A gorgeous scene of Shiva parivar, the holiest of the holy at their abode in Mt Kailash. Lord Shiva is known for His penchant for the spiritual ,and he always shares this with all. But the luckiest people on earth are obviously His wife Parvati, and children Kartikeya and Ganesh, who hear it first hand, before anyone else. Thus too, they are the most spiritual beings themselves. But Parvati is a mother to the whole world, and her Maya is this: Even though she already knows all spirituality, because she is herself Durga, Ma Jagdama, she again asks Shivji spiritual questions, so that the entire world may benefit from His wonderful answers and knowledge. As an extended family, Nandi and Kesari( Durga's Lion ) are also the supreme beneficiaries. Aum Namah Shivaya! Jai Jagdambe!
"I have no desire for wealth or possessions, and so I have nothing. I do not experience the initial suffering of having to accumulate possessions, the intermediate suffering of having to guard and keep up possessions, nor the final suffering of loosing the possessions."
Q: When someone criticizes me I switch off and go into hiding. How to handle criticism without arguing and fighting?Guruji : Know that you’re magnanimous. Every time you face a criticism know that you are vast like the ocean, and you can take in anything. When you feel small that is when you don’t feel like taking criticism. When you feel you are very big, then you think, 'I am much bigger than this criticism, let me take it in'.
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Q: Can one choose their parents and time and place of birth?
Guruji : Yes, you will always choose as per your karma.
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You know, when you run feverishly after material gains, your attention is no longer directed towards gaining knowledge. Then you cannot learn.
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When mistakes happens, see it as a happening. Through whom it happened is secondary. If you adopt this approach, it makes you very centered, and you feel connected with everybody. The mind becomes free from anger, jealousy, greed, and all these negative imperfections
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Q: What is that one primary mantra to success?
Guruji : The one primary mantra to success is to digest failure.
Om Namah Shivay
Contradictions in the Gita Helps One to thinkTruth is contradictory; if it is not contradictory, then it is not truth! The Bhagavad Gita is full of contradictions. You can understand it only if you see it in totality.At one point, Krishna tells Arjuna that action is the most important thing and without action one will be nowhere. But after that, He tells him that action is all right but knowledge is better! Then Krishna says, "You must become a yogi and drop everything around you."
Krishna tells Arjuna in Chapter Six that since he is confused, there is no use talking. He asks him to meditate. Finally He says, he is the greatest amongst yogis who keeps Me in his heart whether he meditates or not. He is the real yogi, because I am with him in whatever he is doing.
At one juncture, Krishna says, Arjuna, there is nobody dear to me, nobody whom I love. And then gives a whole list of qualifications for those He really loves!
In another instance, Krishna tells Arjuna to act without looking for the fruit of action. Later He asks Arjuna to act properly, according to natural law. Then He tells him that he ought to fight if he wants to win the war. So, at this point He is bringing Arjuna's attention to the fruit of action, but then He also tells him not to worry about the fruit of action.
Krishna was like a dear friend to Arjuna. In the Bhagavatam, except for Vidura and Udhava, nobody even thought he was enlightened; they all thought that he was just very smart. The Pandavas and the gopis knew who Krishna was and how complete He was from all angles. But many of them, including Arjuna, did not see him that way. Krishna, however, shows him that He is infinite.
Krishna tells Arjuna, I will give you a special eye of knowledge, which I have haven't given anybody in ages. I am giving it to you now because it is time. With that, He gives him a vision. For that one moment the universe appears as a manifestation of Krishna to Arjuna.
Arjuna sees all of creation, everything the mountains and the rivers, the past, the present and the future dissolving in Krishna. For an instant, the whole of life, the universe, all memories play out like a movie and it frightens Arjuna. Then Arjuna pleads, Oh! Please show me your simple, natural and friendly face. I like your simple smile and I want to see my friend. I don't want to see anything beyond. It is too much for me. This is called Vishva Roopa Darshana the vision of the universal.
Thereafter, Krishna tells Arjuna about the yagyas, principles and laws of the universe. Then He talks about sanyasa and how to be centred. Arjuna tells Krishna that what he says is not easy to follow. Krishna says, I agree It is difficult but not impossible. With practice, dispassion and by getting to the centre again, you will succeed.
Krishna tried everything. Finally, it was the display of the universal vision that worked on Arjuna. When Arjuna says, I give up, Krishna says, Think and do whatever is best for you after pondering over what I have said. And then Arjuna says his mind is now clear. Krishna had to speak through 18 chapters to get him to that point. He could have done it at the very first chapter. But the way this knowledge flows is really beautiful.
Everything may appear to be all contradictory from all angles. But that is reality!
Om Namah Shivay
What is Pitr Lok?After leaving the physical body, the place where soul departs to is Pitr Loka.These lokas are present here only. It is like TV channels. If you change a channel on the television, that does not mean the other channel disappears. It is still there, but you just can't see it.
Similarly, we can see only this dimension, but there are other dimensions also that are present here, which we cannot see. The mind is like a television box, and the soul is where we have all the channels. This is so interesting.
You know, it is so mind-boggling, there are so many layers to this creation; one layer is of human life, another layer is of the departed souls, another layer is of the deities (everything happens from this layer). Then there is the layer of the Gandharva (the realm of music).
Any renowned musician you meet, they have a Gandharva soul attached to them.
Like this, the creation has many layers.
