Ad Gyan

Wisdom from Advertisements

Advertisements have always hurt my eyes, I thought. But since meditation happened, the message from advertisement hoardings have always brought some interesting revelation to me - the instances are as numerous as hoardings themselves. One example: Take the Chumki-Lined Path to Moksha - this is an ad for the Moksha garments shop. The path to Moksha or Liberation from the bondage of ideas that unconsciously pull us down from progress can be fun and not necessarily tough and arduous as it is put out to be.
Ad 2L 'Vanuyarndha Nambikkai,' (Faith that reaches the skies) this is for Agni Iron Rods. When I read this, I thought, faith can touch the skies, but the sky is very much within and travelling within myself, I understood that in the region of empty space within, the finest of fine particle - lesser than a sub-atomic quark or gluon that emits light has the secret for the unfolding of the whole Universe. Living in tune with that Emptiness makes it a life of comfort when everything that needs to be done happens.
The latest is the Textile India's advertisement: Colour is My Religion: Colour indeed is my religion. Having understood the dynamics of Chakras in Swami Akshara's meditation programme, I learnt that the vibrations emanating from the spectrum of white takes me to that field of energy which form the major centres of the body. Red - Mooladhara, Orange - Swadhishtana, Yellow - Manipuraka, Green - Anahata, Blue - Vishuddhi, Grey and Indigo - Agnya and White, Purple and Gold - Sahasrara. Blessed with eyes to see colours, I can see colours all around, meditating on the blue sky, green grass, orange setting sun or the yellow sun by day, the white of the moon and stars, the grey of the dark clouds, red in the bright clothes around, the gold in the ornaments or the violet of the latest model of Scorpio cars or just an indigo shirt makes me connect with the One Supreme Source of Light and Colour - that is present everywhere.
The examples will continue to expand as long as there is trade and commerce and advertising on Planet Earth....After all, the hoardings, the paint, the colours, the people who erect them, the letters and pictures are all the manifestation of the one Brahman.
*****

Meditation

Meditation on Seashore Rocks

Providence threw me into a picnic with my assignment. It was at Ondikuppam, a fishing village on the shore of the Bay of Bengal at Tiruvottriyur on Ennore Expressway. It was one of those nowadays-routine functions of distribution of boats, nets and benefits to the victims of Tsunami that I had to cover. The distance from the bus depot made me take a walk for 20 minutes along the road abutting the sea and the fisherfolks hutments. Walking, I discovered is the most meditative of all activities.
At the open air function on the beach, the fishermen and women had happiness writ large on their faces at the sight of 50 boats that they were going to get - wiping away all the sorrow of the Tsunami destruction. It was fun to sit on a log of a coconut tree, cast on the mud. The perfunctory coverage over, I trailed off into the Bay of Bengal with two college trainees in trail. I walked into the sea on the groyne constructed with boulders and sand to prevent erosion. I walked and walked till I almost reached the last few boulders where the waves lash, shaking the rocks from above and below, touched by the spray a couple of times. It reminded me of my trek to Gomukh through big and small boulders to catch a glimpse of the gushing Ganga coming out of rocks.
I looked at the waters and meditation happened. The sea has some chemistry to absorb my thoughts and wipe my mind clean. I have often experienced walking up to the shores with a heavy laden heart - sorrows and thoughts crowding like clouds raining tears - but the sea can just pull all of this into its bosom and send me back light as a feather.
And today it was one such day when the lashing waves made me feel their presence...

Contemplations

Contemplations on Adwaita, Dwaita and Vishistadwaita

Let me clarify at the outset that this is not anything to do with the profound philosophies expounded by Sankara, Ramanuja or Madhwa, but simply the ruminations of my own mind after a day's break from work and from the internet.
It was after a talk with my Guru, Swami Akshara, that sparked off this thought. It was on being spiritual, but yet knowing the divisions of the material world. To think of only the spirit, that everything is one and there is no second - Adwaita is for the inner experience and understanding. In the day-to-day world, the duality is for real, it is for sure. Sarvam Brahmamayam is the truth. But in my interaction with another individual, depending on his or her calling, status and position in life, the "Please, the sorry's and the thank-you's," are to be said. Adwaita does not give me the license to just kick someone and say I did it to my own self. When the officer at the Visa Counter, asks for my name, it'll be a joke to trust them to grant my visa if I say, "I am Brahman!"
Similarly, being totally in the world of dualities - Dwaita - can sap me of all the energy to move about in the world. All my thought energies will get wasted in contending the other and fighting, if I do not realise the underlying oneness.
Striking a balance is Vishishta Adwaita - Living in the world of dualities, but yet being conscious of the presence of the One in all.
Well, it's all said so easily. But to implement it in practice, my God!

