On Perfectionists

Make Peace with imperfections

Dr. Richard Carlson's advice to the 'Perfectionists':

"Perfectionists do not have lives filled with inner peace.
The need for perfection and the desire for inner tranquility conflict with each other.
Whenever we are attached to having something a certain way, better than it already is,
we are engaged in a losing battle. Rather than being content and grateful for what we have,
we are focused on what's wrong with something and our need to fix it. When we are zeroed in
on what's wrong, it implies that we are dissatisfied, discontented.

Whether it's related to ourselves – a disorganized closet, a scratch on the car, an imperfect
accomplishment, a few pounds we would like to lose – or some one else's 'imperfections'
– the way someone looks, behaves, or lives his/her life – the very act of focusing on imperfection
pulls us away from our goal of being kind and gentle. This strategy has nothing to do with ceasing
to do your very best but with being overly attached and focused on what's wrong with your life.
It's about revealing that while there's always a better way to do something, this doesn't mean that
you can't enjoy and appreciate the way things already are.

The solution here is to catch yourself when you fall into your habit of insisting that things should be
other than they are. Gently remind yourself that life is okay the way it is, right now. In the absence
of your judgment, everything would be fine. As you begin to eliminate your need for perfection
in all areas of your life, you'll begin to discover the perfection in life itself."

Dr. Carlson's reference to 'perfectionists' reminds one of the story of Procrusteus in Greek mythology,
who seized weary travelers, tied them to a bedstead, and either stretched them or cut off parts of their
body to make them fit in his bed! He had this rigid rule:

If you do not fit right in my bed, you shall be sized to fit!
Substitute 'mind' for 'bed' and you get the perfectionist

The dictionary-meaning for the word "Procrustean" is:

'acting to secure conformity at any cost; drastic or ruthless."

Many perfectionists, lacking in sensitivity, act in the Procrustean mode and corrupt a relationship
through a judgmental attitude about the other person in the relationship. Most are not even aware
that they are guilty of this act and will not accept that they are the cause for the resulting pain.

Many marriages fail due to "incompatibility" - one partner insisting on a "perfect" behavour
by the other. In this context, it is well to remember Khalil Gibran's advice:

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but each one of you be alone --

     Even as the strings of a lute are alone
     though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart:
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

The right attitude towards work and its result

Life is a series of transactions each of which commences with certain motivations,
that change during different stages of our lives.
Adi Sankara has referred to this aspect of our life in Bhaja Govindam, sloka-7:,

baalastaavat kriidaasaktaH taruNastaavat taruNii saktaH
vruddhastaavat chintaasaktaH parame bramhaNi ko.pi na saktaH

बालस्तावत्क्रीडासक्तः तरुणस्तावत् तरुणी सक्तः
वृद्धस्तावत् चिन्ता सक्तः परमे ब्रम्हणि कोऽपि न सक्तः

In boyhood one is obsessed with play;
in youth one is obsessed with young women and
in old age one is immersed in worries;
yet no one is ever devoted to the supreme Lord.

It is normal human behaviour to want to succeed in all transactions
and be saddened, disappointed by failures.
The worries due to failures accumulate to form a great burden in old age;
People die disappointed with their lives.

Our lives need not necessarily be like this,
if we remember Purandara Dasar's advise
about the source of such sadness, namely - expectation.
In one of his kritis, he states:
aasaigal eshto / niraasaigal inneshto
The more your expectation, much more will be your disappointments!
Work without expectations and receive the results as His prasadam.

Ramana Maharishi too advises us similarly
to change our attitude towards work and its results.
"Let us work sincerely and efficiently, not merely for our sake
but for the sake of others too with this mental attitude:

i) Ishvararpitam na icchayaa krutam citta shodhakam mukti daayakam
ii) jagataIshadhI yukta sevanam"

His prescription for perennial happiness is simple:
Consider all work as ordained by Him, not by your desires.
Let the end-result be for the benefit of all, not just for yourself.
If you undertake any task with this attitude
and work efficiently with devotion to the Master,
where then is cause for dissatisfaction?

sarvam sri krishnarpanamastu.

