THE LAW OF KARMA: Runanubandha, R'ships, Astrology

THE LAW OF KARMA: RUNANUBANDHA, PARENT/CHILD R'SHIP, MARRIAGE, ASTROLOGY

As I grew up I started wondering about the purpose of life. Life brought with its myriad experiences, the inevitable experience of suffering too. Why do we suffer? Why are we born? Such questions plagued my mind for a long time. The sacred books and the wise men gave me a glimpse of the theory of karma and transmigration of the soul. It seemed very logical, yet I could not accept it fully till I started studying Jyotisha or Hindu Astrology. It took me years of hard work, some experience and sincere thinking to appreciate the subtleties. When I started seeing the patterns in the horoscope manifesting in actual life, I had to accept the theory of Karma. Slowly it was no more a belief, but a truth.
Karma means not only action, but also the result of an action. Whatever we are going through at the moment is the result of previous actions, not just of this life, but many lives. In short Karma is the sum total of our actions both in this life and in the preceding ones. Nothing happens by accident or chance actions. Everything happens in regular order, the past, present and the future being interconnected and interdependent. Cause is Effect concealed, and Effect is Cause revealed!

Now that brings us to the question of rebirth. Books written by Ian Stevenson, Hiroshi Motoyama, Raymond Moody and many other interesting cases suggest that there is compelling evidence for rebirth. Every good astrologer himself is proof of Karma and rebirth!

Let us examine the theory of Karma and rebirth according to Sanatana Dharma . You will not cease to exist after death. It is the physical body that dies. The astral body ( sukshma or linga sarira ) and causal body ( karana sarira) continue forth. The causal body has all your Karmas stored in it as seeds, seeds that result in rebirth. As long as man has not exhausted all his Karmas , he has to be born again. All our actions and thoughts become the seeds for our future lives. Karma is at the root of this cycle of births and deaths. Again and again Karma makes us take birth. Countless times have we been born and countless times have we died. Very many wombs have we passed through. This is the Hindu view. The Buddhist view is different in its approach to reincarnation and the self though it shares a lot with the Hindu view as far as Karma is concerned.

Rnanubandha

In each life, we have mother, father, brothers, sisters, spouse, children and so on. We are born in a family as a result of undischarged debts of past lives. Constantly we are creating accounts, debiting and crediting. We are creating Karmic debts with all those with whom we interact. The Karmic debts ( rna ) lead to bondage or attachment ( bandha ). These Karmic attachments pull us into the wheel of existence again and again.Rnanubandha (the bond that results from Karmic debts) is at the root of repeated lives.

Karma leads to rna and rna leads to Karma . It works both ways. If you have given something to somebody in some life, the memory is stored in your causal body. That person will be your debtor in this birth. If you have taken in the past, it will be taken from you in some birth. If you have given in the past it will come back to you later. The causal body stores the memory of all of one's rnanubandhas of countless births. Till all the karma stored in the causal body is burnt away or exhausted, there is no liberation from rebirth. Human life is nothing but a memory of rnanubandha , the story of the countless karmas that we make, and live through. Every relationship reflects some rnanubandha . The people with whom we have very strong rnanubandha become our parents, spouse, children and co-borns in this life. In most relationships it is our rna that ensures a complementary fit, just like a lock and key.

The citta (unconscious mind) holds these emotional memories or subliminal impressions that drive one to act or seek. They are more like vague impressions rather than clear memories. The memory of Karmic debts may be sweet or bitter. Sweet memories of karmic debts lead to a 'happy' relationship and bitter memories to an 'unhappy' relationship. In reality most of the karmic debts are mixed, a mixture of sweet and bitter memories. That is why most relationships are of a mixed nature. I will try to explain briefly two kinds of relationships that are most significant: parent/child and love/marriage relationships.

Parent /Child Relationship

This relationship is the most important. This is the easiest way to discharge our karmic debts toward one another. Some possible ways in which it works:
• A person whom you have helped in some life is born as a child, takes good care of you in the present life and discharges his/her debt.
• A person to whom you owe a lot in some life may be born as your son or daughter and take back what you owe. Such a child makes you spend heavily on her/him.
• A person whom you cheated ruthlessly in a previous life is born as your child and gives you a lot of suffering, takes your money and goes away.
• An enemy of some life is born as a son/daughter in this life, in which case, he/she behaves like an enemy, hates you and causes a lot of suffering to you. The spouse, the parents, siblings, friends, servants, all are born in a particular place-time together as a result of rnanubandha .

Romantic Relationships/Marriage

Two people can be mutually attracted to one another only if there was some relationship between them in some previous life. When you meet a person to whom you were related in a previous life, the stored impressions/memories or rnanubandha stir up your emotions and you may start "feeling" for the person. Every longstanding relationship leads to certain deep impressions. Any act when done repeatedly can become a habit. Every habit leaves an impression. These impressions are the samskaras that are more like an inclination. The very strong ones are the vasanas , which compel us to act or seek again. But if we have no more debt ( rna ) with the other person, it just remains a fleeting thought, an inclination or an impulse only.

Sometimes even though the karmic debt is discharged, the old samskaras (the subliminal impressions of past acts) can generate an irresistible inner urge to enter into a relationship. We eventually end up creating a fresh account, a further karmic debt that is not advisable. But if there is undischarged karmic debt, it results in a relationship naturally. When the karmic accounts are settled, once there is no more debt, the relationship ends. But if the rnanubandha is very strong, it results in a long-standing relationship like marriage.

This is the cause of every relationship, how it is born and how it ends. But nothing is permanent. No karmic debt can be everlasting. Eventually it has to end when the debt is discharged, when the account is balanced. In this impermanent world change is the law of life. Countless wombs have we passed through. Innumerable mothers, fathers, spouses and children have we been with. It is hard to interact with another being who has not been a parent, brother, sister, spouse, child, friend or associate in some other life. But when a karmic debt is over, the attachment might still be there. We still cling on. When rna (debt) is over, the relationship has to end, butanubandha (emotional bondage or emotional attachment) might still make us cling to the person. Like the fan that turns for a while even after the power supply has been switched off, the attachment doesn't die for some time. Once the rna is over, nothing can sustain the relationship. Hence any further remnants of emotional attachment (anubandha ) are bound to produce only suffering and misery.

In some cases, one of the two people involved grows out of the relationship once the rna (debt) is discharged. But the other refuses to move on, due to emotional attachment ( anubandha ). The second person suffers tremendously because any further attachment leads to misery and suffering only. Sometimes there is bitterness also after separation. This bitterness can sow the seeds for future karma ! When the karmic debts are over, when a couple has to part ways, as far as possible, it should be done with the least negative feelings. They should part in an amicable way to avoid further seeds of new karma . Easier said than done.

