"Son, does one acquire faith by mere study of books? Too much study creates confusion. Suppose I write to you a letter asking you to bring such and such things for me. How long would you need this letter? As long as you don't know what it says. As soon as you have known the contents of the letter, what would be the need of it any longer? Then what is required of you is to bring me those things. Without doing so, what would be the good of reading the letter day and night?"
"There should be a regular time for the practice of Japa and meditation. For no one knows when the auspicious moment will come. It comes suddenly - one has no hint of it before hand. Therefore, regularity in spiritual practice should be observed, no matter how busy one may be with worldly matters."
Can money
and power ever make us happy? How much is enough? Our constant desire for more
is part of our human nature.
But is greed
getting the better of us? Find out in GREED - A FATAL DESIRE.
From
Buddhists and bankers to Eskimos and psychologists, we explore the phenomenon
of greed with people from all walks of life. How can it be defined? What makes
us greedy? And what are the repercussions?
People like
to have a lot of stuff because it gives them the feeling of living
forever," says American social psychologist Sheldon Solomon. He thinks we
have to come to terms with our own mortality before we can break the cycle.
Are there
other ways to feel happy and content? Can we simply stop being greedy by
changing the way we think?
Watch Part 2
here: https://youtu.be/qLSt4VtmT5M
Watch the
extended cut here: https://youtu.be/CVuVlk2E_e4
ALAN
WALLACE, A WORLD-RENOWNED AUTHOR AND BUDDHIST SCHOLAR TRAINED BY THE DALAI
LAMA, AND SEAN CARROLL, a world-renowned theoretical physicist and best-selling
author, discuss the nature of reality from spiritual and scientific viewpoints.
Their dialogue is mediated by theoretical physicist and author Marcelo Gleiser,
director of Dartmouth’s Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement.
Recorded
February 9, 2017
Nourse
Theater - San Francisco, CA
Grateful
thanks to ICE at Dartmouth, ALAN WALLACE, SEAN CARROLL and YouTube.
What are the Upanishads? Is it a philosophy? Is it some spritual theory to be practiced? Is it other worldly? Is it scientific? Is it rational or a belief system? Discover the answers to all this and what the Upanishads are all about in this weekend e-retreat.
"Every morning and evening perform Japa and meditation with a cool brain. It is not an easy task. Compared to meditation, it is easier to till a plot of land." Pointing to a picture of Sri Ramakrishna, she further said, "Nothing can be attained without his grace."
Shree Maa...
Om Namah Sri Bhagavate Ramakrishnaya...
Grateful thanks to Mr.Satwik Joglekar, Family of Thakur and Facebook.
Surendra: Mother, I cannot concentrate my mind in meditation at all.
Mother: It does not matter much. It will be enough if you look at the picture of the Master. The Master was ill at Cossipore. The young disciples used to attend on him by turn. Gopal also was there. One day instead of serving the Master, he went for meditation. He meditated for a long time. When Girish Babu heard of it, he remarked, "The one upon whom he is meditating with closed eyes is suffering on a sick-bed, and fancy, he is meditating upon him!" Gopal was sent for. The Master asked him to stroke his legs. He said to him, "Do you think I am asking you to stroke my legs because they are aching? Oh, no! In your previous births you did many virtuous acts; therefore I am accepting your service." Look at the picture of the Master and that will be enough.
Shree Maa...
Om Namah Sri Bhagavate Ramakrishnaya...
Grateful thanks to Mr.Satwik Joglekar, Family of Thakur and Facebook.
"What shall I say further about the Master? Many important pieces of information connected with him have come out in the Kathamrita written by Master Mahasaya. Ah! How many more teachings about the Master would have been published had Master Mahasaya maintained good health! How many people would have been benefited by them! What has already been published is a priceless treasure. Could I realize then that even the casual words of the Master would be comparable to the Vedas? Just see, how beautiful was the way in which the Master taught - see how, recalling his experiences at the Haldarpukur, he used them as illustrations in his teachings! It was his nature to explain his teachings through anecdotes from everyday life."
Shree Maa...
Om Namah Sri Bhagavate Ramakrishnaya...
Grateful thanks to Mr.Satwik Joglekar, Family of Thakur and Facebook.
An
individual’s happiness or misery depends not so much on his material
possessions or mastery over external nature as on the way his mind responds to
life’s challanges.Our physical, intellectual, aesthetic, moral and spiritual
development depends on a proper understanding and cultivation of the mind.
The
Bhagavadgita On The Mind And Its Control
✅ The Mind
is Fickle
The
Bhagavadgita puts a great emphasis on the control of the mind. The mind is
likened to the sixth sense, and described as fickle and unstable by nature. As
an aspect of Nature, the human mind personifies the phenomenal world, its
impermanance and instability.
