happiness

Happiness cannot be travelled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude. Denis Waitley.


The Lord of Tirumal's grove.
Scarlet and Purple
The silkworms rise and spread
Throughout tirumal's grove'
Recalling him who churned
with Mandhara long ago
Nectar luminous sweet
Alas How escape
The Straight shouldered's strategy?

In the lovely terraces in Tirumal's grove
Where warring elephants play
The jasmines from the creepers
Flash his pearly smile.              happiness
And from some other creepers
Comes a cruel laugh
O Friend, to whom shall I complain
Against his garland's spite?

O lovely kakkannam and kaya,
You only remind me
Of the dark hue of the Lord,
Not teach me the way to be saved!
Was it right for the Lord of Tirumal's grove
With whom Lakshmi loves to play, 
to enter my house forcibly
And take my bangles away?

O koels and peacocks,
Bright kakkannam and fresh Kla
Colourful and fragrant kayams,
Living in this green grove
You are a gang of five
guilty of the five greatsins
What have you done to deserve
My great lord's splendid hue?

You black beetles and flowers,
Beautiful crowed pools, 
Red lotuses in ponds,
With black bees on them!
All of you remind me
Of my red eyed, black hued lord
In the grove named after him
show me a place of refuge!

I offered verbally
To Tirumal in his grove
Of fragrant flowers and pools
A hundred pots of butter
And a hundred rice puddings,
Will he, that great Lord,
His fortune ever ascendant
Come here today and take them?

If the Lord of Tirumal's grove
Fragrant with the south
Will come today and partake of these
For each one I will give a lack,
And on top of that five more
If only he would come 
straight into my heart
And stay there eternally.

Is it true what is sung,
Early in the morning
By a flock of black birds
Announcing his arrival?
The Lord of groves and hills
The Lord of Dwaraka,
The Lord of the banyan leaf
Is it his words they repeat?

I stand useless like the flowers
Hanging golden from the konnai
In Tirumal's kongu grove
When, if ever shall I hear
The conch blown by his beautiful mouth
And the twang of his Sarangam?

Those will reach his divine feet
who can recite these ten Tamil verses
composed by Kodai of the curly locks
Decked with bee haunted flowers.
They are in honour of that winsome lord
In Tirumal's grove, washed by the river
Coming down with sandal and ahil
And flooding many tanks in its rage. 

another for the rogue.

Thirumangai Azhwar's unique distinction

CHENNAI JULY 18 . Will any guest, who is offered a shelter for a night's stay have a peaceful sleep if he is incidentally and casually told that a cobra is likely to pass through the room at any time? The person concerned will shudder to think of such a situation and will never venture to go anywhere near the chamber. Likewise the human being will have to remain on guard throughout his life if only he realises the consequences of getting involved in worldly affairs. Similarly the time a man spends in the journey in life can be likened to an ant caught in the midst of a stick that burns at both ends. Existence during the brief time in the world can also be compared to a huge tree that stands on the riverbed with the turbulent waters gradually eroding the soil under it and the roots ready to lose their grip and the tree is ever in a stage of being uprooted and washed away in the floods? One of our greatest saints has given ten such examples to explain the nature of every man's sojourn in this world constantly being gnawed by vicious forces and lured by temptations. Through his soul-stirring hymns, he has spread the message for humanity to lead a safe voyage by resorting to devotional exercises.

Anyone can have desires but these should be diverted to obtain safeguards from the threats he faces every second and reach the Divine Kingdom. This apostle, Thirumangai Azhwar, the last of the 12 canonised Vaishnavite saints, had the unique distinction of having visited more than 80 holy places dotted all over the country and sung praising the deities therein in his six Prabandhams wherein he has poured out his Divine emotions. Curiously while he eagerly awaited the early Divine Call, the Lord kept him in the world so that he continued the task of spreading devotion among people, reforming and guiding them.

This rhapsodist was a skilled poet having composed hymns in four styles. The rich legacy of religious literature in Tamil (1253 verses) forms part of the collection of all the Azhwars known as Nalayira Divya Prabandham, said Sri M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. Two of his six works are in the nature of epistle with threats to "expose" the Lord's "acts" while He was amidst human beings during His incarnations. The Azhwar and the Saivite saint, Thirugnanasambandhar, once met at Sirkazhi and at the instance of the latter he rendered on the spot a poem adoring the local deity "Thadaalan" admiring which the latter presented his trident to him.

Obstacles to Sadhana.

