Power of Thought

The power of mind over matter is the creative power of thought.

Yad bhavam / Tad bhavathi - you become what you think. The world is a manifestation of our inner state. The situations we come across, the people we meet, the problems we confront, the life experiences we have, are all projections of what lie within. We create our reality. We are the architects of our destiny. Perceived reality eventually becomes manifested reality. So you become what you think; you find what you perceive.
Thought has immense power: It can create. Every time we perceive or harbour a thought containing a charge or emotion, the process of creation is set into motion; an arrow has been released into the ethereal planes, or the 'thoughtsphere'. Once released, similar thoughts or arrows bundle together and when the threshold is reached, the "law of reciprocal action" is set in motion.
The thought you released has now materialised into deed. If the arrow you released was judgment, you will come across judgmental people. If it was betrayal, you shall be betrayed; if it was hatred, you will be hated and so on. You have created your reality and no one is to be blamed for this. The world is reflecting your inner thoughts and feelings. You cannot be one thing inside and experience another reality outside. The two have to exist in synchronicity.
When we ask, "Why did this happen to me?" we do not perceive the relationship between thought and deed. Perhaps it is difficult because of the time lapse between the two. From thought to deed, it may take a week, a month, a year, a decade or more. Constant review of our lives will help us see the connection. The speed of reciprocation depends upon the evolution of the individual. Sometimes reaching the threshold point could take a lifetime or more. If we do not find answers even after examining our lives in the light of these cosmic principles, only the theory of reincarnation can explain the rest.
The whole process of thought materialising into deed is a karmic cycle. So our life is a series of karmic cycles. An awareness of these eternal laws gives us the power to alter the course of karma but not while in the midst of a karmic cycle. We have the power of wisdom and choice of free will to review and make changes to our life but not before the cycle comes to an end. A frog in mid-air cannot alter the course of its flight. However, on landing, it can choose the direction of its next leap. For true transformation we have to discover love, for which we need divine assistance.
Karma can be classified as that pertaining to the individual, family, nation and all of humanity. When we ask: "Why is the world so bad?" the world we see is a manifestation of our negative thoughts and emotions.
Our negative charges not only manifest as a painful situation in our life but create a negative occurrence elsewhere in the world. Every time we see, hear or read violence, we create violence somewhere. Every individual, irrespective of his nationality, is responsible for the kind of world we live in. The violent world we see is an example of the collective karma of mankind. So individual transformation can mean global transformation.
Karma is a cosmic principle and God is cosmic intelligence. Karma is independent of God. If God were to judge man's thought and action, then we are talking of reward and punishment.

A Brief about Mimamsam

Mimamsa is a Sanskrit word meaning "investigation, inquiry, discussion." The term was applied to one of the six Hindu philosophical darsanas, viewpoints. In this context Mimamsa would have fully meant "the investigation of the proper interpretation of the Vedic texts." The Mimamsa school is better known as the Purva Mimamsa school, meaning the Prior School of Investigation, because it is concerned with the earlier or prior section of the Vedas. Vedanta is alternatively called Uttara Mimamsa as it studies the later (uttara) part of the Vedas. Purva and Uttara are not only chronological terms but can be applied in a theological way with Purva as religiously basic and Uttara as religiously superior. Purva Mimamsa is sometimes called Dharma Mimamsa as it is an investigation into the dharma established by the Vedas. Another name is Karma Mimamsa because it is primarily concerned with sacrifice (karman).Dharma is a key word in Mimamsa doctrine, being used in the sense of sacred and moral duties. It also means the virtue obtained by following actions in accord with the dharma. Mimamsa claims that the scriptures are the only way of knowing about dharma, and only by following the scriptures can we attain dharma as the good.The main text is the Mimamsa Sutra of Jaimini, an ancient sage. Mimamsa deals at length with the ritual commands in the Vedas and ignores the hymns and much else. The Mimamsa Sutra describes the different sacrifices and what they are for, and elaborates the theory of apurva, which is the mysterious, transcendent power produced by a correctly performed sacrificial ritual, not through the action of gods. The results of the sacrifice often come after the death of the person performing the ritual. The Vedas are eternal and uncreated, thus precluding their divine origin. They are the expression in sacred words of the eternal, ritual, and moral order of the world. As the world is eternal, the idea of God as the ultimate cause is superfluous.

