11am Sunday Talk: Creativity — the Art of the Matter, with Br. Shankara

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On Sunday morning, March 13th at 11am, Br. Shankara will give a talk entitled Creativity — the Art of the Matter.

March is a month for study of Karma Yoga, a spiritual path leading to the abandonment of selfishness. As a karma yogi, you practice offering your actions and their results, as well as your perceptions, thoughts, and feelings to the Divine Presence.

In many Ramakrishna Mission centers, this prayer is chanted by the congregation, in unison, at the end of a puja’s homa fire ceremony:

“No matter what I may have done, said or thought, in waking, dreaming or dreamless sleep, with my mind, my tongue, my hands or my other members, may all that be an offering to the Divine Presence.” 

Even before fully knowing this Presence, you hold firmly to the belief that the Presence is within each person or other living being that you interact with or serve. Working and abiding in this spirit, you are increasingly able to release attachment to your activities and their results. This yields the freedom and contentment promised by Karma Yoga.

“Even a little practice of this yoga will save you from the terrible wheel of rebirth and death …” — Sri Krishna, Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 2.

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Your creativity can be one of the great joys of life. Creative energy abounds in our world! It is one of the foremost aspects of what Swami Vivekananda calls “that infinite energy that lies behind mankind.”  

Just think what life was like in 1853, the year Holy Mother was born. Compare that with the world you live in today!

Sri Ramakrishna said of Holy Mother: “Sarada is an incarnation of Saraswati [the goddess of learning]. She was born to bestow knowledge on others …”

Who Is Saraswati Devi?

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science. She is the companion of Brahma, also revered as his Shakti (divine power made manifest as Maya). 

It was with Her knowledge that Brahma created the universe. She is a part of the trinity of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. All the three forms help the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in the creation, sustenance, protection, and destruction (transformation) of the Universe.

Chandi hymns say of Her, “Who is there except you in the sciences, the scriptures, and in the Vedic sayings that light the lamp of discrimination? … You are the soul of Shabda-Brahman (God in the form of sound); you are the repository of the very pure Rk and Yajus hymns, and of Samans, the recital of whose words is beautiful with the Udgitha.”

We will discuss these quotes, among others, on Sunday.