Everyday Geeta

January 26, 2014 India's Republic day is a good day for me to resume posting to this blog after a hiatus of over 8 weeks. The impetus for this came from listening to Param Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji's audio talks on the " Art of Man Making ". The audio and the accompanying book are the results of 114 talks on All India Radio by Pujya Gurudev in the 1960s. The talks are wonderful, crisp, lyrical at times, yet always marked by the razor-sharp insights into the Bhagavad Geeta, the familiar hallmark of Pujya Gurudev's teaching. As he sets the context for the first chapter, Gurudev vividly lays out the setting of the Bhagavad Geeta. (the Upanishads) are given out in an atmosphere of quietude and in an inner mood of total dispassion. The hum of the Ganges, the hymn of the eternal snow peaks and the salubrious climate are all conspicuous witnesses in the Upanishadic literature. Even the students who listen to the declaration of these Rishis are calm and cool, s...

December 6, 2013 Readers of this blog know of my keen interest in role models (clicking on this link will take you to all the role models I have posted on in this blog). Here is yet another hero, Jadav “Molai” Payeng who planted a 1,360 acre forest pretty much by himself. Quote from the original story in the Times of India: It all started way back in 1979 when floods washed a large number of snakes ashore on the sandbar. One day, after the waters had receded, Payeng , only 16 then, found the place dotted with the dead reptiles. That was the turning point of his life. "The snakes died in the heat, without any tree cover. I sat down and wept over their lifeless forms. It was carnage . I alerted the forest department and asked them if they could grow trees there. They said nothing would grow there. Instead, they asked me to try growing bamboo. It was painful, but I did it. There was nobody to help me. Nobody was interested," says Payeng, now 47. Leaving his education and home...

December 3, 2013 Some of my previous posts have addressed the contemporary challenge of finding solitude . Here is Abha Dawesar in a recent Ted Talk . Every digital landmark is an invitation to leave what you are doing now to go somewhere else and do something else. Are you reading an interview by an author? Why not buy his book? Tweet it. Share it. Like it. Find other books exactly like his. Find other people reading those books. Travel can be liberating, but when it is incessant, we become permanent exiles without repose. Choice is freedom, but not when it's constantly for its own sake. Abha encapsulates how even a mundane activity like reading in the digital context is an invitation to distraction. A distracted mind, hates solitude. Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

December 1, 2013 In my last post, I discussed Śrī Kṛṣṇa's masterful marketing technique as seen in the Bhagavad Geeta. Now we will continue to see how He expertly seeks to keep us on "the path of virtue, courage and wisdom" . Śrī Kṛṣṇa is never shy as He waxes lyrical about the nature of the knowledge He is set to reveal in chapter 9. In 9-2, he describes the knowledge as a “ Royal secret, the King of all Knowledge, supremely purifying” ( राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमुत्तमम् - raajavidyaa raajaguhyaM pavitramidamuttamam.h) . He says it can be “ known by direct intuition ” (प्रत्यक्षावगमं - pratyakShaavagamaM) and “ easy to practice ” (सुसुखं - susukhaM).। There is reason to believe Śrī Kṛṣṇa because in 18-73, Arjuna declares unequivocally “ my delusion is destroyed ” (नष्टो मोहः - nashhTo mohaH). The delusion that inspired Arjuna to accept Śrī Kṛṣṇa as his teacher is gone and in keeping with Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s assurance, having gained this knowledge, Arjuna knows there is not...

November 29, 2013 There is an aphorism in Samskritam that says प्रयोजनमनुद्दिश्य न मन्दोऽपि प्रवर्तते (prayojanam-anuddishya na mando.api pravartate), "even a fool does not act without asking 'what do I gain from it'?" Dr Stephen Covey ’s seminal book on leadership, “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” is a wildly successful management best-seller. It is also one of my all-time favorite books on leadership because at its core, Dr Covey echoes the " You Change " message of the Bhagavad Geeta. According to Dr Stephen Covey, the 2nd habit that is crucial to success in Management guru is “Begin with the end in mind”. He expands further: Habit 2 is based on imagination--the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follow...

November 23, 2013 Recently, I discussed the redemption of the Vaishnava saint, Thirumangai Alwar as an illustration of Geeta 18-66. I was not satisfied that I had the right verse. I think I have now found the more appropriate verse: अपि चेत्सुदुराचारो भजते मामनन्यभाक् | साधुरेव स मन्तव्यः सम्यग्व्यवसितो हि सः ||९-३०|| api chetsuduraachaaro bhajate maamananyabhaak.h . saadhureva sa mantavyaH samyagvyavasito hi saH .. 9-30.. Even if the most sinful worships Me, with devotion to none else, (or with single-pointedness) , he too should indeed be regarded as 'righteous, ' for he has rightly resolved. Param Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji in his commentary on the Holy Geeta elaborates on the first half of this verse thus: Not only does the Geeta throw its gates open to the sinners, but the Singer of the Divine Song also seems to have great missionary zeal to redeem all sinners, and bless them. Even those who are given to evil ways are not debarred from entering the field o...

November 17, 2013 Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi was a realized man who ceaselessly highlighted the importance of अात्म विचार (atma vichara) or Self-Enquiry. Thanks to Him, the phrase "Who Am I?" or "Naan Yaar?" (in Tamil) became quite fashionable in intellectual circles in the South. His core teachings can be seen in the publication "Who Am I?" . I came across a very nice discussion on solitude on Sri Ramana's facebook page. It goes to the core of some questions about solitude. SOLITUDE MEANS ONLY CONTINUOUS PRACTICE D: When I spent an hour or two on the hill yonder, I sometimes found even better peace than here, which suggests that a solitary place is after all more conducive to mind-control. B: True, but if you had stayed there for an hour longer, you would have found that place too not giving you the calm of which you speak. Control the mind and even Hell will be Heaven to you. All other talk of solitude, living in a forest etc., is mere prattle. ...