Assess Success with Internal Auditing

Aug 4, 2004, 12.00pm IST
Akhil Chandra.

Often what you call success is judged by others as failure. This was G D Birla's philosophical reply to reporters who asked him to comment on his success in building one of the largest business houses in the country.


When you look back and attempt to analyse what you really achieved in life and whether you could call yourself successful, you will find that you are unable to define "success". That's because with every new stage in life, your perception of success changes. When young, most of us are engaged in pursuit of material comforts and money. But after a point, when our basic needs are satisfied, money only breeds dissatisfaction. Arrogance, fear, greed and disharmony affect our mental and physical well-being.


As we grow older, we start becoming more conscious of our other needs in society related to love and belonging, and in building relationships. Finally, we feel the urge for self-actualisation. The overall success of a man can possibly be measured by summing up the total of everything including achieving material comforts, health, social recognition, mental satisfaction and spiritual achievements.


Abraham Maslow, in propounding a theory of hierarchy of needs, has analysed human behaviour by categorising various needs on a lower to higher scale. The lowest are physiological needs — for sleep and rest, food, drink, shelter and sex. This is followed by the need for safety from any harm; the need to be loved and to feel wanted; esteem and social acceptance, recognition, reputation, appreciation, status, prestige; understanding and knowledge to satisfy curiosity, explore, discover, find solutions, look for relationships and meaning, and seek intellectual challenges; the need for growth, development and utilisation of potential — towards self-fulfilment and attaining to higher consciousness and self-actualisation. Self-actualisation is the topmost end of the hierarchy. Since our behaviour is controlled by both internal and external factors, Maslow says that we have the unique ability to make choices and exercise free will. Hence we are faced with multiple choice every now and then.
We are bound by our own actions as they define the future. This will also decide whether you achieve overall satisfaction and fulfilment in the end. Choice of means play a key role in deriving fulfilment of happiness and satisfaction. Means adopted with right conduct coupled with goodness, truthfulness and fearlessness is what most scriptures recommend.

Over-indulgence in the lower order needs should be avoided as one may lose out on other fronts. There is a law of equilibrium in nature and a price has to be paid for every achievement in life. If you are overly career-oriented, you might have to spend less time at home. Pursuit of money to satisfy only lower order needs may not bring peace and harmony.
Emperor Ashoka, initially, was in hot pursuit of materialistic comforts and self-esteem. But just this did not give him the satisfaction he was yearning for. He realised his folly only after the Kalinga "victory" — and then he turned his thoughts to self-actualisation by fulfilling his spiritual needs.


Opportunities there are aplenty. The onus is on you to make the most of it while fulfilling the needs through rightful means. Ideally all material needs can be achieved with limited time and energy. The rest is up to you — to balance your objectives and create a suitable policy of life. Periodically, you could take stock and check if your achievements are balanced in fulfilling your needs in all walks of your life. This kind of internal auditing can help take one closer to self-fulfilment and realisation.

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Life's a Bubble, It Could Burst

Aug 16, 2004, 12.00am IST
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

If you look up in the sky during the day, you see the Sun. That becomes the most dominant in your experience. In the night, if you look up, the stars become very dominant in your experience, but both the Sun and the stars — in fact, the Sun happens to be a star, too — look like puny little things when compared to the immense vastness of the sky. Generally, though, the sky is never in your conscious perception. So, true existence can be likened to the vastness of the sky. The Sun, the stars, you and me, are all just small happenings, very brief happenings, really.



Today, science is telling you that even the Sun has a lifespan. Eventually, it will burn itself out. As you are burning your life out, similarly, the Sun is burning his life out, too. Your normal temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit; the Sun's normal temperature is some 98 million degrees, but he also has a lifespan and, one day, he will exist no longer. So whatever you see as physical existence is just a small happening. The true existence is the vastness, the emptiness that is there, the space.


What you call a person is just like a bubble. This bubble doesn't have any substance of its own. The air was there, all around. It just created a shell around itself, so suddenly it has a different quality of its own. There are thick bubbles, there are thin bubbles, there are strong bubbles, there are weak bubbles, big, small, just like people. Just like every other creature too, but when the bubble bursts, the substance that is inside the bubble, where is it? The air has reclaimed it; the atmosphere has reclaimed it. Similarly, a bubble is formed in the form of an etheric body, in the form of a pranic body, a mental body and a physical body. The physical body we can shoot down any moment we want to. It is within our power to just cut the physical body in two if we want to, but the other bodies we are not able to cut. Only what you call as existence, only that can do it.

What you are calling the spiritual process is just that. It is a deeper way of ensuring you don't exist anymore. This is not about killing the physical body. You are trying to destroy the very fundamentals of creating the body within you. You are trying to destroy the very fundamental structure over which a body can form. The physical body is possible only because of the necessary karmic substances that are there in the form of etheric, pranic and mental bodies.


So you are trying to destroy that through the spiritual process. With your awareness, practices, love, and with your devotion, all you are trying to do is destroy the possibility of taking on another body, destroy the very foundation over which the physical body can happen. Or, in other words, we are trying to take away the possibility of you going through the recycling bin over and over again. A mother's womb is only a recycling bag. Again and again... we're going through the same process. So we want to take that away.

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Make Friends Now With Your Self

Aug 19, 2004, 12.00am IST
Swami Kriyananda.

When Jesus said: "The kingdom of God is within" what He meant was that heaven itself would be a disappointment to restless, worldly people. If a person has no true joy in his heart, he will not find true joy outside though he be in heaven itself, and in the company of angels. Heaven must be experienced right here, right now, within ourselves if we are to experience it ever.


A stream extending itself too far into a desert will go dry. Man too dries up inside, spiritually and emotionally, when he extends himself too far in his search for outward pleasures. The wellspring of enjoyment lies in his inner Self. What he is, inwardly, that he will find without. The more truly he lives in himself, the more rewarding will his outer life be, also.


Man's inner Self is the spring that feeds all his knowing, all that he can enjoy on earth. If he neglects it, all his perceptions must wither and die. If one neglects a spring, it may clog up and stop flowing. You have only to look into the eyes of spiritually unaware people, especially as they grow older, to see what has happened to them. Is it with enthusiasm and dynamic energy that they pass their leisure time? Watch them sitting idly, staring at the TV, or peering vaguely at you to ascertain whether that was really a joke that you just finished telling.

Man's mistake is to run from the one fact which alone can be completely real to him. It is only by making friends with his inner Self first that he can ever make friends with the world.

Scientists are always trying to perfect their instruments. But we, too — our bodies, our minds, our nervous systems — are "instruments" in need of perfection. Can we observe anything intelligently through telescope or microscope beyond our own capacity for observation? It is only as this instrument, the mind, is made more perfectly sensitive that we can ever hope to penetrate deeply to universal mysteries.

Will it cut you off from an understanding of others if you seek truly to under-stand yourself? Not at all! You can understand others only to the extent that you have understood yourself. But will it make you less sensitive to their needs, less sympathetic, less outgoing and eager to help them?

Again, No. For it is only as one becomes aware of his own weaknesses and overcomes them that he develops compassion for others in their sorrows.

Today's theme is international unity. But the kind of unity politicians seek is only a patchwork job. Unity that lasts cannot be created; it must be realised. The point is, we are already One. We have imagined distinctions that do not really exist. So we need to work towards greater development of personal conscience, of personal awareness.
A friend, young and restless, once planned to go around India to visit various saints. This might have been a laudable purpose, except that, so far, this boy had put forth very little effort to improve himself; his real hope was to find someone who would consent to do all his spiritual work for him. (I could imagine him rushing from ashram to ashram, collecting blessings like pine cones!) I said to him, "If you take a thimble to the ocean, you'll only get a thimbleful of water. No doubt those great saints have much to give you. But what of your own capacity to receive what they give?"


If you would change the world for the better, first of all be better yourself. You are the greatest responsibility the universe has placed in your hands.

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Day of Atonement: Yom Kippur

Sep 25, 2004, 12.00am IST
Ezekiel Isaac Malekar.

Yom Kippur, eight days after Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is observed as the Day of Atonement, of Divine Judgment, and of "affliction of souls" so that the individual may be cleansed of sins. The Bible terms fasting as mortification of the flesh, and intimate spiritual discipline must include abstention from food and drink.


In achieving atonement, nothing comes between the individual soul and God. The obligation rests inescapably on each one to cleanse his own soul through his own communing and his own inward struggle. While every Sabbath and every day is invested with religious character, the Day of Atonement stands out as Yoma, the day par excellence. The Bible calls it Shabbath Shabbathon, the Sabbath of Sabbaths.


