Risk

Author Unknown

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to others is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken,
because the greatest hazard in life is to do nothing.

The person who risks nothing,
does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.

They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.

Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave,
they forfeited their freedom.

Only the person who risks can be free.

______________________________
Thanks to : French Connection

Siousx Indian Prayer

This prayer was chosen by the Indians when sixteen tribes met at Arizona. The original copy had come from Cabot's old Indian museum in Desert Hot Springs, California -- Author Unknown

It was printed in the Los Angeles newspapers to observe, "World Day Of Prayer" in 1958.

O Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds,
and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me.
I come before you, one of your many children.
l am small and weak.
I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty,
and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made,
my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise,
so that I may know the things you have taught my people,
and the lesson you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

I seek strength, not to be superior to my brothers,
but to be able to fight my greatest enemy - myself.
Make me ever ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes,
so when life fades as a fading Sunset,
my spirit will come to you without shame.
_______________________________________________________________
Credits: Barefoot Windwalker

Flashes from Swami Vivekananda - 4

The only method of Education - 2

Results

All success in any line of work is the result of concentration. High achievements in arts, music, etc., are the result of concentration. When the mind is concentrated and turned back on itself, all within us will be our servants, not our masters.

The Greeks applied their concentration to the external world and the result was perfection in art, literature etc. The Hindu concentrated on the internal world, upon the unseen realms in the self and developed the science of yoga. The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration.

The power of concentration is the only key to the treasure-house of knowledge. In the present state of our body we are much distracted, and the mind is frittering away its energies upon a hundred things.

Only key to knowledge

As soon as I try to call on my thoughts and concentrate my mind upon any one object of knowledge, thousands of undesired impulses rush into the brain, thousands of thoughts rush into the mind and disturb it. How to check it and bring the mind under control is the whole subject of study in Rajayoga. The practice of meditation leads to mental concentration.

To me the very essence of education is concentration of mind, not the collection of facts. If I had to do my education once again, I would not study facts at all. I would develop the power of concentration and detachment, and then with a perfect instrument, collect facts at will.

Brahmacharya (continence) necessary for concentration

Power comes to him who observes unbroken Brahmacharya for a period of twelve years. Complete continence gives great intellectual and spiritual power. Controlled desire leads to the highest results. Transform the sexual energy into spiritual energy. The stronger this force, the more can be done with it. Only a powerful current of water can do hydraulic mining.

It is owing to want of continence that everything is on the brink of ruin in our country. By observance of strict Brahmacharya all learning can be mastered in a very short time; one acquires an unfailing memory of what one hears or knows but once.

The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will power. Without chastity there can be no spiritual strength. Continence gives wonderful control over mankind.
The spiritual leaders of men have been very continent and this is what gave them power.

Every boy should be trained to practice absolute Brahmacharya and then, and then alone faith and Shraddha will come. Chastity in thought, word and deed always and in all conditions is what is called Brahmacharya. Unchaste imagination is as bad as unchaste action. The Brahmacharin must be pure in thought, word and deed.

21 Chinese Good Luck Tantra Totems

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
3. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
4. When you say, “I love you”, mean it.
5. When you say, “I’m sorry”, look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. Please No name calling.
11. Don’t judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?”
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Say “bless you” when you hear someone sneeze.
16. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
17. Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
18. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
19. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
21. Spend some time alone.

Credits: Mahesh Mohan

Ways to deal with jealousy

When you feel jealous, a part of you knows the feeling and understands its petty nature, but still you cling to it. Amrit Sadhana tells how one can be free of this draining emotion.

Jealousy can be a draining emotion. Even though it creates misery, people cling to it because jealousy is considered to be a sign of deep love. Lack of jealousy is often misinterpreted as lack of love by the other person. Jealousy is often just a twinge, a passing thought and that is quite normal and everyone experiences it to some degree. However there are some for whom it can become an obsession and threaten their own sanity and relationships.

The best part is that inherently you will know a moment of superfluous jealousy for what it is; a part of you subconsciously knows and understands that this emotion rising in you is petty and does not reflect a loss of emotional unity in your relationship. But still you will feel tempted to revel in it, to let it engulf you. It’s a matter of knowing yourself and rising above emotions which you know do not warrant your mindspace.



To understand jealousy it is important to delve into and reexamine your conception of love. Osho talks about a fool-proof remedy that can help you drop jealousy and other petty feelings.

Said Osho: “Go deeper into your feelings. Don’t avoid them. But remember one thing: jealousy and insecurity are separate from you. You are the witness; as you go deeper, you will come across many things which you have suppressed; but you are as pure as a mirror. When you are going deeper, the mirror reflects jealousy, but the mirror is not jealousy. Just as the mirror reflects buffalo standing in front, it reflects your feelings. The mirror is not identified with anything that it reflects — the mirror is just empty, silent, and clean.

“In meditation you will come to recognize you are the mirror. All other things are reflected in you. A mirror is just a reflecting phenomenon; so are you. Be a mirror, and then all these problems, whatever their names, will start disappearing — they are only reflections. You need not try to get rid of them. The very idea of getting free of them still accepts that they are realities of your being.”

Credits: Times Wellness

Flashes from Swami Vivekananda - 4

The only method of Education - 2

Only key to knowledge

The power of concentration is the only key to the treasure-house of knowledge. In the present state of our body we are much distracted, and the mind is frittering away its energies upon a hundred things.

As soon as I try to call on my thoughts and concentrate my mind upon anyone object of knowledge, thousands of undesired impulses rush into the brain, thousands of thoughts rush into the mind and disturb it. How to check it and bring the mind under control is the whole subject of study in Rajayoga. The practice of meditation leads to mental concentration.

To me the very essence of education is concentration of mind, not the collection of facts. If I had to do my education once again, I would not study facts at all. I would develop the power of concentration and detachment, and then with a perfect instrument, collect facts at will.

The Wheel is Useless as a Stand-alone Invention

Dr. Deepak Ranade wrote one of his best essays, which was published in the TOI speaking tree of Pune today.

The Wheel is Useless as a Stand-alone Invention

The wheel was a path-breaking invention. The wheel, however, might not have been as useful if not for the invention of brakes and gears that help us control movement. The wheel made locomotion plausible but brakes regulated this motion.

The defining quality of any system is probably based on the degree of control one can exercise on it. In karate, up to the black belt stage, the discipline and regimen is for strengthening the body and speeding up reflexes. Thereafter, all subsequent degrees are attained by perfecting self-control and restraint.

In evolution, life forms have been empowered incrementally as they progress through stages. Human beings have the power of control, of temperance and restraint, and the ability to think beyond the self. Physiologically, higher centers in the brain have been given the responsibility of inhibition to maintain restrictive control on lower centers of the brain and spine. In spinal injuries, when the lower motor neurons are disconnected from the higher centers and they fire without control, it leads to reflex movements of the limbs, spasm of the muscles and so on. Though movement occurs, it is involuntary, uncontrolled and purposeless.