The karma that brings two people together into marriage can also be of many types. I will mention a few below:

• Bitter enemies can be born as husband and wife and always fight, criticize, deceive one another, block the other's progress and make each others' lives miserable.
• Two people who have created negative karma between them come back as man and wife and lead a life of suffering together, fighting with one another.
• Two people who have created both positive and negative karma between them come back as man and wife and have a mixed life causing both happiness and unhappiness to one another.
• Two people who have created positive karma between them in previous lives come back as man and wife and lead a relatively happy life helping and supporting each other.
• One who has taken a lot in some life has to give in the present life. In such a case, one of them will always be giving (money, love, care, etc.) and the other receiving.
• Two souls who are evolving spiritually come as husband and wife, help each other in their evolution and benefit one another. This is the purpose of marriage.
• A couple who has been husband and wife may come back as husband and wife again if their rnanubandha is very strong. If the rnanubandha is very strong and their destinies (lives) are so strongly interlinked, usually both die almost at the same time. If one dies first, generally the other also dies within a few hours or days or weeks. The souls are so strongly identified with one another that towards the end of a successful married life, they behave as if they are one.
• Sometimes (rarely) a very highly evolved being or soul, or spirit or even an avatar (an incarnation of a deity) is born as two people to accomplish a mission. After the accomplishment of the mission, they merge back into one. Though very rare, such a divine couple can take birth at times. Such a high soul may be born as two separate individuals as husband and wife, brothers, guru and disciple, etc.

Thus the anubandha (emotional bond) between husband and wife or between any two people can take many forms. The patterns of rna and karma are myriad, exceedingly intricate and perplexing. It is because ofrnanubanda that you are a child to your parents, spouse to your spouse and parent to your child. A broader understanding of the concept of 'rna' at a cosmic level unravels the interdependence of all life. Whosoever or whatsoever comes to you, comes because of some rna. So a wise person treats every living being with kindness. As a famous Indian saint remarked, "Without rnanubandha no creature comes to you. God will be certainly pleased if you give water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry and clothes to the naked. Be kind and considerate to all creatures. "

More on Rna in another chapter. Let us now return back to Karma . As already stated the patterns of karma are myriad, exceedingly intricate and perplexing. It is very difficult to understand because karma is an eternal mystery that defies all description. Yet we can try to understand what little we could with the guiding 'light' of spiritual wisdom.

Kinds of Karma

i. Sanchita Karma or Total Accumulated Karma

This is the vast store of accumulated Karmas of all past lives (as a human being only). In other words this is the reserve of karma that one has accumulated over many lifetimes but which is not specifically active in this lifetime.Sanchita Karma may be indirectly seen in a man as his character, his tendencies, aptitudes, inclinations and desires. These inclinations are referred to as Samskaras which are akin to the 'unconscious mind' in psychoanalysis. The stronger samskaras that are very compelling are referred to as the vasanas .

• Prarabdha or Fructifying Karma

It would be impossible as well as overwhelming to encounter all the results of past thoughts, actions and karmic entanglements in one lifetime. Hence only a portion of our past karma can be dealt with in one lifetime. All ofSanchita karma will not be experienced at one time. Only that portion which has 'become ripe' for experiencing in this life time is Prarabdha . That portion of our active Karmas allocated to us in this life, is called Prarabdha karma . Thus Prarabdha is considered fate or destiny and is active karma which must be met in the present lifetime. This basic destiny pattern is considered to be unalterable. It is the fruit of our past actions that are being reaped in this life. The natal horoscope reveals Prarabdha only. Anyone who is familiar with the accuracy and insights provided by astrology cannot deny that the natal birth chart reveals the fundamental pattern of life at least in symbolic language.

• Kriyaman or Current Karma

This is the fresh karma that we do in this life. It is the karma we are now making in this very lifetime. This is the area that man has freedom to determine the course of action. This determines our future lives. This is where the concept of free will comes. The horary chart reflects both the active prarabdha brought forth from past karmas as well as the kriyaman karma of this life. In other words the prasna (horary) chart is the latest karmic bank statement with regard to the query!

• Agami Karma or Future Karma or Potential Karma

The karma that is coming, in other words, new actions that you contemplate as a result of your thoughts, the way you envision the future, is Agami Karma . Today's plans when executed could become a reality one day.Agami is the power of intent. Planning is Agami while execution is Kriyaman . Thus Agami (intent and planning) leads to Kriyaman (freshly executed actions of the present) which becomes Sanchita (accumulated) to later surface as Prarabdha (destiny).

Thus Sanchita karma manifests in two ways - firstly, as Prarabdha or the so called destiny, and secondly, as theSamskaras or character or unconscious tendencies.

Jyotisha or Astrology

It sheds light on life by revealing our karmic patterns. When a soul is born into a family, it is because of the karmic debts with the others in that family. When everything fits synchronously, the situations and the persons fit into the karmic patterns and the soul takes birth. In other words the individual karmic pattern selected for this life has to fit in or correspond to the group (whole) karmic patterns of the family, society, etc. This happens not just by chance, but in accordance with the cosmic order of synchronicity.

What relation does the horoscope have to destiny? Do planets dictate our lives? These are often asked questions . The planets do not control our lives. They reflect the cosmic patterns . The universe works in certain natural cyclic patterns. Both the macrocosm and microcosm operate in a similar way. The planets revolve around the sun. The electrons revolve around the nucleus in the atom. 'As above so below'. This is the fundamental law.A man is born at the time when his individual karmic pattern (prarabdha) matches that of the macrocosm, which is the planetary and stellar pattern. What is happening at a macrocosmic level is also happening at a microcosmic level. By this cosmic law of synchronicity, the karmic pattern matches with the planetary pattern. In other words the time of birth is Prarabdha (destiny)!

By studying the patterns created by the stellar bodies, we can infer the karmic patterns of the individual, because both are co-extensive. The horoscope thus reveals the Prarabdha karma of an individual. The orders of Synchronicity and Karma are the rationale behind why the indications of the natal horoscope work reasonably well. Yet the order of Synchronicity is a deeper and intriguing phenomenon, one that goes beyond the Causal mechanics of Karma . Synchronicity is 'a-causal' or 'non-causal'. Synchronicity has been dealt with in a separate chapter in this book. Let us return back to Karma , the Law of Cause and Effect now.

An intelligent astrologer can analyse to a reasonable extent, the Prarabdha with which a person is born, and based on that, the situations in which the individual may be placed in life at different times. One's prakrti , character, mental make-up and the situations in life are all Prarabdha indicated by the horoscope through the patterns revealed. Hence study of Jyotisha or astrology can shed light on the unknown aspects of life and is very illuminating. Astrology is light on life.

Astrology can guide us in our lives by giving hope; by correcting us and most importantly it can be a Sadhana(spiritual practice) by itself when done unselfishly. To the spiritual person, it gives proof of karma , rebirth and the goal of life. Used wisely astrology can guide us and help us in our spiritual ascent. Areas like daiva cikitsa(spiritual healing), muhurta (electional astrology) and even jataka (predictive astrology) can be of immense help in our day to day lives. Herein lies the usefulness of astrology.