MIMAMSA : THE HISTORY

Mimamsa originated not as a school but as a successor to the ritual Sutra literature, whose purpose was to correctly interpret the Vedas. The focus was on ritual traditions found in the Vedas and also the Brahmanas. In using these texts for the sacrifices priests had met with numerous difficulties. The texts contain an imperfect and obscure description of the rituals and are interspersed continually with speculations on the mystical meaning of the separate ritual acts and the implements used. It was the function of the Mimamsa school to solve these problems by providing principles from their investigation which would give guidance in the interpretation of Vedic texts for performing the sacrificial rituals.The earliest Mimamsa text is also the most important, the Mimamsa Sutra of Jaimini, composed between 300 and 100 BCE. The first surviving commentary on Jaimini is by Sabara in the fifth or sixth century CE, who developed Jaimini's arguments and also defined dharma more exactly.The Vedic orientation of Mimamsa meant that as bhakti, devotional worship, developed it was rejected.The Mimamsa school divided into the subschools of the Prabhakaras and the Bhattas. The Prabhakaras followed their most important exponent, Prabhakara, who lived around the fifth to sixth centuries CE, while the Bhattas followed their main exponent, Kumarila Bhatta, who lived in the eighth century CE. Kumarila was influenced by the study of Buddhist logic developed by Dignaga (c. 480-540) and Dharmakirti (c. 600-670).Mimamsa was to provide the basis for Tantric linguistic or metalinguistic speculations.Only Mimamsa and Vedanta of the six Hindu philosophical schools have ongoing continuity into the present.

Thulasi - The Holy Plant

Thulasi (ocimum sanctum) is possibly the holiest plant for the Hindus. There is a story in Devi Bhagavatam about her.

Long long ago Lord Vishnu had three wives viz., Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Ganga. (I have verified this in several sources.) One day Ganga looked at Lord Vishnu with lot of passion when the other two were present. A big quarrel erupted between them. When Saraswathi attacked Ganga, Lakshmi tried to separate them. Saraswathi got infuriated and cursed Lakshmi that she should be born as a plant in earth. Ganga cursed Saraswathi, that she should become a river and Saraswathi in turn cursed Ganga that she should become an ever flowing river. Lakshmi, who was loved a lot by Lord Vishnu, told her, “Please do not worry. You would be first born as a daughter of a very pious soul called Dharma Dwaja and later marry an Asura called Shanka Chooda, who would be one of my incarnations. Later you would come and join me in Vaikunta after becoming the holy plant Thulasi.”

There was a great king called Rudra Savarni, in his clan was born a great king called Vrusha Dwaja. Vrusha Dwaja was a very great devotee of Lord Shiva. Because of this he banned worship of all other Gods except Lord Shiva in his kingdom. Due to non worship of Goddess Lakshmi during the Kanya (October-November) month, there was a great famine in his country. Apart from that Lord Surya, who was also not worshipped, cursed the king that he would become a wretch. This infuriated Lord Shiva. He sent his Trident against Lord Surya. Lord Surya, afraid of Shiva’s trident ran to his father Kashyapa Prajapathi for help. Since he was not in a position to help, both of them approached Lord Brahma. He also expressed his helplessness to protect Lord Surya and all of them together went to meet Lord Vishnu. Lord Shiva also came there. Then Lord Vishnu pointed out that since the time of Deva’s was very much different, thousands of years have passed in the earth and Vrusha Dwaja was no more. He requested Lord Shiva to take back his trident. Then Lord Vishnu told them that in the clan of Vrusha Dwaja, two kings viz., Dharma Dwaja and, Kusa Dwaja were remaining and both of them were doing extreme penance to Goddess Lakshmi so that she would bless their kingdom. Goddess Lakshmi appeared before them and blessed them saying that she would be born as daughter to them and with this their country would become fertile and rich.

Kusa dwaja married a lady called Malawathi and a daughter Veda Vathi was born to them. When Veda Vathi was doing Thapas (penance), Ravana tried to rape her. She cursed Ravana that if he touches any lady without their consent his head will beak in to thousand pieces. She then jumped in to the sacrificial fire and died. Ravana took the ashes of the fire, put them in a box and threw it in the sea. This box was swept ashore in the kingdom of Mithila and was found by Janaka. Vedavathi was inside the box in the form of a girl child. She was called Sita, who later became the wife of Lord Rama.

