Namah Shivaya Lecture By Sri Rajarathinam Courtesy The Hindu Lord Siva Himself was the guru of the Saivite saint Manickavachagar. He taught Manickavachagar the ‘Namasivaya’ mantra. Manickavachagar sang in praise of Siva, and his verses are moving. Every letter in the Panchakshara mantra has significance. The letter ‘na’ indicates Lord Siva’s control of happenings in all the worlds. He is in charge of everything that occurs in the three worlds. The ‘ma’ is a reference to the deluge, by which everything is engulfed. The ‘si’ refers to the act of protection by the Lord. The letter ‘va’ refers to the fact that He created all that we see in Nature. The ‘ya’ shows that he created all living things. There are five aksharas in the Panchakshara mantra, and each of these five letters indicates an act of Lord Siva. The Lord is said to have five duties — creation, protection, destruction, bringing on the deluge, and showering us with mercy. These five acts of His are shown to us through the Panchakshara. Another way to look at the Panchakshara is to see each of the letters as representing the five faces of Lord Siva. Yet another meaning is to see the ‘na’ as representing the earth, the ‘ma’ as representing water, the ‘si’ as representing fire, the ‘va’ as representing the air, and the ‘ya’ as representing the sky. The five letters could also be taken to indicate Siva’s five colours. He is said to be golden hued, white, red, black and grey in colour. Just as each letter in the Panchakshara has great significance, each word in the Tiruvachagam of Manickvachagar has significance. Manickavachagar uses one particular word six times. This is to indicate the six inner conflicts we have. He uses yet another word five times, to show that our five senses must go on the right path. He uses another word eight times, to show the eight qualities of Lord Siva. He is the embodiment of gnana, mercy, joy and love. He is Omniscient. He has infinite capacity to accomplish anything. He created Nature, and is Himself Nature. He also loves Nature. That is why every temple has a sthala vriksha — a tree auspicious to that temple. That is why we also maintain gardens in temples
Embodying good qualities What is the nature of Lord Narayana’s form, when He takes avataras? While those of us on earth have bodies that are made up of Satva, Rajas and Tamas, His form is always pure Satva, said Adur Asuri Madhavachari. Swami Desika points out that in all His avataras, whether as Rama or Krishna or Trivikrama, He retains all these auspicious qualities, thereby demonstrating His Supremacy. Lord Narayana is the opposite of all bad qualities, and the embodiment of all good ones. But those who still harbour doubts, then turn their attention to the Narsasimha avatara, and wonder how the half- man, half- lion form is also auspicious. There need be no doubts on this count. It is one of the three complete avataras, the other two being the Rama and Krishana avataras. In the Vishnu Sahasranama, it is the Narasimha avatara that is mentioned first among all the avataras. Narasimha came heeding the calls of a child, and that too the child of an asura. It is said that Lord Narayana came as Narasimha for the sake of Prahlada. But a better way of putting it would be to say that He came in order that Prahlada’s words might be proved true. The Lord is always true to His words. He never slips from them. Nor does He let his devotees’ words prove false. Prahlada had declared to his father Hiranyakasipu that the Lord was there everywhere. That is why the Lord took His position in all pillars, for He wanted to be at hand, whichever pillar Hiranayakasipu chose to strike. He wanted to show that He would never allow His devotees’ words to be proved false. Whatever form pleases His bhaktas, is a form that He readily assumes, and in doing so, the Lord loses none of His auspicious qualities. His form remains always pure and untainted. Nammazhvar shows this to us, by saying that He is the One who is on earth, heaven and also in the space between heaven and earth. He is one and the same everywhere, with no dilution in His qualities. His form is pure everywhere and at all times. He is unmatched and Supreme, and yet simplicity is His defining quality. Else would He hasten to the side of Prahlada, in His half-man, half-lion form
Shree Maa gives us the message that we can learn from everybody. When Maa was a little four-year old child, She was cleaning a room and upon finishing, she threw the broom to a corner. Then She heard the voice of Sri Ramakrishna say, “Hega, you threw that broom? See how beautifully you cleaned the room with that very broom and now you threw it? You must respect your tools as well as your actions. Cleanliness is next to Godliness?” The four-year-old Little Mother bowed down to the broom. From then on She would bow down to it everyday. Maa said that Thakur Ramakrishna told Her, “If you respect each and every one of your actions, you will get me.” Respect is an important part of learning. To illustrate this, Maa is sharing these stories with us. These stories teach us how to learn and how to become divine. We can learn every moment from every thing because Mother Nature is teaching us all the