Letter # 25: "Saturday"
Some count Sunday as the first day of the week and some Monday. If we count Monday as the first then Saturday becomes the sixth. This is what happened on the "sixth day" in the Biblical account:Genesis 1: 24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.These are powerful verses. You will note that whereas the previous verses end on the note "and it was good", these verses end with "it was very good". Genesis states that mankind is created on the final day, at the end. This is somewhat akin to the theory of evolution where man is said to appear just a few minutes before midnight if the whole of universe is considered in a 24-hour time frame. In Genesis, the sixth day is the "birthday" of mankind.
Birthdays are a good reason for a celebration. Let me return to "Saturday". The name comes from the Latin name Saturnus, the god of agriculture. Saturnalia was a festival in the name of Saturn. It was a time of merrymaking. Even to this day, many of us enjoy Saturday evenings. Remember the movie "Saturday Night Fever". Genesis accords us enjoyment and the privilege to rule over the earth and its creatures. Ruling is a huge responsibility! The Koran says: "Verily when kings (victoriously) enter a town, they ruin it, and render its most noble people the meanest, and thus they will always do." 27:34. True, our rulers and politicians do some atrocious things. But in a way, we are all rulers - "kings of our own castles". So if we are all rulers, where do we start the good "rule"? Guru Nanak sings that we have to begin by ruling the mind.
The word "man" means mankind but in Sanskrit, an ancient language that is the root of all languages, "man" means "mind". God has given man a mind so powerful that it can rule over all the earth and its creatures. But who is to rule the mind itself? In Bhagavad Gita, 6.35, when Arjuna laments that the mind is difficult to control. Lord Krishna soothes him by saying, "... it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind but it is possible by suitable practice an detachment."
Practice is easy to understand, you might say, but what is "detachment"? The answer, in my view is simple: detachment is when you divert your mind from the "created" to the "Creator". Doing this helps to "rule" over the "unbridled and unruly " mind, and brings solace.
"Man", keep the Creator in mind as you enjoy Saturday, your "birthday"!
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.These are powerful verses. You will note that whereas the previous verses end on the note "and it was good", these verses end with "it was very good". Genesis states that mankind is created on the final day, at the end. This is somewhat akin to the theory of evolution where man is said to appear just a few minutes before midnight if the whole of universe is considered in a 24-hour time frame. In Genesis, the sixth day is the "birthday" of mankind.
Birthdays are a good reason for a celebration. Let me return to "Saturday". The name comes from the Latin name Saturnus, the god of agriculture. Saturnalia was a festival in the name of Saturn. It was a time of merrymaking. Even to this day, many of us enjoy Saturday evenings. Remember the movie "Saturday Night Fever". Genesis accords us enjoyment and the privilege to rule over the earth and its creatures. Ruling is a huge responsibility! The Koran says: "Verily when kings (victoriously) enter a town, they ruin it, and render its most noble people the meanest, and thus they will always do." 27:34. True, our rulers and politicians do some atrocious things. But in a way, we are all rulers - "kings of our own castles". So if we are all rulers, where do we start the good "rule"? Guru Nanak sings that we have to begin by ruling the mind.
The word "man" means mankind but in Sanskrit, an ancient language that is the root of all languages, "man" means "mind". God has given man a mind so powerful that it can rule over all the earth and its creatures. But who is to rule the mind itself? In Bhagavad Gita, 6.35, when Arjuna laments that the mind is difficult to control. Lord Krishna soothes him by saying, "... it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind but it is possible by suitable practice an detachment."
Practice is easy to understand, you might say, but what is "detachment"? The answer, in my view is simple: detachment is when you divert your mind from the "created" to the "Creator". Doing this helps to "rule" over the "unbridled and unruly " mind, and brings solace.
"Man", keep the Creator in mind as you enjoy Saturday, your "birthday"!
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© 2008"
“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.
posted by Dr. Jas Bhopal @ 8:33 AM
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1 Comments:
A reader wrote: "I really enjoyed reading today's spiritual letter. Its very powerful. Excellent idea to start the day. Keep writing these letters."
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