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We believe things exist outside of our awareness.
We know we see with our eyes, which form an inner picture.
So there is a chair and my inner picture of the chair.
I see my inner picture, not the chair itself.
Now we have a dualism between the phenomenon I see and the noumenon that is behind it.
We don’t need to think of a rock on the bottom of the ocean to imagine something no one has ever seen.
We’ve never seen what anything looks like apart from our looking.
We never see the “real thing,” only our image.
The same can be said for every kind of sensation (hearing, touch, etc.)
Everywhere we go, there is this doubleness:
Our inner experience and the “real objects” it seems to represent.
We can’t experience these “real objects,” even in principle.
So, does it make sense to assume them?
Externally existing reality is an empty category.
We can imagine it’s there, but it doesn’t consist of anything we can experience or know.
If you had a chronically empty bank account, you would eventually close it out.
Similarly, this bankrupt category creates a duality that doesn’t exist.
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I M A COSMIC EVENT
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DTR IS A COSMIC EVENT
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FOLLOW THE BENEVOLENT AGENCY OF SRI RAMA IN UNPREDICTABLE WORLD OF NEME
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And if someone questions me on Nirvana, I show a state of quiet calm.’
Zen Master Rinzai
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Grace cannot be understood by any ledger of merits and demerits. It cannot be held to patterns of buying, losing, earning, achieving, or manipulating. Grace is, quite literally, “for the taking.” It is God eternally giving away God—for nothing—except the giving itself.
—Richard Rohr
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We stop seeking our own worthiness and we begin to know the gift of God. We begin to realize that it’s all gift, and it’s all free, and we already have it, and all we can do is learn to enjoy it. That changes everything.
—Richard Rohr
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When you’re sitting with different states of mind arising and it seems interminable, trust that this process works. In some ways visibly, in other ways invisibly. Like the invisible melting of the snow, beneath the crust of ice.
Ayya Medhanandi Bhikkhuni, “The Dharma of Snow”
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NAISHKARMA SIDDHI
The Bhagavad Gita's esoteric purpose is to guide Arjuna away from his fixation on his lower self and transform his perspective to align with his higher self. Arjuna's lower 'I' is entangled in its desires, emotions, and caprices. This egotistic 'aham' believes that it is the perpetrator of violence and is afraid of incurring sin by fighting against his own kin. Krishna's intention is for Arjuna, and by extension, all of us, to elevate ourselves by our own efforts to the level of identifying with the 'universal I' which is devoid of selfishness, animosity, or desire. This 'I' is not the doer or the killer; it is the Prakriti, the nature, that carries out all actions. By associating with this higher 'I,' one achieves a state of actionlessness, referred to as "naishkarmya-siddhi." The means to attain this state are succinctly described by Krishna in verses 51 to 56 of the eighteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, effectively encapsulating the essence of the entire scripture.
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BRAHMA BHAVA - BRAHMA STHITI
Krishna outlines the steps towards realizing this state of brahma-bhava: disciplining the intellect, maintaining purity, exercising willpower, detaching from external disturbances, and relinquishing attachments. Meditation in a solitary setting, consuming food only for sustenance, controlling speech, body, and mind, consistently practicing dhyana-yoga, and embracing dispassion (not physical renunciation, but the balanced allocation of importance to each matter) are emphasized. This does not denote indifference but a deep understanding of the value of each aspect of life. Everything is transient, and with time, the significance of our current concerns diminishes. Ego, physical strength, arrogance, desire, anger, and possessiveness must be discarded, as indicated by Krishna when summarizing the Bhagavad Gita, underscoring their significance. Such an individual is already at peace with themselves and is on the path to Transcendental Equanimity (brahma-sthiti).
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Owing to response to past bad karma, some human beings are inclined toward evil from birth.
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नारायणादि नामानि कीर्त्तितानि बहून्यपि ।
आत्मा तेषां च सर्वेषां रामनाम प्रकाशकः॥
(Mahārāmāyaṇa 52.40)
“Various names of Lord such as Nārāyaṇa etc have been glorified in so many ways in scriptres; however Śrī Rāma Nāma alone is the indwelling soul and illuminator of all other Names of Bhagavan.”
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यस्यांशेन एव ब्रह्म विष्णु महेश्वरा अपि जाता महाविष्णुर्य्यस्य दिव्यगुणाश्च ।
स एव कार्यकारणयोः परः परमपुरुषो रामो दाशरथिर्वभुव॥
(Atharvavedā Shäkhayam Vedsaropanishad, Uttarkhand)
From whose Portions (Ansh) Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara are manifested, Whose divine Guna is Mahavisnu, The only one who is the cause of all causes, The one who is higher than the highest, such is Śrī Rāma, the son of Dasratha.
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JSR
यो रामः कृष्णतामेत्य सार्वात्म्यं प्राप्य लीलया । अतोषयद्देव्मौनिपटलं तं नतोऽस्म्यहम्।।
(Atharvavedā Shrüti Krishnōpanishad 1.1)
That Śrī Rāma, who transformed himself (incarnated) as Krishnā, attained Sarvaatmakta (सार्वभौमिकता) by his very lilā (divine exploits, pastimes); and thus deities-sages-masses were completely satisfied on this earth. I make prostration before that same Śrī Rāma.
