हिन्दुत्व क्या है ?

हिन्दुओं के प्राचीनतम धर्मग्रन्थ ऋग्वेद के अध्ययन से प्राय: यह निष्कर्ष निकाला जाता है कि उसमें इन्द्र, मित्र, वरुण आदि विभिन्न देवताओं की स्तुति की गयी है । किन्तु बहुदेववाद की अवधारणा का खण्डन करते हुए ऋग्वेद स्वयं ही कहता है-

इन्द्रं मित्रं वरुणमग्निमाहुरथो दिव्य: स सुपर्णो गरुत्मान् ।

एकं सद् विप्रा बहुधा वदन्त्यग्नि यमं मातरिश्वानमाहु: ।

(१-१६४-४६)

जिसे लोग इन्द्र, मित्र,वरुण आदि कहते हैं, वह सत्ता केवल एक ही है; ऋषि लोग उसे भिन्न-भिन्न नामों से पुकारते हैं ।

वास्तविक पुराण तो विभिन्न पन्थों के निर्माण में कहीं खो गया है । किन्तु वास्तविक पुराण के कुछ श्लोक ईश्वर के एकत्व को स्पष्ट करते हैं । यथा :-

सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति प्रकृतेर्गुणास्तै-

र्युक्त: पर: पुरुष एक इहास्य धत्ते

स्थित्यादये हरिविरंचि हरेति संज्ञा:

श्रेयांसि तत्र खलु सत्त्ववतनोर्नृणां स्यु: ।

प्रकृति के तीन गुण हैं :- सत्त्व, रज और तम; इनको स्वीकार करके इस संसार की स्थिति, उत्पत्ति और प्रलय के लिए एक अद्वितीय परमात्मा ही विष्णु , ब्रह्मा और रुद्र - ये तीन नाम ग्रहण करते हैं।

ऊपरी तौर पर यह लगता है कि हिन्दू वैष्णव, शैव, शाक्त, गाणपत्य आदि सम्प्रदायों में बँटा हुआ है किन्तु सत्य यही है कि कर्ता ब्रह्म के किसी विशेषण जैसे विष्णु (सर्वव्यापी ईश्वर), शिव (कल्याणकर्ता ईश्वर), दुर्गा (सर्वशक्तिमान ईश्वर), गणेश (परम बुद्धिमान या सामूहिक बुद्धि का द्योतक ईश्वर) की उपासना ही होती है । इसीलिए हिन्दू विष्णु, शिव, दुर्गा, काली आदि के नाम से बने मन्दिरों में समान श्रद्धा से जाता है ।

उपनिषदों में एकत्व की खोज के लिए विशेष प्रयत्न किया गया है और यह निष्कर्ष निकाला गया है कि जीवात्मा और परमात्मा में अग्नि की लपट और उसकी चिनगारी जैसा सम्बन्ध है । ईश्वर अलग किसी स्थान पर नहीं बैठा है । उसका वास हमारे हृदय में है, सर्वत्र है । वही सत्य रूप में सर्वत्र प्रकाशित है । परमात्मा ही सब कुछ है; तभी तो उससे प्रार्थना की जाती है :-

तेजो सि तेजो मयि धेहि, वीर्यमसि वीर्य मयि धेहि,

बलमसि बलं मयि धेहि, ओजोसि ओजो मयि धेहि ।

(यजुर्वेद १९-९)

(हे भगवन्! आप तेजस्वरूप हैं, मुझमें तेज स्थापित कीजिए; आप वीर्य रूप हैं, मुझे वीर्यवान् कीजिए; आप बल रूप हैं, मुझे बलवान बनाइए; आप ओज स्वरूप हैं, मुझे ओजस्वी बनाइए।)

वैश्वीकरण पर बल देते हुए कहा गया है :-

अयं निज: परो वेति गणना लघुचेतसाम् ।

उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् ।

(यह अपना है या यह पराया है, यह विचार छोटे मन वालों का है । उदार चरित्र वालों के लिए तो सारी पृथ्वी ही कुटुम्ब है।)

सामाजिक एकता का सन्देश देते हुए कहा गया है :-

सह नाववतु सह नौ भुनुक्तु । सह वीर्य करवावहै । तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु । मा विद्विषावहै । शान्ति: शान्ति: शान्ति: ।

प्रभु हम परस्पर रक्षा करें, साथ-साथ उपभोग करें, परस्पर सामर्थ्य बढ़ाकर तेजस्वी बनें । विद्या-बुद्धि बढ़ाकर विद्वेष से दूर रहें । इस प्रकार परम शान्ति का वरण करें ।

सार्वभौम भ्रातृत्व के साथ सार्वभौम कल्याण की कामना की गयी है :-

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिन: सर्वे सन्तु निरामया: ।

सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद् दु:ख भाग्भवेत् ।

सभी सुखी हों, सभी निरोगी हों, सभी को शुभ दर्शन हों और कोई दु:ख से ग्रसित न हो

Ashtavakra Gita =you are free = be free

You are free :: Not the pain is yours neither the pleasure is::

:: Be free ::

----- from Ashtavakra Gita (अष्टावक्रगीता)

धर्माधर्मौ सुखं दुःखं मानसानि न ते विभो |
न कर्तासि न भोक्तासि मुक्त एवासि सर्वदा ||१- ६||

dharmādharmau sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ mānasāni na te vibho |
na kartāsi na bhoktāsi mukta evāsi sarvadā || 1-6||


धर्म अधर्म सुख दुख मस्तिष्क से जुड़े हैं । सर्व व्यापक आपसे नहीं न आप करने वाले हैं और न भोगने वाले हैं आप सदा मुक्त ही हैं ।

Righteousness and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are purely of the mind and are no concern of yours. YOU are neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences, so YOU are always free.

Comments::

In this relative world of duality, every individual goes through experiences like pleasure and pain, right and wrong, fear and courage and so on. It is our basic nature to avoid suffering and pain and only accept happiness and joy. In this pursuit we indulge in various vices and sins. We fail to see what lies beyond the mind and that is the cause of our suffering. All these experiences
exist as long as the mind exists. Beyond the mind none of these dualities remain.

Ashtavakra advises an aspirant to remain steadfast in his sadhana,
irrespective of whether he experiences joy in his meditations, or not, as these are all the workings of the mind. Without a sense of doership, and without thinking whether one will get anything in return or not, simply devote whatever time one can in the worship of one's sense of beingness. Individual ego too exists as long as the mind exists; the two are interdependent. When the mind is transcended, the ego is automatically dropped. The absolute truth is that there is no such thing as mind or ego. They are all false appearances. We are always free but we imagine that the chain of ego and mind has bound us

BHAGAVAD GITA ( KARMA YOGA) PATH OF LIBERATION

Bhagavad Gita: тнє ѕσиg σf тнє внαgαναи
Chapter 5 :Karma Yoga:Action and Renunciation
verse 17: Path of liberation....

तद बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः।
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषा:॥१७॥

अनुवाद-जिनकी बुद्धि परमेश्वरमें ही निविष्ट है,जिनका मन केवल उनके ही ध्यानमें मग्न है,जो मत्र उनके प्रति निष्ठावान् हैं,जिनकी समस्त अविद्या विद्या द्वारा नष्ट हो चुकी है,वो अपुनरावृत्तिरुप मोक्षको प्राप्त होते हैं॥१७॥

When one's intelligence, mind, faith and refuge are all fixed in the Supreme, then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through complete knowledge and thus proceeds straight on the path of liberation.

Sri Ramanuja's Commentary
Lord Krishna uses the compound word tad-buddhayas meaning intelligence in the Supreme is referring to those who have their intelligence, intellect and consciousness fixed in meditation of atma tattva or realisation of the soul. The compound word tad-atmanas means with mind in the Supreme refers to those who make the atma or soul the singular focus of loving reflection. The intellect is merely the machinations of the mind but consciousness includes emotion which facilitates loving devotion within the heart. The compound word tad-nisthas means those who have complete faith in the Supreme refers to those who enthusiastically follow the Vedic culture and perform all that is necessary to attain the Supreme. The compound word tat- parayanah means those whose sole noble aim is devotion to the atma. The cultivation of Vedic knowledge gradually developes consciousness and removes all taint and dross. Those possessing the before stated qualifications when perfecting them attain the atma which is irrevocable and which when once realised insures there is no reverting back to conditioned and restrictive levels of consciousness which are of the nature of nescience and ignorance.

