Disaster Management

What to do when Disaster Strikes?

After the tsunami struck Chennai and rocked the shores of many countries in the east, there have been many seminars and workshops organised by the Government, NGOs and Colleges and Universities.
Speakers will show with powerpoint presentations about what has to be done when a disaster strikes, how the public machinery should be geared, supply of relief measures and all post-disaster activity planning.
What hit me was none of the speakers have ever thought of what to do to manage themselves in the event of calamities. What has one got to do? You may ask. Meditation is the answer. It cannot happen at the moment of crisis. The training and practise has to begin now. We do not have control over a calamity - tsunami will strike when it pleases, mountains will slide when they wish, rains will pour according to their desire and droughts and floods may happen when nature wills. Anything can happen. The preparedness is not a question of physical preparation, but of the mind.
A silent mind, performs the best during a calamity. On several occasions, I have experienced being deep in meditation in the midst of a panicky crowd can calm down the total mind in the place and make everyone act with awareness. A positive frame of mind can turn a potential tragedy into one of happiness and joy.
So what does one do in the face of calamities. Silence, prayer, chanting, breathing in and out deeply and meditation. Whatever happens after that is the best.
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Mind full of...

....things to do

The last few days are a real challenge to applying my spirituality in practice. With a mind loaded with things to do and people to meet, work at office and commitment to my own silent hours at home, I am discovering the importance of living in this world with feet firmly on the ground when the mind pulls upward, ready to get lost in a world of meditation and contemplation.
Simple tasks like piled up telephone bills to be submitted for reimbursement at office, meeting people and coming up with stories (I mean journalistic articles!) for the newspaper, getting all my tax statements in order to be submitted to the Chartered Accountant for filing of Income Tax Returns, applying for relevant documents to get my name and address changed in my passport (planning a trip to the US, Chicago, in December), worrying about the last date to give my vehicle for servicing, thinking about how and where to pay my road tax, changing my gas connection from one agency to another and providing the right reasons and documents...
Where does spirituality come in all this? Well, I observe that these are jobs to be done, although the reason for birth on earth is to look within and realise the self. These are the intricate paths the divine has offered me - to meet the notary steno typist, to meet the staff at the passport enquiry counter, to meet the chartered accountant, to meet the cop on the road when he is agitated in the midst of a traffic hold-up, to meet the man who comes to take an electricity meter reading, to meet the man where I stop by to ask for directions...get my work done, remain in meditation all the while and hope for the best to happen, that there will come some day when I will be out of this trap of unending worldly demands and commitments!
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Cosmic Intelligence

Akasha Gnanam

We are not intelligent. But we live in intelligence. Just as fish lives in water and we live in air, the head that has moved from the horizontal position of the animal to the vertical position of the human has touched the zone of intelligence in the cosmos and that's where we tap it for our use in understanding ourself, surroundings and the Universe. It is a reservoir of knowledge and our mind acts as a transponder to receive the signals, process it and beam it back as thoughts, words and action.
The cosmic intelligence is constantly at work and we will be able to reflect that intelligence in our day to day life if we quiten down our individual movements by concentration, contemplation and meditation and make our body and mind a good transmitter. The sound signals are very much in the atmosphere. All that ought to be done is to fine tune the radio and there is an uninterrupted flow of music. The only difference between a radio station and cosmic station is that, in a radio station, there is a fixed time for beaming the programme, but in the cosmos, intelligence is at work always.
A simple example in my everyday life: The house I stay often over a period of time gets so messy when all the things that ought to be within shelves and cupboards lie without and neatness and order give way to chaos. There were times when I use to go into nerve racking experiences trying to clean up. But during the course of time, I realised that there is a natural phenomenon of upheavel and calmness that happens in the house. These days, I just sit quietly in meditation for a long period of time and from nowhere in a matter of an hour I become equipped to get my house back into shape. In the process of meditation, what has happened is that I have given up my worries about cleaning, the obstructing thought about will I be able to make it. My mind and body is just filled with the pure energy and that takes care of all the work to be done.
This is true for any work - in the lab, in the playground, in the classroom - meditation in quietitude and the best of the cosmic intelligence manifests through thought, speech and action or in silence.
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Free Will

....and Determinism

After speaking the Bhagavad Gita on the battlefield and outlining what are the do's and dont's of intelligent living, he says, 'Yathechasi Tatha Kuru,' meaning, 'I have told you everything. Now you can do what you like and act as you please.'

