Suspend Judgement

The ability to suspend judgement is a mark of maturity. What would it take to suspend judgement forever but still respond compassionately and skilfully to the challenges life throws at one? What would be the nature of such a being?

Ishta Devata

Ishta devata (Heart felt divine being) is the essential nature of ones heart! Trying to discover that continuously, with or without external support, helps to align oneself in the direction of letting that manifest in the world!

svadhyayad ishta devata sanprayogah (Yoga sutras - chapter 2, sutra 44)
Self-study and reflection on yourself (svadhyaya) brings you into contact with the desired ideal.

Excellence vs Purity

Most institutions around the world want to be centres of excellence! Excellence is an intellectual / mind based idea. Its not wrong. It is indeed wonderful but it lacks depth! When we think of Lord Ram, it is not excellence that comes to mind (though there was a lot of excellence), but it is purity. Purity will almost certainly lead to excellence but excellence does not guarantee purity. When excellence is mindlessly pursued without being founded on purity, institutions become groundless and all the energy is quickly dissipated. Thus, the road to hell, one may say, is paved with excellence that is devoid of underlying purity! Where are the institutions of purity around the world? Why are'nt we creating them?

ஏசுதாசையா

உள்ளம் உருகுதையா ஏசுதாசையா!
உந்தன் தெய்வீக குரலில்,
தேவகானம் கேட்கையில்!

Ahara suddhau

Ahara suddhau sattva suddhih
Sattva suddhau dhruva smrtih
Smrtilambhe sarvagranthinam vipramoksah

When the food to mind / senses is clean, mind is in sattva state!
When the mind is in sattva, ones divine nature is recognized!
When that is done, all knots we face in life are resolved!

-- Chandogya Upanishad

Meditation vs Prayer

That which the mind / intellect calls meditation, the heart calls as prayer! Either way, it is effective only when the being is transformed like the way polluted air filled with dust, smoke and particulate matter is cleansed after a heavy rain!

No positions

Whenever we take any position, the Tathāgata points out its incorrectness! No position is totally correct! All positions are partial! Only when one is completely free of the three gunas, can one genuinely take a stand (out of compassion and quest for truth) and push for its voice to be heard!

Staying ahead of the curve

How does one stay ahead of the curve in ones life?

Being deeply established in uncaused internal peace, leading to highly resilient stable relationships (that will stand all kind of stresses) is the foundation of staying ahead of the curve! Yoga practice that leads to this is the best of its kind. Good physical health will naturally result and then one can be perfectly well poised to take on the evolutionary challenge of letting the inner seed flower! Wanting anything else in ones life is substitute gratification!

வாழ்க்கை பரமபதம்

Game of snake and ladder in life!

Awakening the soil!

Partaking in the task of reconstructing a potentially fertile but degraded land, cull the superficial froth, enable the land discover its natural vigour, identify the seeds that lie dormant within it and to top it off, see a tiny sapling emerging in a highly challenging and competitive environment is indeed most gratifying!

What / Who is Ram?

When one discovers the answer to the question 'What is Ram?', the possibility of discovering 'Who Ram is' opens up.

வீணைக் கொடியுடைய வேந்தனே

யாழீகாமா

யாமாமாநீ யாமாமா யாழீகாமா காணாகா
காணாகாமா காழீயா மாமாயாநீ மாமாயா

http://365paa.wordpress.com/2011/07/30/025/

Drishti - srishti

"yatho drishti thatho srishti"
As the vision is, so is creation!

Living economy - Living democracy

Living Economy, Living Democracy – by Vandana Shiva

"... we’re creating scarcity in an abundant world. Poverty is a human creation – nature doesn’t create scarcity – human systems do. But two processes are making humans more equal: climate change and running out of oil."
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"The big shift Gandhi made was to explain that having a lighter footprint on the planet was not to be more primitive, but to be more sophisticated as a species.”

யூட்யூபிலும் இருப்பார்

Amrta Bindu Upanishad vs Prajnaparamita hrdaya sutra

na nirodho na cotpattiḥ na baddho na ca sādhakaḥ,
na mumukṣurna vai muktaḥ ityeṣā paramārthatā

This state of supreme truth is one where there is no dissolution nor creation, no one bound, nor a spiritual practitioner, none a seeker of liberation nor indeed a liberated one!

-- Amrta Bindu Upanishad


iha sariputra sarva-dharmah sunyata-laksala, anutpanna aniruddha, amala avimala, anuna aparipurnah.

Here, O Sariputra, all phenomena of existence are characterized by voidness: neither born nor annihilated, neither blemished nor immaculate, neither deficient nor overfilled.

-- Prajnaparamita hrdaya sutra

Viveka

Cultivation of Viveka or discriminative intelligence!

Sankara vs Ramanuja

அனற்கூறும் பெருமனலும் ஒப்பாம்
நீர்துளியோ ஆழ்கடலின் சேவகனாம்!

A spark is one with the flame,
whilst a drop is at the service of the ocean!


Sankara vs Ramanuja
In Sufi language
As I see it :)

ஆத்ம கிரஹணம் -> தர்ஷனம்

தமஸ் ஜனனம்,
ஆத்ம கிரஹணம்,
சத்தவ மரணம்!

உதவும் சமணம்,
யோக சரணம்,
ராம ஸ்மரணம்,
ஆத்ம தர்ஷனம்!

Shreya and Preya

Shreya and Preya - At the level of the individual and at the level of the society!

Form and function

In Yoga there is form (the external appearance) and function (what the form does to the subject). There are billions of paths to Yoga (in the sense of union with the divine) and any individual can master only a few. When faced with a new form of Yoga, we mostly see only the form and miss the function. Keeping this in mind helps one to understand new forms of Yoga as we encounter them.

A person not introduced to Yoga, will see the inversion of the body in the above picture. But, a trained person in yoga sees the fire in the tummy coming in contact with the impurities stored below it by (which does not happen in the normal posture)

Similarly, people not exposed to words of JK, only see him speaking and speaking and doing more speaking. But, for many, it leads to the awakening of the perfect wisdom in the bosom of the heart.

Different forms of yoga - not everyone sees the function in every one of them, IMO!

யசோதா

என்ன தவம் செய்தனை யசோதா,
எங்கும் நிறை பரபிரம்மம் அம்மா என்றழைக்க?

Hind Swaraj study group

Hind Swaraj study group third meeting (talking / discussing Gandhi's ideals, vision (which is breathtaking in its foresight), critiquing it from a modern day perspective, yoga perspective, defending it from many angles (particularly the nasty consequences of modern civilisation), trying to understand the complexities / peculiarities / defects / greatness in the man and his life)! Great evening yet again!

சோன் பப்டி

சோன் பப்டி ருசிக்கு சாபிடலாம்,
பசிக்கு சாப்பிடலாமோ?

ராமனே

"ஊனின்மேய ஆவிநீஉ றக்கமோடு ணர்ச்சிநீ
ஆனில்மேய ஐந்தும்நீஅ வற்றுள்நின்ற தூய்மைநீ
வானினோடு மண்ணும்நீவ ளங்கடற்ப யனும்நீ
யானும்நீய தன்றியெம்பி ரானும்நீயி ராமனே."
-- திருமழிசைஆழ்வார்
...
You are the sleep and waking states, the life within the body-case, the five-delights of cow is you, the purity in them is you. The earth and sky and ocean-deep are you and all their wealth is you. My soul is you, my Master too is you my Lord O Sita-Ram.

via: http://www.agriculturetheaxisoftheworld.com/2012/01/blog-post.html