Pearls of Wise

========================================================================= Saturday, January 21, 2023. 06:00.  BHAKTI-YOGA : Swami Vivekananda (New Discoveries, Vol. 3, pp. 543-54.) [A bhakti-yoga class delivered in New York, Monday morning, January 20, 1896, and recorded by Mr. Josiah J. Goodwin] ========================================================================= #National Youth Day 2023: Visakhapatnam We finished in our last [class the subject] about Pratikas. One idea more of the preparatory Bhakti, and then we will go on to the Parâ, the Supreme. This idea is what is called Nishthâ, devotion to one idea. We know that all these ideas of worship are right and all good, and we have seen that the worship of God, and God alone, is Bhakti. The worship of any other being will not be Bhakti, but God can be worshipped in various forms and through various ideas. And we have seen that all these ideas are right and good, but the difficulty is here: If we just stop with this last concl...

========================================================================= Friday, January 20, 2023. 06:00. First Foundations for the Practitioner of the Integral Yoga : Sri Aurobindo. *Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Growing Within: The Psychology of Inner Development, Chapter IV Growth of Consciousness First Steps and Foundation, pg. 62. ========================================================================= Patanjali’s Raja Yoga outlines a series of steps or stages in the development of that particular path. The first two are Yama and Niyama, which outline certain purification actions to prepare the practitioner for the later activities and experiences in the yogic practice. These two ‘limbs’, together, represent a solidifying of peace, the removal of obstacles that can disturb the mind, the emotions, the nervous sheath and the body. The result is a peaceful and harmonious energy and a solid strength to avoid being distracted or disturbed, with a calming of the basic ‘mind-stuff’ (ch...

========================================================================= Thursday, January 19, 2023. 06:00. Possess Nothing or Own up Everything  :  Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha. ========================================================================= You can grow to the position of a nishkinchana (having nothing, owning nothing) – a zero! What does it mean? "I belong to the world. I am a denizen of the earth. Nothing in this world belongs to me. On the other hand, I myself belong to the world. When I myself belong to the world, how can I say that a portion of the earth belongs to me?" How fallacious, wrong and immoral it is to say so! So, evaluate your own position, and understand your relation with the world around, and the universe as a whole. If you agree that the world or the universe belongs to God, are you also not included in the world and therefore, do you also not belong to God? You have your body and also sentience. So far as the body is concerned, certainly it belon...

========================================================================= Wednesday, January 18, 2023. 06:00. A Peaceful World : Swami Nikhilananda Saraswati =========================================================================   Is there an alternative to peace? If there is no peace in this world, is it possible to find a substitute for it? Upon reflection we realise that there are no alternatives or substitutes for peace.  Without peace there will be chaos, confusion and destruction. Peace is very important for individuals, communities as well as the world. How can we bring about peace in this world? When we observe this world what strikes us is the astounding diversity in this world.  In the good old days if one wanted to buy toothpaste then only a few varieties were available. Nowadays one is presented with an unbelievable choice. This is true of most products ranging from soaps and shampoos to cars, computers, TVs and mobiles. The variety becomes confusing. In th...

  ======================================================================== Tuesday, January 17, 2023. 06:00. Our Duties In Life :  Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan ========================================================================= Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says that man attains perfection by performing his allotted duties in a spirit of sacrifice which means without bothering about the fruit of actions, without attachment and even without the feeling that I am the doer. When you offer the fruits of your action to God, your work becomes worship. With actions performed in this manner one attains purity of mind, a prerequisite for gaining progress in the spiritual path FOUNDER : There are some duties to attain this progress. The first duty is toward ones own self. Man in not only a body but primarily an Atma or soul possessing a body. We are primarily Atma and then a body. Atma can move from one place to another without a body, but body without Atma is inert. The Atma being a fr...

  ========================================================================= Monday, January 16, 2023. 06:00. World Of Paradoxes : Swami Tejomayananda ======================================================================== SWAMI TEJOMAYANANDA writes of why happiness and peace elude us despite material prosperity and defence arsenals ========================================================================= The world is full of contradictions. We all want peace, yet most countries are conflict prone. Nations build up huge arsenals of weapons because they want to be prepared to defend themselves in case the need arises. Arms and ammunition are being produced on such a large scale that the manufacturing countries have to find buyers and so sell them to other nations. How can we find peace, when everywhere, there is an atmosphere of war? We all want prosperity, but our notions of prosperity are rather lopsided. There is undue emphasis on material goods. The standard of living is improvi...