Lord Krishna’s message in BG Chapter 9

In chapter 9 of Bhagavad Gita,  Lord Krishna explains to Dhananjaya (Arjuna) His real nature and relationship with visible projections in the world.  The Self expressing through the total vasanas is the creator,  who creates the universe.  He is the substratum of all activities in and out of us.   Just as the projector in a movie hall project whatever is in the film (vasanas,  just as the light from the projector reflects the content in the film and is same in all movie halls,  the Supreme Self in us is not impacted or attached to our actions initiated by our vasanas.  The  white screen of the movie hall is the substratum on which the entire story of the  movie is projected, but the screen does not carry the marks of tears, blood or happiness.

Lord Krishna says He, as the Ever Pure Infinite,  is  just the witness of all that is happening around, but is unattached to it.  If we all perform our activities unattached and dedicated to that Lord,   it will help us in purging our vasanas and realize the Self within us, thereby not getting impacted from the  day to  day activities that we do,  just as the projector or screen in a movie hall.

Significance of Navarathri (Dussehra)

I received an excellent write up on the significance of Navarathri (9 nights) from Chinmaya Mission that is posted below.  Navarathri is also called Dussehra or 'Dasa-hara'.  'Dasa' is 10 and 'hara' is eliminate; so the word indicates our effort to eliminate the sins accumulated through our ten sense organs (5 organs of perception and 5 organs of action).  The culmination of our effort is the 10th day of 'Vijaya Dashami' which indicates the 'Vijaya' or win from the pulls and pricks of our senses !

The Spiritual Significance of Navaratri by Swami Chinmayananda

Ratri means "night" and Nava means "nine". At Navaratri ("nine nights"), the Lord in the form of the Mother Goddess is worshipped in Her various forms as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Though the Goddess is one, She is represented and worshiped in three different aspects. On the first three nights of the festival, Durga is worshipped. On the following three, Lakshmi and then Saraswati Devi on the last three nights. The following tenth day is called Vijayadashami. Vijaya means "victory", the victory over our own minds that can come only when we have worshiped these three: Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati.

Durga

To gain noble virtues, all evil tendencies in the mind must be destroyed. This destruction is represented by the Goddess Durga.

Durga is durgati harini: "She who removes our evil tendencies." This is why she is called Mahishasura Mardini, the destroyer of Mahishaasura (demon), mahisha meaning"buffalo." 

The buffalo stands for tamoguna, the quality of laziness, darkness, ignorance and inertia. In the Puraanic story, Durga Devi's killing of the Mahisha demon is, symbolically, the destruction of the tamoguna within us that is very difficult to destroy. In the Durga Devi Havana (sacrifice), we invoke that Divine Power within us to destroy our animalistic tendencies.

Lakshmi

For knowledge to dawn within us, we have to prepare our minds. The mind must be pure, concentrated, and single-pointed; this purification of the mind is obtained through the worship of Lakshmi Devi.

The real wealth is the inner wealth of spiritual values that we practice in our lives, by which our minds become purified. 

Only when we have these noble values will we be able to preserve our material wealth and make good use of it. Otherwise money itself becomes a problem.

In the Upanishads, the Rishis never asked for material wealth only. In the mantras of the Taittriya Upanishad, they first asked to have all the noble virtues fully developed in them. "Having gained the noble virtues, thereafter Lord please bring wealth to us". The Rishis express here that in the absence of right values and good qualities, all our money will be wasted, and there are countless examples of this in the world around us.

Our wealth of virtues is our true Lakshmi. Its importance is shown by the fact that Adi Shankaracharya himself, in Vivekachudamani, describes that sat sampati, or six forms of wealth (calmness of mind, self- control, self-withdrawal, forbearance, faith and single-pointed ness) that are to be cultivated to attain wisdom. 

These virtues are important because our goal is victory over the mind - a victory such that we do not get disturbed by every change that takes place in our lives.

This victory comes only when the mind is prepared, and this mental preparation is the symbolism of the Lakshmi Puja.

