Universe As Divine Play Of Diversity and Duality

Abhinavagupta tells us in his Tantraloka that "Moksha only exists when your being becomes absolutely independent." According to him, a yogi can only be said to be liberated when he possesses this absolute independence; nothing must limit him or overshadow his universal consciousness. This process begins when the yogi is experiencing the state of internal mystical awareness, relishing the fullness of his internal God consciousness. At that moment he is pulled out of the internal world into the world of external experience. His eyes open.

The yogi may experience a chair or a tree, but the experience is filled with universal God consciousness. Everywhere he looks, whatever he sees is filled with universal God consciousness.

Then again, his eyes close and he is drawn inside. And again, after a few moments, his eyes open and he is drawn outside experiencing the world filled with the oneness of God. He cannot stop this process. This is the process known as karma mudra …

This yogi experiences the fusing of his inner and outer worlds; his universal I consciousness, is diluted in consciousness of the external world. Here, the fullness of I-consciousness absorbs "this-ness", external objectivity, and produces the oneness of samadhi or internal mystical trance and vyutthana or external experience. The nature of this yogi and the external world become one, and the yogi experiences them as being completely united, one with the other. There is absolutely no difference between them.

The process of karma mudra results in absolute oneness, the state of absolute independence. The yogi, in this state, experiences that the internal world of mystical trance and the external world are absolutely the same. This independence and absolute oneness gives rise to the state of jagadananda or universal bliss.

To explain the state of jagadananda, Abhinavagupta says, "My master Sambhunatha described jagadananda as the state that is completely unencumbered, where ananda, bliss, is found shining, where it is universally strengthened by the supreme I-consciousness of God, and where the six limbs of yoga-bhavana, dharana, dhyana, pratyahara, yoga, and samadhi-are no longer used or required."

The one whose being has become absolutely independent and who possesses the state of jagadananda, is said to be a jivan mukta, one who is liberated while living. In his Bodhapancadasika, Abhinavagupta tells us that when the aspirant attains real knowledge of reality, which is the existent state of Shiva, that is final liberation. Real knowledge exists when the aspirant comes to understand that this whole objective universe of diversity and duality is just a magic trick, the play of Shiva.
That does not mean, however, that it is a trick that creates an unreal world. For the Shaiva, this objective world, being Shiva's creation, is just as real as Shiva. The trick lies in the fact that, by Shiva's play, he causes the limited individual to experience this world of diversity as the only reality. Real knowledge exists when the aspirant becomes one with universal God consciousness, which is the same as attaining perfect Self-knowledge. He knows that the world of differentiation is not actually different from Shiva, the Supreme Reality.

The cycles of bondage and liberation are both one with Lord Shiva. It is only a trick that we think that some souls are bound in ignorance while others are elevated. It is only Shiva's play that we think that this covering of diversity actually exists as a separate reality. There is not a second being or reality. His trick, therefore, is our trick, because we are Shiva. We have concealed ourselves in order to find ourselves. This is his play; also our play. (Vijnana Bhairava)

By Swami Lakshmanjoo first published on www.SpeakingTree.in

The Architecture of Fear

Why do we buy things we really don't need? Why do we seek control over things and people? Why do we seek predictability in business? Why do we love brands? If wish to answer this 'why' we have to move into the realm of psychology and understand the origins of fear. The more acceptable for fear in the corporate world is 'stress'.

Every Hindu god and goddess raises his or her palm in a gesture which means 'do not be afraid' (a-bhaya), indicating that ancients knew the role of fear in day-to-day life. If there was no fear (bhaya), there would be no hunger or desire (bhook), hence no desire to consume (bhoga). Our desire to consume results in a heavy toll on resources (bali) for which we have to pay a price (karma). Thus fear is the seed of all issues we face in the business world from demand to supply, from transparency to governance. It is fear that shapes our relationship with consumers, auditors, authorities, bosses, processes. Yet, this is not part of business school curriculum. Perhaps because we are over reliant on human reason and forget that humans are essentially not reasonable but rather insecure and frightened. The word fear does not go well with the corporate image of a valorous confident warrior, dressed in a smart black suit, tablet in hand.

Stress or fear can be traced to the first life form (sajiva). Unlike inanimate objects (ajiva) it was determined to survive, fight for its life, avoid death, by seeking nutrition from the earth around. As more life forms emerged, everyone competed for food. Mutation took place and diversity emerged to improve chances of survival. The greatest mutation was the split between life-forms that move (chara) and life-forms that do not move (achara), meaning animals and plants. A plant grows towards food, but it cannot run from predators that feed on it. An animal can run towards food and away from predators. In animals we see the fear inherent in the food chain: the fear of the prey of being hunted and the fear of the predator of starvation. The other fear that is superimposed is that of the pecking order: who will be alpha and hence get access to most food and most mates. The one at the bottom of the pyramid is at a disadvantage, especially the male, who gets least food and probably no mate. Can this be the reason for the aggression seen in men? But humans are the most unique life-form. We have a mind that can imagine (manas) and so we imagine who we are and wonder if others imagine ourselves the same way. This creates anxiety, fear of invalidation. We seek status and justification and most importantly meaning (artha). We seek nourishment for our self-image, and constantly protecting this self-image from rivals and predators. This constitutes our architecture of fear.

It is significant that the word artha-shastra simultaneously means economics (do we generate and distribute enough wealth, income, revenue?), politics (do we get enough power to compete, catch prey, shun predators?), and philosophy (do we know who we really are? do we live meaningful lives?). This was a holistic approach to business and management, restricted not just to making ourselves efficient money-making businesses but locating business in society, and even the cosmos. This is missing in students one finds emerging from the best universities in the world. They are skilled warriors but clueless what are they fighting for. And this cluelessness results in strange, even dangerous behaviour.

Let us take three examples of behaviour found in the corporate world to demonstrate the key role of the fear-seed in business activities:

• Consumers and vendors constantly seek deals and discounts. It makes them feel powerful. Shopping becomes retail therapy, a chance to feel significant in a world that does not care for you. Service providers realise the value of making a customer feeling valuable. Fear is intensified by creating hierarchies amongst customers: you are level 1 customer, level 2 customer or level 3 customer. Depending on the hierarchy you get a different level of service. Your waiting time is less, if you are more loyal.

• A senior manager finds himself, or herself, being continuously judged. The auditors judge the processes he follows. The bosses judge his performance. He is constantly told what he has not achieved and how he is not adequately aligned. He discovers his compensation is never good enough, always lesser than his rivals, and this poor compensation is always rationalised and justified during appraisal time. He is repeatedly told, in quarter after quarter, he has to be better, run faster. He has to stay the ever-hungry predator who is never allowed to rest and play to satisfy the insatiable hunger of the anonymous institutional shareholder.

