Releasing the Cows.

One day the Buddha was sitting in the wood with thirty or forty monks. They had an excellent lunch and they were enjoying the company of each other. There was a farmer passing by and the farmer was very unhappy. He asked the Buddha and the monks whether they had seen his cows passing by. The Buddha said they had not seen any cows passing by.

The farmer said, "Monks, I'm so unhappy. I have twelve cows and I don't know why they all ran away. I have also a few acres of a sesame seed plantation and the insects have eaten up everything. I suffer so much I think I am going to kill myself.

The Buddha said, "My friend, we have not seen any cows passing by here. You might like to look for them in the other direction."

So the farmer thanked him and ran away, and the Buddha turned to his monks and said, "My dear friends, you are the happiest people in the world. You don't have any cows to lose. If you have too many cows to take care of, you will be very busy.

"That is why, in order to be happy, you have to learn the art of cow releasing. You release the cows one by one. In the beginning you thought that those cows were essential to your happiness, and you tried to get more and more cows.But now you realize that cows are not really conditions for your happiness; they constitute an obstacle for your happiness. That is why you are determined to release your cows."

Krishnamachari Santhanam

Bumble Bee

There was in this huge forest, a sylvan area which was dotted with bamboo trees swaying in the breeze gently and could be seen as far as the eyes reach nearly touching the sky. Some of the bamboos were soft and green and some hardened through persistent sadhana of being still in the baking sun.

A pond green with the shade of the bamboo forest was home to a variety of lily and lotuses which competed with each other through the sunlit mornings and moonlit nights. The aroma of the flowers was heavenly and even the deer which came to graze stood silently lost in the heavenly aroma and even their ears forgot to twitch. A variety of squirrels zipped up and down through the bamboo trees and there were many small rabbits and foxes which rested under the green umbrella of rich foliage.

The realised ones among those inhabiting this place was of course the bumble bees which constantly was chanting the omkar and their mmmmmmmmmmm filled the space, the wide akasha seems to reverberate this holy chant. The namasmarana the bees do had given them immense strength and they could bore through the toughest of bamboos with their sharp front claws.

But even the hardest could be conquered by Love isn't it? The Hardy bumble bee met its match in the delicate lotus. The aroma of the nectar in the lotuses drew bumble bees from all corners of the forest and they came valiantly boring through the hard bamboos which were stubbornly guarding the sacred pond. They drilled their way through those stout trunks and arrived at the heavenly pond.
The ambrosia in those lotus sent them a silent invite and they glided around and settled on the sweet lotuses to sip its nectar.

The Bees drink the intoxicating nectar, and falls into a stupor, overwhelmed by the elixir. The sun starts setting and the lotuses start to close its petals ever so slowly and the bumble bees which were strong enough to bore a hole through the bamboos offer no resistance and allow to be captured by those tender petals.

The bee is imprisoned in the softness, with no strength to bore through the tender, velvety veil. Just like the bumble bee Let the mind imbibe the nectar of the Name, let it taste the elixir of the Lotus Feet of the Lord, it will be incapacitated, rendered ineffective and incapable of harm. A powerful mind thus anchored in the divine will cause no harm and in fact will become the golden key which opens the doors of realisation.

Krishnamachari Santhanam.

Ekam Sath

Even Bad things, Griefs,
sorrows and cursing

are a naughty myth
the single truth
being
even this shall pass away.

Krishnamachari Santhanam

Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagath

Let the eye see
Let the nose smell
Let the tongue taste
and the ears hear
and the skin feel
I am in a rented house
and this is the rent I pay to the land LORD.
Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagath.

Krishnamachari Santhanam

Humility

Saint Narada is most known for creating mischief and quarrels between people (although the quarrels always lead to good things and makes everyone happy). Apart from his mischief making, however, Narada is also well known for his supreme musical talents - according to Hindu mythology, he introduced people to the gift of music. Narada always appears with a Veena in his hands and constantly chants the name of Lord Narayana. Even today, In India, when a religious discourse or a Yakshagana (a type of dance-drama or an opera) is held, the programs begin after invoking the name of Narada.

Saint Narada, wasn't without flaws, however. He was proud of his musical skills, but looked down on others who were less skilled than he was. Once he went to the kingdom of Lord Krishna. Krishna knew of Narada's arrogance and wanted to teach him a lesson on modesty and respect for others. Krishna asked Narada to play his Veena before an assembled audience in his court. Narada played the Veena brilliantly and delighted the audience with his music. At the end of his performance, Narada turned to Krishna and waited for the God to express his appreciation of Narada's music. Krishna, instead, turned to Hanuman, the monkey God, who was sitting in the audience, and asked him what he thought of Narada's music. Narada, unaware of Hanuman's divine status, was very unhappy that Krishna, instead of expressing his appreciation, sought the opinion of a mere monkey. "What does a monkey know about music?" Narada thought.


