Failure is not an end, Never give up.

Soichiro Honda

In 1938, when Soichiro Honda took his first working sample of piston ring to Toyota, they rejected stating the samples were not upto their standards. Rather than focusing on the failure, he continued to work on his goal. After two years of redesigning, he finally won a contract with Toyota. He built a factory to commence production, which was bombed and destroyed due to World War. He rebuilt a new factory which was brought down into rubbles by earthquake. Honda was not a man who would accept failure as a possibility. Recession and depression caused by the war had created extreme gasoline shortage in Japan. So people resorted to walking and cycling. Honda designed a tiny engine and attached it to his bicycle. His neighbours too wanted one of those motorized cycles from him. He was unable to meet the demand. So he built a plant and manufactured his motorcycle ‘The Super Cub’ which earned him the Emperor’s award. Today, Honda Corporation employs over 100,000 people. Why Honda never considered failure as the end.

Swamy Chinmayananda

Great people became great people because of the way they dealt with failures and setbacks in life. At every fall they refused to remain fallen. They refused to quit. They refused to give up. They refused to accept a ‘No’ from life. “Their greatest glory,” in the words of Swamy Chinmayananda, “was not in never falling, but in rising every time they fell.”

The newspaper editor fired him because he had no good ideas. A pastor employed him to draw canvassing material for the church. He was allowed to stay in the backward of a mouse-infested church garage. One of those mice inspired the man so much that Mickey Mouse was born, and Walt Disney was revealed to the world. Walt Disney epitomized what Churchill preached, “Never, never, never, never, never, never give up.”

Chester Carlson’s 

Chester Carlson’s idea was rejected by over 20 corporations and after seven long years of rejections that idea unfolded to the world as Xerox Corporation.

Colonel Harland D Sanders 

Colonel Harland D Sanders heard 1009 ‘No’s to his proposal of a good chicken recipe before he heard the first ‘Yes’, and the multimillion-dollar KFC corporation was born.

Sylvestor Stallone

The Rambo we know, Sylvestor Stallone was rejected by over 1000 Holywood agents before he had his first breakthrough. One of the greatest inventors of all times who went on to receive 1,093 patents, more than anyone in the history of the world, is Thomas Alva Edison. Even he had to fail 9,999 times before he perfected the light bulb.  Einstein’s parents thought he was mentally retarded.

Thomas Alva Edison

Steven Spielberg

 Steven Spielberg was placed in special class for learning disabled. 

Sir Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school.

Beethoven

Beethoven’s music teacher told him, ‘you are hopeless’.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan was dropped from his high school basketball team. Winston Churchill failed in his 6th grade. Edison’s teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything.

Abraham Lincon

Abraham Lincoln failed in business at the age of 21 and again at 24. He was defeated in a legislative race at the age of 22, and twice in the congress race at the age of 34 and again at the age of 36. He then lost a senatorial race at the age of 45 and again at the age of 49. He failed to become the vice-president at the age of 47. Yet, after all these failures, Abraham Lincoln went on to become the historic President of United States at the age of 52. Lincoln showed to all of us that if one wants rainbow in life, you got to be willing to put up with the rain.

Failure is a parenthesis inside which success hides. There is no sunrise without sunset. There is no life without death. There cannot be only-success and no-failures. Champions understand that it is better to face outstanding failures than mediocre success. Only those who are willing to persist inspire of temporary setbacks, only those who would not succumb to defeats, only those who persisted in spite of midway failures went on to write success stories.

Nothing wrong ever turned to be right in the long run. The very fact that so many failures have finally turned into success implies that failures are not wrong. Learn from your failures and move on. Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” Just don’t give up. Keep on keeping on.

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To sum up briefly, failures are not an end itself. Never, never, never give-up. Learn from your failures and move on. Keep on keeping on.

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Who are you Krishna? Who are you!

It seems after a man died, God was uncertain whether to send him to hell or heaven. He had to his credit as much good deeds as bad ones. So, God offered the man to execute a choice. The main said, “I am quite practical. Unless I have a site to visit to both the places, I cannot make up my mind.” So, accompanied by one of God’s second lines, the man first visited the hell. There he saw an extraordinary banquet, outstanding spread of food, and yet no one was eating. Everybody looked dull and weak. In fact, it did look hell. The man was then led to heaven. Here again he saw an extraordinary banquet, outstanding spread of food, and everybody were eating, dancing and rejoicing. Everybody looked cheerful and excited. It did look heaven. On his return to see God, the man expressed his confusion. “Dear God, though the atmosphere looked the same, why was hell so much hell, and heaven so heavenly?” With a smile, God replied, “You didn’t look properly. In hell and in heaven, a four-feet fork and a spoon are been tied to their respective hands. In hell, everybody is trying to feed themselves, which they cannot with a four-feet fork and a spoon. So they are starving and feeling weak. Their selfishness is turning their atmosphere into hell. In heaven, everybody is feeding the one in front of them. So they are healthy and feeling jubilant. Their selfishness is turning their atmosphere into heaven.”

After an elongated pause, it seems God concluded, “Not only in this eternal world, but even in that earthly world, you will get everything you want from life, if you will help enough other people get what they want from life. In lifting others, you are lifted.

That’s Krishna. From his biological parents to his adopted parents, from his friends to the gopis, from the birds to the animals, from Draupadi to Sudham, from Arjuna to Duryodhana. Krishna was there for everybody. He was dependent on nobody, and yet dependable for everybody. He lived up to the ideal of ‘Love all. Need none’. It never mattered what others did for him. What mattered is what he could do for others.

