Yoga in Christian Mysticism

  

Bhakti Yoga

Yoga in Christian Mysticism

 
Jesus was a Bhakta of the highest order Extreme closeness t God, whose prominent expression was the life of prayer and absolute submission to His will in all circumstances, blazes forth in Jesus. Mark says that often Jesus prayed alone (Mark 1.35) According to Luke Jesus sometimes prayed all night(iV12)The gospel make out that both his teaching and actions carried the mark fo authority. From where came this authority? From the sense of commission he received from God. When the Pharisees challenged him saying that his testimony was his own and not that of God, Jesus replied ‘My judgment are true, for I am not alone. the father who sent me is with me” (John VII13) Again “Believe me I am in the Father and the father in me(John XIV 11) “As the father hat loved me, so have I loved you, continue ye in my love”

 

The disciples continue in the see strain John in his first Epistle sys “Beloved , let us love one another , for love is God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that lvoeth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God towards us. Because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him (I john iv to 9)

 

Of the three fathers of the Catholic church, St Jerome St Augustine and St Ambrose , St Augustine’s Bhakti was exceptional. He reminds of mankkavachagar who prayed; “O lord, you gave yourself to me and you acquired me. Who made the best of this bargain” My body is your temple, my mind . What can I give you . O Lord, which is not yours?”

 

Recount moments you felt joyful and supported

By Pulkit Sharma

 Once again as the calendar year comes to an end, most of us have a faint memory of the list of goals, aspirations, and dreams that we had started with. In some corner of our consciousness, we realise that all those promises of making a fresh start, creating a better self and a better life have long gathered dust. This reflection brings us closer to the painful awareness that life is ephemeral, and time is limited. We register that another year has gone by and we are who we were, nothing much has changed within us and around us despite our fervent activity.

 
This awareness is somewhat unsettling and, therefore, we often try to divert our attention by immersing ourselves in the splendid new year celebrations: gourmet meals, peppy music, zesty dance, colourful fireworks and, of course, the loud cheers as the clock ticks past 12. And then we crash into an uneasy sleep and wake up quite clueless the next morning. We wonder whether we should once again create those lists of changes that we need to make or should we continue the way we are living.

 

 

The morning of the new year holds an immense spiritual significance. It is a rare opportunity to revive our deeper aspiration for an enlightened existence and make a promise to our body, mind, and soul to move in that direction. According to Sri Chinmoy, “When the New Year dawns, we have to make ourselves conscious of the fact that we have to transcend ourselves this year. We have to go beyond our present capacity, beyond our present achievement. God always wants us to move ahead; He does not want us to look back. We know that while a runner is running fast, if he looks back, he will stumble. Similarly, if we are constantly looking behind at the year that we are leaving aside, we will think of our sorrow, misery, frustration, failure and so forth. But if we look forward, we will see hope dawning deep within us.”

 

Therefore, we need to welcome the morning of the new year with a deep concentration and a firm resolve that we will overcome all our negativity, procrastination and melancholy and accomplish what we are capable of. Going further, we need to welcome each day with the same enthusiasm and self-reflection so that the aspiration to realize our authentic self stays in our consciousness all the time like a constant flame. As we repeatedly revisit our aspiration for progress, change and self-growth, our thoughts, feelings, actions, and relationships get guided by it. In other words, the highest ideal within us slowly shapes us into a new being.

 

But as we look forward into the new year, we must also go through the memories of the year which is ending and try to recollect all those moments where we felt joyful, supported, encouraged, enlightened, and loved. Let us thank the Divine for all these big and small blessings. Often in our urgency to move forward, we end up not acknowledging the positive which our past had offered us and feel gloomy. Therefore, let us venerate those moments as we welcome the dawn of the new year, moving forward with a fresh enthusiasm.