• A very successful investment banker wonders if people he meets knows how smart. So he buys the best car, the best house, throws the best parties, goes on the finest holidays, brags how he just works for an hour a day, or maybe an hour a week, constantly positioning his brilliance, and even doing charity, because he wants to succeed even in social responsibility. Finally, he starts seeing value in possessing a bathtub made of gold. Or gets a kick in getting freebees like celebrities.

A knowledge of fear is critical in management if one accepts that humans are animals with imagination, who cannot be domesticated using reason. Desire, greed, ambition, control, success, compliance all impact the everyone's architecture of fear. We look at institutions to raise their palm and display the symbol of a-bhaya. Instead their massive size, steel and glass coldness, impersonal business processes, swipe cards and closed circuit TVs only amplify the bhaya.

Source devdutt.com 

20 Things to Start doing in your Relationships

Family isn't always blood.  They're the people in your life who appreciate having you in theirs – the ones who encourage you to improve in healthy and exciting ways, and who not only embrace who you are now, but also embrace and embody who you want to be.  These people – your real family – are the ones who truly matter.

Here are twenty tips to help you find and foster these special relationships.

1.  FREE YOURSELF FROM NEGATIVE PEOPLE.
Spend time with nice people who are smart, driven and likeminded.  Relationships should help you, not hurt you.  Surround yourself with people who reflect the person you want to be.  Choose friends who you are proud to know, people you admire, who love and respect you – people who make your day a little brighter simply by being in it.  Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you.  When you free yourself from negative people, you free yourself to be YOU – and being YOU is the only way to truly live.

2.  LET GO OF THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY GONE.
The sad truth is that there are some people who will only be there for you as long as you have something they need.  When you no longer serve a purpose to them, they will leave.  The good news is, if you tough it out, you'll eventually weed these people out of your life and be left with some great people you can count on.  We rarely lose friends and lovers, we just gradually figure out who our real ones are.  So when people walk away from you, let them go.   Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you.  It doesn't mean they are bad people; it just means that their part in your story is over.

3.  GIVE PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW A FAIR CHANCE.
When you look at a person, any person, remember that everyone has a story.  Everyone hasgone through something that has changed them, and forced them to grow.  Every passing face on the street represents a story every bit as compelling and complicated as yours.  We meet no ordinary people in our lives.  If you give them a chance, everyone has something amazing to offer.  So appreciate the possibility of new relationships as you naturally let go of old ones that no longer work.  Trust your judgment.  Embrace new relationships, knowing that you are entering into unfamiliar territory.  Be ready to learn, be ready for a challenge, and be ready to meet someone that might just change your life forever.

4.  SHOW EVERYONE KINDNESS AND RESPECT.
Treat everyone with kindness and respect, even those who are rude to you – not because they are nice, but because you are.  There are no boundaries or classes that define a group of people that deserve to be respected.  Treat everyone with the same level of respect you would give to your grandfather and the same level of patience you would have with your baby brother.  People will notice your kindness.

5.  ACCEPT PEOPLE JUST THE WAY THEY ARE.
In most cases it's impossible to change them anyway, and it's rude to try.  So save yourself from needless stress.  Instead of trying to change others, give them your support and lead by example.

6.  ENCOURAGE OTHERS AND CHEER FOR THEM.
Having an appreciation for how amazing the people around you are leads to good places – productive, fulfilling, peaceful places.  So be happy for those who are making progress.  Cheer for their victories.  Be thankful for their blessings, openly.  What goes around comes around, and sooner or later the people you're cheering for will start cheering for you.

7.  BE YOUR IMPERFECTLY PERFECT SELF.
In this crazy world that's trying to make you like everyone else, find the courage to keep being your awesome self.  And when they laugh at you for being different, laugh back at them for being the same.  Spend more time with those who make you smile and less time with those who you feel pressured to impress.  Be your imperfectly perfect self around them.  We are not perfect for everyone, we are only perfect for those select few people that really take the time to get to know us and love us for who we really are.  And to those select few, being our imperfectly perfect self is what they love about us.

8.  FORGIVE PEOPLE AND MOVE FORWARD.
Don't live your life with hate in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate.  Forgiveness is not saying, "What you did to me is okay."  It is saying, "I'm not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever."  Forgiveness is the remedy.  It doesn't mean you're erasing the past, or forgetting what happened.  It means you're letting go of the resentment and pain, and instead choosing to learn from the incident and move on with your life.  Remember, the less time you spend hating the people who hurt you, the more time you'll have to love the people who love you.

9.  DO LITTLE THINGS EVERY DAY FOR OTHERS.
Sometimes those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts.  You can't be everything to everyone, but you can be everything to a few people.  Decide who these people are in your life and treat them like royalty.

10. PAY ATTENTION TO WHO YOUR REAL FRIENDS ARE.
As we grow up, we realize it becomes less important to have more friends and more important to have real ones.  Remember, life is kind of like a party.  You invite a lot of people, some leave early, some stay all night, some laugh with you, some laugh at you, and some show up really late.  But in the end, after the fun, there are a few who stay to help you clean up the mess.  And most of the time, they aren't even the ones who made the mess.  These people are your real friends in life.  They are the ones who matter most.

11. ALWAYS BE LOYAL. 
True love and real friendship aren't about being inseparable. These relationships are about two people being true to each other even when they are separated.  When it comes to relationships, remaining faithful is never an option, but a priority.  Loyalty is everything.

12. STAY IN BETTER TOUCH WITH PEOPLE WHO MATTER TO YOU.
In human relationships distance is not measured in miles, but in affection.  Two people can be right next to each other, yet miles apart.  So don't ignore someone you care about, because lack of concern hurts more than angry words.  Stay in touch with those who matter to you.  Not because it's convenient, but because they're worth the extra effort.  Remember, you don't need a certain number of friends, just a number of friends you can be certain of.  Paying attention to these people is a priority.

13. KEEP YOUR PROMISES AND TELL THE TRUTH.
If you say you're going to do something, DO IT!  If you say you're going to be somewhere, BE THERE!  If you say you feel something, MEAN IT!  If you can't, won't, and don't, then DON'T LIE.  It's always better to tell people the truth up front.  Don't play games with people's heads and hearts.  Don't tell half-truths and expect people to trust you when the full truth comes out; half-truths are no better than lies.  Remember, love and friendship don't hurt.  Lying, cheating and screwing with people's feelings and emotions hurts.  Never mess with someone's feelings just because you're unsure of yours.  Always be open and honest.

14. GIVE WHAT YOU WANT TO RECEIVE.
Don't expect what you are not willing to give.  Start practicing the golden rule.  If you want love, give love.  If you want friends, be friendly.  If you want money, provide value.  It works.  It really is this simple.

