Maitri, Karuna & Mudita

A small conversation between a questioner and Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Q: I cannot fulfill my desires. I am too weak.

N: What makes you weak? What is weakness? Others fulfill their desires, why don't you?

Q: I must be lacking energy.

N: What happened to your energy? Where did it go? Did you not scatter it over so many contradictory desires and pursuits? You don't have an infinite supply of energy.

Q: Why not?

N: Your aims are so small and low. They do not call for more. Only God's energy is infinite - because he wants nothing for himself. Be like him and all your desires will be fulfilled. The higher your aims and vaster your desires, the more energy you will have for your fulfillment. Desire the good of all and the universe will work with you. But if you want your own pleasure, you must earn it the hard way. Before desiring, deserve.

Most our desires are finished with marriage and a career. No wonder, the fire within burns out and people start accumulating lot of impurities within - in the body and the mind. It is easily observable on how people put on so much weight and ego after marriage and / or after landing a good job.

Patanjali also talks about this. When one is established in friendliness, compassion and mudita (happiness on others good fortune), which means desires for the well being of all, one is powered by the divine directly.

maitri dishu balani (Yoga sutras, Vibhuti pada - 24)

When one is established in friendliness, compassion and mudita, then one is powered by great energy from within.

So then, can we hold the most noblest desire in our heart? Can we try and figure out the grand unifying theory of human suffering? Given that we humans practically have no predators, have tremendous scientific advancement to have prospered in all climatic conditions, we should have no poverty, no wars and no suffering whatsoever. But, sadly, that seems like a very far fetched ideal. Can we hold the desire in our hearts to change this mess?

This question when intensely held within with great sincerity, will naturally lead to problem of ignorance of an individuals true nature leading to the question 'Who am I?'. This will lead to Yoga, will produce individuals of the highest quality (imbued with universal love to the core) and will be the biggest force in bringing about peace in our society.

Day and night

‎"That which lives with the earth has to go through day and night. That which lives with the sun has no night." - Nisargadatta

Value from mind

‎"Nothing of value can happen to a mind that knows exactly what it wants. For nothing the mind can visualize and want is of much value." - Nisargadatta

Bhaja Govindam

Aging man in bus,

Economic Times open,

Bhaja Govindam!

Ganesh vs Muruga

While some quickly recognize it within; others have to travel the world, dissect it in detail and finally by the process of neti neti (not this, not this), arrive at it. How are you going to discover it?

Unfolding of the unknown

Three cheers to the joy of being able to effortlessly let the unknown unfold!

அப்பாவின் நடனம்

அப்பா திருநடனம் ஆடுவார், தாளம் போடுவார்!

அய்யன் ஆடுவார், தாளம் போடுவார்!

அன்பர் கூடுவார், இதை பாடுவார்!

Beautiful lyrics from this song

Firefly

The firefly's light is not an attempt to eliminate all darkness forever. That is the job of the sun. Instead, the firefly merely demonstrates the intensity of the darkness! So is the case with spiritual warrior - the motivation is to show the presence of ignorance, the universal cause of suffering. There is only one source of light for all of creation!

தீ

வயிற்றின் தீயாற உணவும்
மனதின் தீயாற உறக்கமும்
போதுமென்ற வழி அருள்வாய்
தன்னுள் தீயை வைத்து
உயிர் அனைத்தையும்
ஓளியால் அணைப்பவனே!

Evolving into Arjuna

This indeed is the pinnacle of Yoga - discovering the divine charioteer within and developing shibumi (japanese for effortless excellence) in every domain of ones life! If one does not evolve into this in this very life, I dare say, ones life has been wasted!

விழித்துக்கொண்டவனுக்கு வெற்றியா தோல்வியா?

ஜெயித்தவன் ஆணவத்தில் சுழல
தோற்றவன் துயரத்தில் உழல
விழித்துக்கொண்டவனோ
வெற்றிக்கும் தோல்விக்கும் கூறுவான்
பிம்பிலிக்கா பிலாப்பீ

Home on fire!

