Oh Sai Baba, we wave lights before you, the bestower of happiness to the Jivas. Give us - Your servants and devotees rest under the dust of your Feet, burning desires. Oh Kind-hearted, Your power is such! meditation on Your name removes our fear of the Sansar. Oh God of Gods, I pray that, let my treasure be the service of Your Feet. Feed Madhav (the composer of this arati) with happiness as the cloud feeds the Chatak bird with pure water, and thus keep up Your Word.
May Nanda's son, whose face defeats the autumn moon, who is an ocean of playfulness and handsomeness, who holds a toy ball in his hand, who is the life-friend of the gopis, whose transcendental form is now covered with dust, whose flute is tucked under his arm, and whose words are obeyed by the cows, protect me.
[ Verse 2 "Nava Jaladhara Varnam" from "Stavamala" by Rupa Goswami ]
I am becoming the woman I've wanted,
grey at the temples,
soft body, delighted,
cracked up by life
with a laugh that's known bitter
but, past it, got better,
knows she's a survivor-
that whatever comes,
she can outlast it.
I am becoming a deep
weathered basket.
I am becoming the woman I've longed for,
the motherly lover
with arms strong and tender,
the growing daughter
who blushes surprises.
I am becoming full moons
and sunrises.
I find her becoming,
this woman I've wanted,
who knows she'll encompass,
who knows she's sufficient,
knows where she's going
and travels with passion.
Who remembers she's precious,
but knows she's not scarce-
who knows she is plenty,
plenty to share.
“When a woman is frozen of feeling, when she can no longer feel herself, when her blood, her passion, no longer reach the extremities of her psyche, when she is desperate; then a fantasy life is far more pleasurable than anything else she can set her sights upon. Her little match lights, because they have no wood to burn, instead burn up the psyche as though it were a big dry log. The psyche begins to play tricks on itself; it lives now in the fantasy fire of all yearning fulfilled. This kind of fantasizing is like a lie: If you tell it often enough, you begin to believe it.” ― Clarissa Pinkola Estés
I want to leave, to go somewhere where I should be really in my place, where I would fit in . . . but my place is nowhere; I am unwanted
Upon singing the holy name of Govinda, a host of ecstasies arose within me... and I saw Lord Syamasundar, the best of dancing actors, standing on the banks of the Yamuna in the company of the daughter of Maharaja Vrsabhanu. He was playing His flute with great delight at the base of a kadamba tree.Seeing the treasured Divine Couple of Vraja, my mind became unsteady and I lost consciousness. I do not know for how long I was unconscious, but when I awoke that vision of Radha and Krsna was no longer present.
[ from "Gitavali" by Bhaktivinoda Thakura ]
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev quotes
1) Life is far beyond meaning, Life is beyond meaning and that’s why it is so beautiful
2) When you wanting to know some thing is so Intense that you are willing to die for it, then knowing is not far away.
3)If you are rooted in reality there will be no fear.
4)Intelligence is like a flashlight. If you flash it, it’ll just show you what’s in front. Knowledge is like a projector; if you switch it on, it projects its own story. Now, if you came with a flashlight and you flash it on these paintings here, you will see the paintings just the way they are. If you came with the projector, which also has light in it, and you turned it on; you don’t see the paintings. You will see something else, maybe Jackie Chan fighting. That’s the difference between knowledge and intelligence.
5)Religions of the world are not bout one man’s belief against another, but an opportunity for all humans to each to their common ultimate source.
6)The fear is simply because you are not living with life, You are living in your mind.
7)Whatever is your highest, you just contemplate upon that. Your inner and outer purity will happen naturally.
8)Being with a Master is never comfortable, because He will break all your limitations, all your ideologies.
9)Man needs entertainment simply to hide his madness. If he was perfectly sane, he would not need entertainment. He could just sit and watch this bamboo grow. He does not really need entertainment
10)Till something becomes a reality in our life, if we talk about it, it amounts to lying. The whole world is lying to themselves and to everybody about God.
11)People have come to the conclusion that body means pain. And yet, just the right food, practices and a little change in attitude, and this body becomes a miracle.
12)Once the stillness comes into your life, then the mind also becomes absolutely still. When your mind becomes still, your intelligence explodes.
13)You can be deeply involved with everything, but still not be identified with it any more.
14)When your happiness is dependant upon what is happening outside of you, constantly you live as a slave to the external situation.
15)If you are truly a seeker of Truth, Truth can not hide from you. It is in the Lap of truth that you have happened. Most people who claim to be seekers are only seeking security, solace, or the fulfillment of their desires.
16)The moment you make a conclusion, as to what should be at the other end, you are no more a seeker you are a vested interest.
17)Do not try to live by morals, ethics, slogans. These are all very poor substitutes for awareness. Be couscious and aware, you will see life the way it is.
18) You’re just an imitation of what is around you, it’s just that you don’t imitate one person; you take bits and pieces of hundred people and make yourself.
19)Being with a Master is never comfortable, because He will break all your limitations, all your ideologies.
20)If you can joyfully accept the consequence, do what you want; if it is that you will cry when the consequence comes, better be conscious about what you do.
21)Just Desire the Hightest in Life. All Your Passions, direct them to the Highest. Even if you get Angry, direct it only towards Shiva. Even with your Passion, that’s the way to do it. Every bit of energy that you have, you expend it by making it into desire, passion, fear, anger, and many other things. May be these emotions are not in your hands for now, but channeling them in one direction is in your hands.
22)May be when you are angry then you cannot be loving, you cant suddenly turn your anger into love, but the anger itself can be directed.
23)A humanity which has done nothing for its inner well being – how can it create external well being? How do you expect it to work?
24)Whenever you are happy, the real source of happiness is within you. It bubbles up. It is just that you are looking for an external stimulus to make you happy.
25)A genuine seeker, a person who develops an urge within, will always find his Guru. He may find it in a man, in a woman, or he may find it even in a rock. He will definitely find it somewhere, there is no doubt about it.
26)If a man is intelligent everything that happens is an opportunity; if a man is stupid everything that happens is a disaster.
27)The guru is someone who continuously punctures your ego, yet is your friend.
28)If you really want better situations to live in for yourself and everybody, you must stop playing petty politics within yourself and around yourself.
29)Only when you truly start seeking what is beyond the physical body, the spiritual processes open up for you.
30)Positive thinking is about trying to escape reality. It’s about wanting to look at one side of life, and missing out on another. You may ignore the other, but the other will not ignore you. Right now, you can choose to ignore a black cloud in the sky, but it’s not going to ignore you.
31)When any being calls or really yearns, the existence answers. If the thirst within you is strong enough, God always answers.
32)Higher dimensions of Awareness means Higher dimensions of energy.
33)When you just look at the long term span of this creation, you are just a tiny happening. But you think too much of yourself, that is the biggest problem.
34)If you want to know the joy of activity, first and foremost thing is that you must know how to give yourself to activity with total abandon.
35)The world is trying to do so many things. We’re trying to go to the moon, to Mars, but, fundamentally, I feel the most important thing is human consciousness, the quality of life here. How happy we are here simply depends on how we are within ourselves.
