In the latest CM West Newsletter, there is a reproduction of commentary on Ashtavakra Gita by Gurudev Chinamayananda where in he wonderfully explains the purpose of disciplining the BMI layers so as to step into the hallowed halls of meditation. This is necessary for an average person who is training to experience that divine state. For a man of perfection - a Jnani who has established himself/herself into that supreme Brahman, continuation of the meditation may not be necessary. For such people who have 'transcended' even their mind, the purpose of meditation is no more valid. Gurudev declares the meditation for such Jeevanmuktas as "To give up meditation, through meditation, is the highest meditation!" Read below, understand, THINK! and contemplate.
"To one who has slept, there can be no more any attempt to sleep. To the sleeper, there is no more any anxiety to sleep. Similarly, once you have realized that You are indeed the Self, ever free, thereafter, to think, to contemplate, or to meditate on the nature of the Self, would be to re-crystallize your ego and disturb your Experience divine with the fluttering of your mind.
In short, to give up meditation through meditation is the highest meditation! There is no greater meditation than meditationless-meditation. It is infinite Fulfillment. It is the end of the way, the last leap into the Goal. Here, yoga ends. The dream of the ego has rolled away. The Self, as the Self, revels in the Self. The meditator has become the meditated.
Man has stepped onto the throne of God! This is no poetic exaggeration of Ashtavakra. "
Hari Om.
Vedanta is pure knowledge on the 'Dharma' of human life, the purpose of our life in this world and the paths of attaining the highest levels of spirituality - the Brahman. The sources of Vedanta are the Holy texts of Vedas from Bharat (India) written about 3000 years ago. My intention is to reflect and write about the ultimate philosophical truths of Vedanta as I understand from the many books read and discourses attended. Hari Om.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
After a break… - 29th Nov 2011
Pranams. Of late, I have not been consistent in my blogging due to changes in my work and family life and the resulting interruptions. However I did continue with my ‘Svadyaya’ (स्वाध्याय -study) as well as ‘Sravanam’ (श्रवणं - hearing) of the scriptures, ‘Mananam’ (मननं) or contemplation of the knowledge gained as well as ‘Dhyanam’ (ध्यानं)or Meditation on the principles of the scriptures as regularly as possible. Every reading, especially by Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda has been a revealing knowledge for me on various aspects. Hindus all over the world have been attending and celebrating many festivals the past few months and one of them is the Dussehra or the Navarathri festival celebrated in a large scale in Bharat (India). I read a wonderful commentary by Gurudev on the significance of this festival which has been frankly an eye-opener for me. Dussehra comes from the Sanksrit word ‘Dasa papa hara’ or ending of the 10 sins. The 10 sins signify the 10 senses (5 Jnana-indriyas and 5 Karma-indriyas) that humans depend on to receive the various stimuli from the external world and to react to those stimuli. These are the BMI layers in a human being. An average person is engrossed on these BMI layers most of the time that he is pulled into the materialistic comfort zones thereby forgetting the divinity within himself. The celebration of Dussehra or Navarathri (9 nights) is an opportunity for many such people to return to their roots of spirituality. The first three days are for invoking Durga to help in annihilating the negative tendencies within a person, so as to create a channel for absorbing all good and positive knowledge. The next three days are for invoking Goddess Lakshmi so as to get the necessary resources needed to start on a spiritual journey and avoid any interruptions. The last three days are surrendering to the Goddess Saraswati to gain the knowledge of the Ultimate Supreme Power (USP) – the Brahman as advised in the Upanishads. The final 10th day is the Vijayadasami – the day of Vijaya or success wherein the person has returned back to his roots of being a divine in a human form on the 10th day. The celebration of Dussehra, therefore, is giving up the negative materialistic way of life and return to the spiritual way of life through Karma, Bhakthi or Jnana margas (ways) and selfless activities in this birth as a human being. Only humans have this amazing blessing of self introspection, knowledge, contemplation and ability to evolve into a higher living being. This is also the Thanksgiving season in the US and let us all be thankful to that Almighty to have been blessed with the physical, mental and intellectual capabilities that we need to discover the divinity within ourselves and evolve into a supreme being in this planet.
Hari Om.
Hari Om.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
‘Be Still’ to attain Self realization
A few weeks ago, I took my car to the Christian Brothers automotive workshop for a minor repair. In their shop, they have a board with a quote from the Bible as follows:
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
The above statement is very similar to the declarations from the Vedanta on the paths to attain the realization of the supreme. It took me by pleasant surprise on the uniformity in the proclamation of the Ultimate Truths in all the religions.
The meaning for the words ‘Be Still’ does not mean stillness of the individual in terms of the outwardly activities. No living creature in this planet can be physically still as long as there is life in it. Nor is it meant to remain in a coma like mental state without any reaction to the environment.
The words ‘Be Still’ is meant to indicate the stillness of our minds to the stimuli from outside. What is mind ? Mind is nothing but the flow of thoughts. The stimuli received from our five sense organs (pancha-kosas) cause reactions and thought flow in our mind which results in formation of the desires. The desires in turn create more thought flows and this cycle continues till it saps all the energy in the individual and wastes it through unproductive activities. This is the cause of inefficiency in every individual.