When ones house catches fire while one is sleeping, the three steps to be taken are
1.) Recognize and acknowledge the fire
2.) Step out of the house
3.) Pour water until the fire is doused

Similarly, if ones mind is angry / depressed / frustrated / irritated / lustful / any other negative emotion
a.) Recognize and acknowledge the negative emotion in the mind
b.) Step out of your mind, i.e., enter the space of choiceless awareness within
c.) Bring in lotsa love to douse the fire in the mind

All is well

Oscillating between "eat well, sleep well. all is well" and "all is well. eat well, sleep well"

Within and Without

One of the fundamental purposes of education is to develop genuine sensitivity towards the divine. Unfortunately, modern education has no connection whatsoever with this - with its primary focus on success and accomplishments (at best that is). The only motto is to find a livelihood. A few others go beyond and that too only to the extent of finding something they like in a manner that is not necessarily connected to all of existence. Its also not fair to blame the educational systems alone for causality is an infinitely complex web. Most educational institutions merely reflect the popular ethos of the society - greed and competition. When most individuals do not recognize the divine within and without there is bound to be mayhem in the society because there is no restraint on any of the senses or the mind. But, when the sensitivity to the divine guides actions, the all round mayhem we are witnessing in our world today is bound to come down.

Divinity can be seen everywhere. One simple needs the pure heart to see that. It can be seen in the action of Immaculee Ilibagiza when she forgave the person who killer her entire family during the massive pogrom in Rwanda in 1994. It can be seen in the courage of a 24 year old named Bhagat Singh, who stood up to the death sentence of the Britishers and refused to seek pardon during the Indian independence struggle. It can se seen in the wise and deeply humble words of Ramana Maharishi when he states that he feels everyone is a maharishi and that he no different and this despite popular reverence of him as living god. Such living examples are countless though only the popular ones reside in public consciousness. It can be seen in the mysteries of the physical world where despite tremendous scientific advancements, we still do not where mass comes from (higgs boson is yet to be discovered). It can be seen in the mind boggling vastness of space. It can seen in the infinite variety of life all around us that evolution has produced.

Higgs Boson. R u thr?

Only when the heart is developed to marvel at these, only when we can sense the divinity in these things, can we at all consider the possibility of divnity within us. If not, the mind is just way too active and thus prevents the arising of the sensitivity to the divine within. The divine inside us can be sensed in pure awareness where the individual is absent. Every moment of our lives we are biased by our life story and every thought we have ever had. The moment we can go beyond all of that, the divine within can se sensed. With a little effort from there one, the divinity within can be made the centre of our lives. At that moment, the divine within and the divine without merge into one single divinity.

Education of a human being necessarily needs to concern itself intimately with this. If not, with all our abilities to blast through mountains, we will only cause total havoc like we are doing now. But, if we retain sensitivity to the divine within, then all our immense physical powers may be directed appropriately leading to widespread peace and happiness. When we recognize the importance of this, will we not try and inculcate this within us and in our kids? Will we not inspire each other to recognize the divine within and without? Will we not ask serious questions on the nature of education we are subjecting our kids to?

திருக்கோதும்பி

மாலையில் கோடை மழை பொழிய
வீட்டினுள் தும்பி ஒன்று நுழைந்தது
திருக்கோதும்பியை படிக்க அவாவும் தோன்றியது
கை தானாக எடுத்தது திருவாசகத்தை!

Sādhana pāda

Looks like the 55 verses in sadhana pada (chapter on practices to evolve in Yoga) of yoga sutras can be split into two sets. One is this sutra -

samādhi-siddhir īśvara-praṇidhānāt (sutra 45)

Highest states of consciousness are manifested instantaneously by completing surrendering to the state of divinity / purity within where the individual built up from memory does not exist!

and the rest in another set!

வீடு அழைக்கையில்

வீடாகும் பூமி அழைக்கையில்,

என்ன செய்யும் வின்னில் உலாவும் மழைத்துளி?

இதயத்தின் அழைகுரல் கேட்கையில்,

மனதில் திரியும் இவன் என்ன செய்வான்?

Competition

‎"Because the master does not compete, (s)he has no competition" - Tao Te Ching

Fear - Fire

When one fights fear with fire, all the water within evaporates, thereby making the individual bone dry!

Inhale-Particle:Exhale-Wave

As inhalation happens, the particle is created out of the wave. As exhalation happens, the particle dissolves into the wave!

எப்படி ஆகட்டும்?

அப்படியும் ஆகவேண்டாம்
இப்படியும் ஆகவேண்டாம்
எது எவ்வாறு ஆகிறதோ
அது அவ்வாறே ஆகட்டுமே

Spiritual indulgence

The first page of the alcoholic drinks menu card of a restaurant I went today says 'SPIRITUAL INDULGENCE'!

I kinda semi agree - spirituality also intoxicates. But, the difference is that the usual intoxication makes one forget who one is, but the spiritual intoxication actually helps discover ones true nature!