Saraswati

Victory over the mind can be gained only through knowledge, through understanding; and it is Goddess Saraswati who represents this highest knowledge of the Self.__._,_.___

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Play in this world bravely; with Self in the background

Realize your true Self and play in this world bravely, fair and square, without expectations or worries. Always keep your mind and thoughts oriented towards the Supreme at the back of the mind.  The awareness of your Atman which is one with Brahman of this universe should be humming in the background during every activity in the awakened state (Jagratha), just as the 'sruthi' hums in the background for a carnatic music singer.  This will keep you in the true path and bring you the full focus needed for the success in every step of the way.
Hari Om.

Back to blogging...

Hari Om.  After a long gap of time, I am returning to my favorite blog and hoping to start contributing to it regularly from now. Work and other family activities kept me away from updating this blog regularly, all this time.  I am now enrolled as a voluntary teacher for Balavihar classes in the local Chinmaya Mission  here in Plano (TX) and I utilize my bandwidth availability for that one too, now. 

Instead of specific planned topics, going forward, I will try to update this blog with my general thoughts and readings about Vedanta.  Currently I am reading a wonderful  book 'The Art of Man Making' by Sw. Chinmayananda.  Though written for kids and youths who grow up in today's high pressure societies without a spiritual touch, the book is equally valuable for grown-ups too.  In the book, Gurudev wonderfully explains the spiritual truths of the Bhagavad Gita and guides the youth to understand and utilize the extorts of Lord Krishna for a contented and happy life.  This is an amazing book for all who are interested to know the inner depths of the Gita.  I would encourage all to read slowly  and reflect on the messages on each chapter before going to the next.

I am also reading another great book called 'Conscious Capitalism'  written by Whole Foods founder John Mackey and management professor Raj Sisodia.    The book explains how a true capitalist system should work and the authors emphasize that just like humans, organizations should have a higher ideal and purpose.  Though not a book on religion, or philosophy,  the book clearly shows how the authors have surely been influenced by the concept of eastern spirituality that emphasizes on the macrocosm and holistic thinking.

Hari Om.

Meditation and beyond...

Hari Om. A good blog on meditation in Harvard Business Review (HBR) by Peter Bregman.  Click the link below.

http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2012/10/if-youre-too-busy-to-meditate.html#comment-681465764

Peter explains the method in a very simple way as below.

"Sit with your back straight enough that your breathing is comfortable — on a chair or a cushion on the floor — and set a timer for however many minutes you want to meditate. Once you start the timer, close your eyes, relax, and don't move except to breathe, until the timer goes off. Focus on your breath going in and out. Every time you have a thought or an urge, notice it and bring yourself back to your breath. That's it. Simple but challenging. Try it — today — for five minutes. And then try it again tomorrow."

Based on our reading and knowledge in Vedanta, let me add a little more to the above. As Peter explains, every time we have a thought (or urge as he puts it) that disturbs our concentration of meditation, notice it and bring yourself back to your concentration. This aspect of noticing is the 'Saakshi Bhaavam'  or the witness aspect within us.  Through the process of meditation, we transcend our involvement with the BMI layers and recognize ourselves as this Saakshi. Through constant meditation, our concentration on breathing also should end and we recognize the silence within us.  This is the 'Pratyak Bodha' (witnessing conciousness) state.  Gurudev Chinmayananda has beautifully described it as below:

"Just look quietly from within and watch all the blabbering of the mind.  From the sequestered silence within yourself, be aware of everything happening around and within you, without involving yourself in them.Watching without an object to be aware of yourself - that is objectless awareness, that is the moment of realization. When there is nothing to witness except silence itself, that state of awareness is the Truth. It is the one without a second, when there is nothing but yourself."

A person reaching the level above as explained by Gurudev does not have to make time for meditation, because he/she will be acting and working in this world always in a meditative state.  That is the ultimate in meditation.

'Nirvichara Vaisaaradhyaadyatma prasaadah" - When the mind is brought to a state without least trace of any thought, the divinity of the Self will shine forth. 

Hari Om.

Vaakya Vritti (वाक्य वृत्ति) - Slokas and meanings

Bhagavan Shankara has started the text of Vaakya Vritti in the same format and tradition of his other books and as generally followed in our scriptures of Sanathana Dharma. He starts Vaakya Vritti with an invocation and salutation to Lord Shri Vallabha**, that Supreme Consciousness who is all pervading (Vishnu) and all powerful. This is a stotram (स्तोत्रं) rich and deep in its meanings, that we  all should learn, recite and meditate upon regularly in our daily prayers.

