Guest guest Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 SrI: SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha // SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha // SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/ SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya// KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: / SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm// ========================================================= SRI RANGA SRI VOL.08 / ISSUE # 08 dated 26th November 2006 ========================================================== EDITORIAL Dear Bhagavatas: As Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami is in Cleveland, I am sending this on his behalf.. Swami is available at: 25807 Iris Court, Westlake, OH-44145 Phone # (440) 716- 0771 Cell # (770) 876- 9188 You may contact him at Ramanbil (AT) hotmail (DOT) com Regards Namo narayana dAsan Madhava Kannan ========================================================== INTHIS ISSUE: 1. "THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY – A CLASH OF WILLS?– Part-6" BY SRI ANBIL RAMASWAMY (This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on 31st May 2006) 2. "DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" – PART- 8": BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO 3. "MAGIC OF MUSIC BY SRI ANBIL RAMASWAMY ========================================================= ISSUES RELEASED With this issue, about 233 Regular issues of SRS have been released so far, apart from numerous "Special Issues" as indicated below: 27 Issues of Vol. 1 15 Issues of Vol. 2 42 Issues of Vol. 3 35 Issues of Vol. 4 28 Issues of Vol. 5 30 Issues of Vol. 6 50 Issues of Vol. 7 and 07 Issues of Vol. 8 --- - These issues have been archived for public view at - By Sri Diwakar Kannan You may also view the archives at http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia maintained By Sri Srinivasan Sriram (ajiva_rts@xxxx) We strongly urge you to kindly peruse the "Regular Issues" archived in the Files Section and view the Contents at srsindex.html (Not the individual postings allowed for encouraging "Reader participation"). We are sure that you will be convinced of the quality of the contents. IF you are satisfied with the quality and contents of "Sri Ranga Sri" - Tell your friends to join by sending an email to Srirangasri- IF NOT: Tell us, as to how we may improve. Ever at your service Moderator "Sri Ranga Sri" ========================================================== xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx ========================================================== 1. "THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY – A CLASH OF WILLS? – Part-6" PUNARJANMA (REINCARNATION) BY ANBIL RAMASWAMY (This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on 31st May 2006) --- (Excerpts from Chapter 11of"Hinduism Rediscovered") --- The concept of Punarjanma (Reincarnation) has been spelled out with telling effect by none other than Lord KrishNa when he said: "Just like a person discards an old worn out dress and dons fresh ones, the soul casts off the present body and takes another body" Vaasaamsi jeerNaani yathaa vihaaya navaani grihNaati narO aparaaNi/ Tathaa sareeraaNI vihaaya jerNaani anyani samyaati navaani dEhee// (BG 2/22) We saw that 'Prarabda' karma is only a fragmentary fraction of the Himalayan load of 'Sanchitha Karma', to experience the effects of which - the soul inherits at the commencement of the current life. The balance of Sanchita karma is so formidable that it could take innumerable lives for the soul to pay off the karmic price for all the actions by experiencing the cosmic requital of karma. This is based on the assumption that the soul does not accumulate any further 'Agami Karma' in the current and subsequent lives. This takes us to the 'Reincarnation theory' which is inextricably interlinked with the 'Karma theory' "The Reincarnationist, grounded as he is in the karmic principle, is only extending the scene, knowing as he does that man has a much longer history than the date on his birth - certificate; He has also a longer future than the date that is to be on his death certificate A future which be can make or mar" (Mc Gregger, Geddes in "The Christening of Karma"(p.9) "The process by which a soul passes through a sequence of bodies is known as 'Reincarnation' or transmigration of the soul. In Sanskrit, 'Samsara' - a word which means 'flow through', the word is derived from the roots 'Sam' - Together and 'Sru' to flow. It is the perpetual bondage to the universal flow - a continuum of all Karman. It is said that a man's life is like a bead on a necklace whose other beads represent past and future life spans. (Gard. P.113) A lifetime is one 'en-via' (i.e.) a passage. We can neither seek nor do we need to be afraid of its end. The immortal soul will don an appropriate body. SAMSARA is then a 'half way house', `a home away from home', a ' transit camp' from one station to another in the journey of life" (Smith, H p.68) The Upanishads declare that those who are of holy conduct here will