TIRU- KURRAL

Swami Vimokshananda
at first Tirukurral class
SVET

||Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

 

Aum Namo Narayanaya

 

Today was definitely a very auspicious moment in the history of the Shree Veeraboga  Emperumal Temple.  The temple was founded in 1914 by very senior fathers who hailed from the Kilpfontein sugar barracks, who believed that the ideas contained in all our scriptures was the panacea for their anxieties. One can only imagine the hardships and struggles our forefathers had to endure so that we were able to grow and prosper in a free country.

 

Therefore, they always made time to partake of satsang and immerse themselves in the glory of God for strength and compassion to pass their strife-stricken days. The founding fathers would gather under the canopy of the banyan tree and read from the Shree Veeraboga Saritram (Prophecies of Kali Yuga) giving much hope and solace to all who listened.

 

Today, from those humble beginnings gathering informally, the organisation has concretised into a large spiritual edifice in the town of Tongaat. As in the case of our body, which will collapse without the presence of the divine energy or force called the prana... in the same way a temple is futile if it does not help people elevate their consciousness to the divine level. Today it seems all our founding fathers whose spirits were awaiting for this moment finally returned to the higher realms satisfied, when our Tirukurral class commenced, conducted by our Revered Swami Vimokshanandaji Maharaj.

 

There was a strange yet beautiful energy that permeated the room, where for some time everything seemed infused with a brightness. And although seated in front of our Swami Vimokshananda, I could only see my Guru - most Revered President Maharaj.  My attention was so focused on the words that came forth like lotus petals, fragranced with profound wisdom. I was in disbelief that one hour had passed by so stealthily. All of those devotees must have done well in their past births to be given the opportunity to be seated at feet of Revered Maharaj and accept the spiritual knowledge that flowed like the Ganga at Rishikesh. The Upanishads being re-enacted in our very own town in this very age was indeed glorious.

 

In some ways our lives are like the Kurral which Swamiji explained as a shortened idea. We are spiritual beings have a human experience, we are the shortened expression of God. Swami Vivekananda based His central teachings on the potential divinity of man. This gives us as they say in the sporting world "a home ground advantage". The atmosphere created by good supporters is the impetus required to give teams the edge to up their performances, with the majority of cases resulting in victory.

 

Why is it then, with the knowledge of the potential divinity that we are, that we are not expressing the divinity in all our actions and thoughts? Why is there animosity and squabbles between families and nations? Essentially the question can be expanded to the point of "why is the world in so much turmoil?".

 

The answer to this question lies not in analysing the macro, but with the micro self. Swamiji so daintily exposed the discipline with which ThiruValluvar and his wife lived their lives in which every action was performed with a sense of duty and austerity.

 

Knowing that the medication for your illness lies in the hospital... it is of no use wandering the beaches or parks looking for it.  We find that today, many youth especially have no sense of goal or focus in their lives. They live their lives without discipline and a sense of duty. Young able bodied men and woman with a capacity to shift the world, with enough might and energy to alter the course of destiny dissipate their lives fruitlessly. "What the world wants today is twenty men and women who can dare to stand in the street yonder, and say that they possess nothing but God. Who will go? Why should one fear? If this is true, what else could matter? If it is not true, what do our lives matter?" said  Swami Vivekananda

 

In His introductory remarks, Maharaj gave a brief outline of the Tamil language and placed the author in perspective. The Tiru before the word Kurral is a Tamil way of giving respect to this great work by a great saint known as Vallavur, hence he was also appropriately referred to as Tiruvallavar.

 

I therefore reason that if we live by  this Tamill Vedam (Tamil Veda - Tirukurral) and by the powerful words of Swami Vivekananda above, we have the scope of transforming our lives from Kurral to Tirukurral. Enacting discipline and a sense of purpose and duty into our lives will activate the potential divinity into kinetic divinity, allowing us to alter the course of our journey from 'Manava to Madhava' (man to God).

 

Let us wake up every morning and start the day with a home ground advantage: converting action into a goal for spiritual evolution. Take one idea from our scriptures and make it a part of your daily activities... in this way we will be contributing towards the creation of a peaceful world. Gandhi said that one must be the change that one wants to see in the world.

 

It is imperative then that virtue, peace, truth and love be found within us before we can expect to find it in the world. This is the foundation on which the great Tiruvallavar lived his life, and that's the reason why this totally universal scripture of virtuous living written 4000 years ago floats on the ocean of humanity as a life boat .

 

Let us find peace within, is my sincere prayer.

