vedanta sandesh - june 2012

7/31/2019 Vedanta Sandesh - June 2012

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Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission

Year 18 Issue 12Kvof!3123


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In This Issue

1. Vedanta Section: Atma Bodha - Shloka-43

2. Letter Section: What is Meditation?

3. Gita Section: Swadharma

4. Story Section: King Sibi

5. VM Programs: Mission / Ashram Progs


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Fr om P o oj y a Gu r u j i

Hari om !

Last month we talked about Death being an inevitable truth of lifealso that the very awareness of this truth becomes an amazing teacher tolive a complete, holistic and righteous life. Lets continue our reflections osubject and get some more deeper insights about death.

Basically there are two kinds of deaths. One, permanently leavinpresent body, but just to take up yet another one and continue our experieelsewhere; and two, because of some deep fundamental realization we up to another dimension altogether wherein we realize ourself to be frbirth & beath. In the former, the limited individual, the Jiva - the seeker, devarious experiences continues to exist; while in the latter all sense of limita

are discovered to be imaginary and thus all such erroneous perceptionsand thus there is no seeker at all. When there is no seeker, therefore theduality of seeker and sought is also no more, and an infinite, non-dual & timtruth is realized as our very Self. Here, in the true sense, there is the dethe Jiva, once for all. The former kind of death is by leaving this physical but the latter kind of death is as though 'seen' while in this body itselfformer kind of people are those who not only take the indiduality as the but the ever changing world too is taken as truth. Every changing thinthough tells us that there was a time when I was not, and soon enoughcease to exist, yet we continue to happily believe that all this will exist foThe greatest spoilsport of their life is death, because it will take away all

they lived & worked for. They fear death, and interestingly all those whodeath can never life life fully.On the other hand there are some rare few, who do not start wit

premise that the individuality and also the world as we see, is the truth. changing nature itself reveals that the changeless is apart from all this of flux. They question the very existence of individuality and go into its geThey go into the truth of how the thoughts arise from a thoughtless realmalone is the real secret of creation. The seeker and the sought arefragmentations created by our thoughts. The individuality has no exisapart from our thoughts, and so also all our objects of likes & dislikes. Thare just thoughts. With thoughts alone comes the realm of time & space all its ramifications of our choking limitations, fragmented & ephe

existence, endless seeking, birth & death etc. Once we realize all this to brealm of thoughts, and also discover how these thoughts arise, we the'see' the permanent negation of thoughts. This negation of thoughts is thdeath of Jiva, and the fellow will obviously be never born again, because first place he never was. This death alone is called as Moksha - freeliberation. Such awakening waits for all those who prefer to understand rather than run away from it. For such people alone the human life is reato be the greatest blessing, because here alone we can enquire & awak

Love & om.

Swami Atmananda

Vedanta SandeshSpreading Love & Light

Monthly eMagazine of theInternational Vedanta Mission

Sharing the message of Vedanta and Sanatan Dharma

June 2012

On the Net since 1995

Started by:

oojya Guruji Sri Swami Atmanandaji

Editor:

Swamini Samatananda

Published from:

Vedanta AshramE/2948-50, Sudama Nagar

Indore-452 009, India

Web:

www.vmission.org.in

Email:

[email protected]


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Aruneneva bodhen:The Acharyas bouquet of flowery examples

denoting the principles of Vedanta appears to con-tain one flower better than the other. In this slokatoo the Acharya comes up with an amazing exampleto explain the dispelling of the darkness of ignoranceand unveiling of an enlightening morn. In our day to

day experience we see that after a dark night thedense darkness is first dispelled by dawn and thenslowly we see the rising sun untill finally the com-plete revelation of the Sun takes place. Day lightdoes not come about suddenly like a flash of a bulb,as if a button has been clicked and suddenly dark-ness is dispelled and lo and behold the sun appears,and it is day time. Slowly, first the dawn dispells thedarkness and then the rising sun reveals itself. Justlike the arrival of a V.I.P is first known by the arrival

of his Pilots, the fleet of security personnel and then

is seen the entry of the V.I.P in the scene, so too thactual rise of the sun is preceded by Aruna thphase of Dawn that lights up the sky and dispethe darkness even before the sun has actually riseThe sun is preceeded by a charioteer, just like thPilots arrive before the arrival of a dignitary. Knowedge of the Scriptures is also similar to this. Just a

before the view of the rising sun the darkness already dispelled by the light of dawn, so too, bfore the self revelation of the Atman, the very knowedge of the scriptures dispells the darkness of inorance.