Krishna reading the mind of Narada said, "Oh Narada, I understand your concern, but first, let us find out if this monkey really knows anything about music. Give him your Veena and let him play it." Narada became even angrier because musicians consider their musical instruments sacred. Narada didn't want to share his Veena with anyone, especially not a monkey. He couldn't refuse Krishna's request however, and reluctantly handed the Veena to Hanuman. Hanuman began to play the Veena and sang beautiful hymns in praise of Lord Rama. The Monkey God's singing and playing was so sincere and so devoted that the entire audience was mesmerized. Even the great musical genius Narada was compelled to appreciate Hanuman's music. Being a person of enormous wisdom, Narada began to realize the lesson that Krishna was teaching him. Narada asked Krishna's forgiveness for not respecting the greatness of Hanuman and for underestimating Hanuman because he was a monkey.

Be Yourself. Never imitate.

One day, Saint Gorakhnath and his followers were walking down in a forest, when they happened to pass a dirty lake.
Saint Gorakhnath saw a few small fishes in the lake. So, he stopped and then bending forward towards the lake,
he caught a small fish with his hands and then gulped it down his wide open mouth.
His followers, who were watching his actions carefully were really taken aback to
see their spiritual master consuming non-vegetarian – Fish !!!

So, they thought that if our master can have fish, so why cant we too?
And in turn they all looked for fishes in the dirty lake and like their master gulped a few down their throats.

Saint Gorakhnath who was silently watching the antics of his followers, then started moving ahead and so did his followers.
On the entire way Saint Gorakhnath was quite.
Finally after walking down quite a distance they reached a fresh water lake.
Seeing the fresh water lake, Saint Gorakhnath walked towards it and on reaching there,
he did some kriyas and out came the small fish alive which he had consumed earlier.
He spat out the fish into the fresh water lake and then looked towards his followers
and said - "NOW YOU ALL TOO DO THE SAME ! "....which of course none of the followers could do !!!

Anger Management

The teachings of great masters help one to rise from base behaviours to become a balanced individual. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the great Indian master illustrated an event to his disciples to handle anger.


Once the great master was standing by a river in the company of His disciples. As they stood there, the master pointed out to a boat that was advancing upstream. The boatman was shouting out to another boat that was moving down stream in the opposite direction to avoid collision. When the boat in the opposite direction rushed closer, the boatman realised that it was an empty boat with no one to monitor its movements. Hence he just changed his course of movement and avoided the danger.


Ramakrishna Paramahamsa then explained to the devotees that the boat man neither tried to change the course of the other boat nor did he continue to yell. All that he did was to steer around the on rushing boat. Ramakrishna compared, the boat without a boatman to a person who is angry. Hence when one is confronted with the anger of another person it is wise to move away like the boatman who avoided the onrushing boat. He taught not to indulge in flinging abusive words in return. When when retorts back in anger, his case is also like that of a boat without a steerer

Self

On a day when the clouds are black
and the thunder strikes
I want to be with myself.

On a night when the silver moon shines
and the stars are bright
I want to be with myself.

On a noon when the white sun scorches
and the dogs rest under the tree
I want to be with myself.

On a rainy day when the rainbow strikes
and the wet grass shines
I want to be with myself.

Birds fly and the bee hums
cats peacefully lick its paws
I am in myself.

The waves roar and the wind howls
the trees waves its branches
I am myself.

Silence is heavy and the breathing is heard
Footsteps fall
and i feel the self.

See a rose slowly unfolding
and the bee sits on its throne
I sip the nectar and self remains.

Karma Yoga

Karma Yoga

The Bhagavat Gita says, “ Surrender the fruit of action”. Yes we agree but does the karma yogi get the fruit ? even if he has surrendered it?
The answer is Yes. Maybe he will get the beneficial fruit multi fold if he does not aspire for it. The story of Mahalakshmi goes to prove it. The ocean of milk was churned and out of it came Mahalakshmi, the mother of all auspiciousness. The devas who had studiously avoided all the other entreaties of Uchisravas and iravatha fell pray to the charm of moha incarnate and stood in line to be chosen as bridegroom. But Mahalakshmi chose Narayana as bridegroom who was totally detached and watching the entire proceeding with amusement! This is what happens to the karma yogi. He surrenders the fruit of action and the onus is on the Creator to measure and dispatch the fruits and his measure is always bountiful!!

Also love your work. That is the secret of happiness and avoiding boredom. Let us take an example. A man grows up the rank and becomes C.E.O. But he gets job dissatisfaction soon as he has learnt all that has to be learnt and gets disinterested and distant. But his wife who does the same cooking and cleaning gets about her work with a cheerful demeanor and starts every day as if it is a new routine. This is so as she does the act of cooking and cleaning lovingly and dedicates every routine to the welfare of her family.