15. SAY WHAT YOU MEAN AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY.
Give the people in your life the information they need, rather than expecting them to know the unknowable.  Information is the grease that keeps the engine of communication functioning.  Start communicating clearly.  Don't try to read other people's minds, and don't make other people try to read yours.  Most problems, big and small, within a family, friendship, or business relationships, start with bad communication.

16. ALLOW OTHERS TO MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS.
Do not judge others by your own past.  They are living a different life than you are.  What might be good for one person may not be good for another.  What might be bad for one person might change another person's life for the better.  Allow people to make their own mistakes and their own decisions.

17. TALK A LITTLE LESS, AND LISTEN MORE.
Less advice is often the best advice.  People don't need lots of advice, they need a listening ear and some positive reinforcement.  What they want to know is often already somewhere inside of them.  They just need time to think, be and breathe, and continue to explore the undirected journeys that will eventually help them find their direction.

18. LEAVE PETTY ARGUMENTS ALONE.
Someone else doesn't have to be wrong for you to be right.  There are many roads to what's right.  And most of the time it just doesn't matter that much.

19. IGNORE UNCONSTRUCTIVE, HURTFUL COMMENTARY.
No one has the right to judge you.  They might have heard your stories, but they didn't feel what you were going through.  No matter what you do, there will always be someone who thinks differently.  So concentrate on doing what you know in your heart is right.  What most people think and say about you isn't all that important.  What is important is how you feel about yourself.

20. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOURSELF.
One of the most painful things in life is losing yourself in the process of loving others too much, and forgetting that you are special too.  When was the last time someone told you that they loved you just the way you are, and that what you think and how you feel matters?  When was the last time someone told you that you did a good job, or took you someplace, simply because they know you feel happy when you're there?  When was the last time that 'someone' was YOU?

Source 

You Need Shock Treatment

When Isaac Newton was sitting beneath a tree, it is said that an apple hit him on the head, and through pondering over this phenomenon he discovered the Universal Law of Gravitation. This was like a shock treatment administered by nature. This event triggered a train of thought in Newton's mind. He started thinking about why , when an apple fell, it came down and did not go up. This thought led to the discovery of the Law of Gravitation. This law had always been there, but no one had discovered it before. Then, after a long time, nature hit man on the head and told him in the language of hammering: O Man, discover the law that has remained undiscovered till this date.

This was like shock treatment.Shock treatment is a law of nature. This shock treatment can be called a challenge. Every human being faces this kind of challenge in some way or the other. This shock treatment is a blessing in disguise, for it always acts for the betterment of the person in question. And perhaps for all others as well.

If you are facing some problem in your life, in your job, business or family , don't be negative. Take it as a positive phenomenon. If you turn negative, you cannot avail of the opportunity it presents. But if you are positive, you will try to understand the real message behind the challenge and very soon you will find that the challenge was nothing but a stepping stone in your life to better things.
Shock treatment is the language of nature. Nature always tries to give you a lesson, shows you the right direction and tries to unfold your potential. It tries to make you aware of opportunities which present themselves all around you. Don't ignore such warnings, take them seriously . They will give you right guidance and turn your failure into success.

Nature is the best guide. But nature always speaks in the language of hammering, that is, challenge. A challenge is not an accidental event. Challenge always comes from nature.
In this way nature tries to awaken your mind, it tries to initiate a process of rethinking.
At first nature tries to give advice in simple language, but when you fail to take that advice, it uses the method of shock treatment. This is like awakening a person who is not ready to wake up with a simple call. All the challenges in life are positive challenges.

When you face any challenge, take it in a positive manner; try to understand the lesson hidden in it.
"The falling of an apple" on one's head is a very common phenomenon. Every person faces this experience, although not in the form of an "apple", but in the form of shock. These experiences are not accidental; they are part of divine planning. They act as booster. If you have this kind of experience, don't let your mind get disturbed. Take it as a positive sign. Try to find out the message behind this event, and very soon you will find that it was just like the fall of an apple, the sole purpose of which was to enable you to discover a great law of life.

There are numerous people in history who failed in the first chance. But then they thought about their problem afresh and consequently achieved great success.

Sometimes people make a wrong choice; then nature hits them with an apple and gives them a silent lesson: Those who listen to this silent voice of nature are destined to emerge as super-achievers.

First Published in SpeakingTree.in By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Communication Mythos: Should the burden of understanding be on the message giver or receiver?

The message-giver thanks the message-receiver for enabling him to better understand human desire and capability. 

A friend told me something very interesting. She said, "I have noticed that during a conference Americans and Japanese behave very differently . If an American does not understand anything, he blames the communication skills of the message-giver. If a Japanese is under stress he blames himself, placing the burden of understanding on the message-receiver . Objectively speaking, who has the burden of understanding — the message-giver or the message-receiver ?

In the Western world, currently dominated by Greek mythology, where individuals are constantly suspicious of authority, the burden of understanding falls on the authority that seeks to govern. However, in the Eastern part of the world, dominated by Confucian mythology, where everyone respects authority, who has the Mandate of Heaven or legitimate power, the burden of understanding falls on the people who are being governed.

This divide is evident in communication techniques taught in training programs of modern management. The first being keep it short and simple, for people's attention span is low as is their capacity to comprehend . Another technique is repetition: "Say what you have to say, say it, and say what you have said." This we are told will get the message across. Here the burden is always on the speaker. Hence the obsession with over-clarifying and over-communicating .

We see this in the long documents and numerous posters that repeatedly seek to explain values and behaviours that the company endorses. There is anxiety that communication has not been clear or comprehensive enough. The message-giver has to constantly bring himself down to the level of the message-receiver.

This is influenced by the shift from the Imperial British system of communication to the more egalitarian American system of communication . It is not uncommon in many Indian family owned companies for owners to not bother with clear communication. Often innuendoes and signals are used to get messages across. For example: the person who is being repeatedly called for a meeting becomes the authority or the favoured one of the moment, irrespective of his designation.

It is assumed that the people who understand the leader get the message. Those who don't get the message don't matter in the scheme of things. On a more manipulative note, if the directive does not work, the leader simply gets a chance of escape. This puts great pressure on professionals who are not trained to deal with family businesses in B-schools.

Such practices are frowned in modern management as it is unclear, inefficient and adds to the burden of anxiety amongst employees. They are qualified as feudal, befitting an oriental despot. In other words, the criticism is rooted in Western prejudices about the East.

Though many business families in India tilt Eastwards, traditional Indian methods of communication actually stands between the East and the West. Who bears the burden of understanding is a function of context. It depends on who has more to lose: the message-giver or message-receiver ? This is demonstrated in the following story from the Upanishads.

