Guru

 

Fall seven get up eight.

 Scrutinising the two armies and readying for battle, Arjuna addresses Krishna as Achyuta — the infallible one, incapable of making mistakes or failing. Not just upon the Kurukshetra battlefield, but throughout his earthly sojourn, Krishna epitomised equanimity of mind through all the trials and tribulations he encountered. Everything went wrong in His life, yet everything went right for Him, said Avanti Kundalia in a lecture.

One may argue that it is easy for the Divinity to remain unaffected by life’s vicissitudes, but difficult for humans. By glorifying Krishna as Achyuta, the Bhagavad Gita does not imply we must remain untouched by, and be perfect, through life’s challenges. However, If we do not practice a certain steadiness of mind, we will be reeled up and down like a yoyo through these dynamic transitions. Instead, like Krishna, if we accept the inescapable opposites that riddle mortal existence, we can rise stronger and wiser from each fall. Achyuta does not mean never falling — it refers to picking oneself up. As the Japanese saying goes, “Fall down seven times, get up eight.”

A couplet from Swami Samanta Ramdas’ Manche Slok, which is a collection of 204 verses that serve as a positive affirmation of the mind reads, ‘jani sarva sukhi asakon aahe, vichare mana tuchi shodhuni paahe’, meaning, ‘Let us think over who is always happy in all respects. This is none other than Krishna’. We can face all life throws at us and remain steadfastly tethered to our Higher self, by retreating into a few moments of solitude and tapping into the inner stillness that is utterly undisturbed by the surroundings. The more we practice, the better we become at maintaining that peace. We begin to experience ourselves as Achyuta, the infallible one.

M L

 ….🙏MAHALAKHSMI🙏….

Wisdom and Force are not the only manifestations of the supreme Mother; there is a subtler mystery of her nature and without it Wisdom and Force would be incomplete things and without it perfection would not be perfect. 

Above them is the miracle of eternal beauty, an unseizable secret of divine harmonies, the compelling magic of an irresistible universal charm and attraction that draws and holds things and forces and beings together and obliges them to meet and unite that a hidden Ananda may play from behind the veil and make of them its rhythms and its figures. 

This is the power of MAHALAKSHMI and there is no aspect of the Divine Shakti more attractive to the heart of embodied beings. 

Maheshwari can appear too calm and great and distant for the littleness of earthly nature to approach or contain her, Mahakali too swift and formidable for its weakness to bear; but all turn with joy and longing to Mahalakshmi. 

For she throws the spell of the intoxicating sweetness of the Divine: to be close to her is a profound happiness and to feel her within the heart is to make existence a rapture and a marvel; grace and charm and tenderness flow out from her like light from the sun and wherever she fixes her wonderful gaze or lets fall the loveliness of her smile, the soul is seized and made captive and plunged into the depths of an unfathomable bliss. 

Magnetic is the touch of her hands and their occult and delicate influence refines mind and life and body and where she presses her feet course miraculous streams of an entrancing Ananda.

SRI AUROBINDO

From—The Mahashaktis of the Mother…

Puppets.

Akin to puppets.

The jivatma is subordinate to the Paramatma. We cannot act independently, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. In a puppet show, puppets are manipulated by strings, which are not visible to us. Puppets do not move on their own. There are people behind the screen, who, by clever manipulation of the strings attached to a puppet, can make it move its hands or legs, or make it open its mouth. We are akin to puppets. The Lord’s hand may not be visible, but it is very much there. We cannot do even the smallest thing, unless He wills it. He who thinks he is independent, and not subject to the Lord’s will, is a person whose company we should avoid.

There are some who know they are not independent. But they may not know to whom they are subservient. We are not subservient to devas like Indra, whose time span is limited. They are not immortal. Not only should we know that Lord Narayana is in control of everything, but we should also know that He is the means to reach His feet. He is the upaya. It is wrong to think we attain liberation through our efforts. Anyone who thinks so is not worthy of being befriended. There may be people who have all the requisite knowledge. And yet they may have one flaw. They may think that the service they offer to the Lord is for their pleasure. It is not. Our service is not for our enjoyment and joy, but it is to make Him joyous.

So, we must know that the atma is not the body. We must seek an Acharya’s guidance. We must know that we are under the control of Lord Narayana and that He is the means for attaining moksha.

Music / other arts

 Is Music Superior to other Arts?

Sri Aurobindo:

"I do not know what to say on the subject you propose to me - the superiority of music to poetry - for my appreciation of music is bodiless and inexpressible, while about poetry I can write at ease with an expert knowledge. But is it necessary to fix a scale of greatness between two fine arts when each has its own greatness and can touch in its own way the extremes of aesthetic Ananda? Music, no doubt, goes nearest to the infinite and to the essence of things because it relies wholly on the ethereal vehicle, sabda, (architecture by the way can do something of the same kind at the other extreme even in its imprisonment in mass); but painting and sculpture have their revenge by liberating visible form into ecstasy, while poetry though it cannot do with the sound what music does, yet can make a many-stringed harmony, a sound revelation winging the creation by the word and setting afloat vivid suggestions of form and color, - that gives it in a very subtle kind the power of all the arts. Who shall decide between such claims or be a judge between these god-heads?"

The Mother. 

Happiness.

 Ramanuja Chary.s vigraham stapanam at Thiruvananthapuram today 31.10.2023.

Wonder of wonders for this to happen. Statue of happiness.

Unique circumstances for this to happen. Only Gods will that it should take place. First Hyderabad, then Kashmir and now Thiruvananthapuram. 

Ramabadracharya

 He is Swami Sri Rambhadracharya, a great Sanskrit scholar, Hindu spiritual leader and a philosopher. 

He is a blind from his second month of birth. He has mastered 22 languages and an authority on Hindu mythology.

When the Ram Janma Bhoomi case was argued in Supreme court, he was present on all the hearing days. When one of judges of the bench asked the lawyers as to whether there are any documentary evidence for Ram Mandir, this Swami who was in the visitor's bench, said, I can give you the references. He quoted the exact paras from Ved puranas and the judges were stunned. He is considered to be one of the few persons who is responsible for the favourable verdict in Ayodhya case. Mr Parasaran, former Advocate General was the other person who was responsible for the favourable verdict. At the age of 94, Sri Parasaran argued the case for many days standing and with barefoot. The judges requested him to sit and argue the case. But he refused as the case is for Lord Rama.

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