One year of New life

On 22nd May, I am completing one year from the day I came back alive. On 22nd May, 2014 I was having breakfast in Gobind's house in Bangalore. Suddenly my heart stopped beating. I was dead for all practical purposes.

One of the neighbors took me to the hospital in his car. Rukku gave me mouth-to-mouth breathing and chest compression. I was saved because of the Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) given by her.

Japa and Meditation

The different kinds of Japa are

1. Vaikhari Japa (audible)
2. Upamsu Japa (whispering)
3. Manasika Japa (mental)
4. Likhita Japa (written)

In Tantra a lot of emphasis is laid on Japa. For attaining Mantra Siddhi you have to do Japa of the mantra a particular number of times. But it is not that you stop with that. You are expected to do constant Mantra Japa so that the Mantra becomes part of you. The Mantra is always running in your mind. In Tantra the rituals are necessary for only the main Japa when you count. But otherwise you are free to do Mantra Japa without any restrictions.

The same attitude is taken in Nama Japa also where the Nama becomes part of you. Here here is no emphasis on the count. Still many traditions insist that you should do minimum number of times per day. This is to ensure that you do it regularly. It is good if you decide the minimum number that you will recite per day.

In Japa you progress from Audible Japa to Mental Japa over a period of time.

There is very little difference between Mental Japa and Meditation

Most of the Hindus know about prayers, and Nama Japa well, as these are part of the daily ritual. Though the term Dhyana (Meditation) is known, wherever it is mentioned Dhyanam we just said Dhyanam or recited what is called Dhyana Sloka of the Deity.

Meditation as is now known was only for the very few. I have not heard of anyone doing meditation in my village full of Brahmins. Meditation was associated with Tapas, which meant that it was beyond the reach of the common man. Because meditation was equated almost with Tapas, only those Hindus who were deeply spiritual took to meditation. Mostly these were Sanskrit scholars and students of Philosophy.

Meditation became popular in India mainly due to Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna, Bagavan Ramana Maharshi and Swami Sivananda. However it is still largely confined to the English knowing population. In India Bhakthi and rituals are considered superstition by the English educated intellectual class. Many of these people took to meditation.

When my father was a student of Swami Sivananda in the early 50s what he learnt was mainly Hatha Yoga, Japa and Hindu Philosophy. Swami Sivanananda's books give a lot of emphasis on Japa. Even In Hatha Yoga though we were taught all the Asanas, we were asked to do only Sirasasana , Sarvanghasana and other simple asanas daily. Even Sirasasana was to be done only if it suited you. Again Pranayama was learnt only through an experienced teacher. Sri. Kali Ghosh who was my teacher was very particular that I follow all the rules and also checked my progress regularly.

Though the development was like this in India, in the west it was the other way around. Meditation became almost synonymous with Hinduism. I saw someone writing that Meditation is Hinduism.

When we attend a course in Mountaineering, you are first taught rock climbing and then taught how to climb small mountain peaks. You do not expect to climb Mount Everest just by attending one Mountaineering course. You become proficient in rock climbing, climb a couple of peaks in the Alps, and then try the minor peaks in the Himalayas before attempting Mount Everest. Even in that I can never progress as fast as a man from Ghatwal because he is from the mountains and his heart is already accustomed to heights.

The reason why I am writing all this is that I find that, though in India we progressed slowly from prayer to Meditation over a period of years, most people in the west are directly initiated into meditation. It is my view that for most people it is like trying to climb Mount Everest without ever having done even rock climbing. Many of the instructions given for spiritual aspirants by Swami Sivanananda have been part and parcel of our daily life for generations.

Am I saying that all the courses in Meditation are fake? Definitely not. But if you are in New York and you attend a course in Rishikesh India you may have problems. If you stay in Rishikesh for six months then you have a better chance of success. Even then when you come back to New York you may have problems and you would not have anyone to discuss your problems. During my last visit to Dharamshala I found that for there are many people from outside India who come there regularly. These are people who are very serious students and practioners of Buddhism.

Similarly we find many people visiting India regularly. Even Swamijis who have reached great heights visit India regularly for spiritual regeneration.

Internet and Computers

I thought it is time that I posted about my hobby/obsession. Computers.

1997 - Got my first personal Computer. Started learning about Software and Hardware.

         - Got the Internet connection. VSNL had a monopoly then. The first email address was viswanat@md2.vsnl.net.in

Started learning about Web Design. Attended a comprehensive course on Computers. Quite expensive. About Rs.35000 if I remember correctly. Learnt C, C++, Visual Basic, Oracle programming. The idea of the course was to prepare people for Software jobs in U.S. Visual Basic or Oracle Administration. Almost all the people who attended the course did their certification and left for U.S.

This was a full time course and I took off for three months from my job.

My idea was to go on Oracle Financials or SAP.

Then I found that I was not very happy or contented in coding. 

But I started loving Computers and started devouring books on Hardware and Web Design.

2001 - Put up the first Web site. http://hindusaktha.freeservers.com
Bought a Scanner to scan images and upload them to the web site. 

Put up a site for the inauguration of Shandhashramam at Chennai. Swamiji liked it and asked me to proceed. 

