Maya they say cannot be searched and found.Under the influence of the three gunas, the soul is (1) misled by matter, and (2) subsequently entangled and entrapped. This tendency is termed maya (illusion).The only way of dealing with this to know and be aware and be in wisdom.
Under maya's influence, the atman, (the soul) mistakenly identifies with the body. He accepts such thoughts as "I am white and I am a man," or "This is my house, my country, and my religion." Thus the illusioned soul identifies with the temporary body and everything connected to it, such as race, gender, family, nation, bank balance, and sectarian religion. Under this sense of false-ego (false-identity) the soul aspires to control and enjoy matter. However, in so doing he continuously serves lust, greed, and anger. In frustration he often redoubles his efforts and, compounding mistake upon mistake, only falls deeper into illusion.
In ignorance (tamas), he is fully convinced that right is wrong and wrong is right. In passion he is unsure, hesitant, sometimes enjoying and at others times repenting. Only in goodness does the soul begin to develop wisdom – to see things in the real light. Thus enlightenment means moving away from tamas towards sattva. By so doing, the soul gradually escapes the clutches of maya and moves towards liberation.
The mother is nursing a child with great care; all her soul, her life, is in that child. The child grows, becomes a man, and perchance becomes a blackguard and a brute, kicks her and beats her every day; and yet the mother clings to the child; and when her reason awakes, she covers it up with the idea of love. She little thinks that it is not love, that it is something which has got hold of her nerves, which she cannot shake off; however she may try, she cannot shake off the bondage she is in. And this is Maya.
We are all after the Golden Fleece. Every one of us thinks that this will be his. Every reasonable man sees that his chance is, perhaps, one in twenty millions, yet everyone struggles for it. And this is Maya.
Death is stalking day and night over this earth of ours, but at the same time we think we shall live eternally. A question was once asked of King Yudhisthira, "What is the most wonderful thing on this earth?" And the king replied, "Every day people are dying around us, and yet men think they will never die." And this is Maya.
There is wonderful lecture by Swami Vivekananda on Maya And Illusion.
Yesterday I was listening to a talk where in Sage Narada asks Sri Krishna to show him Maya.The lord laughs at this and Narada wants to know why he laughed.Lord Krishna smilingly tells Narada "come let us go for a walk and they both go walking and come near a beautiful oasis.After they have walked a while the lord tells Narada that he is thirsty and if he can get some water.Narada leaves with a kamandalu in search of water.Narada finds a lake there and he also sees a beautiful maiden and wishes to marry her, so he marries her and they have 9 children and they live happily,when suddenly one day there is a flood and everything is washed off in the floods.Narada loses his beautiful wife, all his 9 children and he alone is there weeping and in tearsand in deep sorrow.At this moment Sri Krishna calls out to Narada and asks Narada,what happened you went to fetch some water,"......Narada comes to the present and realises that all that he just experienced was Maya.Thus Krishna shows sage Narada what Maya is in a few minutes.
Jai gurudev!!
13/07/2009
12/07/2009
The Mind has its Own ways!
This morning I was just pondering over how our mind works.It accepts and takes in all the negative comments,criticism ,without any protest.At the same time when there is a genuine praise coming your way it reacts immediately with a 'really'???A doubt is always attached to positive remarks,statements,I seriously wonder why though because we all like to be appreciated and praised.We accept it all with great pride but only after being reassured.
Similarly,I wonder if this experience is common, but I have had this experience many a time and have always wondered.After a hard days work and some hectic shopping you come home carrying all the heavy bags and when the door opens,usually you have your family asking you questions,"where were you so long????I have been waiting...blah blah blah....it goes on....."
