Starting Again....

Will be blogging again regularly....

Freewill only for Future.....

In past 15 years, I am asking this question again and again to everyone and to myself. The experiences of life till now only confirms that there is a script for us to this life and we have to just follow it either by acceptance or forcefull. There are things which u cannot change in this life whatever u may do. No hardwork, pooja or prayers come into play if it is already decided. Hinduism has this three types of karma and one such karma defines your present life.


Freewill exists for future.....


Whatever you do today, karma of that will be experienced in the future. But our concerns normally would to be get over the past karma and their results and achieve something what we want. That is impossible. Whoever say that is he is blessed by someone or prayer or pooja, it means that it is already defined in your past karma that a particular person or pooja will help you at a particular period.


All other philosophies or concepts (Bhakti, Guru, Hardworking) are just concepts for mental comfort. That is my knowledge from my personal experiences.

Spiritual Suggestions

So, keep questioning, frustrate yourselves with questions and answers and argue with others but be on the spiritual path. Someday, u will understand everything as it is.

there is no convincing answer of why we are born!!

Thinking is the root cause

Thinking (right or wrong...it depends) is the root cause for all the problems - physically, mentally, socially, materially and spiritually.

Thinking is an Addiction. Get rid of it.

Spiritual Suggestions

"agitation, restlessness, frustration and above being in hurry to achieve or get rid of something" is the root cause for not being able to meditate.

Letting go

‎"Letting go" is good but we must remember that 'the tides which goes back comes again and hits the shore'. Pain is something like that. It comes again and again leaving us devastated. Wounds have become Scars but those Scars can also become Wounds if we are not alert!!!

There is an internal music going on.....true meditation brings it out. Then, there is no need of external music or any other things.

Spiritual Suggestions

What I noticed from my personal experience with meditation is that unless we reduce our "agitation and hurry" we may not get the right results that fast.
There is a school of thought that some people are born with some qualities which includes doing meditation also and for them, it may be natural and very easy. But for others, it may not be the same. We must judge our self in this regard and not get bluffed by all the stuff or saying thrown at us.
If one is getting good results easily and in a very short time, it's OK but he must understand that it is just on a temporary one and that meditation is only showing affect on weak or upper layers. One must go deeper and deeper to get real benefits of meditation.

Making life a worth living is what life is all about!!!!

Spiritual Suggestions

Our thoughts and emotions covers up reality. Control the thoughts and emotions from those thoughts, u can see things as near to reality.

Awareness is always there but 'Right Awareness' is what is needed and that occurs only when we have con...trol over the 'types of thoughts and emotions'.

Spiritual Suggestions

Two people cannot have same type of experiences because they are totally different from one another. The input (which is our body, karma and mind) is processed by a formula (meditation or any other type) which results in some by...product(calmness, agitation, enlightenment and so on).

What really matters here is not the formula or byproduct but the input ...so is the input so will be the output.

All our efforts and understanding must make us realise our input 'as it is' and from there work on it to progress gradually.

Our aim to walk on spiritual path must be to work on our own 'input' but unfortunately people are running after 'byproduct'.

Spirituality is a very long journey; definitely not of single life......

'Agitation and Comparison'' are the biggest obstacles for any sadhak.

Going to Temple

We go to temple because we cannot go "Internally" and try to use 'external support like a form, person or place' to dive ourself into 'internally'.

Spirituality is not for sale; if it is for sale, it is not spirituality.

• As S.N. Goenka says, "What price u can pay for true technique and teaching?"

• The moment u start walking on spiritual path, "greed, lust and materialization" runs away from you.

• True Spirituality can never be marketed....it can be only given freely.
  
  Any person or organization who tries to sell Spirituality are not at all spiritual but are into the 'business of spirituality'.

• Even books and workshops priced more than its real price is only a business.

Time...

Time will make everything to settle on its own but it will be a long process and lot of our energy is wasted by that time. But if we can somehow manage ourself to handle those situations and restless to some degree, we will be benefited a lot.

Unfulfilled dreams forever....

