Here for writing

I rarely engage in social media. My feed is mostly full of quotes and pictures of the Masters, yoga videos and cat/dog other animal videos. The posts that I put up will either be related to yoga / vedanta / special needs. To preserve my own sanity, I have unfollowed people who post either extreme left or extreme right posts, posts that glorify / demean religion or caste etc.  One cannot deny that social media has tremendous power in shaping people's opinion, give a glimpse of lived experiences of those whom we otherwise may not come across in real life, provide a platform for everyone to voice their side of the story, raise awareness of issues that are not spotlighted by main stream media etc. It is a wonderful tool, a great boon to connect people across the world, it can broaden our horizons...basically it has unlimited power. And we all know that it is a double edged sword. I am not going to get into the pros and cons of social media.  Instead, I would like...

As we saw in this earlier post about what it is that we are aiming to achieve by all these disciplines, let's move on to reflect about brahmacharya.  The word brahmacharya literally means "going after Brahman (Supreme Reality, Self, God)". If I aim to go in search of God, it is absolutely essential that I MUST purify the mind. So, let us see a little bit about the mind. What is the mind? The mind is an equipment or a vehicle of the self or the soul, just like the body. While the physical body is gross, the mind is extremely subtle. The power of the mind resides in its subtlety. I can't perceive my mind through the sense organs -I can't see it, touch it, taste it, smell it or hear it with my physical ear. But, the mind is powered by these exact sense organs. In the sense, the mind is the repository of ALL the perceptions that are gathered through our sense organs. The sense organs collect all the data about this physical world and submits it to the m...

A quiet mind is a happy mind. But the fleeting happiness that I experience every now and then does not mean that my mind is quiet. It just means that I am experiencing a fleeting glimpse of bliss, that will soon be replaced by the hum drum of everyday existence. However, a mind that is truly quiet, is a source of infinite and abiding bliss. It is truly fascinating to observe this mind. And the biggest paradox is, when I start observing the mind, like a shy child, it slinks away and curls up into a quiet corner. And when that happens, the bliss becomes infinite. Just think, wave after wave of ceaseless thoughts is what constitutes the mind. And all these thoughts are purely based on experiences of my past or the expectations of the future. To rephrase, the mind always moves in the space that I create for it, ie -it roams about in the realms of past or in the unexplored kingdoms of the future. My minds chews on a family outing that happened when I was 12, or it invokes...

I have been thinking about verse 22 for quite sometime now. I really didn't know what to write about it, because whatever I penned down didn't really come out satisfactorily to me. But then, somedays back, I got into a heated debate with a friend -about the practice of staunch Iyengars eating food prepared by only those who have their Baranyasam done -the branding of the conch and the Sudarshana Chakra on their shoulders. The practice was more prevalent two generations back then it is now, like most of our customs and traditions. While my friend argued that the practice was completely bigoted and was just a way of reinforcing untouchability, I argued that it was an exercise in discipline. Before I proceed further, let me make it very clear that I don't deny or justify the cruel of untouchability meted out by the so called upper caste people. But, in this case, I feel that we can't deny the amount of discipline and control people had to follow such practic...

I don't really understand the point in wishing "Happy Women's Day", on March 8th and just forgetting about the plight of women for the rest of the year. If you are reading this post, then you are fortunate to have an education and the means to own a device to read this post, the time to spare on doing things for leisure and an openness of a mind to explore new ideas. But sadly, not many are as blessed. Even if I am not able to do something concrete for the upliftment of the society and women, I vow that at least I will support those who strive to do more with their lives. By setting aside all judgmental thoughts and feelings, I vow that I will contribute in whatever small way I can for making this world a better place. Letting others just be...as themselves... is very essential, because so often I want people to act and behave in the way I want them to. And here, I take the opportunity to thank my husband and in laws for letting me just be me, because it is no...