Prayer and Desire

In times of distress, we pray to God for relief. We seek His blessings for success in our ventures or removal of obstacles. Many feel that prayer should be a natural outpouring for our love and devotion to the Lord, without any seeking for such worldly benefits for ourselves. The doubt has been clarified in Bhagavad-Gita and also in the Puranic accounts of devotees like Gajendra and Draupadi calling for His help when in dire distress. Lord Krishna has said - (sloka:VII-16):

चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जनाः सुकृतिनो.अर्जुन
आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ

chaturvidhaa bhajante maam janaah sukrutinorshabha
aarto jignyaasurarthaarthii gnyaanii cha bharatarshabha (Gita: 7-16)

People who are pious in actions, who have meritorious Karmas to their credit and who resort to me and worship me, belong to four groups:

(i) The 'distressed' - those who have lost their health, position in life and their wealth, and are otherwise in difficulties; for example, Gajendra, Draupadi.
(ii) Seeker of wealth - who crave for money, wife, children, position, name and fame. for instance,Sugriva, Vibhishana
(iii) Seeker of knowledge' -who wish to acuire knowledge to realise the real nature of the self (in its pure state) as an entity different from the Prakrti.
(iv) And the Gnyanis, the wise, who have realised that it is the essential nature of the self to find happiness only as the Sesha (subsidiary or liege) of the Lord and wish to surrender to the Lord.

Let us lead our lives with constant devotion to God and seek His assistance and guidance when we feel helpless after all efforts. Surrender to His Will and our Bhakti spirit will surely purify the motive in due course.

In a different context, Tennyson in Morte D'Arthur wrote about the power of prayer and
advised that we should pray for others as well:

Pray for my soul.
More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.
Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer.
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?

On the interval between thoughts

There is not a moment that we are without thoughts in our mind.
It appears as if we have no control over the chattering mind, yet we
imagine we are free thinkers with complete control over the thinking process.
J. Krishnamurti advises us to observe our thinking when we will find:

"If you watch very carefully, you will see that though the
response, the movement of thought, seems so swift,
there are gaps, there are intervals between thoughts.
Between two thoughts there is a period of silence
which is not related to the thought process.

If you observe you will see
that that period of silence,
that interval, is not of time;
the discovery of that interval,
the full experiencing of that interval,
liberates you from conditioning—
or rather it does not liberate 'you'
but there is liberation from conditioning.

It is only when the mind is not giving continuity to thought,
when it is still with a stillness that is not induced,
that is without any causation—
it is only then that there can be freedom from the background.

Why I am ignorant of my real 'I'

The mind is invisible but the body is visible.
Hence our identification and association with the body is so deep
that we tend to see ourselves as body alone. [...]

The 'I' we are associated with, is the illusionary 'I'.
The 'I' we know has more to do with mind or body
but our real 'I' remains obscure.
What an irony that the I doesn't know the 'I'!

Knowing oneself is the first step towards making good rapport
not only with one's own mind and body but also with the other.

This other can be husband, wife, mother, father, brother or anyone.
Once we have understood how our mind functions,
and as we witness the rise and fall of emotions in mind,
we are better equipped not to get carried away with these waves of mind.
-- Anandmurti Gurumaa

Source: http://tow.charityfocus.org/?tid=567

Read also: "Where is I"

Investigating Untrue Thoughts

I have never experienced a stressful feeling that wasn't caused by attaching to an untrue thought. Behind every uncomfortable feeling, there's a thought that isn't true for us. "The wind shouldn't be blowing." "My husband should agree with me." We have a thought that argues with reality, then we have a stressful feeling, and then we act on that feeling, creating more stress for ourselves. Rather than understand the original cause - a thought - we try to change our stressful feelings by looking outside ourselves. [...]
Investigating an untrue thought will always lead you back to who you are. It hurts to believe you are other than who you are, to live any story other than happiness. If you put your hand into the fire, does anyone have to tell you to move it? Do you have to decide? No: when your hand starts to burn, it moves. You don't have to direct it; the hand moves itself. In the same way, once you understand, through inquiry, that an untrue thought causes suffering, you move away from it. Before the thought, you weren't suffering; with the thought, you're suffering; when you recognize that the thought isn't true, again there is no suffering. [...]
Inquiry is a way to end confusion and to experience internal peace, even in a world of apparent chaos. Above all else, inquiry is about realizing that all the answers we ever need are always available inside us. Inquiry is more than a technique: it brings to life, from deep within us, an innate aspect of our being. When practiced for a while, inquiry takes on its own life within you. It appears whenever thoughts appear, as their balance and mate. This internal partnership leaves you free to live as a kind, fluid, fearless, amused listener, a student of yourself, and a friend who can be trusted not to resent, criticize, or hold a grudge. Eventually, realization is experienced automatically, as a way of life. Peace and joy naturally, inevitably, and irreversibly make their way into every corner of your mind, into every relationship and experience. The process is so subtle that you may not even have any conscious awareness of it. You may only know that you used to hurt and now you don't.
--Byron Katie

Living on expectation.

Living on expectation.

