Tattva-viveka
quote from a recent instructor at school
Jason - November 18, 2010 1:03 am
Last semester I had an instructor who was totally mesmerizing! 
So much of what he said and the way in which he framed his lectures reminded me of Swami. It's not often that one hears philosophy presented like this in an academic environment. Enjoy.
"One thing that all the traditions can agree upon is that the relationship with God is a mystery. That does not mean that it is strictly intangible; rather, it is a relationship without limit. It is an unfolding that cannot entirely and comprehensively relate back to itself. In this sense then we must expect any final conceptual model to be only an approximation, an approach. It makes our heads uncomfortable, but we must accept that we are in some unfathomable way a part of God as well as distinct from him. This metaphysical dialogue of union and distinction is the loving ache known only to bhaktas (both east and west). How can one explain divine longing without the sensing within oneself of some particle of the divine presence? The Christian tradition expresses this dialogue in a very tidy way with the concept of the Trinity: God the Father is wholly transcendent, but his love as Spirit is wholly immanent. This paradox resolves itself in the incarnated Christ, the man-god, the model of human possibility. “God became man so that man could become God”, as Clement of Alexandria said. So the question is not so much which conception of God is the correct one (such questions usually interest us most when or faith is weakest), but rather what attitude fuels my longing. It is the intensity of the longing that does all the work, as Rumi said, and to the extent that we are willing and able to burn for God, then we have in some way found him in ourselves." --- Kyle Dupen
When I told him that Swami was coming to SFSU to lecture in the fall, he almost fell over he was so excited. I swear he got teary-eyed.
Gaura-Vijaya Das - November 18, 2010 5:31 pm
Last semester I had an instructor who was totally mesmerizing!
"One thing that all the traditions can agree upon is that the relationship with God is a mystery. That does not mean that it is strictly intangible; rather, it is a relationship without limit. It is an unfolding that cannot entirely and comprehensively relate back to itself. In this sense then we must expect any final conceptual model to be only an approximation, an approach. It makes our heads uncomfortable, but we must accept that we are in some unfathomable way a part of God as well as distinct from him. This metaphysical dialogue of union and distinction is the loving ache known only to bhaktas (both east and west). How can one explain divine longing without the sensing within oneself of some particle of the divine presence? The Christian tradition expresses this dialogue in a very tidy way with the concept of the Trinity: God the Father is wholly transcendent, but his love as Spirit is wholly immanent. This paradox resolves itself in the incarnated Christ, the man-god, the model of human possibility. “God became man so that man could become God”, as Clement of Alexandria said. So the question is not so much which conception of God is the correct one (such questions usually interest us most when or faith is weakest), but rather what attitude fuels my longing. It is the intensity of the longing that does all the work, as Rumi said, and to the extent that we are willing and able to burn for God, then we have in some way found him in ourselves." --- Kyle Dupen
When I told him that Swami was coming to SFSU to lecture in the fall, he almost fell over he was so excited. I swear he got teary-eyed.
In Fall? Next year or Spring?
Jason - November 19, 2010 3:03 am
Maharaja has agreed to come and lecture next semester (Spring '11), so probably in Feb. or March, at SFSU as part of the Philosophy of Religion Colloquium. When the date is confirmed, I will do some flyers and will let you know so you can come.