*****

Ojas'n Omja

At a time when much poetry happened in the beginning of January 2001, my son, Ojasvin came up to me and asked me to write a poem about him. Here it is:

My Dear Ojasvin

When he smiles, his eyes bloom like the morning rose.

When he cries, it rends my heart apart.
With his friends, he is an epitome of joy.

With his relatives, he never misses a bouncing moment.

With his loved ones, affection flows from the depth of his heart.

With his teachers, he stands a symbol of obedience.

His father he loves in moments of happiness.

His brother, when not fighting, he looks with tender care

Grandparents all, he runs at their call.

Neighbours love him as he does them

Ojasvin is a hearty cherub cherub

Whose joy is his full-throated speech

Most of all he loves his mother

But she comes only after

His dear Rajalakshmi. (his niece.)

*****

July 12, 2001:

Omjasvin

On his birthday I think
About this wiry cherub
Whose thin frame hides behind
His adamantine grit
Whose sweet smile pours out
All the love he has to shower
Whose twinkling eyes like shiny buttons
Have wit and humour lurking
An agility of body, ever he loves to display,
Running between walls and jumping up and down
The happiest child is he in town.
Assessing people, he is very skilled at
Glancing up and down at any newcomer
His next forward will be
Only if they win his confidence
Comfortable with anybody
If he knows he has no choice
Smart opportunism makes him say
The right thing at the right time
Winning hearts with his
Winsome smile and witty words
Doesn't care much for the frills of life.
A practical lad is he and a realist to the core.

- Akila (now Swahilya.)

Anxiety

Jan.15, 2002

An Ode to Anxiety

Dear anxiety, what a torture you can be
When you rear your sceptical head.
Any one efficient you dwindle
His skills in a jiffy.
You possess the mighty power
To turn the happiest face into gloomy sadness,
Just by the snap of a finger.
Your modus operandi is wondersome.
You occur as a thought in the mind
When the stomach, your eager aid
Fosters and nurses you.
The blood responds with like-minded willingness.
You don't ever come alone and
Bring your dear comrade, Mr. Pain with you.
And how eager is he to serve you.
He forms knots around ankles and knee-caps
Churns all within with an unseen ladle.
Makes a thousand butterflies strum around the heart
And a crore bees buzz about the ears,
Numbs the fingers to push the panic button.
You have the weapon to upset the mightiest of the lot,
to sit on the edge of their seat,
Twitching fingers, drawing in toes and knees.
You make them helpless
when they get a not from their boss
When their child gets sick
When their spouse is in a soup
When they enter into endless shouting matches
You get into them fully
After starting with a grain-sized space.
You wreak havoc of volcanic might.
There are a thousand things you can do.
But don't you be too proud
For you are not invincible.
We have found out ways to quell you.
All we have to do is to
Sit quietly with eyes closed
And watch how you work.
We know how you sneak in stealthily to spread
Through the sinews and conquer every nook and cranny.
Your dance of destruction is not for long.
We know now to usher in our friend calmness.
W just have to take a deep breath and see you writhe in pain.
To inch you out of us, we have to be happy and cheerful
Mean good to all our fellow humans.
A gentle pat, a caring word
Can send you scooting in distress.
We have learnt to master
Your natural chemistry and mind
Your days are numbered.
You wo stand in the way of our progress
You who loves to kill micron by micron
You who wants none to be happy.
Wait and watch. We are all out to get your head.
And once you die, peace, cheer and happiness alone will prevail.

- Akila (an earlier form of myself.)

Sathguru

Sathguru Jaggi Vasudev

Parithranaya Sadhunam Vinashayacha Dushkritam
Dharma Samsthapanarthaya Sambhavami Yuge Yuge