Yom Kippur's appeal is uniquely strong because it responds to one of the profoundest longings of the human soul — to free oneself from all mundane exigencies and distractions, to shut out alike the engrossing call of work and the allure of pleasure and rising above physical appetites and the disturbing trivialities of the daily routine, to take refuge


within the sanctuary of God and penetrate into the Holy of Holies, into the secret places of the soul. Yom Kippur is consecrated to a fearless intros-pection and weighing of our habits, tendencies and manner of living. We scrutinise our record of the past year, and ask the help of the Divine to correct the flaws in the texture of our soul, and we lay on His Altar the suffering of remorse for the past and determine to achieve amendment in the future. With all its solemn consciousness of sin, Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement and underlying it is a philosophy of invincible optimism. The Jew looks out on the world with a wholesome conviction of man's ability by his own efforts to attain virtue. He believes profoundly in the possibilities of purity of the human soul.

Yom Kippur is the culmination of the entire High Holiday period. After this, the old year is ended and the new one begun. Before all holidays, it is good to give tzedakhah or charity, but it is particularly important to do so before Yom Kippur. Tzedakhah alongwith prayer and returning represents a central theme, and the moral/ spiritual quality for the day and by extension, throughout one's life. Yom Kippur like Rosh Hashanah, is universal in appeal. The Maariv Service, during which Kol Nidrei is chanted, is begun before sunset and tallit, a religious shawl, is worn. During Amidah service — prayer recited in silent devotion — the Jews confess their wrongdoings. Thereafter the Jews plead to Almighty to grant forgiveness by saying, "May it be Thy will, Lord Our God, God of our Fathers, to deal with us in mercy, forgive us all our wrong-doing, pardon and condone all our sins and help us atone for all our transgressions."


The final service of Yom Kippur concludes with a prolonged call on the shofar, the ram's horn: Tekiah Shevarim Teruah Tekiah Gedolah, which means the final sealing of the heavenly gates. At the end of the day, it is customary for one to greet the other. The greeting used during the day is "Gemar Hatimah Tovah" — May you be finally sealed for good in the Book of Life, that is, the sealing of the year just beginning. Every householder on his return home, repeats the greeting, after which he starts building the Succah, in order to begin the New Year with some pious deed. Everyone is in high spirits, confident that a happy year has been granted to him.

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Corporate Spirituality Encourages Inclusion

Sep 22, 2004, 12.00am IST
William and Debra Miller.

If you are a corporate leader and you would like to include spirituality in your organisation's culture, you are not alone. Business leaders we've met, and management students sometimes ask us if it's really possible to make spirituality an overt and explicit part of an organisational culture — without causing religious conflicts or being inappropriate to an otherwise secular way of operating.


We've interviewed spirituality-inspired leaders around the world, and have found that for some, leading by example and keeping spirituality implicit in their leadership, works best. A European corporate executive said: "The explicit part of business is the house-holding, or economic operation, and the implicit part of business is to support the employees' spiritual quest in opening up".


Others we've interviewed bring spirituality quite explicitly into their organisational culture. We've found that this is a popular trend. In the 1920s, Marion Wade founded ServiceMaster in Chicago, USA. Wade and the executives who followed him in building a Fortune 500 company made their Number One company objective to "Honour God in all we do".

Every person — regardless of personal beliefs or differences — has been created in the image and likeness of God. We seek to recognise the dignity, worth and potential of each individual and believe that everyone has intrinsic worth and value. This is not an expression of a particular religious belief, or a basis for exclusion. Rather, it is a mandate for inclusion, and a constant reminder for us to do the right thing in the right way.

Kyocera, a Japanese company that makes cellphones, prominently displays these spiritual covenants on their website: Corporate Motto : Respect the Divine and Love People. Preserve the spirit to work fairly and honourably, respecting people, our work, our company and our global community. Management Philosophy : To coexist harmoniously with nature and society. Harmonious coexistence is the underlying foundation of all our business activities as we work to create a world of abundance and peace.
To encourage more leaders to have confidence in bringing spirituality explicitly into their organisations, four international business organisations began sponsoring the "International Spirit at Work" award in 2002. In honouring various organisations, the intention is to "bring to public recognition organisations whose spiritual-based practices, policies and procedures help to make the world a better place". The award honours organisations throughout the world that explicitly nurture spirituality inside their organisations.


One of this year's award winners is an Indian company that sees spirituality as "self-improvement and world service" with the Divine lighting the way, where every human can become the Divine light. Employees exercise this spirituality through a strong focus on social responsibility and sustainability — demonstrated by conscientious attention to concerns such as natural waste management.


Another awardee, a Philippines-based company, serves the financial needs of small and medium enterprises. Senior management regularly acknowledges the role of Divine Providence in the organisation's success, and the employees are committed to serving their customers with their "whole heart and mind".


There are many corporate leaders around the world who are blazing that spiritual path — albeit independently — providing examples to inspire and guide others to do the same. So, ask yourself: Do I feel called to bring spirituality more overtly and explicitly into my organisation's culture? What can I learn from other leaders and companies to help bring this about?

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Creating Miracles In Everyday Life

Sep 20, 2004, 12.00am IST

People become enlightened in three main ways: through suffering, outcome and purpose. Sudama's life is an example of enlightenment through suffering.


He was reluctant to go to Dwarka as he thought he might be misunderstood as wanting something in life. He believed that man gets what he deserves, not what he desires.

Living in poverty, he could enjoy bliss remembering the Lord. When he returned from Dwarka, seeing the prosperity showered on him, he lamented: "Oh Lord! You think that you can imprison me with this material prosperity, but you forget that you are imprisoned in my heart till eternity".

Enlightenment through outcome arises out of setting goals and ambitions. We are all taught to mask our true feelings. We are afraid of the unknown, our feelings, our intuitions, because the outcome is unknowable.

When we hold back our genuine feelings, we become frustrated and lose confidence in ourselves. We become a follower and not a leader.

But when we follow our intuition and the outcome is right, we get that special experience called enlightenment. The intuition comes from the unconscious mind.


The third way of enligh-tenment is through purpose. Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi lived deli-berately to achieve something noble and lofty.

Robert Bly in Iron John narrates the plight of a prince disguised as a knight riding first a red horse, then white and lastly a black one. These colours have a logical symbolic progression in relation to man's life.

The redness of his emotions relates to the younger years; the whiteness to work and living according to law and the blackness of maturity in which compassion and humanity have a chance to flower.

In the later years of his presidency Lincoln was a man in black. He had libe-rated the blacks and given them freedom. Emotions no longer ruled his temper.


He had ceased to blame anger and had developed a brilliant, philosophical sense of humour. There was nothing to hide and life was an open book.

Mahatma Gandhi experimented with non-violence and in his later years did penance and self-purification by going on fast for a cause.

Miracle is not materialising something from nowhere; it is living a fulfilled life everyday. The Dhammapada says that it is everyone's duty to get free of hate, disease and restlessness.

This can be done not by rejecting the world but by cultivating love, health and calmness within. The ideal state is to 'feed on joy'; joy that can be self- generated, flowing from the ever-reliable source within. Man becomes self-contained.

Tao Te Ching recommends that as you get in harmony with nature, your actions cease to seem like action. It can be called 'flow' or 'unfolding'. Where regular action involves effort of will to accomplish something, flow automati-cally takes you to your destination.


Tao says: "Flow around obstacles, don't confront them. Don't struggle to succeed, wait for the right moment".

Carol Pearson in The Hero Within refers to six archetypes we live by: the orphan, wanderer, warrior, altruist, innocent and magician. The magician sees life for Uto-pian possibilities and claims more power.

Magicians are willing to take a stand even if it is risky or revolutionary. Unlike the warrior, they give up the illusion of total control over themselves.
In doing so they generate the ability to recognise the flow and move with great effect. That is why they appear to do magical things. Famous magicians include Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.
The magician, instead of trying to be a winner in the existing less-than-perfect world, is willing to create a new world.
T G L Iyer

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Cosmic Trumpeting Of Lord Ganapati

Sep 18, 2004, 12.00am IST

The origin of the concept of Ganapati, the elephant-headed God, is related to the origin of the universe. What was the origin of the universe like?


The universe was not there in the beginning. Or, if it were there, what had then become of it? One view is that it had shrunk to a bindu. Bindu means point. The universe had contracted to a point. That is just its way. Now it contracts; now it expands.

It is a perpetual cycle stretched over billions of human years. Expansion is creation and contraction is dissolution.

