Saranaagathi - Surrender to the Divine

Insights and Inspiration by Swami Venkatesananda

Aparna Hari — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:48:32 +0000

Dear All,

Hari Om.

I came across a Daily reading from the works of Swami Venkatesananda and liked it. I thought I will share that article with all of you:

“Any motivation in the practice of yoga becomes almost immediately counter-productive. Indeed, it is obvious that it is some sort of a motivation that brings the student to yoga in the first place. But a wise teacher would do well to point out immediately that yoga is the antidote to the ills caused by motivation and a goal-oriented life, and therefore seeking a goal for the practice of yoga defeats its
purpose.

People are ill, physically and mentally, because instead of living they are constantly struggling for something. Living does not involve struggle, contrary to popular misconception. The simplest form of living is joyous and blissful, and life is intelligent, wise and alert enough to avoid pain and unhappiness instantly. It is some sort of twisted motivation that causes pain and suffering, and then rationalises such pain and suffering even to the point of exalting them.

Right from the very beginning of the practice of yoga the student discovers that the intelligence in the body is capable of meeting every situation that arises in life from moment to moment. This is the purpose of the yoga asanas (postures). During pranayama the yogi again discovers the great power and vigilance of the life-force which is beyond the ego-sense and which alone enables us to live. In meditation the yogi discovers (uncovers) self-ignorance. Then, self-knowledge (knowledge as the self or self as pure knowing) alone is. This is kaivalya, freedom, liberation – which ever is and should, therefore, be treated neither as the goal nor as an idea.

There is not even a rejection of pain, but the realisation that such rejection makes pain painful! It is not pursuit of pleasure, but the realisation that it is the pursuit that makes pleasure pleasurable (and as its inevitable reaction, painful). When there is neither rejection nor pursuit, life is liberated from the haunting shadows of ignorant notions. There is enlightenment. All life becomes divine life.”

Yours,
In Service of Lord & Gurudev,
Aparna & Hari

Your personal Stillness Buddy :)

Aparna Hari — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:04:26 +0000

Dear All,

Namaste.

I came across a good Software tool called “Stillness Buddy” when I was perusing a Yogananda Spiritual E-NewsLetter . It is actually a mindfulness application which helps people to be more aware, work in a mindful manner, be at peace and reduce stress levels.This is especially helpful for people who spend most of their time working at the computers. It consists of small relaxing and meditative techniques that help you to regain balance at periodic times (which can be fully customized). Inspirational quotes and spiritual wisdom also pop-up on the computer screen at regular times giving you an opportunity to take a break from your work.

Currently there are 10 versions of Stillness Buddy that you can choose from and these differ based on whether the focus is on Mindful awareness to reduce stress, or spiritual gems of wisdom compiled from Dalai Lama or others, or relaxation etc.

On their website , they state the following about the Stillness Buddy application:

“Stillness Buddy is particularly helpful for people who…

Feel tense and stressed
Work for too long without taking a break
Wish to become more mindful of the present moment

The purpose of Stillness Buddy is for you to be more in touch with the peace, joy and aliveness within -even in the midst of a very busy day-, by taking very short but regular pauses.”

The following video which was upload on their website is quite interesting and you should watch to know what the intent of the Stillness Buddy is:

I have downloaded the 14-day trial version on my laptop, customized it, used it and liked it. I think this is a worthy tool to help us improve our meditation, relaxation and concentration. I am planning to purchase a license for my personal use. It is around 22 ($) US Dollars.

You can obtain more details at Stillness Buddy website.
I think you will like the tool and make good use of it.

Yours,
In Service of the Lord & Gurudev,
Aparna Hari

Sandhya Vandanam in Daily worship

Aparna Hari — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:55:40 +0000

Dear All,

Hari Om.

In our tradition, there is a ritual of “Upanayanam” or thread ceremony when a boy is initiated into Gayatri Mantra and is taught the process of Sandhya Vandanam – invoking the Divine and peforming oblations at dawn, mid-noon and dusk. I think most of the men in Indian Hindu families perform this, though now-a-days the situation might be different. Sandhya Vandanam, if sincerely performed, is an integral part of Sadhana and reconnects one with the Divine. We need to understand the essence of any ritual which we perform, otherwise it becomes monotonous and routine and limits the benefits we may reap out of it.

