Thursday, May 31, 2012

ஏழிலிருந்து இரண்டு!

ஏழில் வழுக்கி, இரண்டில் விழுந்து
ஆறை மறந்து, ஒன்றில் ஒழிந்து
நான் வாழவே நீ எண்ணினாயோ?
ஏழின் மேலும், ஒன்றின் கீழும்
நான்கின் பின்பும் ஒழிந்திருப்பவனே!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

கண்டேன்

ரோகியின் ரோகம் அஞ்சேன்
போகியின் போகம் விரும்பேன்
யோகியின் யோகம் தொடறேன்
ஏனெனில்,
அவனின் லீலை கண்டேன்!

மௌனம்

மௌனம் சரணம் கச்சாமி!
Silence, I come to thee for refuge!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

சூறாவளியில் பொரி

சூறாவளியின் கொடுங் கூற்றில் மாட்டிக்கொண்டு
திசையின்றி பறக்கும் பொரிபோல் திரிகின்றேன் பண்டு நான்கு
விதங்கொண்ட மறைகள் போற்றும் அரங்கமா நகர் உளானே!

What did the Buddha realise?




A friend of mine asked me this question recently - 'What did the Buddha realise?'. This is the answer I gave.

**********
To obtain answers to serious questions such as these, one needs to analyse ones life. The answers can be found by looking at ones life. This is how I do it. This explanation is from my experience. Please be forewarned that different people may explain the same thing differently.

Lets take something you own - for example, your car. Let assume some guy throws a cricket ball and breaks your windshield. What is your reaction? Naturally, we will be annoyed / angry etc. But, if the same thing happens to our neighbours car, we will not have the same set of emotions. We will empathise with our neighbour and we may also fear that it might happen to us. But, clearly, the set of emotions are different. Why is this so? The immediate answer is that when my care is broken I am affected. I have paid hard earned money for this etc etc. All of this is correct. But, it is also possible to look at it from another perspective.

Let me just propose that we are angry when our cars windshield is broken than when another persons car is broken because we control our car more than another persons car. The key here is the word control. So, if something that we control is threatened or endangered, we are affected. If our spouse says an angry word at our parent, we are hurt. But, when we do so to our spouses parent, we are not so hurt. Because, we feel we control our parents more than our spouses parent. The same logic extends to our bodies also. We feel we are inside it primarily because we control it. To even think we are inside the body seems awkward because we are not used to such a way of thinking but, to me, that seems to be the best explanation for the normal experience. The moment we want to get somewhere, we move the body. So, we feel we control it. But, in reality we hardly control the body. Breathing happens on its own, the heart beats on its own. They do not ask for our permission. Both will stop one day. Even then, they will not ask for our permission. So, normally, we live our lives as if we are those things/people/relationships that we think we control. The key here is not what we actually control but what we think we control. As we saw above, in the case of the body, we probably control a very small part of the functions of the body. Or in other words, we control the grosser functions well and we have little or no control on its subtle aspects.

So, then, how much of what do we really control? Is there an alternative to living life as that which we really control? I feel there is. It is to live life as that which we love. Initially, we will notice that we actually only love that which we control. We love our bodies, our relatives, our property. All these are also present in the set of things we control. If we control it, then is is actually love? Its like mothers milk mixed with poison. Even if it is just one drop of poison, we will not give it to our kids. It is poison. Likewise, we cannot really say that we love that which we control. So, then, can we find out what it is that we love but not control?

When we start inquiring in that direction, that's when our life acquires depth and meaning. Because, we suddenly realise that there is nothing in the world that we cannot love. Once we step past the boundary of that which we control, we see that we can naturally love every part of creation. Of which, the things we control is an absolute minuscule part. That still remains, but it remains as a very small subset of the things we love. When this happens, we will clearly know what we control and what we do not and whatever little (at whatever level of grossness) we control, we will do so with great skill and love. This transformation is the greatest and most valuable thing that can happen to a human being.

As I see it, this is Yoga - in the sense that, this can truly happen only when we go deep within ourselves and get into a union with the deepest part of ourselves. That is why, it is absolutely important to find out our deepest desires and manifest the same in this life. For, in that process, one will have to undergo this transformation. The manifestation of ones own deepest desires provides the necessary incentive to take up this transformation with great rigour. This transformation happens in sudden dramatic flashes, when we have a great peak experience and we acquire penetrating insight about our life. It also happens slowly and gradually. The addiction to control is deeply etched in every single cell of our body. So, for all of that to be transformed, it will take time. So, both these methods are needed - sudden great flashes of peak experience and insight and regular, systematic and gradual change. 

