HACKED OFF - Temporarily offline

SORRY OUR SATSANG WEBSITE TEMPORARILY OFFLINE

Our local Area Website www.satsang-companionship.org.uk  is temporarily offline. Last week somebody 'hacked' into this Website and severely affected it. We are currently having to re-design and re-enter Web Pages .

Its surprising that somebody decided to hack into such a small and local website but that is life. We are , at the moment, hacked off but if you are reading this you have managed to find your way to our Blog Area.  

We are working on recovering our Website as soon as possible, in the meantime we hope you find the 50 plus posts on this Blog of some interest. Please feel free to let us have any constructive comments.

COSMIC REALITY

OUR WONDERFUL COSMOS

Part of the Cosmos :- Taken by Hubble

We live on a Tiny Blue Planet that floats in the vast ocean of the Cosmos. We are only entering the dawn of our understanding and exploration of this vast cosmos that we are part of, with its countless billions of stars.

For all Spiritual Seekers, the wonder of the Cosmos and its Mystery, reflect the wonder and Mystery of the Spiritual.

Recently, I received a link from Mike Otten , A Satsang Member in California. This shows a few slides that outline our current understanding about the creation and age of our Cosmos.

Click on the link below and prepare to be astounded, amazed and hopefully excited.

http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/BB-slide.htm

Satsang Meeting July 9th 2011

REFLECTING ON OUR JOURNEY

Our final meeting of the 2010/11 programme will take place on

SATURDAY 9th JULY 2011

1.30 - 4.45 p.m

Friends Meeting House, Wolverhampton

THEME

To be decided but either a DVD of Sister Ishpriya or a Video on Cosmology

We will also reflect on  and discuss how we can strengthen and continue our Satsang Companionship and broaden our appeal and attendance.

REFLECTIONS ON COMPASSION

COMPASSION THE GOLDEN RULE

Report on the  Satsang Meeting of Saturday 11th June 2011

A small Group of us met in Satsang Companionship to reflect upon and share about this vital area of compassion. Our Satsang Association, its spiritual companionship and the underpinning of the Satsang Triple Commitment ( see Satsang Principles Page of this Website) all rest upon the words, meaning and  living out of the following statement of the Satsang Logo

SATSANG - Seeking Together - Helping to Create

A Planetary Vision - A Universal Heart of Compassion

We opened our meeting with a short time of silence and then Liz read our opening reflection on the importance of being compassionate to all. These words appear below.

True faith must lead to more than piety and prayer.

It must also develop a sensitivity to injustice and distress

and a compassion which seeks to respond to the needs of others.

Relieve people in distress
as speedily as you must release a fish from a dry stream lest he die.

Deliver people from danger

as quickly as you must free a sparrow from a tight noose.

Be compassionate to orphans and relieve widows.

Respect the old and help the poor

Tract of the Quiet Way

 1st Video Clip     A podcast from Sister Ishpriya

Compassion    In her short podcast Ishpriya outlined some reflections ( see http://www.international-satsang.org/ ). She reminded us that compassion was an all-encompassing 'journeying with'  the other.
It was much more than mere sympathy. It involved emptying and forgetting oneself and entering into the inner experience of the 'other'


It was not just about the pain and suffering of the other, but also about being beside them in their joys, dreams and hopes. She reminded us that it was so much easier to do this with people we knew and loved, or with people from our own community, culture , religion or country. However, true compassion required us to 'be beside' others in both easy and difficult situations. It also required as a pre-requisite, the quality of   'Self- Compassion' . We needed to be in touch with , and to  journey with our own pain, suffering, joys, hopes and dreams.
,
None of the above was easy and so, she reminded us that , 'in the words of the Satsang Logo, Seeking Together, Helping ( 'trying') to create - a planetary vision and a universal heart of compassion' ; each of us are challenged in our day-to-day life to attempt to be compassionate.


This podcast was recorded in the garden at Die Quelle ( the ISA Sadhana Ashram). It was a windy day and you can see and hear the sounds of nature and the wind on the recording. Here Ishpriya gives an impromptu reply to the question ' What is Compassion? '


Although the weather conditions make some parts of the recording difficult to hear, her words are profound. Her podcast is included so that  you can listen to it several times. If you wish to see other podcasts then follow our link to either You Tube or the ISA Website ( see the Resources Page on this website  www.satsang-companionship.org.uk )

COMPASSION :-  Podcast by Sister Ishpriya

Sacred Circle Dance  Movement to aid Reflection

<><><><><><><><><><><> <>

Sacred Circle Dance

For some time Angela ( our Area co-ordinator) has participated and been interested  in Sacred Circle Dance. Dance is a universal and common  artistic expression in all cultures and throughout all eras. It introduces us to music, movement , expression and emotion in an holistic and joyful human experience. It assists and permits us to experience and express ourselves at the Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Spiritual levels. It  is, in essence, an extremely mindful and holistic Sadhana ( Spiritual Practice)


So to prepare us for our further reflection on Compassion, and our 2nd and main video clip,  Angela led us in a simple dance movement. In this movement we formed a chain and moved in unison gently around the room as the music ' Air on a G String' played.


This mindful, gentle movement helped to unite
us in a common and combined experience and thus 'mirrored' the real meaning and importance of COMPASSION and its essential place in our journey through life and its ability to remind of 'the other' and our common humanity and ultimately our inter-connectedness.

2nd Video Clip : Karen Armstrong :- The Golden Rule

We then moved into the main focus of our meeting- a video clip where Karen Armstrong accepted her TED Prize.

