Since this is a long article, I am posting it in parts. I shall post the source in the last post.

Tantra and Yoga Nidra

by Swami Janakananda

"At the point of sleep when sleep has not yet come and external wakefulness vanishes, at this point being is revealed." (Vigyana Bhairava Tantra)

Tantra is a timeless tradition with methods for raising consciousness.

The word Tantra actually means to expand - consciousness, knowledge of life - and to liberate - one's self.

The knowledge on which Tantra is based has been in use since the matriarchal period in prehistoric times, where women were not repressed and mythology was founded on fertility and feminine energy. Tantra still contains elements from that era. The religious aspects of Tantra show that women dominate in the form of goddesses - and women are equal to men in the performance of the rituals.

To meditate or philosophise

The "real" Tantrics use methods and have experiences - they act. They don't philosophise and are reluctant to write down anything at all. If they do, then it is solely for the purpose of inspiring others to do something, to meditate etc., instead of philosophising.

It is therefore important to understand that Tantra is built upon practice and not on theorising, where experience is forgotten and the understanding of terms, mythology and wisdom becomes more important than wisdom itself. Not everyone understands what it means to walk the path of self realisation. For the teacher the object is to teach those who are receptive and who will actually use what they learn. However the teacher withholds his or her knowledge from those who are merely curious or sensation-seeking and who, with regard to the sexual rituals, are only lecherous and without sense for the deeper perspectives - wanting just a little taste only to hurry on to something else. It is important to safeguard the tradition, so that the genuine methods are not lost, misunderstood or diluted.

Intentional language in Tantra and elsewhere

Much of what we find in Tantra is therefore secret; it was either not written down or, when writing was introduced, was written in code language, which in Sanskrit is called Sandhabhasa.

These codes, or paraphrases, may appear as innocent stories - well, not always innocent. They may also have a pornographic content to scare or fascinate the reader so he would not discover the hidden content of the text. The real practices, if they were written down at all, were hidden in rituals, religious or sexual texts, or behind names or numbers that would have had to be swapped with other words. They could only be understood by someone who had already been initiated part of the way - but even then the practices described in the scripts remained veiled in innuendo compared to when one receives guidance directly from another individual, for example, when instructed in advanced meditation.

This was not only an Indian phenomenon; it was also found in other places, among them on Iceland, where it was called Launmál (hidden language), meaning that behind the story, lies another story, an initiation, a practice.

The aspirant is tested

The aspirant receives various tasks over a long period, to ensure that his or her attitude is open and receptive. It is important to know whether the aspirant will misinterpret the teacher's intentions and actions, and if the person in question really will abandon fear and habitual thoughts about his or her own limitations.

Also, the student must be prepared gradually with various easier practices, and above all, his or her patience must be set to the test. Life in an ashram or in the teacher's home can provide the right environment for this training.

A clear and well known example is Milarepa's relationship with his teacher Marpa. Marpa gave the appearance of being a drunken, unreasonable and choleric farmer. But judging from the result of the training he gave Milarepa, he must have been one of the best teachers that ever lived, at least the best for Milarepa - Tibet's great guru. In short, Milarepa had to undergo a twenty year long training, with hardships that on occasions almost wore him out, and frustrations - that made him run away several times - about not being allowed to take part in the secret doctrines, which in all probability contained meditation techniques along the lines of Kriya Yoga and Inner Silence (see previous issues of Bindu).

My teacher Paramhansa Satyananda stayed with his teacher Swami Sivananda for twelve years in Rishikesh. He did mainly Karma Yoga there, which consisted of various practical tasks in the administration of the ashram and with its printing press.

Later he travelled around India as a mendicant. For a period of his wandering years he had the possibility to withdraw and, among other things, practise the methods he had learnt in his daily association with Swami Sivananda. His teacher had also put him on the track of things in the yoga and Tantric tradition, which during his travels he could find, draw forth and investigate - subsequently he was ready to teach others himself. Swami Satyananda was an exceptional teacher - no one else, neither before nor since, has elucidated the Tantric practises to such a degree. I write in the past tense, because he has now retired as a teacher.

Theory or practise

It is my experience that the more one talks of, for example, meditation in theory instead of practising it, the less one's mind believes it is necessary to do it - after all you "know it all already." The problem is that merely "knowing" has no effect. The body and mind have no use for knowing, if the exercises are not applied.

A few years ago I experienced something interesting during a month long Kriya Yoga course that I held. Students come to learn the great Kriya Yoga in silence. They have been prepared by previous courses with various yoga and meditation methods and with a certain amount of theory.

Apart from a few talks and discussions at the start of the course, I felt an urge to just let them meditate, do yoga and to generally be engaged with practical things. In other words, I had no desire to give lectures during the period of silence, which was quite appropriate as the students do not talk, write or read anything. The silence helps to remove the deeper lying tensions and maintains a good balance in the brain while also increasing the ability to experience.

Nevertheless, about halfway into the silent period, I needed to clarify a few things and to theoretically explain a little of how you can let go of automatic reactions and habits in the nervous system and in the mind. The lecture which I gave in the evening was, I am sure, inspiring for both the students and myself.

The following morning the students had a physical yoga class with another teacher. After the class the teacher told me that the awareness and concentration present the other mornings was not really there that morning. The students had daydreamed a little and time and again it seemed as though they had to force themselves to follow the instructions. It only happened that one morning during the entire course - the rest of the time they were quite alert.

When the silence was over, I asked them if they could remember how they felt the morning after the lecture. I promptly received an explanation from one of them and the others agreed. He said that the interesting things they had heard the evening before had filled his head to such an extent, that his mind thought his body no longer needed to do the exercises. It was not necessary - he knew it all already.

What is theory worth, when it is not based on experience? If theory comes first, the intellect will block the experience - with expectations and effort, we can be lead in the wrong direction, while a know-all attitude hinders the openness to follow and receive guidance in, for example, a meditation. It gets in the way of sensitivity and the ability to experience what cannot be written down. It all quite easily becomes indoctrination. You are told how it is, instead of experiencing it yourself. Opinions and concepts become something learnt by rote and clung to, believed in, defended, even though they are not based on personal insight and first hand experience.

Take a word such as meditation. It has widely become a concept. The mind can come up with all sorts of ideas about what meditation is and actually avoid the essential. "Oh, but I have my own meditation," and then you sit and dream a bit. You never leave the limitations of the mind behind. Some even get the bright idea to teach on the grounds of such notions. There are those who say that they receive answers to all sorts of things in their meditation. It is probably true, but oh, they never leave their minds in peace.

It is the same with the word relaxation, which is used today to describe all kinds of things, from hypnosis to music. There are even some good musicians who call their music "meditation." One can only hope that their audience can enjoy the music without allowing themselves to be limited by such a claim.

In the 70's I recognised the problem with these labels as I prepared the release of a Yoga Nidra tape. I wanted to make it clear what Yoga Nidra was about and called it a "deep-relaxation". It only took a few months before that description was used for every kind of possible and impossible relaxation.

Unfortunately, the name Yoga Nidra is also used today for relaxations that have nothing to do with the effective technique that stems from the Tantric tradition and which we are discussing in this issue of Bindu.

Apart from what can be palmed off on us by others, the ideas that people themselves form of meditation can really stand in the way of reaching the relaxed or meditative state; such as the assumption that the mind should firstly be controlled. The mind does not stop, so why fight it and get frustrated?

Learn to bypass it by using a method and allow the mind to calm down by itself.

What does one get from meditation, if it does not give noticeable energy and zest for life in the day to day, and from relaxation, if one does not come out of it with greater clarity, calmness and overview?

Meditation is a break from all impressions, a way of emptying the mind. It is also a search for one's true identity, one's center - and for this you need methods that ensure you don't cheat yourself, but really reach your innermost.

The ritual in meditation helps you bypass the limitations of the mind

Classical meditations from Tantra and Zen show this alternative approach. The Tantric meditation is contained in the ritual. The Tantric ritual consists of methods which continually occupy the mind, leaving the thoughts to do as they please and drift by in the background. There is no need to struggle with them. You have something else to do. And if for a moment you become preoccupied with a thought, then all you need do is realise it, remember what it was you were doing and return to your practise.

Kriya Yoga is an example of this, using methods that open and cleanse the energy flows in the body, raise the level of energy and create an absorption that is independent of the mind's endeavours, expectations and ideas.

In Yoga Nidra one does not try to relax, but rather occupy the mind with the methods given. The relaxation is triggered - it comes by itself.

How long can one concentrate on a thumb for example? One second? Two? The mind wants to go on to something else. Therefore the restlessness of the mind is accommodated and consciousness is transferred to the index finger and so on.

The mind is occupied in such a way that it does not have time for anything else and therefore it cannot hold any tension.

The purpose of the sexual ritual

"While being caressed, sweet princess,enter the caressing as everlasting life."
(Quotations: Vigyana Bhairava Tantra)

The famous or notorious sexual rituals (of which I have written a variation in my book http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/yoga_shop/books/the_yoga_book - Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life ) is a good example of Tantric rituals and practises having other purposes than people normally think.

It is usually believed to be an excellent therapy for people with sexual problems, or is thought to help achieve greater sexual freedom, and intensify sexual enjoyment. Yes, it probably can - but it has another purpose.

"At the start of sexual union, keep attentive on the fire in the beginning, and, so continuing, avoid the embers in the end."

It is a matter of capturing the mind and the sex drive is well suited for this purpose.

"When in such embrace your senses are shaken as leaves, enter this shaking."

When you are prepared through all the various practises belonging to the ritual, apart from bathing, eating etc., then the desired result is inevitable.

"Even remembering union, without the embrace, the transformation."

The purpose is to expand consciousness and increase the energy.

An uninterrupted experience

"The meaning of life
life itself provides,
until we begin
to inquire "
(Grook by Piet Hein)

The mind can imagine all kinds of things, both too much and too little, and it loves to argue, it loves to discuss. It can prove anything, but it can just as well disprove it.

When you dare to receive directly - when you do not expect sensational "experiences" or demand an answer for everything - then you can begin the transformation. The methods remain secret until you are ready to use them. You learn Kriya Yoga in silence.

Not giving out the methods to the uninitiated is a principle Tantrics have in common with Celtic druids (for whom it was directly forbidden to write anything of what they had learnt), the Egyptian initiates and, to a certain extent, with the indigenous people (Aborigines) living in the deserts of central Australia. Contrary to the Celtic and Egyptian elite, Tantra was and is part of the local culture.

The treasures of Tantra are not only reserved for a learned social class, but also form part of the living tradition in many villages where knowledge and experience is passed on from person to person for generations.

A timeless and living tradition

Anybody who proves to be suitable and receptive can share in the Tantric knowledge. A knowledge that is so comprehensive that the Tantric methods can be compared to contemporary science. In addition to methods to expand, raise and liberate human consciousness, Tantra also contains mathematics, astronomy, methods for healing and art of the highest calibre. It could be said that the Tantric tradition contains all conceivable means of helping people through life - and in mastering themselves.

Unfortunately, it has become fashionable nowadays to associate Tantra with sexual rituals alone. They are, of course, a part of the tradition, just as there are people that benefit from using them - but they are just one part of the rich Tantric tradition.

Nyasa

We are now going to deal with a group of methods and practices that are used in the Tantric rituals - also the sexual ones, but not only there. They can also be part of what we popularly call relaxation and meditation. Their purpose is to alter the state of your physical body and of consciousness, so that you become present, receptive and sensitive to what is further happening in the ritual or in the meditation.

These methods have a collective name: Nyasa.

According to the Oxford Sanskrit English Dictionary, the word Nyasa means: to place, to set on or in, to use, to touch, etc.

What is touched are the body's various parts - what is placed, is a mantra (sound), for example, on the appropriate places.

It is worth noting that the dictionary further defines Nyasa as: "Mental consecration or allocation of various bodily parts to guardian spirits". This definition is correct, as far as I can see, but is insufficient as it stands. One could just as well claim that all science is religion, as theology is still counted among the Sciences.

Apparently the "facts" elucidated in encyclopaedias depend on who is supplying the information; the diverse and at times peculiar or limited definitions of Yoga and Tantra are clear examples of that.

The purpose of using Nyasa in Tantric yoga, in my opinion, is to awaken consciousness, which I hope is apparent from the articles in this issue. With that in mind, however, I will now quote a definition by Agehananda Bharati: "Literally, Nyasa is the process of charging a part of the body, or an organ of another living body, with a specified power through touch."And he continues. "For instance, by placing the firemudra [a way of holding the fingers when touching] on the heart region uttering the fire-mantra 'ram', the adept's heart is made into the cosmic fire..."

