"I believe that [Amma] stands here in front of us, God's love in a human body."
Dr. Jane Goodallworld-renowned primatologist2001 Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence recipientGeneva, 7 October 2002
* - * - * - * - * - * - *
"Amma is the embodiment of pure love. Her presence heals."Dr. Deepak Chopra, M.D.author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old
"A type of force emanates from Her. I think it cannot be defined by our analysis."
Dr. Madhavan NairChairman of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)at Amma's Bangalore Ashram, 21 February 2004
* - * - * - * - * - * - *
"A society having only the government system, no matter how powerful and sincere, cannot survive for long without the solid base provided by spirituality. One plausible solution is to evolve a new universal religion. Now, only a vague outline can be speculated. Fortunately to have a glimpse of a sage of that universal religion, we have not to wait for some distant future. Sri Mata Amritanandamayi's life and work is a living example of universal love and service."
Dr. D.N. Srivastavasenior scientistBhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai
"Amma symbolises the truth and beauty of life."Dr. Padma SubrahmanyamIndian classical dancerduring Amritavarsham50Cochin, Kerala, 24 September 2003
* - * - * - * - * - * - *
"We all need heroes, people like Amma, who remind us of how great we can be when we've forgotten."
"I think Amma is truly doing more for women than any other being on earth."
Ms. Linda EvansAmerican actressduring Amritavarsham50Cochin, Kerala, 24 September 2003
* - * - * - * - * - * - *
"When we go to Amma for darshan, we forget what is happening around us. When Amma hugs us, we feel it to be something special that we have never got from anyone else. Her love, smile, kiss and the way She talks to us are things I cannot describe. Her love is forever."
Dr. K.S. Fathima BeeviLecturer, Government College, Tripunithura, KeralaSyndicate Member, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Keraladuring Amritavarsham50Cochin, 25 September 2003
* - * - * - * - * - * - *
"In all my life I have not met a warmer personality than [Amma]. Even an agnostic like me had great difficulty in holding back my tears." Sri. Khushwant Singhauthor and journalistAmritapuri Visitor's DiaryAmritapuri, 1993
* - * - * - * - * - * - *
"[Amma is] one of the most glorious lights to appear in the history of religion. Just her stamina—embracing these millions of people one by one, day after day, without a break, all over the world—is some kind of divine gift. No mere human resources could accomplish this."Dr. Timothy Conway, Ph.D.author of Women of Power & Grace
* - * - * - * - * - * - *
"What I have seen Amma doing is way beyond what most are able to achieve in such a short time. She is actually touching the heart of the people. She is able to make everyone realise that it is one's duty to work for humanity." Sri. N.V.R. NathanDirector, IILM Institute for Higher Educationduring Amritavarsham50Cochin, 26 September 2003
* - * - * - * - * - * - *
"Amma is playing a transformative and inspirational role to help people cross a lot of barriers of religion and caste so they can be spiritually uplifted."
Sri. Sanjay GuptaManaging DirectorDainik Jagran, a leading Hindi daily newspaperduring Amritavarsham50Cochin, 25 September 2003
* - * - * - * - * - * - *
"For me Amma is the ideal. She is the yardstick. She is the measurement to which all of us [must hold ourselves], whether we are beginners on the spiritual path or matured seekers. She always shows that you can give more love, show more compassion. Amma is the greatest living saint on this planet. I met many Masters, but in Amma I see a combination of unconditional love and ferocious determination and an indomitable spirit. Her example is peerless."Andrew Cohenspiritual teacher and founder of the magazine What is Enlightenment?Barcelona, 13 July 2004
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Yesterday I turned sixty-one
And someone long forgotten
Sent me a mail wishing hundred and one,
An expression of habitual sentiment.
He knew I loved our Mother,
For he cared to attach Her snap.
Her lips were a bewitching smile,
Folded hands were soulful prayer
For us all who have no time for Her.
Viewed the picture, a glance sufficed,
Oh, my disc has no more space.
The mail found its way to trash,
Who has time for wishing farce?
Another day of dreary chores,
Frenzied phone calls, business talks,
Ceaseless standing on the toes
Back to PC at the close.
The old always guides.