We’re all playing around the idea central to Henry James’s novella, “Beast in the Jungle.” The protagonist is gripped by the idea that something will happen in his life. That is his greatest anticipation and greatest apprehension.:

'Something will happen in my life'.

Isn’t that the unspoken kernel driving most of our lives, until that day when we actually understand that that something has already taken place, and the rest of our days are spent figuring out:

"What is it that happened to my life?"— Posted by Sue (June 15 2008) in NY Times, commenting on Judith Warners' article: Midlife crisis averted -

http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/midlife-crisis-averted/#comments

On Kaikeyi

Character analysis is the theme of the following essay by Pradip Bhattacharya on Kaikeyi. It presents Kaikeyi as a victim of deceipt by Dasaratha who married her with a promise which he broke to make Rama the King after him.

The Ramayana story is an illustration of how the dictum 'yat bhaavam tat bhavati' works in real life. Dasaratha acted in haste to make Rama his successor, breaking his solemn promise to make Kaikeyi's son his successor. The results that followed the action based on his intention were not in his control and the story of Ramayana unfolded -- banishment for fourteen years, his own death, abduction of Sita, battle with Ravana.

The article by Bhattacharya suggests that the person to be blamed for all this is Dasaratha, not Kaikeyi who was merely the instrument for the operation of the rule: action arises from intention, results inevitably follow action. (The web-site boloji.com hosts many interesting articles by various authors on a variety of subjects).

Kaikeyi "That Horrible Woman": -- Understood At Last *

Our greatest national epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, bristle with irony.
The ostensible root of the misfortunes visited upon the protagonist is also the bedrock on which the epic is founded.
Would the world have the Song Celestial, if Dhritarashtra, the veritable trunk of the tree of adharma,
had not asked Sanjaya to relate what was happening on Dharamakshetre Kurukshetre?
And what would be left for the Adi-kavi to relate in the life of Rama devoid of fourteen years' exile?
The Mahabharata story can exist, its epic status unimpaired, without the Gita; but without a Kaikeyi, the Ramayana?
It degenerates into a tame "and they lived happily ever after" fairy tale with the marriages of the four brothers.
Yet, over the millennia, Kaikeyi has been bracketed with Shakuni as the villain-of-the-piece and her role ever seen as on par with Dhritarashtra's.
Actually, Kaikeyi's fate has been worse than Shakuni's. Read the complete article at
http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/057.htm 

In silence, we hear.

We choose words and use them to communicate.
We assume that words are merely our tools to serve our purpose,
almost like servants in the homes.
But we should be aware of the hidden power of words
to charm our minds and mislead us.
The following writing warns us thus:
(Extract, adapted, from "The Song of the Bird" by Anthony de Mello)
(see also: http://www.oprah.com/community/thread/34616)

Beware of words.
The moment you look away, they will take a life of their own.
They will dazzle, mesmerize, terrorize and lead you astray,
from the reality they merely represent,
and lead you to believe that they are real.
The world you see is but a fragmented one,
broken into a thousand pieces by the word.
It is as if each ocean wave were seen to be disparate
and separate from the body of the ocean.

When words and thoughts are silenced,
the Universe blooms forth real, and whole, and one.
Words become what they were always intended to be:

the score, not the music;
the menu, not the food;
the signpost, not the journey's end.~

The language of the divine is silence.

In Dakshinamurti Slokam, Adi Sankara envisions
Siva as the Guru teaching the assembled rishis in silence:
mauna-vyAkhyA-prakaTita-para-brahma-tatvaM
(silently communicating the supreme Truth)

Lao Tsu echoes this in his ‘Law of the reversed effect’ thus:
It is in the letting go, that we are enabled to receive;
In the stillness, that we can participate;
In the silence, hear;and,
out of the dark night, see.
To know the Truth, one must get rid of knowledge

What does Siva teach thus in silence?
It is parabrahma tatvam - the understanding of the Supreme Truth
which is expounded at length in the Upanishads and the Vedas!

In societal transactions, words are necessary for communication.
But when we we want to communicate with ourselves
during the rare,and the few precious momets of solitude,
words merely strengthen the Ego to entrench itself firmly against intrusions by the Spirit.

When the mind is silent, devoid of all thoughts,
the ego has no place in the mind and
the Universal spirit is able to enter and instruct us in silence.

The Guru

In Zen Practice, it was stated: "There are no Zen teachers and nothing to teach.
But this truth must be realized by each one of us".
To help/guide us in this realisation, Hinduism advises us to seek a competent Guru.

