Asthavakra Gita Part 13

 Happiness


Janaka said:

The tranquil state of knowing Self alone is rare
—even among those who own but a loincloth.
I therefore neither renounce nor accept and am happy.

The body is strained by practices. The tongue tires of scripture.
The mind numbs with meditation.Detached from all this,
I live as I am.
Realizing that nothing is done, I do what comes and am happy.

Yogis who preach either effort or non-effort are still
attached to the body. I neither dissociate nor associate
with any of that and am happy.

I have nothing to gain or lose by standing, walking or
sitting down. So whether I stand, walk or sit,I am happy.

I do not lose by sleeping nor attain by effort.
Not thinking in terms of loss or gain ,I am happy.

Pleasure and pain fluctuate and are inconsistent.
Without good or bad I live happily.

Asthavakra Gita Part 12

Abiding in the Self


Janaka said:
 Becoming first intolerant of action, then of excessive speech,
 then of thought itself, I come to be here. 

 Neither sounds nor other sense perceptions attract my attention.
 Even the Self is unperceived. The mind is free, undistracted,
 one-pointed. And here I am.

 Effort is required to concentrate a distracted mind superimposed
 with illusion. Knowing this, I remain here. 

 Nothing to reject, nothing to accept. No joy, no sorrow.
 Lord God I am here. 

 The four stages of life, life without stages, meditation, renunciation,
 objects of mind— nothing but distractions. I am forever here.

 Doing and not-doing both arise from ignorance. I know this.
 And I am here.
 
 Thinking of the unthinkable One unavoidably conjures thought.
 I choose no-thought and remain here.

 Blessed is he who attains this by effort. Blessed is he who is such by nature.

Asthavakra Gita Part 11

Wisdom


Ashtavakra said:

Existence, non-existence, change-- this is the nature of things.
Realizing this, stillness, serenity and bliss naturally follow.

One who knows for certain that “Self creates All and is alone”
 becomes still, desireless, unattached.
 
One who knows for certain that adversity and success come and go
in obedience to destiny becomes content. He neither desires nor grieves.
 
One who knows for certain that birth and death, happiness and misery,
come and go in obedience to destiny sees nothing to accomplish.
He engages in non-action, and in action remains unattached. 

One who has realized that only by caring caused misery - he in the world
becomes free, happy, serene, desireless. 

“I am not the body, nor is the body my possession— I am Awareness itself.”
 One who realizes this for certain has no memory of things done or left
 undone. There is only the Absolute.

“From Brahma to the last blade of grass-- I alone exist.” One who knows
 this for certain becomes immaculate, serene, unconflicted. Attainment
 has no meaning. 

One who knows for certain that this manifold and wonderful universe is
 nothing , becomes desire-less Awareness and abides in the stillness of No-thing.

Asthavakra Gita Part 10

Quietude


Ashtavakra said:

Give up desire,which is the enemy. Give up prosperity,
which is born of mischief and good works.Be indifferent.

Look upon friends, lands, wealth, houses, wives, gifts
--and all apparent good fortune--as a passing show,
as a dream lasting three to five days.

Where there is desire,there is the world.
Be firm in non-attachment.Be free of desire.
Be happy.

Bondage and desire are the same.Destroy desire and be free.
Only by detaching from the world does one joyfully realize Self.

You are One—Awareness itself.The universe is neither aware
nor does it exist.Even ignorance is unreal.
What is left to know?

Attached as you have been to kingdoms,sons, wives, bodies,
pleasures—life after life — still they are now
lost forever.

Prosperity, pleasure, pious deeds...Enough!In the
dreary forest of the world the mind finds no rest.

For how many lifetimes have you done hard and painful labor
with body, mind and speech? It is time to stop.

Kids

Watch them.Closely.No one can be better than a kid for being at present.
As they grow , at times they are watching the spinning toy above the cradle , at times they are mimicking a cat , at times they are spiderman or superman killing bad guys , at times hiding from mother with unique chill sensation in the heart , at times as they play cricket they are all little Sachin or Kohli or Dhoni.They give their best at that moment and nothing else in the world existed that time.
If they are upset , or scolded by elders , still then they cry in such a way , nothing is more important than their grief.Next moment .. the magic happens , they forget and again play as nothing is more important.

It is his nature not to think about future. This is mindfulness , this is meditation.

