Pearls of Wise

22/03/2019 Whenever a physical action is undertaken, it is very clear and implied that there is an objective before it. In fact what is an action? An action is a process during which, you begin from a point and reach the end point called the outcome or objective. It is like a line which necessarily connects two given points. So an action is itself designed with a view to produce an outcome. If the action is pursued to completion, the outcome will necessarily follow. Sometimes there can be factors that intercept the process of action. Then you may think about those factors, which are likely to intercept and try to safeguard against them. That is part of the action. To that extent everything is okay. Now, what is this further expectation? While doing an action, do you have to keep on saying, "By this action, I expect such and such outcome; by this action, I expect that outcome" like a mantra? Suppose I keep on the fire a pot with five litres of water. If the flame is ke

22/03/2019 There are numerous understandings and misunderstandings about the Chaturvarna. Some people are hyper or super-hyper; others become silent or even aggressive when this burning and emotional topic comes up. Chaturvarnam :- The Chaturvarna or the four-fold system of Varna is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita. Sri Krishna states: caturvarnyam maya srshtaṃ gunakarmavibhagasah tasya- kartaram api maṃ viddhy akartaram avyayam. Gita - Ch-4. Slo-13. Here, Bhagavan points out that He, Himself, created the four kinds of Varnas - Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.  Just as the moon, sun, stars and beings are created by God, Chaturvarna has been always there and human beings are born with it. Birth and Varnam :- In actual fact, these four varnas are the four types of human beings - Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vashya and Shudra. Based on our karmas and samskaras, we get a particular type of body. This is prarabhdha which causes us to be born in a certain type of environment

21/03/2019. SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA A PRACTICAL GUIDE : SWAMI TEJOMAYANANDA Practical application of the values explained in the Bhagwad Gita in our daily lives can be very rewarding.  When knowledge sinks in and is really absorbed, then it automatically comes into play in our life. There is no gap between knowledge and its practical application. When knowledge is comprehended intellectually, but not assimilated or internalised,  then this contradiction becomes evident — I know something,  but do not know how to apply it to my life.  The Bhagwad Gitateaches us how to live with things, beings and experiences that we come across in our daily life. If we really understand what is taught,  we will be able to use it. Knowledge is meant for practical use.  If it is not used, then such knowledge is useless for us.  It is said in the Gita: Jnatva sastravidhanoktam karma kartumiharhasi— ‘Having understood what is stated in the scriptures,  act accordingly. ’ The sentence appears simple

21/03/2019 The next verse describes the tremendous sound of the conch shells of the Pandava army pierced the heart of the Dhritarashtra clan.  When a devotee overcomes his sensual desires or wrong mental attitudes, it causes a discomfort in himself. We will see an example. Suppose you have a wrong habit that you have entertained for years. Your inner Divinity always warns you that you are doing a wrong thing. But you continue to do it, because you cannot overcome the sensual and mental pleasure you derive from it. However, at some point in life, if you gain enough wisdom to break free from the bondage of that bad behavior you will start feeling very uneasy. Today’s lesson : -  A lot of people continue their undisciplined mental tendencies or addictions because they cannot gain enough power in themselves to say NO to their bad habits. Moreover they find justifications to cover up their weaknesses. The justification helps to support their ego and they hold on to it to convi

20/03/2019 1. Purity is achieved by freedom from desire, and desire should be distinguished from necessity. When one is hungry, one should eat, when one is thirsty one should drink, when one is fatigued, one should sleep. These absolute necessities cannot be called desires because without these necessities one cannot even survive. Desire is a destructive form of longing which innervates the whole system, longing for things which are not necessary for the maintenance of the body. Every kind of luxury should be considered as desire. One has to judge for oneself whether this particular thing is absolutely necessary, or one can be comfortable even without that. Each one is one’s own judge. If one can comfortably live happily without certain things, asking for those things once again is called desire. It will disturb the mind. There are levels of desire, of a lower category and a higher category, etc. You may feel like having a cup of tea, it is a minor desire, have it. You may

20/03/2019 1. The seed of the perpetration of evil is sown by the lack of ability to apprehend the nature of wisdom, truth and justice. It is not the human aspiration but the subhuman propensity that ravages the very values of life through contempt for alien temperaments and hatred towards other inhabitants of the earth. It is a great mistake that the boys and the girls of today are spending their career in "education for job, bread and comfort", neglecting the central realities of true civilisation and culture. It is imperative that all schools and colleges should, if they intend to work for the happiness and freedom of mankind, include, as the most important item in the curriculum, the art of perfect living, an appreciation of the essential values of life--virtue, love, truth, purity, universality, wisdom and justice,--which constitute the very heart of religion--religion which soars high up to the possibility of cosmic salvation. There is no life in the educati

19/03/2019 An incident from Smt Leela Nambiar Amma, a pillar of the Mission, and a #founder Trustee of Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, who passed away peacefully earlier this week. This story and excerpt from a #letter written to her by Gurudev is presented as a tribute to her undying #devotion to Lord Shri Krishna and Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda. This is how Gurudev explained #Krsna to her in a letter: “Blue is the color of the #Infinite, and whatever is immeasurable can appear to the mortal eye only as blue; thus, a cloudless summer #sky is blue to us because the endless distances of space is interpreted by the physical eye as blue in color. The yellow represents the #earth. Anything that is buried in the earth gathers a yellowish hue, and in #fire, earth (mud, silica) grows yellowish. Thus, Sri Narayana represents the infinite, immeasurable, all-pervading Reality (blue color) clothed in earth — earthy matter (yellow color), meaning Sri Narayana is the Infinite

19/03/2018 Spirituality, not religion, can provide direction and answers for human evolution and the increasing perfection of society.  Religion tends almost invariably to focus on a particular creed, cult, ritual, or way of life, and tends to create opposition to other forms of understanding or worship than the specific mode followed by that religion.  This narrowness implies that religion is not able to create the true harmony and oneness that must be the basis of social relationships for all of humanity.  Spirituality, on the other hand, in its truest sense, is an opening to the Divine in life, and is free of the limitations of a particular way of relationship; rather, it accepts all paths and all ways as means of advance and encourages people to follow whichever practices are best suited to the individual nature and the times within which those individuals live and grow. Sri Aurobindo observes:  “In spirituality then would lie our ultimate, our only hope for the perfection