In Kathopanishad, Yama describes the spiritual path as beset with great difficulties
and advises Nachiketas to seek a most competent person to guide him on this path.

This verse from the Guru Stotram explains the Guru's role lucidly:

ॐ अज्ञान-तिमिरान्धस्य / ज्ञानान्जन-शलाकया
चक्षुर-उन्मीलितम येन / तस्मै श्री-गुरवे नमः

OM ajnaana-timiraandhasya / jnanaanjana-shalaakaya
caksur-unmilitam yena / tasmai shri-gurave namaha

Salutation (namah) to that (tasmai) Guru (gurave) by whom (yena) the eyes (cakshur) blinded (andhasya) by the darkness (timira) of ignorance (agnyana) were opened (unmilitam) with the collyrium (anjana)-(applied with the) sharp pencil (shalakaya) of knowledge (gnyana).

Salutations to that Guru who applies the collyrium of knowledge with a sharp needle
to open the eyes blinded due to ignorance (lack of spiritual knowledge).

We act to achieve certain end-results; we are happy when we are successful and unhappy when we fail to achieve the intended result. Life consists of a series of transactions intended for our sukha praapti ; but many times, there is only dukha and we feel disappointed and dissatisfied. Ramana Maharishi in his Upadesa Saram has compared this sorry state of affairs to falling repeatedly into the ocean of samsara and has suggested self-inquiry as the way out to derive permanent satisfaction in our lives.
By middle age, when this dissatisfaction grows and we feel lost like one blinded due to absence of light (of relevant knowledge), we approach a Guru and seek his guidance to gain gnyana drishti for leading life in a manner conducive to yield a steady, happy state of the mind which will not be easily affected by set-backs and failures. In other words, we approach the Master and seek his help to identify for us the steps that we should take for removing the obstacles which prevent us from being happy, which stop us from being contented. We realize that due to lack of knowledge in this matter, due to our agnyana, we are presently mired in this condition of dissatisfaction with life, seeing no way out.

The Guru is the Master who can remove the disease of ajnana. But it is not as simple as removing a something that is covering what lies hidden underneath. It is a tricky process since there is nothing really to be taken out; what is required is a total transformation in us. The Guru-doctor applies the ointment (anjana) of knowledge to our affected eye (mind) and restores our insight – he grants us the gift of gnyana drishti.

The Master’s role is similar to that of the sculptor who uses chisel and hammer to unlock the hidden potential in the stone. If the stone could communicate with us in words, it would describe the great pain it suffers with every every blow of the chisel and hammer. Finally, it seems that the torture has come to an end. The sculptor leaves the stone alone for many days. Then one day he returns and starts rubbing the surface of the stone with sand-paper to get rid of even the smallest of imperfections. The stone starts feeling, “I thought everything was done. Why is he torturing me like this again?”

But after having undergone this tortuous process, a beautiful murti emerges from the stone; the real glory of the stone is finally expressed. It is then installed in a temple. It becomes elated because it starts receiving flower garlands, it starts receiving alankara. The sculptor’s vision has created from a piece of shapeless stone a beautiful art-piece that is worthy of being worshipped. But to reach that state the stone had to undergo the process of chiseling, and fine refinements. The stone acknowledges to the sculptor: “What a great opportunity you have given me to bring out the best in me!" And in all humility the sculptor replies: “I have done nothing. The potential always existed in you. All I have done is to remove that which was blocking the expression of your potential".

If we substitute the words Guru for the sculptor and disciple for the stone, we can fully understand the roles of the Master and his disciple. Their relationship is beyond human understanding or expression in words. When we talk of the highest in love, we talk of the natural love of a mother for the children she has given birth to. The love and care of the Master for the student is born out of a deep sense of duty and responsibility that he has voluntarily accepted so that the student may reach the spiritual state in which he himself revels. His efforts to remove the ajnana, which are so painful for the disciple in the beginning, are intended for the purpose that the student can reach and enjoy the same kind of bliss that the Master is enjoying - nothing less. For, in the field of spirituality, either there is perfection or there is nothing - nothing in the middle. The Master directs all his efforts to help his disciple reach that state of perfection.

The Master is not going to change our lives, the Master is not going to change our environment; he is not going to change the world that we live in. The Master is only changing our vision, our perception. It is not the srishti that has to be changed, it is our drishti that has to change, and the Guru is the person who takes pains in changing that drishti. He is the person who, with all love and concern, tunes our body, mind and intellect and dispel the darkness that we are living in so that we can understand the truth. He blesses us with that vision, drishti, so that, staying in the same srishti, we can enjoy the bliss and glory that is the expression of the Lord.

