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........
03/02/2009
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!!
30/01/2009
Health Is Wealth!!!
I was listening to a talk by a very well known Swamiji yesterday about Holistic Health.I have made an earnest attempt here to put down whatever little I managed to understand and retain of the talk.
"Man initially squanders his health in search of wealth,then squanders his wealth in search of health"!!
This is so very true and we see it happening all the time.We generally tend to not bother about our body as long as we are fine.Only when we there is discomfort, are we reminded of our body and realise that it is necessary to take care of our body in order to remain healthy.
"Dharmartha Kama Mokshaanam,
Aarogyam Moolam Utthamam,
Rogaas Tasya Apahaarthara,
Shreyaso Jeevitasyaha."
To achieve all the four goals (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha)of life material and spiritual,it is very important to have good health.
Health is the basic resource of all actions.All actions are possible only if we have Good Health.To earn money,to enjoy all forms of entertainment,to perform noble actions,we need to maintain good health.
To attain Moksha requires Karma yoga ,which is again based on health.To gain knowledge of scriptures from a guru Good health is required.
It is a general misconception that reading scriptures and involving in religious activities are only for retired people.As one even nears the retirement age,(many times even much earlier)all health issues crop up.We find we are unable to sit down.So it is important and essential that we start at an early age itself.
It is a Fundamental Truth that Health is the Basic Resource.
Once health is lost 'Shreya',all the Four Purusharthas are robbed away and the very survival is a threat.
Our body is a gift from God and so it is important to take good care of our body.
We never recognize the value of health when it is there, we recognize it only when it is lost temporarily or permanently.
The scriptures advise us to recognize and respect our health.Not only that,scriptures do not limit health to only physical health,they also talk of psychological and intellectual health.According to the scriptures all the three are inter connected and complimentary and hence a lopsided approach will never be successful.
Chapter 6--17, of Baghwat Gita emphasises four disciplines to be taken care of to maintain physical health.
'Yukta Viharasya Yukta Chestasya karmasu
Yukta swapnava bhodasya Yogo bhavati dukhaha'
The first discipline is the 'Aahara' or food that we take.Krishna says it is very important to maintain quality, quantity and frequency of the food we consume.The emotional and intellectual health depends very much on this.
The second discipline is 'Vihara' meaning movement or regular exercises.It is very essential to exercises regularly because 'it is always better to give time voluntarily for health rather than forcibly give double the time for ill health.'
The third discipline is work or occupation.It is better to choose occupations that do not violate health rules and not be overly attracted by money that a job offers.
The fourth discipline is proper rest.This is very,very important for rejuvenation.If a person does not get proper sleep his efficiency will come down.
Whoever is able to maintain these four disciplines only they can follow their material as well as spiritual goals, and Krishna says Yoga will be successful only for such people.
Maintaining mental health is relatively tougher, it is important not to be afflicted by disturbing emotions.If the emotions take hostage of the mind, then the mind is tense,sick and preoccupied and so is not available for constructive work.
A healthy mind is that which knows to manage disturbing afflictions, like fear, anger, anxiety,hatred and so on.All these emotions can stifle and immobilise the mind.It is a fact that emotions can never be avoided,in fact it is joy of the mind to continuously generate emotions.Managing emotions is a very important exercises in maintaining mental health.
Emotion is 'Energy in motion',and it is extremely powerful.The humaneness of a human being is because of emotions and so Krishna tells Arjuna,emotions cannot be avoided and one who can handle,withstand,survive and continue living is an integrated person and that person deserves to be called 'Naraha'.
Scriptures go further and also give tips to manage emotions.
Here too four important tips are given.
The first and very important step in managing emotions is communication.
There is no need to silently suffer, emotions can be carefully controlled by communication.Emotional outburst is not a remedy for emotional suppression's,it is like jumping from frying pan to fire.A well thought out communication always helps, because generally people do not plan to hurt.We manage to get hurt because of our peculiar condition,so it is better to communicate that we have a problem.People are usually surprised or many times even feel bad that their action has hurt.
The second step is expression of our emotion elsewhere to a friend, relative or even God.Express emotions either in spoken or written form, treat God as a personal friend and this is highly useful. Many great saints like Thyagaraja, Purandaradasa etc poured all their emotions to GOD.
