Love ! !

For a long time, i have never understood love.....i have seen people talk a lot about love.... how it transcends individuals... how it could be the same - loving your country or loving your beloved...but i have never seen or felt love as a powerful emotion... being brought up in a household where we were not used to say i love you amma / i love you appa......guess that had its own disadvantages......and then the Art of Living happened... i could see how Love had made a difference in the lives of many , many people....including my own. How all the negative emotions and that burdening feeling in your heart vanished the moment you thought about someone you loved.....

Today as i write this blog, through my sisters laptop (in my aunts home in Chennai, where we are all gathered for the ceremonies of my paternal grandmother - our patti who passed away on 24 Sep 2010), i have a much deeper understanding and reverence for LOVE.


Why???? because i feel that the most powerful human emotion of all is LOVE. A love for a son, which makes a mother follow his footsteps into the realm of divinity exactly one day short of one year from his departure..... A love for a daughter- in-law, which makes a mom-in-law a mother, a love for a grandson- aing a love for an entire family spanning almost millions of miles. . . a love for the divine.. .. .. .. .. accepting HIS decision of taking her son away and yet yearning for him day and night. . . . .

Today, as a mother follows the footsteps of her son in the journey to Vaikunta - the realm of the divine, leaving behind scores of weeping kith and kin, i realize one thing - that Love is the most sacred of human emotions. And when Love arises, nothing can stand the aura of it.

Let us pray that mother and son attain the realm of the divine peacefully !!!

Anil

(Note - Appa (Sri D Srinivasan) attained the lotus feet of the Supreme Master on 25 Sep 2009. Patti (Smt D Rukmani) attained the lotus feet of the Supreme Master on 24th Sep 2010 - exactly 364 days later

Hosur Satsang !!!

Samashrayanam & Panchasamskaram

SamAshrayanam means 'to approach (AchAryA) with all sincerity'.In a nut  shell , during 'SamAshrayanam' ,the AchAryA initiates a person , irrespective of caste,creed or sex, as his sishyA. It is a commitment from the disciple that he or she will live as per the wishes of the AchAryA. Thus  the person gets the  link to the Sri Vaishnava paramparA. During SamAshrayanam ,                    Pancha SamskAram (five Purifications) is performed and he becomes a "Sri VaishnavA".
         
      The five samskArams and its main purposes are 
 
    1. thApam   : To emboss the impressions of heated Sankha and ChakrA on the arms ( near    the shoulders ).
 
    2. pundram  : To wear the dvAdasa OOrdhva pundram ( 12 Thiruman & Srichoornam )
 
    3. nAmam    : To be christened by the AchAryA afresh as "RAmAnuja dAsan" (addition of 'dAsA' at the end of  ones name) to indicate that one is forever a servant of the Supreme Lord Sriman NArAyanA and BhagavAn RAmAnujA .
 
    4. manthram : To get the initiation of "Rahasya Traya MantrAs" -  AshtAksharam , Dvayam    and charama slokam  .
 
    5. Ijyai    : To learn the worship of Sriman nArAyanA in proper form ( Bhagavad ThiruvArAdhanam) .
 
Today, 
by the blessings of our Lord Sri Lakshmi Narayana Perumal , 
by the blessings of our Sri Vaishnavite Acharya - H H Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan (Srimad Srimushnam Andavan), 
by the blessings of our Guru HH Sri Sri Ravishankar,
by the blessings of my father Late Sri D Srinivasan, grandfather Late Sri R Devanathan and of all the members of this illustrious family  - I have completed my Samashrayanam and panchasamskaram .... Feels Gr8....
 
Adiyen Bharadwaja ( Btw having the conch and chakra (panchajanya and Sudarsana ) embossed on my shoulders also feels cool. will post pics sometime

Sita Kalyanam @ Hosur Satsangam -

Photo taken after the Sita Kalyanam performed at a hall near our home.

 

The lord with his consort and lakshmana and hanuman gracing the car of my uncle who was a part of the organizing team of this festival.

 

Blissful Beauty !

 

Anil

Ganesh Chathurthi

Come Saturday-11 Sep 2010 and it is Ganesha Chaturthi !

Lets hear something interesting on Ganesha which Guruji has talked about :

Ganesha Chaturthi is celebrated on the day on which Lord Ganesha is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is worshipped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. Though it is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the symbolism behind the festival is much deeper.

