Krishnam Kalaya Sakhi Sundaram

This is a beautiful composition. I first heard it from Unnikrishnan's magical vocal chords, but the one here is a more a kirtan style rendition. It has those lovely Indian cymbals in the background(khartaal, manjeera etc.), which make you feel its a next door kirtan, yet has beautiful micro tones and classical touch.

Rashid Khan

Reminds me of college days, had the pleasure of enjoying Ustad from an arms distance.

Here is a wonderful, bhairavi bhajan, aaj radha brij ko chali.



And here is an even better, but embedding of this link is disabled. Its a very famous composition, sung by almost every one, Kahiyo re Prabhu Aawan ki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfSRyEF_leA

Experience

Knowledge exists in relation to yourself. You know that you know. You experience knowledge.

In other words knowledge becomes an experience. Similarly no experience exists without knowledge of it. Knowledge and experience are one package.

Even about experiences you have no knowledge of, lets say, dying or I dont know, some sensory experience which you have never had before, you cant create that experience without knowing it. The moment it surfaces, the knowledge is there, that it is this, or it is not this. Every new experience then is brought into the domain of knowing or in other words naming.

Naming is fundamental to experience hence everything is related knowledge.

The precondition of all knowing and all experience is Self. The I AM.
This then brings us to the turning point, that is the fact you are, the “I AM” the fundamental knowing, which is your own self, is that also knowledge? Or is the “I am” experience? May be its both, You know that u are and you experience that you are. May be its too silly to talk about this.

Centre

Either you can be centered on universe(happenings) or you can be centered on Self.
If you are centered on Self, the universe can be seen, you experience that u
are experiencing; But the 'You" takes the center.

The Self is always calm, always same, always still.

If you are centered on universe, the Self gets lost, you become the experience,
you become the dry leaf which is vulnerable to vicissitude of ever changing ever-threatening-universe.

The universe(subdued self) is always restless, always changing, always dynamic.

Think

I am thinking , that I am thinking
Its all, after all my thinking.
Does thinking create me ? Or I create thinking ?

I dont know, I can never know
for all knowing is thinking.

Pt Channulal Mishra

Pt ji, has one of those voices which drive you can crazy any time of the day, his beauty lies in simplifying hindustani classical music. Long live the great tradition of Kashi, and may it produce more gems like, Pt. Kishan maharaj Ustad Bismillah khan and N Rajam.

Listening to Channulalji's benares ki kajri also makes a very pleasurable experience.

Ramana Speaks 2

Talk 86.
The Master gave the true significance of the Christian faith thus:
Christ is the ego.
The Cross is the body.
When the ego is crucified, and it perishes, what survives is the
Absolute Being (God), (cf. “I and my Father are one”) and this
glorious survival is called Resurrection.

[from talks with Ramana Maharishi]

Mangal

Adjectives are put to their test when one tries to use them for Kumar Gandharv ji.
There is hardly any composition of him you cant like. Sample this, Mangal din aaj by Pt. ji. A masterpiece like all of Kumarji's.



and In a perhaps different way here is another soothing Mangala charan from energetic land of Punjab. The opening is just heavenly. Its like an indic orchestra.

Rani tero chir jeeyo gopaal

While I am at Jasraj, and reminiscent of old times, here is another one.
Ah those days !

@Bagru: do u recall the Bhajan ?

Magical Lyrics by soor daas, please hear carefully.

Nath Pavansut Keenhi jo karni and Mystical Ramayana

Reminds me of college days, I used to love this bhajan of Pt. ji, and would play it again and again.




May be a few words on Hanuman and his significance in Ramayana(Rama's march to victory-- the movement of awareness from Senses to Self)

When Rama(consciousness),experiences breath(vayu) with awareness, a deep unfolding of energy inside happens, which is also known as Prana, this is what texts call, vayu putra, or the evolution of breath, Hanumana. Just like a child birth, is produced an intense vibrating living energy, Prana, born to Vayu.

Naturally then Hanumana and Rama are inseparable, once hanumana has happened in Rama's life. Rama might live without Sita(स्थूल देह-body ) but not without Hanumana :)

Without Hanumana's presence Dashanana(10 indriya -- gyan+ karma, faculties of cognition and action) can not be won. Rama has to enter Lanka(Mooladhara -- compare with beejakshara of mooladhara -- लं ) and get his Body consciousness freed from senses for thats where, Sita is locked.

And the magic is even after subduing senses and winning over Ravana, the story is not complete, till Body goes through all the changes it has to go through(Tapa -- Agni Pariksha)

I will continue this Mystical Ramayana some other day:) May be weekend :) Or may be like many other resolutions, I will relax from this too :)

Jai Hanuman!

tulasi says, mangal murati maruti nandan, sakal amangal moola nikandan

When hanuman has happened then surely only mangal happens, and whatever happens then is mangal :)

Om Tat Sat

Bhajan Tulasi daas --- Jab Janaki Nath Sahaya

heart sutra -- sanskrit and english

To me this is the ultimate expression which is possible with language. Buddha conveys the state of 'the state'in this sutra.


Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara,
while deeply immersed in prajna paramita,
clearly perceived the empty nature of the five skandhas,
and transcended all suffering.
Sariputra! Form is not different from emptiness,
emptiness is not different from form.
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.
So it is with feeling, conception, volition, and consciousness.
Sariputra! All dharmas are empty in character;
neither arising nor ceasing,
neither impure nor pure,
neither increasing nor decreasing.
Therefore, in emptiness, there is no form;
there is no feeling, conception, volition, or consciousness;
no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind;
no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas;
no realm of vision, and so forth, up to no realm of mind-consciousness;
no ignorance or ending of ignorance, and so forth,
up to no aging and death or ending of aging and death.
There is no suffering, no cause, no extinction, no path.
There is no wisdom and no attainment.
There is nothing to be attained.
By way of prajna paramita,
the bodhisattva's mind is free from hindrances.
With no hindrances, there is no fear;
freed from all distortion and delusion,
ultimate nirvana is reached.
By way of prajna paramita,
Buddhas of the past, present, and future,
attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
Therefore, prajna paramita
is the great powerful mantra,
the great enlightening mantra,
the supreme and peerless mantra.
It can remove all suffering.
This is the truth beyond all doubt.en
And the prajna paramita mantra is spoken thus:

Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha

-----------------
taken from the web...thanks to uploaders

kaise jaaon

जाना तो है,
पर गुजर जायेंगे!
कैसे जाऊं ?

Ramadan

Understanding hunger is a great way of opening up to Life.
To know how life is vitality sometimes we have to do the opposite.Deprivation sometimes makes us realizes what a Gift human experience is, how rich how colorful how tasteful? In trying to live, we forget life.

A great poem called Qasida Burda, was written by an Egyptian Imaam in praise of Prophet (SAW). Enjoy,



May be if i have more time a longer post on Energy Food and its influence will follow.

Kab ? Kab ? Kab ?

ये जो जल रहा है
भीतर चल रहा है
कब तक जलेगा ?
कब तक चलेगा ?

क्यों हर वक्त
होती है चाहत की
कुछ हो ?

क्या जीवन का होना काफी नही ?
क्या वो "कब" आयेगा ,
जब कुछ होने को बाक़ी नही ?

vichaar

कहने को बहुत कुछ था
फिर भी अनकहा रह गया
अनुभव और ज्ञान के किनारों बीच
जीवन बह गया

समझ ने जो भी समझाया
वो बहुत कम था
हाथ कुछ तो आया फिर भी,
हाथ खाली रह गया
जीवन बह गया

Bhuvanesh Komkali - Bhajan

What a talent ! Buvanesh is grandson of Kumar Gandharva Ji, one the best voices i have heard!

Smash Hit!

Thinking

When you are tired of thinking
understand,
its just one more thought :)

Dhan Dhan Ramdas guru - धन धन राम दास गुरु

Suddenly playing Gyneshwar in background I was rummaging for some song in my HDD
when i found this mp3 and Aha happened when I realized the mp3 also exits on Youtube !

Yoga Definition -- Shankara Aparokshanubhuti - योग अपरोक्षानुभूति

All kinds of interesting definitions of the word Yoga exist. To Patanjali its chiita vritti nirodh, to Krishna its karmasu kaushalam and of course Ramanuja would make it Bhakti :)

Lets see what the Champion Shankara says in his classic aparoksha anubhuti on the eight limbs of yoga :)

Its interesting to see how samadhi becomes Knowledge !

****************************************************************************

102-103. The steps, in order, are described as follows: the control of the senses, the control of the mind, renunciation, silence, space, time, posture, the restraining root (Mulabandha), the equipoise of the body, the firmness of vision, the control of the vital forces, the withdrawal of the mind, concentration, self-contemplation and complete absorption.
104. The restraint of all the senses by means of such knowledge as “All this is Brahman” is rightly called Yama, which should be practiced again and again.
105. The continuous flow of only one kind of thought to the exclusion of all other thoughts, is called Niyama, which is verily the supreme bliss and is regularly practiced by the wise.
106. The abandonment of the illusory universe by realizing it as the all-conscious Atman is the real renunciation honored by the great, since it is of the nature of immediate liberation.
107. The wise should always be one with that silence wherefrom words together with the mind turn back without reaching it, but which is attainable by the Yogins.
108-109. Who can describe That (i.e., Brahman) whence words turn away ? (So silence is inevitable while describing Brahman). Or if the phenomenal world were to be described, even that is beyond words. This, to give an alternate definition, may also be termed silence known among the sages as congenital. The observance of silence by restraining speech, on the other hand, is ordained by the teachers of Brahman for the ignorant.
110. That solitude is known as space, wherein the universe does not exist in the beginning, end or middle, but whereby it is pervaded at all times.
111. The non-dual (Brahman) that is bliss indivisible is denoted by the word ‘time’, since it brings into existence, in the twinkling of an eye all beings from Brahman downwards.
112. One should known that as real posture in which the meditation on Brahman flows spontaneously and unceasingly, and not any other that destroys one’s happiness.
113. That which is well known as the origin of all beings and the support of the whole universe, which is immutable and in which the enlightened are completely merged … that alone is known as Siddhasana (eternal Brahman).
114. That (Brahman) which is the root of all existence and on which the restraint of the mind is based is called the restraining root (Mulabandha) which should always be adopted since it is fit for Raja-yogins.
115. Absorption in the uniform Brahman should be known as the equipoise of the limbs (Dehasamya). Otherwise mere straightening of the body like that of a dried-up tree is no equipoise.
116. Converting the ordinary vision into one of knowledge one should view the world as Brahman itself. That is the noblest vision, and not that which is directed to the tip of the nose.
117. Or, one should direct one’s vision to That alone where all distinction of the seer, sight, and the seen ceases and not to the tip of the nose.
118. The restraint of all modifications of the mind by regarding all mental states like the Chitta as Brahman alone, is called Pranayama.
119-120. The negation of the phenomenal world is known as Rechaka (breathing out), the thought, “I am verily Brahman”, is called Puraka (breathing in), and the steadiness of that thought thereafter is called Kumbhaka (restraining the breath). This is the real course of Pranayama for the enlightened, whereas the ignorant only torture the nose.
121. The absorption of the mind in the Supreme Consciousness by realizing Atman in all objects is known as Pratyahara (withdrawal of the mind) which should be practiced by the seekers after liberation.
122. The steadiness of the mind through realization of Brahman wherever the mind goes, is known as the supreme Dharana (concentration).
123. Remaining independent of everything as a result of the unassailable thought, “I am verily Brahman”, is well known by the word Dhyana (meditation), and is productive of supreme bliss.
124. The complete forgetfulness of all thought by first making it changeless and then identifying it with Brahman is called Samadhi known also as knowledge.