The third step is neutralisation.If communication is not possible then we could try to diffuse the emotion within.All emotions are in the form of thoughts and cannot continue without co operation, just like a cycle requires continuous pedalling. Emotions arise because of a person or event .The arrival is not in our control,and living the emotion and recreating the situation repeatedly will only result in spoiling our health. Will power can disengage the thought pattern,and change the thought, so never allow the emotion to continue.Counter thinking is the neutralisation method.'I am distressed, I am de-stressed' 'Pratipaksha Bhavana'...
The next step is Dilution.
Bhakti ,take guidance from GOD.Internalise god,insurmountable pains can be overcome by keeping God in the heart.He will be our shock absorber.God is waiting to enter our hearts if we are willing.When the burden of emotions is shared by God then we can bounce back and take charge of our life and start Living.
Will continue with intellectual health in the next post.
Till then.............
Jai Guru Dev!!!!
"Man initially squanders his health in search of wealth,then squanders his wealth in search of health"!!
This is so very true and we see it happening all the time.We generally tend to not bother about our body as long as we are fine.Only when we there is discomfort, are we reminded of our body and realise that it is necessary to take care of our body in order to remain healthy.
"Dharmartha Kama Mokshaanam,
Aarogyam Moolam Utthamam,
Rogaas Tasya Apahaarthara,
Shreyaso Jeevitasyaha."
To achieve all the four goals (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha)of life material and spiritual,it is very important to have good health.
Health is the basic resource of all actions.All actions are possible only if we have Good Health.To earn money,to enjoy all forms of entertainment,to perform noble actions,we need to maintain good health.
To attain Moksha requires Karma yoga ,which is again based on health.To gain knowledge of scriptures from a guru Good health is required.
It is a general misconception that reading scriptures and involving in religious activities are only for retired people.As one even nears the retirement age,(many times even much earlier)all health issues crop up.We find we are unable to sit down.So it is important and essential that we start at an early age itself.
It is a Fundamental Truth that Health is the Basic Resource.
Once health is lost 'Shreya',all the Four Purusharthas are robbed away and the very survival is a threat.
Our body is a gift from God and so it is important to take good care of our body.
We never recognize the value of health when it is there, we recognize it only when it is lost temporarily or permanently.
The scriptures advise us to recognize and respect our health.Not only that,scriptures do not limit health to only physical health,they also talk of psychological and intellectual health.According to the scriptures all the three are inter connected and complimentary and hence a lopsided approach will never be successful.
Chapter 6--17, of Baghwat Gita emphasises four disciplines to be taken care of to maintain physical health.
'Yukta Viharasya Yukta Chestasya karmasu
Yukta swapnava bhodasya Yogo bhavati dukhaha'
The first discipline is the 'Aahara' or food that we take.Krishna says it is very important to maintain quality, quantity and frequency of the food we consume.The emotional and intellectual health depends very much on this.
The second discipline is 'Vihara' meaning movement or regular exercises.It is very essential to exercises regularly because 'it is always better to give time voluntarily for health rather than forcibly give double the time for ill health.'
The third discipline is work or occupation.It is better to choose occupations that do not violate health rules and not be overly attracted by money that a job offers.
The fourth discipline is proper rest.This is very,very important for rejuvenation.If a person does not get proper sleep his efficiency will come down.
Whoever is able to maintain these four disciplines only they can follow their material as well as spiritual goals, and Krishna says Yoga will be successful only for such people.
Maintaining mental health is relatively tougher, it is important not to be afflicted by disturbing emotions.If the emotions take hostage of the mind, then the mind is tense,sick and preoccupied and so is not available for constructive work.
A healthy mind is that which knows to manage disturbing afflictions, like fear, anger, anxiety,hatred and so on.All these emotions can stifle and immobilise the mind.It is a fact that emotions can never be avoided,in fact it is joy of the mind to continuously generate emotions.Managing emotions is a very important exercises in maintaining mental health.
Emotion is 'Energy in motion',and it is extremely powerful.The humaneness of a human being is because of emotions and so Krishna tells Arjuna,emotions cannot be avoided and one who can handle,withstand,survive and continue living is an integrated person and that person deserves to be called 'Naraha'.
Scriptures go further and also give tips to manage emotions.
Here too four important tips are given.
The first and very important step in managing emotions is communication.
There is no need to silently suffer, emotions can be carefully controlled by communication.Emotional outburst is not a remedy for emotional suppression's,it is like jumping from frying pan to fire.A well thought out communication always helps, because generally people do not plan to hurt.We manage to get hurt because of our peculiar condition,so it is better to communicate that we have a problem.People are usually surprised or many times even feel bad that their action has hurt.
