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Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission
Year 20 Issue 1July 2013
He, by whose light the unreal world appears real,
teaches the truth of Brahman, to those who want to know the
Atman through the Vedic statement Tattvamasi (Thou Art
That) and He, who puts an end to the samsaric cycle, to that
Bhagwan Sri Dakshinamurti , who is present as my Guru, I
offer this humble salutations.
Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission
July 201 3 : Year 20 / Issue 1
Editor: Swamini Samatananda Saraswati
Published by
International Vedanta Mission
http: //www.vmission.org. in
vmission@gmail .com
In This Issue
1 . Message of P. Guruj i - 5
2. Atma Bodha - 6-7
4. Letter - 9
5. Gita Reflections - 1 0-11
6. Jivanmukta - 1 3
7. Yoga Vasistha - 1 4-1 5
7. Story Section - 1 7
8. VM News - 1 8
9. VM Activities - 1 9
1 0. Album - 20-21
11 . VM Programs - 23
from Poojya Guruji
Devastation in Uttarakhand
The tragedy in Uttarakhand has been unimaginable for al l . Al l the Char-Dham bore the brunt, with
Kedarnath being the epicenter. Our condolences to thousands of pilgrims and local residents who died in
the process. Some of video clips remind us of the tsunamis which come with such a terrible magnitude,
force and suddeness. We are pained badly. While natural calamities keep happening, but the rel igious
people always connect prakriti with God, and thus all cordial situations are seen as his blessings, while al l
such disasters are seen as anger of Gods. The Gods are indeed angry and we need to seriously introspect
if our deeds and ways need to be corrected. Nobody should ever have the arrogance that they can ever
control nature, we just need to invoke its blessings and need to humbly l ive in accordance with the laws of
nature, and its possible occasional extremes. Obviously we were unprepared for various things and were
arrogantly complacent, and were most importantly compromising very badly on various fronts.
Everyone needs to introspect in their fields as to what can be corrected; we as sadhus too realize
the shortcomings in the rel igious beliefs & values of the people at large. Ages back when these pilgrimages
were started, the Himalayas must have been much more inaccessible as compared to what they are today,
yet the masters made the various inaccessible & literal ly god-forsaken places as the pilgrim centers. Why?
The reason for this was that the real objective of a pilgrimage is not final ly being in the presence of some
idol, but it was the journey which made all the difference. Today this has gone. Commercial ization and
ignorance of our traditions have converted these pilgrim centers into tourist spots, bereft of al l the piousness
and austerities which were associated with these places and traditions. Our priorities are now earning
money, so that the locals can make a living etc. While al l this is fine but we need to remember that if we do
not stick to the basic objectives of pilgrimages then they wil l slowly die, and this wil l be far more detrimental
to the money-makers. We need to keep the sanctity of pilgrim centers at al l cost. Anyone who has visited
any pilgrim centers in Himalayas are sad to see the clutter, dirt, unplanned development, mushrooming
buildings in any possible places, degradation of eco-system etc - al l because of our changed priorities of
money-making. However unpleasant this may be but this indeed is a fact. Al l our visitors need to come out
more purified, blessed & charged. We need to keep these places clean, pure, inspiring. For this it is
important that we keep these visits a bit difficult, because then alone we wil l have to depend on God to
undertake the journey. This is a very important aspect of al l such Yatras. Compromising on these wil l
tantamount to playing with our rel igion. No body can dare to play with the traditions of other rel igions, so
why should we let this happen in our rel igion. We need to protect our systems ourselves. Our over secure
l ife tends to make God irrelevant and this only increases our ego & arrogance, and these alone are the
thorns which are aimed to be removed by such yatras etc. Every pilgrimage was a package wherein there
was an amazing misxture of Yagna, Daan & Tapas, the three things which Bhagwad Gita tel ls us never to
let go. Let us not di lute the tapas componenet just for the sake of some old people or business community
etc. When old people also dare & resolve to undertake such journies then we wil l help to carve out truly
good human beings - more humble, pious & blessed. Making money alone is not enough, it is the making of
good human beings which matters more. Hindus need to wake up fast, there are many elements who are
playing with and exploiting our traditions blindly. We cannot remain an uninvolved spectator. All this is a
wake up call . Let us not miss this cal l and humbly go back to the basics & roots. After al l we all know that
the prevalent values are making a terrible mess of man and also the world.
