Monday, 19 August 2019
Quote from the True Charm and Power of Vedanta
Knowledge and
Devotion
Where then is the conflict? The conflict is
in language and presentation. The conflict is due to the selfish motives of the
followers. The ultimate goal of both devotion and knowledge in the same. Both are
only different paths to the same goal. The goal is to destroy the worthless “unripe-I”
which has bound us with desire for the world and its delights . we have to
replace it with the great “ripe –I” the “I that says “I am God’s servant “ or I
am a part of Him” Devotion and knowledge are merely two ways of destroying the “unripe
–I”
The
spirit of free enquiry
The
Speaking Tree , Fiction, India | ET
Saunaka asks: “Sir, what is that, knowing
which, everything becomes known?” Sage Angiras’s reply constitutes the entire
Mundaka Upanishad in 64 verses, encapsulating the Vedantic view.
Angiras was, perhaps, the first to
differentiate between knowledge and wisdom, a theme later elaborated by various
seers and Advaitists. He makes the distinction between “lower” knowledge —which
one would interpret as either intellectually grasped or ritualistically
gathered and the “higher” form of knowledge, which one would interpret as the
spiritual experience itself, beyond the web of the mind.
Sage Angiras differentiates further between
the transitory character of the materialistic path and its fleeting benefits,
and the potentially permanent nature of the path of renunciation, which he saw
as a prerequisite to attain real happiness. This distinction between dharma and
jnana lies at the very heart of the Mundaka Upanishad.
In three similes Angiras posits the
intricate relationship between the universe and the Self: “As a spider throws
afar its web and gathers in as well, as plants sprout on earth, as hair grows
on the human body, so does the universe emerge from the Imperishable Self.”
DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the
author's own.
Relationship,
old vs new
The Speaking Tree | Lifestyle | ET
By Sumit Paul
“Had we never lov’d sae kindly,
Had we never lov’d sae blindly,
Never met — or never parted —
We had ne’er been brokenhearted.”
— Robert Burns, Scottish poet
Everything
in life has a purpose.
There’s nothing that happens without a
reason. A breakup also has a meaning. It teaches the person(s) deeper lessons
of life and relationships. At the same time, when we break off with someone,
however close he/she may have been, we are again open to forging new bonds. So
long as one is in a relationship, it’s difficult to weigh other options. But
once the earlier bond loses its grip, you are as free as breeze.
No one is indispensable in life and, after
some time, one naturally forgets all. And one has to forget all, one by one, to
feel a sense of blissful emptiness that permeates not just the whole universe
but also pervades one’s whole existence. There’s a saying in Urdu, ‘Apni
majlisein badalte rahiye’ (Keep changing your company). To welcome the new with
an open heart and sans any reservations can make life meaningful.
To sum up with Allama Iqbal’s couplet,
‘Dhoondh koi nai raah khud ke liye/ Kab tak qadeem raahon pe chalta rahega?’
(Find a new path for yourself/ How long will you keep treading on the same old
and beaten path?).
So, leave the beaten and welltrodden path
and embark upon a new sojourn on an unknown road. Uncertainty has its own
charm. Incertitude leads one to new and exotic territories.
Embrace it whole heartedly.
DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the
author's own.
But, if He exists?
I drive joy There was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7
minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his
colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting
ten precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The
doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten
minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire
lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you
grudge me the 10 minutes joy that I derive 4m.
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