Tuesday is the day when the ladies group meets up for Sri Lalitha sahasranamam ,Vishnu sahasranamam&Hanuman Chalisa.The venue is different every week.This Tuesday after the session four of us were invited to another friends house.
We really had an interesting conversation going, covering a wide range of topics.It is not difficult to imagine what it can be when a few enthusiastic ladies get together. I have to mention here that I am fairly new to the group, so most times the silent spectator.
The reason for this blog is one of the topics discussed that day.There are so many occasions when we are truly and absolutely helpless,though we might want to scream our heads out,we just have to shut up.
Visits to the dentist top my list of helpless situations.The moment you take to the chair,you are at the mercy of the dentist.Left with the mouth gaping wide and the dentist peeking ,drilling,and on many occasions even pulling your lip this way and that way.Here,my one very specific experience at the dentists comes to my mind.I had to have my wisdom tooth extracted because it was obstructing and involved a surgery.After the surgery the effect of anaesthesia is always there for a couple of hours and then slowly you get back the normal sensation.This particular time my lips were numb for almost two days and to top that they remained crooked,which left me wondering whether they would remain that way forever.I must mention here that more than my discomfort, my DH reaction was hilarious.He was saying, "I will file a case against the dentist for this type of work"!!!!
Visits to the gynaecologist are not to be left out here.One of the ladies was narrating her first experience at the labour room.She was 16 years then and she was in the labour room and hearing ladies and nurses (which you commonly hear in govt hospitals)abusing the husbands.She wanted to know she says if that was a procedure in the labour room and she asked her mother who was beside her if she supposed to abuse her husband too.That was indeed hilarious I thought.This reminded me of my maiden and actually unforgettable experience ever in my life at the hospital.I had never been admitted in a hospital ever before,so everything was like strange and totally emarassing.One of Pune's very renowned and senior doctors was attending my case,and in the OT I still cannot forget there were about half a dozen guys surrounding my table and I was some kind of an exhibition piece to them, and the situation is so helpless that though in your heart of hearts you want to bash them all up you cannot do a thing,you are totally at their mercy(For sure you want to get rid of your suffering and pain!).So the best thing that I could think of at that moment is to close my eyes and imagine there is darkness all around............
Now to more lighter situations in life when kids put you in odd situations. Children can sometimes embarrass us (of course they are unaware).I remember once when my DS was around 3 years of age may be,he was a little unwell and was at home that day.My neighbour had come and was chatting.She asked my son,'your head is paining here no, and pointed to the tummy',he very patiently tried to correct her,but when she went on for a couple of more times pointing to the tummy for headache, he just could not take it any more so just blasted at her saying, 'you and your f.....jokes' and coolly walked off.....(wonder where he picked that word from).I mean, I was like aghast at that and both of us were left speech less and dumb,just looking in his direction.That was unbelievably embarrassing for me I must say.Today thinking back I can laugh at that but certainly on that particular day I was helpless I think.
On more recent infact very recent happenings, just the other day I was so preoccupied with my self and was walking in to my room to get a book when my slipper gave way and the next moment i was on the floor with a thud.That took me back to my college days when it was indeed amusing when we saw anyone fall.The first reaction was to laugh.Thank god that is not so now.
Rubbing salt on wounds, we have all heard of this term, but just the other day I was told rubbing salt mixed with olive oil actually helps relieve pain and it worked for me I must say.
Yesterday I was listening to a discourse on Srimad Baghavatham, and the chapter was Krishna Leela.There was one story there which comes to my mind at this moment.Yashoda is trying to catch Krishna and tie him with a rope,because he is getting very naughty.Krishna escapes and runs and hides in a friends place.After a while when he feels the situation will be better he comes out of his hiding and is about to run when he realises his langoti has fallen off and he is without clothes,he feels extremely shy and so closes his eyes and runs away.
Enjoy!!!!
25/02/2009
19/02/2009
Nenjam Marapadillai!!!
Nenjam Marapadillai! was the theme for last Friday's programme organised by "Bharati Natpukkaga"(Abudhabi tamil group),where one of the all time Tamil musical greats Sri M S Vishwanathan was felicitated.
The most important things required to make music according to Sri MSV are the three M's Metre,Matter&Melody.(I found that very interesting).He started his career in music at the age of 13,and so has some 60+ years of experience and is a genius in his field. He is I understand the only person who has composed music for more than 1000 films and is still on the job.In fact in his talk he mentioned that it is very important that he continues doing his job of composing music, that is what keeps him going. It is amazing to see the energy and enthusiasm MSV displayed at his age (83).It seems he has just recovered from health issues,but once he took to the mike and harmonium there was no stopping him.He started with the very popular song "paramasivan Kazuthilirinthu pambu kettadu.. garuda sowkyama"..... It was unbelievable that even today he maintains the same pitch and energy.He sang a few great and famous numbers which were truly mesmerising.
The theme for the evening was Kannadasan's songs.
After this there was a debate,by three popular speakers who were specially invited for the function from Chennai.The judge for the evening was also from Chennai who is renowned lawyer and great speaker.They spoke on three different aspects of Kannadasan's songs:Love, philosophy and society,and which of these was the most important and applicable in our lives..It was indeed amazing to listen that what we usually think of casually as just film songs can have so much depth and meaning.They all put forth their points and arguments in a truly strong and wonderful way , not to miss out the humour in the talks.It was finally judged that philosophy in the songs was the strongest at the end of the day.You can read and learn more about Kannadasan here.
In the earlier days listening to film songs was regarded as a major waste of time and done only by people who have nothing better to do,but it is indeed thought provoking that there is so much meaning and philosophy in each of his works.I guess it is ultimately the way one views everything.
It was an evening well spent for sure, and not to forget the special and excellent dinner that we got invited to.
The most important things required to make music according to Sri MSV are the three M's Metre,Matter&Melody.(I found that very interesting).He started his career in music at the age of 13,and so has some 60+ years of experience and is a genius in his field. He is I understand the only person who has composed music for more than 1000 films and is still on the job.In fact in his talk he mentioned that it is very important that he continues doing his job of composing music, that is what keeps him going. It is amazing to see the energy and enthusiasm MSV displayed at his age (83).It seems he has just recovered from health issues,but once he took to the mike and harmonium there was no stopping him.He started with the very popular song "paramasivan Kazuthilirinthu pambu kettadu.. garuda sowkyama"..... It was unbelievable that even today he maintains the same pitch and energy.He sang a few great and famous numbers which were truly mesmerising.
The theme for the evening was Kannadasan's songs.
After this there was a debate,by three popular speakers who were specially invited for the function from Chennai.The judge for the evening was also from Chennai who is renowned lawyer and great speaker.They spoke on three different aspects of Kannadasan's songs:Love, philosophy and society,and which of these was the most important and applicable in our lives..It was indeed amazing to listen that what we usually think of casually as just film songs can have so much depth and meaning.They all put forth their points and arguments in a truly strong and wonderful way , not to miss out the humour in the talks.It was finally judged that philosophy in the songs was the strongest at the end of the day.You can read and learn more about Kannadasan here.
In the earlier days listening to film songs was regarded as a major waste of time and done only by people who have nothing better to do,but it is indeed thought provoking that there is so much meaning and philosophy in each of his works.I guess it is ultimately the way one views everything.
It was an evening well spent for sure, and not to forget the special and excellent dinner that we got invited to.
18/02/2009
What Is Hinduism!!!
This is an extract from a fwd which I recently received.I thought it was interesting and so wanted to put it down here.
It is indeed very sad that the west has to bring to our notice our priceless treasures.
Albert Einstein has this to say:"We owe a lot to Indians who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."
Mark Twain(1835-1910) "Land of religions, cradle of human race, birthplace of human speech, grandmother of legend, great grandmother of tradition. The land that men with intellectual bent desire to see and having seen once even by a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of the rest of the globe combined." --------
T. S. Eliot " Indian philosophers' subtleties make most of the great European philosophers look like schoolboys."
George Bernard Shaw,(1856-1950) Dramatist, Nobel Laureate in Literature "The Indian way of life provides the vision of the natural, real way of life. We western veil ourselves with unnatural masks. On the face of India are the tender expressions which carry the mark of the Creators hand. "
Francois Marie Voltaire (1694-1774) France's greatest writers and philosophers " I am convinced that everything has come down to us from the banks of the Ganga --- astronomy, astrology, metempsychosis, etc."" It is very important to note that some 2,500 years ago at the least Pythagoras went from Samos to the Ganga (Ganges) to learn geometry...But he would certainly not have undertaken such a strange journey had the reputation of the Brahmins' science not been long established in Europe..."
