KRISHNA'S INSTRUCTION FOR PURSUING A SPIRITUAL PATH

In the fifth chapter of uddhava gita, which is an important chapter, lord Krishna is giving a clear set instruction for all those people who want to pursue a spiritual path. 

The whole teaching is based on Vedas which are the original scriptures. Puranas are secondary scriptures and Shruthi granthas. They are borrowed from original scriptures which are Vedas. Vedas guide a spiritual seeker to Vedic way of life. The message is Moksha or Liberation is possible only when the mind is prepared for that work. So mental refinement is required for attaining Gnana yogyatha prapthi. We will naturally get a desire for Vedantic study after we prepare our mind. It (a prepared mind) will give opportunity for gaining knowledge. When we develop a sincere desire for gaining spiritual knowledge Bhagavan will give us the opportunity. 

Refine the mind, develop a desire for study of scriptures and opportunity will be given by Bhagavan and you will get gnanam. Use your entire religious life for internal refinement. Instead of doing pooja for worldly benefits convert the same pooja for your internal refinement. Use your family life for serving the family and contribute and not control. Do your duties including raising your children only for your internal refinement. Once sufficient refinement comes, you will naturally get a desire to know about spiritual teaching. You will get an interest in satsanga, interest in listening to spiritual discourses, in spite of other attractions. 

Lord Krishna said “Never attempt to gain spiritual knowledge by yourself". You have to go to a Guru who himself has got spiritual knowledge from his Guru, who himself has got spiritual knowledge from his Guru which is called a traditional Guru. Start exposing yourself to vedantic teaching. The teaching will be abstract because our own nature is abstract. Continue to refine your mind. Complete refinement is not required. Let the exposure to Vedanta be there on one side. Let the sadana be there for mental refinement. Vedanta class will be more meaningful and interesting to hear. Everything will take time.We should be patient. Spiritual growth is gradual. Internal growth will be tortuously slow, often creating diffident in mind as to whether I will progress or not in my spiritual journey. Any growth is gradual only. Internal growth is still subtler only. Maintain your desire for gaining spiritual knowledge and reduce your talking.

Be blissful

S.SEKAR

Contact: sekrajc@yahoo.com

GREAT PEOPLE

Great people forgive and forget.
Great people let insults go.
Great people do not plot revenge. They move on.
Great people are tolerant, indulgent and above all forgiving. 
He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge which he himself has to pass.
Learn to forgive.

A Good Teacher Explains

A Great Teacher Inspires.

WEALTH OR RESPECT

This is the opening mantra of Ishavasya Upanishad

Adhamā dhanam_ichchhanti dhanam mānam cha madhyamāḥ | uttamā mānam_ichchhanti māno hi mahatām dhanam ||

adhamA dhanam_ichchhanti dhanam mAnam cha madhyamAH | uttamA mAnam_ichchhanti mAno hi mahatAm dhanam ||

Lowly people desire wealth [over respect], average people desire wealth and respect, the great people desire respect [over wealth], for respect is wealth of the great!

This is a wonderful shloka about human psychology as well.

One is reminded of ‘one should not desire respect but deserve it.’ Here, the comparison is not between desire and deserve. Everyone has desires, 'this human is made of desires' - proclaim the Veda-s, and we all know it very well. The question is now, what do we desire?

A lowly person, an adhamaḥ (adhamaH, अधमः) would rather have money than respect, or will even bear some disrespect if it gives money. People do bad things, illegal, sinful, criminal deeds to make money. They are despised by the society, but for them money is more important than respectable life. Some do it so cleanly and with the aid of human made laws that society does not realize or cannot do – bound by laws. Not dharma. Even though one of the meanings of dharma is law, it is law that keep the whole society functioning, not just a fraction of able and powerful but greedy people.

Then there are people who do desire and pursue money, but only if it is in a respectable way, legal, just way. They do pursue money. But they also care about others - are they hurting others, doing something sinful or criminal? Most of us fall in this category.

Then there are those rare souls, who do not desire money. They desire only to do the right thing, good thing, that which is respected by the wise. They care what others think of their deeds, are they doing anything wrong? The money part is only at the need level, surviving level, not at a wanting level. They work just and fair, for the good of all, and the money part is only a by-product. They do not desire money to begin with; it comes to them because of their good deeds.