Elders think Meditation is always about closing eyes and breathing most secret way !.. , and they also think kids needs to practice meditation daily for better future life.Where the truth is , it is the elders misfortune that they have lost their natural quality by the help of their parents and the way society demands. And so they think (as they are always right) they need to make kids obey as they grow into elders and make them similar
as themselves and one day that kid in future will be bound to go to meditation class to recover natural quality!OR maybe joining evening laughing club!

Do not teach kids.Learn from them.Sanatan thought of this land is kids are god.Little Krishna or Laxmi.

I know few of you must be thinking what I am saying! Haven't I experienced naughty kids !They are so annoying .. they can not be stopped! They do not obey their parents , destroy things in relatives home!
But with all due respect to all parents , I must say if they are not exposed to unnatural things , vulgar dancing , vulgar words , did not experienced disobedience of their parents for their grandparents , they are not going to be like that.In short , if the elders prefer lungi dance , their life will be like lungi dance , so their kids.

Let them have a tree as pet.

Education is not teaching them how to feed on informations.Education comes from within.The seed is there. Please let it grow.

I miss my village home so much.The nature was so close.I can still see the mango I was putting into bamboo bucket at night after a storm with my grandmother , Later enjoying that with rice and milk.I can not give that to my son.I will not either cage him with my beliefs and ever-changing social demands.

We all are born free as the fragments of supreme consciousness.Kids need to experience this as they grow up.Not Ramayana , Not Gita , Not any heavy scriptures ...... They need to experience themselves as they are.After that if they indulge in scriptures it is their choice.Krishna Himself gave the hint.

Gita
Chapter 15 , 1st sloka :

Shri Bhagavan Uvacha

urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham
asvattham prahur avyayam
chandamsi yasya parnani
yas tam veda sa veda-vit


There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.

This is Human body, Brains as roots .. sense organs are the only way to interact in this creation and gather knowledge.Human nervous system is a unique proof (other than experience).One having human form must try to know this.This is the only knowledge that will complete every thirst.Reading Veda is have no use.Breathing Veda is what we need.

Human is not Intelligent of all life forms in the world , Human is capable of maximum intelligence in the world.Human start this journey as most intelligent one as kid and ends up a mess hardened by few principles and beliefs , and when curtains are down , they cry to live. There are so many Insurance business is out there today only for our fear of loosing is so high ! No kid and animal complaints ,they play with a broken leg too ! only elder human complaints!

It is time to learn from kids.The guru is at home in your krishna or Laxmi.

Om Namaha Shivaya.

Asthavakra Gita Part 9

Detachment



Ashtavakra said:

Opposing forces,duties done and left undone
—when does it end and for whom?
Considering this, be ever desireless,let go of all things,and
to the world turn an indifferent eye.

Rare and blessed is one whose desire to live,
to enjoy and to know, has been extinguished by observing
the ways of men.

Seeing all things as threefold suffering,the sage becomes still.
Insubstantial, transient,contemptible -- the world
is fit only for rejection.

Was there an age or time men existed without opposites?
Leave the opposites behind.Be content with what comes.
Perfection.

The greatest seers, saints and yogis agree on very little.
Seeing this,who could not be indifferent to knowledge
and become still ?

One who through worldly indifference,through serenity and reason,
sees his true nature and escapes illusion —is he not a true teacher?

In the myriad forms of the universe see the primal element alone.
You will be instantly free,and abide in Self.

Desire creates the world --renounce it.Renounce desires
and you renounce the world.

Now you may live as you are.

Asthavakra Gita Part 8

Bondage and Liberation

Ashtavakra said:

When the mind desires or grieves things,accepts or rejects things,

is pleased or displeased by things--this is bondage.

When the mind does not desire or grieve,accept or reject,

become pleased or displeased,liberation is at hand.

If the mind is attached to any experience,this is bondage.

When the mind is detached from all experience,this is liberation.

When there is no “I” there is only liberation. When “I” appears

bondage appears with it.Knowing this,it is effortless to refrain

from accepting and rejecting.

Asthavakra Gita Part 7

Nature of Self-Realization


Janaka said:

In me, the shoreless ocean, the ark of universe
drifts here and there on the winds of its nature.
I am not impatient.

