Imam Mohammed Zafarullah went over the advice given by their founder to shun anger, forbear, forgive, pray and show love, patience and respect for everything.
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| Pastor Matthew Vandagriff (left), Pravrajika Brahmaprana, Rabbi Jonathan Siger, Imam Zafarullah and Jason Cox. |
Source/Credit: Indo American News
By Sanchali Basu | March 29, 2013
HOUSTON: Sri Ramakrishna, the famous mystic of 19th century India preached the philosophy, “As many faiths, so many paths”. It was only befitting that his birthday was celebrated in a big way at the Vedanta Society of Greater Houston center on March 23 with a Puja and an interfaith dialog.
The morning session consisted of Sri Ramakrishna’s worship performed by Pravrajika Brahmaprana from the Vedanta Society of North Texas, during which a number of devotional songs were sung by the devotees. Puja was followed by Shanti Jal (sprinkling of the holy water), Arati and Pushpanjali. A simple lunch Prasad was served around noon. The morning session was well attended and everyone enjoyed the puja and Prasad.
A spiritual forum believing in the harmony of religions in the tradition of the Ramakrishna order was the highlight of the afternoon session. The topic of the interfaith dialog was “How does your religion help you in dealing with anger and anxiety?” After a brief introductory welcoming speech by VSGH president Swapna Chaudhuri, the floor was handed over to the facilitator Chaya Timmaraju. Chaya opened the proceedings by touching on the essentials and principles of the Vedanta of self-realization, leaving dogmas behind, loving fellow human beings and reminding the audience that the first propagation of these ideas to the west was done by Swami Vivekananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1893.
The first speaker was Rabbi Jonathan Siger of the Jewish faith who connected with the audience immediately through his jovial communication. He referred to the Book of Psalms, Book of Proverbs and said that anger is toxic and is the beginning of hatred which must be avoided. The heart must be cleared of anger, to leave anger and vengeance to God and commanded to forgive and love.
Next to speak was Jason Cox of the Tibetan Buddhist faith who mentioned that he had read Swami Vivekananda’s Complete Works and the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Through spiritual and devotional practices, and by intentionally projecting the opposite feeling when feeling angry and cultivating generosity, giving other people security one can conquer anger and anxiety.
Pastor Matthew Vandagriff of the Christian faith had a three pronged approach to tackle these two negative emotions. They include the use and reading of scriptures (The Old and New Testament), prayer (develop faith) and lead a contemplative life.
Imam Mohammed Zafarullah of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community tried to make light of the atmosphere by emphasizing that if there was no anger or anxiety, no one would have come to the congregation. He said if one could repel evil with something good (the best), anxiety and anger will disappear. He went over the advice given by their founder to shun anger, forbear, forgive, pray and show love, patience and respect for everything.
Pravrajika Brahmaprana of the Vedanta Society started by pointing out the fact that to know these emotions one must first know the mind and have an idea of consciousness. The mind is an instrument (a reflection of Atman) which vacillates, is unstable and it rises and falls. The mind should be watched with the higher subjective mind and the seer experiences Sat-chit-ananda (existence, pure consciousness, bliss). To know “I am Brahman” is extremely strengthening and helps deal with anger and anxiety. Self-mastery comes from conviction based on direct knowledge. One must take the help of the 4 yogas – Raja, Bhakti, Karma and Jnana. She compared the mind to a lake and Atman to the bottom of the lake. Vritti (cluster of thought and emotion) disturb the surface of the lake, can muddy it and cover the bottom. Anxiety and anger are such Vrittis. Samskara (tendency) of anger builds up, becomes a habit, then character. She went on to say that it is never too late to change. One must find the source and root it out and replace the feelings of resentment with compassion. Practicing meditation, sending out peace in all directions, praying, loving thy neighbor as thyself, believing work to be worship and turning one’s anger towards God in the sense that why hasn’t one realized God yet are some tools of dealing with theses serious issues. She concluded by saying that one is allowed to be upset but not despair and quoted Swami Vivekananda, “Every time you worry you become an atheist.” Hence one should make life God centric.
A question and answer session followed and the evening concluded with light refreshments for all.
For more information, visit www.houstonvedanta.org.
Read original post here: Interfaith Dialog at VSGH in Celebration of Sri Ramakrishna’s Birthday
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