Pearls of Wise

14/04/2017. 1.10. Narada Tells about the Dark Nature of Kali Yuga -1. 1.9. How Narada Met the Four Kumaras : last paras - The mighty Kali (kalaha – selfishness) had influenced the minds of the people on this earth; every mind was polluted with greed, jealousy, arrogance, guilt and regrets. Adharma had spread over the entire Bhuloka. We can see that even the “always joyful” Narada was filled with sorrow. That is the empathy of Mahathmas. 1.10. Narada Tells about the Dark Nature of Kali Yuga -1. Narada then went on to describe the terrible nature of Kali Yuga. Good qualities such as Truth, Trust, Understanding, Tolerance, Sharing, and Gratitude had all disappeared. People were interested only in earning, spending and filling their stomachs. They were forcing their minds to commit sins to acquire more and more wealth and pleasures. They had no mental peace and no moral strength. There was exploitation in the name of faith – the weak were exploited by the strong who gene...

III. In World Literature - 1. Before we go over to explain the esotericism of the Ramayana, let me say a few words about the prevailing criticism about the veracity of various events mentioned in the epic. First, there is no doubt that early Indians had an approach to history which was rather different from the present day attitude. The word for literature in India is Sahitya, i.e. which will help in the progress and welfare of mankind. While writing history, maybe they kept the objective of human welfare uppermost. Secondly there may have been some intermingling of history and mythology. Although mythology is said to be based on what C.G. Jung has called the ‘race-unconscious’ and therefore projects the innate inhibited aspirations of a race; they did not draw any definite line of demarcation between mythology and history. It is, therefore, possible that either some events were exaggerated or new material interpolated which cannot pass the portals of history as is understood...

14/04/2017. 11. Slight Not the Mother-2.  One should never slight food or treat it with disrespect. Therefore, in the Hindu family where this important fact is recognised, the Grihalakshmi will never allow food, especially rice, to be thrown about on the floor, for to tread upon rice is a very great mistake. Anna (food) is Lakshmi. One should never waste or throw away food unnecessarily, because by this we fail to recognise the worth and importance of this manifestation of the Goddess. We may by all means give food in charity, feed the animals, the cow, the dog, the cat, any hungry creatures; but wantonly we should not throw away food. For if She comes to us of Her own gracious will, and we thus fail to recognise Her worth, then at times of need, we will find that She is absent. To be continued ...

14/04/2017. Self-control is that restraint of the movement of consciousness which insists that everything is different from everything else, that we are cut off from life, segregated from everybody else and isolated from nature and God himself. This violent asking of the aberrant consciousness has to be subdued with the stroke of an educational psychology that has to be inducted into its very bosom by the methods of yoga, which are practically the sum total of any method that anyone may employ in a successful career in any field of life. Thus, yoga is a science of life, it is the science of human existence, it is the art of successful living and, as I have already mentioned to you, there is no distinction between the outer and the inner, the visible and the invisible, and the secular and the religious, as many people make out. It is a total problem before a total mankind arising from a single source and having only one solution finally. To be continued ..

14/04/2017. Humility does not mean keeping your head bowed down or being a scared mouse. It is not false modesty either, secretly feeling pleased with oneself whilst showily claiming, “Oh, I didn’t do anything, I didn’t do anything. Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda pointed out a great truth in this connection; He said, “Humility is a strange thing – the moment you think you have it, you’ve lost it!” Truly, humility flowers when we are ready to appreciate other people’s efforts and not hinder the progress of others. Today, whether in the business field or in any institution – including most families – most people are ready to talk, but rarely to listen. If they do listen, more often or not it is because they are forced to. We can see this in family life as well. When everybody is ready to give an opinion but nobody is ready to listen, how can there be harmony? To be continued ..

14/04/2017. Always regard your married life in its correct perspective and recognise its sanctity, spirituality and divinity. This is the wisdom. This is the way to joy, peace and blessedness. This is the secret of spiritualising all your activities and living Yoga in daily life. Thus the home-life will become the gateway to immortality, spiritual perfection and divine realisation. Verily, Grihasthashrama, when it is rightly understood and nobly lived, becomes the great portal to eternal blessedness and liberation. Our salutations and adorations to ideal married couples who are visible divinities and worthy of our worship. In that home where dwell the Pativrata Nari and her loyal and devoted husband like Bhagavati Mother Sita and Maryada-Purushottama Lord Rama there the Devatas from Devaloka come to offer worship and feel themselves sanctified. All the sacred rivers like Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati abide in such an ideal home. That home is sacred like Varanasi, Prayaga, Ay...