enter a holy womb either of a Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaisya. But, those who have a despicable conduct here will enter a despicable womb say of a dog or a pig. "A person's 'karma' is the principal factor in determining his happiness or unhappiness in life. A man reaps at that age, whether in infancy, youth, or old age at which he had sowed it in his previous birth"- (Gaer, p.22) Some are precocious or born geniuses. Why? It is the carry over of the 'Vasanas' and unfinished 'Sadhanas' (accomplishments) in their previous lives. For example: If Mandolin Srinivas and Ravi kiran on Vichitrveena are found adepts in their respective fields right from their childhood, guess how they could have acquired such skills in this birth. We can explain it only by concluding that they might have practiced their skills in their previous birth, the proficiency of which they are carrying over to their present birth. "The psychiatrist traces the reaction of psychological inputs within a single life. Karma theory probes deeper, in fact all of the previous lives and the unbroken chain reaction of Karma" (Haught pp.174-175) Desires trigger the will, Will prompts the deeds Deeds lead to habits, Habits mold the character. Character decides the Destiny. The extent of each individual's life, his happiness or otherwise in this life will be measured exactly by what he has wanted in the past; similarly, his present aspirations and behaviors would determine his future state. Every act of his has its equal and opposite reaction on himself. "Each thought and deed delivers an unseen chisel blow toward the sculpturing of his destiny" (Haught (2) pp.174-175) Together these theories constitute an explanation of the inexplicable. Without these, many of us would have shared the same lack of peace of mind which the people of developed countries are experiencing. They have every thing except peace of mind. As they try to rationalize the anomalies of life, they ultimately turn to India to find valid explanations which they condemned earlier as senseless superstition. These theories of Karma and Punarjanma provided Hindus with a reason for human differences or mental abilities, that it must be a result of their deeds in this life or a past life. Karma and Samsara also encourage Hindus to act ethically because if they do not, they only will suffer for their poor actions. Why are some born great or rich, why some become great or rich and why for some others greatness and riches are thrust on them? Why some are born meek, weak or poor and continue to languish? A lady went to a maternity ward to observe the births of children and found different babies born differently. If God is merciful all babies would have been born alike in health and comforts. This itself shows that they had several lives before and they were born so differently now because of the differences in the past-karma of each one of them. To blame 'karma' is like blaming science and technology for the violence and terrorism that rock the world today. If we do not understand the Karma theory, it is because only when the outcome of our choice is happy do we claim credit for the causative actions; when the consequences are otherwise, we tend to deny any association with the causative factors and seek 'alibi' for escaping responsibility for the wrong action. We have heard people saying that if they had the opportunities like their model personality, they would have become as great as that model personality. But, this is not true. The greatness of the said model personality must have grown by his repeatedly doing through innumerable lives the things he has been specializing. The 'talents' or 'gifts' come from one's having so specialized over so many lives that in due course of time he starts reaping the fruits of such specialized talents Cases of birth- marks corresponding to death wounds in previous lives and very often, cases of phobias and philias are carry over from previous lives. It is questioned whether it is not immoral to be held accountable for sins one had perhaps committed in previous life and had long been forgotten. Is it not true that if you want to discipline a child, the admonition should swiftly follow the wrong doing so that the child might remember for what it is punished and learns to avoid recurrence of the fault? Will it not render the disciplining act irrelevant and ineffective, if meted out long after the mistake had been forgotten? And, is not the punishment rightly resented? How can one develop a disposition of penitence for one's misdeeds, if one cannot even remember them? Quite true. Quite true also when applied to the parental practice for training kids. But, life situations are totally different. Modern psychoanalysts have discovered that it is these forgotten misdeeds lying buried in our subconscious layers that trouble us the most. We do have to pay the price for past misdeeds which we have long forgotten and this is where our likes and dislikes fail to have any effect. It is easy to insult or injure a person and then forget about it. The greater the offense, the more ready I