WITHOUT YOU , AM NOTHING..

we have to see things just beyond our immediate perception. We have to be farsighted. We have to see things beyond. That’s a devotee and that’s the intelligence. Could I do anything without the facilities that I have got? No. And we have to recognize that we are nobody. We are nobody! Who are we? One ten thousandth part of the tip of the hair. Sometimes we may be able to achieve something great, but we have to always remember that it is simply due to the mercy of Krishna and His devotees.
And this point has very wonderfully been demonstrated by Brahma. And what is Krishna’s response? What Sri Bhagavan said? “Brahma, don’t worry. I made all the arrangements. There is nothing to be in anxiety. Don’t think that this task is very, very difficult. No matter how difficult it is, when you function on My behalf, when you act on My behalf, when you try to do something on My behalf, I will take care of everything.”
So that’s why Krishna is telling Arjuna – what is Krishna telling Arjuna? Nimitta-matram bhava savya-sacin. [Bg 11.33] Nimitta-matram, become an instrument in My hand. So a devotee may be in anxiety but Krishna is telling him that, “Just become My instrument and you don’t have to worry about anything.”
So please remember this point and become very good devotees.
Hare Krishna!

a cook

a cook is cooking for the master. The cook tries his best to make the best food and the master comes to the table to eat and he doesn’t even look at what he cooked. He eats something else. How does the cook feel? “Well, I tried my best. I cooked in the best possible way. I thought it was the most delicious food, but it’s up to him whether he will eat it or not. It’s up to him.” So that is the point of being a master and the servant, or the servant of the master. So the devotee’s attitude is just like that. Marobi rakhobi – jo ichha tohara, whatever you do with me it is up to You. [Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Saranagati, song: Manasa Deho Geho] Not that, “Oh Krishna, I have become Your devotee, why You’re killing me?!” No, devotee means, “Whatever You want I will do. You have complete control over me. You have all the rights over me. So You do whatever You want to do with me.” And that is the meaning of surrender. Surrender, surrender means completely dependent upon You, completely given over to You. You do whatever You want to do with me.
So that is the secret of pure devotional service: total surrender. And total surrender means try your best, but depend upon Krishna. Do it, try to execute it to the best of your ability but always remember that you are nothing without Krishna’s mercy. But on the other hand, to think that, “Oh, I am so capable. I have done that, so why You are removing me from this position? I have done everything. It is my creation.” That means false ego. That means maya;  “I am the doer. I have done that.”

the perception of a pure devotee

we can see the Lord in the heart. We can see how the different living entities are parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We can see how some living entities have rejected the Lord and, as a result of that, they are suffering in this material nature. And we can also see how the Lord is lamenting, how the Lord is inflicted, how the Lord is feeling the pain that these living entities have gone away from Him. And therefore, a devotee wants to bring those living entities back to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That’s why he is engaged in preaching.
The point is, this is not just an imaginary perception. That is the difference between a devotee and the impersonalist. The impersonalist will try to say that sarvam khalvidam brahman, everything is Brahman. [Chandogya Upanishad 2.14.1] Yes, everything is the manifestation of the spiritual energy but they do not see the variegatedness or individual’s personality and individual’s individual characteristics. They cannot see that. Similarly, if somebody says, “Oh, you are Krishna”, no, the devotee never says, “You are Krishna.” He sees Krishna but he doesn’t think that everybody is Krishna. Rather, he sees in relation to Krishna. Like, for example, I know that this finger is a part of my body but no one will say that this finger is the body. Just this finger by itself is not the body. It is just a part of the body. Similarly we have to see the difference between the part and the whole. A living entity is a part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A living entity is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
So a devotee’s perception is not imaginary, not speculative but real. And it is in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead from a real context. Yes, the Lord is present in the heart, therefore a devotee sees the Lord in the heart of all the living entities.
The wise man’s perception has been described in Bhagavad-gita as
vidya-vinaya-sampanne
brahmane gavi hastini
suni caiva sva-pake ca
panditah sama-darsinah
[Bg 5.18]
A brahmana who is qualified, very qualified, very exalted brahmana, vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmana, gavi hastini, a cow, an elephant, and suni caiva sva-pake ca, a dog and sva-pake is a dog eating chandala, he sees sama-darsinah, he sees them as equal. He sees them equal. That doesn’t mean that he thinks that an elephant is a dog and a dog is a chandala. [laughs] No, he sees a dog as a dog. He sees an elephant as an elephant. He sees a brahmana as a brahmana, in their respective positions, but sama-darsinah. Why sama-darsinah? Is a dog and an elephant equal? Is a brahmana and a chandala equal? No, they are not equal. Qualitatively they are different but his perception is equal because he is not seeing their external material condition, rather they are seeing their spiritual identity. They are seeing them from their spiritual identity, in relation to their spiritual identity. They are all spirit souls. One spirit soul is in a certain situation, he is a brahmana. His activities, his past karma, his background has situated him in this platform, in this particular body. Another personality is a chandala, meaning the lowest of mankind, absorbed in very, very undesirable activities. And he sees the cow, also he sees that the cow she is also a spirit soul. An elephant is also a spirit soul. A dog is also a spirit soul. A snake is also a spirit soul. They are all spirit souls but according to their conditioning, according to their material involvement they are situated in different types of bodies. And then he goes even deeper. Then he sees that how the living entities became separated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They shouldn’t be separated. They should be situated along with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual sky, but unfortunately they have become separated. Why they became separated? Because of their perverted mentality. And because of becoming separated from the Lord look at their condition: in the material world they are undergoing so many types of sufferings.
So that is the perception of a pure devotee. And then he also sees that the inert objects, not only he is seeing the Lord, or seeing everything in relationship with the Lord, only the living entities, but he is also seeing the inert objects. And he sees how these inert objects can be engaged in the service of the Lord. “Oh, there is a nice mridanga. So let’s just get it and engage it in Krishna’s service.” Or there is a very nice saying, the perception of a devotee, he sees some vultures in the sky and he becomes very happy. Now who becomes happy seeing a vulture? Because vultures are very inauspicious animals, very inauspicious birds. Vultures bring all inauspiciousness, but a pure devotee sees a vulture flying in the sky, hovering – sometimes we see some vultures are hovering in the sky, clustered together – he becomes happy. Why? Because he knows that there is a dead cow. Now, again, a dead cow also is not a very pleasant sight, but he becomes happy. Why? Because now he thinks that, “I’ll take the skin of the cow and I’ll make a mridanga and I’ll sing the glory of the Lord.” So that is the perception of a devotee. Therefore it is very difficult to understand the perception of a devotee, vaishnavera kriya-mudra vijne na bujhaya. Even a very learned person cannot understand the activities and mentality of a Vaishnava, a devotee of the Lord, because he sees everything in relationship to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He sees everything in the light of how everything can be engaged in spreading the glory of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
So that is the perception of a pure devotee. To be in a most advanced stage means to be situated in a certain platform by developing a certain outlook, a certain attitude, a certain mentality. That is a pure devotee. And then Prabhupada in the purport is pointing out another very wonderful aspect of this perception, that Brahma, not only he will see from his perspective, but Brahma also will see according to the Lord’s pastimes. During his day the Lord will appear. Once in a day of Brahma Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears on the twenty eighth chaturyuga in the Dvapara yuga, Krishna appears. And in those pastimes Krishna will have some wonderful exchange with Brahma. He will allow Brahma to see so many wonderful things.
Like, for example, one day Brahma will see that this little boy, who is only about seven years old – no not even seven, He was about six years old at that time – this pastime took place even before lifting of Govardhana, when He was about six years old. He is tending the cows. He just started to tend the cows, take the calves to the pasturing ground. So one day Brahma saw that this little boy killed Aghasura. This little boy Krishna killed a terrible demon called Aghasura. So he was very surprised because Aghasura was such a powerful demon that even the demigods were afraid of Aghasura. Not only afraid, they used to tremble just by hearing the name of Aghasura. And Aghasura was not only very powerful but he was practically immortal. Nobody could kill Aghasura.
Brahma was seeing Krishna as a little boy due to the arrangement of Yogamaya. Sometimes Yogamaya bewilders the perception of a devotee so that he can have a very intimate, loving exchange with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yogamaya, maya means forgetfulness, forgetfulness, not seeing things as they actually are. That’s called maya (illusion).

