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Arsha Vijnana Gurukulamsūktā

January 2015sUKtaInside this IssueNew Year's Address by Pujya SwamijiArticle by Pujya SwamijiNew Year's Address by SwaminijiDhanyāṣṭakam: Part 1 by Swaminiji

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Ring in the New, Ring out the Old: HappyNew Year

By Pujya Swami DayanandajiThe past is gone, it is only in our memory. The future is goingto unfold, and what is going to be unfolded we are ready toreceive. We need to be ready. Years of one's life help youreceive the new with a better poise, with better capacity tounderstand, in short, with better perception.

We want our desires fulfilled in the New Year. All of ourdesires don't get fulfilled. This we know from our pastexperience.Wewanted to maintain a diary, each one wanted adiary, and the diary is written… only first page! The diary isthere new, it even smells new. So desires need not be fulfilled or they can be fulfilled, and we work forfulfillment.

Desires constitute one's life. If they don't get fulfilled, they leave the person unhappy. So, in the NewYear we make a decision to have desires. I don't say, “don't have desires”, have desires, but learn tomanage them. If they are fulfilled you are happy; if they are not fulfilled, try to fulfill them.

There aremany reasons for a desire not to get fulfilled, you cannot control all of them. Success dependson your being at the right place, in the right time. You don't know what is the right place, or the righttime. Therefore, we just pray, and prayer brings about grace as its result. Earn this grace by prayer, bydoing good deeds, by reaching out deeds. Keep some grace under your belt and the year will bemeaningful, grace-full. May the year give you a lot of grace, this is my New Year wish.Happy New Year.

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You cannot manage a situationunless you know exactly what ishappening. The inner responsesare allowed to happen forwant ofa proper insight and knowledge.You want to have the capacity tomanage every happeningproperly so that you do notdeliver yourself into the hands oflikes and dislikes, into the handsof anger, frustration and its roots.You are working towards thatcapacity.I am absolutely helpless in theeventof a reaction. I seemtohaveno power over this anger. Pleaseunderstand that it takes a lot ofcourage to accept helplessness.Unless I have the courage toaccept helplessness I can nevergrowout of it. I will not seek helpeven if it is available. It is like themanwhowasanalcoholic.When

someone asked him, “Why do you take alcohol every day?” he replied, “Iam not an alcoholic. I can give up alcohol any day.” This response is morefrom the alcohol than from the person. Amanwhowants to give up alcoholhas to first accept the fact that he has no power over alcohol. Similarly, Imust know intimately that I have no power over my anger, my sorrow,depression, and frustration. Some people advise, “Don’t get depressed”.Very often religious teachers become advisers. Nobody seems to really

understand what is going on. A person does not choose to get depressed; itjust happens. Equally that person cannot choose not to be depressed. Thereis no point in advising someone not to get depressed. When we advisesomeonenot toget angry,hegets angrierbecause it is not that apersonwantsto be angry. Anger happens.We need to realise that we have no power overanger, over sorrow, overmechanical thinking because they aremechanical.If we had control over them, we would not have them in the first place. Ifwe understand this, a way out opens up for us.When I amhelpless in controllingmy reactions, I can approach the Lord forhelp because everybody else is in the same situation as I am. I am sad andanother person is also sad and two sad persons coming together do notmakea happy lot. If a drowning person gets hold of another drowning one, bothget drowned in the process. Therefore, this popular prayer on these lines isvery relevant here: “O Lord, I am helpless. Please give me the maturity toaccept gracefully what I cannot change, and the will and effort to changewhat I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”All of our problems are becausewe refuse to accept facts and very oftenweworry about thingswecannot change.Wedonot knowwhat canbe changedand what cannot be. If we knew that, we could spare our efforts and divertour energy. Our efforts can gain a direction. We can pray.The basis for any form of prayer is the acknowledgement of ourhelplessness and then seeking help. Prayer is born naturally when I realisemy helplessness and recognise the source of all power, all knowledge. Ifboth of these are acknowledged, prayer is very natural. If everything is inorder I need not pray. All prayers have their fulfilment in keepingeverything in order.When I need help, I seek help from any person I can.When the helplessnessis in terms of my incapacity to let go of my past or to let the future happenwithout my being apprehensive, then a person like myself cannot help me.I have to go to the source from where such help is possible. That source isthe Lord whom I can invoke through prayer.I intimately realise that I amavictimofmyownpast.As a victimofmypast,

Helplessness and Seeking Help1

By Pujya Swami Dayanandaji

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I cannot but be apprehensive about the future. I become worried. I becomecautious. I become frightenedofmy future.Todelivermyself into thehandsof the Lord, I deliver myself to the order that is the Lord. The Lord is notseparate fromtheorder and theorder is not separate fromtheLord.My past then becomes part of the meaningful order of mypersonal life. The future unfolds itself in keeping withthe same order, an order that includes my previouskarma, if there is such a thing.As a child I had no will of my own. I was in thehands of my parents, my elders, my teachers, andother adult members of the society. As a child, Isaw that I was absolutely helpless. My knowledgewas limited and my perception was never clear. Iwas insecure. I was learningwith a small mind, withmeagre information, without any wisdom at all.Naturally, I made conclusions about the world andmyself. These conclusions formed the basisfor my interpretation of the events to come. In the process,these interpreted events definitely seem to confirm myconclusions.Look at the helplessness. As an adult I cannot remove the conclusions Imade as a child and therefore I become a victim of my own past. Whomshould I blame? I cannot blamemyself nor can I afford to blame the world.Blaming does not help me let go, the past being retained. It is one thing toacknowledge themistake of others but quite another to hold on to them andto retainmy fears andanger. I have to eliminate all formsofblaming inorderto be free of my past.Imayhavevalid reasons to blame. I see those reasons and I let goofmypast.By allowing my blaming to continue, I allow the past to continue. If I wasa victim of the behaviour of my elders, by blaming them now I continue tobe a victim. I understand all of this, but still I am helpless.“O Lord, helpme. Helpme accept gracefully what I cannot change. Let me

be free of blaming anyone, including myself. I cannot blame myself forwhat happened tomenor can Iblameothersbecauseothers themselveshaveyet others to blame.

O Lord, help me accept gracefully what I cannot change. Blamingmeans that I want to change the past. I want my past to bedifferent.Howcan it be?OLord,helpmeacceptgracefullywhat I cannot change. I let go of my resentment, anger,and dissatisfaction by accepting gracefully what Icannot change. O Lord, perhaps what I went throughwas meant to happen. Perhaps it was all in order.OLord, all the years of pain, struggle andgroping seemtohavepaid off, for I pray andby this prayer everythinghas becomemeaningful.My pain, my past, has resultedin my coming to you to seek help. Intimately, Iacknowledge my helplessness. I seek your help, yourintervention, to make me accept what I cannot change. I

cannot change what has happened, nor can anyone else, noteven you. Intimately I acknowledge the fact that what has

happened cannot be changed.O Lord, help me accept totally what I cannot change—my mother’sbehaviour, her omissions and commissions, my father’s neglect, his anger,his indifference, his lack of care, his mishandling, his mismanagement, hisdrinking, the fights between them, the confusion at home, my being leftalone, not fondled, not cared for, not loved. Perhaps, I was wrong, but thiswas how I felt.

O Lord, I cannot change what has happened. Please help me acceptgracefullywhat I cannot change. I do notwant to bury the past, nor do Iwantto forget the past. I cannot. I just want to accept the fact, accept the past.Gracefully, I accept the past. I even begin to see an order in all of this, fordo I not pray now? I have come to be objective. I see someorder here. Pleasehelp me accept gracefully what I cannot change.”1 Courtesy of Arsha Vidya Research and Publications, 2007.