 

The writer is a clinical psychologist in Puducherry

 

 IF HE EXIST

 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 7 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 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

 

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7th heaven moment of the week Idnia wining test series scoring 145/7, Australia women won by 7 runs

 Quote from the True Charm and power of Vedanta  

Yoga its various Aspects 

Words are of three kinds 1 those with conventional or traditional meanings, irrespective of their root meanings. They are called Roodha e.g gau (cow) 2 Those with derivational or etymological meanings. They are called Yaugika e.g sukhanada (Pleasure giving 3 Those with etymological meaning  and at the same time confirned to a conventional meaning. They are called Yogaroodha eg pankaja (mudborn lotus) 

the word Yoga has a wide variety of connotations ranging from absorption in the Ultimate Sprit to an Ayurvedic recipe, all retaining the etymological affinity in varying nuances. Thus the word Yoga has a wide orbit in the Yougika group . It has also a yogaroodha connotation. In common parlance, Yoga means the Yoga system of philosophy propounded by Patanjali ,  

Sukhya , Yoga Naya , Vaiseshika Purva Mimamsa, ultra Mimamsa are the  six orthodox systems fo Indian philosophy . of these. Yoga alone has the unique distinction of being accepted as a practical spiritual science while the others are mostly speculative in character. Though Mimamsa has a practical side , its fruits are available only in the next world, while the fruits of Yoga are available here and now. Its technique has been adapted and adopted by most of the philosophic and spiritual traditions of India . Thus the scope of Yoga has widened immensely. At present it ahs crossed the bonds of Hinduism and has been welcomed by other faiths as well, especially by Christianity. Under the inspiration of indigenization adopted by the Catholic Chruch, many India Christian have taken to the Yogic modes of meditation., transcendental meditation has made itself of home aboard so . It may also be added inter alia that in its adventures abroad Yoga has acquired some bad ordure in certain parts fo Europe. 

Nurture humility, key to realising the ultimate

By Arup Mitra 

As we grow anxious, we also become defensive, losing humility which is the basic tenet of spiritualism. As ego shoots up, the capability to absorb declines. New ideas, thoughts and alternatives become strange as seeking ceases. The other name of spiritualism is ‘seeking’ – the enormous thirst to know. Knowing is possible only when there is space to collect. 

To become defensive is a natural tendency of the mind. Even when we are wrong, we want others to say that we are right. But we need to emancipate from this narrow confinement. By casting our idea as a small mole in the backdrop of a huge canvas of the universe, we can realise its limitedness and develop respect for alternatives. Even when the opponent is offensive, the benefit of the doubt principle can work effectively. Through practice, humility becomes a part of existence; even after thousands of provocations, one does not get agitated. 

The path of devotion, as Sri Ramakrishna says, is easiest and convenient, and its essence is humility. Even when someone demolishes our ideas and beliefs, we are not supposed to retort. The best approach is to leave the place instead of entering any altercation. Even polite interjections may not work many times; why to waste energy, then? Being generous in forgiving is the best practice. 

However, it does not mean that you continue to mingle with someone who tries to harm you. Maintaining a safe distance in every respect is the most desirable approach. 

Silence creates the opportunity to communicate with oneself. We acquire depth through such communications and it is this depth that enriches humility; through humility we mature and get closer to our own existence. 

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We have to be extra careful that whatever we do or say does not take us too far from our pursuits. If it does, then returning to the original seeking may get longer as adjustments will be time consuming. 

The path of devotion which recommends complete surrender with humility tries to encompass every action as a part of spiritual pursuits. In this process, the doer does not allow the ego to dominate. And at the same time, full attention is paid to attain perfection, because the action we do in the material world is considered as service to the universal spirit. 

At the mental plane, we can offer ourselves in the form of a lamp, a flower, and water-drops to the super consciousness. We can dedicate the work that we do in the material world in the same vein. This process helps attain higher levels in the path of spiritualism but without being conscious of any sense of achievement. We realise the transitoriness of everything including our body, and at the same time, take the opportunity of our existence and make its best use. 

When the objective is to be creative, it can never be defeated because the universal spirit itself is an epitome of all creativity. As the individual objective converges with the larger and all-encompassing one, there has to be perfection, progress and enlightenment. Therefore, some attributes like humility need to be nurtured as they hold the key to the realisation of the ultimate. 

 IF HE EXIST 

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 7 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 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.- 

 

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7th heaven moment of the week in fifa world cup  Argentian scored 7 goal in final, Messi got golden ball scoreing 7 goal, Mbappe no 7/10 got golden boot 

 

The practice of Religion

 Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

 

The practice of Religion

We read many books and many scriptures; We get various ideas from our childhood and change them every now and then. We understand what is meant by theoretical religion. we think we understand what is meant by practical religion. Now I am going to present to you my idea of practical religion.