am to forget it (i.e.) ' to push it down the memory lane' into the unconscious. It is the person at the receiving end who will remember it for long - not the one who perpetrates. Justice demands that the act cannot go without being avenged, sooner or later, irrespective of whether I remember it or not. You don't remember what you ate yesterday - something that does not agree with your system. Your system may not react immediately. In fact, it tries to generate antibodies to fight the toxic effects of what you ate. But, if the toxicity of what you ingested is quite potent, it will show up if not immediately - may be long after you have forgotten your consuming the 'forbidden fruit'. You cannot dictate to your system that it cannot revolt because you don't remember. If you don't remember what you ate yesterday, how can you remember what you did in previous life? If what you ate yesterday can give you an indigestion today what you did in previous life can have an effect now - whether you remember it or not. Just as 'ignorance is no excuse in law' in the cosmic law forgetting is no excuse - whether you forget it willingly or otherwise. So also, the result cannot be blamed since it only follows the cause as 'a calf follows the mother cow'. A non liberated soul is condemned to be reborn and as most human actions are corrupted by greed, malice and other undesirable "Vasanas", the risk of being reborn in a lower condition may be as an animal or even as an insect is more probable than of being born in an evolved state - unless one has consciously striven for controlling the evil tendencies and acquired the noble tendencies over a whole lifetime. In Hinduism, It is SIN that is condemned - NOT THE SINNER. In Hinduism, Man is not punished FOR his sins. - But BY his sins. "It is Nature's kindness that we do not remember past births. What is the good in knowing in detail the countless births we have gone through? Life would be an unbearable burden if we carried such a tremendous load of memories. A wise man deliberately forgets many things as a lawyer forgets the details handled by him, as soon as they are disposed of." (Gaer Joseph: "What the great religions believe", p22) Maybe some lawyers forget the details even before arguing a case! The laws of Karma are as relentless and demanding as the laws of physics. In a sense, we should be happy that it precludes any fanciful excursions from the routines that are at the basis of all universal functions. John F Haught has this to say on the value of vicissitudes of life: "When one has gone through a difficult life involving joys and tragedies, agonies and ecstasies, ups and downs of many sorts, it may seem at any particular point that one's existence has had little significance. Disappointment, monotony or disorder seems to rule at various times. It would have been better if some things had gone along more smoothly. Or, it might have been better if certain other things had not happened. But in retrospect such twists and turns can contribute to the richness of life. We often meet elderly people who in the twilight of their years express the sentiment that they would not trade such a life for anything. They now value their lives including the rough spots, the precipices along with the heights from a seasoned perspective; they cherish their rough but adventurous journeys more thoroughly than life undergone without all the contrasts of joy and sorrow. They are happy that they have weathered the storms because their horizons have been widened, their vision of the world enlarged and their courage deepened in the process. They are 'at peace' and often they will say so explicitly". (Haught John F "What is God?" Paulist press NY 1986-90 pp 174-175) In fact, it has been held that no one is required to shoulder an amount of his past Karma any more than one is able to bear. This may be questioned by some experiencing seemingly endless misery too much for them to bear. But, somehow, most people do manage to survive the tribulations of life even though it had not been any easy. If you look back at your life, you will be amazed how you got over some of the hurdles, disabilities, financial and mental stresses and strains that loomed large and insurmountable at the time you passed through them - circumstances which appeared to be unbearably uncomforting and uncomfortable. And, every time you seem to derive strength in some mysterious way and profit by FACING rather than by FLEEING away from these intriguing situations. Unfortunately, this resilience does not seem to operate as well when excessive good fortune favors people. Most of them fail to make the best use of their opportunities. Few, indeed, seem to be able to withstand the effects of say excessive wealth or excessive power without abusing the opportunities - thus creating for themselves much new karma of an unfortunate kind from the results of which they can never escape. It is a redeeming feature that happiness and suffering occur in some mysterious rotation that they seem to be alternating in some cyclical manner. Periods of misery are sandwiched between spells of joy