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Dīpāvali2014

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Namaste and a very Happy New Year to all.

I am going to take up the topic of self-growth - something that we have toinitiate ourselves. It is not something that happens automatically. Othergrowth happens automatically, especially in ashrams; the food is so good thatwe grow automatically, sideways! Old age happens automatically, we growmore anxious, more fearful. But this self-growth has to be initiated with thehelp of our free-will, and here is where it matters most. Free-will is tetheredby rāga-dveṣas, likes and dislikes. We are unable to focus on self-growth,usually, because thewill is a slave to strong likes and dislikes. Constantly ourmind is entwined in what the Bhagavad Gītā calls yoga kṣema. Aprāptasyaprāpaṇam, getting what I don't have, is yoga. Protecting, retaining what Ialready have, and do not want to get rid of, like my house, my family, is whatBhagavad Gītā calls kṣema.

Mired in yoga and kṣema pursuits, there no internal space for the free-will togo towards self-growth. It does not happen automatically, we have to initiatethis self-growth. How? If we are mired in yoga and kṣema, we get on to thewrong track of preyas, whichmeans that which is relatively pleasing, but notabsolute. This is what happens. Therefore we have to choose our companyvery, very carefully, because this growth, at least in the beginning, needssome kind of solidarity. If everyone is going to malls and balls, that is whatwe will want to do too.

When you first started coming here, everyone might have got a little worriedabout you in your friend circle. Someone I knowwas asked, “What iswrong?You have such a nice husband, wonderful sons, do you have a secret sorrowthat you are going to the ashram? Are you sad?”

This is where the companywe keep becomes extremely vital for self-growth.We have to choose our company carefully. Coming to satsangs, to classes,here at the ashram, this is where we can really afford to leave the old

tendencies behind and start anew, because all we have here is the “now”.

Vedānta is full of paradoxes. Pujya Swamiji loves to play with them. Out ofthe many things that he has said, I really love his play on the ‘now’. He says,a point occupies no space, but a series of points makes a line. Similarly, nowoccupies no time - now, now, now - no time. But a series of ‘nows’ is a wholelifetime.

Now the baby is in the womb. Now the baby is born. Now the baby becomesan adult. Now the adult gets married. Now the adult has his or her children.Then adult gets old and leaves the body, and body goes to the tomb. Wombto tomb, all happening in the now.A single now, right now, timeless. A seriesof ‘nows’ make a yuga; a very beautiful paradox.

So all we have is the now, and right now I can make a decision. It does notmean I stop planning, I do plan, I have to plan. But that plan is now, today,at the most we can say.

Now Imay plan that I want a perfect retirement, to face all inflations, but thenin the next now, after attending the Vedānta class, I can plan for the ultimateretirement plan; to drop all thedesires so that there is noproblemofhowmuchmoney I need to feed these desires. That is also happening in the now.Therefore, coming back to the now, the company we keep becomes veryimportant.

Satsang and growing together in this knowledge happens with mutualconnections.ArshaVidyaGurukulamisa sacredplacebecause it provides thefacility for self-growth and provides the ability to make that saṅkalpa grow.Think of Arsha Vidya as huge comforter that keeps the jijñāsu andmumukṣucozy. When you think of the comforter, how does it keep you warm? Thecomforter is not generating heat - this is not an example of an electric blanket!Thecomforter is anotherparadox.Thecomforterdoesnotdoanything tokeepyou warm, it is your own body heat that it conserves and gives back to you,that is what a comforter does. That is why, whatever you put in Arsha Vidya,it comes back to you amillion fold, inways that cannot evenbe accounted for.But you know what that is, and you know how priceless this self-growth is,and that is what we have to do starting with this New Year. Hariḥ Om!"

Swaminiji's New Year AddressAVG, Saylorsburg

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EditorialNamaste and Happy New Year to all. This edition of Sūktā is special for manyreasons. First, there are NewYear addresses by both Pujya Swamiji and Swaminiji,in addition to the regularly featured articles by each.

Also, Swaminiji's article is the first in a series that will, over the next few editions ofSūktā, cover Swaminiji's teaching of Dhanyāṣṭakam that was given at a retreatseveral years ago. You will see two new 'Regular Features' columns. The first is a‘VedāntaGlossary’ column. In each edition of the newsletter, clear explanations ofone or two important words for your Vedānta vocabulary will be explained. Thewriters may include interesting information about the word's grammaticalbackground, its etymology, or some recollection about their own insights whenmeeting the word for the first time.

Another first, is the 'Vedic Traditions' column. In this edition you will read aboutKartika Māsam - our writer is a dedicated student of Swaminiji’s who many of youmay already know. Kavita has a tremendous knowledge about traditionalbackgrounds and a lively and informative writing style.

Yet another reason this edition of Sūktā is special is because of what has been goingonbehind the scenes. We havededicatedvolunteers to solicit and followuponarticlesubmissions thereby helping all who submit articles meet the timelines. There arenew editors andagreat teamof proof-readers. Layout, alongwithpicturepreparationare other areas in which people are helping out. We hope you enjoy the product ofour combined efforts.

Aswemove forward into the newyear, we invite your suggestions for other changesyoumight like to see in upcoming editions. Wewould definitely like to receivemorequestions for the satsang section. You can send questions directly to Swaminiji thatcan then be published in futured editions.

Happy reading!The Sūktā publishing team - Anand, Charu, Harinder, Janani, Kate, Kavita, Laura,Mayaskari, Ramakrishnan

Dhanyāṣṭakam is a beautiful textattributed to Ādi Śaṅkara.Aṣṭakam means octet, that whichhas eight verses. Dhanya meansthe one who is blessed. The wholeword, dhanyāṣṭakam,means eightverses in service of the one who isblessed.

The word “blessed” is a relativeterm. It varies fromplace to place,and person to person. In Eugene ifwehaveadryminute in thewinter,enough time to rush out and come

back without it raining, it is such a blessing! If you go to Arizona and it rains justone drop that’s a blessing.

For the person who wants to sell a car that rarely runs—when it runs it is totallyonBhagavān’swill, not yours—that person feels blessedwhenhe finallymanagesto sell the car, to three people - three people? Yes, some parts for person numberone, another set of parts for personnumber two, and thewheels and tires, for personnumber three!All three people,who bought this set of junk parts, also feel blessed.That is why this Īśvara arrangement is very nice; everybody goes away thinking,“I got a good deal”.

A blessing is relative in another sense in that the same person, who feels blessedin one moment can feel un-blessed in the second moment. From blessing to un-blessing in not that much time. At the time ofmarriage somebody says, “Oh, I gotto be one with this person I have loved for so long. What a blessing!” A few dayslater, because the spouse is veryuntidy - you just have to follow the trail of all kinds

Dhanyāṣṭakam: Part Oneby Swamini Svatmavidyanandaji

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of things they have dropped, fromclothes to orange peels, to find thespouse - that same person says, ‘Idon’t want this’. What happened tothe blessing?

Then there is a third point aboutblessings that is seeing the blessingin the non-blessing. To sit in thisclassroom and listen to the śāstrafrom a qualified teacher, that isindeed a blessing. However, thosewho are out shopping today becauseit is ‘Black Friday’ do not see it as ablessing. Only a few peoplewho arespiritually evolved can understandthat listening to śāstra is a blessing.

