Guest guest Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Om Namo Narayanaya. Below are some excerpts from the book 'Vedanta for the western world' published in 1948. This book contains essays that appeared in the Voice of India, a bi-monthly newsletter of the American Vedanta Society, Los Angeles center. The American Vedanta Society was founded by Swami Vivekananda first in New York city; later several branches were also founded in other cities. This book, edited by Christopher Isherwood, is a collection of articles/essays (or speeches of) of the disciples of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa including among others Swami Prabhavananda, Vivekananda, Yatiswarananda, and plus Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood. ---- The free will with which I make choices, react to situations and people is the sum total of my past deeds, thoughts and feelings. The subconscious mind carries the record of many many past lives and is an influential factor in our present lives. With experience we gain an understanding of good and evil. But sometimes we find oursleves helpless and are compelled to act in a certain manner. A thief wishes to reform himself and resolves not to steal. He then goes somewhere and sees that he can steal something very easily without being caught. So even though he knows better than to steal, he still does it. Similarly with any of us with any bad habit. We are thus slaves to our own sub-conscious minds, to our own characters. So then what is the solution? In Patanjali'sYoga sutras the first aphorism or principle is "Yoga-schitta-vritti nirodha". Which means Yoga is the complete control of the modifications in the mind. Modifications meaning thoughts and contents of the mind. And how do we go about doing a complete overhauling of the mind? By the regular practice of doing japam the mind becomes calm. We can always find excuses for not doing japam, but once we get into the habit, the namam itself will take hold of the mind. The power of the naamam works even while one is asleep. One who practices japam continues to recite the name in all states of consciousness, whether waking or dreaming or in deep sleep. Just as the body breathes while asleep, so does the mind recite the name in sleep. After their return from Lanka, Rama gave Hanuman a pearl necklace. Hanumanji accepted it and then examined each pearl, and then with his teeth opened one of the pearls, looked inside and threw the necklace away. Laxman, watching Hanumanji, was really upset and complained to Rama about this incident. Rama smiled and said go ask him why he did that. Hanumanji replied that he wanted to see if Rama's name was etched inside the pearl. Because if Rama is not in them, then Hanuman has no need of pearls. It is said that Hanuman recited Rama naamam even when Rama was around. -------------------------- If we had to clean an ink bottle stuck to a table, we cannot do it by throwing out the ink. The solution is to pour clean water in and the ink and the dirt will spill out. We will have to keep pouring water in until all the dirt and ink have washed out and finally the bottle will contain only clean water. Similarly it is not possible to empty the mind by throwing out the contents of consciousness and making the mind blank. What we can do is to pour into the mind the water of God until all the dirt spills out. In the beginning it is like all the dirt within us comes to the surface just like the dirty ink; all that dirt needs be got rid of. With patience and determination we need to continue pouring the water of God thought into our minds. Struggle to bring back the thought of God into the mind again and again --------------------------- Meditation does not mean making your mind blank. Trying not to think of anything is not going to help. Mediation requires a great strenous effort to concentrate the mind upon God and it doesn't matter what the form is. But we must concentrate on something positive. We have to think of that one form to the exclusion of everything else. Never try to make your mind blank--then you will remain a blank! 