From childhood I wanted to touch the feet of Main Statue of Balaji at Tirumala. For some time, I use to meditate thinking I am infront of the main deity.

Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell are not something there UP...based on our karma in this life and from past lives, we will get a womb for next birth and that womb will define your surroundings, problems, nature and so on. That stay in heaven or hell is nothing but a life span in a human body.

Now, look at ourself and answer to oneself whether u r in heaven or
hell in this birth. Whatever may be your answer, if we can realize that
based on our previous karma we are where we are either in heaven or
hell...i think that is enough.

 

Ayodhya issue...

The issue of Ayodhya is not about land but more of ego clashes between brothers, I think. When that was addressed by the High Court, all these brothers who fought with each other for decades are now calm. May that peace prevail for ever.

No one like him......

Is Gandhi relevant today? This questions comes up now and then. 

The way the people of India and particularly the way Indian Politicians have behaved after the Ayodhya verdict....what to expect more than that.
I think it is right tribute the country has paid for the Nation of Father after Independence.

My first book on Gandhi was "My Experiences with Truth" brought from Anand Bhavan in Allahabad (it is Nehru house in Allahabad). Brought that book only because it was Rs.20/ at that time and the cheapest book available in the bookstall. All... Nehru books were priced more than Rs.100/- and wanted to complaint to someone to keep their prices low. Before that, I never liked Gandhi at all. I started reading that book in the train from Allahabad to Anantapur which was more than 3 days journey between lots of halts in between due to heavy rains.

Now, I think Nehru made me to go thru Gandhi writings.....forcefully!!!

A Complete philosophy is what I can say about Gandhi writings and his life. Start reading about him and u will realize why he was called "Mahatma".

He talks about everything from Spirituality to Sex to Society to Politics and what not. No person in recent times has so much strong views on each topics.What is amazing is the clarity he has on them, the way he puts things in right perspective and what amazes more is that the more he talks about modernity, the more it resembles from the past...glorious past of Indian thought. He mixed every thing...history, law, religion, heritage, personal, politics, cultures, society, capitalism, humanity, caste, communism.......

 

Life is like a fish out of water

Life is like a fish out of water....when this poor fish is struggle for a breath and to get back into water as soon as possible; U want it to understand philosophies, to meditate, to control his senses, thoughts, be compassionate and what not....

Religion and New Age - 1

I always unsuccessfully tried to explain to people about religion, spirituality and their relation. " Religion is the container, spirituality is the content" conveys the whole concept of what I was thinking.

"Though it is important to discover spirituality for oneself ,I feel it is not necessary to keep reinventing the wheel" - This is something New Age Gurus are totally against and has brainwashed everyone. I checked out lot of them and everything boils down to same old things which have been told long back in all religions of the world.
Three basic things are necessary for anyone and everyone to live rightly either in Spiritual or Material life.
1. Good habits
2. Good Character
3. Mind Control and Meditation Techniques.

All meditation techniques whatever may be, boils down to two things....
1. Thought control
2. Handling Emotions

A Guru is born only when someone benefits from him either mentally, materially, physically, socially or spiritually. Otherwise why would one consider the other as Guru. A Religion is born when a group of people are benefitted from it for a longer period; otherwise it will go away. Every Religion starts with a Guru and continues to live till people benefit from it; as it has been told in that Religion. If a Guru or Religion does not live up to its sayings, it will die with the time. There are "n" number of Gurus and different ideologies raising every day and dying every day. Only few survive and these has good/strong foundation.

Read about any religion....may be a pamplet or small book which explains the basics or core tenents of each Religion. U don't find anything drastic different among them. May be "ethics and mode of living" differs with respect to the place and time but all other things are almost same.

Religion is like Democratic Constitution where a larger section of people under the leadership of a leader prescribes certain rules and methods for the benefit of all and the society. There may be some good laws and some bad laws. Every law is made because of a need and would have been approved by that society at that particular time. Yes, some laws have to be changed and some news laws are needed with the time.

If someone is having problem with Religion; then his/her problem is not with the Religion but with the laws and its lawmakers.