            We hear all around us about practical religion and analyzing that, we find that it can be brought down to one conception. – charity to our fellow beings. is that all of the religion? Every day we hear in this country about practical Christianity –that a man has done some good to his fellow beings. Is that all?

What is the goal of life? Is this world the goal of life? Nothing more? Are we to just what we are nothing more?

The highest dream of many religions is the world… The vast majority of people are dreaming of a time when there will be no more disease, sickness, poverty or misery of any kind. They will have a good time all around. Practical religion, therefore, simply means Clean the streets! Make it nice! We see how all enjoy it.

            Is enjoyment the goal of life? Where it so, it would be a tremendous mistake to become a man at all. What man can enjoy a meal with more gusto than the dog or the cat? Got to a menagerie and see the wild animal tearing the flesh from the bone. Go back and become a bird!... What a mistake than to become a man! Vain have been my years –hundreds of years-if struggle only to become the man of sense-enjoyment… curtsey practice of religion

 

Nothing is more difficult than being successful

By The Mother

 

There are innumerable categories of ‘successful’ people; these categories are determined by the greater or lesser breadth, nobility, complexity, purity and luminosity of their ideal. One may ‘succeed’ as a rag-picker or ‘succeed’ as master of the world or even as a perfect ascetic; in all three cases, although on very different levels, it is one’s more or less integral and extensive self-mastery which makes the ‘success’ possible.

 

On the other hand, there is only one way of being a ‘failure’; and that happens to the greatest, to the most sovereign intelligence, as well as to the smallest, the most limited, to all those who are unable to subordinate the sensation of the present moment to the ideal they wish to achieve, but without having the strength to take up the path  that leads to this achievement.

 

At any level, from the most modest to the most transcendent, one rarely finds a perfect balance between the sum of self-control, the power of sacrifice available to the individual who has chosen a goal, and the sum of renunciations of every kind and nature which the goal requires.

 

When the constitution of an individual permits this perfect balance, then his earthly existence yields its utmost possible result.

 

 

As soon as you think that you have succeeded in a certain thing, the adverse forces make it a point to attack and spoil it. Moreover, when you think of success, you relax your aspiration and the slightest relaxation is sufficient to spoil the game. The best thing is not to think of it but to go on doing your duty. But sometimes when you go on thinking of your shortcomings and failures and you get depressed, then you have to put the success before your nose and say,  ‘Look at this’.

 

One must never try for the sake of succeeding.

 

Success depends entirely on the sincerity.

 

To judge from appearances and apparent success is precisely an act of complete ignorance. Even for the most hardened man, for whom everything has apparently been successful, even for him there is always a counterpart. And this kind of hardening of the being which is produced, this veil which is formed between the outer consciousness and the inner truth, becomes one day altogether intolerable. It is usually paid for very dearly — outer success.

 

One must be very great, pure, and have a very high and disinterested spiritual consciousness in order to be successful without being affected by it. Nothing is more difficult than being successful. This, indeed, is the true test of life!  Courtesy: aurosociety.org

 

IF HE EXIST

 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 7 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 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

 

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Miles To Go

Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

 

 Miles To Go

It is good to be born in a church, but it is bad to dies there “This is what Swami Vivekananda said to people who tend to get stuck at a certain point in the course of their search for God. They start with certain beliefs and they continue to stay with them to the end. This, according to Swami Vivekananda, was like a child beginning his education with a school primer and staying put there for the rest of his life., this surely is no sign of a keen and intelligent learner. This is a sign of someone who is intellectually and spiritually dying if not dead already. A milder and less damaging interpretation given by Aldus Huxley, is that it is as good as idolatry.

 

If you are an aren’t seeker of God , you will certainly begin somewhere and with something to reach God, but you are not going to rest content if you find the methods you have adopted are not taking you forward as fast as you wanted. You will then start looking for other methods. You do not want to waste time. This does not mean that you are a restless person switching your methods every so often giving them no chance to prove their merits this only means that you are in a hurry and you are a determined person who is not going to be satisfied with anything short of what he wants. This kind of impatience and this kind of instance on having what he wants are conditions a seeker must fulfill in order to achieve the highest and best. If the cannot fulfill these conditions, he has to be content with less then what he wants. What he will get may even be less than what he deserves. There is not substitute for hard work. if you want to succeed, you have to pay its price in terms of hard work never did anyone succeed in a venture by a fluke only. You may have talents, but that will not assure success unless you work hard. You work hard not by fits and starts, but continuously always in the same manner, until success is fully in your grasp.

