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The Vedanta Kesari THE LION OF VEDANTA
A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914 Vedanta Centre of Greater Washington DC , USA
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India's Timeless Wisdom
Reflecting over all scriptures and thinking over and again, one arrives at this conclusion only: always meditate on God. —Traditional Saying
Editor: Swami Atmashraddhananda Managing Editor: Swami Gautamananda Printed and published by Swami Vimurtananda on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust 2 0 1 4 h e V e d a n t a KMath e s aRoad, r i  ~ II ~ J U N E Chennai fromT No.31, Ramakrishna Mylapore, - 4 and Printed at Sri Ramakrishna Printing Press, No.31 Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Chennai - 4. Ph: 044 - 24621110
The Vedanta Kesari VOL. 101, No. 6
ISSN 0042-2983
101
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A CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL MONTHLY OF THE RAMAKRISHNA ORDER
Started at the instance of Swami Vivekananda in 1895 as Brahmavâdin, it assumed the name The Vedanta Kesari in 1914. For free edition on the Web, please visit: www.chennaimath.org
CONTENTS JUNE 2014
Vedic Prayers
205
Editorial The Types of People
206
Sanskrit Composition Shri-viveka-guruvashtakam: Eight verses in praise of Swami Vivekananda Brahmachari Bhudevachaitanya
209
Articles Swami Saradananda in America: A Tapestry of Images 212 Vandana Jani Medical Practice in India: Some Guidelines from Swami Vivekananda 219 Swami Brahmeshananda The Spiritual Universe of Sri Ramacharitamanas: As Seen through Its Two Invocatory Verses 226 A.P.N. Pankaj The Scientific Basis of Habit: Spirituality in the Light of Neuroplasticity 229 Gopal C Bhar The Value of Brahmacharya 235 Swami Tathagatananda The Meaning of Dashanami Sampradaya 239 New Find Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda 217 The Order on the March 241 Book Review 242 Feature Simhâvalokanam (Work and Worship) Cover Story: Page 4
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The Vedanta Kesari Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 h (044) 2462 1110 (4 lines) Fax : (044) 2493 4589 Email : mail@chennaimath.org Website : www.chennaimath.org TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS
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N Cover Story N A New Temple at Greater Washington, USA Vedanta Center of Greater Washington DC (website: http:// vedantadc.org) was established in April 1997 as an extension of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. The Center is located on a 2.5 acre plot surrounded by woods. A modest brick house, which came with the property, served as the main Center up until June of 2000, when the first stage of construction, consisting of a wor ship hall and residential section, was completed. The final stage of construction, consisting of the new temple adorned with a marble image of Sri Ramakrishna, was consecrated in April last year (see the report in Vedanta Kesari, June 2013, p.239). The prayer hall has a seating capacity of 164. The Center’s activities include Sunday lectures, weeknight classes, worship and meditation, karma yoga sessions, and social ser vice programmes. The temple opens for morning meditation at 5 am and remains open throughout the day until the close of evening meditation at 8 pm. Daily Puja is done at 7:45 am and evening Arati is at 6:30 pm. o
T he V edanta K esari P atrons ’ S cheme We invite our readers to join as patrons of the magazine. They can do so by sending Rs.2000/- or more. Names of the patrons will be announced in the journal under the Patrons' Scheme and they will receive the magazine for 20 years. Please send your contribution to The Manager, The Vedanta Kesari by DD/MO drawn in favour of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai with a note that the enclosed amount is for the Patrons' Scheme. (This scheme is valid in India only). PATRONS 689. Mr. T. Sachidanandan, Kerala 690. Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kozhikode, Kerala
DONORS Mr. H. Bhaskar, Mumbai Rs. 2000 Ms. G. Sarojamma, Bangalore Rs. 1000 Mr. S. Chenna Keshava, Mangalore Rs. 1500
The Vedanta Kesari Library Scheme SL.NO. NAMES OF SPONSORS
5772. Dr. Triveni Shekaraiah, U.K. 5773. -do- 5774. -do- 5775. -do- 5776. -do- 5777. -do- 5778. -do-
AWARDEE INSTITUTIONS
Sai Charan Senior Citizen's Home, Besant Nagar, Chennai - 600 090 Santhi Sadan, Harrington Road, Chennai - 600 031 Sathyalok Ideal Home for Sr. Citizens, Porur, Chennai - 600 116 Sr. Citizens Home A.M.S., R.A. Puram, Chennai - 600 028 ICSW, Manasarovar, Jaipur, Rajasthan - 302 020 Brahman Seva Mandal, Nerul, New Mumbai - 400 706 Society of Friends of Sassoon Hospitals, Sassoon Road, Pune - 411 001 To be continued . . .
The Vedanta Kesari VOL. 101, No. 6, JUNE 2014 ISSN 0042-2983
E ACH
SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE.
T HE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THE DIVINITY WITHIN. 5
Vedic Prayers
Tr. by Swami Sarvananda
He who understands asambhuti and vinasha both together, attains immortality by devotion to asambhuti (the non-becoming or Prakriti), having conquered death by the worship of vinasha (the destruction or Hiranyagarbha).
B He for whom you have been seeking all over the world, for whom you have been weeping and praying in churches and temples, on whom you were looking as the mystery of all mysteries shrouded in the clouds, is nearest of the near, is your own Self, the reality of your life, body, and soul. That is your own nature. Assert it, manifest it. Not to become pure, you are pure already. You are not to be perfect, you are that already. Nature is like that screen which is hiding the reality beyond. Every good thought that you think or act upon is simply tearing the veil, as it were; and the purity, the Infinity, the God behind, manifests Itself more and more. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 2: 82
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Editorial
The Types of People The Knower and the Knowledge Since time immemorial, man has been trying to understand Man. No two men are same. Variety is the spice of life. Turn everywhere and what one finds is variety—in physical features, in food habits, likes and dislikes, in economic conditions, in customs and practices, in one’s dealings and feelings, in the way one looks at others; there is no end to it. Infinite is the variety in creation and infinite are the types of men. Indeed one has to accept that there is variety, based on various factors and reasons. But we should also accept that what we call as ‘knowledge’ is always a limitation. Only the ‘Knower’ is infinite; what he knows is always a limitation. Swami Vivekananda points out:
intellect functions and tries to understand life. All great men, saints and prophets, have laid before us these classifications in order to understand and organise our lives better. Let us look at some of these classifications. The Types of People 1. The Bhagavad Gita speaks of four types of people who worship God. In Swami Vivekananda’s words: Shri Krishna says in the Gita (7.16), ‘Four classes of people worship Me: the distressed, the seeker of material things, the inquirer, and the knower of truth.’ People who are in distress approach God for relief. If they are ill, they worship Him to be healed; if they lose their wealth, they pray to Him to get it back. There are other people who ask Him for all kinds of things, because they are full of desires—name, fame, wealth, position and so on. They will say, ‘O Virgin Mary, I will make an offering to you if I get what I want. If you are successful in granting my prayer, I will worship God and give you a part of everything.’ Men not so material as that, but still with no faith in God, feel inclined to know about Him. They study philosophies, read scriptures, listen to lectures, and so on. They are the inquirers. The last class are those who worship God and know Him. All these four classes of people are good, not bad. All of them worship Him.3
Reasoning is limiting something by our own minds. We throw a net and catch something, and then say that we have demonstrated it; but never, never can we catch God in a net.1
Not only God, even in our day-to-day life, what we call as our ‘knowledge’ is in fact a mere classification. In Swamiji’s words, Knowledge is mere classification. When we find many things of the same kind we call the sum of them by a certain name and are satisfied; we discover ‘facts’, never ‘why’. We take a circuit in a wider field of darkness and think we know something! No ‘why’ can be answered in this world; for that we must go to God. The Knower can never be expressed; it is as when a grain of salt drops into the ocean, it is at once merged in the ocean.2
We, however, keep tying to gather ‘facts’ and organising them. That is how the human T h e
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This classification lays bare the fact that not all seek God for the same reason. There is such variety in the purpose of God-seeking! 2. There is another classification which Sri Ramakrishna speaks of, drawing parallels with fish. He says:
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Suppose a net has been cast into a lake to catch fish. Some fish are so clever that they are never caught in the net. They are like the ever-free. But most of the fish are entangled in the net. Some of them try to free themselves from it, and they are like those who seek liberation. But not all the fish that struggle succeed. A very few do jump out of the net, making a big splash in the water. Then the fishermen shout, ‘Look! There goes a big one!’ But most of the fish caught in the net cannot escape, nor do they make any effort to get out. On the contrary, they burrow into the mud with the net in their mouths and lie there quietly, thinking, ‘We need not fear any more; we are quite safe here.’ But the poor things do not know that the fishermen will drag them out with the net. These are like the men bound to the world. The bound souls are tied to the world by the fetters of lust and greed. They are bound hand and foot. Thinking that ‘woman and gold’ will make them happy and give them security, they do not realize that it will lead them to annihilation. When a man thus bound to the world is about to die, his wife asks, ‘You are about to go; but what have you done for me?’ Again, such is his attachment to the things of the world that, when he sees the lamp burning brightly, he says: ‘Dim the light. Too much oil is being used.’ And he is on his death-bed! The bound souls never think of God. If they get any leisure they indulge in idle gossip and foolish talk, or they engage in fruitless work. If you ask one of them the reason, he answers, ‘Oh, I cannot keep still; so I am making a hedge.’ When time hangs heavy on their hands they perhaps start playing cards.4
and yet unwilling to change their ways. They still keep ‘playing cards’ of life without realising the value of being born as humans! 3. There is another way of looking at the types of men described in one of the celebrated verses of Neeti Shatakam of Bhartrihari. He writes insightfully thus (verse 74): The superior men sacrifice their own welfare for the sake of others; the common people work for the benefits of others when it is not against their own interest. People who harm other for their gains are like demons in the guise of men. I, however, do not know what to call them who destroy the happiness of others without rhyme or reason.
According to a writer, possibly, one can add another, fifth, category of men to this list: men who prefer to suffer and meet violent end while destroying others such as suicide bombers who while damaging precious buildings and installations, kill others in the process! Whatever way they may feel motivated, their human side is all dead and gone.5 4. Teachers and students, there is a variety in them too. Sri Ramakrishna used to classify teachers into three categories—the best, the mediocre and the inferior. He said,
The four types of fish referred to in comparison with four types of men highlight the four attitudes which men have. ‘The bound souls’ are the typical materialistic and consumerist that one finds around. Devoid of all inclinations for higher life, such people spend their lives in meaningless pursuits, living in frustration, depression and bitterness, T h e
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There are three classes of religious teachers as there are three classes of doctors. There is one class of doctors who, when they are called in, look at the patient, feel his pulse, prescribe the necessary medicines, and ask him to take them. If the patient declines to do so, they go away without troubling themselves further about the matter. This is the lowest class of doctors. In the same way, there are some religious teachers who do not care much whether the disciples attach any value to their teachings and act up to them or not. Doctors of the second type not only ask the patient to take their medicine but go further. They expostulate with him in J U N E
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case he shows any reluctance to take it. In the same way those religious teachers who leave no stone unturned to make other people walk in the ways of righteousness, devotion and truth by means of gentle persuasion, can be said to belong to the next higher class. The third and the highest kind of doctors would proceed to use force with the patient in case their expostulation failed. They would go to the length of putting their knee on the chest of the patient and forcing the medicine down his throat. Similarly, there are some religious teachers who would use force, if necessary, with their disciples with a view to making them walk in the path of the Lord. These belong to the highest class.6
later’ is his attitude. The second farmer is determined and well-resolved. ‘It must be done now and definitely’ is his attitude. The people with weak renunciation versus strong renunciation—that makes two types of seekers in spiritual path. Conclusion Says a well-known song in Hindi, elaborating on the variety of men: Strange are the ways of the mind. One mind is hungry after desires, another one is content and full of love; one is only interested in getting, another one knows only giving; one mind knows only its own happiness, the other one feels for others; one mind is immersed in its selfish aims, another mind is immersed in doing good to others; one mind is full of egoism, another one is a garden of humility. Indeed strange are the ways of the mind!
