nl vol-1 email issue 24

8/14/2019 NL Vol-1 Email Issue 24

1/8

16

BOOK-POST

TO,

What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but

loses his soul?

For Private Circulation only

Tapovan's Balayogis

Our little shimmering stars of

Nachiketa Tapovan Vidya Mandir

love to express themselves in the

form of drawings, paintings and

poems. Here's a glimpse of the magic

of our star!

We love

them all

dearly!

Reshma Khan

M. Ramesh

1

NACHIKETA TAPOVANPlot No.70, Phase I, Kavuri Hills, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033

Phone No. 040 23113887 Mobile No. 9849168937Regd. By Govt. of A.P. (Regd. No. 53/IV/99)

Volume: 1Issue :24

25th December, 2009FridayNachiketanjali

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.


2/8

2

EDITORIAL

Subhadra K.

Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my

voice and opens the door, I will come.

Contents Page No.

Message by Swamiji 3Mataji's Message 4Spiritual Diary 5Spiritual Quest 6Sri Ranganathananda 7Ma Sarada Jayanti 8Dental Health Camp 10

Story of a Vampire 11Workshop 12Nachiketanjali 13Sponsor Options 14An Appeal 15

Quotes byJesus Christ

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor

Subhadra K.

Editorial Consultants:

Annapurna R.Sowja A.

There is a touching verse in

Kathopanishad which points out Brahma

has given us such an excellent vessel, this

human body. The Jiva is dwelling inside this

body, sitting on the chariot, ready to move

forward. But then, the Creator punched

holes in this very good creation- eyes, ears

and all those senses. Through those holes

all my good intentions leaked out and ran

into the dust. Oh! Why did you (He) do such

a thing?

This gives room for introspection. Yogis

are aware and know how to block these

holes. It requires very strong control which

is difficult for a common man. So instead of

blocking these holes we can follow the path

of devotion, use our eyes to look forward

on our path, our ears to hear divine

messages, and our tongues to glorify God.The urge to speak is flowing from the

reservoirs of our minds and therefore it is

essential to clean up our minds. When we

feel it is beyond our control we have to

deliver it to the lotus feet of our Guru. A

Guru starts cleaning out our minds and

hearts for us. He takes a broom and steps

in there (our hearts) where we would even

fear to tread if we looked inside. Heaps

and heaps of garbage accumulated from

several births! But once we become

fortunate enough to win Gurus Krupa, itbecomes our duty to take a hint and stop

adding any more garbage and instead take

up the cleaning ourselves. We can catalyze

the cleaning process that the Guru started

by supplying detergents like noble acts.

3Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

The Pole

Swami Nachiketananda

In this

universe we

find two

d i f f e r e n t

poles. Similarly

we find two

different poles

in the body.And when we

look at it carefully and start analyzing,

surprisingly we find attraction between

two different poles and repulsion

between two similar poles. Why is it

so? Thats what Gods creation is all

about. When there is attraction we

should live in peace not in pieces. But

that never happens and we always find

ourselves struggling to get even

minimum joy and happiness. That

means even though there is attractionit is not necessary that it will always

bring joy in life and happiness in action.

If we find two similar or different

beings living together happily, we say

frequency is matching...wavelength is

matchingthoughts are matching etc.

But once we start carefully evaluating

this phenomenon we will come to know

that there is still some kind of selfishness

in that relationship. They might appear

to be living together but not really living

together in harmony, peace andhappiness.

There is one more state called non-

pole pole which exists without

attraction and repulsion. That is beyond

this universe and beyond two different

poles and their characteristics. When

they experience non-pole pole, we find

beings are living together in happiness

and joy. In fact everything is revolving

around non-pole pole but due to illusory

speed and rotation around the Self, it

appears to be creating two different

poles. And we the children of God, assume

this expression of universe to be real andact according to the law of selfishness.