 

With love and prayers always

Yogan 

You belch what you have eaten

||Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

Swamiji

 

Aum Namo Narayanaya

 

With Diwali behind us now, the celebration mood shifts gear with the ensuing festive season and New Year celebrations demanding our attention. An outing to the various shopping complexes and trade arenas will introduce you to the glittering, colourful and fancy decorations accompanied by jingles that get you tapping into your purse to indulge yourself with all your fancies. I, together with other millions of people around the world wait for 56 days to usher in the 150^th Birth Anniversary of the great luminary Swami Vivekananda.  It is quite interesting to note that November and December present two pivotal and life altering moments in His life. It was in November 1881 that the Master first met His disciple at the residence of Keshab Chandra Sen which transformed Him from Naren to the fire-brand Vivekananda. During the month of December - after His wanderings through the length and breadth of India - His travels culminated at the southernmost tip of India in the town of Kanya Kumari, where He meditated on a rock for three days and nights on all His experiences. It was there that His mission for India and the world, in terms of unpacking Vedanta into a practical vehicle for liberation, unfolded.

 

Sailing from India in search of a better life, our forefathers landed in Durban on the shores of KwaZulu-Natal on 16 November - 152 years ago. Their aim of cutting the bonds of poverty were to an extent realised... when they organised themselves and through education were able to push back the frontiers of poverty. However, to this very day - though living in a free society, there is a continuous struggle against forces that undermine our divine birth right of being equal and free children of God.

 

 

We find ourselves continuously on the collision path of racism, discrimination, insults, corruption, adultery and a mountain of other challenges that rob us of peace daily. Our faith, practices and way of life are always under attack. Why do we always have to face this onslaught from others in this manner?

 

One day, Sri Ramakrishna whilst chatting with Bankim, asked (to Bankim, smiling) "Well, what do you say about man's duties?

 

BANKIM (smiling): "If you ask me about them, I should say they are eating, sleeping, and sex-life.

 

Master scolds Bankim.

 

MASTER (sharply): "Eh? You are very saucy! What you do day and night comes out through your mouth. A man belches what he eats. If he eats radish, he belches radish; if he eats green coconut, he belches green coconut. Day and night you live in the midst of 'woman and gold'; so your mouth utters words about that alone. By constantly thinking of worldly things a man becomes calculating and deceitful. On the other hand, he becomes guileless by thinking of God. A man who has seen God will never say what you have just said.

 

This makes me think that the actions and words of people are the manifestation of their inner being. Sri  Ramakrishna also used to say that however clever you may be, you will stain your body if you live in a sooty room.  If the mind continues to dwell on the world and sense gratification then our inner being becomes  stained. No matter  what we do, we will definitely project the sootiness within. Ignorance of our true nature and fanatical pursuits to the allurement of the senses has made mankind claim superiority over another based on race, wealth and gender. To this very day, conflict continues in this regard.

 

I was once listening to a discourse by a Swami who prudently explained when the finger is broken; no matter what you touch, will result in pain. When our heart and mind is broken from the pure divine consciousness that we are, then everything we do shall result in pain. The words we speak, the actions we do and the thoughts we process. Therefore if we want peace in the world and man to live in harmony as brothers - these words of Swamiji will guide us.  

 

"All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves... lives. He who is selfish... is dying. Therefore, love for love's sake, because it is the law of life, just as you breathe to live. It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.

 

First, believe in this world - that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves! Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God. The moment I have realised God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him --- that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.

 

Condemn none! If you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way."

 

These words spoken by this great son of the Universe more than 100 years ago seems more relevant now than ever. In these times of conflict, it is not the world that we must change but our very own selves.  Mediate and pray regularly for the pure consciousness to engulf your being.

 

May Swamiji help us all live the divinity that we are... is my sincere prayer.

 

With love and prayers always

Yogan

 

Be the Beauty That Murugan Is

||Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

 

Lord Murugan

Aum Namo Narayanaya 

 

The possibility of a conspiracy orchestrated by weather gods against our community could not be ruled out as thousands probably gazed out into the sky bearing witness to the seething river of storm clouds that devoured the placid heavens busy laying the sun to rest. The poignant countenance on many a face in the stadium where the Tongaat Diwali celebration was about to be marred by heavy rain for a third year in succession soon turned horrid as the skies presented a symphony of rain, thunder and lightning  as if deliberately trying to upstage our fireworks display. Undeterred though, taking the name of Krishna during the Hawan - the show continued with hundreds culminating under the arena marquees, like taking refuge under the Govardhan Mountain held by Krishna during a storm.

 

The scenario came across to me as a question posed by the heavens on behalf of the Great Lord: “Oh foolish man what are you celebrating? Being ruled and controlled by the dark forces, how can you celebrate this festival of light?"

 

When will I worship Lord Sadasiva (eternally auspicious) with equal vision towards the people and an emperor; and a blade of grass

and lotus-like eye, towards both friends and enemies; towards the valuable gem and some lump of dirt; towards a snake and a garland?