and vice versa. The 'Wheel of Fortune' does not seem to stop rotating though it does its rounds but slowly. And, so slowly that spasms of 'agony and ecstasy' (especially the former) at the time of experience seem to be almost interminable. No person is subject to an unbroken tenure of torture or an unbroken spell of absolute felicity. This mixture is well proportioned - may be to mitigate the boredom of excessive experience of either kind and perhaps also to bring in bold relief the contrasts between the two which can be better appreciated only under such a scheme of alternating experiences. Nobody need feel despondent about the present state of misery. God holds the scales even. Even in the present state nobody is ABSOLUTELY HAPPY OR ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE. Life is provided with full of compensations. Even among animals, certain compensating advantages and deficiencies are noticed. An advantage given to a particular limb is neutralized by a reduction in another faculty or vice versa. For every excess there is a corresponding deficiency; for every deficiency there is a corresponding excess of advantage. For every thing you lost, you have gained elsewhere and for everything you gained you lose somewhere an equivalent moiety. Nature does not tolerate monopolies and exceptions though we are not aware of it. Like death which is a 'great leveler' life also has leveling circumstances. The petulant, the strong, the rich, the fortunate are cut to size almost on the same level with all the rest, may be in some other measure, in some other aspect which we do not see. This fact of nature must act to instill certain humility in prosperity and a certain consolation in adversity. "Say Not the Struggle not availeth… If hopes are dupes, fears may be liars" says Clough, Arthur Hugh, Poet. ===================================================================== ==== .. ===================================================================== To Continue ============================================================== xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx ============================================================ 2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" – PART- 7": BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO --- -------------------- SrI: SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 8 - Slokam 6 of avatArikA. Slokam 6: prAcye sevAnuguNyAt prabhumiha Satake'mamsta mukter-upAyam mukta prApyam dvitIye munir-anububudhe bhogyatA vistareNa | prApyatva upAya bhAvau Subha subhaga tanor-ityavAdIt tRtIye ananya prApyaS-caturthe samabhavat itarair-ap-yananyAd-yupAyaH || In this Slokam, svAmi deSikan proceeds to give the gist of the message communicated by nammAzhvAr through each of the ten `pattu'-s or Sataka-s - the group of 100 pASuram-s. - munih prAcye Satake prabhum sevA AnuguNyAt mukteh upAyam amamstah - In the first Satakam (hundred pASuram-s), nammAzhvAr tells us that bhagavAn is the means for moksham because He is One who is fit to be worshiped. The key words here are `sevAnuguNyAt' and `prabhum'. `sevAnuguNyAt' - BhagavAn is full of infinite kalyANa guNa-s including the key guNa-s of sauSIlyam, saulabhyam, vAtsalyam, etc., that are very essential for the jIva-s to approach Him to seek liberation. Only such a One with these kalyANa guNa-s can be the upAyam or means for salvation. His infinite kalyANa guNa-s are of immense help to the devotees, and so He is the surest means of liberation. `prabhu' – `Lord, Master, One who possesses power'. BhagavAn is the Lord and Master of all without exception. There is no one equal to Him or above Him in any aspect. It is His Lordship that comes into play in His svAtantRyam or absolute independence to do whatever He wishes, including forgiving all the sins of the devotees who unconditionally surrender to Him, and bestowing salvation on the qualifying devotees. Thus, both His kalyANa guNa-s and his prabhuttvam come into play in His being the upAyam. -dvitIye, bhogyatA vistareNa mukta prApyam anububudhe – In the second Satakam, nammAzhvAr explains in detail that bhagavAn is fit to be enjoyed, and He is one who is enjoyed by those who have attained moksham or salvation. Thus, He is the Ultimate goal to be attained, because He is the Supreme Bliss, and performing eternal kainkaryam to Him is the bliss that the nitya-s and mukta-s are enjoying in SrIvaikunTham. prApyattvam. - tRtIye prApyatva upAya bhAvau Subha subhaga tanoh iti avAdIt – In the third Satakam, AzhvAr points out that the upAyattvam (the fitness to be the upAyam for moksham), and the prApayattvam (One who is fit to be sought and attained) that are mentioned above, are attributes that can be fitting only to the One Who has the auspicious tirumEni that can remove the sins of all, and that can involve the devotees in the non-satiating enjoyment of His tirumEni, and immerse them in eternal kainkaryam to Him. divya ma'ngala vigraha viSishTan. Note that the viSisTAdvaita sampradAyam clearly declares that bhagavAn is endowed with an auspicious tirumEni that captivates the bhakta and that can remove all