The Dance of Nataraja

mukesh parmar said...
3:36 PM 26/Jan/07
when you have read the scriptures of all the religion, you know the highest. These things dont matter. It is all play of energy.

You are right, Mukeshji, everything is the play of energy or consciousness.

India, land of freedom, therefore land of opportunities

[This was a comment on blog congratulating the first Dalit to become Chief Justice.]
Venu Gopal said...
7:47 PM 21/Jan/07
India is the land of freedom and therefore land of opportunities. We did have our bleak period of history but even then some sections of society were only marginalized but there was nothing like ethnic cleansing in our society unlike what happened, say, in Arabia when Islam came on the scene.

Ennui

andipatti.rediffiland.com/
Sunday 21 January, 2007
21:18 20/Jan/2007 3 Comment(s)

ENNUI
Ennui.......the feeling,,, that we have beenthere......and done it......nothihg new............Thres' nothing new to be done...................we seen it all happen.....what's new..........Life goes on.........It has to.........................The same old arguments......tiring...............we thirst for something new.....out of blue..The drudgery,,,mind blowing,,,solace not toBe found.....in repeating what we did.......Some thing different,, ................................There's nothing new, my friend,,,world goeson as it is.....same old faces,mouthing sameold lines........................................................... You and me.....fated to hear same oldthings.................wonder,,,why cant it be........different........................................................... IT has to be like this........................ LIFE'S LIKE THAT................................RAJ.

Venu Gopal said...
12:21 PM 21/Jan/07

It is all in the mind. We must not adopt a like-dislike position to any of our feelings. We must simply be aware of them and we will realise that nothing can trouble us. Suppose we make a mistake in our work and we are filled with a fear of the consequences. When this feeling of fear comes up, we try to escape from the feeling because we dislike the feeling. We therefore try to divert our mind by imagining that the consequence won't be bad after all or we plot to cover up our mistake. Instead, if we allow our fear to express itself and we simply watch it having an effect on us, we would thereby have learnt a deeper lesson from our fear and we would have seen our mistake in proper perspective and we would be fresh for remedial action.

Explanation of my blog

Dear Fasahat Khan,
Thank you for your comments to my blogs.
I have not heard of “self-verbalisation phenomenon”. I wish to read something about it and shall be thankful if you could tell me on which site I would find the material.
I wrote the blog on the difference between Hinduism and Islam as a piece of comparative religion. Islam is well known for its strict teaching that there is only one God. There is an impression that Hinduism believes in many Gods, which, when we define God as the absolute is not possible as there cannot be more than one absolute. The so many deities we see are all expressions of that one truth. Ekam Sat Vipraha Bahuta Vadanti - Truth is One but the wise express it variously.
However, Hinduism goes beyond Islam as Islam separates the Creator and the Created whereas Hinduism with its Advaita vision, says everything is one - there is only oneness and this oneness is the consciousness which is inherent in man also and the nature of this oneness, called Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma the Creator) is Sat Chit Ananda - Eternal Joyous Consciousness.
Islam says man is Allah's slave whereas Hinduism says that man is divine, a spark of the absolute. Loyalty is called for from the slave. Loyalty also implies there is more than one to whom loyalty could be given. I believe there are contradictions here in Islamic teachings, or I may be mistaken.
Please enlighten me. I am only a student of these things.
Looking forward to hearing from you ou you may write a blog in rediffiland on the subject so that others can join in and guide.
RegardsK.Venugopal

Vasudeva Kutumbakkam

Comment on 'notanobserver.rediffiland.com/'s blog.

All land belongs to all of mankind. This ought to be our understanding. We should have a borderless world. No one should have any objection to anyone settling anywhere, provided settlement or residential laws, drawn up by enlightened liberal people, something like a UN charter, are adhered to. In this age of globalisation, we should give once more the clarion call of 'Vasudeva Kutumbakkam'.

Artistic freedom and all that

To: Bhardwaj Velamakanni

Thanks for your comments to my blog. My basic positiion is that freedom of expression, however pungent, must be allowed. The proper response to expressions unacceptable to us would be to express the reasons for our aversion. I fully support the Danish cartoonists and the Muslims' right to point out why the cartoonists were idiots. But under no circumstances should anybody's expressions be out of circulation. Now that we have such an ideal medium of freedm as the internet, we should cherish it and protect it from any form of censoring. In the name of expression, of course, there should be no physical violence.

A look-alike

Kanchanji, You look like Shekhar Gupta of Indian express, at least in your blog photo.

Comment on a review of Guru

I am not much of a movie goer. But enjoyed your review. Now will wait for it to hit the small screen.