I look for a document saved,
For help in having a new one made.
Don’t we always retrieve the buried!?
Lo! What could be this, a new file?
In ‘My Documents’ saved,
Without my knowledge?
Finger curiosly clicks.
The smile brightens the screen
Like the dawn of spring-time sheen,
Hands fold again to greet
A careless son so indiscrete.
For all I know I pressed “Delete”,
Nevertheless She refused to retreat.
At the bottom of our being, isn’t it,
“My Documents” - Her sacred retreat?
A tear-drop tiny grows and wells
In my erstwhile blinded eyes
To spark an insight so very bright
“A Mother never ever leaves Her kids”.
(Written on 2nd December 2007)
And someone long forgotten
Sent me a mail wishing hundred and one,
An expression of habitual sentiment.
He knew I loved our Mother,
For he cared to attach Her snap.
Her lips were a bewitching smile,
Folded hands were soulful prayer
For us all who have no time for Her.
Viewed the picture, a glance sufficed,
Oh, my disc has no more space.
The mail found its way to trash,
Who has time for wishing farce?
Another day of dreary chores,
Frenzied phone calls, business talks,
Ceaseless standing on the toes
Back to PC at the close.
The old always guides.
I look for a document saved,
For help in having a new one made.
Don’t we always retrieve the buried!?
Lo! What could be this, a new file?
In ‘My Documents’ saved,
Without my knowledge?
Finger curiosly clicks.
The smile brightens the screen
Like the dawn of spring-time sheen,
Hands fold again to greet
A careless son so indiscrete.
For all I know I pressed “Delete”,
Nevertheless She refused to retreat.
At the bottom of our being, isn’t it,
“My Documents” - Her sacred retreat?
A tear-drop tiny grows and wells
In my erstwhile blinded eyes
To spark an insight so very bright
“A Mother never ever leaves Her kids”.
(Written on 2nd December 2007)
pUrNamadah pUrNamidaM Revisited
- OM PARASAKTIAI NAMAHA
PURNAMADAH PURNAMIDAM REVISTED
INTRODUCTION
The pUrNamadah verse, appearing at the end of this post, is the shAntipATa (prayer verse) with which IshAvAsyOpaniSad begins. It is familiar to all of us and is often chanted at the end of satsangs all over the world. However, we miss its profundity because that is the time we feel our pockets for the car keys in our hurry to reach back home. Usually, the gastric fire is also at work in the hope of a sumptuous prasAd more calorific than normal meals!
Exhaustive interpretations for the verse exist. I have found the explanations of Sw. Chinmayanandaji and Sw. Dayananda Saraswathiji very enlightening. It is usually deciphered by first equating “I” with “THAT” (adah) of the shrutIs. Analogies of snake-rope, post-ghost, gold-ornaments, ocean-waves etc. are then effectively employed to explain the relation between “THAT” and “THIS” (idam) and then unravel the advaitic truth remaining hidden in the verse.
I believe pUrNamadah can be lived every moment of our life. I am therefore making an attempt here to understand the verse with my eyes open looking at the duality of the world, a duality that spans from ants to stars and galaxies, but yet standing firmly rooted on scriptural pronouncements and affirmations.
THE UNIVERSE
I look out through the window. There is the unending expanse of the sky speckled with glittering stars. I close my eyes and look inside. There are scintillating thoughts, ideas, concepts and memories streaking my unending mental sky.
Did I use the words out and in? The outside and inside of what? There is no answer to that question because I cannot set borders for the being that I am and because all that listed above, from thoughts to stars, including my awareness of myself, are the things seen, acknowledged or objectified. They are all there. That is all I know. I exist knowing them all – a self-evidence that is formlessness.
All that are experienced and objectified constitute the universe for the purposes of this discussion. Since the day man began to think, the shape of the universe (of course, sans what he falsely considers himself to be) has been his biggest botheration. He sees a tree, he sees a mountain, he sees his wife. All of them have definite borders, precise forms. Naturally, therefore, he expects the same of the universe. It should have a form. He should know its limits.
He thus began theorizing. The basic assumption that went unquestioned in his pondering was his ‘taken for granted’ separate identity (from the object of study, i.e. the universe) as the theoretician existing within and bounded by the outer limits of his skin. Thus, the universe for him remained an outside with he himself appropriating and identifying with the inside together with its perceived borders!