Here, you are desperately hoping that some one would relieve you of at least a part of the load that you are carrying but the person in front has his or her own set of questions and the other things are all invisible.I have always wondered at this,how is it that the mind does not prompt them to do first things first.......'Pehle ghar ke andar aane tho do, mera bhoj zara halka karo phir poocho na jo bhi hai'..........,
Another very funny example is: I am conveying some serious information: 'a dear friend of mine is admitted to hospital' etc etc....and what do you think is the first reaction that I receive.... did you phone your friend now?????Isn't that kind of hilarious or rather weird????? Here I am trying to share my feelings for a dear friend and more than as to why the friend is admitted,what happened, how is the situation now etc etc....the first thing the mind shoots out is did you phone your friend??????????
Well,well, I am indeed amazed at the way our mind reacts and works and have been trying to figure out why it does what it does....but have no success there yet........
I am just now reminded of a very beautiful story here.Sri Ramana Maharishi once was running after a few baby squirrels.He would very patiently run after them and put them in the cage,one of it would escape and again he would run after it and put it in the cage.This was going on for quite a while and one of the disciples who was watching this asked Maharishi why he was running after the squirrels??Maharishi gives a beautiful reply..he said..the squirrels are all babies now and do not know that there is danger outside,and so until they grow and know to take care of themself we have to do it for them......he further goes on to say that this is the same with our mind too....it will keep running all the while and so it is our duty to bring it back everytime until you are able to take charge of your mind...............
Similarly,I wonder if this experience is common, but I have had this experience many a time and have always wondered.After a hard days work and some hectic shopping you come home carrying all the heavy bags and when the door opens,usually you have your family asking you questions,"where were you so long????I have been waiting...blah blah blah....it goes on....."
Here, you are desperately hoping that some one would relieve you of at least a part of the load that you are carrying but the person in front has his or her own set of questions and the other things are all invisible.I have always wondered at this,how is it that the mind does not prompt them to do first things first.......'Pehle ghar ke andar aane tho do, mera bhoj zara halka karo phir poocho na jo bhi hai'..........,
Another very funny example is: I am conveying some serious information: 'a dear friend of mine is admitted to hospital' etc etc....and what do you think is the first reaction that I receive.... did you phone your friend now?????Isn't that kind of hilarious or rather weird????? Here I am trying to share my feelings for a dear friend and more than as to why the friend is admitted,what happened, how is the situation now etc etc....the first thing the mind shoots out is did you phone your friend??????????
Well,well, I am indeed amazed at the way our mind reacts and works and have been trying to figure out why it does what it does....but have no success there yet........
I am just now reminded of a very beautiful story here.Sri Ramana Maharishi once was running after a few baby squirrels.He would very patiently run after them and put them in the cage,one of it would escape and again he would run after it and put it in the cage.This was going on for quite a while and one of the disciples who was watching this asked Maharishi why he was running after the squirrels??Maharishi gives a beautiful reply..he said..the squirrels are all babies now and do not know that there is danger outside,and so until they grow and know to take care of themself we have to do it for them......he further goes on to say that this is the same with our mind too....it will keep running all the while and so it is our duty to bring it back everytime until you are able to take charge of your mind...............
07/07/2009
GOD'S COFEEE!!
I got this very beautiful forward which I thought I will post here.
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."God brews the coffee, not the cups........ .. Enjoy your coffee!"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."Live simply. Love generously. Care Deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Jai Gurudev!!!
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."God brews the coffee, not the cups........ .. Enjoy your coffee!"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."Live simply. Love generously. Care Deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Jai Gurudev!!!
06/07/2009
Today Is Guru Poornima
'Guru brahma, guru vishnu gurur devo maheshwarah!
Guru sakshaat parabrahmam tasmai shri Guruve namah'!!
The purpose of the Guru purnima celebration is to turn back and review andsee in this last one year how much one has progressed in life. For a seeker,Guru purnima is a day of significance. It is the day to review one’sprogress on the spiritual path and renew one’s determination and focus onthe goal. As the full moon rises and sets, tears of gratitude arise and repose into the vastness of one’s own self.”
