rishi prasad - rp179october2007

8/14/2019 Rishi Prasad - Rp179October2007

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Excerpts from Rishi Prasad – Issue 179 Nov, 2007

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Satsang leads to Divinity

Do you have association with Sat (the Ultimate Truth) in yourlife? If you do, indeed you are very fortunate otherwise you leada pitiable existence for the bliss of truth is the only real bliss, the

knowledge of truth is the only real knowledge and the associationwith truth is the only real association. All other associations areunreal and useless. Many a lifetime has been wasted in worthless associations.

A child associates with fellow children; as he grows up, he associates with adolescents;in school he is associated with school mates. After marriage he spends time withrelations, spouse, in-laws. At work one is associated with colleagues and one also hasassociation with neighbours, shop keepers (one shops with), fellow travellers and so on.You are associated with someone or the other all the time; one does not live withoutassociations. The associations certainly exercise a great influence on you knowingly orunknowingly and whether you like it or not.

But what is the result of all these associations? They simply mire one in delusion andattachment and subject one to the cycle of birth and death. Nevertheless there is oneassociation, which can rid us of all sorrows, which can free us from bondage, which cando away with our error and consequent labour of believing that we shall be happy in thefuture or after attaining such and such goal or after going to such and such place andwhich makes us experience Absolute bliss, total happiness and immortality in our givensurroundings (conditions). That association is the real association or satsanga. All theother associations are unreal.You are bound to associate with others but you shouldprotect yourself from vice in association.

What is the vice in association? The association that makes you slide into vices and sinfor the sake of depraving worldly pleasures enjoyed at present or to be enjoyed in thefuture is ku-sanga or bad association. That which neither elevates nor degrades you isordinary association. When you travel on your way to office or shop, you come acrossmany people on the way but the association with them does not exercise any influenceon you; the association doesn‟t create any bondage. The association with only thosewhom you have attachment with or hatred to entangles you; it creates bondage for you.Similarly, life too is a journey. No fellow passengers should leave an impact on you.People may get blessed in your company but you must guard against detrimentalinfluences of bad or ordinary association. This circumspection is called discriminativeinsight or viveka. (Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

Divine Answers from a Benign Heart

Question: What is the ideal system of education?Pujyashree: The modern education-system is based on

materialism. It undermines moral values. People are driven away from spiritual joy, theonly joy that is real. To do MBA means to acquire the capability to wheedle and deceivepeople, to help rich people exploit the public and to waste one‟s life for the sake of crumbs thrown by the rich in return for this service. In the process, one moves awayfrom the goal of God-Realization. All irrational things!




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The education-system should be constituted with the idea of public welfare. Theeducation minister of M.P. joined the listeners in the satsanga at Ujjain. I have given himthe booklet „Yuvadhan Suraksha‟. I am sure he will disseminate the knowledge of yogaand spirituality to all the students of the state.Question: The Government has asked for the scientific evidence of Rama to prove theauthenticity of Ramasetu. How far is it justified?Pujyashree: It is the misfortune of the country that it is saddled with people‟srepresentatives of this kind. Let Karunanidhi bring evidence of his forefathers 2-3generations ago and then ask for evidence of Lord Rama.Question: O Supremely Benevolent Bapuji! Please be kind to us and tell what is the truemeaning of Supreme Self.Pujyashree: God alone knows His absolute existence, His paramount importance andHis real nature. It is impossible to describe Him completely. Even then we describe Him,only a wee bit, on the basis of what we learn from the scriptures so that we can, with Hisabounding grace, get our heart permeated with His Supreme Bliss.All the things of this phenomenal world arise from the Supreme Being. He Himselfassumes all these forms. And even when all these things cease to exist it does not affectHim in any manner. Take for instance gold or earth. All pitchers, earthen pots and toysare made of earth. Earth is not a pitcher but pitcher can not exist without the earth.Similarly, nothing can exist without the Supreme Being. All things exist in Him, theSupreme Consciousness and ultimately merge back into Him. (Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

Attain the Real Joy!

It is absolutely true that until and unless you attain real Joy youcan‟t get rid of the longing for the unreal joy. Some preachersadvise the people to renounce this or that thing. But the peoplecan renounce the unreal if they are given the real (joy).