                                                   The essence of Ganeshji is brought out beautifully by Adi Shankara. Though Ganeshji is worshiped as the elephant-headed God, the form (swaroop) is just to bring out its parabrahma roopa. Ganeshji is described as Ajam Nirvikalpam Niraakaaramekam. This means that Ganeshji is never born.He is Ajam (unborn), he is Niraakaar (formless) and he is Nirvikalpa (attributeless). Ganeshji symbolises the consciousness which is omnipresent. Ganeshji is the same energy which is the reason for this universe, from which everything is manifested and it’s the same energy in which the whole world will be dissolved. Ganeshji is not somewhere outside of us, but the very centre of our life. But this is very subtle knowledge. Not everybody can perceive the formless without the form. Our ancient Rishis and Munis knew this; so they created the form for the benefit and understanding of people at all levels.

Those who can’t experience the formless, over a period of sustained experience of manifested form reach the formless Brahman.
                                                     So in reality, Ganeshji is formless; yet there is a form to which Adi Shankara prayed and that form carries the message of the formlessness of Ganeshji. Thus, the form serves as the starting point and gradually the formless consciousness begins to manifest.

Ganesh Chaturthi marks a unique art of reaching formless Paramatma called Lord Ganesh by repeated worship of the manifest form of Ganesha.

                                                      Even the Ganesh Stotram, the prayers recited in the praise of Ganeshji, conveys the same. We pray to Ganeshji in our consciousness to come out and sit in the idol for us for a while so that we can play with him. And after the puja, we again pray asking him to go back to where he comes from; that’s our consciousness. While he is in the idol, we offer back whatever God has given us through the puja of the idol.

The ritual of immersing (visarjan) the idols after few days of worship reinforces the understanding that God is not in the idol, it’s inside us. So experiencing the omnipresent in the form and deriving joy out of the form is the essence of the Ganesha Chaturthi festival. In a way such organized festivity and worships lead to an upsurge in enthusiasm and devotion.

Ganeshji is the lord of all the good qualities in us. So when we worship him, all the good qualities will blossom in us. He is also the lord of knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge dawns only when we become aware of the Self. When there is inertia, there is no knowledge, no wisdom, nor is there any liveliness (Chaitanya) or progress in life. So the consciousness has to be awakened and the presiding deity of consciousness is Ganeshji. That’s why before every puja, the Lord Ganesha is worshiped to awaken the consciousness.

Therefore, install the idol, worship it with infinite love, meditate and experience Lord Ganesha from within. This is the symbolic essence of Ganesh Chaturti festival, to awaken the Ganesha tatva which is masked inside us.

and btw, I will be in Chennai starting 10th till 14th so look forward to seeing a lot of ganeshas and will post on that soon.

Feel Like quitting !!!!! (Read on) - Never QUIT

Do Not Quit

One day I decided to quit...

I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God," I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me...

"Look around," He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes," I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took a very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water.

The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year, the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo," He said.

"In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit," He said

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant... But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots.

Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle."

He said to me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?"

"I would not quit on the bamboo. Neither will I ever quit on you."

"Don't compare yourself to others," He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet, they both make the forest beautiful."

"Your time will come," God said to me. " You will rise high! "

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I questioned.

"Yes," He said. "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

I left the forest and bring back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you. He will never give up on you.

Never regret a day in your life.ood days give you happiness

Bad days give you experiences

Both are essential to life.

Keep going...

Happiness keeps you Sweet,

Trials keep you Strong,

Sorrows keep you Human,

Failures keep you humble,

Success keeps You Glowing,

But Only God keeps You Going!

~~ANIL

Remembering the Titans !

One of the best'est' movies i have ever watched !

RAAVAN

In today’s world everywhere people know of ravan(a), they take his name with contempt. True, his act of abducting sita was horrendous and led to his meeting his end at the hands of rama.

 But in doing so, we forget that he was such a great person that Mahavishnu had to himself come and undergo all the tribulations of a human life and end his reign.

