Friday, November 2, 2018

SFTS Lodge Dharma Message for November 2018: Mata Amritanandamayi on the Climate Crisis, Human Trafficking and Divine Love

Mata Amritanandamayi April 2009 (CC BY 2.0)

 "When fire breaks out in a ten-story building, the person living on the first floor cries out for help. The person living on the tenth floor says that it is not his problem. But it soon will become his problem too. He does not realize that. Amma always says that there is harmony in the universe. Everything in the universe is interconnected. The universe is a net held by each of us. When there is movement in the corner of a net held by four people, it will reflect everywhere. All actions we perform knowingly or unknowingly, alone or as a group is being reflected in the corners of the universe. It will not work if we wait for others to change. Even if they do not change, we should be willing to change. We should see what we can do. -- Mata Amritanandamayi's Message for Summit of Conscience for Climate (2015)

"Today the value of everything has increased. Men sell their sperm and women their ova for a great deal of money, but ironically, in many countries, a child can be purchased for prostitution or forced labor for a pathetic sum of 10 to 20 dollars.
"There are antibiotic ointments that aid in the healing of external wounds. Similarly, there are many different kinds of medication available to treat diseases of our internal organs, but there is only one medicine that can heal the wounds of our mind. This medicine is pure love. In order to heal the mental and emotional wounds inflicted upon the victims of human trafficking, we need to care for them with selfless love." -- Mata Amritanandamayi's Speech Against Human Trafficking and Slavery at the Vatican (2014)

SFTS Lodge 2018
"Love is our true essence. Love has no limitations such as religion, race, nationality, or caste. We are all beads strung together on the same thread of love. To awaken this unity and to spread the love that is our inherent nature to others—this is the true aim of human life. Indeed, love is the only religion that can help humanity rise to great and glorious heights. And love should be the one thread on which all religions and philosophies are strung together. The beauty of society lies in the unity of hearts." -- Mata Amritanandamayi, May Peace & Happiness Prevail (2004)

"The love of awakened motherhood is a love and compassion felt not only towards one’s own children, but towards all people, animals and plants, rocks and rivers—a love extended to all of nature, to all beings. Indeed, to a woman in whom the state of true motherhood has awakened, all creatures are her children. This love, this motherhood, is Divine Love—and that is God.
"The essence of motherhood is not restricted to women who have given birth; it is a principle inherent in both women and men. It is an attitude of the mind. It is love — and that love is the very breath of life. No one would say, ‘I will breathe only when I am with my family and friends; I won’t breathe in front of my enemies.’ Similarly, for those in whom motherhood has awakened, love and compassion towards everyone is as much part of their being as breathing." -- Mata Amritanandamayi, The Awakening of Universal Motherhood (2002)


For more on the life and work of Ammachi, visit https://amma.org/


Thursday, November 1, 2018

SFTS Lodge Calendar of Events: November 2018

 

[NOTE: Remember the new start times, the Lodge Library opens at 6 p.m. and the weekly Lodge meeting begins at 7:00 p.m.] 

 

Friday, November 2nd

NO MEETING. LODGE CLOSED. Día de Muertos! Samhain! Halloween! Celebrate. Enjoy. Lodge Reopens November 9th

Friday, November 9th

Yoga Nidra  -- John Paul 

 

Friday, November 16th 

Founders' Day -- Join Us to Celebrate the Life and Work of H.P. Blavatsky, H.S. Olcott and W.Q. Judge

 

Friday, November 23rd

NO MEETING. LODGE CLOSED. Have A Joyous Thanksgiving. "Ours is Not A Caravan of Despair"

 

Friday, November 30th

Conversations in Theosophy