Our Real Need
Man ceaselessly tries to be happy. He constantly puts in great efforts to be merry; yet he fails in his endeavor. What is the main reason for his repeated failures? Let us analyze this in detail.
A child is born; he passes his time in playing with toys and enjoys the company of his mother. He grows and reaches the age of adolescence. Now his main interest is his friends. Then he comes to the age of marriage. Now his major interest is his wife. Later he begets children and gets interested in them. Thus one’s main focus and interest shift from one thing to another, from one person to another.
The path of Devotion
We lack the attitude of surrender and dedication to the lord whilst performing actions and receiving results. In our day to day transactions with the world , it is difficult to maintain the attitude of cheerful acceptance and it seems impossible to receive undesired and sorrow giving results with a smile . Why we are unable to do so and how can we strengthen this attitude?.
The only way forward for achieving the strength is to develop an attitude of Prasada Budhi. This is not only limited to temple but develop into work a day world thereby we can always maintain the attitude of a devotee. The truth that our relationship with the lord is primary and permanent and all others are secondary and impermanent has to be realized and understood. Our present experience seems to be right the opposite and we are trying to make ever-lasting relations in the never – lasting world and thereby casting a spell of sorrows for ourselves.
The Essence of all Sadhanas - Self attention
Man has an innate, spontaneous and direct experience of his own existence in the form of ‘I am’ . This self effulgent experience is constant awareness of one’s being. Even in deep sleep where all other knowledge is absent, the experience of one’s being continues without any break. One comes to know of this after awakening from sleep when one recollects that ‘ I slept soundly. I did not know anything’. All other knowledge varies. That is sometimes they are there and at other times they are not there. The relative knowledge of the world is there in the waking state. Another world of imagination is created in the dream state. While in deep sleep there is neither the relative world nor the imaginary world. All relative knowledge is absent in deep sleep state.
Lord Shiva Temple
As I walked
For the first time
Into the space
I was fascinated
With two eyes and a nose
There was a third eye
To which I knew
No meaning to
I was told
To worship what I saw
I did so
Without any questions
The Self is ever attained
by Swami Ramsukhdas
translated by Anand.V
There are two things in this world, the ever attained and the illusory. That which is ever attained cannot be seen and that which is illusory is not stable. ‘one’s own existence - I am’- is ever attained; the reason being that in all states – in waking, dream, deep sleep, trance and fainting, one’s existence is not negated; it is ever present. But this existence cannot be seen (objectified). The body and the world which can be seen are illusory. They do not exist in reality. That which is ever attained cannot be destroyed. ‘That’ is attained by all, at all times. But that cannot be felt; it cannot be objectified. The world is seen through the eyes, but through which can the eyes be seen? Similarly through what can ‘that’ be seen which is aware of everything, which is the substratum of everything, and which is the illuminator of all? (Brihadaranyaka 2, 4, 14) Just as, that by which the world is seen is the eye, similarly the existence on which the world seems to appear, or the substratum that illuminates the world, is the Paramatma tatva (that which is ever attained).
The Knowledge That Liberates
Sri Sankara says jnanadeva tu kaivalyam ‘only through knowledge one attains liberation.’ What is this knowledge? What sort of knowledge is it?
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:
‘Brahman the absolute, alone was; nothing else was, there was no object. And ‘It’ knew ‘Itself’ alone’. That knowledge of the absolute, when ‘It’ alone was is the object of Brahmavidya
The Basic Principle of Vedanta – “Existence”
The divine sermon of the Gita, as it emanated from the mouth of the Lord Himself, begins with the following verses (Gita chapter 2 verse 12):
“In fact there was never a time when I was not, or when you or these kings were not. Nor is it a fact that here after we shall all cease to be”.
Young and into Gita - How to reach God Practically
How does one think of God? How do you reach Him? Read on...
XII.2 Those who, fixing their mind on Me, worship Me, with supreme faith, they are best of those in communion with Me.
