The Sources of Healing Power

 

Quote from the true charm and power of Vedanta

 

 The Sources of Healing Power

 We must not give up. We all have latent within us a love for the true, for the perfect. We all want that which is unlimited and eternal. There is an inner longing which drives us constantly. Even the mistakes we make are due to our effort to find true happiness, but we seek it, in the finite, so we suffer. The Eternal is not to be found in the perishable. If we desire a real cure for our ills, physical or mental, we must seek it in the imperishable. The Source of life is not outside and separate from us. It is within us. The kingdom of God is within and we are told to soak that First, then all else will follow. Do we believe it? If we do, then we shall turn towards it naturally,. Whenever we feel any lack or any distress: instead of turning towards the external, we shall turn towards the internal.

 

A wise man goes within himself in his joys and his sorrows. He strives to unite himself more closely with his Source in every experience of life. He knows that all his power comes from there and he takes no credit to himself. No man can become a channel of divine power so long as his ego is in the ascendancy. He may be able to heal temporarily, but it will not last. To become a true channel he must attune himself with God through humility, through purity, through an utter lack of self –consciousness

 

A slow and steady ascent of spiritual awakening

 

By Jayant B Dave

 Just as a little baby slowly grows into an educated and cultured being, religious or spiritual consciousness too evolves gradually, starting from inanimate objects in nature. Religion and spirituality focus on the substratum of every object or being. Spirituality is that condition of consciousness which focuses on the spirit of things, rather than forms or bodies of things, says Swami Krishnananda.

 

Matter is the lowest rung of the evolutionary ladder in nature, and it is characterised by a total absence of perceptible consciousness. All-pervading consciousness is present here but in a dormant form due to the absence of the mind, subtle body, principle required for its manifestation. Matter though inert reacts and transforms as per its inherent characteristics due to the chit, latent consciousness, present therein.

 

Matter effloresces into microbial and plant kingdom consciousness. Life is pulsating here, but there is a complete absence of thoughts, instincts and self-consciousness. Here we find dream-type intermediate consciousness.

 

 

The animal kingdom is the next stage of evolution, where we find thoughts and instincts due to the mind principle that helps manifestation of consciousness. But instinct is about living in the present without regard to the past or future, due to the absence of logic or reasoning attributable to intellect. Consciousness does not manifest as self-consciousness.

 

The topmost rung of the evolutionary ladder is the human being, characterised by a well-defined mind and intellect that distinguishes pros and cons and correlates past, present and future. Consciousness manifests here as self-consciousness, which means ‘I know that I Know’. The human being is at the highest stage of evolution that nature has reached in the world.

 

Religious consciousness is quite different from this natural evolution. It starts from human status. There is a universality behind it due to the perception of Atman, pure Self, beholding all things in terms of pure Self existing in all.

 

Religious or spiritual consciousness is usually absent in humans, because self-consciousness is blended with ego and reason, due to attachment with the gross and subtle bodies. Hence, there is difficulty in arousing religious consciousness that aims at the integration of all existence.

 

Religious consciousness is one degree of God consciousness. The lesser the connection we feel between ourselves and another, the lesser we are religious or spiritual. Total independence or non-connection with objects outside is opposite to religious consciousness.

 

Friendliness is a good quality, but it is only an ethical manifestation, to be one with the existence and characteristics of an object. We impose characteristics of inner uniformity outwardly with the code of law, regulations, and rules. This is just the foundation. Once this psychological affirmation of innate unity is clear, we have to put this into practice in our daily life.

