VedantaSandesh_Mar2018 by Vedanta Mission

Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission

Year - 23

Issue 9

Ram Navami & Hanuman Jayanti Greetings

Mar 2018

Vedanta Sandesh

Cover Page

This month our cover page is dedicated to Hanumanji, one

of the greatest devotees and also embodiment of knowledge. This month we not only have his jayanti, but also of Bhagwan Sri Ram. This month is also the advent of the Hindu New Year.

Hanumanji is a very sattwic, daring, intelligent and devoted

manifestation, of Bhagwan Shankar. He is not only a great devotee, but also an Acharya of Bhakti. He has all the qualities of a Brahma Gyani. Whatever lakshanas are given in the Sthita Pragnya section of Gita - he has all of them. He has no fears because his contentment comes from his own Self.

At Vedanta Ashram we are having very elaborate discourses

on Hanuman Chalisa by Poojya Guruji, once a month. The series is already more than three years old and we have jusst reached half way. These discourses are very enlightening.

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We wish a very happy and inspiring Hanuman Jayanti to all

our readers.

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CONTENTS

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Vedanta Sandesh March 2018

Shloka 5

Message of P. Guruji

Tattva Bodha 9-13

Letter 14

Gita Reflections 15-20

We Must 21-27

Jivanmukta 28-30

Story Section 31-33

Mission / Ashram News

7-8

34-58

10.

Forthcoming Progs 59

11.

Links 60 3

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Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission Mar 2018 : Year 23 / Issue 9

Published by

International Vedanta Mission Vedanta Ashram, E/2948, Sudama Nagar, Indore-452009 (M.P.) India http://www.vmission.org.in / vmission@gmail.com

Editor:

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Swamini Samatananda Saraswati

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izdk'kksÂˇdZL; rks;L; 'kSR;eXus;ZFkks".krk A LoHkko% lfPpnkuUn fuR;fueZyrkReu%AA

Just as the basic nature of sun is light, that of water is liquidity, and that of fire is heat, so also the basic nature of Atma (our Self) is pure & untainted Sat-ChitAnanda - pure existence, consciousness and bliss. Atma Bodha - 24

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Message from Poojya Guruji

Tree of Life

One of the chapters of Mundakopanishad starts with the famous example

of a tree with two birds. One of the birds is very hungry and thus continuously gobbling up fruits, while the other one is sitting contented, peacefully looking at the other. Both are friends and are also connected in a unique bond & relationship.

This tree is the tree of the world, jagat, in which broadly speaking there are

only these two manifestations in the whole world. Taxonomists classify the living beings of the world or even the chemicals and basic elements into categories and every classification has a criteria. Here we also see a broad classification of all the living beings - a very unique taxonomical exercise, and the criteria of classification is contentment. The objective of the facilities & securities of every society and also of all the endeavors of mankind at any time & place is only to ultimately aim at this contentment. So it is indeed a very valid criteria. The Seer of this Upanishad says that while superficially there are innumerable manifestations

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in the world, but from this point of view, they are either contented or not yet contented, and obviously desperately striving and seeking this elusive contentment. Very interesting & valid classification.

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The one who seems to have all the answers for this contentment and is

thus revelling in it, is the Ishwara, and all the saints who have come to know him. While the other is the Jiva, the individual. The proof of all knowledge is not any certification of some extraneous source, but their contentment. Contentment is synonymous with fulfillment, revelling in their being. Along with contentment comes various unique qualities and philosophy of life. They can be sensitive to all, they love & serve all. They have no axe to grind, no agenda to fulfill, no goal to attain. Every moment they are fully awake to everything around. That is indeed the way to live.

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Om Tat Sat,

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TATTVA BODHA

Oneness of Jiva & Ishwara

Swamini Samatananda

Tattva Bodha

n the last session we discussed about Jiva and Ishvara.