There is a situation in the Ramayana where in Ravan(a) compares himself and rama


na raamastapasaa devi na balena vikramaiH


na dhanena mayaa tulyastejasaa yashasaapi vaa



Now Rama is Mahavishnu, the supreme personality of godhead ; to be compared to Rama means a great achievement in itself. And all our scriptures teach us to see the good in even our enemies, else Valmiki would not have written such verses about ravana !

Now, coming to the film – though a lot has been said about the acting prowess of every1 save Abhishek (one of my friends felt vikram in ravanan was better) , I still feel Abhishek has come a long way from his Refugee & Drona days.

A highly mature performance from Abhishek, it was a class team act (Abhi,ash,vikram and also govinda and abhi’s brother).

When you make a film that is even loosely based on mythology, it is very important that the casting is done keeping in mind the characters of the original story, and save the huge gigantic figure, the voice that could crack trees, I believe Beera has lived up to his reputation of Ravan !!!

Kudos to Maniratnam, the photographer, Abhishek for a wonderful effort !

(Well, I still have not seen the tamil version, so will see it and comment!)


Anil

Guru Purnima

This is an extract from Deccan Herald

Celebrating devotion




Gurupurnima is called the day of the Master, but it is actually the day of the devotee.





There are three types of people who come to the Master - the student, the disciple and the devotee. A student goes to a teacher and learns something, gets some information and walks out of the school. The student is the one, who collects information, but the information is not knowledge, it is not wisdom.



Then, there is the disciple; the disciple follows the example of the Master. But a disciple is with the Master for the sake of learning wisdom, for the sake of improving his life, for attaining enlightenment. He is trying to bring a transformation in his life.



And then there is a devotee. A devotee is not there even for wisdom. He is simply rejoicing in love. He has fallen in deep love with the Master, with Infinity, with God. Students are in abundance, disciples are a few, but the devotees are rare.



One of Buddha’s disciples named Sariputra achieved enlightenment. Soon thereafter, Buddha told him, “Now you go ahead, go into the world and preach, teach, and do the same work I do. Carry on my work.” As instructed, Sariputra left Buddha, but he was crying. People asked him, “Why are you crying when you are enlightened?” He replied, “Who cares about this enlightenment? It could have waited. I would have waited. I didn’t even bother about it or ask for it because the joy of being at the feet of Buddha was so great. Being a devotee was so great. I cry now because I miss it. I would have preferred that to this enlightenment.” He said.



Who is a Guru? A Guru is just like a window. Guru simply means one who brings more joy, more alertness, and more awareness into your life. A Guru is not one who holds any authority over you. A Guru is not one who dictates terms to you. Rather, a Guru encourages you to be in touch with yourself. A Guru reminds you to live in the present moment, and a Guru takes away the guilt, agitation, sorrow, and anguish, which allows you to be yourself. That in the true sense is the meaning of Guru. A Guru does not simply fill you with knowledge, but he kindles the life force in you. In the presence of the Guru, you become more alive. The Guru invokes not only intelligence but also the intellect in you. Knowledge may not invoke intelligence, but in a state of intelligence, knowledge is inherent.



In the Upanishads, five signs of sadguru are mentioned. In the presence of a sadguru knowledge flourishes (Gyana raksha), sorrow diminishes (dukha kshaya), joy wells up without any reason (sukha aavirbhava), abundance dawns (samriddhi) and all talent manifest (sarva samvardhan).



Once you have found a sadguru, remember that he or she is always there with you, watching and giving you wisdom. Spiritual path is not only a path of learning more; it is also a path of unlearning. Learning has no end; unlearning has an end. The true path is one that takes you home and kindles that deep love in you.



Love is not just an act. It is our very nature. It is what we are made up of. Love is something that even the Divine rejoices in. The infinity longs for you as much as you long for it. It is waiting to receive you. It is as anxious as you are to be near. So when a devotee flowers in this planet, infinity is very happy.



Understand that you are the #1 devotee, and feel grateful for the great knowledge you have received from your Master. Turn back and see how they changed and developed in the last one year. Assess what you have learnt and how have you grown in knowledge. This Guru Purnima rise in devotion.

Three Mantras of Life

Life is really simple if you follow the three Mantras.

Life is really all about

1. WINNING OTHER'S HEARTS

2. LOSING YOUR EGO

AND 3  - SHARING THE UP'S AND DOWN'S OF LIFE WITH FRNDZ........