There lived a man by name Samuel in a Small Village. Samuel was a man of love, affection, integrity and innocence, who helped people at all times and by all means. An embodiment of love he was; but never ever prayed, nor did he know the meaning of prayer. He preferred to serve the masses instead of attending the Sunday Mass. One day an angel appeared before Samuel with a book in her hand. Opening the book the angel read the names of Paul, Peter and Marry and asked Samuel, “Could you please show me the house of these people.” Samuel asked the angel, “What book is this?” The angel replied, “This is the book which contains the names of those people who love God.” Out of curiosity, Samuel asked the angel, “Could you please check for my name too!”. The angel said, “Sorry, your name does not figure in it.” Hearing this Samuel was shaken. The next day the angel came with another book and as she opened it, the name Samuel topped the list. Again out of curiosity Samuel asked the angel, “Now what is this book?” The angel replied, “The Book which I brought yesterday contained the names of those people who love God. This book which I have brought today contains the names of those people whom God loves.” There are people like Samuel in this world who teach us that, “The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray.” The Creator cares for those who care for the creations.

Selflessness is another name for Krishna. You are Krishna, when you go into every relationship looking at what you can give and not what you can receive.

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Source: FT April 2011.

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HOW TO EXCEL IN EVERY FIELD?

All human beings have three distinct and different personalities: bhokta, karta and jnata meaning experience, doer (or performer) and knower (or learner).

Bhokta: Right from birth we experience a world around us through our sense organs and mind. This experience, called bhokta, goes through varieties of experiences, both pleasant and painful.

Karta: Initially, as a baby one does not do deliberate actions but as the organs of action (called karmendriyas) and intellect (budhi) develop, a human being is able to plan and execute deliberate actions. This doer or performer is called Karta.

Jnata: Every human being is provided with a set of instruments of knowledge (jnanendriyas) by which he can learn. A knower, called jnata or pramata, is one who is capable of learning or knowing from the world.

Each personality as a vast field to operate in. If we want to be a learner, we will soon discover that one lifetime is not sufficient. Similarly if we want to be a doer or experience we will realize that there are infinite actions we can perform and innumerable experiences we can go through. Thus jnanam (knowledge) is endless for the jnata, karma (action) is countless for the karta bhogas (experiences) are limitless for the bhokta.

Unfortunately life is short. And so we have to prioritise the three personalities. Which should be given prominence and which merits only secondary importance? Sastra or scriptures come to our rescue. And sastra poses a question – Which do you consider most important – experiencing, doing or knowing? In other words are you a bhokthr-pradhana person where experiencing is dominant? Or a karthr-pradhana person where doing is prominent? Or a jnathr-pradhana person where learning is predominant? If we go by our nature or instinct, we will choose only the bhokta-personality as most important. Our education system caters to a bhokta-personality even through education itself is a means of knowledge. We strive for a good education (a degree in a preferred discipline from a reputed college) only because it enables us to get good jobs. Better the job, higher the salary. And higher the salary, the more comforts of life that we can enjoy. A successful person is considered to be one who has the best ‘infrastructure’ at his command – big house, premier brand of car, ornaments, clothes, etc., Thus a successful human being is considered to be a successful bhokta.

Sastra calls this materialism – a system in which bhokta is worshipped as the most important personality; karta and jnata rank next in importance. According to sastra, bhokta should not be at the top. A human being is a human being only when he is karthr-pradhana or jnathr-pradhana.

Why does sastra say so? The scriptures ask us to observe animals. How many personalities do they have? Only one – bhokta. Animals can neither be doers nor learners. Here we must note that doing means performing a deliberate action. No doubt animals perform actions but they are governed by instinct. Animals have no free will. They are born with only one purpose – to experience.

Since human beings share only the bhokta-personality with animals, the experience in us is the animal in us. No doubt this is a harsh word to use but if we think about it, we will accept it as appropriate. If we keep bhokta as the prominent personality, our life is like an animal’s. Sastra says that to live up to the status of a human being we must make the bhokta in us less dominant and bring karta and jnata to the fore. It is what we do and what we know that makes us successful and superior. In the Bhagavadgita Lord Krishna strongly criticizes bhokta-predominant people – ‘There is no fixity of mind for them who cling to pleasure and power and whose discrimination is tolent away’. (2.44) They are as good as non-human beings.

Once we decide to become a successful kart and successful jnata, sastra is only too willing to lend us a helping hand in our pursuit. Let us consider the karta personality.

How can we excel as a karta (experience)?

Taitriya upanisad gives us certain tips – ‘Shraddha surely in his head; ritam is his right wing; satyam is his left wing; yoga is his trunk; and mahah is his support and foundation. (2.4). The mantra lists five principles or factors for excellence in the field of karthrthvam or doership.

1.Shradha (Love):

Shradha means reverential love for the action that a karta undertakes. We must never dislike any action we do. Neither must we do any action reluctantly or half-heartedly. Actions can be those that we choose to do or those that we have to do. In the next stage we must learn to love any action we do and this includes actions thrust upon. It is a question of developing the right attitude. There are many actions that we dislike, but others like, e.g. mountain climbing (liked by mountaineers) or looking after sick people (nurses). If we learn to like the karma or action, the karma itself gives ananda or joy. The karma phalam (result of the action) may not necessarily be to our liking or expectation. Unlike karma-phala-ananda (which may or may not fructify in this birth), karma-ananda is instantaneous. Thus we can derive joy from karma (action).

The word ‘shradha’ is used here to indicate the dedication of action to someone we love and respect including the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna says – ‘Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you gift away, whatever austerity you practice, O Kaunteya (Arjuna) do it as an offering to me’. (9.27). A man found it very difficult to look after his invalid mother. He had to bathe her, clothe her, feed her etc., He changed his approach and considered his mother as divinity itself. He looked upon bathing his mother as performing abhishekam to the Lord and even chanted Rudram while doing so. The same tasks no longer seemed difficult. In fact, he enjoyed doing them.

2.Ritam (Kknowledge):

Ritam means proper knowledge of the action – what to do, how to do, how much to do, when to do, where to do. We must learn about the action thoroughly and not be ignorant of what we have to do. It is for this reason that scriptural study is very important for a religious person.

Every role we play in life is a karma. A man enters wedlock. He must thoroughly understands the role of a husband. If not, he will become miserable and further he will make his wife miserable. Parents must know what is parenting. If not, they will let loose terrible children into the society. When a husband ill-treat his wife, his children get a message. When we play a family role, it affects three generations. Ritam is knowledge about every role we play.

