T H E S P E A K I N G T R E EN E W D E L H I , J U N E 1 7, 2 0 1 8

When daughters are included in

decision-making processes, when sons

are encouraged to care for the

household, characters are being

developed. Children learn that

intellectual powers of both boys

and girls are vital and that

nurturing qualities are equally

praiseworthy in men

Baha’i Faith

The only true cure for many of the

world’s problems — war, poverty, and

even rising temperatures is for

mankind’s consciousness to expand

Nayaswamis Jyotish And Devi

Our spirituality lies in the integrity of

self, one that is sanctioned by the

divine law of safeguarding the most

important inheritance of life — love!

Mother Maya

Our illusion of separateness is killing

us as individuals and as nations. Our

feeling of disconnection from God

and all Creation leads us to feel

alone and uncentred

Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati

The longer we are able to hold a

positive thought, the stronger

that energy becomes

Rajshri B

Problems come, not to trouble us, but

to make us stronger

Sirshree

Do we ever say the sky is growing

old? Or that the river or God is old?

Then why do we make such

a fuss over age?

Meera Panigrahi

Do not think about anything you do

not want to manifest in your life

Radhika Mehrotra

The acceptance of a fault is more

than half the solution

Sahyogi Ranjan

One should develop an ‘abundant

mentality’ instead of being consumed

by a ‘scarcity mentality’

Bipin Chandra Saraswati

MASTERSTROKES

Swami Sivananda, the sageof Rishikesh, says everythought that enters ourmind,deeply impacts everycell in the body either ina positive or negative way.

When the mind dwells constantly ona particular thought, a definite vibra-tion is created that causes activity inthe nervous matter of the brain.Thisactivity in the nervous cells bring aboutmany electrical and chemical changes.

When a wave of anger surges inthe mind, the body is also agitated andthe prana begins to vibrate rapidly.Thisreleases toxins in the blood that pro-duce general shock and depression andsuppress the secretion of gastric juices,bile and other digestive juices in thealimentary canal. Consequently, thissaps one’s vitality causing prematureold age and shortening lifespan.

A violent outburst of even threeminutes is said to produce alarmingill-effects in the nervous system thatmay take weeks for normalcy to re-turn completely.

On days when you are over-whelmed by worries, anxiety and vex-ations, even a single harsh word couldcause you to snap and lose your equa-

nimity. But on days when you arepeaceful and happy,even the most abu-sive epithets will have negligible im-pact.

Swami Sivananda offers a three-fold way to deal with anger:To beginwith, nip feelings of anger in the bud.Before anger actually manifests, thereis udvega, a little agitation inthe mind. Using one’s pow-er of discrimination, this ag-itation should be extirpatedwith utmost disdain beforeit assumes a concrete formin the shape of twitching ofmuscles of the face, clench-ing of teeth and bloodshoteyes. Penalising yourself by observingfast for a day whenever feelings of angerget the better of you is highly recom-mended.

Second,when you are in a state ofextreme mental agitation, leave theplace at once where the provocationoccurred and take a brisk walk forabout 20 minutes. Simultaneously, re-peat the sacred mantra ‘Om Shanti’loudly. Alternatively, while walking,you could count from 1 to 50 repeat-edly. If your mind continues to revolt,do something that makes you feel ex-

hilarated. For example, you could vis-it a close friend and go for a long drivewith him.The basic idea is to divertyour mind from the unpleasant situa-tion to something you find enjoyableand absorbing.

Third, take recourse to the prac-tice of pratipaksha bhavna or counter

idea.For example,when themind is overpowered byanger, try to douse it withlove and forgiveness, usingyour power of discrimina-tion.Forgive the person whobrought misery upon youand don’t nurse feelings ofill will.Abandon the thought

of paying back in the same coin to theperson who harmed you.

Swami Sivananda says:“If you havean easily excitable mind, you will getprovoked easily and thereby lose thebattle.You will not be able to performyour daily duties efficiently.You mustrise above the thousand and one thingswhich would irritate you in the courseof your daily life.Then only can youturn out wonderful work day after daywith concord and harmony.” �

www.speakingtree.in/blog/overcome-anger-by-love

We boil at different degrees — Clint Eastwood

This is part 4 of a 14-part comic strip featuring Al,

Cosmo, Masamba, Jal and Kenji,the Tronomegans who land onEarth.This time, their target is

to save the Arctic

Part - 4; A TERI publication, supported by ONGC

Kehat KabirRADHIKA RAVI RAJAN

Mystic-poet Kabir has in-spired generations of peo-ple with the brevity and

wisdom of his verse.In fact, there’s a Kabir doha,cou-

plet, for every occasion in life. Let’srecite and recall some popular do-has:Dukh Mein Sumiran Sab Kare, Sukh

Mein Kare Na Koye, Jo Sukh MeinSimran Kare,Toh Dukh Kahe Ko Hoye

In suffering,none forget God, inhappiness, none remember Him.

He who remembers the Almightyat the best of times has no cause forsorrow.Pothi Padh Padh Kar Jag Mua, PanditBhayo Na Koye, Dhai Akhshar PremKe, Jo Padhe So Pandit Hoye

One who has experienced even

a fraction of love,knows more aboutlife than a scholar.Aisee Vani Boliye, Mann Ka AapaKhoye, Apna Tan Sheetal Kare, AuranKo Sukh Hoye

Speak words that are untainted-by ego, that give the listener joy.Chinta Aisee Dakini,Kaat Kaleja Khaye,Vaid Bichara Kya Kare,Kahan Tak DawaLagaye

What can the poor doctor dowhen worry manifests in your heart? Bada Hua To Kya Hua, Jaise Ped Khajoor Panthi Ko Chaya Nahin,PhalLaage Atidoor

Of what use is your eminence, iflike a tall date tree, it neither offersshade, nor is its fruit within grasp. �

www.speakingtree.in/allslides/sant-kabir-was-he-a-poet-or-a-

saint/226586

Why Have Spiritual Names?SHAKTI DURGA

Some people hate the idea ofhaving spiritual names, otherslove it. So why do people want

to take a spiritual name? I rememberback in my 30s when Iwas first on my spiritualpath, I always thoughtpeople who changedtheir names were justloopy. Here I am nowcalled Shakti Durga,when I used to be calledKim! It’s funny how lifecomes full circle.

One of the reasons it’s a good ideato use spiritual names is because thenames have so much energy.They’reall names of the divine or of divinequalities. Sometimes they come from

the eastern traditions, and sometimesfrom the western traditions.

If you come from the western tra-ditions, there are countries in the worldwhere loads of people are called Jesus.

There are countries in theworld where lots of peo-ple are called Michael, af-ter Archangel Michael,orafter the apostles, or thesaints in Christianity. Inthe Islamic faith, there area lot of people calledMuhammad. So this idea

of using names that have a spiritual vi-bration is common to both the eastand west.When people call me Shak-ti Durga, it tends to call forth the qual-ities of Shakti, which is energy, andDurga, which is the strength of the

Divine Mother. If you just want to callme Kim,that’s fine.But it doesn’t quitehave the same voltage. Each person’sspiritual name arises from their soulor what best helps the soul achieve itsobjectives. For some, when you lookat their soul, they really want to ex-plore the big, huge emotionalflavours...they might get a name likeAdi Shakti.Others,who are intent ongetting wisdom,might get a name likeSaraswati.Those who yearn for tran-scendental experiences might getnames like Shiva or Buddha. So foreach person, it’s an individual choice.Have fun exploring all the differentnames of the divine and the nuancesand subtleties of their meaning. �

www.speakingtree.in/blog/spiritual-names-why-have-one

Counter anger with practice of pratipaksha bhavna, urges ANUP TANEJA

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

T H E S P E A K I N G T R E EN E W D E L H I , J U N E 1 7, 2 0 1 8

In your research on ancientyoga texts as part of the HathaYoga Project funded by the European Research Council,what are your conclusions? � Jason Birch:As you study the his-tory of pre-modern asanas, you re-alise that although yoga mudras andasanas were being practised for cen-turies, they entered into the textualtradition only in the 15th century.Upuntil the 12th century, when HathaYoga began to emerge as a type ofyoga documented in texts, most ofthe systems of yoga — Patanjali’s sys-tem,the tantric system,the Upanishads,the Bhagwad Gita, as well as theiconography — tend to depict onlysitting postures, such as Padmasana,where the feet are kept on thethighs, in the context of med-itation and pranayama.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipikaby Svatmarama in the 15thcentury is the first de-finitive text that drawsfrom earlier texts andputs together fourchapters — on asanas,pranayama,mu-dras, and Raja Yoga, the practise ofsamadhi — which is the goal of HathaYoga.This work was successful andfrom then on, we see extended ver-sions of the Pradipika, some with fivechapters, some with extra verses, andmore number of asanas.

The Pradipika teaches 15 asanas,seven of them non-seated includingMayur Asana or peacock pose, in whichone balances the body on ones hands,and the body is straight and parallelto the ground.Tough to perform,butsuch asanas have been included fortheir health benefits. Mayur Asanahelps increase the digestive fire to thepoint that one can even digest poi-son just like a peacock that eats snakes.

Later texts, such as Hatha Ratanavalilists 84 asanas and describes 36 ofthem, Hatha Abhyasa Padhati teaches112 asanas, in six sequences, and in-cludes counter poses, moving pos-tures, and rope poses which require

enormous upper body strength.So we see an increase in the num-

ber of postures from the 15th centu-ry onwards.Though they are oftentaught within the typology that Svat-marama set out — asana, pranayama,mudra and Raja Yoga, samadhi,— thepostures have become more sophis-ticated over time.How is modern yoga differentfrom pre-modern yoga?� In modern yoga, there is the ideaof fitness and a more scientific knowl-edge of the anatomy. Swami Ku-valyananda — founder of Kaivalyad-hama, for instance,would get his stu-dents to do certain asanas and meas-ure the impact they produced on peo-ple using scientific equipment and

then publish it. Sri Yogendra, whofounded the Santa Cruz Yoga In-stitute, did research and em-phasised movement of the bodywith the breath; Krishna-

macharya developed theVinyasa system. Therewere such innovations inyoga.

