Everyday Geeta

May 27, 2012 The famous music composer Philip Glass composed an Opera called Satyagraha on Mahatma Gandhi's movement against the South African apartheid laws (strictly speaking the system wasn't officially called apartheid until ater the Second World War). I was intrigued by this because the Wikipedia entry for this opera says that the opera is sung in Sanskrit. Yet the link to the libretto (the latin name for the lyrics of an opera) on the Metropolitan's website, shows the text in English. Act 1 of opera is titled "The Kuru Field of Justice" begins with Gandhiji narrating, "I see them here assembled, ready to fight, seeking to please the King’s sinful son by waging war.” And thus addressed by Arjuna, Krishna brought that splendid chariot to a halt between the two armies. In front of Bhisma and Drona and all the rulers of the world, he said, “Behold Arjuna, these kinsmen assembled here.” And the Prince marked on each hand relatives and friends in both a

May 25, 2011 Many years ago, Param Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayanandaji wrote a classic called " Meditation and Life ." It is a brilliant exposition of Bhagavad Geeta Chapter 6 set in the context of Vedanta and the spiritual practices that are intrinsic to it. Today, we were studying the text in the study class and this quote leapt out at us: Meditation can best be maintained and nourished by our intelligent study of the scriptures, by our companionship of the good, and by our conscientious and deliberate living of a life of meditation. In chapter 6, Arjuna asks a very pertinent question about how one can control the mind which is 'like the wind' (vayoriva). Śrī Kṛṣṇa answers tersely in verse 6-35. असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् | अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ||६-३५|| asa.nshayaM mahaabaaho mano durnigraha.n chalam.h . abhyaasena tu kaunteya vairaagyeNa cha gR^ihyate .. 6-35.. Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed one, the mind is difficult to control and

May 21, 2012 I've been meaning to see the Upanishad Ganga series on Youtube for several weeks. I finally got round to seeing it yesterday. This is a TV series, produced by the Chinmaya Mission , currently being broadcast on Doordarshan in India on Sundays at 10 am except that these episodes are also uploaded to Youtube every week. Episode 3 is particularly relevant to readers of this blog since it begins with the famous verse from the Geeta: उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् | आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ||६-५|| uddharedaatmanaatmaanaM naatmaanamavasaadayet.h . aatmaiva hyaatmano bandhur-aatmaiva ripuraatmanaH .. 6\-5.. Let a man lift himself by his own Self alone, and let him not lower himself; for, this Self alone is the friend of oneself, and this Self is the enemy of oneself. The story of Valmiki Rishi is the perfect illustration of this verse. Ratnakar, a dacoit (bandit for the non-desis) is transformed when Naarada muniji challenges him to discover whether h

May 17, 2012  Recent research published in the May issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry seems to indicate that Greater purpose in life may protect against Alzheimer’s disease . The summary reported on the ScienceDaily website says: "Our study showed that people who reported greater purpose in life exhibited better cognition than those with less purpose in life even as plaques and tangles accumulated in their brains," said Patricia A. Boyle, PhD. "These findings suggest that purpose in life protects against the harmful effects of plaques and tangles on memory and other thinking abilities. This is encouraging and suggests that engaging in meaningful and purposeful activities promotes cognitive health in old age." Geeta 8-7 addresses this topic head-on. तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च | मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्मामेवैष्यस्यसंशयः ||८-७|| tasmaatsarveshhu kaaleshhu maamanusmara yudhya cha . mayyarpitamanobuddhirmaamevaishhyasyasa.nshayaH .. 8-7.. Therefore, a

May 14, 2012 I started a series called "The Karma Chronicles" on a fundamental principle established repeatedly in the Mahabharata and re-emphasized again by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Geeta. My first post was on Chase Blackburn and how he came to be in Superbowl XLVI . Today, we continue the Karma Chronicles with the story of US President Herbert Hoover and Polish Premier Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Jan Paderewski was a well known pianist who according to General Rowny "was the Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Presley of his day." For the story, we first we go to an article by General Edward L. Rowny. The story of how Paderewski met Hoover is a fascinating one. In the mid-1890s one of the stops on Paderewski’s concert tour was at Stanford University. This event was a disastrous failure because the student in charge had not advertised the concert. Paderewski magnanimously began writing a check to cover the rental of the concert hall. When he asked how he should make out th

May 11, 2012 Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has written a book " The Palace of Illusions " which is story of the Mahabharata written from Draupadi's point of view. I enjoyed every page of it and it is high on my list of recommendations. There is one particular segment that caught my attention and I think it is relevant to this blog. Here is Draupadi as she imagines the Pandava prince's palace: Though I suspected Kunti's words, they fired my eagerness to see my new home. I fantasized about a structure that would, in every way, be the opposite of my father's fortress: air and effulgent, with windows everywhere and doors opening onto generous balconies. Its walls would be shimmering red sandstone. Its gardens would be a celebration of color and birdsong. Situated on the topmost floor, my rooms would be washed by breezes carrying the distant fragrance of mango blossoms. From a balcony inlaid with marble I would look out over the entire city and know what was going o

May 7, 2012 The eve of Param Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji's Jayanti is the perfect occasion to recall a shloka composed by Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji : ये गुणाः सर्वशास्त्रेषु वर्ण्यन्ते ब्रह्मज्ञानिनाम । तैरयं सर्वदा पूर्णो राजते सर्वयोगिनाम ।। ye guNAh sarvashastreshhu varNyante brahmaGYAninAM | tairayaM sarvadaa pUrNO rAjate sarvayoginAM || All those virtues that are mentioned in all Shastras-all the hallmarks and characteristics of the Knower of Brahman, the sthitha-praGYa, the jivan mukta-all are in our Pujya Gurudev. Our great Master is perfect, and full of all these virtues, He has always shown all these. In all assemblies, his presence was the most special and it was felt by one and all. Source: CM West Newsletter November 2011 Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

May 8, 2012 On the occasion of Param Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji 's Jayanti on May 8, please see a beautiful video just added to Youtube. In this Gurudev opens up on his own attitude to the divine work of teaching (at that point Gurudev had taught for over 40 years). Gurudev discusses this while explaining Geeta 3-9: यज्ञार्थात्कर्मणोऽन्यत्र लोकोऽयं कर्मबन्धनः | तदर्थं कर्म कौन्तेय मुक्तसङ्गः समाचर ||३-९|| yaGYaarthaatkarmaNo.anyatra loko.aya.n karmabandhanaH . tadartha.n karma kaunteya muktasaN^gaH samaachara .. 3\-9.. The people in this world are bound by action other than those performed 'for the sake of sacrifice' ; do thou, therefore, O son of Kunti, perform action of that sake (for YAJNA ) alone, free from all attachments. In the Holy Geeta , Gurudev defines yaGYa (यज्ञ). Yajna here means any self-sacrificing work, undertaken in a spirit of self-dedication, for the blessing of all. ।।ॐ श्री चिन्मय सद्गुरवे नमः ।। || OM shrI chinmaya sadgurave namaH || || My Sa