So are you blessed or not blessed?One minute blessed, another minute not blessed. This is the human problem.Whatever you want is rife with this precipice of it being, a blessing if you get it,sometimes a blessing if you don’t get it, a blessing if you get it and then lose it, orsometimes it is not a blessing at all. You don’t know. One is confused.

What then ultimately is a blessing? This is something we have to ascertain.Blessings are equal to whatever I want in this particular time and place. Blessingmeans, nobody should harm me, nobody should give me grief, and I should beallowed to livemy life doingwhatever Iwant and not doingwhat I don’t want, likehousework! What I want seems to be always elusive. What I don’t want comesbountifully and in plenty. One becomes a blessing chaser because one is aware ofthe fact that each time I have a blessing, very quickly it turns into a cursing, not ablessing.

So what do I want? Blessing. How much do I want? Endless amounts. Whendo I want it? Yesterday. What do I get? Small, small, infrequent blessings. So Ibecome a blessing chaser and a blessing holder. The provisional understanding isthat I am not complete, and this wanting individual not knowing him/herself to becomplete is seeking blessings of various kinds. An incomplete being, the onewhose self-understanding is that I am incomplete, tries to devote all the activity of

one’s life to gaining completion.

This is a blessing, because it is the seeking that brings you to the teaching. It startswith trying to do well in school, then finding a job and trying to do well in theworkplace. Is that enough? No, because there is always another job, a better job,a bigger job, a promotion. Then what happens when you run out of promotions?Then you start buying up corporations. Are you happy when you’ve bought upten corporations?

Or one gets married…several times, each time thinking, this is the ultimate time,this is the last time, this one is for real. This iswhat eachone says at everymarriage.

This is the seeking human being. The premise is I am incomplete and I wantsomething tomakemy lifeworthwhile, or in otherwords, blessed. What that thingis, is subject to time and space, it’s relative, even for the same person. The sameperson who likes rain one day may not want rain the next day. The same personwho likes something one day may want to get rid of it the next day, and that thingends up in the garage sale. You can think again and again of these situations.

Then just who is this blessed person these verses are applauding? If all blessingsare relative, personalized, even general blessings like marriage, job, etc., arepersonalized, and whatever one wants, and gets, is finite, what is the big deal? Bythe time you have said “blessed one”, which is just three syllables, the personwhowas the blessed one has become the ex-blessed one. This is how quicklyeverything is changing. If indeed, however, there arepeoplewho feel blessed,whofeel like they have made it in life, who are not seeking, where are they? Further,why am I, unlike them, still seeking life after life?

We follow the majority, thinking that the majority is correct. However, themajority is not always correct. WhenGalileo said that the earth orbited the sun hewas ostracized by the church and forced to recant his statement lest he be burnedat the stake.While there is safety in numbers this massmentality, when one thinksit must be correct because everyone is thinking this same way, makes one aprisoner of the majority without interrogating the thinking, without asking, “doesit apply to me, is it true?”

The conditional premise, that this “I” is incomplete, also has to be interrogated.Beginning at three months this “I” is given props so it can be pacified. The babycries, and the parent gives it a pacifier. Later the child gets a doll or a truck; onekeeps changing the props/pacifiers as the child grows up. By the time one is an

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adult, one is bound by stocks and bonds—keeps watching the ticker tape all thetime. This is an obsession, without it Ifeel that I am not secure. This insecurityis what we see everybody participatingin, starting from animal forms. Thesquirrel is hoarding away its nuts, thebirds are migrating south and thencoming back, all for the sake of survivaland security. We see the same inhumans; everyone is shoppingon ‘BlackFriday’. If we go with the belief that themajority is correct, then this fact that Iam insecure, this provisional fact, must also be true.

But really speaking, all we need to do is a little bit of thinking to establish somelogical basics. What is real is non-negatable, and what is not real is negatable. So,if this insecurity is real, and if it is here to stay, then I should experience it all the time.Is it there all the time? No, all you need to do is sleep.Where does the insecurity go?It was never there, because if it was really there, it cannot go. And if it is not there,it cannot come. Uh-oh, nowwe are in very deep quicksand; if it’s not there, it cannotbe experienced and, if it is there, it should not go. This is the paradox, the stuff ofwhich Vedānta is made.

Let us look at this again. In sleep, there is no insecurity. In fact one loves to go tosleep because one feels very secure in sleep. The whole establishment has alsorecognized this, this love of sleep iswhy there are all these over-the-counter sleepingpills. Sleep is secure, but really speaking, I am not quite there to enjoy that security;this is the problem in sleep. That’s why sleep is not enough to take away the feelingthat I am awanting person. Therefore I have to see if there are other times inmy lifethat I feel secure, even without sleep. There are many times and many places whenI feel that I’m not lacking anything. Nor is it always necessary to fulfill your desire,evenwithout fulfillingyour desire youcan findyourself a non-lackingperson. If yousee the smile of a small baby, what desire did you fulfill? Maybe you don’t even likebabies thatmuch, but here it is, cooingat you, smilingaway, and thenyoucannothelpbut smile. In that moment you are contentment itself. A flower, or a silly joke toldby a small child, can do the same. “Why was the math book really sad?”

“I don’t know, why?”

“Because it was full of problems.” An eight-year-old told me this joke. It is a sillyjoke, but we still laugh, and whenwe laugh there is no seeking. So this security is anelusive little fellow, it keeps coming and going, present then absent, present thenabsent. But really speaking, it never came. And if it did not come, how can it go?It was there all along, it is there all along, it will be there all along. That is what wemean by timelessness.

Theword for timelessness in Sanskrit is anantam. This timeless security, the secure“I” that is timeless, is it sentient or insentient? Sentient. Howdoyouknow?BecauseI am talking, is all you have to say. The secure “I” is sentient. With relation to thatsentiency we talk about, which is aware of everything including time and space, theword for that sentiency, inSanskrit, is jñānam.With relation tooneself that sentiencyis called, cit, and this sentience is an existent sentience; it is here. How dowe know?Becauseyou say, I am.When something exists, it is called sat inSanskrit. Sowehavesatyam, jñānam, anantam, or sat, cit, ānanda which is the definition of ātman, “I’,and also for Brahman. The name for that timeless, secure, sentience, which is themeaning of the word aham, “I” is Brahaman. That “I” alone is secure, it is sentient,and it is here.

So the “I” is sentient and we have demonstrated, logically speaking, that it is notinsecure. It is not insecure, because if insecurity is the truth of it, then it should beinsecure all the time. But there are lapses in the insecurity, enough lapses for me toquestion thenatureof this “I”. And then finally, it is this presencewhich says, “I am”,is a self-revealing, is a self-cognizant presence, meaning that I am cognizant ofmyself. I’m cognizant of other things in this room, in this world, in this universe.That’s why I often say in meditation that there are only two things: “I” and “this”.Ahampratyaya gocara. The subject of “I” cognition, which is only “I”, and all otherthings that are objects of “this” cognition, idam pratyaya gocara.

For right now, the working definition of the “this” cognition and the “I” cognitionis that they are two separate things. What is referred to by “I” is very different fromwhat is referred to by “this”. There is “this” book (Swaminiji holds up a book), and“I”, the observer of the book; the book is observed. The book is insentient, “I” amsentient. Book is object of knowledge, “I” is knower, the one that has knowledge.How can they be one and the same? Subject and object. Subject is aware of object,canwe say the otherway round? Can the book be aware ofme? No. That is the truth

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of every object that is introduced, referred to, by the word “this”.

