The Tree of Self-Knowledge

The recorded worship service “The Tree of Self-Knowledge” will be offered by Srimati Karuna on Sunday, June 28, 2020 at 11:00am.

There is always a sublime message to be found in the bountiful nature that surrounds us. The tree is a living spiritual symbol and its imagery and message is found in all religions and scriptures. In the liberating expression of true knowledge of the Self, there can be no more powerful and majestic symbol than the tree of life—the tree of Self-knowledge.

That Which Liberates

Srimati Karuna
Speaks on "That Which Liberates"
Sunday, June 3, 2018 at 11:00am

There is a verse in the Vishnu Purana that includes the Sanskrit phrase: "Sa vidya ya vimuktaye”. It means: “knowledge is that which liberates.”

The Vishnu Purana opens as a conversation between the sage Maitreya and his guru, Parashara. The sage asks the question, “What is the nature of this universe and everything that is in it?” 

Consider another ancient philosophical text, the Dialogues of Plato, in which Plato presents philosophical discourses on a range of subjects (many through the voice of his teacher, Socrates). 

In both cases, we encounter the question of the origin of the universe and the soul. The path of self-realization or self-liberation (moksha) involves a knowledge that liberates. But this knowledge is not merely an understanding of life around us, rather it is a knowledge of the source of life within us.