- 5 -
Swamini Samatananda
56
Brahman is All-Pervading
- 7 -Vedanta Sandesh
In the previous sloka the Acharya glorified Self knowledge as the culmination of al l that is seen, al l
that one has experienced by becoming something or the other in relationships, in society, at the financial
level etc, and all that which one has learnt at the level of worldly knowledge and righteousness. In the
fol lowing sloka the Acharya gives us some more pointers which reveal the l imitless, bl issful and self
effulgent nature of the Self, as Brahman.
Vedanta Sandesh
Tiryagoordhvamadhah poornam:
One which is al l pervading and all
permeating, know that to be Brahman. One who is
al l around, who is above and who is below. In
Mundakopanishad it is said -All this that is in front
is but Brahman, the immortal. Brahman is at the
back, as also on the right and the left. I t is
extended above and below, too. This world is
nothing but Brahman, the highest. As the scriptures
thus reveal the all-pervasiveness of Brahman one
must understand that the all pervasiveness is only
spoken with reference to the fragmentations in the
world. I f the divisibi l ity in the world appears to be
existent and real for us then the need arises to say
that Brahman is everywhere. For a knowledgeable
person in whose vision fragmentation ceases to
exist where is the need to say brahman is al l-
pervasive. For a man of wisdom Brahman 'is'. it is
pure existence. That Brahman is Poornam
-Complete within itself. For that matter I am
Poornam.
Poornam:The nature of the Self is
contented by itself. In the Gita Sri Krishna reveals
the nature of a a man of complete wisdom as one
who is fulfi l led by himself and within himself. A
person who has discovered this nature of the Self
has nothing to be attained from the extranious
world. Only the ungratified ones who see
themselves as limited beings move into the outside
world to gratify the vaccum within.
Sachidaanandam: Sachidaananda is the
swaroopa lakshana of the self. Sat is that pure
existence because of which everything exists. I t is
the very substratum of the universe, just as gold is
Tiryagoordhvamadhah poornam sachidaanandam advaiyam
Anantam nityamekam yattadbrahmetyavadhaarayet
Tiryag: around, across; oordhvam: above; adhah: below; poornam: complete;
sachidaanandam: infinite bl iss; advaiyam: without a second; anantam: l imitless; nityam:
eternal; ekam: the one; yat: which; tad brahma: that is Brahman; iti : thus; avadhaarayet:
should understand.
That One is to be understood as Brahman, which is al l pervading, across, above, and
below, which is existence, consciousness and bliss, one without a second, l imitless, eternal
and the only one.
Swamini Samatananda
- 7 -
In the previous sloka the Acharya glorified Self knowledge as the culmination of al l that is seen, al l
that one has experienced by becoming something or the other in relationships, in society, at the financial
level etc, and all that which one has learnt at the level of worldly knowledge and righteousness. In the
fol lowing sloka the Acharya gives us some more pointers which reveal the l imitless, bl issful and self
effulgent nature of the Self, as Brahman.
the substratum of various ornaments with different
names, forms and uti l i ty. This principle of existence
is experienced in the world as 'isness' of an object
such as the phone 'is', the car 'is' etc. Within the self
this pure existence is experienced as 'I am'.
Chit: or Consciousness is the Self-i l lumining
knowledge principle. The light of consciousness
il lumines the objective world through the means of
the senses, mind and intel lect. I i l lumine all the
senses, the body, mind and intel lect and yet I am
that l ight which cannot be il lumined by any other
source of l ight. I am self effulgent.
Anandam: I am of the nature of absolute
bl iss. Bl iss that is not because of something but my
very nature is bi lssful. Everything moves towards its
basic nature, I too desire happiness because it is my
basic nature. Sorrow is an artificial phase which is
experienced when desire veils my very own natural
state of bl iss. Removal of ignorance is the only
means to awaken unto this state of sachidaananda.
Advaiyam : That which is non-dual, one
without a second. That alone is. The real existence
of something depends on the fact that it exists at al l
time, that which is unaffected by the realm of time &
space. All that comes into existence at a particular
point of time, undergoes changes and which passes
away with time is unreal. In this sense all that we
see in the objective world including our body, our
emotions, our thoughts, values and experiences
everthing under that spectrum is l imited in time and
space. Brahman alone is eternal, veri ly the
substratum of the entire spectrum of change, of time
space and objectives. The entire spectrum of
plural ity is an il lusory experience as a dream world.
Brahman alone is the truth and one without a
second.
The Acharya gives us some more pointers to
indicate the state of Brahman.
