Thursday, February 5, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sita upanisad
sa devi trividha bhavati saktyasana icchasaktih
kriyasaktih saksacchaktiriti icchasaktistrividha
bhavati shribhuminilatmika bhadrarupini prabhavarupini
somasuryagnirupa bhavati SOMATMIKA osadhinam
prabhavati kalpavrksapuspaphalalatagulmatmika
ausadhabhesajatmika amrtarupa devanam mahastoma-
phalaprada amrtena trptim janayanti devanamannena
pasunam trnena tattajjivanam suryadisakalabhuvana-
prakasini diva ca ratrih kalakalanimesamarabhya
ghatikastayamadivasa(vara)ratribhedena
paksamasartvayanasamvatsarabhedena manusyanam
satayuhkalpanaya prakasamana ciraksipravyapadesena
nimesamarabhya parardhaparyantam kalacakram
jagaccakramityadiprakarena cakravatparivartamanah
sarvasyaitasyaiva kalasya vibhagavisesah prakasarupah
kalarupa bhavanti agnirupa annapanadipraninam
ksuttrsnatmika devanam mukharupa vanausadhinam
sitosnarupa kasthesvantarbahisca nityanityarupa
kriyasaktih saksacchaktiriti icchasaktistrividha
bhavati shribhuminilatmika bhadrarupini prabhavarupini
somasuryagnirupa bhavati SOMATMIKA osadhinam
prabhavati kalpavrksapuspaphalalatagulmatmika
ausadhabhesajatmika amrtarupa devanam mahastoma-
phalaprada amrtena trptim janayanti devanamannena
pasunam trnena tattajjivanam suryadisakalabhuvana-
prakasini diva ca ratrih kalakalanimesamarabhya
ghatikastayamadivasa(vara)ratribhedena
paksamasartvayanasamvatsarabhedena manusyanam
satayuhkalpanaya prakasamana ciraksipravyapadesena
nimesamarabhya parardhaparyantam kalacakram
jagaccakramityadiprakarena cakravatparivartamanah
sarvasyaitasyaiva kalasya vibhagavisesah prakasarupah
kalarupa bhavanti agnirupa annapanadipraninam
ksuttrsnatmika devanam mukharupa vanausadhinam
sitosnarupa kasthesvantarbahisca nityanityarupa
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Speech on Gandhi Jayanti
OCT.2ND 2008.
Dear students and teachers,
First of all wish you all A HAPPY GANDHI JAYANTI.
I think there is a question in most of your minds about the celebration of Gandhi Jayanti. It is likely to be :
Is Gandhiji relevant today?
1893, a 24-year-old Indian lawyer arrived in Durban to take part in a lawsuit in Transvaal. He booked a first-class train ticket to Johannesburg – and was ordered out of the train because of his colour. He spent a cold night in the non–European waiting - room at Pietermaritzburg railway station. The lawyer’s name was Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi. This experience was the beginnning of the making of the Mahatma. The rebel in Gandhi didn't leave it there but questioned this inhuman injustice. Had it happened to any of us, we would have just taken it for granted or tried to forget it as a bitter experience.
He founded TOLSTOY FARM and taught people the initial lessons in self-reliance, vocational education and many more. When he came to India, while addressing a meeting he said, "India is not a few officers in Delhi but millions of villages." Those from the gathering who got up to leave came back listening to a voice from the heart. They found their true leader. My dear children, Gandhiji had understood the pulse and spirit of India. He had read the Indian's mind clearly. He could contain millions of atmas within him and that is why he has been called the MAHATMA.
A lawyer who could have led a luxurious life gave his time and life for the millions of poor people of India. He was the voice incarnate against injustice. I tell you, children, it is not very easy to be a living Gandhi or have a living Gandhi among us. He would whip you up from your slumber, he would not compromise with injustice. He was a man with great common sense and astounding social intelligence. Any violence stretched to its extreme would end in non-violence. Knowing this well he said like Christ in his Sermon on the Mount in New Testament, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Eye for an eye is an attitude. If you hurt me i will hurt you back. In the present days when almost every day our metros bring news of blasts and bloodshed and our nation is getting known for violence, we miss a Gandhiji. It is here his values have great significance. It has become a fashion among some of us to criticize Gandhiji and if you ask them about his life or the nation's history they know nothing. He may have committed a few mistakes . Who doesn't? He was a human being, dont forget that. Why do you expect a Gandhiji to set right all your problems? He was here just telling you to wake up and fight against injustice. If you think he was here to solve all your problems and carry all your burdens, then you are thouroughly mistaken. He was teaching us self-reliance and bravery. Non-violence is not for the coward but for those with profound mettle of the spirit. That is why one man could shake the British Empire. Even Godse had paid all respects to him before he shot him. My dear children, don't keep waiting for Mahatmas. Become one. A woman activist fighting to bring justice to the oppressed women are no less Gandhi.
