Saturday, December 19, 2015

# 027 Shanti karmas

Details of different Shanthi karmas (celebrations): 

On completion of one year - Abda poorthi /Ayush Homa 

55th birthday ie on completion of 54 years - Bheema Shanthi 

60 th birthday ie on completion of 59 years - Ugra Ratha Shanthi

On completing 60 years - Sashtiabdha poorthi 

70 th birthday or on completion of 69 years - Bheema Ratha shanthi 

72 nd birthday ie on completion of 71 years - Eka Shanthi  

77 years 7 months 7 days - Vijaya Ratha Shanthi  

On Completing 80 years & 8 months - Satabhisheka  

On Completing 100 years - Poornabhisheka (Kanakabhisheka) 

Prapouta Shanti - when a son is born to one's son's son. 

Sri Rudra Ekadasani - When Sashtiabdha poorthi, Bheema Ratha Shanthi and Satabhisheka are celebtated, Sri Rudra Ekadasani is also usually done as a part of the function. 

Sri Rudra Ekadasani is a prayaschitha karma and it is advisable to carry it out in a elaborate manner. It will do good to the entire family in addition to the individual for whom the shanti karma is intended.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

# 026 Atman - it would make sense only if ..............

Do we have to accept on faith that Atman is real and that it lives on after our death?

As have discussed earlier, Atman is different from the gross, subtle, and causal bodies. The Self, is identified with these three because of ignorance and is called jéevätman, the ego, and sometimes also called the soul. The Self or Atman, by itself, is ever free and unconnected, and sustains and illumines everything. However, because of ignorance, the self identifies with the body, mind complex and comes to be called the jéeva, the ego or the individual self. Upon death, what transmigrates from one body to the other is the individual self that is identified with the subtle body.

Rather than accepting different embodiments in blind faith, we can understand that the continuity of life is a reasonable and logical proposition. In nature, nothing new is created or destroyed. Matter, for example, does not get created or destroyed; it just changes forms. Science has taught us that there is no creation or destruction; there is merely a change of form. Science does not accept life as separate from matter; life is viewed as a property of matter. However, we say that matter is the medium for the manifestation of life. Just as a bulb is the medium for the manifestation of electricity, so also, the subtle and gross bodies are the locus for manifestation of Consciousness. Just as there is continuity in matter, there is also continuity in life. And in the same manner as matter is not born and never dies, there is neither death, the destruction of life, nor birth. It is simply a change of form; a change of embodiment from one to the other. Even as we say that the body is dead, we know that it disintegrates into its components. So, if there is no birth or death of matter, it is reasonable to accept that there is no birth or death of life. Therefore, there is continuity in matter in as much as there is continuity in life also. This continuity is what we call rebirth or reincarnation from one embodiment to another.

To say that I did not have a previous birth, I am born from nowhere, and I disappear into nothing, makes no sense. That is to say that I came into existence from non- existence. No non-existent thing can give rise to an existent thing. Something cannot come out of nothing. If there is no reason why I am what I am, and you are what you are, there seems to be a lot of disparity and injustice. It would seem wrong if I were not accountable for my past actions and, again, if I do not bear the consequences of my present actions. If I do not accept the continuity of life, this life and its diversity are inexplicable. It would make sense only if I accept that I have had past embodiments when I performed a variety of actions that have given rise to my present. Again, I have to accept that I perform actions today, which will give rise to the future. Thus, there is a chain of cause and effect. If I were to be born without a history, I would be born without a cause and if I die without a living residue, a cause is destroyed without creating an effect. If birth were an effect without a cause, death would become a cause without an effect. That does not make sense. which will give rise to the future. Thus, there is a chain of cause and effect. If I were to be born without a history, I would be born without a cause and if I die without a living residue, a cause is destroyed without creating an effect. If birth were an effect without a cause, death would become a cause without an effect. That does not make sense.


By Sri Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam

# 025 It is not that everything has Atman. Rather, Atman is everything.

Do all living beings have an Atman? Are all living things interconnected because of Atman?


Yes, all living beings have an Atman. Atman is the essence, the core, the very truth, and the very being of all living beings. Atman is saccidänanda and is present everywhere. It is not that everything has Atman. Rather, Atman is everything. Do not separate Atman from things. It is not that I have a self; rather, I am the Self. All that exists is but the manifestation of Atman and, therefore, everything is interconnected; everything is one. The many things that we see are the manifestation of the One. The one Atman manifests as all beings, sentient and insentient, and living and non-living. All are manifestations of this one Self just as all ornaments are manifestations of gold, or all waves are manifestations of water. Everything in creation is the manifestation of the one Self, Atman. Atman is present everywhere and is the connecting link. All beings spring from the Self, and that is why we have order or harmony that connects or sustains everything. This very order or harmony is Atman, which sustains everything.