Selfishness appears in this universe due

to two different poles and we easily fall

into our own illusory trap but blaming

others. It is not necessary to match our

frequencies or have similar kind of lifestyle

or attraction to live in. You could be from

any planet and yet live with anybody or

self without any commotion.

At the physical level we have attraction

and repulsion with crude selfishness and

at Subtle level or mind level we havevarious thoughts and ofcourse the same

attraction and repulsion but with refined

selfishness. Whereas beyond subtle level

we do not have thoughts and therefore

no attraction or repulsion or selfishness.

Life simply exists with bliss, purity and

contentment. Unselfish world is spiritual

world and those who know how to live in

spiritual world only can understand the

true existence of unselfish actsAs long

as there are poles we are bound to live

an ordinary life but once we go beyondpoles we will be living a spiritual life.

Therefore keep telling yourself that I

shall go beyond every pole and awaken

inner strength, courage and soul to see

peace, harmony and happiness all over.


3/8

4Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer

and intelligence.

Swami Shivanandamayi

Youth of India, Arise!

D e a r

Y o u t h ,

S w a m i

Vivekananda

a great sage

and patriot

of India said

I have faithin younger generation and

modern generation.

Are you going to make his

dream come true? Do you have

the capacity to build a healthy

and happy nation? Dont you

think today Indias condition is

bad? Almost in every field, from

education to politics, many evils

are present. Why? Because

today, youth is sleeping.Selfishness, ignorance, poverty,

temptation, depression and

greediness have made youth

lethargic and dependent. Due

to lack of understanding, for

small and silly reasons youth are

creating big nuisance in the

society. As torch bearers, do you

know where our society is

heading? Some youth due to

lack of clarity, are commiting

suicides, ruining their lives andothers' too. Is this the right step

towards Indias prosperity?

Todays technology is giving you

comfortable and luxurious life,

but not happy and harmonious

life. During Ramas period,

people never used to lock their homes and

they lived in harmony. The education which

they received was about life, not for only

livelihood. The root cause of todays problems

in society lies in our education system. The

education which you are pursuing today in

schools and colleges doesnt give you the

strength to withstand the difficulties youface. The aim of todays education is only

livelihood but not the life. As Swami

Vivekananda said, the modern education

can not produce a man of character, it can

only produce an intellectual animal but not a

good human being. Swami Vivekananda

always emphasized on character building

education.

Swami Vivekananda was a real patriot of

India, who glorified her in the parliament of

religion. Todays need of the hour is to take

the right step to bring back the glory of India.

It doesnt happen only through technological

development. Rather, every individual has to

develop ones own character. Youth needs to

discover their inner strength. You need to

over come lethargy. Thats why our

Upanishad says, "Arise!Awake! And stop not

till the goal is reached. The essence of Vedas

or Upanishads is it brings out the good in you.

Read Swamijis literature and draw

inspiration in the art of living. What he spoke

are not mere words; his teachings are sopowerful that they will lead you onto the right

path. His teachings will make you lion not

sheep.

5In the world you will have trouble but take courage for I have

conquered the world.

R. Annapurna

Spiritual Diary

It just dawned on me that one

more calendar year is just about to

end. And this is the time when we

ask each other what our resolution

is for the New Year. Before I get

there I am trying to assess my

accomplishments and

advancements over the last year.Ironically the same events that

looked like life and death issues at

that moment are the ones that

need effort to be recollected now.

The elapsed time not only brings in

the distance but also the sense of

detachment from the event. I guess

that is the beauty of time!

It is a common practice for a

doctor to ask one to maintain a

diary of everything he/she eatswhen suspecting food allergies,

trying to lose weight, etc. Similarly

it is helpful to maintain a diary of

significant events. A diary can

become a spiritual journal by

adding ones spiritual view point to

the bare event. Swamiji

Nachiketananda recommends

recording our dreams because they

are windows that provide glimpses

of ones subconscious mind which

in turn can be effective inunderstanding ones Self. Writing

a diary or journal is a discipline by

itself that needs time, will and

effort but would be very rewarding

when we look back and decipher.