The ability to rise above reflex behavior seems to be the summit of the evolutionary pyramid. Olympian Carl Lewis once explained the reason for his spectacular achievement: “I have mastered the art of self-denial”. Behavior that rises above the primitive reflexes forms the essence of culture and sophistication. All religions have a set of behavioral restrictions like fasting, celibacy and observing silence. These restrictions help the individual increase his will power, temperance, self-control and discipline.

Some religions talk about renunciation.But renunciation eliminates choice. So it is probably indulgence in abstinence. The swing of the pendulum in the opposite direction charged with the potential energy to swing back to indulgence. It may also reflect a subconscious fear of lack of self-control. Like the instance of the guru, who was invited for a meal by his disciple. Whilst the other devotees were served on plantain leaves, the guru was served on silverware as a mark of reverence. The guru however was offended and walked off as he was a renunciate. He may as well have eaten in the silverware. If he was no longer in any mundane bondage, there ought to have been no distinction between silver and leaves.

In reproductive behavior, too, human beings have the freedom to choose. Any control is self-imposed. This self control is the evolutionary upgrade. It is as if the remote control which operates all other animals has been substituted by a sharp discriminatory ability which bestows free will. In Hindu culture, it is called vivek buddhi. The intellect of discrimination. Free will reflects the ability to restrain rather than indulge. If indulgence was the purpose, all actions would have been reflexive, with scarce regard to volition.

Exercising restraint requires a higher form of intelligence. Indulgence required neither skill nor intellect. And renunciation relied more on extremism.

Obesity, alcoholism, hypertension and diabetes, when they are lifestyle-related, point to the diminishing self-regulatory process. Affluence has given man the opportunity to indulge like never before. Austerity is facing extinction. Patience, contentment are no longer virtues but are relegated to mere words. All catastrophes like global warming, nuclear threat and poverty are merely a reflection of our ever-increasing inclination for indulgence.

Thirukkural verses 7: The Wealth of Children

English Translation of Kaviyogi Maharishi Shuddhananda Bharatiar

The world no higher bliss bestows
Than children virtuous and wise.

No evil comes and no blemish;
Noble sons bring all we wish.

Children are one's wealth indeed
Their wealth is measured by their deed.

The food is more than nectar sweet
In which one's children hands insert.

Children's touch delights the body
Sweet to ears are their words lovely.

The flute and lute are sweet they say
Deaf to baby's babble's lay!

A father's duty to his son is
To seat him in front of the wise.

With joy the hearts of parents swell
To see their children themselves excel.

The mother, hearing her son's merit
Delights more than when she begot.

Flashes from Swami Vivekananda - 4

The only method of Education - 1

Concentration

There is only one method by which to attain knowledge, that which is called concentration. The very essence of education is concentration of the mind. From the lowest man to the highest yogi, all have to use the same method to attain knowledge.

The chemist who works in his laboratory concentrates all the powers of his mind, brings them into one focus, and throws them on the elements; the elements stand analyzed, and thus his knowledge comes. The astronomer concentrates the powers of his mind and brings them into one focus; and he throws them on to objects through his telescope; and stars and systems roll forward and give up their secrets to him.

So it is in every case: with the professor in his chair, the student with his book, with every man who is working to know.

Its Power

The more the power of concentration, the greater the knowledge that is acquired. Even the lowest shoeblack, if he gives more concentration, will black shoes better. The cook with concentration will cook a meal all the better. In making money, or in worshiping God, or in doing anything, the stronger the power of concentration, the better will that thing be done. This is the one call, the one knock, which opens the gates of Nature, and lets out floods of light.

Difference in Degree

Ninety per cent of thought-force is wasted by the ordinary human being and therefore he is constantly committing blunders. The trained man or mind never makes a mistake. The main
difference between men and the animals is the difference in their powers of concentration. An animal has very little powers of concentration. Those who have trained animals find much difficulty in the fact that the animal is constantly forgetting what is told him. He cannot concentrate his mind upon anything for a long times. Herein is the difference between man and the animals. This difference in their power of concentration also constitutes the difference between man and man. Compare the lowest with the highest man. The difference is in the degree of concentration.

All success in any line of work is the result of this. High achievements in arts, music, etc., are the result of concentration. When the mind is concentrated and turned back on itself, all within us will be our servants, not our masters. The Greeks applied their concentration to the external world and the result was perfection in art, literature etc.

The Hindu concentrated on the internal world, upon the unseen realms in the self and developed the science of yoga. The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration.

Thirukkural verses 6: The Worth of a Wife

Please Note: The following excerpt from the Thirukkural is 'as-is' replicated from the actual translation. This has no relation with anti-womanism. I truly respect the modern progressive thought behind women independence and capabilities. Please read the verses below as view towards an ancient way of livelihood, giving you an idea of the devotion-centric lifestyle of the Indian wife.

English Translation of Kaviyogi Maharishi Shuddhananda Bharatiar

A good housewife befits the house,
Spending with thrift the mate's resource.

Bright is home when wife is chaste.
If not all greatness is but waste.

What is rare when wife is good.
What can be there when she is bad?

What greater fortune is for men
Than a constant chaste woman?

Her spouse before God who adores,
Is like rain that at request pours.

The good wife guards herself from blame,
She tends her spouse and brings him fame.

Of what avail are watch and ward?
Their purity is women's guard.

Women who win their husbands' heart
Shall flourish where the gods resort.

A cuckold has not the lion-like gait
Before his detractors aright.

An honest wife is home's delight
And children good are jewels abright.

Flashes from Swami Vivekananda - 4

Philosophy of Education - 3

Service as worship

Liberty is the first condition of growth. It is wrong,
a thousand times wrong, if any of you dares to say, 'I will
work out the salvation of this woman or child.' Hands off! They will solve their own problems. Who are you to assume that you
know everything? How dare you think that you have the right over God? For, don't you know that every soul is the Soul of God?

Look upon every one as God. You can only serve. Serve the children of the Lord if you have the privilege. If the Lord grants that you can help anyone of His children, blessed you are. Blessed you are that that privilege was given to you when others had it not. Do it only as worship!

Assimilation of ideas

Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has got by heart a whole library. If education were identical with information, the libraries would be the greatest sages in the world and encyclopedias the rishis!

Getting by heart the thoughts of others in a foreign language and stuffing your brain with them and taking some university degrees, you consider yourself educated. In this education? What is the goal of your education?

Wrong education

Either a clerkship, or being a lawyer, or at the most a Deputy Magistrate, which is another form of clerkship, isn't that all? What good will it do you or to the country at large? Open your eyes and see what a piteous cry for food is rising in the land of Bharata, proverbial for its food. Will your education fulfil this want? The education that does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit of philanthropy and the courage of a lion - is it worth the name?

The needed education

We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one's own feet. What we need is to study, independent of foreign control, different branches of the knowledge that is our own, and with it the English language and western science, we need technical education and all else that will develop industries, so that men, instead of seeking for service, may earn enough to provide for themselves and save against a rainy day.