 

You can’t attain God by scripture study alone

John Hierl

The Hindu scriptures provide the means for Self-realisation and moksh. The earlier in life we study them, the better we will understand the transient and unreal nature of this world. True happiness lies in experiencing the Atman directly as the only constant at all times. Never affected or changed by maya, the Silent Witness remains always as undifferentiated Consciousness. Atman is Brahmn everywhere. This is the Truth expounded in all Hindu scriptures, which we can only realise by leaving them behind.

 

One of the few Hindu texts which warns of attachment to scriptural study is the Shruti Gita. In the Bhagavata Purana’s Skandha 10, the Vedas are given power of speech and address the Supreme with praise and adoration.

 

However, the Vedas themselves also admit how difficult it is to reach Oneness through cognition: “The shrutis find their ultimate fruit in you. But their conclusion is indirect, negating every assertion about you.”

 

All the world’s holy texts glorify God, but they cannot help one realise it. In the light of Truth, even words refute themselves. This quote is reminiscent of the Upanishadic teaching of ‘neti-neti’, which means that one simply cannot fathom the Infinite Truth in words – we can only negate what we think it could be. Brahmn is transcendent of any mental concept and can only be realised in divine experience.

 

 

We should never become dependent on scriptures because, as per verse 27, “…those who turn away from you are bound down by your words, like animals. Indeed, only those who are devoted to you are purified.” We must understand and reflect on the teachings of scriptures, but remember that they only represent an illusive reminder of Brahmn. If on the other hand, we turn them into our gods and gurus, we could end up blindly following their injunctions without questioning and understanding their purport.

 

Which spiritual pathway should be followed then? As per the Bhakti tradition of the Bhagavat Purana, our devotion is the highest sadhana we can practise. When we dedicate our lives to God and are willing to sacrifice our ego for it, we will attain moksh. But, this does not mean that Karma Yog and Jnana Yog are lesser means of spiritual practice. They all lead to God and should, therefore, all be followed.

 

The Shruti Gita affirms an intellectual appreciation of Brahmn through the Vedas, but in helping us to realise God, even scriptures are powerless: “Though you are equally present in all your manifestations, those who profess to know you do not know. You are beyond knowledge and that view is itself defective,” states verse 30. Here we have it in writing: the Oneness of all cannot be realised through words. Even if we think we have reached God, it will still elude us. We must transcend our minds and come to experience the Self within. By reflecting on the Universal Truth, we will realise it everywhere and at all times.

 

Being human means to be perplexed at times. Of course, we may always turn to sacred texts for guidance on how to develop spiritually and live a meaningful life. But scriptures such as the Shruti Gita stand as a reminder that we cannot and should not stay attached to them — we may otherwise miss the mark of single-pointedly being Brahmn in life and becoming liberated.

 

IF HE EXIST

 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 7 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 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

 

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Yoga its various Aspects

 Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

 Yoga its various Aspects

With resolute hearts, we adopt some time-tested techniques in our daily life, and through assiduous practice, we ultimately realize the Truth. This realization transoms our life changes our perspective and reveals the profound significance of everything we experience. We will then see one indivisible Light Shining inside and outside ourselves. We become the embodiment of love, peace fearlessness and strength. How to accomplish this journey smoothly with a conservation of time and energy, and with the maximum benefit to oneself and others is the theme of Yoga ,

 

At the outset the aspirant should be definite about what he is looking for in order to lay an unshakable foundation in spiritual life, it is indispensable to have a clear idea of the spiritual ideal, and to base this life on the higher realities experienced in the life of the mystics. These realities are expressed in their teachings and also in other reliable scriptures rooted in eternal verities. Mature reasoning, reflection and mediation on the ideas contained therein strengthen his spiritual life. They stimulate his mind, removed doubts and reinforce convictions a. this reinforcement of beliefs cannot be emphasized enough. For a long time, a firm conviction is one of the main inner supports for the seeker during times of disquietude. This study also protects him from falling into the clutches of “false prophets”, mere social religious and different types of superstitions.