time. Please listen and enjoy the stories! Now, Mother will tell us the story of Avadhut Dattatreya. Dattatreya was born divine and considered every moment as an opportunity to learn. He learned from everybody and everything. He considered all of Nature to be his Guru. How did He learn this way and what did He learn? Read on! First Story One day Avadhut was crossing a big field. He saw a huge wedding procession walking across the field with much fanfare accompanied by many musical instruments. There were pipes and drums and lots of singing. The marriage party was accompanying the groom. At the same time in that field, Avadhut saw a hunter. The hunter was looking with one-pointed mind at his prey. His eyes were completely focused on the target and he was oblivious to the marriage party and the sounds of their merry making. Avadhut went to the hunter and bowed down to him. He said, “You are my Guru. When I meditate on God, my goal will be to have the same focus as you have just demonstrated.” Second Story One time Avadhut was walking by a river when he saw a fisherman. He went near the fisherman and asked politely, “Oh Brother, what path should I take to go to the cityâ€? The fisherman was looking inside the water and did not pay any attention to the question. The sounds did not even enter in to his ears. At that moment, the fish was just touching the bait. When the fish was caught, the fisherman called Avadhut, “Hey, what were you saying to me?” Avadhut came back to him and bowed down. He said, “You are my Guru. When I meditate on my Ishta Deva (beloved form of God), until the meditation is not complete, until I reach the goal, my mind will not wander. Please give me blessings to be like you in this way.” Third Story One day a hawk caught a fish and was flying with the fish in his mouth. Behind came hundreds and hundreds of crows. They all flew behind him and chased the hawk wherever he flew. They wanted the fish and went wherever the hawk went. They were disturbing the hawk greatly. The hawk got mad. He threw the fish. At that time, another hawk was flying and caught that fish. The crows left the first hawk and started flying behind the other hawk. The first hawk was so relieved and relaxed! Without a care, he sat on the branch of a tree and watched the plight of the other hawk. The Avadhut bowed down to the hawk and said, “If you can leave all desires and attachments, then alone you can get peace. When I sit to meditate I want to leave all my desires and attachments, just as you have shown. ” He prayed to the hawk and said, “You are my Guru. Thank you for your teaching.” Fourth Story There was a little pond in which a crane was walking with concentration and moving slowly to catch a fish. Behind the crane was a hunter who was focusing on the crane with the intent of killing it. The crane had no idea as to who was behind. The crane was completely focused on catching the fish. The Avadhut bowed down to the crane and told him, “You are my Guru. When I will do meditation, I will never look behind, I will always be focused on the present and not on the past or the future. Please give me this blessing. Thank you for your teaching.” From these Avadhut stories we see a beautiful example of how we can learn from all of Nature — every moment, every aspect of creation can be our Guru and we can learn. Avadhut gave respect with each action. From this we learn that if we, too, are respectful in each and every one of our actions, the entire Universe will become our family, and we can learn and share with all of creation.
As one of the rare living Avataras… His Holiness Parama Pujya Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji is the Pontiff of Avadhoota Datta Peetham at Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Ashrama in Mysore, India. Sri Swamiji is renowned for His Healing and Meditation music and He is considered a divine guide who cultivates the ancient Vedic traditions. He was born fully realised in command of the eight Mahasiddhis and is a Guru in the Dattatreya Avadhoota lineage. Sri Swamiji honours all religions and teaches that it’s possible to reach God by many paths. “It is of primary importance to attune with God through prayer, worship and the chanting of God’s holy names”. “Then God Himself will give you good guidance” says Sri Swamiji. The path of Dattatreya embraces all spiritual paths and is the source of all other traditions. He who treads the path of Truth, regardless of what religion he belongs to, is treading the path of Dattatreya. As an incarnation of God, Datta came down to spread the universality of true religion. Anyone can be his follower, regardless of cast, creed, status, be they student, householder, recluse or renunciate. No matter what sect or religion the true seeker follows, eventually he comes under the guidance of Lord Dattatreya, the Eternal Spiritual Guide of all mankind. Datta’s presence is not limited to any one country or sphere, as He is the Guru of all Gurus, the all-seeing, all-powerful, ever-present link between God and Man. However, special places of worship (Datta Peethas) have grown up around sacred areas, where His presence is most strongly felt by the sincere seeker of Datta. These