Poorvam santamase hrite:The Atman is not revealed in one particul

moment like the flash of a bulb. Before the rise the Sun of the Self-Knowledge the darkness of i

norance has already been destroyed.

In the previous sloka the Acharya explained that the intense and consistent contemplation on thJiva and Paramatma brings about awakening into the state of knowledge. This process of contemplatiowas explained by a metaphor of the churning of two wooden sticks to invoke fire in Vedic rituals. The fire knowledge that arises in Nidhidhyasanam burns away our ignorance totally with certainty. Just as ficonsumes all firewood so does knowledge destroy all delusions. Having explained thus, a question arisethat does the awakening in the Real Self take place as soon as knowledge is brought about or after havingained complete knowlege? The following sloka illustrates how the Supreme manifests itself as soon aignorance is swept away by knowledge.

Vedanta Section

Atma Bodha - Shloka 43

Self Reveals when Ignorance is removed

anta Sandesh - June 2012

Aruneneva bodhen poorva santamase hriteTatah aavirbhavedaatma swayameva amshumaniva

Aruneneva:Like Aruna, the charioteer of the Sun; bodhen: by knowledge; poorvam: at first;santamasehrite: when the dense darkness is dispelled; tatah: then; avirbhavet: will manifest;atma: the atman; swayameva: itself; amshumaniva: like the sun.

The Lord of the early dawn (Aruna) himself has already looted away the thick darkness,when soon the sun rises. The Divine Consciousness of the Self rises when the right knowledgehas already killed the darkness in the bosom.

43


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In the process of gaining knowledge it is im-portant to know that there are two phases of knowl-edge. One is Indirect knowledge and the other isDirect Knowledge. When one faithfully and sincerelystudies at the Holy Feet of the Guru and grasps thekowledge intelligently and faithfully, it is the firstphase of Indirect knowledge. This is a phase whenone itellectually appreciates the knowledge and also

slowly works to embibe the knowledge more clearlyand make it ones own direct experience. Secondlywhen having cleared all the doubts in the mind andwhen one sincerely and consistenly contemplateson the knowledge and practises it untill it becomeshis very own nature, one glides into direct knowl-edge. Direct knowledge implies when finally eventhe thoughts of knowledge are not required. there isno effort made to retain the awareness of the realnature of the Self, but one revels in his very ownself effortlessly. I become I, eternal, self-reveal-ing and blissful.

When here the Acharya says that the darkessis destroyed even before the actual rising of the sunit implies that the darkness of ignorance too startsfading off by the very phase of indirect knowledge.All the dellusion and all the impurities born ofdellusion, the sense of limitation and its consequen-tial seeking is dissolved. One starts feeling the senseof liberation from the time one starts gaining theknowledge of the Scriptures. The individual Jiva who

is bound by the shackles of limitations and by asense of doership and enjoyership starts experienc-ing a sense of liberation by overcoming personallikes and dislikes, by expanding his vision from indi-viduality to totality and from totality to oneness withParmatma. Indirect knowledge already starts reflect-ing the nature of the Self as a Self contented bliss-ful state of existence.Tatah aavirbhavedaatma:

The Acharya explains that having gained the

knowledge of the Scriptures when one starts neging the Anatman then the Atman reveals itself byself. This is a significant point one must understathat the Atman was always there even in the stateignorance. It is not in opposition against ignoranceis that light which reveals ignorance and knowledboth. It is knowledge which is in opposition to igrance and therefore the gaining of knowledge nega

ignorance. Hence, by gaining knowledge the Atmis not brought into existence, but that ignorancedestroyed due to which the the Atman is vieled by impurities of the mind and the wrong understandof the Self as a limited being. In the process of knoedge one negates this sense of individuality andimpurities and the Atman is thus revealed by itseffortlessly. This state of effortless revelation is a stwhen even the thought that I am Brahman is droppThe role of the Scriptures is to bring about an awaness of the Self, but as long as the thought is a

there it reflects a sense of division of a thinker athe thought. But the true revelation of the Atmanwhen even this division of the thinker and the thouis dropped and what remains is pure existence. Tis the state one glides into, in the seat of meditatand this oneness is also thus reflected in the life operson of knowledge.

