Ganesha Everywhere

Well everyone reading this post must have gone through the previous ganesha post.It had lots of knowledge about how Ganesha is related to Janus and associated with mathematics,ganesha being the remover of obstacles, chanelizer of our mind, also one who is prosperous and brings good luck.It was vey much scientific and ofcourse spiritual.
Now talking about this post it mainly post focuses on how Ganesha is found not only in India but various other countries and thus concludes that he is not just limited being a Hindu divinity but the Divinity of Knowledge and numbers and that too not only in India but multitudes across the world.
Reverance of ganesha is found in Rome, Centeral Amercia, China, japan, Thailand, Cambodia, South-Eastern Asian islands and in many more countries.
Indonesia, which is the largest Muslim country in the world and forms the major part of the south eastern archipelago. The currency, the Rupiah note of Indonesiatoo, has an image of ganesha on it which depicts him as the Divinity of numbers and Knowledge.( rupiah note is in the image above).The concept of Ganesha was prevalent far and wide from faraway centeral America to Europe to Asia, more than 2500 years back itself.
One of Ganesha Statues is found in Indonesia which is the largest among all statues in Indonesia. The name of the statue is "Sri Maha Ganesha Monument". It is at an impressive height of 18.5 metres from the ground and then the statue of ganesha is 9 meters tall. The statue is in sitting position, accompnied by his sacred vehicle Moushaka (moshaka).ganesha here is potrayed with four arms, holding a weapon, a rosary, sweets and a swastika.One of the amazing things about this statue is that it is surrounded by 204 flags from around the world symbloising that Ganesha sheds holy light on all humans, which again shows he is the symbol of Knowledge.
This shows how Ganesha is not just limited to Hinduism but is revered all over the globe.
Thus ganesha and the festival associated to this Divinity -
" Ganesha Chaturthi" resembles that the world is united and the world can grow as a knowledgeable society.
Ganesha with all his multitude of forms, sumbols and stories, is a concept, Tattva, epitomising the winning formula for a good mind, intellect, knowledge, strength and prosperity, which is the direction we all need to progress in .
Interesting
:)
Jai Guru Dev

Janus and Ganesha

Who is Ganesha ?
 
The name ganesha has two components , Gana and Esha .
Esha means "the lord of" and Gana stands for the counts, numbers and the multitudes.
This is the reason why mathematics is known as "Ganitham" . The name ganesha denotes Him to be the Lord of multitudes and numbers and the faculty that is needed to count, deal with multitudes, is knowledge, intellect. It is this intellect which can help man overcome obstacles as man's obtacles  primarily stem from his mind.

Ganesha is therefore also called Vigneshwara.  It means one who removes obstaccles. We pray to vigneshwara to channellize our mind , our thoughts and the energies in the right direction and to ensure successful completion of any task.
He is also called as Vinayaka means the humble, approachable one.

Ganesha is not only a Hindu GOD but is found everywhere. Let us look at this :-

The image above depicts Janus and Gaesha. In ancient rome , the pre-christian era had a divinity known as "Janus". He was the one who was propitiated  during all beginnings. Janus was installed on the doorways as a guardian. janus had 2 faces, one to look at the future and the other at the past. Ganesha also is associated with 2 faces. He had a human face in the beginning and later on was replaced with that of an elephant. Odd but interesting and very logical.
We can also take a look at their names Janus and Ganesha . They are quiet similar . Also the 1st month  January is associated with Janus ( derived from the work janus) . Isn't this amazing .

Some more amazing things about Ganesha in  the next post :D

JGD  :)

Q & A with H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji

 

The best thing in life is to have a balance between emotions and intellect 

July 11, 2010

Q: How to have celebration when I feel tired with service?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: That means you have not completed your service. And when service is done with the spirit of celebration, then it does not tire you or wear you off. See you have been so enthusiastic for two –three days, but I don’t see any of you tired. You gain so much silence with meditation, and you should take care of that. There should be moderation in activity, moderation in talk, moderation in everything. Do not over do in anything.