LAW OF KARMA ( PDF BOOK )

http://www.cincinnatitemple.com/articles/lawofkarma.pdf

The-Power-and-Potency-of-Gayatri-Mantra (pdf book )

http://www.cincinnatitemple.com/articles/The-Power-and-Potency-of-Gayatri-Mantra.pdf

AMRITA GITA ENGLISH ( PDF BOOK)

http://www.cincinnatitemple.com/articles/amrita.pdf

Light_Of_Truth.pdf book

http://www.aryasamaj.org/newsite/Light_Of_Truth.pdf

hinduisim vedic-vision-of-god.pdf book

http://www.discovervedanta.com/downloads/articles/vedic-vision-of-god.pdf

FOUR VEDAS ENGLISH ( BOOK PDF)

http://download1827.mediafire.com/nkh12qx5u7eg/g07j9iqcadp23da/Four+Vedas+-+English+Translation.pdfhttp://download1827.mediafire.com/nkh12qx5u7eg/g07j9iqcadp23da/Four+Vedas+-+English+Translation.pdf

Mundak Upanishad

Mundak Upanishad 2.2.8

bhidyate hrdayagranthiś chidyante sarvasamśayāh |
ksiyante cāsya karmāni tasmin drste parāvare ||

भिद्यते हृदयाग्रंथिः छिद्यन्ते सर्वशंश्याः |
क्षीयन्ते चास्य कर्माणि तस्मिन द्रस्ते परावरे
Mundak Upanishad 2.2.8


" The ties that have bound the heart are unloosened, the doubts of the mind vanish, and all Karma ceases to bear fruit when he beholds the Supreme Being in his immanence and transcendence."

ATMABODHA | VERSE 09

ATMABODHA | VERSE 09 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

1. In the Being-Consciousness-Bliss , which is all permeating , eternal Vishnu , all these diverse objects and individuals appear ( as phenomena ) like various ornaments made of gold .

Yes , but what about the numberless individual souls ? ~ RM

2. All the various forms exist in the imagination of the perceiver , the substratum being the eternal and all-pervading Visnu , whose nature is Existence and Intelligence . Names and forms are like bangles and bracelets , and Visnu is like gold .

3. All the manifested world of things and beings are projected by imagination upon the substratum which is the Eternal All-pervading Vishnu , whose nature is Existence Intelligence ; just as the different ornaments are all made out of the same gold

ATMABODHA BOOK BY SRI ADI SANKARACARYA( BOOK PDF )

http://www.geetadeeksha.com/pdffiles/atmabodha.pdf

ATMABODHA | VERSE 08

ATMABODHA | VERSE 08 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

1. Like bubbles rising on the surface of the waters of the ocean , all the worlds arise from , stay in and resolve into the Supreme Being ( Paramesa ) who is the root cause and prop of all .

2. Like bubbles in the water , the worlds rise , exist and dissolve in the Supreme Self , which is the material cause and the prop of everything

ATMABODHA | VERSE 07

ATMABODHA | VERSE 07 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

1. So long as the substratum of all , the non-dual Brahman is not seen , the world seems real — like illusory silver in a piece of mother-of-pearl .

But the world is so diverse ; yet , you say there is One only . ~ RM

2. The world appears to be real as long as the non-dual Brahman , which is the basis of all , is not known . It is like the illusion of silver in an oyster-shell .

3. The Jagat appears to be true ( Satyam ) so long as Brahman , the substratum , the basis of all this creation , is not realised . It is like the illusion of silver in the mother-of pearl

SELF ? FROM KATHA UPANISHA

The Self is Not to be Sought Through the Senses :: The Intricacies of the Inner way of the Self :: From Katha Upanishad


parᾱñci khᾱni vyatṛṇat svayambhῡstasmᾱt parᾱṅpaśyati nᾱntarᾱtman,
kaściddhīraḥ pratyagᾱtmᾱnamaikṣadᾱvṛttacakṣuramṛtatvamicchan.



---Katha Upanishad 2:1

Translation:

Yama speaks:

“O Naciketas! What we call as ‘Sreyas’ and as ‘Preyas’ are two different things of contradicting nature. Both of them are aimed at attracting the Purusha or the Jivan into doing certain specific things and to arrest him within that range. Out of this, the one who follows ‘Sreyas’ attains good results here and in the hereafter. The one who chooses to adopt ‘Preyas’ loses control of himself and of his spiritual progress.

Comments:

A philosophical and psychological truth is stated in this verse, summing up human potential as well as the nature of divine Truth. “The original Creator inflicted the senses to go outwardly, so everyone looks externally. Desiring immortality, not satisfied in this world, some wise man turns within, self-controlled and heroic.” We do not behold the Atman because of the original difficulty that seems to be sympathetically working everywhere; a tendency being set at work at the beginning of creation: to gaze outward. All creation is doing so. God looks at Himself in space. The will of ishvara is this original gazing or sankalpa: the creative affirmation, a fundamental urge, though consciously initiated in the beginning; a deliberate and wilful tendency to look at Himself, to be conscious of Himself, to enjoy Himself and to do this in the form of the vast panorama of creation. This brahma-sankalpa to create is so powerful that it is felt in every part of the universe which is His body, just as the effect of our thinking is felt in every pore of us.

That supreme idea takes a concrete form through every part, every being. Everything is made to think in accordance with that original Ideation, though distorted. The child may imitate its father in a wrong manner.

He gazed at nothing but Himself, a sankalpa raving Itself for an object. While this is His original act, and while we try to imitate it, our error seems to be the ‘other-ideation’ in us, as against self-ideation in God. The senses of the human being, of all beings, seem to be inflicted with the punishment of looking and projecting outward. The original sankalpa of ishvara is a conscious movement of thought, while we think without having any control over it. We drift with creation, while in ishvara, creation drifts with His will. The jivas are isolated centres of thought, thinking of not only themselves, but of others in the form of objects.

In God-thought, others are not objects but subjects. We cannot understand what His thought is because we have never seen Him. In us, thoughts work in a mysterious way, independently catching hold of the impulse to create and thus making us totally unaware that there is a consciousness at all; so much so that there is only world-consciousness and no Self-consciousness, to the extent that even the Atman is denied. The Atman denies Himself: ‘I do not exist.’ You as a centre of consciousness have identified yourself with the object, including your own body, so much that you see only them and are not aware of Self-consciousness. This is the deterioration of the Original Will, the mystery of God’s descent into jiva-consciousness. This is maya. So we are world-conscious, body-conscious, worried because we have lost our ‘be-ness’ in objects; we exist as them. There is only a heap of them; the world.

But there are rare souls who have got a glimpse of what is behind it. How they have come upon this Atman in the midst of the darkness of objects, and seen light which is not otherwise seen, is a miracle. How God became this world is a mystery, and how knowledge arises in the jiva is a mystery too. Dhiras, strong desireless minds who have self-control, are the ones who have turned their gaze inward and seen their Atman, and the Upanishads are their revelations.

Consciousness drifts away in space and time; this is creation. The scriptures tell us that there have been stages of descent of consciousness. Just as a stone thrown into the middle of the still waters of a lake creates waves deep in the centre, and becomes weak in the periphery, the Original Will of ishvara becomes weaker and weaker as it goes through the human beings, the animal and vegetable kingdoms and becomes finally arrested of all its outgoing tendencies when it reaches inanimate matter. We, as waves produced by the momentum of ishvara-sankalpa, are in one of the conditions of descent. Because of this, we are compelled to go outward, not inward. If this drifting is allowed to go uncontrolled, we go to realms lower than human. But if it is checked and allowed to know its consciousness, it may try to recede rather than proceed, and become the ripple beholding its bottom, which is the substance of all waves.

The supreme goal of Hinduism is not confined to pleasures of paradise

The supreme goal of Hinduism is not confined to pleasures of paradise

The major religions of the world subscribe to the view that one who is subservient to God and temperate in behavior may go to heaven after death and one who goes astray and leads the life of a rebellious is destined for hell. In paradise one can get, in abundance, the company of the women of superb beauty, very delicious food, aromatic breeze, melodious music and a plenty of winsome sights. Thus everything is available there for fully satisfying the needs of all the five senses. In hell, one is tortured in the mode of third degree methods of police or like the heinous acts of terrorists, robbers and smugglers who cross all the limits of mental and physical torment.

The pleasures of paradise are obtained by lustful rulers on the earth itself and terrorists in the name of religion or cult are converting some places of the world into hell. Those who present a horrible scenario of hell only for making people to be subservient to God, indirectly tell that God is a terrorist. Virtually, there seems to be no necessity to connect God with the pleasures of paradise or torture of hell.