I went to my very close friend's parents 60th birthday celebrations today. What a beautiful occasion it was! The renewal of vows, something that has caught the fancy of the west in recent times, has been in practice in our culture for ages. Surrounded by all the near and dear ones, uncle tied the knot again to aunty, on his 60th birthday. I could feel the emotions surging through aunty -a bride again and so very beautiful. How blessed the couple are to have lived such a full and wonderful life. I pray God to bless them with many many more years of togetherness in love and good health and happiness.  Time really has the power to make all things right and all things precious. And by the way, is it only me or do many people experience this feeling of guilt when they while away time without doing anything productive? I was trying to indulge in a lazy Saturday afternoon, mindlessly browsing the facebook and happily lolling in the bed, trying to take a short nap. But ...

I want to start this post with a quick update  before I proceed with the 19th verse. Starting with a warm up 4 k jog on Monday, I managed a 10 K run yesterday, which involved running up and down a flyover 5 times, as a part of interval training. Upbeat with yesterday's success, off I went to the beach, donning my shoes strapping my mobile arm band....but my legs refused to cooperate with me. With the bones below my knee jarring with pain, I limped out a miserly 5K and rushed back home. Yes, the dreaded shin splints. So I am revising my 1st objective -I will do 9 more 10ks in March, but definitely not on continuous days. And, I am going to focus on core strengthening and cross training and most importantly, watch my diet. As far as the other objectives are concerned, I am pretty much on track as far as writing is concerned, have downloaded an app and am tracking my spending diligently and finally, I am yet to make any progress on Sri Suktam. In the 18th ver...

The more I delve into Vedanta, the more I like it. So many people I know feel that Vedanta is for people who are 50+ and have already lived their lives and done their duties. Many of my well wishers even feel that I should not be thinking/talking/writing about this, lest I get brainwashed into becoming a sanyasini. But the beauty of Vedanta study is, it really makes a difference in my day to day life. When I am keenly observing myself and my thoughts, I very rarely have negative thoughts about someone or something else. And I am becoming less reactive and less agitated. I don't know if it is a temporary effect or a lasting one, but I am immensely enjoying this. The worry factor -especially worry caused by unnecessary fabrication of hypothetical scenarios -has really come down. It is like as if, deep down, I feel that everything is ok...as if I don't have to worry about anything. Most importantly, I am so happy that I am writing so much. When I write, all the thought...

Today was a wonderful day. When the mind is at peace, all days are wonderful days. Also, today was Ekadasi. Since new year, I am trying to fast on Ekadasi. Not only for religious reason, but primarily for self control. I have very very poor self control when it comes to food. I am so bad that, right after having my dinner, I will open the fridge and see if there is anything to eat. Seriously! And if you place any form of yummy food in front of me, I just can't resist taking a bite...no matter how full I feel. Another thing is, I can't control my emotions when I don't have food in my tummy. It is like as if I have a split personality. When I don't get food when I am hungry, I throw tantrums -anger, weeping, irrational decisions...uff. "Hangry" (Hungry + angry) is the perfect expression for what I go through during those times. My Guru tells that During Ekadasi, there is an abundance of energy around us, so that we can survive with little or no food ...

Verses 11 to 14 talk about the impurities of the mind and draw inference about what is the true cause of it. I imagine the impurities of the mind as those factors that does not allow us to exist in the state of bliss and oneness. So for me, they are primarily fear, insecurity, over expectations and I am taking the liberty of adding procrastination here, because, it has lead me to a lot of trouble. I am sure every individual have their own unique list of impurities that stops them from being happy. In Manah Sodhanam, Swami Tejomayananda lists likes, dislikes, anger, greed, ego, selfishness etc as some of the impurities. By listing the emotions, it does not mean that I must not get angry or I must not feel fear etc. Because, as a human, I am meant to experience these feelings and emotions. When I look at a lovely flower, I must feel a liking towards it. If someone abuses me unnecessarily, I am programmed to feel angry and bitter. But I must be aware of these emotions and not l...