the sins of the jIva-s by the very sight of His tirumEni, and that permanently engages the mind of a sincere devotee in the desire to render nitya kainkaryam to Him – divya ma'ngala vigraha viSishTan. -caturthe ananya prApyaH – In the fourth centum, AzhvAr declares that he has chosen emperumAn with the infinite kalyANa guNa-s and with the auspicious tirumEni as his only goal; nothing else whatsoever interests him, including any aiSvaryam, kaivalyam, etc. This is the mark of a true devotee. In other words, none but this Lord is worthy of being sought, worshipped, etc. (No other goal except Him). – ananya prApyattvam. - itaraih ananyAd-yupAyah samabhavat – In the remaining Sataka-s, AzhvAr reinforces that there is no other means for liberation and no other purpose in life other than meditating on the kalyANa guNa-s of emperumAn. These remaining Sataka-s elaborate on the guNa-s of bhagavAn that were sung in the first Satakam in support of His being the upAyam, in greater detail. (No other means except Him). – ananya upAyattvam. Thus, tiruvAimozhi reveals to us that bhagavAn is both the means to attain Him, and the end to be attained also. Feedback: I received the following feedback from one of my greatest well- wishers, and wanted to share it with all of you. "I find the excerpt below equally or more applicable to the AcAryar, who is the anupravESa bhagavAn. BhagavAn for nammAzhvAr, but AcAryar for us". The feedback is that the term "prabhu" etc. refer to emperumAn as sung by nammAzhvAr, but as far as we, the mumukshu-s and prapanna-s are concerned, our thoughts should always be fixed at the holy feet of our AcAryan. Our AcAryan is the pratyaksha bhagavAn for us. SvAmi deSikan lists 14 AcArya lakhshaNa-s in the first Slokam of his nyAsa vimSati, and in the second Slokam, he points out that these are the same lakshaNa-s that emperumAn has, and that AcAryan should be worshipped same as emperumAn (devavat syAt upAsyah). In fact, he is above emperumAn for us because he is pratyaksha daivam for us, and available to us with all his sauSIlyam, saulabhyam, vAtsalyam, etc., unlike bhagavAn who is not available to us except through meditation. (The nyAsa vimSati Sloka-s referenced here are elaborated in my write-up available in the bhakti archives). Obviously, we should resort to our AcAryan through prapatti, and without AcAryan's anugraham we cannot attain Him. I bow to my AcAryan for having blessed me with the feedback through a well-wisher of mine. –dAsan kRshNamAcharyan (To continue) ============================================================ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx =========================================================== 3."MAGIC OF MUSIC – BY SRIU ANBIL RAMASWAMY SWAMI Recently, I was invited to attend a music performance by Sri Madurai Sundar in Cleveland. Sri Sundar is the Son-in-law of my long time friend, Sri R. Seshadri Swamin (popularly known as TVS Seshadri) who is doing wonderful works of renovation of temples especially the Nava Tirupatis. At the conclusion of the performance, the organizers asked me to say a few words on Music. The following is an excerpt from the impromptu talk presented, for your kind information. Dasoham Anbil Ramaswamy =============================================================== Between the wonderful music you just heard and the equally wonderful dinner that is awaiting you, I do not wish to be guilty of inflicting a long speech on you. I will try to make it as short as possible, if not as sweet as the concert. It is now my turn to bring you "down to earth" from the dizzy heights the performance had taken you so that you can enjoy the mouth watering smorgasbord tempting your palate. We now heard the scintillating, enrapturing, enthralling music by one of the leading artists of music. You will agree with me that by his enchanting rendering, we could palpably feel his virtually transporting us into the realm of the Almighty "Naada Brahmam" ably assisted by the accomplished Vidwans who accompanied him on their respective instruments. It is a happy blend of the "Kriti Vailakshyam" and "Gaayaka Vailakshyam". In this foreign country and in these modern times, he has taken care to maintain a faithful adherence to the hoary Saastraic traditions. It is these that are responsible for this experience. Thank you, Sri Sundar and friends. The acid test of any good exercise whether a song, a movie, or a novel lies in the fact that it permeates your whole attention and is jealously exclusive of all diversions and distractions. We had the proof of this in the absorbing experience to which the artists led us, as it were, on a "guided tour". Shakespeare in his "Merchant of Venice" had some devastating comment on those who had no ear for music and who cannot appreciate music. "The man that hath no music in himself Nor is not moved with the concord of sweet sounds Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night And his affections are dark as Erebus; Let no such man be trusted" There is a saying in Sanskrit that "A person who has no taste for Sangeeta (Music) and Saahitya (Lyrics) is nothing more