Naturally, due to this separation, he visualized the universe as an object born in a Big Bang that occurred several billion years ago or as something that has always been existent in a steady state. Whatever these theories, they left several questions unanswered and gave rise to several other intractable conundrums. If the universe originated in a Big Bang, what was it that ‘banged’ and where did it exist? What was the ‘before’ of the Bang like? If the universe is still expanding after the Bang, where is it expanding in and to? Bang or steady state, where are its outer limits and what lies beyond them?
Some argued the primordial atom that banged big existed in a meta-universe. That raised unanswerable questions about the origin and limits of that meta-universe. An added problem when the one in hand was already begging answers! Others thought that time and space began with the Bang? But how could there be the existence of the something that banged without time and space? That was ridiculous.
As no satisfactory answers emerged, the spiritually inclined among the theoreticians threw their hands up and exclaimed in exasperation: “The universe is infinite.” They were then closer to the truth than ever before. But, there was opposition as some others swore that the universe was finite – as finite as an apple-pie. They brought in evidence like Olber’s Paradox to support their contention. The pity was that finitude was too familiar for their scientific minds to think in the opposite direction of utter freedom. In fact, they were wary that a no man’s land lay in the opposite way, a wilderness where profound-looking philosophers and theologians wandered aimlessly, to navigate which there were no frames of reference available to them. And the problem was that they were vainly trying to impose finitude on the universe as that is the only way they were scientifically comfortable.
As finite models fell far short of offering satisfactory answers, some of them had argued that the universe, as it spanned countless light-years, couldn’t be looked at simply from the Euclidian angle. The space-time continuum was brought in with gravitational bending of space. Others had speculated additional dimensions forgetting that that could give rise to the possibility of countless dimensions. An unending multiplicity of universes one within the other didn’t matter to them as long as they thought they were really researching. Actually, they were staring in the face of the infinite but vehemently refusing to acknowledge it in the vain hope of finding salvation in finitude. Succumbing to ‘uncertainty’, they thought, was more desirable than acknowledging the infinitude of the really infinite!
Whatever theories or mathematical equations the human mind cooks up, the questions that unendingly beg answers will remain the ‘before’, ‘after’ and ‘beyond’ of the universe. There is no hope of salvation without undoing these three that emanate from space and time in whose prison all empirical thinking is condemned to languish. The only solution, therefore, is to consider all creation, objectified both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ us, as one single universe and understand it as infinite – an infinity in relation to which time and space have no meaning.
To any enquiring mind, this infinitude of the universe should be as evident as broad daylight. The universe that I am trying to limit by being strictly empirical is in fact limitless. It is the infinite or infinity!
THE INFINITE OR INFINITY
Infinite and infinity are perhaps the most misunderstood words in English language. Our dictionaries suggest that infinite is the antonym of finite and infinitesimal. Some people see it as the opposite end of zero. Philosophically, that is our undoing.
Mathematics has made things worse. There was this mathematics teacher of mine in high school who was in the habit of showing off his knowledge. While on an uncalled for digression into mathematical infinity, he asked the class to answer the question of infinity divided by infinity. The brightest among us said one. Asked why, he explained that a number divided by the same number is always one. He was applauded. I had a doubt. I mustered enough courage to point out that there simply couldn’t be two infinities for the division to be performed. The teacher chided me and dubbed me an idiot trying to be smart!
Many decades have passed since then with me remaining an idiot and the world very intelligent. Else, how can we explain the way infinity continues to bother our finest minds. Type out the word ‘infinity’ in a Google search. You will see what I mean. Or, try this one: http://www.galactic-guide.com/articles/8R69.html for some fun.
With our vEdAntic knowledge, let us try to find out what the Infinite or Infinity is not or has not:
Infinity is unending. It never therefore began.
Infinity being boundless, it cannot have an outside. There is therefore no question of a second infinity. It is, therefore, one without a second.
Infinity therefore has no antonyms.
When there is no outside, no inside is warranted. So, infinity is without parts or contents.
When there are no parts, no separation is generated. Thus, infinity is spacelessness.
