Pearls of Wise

Narayanashrama Tapovanam 24/10/2018 While to some extent desire and consequent burdens are quite usual with household life, the fact remains that this plight robs away the very purpose and fruition of the householder. The question is: Do you like such a plight? If you do not, the straight answer will be: be free of undue desire and the burden it fetches. Learn to live in peaceful harmony and welfare. Desire of any nature always constricts the mind. Such constriction disables the mind to express itself fully, healthily, and harmoniously.Understand this mental truth and always think of avoiding desires and the consequent torments. In reality, it is not desire but something else far higher that should verily work in the human. The truth about it will be known only through right exposure and enlightenment. To have a child is to be happier. With the child and the consequent involvement, if the very objective of happiness is adversely affected, is there not something wrong in ou...

Chinmaya Mission Tri State -Cranberry 24/10/2018 The first step to preparing the mind, the first step on the path of spirituality is karma yoga. The beauty in is that even if one does not reach the ultimate goal, walking on the path itself will give great joy and great peace. What is karma yoga? As a human being, we have obligations towards ourselves, the family, society, nature, ancestors, the environment, and, of course, God. We have responsibilities towards all of these and fulfilling them is very important. Another vital aspect about karma yoga is that one should discharge these responsibilities as worship of Ishvara. When I start doing my duties for the Lord, I start enjoying them. No doubt, the subsequent result will come, but Sri Krishna tells us to try and relish the work itself. The result, when it comes, should be accepted gracefully. When the attitude - the principal factor is of worship, working itself will give immense happiness and contentment. The Bhagavad-g...

Chinmaya Mission Atlanta 24/10/2018 Sri Rama was the maryadapurushottama, the ideal man. The purpose of his avatara was to teach us how to live. On the same day, three other mahapurushas, his brothers, were born. Their goal was different. They taught us how to love and their importance should not be underestimated. We must remember to pray to these great devotees, because the path to discover bhakti in our hearts, is only through the grace of the bhakta. The relationship of each of the brothers with Rama was different. In the Bala Kanda portion of Sri Ramcharitmanas, Tulsidas uses simple analogies to describe the bond they individually shared with Rama. Bharata’s relationship with Rama is described as the love of a bee for a flower. The bee and the flower, by virtue of their very being, are not always in physical proximity. However, whether they are together or not, the bee enjoys the nectar, the very essence of the flower. In the same way, even though he was not always wi...

23/10/2018 Navaratri is a festival full of lights, colour, Joy and festivity. Everywhere there is a mood of devotion and enthusiasm .This festival is spread over nine nights and ten days during which time communities and families get together. During this festival people invoke the blessings of the three Goddesses, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Durga represents the quality of strength, Lakshmi represents prosperity and Saraswati represents knowledge. Goddess Durga or Shakti, symbolises the energy of the Universe in her 9 beautiful forms. Durga is not a “female God” but the embodiment of enthusiasm, motivation and inspiration in us. We all want to achieve wealth in our life. What is the highest wealth or prosperity one could possibly achieve? To do that we need to overcome the Demon of inertia or laziness in us called “Mahishasura”. To kill him, we need to invoke the Durga or Kriya sakthi in us. Only if the Mahishasura of inertia is killed by the Durga of motivation and enthus...

23/10/2018 6.The Bhagavata Puranam The Puranas hold a unique place in the history of religious literature of the Hindus. They contain mine of knowledge and information on all philosophical and religious topics. Srutis or Vedas cannot be easily understood by the common people. So the all-merciful Vedavyasa composed the eighteen Puranas for the benefit of mankind and explained in an easy way the subtle truth and the deep problems of the Srutis. They are indeed an encyclopaedia of Hindu religion and ethics. The Puranas contain fables, fairy-tales, philosophy, religion, myth and legend. A Western reader can hardly appreciate the teaching and value of our Puranas unless he is conversant with the methods employed by the Indian Rishis in inculcating the truths of philosophy and religion. The task of the Puranas is to popularise the Vedic truths by means of narratives, stories and anecdotes. Bhagavatam is a practical guide for all. It teaches that God-realisation alone can give s...