Limitations of Astrology

Astrology has its limitations too. An astrologer cannot literally see every thing. He has access to limited information. First only the Prarabdha is revealed through a horoscope, that too in a veiled manner. Even a very learned astrologer has access only to the 'patterns'. He does not 'see' the story written there. He has to analyse the patterns and infer what it could possibly mean. Often the astrologer ( jyotishi ) comes to crossroads, where two or more interpretations seem equally possible. Each could manifest in many ways. Only the general or specific trend may be understood. But never 'exactly' as it would manifest. The actual event itself may manifest in a manner totally unanticipated by the astrologer. One only needs a little intellectual honesty and some astrological experience to appreciate this.

Often the astrologer may misjudge or even be working on wrong information (like wrong birth time)! Even if the astrologer is running a favourable planetary period ( dasa ) himself a interprets it correctly, he should remember that he has access only to the individual's Prarabdha . He is in the dark where a vital area like Kriyaman Karma is concerned. This is the invisible area, where one can make or mar one's destiny. Some of the effects of Kriyaman karma manifest in the future lives while some may manifest in this very lifetime. An astrologer can never know exactly as regards the client's spiritual merit, which could be rapidly declining or growing. Though the predictions can often be uncannily accurate, no astrologer can be hundred percent correct always and therefore should be humble enough in his approach to the divine knowledge of astrology. Nothing teaches more humility as the true practice of astrology does. In spite of these limitations, an honest astrologer can still guide us to a reasonable extent.

Finally it should be remembered that Astrology is only a language, albeit a very fine, symbolic and natural language. In our attempt to understand the world around us, there are a few languages that we create/learn. Astrology is one such language, a language of Nature. And Nature can never be unraveled in full, by us mortals. There will be a part that will always remain an enigma. -- Dr. Satya Prakash Choudhary

The RAASLEELA ~ The Dance of Celebration

To understand raasleela, the dance of celebration, what is first
necessary to know is that the whole of life is a meeting of
contradictory forces, and that all its happiness comes from this union
of the opposites. The very mystery and ecstasy of life lies hidden in
this unio mystica.
To begin with, it is good to understand the metaphysical meaning of
the celebration that our universe is. And then, together, we will go
into the life of Krishna, a complete miniature of this celebrating
universe. Raise your sights and look at whatever is happening all
around in this vast universe of ours.Is it anything other than a
dance, a celebration, an abounding carnival of joy?
It is all celebration, whether it is clouds gliding in the heavens or
rivers rushing to the seas or seeds on their way to becoming flowers
and fruit, or bees humming or birds on the wing or love affairs
between men and women. It is all a panorama of play and dance and
celebration. Raas has a universal meaning; it has a cosmic connotation
and significance.
Firstly, the meeting of opposite energies is the cornerstone of all
creation, of the universe. the whole play of creation, at every level
of life, begins when energy becomes divided into two opposite parts.
This division of energy is at the root of all creation, of all life in
the universe, and with the cessation of this division all life's play
comes to a full stop. When the same energy becomes one, when it
returns to its primordial state, total destruction, the ending of the
universe happens. And when the same energy again divides itself into
two, creation begins anew. Raas, the dance of celebration, is the most
profound attribute of the mighty stream of creation. And creation in
itself is the interplay of polar opposites -- thesis and antithesis.
When opposites collide with each other it results in conflict,
hostility and war, and when they embrace each other there is love and
friendship.
Without the meeting of the two, creation is impossible. So we have
to go into the significance of Krishna's raas in this context. It is
not all that we see when Krishna dances with the gopis, the milkmaids,
but we can see only that much with our gross eyes. Krishna's raas with
the milkmaids of his village is not an ordinary dance, on a small
scale it
really represents the universal dance of creation that, since
eternity, goes on and on. It epitomises the everlasting drama of the
making and unmaking of the universe. It gives you a glimpse of that
divine dance and universe. It gives you a glimpse of that divine dance
and that immense orchestra. It is for this reason that Krishna's
maharaas ceases to have a sexual connotation. Not that it prohibits
any sexual interpretation, but for certain sex has been left far
behind. In reality Krishna does not dance as a mere Krishna, he
represents her, the whole of the male element in creation, known in
Sanskrit as purusha. And similarly the gopis represent the entire
female element, prakriti. The maharaas represents the combined dance
of prakriti and purusha. People who take the maharaas as a sexual
representation of life are mistaken; they really don't understand it.
And I am afraid they will never understand it. To put it rightly, it
is a dance of the meeting of the male and female energies, of purusha
and prakriti. It has nothing to do with any individual
man and woman; it represents the mighty cosmic dance. It is because
of this that a single Krishna dances with any number of gopis.
Ordinarily it is not possible for a single man to dance with many
women at a time.
Ordinarily no man can be in love with many women together, but
Krishna does it, and does it beautifully. It is amazing that every
milkmaid, every gopi taking part in the maharaas, believes that
Krishna is dancing with her, that he is hers. It seems Krishna has
turned into a thousand Krishnas so that he pairs off with each of the
thousand women present there. It is utterly wrong to take the
maharaas, the celebration dance of Krishna, as that of an individual person. Krishna is not a person here; he represents the great male energy,Purusha.
The maharaas is a representation in dance of the great meeting between
male and female energies. But the question is: Why is only dance
chosen as a medium for this representation? As I said this morning,
the medium of dance comes nearest to the mysterious, to the non-dual,
and to celebration. Nothing can express it better than dance. Let us
look at it in another way. Dance is the most primitive form of human
language, because when man had not yet learned to speak, he spoke
through gestures. If one man had to communicate with another, he made
gestures with his face, his eyes, his hands and feet. Even today a
dumb person only expresses self through gestures. Verbal language came
much later. Birds don't know a language, but they know how to chirp
and dance together. Gestures make up the whole language of nature. It
is used and understood all over. So there is a reason why dance came
to centre stage for the raas, the celebration. Gesture is the most
profound medium of expression because it touches the deepest parts of
man's mind and heart. Dance reaches where words fail. The sound of the
ankle bells of a dancer says a lot even where speech is ineffective.
Dance is more articulate than anything else. A dancer can go from one
end of the earth to another and will, more or less, make himself
understood through his dance. No language will be needed to understand
and appreciate him. No particular level of civilisation and culture
will be required to understand a dance. Dance is a kind of universal
language; it is understood everywhere on this planet. Wherever a
dancer goes he will be understood. Man's collective unconscious is
well aware of this language.
To me, the great raas happening in infinite space, with millions of
stars like the sun and moon dancing rhythmically, is not an ordinary
dance. It is not meant for entertainment; it is not show business. In
a sense it should be described as overflowing bliss. There is such an
abundance of bliss in the heart of existence that it is flowing,
overflowing. That is what we call the river of existence. The presence
of the polar opposites in the universe facilitates its flow.