There are two views among Hindus. Some say that this earth is heaven, this earth is hell. In other words there is no world like heaven or hell. The capabilities of our sense-organs are limited. We cannot escape from bad effects of sensual pleasures. So attainment of sensual pleasures should not be our goal. Those who think that there are heaven and hell somewhere else in the universe believe that good and pious work leads us to heaven after death. In the same way bad deeds throw the spirit into hell after death. If we concede to this view those who were engaged in good deeds should be in heaven and those who perpetrated crimes should be in hell. Whether it is pleasure or pain both of them can be felt through the body only. So the population of paradise must be too much. The number of celestial dames or apsaras (अप्‍सराऍ) is limited. How many men could enjoy with them? Virtually this earth can give us the pleasure of paradise. Conditions of hell can also be created by the wicked. It is for us to make the earth a beautiful place. For this we need the spirit of collective responsibility and collective effort. Dharma can bring us together.
Hinduism believes in transmigration of souls and rebirth. Those who did good deeds but could not get the fruits of action in their lifetime might be born again for fulfillment of insatiate desires. And those who were engaged in evil deeds would be forced to take rebirth for suffering and punishment. But if a man absolves himself from action, aspires for higher goal than worldly enjoyment or has only one desire that is the desire of self-realization and merger with Ultimate Reality then he would be free from the cycle of rebirth and other bondages. Thus the ultimate goal of Hinduism is not merely to make man a perfect human being on earth or happy citizen of heaven. Its fourth and ultimate goal is Moksha (मोक्ष) — oneness with Supreme Reality

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra is one among the finest Mantra's in Indian Mythology and Spirituality belongs to Lord Shiva.It is a combination of three hindi language words i.e. "Maha" which means Great , "Mrityun" means Death and "Jaya" means Victory which turns into Conquer or victory over death. It is also known as "Rudra Mantra" or "Trayambakam Mantra". Rudra refers to Lord Shiva.

The Great Mantra is : Om Trayambakam Yajamahe, Sugandhim Pushti Vardhanam,
Urvarukmiv Bandhanat, Mrityurmokshaya Mamratat.

Hindi : त्रयम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान् म्रुत्योर्मुक्षिय मामृतात् ॥


Meaning of Mantra:

Trayambakam : One who has three eyes. Lord Shiva is the only one who have it.

Yajamahe: One who is prayed or worshiped.

Sugandhim: Good Smell.

Pushti: Prosperous, Fulfilled.

Vardhanam: One who makes happy, prosperous, gives peace of mind and takes care about you.

Urvarukmiv: Like it or no one else.

Bandhanat: Associated or bonding.

Mrityur- From Death.

Mokshaya: Free us or send us heaven.

Ma: Not

Amritat: Immortal.

Over all meaning of entire Mantra is :We concentrate on our third eye which lies behind the two eyes and this gives us the power to feel you and by this we feel happy,satisfied and peace in life. We know immortality is not possible but some extension can be given to our death by your powers Lord Shiva.


This Mantra has a great utility and has been a successful mantra for those who are suffering from some sever disease or having the fear of sudden death. This mantra has a highest form of energy as it also denotes Gayatri mantra and when it is chanted a person can really feel energy making heavy movements in his body.

There are basically two ways of using this Mantra.

A) A person can either chant 108 Mantra's or a Mala daily. 108 is important because it has a great mathematical calculation. 108 is the multiplication sum of 12 and 9. 12 here refers to Zodiac Signs and 9 refers to planets. When a human chants this Mantra for 108 times all his planets and zodiac signs instead or making ups and downs in life come on track and stay calm and because of their changed nature human life settles again.

When a person is scared of unnatural death or serious disease he has to get the Pooja done by a priest and the priest later on does a pooja in Lord Shiva temple and chant one hundred thousand mantras to benefit the person who has arranged for the pooja.

Apart from the above two ways if a person lacks time but wants to get the benefit of the Mantra then he must go to Lord Shiva Temple daily and must pour water on Shiv Ling and chant the Mantra for just five times. It would be great if you can also put "Bilva Patra" on the Shiv Ling and the pour the Water. Thats a surety that within 15 days starting from Monday a person will start getting rid of certain mental and physical troubles.

This mantra can be chanted anytime day or night even when you are about to sleep and this is very effective too. This is not only for saving life but also a great mantra for concentration and mental peace. A person must concentrate on his third eye position and chant this and slowly and gradually he will start feeling the positive energy in his third eye.

In the beginning concentrating on the third eye would be painful because you mind will not be able to resist the pain but with practice you can really do it well and lately everything you do will be successful as your third eye will show you everything in advance.

"Om Namah Shivaya"

Shiva Shadakshara Stotram 2
Namanthi Rishayo deva,

Namanthyapsarasa gana,

Nara namanthi , devesam,

Nakaraya namo nama.            



Salutations and salutations to letter  “na”,

Which is saluted by great sages,

Which is saluted by groups of divine maidens,

And which is saluted by men and the king of devas.

Shiva Shadakshara Stotram Mantra 1

Shiva Shadakshara Stotram Mantra 1
Omkaram, Bindu Samyuktham,

Nithyam, dyayanthi yogina,

Kamadam, mokshadam chaiva ,

Omkaraya Namo nama.                                                          1



Salutations and salutations to letter “om”,

Which is meditated as a letter Om with a dot,

Daily by great sages,

And  leads them  to fulfillment of desires,

And attainment of salvation.

knowledge who want ?

knowledge who want ?

तमित प्रुछन्ति न सिमो वि प्रुछन्ति स्वेनेव धीरो मनसा यदग्रभीत |
न मृष्यते प्रथमं नापरं वचो ऽ स्य क्रत्वा सचते अप्रद्र्पितः ||

साधारण व्यक्ति प्रश्न नही पूछता (ज्ञान पाना नही चाहता). ज्ञानी ही जिज्ञासा प्रकट करता है | धैर्यवान मनुष्य कर्म को समय से पहले कर देते है | वो किसी के कथन को अनावश्यक महत्व नही देते | अहंकार से रहित मनुष्य ही ज्ञान को प्राप्त करता है ||


Ordinary people do not ask questions (do not show interest to learn). The intelligent people show interest to learn. Those who have patience complete the task before time. They do not give undue importance to what others say. Those who are devoid of false ego can acquire knowledge.

21 REASONS for being VEGETERIAN

21 REASONS for being VEGETERIAN
Vegetarianism is the fastest growing trend in the developed world. Here are 21 reasons why you should think about turning green too.

Avoiding meat is one of the best and simplest ways to cut down your fat consumption. Modern farm animals are deliberately fattened up to increase profits. Eating fatty meat increases your chances of having a heart attack or developing cancer.

Every minute of every working day, thousands of animals are killed in slaughter-houses. Pain and misery are common. In the US alone, 500,000 animals are killed for meat every hour.

There are millions of cases of food poisoning recorded every year. The vast majority are caused by eating meat.

Meat contains absolutely nothing - no proteins, vitamins or minerals - that the human body cannot obtain perfectly happily from a vegetarian diet.

African countries - where millions are starving to death - export grain to the developed world so that animals can be fattened for our dining tables.



'Meat' can include the tail, head, feet, rectum and spinal cord of an animal.

A sausage can contain ground up intestines. How can anyone be sure that the intestines are empty when they are ground up? Do you really want to eat the content of a pig's intestines?

If we eat the plants we grow instead of feeding them to animals, the world's food shortage will disappear virtually overnight. Remember that 100 acres of land will produce enough beef for 20 people but enough wheat to feed 240 people.

Every day, tens of millions of one-day-old male chicks are killed because they will not be able to lay eggs. There are no rules about how this mass slaughter takes place. Some are crushed or suffocated to death. Many are used for fertiliser or fed to other animals.

Animals who die for your dinner table die alone, in terror, in sadness and in pain. The killing is merciless and inhumane.

It's must easier to become (and stay) slim if you are a vegetarian. (By 'slim', I do not mean 'abnormally slender' or 'underweight' but rather, an absense of excess weight!)

Half the rainforests in the world have been destroyed to clear ground to graze cattle to make beefburgers. The burning of the forests contributes 20% of all green-house gases. Roughtly 1,000 species a year become extinct because of the destruction of the rainforests. Approximately 60 million people a year die of starvation. All those lives could be saved because those people could eat grain used to fatten cattle and other farm animals - if Americans ate 10% less meat.



The world's fresh water shortage is being made worse by animal farming. And meat producers are the biggest polluters of water. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat. If the US meat industry wasn't supported by the taxpayer paying a large proportion of its water costs, then hamburger meat would cost $35 a pound.

If you eat meat, you are consuming hormones that were fed to the animals. No one knows what effect those hormones will have on your health. In some parts of the world, as many as one on four hamburgers contain growth hormones that were originally given to cattle.