I was reading a book last year called “Brahmanubhuti”. It is originally in Hindi written by Puja Sri Swami Akhandananda ji Maharaj – a great renowned sage and contemporary of Swami Sivananda ji Maharaj. It is a collection of articles focusing on Vedanta, Sadhana, Spirituality, Brahman etc. This book has been translated into Telugu by Sri Swami Tattvavidananda Saraswati ji.

I don’t know where the Telugu or original Hindi book are available. You may need to contact the Swami Akhandananda Maharaj ashrama in Vrindavan for Hindi copies, or contact the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam if they have copies of the telugu books.

When I last met Swamiji, he blessed me with that book. I really liked it.

In this book, there is a chapter dedicated to “Sandhya Vandanam”. It is a very valuable chapter which in detail covers the process of Sandhya Vandanam, its purpose and necessity and also inclused some techniques and secrets that Pujya Swamiji himself has learnt from elderly saints etc. If you want to learn the intent of the ritual or expand on your knowledge of Sandhya Vandanam, it is very beneficial to read this chapter.

Part of SandhyaVandanam is the prayer called “Aghamarshana Suktam” which literally means prayer to destroy impure and sinful tendencies, mistakes etc. It is a very powerful Suktam which invokes Divine blessings and which when recited daily removes impurities from one’s mind and makes it pure. This prayer is an important part of Sandhya Vandanam.

I was inspired after reading the book to learn the Aghamarshana Suktam and recite it daily. Though as a woman I don’t have the Sandhya Vandanam ritual, I can still chant it.

I am still learning the Suktam and I hope in this year, this Suktam will form an integral part of my daily prayers.

You can download the Text (PDF) and listen to the rendition of this Suktam as uploaded in Archive.org by clicking below:

Yours,
In Service of the Lord and Gurudev,
Aparna Hari

Inspirational Spiritual Calendar

Aparna Hari — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:44:59 +0000

Dear All,

Hari Om. Namaste.
Happy New Year to all of you !

I have taken up a personal project of preparing a Spiritual calendar with daily inspirations, spiritual techniques and instructions which we can use for growing spiritually and strengthening our sadhana. I am very happy to have completed this project and bring before you this calendar which I think will be very valuable to all the sincere spiritual seekers.

I mainly gathered the wisdom from Swami Sivananda ji’s books “Precepts for Practice”, “Divine Nectar” and “Concentration and Meditation” books which I think are extremely valuable. I have tried to put the daily wisdom as I thought would be fit for all of us.

All the images I have used in this calendar are public and open source, so there are no copyright violations.

I am attaching the whole calendar here. Click on the below image to download the PDF. (Please be patient as it is a file of 43 MB and may take some time to load).
Download Spiritual Calendar here:

You need to do some work to make these PDFs into a physical calendar that you can put it on your desk or mantelpiece and flip it daily. This calendar format is meant to look in this way.
Sample Appearance of the Calendar:

You can give this PDF to any printing company who have experience with making calendars (spiral bounding) and ask them to prepare it for you.
Or, for your personal use, you can follow the below simple process to make one:

1. Print the full PDF with 2-sided printout (color or grayscale, according to your choice). Totally you will have 31 sheets.
2. Cut each page along the lines that you see on the printed paper. Each paper (with 2-sided print) should give you 6 pieces of paper after cutting along lines (that is 12 sayings).
3. You need to have certain materials to punch holes in each cut paper.
4. Arrange with “Daily Inspirations” page as 1st and “happy New Year” page as 2nd, and then “Jan 1″ as the 3rd page, then continue arranging.
5. Have a thick cardboard backing for these pieces of paper so that it can support the calendar to stand.
5. You need to spirally bind all these pieces together.

I know it sounds like a lot of procedure. You can follow the procedure if you have the capability and materials with you. It is easy to get it done if you are in India. In US, I think you can take these printed sheets of paper to OfficeMax or some company like that and they will charge some money to make this for you.

I hope you like this calendar and make use of it.

In Service of the Lord and Gurudev,
Yours,
Aparna & Hari

Swami Sivananda’s Song of Vibhuti Yoga

Aparna Hari — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:25:36 +0000

Dear All,

Hari Om.

For the last two weeks, I have been enjoying listening to the kirtans/bhajans composed and sung by Swami Sivananda ji whose voice has a very unique melody. Coupled with insightful lyrics and beautiful Veena tuning, it is brilliant and capable of taking a seeker into the realm of “Atma-Vichar” or the Enquiry into Self.