Maitreem Bhajata

The song was composed by Puja Chandrashekhar Swami of kanchi kamkoti peetham.
MSS is amazing! as always !!

These are the people who become immortal through their lives.

Ramana Speaks - 3

2. If I am none of these, then Who am I?

After negating all of the above mentioned as `not this',
`not this', that Awareness which alone remains -- that I am.

3. What is the nature of Awareness?

The nature of Awareness is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.

4. When will the realization of the Self be gained?

When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed,
there will be realization of the Self which is the seer.

5. Will there not be realization of the Self even while the
world is there (taken as real)?

There will not be.

6. Why?

The seer and the object seen are like the rope and the
snake. Just as the knowledge of the rope which is the substrate
will not arise unless the false knowledge of the illusory
serpent goes, so the realization of the Self which is the
substrate will not be gained unless the belief that the world
is real is removed.

7. When will the world which is the object seen be removed?

When the mind, which is the cause of all cognition and of
all actions, becomes quiescent, the world will disappear.

(from the Collected Works of Ramana Mahirishi )

neti neti

not this, not this, not this, not this
not just this, not just this, not just this, not just this
this this this this
is is is is
I I I I
Die Die Die Die

(Inspired By Bagru's Prose)

Vithobha Chala

Music cant get better than this,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taaWFvYsaBM

Singers: Gayathri & Ranjani

Throw Out

A strange situation,
in this House !
The owner of house is back.
Celebrations happening
every moment.
The over joyed tenant
now waits in ecstasy
to be thrown out of house
wait...wait... arduous wait

rote rote din bhi beeta

रोते रोते दिन भी बीता
रोते रोते रात
तुम तो आए
मिल न पाये
हो न पायी बात

Pain and Suffering

Can this pain,
take me beyond suffering ?

QnA-5

Q: What is a Spiritual Experience ?
A: there is no such thing as spiritual experience

Q: What do u mean, what do u mean, You mean all this false, all this i feel, I felt, all is this peace, and all this is what is going on in me, all this is false ?

A: No, I just mean that it is just another experience.

Q: What!! How can you say this?

A: It is a belief. The belief is based on knowledge that you have acquired, which is at the basis, of it being named spiritual or sensual or material. You have read few things and there is a tacit understanding that these things are sacred, pure and holy thats all. When some life experiences fit these knowledge categories you classify them as spiritual. You want to feel important and sacred and distinct thats why you attach this label spiritual experience.

Q: Well, but then every experience is classified or named, so knowledge and experience go hand in hand, dont they ?

A: Tell me the belief that something is spiritual or not, tell me the underlying belief that something is spiritual, is it spiritual ?

Q: No Its not, its a belief

A: Ok so the basis of spiritual and sacred beliefs, then is something which is non spiritual and non sacred, or for that matter just a normal belief, right ?

Q: Well that way everything is belief, and the basis of one belief is another belief, this foolish

A: well, the fact that you believe you are, tell me is the fact that you exist, You are, or I am, is it also not a belief ?
"If all beliefs are in me, am I too just a belief" ?

Q: Well then can you tell me who am i, is the I AM also a belief ?

A: and what do u expect, and if i answer this wont this be just another belief ?

Q: I think I got it , thanks

A: :-)

Kali: The goddes of time

Beholding at the beautiful face of kali, I said to my self, she is Time personified.
What can be a better representation of divinity? If god of space is omnipresent, sarvya vyaapi. He is present in the 'x y z' of space, he becomes Vishnu (it literally means present everywhere).

Kali is the godess of time. So kali is the 't' axis of divinity.

Time has its layers. At all layers time is movement of something. The Outermost layer of time is cosmic time, movement of celestial bodies. At the closest level it the revolution of earth i.e. day and night. At a still farther level it is the revolution of earth, months seasons years etc. This is cosmic layer of time.

There is another layer of time which is biological layer of time, which is your very own body which rejuvenates, ages and all these layers are connected. Like human body is affected directly by day and night it is also connected with months if you are deeply sensitive to the lunar movement it can be felt. So like a cambium tissue in plant is keeping track of how many times earth has moved around sun, your body is also keeping track of how many years and months have passed by.

The subtlest layer of time is felt at the movement of Thought(breath). This layer of time is the layer where Kali can be directly perceived. Every successive movement of unattended thought , unconscious thought, is movement of time. All this movement happens in the zone of Kali. Deep sensitivity in this zone leads to unlocking of Shakti (energy).

Complete understanding of this movement of thought, establishes us in the zone of Kali. Kali dancing on Shiva's body gives us the message to subdue every rising thought(movement) with attention(energy). To subdue all knowledge(Shiva), that is rising due to movement of thought with pure perceptive energy is the message of Kali.