Swayamevaamshumaaniva:The Atman is Self-revealing. It does not ne

another light to reveal it. Once a person truly negaall projections of mind, the Anatma, then the SRevealing Atma is directly realized, it reveals itselfitself. The knowledge of the Scriptures is like dawAruna and the Self revelation of the Atman is the rising of the Sun.

In the Gita Bhagwan Krishna says For thoin whom this ignorance is destroyed by the knoedge of the Self that knowledge like Sun reveals supreme.

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6/16anta Sandesh - June 2012

When I was a little bitty kiddy, about five, my Dad began a process anytime somebody came and said something to us, my dad would say, "Youremember what he said, honey girl? I would tell my father what the personsaid until I got so good at it that I could repeat verbatim even long presentationsof what the person had said. And he did this all the time.

Finally, one day there was this old gentleman, Richard Thompson. Istill remember his name, he lived across the street. And every time my Dadstarted to mow the lawn, there came Mr. Thompson. And so I would standout there.

Dad says, You might come and listen to this man, honey girl. Hespretty interesting. And so I listened to him, and then my dad would say,What did you hear him say? And I would tell him.

Well, eventually I was repeating all the stories he liked to share withmy dad verbatim. I knew them all by heart.And my Dad says, Youre gettingpretty good at that. But did you hear his heart?" And I thought, what? So Iwent around for days with my ear to people's chest trying to hear their hearts.

Finally my Dad created another learning situation for me by askingmy mother to read an article from the newspaper. He says Well, I guess ifyou want to understand that article, you have to read between the lines."Ithought, "Oh, read between the lines. Hear between the words."

So the next time I listened to Mr. Thompsons stories, I tried to listenbetween the words. My Dad said, I know you know his story, but did youhear his heart? And I said, "Yes. He is very lonely and comes and shareshis memories with you again and again because hes asking you to keep himcompany in his memories."It just came out of me. In other words, my heartechoed his heart.

And when you can listen at that level, then you can hear not only thepeople. If you really pay attention, you can hear what the Universe is saying.

If you really Pay Attention


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8/16danta Sandesh - April 2009

NoCa

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rief

anta Sandesh - Mar 2012

For all human beings action is inevitable. whether it is for the sake of surviva

looking after the body, for the family, for the society, for the country, whatever it is,

we all must. This inevitability of action intrinsically drives a person to persue a fiel

action. Although all of us generally participate in various actions all through the day

amidst all this there is always one predominant field of action towards which on

naturally pulled to, and which one takes up as his own predominant field of action. T

intrinsic pull towards a field of action in todays Psychological language is known

ones Aptitude. In the Gita Bhagwan Krishna uses a very pregnant term for a pers

aptitude and that is Swadharma. What is Swadharma? How is ones Swadha

decided and what is the significance of performing actions as per ones Swadharma

this as explained in the Gita from the point of view of our worldly developments and f

the point of view of our spiritual journey. This is the subject of our understanding in

following Gita Section.

What is Swadharma?

The word Swadharma refers both to the intrinsic nature of our mind(from

inclination point of view) and also the Real nature of the Self.

In this section we will focus on understanding Swadharma from the point of v

of the inclination of the mind. At the level of the mind it refers to the deep rooted imp

sions on the mind due to our past actions or karmas. These past impressions are

known as ones vasanas in the scriptural language. Our mental impressions help

cern the Varna of every individual. This has been broadly classified into four types in

Hindu Scriptures as Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, which in the mod

times has come to be known as the Caste System. Unfortunately in todays times

whole Varna sytem is brought to the mind as a very evil system reflecting social exp

tation of the labour class. But the Great thinkers of yore who gave us this sytem h

actually given us a psychologically perfect system for the division of labour. But a

often happens that systems are used and misused over a period of time. So too, du

lack of right understanding this universal classification of human inclinations has

fered a social stigma.

The fundamental principle of practising ones swadharma is intitiating a per

in a particular work field as per his inclinations. This is discerning ones Swadharm

Swadharma brings out the Best.