"The little man" (motor homunculus) shows, along the marked band across the cerebral cortex, which regions of the brain are linked with the various parts of the body.

Nyasa can consist of "touching" the various bodily parts by hand. It can be performed by oneself, or by one's partner or teacher. But it can also be done mentally, by thinking of the specific areas and calling them by name - this happens, for example, during the teacher's guidance of Yoga Nidra.

Nyasa also involves the "placing" of a mantra (sound, syllable or a combination of the two - a phrase) on different parts of the body. This is done mentally, or the mantra can be said aloud.

The Sanskrit alphabet, just like runes in their time in the Northern countries, does not only serve as a group of letters used to form words, but also each letter has an inherent power, a vibration that forms the basis of the science of mantra. In one form of Nyasa, the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet are distributed over the whole body. This is called Matrika Nyasa:

"Matrika is the source of all mantras, the origin of all sciences and the soil from which all the principles, all sages and all knowledge are born." (Laxmi Tantra)

The above mentioned methods can be combined so that you touch your body or that of your partner, at the same time as you name the mantra for the place that you touch.

Matrika Nyasa is a different form of Nyasa from that which is used in Yoga Nidra. But if you have experienced the deep Yoga Nidra you will be able to see the similarities between one of the larger sections of Yoga Nidra and Matrika Nyasa.

The earth, water, fire, air and ether (space) elements also play a role in Nyasa. The body is divided into five parts, each with its own element.

And as previously mentioned, the body and its various parts can be consecrated to one or more guardian spirits - even to planets or holy places. The name of the spirits or gods, of the planet, place or element are then added to the string of mantras and recited aloud or repeated mentally.

Naturally Nyasa is used because it has an effect on the body and mind - and is not just an empty ritual. Nyasa is related to, and possibly even predates, Shiatsu and Acupuncture. But whereas these other two methods are based on the physical body and their energy points and are mainly used for healing, Nyasa is more than this, in that it also has methods for "touching" and awakening the mind's numerous dimensions, e.g. through the psychic chakras.

The long and deep Yoga Nidra is based on simple and therefore very effective variations of Nyasa, from beginning to end.

The dimensions

Once you have followed the guidance in the deep Yoga Nidra, while lying on your back, you are then familiar with the way you move your awareness through all parts of the body; with the experience of heaviness and lightness, warmth and cold, pain and contentment. And with how you get in contact with the chakras in different ways, and experience certain symbols, landscapes, pictures etc.

There are several dimensions to our being. In daily life we are familiar with the body, breath, thoughts, emotions, moods - and with states like wakefulness, dreaming and sleeping. But there are other states such as the meditative, the shamanic, the hypnotic, the intoxicated ...

The dimensions of the human being are described from the basis of different backgrounds. Jung and Freud introduced concepts such as the conscious, the subconscious, the unconscious and libido.

In the European occult or mystic tradition there are concepts that to a certain degree correspond with other cultures': the physical body, body humours (as in Ajur Veda), vital energy, the astral body and the causal body. Similarly in Europe there is, or was, a concept such as bliss (intense and independent happiness).

In the Indian texts the Upanishads, we find the following description of the human dimensions:

The five sheaths

(from the Paingala Upanishad)

"Then the five sheaths made of food,
vital air, mind, understanding and bliss.

What is brought into being
only by the essence of food,
what grows only by the essence of food, that which finds rest in earth
full of the essence of food,
that is the sheath made of food.
(Anna-Maya-Kosha)
That alone is the gross body.

The five vital airs,
along with the organs of action
constitute the sheath
made of the vital principle.
(Prana-Maya-Kosha)

Mind
along with the organs of perception
is the sheath
made of mind.
(Mano-Maya-Kosha)

The understanding
along with the organs of perception
is the sheath made of intelligence.
(Vijnana-Maya-Kosha)

These three sheaths (of life, mind and intelligence) form the subtle body.

The knowledge of one's own form is of the sheath made of bliss.
(Ananda-Maya-Kosha)
That is also the causal body."

The purpose of Nyasa and of Yoga Nidra is to touch and experience the various planes, to awaken consciousness in areas where it is normally dormant due to tensions. It can be in such ordinary places as organs and muscles. The tensions are thereby released, but that is only one step of the process. The aim is to experience that you are not bound to just one plane of consciousness, but that you consciously contain them all - and that leads to the insight, that one's true identity is the experiencing consciousness behind it all.

It is more than just an idea, it is something you realise - an experience.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead extends this experience beyond life into the realm of death. These teachings help prepare you for the realisation that you are neither the fascinating nor the terrifying planes you encounter after death, but that they too are only experiences that you need not get trapped in on the way.

In order to see the use of Nyasa in another light, let us look at what we call Chakra.

Muladhara Chakra. This article does not contain a complete account of the various major chakras. Muladhara Chakra, the fundamental root chakra, is just one example. It is situated above the perineum, between the sex organs and the anus.

Chakra, the psychic centers

The word Chakra has in our "New Age" been taken out of its original context and debased. Its meaning has become limited to the physical and, at its best, the mental, while lacking the perspectives and possibilities found in the Tantric tradition, from where the term stems. To awaken a chakra and use it consciously is quite a different process from what is going on today; a whole market exists where people promote chakra cream, chakra massage, chakra machines and I don't know what. Psychic sensitivity and the prospect of more profound experiences is drowned in materialism and narrowminded concepts. They play with people's expectations and notions and have no experiences themselves.

I have written about Chakra previously, in Bindu no. 4 in the series of articles on http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/articles/issues_of_bindu/bindu_4/kriya_yoga_i - Kriya Yoga , and in a chapter of my book: http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/yoga_shop/books/the_yoga_book - Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life .

Furthermore, I have explained a little about it in the booklet that comes with the CD
http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/yoga_shop/cd_s/yoga_nidra_cd_tape - Experience Yoga Nidra .

Energy whirls and flows

The subtle body, or energy body, consists of numerous minor energy whirls or points of consciousness. They are called chakra and are evenly distributed over the whole body (compare with Sei or Gen points in Chinese medicine). Between them flows Prana, the psychic energy (as in Ki or Chi energy) in the nadis (similar to Meridians, see also Bindu no. 4 - " http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/articles/issues_of_bindu/bindu_4/yoga_and_the_finer_energy - Yoga and the finer energy ").

These minor chakras are touched in Yoga Nidra.

In the beginning of the relaxation, you go through the body mentally at such a pace that you have time to just touch the places named in the guidance, but not enough to think of anything else. By thinking of these small chakra, the whole body is gradually made conscious - as are the respective areas in the cerebral cortex (see the illustration of http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/articles/issues_of_bindu/bindu_11/tantra_and_yoga_nidra#menneske - 'The little man' ).

In itself, the body is one big chakra - a point of consciousness, an energy whirl.

The major chakras

The major chakras have many dimensions. On the physical level they are central areas in the body that are linked to the nervous system and the nadis. They are found at the base of the body, above the perineum: Muladhara; in the spine: Swadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddhi; in the head: Lalana; and in the brain: Ajna, Bindu and Sahasrara. There are a few others, but these are the ones most commonly used.

The various dimensions of a chakra

A chakra is not only physical, but consists of all the human dimensions.

A chakra can be regarded as a microcosmic image of an individual, just as an individual possibly is microcosmic in comparison to the universe. That, at any rate, is what the Hopis (in northern Arizona) say:

"The living body of man and the living body of the earth were constructed in the same way. Through each ran an axis, man's axis being the backbone, the vertebral column, which controlled the equilibrium of his movements and his functions. Along this axis were several vibratory centers which echoed the primordial sound of life throughout the universe or sounded a warning if anything went wrong."
(Book of the Hopi, F. Waters)

Awakening

Initially the body is brought into harmony by yoga exercises. Then blockages in the energy flows are removed by breathing exercises and relaxation techniques. Yoga creates a solid and lasting balance in the entire organism and in the area of each chakra. Thereafter, additional consciousness is brought into these centers by the use of Yoga Nidra, Kriya Yoga and other Tantric meditations. Now begins a cleansing of the old attachments, habits and inhibitions (vritti) rooted in our actions and mindscape.

Then the chakras are ready for an awakening, where you are not carried away by deeply embedded patterns and behavioural traits (samskara) that have been imprinted on the mind over the years.

During the awakening, which comes and goes at first, until it has become completely established, the encounter with the contents of the various planes of consciousness continues.

"An individual's destiny is determined by his or her unconscious radiation," a Danish writer, Poul Martin Møller once expressed it.

The relationship between body, mind, emotions and vital energy (prana) is communicated through the major chakras. When they are awakened, you gain insight into different levels of your being, and into your normally unconscious reactions. You realise how your states influence the outcome of your actions.

Eventually the chakras can be opened fully - the interpretative filters of the cosmic energy rays or vibrations are gone. When we no longer hold back, but allow all the chakras to communicate freely, with energy flowing unhindered through them, as it does through the universe, then we enter into a greater wholeness as true cosmic beings.

The Rainbow Dharma

by Tan Swie Hian:
"In the wilderness, the voyager told the great white light,
`I cannot look into you.'
The light immediately turned itself into eight rainbows."

Or are the above mentioned phenomena just another way of describing how the various regions of the brain communicate better as a result of meditation - which they do when you see the results of the scientific measurements and listen to people's experiences. Better contact with the emotions and between body and mind is achieved (more about that in the next issue).

Tools for raising consciousness

The way Nyasa rouses the consciousness of various parts of the body and mind, and combines them with mantra (sound), yantra (potent diagrams) and symbols, has much in common with the way a chakra is made conscious or awoken.

The individual chakra can be touched in Nyasa in different ways. Many of them are used in Yoga Nidra. Here are some of them:

• Through feeling the body's contact areas (in the classical yoga poses, for example);
• through tones and the finer inner sounds (this happens in Chakra Vajrohan, where tones are sung in each chakra, and through inner NadaYoga, sound yoga - see the previous issue of Bindu - and to a certain degree by a particular form of Indian music);
• mentally through the mind, which has several dimensions, by naming the chakras, by placing their seed mantra there - and by the use of symbols;
• through the five elements, their respective symbols and diagrams;
• through animal symbolism (possibly a connection back to shamanism);
• through energy, where breathing exercises also play a vital role in cleansing the energy passages (Nadi). In Nyasa, you tune into the frequency of various energy passages by "placing" letters or mantras on the "lotus petals". These petals represent energy passages linked to each chakra;
• with "keys" in the form of diagrams (Yantras) and symbols that create a contact with the chakras deeper dimensions;
• through mandala (or deities) as a seat for (or representation of) the cosmic energy that flows through the chakra and keeps it open and clean;
• and by consciousness itself.

Where does this knowledge of these instruments and symbols come from, one might ask. We know that such things can appear in our dreams, and therefore one could answer, that perhaps they come from that other reality, the inner one. Yes, but they also come from the experiences of the yogis. Descriptions of these keys are nevertheless only signposts along the way, to be confirmed or rejected by one's own experience.

This has been about touching (Nyasa) and a little bit about awakening, but it is far from the whole story.

After a chakra has been cleansed and awoken through yoga methods and guidance, it begins to play a part in one's conscious life. With the awakening follow abilities and a greater sensitivity, a kind of sense beyond the purely physical (see also Bindu no 4 in the article on http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/articles/issues_of_bindu/bindu_4/kriya_yoga_i - Kriya Yoga ).

Furthermore, some people can see when a chakra is active in another person. My first experience of this was when I saw a spiral shaped cone of bluish grey energy, that projected from the eyebrow center of a Danish yoga teacher I knew in my youth.

Chakras in Yoga Nidra

According to Paramahansa Satyananda, Yoga Nidra actually begins with the experiencing of these chakras.

The chakras are also known in other cultures, as we have seen with the Hopis in the USA, but also by the alchemists in Europe and the Inuits of Greenland and Canada, to mention but a few of the more evident examples.

In the deep Yoga Nidra, we use eight of the major chakras to contact the various planes of consciousness.

On my CD, " http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/yoga_shop/cd_s/yoga_nidra_cd_tape - Experience Yoga Nidra " I use the mantras (certain sound syllables) connected to each chakra. I also use visual symbols in accordance with the traditions of India and Europe.

When I started to produce "Experience Yoga Nidra" while teaching in the USA, the Indian musician Roop Verma was inspired to record the ancient musical symbols of the chakras. He was the first ever to do this. This special music has been merged with my text and guidance during the deep Yoga Nidra.

Chakras are often spoken of in connection with Kundalini Yoga, a set of methods and meditations that can be used to harmonise and awaken the psychic energy. (The name Kundalini Yoga, however, is also used as the trade mark of a contemporary movement - although they do not teach the original and advanced Kundalini Yoga).

