Rituals.

In India Sathya Narayan Vratha is celebrated every full moon day. On this day Lord Vishnu is worshipped as Sathya Narayana.
The traditional offering for this varatha is Milk and a choice of 5 fruits. The story of Sathya Narayana Vratha is read with devotion and these offerings are made and partaken.

Now in This village there was a family which celebrated the vratha very faithfully,but they had a problem. There was a black cat which used to come before the puja and slurp the milk. The milk became unclean and hence the puja used to suffer. So the father used to find the cat and put it under a basket and then go ahead with the puja. This happened for years. Parents died and the sons and daughters-in-law knew that this was the usual happening. So without understanding the reason behind why it was done they were doing it blindly to such an extent that when the cat died they used to roam around the village looking for a black cat to put under the basket! his is the beautiful story told by Sai .

This explains two things. Many rituals when they are formed had a logic behind it. Ritual by the force of habit survives the logic and becomes obsolete. Man in his ego of knowledge sometimes throws away the Knowledge behind rituals along with the rituals as the proverbial baby in the bath.
Krishnamachari Santhanam

South Indian Meals.

A typical South Indian meal is served in three main courses: sambar sAdam, rasam sAdam and more (buttermilk) sAdam. Sambar is also known as kuzhambu in Tamil, a term that literally translates to 'get confused'. Paramacharya explains how these three courses are related to the three gunas of spirituality: the confusion of sambar is tamo guna, the clarified and rarified flow of rasam is rajo guna and the all-white buttermilk is satva guna. Our meal reminds us of our spiritual path from confused inaction to a clear flow of action and finally to the realized bliss of unity.

Paramacharya of Kanchi

Ego gives a Bear Hug

There was a river which swelled during monsoon and started swallowing all low lying villages. In one such village there was a man who took asylum on the tree top! In the swollen river below he saw a bulk of black and brown floating.He thought he could jump on it float and be saved. He jumped and hug the log and to his horror found that it was a bear being washed away. The bear willingly hugged him in return gratefully and took him to his watery grave.

ego could be the bear your vasanas mislead you to think of it as log and you hug it. In turn the ego gives you a bear hug and there you go to the next birth. If the man the jiva on the tree of knowledge had used his viveka-the discrimination and been on self-inquiry all would have been well.

Krishnamachari Santhanam

Wise Old Owl.

A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird?”

The Vaishnavas- Sri Sampradhaya

The Vadagalai School and The Tengalai School

The Vaishnavas are usually distinguished into four principal Sampradayas or sects. Of these, the most ancient is the Sri Sampradaya founded by Ramanuja Acharya about the middle of the twelfth century. The followers of Ramanuja adore Vishnu and Lakshmi, and their incarnations. They are called Ramanujas or Sri Sampradayins or Sri Vaishnavas. The teachers are Brahmins. The disciples may be of any caste. They all recite the Ashtakshara Mantra: "Om Namo Narayanaya." They put on (display) two white lines and a central red line on the forehead.

Vedantacharya, a follower of Ramanuja, made some reform in the Vaishnava faith. This gave rise to the formation of two antagonistic parties of Ramanujas, one called the Northern School (Vadagalai) and the other the Southern School (Tengalai). The Tengalais regard Prapatti or self-surrender as the only way to salvation. The Vadagalais think that it is only one of the ways. According to them, the Bhakta or the devotee is like the young one of a monkey which has to exert itself and cling to its mother (Markata-Nyaya or Monkey Theory); whereas, according to the Southern School, the Bhakta or the devotee is like the kitten which is carried about by the cat without any effort on its own part (Marjala-Nyaya or Cathold Theory). The Northern School accept the Sanskrit texts, the Vedas. The Southerners have compiled a Veda of their own called ‘Nalayira Prabandha’ or ‘Four Thousand Verses’, in Tamil, and hold it to be older than the Sanskrit Vedas. Really, their four thousand verses are based on the Upanishad portion of the Vedas. In all their worship, they repeat sections from their Tamil verses.

The Vadagalais regard Lakshmi as the consort of Vishnu, Herself infinite, uncreated and equally to be adored as a means (Upaya) for release. The Tengalais regard Lakshmi as a created female being, though divine. According to them, she acts as a mediator or minister (Purushakara), and not as an equal channel of release.

The two sets have different marks on their foreheads. The Vadagalais make a simple white line curved like the letter U to represent the sole of the right foot of Lord Vishnu, the source of the River Ganga (Ganges). They add a central red mark as a symbol of Lakshmi. The Tengalais make a white mark like the letter Y that represents both the feet of Lord Vishnu. They draw a white line half way down the nose.

Both the sects brand the emblems of Vishnu- the discus and the conch- on their breasts, shoulders and arms.

The Tengalais prohibit their widows from shaving their heads

A picture is worth a thousand words.

This picture teaches me more than a hundred scriptures. See Garuda the celestial Eagle having an important job of carrying the Lord not getting pooped up in pride," I am a CEO" etc, has his hands always folded in prayer and has vision fixed on the Lord all the time while performing his duty. I love it.

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