This zone of Kali, is pure perception, is pure attention, is the "power of Now". Kali is the stillness in which all movement is perceived, Kali is the paper on which all text is written.If vishnu is Vishraam of Vaikuntha , Kali is the Viraam of Shamsana.

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु विष्णुमायेति शब्दिता
नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः


Kali is the Vishnu Maya, all movement in space is through time.
Om tat sat.

Sikh Aarti Kirtan Sohila

Some nice early morning discussions on Time and its nature, and i was reminded of this gem. Much gratitude followed when I found a rendition of this aarti on youtube
(embedding of this disabled)
A movie version of this arti is here, this is nice too but clipped and with filmy background.

I want to comment but its foolish for me to add words to what Nanak has already said so well ! Gagan mein thaal rav chand deepak !

jeevan

जीवन पल पल मर रहा है
फिर भी कल कल की आशा ले कर जिंदा है
सोचता है पल पल
वो कल आयेगा
जब वो जीवन में जी पायेगा
इस आशा में जीवन, जीवन को घूँट जाता है
क्यों जीवन आख़िर, जीना चाहता है ?

Jindagi

जिंदगी पल पल
मौत के करीब जाती है
बदकिस्मत है देखो
मौत से मिल नहीं पाती है

Upadesa Saram Text

I am surprised how my wish materialized! I thank my good friend through this blog, who sent me this text and commentary :). There are a few typos in the sanskrit text though. I will correct them over weekend. May be with my comments on Upadesa Saram. Thanks again Nari :) no words :)

Some of my fav verses are in bold font.
*****************************Upadesa Saraam उपदेश सारम रमणा ***********************

1
कर्तुराज्ञया प्राप्यते फलं |
कर्म किं परं कर्म तज्जडम ||

It is by the will of God that actions happen and also the fruits thereof. The sense of doership is not superior. It is ineffective. Every action is impersonal.

2
कृति महोदधौ पतनकाराणम |
फलमशाश्वतं गतिनिरोधकम ||

In the vast ocean of cause and effect, actions happen and impermanent results follow. If one takes them as "my" actions the idea of having free will gets strong. This sense of personal doership gives rise to a feeling of guilt or pride and effectively blocks the spiritual understanding that everything happens according to the will of God.

3
ईश्वरार्पितं नेच्छया कृतम |
चित्तशोधकम मुक्तिसाधकम ||

When there is total acceptance that all actions happen purely by will of God, and if the fruits and the consequences are accepted as His grace the mind gets purified and attains freedom from expectations.

4
कायवाङमनः कार्यमुत्तमम |
पूजनं जपस्चिंतनम क्रमात् ||

Accepting and understanding that God has created the world for his sport and God is playing the lila through billions of body mind organisms is better than chanting the sacred names of the Lord which in turn is superios to worshipping the image of the Lord with body, mind and speech.

5
जगत इशधीयुक्तसेवनम |
अष्टमूर्तिभ्रिददेवापूजनं ||

When there is an understanding that God himself has become the manifestation; when, by His grace, one feels His presence in the phenomenal existence one obtains the blessings of worshipping the Lord of eight fold forms without neglecting ones duties.

6
उत्तमस्तवादुच्चमंदतः |
चित्तजं जप ध्यानमुत्तमम ||

Understanding that nothing happens according to "my" will and merely witnessing the billions of body-mind organisms act under God's will is excellent. It is superior to singing the glories of the Lord or reciting His sacred names.

7
आज्यधारया स्त्रोतसा समम |
सरलचिन्तनम विरलतः परम ||

When there is an understanding that God's will prevails all the time and witnessing happens without any "one" to witness, it is like the stream is true meditation. It is much better than meditating with an assumption that one has free will.

8
भेदभावनात्सोहमित्य्सौ |
भवनाभिदा पावनी मता ||

The non-dualistic approach of understanding that "I AM" is God is far more superior than the dualistic approach of assuming the difference between God and the "me" and struggling to be one with Him.

9
भवशून्यसद्भावा सुस्तितिः |
भावनाबालात भाक्तिरुत्तमा ||

By the grace of God or the Master when one is firmly established in the "I AM" devoid of the thinking mind, with an impersonal knowing that there is no "me" to get involved, that is Supreme Devotion.

10
हृस्थले मनः स्वस्थता क्रिया |
भक्तियोगबोधास्चा निस्चितम ||

The dissolving of the thinking mind in the Heart, purely by the grace of God or the Master, is true devotion, Yoga and understanding.

11
वायुरोधनाल्लीयते मनः |
जलापक्षिवाद्रोधसाधनम ||

Through the act of regulating breath the mind is subdued, just as a bird is restrained when caught in a net. This helps in checking the involvement of the thinking mind at that moment.

12
चित्तावायवाश्चित्क्रियायुताहः |
शाखयोर्द्वई शक्तिमूलाका ||

Thought and breat have their origin in Consciousness.

13
लायविनाशने उभायरोदाने |
लायगतम पुनर्भवती नो मृतम ||

When the mind is absorbed, in work or otherwise, and the thinking mind is not active it may be said that the mind is in control temporarily, only to become active again. When through the deep understanding that, "God is the doer and no 'one' has any control over thoughts and actions" the thinking mind is totally annihilated then it can be said that the thinking mind in that body-mind organism is dead and only the working mind remains.

14
प्रानबन्धनाल्लीनमानासम |
एकचिंतनान्नशमेत्यदहः ||

The thinking mind can be temporarily suspended through the control of breath. It can be annihilated only when there is total understanding that God's prevails at all time and the different forms are only puppets having no free will of their own. With this understanding three beautiful things happen: there is no 'one' to feel guilty or proud, to get frustrated or to have a sense of enmity. Life becomes simple.

