Ganesha My Sweet Lord



Lord Ganesha



|| Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

In attempting to write this blog on this very interesting topic my thoughts nostalgically find itself in Chennai three years ago. Amidst the beating sounds of the tuk-tuk (mini taxis in India) and the annoying  intrusions of the multiple horns blaring for attention, my senses wafted towards the soothing incense that permeated the air from down below. And suddenly everything was interrupted by about three or four significant thuds to the ground.

I immediately made my way to the window of my hotel room to find a sizeable gathering around a dainty shrine which housed a deity of Lord Ganesha. The thuds originated from the coconuts that were slammed against the stoney and broken asphalted surface. Rather mechanically, everybody started tapping the side of their heads with a clinched fist as the priest broke the silence with the harmonious ringing of the bell and the melodious rendition of Aum Suklambaradarham Vishnum.

Aum
Shuklambaradharam Vishnum
Shashivarnam Chaturbhujam
Prasannavadanam Dhyaayeth
Sarvavighnopashantaye

Suklambaradaram - one who wears a white garment
Visnum - all pervading
Sasivarnam - one who has a brilliant complexion (like the full moon)
Chaturbhujam - one who has four hands
Prasannavadanam - one who has an ever smiling and benevolent face
dhyayet - I meditate upon
Sarvavighnopashantaye- for the removal of all obstacles

It is no wonder then, that those who pass this shrine on their way to whatever activity they are going to engage in to offer their pranams and love to that Lord who has the ability to remove all obstacles. In South India Lord Ganesha is commonly refered to as Pillayar and eulogized as Mudalvana (one who is first worshipped).

Shrines like the one outside my hotel are very common in every village, town and city in India. You will be fooling yourself if you think that you can travel more than 100m without embracing some form of Ganesha. The iconography of this most unusual yet magnetic form of the divine finds itself on shop signage, doorways, car dashboards, wedding cards, temple architecture, shrines and many unthought-of places.
It is through the obsession of man to have a life free of challenges and obstacles that Lord Ganesha is propitiated throughout the length and breadth of the world, not only by Hindus but other religious denominations as well.

There is no prayer, function or activity amongst most Hindus that will take place without first offering their pranams to Ganesha to ensure that whatever obstacles that may obstruct that activity about to be undertaken should be removed.

However I am reminded that last year during the Ganesha Chaturthi celebrations, revered Maharaj Swami Vimokshananda in his discourse mentioned that although worshipped for His grace in removing all obstacles, He is also known for placing obstacles in the path of devotees. The dichotomy of benevolence and malevolence surely arises from His mercy to help His devotees discriminate between their needs and desires.
We must not forget our role and purpose of god realisation - to search for that divinity that is within each and everyone of us. Often enough we are gripped with chronic materialism and focus our attention and resources in that direction. It is then that the Lord will place obstacles to dissuade you from going down the wrong path for your own good and protection.
 



Lord Vinayaga



We are all in search of joy and bliss. But along the journey in this material plane we enjoy just temporary jolts of joy interrupted ever so much by pain and despondency.  I refer back to Maharaj's discourse when He said that Lord Ganesha’s favorite food is the Modaka or Modagam as pronounced in Tamil - a sweet dumpling prepared by the millions to be offered to the Lord as his most preferred dish on his special day.
This Modaka (Moda means joy) is what we all desire at every moment in our life’s journey. The bliss that we seek is possible if we follow some simple rules as displayed through the form of Ganesha.
The large ears and small mouth asks us to speak little and listen more, the small eyes are personification of concentration. The axe dictates we should chop away at the bonds of attachment , the one broken tusk to suggest that we keep the good and get rid of the bad and the small mouse (representing desires) as his vehicle is most significant as it strongly implies that we must bring our desires under control. Bring our desires under control makes way for a clean clear mind which will act as a mirror and reflect the divinity that is within you.  You can thus enjoy the Modagam of divine bliss.

The other form that Vinayagar is worshipped as is Aumkar or Aum. Aum is said to be the sound with which the entire creation resonates in. It is the frequency at which divinity is spread and permeates the universe. So if we want to attract divinity and the prosperity of the Universe it is wise that we modulate on this frequency of Aum rather than challenge or oppose it.