 

Before you challenge your brain to ascertain from which great sage the above prayer emanated, let me dispel your curiosity to tell you the above verse comes from the Shiva Tandava Stotram - from the mouth of King Ravana. He whose life's breath was released from the body by the Supreme Lord on account of His wicked ways is the author of this Stotram which is said to be a very powerful prayer to invoke the grace of Lord Shiva.

 

A mysterious character helplessly drowning in the sea of paradox, yet finds resonance in so many peoples' lives. Having knowledge of so many value systems and techniques to live a good life, so many spend their lives ravaging for moments of peace and happiness.  Sri Ramakrishna explains this in a wonderful way when He says in the Gospel: “The almanac may forecast twenty measures of rain; but you don't get a drop by squeezing its pages." Simply expressing the idea that book knowledge alone is of no use in life if we are unable to utilise it practically.

 

The dilemma of Ravana explains itself with the approaching Skanda Shasti festival which begins on Diwali day itself. Even though man out of his own ignorance may try to divide himself along various lines through his practices and beliefs - the Lord through His leelas demonstrates the onenesss of the world like how many rivers converge into a single ocean.

 

Although poles apart in respect of origin, both Skanda Shasti and Diwali converge along the same lessons of righteousness over evil and light over darkness and further extend into similarities with respect to the celebrations namely: new clothes, fireworks, lamps and festive food.

 

The slaying of the demon Soorapadman by Lord Muruga is the central component or root of the festival of Skanda Shasti. It is believed that the demon who had captured the son of Indra started to wreck havoc in the heavans. It was then that they enlisted the assistance of Senapathi (Lord Muruga) - commander of the heavenly armies to destroy this enemy.

 

It is recorded that the battle ensued for 6 days. Finally the demon assumed the form of a tree, and detecting this form of mastery in illusion, Lord Muruga launched his 'vel' which then split the demon into two resulting in the demon becoming a peacock and rooster. Lord Muruga then assigned the peacock as his 'vahanam' (vehicle) and the rooster as the symbol of His flag that is raised at all his functions and temples.

 

Within each and everyone one of us there are deep seated tendencies or 'vasanas' which have the ability to influence you in your life. Irrespective of the amount of scripture you have read or the amount of prayers you conduct - if you do not have the strength to diffuse these tendencies, you can easily be over-powered. Hence Swami Vivekananda repeatedly for the purposes of highlighting its importance thundered: "Strength is life, weakness is death".

 

If we break the name of the demon Soorapadman up: 'soora' in Tamil refers to being covered. The divine qualities and strength as emphasised by Swamiji is covered by base qualities like ego, greed, etc. The 'vel' as utilised by Lord Muruga represents the sharp-pointed intellect which functions through discrimination. By practising the faculty of discrimination at every juncture we will be sounding the death knell on the base influences.

 

With the splitting of the demon, two animals emerged. The peacock represents ego and pride and the rooster represents the alert mind. By taking the peacock as His vehicle, the Lord asks us to bring our ego and pride under control, and by placing the rooster on His flag flying high, He asks us to be alert and raise our intellect to the highest levels by exercising discrimination. Thus we shall be victorious in our pursuits in life.

 

It is no wonder that the heavans are angry with us... every scripture from Bhagavat Gita to Gospel has been relaying the same message from time immemorial, yet we pay not a heed to them. We continue to perpetuate misery and blame God.

 

Like the wick in the lamp represents the mind, and the oil representative of the world bewitching maya;  do not remain complacent soaking in the world of bondage. Pray sincerely to God (whoever He may be to you) for His grace to light your life, so that His divine blessings will destroy all the fetters that bond you to the world.  Let us pray that we must experience the divine rather than just reading about the divine.

 

I wish all a prosperous and joyous Diwali and all observing Skanda Shasti a rewarding and peaceful  observance.

 

May we all have the opportunity to translate our wonderful teachings into practice is my sincere prayer!

 

With love and prayers always

Yogan

Dhiya Shakti

|| Aum Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

 



Aum Namo Narayanaya

Happy Diwali



 

Sometimes it elicits much disbelief to understand that in this ultra technical and literate age, symbols continue to exert much influence in our daily lives. From bathroom signage to cautionary signs behind road haulers; pretty much every building to social media - man still finds this ancient art of communication relevant. Indeed a picture can say in a glance what would normally take a few words to say. It is the depth that symbols carry which found favour with our ancient saints and seers in communicating profound and explicit truths of this universe. Hindu Dharma even in the face of criticism, invasion and onslaught from other religions continued to thrive and grow by unpacking the timeless wisdom contained in these symbols.

