Everyday Geeta

January 24, 2011. I have a deadline to meet. My clients are keenly following the progress of this deliverable.  Yet, I procrastinate. I somehow can't force myself to deal with that critical deliverable. OMG! This is the time that all my favorite sites,  Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish blog and guardian.com  have the most interesting articles on the topics I care about everyday. Can you believe it, Digital Inspiration even has an a post showing me how to block time wasting websites. ! Sound like a familiar dilemma? Don't tell me you have never experienced any of the following: Do I really have to stay back and cleanup after volunteering at my favorite charity. I'm tired, I have a family, have to get my kids going in the morning.....  Ever been single and lived by yourself abroad? Remember those visions of the sink piled high with unwashed dishes? You wash up only when you can't even find a clean cup for drinking water Paperwork? Who has time? Let it pile up, I'll...

January 9, 2011 In teaching my son to chant Bhagavad Geeta chapter 6, I was experiencing some frustration when he seemed to be taking a very long time to learn a simple passage. I should have known that Śhri Krishna has a solution in the same chapter. In verses 25 & 26 in the same chapter, Śhri Krishna says: शनैः शनैरुपरमेद् बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया | आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत् ||६-२५|| shanaiH shanairuparamed.h bud.hdhyaa dhR^itigR^ihiitayaa . aatmasa.nsthaM manaH kR^itvaa na ki~nchidapi chintayet.h .. 6-25.. Little by little, let him attain quietude by his intellect held firm; having established the mind in the Self, let him not think of anything else. यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् | ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ||६-२६|| yato yato nishcharati manashcha~nchalamasthiram.h . tatastato niyamyaitadaatmanyeva vashaM nayet.h .. 6-26.. From whatever cause, the restless mind and the unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it, and bring it back und...

December 25, 2010 I was driving with my 3 year old son in his child seat in the back of the car. When another car cut into my lane with very little warning, I yelled, "gadha" (ass (the animal, not the body part) in Hindi). I continued riving. In less than a minute, I heard a voice in the back seat say, "Gadha". Impossibly cute, my son was practicing this new-found word. Suddenly, it occured to me, like it or not, I am a role model every day for my son. I recalled a shloka from chapter 3, that my Gurudev, Swami Chinmayanandaji loved यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः | स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते ||३-२१|| yadyadAcharati shreShThastattadevetaro janaH . sa yatpramANaM kurute lokastadanuvartate .. 3-21.. "Whatever a great man does, that alone other men also do; whatever he sets up as the standard, that the world (people) follows." In every Chinmaya Mission Gnana Yagna on chapter 3, he insisted that the audience memorize this shloka and chant it loudly...

December 21, 2010 I have always wanted to examine how the Gita is portrayed in popular media. Today, we'll look at  Hollywood, tomorrow in a slightly different context, we'll look at Bollywood. "The Legend of Bagger Vance" was a very interesting movie that was released in 2000. Directed by Robert Redford, the movie had an impressive cast. Matt Damon was golf champion Rannolph Junah, Will Smith played the role of a mystical caddie named Bagger Vance, and Charlize Theron was cast in the female lead role. The movie was based on a book of the same name by Steven Pressfield . Based on an analysis of 128 published reviews, the movie is rated 42% on Rotten Tomatoes while 64% of the audience who voted on the site, liked the movie. A friend of mine, Vishwanath Murthy, brought the movie to my attention as it was said to be loosely based on the Bhagavad Gita with Rannulph Junah (RJuna - get it?) as the champion golfer who appears to be falling to pieces and his caddie, Bagger...

December 19, 2010 As seekers, we're constantly faced with a plethora of options for our sadhana or spiritual practices. Nowadays, it is not unusual for the main stream media itself refers to discuss the benefits of yoga and meditation. We may have friends who follow a particular Swami or themselves observe certain practices. These friends are articulate about the efficacy of their sadhana . Apart from these everyday challenges on the spiritual path, when our own seeking takes us to listen to a teacher or read different texts, we're again faced with apparent choices. We wonder whether the the sadhana being discussed would give better results for us. Krishna appears to further confuse matters in the Bhagavad Gita. In Chapter 4, starting with the 26th verse ( daivameva ....), Krishna describes several practices (referred to as yagna, also translated as sacrifice ) including p raanayaama (regulation / control of breath) and pratyaahaara (disciplined consumption of food, avoidi...

December 17, 2010: Gita Jayanti Today is a special day. On this day, several thousand years ago, Shri Krishna rescued Arjuna from the depths of despondency on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. I discovered that the Holy Geeta Ready Reference had the Srimad Bhagavad Gita Ashtottaranamavali, the 108 mantras to do archana at the altar of the Gita. So, I placed my copy of the Holy Gita on the altar, chanting the 108 mantras and offered flowers. The mantras are enchanting and give you a bird's eye view of what the Gita offers. At some point, I will try and get the whole text scanned or composed for use on the web and try and get some blog posts on it but would definitely recommend you get the book. The ashtottara was composed by Pujya Swami Tejomayanandaji and is marked by his distinctive style of simple, yet elegant, Samskritam. While chanting the Gita itself this morning, another memory flooded in. The mellifluous chanting of the Bhagavad Gita by Pujya Swami Brahmanandaji has made my ...

December 17, 2010, Vaikuntha ekadasi OM shrI gaNeshaaya namaH  ।।  ॐ श्री गणेशाय नमः ।। OM shrI Chinmaya sadgurave namaH  ।।  ॐ श्री चिन्मय सद्गुरवे नमः ।। OM shrI tejomayaaya namaH  ।।  ॐ श्री तेजोमयाय नमः ।। OM shrI sarasvatyai namaH  ।।  ॐ श्री सरस्वत्यै नमः ।। Looking at the world, to help understand the Gita and to understand the world, through the meaning of the Gita is a fascinating exercise. I start this project to post my own musings on aspects of the Bhagavad Geeta that appeal, that charm, and ultimately help me grow. I admit that there is a certain arrogance to feeling that my personal musings are worth sharing. My prayer is that this becomes a way for me to frequently reflect on what the Bhagavad Geeta means to me personally. Prostrations to my Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayanandaji. He brought me the power and tejas (brilliance) of the Geeta. Pranams to Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayanandaji. Guruji showed me the beauty, the hidden gems, th...