15
नष्टमानसोत्क्रुष्टयोगिनः |
क्रित्यमस्ति किं स्वस्थितिम ||

The Sage, whose thinking mind has bee destroyed by the total acceptance of the fact that nothing happens unless it is the will of God, and Who rests Who rests in the "I AM" does all the actions with the knowledge that Consciousness alone functions through the billions of body-mind organisms.

16
दृश्यवारितमं चित्तमात्मनः |
चित्वदर्शनम तत्वदर्शनम ||

With the realization that the "me" that was all the time considering itself a separate entity is only a dreamed character, a manifestation of Consciousness, the mind turns away from objects and gets focused on the "I AM". That is true vision of reality.

17
मानसं तु किं मार्गणे कृते |
नैव मानसं मार्गे आर्जवात ||

When the enquiry, "What is the thinking mind?" occurs, the thinking mind will understand intuitively that it has no free will and stops thinking itself to be the doer and gives way to the feeling of "I AM". This is the direct path.

18
व्रत्तयस्त्वहं - वृत्तिमाश्रीताः |
वृत्तयो मनो विद्याहम मनः ||

In the ordinary man when a thought occurs the ego takes delivery of it as "my thought" and gets involved. The thinking mind is nothing but the ego identifying with a thought and getting involved. In the enlightened Sage, when a thought arises, witnessing happens and involvement with the thought does not take place. Ramana Maharshi says, "The Sage has no thinking mind and therefore there are no 'others' for him".

19
अहमयं कृतो भवति चिन्वतः |
अयि पतात्यहं निजविचारनम ||

When one enquires, "Where ahs the 'me' come from?" it will vanish into consciousness revealing the truth that the "me" has really come from Totality as part of the Diving Hypnosis. Consciousness has created the ego and Consciousness will annihilate the ego by initiating the process of self-enquiry.

20
अहमि नाशभाज्यहमहंतया |
स्फुरति ह्रास्त्वयम परमपूर्णसत ||

When we accept that God's will prevails all the time and not the individual will, the "me" as the doer gets smaller and smaller till it gets completely merged in Consciousness.

21
इदमहंपदाभिख्यमन्वहम |
अहमिलीनकेप्यलयसत्तया ||

When the sense of personal doership disappears with the total acceptance that "All there is, is Consciousness" the thinking mind ceases to exist during the waking hours as in deep sleep. What remains is the light of pure Consciousness, the indestructible "I AM".

22
विग्रहेन्द्रियप्राणधीतामः |
नाहमेकसत्तज्जडम ह्यसत ||

Our true nature is God. It is not the body or the senses, or the mind, or breath, or ignorance. These are inert. They totally depend on Consciousness for existence and action.

23
सत्वभासिका चित्कवावेतरा |
सत्तयाहिचिच्चिताया ह्याहम ||

Seeking generally begins with the seeker wanting to know God through various means until Totality or the Master makes him understand the error of usurping the pure subjectivity of God and reducing Him into an object. Ramana Maharshi says, "Only Consciousness knows itself because Consciousness is all there is. The ego cannot know God. It can only merge into Consciousness through understanding and surrender.

24
ईशाजीवयोर्वेशाधीभिदा |
सत्स्वभावतो वस्तु केवलं ||

The impersonal and identified Consciousness are essentially the same. The Sage has no ego or the thinking mind and is not attached to any form; the man of ignorance feels that the ego and the form are real and is totally asleep to the Self.

25
वेषहानतः स्वात्मदर्शनम |
ईशदर्शनम स्वात्मरूपतः ||

When the impersonal consciousness liberates the identified consciousness from the sense of doership and thereby brings about realization that the Source is all there is, it can be said that the individual had a vision of the Lord as the Self.

26
आत्मसंस्थितिः स्वात्मदर्शनम |
आत्मनिर्द्वयादात्मनिष्ठता ||

When the doership of the ego is totally annihilated the vision of the Self occurs. There is an impersonal knowing that the Self is all and the firm abidance in the Self happens.

27
ज्ञानवर्जिताज्ञानहीनचित |
ज्ञानमस्ति किं ज्ञातुमंतरम ||

True knowing is the understanding that Consciousness functions through all the living beings. This knowledge is beyond the intellectual "knowledge" or "ignorance". After enlightenment, when there is clear understanding that only Consciousness acts what else is there is to be known?

28
किं स्वरूपमित्यात्मदर्शने |
अव्ययाभावापूर्नाचित्सुखम ||

When one enquiresm, "What is my true nature?" one begins to realize that one's true nature is beyond birth, death and decay. It is God or Consciouness.

29
बन्धमुक्त्यातीतम परं सुखं |
विन्दतीह जीवस्तु दैविकः ||

When the "me" understands and accepts that it is God who functions through all the living beings it goes beyond the thoughts of freedom and bondage.

30
अहमपेतकं निजविभानकम |
महदिदंतपो रमणवागियम ||
When the me disappears in terms of doership and it is realized that "Conscious is all there is", that is excellent tapas, Ramana says this.

Folk meets Classical

Folk rajasthani with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt ji, lending his mohan veena magic.

Mahabharata Gita Karma

The original name of Mahabharata was "Jaya" as coined by Vyasa. This Jaya, is the original victory after the original fight(Maha Bharata). The original fight is the fight to find your origin. The original fight, is the fight between "you and yours". The fight between "you" and your idea of "you"(yourself).