places include Suchindram, Senthamangalam, Mount Girnar, Nagalapuram in Andhra, Prayag, Datta Guha in the Himalayas, Gulbarga -Ganagapura, Narasimhavadi in Maharastra, Quthambara near Poona, Avadumbara, Somapuram, Chandradronagiri and Datta Peetha at Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Ashrama, Mysore. One notable aspect of these Datta Peethas is their indefinable but inseparable relationship with worship of God as Mother , the Supreme Energy -Shakti. (Hence, Sri Swamiji’s fierce aspect as Mother Chamunda.) Parasurama (eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu), approached Lord Dattatreya and was initiated into the intricacies of how to worship the Mother (Shreevidya Upaasana), before undertaking intense penance to obtain the grace of the Divine Mother. The Saandilya Upanishad declares very clearly that Lord Dattatreya is the Supreme Reality and is the cause of everything that is created. It states, “The Supreme Brahman performed penance which was of the nature of knowledge (jnyana), and desiring to become many, assumed the form of Dattatreya. From that form came out the three letters A, U, M; the three mystical names Bhuh, Bhuvah and Svah; the three-lined Gayatri; the three Vedas Rig, Yajur and Sama; the three Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara; the three castes Brahmana, Kshatriya and Vysya; and the three fires Gaarhapatya, Ashavaneeya and Dakshina.” “The lord is endowed with all wealth. He is all pervading and resides in the hearts of all beings. He is the great Maayavi, sporting with His own Maaya. He is Brahma. His Vishnu, He is Rudra. He is Indra and He is also all the gods of heaven and all other beings. He is East, He is West, He is North, He is South, He is below and He is above. He is everything. This is the glory of the form of Dattatreya.” Lord Dattatreya came as the Supreme Philosopher ( Avadhoota ) so that the true meaning and purpose of Sacrifice (Tyaaga) may be revealed to mankind. Atri, His father, symbolizes penance (tapas) as described in the scriptures, and Anasooya represents freedom from jealousy. When penance and non-jealous nature unite in a single person, the highest truth emerges as Lord Dattatreya. As ultimate self-sacrifice, the Supreme God gave Himself as Datta to Atri and Anasooya. Hence, “Datta” means not only “that which is given”, but also as the ideal of “giving” without desire for reward, i.e. selfless giving. The whole life of Dattatreya shows us that this “giving” selflessly is the true renunciation/sacrifice. The significance of this sacrifice is stated in the Dattatreya Upanishad where the Lord says, “Not by action, not by progeny, nor even by self, but by renunciation (tyaaga) alone is immortality attained. “Real renunciation is the giving up of “I” and mine, not the mere abandoning of duties. Living a selfless life require giving up one’s ego. That is what Lord Dattatreya describes as true sacrifice. As a Yoga-Avatar, Lord Dattatreya teaches us to perform all our duties skillfully and diligently. Yoga does not require outside aids, nor does it demand great physical effort. All we have to do is change our outlook and transform our attitude to life. This “change” consist of giving up the idea or feeling of “doership”, “enjoyership” and the resultant anxiety (and attachment ) for the fruits of our actions. By performing all our duties with this changed outlook, our mind will be freed from agitation and attain the restful state called “equanimity”, or the state where there is no “mind”. This is the state of Bliss that every soul ultimately aspires to. This is the state of Datta – the ultimate Gift of God. The Hanuman temple at Chennai Vijayanagar is the ashram of the swamiji where we pray and tie the coconut for geting the blessings of the Anjneya in geting our desires fullfilled. Please visit the following You Tube site to listen about the Dattatreya Ashram @ Mysore http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7cPjdbJnds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrD9DJSt0RE&feature=related
Belia Villafane Inspects … forest “forest sounds” “Relaxation videos” Relaxation Nature squirrel “Beautiful nature” relaxing relax pooja rain peace “running water” trees Ashram Yoga meditation
Belia Villafane visited this Ashram in 2003 … forest “forest sounds” “Relaxation videos” Relaxation Nature squirrel “Beautiful nature” relaxing relax pooja rain peace “running water” trees Ashram Yoga meditation
Belia Villafane visited this Ashram in 2003 … forest “forest sounds” “Relaxation videos” Relaxation Nature squirrel “Beautiful nature” relaxing relax pooja rain peace “running water” trees Ashram Yoga meditation