Is Surya Namaskara also one suchinnovation?� We see Surya Namaskara beingbrought together with asana practicein the early 20th century. Physicalpractice of surya namaskara is prob-ably very old,but in a very basic formof prostration.There are descriptionsof how a devotee who is worshippingthe sun or a deity should prostrate thebody.

In the 20th century, we see oth-er postures being added to that basicprostration, such as the lunging move-ments that were introduced by Swa-mi Sivananda and his disciple Vish-nudevananda,along with Bhujangasana,the downward dog pose, to create amore strenuous and aerobic type ofasana practice that could fulfil newideas around fitness prominent at thattime.In all of this, has the goal andmeaning of yoga changed?� There has been secular yoga in In-

dia since the ear-ly 20th centurywhen experts re-alised that manyof the physicalpractices couldbe taught to abroad audience

for their health benefits.They ex-tracted some of those practices andcombined them with a discoursearound health and healing, rather thanthe traditional discourse around us-ing physical practices to achievesamadhi, and liberation — freedomfrom samasara.

Along with secularisation of yoga,we see its commercialisation. It is nowbeing taught in a variety of contexts,from health fitness clubs to corporateboardrooms at lunch time, becausenow we are more aware of the ben-efits of yoga for managing stress.

How would you define yoga today? � To say what is yoga in the absoluteway is almost impossible today.Theonly way to answer that question isto ask what yoga is in a particular textor in particular places, or as it wastaught by particular teachers. Patan-jali’s Yoga Shastra defined it clearly asmeditation, chitta vritti nirodha, cessa-tion of mental activity and as a methodof achieving liberation; the BhagwadGita, too, defines yoga clearly and itteaches different types of yoga; in theHatha Yoga texts, the practice of phys-ical techniques is aimed at achievingRaja Yoga — samadhi leading to lib-eration. In a modern situation, in asecular environment, it just may be apractice of postures, which in a yogaschool, can be more sophisticated.So

it largely depends on the context.June 21 Yoga Day practice proto-

col, for instance, is something differ-ent from what is taught in a fitnessclub or an office.Will celebrating events like In-

ternational Yoga Day helpthe cause of yoga?

� Although it has astrong political agenda,it is being endorsed byinstitutions such the

United Nations and EUbecause they see a role for

practices such as yoga in preventativehealth care which in the long run canreduce cost of public health.

But when you attend an interna-tional yoga day and hear speeches, theevent seems to be about the practiceof yoga that meets the governmentideology around Hinduism.To say thatyoga is Vedic and not to mention theBuddhist or Jain texts or ignore theinterest the Mughals took in yoga isa distorted view of history.

There is a tradition of yoga textswritten in Jainism throughout themedieval period such as AcharyaHemachandra’s Yoga Shastra, Harib-hadra’s Yogabindu.Today the Tehra-panthi sect in Jainism has developeda system of yoga which is now be-ing taught internationally. TheMughal ruler Jehangir had com-missioned translations of yoga texts.Bahr Ul Hayat is one such Persianversion of an Arabic work, which inturn was a translation of a Sanskrittext called Amrita Kunda. It has de-scriptions of 22 asanas very similarto what we find in the Sanskrit worksof that time. The difference lies inthe reason for performing thoseasanas.

In Sanskrit texts, it was for curingillness,or uniting oneself to Shiva, forinstance, and in the Persian text it wasabout bringing imagination togeth-er with reflection and other aspectsof Sufi contemplative practice. Andfor Jehangir to be interested in yogaat the level, shows a real exchange be-tween cultures.Is that the reason why yoga hassurvived for so long?� This is because Hatha Yoga is somalleable. It can move from one com-munity to another very easily. A lotof reinterpretation occurs after 15thcentury. Perhaps with the success ofdifferent types of yoga, people start-ed to appropriate them and reinter-pret them to suit their tradition.Andthat is what we see happening todayin various countries. �

Post your comments at speakingtree.in

Yoga believes in transforming the individual before transforming the world — Swami Satchidananda

TRUST LIFE COMPLETELY

The MortalsBelief in our mortality, the sense

that we are eventually going to

crack up and be extinguished like

the flame of a candle, I say, is a

gloriously fine thing. It makes us

sober; it makes us a little sad; and

many of us it makes poetic. But

above all, it makes it possible for

us to make up our mind and

arrange to live sensibly, truthfully

and always with a sense of our

own limitations. It gives us peace

also, because true peace of mind

comes from accepting the worst.

Deprived of immortality, the

proposition of living becomes a

simple proposition. It is this: that

we human beings have a limited

span of life to live on this earth,

rarely more than seventy years,

and that therefore we have to

arrange our lives so that we may

live as happily as we can under a

given set of circumstances.... It

made us therefore, cling to life —

the life of the instinct and the life

of senses — on the belief that, as

we are all animals, we can be truly

happy only when all our normal

instincts are satisfied normally.

This applies to the enjoyment of

life in all its aspects.A sad poetic

touch is added to this intense love

of life by the realisation that this

life we have is essentially mortal.

For if this earthly existence is all

we have, we must try harder to

enjoy it while it lasts.A vague

hope of immortality detracts from

our wholehearted enjoyment of

this earthly existence.

— Lin Yutang,

The Importance Of Living

Far from being rigid, Hatha Yoga can adapt itself according to context, says University of London scholar JASON BIRCH to MONA MEHTA

THERE HAS BEEN SECULAR

YOGA IN INDIA SINCE THE

EARLY 20TH CENTURY WHEN

EXPERTS REALISED THAT

MANY OF THE PHYSICAL

PRACTICES COULD BE TAUGHT

TO A BROAD AUDIENCE FOR

THEIR HEALTH BENEFITS

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

In my short time on this planet, I have known great sorrow,plunged intothe depths of oceanic despair, been thrown so deeply into my loneli-

ness that I thought I would never return. I have tasted the ecstatic joys ofmeditation, the fierce intimacy of love, the savage pains of heartbreak, theexcitement of unexpected success and the blows of sudden failure.Therewere times when I thought I’d never make it, times when my dreams hadbeen shattered so thoroughly I couldn’t imagine how life could ever goon.Yet it went on, and sometimes I found humility within the devasta-tion, and out of the ashes of imagined futures often grew new and pres-ent joys, and no experience was ever wasted. I have come to trust lifecompletely, trust even the times when I forget how to trust.... �

— Jeff Foster

‘Sisters make the best friends’Life is what you make it. No matter what, you’re going to mess up sometimes, it’s

a universal truth.But the good part is you get to decide how you’re going to messit up. Girls will be your friends — they’ll act like it anyway. But just remember, somecome, some go.The ones that stay with you through everything — they’re your truebest friends. Don’t let go of them.Also remember, sisters make the best friends in theworld.As for lovers, well, they’ll come and go too. �

— Marilyn Monroe

Past Life Regression therapy isknown to help people re-

solve issues from their past lives— whether physical, financial oremotional.Dr Geetanjali Saxena,who has been trainedunder Dr Brian Weiss,the author of ManyLives Many Masters,shares one of her casestudies that revives be-lief in Past Life Regres-sion as a healingmodality.

“Krish came to me with ahealth issue and asked me to per-form PLR therapy. In the 1st ses-sion, he regressed to a past lifewhere he saw himself as a noto-rious prince who use to kidnap,rape and kill women.The king

came to know of his son’s activi-ties and decided to castrate himas punishment.The prince plot-ted to rebel against his own fatherand take over the kingdom by

killing him. However,during the war, theprince was defeated,handed over to the pub-lic and stoned to death,”Dr Geetanjali narrates.

This traumatic ex-perience was released by

making Krish apologise to thosewho suffered because of him.Af-ter a few sessions, Krish felt a lotof improvement in his life.

Learn Past Life Regression inDelhi from 20th - 23rd September.For details, contact 9322127722 or

email at drgittanjali@gmail.com

Past Life Regression: An Unexplored

Paradigm Of Possibilities

T H E S P E A K I N G T R E EN E W D E L H I , J U N E 1 7, 2 0 1 8

Silence is ever speaking; it is the perennial flow of language— Ramana Maharshi

We meditate on the effulgent glory

of the divine Light; may he

inspire our understanding

Gayatri Mantra

�

The radiance in the sun that

illumines the entire world, and that

which shines in the moon and that

which shines in the fire too, know

that radiance to be mine.

Bhagwad Gita 15:12

�

The sky takes on shades of orange

during sunrise and sunset, the

colour that gives you hope that the

sun will set only to rise again.

Ram Charan

�

Utu, shepherd of the land, father of

the black-headed, when you go to

sleep, the people go to sleep

with you; youth Utu, when you rise,

the people rise with you.

Lugalbanda

�

The gods rejoice when they see Ra

crowned upon his throne, and when

his beams flood the world with

light…the earth becometh light

at his birth each day; he

proceedeth until he reacheth the

place where he was yesterday.

Papyrus Of Ani

�

The sun is the king of torches.

West African Proverb

�

Father of rosy day, no more thy

clouds of incense rise; but waking

flowers, at morning hours, give out

their sweets to meet thee in the skies.

Thomas Hood

�

Even after all this time the Sun never

says to the Earth,‘You owe me.’

Look what happens with love like

that, it lights the whole sky.

Hafiz

�

The sun, with all those planets

revolving around it and dependent

upon it, can still ripen a

bunch of grapes as if it had nothing

else in the universe to do.

Galileo Galilei

�

Even the darkest night will end

and the sun will rise.

Victor Hugo

�

If you want to shine like a sun,

first burn like a sun.

A P J Abdul Kalam

Please explain whether the ana-hat naad — soundless sound —is a type of sound or whether itis total soundlessness.And alsoexplain how the state of totalsoundfulness can be equal tototal soundlessness.OSHO: Anahat naad is not a type ofsound, it is soundlessness, but thissoundlessness is heard.To express it isdifficult because then the logical ques-tion arises of how soundlessness can beheard.

Let me explain it. I am sitting onthis chair. If I go away from this chair,will you not see my absence in thechair? It cannot be seen by one whohas not seen me sitting here, he willsimply see the chair. But a momentbefore I was here and you have seenme sitting here. If I move away andyou look at the chair, you will see twothings: the chair and my absence. Butthat absence will be seen only if youhave seen me and you have not for-gotten that I was there.