Every New Age Gurus or Philosophy address issues with laws. There are like middlemen or brokers within Government establishment. For example, for processing an application in an Government office, it may take one week but pay some bucks to middle men, u can have it by evening. In starting, it looks good and u are ready to spend money to save your time and efforts. There comes a time when everything has to go thru the middlemen only and u have to pay for it. Don't we see this in our Govenment offices. And u start critizing the Government for not working properly. But is it Government or Constitution which should be blamed? or is it Government employees? or the middlemen or brokers? Who should be blamed for this situation? It is neither Constitution, Government, Government employees nor middlemen/brokers.......it is YOU who should be blamed. U started this or someone like U may have started this and U are paying for that.
Gods, Religion, Priest, Guru, Followers are exactly like that.

New Age Gurus or Philosophies are like middlemen or corrupted Government employee. Don't get me wrong! Think twice before going to bash me. If someone is affected or thinks he is affected by certain laws but cannot change them; that person is shown an alternative by New Age. But is it a good alternative...really good in long run.

NOT ACCEPTING.....ALTERNATIVE FOR EVERYTHING.
We go on in circles doing this or that but whatever philosophy it may be, whoever Guru u may have, whatever Religion or belief u may follow......in the end, U WILL DIE AND YOU GURU WILL ALSO DIE.  Show me a guru who has not died, show a God who has not died.....(if some are seeing him/her and some are not seing....then definitely, he/she is not like us. And any one who is not like us or atleast resemble like us are considered to be...ya....u know I mean and what they are).

Religion talks about Constitution and laws.......every true Guru talks about laws and tells us to be law abiding. Ur safe journey on road depends on you and the way you follow the traffic rules....if the other person does not follow traffic rules and hits u, the law will address it in a proper way. Yes, though, U r following the rules, U have been made to suffer for others mistakes. The law will consider this and will compensate you in some way. That compensation may not be what you want or not equal to what u have undergone. But do law and lawmakers has any alternative than this. That is the best thing they can do for you in this scenario.

to be continued......

Thought is different from thinking

Thinking is the pattern of mind setting all its thoughts on a particular thing for a particular time. We may think about a person, a incidents of the past, or dream about something. These thoughts must be controlled as these thoughts are filled with lot of intense emotions. Thinking is an internal process.

On the other hand, thought is something we get instantly; say when you see a kid, u feel happy and when u see a dead body, you feel frightened. External incidents generates thoughts. 

Sometimes, we don't have any command on external incidents which generate thoughts in us. But we must not make this thoughts into thinking pattern. That is when we start moving away from the reality.

Our Life is a Lease

I leased a house for 100 years by paying certain amount. It is my duty to keep it proper so that I get the benefits of house & enjoy it. Once lease period is over, I have to leave the house and Whatever good or bad done by me during this lease period to the house will be whitewashed and it will be handover to someone for further lease. Whatever may be your efforts and how passionate you were about house; will not make the house owner allow you to stay in that house forever. The moment, lease is over, u will be forcefully thrown out if you are not willing to go on your own. You can carry only the memories of that house and nothing else...

Life is the property of God leased to us for a specific period and can be used as we wish. Unless we keep this body & mind clean, we cannot enjoy this life. Nothing achieved in this world can be carried into another life; money, fame, relationships...everything ends once you leave this body. Only experiences and karma are taken forward to another life.  So, learn from experience and acquire good karma.

Karma is the price u pay for the lease of the house. karma is the fixed deposit you put in this life which will be matured only in next life. If u r having good karma, u can lease a good house and can enjoy those facilities. ......

Failure

• It is the difference between what one was capable of becoming and what one has in fact become.
• I feel content, satisfied and happy now a days with every failure.
• It is on our failures that I see my blessings and luck.
• Every failure also involves lot of formulas, planning and hard work.
• Courage is going from failure to failure and losing again and again.

“It is not the situation that causes our suffering - it is what the Mind does with it”

“It doesn't matter if you walk or run. As long as you keep moving, there is surely an outcome in the end. Fear not being slow, but do fear standing and keeping still. The worst is turning back. This is like the running race between the tortoise and the rabbit where the tortoise won in the end. Therefore, as long as your goal and aspiration does not change, there would surely be an outcome in the end."

