Eternal values

 Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

Eternal values

By self-dedication one obtains consecration, by consecration one obtains grain; by grace, one obtains faith and faith is Truth obtained.

 

He who is wearied of much walking has a grandeur, thus we have heard. The best man, if he sits idle in the society of men, becomes a sinner Indra surely is his friend of him who keeps moving. Therefore move on and on! The feet of the wanderer are like the flowers in full blossom his soul is growing and reaping the fruit, and all his sins are destroyed to the ground by his fatigues in wandering. Therefore wander!

 

The fortune of him who is sitting sits, it rises when he rises. It sleeps when he sleeps: it moves when he moves. Therefore move forward!

 

The fortune of him who is sitting sits it rises when he rises, it sleeps when he sleeps, it moves when he moves. Therefore move forward!

 

The Kali is lying, the Dvapara is sitting the Treta is standing and the krta or Satya is to commence walking. Therefore move on move on!

 

Speak the truth Practice righteousness Make no mistake about the study. There should be no inadvertence about truth. There should be no deviation from righteous activity. Do not be careless about studying. Let your mother be a goddess unto you. Let your father be a god into you. Let your teacher be a god unto you, let your guest be a god unto you. Those acts that are irreproachable alone are to be performed and not those that are to their contrary those actions of ours that are commendable are to be followed by you, not the others. The offering should not be with dishonour. The offering should be according to one’s prosperity. the offering should be with humility. The offering should be with respectful fear. The offering should be with friendly modesty.

 

Decoding divine energies and their working

By Anandmurti Gurumaa

 

There is a famous Sanskrit aphorism registered in the Puranas: Yat Pindhe Tat Brahmande. It can be interpreted as, ‘All that is outside you is within you.’

 

‘Durg’ means the ‘fort’, and Durga is the one that resides inside this fort. On the micro level, our body is like a durg, a fortress. And in this body, the Shakti – the energy that dwells – is called Durga. The entire creation is also a durg, albeit on the macrocosmic level. And the Shakti making the universe work is Durga.

 

Unaware of many facets and limited by our sphere of knowledge, when we start giving meaning to the things around us, the interpretations turn out rather diminutive.

 

In the simplest terms, Shakti is the power that creates. You put a tiny seed in the earth, and that seed becomes a sapling in six to eight weeks. In another one to two years, it turns into a full-fledged dense tree. From where did it all begin? A tiny seed. And Shakti is that intelligence that made that seed sprout and grow up into a full-bloomed tree.

 

So, constricting Durga to a fixed Swarup, or specific gestures, is a pretty naive understanding of a much bigger phenomenon. Durga is not merely a murti. She is that intelligence which changes a drop of semen into a living, pulsating human being. And the amazing thing is if the nose of the father is long, so is the sons’. Even the colour of parents is imbibed by their offspring. Congenital ailments are passed on. Who is relaying this information? Just x and y chromosomes? Or is there something more than that?

 

Even if one tries to understand the marvels and complexity of the human body medically, the intellect is bound to go crazy. For instance, if we flatten the lung tissues and spread them out on the ground, they will take up the size of a tennis court. The weight of your brain is roughly between 1.25 to 1.50 kg, and yet it houses trillions of neurons. The nervous system laid across your body is a bigger network than any LAN network in the world. It is so intricate that even an attempt to replicate a single organ is going to be a mammoth task.

 

 

This body is that factory in which you put milk, veggies and other consumables, but only blood is manufactured. How? Can a factory put up outside ever accomplish a feat as marvellous as this? Do we even stand a chance to develop such a level of intelligence? The answer is no. This very intelligence with which the consumed meal is being converted into the blood is Shakti.

 

So, Durga is not just a murti or piece of the picture that gets worn out after a few years, and you get another one. These are mere symbolism created by our sagacious rishis to make the people understand the energies that are making this samsara work. And the nine sacred nights of Shakti worshipping, honouring, remembering and re-energising our system with that divine power and intelligence – that’s Navratri.

 

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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Laya yoga in General

 Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

 

Laya yoga in General

 

These ideas of dissolution, if included in our contemplation, are from the first steps of Laya Yoga Normally we are very much attached to the world which is very real to us. We love our life, centred in our body and mind and the stage of this world when the drama of our life is enacted. We shudder to think of the termination of this drama. This is of course irrational because the curtain is bound to drop one day. in spite of longing for life, death cannot be prevented.