36)Fundamentally, the only thing you can give is yourself.
37)Blissfulness is not a rare visitor in your life, blissfulness is your constant companion, because that is the nature of your being.
38)Spirituality is about acting out of your inner humanity, if you go deeper, you’ll be acting out of inner divinity.
39)As many colors of the rainbow are an outcome of one pure light, many religions of the world are an expression of the same divine source.
40)The word ‘guru’ means dispeller of darkness.
41)What you know as the highest, you just seek that. It doesn’t matter whether it is going to happen or not going to happen, simply living with the vision itself is very elevating, is itself very liberating, is itself a very joyous process for any person.
42)Every human being is a unique human being.
43)When your Sadhana (Spiritual Practice) is based on hope and fear, you won’t attain to anything.
44)Do your Sadhana (Spiritual Practice) joyfully, not with the hope of making it or the fear of not making it. Just do it joyfully.
45)You are not using your intelligence to reach the peak of your consciousness, to become peaceful and loving. You are using your intelligence to drive yourself crazy.
46)You know everything about the world, but you do not know anything about yourself. This is a ridiculous way to live.
47)Spiritual process does not mean looking up, or looking down, or looking around. It is about looking inward.
48)When it is no more about you, you can live your life and do your life in total abandon; because there is nothing to gain nothing to lose.
49)You being too involved with your mind and emotion means you are too enamored with your own creation, you have no time for the creation of the creator.
50)Because you do not know how to keep your systems in balance, because you can’t handle reality, you succumb to positive thinking. You want to skip the negative and just think positive. What you pursue will not be the strongest point in you. What you try to avoid becomes the basis of your consciousness. Positive thinking can have some psychological relevance, but no existential relevance whatsoever.
51)If you look at the organization, capability and the certainty with which a simple ant is conducting its life, you will see you are quite stupid.
52)Wanting to be special is a sickness, it is taking a huge toll on life. In trying to be special, people are doing all kinds of ridiculous things.
53)The greatest crime that you can do to humanity is to teach your children that suffering is a part of their life. You have taken away the possibility of them being joyous human beings.
54)In relinquishing the limited, the unlimited becomes yours, But the price is, what is YOU does not exist anymore.
55)When who you are and what you are is not decided by any external forces, then you are in dignity.
56)If you are not half hearted, if you are a full blooded involvement with everything that you are doing you will see every simple thing is a miracle.
57)When you become meditative, you will see, your intellectual capabilities will increase many times more than what it is right now. Not because meditation makes you intelligent, but because meditation clears up the mess, the muck that’s gathered on the glass of the flashlight. As your meditation deepens, it just clears up the muck more and more and the flashlight becomes more and more powerful. It shows you things more and more clearly.
58)Whether we are talking about Kundalini or simple plain energy as in the English language, it’s basically about raising ourselves to a higher level of energy. What you call ‘life’ itself is energy. So, if you want to function on a higher plane of life, you need a higher level, a higher quality of energy.
59)The contradiction within a human being is simply because he is trying to mentally figure out things that he has not experienced.
60)Only when people begin to thing beyond their own wellbeing, something beautiful is possible in the society.
61)Exploration is what is needed – not ideology. Ideology means you have made your summary of life. If life can be summed up, it is not worth living.
62)If you are aware that you are a nobody and you act out your role, this is enlightenment.
63)Only when you are truly happy, you can be concerned about somebody. When you are unhappy you are only concerned about yourself.
64)Once you know how to be aware, once the neccessary awareness – to be away from your own body, to be away from your own mind – has come to you, don’t even bother about your karmas. Just see how to deepen this awareness.
65)We know how to go to the moon, but the tragedy is that we still do not know how to live on planet earth.
66)By fixing the outside, life can become comfortable and convenient. But human beings will not know well being unless they fix their interiority.
67)Once you have a thinking mind, a questioning mind, or a doubting mind, you should not talk about devotion. It just leads to enormous deception.
68)Confidence can do things for you but confidence without clarity is a big disaster on the planet.
69)The sign of intelligence is that you are constantly wondering. Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life.
70)Every human being is capable of living absolutely blissfully within himself. They have denied themselves this because they never looked at themselves.
71)What you can do and what you cannot do outside is always a question of capability. But when it comes to the inside it is just a question of willingness.
72)If you can bring love into your breath, into your step, into every act that you do, not towards anybody or anything; if you can just bring the longing to merge with everything around you, then creation will lead you on to the creator.
73)The past experience of life is ruling you from within. Unless you break this karmic grip there is no such thing as freedom in thought and action.
74)Essence of spirituality is that we are constantly aware of the oneness of who we are, at the same time we celebrate the uniqueness of the individual.
75)If you are not seeing life the way it is, you can only live by accident. You are a potential calamity and fear and anxiety is very natural.
76)Anything that does not enhance the possibility of life is of no consequence to the creation, or to the creator.
77)If you really pay attention to life, life will blossom within you. If you do not pay attention, you are somewhere else, then life could go wrong.
78)If you know that you are stupid, you wont attach too much importance to your thought. You will start looking at life and your intelligence will flower.
79)You claim that you love somebody, but if they dont fulfill your needs, you wont love them. I dont call this love, I call this mutual benefit scheme.
80)Everybody is making Choices; even their compulsions are their choices. Choices made in unawareness are compulsions. Let us say you get angry right now. It is your choice, actually, to be angry. Somewhere, you believe that’s the way to handle the situation, but the choice is made in such unawareness that is is a compulsion; it’s happening compulsively on a different level. So you are living by choice, but choices are made with out awareness – unconscious choices.
81)If you cultivate your body, mind, emotion and energy in the right direction, mediation will happen. It is not something that you do, it is a quality.
82)Everyday, twice a day if you are reminded that you will also die, then naturally you will move towards knowing higher dimensions of perception.
83)If your experience of life transcends the limitations of the physical, only then we can say you are spiritual.
84)Only if one makes himself available to higher and higher possibilies, then Grace can descend and do something that you yourself could never do.
85)If you have any intention of knowing or touching the ultimate in this life, then giving yourself in parts is no good.
86)A devotee has no other goal except to dissolve into his object of devotion. But you have your own personal agenda and still you call yourself a devotee.
87)Everybody has their own understanding, ideas, opinions of the world. They know these are not worth anything, yet they are not willing to keep it down.
88)Your desires and passions are just like this. If you try and fight with them, if you chop them, they will spill blood, and with every drop, a hundred or a thousand will come up. There is no point fighting them. Just educate your passions, educate your desires to flow in the right direction, that is all. You can never fight them. Fighting them will be futile, it will be a waste of life.
89)With every single action, consciously or unconsciously, people are trying to be happy. So one way, in this level of living, in this dimension of existence, happiness is the goal of everything that man is doing. But if you look at life, we have done so much in this world for our happiness. But all we have ended up with is creating more and more comfort and convenience-but not happiness.
90)Without working on human consciousness, trying to change social or national or global realities means there is no serious intention.
91)When we say everything is maya or illusion, maya does not mean it does not exist, maya simply means that you are not seeing it the way it is.