Sri Ramakrishna Mission Temple (August, 1919-20, pp. 103-104) Yoga and Nature By Swami Ramakrishnananda Books are nothing other than the records of men’s experiences about Nature; so in reality Nature is our teacher. Whenever Nature teaches us,we become really learned and gain something thereby not only for ourselves but for others.When young James Watt studied the action of steam in the boiling kettle before him, he made a valuable contribution to the progress of the human race. When Benjamin Franklin was flying the kite and detected the existence of electricity in the clouds, he gained a new and most useful servant for man. Similarly by studying Nature George Stephenson was able to invent the locomotive engine. All these incidents clearly show that Nature is the book the study of which gives us the greatest return. Our Indian Yogis, knowing this, deeply studied the book of Nature and ultimately found out the methods which took them beyond Nature. Through the study of the inner aspect of Nature they opened a channel of unlimited knowledge; they could subsist without food any length of time; and they gained supernatural powers which our modern science cannot even dream of. That a man can become practically all-knowing they seem to have at first learnt from studying the property of a convex lens. Ordinarily the solar rays have no burning power; but if brought together at the focus of the lens, they will begin to burn. This burning power is brought about by the convergence of the scattered rays of the sun to a single point. This fact suggested to the mind of the Yogi that because the mind is distributed through the senses and as such is scattered in all directions, it has only the ordinary power of knowing what is visibly going on in this world and of knowing that but very partially. If, however, he could call his mind back from all external pursuits and concentrate it on one idea or at one point, as in the case of the focused solar rays, then why should it not be able to perceive both these ordinary things and many extraordinary things also? He made the experiment and was successful. This intense increase in the power of the mind was learnt also from the current of a stream. If we build a dam across a flowing stream, keeping only a very small aperture in the embankment, the water which then comes out of that aperture has a thousand fold more power than the ordinary current of the stream. This suggested to them the idea that if by shutting up all other outlets of the mind, it is made to flow through one outlet, it must acquire powers unknown to it before: In this manner the Yogi discovered the extraordinary powers which mental concentration can produce. The above article is from the Archieves of Vedanta Kesari
By Swami Parmarthananda Meditation Meditation is one of the spiritual disciplines which occupies an important position in most of the spiritual traditions. Therefore, a proper understanding of its role is necessary for every spiritual seeker. Now-a-days, Meditation is recommended for physical and mental health, personality development and better performance also. Hence, a clear understanding of meditation is useful for all, whether one seeks spiritual enlightenment or not. The Upanisads vedanta point out that Self-Knowledge is the only means of liberation and that Self-enquiry guided by the Vedantic teachings is the only means of Self-Knowledge. So, Self-enquiry occupies primary position for a spiritual seeker. Meditation is prescribed neither for Self-knowledge nor for liberation. It is meant for preparing the mind to receive and assimilate the vedantic teachings. Accordingly, Meditation can be broadly classified into two types, VIZ., Preparatory meditation, which is to be practised before one exposes oneself to vedantic teaching and Assimilatory meditation which is to be practised after one exposes oneself to systematic vedantic teaching consistently for a length of time. One has to develop different mental faculties to receive the Self knowledge. Accordingly, Preparatory meditation can be subdivided into four types. This is based on the faculty to be developed. Preparatory Meditations (1) Relaxation – meditation In this, you learn to relax at all levels. In any posture consciously relax every part of the body from head to toe. When the body is totally relaxed, you feel bodiless. Then, observe the breathing. This will help in making the breathing-process smooth and even. Next, relax the mind. The following methods can be used to relax the mind: Imagine you are seated in a natural setup like beach, garden, mountain, riverbank or Asram. Consciously unload all your mental burden at the feet of the Lord(in the form of your favorite deity) (Ista-devata). Repeat to yourself: “I am confident of facing any situation in life, now that the Lord is there to share my burden. I have no worries now. I am relaxed. Use any key word like “Santih” to invoke and enjoy the relaxation, ignoring all other thoughts. (2) Concentration – Meditation While the previous meditation is for simple, deep relaxation, this meditation is to develop the faculty of focussing. The following methods can be used to develop this faculty: Perform a Puja to the Lord mentally. It can be a simple one offering a few flowers or an elaborate one involving ritualistic steps. Alternatively, you can visualise a Puja done by another person in a temple, Asram etc. Mentally chant the prayers you know in any language. Be conscious of you chanting. Mentally repeat any one name of the Lord or the words “Om Santih”. Be conscious of every letter. (3) Expansion – Mediation All the time, being obsessed with personal or family life, one develops a narrow, frog-in-the-well mind. To break this, one has to meditate on the totality which