3.Satyam (Implementation):

Whatever we have learnt about karma is not just for learning but meant to be put into practice. We should implement what we know. Studies of major accidents show that often they were caused, not by natural causes, but by the concerned people not doing what they should do. They knew, but they did not do it due to indifference, callousness or sheer laziness. This is emphemistically referred to as ‘human error’. Satyam means there is no knower-doer split.

4.Yoga (Focus):

Yoga must be understood as focus. When a karta does karma with focus, the very karma becomes meditation. In the Bhgavad-gita, Lord Krisna glorifies action by glorifying the grhastha (householder) – ‘He who discharges his duty without seeking its fruit, he is the sanyasin, he is the yogi, not he who is without sacred fire and without rites’. (6.1). It is the grahastha who by his actions (and thereby earnings) supports the other three asramas, viz., brahmacharya (student life), vanaprastha (retired life) and sanyasa (renunciate). A grhastha may not get time for meditation but he can convert every action into meditation by applying himself totally to the task at hand. The biggest advantage of yoga or focus is that every action becomes deliberate. There is no mechanical action. Deliberate actions save time and energy.

5.Mah (Expansion):

Mahah literally means Hiranyagarba, the total karta (the sum total of all kartas). The individual karta must learn to identify with the total karta. Expansion means broadening our outlook. Consequently our actions will benefit s many people as possible. Rather than ask the question ‘what will I get by doing this action?’ we ask ‘How many will benefit by this action?’ This is called paropakara.

If we follow these five principles, i.e., if we love, learn, implement, focus and expand, the excellence in action itself will give us joy. We will not yearn to become a bhokta. If we learn to excel as a karta, later, we will also learn to excel as jnata. This will help us gain spiritual knowledge and this in turn will enable our spiritual growth.

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Source: From the Talks given on 01.01.2004 by Swamy Parmarthananda.

In Indian Culture Why we do wear marks on the forehead?

TILAKA



TILAKA is the mark of red powder or sandalwood paste that is applied on the forehead. It is used by the Hindus. It has become practically a symbol of Hinduism.

To a Hindu the daily bath carries a lot of sanctity. It is a part of his prayer and worship. Immediately after bath the Hindu performs his daily prayer usually in his temple or in his own house. After his prayer is over, he takes a little red or sandal powder or sacred ash placed at the feet of the Lord and applies it to his forehead. The ladies usually make a round mark and that is called tilaka. Men are more accustomed to use it in the form of a straight line. Whatever way these marks are made the Hindu retains it through the day.

Significance of wearing Tilaka on the forehead.

This practice has a significance. The Hindu believes that the purpose of the life is to realize the infinite Reality. This is achieved by reflection and contemplation which he practices in his prayer-room. But he cannot continue his prayer all day long since his duties and obligations compel him to go into the world and work. He therefore leaves his prayer room with the idea of coming back to it after fulfilling his obligations. While leaving he takes a little powder from the Lord and applies it to his forehead, with an idea to remember that all his actions in the external world are dedicated to the achievement of this supreme Goal of Realisation. The forehead is the seat of memory. Applying the tilaka on the forehead symbolizes the retention of the memory of the Lord in all his activities. That is to remember, to reflect and contemplate upon the Reality in and through his activities throughout the day.

In earlier times, the four castes (based on varna or colour) – 1. Brahmana, 2. Kshatriya, 3. Vaishya and 4. Sudra – applied marks differently. The Brahmin applied a white chandan mark signifying purity as his profession was of a priestly or academic nature. The kshatriya applied a red kumkum mark signifying the valour as he belonged to the warrior races. The vaishya wore a yellow kesar or turmeric mark signifying prosperity as he was a businessman or a trader devoted to creation of wealth. The sudra applied a black bhasma, kasturi or charcoal mark signifying service as he supported the work of the other three divisions. Also Vishnu worshippers apply a chandan tilak of the shape of “U”, Shiva worshippers a tripundra (of the shape of ‘=’) of bhasma, Devi worshippers a red dot of kumkum and so on.

The chandan, kumkum or bhasma which is offered to the Lord is taken back as Prasad and applied on our foreheads. The tilak covers the sport between the eyebrows, which is the seat of memory and thinking. It is known as Aajna Chakra in the language of Yoga. The tilak is applied with the prayer – “May I remember the Lord. May this pious feeling pervade in all my activities. May I be righteous in my deeds.” Even when we temporarily forget this prayerful attitude the mark is thus a blessing of the Lord and a protection against wrong tendencies and forces.

The entire body emanates energy in the form of electromagnetic waves – the forehead and the subtle spot between the eyebrows especially so. That is why worry generates heat and causes a headache. The tilaka or pottu cools the forehead, protect us and prevents energy loss. Sometimes, the entire forehead is covered with chandan or bhasma. Using plastic reusable “stick bindis” is not very beneficial, even though it serves the purpose of decoration.

This custom is unique to Indians and helps to easily identify us anywhere.

When a Hindu meets another Hindu the first thing that strikes them both is the mark on the forehead. It constantly reminds each other of the purpose of their existence, their dedication to the realization of the supreme Reality. They confirm this understanding by greeting each other with folded arms. This gesture is called namakara. The gesture of namaskara is to join the palms together in front of him and bow his head to the joint palms.

Significance of Namaskara

Each palm represents the separate individuality. Each palm supports the five fingers. Similarly, each personality has five sheaths called the five kosas. The five different parts of the personality are called pancakosas, five sheaths. They are: 1. annamayakosa – food sheath, 2. pranamayakosa – vital-air sheath, 3. manomayakosa – mental sheath, 4. vijnanamayakosa –intellectual sheath and 5. anandamayakosa - bliss sheath. These five sheaths are supported by the Atman, the supreme Self which is the eternal Reality. The five sheaths are different from individual to individual but the Reality that supports them all is one and the same in all individualities. This truth is declared when the Hindus greet each other with namaskara. The two palms joined together as one indicates that the Reality or Atman is both is one and the same. To this unifying Infinite Atman, the Hindu bows in reverence when he does namaskara.