H. G. Wells (1866-1946), English author and political philosopher There is space in its philosophy for everyone, which is one reason why India is a home to every single religion in the world. Sir William Jones, Englishphilologist "Wherever we direct our attention to Hindu literature, the notion of infinity presents itself."
Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803- 1882) American author, essayist, lecturer, philosopher, Unitarian minister "I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us." ,George Bernard Shaw "This makes Hinduism the most tolerant religion in the world, because its one transcendent God includes all possible gods. In fact Hinduism is so elastic and so subtle that the most profound Methodist, and crudest idolater, are equally at home with it."
Professor F. Max Muller, Germanphilosopher and philologist "In the history of the world, the Vedas fill a gap which no literary work in any other language could fill. I maintain that to everybody who cares for himself, for his ancestors, for his intellectual development, a study of the Vedic literature is indeed indispensable. " Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), German philosopher and writer "In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life; and it will be the solace of my death. They are the product of the highest wisdom."
Julius Robert Oppenheimer( 1904-1967) Nuclear physicist, philosopher "Access to the Vedas is the greatest privilege this century may claim over all previous centuries."
Friedrich Hegel(1770-1831) , German philosopher "India has created a special momentum in world history as a country to be searched for knowledge."
Friedrich Hegel(1770-1831) , German philosopher "It strikes everyone in beginning to form an acquaintance with the treasures of Indian literature, that a land so rich in intellectual products and those of the profoundest order of thought..."
Roger-Pol Droit French philosopher, and Le Monde journalist, "The Greeks loved so much Indian philosophy that Demetrios Galianos had even translated the Bhagavad-Gita" . There is absolutely not a shadow of a doubt that the Greeks knew all about Indian philosophy."
Frederich vonSchlegel, (1772-1829) , German philosopher, critic, and writer, the most prominent founder of German Romanticism "There is no language in the world, even Greek, which has the clarity and the philosophical precision of Sanskrit," adding that " India is not only at the origin of everything she is superior in everything, intellectually, religiously or politically and even the Greek heritage seems pale in comparison." -----
Voltaire,(1694- 1774), France's greatest writers and philosophers "the Veda was the most precious gift for which the West had ever been indebted to the East." The UpanishadsAs is the human body, so is the cosmic bodyAs is the human mind, so is the cosmic mind.As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm..As is the atom, so is the universe.
Alfred North Whitehead, British Mathematician The vastest knowledge of today cannot transcend the buddhi of the Rishis in ancient India; and science, in its most advanced stage now, is closer to Vedanta than ever before.
Dr. Fritjof Capra, Americanphysicist To the Indian Rishis the divine play was the evolution of the cosmos through countless aeons. There is an infinite number of creations in an infinite universe. The Rishis gave the name kalpa to the unimaginable span of time between the beginning and the end of creation.
Herman Hesse(1877-1962) German poet and novelist, awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946 says: "The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of life's wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion."
Henry David Thoreau(1817- 1862), American Philosopher, writer, Unitarian, social critic, transcendentalist: "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, (1850-1919)famous American poet and journalist " India - the land of Vedas, the remarkable works contains not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all are known to the seers who founded the Veda. Hans Torwesten, German philosopher and writer The Vedas and the Upanishads are India's proudest and most ancient possessions. They are the world's oldest intellectual legacies. They are the only composition in the universe invested with Divine origin, and almost Divine sanctity. They are said to emanate from God, and are held to be the means for attaining God. Their beginnings are not known. They have been heirlooms of the Hindus from generation to generation from time immemorial.
Professor F. Max Muller, Germanphilosopher , philologist "The Vedic literature opens to us a chapter in what has been called the education of the human race, to which we can find no parallel anywhere else."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, (1850-1919)famous American poet and journalist " India - the land of Vedas, the remarkable works contains not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all are known to the seers who founded the Vedas."
Jean-Sylvain Bailly, French Astronomer whocalculated the orbit for the Halley's Comet "The motion of the stars calculated by the Hindus before some 4500 years vary not even a single minute from the tables of Cassine and Meyer (used in the 19-th century). The Indian tables give the same annual variation of the moon as the discovered by Tycho Brahe - a variation unknown to the school of Alexandria and also to the Arabs who followed the calculations of the school... "The Hindu systems of astronomy are by far the oldest and that from which the Egyptians, Greek, Romans and - even the Jews derived from the Hindus their knowledge." ---- Aldous Huxley"Hinduism, the perennial philosophy" that is at the core of all religions.
Founderof German RomanticismArthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), German philosopher and writer "How entirely does the Upanishad breathe throughout the holy spirit of the Vedas! How is every one, who by a diligent study of its Persian Latin has become familiar with that incomparable book, stirred by that spirit to the very depth of his Soul !"
Romain Rolland(1866- 1944) French Nobel laureate, Historian "Religious faith in the case of the Hindus has never been allowed to run counter to scientific laws, moreover the former is never made a condition for the knowledge they teach, but there are always scrupulously careful to take into consideration the possibility that by reason both the agnostic and atheist may attain truth in their own way. Such tolerance may be surprising to religious believers in the West, but it is an integral part of Vedantic belief."
Julius Robert Oppenheimer( 1904-1967) Nuclear physicist, philosopher, developer of the atomic bomb"The Gita, the most beautiful philosophical song existing in any known tongue."
H. G. Wells (1866-1946), English author and political philosopherHinduism is synonymous with humanism.That is its essence and its great liberating quality."
Lord Curzon(1859- 1925) British statesman, Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905, and later became chancellor of Oxford University " India has left a deeper mark upon the history, the philosophy, and the religion of mankind, than any other terrestrial unit in the universe."
William Butler Yeats (1856-1939) Irish poet, dramatist, and essayistand Nobel Laureate "It was only my first meeting with the Indian philosophy that confirmed my vague speculations and seemed at once logical and boundless."
Mark Tullyformer BBC correspondent in India, author But I do profoundly believe that India needs to be able to say with pride, "Yes, our civilization has a Hindu base to it."
Paul William RobertsProfessor at Oxford , award-winning television writer, producer, journalist, critic and novelist. "India is the only country that feels like home to me, the only country whose airport tarmac I have ever kissed upon landing." Jean-Sylvain Bailly, French Astronomer whocalculated the orbit for the Halley's Comet "The motion of the stars calculated by the Hindus before some 4500 years vary not even a single minute from the tables of Cassine and Meyer (used in the 19-th century). The Indian tables give the same annual variation of the moon as the discovered by Tycho Brahe - a variation unknown to the school of Alexandria and also to the Arabs who followed the calculations of the school... "The Hindu systems of astronomy are by far the oldest and that from which the Egyptians, Greek, Romans and - even the Jews derived from the Hindus their knowledge." the Jews derived from the Hindus theirknowledge. "
Pierre Simon de Laplace ( 1749-1827) French mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer, a contemporary of Napoleon. Laplace is best known for his nebular hypothesis of the origin of the solar system. " It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by ten symbols, each receiving a value of position as well as an absolute value, a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit. But its very simplicity, the great ease which it has lent to all computations, puts our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions, and we shall appreciate the grandeur of this achievement the more when we remember that it escaped the genius of Archimedes and Appollnius, two of the greatest men produced by antiquity."
But why as yet our academicians in India have not incorporated the these secular thoughts into the academic curriculum ? Is speaking truths about the mother land a treachery and unethical?
Proud To Be Indian!!!
It is indeed very sad that the west has to bring to our notice our priceless treasures.
Albert Einstein has this to say:"We owe a lot to Indians who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."
Mark Twain(1835-1910) "Land of religions, cradle of human race, birthplace of human speech, grandmother of legend, great grandmother of tradition. The land that men with intellectual bent desire to see and having seen once even by a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of the rest of the globe combined." --------
T. S. Eliot " Indian philosophers' subtleties make most of the great European philosophers look like schoolboys."
George Bernard Shaw,(1856-1950) Dramatist, Nobel Laureate in Literature "The Indian way of life provides the vision of the natural, real way of life. We western veil ourselves with unnatural masks. On the face of India are the tender expressions which carry the mark of the Creators hand. "
Francois Marie Voltaire (1694-1774) France's greatest writers and philosophers " I am convinced that everything has come down to us from the banks of the Ganga --- astronomy, astrology, metempsychosis, etc."" It is very important to note that some 2,500 years ago at the least Pythagoras went from Samos to the Ganga (Ganges) to learn geometry...But he would certainly not have undertaken such a strange journey had the reputation of the Brahmins' science not been long established in Europe..."