Students or seekers too are different in their capacities and approach to spiritual life, depending on how much of determination and purity of intention they have. Says Sri Ramakrishna: There are two kinds of renunciation: intense and feeble. Feeble renunciation is a slow process; one moves in a slow rhythm. Intense renunciation is like the sharp edge of a razor. It cuts the bondage of maya easily and at once. One farmer labours for days to bring water from the lake to his field. But his efforts are futile because he has no grit. Another farmer, after labouring for two or three days, takes a vow and says, ‘I will bring water into my field today, and not till then will I go home.’ He puts aside all thought of his bath or his meal. He labours the whole day and feels great joy when in the evening he finds water entering his field with a murmuring sound. Then he goes home and says to his wife: ‘Now give me some oil. I shall take my bath.’ After finishing his bath and his meal he lies down to sleep with a peaceful mind.7
Strange indeed are the ways of mind. And of men. Few understand the mystery of life and try to go beyond it, and fewer still actually go across the ocean of relativity! In Swamiji’s words, Man is the apex of the only ‘world’ we can ever know. Those who have attained ‘sameness’ or perfection, are said to be ‘living in God’. . . Life is called Samsara—it is the result of the conflicting forces acting upon us. Materialism says, ‘The voice of freedom is a delusion.’ Idealism says, ‘The voice that tells of bondage is but a dream’ Vedanta says, ‘We are free and not free at the same time.’ That means that we are never free on the earthly plane, but ever free on the spiritual side. The Self is beyond both freedom and bondage. We are Brahman, we are immortal knowledge beyond the senses, we are Bliss Absolute.8 o
The first farmer is lukewarm in his attitude. ‘It is alright if it is done slowly and References 1. CW, 7.10 2. CW, 7.18 3. CW, 8.120 2009, Dec., p.536 6. Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, 85 T h e
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4. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p.87 5. The Vedanta Kesari, 7. The Gospel, p.410 8. CW, 8.35
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Sanskrit Composition
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The author is a monastic inmate at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur Math.
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If your mind does not become absorbed in God, it will be impossible for you to protect yourself from the many temptations of the world. —Swami Brahmananda T h e
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Simhâvalokanam From the Archives of The Vedanta Kesari (May, 1924-25, Pp. 2 - 5)
Work and Worship SWAMI RAMAKRISHNANANDA
What sort of work should a man do? What sort of work should he not do? There are two kinds of work. First there is social work which is work of the body, of these organs and limbs. There are also ethical works. You must not injure a man, because he is like your mirror. When you stand before a mirror, if you make a sweet face, you see a sweet face; if you make an ugly face, you will see an ugly face. So it is when you are with another. If you speak sweet words towards him, sweet words will come out of him; if you speak harshly, he will answer harshly. Therefore if you wish to be well treated, you must not maltreat or injure or revile another. This is moral teaching. This makes society united and brings strength. But man may be a very moral man and yet not be a religious man and religion brings to light another fact; that this life is not the only life, is not all in all; and mere ethical work will not do. You are weak, many things intrude you and make you miserable. If you wish to get rid of these intrusions—poverty, disease, misfortune—your duty is to go to that power which can save you from all these. That power is there. How to please it has been set down in a set of books called the Vedas. These were written by great men who came in contact with the Supreme. So there are no blunders in the Vedas, because no blunder can come from men who have seen the Supreme, have received the revelation of His will. When the mind is perfectly pure, it can come in contact with the universal, and it commits no more blunders. If these Vedic injunctions have been given to us, our duty is to obey them, since we are weak and since we obey them, we shall be very happy, very prosperous very beautiful. . . You should not give up your duties. You must not confound yourself with the infinite nature of the Self. Man must work here because he is not all perfect. Even if he does not want to work, hunger will make him work. So do not give way to laziness. Do not think that rest of the body is rest of the Self; the ego is naturally restless and its place is to work. Therefore, you must not neglect your duties. Perhaps I am a rationalist and do not believe in the infallibility of the Vedas; I only do what I know to be right. Very good. But do that which seems right to you, do not be lazy. A lazy man never attains to anything. o
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Article
Swami Saradananda in America: A Tapestry of Images VANDANA JANI
An old proverb says: ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ Pictures are snippets of life that tell us a story. They have the ability to evoke ideas or emotions in ways that words alone cannot. They have the power to put us into the centre of the situation and make us indulge in decoding what is not known, and still let the mystery linger. But perhaps the most important part about pictures is their ability to vividly bring remarkable times from the past to life. I am privileged to share the wonderful wordless story of Swami Saradananda, as I have perceived it, in these simple black and white photos and newspaper images. These images were captured on camera, more than a century ago during his short stay in America. ‘His photographs of that period show the serenity, purity, and unselfishness of one who sees only the hand of God in every circumstance,’ writes Marie Louise Burke in her magnanimous work of New Discoveries.1 This is a tapestry of images. The warp threads depicting the time period, are firmly attached to the loom of the known facts. Different pieces of weft threads of both known and some unknown images as well as the information about these images are being
woven here. Furthermore, to design different patterns, a holistic approach has been used. Historical facts, significance of circumstances and the emotions they display are carefully interwoven. Finally, I offer the emerging story, as I continue to weave this tapestry of images. The article is the result of extensive research. The statements are supported by precise references and resources related to dates, places and events of his journey. It encompasses most, if not all, the published photographs of his stay in America as well as provides an in-depth evaluation of the new findings. This exposition will be covered in a series of three articles. A. The Time Period: The entire time period of Swami Saradananda’s stay in America is only of one and half years. He had first arrived at Greenacre in Elliot, Maine, on July 7, 1896. He was about 30 years old. He came as the representative of Swami Vivekananda to teach Vedanta Philosophy. His mission was to spread the noble ideals of ‘Oneness’ and ‘Religious Harmony’ in the West. After performing intense activities, upon request of Swami Vivekananda, he returned to India on
Vandana Jani, PhD, is cofounder of Vivekananda Vidyapith, Wayne, New Jersey, USA. She has been instrumental in developing the dynamic curriculum for the institute’s character-building education classes for children. She is on the advisory board of the Vidyapith’s quarterly magazine, Sapling, for youngsters which has completed 26 years of publication. ‘A Tapestry of Images’ is a chapter of her ongoing research on Swami Saradananda’s stay in America. o T h e
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January 12, 1898. He left behind a large circle of earnest friends and admirers. Several snapshots of Swami Saradananda are published in Glimpses2, in New Discoveries Vol. IV3, in Saint Sara4, as well as in many other books. A Bengali book about Swami Saradananda, written by Swami Prabhananda5 (also translated in Hindi) is a valuable source of information and images. Most of these snapshots are taken in Greenacre, New York, Cambridge and Boston.
the message of peace and harmony could be extended to the thinking men and women. Thus the Greenacre Conferences originated. Swami Vivekananda was a participant in the first Greenacre Conference during the summer of 1894. In those dense pine woods, there were four special trees. They were named: Bodhi Pine, Prophet’s Pine, Persian Pine and Swami’s Pine6, representing harmony amongst different religions. Swami Vivekananda used to have early morning sunrise services and teaching under the Swami’s Pine. Swami Saradananda arrived with Mr. J.J. Goodwin to participate in the 1896 Summer Conference, upon invitation from Sarah Farmer.
B. Greenacre in Elliot, ME. Greenacre is a beautiful quiet place near the town of Elliot in Maine. The softly flowing waters of the river Piscataqua dance and sing in perfect rhythm, proclaiming peace and tranquility. The White Mountains, the dense woods of Pine and Birch trees and vast stretches of green meadows complete the picturesque landscape. There lived in that farm community of Greenacre, Miss Sarah Farmer, a peace loving and visionary woman. The 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions ignited a desire in her to make the Greenacre a place of interfaith communication. Her aim was to assemble representatives of Image # 1, Swami Saradananda—under the Swami’s Pine, Greenacre different faiths and traditions and have them present their ideals This snapshot is taken under the and ideas. All discussions were to be done ‘Swami’s Pine’, at Greenacre in 1896, as in a congenial way so that no sect or cult mentioned in Saint Sara.7 Swami Saradananda would be allowed to predominate. This way, is standing, looking at the gorgeous pine, and T h e
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Mr. J.J. Goodwin is seen reverently seated on the ground under the tree. It appears to be midday, full of sun-light, and quite breezy; absolute tranquility and sacred silence pervading all around. One can hear only the sound of pines singing as wind makes its way through the tiny evergreen needles. Under this very tree, two years ago, Swami Vivekananda, in an exalted mood, had sung, translated and taught the hymn of Sri Sankaracharya, ‘Shivoham, Shivoham. . .’8 It is as if the echo of the sacred chant was still floating in the air, transcending Swami Saradananda and Mr. Goodwin into that hallowed time and bathing them into the same sheer blessedness.
In this image, Swami Saradananda is seated on a platform under a tree at Greenacre. The handmade wooden platform and the vast grass covered meadow indicate that the photo must have been taken in proximity to the ‘Greenacre Inn’—the conference area. I say ‘conference area’ because I found another common photograph taken around the conference area. It showed similar platforms around trees near the huge auditorium tent set up for lectures.9 The photo has captured Swami’s innate reflective mood. His body looks somewhat tired perhaps due to frequent bouts of Malaria fever.10 The walking cane in hand at that young age, might have been due to the onset of pain from his slight rheumatic or gout condition of his foot; an ailment that was confirmed years later.11 While the actual date associated with the image is not identified, evaluating the surroundings and the schedule of events, the date of the photo is likely to range between July and August, 1896 —the period of the Greenacre Conferences. After completion of the Greenacre Conferences, the Swami Image # 2, Swami Saradananda near the Greenacre Inn spent some time at a The reverence for the place on their resort accommodation in the White Mountains countenance leads us to believe that it might of New Hampshire and then proceeded to have been Swami Saradananda’s first visit to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Mrs. Sara Bull’s the ‘Swami’s Pine’, and so it is highly likely Cottage. During the last week of October that the time period dates to early July of 1896 1896, he went to Brooklyn, New York. Swami —the time of Swami’s arrival at Greenacre. Saradananda was scheduled to speak at the T h e
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Brooklyn Ethical Association (‘BEA’). He was invited by Dr. Lewis G. Janes, the President of BEA.
had been broadcast to the New York public. It reads: The Swami Saradananda, who is to give the second lecture in the free course on ‘The Evolution of Ethics,’ before the Brooklyn Ethical Association, at the Pouch mansion, next Sunday evening, is an able representative of the ‘adwaitic’ or monastic [monistic] order of Vedantists. He is a comrade and friend of the Swami Vivekananda, who has made many friends in this city. He is a birthright Brahmin, but in entering the order of sannyasins has transcended the caste system and is no longer subject to its limitations. He is of medium height, with features of classical regularity, somewhat darker in complexion [than] that of the Swami Vivekananda. He has an excellent command of the English language and is a master of the philosophy which he teaches, as instructor in the Vedanta philosophy, and religions of India.
C. Brooklyn, New York The Greenacre Voice of October 29, 1896 had reported: Swami Saradananda, the man with the holy face and the atmosphere of PEACE, spoke at Brooklyn, N.Y., Sunday evening, Oct. 25.
The Standard Union reports the evening and publishes also his pictured face.12 Swami Saradananda—A ‘Pictured Face’
In the Monsalvat School of Comparative Religion, at Greenacre, Elliot, ME., during the past summer, he interacted large classes of Images # 4 Images # 3 students and gained the respect and regard of all who know him. Previous to this, he taught It was the mention of the ‘pictured face’ acceptably for a short time in London. His that caught my attention. Upon my research, lecture on ‘The Ethical Ideas of the Hindus,’ an ‘ink sketch’ of Swami Saradananda was will doubtless be an able contribution to the discovered in two newspapers. The ink sketch comparative study of ethics to which the Ethical (Image #3), first appeared in the Brooklyn Association invites the people of Brooklyn. Daily Eagle of Tuesday, October 20, 1896 on
page 7.13 It served as an announcement for the Swami’s upcoming lecture at the Brooklyn Ethical Association. The article begins with a description of the Hindu system of Vedanta Philosophy and the Order of Sannyasins. The detailed description about Swami Saradananda was portrayed in this newspaper. It is the first introduction of the Swami that T h e
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The day after the lecture, on October 26, 1896, the same sketch in a lighter shade (Image #4) appeared on the front page of the Standard Union newspaper from Brooklyn, New York.14 The Greenacre Voice, had referred to this particular sketch (Image #4) as the ‘pictured face’. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle as well as the Standard Union of October 26, 1896,15 both
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reported the details of the Swami’s lecture given at the Brooklyn Ethical Association. The New York Vedanta Society arranged a grand reception for him and again he met all the members in a special meeting.16 The
new season of Cambridge Conferences was going to start from November of 1896.17 Swami Saradananda left for Cambridge to participate in the conference, promising to come back to New York in the winter of 1897.18 (to be continued..)
References 1. Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries, IV, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, Second Edition, 1996, p. 316. 2. Swami Aseshananda, Glimpses of a Great Soul: A Portrait of Swami Saradananda, Illustration 9, Vedanta Press, Hollywood, California, 1982, and Illustrations between pp. 77-78, Notes pp. 273-274. 3. New Discoveries, IV, pp. viii and x. 4. Pravrajika Prabuddhaprana, Saint Sara: The Life of Sara Chapman Bull, The American Mother of Swami Vivekananda, Sri Sarada Math, 2002, Illustrations, Sections A and C. 5. Swami Prabhananda, a book in Bengali translated into Hindi by Swami Videhatmananda, ñdm_r gmaXmZÝX— ^JdmZ lr am_H¥$îU Ho$ EH$ à_wI {eî`, Ramakrishna Math, Nagpur, 2001. 6. Richardson Robert P., The Open Court, XLV, p. 896, The Open Court Publishing Company, 1931, p.140. 7. Saint Sara, Illustration 6.