The following diseases are commoner among meat eaters: anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostrate, constipation, diabetes, gallstones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins. Lifelong vegetarians visit hospital 22% less often than meat eaters and for shorter stays. Vegetarians have a 20% lower blood cholestrol level than meat eaters and this reduces heart attack and cancer risks considerably.

Some farmers use tranquillisers to keep animals calm. Other routinely use antibiotics to starve off infection. When you eat meat you are eating those drugs. In America, 55% of all antibiotics are fed to animals and the percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin went up from 14% in 1960 to 91% in 1988.



In a lifetime, the average meat eater will consumer 36 pigs, 36 sheep and 750 chickens and turkeys. Do you want that much carnage on your conscience?

Animals suffer from pain and fear just as much as you do. How would you like to spend your last hours locked in a truck, packed into a cage with hundreds of other terrified animal and then cruelly pushed into a blood soaked death chamber. Anyone who eats meat condones and supports the way animals are treated.

Animals which are a year old are often far more rational - and capable of logical thought - than six week old babies. Pigs and sheep are far more intelligent than small children. Eating dead animals is barbaric.

Vegetarians are fitter than meat eaters. many of the world's most successful athletes are vegetarian.

Click here to find out which food you could eat as a vegetarian.

Ideals of Dharma and Moksha

Ideals of Dharma and Moksha :

========= Words Of Swami Vivekananda =========

With every man, there is an idea; the external man is only the outward manifestation, the mere language of this idea within. Likewise, every nation has a corresponding national idea. This idea is working for the world and is necessary for its preservation. The day when the necessity of an idea as an element for the preservation of the world is over, that very day the receptacle of that idea, whether it be an individual or a nation, will meet destruction. The reason that we Indians are still living, in spite of so much misery, distress, poverty, and oppression from within and without is that we have a national idea, which is yet necessary for the preservation of the world.

Understand that India is still living, because she has her own quota yet to give to the general store of the world's civilisation. First, we have to understand that there are not any good qualities which are the privileged monopoly of one nation only. Of course, as with individuals, so with nations, there may be a prevalence of certain good qualities, more or less in one nation than in another.

With us, the prominent idea is Mukti; with the Westerners, it is Dharma. What we desire is Mukti; what they want is Dharma. Here the word "Dharma" is used in the sense of the Mimâmsakas. What is Dharma? Dharma is that which makes man seek for happiness in this world or the next. Dharma is established on work, Dharma is impelling man day and night to run after and work for happiness. What is Mukti? That which teaches that even the happiness of this life is slavery, and the same is the happiness of the life to come, because neither this world nor the next is beyond the laws of nature; only, the slavery of this world is to that of the next as an iron chain is to a golden one. Again, happiness, wherever it may be , being within the laws of nature, is subject to death and will not last ad infinitum. Therefore man must aspire to become Mukta, he must go beyond the bondage of the body; slavery will not do. This Mokshapath is only in India and nowhere else.

There was a time in India when Dharma was compatible with Mukti . There were worshippers of Dharma, such as Yudhishthira, Arjuna , Duryodhana, Bhishma, and Karna, side by side with the aspirants of Mukti, such as Vyâsa, Shuka, and Janaka. On the advent of Buddhism, Dharma was entirely neglected, and the path of Moksha alone became predominant.

Hindu Scriptures and the Bauddhas :

The Bauddhas declared, "Nothing is more desirable in life than Moksha; whoever you are, come one and all to take it." I ask, "Is that ever possible?" "You are a householder, you must not concern yourself much with things of that sort: you do your Svadharma (natural duty)" – thus say the Hindu scriptures. Exactly so! He who cannot leap one foot, is going to jump across the ocean to Lankâ in one bound! Is it reason? You cannot feed your own family or dole out food to two of your fellow-men, you cannot do even an ordinary piece of work for the common good, in harmony with others - and you are running after Mukti! The Hindu scriptures say, "No doubt, Moksha is far superior to Dharma; but Dharma should be finished first of all". The Bauddhas were confounded just there and brought about all sorts of mischief. Non-injury is right; "Resist not evil" is a great thing - these are indeed grand principles; but the scriptures say, "Thou art a householder; if anyone smites thee on thy cheek, and thou dost not return him an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, thou wilt verily be a sinner."

Manu says, गरुुं वा बालवद्धृ ौ वा ब्राह्मणंवा फुश्रतुभ ।आततायमनभामान्तं ् हन्यादवेायवचायमन ॥् (Manusmriti, VIII. 350)

"When one has come to kill you, there is no sin in killing him, even though he be a Brahmin ."

This is very true, and this is a thing which should not be forgotten. Do your Swadharma, this is the truth of truths Heroes only enjoy the world. Show your heroism; apply, according to circumstances, the fourfold political maxims of conciliation, bribery, sowing dissensions, and open war, to win over your adversary and enjoy the world - then you will be Dhârmika (righteous). Otherwise, you live a disgraceful life if you pocket your insults when you are kicked and trodden down by anyone who takes it into his head to do so; your life is a veritable hell here, and so is the life hereafter. This is what the Shastras say.

The Vedas were the first to find and proclaim the way to Moksha, and from that one source, the Vedas, was taken whatever any great Teacher, say, Buddha or Christ, afterwards taught. Now, they were Sannyasins, and therefore they "had no enemy and were friendly and compassionate towards all". That was well and good for them. But why this attempt to compel the whole world to follow the same path to Moksha? "Can beauty be manufactured by rubbing and scrubbing? Can anybody's love be won by threats or force?" What does Buddha or Christ prescribe for the man who neither wants Moksha nor is fit to receive it? — Nothing! Either you must have Moksha or you are doomed to destruction — these are the only two ways held forth by them, and there is no middle course. You are tied hand and foot in the matter of trying for anything other than Moksha. There is no way shown how you may enjoy the world a little for a time; not only all openings to that are hermetically sealed to you, but, in addition, there are obstructions put at every step.

It is only the Vedic religion which considers ways and means and lays down rules for the fourfold attainment of man, comprising Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha. Buddha ruined us, and so did Christ ruin Greece and Rome! Then, in due course of time, fortunately, the Europeans became Protestants, shook off the teachings of Christ as represented by Papal authority, and heaved a sigh of relief. In India, Kumarila again brought into currency the Karma-Marga, the way of Karma only, and Shankara and Ramanuja firmly re-established the Eternal Vedic religion, harmonising and balancing in due proportions Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha. Thus the nation was brought to the way of regaining its lost life; but India has three hundred million souls to wake, and hence the delay. To revive three hundred millions — can it be done in a day?

The aims of the Buddhistic and the Vedic religions are the same, but the means adopted by the Buddhistic are not right. If the Buddhistic means were correct, then why have we been thus hopelessly lost and ruined? It will not do to say that the efflux of time has naturally wrought this. Can time work, transgressing the laws of cause and effect?

Therefore, though the aims are the same, the Bauddhas for want of right means have degraded India. Perhaps my Bauddha brothers will be offended at this remark , and fret and fume; but there's no help for it; the truth ought to be told, and I do not care for the result. The right and correct means is that of the Vedas — the Jati Dharma, that is, the Dharma enjoined according to the different castes — the Svadharma, that is, one's own Dharma, or set of duties prescribed for man according to his capacity and position — which is the very basis of Vedic religion and Vedic society.

Do your Svadharma - this is truth, the truth of truths. This is my advice to you, my beloved coreligionists. Of course, do not do any wrong, do not injure or tyrannise over anyone, but try to do good to others as much as you can. But passively to submit to wrong done by others is a sin - with the householder. He must try to pay them back in their own coin then and there. The householder must earn money with great effort and enthusiasm, and by that must support and bring comforts to his own family and to others, and perform good works as far as possible. If you cannot do that, how do you profess to be a man? You are not a householder even -what to talk of Moksha for you ! Different paths for two different natures. Now what is that good which is to be pursued? The good for him who desires Moksha is one, and the good for him who wants Dharma is another. This is the great truth which the Lord Shri Krishna, the revealer of the Gita, has tried therein to explain, and upon this great truth is established the Varnâshrama (Four castes and four stages of life.) system and the doctrine of Swadharma, etc. of the Hindu religion. "He who has no enemy, and is friendly and compassionate towards all, who is free from the feelings of 'me and mine', even-minded in pain and pleasure, and forbearing" - these and other epithets of like nature are for him whose one goal in life is Moksha. (Gita, XII. 13)

"Yield not to unmanliness, O son of Prithâ! Ill doth it befit thee. Cast off this mean faintheartedness and arise. O scorcher of thine enemies." (Gita, II. 3)

"Therefore do thou arise and acquire fame. After conquering thy enemies, enjoy unrivalled dominion; verily, by Myself have they been already slain; be thou merely the instrument, O Savyasâchin (Arjuna)." (Gita, XI. 33)

Satvic Calmness and Tamasic inertia - difference :

Now, tell me, looking from outside, how are we to understand, whether you are in a state wherein the Satva or the Tamas prevails? Whether we are in the state of Sattvika calmness, beyond all pleasure and pain, and past all work and activity, or whether we are in the lowest Tâmasika state, lifeless, passive,dull as dead matter, and doing no work, because there is no power in us to do it, and are, thus, silently and by degrees, getting rotten and corrupted within -I seriously ask you this question and demand an answer. Ask your own mind, and you shall know what the reality is.