Although Krishna and his girlfriends are no more with us as people,
the moon and the stars under which they danced together are still with
us, and so are the trees and the hills and the earth and the skies
that were once so drunk with the bliss of the raas. So, although
millennia have passed, the vibes of the maharaas are still with us. No
scientists have come forward with a strange Theory. They say although
people come and go, the subtle vibes of their lives and their living
remain suffused in existence forever. If someone goes to dance on the
grounds where Krishna once danced with his gopis, he can hear the
echoes of the maharaas even today. If someone can play a flute near
the hills that in the past echoed with the music of Krishna's flute,
he can hear those hills still echoing it,everlastingly. In my view,
the raas symbolises the overflowing, outpouring of the primeval energy
as it is divided between man and woman. And if we accept this
definition, the raas is as relevant today as it was in the times of
Krishna. Then it is everlastingly relevant ~ OSHO

AURA

Everyone has an aura, but ordinarily your auras are nothing but shadows with no light in them -- just dark shadows around you. And those auras reflect your every mood. When you are angry, then your auras become as if blood-filled; they become filled with a red, angry expression. When you are sad, dim, down, then your auras are filled with dark threads, as if you are just near death -- everything dead, heavy.

When this spinal column thread is realized, your auras become enlightened. So a Buddha, a Mahavir, a Krishna, a Christ are not painted with auras just as decorations, those auras exist. Your spinal column begins to throw out light. Within, you become enlightened -- your whole body becomes a body of light -- then it penetrates the outer. So really, for a buddha, for anyone who is enlightened, there is no need to ask anyone what he is. The aura shows everything. And when someone becomes enlightened the master knows it, because the aura reveals everything ~ Osho

Three types of Space.

Three types of Space.

One is the external space, in which all the five elements, four elements are there. Then there is the second type of space that is inner space, where thoughts come and emotions come. That’s inner space. When you close your eyes what do you? That is inner space. And then there is the third space. That is the space of energy where there is no thought, no emotion but you just feel energy. In deep meditation you experience that, isn’t it? Or after kriya you experience that space, there are no thoughts, nothing but space. The three types of space exist. One is called the Bhut Akash the outer space, second is Chit Akash the space where thoughts and emotions all these come and third, Chid Akash space of consciousness. Consciousness itself is another space deep within us. Three type of spaces.

So we seldom understand; pay attention to these three different spaces. Whenever you are frustrated what do you say? ‘Give me some space.’ That is it, ‘I want my space. I want to be by myself.’ It’s very important. All inventions come from these three types of space. In the Chid Akash, in the consciousness it’s already there. All knowledge there comes to Chit Akash through thoughts and emotions. Songs come as emotions, science comes as thoughts and ideas and then they get manifest in the outer. Meditation is recognizing these three spaces. So that’s why sometimes you sit and watch the vast space, put your attention there so the mind also becomes blank. For how many of you it has happened? On a nice day cloudless sky, when there are no clouds at just bright stars are there. Just lie down and just keep gazing at the sky. When you gaze at the sky what happens? That space gets created inside too. A sort of emptiness and you get into a meditative state. So, all the thoughts, ideas, everything we do remains in this space. Maybe in the future sometime someone will come with the device to try to tap the Akashic record. You can find out what happened in 2010, 2011. What knowledge came, where and who was thinking what all that can be recorded sometime in the future because time has inscription of all ideas.

See, in a cell phone you send a message, how does it go and reach another cell phone? So far away and exactly the same words and the same font get printed there. From the time you press the button here to send, it reaching there, how did it travel? In the space! So the space in which all your telephonic conversations travel, all the messages travel was recognized some thousands of years ago.

So the nature of space is knowledge and sound. ‘Shabda gunaka mahakaasha’, a Sanskrit saying; nature of light is sight, sight is connected with light; sound is connected with space, taste is connected with water and touch is connected with air. You know when you have to feel the touch air has to be present. Inside water you do not feel the touch, have you noticed it? It’s different. Inside water you can’t feel it soft or hard, you can’t feel it. Rather whatever is the temperature of the water you can feel. Touch is related to the air element, and sound is related to space. So in the space everything is there. Like objects you’re thinking is there in the space. Sometimes you go to a place and you get thoughts and you wonder, ‘oh why did I get these types of thoughts’, do you see what I am saying?

Knowledge of DEATH

Knowledge of DEATH

Nature has provided a tiny glimpse of death to you in your everyday life: your sleep. Death is akin to your sleep. When you’re awake you’re engaged in various activities, and the moment you hit the bed, what happens to you? Where do you go?

However the day has been, pleasant or unpleasant, sleep provides you deep rest. Sleep just takes you in its arms and comforts you and makes you fresh to worry again next day! Sleep heals you, comforts you, and enriches your waking state of consciousness. If you don’t sleep, even your wakefulness will be dull and really not awake.

Sleep and wakefulness appear to be contradictory, opposite poles. They complement. Good sleep makes you more awake and alert. Isn’t it? If you observe your sleep you will know a lot about your death. We sleep every night, but we have never met our sleep. Have you noticed the last thought in your mind just before falling asleep is the same as the first thought you get as soon as you wake up? The same happens. Death is a long sleep. You drop one body and get into another body.

Death is a friend of life, which doesn’t mean you should commit suicide! So many people commit suicide thinking they would get rid of the anguish, agitation, agony, but they will be born with the same thing next time. Suicide is not death. Deep desire to live makes you commit suicide. When life is just a game and you have lived life, then you embrace death naturally when it comes. It is the fear of death that dampens life, and fear is there because we don’t know what it is.

Sleep, meditation and love are synonymous to death. You see Christ on the cross. That indicates love-death-pain are together.

Death means what? Dropping the past. Die every moment, and you’re born every moment. Just like sleep, in meditation, there’s deep comfort. And you realise that everything in this universe is changing; everything is dying.

Tell me one thing that is not dying — plants, animals, human beings... everything dies — and everything is renewed. Millions have walked on this planet, stood up perpendicular on this planet, sat down perpendicular, and then became horizontal underneath!

Just wake up and see, what is the fear? You know, some people are afraid to go to bed. The fear is that you think you may not wake up. Lack of understanding of life causes fear. People are afraid of love, people are afraid of meditation, people are afraid of death, people are afraid of themselves. Ignorance, lack of awareness is the cause of fear. Just a glimpse of the being, of the self that you are — that you are beyond death — roots out the fear totally.

That’s what happens to people who clinically die for a few moments, and when they are revived they know it’s nothing to be afraid of. You simply know you are much more than your body. The self is beyond death. As I was saying the last thought in our mind before falling asleep will be the first thought, so also will be the last impression in our mind will come to us in the next life as the first impression.

You would see in a house, in one family, children are born — same genes — but they are very different. Even twins are different. This is because though they have a lot of similarities — physical, mental, emotional — there is something different that comes from the previous impressions.

Law of Thermodynamics says ‘energy can neither be created nor destroyed’. Our mind is energy and energy cannot be destroyed. What happens to this mind when it leaves the body? It capsules itself in the impressions like an invisible balloon... and remains for a time when it again gets another body to come back. There is a saying in India that it doesn’t matter how your life has been but the last thought is very important.