8. New Discoveries, II, pp. 149-150. 9. Anna Josephine Ingersoll, Greenacre on the Piscataqua, the Alliance Publishing Company, New York, Illustration between pp. 6-7. https:// archive.org/details/greenacreonpisca00inge 10. New Discoveries, IV, p.330. 11. ñdm_r gmaXmZÝX, p. 207. 12. Saint Sara, p.218. 13. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY., Tuesday, October 20, 1896, p. 7. 14. Standard Union, Brooklyn, NY., Monday, October 26, 1896, p. 5. 15. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY., Tuesday, October 26, 1896, p. 7. 16. Gopal Stavig, Western Admirers of Ramakrishna and His Disciples, Advaita Ashram, 2010, pp.668, 670. 17. Saint Sara, p.189 18. Ibid, p. 221.
On Advising Others Now regarding advice: in a general way we all believe in giving advice; but applying the giving of advice to our daily lives is a very complex and puzzling affair. Indiscriminate advice never brings the desired result in many cases, it brings just the opposite result. So, we try to give advice only when we care about the person and when we think our words will carry some weight. In the case of someone who is stubborn and very near and dear to us and who, due to his lack of experience is in imminent danger of being harmed by an insincere person, we must take the risk of being disbelieved and misunderstood and offer the advice and then leave the matter in the hands of the Lord. —Swami Saradananda T h e
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Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda1 Nov. 19th 1902 Math. Belur. Howrah. India. Dearest Granny,2 We have all come to Calcutta again. The funeral service is to take place on Friday next. The cost will be about Rs 300/- and Rs 150/- have already been expended on setting everything at Benares & paying our fares &c. The entire expense will have to be borne by me for they have not got anything. I am paying it from my passage money to the west & has been strictly economical under the circumstances. The whole of the passage money has been expended as follows : Rs. To my brother at Japan - 300 Petty expenses & Railway fares from Benares - 156 Helping Nath Sanyal in his lawsuit - 70 Father’s funeral services - 300 Expenses during Gopal Ma’s illness - 25 For food to Math men - 25 Medicines for myself & friend - 30 906 [next page] Rs. Brought forward total - 906 Cab hire & postage - 39 Personal clothing - 50 Helping a very poor neice of mine for 6 months - 25 Helping a Sannyasini during her illness - 10 Total 1030
So the whole of the passage money has been expended and over. I am sorry but there was no help for it. Swami Turiyananda has told me however that some of his friends at California will help paying my passage when I go to America. He is better & has gone for a change. My mother is very poorly. I do not think she will have many more days to live, now that she has lost her life’s companion. She is about 60 now & was married at 10. Her married life has been a sweet one & never there had been a cross word or purpose between the husband & the wife! T h e
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As you are paying for my brother’s expenses at Japan, I believe it will be best to reduce your grant for my mother to Rs 30/- or Rs 25/- per month. I feel it my duty to suggest this, for my gratefulness & love to you. May Sri R.[Sri Ramakrishna] bless you & Olea & make you happy! As for me, I cannot tell you how life has been made richer & holier for you! I hope the winter will be a pleasant one both to you & Olea. Tender my kind regards to her please. Do you know anything of Mrs.Wheeler? I have not heard from her for a long time, though I wrote to her after Swamiji’s death. I hope she is not dead. Miss Schroeder, her cousin too has not written. Nivedita is well & has had a successful lecture tour in Bombay & Central India. Christiane & Mrs.Sevier are at Almora. Brahmachari Amritananda (Charles Johnson) is coming to stay for a few weeks at the Math. The Math work is going on as before & all are well; with all love to you Ever your Affectionate Boy Saradananda. P.S. You will be glad to know that the whole of the Life Policy of my father amounting to Rs 5500/- will go to clear off the debt of the family. This is an opportunity for them to clear off the mortgage on the house. The debts amount to little over 6000/The 23rd Jany /03 My dear Hari Maharaj I thank you for your kind letter of Jan 21st just received. The reason why I suggested to keep the money (Rs.15000) in the name of three of us, is to avoid troubles in case of the sudden death of any one of us. Suppose you die suddenly (which God forbid), we will have to prove that we are your legal heirs and we shall have fight with your family in the court and establish our claim. You know when Jogen Maharaj died some Rs 300/- of our Holy Mother which was standing in his name in the Savings Bank was withdrawn by his wife, though she knew perfectly well that every cent of the sum really belonged to the Holy Mother. You will understand now our motive. I have talked with Rakhal Maharaj and we have decided to give you every liberty to use the money as best you like to further Swamijee’s & Guru Maharaj’s Cause. Rest assure you will not in the least be thwarted by any one of us. I trust I have written enough on the subject. We do now as you advise even if you give us direction to keep the sum in the Bank in your name alone after hearing of this. The anniversary of our Guru Maharaj comes on 8th March next. So you can write to Abhedananda. I will also try to write him. I am extremely sorry I could not write you as often as I wish to. I will try to do so in future. With love to you and pronams and blessings to Krishnalal Yours affty Sarat. 3
References 1. A direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna
2. Mrs. Sara Bull
3. Swami Turiyananda, another direct disciple
Courtesy: Ramakrishna Museum, Belur Math T h e
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Medical Practice in India: Some Guidelines from Swami Vivekananda SWAMI BRAHMESHANANDA
The Ideals of Service and Character Let us begin with quoting, not from Swami Vivekananda but, one of the eminent medical works. This is from the Introduction of the First edition of Harrison’s Text book of Medicine, and declares the nobility of medical profession: No greater opportunity, obligation or responsibility can fall to the lot of a human being than to become a physician (a doctor). In the care of the sick he/she needs technical skill, scientific knowledge and human understanding. He/ she who uses these with wisdom, with courage and with humility will render a unique service to his/her fellow beings and would build within himself or herself, an enduring edifice of character. A physician must seek for his/her destiny no more than these. He/she must be content with no less.
Undoubtedly the author of the above paragraph is bold enough to state plainly that the aims of the medical profession are only two: service, and building one’s character. Money, name or fame, prestige or position are secondary. These may come out as byproducts but the primary ‘product’ of medical profession is service and character-building. This reminds one of what Swami Vivekananda says:
Take always the position of the giver. Give love, give help, give service give what little you can. But keep out barter. Give out of your bounty as God gives. It will come back to you ten times, but don’t ask for it.1
Unfortunately in our short-sightedness, we forget this. ‘Unselfishness is more paying but people don’t have the patience to practice it.’2
A former editor of the Vedanta Kesari, the author is a physician by training who had served as medical consultant for more than two decades at the Ramakrishna Mission’s Hospitals and is the author of the book ‘Health, Medicine and Religion’. He is currently at Ramakrishna Mission Advaita Ashrama, Luxa, Varanasi. This article is based on his talk delivered at Doctors’ Conference held as part of 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda held at Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, on 11 September 2013 o T h e
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Further, in the context of India in particular, Swamiji categorically stated that ‘the national ideals of India are renunciation and service. Intensify her in these lines and rest will take care of itself.’3 One of the well-known doctors of yester years, late Padmabhushan Dr. S.K. Mukherjee of Indore, would tell his doctor friends and students: ‘Don’t run after money. Money will run after you’. Swami Vivekananda urges doctors and others who are engaged in the service of the sick, to serve the patients as the veritable embodiments of God: ‘Shiv Jnane Jiva Seva’ [‘Serve the Jiva as Shiva or God Himself’]. Swamiji said, ‘You have heard it being said: Let your mother be your God, let your father be your God, let your teacher be your God. But I say, let the poor, the ignorant, the sick, the downtrodden, be your God.’4 Indeed ‘Serving Man as God’ is the Yuga-dharma, the religion for this age. This attitude of respect for others turns a secular act into a consecrated one and service of man into, perhaps, the best form of worship of the divine. In this worship of the patientGod, the physician or the surgeon is the chief priest, the nurse, the compounder, the assistants, the anesthetists and others as his helpers; and the objects of worship (upachara or upakarana) are the tablets, injections, ointments, infusions, etc. A surgical operation in its elaborate preparation, solemnity, and methodical procedure can be fairly compared to an elaborate Durga Puja! How to Practice this ‘New Form of Worship’ While the attitude of looking at the patient as God is a key requirement, it is not enough. For a true servant of the people, Swamiji lays down a few important conditions. For all would-be reformers, patriots and social servants Swamiji says: T h e
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Three things are necessary for great achievements. First feel from the heart. Do you feel that the millions of descendants of gods and of sages have become next-door neighbours to brutes. . . that is the first step.5.
The second condition is to find out a way, a practical solution to the problem before us. And the third condition is the steadfastness, the will, the determination to pursue the path one has chosen, against all difficulties and hindrances. In other words none can truly and effectively serve the sick unless he has a feeling heart and real love and sympathy, nor until he has learnt the necessary skills to serve, irrespective of any returns in the form of money, name, or fame, or recognition, and until he can face all difficulties like financial stringency, social unfairness or blame, or withdrawal of cooperation. The relevance of the above conditions laid down by Swamiji for an ideal medical practitioner can be immediately appreciated if we look at the prevailing medical scene in India. Due to lack of feelings and genuine empathy this noble method of service, the medical profession, is getting converted into a trade and an ugly way of exploitation; due to lack of proper knowledge it is being reduced to quackery, and without the necessary determination to pursue, it is leading to negligence and incomplete treatment. The Character Component The second coveted aim of medical profession, according to Swamiji, is development of a noble character. Says Swamiji, Money does not pay nor learning. Name does not pay nor fame. It is love that pays. It is character that cleaves through the adamantine walls of difficulties.6
And if a doctor were to practice the values enumerated above—i.e. courage,
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wisdom and humility, he or she shall definitely build a strong, enduring, noble character. Of the values mentioned, one value needs to be stressed with greater emphasis than the rest: humility. Let us remember that everyone, and doctors are no exception, in the course of his life and profession, commits blunders. Human intellect and ability has its limitations and man is, in a sense, a helpless tool in the hands of a Divine Power. Sri Ramakrishna says that God laughs twice: Once when two brothers divide a piece of land by a line telling this much is mine, that one yours. God laughs to think that after all the land belongs to me. Second time God laughs when a doctor assures the mother of a sick child that he will save it. The doctor forgets that life and death are in the hands of God. One should be, therefore, humble so that we may become fit instruments in the hands of God. Our professional practice should begin with a daily prayer to God that he may make us His fit instruments. While engaged in the professional activities, being busy with the technical and academic pursuits of our professional science, doctors are prone to lose sight of the ethical, human, psychological and spiritual aspects of this profession. This is all the more true in the modern times which can be termed as a period of globalization, technicalization, specialization and commercialization which have completely
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disfigured the face of the medical profession. These developments have seriously hampered the doctor-patient relationship, which, only a few decades ago was very healthy and fulfilling. Local versus Global Aspects Like many other aspects of life, medicine has also become globalized. Now, one need not go to USA for any advanced sophisticated surgery. On the contrary, there is an influx of patients from various countries to India for medical treatment, instead of going to USA— and that is called Medical Tourism, because same consultation, diagnostic procedure and therapeutic measures can be had here much cheaper. In this context, we may point out to an article in the first edition of the Oxford Textbook of Medicine, by Dr. M.H. King entitled Medicine in An Unjust World which focuses on the disparity and differences between the disease patterns prevalent and medical services available in the poor/developing countries and the affluent countries. The article bitterly criticizes the tendency of blindly accepting the American model of health care and medicine by the developing countries. The disease patterns as well as the financial structure of developing countries and those of developed countries are different, and accepting the health care patterns of the latter in the poor countries is bound to produce disparities in health care and economic imbalance. Unfortunately this is happening in India today. We have major unsolved community health problems which ought to have been solved 20 years ago. For example, malnutrition is persisting and maternal mortality is as high as it was twenty years ago. Undernourished women beget underweight babies who become stunted children, and 200 million such
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children who fail to reach the full potential of their growth belong to India. According to the Third National Family Health Survey nearly half of Indian children are undernourished. India has also the lowest child immunization rates in South Asia.7 More than 100 years ago, Swami Vivekananda expressed his anguish at the ‘terrible mania of becoming westernized.’8 He said, Alas, to such a state is our country reduced! People will look upon their own gold as brass while the brass of the foreigner is gold to them.9 I am so thoroughly against every affectation of the western ideas. . . what a frippery civilization it is indeed that the foreigners have brought over here. What a materialistic illusion have they created! 10
One of the reasons why Swamiji was against blind acceptance of Western norms and methods was their tendency to become exploitative. In the beginning Swamiji was charmed by the ability of Americans to quickly form organizations, but he soon realized that such organizations, in the heat of competition, could behave ‘like packs of wolves, without any beauty’, and exploit the simple and the poor. It is unfortunate that this unhealthy western trend is gradually permeating such a noble profession as the medical. Taking the lead from Swamiji, every effort must be made to keep it free from all unethical trends. Technicalization of Medical Treatment Warfare and medical field—these are the two spheres in which technology has entered in a very big way. Technology has indeed brought some medical miracles and today medical science and diagnostic as well as therapeutic technology cannot be separated. It has come to stay. It has also, however, robbed the beauty and art of clinical medicine which has badly T h e
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suffered. Earlier eminent physicians used to diagnose cases intuitively which they had developed through decades of clinical practice. But now, technology has converted doctors into technicians who ‘set right’ the patients who have been reduced to machines gone out of order. Technicalization has undermined the doctor-patient relationship and sometimes patients are treated as guinea pigs. The social, economic and psychological aspects of the patients are totally neglected. The doctors need to be reminded that the patient is a socioeconomic and a psychological being and not merely a machine. In an article entitled ‘Scientific Medicine Success or Failure?’ in the second edition of the Oxford Textbook of Medicine, the author, Dr. H. F. Horrobin, after describing the era of success of scientific medicine, switches to the present scenario and makes many insightful comments. He says that there is astonishing increase in the amount of money spent on research, equal increase in cost of medical care, yet these escalating costs have not been accompanied by equivalent therapeutic success or rise in patient satisfaction. In the western world a reaction is building up against modern medicine. Scientific medicine, portrayed as cold, unfeeling, unsympathetic, rigidly concerned with facts, treating patient as a case with disease and unappreciative of the person as a whole, neglecting his psychological, economical and social dimensions, has begun to be widely thought as the villain. Some critics have even described modern medicine as a threat to health. Much of the escalating cost of the medicine relates to the introduction of diagnostic test. When the diagnostic tests were few and it seemed that health care budgets were expandable, the cost of tests did not matter. But now with the vast range of tests available and