 The yoga who is trying to solve the mystery of life and realize the supreme truth, cannot afford to be irrational. He has to examine the contradictions of our thinking and behaviour .so he faces creations but does not ignore dissolution. He has learnt from the scriptures as also from everyday experience, that Laya is a potent factor in the world process. Truth is above the duality of life and death. So he calmly reflects on the ever-changing, ever-dissolving nature of the world and pins his hope on the unchanging reality all the back of the flux. Practice of this contemplation brings the serenity of mind based on
Vairagyam detachment.

 

In the first verse of this Isa Upanishad says.;

All the changing things and events of the world have to be covered iht Isa (God –The supreme reality) live your life in sprit of non-attachment. Don’t crave for possessions which are not yours”

 

Kartavya is your password to excellence

By Jaya Row

 

The Bhagwad Gita glorifies karma, action. It says we cannot remain inactive even for a second. Everyone is helplessly driven to action. There are three kinds of action. Niyatam karma, obligatory duty, is the best quality of action. We all have duties – to our family, society, country, humanity and to ourselves. We know what we should do. But desire takes us away from our duties. We stray into kamya karma, desire-driven activity. The entire world is chasing after desire. When desires mount to unsustainable levels and they can no longer be fulfilled by legal and ethical methods, we cross the line and perform nishiddha karma, actions prohibited by our own conscience.

 Action is fuelled by desire. A musician has a desire to sing, an artist the urge to paint and a businessman to do business. Desire springs from thought. And thought from vasana. Vasana is a deep-rooted interest, inherent leaning, innate passion for a thing. When you act merely because you desire it, you create more such desires in your system. And you are caught in the endless loop of vasana – thought – desire – action – and vasana again.

 To break free from this cycle, you need to elevate yourself to kartavya, obligatory duty, the ability to do a thing because you ought to, whether you like it or not. This requires a shift in attitude – from claiming rights and privileges to appreciating the bounty you have been blessed with and developing gratitude for it. Then you look for opportunities to serve, contribute, add value to others. Your mind expands to accommodate the wellbeing of a larger cross-section of people. Kartavya purifies you of existing desires without adding more to your personality.

 

Desire-driven action agitates the mind. While acting, your mind wanders to the unproductive channels of worry over the past and anxiety for the future. Only the present is under your command. Focus on it and give it your best. Every action then becomes perfect. Success is yours. So, rise above desire. Find fulfilment in the action itself. You will be happy irrespective of the result.

 

Desire is the greatest obstruction that stands between you and the object of desire. When a corporate executive is obsessed with becoming the CEO, it does not happen. When he drops the desire and just does his job, he gets the position. So drop the fixation with desire. Focus on fulfilling your kartavya to the best of your ability, wholeheartedly. You will meet with serendipitous experiences. The result will be way beyond your imagination. When Albert Einstein was working on the Theory of Relativity, he had no clue he would get the Nobel Prize. While MK Gandhi was struggling for independence from the British, he did not imagine that he would be anointed Mahatma, father of the nation. He only did what had to be done.

  As desires reduce, you become a towering personality. There is a meteoric rise in your spiritual level. You no longer want petty, insignificant worldly objects. You rise above name, fame, money, position and all that the world offers. But because you have gained merit, prosperity is showered on you. You become purified of desire. You attain Enlightenment.

 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 in women cricket Indian w won seond odi by 7 wk, In epl son 7 scored a hatrick                 

Vedanta in Daily life

 Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

 

Vedanta in Daily life

 

Then as we approach perfection the ways of our living become better and better, and by experience, we come to know that the best way of living is not to follow the dictates of a narrow and limited will, but to obey the universal Will, we start at first with a tiny little weak and thin thread of will, which grows stronger and stronger as we rise higher and higher in the scale of our life. Then gradually by passing through different stages of manifestations we gain more and more experience and begin to see how the thread of the individual will is connected with the universal Will, and slowly understand their relation, and ultimately realize that our will which we have so long thought to be ours is not ours, but part and parcel of that one universal will which is moving the universe from the minutest atom to the  biggest solar system, and our bodies are nothing but so many small instruments through which that all-pervading Will is expressing itself. But as long as we do not realize this and think that our will is a separate will and is not related to the universal Will. We believe that by following our imperfect will we shall gain the highest benefit, but the result is suffering misery and sorrow which we experience in our everyday life. This idea of separation or mistaken notion makes us think that we are free, while in fact, we are bound hand and foot like a slave, and consequently, we do not seek freedom. How can we seek freedom when we do not know that we are bond? First of all we shall have to examine our own nature whether we are free or bound, and then we can search for liberation if we really need it.