In me, the shoreless ocean, let the waves of the universe
rise and fall as they will.I am neither enhanced nor diminished.

In me, the shoreless ocean,the universe is imagined.
I am still and formless.In this alone I abide.

The Self is not in objects,nor are objects in the pure and infinite Self.
The Self is tranquil,free of attachment and desire.
In this alone I abide.

I am Awareness alone. The world is passing show.
How can thoughts arise of acceptance or rejection?
And where?

Asthavakra Gita Part 6

The Higher Knowledge

Janaka said:

I am infinite space; the universe is a jar.
  This I know. No need to renounce, accept or destroy.

I am a shoreless ocean; the universe makes waves.This I know.
  No need to renounce, accept or destroy.

I am mother-of–pearl; the universe is the illusion of silver.
  This I know. No need to renounce, accept or destroy.

I am in all beings; all beings are in me.
  This I know.No need to renounce, accept or destroy.

Ram Dware Jo Marna Jane Phir Na Marna Hoi

HE ,who knows to die in the door of Lord Rama , never dies again.

A famous Doha of Kabir ji , an exceptional yogi of all time.

4 years ago , someone asked on yahoo answer what is Ram Dwar that is Guarded by Hanuman Ji ?
I gave my honest answer as some different nick name , but down voted once 😁, lol , but then again , down vote does not change inner experience. I realized the question was for me to seek the truth for myself.So re-editing the same answer here...


Not only Sant Kabir, Not only Tulsidasji , many Ramayait saint have mentioned about this Raam Dwar.

No one ever can find such place in this world ,- but as so many saints have said , it can not be false , they never lie.
In the world or spiritual realization in Ramayait Sampradaya Ram Dwar has been set as the highest goal to achieve , where Sadhaka self is diluted in Universal self ,small personified consciousness dissolves in impersonal Rama Consciousness, same as Krishna Consciousness of Vaishnava , or Shiva for Shaiva.
The abode of Shri Hari , the abode of supreme consciousness is every sadhaka's dream aim.
Now , talking straight to what is Raam Dwar.We first need to know the significance of the name Raam - the name of Maryada Purushottom Raam , the prince of Ayodhya.
IF you go through sanskrit grammatical analysis of the word Raam - it is
 Ra +A + Ma
if we further split Ra it is
 A + u
in law of Sanskrit grammer, if A is placed before u , it becomes Ra
so basically Raam = A+u +A +Ma .... which is the the same vibration is AUM or OM
thats the reason Raam namm is said to be the Tarak Bhrambha Nam
Raam Namm is the source of all creation

Now- what we need to understand is ,  Yoga is the undercurrent of all vedic religions ..... all yogic realization is the base of all writings of saints.
Who is Hanumann - Pavan Putra Hanuman , the son of Pavana , air !By Pavan if you visualize wind is blowing over the trees of your garden , there is nothing wrong.
But this Pavan is not that pavan , there are 49 Vayu in our body.
Among them , Prana is the cheif (others are Apana, Samana, Udana , Byana among important ones ) .
Prana usually flows in Ida and Pingala , 2 main Nadis of the body among 3.
Yogi , when Balances both Nadi , Prana started to become more subtle and enchanting Kundalini (for ramayait kundalini is Mother Anjani)
and started to flow through Sushumna the main nadi of the body and this is as a son taking birth , Hanuman , the most formidable to all enemies of sadhaka , of good men.
Surely the enemies are of Tamo and rajo vrittis :).
Remember the colour of kulakundalini is Red or reddish ,hence Hanuman too covered in red colour ,no other colour is suited to Lord Hanuman ,
in all over our loving country , you won't find Lord Hanuman with other colour Abir or Sindoor. People don't knows realization most of the time ,but they follow only traditions made by great men who realized.

Now the Raam Dwar is about a door beyond which Ram Rajya or Ram consciousness is present where all are equal , everything is blissful , everything is a marvel in divinity. Thats Sahasrara . the last chakra after Ajna (third eye you can assume) . To reach Sahasrara, Pavan Putra Hanuman is the only help Sadhaka can get , on the way there are so many obstacles of Brittis , so many Rakshasa of Samaskara,
Lord Hanuman is the only savoir on the way up ...... he opens up the Sahasrara Chakra , the Raam Dwar ...... where the sadhaka gets diluted ...and personal become impersonal ..... Death dies for him ..... floats in ever bilss in Raama Consciousness , in Krishna Consciousness.
Thats the reason Kabir Das said .... Ram Dware Jo Marna Jane , Phir Na Marna Hoi.