'This is what the Hindu means by meditation, a constant flow of thought towards one ideal. In other words you walk with God, you sleep with God, you eat with God, you live with God' (p. 141). ---------------------------- I think there is a prayer by Shankaracharya? and I don't know the exact words...but the approximate meaning is "..let my walking be a pradakshina around You, let the food that I eat be an offering to You, let my sleep be a namaskaram to You..." something to that extent. But when we are constantly thinking of God by doing nama japam we are saving our energies which otherwise is wasted in endless worry about things that are in the future or about stuff that happened in the past. So let us put our heads down and focus on God, like KVGji suggested maybe an hour every day. Or like Shyamalaji suggested while travelling and walking. So much time is spent in that. Om Namo Narayanaya. Veena. Get on board. You're invited to try the new Mail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Veenaji- Shree Guruvayurappa Sharanam! Please find guruvayur , " Veena A. Nair " <veeus18 wrote: > > I think there is a prayer by Shankaracharya? and I don't know the >exact words...but the approximate meaning is " ..let my walking be >a pradakshina around You, let the food that I eat be an offering to >You, let my sleep be a namaskaram to You... " something to that >extent. > Yes, this prayer is very nice and my father had taught this to me when I was young. And it goes like this: (By Sri Sankaracharya) Atma tvam girija matih sahachara pranah sareeram griham Puja te vishayopa bhoga rachana nidra samadhi sthitih Sancharah padayoh pradakshina vidhih stotrani sarvagiro; Yadyat karma karomi tat tat akhilam Shambho tavaradhanam. " Thou art Atma; Buddhi is Thy consort, Parvathi (who is born of mountain); the Pranas are Thy attendants; this body is Thy house; the action of sensual enjoyment is Thy worship; deep sleep is the establishment of Samadhi; walking by my feet is the perambulation around Thee; all my speeches are Thy praise; whatever actions I perform, are all Thy worship; Oh Shambhu! " (Translation done by Swami Shivananda and the article is here - http://www.dlshq.org/download/yogadaily.htm) >But when we are constantly thinking of God by doing nama japam we >are saving our energies which otherwise is wasted in endless worry >about things that are in the future or about stuff that happened in >the past. > Yes, as they say - living in the present is the best method. Because the present is the PRESENT or " our greatest GIFT " :-) >So let us put our heads down and focus on God, like KVGji suggested >maybe an hour every day. Or like Shyamalaji suggested while >travelling and walking. So much time is spent in that. > Very well said. It is indeed very rare to find people who are so much interested in understanding the devotional service to the Lord. Because generally it is found that the interest in Spirituality is decreasing as the time is progressing... So, I appreciate you and the members of this group for keeping the focus on Spirituality and devotion to the Supreme Lord. Shree Krishna Sharanam Mama! ~Krishnadasa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Veena, I thought you may be referring to Shiv Manasa pooja in the end of your mail. Shiva Manasa Pooja The mental worship of Shiva By Sankaracharya Translated by P. R. Ramachander Aaradhayami mani sannibham athma lingam, Maayapuri hrudaya pankaja sannivishtam, Sradha nadhi vimala chitha jalabishegai, Nithyam samadhi kusmaira punarbhavai. I worship that Linga, Which is in me as my soul, Residing in the illusory lotus of my heart, Getting bathed by the clear water, Of the river of my devotion, And worshipped daily by the Lotus, Of my meditation for avoiding another birth. Rathnai Kalpitham asanam, Himajalai snanam cha divyambaram, Naana rathna vibhooshitham mruga madha modhanvitham Chandanam, Jathi champaka bilwa pathra rachitham, pushpam cha deepam Thada, Deepam deva dayanithe pasupathe, hrud kalpyatham gruhyatham. I offer you an imaginary throne made of precious jewels, I offer you bath in the water of melted snow from the Himalayas, I offer you holy silken cloth to wear, I adorn you with very many precious jewels, I offer you musk and sandal, I offer you Bilwa and Champaka flowers, And I offer you the holy lamp, But all these I offer in the portal of my mind, Please God who is merciful and who is the Lord of all beings, Accept my offerings and bless me. Souvarne nava rathna Ganda Rachithe, pathre Grutham Payasam, Bakshyam pancha vidam Payo dadhiyutham, rambha phalam panakam, Saaka namayutham jalam ruchikaram, karpoora gandojwalam, Thamboolam manasa maya virachitham Bhakthyo prabho sweekuru I offer you Ghee and the sweet payasam in golden vessel , Decorated with nine type of precious gems, I offer you five different dishes made of curd and milk, I offer you panakam made of sweet fruits, I offer you tasty sweet scented water to drink, I offer you the lamp