Paryushan Parva, time for self-purification

By Dhanpal Solanki Jain

For both Shvetambar Jains, who observe Paryushan Parva over eight days, and Digambar Jains, for whom it lasts 10 days, this annual Jain observance is a time for introspection, reflection and purification. It is the most appropriate time for all to get uplifted through fasting, meditation, soul-search, awakening, self-study, courage and compassion and forgiveness for all beings. Paryushan Parva is observed during the Chaturmas, also called Varsha Yog. ‘Chaturmas’ literally means ‘four months’ in Sanskrit, during the monsoon when Jain monks and nuns stay in one place and are available to the community for instruction and guidance.

 

Paryushan is when, to improve karmas, adherents perform 12 kinds of austerities, including fasting. They also do swadhyay, and self-study.

 

The purpose of Paryushan is to stay close to your soul, reflect on your shortcomings, seek forgiveness for wrongdoings, remove internal corruption, and vow to live an ethical way of life. Daily recital of Bhaktamar Stotra, Navakar Mantra, meditation and prayer helps one look within and reflect on the teachings of the Jain tirthankars for guidance.

  On the fourth day of Paryushan, it is customary for Murtipujak Shvetambars to read from the Kalpa Sutra, a scripture which recounts the life of Mahavir, the 24th tirthankar, the 14 dreams his mother had before his birth, followed by the story of his birth, life and liberation. It also recounts the lives of other tirthankars and the rules of Paryushan.

 

Jainism is the Sramana tradition of India. Mahavir led a socio-spiritual, non-violent reform movement. He rejected superstitious practices, blind faith, caste system, gender bias, sati and discouraged animal sacrifice. He encouraged ahimsa, compassion and scientific temper. Furthermore, he did not preach, but practised his philosophy, and promoted a radical economic, political and social justice movement based on complete equity.

 

Mahavir regarded all species of flora and fauna as integral to a composite moral community. He emphasised the concept of jivdaya, animal care and aparigraha, non-possessiveness, to protect biodiversity from human greed and butchery. The fivefold Navakar Mantra is recited to offer obeisance not to God but to Arihants, perfected beings; siddhas, liberated souls; acharyas, masters; upadhyayas, teachers; and sadhus, renunciates. Jainism promotes rational, scientific, compassionate, courageous and ethical way of life based on complete equanimity and tranquility.

 

Rishabhdev, the first tirthankar, advocated women’s education and their liberation. Bahubali, the elder son of Rishabdev, said, “Do seva without discrimination” because all of us are experiencing dukh-dard, pain, agony and suffering. Without paropkar, selfless service, bhakti and puja remain incomplete. Bahubali promoted sports like wrestling and Hath Yog, to stay healthy, fit and active.

 

For Shvetambars, the final day of Paryushan is Samvastsari Pratikraman, time for confession and seeking forgiveness as well as being forgiving, enabling self-liberation. The ritual of seeking forgiveness from the teacher is widened in scope to include family, friends and all living beings. The culmination of confession is receiving forgiveness from all living beings and also forgiving everyone including oneself.

 The Jains seek forgiveness from everyone by saying ‘Micchami Dukkadam. ‘Micchami’ means ‘to seek forgiveness’ and ‘dukkadam’, dushkrut, means ‘bad deeds’. So, the meaning of Micchami Dukkadam is – if any of my thoughts, words and deeds have hurt you knowingly or unknowingly, I seek your forgiveness.

 

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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The Steps towards perfection

 Quote from the True charm and power of Vedanta

 

The Steps towards perfection

 With that intense longing of the soul  will transcend all limitations, and will be able to commune with the Lord, . The stronger the longing the quicker is the realization. We must have intense longing first but the longing will not come to the soul which has not been awakened. The awakening of the soul is the first step in the path of realization. The soul must be awakened from the deep of self delusion. We are now sleeping the sleep of self delusion. So we must wake up and see things as they are not as they appear to be. This awakening of the soul is called in Sanskrit Pratibha which is the first step on the path of realization. but when the soul is awakened it begins to see how fr the animal nature leads us and what is the next step where we are going what we are doing and what this all means. Then the soul tries to live a moral ethical and righteous life. Then it tries to correct its faults and errors, and purify its inner nature.