There are two kinds of mothers. Suppose, a child is sucking a toy mango. A mother ofthe first kind will warn and threaten the child saying, “No! What ar e you doing? It is notreal mango. It is made of clay. It will cause renal stones. Leave it or I will slap you.” Thechild does leave the toy mango but he did so out of fear ofpunishment. He has not renounced attachment to the toy andso he will start sucking the other toys.

A mother of the second type speaks to the child affectionately,“My dear son! This is not a mango; it is a toy. Wait, I will get youa real mango.” She takes a mango, washes it thoroughly andafter puncturing it and letting a drop or two of its juice come out,she puts it to the child‟s mouth. The child will suck it willinglybecause he gets the sweet juice doing so. He himself willbecome the Guru in respect of differentiating between real andfake mangoes. He need not be told again not to suck a toy.

Similarly, Gurus too are of two kinds. Gurus of first kind keep on prompting, „Don‟t dothis… don‟t do that… this is sin… you will go to hell… you will repent…‟ The discipleabstains from tea, but takes to coffee; abstains from coffee only to start drinking a cola




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and from cola he switches over to some other thing. He has to get joy from one sourceor another.Then there is the Guru of second type who doesn‟t preach all these things. He simplyinvites people to Dhyana Yoga Shivirs. Through his eyes or mental resolve he transmitsspiritual energy to the disciples. Once the mind tastes real joy, it automatically startstreading the path towards Supreme Beatitude.

Your time is precious. Illusory joy will take us to where all others have gone andperished. And then we too will perish, will fade into oblivion sooner or later.

There is a stupid English saying, „Time is money‟. Stupid Indians quote it. But it isinsensible. You can earn money, at the cost of your time to acquire jewellery, fame andall other things. But can you get the lost time of your life in exchange for all these things?Time is not money; it is much more precious than money. By spending time, you canearn money; you can regain your lost honour or health. But the time once lost can not beregained. „Time is money‟ is a trite saying. In fact, time is much more precious thananything else is. In all these years spent of your life, you have achieved certificates,degrees, wealth and other things. By giving all of them back, can you get back the losttime of your life to increase your lifespan? Therefore, the precious time should be spentin quest for the most precious, your Real Self and in attaining Self-Bliss.A peon works for 8 hours and gets a paltry salary, while the pilot works for a few hoursand is paid a salary many times more than that of the peon. The more lucrative the job inwhich we spend our time, the more handsome are the returns.

„In life-death cycle you have dwelt,arise to save your lot, today,Says Tulsi, name of Rama repeat,renounce for ever evil‟s way.‟

(Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

Bhishmaji Realizes Sri Krishna’s Essential Being and HisVarious Manifestations as Narayana, Vasudeva, Rama and Hari

„I can renounce the three worlds, I can forego the kingdom ofheaven or anything that may be greater than the both, but Ican never renounce Truth.‟ (The Mahabharata: Adi Parva – 103.15)

Bhishma was the legitimate son of King Shantanu and Goddess Ganga. GrandsireBhishma was erudite, a man of firm resolve, knower of Dharma, true to his word,scholar, able politician, generous, extraordinary warrior, and had control over his sensesbut above all a single-minded devotee of the Lord. Though a politician, he was truthful aswell. What a paradoxical synthesis of contradictory qualities! Truthful and that too apolitician! Politicians say that one cannot do without resorting to falsehood. But can onedo without truthfulness? Grandsire Bhishma had recognized Lord Krishna as the livingGod.




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In his Rā jasuya fire sacrifice, Yudhishthira had asked Bhishma as to who should bepropitiated first. Then Bhishma‟s clear cut answer was, “By dint of strength, valour,brilliance and all other parameters Sri Krishna deserves to be propitiated first.” Upon culmination of the battle of Mahabharata, Yudhishthira was grieving for the deadkins. In an inquisitive frame of mind, he accompanied by his brothers and Lord Krishna,

approached Grandsire Bhishma. The Pandavasreverentially and with utmost respect paid theirobeisance to Bhishma.

If a person has moral rectitude, practices abstinenceand is religious, then his affection to kith and kin wearsthin. Those who do not practice abstinence are drawntowards family and fail to accomplish the true goal ofGod-realization. This is not to say that one should

neglect one‟s family. Rather you should consider the whole world to be your extendedfamily and act with equanimity. Bhishma had this sense of equanimity and as such hecould fathom the real nature of Lord Krishna.

The grandsire explained about Lord Krishna to Yudhishthira and others, “Sri Krishna isGod incarnate. He is the Primal Cause of all, the Supreme person Lord Narayana, Whodeluding the world with His power of illusion (Māyā) moves incognito among thedescendents of Yadu. O Yudhishthira! Lord Shiva, the divine sage Narada and thevenerable Lord Kapila alone know His secret most prowess. He whom you regard asyour maternal cousin, a dear friend and the best well-wisher and out of love employed asa counsellor, an emissary and a charioteer without any hesitation, is Lord NarayanaHimself. In spite of Krishna‟s being equal to all, Oh protector of the earth! Look at Hiscompassion on his staunch devotees that Krishna Himself has appeared before me,when I am giving up life.”

Subsequently, Bhishma with his scholarly knowledge earned by virtue of his practice of

brahmacharya, experience, knowledge and devotion, duly elaborated on the rules(duties) regarding charities, kingship, laws pertaining to the path of liberation, duties ofwomen and those pertaining to the Bhagawata religion to the assemblage, therebybringing peace to the grief-stricken and agitated heart of Yudhishthira.(Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

Let flow the river of joy or ignite the fire of separationGet the Best of Both Worlds !

You possess two very remarkable capabilities. One ofthem is joy and the other is dejection (the pang ofseparation). As you go on loving your revered Guru inyour mind while talking to Him, your heart is thrilled with

joy; and then the inspiration that emanates from the GuruTattva brings simply wonderful benefits. I, on my part, have gained a great deal by lovingmy Gurudeva. Let the river of joy flow and wash away all your karmas, sins, afflictionsand ignorance. Or else, at times, ignite the fire of separation and let your jiva-consciousness (ego-identity) or your samskaras burn in it. Such burning is similar to theroasting of the groundnuts, which, on being roasted, can be eaten, seen or even sold all




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the same, but they can‟t any more be sown in order to give rise to further generationsthereof.

Likewise, all your samskaras accumulated over numerous previous lives; once they areroasted in the fire of separation, they will lose their apparent reality with you and thuscan not cause your rebirth.

Just as the roasted grains do not germinate, so also the mind roasted in the fire ofseparation and the samskaras lying therein do not give rise to further births. Whilegetting established in the essential Being of the Lord or Guru will get the internal organroasted, the fire of separation will finally negate it.

More than five thousand years have passed since the incarnation of Lord Krishna, butMirabai is able to identify herself with Krishna consciousness in that the interval of eventhousands of years could not separate her from Sri Krishna. She can watch Lord SriKrishna dancing verily in front of her. She sees Him playing the flute, having His mealand even narrating the message of the holy Gita to Arjuna. She gets exhilarated at thearrival of Lord Sri Krishna; but when He doesn‟t come, she becomes anxious to knowthe reason behind it and even cries. Such crying is an expression of devotion (to theLord) generated by the pangs of separation. At times Mirabai‟s countenance is elatedwith joy, while at others her heart is purified in the fire of separation. (Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

A Remedy for Headache

Whenever you are tired, just protrude your tongue a bit through your lips, press the indexfingers with the respective thumbs in such a way as they make a zero each and restawhile in this position. This practice helps nourish the neurons and alleviates fatigue.Similarly, one suffering from a severe headache should protrude his tongue out throughthe teeth and make the form of a zero with the index fingers and thumbs of each hand inthe above manner. This should be practised for two minutes at a time and thrice a day. Ithas helped cure numerous types of headaches so far.

Once there was a Shastriji Maharaj. He narrated stories from the „Bhagavata Purana‟.But he would suffer from headache just after a few minutes of starting the discourse. Hetried all types of therapies but without success. Once he happened to tell GhatwaleBaba, “Babaji! Despite all medical treatments I have failed to find relief from thisheadache.” Then Ghatwale Baba advised him to practise the above technique for a few daysregularly, which he did and got cured.

„As numerous leaves remain hidden

within every sprouting leaf of banana;The words of saints carry withinthem so many hidden messages benign.‟

Ghatwale Baba had told just a simple thing, but that went on to relieve Shastriji of hisheadache forever. A mere passing reference from a saint did prove to be a veritableboon for Shastriji.




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“O excellent sages! On having listened to this account, engage your mind in the exerciseof dharma.” (Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

The Importance of Salutation

Salutation is an integral part of courteous demeanour and isparamount among human virtues. It includes humility,respect, reverence, sevā and self-surrender. One shouldrespectfully bow down to superi„For the vital airs of a youngman mount upwards to leave his body when an elderapproaches; but by rising to meet him and saluting herecovers them. He who habitually pays reverence to andconstantly serves the aged, obtains an increase of fourthings, viz. length of life, knowledge, fame and strength.‟(2.120-121)

A scripture named Ahnik Sutravali has elucidated on the virtues of Sāshtānga ors. Thistrait should be inculcated in children from the very early age. In the Indian ethossalutation is not merely a part of etiquette but has religious connotations as well.Manu Maharaj has said:

„Chest, head, eyes, mind, words, hands, feet and knees – the salutation (pranāma) usingthese eight (ashta) organs (angas) is called Sāshtānga Pranāma.‟In Sāshtānga Pranāma, the entire body is in a state of self-surrender and we offerourselves to the Supreme Lord. This is an excellent way of expressing our gratitude toGod. Sāshtānga Pranāma purges our heart of egoism and ill feelings and makes it piousand pure.‟ As per a scripture called: „Paithinasi Kullookbhattiya‟

„One should salute by touching the other one‟s left and right foot with the left and righthand respectively of his own.‟When the venerable superior places his hand on the head, shoulder or back of the onetouching the feet, the electromagnetic energy flowing through both completes a circle.With this, the virtues and ojas of the superior person start flowing to the other one aswell.

We should avail ourselves of this benefit by paying obeisances to parents and noblesouls during the days of Diwali. In case of the holy personages who do not let their feetbe touched, one should reverentially pay obeisances to them by bowing his head from adistance so as to be benefited by their pious glance and auspicious resolve. (Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

Dwell on the Lord’s Name, O My Mind, as a Gurumukh

One is Mantra-japa and the other is Nāma-japa. InMantra-japa the force of the individual is the onlydeterminant, it needs to follow the prescribed procedureand maintain the requisite purity but japa of Nāma orLord‟s name requires only the Bhāva, the force of the

Divine works behind it. Guru Arjuna Dev says,




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„Dwell on the Lord‟s name, O my mind, as a Gurumukh, O Nanak,you shall obtain countless joys.‟

Get yourself initiated by a Guru, be a Gurumukh and then do the japa of Lord‟s name. Ifone does japa of Nāma as Manmukh (one who follows the dictates of his mind), he getsthe thing desired by his mind and loses the real benefit of Nāma-japa. However, whenhe does Nāma- japa as a Gurumukh, he doesn‟t fall prey to his mind‟s desires rather hedesires what the Lord or the Guru wishes him to have. And what does the Lord or theGuru wish us to have? The Lord and the Guru want us to have Supreme Bliss! AGurumukh therefore attains Self-Bliss, incomparison to which the pleasures enjoyed byIndra, the king of gods, appear worthless not tospeak of the worldly pleasures.

„Where (in the yond) there is neither mother,nor father, friend nor brother,O my mind, there, only the Nāma, the Name ofthe Lord,shall be with you as your help and support.Where there is utter wilderness and the terrible messengers of Death grind thee down,There, the Lord‟s Name alone goes along with thee.Where there is nothing but utter distress for thee,There, the Name of the Lord saves thee in a moment.By performing countless meritorious deeds, you shall not be saved.But the name of the Lord washes off myriads of sins.Dwell on the Lord‟s name,O my mind,as a Gurumukh,O Nanak, you shall obtain countless joys.‟(Sukhmani Sahib)

Nāma-japa has its own unique import. The incident pertains to a time when King

Ramchand ruled Gwalior. In a village near Gwalior, there lived a ten-year-old boy namedTana. He could mimic the sounds of various animals and used this talent to guard hisfather‟s orchard. (Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

Meditation and Discrimination

Prince Siddhartha was sitting in a garden. His cousin,Devadatta, was looking here and there restlessly.Siddhartha said to him, “Why are you so frivolous? Sitquietly. Meditate.”

Nobody knows nor cares to know as to where the frivolous and flighty Devadatta wasborn and when he died but Siddhartha, who knew the technique of meditation, went onto become Mahatma Buddha and became the spiritual guide for millions whoworshipped him. He thus attained the supreme fruit of concentration of mind. Kingshipwith all the attendant pleasures, luxuries and ostentation was there for the asking, butthey would have only taken him to hells. Instead, he made good use of concentration.What is the good use of concentration? To attain the Supreme Self, the only TruthAbsolute. And from Siddhartha, he became Lord Buddha. The sense of discriminationwas developed in his heart from the childhood itself.




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Devadatta had a bow and a few arrows and was hunting for birds. Just then a flock ofswans flew that way. Devadatta aimed at a swan and brought it down. It fell whereSiddhartha was sitting. Siddhartha lovingly picked it up with due care and took it in hislap. After gently pulling out the arrow from its body, he applied the juice of certainmedicinal herbs on the wound and caressed it with affection. His wish only was that itslife should be saved and it should become all right. His pious intentions had its positiveinfluence on the bird.

In the meantime Devadatta came there and said,“Brother! Your labours will be to no avail. Thisswan is mine. I have shot it down. Give it to me.”

Siddhartha said, “How can it be yours? It is mineand I will not give it to you.” “I have shot it down. It is mine.”

“You have wounded it with your arrow, but I havepulled out the arrow and saved its life by applyingthe juice of medicinal herbs on the wound.Therefore, it is mine.” “The game bird belongs to the one who hunts it.” “Never! A creature doesn‟t belong to the one who hurts it; rather it belongs to the onewho helps it.”

“I will teach you a lesson right away.”

Devadatta went to Siddhartha‟s father, King Shuddhodhana, and complained about it. On being called Siddhartha came there and said, “Father! Devadatta has wounded thebird and I have saved its life. Who is the rightful owner of a creature –the one who triesto take it‟s life or the one who saves it?” Then Siddhartha fixed his affectionate gaze onhis father and further elaborated on the moral aspect.

Shuddhodhana was immensely pleased by Siddhartha‟s words. He said, “Son! You areright. What you say is absolutely just and equitable. You are the only rightful owner ofthe swan.” Siddhartha was aware of the significance of meditation. That is why he could get overdifficulties with such admirable ease. He made even a cruel person like Devadatta admitdefeat. (Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

Three Points for You

One must strive to eradicate his faults. Just root out thosefaults or thoughts of your mind, intellect and chitta that arekeeping you away from the supreme Self, the Guru Tattvaor liberation.

But how does one root out his faults? A question may arise; and the answer is – wakeup in the morning before sunrise, sit on a woollen mat facing the east, take a deep




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breath and while chanting Hari OM, make a mental resolve of eradicating your fault, as ifhitting it with the mace of the mantra. Take one demerit at a time and while chanting – Hari Om… Hari Om… Hari Om… practise autosuggestion „O defect! You are insentientand I am Consciousness. Today, all day long, you will not prevail in my life.‟ Make aresolve for a single day at first. And when you succeed in maintaining your resolve forone day, make a fresh resolve for two days… and then four days, thereby increasing the

period of your resolve with your increasing success.

Well, I shall tell you yet another technique to remove your faults. If you venture toremove your fault considering it your own, and thinking, „I am eradicating it,‟ it will takefairly long time and need great labour. And even if you succeed in removing it, the risk ofbeing overcome with egotism is always there. A failure on the other hand will onlyfrustrate you. But if you locate the fault to be where it is and try removing it by gettingestablished in your God-consciousness or the Guru Tattva, it will become very easy. Sodon‟t consider the fault to be in you.

„The fault is in the body, in the intellect, the mind and my samskaras. The samskaras arepurged of the faults. I am the eternal son of my Sadguru, Who is NarayanaConsciousness free from all faults.‟ –with the help of such considerations eradicate yourfaults and get established in the essential Guru Tattva or Atma Tattva. Thus you willsucceed in eradicating the fault without developing egotism. And even if you fail forsome time, you will not be disappointed. In the morning, midday or evening –wheneveryou get time, just apply this technique and remove each and every fault of yours untilthey are completely uprooted. Don‟t you apply some technique to remove a thorn thathas pricked the sole of your foot? Yes, you do. There are various methods to remove it –whether you do that by applying pressure onto either parts of the affected area, or usinga sharp needle or some suitable forceps. And in case all these measures fail, apply apoultice prepared from turmeric and jaggery. This will cause swelling of the affected partand thereby facilitate removal of the thorn. Similarly, if you try removing your faults byapplying the poultice of some vrata or spiritual discipline to your life, it will bring you

success. (Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

Prahlada: The Great Devotee

Prahlada said, “O King of gods! I have no attraction or aversion to Mother Nature or its various modifications likepleasure and pain etc. born as they are of virtue and vice. Atthis juncture, I perceive no one as an enemy, nor do I seeany one worthy of attachment as my offspring, spouse or

friend etc. I desire not for the heavens nor for the earth or netherworld.“Virtue and vice, and their fruits-pleasure and pain, do not belong to the Atman.Therefore, I don‟t desire anything. But without repudiating this phenomenal world, Iremain contented on the strength of Knowledge alone and being desireless, alwaysrepose in Supreme Bliss.”

As Indra listened to these sublime and pithy precepts, he was enlightened of the truestate of the great devotee Prahlada. Extremely mortified, he asked with humility,“O Prahlada! Kindly tell me the way I can attain the Knowledge and peace you have.”




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Prahladji said, “O King of gods! It isthrough the virtues of guilelessness,awareness, self-restraint, equanimity,purity and serving those superior inKnowledge that one attains the SupremeState of liberation. It is only throughrealising one‟s true nature that one attainsKnowledge and peace. Whatever virtuesand vices you see in yourself and in meare related to our natures.” These pithy words of Prahladji containedthe Knowledge of Ultimate Truth. Indrafelt pangs of shame as he rememberedhis own vices of guile and desire etc. Hesought pardon from Prahladji for his deceitful conduct and said, “Ascetic Prahladji! I haddeceitfully taken away your Sheela; kindly accept it back. I give it to you as the Guru-dakshinā in lieu of the invaluable gift of Knowledge you have bestowed on me. I humblypray to you to please accept my invitation to visit the heaven and bless the peoplethere.” After extending this invitation, Indra went back to Amravati and Prahladji, with hisSheela, left for Hiranyapur.

Howsoever hard one may try to harm the devotees of the Lord, they may appear to beharmed for some time, but their support, the Lord is so strong that no harm can evercome to them. Therefore in such circumstances, devotees of the Lord should remainpatient like Prahladji and should devote themselves to the recollection andcontemplation of the Lord.(To be continued…)

Unique is the Essence of the Gita and the Saints Who Know it

The „Srimadbhagvadgita‟, the crest-jewel among theholy scriptures, is unique in its remarkable quality ofexpressing the maximum teaching in the minimumamount of words. Thus it fills the considerably smallvessel of the human intellect with the ocean of

knowledge of the Upanishads; and that too with such masterly finesse that enables thepeople studying and reflecting on it to find each and every verse thereof to be expressiveof the great aphorism of the Vedas. „All this is verily Brahman…‟ (ChhandogyaUpanishad: 3.14.1).

This final precept of the Vedas was imparted only to the supremely worthy disciple orson by the Self-realized Sadguru in ancient times. But this virtuous scripture, the Gita,has made that supremely sublime knowledge available to all people in a single word thatis easy for everyone to comprehend

–O Arjuna! I (the Supreme Soul,Brahman) am Being as well as non-being.‟(The Gita: 7.19)Though manifested in differentforms, all of samsara is essentially




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the Lord Himself, and despite being One, He appears as many. Just as commentarieson the Gita are different, but Gita is one. Human beings differ from one another in colourand size, but humanity is common. The same applies to cows and other living creaturesof any species. Similarly, despite His myriad manifestations in the forms of places, times,objects, persons, conditions, circumstances, events, etc., the Lord is verily One: „I ambeing as well as non-being.‟

Love-incarnate Lord Krishna, the author of the Gita, has elucidated this very supremeconclusion in the most lucid ways for the jivas, which indicates His motiveless love forthem. -„Vasudev (the Lord) is all that exists.‟(The Gita 7.19)

So sublime is this final conclusion that instantly dissolves all doctrinal differences ofvarious schools of philosophy, thereby putting an end to all debates and disputes. Be it abeliever of the Àrambhavāda or the Ajātavāda or a believer in the doctrines ofParināmavāda or Vivartavāda – the difference among these various believers prevail solong as the subtle ego exists in them. Just a firm belief in the supreme aphorism„Vasudeva is all that exists‟ would release one from dogmatism and the refutation of thebeliefs of others, because all is God. Both being and non-being are God „I am being as

well as non-being‟ and even that which is beyond these two is nothing but God Hims elf:„The reality which transcends being and non-being‟ (The Srimad Bhagawata 2. 9. 32)

Without realizing the truth of „Vasudeva is all that exists‟ one cannot experience thebeatitude of fulfillment in any of the paths of sādhanā. Without this final view „karma‟cannot be culminated into selfless Karmayoga, „devotion‟ cannot be sublimated into thesupremely blissful spirit of devotional love, nor can knowledge be transformed into„Kaivalya Jnāna‟ or Advaita Siddhi‟. Such is the significance of this supreme principle.(Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)

Persevere in Your Sadhana

Siddhartha was disappointed with his sādhanā, He was contemplating returning home.In the mean time he happened to chance upon an insect trying to climb a tree. As itclimbed a few steps up the tree, a sudden gust of wind flung it off to the ground. It againstarted to climb the tree and was again thrown down by a whiff of strong wind. Thus it felldown to the ground seven times in succession, but nevertheless continued its endeavourto climb the tree and in the eighth attempt it was successful.

Siddhartha thought, „When an ordinary insect can attain success by steadfastlycontinuing its endeavour even in the face of repeated failures, why should I, a human bybirth, ever retrace my steps?

Siddhartha made a firm resolve “I shall accomplish my mission or else keep striving tilldeath. Death is but certain even in the royal palace. So it is surely better to embracedeath while doing sādhanā.”

Driven by a strong determination, then Siddhartha resumed his sādhanā in right earnestand went on to realize the Supreme Peace just within seven years, thereby becomingLord Buddha. Therefore, you too should keep striving to attain the Supreme SpiritualState, success will of course be at your feet; sooner or later. (Read the complete article in November 2007 Rishi Prasad. Subscribe at www.ashram.org)




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Glossary

OM - the pranava-pronounced as „Aum‟, it is themonosyllabic personification of the SupremeBeing.ā – this is pronounced as „aa‟ like in archanā,which is pronounced as archanaa.Àchamana – rinsing or sipping water before

religious ceremonies.Barhadādā – The wish-fulfilling holy Banyan treeinvested with spiritual power by Pujya Bapuji.Darshana – the pious act of meeting somerevered one or deity face to face.Desi – indigenousDosha – disorder of vāta, pitta and kapha –thethree humours of the body.Gandharva – a demigod, celestial musician.Havana – a fire sacrifice.Japa – repetition of a mantra.Jiva – the individual soul.Jivātman – the individual soul.Kapha – biological water humour; phlegm.Kinnara – a kind of demigods.Karmayoni – a life form in which one‟s Karmas(actions) are the determinant factors of the futurecourse of his life. The human form is the onlyKarma-yoni.Mālā – a rosary.Pitta – biological bile humour.




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Prasāda – grace of the Lord, a deity or a personage; consecrated food.Prārabdha – that part of the accumulated effect of past deeds which has begun to takeeffect with the creation of the present physical body and which is responsible for thecontinuance of the body even after salvation.Rasāyana – a medicinal composition which strengthens the body and delays onset ofold age.Satsanga – pious discourse and company of a saint.Sādhaka – an aspirant on the spiritual path.Sādhika – a woman aspirant on the spiritual path.Sādhanā – spiritual endeavour.Siddha – a semi divine being of great perfection, possessing eight supernatural facultiesor siddhis.Sāttvika – characterized by purity and luminosity.Suryanamaskāra – yogic prostration to the Sun-god, a set of different postures ofexercise.Vāta – biological wind humour.Vrata – an austerity, a religious vow or a fast.Vaidya – an āyurvedic physician.Yogāsana – practice of āsanas as a mode of yoga.

rishi prasad - rp179october2007

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