Some thoughts on what should really scare us about Halloween

Trick or treat

I have noticed an interesting phenomenon surrounding Halloween. 364.25 days a year, cobwebs are no good and eyesores. For some of us, they are downright scary (because where there’s a web, there’s a spider). Yet on October 31st, cobwebs are considered decoration and ‘cool’, as opposed to a sign that we’ve gotten lax in our domestic duties.

In fact, Halloween is sort of a get-out-of-jail-free card for many people. The one day a year where women (and men) can get away with cavorting around in their undergarments without getting arrested, when toilet papering houses, throwing eggs, vandalism and violence is almost acceptable. Police are out in force to deter any criminal mischief-making, and often shrug off otherwise reprehensible behavior as ‘Halloween always brings out the crazies’.

Add to this, haunted houses, conducting seances or use of ouija boards in fun and jest, to (pun intended) “get into the spirit of things”. At a spiritual level we can agree, this can’t be good. Aside from the obvious increase in Raja-Tama that such behavior creates, it also is a gateway for many other spiritual problems, such as possession . So many people suffer from haunted houses, trouble from ancestors, and so on. And yet on Halloween, the suffering these issues cause people, are forgotten in large part if not outright admired.

Rarely do we take into consideration the impact it has on us, at any level. And in fact, if we look a little closer, it should be apparent to anyone and give us pause. It was a day historically given to remembering dead souls (Ref: Wikipedia). However it has turned into a festivity of the underworld, which we humans actively promote and instigate. It has in essence become a source of negativity which we could have control over. This is compared to similar phenomena such as full and new moons, the impact of which is natural and out of our control. By contrast, Halloween and its resultant negative energy is within man’s control, and yet we continue to engage in a way that is severely detrimental to society and mankind as a whole.

As such, the more we actively engage in celebrating and participating in Halloween, the more the detrimental effect it has. It’s no longer about pretending to be someone or something else for a day or night. In fact, at a spiritual level, we do transform; we become an antenna and beacon for negative energy.

Talk about scary.

SSRF’s press release on Halloween

Halloween celebration invites possession by ghosts and demons, especially if celebrated repeatedly, finds a study conducted by SSRF

MELBOURNE / NEW JERSEY (26 October 2011) – A basic law of spiritual science states that ‘The word, touch, form, taste, smell and its related energy coexist’. This means – where the name and form of ghosts, demons or negative energies exist, such as on Halloween, their distressing energy is present too. As the form and colour of the decorations and costumes used in Halloween celebration are similar to that of ghosts, they act as antennae to attract a lot of negative distressing energy.

Read the full press release on Halloween celebration…

Read more:

• God’s forms denigrated during Halloween
• Halloween increases the probability of attack by ghosts

]]> http://spiritualresearchfoundation.org/blog/spiritualperspective/1776/trick-or-treat/feed/ 2 http://spiritualresearchfoundation.org/blog/spiritualperspective/1241/lessons-learnt-from-the-kitchen-sink/ http://spiritualresearchfoundation.org/blog/spiritualperspective/1241/lessons-learnt-from-the-kitchen-sink/#comments Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:57:07 +0000 Sharon http://spiritualresearchfoundation.org/blog/?p=1241 For as long as I have lived in the ashram I have wondered why the kitchen, which feeds 250 to 300 seekers daily, has only one kitchen sink. But I maintained an attitude of learning and tried not to comment on what I felt could have been done more logically…. but the question never went away from my mind.

How could it? Every time one was at the sink and trying to wash the dishes for a span of two hours or so, someone or the other would gently intervene and request to either fill a small container of water to clean the counter with, or rinse their hands between cooking, or they needed the sink as they felt like a cup of tea, the seeker about to chop cilantro would bring her colander to rinse the leaves and the one who wanted to churn buttermilk would require the sink as well … and so the flow of users remained uninterrupted!

So the heap of dishes would get washed at a staggered but even pace that took into account all the interruptions.  No one ever questioned the absence of another sink. One kitchen sink was accepted as a way of life. Everyone was content.

I tried hard to align myself with everyone, always thinking that a couple more sinks would have been the more efficient way to go.

Suddenly, only a couple days ago a new understanding suddenly slid into my consciousness.  This sink was nothing but God’s ‘Divine Design’!  I had been using my limited intellect all this while. But Spirituality is beyond the intellect. So I had to look beyond the illogical scenario and see the real purpose that this kitchen sink was fulfilling. I realized that God did not merely want dishes to be washed. He wanted to create divinity within seekers.

This sink put one on the spot as it had the potential to precipitate the flaws within one – the slightest bit of irritation could easily be perceived by the interrupting seeker who now stood right beside one. So one’s patience had to develop and one’s love had to develop too, so that each interaction was gentle and friendly and even sublime.

The kitchen sink interruptions have served as a time to nudge the other and say something uplifting, share some advice or correct a mistake like ‘you have the tap open too wide, you‘re wasting water’.  Washing dishes for those two hours was really merely an excuse for the big picture which was that each of us was getting a chance to be washed up and sorted out on the inside.

Our Kitchen Sink has given us practical lessons on how to be in complete acceptance mode and has even got me to learn how to go beyond my intellect. Without this divinely orchestrated discomfort, where would we have got this almost laboratory like situation that induces internal transformation?

by

Sharon Clarke Sequeira

SSRF team member

____________________________

Read more:

• The concept of Swechchaa, Parechchaa and Ishwarechchaa in spiritual practice and growth
• Gratitude and spiritual closeness among seekers experienced in the āshram
• If the student is willing, the Guru is always teaching

Having gratitude for what has been given to us by God is an important aspect in the development of spiritual emotion. A few days ago, I witnessed one such example of gratitude.