Dharma dwaja married a lady called Madhawi and Goddess Lakshmi was born to them as a girl child. Since she was an incomparable beauty, they called her Thula Si (Incomparable one). Thulasi grew up in to lady as soon as she was born and left her kingdom and started doing Thapas in Bhadrinath with a wish to marry Lord Vishnu. She did Thapas in the middle of fire all round her in summer and under water in winter. She did Thapas for twenty four thousand years eating only fruits. Another thirty six thousand years eating only leaves, another forty four thousand years eating only air and the last ten thousand years without eating anything. Lord Brahma, appeared before her and asked her what she wanted. She told him that she wanted to become the wife of Lord Vishnu. Lord Brahma told her, “Hey Thulasi, Lord Sudhama who was a part of Lord Krishna is now born as an Asura called Shanka Chooda. He is a part incarnation of Lord Vishnu. You would first become his wife. Later you would become the wife of Lord Narayana. While going back, a part of you would remain in this world as a holy plant called Thulasi. Any worship which does not include worship with the leaves of Thulasi, would be incomplete and would not be accepted by Gods.”

Shanka Chooda at that time had pleased Lord Brahma by his Thapas and was given a Vishnu kavacha (armour) and a boon that unless the armour is removed from his body and till his wife looses her virtue (Pathivruthya), no body can kill him. Shanka Chooda requested Thulasi to marry him and both were married. They lead an extremely happy life. This time Shanka Chooda started giving trouble to the Devas. Devas accompanied by Lord Shiva approached Lord Vishnu for a solution. Lord Vishnu gave his spear to Lord Shiva so that he can break the Vishnu Kavacha, which Shanka Chooda was wearing, when Lord Shiva and Shanka Chooda were engaged in a fierce battle and Lord Vishnu assumed the form of Shanka Chooda and went to Shanka Chooda’s palace. When they entered the bed room Thulasi started suspecting Lord Vishnu. Then Lord Vishnu took his real form and told her, “Lakshmi, you have been doing great penance to marry me. By Now Shanka Chooda would have been killed by Lord Shiva and it is time for you to leave this body and come as Lakshmi to Vaikunta and be with me. Your body which you leave here will become a great river called Gandaki and your hair would transform itself in to a holy plant Thulasi. This plant would become the holiest among plants.”

Lord Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi returned to Vaikunta.

By P. R. Ramachander

Words can't express spiritual experience

There are experiences and facts which cannot be expressed by language. There are things that cannot be put into words.

“Whereof we cannot speak thereof we must pass over in silence” is the concluding sentence of Tractatus Logico Philosophicus,the only book published during the lifetime of Ludwig Wittgenstein. When Wittgenstein said so, he had in mind problems relating to ethical, religious and aesthetical experiences. The issues and their resolutions in ethics, religion and aesthetics, unlike those in natural sciences, are transcendental. To understand such experiences one has to transcend language. As Wittgenstein puts it, “They make themselves manifest”. In Vivekachudamani, Shankara too says that Atman and Brahmn make themselves manifest, provided certain conditions are met. He says: “This Atman which is an ever-present reality manifests itself as soon as the right means of knowledge are present, and does not depend upon either place, or time, or ceremonial purity.” In the case of all spiritual experiences, saying is replaced by showing. To the one who has realised them or understood them, the sentences used to describe, or explain such experience are nothing but nonsensical. For him language is useless. Language is merely a means to reach the roof. Once he has reached the roof, he must so to speak, throw away the ladder he has used to climb up. The Rig Veda talked of the limitation of language. It can at the most be used as a tool or a ladder. It can describe our work-a-day experiences at the vyavaharik or practical plane. But the moment we try to use language to describe higher and deeper experiences and their knowledge it fails to communicate. The Rig Veda says, at the stage of brahmagyan the distinction between word and meaning disappears. Language has no place there. The criterion for judging whether our experience and its knowledge is about higher order or about mundane things is whether language is successful in expressing it or not. That is why it is said, where language goes on a holiday and there is nothing to be reflected upon, that is the highest stage of self-knowledge. The Kathopanishad says that the nature of Brahmn is such that it cannot be grasped by debates and discussion. It cannot be put in words. It can be learnt by experience alone. That is why the Kenopanishad says: “The one who declares he knows does not actually know It. On the other hand one who thinks that he does not know It, he alone knows. Thus for the claimers of knowledge It is unknown. And is known only to those who confess ignorance about It.” Rahim puts the same thus: “One cannot either convey through language or understand through it, the nature of Brahmn. One who knows It does not describe it in speech. The one who does not in reality know It, alone speaks about it”. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tries to convince Arjuna about His godly qualities. But for Arjuna they are mere words. Ultimately, when Arjuna’s queries do not end, Krishna reveals His viraat swaroopa, cosmic form. Once Arjuna sees It, he is fully convinced of the true nature of Krishna. When Ramakrishna failed to convince Vivekananda through discussion that he could see the Mother as clearly as he was seeing him, he makes the disciple experience it for himself by touching his forehead. Then there are no doubts left in Vivekananda’s mind and he is transformed. Language in both these cases fails. What succeeds is not saying, but showing.