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Sources:

1. Excerpts from the book on “The Symbolism of Hindu Gods and Rituals” by A Parthasarathy.
2. Excerpts from the book on “In Indian Culture.. Why we do we…” Swamini Vimalananda & Radhika Krishnakumar.
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WHAT IS SARANAGATI (SURRENDER TO GOD)?

Most of the religions of the world share a common teaching which is popular and powerful message – ‘God will save you if you will surrender to Him’. And so we are encouraged and exhorted to choose God as our savior, treat God as our refuge and take God as our shelter. If we thus surrender to God as our savior, refuge and shelter, we will be free from all the problems of life.

This universal message is also found in Hinduism. Surrendering to the Lord and taking Him as refuge is called saranagati. Today the saranagati message has become very popular. Many people explain and expound the tenets and precepts of saranagati. (Let us call this group, the popular group and the saranagati enunciated by them as the popular saranagati.) Unfortunately this saranagati is so different from the saranagati that is given in our scriptures. (Let us call this saranagati, the traditional saranagati and its believers the traditional group.)

There are four main differences between the two groups.

1. The first and foremost concept, the most powerful message given by the popular group is that we have to surrender our will to the Lord. This group does accept free will but claims that in saranagati our free will has to be surrendered to God’s will.

The traditional group says free will is the most unique feature that humans are blessed with. A human being is a human being only because of this gift called free will. It is this faculty that differentiates us from all other living beings. Free will enables us to choose the right goal (called purusarthas) and the right path. Choosing between options is possible only by the exercise of free will. Katha Upanisad talks about two paths, the good and the pleasant that are open to man. (1.1.2). A discerning man chooses the good while short-sighted person prefers the pleasant. It is by exercising our free will that we can get moksa. Hence, there is no question of surrendering free will in traditional saranagati.

2. The popular group points out that we must transfer all our responsibilities to God. Thereafter God will decide what we have to get and how. The Lord knows our problems and He will take care of us. This is a very, very popular message of the popular group.

The traditional group feels that as human beings endowed with free will we have the privilege of exercising choice. Hence, we must accept responsibility and take charge of our lives. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavat-Gita – ‘One should lift oneself by one’s own efforts’ (6.5). How can we lift ourselves by ourselves? We have to use our buddhi or intellect. Katha Upanisad says that he who uses the intellect and chooses the right path attains the highest goal (1.3.9). What we have to do, Bhagavan can never do, will never do. At best God will be a cheer leader encouraging us in the game of life just as parents at best can only cheer their little ones in a running race and not run the race for them. Hence, there is no transfer of responsibility in traditional saranagati.

3. The popular group recommends that having surrendered our will and transferred responsibility to the Lord, we must have faith in God and His capacity to solve all our problems. God is omniscient, omnipotent, etc., and therefore He will solve our problems.

We may be a little skeptical. Our problems are many – financial problems, family problems, career problems, etc. Is God going to solve all our problems? And how will He do that? The popular group responds by narrating innumerable stories of devotees – how they were rescued by God. All these stories have a common feature – the occurrence of miracles. All the devotees were saved from their trials and tribulations by miracles. The message conveyed is that in our lives too we can and should expect miracles since we have surrendered our will and responsibility to the Lord. The popular group believes faith in God is tantamount to faith in God’s miracles.

The traditional group postulates that God rescues His devotees through His teaching. God has already provided solutions to all our problems in the teaching which is the sastra or scriptures. The word ‘sastra’ means that which protects the people, i.e., the protector. The word ‘saranam’ that occurs in ‘saranagati’ also means protector. Thus saranagati means sastragati. These teachings do not refer to the miracle stories that do find mention in the sastras. What then is the central teaching of the scriptures? The scriptures teach us how to face life. The sastra answers our questions. Who am I? What is the world? How does the world create problems for me? How can I solve these problems? The traditional group believes that faith in God means faith in God’s teaching.

4. The popular group suggest that we have to surrender to God who will solve all our problems. How? By performing miracles! And so whenever there is a problem or crisis in our lives, we must expect a miracle. But to our destiny we find that miracles do not happen like they keep occurring in scriptural stories. Consequently we doubt the efficacy of saranagati. We wonder whether God is blind to our problems or deaf to our pleas. God has not solved our problems even though we have surrendered to Him. Our faith in God, faith in saranagati, faith in miracles is shaken. There is a crisis in faith that is inevitable.

The popular group admonishes us that we should never doubt God; faith should be unflinching. Doubting God is a maha papam. This creates a problem. It is the nature of the intellect to doubt, question, think and analyse. The popular group says we have to set aside and suppress our intellect.

What does the traditional group say? Since we have to rescue ourselves through the teaching, we have to study and understand the scriptures. And for this we have to use our intellect. Katha Upanisad says – ‘The self is hidden in all beings. It is not noticed. Only the discerning seers, through their sharp, penetrating intellects, can perceive it. (1.3.12). Our saranagati is to the scriptures from which we have to learn the methods of protecting ourselves. In this self-protection, what is the contribution of God? It is only His teaching, the sastra. Hence, there is no suppression of intellect in traditional saranagati.

The four important differences between popular saranagati and traditional saranagati are summarized below:

Popular saranagati Traditional saranagati

1. Drop free will -- Retain free will

2. Transfer responsibility to God -- Accept responsibility

3. Have faith in God’s miracles teaching -- Have faith in God’s teachings.

4. Suppress the intellect -- Use the intellect.

A question arises when we study traditional saranagati. How does the sastra help us protect ourselves (since we do not expect miracles to solve our problems)? The sastra gives four kavacams or shields for our protection.

1. The first kavacam or method given by the scriptures is dharma. A Sanskrit verse says ‘dharma when violated, hurts us; dharma when followed protects us’. Dharma means a healthy way of life, consistent with the physical and moral laws of the universe. We cannot ignore dharma and hope to enjoy a happy life.

