Sunday 30 June 2013

CREAM OF UPANISHATHS TEACHING (VEDANTHA UPADESHA SARA)


JNANIS AFTER STUDYING UPNISHATHS, BRAHMA
SUTHRA & ITS BHSHAYA, BHAGAVAD GITHA ETC.
CREAM OF THEIR TEACHING IS AS FOLLOWS --




1) ATHMA  which is SAT- CHIT-ANANDA (Infinite-knowledge-Bliss) alone is Real.

2) In day to day life, body,mind,senses which seem related to ATHMA  are UNREAL.

3) Without bifurcating above two aspects & understanding 

them thoroughly, following false notions about ATHMA are 

visualised due to AVIDYA(lack of knowledge) -- 

a) ATHMA IS  Pramathru -- object of assessment (beyond assessment) 

b) ATHMA carries out actions & enjoys its results ( only a witness)

c) ATHMA is cause of all actions in Maya world.(Prarabda Karma propels one's actions)

d) ATHMA Is cause of many Jeevathmas (result of Maya )

e) ATHMA is cause of space & Time activity for actions & its 
     results.(Athma is only a witness for actions, space & time 
     in the ambit of Maya)

f) ATHMA is cause for karma- upasana,Banda,Moksha 
    activity (Athma is only a witness & beyond all these)

-- If we analyse what is told in Vedantha Vakyas, their 

       meaning concludes without any doubt ATHMA is ONE.

-- Even though Vedantha Shastras indicate that knowledge 

      arising out of them, drives away ignorance arising out of 

      Avidya(lack of knowledge), all these have been told only 

      as a way or method to teach by adhyasa-aropa-apavada-

      -nyaya. 

      In reality, ATHMA is not having Avidya or driving away of 

      Avidya by Vidya, is not at all there.


EVERYTHING IS BRAHMAN ONLY, ATHMA IS ONLY ONE, 

 I AM ATHMA  -- BY GAINING THIS KNOWLEDGE AND 

EXPERIENCE, ONE SHOULD FIND FULFILLMENT OF 

ONE'S LIFE  IS  VEDANTHA UPADESHA SARA !!


OM NAMO GURUDEVA












Wednesday 26 June 2013

FOUR GREAT QUALITIES OF MAYA


PLEASE READ 'MAYA PANCHAKAM' OF SHANKARACHARYA




The word ‘Maya’ is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘ma’ (that) and ‘ya’ (not). ‘ma’ also means ‘to measure, to limit, to give form’. Maya can thus be taken to mean ‘that which is not’. The scriptures say that there is a fundamental flaw in the way the universe is perceived by man. An individual sees everyone and everything in the universe as having separate identities, and experiences ‘reality’ with respect to a time frame and space. This is nothing but a severely crippled and limited projection of the mind governed by the ego, which does not allow individual consciousness to perceive the highest reality where there is no duality. This illusion that the jeevatma (individual consciousness) is separate from paramatma (Cosmic Consciousness) is termed MAYA.

Thus, Maya is the principal concept, which manifests, perpetuates and governs this feeling of separateness or duality, which is actually an illusion. Even the concept of time and space itself is a projection of Maya,

Yaa Devi sarva bhooteshu, bhranti roopena samsthita,
Namastasyei, namastasyei, namastasyei namo namaha


Salutations to the Divine Mother who abides in all beings in the

 form of ‘Bhranti’ or Delusion, ie, Maya

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the great devotee of Goddess 
Kali, called Maya the mysterious and majestic expression of 
divinity. He called the divine mother the mighty weaver who 
was like “...the effulgent sun, bringing into existence clouds 
of different colours and shapes, shining through, standing 
behind them and thus conjuring up wonderful forms in the 
blue autumn heaven".

The 26 th verse of Satasloki of Sri Shankaracharya is as follows--


चत्वारोऽस्याः कपर्दा युवतिरथ भवेन्नूनता नित्यमेषा
माया वा पेशला स्यादघटितघटनापाटवं याति यस्मात् ।
स्यादारम्भे घृतास्या श्रुतिभवयुवनान्येवमाच्छादयन्ती
तस्यामेतौ सुपर्णाविव परपुरुषौ तिष्ठतोऽर्थप्रतीत्या ॥ (२६)


This Maya has four great qualities --
1) It is ever youthful and ever new.

The body and senses become decrepit, yet She remains 

young and energetic.  Maya never tires of giving a never-

ending supply of objects and occasions for people to 

enjoy and experience.


2) It has the capacity to make what is impossible happen.

She is an expert in projecting to us what is impossible to 

happen. She makes us believe what we are not really.  While 

our true nature is Consciousness-Knowledge-Bliss, She 

succeeds in conceiving for us a body-mind apparatus and a 

world to enjoy through this apparatus and experience the 

results thereof.

3) Every action undertaken as a result of this Maya is sweet in the beginning. 