Thankfully the forkand the spoonare referred toas“this”; if theyalsowereconsciousofme, then theywould say, “I amhungry” and before I eat, the fork and spoonwouldeat your food! What to talk of the table and the chairs? Chairs will say, “I am notgoing to be sat upon all the time, I have rights, we need to go in for collectivebargaining,youarenot allowed to sit onme”.Or sometimes theymightbe rudechairsand say, “You’ve put on weight, you’ve become fat”.

The distinction between sentient and insentient, even in the relative sense, is goodtohave. “I” and“this”don’t get confused. Thatwhich is “I” is “I”, thatwhich is “this”is “this”. So long as the two are kept separate there is sanity and security in my life.But frequently what happens is that the objects of the “this” cognition slowlyinfiltrate into “I”. Like the Occupy movement, the objects of “this” cognition carrya banner saying, Occupy I. You hear of Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Eugene, buthere theobjectsof “this”cognition, as itwere, stagea silentprotestwitha littlebannerthat says, Occupy I. The obfuscation between the “I” and the “this”, is what causesone to feel this insecurity. So long as they are in their places, the “this” cannot occupy“I”. The “this” does not infiltrate into the definition of “I”, whether individually orcollectively; this is “this” and I am “I”. That is sanity. That is security.

When the “this” starts to crawl into the “I” space there is confusion. It is like thattraveler, Mohammed, in the desert. He had a camel that he rode during the day, andat night he pitched a tent, tied the camel outside, and slept in the tent. One hour afterhe went to sleep, what did the camel do? “Master, my nose is very, very cold. CanI put my nose in the tent?”

Mohammed said, “Sure”.

Then one hour later, the camel woke Mohammed up again saying, “My hooves arevery, very cold. Can I put them in the tent? Just the first two feet?”

“All right.”

Then another hour later the camel says, “My neck is very, very cold. Can I just putit in the tent?”

Then what? In the morning the camel is inside andMohammed is outside, freezingto death. The camel is nice and warm, saying, “What are you chattering over there?Go bring me my milk”, and ordering Mohammed around.

This is a very deep story. It illustrates what happens to the “I” if the “I” is put out

of its place of security, of inhabiting that truth which it is, and the “this” overtakesand defines the “I”. The “this”, by nature being finite, being the object of myawareness,will always come to an end. Further,whenever I place the “I” in the sameplace as “this” then the sadness comes, fear comes, incompletion comes. This is thetruth of what this is all about.

Therefore, we have to be very careful and secure in knowing the nature of this “I”which is unassailable bywhat is insentient. A bunch of ‘this-es’ cannot displace “I”,much less define “I”. “This” has to be kept in its place, and “I” has to be in its place.

Later on, much later, we can say, ‘ “this” isnothing but a projection of the “I” ’ but, weare not there yet.

Right now, this is “this” and, I am “I”. If“this” infiltrates into “I”, even through theback door, I find myself feeling less secure,feeling less in touch with the truth of “I”,feeling less happy, less contented. In orderto regain the truth of “I”, what do I have to

do? Dispatch the “this” into its place. Have a health-full boundary between “I” and“this”. So this is “this”, I is “I”.

So what is this blessed-ness that we are talking about? Is there a hint of objectiveblessed-ness in addition to all the small, small subjectiveblessed-nesses thatwehavebeen talking about? If there is an objective blessed-ness, what is it? It is completelytethered in that timeless security that is the truth of myself. That is what is blessed.If all of the sadness comes from the infiltration of the non-I into the “I” territory, andthe “I” territory is not protected from the non-I territory, that is what happens; ithappens because of self-ignorance, which we’ll be hearing a lot about.

What do I have to do? I have to repatriate the “I” backwhere it is, which is of coursea blessing beyond all the relative blessings. It is a permanent blessing because the“I” being infinite, means that that blessing does not end. This octet, eight verses, isin praise of those that have repatriated the “I”, who abide in the “I”. Those that haveimbibed this knowledge from their teachers, and who, undisturbed by “this”, arereveling in the truth of this “I”.

Why do we need to know about such people’s lives? If you already know who youare, you don’t need to read a description of yourself, and this text would be rendered

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obsolete. If I don’t know “I”, if I’m entangledin “this-ness”, rather than the “I-ness”, thenreading this will be like a foreign language.So, to read this is of no use either way. If Iknow “I”, then I don’t need a self-description,and if I don’t know “I”, how will this makesense? I’m only seeing the blessings of thefinite and I’m trying to tweak the finite tomake it infinite. Therefore, this is of no useeither way.

Shall we close the book right now? No. Thisis one of those trick questions! It’s a wake-upcheck. Ādi Śaṅkara himself gives theexplanation in his commentary to the secondchapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, starting verse54 and on. Arjuna asks the question,‘sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasyakeśava, sthitadhīḥ kiṁ prabhāṣeta kim āsītavrajeta kim’. Arjuna has a question after

receiving avisionof this “I” fromLordKṛṣṇa. Hehas a veryvalid question. He says,“Please describe to me the ways of the person who knows the nature of this truth ofthis “I”, who abides in the “I”.” Prajña, knowledge of “I”, knowledge of Brahman,knowledge of Īśvara,Bhagavān, God, as oneself. Sthitameans the onewho has theability to stay,who doesn’t dilly-dally and flirt with this knowledge, but the onewhois abiding in this knowledge. Kā bhāṣā, how do they speak? How does the personwho abides in the truth of himself/herself, walk? Kim āsīta, how do they sit? Howdo they talk, kiṁ prabhāṣeta? Ādi Śaṅkara in the commentary to thisGītā verse, andonwards, says the very thing that I said. If you know that you are a person ofknowledge, you don’t need a self-description because that is your very identity. Butfor those that don’t know, it canbe the stepping stones. Thebehavior and themindsetof a person of knowledge can be the stepping stones, the blueprint to understandingthat for oneself. So that is why we are going to see how the blessed ones live, andhow they think, and how did they get there. This becomes a blueprint for us, andevery verse is a rung on the ladder of one’s own spiritual evolution.

To Be Continued

We in Atlanta were blessed by twoweeklong visits in April and July of2014 by Swaminiji SvatmavidyanandaSaraswati giving inspiring talks onŚivāparādhaKṣamāpaṇaStotramofŚrīAdi Śaṅkara Bhagavatpādāchārya.Each session was a learning session andone felt clearer just listening toSwaminiji.

In this stotram, Adi Shaṅkara hasadopted a unique methodology ofteaching by vividly portraying a jīvawho has gone through the pangs ofsamsāra indifferent stagesof lifeonly torealize later that the only way out of this

samsāra is byknowingof the truthofoneself,which is no less than Īśvara, LordŚiva,the sustainer of the universe.

In Verse one of the kṣamāpaṇa stotram, the jīva is asking for forgiveness for all itsactions in the previous births which are the cause for its present birth and the terriblepain it undergoes in the womb. Verses two to four describe the pain and sorrow ajīva undergoes during childhood, youth, and old age. Verses five to nine bring outthe guilt and pain of the jīva for not having followed the family tradition ofnitya pūja(daily prayer), dhyāna (meditation), yajña (fire rituals), dāna (charity), and tapas(austerity). By describing the acts and omissions of this jīva in great detail AdiShaṅkara is teaching one’s duties throughout life.

Through the onslaught of prārabdha karma (karma that unfolds during this life), thejīva finds itself in many helpless situations, and yet is unable to perform the neededactions. Due to ignorance, one identifies oneself with anātma, one’s body-mind-

Śivāparādha Kṣamāpaṇa Stotramby Usha Venkateshwaran

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sense complex, and thinks ofoneself as the doer, kartā. Withoutacknowledging Bhagavān the jīvafinds itself unable to performneeded actions.