 Meditate, it can make you perpetually happy

By Hasmukh Adhia

 

Happiness is not a state of continuous excitement or rapture. It is a state of absence of sadness. Sleep is the best example of this. We feel happy in sleep because there is no sadness of any kind. A visually impaired person is not blind in sleep. A wounded person is not wounded in sleep. A poor person is not poor in sleep. At the end of the day, we all want to go to bed to feel this absence of sadness for a few hours every day. Even when one is filled with rapturous, joyful events throughout the day, one still has a desire to get sleep. Because sleep is a state of unadulterated bliss.

 

Scriptures say that there is only a single source of happiness, which is Consciousness called Brahman, Atman. Consciousness is the Anand, pure bliss, which is right inside us all the time. During a state of the quietude of the mind and senses, the bliss of consciousness shines fully in us. And so, we become happy. The happiness we get from objects of enjoyment is also coming from the bliss of atman.

 

When we have a desire for objects, our mind becomes restless. We make a lot of effort to achieve those objects. When we get them, our mind is peaceful. In these moments of peace, or absence of restlessness, the bliss of atman reflects on our mind and so we become happy. Since there is no end to our desires, we only get a small interval of happiness between two desires.

 

 

It is the sunlight only which is reflected on the Moon and comes to us as moonlight. But when we see moonlight, we don’t think of it as sunlight only. Every anand is coming from Brahmn, whether in sleep, in enjoyment of objects, meditation, or in knowledge.

 

Any object-borne happiness is an attempt to remove sadness or an inferiority complex, which is the cause of the restlessness of the mind. The main cause of sadness or inferiority is our identification with body and mind, not atman. The body and mind are temporary possessions, but our atman is permanent, free from any defects and a source of infinite bliss. When we focus on atman more than on the body-mind complex, we can free ourselves from an inferiority complex. Spiritual knowledge is the best psychotherapy. It is also a way of getting lasting happiness.

 

The happiness of the world is a mixed bag. It is interspersed with lots of unhappiness. By dropping the world into a deep sleep state every day and still being happy, we can think of the world as an undependable or rather unnecessary instrument of our happiness. When the external entity is dropped in our mind, our inner self, which is pure bliss, shines.

 

One cannot remain in deep sleep for long because our karma, destiny, wakes us up. The karma has to be enjoyed or suffered in the waking state. But one can always enjoy long hours of meditation in a waking state and experience the bliss of Self. That is how once we get into the habit of meditation, we get addicted to this happiness.

 

 The writer is former finance secretary, Government of India

 

IF HE EXIST

 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 7 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 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

 

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Truth and Silence

 Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

 

Truth and Silence

 

The word muni is common to both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, but its connotation is not the same to them. The Hindu tradition takes the word to mean one who has conquered his mind and has, in consequence, attained Self-Knowledge and realized Truth. To a Buddhist the word however means one who is “silent”, or ‘Mute’ Why is the silent? He is silent because it is part of his asceticism. Why should he talk? What is there to talk about? And to whom would he talk? Is it not waste of time and energy talking to others? Buddha is often referred to as ‘Shakya Muni’ the mute one of the Shakya clan. This was because. Buddha often gave evasive replies if people asked him about God or the Self. to this day people do not know exactly what Buddha’s stand was on God or the Self  or the Ultimate Reality , Some people say ‘silence had to be his answer. For what he had to say was beyond thought and speech.

           
Buddha did not like to see people arguing about metaphysics. He thought it was waste of time. But the irony is that just because of or in spite of this attitude towards philosophy , much philosophy has grown and is still growing centering round Buddha. Crucial to Buddha’s teachings is nirvana, which he describes as the goal of life. But what is nirvana? The debate about its meaning Is  still going on  . One school of thought explains nirvana as going out, extinction, or dissolution . the meaning is negative Another school holds that nirvana has an affirmative ménage it means infinite bliss. Whether it is extinction or infinite bliss. . it hardly means anything to an ordinary person. Buddha’s silence is understandable under the circumstances.