A single word in Tantra

A single word or expression in Tantra can have four different meanings.

The four levels of interpretation, known as the four modes of understanding are:

 1.    The literal meaning;

2.    The general meaning;

3.    The hidden meaning; and

4.    The ultimate meaning.

Time Management

Learn to use time wisely. When interacting with people and matters, be clear of what we are going to do from beginning to end and do not waste time. If time is used wisely, there will be plenty of time left to do the things u want to do.

Our Faults

We should not be afraid to see our faults and mistakes because only then can they be corrected. People who fail to see their own mistakes will not be able to change for the better.

Moral...Ethics...Principles...Process...SHAME ON INFOSYS

The success and failure of getting/retaining clients lies with the Senior Management (the strategists) and not the middle management (the executioners). But the middle management and their teams were punished during the recession period but not the senior management. Middle management kept calm till now and want to take the revenge now. The good part of Recession is that people are coming to know about the realities of corporate life rather its good and inspiring captions that are used by the management to bluff the employees. Look what Infosys is doing - just few months their employees were not good and demoted, but now suddenly, Management decides to uplift the moral of the employees with promotions and other benefits. The question is why now? Because Infosys got projects and they cannot loose employees who are working for less pay. No need to feel guilty...just go for money.only money..leave the brand.domain.and so on..guys.

MONEY NOT SECURITY….that is what it is…

I read two newspapers, both English, and after reading, I feel that no one is having any worry about the bombs planted near the cricket stadium or about the security of the Bangalore public.  Browsing through these two papers, u get a feeling that they (Press, Politicians, IPL and KSCA) are more concern about the losses and profits from this incident.  And everyone is angry, from Chief Minister to Police Commissioner to KSCA members to Common Public (people interview by newspapers) about the change of venue for semifinals to Mumbai but not about the security of the Bangalore Public.

Faith

Just as a boy, holding to a post or pillar, whirls around with headlong speed, without any fear of falling, so, fixing your mind upon God, perform your worldly duties, and you will be free from all dangers.


Do I have such faith in God?   NO...Not Yet...May not be in this life....That's sure.

Republic Day of India

On the eve of the Republic Day of India, I have great pleasure to extend my greetings and good wishes to all of you.  26^th January was the day when the Indian Republic and its constitution came into force.

Although India obtained its independence on August 15^th 1947, it did not have a permanent constitution; instead its laws were based on the modified colonial “Government of India Act 1935”.  A drafting committee with 308 members, headed by Dr.Ambedkar was formed to draft a permanent Constitution.

To mark the importance of this occasion, every year a grand parade is held in the National as well as State capitals.  The event in New Delhi begins with the Prime Minister of India laying a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate, commemorating all the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country.  Soon, a 21 gun salute is presented, the President unfurls the National Flag and the National Anthem is played.  This marks the beginning of the parade.

The Parade begins with winners of gallantry awards passing the President in open jeeps.  President of India takes the salute of the Armed Forces at the grand parade.  The Indian Military – Army, Navy and Air force showcases its latest acquisitions such as tanks, missiles, radars, warships, fighter planes, etc...

Soon after, awards and medals of bravery are given by the President to the people from the armed forces for their exceptional courage and also to those civilians who have distinguished themselves by their different acts of valor in different situations.  After this, helicopters and fight planes fly past the parade area showering rose petals on the audience.

The military parade is followed by a colorful cultural parade.  India’s rich cultural heritage is depicted in the form of tableaus from various states.  Each state depicts its unique festivals, historical locations and art.  This exhibition of diversity and richness of the cultures of India lends a festive air to the occasion.  School-children from all over the country also participate in the parade showcasing folk dances and singing to the tunes of patriotic songs.

At exactly 6 pm, the National Flag is lowered and the National Anthem is sung, bringing the Republic Day Celebrations to a formal end.