We are hearing sounds; we onlyknow sounds.So when that soundless-ness — anahat naad — comes,we feelthat every sound has disappeared andabsence is felt.That is why it is calledanahat naad. It is also called naad;naadmeans sound. But anahat changes thequality of the sound. ‘Anahat’ means‘uncreated’, so it is uncreated sound.

Every sound is a created sound.Whatsoever sounds you have heard,they are all created. That which iscreated will die. I can clap my hands— a sound is created. It was not therebefore and now it is no more; it wascreated and it has died. A createdsound is known as ahat naad. Uncre-ated sound is known as anahat naad— the sound that is always.Which isthat sound that is always? It is not re-ally a sound.You call it a sound be-cause the absence is heard.

If you live by a railway station andone day the railway union goes onstrike, you will hear something noone can hear.You will hear the ab-

sence of the trains coming and goingand moving.

I was travelling in the past for atleast three weeks every month. In thebeginning, it was very difficult tosleep on the train, and then it becamedifficult to sleep at home.When I wasno longer sleeping only on the train,the sound of the train was missed.Whenever I would reachhome it would be difficult,because I would miss and Iwould feel the absence ofthe railway sounds.We areaccustomed to sounds.Every moment is filled withsound. Our heads are con-stantly filled by sounds andsounds and sounds. Whenyour mind goes away,moves up or down, goes beyond orbelow, when you are not in the worldof sounds, you can hear the absence.That absence is soundlessness.

But we have called it anahat naad.Because it is heard we call it naad —

sound; and because it is not really asound we call it anahat — uncreated.Uncreated sound is contradictory.Sound is created — uncreated con-tradicts. So all deep experiences oflife have to be expressed in contra-dictory terms.

Anahat naad is a contradictoryterm, but used with deep considera-

tion. It is meaningful. Itsays that the phenomenonis felt as a sound and it isnot a sound. It is felt as asound because you haveonly felt sounds, you donot know any other lan-guage.You know only thelanguage of sounds; that iswhy it is felt as sound. Butit is silence,not sound.And

the question further says:“Explain inwhich way the state of soundfulnesscan be equal to total soundlessness.”

It is always so.The zero and the ab-solute both mean the same.

For example, if I have a jar which

is completely empty and I have anoth-er jar which is completely filled, bothare complete.One is completely emp-ty, another is completely filled. Butboth are complete, both are perfect. Ifthe jar is half-filled, it is half-filled andhalf-empty.You can call it half-empty,you can call it half-filled. But whetherit is completely empty or completelyfilled, one thing is common to both:completeness.

Soundlessness is complete. Onecan say it is soundlessness because nosound is heard, everything has be-come absent.You cannot take any-thing further from it; it is complete.Or you can say it is a completesound, a full sound, absolute sound;nothing can be added to it. But inboth the cases. the indication is forperfection, absoluteness, wholeness.Abridged from The Book of Secrets,courtesy: Osho Times InternationalFoundation, www.osho.com �

Post your comments at speakingtree.in

S A C R E D

S P A C E

Sun Power

To attain jitendriyata is toachieve full control overone’s senses. This leads towhat is called God-realisa-

tion. In this controlled state all painand suffering cease permanently.Achievement of this bliss is the soleaim of human life.

There are different paths toachieve this height as there are differ-ent routes leading to, for instance,Mount Everest. Jnana, karma, bhakti,raja, hatha, swara, nada,Ashtanga yogas;all of these lead to the same goal ofachieving communion with God.

Just as the time taken by differentroutes to reach a particular destinationvaries, each path of yoga takes its owntime.The shortest and most suitablepath ordained in this Kali Yuga isbhakti yoga.This form of yoga and allother forms of yoga come under Ash-tanga yoga or the eight-fold yogawhich comprises the following:1. Yama (ahimsa), satya, asteya, brah-macharya and aparigraha,meaning non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing,continuous meditation or remem-

brance by salutation to God and non-accumulation of non-essential things.2. Niyama (sauch), santosh, tapas, swad-hyaya and ishwara pranidhana,meaningcleanliness,both internal as well as ex-ternal,contentment,rightful penance,self-study and self-surrender to God.3.Asana or body postures in the yog-ic tradition.4. Pranayama or control of prana.5. Pratyahara or withdrawal of senseorgans within.6. Dharana or contemplation.7. Dhyana or meditation.8. Samadhi or total union with God.

The importance of bhakti and theresultant cessation of sorrow has beenrecorded in the scriptures. Saints andalso ordinary people who have prac-tised bhakti yoga in their day-to-day

life vouch for its efficacy. Bhakti yogastands for intense love of God.

Practitioners of bhakti yoga donot ask for anything in return fromGod; they believe that God, as themother and father of all, understandshis children.Sometimes God does notfulfil the immediate desires of Hisbhaktas. However, the bhakti yogicontinues to nurture his devotion andlove for God as he is convinced thatwhatever God gives, He gives for theultimate good of the bhakta.

Two shlokas in the Bhagwad Gitaextol the virtues of bhakti (9:34 and18:65).Krishna emphasises that bhak-ti is the theme which is the secret ofall secrets (18:64) and Krishna cau-tions Arjuna and through him, cau-tions entire humanity, to pay special

heed to it.Bhakti yoga acquires greater po-

tency when it combines with somekriyas of Ashtanga Yoga like trataka,netiand its various forms,according to theneeds of the practitioner.However,allyogic kriyas should be learnt and per-formed under competent guidance toavoid unpleasant results.

Another kriya which is very pow-erful for yogic accomplishments andall-round happiness is the ShabdBrahm Kriya of Nada yoga. In specialyogic posture, the anahata naad — thesound which is produced in our bodywithout any external effort — ismeditated upon.This anahat naad isthe divine sound and is experiencedby the sadhaka in the form of ghosha,kanshya, sringa, ghanta, veena, banshuri,dundubhi, sankha and megha garjana.

The practitioner of Nada yogaunder the guidance of a siddha naadyogi avoids falling into the trap of self-destructive human weaknesses and ul-timately achieves communion withGod. Having done so, nothing re-mains but bliss.�

Bhakti YogaAs path to happiness

YOGACHARYA KUNDAN KUMAR

E D I T O R I A L

Here’s the latest update onthe contentious questionof whether the humanbrain possesses a ‘God’

component which acts as a ‘spiritual’or‘transcendent’ receiver. According tofindings by researchers at the Universi-ty of Utah School of Medicine whichwere published in 2016 in the journalSocial Neuroscience, religious and spiri-tual experiences activate the brain re-ward circuits in much the same way aslove, sex, gambling, drugs and music.

“We’re just beginning to under-stand how the brain participates in ex-periences that believers interpret asspiritual, divine or transcendent,” saidthe report’s senior author and neurora-diologist Jeff Anderson.“In the last fewyears, brain imaging technologies havematured in ways that are letting us ap-proach questions that have (actually)been around for millennia.”

Specifically,the investigators set outto determine which brain networksare involved in representing spiritualfeelings in a group of devout Mor-mons,by creating an environment that

triggered participants to ‘feel the Spir-it’. Commenting on this, lead authorMichael Ferguson later said: “Whenour study participants were instructedto think about a saviour, about beingwith their families for eternity, abouttheir heavenly rewards, their brains andbodies physically responded.”

Based on functional MRI scans,the researchers found that powerfulspiritual feelings were reproducibly as-sociated with activation in the nucleusaccumbens, a critical brain region forprocessing reward.

Meanwhile just recently, scientistsat Yale have also reported in the jour-nal Cerebral Cortex that they too haveidentified a possible neurobiologicalhome for the spiritual experience —that sense of connection to somethinggreater than oneself.This activity theysay apparently takes place in the pari-etal cortex, an area of the brain in-volved in awareness of self and othersas well as attention processing.Accord-ing to Marc Potenza, professor of psy-chiatry,at the Yale Child Study Center,“Spiritual experiences are robust states

that may have profound impacts onpeople’s lives.”

However, these studies also raise avery important and often overlookedquestion — namely, when in the his-tory of evolution did these transcen-dent transceivers arise in our brains?Obviously a 500 million-year-old jel-lyfish wouldn’t even possess the re-quired apparatus of a functional brainto possess things like a nucleus accum-bens or a parietal cortex in it.So do weinfer it can have no spiritual experi-ences? Can it thus be also said that asfar as a jellyfish is concerned (if any-thing ‘concerns’ it at all) there’s noth-ing more transcendent than living, re-producing and eating?

Gopikrishna Deshpande, anAuburn University researcher whoteamed up with the National Institutesof Health in the US recently and pub-lished his results in the journal BrainConnectivity, thinks he has an answer. Itconcerns the Theory of Mind or ToM.ToM underlies the ability to relate be-tween one’s personal beliefs, intentsand desires with those of others.

Meaning individuals with strongerToM activity were found to be morereligious. Deshpande says this supportsthe hypothesis that development ofToM abilities in humans during evolu-tion may have given rise to religion inhuman societies. But this begs thequestion bigtime.ToM could only havearisen when humans already had acomplex enough brain. Like, does abacterium or amoeba have a Theory ofMind? No? Well, too bad; no mysticalexperiences for you guys then.

On the other hand, consider radiowaves.They were always there teemingaround the place when there was nolife on Earth at all.Yet it took us at leasta few billion years before HeinrichRudolf Hertz in 1888 was able to con-clusively prove transmitted airborne ra-dio waves in an experiment. In otherwords, radio waves have been aroundfor billennia but we simply hadn’t de-veloped the equipment to detectthem. So is that all it takes — a com-plex enough brain to rap with the RealThing? Or is there something else bac-teria and amoebas aren’t telling us? �

Feeling The Spirit

SOUL SOUP

MUKUL SHARMA wonderswhat gave rise to religion

Anahat naad is that which can be sensed when all sound disappears, says OSHO

The best way to find

yourself is to lose yourself

in the service of others

— M K Gandhi

Pizza Inn I’m a single mom. I have three

boys. Recently I decided to go out

for dinner with them.We stopped

at the Pizza Inn and happened to

catch the tail end of the buffet. I

made the youngest one eat first so

that he could then go and play.We

were the only customers in the

establishment so I was able to keep

an eye on my son while I ate my

meal. I noticed a waitress by the

name Catalina. She kept my son

entertained while I had dinner,

playing with him in the play area.

This was the first time I had taken

my sons out by myself, because, for

one, it is expensive, and two,

anxiety about how they’ll react.