The Yuga has come - when the strong wields power over the meek
When the rich think they just need to buy up the poor
When mighty armies think they can conquer and rule the small nations
When mean forces play havoc in the minds of world leaders
Swaying innocent folks, driving them from pillar to post
In search of a peace that they have, but don't
In this Kali Yuga, when violence mars
when people fight each other body and mind
When untruth is rampant in its deadly dance
When hopes of the poor and the needy lie crumbled down
When heads are laid down in despair
When prayer is the last resort the good have been pushed to
Manifests our Sathguru Jaggi Vasudev
Like a whirlwind he acts
Though his eyes are like the calm after a storm
He neither stirs nor moves
But in his self he has the power
To tap the energy pent in the worlds young bodies
He has come to teach us
What we did not know of our mind
He has come to stir our collective consciousness
With his giant ladle called Sahaja Sthithi Yoga
He just tells you, "Don't do anything - sit in emptiness."
There is a massive energy at work around you
Allow it to work and you are the strongest.
He has come to tell the men
Don't worry, let's make it happen.
He has come to tell the women
Fear not, for you have it in you.
He has come to tell the youth
In you lies the world's wellbeing.
He has come to tell the children,
Dearest, you are born to be happy.
To the evolved, his presence means
To get immersed in an ocean of silence
He just says, bend a little
Stretch a little, speak a little,
Think not at all, but feel for all.
Be like the diamond,
Strong yet shining smooth.
When we thought of you and me,
That and this, she and he,
He showed us how there is
No two but just one.
Sarvam Brahmamayam.
So why fight, why lie, why hoard?
His time has come and in lakhs they follow his footsteps.
The lakhs will bring lakhs
And the lakhs their crores.
Till the world is changed
With positive energy
To drive out the evil
And usher in the good,
To push out untruth and
Set up the reign of truth,
To wipe out penury and
Bring in prosperity
To erase worries and
Show hope the way,
To unsettle agitation
And bring in calmness.
Very simple is his mantra:
We will all get together,
Eat together, work together,
And enjoy together.
For entities with bodies,
To take them from untruth
Into the heaven of truth,
From the caves of darkness
Into the splendour of light
And from the fear of death
To the full void of immortality.
Our Sathguru has come
To dispel darkness and her accomplices
and make all chant in unison
Om Shanti - Om Shanti - Om Shanti.
- Akhilananda Bharati. (my former name.)

Quotes

Some Quotes That I Wrote

In 2001, my friend Sandeep Rai Rathore, a Police Officer gifted me a silver-coloured diary for the New Year and it was one book which I have made prolific use of so far. Besides the poems I wrote, I have also copied interesting passages from books I read. Some are here.

"In Medicine as in good advice, the least palatable is the truest." Doctor quotes Chyavana in The Post Office, a drama by Raindranath Tagore. The drama was a prescribed text for study when I studied my I B.A. English. But reading it more than 10 years later, it had the power to move me to tears.

From the Mahabharata by C. Rajagopalachari: "Never should a prince and leader bow his haughty head to fear. Let his fortune be however desperate, death however near. If his soul grow faint, let him imprison weakness in his heart, keep a bold and open countenance and play on a hero's part. If the leader fear and faint, then all behind him faint and fear. So the king of men should keep a dauntless look and forehead clear.

"Concern for man himself and his safety must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavours. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations." - Albert Einstein.

The Dalai Lama on the Millennium:
1. Tame into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the 3 Rs: Respect for self, respect for others, responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules, so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone everyday.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10.Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreement with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go some place you've never seen before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Sayings of Anandamayi Ma:
1. As the intention, so the reward.
2. One cannot be sure of the next breath.
3. Take an about turn (from looking outward to looking within).
4. With God's name on your lips, engage in your work in the world.
5. The suffering of life is a blessing in disguise.
6. Whatever happens is equally welcome.
7. As you say, so you hear.

****
A wise old owl
Sat on an oak
The more he saw
The less he spoke
The less he spoke
The more he heard
Why aren't we like
That wise old bird?
*****

In the beginning

In the beginning was the Word

Around the end of November 2000, when I consciously began to practise Yoga, including Pranayama and Meditation, there was a sudden flurry of literary creativity and a depth in my voice giving my music a difference in tone which I experienced but cannot explain in words.
I wrote out a small passage from a book I was reading and some original prose followed it. Then came my poem Stree Shakti and around 50 poems later in Tamil and English.
Here goes the copied passage from Great Thinkers of the Eastern World:
The character of the ruler is like wind and that of the people grass. The grass bends when the wind blows upon it.
Self-realisation is a step toward world peace.
Yin _Yang:
Human beings are born soft and flexible. When the die they are hard and stiff. Plants arise soft and delicate, when they die, they are withered and dry. Thus the hard and stiff are disciples of death. Thus, an inflexible army is not victorious; an unbending tree will break. The stiff and big will be lowered; the soft and flexible will rise:- Laozi.

This is mine:
The time for the stiff, unbending, arrogant, aggressive, violent, masculine element is over. This is the millennium of women. The soft, pliable, willing to bend and yield and yielding and raring to go, bending and raising the head, seeming to accept only to reject, accepting defeats to emerge victorious, she will play the game of life to the popular tune - only to tell them the right tune to sing. With a smile on her face, she hides the seething anger caused by others' deeds. Softly telling them, no sirs, you have to mend your ways.....

Old Papers

Some Treasures Unearthed from Dusty Shelves

I wrote of Writer's Block during my last post. But now I have a big bunch of tattered sheets of diary paper with my poems and writings that have not been soft copied. The earliest is a few poems in English and Tamil that I have written on November 8, 1986 and January 10, 1987 (when I was in my Class XII at C.S.I. Ewart School, Vepery, Chennai), in some carefully crafted neat handwriting. I don't yet have the mind to throw away the old diary sheets.