Who is a Jiva and what do the scriptures reveal about Ishvara. The Acharya also pointed out that one should not accept the seemingly different identity between Jiva and Ishvara. If we see them as basically different then we will eternally see the Self as a limited being and be on an endless trip of seeking and samsara. Having heard this, it is extremely difficult for the student to digest that one should not accept the duality between Jiva and Ishvara. He therefore raises a question that how is the oneness between Jiva and Ishvara possible?

uuq lkgadkjL; fdafpTKL; thoL; fujgadkjL; loZKL; bZ'ojL; rÙoelhfr egkokD;kRdFkeHksncqf) L;knqHk;ks%A fo#)/kekZØkUrRokr~ bfr psr~A A doubt regarding the oneness between Jiva and Ishvara appears to be but natural. The scriptures have been revealing how the Jiva is a limited being

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and how Ishvara is limitless. Let us see how

Tattva Bodha the Jiva appears to be a small and limited being and Ishvara as the limitless one.

Jiva And Ishvara

Jiva is explained as being the Individual Conditioned

Consciousness born out of ignorance. A Jiva being born out of ignorance identifies wrongly with the body-mind complex and thus comes to see the Self as a limited being. He is therefore limited in time, space, knowledge & power and lives a life which is basically self-centric. Being limited there is a constant struggle to acquire things and experiences that can bring about fulfillment. This is further burdened with a sense of ego and doership. A Jiva constantly suffers. On the other hand Ishvara is Totality Conditioned Consciousness. Ishvara is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omni present. Ishvaraâ€™s knowledge and power are limitless. Not only are his powers and knowledge limitless but he is an embodiment of love, compassion and Selflessness. The entire creation speaks volumes about the divine nature of Ishvara. The entire cosmos is not only a picture of explicit beauty but it reveals perfection, order and harmony par excellence. As a human being we tire out in bringing about one family, one house and one business whereas Ishvara is the creator, sustainer and destroyer of the entire universe with the

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perfection of the highest order. Of all the knowledge acquired

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Tattva Bodha in one life time a Jiva comes to specialize only in one subject. Ishvara blesses every particle of the universe with existence to the management of the various fruits of actions of all beings all are done by Ishvara with effortless ease, intelligence and compassion. Another divine truth is that though Ishvara created the universe yet He is not seperate from his own creation. He pervades every particle of this entire creation just as the mud pervades the pots. He has created the creation out of His own Self. This being the divinity of Ishvara the Jiva gets humbled, seeing the existance and pottentials of God. It appears as a height of ego and impractical to even think of oneness with Ishvara.

However seeing the divinity of Ishvara it is natural to

become a devotee of God. Seeing such a divine presence and blessing of God if a person cannot bow down to Ishvara it is the height of inertness. This is the platform of devotion. This is where we humble down and become grateful. A devotee is filled with love in the heart, the eyes see him in all forms, the ears listen to his glories and the intellect is curious to acquire his knowledge. Devotion begins by seeing the glories and magnanimity of God. Such devotion reflects in the life of the devotee. There is an unseen hand guiding and protecting at all

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times, the mind is free of worries in the field of action, there is

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Tattva Bodha optimum output and inspite of various challenges in life there is joy and a sense of privelege to serve God. Ishvara becomes the role model for such devotees and the devotee too starts imbibing his qualities. Such humility and reverance being the mind set, it obviously becomes difficult for the student to digest the statement I am one with Ishvara. In fact it sounds more like having a fanciful imagination or even an ungrateful egoistic mind. The diagnosis of samsara being the sense of duality and seeking is not so clear and therefore reflects confusion. Yet the student is very humble and open to all understanding. The student does realise that so far all bondage has been due to my misapprehensions about the Jiva, Jagat and Ishvara and is therefore available to question oneâ€™s own present convictions and search for the truth as per the scriptures and Masters.

Thus this question is apt in this context and this alone

shall open the doors to analysing the facts. This question

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should be the question of all aspiring students.

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Mail from Pujya Guruji Role of Bhakti Q - I wish to study Vedanta, but like devotional practices too, like Japa & Puja. I was told that I need to leave all this to study Vedanta. Is that so?