This young woman made my night

just by her simple act of kindness.

She should be proud of herself.

— Single Mom

Something Good The Oakland Firefighters Local 55

posted this picture.

They responded to a house fire over

the weekend. Firefighter Kevan

Brown went inside to make sure no

one was trapped. It was all safe.

But as he came out he saw a

mother and her little girl come

rushing up to the building. It turns

out that they lived in the unit that

burnt. Firefighters let the woman go

inside to look for valuables.And

firefighter Brown said he would

stay with her little girl.They both

sat down on the curb.And that’s

when she offered him some water.

The Firefighters union wrote

simply:“Every day may

not be good, but there’s something

good in every day.”

Baby SitterA 10-year-old Lab recently became

the guardian of nine ducklings after

staff at Mountfitchet Castle in

Essex saw them wandering around

the grounds alone recently.

“Fred the resident dog at the

Castle stepped up to the challenge

when nine little ducklings became

orphaned recently,” Mountfitchet

Castle wrote on Facebook.“The

ducklings’ mum had disappeared

and a member of staff found them

waddling around the castle grounds

alone.The team was very worried

about the ducklings but Fred, a

10-year-old Labrador, immediately

took to them and has been

babysitting ever since.”

— Via Social Media

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

©GETTY IMAG

ES

Snow-clad peaks, thewarmth of fondue, plung-ing valleys, the tinkle ofcowbells and emerald lakeswere on my list of sensualpleasures to be experienced

as we landed in Zurich to exploreSwitzerland.Then there are breath-taking woodlands, glaciers, waterfallsand dreamy train journeys, straight offfairy tale stories.And not to forget thesilence of the Alps — a language whichonly the soul can comprehend.Wewere destined to decipher this lan-guage during our exploration.

A cultural treat and very efficient-ly run, Zurich is the largest city inSwitzerland.Seeing trams intersectingin the backdrop of large advertisementsof a leading chocolate brand,with sun-shine glistening on lake Zurich, I feltas if life has been magically infusedinto a postcard picture.The city ex-hibits starkly contrasting identities.Onthe one hand it is a key financial cen-

tre, and on the other, it beholds in itsheart a quaint old town with church-es exhibiting exquisite attention to de-tail.The Grossmunster, which trans-lates into ‘Great Minster’; the Frau-munster that means ‘Women’s Min-ster’, along with Predigerkirche andthe church of St Peter, are the mainchurches of the city.St Pe-ter’s church is the oldestparish church of Zurichand proudly displays ahuge clock face, the largestin any European church.

Breathing in the slowpace of life here, I expe-rience a unique sense ofcalm and natural flow. InterestinglySwitzerland has a stunningly high rateof gun ownership yet it records oneof the lowest crime rates in the world,making it one of the safest countriesof Europe.Also, the Alpine nation hasremarkable drug policies, based on ahumane dimension that inculcates

principles of good global health,which has made the nation a cham-pion in dealing with the menace.

My soul partially satiated, I leavefor Lucerne by a train that was righton time, displaying Swiss efficiency.This nation of cuckoo clocks andworld’s watchmakers is not only known

to be meticulously punc-tual but also for efficient-ly maintaining its law andorder. Swiss laws target atthe root cause of a crimerather than focusing on thecriminal.

Lucerne offers an in-teresting mix of things to

see. Its landmark Kapellbrucke,ChapelBridge, the oldest wooden coveredbridge of Europe — spanning the riv-er Reuss — appears like a passage toheaven.The wooden pedestrian walk-way seems insulated from the exter-nal web of worldly worries, and here,the rhythmic sound of my footsteps

was like serene music playing amidstthe calm and quiet surroundings.

A little away from the bridge is theLion Monument. The statue com-memorates the soldiers of Swiss guardswho sacrificed their lives in 1792 dur-ing the French Revolution.Thoughthe statue is carved out of natural rock,it’s emotion, as soft as snow, melts myheart.The brave lion’s painful screamdissolves in the silence of the sur-rounding.No wonder Mark Twain de-scribed it as ‘the saddest and most mov-ing piece of rock in the world.’

Interestingly, work on this monu-ment began around the same time asthe nation turned neutral.Switzerlandhas the oldest policy of military neu-trality dating back to 1815,establishedby the Treaty of Paris.The Lion Mon-ument summarises the futility of warand stands for the country’s policy ofneutrality.

The disease of war and violencehas threatened the lives of innocentpeople in many parts of the world.Byupholding armed neutrality, this na-tion of chocolate lovers has earnedworldwide admiration for its evolvedappreciation of human rights and forblending the pulse of human psy-

chology in its laws,policies and lifestyle.The next day, I drift into Paradise

with the cable car rotating its way uptowards the snow-clad summit of Ti-tlis. It is the world’s first rotating cablecar and as the altitude increases, I gaspat the breathtakingly beautiful steeprock faces covered in layers of snow— deep, crisp and even.

Down below, I can see many peo-ple, including children, enjoying ski-ing. I delight in their agility — andam somehow reminded of the delightwith which children play cricket inthe bylanes of India.

I ended my trip with a walk aroundBern,which,according to legend,owesits name to bears.The bear park is amajor tourist attraction here, and thesefurry animals are a source of joy foranimal lovers. Fascinatingly, Switzer-land has a unique law on animal own-ership.For instance, it is illegal to ownonly one guinea pig, for social inter-action and companionship is para-mount to the species as it cannot bearto live in isolation.The same law ap-plies to ownership of parrots and gold-fish, and if kept in solitude, they areclassed as victims of abuse. Not onlydo the Swiss live peacefully, but theyalso make sure that their pets are ruledby a philosophy that is grounded insensitivity.

My trip soon draws to an end,butnot before this country, an epitome ofpeace and calm, gifts me with a senseof bliss that I take back with me. Itslaws and society can be a healthy pre-scription to other nations of the worldthat are sadly embroiled in terrorismand war.Their gentle pace of life isclosest to God, godliness and good-ness as opposed to the frenzied rushof life that appears to have engulfedother nations, elsewhere. �

T H E S P E A K I N G T R E EN E W D E L H I , J U N E 1 7, 2 0 1 8

Heritage City BernThanks to its well-preserved medieval town-scape, the Bern — the capital of Switzerland —is a Unesco World Heritage Site.The quaint oldtown of Bern is framed by the Aare River, andoffers spectacular views of the Alps.With its six-km of limestone buildings and medieval arcades,its Renaissance fountains with colourful figures,and its beautiful cathedral surrounded by pic-turesque rooftops,Bern,founded in 1191,is tru-ly a gem of medieval architecture in Europe.

Lion Of LucernHundreds of Swiss Guards died defending theTuileries Palace during the French Revolution.The initiative to create a monument for the guardswas taken by Karl Pfyffer von Altishofen, an of-ficer of the Guards.The Lion Monument was de-signed by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.The dying lion is portrayed impaled by a spear,covering a shield bearing the fleur-delis of theFrench monarchy; beside him is another shieldbearing the coat of arms of Switzerland.

In The Company Of The AlakanandaDID YOU KNOW?

Unusual Trail

The Kumano Kodo Trail isone of only two pilgrim-age routes on Unesco’s

World Heritage list.This sacredlandscape on the little-known KiiPeninsula in Japan has been hometo first Shinto and then Buddhistshrines for more than 1,500 years.The nine-day walk connects Os-aka with the mountain templecommunity of Koyasan and theJapanese Imperial shrine at Ise.

The route runs along the westcoast of the peninsula to the cityof Tanabe where it forks into two:Nakahechi and Ohechi. TheNakahechi route leads into therugged interior mountains towardKumano Hongu Taisha and theOhechi continues south along thecoast.The Nakahechi route wasthe most popular for pilgrimagesfrom Kyoto, the ancient capital ofJapan.The earliest records of thisroute dates from the early 10thcentury.

A part of Wakayama Prefec-ture, the area is famous for its hotspring, fish,mandarin oranges andplums. It is home to temperaterainforests,mountains and a beau-tiful coastline.The peninsula isheld sacred by members of bothreligions. �

ANCHAL SINHA is swept off her feet, not by the picture perfect beauty ofSwitzerland, but by its healthy and peaceful way of life based on the foundation of being sensitive to the pain of another being

MADAN MOHAN MATHUR

Although the holy river Gan-ga takes birth at Gomukh inthe snowy heights of Ut-tarakhand, it acquires its

name only when it reaches Devprayag,about 70 kms upstream fromRishikesh.Up to this point, it is knownas the Bhagirathi,named after the leg-endary King Bhagirath whose penancebrought it down from the locks of Shi-va.At Devprayag,Bhagirathi is joinedby the river Alakananda,and after theirconfluence, they are together knownas the Ganga.

A bath at the confluence of Bha-girathi and Alakananda at Devprayagis an exhilarating experience and pre-pares the pilgrims for their holy jour-ney ahead.

From Devprayag to Badrinath,wetravel along the Alakananda, sharingthe river’s moods and colours.The nexthalt, 36 kms from Devprayag, is Sri-nagar which is a flourishing town withall the necessary amenities. But hav-ing started from Rishikesh early in themorning, it is preferable to drive an-other 35 kms upstream and spend thenight at Rudraprayag.

The journey from Rudraprayag to

Joshimath (113 kms) takes us throughseveral holy places like Karnaprayagand Nandaprayag which have theirown mythological significance and aretreated as minor centres of pilgrim-age. During this drive, we leave theriver flowing below in the valley whilethe road winds up steadily through thepicturesque mountains.

Passing through Chamoli and Pi-palkoti,we reach Joshimath which, tillthe mid-50s, was the last point up to

which public buses could go. Fromhere the pilgrimage to Badrinath hadto be performed on foot or on ponies.Joshimath, therefore,developed into amajor pilgrim centre,offering all nec-essary facilities for the devotees, in ad-dition to several temples of consider-able importance, including theShankaracharya Math.Now,of course,a motorable road has been construct-ed right up to Badrinath and Joshi-math has been relegated to a transit

halt before starting the arduous climb.From Joshimath, the road descends

sharply down the valley again to lev-el with the Alakananda,which is nowa roaring turbulent river gushingthrough the rocky mountains. Herewe have to cross the river and resumethe upward journey on its right bank.The road is narrow and slippery,oftenobstructed by sliding rocks and boul-ders.After driving about 26 kms alongthe river we briefly halt at Govindghat,from where another route branchesoff towards Hemkund Sahib, a majorplace of pilgrimage in the Valley ofFlowers.