Knowledge of death makes you immortal. It’s wrong to even say ‘it makes you immortal’. It makes you aware that you are immortal anyway. Do you see the difference? You are already immortal.

Something in you never dies. You might have noticed that when you turn around and look at people you feel, ‘‘oh, they’re all grown up’’ and you feel you have not aged. But we fail to notice that something in us is not changing or aging. Just stand by the beach all by yourself and ask yourself: ‘have I aged? have I changed? Or is there something in me that is the same from my beginning?’.

Truth in the void
When someone dies a vacuum is created suddenly, and being totally with that vacuum you know that you also are that vacuum. What are you? What is your life? It’s total void. Not just death is void, life is also void. That is Nirvana. Buddha said that life is void and void is truth. He said the forms are illusive and they have no existence. The formless is the only existence — the formless governs the form.

Your mind has no form. Does your mind have any form and shape, any colour, any taste? Have you tasted someone’s mind? Mind is beyond taste, sight, any of these five senses. Mind is formless, and is it not the mind which is ruling your body? For example, what is moving the cars... the body or the mind? The mind. If the mind is not in the body, body alone cannot do anything. The body without the mind is horizontal under the ground!

The formless is ruling your life. The formless is ruling the world. And there is a greater formlessness that is ruling the entire creation. And you are the center of that greater formlessness whatever you call it, God, consciousness, no mind, Nirvana, spirit, anything you call it by name.

Death creates a void. In ancient days people were asked to go and sit in the burial grounds and meditate. You know why? Because that gives you dispassion... your mind doesn’t wander here and there. Meditation is similar to this experience of void. In meditation you realise that you are not just the body, but you are more than the body. That annihilates the fear of death. Attending to the breath, a lot of secrets about your life will be revealed.

Knowledge of death will improve the quality of your life. Knowledge of your breath will do the same — make you so stable, so strong. That is called ‘immortal life’. Your memory becomes so sharp that you know all that has happened thousands of years ago, and will get intuitive thoughts about the future. All that we did in our life will just come to us like a flash the last moment. If you keep doing something that is life supporting, the same impressions will carry on. That is why all the human values — friendliness, compassion — is given great importance because they are investments for the future.

Why are some people born in a very violent environment and others in a comfortable environment? It just indicates the impressions one carries on from the past. That is why the human body is so precious because in this body you have the ability to erase all the unwanted negative impressions.

The last impression or the strongest impression in the mind (and you don’t know when the last moment comes). When the last moment comes, you cannot have a new impression. Whatever is the oldest and strongest will pop in when the last moment comes, so don’t wait for the last moment.

There is this practice when someone dies or someone is dying — it’s in all religions — one sits and prays to send some good vibrations, thoughts. There is some truth to it. When you meditate or pray, when you are in that space of vastness, calmness and love, you emit certain vibrations and these vibrations transcends physical reality and reach the subtle levels of existence.
Prayer means not just sitting and saying so many words, but being in that serene, calm space, meditative state. So, when you meditate it sends out such a peaceful radiation, waves of light, and then those who left their body, who have reached the other shore, benefit from that.

~ Sri Sri

10 Ways to Raise your Consciousness

10 Ways to Raise your Consciousness

1.Forgive yourself and others:
Life is too short to hold on to regrets, grudges, miscommunications, or disappointments. Free yourself by forgiving and letting go of any negative energy you’re holding on to about yourself or others. The process of forgiving yourself and others will result in your feeling light and free; it will raise your vibration.

2. Practice gratitude and appreciation:
Whatever you focus on grows. So, when you focus on every thing in your life you feel grateful for all and the wonderful people you appreciate, the universe hands you more to feel grateful about.

3. Live each day as though it were your last:
Then you will be living in a state of light, love and unconditional
contribution. What would you say to the people you care about ..

4.Meditate or pray:
You open up a direct link between yourself and the spiritual realm when you meditate or pray. You will come closer to your creator energy, raise your vibration experience, peace, clarity, joy and connection, as well as a perfectly balanced state between your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual realms.

5.Suspend judgment:
One judges another to feel less guilty about one’s own misgivings. Judgment energy is dense, dark and heavy. On the other hand, unconditional acceptance is light, free and accepting. Let go of judging and criticising yourself and others. Everyone is on a different path and some appear to be farther ahead on their path than others. Neither path is better nor worse than another. Raise your consciousness to one of acceptance.

6. View every experience as a gift:
If you look back at occurrences in your life, you can easily see how even the worst situations you experienced in your life ended up teaching you invaluable lessons and therefore resulted in putting you in perfect place for your continuing development. When you view every experience — the good, the bad, and the ugly — as a gift, life flows more like a gentle, inspiring breeze.

7. Stay consciously aware of all your thoughts and feelings:
It is easy to fall into negative patterns of complaining and feeling like a victim of society and your life. When you catch yourself in the negative zone, don’t feel badly about it and beat yourself up. Simply choose to switch your consciousness to one of gratitude and positive thinking.

8. Treat your physical body as your temple :
Your body is the only vehicle you’ve been given for this ride called life. The better you care for your body by eating a healthy, balanced diet, and by implementing a regular exercise routine, and by giving your body the rest it requires, the more you will experience increased energy, vitality, joy and freedom.

9. View the world through the eyes of a child:
Children are enthralled by the process of observing and experiencing the wonder and beauty in every single thing. They can’t get enough. Look at every tree, sunset, cloud and human being as a child would and you'll be in a constant state of wonder, joy, surprise, acceptance and enlightenment.

10.Give love, love, love from your heart:
It’s all about love. Love is the highest vibration. Allow yourself to receive love unconditionally from others. Give love from your heart unconditionally to yourself and others and you will experience the highest state of consciousness possible.

MIND is INFINITE, BODY is FINITE n LIFE is a COMBINATION of finite and infinite.

MIND is INFINITE, BODY is FINITE n LIFE is a COMBINATION of finite and infinite.

Q: Guruji, how to connect to the SOURCE ?

Sri Sri: Don’t see the source as something far away and try to connect to the source. Just relax! Whenever you relax you are the Source. In the spiritual plane only relaxation, doing nothing connects you to the Source. Mind and body works on completely different laws. Body works on effort. To build muscles you will need to do effort. But to improve your memory the more effort you put, you will drain your memory power. For memory power what do you have to do? Relax more, rest more.

So the mind works on relaxation and effortlessness and the body works on effort. And this is the beauty, this is the combination.

Mind is infinite, body is finite and life is a combination of finite and infinite.

KUNDALINI SHAKTI simplified!

Q: Dearest Guruji, can you please speak a little on KUNDALINI SHAKTI?