We have the freedom of will to think and rise high. The will is a gift of the intellect that can act as a monitor to guide us in the right path of life. It can take care of the human individual, protecting him or her from pitfalls and giving the wisdom to learn from mistakes.

Of course, the principle of determinism is also at work. Every humanbeing is born with a bank balance. Just as the seed contains the whole blueprint of the tree, what type of flowers, how tall it will grow, how long it will live, the human life and destiny is governed by Karma, Prarabhdha Karma, Sanchitha Karma and Agami Karma. Prarabha is the profit and loss statement that one inherits at birth. Sanchitha is all the actions performed from the time of birth and Agami is the collective of Prarabhdha and Sanchitha that will manifest in the future.

Let me first clear some misconceptions about the word Karma. It simply means Action. Anything done with the thought, words and physical action creates an impression on the mind. The impact can be beneficial if it is good - meaning if it helps to turn the senses inward. The impact can cause harm if it is bad - again, if the senses are thrown outward and lost in the world of action. Anything that helps the mind to become more focussed and stable is good karma and anything that rattles the mind, disturbs it and lose balance is bad Karma.

With the help of free will, we can change the course of our life from the boring, mundane or ordinary to achieve nobility and greatness. For instance, I can use my free will to practise Pranayama, Hatha Yoga and Meditation and regulate my diet - but I cannot say that I will not get any disease. We have the free will to determine our life, but are also bound to accept what life gives us. Depending on its energy, a river has the power to determine its course of flow. The more the energy, or rather the realisation of the presence of the power within, our capacity to determine situations increases. But ultimately, the joy of living lies not in determining, but surrendering to the flow and just remain a witness.

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Pancha Koshas

The Five Sheaths

The human body, which is a representative of every living being on the Universe is a chink of energy covered by five layers. These layers are not one over the other, like five sheets of cloth of varying thickness, but one layer with all the five elements intermingling, moving from the gross to the most subtle.
If the five kosha's are contemplated upon thoroughly, one can realise that we are all not individual persons but are like a wave in the mighty ocean of creation.
The grossly visible layer is the Annamaya Kosha: The physical body that is made up of the food we eat. The body is like a container that holds water. Or rather it is like ice in the shape of a vessel, holding water in it. The body that is born out of food, is nourished, grows and sustains with the help of food and when it falls, it becomes food. There is no profit, no loss. Taken from the Poornam and goes back to the Poornam.
The next comes the Pranamayakosha: While the Annamaya Kosha makes us feel that we are all independent entities, different from each other in colour, complexion and features - the Pranamayakosha is subtler than the Annamayakosha and is the first step towards understanding oneness. The prana in America may be inhaled through the breath in Australia. What is exhaled in India might travel to Africa! Breath is neither your's nor mine, but belongs to everybody. The breath is the container of the prana, which is the life energy that keeps every cell of the body alive. When this Prana leaves its hold on the body, then death happens and the cells disintegrate.
Manomayakosha is the Mind. We have often felt that without knowing a language, we can feel the emotions expressed by another. This is a subtler element than the Prana, that is housed in the human body. There is a constant transaction happening in the world of emotions, expressing and impressing, impressing and expressing. Many a time when you are cheerful, for no reason the throat might choke with sadness. This happens because the emotion of sadness from another has impressed upon you silently and make you feel the same way.
Vignanamayakosha: This is subtler than the mind or emotions. It is the intelligence body. This intelligence body is also uniformly spread out and transmission of intelligence constantly happens. The scientific developments of the west have always reached the east and the spiritual realisation of the eastern mystics have always been available to the west. Just like the breath, mind and intellect are common for all and not confined to bodies.
The last is the Anandamayakosha. It is the body of bliss which pervades the entire universe, living and non-living. A mountain blissfully remains a mountain, an ocean is in a blissful state of being...Dhyayativa Prithivi, Dhyayativa Parvataha, Dhyativa Sagaraha.
Anandamaya Kosha is the body of the human and the Universe that is always in Meditation. The purose of all our meditative practices is to find out our real being, that is the Anandamaya Kosha.
When Adi Sankara says in the Nirvana Shatkam 'Nava Pancha Koshaha.' - I am not the Pancha Kosha's he is talking of the Supreme Being that is the most subtle 'Param' which is the unsplittable, indivisible Brahman, which also we are.
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How to...

