Ramanisblog

Category: Hinduism

  • Kanchi Periyavar and Ramana Maharishi,Video

    There have been a lot of Sages, we hear, in the Puranic Age.

    The Compassion,Discipline,Self-Denial and Simple Living of these Sages are so unbelievable that one tends to dismiss them as a figment of imagination.

    But, as if to prove ourselves totally wrong ,there comes a time when Sages of such Nature appear.

    Along with Sri Ramana Maharishi.His Holiness Sri Chandra Sekarendra Saraswati of Kanchi Mutt is one who can give us a glimpse into the world of Sages and their Compassion.

    Like Ramana, Periyavar/Periyava(Elder/Great Man), as Sri Chandra Sekara Saraswati is fondly called, was not a Man of Miracles.

    He exuded Divinity ,Peace,Calmness and Bliss.

    He always had time for the poor and the distressed.

    For him,a piece of Gold or a piece of tin were the same, as Lord Krishna  proclaims as the characteristic of a Stiththa Pragna( Man who is anchored in Reality).

    He was learned beyond words.

    Astronomy,Astrology,The Vedas,Modern Science, Archaeology,History,Sociology,History of The World,Numismatics,The Bible, The Koran,Zend-Avesta,- you name it, he can put any scholar to shame.

    Yet he will seek clarification from people as if he knows nothing.

    I am reminded of Sri.Ramana Maharishi of Tirivannamalai.

    This slideshow requires JavaScript.

    Sir Arthur Osbourne, the Maharishi‘s biographer recalls an incident.

    Osbouune asked Ramana,  whether what He teaches is The Advaita of Sri Sankaracharya.

    Bhagwan replied ‘I am expressing what I have felt. Learned people like you tell me that it is like what Sankara said.I do not know’!

    The same humility was evident with the Periyavar.

    Osbourne records an instance concerning The Periyavar.

    Arthur Osbourne came to India in search of Sages/Realized Souls, seeking knowledge.

    He toured the length and breadth of India and could find none.

    Some one  informed hm of Ramana Maharishi.

    Osbourne went to Sri Ramanasramam,Tiruvannamalai.

    Bhgagwan Ramana Maharishi never tried to convert people into his line of thinking.

    ( His normal refrain was ‘ if you are hungry,you have to eat; I can not eat for you;I can not do any thing,If you want to realize God, you have to attempt)

    Osboune sat  among the group of people in front of Sri Ramana.

    Ramana did not even look at him.much less to talk to him.

    Osbourne was disillusioned.

    He thought of Ramana Maharishi as a Charlatan and he left.

    While leaving Tiruvannamali he chanced upon travelling with the Periyavar.

    While travelling, Periyavar casually observed ‘ you have come to India in search of a Guru.

    You are not satisfied.You have seen Ramana. You think he is a charlatan.Ramana is your Guru, you will return to England and come back to Ramana’

    Osbourne came back and became an ardent Disciple of Ramana Maharishi and published Ramana’s Biography and edited ‘The Mountain Path‘ till his death’

    Periyavar was one whose intuition and compassion knows no bound.( I am using the present tense as he showering his Blessings even now, though he left his physical frame)

    I shall be posting a few instances.

    Now I am posting a Video about the Kanchi Periyavar by Suki.Sivam , well-known Speaker.

    Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal (Tamil: சந்திரசேகரேந்திர சரஸ்வதி சுவாமிகள்) (May 20, 1894 – January 8, 1994) or theSage of Kanchi was the 68th Jagadguru in the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. He is usually referred to as Paramacharya or Mahaswami or Maha Periyavaal.