Though as it occurs each day looks

unique and every conversation a fresh one,

from a long shot the comprising events fall

into a pattern. The set of factors causing

the predicaments and comforts in a given

period of time are same. So by reviewing

these we learn how we reacted and we

could have. Lesser the difference between

the two, the more at peace we are with

ourselves. At the same time we can identify

our Achilles heel and work on fortifying it.

Thus it can be a great tool of self analysis.

All said and done if we are not able to pick

up the habit of writing each day, we can try

weekly entries and if that is also not feasible

the best thing we can do is to clear accountsmentally on daily basis. At the end of the

day going over the days events and actions

with a calm and witnessing mind is a simple

exercise worth practicing in this journey

towards spirituality.


4/8

6 Live in me, let me live in you, says the Lord.

SPIRITUA

LQUEST

Swamiji answers questions from the seekers.Questions are welcome from everyone.

They can be e-mailed to [email protected]

How to differentiate between

imagination and vision?

Ans: Imagination means where

mind is involved whereas vision

means where mind is not involved.

Imagination is where calculations

are based on impressions that wealready have. Its a direct divine

song emerging from the Self

whereas imagination is an earthly

song materializing from the mind.

When imagination germinates

with the help of past impressions

we get the fruits in the form of

confusion or exhaustion whereas

when vision emerges we feel more

clear and relaxed. Imagination is

indirect and comes from the mind,

whereas vision is direct, comes

from the Self. Imagination hasnothing to do with spiritual

awakening and it may lead to

chaos whereas vision supports

spiritual awakening and leads to

total cosmos. Imaginations are

not clear and might not happen in

future or it might be totally based

on fantasy whereas visions are

clear and will happen in future and

are truly based on reality. Once

we have vision we can start

following the same without any

doubt. Then we do not need any

consent to move on. Visions are

direct and have got tremendous

spiritual impact on the world.

Visions are more clear and

authentic language of our inner

book. So by using this language

we can understand the inner book,

the essence and the writer.

How to balance spiritual and worldly

life?

Ans: It is very simple to tread the spiritual

path than the worldly path. And if we

combine both the paths and try to lead life

then it becomes impossible to tread. The

difficulty in following the combined path isdue to lack of understanding of what

spiritual path really is. Spirituality exists

everywhere. This is the foundation of every

life. Spiritual life means when self speaks

and you listen whereas worldly life means

when you speak and self listens. When self

speaks there is a smooth, continuous and

flawless flow which brings beauty in lives

whereas when you speak there is uneven

and chaotic flow and ugliness comes into

existence. Spirituality is all about selflessness

whereas selfishness stands for mundane

world. Therefore when we drop selfishnesswe become spiritual and when we cling on

to selfishness we become worldly. So what

we need is to be more unselfish and perform

every action. No matter what that action

is, if it is through unselfish motive we are

bound to lead the right amount of spiritual

life. Therefore my sincere advice to all is

there is no need to drop what you have, yet

you can be the most spiritual person on the

earth leading a balanced lifeSpirituality

never demands or commands it simply

accepts and offers. Be a true spiritual

person. Please do not cheat yourself. Present

yourself as you are. Please do not try to

exhibit what you do not have. Have your

own personality. Please do not imitate

externally. Imitation leads to death.

Therefore try to follow great souls

internally. Listen to the divine song which is

constantly springing from within every

moment of our lives.

