The Upanishads

I would like to share an extract from my much dog-eared copy of The Upanishads.
The Upanishads are for the Hindu approximately what the New Testament represents for the Christian. They were written in Sanskrit between 800 and 400 BC.
This extract is from the Chandogya Upanishad 3.14

" All this universe is in truth Brahmin. He is the beginning and end of life of all.  As such, in silence,give unto him adoration.
Man in truth is made of faith.  As his faith is in this life, so he becomes in the beyond: with faith and vision let him work.
There is a Spirit that is mind and life, light and truth and vast spaces.  He contains all works and desires and all perfumes and tastes.  He enfolds the whole universe, and in silence is loving to all.
This is the Spirit that is in my heart, smaller than a grain of rice, or a grain of barley,or a grain of mustard seed, or a grain of canary seed, or the kernel of a grain of canary seed.  This is the Spirit that is in my heart, greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than heaven itself, greater than all these worlds.
He contains all works and all desires and all perfumes and all tastes.  He enfolds the whole universe and in silence is loving to all.  This is the Spirit that is in my heart, this is Brahmin.
To him I shall come when I go beyond this life.  And to him will come he who has faith and doubts not.  Thus said Sandilya, thus said Sandilya."

The word Brahmin can be translated as the Creator.

Robert Burns

Today the birth of Robert Burns will be celebrated worldwide, the haggis will be piped, in the ode will be recited after which the haggis will be consumed with tatties and neeps and many a toast drunk in good Scotch whiskey. Poems recited, songs sung and a good night will be had by one and all in memory of Scotlands' greatest poet and a collector of folk songs.
I can't resist the opportunity to share the first quote in my scrapbook :-

" Whatever mitigates the woes or increases the happiness of others, this is my criterion of goodness.
  And whatever injures society at large or any individual in it, this is my measure of iniquity."
Robert Burns ( 1759 - 96 )

Healing Hymn

Healing Hymn  ( Tune 'Spirit Divine' )

May healing angels now draw near
To those who are in pain,
And bring to them from higher spheres
Thy healing love again.

Oh send Thy healing rays to shine
On all in pain or fear,
That they shall know Thy love divine
And feel that Thou art near.

Written by the organist of Cardiff First National Spiritualist Church - Myfanwy Davies

This was published in 1979 when Myfanwy Davies was in her 80's.
The tune can be found in the Methodist Hymn Book - 1983 Edition. - Hymn No. 327

The Church

This poem was in a Scottish church magazine some time in the late 1970's, I did not record the source or the date.

What is the Church

In a confused world, a place to find direction.
In a noisy world, a place to dream.
In a divided world, a place to find fellowship.
And in a sinful world, a place to know the love of God.

A place for loving, where the world hates.
A place for hoping, where the world is cynical.
A place for trusting, where the world is suspicious.
A place for forgiving, where the world holds grudges.
A place for serving, where the world grabs,
And for healing the wounds we carry around inside.

Published by:- St Nicholas Church. Durham

Remembered

Yesterday [19th.January] whilst performing my morning ablutions I was reminded of Roy Algar.  I met Roy when I was a house parent at Delrow House, part of the Camphill Village Trust, he had come from Roundhay Hospital, Devizes, Wiltshire, for assessment and rehabilitation after his long incarceration there.  His notes said that he had been committed to the Hospital before WW2 under the Mental Health Act because a 'lady' on a bus claimed that "he had revealed himself".  He was deemed to be "feeble-minded and deviant".  During his incarceration he was subjected to every therapy that the doctors considered appropriate, the list was long and heart rending in it's barbarity.  I will not go into the circumstances of his death but they remain with me and still sadden me. This gentle man with his humble gratitude for the change to his lifestyle and the opportunity to experience  more homely surroundings made an impression on all who met him. His passing occurred only a few months after arriving at Delrow.
I remembered that I still had the only item, apart from a few clothes and toiletries, that he possessed, a paperback edition of Good News For Modern Man, The New Testament In Today's English Version, given to him by the Hospital Chaplain on St. Barnabas' Day 1974.  I had written in the date of his death, it was, 19th. January 1975. A fact that I had completely forgotten.
Whilst flicking through the Bible I came to piece of paper and my eyes were taken to the following:-
'I am the living one! I was dead, but look, I am alive for ever and ever.   I have authority over death and the world of the dead.'  Revelation, Chap.1, Verse 18.

Also in the bible was a scrap of paper with the following prayer on it :-

May our endeavours turn into strength.
May the light we received shine on as wisdom.
May the word we have spoken engender goodness,
When faithfully we serve the Spirit.

Rills

I spotted this quotation in a newspaper last Sunday and found it to be very interesting, maybe you'd like to think about it.
"  I've absolutely no idea if God exists.  It seems unlikely to me, but then - does a trout know that I exist?"
                                                           Billy Connolly - ponders life's greatest mysteries.

To move on here is another quotation from my scrapbook :-

" Do not believe what you have heard.  Do not believe in tradition because it is handed down many generations.  Do not believe in anything that has been spoken of many times.  Do not believe because the written statements come from some old sage. Do not believe in conjecture.  Do not believe in authority or teachers or elders.
But after careful observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and it will benefit one and all, then accept it and live by it.                        
                                                          Buddha (563BC- 483BC )

The Buddha says that when you know it to be true based on your own observation and experience - and it is beneficial to one and all then, and only then, live by it.

Meander 1

My mentor in the early 1970's was Ernest Rhynas MSNU, the minister and President of the Aberdeen Bon Accord Spiritualist Church.  He would sometimes scribble a few lines on a scrap of paper to read out at the beginning of his Address at a service, he would then continue without notes to the rapt attention of us all.
I was fortunate to recover one such scrap dated 10th.February 1974 which I have transcribed.

"God does not condemn.
God loves humanity, and when you too learn to love humanity, to look upon your fellows without irritation and annoyance and learn to be tranquil and at peace, you will truly be a Healer. Not only of individuals but of all mankind, helping to raise the whole world into a state of light.
Tolerance my friends, tolerance.
Live and let live.
Your work is to hold in your heart the shining star which is all love, stillness and strength."

In the beginning

These will be the ramblings of a Septuagenarian including extracts from my scrapbook.

"There is no sound, no voice, no cry in all the world that can be heard until someone listens."
'The Message' from The Outer Limits series BBC 2  17/3/1997