A young boy called Satyakama wanted to understand the 'brahman' from his teacher, Gautama. So his teacher gave him some cows and told him to take them out to the pastures and to return only after the number of cows had doubled. While the cows grazed, Satyakama had nothing to do. He kept observing the world around him. As he watched the bull, the sun, the fire, the swan, and the fowl, his mind was filled with insight. When he returned his thanked his guru for revealing to him the 'brahman' .

In modern understanding of communication , the guru had done nothing to facilitate understanding. But in the traditional understanding of communication, the guru had created an ecosystem based on the desire and capability of Satyakama. Thus the message-giver understands the best way to communicate to the message receiver. Sometimes it may be instructive and directive, sometimes it may be full of innuendoes and symbols, depending on what the message-receiver can handle.

Here, the guru is not obliged to transmit the message but does so in order to improve his own understanding of human nature. Here, the student is not obliged to listen to the guru but does, because he wants knowledge. The teacher is merely a facilitator.

The message receiver thanks the message-giver for facilitating his understanding of the subject. The message-giver thanks the message-receiver for enabling him to better understand human desire and capability, hence his communication skills. Both win. There is no authority or rules. It is cyclical, not linear. This is what the guru-shishya parampara was actually about.

Source: Devdutt Pattanaik in The Economic Times

http://m.economictimes.com/features/corporate-dossier/management-mythos-should-the-burden-of-understanding-be-on-the-message-giver-or-receiver/articleshow/36461815.cms

When Your House Is On Fire | Truth is, What we say by experience

Talk: Osho

If you feel negative, that means somehow or other, knowingly or unknowingly, you have invested much in your negativity. Now you want to cling to it; you don't want to drop it. See the point. If you want to drop it, i say to you, ''Immediately, this very moment!'' Nobody is blocking the path. But you don't want to drop it; and you won't admit it.

Don't play these games. You are responsible. If others are responsible, how can you be free? But i tell you: you are free. Your nature is freedom. That's why the word 'moksha' does not exist in western languages. There is no equivalent to it, it means absolute freedom.

Eastern concept of moksha is absolute freedom. You can be free, because you are free. Realise this, this moment, and nobody is blocking the way – there is no barrier, no wall.

But if you don't want to become free, don't think that you want to become free. People talk about freedom, but they want to remain in bondage, because bondage has its own comforts, securities, conveniences. Freedom is risky.

Miserliness has its own conveniences; otherwise nobody would be a miser. If you are not a miser, you become more insecure. If you cling to money, to things, you feel a certain security: at least there is something to cling to; you don't feel empty. Maybe you are full of rubbish; but at least something is there, you are not empty.

You go on clinging. With negativity you feel powerful. Whenever you say 'no', you feel powerful; the ego is enhanced. Whenever you say 'yes', you feel humble; the ego is destroyed. When you love, you become humble; when you are angry, you feel powerful. When you are angry, you have four times more energy than you ordinarily have. In anger, in rage, you can throw a big rock. Ordinarily, you cannot even push it, not even move it.

So whenever you are negative, you feel powerful. And if you still want to feel powerful, you will cling to your negativity. Don't throw the responsibility on to your poor mother – because that is absurd. Take the responsibility on yourself, because that is the only chance of your transformation.

I am not saying, ''Drop your negativity.'' I am simply saying, ''Understand.'' If you want to carry it, it is up to you. Be blessed in your negativity. But then don't go on saying that you would like to drop it. Don't play this game. If you want to be negative, be negative.

Jesus said 'truth liberates'; nothing else. Jesus cannot liberate you, neither can i. Truth liberates. Just see the truth. If you are honest, you will see that through your negativity you are creating a hell. Only you are suffering, nobody else.

Let the suffering come to such a point where you cannot suffer any more; where you have to come out, as if your house is on fire. Then you don't cling to it, you simply run out; and you don't ask for the right way to get out.

You don't ask for a master: that you will have to learn the right way and the right technique. Nobody bothers. You jump out of the window; you run out of the back door. You find a way out yourself, once you realise that the house is on fire.

Courtesy Osho International Foundation, http://www.osho.com.

What is Sakshi Bhava?

Question: Amma, what is sakshi bhava [witness attitude]? 

Amma: When you become sugar, then there is nothing but sweetness. Likewise, in true sakshi bhava, there is bliss alone.

It's not that emotions don't come, they will be there, but you see them, as if from a distance, and they don't affect you. So, when anger begins rising up in you, you are able to see it very clearly. You witness it and this helps you to remain calm and not translate that emotion into action. Reflecting on the truth that we are not the body or the mind but are the atma [the true self], we can use our viveka[discrimination] to reject that emotion as baseless.

Witnessing like this and keeping our distance from our emotions, is for our own safety. Visiting a zoo and seeing the animals in their cages is a blissful experience. But if you open the door the cage and let the animals out their cages it will be disastrous. It is the same with the mind.

When you understand the nature of the world and its objects, you will see things and remain detached, like a witness, and accept them. For example, a crow may evacuate upon us, but we don't get angry at the crow. You just go wash your dress and move forward.

In sakshi bhava, it is not that there are no thoughts or emotions. Just as there are waves in the ocean, there will be thoughts in the mind. But since you know how to swim, you are able to get in the water and blissfully move about them.

From - 

Friday, 18 April 2014 – Amritapuri Seashore Meditation and Question & Answer

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Discover Your Sweet Spot

An entire spectrum of existence is possible between self-belief and faith in the universal energy, between confidence in free will and destiny and between taking charge and letting go. With reflection, meditation, and pursuit of a clear life purpose, you can identify the fine balance that's optimal for you. It's the place of equilibrium where you willingly engage in meaningful action and yet are detached from the bipolar evaluation of results, connected equally with inner stillness and external activity; where the physical and spiritual meet.

It's about living with the understanding of how several hundred thousand actions of the mind, body, and the universe are happening involuntarily; yet appreciating the need for voluntary actions that bring to life our conscious intentions with the help of our body and its nervous system. For example, what we decide to eat is our choice, however, how the stomach digests that food is through the universal intelligence present in each cell of our digestive system.

This sweet spot is the special place in this journey where we are fully present in the moment; feel centred within ourselves and let our actions emanate from this deeper space. We are aware and focussed in our actions and yet have a relaxed and open mind; we are engaged in the task, but simultaneously in touch with that subtle place inside us that makes us totally open, strong, tender, loving and trusting.

Through praying, we connect with our deeper subconscious and higher Self and that makes us feel stronger, clearer and peaceful. All the masters of their craft, from artists and writers to sportsmen and spiritual gurus, consistently experience this sweet spot. In those special moments, their actions flow from somewhere other than the conscious mind. They all have this ability to shut out the rest of the world as well as their inner thoughts and connect with the stillness and the silence within.

