Letter # 19: "Sunday"

It's Sunday.
Sundays were different when I was growing up. Sunday was a quiet day of rest, with closed stores and empty roads. Back then, even washing a car on a Sunday was considered to be "work". Of-course, that philosophy was based on the Biblical stanza: "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work." Genesis 2:2 (New International Version).Do Biblical precepts have any relevance in this, our scientific, age? I say, "Yes." You see, another busy week has flown by. We and our children live a schedule that is jam-packed with activities. We have little time to contemplate. Such busy-ness can take a toll. See this links for tips on how to make it easier on our children: help your child.
But how do we make it easier on ourselves? Psalm 23 gives direction: "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul"What is "soul"? Krishna says, "Na (never) jayate (takes birth) mriyate (dies) ..." Translated by Srila Prabhupada as: "For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn eternal, ever existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." Bh. Gita 2.20. This verse means that the soul is never changing. The Vedas explain that the body is subject to six kinds of transformation over time, but not the soul. The six kinds of transformation are: birth, development, growth, production of actions and effects, dwindling, and vanishing. The soul does not undergo these changes. Krishna says that there are two souls - the individual soul, which has limited consciousness and is prone to forgetfulness, and the Supreme Soul which is all-knowing of the past present and future. Because the individual soul is unchanging, even an aged person feels himself or herself to be the same spirit as when younger. That is why the "I" remains the same "I", even as years fly by. So, contemplate your soul and its Creator, the Supreme Soul. If you don't already do so, make Sunday a day for rest and contemplation.


God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.

I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.

Jas Bhopal
Copyright© 2007
“Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."
Tel: 604 273 6641 (also for fax on request)

http://jasbhopal.com/

References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" as translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN 0-89213-268-X; The Srimad Bhagavatum as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN0-89213-259-0; "I Am That. Talks With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj” ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.