 

You are complete and perfect in every way

By Swami Krishnananda

 

Here we are, the products, as it were, of this great creative activity of the immeasurable completeness and perfection of the Almighty, the Supreme Being. God is utter perfection, and everything that emanates from Him as His creation has also to be a perfection. An imperfect product does not come out of a perfect cause. Thus, the great, most venerable, infinite Eternal Being, to describe Whom as a perfection would be to say very little, has willed this universe, which also is a perfection. From poorn has come poorn. This poorn, which is the universe, has come from Poorn, the Supreme Being, and we are all a part of this Poorn, the universe. Therefore, we also are representations of that Poorn only, not fragments or shattered personalities.

 

All of us here, and everyone who is in any part of the world or in any other world, all these beings we call living or non-living, moving or non-moving, animate or inanimate, call them by any designation, are also perfections, poorn. Only poorn emanates from poorn, and therefore every one of you is also a poorn … None of us is a fragment. This is very important for us to remember. We are not incomplete in any way.

 

 

Many of us have distracted notions of our own selves – poor, illiterate ideas of our being nothings, nobodies, unfulfilled, incomplete and unfortunate. Nothing of the kind is the case with anyone or with anything because a wretched incomplete wreck cannot be manifest from a perfect being. And if you believe you have come from that One Being, you are not that which you imagine yourselves to be under a false notion of yourself in your artificial adjustments and accommodations with a phenomenon we call human society which, to repeat once again, is also, in its essentiality, a symbol of perfection itself.

 

The whole universe is a radiant manifestation of the Almighty’s perfection. Glory is the name of this world. ‘Yasya nama mahad yasah’, says the Svetasvatara Upanishad. The glory of God is also the glory of this world; it is also the glory of every one of us, every one of you. Each one, even in the littlest of the forms of manifestation, is a completion in itself. Even an atom is a complete manifestation, and is not a little part of something. You do not belong to anyone, and nothing belongs to you. The idea of something belonging to something else is the idea of subservience and fragmentation of personality. A thing that is complete cannot belong to something else, and if everything is complete, nothing can belong to anything. Neither can you belong to anything, nor can anything belong to you, because all these little manifestations of completion, perfection, poornta, belong to the eternal perfection which is the Supreme Being.

 

These ideas, these thoughts, these contemplations even for a few moments will charge your personality with such strength, energy, joy and satisfaction that you may not wish to even open your mouth. You will feel that everything is well.

 

Om purnam adah, purnam idam, purnat purnam udacyate;

purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate.

 (Courtesy: The Divine Life Trust Society)

 

IF HE EXIST

 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 7 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 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

 

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7th heaven moment of the week Mumbai  7 changte scored  a goal,  

 

Practical Vedanta

 Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

 

Practical Vedanta

 

One question is generally asked and it is this that this may lead to a tremendous amount of difficulty. Every one of us will think. I am God and whatever I do or think must be good, for God can do no evil. In the first place, even taking this danger of misinterpretation for granted, can it be proved that on the other side the same danger does not exist? They have been worshipping a God in heaven separate from them, and of whom they are much afraid. They have been born shaking with fear, and all their life they will go on shaking. Has the world been made much better by this? Those who have understood and worshipped a Personal God, and those who have understood and worshipped an Impersonal God, on which side have been the great workers of the world—gigantic workers, gigantic moral powers? Certainly on the Impersonal. How can you expect morality to be developed through fear? It can never be. “Where one sees another, where one hears another, that is Maya , When one does not see another when one does not hear another, when everything has become the Atman, who see whom who perceives whom? It is all He and all I, at the same time. The soul has become pure.  Then and then alone we understand what love is. Love cannot come through fear, its basis is freedom. When we really begin to love the world, then we understand what is meant to brotherhood of mankind and not before.

 

So it is not right to say that the impersonal idea will lead to a tremendous amount of evil in the world as if the other doctrine never lent itself to works of evil , as if it did not lead to sectarianism deluging the world with blood and causing men to tear each other in pieces. “My god is the greatest God, lt us decide it by a free fight. “ that is the outcomes of dualism all over the world. Come out into the broad open light of day come out from the little narrow paths, for how can the infringe soul test content to live and die in small ruts? Come out into the universe of Light. Everything in the universe is yours stretch out your arms and embrace it with love. If you ever felt you wanted to do that, you have felt God

 

Is freedom from karma possible?