made of camphor along with tinkling bells, And I offer you betel leaf and nut, But these are offered by my mind with utter devotion to you, So Lord Kindly accept and bless. Chathram Chamarayoryugam vyajanagam, chaa darshakam nirmalam, Veena bheri mrudanga kahala kala geetha nruthyam thada, Sasthangam pranthi sthuthir bahu vidha, hyethat samastham maya, Sankalpena samapitham thava vibho , poojam gruhana prabho. I offer you a pretty stage, I offer you couple of decorative fans, I also offer you shining mirror, I offer you Veena, kettledrums, Mrudanga and a very big drum, I offer you song and dance, I offer you full prostration, I offer you several types of prayers, But all these I offer you my Lord, in my mind So Lord kindly accept this my worship. Aathma thwam Girija Mathi sahacharaa, prana sarreram gruham, Pooja theey vishayopa bhoga rachana, nidhra samadhi sthithi, Sanchara padayo pradakshina vidhi, , sthothrani sarva giraa, Yadyath karma karomi thathad akhilam, shambho thavaradhanam. My soul is your temple my lord, My activities are thine attendants, My body is thine home, My acts to please my senses are thine worship, My act of sleep is the deep meditation on thee, All my walks with my feet are thine perambulations, What ever falls from my mouth are thine prayers, Oh Lord, everything I say and do are thine forms of worship. Kara charana krutham vaak kayajam karmajam vaa, Sravana nayanajam vaa maanasam vaa aparadham, Vihithamavihitham vaa sarva methath Kshamaswa, Jaya Jaya katunabdhe sri Mahadeva Shambho. Please pardon Oh lord All those acts committed by me, By hands, by action, by body or By hearing, by my sight, or by my mind, Whether they are proper or improper.. Victory oh victory, Oh, ocean of mercy, Oh, The greatest of Gods and Oh benevolent one. Matha cha Parvathy Devi, Pitha devo Maheswara, Bandhava Shiva Bakthamscha, Swadeso Bhuvana thrayam My mother is the goddess Parvathy, My father is the Lord Shiva, My friends are the devotees of Shiva And my native place is all the three worlds guruvayur , " Veena A. Nair " <veeus18 wrote: > > Om Namo Narayanaya. > > Below are some excerpts from the book 'Vedanta for the western world' published in 1948. This book contains essays that appeared in the Voice of India, a bi-monthly newsletter of the American Vedanta Society, Los Angeles center. The American Vedanta Society was founded by Swami Vivekananda first in New York city; later several branches were also founded in other cities. This book, edited by Christopher Isherwood, is a collection of articles/essays (or speeches of) of the disciples of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa including among others Swami Prabhavananda, Vivekananda, Yatiswarananda, and plus Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood:-- > > -------------------------------- ----- > > The free will with which I make choices, react to situations and people is the sum total of my past deeds, thoughts and feelings. The subconscious mind carries the record of many many past lives and is an influential factor in our present lives. With experience we gain an understanding of good and evil. But sometimes we find oursleves helpless and are compelled to act in a certain manner. A thief wishes to reform himself and resolves not to steal. He then goes somewhere and sees that he can steal something very easily without being caught. So even though he knows better than to steal, he still does it. Similarly with any of us with any bad habit. We are thus slaves to our own sub-conscious minds, to our own characters. So then what is the solution? > > In Patanjali'sYoga sutras the first aphorism or principle is " Yoga-schitta-vritti nirodha " . Which means Yoga is the complete control of the modifications in the mind. Modifications meaning thoughts and contents of the mind. And how do we go about doing a complete overhauling of the mind? > > By the regular practice of doing japam the mind becomes calm. We can always find excuses for not doing japam, but once we get into the habit, the namam itself will take hold of the mind. The power of the naamam works even while one is asleep. One who practices japam continues to recite the name in all states of consciousness, whether waking or dreaming or in deep sleep. Just as the body breathes while asleep, so does the mind recite the name in sleep. > > > After their return from Lanka, Rama gave Hanuman a pearl necklace. Hanumanji accepted it and then examined each pearl, and then with his teeth opened one of the pearls, looked inside and threw the necklace