It is on this note that i would like to sign off this blog and invoke Lord Vinayagar in prayer for the welfare of all in this creation. May he preside over your life so you may obtain the modaka of immortality is my sincere prayer.
With Love and Prayers always
Aum Gam Ganapataye Namah

The Journey from Kurukshetra to Gokul Brindavan

|| Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

The more we sit down and reflect on the Gita, the more we see ourselves as Arjuna, trapped between the fields of confusion and doubt sown with the seeds of despondency. As we engage with this world devoid of a spiritual foundation we create more demons and plenty nutrition for the despondency which eventually overwhelms us. All we do as we live this mundane life is continuously trim the weeds of pain, allowing just periodic pelts of joy. The rains of circumstances further bring woes in midst’s of your troubles clouding all hope, forcing one to recess into the foetal position and cry.  Oh yes, even mighty men have not escaped the lethal release of the tear ducts taking strain from a gutted heart or a grief stricken mind.

Bala Krishna

Who said all was rosy in the world. Those you who trust and open your hearts out to unconditionally will hurt you the most. That’s what the Veeraboga Sarithram has been saying all along, that we will see a 180 degree phase shift in this dark time. Many psychologists have referred to man as a social being, saying that relationships and interaction with people are an integral part of his existence. However the dynamics of these relationships is often the cause of the Kurukshetra in our lives.

Shree Krishna had presented the Gita to Arjuna as the panacea of human misery clearly unlocking the serum of joy within each of us to douse the flames of anxiety and despondency. Truth be told, the Lord never related anything new to Arjuna but only made him understand his true nature and his ability to awaken the latent divinity within him.

The Bhagavad Gita in my opinion is the ultimate reference book in the field of psychology placing Shree Krishna as the father of psychology. When he speaks of the mind being the friend as well as the enemy we get a sense that he portrays the mind is an instrument of immense influence in our lives and spiritual development.  It is the nucleus of our emotions. Emotions are like a person wearing sun shades. The colour of the shades will determine the colour with which one perceives the environment. If our mind is constituted with grief and sorrow then irrespective of the environment we are in, the perception will be grief and sorrow. The same applies vice versa.

Then the ideal would be to construct the mind in perpetual joy to ensure that we see the world that way. What then is the thread of weakness in our mind’s activity that does not allow us to configure perennial joy?  I would highlight one very significant obstacle as expectation (fruits of our actions). It has become a norm of sorts that whenever we perform any action we expect something in return. In other words, we participate in conditional activities which favour us with a handsome reward.

If the result is positive then we ok, but let the result be negative then all hell breaks loose. Giants have crumbled over emotional turmoil and grief. We must act with unconditional love, never expect anything return for your actions. Shree Krishna said:  “You are entitled to act, however the fruits of your actions you are not entitled to”. Be like Surya (the Sun), always giving indiscriminately your love and affection with no thought what so ever about the return.  That is the secret of happiness and joy. Shree Ramakrishna said if you repeat the word Gita several times, the secret of its message is revealed “Gita Gita Gita”. If you look closely you will see the words Tagi, which roots in Sanskrit Tyagi (meaning to renounce or sacrifice).

Krishna in Brindavan

Renounce the fruit of your actions and you can be on your way to perennial joy. What do we substitute in return for the fruit of our action? The Lord said “Perform all actions as an offering to me alone”. Make every action as worship to the Lord. Build in your heart and mind Gokul Brindavan.  A village of eternal happiness, play along the Yamuna with Krishna, dancing with the Gopis, sleeping perched under the canopy of a banyan tree with the tranquilising effect of the flute. The days and nights are seamlessly impregnated with his blue complexion and radiant love. Take joy and happiness from that alone. Live with Krishna every moment of your life that is the only fruit you need. 

The journey of our life is beautifully portrayed in the Srimad Bhagavatam when the most poetic description of the arrival of Shri Krsna is penned. I can extract mentally the jubilation the universe experienced, right from the devas, gods, and goddesses as they eagerly awaited the appearance of  Bala Krishna, the Paramathma, unmanifest Brahman to take human birth by his grace and mercy for the salvation of his beloved children. The Bhagavatam says even Yamuna rose her waters to take darshan of his divine lotus feet.

Even in his birth a very profound message he has delivered to us. He was born at midnight (referred to many as the ghostly time) in a jail cell in the dark phase of the moon to shackled parents. Bhagawan firstly dispelled the myth as any time being inappropriate and inauspicious.  By his will all the chains were broken and he was carried on a basket by his father across the raging Yamuna to Gokul to be raised by Nanda Baba and Ma Yashoda. The place Brindavan as I explained in the paragraphs above was heaven on earth.