bonafide teacher..........

The first six chapters of Bhagavad-gita are dealing with karma, the second six chapters are dealing with Bhakti and the third six chapters are dealing with jnana. Now, one may say, that means karma and then Bhakti and then ultimately jnana? No, that is not the real understanding. The real understanding is, when you have something very valuable, where do you keep it? Do you keep it outside or keep it in the middle? You protect it. So that is what Krishna did.

although Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He gave the knowledge, but we cannot really converse with Krishna. Like knowledge is based on question and answers. When you don’t understand, what do you do? You have to ask. You have to present :”Well, can you please explain this or what I cannot understand?” Now, we can’t do that with Krishna. Therefore Krishna’s representatives are there who we can ask and who can explain it to us. And that representative of Krishna is the spiritual master. So, we need a spiritual master to ask questions to who can dispel our doubts. But his qualification is that he simply repeats what Krishna has said. He doesn’t concoct something new. And that is why he is a bona fide representative of Krishna. Like for example, you can take a book. But can you master the subject just by reading the book yourself? It is practically impossible. For example if you want to become a doctor. There are so many books on that science. But just by studying those books, can you become a doctor? No. but you go to the faculty university, medical science, and you study under the guidance of the teachers. And, after three, four or five years, you become a qualified doctor. Because you understood the subject. What is present in the books, has been simplified by this people, the teachers. And that is how you have mastered the subject. Similarly the spiritual knowledge also must be received through the guidance of a bona fide teacher. And those bona fide teachers are the spiritual masters. And their qualification is, that they represent Krishna. They present the way, the knowledge has been given by Krishna. And they have received to knowledge as it has been presented by Krishna, because they have received it from a person who had mastered the subject himself.

how come this superior energy is weaker than the inferior energy?

how come this superior energy is weaker than the inferior energy?

The living entities are from the superior energy and material nature is inferior. Then how come the superior energy, the living entities come under the control of the material nature? The living entities are not superior energy as such. They are from the superior energy. But they are minute. Whereas material nature although it is inferior by nature or characteristic, it is Krishnas own potency. Daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya. (7.14) Living entities therefore had been classified as marginal. There are two energies: inferior energy and superior energy. External energy, internal energy. And in between there is the marginal energy, the living entities. The living entities are from the marginal energy. Marginal means, they have the option open to them. Whether they want to go to the inferior energy or whether they want to go to the superior energy. If they surrender to Krishna then they will be in the superior nature. If they reject Krishna, then they will be in the inferior nature. The simple option is open to them.

What is Bhagavad-Gita?