Celebrations, though on a relatively smaller scale, are also held in all state capitals, where the Governor of the state unfurls the Tricolor.  Similar celebrations are also held at district headquarters, sub divisions, talukas and panchayats.

On this great day, let us rededicate ourselves to the noble principles of Justice, Liberty and Equality on which the Republic of India was founded.

Jai Hind.

Regards,

Tirumalanath

tirumalanath@gmail.com

The healing power of books

Getting into reading habit is one of the significant developments in my life.  I think I started sometime around when I was in 6^th standard reading Telugu newspapers and my all time favorite newspaper ‘The Hindu’.  Around the same time, I started my first magazine reading with a telugu magazine ‘Wonder world’ and later on moved to ‘Competitors Success Review - CSR’ and continued with it for almost a decade.  I am proud to say I have till date all the magazines of CSR.  Then I went on to compare news in Telugu and English newspapers as well as from different local newspaper.  Then I started with India Today, The Week and Outlook.  But above all, it was the ‘Frontline’ magazine for which I waited eagerly.  Till date, Frontline and Hindu newspapers are my benchmarks in regard to writing and presenting a topic.

After when I first stuck with my failure, I got my hands on these Self Help books and with them I also started reading Autobiographies and historical books.  On the same path of reading, I started my journey into spiritual books with Ramakrishna Math books which were at affordable prices for me at that time.  Another great thing which happens to me was the discovery of State owned libraries which contains tons and tons of good books.  I almost spent my Engineering days in the local library and read any and all books on which I can lay my hands.  As these books were costly and I couldn’t offer them at that time, I use to go to library (as they didn’t allow Non-locals to borrow the books) and spend the whole day. 

Second hand books purchased on Sundays in Abids, Hyderabad, is from where I started my own library which old and new books.  I am proud to say I have a collection of almost 2000 books ranging from spirituality, history, autobiographies, self help and technical books.

Books have more influence on me.  I also depend on books for emotional support as they are my stress busters.   It takes me 60-70 pages per hour and almost 4 to 5 hours to complete a book depending on the size of the book.  I normally underline or take notes during reading and will summarize the whole book as per my understanding.  When I feel bored, I pick up two or three books and travel to some nearby places and make a point to return after completely reading those books.

I like serious books.  I hate reading novels, coffee table books and classic English literature.

I have a big list of books to read and very happy to have this habit of reading.

Happy Reading….

Tirumalanath

tirumalanath@gmail.com

Brahmachari President: Mr. Kalam

This soil has produced many great sons who time and time again have spread the greatness of this culture by truly following it in their own lives.  One such person who we look up to is Mr. Kalam, the people president of India.

“Courage to think different, courage to invent, courage to travel on the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible, and courage to impact problems are the unique qualities of the youth.  Don’t just sit there and crib about the bad system.  Join it to change it.  It does not matter which society you belong to, you can achieve your dream’. That was the message from former President A P J Abdul Kalam.

It is very rare to see someone so inspiring and urge people to think positively.  I think after Swami Vivekananda, we kind such role model in Kalam.

Kalam’s mantra is based on four proven steps to achieve success

1.       Aim in life

2.       Acquire knowledge through books

3.       Emulate lives of great human beings

4.       Work hard to defeat problems

Organ donation:

Over 100 people, inspired by kalam speech, signed forms pledging their organs after death to the needy in Bangalore.  Kalam, known for his pro-active speeches, urged people to make India a great nation.  He said no nobler service existed than bringing succor to the sick.

Regards,

Tirumalanath

tirumalanath@gmail.com

Patanjali Yoga

Patanjali’s eight-step discipline to Yoga

1.       YAMA – Restraining harmful thoughts and impulses

2.       NIYAMA – Cultivating good habits

3.       ASANA – Learning sitting posture for prolonged time

4.       PRANAYAMA – Learning techniques of rhythm breathing

5.       PRATYAHARA – Withdrawing senses from their Objects of Enjoyment

6.       DHARANA – Fixing the mind on object of Contemplation

7.       DHYANA – Uninterrupted Contemplation – Meditation

8.       SAMADHI – Total absorption of mind in object of contemplation

The first two steps, Yama and Niyama purify and strengthen our minds through moral and ethical exercises.