    Maha Periyavaal was born on 20 May 1894, under Anuradha star according to the Hindu calendar, into a Kannadiga Smartha Hoysala Karnataka Brahmin family in Viluppuram, South Arcot District, Tamil Nadu as Swaminatha. He was the second son of Subramanya Sastri, a District Education Officer. The child was named Swaminatha, after the family deity, Lord Swaminatha of Swamimalai, near Kumbakonam. Swaminatha began his early education at the Arcot American Mission High School at Tindivanam, where his father was working. He was an exceptional student and excelled in several subjects.[citation needed] In 1905, his parents performed his Upanayanam, a Vedic ceremony which qualifies a Brahmin boy to begin his Vedic studies under an accomplished teacher.[citation needed]

    Incidents leading to Sainthood

    During the childhood of the Acharya, his father consulted an astrologer who, upon studying the boy’s horoscope, is said to have been so stunned that he prostrated himself before the boy exclaiming that “One day the whole world will fall at his feet”.In 1906, the 66th Acharya of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peethamperformed the annual Chaturmasyam (a forty-day annual ritual performed by Hindu ascetics while remaining in one place), in a village near Tindivanam in Tamil Nadu. This was Swaminathan’s first exposure to the Math and its Acharya. Later, Swaminathan accompanied his father whenever he visited the Math where the Acharya was deeply impressed by the young boy.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrashekarendra_Saraswati

    Related;

    Good site on Periyava.

    http://mahaperiyavaa.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/periyavas-upanyasams/

  • Sri Aurobindo’s Sexual Intimacy with Mother,A Denial

    I blogged on Peter Heehs book on The Lives of Sri Aurobindo recently.

    One of the readers referred me to a blog at http://livesofaurobindo.wordpress.com/, where the inaccuracies  contained in the book are listed.

    My earlier blog on this anticipated this  and my view is, as expressed earlier, even if the allegations were true , it hs no impact on the true followers of Sri Aurobindo, for their faith in him is based on his Gnana, Vision ans Anubhuti, not on his mortal frame and its foibles.

    If the facts contained in the Book are slanderous, it deserves  to be   classified as a ‘Sanitary Inspector‘s Report'( as Gandhiji observed about Catherine Mayo’s Book Mother India where India/Hinduism is ridiculed beyond words.

    Now to the denials..

    As long as it is not for sale, the image can b...
    As long as it is not for sale, the image can be used by anyone. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    ” Sexual Union dignified by Marriage.

    The remark is as follows:

    After Aurobindo entered what he called “the sexual union dignified by the name of marriage,” he seems to have found the state bothersome and uninteresting.

    We are told to accept these sort of remarks because Sri Aurobindo is being “humanized“.   That wouldn’t be a problem if it was actually true.  Has anyone bothered to inquire into the source of this conclusion?  It is derived from the previous page (page 316) where Sri Aurobindo asks his disciple Nolini whether he wishes to engage in “sexual union dignified by the name of marriage”.   That passage is as follows.

    Two of Aurobindo’s attendants, Nolini Kanta Gupta and Saurin Bose, went to Bengal in the summer of 1919. Both ended up getting married. Before Nolini took the step, Aurobindo sent him some tongue-in-cheek advice: Do you really mean to perpetuate the sexual union dignified by the name of marriage, or don’t you? Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you—to quote the language of the spider to the fly?

    If you ask someone a question, does that mean you engaged in the same activity before?   If I ask someone “Are you watching a movie because you are bored?” does that mean I also watch movies because I am bored?  Are all questions I ask derived from my self-experience?  By this criterion, every journalist would be guilty of several heinous crimes.

    The other remark which bears correction is this one, again from page 318:

    According to her father, Aurobindo “lulled her with the hope that someday … he would return to Bengal.” Later he stopped writing, but “Mrinalini never ceased to hope.”

    It is misleading to quote her father verbatim (“lulled her”) without offering any interlocution.  Her father was not fully aware of the changed circumstances under which Sri Aurobindo was living in Pondicherry.  The book should have explicated at this point that there is indeed evidence that Sri Aurobindo did not willfully mislead his wife.  Even after her death, he was still thinking of returning to India, although these plans never came to fruition.   As the following passage from the Agenda indicates, there are letters (see Autobiographical Notes, CWSA vol. 36, p 260) that Sri Aurobindo wrote after his wife’s death hinting at his possible plans to return to Bengal or British India.