In geometry, a point has position but no dimensions. The position of a thing is in relation to other things in space. Since bindu is the contraction of the whole universe, of the whole time-space-mind continuum, it can have no position.

Since it has no dimensions, and since it is the contraction of time-space-mind, the mind just cannot grasp it. For the three-dimensional mind to grasp a thing, that thing, too, has to be 3-D.

For the mind, a thing without dimensions doesn’t exist at all. That’s why the bindu is beyond comprehension and equal to nothing.


For the bindu to burst into being again, to stretch out its withdrawn dimensions and thus to expand again, it needs a bang-start. The spark for this bang-start comes in the form of desire.

The bindu desired to expand again, to burst into being again, to be manifest and to multiply. Desire heated it up to a fireball bursting with desire. At the extreme height of heat and pressure, it just exploded.


This explosion of bindu is called Bindu Visphota. The explosion stretched forth, well outside its withdrawn dimensions. It started to expand. It ceased to be nothing. It bounced back into being.

The present 3-D space is the volume expansion of bindu. This volume expansion is called Saguna (dimensioned) Brahmn. This Saguna Brahmn is the 3D-isation of Nirguna (dimensionless) Brahmn, that is, the original bindu.


Saguna Brahmn and Moola Prakriti (the original nature) are one and the same. Sankara has acknowledged their being synonymous.
All that occupies the 3-D space is its own local temporary warps. Warping or curvature of space-time is called vivarta. By warping itself, Nature creates all.


Space is prakriti; it is occupied by its own vikriti (deformity). This, in essence, is the cosmogony and cosmology of Vedanta.


The sound of the initial explosion, the bang-start of bindu, was likened to the trumpeting of an elephant.


Bindu trumpeted like a cosmic elephant in the beginning, and the universe is the 3-D expansion of the sound energy of that initial cosmic trumpeting.


In Sanskrit, the word for the trumpeting of an elephant is brimhita or brihatika.


The word Brahmn was originally derived from this brimhita. Bindu, the spacestuff, is Brahmn, and Brahmn is a cosmic elephant making a cosmic trumpeting to inaugurate Creation.


Since this cosmic elephant is the cause and Lord of all ganas - groups, bonds, assemblages - in the universe, it was called Ganapati. That is the origin of the concept of Ganapati or Ganesha.
We are familiar with Ganapati Mandala, a diagram consisting of two transverse equilateral tri-angles with a point in the middle. The point in the middle is bindu, the trumpeting elephant.


The two transverse triangles with their six vertices represent the volume expansion of bindu - the emergence of the 3-D space, of moola prakriti, of creation.


What expands bindu into volume is its big brimhita bang, represented by the space enclosed by the transverse triangles and surrounding bindu.
K M Gupta

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Christian Meditation: Power of Silence

Sep 14, 2004, 12.00am IST
Christopher Mendonca.

Silence is much more than the absence of sound; it is the autonomous pre-existing entity in which God creates. It is the source to which all words return to attain true meaning. Silence is the womb of the tangible world. In the Christian Biblical version of Creation, God 'spoke' and the world came into being. With the pronouncing of the Word, speech became primary, but silence remained primordial.


The heart of Christian meditation is to return to this primordial state of being. It is a journey from words into the creative word of God; this Word is enveloped by silence. By its very nature, silence is unexploitable, often purposeless and for that reason very frightening.
The power of silence is its ability to mediate the irreconcilable. Differences can coexist without tension because silence is non-judgmental. In an all-absorbing silence, differences travel towards one another with no need to swallow or disintegrate or demolish each other. Silence frees us from expectations so that we can understand and resolve a myriad irreconcilable elements.
Silence has also the power to help us realise how unrealistic our sense of self-importance is. Words are often inadequate to express what we want to say. It is silence that puts an end to our self-delusion, to our belief that we could drown the voices of dissent by our logic and "explanations".
Most of all, silence opens the door to forgiveness. Spoken words determine relationships for good or for ill, for love or for hate. But words once spoken sink into the oblivion from which they came. This 'forgetting' opens the door to forgiveness. It is not, however, as if the word simply disappears into the general hubbub only to pop up again at some unexpected and unbidden moment. Rather, by choosing to 'let go' we allow the suppleness of silence to reshape the word's sharp edges. Forgiveness is thus a 'letting go' of what has been 'determined' by our speech. Silence is the deep expanse in which this letting go takes place. Meditation allows us to make new beginnings.
Ironical as it may seem, silence is the foundation of all interpersonal communication. When we communicate with each other, we are often unaware that silence sits in at every conversation. Silence is the third speaker in a conversation. That is why the listener receives more that just the words that the speaker has given. The more we are aware of this, the more we will speak from this silence. What transpires then in a conversation is between the silence of 'the one' and the silence of 'the other'. What moves back and forth between people is not words but silence. When this happens, we no longer notice any opposition between ourselves and the community and instead of standing against each other, we face the silence together. The journey into silence strengthens community bonding.


The repetition of a word, an apparently 'useless' activity — Ma-ra-na-tha in the tradition of Christian Meditation — allows journeying back into the word. It is a journey from word to silence. The 'daily practice' of Christian Meditation allows us to experience these qualities of silence first hand. Silence is not the same as not talking. Rather, it is a deep presence within a person, a presence that shapes not only every word but also every movement and every gesture. Such an abiding presence guides a person to a life that is beyond the word and ultimately beyond himself. Truly the journey into silence through meditation is one that fosters non-violence and helps build community togetherness.
 
(website: www.wccm.org)

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The Whys and Hows Of Life on Earth

Sep 9, 2004, 12.00am IST
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

When it comes to creation, you never ask why, because you are just a tiny speck in this creation. In the arrangements that you have made as a human being — in terms of family, your social structures, your financial securities, education, qualifications and positions that you have taken in the society, I know you slowly started assuming that, in many ways, you are the centre of the universe. But that is not the truth.



You might have created so many comforts, so much security, but still the inherent struggle of it, the inherent pain of it, the day-to-day tensions, remain. You fill yourself with enthusiasm; you find new reasons for yourself to do this and that. But somewhere inside there is something which constantly struggles in every human being unless he attains a certain inner grace. Till then, the struggle continues. Some people have become aware of it; most people haven't. They just keep themselves busy, never to face the inner struggle.

The reason why people are keeping themselves so busy, so entangled with life is not because they have fallen in love with life. It is just to avoid the inner struggle. Many of them, if they don't get married and produce children, if they don't start businesses and don't get into all the mess that they are getting into on a day-to-day basis, they would be simply lost within themselves.

Just to keep a certain semblance of sanity, they keep all this activity going. If they just sit quietly for two days in one place, they will become aware of the inner struggle that is there in every being trapped in this limited body. It is always there. Some become aware.

Once they become aware, they start looking. That is when we say somebody is on the spiritual path, because he has become aware of the inner struggle. No matter what you do, something is struggling within all the time. But others are still too busy.

So the question comes up because there is an inner struggle. Maybe you are not 100% aware of the struggle, but here and there it touches you. So now, the more intelligent question for you would be: How do I get beyond this struggling state? If you ask how, I have a way. If you ask why, then I have to tell you a story. One day, Shiva had nothing to do and he was playing marbles all by himself. And one marble fell this way and it became planet Earth.

Another one shot up and it became the Sun; I can go on like this. Now you won't believe this ridiculous story. But if I make the story more elaborate, and if the story is not told today, but was said 1,000 years ago, you would believe it. You have a problem about this, isn't it? You don't believe anything that happens today, but you will believe it after 1,000 years. It doesn't matter what it is.

So, if it was said 1,000 years ago... you would believe the story. But stories don't liberate you. Stories just equip you to speak with some sense of authority at the next dinner party you are invited to. But it won't liberate you in any way. So when it comes to existence, don't waste your life asking the question, "Why?" Because if you sit here for the rest of your life and go on thinking why, or consult every other man on this planet, all you will get is more and more fairy tales; you will not get a solution. Different cultures will tell different stories; different religions will tell different stories; every individual can create his own story. Stories will not liberate you. But if you ask "How", then we open up the Path, we give you the method. Don't ask "Why?"

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Science of Life: Soham or Hamsa

Sep 3, 2004, 12.00am IST
Malay Mishra.

Soham is a combination of the two syllables so and ham. When we inhale, the sound produced is 'ham'; when we exhale, it is 'so'. Thus Soham is a combination of these two vibrations as breath comes in and goes out of the body. Soham or Hamsa mean the same.