If the field of work is decided as per ones inclination it brings out the bes

every form, the action, the result and above all the attitude. One often sees that ac

becomes a burden, a field of anxiety, stress and fatigue. Why is this so? When we

a person who is very passionate about music, he practises music tirelessly for ho

and hours, for years together, and still yearns for more. He is passionate about learn

about practising and when he performs in public one can see, it his love flowing

There is no stress, no fatigue. this is because he is doing what he loves to do. Whe

person does what he loves to do the most, he enjoys his actions. His action is not a

Swadharma:

O

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9/16 Pa

or work anymore it is an expression of his love. In that case even if he has to toil d

night, the sweating out alone gives him great pleasure. One of the biggest blessin

swadharma is that the person who loves his work and is enjoying it bears the fruits o

while performing the very action. His sucess and happiness does not depend on

result of the action, but he has reaped his success of joy every moment of performin

action and as far as the results are concerned there is no doubt that when a pers

actins reflect passion, love, dedication, hard work, sucess will surely follow. Such a

son need not follow success, but success would want to embrace this loving and dyn

person. Money, fame, success, all these things are a bonus for such people. Infact t

people get paid for what they love to do. They excell and specialise in whatever the

One thing a person must remember that being successful in your chosen work field

not always mean earning loads of money and fame. Success does not mean al

becoming a celebrity in society. Being a housewife, a peon, a maid, a bank officer, o

job that is done with good intentions, dedication, love and apart from the self when

done for the welfare of others, is a success. Every person passionate and selfless i

work field is a hero by himself. Such people never suffer from the evils of unemploym

Such are the blessings of practising ones swadharma.

Swadharma is tuning ones self to God:

We as living beings are a part of the cosmic whole. The cosmos which is a d

creation of God. We cannot consider our existence independant of Gods existence

as human beings or any living being exist as a creation of God. Hence a holistic life is

which is lived with this identity of being a part of the totality. Our inclinations, our aptitu

our swadharma is the role that God has discerned for us to play. Recognizing ones

nation is recognizing what God has made us for, and seeing ones self as a part of G

creation we then have an attitude of playing ones role to the best of our ability and

divine instrument of God. All our actions become a loving offering to that divinity bec

of whom we exist. And any divine action will surely bear the fruits if success in the ma

world too. But the mot important unseen fruit of this attitude is being able to per

actions lovingly as a divine instrument, enjoying ones work, and no worries of the f

result.

Swadharma brings about purification of the mind for spiritual unfoldment:

The performance of action as per ones inclination brings about purity of the m

thereby fascilitating spiritual unfoldment. Knowledge of the Self can only be brought a

in a pure mind. A pure mind is a sattvik mind, a mind which is selfless, intelligent, s

tive, free of individual likes and dislikes and enthusiastic. A person with a pure mind acomes to question his understanding of himself and life. He therefore comes to re

that the basic problem in life is the wrong understanding of the Self and the world. He

takes the initiative to not only enquire into the truth but such a mind set alone is rea

dive deep into the subtle knowledge of the Self.

Actions performed on the basis of ones inclination and love for ones work b

about integration of the mind and the intellect and selflessness. A mindset devoid o

individual anxieties alone can sit at the Feet of the Master and enquire into the truth

awaken into ones Real Swadharma(nature of ones Real Self) as the absolute truth,

consciousness and Bliss.

Pa



A mechanic was removing the cylinder heads from the motor of acar when he spotted the famous heart surgeon in his shop, whowas standing off to the side, waiting for the service manager to

come to take a look at his Car.

The mechanic shouted across the garage, Hello Doctor!! Pleasecome over here for a minute.

The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic.

The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and askedargumentatively, So doctor, look at this. I also open hearts, takevalves out, grind em, put in new parts, and when I finish this willwork as a new one... So how come you get the big money, whenyou and me is doing basically the same work?

The doctor leaned over and whispered to the mechanic.................Doctor said : Try to do it when the Engine is RUNNING

A Marvelous Answer


11/16Pdanta Sandesh - April 2009

Pa

Onceup

on

atime...

Stories bySages

King Sibi

King Sibi was the son of Usinara a famous king of Chandravam(Lunar dynasty). He was renowned for his liberality and unselfishness an

said to have saved Agni (transformed into a dove) from Indra(transform

into a hawk) by offering his own flesh.