Particulary, I was enhcanted with a Saguna and Nirguna Song starting with “Narayanam Bhaje” for Saguna and “Om Om Om..” for Nirguna bhajan. I have always liked Swamiji’s unique gift to spiritual seekers of english music and formulating scriptures into one-liner essences as part of good bhajan.

There are so many Kirtans of them – in English, Hindi and all of them are wonderful to listen to. One such bhajan is actually reflecting on the “Vibhut Yoga” – 10th Chapter of Srimad BhagavadGita, where Lord Krishna give a sample of his Divine attributes to Arjuna. The Vibhuti Yoga deals with the glories and the manifestations of the Lord. Swamiji has extended Vibhuti Yoga to ecnompass a wonderful variety of things. Read the below Lyrics and listen to the song. You will know

Below are the lyrics of the Song by Swami Sivananda:

Om Om Om Om Om Om Om Om Om Om
Soham Soham Sivohan Soham
Soham Soham Sivoham Soham.

I am neither mind nor body, immortal Self I am
I am witness of three states,
I am knowledge absolute
I am fragrance in jasmine, beauty in flowers
I am coolness in the ice, flavour in the coffee
I am greenness in the leaf, hue in the rainbow
I am taste bud in the tongue, essence in the orange.

I am mind of all minds, Prana of all Pranas
I am Soul of all souls, Self of all selves
I am Atman in all beings, apple of all eyes
I am Sun of all suns, Light of all lights.

I am Pranava of all Vedas, Brahman of Upanishads
I am silence in forest, Thunder in all clouds.
I am velocity in electrons, motion in science,
I am effulgence in the sun, wave in the radio.
I am support of all this world, soul of this Body
I am Ear of all ears, Eye of all eyes.
I am Time, Space, Dik and the controller,
I am God of all gods, Guru and the director.

I am melody in music, the Rag in Raginis
I am sound in ether, Shakti in Virya
I am power in electricity, Intelligence in mind,
I am brilliance in fire, penance in ascetics.
I am ‘reason’ in philosophers, ‘will’ in Jnanis,
I am Prem in Bhaktas, Samadhi in Yogis.

I am That I am, I am That I am,
I am That I am, I am That I am.

Om Om Om Om Om Om Om Om Om Om
Soham Soham Sivohan Soham
Soham Soham Sivoham Soham.

You can listen to this song by clicking on below link:

Yours,
In Service of the Lord & Gurudev,
Aparna & Hari.

Today is Dattatreya Jayanthi !

Aparna Hari — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:41:47 +0000

Dear All,

Hari Om.

Jaya Datta Digambara.

Today on the Full Moon is the auspicious Dattatreya Jayanthi. Five years back, we were in Sivananda Ashram, Rishikeh during this time when Dattatreya Jayanthi celerations happened in the Datta temple in Ashram premises.

In Swami Sivananda ji’s words:
Dattatreya, regarded as God and the Guru of Gurus, considered Nature Herself as His Guru, and learnt a number of lessons from Her twenty-four creatures, and hence he is said to have had twenty four Gurus. The silent, all-enduring earth with its lofty forbearance, the shady fruit-bearing tree with its willing self-sacrifice, the mighty banyan tree reposing with patience in the tiny seed, the drops of rain whose persistence wears away even the rocks, the planets and the seasons with their orderly punctuality and regularity were all divine Gurus to him.

Meditation On Lord Dattatreya
Maalaakamandalu dharah karapadmayugme
Madhyastha paaniyugale damarutrishoolam;
Adhyastha urdhva karayoh shubha shankhachakre
Vande tamatrivaradam bhujashatkayuktam.

MEANING: I meditate on Lord Dattatreya, the son of Atri, who has six hands, who holds the rosary and water-vessel in two hands, with damaru and spear in the other two hands, and with conch and discus in the upper two hands.

If you have time, please go through this Article on Dattatreya Jayanthi from the book “Hundu Fasta and Festivals” by Swami Sivananda.

Yours, In Service of the Lord & Gurudev,
Aparna & Hari.

Today is Gita Jayanthi !

Aparna Hari — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:29:02 +0000

Dear Readers,

We wish you all an auspicious Gita Jayanti.

Today is the day on which Gita – the quitnessence of the Knowledge of the Self – is revealed to Arjuna by Lord Krishna.

