Digest Number 182, Msg.#1,4&7

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>

> Message: 1

> Fri, 20 Sep 2002 20:10:13 -0000

> "Uma" <tatwamasi

> Re: "Sache Phansi Chadh di wekhe, Jhothey Mauj Manadi" WHY?

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There are some interesting stories in our scriptures, from where we can draw

some consolation to lessen the impact of grief situations. Here are a couple

of

them:

 

1) Once Devarishi Narada visited a king, who had four queens but no progeny.

The king requested Narada to bless him so that he may have a son to continue

the line of succession. Devarishi blessed the king as requested and went

away. In due course a son was born to one of the queens and the king was

very happy. This queen became specially dear to the king and was always in

his favor. Therefore, the other queens became jealous of her and cooked up

a plan to poison the child and actually executed this heinous act and the

child was dead. Now there was a doom spread all over the kingdom and the

king and the queen was in deep sorrow and there was a lot of whaling and

crying over the loss of their son. Narada happened to be passing by through

the kingdom and hearing of all the whaling and crying, he stopped and

enquired the cause of all this. The king told him about the loss of his son

and wanted Narada to bring back his son to life. When no amount of

persuasion and reasoning worked, Narada using his Yogic powers made the son

to appear before the king and told him that his parents were very sad upon

your deserting them. The boy replied that he had innumerable births and same

number of parents in the past and that he was only a Jivatma caught up in

this

misery of births and deaths. He therefore did not recognize them, and having

said so he disappeared from the scene. Now the king understood Narda's

wisdom and consoled himself.

 

2) The great epic Mahabharata starts with the story of king Shantnu. He

married Celestial Ganga and agreed to abide by her condition that she would

have the freedom to do what she liked and king shall not question her

actions. The day he questioned her action she would desert him. The couple

had seven children in succession at an yearly interval and the mother Ganga

floated them into the river one by one as soon as they were born and king

could not stop her because he was bound by promise that he will not question

her actions. When the turn of the 8th child came, king could not resist and

stopped her from floating the child into the river. At that point Ganga as

per her resolve parted with the king. The 8th child was the famous Bhishma

of

Mahabharata and we all know what kind of sufferings he had to go through

throughout his life till his death on the battlefield.

 

King Shantnu was a mortal like most of us and was ignorant of the past and

the future of these children and was therefore attached to them considering

them to be his children and was thus grief stricken upon their death. Where

as his wife, who was non other than the Celestial Ganga, was fully aware of

the past and future of the children. These 8 children were non other than

the 8 Vasuus who were under a curse, to be born on earth, for some mischief

they had committed. Upon being drowned they immediately attained to their

heavenly abode.

 

The moral of these stories is that it is the attachment of me and mine that

gives rise to grief upon the loss of the attached object and the gravity of

pain is directly proportional to the intensity of attachment to that object.

How does it relate to our basic question, "Sache Phansi Chadh di wekhe,

Jhothey Mauj Manadi". The answer would be that it is the Prarabdha of the

parents and the child concerned and the Karmaphala of the child.

 

God bless all,

radhakutir.

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> Message: 4

> Fri, 20 Sep 2002 20:49:59 -0000

> "Erica" <sugarandbrine

> Re: Happiness

>

> Dear SVCS,

>

> Thank you for posting this beautiful message.

>

> If happiness is our true nature, why do we humans feel so unhappy most

> of the time? Do we forget how to be truly happy, or is it something

> we have to learn? Can we be truly happy here on Earth? Is happiness

> something we must practice, or does our sadhna lead to happiness?

>

> Anxiously awaiting...

>

> With love,

> Erica

>

> , s_v_c_s <no_reply> wrote:

> > Happiness is our real nature.

 

Submission from radhakutir:

 

If happiness is our true nature, why do we humans feel so unhappy most

of the time?

It is because of the ignorance of our true nature. We take the body to be

our true nature and superimpose the miseries of the body, which is subject

to 6 types miseries of birth, disease, hunger, thirst, old age, and death,

upon the all blissful Self. In the deep sleep state we are totally ignorant

of the body and its relationship to things, beings, and surroundings. As a

result we are closest to our true nature, the Self, and therefore naturally

feel blissful. This in practice is the experience of all of us.

 

Do we forget how to be truly happy, or is it something

we have to learn?

We need to be aware at all times that I am not the body, a state naturally

attained during the deep sleep, but in the waking state it requires lot of

practice. One need to become the seer of one's own actions.

 

Can we be truly happy here on Earth?

Yes certainly, if we can lead a perfectly detached life mentally. In this

state we have to be mentally dealing with our own selves at an arms length.

 

Is happiness something we must practice, or does our sadhna lead to

happiness?

Our Sadhna is to practice that I am not the body. The attachment to the body

leads to all kinds of ills of, me and mine, likes and dislikes, desires,

anger, greed etc. Detachment from the body means that the all blissful Self

shines naturally like that in the deep sleep state.

 

Om Tat Sat,

radhakutir

_____________________

 

> Message: 7

> Sat, 21 Sep 2002 10:25:34 -0000

> prasad_s_deshpande

 

I have a question. As per my understanding one has to

> cover this journey all alone until one reaches the destination. Then

> I am not sure, whether we are already on our way or are discussing on

> how to start this journey?

>

> Could someone please explain me as I need to understand this before i

> get on with other things involved in the journey.

 

Submission from radhakutir:

I think you can consider yourself already on the way. Once a human being

starts reasoning about the how and why of life, he can be considered to be

on the way. The most important thing to be very clear is about the

destination or the goal. If we are not sure of the goal, there is every

chance of going astray. Covering the journey alone means that one has to

practice it by oneself. It is like if I am hungry, some else eating the food

for me cannot satisfy my hunger, I have to eat myself alone to appease it.

 

In the service of the Lord,

radhakutir

 

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"You can stop worrying by refusing to worry. Surrender all your worries at

His feet. Have faith in Him. Surrender and sit back. Soon you will find your

life being lifted into quieter channels. --- Swami Chinmayananda

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Please visit our websites on Vedanta:

http://personal.vsnl.com/vedanta or http://www.geocities.com/radhakutir

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