

Elijah the Prophet (and Enoch, Phinehas, Elisha and the Archangels Metatron and Sandalphon). Who was/is Elijah the Prophet, Eliyahu Hanavi, whose story is contained in the Jewish Bible? Where did he come from, what did he do, and where did he go? The Jewish Bible and supplemental sources weave an interesting story-line about Elijah and his co-horts/alter-egos/incarnations. Included are swashbuckling tales mixed with displays of extraordinary yogic-like powers and underlying mystical and spiritual lessons. Come hear about this hero/these heroes of old and ponder what his/their stories may mean for us today.

Date: November 2, 2014

Time: 11 AM (preceded by 30 minutes of meditation starting at 10:30 AM)

Location: Vedanta Center of Atlanta; 2331 Brocket Road, Tucker, GA 30084; 770-938-6673. (Corner of Adrian and Brockett, one block from LaVista.)

Cost: Free. Donations accepted, no reservations needed. Open to the public.

 

About the Presenter

Steven J. Gold, BA Antioch College, Philosophy and Religion; JD Emory Law School, is the founder/director of the Yoga and Judaism Center in Atlanta, GA. He has been a student, practitioner and teacher of spiritual self-realization and its related philosophy and psychology for over forty years, including yoga, Vedanta, kabala and eastern and western mysticism. He is an initiate and practitioner in the Tradition of the Himalayan Masters, as propagated in the West by the late Sri Swami Rama of the Himalayas. He is the author of Yoga and Judaism, Explorations of a Jewish Yogi; IVRI, The Essence of Hebrew Spirituality, 21^st Century Perspectives on an Ancient Tradition; Torah Portion Summaries, With Insights from the Perspective of a Jewish Yogi; Basic Spiritual Principles, Writings of the Dawn, The Spiritual Journey of a Baby-Boomer, and The Book About Always Being At Home (spiritual children’s book).

Quote of the Week 306 - Myth and Mistaken Assumptions

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It is tragic that religious fundamentalists, on the one hand; and atheists (including, in particular, Neo-Darwinian fundamentalists) on the other tend to see no further than the literal acceptance of the Bible. Hence they base their hostility to each other regarding religious belief on the mistaken assumption that this is the true and only interpretation.

 …

Turning first to the Intuitive aspect: It is unfortunate that neither the Creationist nor the Atheist understands the true meaning of the word ‘Myth’. It has, too often, been mis-represented as ‘Falsehood’. However, in its spiritual meaning ‘Myth’ is a symbolic story or legend used in Scripture to present a moral or wisdom teaching, but told in the form of language usually used to describe historical events. The correct understanding of Myth is important, for it stems from the archetypal consciousness of Mankind.

--Bill Heilbronn, from The Courage of Uncertainty; A Jewish View of the Continuing Evolution of Faith in the Fields of Religion and Science

A Yom Kippur Inspiration About This World and Our Place In It

A Yom Kippur Inspiration About This World and Our Place In It

I took a morning walk this past Yom Kippur. I take a morning walk every day, but there was something special in the air this particular Yom Kippur morning. The day before, a storm had blown through in the early morning hours, dumping a good bit of rain before moving on around 11 AM. Clearing and sunshine rapidly replaced the grey skies of the storm, but a sharp decrease in temperature heralded in a reminder that Fall had arrived. On Yom Kippur morning, although the temperature remained the coolest since last winter, the skies were still blue and sunny, with widely scattered white clouds. A strong wind once again stirred, and the clouds were whisking across the sky at an unusually rapid pace. It was in this setting that I was taking my morning walk, and the following thoughts began to formulate in my mind, spurred on by a recent video I had seen depicting the activity of our solar system and galaxy as they course through the cosmos.

This world, this universe, this cosmos in which we find ourselves is an extremely complicated mechanism. Collectively, we have spent many lifetimes through the various disciplines of the arts, humanities and sciences exploring and examining this mechanism in attempts to better understand it, ourselves, our place in it, and to use it as a medium through which to express ourselves. These efforts, these expressions, are best served if we connect with the source, the foundation, the essence of it all, from which it all has arisen and continues to arise in constant process. There is a unifying source which is great, awesome, mysterious and simple. It can be accessed, and such access provides us with the broadest and best perspective from which to conduct our lives. To question or doubt our ability to access this source would be akin to questioning/doubting the ability of a fish to access the water in which it swims. We are all immersed in it, totally dependent upon it, and interdependently connected through it. Our explorations sometimes get us confused in the morass of the overwhelming detail and complexity of this mechanism through which we function. That is why it is important to establish, remember and retain contact with the perspective provided by connecting with the simplicity of the origin, of the essence. This perspective of simplicity is a great salve for our confusion. It is important, and even necessary, to conduct our explorations and engage in our expressions through the various avenues we have created. We possess an inherent impulse to do so; it is what supplies us with inspiration, meaning and purpose. Musicians, artists, poets, philosophers, scientists, mystics and people in all walks of life engage and express in a manner unique to their chosen path or field of endeavor. There is no end to such activity. However, it is equally important to establish and maintain connection with our essence, the origin of our activity. It provides us with stability, like an internal gyroscope, lest we wobble, spin out of control and become lost. This is the crux to finding ourselves and establishing the ability to lead productive, fulfilling, enjoyable and joyous lives.