Bhavna or feelings behind the act gives the currency the stamp for it to be valid.
That is why no amount of worshipping routine without the genuine love and aspiration for GOD will be fruitful. It will remain a routine! This also explains why inspite of various temples being destroyed in India the murthis could never be destroyed, as the murthis have their form in the hearts and the image of Rama and Krishna and the qualities they stand for could never be destroyed and the pure feelings of devotees have made the images purer. This is why Ganga can be H 2 0 or the destroyer of all sins as per the bhavna one has. If one has the remembrance of the origin of the Ganga and how it flows through the matted hair of Shiva and washing the holy feet of Narayana then one can wash his sins by bathing in the Ganges but one considers it purely as two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen he could catch a cold!

Karma yogi’s action unites him with the cosmos and this leads to cosmic consciousness. For example the simple act of watering the tulsi plant before taking food creates a bond of love between us and the lower order of nature. This simple karma makes one have a pang of empathy and love and hands stretch automatically to water the tulsi before our own mouth has a morsel of food!

Karma yogis have a great preceptor- the Lord himself. They just have to picturise the kurukshethra war and how when all the tired souls after a long and hard day’s battle have gone to rest Krishna himself would be busy untying the horses and washing and feeding them and applying medicine to their wounds. Thus he would be last to bed and first to rise because of the love of the karma of charioteer which he chose.

Repetitive action is like a Japa, and when done with feeling it becomes worship and one’s action transforms the mind and elevates the consciousness. The story of Tuladar and jajali, Sena the barber and Gora the potter goes to prove it.

All the farmers know a simple axiom- Sow deep but sow moist. Similarly the Karma yogi’s action should be based on deep faith and moistened with the love of GOD.

When mind stand united with action it is Vikarma. This is true in Bakthi as well as Karma yoga. Activity outside should be accompanied by meditation( Japa) inside. Dwell close while in austerity( Upa Vasa). When mind does not meditate outer form of austerity is a waste. Tantra must be accompanied by mantra- action by meditation! Here Swami’s 3hv principle needs to be applied. For example if body is fasting but mind is thinking of food then mind is feasting! This disparity in thought word and deed can be disastrous. Take the action of a mother stroking a child. Because of the bond of love and empathy the simple act of stroking becomes a Yoga and gives bliss to both the souls-mother and child. If a person watching it bewitched thinks if I stroke the child downwards 10 cms and repeat the same motion upwards 10cms thrice it will create bliss-How stupid it sounds? The bhavna is again the key- unless the mind is united with the action bliss can not surface.

Akarma= Vikarma+ Karma. (inaction in action). Because purity of thought creates disinterest in action or desirelessness and this in turn can make a simple act of karma as akarma. Take the action of a mother beating a child out of love for its well being. The child goes back to the mother as if nothing happened. But if we do the same??

We can not learn akarma from books . We can learn only by moving with saints and serving them. We would learn in their speech of silence all the clarity.

Whether the man who is naked or clad
Is a matter, which bothers only the other
As a mad man’s mind is not in his apparel.

So let us keep our mind unattached to the various apparels of Maya.