By Nayaswami Devi

 

Recently, a friend commented that karma doesn’t always come back to us immediately but hangs around for a while. It isn’t like a credit card company keeping track of charges and payments each month. That’s why we need a ‘Master Card’ to help us work through our karma over many lives. The ‘Master Card’ is the guru: God’s agent acting in this world to guide each soul to freedom.

 

Another friend related a dream he once had. In it, he was walking along a beach with a child’s plastic pail and shovel in his hand. He suddenly came upon a huge mound of tarlike black material, and he knew that this was his past karma that he must remove to be free. He began laboriously to chip away at the sticky mound, filling his little pail only halfway after much effort.

 

He persisted at the task, when, almost at the point of giving up, he heard a loud racket coming from the other side of the tremendous pile before him. Quickly running to see what was making the noise, he saw his guru on a backhoe with a huge bucket, joyfully scooping up vast quantities of the ‘tar-ma’ and throwing it into the sea.

 

 

By our own efforts, the task of removing our past karma seems nearly impossible. Still, we must earnestly do our part.

 

A discouraged disciple once said to Paramhansa Yogananda that working out all our karma seemed hopeless, that “one might as well try calming the waves on the ocean.”

 

Yoganandaji answered: “It is a big job, I grant you. Still, it isn’t nearly so difficult as it looks. What is it that causes the waves on the sea to rise and fall in the first place? It’s the wind. Without wind, the surface grows calm automatically. Similarly, when the storm of delusion abates in the mind, the waves of action and reaction subside automatically. What you must do is still the waves of your mind by deep meditation. Then, in meditation, rid yourself of the consciousness of ego-involvement.”

 

The wind is what keeps the waves crashing. The wind is the breath. In the Bhagwad Gita, Arjun says to Krishn that the mind is restless and more difficult to control than the wind. Krishn replies that it can be controlled by yog practice and mental dispassion. The deeper meaning of this passage is that by calming the breath, through pranayam and meditation, we gain control over our mind and transcend ego-identification. The seeds of our karma can then not find soil in which to take root in our consciousness.

 

Here is a technique for using the breath to overcome past karma:

 

1) Inhale deeply and concentrate all your energy at the point between the eyebrows.

 

2) Feel that you are burning away faults, bad habits, negative thoughts or tendencies — fruits of your past karma.

 

3) Exhale completely. Keep your breath out as long as you can comfortably. Feel completely free within yourself.

 

4) When you breathe in again, think of a positive image or memory, and let it fill your mind.

 

5) Repeat this several times in a row. Practice this daily until you feel a release from some karmic burden.

 

Act with the thought that God is the Doer. Desireless action is the pathway to freedom.

 Krishn tells a reluctant Arjun that he must fight the impending battle of good against evil. He explains that by selfless action we are playing our part in this world and fulfilling our destiny. “Therefore, strive conscientiously during the performance of all actions, whether physical or spiritual, to act without attachment. By activity without self-interest, one attains the Supreme.”

 The grace of the Guru, meditation and breath control, action without attachment to the results — these are the keys to overcoming karma. In these ways we can remove the mound of our past karma and open the doors to soul freedom.

 IF HE EXIST

 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 7 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 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

 

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7th heaven moment of the week Goa no 7 scored  a goal, n Kerala no 77 scored a goal

 

Life is but Thought

 Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

 

Life is but Thought

 

In saying this Coleridge is echoing what Indian thinkers have always preached. You are what you think you are. That is t say your own estimate about yourself is largely an index of what you are now and what you want to be in the future. The present is always important because it is the foundation on which the future is built. The present may be clumsy and uncertain but if you are clear in your mind about what you want to be in the future and if you organize yourself accordingly, there is no reason why you will not be what you want to be. Whatever may be your goal, you have to have the requisite will to achieve in and you have also to choose the right path. First ask yourself what you want and then start working to that end. There will be difficulties, but you brace yourself to face them squarely. Be sure you are never cowed by anything. If others have overcome such difficulties you too can overcome them. If you have to from an estimate yourself, you do not form it on the basis of what you are now and what you have so far achieved.