As space and time go hand in hand, infinity is timelessness too.
Infinity is thus fullness or completeness; nothing is there to add to it; nothing can be taken out from it; no outside agency can exist that can do the addition or subtraction!
Infinity alone remains.
VEDANTA
But, all this is contrary to my experience. I see the universe as composed of many different things like galaxies, stars, planets, living beings, the unknowns etc. etc. They are all separate. Then, there is me theorizing about the universe standing aside and altogether separate from it! Thus, the universe and me are mutually limiting.
VedAnta comes to our rescue here. It says that the experience of separation is an error and the multiplicity or duality generated thereby is non-real. The different entities objectified, including the limited me with all my internalizations, are miTyA. The seeming reality of duality is thus negated.
In contrast, mathematics, the first systematic language of ignorance, wants infinity to serve it as its house-maid while it does book-keeping for miTyA – the non-reality of finitude!
Experience connotes duality – an experiencer and experienced. The fullness or completeness called infinity doesn’t brook two or more. My sense of having a separate existence from the universe as its experiencer should, therefore, be an error that needs correction. If the outsideless and partless infinitude of the universe is granted, then my separation ends. I am then the universe and the universe is me. Experience of duality is thus understood as non-real, miTyA, an appearance. Then, my false conclusion that I am different from the universe or the universe is different from me stands corrected.
THE PURNAMADAH VERSE
Thus, in the pUrNamadah verse, idam (meaning THIS) stands for this one-without-a-second universe [idam sarvam (all this) or idam viswam (this world)]. I am IT.
Adah means THAT. What THAT? The THAT of the mahAvAkYa tat twam asi (That Thou art). “Thou” corresponds to the ‘I” of the other mahAvAkya “AhAM BrahmAsmi” (I am Brahman). Thus, THAT means the one-without-a-second Brahman of vEdAnta which is ME!
Brahman and the infinitude called the universe are thus identified as one and the same. The universe, which appears to encompass within itself the experiencing limited me and all the diverse experienced phenomena as separate entities and thereby imposes limitations on itself, is in fact the one-without-a-second *partless*, *indivisible* fullness called Brahman!
THIS IS THAT I AM!
Thus, this universe is completeness. The Brahman of vEdanta that is me is completeness. The apparent universe of duality, where the limited I see limited things, rises (udacyatE) from Brahman or me. The rising is only an appearance – miTyA, because completeness is indivisible. It is like a city reflected in a mirror (viswam darpaNadrishyamAna nagarI… of DakshiAmUrtyashTakam).
The verse continues to say: Taking away fullness from fullness or adding fullness to fullness, fullness alone remains. Take away this universe (of experienced forms, of appearance) from me (Brahman), I still remain fullness – This is what happens when I sleep every night! Bring back the universe in the morning when I awake – Even then I alone remain fullness in spite of the seeming appearances. Thus, nothing can be removed from “This is that I am”. Neither can anything be added. Thus, “this-is-that-I am” is an imperishable fullness that always remains.
All standard interpretations understand AdAya as both additive and subtractive. The word with its opposing meanings, therefore, fits the context perfectly as it emphasizes the impossibility of enhancing or reducing the already full fullness. Nothing can be added to fullness. Nothing can be removed from fullness. It also seems to laugh out aloud at the finitudinal naivety of mathematics’ attempts to add/subtract infinity to/from infinity!
Thus, I am not apart from the universe. Neither am I a part of it. I am it. Thus, the *sense* of seeing (experiencing) as seer (experiencer) apart from the seen (experienced) is the nature of my ignorance. When this is realized and the false *sense* loses grip, seeing ‘stops’ to spontaneously become being. The universe will then not be seen. Nay, the appearing universe then resolves into the erstwhile seer’s or experiencer’s total being – infiniteness, fullness and completeness. He begins to ‘heave’ with the whole universe in and as his being like Lord DakshiNAmUrti – an ocean of fullness. The waves then are an apparence that resolves in the depths of his silence. Thus, what is negated (nEti, nEti) is the appearance and not the infinitude called the universe. Negating that infinitude is tantamount to negating me!