Theonlyhope for freedomfromtheflood of one’s karma and theresulting pain and sorrow is to freeoneself from the notion of

doership. For this, knoweldge of oneself as whole and complete, gained throughśravaṇam from a qualified teacher is required. Śravaṇam requires a relativelypeacefulmindwhich is gained by bringingBhagavān into one’s life. Laying oneselfat the altar that is Bhagavān one slowly comes to the understanding that karmaunfolds in keeping with Īśvara’s order and one learns to accept it gracefully.

One gains a relative śanti through prayer, a powerful karma bywhichwhich one canneutralize the effects of one’s wrong actions. Śivāparādha kṣamāpaṇa stotram is aprayer that helps to neutralize fear or alienation from (i) oneself, (ii) one’s family,(iii) the guru, teacher, (iv) the śruti, scriptures, and (v) the understanding of oneselfas free and whole. By chanting the śivāparādha kṣamāpaṇa stotramwith śraddhā,a deep faith pending understanding, one is sure to recognize one’s indebtedness toone’s ancestors, one’s guru, and to Īśvara.

Verses 10 to 16 describe the real nature and the external form of Lord Śiva at whosealtar the jīva lays alldoership and, withcomplete śraddhā andviveka (discrimination),invokes His Grace. Suchgrace is needed to helpneutralize rāga-dveśas(likes-dislikes), that drivethe action that results inpain and sorrow when therāga-dveśas are notfulfilled. Prayer creates an

inner space fromwhere one can just witness one's thoughts rather than identify withthem. It brings out the inner harmony that makes one available for śravanam.Through śivāparādha kṣamāpaṇa stotram, one invokes the purity andauspiciousness of the truth of oneself, and prays for the grace to see the wholeuniverse as the glory ofBhagavān, and to know that glory, that is infinite, as the verytruth of oneself. Om

Theword sūktam stands forwell done orwell said. Sūktams are given byBhagavān.In this way we are not creating our own views of things; nothing can be better saidthan how the sūktam says it.

Thewordpuruṣacanbeunderstood in twoways - the jīva that all ofus seeas thenameand form, andBhagavān, who is described as satyam-jñānam-anantam Brahma. InPuruṣa Sūktam, the puruṣa stands for Bhagavān.

There are two etymological definitions of puruṣa.

Etymological definition 1: Puruṣa - puri śete

Puri śete,meaning “sleeps in the city”, implies that the jīva is sleeping the sleep oftamasand ignorance -ajñānanidrā. Thismeansweareasleep to thegloryof the truthof ourself, and are awake to all the superimpositions made on our self that result in

a case of mistaken identity.

Etymological definition 2:Puruṣa - sarvān pūrayatipuruṣaḥ

Thismeans that this puruṣa isall accommodative andpervasive; it is another wordfor Bhagavān. This puruṣapervades everythingincluding the puruṣa in thefirst definition. Puruṣaḥpuruṣa is a mahāvākya. It

Atlanta Retreat: Puruṣa Sūktamby Bala Sundaram

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says that the first puruṣa, the jīva, is not what it thinks itself to be; it is the secondpuruṣa, Bhagavān.

So what or who is this Bhagavān? Where is this Bhagavān and how can we seeBhagavān? Puruṣa Sūktam answers these questions. The Puruṣa Sūktam also actsas a prayer and altar of surrender for the jīva. Puruṣa Sūktam says that the jagat,universe, is amanifestation ofBhagavān allowing the jīva to appreciate the formlessBhagavān.

We may ask, if puruṣa is satyam-jñānam-anantam Brahma that is one withoutsecond, how can we explain the varied manifestations?

ThePuruṣaSūktamanswers thisquestionby first definingBhagavānas thecauselesscause of the universe, jagat kāraṇam. It is because of māyā, the feminine śakti,power, ofBhagavān, that the as though jagat is manifest. So the jagat is nothing butBhagavān with name and form - puruṣa eva idam sarvam - all this is Bhagavānalone. Yad bhūtam yacca bhavyam - past, (present) and future is Bhagavān. Evenwhen the jagat resolves, Bhagavān is, and a new universe will manifest.

So, the effect,which is this universe, is non-separate from the cause -Bhagavān. Butthe important thing to understand is that although the effect is non-separate from thecause, the cause is not the effect.

The Sūktam then traces the sequence of creation from puruṣa to virāṭ, Lord as themanifest jagat. Even though everything in this universe is purusa, puruṣa’s glory isfar more than what we see.

Next, from the Sūktam’s imagery of a yajña homa, one might be led to understand

that the devas gave the puruṣa in a sacrifice to gain some benefits! This, however,must be understood metaphorically. The sacrifice of the puruṣa is an as thoughsacrifice and implies that the entire jagat resolves into the puruṣa, revealing the truthof one undivided whole, that is Brahman.

We can approach thePuruṣa Sūktam as an altar for the surrender of ignorance in twostages. The understanding that the entire universe is Bhagavān, that is, Bhagavān isindeed the truth of the universe, is the first stage.

The second stage is understanding that there is no separation between me andBhagavān other than ajñānam, ignorance. Once we have assimilated this, there isno fear. When there is no fear, there is no grief. Without fear and grief there isno bondage, and we abide in our true selves.

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Lord Dakṣiṇāmūrty Shrine Third AnniversaryOctober, 2014 Eugene

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AnniversaryContinued

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The Thanksgiving Retreat was held in Eugene under the auspices of SwaminiSvatmavidyanandaji. The topic was, “Resolving Alienation in One’s Life:Teachings from the Bhagavad Gītā”

What does alienation mean? Swaminiji's explanation of the word was simple andlucid: alienation is a timeless experience of loneliness, a feeling felt by almosteveryone at some time or another. Explaining that one need not be alone to feel

alienated, Swaminiji gave the example of Arjuna, ashe stood in the middle of the battlefield, filled withgrief and feeling alienated. He was in a terribledharmasaṅkata, a dharmic-quandary, to fight, or notto fight, against his family and teachers. In totalsurrender he turns to Kṛṣṇa for help, whereuponKṛṣṇa imparts to him the knowledge thatwill removeArjuna's feelings of alienation and grief.

Onemust understand thedifferencebetween spiritualknowledge and knowledge of empirical reality.

Arjuna received spiritual knowledge, the knowledge of the self, aham, I. Idam, this,on the other hand, refers to the world of objects, empirical reality, the jagat. Theknowledge we get through our usual pramānas, is of idam only. Swaminiji stressedthat one must clearly understand this vital difference between aham and idam.

Aham is self-effulgent, changeless, sentient and limitless. The entire world ofobjects, idam, shines in the borrowed light of aham. Nāma-rūpas are onlyperceptions.While you cannot say theydo exist, you also cannot say theydon’t exist.The example of clay and pot demonstrate this paradox. If I hold the pot and tell youthat you can take the pot, but leave the clay, can you do it?No.Nor can I say that clay“ispot”, because thenhowtoexplainotherpots/bowls/dishes, etc?Whilepots, bowlsand dishes are clay, clay is not any one of them.

Similarly, everything in the jagat is a projection of Īśvara. Not understanding thistruth the jīva takes the body-mind-sense-complex, which is idam, to be the self-

shining, changeless,aham. Just as all dreamobjects resolvewhenone awakens fromthe dream state, when one is ‘awakened’ from the sleep of ignorance the world ofobjects, idam, cognitively resolves into aham.