8.11.86: Extremes


In the many worldly battles which I fought
I emerged the victor in some
While I endured defeat heavily in the rest.
While my life was in undulations
Overjoyed in victory,
And depressed extremely when vanquished
I learnt a great secret.
It was one utterance of the Holy name
My eyes being shut to the joys and sorrows
To the victories and defeats
To any extreme, good or bad
Made me destitute of troubles
And peace reigned in my heart.

*****


10.1.87: The Fulfilling Elation

Oh God, Early in the morning I wake
When the sun generously donates her smiles to me
Out in the garden the dew drop is fresh
On the petals of the string veined red rose
On every leaf and every blade of grass
The cool shade of a blooming green tree
Is many a joy to me when - the sun through
Her spiteful arrows on earth
The cool breeze of the evening - a boon
To your creation
The still night with the argent moon
A coloured ring around it blanches
The diamond studded velvet screen of purple.
As I watch them, my heart is
Filled with an unknown joy.
I pray O God, to accept this faithful ecstasy
The elation which made my heart leap to my mouth
This joy which fills my heart will do
To compensate for the sorrows of future I endure.

******

(No Date, but must have been around the same time)

Television


Oh What demand the small box has got
Some watch for pleasure
Some watch to mock at
A source of knowledge for those
Who do not read human instructors
A bane for students
a boon for idlers
An excellent object to
Increase neurosurgeons
In short a Tele (near) vision
Is a very necessary evil precision.

*****

Writer's Block

It is a hot summer day and when I want to write, I experience the block in flow of thoughts, the block in flow of ideas. This is what it seems is called writer's block. Vighna Krith Vighna Nashanaha - One of the names of Vishnu and even Ganesha is - the one who creates the obstacle and the one who removes it.
So an obstacle for a writer is a writer's block. Now I focus my mind on this block, see through it, as if I am seeing through a mountain and I find that the block is not there.
The same with any problem. The problem has to surface. I have to focus and look through it. Lo and behold, there is no problem, just the divine in the form of that block, waiting for me to pay attention and be aware - to just experience.

Swahilya.

Meditation

Back from a different time zone

Back from Bangalore, where weather now blows hot and cold, I have indeed brought some silence from the Chakra Meditation programme by Swami Akshara and hopefully some clouds and rain to a thirsty Chennai.
The journey to Bangalore by the Tamil Nadu Government bus was yet another bus journey, but my return by the Karnataka State Transport's Volvo was an experience that helped me maintain the silence of meditation. The journey began with a Kannada song playing on the stereo and the cradled air-cushion comfort of the bus woke me up only when we touched down (well it was almost like a flight journey!) Koyambedu Bus Stand at Chennai where the same stereo played a Tamil song. Thank you Germany for the Volvo. Thank you all the lovely volunteers of Akshara Foundations, Bangalore for the warmth and love they showered. And thank you Swami Akshara for giving me the experience of the timeless as I shuttled between two time and geographical zones.

Meditation in Garden City

After steely hot Hyderabad and back to steaming Chennai's salty air, I'm now off for the next two days to cool Bangalore to chill out at a meditation programme in the Garden City.
Trains were too difficult this season and I'm braving it through State Transport Corporation bus from Chennai and Karnataka's Volvo Bus back.
Wish to come back with more and more Silence.
Swaha.

Zen In an Amusement Park II

Zen In an Amusement Park II

It was on compulsion from both my children that I did one more round of amusement parking, this time at Kishkinta, ensconsced between the hills oozing heat at Tambaram.
Kishkinta is the name for the place where Hanuman played in his childhood days along with his group of monkey friends and cousins.
Not feeling so good in health, I was scattered between my purse and pulls in two different directions for this ride or this game which were not covered in the cost of tickets. But during my visit to Queensland, my going on rides offered some scope for contemplation (see posting: Zen in an Amusement Park.) This time around, going on swingo-churning rides did not seem to be my kind of amusement. But even while watching the two children spinning around on giant wheels and the dragon coasters, I couldn't help feeling along with their fluttering butterflies in the tummy as the fly up and zoom down.
Armed with two heavy handbags on either side, I had no choice but to follow them behind, though it was my wish to sit on a stone bench on the lawns beneath a tree with eyes closed - oh no, but I simply can't do that.
Relaxing in the wave pool was soothing at least and it was time to get back on the last Metro Transport Bus home.
And the best of Zen is when I can just plunk into bed and go off to sleep at the snap of a finger.

Swahilya.