away. Laxman, watching Hanumanji, was really upset and complained to Rama about this incident. Rama smiled and said go ask him why he did that. Hanumanji replied that he wanted to see if Rama's name was etched inside the pearl. Because if Rama is not in them, then Hanuman has no need of pearls. > > It is said that Hanuman recited Rama naamam even when Rama was around. > > -------------------------- > > If we had to clean an ink bottle stuck to a table, we cannot do it by throwing out the ink. The solution is to pour clean water in and the ink and the dirt will spill out. We will have to keep pouring water in until all the dirt and ink have washed out and finally the bottle will contain only clean water. Similarly it is not possible to empty the mind by throwing out the contents of consciousness and making the mind blank. What we can do is to pour into the mind the water of God until all the dirt spills out. In the beginning it is like all the dirt within us comes to the surface just like the dirty ink; all that dirt needs be got rid of. With patience and determination we need to continue pouring the water of God thought into our minds. Struggle to bring back the thought of God into the mind again and again > > --------------------------- > > Meditation does not mean making your mind blank. Trying not to think of anything is not going to help. Mediation requires a great strenous effort to concentrate the mind upon God and it doesn't matter what the form is. But we must concentrate on something positive. We have to think of that one form to the exclusion of everything else. Never try to make your mind blank--then you will remain a blank! 'This is what the Hindu means by meditation, a constant flow of thought towards one ideal. In other words you walk with God, you sleep with God, you eat with God, you live with God' (p. 141). > > ---------------------------- > > I think there is a prayer by Shankaracharya? and I don't know the exact words...but the approximate meaning is " ..let my walking be a pradakshina around You, let the food that I eat be an offering to You, let my sleep be a namaskaram to You... " something to that extent. But when we are constantly thinking of God by doing nama japam we are saving our energies which otherwise is wasted in endless worry about things that are in the future or about stuff that happened in the past. So let us put our heads down and focus on God, like KVGji suggested maybe an hour every day. Or like Shyamalaji suggested while travelling and walking. So much time is spent in that. > > Om Namo Narayanaya. > Veena. > > > > > > > Get on board. You're invited to try the new Mail. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Dear Chandraji - Shree Guruvayurappa Sharanam! Sorry for involving in this query which you have posted to Veenaji. I thought will just share whatever little I know. Please find my reply below. ~Krishnadasa. guruvayur , Chandra Menon <chandrasmenon2002 wrote: > > What is Vedanta ? Veda, I can understand. Is Vedanta - the end of >Veda or Veda that is blind? > Vedanta means " Veda + Anta " = " The end of knowledge " . It is not " Andha " which means blind. Vedanta is also called as Upanishad. And the cream of all the Upanishads is there in Bhagavad-Gita. Hence it is also called as Gitopanishad. Therefore there is a beautiful stotra in the Gita-Mahatmya which says: [ Sarvopanishido Gavo Dogdha Gopaala Nanadana Paartho Vatsah Sudhir Bhokta Dugdham Gitaamrtam Mahat All the Upanishads are the cows, the one who milks the cows is Krishna, Arjuna (Partha) is the calf. Men of purified intellect are the enjoyers; the milk is the great nectar of the Gita. - Gita Mahatmya 6 - http://www.hknet.org.nz/gita_mahatmya.htm ] Also you can find more details about the Vedanta/Upanishad here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishads Shree Krishna Sharanam Mama! > > " Veena A. Nair " <veeus18 wrote: > Om Namo Narayanaya. > > Below are some excerpts from the book 'Vedanta for the western world' published in 1948. This book contains essays that appeared in the Voice of India, a bi-monthly newsletter of the American Vedanta Society, Los Angeles center. The American Vedanta Society was founded by Swami Vivekananda first in New York city; later several branches were also founded in other cities. This book, edited by Christopher Isherwood, is a collection of articles/essays (or speeches of) of the disciples of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa including among others Swami Prabhavananda, Vivekananda, Yatiswarananda, and