She spoke about Compassion and its centrality as a moral force in our world. She traced its origins to the Golden Rule , as propounded by Confucius and agreed with by all the major World Religions. Basically, the Golden Rule is :

Do not do to others,that which you would not want done to you'

This rule, or moral code, was to be found in all three of the 'Sister Monotheistic Faiths'  i.e.  Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

She argued that many of the great Religions had been 'hijacked' and used to cause division. She reminded us, that all of the 3 Monotheistic Faiths stressed the centrality of compassion and really 'forbade' their followers to use and/or interpret the Scriptures to breed dissension , violence and anger.

Yet, many fundamentalists use religion and their narrow interpretation

Karen Armstrong then went on to launch her   Charter for Compassion. A pdf copy of this can be found in the Resources Page ( along with other material)                

.satsang-companionship resources.

Further details about the Charter can be found at http://charterforcompassion.org/site/

It was an inspiring, challenging and extremely interesting presentation , which led us into our time of personal reflection and group companionship and sharing.Before we entered this phase, Patty B read the following short Parable from Buddhism.

This little parable is Buddhism at its best - a passage which requires no introduction. Like the best of the Buddha's common-sense comments it gets to the heart of the Truth about human nature.

There are three kinds of persons existing in the world:

The first one is like a drought, one who rains locally, and one who pours down everywhere.   

How is a person like a drought?

He gives nothing to all alike, not giving food and drink, clothing and vehicle, flowers, scents and unguents, bed, lodging and light, neither to recluses and brahmins nor to wretched and needy beggars. In this way, a person is like a drought.

The second person is like a local rainfall?

How is a person like a local rainfall ?

He is a giver to some, but to others he gives not. . In this way, a person is like a local rainfall.

The third is like rain falling everywhere

How does a person rain down everywhere?

He gives to all, be they recluses and Brahmins or wretched, needy beggars; he is a giver of food and drink, clothing. . . lodging and lights. In this way a person rains down everywhere.

Itivuttaka 65

Entering the Pain and Joy of Another :- Our Sharing

Angela shared a reflection from Joyce Rupp on Compassion. This opened with the following quote from Henri Nouwen

Entering the Pain of Another

Compassion means to come close to the one who suffers ...

A compassionate person says

'I am your brother, I am your sister,

I am human, fragile and mortal like you ' ...

We can be with the other only when the other

ceases to be other and becomes like us.

Native Americans have a saying that we must walk a mile in someone else's moc­casins in order to know what that person is experiencing. When someone I know and care about is in pain I can readily walk in their moccasins and extend compassion to them but how much more challenging it is when the "suffering one" is part of a person or group whom I consider either an enemy or a separate entity. This was never so clear to me as when I entered a side chapel in the beautiful Imperial Cathedral in Aachen, Germany. A touching statue of Mary, the Mother of Sorrows, with seven swords piercing her heart, was the cen­terpiece of this chapel. I sat there for some time, aware of a presence that was unusual and filled with palpable, unspoken grief. I won­dered why I felt it so strongly there.

It was not until later that I discovered the chapel was dedicated to the mothers of those who had lost theft sons and daughters fighting as Nazis in WWII. I was stunned and felt great remorse. Why had I never considered these grieving women whose heartache was all as great as those who had lost sons and daugh­ters fighting for the Allies? It was, of course, because I had never allowed myself to think of them as part of my cosmic life. I had never allowed myself to enter into their pain. I had kept them at a great distance from myself.

A pastor once said that every CEO should have to work in a packing plant or at a com­mon job for awhile, like every physician should have to be a patient. These comments came after an article about a news anchor who was described as being a smug, cold-hearted person until his four-year-old daughter developed leukemia. Suddenly he saw how precious life was and what people had to cope with when they were going through tough situations. Now, when he does interviews and stories, he approaches hurting people with much greater understanding and kindness. He said he now realizes the immense value of loved ones and what it is like to suffer the loss of them.

When we enter into the suffering of oth­ers we enter into the cosmic dance of theft pain. It is a tender dance of tears inviting each of us to enter it with compassion for our brothers and sisters everywhere. When we draw near to those who suffer, we enter into this cosmic dance in a deep and powerful way. We embrace mystery and enter into a compas­sionate love that stretches far beyond our own heart, joining with the One Great Heart that beats endlessly in our vast universe.

Taken from :- Joyce Rupp ( 2002)  THE COSMIC DANCE – An Invitation to Experience Our Oneness ( page 103)

Aspects of Our Sharing




We then met and shared on aspects of our experiences of and difficulties with being Compassionate to all and in and with various situations. Ishpriya's message about entering into and sharing with the joys, dreams and hopes of others both surprised and challenged us.


Also we explored the difficulty of being compassionate with those who either hurt us or ,even more so, those whom we loved. We explored our feelings and experiences of forgiveness and forgetting. The latter was nigh on impossible. Traumatic and pleasurable experiences are burned into the fabric of our psyche. We may suppress and/or deny them but we could not forget them.


However, forgiveness was a possibility. We had a choice in this area. For many, choosing forgiveness led to healing. The 'Golden Rule' was a very good staring point. It could provide us with a moral compass, a talisman, a light to guide us through the tortuous times of life. To be our 'rock' in happy and sad times.


We also looked at some people's tendency, whenever they lacked self-esteem or whenever they were hurt, to 'lash out' at others, to bully people and to fail to see the unity and inter-connectedness of people. This could and so often does, challenge us when we attempt to be compassionate. However, its in these situations that the moral wisdom of the Golden Rule shines through.




Ending with a Song




We ended our meeting with the following song about the Golden Rule. See Podcast below

 

CHARTER FOR COMPASSION  The Golden Rule Song

NOTICE OF NEXT MEETING Sat 9th July

Friends Meeting House - Wolverhampton

( see website for Google Map)