What is Bhagavad-Gita? Bhagavad-Gita is the essence of the Vedas. The Vedas are vast, therefore Vyasadeva considered, or Krishna actually considered, that the essence of the Vedas should be given, presented for the conditioned souls, for the fallen degraded souls of the age of Kali. And that’s why He presented that in the Mahabharata, in the form of advising Arjuna. At a very critical time when the battle of Kurukshetra was about to begin, at that time Arjuna decided not to fight. He dropped his bow and arrows and he told Krishna, ‘Krishna I cannot fight in that way.’ And at that time Krishna started to advise Arjuna. And that advice that Krishna gave is the Bhagavad-Gita.
Why Krishna wanted Arjuna to fight? There are two reasons. One is, this battle was Krishna’s arrangement. You remember that verse, yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata? (4.7) Then what does Krishna do? Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam.(4.8) Krishna protects the sadhus, Krishna protects the devotees and he annihilates the demons. Therefore Krishna made that arrangement. During His Vrindavana pastimes He killed all the demons, then He left Vrindavana and went to Mathura and killed Kamsa. And then He killed many, many demons one after another. Then He made many other demons to be killed by His devotees like Bhima and Arjuna. And then finally that battle was arranged where all the demons put in one side and all devotees on the other side. And He caused a mass annihilation in order to re-establish dharma. Now, all this battle was arranged and now Arjuna said that he is not going to fight. That is why Krishna wanted to provoke Arjuna.
Another reason is, that all the endeavours were made by so many devotees to stop the battle. So many learned, wise individuals advised them. Vyasadeva personally came to advise Duryodhana. Bhisma told, Vidura told, Gandhari told – but Duryodhana was adamant. Finally Krishna Himself went as a messenger with a peace proposal. But Duryodhana what to speak of listening to Him, he decided to arrest Krishna. He thought if Krishna is not there with the Pandavas, then the Pandavas will become absolutely week and to win over them will be easy for us. So he thought that he will arrest Krishna. At that time Krishna showed His universal form.
All the efforts had already been made, and Duryodhana was adamant, completely adamant to fight the battle. And now when the battle is all set, after all these efforts of peace proposals, then Arjuna said that he will not fight. So Krishna started to advice Arjuna about Bhagavad-Gita. And the apparent objective of Bhagavad-Gita was to provoke Arjuna into the battle. But the ulterior purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to give it to us, so that we can receive that knowledge. That has been very wonderfully described in the Gita-mahatmya. ‘Sarvopanishado gavo dogdha Gopalanandanaha, vatsaha partho sudhirbhokta dugdham Gitamritam mahat. Sarvopanishado gavo. All the Upanishads are like a cow and Krishna is the cowherd boy who milks the cow, making Arjuna the object of that milking. The cow gives milk for the sake of the calf. Because of the calf the cow gives the milk. But the calf doesn’t drink all the milk. Who drinks the milk? Human beings drink milk.  So here Arjuna is the nimitte. Arjuna is the objective through whom the Gita was presented. But who drinks this Bhagavad-gita? This nectar of Bhagavad-Gita? Su-dhih. Those, who have very advanced intelligence. Those, who have very beautiful intelligence,. This word ‘su’ can indicates ‘sundara’ which is beautiful intelligence; another is advanced intelligence. People with advanced intelligence can relish Bhagavad-Gita. So that is the purpose of Bhagavad-Gita and in this way, Krishna actually derives the essence of the Vedas.
The Vedas have two branches: one branch is Upanishads and the other branch is Puranas. So the essence of Upanishads is Bhagavad-gita and the essence of all the Puranas is the Srimad Bhagavatam. That is why these two scriptures are absolutely essential. If anybody wants to understand the wisdom of the Vedas, the teachings of the Vedas, then these are the two scriptures that are absolutely essential. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu established these teachings through Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. All our Acaryas have done that and finally Srila Prabhupada also established the Krishna Consciousness movement on the basis of these two scriptures. You see the importance of these two scriptures. In the morning we study Srimad Bhagavatam and in the evening we study Bhagavad-Gita. So in this way Srila Prabhupada established the importance of these two scriptures. Bhagavad-Gita is very, very important. Bhagavad-Gita is a preliminary study. You begin your spiritual study with Bhagavad-gita. And then the advanced course is Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Bhagavad gita

Essence of Bhagavad gita - what is the bhagavad gita about- the bhagavad gita as it is- bg as it is

 Bhagavad gita is a part of Mahabharata and Atharvaveda is a holy book of Hindu. Lord Krishna answers  to Arjuna's questions (common man like us). Basically it answers to five common questions which is called Artha panchakam. They are:

1.  Who am I? (Jeevathma Svarupam)

2.  Who created me? (Paramathma Svarupam)

3.  Why I born? (Virodhi Svarupam)

4.  Which is Dharma (good action)? (Upaya Svarupam)

5.  What is the use of this birth? (Prapya Svarupam)

1.  Who am I? (Jeevathma Svarupam)

I am not my name.

I am not a body.

I am not mind .

I am a soul (Jeevathma)

Properties of soul:

1)No birth/No death, 

2)Doesn't undergo any change, 

3)Made of knowledge, 

4)We can't see, 

5)Only if it combined with body it can enjoy the joy and sad, 

6)It lies in your heart, 

7)Every soul is equal, 

8) It is a slave for God.Like your body is slave for your soul, it is doing work for you. Like that you need to work for god.Your brain does not have knowledge, but your soul have knowledge

9) Jeevathma is  slave for Paramathma(God) which lies inside Jeevathma. Jeevathma is  a body for paramathma.

2.  Who created me? (Paramathma Svarupam)

Not your parents. They cant even decide child should be male or female. It is purely the God.

Never think of god's property. Because it is very big. This whole universe which still we cant understand anything is only 25% of his property. It is called Leela viboodhi. 75% is Nithya viboodhi. He can take both of the world in his fingers. So never think about it. We are nowhere to him in terms of property. But be proud that we are the property of God, and never hesitate to think about the God.
 

3.  Why I born? (Virodhi Svarupam)

To destroy the mistakes(sin) we did in the last birth. Already we did so many mistakes. Don't do it again and again.

If you are working for your body's happiness then to get it you may choose wrong way and the sin increases more and more. You may get happiness or sad. But if you work for your soul's happiness you will get only goodness. For this god will also help you. Because he is your father. You and god having very close relation ship. If you move towards him one step ahead, he will come to you 100 steps. So you can easily reach him. Don't search happiness outside, It is inside only.

4.  Which is Dharma (good action)? (Upaya Svarupam)

 You need to control your Mind & Heart(Body & 5senses) and work for soul. You need to drive your mind in a good way.