(By: ASHOK VOHRA.The writer is professor and head of department of philosophy, Delhi University.)

Krishna the liberator lightens burdens

By Shri Shri Anandamurti

Who is bhagavan? Anyone who has qualities of aishvarya, virya, yasha, shree, jinanam and vairagya. Who is Purna Bhagavan? Only Krishna or Parthasarathi, Arjuna's charioteer. He is "Krisnastu Bhagavan svayam": God incarnate, Purna Brahmn, Purna Bhagavan. Arjuna, as per his vow, was to embrace the funeral pyre immediately after sunset if he failed to keep his promise of killing Jayadratha. Suddenly people saw sky darkening; the sun was visible no longer. The sun seemed to have set. Alas, Arjuna would die, honouring his promise. But it was Krishna who had covered the sun with His Sudarshana Chakra, His special discus, because He willed it so. Jayadratha, who was hiding all day, came out, because now he was safe; Arjuna would have to immolate himself at sunset. Arjuna did his last pranam to Krishna, moving towards the pyre. Krishna said, "Arjuna, you are a Kshatriya, so carry your Gandiva (bow and arrow) even at the time of death". Arjuna did so. When he was to jump, the sun emerged from the clouds. Krishna asked Arjuna to take aim at Jayadratha. Arjuna was able to keep his promise. To perform such a miraculous feat by going against the natural order cannot be accomplished by bhagavans. Only Parama Purusha can do this. Dozens of similar stories can be found in the Mahabharata. Maharshi Garga added: "Krishna has no parallel". While adoring a baby we say, "How lovely is this child! It is as lovely as the moon". But Krishna's beauty far exceeds that of the moon. About a very intelligent person we say, he is like Veda Vyasa, who compiled the Vedas. By comparison, Krishna was by far the most intelligent personality in existence. Krishna promised that He would free sinners from sins, so the future of humanity is unmistakably bright. No one should worry about the past. If people constantly think of their Ishta and repeat their Ishta mantra with conceptual understanding, their future is glorious. They will have no cause to lament or cry in sorrow. Only Parama Purusha can state this so emphatically. Krishna's assertion shows that He is not a god, but God Himself. He is the highest expression of spirituality. If we call Parthasarathi as bhagavan, it will bring Him down to the level of a Mahapurusha. He is Purna Bhagavan, unparalleled. Krishna says in the Gita that all must follow the path shown by Him: "Casting aside all other mental preoccupations accept Me as your last refuge. I will liberate you". Krishna assures: "I incarnate Myself in this world from age to age for the annihilation of the wicked and the protection of the virtuous". He calls upon people to follow in His footsteps. He gives a clear assurance: "If even wicked persons worship Me with a concentrated mind, I will liberate them from worldly bondages". Krishna says, "If you walk down a road you are bound to get dirty. Those who have abandoned all their previous sins and come to Me, accepting Me as their final refuge, I will free them from the bondage of sin. Their future is glorious". Only Parama Purusha can assure jivas so unequivocally for He is the veritable manifestation of divinity. "I will take away your sins". No one but Krishna, the Supreme Entity, could say this. No one has ever said this in the past, nor will anyone say it in the future. "I will liberate you from all sins. You have no cause to worry".

To Rest-An real incident from Alexander's Life

The country of Greece had many Jnanis (saints), as the people there had such spiritual inclination.

Alexander desired to meet such a great Jnani in India. His minister searched and found one such Jnani in a forest.

The Jnani was lying idle!The minister said to him, “Alexander, the great Emperor, is coming to meet you.”

The Jnani remained silent. Alexander arrived after a time and was shocked to find no response from this Jnani.

He felt insulted and roared in anger,

“You have no respect for a great Emperor that I am. You did not even get up. What are you doing?”

The Jnani, “I am just lying idle. I do not do any work!”

Alexander, “How can you be idling?”

The Jnani asked Alexander, “What do you do?”

Alexander said proudly, “I am going about conquering other countries.”

The Jnani questioned, “What would you do after that?”

Alexander, “I will conquer all the countries in the world.”

The Jnani, “What would you do after conquering the whole world?”

Alexander, “I will rest!”

The Jnani, “This is what I am doing now!”(I am doing that which you would after so much work!)