Sri Sri: Kundalini simply means the energy in your body.
Unless it is awakened there is no life. And in the very first kriya you
do it is already awakened. It doesn’t have to be dramatic. There are
three types of kundalini shaktis, one is sattvic. The most harmonious,
gentle awakening of the kundalini shakti. And you don’t even know that
it’s awakened, automatically you start being very happy, generous, large
hearted, big minded, compassionate, intuitive. All these things keep
happening spontaneously. Second is the rajasic type where you find this
jerk and all this drama happens. A lot of dramatic intense experiences
come, this is the rajasic way. There is no tamasic way of developing
kundalini. If at all some people consider tamasic the people who use
some powers and black magic and this and that sort of thing. But I don’t
consider it as tamasic kundalini at all but it is some spirit powers you
know. You appease some lower spirits and get some powers from them. And
then you dance for some days and then you collapse, that’s what people
do. So don’t run after some of this so called magic and miracles, many
of them are from these lower spirits. They appear to be doing something
to you and then you feel miserable later. So sattvic are the most
harmonious, best type of kundalini and it is what happens already in
Sudarshan Kriya. Doesn’t it happen? Tingling and every cell of the body
wakes up. Does it happen or not? Remember the very first Sudarshan Kriya
you did, everything awakened?! That’s it! Did you have peaceful
meditation? Did you start feeling I am not the body but I am the spirit?
Did you get that experience? That’s already happening. If you have no
experience in kriya, you have so much dullness all the time, then you
have to watch your food. You must be stuffing yourself with too much
food, number one. Or you must have indulged in too much sex that there
is no energy in your body to experience anything else. Then also it
doesn’t happen, I tell you. Someone has been very very busy day and
night and didn’t have good sleep, enough rest then there is no way that
they can experience any kundalini shakti. So these are some of the
criterias, got it? When your energy is conserved then you find that
elevation. And if good meditation is happening you should know it is
already functioning. If when meditating, inside you feel the expansion,
a calmness, a serenity, it is all sign of kundalini shakti.

Insight into .. SECRET OF BIRTH, SUBTLE BODIES (ASTRAL N CAUSAL), NIRVANA..

Insight into .. SECRET OF BIRTH, SUBTLE BODIES (ASTRAL N CAUSAL), NIRVANA..

Q: Dear Guruji, I understand from your knowledge that we have not one but several bodies. Can you please talk about subtle bodies and causal bodies? I’ve heard about them but I don’t know how or what they are.

Sri Sri: Yes, physical body in the waking state. In the sleeping state physical body is at rest, the subtle is active; in the dreaming state and that is why you get dreams. In ...deep sleep both of these go to sleep but the casual body is still there awake, aware. And causal body becomes cleansed in deep meditation. And in enlightenment the causal body is completely free, yes. So when one dies what happens, physical body separates, the subtle body remains with all its impressions. The subtle body and casual body they both go like a balloon and remain and look for a right opportunity, a right womb to get into. So when the soul finds that the couple is having union and depends on the energy level and harmony between the couple and the energy level of the soul, at that moment it comes into that, so that type of parents. Sometimes the soul brings two people together. A soul chooses I want this lady and this man as my father and mother. So they bring those two people together and they will have terrible attraction, unbearable attraction. So the moment the child is born, you’ll find suddenly the attraction between those two people is gone totally, completely gone. This happens, and after the first child many people divorce. How many of you have seen this happening? This happens that intense feeling of separation comes and then you should know that the soul made this thing happen. It is so amazing; all these things are so interesting. On one hand it is amazing on another hand if you are not so much in the present moment you’ll go crazy, seeing how many subtle worlds we live in simultaneously. Simultaneously how many things are happening in the universe, it’s very interesting! So you come into the physical body to cleanse the subtle body. There is no way you can cleanse the subtle body hanging in the space. So you come to human body so that you get rid of all those impressions. Once you have gotten rid of the subtle impressions in the subtle body then the casual body with the divine grace also becomes free, that is called Nirvana. No more craving or aversions, nothing, totally hallow and empty. Wanting nothing and totally satisfied. Anytime you feel that I am total, I am complete, death can come this moment I welcome it. If you say that, if you feel that rather than saying it then that completion is Nirvana. That has touched the casual body; the casual body gets relieved not by your effort but by just the Divine will and Divine grace. The universe decides that whether the casual body should be there or should be removed, should be dissolved. It’s amazing, you can work on the physical, and you can work on the subtle that’s all you can do. The rest you can only wait, but this itself is a great job, this itself is good enough..

SIGNIFICANCE/SACREDNESS OF EACH NUMBER ..

SIGNIFICANCE/SACREDNESS OF EACH NUMBER ..

Q: Can you elaborate on the number 7, like there are 7 days in a week, the 7 continents, the 7 chakras and so on.
Sri Sri : Every number is associated with something sacred and has sacredness to it.
That’s why when the Rudrabhishekam is done, all the numbers are said.

Number 1 and 2 are very sacred. Number 3 is also sacred. Number 3 is associated with so many things, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh; Satva, Rajas and Tamas; Vata, Pitta and Kapha; Morning, Afternoon and Evening; Present, Past and Future. So number 3 is very sacred.
Then number 4 is more sacred. The four directions; the four Vedas has so much sacredness attached to it. The most sacred of the symbols Swastika has four corners.
Then number 5, the five elements which are very sacred; the five organs of senses; five organs of perceptions; five organs of action. Pancha Devata, there are five important categories of Devatas. A village panchayat has only five members and so 5 is very sacred.
Then comes 6, Shad Darshanas, the six systems of Hindu philosophy; Shadangas, the six angas are very important. Then the sixth sense, you say the mind is the sixth sense.

Then 7; seven Swaras, seven Chakras, seven days of the week, seven planets…
8 has its own sacredness, Ashta Dikpalakas, are the eight divine entities ruling eight quarters or the universe, Ashtadhatu, eight metals which are very essential for the body. Ashtalakshmi, the eight types of wealth. So 8 has its own significance.
Coming to 9, Navagrahas; Navaratna, nine gems; Navaratri, nine nights. In nine months a child is born. There are nine types of bhakti.
10 and 11 is also sacred. No number is left which is not sacred. In the West number 13 is considered unholy, but in India no number is considered unholy or unlucky. All the numbers are good numbers. Every number has some significance, some glory attached to it.