Kriya Yoga is probably the most profound and effective form of Kundalini Yoga. In an awesome way it can strengthen the body's energy field, remove depressions, increase creativity and open you up for a first hand knowledge of the genuine mystical or spiritual aspects of life.

The chakras have corresponding areas in the brain. When they are relaxed and harmonised during Yoga Nidra, the release of unwanted states such as confusion and lack of concentration begins. People who awaken their chakras through yoga and meditation, open up to a previously unknown capacity for communication, insight and creativity.

Consciousness

The awakening of consciousness through Nyasa releases tensions and lethargy, thereby healing illnesses; but primarily, it brings you into contact with all parts of your being.

The guidance in Yoga Nidra through the different areas of the body and mind, does not only make the body more conscious and more relaxed and awake, but trains your ability to utilise the various regions of the brain, both those connected to the physical body and those connected to the chakras.

From the research carried out at The State University Hospital in Copenhagen in the Spring of 1997 - which is discussed in another article here in the magazine - it appears that different regions of the brain are activated according to the part of Yoga Nidra with which the mind is engaged (however, the section of Yoga Nidra dealing with the major chakras was not measured in this research).

Relaxation or cleansing

I have been fortunate enough to learn a Yoga Nidra which is in close accordance with Nyasa as it is used in Tantra. Just to read or study the Tantric texts tells you little or nothing of how Nyasa can be used, as for example in Yoga Nidra.

In the text "Laxmi Tantra", which gives guidance in the Tantric rituals and sexual practises, Nyasa ends a sequence, of which breathing exercises and the cleansing of the five elements are a part. This practise is called Bhutasuddhi, cleansing of the body. Here Nyasa builds a bridge between inner and outer cleansing.

Does this mean that one cleanses the body and mind by mentally "placing" a mantra on a certain body part or merely by thinking of that part? The answer is yes, and furthermore by using a mudra (position of the fingers) or by mentally touching and thereby experiencing a part of the body, the body is brought to life and made conscious.

Micheline Flak teaches yoga in France. She also leads R.Y.E., (research into children's use of yoga in schools) which is described in Bindu no. 6. She made an experiment during Yoga Nidra, first with a group of yoga teachers on a seminar, and later in her daily teaching.

One section of Yoga Nidra involves going through all parts of the body, by thinking of them or feeling them as they are named in the guidance. You start with the thumb of the right hand, then the index finger and so on. In this way, you first experience the right side of the body, and then the left side. It is done in the beginning of Yoga Nidra and normally without interruption.

"When I had guided them through the right side of the body, mentally feeling or touching different parts of the body in the fixed order, I stopped and asked them to notice if there was a difference between the right and the left side of the body. Afterwards when we discussed it, the students were amazed by the difference experienced through such a simple exercise." (Micheline Flak).

The students remarked that they had felt that the side of the body they had just touched mentally was alive, light and at ease, while the other side, which they had not as yet gone through, was still in that normal, slightly heavy and tired state.

From my own teaching I received the following account from a female student, who is now a yoga teacher.

"Many years ago I took part in a three months course at Håå Course Centre. We had placed ourselves comfortably on the floor and as usual we were looking forward to a guided Yoga Nidra with Swami Janakananda. And what a Yoga Nidra! For some reason or other he went through the right side of the body twice - and skipped the left side.

The effect was soon felt! We all experienced a sensation which could be described quite literally as being lopsided. It was a strange feeling of having `lots of vitality' in the right side, whereas it was difficult to get contact with the left. It passed, but I was reminded of how strong an effect Yoga Nidra really has." (Shanti)

In contemporary western culture, the word relaxation is used for all sorts of things. The actual word or term relaxation is not commonly used in Sanskrit in India in connection with yoga and Tantra. There the field of "relaxation" comprises various techniques, which are called by different names, the word cleansing (suddhi) being one of them. But the results of these methods are the same as what we achieve through what we term relaxation. Relaxation means to remove tensions - the body and mind are cleansed of tensions.

That the body and mind actually form a whole is common knowledge today. It is expressed by the word psychosomatic. Tensions of the mind create tensions in the body and vice versa; removing a tension in the mind removes it in the body. In Nyasa, and therefore in Yoga Nidra, this happens without trying to relax. One experiences the body consciously, and that alone releases tensions.

You make a resolution,

Using a resolution in Yoga Nidra is good and effective. It would be foolish not to make one, when you can use it to influence the direction of your life.

You make only one resolution in order not to spread your energy and confuse your mind. If you use a number of resolutions or visualisations, you will probably achieve some results, but nothing deep and lasting.

For half an hour or longer, every day or once in a while, you can allow yourself to relax in the face of your usual thoughts and emotions and let them flow by. By momentarily not hooking on to everything that crops up in the mind, you remember who you are and doubts can not take root. In the relaxed state, your resolution works with an undiminished strength.

(Read more about this in the booklet accompanying the CD).

but...

For the relaxation itself to be effective, the relaxed state should not be induced by techniques or methods that are based on hypnosis - one should not use suggestions to get into an artificial and limited state.

When you experience Yoga Nidra, you will notice that you are never asked to relax, or to imagine that a particular part of the body relaxes - the word relaxation is not used at all during the guidance. That is not what Yoga Nidra is about.

Yoga Nidra consists of techniques that trigger a state where one's being is vitalised - the result is a stable and unbroken state of relaxation in the body and the entire brain while practicing Yoga Nidra. (See also the two articles by Robert Nilsson in this issue).

Nyasa (and thus Yoga Nidra) is fundamentally different to a lot of modern therapies, which are only based on hypnosis, even though they do not call it hypnosis, but use other names and trade marks - yes, sometimes even the word meditation.

"Do not waste your time trying to change people's mentality. After you, some Hitler might come and ruin everything anyway," Swami Satyananda once said to me, when I was ready to return to Europe to teach. He shocked me deeply by using such a potent picture - what did he mean by that?

What help is it to have everything explained to you by an authority before you have experienced it yourself? It is so easy to be influenced by someone who comes along with a powerful image and a "quick" solution and allow yourself be taken in and have the wool pulled over your eyes. People cannot be free, unless you teach them that through their own practice they can achieve real independence of influences and a transformation of body, mind and consciousness.

Swamiji meant, in other words, that rather than try to change people's outlook and habits, I should help them so that they themselves can acquire an overview, insight and wisdom.

Though that does not mean they should avoid being consistent and steadfast.

Experience, insight and realisation are the opposite to hypnosis. Hypnosis is like burning incense in a room that smells in order to hide the odour. The ability to experience, to make conscious, is like cleaning the room and airing it. Personally I do not want methods that program me, but ones that liberate me from old programs and expand my consciousness.

"Everything is hypnosis," you might say - and I can understand why you might think so. We are influenced by all kinds of things from cradle to grave. That is exactly why we need tools to occasionally empty the body and mind of the accumulation of impressions, habits and automatic thinking.

Liberation, after all, lies in using insight and awareness in order to see through one's influences. The wise person does not react against influences, he does not try to stop them, instead he experiences everything, and lets go of what he does not need. It is on this basis that meditation has come into being.

Myths, which we constantly create to avoid a direct experience of life, are very much a form of hypnosis. With hypnosis, notions of reality often take the place of reality itself. Throughout human history there have been countless examples of people wanting to know what they should think about reality, instead of experiencing it for themselves. So armoured, they can disagree with "the others", those who have (allowed themselves to be influenced in having) a different world view to themselves. Different interpretations of reality can then clash and, on a larger scale, create religious and political wars.

The individual whose expectations are not met by the promises of the latest mythology or therapy, often end up in a state of bitterness and frustration - and look for the cause outside themselves. Even the teacher who is available to help one out of limitations is sometimes accused. Regardless of how clever the teacher is, he cannot be held responsible for fulfilling the expectations of the students - provided that he or she has not helped to create the expectations. In the end it is the individual him/herself and society that are responsible for the expectations they have and no one else is answerable if they are not met.

Intolerance towards those who think differently does not arise amongst individuals who are aware and who experience instead of theorising. My experience is personal and I realise that others do not necessarily need my experience and my interpretation - they have their own.

However we all have more or less the same kind of organs and nervous system, and more or less the same kind of mind. We have learned this through both modern science as well as the several thousand year old tradition and experience in yoga and Tantra - therefore one can unearth and preserve techniques and methods that work regardless of which attitude to life, which nationality, background and age one has.

We must each make a choice...

Naturally we need to make a choice in relation to what we want to do with our lives, and therefore a choice of influences and of resolutions that we want to follow. The reverse would be to sit behind the steering wheel of a moving car without taking hold of it and steering. And the higher we set our goal, the easier other things fall into place by themselves.

"The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence also moves.
All sorts of things occur to help which would not otherwise have happened.
A whole stream of events flow from the decision, bringing all sorts of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no-one could have foreseen."
(W.H. Murray, inspired by Goethe)

"What ever you can do, or dream you can; begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic. Begin it now." (Goethe)

What Goethe expresses here is not a postulate, but an observation which he wishes to convey, which makes him a mystic and not a priest repeating doctrine by rote.

It is obvious that there must be a balance between influences (one's resolution in Yoga Nidra) and making conscious. The expression `to make conscious' does not mean in my language to analyse and judge, but touch, awareness, receptiveness, participation and - the placing of consciousness, Nyasa.

To feel or just to think of a place, is enough to bring life to it. To be aware of the possibilities in life that present themselves, to have the courage to accept them, is to live consciously.

"A great saint, a mahatma, a yogi, a prophet or a gyani lives on this earth like any other human being. He thinks, enjoys and eats like others. The great difference between a yogi and an ordinary man is that he has awakened a dormant faculty in man called awareness, whereas the ordinary man has not. He is always aware. He is called a drastha - a seer. He is the witnesser of events. Your aim on the path to realising and awakening your dormant potential should be to gradually unfold this faculty of awareness within you. Become a seer…" (Paramhansa Satyananda)

Yoga Nidra

To make conscious by thinking of certain places in a precisely determined sequence, or by feeling these areas, or by naming the places mentally, is probably the easiest, the original and perhaps therefore the most fruitful of all Nyasa practises - by experiencing warmth and cold, heaviness and lightness, pain and contentment, and whatever else Yoga Nidra consists of, like Chakras, certain symbols and landscapes that one remembers.

In the deep Yoga Nidra all the parts of your being, all your potentials, are touched, named and vitalised through Nyasa, and it is precisely this experience which creates well-being and clarity.

It is due to Paramhansa Satyananda's genius that we can use this effective method of Yoga Nidra today, and we must credit him for revealing Nyasa through the Yoga Nidra relaxation in a way through which everybody can benefit.

 

 

Source: http://www.scand-yoga.org - http://www.scand-yoga.org

 

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The most important quality for an investor is temperament,not intellect.A temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd nor against it

Yoga tool-kit for computer users

Yoga can teach you to be compatible with yourself - and your computer work

by Omkarananda

Every other computer operator complains of tensions and pain!

During the last decade there has been a lot of research done on "mouse injuries" and other problems that arise with continual use of a computer monitor and keyboard. Lena Karlqvist from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm concludes after ten years of research that nobody can manage the monotonous strain in the long run without problems. Danish experts believe that the solution lies in rotating the employees or students between computer work and other activities, so that they only sit for a maximum of 4-5 hours in front of a monitor per day. Unfortunately, it is admitted that in many instances this is unrealistic due to increasing specialisation and shortage of time.

Don't let the body come to a standstill in front of the monitor. These four small exercises can be of great help to avoid the build up of tensions in the neck, shoulders and back.

A tool to remain in contact with energy and inspiration

With simple yoga exercises one can release tensions as they arise and consciously put oneself in an inspired and creative mood. Computer users often have tension and pain in the "mouse hand", arm, elbow, shoulder, neck or back. Other common ailments are headaches, eye complaints and lethargy, which also arise due to tensions, and which prevent the afflicted to be him/herself and work efficiently.

Here follows an introduction to a few yoga exercises that are good for relieving tensions that can occur in front of a monitor. For these exercises you do not necessarily need a special place to practise the yoga. It is enough to turn off the monitor, while you print or make a back-up, and do one or a few of the exercises suggested here. After five to fifteen minutes you are ready - with increased clarity and concentration - to continue your work.

Besides this, you can take part in a weekly yoga course, a weekend course or perhaps a residential course. This will enhance the effect of the yoga you do yourself. Gradually you will learn to let go of tensions as they arise. Then they will not accumulate and develop into pain and an occupational hazard.