The second step is expression of our emotion elsewhere to a friend, relative or even God.Express emotions either in spoken or written form, treat God as a personal friend and this is highly useful. Many great saints like Thyagaraja, Purandaradasa etc poured all their emotions to GOD.
The third step is neutralisation.If communication is not possible then we could try to diffuse the emotion within.All emotions are in the form of thoughts and cannot continue without co operation, just like a cycle requires continuous pedalling. Emotions arise because of a person or event .The arrival is not in our control,and living the emotion and recreating the situation repeatedly will only result in spoiling our health. Will power can disengage the thought pattern,and change the thought, so never allow the emotion to continue.Counter thinking is the neutralisation method.'I am distressed, I am de-stressed' 'Pratipaksha Bhavana'...
The next step is Dilution.
Bhakti ,take guidance from GOD.Internalise god,insurmountable pains can be overcome by keeping God in the heart.He will be our shock absorber.God is waiting to enter our hearts if we are willing.When the burden of emotions is shared by God then we can bounce back and take charge of our life and start Living.
Will continue with intellectual health in the next post.
Till then.............
Jai Guru Dev!!!!
28/01/2009
BACK AGAIN!!!
A Very Happy 2009!!! to One And All!!! Though I am late,but as they say better late than never.
Let me start with the super duper New Year eve satsangh we had.
We had an excellent 31st Dec at Al Asab desert camp organised by the AOL Abudhabi chapter.
Al Asab camp is about 2 hours drive from Abudhabi and buses were organised.
It was a huge and impressive hall and absolutely new and beautifully decorated.The evening celebrations (though we were behind schedule by an hour)started with bajhans lead by melodious singers.Great vibrations because there were around 450-500 people singing& dancing with Joy.Some awesome bajhans like " Ajo Ananthaya,Sundaraanana, Shiva Shambo,Jai Jai Radha Ramana" ....made everyone jump and dance.It was a real treat indeed to be a witness to that scene.
After bajhans,games for children, and a quick dinner break we had a very nice meditation guided by Guruji(CD of course!!) to usher in the New Year which was followed by cake cutting and another session of dance and music.Had a great time and truly enjoyed the happy smiles on every one's face.
We returned home early morning around 4 am..... a great beginning for 2009 I thought and the new year must say has been going great what with a lot of satsanghs and some lovely new friends and son on.
After a long gap and may be preoccupied with so much else a very dear cousin mentioned about my blog which motivated me to start again and so here goes ....
Hope to post regularly and have a list of subjects I want to write...A NEW YEAR RESOLUTION I IMAGINE....
Jai Guru Dev!!!
Let me start with the super duper New Year eve satsangh we had.
We had an excellent 31st Dec at Al Asab desert camp organised by the AOL Abudhabi chapter.
Al Asab camp is about 2 hours drive from Abudhabi and buses were organised.
It was a huge and impressive hall and absolutely new and beautifully decorated.The evening celebrations (though we were behind schedule by an hour)started with bajhans lead by melodious singers.Great vibrations because there were around 450-500 people singing& dancing with Joy.Some awesome bajhans like " Ajo Ananthaya,Sundaraanana, Shiva Shambo,Jai Jai Radha Ramana" ....made everyone jump and dance.It was a real treat indeed to be a witness to that scene.
After bajhans,games for children, and a quick dinner break we had a very nice meditation guided by Guruji(CD of course!!) to usher in the New Year which was followed by cake cutting and another session of dance and music.Had a great time and truly enjoyed the happy smiles on every one's face.
We returned home early morning around 4 am..... a great beginning for 2009 I thought and the new year must say has been going great what with a lot of satsanghs and some lovely new friends and son on.
After a long gap and may be preoccupied with so much else a very dear cousin mentioned about my blog which motivated me to start again and so here goes ....
Hope to post regularly and have a list of subjects I want to write...A NEW YEAR RESOLUTION I IMAGINE....
Jai Guru Dev!!!
15/10/2008
Guru Bhakti!!
Unconditional love,regard&bhakti ....we very often get to hear these words in different contexts though.
A mother's love for her child they say is unconditional .Nothing is expected in return from the child for all that the mother does for her child.
We get to read and hear about many great souls who had such Love and devotion for their Guru.
