Quote of the Week 343 - Anchoring the Sacred Presence in the Material World

Thirty-five hundred years after the Israelites constructed the original Sanctuary in the desert, the divine thoughtform of the Mikdash is still very much alive. Each of us has a part to play in its revelation. Each of us draws forth one small portion of its awesome spiritual power. Together we are working to fulfill its thousands-of-years mission to anchor the sacred presence of the Infinite and Eternal in our finite material world.

--from Walking the Path of the Jewish Mystic, by Rabbi Yoel Glick 

Guided Meditation: I Am an Empty Shell, Therefore I Am Full; A Meditation on Emptiness and Dark Luminescence Based on the Opening Lines of Genesis

Quote of the Week 342 - Chakras and Sefirot

According to the science of Yoga, beneath a human being’s physical frame is a subtle field of energy centers. These centers infuse the physical form with life and consciousness. In Sanskrit these centers are called chakras.

In the Kabbalah, the mystical teachings of Judaism, we find a similar description of a network of energy centers…In Hebrew, these energy centers are called sefirot…The centers, or sefirot, have two major functions. First and foremost they are conduits for the passage of energy. Every living thing is composed of energy. There is a dynamic exchange of spiritual power flowing back and forth all the time. Everything is emanating and absorbing the life force at every single moment. Each sefirah is composed of a particular energy, and this energy is of a grosser or more refined nature depending on our state of evolution. Our goal in life is to develop our centers until they are composed of pure spiritual force. We then become effective instruments for the distribution of this refined energy into the greater world around us. The second function of the centers, or sefirot, is to establish the nature of our consciousness.

--from Walking the Path of the Jewish Mystic, by Rabbi Yoel Glick

Quote of the Week 341- The Great and Only Real Heresy

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The great heresy and the only real heresy is the idea that anything is separate, distinct, and different essentially from other things. That is a wandering from natural fact and law, for nature is nothing but coordination, cooperation, mutual helpfulness; and the rule of fundamental unity is perfectly universal: everything in he universe lives for everything else.

--Gottfried de Purucker, Golden Precepts of Esotericism

Guided Meditation, Sunday, February 7, at Vedanta Center Atlanta

I will be making the following presentation at the Vedanta Center of Atlanta on Sunday, February 7, 2012. The program begins with 30 minutes of meditation starting at 10:30 AM. The morning 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, and 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.

Date: Sunday, February 7, 2016

Time: 11 AM to Noon (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.

Guided Meditation – I am an Empty Shell, Therefore I am Full; A Meditation on Emptiness and Dark Luminescence Based on the Opening Lines of Genesis

The opening lines of Genesis are usually construed as a mystical/metaphorical description of the creation/manifestation of the totality of the macrocosm, of all of creation, that happened some time ago in the mythic past. However, they can also be regarded as describing processes of ongoing creation/manifestation occurring all of the time, and not only in the macrocosm, but also in the microcosm, within each of us. This presentation will analyze some of the clauses from these opening lines of Genesis as an introduction to a guided meditation experientially incorporating these spiritually powerful images into our inner being. Come experience the ongoing Genesis within and its relationship to “the thin voice of silence/stillness”.