Anantam: Brahman is anantam implies,
Brahman is al l pervading, eternal and non dual. I t is
free from the three limitations of time, space and
object. Brahman is not l imited to a space and you
can never perceive a locus for it. I t is al l pervading.
Just as the sky is l imitless. I t is an existencial
platform for al l manifested beings yet it remains
indivisible, and unchanged.
Brahman is beyond the limitation of time. I
exist first and then the existence of time comes into
being. I t was never such that I was not there before,
nor wil l I ever cease to exist. Any object enjoys
temporary existence while Brahman being the
subject, is there in al l the three periods of time. I t is
eternal. Brahman is not l imited by another object.
Each object is l imited by its own attributes. A
computer, wil l function as a computer and not a car.
Each object is l imited and separated from others on
the basis of certain qualities. While Brahman means
that which is 'Big'. General ly big is used as an
adjective a big car, a big house etc where big is
used to describe another noun. Here the word 'Big'
itself is a noun implying the l imitlessness of
Brahman.
Nityam: The Self is eternal. What comes and
goes is the manifested form. Anything born of the
three gunas of Maya is anitya and goes through
birth, change and decay.
Ekam: The Self is one without a second.
Nothing exists other than this truth alone. All the
multipl icity is a beautiful dream in the mind of this
one ultimate truth. Just as there is a variety in the
names and forms of mud products as a pot, toys,
utensils but the substratum of al l the products is
mud alone so also the source of the entire play of
the universe is one substratum where in al l is
created, sustained and destroyed. Hence it does not
admit any differences nor can undergo any
changes. All the differences are at the level of
adjuncts which is a play of maya and its three
gunas.
Tadbrahmetyavdhaarayet:
Realise that to be Brahman as the nature
under discussion and have a firm conviction. As of
now our conviction about the Self is that of a the
body, mind and intel lect. I t is as that of the jiva who
is bound by a sense of doership and enjoyership.
Come to question this conviction of the self, enquire
upon the deep sense of reality that we have
imposed upon the self as a limited and seeking
being. Come to see that al l the suffering is only due
to the ignorance of the real nature of the self as
Brahman and seeing it as a fragmented, l imited
being. Enquire and see that thou art.
Letter ofthe Month
Vedanta Sandesh - 9 -
Once upon a time, in a small vi l lage in Kenya, there l ived a
young boy with his step family. Due to the scarcity of water in the vil lage,
the young boy awoke early every morning, carried his pot and headed
for the stream with the aim of fetching water for himself and his step
family. Sadly for him, he alone had this task as a routine every morning
and evening to fetch water froma distant stream while his step sibl ings
were given other lenient tasks or even none. Yet, the young boy bore no
grudge against his step family, loved them and carried out his task,
di l igently.
On his way back from the stream, he met an old man resting
under a tree who beggedfor water to quench his thirst and he gave the
old man. He met an elderly woman who begged for water and he gave
the woman. This happens almost every time as he comes back from the
stream; meeting peoplewho beg for thirst, yet he gave them despite his
step mother’s torture on him for fetching half-fi l led pots that wouldn’t
even be enough for the family.
One day, he couldn’t bear the torture from his step mum, so
heswore never to give anyone water, but on his way back, he met a
strange looking man who begged him for water. The strange man lay by
the road sidewith an injury. The young boy remembered his vow – never
to give anyone water – but contemplated for a moment and then gave
the strange man some water.
When he got home, his step mum noticed the half-fi l led pots, and
again pounced on him – this time with more cruelty. As she was beating
this young boy, there was a knock on the door. I t was the wounded
strange man – a mail del iverer. Apparently, he came from the town with
a letterfor the young boy. A letter containing a scholarship with additional
cash gift for the young boy and would have died on the way if not for the
boy’s help.
A Compassionate Boy
Vedanta Sandesh
Power of Love
Letter ofthe Month
Hari om! Aashirwad!
I am happy that you were ‘offered’ a job which you loved. For me the good news
is not the job, but good news is ‘that which you love’ is now coming to you by
itself. Lets keep our perceptions clear. Love not only gives meaning to l ife &
generates enthusiasm, but it also attracts things of its kind & class by itself.
Things wil l just happen and come to you by themself. The people in the west
cal l this Law of Attraction, while we call it Power of Love.
