Benefits of Silence

Q: Could tell us about the benefits of silence and how we could bring that home with us from this retreat?

A:Many of us have realized in the last few days that silence can be enjoyable. We realize that there are many things that we do not have to say, and that then we can reserve the time and energy to do other things that can help us to look more deeply into ourselves and things around us.

If you are pushed by your habit energy to say something, don't say it. Instead, take a notebook and write it down. A day or two later, read what you wrote, and you might find out that it would have been an awful thing to say. So slowly you become master of yourself, and you know what to say and what not to say.

I remember one time I proposed to a sister that she practice silence. She was an elder nun and she had a few negative seeds in her that prevented her from being happy. She was just a little bit too hard on the other sisters. I proposed to her that she was a very talented person, very skillful in many things, and she could make many people happy if only she knew how to be silent and to say only things that needed to be said.

I proposed to her that she use only three sentences for three months. She could repeat these three sentences as many times as she wanted(laughter) and I told her that if she practiced that for a week, she would feel happiness right away. The first sentence was, "Dear sister,is there anything I can do to help you?" (laughter) The second sentence was, "Did you like what I did to help you?" The third was, "Would you have any suggestion that I can do it better?" (laughter) If she could say that, she would make many people happy and the happiness would go back to herself very quickly.

In the family we can practice silence. We can ask the other members of the family to agree that we will practice silence for three days or for a week. It is very beneficial. There will be a transformation after the period of practicing silence.

Thich Naht Hanh

Finding Joy

We think we find joy in External objects, but that is seldom the case. The joy is within us. It wells up at each instance giving us a feeling that the external object is giving us joy. In the countryside we find village folk hiring a bamboo basket to ply the river and the boatman gives them an extra rush of adrenalin by giving the basket a twirl now and then. In cities you find huge monstrous Giant wheels operated by electricity giving the same apparent joy. The adolescents may prefer a roller coaster or preferably a static drive in a three dimensional sphere. I once had a drive in such a cabin in Universal studio in Florida. The cabin was not moving but a giant screen in the front and a 3-D projection did all the magic. You felt as if you were being catapulted along with Spiderman down the empire street building. 

The world is such. There is nothing happening inside the field of relativity. We fail to remain as a witness and chose to be participants in the Roller coaster drive. Just as a dog which chews a bone licks and sucks its own blood dripping from its jaws , chose  to believe that the bone is giving all the joy and clings to it we also choose to cling to the objects of the extraneous and truly believe that it is giving us joy and get attached to it. If that is true the external object should be giving us joy always. Is that the case?

Today's apple of our eye is tomorrow's eye sore.

Be a witness and watch what happens around you or be a participant and throw up now and then in the roller coaster of life.

Krishnamachari Santhanam.

Be Still and Know that I AM.

However much we might decry "Doing",Alas! this beingness is felt after much Doing. Then the awareness dawns ,"Oh! that was not necessery!". This is the paradox.  Simple truth of the matter is that even the searching or doing was predesigned. We can not avoid it by will as it was predestined- programmed to the FINIS.

 Be still
and know
That I am

~ Ramana Maharshi...

Language

You can not use "Butterfly Language" to communicate witha caterpillar.



Timothy Leary.

Dip in the Ganges

As per the scriptures we are to take the scriptual bath before any ritual. But say we are in a flight where this may not be possible. Scripture provides for the ritual bath by invoking the manasa ganga and by mindfully bathing in it can proceed with the rituals. The ida and the pingala act as the carrier for the yamuna and the Ganga and the unseen saraswathi is in the sahasradhara. When you dip in this ganges, or you dip in the ganges of the guru or dip in the mother ganges physically.. it is upto each...But dip we must.. No use in floating on the surface.

Namasthe.



Krishnamachari Santhanam

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

The Bodhi tree

There is so much to learn from the simple tree. That way all the trees are Bodhi trees. They give shade to one and all to the King as well to the beggar passing by. Never expects a word of gratitude. Does not discriminate as to the merit of the receiver. Is not judgmental at all. Children throw stones on the mango tree laden with fruits and in return it just sheds a few mangoes gladly in forgiveness. The woodcutter in his greed fells the sandal wood tree and it smilingly scents the axe which rings its death knell. Oh the Bodhi tree, I wish had a small pie of your forgiving nature. I wish I gave without discrimination. I wish I repay the mother earth which has given me in abundance the same way you do.



Please accept my prostrations.



Krishnamachari Santhanam.