On the other hand, by controlling the mind, a person can control his entire personality layers and direct it towards efficient productive work. Controlling the flow of unnecessary and wasteful thoughts conserves the energy in an individual which can be utilized for productive work. The feeling of tiredness in a person is not always due to exhaustive physical work. In today’s world where most of the jobs are white-collar professions to be done at home (telecommute!) or in an air-conditioned office space with all facilities at the press of a button(!), we still find people tired and not able to do anything else at the end of a day’s work. This situation is not the physical tiredness (as was the case in farming era), it is mental tiredness due to un-necessary stress and tension caused due to wasteful thoughts.
Our Srutis (Vedanta) extort us to overcome the pulls of our BMI layers (Body, Mind and Intellect), so that we can exhaust our vasanas (desires). Vasanas are like the fog which covers our view of the Supreme Divinity within us. Clearing the vasanas through the control of the BMI, through the “Swadhyaya, Sravanam, Mananam and Dhyanam” of the Vedantic scriptures (please refer to my previous posting) and the knowledge gained through them helps us see and understand the Divinity within and attain the realization.
Control of mind brings less agitation and more peace within. As this is continued, mind becomes less agitated and more peaceful, pure and serene. A pure and serene individual can hear the stillness within – it is the calm humming sound of the soul within which is like the ‘Sruthi’ (or under-tones) in a music performance. Aligning our worldly activities to this stillness orients our life to the natural wavelength of this universe and gives us a productive and peaceful life. An individual who has stilled his mind and heard his inner soul realizes the oneness of that soul across the entire universe and merges into that One Supreme Being – the Supreme Brahman. Thereafter such a ‘Mahatma’ (great soul), though walking and acting in this world in flesh and blood, is mentally and intellectually merged into the Divine and is not affected by the worldly limitations.
Adi Shankaracharya, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Gandhi, Ramana Maharishi are fine examples of such individuals, though cast in human form, are verily GOD in themselves.
Hari Om.
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
The above statement is very similar to the declarations from the Vedanta on the paths to attain the realization of the supreme. It took me by pleasant surprise on the uniformity in the proclamation of the Ultimate Truths in all the religions.
The meaning for the words ‘Be Still’ does not mean stillness of the individual in terms of the outwardly activities. No living creature in this planet can be physically still as long as there is life in it. Nor is it meant to remain in a coma like mental state without any reaction to the environment.
The words ‘Be Still’ is meant to indicate the stillness of our minds to the stimuli from outside. What is mind ? Mind is nothing but the flow of thoughts. The stimuli received from our five sense organs (pancha-kosas) cause reactions and thought flow in our mind which results in formation of the desires. The desires in turn create more thought flows and this cycle continues till it saps all the energy in the individual and wastes it through unproductive activities. This is the cause of inefficiency in every individual.
On the other hand, by controlling the mind, a person can control his entire personality layers and direct it towards efficient productive work. Controlling the flow of unnecessary and wasteful thoughts conserves the energy in an individual which can be utilized for productive work. The feeling of tiredness in a person is not always due to exhaustive physical work. In today’s world where most of the jobs are white-collar professions to be done at home (telecommute!) or in an air-conditioned office space with all facilities at the press of a button(!), we still find people tired and not able to do anything else at the end of a day’s work. This situation is not the physical tiredness (as was the case in farming era), it is mental tiredness due to un-necessary stress and tension caused due to wasteful thoughts.
Our Srutis (Vedanta) extort us to overcome the pulls of our BMI layers (Body, Mind and Intellect), so that we can exhaust our vasanas (desires). Vasanas are like the fog which covers our view of the Supreme Divinity within us. Clearing the vasanas through the control of the BMI, through the “Swadhyaya, Sravanam, Mananam and Dhyanam” of the Vedantic scriptures (please refer to my previous posting) and the knowledge gained through them helps us see and understand the Divinity within and attain the realization.
Control of mind brings less agitation and more peace within. As this is continued, mind becomes less agitated and more peaceful, pure and serene. A pure and serene individual can hear the stillness within – it is the calm humming sound of the soul within which is like the ‘Sruthi’ (or under-tones) in a music performance. Aligning our worldly activities to this stillness orients our life to the natural wavelength of this universe and gives us a productive and peaceful life. An individual who has stilled his mind and heard his inner soul realizes the oneness of that soul across the entire universe and merges into that One Supreme Being – the Supreme Brahman. Thereafter such a ‘Mahatma’ (great soul), though walking and acting in this world in flesh and blood, is mentally and intellectually merged into the Divine and is not affected by the worldly limitations.
Adi Shankaracharya, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Gandhi, Ramana Maharishi are fine examples of such individuals, though cast in human form, are verily GOD in themselves.