Q: Guruji, when we DIE the BODY and BREATH are left behind and our MIND, MEMORY, SOUL are still together with the impressions. Do the INTELLECT and EGO also still stay with us? Can we use our intellect to calm our mind then?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The impressions of the intellect and the cravings and aversions of the mind go with the subtle body. So when you die what happens is for sometime the soul is in confusion, it does not know. It has just come out of the body but it does not know what to do. It doesn’t want to get into the body because the body appears like very gray matter, very dark and completely unbearable. So it doesn’t want to get into it, it feels very bad and averse to its’ own body most of the time. Sometimes they go in. So the soul is out there and very peaceful, the soul is totally at peace. They see people crying, wailing. It tries to tell them, ‘hey I am okay, don’t worry’, but they cannot communicate. There is a tradition to keep the light burning at the bedside of the body. It’s in Christian tradition as well, right? It’s in the Hindu tradition as well. Why you keep a light burning near the head so that when the soul suddenly looks at that light and knows that it is light. Let it be reminded that it is light, if it is still craving for something. Just to remind the soul that the nature of the soul or spirit is light, a lamp is kept or a candle is kept burning near the body. It’s not for us, it’s for the soul because the soul can still see, and smell. It has lost the sense of touch but smell and light are still there; smell, sight and sound all three will be there. So the ancient tradition is just before cremation the son or daughter; son usually, takes the head of the person into his lap and in the ear he says, ‘you are light, you are soul, you are not the body. Drop all your attachment to this body’, he tells them. And then the body is given a bath and then taken to cremation. These words are all in Sanskrit, and people simply repeat it in Sanskrit without knowing it because the priests tell them to say these things. To tell the departed in his ear that, ‘the five elements will go back to five elements. You are not just these five elements you are light, you are soul, you are spirit, you’re free and you move on now.’ This is what you say in the ear of the corpse, in case the soul is still hanging around and it does. It does hang around because it doesn’t know what to do. So it takes nearly ten days for the soul to get use to this other plain where it has gone. And once it reaches that plain of ancestors, one day there is one year for us. Our one year is just one day and one night for them in that realm. So there are three levels or lokas there also; one is Vasuloka, second is Rudra, and then Aditya. Three lokas are there and so they remain in this for some time. And there are three different Devas, they take them to those places. Someone who is a pious and died in a very good life they are taken direct to these lokas and three angels called Pururava, Ardrahva, and Vishvadeva. Three different Devas come and take the soul according to the level. It’s interesting! So in a yearly ceremony that is done, the day you remember the ancestors. First you invite these angels to bring them to you, for you want to honor them. These angels, they are the custodians. So you tell them ‘Visvadeva you bring my father, my mother or my grandfather or grandmother for this ceremony. Bring them for I would like to honor them.’ Ancient people knew all these so well, they had access to those realms. Even today people do this, they do the ceremonies and they do all this.

Divine is serving you all the time!

"Divine is serving you all the time!"-THE BEST GURU STORY EVER.....! MUST READ..!

Quite a few years back in Bangalore Ashram, there was a devotee who was so proud of himself for being a big sevak for Guruji/Ashram.

Accompanying Guruji on a trip, as usual, he was called to Guruji's room after satsang. Guruji was alone and, as usual, he started giving details about the satsang and journey. Guruji...... stopped him and asked, "Have you had dinner, would you like something to eat ?" The devotee said no. Guruji says - " No, No, have something, order something from the hotel, Here I ll order it for you." and Guruji ordered a burger and some fries for him.

When the meal arrived, the devotee offered it to Guruji. Guruji said no, no - you have, and sit here on the table and have it. And Guruji himself sat on the floor of the hotel room. The devotee was embarrassed - How could Guruji sit on the floor while I sit on the chair and have food. but Guruji persisted, and he reluctantly began to have the meal.

Midway through the meal he began to enjoy the importance he was getting and just as his mind was soaring to cloud 9, Guruji said - "You think you are serving the Divine ? The Divine is serving you all the time !!! "

Any other doers here ? :-)

All Glory to Gurudev!

Jai Gurudev

The Unconditional Love of the Lord flows eternally... Jai Sri Krsna

The Unconditional Love of the Lord flows eternally... Jai Sri Krsna

Once a few Yadavas felt a deep urge to see Krishna who was living at the other side of the river Yamuna. They prepared tasty and colorful sweets out of cow’s milk which Krishna loved. They packed everything and walked towards the river Yamuna to cross over to see Krishna. When they reached the bank of the river, their hearts sank as they found that the river was quite swollen and overflowing. Yamuna was flooding. There was no boatman willing to take them to the other side. They were terribly disappointed. They assembled under a tree and discussed their next action. They all decided to go back home as there was no other option to cross the river. There was nothing else they could possibly do, with the current state of Yamuna, as the flood could possibly continue for more days. As they took a few steps, they saw a saint sitting and meditating under a big banyan tree. They decided to pay respects to the saint. They silently approached the saint, so as not to disturb his penance and gently sat in front of him, waiting for him to open his eyes.

About an hour later, the sage opened his eyes. It was Sage Vyasa. Vyasa looked at the people assembled in front of him and asked why they have come there. They explained their plan and their predicament. Vyasa asked “What is in this big bag that you are carrying?” They explained that these are sweets that Krishna loved. He told them to open it and show the sweets to him. When they showed him, he started eating them. The Yadava travelers could not object to it, because they knew that he is a powerful saint and they did not want to upset him. Finally, Vyasa, who seemed to be very hungry, consumed half of what they had brought for Krishna. Vyasa said, “I will help you to cross the river. Pack the balance and give it to Krishna.” Yadavas obeyed the saint.

Vyasa walked with them until the bank of the river and shouted: “If I have not eaten anything, let the river part.” Immediately the river parted and the travelers crossed to the other side. They were quite amazed with this miracle. A few minutes after reaching the other shore of Yamuna, they saw Krishna resting in a garden chair. They approached him and exchanged greetings. Then they apologetically offered the remaining part of the sweets that Vyasa had consumed, to Krishna. Krishna said “I cannot eat even one piece of it!!. Just now, I filled my stomach with the same stuff.” Then the Yadavas realized the meaning of what Vyasa had uttered. “If “I” have not eaten anything, let the river part”. “I” is the egocentric entity. Vyasa is one with Krishna in consciousness. He did not take ownership of anything. He did not have “I” ness. So, when he ate, it was actually Krishna who was consuming, as they were one consciousness. The whole epic Mahabharatha is Vyasa’s work. When our consciousness merges, there is no duality in existence. There is only a pure and Divine Unity. The Yadavas realized that Vyasa positioned himself under the tree just to aid them, who are sincere devotees of Krishna, to reach Krishna. Everything was part of the Divine Leela!!!

Devotion is the highest of romance. A true devotee’s unconditional romance is equal to the highest cosmic romance. It has no comparison to the expectation-based terrestrial romance. Faith is the rope of steel that holds a devotee to the Lord. It is unshakable. Divine Romance is unshakable. If we can cross over from terrestrial romance to divine romance, our whole world will be filled with the sweet fragrance of pure love. We will not be bound or dependent on uncertain human relationships, which are always conditional and emotion-based. When we cross from this realm of emotions into the realm of supreme devotion, we will be purpose-bound and not expectation-bound.

Romance is universal. All saints are eternal romantics. When you cross into the realms of true bhakti, there will only be romance in our heart. We can only see God in every being and we romance the God in every being. Every object is God. We will love every object as representation of God. This is the truth too.