 

Yog is a way that enables us to gradually transform our physical, mental, and psychological consciousness into religious or spiritual consciousness. Religious consciousness is a gradual blossoming of the longing for perfection. One need not reject the body, society, or the world but transcend these relative manifestations to merge into the ocean of satchidanand, one and non-dual reality. (The writer is president, Divine Life Society, Vadodara)

 

Today is Swami Krishnananda’s birth anniversary

 

 

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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Essential of Spiritual Life

 

Quote from the true charm and power of Vedanta

 

 Essential of Spiritual Life

 

The person who follows the path of selfless activity has to possess devotion, discrimination and concentration along with non-attachment. Aspirants of the other paths too, besides being endowed with common moral qualifications, should have-it may be in varying degree-all-these indispensable laments of spiritual life. Thus it is practically impossible in draw a dividing line between different types of aspirants and the paths they pursue. For example, evenness of mind which Sri Krishna speaks of as Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita is a virtue which all Yogis alike should possess. We may further quote the following verses of the Gita to illustrate the common features of the Yogas

 

“Content with what comes to him without effort, unaffected by the pairs of opposites, free from envy, and even minded in success and failure the wise man is not bound even though he be acting.

“Resigning mentally all deeds to me, the divine Being, having Me as the highest goal, and resorting to the devotion of right knowledge, ever fix your mind on me

“The Yogi who, being established in unity, worships, Me dwelling in all beings-he abides in Me, whatever his mode of life may be

All these words of Sri Krishna are more or less applicable to every type of Yoga. There is a conscious or unconscious combination of all noble attributes in the perfect ones as also in all real aspirants.

 

A simple method to attain Self-realisation

 

By Anup Taneja        

 
Paul Brunton, who visited Ramana Maharshi’s ashram in 1931, placed before the latter two fundamental questions: Is it necessary to renounce the world and move to secluded jungles or mountains to realise the Truth? What method should be pursued to attain Self-realisation?

 

In response to the first question, the Maharshi said that solitude is in the mind of a man. One might be in the thick of the world and yet maintain perfect equanimity; such a person is always in solitude. Another may stay in the jungle or mountain-top but still be unable to keep the mind calm. Such a person cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude, thus, is an attitude of the mind; a detached man is always in solitude.

 

Ramana Maharshi further said that the life of action need not be renounced in case the seeker is able to meditate for an hour or two every day. This is because the spiritual currents generated during meditation will continue to flow even in the midst of one’s work. Then the seeker can perform his worldly activities in that very current at high efficiency and output levels. Thus, while the seeker is engaged in search of God ‘within’, ‘outer’ worldly activities go on spontaneously.

  
Replying to the second question, the Maharshi said that the method of Self-inquiry is the simplest and direct method for Self-realisation. He explained that the first and foremost of all thoughts, the primeval thought in the mind of every man, is the thought ‘I’. It is only after the birth of this that any other thought can arise at all. The thought ‘I’ is also known as ahankar, ego, feeling of one’s personality. Therefore, the seeker desirous of attaining jnana must constantly ask himself the question, ‘Who am I?’

 If you meditate on this question, said Ramana Maharshi, and “begin to perceive that neither the body and brain, nor desires are really you, then the very attitude of inquiry will eventually draw the answer to you out of the depths of your own being”. Something else will spontaneously arise from behind your mind and take complete possession of you. That ‘something’ is the Pure Self – infinite, divine and eternal.

 

The mind, according to Ramana Maharshi, is a mere bundle of thoughts and has no concrete existence. Further, there can be no thoughts in the absence of the thinker, the ego. Through constant self-inquiry, when the seeker delves deep into the innermost recesses of his being, the ego gets dissolved and merges in Pure Consciousness. When this happens, the seeker attains the exalted state of Self-realisation.

 

Ramana Maharshi illustrated the process of annihilation of the ego by giving the example of the stick that is used in cremating bodies in the cremation ground. The stick that helps in pushing the bodies into the funeral blaze is itself in the end consumed by the same blaze. The stick is the ego and the blaze is the fire of jnana, Pure Consciousness, which abides in eternity and destroys ignorance. Therefore, the seeker who wishes to extricate himself from the vicious cycle of transmigration, “must retreat into his impregnable citadel” by realising his identity with the Pure, Immortal Self, the One Ultimate Reality.