As we drive furtheron to Hanumanchatti,the river becomes narrower and themountains loftier. Here it is custom-ary to offer prayers at the small tem-ple of Bhaironji before commencingthe steep and zigzag climb up the tow-ering rocky mountain.

The last stretch of the climb leavesus dizzy, awestruck and spellbound.One feels as if one is leaving the earthbehind and approaching some divineand mystic land.And this feeling is en-hanced by the distant roaring soundof the Alakananda, from the deep ravine

below.Although the river is not visi-ble to the eyes,we are constantly awareof its eternal presence deep inside ourconsciousness. And when at last wereach Badrinath,we miraculously findourselves face to face with the riveronce again.

Alakananda flows through theBadrinath township situated over10,000 feet above sea level.We haveto cross the river over a pedestrianbridge to reach the sacred temple ofBadrinath. Just below the temple,alongthe right bank of the icy cold watersis a pool of steaming hot water called

the Taptakund.There is a mytho-

logical story abouthow Agni Deva, the God of Fire, wasgranted the boon to reside by the sideof the temple of Badrinath. It is cus-tomary to first have a bath in the Tap-takund before entering the temple forworship.The more devout and bravealso take a dip in the turbulent icycold water of Alakananda before bid-ding goodbye to the river which re-mains a constant companion and spir-itual inspiration all along the pilgrim’sjourney. �

Post your comments at speakingtree.in

UTTARAKHAND

My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together— Desmond Tutu

SWITZERLAND HAS A UNIQUE

LAW ON ANIMAL OWNERSHIP. IT

IS ILLEGAL TO OWN ONLY ONE

PARROT, GOLDFISH OR GUINEA

PIG, FOR COMPANIONSHIP IS

PARAMOUNT TO THESE

SPECIES AS THEY CANNOT BEAR

TO LIVE IN ISOLATION

PILGRIMS ON THEIR

WAY TO BADRINATH

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

T H E S P E A K I N G T R E EN E W D E L H I , J U N E 1 7, 2 0 1 8

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God— Diana Robinson

How you feel willmostly be affected byone thing — what’sgoing on in your

mind. Moment to moment, yourthoughts fluctuate from one ideato another, from one person toanother or from a situation toanother. Most of the time, we arejust observing our mind goingaround the neighbourhood, col-lecting more thoughts andrecording them all for future ref-erence as memories. Even whenwe don’t want to think of some-thing, they just pop up in ourmind and decide to stay, like oldfriends we feel comfortable with.

Now like with old friends, wehave some attachments towardsthem. Of course, our friends arecomfortable with us just drifting byand keeping them company and wehave desires to move beyond ourlimitations and make our life betterbut find it hard to let go of the past.At this time,we have to remind our-selves that we also have other friendsin our life who will help us achievethe change we are looking for.

It isn’t just with our speech thatwe change things but with our ac-tions.It isn’t much use to sit aroundand talk about change or to put itoff but to use the tools at our dis-posal to make changes and stick tothem however big or small.Withpositive actions come positive habitchanges, which bring on newthoughts and a shift in mindset to-wards optimism and enthusiasm.From here you can keep movingforward knowing that the future isonly going to get brighter becauseyou are taking the necessary steps,although it may be some of the hard-

est moments of your life.As you keep moving forward

and creating new positive moments,your memories will fill up with thesenew thoughts, which create newimpressions.These new impressionshelp to fade out your old stale habitswhich have no place in your life anylonger and you are happy to lose allmemory of.This is when the mag-ic starts to happen in your life,whenyou are creating the most positiveand joyous impressions in your mindand living them out.Not everyonechooses intentional positive changebut when they do, a lot of unex-pected miracles start to happen.

Right MovesUsually when we talk about en-

ergy conservation, the topics referto how we use, or abuse, fossil fu-els. But our own energy, our lifeforce, should receive some consid-

eration as wellbecause itpowers ouremot iona l ,physical, andpsychologicalwell-being.Wecan sustain and

improve our energy levels by mak-ing better choices that align with ahealthy lifestyle.Eat less: Eating large quantities offood actually makes you more lethar-gic. In ayurveda, the digestive fire iscalled agni.The body becomes over-whelmed to process so much at onetime, so eating less helps to con-stantly keep the fire burning for anactive metabolism.Deep sleep: Consider your sleep-ing patterns. Deep sleep is whereyour body recharges the most. Ifyou’re a light sleeper, you may getrest but still feel tired. Sleeping in apotent way is important.Speak less: Incessant chatter is justa noise-maker. Carefully choosingyour words and what you commu-nicate about is a more efficient wayto converse.Slow down the breath: Thebreath is the regulator for the nerv-ous system.When we inhale andexhale longer and more fully, itcalms and centres us,which allowsthe body and mind to be steadyrather than hyperactive.Be in the moment: We canoverspend our energy by worry-ing about our future that maynever come to be. Instead, if wefocus on the now we can give fullattention to what is at hand. EastAnd West Series �

Follow Yogi Cameron

at speakingtree.in

Change Your Mindset

CA

RTO

ON

STO

CK

.CO

M

INBOX

The Real McCoy � Yes, I concur with the article,‘Is True Hap-piness Possible?’, June 10.We are all entitledto experience the real thing. But first weneed to discover what real happiness is.Truehappiness is free from our worldly concep-tions of money, power, position and relations.

— Arvind Patel, via speakingtree.in� Happiness varies from person to persondepending on the state of mind. It has twolevels — a transitory shallow level and a deep-er profound level.We can reach it by beingin touch with the soul and setting our mind to it — we arrive at a samadhi, state of deep contentment.

— Manoj Kamat,via speakingtree.in

On A Yatra One day, all the disciples went to

their master and said,“Master,

we are all going on a pilgrimage.

The master asked,“Why do you

want to go on a pilgrimage?”

The disciples replied,“So that we

can improve our devotion”.

Said the master:“Okay.Then do

me a favour. Please take this bitter

gourd with you and wherever

you go and whichever temple

you visit, place it in the alter

of the deity, take the blessings

and bring it back.”Thus the

disciples took the bitter gourd with

them on their pilgrimage, from

temple to temple. On their return,

the master said,“Cook that veggie

and serve it to me.”The disciples

cooked it and served it to their

master.After having the first bite,

the master said,“Surprising!”The

disciples asked,“What’s

surprising?” He replied,“Even

after the pilgrimage, this is still

bitter. How come?”The disciples

said,“But that is its nature,

Master.”The master stated,“That’s

what I am saying. Unless you

change your nature, undertaking a

pilgrimage will not make any

difference. So, you and I, if we

do not change ourselves no

teacher or guru can make a

difference in our lives.

In Good CompanySwami Vivekananda explains the

value of our ‘associations’ thus:

A rain drop from the sky: if it is

caught by clean hands, is pure

enough for drinking. If it falls in

the gutter, its value drops so

much that it can’t be used

even for washing your feet. If it

falls on a hot surface, it will

evaporate. If it falls on a lotus

leaf, it shines like a pearl and

finally, if it falls on an oyster,

it becomes a pearl.The drop is

the same, but its existence

and worth depends on whom

it is associated with.Always

be associated with people who are

good at heart.You will experience

your own inner transformation.

A CelebrationIf you think positively:

Sound becomes music,

Movement becomes dance,

Smile becomes laughter,

Mind becomes meditative and

Life becomes a celebration!

LEARNING TREE

High achievers in life have

one common secret —

something done is always

better than waiting to do

something perfectly.

Version one is better

than version none

— Tony Robbins

LAUGHING TREE

Store Santa While I was working as a store

Santa, a boy asked me for an

electric train set.“If you get your

train,” I told him,“your dad is

going to want to play with it too.

Is that all right?”The boy

became very quiet. So, moving

the conversation along, I asked,

“What else would you like Santa

to bring you?” He promptly

replied,“Another train.”

— guy-sports.com

Happy Journey When my summer teaching post in

the Czech Republic came to an

end, I told my students my next

teaching destination would be in

Australia,“The land down under.”

On my final day, they presented me

with a card.The carefully worded

note read,“Good luck, and happy

journey to the underworld.”

Nearer My GodMy niece Katrina tailgates other

cars and it makes me nervous.

I just can’t get it through her head

that she does this and that it’s

very dangerous. One good thing

is that I sometimes find myself

drawing closer to the Lord

when I ride with her!

Stay Cool Carter: Lee how do you manage

to stay cool all the time?

Lee: Because I don’t get into

arguments with stupid people, I just

cut it short and say,‘You are right’.

Carter: But that’s completely

irrational and wrong.

Lee:You are right.

©GETTY IMAG

ES

YOG GURU SURAKSHIT GOSWAMIHow do we actually know or believe that we are not the body,but we are souls that never die and change the body?

— Vishwanath Bilgi, 57� If someone has an accident, and loses alimb,biologically, the person is incompletewithout that limb.However, there is an in-visible being within that person who seeshimself as complete. Even when the bodybegins to get old, there issomeone inside, who neverseems to age and treatshimself as he was, say 20 years ago.

In fact, bodily changes occur as long aswe are alive.When we are walking, there issomeone inside our body who stays stable.Whether we are happy or unhappy,whetherwe are being praised or insulted, whetherwe have hit the jackpot or are incurringlosses — all through the ups and downs oflife — there is someone within us who staysstill and calm.We fall asleep, but someonewithin us always keeps awake and wakes uswhen the situation warrants.That personis nothing but our soul.And soul is noth-ing but energy.

This soul, energy, permeates the entireuniverse.There is no place where the soulis not present.The whole universe is mov-

ing on the basis of thesoul.While the soul it-self is not doing any-thing, the energy —in the presence of thesoul — is doing all thework.