The exercises in the following short program should be done without effort or haste. The text (but not the pictures, due to copyright) are quoted from the book http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/yoga_shop/books/the_yoga_book - Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life by Swami Janakananda. In the book, which is richly illustrated with instructive pictures, there is a chapter of eye exercises, that are of considerable use for those who sit in front of a computer monitor. The book is inspiring reading.

Tension releasing exercises for the arms and shoulders

1. Extend your arms forward, shoulder level, palms up. Bend your arms, placing your fingertips on your shoulders. Keep your upper arms horizontal. 5-10 times

2. Do the same movement, but with your arms out to the sides of your body.

3. Shoulder Rolling - Rest your fingertips on your shoulders throughout this exercise. Begin with your upper arms at shoulder level, elbows pointing sideways. Then rotate your arms in a circular motion, moving them backwards and down, and then let the elbows meet in front of your stomach. Keep them together as you rise up in front of your chest and face, and then turn them out to the sides, back and down again. 5-10 times. Repeat this exercise in the opposite direction. Shoulder rolling limbers up your shoulders and the upper part of your neck.

Head Rolling

1. exercise

Let your head slowly fall all the way to one side, your nose forward, not towards your shoulder. Hang your head like that for a while, then bring it slowly over to the other side and keep it there briefly. Repeat this 5-10 times.

2. exercise

Turn your head all the way to one side, pause a moment, then turn your head slowly to the other side and pause there. Repeat this 5-10 times.

3. exercise

Let your head slowly sink down to your chest, let it rest there briefly, totally relaxed then slowly raise it and rest it there, hanging it back a while. 5-10 times.

4. exercise

Let your head rotate all the way around 5-7 times in each direction. Do it in a very relaxed way and take your time. Feel the position of the head at any one point of the circle.

5. exercise

Pause immediately after the head rolling: sitting relaxed and completely still with your head upright and your eyes closed.

It is important to do the first three exercises each time as a warm up to the head rolling.

If you have a tendency for dizziness or an extremely high blood pressure, you should do the head rolling very carefully.

This exercise relaxes the neck and shoulder area and has a general relaxing effect on the entire nervous system. Good against headaches and lethargy.

Spontaneous Breathing

This is a breathing exercise, relaxation and meditation exercise. Start by lying on your back with your hands by your sides (or directly following the head rolling, remain sitting in a chair with the hands resting on the legs or in the lap.) The eyes are closed.

Experience your whole body,
the whole body at once,
feel how motionless it is -
concentrate a long time on the motionlessness.

Then begin to experience that
this motionless body is alive, it is breathing;
let it breathe
freely,
avoid slowing down
or speeding up your breathing,
avoid controlling it,
breathe freely,
spontaneously -
go on, go on
as long as possible -
ten minutes - fifteen minutes - half an hour.

After a while
make sure you are breathing with the stomach.
Otherwise use your will a little,
but avoid disturbing
the free rhythm of your breath,
feel -
that you breath with the stomach;
let the stomach expand
as you inhale,
and let the rest follow;
let your stomach sink down and relax
when you exhale;
do not bother about your mind;
breathe freely and spontaneously
with your attention on
your stomach,
go on -
now notice how your stomach
rises and falls
with the natural movements of breath,
go on -

Use this exercise as often and as long as
you like
any time -
but preferably at regular
times.

It is best if you can do the relaxation with subdued lighting.

Basant sir, I present the following method(as I know it from my sources):

Am originally from software background. Right now, am Financial and Techie(in using software and not as a software professional) both I guess

In Hinduism, Ganesha refers to the "lord of the hosts," also spelled as Ganesa and Ganesh, often also referred to as Ganapati) - and is one of the most well-known and venerated representations of God (Brahman).

He is the first born son of Shiva and Parvati, and the husband of Bharati, Riddhi and Siddhi. He is also called Vinayaka in Marathi, Malayalam and Kannada, Vinayagar and Pillayar (in Tamil), and Vinayakudu in Telugu.

'Ga' symbolizes Buddhi (intellect) and 'Na' symbolizes Vijnana (wisdom). Ganesha is thus considered the master of intellect and wisdom.

He is depicted as a big-bellied, yellow or red god with four arms and the head of a one-tusked elephant, riding on, or attended to by, a mouse. He is frequently represented sitting down, with one leg raised in the air and bent over the other. Typically, his name is prefixed with the Hindu title of respect, 'Shree' or Sri.

The cult of Ganesha is widely diffused, even outside of India. His devotees are called Ganapatya.The ganapati festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm and devotion throughout India but in Mumbai, the financial capital of the Country, the festival assumes a special significance because of the scale at which it is performed.

As is the case with every other external form with which Hinduism represents god, in the sense of the personal appearance of Brahman (also referred to as Ishvara, the Lord), the figure of Ganesha too is an archetype loaded with multiple meanings and symbolism which expresses a state of perfection as well as the means of obtaining it.

Ganesha, in fact, is the symbol of he who has discovered the Divinity within himself.Ganesha is the first sound, OM, in which all hymns were born. When Shakti (Energy) and Shiva (Matter) meet, both Sound (Ganesha) and Light (Skanda) were born.

He represents the perfect equilibrium between force and kindness and between power and beauty. He also symbolizes the discriminative capacities which provide the ability to perceive distinctions between truth and illusion, the real and the unreal.

A description of all of the characteristics and attributes of Ganesha can be found in the Ganapati Upanishad (an Upanishad dedicated to Ganesha) of the rishi Atharva, in which Ganesha is identified with Brahman and Atman.

According to the strict rules of Hindu iconography, Ganesha figures with only two hands are taboo. Hence, Ganesha figures are most commonly seen with four hands which signify their divinity. Some figures may be seen with six, some with eight, some with ten, some with twelve and some with fourteen hands, each hand carrying a symbol which differs from the symbols in other hands, there being about fifty-seven symbols in all, according to some scholars.

The image of Ganesha is a composite one. Four animals, man, elephant, the serpent and the mouse have contributed to the makeup of his figure. All of them individually and collectively have deep symbolic significance.

The serpent is an archetype for DNA.

The lord of good fortune

In general terms, Ganesha is a much beloved and frequently invoked divinity, since he is the Lord of Good Fortune who provides prosperity and fortune and also the Destroyer of Obstacles of a material or spiritual order. It is for this reason that his grace is invoked before the undertaking of any task (e.g. traveling, taking an examination, conducting a business affair, a job interview, performing a ceremony,) with such incantations as Aum Shri Ganeshaya Namah (hail the name of Ganesha), or similar. It is also for this reason that, traditionally, all sessions of bhajan (devotional chanting) begin with an invocation of Ganesha, Lord of the "good beginnings" of chants. Throughout India and the Hindu culture, Lord Ganesha is the first idol placed into any new home or abode.

Moreover, Ganesha is associated with the first http://www.crystalinks.com/chakras.html - chakra (energy wheel), which represents the instinct of conservation and survival, of procreation and material well-being.

Every element of the body of Ganesha has its own value and its own significance:

• The elephant head indicates fidelity, intelligence and discriminative power;
• The fact that he has a single tusk (the other being broken off) indicates Ganesha¹s ability to overcome all forms of dualism;
• The wide ears denote wisdom, ability to listen to people who seek help and to reflect on spiritual truths. They signify the importance of listening in order to assimilate ideas. Ears are used to gain knowledge. The large ears indicate that when God is known, all knowledge is known;
• the curved trunk indicates the intellectual potentialities which manifest themselves in the faculty of discrimination between real and unreal;on the forehead, the Trishula (weapon of Shiva, similar to Trident) is depicted, symbolising time (past, present and future) and Ganesha's mastery over it;
• Ganesha's pot belly contains infinite universes. It signifies the bounty of nature and equanimity, the ability of Ganesha to swallow the sorrows of the Universe and protect the world;
• the position of his legs (one resting on the ground and one raised) indicate the importance of living and participating in the material world as well as in the spiritual world, the ability to live in the world without being of the world.
• The four arms of Ganesha represent the four inner attributes of the subtle body, that is: mind (Manas), intellect (Buddhi), ego (Ahamkara), and conditioned conscience (Chitta). Lord Ganesha represents the pure consciousness - the Atman - which enables these four attributes to function in us;
  • The hand waving an axe, is a symbol of the retrenchment of all desires, bearers of pain and suffering. With this axe Ganesha can both strike and repel obstacles. The axe is also to prod man to the path of righteousness and truth;
  • The second hand holds a whip, symbol of the force that ties the devout person to the eternal beatitude of God. The whip conveys that worldly attachments and desires should be rid of;
  • The third hand, turned towards the devotee, is in a pose of blessing, refuge and protection (abhaya);
  • the fourth hand holds a lotus flower (padma), and it symbolizes the highest goal of human evolution, the sweetness of the realised inner self.

Ganesha is also defined as Omkara or Aumkara, that is "having the form of Om (or Aum) (see the section The names of Ganesha). In fact, the shape of his body is a copy of the outline of the Devanagari letter which indicates the celebrated Bija Mantra. For this reason, Ganesha is considered the bodily incarnation of the entire Cosmos, He who is at the base of all of the phenomenal world (Vishvadhara, Jagadoddhara). Moreover, in the Tamil language, the sacred syllable is indicated precisely by a character which recalls the shape of the elephant's head of Ganesha.

The broken tusk of Ganesha, as described above, stands primarily for his ability to overcome or "break through" the illusions of duality. However, there are many other meanings that have been associated with this symbol.

According to one interpretation, Ganesha's divine vehicle, the mouse or mooshikam represents wisdom, talent and intelligence. It symbolizes minute investigation of a cryptic subject. A mouse leads a clandestine life below the ground. Thus it is also a symbol of ignorance that is dominant in darkness and fears light and knowledge. As the vehicle of Lord Ganesha, a mouse teaches us to remain always on alert and illuminate our inner-self with the light of knowledge.

Both Ganesha and the Mooshak love modaka, a sweet dish which is traditionally offered to them both during worship ceremonies. The Mooshak is usually depicted as very small in relation to Ganesha, in contrast to the depictions of vehicles of other deities. However, it was once traditional in Maharashtrian art to depict Mooshak as a very large mouse, and for Ganesha to be mounted on him like a horse.Yet another interpretation says that the mouse (Mushika or Akhu) represents the ego, the mind with all of its desires, and the pride of the individual. Ganesha, riding atop the mouse, becomes the master (and not the slave) of these tendencies, indicating the power that the intellect and the discriminative faculties have over the mind. Moreover, the mouse (extremely voracious by nature) is often depicted next to a plate of sweets with his eyes turned toward Ganesha while he tightly holds on to a morsel of food between his paws, as if expecting an order from Ganesha. This represents the mind which has been completely subordinated to the superior faculty of the intellect, the mind under strict supervision, which fixes Ganesha and does not approach the food unless it has permission.

It is interesting to note how, according to tradition, Ganesha was generated by his mother Parvati without the intervention of her husband Shiva. Shiva, in fact, being eternal (Sadashiva), did not feel any need to have children. So Ganesha was born out of the exclusively female desire of Parvati to procreate. Consequently, the relationship of Ganesha and his mother is unique and special.

This devotion is the reason that the traditions of southern India represent him as celibate (see the anecdote Devotion to his mother). It is said that Ganesha, believing his mother to be the most beautiful and perfect woman in the universe, exclaimed: "Bring me a woman as beautiful as she and I will marry her."

In the north of India, on the other hand, Ganesha is often portrayed as married to the two daughters of Brahma: Buddhi (intellect) and Siddhi (spiritual power). Popularly in north India Ganesha is accompanied by Sarasvati (goddess of culture and art) and Lakshmi (goddess of luck and prosperity), symbolizing that these qualities always accompany he who has discovered his own internal divinity. But this does not mean that Sarasvati and Lakshmi are consorts of Ganesha. Symbolically this represents the fact that wealth, prosperity and success accompany those who have the qualities wisdom, prudence, patience, etc. that Ganesha symbolizes.

The highly articulated mythology of Hinduism presents many stories which explain the manner in which Ganesha obtained his elephant head; often the origin of this particular attribute is to be found in the same anecdotes which tell about his birth. And many of the these same stories reveal the origins of the enormous popularity of his cult.

The most well-known story is probably the one taken from the Shiva Purana. Once, while his mother Parvati wanted to bathe, there were no attendants around to guard her and stop anyone from accidentally entering the house. Hence she created a boy's idol out of turmeric paste which she prepared to cleanse her body (turmeric was used for its anti-septic and cooling properties) and infused life into it, and thus Ganesha was born. Parvati ordered Ganesha not to allow anyone to enter the house and Ganesha obediently followed his mother's orders. After a while Shiva returned from outside and as he tried to enter the house, Ganesha stopped him. Shiva was infuriated at this strange little boy who dared to challenge him. He told Ganesha that he was Parvati's husband, and demanded that Ganesha let him go in. But Ganesha would not hear any person's word other than his dear mother's.