The sweet spot can also be understood as the zone where things fall into place effortlessly and in complete harmony between our inner being and the external universe. It is the place when we feel balanced in every way – between, work and family, physical and emotional wellbeing, mental and spiritual growth, personal progress and supporting others, giving and receiving, and loving and being loved. It's the zone where we feel challenged but in control, where we are learning and growing but are not overwhelmed, where we are open to new experiences but have the wisdom to assimilate them into our understanding.

Experiencing and living connected to this sweet spot impacts every minutest bit of our existence. At work, operating in the sweet zone translates to being engaged in a profession or vocation that we love, enjoy, and find meaningful and rewarding.

In our relationships, this sweet spot implies being neither too aggressive nor too submissive in our interactions but just being our honest authentic self; being assertive such that we are firm but polite, confident but respectful; being willing to be vulnerable and yet self-assured; have healthy self-respect but not strong ego; are deeply caring but not possessive.

Finally, the deeper impact of discovering our sweet spot is the overflow of empathy and compassion for others. Embarking on the journey of personal mastery can help you discover your own sweet spot, where you experience deeper happiness, fulfilment, peace, effortlessness and balance across all dimensions of your life.


~ Rajiv Vij 

First Published in SpeakingTree.in

When Did “The Present” Begin?

It's a harder question than it sounds. Does the present refer to right this second?
Today? This year? The past few years? Fortunately, science has the answer.

Different scientific disciplines, cultures, and religions base their calendars on different "zero" moments. In geology, as well as other scientific disciplines, the epoch of time referred to as "the present" began on January 1, 1950. It's a somewhat arbitrary, compromise of a date, but a fixed moment in the study of things that takes a really, really long time to change or move.

Here's how that date was selected. In the earth's atmosphere, there are carbon isotopes in relatively equal proportion to each other, including the stable carbon-12 and the unstable carbon-14. Plants absorb both kinds, in the form of carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere. When a living thing dies, it dies with inherent carbon-12 and carbon-14, but the carbon-14 immediately begins decaying at a known, constant rate. Scientists can then measure the amount of carbon-14 left in the dead thing to determine its approximate age. This is called "radiocarbon dating," and it's been used to determine the age of naturally occurring materials, like plants, rocks, and human remains, as well as things made from naturally occurring materials, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Shroud of Turin.

Radiocarbon dating was introduced in the 1940s, but it became workable, with standardized methods and widely adopted in the 1950s. Around that same time, governments began widespread atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Scientists soon realized that radiocarbon dating could no longer be relied upon to accurate date objects. Why? Nuclear weapons so massively alter an environment, and an atmosphere, that they threw off the ratio of carbon-14 and carbon-12, even turning a lot of carbon-14 into carbon-12.

Basically, any radiocarbon testing done after January 1, 1950—a date agreed upon because it fell in the midst of the beginnings of nuclear testing—is somewhat unreliable. The period after is called "the present." Any time before may be referred to, scientifically, as "B.P." or "before present."

Source

A Childlike Approach To Life

Most of us are caught in the trivial parts of life and miss seeing the whole. Without leaving our room we want to see the vastness of sky. We live a part of the whole and that part is our pattern, our position and our ego. Thus, we limit our brain to limited paradigms. To see the whole is part of managing our life effectively. To take that leap, one has to have a childlike perceptive and not a childish perceptive.

Life is a great mystery; it is vast and limitless. It cannot be limited by shallow thinking. We have not learnt to observe life and hence we are lost in limitations. To be childish is to be ignorant like a child and to be childlike is to be innocent like a child.

One has to learn how to perceive, how to look, how to see. A child sees innocently. To be innocent is to be open. When we look at a flower, we don't actually see the flower. The perceiver pollutes the perception. With strong likes and dislikes one looks at a flower. When that happens, the emphasis is on one's likes and dislikes and not actually on the flower. As you grow old, your mind encounters rigid frames of like and dislike, opinions, dogmas, fears, conflicts, greed etc.
Hence your "seeing" is influenced by your background. So your experience of the external world is a product of your mind.

We learn through books, school and college. We collect lot of concepts, words and we get imprisoned by what we know. When we "see and know" something in the outer world there is a struggle. The struggle is to see and know in the light of what you know from your past. The present should fit into your past. So what you know from your past is more important than what you see in the present. You are bound by what you know.

Thus our perception is not free. What we know and learn is dictated by the background of our knowledge, our past. A childlike perception is freeing oneself from that background and be free inwardly.

Apply this in the field of relationships, at office or at home. You have an image of your spouse or boss. This image is a product of your conclusions, opinions and with that mental image you relate to your spouse and work. So your struggle is to see that the other fits into your image of your partner or boss. This is a complicated way of living. A childlike perception has no image and its innocence comes in touch with the object. It does not hanker for validation; hence there is no struggle for such validation. By this one can relate better without bitterness.

A childlike perception is pure sensitivity and not sentimental. To be sensitive is experiencing "what is" and sentimental is reacting to "what is" from one's past. Most of us are sentimental. Let us enter into the state of childlike perception and experience the delight of the now. Then you will transform the ruins of your heart with the "childlike" perception of life. Drain the cup of sentimentality and fill it with sensitivity. Thus walk on the path of being sensitive to "what is". Then you will relate better in your office and home. You will build a better rapport with people. You will nourish people by your warmth of being sensitive.

Published 1st by Swami Sukhabodhananda on SpeakingTree.in

The Desert Retreat House: The Practice of Equanimity

"Buddha in the Garden"

At the store yesterday I heard a shopper say to the cashier, "I am so stressed out," and without batting an eye, the cashier responded, "Aren't we all?"

When I got home from the store yesterday, I put the word "stress" into a Google search - over one million responses were instantly returned. Imagine that, there are over a million online sites I can access to read about the causes of stress, the symptoms of stress, the ways to cope with stress.

Interestingly enough, people today are not only anxious and stressed out in the places and at the times when you might expect stress to be manifested - before a big exam, when the work report is due, when a relationship is tearing apart, when finances are tight. But people today also find themselves in a state of anxiety even when they are on vacation, or when they are spending time with their families, or when they are at church.

 As I think abut it, it seems as if stress and anxiety have infected the culture in epic proportions.

While the word "equanimity" is not used all that often in popular culture, it is a concept that is frequently found in the Buddhist literature. In fact "the practice of equanimity" lies at the heart of the teaching of the Buddha.

In an age when stress has become such a dominant force, I believe we would all do well to learn something about the "practice of equanimity." I recently came across this definition:

Equanimity is the taming of excesses of thought and emotion

Buddhists often use the term "monkey mind" to describe anxiety, restlessness, being easily distracted.  Like a monkey who can't ever sit still, quickly and chaotically jumping from place to place without a pause, people who are restless or stressed out suffer from "monkey mind."