H. G. Wells (1866-1946), English author and political philosopher There is space in its philosophy for everyone, which is one reason why India is a home to every single religion in the world. Sir William Jones, Englishphilologist "Wherever we direct our attention to Hindu literature, the notion of infinity presents itself."
Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803- 1882) American author, essayist, lecturer, philosopher, Unitarian minister "I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us." ,George Bernard Shaw "This makes Hinduism the most tolerant religion in the world, because its one transcendent God includes all possible gods. In fact Hinduism is so elastic and so subtle that the most profound Methodist, and crudest idolater, are equally at home with it."
Professor F. Max Muller, Germanphilosopher and philologist "In the history of the world, the Vedas fill a gap which no literary work in any other language could fill. I maintain that to everybody who cares for himself, for his ancestors, for his intellectual development, a study of the Vedic literature is indeed indispensable. " Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), German philosopher and writer "In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life; and it will be the solace of my death. They are the product of the highest wisdom."
Julius Robert Oppenheimer( 1904-1967) Nuclear physicist, philosopher "Access to the Vedas is the greatest privilege this century may claim over all previous centuries."
Friedrich Hegel(1770-1831) , German philosopher "India has created a special momentum in world history as a country to be searched for knowledge."
Friedrich Hegel(1770-1831) , German philosopher "It strikes everyone in beginning to form an acquaintance with the treasures of Indian literature, that a land so rich in intellectual products and those of the profoundest order of thought..."
Roger-Pol Droit French philosopher, and Le Monde journalist, "The Greeks loved so much Indian philosophy that Demetrios Galianos had even translated the Bhagavad-Gita" . There is absolutely not a shadow of a doubt that the Greeks knew all about Indian philosophy."
Frederich vonSchlegel, (1772-1829) , German philosopher, critic, and writer, the most prominent founder of German Romanticism "There is no language in the world, even Greek, which has the clarity and the philosophical precision of Sanskrit," adding that " India is not only at the origin of everything she is superior in everything, intellectually, religiously or politically and even the Greek heritage seems pale in comparison." -----
Voltaire,(1694- 1774), France's greatest writers and philosophers "the Veda was the most precious gift for which the West had ever been indebted to the East." The UpanishadsAs is the human body, so is the cosmic bodyAs is the human mind, so is the cosmic mind.As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm..As is the atom, so is the universe.
Alfred North Whitehead, British Mathematician The vastest knowledge of today cannot transcend the buddhi of the Rishis in ancient India; and science, in its most advanced stage now, is closer to Vedanta than ever before.
Dr. Fritjof Capra, Americanphysicist To the Indian Rishis the divine play was the evolution of the cosmos through countless aeons. There is an infinite number of creations in an infinite universe. The Rishis gave the name kalpa to the unimaginable span of time between the beginning and the end of creation.
Herman Hesse(1877-1962) German poet and novelist, awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946 says: "The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of life's wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion."
Henry David Thoreau(1817- 1862), American Philosopher, writer, Unitarian, social critic, transcendentalist: "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, (1850-1919)famous American poet and journalist " India - the land of Vedas, the remarkable works contains not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all are known to the seers who founded the Veda. Hans Torwesten, German philosopher and writer The Vedas and the Upanishads are India's proudest and most ancient possessions. They are the world's oldest intellectual legacies. They are the only composition in the universe invested with Divine origin, and almost Divine sanctity. They are said to emanate from God, and are held to be the means for attaining God. Their beginnings are not known. They have been heirlooms of the Hindus from generation to generation from time immemorial.
Professor F. Max Muller, Germanphilosopher , philologist "The Vedic literature opens to us a chapter in what has been called the education of the human race, to which we can find no parallel anywhere else."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, (1850-1919)famous American poet and journalist " India - the land of Vedas, the remarkable works contains not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all are known to the seers who founded the Vedas."
Jean-Sylvain Bailly, French Astronomer whocalculated the orbit for the Halley's Comet "The motion of the stars calculated by the Hindus before some 4500 years vary not even a single minute from the tables of Cassine and Meyer (used in the 19-th century). The Indian tables give the same annual variation of the moon as the discovered by Tycho Brahe - a variation unknown to the school of Alexandria and also to the Arabs who followed the calculations of the school... "The Hindu systems of astronomy are by far the oldest and that from which the Egyptians, Greek, Romans and - even the Jews derived from the Hindus their knowledge." ---- Aldous Huxley"Hinduism, the perennial philosophy" that is at the core of all religions.
Founderof German RomanticismArthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), German philosopher and writer "How entirely does the Upanishad breathe throughout the holy spirit of the Vedas! How is every one, who by a diligent study of its Persian Latin has become familiar with that incomparable book, stirred by that spirit to the very depth of his Soul !"
Romain Rolland(1866- 1944) French Nobel laureate, Historian "Religious faith in the case of the Hindus has never been allowed to run counter to scientific laws, moreover the former is never made a condition for the knowledge they teach, but there are always scrupulously careful to take into consideration the possibility that by reason both the agnostic and atheist may attain truth in their own way. Such tolerance may be surprising to religious believers in the West, but it is an integral part of Vedantic belief."
Julius Robert Oppenheimer( 1904-1967) Nuclear physicist, philosopher, developer of the atomic bomb"The Gita, the most beautiful philosophical song existing in any known tongue."
H. G. Wells (1866-1946), English author and political philosopherHinduism is synonymous with humanism.That is its essence and its great liberating quality."
Lord Curzon(1859- 1925) British statesman, Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905, and later became chancellor of Oxford University " India has left a deeper mark upon the history, the philosophy, and the religion of mankind, than any other terrestrial unit in the universe."
William Butler Yeats (1856-1939) Irish poet, dramatist, and essayistand Nobel Laureate "It was only my first meeting with the Indian philosophy that confirmed my vague speculations and seemed at once logical and boundless."
Mark Tullyformer BBC correspondent in India, author But I do profoundly believe that India needs to be able to say with pride, "Yes, our civilization has a Hindu base to it."
Paul William RobertsProfessor at Oxford , award-winning television writer, producer, journalist, critic and novelist. "India is the only country that feels like home to me, the only country whose airport tarmac I have ever kissed upon landing." Jean-Sylvain Bailly, French Astronomer whocalculated the orbit for the Halley's Comet "The motion of the stars calculated by the Hindus before some 4500 years vary not even a single minute from the tables of Cassine and Meyer (used in the 19-th century). The Indian tables give the same annual variation of the moon as the discovered by Tycho Brahe - a variation unknown to the school of Alexandria and also to the Arabs who followed the calculations of the school... "The Hindu systems of astronomy are by far the oldest and that from which the Egyptians, Greek, Romans and - even the Jews derived from the Hindus their knowledge." the Jews derived from the Hindus theirknowledge. "
Pierre Simon de Laplace ( 1749-1827) French mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer, a contemporary of Napoleon. Laplace is best known for his nebular hypothesis of the origin of the solar system. " It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by ten symbols, each receiving a value of position as well as an absolute value, a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit. But its very simplicity, the great ease which it has lent to all computations, puts our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions, and we shall appreciate the grandeur of this achievement the more when we remember that it escaped the genius of Archimedes and Appollnius, two of the greatest men produced by antiquity."
But why as yet our academicians in India have not incorporated the these secular thoughts into the academic curriculum ? Is speaking truths about the mother land a treachery and unethical?
Proud To Be Indian!!!
12/02/2009
Busy Are We!!!!
This morning,as usual had a wonderful walk, what with the cool breeze blowing, the hazy sky and the sun just coming up,I enjoyed my walk totally and as is usual everyday made great mental plans for the days schedule while walking.Came back home after the walk and even as I sat to remove my shoes I told myself no sitting in front of the computer, until I finish my yoga,kriya, prayer etc etc.....
And inspite of all this going on in my mind,I sat with my lap top,checked my mails, read today's thought for today(of Shri Sai),put it up on my blog and was just getting up, when a fwd from a dear friend popped up.I promised myself will get up after the mail and this went on and on till it was 10am before I finally got up.Came after bath,and lo! to my utter disppointment once again started surfing,and my yoga, kriya, prayer all postponed for the evening.Though I was sitting and surfing I was some how feeling very guilty today and this reminded me of the beautiful story from Srimad Baghavatham..'Ambarisha charitram...and thought would put it down here right away before my mind over powers !!!