Shiva lost his patience and had a fierce battle with Ganesha. At last he severed Ganesha's head with his Trishula (trident). When Parvati came out and saw her son's lifeless body, she was very angry and sad. She demanded that Shiva restore Ganesha's life at once. Unfortunately, Shiva's Trishula was so powerful that it had hurled Ganesha's head very far off. All attempts to find the head were in vain. As a last resort, Shiva approached Brahma who suggested that he replace Ganesha's head with the first living being that came his way which lay with its head facing north. Shiva then sent his celestial armies (Gana) to find and take the head of whatever creature they happened to find asleep with its head facing north. They found an elephant which slept in this manner and decapitated it, attaching the elephant's head to Ganesha's body and bringing him back to life. From then on, he was called Ganapathi, or head of the celestial armies and was to be worshipped by everyone before beginning any activity.

Another story regarding the origins of Ganesha and his elephant head narrates that, once, there existed an Asura (demon) with all the characteristics of an elephant, called Gajasura, who was undergoing a penitence (or tapas). Shiva, satisfied by this austerity, decided to grant him, as a reward, whatever gift he desired. The demon wished that he could emanate fire continually from his own body so that no one could ever dare to approach him. The Lord granted him his request. Gajasura continued his penitence and Shiva, who appeared in front of him from time to time, asked him once again what he desired. The demon responded: "I desire that You inhabit my stomach."

Shiva granted even this request and he took up residence in the demon's stomach. In fact, Shiva is also known as Bhola Shankara because he is a deity easily propitiated; when he is satisfied with a devotee he grants him whatever he desires, and this, from time to time, generates particularly intricate situations. It was for this reason that Parvati, his wife, sought him everywhere without results. As a last recourse, she went to her brother Vishnu, asking him to find her husband. He, who knows everything, reassured her: "Don't worry, dear sister, your husband is Bhola Shankara and promptly grants to his devotees whatever they ask of him, without regard for the consequences; for this reason, I think he has gotten himself into some trouble. I will find out what has happened."

Then Vishnu, the omniscient director of the cosmic game, staged a small comedy. He trasformed Nandi (the bull of Shiva) into a dancing bull and conducted him in front of Gajasura, assuming, at the same time, the appearance of a flutist. The enchanting performance of the bull sent the demon into ecstasies, and he asked the flutist to tell him what he desired. The musical Vishnua responded: "Can you give me that which I ask?" Gajasura replied: "Who do you take me for? I can immediately give you whatever you ask."

The flutist then said: "If that's so, liberate Shiva from your stomach." Gajasura understood then that this must have been no other than Vishnu himself, the only one who could have known that secret and he threw himself at his feet. Having liberated Shiva, he asked him for one last gift: "I have been blessed by you with many gifts; my last request is that everyone remember me adoring my head when I am dead." Shiva then brought his own son there and substitued his head with that of Gajasura. From then on, in India, the tradition is that any action, in order to prosper, must begin with the adoration of Ganesha. This is the result of the gift of Shiva to Gajasura.

A less well-known story from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana narrates a different version of Ganesha's birth. On the insistence of Shiva, Parvati fasted for a year (punyaka vrata) to propitiate Vishnu so that he would grant her a son. Lord Krishna, after the completion of the sacrifice, announced that he would incarnate himself as her son in every kalpa (eon). Accordingly, Krishna was born to Parvati as a charming infant. This event was celebrated with great enthusiasm and all the gods were invited to take a look at the baby. However Shani (Saturn), the son of Surya, hesitated to look at the baby since Shani's gaze is said to be harmful. However Parvati insisted that he look at the baby, which Shani did, and immediately the infant's head fell off and flew to Goloka. Seeing Shiva and Parvati grief stricken, Vishnu mounted on Garuda, his divine eagle, and rushed to the banks of the Pushpa-Bhadra river, from where he brought back the head of a young elephant. The head of the elephant was joined with the headless body of Parvati's son, thus reviving him. The infant was named Ganesha and all the Gods blessed Ganesha and wished Him power and prosperity.

Another tale of Ganesha's birth relates to an incident in which Shiva slew Aditya, the son of a sage. Shiva restored life to the dead boy, but this could not pacify the outraged sage Kashyapa, who was one of the seven great Rishis. Kashyap cursed Shiva and declared that Shiva's son would lose his head. When this happened, the head of Indra's elephant was used to replace it.Still another tale states that on one occasion, the used bath-water of Parvati was thrown into the Ganges and this water was drunk by the elephant-headed Goddess Malini, who gave birth to a baby with four arms and five elephant heads. The river goddess Ganga claimed him as her son, but Shiva declared him to be Parvati's son, reduced his five heads to one and enthroned him as the Controller of Obstacles (Vigneshwara).

My Notes: More, after a few days...Njoy TEDdies

Ganesh is a Hindu God, here is the story of how he came to be and why he is know as the gate keeper.

 

 

Pavarti gave Ganesh instructions that he was to stand guard at the entrance of her apartments and that he was to admit no-one until she gave word that it was OK to do so. Ganesh took up his post and undertook his assignment enthusiastically.

In due course the Lord Shiva returned from his war and went to enter. Ganesh, according to his instructions, forbade him entry. Shiva was enraged by Ganesh’s impudence and drew his sword and cut off Ganesh's head.

Pavarti emerged to find Ganesh decapitated and flew into a rage. Even though he was immensely powerful Shiva was upset with Pavarti’s rage. He swore to make amends by taking the head of the first living thing he found to replace Ganesh’s head. The first animal he came across was an elephant. Accordingly he took the head from the elephant an placed it on Ganesh’s body.

Thus Ganesh is depicted with an elephant’s head. Because of his role as protector of Parvarti's door  he is associated, in Hindu culture, with protecting entrances.

The Shani Graha
A full Shani Graha (known as the Saturn Cycle) will last for seven and a half (7.5) years in a person's life. But this period is broken down into three (3) periods of two and a half (2.5) years each.  In the first period Saturn seize your assets and your material possession.  In the second period it affects your health and personal relationship.  In the third period, depending on the level of realization and understanding (humility), Saturn will return to you what you have lost and double your prosperity, if you become more enlightened during the Saturn Cycle.  We must remember that everything is lent to us for our use and enjoyment and as soon as we become possessive, we fall under the watchful eyes of Shani Dev and lose it all under his shadow.  If the abuse of our wealth or power was very severe, Shani Dev will hit us for the full repayment term. If our abuse is not so severe, Shani will bring us back in line with a lesser sentence. When we hoard our wealth and use it to improve our own power base, this may allow us to take advantage of others in personal or business transactions. When we fail to give to charity; when we fail to contribute to community development; when we fail to share our knowledge and experiences, we have to stop and ask, "What am I really contributing to the up-liftment and betterment of the universe?" And if the answer is, "Nothing, really," then we know we are likely to be called in by Shani Dev to discuss our account balance. Thus when blow after blow begin to strike us financially and we see that our business and investments begin to fail, our job promotions cease or diminish; when our income is less than the debts we begin to incur, we know that Shani Dev is ringing the bell in our ears to get our attention. It is the feeling of possession that attracts Shani in one's life. This situation is like the parent who calls in the errant child for a disciplinary chat that may perhaps end up with a 'grounding' for a short period of time.

Can we get Relief from a Shani Graha?
In the history of mankind there has always been evidence of leniency when we humble ourselves. When the young couple who are struggling to make ends meet welcomes the visiting mother-in-law with open arms and treat her with great respect and humility, she is likely to grant them their request for help. They may cook her favourite dish, listen to her stories and perhaps massage her feet as they put her to sleep in the best bed in the house. In the morning, they prepare a lavish breakfast of all the foods and sweetmeats that she likes. As she is getting ready to leave, they ask for her help to buy a better house for her growing grandchildren. When the accused accepts responsibility for his actions and throws himself at the mercy of the court, the magistrate often times will have no hesitation in reconsidering the severity of the penalty. What are the chances that the mother-in-law will refuse? In a like manner, when Shani Dev slaps us with a severe penalty for our own misdeeds, we must accept responsibility for our actions and go to him with great humility. When we do that, what are the chances that he will refuse our request?

The Puja to obtain Relief from a Shani Graha
Step 1. The Shiva Puja
Our sacred Hindu scriptures teach that a Puja is not blessed unless Lord Shiva (the Cosmic Lord of Time) is invited. Thus our first stage in the Shani Gra Puja is to go to Lord Shiva and ask for his blessings. This means that we propitiate:  Ganesh - the remover of Obstacles. Gowrie Mata - to receive the blessings of the universal Mother. Dharti Mata (Earth) - for accepting us when we took birth. Saraswaty Mata - to ordain us with true knowledge. Kalash Devta - Ganga, Varuna and Laxmi representing water, vegetation and light in unity of the Earth. Laxmi Mata  - to provide light in our lives.  Nav Graha - the nine planets in the order of Sun (Surya), Moon (Chandra), Mercury (Budh), Venus (Shukra), Mars (Mangal), Jupiter (Brihaspati), Saturn (Shani), North Node (Rahu), South Node (Ketu). We beg that they remove all negative influences from our journey.  Lord Shiva - the Cosmic Lord of time. We beg Lord Shiva for his blessings and then we ask him to come in the form of his 11th incarnation as Hanuman Devta.

Step 2. The Hanuman Puja
In the Hindu epic the Ramayana, we are told that Hanuman Devta went to the fortress of the Rakshas King Ravana in Lanka to rescue Sita Mata, the wife or Lord Rama. But who was Lord Rama and who was Hanuman Devta? They are none other than the incarnations of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Therefore in the Puja ritual, we must first go to Lord Shiva and ask him to come in the form of Lord Hanuman before we begin to do the Hanuman Puja. Hanuman Devta is the rescuer of Shani Dev and thus we must first go to him before we begin to propitiate Shani Devta.

Step 3. The Shani Puja
As the stories in the Hindu epics continue, we learn that when Lord Hanuman was crossing the ocean on his way to Lanka to the kingdom of the Demon King Ravana, he saw the nine planets who were captured. Ravana had the ability to overcome the planets and they were bound and made to lay face down. Shani Dev recognized Hanuman-ji and begged Hanuman to release him. But Hanuman-ji said, "Shani Dev, if I release you, you will get to look at me and cause me to come under the effects of Sade Sati." The effects of Sade Sati will cause one to lose their prosperity and suffer for a period of seven-and-a-half years. Shani Dev then promised Hanuman-ji that if he is released, that he will not affect any devotee who does Puja to Hanuman on Saturday - a day dedicated to Shani (Satur(n)-day). So once the Hanuman Puja is complete, only then must we begin to perform the Shani Puja because it is through the help of Hanuman Devta that Shani Devta became free from his bondage. When Shani Dev recognizes that we have accepted our mistakes and have learned from it; when he sees the great humility with which we approach him; when he sees the great love and devotion with which we worship him and beg for forgiveness, he will show us mercy and lighten our load.

Mathematics and the Spiritual Dimension

The rational spiritually-minded community cheered the appearance of Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics and Gary Zukav's Dancing Wu Li Masters. Later, David Bohm's The Implicate Order was similarly praised. Although there is good reason to applaud their work and the work of others like them, their theories, scientifically speaking, do not quite bridge the gap between physics and transcendence. However, these scientists have to some extent become "believers" and that is a major breakthrough. Furthermore, the theories have turned many educated persons in the spiritual direction.

Of all the recent attempts to show the "oneness" in what physicists and transcendentalists speak of, Bohm's implicate order theory is the most worthy of consideration. In comparison, Capra's "realization" that the dance of Shiva and the movement of atomic particles is one and the same — although profoundly beautiful — falls more in the realm of poetry than science.

Of course any attempt to find harmony between the scientific world view and the mystic's vision will be incomplete unless we adjust the scientific world view through an interface with the many realities it fails to account for (subtle bodies, consciousness, etc.). Taking that liberty, as Bohm has, Richard L. Thompson, Dr. of Mathematics and author of the book Mechanistic and Non-mechanistic Science, has postulated a new theory of "creation through sound" using what he calls The Vedic Paradigm.

Thompson advocates the philosophy of achintya bhedabheda, a transcendental conception which, interestingly enough, fits well with the example of the hologram (often used to illustrate Bohm's implicate order theory). This transcendental conception is different than the one Bohm advocates. Thompson attempts to show in his upcoming book, End of Physics, how some of the holes in Bohm's theory can be filled using an alternative view of transcendence, namely acintya bedhabedha.

