To Gurudev.My attempt at Lesson -1 - Assignment

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HARE RAMA KRISHNA.

 

Dear Gurudeva,

I have given below my attempt at the assignments for

the first lesson.Please accept my apologies for being

late in submitting it.Kindly correct me if i have

commited mistakes in this assignment.

 

 

 

1)Try to define the role of God in your life:

Ans)God is the source of my (and everybody's )

happiness.Like all jivas , I am in search of

happiness.I can be happy only if i am in constant

touch with HIM by serving HIM and chanting HIS holy

name and involving every entity and non-entity in HIS

glorification and service.Thus, God is the subject of

my service and endeavours in my life.

 

2)What have you done in the past one year to come

closer to GOD?

Ans)

a)I have kept up with my chanting of the Hare Krishna

maha Mantra to come closer to HIM.But, I have to

increase my concentration, humility and

feeling( " bhava " ) for the holy name during chanting.

b)I have helped in founding and organizing kirtans and

Bhagavad gita classes in my University.This obviously

entails some preaching and i found out that preaching

makes one think and feel more for GOD and also become

cognizant of one's mistakes(aparadhas) in chanting.

c)For the meetings, we invited some sannyasins for

talks and they gladly obliged.hearing to their

lectures increases my shraddha(devotion).After hearing

the lecture of one sannyasin, my roommate, a skeptic

,took to the chanting of the holy name and i feel

improvements in my chanting by chanting with him.

 

4)Which statement is more relevant?

a) God is all

b)All is God

 

I feel that both the statements are equally relevant,

but they have their implications.The statement " God is

all " comes from " ishvarah sarva karanah karanam " (God

is the cause of all causes - brahma samhitha)and

" sarva dharman parithyajya mam ekam sharanam vraja "

(Abandon all types of religion and surrender to ME -

Bhagavad Gita).Thus, the statement " God is all " makes

us surrender to HIM as he is the " karana " or the Cause

and the " GOAL " .To understand this and to act in this

spirit is why the jivas have taken birth in material

bodies.

 

The statement " All is God " stresses more on the

Paramatman aspect of the Supreme Lord. This concept

helps us to not make distinctions in this material

world and become bounded by the dualities of the

material world.According to the Bhagavad gita, a sage

does not see any difference in a dog, a brahmana, a

chandala ...he sees the same Paramatma in everybody

and so this statement is also equally relevant.

 

4)How is the role of a Jyotish different from a

priest?

Ans)A priest is meant to be engaged in the service and

glorification of the Supreme Lord , especially in HIS

form as archa vigraha.He also helps the society in

coming closer to GOD in doing the puja on their

behalf.

 

A Jyotish has to guide people who are caught in the

quagmire of samsara(material world) to go back to

Godhead .To do this, he encounters many situations

such as:

a)When someone comes to consult him for a suitable

time for the initiation of an endeavour, the Jyotish

by giving him a suitable time should also impress upon

him to surrender his actions to the Supreme Lord.

 

b)when people approach him at the time of distress,

the Jyotish by analysing their chart can know the

cause for the suffering and give suitable remedial

measures that can increase their devotion to GOD.

 

c)By studying the science of Jyotish, we come to know

of our eternal constitutional position in the scheme

of things.This knowledge helps us to understand the

various scriptures and engage our mind in the

Absolute.This helps the society as an enlightened man

is the torch-bearer of society.

 

 

Seeking your advice and blessings,

 

Your sishya,

 

K.N.Sriram

 

 

 

 

 

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