When we study creation in our Upanishads then we realize that real ly speaking,
creation is not an independent entity, but is a projection of our minds. That
which we see, feel, dream & think, is al l the manifestation of our values &
aspirations. The clearer & deeper it is, clearer is the dream which you see –
yes, the world is just your dream :). Basical ly world is just ‘grossification’ of our
thoughts. While we all apparently l ive in one world but real ly speaking we all l ive
in our own different worlds, a world of our making – as per our individual values
& perceptions, attracting appropriate things. You sincerely believe in something,
then it ‘alone’ is ‘seen’ around, you truly wish & love something, and it shal l
come to you. So it is al l about your love. That is why I have been saying that let
it al l be just ‘Project Love’, and everything wil l fal l into right place – job,
satisfaction, right people, mentors, friends, relationships, money, respect,
position, and the most elusive of it al l – joy in the heart of your teachers. I am
indeed very happy to see that now what matters to you is just doing what you
just love to do, let everything be like shadows, which just fol lows – helplessly.
This is a fundamental and profound shift which changes our l ives completely
and for the better. Just continue to be true to it and forget everything else. No
doubts whatsoever, sincerely believe that if you really & passionately love some
thing or even a person then it or they have to come to you.
Love is too pure & divine a thing to be made a means for some petty worldly
ends. Just dream to do your best, not for any fruits but because you are made &
born to do this – with your heart & soul. Then all the artha’s wil l become siddha.
Lots of love & om,
Guruji
‘‘Basically world
is just ‘grossification’
of our thoughts. While
we all apparently live in
one world but really
speaking we all live in
our own different
worlds, a world of our
making – as per our
individual values &
perceptions, attracting
appropriate things.’
Poojya Guruji
- 9 -
by
SwaminiSamatananda
Vedanta Sandesh
In Gita chapter 2 Sri Krishna brings up an analysation about how the
graph of a person's mindset goes downwards when he or she is completely
overtaken by senses and their desires. There is a perfect psychological pattern
of desire explained, how a desire originates, how the persuit of it begins, how it
takes away the capacity of a person to think objectively and how anger takes
over slowly hypnotising a person to a mental suicide.
Meditating upon objects:
All objects have their own attributes and useful lness. But not al l the
objects and people are desired by us. An object, person or situation is not
desired for itself, but it is desired because we see it as desirable. This desire
may sprout due to some past impression, due to an impact created by a
particular object or we may see the usefulness of it. Whatever the reason
certain objects and people, having seen it once, come back to our mind again
and again. Dwell ing upon these objects is what Sri Krishna calls as meditation
here. This kind of meditation may not appear to be a problem as such. We may
like something about a person's looks, his dressing, his mannersims, his
mindset etc and we may open the doors of our mind allowing it to make its
home. What happens however is that this kind of meditation or dwell ing upon
an object brings about a l iking towards that object and gives birth to its
desirabil ity which again may not be a problem. Desiring something itself is not a
problem, however if a desire leads to a downfal l of human righteousness and
the spirit of self contentment, then it is a problem, as we wil l see in the fol lowing
discussion.
Meditation leading to attachment:
Once a person starts dwell ing or meditating on something, affection and
attachment is developed. Attachment or sanga to any person or object brings
about a smile of elation. One cannot develop affection without dwell ing upon it.
A pet owner develops love and affection merely by caring for it and thinking
about it. Attachment can also come about when one sees an object or person
fulfi l l ing a vaccum in one's l ife. This kind of attachment can be for anything,
money, house, car, or any person who is nice to me. Affection to something is
not a problem by itself. The problem is that when we start l iking something we
want to possess it. In the Gita, Bhagwan Kishna says that desire is born of
attachment. To add to it, a person is then natural ly not satisfied with one thing.
Given an entire mutipl icity of the world of objects and people in front of him, he
then has umpteen number of desires. The world of advertisements understands
this psychology of bringing about attachment by continuous bombardment of a
thought of an object and then developing it into a desire. A company launches a
One needs
to see how an
innocent self-
centered desire
can create
havoc in l ife if it
is not handled
inteel igently
and factual ly. .
DhyayatoVishayan
Punsah
(Con
sequ
ence
sof
drea
mingab
outan
Objec
t)
Vedanta Sandesh
- 1 1 -
In Gita chapter 2 Sri Krishna brings up an analysation about how the
graph of a person's mindset goes downwards when he or she is completely
overtaken by senses and their desires. There is a perfect psychological pattern
of desire explained, how a desire originates, how the persuit of it begins, how it
takes away the capacity of a person to think objectively and how anger takes
over slowly hypnotising a person to a mental suicide.