There is a story about Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu too,where it says whenever he was in Puri Jagannath he used to himself clean the temple everday.May be sometime later will write that story in more detail.
Srimad Baghavatham illustrates with the example of a wonderful story of King Amabarisha, how inspite of being a king and looking after his subjects with great care and love,Ambarisha made time to clean the temple premises himself with the help of his queen,make garlands for the Lord, and worship Lord Vishnu.
This is just to bring to our notice that it is very important to make time for our daily prayer.If a king inspite of his responsible and busy schedule can do it,then we have no business saying, 'I was very busy today,so had no time for prayer'......Read on...
Ambarisha was a pious king who inherited all the good virtues of his father Nabhaga. He always worshiped Vishnu Bhagawan, with his wife's help, he cleaned the temple premises himself ,made garlands of good flowers to the diety every day from his palace gardens. He performed Ekadasi vrata regularly fasting from the dasami day to the dwadasi day paranai,all the times.Once Ambarisha performed a special Ekadasi vruta for one year and on the concluding day, in the month of Karthik. Ambarisha fasted for three days preceeding the Ekadasi and spent the days and nights in prayers and worships. On the fourth day,dwadasi day he took bath in the Yamuna and did the worship and prayers and then waited for some guests to come for the feast and had food with them after receiving their ashirvadams. He always wanted pious brahmins or rishis for those days. And on this day his purva janma punyam that Bhagawan Durvassa came unexpectedly to his doors. Ambarisha was happy and asked Durvassa to accept his request for the Dwadasi feast. The rishi agreed and went to Yamuna for his prayers before the food. For long hours Durvassa did not turn up,Ambarisha was in a Darma Sankata because the time for the paranai was coming to the end and if he did not take paranai at this muhurtha, his vritham will have no effects,and if he takes the paranai he'll be doing a mistake of eating before his invited guest . Then the Purohitas suggested that the paranai can be taken by drinking the Theertha water by which he will not be insulting the guest. On this advise Ambarisha took the theertha paranai before the Muhurtham expired and thus completed the vritham and was waiting for the guest to arrive for the food to be served to him.Durvassa by his deerga thrushti came to know about it and came to Ambarisha with red hot eyes. He said that Ambarisha had insulted him and he deserves punishment for that. He took out one hair from his long Jada and made a Rakshasa and sent him to kill Ambarisha. Ambarisha thought that if he had done anything wrong he should get the punishment and remained silent. But the Sudarshan Chakra ,which was given to him by Lord Vishnu, could not see his devotee getting hurt, so the chakra came instantly and killed the Rakshasa and started to attack Durvassa . The Rishi knew that if Pilli Sunyam was directed against wrong purposes, it will bounce back on the same person,he started to run away fron the Sudarshan Chakram. He went through the earth and the skies and then went to Brahma and Shiva,both of them advised him to go to Vishnu. Then he went to Vaikunta singing the Bhajans on Vishnu. "Atchyutha Anantha Sadeepsitha Prabho.............". Bhagawan Hari knew why Durvassa was there and He said that He can't save him from the Sudarshana Chakra , only Ambarisha can save him,because...........
'Aham Bhaktha Paradeeno........
Vashee kurvanthi Mam Bhakthya'................
So Durvassa Maharshi went to Ambarisha's saranagathi.Ambarisha performed a Sudarshana Pooja and requested the Chakra to save the Rishi. After this Ambarisha concluded his Ekadasi vritham with giving a feast to Durvassa Maharishi. This episode has left Durvassa to do nothing other than praising Ambarisha whereever he went.
There is another wonderful lesson that this story brings out..Sage Durvasa went to everyone narrating the incident and thus spreading the greatness of Ambarisha,at his expense.Gurus do everything for the good and benefit of the disciple.
So Hari's bhakthas and anyone doing bhakthi to Hari will never have to worry about anything inthis world.
My sincere and earnest prayers that Hari will be with me ever moment and take care that I do not miss HIS worship.......
Jai Guru Dev!!!!
Stay tuned for more.....
And inspite of all this going on in my mind,I sat with my lap top,checked my mails, read today's thought for today(of Shri Sai),put it up on my blog and was just getting up, when a fwd from a dear friend popped up.I promised myself will get up after the mail and this went on and on till it was 10am before I finally got up.Came after bath,and lo! to my utter disppointment once again started surfing,and my yoga, kriya, prayer all postponed for the evening.Though I was sitting and surfing I was some how feeling very guilty today and this reminded me of the beautiful story from Srimad Baghavatham..'Ambarisha charitram...and thought would put it down here right away before my mind over powers !!!
There is a story about Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu too,where it says whenever he was in Puri Jagannath he used to himself clean the temple everday.May be sometime later will write that story in more detail.
Srimad Baghavatham illustrates with the example of a wonderful story of King Amabarisha, how inspite of being a king and looking after his subjects with great care and love,Ambarisha made time to clean the temple premises himself with the help of his queen,make garlands for the Lord, and worship Lord Vishnu.
This is just to bring to our notice that it is very important to make time for our daily prayer.If a king inspite of his responsible and busy schedule can do it,then we have no business saying, 'I was very busy today,so had no time for prayer'......Read on...
Ambarisha was a pious king who inherited all the good virtues of his father Nabhaga. He always worshiped Vishnu Bhagawan, with his wife's help, he cleaned the temple premises himself ,made garlands of good flowers to the diety every day from his palace gardens. He performed Ekadasi vrata regularly fasting from the dasami day to the dwadasi day paranai,all the times.Once Ambarisha performed a special Ekadasi vruta for one year and on the concluding day, in the month of Karthik. Ambarisha fasted for three days preceeding the Ekadasi and spent the days and nights in prayers and worships. On the fourth day,dwadasi day he took bath in the Yamuna and did the worship and prayers and then waited for some guests to come for the feast and had food with them after receiving their ashirvadams. He always wanted pious brahmins or rishis for those days. And on this day his purva janma punyam that Bhagawan Durvassa came unexpectedly to his doors. Ambarisha was happy and asked Durvassa to accept his request for the Dwadasi feast. The rishi agreed and went to Yamuna for his prayers before the food. For long hours Durvassa did not turn up,Ambarisha was in a Darma Sankata because the time for the paranai was coming to the end and if he did not take paranai at this muhurtha, his vritham will have no effects,and if he takes the paranai he'll be doing a mistake of eating before his invited guest . Then the Purohitas suggested that the paranai can be taken by drinking the Theertha water by which he will not be insulting the guest. On this advise Ambarisha took the theertha paranai before the Muhurtham expired and thus completed the vritham and was waiting for the guest to arrive for the food to be served to him.Durvassa by his deerga thrushti came to know about it and came to Ambarisha with red hot eyes. He said that Ambarisha had insulted him and he deserves punishment for that. He took out one hair from his long Jada and made a Rakshasa and sent him to kill Ambarisha. Ambarisha thought that if he had done anything wrong he should get the punishment and remained silent. But the Sudarshan Chakra ,which was given to him by Lord Vishnu, could not see his devotee getting hurt, so the chakra came instantly and killed the Rakshasa and started to attack Durvassa . The Rishi knew that if Pilli Sunyam was directed against wrong purposes, it will bounce back on the same person,he started to run away fron the Sudarshan Chakram. He went through the earth and the skies and then went to Brahma and Shiva,both of them advised him to go to Vishnu. Then he went to Vaikunta singing the Bhajans on Vishnu. "Atchyutha Anantha Sadeepsitha Prabho.............". Bhagawan Hari knew why Durvassa was there and He said that He can't save him from the Sudarshana Chakra , only Ambarisha can save him,because...........
'Aham Bhaktha Paradeeno........
Vashee kurvanthi Mam Bhakthya'................
So Durvassa Maharshi went to Ambarisha's saranagathi.Ambarisha performed a Sudarshana Pooja and requested the Chakra to save the Rishi. After this Ambarisha concluded his Ekadasi vritham with giving a feast to Durvassa Maharishi. This episode has left Durvassa to do nothing other than praising Ambarisha whereever he went.
There is another wonderful lesson that this story brings out..Sage Durvasa went to everyone narrating the incident and thus spreading the greatness of Ambarisha,at his expense.Gurus do everything for the good and benefit of the disciple.