3 Qualities(Guna's) :1)Sathva[Sathvigam], 2)Rajas[Rajo Gunam], 3)Tamas[Thamo Gunam]. When our Mind and Pancha Indhriyas[Five Senses] are dominated by 'Sathviga  Guna',We will have Fresh and pure mind;If our mind and Pancha Indhryas were dominated by 'Rajo Guna ' we will perform bad actions like Desire, Angry; If our Mind and five senses dominated by 'Thamo Guna',We will get sleep,desire,lust,lazy,bad thoughts.(Consuming Non - veg including onion, garlic increases "Thamo Guna") Consuming Veg Foods[like milk,Fruits,ghee..],reading good books,knowing good ideas,habits,and character of Good persons,Good thoughts,Meditation,Yoga,Devotion,Devotional Music,Doing Good actions,Helping good Peoples,Sharing Good Messages with Good Persons will increase "Sathviga Guna" in us.If Sathviga Guna Increases our thoughts,Words and Actions will be Good.

 Follow 3 Yogas or Surrender yourself to God:

1) Karma Yogam:

* Bath daily in early morning with cold water

* Always tell truth

* Don't hurt anybody in terms of both body and mind

* Don't get desire on other properties

* Do what you told

* Do your prescribed job with 3 thoughts: 1)I am not doing, 2)I'm not doing for any benefit, 3)Never think I'm working to get rid of my sin.

 2) Jnana Yogam:

* Do meditaion

* Know you are a slave to God

3)Bhakti Yogam:

* Always think about god

* Serve the god

* 5senses sensing god

Saranagathi: Saranagathi or surrender is the approach in Srivaishnavism for god.Resolve to do only such acts as are favourable to supreme god.

5.  What is the goal of this birth? (Prapya Svarupam)

 To enter into the Vaikundam, the place where the god lies. Sorgam & Naragam were temporay places where you will stay only few days till the power of your karma. Again you will born in this earth. But if you do saranagathi, then you never come back to earth and you can stay at vaikundam.

Take Home Message: Gita doesn't tell to serve the god physically, but mentally . Do your job with consciousness of God.

a brahmin

In olden days, there were four caste existing.

They are Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and shudras. This classification was based on the mind set.

Brahmin is a person who is supposed to have 85% satvik mind, 10% rajasic and 5% tamasic. All human beings will have all 3 states of mind.

A Kshatriya will have more rajasic quality of mind. Shudras will have more tamasic quality of mind.

But in no way a satvik mind person is superior than the tamasic mind person because even a person with tamasic mind can become rajasic and finally satvik.

“janmana jayate sudrah
samskarad bhaved dvijah
veda-pathad bhaved vipro
brahma janatiti brahmanah”
(By birth one is a sudra, by the purificatory process one becomes a dvija, by study of the Vedas one becomes a vipra, and one who knows Brahman is a brahmana (brahmin.)
The classification is done to choose the profession. Say a brahmin will only learn and give the knowledge to others. He has knowledge but will not have the weapons and money. He will take bhiksha (Bhiksha is food obtained by asking for alms) from people for his living and will not accumulate wealth.But a kshariya will have weapons and wealth but he needs an adviser for the actions. Basically, they did not want all the elements (wealth, knowledge and weapon) to be in the hands of one person.
A person who is born in the brahmin family is given the purification bath “uppanayanam” – dvija. All the human beings born is a shudra (tamasic mind predominently) and because of the purification bath he is considered twice born. Uppanayanam is formal ceremony conducted to convey that the person is eligible to read and study the sacred books.
This ceremony can be done even for the other castes like Kshatriyas and Vaishyas.
Persons like sage Vyasa, Sage Valmiki, Sage Vidura are all born in a low caste and have become eminent sage.
Another example is Drona born is a brahmin family became a shatriya and fought in the Mahabharatha war.
So, nobody is superior by birth.
It is your actions which make a person superior or inferior.
Unfortunately, this is not understood by many.
The brahmins blindly follow these rituals as they are carried out for ages. Without no respect as to why these are done.
The purification bath (Uppanayanam ) is given to the brahmin boy who has no intensions of reading the scriptures.
Having a kudumi (small hair) at the back symbolices that he has shaven all the vasanas (desires) and he has a little vasana i.e the desire to know the Brahman.
The coconut is broken for all the religious rituals. Why? Look at the coconut – it has a smooth skin and inside is entangled with fibre representing the vasanas. Traditionally all the fibre is removed and a small portion is kept called the kudumi. Before breaking it the pandit removes the kudumi and then the 3 eyes are visible i.e the third eye is opened ( no third eye comes on the forehead it is symbolically mentioned that the person looks at things with a new perspective – new eye) and breaks the coconut (hard shell is the EGO of I – this is broken). Then the pure coconut is seen. Similarly, we need to remove all the vasanas and have the little desire to know the Brahman. Then, if we go to the guru he will remove this small vasana and show us the ultimate Brahman. Whenever we break the coconut – we need to remember this.
Why 3 layers of vibhudi (ashes) is applied on the forehead?
The layers represent the 3 states of mind. These are symbolic representations to remind us; our aim of life is to know the Brahman by conquering the mind.
Only human beings have the capability to understand the ultimate Brahman. This is the purpose of our life.
Let us get any number of Phd degreee – we will not be satisfied with the knowledge gained till we get the knowledge of Brahman. For this we need to develop the intellect. Only with a better intellect we can perceive these things.
So read the scriptures to strengthen the intellect.
Don’t feel superior because of the birth in a Brahmin family. I am not saying that don’t follow the symbols; I am just saying that follow it with understanding. It is not wise to force people to follow these symbols when they are not adhering to any of the purpose.
This is my thought. You use your intellect and analyse it.
It is like this. When I started with yoga and meditation. I wrote an article on the net within one month of starting. I wrote the article around 12 noon and by 5 pm I got 28 responses.
Today, when I read that – I find it so stupid. But there are lots of beginners who liked it at that time. Similarly, my article will be appealing for the beginners and many scholers might find it stupid.
I feel normally people start preaching after they become scholars. None of the people are having the mind set. So they hardly understand and they consider him mad.
So, I feel it is important to convey your understanding and opinions. If it is understood by a person he will take it and think about it.
When I started reading -there was hardly any writing about the scriptures on the net. Now, in few years I see many of them writing and expressing their views. Many consider it dangerous as it might mislead the community. But I feel it is healthy and it is making people think in a different direction.
So may be we can do the “Uppanayanam” ceremony for the Brahmin boy provided the parents are also reading some scriptures and having a better intellect to guide the child.
Atleast the father should start the sandhya vandanam and gayathri mantra (this is only a beathing (pranayam) and mantra meditation). This will lead to better intellect. Then, if we start reading the scriptures we can understand and ask the next generation to follow or we can convince the next generation that we lost this tradition and request them to start it all over again.
But this may not be possible in the child hood. We have lost the tradition. No need to  worry and cry about it. Slowly slowly, we will bring back the tradition.
We can also read the scriptures, do the breathing exercise and mantra meditation even without the purification bath (Uppanayanam). Who is stopping us?
Lets start to think……the solutions will come automatically……………………………….
Don’t be proud of your birth do the actions which will make you proud………………….
Don’t suppress or control the desires thinking that you are removing it. Don’t impose it on others. All these refers to self control. Because we feel reading scriptures is good we cannot switch of the TV of people who are watching it and preaching them about the knowledge. If we like it – let us do it. The others will see the change in us and will slowly slowly follow us.
Normally, it is human nature to advise others to follow the knowledge that we gained. But we need to take conscious effort not to preach and just follow it with ease. I feel these days internet is such a useful media that we can express all the advises and preaching in this and revealed of the human nature. Of course, in this process we will be able to judge how much we know and people interested will visit and read………
Lets make a beginning to change the mind set……………………..

