The One Enlightened...

One of the ways to let the mind know about enlightenment is 'meditation' i believe. Its obviously the 'Ego' that is the road block to experience 'enlightenment'. The 'ego' with help of the mind when decides to desire something, it gives birth to distress. It thus blocks the soul to reach 'enlightenment'. Definitely meditation is the path to 'enlightenment'. there is no formula as such to work on to know what enlightenment is. its only deep within you that you feel something different when you are enlightened. Enlightened is what you actually are already.. But when you with wrong guidance of mind seperate yourself as "Not an enlightened one'" from 'Enlightened One", you desire to become what you are already are. From "Non-enlightement to enlightenment'. The ever expanding cosmic universe, the never ending space with no beginning, no middle and no end to it if enclosed in a single thought form is one of the glimpses of enlightenment. It can't be put in words. An enlightened soul doesnot react without genuine reason. Its away from all dualities and anxieties. Self contended in what ever he recieves in different walks of life. Always satisfied within and enjoying within. ...My other blogsite: www.songofgod.blogspot.in

Does Freedom of Will Exist..?

Using the power of my senses which has its own limitations, freedom of will does not exist. Even as per Bhagavad Gita actions performed by a living entity are performed by the material modes of nature and the "Self" does nothing at all, but because the living entity embodied in this material body is conditioned by these three modes of nature -modes of goodness,passion and ignorance, he believes himself to be the doer which actually is not so. Then if this is the law of material world that every endeavor, every act is the sole responsibility of these three modes, then a question arises that are we as humans not to be held responsible for our acts. The laws of material nature still holds us responsible because of our ignorance about this knowledge and because of our "false ego" which makes us believe that we are the doer, creator and hence out of pride we take the credit. Free will cannot exist because it will give birth to a new concept - "Practice crime willfully and willfully escape the punishment". This is not possible. Acts will be performed but the one in knowledge about the three qualities/modes of human material living entities should transcend these three modes/qualities and in that position acts performed have no karmic results..As such there is nothing like free will and everything seems to be predetermined. As Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita - "you can perform your activities but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions, never consider yourself to be the cause of the result of your actions and never consider not doing your prescribed duties". A living entity can definitely try to give its best in what ever acts he performs but cannot be truly considered to be the cause of the result because results are as per the "Will of God". Its as per his directions that sun rises every morning and sets in the evening. There are innumerable planets and stars in the the never ending space, and since thousands of years this time cycle is moving. We do not yet know the mysteries of this cosmic manisfestation and we talk about free will!

Karma, Free from Karmic reactions

All karmic actions are product of either mode of goodness, mode of passion or mode of ignorance or a mix of these three, anything done in mode of passion is done with aim to achieve some material gain, in beginning it gives some pleasure but at its end it only results in pain and distress, similarly the other two modes of ignorance and goodness also binds us to some karmic reaction. This circle of karm goes on giving us good and bad times in different walks of life. But if we are able to transcend these three modes of nature or  qualities and still perform our actions (which anyway we have to) but constantly remembering the Almighty, i believe then we are not understood to be under the clutches of  karma and are free from its reactions, because constant thought of god will definitely not bind us to any material deeds. What ever we are doing remembering lord means we are doing for lord and we are doing what ought to be done

The Human body or a illusion..

"Material body" is considered the reality of life, the body in which we are embodied to experience temporary pleasure and pain, embodied as if in a very high security zone, from where there is no escape, definitely not as per our own desire. Because the soul is not visible to our eyes and the visible material body which is conditioned by the three qualities of human nature - Goodness, passion and ignorance and which performs various actions under their influence is considered real. The term "Real" is normally associated with that which is "permanent". But the body a product of this material world is not permanent hence how could it be known as real. Or is it a illusion. Is the material body a illusion, anything illusion has a limited life span hence this body also vanishes as if all this was a dream for the soul.

SOUL MATE...