The infinitude of the universe is the anirvacanIya (indefinable) that we discuss here frequently. It is ineffable only as long as we stand apart totally confounded and scratch our heads in awe. When pUrNamadah is properly understood, no anirvacanIya remains. What is there indefinable in my knowledge of myself? In the silence that I am, my pUrNa nature is crystal-clear to me. Indefinability arises only when I try to communicate with others. Well, then I am apUrNa by creating duality and playing with miTyA, as I am doing now!
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE WORLD IN FULLNESS?
Even when my *sense* of separation is understood and acknowledged as an error, the world doesn’t simply disappear as one would expect. In nirvikalpa samAdhi, which I haven’t experienced, it is said that the world vanishes. I cannot go into that. Nevertheless, it would help noting that whoever testified so had come out to the external world of duality to say so! Perhaps, in samAdhi, the samAdhist’s apparent separation from the world coalesces into his fullness with time and space undone. He thus becomes totally and experientially convinced of the non-real nature of what he ‘sees’ when he is not in samAdhi. However, I can’t help repeating Swami Dayananda Saraswatiji’s very profound and enlightening observation in this context:
QUOTE
A fullness dependent on experience grants reality to duality. To enjoy such a fullness one engages in various practices seeking the release of nirvikalpa-samAdhi, or one courts moments of great joy. Courting the experience of nonduality is based on fear of the experience of duality. Duality is seen as something from which one must escape. But escape by means of experience is false freedom. You, the limited being, and this world, which limits you, are always waiting when the experience is over.
UNQUOTE
Let the mountains, rivers, stars, and all the beings therefore remain as they are. What does it matter? If I am fullness, for which shruti is my guarantee, the mountain cannot be outside me or other than me. Therefore, the mountain is me. Thus, the river is me, the star is me, everything is me. I am the fullness that pervades all of them. They are not parts of me or in me (Ref: Bhagwad GItA – 9th Chapter), because as fullness I can’t have parts or contents. They are all verily me! When I am ‘looking’ at them, I am ‘face to face’ with infinity – the reality that I am!
Thus the pUrNamadah verse has all vEdanta encapsulated in it!
The deluded and limited me is just an appearance like all the rest of the things in this perceived universe. They are just non-real (miTyA) superimpositions on the reality that I am. Take them away or bring them back – the fullness that I am remains unaltered and undiminished, whether the seeming me is awake, asleep or dead!
Thus we sing:
Om pUrNamadah pUrNamidam
pUrNAt pUrNamudacyatE
pUrNasya pUrNamAdAya
pUrNamEvAvashiSyatE
Om shAntih, shAntih, shAntihi
[Completeness is that, completeness is this,
from completeness, completeness comes forth.
Completeness from completeness taken away,
completeness to completeness added,
completeness alone remains.
Peace, peace, peace!]
(Translation of the verse from Sw. Dayanandaji’s interpretation)
_____________________
Sweets....Vegitaian ??? !!!
Beasts in my belfry / Maneka Gandhi
In India, by law, every food item has to have a green doton it, if it is vegetarian - and a maroon dot, if it is non-vegetarian.
So, how have the mithai (sweets) people not been arrested so far? Milk has been treated as vegetarian to appease the powerful dairy lobby, but the silver foil or 'varakh' on each mithai cannot by any stretch of
imagination be considered vegetarian.
'Beauty Without Cruelty', aPune-based NGO that investigate
Here is their report on how it is made.
The varakh-makers select animals at the slaughterhouse.
Once these are dry, the workers cut out square pieces 19 cm by 15 cm. These pieces are made into pouches called auzaar and stacked into booklets. Each booklet has a cover of thick lamb suede called khol. Thin strips of silver called alagaa are placed inside the pouches. Workers now hit the booklet with wooden mallets for three hours to beat the
Here are the statistics that you should know. An animal's skin can make 20-25 pieces/pouches only. Each booklet has 360 pouches. One booklet is used to make 30,000 varakh pieces - less than the daily supply of a single big mithai shop.