So Hari's bhakthas and anyone doing bhakthi to Hari will never have to worry about anything inthis world.
My sincere and earnest prayers that Hari will be with me ever moment and take care that I do not miss HIS worship.......
Jai Guru Dev!!!!
Stay tuned for more.....
11/02/2009
India_Sri Lanka T20
This was one awesome match,and was indeed exciting and fun to watch.
Srilanka started with an explosive performance by Sanath Jayasurya and well supported by their captain Dilshan.They set a decent target of 172 runs for India, which certainly did not look easy for Indians.Indians started the innings looking very confident,but kept losing important wickets regularly.The game was lowly sli pping from India's hands and Sri Lankans showed a super display of fileding and bowling. India lost 7 wickets and had 59 runs to make in 25 balls to win when Yusuf and Irfan Pathan walked in and what followed was some exemplary display of batting.(It is important here to mention that the present Indian Captain MDS is such a Positive, Calm and unassuming guy.The team has 100%confidence on their captain and that I think is the reason why we are seeing Indian cricket right on top now.We are getting to see Indians play as a team and for the country now which is great). The confidence with which the brothers played was indeed unbelievable.They steered India to a victory with four balls to spare.This was one great match.
It reminds me of what we always read and hear during knowledge sessions 'Faith'.
When there is no fear or doubt in the mind and when there is only faith the GOAL ahead seems rather easy and we are sure to reach there without doubt.
Yusuf Pathan just walked in with a free and open mind and had no fear of the target ahead of him,and was well supported by his brother.What a blast the last four overs were,simply unbelievable!!!
Just wanted to put it down here because I realised yesterday that there is a lesson we can learn at all times and from every situation.It is probably also a fact that now when I watch anything or hear anybody I am more 'AWARE',and hence am able to see everything differently.
Whether it be a cricket match or the reality shows on TV, we sure can learn something all the time.
Thumbs Up to The Indian team!!!!
Jai Guru Dev!!!
Stay tuned......
Srilanka started with an explosive performance by Sanath Jayasurya and well supported by their captain Dilshan.They set a decent target of 172 runs for India, which certainly did not look easy for Indians.Indians started the innings looking very confident,but kept losing important wickets regularly.The game was lowly sli pping from India's hands and Sri Lankans showed a super display of fileding and bowling. India lost 7 wickets and had 59 runs to make in 25 balls to win when Yusuf and Irfan Pathan walked in and what followed was some exemplary display of batting.(It is important here to mention that the present Indian Captain MDS is such a Positive, Calm and unassuming guy.The team has 100%confidence on their captain and that I think is the reason why we are seeing Indian cricket right on top now.We are getting to see Indians play as a team and for the country now which is great). The confidence with which the brothers played was indeed unbelievable.They steered India to a victory with four balls to spare.This was one great match.
It reminds me of what we always read and hear during knowledge sessions 'Faith'.
When there is no fear or doubt in the mind and when there is only faith the GOAL ahead seems rather easy and we are sure to reach there without doubt.
Yusuf Pathan just walked in with a free and open mind and had no fear of the target ahead of him,and was well supported by his brother.What a blast the last four overs were,simply unbelievable!!!
Just wanted to put it down here because I realised yesterday that there is a lesson we can learn at all times and from every situation.It is probably also a fact that now when I watch anything or hear anybody I am more 'AWARE',and hence am able to see everything differently.
Whether it be a cricket match or the reality shows on TV, we sure can learn something all the time.
Thumbs Up to The Indian team!!!!
Jai Guru Dev!!!
Stay tuned......
09/02/2009
Wonder Why????
I read a forward recently which set me thinking.I found it so amazingly true, though it is for sure not something to be proud of.Unbelievable how the human mind works.
We never or rarely do find the need to understand the mystery of creation and thank God for the beautiful sky,the soothing green trees, grass,the bright and colourful flowers, the variety of birds, animals,the mental peace and happiness while at the sea shore watching the waves.The list is endless,the beauty of nature is simply awesome.Unfortunately we take it all for granted and are so engrossed with ourselves. We are reminded of nature only when we are in trouble,may be because of too much heat, cold, rains or when calamity strikes.We often say 'Oh it is sooo hot, or this heat is unbearable',but rarely do we stop to admire the beauty of the rising sun and setting sun.
We find it so difficult to listen to and find time for knowledge,whereas it is indeed more enjoyable to spend time watching a movie.
We have so many doubts and usually find it difficult to agree with what the scriptures say,but believe everything we hear in the form of gossip about someone or even a friend.
We talk nineteen to the dozen at all times, but when we sit for prayer we fall so short of words, we don't know what to say many times.
We never stop to think of the money we spend before we go shopping, just to boost our ego,but we hesitate so much while giving a small amount as charity.Isn't it surprising that the same amount (let's say $10) can have two different values for us.When we spend it on ourselves it looks too small and the same amount looks big when given as charity.
We tend to think and believe that we are eternal and even if we do accept that one day we will be no more, all of us sure want to go to heaven, but when we are taught and shown the way to reach there we hesitate to accept that.
Jai Guru Dev!!!!
stay tuned....
We never or rarely do find the need to understand the mystery of creation and thank God for the beautiful sky,the soothing green trees, grass,the bright and colourful flowers, the variety of birds, animals,the mental peace and happiness while at the sea shore watching the waves.The list is endless,the beauty of nature is simply awesome.Unfortunately we take it all for granted and are so engrossed with ourselves. We are reminded of nature only when we are in trouble,may be because of too much heat, cold, rains or when calamity strikes.We often say 'Oh it is sooo hot, or this heat is unbearable',but rarely do we stop to admire the beauty of the rising sun and setting sun.
We find it so difficult to listen to and find time for knowledge,whereas it is indeed more enjoyable to spend time watching a movie.
We have so many doubts and usually find it difficult to agree with what the scriptures say,but believe everything we hear in the form of gossip about someone or even a friend.
We talk nineteen to the dozen at all times, but when we sit for prayer we fall so short of words, we don't know what to say many times.
We never stop to think of the money we spend before we go shopping, just to boost our ego,but we hesitate so much while giving a small amount as charity.Isn't it surprising that the same amount (let's say $10) can have two different values for us.When we spend it on ourselves it looks too small and the same amount looks big when given as charity.
We tend to think and believe that we are eternal and even if we do accept that one day we will be no more, all of us sure want to go to heaven, but when we are taught and shown the way to reach there we hesitate to accept that.
I wonder why we fail to enjoy the little things in life and always postpone enjoyment for later...
I wonder why we always want what is not ours,why the grass is greener on the other side......
Jai Guru Dev!!!!
stay tuned....
08/02/2009
Are You Tired?????
A Beautiful teaching of Guruji Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for the benefit of the few who follow my blog!!!