Know what?? It's that simple! But mind you, it's a challenge to achieve it too. It is the nature of the mind to flit from here to there. Fixing your mind on one thing alone, requires a lot of conscious effort.
Young and into Gita - God's Address?
What is God's Address?
Here's God, about Himself.
IX.18 I am the Goal, the Supporter, the Lord, the Witness, the Abode, the Shelter, the Friend, the Origin, the Dissolution, the Foundation, the Treasure-house and the Seed Imperishable.
Young and into Gita - Who am I?
Who am I?
Now that's about the most difficult question one is faced with in life. Who am I? Most of us are constantly in search for our true identity. And oh! Dont even remind me of my identity crisis in my younger days. Then slowly things came into focus; Ok, this is how I think... this is how I look... Somehow I fixed my identity, on the basis of what I want, what I like to do, how I react, and so on. Finally I came to a conclusion of - This is Me!
And then I think again, is this all that is ME? Who really am I? What becomes of Me, after my time?
You are a great entity, beyond time and space. You have never been born, and you shall never die. You have always existed.
Let's test that using first principles:
'Truth is that which holds true in all three frames of time (past, present and future), and under all conditions.'
We all know that death is sure to everyone born. Yet, no one thinks that he is going to die.
'Not today anyway!' 
Whatever be your age, situation, (and financial status), you always call yourself 'I'. A two-year old refers to himself as 'I', a young man calls himself the same 'I', and so does an old man. So there is something that is constant through all these phases, that you refer to as 'I'. According to the definition, Truth is what stands the test of time - it never changes. So 'I' is truth.
Let's find out what 'I' could be:
Is it the body? No... You dont look as cute as you did when you were 2, do you? So, the body changes.
I wish...! 
Is it the mind? No way! The mind is ever dynamic! It changes faster than the speed of light. It is sad now, and happy the next moment. It is the seat of Emotions, and Ego.
Is it the intellect? The intellect is the decision maker, the thinker. It assimilates new knowledge and learns from experience. It is constantly changing with the impressions left on it by your interaction with the world outside. So, the intellect is not you.
But aren't I the one who thinks and decides? After all, everything I think and do is what I decide to, right?
What do you think of in Deep sleep? That is a state we all go to everyday (and especially during boring lectures...!) in which there is no mental activity. All your surroundings, all your people, why! even your own individuality - nothing exists for you then. The body, mind, intellect - are all switched off. In that state of nothingness too, there is something that exists. That is the subject. 'I'.
So you see, the body, mind and intellect are only our instruments. 'I' is beyond these. 'I', the observerremains same throughout time - past present or future; through all mental states - pleasant or unpleasant; through all consciousness levels - dreaming, waking or deep sleep.
II.18 The body of the embodied-Self has an end. The Self is Eternal, Indestructible, Incomprehensible. Therefore, stand up and fight the battle of life.
The challenge that life brings forth is worldly-desires that bind you to being embodied.
The battle is what you have to win against that, to set yourself free.
'I' always exists, i get. But could i experience being purely 'I' while i am awake?
Yes! And that is the entire goal of spiritual meditation and devotion. That is the state which great sages have reached. That is the state Lord Krishna is in, when He speaks as God in the first person. That is what our being is constantly striving: to go back to our original, most ancient, 'I'. To be one with God, the Absolute.
Just as a dreamer wakes up and realises that whatever he experienced in the dream was not true, you too must 'wake up'.
Young and into Gita - Bhagavad Gita - the song of God
Bhagavad Geeta
The Song of God, to awaken you to Eternal Life!
The Bhagavad Geeta is a practical guide to live to the highest philosophical principles in the actual world. It is the Science of the Absolute, and is applicable at any age. Comprising 700 verses distributed into 18 Chapters, the Geeta covers the theory as well as practical knowledge of this Science. It is in the form of a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna.