Bhagwan Krishna on Vasudev's head

The profound message in the above narration is that from our eternal immortal state we are all born into bondage of this material limited body. By our own will and thirst for liberation we must cross the ocean of samsara (this life) with the Lord firmly fixed in our minds (like how Vasudeva had Shri Krishna in a basket  on his head). With this type of approach even any challenges that may pose an obstacle to your progress in spiritual life will bow at your feet (like the raging Yamuna in flood bowing to the feet of Krishna).

Finally, you must realise that like Krishna spending just a few hours with Vasudeva and Devaki, and growing up with Nanda and Yashoda in Brindavan. Our material parents are only temporary like everything on this earth, we must journey through this maya to reach our Gokul and live with our real eternal parents, the divine mother and father.

So in essence our life’s purpose is to journey from Kurukshetra to Gokul.  From the battlefield of life to the eternal abode of our father.

May this Krishna Janmasthami bring you eternal joy and bliss is my sincere prayer. Happy Krishna Janmasthami to all!!!



Bhagawan Sri Krishna The World Teacher

||Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

                                                                                                    



Bhagawan Sri Krishna



I felt like a little kid waiting in anticipation for his favourite show to start as the glorious Gita Week commences today. Although the Gita Jayanti celebrations actually take place in the month of December we must applaud the individual responsible for introducing the Gita discussions 8 days prior to the advent of its orator.

It in a sense it gives us a chance to understand Krishna of the Gita and Krishna of the Bhagavatam. Like in life we often hear people speak of how one plays different roles in life, like father, friend, son, teacher etc we have an opportunity to analyse in this week Krishna as the Jagat Guru (world teacher)

The great sage Veda Vyasas  shines as an author beyond comparison  as he dishes out to the readers the most youthful and serious personalities of the Lord with immaculate skill through the Bhagavatam and Gita.

If I had to sample the entire world without discrimination I would return with knowledge that every person in his/her life would have suffered from heartache, mental confusion, depression, despondencies which would have resulted in terrible and major setbacks in one’s life.

We are so careful and weary of physical ailments but totally neglect mental and emotions of the heart. Medical professionals will tell you that many of the physiological ailments are a direct result of psychological events.

When we are born our parents do their duty by immunising us against physiological diseases but fail to immunise us against the greatest threats to our lives being a weak mind and heart.

That is what world physician Shree Krishna came to dispense, the immunisation against weakness and all that saps the inspiration, energy and joy from your life.

We see a complete change of disposition from prankster Krishna to Teacher when he assumes charge of the crisis Arjuna created for himself.

The manner in which the Gita is packaged brings forth just the pure spoken intense knowledge of the Vedanta devoid of the flowery poetry. We find many opt for the light easy reading of the Bhagavatam.

 But in essence Shree Krsna declares that the cause of the despondency, weakness and pain in this world can be attributed to attachment, desire and expectation. Take a while and reflect upon this and see if it is not true. Everything in life is by the will of God alone. There is nothing that you and I can do to change that. Sri Ramakrishna explained in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna a story how a man went through many hardships but felt no pain because at every step of his life he repeated by the will of Rama. (meaning all by his divine grace alone)

On Thursday last week I had the blessed opportunity to have a discussion with revered Swami Vimokshanandaji Maharaj over a lovely cup of tea. In our discussion Maharaj disclosed that in his Gita classes he has completed chapter 5 after 5 years of discourses.

Therefore it will be an injustice to this glorious work of Sage Veda Vyasa to say that I can give you the explanation of this eternal wisdom in a single blog. What I will attempt however is to give you the essence of the lords philosophy in mitigating the pains, weakness and despondencies that subdue and attenuate our intrinsic blissful nature.

• Why do you worry without cause? Whom do you fear without reason? Who can kill you? The soul is neither born, nor does it die.
• Whatever happened, happened for the good; whatever is happening, is happening for the good; whatever will happen, will also happen for the good only. You need not have any regrets for the past. You need not worry for the future. The present is happening...
• What did you lose that you cry about? What did you bring with you, which you think you have lost? What did you produce, which you think got destroyed? You did not bring anything - whatever you have, you received from here. Whatever you have given, you have given only here. Whatever you took, you took from God. Whatever you gave, you gave to him. You came empty handed, you will leave empty handed. What is yours today, belonged to someone else yesterday, and will belong to someone else the day after tomorrow. You are mistakenly enjoying the thought that this is yours. It is this false happiness that is the cause of your sorrows.