    They have found some letters — some old letters — from Sri Aurobindo to Barin and the lawyer[[C.R. Das, Sri Aurobindo’s lawyer in the Alipore bomb case. There are three letters; one dated November 18, 1922, to C.R. Das, and the two others to Barin, Sri Aurobindo’s younger brother, dated November 18, 1922 and December 1, 1922. The letters are included at the end of this conversation. ]] — extraordinary! They are incredible. They give the measure of Sri Aurobindo as a man of action. Even in 1920, he intended to undertake an action. To organize centers all over India, the world, oh!… a plan!… And that was before the liberation of the country!

    He says that he has completely withdrawn to find his yoga, but once he had found it, he is going to start his action[[Even in 1928, when Tagore came to Pondicherry to visit Sri Aurobindo, he repeated his intention to go out of Pondicherry and launch an external action. But probably on the way, Sri Aurobindo realized … just what Mother was discovering. ]]….

    ( Agenda October 20 1971)

    http://livesofaurobindo.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/sexual-union-dignified-by-marriage-page-318/#more-78

    *Thanks, Sandeep

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  • Sri Auorobindo ‘mad’,’intimate with The Mother?’ So What?

    The Biography The Lives of S Aurobindo sparked off a controversy on the Life of Sri Aurobindo,Freedom Fighter,Yogi.Poet ,Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature for his  ‘Gitanjali‘ and a Great Mystic, by Peter Heehs.

    Peter Heehs was himself a follower of Sri Aurobindo and a Member of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry,India, since 1971.

    The Book was published by the  Columbia University Press.

    There are passages quoted from the Book that suggest sexual intimacy between Sri Aurobindo, and Mirra Alfassa, The  Mother who is also a Spiritualist .

    The passages referred to suggest that Sri Aurobindo had illicit relationship with The Mother ,he is a terrorist and was also mad.
    Peter Heehs has clarified that he has taken two years to research the Book and the said portions of the Book are being quoted out of context.

    The Book is not  even available for Sale in India!

    To those who criticise the Book.

    1. The Book is not even available in India nor can you read it in full in Google Books.

    How does one object to a Book that is not available  and without reading it in full?

    (those who raised the issue are from India)

    2.While attempting to unravel a multi faceted personality as Sri Aurobindo,some facts might come to light that were unknown hitherto. They have to be checked for veracity and if found to be true is to be accepted.

    Let us assume what Peter Heehs has stated in the Book is true.

    It does not change our respect and reverence for Sri Aurobindo.

    He was a Freedom Fighter for us, the Indians; but for the British he was a terrorist,it all depends on which side of the fence you are.

    He had’ sexual relations with The Mother’

    So what?

    Does that change his Philosophy,his stature as a Poet or his thoughts or his Great work on Mysticism and Tantric Sastra as explained by him in his book ‘Savitri’?

    Yogis like Sri Aurobindo can not be equated with us ordinary mortals.

    “He was mad’

    Well, from our stand point, he was mad!

    Let me tell you the Great Saint Sundarar calls Lord Siva as ‘Mad‘?

    பித்தா பிறை சூடி பெருமானே அருளாளா”

    ‘The one who is mad and who wears the Moon on  His Head’

    And Lord Siva himself  is believed to have suggested this first line to Sundarar!