The sastra says all the problems we face ranging from minor suffering to major tragedies are due to our violating dharma in the immediate or remote past. We alone are accountable. We alone are accountable. We alone are responsible. If violation of dharma is the cause of our suffering, adherence to dharma is the solution to our problems. Lord Krishna talks about a dharmic way of life in several places in the Bhagavad Gita – in chapters 3, 16 and 17. Just as a healthy regimen (right food at the right time and right exercise) wards off diseases, a dharmic lifestyle protects us from problems.

2. Not all our problems are solved by dharma. Many healthy people, inspite of all their conscientious efforts, do fall ill. In such a case, sastra prescribes a special remedy called parihara or prayascittam meaning remedial measures. Many of our daily prayers including the mantras of sandhya vandanam are remedial measures. Rudram, is very, very powerful prayacitta mantra.

3. Some problems will not go away either by dhdarma or parihara. The scriptures contain stories of many people—Yudhistira, Nala, Hariscandra—who were dharmic to the core, who did all the parihara and yet had to go through untold suffering. The only method to face this situation is to develop a skill by which choiceless sufferings are converted into learning experiences. We can call this yoga kausalam. It is like extracting medicine from poison. Science has advanced to such an extent that killing poison canbe converted to life-saving drugs. If poison can be converted to medicine, suffering can be converted to tapas. Brahadaranya upanisad says – ‘This is verily a great penance that a diseased person suffers. He who knows thus wins indeed a great world’. (5.11.1). When we are afflicted with an incurable disease, we must learn to accept it as a form of tapas. This requires a lot of effort and training in that we must change our perspective and attitudes. We must stop working at the outward or external level and start working at the internal or mental level. Lord Krisna says in the Bhagavad Gita that we should not lament over the inevitable. (2.27).

4. The fourth and most powerful is atma jnanam or Self-knowledge. Once Self-knowledge solves a problem, it is solved for good. The problem is gone, never return. Lord Krisna says in the Bhagavad Gita – ‘Arjuna, when you have reached enlightenment, ignorance will delude you no more’. (4.35).

The other three shields offer a relative solution; jnanam is a permanent solution. And jnanam is provided by the sastra. The last important verse in the Bhagavad Gita is verse 18.,66, very well known as the saranagati mantra says – ‘Renounce all dharmas and take refuge in Me alone. I shall liberate you from all sins; grieve not’. In his commentary on the Bhagavat Gita, Adi Sankara does not say drop your will, drop your responsibility and wait for miracles to solve your problems, he clearly says we have to attain jnanam.

Traditional people look upon God as the giver of the sastra. God talks to us through the sastra. Even today, we can learn the sastra from a Guru. We can study and save ourselves. Therefore, saranagati means surrender to sastra, surrender to the Guru.

On this auspicious occasion of Sivaratri, let us look upon Lord Siva as Dakshinamurthi who has provided us protection through the sastra. Let us study and make use of the scriptures. That is true saranagati.

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Source: From the Talks given on Sivarathiri, March 1, 2003, by Swami Paramarthananda.

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CONSCIOUSNESS

Is the Life Spark

It is not part of the body-mind complex.


Our scriptural texts reveal consciousness as

1. Not a part, property or a product of the body;

2. An independent entity which pervades and enlivens the body;

3. Not limited by the boundaries of the body, and, therefore, formless;

4. Surviving the death of the body and continuing to exist after the fall of the body;

5. In the absence of the medium after the destruction of the body, not being in a position to transact with the world

The consciousness enlivens all the bodies. That the consciousness illumines all experiences during the waking, dream and deep sleep states. The Consciousness is the very life spark, in all forms from Brahma to the smallest insect. Consciousness is also presented as a sole witness of the entire play of the universe. In each one of us is this consciousness and not the perceived world consisting of our body-mind complex and its experiences in the form of objects, emotions and thoughts. Consciousness is different from the body-mind complex.

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Source: Based on talks by Swamini Satyavaratananda Saraswathi, a disciple of Swami Dayananda Saraswati and Swami Paramartananda.

THOUGHTS

Watch your thoughts they will become your words.


Watch your words they will become your action.


Watch your action they will become your habit.


Watch your habit they will become your character.


Watch your character they will become your future.

Therefore, ultimately your future or destiny is determined by your character, determined by your habit, determined by your action, determined by your words and finally determined by your thoughts. Where does it begins? All wars begins in the ‘mind’ of an individual. Even though thoughts are intangible but they are extremely powerful. Therefore, never ignore your thoughts just because others don’t know it.

James Allen in his famous book “As a man thinketh” says that just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances and destiny.

The Wisdom from English Proverbs

1. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

2. Advice most needed is least heeded.

3. After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile

4. All cats love fish, but hate to get their paws wet.

5. A bad workman blames his tools.

6. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

7. Buy the best and you cry only once.

8. A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

9. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

10. Don’t try to teach a pig to sing. It doesn’t work, and you’ll annoy the pig.

11. Dreams are not the ones, which comes when you sleep; but they are the ones, which will not let you  sleep.
12. Education makes machines which act like men, and produces men who act like machines.

13. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
14. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King.
15. It is better to die on one’s feet than live on one’s knees.
16. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
17. It’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
18. Laugh when you’re happy, cry when you’re sad, and do both when you’re the happiest you’ve ever been.
19. Love is not finding someone to live with; it’s finding someone whom you can’t live without.

20. One man’s junk is another man’s treassure.

21. Repetition is the mother of memory.

22. Set a thief to catch a thief.

23. This, too, shall pass away.

24. Too much of one thing, good for nothing.

25. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

26. The worst good day is always better than the best bad day.

27. The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can’t have them.

28. You never know what you can do until you try.

29. Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.

30. One of these days is none of these days.

31. One today is worth two tomorrow.

32. Losers weepers; finders keepers.

33. If a camel gets his nose in a tent, his body will follow.

34. However long the night, the dawn will beak.

35. Hard words break no bones.

36. Hatred is a blind as love.

37. Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade.