It so happened that once to test the high character of Sibi, Indra

sumed the form of a falcon and pursued the Lord of Fire (Agni) to take

form of a dove, to kill it. In dire distress, the dove approached the King

asked for refuge. Moved by intense compassion Sibi readily prom

succour. The falcon that pursued the dove came to King Sibi and rem

strated with him that it was pursuing the dove, which was its natural fo

The falcon demanded that the King should hand over the dove. But the

said that he had given promise to the dove to save its life and therefore

was unable to accede to this demand. Thereupon the falcon asked King

to give up a portion of his flesh, to be equal in weight to that of the dove

satisfying its own hunger. King Sibi readily agreed to do so and began to

a portion of his thigh and weighed it in the balance against the dove. But

weight of the dove was greater. Thereupon, the King proceeded to cut oportions of the flesh from his body and weighed them in the balance. St

was found that the dove was heavier in weight. Finally, the King placed

self in the pan offering the flesh of his whole body to the falcon.

When this climax was reached, the falcon assumed its real form

Indra and praised the King for his heroic sacrifice for the sake of the d

and said: Your fame will last so long as the world lasts.

The story of King Sibi is unique in many respects. Not only do we

illustrated therein the unbounded love which a person should entertain

wards all beings including birds and beasts, but also the paramount dut

protecting even at the risk of ones own life for anybody who seeks refu

This duty relates even to the beings other than ones own kind like the bi

the story.


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VedantaMissio

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You cannot stop troubles from coming towards you. But we need

not offer them chairs to sit don

Time and Smile are two crucial things in life. Sometimes Time

makes us forget, to smile and sometimes a smile makes us forget

time.

There is no use of running fast when you are on the wrong road.

First find the right way in life then proceed.

Good things come to those who wait. Better things come to those

who try. Best things come to those who believe in their efforts.

Truth is like a surgery, It may hurt but it cures. Lie is like a pain

killer . It gives relief at that time but has side effects later.

A desire changes nothing. A Decision changes something but a

determination changes everything.

A Duck looks smooth and calm on top of the water but under that

there is a restless snack.

There is no Royal Road to success, but after sucess every road

becomes royal.

Quotes


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Page # 15

For t h com i n g P r og r a m s

Guru Poornima Celebrations, Indore:

This year Guru Poornima, the Jayanti of Bhagwan Sri Veda Vyasaji will be celebratedat Vedanta Ashram on 3rd July 2012. This day is dedicated to our spiritual teachers. Puja ofthe paduka of Sri Sankaracharya will bo done at 9:30 AM at Ashram.

Vedanta Camp, Indore:A week-long Vedanta Camp is being organized at Vedanta Ashram, Indore from 11th

to 17th Aug, just after Sri Krishna Janmashtami on 10th Aug. The subject matter of thediscourse series will be Sri Ram Gita of Adhyatma Ramayana.

Vedanta Camp, Rishikesh:A Sadhana Camp will be organized at Sw Dayananda Ashram at Rishikesh from 11th

to 16th June by Poojya Guruji and Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji. The subject matter of thediscourses will be Drg-Dryshya Viveka and Gita Chapter 14. Campers to arrive by 10th eveningand leave by 17th morning.

Page

Gita Gyana Yagna, Lucknow:A week-long Gita Gyana Yagna by Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji will be conducted atHari om Mandir, Lucknow from 16th to 22nd Oct 2012. The evening discourse will concludeon 22nd evening, and the morning one on 23rd.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Lucknow:A week-long Gita Gyana Yagna by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji will be con-

ducted at Hanuman Setu Mandir, Lucknow from 17th to 23rd Nov 2012.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai:A week-long Gita Gyana Yagna by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji will be con-

ducted at Ramkrishna Mission Hall, Khar, Mumbai from 10th to 16th Dec 2012. On 9th Dec abig Cultural Event will be orgnaized at Manik Sabhagruh Hall, Bandra.


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International Vedanta Mission News Blog:http://vmissionews.blogspot.com/

This is a Net Publication of the

International Vedanta Mission

Om Tat Sat

vedanta sandesh - june 2012

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