About 12,500 animals are killed for one kg of varakh. Every year, 30,000 kg of varakh (30 tonnes) are
Each Jain knows in his heart that varakh is non-vegetarian. But they still use these dreadful items of mass destruction to decorate the idols of Jain tirthankars. How amazing that the idols of those that preached and practised strict non-violence to all creatures should now be covered with slaughterhouse derived silver foils. Jains are the biggest buyers of the varakh industry. Many try to bluff themselves by saying that the varakh is machine-made. 'Beauty Without Cruelty' has done a thorough investigation and found that there is not a single machine-made varakh piece in this country (or even the world).
On the web, there is one letter from a person, Jalandhr a, claiming that he has a company which has "fully automatic machines manufactured with German collaboration to beat silver pieces in between a special Indian manufactured paper in a hygienic and controlled atmosphere run round the clock by qualified Engineers and experienced R&D team". Initially, we were importing the special paper from Germany. But when I followed this up, no factory of the given name, or even address, was not found.
The production of varakh is done mainly in north India: Patna, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Gaya (which is a&n bsp;Buddhist holy centre) in Bihar; Kanpur, Meerut and Varanasi (the holy city of Hindus) in Uttar Pradesh; and Jaipur, Indore, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The booklets come to them from the slaughterhouses of Delhi, Lucknow, Agra and Ratlam.
Not only is varakh non-vegetarian, it is also very bad for your body - whether you are vegetarian or not. The silver cannot be digested; therefore, there are no benefits from its consumption . A study done in November 2005 by the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre
Over half of the analysed silver foils had lower silver purity than the 99.9 per cent purity stipulated by the prevention of food adulteration act of India. When such foil enters into the body, it releases heavy metals that can lead to cancer. The report also details the unhygienic conditions in which workers put 
It is time we refused varakh-covered mithai, fruit or paan
As for me, I think that this year, I will take the mithai shops to court for not labelling their products non-vegetarian, before selling them. Let us see how many of them&n bsp;go to jail, or have their business closed down. I suggest you cut out this article and show it to your local sweetshops.
Friday, January 11, 2008
For Householders
Overcome Anger
“Suppose you have a weakness of getting angry easily. Now, what you should do is this: Once you become normal again, go and sit in the family shrine room if you have one, or sit in solitude; then regret and repent your own anger and sincerely pray to your beloved deity or to Mother Nature, seeking help to get rid of it. Try to make your own mind aware of the bad outcome of anger. When you are angry with someone, you lose all your mental balance. Your discriminative power completely stops functioning. You say whatever comes into your mind and you act accordingly. You may even utter crude words at your own wife or children, or your own father or mother. Once you lose your discrimination you may even kill someone. By acting and thinking with anger you lose a lot of good energy. Become aware of this great truth, that these negative feelings will only pave the way for your own destruction, and sincerely try to put forth effort to overcome them.”
~
“When you are in the midst of an upsetting situation, can you simply observe what is happening? Can you stop thinking that someone is insulting and abusing you? Can you forget that you are being treated unfairly and let go of the wish to do something about it? Don't be abusive. Don't react. Try to realise that the real problem is not what is happening, but how you are reacting to it. When you see that you are going to react negatively, at this point, pause. Stop talking. Say to your mind, 'No, don't say anything now. You will get a better opportunity to present the whole matter in a more effective way. But now you keep quiet for the time being.' During this pause, try to think of something positive, something elevating, something sweet, something that you consider unforgettable. Try to recall a pleasant event or memory. Focus all your energies, all your thoughts on that. If you can do this, you won't be bothered or angered by the ridiculous words and unbearable face of the other person.”
~
“In due course, when you have learned to overcome these mildly provoking situations, you can slowly begin to test your experiment in more trying and serious situations. As you continue to practice, you will see that you are changing. And eventually, you will see that you cannot react anymore, that you can only respond. You will experience much more peace and joy in your marriage and in your family life in general. The change in your attitude and the patience that you show will also create a positive change in others.”
~
“When your husband sees that you are not reacting anymore, when he realises that his anger and insults are no longer being accepted, that they are no longer affecting you, he will feel embarrassed. What happens when a warrior finds that his weapons are not powerful or effective anymore? He throws them away. Similarly, when your husband finds that his weapons, the words that he uses against you, are not hurting you anymore, he will give up and keep quiet. In addition, you will now be treating him with more love and care. This is a great gift.”
