The Way of the Swan !!

Jai Gurudev !!

THE SWAN …

The spell of the very word opens up in our mind screen , a beautiful picture of the elegant bird .... the pure white coloured creature swimming in clean waters with all its glory and splendour …

The Swan captivates our heart not only by its appearance , but also by its special characteristic , which is very unique in nature. This is well spoken of in Tamil literature and  the poems hold the swan very high in esteem .

Guess what is that characteristic feature ?

Yes, the swan is believed to separate the milk from a mixture of milk and water. If we keep the mixture of water and milk in a bowl , the swan drinks only the milk leaving aside the water in bowl.

This unique  feature of identifying and separating the goodness makes the swan a special bird.

That’s the reason , the swan has occupied an important place in the Hindu Mythology too.

The Goddess of knowledge , called Goddess Saraswati is depicted as wearing white colour saree , holding the Veena and the books  and sits on the Swan .

The white colour marks the purity , the Veena indicates the arts , the books denote the knowledge . 

And the swan  is the vehicle of the Goddess Saraswati , the reason being its unique characteristic of separating the goodness from the bad.

In short , we can say , one can master the knowledge /Arts , only  if he moves with the attitude of identifying the positivity in every aspect of life , ignoring the negative attributes and becomes pure in his thoughts and actions . Then , Saraswati is supposed to stay in his/her tongue and actions too.

The knowledge flourishes only in the midst of positivity and purity  .

Here knowledge means the true knowledge , the knowledge of the Truth or Wisdom .

The Lake Manasarovar in the Holy Himalayas or the Mount Kailash is supposed to be the abode of Swans in India .

The Swans occupy a high pedestal rather a respectable position  in the spiritual sphere.

The Swan Concept  that is identifying and sticking to the positivity of any thing has also been stressed strongly in the Holy Book of Hindus , the Baghavad Gita.

In Gita, Lord Krishna uplifts Arjuna by his enlightening  words of wisdom in the midst of the Warfield, when Arjuna was totally depressed and dejected as he has to fight against his own cousins in the war.

Krishna , at one point says that , " Arjuna , this Supreme knowledge is being taught to you because you are Anasuya now ."

Anasuya means "Devoid of Fault finding eyes " “

Indirectly Krishna says that , since Arjuna has become the one who has stopped finding faults , his mental state has become ready to receive the supreme knowledge.

Else the knowledge will go waste , if the listener doubts everything and dwells on the negativities.

There is a certain mindset that even in the best of conditions , keeps finding fault. That type of mindset cannot know the sacred knowledge.

For instance, Hanuman never saw any fault in Rama.

From a distance , even craters cannot be seen.

Even on a smooth surface, there will be holes.

If you are interested only in the holes, then you will not be able to see the magnanimity of things.

So, becoming Anasuya is one of the prime factor in the path of Truth !!

Love & smiles....

 

Satsang - The environment Uplifter !!

Jai Gurudev !!






Satsang conducted by AOL Teachers Mr.Gururaj
& Mrs.Romna Gururaj.Their son Deivik is also seen.







 




Satsang in a slum





*Satsang*  in true sense means " The Company of the Truth " or "The True Company ".


It means as....


The company which gives the  upliftment of our soul,
the company which brings eternal Joy and happiness ,
the company which makes us forget our worries and sorrows,
the company which makes us to realise our inner self,
the company which we always look forward without our knowledge,
the company which always will be with us .... the Truth !!


We prefer to be in the company of our friends and relatives , due to which we get joy , no doubt.
But we can not always guarantee that. Sometimes, the negative tendacies also do crop up , like anger , greed, lust , violence etc... And sometimes, this company will pull us down also , making us depressed or feel low in our energy level. Also, this company favours the gossips , negativity , loose talks - the talks which do not have sense at all etc...




The kids actively participating in Satsang.



In the midst of these company , we can find our inner peace, enormous Joy , uplift our energy level in the positive direction in what we call as *Satsang* or the True Company.Not only that , the satsang , which involves the full participation of the people can do wonders . It can purify the environment , uplift the energy level in the surrounding area where it is conducted.

That's the reason , the satsangs when done in the slums , in the midst of the less fortunate people/kids , we can see their face glowing . The people would have forgotten the miseries they are undergoing due to various levels of agonies , they undergo.