Lord giving Arjuna Instructions


• Change is the law of the universe. What you think of as death, is indeed life. In one instance you can be a millionaire, and in the other instance you can be steeped in poverty. Yours and mine, big and small - erase these ideas from your mind. Then everything is yours and you belong to everyone.
• This body is not yours, neither are you of the body. The body is made of fire, water, air, earth and ether, and will disappear into these elements. But the soul is permanent - so who are you?
• Dedicate your being to God. He is the one to be ultimately relied upon. Those who know of his support are forever free from fear, worry and sorrow.
• Whatever you do, do it as a dedication to God. This will bring you the tremendous experience of joy and life-freedom forever.(this synopsis was taken from the net)

I pray through this small presentation I have wet your appetite to take up the reading of these beautiful works of Vedanta that help us migrate from this bonded life to that of an eternal state of freedom and bliss(ananda)

Aum Namo Bhagavadev Vasudevaya

Mothers the nucleus of creation

Mother Luxmi

                                                                    

Since the beginning of this month I have not been able to escape the elaborate publicity that has flooded our space in terms of the Women’s day celebrations that will unfold throughout the country on August 9.

What a lovely thought to appreciate and recognise women for their efforts in the freedom struggle of our country. On this day in 1956 the country and world had a preview of woman power when women marched onto the lawns of the Union buildings to show their dissatisfaction against the pass laws.

However from a pure Hindu perspective we have never showed any disrespect or discrimination towards women. In fact we have but placed her on the highest pedestal of the social order. There is a beautiful saying which reads  Maata, Pitha, Guru, Devam which when translated means , Mother, father, Teacher and then God.

It is indeed a remarkable co-incidence that this event took place right in the midst of a period in Hindu practice when so much praise and worship is dedicated to the divine mother. We are currently in the month of Aadi and will be celebrating Luxmi Pooja on 12 August followed closely in a few weeks by Navarathri (a full 9 night festival to mother).

Woman or the feminine aspect plays a very important and interesting role in Hindu philosophy. The feminine aspect of the divine is respectfully referred to as Shakti or the power. There is god, but that which is the force with which this god acts is known as Shakti.

You will notice that when gods are addressed they are always done with the name of the Shakti first, like Uma Maheshwara , Luxmi Narayana, Radhe Krishna and so on.

Another wonderful example which we will come across soon is that of Lord Srinivasa. During the holy month of Purutassi Lord Srinivasa is worshipped extensively with devotion for his grace. The word Srinivasa means the one who houses Luxmi(Sri) in his heart.

Mother Luxmi Devi is renowned the world over for bestowing prosperity in the form of material and spiritual wealth. Would we all not like to have the Divine Mother Luxmi reside in our hearts? Look how prosperous Lord Srinivasa of Thirupathi is.

We need to prepare our hearts to house the divine mother. She is the most beautiful, merciful and gracious of all therefore our hearts need to match that of the Lord of Vaikunta. We need not doubt that it is possible.

We need to utilise our hearts to act in the following manner:

Serve the Lord in the whole of humanity, in the sick, and destitute. Feed the hungry, have no fear, provide protection for yourself and others, raise dharmic children ,create wealth through honest means and dispose of it in a dharmic way, act with love and faith in god so victory is certain and seek knowledge and truth.  In acting this way you would have espoused the eight qualities of the Mother Luxmi who is known as Ashta Luxmi (eight forms).



Astha Luxmi



                                                                       