Yesterday, I was rereading Manah Sodhanam for writing this refresher. Verses 7-10 talk about various means of purification of the mind and about the importance of understanding our own mind. And incidentally, I happened to hear Swamini Vimalanda's talk about the  mind in YouTube last night. The talk, combined with my own Guru's teachings and the content of the book has helped in crystallizing what I wanted to type out here. According to the Upanishads, there are 3 types of manufacturing defects of the mind that prevents us from realizing the Truth or the Paramatma, The first one is the impurities of the mind -anger, lust, greed, jealousy, envy, fear, insecurities etc. The second is the distractive nature of the mind. The mind keeps wandering non stop and disturbs the innate peace and bliss, which is the true nature of our self. The third defect is, we don't know who we are. We don't know the nature of our own self. And because, we don't know who we are,...

Before I move on to verse 17, I want to take a small pause to reflect on what Manah Sodhanam has been teaching me all along. Written by Swami Tejomayananda, Manah Sodhanam is a Sanskrit text of 25 verses. This text is an observation on the human mind. What makes the mind tick? How to purify the mind so that we can walk on the path of seeking the Truth? What are the impurities that plague our mind? How to overcome them? These are some of the questions that Manah Sodhanam addresses. I want to do the recap in three parts. In the first part, let me focus on the ultimate goal that we must attain through the practice of purification of our mind. The text opens with the outright declaration of the truth that the supreme self is non dual and is full of bliss. We all are beings of supreme bliss. The self that resides in us is the same self that resides in all living things. And the nature of this self is pure unadulterated joy and happiness. This happiness is an inheren...

This one week is the longest time I have went without updating this page since I started writing on Manah Sodhanam. No matter how hectic things become, I must have the discipline to sit and write. I now understand the importance of doing sadhana regularly. It takes a lot of conscious effort to make our thoughts stick to the Truth. And regular sadhana helps in pulling my straying mind back to the state of peace and calm. As I am typing these words out, I can feel the stress and heartburns and other work related pains flow out of my mind and body. Why didn't I do this at the end of every work day? It is so easy to get completely caught up in the process of day to day living. Also, while I theoretically try to remove expectations of the end result for the work I do, I couldn't help but feel really sad when all my efforts were dismissed as insignificant by the related parties. Whatever, all those are neither important, nor relevant. Let me move to verse 16 of Manah Sodhanam. ...

Past two days have been hectic. 14 hour work day left me with no time for anything else but to come home, eat, sleep, get up and go to work. In fact, I didn't expect to come home any sooner than 9 pm today also. So am doubly happy to sit and write this post today. Verse 15 little intense for me. It talks about perceptions and realities and truth. SATYABUDDHIRYADA  DRSYE  SVATMANO  BHINNATA  TATHA SUKHABUDDHISTADA  TASMIN  DUKHABUDDHIRHI VAA BHAVET When there exists a notion that the perceived world is different from me, then there alone arises the notion that the world gives me joy or sorrow. When I look at the tree, I say it is green and brown in colour. That is how I am perceiving the tree. But if I look through the eyes of the dog, then the tree is going to be in black and white. So what is the true nature of the tree here? All my observations and perceptions are completely based on how my mind interprets the inputs received from my...

From a dreaded Monday-after-a-long-weekend beginning, the day progressed into a successful one. The small success at work brought so much happiness, whereas, while I was struggling with the closing of this issue for the past 2 weeks, I was filled with dread, worry, fear, apprehension and frustration. I just wanted to get done with the issue. So while I was grinning like an idiot in the auto, while returning back to office from client's place, a sudden thought struck me. While the positive outcome, after so much hard work, made me feel elated, I am sure I would have felt very depressed if the outcome was negative. Absolute no brainer right? But then, life is full of such continuous oscillations between happiness and sadness -which again arises due to external factors, some of which are not even under our control. And I keep seeking happiness through the pursuit of various activities that I enjoy. And if we all are already beings of bliss, then so many of o...