...begin with meditation

Just felt like seeing what the Oxford English Dictionary says about Meditation. It is from Latin Meditari, which means 'contemplative,' focus upon an idea and planning...
Well that doesn't help to explain much about what is meditation. And this is for Lakshmi's request.
Left alone, the body is inert and in a state of rest. The consciousness which is the basis for our existence is also unmoving. It is the mind, which is like an invisible balloon that is restless and it is connected to the body with the breath. The art of making the body, breath and mind quiet and restful and allow the consciousness to function through the body and mind perfectly is meditation.
There are many ways to begin with meditation. The first step is to make yourself fresh, minimally by washing the face. The idea is to feel clean and comfortable. Sit quietly, crosslegged or on a chair in a comfortable but upright posture. The palms can be gently held together or placed facing skyward on the lap and eyes gently closed. The posture should be relaxed and not tight.
After managing to sit quietly, the meditator can focus on the breath. Not trying to breathe in any manner, but just watching how the breathing is happening - watching not with the eyes, but with the mind...
There are many ways and means of beginning meditation which can be learnt directly from the Guru who will teach according to the person's ability and need. But this much for this post....

Aham Annam

Food is Everything

The best time to write on food is when I am feeling hungry. So here I dish out the recipe Ganesh asked for at Hotel Aham International!
Food is Brahman. This has been mentioned in the Taittiriya Upanishad : Aham Annam. I am food. The human body is made up of the five elements and the mind. The source that forms the elements is drawn from food.

In the 17th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, reference is given to the different types of food that has a bearing on the three different qualities that make a human being. Satvam - the pure and tranquil mind, Rajas - the active, dynamic mind and Tamas - the inert, slow and lazy mind. All the three qualities are equally essential for the growth and development of the human potential. But each has its place. Food has a bearing on fostering these qualities. The nature of Satwa when the person is more meditative in the frame of mind is cultivated by eating more satwic food which includes raw fruits and vegetables, sprouts that have life energy in it and foods that are rich in energy, not fried or spicy. Rajas calls for a lot of physical energy and that's why people who do hard physical labour or tasks that call for physical strength and muscle power take to eating meat and other foods that build up faster. But it calls for hard physical work to digest it. Otherwise such foods can lead to complications. The tamasic foods are those that can dull the mind. They are all the fermented and other drinks or addictive habits that can pretend to raise the energy but actually dull the mind in the process.

The body is connected to the mind through the breath. Food supplies physical energy to all layers and that's why the first sheath of the body is called Anna Maya Kosha - the body in the form of food.

Freedom...

....from the bond of ignorance

Celebration is in the air in India today. 'Vande Mataram' 'Sare Jahan Se Acha' 'Jai Hind' are the mantras reverberating everywhere. The tri-colour of renunciation, peace, prosperity and the wheel of dharma which represents India is fluttering in the chilly winds all over the country from the Rashtrapathi Bhavan to the slums of Chennai. Freedom is in the air, but are we really free?
During the thick of the Independence struggle, somebody asked Ramana Maharishi, "Why don't you take part in the freedom struggle?" Ramana's reply was, "I'm already free. Where's the need to fight for freedom?"
Freedom is of many kinds. Just like the different manifestations of God. There is political freedom, economic freedom, social freedom, freedom of speech and expression, freedom to think, freedom to act as one pleases. Freedom is like a block and tackle. When one side is blocked, another side expresses as freedom. It is like a music coming from a flute. When a few holes are closed with the fingers, music expresses through the other holes freely. When the fingers suppress the string in a single fret in the veena, guitar or sitar and the string is plucked at the other end, there is sound. Total freedom is inaction, a non-being. It is non-existence.
Independence in the world is a myth. True independence happens within. It is a state of mind. It is the experience of the being. When it happens in the level of the individual as a result of lifetimes of tapas, that individual is a free being. He or she is not bound by any situation in life, primarily by ideas. The thought that one is a slave is enough to keep the person enslaved in bondage.
This freedom can get collective when large groups of people get together and contemplate on this truth. When it becomes the creed of the whole country, then the country is free. Prosperity happens like nobody's business to such a country. It will shed light and spiritual energy to the whole world. That is the potential for this land called India. It is my prayer on this day of Independence, that this country and all its people will grow into that light of Sat - Truth, Chit -Consciousness and Ananda - Bliss.

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Tirumandiram Review

A Review of Tirumandiram Audio CD

(I present here a comment on my Tirumandiram post. The review is by a classical music singer called R. Suryaprakash.)
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Great epics, works of saints etc., are generally branded as “Immortal” and conveniently allowed to die a slow death as the Western concepts rapidly gain ground in our society. On such almost forgotten treatise is “Tirumandiram” of Tirumoolar. It is to be said that some of the other constituents of “Panniru Thirumurai” of Shaivism are still popular, such as “Thevaram” and “Thiruvachagam”, thanks to the grit of Oduvars who still sing the verses in temples.

Tirumandiram has a spiritual charm, bordering on the occult and its beauty has been fully brought to the fore by a young and enterprising team by setting to tune, ten of its verses and rendering them in a CD album which is eminently listenable. This CD has been recently released by these devotees of The Akshara Foundations, with the profound blessings of H H Swami Akshara.

The plan of rendition has been excellent, with meditative chanting of a verse by a single member by rotation, followed by group rendering of the same. This is followed by a short raga sketch/interlude in Veena. After that, the verse is rendered by the entire group as a song, set in the same raga as the interlude, along with mridangam accompaniment. This pattern is followed assiduously while rendering all the ten verses.

The introductory chants are set in the raga Revathi for all the verses and have been rendered soulfully by each one of the participants. The choice of Revathi raga is apt, because, in the phrases “ ni. sa. ri sa. ri ni. sa. ri…pa. ni. sa ri. sa ni.ri. sa…” the Raga is Veda Mantra itself.

The interludes and the rhythmic rendition of the verses are set in ragas which take you through a journey in blissful realms of traditional music. The opening verse “Aiyindu Karaththanai” , technically not a part of the original treatise but conventionally sung as “Vinayagar Thuthi” of Thirumandiram has been rendered in raga Nattai, which is most acceptable as the opening raga in our music tradition. “Aaadi Natta Anta Surati” goes the saying. The tala is Adi.

The second one “Thiruvadiye Sivamaavathu…” follows in the Raga Suddha Saveri, in Kanda Chapu tala. It is a welcome change in talam. “Anbum Sivamum…” is in Anandabhairavi, “Thunaiyaduvaai Varum…” in Hindolam, “Ullam perunkoyil …” in Shivaranjani (which is literally an archana to the Lord), “Thelivu Guruvin…” in Bageshri, “Yaan petra Inbam…” in Kalyani, “Marathai Mariththathu…” in Sama, “Man Onru Kandeer…” in Hamsanandhi, rounding off with “Naadaththin Andamum…” in Madhyamavathi, the last one very apt raga-wise and set in brisk Khanda Nadai. Others follow the regular eight-beat cycle (Adi talam) which has aesthetic simplicity. The verses are rendered in an order different from the above in keeping with mood/raga contrast.

The interludes have been rendered with a sense of proportion and purpose by the great Veena Vidushi Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan, an octogenarian and a veteran who has been recently conferred with the birudhu Acharya Choodamani by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai. Her rendering of thanam in Kalyani raga as an interlude for the verse “Yaan Petra Inbam….” is one of unbridled “Inbam” (joy) and one wishes that her greatness “Peruguga Iv Vaiyaham” (spreads all over the world)!

The individual renderings have simplistic charm as they have been rendered with utmost dedication by participants who, barring a few, are not basically professional practitioners. The open throated rendering by Swahilya, who has a stentorian voice, sruti suddham and bhavam which immediately takes one to the sanctum sanctorum deserves special mention. The charming rendition of the opening verse by little Kavya is also very sweet and gives one the firm impression that she has got a great future. The involvement and competence of the others too, cannot be understated.

In all, this album stands out for its meditative effect, involvement of the participants, and most importantly the rendition in traditional method so as to give the listener, the satisfaction of having undergone a pilgrimage.

“Thirumandiram” by Swahilya and her team merits universal listening and appreciation.
- Purnima

As I wish

...so it happens

My assignments in journalism, I have always taken up in the spirit of Karma Yoga - doing what is given to me cheerfully. Sometimes it may be a job that I like, at other times it might be some routine work of a clerical nature - but I see to it that I don't crib or complain about any assignment.
But still there have been times when I really wish to cover certain assignments and people. This wish has been changing from civic issues, education, environment, transport or any area that I have been writing about. For the last five years, my personal wish to cover assignments has been Spirituality. Writing stories on Yoga, Meditation, interviewing spiritual gurus and masters who come to Chennai is something that I like to do. But never have I tried to work my way to get those assignments. They have happened.
The same was the case with meeting Sri Sri Ravishankar today. I learnt that he is meeting devotees in Chennai and that our newspaper was sending somebody to cover it. I just wished within myself that I would like to cover the programme.
It changed a few hands and ultimately I was assigned to cover. It turned out to be a fulfilling experience. I now have a book with me to read: Wisdom for the New Millennium by Sri Sri Ravishankar and an audio CD of his talks to listen to.
So I do realise that things can happen my way, without any shoving or pushing my way about. Just remain in silence and wish deeply.
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Listening

When the soul merges

Speaking, singing and listening are activities that happen in ether. If keenly observed, the physical apparatus of the throat, with the aid of the whole body, generates the sound vibrations from deep within and when these vibrations are transmitted through air, it impacts the listener and move into that mind as thought.
Recently I was contemplating on listening. If we hear something that is soulful and moving, some elevating music or talk, listening in total quietitude of mind, helps one to absorb all that is sung or said - just like a sponge dipped in water. Without intervention of thoughts, "Whether I can understand what is being said? Which raga is this music? Could it have been sung in this manner?" if I just listen to a soulful song, it is then that the listener merges with the singer or speaker. Ultimately, sound is a chart map of energy travelling upward and listening in silence can course the energy within us too upward resulting in a rewarding and elevating experience.
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Ego

The Little Self

"That fellow has too much ego. He thinks too much of himself," we often hear people say about somebody who is a little heavy on the head. The Ego is to a human as a wave is to an ocean. It is ignorance that makes a wave think that it is different from the ocean. It is the ignorance of ego that makes a human he is different from the rest of the world.
Ego is one of the three main diseases afflicting the human mind. But to a great extent it serves a functional purpose. While a person is growing, one has to go through the rough and tumble of the individual little self to know the nuances of life. A student of Std. I has to learn the little numbers of 1, 2, 3 and 4 and learn to add 1+1. If he is going to contemplate on abstract algebra at that age, the foundations are lost on him. The emotions surrounded around the little self is important up to a certain age of the learning process. The ego is a tool for learning, a tool for experience. However universal the experience of love or wisdom, the experience can be had only in the little ego. Ego is like the small eye of the needle. It may be very small when compared to the long needle, but without that small space, the thread of life cannot pass through. Ego is a bead in the chain of life. It is a part of the whole. It is important to learn the importance of transcending the little self and understanding the whole web of the Universe.
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Emotional Intelligence

Handling Feelings

Knowing that Tokyo is the capital of Japan is the intelligence quotient of the mind. But knowing how to respond in a balanced manner when someone shouts at me is emotional intelligence. It is an intelligence that helps the mind to rule over the heart in our day to day interaction with people.
The key lies in perfect balance of body, breath and mind. I don't need to stress the importance of emotional intelligence here because, disturbed emotions in one's personal interactions, can lead to a disturbed mind. The disturbed mind in turn invites disturbed thoughts. Disturbed thoughts result in disturbed action. And when actions lose balance, the results are not productive, they are faltering, they make us slip and fall. The cycle forms into a loop, just like a virus in a software programme where the mistakes and unfortunate circumstances keep repeating. It takes some quietitude of mind to sit back, relax and try to find out where things went wrong. The key is in handling emotions better - our interactions with husband, wife, children, close friends and relatives, office colleagues, societal contacts or even acquaintances on the road.
With expression of every emotion which is fundamentally one form of energy, joy, happiness, anger, hatred, jealousy, fear - forms an impression in the psyche. This impression, comes out again as an expression. Breaking this cycle is possible only with purifying the emotions first with breathing in and exhaling deeply and focussing on the breath. The next step of purifying is with meditation and just instantly dropping off all the emotions that make us uncomfortable - anger, hatred, greed, jealousy. Living with them is like collecting the garbage from the road and storing it in one's house.
Emotional Intelligence is all about cleaning up one's stable. The cleaning happens with first sweeping and mopping to remove all negative emotions. The next step is to decorate the house and make it fresh smelling with the incense of beautiful emotions of happiness, joy, bliss, truth, smiles and everything good. Maintaining a clean house is a task and that happens with constant practise of Pranayama and Meditation. A meditative person never gets caught in any emotional whirlpool and hence has his whole intelligence to apply in life situations in any critical period.
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The Third Eye

Gnana Chakshu

It was evening and I was riding my way to an assignment on Dr. Radhakrishnan Road in Chennai. As I was moving forward, I was seeing with both my eyes. The vision was limited to the vehicles just in front of me and people just around me. Then this thought of the third eye came. Even as I wondered what it could be, I actually experienced how it is physically possible to see with the third eye.
It couldn't be more simpler than this. It is the energy within that sees through the two eyes. When that energy climbs higher than the eyes to the forehead, there is some kind of seeing that happens as if the whole forehead were a big eye - seeing with the whole region of the forehead. What a holy name the region of the chidakash has in English - Temple.
No sooner than I discovered this, I was shuttling between the lower vision through the two eyes when I saw separation, multiplicity, duality, I and the other. But this vision from the Gnana Chakshu - the eye of wisdom is available. I only have to choose to look that way. When I look through that space on the forehead, the eyes that show duality almost become immobile and non-functional. Seeing from the third eye, which is not just a vertical eye as shown in pictures depicting Shiva, but the whole boundless space on the forehead, the vision is spatial and there are objects and people moving about or static in that space.
It was an exhilarating find.

Dharana

Concentration

Recently I happened to cover a dharna by the teachers of the University of Madras. When I saw the lecturers shouting slogans against the University administration, I thought, Dharna is Dharana for a limited cause. Dharana which means total focus of mind and concentration on one object is the sixth aspect mentioned in Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga.
Concentration is a powerful tool. The mind is like the rays of the sun. When the sun's rays are diffused and travel in straight lines, there is just warmth. But when the same rays of the sun are focussed and trained towards a glass parabola, the heat is so intense as to run an 800 watt solar heating system for giant kitchens.
Concentration on one point can immediately restore balance to a wayward mind. If any has tried doing the Vrikshasana, standing on one leg, with the other leg bent and placed at the root of the thigh and eyes closed, falling down will be the next thing to happen. But the same asana happens in a perfect balance when the eyes are focussed and concentrated upon a dot.
What happens while concentrating. All the five sense organs are windows to the world outside. Through the same windows, the inputs are also fed into the person called You. When there is no concentration, the mind rules and splatters the energy in any direction it chooses, just like a choppy sea. For instance, when I am typing this post, I give my mind a free rein, it will take me wherever it pleases, to instances of childhood, to what my members of family might be doing, to all the pending work that I may have, to my several successes and failures in life, to what somebody told someday that hurt...and my consciousness, or rather the life force or energy is taken to all those places where my mind goes. The result, there will be no energy focussing on this post on my blog.
On the contrary, I allow the intervening mind energy to settledown quietly, the primordial energy - all of it is applied on the post that I type. The resultant benefit of my concentration is shared by all those who read it. Anyone with total stability of mind speak and write the most powerful words, perform the most powerful actions that stand the test of several centuries of time. Whether it is the Bible, the Quoran, the Gita, Shakespeare's plays, Mozart or Beethoven, Kalidasa, Subramania Bharathi, Swami Vivekananda, or all the national and international leaders who have left an indelible mark on our minds - their achievement has only factor behind - sheer force of concentration.
While concentration on any worldly pursuit brings victory, meditation is concentration upon the one universal expanse. When that concentration becomes so intense - it reaches the state of mind that one calles Moksha, Mukti or Liberation. The mind is no more stuck to any small image, idea or concept but has comprehended the whole and remains in silent acceptance. It moves from a protesting Dharna to a powerful Dharana.
So whether it is stringing a thread into the eye of the needle or going into the depths of one's own being - the focussed mind is the way.
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Little Images...

....sublime truths

The tiniest flower or a dew drop dangling on the tip of a blade of grass reflecting the light of the morning sun, the mud beneath, the evening sky, the roots of a tree - many ordinary little images that I come across have many a time conveyed the most sublime truths.
It was one such incident yesterday at the Akshara Foundations meditation hall. On the red carpet, there was a small bit of round glass that had fallen from somebody's dress. When that bit of glass caught my eye, I had just then finished dancing for Adi Sankara's Nirvana Shatkam. My frame of mind was hence very meditative.
The piece of glass on the red carpet was shining with the light received from a bulb over the picture of my Guru. As I was looking at the shining mirror glass on the red carpet, intensely, it was as if the whole carpet and the whole world it held was spread over a substratum of bright light. It looked as if, I had a glimpse of that divine light through a chink in the carpet.
An ordinary piece of glass fallen on the ground, reflecting a 60-watt bulb's light. But the truth it conveyed was the most sublime.
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Experience Love...

...and know God

I have heard of this statement "God is Love," but never did I realise the meaning of those words as I did today. What is God? It is nothing. But it is also everything. In the nothing, there is nothing to experience. But the Everything can be expressed and realised through the manifestations all around us. It is that Energy within, which we experience as rising and falling. Fundamentally, he is the force that binds the cells of this body to hold the experiencing self. Next he is that enjoying person who reaches out to the objects and situations of the world. Third, he becomes the same person who does not think of just him or herself and branches out to serve others.
Then comes his fourth manifestation, about which I realised today. In my experience of love of several kinds, I found that the common factor is the emotion called love and it is very much inside me. The objects and situations actually trigger that dormant emotion within called love. I recall reading sometime ago the words of Swami Vivekananda that God resides in the kiss of the man and the woman.
When the realisation dawns that experiencing love is to experience God, the whole Universe becomes a delightful experience of simply being in love with all the people I meet, all the scenes that I see, all the actions that I do. When it is not just confined to a few persons or objects, the same love transforms itself as compassion - yet another zone where I experience God.
From Compassion, I move on to the region of the mind where there is neither passion, love or compassion and that's yet another experience of God when all identities are lost. The rising wave of identity crashes back into the expanse of the ocean. The thin cloud, thins out further to be lost in the massive expanse of the sky. The individual human disappears to be lost in God.
This realisation happened from listening to my Guru on this famous Tirumandiram:

Anbum Shivamum Irandenbar Arivilar
Anbe Shivamavathu Yaarum Arigilar
AnbeShivamavathu Yaarum Arindapin
Anbe Shivamai Amardirundare.

The unrealised ones say Love and God are two different things
None realise that Love and God are one
And when they do realise that Love and God are one
They remain in Silence as God in the form of Love.

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Another Pradosham...

...and a realisation

The third Pradosham happened today and just as I was wondering whether I would go to a Shiva temple or not this verse from the Tirumandiram flashed past my mind's sky.

"Ullam Perungoil Unudambalayam
Vallal Piranarku Vai Gopuravasal
Thella Thelivarku Jeevan Shivalingam
Kallappulan Aindum Kala Manivilakke."

The thing within is a divine expanse and the body is the temple
For the realised one, words are the ways to meet the divine
The perceiving being sees the Shivalingam in the Life Force
And all the five senses that report wrongly are the lights with which to see the divine.

And so I am here. Experiencing the Temple in this wide wide world.

Tirumandiram

The Mantra Nonpareil

The last few days were spent on contemplation on Tirumandiram, the 3000-verse spiritual treatise written by Tirumoolar. The occasion was a release of an audio cd by Swami Akshara. The participants were volunteers of Akshara Foundations, including myself.
Though meditation on the verses were happening for nearly a decade since I first heard them sung by Sirkazhi Govindarajan in 1992, now there was an opportunity to speak about it on two days at the inaugural function of the CD at the Foundations in Chennai.
Never enjoyed speaking to a group of people more than this any time.

*****