Q: Guruji, we get plenty in life yet a feeling of dissatisfaction remains with unfulfilled desires, which really give pain sometimes. How to deal with them?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You have done the basic course. What did you learn in the basic course - There is failure sometimes and there is success sometimes in life, and you have to accept both. You can never be satisfied with a failure, it will give pain only. Then what to do at that time? There are two methods for that-‘so what?’ and ‘so hum’! So you have these keys to handle the situation!

Q: Guruji, I was doing service today and I must admit that I did service only to draw your attention.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Never mind! You know, don’t feel guilty that you did service to get attention. At least you did service! And as you will move on, you will improve. Many times people also ask questions just to draw attention, I know that! But don’t make the habit to have just attention, do both.

Q: We have heard you saying that plenty of blessings are being given here, but how much amount we can receive depends totally on the capacity of our container. So, is there a way to increase the capacity or size of our container to have more?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: yoga increases your capacity, your skills. Yoga, Pranayama, Dhyan- all the things which you are doing here increase your capacity and your qualities. Service does that too.

Q: How should the breath be –long deep one or restful slow ones?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should take long as well as restful breaths sometimes. When you take long and deep ones, it gives you prana, and slow and restful ones will give you rest and meditation.

Q: In the modern world today, many suffer from diabetes which cannot be cured fully with allopathic medicines. Can it be cured by yoga?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Some types of diabetes can be cured with the combination of yoga and ayurveda , but they may not work in certain type of diabetes. Here at the Research Center, some research has been conducted by Dr Vedamurthacharya who has published 43 papers on it. You can talk to him. He has tested on over 1000 diabetic people, who after doing sudarshan kriya and following proper diet have overcome diabetes.

Q: I have to struggle all the time for every work, and I don’t get the satisfactory results either. What should I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Why do you have to put these ideas in your mind- ‘I have to struggle for everything, and I don’t get satisfactory results’? You only put this sort of affirmation on yourself –got it? It may be like that at sometime in the past, but it may not be like that in the future.

Q: What should I do to increase concentration?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Do more advance courses.

Q: What should I do so that I get enlightenment? I want enlightenment, I want to see God.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You want enlightenment? You want to see God? Do service and just relax!

Q: I do sadhna every day, but I want to be with you all the time and if I see other people talking to you, I keep hallucinating that you speaking to me only. Sometimes I feel any gesture of yours works and I feel alright, but today while meeting our entire group, you didn’t even see or look at me. So, I don’t know if that is obsession and how do I get over it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, the moment you knew it was obsession, you already got over it. OK? So, it is OK to draw attention for a while but you don’t have to draw attention all the time. You be happy, be centered, keep doing service, sadhna, satsang. Don’t sit and do analysis –“Was it devotion or was it hallucination?”- Analysis makes it even worse. Just be natural, move on, and take it as it comes-OK? Got it? See, we always get what we need. This basic principal we must keep in mind and keep moving.

Q: For doing any work, I think Guruji is asking me to do it. It works, but it has hampered my normal living.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should have a balance - what your inner voice says, what your gut feeling is, and then use your inner strength rest of the time. The one hampering you-that’s called ‘yoga maya’. Sometimes ‘yoga maya’ comes in mind and says things which are not correct also. That’s why we shouldn’t lose our intellectual discrimination ability while ordering and understanding to inner dimensional consciousness. This state happened to Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa also, and to many enlightened people in the world that the inner vision comes, a voice comes. So, go with a balance. Go slow with both intellect and feelings. Got it? Your feelings are as important as your intellect. Many people survive only on intellect and some survive only on feelings. The best thing in life is to have a balance between emotions and intellect, between heart and the mind.

Q: Guruji, in Geeta what does Lord Krishna mean by the world as play of gunas?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If we start about Geeta, it will take a long time. So, not now. You read again. Sometimes you read and immediately understand it, and sometimes you read hundred times and then understand the same thing.

Q : Sometimes I feel good and sometimes bad. How to balance?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Keep silence for a few days and then essential right things will come out.

