Guest guest Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Divine All: Does Bhagwat Gita address an issue of aatma prashamshaa (self praise)? Should a sadhaka be ever involved in self praise or praising other sadhaka (spiritual aspirant)? What does Swami Ramsukhdasji Maharaj have to say on this topic? Answers to these questions with BG references and other scriptures are highly appreciated. Thanks, with humble regards, always at Thy Holy Feet Manjula Patel --- The following are the guidelines for Gita-Talk discussions. GUIDELINES FOR POSTING A QUESTION: 1. The group is focused on the Holy Gitaji and clarifying any doubts, therefore only questions that pertain to Gitaji will be posted in the future. 2. Please restrict the number of questions asked to only one at a time. 3. Making reference of Gitaji shloka is compulsory - at least once in the question. 4. Please be specific with the question, relating the practical difficulties being faced by the Sadhak. Specifics around, where is the sadhak facing obstacles in his spiritual journey, in the teachings of Geetaji, in principles laid down by Swamiji or other Mahatamas are highly recommended to be included. 5. General questions will not be considered for future posting. e.g. " suicide " " solving world hunger " etc. GUIDELINES FOR POSTING A RESPONSE: 1. The group is focused on the Holy Gitaji, therefore, only responses which further clarify the understanding of Gitaji, will be posted. 2. Making reference of Gitaji shloka is highly encouraged - at least once in the response. Wherever possible, please quote Gitaji or other scriptures to substantiate your response. 3. Please be as concise and to the point as possible, respecting sadhaka's time. Under no circustance the answer should exceed say one page at the most (500 words or so). 4. Kindly limit personal feelings, opinions, beliefs etc. to the extent that they further help in understanding the Gita shlokas 5. Kindly focus your writing to the subject at hand only. 6. Please do not include links to the other sites or other organizations. 7. Complete reproduction of texts from any book is strongly discouraged, however references may be made of the book or author (but not links to other sites). 8. Kindly do not include your personal information such as phone number, address etc. 9. Please do not address the response to a particular individual since the message is going to the entire group. 10. Due to the large readership, only those responses will be posted which are in line with the general philosophy of taking Shrimad Bhagavad Gita as the reference. 11. Moderator at his discretion, may modify the posting, if content is unclear for distribution or not directly related to the question being asked. 12. Please respond taking into consideration the novices, youth, westerners, non-sectarian audience. Kindly limit the use of only Sanskrit words, rather provide the English word with Sanskrit bracketed wherever possible. MODERATOR Ram Ram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Hari Om " Self praise " is definitely an " asuri sampada " ( demonaic trait) as per Geetaji. It is highly dangerous. In fact the verses 16:14 , 16:15, are reflective of self praise only. Self praise is the outcome of " ahankaar " (pride), " dambha " (hypocrysy) and " darpa " (pretention) all of which are primary " asuri sampada " (demonaic traits)- Refer Gitaji 16:4 and 16:18.Even if you praise yourself for genuine deeds then also it is inappropriate. Self praise can't be outcome of " self respect " . Swamiji defined " self respect " as " a solidity of self worth moving on righteous path " . Person having self respect therefore is afraid of doing evil deeds. He is cautious. He can't praise himself. To praise others is a good personality trait-particularly when the other is saadhak. Tulsidasji Maharaj wants you to respect others while remaining yourself respectless(aurahoon maan aur aap amaani). You can't give respect to others if you yourself are desiring respect. " Self praise " is soliciting or inviting others to notice you , to respect you! Hence saadhaks should refrain from self praise and give respect to others. As you sow ,so shall you reap. When you give respect to others-after sometime what will you get back? What else except respect? You sowed respect,you get respect. As simple as that. When you praise yourself that means you are demeaning all others,you are considering yourself to be superior than others. You are imparting inferiority to others. What shall you get in return-after sometime? You sowed disrespect for others, you reap disrespect.. As simple as that. In fact there is NOTHING which we have is worth praising about. Even " Daivi Sampada " (divine traits-refer Gitaji 16:1 to 16:3) is the property belonging to God and not your property-as the name itself suggests! Jai Shree Krishna Vyas N B --- , " sadhak_insight " <sadhak_insight wrote: > > Divine All: > Does Bhagwat Gita address an issue of aatma prashamshaa (self > praise)? Should a sadhaka be ever involved in self praise or > praising other sadhaka (spiritual aspirant)? What does Swami > Ramsukhdasji Maharaj have to say on this topic? Answers to these > questions with BG references and other scriptures