23/10/2018 If I get a million dollar in the bank then I retire and I enjoy my cigar. When you get one *million then you find, one million. What is there, it is no good . It is very little. Two million, two million, three million, three million five million.Ten million.. and there afterwards you are afraid of the whole world. The taxman also is taking away, the government is taking away, my neighbours are taking away .Everybody will take. Day and night you have no sleep. You call the doctor and the doctor gives you few medicines. Within few days you die.Why did you die? Because of the tension. Tension of what? The ten million that I got. Where did you get it? By struggling hard. My effort.By my *effort I got the *money and the money killed me. Here you are. Everyone. It is not now, your great grandfather also did the same thing. Grand father...This is the *nature of the *world. The intelligent man stands apart and watches what is this gain, it is not worth the candle. Search...

22/10/2018 (Spoken on May 1, 1983) Yatra yogesvarah krishno yatra partho dhanurdharah, tatra srir vijayo bhutir dhruva nitir matir mama (Gita 18.78) : - “Where there is Krishna, the Lord of Yogam, and where there is Arjuna, the wielder of the bow, there is prosperity, victory, happiness and firm quality. This is my conviction,” said Sanjay. Thus concludes the Bhagavadgita. Often teachers as well as students of the Bhagavadgita consider the last verse of this gospel as representing in a way the quintessential import of the whole teaching. This statement would mean that a kind of perfection in life can be expected where this blend between Krishna and Arjuna is made practicable. We know very well that Krishna and Arjuna, two geniuses in their own way, were seated in a single chariot, and the vehicle was driven through the battlefield of the Mahabharatam. The point in this slokam seems to be that we can hope for success where Krishna and Arjuna are in a state of unison, ...

22/10/2018 Secondly, a state of contentment is to be created in your mind. Rejoice in whatever God has given you. Be happy and be contented, and in that state of contentment, mind can become liberated to rise higher towards God. Where there is discontentment, dissatisfaction, mind is always grumbling, murmuring, and finding fault. It is in a negative state. It cannot be uplifted or made to move higher towards a higher reality, higher ideas of life. Some people say contentment will stop all progress. It is not like that. You are always at liberty to strive for improving your condition, bettering your state, but with contentment; not with discontentment in your present position, not with dissatisfaction, not in a negative state of grumbling, murmuring and complaining. No. Be contented, be happy with what you have. By all means strive to improve yourself. Thirdly, you have to create a certain purifying fire inside by not allowing desires to dominate you, not allowing the sense a...

22/10/2018 The mental activity of man is generally identified with the action of thought and the realms of logic, science, philosophy, ethics and art. This view, however, unduly restricts our understanding of the range and nature of the mental action, which develops from the first stirrings of mind as it emerges from the purely vital reactions of the life-force, and which then moves into a space of analysis, insight and planned action upon the material life we lead, and eventually can inhabit a stratosphere where the mind is grappling with purely conceptual notions. Even here, we can see that there are realms beyond those of mental conceptualisation where the mind can taken on the powers of an intelligent will, and beyond that, there is the higher range of conscious existence, or as Sri Aurobindo terms it, consciousness-will, chit-shakti. Sri Aurobindo notes : - "our mental existence is a very complex matter and is made up of many elements.  First, we have its lower ...

Chinmaya Mission Tri State Center, Cranbury, NJ. 05/10/2018 Swami Tapovan Maharaj : Swami Tapovanam was a consummate Vedantin, a strict teacher, poet and a sage of great wisdom and tranquility. He was a pristine glacier of Self-knowledge, a saint of the highest order. That Truth, which Swami Tapovanam realised and indicated in all his teachings is beyond words, as much as he himself was. Swami Chinmayananda said of his Guru, “He was a God without temple, a Veda without language”. Childhood And Youth : Born in 1889 in Kerala, India, Chippu Kutty, as Swami Tapovanam was known, exhibited a marked partiality for spiritual life. As a child, he was fascinated and delighted by Pauranik stories manifesting the glories of God and the worship of idols fashioned by his own hands. Too intelligent to be trained within the formal learning systems of his time, he sought a less materialistic and more of spiritual education. Home-schooled until the age of 17, he proved himself to be a devo...