That's the concept of Satsang at various low energy level areas.

We can say Satsang as the Power Generator , which brings Light and Love in the lives of the most needed ones at the appropriate time.

The persons participating in Satsangs regularly cannot deny the above fact. 



People having food after satsang



Normally the regular Satsang group , with the intention that the benefit of Satsang should reach the less fortunate people dwelling in slums , orphanages ,

 Blind schools, Old age homes, Handicapped schools, they move out in groups to those areas and conduct satsangs ,

followed by Food Distribution, clothes distribution, other amenities distribution, etc 



Slum Kids relishing the delicacies served



So, one can see every face being lit up with light and Joy , both the conductors of Satsang and the people who are participating .

 

The Blind School kids being
benefitted  by the satsang.
The Satsang group is also seen around





Satsang leaves everyone with their heart full and mind free ....
No doubt !!

Love & smiles...

Why Ganesha ? Why not Allah ?

Jai Gurudev !!

“Why don’t we pray to Allah  ? “

asked a six year old lass to her papa .

“No darling , we pray to Ganesha ,

Who gives whatever we want ! “ said the loving daddy !

The girl  said in a determined tone , “ My friend says

even Allah gives whatever we want  itseems  “,

Confused father exclaimed , “Oh ! My lil’ darling !

               How can  I make you understand ?

There came in time ,Uncle Sam with a clear stand !!

Uncle Sam tackled the question of the girl with his own ,

The sharp little girl responded without any  frown !!

 

Hey  dear ! Which chocolate do you like the most ?

Lollipop is my all time  Favourite out of the whole lot !!

What about your dear friend then ?

Oh ! She likes the Cadbury’s Milk Chocolate wrapped in foil so thin !!

Can you please tell your brothers’ choice ?

“He gulps at one stretch ,numerous  Eclairs and the Nestle’ Coffee Toffees !”

Uncle Sam proclaimed

“Everyone of your choice of brand is different ,

though the chocolate is one and the same ..

Likewise , each one of us pray to different  names of God as per their taste  ,

Though the God is one and the same !!  “

Relief came to the father and the daughter ,

And then followed a spontaneous Thankful gesture  from the father to Uncle Sam later !!

Love & smiles....

What does Death do to you ?

Jai Gurudev !!


Death is one unavoidable thing in our life.
We come across deaths then and there in our life. 
Some deaths have a deep impact on us . Some do not . 
If the person involved is close to us , then more we are affected . 
Some unknown person's death do not have that much effect on us. We just consider it as a part of life and move on.

But , this Death factor , if we closely observe is a Great Master , we can say .
We learn atleast one lesson from a death .
Death  makes us to realise : 

• we all have to leave this world one day or the other .
• Not only that , we'll be leaving behind all the wealth we own  and all the relationships we hold .
• That's the time we start uttering the words "soul " & "Peace" , which otherwise would never come to our mind at all .
• We get to have a feel of the formless feature in a person  , which gets seperated from the physical body on death .
• Atleast for a moment or few , it makes us to think that we should be good to all and not do any harm to anybody either by words or actions.

If we are deeply affected , then more intense will be the lesson it teaches us .
In short we can say , Death gives us something called as *Dispassion * .

And Dispassion (Vairagya )  takes us to a different state of our being .The words of wisdom do come out from us .We somewhat will be drawn to a meditative state naturally .

That's the reason in Hindu mythology , Lord Shiva , the bestower of  dispassion is believed to be dwelling in the burial ground  and is the one who is depicted as staying in the meditative state always .

But once the person is out from the agony of Death , he once again is drawn to the material world , Passion towards earthly pleasures starts off again ....
In tamil , they refer as " Masaana Vairagya " , the Vairagya or Dispassion which stays as long as we stay in the burial ground.




 The  Great Saint AdiShankaracharya has said , " What Joy can dispassion not give ?!"

So, Death which gives dispassion  also gives us  Joy indirectly , by making us to be in touch with our own self  atleast for sometime.

What if , we always remember that,  any moment  Death can occur to us  ?!

Will we not start to live life to the fullest without any ill feelings , hatred , corruption , violence etc ?!

Will we not start to realise that only this moment we have in our hand ?!

Will we not start to celebrate our very existence ?!


Love & smiles...