Path to self-awareness

Knowing what is right and what is wrong in your own inner consciousness is insufficient. It is not the knowing of truth that transforms a person; it is the doing of truth that has an impact on you and on the other people that you interact with. You may know that it is inappropriate to think selfishly and look out for your own best interests first, but your inner emotions may drive you to be blinded to the needs of others.
You may know that it is against your basic truth to judge another individual, but your inner emotions may cause you to look at that person and make a judgment because of the effect you are allowing them to have on your life.You may understand that all of God's creatures were created equal, but that doesn't stop you, on an emotional level, from feeling that the human race is the most important life form on the planet.
The discrepancy lies not in a lack of information, for the information is available on a world-wide basis for those who would seek it, evaluate it, and accept it as their own; the discrepancy lies in the ability to integrate Universal Law into your lifestyle. Awareness of the self does not just focus into the positive aspects of a personality, or the positive aspects of skills and talents that you brought with you into this lifetime, but into the negative as well; it is only when the positive is weighed against the negative, and the balanced perspective is used as a guidepost in integrating higher consciousness into the self that the influence becomes apparent in your relationships and in your lifestyle.
Self-actualisation can be translated to mean, making the self actual. It means there is no difference between what you think and what you do. There is no contradiction between what you tell others and how you respond yourself. It is manifesting who you are and what you believe in on a dayto-day, consistent basis. The path is a long and solitary one, and many individuals give up. It is difficult to accept what our conscious choices in the course of a specific existence have driven us to do to other people. It is hard for us to accept that we have been selfish, or resentful, or spiteful. It is hard for us to see where we have deliberately manipulated our lives so that we have control over the people and the situations and the events within it.
It is not easy to admit that we are not the positive, smiling, loving person that we prefer to see ourselves as; when, in the course of personal growth, it becomes necessary for an individual to truly, honestly evaluate how they have interacted with their fellow human beings, the drop-out rate skyrockets.
This is unfortunate, because personal growth cannot proceed — self-awareness and self-actualisation cannot be accomplished — without a true and open acknowledgement of who we used to be and how we used to live our lives, no matter how unpleasant that panorama may be. This does not mean that we need to spend years of our lives suffering regret and remorse for the wrong we have done in their lives to other people. It does mean that we need to take a reasonable amount of time to look back and to evaluate honestly what was really at play in any particular situation, where the two parties were really coming from, and where each conducted themselves with less than universal love.
We cannot change the past; we cannot undo the influence that we have upon other people by our thoughts and our feelings and our reactions, but we can learn from that experience and make a personal commitment never to treat anyone with that lack of respect again. If that person is still in our life, we can have the grace to apologise, and share our learning experience, and say, "I'm sorry that i used to be like that. I want to be like this, now, and i hope that you will help."
It is only by acknowledging our past weaknesses, and sharing our future aspirations, that we can experience the support and encouragement of others on our journey to self-actualisation. If we are not willing to admit that we have ever made a mistake, ever reacted inappropriately, ever deliberately hurt someone, then we cannot admit that we need to change, or that we need other people's help in doing so. It is, from a soul evolution perspective, self-defeating behaviour to remain in situations made from the lower consciousness that create less than fulfiling situations and relationships in our lives.

Concept of GURU

Prince or commoner, rich or poor, every individual who wishes to get empowered and enlightened benefits greatly from the guidance of an able guru. Even the gods sought out gurus for themselves. Lord Krishna's guru was Sandipanirishi. Rama and Laxmana along with many other princes learnt all skills from their spiritual master, Guru Vasishtha. When Swami Vivekananda first visited Ramakrishna Paramahansa he asked: "I have read the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures several times, i lecture and give discourses on the Gita and Ramayana. Do i still need harbour of a saint; do i still need a guru?" Ramakrishna didn't reply to Vivekananda's question. After a few days Ramakrishna called upon Vivekananda and handed him a parcel to be delivered at a nearby village a few hours away by the sea route. Early morning the boat and sailor would be ready and all he needed to do was to go to the village and deliver the parcel to the designated person. Vivekananda agreed and decided to start early. He found the boat and the sailor ready to put out to sea. Suddenly, upon sitting in the boat, Vivekananda realised that he didn't know the road to the village. He inquired of the sailor who had no clue, either. Vivekananda decided to go back to his guru to ask him the shortest way to the village. Upon this Ramakrishna said, "Narendra, this is my reply to the question you asked me when we met the first time: Today, you have the medium (the boat), you have the resource (the sailor), you have the road (the sea), you know what to do (deliver the parcel) and you also know where to go but you don't know the way. Likewise you have read all the scriptures, and you can conduct wonderful discourses on them. However, to realise the wisdom of scriptures one needs a guru, someone who has already traversed that path so that he can guide you through the journey and encourage you to not give up." In Sanskrit, 'gu' is one who dispels and 'ru' means darkness. Every individual who wishes to rise above his existing levels needs a lighthouse, a guiding star to guide him on the journey of life, who can help by dispelling darkness at every step. Lord Swaminarayan ordained Sikshapatri, containing 212 conventions of code of conduct for every human being. One of the points reads: "Even the most learned of men will become morally declined if he is not involved in devotion to God and in good acquaintance." Many seers have made various suggestions on how to embark on the spiritual path according to their perceived wisdom. Is there a universally accepted spiritual definition? How should one lead one's life which balances both the spiritual and the material? To understand all this and choose the right path for a balanced life of duty, responsibility, love, detachment and striving for higher consciousness, you need the grace and guidance of a spiritual master. As the saying goes "When the disciple is ready the Master arrives." Like a lone ship sailing in turbulent waters hunts for a safe harbour to anchorage, similarly one needs to constantly endeavour in the journey of life for a true guru, a harbour against all storms.