Brahman is the ultimate bliss. By knowing Brahman, one while living on earth enjoys Heaven. One attains atmajnana when he realises that the body; its joys and sorrows are not his.Such courage is obtained by purity of mind. Conduct of religious rites, meditation and the samskaras refine the person with Vedic mantras. these enable one to cut off the union with the external world.
The embodied soul is entrapped by the 24 elements forming gross, subtle and casual sheaths, which constitute the field of activity snd by nescience identifies itself with the ego. One should, by the process of knowledge, transcend beyond the influence of these elements.
Tejabindupanishad says that the Brahma cannot be know by a person who is possessed of avarice, delusion,fear, egotism, lust, anger and sin, indecision, pride in the study of scriptures. They should also not be sensitive to heat and cold, pleasure and pain, honour and disgrace. He should be able to tolerate both happiness and distress which arise  from sense perceptions without being disturbed. e should preserve equanimity of mind. (Tall order this one in this day and age not possible)
to be continued.

Samatha and Vipasyana

There are two types of meditation in Buddhism. One is samatha meditation, the other is vipassana. The purpose of samatha meditation is to attain higher concentration of the mind. We call this jhana or appana.

Appana and Jhana
Jhana means the state of mind which is fixed to the object. It is translated by Pali scholars as fixedness of mind. Appana is another word for jhana. Here appana means absorption. When the mind is totally absorbed into the object, that state of mind is called appana. It has the same sense as jhana. When the mind is completely absorbed into the object, it does not go out. It cannot be distracted by anything. As long as the mind is absorbed into the object ( of concentration ) it is free from all kinds of hindrances such as sensual desire, anger, hatred and aversion, sloth and torpor, worries, restlesness, remorse and sceptical doubt.

Benefits of Concentration
The deeply concentrated mind is free from all kinds of mental hindrances. The meditator lives peacefully and happily as long as the mind is concentrated on the object of meditatiion. That is the result of samatha meditation.

Samatha here means concentration. So it can be translated as tranquility or calm because when the mind is concentrated on a single object, it becomes tranquil, serene and calm. So samatha can be translated as calmness meditation, tranquility meditation, serenity meditation or concentration meditation.

Samatha Meditator cannot Destroy the Defilements
But a meditator who practices samatha and attains this state of the concentrated mind cannot realise bodily and mental processes in their true nature. Because the Samatha meditator is not able to realise the appearance and disappearance of mental and physical phenomena, he cannot destroy any of the defilements.

The purpose of samatha meditation is to attain deep concentration and live happily and peacefully. This is so as long as the mind is concentrated well on the object of meditation. But without realisation of the three characteristics of existence or three characteristics of the body/mind process, no one can destroy any of the mental defilements of lust greed, desire, craving, hatred, anger, aversion and so on.

When one is not able to destroy these mental defilements, he will not be free from all kinds of suffering. He is still on the ocean of suffering. Only when he has realised anicca, dukkha and anatta or impermanence, suffering, no soul, no self, the nature of body/mind process, will he be able to exterminate all the defilements and live happily and peacefully.

Vipassana Meditation Preceded by Samatha
When a samatha meditator has attained deep concentration of mind, he should switch his noting mind to vipassana meditation. Any mental process or physical process will be observed with the concentration attained through samatha meditation. Such meditation is known as vipassana meditation preceded by samatha meditation.

Samatha meditation alone cannot destroy any of the defilements even though there is deep concentration. We have to practice vipassana.

Sometimes, when we find it difficult to concentrate the mind by means of vipassana meditation, we have to use samatha for some time so that we can concentrate our mind well on the object of meditation.

Having attained deep concentration of the mind, we return to vipassana and observe whatever arises in body and mind as it really occurs.

The purpose of vipassana meditation is to attain nibbana or liberation through realisation of the mind/body process and their true nature. That is why we have to practice vipassana meditation.

Vipassana may be preceded by samatha meditation or we can practice pure vipassana meditation. If we have enough time, say a year or more, we can start with samatha meditation to attain higher concentration of the mind. After that we should practice vipassana based on that powerfuly concentrated mind.

But now we have only ten days. Ten days is a very short time for a meditator to be successful, to achieve his goal. So we cannot practice samatha meditation first. We have to go straight to vipassana meditation.

The Four Protections - A Preparatory Practice
When we practice vipassana meditation or samatha meditation, the “ Visuddhimagga “, a meditation manual written by the ven. Buddhagosa mahathera, mentions the four protections as a peparatory stage to meditation. These are :

Recollection of the nine chief attributes of the Buddha ( buddhanosti in Pali ) 
Development of loving kindness ( metta bhavana ) 
Reflection upon the loathsome nature of our body 
Recollection of death

(1) The Nine Attributes of Buddha
The nine attributes of the Buddha are :

araham: enlightened, free from all defilements 
samasambuddho: perfectly self enlightened 
vijjacarana sampano: perfect in knowledge and conduct 
sugato: one who speaks well, is enlightened 
lokavidu: knower of all realms 
anuttaropurisadhamasarathi: tamer of men 
sata devamanusanam: teacher of gods and men 
buddho: the Enlightened One 
bhagava: worthy of exaltation 
You need not recollect all nine of them but use one of these nine as the object of protection meditation. For instance, when you use the attribute araham as the object of meditation, you have to reflect upon the meaning of the word araham. It means the buddha who has destroyed all mental defilements and is worthy of honour.

to be continued.