 

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  in ipl Srh won by 7 wk, Gujrat Titan won scoring 170/7         

Spiritual Healing

 

Quote from the true charm and power of Vedanta

 

Spiritual Healing

 

All real healing is quite involuntary. It comes from the central reservoir of life, and that reservoir is shut off when our consciousness is fixed on the physical. If we are overcome by aches and pains and look to material means only for relief, this may come or it may not but even if it comes, it will be merely temporary. There can be permanent healing only when we turn to the Source of all supply which is within.    We must learn to retire within. We must learn to retire within ourselves when there is any trouble. Whatever overtakes us –whether it is physical illness, nervous excitement or mental disturbance-we must not reach out to the external world for help, we must try rather to make ourselves more fit for the manifestation of the divine Spirit. If we can draw close the cosmic Source within ourselves, we shall be relieved from our aches and pains and darkness. 

 

That inner Light the wise men say is the cure for all ailments, but we do not seek help there. We seek everywhere else; we turn to the spiritual Source as a last resort. Yet until we bring ourselves into contact with That, we shall have no real peace or rest or strength Mediation therefore becomes a vital factor in all healing. I have known many instances of involuntary cures, through mediation, and it is easy to explain them. The power of mediation enables me to transcend the physical to forget the limited self with its endless concerns and occupations, which now absorb and distract the mind.

 

Your response to situations can immortalise you

By

  Sudhamahi Regunathan

 

One of the elements in storytelling is to keep a little secret going till the end. Some call it suspense, others call it the climax. As a story is being told, there comes a twist, an unexpected challenge, and the plot intensifies. The listener typically asks, “And then what happened?” and there comes a turn of events. O’Henry was known for the sudden twist at the end of his stories.

 

Adikavi Valmiki wrote his famed story of the Ramayan, which has inspired many generations, with a difference. It may be surprising to learn that in the very first chapter, he tells the entire story of the Ramayan, with all the details. If he has missed out anything, he repeats the entire story in the third chapter again, right to the end when Ravan is slain and Ram returns to Ayodhya and is coronated.

 

Whether you read the Ramayan with devotion or as a piece of literature, the mind could feel an ennui since the story is completely revealed at the very beginning. But the charming thing about reading Valmiki is that interest never flags. Why?

 

 

The secret lies in framing the question. The Ramayan begins with Valmiki asking Narad, who was visiting his ashram, a question that he had been pondering over. “Who, in this wide world, is endowed with all qualities? Who is he who knows the right from wrong, is courageous, abides by dharma, is full of resolve, committed to Truth, has integrity in his actions, is full of moral rectitude, a man of knowledge, powerful, humble, who has subdued his senses, is gentle and soft spoken, splendorous, has a generous heart but when provoked can make even gods tremble?” Valmiki wonders if there can be one person who has all these qualities and more.

 

Narad agrees that it is a rather difficult question, but yes, he does know of such a person. And he proceeds to tell Valmiki the entire story of Ramayan. Valmiki hears attentively. The conversation comes to an end and feeling edified and happy, Valmiki proceeds to river Tamasa for a dip when he sees two krauncha birds in great harmony. Even as he is appreciating them, a hunter kills one, leaving the other helpless in grief. An enraged Valmiki pronounces a curse. And suddenly he finds his curse has found poetic expression.

 

He is struck by the metre and rhyme in his curse … Then Brahma himself comes to tell him, “I was the one who created this situation and also gave you the power of expression so that you may tell the story of the Ramayan.” And then Brahma tells him the story of Ram all over again.

 

So within the first three chapters, the entire story is told twice. That is because the focus of the Ramayan is not on Ram killing Ravan. It is on the qualities of Ram and his character. The storyline is but a series of challenges that come his way … challenges to his integrity, courage, generosity, his commitment to Truth and so on.

 

It does not matter which trajectory your life takes; it does not matter who behaves how. What matters is your response. And that is what immortalises men and women.