The goal of man-making

The end of all education, all training, should be man-making. The end and aim of all training is to make the man grow. The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful, is called education. What our country now wants are muscles of iron and nerves of steel, gigantic wills which nothing can resist, which can penetrate into the mysteries and secrets of the universe and will accomplish their purpose in any fashion, even if it meant going down to the bottom of the ocean, meeting death face to face. It is the man-making religion that we want. Man-making theories are that we want. It is man-making education all round that we want.

Thirukkural verses 5: Married Life

English Translation of Kaviyogi Maharishi Shuddhananda Bharatiar

The ideal householder is he,
Who aids the natural orders there.

His help the monk and retired share,
And celibate students are his care.

By dutiful householder's aid,
God, manes, kin, self and guests are served.

Sin he shuns and food he shares
His home is bright and brighter fares.

In grace and gain the home excels,
Where love with virtue sweetly dwells.

Who turns from righteous family,
To be a monk, what profits he?

Of all who strive for bliss, the great,
Is he who leads the married state.

Straight in virtue, right in living,
Make men brighter than monks praying.

Home-life and virtue, are the same;
Which spotless monkhood too can claim.

He is a man of divine worth
Who lives in ideal home on earth.

Flashes from Swami Vivekananda - 4

Philosophy of Education - 2

The Cask of Glass

The Light Divine within is obscured in most people. It is like a lamp in a cask of iron: no gleam of light can shine through. Gradually, by purity and unselfishness, we can make the obscuring medium less and less dense, until at last it becomes as transparent as glass. Sri Ramakrishna was like the iron cask transformed into a glass cask, through which can be seen the inner light as it is.

You cannot teach a child any more than you can grow a plant. The plant develops its own nature. The child also teaches itself. But, you can help it to go forward in its own way. What you can do is not of a negative nature but positive.

You can take away obstacles, and knowledge comes out of its own nature. Loosen the soil a little, so that is may come out easily. Put a hedge round it, see that it is not killed by anything. You can supply the growing seed with the material for the making of his body, bringing to it the earth, the water, the air that it wants. And there your work stops. It will take all that it wants by its own nature.

It so is with the education of the child. A child educates itself. The teacher spoils everything by thinking that he is teaching. Within man is all the knowledge, and it requires only an awakening, and that much is the work of the teacher. We have to do so much for the boys that they may learn to apply their own intellect to the proper use of thier hands, legs, ears and eyes.

Free Growth

The system which aims at educating our boys in the same manner as that of a man who battered his donkey, being advised that it could thereby be turned into horse, should be abolished. Owing to undue domination exercised by parents, our boys do not get free scope for growth. In every one there are infinite tendencies which require proper scope for satisfaction. Violent attempts at reform always end by retarding reform. If you do not allow one to become a lion, one will become a fox.

Positive Ideas

We should give positive ideas. Negative thoughts only weaken men. Do you not find that where parents are constantly taxing their sons to reread and write, telling them that they will never learn anything, and call them fools and so forth, the latter do actually turn out to be so in many cases?

If you speak kind words to them and encourage them, they are bound to improve in time. If you can give them positive ideas, they will grow up to be the best men and women. In language and literature, in poetry and arts, in everything we must not point out the mistakes, but how can they do it better. The teaching must be modified according to the needs of the taught.

Past lives have molded our tendencies. Take every one where he stands and push him forward. We have seen how Sri Ramakrishna would encourage even those whom we considered worthless and change the very course of their lives thereby! He never destroyed a single man's special inclinations. He gave words of hope and encouragement even to the most degraded of the persons and lifted them up.

Metta Bhavna: Loving with an Open and Sweet Mind

The article in today's TOI is today's need for life to be. If each human being lives by the Metta principle, we could see the world change in front of our eyes.

Thanks to TOI and Marguerite. May all beings be Happy!

Metta Bhavna: Loving with an Open and Sweet Mind

By Marguerite Theophil

Loving kindness is a meditation practice that was taught by the Buddha to help us develop the habit of selfless or altruistic love. It is a truly universal practice which need not be associated with any particular religious concept.

What makes this so effective is that by arousing within ourselves feelings of goodwill towards ourselves, those near to us, and all beings, we make it more likely that it is these feelings that will arise rather than other less desirable, unwholesome feelings. Anger cannot coexist with loving kindness. We end up supplanting thoughts rooted in anger with thoughts rooted in love, which, as my teacher so beautifully put it, “...can help keep the mind open and sweet”.

A pattern you can follow is: start with yourself; then do the meditation for a respected, beloved person such as a spiritual teacher; a personal loved one like a close family member or friend; a ‘neutral’ person, somebody you know but have no special or strong feelings for; someone you are currently having difficulty with, and towards who you may have negative feelings.

Eventually we can include all people, animals and birds, and nature around us, as well as the entire universe. We must, however, start with ourselves. If we cannot love and accept ourselves exactly as we are, how can we expect to love others?

For some people, it is easier to send Metta to others and harder to feel it for themselves; while some others experience resistance when asked to send Metta to others. You can simply be aware of what is true for you, but without judging, and just being aware that are all connected. So when you experience loving kindness for yourself, all beings are included; when you experience it for others, you are included.

There are many forms of Metta practice, but here is a very simple one that’s easy to remember. You need to be aware of this — it’s less significant to get the words or the order of recitation right; more important is your awareness and connection to the loving and compassionate feelings that arise as you do this mindfully: May i be safe from harm. May i be happy and peaceful. May i be strong and healthy. May i take care of myself with joy. May all be safe from harm... May all be safe from harm...

Sometimes, commuters can send waves of loving kindness to people on the bus, a train compartment, to the entire train, to all other trains or buses criss-crossing the city, to people on all trains or buses all over India. Whenever you do this, the trip is not so bad! Try this on a flight: sending loving kindness to all co-passengers, all airplanes at the airport and those taking off and landing and all planes all over the world. See what it does for your journey. The endless waiting in hospitals is better used by sending Metta to all the patients, their families and all who work there; everyone needs it.

Having taught this to many people from different faiths, different ages and walks of life, i am awed at how doing this seems to free up a side of people that was hidden under layers of habit of thought; a side that facilitates self-healing, as it is so much part of the Higher Self within each and every one of us.

The writer is a Mumbai-based organisational consultant, personal growth coach and workshop leader. E-mail: weave@vsnl.net

Thirukkural verses 4: The Power of Virtue

English Translation of Kaviyogi Maharishi Shuddhananda Bharatiar

From virtue weal and wealth outflow;
What greater good can mankind know?

Virtue enhances joy and gain;
Forsaking it is fall and pain.

Perform good deeds as much you can
Always and everywhere, o man!

In spotless mind virtue is found
And not in show and swelling sound.

Four ills eschew and virtue reach,
Lust, anger, envy, evil-speech.

Do good enow; defer it not
A deathless aid in death if sought.