If you have time, please read the page on Glory of the Gita, and listen to the full rendition of BhagavadGita by Swami Venkkatesananda

Yours,

In Service of the Lord & Gurudev,

Aparna & Hari

Non-Difference of Siva-Kesava

Aparna Hari — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 04:00:28 +0000

Dear All,

Hari Om.

While I was perusing the Divine Life magazine, I came across this Drama – YES, I said it right, a Drama that contains the concept of Non-Difference or absence of difference between Siva and Kesava. This drama is an Act-1 among the three Acts to illustrate the glory of Swami Sivananda.

The Hero in this Act is the renowned Sage Sri Appayya Dikshitar, in whose lineage after some generations Swami Sivananda ji was born.

I felt reading of this material was very apt in context and time for me because the previous day I had a very brief conversation with our Temple president. He was narrating to me how he approached a Vaishnavite priest to take up a position in the temple here, and the priest seems to have mentioned “I don’t touch Siva. It is forbidden.”

Hmmm….With my family, religious and scriptural background, and by fortunate association with Saints and Swamijis, and due to inclination towards the literature of the likes of Sri Swami Sivananda, Sri Swami Dayananda (Of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam) and Thakur Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, I have learnt that names and forms of the Divine are personal aids for each seeker, while the essence is the same. Thakur’s parables actually contain a story illustrating this.

My reflection:
Division, once it starts at some point, never ends, like a giant miotic division of cell. It is an ad-infinitum process of dividing up everything and we can never stop. And to see differences is the normal way. As Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati humorously puts it, the Barber Murari (a character in his humors) who is illiterate and has no knowledge of Vedas is highly aware of the differences. Then, what additional wisdom has one gained by the study of Upanishads, Vedanta, Religios scriptures, when one vehemently upholds the differences as real ?

I think it will be a struggle for a Saguna devotee, attached to one form, initially to transcend over the form. But that does not deny the truth that the names and forms are only incidental, while One in essence. Respecting other forms of the Divine is called for until we progress in our spirituality and become more wise.

As I have learnt from Pujya Swami Dayananda ji :
Dvaitaaddhi Bhayam Bhavet — From the sense of duality indeed, fear arises

I hope you read this Drama, enjoy it and appreciate the message:

Yours,
In Service of the Lord & Gurudev,
Aparna

Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge

Aparna Hari — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:52:32 +0000

Dear All,

Namaste. Hari Om.

Vedas, which are considered the treasure-store of Knowledge of the Self, consist revelations to the ancient sages and seers. The branches of knowledge covered in Vedas and related Scriptural texts range from mathematics, geology, cosmology and the like. Many erudite Scientists are wonder-struck at the depth of the knowledge contained in the Vedas.

When I was a graduate student, I had a friend who was adept in Vedic Mathematics. His skill in solving equations was acquired from the branch in Vedas dealing with Mathematics.

If you read “Kapilopadesha” in Bhagavatam (Instruction of Kapila to his mother), you will find a very detailed knowledge of development of foetus in mother’s womb which is a very evolved piece of knowledge.

I came across a wonderful video on you tube which highlight this knowledge hidden in Vedas, and which throws light on the ancientness of India. Truly, this is a moment to be grateful to the Sages and Seers of yore for giving us this great treasure.

You can watch the videos here:

Part-1:

Part-2:

Part-3:

Hope you enjoy these videos and are proud of the scientific and vedantic heritage that we are part of.

In Service of the Lord and Gurudev,
Aparna & Hari

Let’s be Earth-Admiring and Life-friendly

Aparna Hari — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:06:24 +0000

Dear All,

Namaste.

Man with his increasing demands and insatiable desires has exploited Earth and her rich resources to a large extent. Extreme deforestation, heedless mining/drilling, extravagance in using the resources like water and earth are some of the few examples.

It is high time that we are aware of the consequences of our actions and desires and act responsibly to save Mother Earth and her varied rich resources to maintain harmony and symbiotic relationship with nature. The ecosystem does not have boundaries of nation and species. It is a “Whole” and whatever we do in our little sphere of the world, we wield a bigger impact on the universal ecosystem

I have watched a movie/documentary on youtube called “HOME”.. which points out this fact that we need to be responsible consumers in this highly consumerism-oriented world. “Possess what you need and do not indulge in extremes” seems to be what Nature is teaching us. Through our respect for life and the variety of life, we live responsibly and let the Nature exist in harmony.

Please watch this video at your lesiure. I am sure you will get an insight that stays with you for long.

In service of the Lord and Gurudev,
Best wishes,
Aparna & Hari