By Sri Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam

Saturday, August 15, 2015

# 024 Independence day greetings - Freedom from everything

Independence day greetings
Freedom from everything
Essence of Indian culture has always been about human liberation. On the day of (political) Independence Day, let us talk of not just political, social and physical liberation freedom (like Westerners) but of ultimate liberation: freedom from everything, freedom from prejudice, freedom from fear, freedom from death.
India is now at the peak of world attention. It is important to see how we are presenting ourselves to the world, about what we have to offer to the world. The essence of Indian culture has always been about human liberation. No other culture has looked at a human being with so much depth and understanding and created methods to evolve a person into his ultimate nature. To put it very bluntly, we have technologies to manufacture an enlightened being! 
It is not about belief systems. It is about systematic practices that were so intellectually and magnificently presented over thousands of years that they sharpened the mind and body in a certain way. That is what "yoga" is. Yoga is not about various postures that people immediately think of but a whole technology, which leads you on to a sense of inclusion; to experience everything and everyone as a part of yourself, which ultimately brings absolute clear perception of the realities in which you exist.
There are two ways to conquer somebody/something - one is by conquest, another is by inclusiveness. Inclusiveness is the way of yoga. Indian spiritual ethos is conquest by inclusion, by making someone fall in love with you. Conquest, unfortunately, has become the way of modern science. We should become a counter model for dog-eat-dog type of world situations. We should establish a society that is respected not because of its aggression or wealth but because of its wisdom of life.
But today, power is the only thing that is respected. This is only because we have not created a world where gentleness is respected. But is this power, this craze to accumulate wealth, making us happy? 
After receiving the Bharat Ratna award in 1992, J R D Tata said, "I don't want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country."
Let us BE HAPPY.

Based on an article (Oasis) in Deccan Herald dt. 15.8.15 by Jaggi Vasudev.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

# 023 Entire teaching of Gita is in one verse


The teaching of Gita starts with and is entirely contained in Verse 11 of Chapter 2.

Asochyaan anvasochastvam prajnaa vaadaamsca bhaashase
Gataasoon agataasoonsca na anusocanti panditaah

You grieve for those who need not be grieved for. Yet you utter words of wisdom.
The wise don’t grieve for those who are dead or for those who are living.

This is the central teaching. All the rest are only to reinforce it.

Krishna primarily talks from the philosophical point of view (aadhyaatmika drishti–verses 12-25). However, he also reiterates the ethical point of view (dhaarmika drishti–verses 31-33) and worldly point of view (loukika drishti–verses 34-37).

In the verses 12 to 25, Krishna describes the nature of the Self (aatmaa).

 1.The Self is nitya (eternal) (12-15).
 The body undergoes birth, youth, old age and death. The Self is
 unaffected.(13) The body faces heat, cold, pleasure, pain, etc.  
 These come and go (14). The wise person, who knows that the 
 Self is eternal, is not affected by these (15). “Just as a person
 removes old clothes and wears new ones, the embodied Self
 discards old bodies and takes new ones.” (22) “Weapons cannot
 cut the Self. Fire cannot burn It. Water cannot wet It. Wind
 cannot dry It”(23).
 2.The Self is satya (real) (16).
 3.The Self is nirvikaara (immutable) & avinaashi (indestructible) (17).
 4.The Self is sarvagatah (all-pervading) (17) ie there is only one Self (ekam).
 5.The Self is aprameya (indeterminable) (18).
The Self is the Subject. It is not an object. So it is not accessible to the senses (avyakta) and not accessible to the mind (acintya). Just as how the camera can never be seen in any photograph taken by it and how the eye cannot see itself, the Self cannot be an object of experience. The Self is always the Experiencer. For this reason, it is also without any properties (nirguna). Properties belong only to objects and not to the Subject. Being nirguna, it is naturally immutable (nirvikaara), because any change is only a change in properties.
 6.The Self is akarta and abhokta (non-doer and non-enjoyer) (19).
The Self is neither the agent of action nor subject to the effects of action. So the Self is not affected by paapa or punya. It is not affected by action (karma) or the fruits of action (karma phala). This naturally follows nirvikaara. As the Self does not change, it cannot be a doer or enjoyer.