Litter-bearer and rider say
Without a word, the fortune's way.

Like stones that block rebirth and pain
Are doing good and good again.

Weal flows only from virtue done
The rest is rue and renown gone.

Worthy act is virtue done
Vice is what we ought to shun.

He just left 'this' world

He left this world at 102. Dr. Albert Hoffman's spirit still stays alive in the manipulated minds of so many. His problem child transformed the way the world thought, taking people beyond thier mundane perceptional comprehension.

Alex Grey called him Saint Albert.

Hofmann believed it could still serve a valid purpose in medicine, as it did for Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World who used the drug to ease his final suffering. Hofmann -- who believed LSD was useful in analysis of how the mind works, hoping it could be used to recognise and treat illnesses like schizophrenia -- defended his "wonder drug" for decades after it was banned in the 1960s.

The Human Species is so Special

Another 'Special' article by Dr. Ranade: [Credits TOI. Click here for Article link ]

Human beings feel very vulnerable. Totally at the mercy of destiny, and forever battling circumstances, waging a war against financial, emotional and social insecurity. We are perennially choosing from a myriad options and we keep hoping we’ve made the right choice. The fear of the unknown tends to loom large and we spend most of our present worrying about the future.


This despondency drives many to soothsayers, clairvoyants, astrologers and palm readers and futurologists. If we look around and take a few cues from nature, it seems animals and birds live life with scarce planning, manipulation or worrying about tomorrow. And they manage all right, too.

Humans are unique in that they are bestowed with frontal lobes, those extensions of the brain that insinuate between the eyebrows and the hairline, which also cleave us from our immediate ancestors, the apes. Frontal lobes are the seat of abstraction, intellect, and empower us with qualities like imagination, and conceptual thought.

Our primitive nervous system was designed to enable us to perceive and interact with the environment. Successive evolutionary improvements in the nervous system served to increase the speed and complexity of the response, albeit only as a reaction to the environment. But with the frontal lobes appearing in us humans, we could engage in abstraction.

Philosophy, poetry and culture are some intangibles that the human brain could delve into.

But then came the catch. This added faculty - the power to use creative imagination - also became a tool to conjure abstract fears. The fear of the unknown, the concept of destiny, suspicion, anxiety and the entire spectrum of
"imaginary" fears and angst. But then was that the objective of this latest edition of the brain?

To believe that this device was designed only to make life more comfortable is a bit far-fetched. We can take the credit for advancing technology, making inventions, and generally utilising the tool effectively. But we still have to realise that we just utilised the tool. We are not the creator of this tool. So what is the objective of this very versatile complex nervous tissue that has helped man transform the external world? Was it to distort and manipulate the external world? Couldn’t the creator have done so himself?

Abstraction was given as a boon to us to comprehend the 'inner' world. It is unlikely that other species would query "Who am I?", or "Why has this creation been made?" These are doubts that can arise only as an extrapolation of the thought process beyond the travails of daily mundane living.

So this heightened ability of imagination and comprehension was made available for the human mind to fathom itself.

An ability no other animal possesses. Needless to say almost all fears arising in the mind are a side-effect of this enhanced cognitive ability. Nothing more than that. The knife with a sharp cutting edge is a very versatile instrument if it is used appropriately.

We as proud owners of this add-on gadget need to realise that this tool has to be utilised for the appropriate objective of self-knowledge. To understand the self. To look within and not misuse it to end up as hypertensive and diabetics, disorders very human-specific stemming from gross misuse of this magnificent evolutionary upgrade.

(The writer is a consultant neurosurgeon. E-mail: deepakranade @ hotmail.com)

Sankara takes you on an Unusual Pilgrimage

A nice article by Pranav Khullar was published in the Speaking Tree of TOI.

In the Brahmn-Sutra Bhashya, Sankara says: “Brahmn alone is real, the world is illusory. The individual and the universal soul are One”. Using everyday references to illustrate abstract advaitic concepts, Sankara begins by stating that the Atmabodha will serve as a primer for those who wish to experience liberation, equipped with the tools of discernment. The second declares that knowledge alone can be the cause of liberation, just as fire is the direct cause of cooking. This may include the requirement of water, pots and pans but it is essentially fire that makes cooking possible.

Sankara saya that karma or action is powerless to destroy ignorance for “...it is not in conflict with ignorance”. The Self can be known only through knowledge, just as light alone can dispel darkness. He compares jnana abhyasa or the practice of knowledge which purifies by removing ignorance, with the traditional method of purifying muddy water in rural India with kataka-nut powder.

Just as the powder sprinkled on the surface of the water forms a film and drags all the impurities to the bottom, leaving pure water on the surface, constant use and practice of knowledge removes the dirt of ignorance. And just as the kataka-nut powder dissolves in the water after doing its work, knowledge too disappears after the Self emerges.

Sankara uses the example of the illusion created by oyster shells scattered along the beach on a moonlit night. We mistake them for silver, only till we recognise the reality of the oyster shells. Similarly, the world of names and forms exists only till self-knowledge dawns. The phenomenal world exists in the mind of the perceiver alone, and names and forms exist like ornaments. Vishnu, the allpervading consciousness, is like gold. Sankara reinforces the spirit and content of the Upanishads by alluding to the Mahavakyas, in his delineation of the nature of Brahmn, reiterating the wellknown method of arriving at the definition of Brahmn, through the process of elimination “...neti, neti...not this, not this”.

Meditation is essential to refocus on the Self. The flame of knowledge can only be kindled by constant meditation, Sankara compares this to the act of rubbing two pieces of wood together to create fire. Meditation is the friction between the mind-wood and the Om-wood pieces. The story of Rama is allegorised as Atmarama, who derives satisfaction from the Self alone, having crossed the ocean of delusion to vanquish the creatures of passion, just as Rama crossed the ocean to kill Ravana.

In the concluding verses Sankara seems to speak from a meditative trance, as he alludes to the nature of Brahmn — sat-chit-ananda or knowledgeexistence-bliss. These verses reflect the cosmic nature of his thought. He says, “...all things which can be perceived or heard, are Brahmn itself and nothing else...and though atma is reality, it can be perceived only by the one who has the eye of wisdom”.

Sankara asks us to undertake the real pilgrimage to “the shrine of the atma”, which will bestow upon us real equanimity. The Atmabodha, like its companionpiece the Vivekachudamani, is a call from the heart. It reflects Sankara’s attempt to reach out to not only the intelligentsia of his time. It conveys the profound, yet simple philosophy of Oneness to anyone who is curious to know more about the nature of consciousness and the path to liberation. It is a pilgrimage of the mind.

Thirukkural verses 3: The Merit of Ascetics

English Translation of Kaviyogi Maharishi Shuddhananda Bharatiar

No merit can be held so high
As theirs who sense and self deny.

To con ascetic glory here
Is to count the dead upon the sphere.

No lustre can with theirs compare
Who know the right and virtue wear.

With hook of firmness to restrain
The senses five, is heaven to gain.

