Ome, Asatoma, Shadhama, Tama, Tama, Jyotyrgamaya, Mritiurma, Amritam Gamaya,

Om shantishantishantih

Ome, lead us from the unreal to the real,

lead us from darkness unto light,

lead us from death to immortality.

Ome, peace, peace, peace. Good morning and namaste everybody.

Everybody of course means there are exactly four people here in front of me. It's always a

little strange to speak to empty halls, but that's the new normal.

We are live streaming, which means we have audiences across the United States and different

time zones across the world in India.

Here today it is International Mother's Day.

So I would like to greet you all on this occasion.

In India, for thousands of years, God has been worshipped as mother,

as the mother of the universe. It's a little strange in

the West to think of God as mother because in the Abrahamic religions God has always been

thought of as male and as the father. But I'm reminded of a great Christian mystic.

I think it was Meister Eckart or one of the medieval mystics, who said,

What does God do all day long, I wonder?

Well, the answer is God lies on this huge maternity bed and gives birth

all day long, which means God is the creator of the universe, but it's very appropriate when

you think of God as the mother of all of us.

Today, I would like to speak about the big picture of Vedantic spirituality. Sometimes it's helpful to step back and consider what this entire project of spirituality is all about.

...