~
Chant Your Mantra
“When your mind is restless, try to chant your mantra. If you seek solace in anything else, all will be lost. If you don't get peace of mind from one thing, you will look for something else. Failing that, you will again look for something else. You won't experience any peace at all. No peace will be experienced in anything. Whereas, if you remember God and chant your mantra, you will quickly become very calm and peaceful. Your mind will have the power to face any situation.”
~
“Firmly fix the idea in your mind that only God is true and eternal. Chant your mantra while engaged in your work. Then there won't be any need for a special time to remember God. Your mind will always be focused on Him.”
~
“The mind which is flying about in all directions should be gathered together. Then only will it become spiritually strong. The mind cannot be fixed on a single point in the beginning. It should be tuned by doing mantra japa continuously. All your attention should be only on that. Do you know what mantra japa can be compared to? In kindergarten we learn to write using a slate and to count using pearls. In this way the lessons will easily sink into the intellect. Similarly, we can get concentration through mantra japa. There are people who attained the goal merely by chanting a mantra. It is not always possible to meditate but mantra japa can be done irrespective of time or place.”
~
Vasanas (Negative Tendencies)
“Family life allows us to conquer our vasanas. Don't drown in the vasanas; understand what they are and go beyond them. We will reach our goal only if we become completely detached from the vasanas. We feel satisfied after enjoying our fill of payasam, but a little later, we want twice as much. Once we understand the true nature of this yearning, the mind will not go after it. Would anyone touch the payasam if a lizard fell into it?”
~
“When the vasanas pull us towards them, the mind will resist if it knows that they are not the source of real joy, and that they will only bring us sorrow. But this knowledge has to be firmly planted in the mind and intellect. Don't let your lives go to waste, children, by being slaves to your minds! Don't barter away a priceless jewel for a piece of candy. Our minds will quiet down if we stop giving as much importance to sensory pleasures as we do now.”
“Suppose you have a weakness of getting angry easily. Now, what you should do is this: Once you become normal again, go and sit in the family shrine room if you have one, or sit in solitude; then regret and repent your own anger and sincerely pray to your beloved deity or to Mother Nature, seeking help to get rid of it. Try to make your own mind aware of the bad outcome of anger. When you are angry with someone, you lose all your mental balance. Your discriminative power completely stops functioning. You say whatever comes into your mind and you act accordingly. You may even utter crude words at your own wife or children, or your own father or mother. Once you lose your discrimination you may even kill someone. By acting and thinking with anger you lose a lot of good energy. Become aware of this great truth, that these negative feelings will only pave the way for your own destruction, and sincerely try to put forth effort to overcome them.”
~
“When you are in the midst of an upsetting situation, can you simply observe what is happening? Can you stop thinking that someone is insulting and abusing you? Can you forget that you are being treated unfairly and let go of the wish to do something about it? Don't be abusive. Don't react. Try to realise that the real problem is not what is happening, but how you are reacting to it. When you see that you are going to react negatively, at this point, pause. Stop talking. Say to your mind, 'No, don't say anything now. You will get a better opportunity to present the whole matter in a more effective way. But now you keep quiet for the time being.' During this pause, try to think of something positive, something elevating, something sweet, something that you consider unforgettable. Try to recall a pleasant event or memory. Focus all your energies, all your thoughts on that. If you can do this, you won't be bothered or angered by the ridiculous words and unbearable face of the other person.”
~
“In due course, when you have learned to overcome these mildly provoking situations, you can slowly begin to test your experiment in more trying and serious situations. As you continue to practice, you will see that you are changing. And eventually, you will see that you cannot react anymore, that you can only respond. You will experience much more peace and joy in your marriage and in your family life in general. The change in your attitude and the patience that you show will also create a positive change in others.”
~
“When your husband sees that you are not reacting anymore, when he realises that his anger and insults are no longer being accepted, that they are no longer affecting you, he will feel embarrassed. What happens when a warrior finds that his weapons are not powerful or effective anymore? He throws them away. Similarly, when your husband finds that his weapons, the words that he uses against you, are not hurting you anymore, he will give up and keep quiet. In addition, you will now be treating him with more love and care. This is a great gift.”