In verse 21, Krishna brings in another important point. This knowledge of the Self has to be owned up. It is not enough to know that “The Self is immutable” like knowing “That stone is immovable”. The Self has to be known as one’s own self and identify with It. When we say “The Self is immutable”, we should mean “I am immutable”. Only when the knowledge of the Self has thus been assimilated, it will have its effect.

Krishna concludes by saying “As the Self is avyakta, acintya and nirvikaara, you should not grieve about it” (25). Thus Krishna beautifully brings the argument back to the opening verse “wise men do not grieve” (11).

One may very well then ask, “If the Self is beyond the senses and the mind, how is knowledge of Self possible”. Sankara clarifies that any knowledge takes place in the mind only. Even knowledge about hunger, which relates to the body, is a mental knowledge only. Though the Self is beyond the senses and the mind, its knowledge can be and is in the mind.

There are two other philosophies that Krishna brings up here. The materialistic philosophy (which includes today’s Science) considers the sense of individuality and Consciousness to be a product of the material body. If this is the case, then people come into being with the birth of the body and die with the death of the body. For one who is born, death is inevitable. So, seen from this point of view also, one should not worry about death.

The second philosophy, which does not accept the Immutability of the Aatman, but considers it different from the material body. It considers that the Aatman takes bodies repeatedly one after the other. This is similar to the Buddhistic philosophy. In this case also, as birth and death are inevitable, one should not worry about death.

It should be noted that though the proponents of various philosophies come and go, the philosophies have been in existence and have been thoroughly studied and discussed since ancient times. Though Buddha came later, Krishna talks about that philosophy too.

After concluding the discussion from philosophical point of view in verse 30, Krishna takes up the ethical point of view in verses 31 to 33 thus:

The duty of a Kshatriya is to establish righteousness. Giving up the body in the attempt to establish righteousness should not be bothering him.  If the Kshatriya  refuses to fight for a righteous cause when the opportunity is presented, then it is dereliction of duty and will incur sin.

Next comes the discussion from the worldly point of view in verses 34 to 37.

Arjuna is well known for his bravery and fighting skills. He has created a name for himself. If he does not fight now for whatever reason, the world will talk ill of him. Everyone will say that Arjuna did not fight because he was afraid of the war. For an accomplished Kshatriya, infamy is worse than death. If Arjuna wins the war, he will enjoy the victory and the kingdom. If he loses and dies, he will earn a name. Thus in either case, Arjuna does not lose by fighting in the war.

Thus Krishna asks Arjuna to treat victory and defeat equally, and fight.

Next from verse 40, Krishna starts explaining from the point of view of Karma Yoga. Key sloka of Karma Yoga is (47):

Karmanyeva adhikaaraste maa phaleshu kadaacana
Maa karma phalaheturbhur maa te sangostva akarmani

You have right only to perform work, but never to the results. Never act motivated by the results of your actions, nor should you be attached to not performing your duties.

We have control over only what we do. The result depends on so many factors and so we do not have control over the results. Whatever we do is only a partial contribution among the several known and unknown factors that affect the result. But without our contribution, there is no chance of getting the results that we seek. So, we should not think we control the situation. We should know that we are vital and important contributors, but never controllers. We should be mentally prepared for any outcome. Doing the work with equanimity with respect to the results/fruits of our actions - success or failure - is called Karma Yoga (48). This is a paradigm shift in one’s thinking/attitude.

Karma Yoga is also called Buddhi Yoga because the change is only in attitude. The purpose of life is to grow. In human beings, growth is intellectual and emotional. Intelletual growth makes the person think about questions like “Who am I?”, “What is this world?” and “Who is God?”. Emotional growth manifests itself as universal love (51). This growth gives psychological independence to the person, which is detachment (vairaagya) (52). Then, the person learns the Truth about the Self and World. Then he gets clear knowledge (nischala). By slowly breaking the old habits of an ajnaani, he becomes firmly established in the knowledge (achala). Then he is a jivanmukta or sthitaprajna (53).

Conversion of the intellectual knowledge into emotional strength needs assimilation of the knowledge and transformation of old habits. Three saadhanaas are given:

1. indriya nigrahah – Regulation of the senses.
2. mano nigrahah   – Regulation of the thought process.
3. nididhyaasana    – Controlling the senses and the mind.

When the knowledge is fully assimilated, there will be no delusion. One enjoys the peace and serenity as a jivanmukta till the body drops. When the body drops, he attains videha mukti by which, he totally merges with the infinite without a trace (72).

Thus the second chapter summarizes the entire teaching of Gita, which is also the teaching of the entire Vedas.