 

A Human being in his body has seven centers or layers or chakras. The lowest is the sex center or layer  and the highest is the samadhi center or layer. And in between these two there are five more centers or layers. It is like a ladder. When all the seven centers/layers of a man are in tune and in harmony with all the seven centers of a woman then you have found your "soulmate". It has happened with Krishna and Radha, with Shiv and Shakti. It could have also happened to Majnu and Laila had they had been allowed to meet, to Shiri and Farihad had they been allowed to meet. Whenever it happens, absolute oneness is felt: a divine union…Two people with two material bodies merge into each other. Two persons function as if they are one person, two bodies, but one soul. It is love at its peak. No meditation is needed, true love is enough. Gandarva Vivah or living relationship becomes authentic when you have attained Samadhi. You do not require any certificate or vows to force yourself to be loyal to someone because the soul unite as one and is inseparable. But these days living relationship has a different meaning altogether, may be just for lust or economic convenience.

Such a meeting of all 7 layers is very rare in these times, just one percent chances. When 6 layers of two individuals are in harmony, the chances of this is also very less, it may not be a divine union but still something too close, its like an extreme romantic experience, a poets description. Then comes 5 layers meeting, which chances are also less, it is definitely not a divine unity, its two persons, two bodies but in a great understanding and very much attached emotionally, but they are two not one, they are separate. Then comes 4 layers meeting of two individuals where in there is great understanding, but not deep love, there is lot of caring, actually its based more on intelligence than true love. Below this are those kinds of relationships where in three layers meet in harmony where in sometimes conflicts happen but they do not last for long, understanding is there but not constant, then below this type is the one in which only two layers match with each other, where in there is equal conflict from both ends, half the time conflict, half the time understanding. Below this is the one where in only 1 layer of each side matches, in these types there is no understanding, very rare moments of happiness, but its based more on sexual relationship. The last one where in no layers meet with each other, this type is found more in arrange marriages, may be not in all arrange marriages, but in most of them, its more of like a social understanding, an economic arrangement for each other, there is no love, no hate, because hate is there only where there is love, in these types the two exploit each other. In other words an arrange marriage in this age of darkness (kalyug) happening more on this planet earth since last few thousands of years.

AGNI, ARYAN, BRAHMALOKA, GANDHARVA, GARUDA, GURU, INDRA, KALA, JIVA, MANTRA, NIRVANA, MUNI, OM, PURUSA, SANATAN DHARMA, SASTRA...

•  Agni :                        The demigod of fire.
• Aryan:                       A civilized follower of Vedic Culture.
• Asura :                       A Person opposed to the service of the Lord
• Atma :                        The 'Self'
• Bhakti:                       Devotional Service
• Brahma:                     The first created being
• Bharata:                     An ancient king of India from whom the Pandavas descended
• Brahmachari:             A celibate student
• Brahmaloka:              The abode of Lord Brahma, the highest planet in this world
• Brahma-samhita:       A very ancient text regarding prayers offered by Lord Brahma to Krishna
• Candala:                     A dog eater
• Chandra:                     Presiding demigod of the planet Moon
• Chaturmasya:             The four months of the rainy season
• Deva:                          A demigod
• Gandharvas:               Celestial singers and musicians among the demigods
• Garuda:                      The bird carrier of Lord Vishnu
• Gunas:                        The three modes of material nature
• Guru:                          A spiritual master
• Indra:                          The Chief sovereign of heaven and presiding deity of rain
• Jiva:                            The soul
• Kala:                           The eternal time
• Karma:                        Material activities
• Karmi:                        One engaged in karma
• Krishnaloka:               The supreme abode of Lord Krishna
• Kurus:                         The descendants of Kuru
• Mahatattva:                 The total material energy
• Mantra:                       A transcendental sound or vedic hymn
• Manu:                         The demigod who is father of mankind
• Maya:                          Illusion, energy of the supreme
• Mukti:                         Liberation from material existence
• Muni:                          A sage
• Nirvana:                      Freedom from material existence
• Om:                             The sacred syllable that represents the absolute truth
• Pandavas:                    The five sons of kind pandu
• Parmatma:                   The super soul
• Parampara:                  A disciplic succession
• Prakriti:                       Energy or nature
• Pranayama:                 Breath control, a means of advancement in yoga
• Puranas:                      Eighteen historical supplements to the Vedas
• Purusa:                        The enjoyer, the individual soul, super soul
• Rakshasas:                  A race of man eating demons
• Rama:                         An incarnation of Lord Krishna
• Rupa Gosvami:           The leader of the six gosvamis of vrindavan
• Sadhu:                        A saint or a krishna conscious person
• Samadhi:                    Trance, complete absorption in God consciousness
• Sanatan Dharma:       The eternal religion
• Sastra:                         Revealed scriptures, vedic literature  

Radha and Krishna two divisions of this entire universe....