 

       
     Purification of the heart is the next step. It is called in Sanskrit shodhana or the state of neophyte. The awakened soul becomes a neophyte when he purifies his heart. The purification of the heart (chittasuddhi) is possible when we have controlled our animal propensities and when we keep them down, rise above them and conquer them.

 

            Some steps are absolutely necessary in attain to the purification of the heart. The practice of self –control means the control of the mind. The mind must be brought under control. We are the ruler of the mind; the mind is not our ruler, but we have allowed it to become our ruler and to enslave us. We must turn the tide and make it stay where it belongs. We are the master but we have lost our mastery over our minds and senses. We have weakened ourselves. So, how can we expect to have that realization when we are so weak” We cannot control our own mind and senses but we should remember that they are our slaves, and we are the masters. So, if we control our mind first then the senses will be controlled automatically.

 

Intuition is wisdom at its purest

 

By Anup Taneja

 

Science and philosophy, according to S Radhakrishnan, have common intellectual aspirations. However, while the former is heavily tilted towards the intellectual approach, the latter is totally inclined towards the intuitive school. Knowledge, as we understand today, has assumed an altogether different meaning over the centuries.

 

During the Vedic period, the concept of vidya, knowledge, largely centred around the idea of attaining atma-jnana, Self-realisation, and getting spiritual illumination. However, with the onset of colonial imperialism, characterised by the domination of Western philosophical thought, the concept of vidya came to be understood as empirical and rationalistic knowledge based on science and logic.

 

Under the influence of the ideas of Renaissance, the modern mindset endeavoured to arrive at conclusions rationally, restricting one’s analysis to the given set of facts; intuitive understanding of the subject at hand was relegated to the background. Radhakrishnan’s philosophical ideas posed a big challenge to these hegemonic narratives by presenting a different viewpoint to the one provided by Western thinkers.

 

Logical knowledge, in Radhakrishnan’s opinion, is avidya, non-knowledge, mainly because the logical intellectual mind poses an obstacle in understanding the Absolute Metaphysical Reality. The purpose of the ‘intellectual mind’ stands accomplished the moment ‘intuitive knowledge’ is manifested in the individual. Such manifestation, explains Radhakrishnan, occurs when the individual succeeds in purifying his mind and annihilating the ego. His separate individuality then gets dissolved in the infinite rays of consciousness from which the intellect emerges.

 

 

In the late-1920s, a debate took place that centred around the question: ‘Is there or is there not knowledge, which by its nature cannot be expressed in propositions, and is yet trustworthy?’ In response to this, Radhakrishnan delivered the famous Hibbert Lectures in 1929 in the University of Manchester under the title ‘An Idealist View of Life’. In these lectures, he contrasted ‘intellect’ with ‘intuition’ and presented his views in support of intuitive knowledge.

 

Radhakrishnan expressed the opinion that intellect, by its very nature, is finite and limited in its scope of application; in contrast, intuition is the infinite totality of consciousness which emanates from an intimate fusion of the individual’s thought process with Pure Consciousness. Here the individual experiences complete oneness with Absolute Reality and no duality of consciousness is observed; in this sublime state, the subject and object become one.

 

In Hindu philosophy, intuitive knowledge is the knowledge of the Self that helps us in understanding the Ultimate Truth about our true nature. Intuition, being the ground of all other forms of experience, is the most authentic realisation of the Eternal Truth. It is verily self-revelation of the Supreme Divinity and operates on a super-conscious level, unmediated as it is by conscious thought. This Self-knowledge thus is not analytical in nature; rather it is the edifice upon which other forms of vidya are fostered and made to grow.

 

Radhakrishnan, however, does not entirely reject the intellect; he does acknowledge the importance of intellectual knowledge which helps in providing us with a pragmatic outlook and enriching our informative awareness about the objects of the world; at the same time, however, he asserts that “it fails to give us access to the Absolute Reality”.

 

We may conclude by saying that while intellect is the logical awareness of the human mind, intuition forms a part of profound knowledge of the highest level of Consciousness. It would be wrong to consider intuition as an abstract concept; rather, it is wisdom at its purest.

 

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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