The third step, Asana is assuming postures that allow us to sit comfortably and meditate for at least an hour or two.  Continuously sitting in Yoga posture for three hours is called ASANA-SIDDHA.

The four step, Pranayama, is a breathing technique to control our mental and physical energies.

The fifth step, Pratyahara, is withdrawing our minds from all other objects of meditation.

The sixth step, Dharana, is holding our minds with great concentration on the object of meditation.

The seventh step, Dhyana, is more mature form of Dharana.

The eighth step, Samadhi, is concentration par excellence. 

For more information and guidance, visit http://www.ramakrishnavedantamath.org or mail to ramakrishnavedantamath@vsnl.net

Note – The above points are notes I have scrubbed down while reading the book “Meditation – Mind and Patanjali’s” written by Swami Bhaskarananda. I am blogging this material only to encourage the readers who see my blog to read the book and is not meant for any commercial purpose. It is just sharing information about a good book.

Regards,

Tirumalanath

tirumalanath@gmail.com

 

The Bagchi Principles for Success

Mind Tree CEO Mr. Subroto Bagchi Success principles

Success is mainly about leaving a legacy behind for the future generations and reaching extraordinary heights with ordinary means and people.  All of us want fulfillment in life.  Now, picture your life to be a huge container that needs to be fulfilled for you to be satisfied.  Say the container has only one tap.  This is your ‘work’.  There‘s only a certain extent to which this tap can fill your container: what happens if it dries out? The best thing is to make sure there is more than one tap.  The other should be your ‘hobby’, ‘health’, ‘giving to others’ and lots more.  Only if all these taps are open will your container be filled.  So, make sure you fill your life with a lot of things and find satisfaction out of all of them.  He also warns that every now and then, ‘a tap goes dry’.  Also, ‘no harmony is possible without strife.  Behind every harmony there’s some strife and after every strife, there’s harmony waiting to be found.

Life depends on how you look at it.  So, enjoy it and be positive.

singer Yesudas turns 70 - Best Wishes

I would like to wish Singer Yesudas on his birthday. I love his songs and pray to god to give him good health, long and peaceful life.He has sung around 40,000 songs in almost all the Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Malay, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English

Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna was born on Feb 18, 1836 in West Bengal. From the childhood, he was yearning for the vision of God and neglected his studies; he sat with wandering monks and was associated with pilgrims. He observed that the aim of all secular knowledge was mere material advancement and resolved to devote totally to the pursuit of spiritual knowledge which would ensure eternal peace. He became a priest of the Kali temple in Calcutta and started worship of God and took the duties of the temple with great zeal and enthusiasm. Gradually his worship developed into burning desire to have a direct vision of the Divine Mother. He prayed, day and night, meditated seriously for the vision of the Divine Mother. Finally, he had the vision of God. Ramakrishna started practicing hard spiritual practices in various paths of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. He was married to Sri Sarada Devi. Sri Ramakrishna literally worshipped her as the Divine Mother. He guided men and women of all walks of like and of different religions, to whomever came to him with earnestness to learn about life, spiritualism and God. He trained a group of young men to carry the spiritual message he had realized. These young men formed Ramakrishna math. He passed away on the 16^th August, 1886.

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna:

The tree laden with fruits always bends low. If u wish to be great, be lowly and meek.

