Practice

Monday, February 01, 2010

Practice

Practice maketh a man perfect

Yoganganushtanath Ashuddhikshaye Gnana Dipthihi Avivekakhyateh
There is a lot of talk these days on the benefits of yoga. Yoga can make you fit, healthy, trim, smart, give you concentration, peace of mind, help attain Siddhis - so many many more are just the side effects of yoga.
In this Sutra, Sri Patanjali gives as one aphorism, the supreme benefit of the practice of many parts of yoga. By practising the different parts of yoga, the impurities of the mind, speech and body are destroyed. Impurity here has nothing to do with pollution, contamination or any virus as we commonly understand. Any thought, word or action that can disturb the equillibrium of your mind and take it away from being anchored in the essence of your being, truth or consciousness is an impurity. Yoga removes such disturbances. Due to that, the mind becomes still. It stops deflecting awareness in a million thoughts as it is wont to always. Because of this state of stillness, the light of awareness shines through the mind in its fullest glory. - Swahilya Shambhavi.

10 comments:

Rakesh Vanamali said...: Indeed - as you rightly said, only practice makes a man perfect, in fact, only practice makes a human a human!; February 02, 2010
Swahilya Shambhavi said...: yes, welcome Rakesh!; February 02, 2010
Sangeeta R. Goswami said...: Hiii,
me and sm of my frnds hv started an E-magazine called Reader's Quotient, it is totally for a noble cause, i came across ur blog in my quest to search excellent writers and felt worth inquire u if u shall be willing to come along us ?
if yes pls contact us on sangeeta.goswami@readersquotient.com

regds sangeeta
www.readersquotient.com; February 06, 2010
Swahilya Shambhavi said...: Hi Sangeeta, welcome. You can also visit the e-magazine I am the editor-in-chief for, Simply Spiritual www.simplyspiritual.org You can get in touch with me on email swahilya.soulmate@gmail.com Thanks.; February 06, 2010
Unknown said...: Hi,
I have been reading your column in The Sunday Indian Express. Would love to trek the Badri, Kedar route. Can you guide? Dont know Hindi. Would it be a handicap? Trekked in Himachal two years ago upto Beaskundh.
Murali; February 15, 2010
Unknown said...: Hi,
Would love to do the Kedar, Badri route. Read your column in the Indian Express. Dont know Hindi.
Murali; February 15, 2010
FlyingDolphin said...: Change is the only thing that is permanent,So we evolve continuosly from moment to moment therefore We accumulate impurities in this journey daily and we need to cleanse this slow accumulation regularly
Therefore the practice, So practice regularly or as much is a MUST. Then may be a HOPE for perfection!!Here we operate in silence,subconcious deeper level in the meditation.Om Tatasat; February 15, 2010
Swahilya Shambhavi said...: Green, Knowledge of Hindi is not so important, though it can of course be of help.
Flying Dolphin Thanks.
@ To all friends: Am at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanvantri Ashram till March 15 on an Advanced yoga Teachers' Training Programme. Will complete the course and be active on the blogs here after March 15! Thank you.; February 19, 2010
Anonymous said...: practice....to acquire..... is for sadhakas.......
for master's it natural...... a life style; March 22, 2010
Swahilya Shambhavi said...: Anonymous, yes.; March 22, 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

Monday, February 01, 2010

Practice

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