Remembering
Anubhuta Vishaya Asampramoshaha Smritihi
To remember is the fifth quality of the mind. An incident that happened, a song or speech that one heard, the names and faces of people, emotional feelings, concepts and ideas one has read or recollection of any experience through the five sense organs is called Smriti or Memory.
To re-member (hyphen used deliberately to signify that the word means to connect again) means to attach the mind from the present moment, to some name, object, situation, concept or experience. I travel to the Himalayas, see the mountains, rivers, temples, sights, scenes and people. Now sitting in Chicago, I re-member my experience in the Himalayas and connect my mind to it. Depending on the , understanding and my response to the experience, the memory can be good or bad, comfortable or uncomfortable, joyous or sad.
Yoga, the technique of connecting the individual mind with the cosmic mind, uses smriti or memory to re-member the biggest, infinite existence and become that in the present moment.
Every moment spent at the altar in prayer is an exercise in Smriti of Jesus Christ, Allah, Shiva or the Para Brahman - connecting our mind to that person or thing that we are thinking about. Every act of chanting a mantra or repeating an affirmation is to use this faculty of Smriti to re-member oneself with the name and form we think about.
(Photo: Our actions are the results of Smriti or memory. One who thinks of Consciousness has written 'Om' on snow while another who has thought of a greeting has written 'Hi' in the same snow.) - Swahilya Shambhavi.
24 comments:
Dear Swahilya A very good exposition on 'smruthi' connecting it to the memory of the mind.Can U pl expand a little and say what is the main difference between 'Sruthi' and 'Smruthi'?
did U see my comment on 'sleep'in your previous blog
with best wishes
parthakrish
Thank you Parthakrish, you are most welcome. I saw your comment on sleep in the previous post and have replied there too. Hope you saw my reply for your question on the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutra in 'Viparyaya' - Patanjali Yoga Sutra - 4.
Parthakrish: Sruti is from Shrotra - the faculty of hearing and Smriti is from Smaranam - the faculty of remembering with the mind. Sruti refers to the Vedas and the Upanishads that expand on the Truth of Consciousness - everything that was transmitted down the ages orally and listened to by disciples. Smriti also refers to the codes of Dharma like the Manu Smriti - which does not constantly apply to all ages.
This is brought out in the shloka:
Shruti Smriti Purananam Alayam Karunalayam
Namami Bhagavad Pada Shankaram Loka Shankaram.
Shrutis are the Vedas, Smritis are the Cods of Law and Puranas are stories and tales. All have their basis on Sanatana Dharma or the eternal truth where all concepts and ideas finally lead to like the rivers that flow into the ocean.
Hi, Iam for the first time at your blog and I do like it. Great blog, much stuff to explore.
Wow! here i am in the river of sanskrit with all its wisdom to the ocean... Great post, Swahilya!!
Welcome Ray! This blog author is the same as .soulmate. which you have visited earlier. Do drop in and keep in touch.
Welcome merging point. Thank you.
Well explained Swahilya,
Memory is a modification of consciousness allowing us to recapture past experiences. It is the collection of Impressions of all forms of knowledge, it changes with our perception. But if it is correctly used, it will enable us to recall experiences in their true state. The pic posted is beautiful.
Welcome fruitu...thank you for elaborating on memory.
DEar Swahilya:brilliant!The last culminating remark reminds me of the sloka
"Akaasath pathitham thoyam
Yada gachadi sagaram
Sarva deva namascaram
Kesavam pradhi Gachadi"
With best wishes
Parthakrish
Welcome Partha.
loving itself
...Z
Welcome Zareba...
Smriti, I am enjoying learning about memory. Beautiful post, Swahilya!!!
Yoga makes me feel fluid and alive. :D I would looove to see the Himilayas and temples one day.
Hugs, JJ
Welcome JJ! You must be delighted with the weather in Michigan today! I too went for a long walk, so long that folks at home thought they would need to call *911 and I took pictures of sunset behind the trees! Hope to post them here soon.
About the Himalayas, you just have to keep in touch with me and manage to come to India sometime. Who knows we may be climbing soon!
hi thanks for dropping by my page. on going through your profile i got bit cautious to comment. you sound to be those high elite thinkers who speak and write simple things that are left unnoticed in our daily life with high ends of sprituality and consciouness. the word author and journalist makes me more cautious to pen because i have a inferiority complex. :D
Welcome Known Stranger: I was browsing through my posts of 2005-06 and saw your comments. It was the time when comment moderation was not enabled, so to my surprise I found that I had missed answering some questions posted there...my apologies! Am happy that I've managed to revive conversation and kept in touch!
Dear Known Stranger: I have a reply for all the three comments you have made in this and the earlier two posts. I am a simple person, talking simple day to day stuff! Just, I fill up the blanks by connecting it to the web of spirituality that connects it all.
Author - because I have written books and translated some (all to be published yet!) journalist - 'cos that's my bread and butter!
On Sanskrit words - I have to mention the origin of what I write in its original language. So I have quoted them. I'll try further to keep the main text in plain English if that helps. Thank you.
Dear Known Stranger: Disagreements are most welcome. It can help in more clarity as we pay more attention and direct our awareness to the subject of discussion. Whether we agree or disagree, the awareness is what matters and that runs through all points are view.
So you are most welcome to disagree or express your views on any of these posts.
Swahilya, I'll dream of someday, somehow. :D
I awoke to a golden sun with a red cardinal singing away at the top of the tree. A good omen for things to come. :D
Spring...16 days away!!!
Hugs, JJ
Dear JJ, One thing is so nice that the weather here is so predictable.
16 days - Thanks for the info. So before I leave for India, I can have a glimpse of spring and photographs too!
hi - nice to interact with a thinker. I may not be regular as i keep moving place to place in search of something which would be nothing at the end. Pujiyathukulaay puriyatha puthirai irupan . consciousness resides inside the emptiness. when ever i can i will interact with you. I may not be vedantic but do think, speak and write in line to yours but in a more confused pattern. Sankrit is fine with me - it just strains a pamaran like me when it comes to understand the meaning. No offense with sanskrit . it is a beautiful language but just it makes things sound so different that it makes a pamaran distance himself from it.
pamaran - tamil word - meaning - a villager or a simple man.
Welcome known stranger: The word Pujyam is so beautiful. It refers to zero and also one who is worth of worship as in Pujya Swami...As you said, Pujyam is a circle drawn between two emptinesses which contain the Param - Consciousness.
Again Pamaran in Tamil means lay person while Paraman refers to Consciousness - God!
Hai,i'm INDHULEKHA w/o SAMCHANDRAN from Kerala.Im a research scholar in Sanskrit & interested in YOGA.Im likely to do my work based on Patanjali's YOGASUTRA. Would you help me to find out one topic related to the above.Also give some reference details or materials. Pls mail me :samchandran@gmail.com
Regards
Indhu.
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