The Golden Rule
Category: Other spiritual celebrations
Ram(a) Navami, day of awareness
In the Kali Yuga, the wars are within us wherein Rama is our Sou, Sita is our Mind, Hanuman is our life force (prana) and Ravan is our ego.
Ravana (Ego) takes over Sita (Mind) which makes Rama (Soul) restless, To harmonize Mind and Soul, one needs to meditate and breath Hanuman in complete awareness. Once the harmony is established, Rama and Sita reunite and ego is destroyed.
SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE
Today, as part of Rama Navami Hindu Celebration, we are invited to find and observe the light within and observe its presence though out many senses. We are asked to be present in our experiences throughout the day and observe, how the light that resides within.
At this link CLIK HERE you can read the beautiful story and the spiritual significance of this celebration.
What is Rama Navami?
The rituals and customs associated with Rama Navami vary from region to region throughout India. The day is marked by reciting from the Hindu epic Ramayana which narrates the tale of Rama. Vaishnava Hindus celebrate the festival by visiting temples, praying, fasting, listening to spiritual discourses and singing bhajans or kirtans (devotional songs). Some devotees offer worship to Rama like an infant by placing an image of him in a cradle. Charitable events and community meals are also organized. The festival is an occasion for moral reflection for many Hindus
The celebration runs through the 16th and the 17th of April from about 2pm till 2pm the next day.
Gudi Padwa/Chaitra Sukhladi
The Hindu New Year
It is believed that Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe, created the world on this day. Therefore, this day is considered auspicious and is celebrated as the beginning of a new era.
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Another day to have fun and celebrate. 🙂 The Hindues celebrate Sukhladi or Gudi Padwa (this celebration has many names) on the 9th of April with gifts and decorations.
Every celebratory event is an opportunity to cheer up and have fun. The world is full of drama and gloom. When I am invited to celebrate, give thanks, be marry and joyous, I take the opportunity.
Let’s celebrate that we are healthy, we live in abundance of opportunities, we are free to make decisions for ourselves, and we are loved (at least by one person, yourself). Let’s make it a day of joy, fun, laughter, even if it is difficult because of circumstances. One laughter is more than none. One smile is more than none. Remembering of one nice thing is better than none. Making a day count by peeping out of the drama and the craze, will make your day. I guarantee that.
More information on Chaitra Sukhladi
In 2024, the date of Chaitra Sukhladi is April 9. Chaitra Sukhladi is celebrated with much fervour and enthusiasm in Maharashtra and Karnataka. On this day, people wake up early and take a ritualistic bath. They then decorate their homes with rangolis and flowers. People also offer prayers to Lord Brahma and perform puja rituals. They wear new clothes and exchange sweets and gifts with family and friends.
In Maharashtra, people prepare a special dish called Shrikhand-Puri on this day. In Karnataka, people prepare a dish called Holige, which is made of jaggery and lentils. The festive spirit is high during Chaitra Sukhladi, and people come together to celebrate this day with great zeal.
HOLI
HAPPY HOLI!
How to use HOLI for our upliftment?
Just to keep it simple, we may want to use the Festival of Holi, a ‘night and day’ to ‘colour up’ our life. We can focus on vitality, a new season is coming bringing an opportunity to make things anew.
So what could colours bring into our life? What difference could colours make during the day? What colours do YOU want to focus on? Can you surround yourself with this colour?
Experiment with them and see what experiences they create for you! What experiences anew have they brought into your life? Let me know! <3
What is HOLI?
India, renowned for its lively festivities. From the early celebrations of Mahashivratri to the vibrant climax of Holi, this month is brimming with happiness. Beyond symbolizing the onset of spring, Holi embodies rejuvenation, good fortune, and positivity.
Holi falls on March 25th, preceded by Holika Dahan on March 24th
Holi is one of the most famous festivals. It is a festival of colors, celebrates spring with with powder. It symbolizes righteousness, featuring stories of Krishna, Radha, and Lord Shiva. The event represents unity, fertility rituals, and a triumph of good over evil, it commemorates the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu.
It also celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna.
Holi, with its vivacious colors and festive fervor, unites people in a jubilant celebration of harmony and happiness. As the festival draws near, India eagerly anticipates the joyous revelry heralding the arrival of spring.