A "monkey mind" is always filled up with constant ideas, strategies and plans about how to control everyday living. In a "monkey mind" emotions rage- anger, fear, doubt, despair, obsessive attachment to another - they pull a person from place to place chaotically and without a pause.

Maybe "monkey mind" is a better way of describing that national epidemic of stress and anxiety that so inflicts our culture nowadays.

 The way to cope with "monkey mind" is to "practice equanimity" - to trade "monkey mind" for "mindfulness."

When I sit in my garden for my daily period of mindful meditation, I am essentially practicing the discipline of equanimity. I clear my cluttered mind of all my ideas, all my plans, all my goals and aspirations. I open my heart to whatever comes my way, no matter how wonderful or how terrible it all may be, realizing that I can control none of it, only embrace it, because "it is what it is."

In mindful awareness I am indeed "taming excesses of thought and emotion" - I am practicing equanimity. And, of course my "practice of equanimity" in my garden meditation is practice for the way I try to live life every day.

As I sit in the silence of yet another beautiful desert day, the thought comes to me that the wisdom of Jesus is much like the wisdom of the Buddha. Jesus also taught his disciples to practice equanimity:

So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 
But seek first the Presence of God.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.

With a clear mind and open heart I breathe it all in - what a glorious day.

Source: http://desertretreathouse.blogspot.in/2014/02/the-practice-of-equanimity.html?m=1

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Aseem Seth

Overcome Your Soft Addictions

Many 'harmless' habits that we overindulge in like nail-biting, shopping, web-surfing, continuous texting or checking for messages, overworking, procrastinating, gossiping, watching too much television, and too many cups of tea or coffee, can become what are called "soft addictions" that limit our potential, ultimately draining us of both energy and self-respect.

Unlike hard addictions, which are usually related to a chemical substance, you don't die from soft addictions. ''But you don't really live, either,'' said Judith Wright, author of The Soft Addiction Solution, who labelled this phenomenon.

Soft addictions begin as normal, everyday, soothing activities, but can end up numbing your feelings and leaving you drained of energy. Some addictions like television zone you out; others like shopping bring temporary ease. Overeating or overusing gadgets are the adult equivalent of thumb-sucking. Though these feel like solutions to a problem, they can get in the way of leading a more fulfilling life.

They can also often have long-term consequences. Stress snacking can cause you to be constantly unhappy about how you look, how your clothes don't fit, and worse, get you to an unhealthy weight. A runaway shopping addiction can destroy your finances, or at least cause you to lie about it. Excessive caffeine intake can cause headaches, insomnia, irritability and anxiety. Too much TV on a regular basis, especially at night, makes it both hard to sleep and hard to wake up.

Thought to be patterns that begin innocuously in early life, Nathalie Anderson's fairytale take-off poem on the subject humorously yet painfully reveals the truth about soft addictions:
"…And so it's been. The prim princess royal, gifted with itty-bitty knitted booties, now acquires shoes – so many, she'll never go slipshod or round-heeled, a pair for every coloured thread in every Persian carpet…

"There's a prince who bets on ponies. There's a prince who marries showgirls. There's a princess who reads twelve mysteries whenever she's down…"

Because they seem so benign, and we even sheepishly admit them or laugh them off, often it's friends, family or colleagues who point out when this gets in the way of our work, relationships or other aspects of our lives.

If people tease you about always being late, your friends get mad when you are texting while seeming to engage with them, your husband complains that you spend more time with your online friends than him, if your wife points out you are becoming a couch potato – these are warnings of a soft addiction. Also pay attention to those little feelings of discomfort that softly but persistently nag you when you're off track.

You have to recognise that there is a deeper need or hunger under the soft addiction. You need to make the distinction between what you want and what you hunger for. As Wright said, ''You might want a new designer dress, but you're really hungry to feel good about yourself.''

The first step to beating a soft addiction requires making a commitment to higher quality of life. When we pay attention to where our soft addictions are getting in the way of our wellbeing, daily functioning, our intimacy, and ultimately our dreams, we can regain hours of wasted time, choose health-supporting options, save money wasted on comfort-shopping, and restore a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives.

First Published by Marguerite Theophil on SpeakingTree.in

My Thoughts On Being Helpful

"Only by helping others can I help myself."  "Don't feel guilty if you can't help everyone you want. But always try to help those you feel you can. Don't insist - only offer."  - @aseems

My Thoughts on Forgiveness ...

"I cannot forgive myself if I don't forgive others. I cannot progress if I don't forgive myself. It is easier to forget than it is to forgive. But we never truly forget till we forgive - till then we are merely suppressing the emotional thought, and postponing our growth. Surrender is a way to forgiveness - stop fighting - let life win. " - @aseems  ATTN: Tumblrbot  35 East 21st St, 10th Floor  New York, NY 10010

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Aseem Seth

Kailasha & Swarga

The Heavens of Contentment and Indulgence

Shiva's realm is Kailasa, a stony mountain covered with snow, where there are no pastures, still Shiva's bull is happy. There is a tiger there, the mount of Shiva's consort, Shakti, still Shiva's bull is not afraid. The snake around Shiva's neck does not chase Ganesha's rat and does not get chased by Kartikeya's peacock. There is no fear of death in Kailasa, so no hunger, no predator, no prey, no chase. This is the realm of yoga, where Lakshmi does not matter.

Indra's realm is Amravati, the abode of the Devas, where the Asparas dance, the Gandharvas sing, and Sura flows, where there is the wish-fulfilling tree Kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling gem, Chintamani, and the wish-fulfilling cow, Kamadhenu. There is no fear of death here either, for Indra has consumed Amrita, nectar of immortality.

Illustration/ Devdutt Pattanaik

This is the realm of bhoga or pleasure, where all desires are realised without any effort: where Lakshmi comes when summoned. Yoga demands inner transformation, the churning of inner mental fire, tapa, through the practice of tapasya, to outgrow hunger. It is a solitary activity. Bhoga demands no inner transformation, just the churning of outer fire, agni, through the practice of yagna. Needless to say, people prefer bhoga to yoga, yagna to tapasya. That is why Amravati is referred to as Swarga, paradise. The purpose of human enterprise is to achieve Swarga on earth.

This desire expresses itself in many household rituals of Hinduism. During the festival of Pongal, people of Tamil Nadu boil milk in pots till it overflows. During Gudi Padva, in Maharashtra, pots are perched upside down atop staffs to simulate divine pots showering sweets and silks into the household. During Vishu, in Kerala, the matriarch of the household ensures that the first thing every member of the household sees is his or her own reflection in a mirror surrounded by grain and gold. During Annakoot festivals of temples, vast quantities of food are heaped in the shape of mountains before the deity. Presence of abundant food and fun makes us feel closer to Swarga.