Simply stated acintya bedhabedha means that reality is ultimately, inconceivably one and different at the same time. Bohm is an adherent of advaita vedanta or non-dualism. Non-dualists percieve reality as one homogenious substance. In their view all forms of variety and individuality are products of illusion. Acintya bedhabedha, holds that the world of material variety is illusory but not altogether false. It insists that there is a transcendental variety and spiritual individuality that lies beyond illusion. Acintya bedhabedha is a theistic conception and advaita vedanta is monistic or atheistic.

Thompson is a practicing scientist who has been pursuing transcendental disciplines for the last thirteen years. This kind of combination is rare. It is hard to find someone who is thoroughly familiar with science as well as with spirituality. In order to appreciate his theory of creation by sound it will be helpful to first briefly explain Bohm's theory of the implicate order and then proceed to further elaborate on the philosophy of acintya bedhabedha. Such explanations will serve as a peface to the discussion of creation, all of which shed new light on the nature of reality, helping to harmonize physics and metaphysics.

THE IMPLICATE ORDER
Bohm's explanation of reality involves an "implicate" and "explicate" order, with vague references to love, compassion, and other similar attributes that may lie beyond both the implicate and explicate. The implicate order is an ultimate physical substrate which underlies our present perception of reality. The reality that we perceive is what Bohm calls the explicate order. All order and variety, according to Bohm, are stored at all times in the implicate order in an enfolded or unmanifested state. Information continually unfolds or becomes manifest from the implicate order as the explicate order of our experience.

Of course any attempt to find harmony between the scientific world view and the mystic's vision will be incomplete unless we adjust the scientific world view through an interface with the many realities it fails to account for.

Bohm uses the example of the hologram to help explain his theory. A hologram is a photographic plate on which information is recorded as a series of density variations. Because holography is a method of lensless photography, the photographic plate appears as a meaningless pattern of swirls. When a coherent beam of light -- typically the laser -- interacts with the plate, the resultant emerging light is highly ordered and is perceived as an image in three dimensions. The image has depth and solidity, and by looking at it from different angles, one will see different sides of the image. Any part of the hologram will reproduce the whole image (although with less resolution). Bohm would say that the three-dimensional form of the image is enfolded or stored in the pattern of density variations on the hologram.

A further understanding of the nature of Bohm's implicate order is somewhat more difficult to grasp. In the transition from the classical description of physical objects to a quantum mechanical description, one is forced to use mutually incompatible descriptions. That is, to understand the behavior of electrons, it is necessary to describe them as point-like particles and extended waves. This concept of complementarity, devised in the 1920's by the physicist Niels Bohr, leads naturally to the thought that electrons, or their ultimate substrate, may not actually be fully describable in mathematical terms. Thus the ultimate physical reality may be an undefinable "something" which is only partially describable but not fully, because some of the partial descriptions will inevitably contradict each other. This is Bohm's idea regarding the nature of his implicate order.

Although Bohm accepts the reality of a whole containing distinguishable parts, he maintains that ultimately, reality at its most fundamental level is devoid of variety or individuality. Bohm believes that individuality is a temporal or illusory state of perception. According to his theory, although the parts appear to be distinct from the whole, in fact, because they "enfold" or include the whole, they are identical with the whole.

The intuitive basis behind this idea of wholeness is that when information is enfolded into a physical system, it tends to become distributed more or less uniformly throughout the system.

The hologram provides an easily understandable example. If portions of a hologram are blocked off, the resultant image remains basically the same. This, perhaps metaphorically, helps to illustrate the concept that the whole is present in each of its parts. Consider then a continuum in which all patterns ever manifested in any part of the continuum are represented equally in all parts. Loosely speaking, then one could say that the whole of the continuum in both space and time is present in any small part of the continuum. If we invoke the precedent of quantum mechanical indefinability, we could leap to the idea of a unified entity encompassing all space and time in which each part contains the whole and thus is identical to it. Because wholes are made up of parts, such an entity could not be fully described mathematically, although mathematical descriptions could be applied to the parts.

THOMPSON'S OBSERVATIONS
Although Bohm's theory of the implicate order is partially based on the standard methodology of physics, it is also apparent that it involves ideas that are not found in traditional science. Most of these ideas are clearly the influence of a preconceived notion of non-dualism.

Bohm's theory is sorely in need of a logical source of compassion which provides inspiration enabling finite beings to know the infinte. Ironically while Bohm emphatically states that it is not possible for unaided human thought to rise above the realm of manifest matter (explicate order) he proceeds to carry on a lengthy discussion about the unmanifest (implicate order). Although he speaks of compassion it is only in a vague reference to an abstract attribute. The logical necessity for an entity possesed of compassion is avoided by Bohm (although he almost admits the need). He retreats from this idea because the standard notions of a personal God are dualistic and thus undermine the sense that reality at the most fundamental plane is unified.

Bohm's idea that the parts of the implicate order actually include the whole is not fully supported by his physical examples alone. Indeed this is impossible to demonstrate mathematically. The part of the hologram is not fully representative of the whole. The part suffers from lack of resolution. It is qualitatively one but quantitatively different.

Bohm's account for the corruption in human society is also a short coming in an otherwise profound theory. The theory alleges that evil arises from the explicate order -- which is a contradiction of the basis of the theory which states that everything in the explicate order unfolds from the implicate order. This means that evil and human society at large or something at least resembling it must be originally present in the implicate order. But what would lead us to believe that an undifferentiated entity would store anything even remotely resembling human society? Or how could there be evil in or beyond the implicate order which is the source of love and compassion?

Bohm states that the totality of all things is timeless and unitary and therefore incapable of being changed. Later on he proposes that through collective human endeavor the state of arrairs can be changed. This is similar to the contradiction of advaita vedanta in which ultimate oneness is thought to be attained even though it is beyond time and forever uninfluenced by our actions.

These are some of the scientific and philosophical problems with the theory of the implicate order pointed out by Thompson. They are resolved by Thompson by replacing advaita vedanta with achintya bedhabedha.

ACHINTYA BHEDABHEDA
The history of philosophy bears evidence that neither the concepts of oneness (non-dualism) or difference (dualism) are adequate to fully describe the nature of being. Exclusive emphasis on oneness leads to the denial of the world and our very sense of self as an individual -- viewing them as illusion. Exclusive emphasis on difference divides reality, creating an unbridgeable gap between man and God. Both concepts at the same time seem necessary inasmuch as identity is a necessary demand of our reason while difference is an undeniable fact of our experience. Therefore a synthesis of the two can be seen as the goal of philosophy. In the theory of achintya bhedabheda, the concepts of both oneness and difference are transcended and reconciled in this higher synthesis, and thus they become associated aspects of an abiding unity in the Godhead.

The word achintya is central to the theory. It can be defined as the power to reconcile the impossible. Achintya is that which is inconceivable on account of the contradictory notions it involves, yet it can be appreciated through logical implication.

Achintya, inconceivable, is different from anirvacaniya, or indescribable, which is said to be the nature of transcendence in the non-dualistic school. Anirvacaniya involves the joining of the opposing concepts of reality and illusion, producing a canceling effect -- a negative effect. Achintya, on the other hand, signifies a marriage of opposite concepts leading to a more complete unity -- a positive effect.

Just as the eye cannot see the mind but can be in connection with it if the mind chooses to think about it, so similarly the finite can know about the infinite only by the grace of the infinite.

It may be helpful to draw upon a reference from Vedic literature. Actually, the example of the hologram is similar to an explanation of the basis of reality recorded in the Brahma Samhita. There we find a verse in which, ironically, Godhead has been described as personal and individual and Who, at the same time one with and different from His energies.

He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore. (Brahma Samhita 5.35)

In the material conception of form, the whole can be reduced to a mere juxtaposition of the parts. This makes the form secondary. In this verse the material conception of form is transcended. The supreme entity is fully present in all of the parts which make up the total reality and thus the supreme is one unified principle underlying all variegated manifestations. Yet He is personal and in this feature different from his parts or energies at the same time. The Brahma Samhita goes on to say that each of the parts of the Godhead's form are equal to each other and to the whole form as well. At the same time each of the parts remains a part. This is fundamental to the philosophical outlook of achintya bhedabheda. It allows for the eternal individuality of all things without the loss of oneness or harmony. It also allows for the possibility that man, even while possessed of limited mind and senses, can come to know about the nature of transcendence. The infinite, being so, can and does reveal Himself to the finite. Just as the eye can not see the mind but can be in connection with it if the mind chooses to think about it, so similarly the finite can know about the infinite by the grace of the infinite. The concept of non-dualism however allows for neither of these things.

In the Bhagavad Gita we find the following verse: (9.4)

Although this is inconceivable -- achintya -- an example drawn from material nature may help us to understand this concept (logical implication). We cannot think of fire without the power of burning; similarly, we cannot think of the power of burning without fire. Both are identical. While fire is nothing but that which burns; the power of burning is but fire in action. Yet at the same time, fire and its burning power are not absolutely the same. If they were absolutely the same, there would be no need to warn our children that "fire burns." Rather it would be sufficient to say "fire." Furthermore, if they were the same, it would not be possible to neutralize the burning power in fire through medicine or mantra without causing fire to disappear altogether. In reality the fire is the energetic source of the energy which is the power to burn. From this example drawn from the world of our experience, we can deduce that the principle of simultaneous oneness and difference is all pervading, appearing even in material objects.

Just as there is neither absolute oneness nor absolute difference in the material example of fire and burning power, there is neither absolute oneness nor absolute difference between Godhead and His energies. Godhead consists of both the energetic and the energy, which are one and different. Godhead is also necessarily complete without His various emanations. This is absolute completeness. No matter how much energy He distributes, He remains the complete balance.

In this theory the personal form of God exists beyond material time in a trans-temporal state, There eternality and the passage of time are harmonized by the same principle of simultaneous oneness and variegatedness that applies to transcendental form. Thus within Godhead there may very well be something that resembles human society which could unfold as the explicate order.

The individual self is a minute particle of will or consciousness -- a sentient being -- endowed with a serving tendency. This self is transcendental to matter and qualitatively one with Godhead, while quantitatively different.

A personal, "human-like" Godhead replete with abode and paraphernalia is a perennial notion. In this conception the explicate order becomes in effect a perverted reflection of the ultimate reality existing in the transcendental realm. The reflection of that realm, appearing as the explicate order, amounts to the kingdom of God without God. It would be without God inasmuch as God, being the center of the ultimate reality, when expressed in reflected form no longer appears as the center. This produces illusion and the necessity for corruption. The basis of corruption is the misplaced sense of proprietorship resulting in the utterly false notions of "I" and "mine.

According to achintya bhedabheda,the individual self is a minute particle of will or consciousness -- a sentient being -- endowed with a serving tendency. This self is transcendental to matter and qualitatively one with Godhead, while quantitatively different. The inherent defect of smallness in size in the minute self in contrast to the quantitative superiority of Godhead makes the individual minute particle of consciousness prone to the influence of illusion. This is analogous to the example of the hologram in which only a portion of the holographic plate is illuminated with a coherent light source. The resultant image, although apparently complete, is slightly fuzzy and does not give the total three-dimensional view from all directions which one would observe when the entire holographic plate is illuminated.

Living in illusion, the atomic soul sees himself as separate from the Godhead. As a result of imperfect sense perception he is caused to make false distinctions such as good and bad, happiness and distress. The minute self can also live in an enlightened state in complete harmony with the Godhead by the latter's grace -- which is attracted by sincere petition or devotion. The very nature of devotion is that it is of another world, and for it to be devotion in the full sense, it must be engaged in for its own sake and nothing else. This act of devotion is the purified function of the inherent serving tendency of the self. It makes possible a communion with Godhead. In this communion the self becomes one in purpose with the one reality and eternally serves that reality with no sense of any separateness from Godhead. If we accept this theory then there is scope for action from within the explicate order, such as prayer or meditation, to have influence upon the whole. At least it would appear so, inasmuch as, in reality, the inspiration for such action has its origin in Godhead. Of course this idea is also found in varying degrees in many perennial theistic philosophies. It is perhaps most thoroughly dealt with, however, in the doctrine of achintya bhedabheda.