 Look at persons of your caliber and study what they have achieved. It is by comparisons that you learn what you are capable of. You discover to your surprise that most of those who have achieved great things in life are people of average merit and some-perhaps most-of them are markedly inferior to you. How is it that they have done so? By their will by their own efforts. To begin with they never suspected what they were capable of but as they started working hard, they slowly began to discover new sources of strength within themselves and their potential. Once they tasted success they never looked back, they kept pursuing forward from one success to another.

 Turn to the Gita when overwhelmed by doubt

By Jaya Row

 

 
Do you find yourself torn between the devil and the deep blue sea? Are you cruising along and suddenly you get knocked down by a challenge? Do you get overwhelmed by doubt and indecision? The Bhagwad Gita helps resolve the conflict within.

 

Though 5,000 years old, the Gita is timeless. The inner space of uncertainty and indecision, emptiness and unfulfillment that Arjun faced is one we all know. The eternal principles of the Gita have inspired generations of young seekers across the world to gain victory over their own frailties. All challenges are within. You have to gain mastery over yourself to win external problems.

 

Arjun gets pushed into battle and buckles under the challenge. Krishn says there is no place for grief in life. He speaks of joy, cheer and exhilaration. All problems stem from a slight maladjustment within. Correct that and the problems vanish.

 

Dhritrashtra, the blind king and father of the Kauravas, asks Sanjay, the commentator of the battle, what his sons and the sons of Pandu are doing. The root of all conflict and war is a feeling of separateness – mine versus yours – which Dhritrashtra displays. Pandu was his brother. He should have seen Pandu’s sons as his own. But he views them as enemies.

 

Dhritrashtra epitomises the mind, the abode of emotions and feelings. The mind is blind. Gandhari represents the intellect, the domain of judgement and discrimination. The intellect can see. However, when the intellect gets smitten with emotion, it gets blinded too. This is indicated by Gandhari blinding herself after marrying Dhritrashtra. The result is devastation and destruction.

 

 

Sanjay points to Duryodhan’s arrogance. Arrogance blocks the intake of knowledge. Duryodhan disregards the wise counsel of elders like Bhishm and Dronacharya and embarks on this foolhardy battle.

 

Duryodhan’s army is one and a half times that of the Pandavas, and yet he is insecure. Insecurity stems from viciousness, wrongdoing and a feeling of otherness. A warrior’s strength comes from noble ideals. Duryodhan has nothing but his selfishness and foolishness to fall back on.

 

Arjun is battle-ready and asks Krishn to drive him between the two armies so he may see those who have gathered to please Duryodhan. Krishn drives Arjun in front of Bhishm and Drona to show that not everyone is there to pander to Duryodhan. He wants Arjun to follow their example and just do his duty. Arjun, however, succumbs to sentiment. He sees in the enemy lines his beloved patriarch Bhishm who had renounced the kingdom for which they were fighting. He sees his guru Dronacharya who had taught him archery. He sees relatives when he should see warriors. When emotion comes in the way of intellectual conviction he falters and falls. He makes absurd arguments to justify his stand and displays false vairagya, dispassion. Confused and exhausted, he collapses, unable to stand, his mind whirling, mouth dry, body trembling and hair standing on end.

 

Thus, the mighty Arjun breaks down, overcome with frail pity, oblivious of his obligation as a kshatriya, ruler, to uphold dharma, righteousness. When we lack a higher vision, we are weakened by wavering emotions. We get bogged down by irrelevant things. The intellect gets clouded and we embark on a disastrous action plan. This is Arjun’s state.

 

Arjun had not asked for the war. Yet he has to play a central role in it. He has to first resolve the conflict between his head and his heart, both of which are saying different things. The stage is set for Krishn to teach Arjun, and through him, all confused and troubled souls down the ages. Millions of people have turned to the Gita in their hour of crisis and found the light of wisdom, the clear path out of darkness to Truth. And so will we if we listen to Krishn’s advice with an open mind.

 Watch Bhagwad Gita Ch 1 webinars by Jaya Row every Saturday 6-7 pm on YouTube. Register for free: vedantavision.org/gita

 IF HE EXIST

 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 7 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 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

 ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7th heaven moment of the week Chhangte no 7 scored a goal, atk kakauo no 7 scored a goal, and wta tennis savalnka no 7 beat swetak in semi,