In order to do this, the Guru has to wipe the slate of our mind clean and create a disciple out of us. Guru is thus Brahma, Guru is Vishnu, and Guru Himself is Mahesvara. Guru is nothing but that absolute truth and happiness which we are searching for. He is therefore called Brahma, Vishnu Maheshvara. He is Brahma creating that disciple in us. He is Vishnu, who sustains us as a disciple to reach the state of perfection. He is Rudra, destroying, removing the ignorance that we are holding on to and which is an obstacle to our progress.

Source: the article "tasmai shri gurave namah" by Br Uddhav Chaitanya.

Zen Practice

Great Faith, Great Doubt
On the pull between faith and doubt that can spark awakening - by a Zen teacher

Most of the work in Zen practice takes place while sitting zazen
because, in reality,
there’s nothing anyone can give us.
There’s nothing that we lack;
each one of us is perfect and complete.

That’s why it is said that
there are no Zen teachers and nothing to teach.

But this truth must be realized by each one of us.

Great faith, great doubt, and great determination
are three essentials for that realization.
Great faith is the boundless faith in oneself and
in one's ability to realize oneself and make oneself free;
great doubt is the deep and penetrating doubt that asks:

Who am I?
What is life?
What is truth?
What is God?
What is reality?

Great faith and great doubt are in dynamic tension with each other;
they work to provide the real cutting edge of koan practice.

When great faith and great doubt are also accompanied by great determination --
the determination of “seven times knocked down, eight times up” --
we have at our disposal the power necessary
to break through our delusive way of thinking
and realize the full potential of our lives.

-- John Daido Loori

Shanti Mantram

शान्ति मन्त्रं
ॐ
स ह नाववातु स ह नौभुनक्तु
सहवीर्यम करवावहै
तेजस्विनावधीतमस्तु
मा विद्विषावहै
ॐ शांतिः शांतिः शांतिः
Swami Dayananda's commentary: http://www.arshavidya.org/literature_sample.html#shanti
May He (the Lord) protect both of us. May He nourish both of us (with knowledge)May both of us make effort for the capacity (for knowledge to take place)May what is studied by us be brilliantly clearLet us not have any misunderstandingPeace! Peace! Peace!
sa ha nAvavatu (saH ha nau avatu)
saH means Ishvara, the meaning of the word tat in the statement: "You are that." tat ivam asi. The meaning of the word tat is the Lord. May that Lord definitely, indeed (ha) protect, bless (avatu) both of us (nau). The word om is also from the same root as for avatu, the root av. ; av is used in the sense of protecting, the one who protects being the source of blessing. Thus, the Lord's name is Om. You can also say he is the one who sustains everything. May that Lord bless both of us, teacher and student.
sa ha nau bhunaktu
May that Lord (saH) definitely, indeed (ha) nourish (bhunaktu) both of us (nau) - that is also in the sense of protection. There is no meaning of eating here; (for in that case, the verb would have to have different endings - Atmane-pada). The sense here is only of nourishing. May he nourish both of us with knowledge. May the Lord indeed, or may the Lord certainly, condoning all my omissions and commissions, being blind to them, bless us and nourish us both. Both student and teacher seek bhagavAn's blessing:
saha vIryam karavAvahai
May both of us together exert, make effort (karavAvahai). What kind of effort? With (saha) vIrya; vIryam here is the capacity required to gain knowledge (vidya-sampAdane sAmarthyam). Whatever is required to gain this knowledge, may we make an effort for that. In gaining this knowledge a certain capacity, certain conditions are required. May we both cultivate those conditions, abilities. There are two types of conditions that have to be fulfilled here. As the teaching takes place, the student is supposed to see the meaning (grahaNa-sAmarthyam). That is a capacity, and it consists of lot of things. In giving the knowledge also, the teacher needs a certain capacity (sAmarthya). Your (teacher’s) memory should help you and you should also be able to see the condition of the listener, and decide what exactly will drive home the idea. There are a lot of things in the shAstra. If we tell all of them in the beginning it will be confusing. Also, you cannot make a statement which will have to be withdrawn later. You have to say the same thing in a form that is understood by the student at the stage that he is at. At one stage one thing is relevant, at another stage, a little more. It all depends on what you have already taught—and what the student has understood. This giving of knowledge (yidyA-dAnam) is not easy, especially if the vidyA has a certain intrinsic difficulty. You have to use words where words have no access, and cannot have access. But only through words you have to communicate. Therefore, you have to make sure you negate what is to be negated and take the student to a corner from where that student cannot but see. This is what they call the analogy of [seeing] the moon [through] a branch - shAkha-chandra-nyAya. nyaaya is a conclusion, a particular fact revealed through an analogy, like an adage or proverb.
This shAkha-chandra-nyAya is a very interesting nyAya. A person wants to communicate his experience of the crescent: moon, the third day moon, let us say. They say it is auspicious to see the third day moon and this person wants to share his experience of seeing it with his friend who is by his side. He says. "Look at the moon." His friend looks at the sky and is not able to see the moon. Here is a problem of communication. He can tell his friend to look up and scan the sky, but the sky is too vast to scan. So he follows a very simple method. He sees a tree and asks his friend to look at the tree and find the branch that is projecting towards the left side of the trunk. The friend says. "Yes. I see it."

