Break for Glory: The Known Universe

Break for Glory: The Known Universe - a Mindblowing video!

December 24, 2011

Through NASA's daily photo of the Universe website, I came across a mind blowing Youtube video posted by the American Museum of Natural History

Naturally, my mind drifted to Him who is the supporter of this vast, ancient Universe as seen in Geeta 8-9.

कविं पुराणमनुशासितार-
मणोरणीयंसमनुस्मरेद्यः |
सर्वस्य धातारमचिन्त्यरूप-
मादित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात् ||८-९||
kaviM puraaNamanushaasitaaraM
aNoraNiiya.nsamanusmaredyaH .
sarvasya dhaataaramachintyaruupaM
aadityavarNaM tamasaH parastaat.h .. 8-9..
Whosoever, meditates upon the Omniscient, the Ancient, the Ruler (of the whole world) , minuter than the atom, the Supporter of all, of Form inconceivable, Effulgent like the Sun and beyond the darkness (of ignorance)

Scientists hate it when religious seekers leverage science in support of their particular beliefs. To be fair, according to modern science, this whole Universe as it exists today is not evidence of an Intelligent Creator. However, for the spiritual seeker, all of this is a trigger to remember that Divine, Supreme Truth that pervades this entire Universe.

A few phrases in this verse leap out at me when I contemplate the Universe as glimpsed in this video.

पुराणं - the Most Ancient: the Supreme Truth was there before the Big Bang that started the process of evolving this vast Universe and will exist after the Universe dissolves again
अनुशासितारं - The Ruler of All: Here Pujya Swami Chinmayanandaji provides the best quote, "It is not in any way indicated here that the Self is a Sultan, tyrannically ruling over the world. Here the term 'Over-ruler' is only to indicate that if the Principle of Awareness were not presiding over the multiple faculties of perception, feeling, and comprehension in us, our physical, mental and intellectual experiences could not have been harmonised into the meaningful existence of our life-time." After all, it is only the human mind that even attempts to comprehend the vastness of this Universe. Who gave us that faculty of knowing?
सर्वस्य धातारं - the Nourisher of All. Swamiji again"In a cinema theatre, the changeless white-screen can be considered as the nourisher of the entertainment, inasmuch as, without it the ever-changing flow of pictures could not have given us the impression of a continuous story. Similarly, if the One Consciousness were not constantly illumining the ever-changing flux of things and happenings around and within us from birth to death, through all conditions and states of our existence, the homogeneous oneness of life would never have been ours to react to and feel fulfilled with."

If nothing else, this is again a reminder of the Lord's Vibhooti or glory. I have had a few posts on the Lord's Vibhooti, click here for a complete set.

Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

Geeta Dhyānaṁ 2 - Vyāsā's Vast Intellect

January 7, 2013 Previously on Geeta Jayanti, I had posted on the eternal debt of gratitude to Mother Geeta that is the basis of Geeta Dhyānaṁ. I love Param Pujya Gurudev 's commentary on the Geeta Dhyānaṁ. Pujya Gurudev's commentary is after the introduction to the Bhagavad Geeta in the commentary on Chapters 1 & 2 published by the the Chinmaya Mission. I personally believe it should be a book by itself. After invoking Mother Geeta, we now pay tribute to the wise Vyāsa Rishi - the Guru whose Jayanti marks Guru Pūrnima every year. Pujya Gurudev starts His tribute to Veda Vyāsā in his commentary on the 1st verse of the Dhyānaṁ. Vyāsa, the father of the Vedās, who, first collected, edited and published the Veda texts and who thereafter, gave us the dialectics of Vedānta in his Brahma Sūtra, himself a great man of realization, was indeed well fitted for the job. The ancient seer had both the mastery of the theoretical science of religion - Hinduism and also the practical expe

In every field, let Dharma flourish - क्षेत्रे क्षेत्रे धर्म कुरु

August 9, 2012 Swamini Vimalanandaji has done a series of talks at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) called "406 SMS – Sure Mantras for Success from Bhagwad Geeta" (item 406 at this AMA link ). In this she has a very interesting take on the 1st line of the Bhagavad Geeta. धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे १-१ dharmakShetre kurukShetre 1-1 <i> on the holy plain of Kurukshetra... </i> Swamini turns that slightly and says, क्षेत्रे क्षेत्रे धर्म कुरु - kShetre kShetre dharma kuru. Swamini goes on to establish that we can use this mantra to make that: "In every aspect of society, must be pervaded by Dharma" Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

Geeta in Literature - IF by Rudyard Kipling

September 12, 2011 I came across a nice YouTube video that is an animation of Rudyard Kipling reading his famous poem IF . The full text sourced from wikisource is below: If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim, If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same: If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And los

Everyday Geeta

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