plus Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood. > > -- -- > > The free will with which I make choices, react to situations and people is the sum total of my past deeds, thoughts and feelings. The subconscious mind carries the record of many many past lives and is an influential factor in our present lives. With experience we gain an understanding of good and evil. But sometimes we find oursleves helpless and are compelled to act in a certain manner. A thief wishes to reform himself and resolves not to steal. He then goes somewhere and sees that he can steal something very easily without being caught. So even though he knows better than to steal, he still does it. Similarly with any of us with any bad habit. We are thus slaves to our own sub-conscious minds, to our own characters. So then what is the solution? > > In Patanjali'sYoga sutras the first aphorism or principle is " Yoga- schitta-vritti nirodha " . Which means Yoga is the complete control of the modifications in the mind. Modifications meaning thoughts and contents of the mind. And how do we go about doing a complete overhauling of the mind? > > By the regular practice of doing japam the mind becomes calm. We can always find excuses for not doing japam, but once we get into the habit, the namam itself will take hold of the mind. The power of the naamam works even while one is asleep. One who practices japam continues to recite the name in all states of consciousness, whether waking or dreaming or in deep sleep. Just as the body breathes while asleep, so does the mind recite the name in sleep. > > > After their return from Lanka, Rama gave Hanuman a pearl necklace. Hanumanji accepted it and then examined each pearl, and then with his teeth opened one of the pearls, looked inside and threw the necklace away. Laxman, watching Hanumanji, was really upset and complained to Rama about this incident. Rama smiled and said go ask him why he did that. Hanumanji replied that he wanted to see if Rama's name was etched inside the pearl. Because if Rama is not in them, then Hanuman has no need of pearls. > > It is said that Hanuman recited Rama naamam even when Rama was around. > > -------------------------- > > If we had to clean an ink bottle stuck to a table, we cannot do it by throwing out the ink. The solution is to pour clean water in and the ink and the dirt will spill out. We will have to keep pouring water in until all the dirt and ink have washed out and finally the bottle will contain only clean water. Similarly it is not possible to empty the mind by throwing out the contents of consciousness and making the mind blank. What we can do is to pour into the mind the water of God until all the dirt spills out. In the beginning it is like all the dirt within us comes to the surface just like the dirty ink; all that dirt needs be got rid of. With patience and determination we need to continue pouring the water of God thought into our minds. Struggle to bring back the thought of God into the mind again and again > > --------------------------- > > Meditation does not mean making your mind blank. Trying not to think of anything is not going to help. Mediation requires a great strenous effort to concentrate the mind upon God and it doesn't matter what the form is. But we must concentrate on something positive. We have to think of that one form to the exclusion of everything else. Never try to make your mind blank--then you will remain a blank! 'This is what the Hindu means by meditation, a constant flow of thought towards one ideal. In other words you walk with God, you sleep with God, you eat with God, you live with God' (p. 141). > > ---------------------------- > > I think there is a prayer by Shankaracharya? and I don't know the exact words...but the approximate meaning is " ..let my walking be a pradakshina around You, let the food that I eat be an offering to You, let my sleep be a namaskaram to You... " something to that extent. But when we are constantly thinking of God by doing nama japam we are saving our energies which otherwise is wasted in endless worry about things that are in the future or about stuff that happened in the past. So let us put our heads down and focus on God, like KVGji suggested maybe an hour every day. Or like Shyamalaji suggested while travelling and walking. So much time is spent in that. > > Om Namo Narayanaya. > Veena. > > > > > > Get on board. You're invited to try the new Mail. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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