 

 

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  in ipl Subman Gil 7 got   player of the match, Rcb won by 7 wk         

DHYANA AND SAMADHI

 

Quote from the true charm and power of Vedanta

 

            DHYANA AND SAMADHI

We have taken a cursory view of the different steps in Raja-Yoga, except the finer ones, the training in concentration which is the goal, to which Raja-Yoga will lead us, We see, as human beings, that all our knowledge which is called rational is refereed to consciousness. My consciousness of this table, and of your presence, makes me know that the table and you are here. At the same time, there is very great part of my existence of which I am not conscious. All the different organs inside the body, the different parts of the brian-no body is conscious of their

When I eat food, I do it consciously, when I assimilate it, I do it unconsciously. When the food is manufactured into blood, it is done unconsciously. When out of the blood all the different parts of my body are strengthen, it is done unconsciously. And yet it is I who am doing all this; there cannot be twenty people in this one body. How do I know that I do it, and nobody else? It may be urged that my business is only in eating and assimilating the food, and that strengthening the body by a man comes out the very same man the food done for me by somebody else. That cannot be because it can be demonstrated that almost every action of which we are now unconscious can be brought up to the plane of consciousness. The heart is beating apparently without our control. None of us here can control the heart; it goes on its own way. But by practice men can bring even the heart under control until it will just beat at will slowly or quickly or almost stop. Nearly every part of the body can be brought under control. What does consciousness are also performed by us , only we are doing it unconsciously. We have, then, two planes in which the human mind wake First is the conscious plane, in which all work is always accompanied with the feeling of egoism. Next comes the unconscious plane where all work is unaccompanied by the feeling of egoism. That part of mind work which is unconscious work , and that part which is accompanied with the feeling of egoism is conscious work. In the lower animals this unconscious work is called instinct. In higher animals and in the highest fo all animals man, what is called conscious work prevails.

 

Time doesn’t flow, it doesn’t stop, it just is

By Jasmine Sehgal

 

The idea of time is not easy to grasp, its nature is a great mystery. All actions and events that happen are ordained to follow a linear order of time; they have a beginning, peak and an end. Ancient Indic scriptures have used the word ‘Kaal’ for time.

 

According to Vaisheshik, one of the six theist schools of Indic philosophy, founded by Maharshi Kanad, who proposed the atomistic approach to understanding the universe, kaal is an abstract entity. It is one of the nine kaaran dravyas, causative elements of creation. They are: mann, mind; atman, consciousness; kaal, time; and disha, space; and the panchbhutas, five elements – akash, ether; vayu, air; agni, fire; jal, water; and prithvi, earth. Prashastapada, the famous commentator on Vaisheshik Darshan from 500-600 BCE, spoke about kaal to be eka, one, in number – a continuum. Acharya Charaka stated: ‘Kaalah punah parinamah’, kaal is the process of parinaam, transformation.

  
Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein’s relativistic theory relates matter and energy by the following equation: E=mc2, where E: energy, m: mass, and c: speed of light. So energy and matter are really the same thing. It is just the transformation of one into another. Einstein’s one-time teacher and colleague, Hermann Minkowski, introduced the relativity concept of proper time, ‘The actual elapsed time between two events as measured by a clock that passes through both events.’ Two events are nothing but transformation, close on heels.

 

Everything happens for a reason and the only reason for time to exist is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

 

Talking of the qualities of time, Maharshi Sushruta said that time is swayambhu, it’s just there; Anadi madhya nidhanah – it is without a beginning, peak and an end; and Sookshmatam kalaam na leeyate – it does not stop in subtlest fractions.

 

Time is quantised for practical purposes of planning and execution of all activities. Another theoretical physicist, Carlo Rovelli, putting forth his idea of time, has stated that it is the human brain, not just fundamental physics that determines what we call the flowing of time and the sense of the speed at which it flows.

 

The term ‘space time continuum’ refers to the interpretation that time and space are without a beginning, peak and an end and are in continuity. Time doesn’t evolve into anything; it’s just there, all, at once.

 

Modern physicists believe that time does not ‘flow’, it just ‘is’. This view of time, according to Paramahansa Yogananda, is consistent with the philosophical view mentioned in the Bhagwad Gita: God is the Eternal Consciousness, unchanging and indivisible, in which the illusions of time, change; and space, division; present an infinite variety of forms interacting in a progressive mode of past, present and future.

 

The writer is an Ayurveda practitioner

 

 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  in ipl Gl no 7 got impact player of the match, in women cricket Aus women no 77 got motm , mvp