Given a choice, the lowly person would rather take money than respect, the average person would balance out both (no money, only respect, or vice versa, then not interested), and the great ones, would only see if the deed is respectable, good, just, required and do it even if there is no money!

So, the question is not whether one should deserve or desire respect, but whether one should desire money or respect.

Have a great day

Be blissful

S.Sekar

Contact: sekrajc@yahoo.com

WHAT IS IGNORANCE?

Ignorance is the inability to distinguish between the atma and the body. Once this confusion about the atma and the body ends, we have conquered the first hurdle in the way of our liberation.

Atma is myself. Anathma is - body, sense organs, mind and should come under objective field which is a part of objective universe. This is not to be treated as I, myself (the subject) but included in the world, object. Vedanta talks about the similarities between the body and the world. World is the object of my experience. That is to say, my body as the object of my experience. Both the body and the world are made of the same raw material (Space, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire). Both of them are endowed with the same type of attributes Viz. Sabhda (Sound), Rupa (Form), Rasa (Taste), Gandha (Smell), Touch (feeling). This commonness or similarity is called sargunathvam in Sanskrit.

Can our thumb ever touch the tip of the index finger, if the index finger does not bend to touch the tip of the thumb? Can the thumb stretch itself to touch an unbending index finger? The answer is an obvious negative. The thumb is like the jivatma and the index finger is like the Paramatma. Unless the Paramathma chooses to liberate, liberation will not be forthcoming. We must be embraced by the Lord, to attain moksha.

Often, we are proud of one or other of our achievements. Whether it is our education, or our wealth, or our status in life, none of these is lasting. None of these is really an achievement of ours, and we will realize this, once we realize that all our blessings come from him.

Thus we have to move from our ignorance to our path to realization and liberation and towards attaining moksha. We have to move from being an ignorant soul to a realized soul sooner or later. We have to search our souls and discover ourselves and get to know about “I” the consciousness principle. The closer we come to self realization the better for us in our path to liberation.

S.SEKAR

Contact: sekrajc@yahoo.com   

Why Worry. Learn to come out of worry.

We have got responsibility about our family and we should take care of them. But we should not worry. Caring is our duty. Worrying is not our duty. Lord Krishna says in CH VI of Bhagavad Gita that worrying people has a behavior of Asuri Sampat. The only way to avoid our worries is to surrender to God. The future of my family will be decided by their Karma. Their Adhirshta Punyam and Papam will influence their future. My prayer to Bhagavan is, “O Lord give me the strength and the capacity to go through whatever I get according to my karma palan”. A baby does not worry about the future. A true Bhakta and a Gnani plans for the future. They do not worry about the future. Avadhuta gives an example of a householder who is of worrying type. This is an indication of the absence of Bhakti and gnanam. A Gnani has transcended the 3 Gunas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas – or balance, activity, and inertia – which comprise the Prakriti or sentient and insentient nature).

Avadhuta Dathrathreya makes a beautiful statement. Among the entire human race only two groups are happy. First is the Children and the second is Children like Adults. All the others are always worry ridden. Every Gnani is soaked in the syrup of highest ananda (paramananda). A child who is ignorant is blissful. Atma Gnanam is required for enjoyment. Worldly knowledge without Self knowledge will give you only imagining capacity.

One of the topics in spirituality is to spend some time in seclusion. Learning to spend some time without the company of any person will be helpful when the time comes. One of the spiritual sadana is to spend some time with yourself. You can go for a walk alone for some time. You can spend some time alone in an ashrama for 2 to 3 days. I went to Ramanasramam in thiruvannamalai in July 2016 and spent three full days from 04^th July to 6^th July 2016. We have to deliberately spend some time alone to fight the problem of loneliness. A sanyasi should learn to live alone. Ekaki chare is a sadana. It can avoid several problems of relationship. This is advised because one of the expressions of Samsara is fear, worry and a sense of insecurity. Once in a while you start to feel lonely. Loneliness is an expression of samsara especially as we grow old. I call it a FEDEREL problem. FE is Fear. As we grow old fear increases. DE is depression. Another indication for depression is MBBS. Life becomes Meaningless (M), Burdensome (B), Boring (B), and a Struggle (S). You tell others that life is not good. RE is regret. You play the past at regular intervals. L is loneliness. We feel that the younger generation does not understand us. Loneliness is a serious expression of Samsara. We try to escape from our problem. Moksha is defined as being comfortable with myself. In life, people will come into our life and people will go from our life. Like a train journey people will get into the train and people will get out of the train when the destination comes. Even our relatives will also go away. Our children have their own family and will be with their family. Spouse also cannot be all the time together with you. We should be ready to live alone even without our spouse and come to terms with life.