1. Adi Lakshmi:  Mother Lakshmi resides with Lord Narayana in the Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Narayana.  Divine Mother’s this form is normally seen serving Sri Narayana.  Lord Narayana is omnipresent.  Adi Lakshmi serves Sri Narayana is symbolic of her serving the whole creation.  Though Sri Narayana is attended by innumerable devotees, still she personally loves to serve the Lord.  Actually mother Adi Lakshmi and Narayana are not two different entities but one only.  Many a place we see her form sitting in the lap of Sri Narayana.
2. Dhanya Lakshmi:  Dhanya means grains.  This includes all kind of purified food containing all essential vitamins, minerals, protein, calcium, carbohydrate and so on.  With the grace of mother Dhanya Lakshmi one gets all essential nutrients grains, fruits, vegetables and other foods.
3. Dhairya Lakshmi:  This form of mother Lakshmi grants the boon of infinite courage and strength.  Those, who are in tune with infinite inner power, are always bound to have victory. Those who worship mother Dhairya Lakshmi they live and lead a life with tremendous patience and inner stability.
4. Gaja Lakshmi:  In the holy book of Srimad Bhagavata the story of the churning of the ocean by Gods and demons is explained in detail.  Author, the Sage Vyasa writes that Lakshmi came out of the ocean during the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan).  So she is known as a daughter of the ocean. She came out of the ocean sitting on a full-bloomed lotus and also having lotus flowers in both hands with two elephants by her sides, holding beautiful vessels filled with milk and pouring it over Sri Lakshmi.  Many a time we see Sri Lakshmi standing in the lotus and elephants are pouring nectar over her. During the festival of the lamps or the Deepavali along with Sri Lakshmi the Ganapati or the Elephant God also gets worshipped; that signifies the protection from evils as well as abundant grace and blessings for additional prosperities!
5. Santan Lakshmi:  In the family life, the children are the greatest treasure. Those who worship this particular form of Sri Lakshmi, known as a Santan Lakshmi, are bestowed with the grace of mother Lakshmi and have wealth in the form of desirable children with good health & long life.
6. Vijay Lakshmi:  Vijay is victory.  Vijay is to get success in all undertakings and all different facets of life. Some are strong physically but weak mentally while others are economically rich but poor in their attitude and cannot exert any influence. Vijay is to have all encompassing victory. Vijay is to rejoice glory of our real nature – Vijay is to conquer the lower nature.  Hence those, with grace of mother Vijay Lakshmi, have victory everywhere, at all time, in all conditions. Victory to Vijay Lakshmi !!
7. Dhana Lakshmi:  Dhana is wealth.  But as per Rigved’s Purush Shukta Dhana is not only a wealth in coins and currency.  Even Sun and moon, fire and stars, rains and nature, oceans and mountains, rivers and streams, all these are our wealth, so are the progeny, our inner will power, our character and our virtues. With the grace of mother Dhana Lakshmi we will get all these in abundance.
8. Vidya Lakshmi: Vidya is education. Education is not mere studies to receive the degrees and diplomas certificates from the educational institutes or universities. It is also the knowledge of scriptures and self. So we may attain the goal of life being self realisation.

 It is my sincere prayer, as we celebrate this all important month recognising the women of the world may we all also aspire to create an abode in our hearts for the Divine Mother. May prosperity through her divine grace be upon all. May women all over be respected as the Divine mother.  Jay Mata Di!!!. Happy Womens Day South Africa.

World Wide Web

|| Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

Aum Namo Narayanaya 

I trust that we have all had a wonderful weekend and really looking forward to the ensuing week with much excitement at what it may offer. What really surprises me of the week that comes is that it heralds the month of August. This really signals as they would say in aviation terms the beginning of the descent. Before we know it the festive festoons and jingles will make their way into the public arenas and we will be counting down to 2012.

Pause for a moment to recall the advent of 2011 to the current day, can we vividly with detail lay an account of what we have done or achieved in these months. If we reflect upon the resolutions we made, how many have we ticked off as completed successfully.

I am reminded of this wonderful story:Once Lord Vishnu and Narada were walking in the garden when  the Lord feels very thirsty and requests  Narada to fetch some water.

Narada goes to a nearby river to take some water. Suddenly he hears from a tribal person shouting “Please wait, don’t take that dirty water, I have pure, distilled and cool water in my house, Please come to my house and accept my most humble seva”.



Sage Narada



 Narada is pleased to get pure, distilled, cool water and therefore, goes to the  house. While offering water to Narada, it suddenly strikes to the tribal person that it is sin to offer only water, without offering any fruits to a sage; hence the tribal person requests Narada to wait for few minutes so that he will bring some fresh fruits from the forest. Narada feels happier for the hospitality of the tribal person and agrees to wait till the tribal person brings fruits from the forest.

 Within few minutes, the tribal person brings some fresh fruits from forest and offer to Narada along with pure, distilled & cool water. Narada with full happiness and contentment eats the fruits and drinks the water and expresses his gratitude to the tribal person.

 Before leaving from the tribal person’s hut, he sees the daughter of tribal person and falls in love with the daughter of the tribal person. Narada expresses his willingness to marry the tribal person’s daughter. The tribal person feels very much excited to hear that Narada is interested in marrying his daughter and immediately agrees for his proposal and performs the marriage of his daughter with Narada Muni at the very moment.

 In due course, Narada Muni is blessed with a son also. Now Narada Muni is fully engaged in his daily busy schedule for earning livelihood for self, family, son, brother-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, etc., ploughing fields, cultivating farm, etc., Narada Muni has no time to breathe, Forgot about remembering SRI HARI, who is waiting in the garden for Narada Muni to return with the water.