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purse money limited, diagnostic procedures have great potential for harm simply by drawing money away from healthcare budget more directly relevant to patient care. Another failure of so-called scientific medicine has been its continued use and introduction of procedures which have no value in objective terms. The aim of medicine should be ‘to cure sometimes, to relieve often and to comfort always.’ Many of the modern medical procedures do not fulfill this criterion. The list is long. According to Dr. Horrobin, a truly scientific approach must prevent much of the escalation of medical costs and must focus on curing, relieving and comforting. To make the results of modern medical technology available at affordable cost to the poor is the challenge before us today and will be so in the future. Everything which we introduce into medicine should be measured against this sole criterion: Is the new thing—investigation, diagnostic or therapeutic procedure better for the patient in terms of cure, relief or comfort? Unfortunately, medical science has been dominated by commercial interests. We have generated knowledge without wisdom. Growing Commercialization A factor which has totally disfigured the face of the medical profession is commercialization. Medical profession is now looked upon not as the noblest profession, but as the most lucrative business. Starting from high capitation fees for admission into medical colleges, expensive education, pharmaceutical industry and its nefarious grip on the prescribing doctors, commissions for ordering investigations, super-speciality hospitals— commercialization has penetrated into the profession in various ways and at every level. T h e
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It is a law that nobler a profession, more vulnerable it is to degradation, and this applies to medical profession most aptly. It is no wonder that today doctors are not trusted but are looked at by patients with suspicion. There is a tendency among the doctors to get segregated into cities. I had the opportunity of meeting medicos coming to Chandigarh for entrance examinations for admission into Postgraduate Medical courses. I would ask them, ‘What will you do if you are not selected?’ And most of them would not have any alternative. They would invariably say that they will try again and again. From their talks it appears that they have no alternatives other than going in for specialization and super-specialization. That means they can work only in specialty hospitals. While I try to impress upon them through various examples that even as MBBS they can do a lot of good work, most of them do not seem to show interest in it. Millions of poor Indians do not even get the services of a MBBS doctor and yet thousands of young medical doctors cannot think of anything except super-specialization. Thus, the medical profession is facing great challenges. One of the major challenges is to carry the results of modern research and technology to the doorstep of the poorest of the poor. Swami Vivekananda’s Guidelines Some 37 years ago, in 1977, it was decided in the Health Assembly of World Health Organization (WHO) to launch the ‘Health for All’ movement and it was reaffirmed by Alma Ata in 1978 and was later endorsed by the UNO General Assembly in 1981. The Alma Ata Conference observed that ‘the gross inequality in the health status of people, particularly between developed and developing countries as well as
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within countries is politically, socially and economically unacceptable.’11 Long before this declaration, Swami Vivekananda pointed out the inequality and injustice prevailing in society, and was intensely sensitive to the miseries of the unprivileged masses. Almost three quarters of a century before the Alma Ata declaration, he had suggested some remedies which are even more relevant today. Swamiji said, ‘We want the greatest possible good from the least outlay.’12 Translated into modern terms, it would mean adopting the most cost-effective methods. He did not favour any reform which would benefit only a limited section of society. ‘Most of what you talk of social reform does not touch the poor masses.’13 He was indeed bitter towards those who thought that ‘for the luxury of a handful of rich, let millions remain submerged in the hell of want and abysmal depth of ignorance, for if they get wealth and education (and health) society will be upset!’14 The state of affairs must be just the reverse:
cottages.’17 He was against urbanization and shifting of youth from the villages to the cities. Instead, he wanted the city-youth to go to the villages and educate the villagers who cannot come to the centres of education. He also said that longevity increases by staying in the villages and diseases are almost unknown there.18 This is enough of a hint for us to know that Swamiji would have preferred emphasis on primary health centres in the villages over the modern medical centres in the cities ‘which look more like airports than therapeutic environments’, and where patients tend to feel helpless and frightened.19 What about specialization and ‘superspecialization’ which has formed an integral part of modern medicine? Although it was not developed to such a degree during Swamiji’s time, it seems that he would not have favoured it. He has hinted that a broad-based person, combining various skills in his personality, was better suited for Indian conditions. He once told his disciples: You must be prepared to go into deep meditation now and the next moment you must be ready to go and cultivate these fields. You must be prepared to explain the difficult intricacies of the Shastras [scriptures] now and the next moment to go and sell the produce of the field in the market. You must be prepared for all menial services, not only here, but elsewhere also.20
If there is inequality in nature, still there must be equal chances for all, or if greater for some and for some less, the weaker should be given more chance than the strong. . .15
We have noted that the modern western model of high-tech medical care is extremely expensive and elite-oriented. ‘In a developing country [like India], the fortunate rich urban elite have access to almost any highly sophisticated technology, either in the capital or abroad, while many of the rural poor have no modern medical health care whatever.’16 Such a state of affairs Swamiji would condemn as selfishness. Emphasis must be to provide something for everyone, rather than to give more to the already fortunate few. Swami Vivekananda was never tired of reminding that ‘the nation lives in the T h e
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Seen in the perspective of medical care, it means we need doctors who could read an E.C.G., put a scalp vein drip, repair a hernia, set a fractured bone, pass an endo-tracheal tube, detect an amoeba under the microscope, and teach medical assistants competently, rather than a doctor who specializes in diseases of one organ in one age group, or does only one operation, or who can pass an endoscope through only one orifice. Former Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s
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exhortation to Indian doctors not to become too specialized may also be cited here. 21 Conclusion From the foregoing it must not be concluded that Swamiji was against scientific methods or scientific advancement. He preferred allopathic medicine because it was backed by experimentation. He had himself undergone various types of treatments:
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allopathic, Homeopathic, Ayurveda, and so on and had personally known the relative effectiveness of various methods of treatment. He wanted that experimentations be done in other systems of medicine also. Thus we see that Swami Vivekananda’s ideas on medical profession, especially in the Indian context, though a hundred-year old, have enough thought to help the medical profession reinvent itself. o
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References 1. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda [CW], Vol. II, p.5 2. Ibid., Vol. I, p.32 3 Ibid., Vol. V, p.28 4 Ibid., Vol. VI, p.288 5 Ibid., Vol. III, p.225 6 Ibid., Vol. IV, p.367 7. The Tribune, Chandigarh, Feb. 21, 2007, p.10) 8 Ibid., Vol. V, p.372 9 Ibid., Vol. V, p.373 10 Ibid., Vol. VI, p.319 11 Park, J.E. & Park, K., Text Book of Preventive and Social Medicine, 12th ed., (Jabalpur, M/S. Banarasidas Bhanot, 1989), p.9 12 CW, Vol. VII, p.509
13 Ibid., Vol. V, p.334 14 Ibid., Vol. V, p.146 15 Ibid., Vol. V, p.319 16 King, M. H., ‘Medicine in An Unjust World’; Oxford Textbook of Medicine ELBS (London: Oxford University Press, 1985) p. 3.9 17 CW, Vol. V, p.29 18 The Life of Swami Vivekananda By His Eastern & Western Disciples, Revised 2-volume edition (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1983) Vol. I, pp.27475 19 Capra, Fritjof, The Turning Point (New York: Flamingo, 1989), p.148 20 CW, Vol. III, p.447 21 King, Medicine in An Unjust World p. 3.9
Make Yourselves Decent Men! Another condition [for success in Yoga] is chastity. It is the corner-stone of all practice. Married or unmarried—perfect chastity. It is a long subject, of course, but I want to tell you: Public discussions of this subject are not to the taste of this country. These Western countries are full of the most degraded beings in the shape of teachers who teach men and women that if they are chaste they will be hurt. How do they gather all this?. . . People come to me—thousands come every year—with this one question. Someone has told them that if they are chaste and pure they will be hurt physically. . . How do these teachers know it? Have they been chaste? Those unchaste, impure fools, lustful creatures, want to drag the whole world down to their [level]!. . . Nothing is gained except by sacrifice. . . The holiest function of our human consciousness, the noblest, do not make it unclean! Do not degrade it to the level of the brutes. . . Make yourselves decent men!. . . Be chaste and pure! . . .There is no other way. Did Christ find any other way?. . . If you can conserve and use the energy properly, it leads you to God. Inverted, it is hell itself. . . —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 1.520 T h e
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The Spiritual Universe of Sri Ramacharitamanas As Seen through Its Two Invocatory Verses A.P.N. PANKAJ
(Continued from the previous issue. . .) Continuing our elucidation of the verse, let us take our discussion further; Vande ramakhyam isham, harim: obeisance to Rama, yanmayavashavarti vishvamakhilam brahmadidevasurah yatsattvadamrishaiva bhati sakalam rajjau yathaherbhramah yatpadaplavamekameva hi bhavam-bhodhestitirshavatam vandehamtamasesakaranaparam ramakhyamisham harim
Here, in offering obeisance to Sri Rama, Tulasidas expresses his views about the nature of the universe and makes the following statements: i) This entire universe, including Brahma, etc., gods and demons, is subservient to Rama’s Maya. ii) Owing to His being real, there is semblance of reality in this all (phenomenal world) as there is the delusion of a serpent in the rope. iii) Rama’s feet alone are the ferry for those aspiring to cross over the ocean of samsara. iv) He is the cause of this all, yet beyond and above all causes. v) His name is Rama, he is Isa and Hari. i) In the Sway of Maya God’s Maya, we have already noted, is insurmountable. Gita (8.16) also says that from the realm of Brahma, all the worlds are subject to rebirth. Thus the entire creation,
all Brahmandas so far discovered and those yet to be discovered—are held captives by Maya. Tulasi says that this Maya, what to speak of mortals like us, deludes even Brahma and Shiva (vii 62 kha). In saying so, he has the Puranic authority for support. In Srimad Bhagavata (x. 13 and viii. 12), we see Brahma and, Shiva respectively, captivated. Brahma, wondering how the young cowherd Krishna can be the omnipresent Lord of the universe, tries to test him but Krishna’s Maya deludes him by creating a world of the young cowherd boys, cows and calves who easily mingle with the population of Vraja. Brahma’s world and Krishna’s creation no longer remain separate and Brahma is flabbergast. Shiva is enticed by the Lord as Mohini and thus the Yogishvara— the Lord of Yogis—Shiva has to accept the supremacy of Maya. Apart from these two, we have the other ‘victims’ also. While Tulasi, in the above statement, has mentioned Brahma and Shiva by name without specific details, he has cited instances of Sati and Narada. Parvati, in her previous birth, was Sati, the daughter of Daksha. How she was deluded by Rama’s Maya (or Harimaya) has been given in detail in Manasa (I.50: 3-4 to 57). In fact, the delusion of Sati, her reincarnation as Parvati and marriage to Shiva are the preludes to the narrative of Ramacharitamanasa. Then, there is the delusion of Narada (I. 125-139) consequent
o The author is a devotee from Chandigarh and is known for his scholarly and insightful writings on spiritual matters. T h e
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upon which Lord Vishnu is cursed by the former and gladly accepting it, incarnates himself as Rama and descends on earth. For both these episodes, Tulasi has the Purana (II. 2, 3 and II.1.2-5 respectively) as his source. Garuda, the great vehicle and attendant of Lord Vishnu also suffers from Rama’s Maya when he is deputed by Narada to the battlefield of Lanka to free Rama and Lakshmana from the coils of snakes. ‘I hear that Brahman, the omnipresent, immutable, Lord of speech, beyond Maya and delusion and the Supreme Godhead, has incarnated himself in the world. But here I have seen none of his strengths’, he wonders and eventually approaches Kakabhushundi to have his doubts removed (VII.58: 4.63: 1-4 to 68). Kakabhushundi, one of the great preceptors of Manasa and the teacher of Garuda, has himself had a mystifying glimpse of this Maya (VII.77 kha, 82). Then there is Kausalya, the mother who, as Shatarupa in her earlier birth, had sought and received the boon of retaining forever her extraordinary Viveka (discrimination between real and unreal). She too had a little encounter with the illusive power of her son when the infant Rama shows her his Vishvarupa (I.201:1-4 to 202) which reminds us of a similar experience of Yashoda in Srimad Bhagavata (X.8.35-45).52
satisfies to a certain degree our idea of existence. Therefore it has an apparent existence.53
(ii) In the words of Sri Shankaracharya: avyaktanamni parameshashaktir anadyavidya trigunatmika para Karyanumeya sudhiyaiva maya yaya jagatsarvamidamprasuyate sangapyasangapyulhayatmika no mahadbhutanirvacaniyarupa suddhadvayabrahmavibodhanasya sarpabhramo rajjuvivekato yatha rajastamah sattvamiti prasiddha gunastadiyah prathitaih svakaryaih Maya is God’s eternal, Higher, Avidya Power; unmanifest, consisting of three modes. The entire world is created by it. Sages infer it from its acts. It is neither existence, nor non-existence, nor both. It is neither united nor not-united nor both. It is neither with parts nor without parts nor both. It is highly prodigious and defies description. It is obviated only by the knowledge of Pure Brahman, one without a second. It has three characteristic modes—sattva, rajas and tamas well distinguished from one another by their acts.54
(iii) In discourse with Uddhava, Sri Krishna says:
The Indefinable Maya (i) Swami Vivekananda says, Some of the fundamentals of our reasoning are most curious, in spite of our boast of science and knowledge. ‘It is a headache without a head’, as the Sanskrit proverb says. This state of things has been called Maya. It has neither existence nor non-existence. You cannot call it existence, because that only exists which is beyond time and space, which is self-existence. Yet this T h e
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Vidyavidye mama tanu viddhyudhava saririnam moksabandhakari adye mayaya me vinirmite ekasyaiva mamamsasya jivasyaiva mahamate bandho’syavidyayanadirvidyaya ca tathetarah atmanamanyam ca sa veda vidvanapippalado na tu pippaladah yo’vidyaya yuk sat u nityabaddho vidyamayo yah sat u nityamuktah Know, O wise Uddhava! Both vidya and avidya are my subtle, eternal powers for the experience of liberation and bondage respectively, by the embodied beings. These are the products of my Maya. There is one Jiva, the individual soul, and that is only a fragment of mine. By avidya, he is bound and by vidya, liberated. Since this ajnana (avidya)—ignorance—is eternal, bondage is also eternal. J U N E
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Another peculiarity is that Ishvara, who does not taste the fruit—is not a bhokta—knows his true self and also the rest of the world, whereas the Jiva, who tastes / eats the fruit—is a bhokta— neither knows his true self nor the others. One that is possessed by avidya is eternally bound and the one (Ishvara) who is established in vidya, is eternally liberated.55
And then (iv) there is that famous Upanishadic metaphor of two birds: dvasuparna sayuja sakhaya. . . Two birds, companions, always united, clasp the self-same tree. Of these two, one eats the sweet fruit while the other looks on without eating. On the self-same tree, the person sunk (in the misery of samsara) is deluded and, being helpless, grieves. When (on that self-same tree), he looks to the other bird—the Lord (different from himself), who is adored, and his glory, he is freed from all grief.56
We may now try to integrate and consolidate the above statements into a compact passage: Maya is neither existence nor non-existence; neither separate nor united; it neither consists of parts nor is without parts; nor is it a conjunction of the aforementioned contradictions. It cannot be described–anirvacaniya. It is inferred from its acts which it performs through its three distinct gunas-modes, sattvika, rajasika and tamasika– goodness, passion and inertia.