Q: I have been doing sudarshan kriya for last 6 years and living totally a new life in terms of getting over negative emotions etc. But I have a small problem of forgetting things; my memory is not as sharp now as it used to be. How to get on with this problem or I should leave it?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You should take ayurvedic medicines- brahmi, and shankhpushpi etc. as per your age. And the food habits that we have in our country is not good for memory power because we eat so much starch, so much of carbohydrate and so little vegetables. So, change your diet. Have more intake of proteins, vegetables and fruits, and some ayurvedic supplements like brahmi etc. This, along with your pranayama and yoga will improve memory.

Q: You say, choice is ours and blessings are yours. For two-three years, I have not been able to decide my career. I take up jobs and then leave. Can you choose one for me?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Any career you choose, after sometime you may feel oh, this is not the right one. People who have become doctors say, ‘we should have become engineers’, those who are engineers may feel they should have been lawyers and make easy money! So every profession has its dark side. That’s why I say you move on in any profession of your choice and do it. And I chose one career for you? No way! I refuse to. You chose the profession; I give the blessing. My blessings are there.

Q: Guruji, what is Time and can we modify time and its speed?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Time is distance between two events or happenings. It appears longer in sad moods and shorter in happy moods, and its speed can be modified by silence.

Q: In your discourse on Narada Bhakti Sutra, you say everything is illusion. Then if everything is illusion, does that mean there is no need to do anything?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: First you hear the full talk. Making concepts after hearing half or one tape is not advisable.

Q: Whenever I meet you, I don’t feel satisfied. I feel you give more time to others than me. Today also in darshan line, you never looked at me and moved ahead. And whenever I get a chance to talk to you, I just don’t know what to talk! Then I think, “Oh! I forgot to ask this, forgot to tell this”. The analysis starts in my mind. What to do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: How can I not see you? I leave none unseen, I see each and every one-all who come to visit me in the darshan line. And you forget to ask or tell anything on meeting me, that’s OK. You have told it now, got your chance, yes?

Q: We heard that Abhimanyu learnt one of the difficult and tactful war act called ‘chakravyuh’ while he was in his mother’s womb. So, is it possible to learn something while in womb also?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes, it is true.

Trinity - Chaos Pendulum

India is a culture of varied culture and traditions and when we come at the part of worship everyone must have seen that there are 3 aspects of divinty namely , Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Individuals have faith in their choice of God, but not more than a few try to understand the concept of 3.

One must have thought that since the process of Creation is one single process and the the created universe is too one why does one need 3 aspects of divinities.
Modern Science provides us many perspectives which leads us to the scientific answers behind it.

Senior Physicist named Dr.Archana Sharma  from CERN, says, "At the time of Creation, once the God particle makes its presence felt, under the influence of its field, 3 quarks group together to make up a stable proton and many other particles which form the constituents of matter. These are formed within nano seconds after the Big Bang. When 2 come together, they do not form a stable particle again. 3 are needed for a stable proton to take shape."

Later an elderly physicist namely Dr.Hans peter Durr, former director of Max Planck Institute and Right livelihood Award winner, through a series of experiments using pendulums, has shown how a triple pendulum, which he calls  a Chaos Pendulum, is able to keep its oscillations going and is capable of keeping it sustained till infinity. While it seems a chaotic situation, it shows how each keeps the others swinging in a big picture view. From these experiments, we get an insight into how it is perhaps essential for 3 aspects to act in unison, for the continous, sustenance of this Universe too for infinite time.

This is also explained in one of the ancient texts and the process is known as Trivritkaranam which means the act of 3.

Thus, both, from the traditional view point and modern scientific view point a combination of the trinity of forces seems to play a very vital role in the Creation and Sustenance of Universe.
It is an amazing fact that how our ancients had made this phenomenon so easy and intresting for us to understand.

JGD :)

Janmashtami and Krishna

Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. Krishna’s birth on Ashtami, the eighth day of a lunar fortnight or the half moon is significant, as it indicates a perfect balance between the visible material world and the invisible spiritual realm. This signifies Krishna’s mastery over realms, the seen and the unseen.

The personality of Krishna is so unique and difficult to fathom.
He is a great teacher, a spiritual inspiration as well as a politician.

On the one hand, he is Yogeshwara (the Lord of Yogas — the state to which every yogi aspires) while on the other hand he is called chit chor, a thief.