Satvika calmness, storehouse of great powers :

But, what need to wait for the answer? The tree is known by its fruit. The Satva prevailing, the man is inactive, he is calm, to be sure; but that inactivity is the outcome of the centralization of great powers, that calmness is the mother of tremendous energy. That highly Satwika man, that great soul, has no longer to work as we do with hands and feet - by his mere willing only, all his works are immediately accomplished to perfection. That man of predominating Satva is the Brahmin, the worshipped of all. Has he to go about from door to door, begging others to worship him? The Almighty Mother of the universe writes with Her own hand, in golden letters on his forehead, "Worship ye all, this great one, this son of Mine", and the world reads and listens to it and humbly bows down its head before him in obedience. That man is really –"He who has no enemy, and is friendly and compassionate towards all, who is free from the feelings of 'me and mine', even-minded in pain and pleasure, and forbearing" (Gita, XII. 13)

Tamasic passiveness, sign of death :

And mark you, those things which you see in pusillanimous, effeminate folk who speak in a nasal tone chewing every syllable, whose voice is as thin as of one who has been starving for a week, who are like a tattered wet rag, who never protest or are moved even if kicked by anybody - those are the signs of the lowest Tamas, those are the signs of death, not of Satva - all corruption and stench. It is because Arjuna was going to fall into the ranks of these men that the Lord is explaining matters to him so elaborately in the Gita. Is that not the fact?

Listen to the very first words that came out of the mouth of the Lord - क्लैब्यंभा स्म गभ् ऩाथवनतैत्त्वय्यऩुऩद्यते- "Yield not to unmanliness, O Partha! Ill, doth it befit thee!" and then later, तस्मात्त्वभयुिष्ठ मशो रबस्व - "Therefore do thou arise and acquire fame."

Coming under the influence of the Jains, Buddhas, and others, we have joined the lines of those Tamasika people. During these last thousand years, the whole country is filling the air with the name of the Lord and is sending its prayers to Him; and the Lord is never lending His ears to them. And why should He? When even man never hears the cries of the fool, do you think God will? Now the only way out is to listen to the words of the Lord in the Gita -क्लैब्यंभा स्म गभ् ऩाथव "Yield not to unmanliness, O Partha!" तस्मात्त्वभयुिष्ठ मशो रबस्व "Therefore do thou arise and acquire fame."

ATMABODHA | VERSE 06 |

ATMABODHA | VERSE 06 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

ATMABODHA | VERSE 06 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

1. Samsara is full of likes and dislikes and other opposites . Like a dream , it seems real for the time being ; but , on waking , it vanishes because it is unreal .

Because the dream is negated on waking , I know it to be unreal ; but the world persists and I find it only real . ~ RM

2. The world , filled with attachments and aversions , and the rest , is like a dream : it appears to be real as long as one is ignorant , but becomes unreal when one is awake .

3. The world which is full of attachments , aversions , etc , is like a dream . It appears to be real , as long as it continues but appears to be unreal when one is awake ( i.e. , when true wisdom dawns

ATMABODHA | VERSE 05 |

ATMABODHA | VERSE 05 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

ATMABODHA | VERSE 05 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

1. The jiva is mixed up with ignorance . By constant practice of knowledge the jiva becomes pure , because knowledge disappears ( along with ignorance ) , as the cleansing nut with the impurities in the water .

But here is the world , how can the Self alone be real and non-dual? ~ RM

2. Through repeated practice , Knowledge purifies the embodied soul stained by ignorance, and then itself disappears , as the powder of the kataka-nut disappears after it has cleansed muddy water .

3. Constant practice of knowledge purifies the Self ( Jivatman ) , stained by ignorance and then disappears itself — as the powder of the ' Kataka-nut ' settles down after it has cleansed the muddy water .

ATMABODHA| VERSE 04 |

ATMABODHA| VERSE 04 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

ATMABODHA| VERSE 04 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

1. Owing to ignorance , the Self now appears to be covered up ; on the removal of ignorance , the pure Self will shine forth of Itself , like the sun after the dispersal of clouds .

2. It is only because of ignorance that the Self appears to be finite . When ignorance is destroyed , the Self , which does not admit of any multiplicity whatsoever , truly reveals Itself by Itself , like the sun when the cloud is removed .

3. The Soul appears to be finite because of ignorance . When ignorance is destroyed the Self which does not admit of any multiplicity truly reveals itself by itself : like the Sun when the clouds pass away

Dukha Mimamsa: Depth of Suffering

Dukha Mimamsa: Depth of Suffering ::

The Bhagavad Gita places much stress on the need for maintaining an equanimity of mind under both adverse or favorable circumstances (Bhagavad Gita: 6.7; 12.18 and 14.25). However, this is easier said than done. In the Shrimad Bhagavata Purana, that relishable text overflowing with the nectar of sweet words fallen from Krishna’s delicious lips, the lord says in unambiguous terms:



"Whether reproached or insulted, ridiculed or belittled, beaten or bound by ropes, or deprived of one’s means of livelihood, spat or urinated upon by the wicked - when one’s foundations are shaken in this manner, one should try to redeem oneself by recourse to reason."



In response to this instruction, Krishna’s great devotee and friend Uddhava queried:



"Such outrages against oneself by the wicked are the most difficult to bear because our nature to respond against any such mistreatment is very powerful and hard to resist. Therefore, do explain to me how I can understand and realize the exalted spiritual state you are talking about."

(Shrimad Bhagavata Purana 11.22.57 - 60).



:: Dukha Mimamsa: Depth of Suffering ::



The Bhagavad Gita places much stress on the need for maintaining an equanimity of mind under both adverse or favorable circumstances (Bhagavad Gita: 6.7; 12.18 and 14.25). However, this is easier said than done. In the Shrimad Bhagavata Purana, that relishable text overflowing with the nectar of sweet words fallen from Krishna’s delicious lips, the lord says in unambiguous terms:



"Whether reproached or insulted, ridiculed or belittled, beaten or bound by ropes, or deprived of one’s means of livelihood, spat or urinated upon by the wicked - when one’s foundations are shaken in this manner, one should try to redeem oneself by recourse to reason."



In response to this instruction, Krishna’s great devotee and friend Uddhava queried:



"Such outrages against oneself by the wicked are the most difficult to bear because our nature to respond against any such mistreatment is very powerful and hard to resist. Therefore, do explain to me how I can understand and realize the exalted spiritual state you are talking about."

(Shrimad Bhagavata Purana 11.22.57 - 60).



In his inimitable charming style, Krishna then proceeds to narrate a story, embedded within which is a creative way to realize the equitable state of mind (samata) outlined above.



Long long ago, in the ancient city of Ujjain there lived a brahmin, who was however a brahmin in name only. By resorting to various businesses, he had amassed a huge wealth. He was an extreme miser, never spending a penny on himself, or on any of his family and friends. Due to his extreme temperament, all near and dear ones were unsympathetic, if not downright hostile towards him.



It was not long before such an unnatural state of affairs came to an end, and all his wealth, earned with much hard work, and stored with an even greater effort, came to naught in front of his very own eyes. Some of it was plundered by his near and dear ones, part of it was stolen by thieves, some was confisticated by the government and the rest was ruined by natural causes such as fire etc. Thus was lost his entire wealth, which he had never made use of for his personal enjoyment nor for charity.



The Brahmins’ Mental State After Losing Everything:



Reduced to this pitiable condition, a very great despondency swept over the brahmin. As he began brooding over his lot, tears choked his throat and as a result he felt an almost unbearable anxiety. Suddenly however, the same despondency became the cause of a strange contended happiness which he felt seeping through his body, and a strong feeling of renunciation came over him and he said to himself:



"Alas! I tormented myself uselessly by working so hard for accumulating wealth which was used neither for religious merit (dharma), nor for enjoyment. Truly is it said that misers always have to suffer - in this world they burn with anxiety for earning and safeguarding their money and after death they go to hell because of neglecting dharma during their lifetime."