Sun God

Thinking of Trees on a Hot Summer Day

Riding my bike to office on a steely hot road where the sunlight bleaches the atmosphere around, I saw the words 'Nija Lingam' painted on a lorry coming opposite me. That set me off contemplating. Nija - Truth, Lingam - The Representative form of the Omnipresent Divine.
It seemed as though the heat of the Sun is exerting so much pressure collectively on all, just a way of experiencing the energy of the Omnipresent Reality when it is actually at work, manifesting itself.
As my bike turned into a cool and green College Road, "Ah, Trees," how lovely they are and what grace they shower. Each tree has an ambient micro-climate beneath its canopy. I thought of all the green zones in Chennai, parts of Nungambakkam, T. Nagar, Anna Nagar, Perambur, Adyar, Government Estate, a forest, the Governor's Bungalow and the IIT Campus at Guindy - they were mostly trees planted 50 to 100 years ago by people who are no more. And here we enjoy the shade in a hot summer time. May the Government really understand the need and plan more and more and more and more trees for a hot summer day.

Swahilya.

Heat, Light and Holiday

HEAT, LIGHT AND HOLIDAY

After a day-long weekly off in extended silence, I completed one more volume of In Woods of God-Realisation by Swami Rama Thirtha and got back to yet another volume of the same book.
Downing mugs of tea, I skipped my lunch after a late breakfast of corn flakes - skipped because, I just went off to sleep and it was 5 p.m. when I woke up.
A little bit of freshening and again I got back to reading after a 15-minute meditation in the terrace. In a Chennai which is getting hotter by the day with a vengeance, a breezy evening spent on one's own roof seems to be heaven.
Back home, snuggled back into my collapsible wooden meditation seat for more reading. When I was just thinking of getting some dinner ready, my neighbours came in with a couple of plates of food they made for guests that evening and wanted me to try it out. So, Providence is quite a Provider, I thought as I finished my dinner - Bhiksha (taking food as an offering).
Back to work today in heat that makes me shiver, there is quite a pain in the solar plexus on which I am meditating upon. Swami Rama Thirtha tells in his book, "Whenever you forget God, fall on a bed of thorns. The pain will remind you of him."
I have had the same thought once when by mistake I sprayed stinging hot water from the geyser at bath once. I discovered then that it is while experiencing pain that I get back to my self so quickly - but please God, may I always be in remembrance of you that I don't have to feel pain to think of you!

Swahilya.

Silence

Mounam

After a four-day silence, I am back to Chennai from Hyderabad. I am neither able to talk much, not able to write much on my blog - except that I am enjoying the divinity of silence. When I am caught by that all-pervading silence, the need to go here and there, do this and that vanishes. I am smiling in my silence. A thought that occured while I was travelling by train:
India is my Heart
The World, Sun, Moon, Stars and Planets, is my Body
The Silent Expanse of the Universe - My Spirit.

Getting back to more of Silence and the Bliss of Being.

Swahilya.

Night Duty

Night Duty and International Bloggers

On my last day of night duty at office this week, I got the time to check bloggers on Meditation around the world and discovered quite interesting people, posted my comments on quite a few of them. It is now nearing 2 a.m. and I am getting ready to go home and sleep for a few hours till my maidservant wakes me up at 6.30 a.m. and I have to get packing soon to Hyderabad.
But this wandering overseas searching for people interested in Meditation, seems to be an international Sat Sangh. I thank all those bloggers for this opportunity. The world is very much a great place to live in indeed. And I've beaten Jules Verne. She took 80 days, I went around the world in one hour. But there are many more worlds to go, Yoga World, Poetry World, Upanishad World, Religion world, Film world.....It is not possible in one lifetime to know them all.....many many lifetimes - till the end of Creation!
Love to all my blogger friends who may drop in soon.
Swahilya.

Books

Books and Books

Books have become my greatest blessings these days. I came to office for night duty and on my table I find a tiny, but beautifully printed book called 'Heart of a Buddha.' An internee at The Hindu, Tejas Ewing has left it for me with a not saying, 'Thought you might like this."
Yes indeed I do. I am delighted to see any book that takes me back to my original state of meditation and of late, I have been reading quite a lot of them. I just finished for the second time, Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev's 'Encounter with the Enlightened,' and now I am reading the fourth out of seven volumes of 'In the Woods of God-Realisation,' by Swami Rama Thirtha.
He was a professor of Mathematics and Physics. With a frail, yet wiry and energetic frame, he toured the whole world, even before Swami Vivekananda to talk to people on Vedanta. He died mysteriously, washed away by the Ganga when he was barely 33.
I did not know of this author. When I told Swami Akshara (my Guru) that I was reading Swami Rama's Wandering with the Himalayan Masters, he told me to read Swami Rama Thirtha.
The more I read, the more I see that my speed of reading and understanding of what I read increases.
Just like any other activity, reading for me is Meditation.
*****