Gita 4. 29
               apane juhvati pranam
                  prane 'panam tathapare
               pranapana-gati ruddhva
                  pranayama-parayanah
               apare niyataharah
                  pranan pranesu juhvati

Vayu is all in the body , without it body is inhabitable.Vayu is the only instrument that the self can use to tear the darkness to know supremeself.Who knows the art of controlling Vayu Namely Prana , Knows to please Anjani Putra Pavan Suta Nama , Knows Rama undoubtedly.


Then what , Is lord Raam is not our history ! IS not Lord Hanuman is real ...offcourse they are ... what ever inside , is also present in the outside too and vise versa.
Say .. tomorrow i die .. and findout , this whole creation was just my imagination , Sitting behind my own self , i watched it all , recreate it , over and over again ... over the time line .. life is just a moments play.

Do not make it complex , my fragments of supreme being. Let me play with my little blog and a truthful community Sanatan Dharmavalambi.

Om Namaha Shivaya
Shivaya Namaha Om

Asthavakra Gita Part 5

Four Ways to Dissolution


Ashtavakra said:

You are immaculate, touched by nothing.
What is there to renounce? The mind is complex—let it go.
Know the peace of dissolution.

The universe arises from you like foam from the sea.
Know yourself as One. Enter the peace of dissolution.

Like an imagined snake in a rope the universe appears to exist
in the immaculate Self but does not.
Seeing this you know: “There is nothing to dissolve.”

You are perfect, changeless, through misery and happiness,
hope and despair, life and death.
This is the state of dissolution.

Ashtavakra Gita Part 4

Glorification of Self-Realization


Janaka said:

Surely one who knows Self, though he plays the game of life,differs greatly
from the world’sbewildered burdened beasts.

Truly the yogi feels no elation, though he abides in the exalted state
yearned for by Indra and all the discontented gods.

Surely one who knows That is not touched by virtue or vice,just as space
is not touched by smoke,though it seems to be.

Who can prevent the great soul, who knows the universe as Self,from living life
as it comes?

Of the four kinds of beings, from Brahma to a blade of grass, only the sage can
renounce aversion and desire.

Rare is he who knows himself as One with no other— the Lord of the Universe.
He acts as he knows and is never afraid.

Ashtavakra Gita Part 3

Test of Self-Realization


Ashtavakra said:
Having realized yourself as One, being serene and indestructible,
why do you desire wealth?

Just as imagining silver in mother-of-pearl, causes greed to arise,
so does ignorance of Self cause desire for illusion.

Having realized yourself as That in which the waves of the world rise and fall,
why do you run around in turmoil?

Having realized yourself as pure Awareness, as beautiful beyond description,
how can you remain a slave to lust?

It is strange that in a sage who has realized Self in All and All in Self
this sense of ownership should continue.

Strange that one abiding in the Absolute, intent on freedom, should be vulnerable to lust
and weakened by amorous pastimes.

Strange that knowing lust as an enemy of knowledge, one so weak and nearing death
should still crave sensual pleasure

Strange that one who is unattached to the things of this world and the next,
who can discriminate between the transient and the timeless, who yearns for freedom,
should yet fear the dissolution of the body.

Whether acclaimed or tormented the serene sage abides in the Self.He is neither gratified
nor angered. A great soul witnesses his body’s actions as if they were another’s.
How can praise or blame disturb him?

Realizing the universe is illusion, having lost all curiosity, how can one of steady mind
fear death?

With whom can we compare the great soul who, content knowing Self, remains desireless in
disappointment?

Why should a person of steady mind, who sees the nothingness of objects,
prefer one thing to another?

He who is unattached, untouched by opposites, free of desire, experiences neither pleasure
nor pain as events pass through.

Ashtavakra Gita Part 2

Joy of Self Realization

Janaka said:
I am now spotless and at peace-- Awareness beyond Consciousness.All this time I have been
duped by illusion.By this light alone the body and the universe appear.I am Everything or
Nothing.
Seeing there is no universe or body, by grace the Self is revealed. As waves, foam and
bubbles are not different from water, so the universe emanating from Self is not different
from Self.
Look closely at cloth, you see only threads. Look closely at creation, you see only Self.
As sweetness pervades sugarcane juice, I am the essence of creation.
Not seeing Self, the world is materialized. Seeing Self, the world is vanished.
A rope is not a snake, but can appear to be.