Both Shiva and Indra are immortal. Shiva's immortality is achieved by tapasya. Kama is sacrificed during tapasya. Indra's immortality is achieved through yagna that is fuelled by Kama. And his greatest yagna is the churning of the ocean of milk that yields him the Amrita, the nectar of immortality. Along with Amrita comes Halahal, a poison that threatens to destroy the whole world.

Indra wants to consume Amrita but is unable to handle Halahal. He offers it to Shiva who drinks and digests it, much to Indra's delight.  Along with Amrita also comes the eternal enmity of their half-brothers, the Asuras. Denied a share of Amrita, they remain mortal giving the Devas an unfair advantage over them. Like Shiva, they perform tapasya – but only to get power with which they can defeat Devas, and lay claim to the treasures of Swarga. The Devas fight back, with the help of Vishnu, reclaim their treasures. 

But the defeated Asuras always come back, thanks to the Sanjivani Vidya they get from Shiva. They may not be immortal but they can always come back to life. So Amravati, the land of bhoga, is always under siege. Immortal Indra can never enjoy Lakshmi in peace. So it is with human success.

The author is Chief Belief Officer of the Future Group, and can be reached at devdutt@devdutt.com

Source: http://www.mid-day.com/columnists/2013/feb/170213-opinion-devdutt-pattanaik-paradise-of-indulgence.htm

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Aseem Seth

More than a clash of cymbals: Making Sense of Indian TV News Channels

They're very shrill, but they're not anchoring TV news. Instead, they're critics sharply criticising television discussions for giving shrill thrills whenever Pakistan fires at India or a politician crosses an ethical LoC. As TV anchors prepare arsenals, critics also craft lofty columns about Outdoor Broadcast vans winging it to the borders or wars raging inside newscasters' heads. They thus reveal how they're stuck at a centuries-old version of Indian news, unable to understand powerful new changes underway.

For such critics, news still lingers somewhere in the good old days between Doordarshan and AIR, where it was read out to placid listeners, and views were a one-sided affair. Even when there were two speakers to tango, they either agreed or civilly agreed to disagree. Nothing could be more civil, in fact, except perhaps a chat over cheese toast and chai at a club where you rang a little bell for a refill.

In the 1990s, when non-government TV news emerged, reportage grew more hectic but analyses felt the same. Government views were presented as fait accompli, politicians and anchors looked cosier-than-thou while daily events were treated as an amiable wrangle over an invisible gin.

Today's 'shrill' TV news shatters that clubby calm. With its furious arguments and accusations, direct insults and cutting responses, its blood pressure, scowls and tears, it shreds the warm 'ideological quilt' Slavoj Zizek describes. It bridges the gap between metropolitan leaders and citizens across this vast land. And it emphasises the one element traditionally erased from Indian news — emotion.

From the ancient myth of Sanjay live-streaming the Maha-bharata battle, to modern milestones from Bhakra Nangal to Bollywood, the telling of Indian news set itself on an air-waved version of the Westminster model — calm and steady, whilst side-stepping the latter's insights. Our model snuggled easily into the familiar gurukul, the lazy lecture hall, the seminary of yawns, where audiences simply heard and the speaker never once said, the nation wants to know.

But modern TV news insists on this and thus becomes the shrill but vibrant beast it is, rushing to all corners of stories, perhaps not pausing long and deep enough, but certainly giving you a clue as to what lies where. Its energy surprised even Amartya Sen recently, the Nobel laureate confronted by his economics on live TV, multiple analysts offering versions and views, cutting into each other and Sen simultaneously. Such discussions make the ancestors of Sen's own argumentative Indian, debating din-e-elahi in palatial Fatehpur Sikri or reflecting on life under the shade of a Bodhi tree, look just that — ancestral.

For today's 'shrill' TV news has understood something its critics haven't. India is aspiring and not just to buy designer shoes and emulate the powerful, but also to access news that truly empowers ordinary lives. With a sudden profusion of media, India's citizen wants to know everything, and not for vicari-ous thrills.

Faced with corruption, ineptitude and criminality, the citizen wants to know how to live with dignity and hope. She wants to draw courage from others and offer sustenance to them too. She wants to connect to a community bound by middle-class ideals, which, in the previous obsession with patricians and proletariats, was completely overlooked.

And living in an interconnected world, where American drones, Chinese dolls and EU visas impact her life, she wants to know exactly how India's policies are made. Old TV discussions, involving chatty camaraderie, don't touch this need but 'shrill' TV news, with daily stamina and occasional skill, presents emotions, ideals and demands that do.

Yet critics claim events are pumped up for decibels to follow suit. They couldn't be more cynical or wrong — the shocked public protests following the Nirbhaya gang rape, the frustration over Pakistan's border-line madness, or the support to Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement weren't spurred on by TV. These emotions — disappointment, grief, hope — exist tangibly around us. Smart TV simply picks up on this pulse and gets its act together, presenting an emotional nation inside a studio.

Against a backdrop where mandarins and manholes both impact lives, a shrill TV show doesn't reflect its creators' lack of imagination or their ratings race. It reflects the far greater failures of politicians, bureaucrats and public services — everyone taxpayers pay — to do their job. Why quibble at righteous indignation there?

Thus, an OB van becomes the opposite of a red-beacon car, its earnestness a contrast to the shiny pomposity of those paid to serve. The proliferation of shrill TV is much more than Indian media adopting loud, pushy Ame-ricana over polished, restrained Britannica — it is ordinary India reshaping its own democratic space, giving voice to emotions birthed from politics, posing loud questions and demanding answers after 66 patient years.

This is also the acknowledgment that 'news' is simply the opera of our collective life, its drama reflecting our beauty and tragedies, our chaos and brilliance. It is this opera that has changed from muted and mundane to shrill and surprising. The nation's volume has indeed shot up and with good cause. As Pierre Bourdieu writes, the most successful censorship gives voice to people who have nothing to say except what is expected of them — quietly at that.

Source: http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Doctor-in-the-House/entry/more-than-a-clash-of-cymbals

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Aseem Seth - Unmistakably speaking  of , without naming, my channel http://www.timesnow.tv/ ;)

Adi Shankaracharya : From Temporal To Eternal

| by T M P Mahadevan | 

Among path finders to the Eternal, Sankara stands out. He spent his entire life, short though it was, in urging his fellowmen to move from the ephemeral to the abiding, from the fleeting panorama of temporal life to the spiritual felicity of life eternal. So far as earthly living and its demands go, there is no distinction between humans and animals.

