Blog Archives
“Just as children are kept from knowing all about adult life until they have matured into understanding, so too is the soul’s knowledge limited. We learn what we need to know, and we understand what we have experienced. Only this narrowing of our awareness, coupled with a sense of individualized ego, allows us to look upon the world and our part in it from a practical, human point of view. Pasha is the soul’s triple bondage: maya, karma and anava. Without the world of maya, the soul could not evolve through experience. Karma is the law of cause and effect, action and reaction governing maya. Anava is the individuating veil of duality, source of ignorance and finitude. Maya is the classroom, karma the teacher, and anava the student’s ignorance. The three bonds, or malas, are given by Lord Siva to help and protect us as we unfold. Yet, God Siva’s all-knowingness may be experienced for brief periods by the meditator who turns within to his own essence. The Tirumantiram explains, “When the soul attains Self-knowledge, then it becomes one with Siva. The malas perish, birth’s cycle ends and the lustrous light of wisdom dawns.” Aum Namah Sivaya.” –Gurudeva
It’s a quiet day at the Aadheenam. We had quite a few people in the temple this morning for the Ardra Nataraja abhishekam, but no photos….
But we have lots of news. First, winter is over! It was actually hot today and monks were watering plants.
Bodhinatha and Shanmuganathaswami leave for their trip to Atlanta and various other locations throughout the midwest, in just two days.
Bodhinatha’s next travel is to Atlanta, Georgia, and Bethesda, Maryland. Please visit his travel page for more information.
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Click for most recent TAKA page with an Iraivan Temple progress update. |
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Here we see a major adjustment going on at the end of a roof beam. Let’s go look and see what he’s up to.
The silpi has gotten out one of the really big hammers.
When he swings out that far, you know that he’s going for a large cut.
Major blows here…
Looks like about inch deep inset on the end.
It can take all day to make this one cut.
Time for a drink — mid-morning tea– just a small cup, very dark, very sweet, with lime juice, it will keep you going until lunch for sure.
Back to work…
More giant roof beams ready to be uncrated, measured, cut to precision and placed.
The west side of the temple….
Looking northern along the west side of the temple inside the pillars.
Dakshinamurthy…
It won’t be long… the top of the temple will be finished, the scaffolding removed and Iraivan will take on a new visual presence.
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Himalayan Academy Travel Study Programs |
Images from the Recent 2004 Indian OdysseyJanuary 19, 2004 – February 5, 2004 Bangalore, Madurai, Tanjavur, Chennai and |
From the Mahadevan collection. This is an historic moment: The Mahadevan’s have their Namakarana Samskara at Chidambaram. In doing so they become officially part of our world wide Hindu family.
More rites and vows at Chidambaram
Mother and daughter… under this unforgettable sign at the Gitananda Ashram, Pondicherry
Parade at a temple…
Checking out from the Oriental Towers, Madurai.
Washing feet on entry..
Do what you can to support our Hindu priests!
Pensive moments of self-reflection…
And happy moments of fellowship with other spiritual souls.
Stopping at another Chola temple on the way up the coast.
Getting ready for a big photo of the whole group…
“OK… you sit a bit over to the right… and you move, in between… good…”
“OK, everyone look up, smile!
Purchasing items for an archana basket to take to the temple.
Today’s Inspired Talk |
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Title: Parents Teaching Hinduism to Children, Part 2 Category: Family Duration: 11 minutes 45 seconds Date Given: May 6, 2004 Date Posted: May_22_2004 Given by: Bodhinatha |
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And click here for an Index to All Past CyberTalks. Study Gurudeva’s teachings
every day. Visit the Master Course site!
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transcription begins
Date: April_02_2004
Title: Work Is Worship
Category: The Spiritual Path
Duration: 11 min., 17 seconds
Date Given: March 15, 2004
Given by: Bodhinatha
Good Morning, everyone! We have Sadhunathan with us this morning. Vanakkam, Welcome!
Working on a possible Publishers Desk on ‘Work is Worship’, based on the talk given at the Bangalore work site, which was an appropriate title since it is a work site. What inspired me to give the talk was a theme was becoming apparent among visitors and pilgrims here, whom I meet with in the Guru Peedam. A number of times I heard the same story which is, “We are so busy, our life is so filled with activity, that between our professional jobs and taking care of our family and all, we don’t have any time left for spiritual practices. We really regret that but there is just so little time we have available to do something spiritual.”
Of course that is the opposite of work is worship. That is work is not worship, right?
Looking at our normal activities in life, our job, taking care of our children, raising them, getting them through school and so forth. Looking at those as if having nothing to do with worship. Having no religious component at all, that is not the right Hindu point of view.
So this talk goes through a number of points as to why work is worship and I wanted to read one point here today, which is actually the last point.
Final idea on work is worship, has to do with how the skills we develop in our outer life are useful in our inner life as well.
For example, if we develop a habit of good concentration in our school studies as a youth and carry this on in our adult life by being totally focused on the tasks we do at work, we have developed a very strong ability to concentrate. Therefore when we sit down to meditate our thoughts are naturally concentrated and it is easy to control the mind.
However, if as a child we let our mind wander during our studies and as an adult daydream a lot while working and we sit down to meditate, it will be impossible to control our thoughts.
The point is obvious, right? When you developed a skill, Gurudeva liked to call that external concentration. Concentrating on something that is outside of us. We learn to concentrate by school, by work, by raising our children, by keeping our mind on what we are doing. We develop the ability of concentration and that ability is there when we try and meditate and turn within. We can actually control the mind because we have been controlling the mind our whole life. We control it all day long.