The Buddha, as I understand, had been going through this process during his days of inquiry. On that eventful day in Gaya, he completed this process - wherein, there was only infinite love and absolutely no compulsive need whatsoever to control anything. Then, we live life as that which we love and not as that which we control. At the highest level, because we love everything (not just what we think we control), we live as everything. That is when subject object duality vanishes.

Divine Music


What would I do for energy and motivation without this!! Big nandri hai to 'Sri Oothukadu Venkata Subba Iyer' for composing this and 'Ms. Mythili Anantharaman' for rendering it!

நட்ட கல்

நட்ட கல்லினை ஏமாற்றியவர் பலர்
நட்ட கல்லினால் ஏமாந்தவர் பலர்
உள்ளிருப்பவனே நட்ட கல்லினிலும் ஆகையால்
நட்ட கல்லும் பேசாதோ
உள்ளிருக்கும் உத்தமனை நாம் காண்கையில்!

Sunday, May 06, 2012

Karnans Yoga

Yoga philosophy divides the characteristics of the human mind broadly under three characteristics. They are
  • Tamas (characteristics along the path of fear)
  • Rajas (characteristics along the path of desire)
  • Sattva (charactersitcs that are free of both fear and desire)

The primary purpose of all yogic / spiritual practices is the gradual transformation of all characteristics of the mind into sattvic characteristics. When the mind is in pure sattva state, perfect wisdom dawns. This is no trivial task. Despite that, this is not the end of the story.

Sattvic characteristics are still characteristics of the mind. They can and will decay into rajas and tamas, given sufficient time. Hence, one needs to transcend even sattva. This happens when the mind eliminates even sattva after it attains the state of pure sattva, thereby transcending itself. This is much like the shutdown process, which first launches itself as yet another process, terminates all other processes and then eventually terminates itself too.

For this to happen, ones life must be committed to dharma. One must set up ones life so that one works for the manifestation of ones deepest inner desires and not superficial ego (fear / desire constructed) driven desires. When one is on this path, life keeps throwing situations that help one grow towards in life in this fashion. Hence, I feel

ஒன்றாம் தவம் தர்மவாழ்வாம் மற்றதன்
பின்சார பிரணாயாமம் நன்று
Highest tapas is a life of dharma
Pranayama follows it!


I see the above philosophy beautifully true in the life of Karnan (at least in its glorified view in the tamil movie)! Karnan developed tremendous sattvic characteristics through his relentless adhering to charitable giving and doing his best despite the complex situations life kept pushing him into.

A beautiful song on him in the tamil movie on him goes,

என்ன கொடுப்பான் எவை கொடுப்பான் என்றிவர்கள் எண்ணுமுன்னே,
பொன் கொடுப்பான் பொருள் கொடுப்பான் போதாது போதாதென்றால்,
இன்னும் கொடுப்பான் இவையும் குறைவென்றால் எங்கள் கர்ணன்,
தன்னைக் கொடுப்பான் தன்னுயிரும் தான் கொடுப்பான் தயாநிதியே!

Will he give this or that, before such thoughts arise in the seeker,
He gives gold, property; and when that does not suffice,
He gives more; and, if even that does not suffice, our Karnan!
He gives himself, and his life itself, the great compassionate giver!


Such was the extent to which his mind was perfected. At the end of his life, when he is dying on the battle field, having been felled by Arjunas arrows, he even donates all the good karma he has accumulated by his charity. This leads to his eventual death. This indeed is the pinnacle of yoga.



The sattvic characteristics destroy themselves at the end and that indeed is complete liberation! In the movie, the lord blesses him with liberation when he does that! In my opinion, this indeed is the pinnacle in Yoga! A life of dharma in a complex world (where the line between right and wrong is always blurred, is moving and is permeable) with continuous self refinement and in the grand finale, the sattvic characteristics terminate themselves, and thereby the mind transcends itself! Only such a person has lived hir life to the fullest extent! All else have can be said to have fallen short of recognising the  fullest potential of ones precious human life!

கர்ணன்

என்ன கொடுப்பான் எவை கொடுப்பான் என்றிவர்கள் எண்ணுமுன்னே,
பொன் கொடுப்பான் பொருள் கொடுப்பான் போதாது போதாதென்றால்,
இன்னும் கொடுப்பான் இவையும் குறைவென்றால் எங்கள் கர்ணன்,
தன்னைக் கொடுப்பான் தன்னுயிரும் தான் கொடுப்பான் தயாநிதியே!