14/04/2017. (Delivered at the Home of Truth, Los Angeles, California ) But there is the real existence in and through everything; and that reality, as it were, is caught in the meshes of time, space, and causation. There is the real man, the infinite, the beginningless, the endless, the ever-blessed, the ever-free. He has been caught in the meshes of time, space, and causation. So has everything in this world. The reality of everything is the same infinite. This is not idealism; it is not that the world does not exist. It has a relative existence, and fulfils all its requirements But it has no independent existence. It exists because of the Absolute Reality beyond time, space, and causation. I have made long digressions. Now, let us return to our main subject. All the automatic movements and all the conscious movements are the working of Prana through the nerves. Now, you see, it will be a very good thing to have control over the unconscious actions. To be continued .....

14/04/2017. For most people, there is no pattern or rational explanation for the manner that things take place in the world, nor one’s individual reactions to those events. Things seem to be random and subject to the whim of the moment. Upon a deeper examination however, the seeker can begin to recognize that the three Gunas, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas, act as the controller of the mechanisms of Nature, and that by observing and understanding these Gunas and their interplay, we can begin to gain some understanding of the streams of energy that bring about the manifestation of the world and all the actions in it. Sri Aurobindo observes: “But in the inferior nature of thigns the play of infinite quality is subject to a limited measure, a divided and conflicting working, a system of opposites and discords between which some practical mobile system of concords has to be found and to be kept in action; this play of concorded discords, conflicting qualities, disparate powers and ways of...

14/04/2017. Chapter-4. ADVICE TO HOUSEHOLDERS-27-13. 13. Master's outspokenness - "In that state of God-intoxication I used to speak out my mind to all.  I was no respecter of persons.  Even to men of position I was not afraid to speak the truth." One day Jatindra came to the garden of Jadu Mallick.  I was there too.  I asked him: 'What is the duty of man? Isn't it our duty to think of God?' Jatindra replied: 'We are worldly people.  How is it possible for us to achieve liberation? Even King Yudhisthira had to have a vision of hell.' This made me very angry.  I said to him: 'What sort of man are you? Of all the incidents of Yudhisthira's life, you remember only his seeing hell.  You don't remember his truthfulness, his forbearance, his patience, his discrimination, his dispassion, his devotion to God.' I was about to say many more things, when Hriday stopped my mouth.  After a little while Jatindra left the place, saying he ...

07/04/2017. CH-1.9. On hearing this, Sage Saunaka asked Sri Suta where Narada, the one free from material bondage and who travels all over the universe, had met Sanaka and the other sages. He also wanted to know how a wanderer like Narada could stay in one place for seven days happily listening to the Bhagavatham. Then Sri Suta narrated how Narada had met the great sages. How Narada Met the Four Kumaras Once the four sons of Brahma went to Badari Ashram near Badarinath (north-eastern side of the Himalayas), to be in the sacred company of saintly people. It was there that they met Narada. They saw that Narada was sad and anxious and seemed to be going somewhere in a hurry. Since it was unusual of Narada, they asked him why he was distressed. Narada said that he was travelling in the Bhuloka (Earth) thinking that it was the best among all the worlds. But, very sad to say, he could not find peace or happiness any where. Every body’s mind was filled with unhappiness and...

07/04/2017. 4. The Plot Thickens : last part. There are instances after instances which point to the ideal character of not only Lord Rama but of many individuals, especially the main actors who participated in this drama. It is difficult to decide who excels whom. Even a tribal woman who wanted to entertain Rama by offering him plums, tasted each to ensure that only the sweet ones were eaten by the Lord, although it is refuted by some scholars giving a different meaning as Lord Rama is considered Maryada Purushottama. Friends, foes, brothers, devotees and others all leave an indelible impression upon the mind of the reader and tender ideal advice about one’s duty in a variety of human situations. In fact almost all conceivable situations have been covered and without being didactic, the advise dawns upon the person through a concrete example. I leave it to scholars to conduct research and find out the veracity of various incidents, persons and places. The grain is to see how...

07/04/2017. 11. Slight Not the Mother-1. Having thus summed up the manifestations of the Mother both in the domestic sphere and the sphere of Yoga and Sadhana, we have to bear in mind an important law with regard to the manifestation of the divine power of the Mother. Where Lakshmi is worshipped and propitiated, there She stays. One must be very careful and avoid all slighting of the Mother. When such manifestations of Goddess Lakshmi are present, if we do not make use of them, if we ignore them, then we slight the Goddess. Therefore, if Lakshmi is neglected and if She is slighted, prosperity and happiness, secular as well as spiritual, will depart from that person. Realising this important law, we have the belief that one should not get angry when one is sitting down to take food. One should not speak harsh words at food-time. To refuse food is a very great blunder; for it becomes a direct insult and slighting of the Goddess in Her visible form of  sustaining...

