Everyday Geeta

August 31, 2012 One late, sleepless night I was channel surfing and came across the popular Michael Jackson song, "Man in the Mirror" on MTV. I suddenly realized, the lyrics are awesome. I looked them up here : "Man In The Mirror" I'm Gonna Make A Change, For Once In My Life It's Gonna Feel Real Good, Gonna Make A Difference Gonna Make It Right . . . As I, Turn Up The Collar On My Favourite Winter Coat This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind I See The Kids In The Street, With Not Enough To Eat Who Am I, To Be Blind? Pretending Not To See Their Needs A Summer's Disregard, A Broken Bottle Top And A One Man's Soul They Follow Each Other On The Wind Ya' Know 'Cause They Got Nowhere To Go That's Why I Want You To Know I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place (If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place) Take A Look At Yourself

August 22, 2012 In March, I was in Bangalore and both these cars were right in front of me at a traffic light. I edited the photo to reflect what occured to me... Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

August 20, 2012 Another break for glory (to celebrate the Lord's Vibhooti i.e divine glory). This time round, I found a reference to a fascinating book, "What a Plant Knows" by Daniel Chamovitz through my favorite blog Andrew Sullivan's The Dish . I haven't yet got the book, but in an interview published in the Scientific American , I came across this quote by Chamovitz: If you think about it, rootedness is a huge evolutionary constraint. It means that plants can’t escape a bad environment, can’t migrate in the search of food or a mate. So plants had to develop incredibly sensitive and complex sensory mechanisms that would let them survive in ever changing environments. I mean if you’re hungry or thirsty, you can walk to the nearest watering hole (or bar). If you’re hot, you can move north, if you’re looking for a mate, you can go out to a party. But plants are immobile. They need to see where their food is. They need to feel the weather, and they need to smell

Aug 16, 2012 Today is the Mahāsamādhi day of Śrī Rāmakrishṇa Paramahaṃsa.   It is about such masters that the Geeta says: बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते | वासुदेवः सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभः ||७-१९||  bahuunaa.n janmanaamante GYaanavaanmaaM prapadyate . vaasudevaH sarvamiti sa mahaatmaa sudurlabhaH .. 7\-19.. At the end of many births the wise man comes to Me, realising that all this is Vasudeva (the innermost Self) ; such a great soul (MAHATMA) is very hard to find. Spiritual seekers for generations have been inspired by the "Gospel of Śrī Rāmakrishṇa". I was thrilled when I discovered that the Ramakrishna Mission itself has made the Gospel available as an e-book , free to anyone who wants to read it, besides having the book for sale in their centres throughout the world. The Gospel contains an introduction by Swāmi Nikhilānanda, which is really a short but beautiful biography of Śrī Rāmakrishṇa. Śrī Rāmakrishṇa's parables sparkle like precious gems in the

August 11, 2012 Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji sang a beautiful Kabīr bhajan at the Dharmasevak program in Chinmaya Gardens, Coimbatore recently. The same bhajan is also on a CD, राम नाम के हीरे मोती (Ram Naamke Heerey Moti) by Swami Advaitanandaji. I simply love this bhajan. It is beautiful and works both as an expression of the Lord's bhakta or as the direct experience of a gñāni, a man of wisdom. हरि को हर मे देखा साधो हरि को हर मे देखा । आप माल और आप खजाना आप हि खर्चनवाला । आप गलि मे भिक्षा मांगे हात मे लेके प्याला । साधो हरि को हर मे देखा ... अापे नयना अापे शयना अाप हि कंबलकाला । अाप गोद मे अाप खिलावे अाप हि मोहन माला । साधो हरि को हर मे देखा ... ठाकुर द्वारे ब्राह्मण बैठा मक्का मे दरवेसा । कहत कबीरा सुनो भाइ साधो हरि जैसे का तैसा । साधो हरि को हर मे देखा ... hari ko har me dekhaa saadho hari ko har me dekhaa. aapa maala aura aapa khajaanaa aapa hi kharchanavaalaa. aapa gali me bhikshaa maange haata me leke pyaalaa. saadho hari ko har me dekhaa ... aape nayana aape sha

August 10, 2012 This year, the Lord's maya is so great that we have three options for celebrating Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭami. Some celebrated it yesterday, others such as Chinmaya Mission, Singapore and at the Shrinathji mandir are celebrating it today, whereas in Gurvayur and Udipi they will celebrate on September 8th. Given that the Supreme Brahman manifested as the baby Kṛṣṇa in a jail to redeem the subjects of Kamsa, I think it is a nice time to return to the topic of change. In one of Swamini Vimalananda's talks, she made it very clear that "changing परिस्थिति (paristhiti), the external situation, never accomplishes much, only changing मनस्थिति (manasthiti), one's mental situation achieves anything. When Arjuna collapsed at the end of Chapter 1, Śrī Kṛṣṇa was very careful not to use his powers to change the world to make it easy for Arjuna. Starting at verse 2-2, Śrī Kṛṣṇa never lifted a finger to change the external situation. His focus all the way to end of chapte

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

August 5, 2012 Shankar Vedantam's NPR blog post is an excellent take off point for what constitutes "happiness". US Olympic swimmer, Ryan Lochte, after winning the silver medal in the 4x100m swimming relay that indicates he is not as happy as the bronze medallist Brendan Hansen, the bronze medallist in the 100m breastsroke. The author goes onto quote from a scientific paper: The researchers concluded. "Finishing second is truly a mixed blessing. Performing that well provides a number of direct benefits that increase our well-being: recognition from others, boosts to self-esteem, and so on. At the same time, it can indirectly lower satisfaction by the unfortunate contrast with what might have been." Let us see what Śrī Kṛṣṇa says in Geeta 2-14. मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।। २-१४ maatraasparshaastu kaunteya shiitoshhNasukhaduHkhadaaH . 2-14 The contact of the senses with objects, O son of Kunti, (which) cause heat and cold, pleasure and pain, A