"Indeed, first earning money, and then the ambition to increase it, keeping it safe, or spending it – all these involve constant hard work, fear, and anxiety. Brothers, wife, parents, all near and dear ones, who seem bound to us with love, they all become estranged within no time over a single penny."



"Having achieved this human birth, which is coveted even by the gods, those who disrespect it (as I had done), they destroy but their own highest self-interest. This human body is a gateway to both heaven and final liberation (Moksha). Which intelligent person would let go of this opportunity and rather involve himself in the business of money, the abode of all calamities. I have fallen from my supreme duty and carelessly squandered away my life, money and strength, which if properly utilized could have become doorways to liberation. I do not understand why even intelligent people allow themselves to be troubled with so much futile endeavors for acquisition of wealth? Certainly this world is being deluded by an unknown maya."



"This human body is in the constant vile grip of death. Hence what purpose could be served by money itself, or those who give money, pleasure or those who give pleasure? What is to be gained by performing karma which but leads to perpetual rebirth in the never ending cycle of birth and death? However, there is no doubt that today the great Lord Hari is immensely pleased with me for he has brought me to this miserable condition which has thus sowed in me the seed of discontentment, helping me to achieve vairagya, the disenchantment with all things material, which is but the boat to cross over the ocean of worldly miseries."



"I have luckily been reduced to this state, and with whatever time now remains of my life, I will perform austerities and subsist only on bare necessities."



Having resolved his mind thus, the brahmin became silent and set out to wander freely in this world as an unkempt beggar.



What Happened Next?

Wherever that old brahmin, now in tatters, would go, wicked people would insult him terribly. Some would snatch away the stick he was supporting himself on, while others would take away his begging bowl. Someone would make away with his Rudraksha Mala even as others would throw away his loin cloth. If that were not enough many would give him objects only to snatch them back. When the old man would sit on the riverbank to partake the meager alms he had collected, rowdy individuals would even go to the extent of spitting, urinating, or even breaking wind on him. They would try and force the silent monk to speak, and when he would not do so, they would hit him.



Often some miscreants would call him a thief and tie him up with ropes, some would call him a hypocrite, recalling his earlier days and insinuate that having been thrown out of the house by his wife and children, he had now made religion his new business.



The brahmin beggar would however patiently bear it all. He was thus exposed to the following three torments:



1). Adhyatmic: Physical suffering having source in one’s own body e.g. fever etc.



2). Adhidaivik: Suffering on account of the gods: Heat, cold, rains etc.



3). Adhibhautik: Suffering imposed by other living in form of humiliation etc.



Although base people tried constantly hard to shake his determination, he remained steadfast on his spiritual platform. He took each and every bit of suffering in his stride, reconciling himself with each of them, thoroughly working out the nature of "suffering", expressing his thoughts in the following words:



"My joys or sorrows are not due to these people, nor the gods, nor my body, not the planets, nor my karma or kala (time). The scriptures declare the mind alone to be the cause of both of these and indeed it is the mind alone which perpetuates the repeated cycle of birth and death. The mind is very powerful, and actuates the mental states which then evolve into the various kinds of karma leading to the various states of existence according to the "quality" of the karma. Mind is the initiator of all activity. Therefore, the supreme goal of all spiritual enterprises, whether it be charity, practice of one’s duties, yoga, study of the Vedas, celibacy or fasting, is the subjugation of the mind."



"In fact, one whose mind is peace with itself, what is he to gain by meritorious activities like charity etc? On the other hand one whose mind is still uncontrolled, even though he may be performing these meritorious deeds, has still not gained anything by them. All sense organs are under the sway of the mind, however, the mind is under the control of none of these. This mind is the strongest of the strongest, and one who is able to bring it under control is truly the god of gods (deva-deva)."



"An undisciplined mind is the greatest of all enemies. Its attack is almost unbearable. Not only does it torment the body, but also afflicts the softer portions (like the heart) of our inner being. It is difficult to defeat the mind. However, this is the first enemy man should try and win over; but what happens is that man does not try to win over his own mind rather he tries to establish blame for his good/bad situation on extraneous circumstances or people. If I see that the people who give me charity are the cause of my happiness and those who harass me are the cause of my distress then I am merely absorbed in the bodily concept of life and am able to scrape only the surface of life rather than grasp its ultimate core."



The beggar then set out to systematically outline each of the factors which logically could be said to have been the cause behind his suffering, and through a thorough analysis showed why none of these could eventually be the ultimate cause of his distress.



1). Other Human Beings:

The brahmin said: "If we hold other human beings responsible for our happiness or distress, then how does it affect out True Self (atman) which is immaterial, while both the perpetrator and the sufferer are but bodies made of the same dust. If ever a man bites his own tongue with his teeth, then on whom would he lay the blame for the pain he would experience?"



The Self remains beyond both the body and the mind. This Self neither fattens with the body nor shares the joy or sorrows of the mind. The outside world can only affect the body and the mind and never the Self. When the body of a person is garlanded his mind is elated, and when his form is kicked, it is the mind again which rebels. The Self is just the witness to his insult and joy.



All physical bodies are made up of the same five elements – empty space (akasha), air, fire, water and earth. Inside all physical bodies, it is the same divine consciousness inhabiting them as the ultimate Self. What then is the difference between any two of us? When people honor or dishonor each other, it is only modifications of the same earth honoring or dishonoring each other. In the fifth canto of the Shrimad Bhagavat Purana, there occurs the story of the great saint "Jada Bharata", on whose name incidentally, the name Bharata was given to the country today known as India.



Once it so happened that Jada Bharata was compelled by a king to become his palanquin bearer. The saint, not used to such a job, stumbled, and was chastised for giving a severe jolt to the king. The great one answered: "One clod of mud is on top of another. One calls himself a palanquin carrier and the other a king. However, both are only mud in essence, with no difference whatsoever. Knowing this, the wise man remains unaffected."



The pain of the tongue bit by the teeth is my pain, and the aggression of the teeth is equally mine. For I regard both the teeth and tongue as "me" alone. Similarly, the one who insults and the one who is insulted are both expressions, manifestations or conditioning of the same Self, as the Self in me is the Self in all. Then who can insult who, and why should one react or suffer? All suffering lies in the sense of otherness – that "another" has hurt me. Not knowing that the lord was the Self in him, Shishupal kept fighting with Shri Krishna. When he died, the light that emerged from his body merged into the lord. Not realizing the one Self in all we too fight with ourselves all our lives.





2) Gods as the Cause of our Suffering or Happiness:



In Indian Philosophy, all individual aspects of the human body (adhyatmik) and the various phenomenal forces (adhidaivik) are but one and the same. Therefore, according to the Upanishads, the sight in the eyes, and the power of the sun are in essence one. Similarly, Indra is the ruler of heaven and also at the same time the presiding deity of our hands, and Agni the deity of our mouth. Therefore, when the hand slaps the mouth, it is Indra doing so to Agni. Then what? Suppose then the mouth bites the hand. How does this all affect the one formless Self beyond the body? Also, when the same gods are present in each of the differently formed bodies, it is but the same set of deities acting on each other, since there is no "other", who can be held responsible for what?



3). Can the Planets (Astrological) be the Cause?



The Planets cannot be the ultimate cause of our sukha (happiness) or dukha (suffering) because they affect only that which is born and subject to modification. However, the Self is unborn and therefore there is no question of it being under the influence of the planets at all.



4). Are Our Actions (Karma) behind Sukha and Dukha?



Before saying that our actions are the cause of our joys and sorrows, we need to understand that any action is possible only by a combination of the inert and the conscious. The body is inert and the Self is conscious.



The doer of action (karta), alone can become the enjoyer of its results (bhokta). In addition, action can modify the object of action and also the one who prompts the action. The Self is neither the karta, nor the prompter (which is perhaps the mind) nor the object of action, and hence is unaffected by them. The Self is the actionless subject which witnesses all actions.



The inert by itself cannot act. Consciousness also cannot act without a body, instruments etc. It is therefore only with combination of the inert and the sentient that action is possible. Such a combination is however impossible since the inert and the conscious are of opposite nature, like light and darkness. Hence, when karma itself has no ultimate basis in either the body or the soul, then where is the question of a non-existent thing causing either joy or sorrow.



5). Is Time (Kala) Responsible for the Pain and Pleasure We Experience?



In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says:



"I am (of the nature of) Kala" (10.30)

Time or kala can be experienced as the present alone, and the present moment, down to the microsecond, can be divided and subdivided till time itself disappears and only the Self, the witnessing Presence alone remains. Then how can time which is of the essence of the Self itself, be the cause of either suffering or joy. A flame cannot be tormented by its own heat, nor can ice be affected by its own coolness.