    Sri Abirami Bhattar, in his Abirami Andhadhi, a great work on Goddess Abirami,Thirukkadayuyr( it should be spelled as Thirukkadavoor) states,

    “‘விரும்பித் தொழும் அடியார் விழி மல்கி நீர் மல்கி .மெய் புளகம்

    அரும்பித் ததும்பிய ஆனந்தமாகி  ,அறிவிழந்து

    சுரும்பிர்க்  களித்து,மொழி தடுமாறி  முன் சொன்ன எல்லாம்
    தரும் பித்தர் ஆவர்  என்றால்  அபிராமி சமயம் நன்றே “
    Abirami Andadhi 94
    Abirami!  Those worship you with passion,Tears swell in the eyes,body shudders,they are lost in Bliss,discrimination fails,more happy
    than a drunk,Speech falters,all these contribute to one being mad!
    Even so Worshipping You  is the Best’
    Such is the Bliss of Yogins.
    Sri Aurobindo is one of the most respected fre...
    Sri Aurobindo is one of the most respected freedom fighters from Bengal and also a poet, philosopher, and yogi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
    We are not qualified to comment.

    ‘Since his death in 1950, Sri Aurobindo Ghose has been known primarily as a yogi and a philosopher of spiritual evolution who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in peace and literature. But the years Aurobindo spent in yogic retirement were preceded by nearly four decades of rich public and intellectual work. Biographers usually focus solely on Aurobindo’s life as a politician or sage, but he was also a scholar, a revolutionary, a poet, a philosopher, a social and cultural theorist, and the inspiration for an experiment in communal living.

    Peter Heehs, one of the founders of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives, is the first to relate all the aspects of Aurobindo’s life in its entirety. Consulting rare primary sources, Heehs describes the leader’s role in the freedom movement and in the framing of modern Indian spirituality. He examines the thinker’s literary, cultural, and sociological writings and the Sanskrit, Bengali, English, and French literature that influenced them, and he finds the foundations of Aurobindo’s yoga practice in his diaries and unpublished letters. Heehs’s biography is a sensitive, honest portrait of a life that also provides surprising insights into twentieth-century Indian history.’

    http://www.cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14098-0/the-lives-of-sri-aurobindo

     

    The latest biography by Peter Heehs, himself an ashram member since 1971 and one of those persons who painstakingly organised the Aurobindo archives there, was objectively commended by another noted historian Ramachandra Guha, as a product of “lifetime scholarship”. It had the added authenticity for “Heehs knows the documentary evidence on and around Sri Aurobindo’s life, better than anyone else,” wrote Guha hailing it.

    “I wrote the book from 2002 to 2006 and it took two years to get the book accepted (for publishing),” Heehs told Deccan Herald in an extensive interview in Pondicherry, a few days before the Home Ministry extended his visa by a year from April 15 that set at naught several uncertainties for now.

    But shortly after the book came hot from the Columbia University Press in August-September 2008, Heehs found the satisfaction from his long years of labour in presenting Aurobindo’s many-sided life “to a very serious audience” to be so short-lived as a “small coterie” of people connected to the ashram soon began a relentless campaign against Heehs, dubbing it “blasphemous”.

    Apparently, some passages in the book–one allegedly suggesting a romantic ring to the Auro­bindo-Mother relationship, and some discussions of an “element of lunacy” that ran in Aurobindo’s family–triggered a full-scale tirade against the biography even before it could be published in India.”

    http://www.deccanherald.com/content/243840/blasphemy-tag-strains-aurobindo-ashram.html

  • Time Travel is Confirmed, Physicists

    A photo of the first time travel test with Eri...
    A photo of the first time travel test with Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    I came across a news item in The Huffington Post Post that physicists have confirmed Time Travel

    Time and Space are two concepts that can not be defined as of now.
    In fact it has not been done so till date.
    A best some explanations are given.
    Time Travel is real and possible at all times.
    Events are taking place, have taken place,will take place at the same time.

    Above is my comment on the Story.

    For an idea into Time ‘Time- a Non-Linear Theory’,please read my blog filed under Time at  www.ramanan50.wordpress.com
    If you take he example of The Exodus,it took place,has taken place ,is taking place now  and will take place, all at the same time.

    This applies any event.
    This can be appreciated if one were to understand that Time/Space is not linear( as believed now Science);and that it is Non-linear and Cyclic.