So true one cannot think of Radha without Lord Krishna but strange to note that even the most sacred book of Krishna, the Bhagavat Puran, does not mention Radha. May be because anyway the said book compiled around in 10th century in South India is written by humans and human being has its limitations though he may be an expert in the field of religion and spirituality. In spiritual science, may be Radha is of no use; only Lord Krushna or God is important. The aim of every person, in Sanatana Dharma, is to attain moksha. 

But again the union between Lord Krishna and Radha is one divine. Radha was the daughter of Vrishbhanu, a rich villager. In Garg Samhita, Brahma performs marriage of Radha and Krishna. Radha was a real person and not the creation of any poet. In Goloka, Radha was cursed by Dama, Krishna's friend, that she will be separated from Krishna for one hundred years when they come to earth. Lord Krishna approved this curse and so it became effective. Radha also cursed Dama to be born as an Asura on earth. Lord Krishna partly approved this also by making a part of Dama as an Asura. When that Asura was sent by Kamsa to kill Krishna, the Lord killed the Asura and his spirit entered the body of Dama who was present there as a friend of Krishna. The love play (prem leela) of Krishna in Braj was to fullfill the promise the Lord had given in Treta Yuga to fulfill the desire of many persons, including Rishis of Dandakaranya, to get the Lord as their Husband in Dwapara Yuga. Lord Krishna was only fulfilling that promise for which he arranged the Raas when He indulged in love play with eligible gopis only by appearing individually with each gopi for her total satisfaction. The idea that God (Krishna) loves all with equal intensity was visually expressed by making the women dance in a circle, each one equidistant from Krishna who stood playing the flute.

Despite this, across India, Radha is always Krishna’s beloved, never his wife. His wives are Rukmini and Satyabhama. Radha’s relationship is different in nature when compared to Sita’s relationship with Ram. While Ram is the model husband and Sita is the model wife ,Krishna and Radha represent the great lovers who were destined never to unite. Perhaps that is why, except in religious orders of the Gangetic planes that follow the svakiya tradition, Radha is never enshrined in some temple.

Scriptures say that worldly responsibilities force Krishna to leave the village of cowherds and go to Mathura and thence to Dwaraka and Kurukshetra. He has to sacrifice the land of pleasure, vilasa bhumi, for the land of duty, karma bhumi. He has to rescue a world which was descending into anarchy – where women such as Draupadi are being gambled away by their husbands. Radha has to be given up. After leaving her, Krishna never plays the flute for Radha was his inspiration. The later Krishna never danced or made music. He is no more the cowherd; he was the charioteer riding into battle.

Radha and Krishna were two halves of the whole. She was the material world; he was the spiritual soul. She was the supreme woman, he was the supreme man. They were Goddess and God whose union gave birth to the universe. The world was seen as Radha, born of Krishna’s delight. She was Krishna’s shakti or power, one who could never be separated from him. 

And yet, some of the biggest Krishna temples in India do not enshrine the image of Radha. In Puri, Orissa, Krishna is enshrined with his sister, Subhadra, and his brother Balaram. In Udupi, Karnataka, and Guruvayoor, Kerala, and Nathdvara, Rajasthan, Krishna stands alone as a cowherd boy. In Pandharpur, Maharashtra, and Dwarka, Gujarat, he stands alone with the temple of his wife Rukmini nearby.  Even the most sacred book of Krishna, the Bhagavat Puran, does not mention Radha. To understand this, we have to look at the historical development of Krishna worship in India.