Your understanding of you is totally based on "your", your language, your nation, your state, your relationships, your name, your job, your family, your body and your mind. In this "your" lies, the mistaken identity confusion. This miss identification then becomes the source of suffering and violence. Interestingly all that you think is yours is transient and changing(chala चल ), but somewhere deep inside you know that, that You is unmoving still(sthita स्थित ) and is the fulcrum around which the whole universe(your life experience) revolves.

In this battle field, the perception and knowledge acquired about perception, clouds the perceiver, it makes him suffer, it thrives on threat and worry. Krishna is the inspiration, he gives you the courage to challenge all you know about you. Repeated inquiry into this leads to dis identification (destruction) of yours. This destruction of knowledge, this destruction of clouded cognition is the battle of battles. When the "I AM" is pitted against all that what you call "mine" mahabharata happens, and naturally there is fear, naturally there is despondency and diffidence, this is because the "I" was mis-identified with "Mine", in this process, the avidya haunts him and makes him feel weak, because he thinks destruction of Mine will destroy I. (arjuna vishaad अर्जुन विषाद )

This battle is every moment, every second. In every cell, in every nerve. In every experience, in every thought, in every cognition.

Post this battle, you see yourself, without the crutches of yours. When the "I" looks at the source of the I and in this process is freed from identification with mine. When your idea of yours and the you as defined by yours changes, the Self emerges from the yourself. Established in this state(sthiti स्थिति ), one becomes sthit pagnya(स्थित प्रज्ञ). All action now coming from inaction is karma-sanyaas(कर्म संन्यास ).

Till your action is centered on yours, till then your action will be frustration, it will be pursual, when the idea of "your" vanishes, all action comes from inaction. Then action has no bondage thus this action is born out of renunciation. This is karma phal parityaga(कर्म फल परित्याग).

This knowledge about the knower destroys(moksha-sanyaasa मोक्ष संन्यास) all knowledge and is the knowledge of all knowledge(राज विद्या).

Om Tat Sat.

Upadesha Saram - Ramana

I will try and write thoughts on this sometime later, the english translation is here

Light Swan

गगन मंडल मे हंसा डोले
सोऽहं सोऽहं पंख पखारे
इक ओंकार की सब धुनें हैं
जगत के बन्धन तोड़ चला मैं ... गगन मंडल मे हंसा डोले

त्रिये नैन, अब भेद उडे हैं
तोड़ के जनम मरण के ताले
ब्रह्मानंद सहोदर सुनके
अनहद अनहद वाणी बोले ...गगन मंडल मे हंसा डोले
--By Shivraaj

UG Speaks-2

The mystical experience,is within the framework of the knowledge.
and that I consider,its a very petty little experience. You experience what you know, that does not, in anyway free you from the knowledge you have acquired. So you are still you see, caught up in this idea, and you owe everything to the one who that has helped u to experience this thing, you are still dependent on that, you have not actually freed yourself from that, thats why i call it mystical experience.

That itself is an extraordinary thing, because it awakens some sort of an intelligence there in you. And from then on, you look at everything differently you experience the same old things, in different thing in a different way and try to share that experience with somebody else or you interpret the texts you see, in a different way, in a more meaningful and in a more expressive way.

But I said to myself, that this has nothing to do with what I have been interested in, this is a petty little experience and then when you still continue and try to go beyond, you have no way of going beyond that mystical experience because that has a strangle hold on you exactly way the other experience had strangle hold on you.

There is no way you can get out of that trap, because that becomes more important to you, because it is your own experience what you consider to be the experience of others has becomes your own experience and that you see throttles and chokes you all the time and the struggles to get out of it is more difficult than what it was before.

Love emotion

इश्क एक तरफा में यूं मसरूर हो जाऊँगा मैं
राम तुम होगे शमा काफूर हो जाऊँगा मैं

मैं तुम्हे देखूं तो देखूं, तुम न मुझको देखना
तुने गर देखा मुझे, मशहूर हो जाऊँगा मैं

मैं तुम्हे चाहूँ तो चाहूँ, तुम न मुझको चाहना
तुने गर चाहा मुझे, मगरूर हो जाऊँगा मैं

मैं अगर मांगू कभी तो, कुछ न देना तुम मुझे
वरना फिर प्रेमी नहीं मजदूर हो जाऊँगा मैं

-स्वामी राम

Kabir Bhajan

Who can say this better than Kabir :)

हम हैं इश्क मस्ताना
की हमको होशियारी क्या!
रहें आजाद इस जग में
हमको दुनिया से यारी क्या !

जो बिछुड़े हैं, पियारे से
भटकते, डर बदर फिरते
हमारा यार है हममे
तो हमको इतेजारी क्या ?

ना पल बिछुड़े पीया हमसे
ना हम बिछुड़े पियारे से
उन्ही से नेह लागा है
हमको बेकरारी क्या !!

कबीरा इश्क का माता
दुविधा दूर कर दिल से
जो चलना राह नाज़ुक है
हमें सर बोझ भारी क्या!

Kind regards and thanks to kabaadkahana people for putting this up !

Thinking it through

Thinking creates the illusion of thinker.
When there is no thinker, there is no thinking
Thinker is the thinking.

By thinking thinker cant end, by thinking, thinking cant end.

To think or not to think, that is not the question.
Thinking cant lead you to this.

Think it over.

Tere Ishq Nachaya: Bulle Shah

The beauty of traditions in India is, that almost everything becomes a pursuit to transcend. Art architecture music poetry drama dance have all become prayers of the prayerfulls.