The romance of Lord Krishna knows no boundaries. He is a complete avatar. Several beings took birth as birds and animals to be close to the Lord, when He existed in His body. Many beings take birth to be close to the Lord even now. The story of a devotee in the body of an elephant is quite an example. (Many devotees offer cows, rabbits, birds and elephants to Lord Krishna at Guruvayoor, as a demonstration of their devotion.) The name of this famous elephant was Guruvayoor Kesavan. He was donated to Guruvayoor temple by the Nilambur Royal Family in 1916. He served the Lord in the temple for all processions, festivals and ceremonies until his death in 1976. Even his death was on the auspicious day of Guruvayoor Ekadasi, the day when devotees observe fasting, (refrain from eating food) for the sake of attaining Moksha or Liberation from the birth – death cycle. The elephant also observed fast that day and turning towards the temple, looking at the temple, with his trunk raised as if saluting the Lord, he left his body and attained his Moksha. It does not matter if it is human being or an elephant. Love conquers all. Eternal love unmistakably flows from the Lord to all beings, who are receptive to it.

Love is eternal. Love is Divine, when it is unconditional.

Live Love. Breathe Love. Exist in Love. Remain in Love Always

GURUJI DURING NEW YEAR SATSANG:

1. NALPE SUKHAM ASTI YOVAI BHUMA TAT SUKHAM ~ theres no happiness in the FINITE(small things) .. Happiness is only in the Infinite (Big Things)
so leave ur personal interest and hv a big vision for the society, nation, for the world ..ONE World Family and see ur needs will be fulfilled automatically .. U hv a bigger vision n work towards it and I'll take care of ur needs ..

2. Message for the YOUTH ~ Youth are getting younger ..if you feel youthful in ur spirits then whole yr is urs .. YOUTh is not by the age its by ur spirit..

3. In 2011 u gotta learn lotsa lessons .. dont regret @ ur mistakes .. instead learn from ur past mistakes n dont repeat..
Dont be angry at others mistakes .. thank them as they taught u a lesson at their cost .. and u gotta learn a lesson @ OC (at others cost :-) )..so thank them and MOVE ON ..

4. On spiritual path one shd DIE every moment .. LET GO of the past n come to NOW .. bundle all the mistakes n throw it in Atlantic ocean (any ocean near u) Wake UP n Shake .. look @ the world wid fresh eye ..fresh mind .. everythings new .. LIFE GOES ON ..

5. IF U DIE every moment and be BORN EVERY Moment thats ENLIGHTENMENT .. thts HAPPINESS .. NOW NOW NOW .. 100%

6. Be ready to face the challenge of life .. MARCH AHEAD ..

7. Kill your mind and walk towards LIGHT .. u'll realize u r LIGHT ..

8. When u let go every moment .. u dont forget anything instead ur memory will sharpen so very much .. then u r neva dead or born .. u r ETERNAL ♥
then u can access full bandwidth .. INTERNET ~ INNERNET .. u can even remember all ur past lifetimes on this planet ... whether 5000 yrs or 10000yrs ago .. ( this is so true if only one can understand n follow :-) )

Wish YOU ALL A VERY BLISSFUL *ANANDA* 2012 .. Jai GuruDEVA :-)

IMPORTANCE OF PADMA SADHANA

Padma Sadhana is a sequence of yoga asanas specially designed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for the DSN (Divya Samaj Nirman) Course. Padma means lotus and Sadhana means effort.

In the Agama tradition, it is said that the Devi (Goddess) sits on a 5 layered seat or asana. The base of this seat is a tortoise, which represents stability. The second layer is the snake, which represents awareness. Above the snake sits the lion, it symbolizes grace. Above the lion sits the Siddha, The Perfect Sage. And above the perfect sage sits the lotus, the symbol of full blossoming.
When our asanas have all these 5 qualities – Stability, Awareness, Grace, Perfection and Full blossoming, then the divinity dawns in us and that is Padma Sadhana.

Padma Sadhana refers to the blossoming of the mind, body and soul through the practice of these asanas. It releases many optimum hormones in the blood stream and induces tranquility and harmony, improving one’s alertness, dynamism, courage and commitment.

Doing Padmasadhana before Sudarshan Kriya deepens our experience and takes us deeper in meditation. It helps in centering our mind and consciousness.

Make Padmasadhana a daily part of your morning and evening practice ..

GURU STORY
Does your Guru know you(each of HIS Devotee) personally?

I guess all of us have at some point of time thot .. Senior Teachers are so lucky .. they get so much time wid Guruji, get to meet HIM freq and HE knows them personally and wished that we had sucha opportunity ..many a times we run behind HIM ..not tht we dont get a glimpse of HIM ..but only that HE can see us :D what we dont realize is that HE is Sarvantaryami ..He knows each n everyone of HIS devotee and what they do from time to time .. it only takes some awareness for us to realize ..

I always wondered why i was so late to come on this path .. if at all i had met Guruji decades ago(as i grew up in d same neighbourhood as HIM) how nice it wud be .. cud serve better ..life wud b transformed lot earlier .. so on n so forth .. here's a Trivial Anecdote which made me realize i was not all that Invisible for my Guru after all ..

Since my childhood i was drawn towards Vedas .. Chanting .. Pooja n so on ..but was not allowed to chant Rudram Chamakam n few others .. thy used to say thts not for Girls/Women .. once i joined AOL came to know about Rudra Puja which happens @ Ashram and heard Guruji say that Women can also chant .. there r no restrictions in any scripture .. i was totally excited and learnt Rudra Chamaka .. used to chant everyday early morning after Sadhana while cooking ..but then neva gotta chance to attend Rudra Puja @ Ashram as my kids wud leave for school at the same time as Rudra Puja in the ashram .. so was longing to see Guruji perform Rudra Puja for a very long time..

Then whn i attended Advance Course i gotta chance to watch Rudra Puja and i was overjoyed seeing Guruji perform Abhishekam n Puja .. that was the first time i eva gotta chance to chant Rudram/Chamakam wid other preists/Veda Boys and it was overwhelming .. Closed my eyes n chanted full Rudram and opened my eyes for Maha Mangalaarati .. after Arathi .. Guruji stood up and greeted some ppl .. i was sitting in front of Rishiji/Swamijis row or seats and He turned towards me raised his eyebrows and called me .. i was surprised thot it must b someone from behind .. looked back and thot ok it cant be me how wud he know me ..why wud he call me ..wid small mind working fulltime walked away from VM towards Kitchen for breakfast .. juz before i cud enter Kitchen one of my friend (Yashoda) shouted my name n i looked arnd only to find her jump outta car and run towards me .. she was surprised to see me there as she didnt know i was @ Adv Course and said she was going to VVK (where i was volunteering fulltime) to give Prasad which Guruji asked her to give me and handed me a ziplock cover of Pongal .. then realized that Guruji did call me and wanted to give me prasad after divine Rudram/Chamakam Chanting ..but it was me who assumed tht He didnt know me or call me ..

So neva doubt whether ur Guru knows you or neva feel bad that u dont get enuf time wid HIM .. He knows each one of HIS devotee ..it only takes some awareness for us to recognize and progress on the path .. n for sure each one of us will be rewarded from time to time :-)

Jai GuruDEVA :-)