India, Yoga Pranayama ► Ananda Ashram, 4/6

How to eliminate any self limiting thoughts, myfriendslink.com and free yourself from long held patterns of thinking which are holding you back in life?

India, Yoga Pranayama ► Ananda Ashram, 3/6

How to eliminate any self limiting thoughts, myfriendslink.com and free yourself from long held patterns of thinking which are holding you back in life?

Tatva Bodh of Adi Shankaracharya

Lectures by Swami Nikhilanandaji, Tatva Bodh was written by Adi Shankaracharya. Shankaracharyaji salutes his guru Shri Krishna before he starts the text. This is important because before we undertake any study of the scriptures, we have to surrender our ego and identify with the Supreme Reality. Tatva Bodh is not a text for those who are curious or for those who want worldly knowledge. It is not merely a book of theories to be read. It is meant for people who desire Moksha. We all have desires that we try to fulfill in our past time because we think we get happiness when they are fulfilled. The degree of happiness is proportionate to the intensity of the desire. But there are always more unfulfilled desires than fulfilled desires. These desires always give rise to restlessness. Where there is restlessness, there is no peace. Example: “I want water. I am thirsty.” Once this desire has entered your mind, you can not sit peacefully. You go to where this water and drink it or if there is none, you think about where to go and get some. It is natural that we have desires and they propel us. It is even written in the scriptures. (Kaama cheshta – everything is propelled by desire) The rishis analyzed these desires and wondered if one can fulfill all his desires, will he be happy. They classified the desires into four types. 1. Desire to be secure (Survival instinct): This is the first and foremost desire among all living beings. We want to survive. This desire arises from deep within us. Eons ago, the caveman lived in caves and killed animals to survive. Today, we desire to own a house, car, and credit cards to feel secure. (Arthapurushaartha – desire for security) We think money will provide security and so we desire to earn more, own a house with security alarms and smoke detectors. Or we may be physically, socially and financially secure but we feel psychological insecurities. “Why won’t he smile at me? Why doesn’t she like me? Let me make cookies for her.” We may also feel intellectual insecurities. We then use philosophy to feel more secure. “I am an Advaiti. I am a Hindu. I am a Muslim.” We may join a movement or a mission to feel intellectually secure. We must take care to not just calm our insecurities but try to learn and move towards the goal. We also feel secure doing what a lot of people do. We feel more secure with a crowd. We do not want to be alone. Even if God is there and everyone is going towards Him, we prefer to go with everyone rather than go alone to God. These insecurities will remain with us until we have “atma gnana”. Therefore, in Bhagavad Gita, Bhagwan says “Have faith in me. I will make you secure. I will take care of all your needs.” “Yogakshemaam vahaamyaham” – whatever needs to be protected, I shall protect.” Till we understand the greatness of God and till we understand that the greatest security is God within us, we will be insecure and desire for security. 2. Desire to gain pleasure: This is a very strong desire. Almost everything is propelled by these two desires – security and pleasure. We are propelled by fear or pleasure and so many religions use this – “Do this and go to heaven. Don’t do this, you will go to hell.” They create fear or give pleasure to make people do things. There are pleasures at all levels: physically, senses etc. The drawback is pleasure is always followed by pain. There is insecurity in the pleasure – “Will we feel it tomorrow?” Also, a person who always seeks pleasure becomes dull. His thinking capacity is diminished because he becomes totally focussed on acquiring pleasures. It is said in the scriptures: If you want to gain knowledge, forget about pleasure. If you want to gain pleasure, forget about knowledge. Even after trying to gain security and pleasure, we are not happy. So, we desire to gain a superior type of security and happiness – that which is more lasting. This is the third ty pe of desire. 3. Desire to be good: This is the desire to become a better and more righteous person. There is pleasure in eating but there is more pleasure in feeding others. There is pleasure in being protected but there is greater pleasure in protecting others. This indicates rise of Dharma and goodness and giving up of selfishness. We should try to gain security without making the other person insecure. We should try to be happy without making others miserable. Dharma says – “Live and let live.” If you want to gain something, do so by adhering to certain rules (“niyams”) so that you do not harm others. Even the worst person has this desire to be good in him. He has the potential that is deep within him and that is inborn in him to be a saint. The Gita says the moment an evil person desires to be good, he becomes a saadhu. (Example: Valmiki) When a person follows Dharma, he feels more secure and happier in this world. This seems very strange but is true. A dharmic person feels very secure (Example: Sitaji, Ramji). An adharmic person feels very insecure. (Raavan, despite all his strength and wealth he felt insecure all the time.) Dharmorakshathi rakshathaha One, who follows Dharma, is protected by Dharma. He feels God, Goodness, Righteousness is on his side and so he gains unshakeable strength. Nothing can affect him. Mahatma Gandhi was small, frail, without money, without even the full complement of garment to cover his body, not owning even as much earth as might be held on the point of a needle, yet he was so much stronger than the mightiest of empires. The British feared him. One who follows truth: His words gain power, even the Gods must obey him. Example: Anasuya. When someone approached her for help, her husband was cursed to die at sunrise the next day, Anasuya had the power to stop the Sun from rising because she followed dharma. When a person follows dharma, he feels more secure and happier, he feels joy in just being and existing (Example: Mahatmas). They work not because of sense of duty and not because of aspiration but because of inspiration. But a Dharmic person still feels a sense of bondage, a sense of limitation by rules. He will have to be born in this body, eat, sleep and drink with this body. Living in this world becomes bondage. Mumukshatwam (desire to be free from bondage) arises in him. 4. Desire to gain Moksha: This is the desire to free from bondage of desires, body etc. It is subtlest of all desires. Example: No matter how much pleasure we gain from being awake, we do not want to turn away from sleep. We always want rest and sleep. A mumukshu is one who has intense desire for freedom, liberation and Moksha. The Tatva Bodh is written for such a mumukshu. This liberation that he seeks can be gained from knowing the Self. There is no need to go elsewhere or outwards. The liberation lies within. Knowing the true self is freedom. Transcribed by Neena Venugopalan