38. Failure teaches success.

39. False friends are worse than the open enemies.

40. Every path has its puddle.

41. Better untaught than ill-taught.

42. A stumble may prevent a fall.

43. A friend to all is a friend to none.

44. A change is as good as a rest.

45. A broken friendship may be soldered but will never be sound.

46. All things are difficult before they are easy.

THEORY OF REINCARNATION

What happens when a person dies? 

His gross body perishes in that form. The material of the body merges with earth. Science declares that something cannot pass into nothing. The law of indestructibility of matter, the law of conservation of energy states it. The same law would apply to the subtle body as well. The subtle body of the person comprises his thought, feeling and desire. The resultant of his mental and intellectual forces. His inner energy comprising subtle matter. Applying the same law to the subtle body, you would realise that its energy cannot vanish into nothing at the time of death. In this world there are innumerable death occurring everyday. And innumerable births. The mental energies of those persons cannot disappear to appear all of a sudden. That would be against the established law of science.

Life is a series of experiences

Life of a series of experiences. The progression of life is determined by desires. Desires drive you from one experience to another. In philosophic terms an experience is dead and another born at every moment. Thus your desires drive you through a continuous procession of birth and death. This procession will continue in perpetuity until the desires are eradicated from your personality. Desires are the cause and the experiences of life are the effect. At the moment of death a person is left with innumerable, unfulfilled desires. He may vanish from your sight but that does not mean that his desires are extinct. The desires have to be eradicated to prevent further manifestation. The cause has to be removed to erase the effect. When the desires are completely exhausted the cycle of birth and death ends. That is the state of Self-realisation, God-realisation.

Thus numerous desires of different sorts remain unfulfilled when people die. At the time of their death these desires have not been exhausted. It would be irrational to presume that all of them disappear into nothing. Now, look at the world from another angle. Different types of people are born with distinct tendencies, inclinations, desires. Every human being enters the world with his pattern of thought, feeling, desire. And people are born with a variety of desires. These variegated desires could not have emerged from nowhere. To accept that they have come out of nothing would again be as irrational as to presume that they disappear suddenly. Such presumptions would be violating the code of science.

Hence the great thinkers of the past made a careful scrutiny of this world and found hordes and hordes of desires disappearing and appearing perennially. After a thorough investigation of this phenomenon they brilliantly connected the unaccounted gain of desires of the born to the unaccounted loss of desires of the dead. A sheer audit of the accounts of life. They applied the law of causation which governs the entire universe at all times. Took the desires of the born as the effect. This observation is in accordance with the law of indestructibility of matter, the law of causation, the law of karma. This ingenious correlation of cause and effect projects the theory of reincarnation. It is only a scientific deduction from the available data. But cannot be proved experimentally. Hence presented as a theory.

Child determines Parent

Another popular belief is that the newborn inherits the tendencies of its parents. That the law of heredity establishes it. The law of karma does not oppose the concept of heredity. It corrects the general misconception that the equation between the parent and child emanates from the parent. It is not the parents that determine the nature of the child. It is vice versa. The child determines the parents. The law of karma explains how the resultant effect of one’s mental and intellectual energies would find the right body, parents and environment. With no extraneous power deciding this choice.

If desires are the cause for the continuity of life, how can one take birth in an environment or circumstance not to his liking? Take a form of life different from his desire? Why would a person be born poor when he desires to be rich? Why would anyone desire to be born physically handicapped? If desires decide your life’s pattern how is it not so in actual fact? The world that you experience does not seem to always relate to your desires. This apparent paradox arises when you do not correlate cause and effect properly, fully. Your desires no doubt decide the course of your life. But then it is not a particular desire that decides. It is the compound of all your desires. The total effect of your desires decides the course. It is called the resultant desire.

The parallelogram law of forces in physics explains this phenomenon as illustrated below in figures 1 and 2. Consider an object in position O free to move in all directions. Two equal forces act upon it. One force horizontally along OA. The other vertically along OB. The object will then move, neither in the direction of OA nor OB, but diagonally along OR. There is no force operating along OR. Yet the object moves in that direction. The force that drives the object along OR is called the resultant. The resultant force is the effect of both the forces.

Let more forces OF1, OF2, OF3, etc. be applied on the object. Several forces of varying strength and direction. Then the resultant would be the total effect of all those forces. Let it be OR’. Then the object will move along OR’. Here again the resultant force may not be in the direction of any one of the forces acting upon it. Yet the object will move in that direction. The same phenomenon takes place in your life. Your life is ordered by your resultant desire. The total effect of all your desires. Innumerable desires operate in you. Each has its own strength and direction. But you will move in the direction of your resultant desire. Which may not be in the direction of any one of your desires. That should explain why your life may not always be in line with any particular desire. That is the law of life which applies to every individual throughout the world.

Besides the above analysis and conclusion, it would be interesting to observe what exactly happens to a person at death. To his gross, subtle and causal bodies and Atman, the Self within. It is obvious that the physical body has not gone. It lies there. And the Atman, of course, cannot go anywhere since It is all-pervading. It exists everywhere. Being so. It should exist in the dead body as well. Besides, movement of an object is possible from a place where it exists to a place where it is not. As the Atman pervades everywhere there is no place where It does not exist. Hence It cannot move. Thus, the physical body of the person and the Atman are very much there at the time of death. It is only the other two components of the individual viz., the causal and the subtle bodies that move out. Therefore, the transference of the causal and subtle bodies from one gross body to another is designated as the death of the former body and the birth of the latter.

Example of the sun and its reflections

The concept of birth and death becomes clearer with the example of the sun and its reflections. The sun’s rays are all-pervading. Wherever there is a reflecting medium there will be a reflection of the sun. Hold a mirror in a frame in broad sunlight. You will find a reflected sun in it. Remove the mirror from the frame and fix it in another frame. Instantly, the reflected sun in the first frame vanishes and appears in the second. The image is dead in the first and born in the second. The reflected sun moves from the one to the other. Brought about by the transference of the mirror.