It is also an invocation for a good spring harvest season. It lasts for a night and a day, starting on the evening of the Purnima (full moon day) falling on the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna.
Learn more about the history of Holi CLICK HERE
Purim, a Jewish Celebration
The message of Purim
In my understanding Purim celebrates two things: overcoming and gratitude. I look at the Bible as a source of inspiration the teachings behind the stories. The stories in the Bible happened so long ago that nobody knows how much of it had actually happened.
In Unity, we interpret the stories and take the learnings from them.
Esther’s story for me is about knowing that God is always at work: as we face our challenges, stand up for oneself in the face of dire circumstances, and overcome inner challenges, we can start seeing God’s ever present support. Finally, we can move into gratitude for the support we have received.
How to use celebrating Purim for your benefit?
Similar to celebrations from other traditions, we can simply take the time to contemplate on the messages and teachings, we can spend some time in the silence to become aware of inner errors, ‘fight them’ which means let go of them, and become grateful for triumphing over our own challenges.
Most of all however, we can use the time to become consciously aware of God’s Presence in our life, the way we are supported from behind the scenes; and we can express our gratitude to the Divine Presence for His never ceasing Love and Care for us.
What am I going to do?
I will spend the evening to meditate and contemplate on areas of my life where I feel unsupported by God, where I feel I am being let down and left to my own divides. I will also look at where I am in error, why I feel this way. Finally, I will spend the day to observe the ‘behind the scene’ support God provides me with. Finally, I will move into Prayer on Gratitude for all the ‘hidden’ support and guidance I receive that I am be oblivious of.
What is Purim?
Shushan Purim is a unique day in the cycle of Jewish holidays. Purim is the only holiday whose date depends on where you happen to celebrate it. For most of the world, Purim occurs on the 14th of Adar. However, if you happen to reside in Jerusalem or the city of Shushan (where the story of Purim took place), or any walled city, Purim is on the 15th of Adar. Therefore, the observance is called “Shushan Purim.”
Queen Esther then instituted the holiday of Purim for the day after the Jews were permitted to defend themselves. It is an important distinction for the holiday. Purim does not celebrate a military triumph. It celebrates the day of “rejoicing and feasting” that followed. That is why Purim is on the fourteenth day of Adar, not the thirteenth.
We must be careful to be clear about why we are celebrating.
Real joy is not about triumphalism. We do not rejoice over the death of Haman. Rather, our best celebrations are always about gratitude. We wait a day after our temporal victory and rejoice. We celebrate by laying down our weapons and taking a bag of cookies over to our neighbors’ homes.
That is something to be joyful about.
Read the story in the Bible
Book of Esther HERE
Book of Esther
The Fast of Esther
As you can see below the Fast of Esther revolves around Esther success as a result of fasting. Please the story of Esther below.
This time we are observing numerous ‘fasting’ traditions in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions. Probably not by accident.
We seem to be asked, from every angle, to retreat from life events and move into the silence. Fasting is rarely about food, though most traditions focus on the physical aspects of spiritual observations.
In my view, most significant spiritual teacher requested their followers to ‘fast’ on being engaged in daily activates and spend more time with the Divine in silent contemplation. The Fast of Esther seems to be one of these times with a specific focus on ‘overcoming challenges’ as a result of fasting.
Today, I would like to invite you to spend some time in silent contemplation on what challenges would you wish God to support you to overcome?
Spending time is the silence or in silent contemplation will result in receiving inner guidance of what to do next or it may reveal some aspects of self that needs to be released in order to ‘succeed’.
Read about Ester’s story
Esther is a prominent figure in the Old Testament. In the Bible, Esther was the Jewish wife of the Persian king, and risked her own life to save her people from an antisemitic royal advisor. The Jewish holiday of Purim celebrates Queen Esther’s story… Source
Book of Esther, book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. It belongs to the third section of the Judaic canon, known as the Ketuvim, or “Writings.” In the Jewish Bible, Esther follows Ecclesiastes and Lamentations and is read on the festival of Purim, which commemorates the rescue of the Jews from Haman’s plottings. The Book of Esther is one of the Megillot, five scrolls read on stated Jewish religious holidays. In the Protestant canon, Esther appears between Nehemiah and Job. In the Roman Catholic canon, Esther appears between Judith and Job and includes six chapters that are considered apocryphal in the Jewish and Protestant traditions.