Law of the Reversed Effort

'Yield and you need not break:'

Bent you can straighten,
Emptied you can hold,
Torn you can mend;
And as want can reward you
So wealth can bewilder.

Aware of this, a wise man has the simple return
Which other men seek:

Without inflaming himself
He is kindled,
Without explaining himself
Is explained,
Without taking credit
Is accredited,
Laying no claim
Is acclaimed
And, because he does not compete,
Finds peaceful competence.

How true is the old saying,
'Yield and you need not break'!
How completely it comes home!
-Lao Tsu

This statement follows his famous
Law of the Reversed Effort
The Law which sees to it that
When you try to stay afloat, you sink;
When you try to sink, you float;
When you hold your breath, you lose it.
Those who justify themselves, do not convince.

It is in the letting go,
that we are enabled to receive;
In the stillness, that we can participate;
In the silence, hear;
and, out of the dark night, see.

To know the Truth, one must get rid of knowledge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Upadesa Saram, Sloka 27, Ramana Maharishi states:
jñana-varjitâ'jñâna-hîna-cit,
jñânam-asti kim jñâtum-antaram.

chith (Awareness) is jñanam which is unqualified knowledge.
When we are free from objective knowledge (jñana-varjitâ)
and when we also get rid of the notion "I am ignorant" (â'jñâna-hîna)
through Self-enquiry, thereby gaining Self-knowledge,
there is no difference between the knower and the known.
There is one Awareness and that is yourself.
There is, then, nothing else to know. (asti kim jñâtum-antaram)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further statements illustrating the Law of the Reversed Effort:
from Kahlil Gibran:
Only when you drink from the river of silence
shall you indeed sing;
And when you have reached the mountain top,
then you shall begin to climb;
And when the earth shall claim your limbs,
then shall you truly dance.
-----------------------------------------------------------
from Alan Watts
Unless a grain of corn fall into the ground and die,
it remains alone.
But if it dies,
it brings forth much fruit"...
What religion calls the vision of God
is found in giving up
any (pre-conceived) belief in the idea of God.

By the same law of reversed effort,
we discover the "infinite" and the "absolute,"
not by straining to escape from the finite and relative world,
but by the most complete acceptance of its limitations.

Paradoxical as it may seem,
we likewise find life meaningful only
when we have seen that it is without purpose,
and know the "mystery of the universe"
only when we are convinced that we know nothing about it at all.

SUN'S CHARIOTEER

From our Puranic lore
A motivational story for disabled persons.

Hindu mythology portrays the Sun as a divine being who traverses the sky daily in a chariot drawn by seven horses (VIBGYOR), with Aruna as the charioteer.
Aruna is the son of Vinata, daughter of Rishi Kashyapa. He was born prematurely, without legs. Even though disabled, he rose to an exalted position as the charioteer of the Sun-god, Surya. Since ancient times, he continues to spread Sun's light and energy daily
around the world, sustaining us with vital nourishment without which life would be impossible. He is ever punctual and appears with his master, Lord Sun, brilliantly painting the sky red (Aruna also means red). Riding majestically across the sky, he guides the seven horses in their steady march around the Globe. No wonder that the ancients gratefully named sun-rise after him as Arunodaya, the appearance of Aruna!

Lovingly, his master Surya the Sun-God, identified himself closely with his devoted charioteer and wanted himself also to be known as Aruna! Therefore, Aruna is also one of the names of Sun.

Aruna is an excellent role-model for loyalty, service and puntuality. He never misses a day in attendance, he is always on time and brings his master to the world to perform the divine service of nurturing the world.

May we all emulate him and serve others similarly.

Bridal virginity - a tyranny?

