Śraddhā E-Book

Jan Wolter

• Herausgeber: epubli
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 56

Beschreibung

In this series "Wisdom of Veda & Yoga" we explore different concepts of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, the practice of Bhakti-Yoga. For the last decade I have traveled around the world to search out the truth and embraced many different paths of wisdom. Coming to the Kṛṣṇa Bhakti-Yoga tradition, especially the Gaudiya Vaisnavas from India I found shelter and made friends with the Hare Kṛṣṇa lifestyle and movement. Yoga means "Union" or "to link up", this refers to the Absolute Truth which comes in a personal and impersonal form. This wisdom of Yoga is manifested in the Vedas, the Word of God. The Vedas discuss Polymorphic Bi-Monotheism, a unique Supreme God who is apparent in Radha-Kṛṣṇa, the divine couple, manifesting in many forms. Studying this tradition is fun and practical. It turned my personal life around and became my life and soul. For example, learning Sanskrit, the Mother of all Languages is great joy. Śraddhā is a Sanskrit term and refers to the root of this tree of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. How can one believe in such a wonderful theology? Śraddhā is like a seed that was planted by a little contact with the Vedas, Yoga or the devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Just by this mercy faith is instilled and can grow into a spiritual practice. This book is for everyone interested in Meditation, faith, belief, transcendence & practical spiritual knowledge. Śraddhā or faith is one step on a 9-step ladder to Love of God which will be discussed accordingly.

Leseprobe

Sraddha: Beyond Faith & Blind Trust

A vision of eternally searching for the truth & absolute happiness.

A personal perspective on God consciousness, based on a true story.

© jan Yashomatinandana Dasa Wolter - YOGA PLUS -

2024

[email protected]

linktr.ee/janwolter

More books available in the book series: Wisdom of Veda & Yoga

Atmarama - the source of all bliss (2022) Minimalism - Simplicity in Yoga (2022) Spiritual Traveler - Seven Acts Drama (2023) Little writings - Essays on God consciousness (2023) Four Principles of Freedom (2024) Via Medium (2024)

Arcana - a taste of Deity Worship in Sridhama Mayapur (2024)

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Dedication

To my spiritual teachers who have mercifully imparted knowledge unto me, including my parents and friends.

Dedicated to Srila Prabhupada who has mercifully allowed us to enter the heart of Kṛṣṇa, his pastimes, names and glories.

Cover

Śraddhā means faith, the initial spark to one's journey for truth.

For now, the curtains are closed. Waiting for hope against hope.

Seeing the Absolute Truth means patience and persistence.

These qualities are expressed in devotional service.

Who are we rendering service to? This will be revealed in this book.

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Foreword

“A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all.”

After many years of blindly searching, the light at the end of the tunnel was visible. Seeing hope in the people's heart and goodwill I could sense that there is a higher purpose than to eat, sleep, have sex and be merry.

A night long on the ocean, waves crashed uncountably, my consciousness so vast, thought for thought arising and coming to shore.

Tired, I closed my eyes to just hear the sound, up next my vision transformed and became focussed. In this very moment a boat approached, shook by the waters moving up and down the horizon, a light in the night glittered over the ever-restless vastness of sea.

Concentrating on this boat, I understood my life to be like that, a vessel rocking up and down, however, there must be someone steering it safely to shore.

Hopeless, lost, I prayed for seeing the truth.

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“But you cannot see Me with your present eyes.

Therefore I give you divine eyes. Behold My mystic opulence!”

(The Absolute Truth speaks in the Bhagavad-Gita, verse 11.8)

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Introduction

It was always just ‘me’ and ‘mine’, but when God came into this life, a change of vision appeared.

I was born poor-sighted, without a clear vision of what is the purpose of life. Neither did the spectacles help, nor the contacts.

The opticians told me that there is something peculiar within, so a specialist came to see. The diagnosis was devastating, and so was my hopes and dreams of becoming a pilot, fire-fighter, or police officer.

In this demise the acceptance and appreciation came with every step, to see the world, even to wake up, isn’t it a miraculous thing?

Interested in the miracle called life, a search began to rediscover a lost vision, a perspective to hopefully accept life and death from within the heart's core.

Often people would ask; Isn't it difficult to get around?

Yes, life is difficult, but we have to have faith, to see life from the heart, just as the soulful journey began, we have to have trust, even blind trust.

This book encapsulates a journey of perceiving the world and its people as all-good. Trust in this journey 5

comes from an intrinsic understanding to be connected with God and His family.

Blindly, we follow so many teachers and visionaries, but do we truly see the full picture of who we are and where we are eventually landing?

After many years of world travel, I have concluded a chapter in my life that speaks about blindness, literal in the meaning of the word, not seeing this world as sharp and crisp, but furthermore as a search for truth.

I gained faith in a mystical side of life that led me to an understanding beyond me & mine. Seeing the whole universe circle around oneself is blinding and most illusioning, but actually seeing the Supreme One in the middle and oneself as a servant, that is truly seeing.

On this journey, I started to read about this self-less, God-centred Truth, first in the Bible, later in other books like the stories of Carlos Castaneda, and eventually I came to the Vedas.

The Vedic wisdom is special, because it has detailed information on how one actualises the spiritual vision, to see beyond this temporary veil of material illusion. This truth of a simultaneous unity within diversity is lively described in “The Bhagavad-Gita As It Is”, but it must be explained by expert teachers who one CAN blindly trust.

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Blind trust plays a major part in the process of cultivating spiritual knowledge and often it is condemned to be a

“gliding into hell” by following an authority that is unqualified and cheating.

How Can we blindly trust to have full faith in the Absolute Truth?

In the process of this book, I would like to touch on two triangles that intertwine and connect the truth. The first triad is the principle source of wisdom. How can we know the Absolute Truth for sure? We have to have faith, but faith in whom?

The Vedic scriptures say: Sadhu, Guru & Shastra.

Sages, Masters and Scripture. These three authorities actually lead to constant and unflinching faith which is based on timeless emancipation of truth. This truth is eternal, tested by the teachers and lived by the sages.

This truth is available for every sincere soul.

The second triad is the process of devotional service, called Bhakti, which is delineated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who states three principles to be most important: Chanting & Hearing God's name, Serving the Devotees of the Lord and developing compassion for the living entities in their struggle for existence. This book, for example, is aimed to please the devotees to develop compassion with the blinded people of this world, because a doctor is well advised to treat a patient by scrutinizingly analysing the disease.

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Around these two triads of principles, I will tell my personal story which is for analysis and example, to testify that this process of bhakti-yoga actually works.

There will be several perspectives on the same theme of

“faith”, especially within a society of devotees who are often said to blindly follow a guru or authority.

Śraddhā is confident, firm faith that by renderingtranscendental loving

service to Kṛṣṇa one automatically performs allsubsidiary activities. Such

Faith is favorable to the discharge of devotionalservice. (Cc. Madhya 22.62) 8