I am not other than Light. The universe manifests at my glance. The mirage of universe
appears in me as silver appears in mother-of-pearl, as a snake appears in a rope, as water
appears on a desert horizon.
As a pot returns to clay, a wave to water, a bracelet to gold, so will the universe return
to Me.

I am wonderful indeed-- beyond adoration. I cannot decay nor ever die, though God and all
the universe should perish to the last blade of grass.
I am wonderful indeed--beyond adoration. Even with a body I am One. I neither come nor go.
I am everywhere at once.
I am wonderful indeed--beyond adoration. I am astounded at my powers.The universe appears
within me but I do not touch it.
I am wonderful indeed-- beyond adoration. I am everything thought or spoken, and have
nothing.

In Reality, knowledge, the knower, and the knowable do not exist. I am the transparent Self
in which through ignorance they appear.
Looking at One and seeing many is the cause of all misery. The only cure is to realize what
is seen is not there.
I am One—aware, blissful, immaculate.

I am unbounded Awareness.Only in imagination do I have limits.Reflecting on this, I abide in
the Absolute.I am neither free nor bound. The illusion of such things has fallen into
disbelief.Though I contain creation, it has no substance.

Having seen for certain that this universe and body is without form or substance,I am revealed
as Awareness alone. Imagination has no place here.

The body exists only in imagination, as do heaven and hell, bondage, freedom, fear. Are these
my concern?

I, who am pure Awareness?
I see no differences or separation.Even the multitudes appear as a single formless desert.
To what should I cling?
I am not the body. I do not have a body. I am Awareness, not a person. My thirst for life
bound me to a seeming of life.

In the limitless ocean of Myself the winds of the mind roil the myriad waves of the world.
But when the wind subsides in the limitless ocean the ark of personhood is swallowed up,
along with the universe it carries.

And how wonderful it is!In the limitless ocean of Myself, waves of beings arise, collide,
play for a time,then disappear--as is their nature.

Ashtavakra Gita Part One

Janaka said:Master,how is Knowledge to be achieved,detachment acquired,liberation attained?


Ashtavakra said: To be free,shun the experiences of the senses like poison. Turn your attention to
                 forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, simplicity, truth.
                 You are not earth, water, fire or air. Nor are you empty space. Liberation is to
                 know yourself as Awareness alone—the Witness of these.
                 Abide in Awareness with no illusion of person.
                 You will be instantly free and at peace.
                 You have no caste or duties. You are invisible, unattached, formless.You are the
                 Witness of all things.Be happy.
                 Right and wrong, pleasure and pain,exist in mind only.They are not your concern.
                 You neither do nor enjoy.You are free.
                 You are the Solitary Witness of All That Is,forever free.Your only bondage is
                 not seeing This.
                 The thought: “I am the doer” is the bite of a poisonous snake.To know: “I do nothing”
                 is the wisdom of faith.Be happy.

                 A single understanding:“I am the One Awareness,”consumes all suffering in the fire of
                 an instant.Be happy.
                 You are unbounded Awareness— Bliss, Supreme Bliss--in which the universe appears
                 like the mirage of a snake in a rope.Be happy.
                 It is true what they say:“You are what you think.” If you think you are bound you
                 are bound.If you think you are free you are free.
                 You are Self—the Solitary Witness.You are perfect, all-pervading, One.
                 You are free, desireless, forever still.The universe is but a seeming in You.
                 Meditate on this: “I am Awareness alone--Unity itself.” Give up the idea that
                 you are a separate person,that there is within and without.
                 You have long been bound thinking:“I am a person.” Let the knowledge:
                 “I am Awareness alone" be the sword that frees you.
                 You are now and forever free, luminous, transparent, still.The practice of meditation
                 keeps one in bondage
                 You are pure Consciousness— the substance of the universe.
                 The universe exists within you.
                 Don’t be small-minded.