No, there is no problem, but devotion is rather helpful to

know the truth of God & ourselves - which are not two different things. However, while you love God, you need to be aware that you do not know the truth of God fully, but are just a beneficiary of the ever-flowing benevolence of God. Not only that you do not fully know the truth of God, but please see clearly that you do not even know yourself fully. You are awed by the presence of a divine presence and wish to express your gratitude in whatever way you wish - then it is no problems. Humble awareness of ignorance is a great thing, it will help you shed all notions and causes of duality & fragmentation. Be ready to even efface your seperate identity if so required. When you negate all limitations then realize that you will become free from limitations, which is the message of Vedanta. That Thou Art.

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Love & om,

Swami Atmananda

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Gita Reflections

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bna 'kjhja dkSUrs; {ks=feR;fHk/kh;rs ,r|ks osfÙk ra izkgq% {ks=K bfr rf}n%AA (Gita 13/1) 15

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Idam Shareeram kaunteya.... (bna

â€™kjhja dkSUrs;)

Swamini Samatananda

This body is called as Kshetra, a field; and the one who knows it is called Kshetragna - the knower if field. V edanta Sandes h

Gita 13/1 16

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Gita Reflections

he thirteenth chapter is a very interesting and

important chapter which brings about the discrimination between the Seer and the Seen, the permanent and the impermanent. The chapter commences with two very interesting and unique names for the Seer and the Seen. That is the Kshetra and Kshetragya, where the Seen is the Kshetra and the Seer is the Kshetragya. Sri Krishna speaks about the great significance to bring about a discrimination between the two.

Begining the discussion with the sloka-Idam Shareeram

kaunteya- Bhagwan says there are two aspects of our personality which need to be understood. The Kshetra and Kshetragya.

Idam shareeram kaunteya kshetram iti abhidheeyate-O

Kaunteya know this body (shareeram) to be the Kshetra. The word ‘shareera’ implies that which is changeable and which will die off one day. This body indicates that which can be objectified and Seen. This body which is impermanent is called by the wise Men as Kshetra. Kshetra implies a field. A field is where one produces and reaps as he shall sow. We all have been blessed by this beautiful body of a human being. But at the same time God has also given us the freedom to use this body and bring out the fruits as per our own discretion and karmas. Just

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as a farmer has the freedom to use his field as per his discretion

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Gita Reflections so also a human being has the freedom to conduct meritorious actions or do sinful actions. One who has good knowledge and samskaars will do punya karma. In punya karma one is blessed with good atmosphere, & knowledge. Its my freedom. My purushartha. Poverty is not a curse, ignorance is. Its not that God has not blessed us. God is compassionate towards everyone. But as the word shows-Kshetra-As you sow so shall you reap.

Our body is a three piece suit featuring the gross, subtle

and causal body. Our gross body is new in every birth but the subtle body traverses from one birth to another carryng with it all our karmas and samskars. The gross body goes through various modifications. Even though the gross body is the best gift we can get yet it is not permanent and goes through various modifications. Majority of the times it is these changes in the body that go on to be instrumental in bringing about great pain and sorrow. This is where Sri krishna reveals the secret that we all must be aware of. The body goes thorough various changes, be it the gross body or the subtle body. But pain is not a natural outcome of these changes. Grief and sorrow are born out of our attachments. The body must surely be well looked after and be kept healthy and fit. But what gives us pain? Pain is brought about by-My attachment to something. When we get detached with something then it doesnâ€™t bother us. In fact

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we can manage things much better when we work with detach-

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Gita Reflections ment. In fact this is what the scriptures teach us-Live with love not attachment. This is the truth of the mind, if I detach myself from something then it does not give me joy or pain. This is a great pottential we have. So one needs to keep in mind that this body is changing and ephimeral. Having this awareness brings about a big revolution. We will live a life of righteousness. This is a fundamental transformation.