The two are quite related, as we can see.
Another important ability we develop in our work is willpower. Willpower is the strength of will to carry out one’s decision, wishes or plans. People who regularly make plans and fail to carry them out lack willpower.
For example, a student often plans to get up early to study for his test but always when the time comes, decides to continue sleeping instead.
Willpower can be cultivated by finishing and doing well every task that we undertake. In fact, done a little better than our expectations.
That is a twofold guideline for willpower.
First, finish each task. Second, do it well.
Nothing is done with half a mind thinking about something else. Nothing is dropped in the middle. Developing these two important habits produces an indomitable willpower. A strong willpower can be turned within and help us immensely in our inner pursuit, such as meditation. But first it must be developed externally.
It is also helpful in being able in general to better control the instinctive and intellectual mind. Gurudeva has an insightful comment on willpower, “The more you use your willpower, the more willpower you have.”
That is interesting, usually when you use something you have less. If you use it, it is gone. But in this case if you use it, you got more. Pretty interesting point. It is like a muscle, by using the muscle you create a stronger muscle. So willpower is just like that. By using our willpower we create a stronger willpower.
And there is a final quote from Paramaguru Yogaswami, “You are going out to work, you must dress well and look dignified. Everything should be an offering to God. The world is an altar.”
Interesting perspective.
In our recent daily Master Course Lessons, we have a lot about Realizing Parasiva. So I thought I read some of that even though it is a little advanced. Still it is inspiring to everyone to hear Gurudeva talk about these things. Also, the last part is a little more practical as well, it gets into concentration.
“Rare are the diligent sannyasins who after working many years within themselves, each in his own time burst through superconsciousness into nirvikalpa samadhi, the Realization of the timeless, causeless, spaceless Self. Many strive to attain Self Realization, during many lifetimes and then for many years in their present birth. The many lives have brought certain accomplishments which leads to their first breakthrough into nirvikalpa samadhi. The first breakthrough into samadhi happens quickly so that the subtle parts of the mind, shall we say, are not consciously aware what is actually taking place or what has actually happened. Because they are not used to be consciously aware in the higher states of consciousness.
However, when the renunciate has broken through to the Self, Parasiva, he has the possibility of the full use of his mind, the higher states of consciousness as well as the full understanding of the lower states of consciousness and how his individual awareness travels from one state to another.
The mere fact that he has broken through to samadhi means that he was able to justify the experience enough in his subconscious mind, so that his subconscious mind could fall into line into the habit pattern of pure concentration. When the conscious mind is in concentration upon one single thing, the subconscious mind is in concentration also, following the pattern of the conscious mind on one particular thing. Then that expands consciousness automatically into the superconscious state of mind. With the understanding of the functioning of the superconscious mind and not being diluted by any other ramifications of the superconscious mind, often a renunciate will manage to go right into the core and actually break through to the Self. That is what has happened to him.
Each soul comes into Self Realization differently because each has a different mind, a different subconscious mind and a different conscious mind with a different nature. So naturally his reaction through experience, before the experience of Self Realization and his reaction afterwards being of the conscious and subconscious mind is going to be different, depending upon his background and understanding and his nationality, etc.
The teachings of yoga are so basically simple and so basically concrete. And the most beautiful thing in the world on contemplation is the simplest thing in the world. The most beautiful design is the simplest design. So simply since one has Realized the Self and gone into nirvikalpa samadhi once, then obviously the simplest thing to do is to do it again. This is the practice of samadhi. When one has accomplished this a second time, do it again. Realize the Self again and again and again. Each time the renunciate comes out of samadhi, he will rebound and it is like popping back into a different aspect of the mind. Or he will actually have more conscious awareness of the mind and totality of the mind. In other words, he will have a greater capacity to expand the consciousness. Or in still other words, he will become consciously more superconscious for longer periods of time, each time he experiences nirvikalpa samadhi. When a beginning devotee is going up the path he is spontaneously superconscious now and again. After his first samadhi he has realized that he has had longer periods of superconsciousness. After his second samadhi he will be more and more aware of his superconscious mind and after the next samadhi he will be even more and more aware of the superconscious mind. However each will unfold the superconscious mind and superconscious abilities, powers, differently than another due to the fact that all have different backgrounds, personalities, and such. Although he Realizes the Self the entirety of the basic nature does not change. However his understanding of his own control of his tendencies, the overall control that he has of his ability to mold his own life – that starts a process which transforms him gradually and increasingly as he becomes more and more familiar of the laws of going into and out of nirvikalpa samadhi.”
That was Gurudeva’s beautiful statement.
We have about one more month in the Moksha ritau, stressing meditation in our life for one more month and then we move on to Nartana ritau.
Have a wonderful phase.
Aum Namah Sivaya.
transcription ends
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Color Trilogy Complete! We are happy to announce that the new edition of the enormously popular Dancing with Siva is now available in hard back with all new color artwork. It’s truly an amazing and beautiful work, with more art than any of the collection. This completes the fulfillment of the vision that Gurudeva had of his Master Course Trilogy being produced in full color. In addition, Bodhinatha is taking pro-active steps to bring Gurudeva’s teachings out in a new forms that can be broadly disseminated in the mass mind. With this in mind we, are also pleased to announce that the Dancing with Siva pocketbook is also available. Keep the three-pound book in your shrine room, and take the little one with you on the airplane or subway! How little? It’s just 3″ by 4.5″ — truly pocket-sized, and just over half an inch thick. Yet it is a full 375 pages, containing ALL of the 155 sutras. Available now at our online store. The complete Trilogy is being offered at a discount. |
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From Our Gurus' Teachings
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