Soham is derived from a text, Vigyana Bhairava, a science related by the primordial transcendental principle, Shiva or Bhai-rava. It is in the form of a dialogue between Shiva and his consort Shakti. A combination of consciousness which is absolute and energy which is creative is what makes the life breath for us. That gives us the force which sustains the physical body. Each one of us is constantly going through this process of Soham which translates in Sanskrit to "that I am" — Soham, or "I am that" — Hamsa.

It is believed that the entire creation was manifested with the sound of Om, the Nada Brahman. Om is a combination of So and Ham. This sound vibrates every moment of our life till there is life in our body, till life continues to flow through the Kundalini. The force which produces that sound, which moves the breath through the respiratory system, is the force which is consciousness, that which makes us aware that we are a part of the entire cosmic consciousness — Aham Vimarsa. I am awareness, the awareness of the Absolute 'I'.


When the sound travels through the various bodies it gets refined and the vibration ultimately merges in Om. It is constantly chanted within us and is thus called the highest mantra, the Mantra Maheshwara. Ham beejam, says the Guru Gita, which means the sound of Ham is the seed of the entire consciousness which pervades us.

In the Vigyana Bhairava, Shakti asks a series of questions of Shiva. Questions such as what is life are treated as part of a lar- ger quest for living and thence discovering the fundamental process, the core being the importance of breath or subtle energy for life. IBM POWER7 Processors - Highest Performance Per Core. Learn More!


The spiritual aspirant focuses on the space between the eyebrows, agna chakra, and with eyes closed watches the breath as it comes in and goes out. In observing the breath he becomes a part of the process of breathing itself.
The space between the incoming breath and the outgoing breath is called madhya dasa. While breathing in and out, there is a split second gap between the two. In retaining the breath we expand that gap. That space is the time when the mind is absolutely stilled. The more we prolong the duration of the space, the greater our mind develops to concentrate and purify the body through the breath and in the process we enable ourselves to reach the state of self- realisation.
The ultimate goal of human life is to realise the self, the most exalted state which is within each one of us. We draw from the same source of energy, the same breath which comes in and goes out. It is estimated that on an average day we take 21,600 breaths in all. In a lifespan of 80 years, this would amount to 62 million breaths.


Soham, therefore, is the science of life, a study through self-awareness. As the sun cannot be detached from light, so also we who possess light and energy cannot detach that from the self which is the illumination of our being. We may not be conscious of that at our birth but during the course of the evolution of our consciousness, we become aware of the basic principles and then the whole game becomes simple.

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Eleventh & Eternal Guru Granth Sahib

Sep 1, 2004, 12.00am IST
Pranav Khullar.


A striking feature of the Adi Granth — popularly called the Guru Granth Sahib — is its distinctly lilting literary flavour, eloquently described as the "musicalisation of thought". Even as one pays homage to Guru Granth Sahib, on the 400th anniversary of its being established as the Holy Book and as the eternal Guru of the Sikh faith, one is struck by the rich literary underpinnings of this compilation and the systematic manner in which each part has been set to music.



Besides, Guru Arjan Dev, while enshrining the Guru Granth Sahib at the Har Mandir in 1604, was also encapsulating the religious, mystical and philosophical currents of almost four centuries.

The Adi Granth is unique in having compositions of sage-poets and mystics of different faiths, including those of Kabir, Baba Farid, Namdev, Jaidev, Dhanna Bhagat and Ravidas. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, later enshrined the Holy Book as the eleventh Guru, a living testament to the bani or sayings of the Gurus.

Meticulously compiled and arranged into 5,894 hymns, the Adi Granth is set equally meticulously to 31 ragas of the classical music tradition, a "powerful appeal to the heart as much as the mind", as writer Pearl Buck once pointed out. This setting to music forms the underlying basis of the classification of hymns into Ashtapadas or hymns of eight verses, Chhands or verses of six lines, Chaupadas or hymns of four verses. This intricate division of the Adi Granth according to ragas, the metre of the poem, the author of the poem and its ghar in which the raga is to be sung, has a fascinating raga-mala towards the end of the Holy Text, an index of musical measures.


The Adi Granth has another interesting feature, the Bhatt bani or hymns of the bards. In the latter half of the Adi Granth are incorporated hymns by eleven Bhatts, who were ballad singers composing martial and war poetry — Var or heroic ballads — in the vernacular of the times in a particular form called Swaiyya Chhand, verses of praise, where they would employ a narrative style to describe war, exhorting warriors to action. Genealogically tracing their lineage to the ancient Saraswat Brahmins, they were themselves called Saraswat or learned ones, who saw all the Gurus as personifying one Light — the basic tenet of the faith today — and articulated their poetry in praise of the spiritual grandeur of Guru Nanak and all the Gurus.
Its unique catholicity and prosody apart, the Guru Granth Sahib also engendered the Gurmukhi script, which Guru Angad Dev developed to reach out to people in their vernacular dia-lect, refining and shaping it by use of 10 vowels. The development of the script and language reflected the casteless and creedless socio-economic vision of society that the Sikh Gurus envisioned. This vision also incorporated gender equality, as both genders are free to read from the Guru Granth Sahib.


Guru Gobind Singh invested the title of the Guru to the Adi Granth at Nanded in 1708, after preparing a new edition and including some hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur. He said, "... let him who wishes to speak to the Guru, read and reflect on what the Granth says..." The Adi Granth is a powerful rendering of the oneness of God, free of rituals and observances, but spelt out in hauntingly beautiful poetry and melodies; not an abstruse work of philosophy for the few, but something that endears itself to everyone with its musical appeal. In fact, the musical-emotive appeal of the Guru Granth Sahib is a potent spiritual tool to draw the faithful nearer to the cosmic Oneness of Godhead.

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Mother Goddess as Tower of Strength

Oct 23, 2004, 12.00am IST

In Maharashtra, Durga is better known as Bhavani, who inspired Chhatrapati Shivaji to fight oppression. In the song Vande Mataram composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Mother India is identified with the Mother Goddess, Durga.


The Devi Mahatmyam enunciates our vision of God as mother. She is conceived as Shakti or energy and the whole universe is the expression of that Shakti.

Having created this world from within herself, she preserves it and finally reabsorbs it at the time of final dissolution.

This spiritual truth is sustained by the philosophy that chit shakti, the energy of consciousness, is the ultimate reality behind the universe and that it is masculine-feminine, Brahmn-Maya, Shiva-Shakti and Impersonal-Personal.

The masculine aspect is its quiescent state while the feminine form is the active one.

Shiv-Shakti represents the unity of eternity and time. She is Mahavidya and Mahamaya, supreme know-ledge and illusion, Mahamedha and Mahasmriti, great intellect and sharp memory.

Durga is the primordial source of everything and manifests all the three gunas, sattva (truth, tranquillity), rajas (passion, restlessness) and tamas (darkness, ignorance).


She is the terrible night of periodic cosmic dissolution and the great night of final dissolution.


"I salute again and again that Goddess who abides in all beings as mother." Durga is prakriti, which is two-fold: apara prakriti or ordinary nature which is subject to change and para-prakriti or higher nature which sustains the universe.

As para prakriti she nourishes us all with her bountiful yield. This concept makes a strong case for environmental protection.


There are many accounts of Durga’s origin. In the Skanda-purana, when a demon threatened the world, Parvati, at the instance of Shiva transforms herself into a warrior-goddess and overpowers the demon.


In the Vishnu-purana, with her help Vishnu tackles a demon who is out to kill the infant Krishna. Devi Mahatmyam narrates three of Durga’s cosmic interventions at the behest of the gods.

As Mahamaya (one with the ability to delude) she comes to the aid of Vishnu and deludes the demons, Madhu and Kaitabh, defeating them.


Shumbha and Nishum-bha, the two demons, depu-ted two of their commanders, Chanda and Munda, to kill the goddess when she came to the rescue of the gods in distress.

But both were killed in the conflict. Hence her name Chamunda. Raktabeeja was the next challenge — her task became difficult because from every drop of blood shed by him a thousand more like him arose.

She, therefore, received the blood in her mouth before it fell on the ground and thus the demon was killed. She defeated Shum-bha and Nishumbha also after a fierce battle.

While Chanda and Munda stand for the lower states of egoism and ignorance in a person Raktabeeja represents a more subtle malicious tendency with multiple traits continuing with dogged persistence.
This evil can be eliminated only by going to the root of the problem however arduous the task.

In the Mahishasura episode, the buffalo-demon and his rampaging associates drove away all the gods from heaven. From the conjoined energies of the gods arose the Goddess, the parts of whose body and whose weapons were donated by each individual divinity.