Tired? If you are not tired, you will never reach home. Only if you're tired, will you ever rest. Everything in the world will tire you. Only one thing does not tire you. That is love
Love does not tire you because that is the end, the home. It is not possible to be tired in love. In fact, enjoyment brings tiredness! Tiredness is a shadow of enjoyment. What puts you on the road is your desire to enjoy. What brings you home is being in love. In your life, you move from one place to another in search of enjoyment. Wherever you saw joy and reached for it, you found that it was further away, somewhere else. So you had to move on and that moving is tiring. Look at your whole life. A child gets tired of playing with toys and wants new toys. Tired of playing with new toys, they want people to play with, they want new friends. They grow a little older. Their games change. The object of the game changes. They want something more. So it's like moving from one type of tiredness to another type of tiredness. As a teenager you looked for something else, not toys. Which is the new movie? What is the new fashion? You want to have the best match for you. You are married. You make a very good couple. Then what? You want to have your own home, children. Those who are single think that married people are better off. Those who are married think that single people are better off. Some think that people with children are happier. People with children wish everyday that their child grows up quickly so that they can be free. They wait for someone to give them a break, to take care of their children. Everything is tiring. You move from one spiritual path to another spiritual path, from one practice to another. Sometimes people say, "Oh, I have meditated for 20 years. I am sick of meditation now. Please don't tell me to do another meditation. Enough is enough." It's boring. People have no time. They find it boring to meditate. What to do? Where to go? When is that rest? That solace? That peace? When is that love that is so comforting, so eternal, so blissful? And you cannot rest until you reach home. You may sit in the path here and there but you cannot be there forever. You may take a break. On the motorway, there is some rest place. On the way, you stop your car, use the restroom, stay a while and stretch. But that is all. You cannot rest there, or be at peace there. At the back of the mind the drive is there - move on. There is no fulfillment. It is the desire that tires you - the 'want' in the mind. Your mind tires you more than the physical work. If you are willing to do some work, even 15 hours at a stretch, it will not tire you. However if you are not willing and you have to work even for four hours, it will tire you. You have a party at home or you are arranging Christmas decorations. So you may work many late hours but still not feel tired. You feel good about it. But you work in some place you don't like, you'd like to have four coffee or tea breaks and even then you feel it's tiring! Do not do any work at all. Just sit and go on thinking. You'll be terribly exhausted. For many people, the tiredness and exhaustion comes from thinking and worrying, not by working. Thinking you need rest makes you restless. Thinking you have to work hard makes you tired. Thinking you have worked hard brings self-pity. There is a place to rest. That is the Divine, that is surrender and that is love. And you can't do it unless you get really tired, unless you get sick of everything. You drop down. That is called surrender. There was a king, an emperor. He attained all that he wanted to in the world, all the wealth, the whole continent was under his control. He thought that this is his world. Thousands of people were under his command, all the wealth at his disposal, all the pleasures at his beck and call. He could snap his finger and get anything he wanted. But that couldn't get him home. It made him more and more tired. Then he went looking for some spiritual knowledge. He went from place to place, collecting things here and there, but nothing worked. Everything seemed to work for a while. Finally, he got so tired that he renounced everything. That also didn't work. Being an emperor didn't work. Renouncing everything didn't work. One day he fell near a tree. He was exhausted of looking for, but not finding, a real master. It's not easy to find a master. Even if one finds a master, it is difficult to recognize and let go. So, he finally dropped under a tree and at that moment a dry leaf fell down from the tree. He was looking at the leaf and that leaf flew to the east when the wind blew east and it flew to the north when the wind blew north. Looking at that, something in him suddenly snapped - the "doership" - The 'want' simply dropped from him. The very moment he realized that that moment is so eternal and he came back home. Make life that way - become like a dry leaf - agree with what the Divine has provided for you, float with the moment. Do not regret the past, do not anticipate the future. That is what all the enlightened masters say, "Keep practicing on your own. When you feel you can't do any more, that it's all so tiring, then come and rest." That's why the places of enlightened masters are called 'ashrama', where you come and get rid of your tiredness. 'Shrama' means effort. Ashrama means the place where all the efforts loosen up. All tiredness, both mental and physical, vanishes. Even spiritual, you don't have to strive for it. Just sit there. There is a candle, a light burning for you. You only have to sit under its light. You're lit. You don't have to do anything. It's burning for you. You only have to connect, sit there and feel the presence. Be a part of the divinity, then you will find that nothing can tire you in the world. You will become the source of love. You are the home. Things cannot irritate you. When you are tired, small little things can irritate you, push your button, can throw you off balance. Our peace is so fragile that anything, even a phone call, can blow it off. Our peace will be in hundred pieces - just a few words from someone. Fragile peace is of no use. The peace and love in our life should be so solid, like a diamond. Nothing should shake or move it. Desire, awareness of the Self and action all are manifestation of the same energy that is you. Among these three, one of them dominates at a time. When you have lots of desires, you are not aware of the Self. When desire dominates, self-awareness will be at its lowest, and that's why all the philosophers around the world have always advocated renunciation and dropping of desires. When the awareness is dominant, then happiness dawns. When desire dominates, stress and sorrow result. When actions dominate, restlessness and disease is the result. When your actions and desires are sincerely directed to the Divine or to the welfare of society, then the consciousness is automatically elevated, and self-knowledge is sure to be attained. You cannot rest when you have to do something that you cannot. And you cannot rest when you feel you have to be someone whom you are not. You are not required to do what you cannot. You will not be asked to give what you cannot give. Nothing is expected of you that you cannot do. Doing service involves only doing what you can do. And no one wants you to be someone whom you are not. This realization brings you deep rest. You cannot rest if you have either ambition or lethargy. Both are opposed to good rest. A lazy person will toss and turn at night and be 'restless' and an ambitious person will burn inside. This rest brings up your talents and abilities and brings you closer to your nature. Even a slight feeling that the Divine is with you brings deep rest. Prayer, love and meditation are all flavors of deep rest. The only thing you have to do in your life is to make your peace strong, your love profound and your joy eternal. Make your home God's home and there will be light, love and abundance. Make your body God's abode and there will be peace and bliss. Feel that your mind is a toy of God and you will watch and enjoy all its games. See this world as play and as a display of God Himself and you will repose in the non-dual Self.
Jai Guru Dev!!!!!
Stay tuned....
Tired? If you are not tired, you will never reach home. Only if you're tired, will you ever rest. Everything in the world will tire you. Only one thing does not tire you. That is love
Love does not tire you because that is the end, the home. It is not possible to be tired in love. In fact, enjoyment brings tiredness! Tiredness is a shadow of enjoyment. What puts you on the road is your desire to enjoy. What brings you home is being in love. In your life, you move from one place to another in search of enjoyment. Wherever you saw joy and reached for it, you found that it was further away, somewhere else. So you had to move on and that moving is tiring. Look at your whole life. A child gets tired of playing with toys and wants new toys. Tired of playing with new toys, they want people to play with, they want new friends. They grow a little older. Their games change. The object of the game changes. They want something more. So it's like moving from one type of tiredness to another type of tiredness. As a teenager you looked for something else, not toys. Which is the new movie? What is the new fashion? You want to have the best match for you. You are married. You make a very good couple. Then what? You want to have your own home, children. Those who are single think that married people are better off. Those who are married think that single people are better off. Some think that people with children are happier. People with children wish everyday that their child grows up quickly so that they can be free. They wait for someone to give them a break, to take care of their children. Everything is tiring. You move from one spiritual path to another spiritual path, from one practice to another. Sometimes people say, "Oh, I have meditated for 20 years. I am sick of meditation now. Please don't tell me to do another meditation. Enough is enough." It's boring. People have no time. They find it boring to meditate. What to do? Where to go? When is that rest? That solace? That peace? When is that love that is so comforting, so eternal, so blissful? And you cannot rest until you reach home. You may sit in the path here and there but you cannot be there forever. You may take a break. On the motorway, there is some rest place. On the way, you stop your car, use the restroom, stay a while and stretch. But that is all. You cannot rest there, or be at peace there. At the back of the mind the drive is there - move on. There is no fulfillment. It is the desire that tires you - the 'want' in the mind. Your mind tires you more than the physical work. If you are willing to do some work, even 15 hours at a stretch, it will not tire you. However if you are not willing and you have to work even for four hours, it will tire you. You have a party at home or you are arranging Christmas decorations. So you may work many late hours but still not feel tired. You feel good about it. But you work in some place you don't like, you'd like to have four coffee or tea breaks and even then you feel it's tiring! Do not do any work at all. Just sit and go on thinking. You'll be terribly exhausted. For many people, the tiredness and exhaustion comes from thinking and worrying, not by working. Thinking you need rest makes you restless. Thinking you have to work hard makes you tired. Thinking you have worked hard brings self-pity. There is a place to rest. That is the Divine, that is surrender and that is love. And you can't do it unless you get really tired, unless you get sick of everything. You drop down. That is called surrender. There was a king, an emperor. He attained all that he wanted to in the world, all the wealth, the whole continent was under his control. He thought that this is his world. Thousands of people were under his command, all the wealth at his disposal, all the pleasures at his beck and call. He could snap his finger and get anything he wanted. But that couldn't get him home. It made him more and more tired. Then he went looking for some spiritual knowledge. He went from place to place, collecting things here and there, but nothing worked. Everything seemed to work for a while. Finally, he got so tired that he renounced everything. That also didn't work. Being an emperor didn't work. Renouncing everything didn't work. One day he fell near a tree. He was exhausted of looking for, but not finding, a real master. It's not easy to find a master. Even if one finds a master, it is difficult to recognize and let go. So, he finally dropped under a tree and at that moment a dry leaf fell down from the tree. He was looking at the leaf and that leaf flew to the east when the wind blew east and it flew to the north when the wind blew north. Looking at that, something in him suddenly snapped - the "doership" - The 'want' simply dropped from him. The very moment he realized that that moment is so eternal and he came back home. Make life that way - become like a dry leaf - agree with what the Divine has provided for you, float with the moment. Do not regret the past, do not anticipate the future. That is what all the enlightened masters say, "Keep practicing on your own. When you feel you can't do any more, that it's all so tiring, then come and rest." That's why the places of enlightened masters are called 'ashrama', where you come and get rid of your tiredness. 'Shrama' means effort. Ashrama means the place where all the efforts loosen up. All tiredness, both mental and physical, vanishes. Even spiritual, you don't have to strive for it. Just sit there. There is a candle, a light burning for you. You only have to sit under its light. You're lit. You don't have to do anything. It's burning for you. You only have to connect, sit there and feel the presence. Be a part of the divinity, then you will find that nothing can tire you in the world. You will become the source of love. You are the home. Things cannot irritate you. When you are tired, small little things can irritate you, push your button, can throw you off balance. Our peace is so fragile that anything, even a phone call, can blow it off. Our peace will be in hundred pieces - just a few words from someone. Fragile peace is of no use. The peace and love in our life should be so solid, like a diamond. Nothing should shake or move it. Desire, awareness of the Self and action all are manifestation of the same energy that is you. Among these three, one of them dominates at a time. When you have lots of desires, you are not aware of the Self. When desire dominates, self-awareness will be at its lowest, and that's why all the philosophers around the world have always advocated renunciation and dropping of desires. When the awareness is dominant, then happiness dawns. When desire dominates, stress and sorrow result. When actions dominate, restlessness and disease is the result. When your actions and desires are sincerely directed to the Divine or to the welfare of society, then the consciousness is automatically elevated, and self-knowledge is sure to be attained. You cannot rest when you have to do something that you cannot. And you cannot rest when you feel you have to be someone whom you are not. You are not required to do what you cannot. You will not be asked to give what you cannot give. Nothing is expected of you that you cannot do. Doing service involves only doing what you can do. And no one wants you to be someone whom you are not. This realization brings you deep rest. You cannot rest if you have either ambition or lethargy. Both are opposed to good rest. A lazy person will toss and turn at night and be 'restless' and an ambitious person will burn inside. This rest brings up your talents and abilities and brings you closer to your nature. Even a slight feeling that the Divine is with you brings deep rest. Prayer, love and meditation are all flavors of deep rest. The only thing you have to do in your life is to make your peace strong, your love profound and your joy eternal. Make your home God's home and there will be light, love and abundance. Make your body God's abode and there will be peace and bliss. Feel that your mind is a toy of God and you will watch and enjoy all its games. See this world as play and as a display of God Himself and you will repose in the non-dual Self.