S.Sekar
Contact: sekrajc@yahoo.com

LESSONS FROM KITE FLYING

"Even a simple phenomenon when viewed with heightened awareness, can unfold new avenues of learning". Every moment, every encounter, every activity and every experience have within it an unspoken message. There is something even in nothing, and there is everything in something.

                

1) Freedom & Discipline – The entire significance of kite’s freedom comes from it being disciplined by the thumb and a finger that is holding the string at the other end. If the hand holding the string let go of it, the kite will fall into directionless death. Freedom has no meaning without discipline. Freedom without discipline is licentiousness.

2) Detached attachment- Flying a kite is all about fun and excitement. It demands complete emotional participation. Even when an adult flies a kite, the child in him or her comes to the surface. His or her gestures are always exaggerated. Yet, when the kite gets snapped off the thread, nothing can be done. You become a mute spectator. Genius is in knowing when to let go. Nothing teaches this lesson better than kite flying. So, stay attached while flying the kite, but accept it’s snapping away with detachment. Detach yourself from the result, but intensity attaches you to the process. Knowing very well that death will detach you from a relationship you cherish, stay attached to it when the person is still around. Practice detached attachment.

3) Risk against all odds- The kite does not rise with the wind, but against the wind. Sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right; sometimes upwards and sometimes it has to fall to rise… but finally it finds itself up in the skies. Life is never going to be free from obstacles and challenges. Yet, when you live up to your potential, you rise against all odds. Compared to the 100 meters dash, a 110 meter hurdle race will just a take little more time and effort; nevertheless, we will go past the finishing line. Go past the finishing line, against all odds.

Be blissful.

S.SEKAR

Contact: sekrajc@yahoo.com

FOCUS ON HIS FEET

A man who is determined to avoid sinning must resort to nine observances. He must control his indriyas and speak the TRUTH always. He must give to others GENEROUSLY. He should keep his mind and body PURE. He should be KIND to all living beings. He must do JAPA and TAPAS. He must observe BRAHMACHARYA. He must control his MIND. Through these NINE observances, a man’s sins are burnt up. This is saamaanya dharma. Other than this, he should be Calm, Cheerful and Confident at all times. He should have endurance power (titiksha), control his anger, and remain peaceful even under provoking circumstances. By following the above mentioned, he will attain excellence in Life and Living.

A better way is to reach the feet of Lord Narayana through Saranagati (surrender). If a man does this, then just as dewdrops are dried up by the Sun, so will his sins dry up? Through service to Him and to His devotees, the sins of a man who surrenders are destroyed. In addition, this grants a man total freedom from sins. The nine observances do not give this complete freedom from sins.

The practice of serving the Lord and His devotees is an ancient practice, resorted to by great men. Suka says that Pareekshit must know about this path that leads to freedom from sin. In his Gita Bhasya, Ramanuja says that one must do what one’s elders did, and also do it the way they did. Just as great people served Him and His bhaktas, we too should serve God and devotees. If a pot that once contained arrack is washed in the Ganges, does it get purified? It cannot become pure, because it once had contained arrack. Similarly, if you have no Bhakti towards the Lord, you may atone for your sins, but you will never attain absolute release. You will remain in the same state as a pot that once contained arrack.

Bees go from flower to flower. Likewise, the human mind wavers thinking of many things without focus. That mind must be trained to focus only on His feet.

Be blissful.

S.Sekar

Contact: sekrajc@yahoo.com