The soul does nottake birth, nor does it

die. Even pralaya, cataclysm, will not makeany difference to the soul, because it is be-

yond prakriti and imperish-able, whereas this body,mind, intellect are made of

prakriti. As long as we live in dehdhyasa,body consciousness, it is difficult to believein the soul and experience it. People usedifferent words to describe the soul, butthese words don’t reflect the essence of thesoul. Just as we cannot experience a place,without going there,we cannot experiencethe soul without Self-realisation. �

Follow Surakshitji at

speakingtree.in

Ways Of The Soul

ASK SURAKSHIT

Do you have a question for Surakshitji? Please write to

st.editorial@timesgroup.com with the subject line: Ask Surakshit

and state your age

Vivekananda wasprobed and testedthoroughly by Ra-makrishna to ascertainhis yogic karma,whenthey first met. One of

the things that Vivekananda revealed toRamakrishna was that before he wentto sleep, he used to see white light.There are countless examples of ad-vance yogis who have reported seeingwhite light in deep meditation and be-ing immersed in it. Likewise, there areany number of psychedelic drug userswho have also reported and writtenabout seeing brilliant white light dur-ing their ‘trip’.Similar claims have beenmade by those who have had neardeath experiences. Irrespective of reli-gion or faith, they have all reportedwitnessing brilliant white light andhaving an out-of-body experience.

So what is the nature of this light?Recent research in the science of neu-ron communication may throw somelight.Neurons communicate with eachother via electrical signals through wiresof the brain namely axons and den-drites.A large number of neurons, fir-ing and sending signals through thesebrain wires produce thought.Recent-ly, scientists discovered that informa-tion between neurons is passed by me-

chanical pulses inaxons and den-drites and via light.

It was recentlydiscovered thatneurons also com-municate throughlight.Light or pho-tons are produced when neurons fire.The exact mechanism on how they areproduced is still not known but theyvary in wavelength from 200 to 1300nanometres which corresponds to ul-traviolet (UV) to far infrared (FIR) ra-diation.Thus a large number of neu-rons firing will produce white light.

The light produced by neuron fir-ing is transmitted through axons anddendrites which behave like optical fi-bres. Scientists estimate that they cantransit anywhere between 50 to 96 percent of the light incident on them.Trans-fer of information among neurons vialight could be the basis of the brain’shigh speed reaction and processing.

There are close to 100 billion neu-rons in the human brain.These neuronsare connected to each other via den-drites, axons and also to glial cells.Thetotal connections,therefore,number be-tween 500 to 1,000 trillion.Each con-nection is capable of producing pho-tons during its firing.

Scientists have also estimated therate of photon production by doing ex-periments on rat neurons and then ex-trapolating it for human brains.The pho-ton production rate was developed fora very ‘quiet’neuron.This rate was thenmultiplied by total connections so thatthe total number of photons producedcomes close to 10 trillion per second.In the human brain especially duringdeep meditation the frequency of neu-ron firing is about 100 times that of ‘qui-et’brain and gives rise to Gamma brainwaves.This can produce close to 1,000trillion photons per second and couldbe the source of the bright lightreported by yogis and psyche-delic drugs users.

Data from brain scans re-veal that psychedelic drugs workby depressing the areas whichgive rise to ego.They also helpincrease connectivity in otherparts of the brain.Thus these drugs al-low the brain to work by melting downboundaries between self and the world.These effects are similar to those ob-served in samadhi, deep meditation.

Samadhi also dissolves the ego andfocuses on a single thought for long-term results in sanyam, control, whichallow all parts of the brain to work inharmony.This results in experiences

where the yogi feels that he has melt-ed into Universal Consciousness.Themajor difference between the experi-ences of psychedelic drugs and medi-tation is that the former cannot be con-trolled while the latter can.

Advanced yogis and psychedelicdrugs users have regularly reported lifechanging experiences after seeing andbeing submerged in white light.Theyfeel a sense of oneness with the worldand the universe and a belief in inter-connectedness of everything.Similarly,in near death experience,scientists haverecorded Gamma brain waves indicat-

ing a high level of brain activ-ity akin to samadhi and hencea vision of white light and spir-itual experiences.

Thus such spiritual ex-periences are not because oflight but because of the pro-duction of a superfast and

powerful brain which producessanyam and hence gains knowledgeof the Universe. The brain undersanyam and to some extent underdrugs is firing all cylinders. Light issimply a by-product of neurons work-ing and firing in unison. It is as ifwhen one attains samadhi, the fire-works tell the brain it has arrived! �

Post your comments at speakingtree.in

A true yogi experiences oneness with the world and the universe, says ANIL K RAJVANSHI

Opt for a healthy lifestyle to fire your life force, writes YOGI CAMERON

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

You must have the pas-sion to behold Godand this passionshould be fired withintensity of purpose.If your call is emo-

tional, then, Prabhu is not far away.There has got to be a throbbing senseof longing tomeet him.Other-wise, you will belike the manyseekers who be-gin with enthusi-asm and zeal butthen fall back totheir old ways.Without love in your heart, even ifGod is in the vicinity, you will not beable to feel His presence — be it onearth or the sky, in renunciation or in-dulgence, in the common or in the ex-traordinary.When there is love in yourheart, Prabhu is ever near. And whenthere is no love,even if He is with you,He appears far away.

Eshwaraha sarva bhoothanam,hridheysherjunatistathi — ‘Eshwar is all-pervading and is seated in the heart’.

Prabhu is present in every heart butonly he who recognises this and has firein the heart will experience Him.Thatis why acharyas have said of Krishnabhakti, Rasabhaavitha mathi, kriyathaamyadikothopi labhyatey, laulyamatramapimoolya meykhalam koti janma sukruthair-na labhyathe.The acharya explains thatthe moolya, price, one has to pay to at-tain Krishna, is in the form of laulya,yearning and desire, to behold Him.

Earlier, one had to go out to pro-cure what one needed.These days,youhave to just make a phone call and thedesired items are delivered at yourdoorstep.In the same way,bhagwan says:if you have paid the value of your aspi-ration then ‘I will come to you flying’.

But if there is no inner longing tobehold Him, one cannot experienceHim.Devotees have pined and yearnedfor Him.Meerabai got the mantra fromSant Ravidas who taught her the sad-hana, but Meerabai attained Giridharwith her dedicated ardour,constant crav-ing and vaulting emotions for Him.Meera used to pine day and night.WhenGiridhar would not appear,despite heryearning, she used to shed streams oftears and sing thus:

Kaat kaleja mai dharu, kaaga thu le-jaa, aur jaa desa,mahro piya base, ve dekhethu kha.Addressing a crow,she says,“Heykaga,crow,looks like my emotions don’tseem to be reaching my beloved (Kr-ishna). Let me carve my heart out andlay it before you, so you may take it tothe banks of the Yamuna,where,underthe kadamba tree, my beloved standsplaying the flute. Please take my heartto my beloved. If His eyes were to reston my lovelorn heart, my life and de-votion would be rewarded. I would be

gratified if I could reach Him thus —at least in death. I will have attainedHim.”

Such was the exalted love that Meerahad for Bihariji.

Akhiya haridarshan ki pyasi,nish din rehta udasi — ‘My eyeshunger for a glimpse of my-Hari.Coloured with sadness,my gloom knows no end’.

Unless there is an urgentlonging for Him,it is impos-sible to realise Him.In a sense,His name,Narayana explainsall.The meaning of ‘Nar’ is knowledgeand ‘ayana’ means dwelling.The onewho is housed in knowledge isNarayana. Nar also implies water; the

one who dwells in water is Narayana.But Narayana of Bhagavatam neitherdwells in water nor in the milky ocean.He resides in the tears of love of hisdevotees.

He dwelt in the tears ofMeera, Ravidas, Kabir Das,Tulsidas, and in AnanyaNrupadi Swami Haridas.Un-less you want to behold Himwith your own eyes,He willnot appear.

Some people ask,“Whereis Bihariji? Show Him to

me”. I ask in return,“Did you have adream last night?”To which one mostcertainly says,“Yes,I did,”then I ask himto ‘show’his dream to me.He feels out-

raged — “How can anyone show adream? One can only experience it andtalk about it.”This is true with God.Youcan only experience Him and to someextent talk about Him.But no one hasthe capacity to show Him to you.Onlythe chosen one will be blessed to be-hold Him.So while life lasts,one shouldhave an insatiable thirst and a hunger-to behold Him.You cannot attain Godin death. If one is living in the hope toattain Bhagwan after death, it is a folly.If at all, you attain Him you can do soonly when alive, in the here and now,in this lifetime.Do not put it off to some-time, somewhere. �

Post your comments at speakingtree.in

T H E S P E A K I N G T R E EN E W D E L H I , J U N E 1 7, 2 0 1 8

Let God’s grace be the mosque, and devotion the prayer mat. Let the Quran be the good conduct— Guru Nanak

Ibori The Yarubas of Nigeria believe that

a man’s destiny, personality and

success are already contained and

pre-determined in his ‘inner head’.

Ibori represents this inner head.

Also called ipori — ori means head

— it symbolises an individual’s

destiny.According to the Yoruba

Creation myth, before a human

being is born, Obatala, the king of

Creation, models his body from

clay, and the sky god Olorun blows

vital force into it.The head,

however, is made by Ajala, the

potter from Orun, the other world.

Everybody can choose their own

inner head.Ajala is a careless

potter, and sometimes the heads are

underbaked or overbaked.The

quality of the chosen head

determines a person’s destiny

during his life on earth.The ibori

stands for a person’s spiritual

essence and individuality. It consists

of a conical leather pouch, into

which the Ifa priest pours dry sand

on which he has previously

imprinted the Ifa formula for ori.

The container is packed with

ingredients associated with one’s

ancestors, gods, and the taboos one

must abide by. It thus contains

everything essential to a person’s

life.After special prayers and songs,

the pouch is sewn up and sealed; it

is then decorated with rows of

cowrie shells.Altogether it forms an

abstract human form with a stylised

head to convey the spiritual life of

individuals.The ibori are kept in

an ile ori or house of the head.

Such an ile ori is sometimes used

as a container with a lid.

God can be attainedhere and now, saysACHARYA GAURAV KRISHNA

GOSWAMI. His views are presented by GURUDAASIKA

SPECIES

Baobabs DyingSome of Africa’s oldest and biggest

baobab trees have abruptly died,

wholly or in part, in the past

decade, researchers said early this

week.The trees, aged between

1,100 and 2,500 years, may have

fallen victim to climate change, the

team speculated.“Nine of the 13

oldest trees have died, or at least

their oldest parts have collapsed and

died, over the past 12 years,” they

wrote in the journal Nature Plants.