Conclusion:

The material body is dull matter and by itself cannot experience anything, whether it be happiness or distress. The Spirit Soul (Self) is however pure consciousness and completely transcendental, and therefore one should fix one’s mind on the transcendental lord who is beyond joy and sorrow. It is only when the transcendental consciousness, conditioned by the mind, is identified with dull matter that the living entity imagines that he or she is enjoying or suffering in the material world.



However, this transformation from the body to the Soul requires a radical shift in our thought process, and by narrating the story of the brahmin mendicant, Krishna shows just how a severe crisis or an extreme moment of suffering in our life can give us a highly creative impetus, propelling us on to the path of self-realization.

PRABODHASUDHAKARA(CENSURE OF THE BODY)

PRABODHASUDHAKARA(CENSURE OF THE BODY)

PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL001 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

|| 1 | CENSURE OF THE BODY | 1 ||

I adore ( Sri Krsna ) , the Blessed , Supreme Lord of the descendants of Yadu , the Supreme Person , the Unborn , the Powerful , the Self-effulgent , who is only Pure Existence and Consciousness and whose one essence is Eternal Bliss .=========

PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL002 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

|| 1 | CENSURE OF THE BODY | 2 ||

Does He , to describe whom , even the Veda actually observes silence like a dumb one , become accessible to the words of us , men ?===========

PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL003 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

|| 1 | CENSURE OF THE BODY | 3 ||

Even though it is known thus , He can certainly be taught conventionally by the essential parts of the scriptures concerning the Supreme Spirit and by the practices of contemplating on and praising Hari ( or Lord Visnu )

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PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL004 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 1 | CENSURE OF THE BODY | 4 ||



There cannot be the rightful claim to liberation for a man , by means of several expedients like ( spiritual ) practice , knowledge and devotion done ( by him ) , without dispassion ( or indifference to worldly attachments ) .

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PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL005 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 1 | CENSURE OF THE BODY | 5 ||



Dispassionateness , Self-Knowledge and Devotion — this triad is spoken of as the means of liberation . In that , dispassion is said to be freedom from desire ( for objects of the senses )

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PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL006 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 1 | CENSURE OF THE BODY | 6 ||



But , that ( dispassionateness ) is covered in all bodies ( or beings ) by the sense of " I " and " mine " . There , the sense of " I " ( has its origin ) in the body . The sense of " mine " ( has its origin ) in objects like wife , ( son and other possessions )

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PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL007 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 1 | CENSURE OF THE BODY | 7 ||



" Of what nature is this body ? And , what is its connection with the objects ( of the senses ) ? " When being reflected upon thus , the sense of " I " and " mine " come to an end

PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL008 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 3 | CENSURE OF THE MIND | 51-52 ||



The mind possessed by the demon of desire became a devil . It laughs at one time , weeps ( at some other time and ) wanders about the ten directions , perplexed .



It is pleased at times ( and ) angry ( at other times ) . It is virtuous ( at times ) and wicked ( at other times ) . It reviles ( now and ) praises ( later ) . It hates something with anger . But , at some time or other , it commends itself .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL009 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 3 | CENSURE OF THE MIND | 53 ||



The mind is pulled , as it were , on all sides by ostentation , self-conceit , greed , desire , anger and excessive jealousy like a bone fallen on the way ( being pulled ) by dogs .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL010 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 3 | CENSURE OF THE MIND | 54 ||



Therefore , ( becoming ) stainlessly dispassionate , let one give up the object desired by the mind . Let him make it free from desire . Thereupon , it becomes free from activity .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL011 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 4 | DISPELLING THE OBJECTS OF THE SENSES | 59 ||



With his ears , a man listens to the abuse of another person spoken to the heart's content by tale-bearers . Does the other man die on account of that ?



He ( the hearer ) becomes a great sinner in vain .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL012 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 4 | DISPELLING THE OBJECTS OF THE SENSES | 60 ||



The tongue utters every moment , falsehood and reproach of others . What loss to others is obtained thereby ?



The man becomes a great sinner in vain .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL013 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 5 | RESTRAINT OF THE MIND | 65 ||



The stream of water going out of its own ( source ) approaches the ocean through a low-lying course . If it is remaining motionless in ( its source of ) production , does it not go to the state of an ocean ?



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL014 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 5 | RESTRAINT OF THE MIND | 66 ||



Thus , if the mind , reflecting upon its own source , becomes still within or does not rise outwardly , then , will it not go to the state of the Self ( or Pure Consciousness ) by itself ?



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL015 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 5 | RESTRAINT OF THE MIND | 69 ||



Having desired whichever object , ( the mind ) runs through the external organs of sense , it is afflicted on its non-acquisition as ( one is afflicted ) about some wealth that is gone .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL016 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 5 | RESTRAINT OF THE MIND | 70 ||



If the mind , roving all around the mountain , the city , fortresses and impassible rivers does not obtain the object ( sought ) , it arrives depressed , as if restrained by poison .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL017 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 5 | RESTRAINT OF THE MIND | 71 ||



The Tumbee fruit , ( a sort of gourd ) , even if thrown forcibly down into water , reaches upwards .



Similarly , the mind held with effort in one's natural state ( i.e. Pure Consciousness ) , goes outwards .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL018 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 5 | RESTRAINT OF THE MIND | 75-6 ||



As a tiger confined within a house having high walls without openings , exhausted by repeated efforts in going out , remains ( where it is ) , falling down and panting , so does the mind remain calm , having seen ( or realised ) its not going out by hundreds of efforts , on account of the restraint of all sense-organs .



Then , it goes to the state of effortlessness .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL019 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 5 | RESTRAINT OF THE MIND | 77 ||



The mind slowly gives up its agitation through the restraint of the movements of Prana ( or bio-energy ) , the company of sages , the renunciation of desires ( or mental impressions left by past actions ) and the acquisition of devotion to the feet of Hari ( or God , in His protective aspect , as Visnu ) .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL020 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 6 | DISPASSIONATENESS | 80 ||



The man devoid of pride and the sense of " mine " , having the face turned away from ( or not caring about ) objects of sense , is not troubled by actions anywhere .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL021 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 6 | DISPASSIONATENESS | 83 ||



For a man possessing the fortune of dispassionateness , whose mind is tranquil , who is free from expectations and who is the enjoyer of unsolicited rewards , there would be satisfaction , ( having accomplished his purpose ) , in this life .



PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL022 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA



|| 6 | DISPASSIONATENESS | 85 ||



The mind that is the deer , having forgotten his abode ( The Self ) , wandering about for a long time in the large forest of worldly existence , bewildered by the rows of flames of a far-reaching forest-conflagration ( in the form ) of the three kinds of afflictions ( mental , physical , destined ) , galloping among worthless ( objects ) with eyes burnt ( with flames ) and subdued forcefully by the snare of desires , is killed in vain by the tigers ( in the form ) of object sense

PRABODHASUDHAKARA

SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

PRABODHASUDHAKARA | SEL025 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

|| 7 | ESTABLISHING THE EXISTENCE OF THE SELF | 89 ||

Subsequently , the knowledge from the preceptor is like looking at jaggery ( sugar ) from a distance . The knowledge of the Self from oneself ( by intuitive perception ) is like the delight produced by the eating of jaggery —

meditation(DHYANA )MANTRA ॐ shiva

meditation(DHYANA )MANTRA ॐ shiva

Om omkara bindu samyuktam Nityam dyayanti yoginaha

Kaamadam mokshadam chaiva Onkaraya namo namaha

Om shantih shantih shantihi

Meditation MANTRA

Omkara is comprised of three letters Aaa -Uoo - Mmm Yogis meditate upon it daily

By meditating on it they fulfill their desires To that very OM we salute

Om peace peace peace

ATMABODHA| VERSE 03

ATMABODHA| VERSE 03 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

ATMABODHA| VERSE 03 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

1. Not being opposed to ignorance , karma does not destroy it . On the other hand , knowledge destroys ignorance as surely as light does darkness .

2. Action cannot destroy ignorance , for it is not in conflict with or opposed to ignorance . Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep darkness .

3. Action cannot destroy ignorance , for it is not in conflict with or opposed to ignorance . Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep darkness

ATMABODHA| VERSE 02

ATMABODHA| VERSE 02 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

ATMABODHA| VERSE 02 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

1. Of all the means to liberation , knowledge is the only direct one — as essential as fire to cooking ; without it , liberation cannot be gained .