सर्गस्तिथि प्रलय्यहेतुम् अचिन्त्यशक्थि 

विश्वेस्वरम् विश्वम् अनन्थमूर्थिं

निर्मुक्त बन्दनमपारसुखंबुरासि

श्रिवल्लबं विमलबोधघनं नमामि

Sargasthithi Pralayahetum Achintyasakthi

Vishveswaram Vishwam Ananthamoorthim

Nirmuktha Bhandanasukhmaburaasi

Shrivallabham Vimalabodhaghanam Namami

"I bow down to that Pure Consciousness Divine - a shoreless ocean of happiness , which is all pervading (Vishnu), the beloved of Shri (Shri Vallabha**), the all-knowing Lord of the Universe, assuming endless forms and yet ever-free, having an inscrutable power to become the cause of creation, maintenance and dissolution of the universe."

In concurrence to our tradition, Shri Shankara, in the second verse, seeks the blessings of HIS GURU whose teachings and grace has helped him in realizing the 'Atman' within himself and the 'Brahman' all around, and importantly realize that the Atman and Brahman are one and the same (Tat Tvam Asi). As in every type of education, a student will benefit from the teachings of his/her Guru only if they both are tuned-in at the same wave-length of their thoughts (controlling the mind and intellect) and understanding.  It is important for the student to contemplate on the words and advice of the Guru to realize the deeper meanings of the Vedantic scriptures. By Guru's grace alone, can the student arrive at his true knowledge culminating in the wisdom "I alone am the all-pervading essence of this universe".

In the third sloka Shree Shankara starts the text in a format very commonly used in the Upanishads - a student, already trained and prepared on the Vedantic concepts, with a burning desire to delve deeper into the scriptures that he has already learnt so as to attain the culmination point which is the experience of Brahman.  approaching the Guru with a serious set of questions on the finer points of his education. Vedanta is the science of knowing ourselves and our inner core. It is a subject that is abstract and difficult for an ordinary person living a pure materialistic way of life.  It is a topic to understand the very subject of an individual, hence cannot be understood through the usual faculties of body, mind and intellect (BMI).  One has to transcend these BMI layers and look deeper into oneself (thro contemplation and meditation) to achieve this knowledge. Hence the students need to have an inherent interest, maturity and fundamental knowledge developed through years of education and practice before he/she can embark on a journey to learn Vedanta.  Hence it has always been a tradition that the student who is thus qualified fully and has the urge to dive deeper will approach a Guru with the necessary preparations (indicated symbolically by the student carrying 'samith' and approaching the Guru in old Gurukula days) and with a question that has been baffling him for a long time.

Similarly, in Vaakya Vritti, the student approaches the Guru with the question to know the "means by which I may easily get liberated from the sorrows of this bondage of change" . The Guru (Shree Shankara) then responds to the earnest student to dwell deeper into the meaning of the Mahavakya 'Tat Tvam Asi' as immediate means of liberation.

In the rest of the text book, Shree Shankara very clearly and beautifully explains, with examples,  the deeper meanings of each term (Tat and Tvam) and how it merges together to give the overall significance (Lakshyartha) of the sentence Tattvamasi (तत्त्वमसि ).  The verses 11 to 27 is devoted to a detailed explanation of 'Twam' or THOU which is the Self, the Atma that is the inner core of every personality.  From verses 28 to 37, Shankara explains the term 'Tat' or THAT which indicates the Brahman that is the substratum of this universe.  From verses 38 to 53 are the explanations on how these two pregnant terms are threaded as a garland by the Mahavakya  'Tat Tvam Asi' (तत्त्वमसि). Let us explore more in the next few posts.

**There is a Sri Vallabha temple in Tiruvalla, Kerala. The town was earlier called 'Sri Vallabhapuram' which over a period of time came to be shortened into 'Thiru Valla(bha)' or Tiruvalla.  This temple is one of the 108 famous Vaishnava temples in India and is said to be 4000 years old. For more details on the temple, visit www.srivallabhatemple.org

Hari Om.