“It is shocking and dramatic to

experience during our lifetime the

demise of so many trees with

millennial ages,” said the study’s

co-author Adrian Patrut of the

Babes-Bolyai University in

Romania.“The deaths were not

caused by an epidemic, as there

were no signs of disease,” Patrut

said.Among the nine were four

from southern Africa: Zimbabwe,

Namibia, South Africa, Botswana,

and Zambia.The baobab is the

biggest and longest-living flowering

tree, according to the research team.

It is found naturally in Africa’s

Savannah region, and outside the

continent in tropical areas to which

it was introduced.The researchers

“suspect that the demise of

monumental baobabs may be

associated at least in part with

significant modifications of climate

conditions that affect southern

Africa in particular.” — AFP

The months of May and Junecan be extremely gruellingfor students who have takentheir Board exams. As the

crimson summer sun gets busy shoot-ing balls of fire from the sky above, thepalpable heat that builds inside closeddoors, wreaks havoc on students’nerves. Simple summer thrills like en-joying an ice cream or going for aswim is pushed to the backseat, in an-ticipation of something miraculousthat is about to happen in a few days.

Recently, the Board results of ClassX were declared.Taren,my neighbour’sson cleared an important milestone ofhis life with flying colours.The familywas extremely busy entertaining guestsfor the first two days.Thankfully, therewas no one when I went to congratu-late Taren.His mother gushed with hap-piness and served me laddoos.

“He has been going to a coaching

institute for the past two years and hehas already started preparing for all thenational level exams he plans to take up.An undergraduate programme from aforeign university is also an option,”ex-plained Taren’s mother en-thusiastically.

She continued enumer-ating the details of other op-tions that she and her sonhad meticulously exploredand micro-planned. By thetime I finished my laddoo, Ilearnt an important lesson.Planning for the future isgood.You are prepared tohandle every situation that might cropup unannounced, anytime.

Two days later,I met Aisha.She wasplaying badminton in the apartmentplayground. She had appeared for herClass X boards too.“Mummy wants tomeet you,”said Aisha,with a wide grin

on her face.Aisha’s mother was pleasedto see me.When I sat in the living room,my eyes fell on a bunch of medals dis-played in the showcase.

“Has Aisha won all these medals?”I asked curiously.“Yes. Oneis for inter-school debate,oneis for inter-school Sciencequiz and another is for in-ter-house badminton com-petition. She writes poetrytoo. I have kept the cutoutsof two of her published po-ems in newspapers,” ex-plained my host proudly.

“Aisha is talented. Shehas done well in the Board exams too.Did she go to any coaching institute?”I asked apprehensively.“No, she tookhelp from her father and sometimes me.But there is a problem,”she said thought-fully.“Anything serious?” I enquired.

“It’s just that she hasn’t yet decided

which stream to opt for.The interviewsare next week.All her batchmates knowwhat to do, but Aisha is still thinking.Limited seats, admissions, stiff compe-tition somehow do not bother her,”saidAisha’s mother.

“Don’t worry so much.Aisha is asmart and intelligent girl.Surely she willfigure out her dreams soon.There is stilltime till next week,” I assured the agi-tated mother.“Exactly, this is what shesays.“ There is still time to decide,”com-plained my host, looking agonised.

Expectations have become colossalthese days.Even 15-year-olds are notspared. Stream selection is a bigdecision in life.Many childrenbow down to parental pres-sure and do not once thinkwhat subject or career theywould like to pursue.Personal preferences,passion and dreams are

easily forgotten in the race to win. In-stead of developing personalities, edu-cation seems to have become market-driven. I can’t say about others, but Isuppose I wasmore likeAisha — Wor-rying less andliving more. �

In a highly competitive world, should youngsters worry less and live more, or vice versa, wonders ANJU BANDYOPADHYAY

‘Relax, there is still time to decide’

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

SACRED OBJECT

©G

ETTY

IMA

GES

EVENTS

Fakiri Jagran 51th 84-hour Akhand Fakiri Jagran

at Sri Durga Fakiri Mandir,

Karawal Nagar Road, Khazoori

Khas, till June 18, 9.15pm to

9.15am; call 22966145

Yoga CampMahaprabhu Ji’s Yoga Camp with

guidance of Yogacharya Amit Dev, at

Yogeshwar DeviDayal Mahamandir

A-77, Block 8,Tilak Nagar

June 18-24, 7am to 8.30am

For registration, call: 9911211777

VivekachudamaniTalk by Swami Durgeshanandaji on

Vivekachudamani at Ramana

Kendra, 8, Institutional Area

Lodhi Road, June 17, 5.30pm to

7pm; call 24626997

Rehab YogaPosture and alignment specialist

course at Gofitness Academy

B1-b6 basement, Janakpuri

June 22-24, 9am to 5pm

Call to register: 9871634858

Surya KriyaIsha Yoga Surya Kriya programme

at Isha Delhi Centre, 4 Osho

Drive, Mandi Road, Gadiapur

near Chattarpur Metro Station

June 22-24, 6pm to 8pm

Call 9650092102

Arka Vidya Vedic Healing course at Constitution

Club Of India, Rafi Marg, behind

Reserve Bank of India, June 23,

10am to 5.30pm

Call 9810305224

This WeekJune 17: Father’s Day

Vinayaka Chaturthi

June 18: Jamai Sasthi

June 20: Masik Durgashtami

Dhumavati Jayanti

June 21: International Day of Yoga

World Music Day, Mahesh Navami

June 23: Gayatri Jayanti

Nirjala Ekadashi

Whether it is asage, an ascetic,a yogi, a Saint

or even God, everyonehas to leave the world atthe appointed time. Theworld may say that so-and-so died of a debilitat-ing disease, but the fact isthat his time to die hadarrived. Even God doesnot stay a moment longerthan the scheduled periodof His descension. Thenhow can anyone else staybeyond his appointedtime? Jagadguru Shri Kri-palu Ji Maharaj resolves the mys-tery shrouding this misconcep-tion.

You may have heard of an in-cident in Ayodhya in this context.

Yamaraja came to Lord Rama totell Him that the period of Hisdescension was over.When Ya-maraja comes to God and theSaints, he places his head at their

feet and says,“I havecome to inform Youthat the period ofYour descension iscomplete.You maychoose to stay orleave. I am merelyfulfilling my duty.”He cannot forcethem to leave as hedoes for others.Nev-ertheless, thesupremely inde-pendent Rama didnot stay a momentlonger than Hisplanned 11,000

years. At the exact time, to thesecond,He left the world and thisis true for every descension ofGod and every Saint, whether itbe Tulsidas, Surdas,Mira or Kabir.

Seeing that even God, the law-maker Himself does not violateHis rule, why should the Saintswho are His servants, break thelaw?

When we say we do not wishto die, it can be for two possiblereasons.One reason is that we aretoo attached to the world — toour wealth, home, father, moth-er,wife or son, and so on and stillwish to enjoy them, and there-fore,we do not wish to leave.Onthe other hand, elevated aspirantshave a sensible reason for notwanting to die.They think,“I havenot attained God as yet. If I hadsome more time I still couldachieve my goal.”They want moretime, just like students who be-come very happy when given afew extra days to study for theirexams.God and Saints on the oth-er hand, have nothing to attain.They leave at the appropriatetime, without any reluctance.

In the Ramayana, the almightyLord Rama could not save Hisfather, Dashratha. In the Mahab-harata,Abhimanyu’s uncle was ShriKrishna, his father was the greatSaint,Arjuna and the person whoconducted his marriage was VedaVyasa, a descension of God.Yet,they all could not save him frombeing killed in the battle.Thenhow can God change the destinyof an ordinary person? Yet,we be-lieve on imposters who claim toavert the call of death merely byperforming petty rituals. Is Godso naive that He would get car-ried away with our insignificantofferings that too for our selfishmaterial needs?Kripalu Bhaktiyoga Tattvadarshan,

Vedic knowledge revealed by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj

as presented by the president ofJagadguru Kripalu Parishat

Dr Vishakha Tripathi jkp.org.in

T H E S P E A K I N G T R E EN E W D E L H I , J U N E 1 7, 2 0 1 8

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it— James Bryce

MeccaIn one of his religious journeys,

Guru Nanak with Bhai Mardana

set off for Mecca. Mecca is the most

sacred place in Islam.

By the time they reached near

Mecca, they were very tired. Guru

Nanak lay down to rest. Soon a

priest who was passing by noticed

that Nanak lay with his feet

towards the Mecca. He got very

angry and started shouting at Guru

Nanak. He asked Guru Nanak to

turn his feet in the other direction.

Guru Nanak agreed and changed

the direction of his feet, but the

priest was surprised to see that

Mecca was still in the direction of

Guru Nanak’s feet.

He started dragging Guru Nanak’s

feet in different directions, but in

whichever direction he moved them,

Mecca also moved in that direction.

On seeing this miracle,

he fell at Guru Nanak’s feet and

begged for forgiveness. Many other

people gathered around Guru

Nanak and started asking him

spiritual questions. Guru Nanak

taught them about God’s

omnipresence.

— Anita Lamba, Janam Sakhi

Follow The LightThe Warrior of the light had begun

to believe that it is better to follow

the light. He had already betrayed,

told lies, strayed off his path, paid

court to the darkness.

And everything continued going

well — as if nothing had

happened. Now he wants to change

his attitude.When taking this

decision, he hears four comments:

“You always acted wrongly.

You are too old to change.

You are not good.You don’t deserve

it”. He looks towards heaven, and a

voice says:“Well, my dear, everyone

has made mistakes.You are

forgiven, but I can’t force this

pardon. Decide for yourself”.The

true warrior of the light accepts the

pardon and then takes some

precautions.

— Paulo Coelho

Regn No. DELENG/2010/32022

Vol. No. 09 Issue No. 24

Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd

by Rajeev Yadav at Times House, 7, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,

New Delhi 110002 and printed by him at

Times of India Press, 13, Site IV Industrial Area,

Sahibabad (UP). Editor: Narayani Ganesh - responsible

for selection of news under PRB Act © All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written

permission of the publisher is prohibited.