Om Namah Shivay
Power of Brahmacharya | Is Sexual Abstinence Old-Fashioned or the Sensible Thing to Do? (Part 1)Power of Brahmacharya – Quotes by Swami Vivekananda and Swami Sivananda - “Brahmacharya” is the vow of celibacy in thought, word and deed. The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will-power. How did Hanuman become a Mahavir (the most brave)? It is with this weapon of Brahmacharya that he acquired unsurpassable strength and valour. The valour and greatness of emperor Prithviraj was due to the strength of Brahmacharya. The great Bhishma, the grandfather of Pandavas and Kauravas conquered death by Brahmacharya.
These days “unrestrained sex” has become the motto of the Indian media.
“Sexual freedom” is being promoted as a mantra on almost all major media platforms ranging from Bollywood movies, to TV serials, to newspapers. All are busy encouraging the youth to break out of tradition, to become promiscuous and indulge in unrestrained sexual activities, especially before marriage.
The motive of the media organizations, of course is plain and simple greed. Sex sells, and ensures viewer eyeballs and profits. However in what direction is this taking our country?
Swami Vivekananda has given the poignant answer:
“Chastity is the life of a nation. Do you not find in history that the first death-sign of a nation has been unchastity? When that has entered, the end of the race is in sight.”
Energetic youth are the hope and future of any country. But when our youth choose to waste their precious mental and physical energies indulging in promiscuous behavior, when young women and men are saddled with the burden of unwanted pregnancies and early onset of adulthood, then from where are they going to find the strength within them to take the country forward – to solve the larger problems of poverty, hunger, environmental decay, illiteracy etc. that face India?
Excessive Intercourse Dissipates “Prana” and Imbalances the Mind
The Rishis of Vedanta have emphasized that one of the greatest channels through which the vital spiritual energy or “prana” gets dissipated is through intercourse.
This prana is the energy that fuels not just the body but also the mind. In fact it is the subtle vibrations of prana which are responsible for producing thoughts in our mind.
So what happens when the pranic energy in the body is wasted through excessive intercourse and lustful imaginations?
Then the mind sapped of its vital energy source, becomes enormously weakened and this weakness manifests itself as lack of will-power, as lack of courage, in feelings of nervousness, fear, anxiety, negative thoughts and other mental disturbances.
Thus the media’s self-centered preoccupation with momentary satisfactions associated with the temporary physical body, comes at the heavy cost of injuring a young person’s mind. (Upon death, the soul leaves the physical body clothed in the mind. Since the SAME mind travels with our soul from birth to birth, therefore it is extremely important to cultivate a strong, iron-willed mind, as it will assist us in our future lives as well.)
It was for this reason that the Rishis of ancient India, required the youth in their Gurukuls (institutes of learning) to practice strict brahmacharya – or complete sexual abstinence in thoughts, words and deeds. Only then could the young cultivate highly focused, strong and controlled minds.
As Swami Sivananda has explained in his book Practice of Brahmacharya:
“Even a little self-restraint or a little practice of continence gives inner strength and peace of mind. It invigorates the mind and nerves. It helps to conserve physical and mental energy. It augments memory, will-force and brain-power. It bestows tremendous strength, vigour and vitality.
It gives power to face the difficulties in the daily battle of life. The special virtues of endurance and bravery are intimately connected with the cultivation of chastity.
A perfect celibate can move the world, can stop the ocean-waves like Lord Jesus, can blow up mountains, can command nature and the five elements like Jnana Dev. There is nothing in the three worlds that cannot be achieved by him. All Siddhis (supernatural powers) roll under his feet.”
Another example of such a perfect celibate was Swami Vivekananda, who too was endowed with many extraordinary powers. One of these powers was that of a tremendous memory.
The practice of strict brahmacharya all his life had endowed Swamiji with the Siddhi (power) that let him read many books in an extremely short period of time. Unlike ordinary people who read a book, word by word, Swamiji read them paragraph by paragraph.
So great were his concentration, attention and memory that in one reading alone he could memorize 10 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica!
Om Namah Shivay
Why Did God Create the World?Part 7Objects of the world have two causes - the material cause (upadana karana) and the efficient or intelligent cause (nimitta karana). The material cause pervades the object whereas the efficient cause remains separate from it. The clay is the material cause, which pervades the clay pot. The potter is the efficient cause, the intelligent being who remains independent of the pot. Is God the material cause, the efficient cause or both? God is inert, or like some law of nature, for those who think He is only the material cause. God is like a Father in Heaven, someone far away, overlooking the world for those who think He is only the efficient cause.
We understand that in case of a finite object the material and the efficient causes are different. But for the infinite world, the cause has to be one alone. God Himself manifests as the world. He creates the world out of Himself. He therefore pervades the entire creation and governs it as well; being changeless He does not undergo any intrinsic change to become the world. He is therefore the single efficient- material- unchanging cause (abhiman-nimitta-upadan-vivarta karana) of the world.
“Why does He manifest as the world?” God is infinite and complete. He has no desires to be fulfilled. We as the finite individuals have innumerable desires to be fulfilled. God made this world as a field where we can exhaust our inherent tendencies (vasanas). But as we fulfill our desires we create many more. We thus start the chain of action (karma) and result (Karmaphala), which keeps the cycle of birth and death (janma marana chakra) and of creation-destruction going on. This is therefore not our first birth nor is this the first creation. Instead of asking, which was the first birth or first creation; we should try and end this cycle. Realizing the Truth behind the world and oneself, one is free from the finitude. Knowing oneself to be the Pure being, there is no more becoming.
Since this world is made for us, let us use it to know the Truth. May His purpose behind creating this world be fulfilled.
In conclusion let us pray to God/Truth within us to guide us in life, give it meaning and purpose and resolve all our doubts.
Om Namah Shivay