Much as the sun appears to be eclipsed by Rahu, even though Īśvara pervadeseverything, ignorance eclipses the knowledge of oneself as non-separate fromĪśvara. Identified with the body-mind-sense complex one thinks of duality asreality, and sees oneself as away from Īśvara, and feels alienated.

Whenone takes duality to be real, a pressure to go againstdharmabuilds.One strivesto fulfill desires which one mistakenly believes will bring happiness. By practicingseeing Īśvara in everything, the pressures are reduced, and gradually one learns togracefully accept what cannot be changed

Swaminiji concluded the sessions by explaining themeaning of the versemanmanābhava in Bhagavad Gītā. She explained that one must grow to be a dharmic person,fordharma is in keepingwith the order of Īśvara. One does this through karmayoga,an attitude of devotion in doing what is to be done: all that one does is for Īśvaraalone. In this way one learns to gracefully accept the results as Īśvara’s prasād.

In time one comes to recognize changes in oneself. The knowledge of the self is notavailable as mental speculation or academic scholarship and already being the truthof who you are, it is not something to be acquired. It is something to be understood,to be known; it is the very truth of oneself.

The topic of the recently concluded Thanksgiving retreat was the last verse of theNinth Chapter of Bhagavad Gītā. The verse talks about the one who sees Bhagavānin everything, everywhere, at all times.

The Ninth Chapter is named "Rāja Vidyā Rāja Guhya Yoga” meaning king of allknowledgewhich is also king of all secrets. It is a secret because evenwhen it is toldit is not understood.

Each jīva is born with a set of rāgas-desires, dveṣas - dislikes, fears and past lifeimpressions. These give rise to a feeling of alienation from the world that comesfrom duality: aham - subject I, and idam - this, or everything else. The problem this

Reflections on the Thanksgiving Retreatby Charu Shivakuma

Reflections on the Thanksgiving Retreatby Trupti Trivedi

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creates is twofold. First, I don’t know the truth of myself. The jīva thinks that “I”is subject to grief. The second problem ismistaking itself for something that it is not,and therefore taking the world of idam to be aham.

The only relationship between aham and idam is that of revealer - subject, I - andrevealed - object, this. Since aham is the revealer, the existence - asti, awareness- bhāti, and the pleasantness -priyam, that are attributed to idam come from, aresustained by, and resolve into, aham. The nature of this aham is asti-bhāti-priyamor sat-cit-ānanda. However, just knowing the nature of I is not enough; one needsto know that “I”is Brahman.

Brahman is asti-bhāti-priyam.What distinguishes “aham asti-bhāti-priyam” from“Brahman asti-bhāti-priyam” is the upādhi, an as-though conditioning agent.

Īśvara, which is synonymous with Bhagavān, has as-though taken an upādhi foritself and, as-though, given many different upādhis to the jīvas. The differencebetween jīva and Bhagavān, are as real as the upādhi. Māyā – the feminine śakti ofBhagavān, gives Bhagavān a shining cloak, while giving jīva a tattered cloak linedwith tears and fears. On top of this, the prātibhāsikam, the subjective reality, of thejīva collaborates by projecting its own private grief and sorrow onto the asti-bhāti-priyam. Jīva is unable to extricate itself from this projection.

This is where the last verse of the Ninth Chapter comes to our rescue; withBhagavān’s intervention it helps us to break out of this stagnation. Bhagavān says:

Manmanā bhava: May you be the one whose mind is never away from me. Thethinker, thought and the object of the thought are all one, rising from, and sustainedby, the same awareness which is "I". I learn to accept what is, which results in graceand spiritual growth. May you never allow ignorance to prevail over the knowledgeof yourself as me.

Madbhaktaḥ bhava: May you be one who is devoted to me.May you go about yourlife always secure in your connection with me, so that you never feel insecure whenyou are relating to the universe.

MadhyājīBhava:Mayyou see thewhole universe as anopportunity formyworship.Whatever you do make it into a worshipful act.

Namaskuru: Surrender ignorance unto knowledge.

Matparāyaṇo bhava:Make me your ultimate goal.

Mamevaishyasi: (Having equipped yourself thus) you will gain me, which isnothing but yourself.

By building a relationship with Īśvara and recognizing various orders in universe asnone other than Īśvara, one learns to settle rāga-dveṣa accounts with Īśvara, insteadof with the world. One becomes objective and prepared for the knowledge.

The Thanksgiving Retreat was sheer magic for me and especially very useful tomaneuver oneself through the ocean of samsāra. Swaminiji very deftly took usthrough the description of alienation - essentially a feeling of aloneness, orseparation from oneself, leaving one overpowered with sorrow and fear. However,the self does not experience any alienation as per the śāstra, therefore, it must not bethe I that has the experience.

Swaminiji introduced the concept of aham and idam. The aham is I and idam iseverything else. Idam includes the body-mind-sense complex.

Everything, idam, is evident to aham and in truth, idam is not different from aham.The feeling of alienation really resides in the I-notion, ahaṅkāra, that takes itself asseparate and different from all that is perceived as idam. The ahaṅkāra is really justa notion. What a relief!

Reflections on the Thanksgiving Retreatby Leela Krishnamurthy

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So, the alienation has no source and is animpostor. So cool! I was delighted that thisalienation ‘guy’ who causes havoc in ourlives is only a little shadow. Aham is therevealer and idam is the revealed. Hearing itexplained like this, I really experienced a lotof clarity in my thinking.

Swaminiji then talked about the threeprinciples of asti, bhāti, and priyam presentin both aham and idam. The only actualdifference between the two is that idamgainsa name and form. There is only oneexistence, that of aham and idam is anincidental expression of the former. Idamexists because of I, it is sustained by I, and

resolves into I. One has to understand this aham, but it is not known fully to the jīvabecause of ignorance.

WhereasBhagavān is asti, bhāti, and priyam alone, the jīva is asti, bhāti, and priyamand ignorance. The former is limitless and not subject to pain and sorrow, while thelatter is a field, where ignorance, pain, and sorrow are experienced.

At the conclusion Swaminiji explained that if the connection with the source, withBhagavān, is missing, one follows idam instead of searching for aham.

Swaminiji used the model of the 12-step program to show one has to start withacknowledging one is addicted to samsāra and needs help. She likened other stepsto the process of finding a teacher, following the teachings, and establishing an altarof surrender.

The verse that brought the teaching to light for those at the retreat begins with theLord saying, “may you be one whose mind is never away from me”. Actually, it isnothing more than a by-product of the shadow of ignorance that causes one to evenimagine it is possible to be away fromBhagavān.When one loses this ignorance, thejagat becomes benign and beautiful. Bhagavān says be the one who is devoted,worship me always and surrender to me. Telling the devotee to make Bhagavān theonly pursuit,Bhagavān says that one gains the truth, that is Īśvara, and is none otherthan oneself. Beautiful. Om.

Expanding In Our Heart Seeing the StartOf the Ascension of Spirit In This Dimension

See In a New Direction As We Look To the HorizonAnd Notice the Arisin’ of the SeasonOf the Divine Will Feel the Fill

In Ourself Get Our Magic Back Off the Shelf

As We Seal the Void Stop Being Like a DroidBreak Out of Our Mind To Find

What It’s Like To Be Behind the Silence of the SoulIt’s a New Goal to Break Out of the Mold And Be Bold

Get Out of the Hold of Pride Wear a New HideSee Inside Through the Third Eye AndNo YouDon’t Have ToDie

To Be Yourself Even If You’re Not an Elf

Cause It’s About Acceptance Not ResistanceFeeling the Unity of Our Community

There’s Diversity In This University of RealitySeems Like Fantasy But Really It’s Just Synchonicity

Raising the Vibration of This City

Divine Expansionby Varun Viswanathan

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Dakṣiṇāmūrty Pradośaand

Satsang with Swaminiji, December 19, 2014

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Our family drove from Atlanta toAVG, Saylorsburg for the year-endfamily Vedānta course. Eachmorning at 5:45 am sharp there wasabhiṣeka to Lord Dakṣiṇāmūrty,followed by a 30-minute guidedmeditation.