His behaviour encompasses both extremes and yet he remains a perfect balance of the extremes. The avdhoot by definition is oblivious to the world outside, while a materialistic person, be it a politician or a king, is oblivious to the spiritual world. But Krishna is both: he is Dwarkadheesh and Yogeshwar.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita “People think of me as a physical embodiment. I am not the body; I am the consciousness which is present all over and in everything”.

Krishna is the embodiment of pure joy and bliss. All complaints and anger vanish and life appears like a game. Krishna could also tell lies and he troubled people. For, Krishna everything was Lila. If we look into his life, wherever he went, a fight or a war would occur there.

Krishna is the symbol of all possibilities, the blossoming of all aspects of the human, and the divine. It’s difficult to really understand Krishna’s personality.

The Rishis called him the full embodiment of the divine, the totality, because all that a human could be is in Krishna.
It is said that Krishna used to steal butter. Butter is the final product of a process: the milk is first made into curd and then the curd is churn to become butter.Like milk or curd, life is the process of churning. So many events churn your life. And as your mind is churned, finally the butter comes out, which is the saintliness in you. Krishna steals the saintliness. He loves the saintliness, he loves this mind that you have finally attained, a mind which is like butter and has reached its final state.

Why does Krishna carry a flute? What you have in your hand indicates what you are inside.

If you have a flower in your hand, it indicates you are like a flower. If you have a flute in your hand, you are like a flute — hollow and empty. Krishna holds a flute and his posture indicates his philosophy. One leg is firmly on the ground, the other is raised, poised; this is how dance happens. When you are buried in the mind dance cannot happen.Dance is the joy of life and the life of Krishna is such a dance.

Then there is Radha, which means longing for the most beautiful thing. Radha became immersed in Krishna because that longing for the divine, that love for the divine was so total that even the divine could not stay without Radha. So Krishna says “I am playing the flute for you”.

Radhe-Shyam represents the infinity. Radhe is the individual life and Shyam is the infinite life.
The infinity permeates every cell of the individual body and the creation is filled with life.
Krishna is the self of every being and when our true self shines through our personality.

As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, he is the strength in the strong, the wisdom in the wise, the beauty in the beautiful and the dignity in the dignified.

Janmashtami is the day when you enliven that virat swaroop of Krishna in your own consciousness once again. Letting your true nature manifest in your day-to-day life is the real secret of Krishna’s birth.

Hence the authentic way of celebrating Janmashtami is to know that you have to play a dual role — of being a responsible citizen and realise that you are above all these roles; you are the untouched Brahman. Imbibing avadhoot and activism in your life is the significance of celebrating Janamashtami.

Janmashtmi

It is more than 5000 years since Lord Krishna was born.The divine himself in his Purana Rupa (complete form).Lord Krishna was born on the 8th day (Ashtami) and 8 stands for Saturn which means dispassion.

He was fully unattached and dispassionate yet enthuastic and lively and always happy.

Everyone of us must have heard the word Gokul.Gokul means society or a family where there is knowledge.His life was fully blossomed.He was the best in all ways.Best lover, best friend, best child, best thief, best musician, beest husband. He is the biggest uncrowned King.Everyone still remembers his journey from Vrindavan to Dwarka.

Now let us talk about his birth, he was born in midnight when everyone was asleep.this signifies that when everyone is asleep self-knowledge is awakened.

Krishna was born to Devaki (Krishna's mother) and Vasudeva (Krishna's father).

Deh (body) is Devaki, Prana (life energy) is Vasudev. When body and life energy unite, then the bliss that is born out of the union is called Nandlala.

while Krishna was born  the guards were also asleep.Guards represents the senses and bliss is beyond the senses.The jail represents the body and the river Yamuna, love. It rose to touch the feet of the little Krishna. This means that the love was so intense it could not refrain itself from touching the feet of the Lord.

Till love gets transformed into devotion, there is no satisfaction. So when love happens with a thing, person or situation – it is not fulfilling. However, love reaches its peak when it experiences the touch of the Divine.

The story has an amazing meaning behind it. That’s why our ancestors did not restrict a story to time and place- this is a forever continuing to flow, its happening everyday.

More on His Birth and importance in the next Post :D
JSK
JGD