There is constant interplay of these modes in nature. What Sri Shankaracharya calls the higher avidya or Maya, Sri Krishna refers to as Vidya. The world is the creation of
this vidya. The other—avidya, ignorance—is the force that binds the individual soul. Both vidya and avidya are the powers of God and, as Ishopanishad (ii) says, by avidya, one crosses death and by vidya attains to lifeeternal (amritam). The experience of liberation and bondage is attributable to vidya and avidya respectively. This Maya is God’s eternal power—Adi Shakti—and this entire world is its creation. The individual soul is eternal and though a part—amsha—of the universal spirit, thinks of himself as belonging to the realm of the embodied beings (Gita XV.7) and is persuaded, as Sri Aurobindo says, ‘by the illusion of Maya. . . that he is in all but not all in him.’57 He, though infinite, thus circumscribes himself. This illusion is obviated by the knowledge of Brahman which is one without a second. Ishvara and Jiva are close, inseparable friends abiding in the same body as two birds abide on the self-same tree. Jiva is the bird that eats the fruit from the tree; he, by virtue of his involvement in and attachment to actions and results, experiences pleasure and pain, mirth and misery. The other bird, Ishvara, is also on the same tree but stays only as a witness—sakshi— without involvement and attachment. The bird that eats—the Jiva—is liberated from his notional bondage and suffering when he looks to—takes refuge in—the Lord who is a friend and a well-wisher. The cycle of karma is broken with the Lord’s grace and Jiva realizes his true nature, svarupa. (To be continued )
References 52. ‘Is it a dream?’ Yasoda wonders, ‘or the Divine maya or is my mind reeling in delusion’ (Srimad Bhagavata X 8.40). Kausalya prays again and again, ‘never again may your maya overpower me (manasa I. 202) 53. CW, Vol II. (Hints on Practical Spirituality) p. 32 T h e
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54. Sri Shankaracharya Vivekachudamani 110-112 55. Srimad Bhagavata XI 3, 4, 7 56. Mundaka Upanishad, III. 1.1-2 Svetasvatara Upanishad IV. 6-7 57. Sri Aurobind: Life Divine, University Ed (Pondicherry), Aurobindo Ashram 1955) p. 137
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The Scientific Basis of Habit Spirituality in the Light of Neuroplasticity GOPAL C BHAR
Understanding Neuroplasticity Neuroplasticity, also known as brain plasticity, refers to changes in neural pathways due to changes in behaviour, environment and neural processes, as well as changes resulting from bodily injury. According to neuroplasticity, thinking, learning and acting change both the brain’s functional and physical anatomy. Neuroscientists tell that the brain is not only hard-wired but also soft-wired by experience in contrast to common belief that our genes dictate our thoughts. ‘Experience modifies connectivity in the developing brain’ is general wisdom. The hard-wiring in the brain ensures that structures are connected to one another. The soft-wiring or rewiring refers to brain’s ability to enact change determined by our experience throughout the life. Until recently, the brain was considered unique in its lack of ability as to repair itself i.e., as hardwired once it had matured to adulthood, unlike other organs of the body such as liver, heart, kidney and lungs. Discoveries of neuroscience promise regulation and balancing of over-activated and under-activated brain so that one can fulfill life with positive attitude. In biology, the crucial dilemma has been ‘nature-nurture’ controversy. This refers to the question of whether genetic constitution or environment holds the key to o
the development of the individual. Are we born as aggressive, violent and greedy through genetic programming of genes or can we make ourselves better, more caring humans? Individuals are programmed to be what they are because that’s what their genes, as well as Samskaras—deep rooted impressions and tendencies—dictate. At least some of our attitudes and behaviours are acquired (and not just inherited), just as our native language and behaviour are acquired through experience of the family or society around us. This is why people talk about ‘neural pathways as being set’ with respect to increased practice—the more practice one accumulates, the more ingrained or grooved the pathways become. The habits are ‘accumulated up’ to our goals; there cannot be real triumph without small wins along the way. One does not just wake up one day as the president of a company, or as someone who exudes positive energy and contentment, without taking individual small steps to get there. The technique of overcoming unfavourable habits is the deliberate cultivation of favourable habits. Bad Samskaras [impression, tendencies] are overcome only by good. The Role of Brain Often the brain is compared to a computer. Indeed it is a bio-computer; but unlike computer the brain circuits are
The author is a faculty member at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur Math in West Bengal. T h e
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changeable and malleable too. And also there is no distinction between ‘hardware’ and ‘software’. Brain may be likened to hardware and mind to software. The brain has its own way of growing and developing. It rather comes equipped with its basic structure, but this structure is constantly being changed by our experience in the world. Every time we learn something new, every time we see a new scene, hear a new tune, touch a new fabric, taste a new dessert, smell a new flower, it is believed, in addition to the changes in mind, the connections between the neurons in our brain undergo some changes. The brain as a whole tends to do the best it can by integrating all of its resources that are available, but slowly. ‘Neurons that fire apart wire apart’, states John Arden in his book Brave New Brain. In other words, the more one does something, the more likely he would be tempted to do it again. If neurons fire together often, they would do together at a quicker rate. This leads to increased efficiency due to more precision in the number of neurons that are required to do a particular skill. This behaviour changes the structure of the brain. Researchers have also shown that by simply imagining a session of piano practice, as for example, one can contribute to neuroplasticity in the area of the brain associated with the finger movements of playing the piano. The Bhagavad Gita’s Counsel The Bhagavad Gita tells us through Arjuna, who is deeply immersed in the worldly struggle, to practice higher habits over and over again to get over the delusion of mind from lower habits. Sri Krishna says:1 Without doubt, O mighty-armed the mind is restless, and the difficult to control; but through practice and renunciation, O son of Kunti, it may be governed. T h e
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Patanjali Yogasutras too reiterate it; one is required to continue practice without any distractions. ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit’, said Aristotle. Swami Vivekananda explained,2 Human nature likes to run through the ruts that are already there, because it is easy. . . When one talks on subjects in which one takes a few ideas that are familiar to everyone, and combines and recombines them, it is easy to follow because these channels are present in everyone’s brain, and it is only necessary to recur them. But whenever a new subject comes, new channels have to be made, so it is not understood readily. And that is why the brain refuses unconsciously to be acted upon by new ideas. It resists. . . . The more thoughtful the man, the more complicated will be the streets in his brain, and the more easily he will take to new ideas, and understand them. So with every fresh idea, we make a new impression in the brain, cut new channels through the brain-stuff, and that is why we find that in the practice of Yoga (it being an entirely new set of thoughts and motives) there is so much physical resistance at first. That is why we find that the part of religion which deals with the world-side of nature is so widely accepted, while the other part, the philosophy, or the psychology, which deals with the inner nature of man, is so frequently neglected.
Until quite recently, it was believed that after we have grown to adulthood, our brains do not grow very much. In fact, it was believed that past the late teens or early twenties there is diminishing ability, or even no ability at all to create new connections between various areas of the brain. Thanks to progress in various aspects of neuroplasticity many of these beliefs are no longer accepted and new ideas and conclusions have been arrived at. The brain’s ability to act and react in ever-changing ways has been accepted, in the scientific community, as ‘neuroplasticity’.
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This special characteristic allows the brain’s cell called neurons to constantly lay down new pathways for neural communication and to rearrange existing ones throughout life, thereby aiding the processes of learning, memory, and adaptation through experience. Neuroplasticity can work in two directions; it is responsible for deleting old connections as frequently as it enables the creation of new ones. It has the capability of more flexibility and rigidity as well; so it acts as double-edged sword. It is difficult to stick to a higher value. The presence of plasticity means that we have the potential (and will power) for successful intervention, but it also means that planned and unplanned interventions may have undesired direct and indirect effects. Adults can learn throughout their entire lives. The phrase ‘life-long learning’ should now take on new scientific basis. Recent researches have demonstrated that learning over time enhances memory (in the Chitta) and the survival of new brain cells. An active brain produces new connections between nerve cells that allow cells to communicate with one another. This helps our brain to store and retrieve information more easily, no matter what be the age. The plasticity—its ability to learn and remember, to adapt to its environment and all the challenges brought with it, to acquire new knowledge and learn from fresh experiences—can occur throughout an individual’s lifetime. New neurons can develop late into the life span, even into the golden years of age 70 and beyond as advances in medicine are lengthening the life expectancy of all individuals. Swami Vivekananda in his commentary on Sutra 29 of Patanjal Yogasutra (tajjapastadartha-bhavanam) stressed the importance of repetition. He says. T h e
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We have not forgotten the theory of Samskaras, which is the sum-total of impressions in the mind. They become more and more latent but remain there as subconscious, and as soon as they get the right stimulus, they come out. Molecular vibration never ceases. So repetition is the greatest stimulus that gives an opportunity of exposure to all the Samskaras hidden in the mind at a deeper level. ‘One moment of company with the holy makes a ship to cross this ocean of life.’ Such is the power of association. So this repetition of Om, and thinking of its meaning, is keeping good company in your own mind. Study, and then meditate on what you have studied. Thus light will come to you, the Self will become manifest.
He further says:3 The only remedy for bad habits is counter habits; all the bad habits that have left their impressions are to be controlled by good habits. Go on doing good, thinking holy thoughts continuously; that is the only way to suppress base impressions. . . Never say any man is hopeless, because he only represents a character, a bundle of habits, which can be checked by new and better ones. Character is repeated habits, and repeated habits alone can reform character.