The texts covered were select versesfrom Kaivalya Upaniṣad andNavadhā Bhakti by SwamiPratyagbodhanandaji. Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad followed, withSwamini Svatmavidyanandaji.

SwamiPratyagbodhanandaji, lovingly called “SwamiP”at theAshram, remindedmeof Hanumān, for his bhakti, devotion, and deep connection to his Guruji, PujyaSwamiji. It was amazing to note that he had mannerisms, both in speech and facialexpressions, like Pujya Swami Dayananda SaraswatiMaharaj, as Swami P called hisguru lovingly. It was heart-warming and inspiring to hear him talking about his guruseveral times in each of his discourses, even having graduated 40 years ago fromgurukulam. I have long forgotten most of my influential teachers after graduatingonly 17 years ago! Bhakti was invoked in every heart as we heard of Kṛṣṇa līla,literally making Kṛṣṇa come alive in the room. Rāma and Hanumān made allVedāntins swoon with bhakti - so much so that they demanded more of it and manyevening satsangswere given up for continuing the topic of Navadhā Bhakti!! In themorningKaivalyaUpaniṣad class, Swami P taught the difficult concepts ofVedānta,lovingly fed to us with jokes, which not only kept us in a good mood and awake.

Pujya Swaminiji Svatmavidhyanandaji was able to connect and speak to every one ofthe bhaktas, in a personal way through her jñāna yagña. With her sharp intellect,masterful and complete control over several languages, knowledge about currentevents in the world from astronomy to politics and her deep understanding andknowledge of Vedānta, she communicated so that people in the modern era, could

understand and relate. From day one itself we couldn't wait for next session, as sheleft us hanging on each word and longing for more, class after class. By the end weall were completely transformed, asking for her website and archives of herdiscourses. There were long lines outside her door everyday as bhaktas waited tospeak to her and sign-up for the pravacana CDs .

The evening Q&A sessions with her were a complete delight as she answered mostdifficult questions with great compassion, objectivity and insight.

Towards the end of the retreat the kids performed a play on Navadhā Bhakti. It waswonderfully stagedwith elaborate costumes. Srimati Savitriji aMumbaikar travels toand fro, is 80 years old and has rendered 25 years of tireless seva to the SaylorsburgGurukulam. The farewell song dedicated to her and other speeches, moved her totears.

On 31st December we performed Lord Dakṣiṇāmūrty lakṣarcana and mūla-mantrajapa, elaborately set-up with kalaśa, coconut and flowers for each devotee. Thus2015 was invited in, in the most auspicious way.

At this retreat our family was able to connect to our roots, the ancient knowledge andwisdom of our gurus, and spend a week in intense and fast-track Vedānta studies,uninterrupted by ‘samsaric’ duties, stress from job and kids. Our commitment tolearning has grown stronger.We feel the continuous blessings of our gurus, who havetirelessly, selflessly devoted their lives for Brahma-jñāna and who help us be moreconnected to our true self.

We are forever grateful to Pujya Swamiji for having this vision of an Ashram inPennsylvania. Away from our homeland, India, we bhaktas can come and connectwith our roots, immerse in Vedānta studies and pūja, and meet other Vedāntins inbeautiful resort like settings.

From the vyāsa pīṭha, one could feel the grace of Pujya Gurudev, and Bhagvān SriDakṣiṇāmūrty, flowing continuously and transforming us.

Year End Camp with Swaminiji: Saylorsburgby Trupti Trivedi

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sEnd of Y

earCamp

2014, AVG Saylorsburg

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In every individual there appears to be two people - an adult and a child. Thesattvic adult makes the decisions, always saying ‘yes', and the tamasic childis indecisive, difficult to please. Bound by the latter, everyone seeks freedom,usually by frequenting malls, balls and movies, they pursue finite acts eventhough they seek the infinite.

In this way we are all mumukṣus, those desirous offreedom. For real freedom, however, one musttransition from being a mumukṣu to a jijñāsu, onedesirous of knowing. A jijñāsu knows, I am what Iseek. The ‘as though’ ignorance has been removed.The inner conflict is relatively resolved. Managingour likes and dislikes, we are able to lie the innerchild, essentially a bunch of frozen needs, to rest,and not succumb to alienation, fear, insecurity, hurtand guilt so easily.

Our śāstra deals with this inner child a lot. It showsus how to get the child to leave,making room for themumukṣu to becomea jijñāsu. First, śāstra says thatall that is, which includes you, is pervaded byĪśvara. Then it resolves the two-fold problemwe allface: not understanding the truth, and assuming thenon-truth, to be the truth.

Vedānta shows us it is because of the shining, self-evident I, that everything else shines. So why do I,this self-evident, shining I, feel limited? We cannot know our real naturewithout śāstra,Vedānta.To remove thenotionofmy limitedness Ihave to seekhelp and develop a relationship with Bhagavān. I have to discover Bhagavānin the various orders of the universe. The Kali Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad offers away for us to cross samsāra inKali yuga. It helps us manage the unconscious,

both individually and collectively, in the current time period by offering us atāraka mantra. Mantra does not replace jñāna. The mantra helps us tostrengthen themindwhich helps us pursueVedāntawithout being waylaid bythe inner child.

The Upaniṣad tells that Nārada, who is cursed by Dakṣa to roam the earthduring Kali yuga, asks Brahmaji for help. Brahmaji tells Nārada, that byrepeatedly chanting nārāyaṇa one can be free of all kali, disputes, and

kalmaśa, longings, desires, fears and sorrows andthus be prepared for knowledge. Themantra is anatonement and reparation both. It repairs the tearsin the antaḥ karaṇa. It removes the longing forwhat we can never have and also resolves theconflict inside.

Brahmaji gives Nārada this tāraka mantra: “harerāma hare rāma, rāma rāma hare hare, hare kṛṣṇahare kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare”. Hare - heyhari, theonewho takes away; rāma-hey rāma, theone in whom we revel. Kṛṣṇa - hey kṛṣṇa, the onewho attracts, pulls towards himself.

The mantra directs a specific devata, to a specifictask, with a specific call. When we call in aplumber, or a “chaiwallah”, for a specific purpose,when they arrive they waste no time, and getstraight to work. So too, thismantra gives us directaccess to these specific devatas; Rāma being theembodiment of dharma, denoting the first portionof the Vedas, and Kṛṣṇa the embodiment ofānanda, denoting the second portion of the Vedas.

Nārada is told that there is no injunction on how to chant thismantra - we canchant this anywhere, anytime in any situation without worrying about purityor rules and the like. The Upaniṣad tells that if we chant this mantra, we willbe absolved of many omissions and be showered with the grace of Bhagavān.

End of Year Retreat, Saylorsburg:Kali Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad

by Kavita Meegama

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A

End of Year Camp,2014

AVG, Saylorsburg

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Welcome to the new Vedanta Glossary section of Sūktā. This column will bededicated to Sanskrit words that are used frequently in our studies.