Jai Guru Dev!!!!!
Stay tuned....
03/02/2009
Why Pray!!!
This morning as I was saying my daily prayer a thought that was going in my mind is 'why do we pray'?How prayer helps us.Most of the times we do not know or understand the meaning of the shlokas that we say becuase it is all in Sanskrit and many of us do not know sanskrit.Inspite of this fact what is worth appreciating is the satisfaction and the peace of mind after prayers.Isn't it amazing that something we do not understand can give us so much happiness, joy and peace of mind.Imagine our happiness and joy if we understood!!!
There is a lot of hesitation in our mind when it comes to reading Baghwad Gita or Srimad Baghavatham and many times our mind prompts us and tells us 'no this is not for you,it is very difficult'.....
While these thoughts were going on in the mind I was reminded of a very beautiful story which I read sometime back.
Read on.....
'An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavat Geeta. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could. One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavad-Gita just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading? theBhagavat Geeta do?" The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back basket of water." The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it is useless!" "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket." The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out. "Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavat Geeta. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out.'
So this is what regular prayer& chanting of scriptures like Baghvath Gita and Srimad Baghavatham does to us, It does not matter at all if we do not understand.Just chanting can cleanse the system.Another story which comes to my mind in this context is:
'There lived in Srirangam a very simple man who loved the Baghvath Gita and his day was incomplete if he did not read the Gita.Unfortunately he did not know sanskrit and so was not able to read it with the right pronunciation.The learned brahmins of Srirangam discourage him and ridiculed him for reading in his broken way and shooed him from the place.The brahmin, unable to give up his reading goes to a corner of the temple where no one will notice him and continues with his chanting of the Baghavth Gita tears rolling down his cheeks.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is visiting the temple quietly stands behind this brahmin and listens to this brahmin chanting the Gita, and observes the tears rolling down his cheeks.After a while the brahmin realises someone is observing him and asks Mahaprabhu to forgive him for reading.Mahaprabhu asks him why he is crying while reading, when he cannot understand and when he does not even know to read fluently without mistakes.
The brahmin in total sincerity tells him ,swami, "This is the Gita of the Lord,I see Krishna holding the reins of the chariot, I see Arjuna kneeling and that is why tears flow down my cheeks"Mahaprabhu Chaitanya tells him 'you have understoood the Gita comletely'!!
"That is the work of Krishna in our lives"!!!!
"Celebrate life,Care for others and share what you have with those less fortunate than you.Broaden your vision,for the whole world belongs to you."
Stay tuned.......
Jai Guru Dev!!!
There is a lot of hesitation in our mind when it comes to reading Baghwad Gita or Srimad Baghavatham and many times our mind prompts us and tells us 'no this is not for you,it is very difficult'.....
While these thoughts were going on in the mind I was reminded of a very beautiful story which I read sometime back.
Read on.....
'An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavat Geeta. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could. One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavad-Gita just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading? theBhagavat Geeta do?" The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back basket of water." The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it is useless!" "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket." The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out. "Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavat Geeta. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out.'
So this is what regular prayer& chanting of scriptures like Baghvath Gita and Srimad Baghavatham does to us, It does not matter at all if we do not understand.Just chanting can cleanse the system.Another story which comes to my mind in this context is:
'There lived in Srirangam a very simple man who loved the Baghvath Gita and his day was incomplete if he did not read the Gita.Unfortunately he did not know sanskrit and so was not able to read it with the right pronunciation.The learned brahmins of Srirangam discourage him and ridiculed him for reading in his broken way and shooed him from the place.The brahmin, unable to give up his reading goes to a corner of the temple where no one will notice him and continues with his chanting of the Baghavth Gita tears rolling down his cheeks.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is visiting the temple quietly stands behind this brahmin and listens to this brahmin chanting the Gita, and observes the tears rolling down his cheeks.After a while the brahmin realises someone is observing him and asks Mahaprabhu to forgive him for reading.Mahaprabhu asks him why he is crying while reading, when he cannot understand and when he does not even know to read fluently without mistakes.
The brahmin in total sincerity tells him ,swami, "This is the Gita of the Lord,I see Krishna holding the reins of the chariot, I see Arjuna kneeling and that is why tears flow down my cheeks"Mahaprabhu Chaitanya tells him 'you have understoood the Gita comletely'!!
"That is the work of Krishna in our lives"!!!!
"Celebrate life,Care for others and share what you have with those less fortunate than you.Broaden your vision,for the whole world belongs to you."
Stay tuned.......
Jai Guru Dev!!!
Faith
I read this truly brilliant and thought provoking article on Faith and thought would share it with the few who read my blog.This is an article by Guruji Sri Sri RavShankar.