I had the good fortune of listening to an extremely splendid lecture series on Sri Adi Sankara by Brahmasri Nochur Venkatraman.
I have become a very big fan of Sri NV.He is simply superb.Have been listening to his lectures on Baghavath Geeta and Srimad Baghavatham the last few months and I must say it is certainly addictive. It is like you need the daily dose of Sri NV.
Coming back to his lecture series Shankara Vaibhavam,the life of Sri Adi Sankara.
Here Sri NV tells us about the chief disciples of Sri Adi Sankara.
There were four chief disciples PadmaPada,Sureshwara,Hastamalaka and Thotakacharya.
Each of these was very special and had only devotion and bhakti for their Guru.Nothing came in the way of their bhakti for their Guru.
Padmapada was the first disciple.Once when he was on the other side of the ganges his master calls out to him and without any hesitation or thought the disciple walks on the water to reach his Master.Every step of his on the water opens out into a lotus and thus the name Padmapada.
Giri was another disciple who was very dear to Sri Adi Sankara.Giri had so much love for his master,he went about serving his master all day with a smile.He was said to be not as knowledgeable as the others and did not many times understand what the others were talking.But this did not affect him in any way.He was a very loyal servant of his Master.
One day, Giri was washing his Guru's clothes, when Adi Shankara sat down to begin a lesson on Advaita Vedanta. He however did not start the lesson saying he was waiting for Giri to come back from his chores. At this, Padmapada pointed to a wall and said that it would be the same if Adi Shankara taught to this dumb object as he taught to Giri. Now, Adi Shankara wanted to reward Giri for his loyalty and devotion. Thus he mentally granted Giri the complete knowledge of all the śāstras (sciences). The enlightened Giri composed extempore the Totakashtakam, a Sanskrit poem in praise of the Guru Adi Shankara. Thus the dumb disciple Giri became Totakacharya.
These are just the few things that I managed to remember from the wonderful lecture.The Grace of the Guru can do wonders. The faith and love we have is of utmost importance.Just believe in the Almighty and trust that everything will be taken care of.
Jai Guru Deva!!!
A mother's love for her child they say is unconditional .Nothing is expected in return from the child for all that the mother does for her child.
We get to read and hear about many great souls who had such Love and devotion for their Guru.
I had the good fortune of listening to an extremely splendid lecture series on Sri Adi Sankara by Brahmasri Nochur Venkatraman.
I have become a very big fan of Sri NV.He is simply superb.Have been listening to his lectures on Baghavath Geeta and Srimad Baghavatham the last few months and I must say it is certainly addictive. It is like you need the daily dose of Sri NV.
Coming back to his lecture series Shankara Vaibhavam,the life of Sri Adi Sankara.
Here Sri NV tells us about the chief disciples of Sri Adi Sankara.
There were four chief disciples PadmaPada,Sureshwara,Hastamalaka and Thotakacharya.
Each of these was very special and had only devotion and bhakti for their Guru.Nothing came in the way of their bhakti for their Guru.
Padmapada was the first disciple.Once when he was on the other side of the ganges his master calls out to him and without any hesitation or thought the disciple walks on the water to reach his Master.Every step of his on the water opens out into a lotus and thus the name Padmapada.
Giri was another disciple who was very dear to Sri Adi Sankara.Giri had so much love for his master,he went about serving his master all day with a smile.He was said to be not as knowledgeable as the others and did not many times understand what the others were talking.But this did not affect him in any way.He was a very loyal servant of his Master.
One day, Giri was washing his Guru's clothes, when Adi Shankara sat down to begin a lesson on Advaita Vedanta. He however did not start the lesson saying he was waiting for Giri to come back from his chores. At this, Padmapada pointed to a wall and said that it would be the same if Adi Shankara taught to this dumb object as he taught to Giri. Now, Adi Shankara wanted to reward Giri for his loyalty and devotion. Thus he mentally granted Giri the complete knowledge of all the śāstras (sciences). The enlightened Giri composed extempore the Totakashtakam, a Sanskrit poem in praise of the Guru Adi Shankara. Thus the dumb disciple Giri became Totakacharya.
These are just the few things that I managed to remember from the wonderful lecture.The Grace of the Guru can do wonders. The faith and love we have is of utmost importance.Just believe in the Almighty and trust that everything will be taken care of.
Jai Guru Deva!!!
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