Pumpkin Subzi

Pumpkin Subzi

My husband is not at all a fuzzy eater. He eats anything I cook. But, one subzi he doesn’t like is pumpkin.
We went to the parathe wali gali in Delhi. There they serve lovely crispy parathes with pumpkin and potato subzi. I saw my husband eating that subzi so well. So, I asked him – how come you are eating this subzi? Do you know it is pumpkin? He said – if you make it like this then I will eat it.
So,again my research to find the recipe of parathe wali gali pumpkin subzi.
I tried so many complicated recipes – finally it was such a simple recipe.

• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Methi seeds – 6 to 7 nos.
• Allow them to brown.
• Then add  jeera – 1 tsp
• Make a paste of turmeric ( 1tsp), Dhaniya powder ( 2 tsp), red chilli Powder ( 1/2 to 1 tsp), Garam masala ( 1/2 tsp), salt ( 1 tsp) wtih 2 tbsp of water.
• Cook till the oil separates.
• Add chopped pumpkin (1/2 kg).
• Add 2 tbsp water.
• Mix well. Cover and cook and keep stirring.
• The subzi will be ready in 12 minutes.

Note :

• Also have a look at my aloo simla mirch. Both are very similar. I am giving the comparison  just to understand that  cooking is very simple and same procedure. But the taste can be different.
• In aloo simla mirch – I didn’t use redchilli powder but used a lot of methi. Even in that recipe you can use little methi and some redchilli powder.
• This pumpkin subzi tastes wonderful even with poori.

upma

Upma

Upma – supposed to be the most easiest dish; which even the bachelors may it very well. Some how, I was never good at making upma. It was sometimes smashy, sometimes mushy, sometimes salty….
I felt roasting rava is a tricky thing. Whenever my mother and mom – in – law visits my house – I watch how they are making the upma. I always thought that they used tons of oil and I can never use so much.
For sometime, I just gaveup on upma.
Finally, My sister gave me this recipe.
Ingredients :
Sooji – 1 1/2 cups (1 cup is equal to 200 gms)
(In the south, sooji is called rava. For some years, I was buying rava from the shop and I never new the difference between rava and sooji. Rava is bigger granules and sooji is fine granules. Rava is used for making idli and sooji for upma, kesari or sooji ka halwa).
oil – 2 tbsp
water – 4 1/2 cups i.e for one cup of sooji it is 3 cups of water. I like my upma little liquidy and soft. If you want it really dry use 2 1/2 cups water.
Mustard – 1 tsp
Chana dal – 1 tbsp
Cashew – 5 to 10 nos (must)
salt – for 1 cup it is 2 tsp.
Can use hing. I use it but this optional.
Vegetables of your choice – say you can make plain onion upma or plain tomato upma or combination of vegetables. I have used carrot, capcicum and peas.
Chop some ginger, green chilli (3 nos) and coriander. Actually, curry leaves are used. I didn’t have curry leaves so I am using coriander. Please don’t use both. I always feel if we use coriander or curry leaves separately the flavour is very nice.

Method:

• Roasting the rava. Roast the rava with some raw cashewnuts. When the cashewnut colour turns to brown the rava is also roasted (My sister gave me this tip. she got it from indusladies).
• This is one option.
• The second way is,
• Add oil
• Add mustard.
• Add chana dal  and roast well.
• Add ginger.
• Add green chilli.
• Add curry leaves.
• Roast ginger and green chillies well.
• In case, you are using onion use at this stage. Roast it well. if you are making plain tomato upma add tomatoes here.
• Add raw rava and raw cashew and roast till cashew turns brown or if you have already roasted the rava separately add it at this stage.
• At the same time boil the water in a vessel and add the vegetables (except onion and tomato) in the hot water. Allow it to boil. Till the vegetables are cooked.
• Once the rava is roasted add salt and hing.
• Then, pour the hotwater with vegetables. Be careful, pour little by little. If you pour in one go it might splutter.
• Mix once and cover it and keep it for 5 minutes. No need to keep mixing.
• Open it and add coriander.  Some people add 1tbsp ghee. I don’t.
• Open after 5 minutes. Upma is ready.