~
Chant Your Mantra
“When your mind is restless, try to chant your mantra. If you seek solace in anything else, all will be lost. If you don't get peace of mind from one thing, you will look for something else. Failing that, you will again look for something else. You won't experience any peace at all. No peace will be experienced in anything. Whereas, if you remember God and chant your mantra, you will quickly become very calm and peaceful. Your mind will have the power to face any situation.”
~
“Firmly fix the idea in your mind that only God is true and eternal. Chant your mantra while engaged in your work. Then there won't be any need for a special time to remember God. Your mind will always be focused on Him.”
~
“The mind which is flying about in all directions should be gathered together. Then only will it become spiritually strong. The mind cannot be fixed on a single point in the beginning. It should be tuned by doing mantra japa continuously. All your attention should be only on that. Do you know what mantra japa can be compared to? In kindergarten we learn to write using a slate and to count using pearls. In this way the lessons will easily sink into the intellect. Similarly, we can get concentration through mantra japa. There are people who attained the goal merely by chanting a mantra. It is not always possible to meditate but mantra japa can be done irrespective of time or place.”
~
Vasanas (Negative Tendencies)
“Family life allows us to conquer our vasanas. Don't drown in the vasanas; understand what they are and go beyond them. We will reach our goal only if we become completely detached from the vasanas. We feel satisfied after enjoying our fill of payasam, but a little later, we want twice as much. Once we understand the true nature of this yearning, the mind will not go after it. Would anyone touch the payasam if a lizard fell into it?”
~
“When the vasanas pull us towards them, the mind will resist if it knows that they are not the source of real joy, and that they will only bring us sorrow. But this knowledge has to be firmly planted in the mind and intellect. Don't let your lives go to waste, children, by being slaves to your minds! Don't barter away a priceless jewel for a piece of candy. Our minds will quiet down if we stop giving as much importance to sensory pleasures as we do now.”
Monday, January 7, 2008
Hot or Cold ???
Please be careful
Please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about.
For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.
A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive.
A cardiologist says if everyone who reads this message sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. Read this & Send the link to a friend. It could save a life. So, please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Amma's New Year Message
Excerpted from Amma's 2008 New Year's Talk
Midnight, 1 January 2008 — Amritapuri
We are all very happy that another New Year is upon us," Amma said. "Happiness is good for the health of the body and the mind. Our goal is to always be happy. Everyone should always be happy and rejoicing—just like a small child. That is Amma's desire.
It was The hall was full. Around 10,000 devotees and ashramites were assembled in the hall. The hour of midnight was approaching.
Human beings are most happy in childhood. But the time considered as "childhood" is ever decreasing. Previously, one was considered a child until he was eight or nine. But today the innocence and pleasantness associated with childhood is fading faster and faster. Childhood these days is filled with seriousness and tension.
When our desires are fulfilled, when things go according to our plans, we experience happiness—but it is only temporary.
Many people celebrate the New Year by setting off fireworks or celebrating in the ballroom of a beautifully decorated five-star hotel, exchanging New Year greetings and dancing and singing fully intoxicated. A large percentage of people then return to their home or tension-filled office without retaining even the tiniest amount of happiness or peace. What then is the point of the happiness experienced while drinking or sitting at the bar of a five-star hotel? Real happiness is something that can be experienced at any time and in any place—in family life, social life, at work and in the mind. That should be our goal. To attain this, our mind should be full of love.
May this New Year fill our hearts with love and gratitude. When we express a desire and it does not get fulfilled, we start questioning life and why it has not met our expectations. We become depressed. But there is no law that all of our desires should be fulfilled.
We should understand that life gives us what we need and not necessarily what we want. It follows its own wisdom, which is often incomprehensible to our gross minds. We should learn to accept situations in life. This attitude of acceptance is the secret to happiness.
As we enter 2008, let us pray together, "O Paramatman, let there be no wars, violence or natural disasters this year. Let there be no death due to starvation or lack of medical care. Let there be no children who are unable to continue their studies due to poverty. Let the music of peace and harmony be heard everywhere. Just as we decorate our houses and surroundings with lights, let our heart remain effulgent throughout the year with love and compassion."
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
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