In Chapter
VI, Verse 34 Arjuna compares the mind to wind and says:
"The
mind is very fickle indeed O Krishna, turbulent, strong and obstinate. I think
it is as impossible to control the mind as the wind."
And in the
next verse, Lord Krishna concurs:
"
Undoubtedly, O Mighty Armed, it is very difficult to control the ever moving
mind. However, O son of Kunti, through sincere practice and dispassionate
detachment (vairagya), it can be achieved."
✅ The Mind
Needs to be Stabilized
According to
the Bhagavadgita, self-realization is not possible without achieving stability
of the mind or the state of "sthithaprajna". Stability of mind means
to remain the same in all circumstances and under all conditions. The following
verses give us an idea of what stability of mind is:
"When a
person gives up all the desires in his thoughtful state and when his inner self
is satisfied within itself, at that time he is said to be a 'sthithaprajna' ( a
master in the stability of mind)
"Undisturbed
amidst three fold miseries, immobile in happiness, free from attraction, fear
and anger, is called a sage of stable mind.
"Who is
everywhere without affection, who does not praise or loathe auspicious or
inauspicious events, his mind is stabilized."
In chapter
V, we come across this verse:
"The
knower of Brahman, stable of mind, established in the Supreme Brahman, shows no
sign of rejoice when he achieves the objects of his desire nor agitation when
unpleasant things happen to him.
"Unattached
to external sense objects, immersed in himself, he remains blissful.
Establishing his self in Brahman, such a Brahma yogi enjoys unlimited
happiness."
What is
equanimity of the mind is described again in Chapter VI:
"He who
has controlled his self (mind), certainly self is his best relation, but for
him the self is his enemy who has not controlled his self.
"He who
has conquered his self is in the company of the Supreme. In cold or heat,
happiness or sorrow, respect or disrespect, he is always serene.
"He who
is contended with knowledge and wisdom, who is stable and master of his senses
and who treats equally gold or pebbles or a piece of stone , such a
self-realized soul is fit to be called a Yogi.
"He is
superior who maintains the same attitude towards his well wishers, friends,
enemies, non-aligned, arbitrators, haters, relations, saints and sinners.
✅ Yoga
techniques to stabilize the mind
In the
following verses the concept is reemphasized and further elaborated, (Chapter
VI, Verses 10-19):
"Let
the yogi constantly keep his mind concentrated in his self, sitting alone in a
secluded place, self-controlled, desireless and without any sense of
possessiveness.
"In a
clean place placing his firm seat, neither too low nor too high, covered with
soft cloth, deer skin and kusa grass.
"There
upon, sitting on that seat, with single pointed concentration, keeping his
mind, senses and activities under firm control, he should practice yoga for
self-purification.
"Holding
the body, the neck and the head equally firm ( straight) and fixed,
concentrating his gaze on the tip of his nose and not distracting himself
"With
peaceful mind, fearless, practicing brahmacharya (vows of celibacy), mind
subdued and established in Me, the Yogi should sit and make Me his ultimate
goal.
"Practicing
thus, ever established in the Self, with ordained mind the Yogi attains the
highest peace and nirvana in My world.
"Yoga
is neither for the voracious eater nor for the poor eater. It is neither for
the excessive sleeper or for the excessive sleepless.
"A lamp
in a windless place is the metaphor that can be used to describe a Yogi whose
mind is under control and who is united with his inner Self.
✅
Concentrating the Mind on God is the Solution
In the
following verses (Chapter XI, 7 & 8) Lord Krishna gives the following
assurance to his devotees.
"I
rescue them, O Partha, whose minds are set upon Me from the ocean of mortal
samsara (worldly life).
"Upon
Me fix your mind, in Me operate your intelligence and thereafter without doubt
you shall live in Me only.
In Chapter
17, Verse 16, we come across the definition of austerity of mind,"
"Mental
satisfaction, gentleness, silence, self-control, purification of thoughts, this
is called the austerity of mind."
#Vedanta
#MindControl #Divyanandaprana
Grateful
thanks to VIVEKAVANI, PRAVRAJIKA DIVYANANDAPRANA and YouTube.
The people nowadays are clever — they have taken his photograph! Take the case of Master Mahasaya. Is he an ordinary soul? He has noted down all the words of the Master. Which Avatara has been photographed, and whose words been recorded in this fashion?
This is what people close say about me: “Misfit, Dreamer, Impractical, Champion of lost causes, Always Wrong” etc. etc. Maybe they are right, maybe not. What do I think of myself? I am trying to find out.
