Sunday, September 27, 2020

PRACTICLE ASPECT OF BRAHMAN

    We have been told many times that the Brahman is is pervading everything  and the Brahman is same in all the Living things . We should not discriminate one person from other as the Brahman is same in every living thing. If you remember the story of Dnyaneshwar who was told to have a bull talk Vedas.I was reading the Geeta chapter 6 ,shloka 31st. The Lord states that yogi sees God in everyone and Everyone in God. But all these things are OK as long we understand them and try to practice the mediation . Unless one had reached the highest level this can not be practical behavior. A baby  and a child are different than adults  and should be treated differently. So there is a practical aspect to it.That brings me to the story for today. 

    Ramakrishna had several students and not everyone was at the level of Vivekanand . Many of them were devoted  and sincere . So one day he had taught that the Brahman is pervading everything and we all have the same principle. . The next day all the students were going to the town and when they were walking back to the ashram , the hermitage , they saw number of people running all over shouting  and they looked worried  and in fear . One of the student asked them as to what was the problem. One of the men in the crowd told them that there was an elephant who had gone crazy and the Mahut - the one who is suppose to control , could not control the elephant and it was running all over the town destroying things  and could injure anyone who came in his path. As soon as he was finished telling that they saw in a distance the elephant coming on the same road as they were . The student saw that and remembered what the guru had said about the same Brahman pervading all living beings including animals. The Mouth was shouting  and was warning everyone get out of the way as he could not control the elephant. Everyone got off the road  except the one student. He thought of reasoning with the elephant or specifically to appeal to the Brahman in the elephant . So he stayed in the middle of road and the elephant came  and he picked him and threw him . The elephant went away and then the other students helped him and took him to the hospital . He had broken ribs  and some other injuries. When the Guru came to visit and help him he asked him as to why did he not get away from the road and wild elephant like everyone else. The student answered that ,'Sir You only told me that we all have same Brahman, So why di the Brahman in elephant did not listen to me  and attacked me ? " The Guru answered, " So why did you not listen to the Brahman in the Mahut who was telling you to get out of the way?"

Saturday, September 19, 2020

PUNYA AND PAAP

    These 2 words are non English. The Punya is what one gets when he or she does good deed  and PAAP is something that one gets when one does bad deed . In every religion the concept is there of the good and the bad deed . Even when one talks to children and Santa , the question is are you a good boy or good girl  and then Santa will give you Gifts if you are good. This is in this mortal life . All the Abrahamic religions, there is a concept of Afterlife and concept of hell and heaven. So if one has done MORE  Punya - good deeds, then one gets to go to heaven. If one has done MORE bad deeds ,then one goes to hell. IN Hindu or Vaidic religion the concepts are different. So this story is related to PUNYA  and PAAP . 

   Ekanath was a great saint  and he was fully devoted to the God . One daya man approached him in his house . Ekanath asked him as to why he came to see him. The man answered that he has some incurable disease  and he was told that Ekanath was great and he has accumulated lots of Punya  and so if he will give his ONE DAY worth of Punya , he will be cured . Ekanath told him that I don't have any Punya as I don't do anything to get Punya , I do it for the love of God. (one gets Punya -good effects of good deeds - it is still a KARMA  and that leads to attachment  and rebirth. So only way one gets credit for good deed is by continuing to have attachment to the deeds that one does) But he also told that if he has any PUNYA , he is willing to give not only one day worth but entire life's worth of credit to the man for helping him. 

    So there re 2 points , one that I made it above. Even if one has good credit, it is credit and that will have reaction and also the attachment and so one will have to be born again  and that means this type of thinking will give rise to continuation of cycle of Birth and Death . Secondly Ekanath was willing to give credit of good deeds done in his entire life . We are not willing tom part with few dollars forget about the Punya or credits for our good deeds that we have so that we can enjoy in Heaven!!

Saturday, September 12, 2020

NONATTACHMENT

      We have been often told not to have attachment to the fruits of the Karma. This does not mean we will not have fruit , but that every Karma will have Fruit  and we have no right to accept it or not to accept it. So we will HAVE to accept it - does not matter if we like it or not  or if it is what we wanted or expected or not. So what is the solution to this Law of Karma. How can we stop the accumulation of effects of Karma , which we are told binds us  and we have rebirth. The answer is to have no attachment. But in practice this is very difficult. If I help someone , I expect that he would thank me. I add sugar to tee, it should be sweet. But the action and reactions are little different than sugar and sweetness.This brings me to the story for today. 

  Maharshi Vyas was a great sage  and had achieved the perfection. This is a story which illustrate the nonattachment. One of the days Gopies - the ladies who used to carry milk from one place to other. One day they reached the banks of river Ganga . Due to rains the Ganga was swollen  and had flood. There was no way they could cross the river. So they were waiting. Maharshi Vyas came in . The Gopies saw him and knew that he was a sage  and so requested him to help. If the milk was not delivered it would be spoiled  and they will not get money . He agreed, but told them he was hungry and wanted to eat some of the milk and butter. So the Gopies offered him some and he ate more and more. After eating it he was satisfied but the left over milk and butter was very little. The Gopies were not very happy. But then the Vyas said that ,"If I had not eaten any butter or milk , then the river will part and allow the Gopies to cross it".

     And to the surprise of Gopies the river did part and Gopies could travel with full containers of butter and milk.

     The moral of the story is that when Maharshi Vyas ate all the stuff he did ot eat for HIMSELF but he did it with offering to the GOD . So he was not attached to the Karma  and so there was no fruit to it  and so his statement was true. 

(Average person can not do DEEDS like beating someone or killing  and then claim that I was not attached)

Sunday, September 6, 2020

CONCENTRATION

   I have talked about the concentration and the story of Arjuna  and at the same time we also saw how one could do day to day activity  and still not forget about the Goal or ultimate freedom . This was in the story of Kachamuni . This story that I am going to tell is similar one . Many of us who know Indian mythology are aware of many stories of King Yayati . He was was son of king Nahush . He was trained in many skills that are needed for fighting  and he was very good at all of them . One day a wild horse was brought in . The other people in the palace had tried to ride it and the wild hose had thrown them off . So the King asked Yayati to do it . 

   Yayati climbed on the horse  and held the rains  and held the horse in between his strong legs . There was a ground  where he had to make number of rounds riding on this horse to be considered successful. He started  and as he was going around , the hosre did get agitated but Yayati held the horse in between his legs tightly and the horse knew that this rider was not easy to be thrown off .  Yayati completed 2 and half rounds out of 3 rounds that he needed to complete. The king and the queen were sitting  and they were happy and their eyes were showing the pride that their son was the one who was going to complete 3 rounds  and win the control over this wide horse who had thrown every other rider. Yayati caught the glimpse of his parents  and he for a second thought of how happy they looked  and his grip on the horse went loose . The horse knew this in an instant  and threw him off the back. So the hard work that Yayati did for 90% of the time was lost in fraction of a second when he lost his concentration on the job he had in front of him and he did not finish or could not finish . 

    So one has to be 100% concentrating on the GOAL and not lose the sight ever, otherwise you will be thrown off the path to success.