92)If YOU are not there, enlightenment is instantaneous. If YOU are there, you have to walk till you wear out.
93)In reality there is only Now. If you know how to handle this moment you know how to handle the whole eternity
94) I am not talking about you being a spectator, I am talking about involvement. I am talking about involving yourself into life in such a way that you dissolve into it.
Harmony in the world will happen only when man is truly harmonious within himself
95) Leadership is not about dominance, leadership is a certain sacrifice.
96) If you know how to keep yourself pleasant within, irrespective of what is happening around you, Ultimate Liberation cannot be denied to you
97)The question is not what you do or what you do not do - how you do it is what changes your life.
98) Only when man is willing to change himself, there can be a true revolution.
99) Any method to heighten the presence of that which is the source of creation within you, is yoga.
100) The physical needs logic. For that which is beyond the physical, logic is of no use.
101) It is only when you become aware of death that you want to know what life is about. Once you come to terms with death and you are conscious that you will die, you will want to make every moment of your life as beautiful as possible.
102)Inward is not a direction. Inward is a dimension.
103)Being spiritual does not mean being dead serious. If you allow life to happen within you exuberantly, unbridled, you will touch the spirit.
104) Being a seeker means no matter what the Vedas said, what Krishna or Shiva said, you have to know the truth in your own experience.
105) There is no such thing as right and wrong in life. The question is, are your actions all-inclusive and appropriate.
106)Look clearly and deeply - beyond all compulsions of body and mind - what it is that you really want to do, and just do it.
107) If you constantly remember that you are mortal, you will walk gently and sensibly upon this planet
108) To be spiritual means to be an emperor within yourself. This is the only way to be
109) Life has come from a very beautiful source. If you remain in touch with that source, everything about you will be beautiful.
110) A spiritual process is not a divorce from life. It is an irrevocable love affair with life
111) The Moment you identify something as good or bad, you're just dividing the world
112) When your mind is full of assumptions, conclusions, and beliefs, it has no penetration, it just repeats past impressions
113) Money can only make your surroundings pleasant. It cannot
create inner pleasantness.
114) Do not think about money, think about living well. The most
important aspect of living well is that you are doing what you really
care about.
115) If you live your life burning for the highest possibility, in that burning itself, there is liberation.
116)If you want everyone to fall in love with you, the first thing is,
you must fall in love with all of them.
117) Spiritual process is not about chanting a mantra or closing
your eyes, spiritual process is essentially about enhancing
your perception.
118)Whenever a child enters people's lives, most people tend to think it is time to teach. No. When a child enters your life, it is time to learn because between you and your child, who is more joyful? - The child.
119) You cannot be receptive when you are too full of yourself.
The less you are, the more you receive. The more you are, the
less you receive.
120) Do not try to fix whatever comes in your life. Fix yourself in
such a way that whatever comes, you will be fine
121) Everything in this cosmos is happening wonderfully well. But
just one nasty little thought coming up in your head is
enough to make it a bad day.
122)if you go on thinking about life, there will be no life left in you. The
only way is to live it, to experience it, and to enhance your
perception of life.
123)Confusion is better than stupid conclusions. In confusion, there is still a possibility. In stupid conclusion, there is no possibility.
124) The only reason why you are unhappy is because you are trying to be happy.
125)Most people only experience peace and transcendence when they are dead. But in the yogic tradition, the word "samadhi" is used to describe a state in which one has transcended the limitations of the body and mind, and this happens in life
126) The relationship between the people of India and Japan is not limited to mere trade and commerce. I can proudly say that the earliest Indian export to Japan was Buddha’s teachings, which are still much valued.
127) Whether god or somebody else loves you does not make a difference for you. If you are loving, it makes your life very sweet.
128)When you live for everyone, everyone takes care of you
129 )When one is overfed and another one is hungry, I call that a disaster.
Creating Harmony in Our Relationships With Others
Excerpts from the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda
The greatest of all happiness, next to divine happiness, is to be at peace with one’s immediate relations, those with whom one must live every day in the year. When people try to handle the extremely complicated machinery of human feelings without any training whatsoever, the consequent results are often disastrous. Very few persons realize that most of our happiness lies in the art of understanding the law of human behavior. That is why so many people are often “in hot water” with their friends, and, worse yet, at constant war with their own best beloved ones at home.
The basic law of right human behavior is self-reform....Whenever any trouble occurs with our friends or dear ones, we should inwardly lay the blame on ourselves for getting into an unpleasant situation and then try to get out of it as fast and as graciously as we can. It is fruitless to increase the trouble by loudly, unkindly, discourteously blaming others, even though we find that they are to blame. We can teach quick-tempered dear ones to mend their faults a hundred times better by setting a good example than we can by harsh or self-righteous words.
Most of the time, people talk and act from their own viewpoint. They seldom see, or even try to see, the other person’s side. If, lacking understanding, you enter into a fight with someone, remember that each of you is as much to blame as the other, regardless of which one started the argument. “Fools argue; wise men discuss.”
To have calm feeling doesn’t mean that you always smile and agree with everyone no matter what they say — that you regard truth but don’t want to annoy anybody with it. This is going to the extreme. Those who try in this way to please everyone, with the desire of getting praise for their good nature, do not necessarily have control of feeling....Whoever has control of feeling follows truth, shares that truth wherever he can, and avoids annoying unnecessarily anyone who would not be receptive anyway. He knows when to speak and when to be silent, but he never compromises his own ideals and inner peace. Such a man is a force for great good in this world.
We should make ourselves attractive by wearing the fine garment of genuinely courteous language. We should first of all be courteous to our immediate relatives. When one can do that, he will be habitually kind to all people. Real family happiness has its foundation on the altar of understanding and kind words. It is not necessary to agree on everything in order to show kindness. Calm silence, sincerity, and courteous words, whether one is agreeing or disagreeing with others, mark the person who knows how to behave.
If you want to be loved, start loving others who need your love....If you want others to sympathize with you, start showing sympathy to those around you. If you want to be respected, you must learn to be respectful to everyone, both young and old....Whatever you want others to be, first be that yourself; then you will find others responding in like manner to you.
Spiritual Principles of Marriage
========●=========●=====
Two persons who unite their lives to help each other toward divine realization are founding their marriage on the right basis: unconditional friendship.
To develop pure and unconditional love between husband and wife, parent and child, friend and friend, self and all, is the lesson we have come on earth to learn.
True marriage is a laboratory in which poisons of selfishness, bad temper, and bad behavior may be poured into the test tube of patience and neutralized and changed by the catalytic power of love and constant effort to behave nobly.
If there is a habit or quality in your mate that rouses unlovely traits in your disposition, you should realize the purpose of this circumstance: to bring to the surface those poisons hidden within you so that you may eliminate them and thus purify your nature.
The greatest thing a husband or wife can wish for the spouse is spirituality; for soul unfoldment brings out the divine qualities of understanding, patience, thoughtfulness, love. But each should remember that the desire for spiritual growth cannot be forced on the other. Live love yourself, and your goodness will inspire all your loved ones.
When the husband serves the wife, and she serves him, each with the desire to see the other happy, Christ Consciousness — God’s loving Cosmic Intelligence that permeates every atom of creation — has begun to express itself through their consciousness.