Indra himself has cause to say
How great the power ascetics' sway.

The small the paths of ease pursue
The great achieve things rare to do.

They gain the world, who grasp and tell
Of taste, sight, hearing, touch and smell.

Full-worded men by what they say,
Their greatness to the world display.

Their wrath, who've climbed the mount of good,
Though transient, cannot be withstood.

With gentle mercy towards all,
The sage fulfills the virtue's call.

Flashes from Swami Vivekananda - 4

Philosophy of Education - 1

Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man

Knowing is unveiling

Knowledge is inherent in man, no knowledge comes from outside; it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows' should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge. We say Newton discovered gravitation. Was it sitting anywhere in a corner waiting for him? It was in his own mind; the time came and he found it out. All the knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe. The external world is simply a suggestion, the occasion, which sets you to study your own mind. The falling of an apple gave the suggestion to Newton, and he studied his own mind. He rearranged all the previous links of thought in his mind and discovered a new link among them, which we call the law of gravitation. It was not the apple nor in anything in the center of the earth.

All knowledge is within

All knowledge therefore, secular or spiritual, is in the human mind. In may cases it is not discovered, but remains covered, and when the covering is being slowly taken off, we say 'we are learning', and the advance of knowledge is made by the advance of this process of uncovering. The man from whom this veil is being lifted is the more knowing man; the man upon whom it lies thick is ignorant; and the man upon whim it has entirely gone is the all-knowing, omniscient. Like fire in a piece of flint, knowledge exists in the mind; suggestions is the friction which brings it out. What we call powers, secrets of nature and force are all within. All knowledge comes from the human soul.. man manifests knowledge, discovers it within himself, which is pre-existing, through eternity.

Infinite power is within the soul

No one was ever really taught by another. Each of us has to teach himself. The external teacher offers only the suggestion which makes the internal teacher to work and understand things. Then things will be made clearer to us by out own power of perception and thought, and we shall realize them in our own souls. The whole of the big banyan tree which covers acres of ground was in the little seed which was perhaps no bigger than one-eighth of a mustard seed. All that mass of energy was there confined. The gigantic intellect, we know, lies coiled up in the protoplasmic cell. It may seem like a paradox, but it is true. Each one of come out of one protoplasmic cell, and all the powers we possess were coiled up there. You cannot say they came from food, for if you heap up food mountains high, what power comes out of it? The energy was there, potentially no doubt, but still there. So is infinite power in the soul of the man whether he knows it or not. Its manifestation is only a question of being conscious of it.

Inspiration for Change

Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together.

Difficulties are opportunities to better things, they are stepping stones to greater experience.


With faith anything is possible...just believe

How do you find inspiration to heal and overcome difficulties? To be inspired what does that mean to you? So much is wrong in the world today. We are surrounded with war, poverty, starvation, disease and more. Millions of families are torn and in despair due to economics, natural disasters, laws and regulations. Some continue to seek a cause as a necessity to harm others.

More can be found on this link

Thank you inspirationforch.

The Democratic Nature of All Creation

Dr. Deepak Ranade's another elusive article was published in the Times of India's Speaking Tree:

The original undivided pluripotent being had the option of remaining unmanifest. Manifestation was one of the limitless options available to this source.

For awareness to experience itself, a state of duality had to be induced. It needed to cleave itself and induce a pseudo-dichotomy of perceiver and perceived. This process is similar to the process of a developing embryo. The single cell replicates itself rapidly and metamorphoses into this complex and differentiated multiorgan form. In reality, we all are just one cell that has differentiated itself into specified functional units. When i touch my hair it actually is the manifestation of a single cell touching another expression of itself and the same cell also has the capability to comprehend this “touch” phenomenon.

All creation is an induced illusion of duality to enable the source to experience itself. The process of creation is in itself a gratifying experience. All artists, when they create a work of art, experience ecstasy on giving birth to a new idea, new thought. The sheer joy of manifesting in such diversity may be the objective of this exercise by the source. He not only created multiple loci of consciousness but also ensured that His creation was made oblivious to the source of its origins.

Time and space were introduced as illusory media to ensure the delusion of separateness of creation. This being was programmed with the ability to discover his origins, and provided the means to enjoy the rest of creation as well. Since the being was just a manifestation of the source, he also had all the attributes of the source. The resolve and ability to achieve anything he desires, the capacity to experience total bliss, and above all the freedom to exercise choice.
Selfless creation mandated that the being was given an illusion of being the ‘doer’. The self-effacement of the source could be a precondition for nourishing the identity of His creation. This illusion of being the doer and the center of the universe manifests as ego. Ego served initially as a tool for self-preservation but as it crystallizes further it totally envelops the consciousness and impedes realization of its true nature.

The ego constantly reaffirms this illusionary duality. The more the ego hardens the farther it moves the being away from the knowledge of his true identity. It then embarks on a game wherein the being gets an illusion of having control and the ability to manipulate the environment for its own happiness.

Awareness when focused outward gets entangled in a web of duality. Then there is no limit to its indulgence. This kaleidoscopic creation has a potent arsenal to engage this awareness into its diverse forms. Indulgence is addictive and it keeps drawing this awareness into its throes, distancing itself from its true identity. Obsession with the materialistic world is actually as ludicrous as my hand being obsessed with my nose.

The ultimate objective is for consciousness to be able to perceive itself. This could be attained by various means and paths. This knowledge is already there within. The illusion is to look for it ‘without’. All other knowledge is duality-based and may at best help in providing analogies. However, analogy is a cheap substitute for experience. The purpose of creation was for the source to experience itself. Creation is like democracy. Made of the source, by the source and for the source. Self-awareness or unperceived is self-realization.

Thirukkural verses 2: The Blessing of Rain

English Translation of Kaviyogi Maharishi Shuddhananda Bharatiar

The genial rain ambrosia call,
The world but lasts while rain shall fall.

The rain begets the food we eat,
And forms a food and drink concrete.

Let clouds their visits stay, and dearth,
Distresses all the sea-girt earth.

Unless the fruitful shower descend,
The ploughman's sacred toil must end.

Destruction it may sometimes pour,
But only rain can life restore.

No grassy blade its head will rear,
If from the cloud no drop appear.

The ocean's wealth will waste away,
Except the cloud its stores repay.

The earth, beneath a barren sky,
Would offerings for the gods deny.

Were heaven above to fail below,
Nor alms nor penance earth would show.

Water is life that comes from rain,
Sans rain our duties go in vain.

14th March is a crazy day

Why?

Since yesterday was one of the greatest nights ever.


Megadeth played in India for the First time ever. There aren't many words to express how the concert was.

Immense power at the Palace Grounds with thousands of long-haired humans gathered at one place and radiating extreme energy. It started drizzling when Megadeth played the first track!


Dave Mustain is this really elusive, mysterious personality. "We know who you are, and you know who I am", is the way he introduced himself. He almost killed most of the people.