It is difficult for many people to accept that religious ideas have a history of their own. The earliest tales of Krishna, found in the Mahabharat, compiled between 300 BC and 300 AD, only refer to, but do not describe, his early life in the village of cowherds. Later around 400 AD, the Harivamsa was added as an appendix to the Mahabharata. This described in detail Krishna’s life in Gokul including his dalliances with milkmaids. But there was no mention of Radha or any particular milkmaid. The women were a collective with whom Krishna danced and sported. The mood was joyful and carnival like. In the Bhagvata Purana, compiled around 10th century in South India, where the idea of devotion to God visualized as Krishna was elaborated, Krishna disappears when the milkmaids become possessive and seek exclusive attention. The idea that God (Krishna) loves all with equal intensity was visually expressed by making the women dance in a circle, each one equidistant from Krishna who stood playing the flute in the centre.

In the 5th century, the Tamil epic, Shilapadikaram, refers to one Nal-Pinnai who was the beloved of Mal (the local name for Krishna). Scholars believe that she represents an early form of Radha. This idea of a favorite milkmaid gradually spread to the North and reached its climax with the composition of the Gita Govinda, a Sanskrit song written by Jayadeva in the 12th century AD where the passion of the cowherd god and his milkmaid beloved was celebrated in a language and style that took all of India by storm.

Jayadeva was born in a village near Puri, Orissa, which is renowned for the grand temple complex of Jagannath, lord of the world, a local form of Krishna. Research has shown that he was involved with Padmavati, a temple dancer or devadasi and perhaps even married her. His work was inspired by both his personal experience and his religious beliefs. Each of Jayadeva’s song is composed of eight couplets known as Ashtapadis. 24 Ashtapadis make a chapter and 12 chapters make up the entire work. In it Krishna is identified as the supreme divine being – a radical shift from earlier scriptures where Krishna is one of the many incarnations of Vishnu. The book uses extremely ornamented language to describe in intimate details Radha’s passion. As one moves from verse to verse, one is transported from the physical realm into the spiritual realm. The erotic longing becomes the cry of the soul for union with the divine. Such an approach was revolutionary; it fired the imagination of the priests and dancers who made it part of the temple ritual. Being a major Vaishnava religious centre, hundreds of pilgrims from all over India poured into Puri. Day and night, they heard the priests sing Jayadeva’s song of Radha’s love for Krishna and the devadasis depict her yearning for her beloved in graceful dance steps. Before long they were mouthing the lyrics and taking it back to their villages. In less than a century, Gita Govinda transformed from a temporal parochial literary work into a pan-Indian sacred scripture. It completely revitalized Vaishanvism in the subcontinent and catalyzed the rise of the bhakti or devotional movement in India.

Before Jayadeva, love and eroticism revolved around Kama, god of lust, and his consort Rati, goddess of erotics, who were eulogized by poets such as Kalidasa and scholars such as Vatsyayana. With the rise of monastic orders such as Buddhism and Jainism, Kama was demonized into Mara, who had to be conquered by those seeking enlightenment. In the Puranas, stories were told of how Kama was burnt alive when Shiva, the supreme ascetic, opened his third eye. All things sensual came to be seen as fetters that blocked one’s spiritual growth. But Jayadeva changed all that. Through his song he made sensuality and romantic emotion the vehicle of the highest level of spirituality. His Krishna was a reformed Kama. His Radha was a reformed Rati. He turned kama or lust into prema or romance. Krishna’s love for Radha and Radha’s love for Krishna were expressed in physical terms but they communicated a profound mystical experience.

The centuries before the Gita Govinda had seen the collapse of Buddhist orders and an increased stranglehold of Brahminism based on caste hierarchy and ritualism. God was visualized either as an ascetic (Shiva) or a king (Vishnu). With the arrival of Islam from the 8th centuryAD, the exalted status given to ascetics and kings took a beating. Cities were razed to the ground. Poets and artists took shelter in the rural hinterland and there discovered the simple ideologies of the village folk based on love and devotion. It is in this environment that poets such as Jayadeva were inspired to shape God as a simple cowherd, accessible through the simplest of emotions, stripped of complex scholarly erudition.

Inspired by Jayadeva, in the 14th and 15th century, poets such as Vidypati and Chandidas further elaborated the relationship of Radha and Krishna. It was always described as turbulent shifting between separation and union, jealousy and surrender.  In a rather bold move, these poets saw Radha as a married woman who broke all social norms to be with Krishna. Some folk narratives of this period suggested that she was Krishna’s aunt, married to his maternal uncle. Some said she was older, a mature woman while he was a boy. Even in the Gita Govinda, Radha’s union with Krishna always take place in secret. There is constantly reference to the threat of social disgrace. By making the relationship illicit and clandestine, the poets heightened the emotional quotient of the relationship. It was seen as true love that transcended custom and law. Devotees came to realize that Radha was the symbol of all those who were ‘married’ to social responsibilities, seeking liberation and union with their true love, God, who is Krishna.