Hari Om.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Narada Bhakti Sutra
The last couple of months, I have been reading on the art and science of Supreme Devotion in the treatise ‘Narada Bhakti Sutra’. Though the name of the ever green Narada is associated with this treatise, the actual author for this compilation is unknown. Narada is widely held in reverence for his perennial and un-wavering Bhakthi (devotion) for Lord Vishnu and hence it is no surprise that the honor of authorship on the best known writing on the philosophy of Bhakthi should be surrendered to him.
The term ‘Sutra’ means a ‘string’ - a string on which the pearls of ideas and thoughts on the highest principles of a philosophical thought are held together for the easy reach of the common man. Sutras are also exploratory statements with deeper imports and meanings. The work of Narada Bhakti Sutra consists of 84 sutras divided into 10 chapters and is in a wonderful poetic form.
The path of ‘Bhakthi’ is one of the three important paths for humans to attain Self Realization, as explained in the Bhagavad Gita and our Upanishads. The other two paths are the ‘Karma’ and ‘Jnana’ yogas (paths). Depending on the mental and intellectual makeup, development and capability, a person is initially driven to one of these paths automatically by his/her instincts and interests. Though the starting path may be different, as the ‘Sadhana’ (spiritual practice) progresses, we realize all paths are important and needed for discovering the the Unique Supreme Power (USP) which is the ‘Atman’ within ourselves. No path is higher or lower than the others – all are equally needed and merge into one another eventually.
Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda has explained it very nicely and clearly in his discourse on Kaivalyopanishad where he says that Bhakthi (Devotion) and Sraddha (faith through knowledge) are like the two wings which will take a person on a flight to the Supreme. If any of the wings is clipped or not fully developed, it hampers the person’s flight.
It is important to realize that Bhakthi is not a sapless, figurative love or affection on the picture of a God or symbol, as is commonly seen nowadays in the places of worship. Nor is it an order of blind faith which should not be questioned. Bhakthi towards an ideal arises from an integrated personality through knowledge gained through ‘Svadyaya’ (स्वाध्याय -study) as well as ‘Sravanam’ (श्रवणं - hearing) of the scriptures, ‘Mananam’ (मननं) or contemplation of the knowledge gained as well as ‘Dhyanam’ (ध्यानं)or Meditation on the principles of the scriptures so as to integrate those principles into our personality. The contemplation and meditation are the crucial steps in this process where the devotee comes to convincingly realize the value and significance of the philosophical truths within him/her and those principles show through their activities in their life. Nowadays, we unfortunately see the population reading blindly on the scriptures of their religions, but do not follow the other crucial steps of integrating those into their personality.
In my next few postings in this blog, I will try to capture the wonderful poetic verses from each chapter from the Narada Bhakti Sutra in its English translation and try to bring out the meanings as I understood them.
Hari Om.
The term ‘Sutra’ means a ‘string’ - a string on which the pearls of ideas and thoughts on the highest principles of a philosophical thought are held together for the easy reach of the common man. Sutras are also exploratory statements with deeper imports and meanings. The work of Narada Bhakti Sutra consists of 84 sutras divided into 10 chapters and is in a wonderful poetic form.
The path of ‘Bhakthi’ is one of the three important paths for humans to attain Self Realization, as explained in the Bhagavad Gita and our Upanishads. The other two paths are the ‘Karma’ and ‘Jnana’ yogas (paths). Depending on the mental and intellectual makeup, development and capability, a person is initially driven to one of these paths automatically by his/her instincts and interests. Though the starting path may be different, as the ‘Sadhana’ (spiritual practice) progresses, we realize all paths are important and needed for discovering the the Unique Supreme Power (USP) which is the ‘Atman’ within ourselves. No path is higher or lower than the others – all are equally needed and merge into one another eventually.
Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda has explained it very nicely and clearly in his discourse on Kaivalyopanishad where he says that Bhakthi (Devotion) and Sraddha (faith through knowledge) are like the two wings which will take a person on a flight to the Supreme. If any of the wings is clipped or not fully developed, it hampers the person’s flight.
It is important to realize that Bhakthi is not a sapless, figurative love or affection on the picture of a God or symbol, as is commonly seen nowadays in the places of worship. Nor is it an order of blind faith which should not be questioned. Bhakthi towards an ideal arises from an integrated personality through knowledge gained through ‘Svadyaya’ (स्वाध्याय -study) as well as ‘Sravanam’ (श्रवणं - hearing) of the scriptures, ‘Mananam’ (मननं) or contemplation of the knowledge gained as well as ‘Dhyanam’ (ध्यानं)or Meditation on the principles of the scriptures so as to integrate those principles into our personality. The contemplation and meditation are the crucial steps in this process where the devotee comes to convincingly realize the value and significance of the philosophical truths within him/her and those principles show through their activities in their life. Nowadays, we unfortunately see the population reading blindly on the scriptures of their religions, but do not follow the other crucial steps of integrating those into their personality.
In my next few postings in this blog, I will try to capture the wonderful poetic verses from each chapter from the Narada Bhakti Sutra in its English translation and try to bring out the meanings as I understood them.
Hari Om.
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