Talk at Vedanta Center, Irving

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2010/11/talk-at-vedanta-center-irving.html
It was a pleasure talking with members of the Vedanta Center, the knowledge society at the Vedanta Center in Irving, Texas organized by Pravrajika Brahmaprana. I have always admired Swami Vivekananda who is the fountain head of the Vedanta – Understanding the Wisdom of Bhagvad Gita and the Hindu Holy scriptures.

I spoke about my Journey into Islam and Pluralism, the concept of pluralism that is embedded in every religion. Every question raises the bar of knowledge for the presenter as well as the audience, and I am grateful for some of the most intellectual questions.

Brahmaprana presented me a book “Living at the source” Yoga teachings of Swami Vivekananda. Before I went to sleep, I opened the book and read the very first sentence, “Everything in the universe is struggling to complete a circle to return to its source, to return to its only source, the self.” Powerful!

The next line was from Mandukya Upanishad, “The is the lord of all, the knower of all, the inner controller. This is the source of all, the beginning and the end of all beings.” The Zoroastrian and Islamic traditions share this, “from the lord we come and to the lord we go” and the Wicca and earth based traditions substitute the word Lord with the word Earth.
While in India, that was one of the thoughts I was swimming in and out of, asking what makes us crave for the childhood food, the desire to see the home you grew up and I did drive by it, the joys of being with the family… the expression “coming home” is amazing. It is finding the comfort, a sense of connection and sense of being oneself. Physically it is like a magnet, the particles from the food, water and air that has made you initially are part of your system that has still the ability to connect with ‘your home magnet”
In the religious context it is subsuming oneself into the large cosmic energy. From God we come and to God we go. Indeed, the talk enhanced my own understanding of the craving for home and the universe around.
My talk centered on the self seeking balance, the crucial part of the creation – the matter is created with a built in balance where as humans are given the free will to seek that elusive balance.

Some six years ago, for two years on my radio show wisdom of religion, all the beautiful religions, Swami Nityananda Prabhu and I discussed Hinduism for over 100 hours, hour a week, as we did with ten other religions.

Mike Ghouse Presides the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, he has dedicated his life to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress. He is a regular commentator on the TV, Radio and Print media. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/