Vedanta Society Is a Term Book Report

) are respected as great philosophical leaders who have truth that is adaptable to the needs of their particular culture at their particular time -- and their views adapted to different times and different peoples. Religion is universal, and the architecture and temples within the building are designed to celebrate that universality of human kind -- the spiritual path that the individual can realize God -- one goal through many paths.

Moving through the temple are a number of informational areas (brochures, explanatory documents, posters, artistic representations, etc.) that all point to the four primary paths focused upon by Vedanta: the path toward knowledge, the path of devotion, the path of service (selfless action) and the path of concentration. These sound extremely familiar to the books in the New Testament, but for Vedanta, the way to move toward enlightenment is to follow one or more of these paths through the guidance of a teacher (Swami) -- and then one can discover the way to merge the issues of the soul, body and mind into one. It was interesting to note that this principal is taken to mean that even negative or positive thoughts have power, for instance the monthly reading noted that "We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think.Words are secondary, thoughts live and travel far" (Vedanta).

One of the most interesting "emotional impressions" from the entire visit was that each room -- whether it be a large meeting room, a peaceful garden for meditation, or one of the temples, advocate the Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Sri Ramakrishna -- all in harmony, all celebrated as the representation of the Vedantic concept of God. The Sanskrit word OM is the focus -- and regarded as the universal symbol of Divinity. For this viewer, each room, each sculpture, each piece of art, and each person met emphasized that God has many aspects. Regardless of one's cultural background, God can be found in both tangible symbols and transcendental space; and the entire physical nature of the structure -- both inside and out -- is to not only help celebrate that diversity, but help those who wish to include the ideas in their lives a way to come together to do just that.

References & Works Consulted

Bhaskarandada, Swaimi (2002), the Essentials of Hinduism: A Comprehensive Overview of the World's Oldest Religion, San Francisco: Viveka Press.

Knott, Kim, (2000), Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction, New York: Oxford.

Vedanta….....