A H A M - Blog By Sharanya Chaitanya: Patanjali Yoga Sutra

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - 2-26

The light is you

Vivekakhyatihi Aviplava Hanopayaha|

The means of removing that Avidya or attachments to the people, things and happenings in life that are transient and come and go - is by identifying oneself with the ever- present awareness that helps you to discriminate between what is temporary and what is permanent. Awareness is like a floodlight on a football field. The light illuminates the field. Players come. Some win, some lose,some retire hurt, some abuse, audience cheer or swear. The light does not take part in all this. It just throws itself on what's happening. When the match is over, the ground becomes empty again and the light continues to reveal the empty ground. Similarly our awareness is theinner light that helps us to be aware of what we see, hear, taste, touch, smell and think during our waking hours, watch our dreams during the dream state and realise the next morning that we slept well in the deep sleep state. Identifying always with this awareness is the only way to come out of the ignorance of clinging on to the transcient things and fretting or getting excited about it. - Swahilya Shambhavi.
(Pic. Lamps lit by members of the Gayatri Parivar, chanting the Gayatri Mantra. - SS)

12 comments:

Rakesh Vanamali said...: I admire the manner in which you presently such complexity - in an absolutely simple manner for folks such as me to easily understand!

It is a sheer pleasure to read your posts, of wisdom, relevance and bliss - in the progress, as I see it!; January 12, 2010
fruitu said...: Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya !!!!; January 13, 2010
wittysaint said...: hi
concise explanation. thought provoking. at the same time do you think it is possible to reach such a state of awareness in the present which is utterly chaotic?; January 14, 2010
Swahilya Shambhavi said...: Welcome Rakesh, Fruitu and Wittysaint. I welcome all readers to my web magazine Simply Spiritual - http://www.simplyspiritual.org; January 14, 2010
Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...: Swahilya! Happy New Year, dear friend. :D It has been too long.

Looove your spiritual e-magazine and bookmarked it. :D

Awareness: the factor that keeps one from having negative emotions rule. What a great post! With it, one can step back and become the observer and then move on with out tangling one's emotions. :D Am going to work on my A Factor beginning today.

Beautiful post and photo!!!

We're having an easy winter; only six inches of snow on the ground. What freedom to explore.:D

Have a great day!

Hugs, JJ; January 18, 2010
Swahilya Shambhavi said...: Welcome JJ! Thank you.; January 19, 2010
S ADIGA said...: Hai, i read your writings which appears in sunday express, it gives a feeling as if I am touring. great & simple writing.
regards
Srinivasa Adiga; January 20, 2010
Swahilya Shambhavi said...: Welcome Srinivasa Adiga!; January 21, 2010
Anitha said...: Beautiful observation and conclusion about inner light of truth. I admire your writing.; January 26, 2010
Swahilya Shambhavi said...: Welcome Anitha!; January 26, 2010
sudha said...: Mundaka Upanishad in blog form :). well, our Acharyas were & are so magnanimous, they dont mind the spread of their insights into the mystery 'Who am I?'in any form.
I feel you are a true messenger of these great works. I'm impressed &inspired at your versatility. Your small column with stories of ur sojourns is also fun at the same time keeps one thinking .
We wait for sunday express and in the midst of awful articles on warped ideas and 'sense'less pictures meant to increase readership, your writings are like gems in muck.
Thanks.; February 02, 2010
Swahilya Shambhavi said...: Welcome Sudha.; February 02, 2010

Post a Comment

...said

Aham: Food for the Soul

I think its time I write about one blogsite I love to visit more than any other in recent times. It is Swahilya's blog. Let me try my best to describe her blog site. She writes about anything and everything but with a spiritual bent of mind. I know that I have raised a few eyebrows here by calling a spiritual blog my favorite despite my strong inclination towards science. Every time I visit her blogsite I come out having learned something or the other. Many a times I have personally requested her to write on different topics and she obliged every single time. I will run out of superlatives if I try to describe her writing style...
*****

The Acquaintance

Hello! Is this Miss.Divine?,
Yes it is she said,
I heard the smoothest voice I ever had,
It did not command nor was it submissive,
I was totally mesmerized by the brilliance,
Awestruck by its mysterious charm,
The signals from her brain
perfectly interpreted by her vocal cords,
Poured out the intelligence that lay within,
I listened with the keenest of ears,
Is she human? I thought,
No, she is Miss. Divine,
She is my latest acquaintance,
The teacher that sits under the banyan tree,
Is she Buddha incarnate?
or is she the perfect answer?
The balance between creation and destruction?
Is this the birth of the cosmic intelligence?
She denies perfection,
Humility is her second name,
She worships the indestructible,
She is SWAHILYA.
*****
Thirumandiram CD - (Akshara Foundations)
- A review by R. Suryaprakash, Vocalist
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 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. He 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

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - 2-26

12 comments:

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