2. As fire is the direct cause of cooking, so Knowledge , and not any other form of discipline , is the direct cause of Liberation ; for Liberation cannot be attained without Knowledge .

3. Just as the fire is the direct cause for cooking , so without Knowledge no emancipation can be had . Compared with all other forms of discipline Knowledge of the Self is the one direct means for liberation .

ATMABODHA | VERSE 01

ATMABODHA | VERSE 01 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

ATMABODHA | VERSE 01 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

1. This — Atma Bodha — is meant to fulfill the want of the seekers of liberation who , by their prolonged tapas , have already cleansed themselves of impurities and become mentally peaceful and free from desires .

2. I am composing the Atmabodha , or Self-Knowledge , to serve the needs of those who have been purified through the practice of austerities, and who are peaceful in heart , free from cravings , and desirous of Liberation .

3. I am composing the ATMA-BODHA , this treatise of the Knowledge of the Self , for those who have purified themselves by austerities and are peaceful in heart and calm , who are free from cravings and are desirous of liberation

The Ultimate reality :: Brahman:: You are not alone

The Ultimate reality :: Brahman:: You are not alone ::

-- By teachings of Swami Sivananda

Vedanta says that Brahmn is ultimate reality. All other beings and things are unreal. But when we ask questions about the nature of Brahmn, the Upanishads describe it as neti, neti – not this, not this. Therefore, they describe the ultimate reality, Brahmn, in negative terms alone.

Swami Sivananda is not satisfied with the negative description of Brahmn because it is impossible for the mind to conceive of an absolute nothing. He argues that ‘Brahmn is not void. It is not blankness or emptiness’. It is not shunyata.

Brahmn, he upholds, is paripoorna, full, because all desires melt there. Brahmn to him ‘is something, after seeing which there is nothing more to be seen, after becoming which there is nothing more to become, after knowing which there remains nothing to be known’.

Brahmn is that which is all-pervading, which surrounds us from all sides - around, above, and below. It is satchidananda or existence, knowledge and bliss. It is that which has no other. It is without a second, endless, eternal, one and one alone. It is everlasting, the one continuous experience-whole.

Hence Swami Sivananda has described Brahmn in term of positive attributes. He upholds that Brahmn has six attributes: ‘jnana,divine wisdom; vairagya, dispassion; aishwarya, power; bala, strength; sri, wealth and kirti, fame.’.

He is nitya, eternal; ananta, infinite and ananda, supreme bliss. He is unchanging amidst changing phenomena. He is permanent amidst the impermanent, and imperishable amidst the perishable. He is what the Gita calls “Jyotishamapi tat jyoti, Light of all lights,”. He is the Adhisthana or support of the phenomenal world.

Brahmn is the sutradhara, string-puller of all bodies of beings. He is the antaryamin, inner ruler of all beings. He is in you and you are in Him. Each of the five primary elements is a manifestation of His qualities.

Brahmn is swatantra or independent. He has satkama, good desires and satsankalpa, pure will. Since karmas are jada or insentient, on their own they cannot yield fruits, so it is Brahmn who dispenses fruits of actions of jivas. He is all-merciful; quenching the thirst of jivas. He satiates our hunger. He dispenses justice to all. The five activities of God are: Srishti, Creation;, sthiti, preservation, samhara, destruction, tirodhana or tirobhava, veiling; and anugraha, grace,

Swami Sivananda accepts that Brahmn is beyond the reach of the senses and mind that is why its existence cannot be proved by scientific experimentation. It is purely a question of faith and refers to the intuitive side of man. However, His existence can be inferred by certain empirical facts or common experiences in daily life.

One can also prove the existence of Brahmn conceptually. One cannot think of impurity, duality, disagreement, variety and mortality without thinking of purity, oneness, agreement, unity and immortality. The possibility of the relative implies reality of the Absolute.

Finally, Swami Sivananda questions an atheist who wants conclusive proof for the existence of Brahmn: ‘Can you give proof for the non-existence of Brahmn?’ He asserts that no one has succeeded in proving that Brahmn does not exist.

‘Whether the owl accepts the presence of light or not, there is always light’. Likewise, whether you accept the existence of Brahmn or not, He always exists. Even the one who claims the non-existence of Brahmn is himself Brahmn. Likewise, the one who claims that there is only shunya, void, forgets that that the knower who knows the shunya is himself Brahmn.

Parvati’s Dialogue with Shiva in Disguise

Parvati’s Dialogue with Shiva in Disguise ::

Shiva, putting on the garb of an old sage, approached Parvati engaged in austerities. She rose up in respect and worshipped him with all reverence due to a learned Brahmin. He enquired about her well being and asked why she was undergoing such severe penance. When she told him of her desire to have Shiva as her husband, he feigned distress and exclaimed, pointing out the disparity in their situations:

"You have set your mind on a worthless object. How could your hand, decorated with bracelets bear the first clasp of Shiva’s hand encircled as it is with snakes?

"On one side will be your bridal robe embroidered with figures of swans and on the other an elephant hide dripping with blood.

"What could be more unseemly than his chest smeared with funerary ashes pressing your two breasts daubed with golden sandalwood paste?

"Not only his physical appearance, but also in the matter of birth his parentage is obscure. The amount of his wealth can be gauged from the fact that he has nothing to wear. Dear lady, can anyone find in him even one quality that is normally sought in a husband?"

Hearing this diatribe, Parvati’s lower lip trembled with anger. The corners of her eyes reddened, and contracting her graceful eyebrows she cast a scornful look at the Brahmin who had dared to utter these harsh words:

"You who speak to me in this way do not at all know Shiva. Since petty minds don’t understand the motives of great souls, different as they are from those of ordinary people, they criticize them.

"People perform auspicious rites with the aim of warding off calamities or attaining prosperity. Shiva himself is the protector of the world and is desireless. What has he got to do with those mercantile practices which but corrupt the soul?

"Though he possesses nothing, he is the source of all possessions. He is the master of the world yet he lives in a cemetery. His physical appearance is frightening yet he is called ‘Shiva,’ the gentle source of all blessings.

"Whether he glows with jewels or bristles with snakes, dresses in silk or wears an elephant hide, adorns himself with skulls or the moon, it is not possible to define the form of one whose body is the whole universe.

"The funeral ashes that have touched his body acquire the power to purify all living beings. Therefore, when he performs his great dance, even the dwellers of heaven vie with each to collect the particles falling off from his limbs, applying them to their foreheads.

"When Indra, the king of heaven, riding his royal elephant, comes across this penniless god seated on an old bull, he alights from his vehicle and touches his feet.

"O Brahmin, though you are worth nothing, one thing you did say well. Since Shiva is the cause of even Brahma (who exists without birth), how could his own birth or parentage be known?

"Enough arguments however, let him be what you believe him to be. My unshakeable heart knows no other feeling than love. Those whose goal is set do not care for criticism."

She then said with finality:

"I can see from your quivering lips O Brahmin that you wish to speak again. Not only is it a sin to say ill of the great souls, even to listen to such talk is a crime. Therefore, I shall leave this place immediately."

So saying, the young girl turned back. At that very moment, Shiva, assuming his real form, caught hold of her. Seeing him, her body turned moist and the slender limbs froze, with one foot poised in the air, between movement and immobility, like a great river arrested in its course by a mountain. Shiva, his heart melting with affection said:

"O graceful lady, won over by your tapasya, from this moment I am your slave."

The Supreme Devotion of Parvati:: Merging with Shiva :

The Supreme Devotion of Parvati:: Merging with Shiva ::


Parvati however soon recovered herself and understood that to unite with Shiva she had to go beyond beauty and desire. She had to make every part of her being yearn for this union and concentrate all her will, energies and capacities focusing them on this sole purpose. All other preoccupations had to be discarded.

For his sake, who himself made a mockery of social conventions, she would have to surpass social restrictions and brave reproach from the world. Her body had to forget all needs or enjoyments, her mind still all resolves (except the one to marry Shiva) and the heart abandon all other attachments. Only the need for Shiva, the thought of Shiva and the love of Shiva would remain. She would exist only as an intense flame burning for Shiva.

Towards this end she decided to undergo severe austerities (tapasya) in the dense jungles of the Himalayas. Her parents, distressed at the thought of their fragile daughter repairing to the dangerous woods tried their best to dissuade her from doing so. In fact, one of Parvati’s most popular epithets, Uma, is derived from her mother’s call to her not to go to the forests – O (daughter) ma (don’t). The mother said:

"O Parvati, if you are distressed and wish to perform penance, you can do it at home. Why do you wish to go out when we have gods here at home? Dear child, for a woman to go out to the forests is something never heard of before." (Shiva Purana: Rudrasamhita III.22)