Some other great stuff of March 14th:


Happy Pi Day!

According to a physicist at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the number Pi has been calculated out to over one trillion digits. But that’s not the interesting part.

No number has captured the attention and imagination of people throughout the ages as much as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Pi–or ? as it is symbolically known–is infinite.

Oh, and just for a bit of trivia, Albert Einstein’s birthday is today, and he was a big fan of pi. But that’s not it. His birthday, and pi day, both fall on March 14th. That’s 3-14, and pi out to two places is 3.14! Coincidence? I don’t think so. We all know God doesn’t play dice.

Thanks you guys:

Amazon, dmiessler.com, This Orkut profile for the pics

‘Ignorant gurus cause more damage than evil ones’

Credits: TIMES NEWS NETWORK



Coimbatore: Ignorance has led some people to think that becoming a guru is entrepreneurship, that it’s just another profession, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of the Isha Foundation informs T S Sreenivasa Raghavan. Excerpts from an interview.

Q: To believe or not to believe is the basic issue. What do you suggest? If one is to believe, one should believe in whom? In God? Or in those who deny the existence of God? Or in those who believe in God? Or in that man who claims he himself is the God?

A: People are always questioning whether to believe in God or not to believe in God, but tell me: ‘do you believe you have two hands or do you know you have two hands?’ Even if you had no eyes, if I tell you that you do not have two hands, will you believe me? Why is it that about hands you know, but with gods and godmen you’re talking about believing? This is because you are not sincere enough to admit that you don’t know.

Q: Astavakra says awareness alone can result in realization. No master, no scripture, nothing will be of any help if one is not aware about what one’s doing. So is a master really required in the man’s spiritual peregrination? Can we not do without a guru?

A: Ashtavakra himself was a guru. He took on disciples. If he thought a guru was not necessary, why would he take disciples? Obviously, there’s a misunderstanding in what he said. He’s talking about being aware. Unless you’re aware, nothing will work. I, too, am constantly repeating to all the people here that unless you’re aware even I won’t work for you. You may be here with me, but nothing will work for you unless you’re aware.

Q: These days we hear about pseudo gurus who bring a bad name to acclaimed masters who’re doing good work. How to choose the right master?

A: The first thing is you don’t seek a master; you deepen your longing within you. If your longing is deep the master will choose you, not the other way round. You will choose what you like. You will choose somebody who supports your ego. If he is constantly pricking your ego, will you choose him? So if you choose a guru who supports your ego, what is the point? So you never choose your guru; you just deepen your longing. Unfortunately, there are pseudos in spirituality. The crooked ones are one thing. It doesn’t take much time for you to see somebody is crooked; but I am more concerned about the ignorant ones, who are dangerous. Ignorance always causes more damage than evil. Don’t bother about whether somebody is a good or bad guru. Because this is not about the guru, this is about you. By going to him, if your life gets transformed, you continue to go. Even if he’s crooked, how does it matter so long your life is getting transformed? If he starts leading you on to something wrong, improper, then you leave. Till then, you make use of him. This is not the best way to do it.

Q: Mahashivarathri is a big festival at Isha. But you always identify yourself with the religion of humanity. Why this contradiction?

A: I don’t identify myself with a religion of humanity. I identify with a humanity without religion. They’re very different. So about Shiva, in the yogic culture Shiva is not seen as a god who came from heaven or whatever. Shiva is seen as the first yogi and first guru. He opened up the mechanics of life. He revealed everything to his first seven disciples, who’re known as saptarishis. So it’s from there yoga developed in so many different ways. Essentially, it’s his teaching we’re still doing. Mahashivarathri celebration is an expression of gratitude. It also has special benefits for the spiritual seeker. We create an exuberant night with meditation, music and dance. The best artistes come here and a huge festival happens from evening till morning. This has nothing to do with religion. We don’t want people to miss this night. So we throw a big party.

Q: All realized souls say: live in the plenitude of the present, the past is dead and gone, future is yet to come and dark; only the present is true. How does one apply this in practical life?

A: I never said that. If it’s not in the present where else can they live? Let them live somewhere else and show. If I ask you to go to future, can you go? You can think about future. But can you go? This is the reason why any intelligent human being doesn’t want to come into spirituality. Because it doesn’t make any sense. Anyway you’re in the present. You can’t be anywhere else. Then should we not think about tomorrow? Right now, these brainless spiritual people are telling you not to use your brain. Anyone who knows the usefulness of the brain cannot help thinking about the future and the past. All these things have come from confusion. Because they’ve read some nonsense somewhere, they’ve no personal experience of anything.

Q: It’s said faith is absolutely essential for anything to happen. Without faith, even the master-disciple relationship doesn’t blossom. Is faith an innate quality?

A: Faith comes out of a deeply devout mind. If one has to be truly devout, then one should have no agenda of one’s own. He should be willing to go with God’s agenda. If somebody has genuinely become a devotee he will attain very easily. Devotion is the quickest path. But that will happen to you only if you’ve a very child-like mind. Otherwise, devotion turns into deception.

Thirukkural verses 1: The Praise of God

English Translation of Kaviyogi Maharishi Shuddhananda Bharatiar

The Praise of God

'A' leads letters; the Ancient Lord
Leads and lords the entire world.

That lore is vain which does not fall
At His good feet who knoweth all.

Long they live on earth who gain
The feet of God in florid brain.

Who hold His feet who likes nor loathes
Are free from woes of human births.

God's praise who tell, are free from right
And wrong, the twins of dreaming night.

They prosper long who walk His way
Who has the senses signed away.

His feet, whose likeness none can find,
Alone can ease the anxious mind.

Who swims the sea of vice is he
Who clasps the feet of Virtue's sea.

Like senses stale that head is vain
Which bows not to Eight-Virtued Divine.

The sea of births they alone swim
Who clench His feet and cleave to Him.

The link between man and God is Faith

An Interesting Conversation

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
Student is silent.
Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student: No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?
Student has no answer.
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God?
Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes Faith. And that is the problem science has. Now the student said can I ask something to you Professor.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is
only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure
cold.Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.
(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something.You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light...
But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as
the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolve from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where
the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how
do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive. .

WANT TO KNOW WHO THAT STUDENT WAS?

This is a true story, and the student was none other than DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Ex-President of India.

Think you are well, and all that is well with you. And nature will read your thoughts and make them true.