     
Note :

• My grandmother always had only tiffin for dinner. Sometimes, she will make upma only for her. In that, no vegetables are added. It is a plain upma with mustard, chana dal, curry leaves,ginger and green chillies. She will make it in coconut oil and will add some grated coconut on top after cooking say at the stage of adding coriander. I love this upma the most. I tastes wonderful when had with sugar. Even in my house, I normally make only plain upma and I try to serve it with sambar loaded with vegetables and chutney.
• Can add lemon juice. If you are using coconut oil – lemon juice will not work well. It is good with refined oil or ghee.
• Please use good amount of ginger and green chilli. The spice level will get reduced when roasted in oil well. Only when you retain it raw it is very spicy. Also buy the low spice version.

books and links

This is the link to the site of the Acadamy – http://vedantaworld.org/
This is the link for the classes in India - http://vedantaworld.org/studyindia.asp
This is the link for the classes abroad -http://vedantaworld.org/study.asp
In addition, the woods of self realisation by Swami Rama tirtha is very good. This is available as a free download.This is the link for the free download - http://www.ramatirtha.org/freebooks.htm

I hope this will be useful for my blog followers..

This is the audio link of the Bhagavad Gita classes conducted by Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan.http://www.sriananda.in/download.html

adai

Adai 

Adai is considered to be a very heavy dosa variety by all the south Indians. This has lots of dhal in it. It can be compensated with lots of vegetables, jaggery and tea / resam/ green tea. But in these days we eat tons of pizza and junk food. When compared to all that I consider this as a very healthy high protein dish.
Every family has there own proportion of dhal and rice for making this dosa. Some use more rice and some use more dhal. I am giving 3 options. Try all the three and see which one suites your family taste.
Option 1:
Dhal and rice – 1:2
i.e Dhal one cup comprising of Channa dhal -1/2 cup, Toor dhal – 1/4 cup, Urad dhal (without skin – white) – 1/4 cup.
Rice 2 cups comprising of one cup raw rice and one cup boiled rice.
Soaked for 3 to 5 hours and grinded with whole red chilli – 10 nos (this is a spicy dosa). My redchilli is a non spicy version. Use as per your choice.
Then add salt, hing, curry leaves.
Make the dosa immediately. No need to ferment.
Option 2 :
Dhal and rice – 1:1 equal
i.e Dhal one cup comprising of Channa dhal -1/2 cup, Toor dhal – 1/4 cup, Urad dhal (without skin – white) – 1/4 cup.
Rice one cup comprising of 1/2 cup raw rice and 1/2 cup boiled rice.
Same way -soak it and grind it . Add the same salt, hing and curry leaves.
Option 3 :
Dhal and rice – 3 : 1
i.e. Dhal – one cup of channa dhal, one cup of toor dhal and one cup of urad dhal.
Rice one cup (1/2 cup boiled rice and 1/2 cup raw rice)
Same way – soak it and grind it . Add the same salt, hing and curry leaves.
The dhal proportion of channa and toor dhal can be interchanged.
When we use more rice it is crispy but has to be consumed when hot. Otherwise, it will be hard. If we use more dhal – it will be soft even when it is not hot.
I have used the 3rd option. I keep changing the option. The picture above is with the 3rd option.
Also can add some oats to this dosa. Oats makes the dosa very soft.
 
Normally only whole redchilli is used for adai. My mother always uses some green chilli and ginger.
I have added some green chilli and ginger too while grinding. The dosa will be of a golden colour only when more redchillies are used. If you don’t want to use so much chillies then add some turmeric to the dosa for the nice colour.
The batter has to be thick for this dosa. This is a thicker variety of dosa.
But you can grind it like the normal dosa batter and make it thin like dosas.
I prefer this without onion. But finely chopped onions can be added to the batter.
In my mothers house – if there is left over batter – then they add onions as the batter will be little sour. To nullify it the onions are added. I feel the dhal flavour is lost when we add onions.
This dosa will take little longer time to cook when compared to the normal dosas.
Soaking the dhal for 3 to 4 hours minimum is important. Soaking will help in better digestion of the dhal.

oh..kitchen cleaning never get satisfied!!!

• Just cleaning and arranging things will not make the kitchen organised. It is very important to get away with unwanted things and make a conscious decision not to accumulate.
• Vessel management is an important task in kitchen. In my mother’s house, all the family members will have separate plates. All of them will wash in the sink near the dinning table and keep it in the kitchen. The kitchen sink will only have cooking vessels. All the eating vessels are considered as juta or echal or unhygienic to mix with cooking vessels. In the previous house, I had a separate wash basin. I kept the dishwasher under it. All of us will wash the eating vessels just with water and put it in the dishwasher. All the tiffin boxes are also loaded. I used to run it once a day. It was very useful. This will help in organising the vessels.
• Getting rid of non – stick and replacing it with iron kadai and tava’s. For lifetime, they will be there with you. No need to buy and change every now and then. Need to put in some effort for maintenance. Think about it?

Not using any cups or glass tumblers. Tired of breakage. Decided to be simple with stainless steel. Advantage of living in Delhi – I can be a typical south Indian. My guests love these cups
My Gas stove. three burners. I don’t feel the need for a micro wave. I have one but keep it inside.One major job of clearing the vessels from the basket is time to tick always. I can not implement this idea as it is my rented house..First rule I learnt was – anything in the eye level can only be maintained clean.