Despite all the deceptive tricks played by the demon he was overpowered by the Devi after a protracted and fierce battle, symbolising the triumph of good over evil.

M N Chatterjee

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Herald the Birth Of a New World

Oct 20, 2004, 12.00am IST
David Bowers.

Few would have believed, when the Bab was born 185 years ago today, that the son of an Iranian merchant would herald the first world religion that would proclaim the equality of gender, the abolishment of slavery and the oneness of the human race. He took on the title "The Bab", which means "gate" in Arabic, to symbo-lise his acting as a gateway leading people from the old era to the new, and as the herald of another messenger of God, Baha'u'llah.



While the teachings of the Bab and Baha'u'llah recognise that we now live in the darkest times the world has ever seen, they are nonetheless optimistic about the ultimate future of the human race. As people everywhere become aware of the inadequacies of fanaticism, materialism, and extreme nationalism to solve the problems of a changing world, the Baha'i teachings point to a new way of life: "We stand on the threshold of an age whose convulsions proclaim alike the death pangs of the old order and the birth pangs of the new."

The appearance of a new religion in the world, signalling a time of great change and upheaval, is not unlike the birth of a human child. Each time a messianic figure comes to a society greatly in need of spiritual rebirth, his message stirs society to the core. His early believers experience great turmoil, followed by obscurity and weakness, and only later emerge in the form of a developed civilisation that can bring undreamt of glory to the human race.

One religious civilisation becomes the mother of the next, and although all religions exist for the same purpose, with the same essence of the faiths that have preceded them, each one represents a unique link in the family of human civilisations as a whole.
The Baha'i teachings say the same: "The whole earth is now in a state of pregnancy" — a world civilisation, divine in origin, is now growing in embryonic form within the body of humankind. The signs of its growth are increasing every day, in the form of more efficient means of communication and travel, more willingness to cross ancient barriers of prejudice, as well as more advanced forms of meeting social needs that were never addressed in previous centuries. Orga-nisations devoted to resol-ving conflict and promoting international peace have appeared, including those that facilitate global medical and scientific collaboration, and enable people from even the poorest of nations to play an important role in the treatment of disease and development of science and industry.


Whereas in the past, tribes, nations and empires have solved their problems through warfare and do-minance, always seeking to advance themselves at the expense of others, the tumult of the modern world is proving that such conflict and segregation must be left behind if the family of humanity is going to survive and prosper. More and more communities are working to develop a new way of living that will at once uphold all that is great and noble about the traditions of the past, while at the same time replacing those barriers to growth, with bonds of unity and cooperation.
Peace-loving people of the world increasingly nurture the embryo of a world civilisation, while those committed to long-standing conflicts and prejudices continue to destroy themselves. But through the Bab's eyes, we might see our own times in a fresh, gloriously optimistic light ... "So fraught with peril, so full of corruption, and yet so pregnant with the promise of a future so bright that no previous age in the annals of mankind can rival its glory."

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Impermanent Nature Of All Phenomena

Oct 30, 2004, 12.00am IST
Suresh Jindal.

Phenomena have no inherent nature. Essential to undertaking the Buddhist soteriological path is the understanding of the Four Seals or Axioms: All conditioned phenomena are impermanent and transitory, all contaminated phenomena are, by nature, suffering, all phenomena are empty of self-existence and Nirvana is true peace.



The disintegrating diamond of the morning dew, the ephemeral rainbow, the swathes of whirling mists against the dusky mountains are all manifest forms of the impermanent nature of phenomena. We directly experience it in the impermanence of our bodily vitality sinking towards the inevitability of death, and in the shifting sands of our mental and emotional states. The aggregates of our feelings, discrimination, ambitions and goals and their accompanying mental states are perpetually unstable and continually disintegrating.

Buddhism posits causality, that resultant manifestations are fruition of causes and conditions, circumstances and environments. Hence all phenomena are 'other-powered' and 'conditioned' by a myriad factors. The same causes and conditions that empower them are also embedded with seeds of their decay and disintegration. All phenomena both external and internal from the stars to our aggregates and mental states, are changing moment to moment, from in-breath to out-breath right up to old age, sickness and death.


Buddha identified three types of suffering. First, suffering of the form-body due to illness, disease, or accident. Second, suffering of change may be seen in the context of the eight-worldly dharmas when fame turns to disgrace, plaudits turn to blame, riches to rags, and mental and emotional happiness gets suffocated by sorrow.


The third is suffering 'other-powered' by our karmic deeds.

We have been continually drowning in the four turbulent rivers of birth, sickness, old age and death. We are
imprisoned by material factors of wants and greed, our feelings, discriminating awareness, ambitions and mental defilement.

Whatever goal we achieve leaves us dissatisfied and craving for more. But the more we grasp at external elements to secure and dignify ourselves the more hollow and unfulfilling they become. The hallucination of positing permanence, solidity and anchors to phenomena that are insubstantial, momentary and transitory begin with the solidification of ego. The ego starts pigeonholing 'others' into friends and enemies; into those who allow the ego to have its dictatorship and those who oppose it. Around itself it builds a prison of claustrophobia, paranoia, competition and speed. Meantime 'I' am always changing; my health is not as robust, my wealth has taken a dent, my child-ren are alienated from me. The 'I' remains as confused and be-wildered and ever-suffocated in the mire of misery and suffering.

The 'I' is not to be found as an independent, self-existing entity. The self that is so cherished, nurtured and
often violently defended against those perceived to be endangering it is nowhere to be found — in space, in the mind or the body. This disconnect, between the hallucination of a permanent 'I' and its ultimate nature, which lacks any and all self-existence, is the deep chasm from which our suffering arises and into which our pleasures are constantly tumbling.
Impermanent phenomena can and do change. Suffering can cease when the causes of its perpetuation and energy cease; when the three poisons of ignorance, attachment and hatred cease feeding and cannibalising on each other. This cessation of afflictive emotions is Nirvana — the state of true peace.

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Seek the Fragrance Within You

Oct 27, 2004, 12.00am IST
Santosh Vallury.

Everytime I look at myself, I find an individual being, cut off from the rest, trudging along on a journey called 'life'. I know I ought to tread the path of dharma or right living, but I also know it requires a great deal of effort and will power.



Unfocused, I continue to trudge aimlessly, and so I feel inadequate in terms of "achievement". I tell myself I should achieve something, but then, achieving more always seems to be in the "future". Without questioning, I keep going, on and on, trying desperately to achieve things in life in the hope of making myself more complete and secure.


Still, I find myself insecure and unhappy — at least, most of the time. In my endeavour to make myself happy in as easy a manner as possible, two things have become very important pursuits in my life, Artha and Kama.

Artha pursuits are those which bring me security economically, emotionally and socially which is why I enjoy my pursuit of wealth, stocks and shares, relationships with family and friends, and a name, title or designation in a job or society.

It makes me feel very secure when I am addressed as "Sir", "Mr..." etc., little realising that titles and honorifics add nothing of true value to one's spiritual evolution or understanding of the Ultimate Truth. I attach myself to my bank balance, investments and designation and take myself to be that alone. When my shares plummet or rise at the stock exchange, my heart beats wildly and I get excited and anxious.


I have all that I could wish for — yet, I feel unaccomplished and unhappy. And at such times I go for another pursuit, Kama, to feel happy and complete, but with no success. I am unable to sustain efforts to follow the path of dharma. I flit from one day to another, through what I call "living" and I try to "eke out" a few "thrilling moments" in my life just like the musk deer.

The musk deer, enchanted by the fragrance of musk, and not knowing its source, keeps running hither and thither, looking for it. It is only when the musk deer is dying that it realises for the first time that the beautiful fragrance was coming from its own body.

We human beings are more fortunate in that guidelines are available to us in the form of the Vedas and other teachings to tell us that the source of happiness lies within. Ancients declared: "Aham Brahma Asmi" — "I am the whole".

I am that very thing which I am trying to be. It is my very seeking that makes me separate from the whole that I already am. This doesn't mean that the Vedas ask us to stop our pursuits in life. They merely show us a way as to how to pursue knowing well that we are already "complete". This, naturally, wipes out the notion of inadequacy and incompleteness centred around the "I" and makes life truly worth living.

For this to happen, the student has to, however, live with a traditional teacher of the Vedas. A learned guru can teach us all about Vedanta, using the Vedas as an instrument with which to discover the Self just as you would use the pramana of a mirror to see your face. The guru only helps you unfold the message to help you grow in your understanding.
In fact, it is only when one understands the message of the Vedas that one can say "I live life". Until then we are only dragging ourselves from one life to another. And that too, only to keep coming back, again and again.