When two people feel an unconditional attraction for each other, and are ready to sacrifice for one another, they are truly in love.
To wish for perfection for the loved one, and to feel pure joy in thinking of that soul, is divine love; and that is the love of true friendship.
Meditate together every morning, and especially at night....Have a little family altar where both husband and wife, and children, gather to offer deep devotion unto God and unite their souls forever in ever-joyous Cosmic Consciousness....The more you meditate together, the deeper your love for one another will grow.
Scientific Healing Affirmations
●=======●========●======●
“I relax and cast aside all mental burdens, allowing God to express through me His perfect love, peace, and wisdom.”
— Paramahansa Yogananda
Decades before the mainstream discovered the power of affirmation in healing the mind and the body, Paramahansa Yogananda was teaching rapt audiences around the country how to directly access and apply the remarkable healing powers hidden within every human being. He introduced this powerful healing practice to American audiences during his first cross-country speaking tour in 1924. Throughout the 1930s and ’40s, the great teacher would nearly always open or conclude his inspirational services at the SRF temples he had founded by leading those present in an affirmation for healing, or for awakening will power or devotion or perception of the presence of God. Today hundreds of thousands of people around the world have benefited from the practice of his techniques of scientific healing affirmations.
In his pioneering book, Scientific Healing Affirmations, Paramahansaji said:
“Words saturated with sincerity, conviction, faith, and intuition are like highly explosive vibration bombs, which, when set off, shatter the rocks of difficulties and create the change desired....Sincere words or affirmations repeated understandingly, feelingly, and willingly are sure to move the Omnipresent Cosmic Vibratory Force to render aid in your difficulty. Appeal to that Power with infinite confidence, casting out all doubt; otherwise the arrow of your attention will be deflected from its mark.
“After you have sown in the soil of Cosmic Consciousness your vibratory prayer-seed, do not pluck it out frequently to see whether or not it has germinated. Give the divine forces a chance to work uninterruptedly.”
— Paramahansa Yogananda
Scientific Healing Affirmations
“As one uses different affirmations, his attitude of mind should change; for example, will affirmations should be accompanied by strong determination; feeling affirmations by devotion; reason affirmations by clear understanding. When healing others, select an affirmation that is suitable to the conative, imaginative, emotional, or thoughtful temperament of your patient. In all affirmations intensity of attention comes first, but continuity and repetition mean a great deal, too. Impregnate your affirmations with devotion, will, and faith, intensely and repeatedly, unmindful of the results, which will come naturally as the fruit of your labors.”
— Paramahansa Yogananda
Scientific Healing Affirmations
Paramahansa Yogananda reveals the hidden laws for harnessing the power of concentrated thought — not only for physical healing, but to overcome all obstacles and create all-around success in our lives. Included are comprehensive instructions and a wide variety of affirmations for healing the body, developing confidence, awakening wisdom, curing bad habits, and much more.
Affirmation Instructions
Select an Affirmation
It is most effective to practice affirmations immediately after awakening in the morning or just before going to sleep at night. Before beginning an affirmation, it is important to sit in the correct meditation posture, on a chair or firm surface. The spine should be held erect, and the eyes closed, concentrating on the medulla oblongata at the back of the neck. Free the mind from restless thoughts and worries.
Select one of the following affirmations and repeat all of it, first loudly, then softly and more slowly, until your voice becomes a whisper. Then gradually affirm it mentally only until you feel that you have attained deep, unbroken concentration. As you experience an increasing peace make the effort to deepen your concentration that you may enter into the superconscious realm and manifest your affirmations.
“I am submerged in eternal light. It permeates every particle of my being.
I am living in that light. The Divine Spirit fills me within and without.”
“God is within and around me, protecting me; so I will banish
the fear that shuts out His guiding light.”
“Perfect Father, Thy light is flowing through Christ, through the saints of all religions, through the masters of India, and through me. This divine light is present in all my body parts.
I am well.”
“I know that God’s power is limitless; and as I am made in His image,
I, too, have the strength to overcome all obstacles.”
“I relax and cast aside all mental burdens, allowing God to express
through me His perfect love, peace, and wisdom.”
“Teach me to feel that I am enveloped always in the aureole of Thine all-protecting omnipresence, in birth, in sorrow, in joy, in activity,
in meditation, in ignorance, in trials, in death,
and in final emancipation.”
“Thy light of goodness and Thy protective power are ever shining through me. I saw them not, because my eyes of wisdom were closed. Now Thy touch of peace has opened my eyes; Thy goodness and unfailing protection are flowing through me.”
“My Heavenly Father, Thou art Love, and I am made in Thine image.
I am the cosmic sphere of Love in which I behold all planets, all stars, all beings,
all creation as glimmering lights. I am the Love that illumines the whole universe.”
“I will help weeping ones to smile, by smiling myself, even when it is difficult.”
“I will radiate love and goodwill to others, that I may open a
channel for God’s love to come to all.”
[contents and photo courtesy Google]
Introduction
The idea of fasting is still tied to the spiritual and religious practices. When we first heard about fasting, we immediately relate the term to the Catholics who practice this during Lent or to Muslims during Ramadan. In ancient times when people fasted they believed that doing so would improve their clarity of thought, and bring spiritual enlightenment and inspiration. In fact many people who fast relay a feeling of being more removed from the physical and a more spiritually focussed consciousness. It should be reflected however, that having strong values is integral to this – as mental attitude is huge part of ones sense of the world.
Most would consider fasting as a spiritual enlightenment. But what is really behind fasting that those who practice it have an aura of well contentment and happiness. Those who practice them don’t seem to have the effect of the environment on their physical outlook.
A few of us have tried fasting but not everyone understands its concept and benefits therefore the more we need to know on the subject to fully grasp its benefits.
For those who already are in fasting, you’re further given the insights of fasting. The benefits to be fully enjoyed, one must accompany it with healthy lifestyle and healthy eating habits. Fasting is useless if we don’t have the two to accompany it with the two.
As you read on, you will find a lot of information on the topic. And you near the end of this, you can be assured that you will learn more than what you expect. Then perhaps see that change you always wanted.
Take note however that results will vary with each person as each and every one of us response differently. Two people can be subjected to the same conditions and their reactions can be quite different. So never compare your results with another, what is important is that you feel that positive change in your body, mind and soul.
“In my opinion, the greatest discovery by modern man is the power to rejuvenate himself physically, mentally, and spiritually with Rational Fasting.”
[Lose Weight Fasting by Paul Bragg, ND, PhD]
=========================
What is Fasting?
Fasting is the abstaining from ALL FOOD. Fasting means taking in nothing but WATER. NO JUICE, NO FRUIT, NO TEAS, NOTHING BUT WATER.
Often people will make the comment, "I'm fasting, I just have my coffee in the morning and a sandwich in the afternoon." That is not fasting. Fasting in its strictest sense is the total abstinence from anything considered food, and that's anything but water. There are modified fasts such as a juice fast, i.e., consuming nothing but fruit and/or vegetable juices or a fruit fast, consuming nothing but raw fruits.
