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Speaking of Robes, Broken Vows and Imperfection…

Insights on the human condition from yogini mystic writer Mira Prabhu

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1391429277When I moved to Dharamsala (seat of the Tibetan Government- in-Exile located in the foothills of the Himalayas) on the eve of the new millennium, my life changed overnight. You see, I had just left the world’s craziest city (Manhattan) for a small mountain town in northern India and was almost totally unprepared for what I was to encounter.

As my eyes opened to a new world of seeing, my views began to transform. For instance, I had long harbored a multitude of unchallenged assumptions about those who consciously enter the spiritual path; one such assumption was that all those who wore monastic robes were blessed creatures emanating love and light. After all, I subconsciously reasoned, most had taken the Boddhisattva Vow in one form or the other—which is to become enlightened for the sake of all beings—and which therefore meant they had to be perfect, right? RIGHT?

So I was both…

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My Trip to the NY Arunachala Ashram for Guru Purnima 2016

I selected a few pictures from my stay (July 21 to July 25) at the NY Arunachala Ashram for Guru Purnima. Continue reading

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Day 2: KRISHNA’S COUNSEL – PLEASE NOMINATE ME ON KINDLE SCOUT!!!

Mira Prabhu’s book KRISHNA’S COUNSEL. This is Mira Prabu’s second novel. Please nominate!

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ARUNACHALA, NOT ABRACADABRA

Mira Prabhu sharing and sending her greetings from Arunachala. ❤

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dfa1c558daeba093bd582958cc97f9a1“Why don’t you teach an analytical meditation at my learning center?” a woman asked me. It was a bright morning in Rishikesh, and while I loved my new apartment with its spectacular view of the Himalayas, my heart was heavy with confusion about the future. I did not like the commercialization of this ancient city, nor the sharks I encountered, mostly wealthy urban businessmen who had bought up all the apartments in my enclave for ‘investment’ purposes and appeared to have few ethics.

“All right,” I agreed, albeit reluctantly; perhaps it would do me good to teach the Seven Flavors of Samsara, an analytical meditation on the nature of relative reality that I had learned from a powerful guru, and which I occasionally shared with those perplexed about the nature of reality—particularly those  who agonized over why bad things happened to good people and vice versa.

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Rejection is God’s Protection…

Mira Prabhu on the nature of things writing from the Sacred Hill of Arunachala.

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image-1Years ago in Manhattan I enjoyed attending a spiritual meeting where people of varied ethnic backgrounds, professions and ages congregated to remind themselves of the power of the Divine running through their often thorny lives.

One guy—a talented young actor who’d made it big in a Broadway show, and who had then been fired unceremoniously when its sponsor went bankrupt, had been breaking my heart with his stark honesty about the frightening situation into which he’d been hurled: on the strength of the lucrative role he’d just lost, he’d bought an expensive east side condo and married his girlfriend—who, to top it all, was now heavily pregnant.

Success, he confessed miserably, had gone to his head like pink champagne used to: anticipating a large income for an indefinite period of time—Broadway shows can run forever—he and his wife had extravagantly remodeled their new home and taken a slew of expensive mini vacations…

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Two Great Truths of Absolute and Relative Reality

By Mira Prabhu who is both an amazing and insightful Yogini as well as a very gifted writer. ❤

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SHIVA AND SHAKTI TANTRA

In my volatile teens, I was struck by the poignant beauty of an ancient metaphor (contained within the Mundaka Upanishad) that speaks of two birds perched on the branch of a tree: one bird eats the fruit of the tree while the other watches.

The first bird represents the individual self/soul; distracted by the fruits (signifying sensual pleasures), she forgets her lord and lover and tries to enjoy the fruit independent of him. (This separating amnesia is known in Sanskrit as maha-maya or enthrallment; it results in the plunge of the individual into the ephemeral realm of birth and death.) As for the second bird, it is an aspect of the Divine/Self that rests in every heart—and which remains forever constant even as the individual soul is bedazzled by the material world.

This teaching implies that it is ignorance of our true nature that creates a vicious cycle: the individual, being blinded by the illusion of existing as a separate…

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Some history of Arunachala and the efforts to protect it

Some history of Arunachala and the efforts to protect it

Richard Clarke's avatarLiving in the Embrace of Arunachala

There have been struggles to preserve and protect Arunachala that date back to the times of Ramana Maharshi. These include a court appearance by Ramana Maharshi, a legal effort in the late 1990s, various efforts to protect encroachment of the inner path, environmental recovery around Arunachala, and then in 2012 a series of fires on Arunachala that resulted in the Inner Path closure, which continues to this day.

Old photo of Arunachala Old photo of Arunachala

Below are links, first to David Godman’s website, then to an Arunachala Samudra  artecle on the legal battles in the late 1990s, and a series of posts on this blog.

Together they show a long lasting concern about how to protect Arunachala. That effort continues to this day with the recent protests that stopped – for now – destructive tree cutting and digging on the pradakshina route.

Bhagavan’s Deposition on Arunachala

Environmental concerns and the courts – 2001

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Giving to others is really giving to oneself ~ Sri Ramana

Giving to others is really giving to oneself. ~ Sri Ramana

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Bhagavan says, “Giving to others is really giving to oneself.” Bhagavan continues, “If one knows this truth, would one ever remain without giving?” (See Chapter XIII “Gems from Bhagavan.” Bhagavan here states the fundamental truth of reality at every level.

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Aids To Self Enquiry: By Alan Jacobs

Aids To Self Enquiry: By Alan Jacobs

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“Those who leave the path of Self Enquiry, the way of liberation, and wander off along the myriad forest tracks, will encounter only confusion”. Bhagavan Ramana.

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Self Enquiry is the Direct Path and Bhagavan’s great contribution for the modern age for all. 

Self Enquiry is the backbone of the main weapon in Bhagavan’s teaching for eliminating the vasanas, tendencies and vrittis, the thought forms which act as a veil and occlude your Real Self.

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Sunday Homespun Wisdom-1: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

Surrender to the Heart

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Live Gently and Embrace Friendship - Sunday Wisdom from HKL

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