The Gita says,4 For, the mind, which follows in the wake of the wandering senses, carries away his discrimination, as a wind carries away from its course a boat on the waters.
Through their contact with sense-objects, the senses get polluted; because of the nearness of the mind to the senses, because of constant cogitation about the sense objects, mind gets contaminated; the intellect, the determinative faculty behind every sense perception, gets contaminated. The uncontrolled senses make the mind restless and carry away the wisdom. The Role of Memory
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Any living organism can change in response to events. This adaptive capacity gives organisms the ability to learn and to remember. This ability reached its highest form in human beings. So the concepts of learning and memory are closely related. Learning is the process of acquiring new information, while memory refers to the persistence of learning in a state that can be revealed at a later time. Brain is essentially a memory-driven system that uses the five sense organs as inputs and neuroplasticity (and the mind) is what makes memory possible. It is basically a process of acquiring as well as storing information from our experiences in life that will help us in navigating similar situations in the future for survival and so it is not fixed and unchangeable. Memory once acquired, is available for recall, unless lost in dementia. Our brain has a better chance of avoiding dementias if we had chosen ancestors well (as per Hinduism belief of re-birth) and led and maintained active life, both physically and intellectually. If one looks deeper into the 43rd verse of sixth chapter of Bhagavad Gita (tatra tam budhisamyogam labate purva-dehikam—‘there he is united with the intelligence acquired in this former body’), one finds the significant role of memory. Here the verse means that whatever qualities one earns in a life is retained as Samskara with him in the mind, and this is continued in the next birth. A good memory may be a blessing, if it be of a creative one, or a curse if it be a destructive one. The memory trace may be rekindled by rehearsal, recall, associations, or dreaming and can be strengthened if repeated. That is why in our traditional Vedic method of education/teaching, the young children at the very initial stage of learning called Brahmacharya Ashrama are trained T h e
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to chant by memorizing the Samhitas (the poetry portion of the Vedas) and the uplifting message contained therein held in memory of young brain continue to guide the life span. It is also well-known that morality, etiquette, behaviour learned at young age from parents and nursery is retained almost throughout the life and is difficult to change. The Role of Sleep The brain—and the mind—works best, like any other organ in the body, when it is optimally fuelled and given adequate time to recover after periods of extended exertion or effort which includes sleep, exercise and stress. While sleep consolidates memory, stress erodes memory. Sleep corrects deficits that build up during waking. Sleep makes the organism to adapt its behaviour to the circumstances. Sleep is necessary for the brain to process and consolidate knowledge and for memories to form. Sleep is critical for maintenance of the brain functions. Deprivation of sleep has been shown to affect attention, new learning, and memory. The longer the sleep deprivation, the more compromised these essential functions become and impairs the ability of these stem cells to grow and become new neurons. During sleep, unstable memory traces are reconfigured into more permanent ones for long-term storage. The keys to memory are stated as: Paying attention, Visualization, Association i.e. to find something to connect to similar information, and Imagination. The chain of memories (stored in Chitta) is called thought (Manas), and although its path is not deterministic, we are not fully in control of it. All memories have to walk through the temporal sequence of how we think. One pattern evokes the next pattern, which evokes
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the next pattern. Our memory for songs is a great example of temporal sequences in memory. There are thousands of detailed memories stored in the synapses of our brain and mind that are rarely used. At any point in time we recall only a tiny fraction of what we know. Most of the information is sitting there idle waiting for the appropriate cues to invoke it. If you recall a small detail about something that happened long ago, the entire memory sequence can come flooding back into your mind. A piece can activate the whole which is the essence of auto-associative memories Cultivating Higher Values Moral sense or higher values of life are the source of our lives as human beings. Our obligations towards others, and moral struggles demand that we resist favoring ourselves to the exclusion of others. The notions of right and wrong have provided a set of rules for human conduct, particularly involving personal relationships, and form the infrastructure of a socially constructed system that exerts, at the very least, informal controls over individual behavior. There is a common saying: ‘Reason without moral emotions is empty, moral emotions without reason is blind.’ In Hindu scriptures the maintenance of high level of morality is a precondition of spirituality. The inherent qualities have been elaborated in several places in the Bhagavad Gita (chapters II. 55-57, XII.13-19, XIII.7-9, and XIV.22-25). The accepted wisdom about morality is that we learn what is good and what is bad from parents, teachers, and spiritual masters. But we are also told that our ability to abide by these ‘moral’ rules is seen as reflective of our character or personality: People of good character possess moral strength or integrity. T h e
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They would not cheat or take advantage of others; those who are immoral have bad character. An individual confronted with a moral choice processes in his (or her) mind reasons for his decisions and actions. This conventional way of looking at moral decisions focuses on the mind of the actor. Each of us operates to some extent under the influence of self-interest, but we have the power to be sympathetic to others, and to choose against our own interests in keeping with social and moral standards. The accepted wisdom is that we have free will and control over our minds. Since the brain, which is the seat of Buddhi, is basic to decision making, it must play a powerful role in our thinking regarding moral issues, and consequently in the way we treat each other in our society to maintain order and uphold fairness, individual rights, and equity. The recent advances in understanding the working of the brain in producing moral behaviour do not challenge or make obsolete the value of holding people in a
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society accountable for their actions when they have done something that we feel was terribly wrong. It is true that many kinds of behaviour, are perceived differently by society now than they were even a hundred years ago. Neuroscience research does not convincingly tell us about any unified moral faculty in the brain. But it does identify two organs: amygdale generates highly charged emotional reactions while prefrontal cortex gives more rational capability of thinking. Humans develop their inborn sense of morality as they grow. Children’s first behaviours are based on the avoidance of punishment and the seeking of reward. They are able to regulate many aspects of their behaviour and are increasingly aware that they may be responsible for an act that causes harm to another. So the evolution of the human brain was accompanied by a preoccupation with good and bad, the ability to infer the feelings and thoughts of others, and a continual desire to enhance the self’s virtue. We are often guided by short-term gain leaving aside long-term one. These have been termed respectively Preyas and Shreyas in Kathopanishad (1.2.1-2) while in Bhagavad Gita in chapter 18 (verses 36-37) as Rajasika and Sattvika happiness. The former enjoyment is comparable to nectar in the beginning, but like poison in the end, while the opposite is true for the latter. The basic truth about the human brain is that it is the most complicated and sophisticated system ever designed. How far the modern advances in biotechnology would be useful in the pursuit of happiness is still References:
1. Gita 6.35
a question. Our happiness requires that we extend the circle of our self-interest to outside our family, to friends and even to perfect strangers whose pleasures and pains matter to us. Most people define themselves as being happy, regardless of their material wealth usually termed as subjective well-being. While economists tried to quantify it by ‘growth’, its acceleration, free from external disturbances is relative; the absolute happiness lies within us as our scriptures repeatedly emphasise—‘even greatest of misery cannot shake a man of inner realization.’ Conclusion Vedanta says all is within us but is covered by our worldly hankerings for name, fame and materialistic pursuits. When all these are minimized and finally removed through Sadhana, knowledge will automatically shine forth. Hence the prescription of Shanti Mantras in Upanishad at the beginning of all activities, praying to God, the Almighty seated in our heart controlling all of our memory, knowledge and delusion, to grace us with proper direction, motivation, and attitude. The Kathopanishad gives the orientation of attitude by making a call for waking up. It says, ‘Awake, arise and cultivate your hidden identity carefully avoiding worldly temptations.’ We have got this human body equipped with all the necessary instruments to upgrade ourselves including our environment; so one is required to awaken oneself and reap the rich harvest of inner peace and joy. o
2. CW, 1.225
3. CW, 1.208
4. Gita, 2:67
Live a very pure life. God reveals Himself to those hearts that are sincere and pure. Purity is the only basis of a spiritual life. —Swami Shivananda T h e
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The Value of Brahmacharya SWAMI TATHAGATANANDA
(Continued from the previous issue. . .) An Integrated Approach to Self-Restraint On one occasion Swami Brahmananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, tells one of his foremost disciples, ‘My boy, give your body and mind to worldly enjoyments, and the world will destroy them both. Devote them to God and His service, and you will enjoy bodily health, peace of mind and spiritual joy.’27 Swami Brahmananda gives the following advice: ‘I will conquer lust; I will conquer anger and greed.’ If that is your way of approach, you can never conquer them; but if you can fix your mind on God, the passions will leave you of themselves. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, ‘The more you move eastward, the farther you are from the west.’ Call on God and pray to Him. Then the sense objects will no longer attract you.28
Ordinary experience teaches us that a confrontational and careless attitude leads to bad results. Lower impulses are sublimated and re-directed through will force, not violence. Swami Brahmananda advises against extremes: ‘There are certain rules which a Brahmachari must observe. He must avoid eating exciting food, oversleep, overexercise, laziness, bad company and evil conversations.’29 An integrated practical approach is best: combining simple regulated breathing exercises with concentration on thoughts;
prayer and worship of God; study of the scriptures; Japa; and meditation and association with holy persons. We overcome the idea of gender by associating it with the idea of purity and by meditating on Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother. For example, Sri Ramakrishna taught his disciples to rely on practices other than Hatha Yoga for control of the senses. He advised Yogin (Swami Yogananda) to repeat God’s Name with a concentrated mind, which he did, much to his benefit and power of renunciation. Another was told to meditate on the form of Divine Mother Kali upon his chest when lying down to sleep. Latu (Swami Adbhutananda) was told to counteract all impure thoughts by simply thinking of the Master. Yet another, Hariprasanna (Swami Vijnanananda) was told, ‘Even if a woman is pure as gold and rolls on the ground for love of God, it is dangerous for a monk ever to look at her.’ 30 These instructions helped them to keep their minds on the Divine and to develop Atmabuddhi—seeing themselves and everything around them as pure, radiant, immortal Atman without any gender. Ramakrishna also advised some householders to live together as brother and sister after giving birth to one or two children. Purity of the mind is primary, physical cleanliness secondary. As meditation increases,
The author is a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and the Head of Vedanta Society, New York. His books include The Journey of the Upanishads to the West, and Light from the Orient, among others. An edited version of this article was earlier published in the Prabuddha Bharata. o T h e
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body-consciousness decreases. Swamiji says: When there is real purification of the body, external and internal, there arises neglect of the body, and the idea of keeping it nice vanishes. A face which others call most beautiful will appear to the Yogi as merely animal, if there is not intelligence behind it. What the world calls a very common face he regards as heavenly, if the spirit shines behind it. This thirst after body is the great bane of human life. So the first sign of the establishment of purity is that you do not care to think you are a body. It is only when purity comes that we get rid of the body idea.31
A weak, wavering mind is equally the source of great affliction. The problem must be solved at the spiritual level. The media today lures the mind into a phantasmagoria that leaves deep impressions upon it. Patanjali says, ‘To obstruct thoughts which are inimical to Yoga, contrary thoughts should be brought.’32 Swamiji says, ‘Expansion is life, contraction is death.’ Whatever unfolds the Soul within is expansion; whatever hides the Soul is contraction. To expand our consciousness we need the moral strength of sense-restraint and detachment. We should also do vigorous, intense Japa of the holy name or Mantra, directing our thoughts to God. The passions cannot be eradicated but they can be educated. Sri Ramakrishna says that passions directed towards the world and its objects behave like enemies but when they are directed towards God, they become the best friends of man, for they lead him to God: Direct the six passions to God. The impulse of lust should be turned into the desire to have intercourse with Atman. Feel angry at those who stand in your way to God. Feel greedy for Him. If you must have the feeling of I and mine, then associate it with God. Say, for instance, ‘My Rama, my Krishna.’ If you must have pride, then T h e
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feel like Vibhishana, who said, ‘I have touched the feet of Rama with my head; I will not bow this head before anyone else.33
A healthy, transformed life of humility and discrimination is the proof of purity. We should cultivate abiding love for the virtues and pray for a pure mind and heart. Purity and virtue brighten the intellect; vice weakens it. Therefore, spiritual teachers recommend detachment from the senses and steadfast practice of meditation on God. The sage of the Maitri Upanishad says, ‘By self-discipline purification of the mind is attained. Through purification of the mind clear understanding is reached. Through clear understanding SelfKnowledge is gained.’34 Christ says, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.’35 ‘Pure in heart’ means a moral life; due to its great significance, Christ teaches this message to his disciples and to all who ‘have ears to hear.’ The Fruit of Brahmacharya Learning about the fruit of Brahmacharya helps us to live a pure life. Brahmacharya awakens the faculty of intuition whose spiritual power lies latent within us. In its broadest sense, Brahmacharya means the spiritual life. Sri Ramakrishna says that a Brahmacharin can realize God with the help of his penetrating mind: If a man practices absolute Brahmacharya for twelve years, the Medha Nadi (nerve of intelligence) will open, i.e., his power of understanding will blossom. His understanding will become capable of penetrating and comprehending the subtlest ideas. With such an understanding man can realize God. God can be attained only through a purified understanding of this type.36.