Diwali or Deepavali.

Diwali is celebrated in India the land of Festivals. The Festival of Lights is the most Gorgeous festival celebrated all over the country. or where ever Indians dwell.
Diwali is derived from Deepavali meaning a cluster of lights. This festival is marked by illumination in every home. It is also know for the crackers or fireworks which go on practically all through the night. Early next morning before Sun rise, every member takes a holy bath and wears new clothes. this is a ritual symbolising good over evil. there after they visit friends and relatives and gifts are exchanged and sweets consumed with gaiety and exchange of good tidings.
This celebration reminds and marks the joyous celebration of the death of the titan of Hell. Narakasura at the hands of Lord Krsna. Narkasura the son of the earth, was all powerful. He became an intolerable menace to the Gods sages and all men of piety. he plundered earth and heavens, he had carried away 16,000  fair daughters of the Gods and had imprisoned them in his Harem. The Gods led by Indra approached Lord Krsna and supplicated the Lord to destroy the demon. Krsna readily agreed. He fought a fierce battle. After destroying thousands of demons Krsna slew  Narakasura. Thereafter he rescued the imprisoned damsels and at their earnest prayers took them as his wives.
Symbolically this festival too like all others festivals and rituals explains the deeper meaning attached to the festivities. It is the inner personality of man and his deliverance from his ego and ignorance to the attainment of the supreme nature of God realisation. Here the darkness of the night represents man's total ignorance of his self and his godhood. In the darkness resides the desire ridden ego which destroys peace and brings about sorrow and misery in the bosom of man. the 16,000 damsels represents the desire that arise in an egoistic man, this desire dwells in the darkness the ignorance controlled by the ego. all the desires cannot find fulfilment in this limited world. they remain frustrated. Man is driven to a state of sorrow and suffering by his own negative tendencies. to pull himself out of this miserable state man has to employ his positive tendencies and direct his attention to the higher Self. every man has within him both positive and negative tendencies. they are represented by gods and demons.the gods approach to krsna indicates the positive tendencies reaching out to the self seeking to understand it. this naturally destroys the negative tendencies getting destroyed one by one represented by the fire crackers. this goes on all through the time the ego lasts all through the night. With the rising of the sun all darkness is dispelled all ignorance removed all desires destroyed. Narakasura killed. Man gets transformed. the bath at before dawn indicating the battle won new clothes signify the newly acquired godhood. the transformation brings about joy and celebration, bliss represented by eating sweets and merry making. meeting with friends and relatives symbolising the vision of Divinity in one and all alike.

Navagraha.

Character.
Surya, the Sun is strong, splendid, bold, regal, warlike, victorious and energetic;
Chandra, the moon is inconstant, amorous, charming, imaginative, poetical, artistic;
Mangal, the Mars is a politician, a soldier, crafty and ruse, unscrupulous, unmerciful, tyrannical;
Budha, the mercury is speculative, scientific, skilful, mercantile, eloquent, clever at all intellectual pursuits;
Brhaspati, the Jupiter is religious, learned, a philosopher, a yogin, master of occult sciences, wise, statesmanlike, fortunate, successful, invincible, noble in mind and disposition;
Shukra, the venus is self willed, lustful, a master of statecraft, a poet, thinker, philosopher;
Shani, the saturn is cruel, vindictive, gloomy, immoral, criminal, unruly, destructive;
Rahu, is violent, headstrong, frank, furious, and rapacious;
Ketu is select, meditative, unsocial, a silent doer of strong and selfish actions;

Each planet has a strong and powerful influence on the man if it shares in the governance of the horoscope

Sarasvati.

1. Sarasvati, Full of Plentitude.
pavaka nah sarasvati
vajebhih vajinivati
yajnam vashtu dhiyavasuh.
May the purifying Sarasvati,
with plentiful types of plentitudes and
Rich in the substance made by the thoughts, desire our yajna.
2.Awakener of Right thoughts.
chodayitri sunrtanam
chetanti sumatinam
yajnam dadhe sarasvati.
She is the impeller of auspicious truths and
the awakener of all happy thoughts
May that Sarasvati uphold the yajna.
3.Vast flood of Truth.
maho arnah sarasvati
prachetayati ketuna
dhiyo vishva virajati.
sarasvati awakens the great flood (of Truth)
by the perception of revelation (in the consciousness)
She illumines entirely all the thoughts.
4.Guardian of Thoughts.
pra no devi sarasvati
vajebhir vajinivati
dhinam avitri avatu.
May the Goddess Sarasvati
full of plentitude, with the steeds of force (life force) of plenty,
the guardian (avitri) of thoughts, protect us.