This fact is stated poetically in Shankara's Bhaja Govindam: "Punarapi jana-nam punarapi maranam punarapi janani jathare shayanam."

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The Great Learning Of Confucius

Oct 16, 2004, 12.00am IST
Kailash Vajpeyi.

The development of civilisation, morality and harmony among people is dependent on the interplay of the yin and yang principle. So we go through cosmic cycles, positive or negative. Confucianism analyses how goodness and happiness can be achieved in a particular age. Analects is the source book of the teachings of Confucius, according to whom Jen is the highest of all virtues. It has been translated as love, goodness, benevolence, people to peopleness, kindness, a sublime moral attitude, and a transcendental perfection.



Confucius has suggested various means and methods for the attainment of Jen. Since we are slaves of our own desires, we can attain mastery over self only through self-cultivation. Self-cultivation requires a submissive temperament and one will need to follow the mores of polite society. For this, Confucius uses the term li. Whereas Jen is the by-product of self-denial, it also slowly generates li in human temperament. Li means righteousness, the general principle of the social order, good conduct and good governance. Li is all-pervasive. It covers personal relationships, social rituals, definite attitude towards others, love and respect for the elderly, reverential attitude for weaker section of society, filial piety in children, loyalty among friends, respect for authority and benevolence in rulers.

Confucius uses the term Hsiao for filial piety. Since life itself is generated from parents, Hsiao is also extended towards parents. In old age parents become like children; hence Confucius stresses reverence for parents and filial piety for children. Thus Hsiao does not consist merely of giving them physical care but also good spiritual education. So far as parents are concerned they need our love and respect even after death. The unfulfilled aims and purposes of parents should become the aim of their children. Slowly, one should extend Hsiao outside the family circle till it becomes a universal moral and social virtue.


Confucius uses the term Yi to denote righteousness. It is the recognition of what is right and proper or the capacity to differentiate between good and bad. Whatever is healthy and soul-satisfying, must be promoted by each and every individual. If individual members of a society are true to themselves and have faith in goodness and sincerity, then good governance and a happy social order will be assured.


Li, Hsiao and Yi are all contained in Jen. This concept is believed to make the way to heaven. By constant practice of Jen one learns to appreciate the ideal of perfect goodness. Confucius knew that virtue does not grow in a vacuum, but one should try and apply this method in everyday life. The perfection of personality lies in always acting with reverence and respect for others.


Eight ethical-political terms are described in the Great Learning: "The ancients who wished to preserve the fresh or clear character of the people of the world would first set about ordering their national life. Those who wished to order their national life would first act about regulating their family. Those who wished to regulate their family life would set about cultivating their personal life. Those who wished to cultivate their personal lives would first set about setting their hearts right. Those who wish to set their hearts right would first set about making their wills sincere. Those who wished to make their wills sincere, would first set about achie-ving true knowledge. The achieving of true knowledge depended upon the investigation of things. When things are investigated then true knowledge is achieved."

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Look Beyond Peace And Violence

Oct 13, 2004, 12.00am IST
T S SREENIVASA RAGHAVAN.

Not a day passes without a reference to the need for peace. Still, the booming guns don't fall silent. While peace is discussed because of its absence, war is the subject of debate on acco-unt of its ever-menacing presence. So we need to find answers to two important questions: Can we achieve a lasting peace? Can we shed individual and collective acts of violence?


To find convincing answers, we will have to analyse peace and violence in their totality, both from the point of view of indivi-duals and communities. Atma-shanti is peace within and a soul that is peace-less within can hardly be peaceful outside. The Ribhu Gita is an exposition of advaita by the sage Ribhu to Nidagha, in the Sivarahasya. Ribhu, in fact, holds the individual responsible for everything that is good or bad; and also for everything that is neither good nor bad.

For, what exists is only Brahmn — the eternal state of Supreme Consciousness.

Ribhu says to Nidagha: "I'm of the nature of all activity/ I'm of the nature of the doer of all/ I'm the protector of all/ I'm of the nature of the destroyer of all/ I'm ever the nature that is not anything/ I'm of the nature that is established as myself/ I'm ever of the nature of the undivided Absolute/ Inquire steadfastly into this every day" (14:8).


One could, however, argue that violence is a part of human nature while peace is not...because, the six innate, intertwined, yet pivotal qualities of humankind are desire, anger, greed, delusion, ego and competition. Shanti (peace) is absent whereas its antithesis krodham (anger) is conspicuous by its presence.


Ribhu deals with this question too when he says unto Nidagha: "There's nothing to be discarded as disagreeable/ Nothing to be added as agreeable/ There's neither a master/ Nor any disciple/ There's nothing called knowledge/ Knower or the knowable/ There's no sentience/ Or mindless insentience/ Nothing auspicious/ Or inauspicious for me/ I'm the difference-less Brahmn" (8:20).

By pronouncing that there's nothing to be cherished as agreeable or discarded as disagreeable, Ribhu — the prophet of non-duality — opens our eyes to the fact that everything has to be accepted in its totality: peace or violence, happiness or sorrow, ego or simplicity, natural or unnatural; because their denial or suppression will result in confrontation (10:3).

Our real challenge lies in going beyond discrimination. If we talk about love suppressing hatred, we'd get only a love that's coated with hatred. If we talk about God suppressing the Devil, we'll get only a Devilish God. And, if we talk about peace suppressing violence, we'll get only a violent state of peace.

Like peace and violence, everything in the world is highly indivi-dualistic. If you insist that you'll change only when the whole world does, it'll never happen. Ribhu expresses it better: "Nidagha! As there's nothing apart from your Self/ Consider your Self as yourself/ Experience your Self, and ever enjoy/ The bliss of your Self in yourself/ Become peaceful and immersed/ In an ocean of happiness/ Without any of the least sorrow/ Remain my son as a mass of bliss!"

Neither peace can put the violence down nor violence can mutilate the face of peace. We have to learn to accept...without attachment or detachment. A supreme state of consciousness alone can achieve this. Then we'll discover the harmony that lies beyond peace, beyond violence. But we have to begin with the self. That's why J Krishnamurthy said: “You are the world!”

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For the Living from The Realm of Death

Oct 7, 2004, 12.00am IST
M N CHATTERJEE.

There's this story of a young boy whose dialogue with death is as fascinating as it is exploratory, coursing down the six chapters of the Katha Upanishad. Sage Vajasravasa, to get divine recognition, performed a sacrificial rite which required him to give up all his possessions and pleasures. But he gifted away only those cows which were diseased, old and lame, keeping the good ones for himself. Sensing his folly, his young son Nachiketa asked him, "Father, to whom will you give me?" Finding no response, the son repeated his query. Losing patience, his father burst out, "I give you to death".


Nachiketa took his father seriously. He proceeded to the realm of death. But, Yama, the king of death, was out and returned only after three days. Apologising for having kept his guest waiting so long, he offered Nachiketa three boons. The boy first asked for his father's well-being. Second, he sought the knowledge required to perform fire sacrifice which could open up the path to heaven.

But Yama was taken aback at the third request — Nachiketa wanted to know what happens after death. How could Yama reveal such a profound truth? Yama tried to dissuade the boy from his quest but in vain. Impressed by the boy's devotion to truth, Yama relented and spoke to him of death and the metaphysical speculations on immortality. He dwelt on what is good, sreya, and what is pleasant, preya. While sreya implies whatever leads to true well-being, preya includes short-lived pleasures mainly derived through sense organs. The wise concentrate on the former while the ignorant remain satisfied with the latter and get enmeshed in worldly ties. "They fall, repeatedly, birth after birth, into my jaws", he said.

Yama instructed Nachiketa to know the atman, the self, "the ancient effulgent being, the indwelling spirit, deeply hidden in the lotus of the heart. This is difficult. But the wise, following the path of meditation, know him and are freed alike from pleasure and pain". The self is immortal. One who has realised that the self is separate from the body, the mind and the senses has fully known him and becomes immortal.