The Great Scroll: The Union of Spirit and Flesh

(read this entire synopsis, and be transformed)

"The union of spirit and flesh is the 'one thing' spoken of by Hermes Trismegistus, who was also known as Mercurius, in his Emerald Tablet; it is the aqua vitae and quintessence of Alchemy; it is the Qi of Chinese Qigong; it is the Tao of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu; it is the Mysterious Female and tenuous matter of mystic Taoism; in Hinduism it is represented by Ardhanarisvara, who is the union of Shiva and Shakti, of being and non-being; it is the Great Way into Zen stillness, the Mother Luminosity or Rainbow Body of Dzogchen Buddhism, and the enlightened body of Buddha; it is the Tree of Life, linking Heaven and Earth; it is the transfiguration of the canononical Gospels, and the 'rapture' of Revelation; it is "of movement, and of rest", as declared by Christ in the Gospel of Thomas, and "The Word become flesh", of the Gospel of John; it is the ascension to unity spoken of in the New Age movement, and it is the eternal OM of the Goddess Lakshmi; it is the foundation of the Kabbalah; it is the unified wave structure of matter, of the new physics, and dark matter of astrophysics; it is the body electric of Walt Whitman, and the body divine. In short, the union of spirit and flesh is the essential component of all progressive cosmologies, for it is the true enlightenment. Historically this 'oneness' has be called advaita (non-dual). However, the non-dualists of history seem to have overlooked the flesh as being part of that oneness, and continually declared that the body, and all matter, were merely illusion. Fortunately humanity is at a point in its evolution where the flesh can be known to be divine, and a new advaita in which emptiness and fullness are one can come into being. For some people there must be a healing of the pain caused by division in order for them to return to the original harmony of the cosmos. The use of Tibetan singing bowls and Crystal singing bowls can assist in the re-union of our harmonic oneness. This eternal unity is well documented by Masaru Emoto, and Helena Blavatsky. One of the key players in this re-union is the Green Man. In traditional Buddhist spirituality this profound unification is known as Maitreya. In Hindu lore this new vibration is known as Kalki. In Taoism this union is practiced by the circulation of the light. Ken Wilber calls it the one taste, which in Tibetan Buddhism is known as Yab-yum. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother spoke of the divine body. It is through this new, and absolute, unity and oneness that the true ascension of Sophia, our cosmic being, occurs. This is when the vibration of flesh is raised into the vibration of spirit, and the vibration of spirit descends into harmony with the flesh. Within this new and holy oneness, nothing shall be alien: matter is mind, will is consciousness, and flesh is now holy ground! A truly Pagan event: the divination of matter has occurred. This unification is the actual intent behind the Christian Eucharist and the Catholic communion; the word 'catholic' means 'universality'- or, that which is without limits. Communion is thus the integration of the body (flesh) and the blood (spirit), of Heaven and Earth, of form and formlessness, of Creator and Created, and of He and She. The Aquarian Age is upon us, and Love is the one and only Law. And, as in the Jeweled Web of Indra- in which the entire cosmos is made of hollow gems, each filled with nothing but the reflection of all other gems- we must now know and feel that separateness is an illusion and we are all actually an interdependent, multidimensional, infinite oneness. Each of us is everything. A great silence. A new vibration. An holistic ascension. This is the Aquarian Awakening into the Cosmic Christ."

Blessings on your journey.

(Respect to: http://www.spiritandflesh.com/)

Consciousness Pervades The Real And Unreal

Satsang by Ramesh S Balsekar, published in the TOI speaking tree

What is Consciousness?

Consciousness is the One without the second; the Source of everything. The totality of manifestation, and everything therein, is Consciousness Itself. All there is, is Consciousness, not aware of Itself in Its noumenal subjectivity, but perceived by Itself as phenomenal manifestation in Its objective expression. There is no individual entity as insubstantial shadow, whereas what we really and truly are, is Consciousness Itself, the formless Brahmn.

Whether the manifested universe exists or not, Consciousness is there as the subjective Absolute... There is no relationship between Consciousness and the universe. The truth is that Consciousness alone exists and is immanent in what appears as the universe.

The appearance of the universe exists in infinite Consciousness, just as the notion of distance or emptiness exists in space... Consciousness alone exists. It creates the illusion of the world appearance and the ego-sense, and perceives the illusion of diversity in what is truly pure Oneness.

Consciousness cannot but be immanent in everything that appears to exist. And yet no phenomenal manifestation can have any kind of relationship with Consciousness because a relationship can exist only between two different entities. It is in this sense that Consciousness is transcendental to the manifested universe. The universe exists in Consciousness like future waves in a calm sea — only apparently different in potentiality.

What appears within Consciousness as its own reflection — the manifestation of the universe — is not separate or different from Consciousness. While the shadow, by itself, has no existence and is therefore unreal, the shadow is not different from the substance when seen together. When there is no mind in operation, when there is no conceptualising, it is clearly known, felt experienced, that phenomenality is only the objective expression of the subjective noumenon...

God is that formless subjectivity, pure Potential, the infinite, universal Consciousness which alone exists even after the cosmic dissolution. It is only within this pure, infinite Consciousness, the Potential Plenum, that phenomenal manifestation arose as a mere reflection of that Potentiality, as a mere objective expression of that pure subjectivity.

The phenomenal objectivisation of this pure subjectivity appears and functions in our outer world of consciousness in the waking state, precisely like sentient and insentient objects seem to exist and function in the inner world of consciousness in the dream state. Nothing really happens.
The final truth, as Ramana Maharishi, Nisargadutta Maharaj and sages before them have clearly stated, is that there is neither creation nor destruction, neither birth nor death, neither destiny nor free will, neither any path nor any achievement.

Consciousness-at-rest, Consciousness-in-action, I Am. In that original state — call it reality, Absolute, or Nothingness — there is no reason to be aware of anything. So Consciousness-at-rest is not aware of Itself. It becomes aware of Itself only when this sudden feeling, ‘I Am’, arises. I Am is the impersonal sense of being aware. And that is when Consciousness-at-rest becomes Consciousness-in-movement, when Potential Energy becomes actual energy.

One paragraph that explains life

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983.
From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?
To this Arthur Ashe replied:
"The world over -- 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis,
500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam,
50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals,
when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD 'Why me?'.
And today in pain I should not be asking GOD 'Why me?' "

Death Is When You Are Out-of-body

By Soma Chakravertty (Published in TOI 13th February)

Life and death are two sides of the same coin. And the coin is Soul. When the soul assumes a physical body it is life and when it discards the physical body once the purpose — as designed by the Almighty — is completed, it is death.

Life and death are transitory phases till the soul completes its cycle of life and death. Our physical bodies are vehicles for the soul, for its journey towards the ultimate destination, uniting with the Supreme Soul. That’s salvation. Life and death are steps to reach Him.

Soul is an embodiment of Supreme Consciousness or energy flow that keeps the body alive, just the way electricity powers light, fan, television or any microfunction. We can switch off any electrical gadget; God, too, switches off this energy flow when His work is complete. The soul continues.

Life, like death, is an evolving course and evolution is a continuous process. Every beginning has an end and every end has a beginning. A plant flowers, the flower in turn sheds its petals giving way for fruits or seeds. Then the plant wilts but continues as a new plant through its fruits or seeds. Death, too, is a process in the evolution of soul. Death is just an out-ofbody experience.

Then why fear death? Fear of death arises when we identify ourselves with our physical bodies forgetting we are pure consciousness which is eternal. Senses and mind control our body. We identify pain and pleasure with the illusory material world and body. When we celebrate birthdays, in a way we are also celebrating death, as each year carries us towards a new life and conclusion of the present chapter.