Swamiji says, ‘By the observance of Brahmacharya all learning can be mastered
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in a very short time—one has an unfailing memory of what one hears or knows but once.’37 Swamiji also says that God-realization is the fruit of Brahmacharya: That power may come to all. That power comes to him who observes unbroken Brahmacharya for a period of twelve years, with the sole object of realizing God. I have practiced that kind of Brahmacharya myself, and so a screen has been removed, as it were, from my brain. For that reason I need not any more think over or prepare myself for any lectures on such a subtle subject as philosophy . . . it is not any power which is exclusively my own. Whoever will practice unbroken Brahmacharya for twelve years will surely have it. If you do so, you too will get it. Our Shastras do not say that only such and such a person will get it and not others!38
Swamiji assures us that in its advanced stages, Brahmacharya transforms the entire being: Complete continence gives great intellectual and spiritual power. The Brahmacharin must be sexually pure in thought, word and deed. Lose regard for the body; get rid of the consciousness of it so far as possible.39
can be no spiritual strength. Continence gives wonderful control over mankind. The spiritual leaders of men have been very continent, and this is what gave them power. Therefore the Yogi must be continent.41
The purified mind flooded with spiritual ideas easily lifts the veil of ignorance. Swamiji makes an important distinction: ‘Whatever a man knows, should, in strict psychological language, be what he discovers or unveils. What a man “learns” is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his soul.’42 Through the combined practice of continence, mental discipline, scriptural study and meditation, the pure radiance of the immortal Soul or Atman is uncovered. Great mystics of the world have always assigned the greatest significance to chastity and have occasionally admitted its difficulties. St. Augustine used to pray, ‘Give me chastity and continence, only not yet.’43 Brother Giles, one of the foremost disciples of St. Francis, taught that chastity is a primary, pristine virtue:
Controlled desire leads to the highest result. Transform the sexual energy into the spiritual energy, but do not emasculate, because that is throwing away the power. The stronger this force, the more can be done with it. Only a powerful current of water can do hydraulic mining.40 The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will-power. Without chastity there
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Amongst all other virtues I would set the virtue of chastity first, because sweet chastity contains all perfection in itself; but there is no other virtue which can ever be perfect without chastity. Chastity is, in strict truth, the careful and continual custody of our corporeal and spiritual senses, in order to preserve them pure and immaculate for God alone. Every vice troubles and obscures the fair glory of chastity, for it is like a bright mirror which is clouded and darkened, not only by contact
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with impure and defiling things, but by the mere breath of man. It is impossible for man to attain to any spiritual grace, so long as he is inclined to carnal concupiscence and therefore, whithersoever thou turnest thyself, thou shalt never be able to attain to spiritual grace until thou canst master all the vices of the flesh. Therefore, fight valiantly against thy frail and sensual flesh, thine own worst enemy which wages war against thee day and night. And know that he who shall overcome this mortal enemy of ours has most certainly defeated and discomfited all his other enemies, and shall attain
to spiritual grace, and every degree of virtue and perfection.44
The perfect Brahmacharin demonstrates purity, equanimity, contentment, peacefulness, steadfastness, cheerfulness, sweetness, selfrestraint, health, and above all, that purified understanding that upholds society. Lifelong Brahmacharya, obedience to the spiritual instructions of the Guru and faith in oneself impart spiritual excellence and fullness to others. (Concluded.)
References 27. Swami Prabhavananda, The Eternal Companion: Brahmananda, His Life and Teachings (Hollywood: Vedanta Press, 1970), p. 84. 28. Ibid (1944 ed.), p. 196. 29. A Guide to Spiritual Life: Spiritual Teachings of Swami Brahmananda: Translated from Letters and Conversations in Bengali (Mylapore: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1932), p. 70. 30. Gospel, p. 63. 31. C. W., I: 264. 32. Sadhana-pada, II: 33. 33. Gospel, p. 220. 34. Maitri Upanishad, IV. 3. 35. St. Matthew, 5: 8.
36. Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (Mylapore: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1965), p. 170. 37. C. W., VII: 224. 38. Ibid, V: 358. 39. Ibid, VII: 67. 40. Ibid, VII: 69. 41. Ibid, I: 263. 42. Ibid, I: 28 (tenth ed.). 43. St. Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine, Book VIII, Ch. VII. 44. Teachings of Brother Giles (London: Burns, Oats, Washerbourne & Co., 1935). Cit. from Swami Yatiswarananda, Meditation and Spiritual Life (Bangalore, Ramakrishna Ashrama, 1979), p. 204.
Prayer for Purity Repeat occasionally this prayer for purity: May my flesh and my blood be purified; May my skin and my bones be purified; May the marrow of my bones be purified; May all my body be purified. May I be free from attachments. May I be free form impurities! May my organs of sense be purified; May my organs of action be purified; May all my actions be purified; May I be free from attachments. T h e
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May I be free form impurities! May my mind be purified; May my vital energy be purified; May the earth and the air be purified; May fire, ether and water be purified; May I be free from all attachments. May I be free from impurities! May I be pure! May I be pure! I am verily the Atman! I am pure! I am free! I am blissful! —Swami Premananda
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Compilation
The Meaning of Dashanami Sampradaya Adi Shankaracharya is credited with organising the Hindu monks (sannyasis) into ten (dasha) spiritual traditions (sampradaya), each having a specific name (nama) and spiritual significance. Dashanami Sampradaya thus means ‘Ten Monastic Orders’. The following enumeration of these names from Adi Shankara’s Matham-nyaya (a brief Sanskrit treatise) should be of much interest and value to the students of Hindu spiritual tradition. This article is based on BMN Murthy’s article on the same subject, published in Truth, vol.81, no.47.
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vvv The Meaning of Sannyasa Those of you who are Sannyasins must try to do good to others, for Sannyasa means that. There is no time to deliver a long discourse on ‘Renunciation’, but I shall very briefly characterise it as ‘the love of death’. Worldly people love life. The Sannyasin is to love death. Are we to commit suicide then? Far from it. For suicides are not lovers of death, as it is often seen that when a man trying to commit suicide fails, he never attempts it for a second time. What is the love of death then? We must die, that is certain; let us die then for a good cause. Let all our actions—eating, drinking, and everything that we do— tend towards the sacrifice of our self. You nourish the body by eating. What good is there in doing that if you do not hold it as a sacrifice to the well-being of others? You nourish your minds by reading books. There is no good in doing that unless you hold it also as a sacrifice to the whole world. For the whole world is one; you are rated a very insignificant part of it, and therefore it is right for you that you should serve your millions of brothers rather than aggrandise this little self. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 3: 447 T h e
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The Order on the March Ramakrishna Math and Mission—News and Notes New Statue of Swami Vivekananda Unveiled at Khetri An 11-feet tall bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda, in Chicago pose, was unveiled on 22 March 2014 by Swami Gautamananda, Adhyaksha, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. The statue has been installed at the Fateh Bilas, the erstwhile palace of the Raja of Khetri, and now a centre the Ramakrishna Mission. Khetri (in Rajasthan), it may be recalled, played an important role in Swamiji’s life. The statue has been installed under the ‘Vivekananda Museum’ project at Khetri funded by the Central and the State Government. More than 80 monks and 400 devotees were present on the occasion. In the public meeting that followed the unveiling of the statue, the speakers included Swami Gautamananda, Swami Satyarupananda, Swami Atmanishthananda, Bajranglal Sharma and Rajendra Yadav. A musical tribute to Swamiji was presented by Swami Divyavratananda in the evening. The unveiling programme was preceded by staging of a mono act play on Swamiji the previous day. o New Auditorium Inaugurated Vivekananda Memorial Lecture Hall was inaugurated by Swami Prabhananda Maharaj, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial, Vadodara on April 8, 2014 (Sri Ramanavami day). A large number of dignitaries, devotees and admirers were present on the occasion. The air-conditioned hall was constructed within a year at the cost of Rs. 1.30 crore, and has a seating capacity of 250. It is planned to use the hall for organising value education programmes and religious discourses. o T h e
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Book Review For review in The Vedanta Kesari,
publishers need to send us two copies of their latest publication.
Meetings with Ramakrishna By Lex Hixon Published by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 41, UA Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi 110 007. 2011, paperback, pp. 395. Sri Ramakrishna’s life and gospel are amazingly accessible to almost all areas of study. They are compellingly attractive, specially, to creative contemplation. His richly evocative conversations are so transparent that they transport us into instant intimacy. As if we have a familiarity recollecting itself in tranquil moments. This is what is evident in Lex Hixon’s book. The author is familiar to ‘watchers’ of Sri Ramakrishna phenomenon. This book owes its inspiration to Swami Lokeswarananda’s question to the author; ‘Can we encounter Sri Ramakrishna personally and directly?’ This triggered the book, as Hixon tells us, in his Introduction to this Indian edition. It has 33 episodes narrativised around real events in Sri Ramakrishna’s life. Together, they constitute a comprehensive map of the various areas the Great Master, illumined in relating to the spiritual as also secular concerns. The reader has God’s plenty here, and a review can hardly do justice to the themes. Indeed Hixon has blended the ageless, ancient wisdom of Sri Ramakrishna and the varied and complex facets surfacing in its emerging contemporary, colonial ethos. In such terms, it is richly rewarding to read the Chapter on ‘The Ancient Sage and the Modern Pandit’ focusing on the Master’s visit to Vidyasagar. This is timely, for, today the field of education is slanted towards STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. As Hixon makes Ramakrishna say: ‘Self-interested T h e
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scholars who use their learning—even their precious sacred learning—to accumulate fame, wealth and power over the lives of others are like diseased fruit that remains hard and never open’ (p.25). Similarly, when Ramakrishna talks about ‘the inconceivable, the inexpressible, the indescribable’ Brahman, Lex Hixon catches the impact in his own picturesque way: ‘The expression of blissful freedom on the Pundit’s face uncannily resembles the Paramahamsa’s beaming countenance. A full transmission or interchange of being, has miraculously accompanied Ramakrishna’s words.’ This is only a sampler of how richly evocative Hixon is in visual language. Similar effect is achieved in the episode on Bankim Chandra and the Master entitled ‘The Timeless and Contemporary Man’. Hixon focuses on Bankim’s ‘saucy’ remark of life’s aims as ‘lust and greed’. The Master’s reply traces the roots to the nature of the mind: ‘It is not certainly you who speak in such obsessive patterns, Bankim, but a mind that has unconsciously permitted itself to become calculating, turbulent and deceitful.’ Yet the perennially positive Paramahamsa assures: ‘This very same mind can become serene, guileless and innocent by concentrating upon Divine Reality’. Thus what is implicit and suggestive is made, in Hixon’s words, explicit and expressive. Of significance would be several areas, especially the ones on Kundalini and ‘Secret Rhythm of the Wisdom Mother’ and Kali are full of refreshing correctives to views that equate any mention of ‘secret’ to invariably ‘the sordid’. Perhaps this is the uniqueness of this book: Lex Hixon, in his own richly ripe imaginative eye makes the reader meet the Great Master. By making us see what he saw and what he heard. And shares the feast. _________________ PROF. M. SIVARAMKRISHNA, HYDERABAD
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Published by Adhyaksha, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Champavat, Uttarakhand.2012, Hardbound, pp.304, Rs.100. During his two visits to the United States (189396 and 1899-1900) Swami Vivekananda spent nearly a year in England, and some six months in Europe, more than half of that time in France. Swamiji himself has given the account of his travels in ‘The East and West’, ‘Memoirs of European Travel’ and The Paris Congress of the History of religions’. Swami Vidyatmananda, an American monk of Ramakrishna Order and the author of the present book, has written on ‘Swami Vivekananda in France’ giving the detailed account of the four trips undertaken by Swamiji to France. However, as stated by the author himself, he has tried to fill the gaps of information, not covered in the books/journal articles on Swamiji, and this book amply fulfills his objective. The author has done a monumental work of compiling every detail of the places where Swamiji either stayed or visited during his stay in Europe, with a rich visual repository of beautiful photographs. The book gives us the overview of everything connected with the particular place—Swamiji’s stay there, the things that were thought and said there and the extraordinary hosts and guests who spent some time there, in the enchanted presence of a knower of God. The book is neatly divided into seven chapters entitled (1) In France (2) In Brittany and Normandy (3) At the Paris Congress (4) With Pere Hyacinthe Loyson (5) In Switzerland, 1896 (6) In Germany and Holland, 1896, and (7) In the Near East. The author has done meticulous research on the contributions of the people whom Swamiji befriended and the events ultimately pointing to the significance of Swamiji’s mission in the West. One comes across the close friends of Swamiji like Sister Nivedita, Mrs. Sara Bull, Miss Josephine Macleod, Mr. Francis and Mrs. Betty Legget, Professor William James; the famous Harvard Professor, T h e