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Meditation has two states - effort and effortless.
Effort is of mind (conscious mind) and effortlessness is of no-mind.
Effort is witnessing and effortlessness is gaps between efforts.
Meditation happens in gaps and that is non-doing.
When one meditates for years then witnessing removes object part of mind - object becomes irrelevant and subject remains as efforts and in gaps subject-object both dissolve that is non-doing and that is meditation.
With time these gaps become longer and longer. One fine day one of the gaps become permanent and that is what we know as self-realization or trueself-realization.
Mind is false-self - given by the family/society/religion and people around you.
Soul is true-self - given by the God/existence.
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Bhagvan Sri Ram himself is in the form of 9 planets —
ॐ यो ह वै श्रीरामचन्द्रः स भगवान् ये च नवग्रहाः भूर्भुवः स्वस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः ।
OM! The most divine Lord Sri Ramchandra is supreme Brahm. Indeed, he is Bhagwan' himself. It is Lord Ram whose manifestations are 'Nava Grahas" or nine planets. The three Lokas called Bhu, Bhuvaha and Swaha are nothing but the same divine Lord revealed in those forms. I most reverentially and repeatedly bow before such a great and divine Lord known as Sri Ramchandra.
(-Atharvaveda Ram Uttar Tapni Upanishad 4.30)
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The Bhagavad Gita was first translated into English by Charles Wilkins in 1785. Charles Wilkins was a British scholar and printer who worked for the British East India Company in India. His translation of the Bhagavad Gita, along with a Sanskrit text and a Bengali rendering, was published in a book titled "Bhagvat-geeta, or Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon" in 1785. Wilkins' translation played a significant role in introducing the Bhagavad Gita and Hindu philosophy to the Western world. And millions of westerners have been appreciating the Gita since 1785.
Some of the more famous admirers are:-
- Carl Jung: The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, a pioneer in psychology, was fascinated by Eastern spirituality and philosophy, including the Bhagavad Gita. He saw parallels between the Gita's concepts and his own theories on the collective unconscious and individuation.
- Aldous Huxley: The English writer Aldous Huxley, known for works like "Brave New World," explored Eastern philosophy in his writings. He wrote an introduction to a translation of the Bhagavad Gita and discussed its relevance to modern life.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Emerson, an American essayist and philosopher, was interested in Hindu philosophy and read the Bhagavad Gita. He incorporated Eastern ideas into his own transcendentalist philosophy.
- Henry David Thoreau: Thoreau, another prominent figure in American transcendentalism, was influenced by Eastern thought and the Bhagavad Gita. He wrote about it in his journal and essays.
- Christopher Isherwood: The British-American novelist Christopher Isherwood was a practitioner of Vedanta and wrote about his experiences in books like "My Guru and His Disciple." He was deeply influenced by the Bhagavad Gita.
- Joseph Campbell: The American mythologist Joseph Campbell, known for his work on comparative mythology, drew parallels between the Bhagavad Gita and other world mythologies in his writings and lectures.
- J. Robert Oppenheimer; The American theoretical physics who has just had a movie made about him. He studied Sanskrit read the Bhagavad Gīta in the original Sanskrit, and deeply pondered it. He later cited the Gita as one of the books that most shaped his philosophy of life. He wrote to his brother that the Gita was "very easy and quite marvelous", and called it "the most beautiful philosophical song existing in any known tongue." He later gave copies of it as presents to his friends and kept a personal, worn-out copy on the bookshelf by his desk. He nicknamed his car Garuda the mount of the Hindu god Vishnu.
There is rarely one and only exit planned, there can be several potential exits. There are also -unpredictable events - wars, epidemics, street crime, natural disasters - not all deaths are planned pre-birth, there are true accidents when a soul leaves before its time. Earth is a dangerous planet…I have also read stories about souls leaving a human body as they are needed somewhere else in the Universe. But this only applies to very advanced souls with unique skills, Ascended Masters, Incarnated Angels, some extra-terrestrials. They might indeed be called to leave the current body and shift their attention on a mission someplace else, not on Earth.
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First Words of Buddha after Enlightenment:
Buddha attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya at the age of 35 years.
As the morning sun rose on the horizon, he was no more Ascetic Siddhartha; He was the fully awakened Buddha now. The Samyak Sambuddha. It was as if he had finally awoken from a long sleep.
After attaining enlightenment the first words that Buddha said were "I have taken several births and was in vain searching for the creator of the house. But finally, through enlightenment, I have seen the builder of the house. The enlightenment has broken the rafters and walls of the house and this house cannot be rebuilt again for me. For me, there are no more desires and no more of birth. I have attained nirvana.
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I chanted “Aapadaam Apahartaaram" sloka dedicated to God Rama.
Effects of this sloka: it bestows great pleasure, enlightenment of the heart, peace of mind, goodness, perfection. Heals depression and despondency. Helps to overcome all the complications of life.
God Hanuman chalisa effects: it bestows strength, vitality, the ability to overcome fear, difficulties, improves intellectual abilities.
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