Spirituality Means Willingness to Change By Sri Swami Atmaswarupananda

It is not uncommon that when a speaker is speaking toan audience that he or she will get insights from whatthey said and perhaps be affected even more than theiraudience. This will normally happen if a speaker hasthought deeply upon a subject, if it’s a subject thatthey are keenly interested in. A theme like"Spirituality Means Change" is meant to be such achallenge to the speakers—so that as they prepare thetalk, or give it, they themselves realize theimplications of what they are saying and it goes invery, very deep. When this happens it cannot help butcommunicate itself to the audience. Actually, most of us are not totally satisfied withour lives. We want change. So when we hear thatspirituality means change, we can see many things inour lives that we would like to have changed.Especially we would like to have more Be good, Do goodin our lives. And, also, we would like to expand ourconsciousness beyond its present narrow boundaries—toenter into greater understanding. If that is so, why is it that we haven’t seen greaterchange in ourselves over the years? Why do most of ussometimes even feel that there has been no change, noimprovement? Perhaps the discovery we will make thisis that while there definitely is one part ofourselves that wants to change, there is another partof ourselves that simply does not want to change. Eachone will have to ponder this question for oneself,because no one else can know our interior exactly. Butwhat we may discover by the end of the week is thatthere is a surprising balance between wanting tochange and not wanting to change. Therefore, one way of looking at the themeSpirituality Means Change would be to see that in thefinal analysis spirituality means the willingness tochange. We have all tried to change things and beenunable to do so; we all have things we want to change;we’re in a stalemate. What is the solution? Beingwilling to change. That seems like a very reasonable suggestion. However,if we’re willing to change, then perhaps that impliesthat we will lose control over our lives. But, whatdid Jesus mean when He said, "Follow Me." He implied,"I know best. I know the way. Trust Me. Let go of yourcontrol of your life and put it in my hands." What didLord Krishna mean when He said, "No one crossessamsara without taking refuge in Me alone." What didHe mean when He told us to abandon all dharmas, allour ideas of right and wrong, and take refuge in Himalone. "I will save you from all sins. Don’t worry,"Lord Krishna said. He meant that our idea, our keepingcontrol of our life is what is killing us spiritually.The solution is to trust Him, take refuge in Himalone. And so, as we explore the theme Spirituality MeansChange, perhaps in the final analysis we will have tolook at the subject in terms of Spirituality MeansWillingness to Change.