Yes, I am with you always, until the very end of time. 7

SHRADDHANJALI

Swami Satyananda Saraswathi, is a beloved son of Ma Bharati. He made a

great contribution in propagating the ancient science of yoga in India as well as

abroad. He was born at Almora, Uttarpradesh, in 1923. In 1943 He met Swami

Shivananda Saraswathi in Rishikesh, where He lived as a Sannyasin for the next

12 years. In 1955 He left his Gurus ashram to live as a wandering mendicant

and later founded the International Yoga Fellowship in 1963 and the Bihar

School of Yoga in 1964. Over the next 20 years He toured internationally and

authored over 80 books. In 1987 He founded Shivananda Math, a charitable

institution for aiding rural development, and the Yoga Research Foundation. In

1988 He renounced his mission, adopting Kshetra Sannyasa, settled in Rikhia,

Jharkhand and lived as Paramahansa Sannyasin. Paramahansa Satyananda

who inspired millions to live the divine life attained Mahasamadhi on the

midnight of December 5th, 2009. We pay our humble obeisances to the great

spiritual soul.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

For one with an open heart, the whole world is one family.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Bihar School of Yoga.


5/8

9Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find; knock and the door

will be opened to you.8

Holy Mother Sarada Devi's Birthday Celebrations

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

The outstanding virtues of Indian womanhood are courage, serenity, self-control, sweetness, compassion, wisdom,

and an intuitive relationship with God. Holy Mother possessed all these virtues. Since the acquisition

of such gifts is the dream of all women, Holy Mother may aptly be seen as the symbol of

aspiration of women everywhere. - Swami Nikhilananda

We celebrated Holy Mother Sarada Devis Birthday on the 22nd December at Nachiketa Tapovan.

Om Namah Bhagavate Sri

Sarada mataya Namah Ma Sarada Devi


6/8

11Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid

them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven".

The Story of the Vampire

In the Vindhya forests there lived a Vampire who entered a certain territory in

search of food. However the Vampire had a principle that it wouldnt eat anyone

unless he/she would deserve to be killed. While in search of such a person the

Vampire finally met the king of a city.

The Vampire gave the king an option either to answer its questions correctly or

be devoured by it to satiate its hunger. The questions of the Vampire and the

kings answers to the same were as follows:

Q. What is that Sun the particles of whose rays are the universes?

A. That Sun is the Sun of Consciousness in whose light the universes are but

minutest atomic particles. It is because of the light of that Sun that all the other

things appear to be real.

Q. In what mighty wind does this mighty space manifest?

A. It is in the Supreme Self that the substances known as time, space and

motion and pure intelligence shine.

Q. One goes from one dream to another endlessly. During the course he does

not abandon the Self but abandons the dream-reality constantly. What is the

self?

A. The Self or Brahman only appears to migrate from one dream world to

another but does not. It neither abandons its own essential nature nor is it everignorant of itself.

Q. When you try to peel the stem of a banana tree, it reveals layer by layer

taking you deep inside to the pith; comparing the world to it, what would be the

core essence?

A. Every peeled layer of a banana stem reveals another similar layer. Similarly

when you enquire into the world-appearance you will be led to the Brahman or

the consciousness which is veiled by the universe that is rent asunder by diligent

enquiry into its real nature.

Q. Of which atoms are the universes part of?

A. The formless, extremely subtle, infinite and intangible Self is the very root of

the entire existence. It is by itself formless though it appears in all forms.Q. In which formless rock are the three worlds hidden?

A. In fact this world appearance is the flesh in which the truth or pure

consciousness is clothed.

Hearing the kings answers the vampire forgot its hunger and entered into

deep meditation. Adapted from Vasisthas Yoga by Swami Venkatesananda10

He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and

sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Dental Health Camp

A special Dental camp was organized by Nachiketa Tapovan on December 6 th

2009. Dr Surendra and his colleague Dr Rita, conducted the camp and provided

free dental check up and treatment. They enlightened the patients on oral

health care and prescribed medicines for the needy. Over 65 patients derived

the benefits of the free dental camp. Simple dental extractions were needed for

20 patients and Dr Surendra and his team offered to do free extractions at our

campus. We thank them for their commitment and zeal in serving the needy

and also for supplying us with free medicines.We offer our special thanks to Dr Sudhakar Reddy for treating 70 general

patients and duly acknowledge the commendable services rendered by the

volunteers of Tapovan who are the perfect examples of Swamijis perspective of

SILENT WORKERS.