Chinmaya Mission Atlanta, USA 05/10/2018 Swami Chinmayananda : The life of Swami Chinmayananda was one of extraordinary spiritual strength, immeasurable love and tireless service. In less than half a century, he has left behind a worldwide organisation, hundreds of institutions, and millions of devotees. This was all aimed at a single theme, discovering the Eternal within. Early Life : Swami Chinmayananda was born on May 8th, 1916 as Balakrishna Menon (Balan) in Ernakulam, Kerala. His family was very devout in their religious life and had regular contact with holy men. This influence moulded Balan's mental and moral make-up preparing him for the mission of his life ahead. Balan excelled with his education graduating in Science, Political Science, Law and English Literature at Lucknow University. A man of strong ideas and idealism he entered the field of journalism where he felt he could influence political, economic and social reform in India. At this time he met Swam...

05/10/2018 Sri Ramakrishna had a unique way of imparting spiritual instructions.   The following story told by him shows a very practical approach to religion. In a forest there lived a holy man who had many disciples.  One day he taught them to see Narayana (God) in all beings and hence have a reverential attitude towards everyone.  The disciples once went inside a forest to gather wood for sacrificial fire.  Suddenly, they heard a warning “get out of the way, a mad elephant is coming”. All the disciples except one ran away and took shelter in a safe place.  But, one disciple reasoned that since the Guru had taught them to see Narayana i.e. God, in every being, the elephant is also God in another form and if so why should he run away from it.  He stood still, bowed before the elephant and started chanting some stotras. The Mahout of the elephant shouted, “Run Away !, Run Away!”, but the disciple didn’t move.  The animal lifted him up ...

05/10/2018 Srimad Bhagavad Gita : Chapter -1 The Gita begins with a chapter on the Yoga of Arjuna’s despondency or Vishaad Yoga. Its backdrop is the Mahabharata war with both armies facing each other. Arjuna wants to survey the scene of war. He requests the Lord to position his chariot in the middle of the battlefield. Faced with his family on both sides, his dilemma begins. His emotions get the better of him and he is confused about his duties. This is our problem… the problem of all humanity and Arjuna is our representative. Literally the title of the chapter - Vishaad Yoga means the Yoga of sorrow. All sorrow would not qualify for this title, because per se, sorrow is not yoga. Only that sorrow which, yokes us to or propels us towards Bhagwan, our goal, is yoga. It is that grief which ignites in us a thirst or jignasa for the Lord, simultaneously removing our mind from things of the world! It is the kind of grief that had also engulfed Lord Buddha. It is the sorrow that ove...

04/10/2018 BIOGRAPHY Swami Tejomayananda is a living portrait of simplicity with depth, humility with courage, and wisdom with devotion. Always jovial, smiling, and welcoming, he is readily accessible and approachable to all who seek the knowledge of Vedanta from him. Born into a Maharashtrian family on June 30, 1950, in Madhya Pradesh, India, Sudhakar Kaitwade was not spiritually inclined as such. At the age of 20, a year away from getting his Master's degree in Physics, Sudhakar intended to pursue a teaching career. Sudhakar's revolutionary change came about the day he was attracted to a large banner announcing Swami Chinmayananda's talks on the 3rd Chapter of Bhagavad Gita. A couple of talks later, he was so thoroughly inspired that he sought the permission of his mother to join Chinmaya Mission's residential Vedanta course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in Mumbai. Upon completion of the Vedanta course in 1975, Sudhakar was initiated into Chinmaya Mission...

04/10/2018 Play Of Opposites :- We normally work according to two forces — preference and prejudice, attraction and repulsion; love and hate, acceptance and rejection — and these are called dwandwas or play of opposites. The world is a collection of opposites; this includes physical things and mental ideas and concepts, intellectual assessments, man and woman, day and night, sin and virtue, today and tomorrow — all these are dwandwas. Krishna says the entire world being dwandwa-ridden, one should avoid the path of dwandwa and follow nirdwandwa, or transcend both good and bad, virtue and vice. According to the Bhagavad Gita (2:56), a man who is able to lead his intelligence on the lines of nirdwandwata, and transcend duality, will find virtue to be redundant and vices to be irrelevant. He will be able to neutralise, harmonise and oppose the effects of all karma. He will do so just as we learn swimming. You can learn to swim in deep waters only. The drowning power of water...