There are other such fasts that abstain from everything EXCEPT the item that precedes the word "fast". For example, a grapefruit fast, is abstaining from everything except grapefruits. Many health enthusiasts, for particular reasons, may place individuals on particular types of fasts restricting them to one or a group of foods (usually fruits or teas), for healing purposes.
Many ask, "If I'm on a fast can I have a little piece of fruit, or a little piece of bread?" Or a little piece of "you fill in the blank." If it isn't water, the answer is no! A true fast is NOTHING BUT WATER and more specifically, pure water.
<==============>
WHY FAST?
(The Spiritual)
In a spiritual setting the emphasis is often on the denial of the self and the carnal desires to allow us to become more sensitive to God. Food is man's greatest carnal impulse. Many believe that sex is the strongest fleshly drive, but it is not. We may think ego is the strongest of the fleshly impulses, but it is not. From the day we are born, the desire for food reigns dominant.
As newborn infants we first seek the love, comfort and warmth of our mothers, then we cry for food. The sex drive does not develop until the onset of puberty, our teenage years. Sex is the last drive to arrive and the first one to leave. The food drive is present from the beginning to the end, it never leaves, it never disappears. The latest U.S. government study shows that over 60% of all Americans are overweight.
We eat too much. Gluttony, the lack of discipline of the appetite, causes us to look old prematurely, to feel old before we get old and to suffer many different diseases.
All the major killer diseases of today, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, kidney failure, prematurely kill the majority of Americans and their sources are traceable to our lifestyles and diets. Science has found that it's just as important that we don't overeat, as it is that we eat properly.
Let me repeat that - studies have found that it's as important that we not eat to excess, as it is that we eat properly.
Fasting allows us to gain control of the appetite. When you can develop the discipline to fast, you automatically develop the discipline not to overeat. When you can control your strongest carnal appetite (the desire for food), you can then gain control of the other carnal appetites.
There are many different spiritual reasons why people or groups fast. Sometimes it is to show unity for a cause such as a fast against war, or injustice, or a host of other social ills. Fasting in a group allows you to achieve something that you would never achieve on your own. You can draw on the strength, the determination, the support, and the prayers of the group. Some fast at preset intervals, once per week, once per month, one month per year, etc. Some fast when the social or spiritual need arises. Some fast because the minister said so.
There are many different reasons to fast.
It is important to remember when you fast for spiritual reasons:
FASTING DOES NOT CHANGE GOD!
FASTING CHANGES YOU
======≈==≈========≈======
WHY FAST?
The Physical
≈≈≈≈=============≈≈≈≈≈
Anything that God ordains has benefits for us here on earth. Yes, fasting has great spiritual benefits but there are very real and tangible rewards in the flesh, or shall I say for our flesh. Fasting, when properly done, can provide great benefits for our physical bodies.
Americans are sick. Everything from Arthritis to Zits, you name it, we've got it. The church is no exception. Ever been to a church when a well-known healer comes to visit? Have you ever noticed how long the healing line is? Come back to that church a year later and look at the line. It will be just as long, with many of the same people in it.
God did not intend for us to be sick. He did not originally intend for us to be healed because we should not have been sick in the first place. You only need healing if you are sick. Man was cast out of the Garden of Eden, cast out of perfect harmony, cast out of a perfect life, and cast out of perfect health when he (or they) ate the wrong thing. We've been eating the wrong things ever since then.
When we eat the wrong things, we eventually get sick, or at least do not have the health and vitality that we should possess. Proper fasting allows God through nature to heal the body. Look at nature for a minute.
If you have a cat or a dog, think about their behavior. If you do not have a cat or dog, then ask someone who does and they will verify what I'm going to tell you. What happens when a cat or a dog gets sick? What do they eat?
Think about this VERY CAREFULLY!
What do they eat when they are sick? Is it PUPPY CHOW®? NINE LIVES®? GRAVY TRAIN®? PUSS 'N BOOTS®? Well, what do they eat? Anyone that has a cat or dog can tell you instantly what they eat when they are sick.
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
NO ANIMAL IN NATURE EATS FOOD WHEN IT IS SICK,
EXCEPT YOU-KNOW-WHO!
Animals instinctively, automatically know what is best for them and they FAST! Man is the only creation on the earth that will force himself to eat when he is sick, all of God's other creations know better. They fast.
Man possesses a higher intelligence and is in an entirely different category than the other animals but our bodies work remarkably similar. That is why scientific researchers can test pre-market products on animals. They know the animals' bodies react just as ours do. What hurts their bodies hurts ours and what heals their bodies also heals ours.
I am not advocating animal testing but the connection is undeniable. Their bodies respond similarly to ours.
The same principles of basic health apply. The same foods affect different species of animals with similar metabolic processes and digestive systems in the same way. What causes animals (with similar metabolic processes and digestive systems to ours) to get sick also causes us to get sick. What causes them to get well, causes us to get well. If their bodies work like ours, their bodies will react like ours. You don't need a medical research degree to figure that out.
Fasting is a natural instinct among the animal kingdom when something is wrong with their bodies. They know to stop eating. We may not feel hungry when we are sick but we have been conditioned to eat for strength and to get well.
The digestion of food, especially the typical American diet, takes a tremendous amount of energy. That is why after a big meal you feel sleepy. It can take several days for the typical meal to pass through your body. It takes all of your energy trying to digest that big meal. The body works overtime.
When the body stops digesting food, digestion energy is transferred to do other things. It is those "OTHER THINGS" that the body does with this energy that makes a fast so beneficial.
The minute the digestion energy is released from digestion, the body starts to use it. What does your body do with it? It starts to do primarily ONE THING. It is this one thing that makes fasting so powerful and yet so dangerous. This one thing allows for miraculous cures and instant recoveries of all types of diseases. Once it is understood, there is nothing magical about it. It is simple, but most things of great power are at the root, simple.
This one thing can make such a transformation in your life and health that you will become a permanent believer in the power of fasting for your health.
This one thing, if not understood, can also make you never want to try fasting again. It is nothing new but most people have never heard of it. Most ministers have never spoken on it. Most doctors are even unaware of its mechanism or that it exists. Any fasting book for health will talk about it, but most of us have never read a book on the PHYSICAL HEALTH aspects of fasting.
This is the ONE PRINCIPLE that you must thoroughly understand and know! If you do not understand this, ignorance can discourage, discomfort, or KILL YOU!
[ By Nathaniel Bronner Jr]
Importance of Gita Govinda
Summary of Gita Govinda
Complete Gita Govinda with meaning
By Prof Prema Pandurang
(This is the full text of the address delivered by Prof. Prema Pandurang. She is the founder President of Samskriti (Home of Culture) and Kshetropasna Charitable Trust and the Founder Trustee of Shree Chakra Foundation.)
Gita in a nutshell, namaskar to the soul, who has found time to listen to Gita in a nutshell. Who said Gita is difficult to read and understand, who said how to find time to read the Gita, here is a simple way to be close to this great work, divine work, enthralling book, enthusing book, energizing book, enlightening book. Oh its not a book, its the song divine book sung by the Lord Krishna Himself that enchanting flute player of Vrindavan, who steals the hearts of devotees wherever He goes.