are highly > appreciated. > Thanks, with humble regards, > always at Thy Holy Feet > > Manjula Patel > > - -- > > The following are the guidelines for Gita-Talk discussions. > > GUIDELINES FOR POSTING A QUESTION: > > 1. The group is focused on the Holy Gitaji and clarifying any > doubts, therefore only questions that pertain to Gitaji will be > posted in the future. > > 2. Please restrict the number of questions asked to only one at a > time. > > 3. Making reference of Gitaji shloka is compulsory - at least once > in the question. > > 4. Please be specific with the question, relating the practical > difficulties being faced by the Sadhak. Specifics around, where is > the sadhak facing obstacles in his spiritual journey, in the > teachings of Geetaji, in principles laid down by Swamiji or other > Mahatamas are highly recommended to be included. > > 5. General questions will not be considered for future posting. > e.g. " suicide " " solving world hunger " etc. > > > GUIDELINES FOR POSTING A RESPONSE: > > 1. The group is focused on the Holy Gitaji, therefore, only > responses which further clarify the understanding of Gitaji, will be > posted. > > 2. Making reference of Gitaji shloka is highly encouraged - at least > once in the response. Wherever possible, please quote Gitaji or > other scriptures to substantiate your response. > > 3. Please be as concise and to the point as possible, respecting > sadhaka's time. Under no circustance the answer should exceed say > one page at the most (500 words or so). > > 4. Kindly limit personal feelings, opinions, beliefs etc. to the > extent that they further help in understanding the Gita shlokas > > 5. Kindly focus your writing to the subject at hand only. > > 6. Please do not include links to the other sites or other > organizations. > > 7. Complete reproduction of texts from any book is strongly > discouraged, however references may be made of the book or author > (but not links to other sites). > > 8. Kindly do not include your personal information such as phone > number, address etc. > > 9. Please do not address the response to a particular individual > since the message is going to the entire group. > > 10. Due to the large readership, only those responses will be posted > which are in line with the general philosophy of taking Shrimad > Bhagavad Gita as the reference. > > 11. Moderator at his discretion, may modify the posting, if content > is unclear for distribution or not directly related to the question > being asked. > > 12. Please respond taking into consideration the novices, youth, > westerners, non-sectarian audience. Kindly limit the use of only > Sanskrit words, rather provide the English word with Sanskrit > bracketed wherever possible. > > MODERATOR > Ram Ram > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Dear Sadhakas, Namaste! Vyasji has provided some references from Gitaji on the subject of self praise. I think they are good pointers indirectly telling us that self praise is worthless effort on one's part. Another perspecive on it: If I inquire into self itself, I may find it is not reality of " myself " . It is just a sense of " me " or ego as we commonly call, derived entirely from mind whose anchor is the body I call mine. Such a sense of self is ignorance, because this sense appears in the awareness-I, and disappears also in the same Awareness many times during three states of experiences. So praise of such a self has to be ignorance too! Gita in those verses do point to vrittis- tendencies of self praise, arrogance etc arising from such a sense of separate self. Constitution of such a self is clearly pleasant and unpleasant memories from childhood, desires, hopes, fears, insecurities, accomplishments, failures etc etc, all nothing but impressions in mind and feelings/emotions in body. As we can clearly see this self is all psychological stuff conceptualized as separate entity creating its own reality through body, which is false all the way in itself. So all praise to such self is also false. Having said that, Should we praise others if they are all such selves? Since we all are such selves, false in themselves but relative to one another we can deal and play with other selves, just as we can play game of cards when we don't know fellow players' set of cards, and enjoy the game, because there is nothing to lose. Each such self is a set of cards we are dealt by God initially, and we need to play to the best of our God given ability. Then it makes all the sense to praise the so-called others. Praising in this sense inspires and encourages others to do well. This way for one who has figured it out the true self, there is no attachments to anyone or anything because he/she knows its just a game. He/she can also teach others to play this game well to free them of attachment(Swamiji is doing it through this platform). All the praise belong to God, and its a win-win situation for all of us. So let us go from self to SELF in which self appears to disappear! Namaskars, Pratap (pratap bhatt) -- , " sadhak_insight " <sadhak_insight wrote: > > Hari Om > > " Self praise " is definitely an " asuri sampada " ( demonaic trait) as > per Geetaji. It is highly dangerous. In fact the verses 16:14 , > 16:15, are reflective of self praise only. > > Self praise is the outcome of " ahankaar " (pride), " dambha " > (hypocrysy) and " darpa " (pretention) all of which are primary " asuri > sampada " (demonaic traits)- Refer Gitaji 16:4 and 16:18.Even if you > praise yourself for genuine deeds then also it is inappropriate. > Self praise can't be outcome of " self respect " . Swamiji > defined " self respect " as " a solidity of self worth moving on > righteous path " . Person having self respect therefore is afraid of > doing evil deeds. He is cautious. He can't praise himself. > > To praise others is a good personality trait-particularly when the > other is saadhak. Tulsidasji Maharaj wants you to respect others > while remaining yourself respectless(aurahoon maan aur aap amaani). > You can't give respect to others if you yourself are desiring > respect. " Self praise " is soliciting or inviting others to notice > you , to respect you! > > Hence saadhaks should refrain from self praise and give respect to > others. As you sow ,so shall you reap. When you give respect to > others-after sometime what will you get back? What else except > respect? You sowed respect,you get respect. As simple as that. When > you praise yourself that means you are demeaning all others,you are > considering yourself to be superior than others. You are imparting > inferiority to others. What shall you get in return-after sometime? > You sowed disrespect for others, you reap disrespect.. As simple as > that. > > In fact there is NOTHING which we have is worth praising about. > Even " Daivi Sampada " (divine traits-refer Gitaji 16:1 to 16:3) is > the property belonging to God and not your property-as the name > itself suggests! > > Jai Shree Krishna > > Vyas N B > > - -- > , " sadhak_insight " > <sadhak_insight@> wrote: > > > > Divine All: > > Does Bhagwat Gita address an issue of aatma prashamshaa (self > > praise)? Should a sadhaka be ever involved in self praise or > > praising other sadhaka (spiritual aspirant)? What does Swami > > Ramsukhdasji Maharaj have to say on this topic? Answers to these > > questions with BG references and other scriptures are highly > > appreciated. > > Thanks, with humble regards, > > always at Thy Holy Feet > > > > Manjula Patel > > > > -------------------------------- -- > -- > > > > The following are the guidelines for Gita-Talk discussions. > > > > GUIDELINES FOR POSTING A QUESTION: > > > > 1. The group is focused on the Holy Gitaji and clarifying any > > doubts, therefore only questions that pertain to Gitaji will be > > posted in the future. > > > > 2. Please restrict the number of questions asked to only one at a > > time. > > > > 3. Making reference of Gitaji shloka is compulsory - at least once > > in the question. > > > > 4. Please be specific with the question, relating the practical > > difficulties being faced by the Sadhak. Specifics around, where is > > the sadhak facing obstacles in his spiritual journey, in the > > teachings of Geetaji, in principles laid down by Swamiji or other > > Mahatamas are highly recommended to be included. > > > > 5. General questions will not be considered for future posting. > > e.g. " suicide " " solving world hunger " etc. > > > > > > GUIDELINES FOR POSTING A RESPONSE: > > > > 1. The group is focused on the Holy Gitaji, therefore, only > > responses which further clarify the understanding of Gitaji, will > be > > posted. > > > > 2. Making reference of Gitaji shloka is highly encouraged - at > least > > once in the response. Wherever possible, please quote Gitaji or > > other scriptures to substantiate your response. > > > > 3. Please be as concise and to the point as possible, respecting > > sadhaka's time. Under no circustance the answer should exceed say > > one page at the most (500 words or so). > > > > 4. Kindly limit personal feelings, opinions, beliefs etc. to the > > extent that they further help in understanding the Gita shlokas > > > > 5. Kindly focus your writing to the subject at hand only. > > > > 6. Please do not include links to the other sites or other > > organizations. > > > > 7. Complete reproduction of texts from any book is strongly > > discouraged, however references may be made of the book or author > > (but not links to other sites). > > > > 8. Kindly do not include your personal information such as phone > > number, address etc. > > > > 9. Please do not address the response to a particular individual > > since the message is going to the entire group. > > > > 10. Due to the large readership, only those responses will be > posted > > which are in line with the general philosophy of taking Shrimad > > Bhagavad Gita as the reference. > > > > 11. Moderator at his discretion, may modify the posting, if > content > > is unclear for distribution or not directly related to the > question > > being asked. > > > > 12. Please respond taking into consideration the novices, youth, > > westerners, non-sectarian audience. Kindly limit the use of only > > Sanskrit words, rather provide the English word with Sanskrit > > bracketed wherever possible. > > > > MODERATOR > > Ram Ram > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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