7/8

Let one who has become wealthy reign, and let one who has

power renounce.12

Swami Shivanandamayi was invited by Vikas

Concept School to conduct a program on

Suryanamaskar for 1st to 10th class students. All thestudents were very disciplined, paid great attention

and enjoyed the program.

The management was very hospitable and

enthusiastic, encouraging discussions about the sages

and seers who introduced Suryanamaskar. They

expressed interest in organizing more such programs

by Nachiketa Tapovan for 10th class students.

Workshop on Suryanamaskar

Attentive listeners of

Vikas the concept School

13Love others as well as you love yourself.

Announcement

Dear Readers,

We are happy to announce the launch of

NACHIKETANJALI, a monthly magazine

with spiritual flavour for all age groups,

on January the 26th

of 2010.The response to the Announcement

cum pre-launch meet held at Tapovan

on the 5th of December 2009

was encouraging and soulful.

You are invited to be a part of Nachiketanjali by

Writing articles, stories, columns etc.

Contributing educational material

Subscribing to the Magazine

Encouraging subscriptions

Gift subscribing to schools, Libraries,

charitable Institutes and organizations

Becoming patrons

Becoming a core member or panelist

Being a sponsor or referring to sponsors

Please note that

Dec.25th issue of Nachiketanjali will be the last newsletter

making way to Nachiketanjali the magazine, February issue

of which will be debuting on January 26 th. There will be no

newsletter or magazine for the month of January. Thesubscription details will be posted shortly.


8/8

14For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who

humbles himself will be exalted.

Are you

growing

spiritually? Can

you love

others? Can you

feel oneness

with others?

Have you peace

within yourself

and do you

radiate it

around you?

On the 15 th December, the family of Tapovan celebrated Swami

Ranganathananda Maharajs 101st birthday with simplicity and devotion.

Vasundhara Ma who was greatly inspired by Sri Ranganathanandajis ideas

and eternally energized by His spirituality shared her experiences on this

occasion.

We used to gather for Satsangs with Maharaj in His room and one day I

noticed that the curtains for the windows were tearing in places. I wanted to

replace them with new ones and asked Swamiji for His permission to which

He gently yet firmly refused. He showed us His chair which was also not in

such good condition but has been serving its purpose for the last 40 years and

taught me one of my lifes most important lessons- Do not waste money.

After Satsangs there used to be Pranaami sessions where the bhaktas

would line up and take His blessings. There used to be many but Swamiji,

though His health was not at its best by then blessed very patiently one by

one, addressing everyone by name. And whenever a child comes He would

light up with joy and give them chocolates. Every penny received from the

devotees during Pranaami was donated to needy organizations without any

delay. He was true to his teachings. Once on the occasion of Gurupoornima

my sister and I paid our respect along with some amount in an envelope each.Though very unusual of Him Swamiji quickly enquired what the amount was!

I replied with some surprise that it would add up to Rs 5500/- and His face

glowed with happiness and exclaimed that it was the exact amount He needed

for this one person utterly in need of money. Our joy was unexplainable that

God gave us an opportunity to make this Spiritual Titan happy and to this day

I cant forget the feeling.

That is

called

spiritual

growth, which

is stimulated

by meditation

inwardly,

and by work

done in

a spirit of

service

outwardly.

Swami Ranganathanandaji's Birthday

15For we walk by faith, not by sight.

We cordially invite you

With family and friends to the celebrations of

ANNUAL DAY,REPUBLIC DAY

&

LAUNCH OF

Nachiketanjali,OUR MONTHLY MAGAZINE

On Tuesday

26th January 2010.TIME: 10 AM

VENUE: NACHIKETA TAPOVAN

CHIEF GUEST:

SRI PRAKASA RAO,

Regional Manager SBI

Spiritual Prasad will be served at the end of the programme.

Swami Nachiketananda

Yours in the service of Motherland

INVITATION

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