Sunday, March 2, 2008

Ruach HaKodesh and Self-Realization

There is a beautiful Midrashic teaching where the Holy Elijah said,

"I call heaven and earth to bear witness that any person, Jew or Gentile, man or woman , freeman or slave, if his deeds be worthy, then Ruach HaKodesh will descend upon him" (Tana DeBei Eliahu Rabba 9)

and from the Ari:

"The spirit known as Ruach is thus the Breath of God that enters into man's being".1

Ruach HaKodesh is commonly translated in the Tanakh (the Old Testement) as "the Holy Spirit". Ruach means "spirit" but this word also means both "cool" and "wind". This describes the experience of self-realization; we feel a cool breeze as the Shekhina blesses us and our attention ascends to a beautiful unification with G_d.

The word ruach is also very closely related to the word reach, a fragrance.2 Many when they achieve self-realization get a beautiful fragrance of rose or sandlewood.

This self-realization is available to everyone regardless of race, sex, or social status. According to your deeds and your pure desire you will be blessed.

1 and 2) From "Meditation and the Bible" by Aryeh Kaplan. Samuel Weiser, Inc., York Beach, Maine. 1978.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

The Wonders of Your Torah

"Open my eyes, and let me gaze at the wonder of your Torah" (Ps 119:18)

The Torah contains wonders not seen by all. There are many ways of reading and interpreting the Torah. One way is to consider that each verse corresponds to a year (where the first verse corresponds to the first year in the Jewish tradition) and therefore has a special message for that year.

Using this method the verse corresponding to the year Shri Mataji was born (1923) is:

“You are stationed today, all of you,
before the presence of YHWH your God:
your heads, your tribes, your elders and your officials,
all the men of Israel,” (Deut 29:9)

This is the only verse in the entire Torah where it says that the people are in the presence of YHWH.  How appropriate that the year the Holy Spirit was born on this earth the Torah tells us that now all of us are in the presence of God!

The next most significant year for Sahaja Yogis after Shri Mataji’s birth year is the year 1970, when she opened the primordial Sahasrara. On this year the Torah tells us:

“And YHWH, he is the one who goes before you,
he will be with you;
he will not fail you, he will not abandon you;
you are not to be overawed, you are not to be shattered!”

This is without a doubt the strongest promise in the Torah. This verse tells us that we will be with God and looked after by God without fail. These promises are made possible by the great event that occurred in 1970. By opening the Sahasrara Shri Mataji has removed the last separation between man and God. With this primordial center opened it is now easy to achieve union with God.

Thus the Torah leads us in the way of recognizing our Holy Mother, the modern Messiah.