 

One such symbol of Hindu Dharma which is central to the idea of God and also utilised everyday in some form to help a devotee connect with the divine light (so much so that the very first word mentioned in the Vedas - the authority of Hindu Dharma that's over 5000 years old) is AGNI (Fire God). History in general will account chronologically how fire has been a key component in the evolution of man from the cave to Silicon Valley. This light and fire which escalated to the pedestal of divine simply brings to the fore the insight and intuition of these great saints about the truths of the Universe. Today we cannot imagine a world without the sun, fire and light - hence we find with great humility our Hindu brethren since time immemorial have bowed at the crack of dawn to the effulgent, luminous Surya Narayana as the preceptor of life on earth.

 

As Maharaj so  succinctly pointed out that during Navarathri, some quarters of India celebrate the slaying of Ravana while others celebrate the slaying of Mahishasura. However the locus of these celebrations remain the triumph of good over evil. We experience a similar trend with the global celebration of Diwali, unquestionably the biggest Hindu celebration to date. Various regions in India place emphasis on various events that occurred in that time namely: "the return of Lord Rama from exile" and "the slaying of Narakasura by Lord Krishna”. In other regions the auspicious Sri Luxmi pooja is performed -  all ultimately celebrating the divine influence of light over darkness. If one continues with a base understanding to perpetuate the literal ritualistic aspect of this mass phenomenon of Diwali, then little or no spiritual benefit can be extracted for the sustenance of our journey to liberation.

 

Imagine someone living in an area with sub-zero temperatures. Of what benefit will it be to that person to be seated in a room away from the fire place. Apart from light of the fire, he will not be able to extract the heat to warm his body. In the same manner, a mere celebration of Diwali without any spiritual foundations shall provide unsustainable enjoyment only and will result in an entropy of these beautiful and colourful traditions.

 

Within each and every one of us is the light (spark) of the Divine known as the atman. However many people walk around the earth like zombies without the slightest expression of the pure divinity that they are.  We simply utilise the prana (oxygen) to keep the body alive, which is like the fire place which is far away from the cold person.  We have thus allowed the layers of ego, lust, greed, hatred, anger, falsehood and all other adharmic tendencies that we have, to cloud us.

 

The following symbolic traditions of Diwali illustrate what we need to do to allow the Divine Shakti from within to radiate and manifest to the world. The oil bath is the cleansing of the physical being. The new clothes represent our intention to remove all our old qualities and traits for new, sublime ones. Sitting for hawan and pooja  are for the purification of the mind and inner being. The sacred chanting and singing must dilute all that has inhibited our divine manifestation.

 

The lighting of the first dhiya (lamp) from the main lamp is symbolic of the Shakti or power  of the Divine. We must understand that it is not the light that lights the dhiya but the energy (heat) which causes the wick to burn.  As we burn  one dhiya from another, we must understand that the Lord is the doer of everything (heat) and we are His instruments (light).  Swami Vivekananda said: "That Brahman is the sum total of all beings manifest and not".  Therefore, to truly experience the power of God, we must ensure that all of humanity (dhiyas) can come together; all of the same quality of flame and will thus be able to collectively radiate with great intensity the light and energy of God.  Therefore, the celebration is called Deepavali (row of lights), which is an orderly arrangement of the dhiyas to ensure maximum luminosity which ultimately reflects our journey from dvaita to advaita (from many to one) - all becoming one jyothi (light) which is Brahman.

 

The firework which has become synonymous with the celebrations is an expansive expression of the shakti within. Just as the wick of the fire canon is lit from the dhiya and eventually explodes into the sky into a magnificent array of colours and designs for the delight of all; our shakti and divinity must be utilised to the delight and service of humanity. When our dhiyas have become strong and still in the turbulence of the world, we must endeavour to light up the lives of others through selfless seva because Swamiji has proclaimed that liberation is only available through the emancipation of humanity from the shackles of bondage.

 

May this Diwali bring upon us a burning desire to radiate the divinity within us by practicing spiritual sadhanas, and enagaging in devotional  service. Let every dhiya we light illumine every dark tendency within us. As Master said: "A single spark in an instant dispels a room that has been dark for a million years".  Let us then meditate on this illumined self: Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi Dhyo Yo nah Prachodayat, so that it will guide and inspire us in the right direction - the direction of truth, fearlessness, compassion, love, right conduct and non violence.

 

Let us all journey from darkness to light, is my sincere prayer.

 

Happy Diwali  to all.

 

PS: As we celebrate let us spare a thought for all who are sick, and our dear animal friends. Let us also feel some compassion towards our South African students writing Matric exams. Let us be considerate when using fireworks and engaging in loud outdoor activities.

 

With love and prayers always

Yogan