04/10/2018 1. The vision of Sages and Saints who thought of protecting the values enshrined in our Indian culture, has given a great gift of Ramayana to the people of the world . This month of Ramayana is called Karkada Masam in Kerala. Though many of us may be familiar with the story of Ramayana, we may not be aware of its significance in our daily Life. Once we understand the psychological and spiritual meaning of Ramayana, we would be able to transform our Life into a very productive, creative and balanced one. There is a constant need and importance of human values in this text. Ramayan was written by Valmiki who was initially a thief transformed into a great Sage cum poet. Valmiki used to steal, to meet the needs of his family. Once when robbing from a group of sages he was asked by a Saptrishi to find out from his family if they would share in the responsibility for his wrong deeds. To his surprise none of them agreed, instead said that he will have to pay the price f...

04/10/2018 16. The Chairman referred to desire being the main cause of human misery and suffering. Too much desire leads to uncontrolled indulgences and brings about disease. Too much desire brings about restlessness. Too much desire creates envy and jealousy, conflict and clash. Yoga tells us that desire is the enemy of peace. One who manages to see this truth, and therefore says, "No longer shall I be fooled by desire. It is not my friend. It is my enemy. I give up my desire" instantaneously he enters into a state of peace. Where desire ceases, there comes about peace, happiness and joy. Therefore, Yoga became the systematised method of living your life in such a wise and spiritual way, that its basis became self-control and self-management. Its foundation becomes self-management by becoming firmly rooted and grounded in these five virtues: giving up greed, simplifying our life, adhering to truthfulness, never hurting anyone (because the same reaction will come to ...

03/10/2018. 1. Political Science and Administration, classified  into the systems of monarchy, aristocracy, plutocracy, democracy and tyranny, which he stated in a descending order of importance.Ancient Rishi-s held the opinion that only philosophers can be kings and kings should be philosophers. The danger of investing all power in a single individual is so obvious that this fear can be mellowed down, if not obliterated sometimes, by requiring the ruling head to be educated in the philosophy of life. It is only the philosopher that can have real consideration for the welfare of others, because he alone can have the Vision of the Good as operating in all things. The king is a repository of power, and knowing that 'power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely', the institution of monarchy, which was the earliest conception in human history of the highest ruling power, was simultaneously and cautiously blended with the highest form of education in the art of li...

5 - Origin of Bhagavata : 1 Sri Vyasa was meditating on the sacred banks of the Sarasvati. His heart was in a disturbed condition. He had no satisfaction and peace. He reflected within himself, “I have observed strict Brahmacharya. I have paid due regard to the study of the Vedas, to the worship of preceptors and sacred fires. I have obeyed the commands of my preceptors. I have explained the meaning of the Vedas in the form of the Mahabharata wherein Dharmas and other things can be clearly understood by women, Sudras and others. Still I think my work is not fully done.” At this juncture Narada appeared before Sri Vyasa. Narada said, “You have fully known all that is knowable. You have written the excellent Bharatam which contains everything. How is it you feel uneasy and dissatisfied?” Sri Vyasa said, “I quite agree with what you say. Still I have no satisfaction. I want to know the cause of it from you. You are born of Brahma and you possess infinite knowledge.” Narada sai...

03/10/2018 A devotee was new to Chinmaya Mission, but devotion to Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda came on like a flood, and the desire to serve him was intense. With this objective in mind, she entered the kitchen at Sidhbari and looked around to see how she could best serve him. As though it was an answer to her prayers, a lady who was preparing lunch for Gurudev came to her hurriedly with a pomegranate, which she asked her to peel for him. She was thrilled at this opportunity and promptly went to work at it, all the while praying that Gurudev should accept her service. Like a child wanting to be noticed and appreciated by the parent, she wanted to serve the fruit to him herself and watch him fondly as he ate the fruit in which she had poured her love filled heart. The lady soon appeared and hastily took away the bowl of fruit from her and placed it before Gurudev, who was having lunch, swaying to the bhajans [devotional songs] being sung by devotees in the room. T...

03/10/2018 Sri Aurobindo distinguishes between the executive function, with the ruler or executive charged with upholding the law or dharma of the society, while the function of developing a formal body of law and ordering of the life and economic activity of the society is to be left to a legislative function for which the executive is not ideally suited.  He clarifies:  “But legislation, social development, culture, religion, even the determination of the economic life of the people are outside his proper sphere; they constitute the expression of the life, the thought, the soul of the society which, if he is a strong personality in touch with the spirit of the age, he may help to influence but which he cannot determine.  They constitute the national dharma…” Sri Aurobindo introduces the concept of Dharma in terms of the development of a body of law in the organisation of society.  He clarifies that there is no easy term that translates Dharma into English....