                 You are unconditioned, changeless, formless.You are solid, unfathomable, cool.
                 Desire nothing.You are Consciousness.
                 That which has form is not real. Only the formless is permanent. Once this is known,
                 you will not return to illusion.
                 Just as a mirror exists both within and without the image reflected,the Supreme Self exists
                 both within and without the body.
                 Just as the same space exists both within and without a jar, the timeless, all-pervasive One

                 exists as Totality.

Adi Shankaracharyya's Atma Shatakam

As the story goes on :-
A lonely boy of eight , wondering Himalayas in search of Guru.
The boy encountered a sage , who asked him "who are you?"
The boy gave his identity in six slokas , today known as Atma Shatakam or Nirvana Shatakam or the Song of the True Self.
The boy was Adi Shankara (eighth century ), the sage indeed was his Guru ,Swami Govindapada Acharyya and the song was summarized entity of Advaita Vedanta or non-dualistic philosophy.




mano buddhi ahankara chittani naaham
na cha shrotravjihve na cha ghraana netre
na cha vyoma bhumir na tejo na vaayuhu
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(I am not the mind, the intellect, the ego or the memory,
I am not the ears, the skin, the nose or the eyes,
I am not space, not earth, not fire, water or wind,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


na cha prana sangyo na vai pancha vayuhu
na va sapta dhatur na va pancha koshah
na vak pani-padam na chopastha payu
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(I am not the breath, nor the five elements,
I am not matter, nor the 5 sheaths of conciousness
Nor am I the speech, the hands, or the feet,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


na me dvesha ragau na me lobha mohau
na me vai mado naiva matsarya bhavaha
na dharmo na chartho na kamo na mokshaha
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(There is no like or dislike in me, no greed or delusion,
I know not pride or jealousy,
I have no duty, no desire for wealth, lust or liberation,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


na punyam na papam na saukhyam na duhkham
na mantro na tirtham na veda na yajnah
aham bhojanam naiva bhojyam na bhokta
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(No virtue or vice, no pleasure or pain,
I need no mantras, no pilgrimage, no scriptures or rituals,
I am not the experienced, nor the experience itself,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


na punyam na papam na saukhyam na duhkham
na mantro na tirtham na veda na yajnah
aham bhojanam naiva bhojyam na bhokta
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(No virtue or vice, no pleasure or pain,
I need no mantras, no pilgrimage, no scriptures or rituals,
I am not the experienced, nor the experience itself,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)


aham nirvikalpo nirakara rupo
vibhut vatcha sarvatra sarvendriyanam
na cha sangatham naiva muktir na meyaha
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
(I am devoid of duality, my form is formlessness,
I exist everywhere, pervading all senses,
I am neither attached, neither free nor captive,
I am the form of conciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…)

Scattered Thoughts

Past is history , future is mystery and present is a gift - enjoy it and enjoy it.

Present also have 2 drawbacks for those who wants to know the unknown -

1. Can make one too much joyful and losing self as a result.

2. Can let one think that this beautiful situation is his own doing - that's rising ego.

Both are fine for anyone but Sadhaka . The aspiring yogi must be aware that -

You are not born by yourself - you were given birth. (by the supreme being)

You did not grow up , you were made to grow up. (by the supreme being)

Whatever you can do , you were taught to do all of them. (by the supreme being)

And most importantly - whatever you got throughout your life , all costs are still pending.

Breaths are on fire.

Do you still have time to waste !


Om Namaha Shivaya

IS God Fair !Understanding Law of Karma in true story -

Dr. Annie Besant , the founder of the famous Theosophical Society of India , was a young woman , she worked on the editorial staff of prestigious magazine called THE NEW REVIEW . She was an intellectual woman , given to mature reflection and logical thinking.She gave birth to a baby who fell seriously ill soon after birth.The baby was running high fever , and as the temperature rose, the infant developed convulsions.Annie Besant was distraught at the sight of her little child going through these violent fits.She could not bear to think of her innocent baby being put through such suffering.

"they say God is all mercy and love" she said to herself , "is this kind of mercy and love he shows my child?What has this tender, innocent babe done to deserve such suffering?"

She virtually gave up all faith and belief in God after this happened.She became an agnostic. She spoke to preachers and religious teachers. No one could answer her questions satisfactorily "where is God's love and compassion? Why is this child , who hasn't even hurt a fly, subject to such suffering?" They do not have an answer to such questions is Western Philosophy, and Annie Besant got no answers.