Sankara explains that there is no difference in the behaviour of humans and animals so long as the moving factors are appetition and aversion, and activity consists in a going forth towards external sense objects.

Human endowment

However, man is endowed with a certain other characteristic which, if properly cultivated, will make for a distinction. Sankara defines it as the eligibility for karma, willed action and knowledge. He cites a scriptural text:

 The Atman is expanded only in man. He, indeed, is endowed with intelligence. He gives expression to what is known. He sees what is known. He knows what is to come. He knows the visible and invisible worlds. He perceives the immortal through the mortal; thus is he endowed.

 But with the other animals, eating and drinking constitutes their knowledge. It is because of this special ability to discriminate and discern the truth that birth of a human being is said to be precious. 

It is in virtue of this endowment that man quests for the eternal, and eventually succeeds in gaining it.

Quest for the eternal

Sankara sets forth the qualifications that would make one eligible for the quest eternal -- discrimination of the eternal from the non-eternal, non-attachment, having virtues like calmness, equanimity and a longing for liberation. All this only implies cultivating the right philosophical attitude. What blinds us is attachment to selfish enjoyments. The mind longs for them and so is unable to see the truth when it is in the grip of passion; it cannot understand even empirical truth, and so it goes without saying, says Sankara, that, the mind needs to be thoroughly cleansed before it can realise the truth of the inner Self.

The mind that has been freed of passions should be strengthened by cultivation of the cardinal virtues. With the right attitude and having gotten rid of defects, the mind must acquire whatever is excellent. Then the aspiration for release will firmly get established in the mind. This aspiration should not be confused with any passionate desire.

Explaining this point, Suresvara, a disciple of Sankara's, says that the longing for supreme happiness which is release, is not attachment; if this be attachment, then the wish for solicitude and so on, could also be thought to be so, which is not the case.

Anubhava or experience

Release which is regarded as the highest value is the same as the Supreme Self which is the sole reality, according to Sankara's vedanta known as Advaita. It is the reality that is referred to in the Upanishads by such terms as Atman and Brahmn. One may deny everything else, but not the Self, for it is the very nature of one who denies. In the empirical world it appears as limited and as many. As conditioned by the psychological complex called the body and by things that constitute the world, it is spoken of as anubhava or experience.

THE 10 ORDERS - Sankara's Dasanami 
by CHOODIE SHIVARAM

Adi Sankara organised sanyasis into the Dasanami order, writes There is a noticeable difference between the approaches of north and south India to Sankara’s teachings. The south stresses on jnana, which, given the high philosophy in his teachings, limits its reach to an elite, intellectual minority. The north emphasises bhakti, making his teachings universal in their appeal, transcending all barriers.  

Sankara’s achievements are not limited to the philosophical realm alone. He traversed the entire expanse of the region, re-moulding, reorganising and propagating sanatana dharma by restoring the primacy of scriptures over ritual. He established mathas, temples and gurukulas that continue to flourish to this day. 

Sankara’s pioneering effort in organising sanyasis into the Dasanami order is one of his most vibrant contributions. Before the Dasanami sampradaya, tantric sects were dominant. Uniting the diverse and chaotic community of ascetics into organised groups was no easy task. 

Sankara institutionalised the celibate sanyasi culture through four amnaya maths, many subsidiary maths and the Dasanami parampara. He restructured the sanyasin orders, organising them into 10 traditional paths to reach godhead, and gave each of them a unique title as follows:

1 Aranya: Lives in a forest, detached from mundane affairs, having forsaken the material world and yet experiencing bliss of living in a mystical garden. 

2 Ashrama: Monk in a hermitage, freed from wandering and bonds of kama, desire; krodha, anger; lobha, greed; moha, delusion; mada, pride and matsarya, jealousy and attained steadfastness and dispassionateness. 

3 Bharati: Carrying the treasure trove of learning, he forsakes all worldly burdens. With absolute knowledge, he transcends worldly sorrows. 

4 Giri: Steadfast like a mountain, he lives on lofty peaks in seclusion. Practising the Gita perennially, he cultivates firm, dignified and dispassionate intellect with lofty ideals. 

5 Parvata: One who resides at the foothill of the mountains in samadhi state, with the power to perfectly discriminate between truth and falsehood. He has knowledge of the transient nature of the world.

6 Puri: He is full of the knowledge of Brahmn. One with sampoorna, perfect  spiritual prowess. He is perpetually immersed in Absolute Bliss. 

7 Sagara: He has dived into the depths of the ocean of knowledge and collected the gems of Truth.

8 Saraswati: He is greatly learned and adept in yoga, one with his knowledge of pranayama, has mastered vedic intonation and is proficient in the vedas. 

9 Tirtha: He bathes at the confluence of the three rivers of knowledge and seeks realisation of the Truth through mahavakyas, such as ‘Tattvam Asi — Thou art That’, with the constant aim of unravelling the hidden meaning.

10 Vana: He has transcended the snare of desire, unshackled from worldly ties and lives quietly, in seclusion, in the interiors of deep forests. 

The four monastic headquarters were established to unify the groups of sanyasins and bring them under the banner of vedic dharma. The Dasanami sects were placed nominally under one of the four mathas, but maintained their independence. To propagate and uphold the scriptures, Sankara assigned one veda to each of the four mathas, and one upanishad to each of the Dasanamis. Mathas also served to facilitate wandering ascetics.

The Dasanami sanyasins are divided into two categories — dandadharis or staff holders and paramahamsas or non-staff holders. 

Another functional categorisation of Dasanami sadhus are astradharis or weapon holders, militant ascetics and saastradharis or scripture holders, the learned ascetics. The ‘militant’ sanyasis are recruited from all 10 orders, and are known as Naga sanyasis and their headquarters, the Akhada.

Sankara restructured the sanyasa order by freeing sanyasis from all ritualistic sacrifices, orienting them towards the scriptures by allocating them vedantic disciplines connected with the upanishadic texts, advocating vairagya or renunciation and parivrajaka or mendicancy, stressing on the fourfold practice of viveka, discrimination; vairagya, detachment; sat-sampatti, moral code and moksha, liberation and most importantly, creating a strong hierarchy and a strict guru-parampara to be followed to ensure that these precepts were actioned.

The guru, whilst initiating a pupil into sanyasa, carefully chooses one of the 10 titles based on the physical and mental disposition of the disciple. The title is a constant reminder to the sanyasi to seek God through the path prescribed by his guru. 

 “The Dasanami title is a strong reminder of the fundamental duty that the sanyasi has to perform,” says Shantananda Puri Swamiji of Vasishtha Guha, Rishikesh. 

Source: http://www.speakingtree.in/

Jai Gurudev
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Aseem Seth