So, Let's start admiring ............

Jai Gurudev !!

The U.S President Mr.Obama and the Father of our Nation , Mahatma Gandhi - What a Wonderful Chemistry !!

Soon after he became the President , the news of his admiration for Gandhi came as a pleasant surprise , especially to Indians all over the world. 

For a man who used to hang a framed picture of Mohandas K. Gandhi in his Senate office,

it's no big surprise that  President Obama  along with first lady Michelle Obama ,on his recent visit to India , quickly headed over to this city's Gandhi Museum, a three-story home where Gandhi stayed when he was in Mumbai.

Obama described the personal impact of Gandhi's teachings of non-violence and equality on his political career.   

Obama also  payed tribute to Gandhi at Raj Ghat .

 The president, who once declared that the one person living or dead that he'd love to have dinner with would be Gandhi . A stunning statement which emphasises the admiration he had for Gandhi .

He has said , "He is a hero not just to India, but to the world."

Obama described the personal impact of Gandhi's teachings of non-violence and equality on his political career.

"Throughout my life, including my work as a young man on behalf of the urban poor, I have always found inspiration in the life of Gandhiji and in his simple and profound lesson to be the change we seek in the world," he said.

"I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as president of the United States , had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world," he added.

The words of Mr.& Mrs.Obama about our Mahatma is really touching , which goes as

"We will always remember the great soul who changed the world with his message of peace, tolerance, of love,"

This clearly implies that how a man of great ideals can influence the world even after generations ...

Secondly it also opens up the simple truth  that " Admiration takes you to greater heights !! "

The height a person reaches is determined by the extent of admiration he has towards a character or an ideal  !!

The admiration towards Great Personalities moulds up an another Great Personality sooner or later , no doubt !!   

So, Let's start admiring ............ 

Love & smiles...

What we know and what we might not know !

Jai Gurudev !!

What we know is ....

We breathe to live !!

But do we  know how many breaths we take in and out per minute normally  ?


And do we know how many breaths we take in and out when we are angry ?


And the frequency of our breath is a varying factor  , meaning our breath rate changes with our emotions . Are we aware of this fact ....our own breath ?!

Do you know my breath rate ?

And can you guess my breath rate right at this moment ?

  

	Average	During the Anger/Tensed moments	During the Deep Meditation
No.of breaths per minute	16 to 17	20 to 25	2 to 3

Is it not amazing ?!

• And what we know is

By breathing , we take in oxygen and leave out Carbon di oxide.

     But do we know  ….

The deeper and longer the breath , the more the amount of oxygen that  enters the  cells and more toxins (CO2) go out of the cells .
This leaves the cells and in turn the body becomes more fresh  , energizing and healthy ;
the mind gets relieved of  tension  and attains a calm and settled state .

And in the calm state , the mind works quite efficiently  .

Not only that , the creativity skills increase , the mind lives in the present moment , does not worry about the past . No fear about the future .And Joy bubbles up for no reason.

• What we know is :

Tired Person -----> Deep sleep  for 8 hrs  ----> Fresh and rejuvenated

And what we don’t know is ….

Tired person  ----- > Meditation for ½  hr ----> Fresh and rejuvenated.

meaning

Deep sleep  for 8 hrs  <-------equivalent to ------> Meditation for ½  hr 
                  

Is it not quite interesting ?




Love & smiles...

Happy Diwali !!

Jai Gurudev !!

 

The name , Diwali has got a magnetic effect  that we will be attracted towards the celebration , it brings with it all along , once a year.

Starting from cleaning the house and workareas , shopping  for new dresses, jewellery , household items, vehicles etc , Diwali keeps us all busy. Kids just love Diwali , for it brings excitement and colours - the Crackers, the Rockets , sparklers  etc along with the mouthwatering sweets and savouries.

It's a time for the Family Get-togethers , Gift exchanges , Sweet exchanges and wish exchanges too .
The companies do give bonus to the employees to enable them to celebrate thoroughly.

In short Diwali brings in enormous Joy to every heart !!

The Festival of lights  indeed lights up the hearts of all , from kids to teenagers to elders to old people .

As the puranic story goes , Narakasura 's boon from the Lord to bring happiness  to all the people in the world on this particular day has not gone in vain .




Happy Diwali to all !!


   Love & smiles...