Having introduced the body as a kshetra Bhagwan aims

to reveal that this body can be objectified. That is why the word ‘Idam’-This body. Idam is that which can be objectified. The Seer of this body is different. This Seer over here is called as the Kshetragya-the knower of the ‘Kshetra’-the field. Thus reveal the Wise Men. There is something which can be seen and something which cannot be seen, The one who knows this body is the unseen and the unchanging one. The Seer is the constant factor who is seeing the body go through all changes. Bhagwan says turn your attention towards the Seer-the Kshetragya. Be conscious of this fact. The Seer is of the nature of light. That light which reveals your body and mind. I go through various changes at the level of the Gross body-birth, growth, old age, disease etc. So also it reveals the changes at the level of the Mind. Not only does this light reveal the body and the mind but it is this light which helps the body and the mind to illumine

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various other objects of the world at the level of the body, the

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Gita Reflections senses and the mind. This is revealed and that light which helps the body and mind to be conscious of the world. This constant and unchanging light. This light is never destroyed. This is the beauty of this light. It is illumining and rest all is inert because they need to be revealed. These two are of two different natures. One is inert the other is living. One is changing and dies and one is constant.

The purport of this subject is thus to turn our focus of

attention towards the Kshetragya, the knower of this body and all other objects of the world. Such is the revolutionary and significant effect of this knowledge that the discrimination between the impermanent and the permanent is a means of liberating from the ocean of seeking. This discriminative knowledge gives freedom from old age, death and disease. Old age, disease and death are the inevitable facts of life, but freedom from them is a different secret altogether. Its not that life will be devoid of any of these experiences in life yet a discrimination of the Kshetra and Kshetragya will surely liberate us from the pains and sorrow of it. Pain and sorrow are a product of attachment. Attachment and expectations borne out of attachment result in grief and pain. We need to see the inert and ephimeral nature of all that can be objectified and the blessing of that light which is constant and enlivening. This discrimination alone can redeem

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us from all worldly sorrows.

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WE MUST 22

Break your shell, open your wings and fly

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We Must Resolve to Bring out the Best in Us

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P.P. Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji 22

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We Must

tunned stands man today at his own incompe-

tency. In spite of his great and stupendous achievements in all other fields, he is not capable yet of meeting his own personal problems, both emotional and intellectual. He is overwhelmed by his own emotional imbalance. He is staggered by the complexities of his own intellectual perplexities. Generally a man feels that his subtle problems of love and hate, jealousies and greeds in short, his personal lusts and passions, flood him out of himself and his known and recognised efficiencies. He feels paralysed when his intimate personal problems storm the tiny world of his daily existence. Naturally, life becomes a burden to him. Objects of pleasure which he so laboriously acquired -and accumulated turn bitter to his taste. In all relationships he seems to experience a lingering sense of failure at every turn. His entire life thus comes to welter in a pathetic and chronic consciousness of total futility. The Rishis of yore had recognized this inescapable symptom of acute exhaustion of the individual mind. The mind is a brilliant instrument. It can soar high to the subtlest peaks of knowledge; it can rig, with its endless ingenuity, the machinery through which scientific theories can be actualised, into solid contribution to society and the people. We have witnessed this in our own times. Yet, the very laboriously V edanta Sandes h

conceived and ingeniously assembled appliances of power and

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We Must prosperity, of pleasure and happiness, of productivity and distribution now maliciously turn, as it were, upon the very scientists who have conceived them, and have multiplied problems for man to solve. Against these arrayed forces of sorrow and destruction, the very creators of the scientific era and the generation who glorify the achievements of the materialistic age have no remedy at all nor have they any known defence scheme so far! Under the pressure of the mounting pile of problems human, social, national and international a groaning society is listlessly rolling in voiceless agony, sobbing in tearless pains, tearing themselves in disgust with their naked hands. Is this progress? Indeed, the individual mind at moments of alert quietude and grand poise can receive intimations from higher knowledge, and in such awful moments of electrified attention, the human mind can gain some glimpses of the laws of nature in the orderly universe around it. But the truth still remains that the individual mind is limited. Where this fact is not recognised either due to man’s vanity or due to his negligent enquiry into the range-of-use of ‘mind’, his tool of investigation there we have a very miserable exhibition of folly, sorrow and suffering from otherwise easily avoided pain. When we accept that an automobile, which can luxuriously run over highways and superways, cannot run over water and cross a river, we