expands the mind and makes the individual and family problems insignificant. Try the following: Mentally see the sky, stars, moon, earth, oceans, mountains, etc. Appreciate the cosmic processes of sunrise, sunset, planetary movements, flow of rivers, flight of birds, etc. In short, tune yourself to the natural rhythm, the cosmic orchestra. Learn to enjoy the cosmic dance of the cosmic Lord. (4) Value – Meditation This meditation is very important. This will help in internalising the values. This will bring about a transform in transactional life. Take up any value like confidence, patience, compassion, etc. Mentally see how important they are for a life of peace and progress. Bring to your mind any person who enjoys that particular value and appreciate him/her. Take the opposite trait like diffidence, irritation, rudeness, etc. Mentally see how they spoil the peace of yourself and others around. Look at yourself as one endowed with that particular value. The above four types of meditation can be practised by anyone. One need not be a seeker of spiritual enlightenment for practising these. These meditations will bring about a deep transformation is one’s personality which will give inner peace. Peace does not depend on what one has but on what one is. (5) Assimilatory (Vedantic) Meditation The seeker of spiritual enlightenment should not stop with the practise of the above mentioned meditations. Self-enquiry with the help of a Guru and the scriptures is a must. Consistent and systematic study of scriptures for a length of time under the guidance of a traditional master will lead to Self-discovery. To assimilate and own up this wisdom, one has to practise Vedantic meditation as follows: Mentally dwell on the Truth of yourself as revealed by the scriptural teachings. Mentally dwell on the Truth of the lord as revealed in the scriptures. Mentally dwell upon the nature of the world to which your own body and mind belong. Obstacles and Remedies (1) Sleep This is the most common obstacle. One need not feel guilty about it. The solution to this will vary from individual to individual. Some general methods can be tried by all: Meditate after a bath or atleast after washing the hands, feet and face with cold water. Meditate when the stomach is neither too full nor too empty. Choose any part of the day when you are alert. Give a strong autosuggestion, “I will be alert”. Don’t meditate after tiring activity. Don’t meditate when there is a backlog of sleep. Have short sessions of 15 to 20 minutes only initially. (2) Distraction This is the second common obstacle. One need not feel guilty about it. The following methods can be adopted to avoid this. Learn more and more and more about meditation and its value. Mind enjoys doing what it values. Reduce your likes and dislikes which are the root cause of disturbance and distractions Give up all anxieties by taking Lord as your partner in life. Give a strong autosuggestion, “I-have an appointment with myself. Let me die to all my wordly roles”. (3) Dullness Sometimes the mind becomes dull. It is neither asleep nor restless. It this happens, nothing can be done. One has to hope and wait for clearance. However, one can try to avoid this situation by the following methods: Don’t have suppressed feelings (which will create a loaded unconscious). Share your feelings with someone. Write your feelings (and tear-off the paper if you don’t want to keep it). Express your feelings openly to the Lord, your Istadevata. (4) Tasting the Tranquility The withdrawal and quietitude in meditation create a sense of wellbeing. Many mistake this temporary experience of well-being as spiritual fulfillment and tend to enjoy it more and more. This is the subtlest form of obstacles. This can be solved only by applying Vedantic discrimination properly. Conclusion Everyone can practise the first four forms of meditation. It will be very useful whatever be one’s field of activity. If one is a spiritual seeker, they become all the more important. One does not require any special initiation to practise these four forms of meditation. Om Tatsat courtesy:Yogamalika You can visit the following site an listen to Swami Parmarthananda’s summary of 7th chapter of Srimad Bhagwat Gita http://ia331429.us.archive.org/2/items/BhagavadGitaCommentary_Chapter07_by_Swami_Parmarthananda/115_BG07.mp3
Emerson: The Boston Brahmin By Courtesy Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy,Former Head,Department of Ancient History & Archaeology,University of Mysore Sir William Jones (1746 – 1794), the father of Indology, brought to the Western gaze the rich cultural, philosophical and literary heritage of India. The Western scholars, who had considered vedas as a mad man’s utterances, began to read them and discovered sublime thought in them. Kalidasa’s Shakuntala, Bhagavadgita and Puranas were translated into English. All these indological developments began to reach America through England, particularly Boston, the most important town of New England area which played an important role in American Independence movement. Commercial City: Boston, the Capital of Massachusetts State, was not only a great commercial city but also a center of music, literature