Today is Guru Poornima a very auspicious day,when we remember and thank our guru's for all the progress we have made until this day.Guru means one who removes the darkness,'gu' means darkness and 'ru' means one who removes the darkness.So a guru is one who brings us to light from dark.Let us on this day pray for spiritual progress and be greatful for the grace and blessings showered on us over the last one year and take fresh resolutions for spiritual progress.
This day is very important and special for the spiritual seeker.On this day,the grace, blessings endowed by the Guru is a thousand times more than any other day it is said.
The full moon day in the Hindu month of Ashad (July-August) is observed as the auspicious day of Guru Purnima, a day sacred to the memory of the great sage Vyasa. All Hindus are indebted to this ancient saint who edited the four Vedas, wrote the 18 Puranas, the Mahabharata and the Srimad Bhagavata. Vyasa even taught Dattatreya, who is regarded as the Guru of Gurus.
Swami Sivananda asks: "Do you realize now the sacred significance and the supreme importance of the Guru's role in the evolution of man? It was not without reason that the India of the past carefully tended and kept alive the lamp of Guru-Tattva. It is therefore not without reason that India, year after year, age after age, commemorates anew this ancient concept of the Guru, adores it and pays homage to it again and again, and thereby re-affirms its belief and allegiance to it. For, the true Indian knows that the Guru is the only guarantee for the individual to transcend the bondage of sorrow and death, and experience the Consciousness of the Reality."
"The Guru's form should be meditated upon; the feet of the Guru should be worshipped; his words are to be treated as a sacred Mantra; his Grace ensures final liberation".
The period 'Chaturmas' ("four months") begins from this day. In the past, wandering spiritual masters and their disciples used to settle down at a place to study and discourse on the Brahma Sutras composed by Vyasa, and engage themselves in Vedantic discussions.
We have all heard about Sage Narada. He is a very great Bhakta, intensely devoted to Sriman Narayana and always singing His sacred names. In his previous birth, he was the son of a poor widow, who was serving saints. Through their holy association, the young boy got God-vision and in his next birth, he became a great and ardent devotee of Narayana and a saviour of mankind. This single episode is sufficient to prove the greatness of Guru-Bhakthi-Para-Bhakthi is supreme devotion to God (Guru). The devotee should have absolute faith in the infinite mercy of the Guru and un¬shakable confidence in His grace. .
This day is celebrated every year to express gratitude unto the Guru Principle. Of course, even this celebration in gratitude to the Guru is done for the seeker's spiritual progress, since the Guru is a manifest form of The Lord Himself. The Guru Principle is a thousand times more active on this day than on any other through out the year. Under the pretext of this celebration, the festival provides an unmatchable opportunity to progress spiritually through service and sacrifice unto the Truth. That is why seekers and Disciple participate in this mission for the Truth with all their body, wealth and mind.
A seeker, by definition, is one who makes daily efforts with the motivation of spiritual progress and with spiritual progress occurring, irrespective of his religion of birth and path of spiritual practice.
The real disciple remembers his Guru every moment and strives to do spiritual practice regularly. Even so, this day is especially celebrated for the following reasons:
Seekers celebrate Gurupournima to express gratitude to the Guru. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude and sincere and earnest pranams to all my teachers and seek their blessings .
Seekers celebrate Gurupournima to express gratitude to the Guru. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude and sincere and earnest pranams to all my teachers and seek their blessings .
Jai Gurudev!!!
02/07/2009
A Little At A Time!!!
I got this very beautiful forward which I wish to post here for the benefit of the few who chance upon my blog sometime.