 One day, Narada Muni hears a big sound in river. On enquiring, he comes to know that his son has fallen in the river. After sometime, he again hears big sound and he comes to know that his wife has jumped into river to save her son and she too is drowning. Then immediately, Narada comes out of his hut and try to rescue his wife with his Tambura (Narada’s musical instrument) and finally Narada also falls in the River. When Narada is about to drown, he remembers his lord SRI HARI and starts shouting NARAYANA….NARAYANA…NARAYANA….

 On hearing the shouting NARAYANA….NARAYANA…NARAYANA….Lord Sri Hari pats on the shoulder of Narada(who is holding water in a vessel) and asks WHAT HAPPENED?

 Then Narada realized that what all happened is just a dream, but not in reality.

If we reflect on the year that past we can’t but empathize with the situation that Sage Narada found himself in .We are so caught up in the trappings of this world chasing the transient joys we totally forget and deviate from the goals we set. Life will pass us by without achieving any goals and when the reality hits us it will be too late to recover or make amends.

In a similar fashion we also have forgotten about our true journey of life which is self realization.   Caught up in this world wide web of desires and transient joy, we have forgotten the eternal joy and bliss that is within all of us. That we are Amritsya Putra( eternal children of God). That in essence we are pure bliss and that everything else is but Maya (dream), as experienced by Narada.

Let us remove ourselves from this web and begin our journey back to bliss (our original destination) is my sincere prayer. I also take this opportunity to wish our Muslim brothers and sisters a blessed Ramadaan fast.

Unconditional Surrender the key to his Grace

|| Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||



Lord Venketeswara



Aum Namo Narayanaya

As evening starts to swallow that which remains of this beautiful winter day, I cannot but set aside a little discontent at the pace with which the weekend has approached and left us. Each weekend though presents a little excitement which provides some tangible proof of its existence.

I awoke on Saturday morning with the usual respects and pranams to the Master, Swamiji and Lord Venketeswara whose beautiful pictures adorn the wall s in my room. For some particular reason this morning it seemed the Lord sported a mischievous smile. My eyes then resigned to his regally jewelled form which sprouted an intense joy in my heart. At once I broke into a mental rendition of Kasturi Thilakam Narayana(song dedicated to Narayana) as the first offering of love for the day as anything vocal would have made the neighbourhood cringe in agony at my off tone performance.

The day unfolded nicely with much of it being spent at the Shree Durga Amman Chariot Festival in Tongaat. Soon after lunch Prasad at 2pm I made my way home to take some rest. Then as one would put it, “All hell broke loose” with a bomb scare at the Shree Veeraboga Cultural Centre which was occupied by a large crowd attending a memorial service. Although I was not there at the precise moment of the scare, I was told by members of the temple that it was not a pleasant experience as panic and mayhem ruled over all as the protection services and the bomb disposal units swept the premises in search of a bomb which eventually proved to be a hoax call.

It is instinctive for us to flee from impending danger, but this incident has begged the question of why should we be consumed by such fear. This fear which has been used by terror movements throughout the world to leverage their demands is born purely out of attachment to our body and this physical existence. Has anything born into this world not suffered the fate of death?  How then do we live a life free from fear and attachment?

Sri Ramakrishna said in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna after Mahendranath commented on a discussion by Vidyasagar:”What is the use of calling on God? On one occasion Genghis Khan plundered a country and imprisoned many people. The number of prisoners exceeded 100000. The commander of his army asked your majesty who will feed them and it will be equally dangerous to free them. What shall I do? Genghis Khan ordered them to be killed. Now God saw this slaughter, didn’t he? But he didn’t stop it in any way. Therefore I don’t need God even if he exists because I don’t derive any good from him.

To this Sri Ramakrishna replied as follows: Is it possible to understand Gods actions and his motive? He creates preserves and destroys? Can we ever understand why he destroys? I say to the divine Mother I do not need to understand. Please give me love for thy lotus feet. The aim of human life is to attain bhakti. As for other things the mother knows best. I have come to the garden to eat mangoes. What is the use of my calculating the number of branches and leaves? I only eat mangoes; I don’t need to know the number of trees and leaves.

Fear can be eradicated by two things. One is knowledge and second is the company of someone.  If one has to enter a forest with the knowledge that there is no wild animals or thieves ready to plunder you, the fear to travel the forest will be diluted, in a similar manner if you were to enter the same forest infested with wild animals and thieves but in the company of a skilled archer once again the fear within is much reduced.