Meditating upon objects:
All objects have their own attributes and useful lness. But not al l the
objects and people are desired by us. An object, person or situation is not
desired for itself, but it is desired because we see it as desirable. This desire
may sprout due to some past impression, due to an impact created by a
particular object or we may see the usefulness of it. Whatever the reason
certain objects and people, having seen it once, come back to our mind again
and again. Dwell ing upon these objects is what Sri Krishna calls as meditation
here. This kind of meditation may not appear to be a problem as such. We may
like something about a person's looks, his dressing, his mannersims, his
mindset etc and we may open the doors of our mind allowing it to make its
home. What happens however is that this kind of meditation or dwell ing upon
an object brings about a l iking towards that object and gives birth to its
desirabil ity which again may not be a problem. Desiring something itself is not a
problem, however if a desire leads to a downfal l of human righteousness and
the spirit of self contentment, then it is a problem, as we wil l see in the fol lowing
discussion.
Meditation leading to attachment:
Once a person starts dwell ing or meditating on something, affection and
attachment is developed. Attachment or sanga to any person or object brings
about a smile of elation. One cannot develop affection without dwell ing upon it.
A pet owner develops love and affection merely by caring for it and thinking
about it. Attachment can also come about when one sees an object or person
fulfi l l ing a vaccum in one's l ife. This kind of attachment can be for anything,
money, house, car, or any person who is nice to me. Affection to something is
not a problem by itself. The problem is that when we start l iking something we
want to possess it. In the Gita, Bhagwan Kishna says that desire is born of
attachment. To add to it, a person is then natural ly not satisfied with one thing.
Given an entire mutipl icity of the world of objects and people in front of him, he
then has umpteen number of desires. The world of advertisements understands
this psychology of bringing about attachment by continuous bombardment of a
thought of an object and then developing it into a desire. A company launches a
new soap which is asolutely new for us and we have no desire to buy it. But one
thought of the soap bringing about fairness of the skin is bombarded on our
senses and mind so many times in half an hours program that a simple thought
about the soap leads to its meditation and then a desire to buy it. In this manner
a desire is created.
Unfulfil led desire leads to anger:
I f a desire is fulfi l led then it's not a problem. But not every desire can be
fulfi l led. When the desire is not fulfi l led one gets angry. Anger again depends
upon the intensity of the desire. I f the desire to achieve something is not very
strong then it wil l not bother much, but if the desire is real ly intense then
anything or person instrumental in the unfulfi l lment of the desire wil l become the
target of my anger. The point to understand here is not avoid a desire or control
anger by suppression, but one needs to be realistic in one's expectations.
Unrealistic expectations from a person or object are due to individual l ikes and
disl ikes (raag-dvesha) which need to be handled by right knowledge.
Anger leads to delusion and loss of memory:
I t is well experienced that any person overpowered by anger is deluded
and loses his sense of reasoning and intel l igence, thus leading to loss of
memory. In this case loss of memory refers to the loss of al l that knowledge a
person has gained from the study of the scriptures, one's elders, and one's own
experiences. Once we lose this kind of wisdom of past experiences and
learning, the mind is incapacitated. The intel lect is no more capable of seeing
objectively that which is right or that which is wrong. in such a situation a
person does not act but he is swayed
away by his anger helplessly total ly
under the control of his mental
impressions and impulses.
Intellect overtaken by impulse:
The intel lect is available only when
wisdom is available. When wisdom is lost
the freedom to think is also lost and what
takes over is impulsiveness. A
human being is a human being only due
to the uniqueness of of a mind that is
sensitive and an intel lect that can think.
When impulses take over it means the capacity to think and discrimiate as a
human being is lost. In such a situation a person does not act, he only reacts. A
person no more has any control over a situation. Once anger is born, delusion,
loss of wisdom and ultimately destruction of the person is inevitable. A person
has freedom unti l he comes at the level of control l ing his anger, but if anger
takes over then rest wil l fol low suit.
One needs to see how an innocent self-centered desire can create
havoc in l ife if it is not handled intel l igently and factual ly.
One needs
to see how an
innocent self-
centered desire
can create
havoc in l ife if it
is not handled
inteel igently
and factual ly. .
- 1 3 -
Quotes
Vedanta Sandesh
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgementthat something else is more important than fear.”
“Those who wish to sing, always find a song.”
“He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of thepower to love. ”
“Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in theabil ity to stick to one thing ti l l i t gets there.”
“The difference between try and triumph is a l ittle umph. ”
“For happiness is anyone and anything at al l that's loved byyou.”
“Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.”
“Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable. ”
“I wil l offer a choice, not an echo.”
“The greatest power is often simple patience.”
“There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy
everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go.”
Vedanta Sandesh
- 1 3 -
Wanderingin Himalayas
Heritageof a
Golden Past
Excerpts fromthe
Travel Memoirsof
Param PoojyaSwami Tapovanji
Maharaj
The Heritage of a Golden Past
In the increasing worldl iness that encompasses man in our time, he
finds l ittle time to look into himself and discover the Inner Spirit. People
dominated by rajoguna can hardly pass a day without seeing other people
and mixing themselves with worldly things. They cannot spend a few days in
solitude. In our time little value is attached to qualities l ike peace (shanti) and
dispassion (vairagya). Love, hate, greed, egotism and avidity for sensual
pleasures are the rul ing passions of our age. There are but few people who
can discern and appreciate sattwik qualities. I f spiritual elavation was the
objective of our ancestors, material happiness is the goal of our generation.
Thus the aims of our ancestors and of ourselves appear poles apart.
We can only console ourselves with the thought that the Wheel of time wil l go
ful l round. Good and evil , prosperity and adversity come up by turns and
disappear by turns. However that may, I must confess, I can hardly pass
through the solitary plains in the lovely Himalayan region without casting a
longing, l ingering look at the past and without being saddened by the
changes that have come over our motherland. I bel ieve that no man who
loves his native land and who has some power of thought sti l l left in him can
traverse these regions without feel ing a touch of melancholy.
Conquest of Illusion
I f enjoyment is the body, suffering is its head. Nobody can live without
his head. Sti l l , man forgets the more he enjoys the more he wil suffer.
Even in extreme old age, when the body is in a state of dissolution,
man clings to it as if it was sti l l young and healthy and ful l of vigour. Thus
aiming at pleasure and eagerly longing for the prolongation of l ife, man goes
on revolving within the endless circle of samsara.
Man is l ike a caged lion. he cannot get out of the l imitation of his
senses. He does not recollect that he has fal len from a high state of freedom
into abject slavery. Every book on rel igeon refers to man's sad fal l .
12
- 1 5 -Vedanta Sandesh
contd from last issue. . .
Everything in this world is dependent upon the mind, upon one’s mental
attitude. On examination, the mind itself appears to be unreal? But, we are
bewitched by it. We seem to be running after a mirage in the desert to slake our
thirst! . . . What is this world? What comes into being, grows, and dies? How does
this suffering come to an end? My heart bleeds with sorrow. . . Only he lives who
strives to gain self-knowledge, which alone is worth gaining in this world,
thereby putting an end to future births; others exist here l ike donkeys. . . Pray,
enl ighten me. . . ” Rama goes on and on, pointing the shortcomings of various
objects and states of l ife, - everything is fleeting and not able to give a lasting
joy, beauty fades, youth passes, love is transient and l ife is spent uselessly in
running after desires. Not everyone is able to see so clearly the shortcomings of
the world in al l its stages and manifestations, and its inabil ity to give the
complete satisfaction. Everything the worldly pleasures and states can offer is of
a fleeting nature, always changing, never giving complete satisfaction, its’ joys
are always fol lowed by sorrows, and they desert you when you least expect it.
And this is inevitable, because whatever has a beginning, wil l have its end, too,
and putting your hopes and affections in the changing objects of the samsara,
you are bound to become disheartened some time sooner or later. Children wil l
grow, friends and relatives are bound to die and go away, best food spoils and
turns waste once you eat it, the best and the finest clothes and jewelry become
boring and go out of fashion, your attitudes change with time and the most
desired things become non-wanted or even the objects of hate and can be seen
as the source of many future problems. Such is the nature of the worldly things,
- they change, and happiness they bring is only momentary. Once we have the
desired and longed for the objects in our possessions, we enjoy them for a
moment, and next moment another desire arises, which drags us again to catch
it, requests efforts and exertion to reach. Once we reach it and see it as not so
desirable, the new circle of a new desire starts, which requires new actions, new
goals and new running in a seemingly endless circle of desire and action. Yet, if
we stop and think, we discover what in every desire our real goal is not to reach
an object, but a short moment of bl iss and joy upon reaching, when we feel
completely ful l and satisfied, when we feel completely at home, when we don’t
desire to change or to reach something else, when everything seem perfect as
it is and new desires do not exist yet. What everyone desires in reality is this
state of no desire when nothing drags a man out of the joy and balance, keeping
AdhyatmicTeachings
ofGuru
Vashistato
Sri Ramji
8Part-2
by
SwaminiVidyananda
- 1 5 -
Chan
ging
worldgive
sgrea
tlesson
s
him in the running. Once we see that our goal is just to stay in ourselves not
running somewhere else, our whole approach about how to get where changes.