Spiritual life

We are all part of the super power. All of us have the same strength as the super power. It is because of the perception of the mind – we are today as we are.
The world is considered as a creation of the mind. It is actually an illusion / maya. Somebody thought of food and created food. Someone else thought he cannot walk and created the vehicles.
When we wakeup from the dream – we understand that it was  a dream and it is not real. similarly, we will wake up one day from this waking state and will understand that this world is an illusion and creation of mind. This stage is referred as Durian.
We need to have faith in the truth prescribed in the scriptures and will need to develop an urge to see the original nature.
We need to question – Who am I? If I am not what I am now – then what is my original nature?
If we keep one side of the mind in this thought and carry on with our daily life. As mind creates our life. We will be able to understand this truth one day.
In the process, we will develop satvik nature and will be dynamic, successful and peaceful.
Today, I have told this – so you will be able to keep this thought for a day or two. Later, you will get engrossed in this world of maya and will forget this thought.
So, it is prescribed to do some activity which will remind you to keep this thought alive.
One simple thing is to read the scriptures daily. While reading we should not get attached to the scriptures and should feel that I am reading this to know my original nature. Look for the aspects which will help you to organise your life and live upto the dignity of a human being.
We can also perform some rituals like pooja and remind ourself that I need to see my original nature. I am unable to visualise that form – so I am seeing that as Ganesha or any idol or any form like AUM.
We need to have a fit body to keep this thought alive. Otherwise, it is natural for the mind to think about the body either the weight or pain etc. This calls for exercise and proper eating habits.
Another thing which all the scriptures prescribe is to practice ; non – attachment. This is not detachment. We need to look at things without getting attached to it.
Example : If your friend is sad and is in some trouble. You will feel sad but will not enter into the sadness and will look at the situation without attachment. If we handle life without attachment then we will not have any worries.
There are some people who will get attached to reading Bhagavad Gita. They will get struck there. Will try to understand every word and want to become a scholar.
Don’t get attached even with the scriptures. This will give the knowledge required but it is not the ultimate knowledge.
Once, we are able to focus and concentrate the mind. We can meditate and visualise the truth.
Non attachment means just slightly get out of the issues. See your life as an outsider. Things will change.
One other concept is reincarnation. It is believed that when we die the soul / self along with the mind and intellect will leave the body and will find a suitable body. So the only thing we take along is the knowledge and intellect. So, it is important that we spend some time gaining the concepts and developing the intellect.
Actually, we are spending time in all the trash collection -which  are not going to come with us.
If we could read the scriptures in the satvik time i.e 4 am to 6 am then our understanding will be so good and we will be able to progress faster.
The one and only solution to all problems is to read the scriptures with non attachment. At the same time keep the thought alive to understand your original nature.
This is what is called as Spirituality meaning the way you find hope, comfort and inner peace in life

buddhhi

The normal question asked by all the parents is – What is the role of the parents in bringing up the children? How to create bondage ?
The answer is – We parents are the role model.
Parents want to read some moral stories or show some movies with some message to educate the children. This is a very good way of keep them occupied. Whether this will make them a smart child or will it create a bondage? The answer is a VERY BIG NO.
We as adults know for sure – what is healthy food? How much to eat? How important is exercise? How important is to sleep on time and waking up on time? How important is to be organised? etc.
Even after knowing – Are we able to follow these disciplines in life? Just ask yourself – What do you eat? How much do you eat? Do you exercise? Are you organised? How do you spend your weekend?
Even after learning and understanding all the lessons – we lack something and we are unable to follow them in the daily life. Have you ever thought – Why is this so?
The answer is the lack of intellect – Buddhi.
(I presume that the reader has finished reading my other articles on intellect – Buddhi).
In short, Intellect is something which controls the mind. The mind has the tendency to fluctuate. Intellect has to be strong to control the mind. Intellect also helps to make clear decisions.
Even after getting 10 PhD degrees – a person can be very messy and will not be able to apply his learning in life without the intellect.
If you tell them any information or facts of life – the answer is “I know “. Obviously, they know all the lessons – after all they have got 10 phD’s.
If you ask them – Then, why are you not able to apply in life? They don’t have the answer.
Without developing the intellect it is impossible to apply the learning’s in life.
The ability to understand new information is called Udana in Sanskrit. This capacity is high at infancy. As we grow older it diminishes.
Somehow, all parents are aware of this. So they want to give all kinds of education, learning and developing the skills like music, dance, art at this young age. It is very good to develop these skills. But without developing the intellect all these learning’s cannot be put to use in the daily life.
The next question is – How to develop the intellect?
The children get the intellect from the parents. If they are role models. If the parents are clear in decision making and they are able to apply the learning in life – then the kids will also do the same thing. Naturally, the intellect is developed in kids without any effort.
This intellect cannot be developed by studying in any University or college.
What if the parents lack intellect?
The one and only solution is to follow the Indian life style of living (disciplined life) and reading the scriptures like Bhagvad Gita on a daily basis. If we do this the intellect automatically develops unconsciously.
I will tell a small story to understand this point ” Scriptures develop the intellect unconsciously”.
A grand father and his grand son was living together. This grand son admired his grand father and followed his actions. The grand father was reading Bhagavad Gita daily. So this boy thought even he should read Gita. Picked it up and started to read for sometime regularly – but could not understand anything.One day, he asked his grand father – I admire you – I like all your actions and I try to follow every bit of it. I even tried reading the Gita – but could not understand anything. I wonder – why are you reading this daily?
The grand father smiled and said ” can you fetch me some water from the river?”. The grand son immediately took a bucket to fetch the water. The grand father said – you cannot take the bucket – you should get it in the basket in which I have kept the coal. Please empty it and take it.