Equate the example to the phenomenon of birth and death. The sun above represents the Atman. Its all-pervading rays would then be the pure Consciousness everywhere. The frame would be the gross body. The glass and the reflecting material composing the mirror would represent the subtle and causal bodies respectively. The Atman functioning through these bodies projects the individual. Thus, the transference of the subtle and causal bodies from one gross body to another determines the death and birth of the individual. The vasanas, desires are eradicated the individuality is dissolved. His cycle of birth and death ends. He attains spiritual Enlightenment.

Without the cognition of the law of causation and a clear understanding of the consequent theory of reincarnation, you could run into trouble. Here is a true story. A lady in her advanced age developed cataract in her eyes. She was losing her eyesight. At that time of her life a misfortune befell her. Her only daughter expired. She was terribly upset. She lost all her interest in the world. She would not meet anybody or go anywhere. Meanwhile her cataract ripened. She was practically blind. Her family and well-wishers appealed to her to undergo surgery. She refused to do so. She chose to deny herself eyesight for the rest of her life. She would say, “Am I to restore my eyesight to gaze at emptiness? The beauty in my home is gone. I have nothing more to see.” They were all confused. And did not know how to persuade her to go through the surgery. They approached a swami, a sage for help. The swami met her personally. The wise man explained to her how the resultant desire works. “Remember, you are entertaining a powerful desire not to see the world.” the sage said to her. “You are old. Death may overtake you any day. If you continue to deny yourself eyesight, there is a fair chance you will be born blind.” The lady sprang to her feet. And went through the surgery the same day.

The significant part of the episode is that a person could be born blind even though he does not desire it. The resultant of all his desires becomes the cause leading to that effect. Therefore, it would be in your interest to scrutinise at all times the type of desires you entertain. Avoid negative thoughts and desires. Try to turn them positive. If you practice that, you would not be a victim of self-inflicted complications in life. Your life would then become more meaningful, purposeful.

Imagine a person who is brutal, bloodthirsty. He develops a passion for destroying, killing. He becomes a dangerous killer. The society does not allow him manifest his destructive nature. The law prohibits it as well. His desires are frustrated. The frustrated desires must find their way out. This is not possible in his present embodiment, environment. Hence his resultant desire will forge itself into an appropriate embodiment for fulfilment. Thus his own desires could possibly cast his next incarnation as a tiger or a lion. Wherein the embodiment and environment becomes befitting, conducive for fulfilling those desires. No doubt, a human being cannot easily fall into an animal incarnation. A human possesses fine emotions and subtle thoughts which animals lack. Those thoughts and desires in him would strongly influence the resultant desire towards human incarnation. Notwithstanding it all, he could still force himself into a lower species by persistently indulging in such destructive passion.

There is also conjecture in spiritual lobbies that a person may not be reincarnated immediately after death. That his casual-subtle body may take a while before it finds the appropriate gross body and environment. The interim period after death and before the next birth would resemble sleep or dream. This observation again has certain validity since it is seen happening to other living species. The seed fallen from a tree is not always subject to immediate germination. An egg laid by a bird takes time to hatch. So too a human may experience a period of sleep or dream before his next incarnation.

People the world over are unaware of the relentless law of Karma. They entertain all sorts of desires indiscriminately. Plunge into action in pursuit of their passions. Thoughtless of the dire consequences. And end up with calamities in their life. Unaware of their responsibility for the misfortune, they bewail the stars and planets. Blame everything, everybody in the world except themselves. In desperation some go to astrologers, palmists and spiritualists for help. Others pray to the gods to mend their fortune. Not realising they have brought the misery upon themselves. And that they have to redeem themselves.

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Source: Vedanta Treatise by Swamy Parthasarathy
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BIRTH AND DEATH

The universe displays a graceful progression of events. All evolution follows a perfect sequence of rise and fall. A rhythmic motion of construction and destruction. Night follows day and day follows night. The seasons appear and disappear in regular succession year after year. Birth, childhood, youth, old age and death make a progressive chain. Cause and effect project themselves endlessly. The law of causation works with mathematical precision. Yet people hold fanatical beliefs that there is no life after death or that there is. Such irrational beliefs lead you nowhere. The subject of birth and death is deep, unfathomable. You cannot dismiss it thus by such speculative notions. You must study the subject carefully. Death and birth are merely a change of state. A movement from one experience to another. There is nothing terrible, abominable about death as people view it.

Birth and death are two sides of a coin. There can be no birth without death. And no death without birth. Morning dies. Evening is born. Evening dies, night is born. Night dies, morning is born. This chain of birth and death goes on perennially. So does the chain of birth, growth, decay and death continue. The phenomenon of birth and death brings about change. The world is in a continuous flux of change. Creation and destruction are the warp and woof of the world. The play of these two powers maintains the mineral, vegetable, animal and human kingdoms.

Creation, destruction and maintenance are three facets of the same phenomenon. They are not separate from one another. In the chain of creation and destruction of the different facets in the day, the day is maintained. Likewise in the appearance and disappearance of the seasons, the year is maintained. In the progressive ages of life, the individual is maintained. The entire universe therefore is an expression of the three powers of creation, destruction and maintenance. The devotional people find it difficult to conceptualise the precise manifestation of nature. So the scripture has personified these powers as gods. Brahma as the god of creation. Shiva as the god of destruction. Vishnu, god of maintenance. Also indicated to the intellectuals that they are one by combining the three gods in the form of Dattatreya.

Some believe that when a person dies nothing remains. That death is the end of the personality. And that there is no trace of him thereafter. Others disagree with this view. They do not consider death as finality. They believe in the continuity of life. And that the present incarnation is only a link in the chain of his entire life. Yet others posit the existence of imaginary realms of heaven and hell where they believe humans go to after death. These beliefs are not based on rational analysis and derivation. Instead, you must collect relevant data, study them carefully and draw intelligent conclusions from them. Only then would you get a clearer idea of the phenomenon of birth and death.