Faith is the central core of human existence. Faith sustains life and leads one through difficult times. Faith brings out hidden courage and potential in more ways than one. To have faith is to realize that God is protecting you. Realizing this is sufficient to move ahead in life. There are three types of faith: Faith in oneself, faith in the world, and faith in the Divine. All these faiths are connected. You must have all three for each to be strong. The concept of faith is treated differently in the East and West. In the Occidental or Western way of thinking, faith comes first, and experience follows. According to Oriental or Eastern philosophies, the reverse is true: experience comes first, and faith follows. During the harvest season, the farmer separates husk from grain with a broad sieve. He stands on an elevated platform, holds the sieve and puts all his grains into it. He then proceeds to shake the sieve. If the particle that falls through the sieve is mere husk, it flies away and is lost. Meanwhile, the grains fall to the ground and stay put. Similarly, if your faith is shaken very quickly and too often, or if you lack faith in difficult times, then you are akin to the flying husk. God expects only one thing from you your unshakeable faith. One whose faith shakes when faced by catastrophes cannot smile through them. If you lack faith and if events frighten you, then you fly away like the husk, lost and anchorless. On the other hand, if you have faith that everything will be all right, you will find stability and everything will settle down. Contrary to popular thinking, faith does not contradict logic. When knowledge establishes itself firmly in one's life, it is called faith. Make the knowledge, "I am blessed," your companion and have faith in the Infinite. This feeling of "I am blessed" can help you overcome any obstacle. There is a saying: "Behind every successful man is a woman." I would modify it to read: "Behind every success, there is the Divine that says, "I am behind you.' " Once you realize that you are blessed, complaints disappear, as do grumblings and insecurities. Not everything in this world is hunky dory. However, if you are grounded in faith, then you will progress and maintain your equanimity in this world. Faith leads to prayer, and prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. Prayer nurtures values such as integrity and honesty. Now, prayer happens in two situations or in a combination of situations. You pray when you feel grateful or when you feel utterly helpless. In either case, your prayers will be answered. If you are not grateful or prayerful, you will be miserable. Our love, faith and belief should be deep-rooted. The world is a celebration and you should be happy in life. All aspects of life involve ups and downs. For example, the human body may be susceptible to colds, coughs and fevers one day and may be fine the next. However, one must ensure that happiness is always established in oneself. This unconditional happiness can dawn only through deep-rooted love, faith and beliefs. This, according to Hinduism, is known as Purushaartha. Faith plays a big role in shaping one's life. Even those who say, "I don't believe in anything," have to believe in their words! The issue is where you place your faith. For an atheist, his faith in objects is obvious; his faith in people is fluid and his faith in the unseen power of creation is ambiguous. However, for a believer, his faith in the unseen power is supreme; his faith in people is inconsequential and objects do not matter in any way. The role of faith is even more visible in the materialistic world. Faith saves one from suicidal tendencies and helps people see beyond the obvious. When life is based on faith, one follows philosophy rather than getting caught up in revenge and hatred. If there is faith that everything will be all right, then everything will settle down. Faith is realizing that you always get what you need. Faith is giving the Divine a chance to act.
Jai Guru Dev!!!!
Stay tuned........
Faith is the central core of human existence. Faith sustains life and leads one through difficult times. Faith brings out hidden courage and potential in more ways than one. To have faith is to realize that God is protecting you. Realizing this is sufficient to move ahead in life. There are three types of faith: Faith in oneself, faith in the world, and faith in the Divine. All these faiths are connected. You must have all three for each to be strong. The concept of faith is treated differently in the East and West. In the Occidental or Western way of thinking, faith comes first, and experience follows. According to Oriental or Eastern philosophies, the reverse is true: experience comes first, and faith follows. During the harvest season, the farmer separates husk from grain with a broad sieve. He stands on an elevated platform, holds the sieve and puts all his grains into it. He then proceeds to shake the sieve. If the particle that falls through the sieve is mere husk, it flies away and is lost. Meanwhile, the grains fall to the ground and stay put. Similarly, if your faith is shaken very quickly and too often, or if you lack faith in difficult times, then you are akin to the flying husk. God expects only one thing from you your unshakeable faith. One whose faith shakes when faced by catastrophes cannot smile through them. If you lack faith and if events frighten you, then you fly away like the husk, lost and anchorless. On the other hand, if you have faith that everything will be all right, you will find stability and everything will settle down. Contrary to popular thinking, faith does not contradict logic. When knowledge establishes itself firmly in one's life, it is called faith. Make the knowledge, "I am blessed," your companion and have faith in the Infinite. This feeling of "I am blessed" can help you overcome any obstacle. There is a saying: "Behind every successful man is a woman." I would modify it to read: "Behind every success, there is the Divine that says, "I am behind you.' " Once you realize that you are blessed, complaints disappear, as do grumblings and insecurities. Not everything in this world is hunky dory. However, if you are grounded in faith, then you will progress and maintain your equanimity in this world. Faith leads to prayer, and prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. Prayer nurtures values such as integrity and honesty. Now, prayer happens in two situations or in a combination of situations. You pray when you feel grateful or when you feel utterly helpless. In either case, your prayers will be answered. If you are not grateful or prayerful, you will be miserable. Our love, faith and belief should be deep-rooted. The world is a celebration and you should be happy in life. All aspects of life involve ups and downs. For example, the human body may be susceptible to colds, coughs and fevers one day and may be fine the next. However, one must ensure that happiness is always established in oneself. This unconditional happiness can dawn only through deep-rooted love, faith and beliefs. This, according to Hinduism, is known as Purushaartha. Faith plays a big role in shaping one's life. Even those who say, "I don't believe in anything," have to believe in their words! The issue is where you place your faith. For an atheist, his faith in objects is obvious; his faith in people is fluid and his faith in the unseen power of creation is ambiguous. However, for a believer, his faith in the unseen power is supreme; his faith in people is inconsequential and objects do not matter in any way. The role of faith is even more visible in the materialistic world. Faith saves one from suicidal tendencies and helps people see beyond the obvious. When life is based on faith, one follows philosophy rather than getting caught up in revenge and hatred. If there is faith that everything will be all right, then everything will settle down. Faith is realizing that you always get what you need. Faith is giving the Divine a chance to act.
Jai Guru Dev!!!!
Stay tuned........
01/02/2009
Health Is Wealth-2
Am attempt was made to write about physical health and metal health in the last post.
This post is devoted to intellectual health.
Intellect has three main diseases, ... ignorance, doubt and misconceptions about everything.
The intellect always tends to doubt everything.'Aggyana, Sanshaya, Viparyaya'(ignorance,doubt and misconception)
One of the major doubts is about our Goal in Life and the means.It is very,very important to know our goals clearly, and the means to attain our goals is through reading scriptures. This is mentioned in Udhava Gita
Reasoning and perception are the two eyes and the third eye (where we put the tilakam or pottu) is Veda.
We need to understand that science is not against Veda and similarly Veda is not against science.By the study of scriptures we will learn about the three eyes Shruti, Yukti and Anubhava(scriptures, reasoning and perception.)We need to integrate the three to know about the means and the end.
A healthy intellect is clear about the means and end.
At this point I am reminded of talk s by Sri Sri where he talks about how the intellect works:
Sri Sri says in his talks 'if you observe the intellect it always doubts the positive things, to quote an example; if someone comes up to you and says "I love you",the immediate reply most of the time would be "really'??The negatives on the other hand are accepted without any doubt and question, this is how the intellect works.If someone comes to you and tells you "you look clumsy in that dress,"we generally tend to accept that and then keep brooding over it and sulk and feel depressed about someone's opinion.
In order to change this pattern it is important I think that we read scriptures, be in satsanghs,do pranayam and yoga.
Once we have physical ,mental and intellectual health then success is ours for sure.
Let us all strive to achieve and accomplish the four goals Dharma, Artha, Kama&Moksha...
Let us strive to improve our physical, mental and intellectual health by doing all the require sadhanas...
It is a belief that Surya Baghwan is the bestower of good health,fame and efficient management....so let us pray to Surya Baghwan...
Stay tuned........
Jai Guru Dev!!
This post is devoted to intellectual health.
Intellect has three main diseases, ... ignorance, doubt and misconceptions about everything.
The intellect always tends to doubt everything.'Aggyana, Sanshaya, Viparyaya'(ignorance,doubt and misconception)
One of the major doubts is about our Goal in Life and the means.It is very,very important to know our goals clearly, and the means to attain our goals is through reading scriptures. This is mentioned in Udhava Gita
Reasoning and perception are the two eyes and the third eye (where we put the tilakam or pottu) is Veda.
We need to understand that science is not against Veda and similarly Veda is not against science.By the study of scriptures we will learn about the three eyes Shruti, Yukti and Anubhava(scriptures, reasoning and perception.)We need to integrate the three to know about the means and the end.
A healthy intellect is clear about the means and end.
At this point I am reminded of talk s by Sri Sri where he talks about how the intellect works:
Sri Sri says in his talks 'if you observe the intellect it always doubts the positive things, to quote an example; if someone comes up to you and says "I love you",the immediate reply most of the time would be "really'??The negatives on the other hand are accepted without any doubt and question, this is how the intellect works.If someone comes to you and tells you "you look clumsy in that dress,"we generally tend to accept that and then keep brooding over it and sulk and feel depressed about someone's opinion.
In order to change this pattern it is important I think that we read scriptures, be in satsanghs,do pranayam and yoga.
Once we have physical ,mental and intellectual health then success is ours for sure.
Let us all strive to achieve and accomplish the four goals Dharma, Artha, Kama&Moksha...
Let us strive to improve our physical, mental and intellectual health by doing all the require sadhanas...
It is a belief that Surya Baghwan is the bestower of good health,fame and efficient management....so let us pray to Surya Baghwan...
Stay tuned........
Jai Guru Dev!!
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