Let us undertake our life with the knowledge that God alone is the doer, our only goal is to attain him. Let all our concentration and focus in this life be on achieving his grace and he will take care of our material and physical needs.  I am reminded here of the Swayamvar of Arjuna (where prospected bridegrooms will part take of a challenge to win the ladies hand in marriage). During his training Arjuna’s guru sage Drona set up a wooden bird upon a tree, and from across the adjacent river, asked the princes to shoot it down by striking its eye. When prince Yudhisthira tried first, sage Drona asked him what he saw. Yudhisthira replied he saw sage Drona, his brothers, the river, the forest, the tree and the bird.  Sage Drona replied that Yudhisthira would fail and asks another prince to step forward. The others gave the same reply, and Sage Drona was disappointed with all. But when Arjuna stepped forth, he told Sage Drona that he was seeing only the eye of the bird and nothing else. When sage Drona excitedly asked him to continue, Arjuna replied that he saw only the bird's eye. Sage Drona asked him to shoot, and Arjuna did strike the bird down in the eye. 



Arjuna Shooting the fish



At the swayamvar a pole with a revolving fish was placed in the center of the hall. A vessel full of water was kept beneath it. The prospective grooms had to aim an arrow at the eye of the fish watching the reflection of the fish in the water. Using the technique of intense focus and concentration Arjuna came on stage and took the bow in his hands. He took aim and shot the arrow on the eye of the fish. Finally, Draupadi garlanded Arjuna choosing him as her husband.

In the same way if we focus our energy and concentration on God alone as the target and attain him then all the pleasures and necessities of life will automatically garland us.

In these times that we live in, where acts of terror are as common as the setting sun, we need not hunt down the terrorists as more and more of them will emerge, we must neutralize the treat by removing the fear from within us, by making God our only goal by surrendering unconditionally at his feet whilst soliciting his divine grace and company through bhakti (devotion). When there is no fear, there is no leverage.

May God himself be our eternal protector is my sincere prayer.

A disciple the intrepid traveller

|| Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||                                                      

Dear Readers                                                                                     



My Revered Guru
Most Revered Swami Atmasthanandaji
Maharaj- President of Ramakrishna Mission
and Math



Aum  Namo Narayanaya to Master, Holy Mother, Swamiji and each and every one of you , I salute and greet you with humility on this wonderful and auspicious Guru Poorinima day. Even on my most inspired day I could never have crafted such a perfect morning as today. I awoke with great excitement to spend the morning in Pooja and then breakfast with revered Swami Vimokshananda. Having arrived at the ashram I was most honoured to have prostrated before the Master, Holy Mother, my dear Swami Vivekanada and Swami Vimokshananda which pretty much set the mood and tone for the ensuing pooja to Master.

Revered Swami Saradaprabhanandaji joined us, and we all sat for an enlightening breakfast which was populated with stimulating discussions on the divine mother. Having reached home a few hours ago my thoughts have already warped towards the evening’s satsang in anticipation of the melodious bhajans and discourse by Maharaj.

I place myself now in the times of the great discoverers of the world, the likes of Christopher Coloumbus and Vasco da Gama who with immense trepidation but purpose embarked on voyages of discovery which gave much impetus to charting and mapping the world as we know it. In this process many a life was lost, whilst facing innumerable challenges. It is through the immense sacrifices and tribulations of these brave souls that we are able to navigate the vast oceans with relative ease and confidence today.

When we are born in this world, we are totally devoid of past life memories and knowledge of the future. We are like a porous sponges waiting in anticipation to absorb and learn. Our parents and immediate surroundings provide the basis and foundation for our first learning. We then begin a journey on this vast ocean of life coming in contact with various teachers(gurus) who give instruction and guidance through their life experiences so that we may not have to undergo our life with many of the mistakes they did making our journey that much easier.

If engaging with this tangible and palpable world proves so difficult to understand can you imagine trying to understand the spiritual world which is beyond our senses and perception. Without a doubt in mind we need the assistance of one who travelled and experienced this realm. It is trough his experience alone we shall learn. He shall be our remover of ignorance or darkness (gu=darkness or ignorance, ru = remover). He is the knower of truth. He like Columbus and Da Gama has found through his intense sadhanas and practices the best and practical methods for your journey across this ocean of life. When one finds a guru who has descended from an authentic parampara or lineage to the great sage Veda Vyasa (the writer of the Vedas) then he becomes an intrepid traveller of life. He has the grace, protection, love, compassion and sage counsel of his guru. Fear, weakness, restlessness, lethargy and aimless wandering are unknown to a disciple.

Today I want to pay my sincere respect with palms folded and head bowed to my guru , most Revered President Maharaj of the Ramakrishna Mission and Math Sri Swami Atmasthanandaji for his grace, protection and inspiration.