We see the desired state as not running after something, not becoming
someone else, but just being happy with what is, not dependent on the changing
objects of the world, not dependent on desires or actions, our innate state of
l imitless blissfulness and completeness.
Rama sees right here that is no satisfaction in the changing objects and
states. But he is yet to make the next step of deducing what the desired state of
completeness is his own nature. He feels the pain of the state he is in and
eagerly desires to find a way out. He makes an inspired speech on the
shortcomings of the world and humbly request help from the assembly of sages,
understanding his inabil ity to solve the riddle himself. And only after such a
whole-hearted submission and request for knowledge from a qualified student,
teaching can begin.
Sri Ram at the feet of Sage Vasistha
Vedanta Sandesh - 1 7 -
Message of Bhagwad Gita
4. Consequences of Ego
The lives of self-centric people,
who are always driven by their
personal l ikes and disl ikes, is very
isolating, l imiting and above all
choking. They live a highly stressed
life, with indecisiveness glaring at them
at every crossroad. Success binds
these ignorant ones as much as their
fai lures do, and the tragedy is that
irrespective of what they achieve and
experience they continue to remain
condemn as a seeker.
- 1 7 -
StorySection
Kirat: The Hunter
Onceupon
a time...
This is the only form of Lord Shiva in which He appeared black
in color. Arjuna wanted to get the peerless weapon Pashupatastram
from Lord Shiva for the battle of Mahabharata. He left the other four
Pandavas, went to the forest and did austere tapas for getting the
boon of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was satisfied with his prayer, wanted
to give the pashupatastram to him, but wanted to play a bit too. He
took the form of a Hunter with Shakthi as Huntress. That time a
demon by name Mukasura, who was in the form of a wild pig came
to kil l Arjuna. To kil l the wild pig Arjuna fired an arrow from the front,
at the same time the Hunter, Who is none other than God Himself,
attacked it from the back and kil led the pig.
Arjuna mocked at the Hunter for firing the arrow from the back.
Having great pride of his valour, he was also angry at the Hunter
because He aimed at his prey. The Hunter responded that attacking
an animal from the back is not against the rules of hunting. An
argument broke out. They decided to fight deciding who was more
valourous between them. The Hunter cut the string in Arjuna's bow
with His arrow in the fight! Angered and excited, Arjuna started
wrestl ing. He couldn't match the Lord, and the Lord enjoyed his
fighting. At one point of time in wrestl ing Arjuna held the foot of the
Hunter. As the Lord is pleased when somebody catches His holy
feet, He stopped wrestl ing appeared with Parvati revealing who He
is. Shocked Arjuna pleaded for forgiveness, as he was trying to fight
with the Supreme out of his ignorance. However the God, Who was
pleased by his devotion, blessed him and gave him the invincible
Pashupatastra. (In some books it is told that arjuna couldn't fight with
the Hunter, he started worshipping the Shiva Lingam. To his
astonishment he found the flowers he offered to the Lingam on the
head of the Hunter. Then he prostrated before the Hunter and the
Lord revealed Himself). This can be found in detai l in Kirat-Arjuniyam
of Bharavi and Mahabharata.
Vedanta Sandesh- 1 9 -
- 1 9 -
The present phase of Renovation at Vedanta Ashram was over just before the
monsoons - by mid-june. Now we have a nice parikrama around the giant Shiv-Linga
on the roof, a RCC roof in our Dining Area in place of the tin-shed earl ier, this gives us
a bigger roof area too. The re-painting of the giant Shiv-Linga has also been
completed satisfactori ly. We have used texture finish which was done by Asian Paints
certified people under their supervision. Now our Shivj i is having a bule pearl mettal ic
hue. On the roof we now have an additional temple in the shape of a small mount,
which we call it as Ganga-Parvat, because we have put Gangaji 's statue on the snow-
capped mountain peaks. She represents the glaciers, and below is the old Shiv-Linga
which was earl ier established in the mount below. After 7 odd years that Shiv-Linga is
being re-established, in an appropriate place. The whole structure has come out
beautiful ly and gives a great ambiance to the whole area there. On 1 6th June evening
this place was inaugurated and opened for select visitors at Ashram by Poojya Guruji
amdist chanting of prayers. Then everyone did the Aarti .