MADE IN NEW DELHI

WISDOM TALES NEW ARRIVALS

Walk In This Light: Early morningtalks from Swami ChidanandaPublisher:The Divine Life Society Pages: 231Price: Rs 140

Persevere,persevere,persevereand never

think that anythingis impossible. Neverthink,“Oh, I will notbe able to attain this.”If you allow such athought to dominateyour mind, you be-come your own great-est obstacle....

Things do not get achieved, becauseone has given up the effort or one does notkeep on trying until success is attained.Sometimes one gives up the attempt dueto a variety of reasons — what particularreason it may be is only for the individualto say.While crossing a river you cannotafford to give up the effort in midstream,because you will neither reach the otherbank nor this bank,and that would be con-sidered foolish.There is a saying,“Havingplaced your hand upon the plow, there isno turning back until you reap the har-vest.” It may be after months of continu-ous effort, but because of this persistencethe harvest will be reaped.This saying isvery significant: it is the perseverance ofthe farmer that enables him to bring outthe miracle of the process from seed toabundant harvest. Sheer perseverance!

This is the key with which all the greatones have unlocked the portals of supremeblessedness.This is the key hinted at byPatanjali Maharishi in his Yoga Sutras, andthis is the key that gave success to all Bhak-tas in meeting Bhagavan. Savitri attainedher determined goal through perseverance.Markandeya was destined to die in his six-teenth year, but he became immortalthrough his perseverance.We are sitting onthe banks of the Ganga thanks to the per-severance of a prince of a noble royal fam-ily, Bhagiratha.

Perseverance is the one thing needful. Itis positivity and optimism, trust in God andfaith in oneself that make perseverance pos-sible and enable one to not give up. Perse-verance is the idea to reflect on here.Perse-verance is not obstinacy. It is a heroic virtueand it is sincerity that enables one to keepon persevering.Where there is sincerity andearnestness,perseverance follows.Therefore,persevere, persevere and keep on persever-ing! Whatever you aspire after will be at-tained. God bless you. Hari Om. �

— Swami Chidananda

Sree Narayana GuruA Comprehensive BiographyBy Asokan Vengassery KrishnanPublisher: Konark PublishersPages: 365Price: Rs 850

Naanu Swami stayed in Marut-wamala for around four yearsmeditating and conductingtapas.He went through various

phases of mystic expeditions. At times, forlong hours he remained in higher states of

contemplation,the process of harnessing in-ternal energy and wisdom.

As Naanu Swami’s meditations advancedin time and severity, he entered into pro-longed states of ecstasy.All forms and namesceased to exist,and the universe became sub-merged in the infinite Consciousness.A flood-gate of Light was opened, and all notions ofduality were burnt down.

According to Naanu Swami, the widehorizons of his mind and intellect were il-luminated as his enlightened self was lit si-multaneously by the light of a thousandsuns….

The rays of the pure and uncontami-nated love of fraternity that emanated from

him were so powerful that even wild ani-mals came to give him company.Thus, hewas experiencing the infinite bliss of unionwith all beings.His mind was filled with im-mense joy and compassion. By engaging ina concentrated mental process characterizedas mananam and nidhi-thyasanam,he was ableto dig through the mindseeking answers to all mys-teries of the universe andproblems of the world thathave been haunting hu-mans for millenniums.In that serene beauty ofsilence, the countlesssuns of the AbsoluteKnowledge illuminat-ed his inner sky ofwisdom, clearing allclouds of ignorance.

The answers to all the ages of doubtsand queries of contemplative men becameclear to Naanu Swami. �

— Asokan Vengassery Krishnan

Chaitanya MahaprabhuBy Chitrita BanerjiPublisher: JuggernautPages: Rs 200Price: Rs 499

Behind the placid routine of life athome, however, Nimai is stillmourning the loss of his fatherand his first wife.He is filled with

anguish whenever he thinks how Lakshmimust have suffered from the effects of thesnake venom raging in her body. Unnatur-al deaths like these are supposed to affect thesoul’s passage to the next world.After somemonths, Nimai decides to make anotherjourney — this time to the town of Gaya,one of Hinduism’s holiest sites. It is famedfor its temples dedicated to Vishnu and thereis an ancient belief that making offerings tothe dead in Gaya releases the soul from thecycle of rebirth….

This time,Nimai will not travel alone.He decides to join a group of pilgrimswith whom to make the trek to Gaya.Hisuncle,Chandrashekhar Acharya, also de-cides to accompany him.… Performingthe rituals of offering in Gaya brings himsolace, a sense of completion, of dutydone….Watching him go through theserituals, his uncle ChandrashekharAcharya hopes that after returning toNabadwip, Nimai will be able to set-tle down to the peaceful routine of beinga teacher and a family man.

This, however, is not to be.The unex-pected is only waiting round the corner.

During a visit tothe Vishnu tem-ple, where thereis a slab of stonein which twoenormous foot-prints — suppos-edly the footprintsof Vishnu himself —are embedded, Ni-mai is suddenly over-come with a flood ofintense emotion. He has an incredible vi-sion that he is unable to describe in words.The impact is simply astounding.He weepsand cries out the name of Krishna.He looksaround as if he actually expects to see thebeautiful blue-skinned god in these mor-tal surroundings. His uncle and his fellowpilgrims try to soothe him and bringinghim back to a sense of reality.Their successis only partial.

Soon after, while he is still in the graspof this mysterious emotional upheaval,Ni-

mai has one of the most pivotal en-counters of his life. He meets the holyman Ishwar Puri, a follower of the leg-endary Vaishnav practitioner Madhaben-dra Puri.While everybody else thinks thatNimai’s strange emotional outbursts indi-cate a relapse into the pattern of seizuresthat affected him in the past, Ishwar Puriinterprets his behaviour as a manifestationof something spiritual and otherworldly.With great tenderness,he takes Nimai un-der his wings and initiates him into the di-rect path of Vaishnav spiritualism by teach-ing him the Gopal Mantra. Nimai’s fellowtravellers, as they make ready to return toNabadwip, hope that the beneficial effectsof the mantra will reduce his seizures. Fornow they cannot imagine that within ashort time, this high-strung, emotionalyoung man will be transformed into theleader of a spiritual movement that willsweep through Bengal and beyond. �

— Chitrita Banerji

Sai Baba: Faqir Of ShirdiBy Kevin R D ShepherdPublisher: Sterling PublishersPages: 263Price: Rs 350

This book is an informative se-quel by author Kevin R DShepherd Sai Baba of Shirdi: ABiographical Investigation.The in-

ter-religious dimensions of Sai Baba areagain emphasised. His identity as an inde-pendent faqir is outlined. In nearly fortychapters,many aspects of Sai Baba’s life are

probed. His contact withHindu and Muslimdevotees achieves fur-ther profile. There aredetails about such fac-tors as his beggingrounds, his avoidance ofinitiation, his complextemperament that is oftenmisrepresented, and hisaffinity with bhakti. Fea-tures included are theNotebook of Abdul Baba, the

Shri Sai Satcharita of Govind Dabholkar,the Shirdi Diary of Ganesh Khaparde, andthe 1920s memoir of Hari Dixit. �

Kalidasa — RitusamharamTranslated by A N D HaksarPublisher: PenguinBooksPages: 178Price: Rs 399

MONA MEHTA

Fifth centu-ry poetKal ida sa ,who was

one of the ninejewels in the court of Chan-dragupta II, wrote sevenworks, including epics, lyricalpoems, and dramatic plays.The poem Ritusamharam isconsidered to be the ‘simplestand lithest’ of them all,writesA N D Haksar, in his intro-duction to the book.Sanskritscholar and long-term careerdiplomat, Aditya NarayanDhairyasheel Haksar hastranslated several works ofSanskrit into English, bring-ing ancient texts alive formost of us who are not fa-miliar with theclassical language.Ritusamharam is hisrecent labour oflove.Summer has arrived,my dear,The sun is fierce, themoon sought after;to plunge in pools ofshaded wateris to be immersed inpleasure;lovely is the end of day when desire calmed does stay.— Verse 1

So begins the first canto.A chaste Sanskrit verse ren-dered in easy flowing Englishby Haksar suddenly makes thesun outside less hot.The night, the moon, dark wa-ters with somewhere in them a wondrousfountain,the coolth of sandal paste andgems:all of these, my love, are ways

for people to enjoy the summer.— Verse 2

The sun outside does notseem to be so blazing.

The wind may be unbearable,

So laden with dust it is;

The earth may be lying

scorched in the fierce blaze from

the sun

But the traveller, his mind

aflame with the fire of

separation

From his sweetheart dearly

loved

Does not even think of the heat — Verse 10

Lovers are not the onlyones who don’t mind theheat. Kalidasa’s poetry, couldconvince anyone, like it didme, that hey, summer isn’t so

bad, after all.With the sensi-

tivity of a true poet,Kalidasa then de-scribes in great de-tail what happens toplants and animalsin the summer heat.When viewed fromhigh above;

the forest is a fearful sightWith water diminishing every-whereIn the heat of a glaring sun,With bamboo sprouts by firesinged, and dry leaves swirling inthe wind— Verse 22

A romantic poet to thebone, Kalidasa subsequentlyends the first canto, wishingreaders a happy summer, inthe following words:But — a lake covered with lo-tus blooms,Pleasant bathing in its waters,

The lovely scent oftrumpet flowers,Moonlight spread-ing a web enjoy-able,And, at night,some music sweetWith beautifuland charmingmaidensOn the terrace ofa mansion;

Thus happily,may your summerpass.— Verse 28

Divided into six cantos,the book takes the readerthrough the seasons — mon-soon, autumn, onset of win-ter, winter, and then spring,making each season equallyenticing.

Spread over 178 pages, thisdelightful work of poetryfrom a popular poet of an-cient times has the power tochange the way one looks atthe weather and the world,all thanks to the engaging waythe Sanskrit text has beentranslated into English.

Haksar’s translation ofKalidasa’s Ritusamharam is anunputdownable work of art;it makes accessible, fine San-skrit poetry that romanticis-es even summer — turningeven the heat and dust, intocreative opportunity that in-spires lyrical imagination,car-rying us across the season ina far better, even romantic,state of mind. �

Post your comments atspeakingtree.in

A Gathering Of Seasons

SHELF LIFE

No One Can Escape Death

DR

VIS

HA

KH

A T

RIP

AT

HI