Life can be compared with the phases of the moon. The waxing moon reaches its prime with the full moon and then wanes to become what we call the ‘new’ moon which is in fact is a moonless night. Like life, death too is an illusion. What is real is that your soul is eternal.

Your identity, as you are addressed, lives and dies. The real you goes on in which as in nature, there are changes of seasons. Life and death are a succession of change of scenes, till our role ends in the play scripted by the Supreme Soul.

Failure to comprehend the true nature of the Universal Self causes turmoil and torments in our life. Accept life as His wish, let His will flow. When the mind is not peaceful and the body is not stable, the struggle becomes formidable. Our endeavour should be to live in harmony with nature. As part of the Supreme Soul we have an instinct to free our soul from self-centred existence.

Suryayog is for penetrating darkness of gross materialism to find the enlightened domain of inner self. Suryayog can open our hearts and minds to let His grace filter through and show us the path for spiritual realisation as well as drive away physical afflictions and ignorance. The healing powers of the Sun’s rays and love-energy bring about balance and harmony of body, mind and soul.

Make your soul your Sakha, a constant companion, who will guide you through the ups and downs of life to the world of bliss where there is eternal peace, light and love.

Based on Swami Suryaji’s talks in Kerala. Camp on Discovery of Inner Soul, for details call +91(0)9810194026, +91(0)9249758552.

Flashes from Swami Vivekananda - 4

The longest night seems to be passing away, the sorest trouble seems to be coming to an end at last, the seeming corpse appears to be awaking, and a voice is coming to us - away back where history and even tradition fails to peep into the gloom of the past, coming down from there, reflected, as it were, from peak to peak of the infinite Himalaya of knowledge, and of love, and of work, India, this motherland of ours - a voice is coming unto us, gentle, firm, and yet unmistakable in its utterances, and is gaining volume as days pass by, and behold, the sleeper is awakening!

Like a breeze from the Himalayas, it is bringing life into the almost dead bones and muscles, the lethargy us passing away, and only the blind cannot see, or the perverted will not see, that she is awakening, this motherland of ours, from her deep long sleep.

None can resist her any more; never is she going to sleep any more; no outward powers can hold her back any more; for the infinite giant is rising to her feet!

The Art of Allison Grey

Secret Writing

Meeting his wife Alyson, a painter, who has collaborated on many of Alex Grey's projects and whom he considers a gift of god on his artistic path.

Allison's words on her website: I read a quote describing the Jewel Net of Indra. In the abode of Indra, the Hindu God of Space, there is a net that stretches infinitely in all directions. At every intersection of the net there is a jewel so highly polished and perfect that it reflects every other jewel in the net. This description related powerfully to the revelation that we had received while in our altered state. It has been my continuing intention to point to this experience in my artwork.

Chaos Order & Secret Writing

Intending to create spiritual art, I feel naturally attracted to abstraction and to a written sacred language. Every known religion reveres its holy writing. Sacred writing of all faiths, however, come into conflict through human interpretation as the written word defines the differences of philosophy and traditions, when truly the basis of all religion is unity and infinite love.

Allison's Website: http://allysongrey.com/

Alex Grey: http://www.alexgrey.com/

The seeker is he who is in search of himself

Student of Nisargadatta Maharaj Ramesh Balsekar explains the core of his Guru's teachings as "the knowledge of one's identity".



Give up all questions except one: "Who am I?" After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are. The "I am" is certain. The "I am this" is not. Struggle to find out what you are in reality. To know what you are, you must first investigate and know what you are not. Discover all that you are not--body, feelings, thoughts, time, space, this or that--nothing, concrete or abstract, which you perceive can be you. The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. The clearer you understand that on the level of mind you can be described in negative terms only, the quicker will you come to the end of your search and realize that you are the limitless being.

When I met my Guru, he told me: "You are not what you take yourself to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense 'I am', find your real Self." I obeyed him, because I trusted him. I did as he told me. All my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence. And what a difference it made, and how soon! My teacher told me to hold on to the sense 'I am' tenaciously and not to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am -- unbound.

I simply followed (my teacher's) instruction which was to focus the mind on pure being 'I am', and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the 'I am' in my mind and soon peace and joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared -- myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence. My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense 'I am' and to give attention to nothing else. I just obeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain with the sense 'I am', it may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked! Obedience is a powerful solvent of all desires and fears...

[Text Credits: nisargadatta.net Image Credits: spaceandmotion.com]

Intellect & Intelligence: Know The Difference

By Swami Parthasarathy

Published in TOI Speaking Tree (29th January)

For long there has been no awareness or endeavor by us to develop the art of thinking. As a result the lives of people are based on groundless beliefs. And their beliefs rest on some absurd superstitions. Or mere assertions which bear no proof. And now they find it difficult to question their veracity.

Following this trend humanity has reached a perilous state. We need to realise the emergent need to develop and strengthen the intellect. The process of thinking should start from an early age. Develop the art of thinking. Follow it up with the study of the impeccable truths of life. Delve deep into the truths. Accept those that appeal to logic and reason. Apply them in practical living. Adopt this procedure all through life. It will enable you to build your intellect. Albert Einstein said that intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.

We need strong intellect to exercise the right choice of action in life. We face endless trials and tribulations. The human species alone is provided with intellect to face and surmount mundane challenges. All other species, devoid of intellect, are helpless victims of the rigours of the external world. A powerful intellect helps us overpower these onslaughts. But the role of the human intellect does not end there. The intellect has the unique capacity to even transcend the world and reach the ultimate state of spiritual enlightenment.

Unaware of the need to build the intellect, we tend to entertain ourselves with merely reading others’ periodicals and publications. We indulge in the mere length of study. Just poring over pages of literature apathetic to its deeper implications. Rare indeed are those who go into the depth of study. Thus little is assimilated or absorbed by readers. People have been educated robots for generations. And have been traversing through life without knowing the meaning and purpose of it.

The world abounds in personalities with one-sided development. Intelligence and no intellect. Take the example of a scientist who is an alcoholic. His liver is damaged. He is extremely short-tempered and his blood pressure has shot up. And he is stressed, unable to face even small worldly challenges. Analyze his personality carefully.

He is a brilliant scientist with profound knowledge of his subject. He has acquired abundant intelligence but never cared to develop his intellect. His intellect has always remained weak. It lacks the strength to handle the multifarious demands of the mind. His mind craves for alcohol. His intellect is not powerful enough to control the nagging desire. So his mind raves in foul temper. His frail intellect is unable to control its ravings. And when his mind is humiliated, strained and stressed by the problems confronting it, his intelligence looks on helplessly.

On the contrary, there are luminaries possessing awesome intellects which hold their minds under perfect control. Some of them possess no academic qualification but academies are built around them. Only by developing the intellect can we save ourselves from self-destruction and evolve to spiritual perfection.