than an animal without its tailSangeeta Saahitya kalaa viheena: Saakshaat pasu vishaana heena:" On the positive side, the power of music needs no overemphasis. Do you know the earliest scriptures of humanity? They are the Vedas that exist from time immemorial. They are 4 in number, Rik, Yajur, Saama and Atharva. A whole Veda, namely, Saama Veda is totally dedicated to rendering of mantras set to music. We Indians ought to be proud that we are the pioneers in integrating Music with Mantras to guide us on our spiritual journey. Lord Krishna's enchanting flute is said to have attracted the Gopis and even the cows and deer so much that they dropped whatever they were doing or eating and rushed to hear the music flowing from his mellifluous flute. If Lord KrishNa mesmerized all living beings, including humans, the flora and the fauna with his flute, do you know that Lord KrishNa himself was mesmerized by the music issuing forth from the VeeNa of his devotee? Look at the picture of the blind Surdas playing his VeeNa and Lord Krishna sitting just in front of him in rapt attention relishing the music. You will realize the "Magic of Music" in this scene! Andal, the God intoxicated bridal mystic repeatedly emphasizes the musical aspect of her magnum opus "Tiruppaavai" using the word "PaaDu, "PaaDI" etc in most of the 30 stanzas in her work. Lava and Kusa are known to have sung the Srimad Ramayanam so melodiously that the entire audience was enthralled and Sri Rama himself leaving his throne moved to mix with the audience entranced by the sweetness of their musical rendering without his being aware of his doing so! Kulasekara Azhwar in his Perumal Tirumozhi has provided us an effective tool in "Mannu pugazh Kousalai thun" that is being sung to this day by mothers all over the Tamil speaking world to put their children to sleep. It is common experience that even a `Cry baby" is calmed and lulled into silence on hearing the melody of music and becomes transformed into a "Calm baby" There is a saying in Sanskrit that the "Sound of music" is appreciated even by babies and animals: "Sisur vEthi, pasur vEthi gaana rasam phaNi" Sri Nathamunigal received in a trance from Swami Namaazhwar the 4000 holy collects known as "Naalaayira Divya Prabandams" and promptly chronicled them, setting them to music and initiated his disciples to spread the message through the medium of music. Mahaakavi Subrahmanya Bharatiyaar who had a prognosis of Independence of the nation from foreign yoke long before it became a reality gave a song that kindled intense patriotic feelings in us and gave an unprecedented fillip and motivation to the freedom struggle: "AaaDuvOME paLLUP paaDuvOmE Aananda suthantiram aDaindu viTTOm enru" (Note the Past Perfect tense used!) The devotional "Abhangs" and "Dandia Ras" of the North and the gala "Gummi" and "kOLaaTTam" of the South provide a rich fare of soul stirring music for generations Each country has its own "National Anthem" (e.g.) "VandE Maataram" and "Jana Gana Mana adhi naayaka jayahE" in India and "Star Spangled Banner" in America. The power behind the music in these national songs is found to rouse patriotic feelings in the minds of the listeners. Music is a force that unites humanity. Different cultures find it a meeting place of mature minds. It is a harmonizing factor in comforting in times of stress and tension. Music helps in transmission of spiritual energy. "Listen to music with your heart and not in your intellect" says Sri Sachidaannda Ganapati of "Duttapeetam" who specializes in "Cure through Music" (vide www.Duttapeetam.org for further details) It has been proved scientifically that animals and plants respond positively to music (not the harsh and degenerating variety of "rock") miscalled as music" (which is known to have a degenerating effect on the psyche of the listeners) Cows are known to give more milk when listening to music; Horses and camels move in a more disciplined manner; plants give better yields both qualitatively and quantitatively. Thus, music is in our blood; it is in our breath from time immemorial and touches and moulds every aspect of our lives. Music for health: The "Vibro-acoustics" that is better known in India as "Naada Chikitsa" has been used as therapeutic tool to modulate the rate of metabolism and for correcting various physical disorders and emotional disturbances. Michigan State University has instituted from 1944 a course in "Music therapy" which when employed is the safest method of treatment that not only cures many known diseases but also gives satisfaction. American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) has a branch in University Hospitals in Cleveland that provides "Music as medicine" for physiological and psychological aspects of an illness or disability (Vide http://www.musictherapy.org for further details) Once again, thank you Sri Sundar and friends accompanying him for giving us not only a rich auditory treat but also one that elevates the spirit and ennobles the soul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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