    As the material is Copyrighted please visit the Link .

     

    .

    By: Adam Hadhazy, Life’s Little Mysteries Contributor
    Published: 04/16/2012 12:32 PM EDT on Lifes Little Mysteries

    In this weekly series, Life’s Little Mysteries rates the plausibility of popular science fiction concepts.

    In the first “Back to the Future” movie, all it took to travel through time was 1.21 gigawatts and a flux capacitor (packed into a DeLorean sports car for style points). Despite centuries of dreams and decades of bona fide research, flux capacitors remain beyond our grasp, as do any other time travel-enabling devices.

    http://digg.com/newsbar/topnews/is_time_travel_real_physicists_say_it_happens_all_the_time

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  • Earth Day in The Vedas, An Approach to Universe.

    Hinduism ,right from the earliest times of The Rig Veda, has been advocating  synchronised Living with Nature.

    Ecology Logo.
    Ecology Logo

    The Order of Nature is called ‘Rta‘,it is difficult to translate in English as Rta indicates Order,Orderliness of Nature,Law of Nature ,The Rhythm of Nature The Truth(Empirical and Transcendental),all are indicated by the term Rta.

    One of the Shanti Mantras,that is the Hymn to be used in all all auspicious occasions says

    ‘Brahmam Vathishyaami,ritham VathishyaamiSathyam Vathishyaami’

    I Salute the Brahman, the Reality;Orderliness,’The Ultimate Truth,Truth’

    It pays tribute to Nature in all it forms,Fire,Water,Earth, Air,Life,Sun,Early Morning,Night,Planets,Planets,Animals,Plants and  Time.

    Fire –Agni Sukhtham

    Water-Mantra Pushpam

    Air –Vayu Sukhtham

    Earth-Bhoo Sukhtham.

    Life-Ayshya Sukthtam

    Early Morning-Ushas Suktham

    Night-Rik Veediya Raathri Suktham

    Sun-Surya Suktham

    Animals-Go Sukhtam

    Plants -Shanti Mantram.

    In fact the Great Sukhta which describes the evolution of the Universe speaks very highly of nature and in fact it speaks only of nature as representing the Cosmic Principle

    Apart from explaining the evolution of these elements, these Hymns extol them and the necessity of living in Harmony with them.

    In The Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna states that one should live harmony with Nature and do his bit to preserve them to enable them to sustain Humans.

    All The Deities are the representations of Nature in some Form,

    Agni,Fire;Varuna,Water,Thunder/Lightening;Indira,Surya,Sun;Chandra, Moon;Ushas,Dawn;Sandhya,Dusk,Vayu,Air;Prakriti,Nature.

    All these Principles are worshipped to seek their benign influence on the Earth.

    Any harm done to any Being, Living , Non-Living disturbs the Rta of Nature and as a consequence the individual and the Universe will suffer.

    To conclude, a Quote from the Shanti Mantra

    “Thachchamyora Vrunimahe,gnyaathum Yagnyaya…..”

    “Let us Pray The One who Bestows us with all That is Good,

    Pray that our Sacred Fire Duty is properly fulfilled,

    Pray for those who perform these rites,

    May the Deities Bestow on us All That is Good,

    May Man Be Happy,

    May the Plants grow Upwards and Be Healthy,

    May the two legged Animals( Man) Be  Bestowed with all That is Good,

    May the Animals with Four Legs be bestowed with All That is Good’

    Om,Peace Unto All’

    Earth Day;

    Earth Day is a day early each year on which events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth’s natural environment. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network,[1] and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year.[2] In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.[3] Earth Day is planned for April 22 in all years at least through 2015.[4]
    The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the City of Saint Francis, patron saint of ecology. Earth Day was first observed in San Francisco and other cities on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature’s equipoise was later sanctioned in a Proclamation signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations where it is observed each year. About the same time a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this April 22 Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.[5][6] Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues.”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day

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