Pure Tyranny by Judith Warner in NY Times:

Righteous indignation is so easy, so pleasant, when you can sit back and fling it overseas. I had that edifying experience on the D.C. Metro Wednesday morning, reading in the Times about the Muslim women in France who are going to cosmetic surgeons for hymen replacement surgery so that they can bleed as seeming virgins on their wedding nights. . .
Read full article http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/pure-tyranny/index.html?8ty&emc=ty

Reader Comments:
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"When something is so widespread from culture to culture, you have to ask why this is so. Unfortunately I’m thinking that in this case, unless we work very hard against it, biology is destiny. When women are sexually active they often become pregnant. Pregnancy and motherhood require much self sacrifice. Perhaps the value of virginity began as a concern for the futures of our daughters–a hope that they are not required to sacrifice too much too soon. . ." - Posted by Elizabeth Fuller
_________________________________________________________________________________
Just for clarification-

In Islam, someone (woman or man) can be:

(1) an actual virgin (someone who hasn’t engaged in sexual intercourse)
(2) an effective vrigin (someone not known to have engaged in sexual intercourse)
(3) a non-virgin (someone previously married such that they would have consummated their marriage, or someone openly known to have engaged in premarital sex).

Both (1) and (2) are considered “virgins” when it comes to the rulings of the Shariah, and can state that they are “virgins” without this being considered a lie or deceit. The reference for this is a *19th century* shariah manual: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radd_al-Muhtar_ala_al-Dur_al-Mukhtar , Additionally, it considered highly inappropriate in Islam to question someone, or to answer questions, about past indiscretions. Unfortunately many Muslims follow non-Islamic cultural traditions which contradict religion. But this is not the fault of Islam. — Posted by Ilyas L.
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You make your life

We generally ascribe our failures to Fate;
the sanskrit aphorism: यत् भावं तत् भवति yadbhaavam tat bhavati (as one conceives, so things happen) contradicts
this assumption, reminds us that we are responsible for the consequences of our actions, and advises us to remember that -

Life is a do-it-yourself job:
We build our lives in a distracted way,
reacting rather than acting,
willing to put up with
less than what is best.for us in the long-term.
At important points
we do not give the job our best effort.
Then with a shock
we look at the situation we have created
and find that
we are now living in the house we ourselves have built.
If we had realized earlier,
we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter
Who builds your house.
Each day you hammer a nail,
place a board, or erect a wall.
Build wisely.
It is the only life you will ever build.
Even if you live it for only one day more,
that day deserves to be lived graciously
and with dignity.

The plaque on the wall says,
"Life is a do-it-yourself project"
Who could say it more clearly?
Your life today is the result
of your attitudes and choices in the past.
Your life tomorrow will be the result
of your attitudes and the choices you make today.

The Ramayana story illustrates this very well. Dasaratha acted to make Rama his successor, ignoring ghis promise to Kaikeyi that her son will succeed him as King. He suffered the consequences of his action - his own death, exile of Rama for fourteen years, abduction of Sita and battle with Ravana. None can escape the operation of this rule: "Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today".(See the Post: "On Kaikeyi" 22 June 2008)
___________________________________________________________
If you find travelling the correct spiritual path difficult, help is always available: from the Wisdom of the past contained in the scriptures or
the experienced, wise and competent teachers who are willing
to advise and guide. Life's path is like the razor's edge, dark
and difficult to tread - as explained in Kathopanishad:
kshurasya dhaaraa nishitaa duratyayaa
durgam pathastat kavayo vadanti
and therefore:
praapya varaan nibodhata
get the know-how from competent sages.
____________________________________________________________

There is an another, easier path to liberation from the sufferings of failures: the ego's surrender to Krishna
and resting in his hands as his flute. He himself has advised: मामेकं शरणम व्रज maamekam sharaNam vraja .
This theme is lucidly brought out in the song "kuzhaloothi":

குழலூதி மனம் எல்லாம்
கொள்ளை கொண்ட பின்னும்
குறை ஏதும் எனக்கேதடி? ...........
kuzhaloothi manamellam
koLLai konda pinnum
kuRaiyethum enakkEthadi ..............
Link to the music: Flute Vocal
Audio_Flute

Audio_Vocal


I am safely resting in His hands
It is He who blew the first breath of life into me and
it is He who will determine the last breath of my life.
I should rest my self in His hands as His flute
and let Him play the sweet song of my life.

Tired of this stressful life and senseless pursuits?
Come; let us surrender to our dear Lord Krishna!
Let us place our ego as the flute in His hands.
Our every action will then becomes a note
in the music that He will gladly play through us.
Then, where will there be place in our mind
for regrets about failures, or for unfulfilled
wants and wishes that ceaselessly haunt us?