Although it is true that the human mind cannot possibly demonstrate the truth of this conception, this does not provide sufficient justification for rejecting the notion in favor of something more abstract, such as non-dualism. The fact is that any conception of the Godhead that is generated from the finite mind is subject to the same criticism. If we are limited to our mundane mind and senses for acquiring transcendental knowledge, then we may as well forego any speculation about transcendence and turn our attention exclusively to the manifest mundane world. The achintya bhedabheda theory of transcendence, however, at least allows for the possibility of the finite entity to approach the plane of transcendence through the acquisition of transcendental "grace." This conception provides for us something we can do in relation to Godhead (such as prayer or meditation) whereby our understanding can be enhanced. Alternatively, the non-dualistic approach really affords no method of approach.

Finally it must be emphasized that both the doctrines of non-dualism and achintya bhedabheda are quite extensive and impossible to deal with thoroughly in this short article. At least it should be clear that insistence on the non-dual conception of the ultimate reality creates problems for the theory of the implicate order. At the same time the theistic doctrine of inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference at the very least deals with these problems adequately.

Thompson points out that the purely physical observations on which Bohm's theory is based provide insight as to how physics can be linked with transcendence. Thompson suggests that, scientifically speaking, the implicate order is limited to the observation that "organized macroscopic forms can arise by natural physical transformations from patterns of minute fluctuations that look indistinguishable from random noise." Such patterns could appear in many different forms such as electromagnetic fields (light waves) or the matter waves of quantum mechanics. These patterns which may later produce distinct macroscopic events can either be all-pervading or localized, and two such patterns could even occupy the same volume of space.

Thompson uses the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita and other Vedic literatures as a source of metaphysical ideas. He offers a tentative proposal of a synthesis of physical and spiritual knowledge by introducing the necessary element of divine revelation.

He states that, "According to the Srimad Bhagavatam, the material creation is brought about and maintained through the injection of divinely ordered sound vibrations into a primordial material substrate called pradhana. According to this idea, the pradhana is an eternally existing energy of the supreme which is potentially capable of manifesting material space and time, the material elements, and their various possible combinations." In the absence of external influences no manifestations would take place. However, the pradhana will indeed produce various manifestations under the influence of intelligently directed sound vibrations generated by the Godhead. Thompson explains the meaning of "sound," coming from the Sanskrit word shabda, as "any type of propagating vibration, however subtle."

Keeping in mind that creation is a very complex affair, let's look at the final stages of creation in which organized forms are generated and controlled in a setting made up of the physical elements as we know them. According to the Vedic paradigm, at this stage, transcendental sound is introduced into the material continuum on the most subtle level. As a result, grosser elements are agitated, and finally organized structures such as the bodies of living organisms are produced.

Consider the phenomenon of optical phase conjugation -- a process that can reverse the motion of a beam of light and cause an image scrambled by frosted glass to return to its original, undistorted form. In a typical experiment, light is reflected from an object and passes through a pane of frosted glass. It then reflects from a device called a phase conjugate mirror and passes back through the glass. When the light enters the eye, one perceives a clear, undistorted image of the original object. This can be contrasted with the garbled blur one would observe if the light were reflected back through the glass by an ordinary mirror. See Figure left.

The explanation of this phenomenon is that the light on its first pass through the frosted pane is distorted in a complicated way by irregularities in the glass. The phase conjugate mirror reverses the distorted beam, and as it passes back through the glass it precisely retraces its steps and thus returns to its original undistorted form.

The beam reflected from the phase conjugate mirror has the curious property that it encodes information for the original image in a distorted, unrecognizable form, and as time passes, the distortion is reduced and the information contained by the beam becomes clearly manifest. Normally, we expect to see just the opposite -- a pattern containing meaningful information will gradually degrade until the information is irretrievably lost.

Thompson further elucidates the connection between the material and transcendental levels of existence with an example similar to that of optical phase conjugation. Suppose we have an arrangement in which pictures are being transmitted through a sheet of frosted glass. On one side of the glass we would see a series of images but we would not be able to determine the source of the images on the other side of the opaque glass. But in thinking about it, one would expect that the light coming through the frosted glass would become distorted. The fact that it does not seems to indicate that there is some sort of intelligence which is organizing or ordering the transmitted images. This is a simplified example of optical phase conjugation. Similarly, the order and complexity we find in matter must have intelligence behind it, although we at present cannot directly see that intelligence. The Vedic conception states that a veil of illusion called maya prevents living beings in the material domain from directly perceiving their origin, Godhead -- the supreme intelligent being. The Vedas further maintain that although God predominates the material nature, He is manipulating it in such an expert way that His influence cannot be detected; as Bohm states, "Complex patterns of events seem to unfold simply by material action and reaction."

As Thompson progresses in the formulation of his Vedic paradigm, a number of questions arise. How are the postulated organized vibrations introduced into the known physical continuum? How can some outside influence be accommodated? This would seem to involve violations of certain basic laws of physics such as conservation of energy, the second law of thermodynamics, and statistical laws of quantum mechanics.

In response to these objections, Thompson postulates a model involving levels of physical reality more subtle than quantum fields. "One can readily imagine a hierarchy of subtler and subtler levels culminating in an ultimate substrate which is transcendental and not amenable to mathematical description. Organized wave patterns could propagate through this hierarchy from the transcendental level to the level of gross matter. In such models the quantum fields will be reducible to these subtler levels, and phenomena on these levels will have effects on the level of the quantum fields." In the transition from Newtonian physics to quantum mechanics and further to quantum field theory, the conceptual framework diverges from the domain of familiar mechanical imagery. Thompson suggests that "The degree of subtlety of a level of reality corresponds to the degree of novelty and unfamiliarity of the concepts needed to adequately comprehend it. On the subtlest (or transcendental) level, the materially inconceivable principle of achintya bheda bheda tattva becomes applicable."

According to the Vedic paradigm, the conscious self is transcendental and has the same qualitative nature as the Godhead. Thus the link between conscious will and the initiation of physical action by the brain should also entail the transmission of patterns of information from transcendental to gross physical levels of reality.

The introduction of wave patterns into the gross material realm from an outside independent source should produce detectable violations of the conservation laws of physics. It would not be surprising to find violations of known laws if such subtler levels of material energy do exist. Indeed, the existence of the neutrino was postulated by Enrico Fermi in the 1930's because of an apparent violation of the principle of conservation of momentum in the radioactive decay of certain atomic nuclei. The discovery of the neutrino showed the existence of a subtle level which was previously unknown. It is therefore entirely reasonable to speak of the existence of more subtle levels which are as yet undiscovered. Also, in his forthcoming book, Thompson shows that models which receive influences from more subtle levels without undergoing any detectable change in momentum or energy may be constructed.

Thompson suggests, "Let us suppose for the moment that organized wave patterns are continually being injected into the known physical continuum perhaps from subtler levels of physical reality. Such patterns will appear to be random, especially if they encode information for many different macroscopic forms and sequences of events. For this reason they will be very difficult to distinguish from purely random patterns by experimental observation."

Consider a two-dimensional wave field -- exemplified by the surface of a body of water. This is illustrated in Figure 2, left. A two-dimensional wave field is capable of propagating waves which can be expressed by what is called the classical wave equation. In the first frame of Figure 2 we see the wave field moving in an apparently random way. As time passes it becomes apparent that this pattern of waves contains hidden information. This is illustrated in successive frames, where first in frame 2 we see that a letter "A" has appeared in the field. This form quickly takes shape and dissipates (frame 3), and it is replaced in frame 4 by the similar rapid appearance and disappearance of the symbol "" (Aum). Actually the information for both symbols is present in all 4 frames of the figure. This example is discussed in detail by Thompson in his forthcoming book:

Thus much of the random noise that surrounds us may consist of information for patterns that will 'unfold' in the future to produce macroscopic results, while the rest consists of the 'enfolded' or 'refolded' remnants of past macroscopic patterns.

Because the original source of these patterns is the inaccessible transcendental level, it is not possible to produce them at will. A thorough investigation of this phenomenon would necessarily depend on the analysis of observed spontaneous events.

Thompson believes that this type of study might be fruitful in the field of cognitive science. "According to the Vedic paradigm, the conscious self is transcendental and has the same qualitative nature as the Godhead. Thus the link between conscious will and the initiation of physical action by the brain should also entail the transmission of patterns of information from transcendental to gross physical levels of reality."

The concept of the unfolding of information is also useful in the field of natural history. The predominating scientific viewpoint is that the origin of living species can be explained by Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and random variation. Included in the group of those who have always dissented from this view is Alfred Russell Wallace, the co-inventor of Darwin's theory. Wallace felt that certain biological phenomenon, such as the brain, could not be accounted for properly without the action of some higher intelligence. Similarly, Bohm feels that "Natural selection is not the whole story, but rather that evolution is a sign of the creative intelligence of matter." Thompson has pointed out that "Bohm regards this intelligence as emanating either from his implicate order or from beyond."

The Vedic paradigm proposes that the supreme intelligent being can create or modify the forms of living beings by the transmission of organized wave patterns into the physical realm. Of course both this theory of creation by sound and the Darwinian theory of evolution are very difficult to verify. Thompson states, "The theory of creation by sound vibration involves transcendental levels of reality not accessible to the mundane senses, and thus in one sense it is more unverifiable than the purely physical Darwinian theory. However, if a purely physical theory turns out to be empirically unverifiable, then there is nothing further one can do to be sure about it. In contrast, a theory that posits a supreme intelligent being opens up the possibility that further knowledge may be gained through internal and external revelation brought about by the will of that being."

This entire approach is in line with the oft-mentioned need for a new paradigm, a new world view which is said to be in the making. Although the mechanistic world view founded by Descartes, Galileo, Newton, and Bacon has dominated thought since the seventeenth century -- now, as we approach the twenty-first century, the severe limitations of this view have become apparent. The mechanistic approach must be replaced with a holistic approach. Rather than torturing nature for her secrets, Thompson's idea calls for a reverence for nature and a humble appeal to Godhead for divine service.

Finally, in Thompson's own words, "This approach to knowledge and to life also constitutes one of the great perennial philosophies of mankind, but it has tended to be eclipsed in this age of scientific empiricism. To obtain the fruits of this path to knowledge, one must be willing to follow it, and one will be inclined to do this only if one thinks the world view on which it is based might possibly be true. Establishing this possibility constitutes the ultimate justification for constructing theories such as the one considered here: linking physics and metaphysics."

Different Grahs(Planets) and details:

Thank you sir. I am just the messenger as always. What I wrote down, I know almost everyone knows, but most people actually do the reverse of the credit theory. We need to give the guys above a break...they work double-time to make life easier for us, without us ever knowing or acknowledging it at all!

Saying this, She asks Shiva to pursuade Vishnu to bless Her with a child. Shiva sends Chitrarupa as a duta to convince Vishnu. Vishnu immediately accepts and comes to Bhuloka and blesses Lakshmi with Ekaveera, who is equal to Vishnu Himself. From Ekaveera came forth the Haihaya dynasty, of which the most noted king is Kartavirya Arjuna (Ekaveera’s grandson).

1. Restricting the great samudram, Raama along with His entire army crossed the satpa-samudras! Hanuman, in one small jump, crossed it!
2. In the greatest, unparalleled ghora-yuddham, which was never seen before or will ever be seen, Raama killed Raavana! Hanuman killed Mairaavana, who was many times stronger than Raavana, with great ease!
3. Krishna lifted Govardhana giri, balanced on his little finger and saved the lives of Gopaalas! Hanuman brought the Sanjeevani Parvatam from Himaalayas to Lanka and saved Lakshmana!
4. Raama melted a stone, with the touch of His lotus feet, for Ahalya! Hanuman melted a stone with His sweet Gandharva gaanam!

Though they did great tasks like this, always Hanuman worshipped Raama, with great Vinayam. And Raama worshipped Shiva with unparalleled devotion. (If one closely observes, for Paramaatma these tasks are not at all difficult/big. For He does everything right from Shrushti to Layam. And He only resides in everyone and gives life. However, since we cannot even imagine His power, we praise Him for these “small” tasks only)

Why Shiva Is Worshipped In His Phallic Form

When Prahlaada was in the garbham of Leelaavati, his pita, Hiranyakashipa did a severe Tapas for Brahmadeva. Hence Leelaavati had the adrushtam of staying in the pivitra aashramam of Naarada maharshi. Due to the tapashshakti of Naarada, snakes-vultures, lions-elephants and other such animal pairs which have natural enemity, left their anger on one another and were co-existing in peace. Because of living in such an environment, Leelaavati used to always think about good and used to listen to the puraanams told by Naarada maharshi.

One day, when Naarada maharshi was describing Shri Hari Leelas and greatness of Hari-bhakti, Leelaavati slept off, but Prahlaada who was in her garbham was listening a telling “ok” “ok” to all the tattvam that Naarada maharshi was telling. Thus even before Prahlaada was born he got Gnyaanopadesham from Naarada maharshi. On one shubha-lagnam, Prahlaada was born. Devatas showered pushpa-varsham.