He sings His way through the Gita. The context is war between 100 Kauravas and 5 Pandavas. The inner battle is always on between the good minority and the wicked majority. The chosen disciple and representative man as Aurobindo put it, stands at the cross roads of life. It is difficult to take a decision and all duty is unpleasant when it comes to establishing justice.
The lord gives him a sermon and that’s the Gita, the sermon on the battlefield. I thought let me take 18 verses, shlokas from the 18 chapters, the selection is subjective, a personal choice, take no offence if I have omitted some of your choice verses, remember they are my favorite too, yet the constriction of time made me select the following.
Drutarashtra, the king, blind within and blind without asks a question to Sanjaya, the special commentator, himself a satellite center, watching the battle from far away, reporting with passion and dedication. The king is worried, puzzled, frightened. His words reveal his thoughts as our thoughts are also revealed through our words. The question asked by the king is a similar one, the one that triggers of the entire Gita.
Chapter 1:
“dharma-kshetre kuru-kshetre, samaveta yuyutsavah
mamakah pandavas caiva,kim akurvata sanjaya”
Oh Sanjaya, tell me what did my own sons Kauravas and Pandavas do on the battle of Kurukshetra, the righteous battlefield of ours. This is the question asked by the king. What can people do on the battlefield but fight, what’s the kings confusion due to, its elementary, the battlefield is the righteous one.
Shri Krishna who was dharma Himself, is the great hero making His appearance with a bang and remember Dharma raja is the leader of the group. It is but natural that the king wonders what happened, the scene described is graphic, Arjuna wants his chariot to be parked between the two armies, and the Lord orders Arjuna to see his enemies. A bewildered Arjuna sees all his relatives and is unwilling to fight. A sincere Sanjaya informs and reports to Drutarashtra of what happened on the battlefield.
Many questions rise in our mild when we listen to the first question asked by the King Drutarastra, was it really a righteous battlefield, did not righteousness incarnate Lord Krishna turn out to be the real hero, was the war His plan or Shakuni’s or the result of Duryodhanas searing hatred for the Pandavas, was it a war between two brothers or was it a war of concepts of good and evil, was Shri Hanuman in the banner of Arjuna’s chariot a silent spectator or a divine participant, read the mahabharata episode, the Gita, as it unravels several mysteries.
Chapter 2:
Here Gita tells us, that knowledge cannot be given to anyone who does not aspire for it. It cannot be scattered like rain or showered like rain on all and sundry. A nonplussed Arjuna is now surrendering to the Lord asking Him to rule over Him, as a willing disciple who is prepared for the spiritual sermon and valuable advise. It is Krishna who tells him now about the immortality of the soul and the mortality of the body so that Arjuna does not feel guilty about killing enemies on the battlefield. He finally exhorts him to do his duty.
“karmanye vadhikaras te, ma phalesu kadacana
ma karma-phala-hetur bhur, ma te sango ’stv akarmani.”
Duty has to be adhered to, man has a right only to perform his duty. He has an exclusive obligation to do so. Karma yoga is an important lesson of the Gita. Duty makes for discipline, discipline makes for systematic behavior and that in turn leads to order and harmony in society. Duty has to be performed but not with obsession of fruit of action. Any action performed with a frenzy preoccupation with a fruit makes the quality of the action suffer. Duty has to be action performed with perfection.
The Lord says Arjuna do not allow the fruit to be the only impetus for action, such a perspective limits man’s powers. It makes him a mercenary and not a yogi of perfection. Duty has to be performed to the best of one’s capacity. It has to be performed with dispassionate objectivity. It has to be performed because the Lord allows no one to escape from duty.
He tells Arjuna do not resort to inaction either. At times, the Lord advises, at times He warns, at times He commands, at times He persuades, at times He gives awesome orders. Duty has to be performed without being obsessed with a fruit of action that is the gist of karma yoga, the path of wise action.
Chapter 3:
“yajnarthat karmano ’nyatra, loko ’yam karma-bandhanah
tad-artham karma kaunteya, mukta-sangah samacara“
Arjuna’s problem is not cowardice. He is not another Uttar kumara who wants to run away from the battlefield. His problem is how to kill the enemy and yet be saved from the sin of killing. He knows that all action binds that’s the quality of action. Shree Krishna explains to Arjuna you want freedom from action, its not possible. Freedom in action is possible, all action binds is true, but there are certain acts which do not bind.
Greater people than Arjuna have lived wiser lives before him and how did they make action not bind. The answer is clear. When one offers action as yajna, as sacrifice, it does not bind. The offering that is made as service is action that does not bind. Its superior action, elevated action, high level action as it is untainted by selfishness. Its pure, its selfless, hence it makes freedom from repercussions. It is a releasing act, not a binding one. Hence actions selfless should increase, thus releasing man from the bonds of karma.
Another meaning for yajna could be the highest form of sacrifice, and that is the sacrifice of the ego. That action which is egoless, that which is inspired by humility is great action, that also does not bind. Yet another meaning is there for yagna. It could be the Lord Himself. The name is found among the Vishnu Sahasranama, ‘Yagno yagna-patir-yajva yagnango yagna-vahanah’.
That action which is offered to the Lord does not bind, that which is offered to the perfect one, has to be perfect. How can it be tainted with ordinary bondage. Hence Arjuna is asked to perform ego-less, selfless, God dedicated action which will free him from sin and bondage.
Chapter 4:
“paritranaya sadhunam,vinasaya ca duskritam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya,sambhavami yuge yuge”
The Lord is not a maternity ward product like man. His birth and his action are divine and superhuman. His coming into the world is an act of grace inspired by His abundant mercy. He is not the indifferent president of the immortals sitting in a topography called heaven indifferent to human misery. He is not deaf to the prayers of His devotees. It is true that they face several hardships and severe opposition. They have powerful opponents who attack them.
When does the Lord come into the world, the answer is when righteousness is on the vein and the wicked gains strength. It is to set right the moral imbalance that the Lord makes His appearance. The chief purpose of divine incarnation is not the killing of the wicked, its primarily to protect the good and incidentally if the wicked are too strong for them they are killed by the Lord and that to, only to protect the good. After protecting the good and killing the wicked, the Lord does not stop there. He has one more purpose, ‘dharmasamsthapa narthaya’, to uphold righteousness.
Behind every act of the Lord is a deep ethical sense involved. His divine rein is not an erratic play of power. It has system and discipline, a method and a deep ethical design. This verse encourages faith in man, who is likely to feel lost and helpless in a world antagonistic to him. This verse fills hope in the heart of man and makes him feel the palpable presence of the Lord. It reveals the Lord as He is caring, consistently caring, compassionate, courageous, and confident of winning every battle against evil.
Chapter 5
“saknotihaiva yah sodhum, prak sarira-vimokshanat
kama-krodhodbhavam vegam, sa yuktah sa sukhi narah”
Who can be happy, he who has no regrets. Why does man have regrets because he does what he should not do, speaks what he should not speak, desires what he should not desire. In short, he is a victim of his passion. He has enemies within whom he does not care to conquer. Sometimes he does not even realize that he has internal enemies.