Life And Its Purpose

By Sri Swami Sivananda

Have you understood the significance and the glory of human life? Have you realised what a precious gift and veritable divine power this human birth is? Do you not feel that life is meant for the fulfilment of a most sublime purpose? Truly it is meant for the attainment of a lofty goal, namely divine perfection and perennial peace and bliss. You all know quite well that life is not merely the act of breathing, digesting, eliminating, thinking, feeling, knowing, willing, etc. Life is not meant for eating, seeing, sleeping and dying miserably in the end.You truly live your life when you strive manfully for working out and driving the mind to spiritual realisation and service of humanity. A little toast, butter and jam, a little stylish clothing, a bungalow and a motor car and a round of cinemas, attendance at parties—these do not really constitute life. This is not the end of the real man who has been ‘made in the image of God.’ Mere sensual life is after all only the life of an animal. Every day you must polish it and make it look divine and be divine. Egoism, desire and sensuality—all this is ignorance; it is deep delusion. Can material comforts elevate the souls of the people? Can gross physical prosperity alone confer upon you solace, courage, peace, joy, immortality and eternal perfection in the spirit? Certainly not.O blessed children of immortality! Reflect yourself over what I say. Think deeply. Discriminate. You will realise the truth about this most transitory pain-filled life on earth. In the dizzy whirlpool of fleeting sensual pleasures and ceaseless seething desires, do not forget the true purpose of life and its real goal. No greater blunder than to think, to feel, to mistake the unreal for the real, the transitory for the permanent and to forget the most important duty in life. What greater folly, what greater tragedy is there than when a man neglects to reach the goal of life?You are helpless when you are a baby, you are helpless when disease overtakes you and when you are seriously ill and you are helpless when powerful calamities like fire, flood, earthquake, cyclone, etc., strike down mankind, you are helpless and you are miserable when you become old and senile. Why then are you so proud and eccentric? Rise above this delusion and attain your goal through discrimination and dispassion, analysis and enquiry of your real spiritual nature. Enquire ‘Who am I’ and try to realise your essential natural self. Then alone you will transcend your body and mind and realise the Self. Then alone you will be really free and ever blissful.Virtue is the way to peace and Light. Righteousness is the real secret of Self-realisation. Purity is the path to perfection. Goodness leads you to godliness. Strive for ethical perfection. Live a strictly ethical life. Adhere to truth and righteousness, even at the cost of your life. Base your life upon absolute righteousness. Cultivate noble qualities with diligence and care. Be sincere, friend! Actively practise all virtues in right earnest and with real zeal. Become an embodiment of goodness. Think no evil. Speak no evil. See no evil. Do no evil. Be good in thought, speech and action.Remember the Lord daily and every moment of your lifetime. Pray to him fervently with humility and devotion for purifying your nature and helping to attain the glorious goal of life. Live for God. Boldly face all the difficulties and tribulations of this petty earthly life. Be a man. With courage, struggle for the great attainment. Climbing a mountain, crossing a channel, bombing a city or blasting a fort, these are not the true acts of heroism and real courage. Controlling your mind and senses and overcoming anger, passion and egoism, by attaining self-mastery; these constitute the real heroism in man. How long will you be a slave of passion and the senses? Assert your real divine nature and your mastery over your lower nature and lower self. This is your most important duty.Do not identify yourself with this perishable body. Do not run after fashion and passion. Do not cultivate the habit of clinging to the glittering names and forms. Do not be ignorant, O man; and think of no delusion. Do not feel: ‘I am an Indian,’ ‘I am an American,’ ‘I am an Italian’, etc., "I am black, I am white, I am yellow"; ‘I am superior, I am inferior’; ‘I know everything, he knows nothing: I have done this, I have done that—I am a Hindu, I am a Christian, I am a Mohammedan and I am so and so, I am a Parsi, I am a Jain’, etc.All this is the worst type of ignorance. Hear the great truths declared boldly by the prophets and godmen, saints and men of real deep wisdom. Thou art neither this perishable body nor this impure mind. Thou art in truth eternal, ever free and ever perfect and ever blissful spirit Immortal. Thou art in essence Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman. Thou art imperishable. This is thy real glorious nature.Feel this, meditate over this and assert this. Realise this and attain the Wisdom of the Self. Be for ever in bliss. Life is meant for the practice of Yoga. Strive ever to attain this great goal. Practise the Yoga of saintliness. Do selfless service in a spirit of pure worship. Cultivate devotion to the Lord and worship Him daily. Purify the heart through charity and generosity. Meditate daily upon the Lord.Through ceaseless discrimination, reflection and enquiry attain the Wisdom of the Self. Love, give, purify, meditate, Realise. Be good. Do good. Be kind. Be compassionate. Enquire ‘Who am I?’ Know the self and be free. The one Lord indwells all beings. Feel his presence everywhere. See Him alone in all men and things. Give up all distinctions and differences. Feel oneness with all beings. Embrace all. Love all. Feel the bliss with all in a spirit of brotherhood and live to kindle the light of life in your heart. Be all-inclusive. Radiate pure love throughout your life. Start the good life right from today and fight from now.Cast aside all doubts, fears and misgivings. Do not hesitate, be bold; life is short. Time is fleeting. You have to be practical O man! Do not be weak in thy faith. You must have faith that can move mountains. Never forget your Immortal nature. Never forget your true purpose in life. Wake up from your long sleep of ignorance. Realise thy hidden real nature. Stop not till the goal is reached. Stop not till you attain the wisdom of the Self. O Wanderer in this quagmire of Life (Samsara)! Overcome all evil. Annihilate all lust, greed and egoism and come back to your sweet original home, the abode of eternal peace, eternal bliss and eternal sunshine. Through sincere struggle with the lower nature and the lower self and through a life of practical goodness and Yoga, attain perfection in thought, word and deed in this very life. To whatever nation you belong, to whatever race you belong, to whatever society you belong, your real duty and the most importantwork is this, the attainment of the highest spiritual perfection and bliss.May the Lord, the one God who is known variously bestow upon you all the highest bliss and perfection in this very life. May love alone prevail everywhere. May peace and prosperity be unto all living beings.