This deep absorbtion in creation and celebration, rooted in limitless joy(worship) still continues to enchant us and give us moments of deep withdrawal and ecstasy, perhaps not as much as their creators felt but none the less rife!

These emissaries of joy are the real harbingers of the Indian tradition, they point again and again that the true pursuit is not in getting, but in letting go. Such has been their impact that they continue to live through their words, their songs, their prayers, their teachings, to all those who can lend their ears to them.

Sufism is a great example of the seam less convergence of Bhakti Advaita and Indo Islamic principles. Sufi mystics with the strength of their own inner experience shook the foundations of orthodoxy and espoused the message of harmony.

Most of this tradition's activity was in Punjab and Afganistan. A great master named Bulle Shah composed several beautiful verses in his ecstasy. One such is tere ishq nachaya.

End Game

Death doesnt come
Life doesnt happen

Arithmetic

One plus One is two
You and Me
When there is no "Me" ?
Is there any "You" ?

When I become
You also come
This being of me
is, "IT","You", "He".

When this is true,
There is no me!
nor there is you
then this question, asketh who ?

When there is none
then we are one
But in that one-ness
one is none

How then that none
becometh one ?
and in that one
then two is spun !

Then You are None
and You are One
and You are two
and thats the fun

Marriage Bondage

An engagement too long
is an expectation too much
Unfulfilled, Empty, Blank

Joy it is
of presence and discovery
But attention always
is on the culmination

A seed sown
watered with tears,
has sprouted,
but awaits flowering

Freedom hurts!
This knowledge is ignorance
This bondage is liberation

Candle Glows

You are the glow
who has set on fire,
the thread
running through this frame

The glow in this candle
of radiance and joy
is not coz its feasting on darkness
but because its burning itself out

This combustion is the tapasya
of this frame
As it rises as smoke
and dissolves in the void.

Some transformations
are the end of form
Some beginnings
are the end of endings.

Some lives are lived to live
Some lives are lived to die
Few, just to turn alive

Oh Life, How Long!

Shiva Shiva Shankar Adi Deva

Even though fabric of Indian music in the northern part of Indian got hued with Persian colours, owing to Islamic invasion, a style of rendition called Dhrupad survived this onslaught. Rooted in Samveda , Dhrupad uses minimum letters and its probably the most difficult style to sing and appreciate. Orthodox in its nature, there are few experiments allowed in dhrupad unlike its popular counterpart khayal.

A rendition by gundecha brothers


and while we enjoy Dhrupad another gem from Indian orthodoxy, a Thillana by BMK the mahanubhav ! the champion !

tere naina talaash karein jise

चुनरी में कोई दाग नहीं
चुनरी भी नहीं
कोई घर भी नहीं
कहीं जाना भी नहीं
अब क्या ? फिर क्या ?

Hansadhwani -Laagi Lagan

This is my fav raga. I was told, it was inducted into Hindustani style by Ustad Amir Khan(?). This is a very popular raga in carnatic style.

here is an excellent rendition by Ustad Ghulam mustafa khan saab

Another good rendition of this compostion is by Ajoy Chakravarthy.

Those who know carnatic would like to compare it with Vatapi Ganaptim, best sung IMHO by Maharapuram Santhanam.

Table

Element	Sense	Chakra	Colour	Direction	Planet
Prithvi	Smell	Mooladhara	Red		Mercury
Jal	Taste	Swadhisthana	Orange	West	Moon,Venus
Agni	Vision	Manipoora	Yellow	South West	Sun, Mars
Vayu	Touch	Anahata	Green	North West	Saturn
Akasha	Hearing	Vishuddha	Blue	North East	Jupiter

Love and its usage

Love is just a label that you attach to a human reaction.
In reality you respond uniquely to every moment.This response is dependent on your state of consciousness, means your awareness -- your intelligence, your accumulated past impressions, your worries your tensions your frustrations and your expectations from this moment.

As long as u understand this and realize its just a label, a utility that u call love, its fine.

Its for purpose of pointing to a unique feeling.

You dont love your wife ! or mother or brother or father. In reality you undergo all emotions , love, hate, detachment, sympathy with the same person at different instances of time.

While verbalizing, You just stitch these responses together and give it this name, Love. All of this is socially conditioned.

dohe

मन मे रखूं तो मोरा मन जले
कहूँ तो मुख जल जाए
जैसे गूंगे को सपना भयो
समझ समझ पछताए

पीतम हम तुम एक हैं
कहन सुनन में दो
मन को मन से तोलिए
दो मन कभी न होय

Wounds

Some wounds are nursed
not to be healed
but to suffer

For sometimes
with the end of suffering
the sufferer also ends

And those times mark
the beginning of an ending

Ramana Speaks-2

Absence of thoughts does not mean a blank. There must be one to know the blank.
Knowledge and ignorance are of the mind. They are born of duality. But the Self is beyond knowledge and ignorance. It is light itself. There is no necessity to see the Self with another Self.