Yama reverted to the nature and identity of the atman: Soundless, formless, intangible, undying, eternal, without beginning, without end, immutable, beyond nature, is the self, smaller than the atom, greater than the cosmos, subtler than the subtlest, beyond tarka or logic, beyond cause and effect, luminous and not depending on any reflected light. Knowledge of the atman is unique, the fruitful product of spiritual illumination, truthfulness, detachment and devotion and not of intellectual adroitness. One who is freed from greed realises the glory of the atman. Man is the rider, the body the chariot, the intellect the charioteer and the mind the reins. The senses are the horses and the roads they travel are mazes of desire. Man has to rise above worldly attachments and temptations by a judicious use of the sense organs, self-control and discrimination.
It is necessary to tread the path of yoga, stressed Yama. The one with a steady mind and pure heart reaches the goal and is born no more. Brahmn is the supreme goal, the end of the journey. If one fails to reach it in this life, another birth will follow. The approach to the goal is difficult to tread, like the sharp edge of a razor. One may take the help of the syllable OM which symbolises the supreme Brahmn, the ultimate reality and its utterance is spiritually uplifting. It is sabda Brahmn or Brahmn in the form of sound and is accorded divine reverence.

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Ideal of Simple Living And High Thinking

Oct 2, 2004, 12.00am IST

India needs eco-friendly development. Mahatma Gandhi said that economic development becomes relevant only when it is based on principles of environmental conservation and harmony, and equity with social justice.


Equity has an ethical content in the real world: It would involve sacrifice on the part of the privileged in favour of the less privileged.

Gandhi conceded that a certain degree of physical harmony and comfort is necessary, but above a certain level, it becomes more of a hindrance.


So the ideal of creating an unlimited number of wants and satisfying them seems to be a snare that lures us away from the pursuit of the ideal of plain living and high thinking.

Our happiness really lies in contentment. Gandhi often said that an ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of preaching.

Industrial countries on the fast track will eventually become ecological security risks, because they will not easily give up their present-day unsustainable lifestyles.

In his essay The economic possibilities for our grandchildren, Lord Keynes said in 1930: "For at least another hundred years we must pretend to everyone that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice, usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still. For only they can lead us out of the tunnel of economic necessity and into daylight."

We need to usher in environmental education with regard to long-range ecological security. Natural, agro and industrial economic systems have to be both conserved and used in a sustainable manner.

There has to be a healthy blend of environmental, social, developmental and economic imperatives.

A sustainable society has faith in science and technology as an instrument of environment-friendly social and economic change - because economic growth should not be at the expense of ecological assets.

We should work in partnership with nature and conserve non-renewable resources and energy and reduce wastage.


We must believe that the earth's resources have to be protected and sustained not only for humankind, but for other species, too, for present and future generations.
We need to share our resources across species as we are all inter-connected as one giant living orga-nism. The guiding principle of economics has to be the meeting of needs, and not greed.


Gandhi said: "The earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed."


This age of consumerism can lead to over-extraction and over-consumption, resulting in pollution and eco-degradation, with serious environmental impact.


Market economy must include both the present and future costs of pollution and eco-degradation to help conserve our collective home.


Using the polluter-pays-principle, the costs must be met by the manu-facturer and/or country concerned for failing to use enviro-friendly technology.


Gandhi said: "Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test: Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj (self-rule) for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away."

( Abridged from TERI's 'Mahatma Gandhi: An Apostle of Applied Human Ecology'. )
T N Khoshoo

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Sanctity of Life Across Species

Nov 25, 2004, 12.00am IST
J P Vaswani.

One evening, as I was taking a walk in a park in Los Angeles, I came across a man seated on a bench. By his side sat a dog. The man spoke to the dog and it seemed the dog understood. In fact, the dog actually seemed to respond. Intrigued, I stopped to talk to this man. There was nothing strange about the man's appearance; he looked like any other ordinary person. I said to him: "Brother, do you often talk to your dog?"


"I do", he answered and added: "You think of him as a dog. I think of him as my son. He lives with me and sleeps on his own bed in my room. He is a close companion and our relationship is complex". I asked him: "Does the dog respond to your talking?" Laughing, he said that he always received an answer. Sometimes, it was a unique response; at other times, it was a polite wag.

Animals, too, are spiritual beings. We have a lot to learn from them; they can bring out the best in us and also give us a lesson or two on unconditional love, acceptance, and listening to the unspoken, among other things.

Humanity today faces limitless promise — we have reached high levels of technological brilliance. Yet, most of us remain confused as to our real identity and purpose in life. An average individual's heart is stirred by a thousand fears he cannot name. His mind is agitated; he is often troubled and unsure of himself; he is given to bouts of bad temper. Overcome by cravings and desires, he is unable to get a hold on himself. What is the reason?
One of the reasons for man's discontentment is his alienation from Nature and other life forms. To renew civilisation and evolve spiritually, it is necessary for us to make friends with birds and animals, trees and flowers, streams and stars — with all that lives.
Man is a part of Nature. Unfortunately, however, he regards himself as the sovereign, and thinks he can do what he likes with those around him. We need to realise that all other forms of Creation are as much a part of Nature as we are. When we exploit Nature, it will fight back. There will be droughts and floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Imbalances created by pollution, wastage and global warming will change the very face of the planet that we call home.


It is becoming increasingly obvious that we will not have peace on earth until we have stopped all killing. No sentient creature must be killed for the simple reason that if I kill an animal for food, I will not hesitate in killing a human being whom I regard as an enemy. We need to grow in the spirit of reverence for all life. All life must be regarded as sacred.


Mahatma Gandhi said: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated...It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practise elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures.
Over the last few centuries, we have seen movements directed at achieving rights for the oppressed among human beings. It is time we recognised the rights of animals. Every animal has certain fundamental rights. And the very basic right of every animal is the right to live. For you cannot take away what you cannot give. And since you cannot give life to a dead creature, you have no right to take away the life of a living one.
(The Sadhu Vaswani Mission's Stop All Killing Association is observing today as Meatless Day and Animal Rights Day.)

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Life is Celebration, Be Happy

Nov 22, 2004, 12.00am IST
Shashin.

All of us want to be happy. Mystics say happiness is our nature. Happiness cannot be created and all that is needed to be happy is to be alive. Yet the whole world is miserable. Material wealth cannot make us happy and the richest society is facing the vulnerabilities of modern life. Yet, in our search for happiness, we constantly grope for sources in the outside world.



Osho says, "A happy person is not one who is always happy. He is happy even when there is unhappiness. Happiness is not conditional. The thumb rule is, to have happiness in you. Happiness alone can welcome and accept happiness... There are two ways to live life: outwards in search of happiness and inwards in search of bliss. Bliss wells up from your own sources, hence it is impossible to lose it". Our mind searches for happiness but the nature of human mind is to be on the move. And in our search we miss many moments to live happily.


Once a rich man wanted to be happy. He was in search of a wise man who could guide him on how to be happy. Some villagers assured him that a Sufi mystic who lived in the forest would be able to help him. The man found the mystic sitting peacefully below a tree. He stopped his horse and told him that he was unhappy. The mystic said that to find happiness he would have to hand over his jewels. The man gave him a bag of diamonds. Taking the jewel bag the mystic ran away. Thinking that he had been robbed, the man chased the mystic but failed to catch him. Desperate for his diamonds he returned to the forest. To his surprise he found the master sat in silence with his eyes closed at the same spot and the bag lay in front of him. Grabbing it, he danced with joy. The mystic opened his eyes and asked the man if he was happy to recover his riches. The man fell at his feet. The master added, "You have to know suffering; only then you know what happiness is".


Osho suggests a meditation technique. He says, "When you are unhappy visualise happiness. Similarly when you are happy visualise unhappiness. Slowly the opposite state absorbs the other". Once you understand your sadness, it dis- appears. This technique can transform you because "happiness is here and now... When you are free both from pain and pleasure, good and bad, light and darkness, life and death, when you are free from all dualities — that state, that transcendence, is moksha".

Also we should be happy in others' happiness. This way, we can experience instant joy. However, we must not stop and hoard happiness. Rather we should share it like the flowers share their scent with the winds. In dark and dismal moments we must build trust and happiness within us. We should start our day with a suggestion that life is a gift, that irrespective of what happens we will be happy and we will celebrate.

We should search our inner source of happiness. "Be happy, respect happiness, and help people to understand that happiness is the goal of life — satchitanand. The Eastern mystics have said God has three qua-lities. He is sat: he is truth, being. He is chit: consciousness, awareness. And, ultimately, the highest peak is anand: bliss. Wherever bliss is, God is. Whenever you see a blissful person, respect him, he is holy. And wherever you feel a gathering which is blissful, festive, think of it as a sacred place", says Osho.


Sorrow depletes the vita-lity of life, while joy makes us alive. So don't hanker for happiness; rather, search for bliss. That's what meditation is all about — the technology of the inner search for the eternal in you.

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Rama and Krishna in Festival of Lights

Nov 12, 2004, 12.00am IST
Thatta Sree Rangamannar.