The mantra as well as the verse use the expression 

‘ghRutaasyaa’.  This means: The one whose ‘mouth’ 

is smeared with ghee, clarified butter.  Ghee is something 

that is tasty.  This simile conveys the idea that the joys of 

the world are very attractive to start with but end up 

delivering pain to the enjoyer.  


The Bhagavadgita verse:--


विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगात् यत्तदग्रेऽमृतोपमम् ।
परिणामे विषमिव तत्सुखं राजसं स्मृतम् ॥ 18. 38
[The pleasure born of the contact of the senses and the 

objects will be nectarine in the beginning but end up 

becoming a poison.  This is the characteristic of a 

raajasik pleasure.]
4) Maya conceals the knowledge about Brahman contained in the Srutis. 

Maya’s most destructive ‘glory’ is Her ability to cover the 

wisdom of the Upanishads from our vision.  The Upanishads 

teach us about the true nature of the Self and the means to 

realize it. Maya, however, succeeds in keeping that teaching 

out of our understanding.  First, we are ignorant about the 
very existence of such a treasure of teaching. Only the 
realization that one is in reality Brahman will give eternal 
happiness unmixed with the slightest trace of misery. This 
knowledge, which is contained in the Upanishads, is 
concealed by ignorance and so the Jiva looks upon himself 
as a limited individual. (See Gita, 5.16.)
Most people are not even aware that there is such a thing 

called Moksha and that it can be had by resorting to the 

Upanishads through a Guru.  The Kathopanishad 1.2.7. and

 the Bhagavadgita 2.29 and 7.3  say this most emphatically:



श्रवणायापि बहुबिर्यो न लभ्य:
शृण्वन्तोऽपि बहवो यं न विद्युः
[The Supreme Teaching is extremely rare even for hearing 

and even when heard most do not grasp the teaching….]  

The reason for this is the deluding and projecting powers 

of Maya.
Isvara and Jiva both dwell in this Maya like two birds on a tree. 
The Jiva experiences external objects through the sense 
organs and feels happiness or misery, while Isvara is not 
affected by them.
The above Satasloki verse is based on the Rigveda, 8.6.16.3. 
There Maya is described as a girl having the above four 
qualities. Maya has two powers, the veiling power 
(Avarana shakti) and the projecting power (Vikshepa shakti).

In poor light, a rope lying on the ground can be mistaken for 
a snake by an individual. This illusion mistaken for reality is 
avarana – the truth that the object is indeed a rope and not 
a snake is veiled. Then vikshepa follows – the fear arising 
out of the belief that the rope is a snake, caused by this 
illusion. Thus, the reality of the rope is enveloped by the false
 reality of the snake created by the hallucinating mind.

 Maya veils Brahman and projects the universe. It thus makes
 the impossible happen. Brahman reflected in pure (Sattvic) 
Maya is Isvara (God). The Jiva or individual is Brahman 
reflected in Avidya, which is impure Maya because of the 
admixture of Rajoguna and Tamoguna. It is therefore stated
 in this verse that both Isvara and Jiva dwell in Maya. 

The comparison with two birds on the same tree is based on 
Mundakopanishad, III.i.1, which says:--"Two birds that are ever 
associated with each other reside on the same tree (standing 
for the body). One of them, (the Jiva), eats the fruits 
(i.e. experiences the results, good and bad, of its karma) 
because of identification with the body. The other, Isvara, 
looks on without eating. Isvara has no karma to be 
experienced  and no identification with the body. 
Isvara controls Maya, while the Jiva is under the 
control of Maya.

Maya makes the impossible happen-- Sri Sankara gives, in  
Mayapanchakam, some instances of this-- 
1) It imposes on Brahman, which is eternal and devoid of parts 
and which is pure Consciousness, the false distinctions as the 
world, individual souls and God. 
2) It makes even those who have mastered all the scriptures 
no different from animals by tempting them with wealth and 
the like.
3) It makes Brahman which is infinite bliss, pure 
consciousness and non-dual, struggle in the ocean of 
samsaara by associating it with the body made up of the
 five elements.
4) It imposes on Brahman which is devoid of qualities, the 
distinctions of colour, caste, etc, and attachment to wife, son, 
possessions and the like.
5) It creates even in non-dual Brahman distinctions such as 
Brahmaa, Vishnu and Siva and deludes even the learned into 
thinking that they are different from one another.

The scriptures have also given us several methods to 
overcome maya. Dhyana, Jnana and Bhakti yoga are the
 prominent ones. Developing the ‘sakshi bhava’ or witness
attitude is another path tread by realised masters.






Wednesday 5 June 2013

Birds Of Paradise - Beautiful Rare Colourful birds


THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE BEAUTY,
FORM,COLOUR AND VARIETY OF THESE BIRDS !

WHAT IS THE LIMIT TO WONDERFUL CREATION OF 
MAYA ??


































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