Today we provide you the third excerpt of Sri Swami Vishwananda's speech about his pilgrimage to Israel:
Sri Swami Vishwananda:
I remember in one of the churches we visited in Nazareth, there something was made with pieces of stones. I can’t remember the name of it, but it was very beautiful: Christ as the shepherd. On His shoulder there was a sheep. For sure you have seen the picture of the good shepherd? Which was very beautiful about that particular, let’s call it icon, was that He was not pictured as what we see in a long robe, but He was like with a short, well not really a short, but a piece of cloth wrapped and He was showing the strength. Then I was talking with the guide and the guide was explaining about it. I asked him “Do you know which representative is this image of Christ?” Of course he would say it’s the good shepherd. And actually the original picture of it was from Apollo, which was changed afterwards into Christ, but it doesn’t matter. It shows us that He lived normal, He lived with the people. He was laughing also, not always moody, not always thinking of the cross. (laughter) He had His mission and His mission is to spread universal love and to make people realize the kingdom of God. He always said “The kingdom of God is near”. But near where? Near there? (Pointing upwards) No, near here (Pointing to the heart).
If you shut the mind and be in your heart through love, you will see the kingdom of God inside of you.
And that’s what all these places remind oneself of: The love that God is giving constantly to human, but we have to know how to receive it. If you receive it with an open heart, it will grow always, but if you receive it with an open mind, it will have it’s limitation. So remind yourself constantly of opening that heart and finding the deity inside of you. We are all pilgrims. This life on earth is a pilgrimage; a pilgrimage which will end when
you have found the Lord, when you have realized Him. And He has made it so easy and clear. It’s not far away, it’s just near. So: Shut the mind, put it off and open the tap of love inside your heart. Open it, let it flow and you will see how near the Divine is to you. I guess during this trip many have experienced great joy. Of course it awoke certain things, but it was lovely. Everything is good.
Sri Swami Vishwananda:
I remember in one of the churches we visited in Nazareth, there something was made with pieces of stones. I can’t remember the name of it, but it was very beautiful: Christ as the shepherd. On His shoulder there was a sheep. For sure you have seen the picture of the good shepherd? Which was very beautiful about that particular, let’s call it icon, was that He was not pictured as what we see in a long robe, but He was like with a short, well not really a short, but a piece of cloth wrapped and He was showing the strength. Then I was talking with the guide and the guide was explaining about it. I asked him “Do you know which representative is this image of Christ?” Of course he would say it’s the good shepherd. And actually the original picture of it was from Apollo, which was changed afterwards into Christ, but it doesn’t matter. It shows us that He lived normal, He lived with the people. He was laughing also, not always moody, not always thinking of the cross. (laughter) He had His mission and His mission is to spread universal love and to make people realize the kingdom of God. He always said “The kingdom of God is near”. But near where? Near there? (Pointing upwards) No, near here (Pointing to the heart).
If you shut the mind and be in your heart through love, you will see the kingdom of God inside of you.
And that’s what all these places remind oneself of: The love that God is giving constantly to human, but we have to know how to receive it. If you receive it with an open heart, it will grow always, but if you receive it with an open mind, it will have it’s limitation. So remind yourself constantly of opening that heart and finding the deity inside of you. We are all pilgrims. This life on earth is a pilgrimage; a pilgrimage which will end when
you have found the Lord, when you have realized Him. And He has made it so easy and clear. It’s not far away, it’s just near. So: Shut the mind, put it off and open the tap of love inside your heart. Open it, let it flow and you will see how near the Divine is to you. I guess during this trip many have experienced great joy. Of course it awoke certain things, but it was lovely. Everything is good.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment