Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Emerson The Boston Brahmin

Emerson: The Boston Brahmin
By Courtesy
Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy,Former Head,Department of Ancient History & Archaeology,University of Mysore
Sir William Jones (1746 - 1794), the father of Indology, brought to the Western gaze the rich cultural, philosophical and literary heritage of India. The Western scholars, who had considered vedas as a mad man's utterances, began to read them and discovered sublime thought in them.
Kalidasa's Shakuntala, Bhagavadgita and Puranas were translated into English. All these indological developments began to reach America through England, particularly Boston, the most important town of New England area which played an important role in American Independence movement.
Commercial City: Boston, the Capital of Massachusetts State, was not only a great commercial city but also a center of music, literature and culture. The world famous Harvard University and MIT are located here. This city had a group of intellectuals with liberal outlook and penchant for freedom. This group became famous as Bostonians or Bostonian Brahmins. At this juncture was born Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1803. His father was a clergyman, an enlightened person and founded a cultural club which published a monthly magazine called The Boston Review.
Though a Christian padri, he had collected a large number of books on Indian Philosophy and religion. The young boy Emerson was attracted towards these books and began to read them. Fortunately, he got admission in Harvard University which had the richest collection of books on Indian philosophy and history. After obtaining a Master's degree from Harvard, Emerson joined as a clergyman in one of the churches in Boston. He became a popular Minister (padri) and his church became famous. The people were greatly attracted by his novel and attractive way of preaching Bible. Thus his fame spread in Boston. However, Emerson felt that there was no creativity in his work. Hence he resigned his job and went to England.
There he met Coleridge, Wordsworth, Carlyle and other stalwarts and this changed the nature of his thinking. He became a liberal thinker and evinced interest in the study of other religions. He was particularly impressed by Bhagavadgita translated by Wilkins, and Vishnupurana translated by Wilson. He also took to the study of Vedas and Upanishads. As he had an open mind, he saw universality in all religions. He came to the conclusion that all great men and all religious teachers spoke the same language.
Gita & Emerson: The Bhagavadgita appealed to Emerson most. When he was asked to deliver a lecture on religion, he said God is not separate from creation: God manifests himself in this universe through creation. Thus there is no duality in religion or philosophy. Thus he hailed Advaita as the essence of the word. But he never criticised any other religion and hurt their feelings and asked the people to follow any religion of their choice which took them closer to God. These ideas were taken from Bhagavadgita.
He was also a poet and wrote many poems. One of them is very significant because it is titled Brahma. This poem though short is a successful summary of Upanishads and Bhagavadgita. The influence of kenopanishad is easily seen in this poem. Emerson did not believe in the Saguna form of worship as practiced by most of the Hindus. He believed in Nirguna form of worship in which God is formless, nameless, colourless etc. In fact this is the peak of Indian metaphysical thought which portrays the concept of Brahman (not four - faced Brahma). Generally this poem is recommended to readers who cannot read the original Upanishad in Sanskrit, to understand the concept of Brahman.
Emerson's aunt Mary became an admirer of Emerson and she happened to read a poem “A hymn to Narayana” written by William Jones. She was greatly impressed by this poem and sent a copy of it to Emerson. Emerson copied this poem in his diary because he wanted to read it again and again whenever he opened his diary. He thanked his aunt profusely and wrote "that all books of knowledge and all the wisdom of Europe twice told lie hidden in the treasure of Brahmins." Nobody either in India or abroad has paid a better tribute to Indian philosophy and metaphysics.
Emerson believed in the transmigration of soul and the concept of rebirth. He asserted that body alone decays but not the soul. This idea is taken from the Upanishads and the Gita. Emerson had a good library of Indian classics and he used to lend them to his friends so that they could read these books and get acquainted with Indian philosophy. Due to an accident, a portion of his house was destroyed in fire and it was rebuilt by the spontaneous public donations of more than 18,000 dollars in 1872.
A Writer:Emerson was not only an indologist but was also a writer. His works include Nature (1836), American scholar (1837), two anthologies collected in 1841 and 1844. He again went to England in 1847 - 48 and wrote a book called English Traits (1856), analyzing the character of English people. His next work was Representative Man (1862). Books which made him famous were Nature, The Conduct of Life, Self - Reliance, American Scholar and Over Soul. He condemned the practice of slavery and differentiation on the basis of colour, creed and race. Emerson died in 1882 at the age of 79 at Concord and unprecedented number of admires paid homage to this great friend, guide and philosopher. The church bell tolled 79 times to mark his 79th year.
I had the good fortune of visiting both Boston and Concord about fifty years ago. Emerson is no longer with us today but he will remain in our minds for ever. A great historian has said: "Emerson had all the wisdom and spirituality of Brahmins and perhaps he was the best Brahmin outside India." Most Brahmins are so by birth but Emerson was a true Brahmin by culture.
Bhuvani now you can see Brahmins not only in Naganallur but in Boston also, you can go to a website called Brahmins university Boston and will know more about Brahmins of western world.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Tools To Know Truth

Nara-Narayana- Swamy Narayan Mandir
Tools to know Truth
By Sri,K.B.Devarajan
Courtesy: The Hindu
Lord Narayana’s foremost devotee is Adisesha, the serpent. Adisesha came along with the Lord, as He took avatars to save mankind. In the Rama avatar, Adisesha came as the Lord’s younger brother Lakshmana. In the Krishna avatar, he was the Lord’s elder brother Balarama. In the Kali Yuga, Adisesha appeared as the great Vaishnavite Acharya Ramanuja, who was born in Sriperumbudur.
Why did Ramanuja take birth in this world? It was to show us that we can know happiness only if we know the Truth and that we can attain moksha only if we know the Truth. Now how does one know this Truth or Ultimate Reality? Only through ‘tattva gnana’ can we know the ultimate reality, We should know the ultimate reality to be saved from further births. All the Acharyas are agreed on this, whether it is Sankara, Ramanuja or Madhva. How does one reach this Truth? One must understand the Truth in the context of the Vedas.
The religions that accept the primacy of the Vedas are known as the Vaidika mathas. Why do we need the Vedas to understand the Truth? Just as we need the microscope and telescope for scientific study, so also we need tools to understand the ultimate reality, and the tools that help here are the Vedas.
We use our senses to make sense of the world. But when something is beyond our senses, how does one comprehend it? We need the help of the Vedas to understand that which is ‘ateendriyam’ - not comprehensible through our senses. So to understand God, we need someone to tell us about Him. Those who have seen Him do not talk to us about Him. Those who talk about Him are the ones who have not seen Him, says Thirumazhisai Azhvar in a verse.
So the only way to know the ultimate reality is to see what the Vedas say in this regard, because the Vedas speak only the truth. Suppose you have not seen the Niagara Falls yourself, but you have a honest friend who has seen it. If he were to describe the Falls to you, you would believe him because he is trustworthy.
Likewise, the Vedas that show us the Truth are to be trusted, and will help us know the ultimate reality.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Worship Nature

A Hindu woman performing a religious ceremony around the tulsi plant Painting by D.V. Dhurandhar, Bombay, C.1890
(image source: V&A Museum, London)
Once again this has reference to Seenu's blog on Indian Monsoon
In The Bhagavad Gita, sloka 20, Chapter 10, Lord Krishna says,
"I am the Self seated in the heart of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the very end of all beings". All beings have, therefore to be treated alike."
***
Our natural environment – comprising mountains and hills, rivers and dales, trees and plants – is considered auspicious enough to provide space for meditation. There are thousands of spots whose special sanctity is enhanced by the performance of daily rituals. Retreats in the Himalayas or on the river banks shelter sages who are credited with universal knowledge. Especially hallowed are the sources and confluence of rivers. Harmony with the natural world receives strong emphasis as a pervasive element in Indian spiritual beliefs and rituals. Evergreen trees were regarded as symbols of eternal life and to cut them down was to invite the wrath of the gods. Groves in forests were looked upon as habitations of the gods. It was under a banyan tree that the Hindu sages sat in a trance seeking enlightenment and it was here that they held discourses and conducted holy rituals.
The ancient sacred literature of the Vedas enshrines a holistic and poetic cosmic vision. They represent the oldest, the most carefully nurtured, the most elaborately systematized and the most lovingly preserved oral tradition in the annals of the world. Unique in their perspective of time and space, their evocative poetry is a joyous and spontaneous affirmation of life and nature. The Vedic Hymn to the Earth, the Prithvi Sukta in Atharva Veda, is unquestionably the oldest and the most evocative environmental invocation. In it, the Vedic seer solemnly declares the enduring filial allegiance of humankind to Mother Earth: 'Mata Bhumih Putroham Prithivyah: Earth is my mother, I am her son.' Mother Earth is celebrated for all her natural bounties and particularly for her gifts of herbs and vegetation. Her blessings are sought for prosperity in all endeavours and fulfilment of all righteous aspirations. A covenant is made that humankind shall secure the Earth against all environmental trespass and shall never let her be oppressed. A soul-stirring prayer is sung in one of the hymns for the preservation and conservation of hills, snow-clad mountains, and all brown, black and red earth, unhurt, unsmitten, unwounded, unbroken and well defended by Indra.
(source:
The East is green - ourplanet.com).

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha Mahaswamy

Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Mahaswamy

Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Swaminah (born Srinivasa Sastri; 19171989) was the Jagadguru Shankaracharya (ecumenical pontiff) of one of the most important Hindu Advaita Mathas in India, the Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham. A "matha" is a seminary and monastery for followers of the Hindu religion.
Srinivasa Sastri was born in
Basavanagudi, Bangalore to Venkatalakshamma and Rama Sastry on November 13, 1917. The family was an extremely pious Telugu-speaking smartha brahmin family belonging to the Mulukanadu subcaste. Even as a young boy, Srinivasa Sastri exhibited extreme dispassion, a hallmark of great ascetics. When offered the opportunity to stay in Sringeri and study the Hindu scriptures under the tutelage of the then Jagadguru, Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati, he quickly accepted and settled without ado into a life of austerity and scholarship.
Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati eventually announced that Sri Srinivasa Sastri would succeed him as the next Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Sringeri. The sacred
initiation ceremony was held on May 22 1931. The Acharya named his holy successor designate "Abhinava Vidyateertha". Srinivasa Sastri was only thirteen years old at the time of his initiation into Sannyasa (Asceticism).
From then until his
mukti in 1989, Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Swaminah navigated the affairs of the Sringeri Matha with sagacity and immense dignity. Under his supervision, the activities of the Matha expanded all over India. Apart from offering spiritual guidance to the throngs of the faithful, he also expanded the charitable actions of the mutt, including the construction of a state-of-the-art medical facility, the "Sharada Dhanavantari Charitable Hospital", to serve the population of Sringeri and surrounding areas.
The Jivanmukta(One who is liberated while alive) Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha Swaminah attained videhamukti on
21 September 1989. His Adhishtana stands in the Narasimha Vanam at Sringeri
Sri Abhinavatheertha swamigal's biography is available in the following book named as Yoga Enlightenment And Perfection and the same book is named as Yogmum Gyanumum Jeevanamukthiyum in tamil
The following is an exposition of Karma Yoga by Achryal, throug parables one of the many is given here as sample for you .
A woman doted on her young son and took great care of him. One day ,she woke up with intense headache and nausea,neverthe less she attended to her child's morning requirements without any laxity. That day,she found the rice prepared by her to be slightly over cooked.Promptly she started to cook some more rice , her husband noticed this and told her, You are sick and in pain why do you want to strain youself? The rice ready is quite eatable, for that she said I want to give my son the kind of rice he is used to and the over cooked rice I shall consume it. Out of deep love for her child the woman did her very best for hm. Likewise , a Karma-Yogin, by virtue of his devotion to GOD, performs his duties to the very best of his ability and refrain from adhrama.
The lord has declared in the Bhagwat Gita, Perform your prescribed duties, for action is superior to inaction.Moreover, even the maintainance of your body will not be possible through inaction. Man becomes bound by all his action except those done by him of the sake of God. O son of Kunti, perform actions for God without being attached.....By performing his duty without attachment, a peron attains liberation.(through the purifiction of his mind).


Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Parmacharya Of Sri Kanchi

"The Sage of Kanchi" is a biographical documentary in English on the life of Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi, the 68th Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. It takes you on a spiritual journey and portrays the life and times of the Maha Periyaval of Kanchi, referred to as Paramacharya by his disciples and followers. The video captures the 100 years of life of this great spiritual head, his immense contribution to the national and spiritual fabric of India, and to the 2,500 year old institution established by Sri Adi Shankara at Kanchipuram.
you may visit the following site to view the lovely video presentation of Parmacharya's life history.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Eminent Personality and Spirituality

Pof.T.R.Anantharaman
Extremely impressed after reading Seenu's blog on Prof.T.R.Anantharaman, wanted to share with you all; the amazing personality that was TRA and read about the excellent tributes paid by most of his students from BHU on his eightieth birthday celebrations, which reflects how a man of eminance should lead his life. Really Great !
Important dimension of Anantharaman's personality relates to Spirituality, Philosophy and Religion, particularly of the Vedic and Yogic traditions of India going back to over 4000 years. During the sixties and seventies, he participated in several programs of the Gandhian Sarvodaya Movement and drew inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi's spiritual heir Acharya Vinoba Bhave, the Initiator of Bhoodaan (Land Gifts) Movement. In 1974, he took steps to establish the Yoga Sadhana Kendra (Centre for Yoga) as an interdisciplinary academic unit of BHU and directed its activities for four years. This Centre is still active and popular in the BHU Campus. He also took steps to launch the Indian Academy of Yoga as a Learned Society in 1981. He was Founder-President of the Academy during 1981-83 and has since been elected President for the 1984-86, 1987-89, 1997-99, 2002-04 and 2005-2007 triennia.
Apart from over 50 articles on Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, Anantharaman has authored two books in German, one on the
Bhagavad-Gita (1961) published by Guenther Verlag, Stuttgart, and the other on Erkenntis durch Meditation (Knowledge through Meditation) published in 1977 by the Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft, Stuttgart. His monograph entitled Ancient Yoga and Modern Science was brought out in 1997 by PHISPC, the National Project on History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture. His two condensed versions of the original Bhagavad-Gita of 700 slokas (verses) viz., Gita-Samgrah (The Gita Abridged) of 350 slokas and Gita-Sarah (Essence of the Gita) of 140 slokas (to facilitate reciting 20 slokas on every day of the week) have been in private circulation for some years now and have often been used for his discourses on the Gita in India and abroad. In recognition of his Sanskrit scholarship the Kashi Pandita Sabha (Scholars Guild of Varanasi) conferred on him in 1980 the title Vidya-Vachaspati, this conferment being equivalent to a Doctorate degree in Philosophy and Religion. In 2001, he was conferred the Dr. B. C. Roy National Award for "Eminence in Philosophy", the third person and the first scientist to receive it during the last four decades.
Anantharaman has also functioned as Kula Acharya (Chancellor) of Ashram, Atmadeep Research Institute for the Seculo-Spiritual Heritage of India (RISHI) & Headquarters of a Unique Movement for the Third Millennium to rejuvenate the Human Family through Secular Spirituality and Scientific Yoga. The Ashram is located just south of Delhi and has been given accreditation in 2004 as a Research Centre for Yoga and Allied Subjects by the Department of AYUSH, Ministry for Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
ANCIENT YOGA AND MODERN SCIENCE
by
T. R. ANANTHARAMANHardcover (Edition: 2000)
PROJECT OF HISTORY OF INDIAN SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE
About the Book:
The present monograph is based on Professor Anantharaman's studies and researches for over tow decades in the field of classical Yoga. It is the outcome of a sincere attempt by a scientist-technologist to understand and interpret ancient Yoga in today's idiom as well as in the light of recent findings of modern science in the realms of material transformation and human consciousness.
If we get a chance we all should try to get the above book written by TRA.
Please click on the picture see larger image.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Vyasa Purnima

The blog is courtesy: Sulekha.com

Today 7th July '09 is celebrated as the Vyasa Purnima or Gurupurnima dedicted to the rishi Veda Vyasa composer of Mahabharata.The life history of Veda Vyasa is an interesting and inspirational story. The author of the longest poetic epic Mahabharata, containing one lakh verses in Sanskrit. Veda Vyasa was the first and greatest acharya of Sanatan Dharma.
He is responsible for classifying the four Vedas, wrote the 18 Puranas and recited the great Mahabharata, noted down by Lord Vighneswara. In fact, the Mahabharata is often called as the fifth Veda (Panchama Veda).
The most important and the most glorified section of Mahabharat is the Srimadth Bhagwad Gita, the lesson recited to Arjuna by Lord Krishna on the battlefield. The biography of Veda Vyasa is very vivid and makes an interesting read.
Around some 5000 years ago, he was born on an island on the holy river Yamuna. His father was Parashara Maharshi, a sage and his mother was Satyavati.
He taught the Vedas to his pupils with ardent devotion and dedication. It is said that Mahabharata is the 18th Purana that was written by Veda Vyasa.
He fathered four famous sons, Pandu, Dhritarashtra, Vidura and Sukhdeva. Veda Vyasa received knowledge from great sages like Vasudeva and Sanakadika. He described that the most important goal in one's life is to attain Narayana or the Divine Supreme.
Apart from the Mahabharata, he also wrote the Brahmasootra, one of his shortest theologies on Hindu philosophy. It is said that Veda Vyasa is immortal and he never died. Seeing the widespread violence in today's times, he is said to have retreated into some remote village in Northern India.
The life of Veda Vyasa is an example to all in the modern times on how to be selfless and devote oneself entirely to Lord in order to attain Nirvana.

Monday, July 6, 2009

SPIRITUALISING ALL ACTIVITIES IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

SPIRITUALISING ALL ACTIVITIES IS
THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
(Sri Swami Chidananda)
Courtesy Divine Life Society
Magazine
Being in the midst of worldly activities one
may yet fulfil the supreme purpose, the spir i -
tual purpose of life on earth. It is true that the
spheres of the spir i tual life and the sec u lar life
have dif fer ent con no ta tions with re gard to
their op er a tion. The sec u lar life has its sphere
out side and the spir i tual life has its sphere
within your self, though it does have some ex -
pres sion out wardly also. How ever both are a
part of you and wher ever you are, there your
spir i tual life has to be. If you are in a fam ily
set-up and liv ing the workaday life in the busy
field of worldly ac tiv ity, your spir i tual life must
be there. This in te rior life can not be cre ated
by bring ing about vis i ble ex ter nal changes in
your self. You can not live the spir i tual life
better in Rome than in Van cou ver. You can -
not be a better spir i tual man if you are liv ing at
the top of a moun tain than if you are liv ing at
the foot of it. Ge og ra phy can not change it.
Mere changes of ex ter nal form can not re ally
and truly af fect your spir i tual life, for it is the
life of the soul and, wher ever you are, the in -
ner Self may be look ing to wards God.
Even in the most holy of sur round ings,
the most sa cred of places, right in the ta ber -
na cle of God, if your soul is not in Him and is
not lifted up to wards Him, then you are not in
a spir i tual realm at all.
In var i ous ways great Mas ters have tried
to bring this truth home to seek ers and an in -
ci dent co mes to my mind which is a very fa -
mil iar story to us and not too an cient. It was in
the life of Sri Ramakrishna, the spir i tual pre -
cep tor of the fa mous Swami Vivekananda. In
his early life, Sri Ramakrishna was a priest in
a Hindu tem ple in the then cap i tal city of In -
dia, Cal cutta, and the tem ple was founded by
a lady who was some thing of a small queen.
She was the wife of a na tive ruler and a lady
of im mense riches. She had the tem ple built
with a fab u lous sum of money and had en -
dowed it with rich lands. She was a very de -
vout lady in spite of her great wealth and
af flu ence and, apart from her con cern of look -
ing af ter her prop erty, her life was spir i tual.
She oc ca sion ally would drop in at the tem ple
at the time of wor ship and sit in the sanc tum.
Sri Ramakrishna was a young priest at that
time, per haps twenty-four or twenty-five
years of age, and, on this oc ca sion, this great
lady hav ing pu ri fied her self with a bath in the
Gan ga, was sit ting just in side the sanc tum
med i tat ing. The wor ship came in a cer tain
stage where the De ity had to be hymned with
praises and glo ri fi ca tion and so, just be fore
Sri Ramakrishna was about to burst into
song, this lady said: Would you please sing
this particular song?”, and he said “Yes” and
started hymning the Di vine Mother. When he
was sing ing he was sud denly seen to stop,
turn to this great lady and give her a re sound -
ing slap on the back and just said: “What?
Here too?” That is all and then he re com -
menced sing ing. There were armed guards
nearby who had fol lowed this lady to the tem -
ple and some of the high est of fi cials of the
tem ple, and all were sim ply stunned. Some
had started to trem ble and one or two were
think ing, “Now this man’s life had come to a
close. Per haps she will or der him im me di -
ately to be bound up.” But much to their sur -
prise, just as though she were a daugh ter
be ing chas tised by a fa ther, she sud denly be -
came doc ile, kept quiet and be gan in tently to
at tend to the song. When the song was over,
the ser vice pro ceeded and, at the end of the
ser vice, she came out as if noth ing had hap -
pened. The off icials and the guards were just
waiting and won der ing “What is go ing to hap -
pen now?” and when the su per in ten dent
asked her, “Have you any or ders? I ob served
what has hap pened, but I could not step in -
side the sanc tum and so I could not do any -
thing,” she sim ply re plied, “No, there are no
or ders.” Later on, her son-in-law, who was
man ag ing the tem ple on her be half, came to
hear of this in ci dent and asked her about it.
She said, “He (Sri Ramakrishna) was per -
fectly right. I had asked him to hymn the Di -
vine Mother be cause it was the Mother who
was en shrined there and, while he was sing -
ing, I was think ing of a law-suit com ing off to -
mor row at the City High Court about the
es tate and was wor ry ing about it. I was not
think ing about any thing else—the Di vine
Mother or the song that he was sing ing in Her
praise. It was the law-suit which was oc cu py -
ing my mind and nat u rally it is some thing
which sim ply is not done be fore God. And so I
had to be pulled up and he did it. It was not re -
ally he who did it, but it was the Di vine Mother
who did it.” So this lady was not re ally in the
tem ple but she was in the Law Court. It is
what you are within your self that con sti tutes
whether you are lead ing a spir i tual life or you
are lead ing a worldly life and not the place
you are in. That is the se cret of liv ing a Yogic
life in and through the world.
Ev ery thing can be come Yogic if you
spiri tual ise your life and the method of spir i tu -
al ising life has been ex pounded in the most
glo ri ous way in the sa cred scrip ture ‘The
Bhagavad Gita’. Yoga is un ion with the Di vine
and, if you live your life with con stant in ner
un ion with the Di vine through a link of great
de vo tion to Him, through a link of gen u ine
love for the Su preme, what ever you do, wher -
ever you are and in what ever man ner you are
liv ing, you are liv ing a life of Yoga; for you are
liv ing with God and you are at-one with God
in your in ner life.
Such a life of at-one ness with God, a life
of con scious ef fort to be for ever united with
love and de vo tion to Him, and a life of aware -
ness that the whole of this life is meant for the
con sum ma tion of the ful fil ment to the ut most
per fec tion of such un ion,—a life lived in this
con scious ness,—that is Di vine Life. It is a life
of Yoga. If you are con sciously ever try ing to
reach out to wards Him in your spirit and draw
nearer and nearer to Him day by day, you are
liv ing a life of Yoga, no mat ter what shape
your ex ter nal life takes.
This spirit is the most im por tant fac tor in
liv ing a Yogic life and, in the light of this; all
that you have heard about Yoga should be -
come very clear and plain. This prin ci ple be -
ing the very es sen tial fac tor which makes a
life spir i tual, we have to con sider what those
fac tors are which we can in clude in our daily
fam ily life which will fur ther this prin ci ple and
will en able us to be united in te ri orly al ways
with God.
We take for granted, of course, that the
first thing that one is to be con scious of is
one’s pur pose in life. Ever be con scious of
why you are liv ing and ever be con scious of
what pur pose you are to ful fil in life. That is
the most im por tant thing. Know that the
whole mean ing of life is the uti lis ing of ev ery
mo ment of life in or der to at tain the su preme
pur pose.
We take it for granted that we are deal -
ing with peo ple who are al ready aware of the
spir i tual goal in life, know ing that in God
alone, true peace and hap pi ness can be had,
in God alone, all the im per fec tions of this
mor tal ex is tence can be over come and, in
God alone, all sor row can be tran scended
and the state of Eter nal life, Im mor tal ity, free -
dom and fear less ness can be had, and know -
ing this there has al ready been cre ated in
such a one a great urge and as pi ra tion to live
this life so as to have this su preme at tain ment
now, in this very body. To such a per son liv ing
such a busy fam ily (house hold) life, dif fi cul -
ties come in the way and the great est difi -
culty is that so many acivities clutter up one’s
day-to-day life that there seems to be no time
for the es sen tial ex er cise of the spirit in the
way of de vo tion, in the way of prayer and wor -
ship. This is one great ob sta cle, but it is not a
very se ri ous one, nor is it the main one. The
main ob sta cle com prises the nu mer ous as -
pects of your worldly life, your sec u lar life,
which you have to ful fil. Why? Be cause the
whole of life’s set-up is eco nom i cal and one
has to work to earn one’s live li hood. Gone
are the days of in her ited prop er ties and pa -
ter nal wealth. One has to work and this is the
dom i nant as pect of the sec u lar life.
The secondary aspect is the domstic
life. It is from here that one goes to the profes -
sional field, day after day, and it is back here
again that one comes after the day’s work is
done. In the third in stance, as a responsible
member in a community, one has cer tain as -
pects of social life—perhaps club life, or mak -
ing friends, or some other activities—which
crop up once in a while. Then each one has
one’s own per sonal, in di vid ual life.
The per sonal, in di vid ual life is the ba sis,
next to it co mes the fam ily or the do mes tic
life—the home life where there are the dif fer -
ent re la tion ships be tween hus band and wife,
par ents and chil dren, broth ers and sis ters,
etc.,—and then, though nec es sary, much
less im por tant, co mes the pro fes sional life.
For the great ma jor ity of peo ple, it has not any
spe cial im pact or sig nif i cance upon the spir i -
tual and eth i cal side of man’s life; so don’t for -
get that the in di vid ual as pect of your life is the
most im por tant to you.
A genuine, authentic positivism is an indispensable requisite of
successful spiritual striving and ultimate attainment—a keen positivism that looks at the positive aspects of things and ex ults that God has
been so gracious, that rejoicingly moves for ward with enthusiasm, with
in ter est, with ea ger ness, long ing for noth ing else, wish ing for noth ing
else, car ing for noth ing else, and, pay ing at ten tion to noth ing else but
this cen tral quest. This in deed is the sure guar an tor, that which en -
sures the suc cess ful cul mi na tion of the spir i tual quest, the suc cess ful
fruition of spiritual Sadhana, the successful attainment of enlighten -
ment and il lu mi na tion. Be this so in the life of each and ev ery one of
you!