We can blissfully chant thenceforth
in harmony with His divine music:
குறை ஏதும் எனக்கேதடி
I am wanting in nothing;
I am full; I am full; I am full.
OM! Poornamadah Poornamidam!

Full text of the song: Kuzhaloodhi Manamellam

composer: ooththukkaadu venkatasubbaiyar
raagam: kaambodhi thaalam: aadhi

kuzhaloothi manamellaam koLLaikonda pinnum
kurai ethum enakkethadi sakiye
(kuzhaloothi)
(miga miga) azhagaana mayilaadavum
kaatril asainthaadum kodipolavum
agamagizhnthilavum nilavoli thanile
thanaimaranthu pullinam kuuva
asainthaadi miga isainthodi varum nalam kaana oru manam naada
thagumigu ena oru patham paada thakita thathimi ena nadamaada
kanru pasuvinamum ninru pudaisuuzha
enrum malarumuga iraivan kanivOdu
(kuzhaloothi)
(kannan) makara kundalamaadavum atharkErpa
makudam oliviisavum migavum ezhilaagavum
(thenral) kaatril milirum thugilaadavum
(agamagizhndhilavum)
(kuzhaloothi)

குழலூதி மனமெல்லாம்
composer: ஊத்துக்காடு வேங்கடசுப்பையர்
ராகம்:காம்போதி தாளம்: ஆதி

குழலூதி மனமெல்லாம் கொள்ளைகொண்ட பின்னும்
குறை ஏதும் எனக்கேதடி சகியே
(குழலூதி)
(மிக மிக) அழகான மயிலாடவும் காற்றில் அசைந்தாடும் கொடிபோலவும்
அகமகிழ்ந்திலவும் நிலவொளி தனிலே தனைமறந்து புள்ளினம் கூவ
அசைந்தாடி மிக இசைந்தோடி வரும் நலம் கான ஒரு மனம் நாட
தகுமிகு என ஒரு பதம் பாட தகிட திமி என நடமாட
கன்று பசுவினமும் நின்று புடைசூழ என்றும் மலருமுக இறைவன் கனிவோடு
(குழலூதி)
(கண்ணன்) மகர குண்டலமாடவும் அதற்கேற்ப மகுடம் ஒளிவீசவும்
மிகவும் எழிலாகவும் (தென்றல்) காற்றில் மிளிரும் துகிலாடவும் (அகமகிழ்ந்திளவும்)
(குழலூதி)
=============================================
The sound of Krishna's flute is the divine call to ecstasy;
it is His call advising us: "Give up attachments and follow Me."
Happy are those who can harken to this call and
commence living in eternal Bliss:
yasya brahmani ramate cittam
nandati nandati nandatyeva
He whose awareness rests constantly in Brahman-Conciousness,
his mind is ever in the supreme Blissful state.

Steady as the Pole Star

He who exercises government by means of his virtue
may be compared to the north polar star,
which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.
-Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE)
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The word "North Pole star" is merely the designation for the star whose apparent position
is close to the north-celestial pole; this position is currently occupied by the star Polaris.

But even Polaris considered to be 'steady', is near the celestial pole for only a small fraction of the 25,700-year precession cycle; it will remain a good approximation for about 1,000 years, by which time the pole will have moved to be closer to Alrai (Gamma Cephei). In about 5,500 years, the pole will have again moved near the position of the star Alderamin (Alpha Cephei), and in 12,000 years, Vega(Alpha Lyrae) will become our north star; but it will be about six degrees from the true north celestial pole.

The very long time interval (25700) is the reason we tend to ascribe the changeless, fixed state to the pole star.

The pole star is known in sanskrit as dhruva nakshatra . The dictionary meaning of the word is: "fixed, firm, immovable, unchangeable, constant, lasting, permanent, eternal". The puranic story of Prince Dhruva is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhruva

Like a wobbling top, the orientation of the Earth's north-south axis is slowly but continuously changing, tracing out a conical shape in a cycle of approximately 25,765 years. This movement, known as precession, is caused by the gravitational forces of the Sun and the Moon, and to a lesser extent other bodies, on the equatorial bulge of the spinning Earth.

Ayanamsa
The difference between the starting point of the Tropical and Sidereal Zodiacs, due to the precession of the equinoxes. There are several in use in India today, but the official government-sanctioned Lahiri ayanamsa (22°27'37.7") is the most widely used. The other popular ayanamsas are Krishnamurti (22°21'50") and Raman (21°00'52") though it should be mentioned that there are at least 3 different versions of Lahiri, plus other lesser used models.

More at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_pole
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_of_the_equinoxes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equatorial_bulge
http://www.yeatsvision.com/GreatYear.html