Lord Krishna, who was Vishnu's avatar in the Dwapara Yuga, had destroyed several demons; one of them was Narakasura. Krishna goes to war with him because he was creating havoc everywhere, torturing and tormenting good souls.


When Krishna prepares to proceed for battle, his wife Satya-bhama pleads with him to take her also. Satya-bhama herself was adept in archery. She offered to fight against Narakasura standing on the back of Garuda, the bird, on which Krishna was sitting. Krishna rejects this proposal. Satya-bhama next pleads that she would see how Krishna himself was waging the war and, after their return, would explain to all her friends the ease with which Krishna waged the war. After several pleadings Krishna finally agrees to take her along.

The Bhagavata Purana describes how Krishna and Satyabhama proceeded to the battlefield. Narakasura lived in a place called Pragjyotisha Pura, in the north-east of the country, in today's Assam state. Satya-bhama herself initiated the battle, throwing an arrow at the Ari. In the end, Krishna kills Narakasura and proclaims his son Bhagadatta as successor to the throne. That day is celebrated as Naraka Chaturdasi, the 14th day of the Bahula paksha or dark fortnight.


Soon after Narakasura was killed, Krishna and Satyabhama entered the palace and they discovered 16,000 princesses kept in captivity by Narakasura. On seeing Krishna and Satya-bhama, all of them, in one voice, prayed to Krishna to marry them because he granted them freedom from captivity and salvation. Krishna agrees and there was jubilation all around. This is how Krishna is reputed to have 16,008 wives including Rukmini, the main consort or Patrani, who herself was the incarnation of Lakshmi; Satya-bhama who was given in marriage by Satrajit in remorseful penitence for his crime against Krishna; Jambavati, the daughter of Jambawan who continued to live in the Dwapara Yuga right through the Treta Yuga; and five others namely, Mitravinda, Kalindi, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and Lakshana, all of whom Krishna won in Swayamavara.


On his return to Dwaraka with the 16,000 princesses Krishna married them and housed them in mansions and lived with each one of them. That day was Amavasya, a new moon day. It was celebrated with bright lights all around. Indeed the princesses were grateful to Narakasura because of whose intransigence they could fulfil their life's wish of marrying Krishna. This occasion is called Deepavali.


The other story of how Deepavali came to be celebrated took place during Rama ava-tar. Rama killed Ravana on Vijaya Dasami day and returned to Ayodhya on this day, 20 days after Ravana's death. Rama was aware that Bharata would end his life if he did not return to Ayodhya as soon as the 14 years of exile were over. Rama and Sita had to also go to the hermitage of Sage Bharadwaja to return the Devata Vastras which the sage and his wife gave them to keep pure and clean. So, Rama could not return to Ayodhya on the appointed day. Hence he sent Hanuman to Bharata, to convey to him that Rama, Sita and Laxmana were on their way back in Ayodhya and the lights were lit because it was Amavasya night, dark and moonless.


In the northern parts of India this festivity is known as Deepavali, the festival of lights and victory of virtue over evil. In the southern parts Deepavali is attributed to Krishna avatar which was in the Dwapara Yuga.

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Freedom & Creativity: Chance Vs Choice

Nov 9, 2004, 12.00am IST
Janina Gomes.

Is there a purpose in this world or do things happen by chance? The Book of Ecclesiastes says: "Time and chance govern all", posing an existential dilemma for humankind. Is there a God who plans everything or do things just happen?


John Habgood, a Bishop of Durham who began his academic life as a scientist asked himself the poignant question: "Does God throw dice?" Einstein, too, expressed a similar doubt, worried at the way physics was developing in the aftermath of the quantum theory. He found it impossible to believe that there was a deep-rooted element of indeterminacy in nature.


In moral and religious terms, the question is whether the man who believes in a rational universe, a godly universe, can allow a major place in it to chance. To believers, history is in the hands of God and if men are going somewhere, their direction is determined by how they respond to God. For others history is just an endless series of repetitions going nowhere.

This sense of purposelessness was not just a scientific vision of a world governed by chance, but merely the way many non-scientific people lived. Durham felt that he had to accept that God does throw dice. He also discovered that this belief does not go against rationality.

Taking the combination of chance and selection that drives biological creativity as an example, Durham felt that many had been misled by phrases like "blind chance" and "unplanned development" into thinking that the universe just goes crazily on its way with no God to care or control it. He found it was not just chance alone, or natural selection alone, or any rigid law of development alone, which allows this creativity. It was all these elements operating together in the world we actually have. What results therefore, is not just anything.


The fact that our world has developed conscious creatures, marvellously responsive creatures, capable of responding to each other and to God could not be a matter of chance. But the believer must accept chance which provides the possibility of freedom and creativity, both components in God's design.


Durham's religious and scientific vision met when he realised that God allows real freedom to the world to create itself. Human beings have real responsibility. The world is full of tragedies, events, occurrences and experiences which are meaningless and cruel. But he felt, it was this very openness and unpredictability of nature, which allows these things to happen, which provide the raw material for human freedom, human development and ultimately human love.

How does the acceptance of unpredictability and freedom affect our vision? It makes us responsible human beings, responsible for ourselves and for the natural world, and conscious of the way in which we can spoil and destroy it. We are part of nature, yet responsible for it before God.


We do not need to bow to fatalism. We need not accept the premise that commercial pressures and scientific necessity have the last word. Time and chance may provide the matrix out of which our life flows, but the one who governs all is God.


God does throw dice. But that is because we have been born with human freedom, the freedom that allows us to respond to God. We are here to build a kingdom of love with the raw material that we have before us. Sometimes the raw material we have just decays or cracks or gives way in our hands. But in the seeds of that disintegration, are the beginnings of new life.

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Art of Cultivating Loving Detachment

Nov 3, 2004, 12.00am IST
SEEMA BURMAN.

Burdened with attachment towards his relatives, Arjuna was reluctant to wage war. Krishna tells him that a man who has become free from attachment, fear and anger is a man of wisdom; that true freedom lies in not doing what the mind craves for, because the mind makes us its slave. Once the mind desires something, it is stored up as vasanas and these vasanas get fulfilled one day, even if it means taking many births to fulfil it, but there is no surety that after fulfilment its outcome will bring happiness.


Swami Sivananda says that when someone dies, people cry because they are attached to the body of the person. Love spreads bliss while attachment brings sorrow. Some sanyasis leave their families to get rid of attachment, yet, they get attached to their guru and ashram. Renouncing everything, they get strongly attached, even more than householders. All objects that cause attachment are nothing but hindrances in the achievement of the goal of self-realisation.


Through life, we believe ourselves to be the body and refuse to rise above it. As for the mind, it gets used to expecting rewards. As a baby, we laugh, smile and play with everyone. But as we grow older, we expect a smile to be returned. Once the mind learns to work without any expectations it gets filled with purity and becomes free. Actually, each of us is a free, detached, realised soul, the only hindrance being attachment to the body.


Sage Vasishta advises the 14-year-old Prince Rama that to rid oneself of desires, the mind needs to undergo training. Only when the mind has practised to be unshaken in adversity, not yielding to pleasures, can one master one’s mind. He explains that one must shed the ego, the feeling that ‘I did this’ or ‘I did that’ and realise that it is the Supreme that is functioning through the body; that one cannot lift a limb without this power. That is why we need to perform duties without attachment, ego or desires. Then it leads to spiritual evolution. Ramakrishna Paramhansa said, "Resign everything to God. Then there will be no more confusion. Then you will realise that it is God who does everything". He advised devotees to turn the mind away from attachments and towards the Divine.


Krishna says: "Constantly thinking about something gives rise to attachment and then comes longing, followed by anger, delusion, loss of memory, ruin of discrimination and finally destruction" (Gita 2.62,63).
Even a minor desire can lead to major destruction. King Bharat renounced his kingdom to meditate in solitude but got so attached to a baby deer that while dying, his mind was on the deer. This resulted in his being reborn as a deer. People attach themselves to people, places or objects; it becomes their very reason to live. Being detached is understood as becoming indifferent. In a household some people sit in a dark corner with no interest in anything. That is not detachment.


Explaining the true meaning of Krishna’s detachment, Swami Ranganathananda says that the capacity to detach oneself from the sensory system is present in humans alone. Such people are able to love all. Love truly flows from within, with true detachment. The mind is the only instrument with which we can deal with the world or spiritual life. So, the mind must be kept pure, fresh and strong. One can develop tremendous detachment and yet have concern for the welfare and happiness of all — not the kind of detachment that makes us apathetic and unconcerned.

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