Nama Article

Excerpts from discourse of Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji

The food offerings were made to Govardana Giri instead of Indra based on Sri Krishna ’s suggestion. Sri Krishna , taking a huge form, consumed the offerings. No sooner had this been done than Indra, to whom the news about the change had reached, retaliated with thunderstorms. He used the best of his weapons to teach the gullible villagers and the blind followers of Sri Krishna a lesson. The whole village, undaunted by the repercussion, looked up to Sri Krishna who lifted the huge Govardana Giri with His little finger as one lifts a simple umbrella. He protected His people from Indra's wrath through all the seven days.

('tasmaath macharanam ghoshtam mannatham mathparigraham' - Srimad Bhagavatham - 10:25 - which means I protect those who have surrendered unto me and look up to me for their protection)

It is to be noted here that the people of Gokula had accepted Sri Krishna 's verdict to make the offerings to Govardhana, unquestioningly, and had no complaints whatsoever to the repercussions faced. Instead, they only looked up to Him in whom they had their placed everything - love and faith. It is unto such devotees that the Lord gives full protection.

Chanting the Name is surrender

What is Maya ?

What is Maya? By Sri.Sri.Muralidhara Swamiji
This story is an illustration of the question by Sage Narada to Lord Sri.Krishna on what is Maya? And how can we overcome Maya. Pl read the inspiring story.One day, God and a sage are walking across a vast desert. The Sage turns to God and asks,"O Greatest Lord, what is the secret of this maya and the appearances of this world?" God smiles and makes no reply. They continue on."Child," God finally says. "The sun is hot today, and I am thirsty. Ahead you will find a village. Go there and fetch me a cup of water."Sage sets off. Arriving at the village, he approaches the first house he sees and knocks at the door. A beautiful young woman answers. The moment Sage looks into her eyes he forgets God's command, and the reason for his mission.The woman ushers Sage into the house, where he is warmly welcomed by her family. It is as if everyone in this gentle household has been expecting him. Sage is asked to eat with the family, and then to stay the night.He gladly accepts, enjoying the family's warm hospitality, and secretly marveling at the young woman's loveliness.A week goes by, then two. Sage decides to stay on, and he soon begins to share in the household chores. After the appropriate amount of time passes he asks for the woman's hand in marriage. The family has been expecting nothing less, it turns out. Everyone is overjoyed. Sage and his young wife settle down in her family's house, where she soon bears him three children, two sons and a daughter.Years pass. When his wife's mother and father pass away, Sage takes over as head of the household. He opens a small shop in the village and it prospers. Before long he is an honored citizen of the community and a prominent member of the town council. Giving himself up to the age-old joys and sorrows of village life, Sage lives contentedly for many years.Then one evening during the monsoon season a violent storm breaks over head, and the river rises so high from the sudden rains that the village begins to flood. Sage gathers his family and leads them through the dark night toward higher ground. But the winds blow so violently and the rain pelts down with such force that one of Sage's sons is washed away.Sage reaches for the boy, and in so doing lets go of his second son. A moment later a gales wind tears his daughter from his arms. Then his beloved wife is washed away into the roaring darkness.Sage wails helplessly and claws at the sky. But his cries are drowned by a towering wave that rises from the depths of the terrible night and washes him headlong into the river.All goes black. Many hours pass; perhaps days. Slowly, painfully, Sage comes to his senses, only to discover that he has been washed onto a sandbank far down the river. It is daytime now, and the storm has passed. But there is no sign of his family anywhere, nor, for that matter, of any living creature.For a long time Sage remains lying on the sand almost mad with sorrow and abandonment. Bits of wreckage float past him in the river. The smell of death is on the wind.Everything has been taken from him now; all things life-giving and precious have disappeared into the swirling waters. There is little to do, it seems, but weep.Then, suddenly, Sage hears a voice behind him that makes the blood stop in his veins. "Child," the voice asks, "where is my cup of water?" Sage turns and sees God standing at his side. The river vanishes, and once again he and God are alone in the empty desert. "Where is my water?" God asks again. "I have been waiting for you to bring it now for several minutes."Sage throws himself at his Lord's feet and begs for forgiveness. "I forgot!" Sage cries again and again."I forgot what you asked of me, Great Lord! Forgive me!"God smiles and says, "Now do you understand the power of Maya , and the appearances of this world?"

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare