The Place of Wisdom,
Where Men may Meet their God
Now, in the early morning, Jesus came again to teach and heal. A light not comprehended shown about, as though some mighty spirit overshadowed Him. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Love
We Did Not Go To Him For Profit: By T.K. Sundaresa Iyer
Note: T.K. Sundaresa Iyer (T.K.S) met Sri Ramana in 1908 when T.K.S was only a twelve year old boy. Bhagavan, although a full blown Self-Realized sage, was also quite young and in his late 20’s. Many early devotees have described how Bhagavan by his sheer look would give them experience of the Self. However, this was not true in every case.
T.K.S’s cousin Krishnamurthy had been visiting Bhagavan Ramana regularly and would sing songs of devotion to him. One day T.K.S asked his cousin where he went every day. Krishnamurthy told him about Ramana and said, “The Lord of the Hill Himself is sitting in human form, why don’t you come with me.” Both of them then climbed the Hill and went to Virupksha cave to visit the Sage.
Now the story in T.K.S.’s own words:
I too climbed the Hill and found Bhagavan sitting on a stone slab, with about 10 devotees around him. Each would sing a song. Bhagavan turned to me and asked, “Well, won’t you sing a song also.” One of Sundramurthy’s songs came to my mind and I sang it. It’s meaning was, “No other support have I, except thy holy feet. By holding on to them, I shall win your grace. Great men sing your praise Oh, Lord. Grant that my tongue may repeat Thy name even when my mind strays.”
“Yes. That is what must be done,” said Bhagavan, and I took it to be his teaching for me. From that time on, I went to see him regularly for several years without missing a day.
One day I wondered why I was visiting him at all. What was the use? There seemed to be no inner advancement. Going up the hill was meaningless toil. I decided to end my visits on the hill.
For one hundred days exactly I did not see Bhagavan. On the hundred and first day I could suffer no longer and I ran to Skandasramam, above Virupaksha Cave. Bhagavan saw me climbing, got up and came forward to meet me. When I fell at his feet, I could not restrain myself and burst into tears. I clung to them and would not get up.
Bhagavan pulled me up and asked: “It is over three months since I saw you. Where were you?” I told him how I thought that seeing him was of no use. “All right,” he said, “maybe it is of no use, so what? You felt the loss, did you not?”
Then I understood that we did not go to him for profit, but because away from him there was no life for us.
From “At the Feet of Bhagwan” by T.K. Sundaresa Iyer.
Surrender and Salvation: By Voruganti Krishnayya
Voruganti Krishnayya was a great devotee of Bhagavan Sri Ramana. He has narrated many incidents that he observed while in Bhagavan’s company. The following story is one of my favorite.
Bhagavan Ramana
Bhagavan was most tender with people who thought themselves for some reason or other to be miserable sinners and who went to him torn by repentance.
During summer evenings we used to sit in the open space near the well. We would collect in the dining hall for dinner and come back to the well. Suddenly, one day, a visitor started weeping bitterly, “I am a horrible sinner. For a long time I have been coming to your feet, but there is no change in me. Can I become pure at last? How long am I to wait? When I am here near you I am good for a time, but when I leave this place I become a beast again. You cannot imagine how bad I can be – hardly a human being. Am I to remain a sinner forever?”
Bhagavan answered: “Why do you come to me? What have I to do with you? What is there between us that you should come here and weep and cry in front of me?”
The man started moaning and crying even more, as if his heart were breaking. “All my hopes of salvation are gone. You were my last refuge and you say you have nothing to do with me! To whom shall I turn now? What am I to do? To whom am I to go?”
Bhagavan watched him for some time and said, “Am I your guru that I should be responsible for your salvation? Have I ever said that I am your master?”
“If you are not my master, then who is? And who are you, if not my master? You are my guru, you are my guardian angel, you will pity me and release me from my sins!” He started sobbing and crying again.
We all sat silent, overcome with pity. Only Bhagavan looked alert and matter-of-fact.
Bh: “If I am your guru, what are my fees? Surely you should pay me for my services.”
D: “But you won’t take anything,” cried the visitor. “What can I give you?”
Bh: “Did I ever say that I don’t take anything? And did you ever ask me what you can give me?”
D: “If you would take, then ask me. There is nothing I would not give you.”
Bh: “All right. Now I am asking. Give me. What will you give me ?”
D: “Take anything, all is yours.”
Bh: “Then give me all the good you have done in this world.”
D: “What good could I have done? I have not a single virtue to my credit.”
Bh: “You have promised to give. Now give. Don’t talk of your credit. Just give away all the good you have done in your past.”
D: “Yes, I shall give. But how does one give? Tell me how the giving is done and I shall give.”
Bh: “Say like this: ‘All the good I have done in the past I am giving away entirely to my guru. Henceforth I have no merit from it nor have I any concern with it.’ Say it with your whole heart.”
D: “All right, Swami, I am giving away to you all the good I have done so far, if I have done any, and all its good effects. I am giving it to you gladly, for you are my master and you are asking me to give it all away to you.”
Bh: “But this is not enough,” said Bhagavan sternly.
D: “I gave you all I have and all you asked me to give. I have nothing more to give.”
Bh: “No, you have. Give me all your sins.”
D: The man looked wildly at Bhagavan, terror stricken. “You do not know, Swami, what you are asking for. If you knew, you would not ask me. If you take over my sins, your body will rot and burn. You do not know me, you do not know my sins. Please do not ask me for my sins.” And he wept bitterly.
Bh: “I shall look after myself, don’t you worry about me,” said Bhagavan. “All I want from you is your sins.”
For a long time the bargain would not go through. The man refused to part with his sins. But Bhagavan was adamant.
Bh: “Either give me your sins along with your merits, or keep both and don’t think of me as your master.”
In the end the visitor’s scruples broke down and he declared: “Whatever sins I have done, they are no longer mine. All of them and their results, too, belong to Ramana.”
Bhagavan seemed to be satisfied. “From now on there is no good nor bad in you. You are just pure. Go and do nothing, neither good nor bad. Remain yourself, remain what you are.”
A great peace fell over the man and over us all. No one knows what happened to the fortunate visitor; he was never seen in the Ashrama again. He might have been in no further need of coming.
Bhagavan Ramana
In Praise of Shri Bhagavan: By Alan Adams Jacobs
In Praise of Shri Bhagavan
by Alan Adams Jacobs
Let’s give thanks to great Lord Ramana,
For his boundless Grace and Jnana teaching;
He grants silent diksha without vain preaching,
And the precious gift of atma vichara,
His directly liberating, true sadhana.
His eternal presence is close; ever reaching
The hearts of all devotees, so breaching
Mad ego’s fortress of dark avidya.
We feel devotion through our gratitude,
For leading us out of dread samsara;
He bestows full faith, strength and fortitude,
He transmits the power of Arunachala.
Ever our loving guardian and guide,
Deep in our hearts his lotus feet abide.
Photos courtesy of Shri Ramanaashram
Call of the Conch-3-Not for Human Consumption: By Joyce Sweinberg
Dairy products in our current industry, worldwide,
foster the very same adverse effects as meat production and consumption, and even worse,
torture the dairy cow and her offspring repeatedly over time prior to the final slaughter.
For years, I drank milk and consumed milk products, never realizing that I had milk allergies which were causing my facial rashes and breakouts. Finally, someone suggested this to me and when I looked it up online, I was shocked to see how many allergies one can have to dairy products. This was my first step in removing dairy from my diet, for my own benefit. I was not always true to my vows and would often give in to pizza and on Halloween, would raid my sons’ candy for Snickers Bars, and on other holidays, eat the chocolate which was everywhere. In the summer months, I sometimes gave into the soft ice cream cones at the corner ice cream stand. And, usually, I broke out but thought it was worth it.
Until I saw some of the videos posted in the earlier parts of this series. When I saw how the dairy cow and her offspring are abused, I could no longer seek out dairy products in any way. But for some of us, we need to have other reasons than that, so I am including this part to highlight the unknown facts that dairy products really are not that healthy for us or our world, and can cause a multitude of environmental and physical problems. Many of us operate under the false assumption that dairy products make for healthy bones and this is being proven to be untrue in studies. The fact is that it is hard for people to give up their false belief systems if it would require them to remove dairy products from their diets. I have reproduced some excerpts below from online websites along with the link to the actual site for further reading.
Many sites will address the adverse environmental and other effects of the meat industry while including dairy products as a viable alternative to meat. An honest and intelligent assessment of the available facts cannot support such a conclusion. Dairy products in our current industry, worldwide, foster the very same adverse effects as meat production and consumption, and even worse, torture the dairy cow and her offspring repeatedly over time prior to the final slaughter. The simple indisputable fact is that by consuming dairy products or using them in worship, one is promulgating torture of these defenseless animals, and in the process, violating the foremost principle of dharmic behavior, ahimsa.
Let me add this about myself. While I now check the ingredients on everything I buy and I will not knowingly purchase anything which contains meat products or animal products or dairy products, I find it is still a challenge to determine whether there is dairy or animal product in what I eat when I am out, either in a restaurant or at a social event. If I am in doubt, and if the product is one which normally has dairy or eggs in it, I will politely decline.
When I am at temple, it is a more difficult position…I can refuse offers of yogurt or payasam or curd rice, or anything which is obviously milk based. But so many of the prasad offerings are laced with dairy or cooked in ghee that it is impossible to tell. I do still partake, asking His mercy and guidance in what I do. And I write this acknowledging that in co-writing this series, I am educating myself as I go along, making some decisions and deferring others as I ponder the solution that will work for me. I offer these writings to you, the reader, in the same spirit.
FROM PETA…
“Environmental DestructionLarge dairy farms have an enormously detrimental effect on the environment. In California, America’s top milk-producing state, manure from dairy farms has poisoned hundreds of square miles of groundwater, rivers, and streams. Each of the more than 1 million cows on the state’s dairy farms excretes 120 pounds of waste daily.(22) Overall, animals in animal factories, including dairy farms, produce 1.65 billion tons of manure each year, much of which ends up in our waterways and drinking water.(23) The Environmental Protection Agency reports that agricultural runoff is the primary cause of polluted lakes, streams, and rivers. The dairy-products industry is the primary source of smog-forming pollutants in California; a single cow emits more of these harmful gases than a car does.(24)Eighty percent of all agricultural land in the U.S. is used to raise animals for food or to grow grain to feed them—that’s almost half the total land mass of the contiguous 48 states.(25) Each cow raised by the dairy-products industry consumes as much as 50 gallons of water per day.(26)
Human Bodies Fight Cow’s Milk Besides humans (and companion animals who are fed by humans), no species drinks milk beyond infancy or drinks the milk of another species. Cow’s milk is suited to the nutritional needs of calves, who have four stomachs and gain hundreds of pounds in a matter of months, sometimes weighing more than 1,000 pounds before they are 2 years old.(27)
Cow’s milk is the number one cause of food allergies among infants and children, according to the American Gastroenterological Association.(28) Most people begin to produce less lactase, the enzyme that helps with the digestion of milk, when they are as young as 2 years old. This reduction can lead to lactose intolerance.(29) Millions of Americans are lactose intolerant, and an estimated 90 percent of Asian-Americans and 75 percent of Native- and African-Americans suffer from the condition, which can cause bloating, gas, cramps, vomiting, headaches, rashes, and asthma.(30) Studies have also found that autism and schizophrenia in children may be linked to the body’s inability to digest casein, a milk protein; symptoms of these diseases diminished or disappeared in 80 percent of the children who switched to milk-free diets.(31)
A U.K. study showed that people who suffered from irregular heartbeats, asthma, headaches, fatigue, and digestive problems “showed marked and often complete improvements in their health after cutting milk from their diets.”(32)
Calcium and Protein Myths
Although American women consume tremendous amounts of calcium, their rates of osteoporosis are among the highest in the world. Conversely, Chinese people consume half as much calcium (most of it from plant sources) and have very low incidence of the bone disease.(33) Medical studies indicate that rather than preventing the disease, milk may actually increase women’s risk of getting osteoporosis. A Harvard Nurses’ Study of more than 77,000 women ages 34 to 59 found that those who consumed two or more glasses of milk per day had higher risks of broken hips and arms than those who drank one glass or less per day.(34) T. Colin Campbell, professor of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University, said, “The association between the intake of animal protein and fracture rates appears to be as strong as that between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.”(35)Humans can get all the protein that they need from nuts, seeds, yeast, grains, beans, and other legumes. It’s very difficult not to get enough calories from protein when you eat a healthy diet; protein deficiency (also known as kwashiorkor) is very rare in the United States and is usually only a problem for people who live in famine-stricken countries.(36) Consumption of excessive protein from dairy products, eggs, and meat has been linked to the formation of kidney stones and has been associated with colon cancer and liver cancer.(37,38) It’s also suspected that consuming too much protein puts a strain on the kidneys, which compensate by leeching calcium from the bones.(39)”
http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=98
FROM A PETA SPONSORED WEBPAGEHarvard School of Public Health, on the Consumption of Dairy Products (2005):
“The recommendation to drink three glasses of low-fat milk or eat three servings of other dairy products per day to prevent osteoporosis is another step in the wrong direction. … Three glasses of low-fat milk add more than 300 calories a day. This is a real issue for the millions of Americans who are trying to control their weight. What’s more, millions of Americans are lactose intolerant, and even small amounts of milk or dairy products give them stomachaches, gas, or other problems. This recommendation ignores the lack of evidence for a link between consumption of dairy products and prevention of osteoporosis. It also ignores the possible increases in risk of ovarian cancer and prostate cancer associated with dairy products.”
Cow’s milk is an inefficient food source. Cows, like humans, expend the majority of their food intake simply leading their lives. It takes a great deal of grain and other foodstuffs cycled through cows to produce a small amount of milk. And not only is milk a waste of energy and water, the production of milk is also a disastrous source of water pollution. A dairy cow produces 120 pounds of waste every day — equal to that of two dozen people, but with no toilets, sewers, or treatment plants.
In Lancaster County, Pa., manure from dairy cows is destroying the Chesapeake Bay, and in California, which produces one-fifth of the country’s total supply of milk, the manure from dairy farms has poisoned vast expanses of underground water, rivers, and streams. In the Central Valley of California, the cows produce as much excrement as a city of 21 million people, and even a smallish farm of 200 cows will produce as much nitrogen as in the sewage from a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people, according to a U.S. Senate report on animal waste.
FOR YOUR HEALTH: Dairy products are a health hazard. They contain no fiber or complex carbohydrates and are laden with saturated fat and cholesterol. They are contaminated with cow’s blood and pus and are frequently contaminated with pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics. Dairy products are linked to allergies, constipation, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.
The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America’s leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow’s milk to children, saying it can cause anemia, allergies, and insulin-dependent diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease, America’s number one cause of death.
And dairy products may actually cause osteoporosis, not prevent it, since their high-protein content leaches calcium from the body. Population studies, backed up by a groundbreaking Harvard study of more than 75,000 nurses, suggest that drinking milk can actually cause osteoporosis. Find out more by visiting our links page.”
http://www.milksucks.com/index2.asp
Other resources:
https://luthar.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/bookofcompassion2ed.doc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpafipJyDE&feature=player_embedded
Nursing calf photo can be found at http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/phrase/5743/calf-nursing.html
Patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktyaa prayacchati;
Tadaham bhaktyupahritamashnaami prayataatmanah.
If one offers Me with love and devotion of a leaf,
a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it with joy. BG 9.26
https://luthar.com/call-of-the-conch-introduction/
https://luthar.com/call-of-the-conch-1/
https://luthar.com/call-of-the-conch-part-2/
Auspicious Shades by Trina Kavanagh
As I ramble on with Ramana
on sitting silent, and passing.
Action of auspicious shades of orange autumn leaves
attach their coloured crusty shades
to reflective rockports of realization.
On occasion, a lofty leaf within leela, stuck without sticking
releases bondage from rambling rocking walking rock.
Heart time space are collaborated and concentrated.
An unconditional comfortable compassion now remains here
and an all airy fiery appearance resides rupa.
Om. All love.
Love in Relationship and Divine Love: By Mourad Rashad
While the worldly man is quite free to take full liberties with his feelings, to the extent that he can indulge in whatever affective commitments -that might contradict all common sense- just to gratify his ego’s caprice or whims. The worldly man takes into consideration that he will pay a price in exchange for pleasure. The price paid by that man might be suffering or just giving up some of his comforts whether material or otherwise.
On the other hand, the spiritually-disciplined seeker disdainfully refrains from dissipating his energies through indulgence in such vagaries. Moreover, he is also keen to purge and cleanse even his legitimate affective commitments -such as his love to his parents and family – from the least ego-dependent attachments that might serve as permanent leakage unduly draining his energies for no use.
The word love had been used indiscriminately to denote a very wide range of feelings according to the spiritual maturity of man.
However, due to the fact that man is glamorized with the word love and always trying to experience love he will use the most sublime meaning of this word indiscriminately; even to signify the most trivial feelings of egoistic attachment to any person. While true love means the deferential unrestrained self-giving – on the part of the lover – that transforms his old self-assertive ego into a prayerful caring womb nestling the image of his beloved, which now magnificently and gloriously occupies the whole field of emotional vision of the lover. This sublime sense of the word is manifested and expressed by the love of the mother to her newly born child.
Downward gradation from that almost spiritual experience on the part of the mother towards her newly born child -where the mother is temporarily relieved from the grip of her ego through emotion- the word love is mistakenly used to denote an infinite variety of other feelings. These feelings range from that almost spiritual experience of the true love of the mother down to the stale egoistic attachment. This attachment is wholly dependent upon the derivation of the lover – from the relationship – of some fulfillment of his needs or some nourishment to his vanity. This is expressed and manifested in the lover’s possessive appropriation of his beloved, just to guarantee and secure an uninterrupted fulfillment of his needs or uninhibited nourishment to his vanity.
Apart from the experience of true love which can be undoubtedly described as ego-deflating, all other forms of egoistic attachments -which we term collectively love-, are highly ego-inflating. Why they are labeled as ego-inflating? They are labeled so because they constitute an undisguised source of ego’s gratification either to one party in the relationship or to both. This results that the gratified party/parties become strongly attached to the worldly interpretation of human existence. This worldly and wrong interpretation represents the spiritually ignorant perspective that concentrates on man’s ego as the sole worthy and decisive factor in human life. In such a way –through ego gratification- man has discarded and totally ignored the spiritual teaching that ascribes all human weal to the grace of the Lord God rather than to ego’s merits, qualities or effort.
Now, regarding the statement which says “God is Love” where does it fit here in the above exposition? It is what the newly born child experiences. The mother with that unending immeasurable care and concern in an attempt to bring uninterrupted comfort and protection to the child could be compared to the Love of the Lord God. From the stand point of the child, his mother is his God. When the mother fails to comfort or protect the child, the whole existence will move to carry on the job. If we can return again to the position of the child with his mother, the Grace of the Lord God will pour on us from every possible and impossible unthinkable direction.
Njanappaana by Poonthaanam Numidiri-1
translation and commentary by Smt. Savitri Puram
Krishna! Krishna! Mukunda! Janaardana!
Krishna! Govinda! Naarayana! Hare!
Achyuthaananda! Govinda! Maadhava!
Sachidaananda! Naarayana! Hare!
Introduction
Njanappaana can be considered as the Bhagavad Gita of Malayalees. This is a Darshanika kaavyam or philosophical poem expressed in the most simple Malayalam language for ordinary people. Poonthanam Nambudiri, an ardent devotee of Shri Guruvayurappan, transformed his unbearable sorrow from his infant son’s death into a “yogavishesham”. He used this sad experience to build his Bhakthi soudham or house of devotion and opened it for all devotees for all time. Even though the language is very simple, this njaanappana, or song of wisdom deals with the essence of all vedas and upanishads. May Bhagavan Guruvayurappan, Bhagavathy Sarswathi Devi and Sri Poonthaanam Nambudiri bless us to become wiser by going through this great Song of Wisdom!!
Gurunaadhan thuNa chaika santhatham thirunaamangal naavinmel eppozhum
Piriyaatheyirikkanam nammude nara janmam saphalamaakkiduvaan
May my Gurunathan help me (thuna chaika) to keep the auspicious names of Lord continuously on my tongue (naavinmel eppozhum) and to make this human life (narajanmam) meaningful and fruitful!(saphalamaakkituvaan).
The only way to to make the human life fruitful and meaningful is to constantly chant the auspicious names of Lord. So, the poet is seeking the blessings of his Gurunaathan to help him retain the naamam on his tongue for ever. Who is Poonthanam’s Guru? He is considering Guruvayurappan as his Guru because Lord is both the remover of the darkness of Anjaanam or avidya (Guru) and the protector and saviour of all (Naathan). After innumerable births in lower species,we finally got narajanmam in Kaliyuga. Kalisantharanopanishad and many other scriptures reinforce the importance of naamasankeerthanam in Kaliyuga. Naamasankeerthanam can be done any time anywhere.
Innaleyolam enthennarinjeela Ini naaleyum enthennarinjeela
Innikkanda thadikku vinaashavum Inna neramennaethumarinjeela
We really do not know what happened until yesterday or what would happen tomorrow. Neither we know when this body we see today will perish.
When we look at the literal meaning, we may feel like responding: “I know what happened until yesterday and I can roughly guess what will happen in the coming days. I am hail and healthy and unless I get into an accident or so I should be able to live many more years”.
Poonthaanam is putting his forefinger on his nose with an expression of “what a pity?” because he meant much more than the literal meaning of yesterday, tomorrow and our present body. He persuades us to think deep about the uncertainty of life. Yesterday and today also means previous janmaas and future janmaas. We do not know about our previous janmaas or good and bad karmaas we have accumulated. A great part of our good and bad experiences in this janma is the direct result of our past karmaas. We cannot undo the sins or suffering by anything other than sincere prayers. Bhagavaan is the only one who can change the results of our praarabdha karmaas and in Kaliyuga, naamasankeerthanam pleases Bhagavan more than anything. We do not know what is in store for us tomorrow. How can we make sure that our future is in safe hands? Only by offering ourselves in His strong and kind hands. Then what about today? At present we live in this body and the moment jeevathma leaves the body, it becomes lifeless like a log of wood. We have absolutely no idea when that will happen. Here Poonthaanam used the word “thati” for body to specifically tell us that body is like a log of wood or worse than a log of wood when it is lifeless. A dead body that is not preserved starts deteriorating in a few hours where as a log of wood may remain intact for several months or even years. Poonthaanam advises us to think deep about these truths and use every moment available to worship Lord with naamams. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also said that there are no hard and fast rules for chanting naamaas. Anytime one can chant and under any circumstances one is allowed to chant. “Shuchir va ashuchir va sarva avasthaasu sarvada” meaning in any condition clean (purified) or dirty (impure) one can chant the auspicious names of Lord.
Kandukandangirikkum janangale Kandillennu varuthunnathum bhavaan
Randu naalu dinam kondorutthane Thandiletti nadathunnathum bhavaan
Maalika mukaleriya mannante Tholil maaraappu kettunnathum bhavaan
If Bhagavan wishes, those people whom we see today may disappear (may be dead) by tomorrow. Again if Bhagavan decides, with in a few days (two or four days) a healthy man’s dead body may be carried to the funeral pyre. In the same way, by God’s wish, a king sitting in a palace (maalika) can become a beggar with a dirty bag (maaraappu) hanging from his shoulders (tholil).
Poonthaanam explains how transient is our life, wealth, poverty, sorrows and everything that we see in this world. A man walking and having fun this moment can embrace death the next moment. Everything is Lord’s wish! In Kerala, usually a dead body is tied to a wooden ladder or a piece of long wood and carried by relatives (normally by sons) to the funeral pyre. However hail and healthy one may be, when the time decided by Lord approaches, chaitanyam or jeevan disappears leaving the dead body to be carried to the funeral pyre. It can happen any time, in one day, two days or four days (randu naalu dinam kondoruthane). Here Poonthanam used the word “mannan” for king (mannante) because “mannan” also means “drushtan” or “aviveki”. He advises that those people who have money and power should have the vivekam to use both dharmically remembering that they came to this world with nothing and would go from this world with nothing. Bhagavan can take it any moment from anybody.
By Lord Krishna’s blessings, Kuchela or Sudama became wealthy overnight. What about Ravana? He lost everything that he held dear and finally he lost his life too at the hands of Lord Rama. Even if we are destined to go through sufferings due to our past karmaas, surrendering to Lord will lessen the negative effects and lead us to Satgathi. “Bagavan says in Gita: “na hi kalyaanakruth kashchid durgathim thaatha gacchathi” meaning “If you do good, it will definitely lead you to satgathi or protect you from any harm”. Poonthaanam tells this truth from his own experience of the tragic and sudden death of his infant son.
I have heard several versions of the story. But the following is the one I heard from my parents. Poonthaanam’s son was 5 months old and anna praasham (giving rice for the first time is called “choroonu” in Malayalam and usually it is done either the 5th month or 7th month ) ceremony was fixed. He invited several relatives and that morning after feeding the baby his wife made a bed in the room next to the hall where the ceremony was to be conducted. Usually there will be an entrance to that room from the kitchen also. Baby was sleeping and his wife was busy with all the preparations. It was morning and one namboothiri lady finished her bath and put the wet clothes in the same room where the baby was sleeping. That room was dark even during day time and she did not see the baby and unfortunately wet clothes were put on the baby’s face. ( I can very well believe this because in my house, there is a room on the north side called Vatakkini which is very dark even in day time. So when our parents told us this story, we listened with tears in our eyes and we felt it could happen in any Nambudiri house.) Then the next lady came after bath and seeing the wet clothes in a corner she also put hers on the top of it. One after another a few ladies unknowingly put wet clothes on and around the baby. Nobody noticed and it was about muhurttham time and Poonthaanam asked his wife to bring the baby. She was shocked to see what happened to her helpless baby and we can imagine the rest.
This sorrow gave birth to Njanappana and Poonthaanam advises us to realize the uncertainty of everything in this world and persuades us to think of God by continuous chanting of His auspicious names.
Kandaal ottariyunnu chilarithu Kandaalum thiriyaa chilarkkethumae
Kandathonnumae sathyam allennathu Mumbe kandangariyunnithu chilar
Some people see this truth, understand it or internalize the truth. But some people cannot comprehend the truth even when they see it everyday. But there are some others who know that all that they see are not real and it is all Maaya.
Here Poonthaanam divides humans into three categories. Utthama purushaas (or wise people or perfect human beings) are able to understand the transient nature of this world. People like Shankaraacharyar, Sreeraamakrishna Paramahasar are examples who belong to this category. Then there are Madhyama purushaas (or reasonably wise people) who understand it when they themselves or people near, dear and around them experience the ups and downs of life. Then the third category of people known as Adhama Purushaas (people with low level of wisdom) do not understand or even do not have the attitude to think more about it even if they or their beloved ones go through the negative as well as the positive experiences including successes, death, suffering and disease. Yudhishtira Maharaj says to the Yaksha who asks ” what is the biggest wonder in the world?”
Even though everybody who is born embraces death eventually, the living people refuse to believe that death will eventually embrace them also. What is more surprising than this? Even though we see it everyday we live as if death is only for somebody else.
Again Poonthanam indirectly tells us that only with Bhagavan’s blessings we can have this vivekam or power of discrimination. So we should pray Bhagavan to include us in that category of few people (the word “chilar” indicates that these kind of people are rare) who are capable of seeing the truth. In this Kaliyuga, the most doable form of worship is naamasnakeerthanam and he encourages everybody to chant auspicious names to purify our mind and elevate ourselves from the state of Adhama Purushas to the state of Uttama Purushas.
Palarkkum ariyenam ennittallo
Pala jaathi parayunnu saasthrangal
Many people (palarkkum) want to know (ariyenam)about all these (including the power of discrimination of human beings, about the mystery of God, how to go beyond Maya and attain salvation etc) and hence so many saasthraas (saathrangal) tells (parayunnu) about or explain these subjects in so many different ways (pala jaathi).
Which saasthra or which philosophy appeals to each one depends on each individual’s nature, attitude and circumstances. Some people like certain approach whereas others like a totally different approach. Saathraas contain so many different philosophies to satisfy the varied interests of ordinary people. Just like we all choose different professions or jobs for the sole purpose of survival, different people accept different saasthraas to advance spiritually and increase the awareness of parmaathma chaithanyam or God. There are Vaishnavaas, Shaivaas, Shaaktheyaas or another group who worship all 33 million gods alike etc. Goal is the same and only paths are different. There is a saying that “vitthamaeva param nrunaam janmaachaarakalodaya:” meaning people choose different ways and methods for the sole purpose of acquiring wealth.
Outwardly each and every philosophy may appear different, but once the essence is understood, the differences slowly disappear and all the paths unite to become one path. The word Saasthraas (saathrangal) is used because they advise to follow certain restrictions and rules to advance smoothly in the spiritual path. How is it possible to choose the right path and who will guide us through? Poonthanam has only one solution: chant the auspicious names of God and He will guide us through the right path.
Karmathiladhikaari janangalkku
Karma saasthrangalundu palavidham
Saankhya saasthrangal yogangal enniva
Sankhyayillyathu nilkkatte sarvavum
For those people (janangalkku) who are authorized to do karmaas like yaaga or yanja, homam, poojaas etc (karmaathil adikaari- it can even mean those who desire to do karmaas or those who are entrusted with the duty of performing karmaas) several different (palavidham) karma saashtraas are available (karma saasthrangalundu). Saankhya saasthra, yoga saasthra etc are among the innumerable or countless(sankhyayillya) saasthraas available. But for the time being, let us keep aside ( nilkkatte) all of them (athu sarvavum)
Just like the diversity of the world and its inhabitants, saasthraas also are diverse. Different types of yanjaas, poojaas, and homams are described very clearly in many scriptures. Initially even though devotees perform them with some specific desire, as the Bhakthi bhaavam matures, Bhagavan’s blessings help them to do Nishkaama karma or do karma with out expecting anything in return. There is a small conversation between Jabali Muni and a vartthaka or business man called Thulaadhaara. Even though Jabaali Muni was an embodiment of kindness, he was proud of his achievements and considered himself as the greatest Dharmishttan. Then he heard an ‘ashareeri” or wise words from God to visit Thulaadhaara. He visited him and Thulaadhaara explains to him how we all should do our swadharmam with out expecting anything in return. Thulaadhaara told him that Yanjaas and poojaas are done to show our gratitude to God, Forefathers, Rishis and other Maahaathmaas for what blessings they have already bestowed on us. Renunciation of the results of the karma is nishkaama karma and Nishkaama karma purifies our mind. God’s chaithanyam gets reflected only in pure minds.
Maharshi Kapila’s Saankhya philosophy regards Universe as consisting of two eternal realities Purusha and Prakriti. Pathanjali Maharshi’s yoga saasthra describes different types of yogas like Hatha yoga, Raja Yoga etc. They all lead one to the knowledge of Brahmam, but those paths are very difficult and with out an able Guru (in every sense of the word) it is impossible to follow those paths. But in this Kaliyuga, Bhaktha Kavi Poonthaanam advises us to set aside those difficult paths (which are as sharp and dangerous as the edge of a razor) and follow the most simple and enjoyable path of Bhakthi or devotion. What is the first and final step in the path of devotion? Naamasankeerthanam. Bhakthi starts with Naamam and ends with Naamam. It is for ordinary people as well as for self realized souls. No question of whether you are authorized, whether you have enough knowledge to pursue or whether you have the right comes into question in this way of worshipping Lord. Anybody can do naamajapam, anytime, anywhere.
Krishna! Krishna! Mukunda! Janaardana!
Krishna! Govinda! Naarayana! Hare!
Achyuthaananda! Govinda! Maadhava!
Sachidaananda! Naarayana! Hare!
Part One…To be continued…
Is There Now A Choice But To Love? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
We are like candle lights
shining on each other
warming the air around us.
And wherever the wind of change
placed our flame
we would not do anything different.
Those whom life has broken
hear the unspoken truth
always from the Heart.
Is there now a choice
but to love
even if silently.
First, The Lightning: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
First, the lightning,
then the lightening,
follows the OM of thunder!
Shattered, scattered
who can put together
pieces of space.
No point in trying
and asking why
all the atoms are dancing.
As if they hear nothing
but love songs
written for you.
Bhagavan Ramana
Luthar.com 
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