A young man decided to visit a country known for its uniquely gifted artists. Over the last few years a growing sense of feeling incomplete had stalked him, and the hope behind his journey was to find someone, something, to help him release the great, but still latent forces he knew lived in his heart. After settling in at a small hostel, he went walking through an expansive outdoor bazaar where hundreds of artisans displayed their works. However, everything seemed commonplace; just another dead-end. What now? He kept walking, leaving the noisy bazaar far behind him. And that’s when his ear caught a light tapping sound from the other side of an old wooden fence. Coming upon an open gate, he peered inside. A young woman was seated in an open courtyard surrounded by various stone sculptures of wild animals. Although these creations were in various stages of completion, they already exuded a remarkable presence. Just then the young lady stood up, and pulling a little hammer out of her apron pocket, she walked toward a large stone that was perched on a work pedestal. After careful examination of one small area she rapped it – just once –with her small hammer. She used so little force, he felt sorry for her timidity. Surely, he thought, she must be a novice; but his eyes couldn't believe what happened next. Suddenly dozens of small pieces of stone broke away. At first he thought she made a mistake and had cracked the whole stone; a moment later he knew otherwise. She had not ruined the stone; instead, she had released it secret character. With that one blow she had not only uncovered a beautiful white marble-like material, but had shaped it to resemble the graceful neck of a great swan. He was stunned. What magic was this? He longed to know. "Please forgive me," he said, entering the courtyard, "but how in the world did you do that with a single blow from your tiny hammer?" "Oh," she laughed. "I’m guessing you’ve only been there for the last few minutes. Before you began watching me I had delivered hundreds of similar small blows to the exact same spot on that stone. You saw the result of many days of careful work coupled with a special kind of quiet consideration. "That’s how all great things are achieved…consistent attention coupled with persistent effort - a little bit at a time - until the right time comes when that work is rewarded. Then nothing can stand in the way of what must be released. The practice of this knowledge, in whatever one intends to do, must produce a subsequent revelation that is the heart of liberation itself.”
As they shared a smile and said goodbye, the young man knew he had learned an important secret: With consistent attention and persistent effort you can release whatever now stands between you and the freedom for which your heart seeks.
JGD!!!
A young man decided to visit a country known for its uniquely gifted artists. Over the last few years a growing sense of feeling incomplete had stalked him, and the hope behind his journey was to find someone, something, to help him release the great, but still latent forces he knew lived in his heart. After settling in at a small hostel, he went walking through an expansive outdoor bazaar where hundreds of artisans displayed their works. However, everything seemed commonplace; just another dead-end. What now? He kept walking, leaving the noisy bazaar far behind him. And that’s when his ear caught a light tapping sound from the other side of an old wooden fence. Coming upon an open gate, he peered inside. A young woman was seated in an open courtyard surrounded by various stone sculptures of wild animals. Although these creations were in various stages of completion, they already exuded a remarkable presence. Just then the young lady stood up, and pulling a little hammer out of her apron pocket, she walked toward a large stone that was perched on a work pedestal. After careful examination of one small area she rapped it – just once –with her small hammer. She used so little force, he felt sorry for her timidity. Surely, he thought, she must be a novice; but his eyes couldn't believe what happened next. Suddenly dozens of small pieces of stone broke away. At first he thought she made a mistake and had cracked the whole stone; a moment later he knew otherwise. She had not ruined the stone; instead, she had released it secret character. With that one blow she had not only uncovered a beautiful white marble-like material, but had shaped it to resemble the graceful neck of a great swan. He was stunned. What magic was this? He longed to know. "Please forgive me," he said, entering the courtyard, "but how in the world did you do that with a single blow from your tiny hammer?" "Oh," she laughed. "I’m guessing you’ve only been there for the last few minutes. Before you began watching me I had delivered hundreds of similar small blows to the exact same spot on that stone. You saw the result of many days of careful work coupled with a special kind of quiet consideration. "That’s how all great things are achieved…consistent attention coupled with persistent effort - a little bit at a time - until the right time comes when that work is rewarded. Then nothing can stand in the way of what must be released. The practice of this knowledge, in whatever one intends to do, must produce a subsequent revelation that is the heart of liberation itself.”
As they shared a smile and said goodbye, the young man knew he had learned an important secret: With consistent attention and persistent effort you can release whatever now stands between you and the freedom for which your heart seeks.
JGD!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)