Living in an āshram (hermitage) where SSRF has its research centre in Goa is not like living at home. It is a very spartan lifestyle and the frills and luxuries that are available to us at home are not available in the āshram. However seekers of God transcend their need for these luxuries as for them, the benefits of living in an āshram, far outweigh worldly luxuries with respect to the āshram providing a conducive environment for spiritual development. At a more advanced stage, seekers experience a deeper sense of gratitude for what they are getting from God and the Guru principle and for having the privilege of living in the āshram.

Yoya and Cyriaque, two former international models have been living at the SSRF research centre along with their daughter Anastasia for many months to serve the spread of the spiritual research. Both these seekers have experienced the high life of an international model with fancy hotels, airlines and travel and being pampered while on shoots. Yet when they were in the āshram they blended in completely with its way of life and strived to achieve what is expected out of a seeker.

When leaving they posted the following note on the āshram notice board.

When His Holiness Dr. Athavale heard about the note, He asked to share it with our readers as there is much to be learnt from Cyriaque and Yoya’s yearning for spiritual growth and developing of spiritual closeness with other seekers.

Atul Dighe

Editor

___________________________

Read more:

• What is actually important after all?
• SSRF seeker Satyawan Kadam attains Sainthood
• Start your spiritual journey

I recently came across an article on luxury homes in the US, and it made me wonder if the people who are extremely wealthy were truly happy. Lasting happiness is the underlying reason why we would want to be rich right?

I have some very close family friends who would be considered extremely wealthy. Of the many families I know that fall into this category, one stands out in particular, as they own several aircrafts for personal use. In fact, when their daughter got married, they spent over $3000 per guest just on accommodations, without breaking a sweat. This did not include the favours and gifts bestowed upon those close enough to be considered family. But then I reflected could their wealth ensure their daughter’s happiness in her future married life? And the answer was a definite no. If wealth cannot ensure this basic need in our lives then why is there a fascination for the lifestyles of the rich and famous?

For us common folk too materialism permeates throughout our lives in one way or the other. In fact for most of the people I know, their value system and purpose in life revolves around making money, getting rid of debt or looking for some luxury that they think would make them happy. And until I came in touch with SSRF and spiritual science concepts I have to say that I shared these same values and purpose in life.

Study of Spirituality under SSRF has shaped my opinions with regards to what is actually important in life – that is if we step back and look at it from an absolute perspective. At the end of the day, when my time has come to leave this world, will it really have mattered how much money or debt I had? The only debt that I should worry about is my spiritual debt or give-and-take account, because that will follow me from lifetime to lifetime. It will determine the level of happiness or unhappiness I will have to undergo in this lifetime and subsequent lifetimes. Spiritual practice is the only thing that helps to burn our spiritual debt or give-and-take account or give us the strength to bear it.

With this perspective, all our efforts in acquiring a livelihood and various luxuries if at all, need to be geared to our true purpose of life which is liberation from the cycle of birth and death and God-realisation.

Maya Jairam

SSRF team member

_____________________

Read more:

• Benefits of spiritual practice
• Guide to a saattvik lifestyle
• If the student is willing, the Guru is always teaching

The following incident happened in 2002 on one of my trips to India for spiritual research. Surburban trains are the fastest way to get from South Mumbai to North Mumbai but they are also unbelievably crowded. As I was in hurry to get to my destination in North Mumbai, I made the decision to hop on to a train during rush hour even though I was carrying some expensive video equipment with me. I wondered, “How bad could it be”. For those of you who have ventured into a Mumbai local during rush hour will probably be saying bad with a capital ‘B’.

At each station more and more people tried to get on to the train until we were squashed worse than sardines in an over-packed sardine can. At about the time when we were finding it difficult to even breathe and I was on only one foot as the other foot did not have a place to rest, a passenger tried to get onto the train with an office armchair. Everyone stared at him with disbelief and some even abused him as he jostled his way into the compartment carrying the chair on his head. The man struggled with the chair holding it above everyone’s head for a few stations.

Then all of a sudden at a station between the crowds rushing in an out when he found a small gap he put down the chair and sat on it right next to the door. Suddenly from the worst seat in the house he had the best seat, a plush leather armchair with a headrest and an exclusive view of Mumbai going by. From angry stares upto now directed at him, he was suddenly the envy of the train compartment as passengers grudgingly admitted to themselves that that was a pretty good move. It was a moment that I will remember for a very long time as the vividness of the sudden change in the man’s fortunes impressed me.

Doing spiritual practice under the guidance of SSRF, I have been trained to look at each situation as an opportunity to learn from and use it towards my spiritual goal. Standing on one foot, very sweaty and squashed, I prayed to the Guru principle to teach me something from this unique incident. Slowly and steadily as if in a whisper the answer came to me; that all our problems in life can be made into opportunities just as the man had done. This incident and learning created a paradigm shift within me and for the rest of the journey I experienced spiritual emotion of having had a personal encounter with the Guru principle which no sweaty armpit or fish basket smell could sabotage.

Sean Clarke

Editor

_____________________

Read more:

• Luxury lifestyles – what is actually important after all?
• Importance we give spiritual practice