Adwiteeya

Excellent Advice for Youth from Swamiji himself. If each of us follow this, our lives, our families and our country would be dharmic.
Have pride in our Indian culture and traditions. Bharata is the land of great people yogis, rishis, seers. Believe that you too have the power of adhyatma. You can gain that through japa, parayana and adhyayana. Swamiji has given a list of dos and don'ts. Here is a gist.

1. Devara Namasmarana
2. Make shuba sankalpa of the things you want to do today
3. Ekadasi upavaas
4. Thande-Thayi seve
5. Paropakara- Dhana, Dhaanya, Samaya, Sadvichara
6. Discourage intercaste marriages and divorce
7. Nityadalli Sandhyavandana, Gayatri japa
8. No outside food. Eat only neivedya
9. Wear Gopichanda mudra and Tulasi maala
10.Recite Vishnu Sahasranama and Vayustuti daily
11.Read Maadhwa books and listen to Maadhwa Pravachanas

For women
1.Namasmarana
2.Read Harikathamruthasara- daily 1 sandhi parayana
3.Sing Devara Naama at least 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening
4.Recite Narasimha, Durga and Dhanvantari Suladigalu
5.Keep Gopalakrishna murthi in Tulasi katte and perform puja to it daily with arshna, kumkuma and water.
6.Wear Gopichandana and Kumkuma on forehead. Recite shloka while doing it.
7.Learn about Habba, Haridana, Shraadha etc. that should be performed at home and make preparations for it.
8.Athithi Satkaara
9.Observe 3 days a month strictly

Damodara

I always wanted to know what's the meaning of 'Damodar' and why Jagannatha dasaru used only that name at the end of the Mangalacharan Sandhi of HKS. I found a great video of his holiness Sri Sri Satyatma Tirtharu where he explains the different meaning of the 'Damodara'.

Religious Symbols Are Important Too

There are some people who claim they believe in God but don't believe in rituals. They don't believe in going to temples, wearing religious symbols etc. I would like to say that this is not correct. Let's say Mr.A loves his home country India but is disrespectful to the Indian flag or the National Anthem. He may say that I love my country and don't need to show my love through these symbols like flag etc. But disrespecting the national flag is an offence and Mr.A may be jailed for that. You may have love for the country but you ought to show it to the flag which is representative of the country.

Similarly a person may love God and be a good person at heart but he or she ought to respect the rituals and representations of God which are for example- Saaligraama, Gopichandana, Temple, God's idol, God's photo, sacred texts like Bhagvata, Mahabharata etc., a brahmin or a person who performs puja, cow, Tulsi plant, mother Earth etc. which are representative of God. Although Lord Krishna is everywhere He has said that the above mentioned places are very dear to Him and we must respect these as much as God Himself.

Bheda

I think most of us will be happy if we live by ourselves without coming into contact with others. What I mean is most of are happy until we see someone who 'seem' to have it all. In my previous office I remember hearing a manager say that most of his team members are happy with their appraisals until they find out what their team mates have got. Then they become unhappy, in comparison. I remember reading an article in which a study was conducted with some people. They were offered a choice between a salary of 150,000 dollars a year and their peers would make 200,000 dollars. Or they would make 100,000 dollars a year and their peers 70,000 dollars. Surprisingly most people preferred the latter. That is they don't mind making less as long they are making more than their peers.
The one way to overcome this comparison mentality is to remember 'jeeva jeeva bheda' as told by Acharya Madhwa. Each soul in this world is unique. We bring with us, when we come into this world, our karma both good and bad. Every event that unfolds in our life, the place we are at, at any moment, each little feature in our body, every loss and gain we face, every pain and pleasure we feel, every choice we make, every feeling and thought that occurs in us is destined and deserved.

Simply Divine

One of the most supremely enlightening and uplifting experience for me is surely listening to Sri Sri Satyatma Tirtha's amrutopadesha. He is truly divine, greatly learned in all subjects, extremely detached from worldly matters, supremely devoted to Acharya Madhwa and Lord Maadhava. Every word he utters and his captivating smile conveys all his divine qualities. I consider myself most lucky to have his darshan. I wish more people get to see him, hear him and become blessed by him...

Not Take Anything For Granted

It's said that we women should do our household activities with enthusiasm and not treat them as a chore. How can we do it with enthusiasm asked my aunt. Where will that come from? I thought there is enthusiasm in a celebration. Think of every day as a celebration then there will be enthusiasm. Not very convincing??? Well treat every day as an opportunity given to you to serve the Lord. Don't look at your husband, children, parents and in laws just as people who need you. Take every task to cook, serve, feed, bathe, clean as an opportunity Lord has given you to please Him through all these people. We cannot reach or serve the Lord directly. We can only see Him through idols, photos or living adhishtanas like parents, husband, children etc.

If we have this in mind we will look forward to every day as a rare opportunity not to be missed. It's when we take things for granted that we lose our enthusiasm. We must always count our blessings and remember that whatever good we are enjoying is a result of the Lord's kindness and he can take it away from us any moment. Let's make the most of them while we have them and truly enjoy living!

Women's Day

Yesterday the papers were all about Women's Day celebrations. There were notable women personalities featured in the papers. Each of them were giving advice and tips to women. There was talk about how to have better laws for women, more empowerment, more independance etc. Not a word in all those sheets was any mention of how important God is in our lives.

Women face risks today as ever. Stresses of modern life is taking its toll on women's health. Outside it's an unsafe place with danger lurking around the corner. When Draupadi was in need of help it was not her five able husbands or the laws of the land that helped her. It was when she remembered the Lord's names and surrenderd to HIM that HE rescued her. It was He who rescued her. Not only her but every soul living in this world and the next is under the loving care of the Lord. It only befits us that we remember HIM in every breath we take.

An Attitude of Gratitude

It's so easy for us to forget the favors which we have received. On the contrary we remember the favors which we may have on an occasion bestowed on someone and always remember the bad things others have done to us. Somehow when it comes to remembering other's timely help to us and our helpless condition at that time, our memory lets us down. It's important to remember favors received from the Lord through our parents, relatives, friends, sometimes strangers and rarely even animals. Keeping this in mind will keep our ego in check and help us remember that we are not all that powerful and we need others. It also helps in maintaining good relationships with them as we are nicer to people who are of us to us than who are not! The next time we see someone in need we will offer our help. Remembering the good things others have done also reinstates positive thinking in us. We will also remember the Lord while remembering them.

It's So Simple To Be Happy But.....

We need very little to be happy. Truth is we don't need much.
Now I know why rishis would retreat to the Himalayan forests in
search of peace and perform penance. When we live in such
places the sense objects dont come in contact with the objects
of desire hence no desire springs. The mind can be trained to
think of the Lord all the time and gradually reduce all
desires.

Most of all there will be no other people around us
with whom we can compare and see if we are 'richer', 'happier',
more powerful etc. I think most people would be happy with what
we have if we didn't look at the other person has. Most of the
time our contentment is lost when we look at what the other
person has. It's compared to going to a restaurant with friends
and ordering. When the dishes arrive, somehow what your friends
have ordered always looks better than what we have. I think
this is also in some ways similar to why when we are standing
in a queue it always seems like the line next to ours is moving
faster! This is just the working of the mind. It plays many
tricks on us. It helps to remember an example regarding this.

My friend and I go to a shop to buy a few things each. I pay for the things that I bought but I see that my friend got the stuff without paying for them. I ask myself how come I had to pay and she got them for free.. What I know is that I paid and she didn't. What I don't know is that she already has credit with the shopkeeper and is buying things off it. Because there is nothing 'FREE'. Good things we enjoy in this life is because of good deeds done either in this birth or the previous ones.

Each of us is like a pot of various capacities. Each pot can only fill itself upto its capacity. A large sized pot, a medium sized jar and a small glass cannot be compared with each other. Each has it's own use and it's own limitation. One cannot do the other's job and each of them is capable of being it's best self.

Now back to original statement. It doesn't take
much for us to be happy. Food, clothes, shelter among the
material things. Love, trust, intimacy, a sense of security,
sense of purpose in life and some degree of control over our
lives- among the intangibles. Above all else knowledge of God.
Forgetting the Lord is the cause of our sorrows. Remembering
HIM is the receipe for happiness. This is true because when we
remember HIM we remember that both sorrow and happiness is
given to us by Him and they are only a result of our karma. Good knowledge destroys ignorance which casuses misery. Hence Knowledge-> Bhakti-> Moksha or Salvation

Just like sorrows come to you without your asking, happiness will also come to you like that. You need not ask for it or try very hard to acquire it. Let our efforts not be towards finding enjoyment or going where there is happiness. Because in this world, any happiness is combined with sorrow too. To get a little joy you have to overcome a mountain of sorrow only to find that even that little joy is not permanent and can be taken away from you at anytime. There is fear all the time and every place. There is worry all the time for humans irrespective of wealth, possessions, marital status etc. Hence the only way to be free from these constant stresses is to remember the Lord at all times.

In my opinion the best form of worship is to listen to harikatha.. Listen to discourses like Srimad Bhagavat, Mahabharat, Ramayan etc. It takes little money and effort as compared to a yagna or dyana respectively. All it takes is time and most of all it's enjoyable.We are transported to a different land as we listen to the awe inspiring episodes of the Lord and His many devotees. The stories are truly inspirational. They bring gnana, bhakti and vairagya in us. Listening to them rids us of our many sins and brings us punya. Since the stories also describe the wonders of the many Gods (there are 33 crore Gods and Goddesses) the listener gets the blessings of all of them. The content is not only history that happened several thousand years ago. The message it carries is relevant even in this day. There's wisdom in every word. It is said that listening to the importance of a holy place brings the same punya as actually visiting it. For example it's as important to listen to Venkatesha Mahatmya/Srinivasa Kalyana as it is to make a trip to Tirumala for the Lord's darshan. Knowledge or gnana is the key to moksha or salvation and true gnana is learnt at the feet of a Guru and not just by reading books.

Man Proposes.....

A very surprising thing happened last month when I went to Tirupati with my family. We had the tickets for Ashtadala pada padmaradhana (APP) seva which is conducted every tuesday. The reporting time was 6 p.m. and we reported even earlier wanting to be the first in line. We were told by the TTD people that we can have also avail of AAD with the tkts that we had. I thought let's not go in now for that. By the time we have that darshan and come back we will be last in the line for APP so let's wait here instead. As I thought we were among the first for the APP. We were finally allowed to go inside and were made to sit in the hall where Kalyanotsavam is conducted. One by one names of all the seva karthas were read out and we were sent inside the main temple in that order. I was a little disappointed that our names came almost in the end and my plan of being seated nearest to the Lord was lost. It was another reminder that everything happens according to HIS plan and not mine. I felt stupid for missing out on the AAD darshan. Although we had a great 15 minutes darshan during the APP seva and I was very happy at that. Our efforts will bear fruits only if the Lord wills that it should.

Saaku

Saaku- the magic word that leads to contentment which leads to happiness.
Idu beku, adu byada anabaradu.. Saaku anlik kalibeku. Devaru kotidannu santoshadinda sweekara madabeku.