Jayadeva's Gita Gobinda is many times considered full of lust. Buts its on how we look at things. The divine union between Radha and Krishna cannot be simply explained in words.

Relationship between the Almighty (Supersoul) and the Soul....

Like how the sun illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity (soul) within the body, illuminates the entire body by consciousness. That soul which always remains in association with the supersoul within the body and such a body which performs actions in consciousness of the supersoul (The Almighty), always remains free from anxieties, dualities, stress and is also disconnected with the three material modes of material nature - the  modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. To such an individual, happiness and distress, honor and dishonor, desirable and undesirable, praise and blame, friend and enemy, everything is same. And one of the means of reaching the supersoul is meditation. Because as it is, the supersoul although present everywhere is also present within the body along with the soul, but because being completely embodied in this city of nine gates (body), the soul is unable to experience this reality. Hence its better to perform all our actions in consciousness of the supreme lord (the supersoul), actions will be performed anyway, even this temporary material body cannot be even maintained without performing actions but those actions in the mode of supreme consciousness will keep the soul in association with the supersoul thus enabling the individual to transcend the three modes of nature and remain in 'self' and in supreme lord all the time.

As I decide to 'desire', I give birth to 'distress'..

As I decide to 'desire', I give birth to 'distress', I desire material gains (which are products of material nature) because of  being associated with the material nature at the time of birth in the form of this material body by coming in contact with the three modes of material nature- the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance. My this body which is a product of this material nature is called the 'field' and the one who knows the material body is called the knower of the field. The following are together considered in summary to be the field of activity and its interactions (the body): The five elements - (earth, water, fire, air and ether), false ego, intelligence, the unmanifested, the ten senses - (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, voice, legs, hands, anus and genitals), mind, the five sense objects - (smell, taste, form, touch and sound), desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the aggregate, the life symptoms. Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects, everything moving and non-moving is a produce of this material nature and whereas I (in contact with matter) am the cause of various sufferings and enjoyments in this world. I, in this material nature thus follow the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of material nature, this as I said earlier is due to my association with the material nature and thus I meet with good and evil in ways of life. This means that whatever I see in existence, both moving and non-moving is only a combination of the field of activity and the knower of the field but I, being the knower of the field actually does nothing at all. Thus, only with the vision of eternity I can see that I (the imperishable soul) am transcendental, eternal and beyond the modes of nature and despite contact with the material body, I neither do anything nor am I entangled, but due to my associaton with the matter, I believe myself to be the doer. If only I can transcend the three modes of nature, I can become free from all dualities and anxieties, can remain undisturbed, can regard alike happiness and distress, can be same towards honor and dishonor, desirable and undesirable. And one who intends to transcend the three modes should think of the Lord, become his devotee, worship him and offer homage unto him.

The Process of Karma..

According to Vedic tradition: Ego (Rishi) arises from the mind. The ego desires that which it perceives is lacking (not known). This initiates the process of knowing (Devata) which arises in the intellect. The known (Chandas) is then inventoried in the mind as memory, and it's from these stored memories that the desires of the ego rise again and again.

Rishi, Devata and Chandas: Rishi (I am, ego) is the knower and is ruled by Sun. Devata (intellect) is the process of knowing and is ruled by Mercury. Chandas (mind) is the known and is ruled by Moon.

Rishi is the knower or ego of the jiva. Each one of us senses this knower aspect of ourselves. It is that aspect that we identify as our Self. Rishi is a viewpoint of the universe that is uniquely personal, like a window through which an individual perceives the world.

Devata is the intellect or faculty of discrimination which connects the knower with the known, and completes the circuit that gives rise to knowledge.

Chandas: In the self-referral process of knowing, rishi becomes devata and devata becomes chandas and chandas is the new knowledge, which is the new rishi. The new rishi is different from the original rishi because of the assimilation of the knowledge.