I became a Hindu Evangelist.

Started posting regularly in Yahoo Clubs.

The Yahoo Clubs then became Yahoo Groups.

Started my own Yahoo Groups. 

This was a hectic period when I was posting almost daily to the Yahoo Groups. Some times more than one post per day.

By the Grace of GOD

My mother used to always say, "nothing is Saswadham in this world." She always said, "if we are alive tomorrow let us see what we can do ". We used to tease her about these statements. But later on I realised that the first step towards spirituality is when you accept that nothing is saswadham (ever-lasting).

Then talking about God and his grace, we believe that he will rush to our help when we need it. This is true. But then our day-to-day judgments are clouded by our desires and attachments. We are not able to decide what is good and what is bad for us. Spiritually and even materially.

I will take the case of our jobs. We get a better paying job, which needs relocation to a far away place. After relocating we are beset with so many problems that we wish we had not left the earlier job. It happens often that we regret our earlier decision. If we did not get the job in the far away place we blame God for not fulfilling our wish.

A child wants to buy an ice candy, which is sold on the street. The mother knows that it is not good for the health of the child. She refuses to buy the candy. The child is unhappy because it does not know what is good for it. Sometimes if the child throws up a tantrum the mother will buy the candy. The child becomes ill. In life if you can adopt the same attitude towards God it is easier to handle any situation. Mother knows what is best should be the attitude.

The disciples of Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa went through tremendous hardships in the early days when the mission was formed. Most of these were from well to-do families. None of them gave up when faced with starvation and other problems. Sant Tukaram faced so many hardships. Did he give up Vittala? Vittala also never gave up Sant Tukaram. If we read the history of the Saints of Hinduism we will find that all of them went through hardships. Did they give up? None of them did.

My belief and also from whatever I have read, you can tackle the situations by persevering with your Sadhana and total trust in God.

Guru's help will be only limited. If you face problems in your Sadhana Guru can help you. But if you have lost your job Guru can only reassure you that everything will turnout fine. If you are dependent on your job for your livelihood, MAA will ensure that you and your family are taken care of. But if one is occupying a high position of power and influence and suddenly loses that position, it only means that the power and fame were acting as a hindrance to one's spiritual advancement and therefore has been removed from your life. You lose a fortune because of upholding some principle then, it is MAA's will that you are better without the fortune.

But be assured MAA will never let any of her Bhakthas down. You take one step toward her and MAA will take ten steps towards you. You may not be able to meditate. Then you do Japa or prayer. There are no prerequisites for Sadhana. Sadhana has to be started early in life. But you do the type of Sadhana, which is suited to your age, family position, temperament etc. The Sadhanas for householders is necessarily different from that of the renunciates. In India even when you travel a distance of 200 kilometers by road, you face so many diversions and speed breakers. Our Ultimate goal is so far. Do not get disheartened by the diversions, speed breakers and breakdowns.

In India we are always told to read the biographies of saints and Sadhus. Whenever you are depressed you should read the stories of saints, disciples of Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna, Sadhus. You will get solace. Read the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Listen to Bhajans, devotional music. You will find the mood changing.

Many of the householder disciples like of Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna like Nag Mahasay and Yogin Maa were as great souls as the well-known renunciate disciples. You will also see how a person like Girish Ghosh was transformed by coming into contact with Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna and how even Hazra could get Mukthi. You draw inspiration from the lives and teachings of great men.

I have written only from my own experience. This is a subject where the experiences of everyone will vary.

Sankar

Can "GOD" desert us?

It is natural for most people to wonder at times whether MAA has deserted them. We even react with Anger. You must have heard of Ninda Studhi where the poet abuses God. A child gets angry with its mother when it is refused something. It even accuses the mother of desertion. But when the anger passes it comes back to the mother. So do we.

In Tamil there is a song by Barathiar, which goes as under:

மிடிமையும் அச்சமும் மேவி என் நெஞ்சில் குடிமை புகுந்தன
கொன்றவை போக்கு என்று

நின்னை சரணைடைந்தேன், கண்ணம்மா

தன் செயல் எண்ணி தவிப்பது தீர்த்திங்கு, நின் செயல் செய்து
நிறைவு பெறும் வண்ணம்

நின்னை சரணைடைந்தேன், கண்ணம்மா

நல்லது தீயது நாமறியோம், அன்னை, நல்லது நாட்டுக, தீமையை ஓட்டுக

நின்னை சரணைடைந்தேன், கண்ணம்மா

This means

MAA I am beset with cowardice and fear , remove these

I surrender to you

Instead of worrying over the consequences of my action, please take your action to make my life whole.

I surrender to you

I do not know what is good and what is bad. Please establish good  things and drive away bad things.

I surrender to you.

The poet addresses Devi as Kannamma that is Krishna as MAA.

This is my Daily prayer. If we develop this attitude then the question of MAA deserting us will never rise in our mind.

Jai MAA KAALI !!!

Sankar

What is this Blog about?

This is a personal Blog. This would contain my observations about Life in general. Of course with a heavy overlay of Hindu religion.

Thank You for visiting my Blog.