Allah is Vishnu

Allah is Al-Ahad or The One and Vishnu is called Eka, The One. It’s curious
but there are striking similarities between the many names of Vishnu and
those of Allah.
The Vishnu Sahasranamam (the thousand names of Vishnu) was composed by
Ved Vyas and incorporated in the Mahabharata. The sahasra here is not meant
to be a finite digit; it is in fact the opposite. ‘Thousand’ is meant to
suggest infinitude. The poem is a tool for meditating on God, the Formless
One, avyakta, of multifarious forms, anekamurti. Names connoting these two
opposite aspects follow one another in the poem: first the name, then the
counter-name. Because, the intention is not to define, but rather to convey
the futility of definition through a surfeit of definitions. The names
listed in the Sahasranamam are not all nouns: they are mostly adjectives.
They are attributes of God, juxtaposed to create a dhvani or suggestion of
the all-inclusive, all-surpassing, definition-defying Being.
The countername does not cancel the name; rather, it illustrates that
every name, every murti, is equally correct and incorrect: it is both iti
(so) and neti (not so). It is futile, likewise, to think of adding up the
names to arrive at any algebraic ‘finality’. Among the thousand names of
Vishnu are also Shoonya (zero) and Ananta (infinity). The movement of a
seeker after truth, as Swami Vivekanand put it, is not from error to truth,
but rather from one truth to another, until he reaches the end of all
knowledge, vedanta, to arrive at a consciousness of truth and bliss. This is
sat-chit-ananda: the state of truth-consciousness-bliss. This is Godhood.
One who realises it cannot define it; he can only point towards it or
suggest it — through sahasranama.
The Gracious Names Of Allah lists the various names of Allah occurring in
the holy Qu’ran. It is interesting how similar the names or appellations of
Allah are to those of Vishnu in the Vishnu Sahasranamam. Allah, as the
Paramatma, is Al-Ahad, The One or Eka. He is Al-Quddus, the Holy One
(Pavitram), Ar-Rahman, The Beneficent (Varadaya), Al’Maalik, The Lord
(Prabhu), Al’Aziz, The Mighty One (Mahaveera), Al’Alim, The All-knowing
(Sarvagya). He is Al’Khaliq, The Creator (Srishta) and Al’Musawwir, One who
fashions all things (Vishwakarma). He is Al’Hakam, The Judge (Vidhatre), who
is Al’Adl, The Just (Nyaya). Al’Latif, The Subtle One (Sookshma), Al’Kabir,
The Great (Mahaan).
Allah is also Al’Matin, The Firm One (Sthir), and As-Samad, The Eternal
One, The Absolute (Achyuta, Sthavar). He sends down distress as Ad-Daarr
(Bhayakrat), and deals death as Al’-Mumit (Yama). Himself is Al-Muhaymin,
The Protector (Rakshan). God is An-Nur, The Luminous One (Prakash), and
Al-Hakim, The Wise One (Mahabuddhi). He is An-Nafi, The Propitious One
(Mangala). He is Dhul-Jalal-Wal-Ikram, The Bountiful (Srinidhi). As in the
case of Vishnu, contradictory names apply equally perfectly to Allah. For
example, He is Al’Muqaddim (The Expediter) and also Al’- Mu’akhkhir (The
Delayer).
What is the significance of reciting all these names? The Sahasranamam
uplifts; it expands thought to include everything and every nonthing. If all
is the One, where is room for malice? The Phalshruti (Fruits of Recitation)
of Vishnu Sahasranamam promises to rid the devoted reciter of anger, malice,
greed and evil thoughts. One is also rid of the fear of birth, death, old
age and disease (janma-mrityu-jara-vyadhi). All these are the results that
follow the highest form of positive thinking. Similarly, reciting the names
of Allah, too, is bound to bring lasting benefit to the devout.

Life

My daughter asked me How long does a butterfly live? I heard it is only a week? It made me think. Looked up at WIKI. It said depends on the species,might range from a week to a year perhaps. That set me thinking. How long does it stay at the caterpillar and larvae level? Such a bane our mind is,It started questioning the wisdom in spending so much time at a incubatory level to have a short span of life.

This set me thinking. My widom told me never question the creator's wisdom. The conditioning of academics made me do it anyway. My spiritual conditioning made me say Look at Adi Sankara and Swami Vivekananda,what they achieved in 30 plus years we could not even assimilate their wisdom in twice the number of years!

When there is an earnest quest, God sends his angels to aid.

I got this status from a dear friend on FB.

"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset." - Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator...

This made me think again. Flash.. and the angel started doin its work, did not stop with just giving me the status message. Another angel friend commented yes,true perhaps at physical level.

Bingo- the bulb flashed and wisdom dawned.At a spiritual level Life flows on meandering through crevices and gorges and hills and dales ceaselessly and the water takes countless shapes. Why does this Maya evelop us in a jiffy and we tend to think lifetime as a span of time in human terms. Amazing idocy! Anyhow good to be an idiot with a thirst for truth than a self-professed sage steeped in Idiocy.

Krishnamachari Santhanam

Do Not Despair

Subject: Learn From Bamboo- THE LESSON OF 'DO NOT DESPAIR'


One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my
spirituality... I wanted to quit my life. I went to
the woods to have one
last talk with God. "God", I said. "Can you give me
one good reason not to quit?" His answer surprised me...

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"
"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I
took very good care of
them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The
fern quickly grew from the
earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet
nothing came from the
bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In
the second year the Fern
grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing
came from the bamboo
seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo." He said.

"In year three there was still nothing from the
bamboo seed. But I would
not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing
from the bamboo seed. I would not quit." He said.

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from
the earth. Compared to
the fern it was seemingly small and
insignificant...But just 6 months later
the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent
the five years growing
roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what
it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it
could not handle." He said to me.

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you
have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?"

"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you."
"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The
bamboo had a different
purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful."
"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high"

"How high should I rise?" I asked.
"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.
"As high as it can?" I questioned
"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."
I left the forest and bring back this story. I hope these words can help you
see that God will never give up on you. He will never give up on you.
--
Never regret a day in your life.
Good days give you happiness; bad days give you
experiences; both are
essential to life