He used to say, "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the Himalayas".
THANK YOU.
Dear students and teachers,
First of all wish you all A HAPPY GANDHI JAYANTI.
I think there is a question in most of your minds about the celebration of Gandhi Jayanti. It is likely to be :
Is Gandhiji relevant today?
1893, a 24-year-old Indian lawyer arrived in Durban to take part in a lawsuit in Transvaal. He booked a first-class train ticket to Johannesburg – and was ordered out of the train because of his colour. He spent a cold night in the non–European waiting - room at Pietermaritzburg railway station. The lawyer’s name was Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi. This experience was the beginnning of the making of the Mahatma. The rebel in Gandhi didn't leave it there but questioned this inhuman injustice. Had it happened to any of us, we would have just taken it for granted or tried to forget it as a bitter experience.
He founded TOLSTOY FARM and taught people the initial lessons in self-reliance, vocational education and many more. When he came to India, while addressing a meeting he said, "India is not a few officers in Delhi but millions of villages." Those from the gathering who got up to leave came back listening to a voice from the heart. They found their true leader. My dear children, Gandhiji had understood the pulse and spirit of India. He had read the Indian's mind clearly. He could contain millions of atmas within him and that is why he has been called the MAHATMA.
A lawyer who could have led a luxurious life gave his time and life for the millions of poor people of India. He was the voice incarnate against injustice. I tell you, children, it is not very easy to be a living Gandhi or have a living Gandhi among us. He would whip you up from your slumber, he would not compromise with injustice. He was a man with great common sense and astounding social intelligence. Any violence stretched to its extreme would end in non-violence. Knowing this well he said like Christ in his Sermon on the Mount in New Testament, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Eye for an eye is an attitude. If you hurt me i will hurt you back. In the present days when almost every day our metros bring news of blasts and bloodshed and our nation is getting known for violence, we miss a Gandhiji. It is here his values have great significance. It has become a fashion among some of us to criticize Gandhiji and if you ask them about his life or the nation's history they know nothing. He may have committed a few mistakes . Who doesn't? He was a human being, dont forget that. Why do you expect a Gandhiji to set right all your problems? He was here just telling you to wake up and fight against injustice. If you think he was here to solve all your problems and carry all your burdens, then you are thouroughly mistaken. He was teaching us self-reliance and bravery. Non-violence is not for the coward but for those with profound mettle of the spirit. That is why one man could shake the British Empire. Even Godse had paid all respects to him before he shot him. My dear children, don't keep waiting for Mahatmas. Become one. A woman activist fighting to bring justice to the oppressed women are no less Gandhi.
He used to say, "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the Himalayas".
THANK YOU.
TWENTY IS PLENTY
GRAMMAR IS NO HAMMER ON THE HEAD-II
TWENTY TO TEST YOUR GRAMMAR
These twenty tips are plenty enough to test your basic knowledge of grammar. Please try them and see the difference.
Fill in the blanks with appropriate words from the brackets:
1) She _____________ here often. (come, comes)
2) You _____________ to be careful. (have, has)
3) I ________________ given him a new dictionary (have, has)
4) Children __________ nutritious food. (need, needs)
5) They _____________ it always after getting permission from the authorities.
(do, does)
6) How _____________ you do it? (do, does)
7) They _____________ absent yesterday, but they _________present today.
(am, is, are, was, were, have, has)
8) He _______________ dead. (has, is, are)
9) He _______________ died. (was, has, is)
10) These children ___________ no toys to play with. (have, has)
11) He ______________ scolded by the neighbors. (was, has, have)
12) ____________ you found your book yet? (are, has, have)
13) _____________ you Arun? (have, are)
14) _____________ a pen? (are, have)
15) _____________ you read this novel? (are, have)
16) _____________ you have a pen? (are, do, have)
17) He ____________ not learnt his lessons. (is, has, was)
18) She ____________ sad. She _______ no home. (has, is, have)
19) She ____________ rich. She _______ a car. (is, have, has)
20) ____________ you invited him? (are, has, have)
_________________
TWENTY TO TEST YOUR GRAMMAR
These twenty tips are plenty enough to test your basic knowledge of grammar. Please try them and see the difference.