The grace of the Master flows through all initiated monks of the order and we are indeed blessed in Durban to have revered Swami Vimokshanandaji Maharaj and Swami Saradaprabhanandaji Maharaj. I make my respectful and sincere pranams to them .



Revered Swami Vimokshanandaji Maharaj
President Ramakrishna Centre SA



Revered Swami Saradaprabhananda Maharaj
Vice President Ramakrishna Centre SA





                                    

On this auspicsious Guru Poorinima day I pray that the grace of your Guru descend upon you and that you attain enlightenment and eternal peace. This is my sincere prayer.

Akhand-Mandalakaram vyaptam yena characharam.

Tatpadam darshitam yena tasmai Shri Gurave Namah.

aum shanti, shanti, shanti

 My Salutations to that Guru who revealed to me that Truth, which is unfragmented, infinite, timeless divinity, and which pervades the entire universe – movable or unmovable.

Simple Living Higher Thinking



Mother Mariammen



||Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

Dear readers ,                                       

Aum Namo Narayanaya to all of you. I greet you with love, humility, respect and warmth during these icy cold days we are experiencing. The approaching week brings with it two important events on the religious calendar. On Friday we will see many spiritual aspirants pay homage and reverence to their gurus and on Sunday is the commencement of the Mariammen prayer which will continue for the entire month of Adi.

I think I should write about the Mariammen prayer this week and concentrate on the Guru pooja next week.  In actual fact the preparations for the Mariammen prayer will commence as early as tomorrow when the porridge meal will be soaked to ferment.

Growing up in South Africa has exposed us to unique adaptations of various practices from India. One should not be totally surprised on a visit to India if no similarity exists in some of the prayers and rituals we undertake here in South Africa.

Porridge prayer as it is most commonly referred to by locals has become a must attend event in the diary of our communities, this proven by the thousands who descend on the temples to partake in the prayer and porridge prepared and offered to the mother.

But in some instances we see a deviation from the norm, where elaborate meal preparations are made and huge gatherings of family and friends arrive at the home. On one hand this creates a wonderful opportunity for family and friends to socialise but upon arriving home on reflection one will find that nothing except a full stomach and time with friends and family has been derived from that outing. In a way as South Africans we have managed to transform our festivals pregnant profound meaning into feasts.

The word Mari in tamil means rain, which immediately conjures the thoughts of preservation in me. When a seed emerges from the ground it is in immediate need of water in the form rain in order to sustain its growth and life.  In the Devi Mahatmayam the divine mother is described in the powerful words as sristhi , sthithi and vinashanam.  That is as the creative, preservative and dissolution power of the universe.

It is no wonder then that the Mother as Mariamma is worshipped in many rural farming villages for blessings in preserving life. South Africa has also not escaped her grace as many farming towns on the sugar belt are installed with her murthi.

She is also revered and worshipped for her ability to cure measles, small pox and fever with her concoction of syringa leaves and turmeric powder.  To this day many make their way to the mother to assist them in curing many body ailments by offering small silver replicas of their anatomy to her. Many would come forward boldly to attest to her divine grace in curing them.

The Mariammen Prayer in its absolute forms goes on to teach us a beautiful mantra for success in life both physical and spiritual. Always practice simple living and higher thinking. There are various maladies in our society which is a direct result of us breaching the code of simplicity and seeking that which that does not augment or add any value to our inner growth. The mother shows in her methods that the cure to our maladies is to return to the simple basics as shown through her use of turmeric and syringa(Simple ingredients from nature) . The higher thinking evolves from the use of very important tool known as viveka or discrimination. The ability to do things to protect and keep our physical bodies healthy, the ability to discriminate on the thoughts we process to keep our minds pure and our hearts pure with the actions we perform like sharing as seen with the distribution of the porridge with all.

Shri Krishna said in the Bhagavad gita, offer to me with love a leaf,a fruit or a glass of water and I shall accept, which further encourages the point that simplicity in all our actions is what is needed. Always discriminate against thoughts and actions that make us selfish, which will intern help us to expand our hearts and create space for love and devotion. Like the rain which showers the crops of the poor and rich, the sick and healthy equally.  Shri Ramakrishna said, the grace of god is incessantly flowing it’s just up to us to adjust our sails.

By practicing this mantra of simple living higher thinking, peace,calm,love and devotion will descend on you.  May the grace of Mother Mariammen be with you is my sincere prayer.

AUM SHAKTI