The book purports to explain how the feast of Purim came to be celebrated by the Jews. Esther, the beautiful Jewish wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), and her cousin Mordecai persuade the king to retract an order for the general annihilation of Jews throughout the empire. The massacre had been plotted by the king’s chief minister, Haman, and the date decided by casting lots (purim). Instead, Haman was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai, and, on the day planned for their annihilation, the Jews destroyed their enemies. According to the Book of Esther, the feast of Purim was established to celebrate that day …
Fasting is associated with some pivotal moments in the Purim narrative. One such moment is when Esther approached King Ahasuerus without permission in an effort to intercede on behalf of the Jewish people. Before she went to the king, she fasted for three days, and asked that all the Jews fast as well.
Another dramatic turnaround occurred on Adar 13 (the default date for the Fast of Esther), the date that Haman had set aside for killing the Jews. Instead the Jewish people soundly trounced their enemies. This triumph was accomplished while the Jews were fasting, as they prayed to G‑d that they be successful.
The Feast of St. Joseph
CELEBRATION OF THE FATHER
Today we celebrate St Joseph, Jesus’ father: a holy man, the spouse of Mary, earthly father of Jesus and a hard-working carpenter.
I found this lovely text below on St Joseph that remind me how little we appreciate ‘the father’. The father we had may have came in many shapes and forms. The Divine Prescence that we often call Holy Father, or The Father (with capital letters) does act as a caring and loving person in our lives if we allow ‘him’ to do so.
Many of us many not have had the biological father that we wished for. At the same time, if we take a close look at our lives, we can probably find male figures who acted as ‘fathers’ in our lives. We are provided with what we need, the substitute father figure included, as long as we are open to the idea the Divine Grace that is constantly with us.
Today, as we celebrate St Joseph, I wish to honour those man, my biological father included, who acted as fathers in my life though in different capacities.
My grandfather who was not biologically related to me because he was my grandmother’s second husband, was the man I considered my father. He was a man of ‘tough love’ but he cared for me deeply. Sadly, he died when I was about 7 years old.
Soon after his death, my music teacher showed interest in my musical abilities and took me under his wings. He acted as a father to me because his involvement in my life went much deeper than a relationship between a teacher and a student. He shaped my character and took care of me when I was neglected because of different family problems at home.
In my late teens, my first serious boyfriend, who was about 10 years older than me, showed me the value of hard work and taught me many life lessons such as ‘minding my own business’ that I still value today.
Later in my twenties and thirties, many men showed up in my life in the form of collaborators, bosses, friends, etc. who helped me grow and evolve both personally and spiritually.
I am grateful for you all, gentleman! You all had an enormous impact on my life. I bow in front of you with gratitude and honour in my heart. Without you, I would not be the person I am today. I want you all to know that I love you and respect you!
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” In the Bible, he is referred to as a “just man,” which was considered a high compliment in his time. It also meant that he was willing and open to do whatever God asked of him, including taking Mary as his wife, despite her unusual – and blessed pregnancy (Matthew 1:19). He also loved and cared for Jesus. There also is a reference that St. Joseph was a descendant of King David.
St. Joseph protected his family, heeding the Lord’s direction, which came in a series of dreams and messages from angels.
Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter titled “Patris Corde” in Latin. It translates to “With a Father’s Heart,” in which the pope describes St. Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father, a father who is creatively courageous, a working father and a father in the shadows.
… the Holy Father said we are able to see more clearly the importance of “ordinary” people who exercise patience and offer hope daily. These people resemble St. Joseph, “the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,” who played “an incomparable role in the history of salvation.” Source
Here you can find some 10 little known facts related to St Josef. CLICK
St Patrick’s Day
What does St Patrick teaches us?
What I find the most interesting about St Patrick’s life is that he returned to the place of his slavery as a missionary with the intention to raise the consciousness of the local pagan people – his captors among them.