The greatness of this verse lies in the fact that the Lord acknowledges the presence of Kama (passion) and krodha (anger). He does not take an unrealistic Utopian view of the world within which lives a blemish-less perfect man. He tells Arjuna, kama is there, krodha is there, but the greatness of man lies in conquering the onrush on slot gushing forth of kama and krodha.
Thus, the shloka makes the Lord to be seen as a benevolent master recommending self control, applauding it where it is found, at the same time confessing the difficulty to achieve it. Its now clear that true happiness lies in a clear conscience which can only be had
by a person of self control, one who behaves as he should and not as he likes. Spirituality and discipline go hand in hand. One cannot deny their importance. To achieve this combination would be a commendable exercise.
One wonders how kind the Lord is that he accepts the fallibility of man and yet strongly recommends the need to be faultless. The 6th chapter raises a very logical query. Arjuna asked the Lord what happens to a man who takes to deep contemplation but during the lifetime drifts away from yoga, is his spiritual power lost and dissipated like a cloud, rend by blowing winds. The answer that the Lord gives is a memorable one.
Chapter 6
“partha naiveha namutra, vinasas tasya vidyate
na hi kalyana-krt kascid, durgatim tata gacchati”
O Partha, one who has progressed far in the spiritual path is neither destroyed in this world nor the next. No one who does good can ever come to ill. Many a time man wonders its so difficult to follow the holy path and even if one does so, to proceed steadily is more difficult. Most difficult is to reach the goal. What is most frightening is that one has proceeded on this path and is suddenly lost halfway. What happens to him. To start all over again is scary, to lose what one has gained till then is depressing.
In this context, Lord Krishna’s words are ambrosia for the striving soul. No small effort, however small goes unrewarded. Any good thought, any good deed, any good word, takes us a long way. This divine assurance makes for positive thinking. It inspires every listener to do some good to some one in some way and take a confident step towards the divine goal. Acts of goodness gain impetus in the shloka, values find spiritual base in human life.
Man is inspired to lead a spiritual life with the assurance that no step taken in this direction, can ever be an exercise in futility. The 7th chapter triggers off with the argument that to know the Lord he has to bless to inspire, to reveal, the seekers are very few.
Chapter 7
“manushyanam sahasresu, kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam, kascin mam vetti tattvatah”
Among thousands of human beings, one strives to reach the Lord. Among them, one among thousands comes to understand divinity as it is. How strange and yet how true that amongst several thousands, a few have a spiritual inclination to know the Lord. Among the qualified, among the aspirants, only one comes to understand the Lord as He is.
Spiritual seekers are few. Among them the realized ones are fewer still. Even among them, a chosen few realize who the Lord is. Rare is the man who has drunk the milk of paradise.
If 7 chapters of the Gita teaches how to live, the 8th chapter teaches us how to die. Life and death have to be studied together and to be understood as a part of the divine plan. For several years, men have been born and then they die and are reborn. This cycle goes on for several years. Man wonders what to do to break the cycle of birth & death. As Adi Shankara Charya says in Baja Govindam ‘punarapi jananam, punarapi maranam, punarapi janani jatare sayanam, iha samsaare bhahu dusthare, Krupayaa pare pahi murare, bhajagovindam bhajagovindam govindam bhaja muudhamate’
Chapter 8
“a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah, punar avartino ’rjuna
mam upetya tu Kaunteya, punar janma na vidyate”
Men perform good acts and reach heaven, enjoy the fruits of virtue and when the punya is exhausted they come back to human wombs. The question arises how to get over the cycle, how to be liberated. All the world’s above ruled by different deities send back the soul after its punya is over, but those who think of the Lord tirelessly and pray relentlessly and perform their duty perfectly, they reach the Lord and never come back into the world. He who attains the feet of the Lord, Shree Krishna does not need to fear rebirth.
Each chapter of the Gita has a special message, for the spiritual seeker. All lessons cannot be given to all. There are some special lessons. One is the divine secret given to Arjuna in chapter #9. Its a special message for special devotees. This message is to make man realize that the Lord is no human being, as the deluded think Him to be. He is the witness, the resort, the shelter, the benevolent master who cares for His creatures.
Man has to sing His glory and do his duty too, only then can he reach the merciful Lord. In verse #22 of chapter 9, the Lord gives us a deep understanding of life.
Chapter 9
“ananyas cintayanto mam, ye janah paryupasate
tesham nityabhiyuktanam, yoga-ksemam vahamy aham”
The Lord not only poses the problem but also solves it. Sorrow has two causes in this world, either we do not get what we want or we are losing what we have. This drives us crazy but he says the Lord who worships the master, gets what he desires and retains whatever benefactions he has.
This verse is a miracle verse, whether its for the student who wants to pass in the examination or for a man who has a family problem or one who wants business promotion or one who desires riches or one who wants to be cured from dreadful diseases. This works out efficaciously. The shloka is a magical shloka, a miracle shloka, may this shloka give you your heart’s desire, virtuous desire.
In the 9th chapter God assures man and in the 10th chapter God consoles him, by revealing the special presence of the divine. While doing so, He reveals the role of the singer saint and eloquent preachers. Those who chant the Lord’s name are the richest said the Gopika Gita.
Chapter 10
“mac-citta mad-gata-prana, bodhayantah parasparam
kathayantas ca mam nityam, tusyanti ca ramanti ca”
What is great about this verse. It is the interaction between the speaker and listener which makes for sharing rather than sermonizing. The process is a delectable one. The singer and the listener both enjoy the discussion. In the process, both are smiling, both are selfless. They eat well, digest well, sleep well because bliss incarnate is always with them.
The spiritual exchanges are no waste of time. They energize the soul and give it an impetus to move on. Depression comes nowhere near those who chant the name of the Lord. Those who chant his name are not mere singers, they are the enlightened ones, the elevated ones, because the Lord himself assures Arjuna that He lights the lamp of wisdom in them out of shear compassion for them, that is how the unlearned speak & the unmusical sing. His golden touch transforms the devotee.
In the first 10 chapters, we find spiritual, audio education. The 11th chapter is video education, PowerPoint program. Having heard about the special presence of the Lord in the 10th chapter, Arjuna is curious to know and see the Lord as he really is. With understandable curiosity he asks the Lord whether it is possible to see His cosmic form and whether he is spiritually qualified to do so.
In His abundant mercy, the Lord gives a positive answer and also provides an inner contact lens for this experience. For a long time I wondered what could this divya chakshu, inner contact lens means. After years, I conclude it must be humility, the first desirable qualification to witness the cosmic form of the Lord, a 100,000 hands, and 100,000 feet, and a 100,000 garlands all stand before Arjuna who is bewildered, zapped. He has never had such an experience before.
He is asked by the master to awake, arise, and improve the role he has to play of the shear mere instrument in the hands of the Lord. A dumbfounded Arjuna who had no known the Lord as anything but the flute player, the cowherd boy, the wrestling champion, sees him as the all Master of the Cosmos. When the Gita opened it was Arjuna craving pardon for having to kill kinsman and friends. In the 11th chapter, a reformed Arjuna exclaims!