When we look at jagat, the world of objects, we can divide everything into twocategories ātman - I, and anātman - not I. While we are in the process of discoveringthat all that is here is ātman this division highlights the basic confusion - takinganātman to be ātman. Anything I can objectify from a flower to themind, going fromthe grossest to the subtlest levels, is anātman. It is bound by time, space and form,therefore it is anityā, non-eternal.

Ātman, not being available for objectification, is arrived at by a process of negation,called na-iti, na-iti or neti neti. It is not the body. It is not themind and yet it is awareof these. It is not the waker, dreamer or sleeper and yet it upholds them all. Ātmancannot beobjectified as anyof the thingswhichwemightmistakenly call ‘I’. It cannotbeobjectified at all, because it is the subject, the one inwhosepresence all these thingscome to be known.

When I take what is anātman to be the ātman, I identify myself with what is finite.Whether this identification givesmepleasure or pain at thatmoment of identification,it will eventually always lead me to sorrow and fear. So, I need to discover the truthof myself as ātman, the consciousness which brings everything to light including thebody-mind-sense complex.Ātman is never subject to anykindof limitation and is thatwhich pervades everything, sarvam āpnoti.

Furthermore ātman is referred to as sat-cit-ānanda. Sat means that which exists,unchanging in the past, present and future and that which cannot be negated.

Citmeansconsciousness, sentience. It is thatwhichknows that it exists. It illuminatesall, yet it is self-effulgent. Ānanda means limitlessness. It is without limits in time;it has no beginning or end. It is without limits in space; it has no form.

In many texts ātman is translated as soul. However, soul has different meanings fordifferent people depending on their different religious/spiritual traditions. InAdvaitaVedanta one discovers ātman to be that which even upholds all the mistaken notionsthat one has about the self. It is that consciousness because of which everything is.

The ultimate jyoti, light, is Bhagavān the self effulgent one, that lights up everythingand everybody. Just as a guru lights up the śiṣya by mere presence.

The eighth month of the Hindu lunar calendar is Kārtika, so named because the fullmoon in this month resides in or near the constellation of kṛttikā nakṣatra, the star offire. It usually corresponds to October-November of the Gregorian calendar. It isknown specifically for the hundreds of lamps that are lit at temples. IfDīpāvali is thefestival of lights, Kārtika is the month of lights.

The fireof theoil orghee lampwith itswarmthand light symbolizes theconsciousnessand knowledge in each of us. Fire is also the carrier of our messages to the devatās,in fact the only face of the devatās that is visible to us humans.

Pujya Swamiji Dayananda Saraswati in his anugraha bhāśanam at the "KotiDeepotsavam" held in Hyderabad during this month spoke on the significance oflamps in vaidika culture:

“Whether you have one light or you have hundred lights or you have ten thousandlights or one crore lights, one thing is true; the agni, the fire, is one. Agni does notmultiply, it remains the same. It will burn anyone who touches it, and it will light upits surroundings, that is its guṇa. There are no two agnis.My eyes are two, but the onewho lights up my eyes is one and what lights up your eyes is the same. What lightsup my ears is the same: śrotasya śrotam, cakṣuṣaḥ cakṣuṣuḥ, manaso manaḥ; thereis only one light, the light of all lights - the self effulgent light. This is not a philosophyto contend or fight with, it is not a school of thought. It is just you, it is me, it iseveryone. It is a vision. It is a vision that is shared by us. it is a vision that a guru shareswith a disciple."

The Purāṇas say that Lord Śiva defeated Tripurāsura on Kārtika pūrṇimā and LordViṣṇu’sMatsya avatāra appeared also on this day.Kārtika pūrṇimā is also auspiciousto Sikhs and Jains. Guru Nanakji was born on this day in 1469 and Jains start theirpilgrimages to Palitana on Kārtika pūrṇimā. Also Goddess Gaṅgā enters all waterbodies in this month making them auspicious for ritual baths. Tulsi Vivah, Viṣṇu’smarriage to Tulasi is also conducted in this period.

This month is extremely auspicious for practicing all kinds of fasting, vows, prayers,ritual baths and charity. Spiritual practice, sādhana done during this time helpsprepare one for kaivalyapadam. It is also believed that puṇya accrued during thismonth is multiplied manifold.

Vedanta Glossaryby Kate Herse and Harinder Khalsa

Vedic Traditionsby Kavita Meegama

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It is customary especially onMondays of kārtika, to wake up at dawn, to take a ritualriver bath, to light lamps, to keep a fast through the day, to chant rudram, chamakamand to break the fast at dusk after sighting the moon and the stars. This tradition iscalled "nattaalu" in Andhra Pradesh when practiced for the whole month.

There is another interestingaspect to thismonth -vanabhojanalu - peoplego tonearbygrovesand forests tocookandeatundergooseberry trees!Rangolisareubiquitous thismonth, the only difference being they are all made of lamps - in various shapes andsizes - the most common design being a Shiva Linga usually made of 1008 lamps.

Kārtika Pūrṇima is celebrated on a much grander scale than even Dīpāvalli. CalledDeva Dīpāvalli in the North, it is a spectacular sight especially in Kashi where thebanks of the Gaṅgā are lit through the night.

If the emotions stemming from the unconscious are not me, then the rāgas anddveṣas (and avidyā) would not seem to be me either. Must they be “as though”meinorder toprepare for theknowledge?And thecategories, mumukṣu, jñāni, karmayogi? Don't they hold us in mithyā? Could you help me on this?All things other than one’s nature as free andwhole are an as though superimpositionon the “I”which is free of all attributes, including rāga-dveṣa, pāpa-puṇya.When thesuperimposition is not understood, these attributes are mistaken for the self, leadingto fear and sorrow. This mistake has to be removed by self knowledge, as there is noother way to understand the truth of the self.

The categories, such asmumukṣu or karma yogi, are given as away to bring focus anddirection in the life of one who is troubled by regarding the "as though" as real. Suchcategories are relevant for the one who is mired in the superimposition as one’s ownidentity and is subject to fears and tears as a result of this. To identify oneself as aseeker of the infinite, although mithyā, cannot hold one in mithyā, as the infinite isoneself alone. In fact, it is a safe identity as it leads one to a committed pursuit of theself as whole.

In fact, defining oneself as a jijñāsu reduces rāga-dveṣas and other senseless pursuitsin one’s life and puts one on the correct path to greet the truth of the self. Once selfknowledge is stable anddoes not shakeup theperson, the categories naturally resolve.

Then there is no student, teacher, jijñāsu, mumukṣu etc. This is a process, and untilthis level of clarity is achieved and assimilated, one pursues the teaching withcommitment and śraddhā.

Satsang with Swaminiji

Swaminiji's Teaching and Travel Schedule

Regular Classes Recommence Sunday Feb 22ndAll Class times are Pacific Times

Weekend ClassesSundays, 9:30 am-12 noon: Vedānta Ḍiṇḍima on thefollowing dates: Feb 22nd and March 1stSaturdays and Sundays, 7:30-9:45 am: Muṇḍaka BhāśyaSaturdays, 4-5:30 pm: Gītā Bhāśya

Weekday ClassesTuesdays, 6-7 pm: Śvetāśvatara UpaniṣadWednesdays 3:15-4:45 pm Kaṭhopaniṣad BhāśyaWednesdays 6-7 pm KaṭhopaniṣadClasses are simultaneously streamed via Livestream and Adobe Connect. Thelinks are reproduced below. Use the links below to access the classroom. Pleasenote: to access the adobe classroom you need to “Enter as a guest”. Please typeyour name and click “Enter”.

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