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are not insulting that vehicle, but are only intelligently recog-

We Must nising its limitations. The human mind has miraculous powers to contact, estimate, recognise and reorganise the objects outside itself. But the very same mind, in itself, has its own imperfections and incapacities. Perplexities scatter our mind when it is used for solving our personal problems that threaten the subjective life of the individual in us. When problems regarding our rights and duties arise, challenging our security and comfort; when problems of our emotions threateningly spring up; when questions of our right relationship with the world of things and beings burst forth in tidal dimensions; when we face our self-ruinous habits, world-destroying ambitions, disturbing lusts, shattering selfishness, or benumbing sorrows, suddenly we realise that we are torn apart within, and we have no answer to these inner problems. Much less we cannot defend our selves against them, with all the artillery we have created, the machinery we have rigged, the scientific knowledge we have mounted, or the incomparable era of prosperity and pleasure we have inaugurated. Still, it is a fact that we have no other choice than to live here and we have to win the purpose of our life in spite of all these odds that stand against us. The only instrument of defence is but our apparently powerful but in actual fact -- very frail mind. How are we to strengthen our fortress against the incessant onslaught of the world of challenges around us? In

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case man is not capable of meeting these problems, he, being

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We Must the very creator of it all, will be ‘hounded down’; by the very ‘frankenstein’; that he has conceived and created, and has successfully let loose upon himself and his community of fellowmen. The Satan embattling with God for supremacy and power! Today the world has no remedy for this excruciating malady of the age. Each problem is diligently met by the modern intellect with yet another and more powerful solution and each solution, instead of confronting the problem and crushing it for us, has been so far joining the array of our enemies and threatening us in added strength, with firmer determination to destroy us, the very creators of them all!

We must, therefore, seek for strength within to marshal

our abilities against our self-created enemies who surround us on our every side. This is done by tuning our limited conditioned mind to the Total-Mind, the Universal Creative Energy, the God. This Higher-Mind is ever present, every where, for all to partake of Its Infinite strength and endless solace. This Divine-Mind is ever ready to cooperate. Water in a clean lake is ever there for any thirsty pilgrim to partake of its cool comfort. Let us seek and reach this Divine-Mind, Let us approach It through Love. Let us seek It with Love. Let us surrender unto It in Love. Let us We Must. When our mind, thus, hi love, gets

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tuned up to this Divine voltage, we shall get recharged, and

We Must a mind so replenished from Its inexhaustible splendour shall feel rejuvenated, revived, refilled. Once this alliance, sacred and divine, is made, we shall find how all our actions gain a new lustre, a greater fullness, an added momentum. To live in such a vital and dynamic atmosphere of sincere atunement, in a sense of at-one-ment with the Lord, is the secret of gaining a full-effectiveness in actions and feeling a greater sense of fulfilment in our life. This is true ‘prayer’;. Pray, we must. But let it be revitalizing prayer not a clamour for gaining anything from Him. Let us discover a pure love flooding our bosom and lifting us upon its soaring billows into fresh horizons of the mighty Total-Mind. . . . We Must.

Let us reach and claim in love Its Omnipotent Power.

Will and Knowledge as our own. . . . We Must.

Let us in prayerful meditation realise what our real na-

ture is, through the grace and strength supplied by the Total-

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Mind, the God, the Lord of our Heart. . . . We Must.

Jivanmukta Wandering In Himalayas

66 Yoga Excerpts from the Travel Memoirs of Param Poojya Swami Tapovanji Maharaj

Jivanmukta P

ranayama should be practised slowly and with

great care. Prana is like a Lion: to tame him into a cat is a difficult task. If one succeds in doing so, he of course reaps great benefits; if he fails, he may have to face dangerous consequences. The man who conquers the individual prana by regular and patient practise simultaneously conquers the collective prana. All oneâ€™s physical and mental powers proceed from oneâ€™s individual prana; similarly all the acts of the Universe originate with the collective prana. Thus, by conquering the individual prana, the yogis, conquer the collective as well. In fact, collective prana and the individual prana are not two different entities but one and the same. So the devotees of the yoga philosophy claim enthusiastically that a yogi who has effected the complete conquest of the individual prana will have the sun and the moon at his beck and call, because he has obtained control over the collective prana. However, we need not examine the vaildity of these claims here as they relate simply to the realm of possibilities.