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Prof. Max Muller; the renowned Indologist at Oxford University who wrote Ramakrishna’s first biography, Paul Deussen; another famous Indologist, Mr. Pere Hyacinthe Loyson, Mr. and Mrs. Sevier, among others. There is mention of the French philosopher Jules Bois, his host, with whom he discussed European culture. Many of Swamiji’s letters are quoted through which we get glimpses of his mood and his workplan. We are given the details of Swamiji’s itinerary including the sources of all of them. The subjects of Swamiji’s lectures are dealt with in great length, as also some interesting incidents. Swamiji’s magnetic personality, his eloquence, his humour, depth of his knowledge, command of English language, and the great breadth of his intellectual and spiritual culture peep through the pages of the book. This is a labour of love and devotion, and all admirers and devotees of Swami Vivekananda should find this as an invaluable contribution. The book can also serve as a guide for persons taking pilgrimage to these places bearing the footprints of Swamiji. The layout and printing is excellent. An elaborate index is provided at the end. A reader cannot help but remain spellbound with the passionate involvement of the author with Swami Vivekananda. ___________________ DR. CHETANA MANDAVIA, JUNAGADH
100 Stories You Will Never Forget by J.P.Vaswani. Published by Gita Publishing House, Sadhu Vaswani Mission, 10, Sadhu Vaswani Path, Pune - 411 001. 2012, paperback, pp.171, Rs. 200. Story-telling is generally related to childhood. But ‘there is a child hidden in every adult’, so simple stories and anecdotes leave indelible impressions on our mind. It is one of those age-old techniques of simplifying the complex philosophy just like making easily digestible curd out of rich milk. Dada Vaswani does exactly this in this ‘story-book’. Pride is an obstacle in understanding, learning and acquiring character traits. It stands
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in the way to grasp the truths that are preached by philosophy. While sermonizing may hurt a listener’s pride, story-telling does the job of removing one’s pride. They make us understand our folly without touching our adamant ego. And thus the medicine works! That’s the reason even great world-teachers of the past have taken more to story-telling than to any other method. Freely adapted from Puranas to Socrates, from Sri Ramakrishna to Dalai Lama, the stories told here veer around various character-building qualities. These 100 remarkable stories touch almost every aspect of day-to-day life, from embracing pains and aches to laughing off an insult, from nurturing meaningless ambitions to the humility of a Nobel Laureate—collecting honey from various flowers. The teachings of Sri Shankaracharya, Rabindranath Tagore, William James, Sadhu Vaswani, Bhagavad Gita and the Bible as also some witty quotes are given at the end of each story. That adds to stories very well. The contents of the book justify its title. However, it would have been better if the stories had been better organised so that the readers could get the required inspiration quickly. As with many other books of Dada Vaswani, at the end of every story, a ‘Practical Tip’ is given to motivate the reader to start working on the lesson. A welcome book. _________________ SWAMI DIVYAKRIPANANDA, VADODARA
Introduction To Religious Philosophy By Y.Masih Published by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 41, UA Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi 110 007. 2012, paperback, pp. 410 +xv, Rs.295. (Cloth: Rs.495) It is a universal truth that religion and philosophy are mutually interdependent as ‘Intellectual Faith’. Often it is said that religion without philosophy is
blind and philosophy without religion is empty. For religion in the absence of philosophical inquiry and metaphysical understanding will lead to superstitious beliefs and blind observances. Similarly philosophy excluding religion will culminate in dogmatism and dry intellectualism. A right blending of both will pave the way to arrive at an approach suitable for facing vicissitudes of life. The author has extensively dealt with the subject matter of this book which commences with various definitions as well as understanding the significant meaning and role of religion and culminates with contemporary encounter that religions make with reference to plurality and relativity as well as unity of religions. The author proceeds with several views on the nature of religious language based on reason and revelation. The arguments based on ontological, cosmological, teleological, moral and religious experience form the logical acceptance of God as a personal Being than an infinite God. The attributes of God are described in the name of philosophy of theism. After the existence of God is established, His qualities such as person, immutable, eternal, omniscience, omnipotence etc., are critically evaluated in terms of linguistic complexcities. The author develops the topic on ‘the encounter of religions’ from the perspective of theology and religion, truth and falsehood of religion, essential unity and diversity among religions, plurality and relativity of religions, religious conversion, casteism, etc. Throughout the book we can notice the deep eruditions of the author through the citations from Western scholars and Indian scriptural texts to suit the appropriate context of discussion and description. The comparison among religion, theology and religious philosopher (p.23) is apt and accurate and especially the fourth point viz., ‘A theist talks to God; a theistic theologian talks about God with reverence and piety and a philosopher talks about God with disinterestedness and detachment’ is thought-provoking and gives the quintessence of this entire writing. ______________________ DR R GOPALAKRISHNAN, CHENNAI
Religion is not a matter of discursive reasoning or scholarship; it is a matter of experience. . . What the sages have said are all based on their own experience and not on hearsay. —Swami Vijnanananda T h e
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Ramakrishna Math South Nada, Opp. Ashoka Petrol Pump, Haripad - 690514 Dist. Alleppey, Kerala. Phone: 0479-2411700, 0974 5325 834. Email: srkmathharipad@gmail.com, viveka.vira@gmail.com Website: www.rkmathharipad.org
Help Build A New Centre For Sri Ramakrishna An Appeal
Dear Devotees, well-wishers and friends, Swami Brahmananda Ramakrishna Math at Haripad in Kerala was started in 1912 and has been sanctified by the stay of Swami Brahmanandaji Maharaj, the Spiritual Son of Sri Ramakrishna. But by long lapse of time, the buildings have become totally unfit for use. To start with, we propose to have the Monk’s quarters, rooms for Welfare and social activities, office building, Library and free reading room, guests room and a Universal Temple of Sri Ramakrishna. The entire infrastructure has to be re-constructed. By the grace of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna, the plans for rebuilding the whole centre has been prepared. The estimated expenditure for this project is Rupees 5 Crores. We invite every one of you the noble-hearted people, specially the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, to come forward with their generous donations to enable us to erect this abode for Sri Ramakrishna and serve humanity Every one, who participates in this seva-yajna (service-sacrifice) will be a sure recipient of the blessings of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. Yours in the Lord, Swami Virabhadrananda, Adhyaksha
Details for sending donations Donations from India: Cheque / D.D may be drawn in favour of ‘Ramakrishna Math, Haripad’ NEFT Transfer :A/C Number : 30642551603, : State Bank of India. Haripad. RTGS/NEFT/IFSC code: SBIN0010596. (In case of NEFT transfer please email your Name, Amount, Postal Address, PAN NUMBER, phone number &transaction details to srkmathharipad@gamil.com This is for accounting purposes.) Donations from Foreign countries: Kindly draw a Cheque / Draft in favour of "Ramakrishna Math" and send it to the General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, Dt. Howrah (West Bengal), Pin -711 202, India. In the covering letter mention that it is a donation for Haripad Centre building fund. And inform all the details of the donation to e-mail: srkmathharipad@gmail.com, viveka.vira@gmail.com
Donations to Ramakrishna Math are Exempt from Income Tax Under Section 80 G. Old godown used as Monks’ Quarters at present
Old building in a dilapidated condition
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December 2012 issue of the Vedanta Kesari now available in book form
Indian Culture Its Timeless Appeal and Ageless Charm The core philosophy of Indian Culture a nd its significance in modern times
A must for all students and admirers of Indian Culture
Indian culture is one of the most ancient and diverse cultures in the world. What is more, it is a living culture, not tucked away in museums and dusty volumes but a living force in the daily and social lives of millions of Indians, in India and abroad. Despite these ennobling truths, it is also a fact that much needs to be done to preserve and cultivate Indian culture especially amongst youth. Dwelling on various aspects of our cultural heritage and the grand philosophy, this volume tries to bring together the scholarly and everyday approach to Indian culture. This aims at promoting understanding of Indian culture in a simple and easy-to-read style, without losing its serious and profound dimensions.
The whole book printed in four-colours Hard bound, Pages. x + 374 Price: Rs. 275/- + Postage: Rs.30/-for single copy. Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Email: mail@chennaimath.org
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The Vedanta Kesari
Some of the recent Annual Issues of The Vedanta Kesari now available in book form: (1999) Globalization (2002) How to Organise Life (2004) Sri Ramakrishna in Todays Violent World (2005) Channelling Youth Power (2006) No One is a Stranger (2007) Upanishads in Daily Life (2008) Gita for Everyday Living (2009) How to Shape the Personality (2010) Facets of Freedom (2011) Joy of Spirituality
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Universal Prayers for Youth Everyone needs guidance for solving one’s problems with clarity and objectivity. And the practice of prayer is a time-tested method in this regard. This compilation of soul-stirring prayers from the Sanskrit literature aims to introduce the youth to the practice of prayer for self-development and spiritual living. Being prayerful helps one live a life of fearlessness and strength drawn from a Divine Source.
Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Email : mail@chennaimath.org
Pages 44 + xxvi. Price: Rs. 25/- + Postage: Rs.20/-for single copy. No request for VPP entertained
New Release
Nectar of Supreme Knowledge Yoga Vasistha Sara Translated by Swami Sarvadevananda
Yoga Vasistha is one of the most revered texts of Indian spiritual tradition. By showing the ever-changing nature of appearance through fables and spell-binding tales, the text brings us closer to an appreciation of the consciousness that observes and witnesses all things. This volume is the English translation of Yoga Vasistha Sara by Swami Dhireshananda (a renowned scholar and a disciple of Swami Shivananda)—the Bengali translation of the original Sanskrit, with commentary. The English translation is by Swami Sarvadevananda, head of Vedanta Society, Hollywood, USA. Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Email : mail@chennaimath.org
Hardbound, Pages 362, Price: Rs.200/-Postage: Rs.30/-for single copy. No request for VPP entertained
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Saints of Saivism—Periya Puranam (Pictorial)
Pages. xxxii + 302 Hardbound
A highly revered book of Tamil Saivism, Periya Puranam is the poetic account of the legendary lives of the sixty-three Nayanmars, the saints of Tamil Saivism. Periya Puranam was compiled during the 12th century by Sekkizhar, himself a Saiva saint. Saints of Saivism is a pictorial presentation of these sublime lives through pictures drawn by S. Rajam, a noted artist and musician, with narration by well-known littérateur Dr. Prema Nandakumar. Prepared under the General Editorship of Dr. N. Mahalingam, a scholar and philanthropist, the book is a lucid description of Bhakti and Seva through the divine lives of Nayanmars—especially introducing the young to this hoary heritage of India.
Price: Rs. 300/- + Postage: Rs.30/-for single copy. No request for VPP entertained Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004
New Release
Walking the Walk A Karma Yoga Manual
Swami Tyagananda A handy volume containing a clear elucidation of Swami Vivekananda’s Karma Yoga—as well as other Yogas—Walking the Walk is a must for all serious spiritual seekers. It attempts to demystify and unravel the concept of Karma, bondage and freedom along with practical suggestions for transforming ordinary Karma into an act of Yoga. The author, a former editor of the Vedanta Kesari, is the head of Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, Boston, USA, and Hindu Chaplain at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Email : mail@chennaimath.org
Pages xiii + 129. Price: Rs. 55/- + Postage: Rs.22/-for single copy. No request for VPP entertained
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NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE (FREE HOME FOR THE BLIND, ORPHAN AND AGED) TIRUCHANOOR, TIRUPATI - 517503. Ph : 0877-2239992, 9908537528 [Mob.] E-mail: sreenavajeevan@gmail.com Website: www.navajeevan.org
An Appeal 35 Years of Service to Humanity 1979 - 2014 1. Navajeevan School & Hostel for Blind Children – 2. Navajeevan Free Eye Hospital – 3. Navajeevan Free Home for Aged – 4. Navajeevan Annaksetram - 5. Navajeevan Sharanagati Vridhashram – 6. Navajeevan Rural Medical Centres - 7. Navajeevan Eye Care Centres - 8. Navajeevan Orphanage Children Homes –
Tirupati, Parlekhimundi, Golamunda Tirupati Tirupati, Rishikesh, Parlekhimundi and Chennai Kothapeta / Rishikesh Tirupati Berhampur [Orissa] Serango & Kalahandi [Orissa] Tirupati, Parlehkimundi, Saluru, Golamunda, Berhampur, Pandukal, Vizag & Araku
A Humble Request for Donation 1. Sponsor one day Annadan to Blind Children and aged
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Donor devotees can send their contributions by cheque/DD/MO to the above address on the occasion of birthday, wedding day or any other special occasion and receive prasadam of Lord Balaji Venkateswara of Tirupati as blessings. Contributions to NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE, Tirupati are eligible for Tax Relief U/S 80G of Income Tax Act. Our Bank details for online transfer : Bank Name : Indian Bank , Gandhi Road Branch, Tirupati SB A/c No: 463789382, Account Hold er : Navajeevan Blind Relief Centre, Branch Code: T036, IFSC code: IDIB000T036,
‘We can attain salvation through social work’ – Swami Vivekananda K. Sridhar Acharya Founder/ President
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Vol.101-6 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) June 2014. Regd. with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No.1084 / 57. POSTAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:TN / CH (C) / 190 / 12-14. LICENCED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-259 / 2012-14 Date of Publication: 24th of every month
Teach yourselves, teach everyone his/her real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come, when this sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity. —Swami Vivekananda
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