Fill in the blanks with appropriate words from the brackets:
1) She _____________ here often. (come, comes)
2) You _____________ to be careful. (have, has)
3) I ________________ given him a new dictionary (have, has)
4) Children __________ nutritious food. (need, needs)
5) They _____________ it always after getting permission from the authorities.
(do, does)
6) How _____________ you do it? (do, does)
7) They _____________ absent yesterday, but they _________present today.
(am, is, are, was, were, have, has)
8) He _______________ dead. (has, is, are)
9) He _______________ died. (was, has, is)
10) These children ___________ no toys to play with. (have, has)
11) He ______________ scolded by the neighbors. (was, has, have)
12) ____________ you found your book yet? (are, has, have)
13) _____________ you Arun? (have, are)
14) _____________ a pen? (are, have)
15) _____________ you read this novel? (are, have)
16) _____________ you have a pen? (are, do, have)
17) He ____________ not learnt his lessons. (is, has, was)
18) She ____________ sad. She _______ no home. (has, is, have)
19) She ____________ rich. She _______ a car. (is, have, has)
20) ____________ you invited him? (are, has, have)
_________________
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
What is not spirituality?
WHAT IS NOT SPIRITUALITY?
I have heard once a friend of mine saying, “Shankaracharya is the founder of Advaita and has always believed that the entire world is nothing but Maya or an illusion. But when a mad dog chased him, he ran!”
Yes, very common exclamation. Let us see how we can explain the reason to him. Shankaracharya used to say, “There is no degree of reality but only of unreality”.
What does it mean?
The age old “Serpent and the Rope” (Sarpa Rajju) delusion. Mistaking a rope for a serpent. Rope is the reality. A cloud of unreality makes it appear like or gives it the impression of a serpent.
Suppose you are traveling by a car. It’s misty and rainy weather. The front glass of your car is covered by rain drops and the road ahead is hardly visible. You saw a truck coming against. You stopped the car by the side of the road. After cleaning the glass you found that what appeared like the truck was a shop at the immediate turning ahead. Was there a truck in reality? No. Reality remains the same. When you dispelled the unreality in you, you could see the real.
So, reality is always before us. Each moment. We can discover it any time. The so called Enlightened people like Buddha, Ramana Maharshi and many others have discovered it. They had no unreality left in them. They were the embodiment of reality.
Then, what prevents us from discovering it? The accumulated knowledge or ignorance in us. There must have been many birth efforts from the great men to dispose the unreality in them. Gradually they could flush it off.
Who prevents us from the real?
THE MIND.
The Mind with its conclusions prejudices and endless traffic of thoughts acts like a screen marring the real.
Can we reduce the traffic of thoughts?
Yes. It is for this we’ve all the sadhanaas viz. yoga, meditation etc. If you don’t know that you are not the mind, you are still very far from spirituality or reality.
The mind blocks new thoughts and ideas. It keeps chewing the same cud of thoughts. Imagine X has 500 thoughts in his mind in one minute whereas Y has only 10 thoughts. Whose mind has more space inside? Of course, Y’s. The gap between thoughts has to be increased. Meditation helps you achieve this. In meditation, you become a witness of your mind and the thoughts flow. No effort. You would be able to see how each thought dies down in a short span. Slowly the gap would make you see the empty space within. The more the space, the closer you are to the real.
A spiritual person is one who has the viveka or discriminatory sense between himself and his mind or the real and the unreal. He has raised his consciousness level to a great height. It is from this level of consciousness he looks at the world. He may not be aware why he is greater than others. But he surely knows who is ignorant.
Simultaneously he too has to exist in a body, in the world. He needs to have common sense, practical intelligence. The enlightened person has no special privilege over others- see, here is the common misconception about spirituality. Majority think that an enlightened person should never be ill, he should be above all financial or other difficulties which common man goes through. Wrong. Absolutely wrong.
UG Krishnamurthy was asked by someone why, though enlightened, Gurdjieff met with an accident, UG replied in his characteristic humor:
“He was enlightened but not the driver of the other car”.
Swami Vivekananda is reported to have asked Sri Ramakrishna when the latter was buckling under throat cancer:
“Why can’t your goddess save you from this and make you healthy?”
Sri Ramakrishna laughed at this ignorance saying,
“This is the body and body is nature. Nature is prone to changes”
The famous Nisargadatt Maharaj whose words are compiled in “I am That”, sits in a pan shop in Mumbai. Ramana Maharshi had a stomach cancer and had to undergo an operation.
The enlightening story told by Sri Ramakrishna about a man injured by an elephant for taking the lesson literally that “Everything in the world is God”.
The same with Shankaracharya’s Maya.
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