Off to Hyderabad

Off to Hyderabad
On Monday, I will be taking a short break of four days from work. Reason. I am going to Hyderabad to stay at the Akshara Foundations Centre for some quiet meditation in the presence of my Guru, Swami Akshara.
Earlier, such trips have been really refreshing and rejuvenating. During my earlier visits to Hyderabad, I have participated in meditation programmes at the Ravindra Bharati Auditorium as a volunteer and enjoyed rendering the invocation song and welcome address.
My trips around Hyderabad have been the most memorable ones, climbing the dark tower of Char Minar, meditating on a motorboat gliding through the Hussain Sagar Lake, looking up at the towering Buddha sculpted by Ganapathi Sthapathi, a sculptor I have interviewed in the Meet column of The Hindu, watching the Blue Planet at the IMax theatre, which became my best film - I found it to be a spatial perspective of The Earth, just as Vedanta or the Upanishads views and watching the film was an elevating experience, a meditative journey to space.
I like the importance that the men and women of the Twin Cities give to dressing up well, their spiritual perspective to life.
In one line - I like the feel of Hyderabad.
I'll post from there if I get an opportunity. Else, catch you on Thursday.
Swaha-a.

When I searched....

Come to me......

------------------------

By Akilananda Bharati

Come to me my dear, come to me
Tears no longer flow from my eyes dry now
Come to me my dear, come to me.
My heart that pined for you, aches today
Come to me my dear, come to me.
When I see the shiny dew drop on the morning rose
I turn around to show it to you
You not there beside me, I fade
Come to me my dear, come to me.
When I watch the bright yellow moon
On a purple black sky
I search for you 'midst the cool breeze that blows
Can't find you, tears roll down
Come to me my dear, come to me.
Caught in a hard day's toil,
My body numb with pain
I seek your medicine hands to relieve me
Expectations belied, I drop down to sleep
Come to me my dear, come to me.
I have waited long my dear
Day after day, heart fresh with hope
From morn to night, missing you,
I still try to smile
Rush to me my dear, come running to me.

Kalki

KALKI

----------

Om Sachidananda Parabrahma Purushothama Paramathma
Sri Bhagavathi Sametha Sri Bhagavathe Namaha
This is the sacred chant on everyone's lips
Sans divisions of language and country, rich and poor
The divine avatars have come to transport man to Godhood
With enlightenment as their mission
The duo ride the galloping horse of victory
In touching, healing and transforming
Humankind in distress.
"Look at yourself and find the Ravana" - they tell
To the mighty hordes that throng
Teaching them to dive deep
Into the septic tank of the mind
Their words are solid fingers
That lift them out of the morass,
To look beyond - making young and old
Realise their mission on earth.
The two are not alone,
But with 60,000 in tow
Helping them to make their dreams possible
They are humanity on the move.
Transferring compassion now
Just by the sight of it
These divine doctors are ready without scalpel
To perform psychic surger
All set to transform the very chromosomes
Making it the human genetic trait
To live in compassion, love and service.
Brandishing a sword to wage a holy war
They are all armoured to chop off egos
That make them think
They are different from the other.
Sowing the seeds of compassion
They are sounding the death knell of Kali Yuga
To usher in the Golden Age
That will dawn on civilisation.

OM SHANTHI SHANTHI SHANTIHI.

- Akhilananda Bharati.

Mt. Abu

Mt. Abu

*******

Leaving Chennai on a snaking Navjeevan
After two days of cheer and laughter
I set foot on Rajasthani soil
The cold winds from the holy hills
Grips me under its strong waves
Divinity in the air, purity everywhere
Splashing through the invisible waters
I accost the sunny-eyed sevak brother
Who smiles along with his `Om Shanti'
The colourful folks of the nearby village
Wave out their hands covered with bangles
Smiles greet us at the University in white
Children of the creator, the Kumars and kumaris
Happy in the home of Prajapitha Brahma
Body busy at work, eyes speak the language of peace
O'erflowing from the inner springs
Quenching thirsty souls with waters of love.
* * *
Up above the hills so high
Pandav Bhavan is the place
To show humanity a glimpse of
The promised Swarna Yug.
Dark clouds shed their ego
Wrapped in love by the gentle sun
Pour down their bounty
On the dancing flowers below.
At Gyan Sarovar, knowledge flows
Teaching men and women
The Godly power of wisdom
The link between body, mind and soul.
To see the flowers of peace
We feel its waves rush for forth
At the Peace Park, 'midst meditation halls
The thought of Shiv Baba fills one and all.
* * *
The Dilwara, an epic scooped in marble
Stands mute testimony to
The fruits of labour for love.
The marble frescoes and filligree work
Shower their blessing from sculptors
Thousands of years past.
* * *
Back at Shanti Dham, where
We often took trips to Param Dham
The Dadis and Didis, Bhais and Bhens,
Kumars and Kumaris, Speak love, wisdom and hard work.
Harnessing nature's energy
The solar parabolas, talk Raja Yoga in Science:
Become concave like us, to receive divine energy
That you make your body a vehicle
To share it with others, they say in their silence.
That peace and intelligence go hand in hand,
was more than evident
When the Didis showed the way
To connect with the Supreme Soul.
And drop all via media
Amidst sessions of laughter and thought.
Hearts all over India, were bound together with chords of love.
Words of sweet innocence
Pour forth from the glowing Dadi Prakash Maniji
Who in no time placed us on the lofty pedestal
As messengers of peace.
Food for thought and the body
Knitting people with camarederie and friendship
Gigantic machines function in unity
Oiled by the grease of love.
Up the hill and away from the din
We scaled the peak of a hillock behind
Feast on a spectacle of splendour and grace
Meditating in a cave for Durga consecrated
s the evening bell tolls we walk back
Soaked to the skin with divine love
Eager to let those in the plains
Partake of our charged batteries.
- Akhilananda Bharati.

Gomukh

Gomukh Trek and Hurdles In Life

Bumpy roads and dangerous pavements were a big problem for me and gave me much bother till last May. My trek to Gomukh from Gangotri to the source of the Ganga worked the miracle. Trekking on mountainous paths, over stones, boulders and slippery soft sand, crossing swift brooks on thin logs of wood, riding on horseback looking over the depths of mountainside touching a thread-like Ganga flowing beneath - bad roads don't bother me. When I was riding on my Honda Activa over a rugged road behind Valluvar Kottam and was about to complain in my usual journalist mindset, "My God, how can they do this to the motorists. Can't they have better roads?" my mind went to the Paidal Marg enroute Chirwasa, Bhojwasa to Gomukh from Gangotri - Chennai Corporation has let me experience the rugged landscape of the Himalayas very much here amidst the grind of my day-to-day work.
(For a brief description of our trek to Gomukh with a photograph you may refer to The Hindu, Archives, Life, Chennai, June 21, 'Experience of a Lifetime,' by Swahilya. This article also appears when you just say Swahilya on Google Search. A book titled 'Back To Where You Belong,' A Spiritual Guide to Gomukh The Sacred Origin of the River Ganges, with photographs, is on its way to be published by Akshara Foundations.)
*****

An experience of a lifetime

Photograph of trekkers may be seen at The Hindu site dated June 21, 2004.
ONE STEP AT A TIME: Trekkers resting for a while on the Himalayan rocks.
RESIDENTS OF sweltering Chennai cannot easily imagine what it means to live amid icy winds or wake up to cold mornings.
Nor will parched Chennaiites react soberly when they see gushing waters of wide rivers.
But a group of trekkers from Chennai, who joined fellow nature seekers from different parts of the country, found it all real. A sojourn up the Himalayas right up to the source of Ganga Maiyya can be a refreshing experience. A spiritual rejuvenation as they found out recently on a trek along the lonely `paidal marg' around the Himalayas from Gangotri to Gaumukh.
The 33 trekkers from Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai travelled via New Delhi, Rishikesh, Haridwar, and Uttarkashi just for a feel of Gaumukh, the cavernous source in the Himalayas where the mighty Ganga gushes forth and spreads herself to meet the sea.
Leading the Dhyan Yatra, a freewheeling meditation camp under the banner of Akshara Foundations, Swami Akshara says: You approach Nature in two ways: one is with the attitude of a conqueror — scaling peaks. The other is trekking with a feeling of surrender to the might of the mountains, the force of water and the gentleness of life forms that thrive. "The attitude of a conqueror may give the trekker a sense of achievement and victory. But, there is no feeling of oneness with Nature. With a sense of surrender, one gets back with an immense fulfilment."
This very attitude of surrender saw K.O. Shivakumaar, Manager (Credit), India Cements Capital and Finance, negotiating the 36 km mountain trail up to Gaumukh. For 25 years he endured a shoulder and back pain, unable to carry even light objects for over 10 minutes without pain. But at the mountains, he says, he found enough energy to walk 18 kms and back," he narrates.
The Ganga roars in the foothills deep beneath. Snow-capped mountains tower into the clouds. And trekkers clad in several layers of thermal clothing set out on foot to the Chirwasa camp from Gangotri. They take a sand and stone track, cut across in some places by falling cataract.
Along the route are lonely Sadhus and ponies carrying pilgrims to Gaumukh and back. Men are seen carrying older people on `dolies', as porters lug huge loads of luggage. They set a scorching pace and even with their load arrive at destinations, hours ahead of the trekkers.
Hindi signboards warn trekkers of falling stones. Wayside dhabas en route Chirwasa and Bhojwasa offer cushion mattresses for trekkers to stretch themselves out, and `Aloo Paranthas' and tea for refreshments.
Having made it so far, Gaumukh with rocks of ice riding the crest of the turbid Ganga, leaves an indelible impression on a mind that is struck by the grandeur of the Himalayas. The chill winds take away the strain of the journey. As the travellers describe it: It is an experience of a lifetime.
By Swahilya

Nada Bramham

Nada Brahma Vishwa Swarupa

Since this is a blogsite, there is no opportunity for visitors to know about my penchant for music - that is singing and chanting - almost like a mobile music system. Most often I keep the volume within myself.

When I walk alone in my office corridor, I turn the knob a little higher.

The best place I like to sing is in subways - when there is nobody else but me. I often get such an opportunity when I cross the subway near my office - The Hindu. I like the reverberations that the walls throw back.

The next best place is in the kitchen waiting in front of the four-burner gas stove for the milk and tea to boil - the most meditative moments I often experience, while cutting vegetables, cooking drumstick sambar or inhaling the fragrance of fresh kothumalli sprinkled over ready to serve Thakkali rasam.

Music moves me and now I feel the intensity of singing more these days, but there are times that I just like to remain silent.

I was just singing songs composed by Thyagaraja, Deekshithar or Subramanya Bharathi. But three years ago, when I sang a song to my Guru, Swami Akshara, composed by another devotee, he said, "You sing well, but this is not your song. I want you to compose."

I did not know the import of that statement. But the next day, as I was sweeping the floor the first line of a song happened in Tamil: Nekkurugi Unai Thozhudene Akshara Kannane Karunai Vadivame. And that afternoon, sitting in the meditation centre, then at Bazullah Road, T. Nagar, I composed the rest of the song. I later learnt that the song was in Mayamalavagowla Ragam and Adi Talam.

In the next five days saw the composition some 10 songs in Tamil and Sanskrit - they just happened, when I was travelling by bus, by share auto or just walking. My last composition was just before the Chakra Meditations programme by Swamiji at Kamarajar Arangam in Chennai. I was returning home from office by bike and the song or rather a shloka just happened describing the seven Chakras. I sang it to Swamiji over phone that night and he told me that I would sing it for the programme invocation the next day: Mooladhara Nivasinam - Lambodharam Aksharam, the song moves to Swadhishtana, Manipuraka, Anahata, Vishuddhi, Agneya and Sahasrara.

There is a cassette which myself and volunteers of the Akshara Foundations have worked on guided by Swamiji which is yet to be released. It is 10 verses from the Thirumandiram, sung meditatively with background of instrumental music, Veena, Violin, Mridangam and Talam.

From just singing songs to intensely experiencing the musical being in me - it has been a journey of symphony thanks to the Grace of my Guru.

* * * * *

It's all in a name

My Name Is Swahilya

***********************

When somebody asks me, "What's your name?" I say Swahilya. The reply and reaction is the same always - What a beautiful name, What does it mean, Is it Indian, It sounds like the African language. Not just people. Even the Google Search on the good old World Wide Web asks, "Do you mean Swahili?" before throwing up some of my byline stories that appeared in The Hindu, the newspaper I work for. So I thought I will dabble with a little history of what is in this one and only name in the whole world so far as I know. Any claimants to this title may please report to this blog and I will stand corrected.

Well, how did this all come about. My name given to me at birth was Akila, after a Goddess whose temple is in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu - her name is Akhilandeshwari. Akila means Universe. I was getting on with this name for over 30 years from B. Akila (bearing my father's initial) to Akila Dinakar - my husband's surname. There was also Akhilanada Bharati, a pen name I coined for myself to write my poetry and extra-curricular literature (besides my newspaper reports and special stories!).

One fine morning in November 2003, I got a feeling that my name is going to change. On December 2, my birthday, I e-mailed my Guru, Swami Akshara who was then in Japan, asking him for a pen name with which I can write articles and poems on meditation and contemplation.

His reply was instant, considering the voluminous mails he gets in several of his mail ids.

The name he thought for me was Swahilya - It is a combination of Swaha - the feminine energy of Agni, the God of Fire. Ahilya sounds similar to a character in the epic Ramayana Ahalya - who is known for her patience. Swahilya is an aspect of Swaha who is invoked during the Ashwamedha Yagnas and her nature is to absorb negativities and purify. Swaha is also the deity who takes the offerings in the form of mantras to the gods. Most of the mantras are suffixed by Swaha:

This name, which is reflective of the qualities of fire and patience seemed alluring and with Swamiji's consent, it became my official name published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette.

My Guru said once that anyone who pronounces this name goes through that much time of meditation. True to this, whenever people hear my name, it sparks off a discussion on the components of the name and the topic turns towards the source of this name - Swami Akshara - and eventually to meditation.

And so I love to talk about my name and love to hear my name being called Swaha or Swahilya - whichever way you like it.

* * * * *