ONE day , she came across a book by Mme.H.P.Blavatsky, entitled The Secret Doctrine. The editor had sent it to her for the purpose of review.As Annie Besant begun to read the book , a new understanding dawned on her , and she was deeply impressed by its content.One of the chapters in the book was entitled,"Karma and Reincarnation". She read is again and again - and she began to see life in a new perspective.
She seemed to have found , at last , an answer to the questions she had been asking.Here was the only satisfactory explanation for her innocent child's suffering; it was nothing but the result of Karma of the child's previous births!

Enlightenment came to her as in a flash of lightening.She understood that the present life is not the first life , the only life lived by her or by her child. She had lived many many , other lives before she had entered this body - likewise her infant.It was due to the child's actions in those earlier births, that it was going through certain consequences in this birth.The infant had done something earlier , the effect of which , the fruit of which it has now faced with. The whole thing was crystal clear; the mystery was unraveled. She began to understand things, which were inexplicable earlier.

Because of this understanding, Annie Besant left her country , left behind her friends and family to come to India.She regarded India as the great land of Rishis , Sages , and saints who offered the most profound and satisfactory solution to life's problems. She came to live in Madras, and founded the famous Theosophical Society of India. There is a beautiful suburb of modern Chennai which is now named after her - Besant Nagar.

India owes a deep debt of gratitude for all that Annie Besant has done , all the great services she rendered to this country.But she felt indebted to India for giving her a new insight into life and its meaning, through the doctrine of Karma and Re-incarnation.

Om Namaha Shivaya

Dhyana and Meditation

These two terms are often used to mean the same thing.But they are not.
One can not do Dhyana , It happens .What mostly one can do is to long for Dhyana. The longing definitely ends in Dhyana someday.
Whereas One can do Meditation . It simply means Practicing to concentrate.

We have a compulsion to express everything in English , it is not possible always.
English is a sweet language , but it is very superficial.
Moreover we can not expect for English to have a proper word of Dhyana when a culture is lived superficially and thus superficial experience of
living contributed to the language making.

Over many decades , most people of India did not paid any attention to their own culture.Now we are living in a time , when in large number Indians are interested in their culture.As it seems , as a country our Prabdha is coming to an end!

Now come down to the meaning -

Meditation - Manah-Sanjog , concentration of mind. If it is not there , human life is a mess.Meditation is very help full to clear out stress ,  anxiety etc. to clean body , mind and to recharge vitality for very effective and efficient way of living.
There is deeper aspect of Meditation too, which related to concentration on self , watching the mind itself , This gives us a gimps of what  we actually are. Contemplate on self , One realizes , there is something more ......
So its just a process to enlarge human experiences within the boundary of Mind.

Dhyana - It is beyond Mind.Speaking about something that is beyond mind is ridiculous. Meditation is just the beginning , when mind settles down , like the dust particle in a glass of water , Atman reflected itself in Chitta , How can anyone describe something that is outside of mind's
 reach! Only examples can be given , still they are not perfect since all the examples are material, i.e have a boundary of logical understanding , where as Atman do not have such boundary.

Dhyana can not happen on the roads , while walking  , while cycling But Meditation can be done in all these situations in form of simple mind concentration. But one must practice Meditation regularly to nurture mind and breathing so that Dhyana Can Happen !


Intoxicate your brains with breathing (pranayama) ... Keep calm ... watch every breath... all the way down , all the way up .... watching  breathing will make your mind to concentrate in breathing automatically.... Breathing will be slower with time .... Kumbhaka (internal or External)
Time will increase .... feel ... your breathing becoming so subtle , it almost do not exits , even a feather will not move if it is placed  against your nostrils.... The black vision will change color to red or yellow..... the change will be faster .... It is still in the mind ....
Practicing this will lead to purna kumbhaka ... no breathing for some minute ... and the dhyana happens ... mind DIES.
Oh! What is this ! ---- slightest of thought and dhyana breaks.But the experience of fraction of a minute leaves trail for life time , and that one
Longs for rest of the life to stay in that bliss ... Atman.
Restlessness comes , how to get it ... no where to go , no shop to buy , no god to worship , the treasure of all treasures ........ is within..
All one have to do is  SIT IN SILENCE.


Om Namaha Shivaya