Sri Ram Ashram – Haridwar, India

A TripAdvisor™ TripWow video of a travel blog to Haridwar, India by TravelPod blogger Debandmitch. See this TripWow and more at tripwow.tripadvisor.com Sri Ram Ashram “Once we broke free of Delhi’s gravitational pull we headed north to Hardiwar. The main inspiration was to visit Sri Ram Ashram that doubles as an orphanage. It is connected [...]

Explanation Of God By A Child

THIS IS FABULOUS!!! It was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista , CA . He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to ‘explain God.’ I wonder if any of us could have done as well? (and he had such an assignment, in California , and someone published it, I guess miracles do happen!) EXPLANATION OF GOD: ‘One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn’t make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn’t have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.’ ‘God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.’ ‘God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn’t go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad’s head asking for something they said you couldn’t have.’ ‘Atheists are people who don’t believe in God. I don’t think there are any in Chula Vista . At least there aren’t any who come to our church.’ ‘Jesus is God’s Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn’t want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn’t know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.’ ‘His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn’t have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.’ ‘You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.’ ‘You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there’s anybody you want to make happy, it’s God! Don’t skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn’t come out at the beach until noon anyway.’ ‘If you don’t believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can’t go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He’s around you when you’re scared, in the dark or when you can’t swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.’ ‘But…you shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. And…that’s why I believe in God.’

India, Yoga Pranayama ► Ananda Ashram, 2/6

Yoga for Stress Relief (With The Dalai Lama) amzn.to 9 Targeted Exercises Get Rid of Cellulite: bit.ly “Former Ovarian Cysts Sufferer Reveals The Only Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months, Reverse All PCOS Symptoms, And Regain Your Natural Inner Balance, Using [...]

Amma’s Ashram – The Hugging Mother – Trichur, India

A TripAdvisor™ TripWow video of a travel blog to Hugsville, India by TravelPod blogger Hildreth75. See this TripWow and more at tripwow.tripadvisor.com Amma’s Ashram – The Hugging Mother After the Backwaters, Sue and I headed south. We had planned to check out another beach but stopped for a night to experience Ashram life. I fully [...]

India, Yoga Pranayama ► Ananda Ashram, 5/6

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What is expectation Karma Yoga 38A

Removing the poison

By Adur Asuri Madhavachari God thinks of the welfare of all. So everyone can worship Him, and crave salvation. There is no distinction of caste or creed or gender when it comes to seeking the Lord’s protection. When the Lord states His willingness to liberate us and further demonstrates it by liberating even a venomous snake like Kalinga that wrought havoc among the people, surely there is no reason to doubt His words. And yet, we never tire of asking questions and doubting the Lord. So it was with the disciples of the Vaishnavite Acharya Vedanta Desika. They first asked their preceptor how the Lord could let off Kalinga. When the Acharya answered citing further examples of the Lord’s benevolence, they had a further query. Why did the Lord have to make the snake spit out the poison? The Lord danced on each hood and made the snake spew out all its poison through each of its mouths, until it no longer had any poison. Why did He do this, the disciples wondered. The Lord is the remover of all manner of poison. So what is there to be surprised at His removal of the snake’s poison? Is there a bigger poison than samsara? Does the Lord not rid us of this poison, if we request Him to? So getting rid of Kalinga’s poison was but a minor matter for the Lord. The list of people saved by the Lord is big. Kshatrabandhu, a robber, Kakasura, who hurt Sita, Guha, Sugriva, Vibhsihana are some of the many liberated by Him. And it can be seen that this is just a sample of a heterogeneous set of those liberated by the Lord. He blesses sinners too, if they place their faith in Him. Few of us can see the Lord in everything. Lord Krishna Himself points to this. Attachment to the Lord does not come easily. We may have to take several births before we realise that we need Him to grant us moksha. But moksha is our birthright, and we must seek what is rightfully ours. But every right carries with it responsibilities and duties. Our duty is to surrender to Him unconditionally, and then moksha automatically follows. The Lord shall not waver in His promise to liberate us, if we surrender to Him.