St. Patrick’s story talks about enlightenment by being separated from your herd, and great courage to return to the place where he was where once a captive.
St. Patrick used his own enlightenment and new-found faith to spread the word. So he became a missionary to raise people’s consciousness and understanding a ‘One God’ .
How to celebrate the day?
We can use the Celebration of St Patrick day to review our own faith whatever that may entail. We can observe what it is that we may need to become aware of and to do so we can lift our own consciousness to a higher platform.
We can also celebrate how far we have come on our journey of enlightenment.
INTRODUCTION
Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit. ’the Day of the Festival of Patrick’), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. 385 – c. 461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.
The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and, by extension, celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general.
Who was St Patrick?
Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and Bishop in Ireland. Much of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the Declaration, which was allegedly written by Patrick himself. It is believed that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. According to the Declaration, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland.
It says that he spent six years there working as a shepherd and that during this time he found God. The Declaration says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, where a ship would be waiting to take him home. After making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest.
According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity. The Declaration says that he spent many years evangelising in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands.
Patrick’s efforts were eventually turned into an allegory in which he drove “snakes”, heathen practices, out of Ireland, despite the fact that actual snakes were not known to inhabit the region.
Tradition holds that he died on 17 March and was buried at Downpatrick. Over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Ireland’s foremost saint.
Celebration
Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, Irish traditional music sessions (céilithe), and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks.[9] There are also formal gatherings such as banquets and dances, although these were more common in the past. Saint Patrick’s Day parades began in North America in the 18th century but did not spread to Ireland.
Maha Shivaratri
INTRODUCTION
Maha Shivtratri holds an immense religious and spiritual significance among Hindus. Maha shivratri is the one of the major festivals of Hindus celebrated across the country with great grandeur. This is one of the most significant festivals in Hindu religion.
‘The Great Night of Shiva’ is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the deity Shiva. The festival commemorates the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, and the occasion that Shiva performs his divine dance, called the Tandava.
Maha Shivaratri is celebrated at night.
The celebration runs between Fri, Mar 8, 2024, 5:27 PM – Sat, Mar 9, 2024, 1:47 PM EST
This event is called Natyanjali, literally “worship through dance”. It also commemorates the start of spring.
Now, a bit over half way through the Lenten season, and just a night before the start of Ramadan, Hindu’s offer us an amazing opportunity to celebrate ourselves with music and dancing.
As we can see with the Dervises who dance themselves into alignment with the Divine, we can take some time on the evening of March, 8 to listen to some uplifting music and dance. We can use the rhythm of the music to rock us into a state of trans or as the Hindu’s call it a state of awakening.
Remember to take the time to enjoy and celebrate yourself: celebrate that you have come so far on your journey of unfolding or just dance for the sake of the music. It does not matter, as long as you are doing it enthusiastically.
What am I going to do? DANCE! 🙂
Spirituality vs Religion
One of the main reason, I fell in love with Unity was that their main focus is on ‘organised’ spirituality’ without boundaries. Before arriving to Unity I experimented with different types of religious and spiritual movements but I found them either rigid and restrictive or disorganized and confusing to my taste.
I grew up without proper religious education because of the socialistic regime in Hungary at the time. Religious education was discouraged. The elders in my family who belong do different religious groups – Roman Catholic Faith and Lutheran Faith – though both Cristian, had very different messages to convey. My great-aunt was a bigot Catholic who told me about a righteous and vengeful God who does not like badly behaving children; a God to fear. My dear grandma told me about a God who deserted her in her our of need but she never ceased to beg for His forgiveness.
Everyone with strong religious beliefs told me about a God of Love and Compassion but both approaches to God seemed senseless to me. Why would an unconditionally loving God hate children who are naughty and why would a compassionate God punish someone in her our of need?
In Unity Europe we celebrate any and all ‘religious’ and spiritually inclined holidays/celebrations because we believe that all path to God//the Divine Presence is valid. Spiritual teachers who offered various tools and practices enabling the seekers to gain a deeper experience of the Divine is worth celebrating.
Therefore, I do my best, to remember and celebrate in small ways, of the different traditions and tools to God. If you join our Facebook Group or Instagram Page you will see how we honour all paths to Oneness with the Divine.