After the conquest of Prana one should practise pratya-

hara. Pratyahara is the technical term for withdrawing the mind from the persuit of the senses. Ordinarily, the mind is flowing out like water through the clefts in the sorrounding rocks. A sound is produced somewhere near us, we hear it. whether we like it or V edanta Sandes h

not. Somebody comes; we notice the arrival, whether we like to

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Jivanmukta do so or not. Thus, irrespective of our likes and dislikes, we are being continually attracted by sights and sounds. And our mind, enslaved by the senses, is engaged in a relentless persuit of them. If we do not check this lamentable vagrant tendency, our mind cannot turn inward and fix itself upon anything. It is a well-known fact that we become aware of external things only when the sense organs, the senses, and the mind come into contact with them. If one’s mind and one’s senses do not come into touch with each other, no knowledge results. Until we are able to control the sense organs , the senses and the mind -which are all seperate but which become one empirically- and keep them in their proper places, we shall have to remain slaves to our senses and it will be impossible for us to concentrate our mind upon any one object. And thus it is plain that one cannot become a Yogi until one is able to regulate the connection and the disconnection of the mind and the senses. As it is the prana that carries on the processes of connection and disconnection irrespective of one’s will, one becomes capable of withdrawing the mind from the senses when one develops the control of

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prana by the practise of pranayama.

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STORY Section 31

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Tripurantaka

hiva as Tripurantaka is accredited with de-

stroying three mythical cities of the asuras. Out of eight legends narrating Shivaâ€™s role as the destroyer of evil, the Tripura-samhara (Destruction of the three citadels) legend relates to the destruction of the three evil cities Tripura by Shiva.

The demon Taraka had three off-springs named Taara-

kaaksha, Kamalaaksha and Vidyunmaali. These demon princes performed severe penance towards the creator-god Brahma and obtained the boon of immense power. Brahma, on being pleased with them, presented each of them with an aerial city revolving in the sky. The legend further states that these three cities or forts (Tripura) continued to revolve in the sky for hundreds of years. In the course of revolving, the three would converge very rarely. The boon granted them that they would live for a thousand years in the three invincible, moving cities and that they would be destroyed only by an arrow that could merge the three forts into one, and set them to fire. The demons, armed with this boon, wreaked havoc on the universe. The asuras well-entrenched in their aerial cities would mount attacks on the devas (gods) and the rishis (sages), and harass them. Ultimately, the gods and V edanta Sandes h

the sages approached Shiva and pleaded for his assistance in removing this menace. Lord Shiva agreed to help them and

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Tripurantaka waited for an opportune moment.

At the end of the stipulated time period, Shiva created

a bow and an arrow and a chariot with the various gods and goddesses and components of the universe. The moment the three aerial cities converged, Shiva mounted on his chariot and moved upwards. He took out his bow and arrow, and hit the converged cities with a single arrow. With Brahma as the charioteer, he sped across, and shot a single arrow of fire, which was created of none other than Vishnu. The cosmic arrow destroyed the three cities.

Here, the five headed Tripurantaka is seen pointing an

arrow towards the Tripura (rightmost top corner) with the bow made of mount Meru, the serpent Vasuki is seen as its string. The four headed god Brahma is seen as the charioteer. The moon and the Sun are depicted as the wheels of the chariot. The components of the Tripurantaka charge are as follow: Chariot: Pritvi (The Earth) Charioteer: Brahma Chariot Wheels: Sun and Moon Bow: Mount Meru Bow String: Serpent Vasuki

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Arrow: Vishnu

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Mission & Ashram News

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Bringing Love & Light in the lives of all with the Knowledge of Self

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