and culture. The world famous Harvard University and MIT are located here. This city had a group of intellectuals with liberal outlook and penchant for freedom. This group became famous as Bostonians or Bostonian Brahmins. At this juncture was born Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1803. His father was a clergyman, an enlightened person and founded a cultural club which published a monthly magazine called The Boston Review. Though a Christian padri, he had collected a large number of books on Indian Philosophy and religion. The young boy Emerson was attracted towards these books and began to read them. Fortunately, he got admission in Harvard University which had the richest collection of books on Indian philosophy and history. After obtaining a Master’s degree from Harvard, Emerson joined as a clergyman in one of the churches in Boston. He became a popular Minister (padri) and his church became famous. The people were greatly attracted by his novel and attractive way of preaching Bible. Thus his fame spread in Boston. However, Emerson felt that there was no creativity in his work. Hence he resigned his job and went to England. There he met Coleridge, Wordsworth, Carlyle and other stalwarts and this changed the nature of his thinking. He became a liberal thinker and evinced interest in the study of other religions. He was particularly impressed by Bhagavadgita translated by Wilkins, and Vishnupurana translated by Wilson. He also took to the study of Vedas and Upanishads. As he had an open mind, he saw universality in all religions. He came to the conclusion that all great men and all religious teachers spoke the same language. Gita & Emerson: The Bhagavadgita appealed to Emerson most. When he was asked to deliver a lecture on religion, he said God is not separate from creation: God manifests himself in this universe through creation. Thus there is no duality in religion or philosophy. Thus he hailed Advaita as the essence of the word. But he never criticised any other religion and hurt their feelings and asked the people to follow any religion of their choice which took them closer to God. These ideas were taken from Bhagavadgita. He was also a poet and wrote many poems. One of them is very significant because it is titled Brahma. This poem though short is a successful summary of Upanishads and Bhagavadgita. The influence of kenopanishad is easily seen in this poem. Emerson did not believe in the Saguna form of worship as practiced by most of the Hindus. He believed in Nirguna form of worship in which God is formless, nameless, colourless etc. In fact this is the peak of Indian metaphysical thought which portrays the concept of Brahman (not four – faced Brahma). Generally this poem is recommended to readers who cannot read the original Upanishad in Sanskrit, to understand the concept of Brahman. Emerson’s aunt Mary became an admirer of Emerson and she happened to read a poem “A hymn to Narayana” written by William Jones. She was greatly impressed by this poem and sent a copy of it to Emerson. Emerson copied this poem in his diary because he wanted to read it again and again whenever he opened his diary. He thanked his aunt profusely and wrote “that all books of knowledge and all the wisdom of Europe twice told lie hidden in the treasure of Brahmins.” Nobody either in India or abroad has paid a better tribute to Indian philosophy and metaphysics. Emerson believed in the transmigration of soul and the concept of rebirth. He asserted that body alone decays but not the soul. This idea is taken from the Upanishads and the Gita. Emerson had a good library of Indian classics and he used to lend them to his friends so that they could read these books and get acquainted with Indian philosophy. Due to an accident, a portion of his house was destroyed in fire and it was rebuilt by the spontaneous public donations of more than 18,000 dollars in 1872. A Writer:Emerson was not only an indologist but was also a writer. His works include Nature (1836), American scholar (1837), two anthologies collected in 1841 and 1844. He again went to England in 1847 – 48 and wrote a book called English Traits (1856), analyzing the character of English people. His next work was Representative Man (1862). Books which made him famous were Nature, The Conduct of Life, Self – Reliance, American Scholar and Over Soul. He condemned the practice of slavery and differentiation on the basis of colour, creed and race. Emerson died in 1882 at the age of 79 at Concord and unprecedented number of admires paid homage to this great friend, guide and philosopher. The church bell tolled 79 times to mark his 79th year. I had the good fortune of visiting both Boston and Concord about fifty years ago. Emerson is no longer with us today but he will remain in our minds for ever. A great historian has said: “Emerson had all the wisdom and spirituality of Brahmins and perhaps he was the best Brahmin outside India.” Most Brahmins are so by birth but Emerson was a true Brahmin by culture. Bhuvani now you can see Brahmins not only in Naganallur but in Boston also, you can go to a website called Brahmins university Boston and will know more about Brahmins of western world.