There is another strange phenomenon concerning death. Though death is inevitable and everyone knows that all living beings are certain to die, none believes it in practice. Young or old, healthy or unhealthy, even the terminally ill feel that death is far away. It is a wonder that nobody practically believes in death. Even at a ripe old age people keep amassing wealth, enlarging their worldly relations, behaving as though death would never take hold of them. Intellectually they may concede. But from a practical point of view they ignore their imminent end. It seems paradoxical. On the one hand a person is so certain of his end. The very thought of death sends a quiver through his entire frame. His body turns cold at the mere mention of death. While on the other it does not seem to bother him at all. He writes poetry, flourishes his art of portraying death! What could be the reason for this paradox? How is that the looming danger of death does not actually impede, disturb his life? Everyone expects to live on and on without being concerned about the end. The reason for this innate assurance of longevity is the immortal nature of the Self within. Every human being is quintessentially the Self. That being so, Its immortal nature colours his material layers. Which makes his individuality assume a sense of immortality. And keeps him free from the thought of death.

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Source: Vedanta Treatise by Swamy Parthasarathy
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Law of Karma

Law of Destiny

       The law of destiny defines the status of a person at any moment of his life with reference to his past from that moment.

Law of Karma

       Whereas the law of karma is an extension of the law of destiny into the future. Both the laws are based on the principle of cause and effect.

      The law of destiny states that you are at present the product of your past. The law of karma reaches further to state that you are not only the product of your past but the producer of your future as well. Destiny covers only the past and present while karma cover the past, present and future. With reference to your past you are a product, a master. You are the son of your father, as well as the father of your son. You are a son-father, product-producer at the same time. Looking back into your past you develop pessimism. Looking ahead into your future you gain optimism. With the knowledge of the law of karma you begin to realise that your shortcomings and difficulties are the creation of your past unintelligent activities. And that you have now the opportunity to create a better future for yourself. That you are the master of your destiny.

       A human being therefore is bound by his own past while he is free to act as he wills. Freedom and bondage seem to coexist in one person. Thus you are a product of your past. You also possess a free will to act as you please. There are two forces operating in your life. The one from the past that has shaped your destiny, known as prarabdha. The other which gives you the freedom to choose your action, purushartha. Your purushartha chooses your course of action. And the actions executed already by your purushartha self-efforts result in your prarabdha destiny. Your destiny is thus the cumulative effect of all your past self-efforts. Whatever has been the nature and quality of your effort in the past, the same will be reflected in your present destiny. If your physical, mental and intellectual activities have been positive you meet with a positive destiny. If negative, you meet a negative destiny. If partly positive and partly negative, your destiny takes the same proportion.

       Destiny is similar to your bank balance. And self-effort to your capacity to earn or lose money, to credit or debit your account. Your bank balance at any point of time is the aggregate of all your credits and debits prior to that moment. Regardless of your balance showing credit or debit, your capacity to earn or lose remains independent of it. You could earn more and increase your balance. Or withdraw more and decrease it. Likewise, regardless of your present status you could put in positive effort and evolve spiritually. Or indulge in negative effort and devolve. The law of karma goes on.

      Hence it is your effort that makes the difference to your destiny. Few understand this law. They meekly attribute their success or failure to God. Not realising that God is merely the substratum of activity. And has nothing to do with the nature or quality of activity. God is like the sun above. The sun is the source of activity. Sinner or saint draws his vitality from the sun. The sun provides them both the energy to act. The sinner in a vicious way. The saint in a virtuous way. Thus beings act according to their independent nature. You cannot commend or condemn the sun for their particular deeds. The sun stands clear from vice and virtue of the world. So does God though supporting everything remain immaculate, free from the happenings in the world.

      Your destiny at present is the effect of all your past self-efforts. For example, if you had exercised your free will in the past in merely gratifying your senses and leading a sensual life, then you would be a sensual person at present. That is your destiny. 

       Instead, had you chosen to live a disciplined life and practised the higher values you would now be a spiritually evolved person. Moreover, regardless of what state you are in at present you tend to continue the same way. A sensual person pursues his sensual activities. A spiritual person continues to be spiritual. Which gives the impression that your present choice of action is influenced by your past. If that be so, how can self-effort be free? Where does free will fit into the law of karma?

       An alcoholic is addicted to alcohol because of his heavy drinking in the past. If the past were to influence his present action he will continue as an alcoholic. How then can he claim to have the freedom to choose to drink or not to drink? Likewise a person is benevolent, noble because of the virtuous life he has led. Here again, if the past influences his present action he will continue to be virtuous. Thus if it is accepted that one’s past completely influences one’s present, then the good will continue to be good and the bad will continue to be bad. But this is not so in practical life. People are subject to change. The good are known to have turned bad, so have the bad turned good. What then is the relationship between prarabdha destiny and purushartha self-effort? A question that has been disturbing the spiritual lobbies for long. The exact relationship between the two is earlier understood with the following two illustrations.

       The first comparison is a motorboat. The speed of the motorboat is 16 kilometres per hour in still waters. The boat is in a river moving downstream. The water in the river flows at a speed of 2 kilometres per hour. The speed of the boat downstream will then be 18 (16 +2) km/hour. While moving upstream the speed of the boat will reduce the 14 (16-2) km/hour. Thus the speed of the boat varies from 18 to 14 km/hour depending upon its movement down or up. But all along, the actual speed of the boat is independent of the speed of water. Yet when it moves in the river it becomes 18 downstream and 14 upstream.

      Now, compare the original speed of the boat to your purushartha self-effort. And the speed of water to your prarabdha destiny. Your self-effort is ever free. Your destiny cannot alter your self-effort. Just as the speed of the water cannot change the original, independent speed of motor. Nevertheless, in effect the boat gains 2 km/hour downward and loses 2 upward. Similarly, even though your self-effort is independent, it is in effect altered by your destiny. When you apply your self-effort in the background of your destiny, the effect produced is different. Your self-effort makes its free choice in the background of your destiny. The combination of your effort and destiny produces a different effect.

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Source: Vedanta Treatise - Swamy Parthasarathy
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