1. Arjuna Vishada Yoga

1. Arjuna Vishada Yoga
Arjuna vishada yoga (Arjuna's despondency)The first chapter of Gita, though it contains no words of Sri krishna, is considered important because it sets stage for what is to come. As Arjuna puts forward his dilemma, we realize that Arjuna is none other than us! His dilemma is similar (thought not exactly...we shall see why)to the ones we keep facing day in and day out in the battle field of life. One question that must have already popped up in ur mind is, "We have heard of Gnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakthi yoga..etc But what is this vishada yoga!!! How can despondency, depression and confusion be yoga! How can such a negetive state be called Yoga!"The point here is Arjuna's confusion was not in choosing between different wordly options! He is not depressed because he did not attain his wordly goal! His despondancy is not to be the object of favor for anybody or to win accolades! On the contrary, after looking at the kith n kin that he is supposed to kill in the battlefield, Arjuna says, "Oh! krishna, After having killed all my dear ones what is the use of kingdom,wealth and fame! I wouldnt even take the three lokas in exchange for my dear ones, then why fight for a small piece of earth. Let them take it if they want. If they think i am coward, let it be! But am not going to kill them!" He was ready to renounce everything, wordly objects of wealth as well as accolades for his dear ones. Such "despondancy" is supposed to be "yoga" where you dont want ANYTHING !Leaving EVERYTHING and complete surrender to God is yoga! Hence Arjuna's Despondancy is also a Yoga, whereas ours is not!One may wonder, "What Arjuna thinks is right! After all, human life is more valuable than a piece of land. Life of our revered gurus, grandfathers, uncles and beloved cousins is all the more important than wordly possessions which are anyway temporary!So why did Krishna ask Arjuna to fight?!"Because there is something more important, "Dharma!" And it is the obligation of every righteous person to stand and fight on behalf of Dharma. Krishna tells Arjuna that even human life is temporary! "All those for whom you are crying, and you and me have had thousands of births...It is only that i remember and you dont! They have been there eternally and will continue to be so. To protect Dharma, which is my prime duty, i would have to kill anyone fighting on behalf of Adharma! "I" have decided that they should be killed and that Adharma should be demolished! Come out of the foolishness of thinking that YOU are going to KILL them."Running away from such spiritual obligations–and therefore spiritual life itself–is a common activity of the awakening soul, which brings all its ingenuity to bear on justification of such avoidance. Arjuna veils his aversion with words of compassion for others, when in actuality he is the sole object of his “compassion.” He simply does not wish to see others suffer because that will make him suffer–and feel guilty for their suffering. Krishna makes this clear to him.Why was the battlefield chosen as the stage for Arjuna's instruction? The choice has tremendous literary effect, but the explanation goes deeper than that. It shows vividly that the inner warfare is to be waged on the battlefield of life, not through withdrawal from life. Krishna might have instructed Arjuna in a cave far from distractions, but no: instead a battlefield is chosen, a setting where the teaching is immediately to be put into effect by combining the most strenuous outer activity with the right attitude of mind.


The purpose of life is to discover the divine in ourselves. But at some point in the course of living even a spiritual life, we would come across characters who would disturb the harmony of the circumstances. At that time we would have no choice but to strive to restore the harmony. But ofttimes, the disharmony is so great that an individual’s efforts, howsoever powerful he is, is not enough. At such times is the need for organization. But in certain epochal times of history, the imbalance against the forces of harmony is so great, that God alone can restore the equilibrium. One such time happened during the age of the Mahabharata and Krishna came down to restore harmony (Dharma). Krishna used Arjuna for the job. This was possible due to Krishna's spiritual prowess. Arjuna, being the best of the Bharatha’s should himself have done it. But obviously he was not up to his task because he was not spiritually advanced. Nevertheless he had other qualities. Therefore Krishna chose him.

When even the best are unable to restore Dharma, God, having a stake in mankind, would descend to take over operation Dharma-restoration. This is the promise that Krishna himself has given to mankind, not to make mankind indifferent to upholding their duty in line of Dharma, but to give mankind hope even in direst circumstances that everything is not lost. Which fact actually sets everyone on the path of spirituality, for man begins his journey of life very vulnerable, unsure of the future and he turns to Krishna the hope giver. This link turns into a relationship of love between man and Krishna and then begins his journey to divinity, ever ready to uphold Dharma under all circumstances. Thus, in man’s spiritual journey, Vishada (vulnerability) is the beginning, which transforms itself into Vishada Yoga (the overcoming of vulnerability through contact with Krishna) and finally into Yoga (self realization).

Does Arjuna attain self realization at the end?

Talking to oneself - CONTINUUM

Talking to oneself - CONTINUUM

Our biggest problem is our restlessness. What we need most is a restful mind. How do we acquire a restful mind? Among the many techniques prescribed by the masters, it is said that 'japa' (continuous repetition of a mantra) is the easiest. I was wondering, instead of repetition of a mantra, why don't we simply talk to ourselves continously (silently, of course). This way we would be able to acquire proficiency in the language. Language has as its soul logic. So in usage of language our mind becomes logical too. It is important that we seek to use language approaching the level of literature when we converse to ourselves. This will make us more refined.

I've called my little technique 'CONTINUUM'. There are other aspects to CONTINUUM. I'll spill the beans in future posts.

Writing for good health

Writing helps us to collect our thoughts. Since we are not just what we think but also how we think, careful usage of language leads to an orderly thought process, which in turn leads to a restful mind as opposed to a restless mind we may be trapped in if we fail to collect our thoughts in proper language. A restful mind leads to a relaxed body and such a body-mind synthesis is the hallmark of good health.So let’s blog on for good health, no less, being mindful of not just what we say, but also how we say it. May good literature flourish on the pages of rediffiland!