The grand son said – How can I bring water in this basket. The grand father said ” please try”.
The grand son said – fine and went to the river to fetch water. Obviously, all the water slipped from the basket and it was empty.
He came running to the grand father and said ” see  - I said it is not possible”. The grand father replied ” you didn’t try hard my son”. The grand son was puzzled and went again. This time he picked up the water and came running quickly to the grand father. Even then all the water was drained. The grand father said” try hard”. This boy did it 5 to 6 times. This time he didn’t speak – just showed the basket. The grand father asked ” what do you see?”. He said “nothing – no water”. What else do you see? He said it is clean now.
The grand father said ” that is what happens when we read the Gita”. We get cleaned from inside. Even though we feel it goes on top of the head – it unconsciously purifies us. It is important we read it again and again with Shradha. Shardha means to do something till the end without giving it up.
Without developing the intellect – How much ever education we are going to give the kids – it is a waste? In the sense, they will be able to earn a living but cannot be able to apply the lessons in the daily life.
Just think – can be make our kids organised by reading stories of well management or they will learn it if we lead an organised life?
Can they become  good decision makers with some degrees from college and Universities?
When we are talking about kids – I would like to elaborate on handling new born by the family.
In India, there is a tradition that the expecting mother will go her mother’s house for delivery. She will stay there for 6 months after the baby is born – she will come back to her husband’s house.
The maternal grand parents of the new born will take care of the house. Presume that they have the intellect and they are having an organised life. This new mother’s job is to take care of the child and herself. For 6 months, she will restrict herself from the outside world and will take care of the child. She will not eat outside food– she will not socialise – she will not stay up late – she will not watch TV. She will lead a calm life and the child will also be very calm. She will feel happy to do the sacrifice.
She will bring this healthy and calm baby to the husband’s house. There, the Mom – in – law will manage the kitchen and the family. This new mother will predominantly manage the child along with some work of the family. Slowly, slowly as the kid grows she will take up more jobs.
More importance was given for the time to wake up, time to sleep, what to eat?, the emotions of the mother, cleanliness etc. They never bothered about teaching and showing books to the kids. The kids grew by looking at their parents – learned all the sanskar (tradition). There intellect was developed and they know how to be organised?.
Today’s senario – the grand parents don’t have any intellect and they are not leading an organised life.
The couples (who are these 10 phD degree kind of people ) – who think they know everything. Of course, they know everything after all they have so many degrees but only lack the application in life.
They decide to have a family and have a child. Their experience is zero, intellect is zero, domestic skills zero will handle the new born.
The new mother is used to so much of exposure to the outside world cannot stop eating outside, cannot stop socialising, cannot sleep on time and wake up on time, don’t know how to handle the family smoothly – will try handling the baby all alone and will think that the baby is something which cannot be handled.
The enthusiastic father’s thinks – they need to help their wives and will spend sleepless night at home.
The couples think that the father has to participate in handling the new born to create bondage. In the process of handling, both the parents are always having arguments. In this senario, will the kid learn bondage.
In those days, there was clear demarcation of duties. The grand parents will run the family. The new mother will sacrifice her commitments and will handle the baby. The father will do his duty of working and earning money for the family.
Fine – accepted. How to apply this scenario today?
Suggestions,

• The new mother has to manage the child alone even in the night. If finding it impossible – will appoint a nurse. Will not involve the father. He may have to head to work the next morning and cannot sleep during the day.
• New mother will keep herself away from the daily routine.
• The father will manage his work and will handle the elder child (in case they have an elder child). Handling the elder one means only play school or day care or normal school. Will not take the child to any classes. Please stop all the classes for the elder child. Please stop attending birthday parties for some time.
• The whole family will concentrate on the time of sleep and waking up.
• Please have a cook if the new mother is not able to handle the kitchen. If she is able to handle it happily then fine let her continue.
• Keep the kitchen organised and well stocked for the cook to handle. The new mother will close her eyes and will not interfere on how it is managed? If the new mother is exerting herself – then, she cannot be calm. A calm mother can only have a calm child.
• Don’t blame anybody or any situation. The family has to sacrifice to bring up the kids. If sacrifice cannot be made then we cannot have a calm family. Everything will be messy.
• How to handle the elder child or how to keep the child occupied?
• If we have an organised and calm life. Handling the kids is no issues. For sure, they will know how to behave. If we have no rules in the house and everything is disorganised – they will not know – how to behave?
• Can keep a tutor for the elder child – if required.
• There are some families where the new mother is working in this scenario. Imagine the work load and the mess.
• I am not forcing or imposing that the family has to be managed the way I have narrated. I am just elaborating the various scenarios  The request for the couples is to stop the daily routine and think. Please don’t take too much of work load on your shoulders beyond your capability. Accept your inability and delegate the work. Sit and plan and implement.
• In India, still we can have cook and domestic help and manage the situation (some how).
• What if the couples are staying abroad without any help. Then, the family has to go bed by 8 pm. The couples have to wake up by 4 am. By 7 am they should do one proper meal and should finish the laundry, cleaning and get the house organised. If the mother is at home – she will manage the kids. If she is working she will leave the kid in the day care. When they get back home there meal is ready. They should eat and sleep. Of-course, something monotonous.
• How to do the daily routine with interest and happiness? If we are happy from within then we can handle anything happily. How to feel happy from within – again the need to read the scriptures.
• Feel the need and study the scriptures – see for yourself how your intellect develops ? How your productivity increases? How much calm you can be?

Developing the intellect is the key…………………………………………
Note:

• Swami Parthasarathy has written a book “ Fall of human intellect “. Please read this to understand the importance of intellect.
• I am not suggesting the scenario suggested is the only way to handle things.
• Just start thinking. Don’t skimp. Try to take support and be happy.

• Organising our life as parents is important. There are cases where the parents may be totally useless but the kids will pickup some role model and come up well in life. Let us leave the extreme cases.
• I am not against fathers helping – I am just telling to clearly delegate the work. This is an example.
• Bhagavad Gita is not the only scripture to read. You can pickup any book which is guiding you in this line. The advantage of Bhagavad Gita is everything is not given straight. We have to make out the lessons. In that way, it unconsciously makes us think on those points and helps us to contemplate and follow it in our life.
• My style of writing is only in an instruction form. If you don’t like it – ignore it. But, just understand the point conveyed