On 1 6th June itself before the inauguration of the Ganga-Parvat, we started a
new program at Vedanta Ashram - a monthly Satsang for our various Indore devotees.
Poojya Guruji has started discourses on Hanuman Chalisa in this program. The
program started with chanting of Hanuman Chalisa, fol lowed by discourse on the first
l ine of the first doha of the chalisa. Then everyone went for the inaugural Aarti of the
Ganga-Parvat, and then there was Samashti Bhandara. There were very heavy rains
on that evening, yet there was a good attendance for the program.
Due to extremely inclement weather in Uttarakhand fol lowed by devastating
floods etc, the proposed Vedanta Camp had to be cancelled over there. Water even
entered the Sw Dayananda Ashram. In l iu of that we have now proposed to have a
Camp at Vedanta Ashram instead from Guru Poornima (22nd to 27th July). Please
contact Ashram for more details. Advance wil l be refunded to those who cannot come.
A seven days Bal Samskar Shivir was organized at Vedanta Ashram from 23rd
to 29th June. More than 20 children attended the Camp.
- 21 -Vedanta Sandesh
- 21 -
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Vedanta Sandesh- 23 -
Vedanta Mission had started a new program of Weekly
Online Satsang in Sept 201 2, which will conclude on 2nd June
201 3. In this program Pujya Guruji Sri Swami Atmanandaji gave
elaborate discourses on the first shloka of Sadhana Panchakam,
a text written by Sri Adi Sankaracharyaji .
In this series of 35 discourses, which were a commentary
of the first eight sutras of the text, the initial preparatory journey of
a spiritual aspirant has been discussed, the last stage of which
was the natural manifestation of the inquisitiveness for Atma-
Gyana. Vedanta shastra reveals the science behind this Jignyasa,
and once this is there then the journey thereafter is relatively
easy, and so these shlokas and the commentary are of great
importance.
While so many sadhakas sincerely do so many sadhanas,
but very rarely al l this culminates in such an inquisitiveness, they
obviously miss out on few subtle facts, which have been
elaborated in these discourses.
This series is a 'must l isten' for al l such aspirants who wish
prepare the right foundation for the journey within and we would
highly recommend all Hindi speaking sadhakas to regularly and
very sincerely l isten on them. Preferably small groups can be
formed and these Video Pravachans should be shown to all such
people for the well-being of al l .
Desirous sadhakas can either l isten to them online, or can
even download them for uninterrupted telecast. Pl visit the
Vedanta Mission Web Site for l inks of these discourses.
Sadhana Panchakam Discourses
Rishikesh Camp rescheduled to Indore:
A 'Vedanta Camp' by Poojya Guruji which was to be organized at Sw Dayananda
Ashram, at Rishikesh from 24th to 29th June has been rescheduled to Indore because of
the devastating floods there. New dates are 23rd to 27th July.
Guru Poornima, Indore:
This year Guru Poornima is on the 22nd of July. As every year special programs wil l
be organized on that day. Respects wil l be paid to the entire Guru Parampara by Poojya
Guruji , and Poojan of Bhagwan Sri Sankaracharya wil l be done. Thereafter devotees wil l
offer their respects to Poojya Guruji . Bhandara wil l be organized for al l .
Monthly Hanuman Chalisa Satsang:
The second Satsang of the monthly Hanuman Chalisa wil l be held on the evening of
22nd July, Guru Poornima - as announced earl ier. The program wil l begin with the chanting
of Hanuman Chalisa by everyone, fol lowed by pravachan by Poojya Guruji .
Forthcoming
- 23 -- 23 -
Gita Gyana Yagna, Lucknow:
A Gita Gyana Yagna is being organized at Hari om Mandir, Lal Bag, Lucknow by
Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji from 23rd to 30th Sept. The subject matter of the discourse
series wil l be: Gita Chapter-6, and Laghu Vakya Vritti .
Janmashtami Camp, Indore:
A unique first ever 'Pancha-Kosha-Viveka Camp' wil l be organized at Vedanta
Ashram, Indore, from 23rd to 27th Aug. On 28th Aug is the Janmashtami, and all devotees
wil l participate in the celebrations.
Visit
International Vedanta Mission at:
http: //www.vmission.org. in/
Vedanta Mission News Blog:
http: //vmissionews.blogspot.com/
VM Online Satsang Page:
http: //www.vmission.org. in/mission/ols/
Om Tat Sat