Bhaja Govindam

---------------This post will be updated soon ----------------

There are two version of Bhaja Govindam that i have read, one is the south indian one rendered by MSS, the other is available in the gita press works, as Charpat Panjakrika strotam. Both are similar with minor differences.

here are my fav verses from the chant


नलिनी दलगत जल मति तरलम
तद वज्जीवितम अतिशय चपलम
विद्धि व्याध्य अभिमाना ग्रसतम
लोकं शोकहतम च समस्तं

काते कांता कस्ते पुत्रः
संसारो यमतीव विचित्र:
कस्य त्वं क: कुत आयातः
तत्त्वं चिन्तया तदिह भ्रातः

सत्संगत्वे निस्संगत्वं
निस्संगत्वे निर्मोहत्वं,
निर्मोहत्वे निश्चलतत्वं
निश्चलतत्वे जीवनमुक्तिः

वयासिगते कः काम विकारः
शुष्के नीरे क: कासारः
क्षीणे वित्ते क: परिवार:
ज्ञाते तत्त्वे कः संसार

भजगोविन्दम भजगोविन्दम
गोविन्दम भजमूढ़मते
संप्राप्ते सन्निहिते काले
नही नही रक्षति डुंक्रुजकरणे

QnA-4

Q:What is moksha?

It is freedom.

Q: Freedom what kind of freedom, freedom from this endless cycle lives?

I cant say about that. In my own way we live many lives in this one life itself. Think about this. Every life situation which occupies you emotionally is a new life in that sense, and you go on entering them, hunting for pleasure, trying to eradicate pain and all this business goes on and on. In the process you accumulate, memories of struggle-pain-joy etc. All these are our multiple lives in this one life.

Freedom then is nothing but freedom from this. Freedom from creating these multiple lives. This realization, that life is not a life situation is Moksha. Your life is not a victim of circumstances. Your life is not a victim of an outer scenario, job, wealth, prestige, relationship, adventure, excitement and all what you think is important. Unfortunately one doesn’t understand this early.

One has his own logic of life and is governed by these life situations, trying to improve on them or running away from them, unless Life (note personification) itself shakes his body and says, Enough ! Your falling hair, your wrinkles, your debilitating health with age, is life’s own way of telling you, Enough! Enough of trying to change life situations. Life situation is not life. But who understands this?

Q: I Do, in a way I do, I realize that there is something beyond all this madness of survival, accumulation, ego and all. But then again I don’t understand some things, I am sure life is not this, then what is Life ?
A: Aah!!, the answer has the question, holding on with your reason and using this method not this, not this not this, has the answer. Just like when u strike out all whats not real, what will remain is real. This is the famed neti neti neti technique.

Now

Now that you are here
Now that we are near
Why cant I see you ?

Will this strife
End with my life ?

Birth

what should I do?
To finish this
and be through

Let me die a death
before I turn dead

So that i wake into life
while i am alive

and be born anew
a new birth

UG speaks

All the questions are born out of the answers you already have.
If you dont have any answers, there are no questions. As I very often emphasize, over emphasize this,You are not interested in answers at all. I am not giving any answers at all. No body is giving any answers.

What you are interested in is to get an answer to maintain the continuity of the answers you already have. Other wise there wont be any question answer.

Actually if there is any answer, the answer, puts an end to the questions you are asking. The fact that you are asking questions again and again means that, that is not the answer.

The questioner and question are one and the same. There is no questioner who is asking the questions. So if the question comes to an end, the questioner automatically comes to an end. The questioner is the answer. All the questions are variation of the same question. If one question come to an end the questioner comes to an end. You want to keep the questioner going.
-UG

QnA-3

Whats new about new year?

The new and old are both, dimensions of change(time). Since change is movement, hence both are relative, the new is here to become old, the old was once new.

Between the new and the old lies the present and the present is defined by presence. This presence is consciousness. This presence brings in observer. This presence is alive. This presence is the zone where everything happens. This is the only thing which has existential value. Your new year has a social value; it’s a new calendar a new financial milestone, may be, but it has no existential value.

Our awareness unfortunately is never here(present), our awareness is never in sensing , our awareness is mostly in our minds, in thought patterns which are either remembrance(mostly guilt) or future (fear and expectation). That’s how we are missing life. This is a problem and also an opportunity, to see that unchanging self which is the spectator of this new-old drama.

What then you mean is, there is no reason to celebrate New? No reason to party?

Its your choice entirely. To react the way you want. Party or not party. Think why do you want to party? Perhaps we want to escape our emptiness and deep under we are craving for some completeness which we think we can find by putting parts together. That’s party for you, adding human beings together thinking that parts will make full. This search for full, is the search for fulfillment. But it never happens, party’s happen, parts come together but we never feel fulfilled. This is because parts themselves are empty, how can they form a full? Can many zeros be added to get a one?

Nanak says Ek Omkar Satnam. Means just add that one. That one is full. Any incompleteness added to that full is still complete. This is the key to fulfillment. This is the novelty.

While the world celebrates change, I wish you stillness, For Truth is stillness (Sat Sri Akaal-- Truth is time less)

Eternal Thirst

tears roll down the cheeks
onto the parched lips

a thirst of million years
can it be quenched by drinking tears ?

i am near the ocean
Resounding waves tell me

Should i drink or drown ?

Jhoom Le Hans Bol Le Pyaari Agar hai Jindagi

झूम ले हंस बोल ले प्यारी अगर है ज़िंदगी
साँस के बस एक झोंके का सफर है ज़िंदगी

देर ही बनते बिगड़ते कुछ इसे लगती नही
फूल की दीवार पर शबनम का घर है ज़िंदगी

साँस के बस एक झोंके का सफर है ज़िंदगी

अजनबी हालात से भी हँसके मिलना चाहिए
हर कदम पर मुड़ने वाली रह गुज़र है ज़िंदगी

ज़िंदगी में जो भी करना चाहता है कर गुज़र
क्या ख़बर बरसों की है या लम्हा भर है ज़िंदगी

साँस के बस एक झोंके का सफर है ज़िंदगी