Chapter 11
“pitasi lokasya caracarasya, tvam asya pujyas ca gurur gariyan
na tvat-samo ’sty abhyadhikah kuto ’nyo, loka-traye ’py apratima-prabhava”
You are the father of the world, the worship worthy and the greatest power. There is none equal to you, how can there be anyone superior to you, Master. Is this a confession or is it a revelation, it is both. An educated Arjuna realizes the play of the divine. He had chosen a darling friend in Krishna and now he knows he has chosen God himself. What a wise choice it was.
Everyone cannot see the cosmic form except those who have devotion and then who is a devotee is the next argument. In chapter #12, verse #13, the devotee is defined.
Chapter 12
“advesta sarva-bhutanam, maitrah karuna eva ca
nirmamo nirahankarah, sama-duhkha-sukhah ksami”
The Lord tells Arjuna who is a devotee: he who hates none, he who hates no creatures, he who is friendly and compassionate to all, he who has no trace of ego which means this is mine and I am doing this, he who is poised in joy and sorrow, he who is full of forbearance..he is a true devotee.
What is strange turn in the Gita that takes place when devotion is seen in such a comprehensive perspective. Devotion is not merely an act, its an attitude backed by a firm faith in divine power. The first prerequisite for devotion has to be hatelessness because hatred I feel is emotional cancer. A devotee is a comprehensive word containing several desirable qualities. By these parameters, how many of us are devotees in the true sense of the term.
A new chapter opens when the Lord gives a refreshing definition of jnana or knowledge. One has always heard of knowledge and wisdom of high level meditation and self control and so on but the Lord gives us a pleasant jolt when He redefines jnana in chapter #13, 7th verse.
Chapter 13
“amanitvam adambhitvam, ahimsa ksantir arjavam
acaryopasanam shaucam, sthairyam atma-vinigrahah”
Lack of pride, lack of vanity, nonviolence, forgiveness, truthfulness, service of the preceptor, purity, steadfastness, and control of the self. The definition goes on to include detachment from sensuous objects & absolute devotion to the Lord. Jnana seems a divine package within which the best of virtues are combined.
The 14th chapter leads to an analysis of the 3 gunas, sattva, rajas, and tamas. Long before the subject of psychology came to be studied all over the world, the Gita had analyzed why human nature in general under the influence of the 3 gunas (the three modes of material nature) man performs various acts. Chapter #14 describes gunas as they are, verse #6 talks of sattva guna in particular
Chapter 14
“tatra sattvam nirmalatvat, prakasakam anamayam
sukha-sangena badhnati, jnana-sangena canagha”
Among the 3 gunas , sattva (goodness) is pure, luminous, and free from distortion. It binds one with joy and deep wisdom. While rajas (passion) binds man to attachment and karma and its violent results, tamas (ignorance) binds man to lethargy and slumber. Those who follow sattva go to the higher regions, those who take to rajas come back to suffer as human beings. The tamasic ones are born as creatures.
Many a time in the Gita Lord Krishna speaks of His special powers and pervading presence. It is in the Purushotama Yoga, chapter 15, that we realize the truth of His presence in every creature.
Chapter 15
“sarvasya caham hridi sannivisto, mattah smritir jnanam apohanam ca
vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo, vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham”
He resides in every heart. From Him arise memory, wisdom, and the capacity to clear doubts. He is the subject of the Vedas, He is the maker of Vedanta and the knower of Vedanta too. How strange is this revelation and yet how true. One wonders about memory, about wisdom, about the knowledge of the Vedas and all that is contained in the Lord Himself. What a comprehensive definition of Divinity.
In the 16th chapter, we note the definition of 2 types of people, the children of light and the children of darkness. The former contained the following virtues; nonviolence, truth, absence of anger, sacrifice, peace, noncritical attitude, kindness, unconditional love for all creatures, tenderness, detachment from sensuous objects and others. The latter are full of pride, arrogance, vanity, passion, cruelty, and ignorance.
For a while, the representative man, Arjuna, wonders to which category he belongs. The benevolent Lord forestalls his doubt in verse #5 of chapter 16.
Chapter 16
“daivi sampad vimokshaya, nibandhayasuri mata
ma sucah sampadam daivim, abhijato ’si pandava”
The Lord tells Arjuna divine nature leads to salvation and the demonic one to bondage. Do not worry, you belong to the divine category, do not weep. It is necessary to know from the Maker or at least from the Guru as to which category one belongs.
Chapter 17 reveals several concepts divided into 3 categories, sattva, rajas, and tamas (the three modes of material nature). It is an interesting chapter and an elaborate one too. Defining 3 types of speech, the Lord says this is the type of verbal penance one should perform, “that word which angers none, that which is truthful, loving and well-wishing, full of the study of the scripture, this is the penance of speech.”
Chapter 17
“anudvega-karam vakyam, satyam priya-hitam ca yat
svadhyayabhyasanam caiva, van-mayam tapa ucyate “
How callous we are about our speech, we do not know how many we hurt knowingly or unknowingly. How often we move away from truth and kind wishes. How often we do not have the background of Vedic knowledge to embellish our words. How often is our tongue unadorned by the chanting of the Lord’s names. How far from penance we are, we sign and reform our speech to make it austere and pure.
17 chapters have come to an end, a lot of wisdom has been imparted to Arjuna, so much has been said about karma, jnana, and bhakti. He wonders which path to follow. Sometimes little knowledge is a dangerous thing, too much knowledge is a confusing thing also. A bewildered Arjuna stands before the Lord, who in profuse compassion shows him the royal path of surrender, Sharanagati. Chapter #18, verse #66 can never be forgotten.
Chapter 18
“sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, mokshayisyami ma sucah”
Forget about ordinary paths Arjuna, resort to ME alone with single-minded devotion and I will absolve you of all sin, surrender to Me, do not weep. Did the Lord stop to wipe a tear of Arjuna. Sharanagati (surrender) is not an act. It is an attitude. It is not an impulse. It is the cumulative effect of collected penance down the ages. It marks the birth of wisdom in man.
When he takes to the Lord with unquestioning faith and cheerful heart. A weeping Arjuna met us in the first chapter unwilling to fight, afraid of the repercussions of killing relatives. Here is a transformed Arjuna who stands undeluded recovering his memory of belonging to the Lord alone, educated in wisdom not by his own intelligence but by the benevolence of the Lord. He stands without doubts and fears not to follow the command of the Lord.
A blind Drutarashtra had asked a sagacious Sanjaya what happened on the battlefield, and the special reporter concludes with deep emotion. Verse #78 of the 18th chapter marks the spiritual climax of the Gita. It is a thematic climax, it is a great assurance for man who believes in God.
“yatra yogeshvarah krsno, yatra partho dhanur-dharah
tatra srir vijayo bhutir, dhruva nitir matir mama”
In Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s words where there is a grace abounding God and a devotee bound man, there is prosperity, victory, affluence, ethical excellence, and all this will prevail for all times. The Gita has no place for social dropouts. There is no place for the indolent but mere workaholics will also not do. We need work with worship, devotion with compassion, excellence with humility
[courtesy Google]