07/04/2017. I. You may ask me, “Why comes this question of self-control in the attempt of man to solve this peculiar difficulty that you are proposing before us?” Self-control is also something not easy to understand. It is not easy to understand because one cannot easily know what the self is. What do we mean by self-control? Which self are we going to control? A hundred ideas are generally poured upon a poor student by a multitude of teachers as to what self-control means because there are a hundred notions of self, and therefore, there can be a hundred methods of self-control. While all these are praiseworthy and to be certified as perhaps necessary under certain given conditions, the final stamp of its veracity and validity can be had only when the vital spring of man’s existence is touched. II. I am not here to discourse upon any philosophical theme as to the nature of the Self of man or the spiritual roots of mankind as a whole, but my intention in these few words is ...

07/04/2017. Therefore, we must teach the children not only to have right values and convictions of their own but also the heroism to live up to them. If that kind of training we can impart to them – even to one child – we have proved that today’s children are our future. We are neglecting the children unconsciously. I don’t say that Hindus or Indians are brutes, that they are deliberately destroying the children. No. But in your thoughtlessness, lack of correctly viewing things, you have become only machines to produce children. You expect the government to feed them and feel that you have nothing more to do than to bring out another child next year. Think. That is not motherhood or fatherhood. We have to take responsibility for molding and beautifying the child, prepare him to face the world of tomorrow and to lead and guide the world of the future. It is a tremendous responsibility. Once you realize the responsibility you will be handling the children more intelligently. Ev...

06/04/2017. 2. I. The home is a sacred arena for the attainment of self-conquest and self-mastery which is more thrilling than the scaling of Mount Everest. The daily life of the Grihastha and his Grihalakshmi must be the sublime process of manifesting their inner divinity and expressing it outwardly through thought, speech and action. Lead this divine life. Truth, purity and universal love and compassion constitute the basic foundation of such divine life. The essence of divine life is selflessness and Seva, devotion and daily worship, concentration and regular meditation and to discriminate between the real and the unreal, the divine and the undivine, between the spiritual and the unspiritual. II. Blessed couple! May you both lead such a divine life! Feel that your house is the abode of God. Make God the most important factor in your life. Give God the central place in your daily life. God who is the Lord of the universe is the master of your home also. Feel it a sacred ...

06/04/2017. I. The ego-sense creates the illusory “straw man” that seems real, but is actually just an artificial construct that acts as a nexus for our view of the world and our action in the world. Viewing our existence from the standpoint of the ego, we see ourselves as separately constituted beings, divided from all other beings and the world within which we live, and we strive to exist, grow, and aggrandise ourselves at the expense of other beings around us, and without concern for the environment within which we exist. This is, of course, ultimately a fictitious viewpoint, but it drives our understanding of ourselves and the world around us as long as the ego-sense is active. While rooted in the awareness of the Buddhi, the ego-sense also permeates the entire psychic Prana and the physical body, and thus infiltrates reactions even when the conscious mind has accepted the conceptual illusory nature of the separated, fragmented individual being. II. Sri Aurobindo discus...

06/04/2017. (Delivered at the Home of Truth, Los Angeles, California ) The whole universe, therefore, is a unit, from whatever standpoint you view it. Just now, to us, this universe is a unit of Prana and Âkâsha, force and matter. And mind you, like all other basic principles, this is also self-contradictory. For what is force? — that which moves matter. And what is matter? — that which is moved by force. It is a seesaw! Some of the fundamentals of our reasoning are most curious, in spite of our boast of science and knowledge. "It is a headache without a head", as the Sanskrit proverb says. This state of things has been called Maya. It has neither existence nor non-existence. You cannot call it existence, because that only exists which is beyond time and space, which is self-existence. Yet this world satisfies to a certain degree our idea of existence. Therefore it has an apparent existence. To be continued ...

06/04/2017. Of what avail is knowing things Other than the Self? And the Self being known, What other thing is there to know? That one light that shines as many selves, Seeing this Self within As Awareness’ lightning flash; The play of Grace; the ego’s death; The blossoming of bliss. To be continued ..

06/04/2017. Chapter-4. ADVICE TO HOUSEHOLDERS-27-12. 12. Krishnakishore's faith : Continued "Once Krishnakishore asked me, 'Why have you cast off the sacred thread?' In those days of God-vision I felt as if I were passing through the great storm of Aswin, and everything had blown away from me.  No trace of my old self was left.  I lost all consciousness of the world.  I could hardly keep my cloth on my body, not to speak of the sacred thread! I said to Krishnakishore, 'Ah, you will understand if you ever happen to be as intoxicated with God as I was.' "And it actually came to pass.  He too passed through a God-intoxicated state, when he would repeat only the word 'Om' and shut himself up alone in his room.  His relatives thought he was actually mad, and called in a physician.  Ram Kaviraj of Natagore came to see him.  Krishnakishore said to the physician, 'Cure me, sir, of my malady, if you please, but not of my Om.' (All laug...