Brahmadeva, who was impressed by the severe Tapas of Hiranyakashipa, appeared before him and said “Vatsa! Your tapas is advitiiyam. Ask Me your abhiishtam and i will grant it”. Hiranyakashipa had duraasha. He believed this shariiram is shaashvatam and satisfying physical senses itself is aanandam. Hence he asked Brahmadeva “Svaami! I must have no maranam (death)”. Brahmadeva said “Kumaara! This is against Shrushti-niyamam. Ask any other varam”. Hiranyakashipa asked “Either on land, in water, in fire, in air, in aakaasham, by animals or humans or deva-daanavas or yaksha or kinnera or siddha or vidyaashara adi praanis, by any shastra-astras, during day or night I must never get maranam. Also I must always have vijayam in yuddham, I must get more power than Indra aadi loka-paalakas and be the King of Tribhuvanams”. Brahmadeva replied “Kashyapa-putra! no one ever asked such varams previously. But since you have done tapas and impressed Me, I am granting you this varam. But be a buddhi-sampanna and live”.

Even though Hiranyakashipa was putra of the great Kashyapa maharshi and had great tapashshakti, he got ahankaaram because of the varam he got from Brahmadeva. He, with his vara-gravam, forgot that Brahmadeva said “be a buddhi-sampanna and live”, and started to torture worlds, saadhu-sajjanas, pativratas. Who can save a fly that gets attracted to fire and gets burnt? He started saying he is only God, everyone should pray to him and do pooja to him. His paapam was increasing day-by-day and finally by torturing his own child, Prahlaada, who was a great Shri Hari bhakta, he himself became the cause for his death:

Hiranyakashipa tried to torture Prahlaada by throwing him down cliffs, getting him stamped by elephants, burning him in fire etc., but nothing happened to the great Hari bhakta. Prahlaada, who had only Shri Hari in his mind, never even thought about anything else. Hence Shri Hari saved him from the tortures of Hiranyakashipa.

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One day at Sandhya-samayam, fed up with Prahlaada saying Shri Hari is only Paramaatma, His bhakti is only shaashvatam, Hiranyakashipa said “where is your Hari? I even went to Vaikuntham and searched for him to kill him, but he was not there. There is no Hari. I am only Bhagavaan”. Prahlaada replied “Dont have the doubt that He is here, He is there. He is everyone. Wherever you search for Him with Bhakti, He will be there”. Then with anger Hiranyakashipa said “is it? If so, show Him to Me in this pillar”. Then Mahaavishnu appeared from the pillar in the form of Nara-simham, placed Hiranyakashipa in His lap, and teared him into pieces using His nakhas (nails).

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Thus even though Hiranyakashipa asked for a varam so that it was difficult to kill him, he forgot the fact that Paramaatma is more powerful and his duraasha, ahankaaram only lead to his downfall.

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Morals in the Story:

1. A garbhavati’s other name is dauhrudi (one who has two hrudayams). According to our shaastras, whatever a garbhavati does has magnifying effects on the child. Hence our shaastras recommend, atleast during that period, listening to Harikathas, Puraanams etc. and always think good. Since Leelaavati did all these, her son Prahlaada became a great Hari-bhakata and a Dharmaatma.
2. Duraasha always leads to difficulties (see http://moralstories.wordpress.com/2006/08/16/the-story-of-prataapabhaanu-2/ - Prataapabhaanu’s story ). Hiranyakashipa, with his duraasha, believed this shariiram is shaashvatam and asked for a varam which no one else asked. Brahmadeva also said if he is good and has sadbuddhi then the varam will be of use. But having vara-garvam he tortured the worlds and himself became a reason for his end.
3. The Bhakti of Prahlaada is ananyam. Though he was kid and his father tortured him so much, he never thought about anything other than Shri Hari. Hence Mahaavishnu saved him. Prahlaada comes first in the list of Bhaktas and is a maarga-darshi for us.

To reach the source of everything in the universe or GOD, there are three major ways in the Vedas:

My Note: By the way, I read somewhere long time back that the formula for Pie(22/7) and Lord Krishna were same or something like that. I am no expert, but food for thought!  I am presenting all this, since I wanted the TEDdies to know that Vedas are NOT based on FAITH...they were first and foremost based on science and proof and then later on FAITH(For the nastiks hehehe )

Allah

In Hinduism, Durga (Sanskrit: "the inaccessible"^[1], Bengali: দুর্গা) is a form of Devi, the supreme goddess. She is sometimes referred^{[attribution needed]} to as the mother of Kartikeya, and Ganesha only.

Durga is depicted as a warrior woman riding a lion or a tiger with multiple hands carrying weapons and assuming mudras, or symbolic hand gestures. This form of the Goddess is the embodiment of feminine and creative energy (Shakti).

Durga in the Hindu tradition

According to the narrative from the Devi Mahatmya of the Markandeya Purana, the form of Durga was created as a warrior goddess to fight a demon. The demon's father Rambha, king of the demons, once fell in love with a water buffalo, and Mahishasur was born out of this union. He is therefore able to change between human and buffalo form at will (mahisha means "buffalo"). Through intense prayers to Brahma, Mahishasura had the boon that he could not be defeated by any man or god. By virtue of this power, he invaded the gods, who went for help to the supreme trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra), but Mahishashura defeated all of the gods including the trinity themselves. He unleashed a reign of terror on earth, heaven and the nether worlds.

Eventually, since only a woman could kill him, the trinity bestowed a dazzling beam of energy upon the Goddess Trinity, transforming her into the goddess, Durga. Her form was blindingly beautiful with three lotus-like eyes, eight powerful hands, lush blonde hair with beautiful curls, a red-golden glow from her skin and a quarter moon on her forehead. She wore a shiny oceanic blue attire emitting fierce rays. Her ornaments were carved beautifully of gold, with ocean pearls and precious stones embedded in it. Her face was sculpted by Shiva, torso by Indra, breasts by Chandra (the moon), teeth by Brahma, bottom by the Earth, thighs and knees by Varuna (water), and her three eyes by Agni (fire). Each god also gave her their own most powerful weapons, Rudra's trident, Vishnu's discus, Indra's thunderbolt, Brahma's kamandal, Kuber's gada, etc. Himalayas gifted her a fierce whitish golden lion. On the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th day of waxing moon, Chanda and Munda came to fight the goddess. She turned blue with anger and goddess Chamunda leaped out of her third eye. Her form was the most powerful one with 3 red eyes, blood-filled tongue and dark skin; who finally killed the twin demons with her sword. This form of the divine goddess is worshipped during the sandhikshan of Durga Puja festival, as sandhi/chandi puja. Finally on the tenth day of waxing moon, goddess Durga killed Mahishasura with her trident.

Durga

The word Shakti, meaning strength, reflects the warrior aspect of the goddess, embodying a traditional male role. She is also strikingly beautiful, and initially Mahishasura tries to marry her. Other incarnations include Annapurna and Karunamayi (karuna = kindness).

[edit] The Worship of Durga

The 4 day Durga Puja is the biggest annual festival in Bengal and other parts of Eastern India, but it is celebrated in various forms throughout the Hindu universe.

The day of Durga's victory is celebrated as Vijaya Dashami (East and South India), Dashain (Nepal) or Dussehra (North India) - these words literally mean "the tenth" (day), vijaya means "of-victory". In Kashmir she is worshipped as shaarika (the main temple is in Hari Parbat in Srinagar).

The actual period of the worship however may be on the preceding nine days followed by the last day called Vijayadashami in North India or five days in Bengal, (from the sixth to tenth day of the waxing-moon fortnight). Nine aspects of Durga known as Navadurga are meditated upon, one by one during the nine-day festival by devout shakti worshippers.

In North India, this tenth day, signifying Rama's victory in his battle against the demon Ravana, is celebrated as Dussehra - gigantic straw effigies of Ravana are burnt in designated open spaces (e.g. Delhi's Ram Lila grounds), watched by thousands of families and little children.

In Gujarat it is celebrated as the last day of Navaratri, during which the Garba dance is performed to celebrate the vigorous victory of Mahishasura-mardini Durga.

The Goddess Durga worshipped in her peaceful form as Shree Shantadurga also known as santeri , is the patron Goddess of Goa. She is worshipped by all Goan Hindus irrespective of caste and even by some Christians in Goa.

Goddess Durga is worshipped in many temples of Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka.

List of Durga temples in India

• Sri Durga Parameshwari Mata Mandir,Karla
• Ambika Mata Temple in the village of Jagat near Mount Abu in Rajasthan, India.
• Sri Durga Parameshwari Temple, Kateel, Karnataka
• Sri Durga Parameshwari Temple, Kamalashile, Karnataka
• Sri Durga Temple, Kunjarugiri, Udupi, Karnataka
• Sri Durga Parameshwari Temple, Talapady, Karnataka
• Mahishamardhini Temple, Kadiyali, Udupi, Karnataka
• Shree Durga Parameshwari Temple, Mundkur, Karnataka
• Kalighat Temple, Kolkata.
• Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam
• Devi Dol, Sibsagar, Assam
• Devi Dol, Gaurisagar, Assam
• Kanaka Durga Temple, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
• Amba Bhavani Temple, Tuljapur, Maharashtra
• Shanta Durga temple in Goa
• Sri Patteeshwaram Durgai Temple. (Believed to be worshipped by Great Chola Dynasty before any war.) Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu
• Sri Kathiraamangalam Temple (Goddess is Swayamboo and Many sages did their Japa's here, including Guru Dhronacharya.) Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu
• Shri Vindhyavasini Temple, Vindhyachal
• Shri Bramarambika Temple, Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
• Shri Maha Kaleshwari Temple, UJJAIN, Madhya Pradesh
• Shri Jogulamba Temple,Alampur, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh
• Shri Gnana Prasunaambika Temple, Srikalahasti, Andhra
• Shri Siddha Peeth Durga Devi Temple, Kasi/Varanasi, Uttar PRADESH
• Shri Mahishashuramardhini Temple, Thiruthani, Tamil Nadu
• Shri Maihar Devi, Maihar, Madhya Pradesh
• Shri Annapurna Devi Temple, Kashi/Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
• Shri Vaishno Devi, Katra, Jammu and Kashmir
• Jamwa Mata temple at Jamwa Ramgarh district Jaipur Rajasthan
• Shila Devi temple at Amber Jaipur Rajasthan
• Sri Adya Katyayani Mandir,Chattarpur, New Delhi
• Sri Kalka Ji Mandir,Kalkaji, New Delhi
• Sri Sheetla Mata Mandir,Gurgaon

Jai Maa Kali: Some images

Beautiful picture of Lord Shiva

Source: http://www.om-sweet-om.net/ - http://www.om-sweet-om.net/

This statue is 25 kms from my house.

"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will."
Matthew 24: 42 – 44

IMAGE AT: http://www.adolphus.nl/sadhpix/1185.jpg - http://www.adolphus.nl/sadhpix/1185.jpg

 

I will post only ones who I feel have a certain credibility with them. I usually post something which applies generally to a group of people, rather than one individual. If ever I post regarding an individual, I try to make sure that that person is highly credible.

TEXT 11

sri-bhagavan uvaca
asocyan anvasocas tvam
prajna-vadams ca bhasase
gatasun agatasums ca
nanusocanti panditah

SYNONYMS

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; asocyan--that which is not worthy of lamentation; anvasocah--you are lamenting; tvam--you; prajna-vadan--learned talks; ca--also; bhasase--speaking; gata--lost; asun--life; agata--not past; asun--life; ca--also; na--never; anusocanti--lament; panditah--the learned.

TRANSLATION

The Blessed Lord said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.

PURPORT

The Lord at once took the position of the teacher and chastised the student, calling him, indirectly, a fool. The Lord said, "You are talking like a learned man, but you do not know that one who is learned--one who knows what is body and what is soul--does not lament for any stage of the body, neither in the living nor in the dead condition." As it will be explained in later chapters, it will be clear that knowledge means to know matter and spirit and the controller of both. Arjuna argued that religious principles should be given more importance than politics or sociology, but he did not know that knowledge of matter, soul and the Supreme is even more important than religious formularies. And, because he was lacking in that knowledge, he should not have posed himself as a very learned man. As he did not happen to be a very learned man, he was consequently lamenting for something which was unworthy of lamentation. The body is born and is destined to be vanquished today or tomorrow; therefore the body is not as important as the soul. One who knows this is actually learned, and for him there is no cause for lamentation, regardless of the condition of the material body.

Source: http://www.asitis.com/2/11.html - http://www.asitis.com/2/11.html