• Be not a traitor to ur thoughts. Be sincere; act according to ur thoughts; and u shall surely succeed. Pray with a sincere and simple heart and ur prayers will be heard.
• One can ascend to the top of a house by means of a ladder or a bamboo or a staircase or a rope or a lift; so too, diverse are the ways of approaching God and each religion in the world shows one of the ways.
• He who has faith has all, and he who lacks it lacks all.
• As one thinks, so does one become.
• Truthfulness is the Tapasya (austerity) for the dark (present) age.
• Knowledge leads to unity; ignorance to diversity.
• Long must u struggle in the water before u learn to swim; similarly, many a struggle must u pass through before u can hope to swim on the ocean of Divine Bliss.
• Pray to Him in any way u will. He is sure to hear u, for He hears even the footfall of an ant.
• Remain always strong and steadfast in ur own faith, but eschew all bigotry and intolerance.
• When the fruit grows out of the flower, the petals drop off themselves. So, when the divinity in u increases, the weaknesses of ur human nature will all vanish of their own accord.
• God is in all men, but all men are not God, that is the reason why they suffer.
• A truly religious man should think that other religions also are paths leading to truth. We should always maintain an attitude of respect towards other religion.
• Indulgence in futile talks and criticism concerning others only distracts the mind and make one forgetful of the contemplation of the self or God.
• God looks at the working of one’s mind. He does not take into account what in particular a person is doing, or where he is lying. He recognizes the motive alone.
• He wants Him finds Him. Go and verify it in ur own life. Try for three days, try with genuine zeal, and u r sure to succeed. He finds God quickest, whose concentration and yearning are strongest.
• The darkness of centuries is dispersed as soon as a light is brought into a room. The accumulated sins of countless lives vanish by a single glance of God.
• It is the nature of a child to soil itself with dirt and mud, but the mother does not allow it to remain dirty always. Similarly, it is the nature of the man to commit sin, doubly sure is that the Lord devises methods for his redemption.
• Because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.
• In whatever name or form u worship God, u will realize Him.
• First gain God and then gain Wealth.
• That knowledge which purifies the mind and heart alone is true knowledge.
• The nearer u come to God, the less u r disposed to questioning and reasoning.
• The sacred books tell us only the way to God, i.e, of the means for the realization of God. That way being known, the next step is to work one’s way to the goal. Realization is the goal.
• The soul that has tasted the sweetness of Divine bliss finds no happiness in the vulgar pleasures of the world.
• The spiritually-minded belong to a caste of their own, beyond all social conventions.
• A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in the boat. An aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him.
• So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness.
• Forgiveness is the true nature of the ascetic.
• The companionship of the holy and the wise is one of the main elements of spiritual progress.
• Knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously, in whatever state of mind, a man utters God’s name, he acquires the merit of such utterances.
• Be not like the frog in the well. The frog in the well knows nothing bigger and grander than its well. So are all bigots. They do not see anything better than their own creed.
• Eat to your satisfaction in the day, but let your meal at night be light and small in quantity.
• Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the use of the body, as the tenant pays house-rent for the use of the house.

Extract from the books published by Ramakrishna Math. For more information, knowledge and spiritual guidance, visit Sri Ramakrishna math in ur place or visit www.sriramakrishnamath.org; and send ur doubts and queries to srkmath@vsnl.com

FOUR DHYANAS

1. The first is seclusion, in which u must free ur mind from sensuality.
2. The second is a tranquility of mind full of joy and gladness.
3. The third is taking delight in things spiritual.
4. The fourth is a state of perfect purity and peace, in which mind is above all gladness and grief. Be sober and abandon wrong practices which serve only to stultify ur mind.

Four means for dominating of spirit over matter

1. Prevent bad qualities from arising.
2. Put away bad qualities which has arisen.
3. Produce goodness that does not yet come to existence.
4. Search with sincerity and persevere in ur search. In the end, u will find the truth.

MEDITATIONS

There are five meditations;

1. The first is meditation of love, in which u must so adjust ur heart, that u long for the weal and welfare of all beings, including the happiness of ur enemies.
2. The second is the meditation of pity, in which u think of all beings in distress, vividly representing their sorrows and anxieties in ur imagination so as to arouse a deep compassion for them in ur soul.
3. The third is the meditation of joy, in which u think of the prosperity of others and rejoice at the rejoicings.
4. The fourth is the meditation on impurity, in which u consider the evil consequences of corruption, the effects of sin and diseases. How trival often the pleasure of the moment and how fatal its consequences.
5. The fifth is the meditation on serenity, in which u rise about love and hate, tyranny and oppression, wealth and want, and regard ur own fate with impartial calmness and perfect tranquility.