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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/indian-freedom-struggle-1857-1947/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/indian-freedom-struggle-1857-1947/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2015 14:54:37 +0000 admin Articles Focus on http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7473 Indian Freedom Struggle (1857-1947) In ancient times, people from all over the world were keen to come to India. The Aryans came from Central Europe and settled down in India. The Persians followed by the Iranians and Parsis immigrated to India. Then came the Moghuls and they too settled down permanently in India. Chengis Khan, […]

Indian Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)

In ancient times, people from all over the world were keen to come to India. The Aryans came from Central Europe and settled down in India. The Persians followed by the Iranians and Parsis immigrated to India. Then came the Moghuls and they too settled down permanently in India. Chengis Khan, the Mongolian, invaded and looted India many times. Alexander the Great too, came to conquer India but went back after a battle with Porus. He-en Tsang from China came in pursuit of knowledge and to visit the ancient Indian universities of Nalanda and Takshila. Columbus wanted to come to India, but instead landed on the shores of America. Vasco da Gama from Portugal came to trade his country’s goods in return for Indian species. The French came and established their colonies in India.

Lastly, the Britishers came and ruled over India for nearly 200 years. After the battle of Plassey in 1757, the British achieved political power in India. And their paramountcy was established during the tenure of Lord Dalhousie, who became the Governor- General in 1848. He annexed Punjab, Peshawar and the Pathan tribes in the north-west of India. And by 1856, the British conquest and its authority were firmly established. And while the British power gained its heights during the middle of the 19 ^th century, the discontent of the local rulers, the peasantry, the intellectuals, common masses as also of the soldiers who became unemployed due to the disbanding of the armies of various states that were annexed by the British, became widespread. This soon broke out into a revolt which assumed the dimensions of the 1857 Mutiny.

The Indian Mutiny of 1857

The conquest of India, which could be said to have begun with the Battle of Plassey (1757), was practically completed by the end of Dalhousie’s tenure in 1856. It had been by no means a smooth affair as the simmering discontent of the people manifested itself in many localized revolt during this period. However, the Mutiny of 1857, which began with a revolt of the military soldiers at Meerut, soon became widespread and posed a grave challenge to the British rule. Even though the British succeeded in crushing it within a year, it was certainly a popular revolt in which the Indian rulers, the masses and the militia participated so enthusiastically that it came to be regarded as the First War of Indian Independence.

Introduction of zamindari system by the British, where the peasants were ruined through exorbitant charges made from them by the new class of landlords. The craftsmen were destroyed by the influx of the British manufactured goods. The religion and the caste system which formed the firm foundation of the traditional Indian society was endangered by the British administration. The Indian soldiers as well as people in administration could not rise in hierarchy as the senior jobs were reserved for the Europeans. Thus, there was all-round discontent and disgust against the British rule, which burst out in a revolt by the ‘sepoys’ at Meerut whose religious sentiments were offended when they were given new cartridges greased with cow and pig fat, whose covering had to be stripped out by biting with the mouth before using them in rifles. The Hindu as well as the Muslim soldiers, who refused to use such cartridges, were arrested which resulted in a revolt by their fellow soldiers on May 9, 1857.

The rebel forces soon captured Delhi and the revolt spread to a wider area and there was uprising in almost all parts of the country. The most ferocious battles were fought in Delhi, Awadh, Rohilkhand, Bundelkhand, Allahabad, Agra, Meerut and western Bihar. The rebellious forces under the commands of Kanwar Singh in Bihar and Bakht Khan in Delhi gave a stunning blow to the British. In Kanpur, Nana Sahib was proclaimed as the Peshwa and the brave leader Tantya Tope led his troops. Rani Lakshmibai was proclaimed the ruler of Jhansi who led her troops in the heroic battles with the British. The Hindus, the Muslims, the Sikhs and all the other brave sons of India fought shoulder to shoulder to throw out the British. The revolt was controlled by the British within one year, it began from Meerut on 10 May 1857 and ended in Gwalior on 20 June 1858.

End of the East India Company

Consequent to the failure of the Revolt of 1857 rebellion, one also saw the end of the East India Company’s rule in India and many important changes took place in the British Government’s policy towards India which sought to strengthen the British rule through winning over the Indian princes, the chiefs and the landlords. Queen Victoria’s Proclamation of November 1, 1858 declared that thereafter India would be governed by and in the name of the British Monarch through a Secretary of State.

The Governor General was given title of Viceroy, which meant the representative of the Monarch. Queen Victoria assumed the title of the Empress of India and thus gave the British Government unlimited powers to intervene in the internal affair of the Indian states. In brief, the British paramountcy over India, including the Indian States, was firmly established. The British gave their support to the loyal princes, zamindar and local chiefs but neglected the educated people and the common masses. They also promoted the other interests like those of the British merchants, industrialists, planters and civil servants. The people of India, as such, did not have any say in running the government or formulation of its policies. Consequently, people’s disgust with the British rule kept mounting, which gave rise to the birth of Indian National Movement.

The leadership of the freedom movement passed into the hands of reformists like Raja Rammohan Roy, Bankim Chandra and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. During this time, the binding psychological concept of National Unity was also forged in the fire of the struggle against a common foreign oppressor.

Raja Rammohan Roy (1772-1833) founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 which aimed at purging the society of all its evil practices. He worked for eradicating evils like sati, child marriage and purdah system, championed widow marriage and women’s education and favoured English system of education in India. It was through his effort that sati was declared a legal offence by the British.

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) the disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, established the Ramkrishna Mission at Belur in 1897. He championed the supremacy of Vedantic philosophy. His talk at the Chicago (USA) Conference of World Religions in 1893 made the westerners realize the greatness of Hinduism for the first time.

Formation of Indian National Congress (INC)

The foundations of the Indian National Movement were laid by Suredranath Banerjee with the formation of Indian Association at Calcutta in 1876. The aim of the Association was to represent the views of the educated middle class, inspire the Indian community to take the value of united action. The Indian Association was, in a way, the forerunner of the Indian National Congress, which was founded, with the help of A.O. Hume, a retired British official. The birth of Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 marked the entry of new educated middle-class into politics and transformed the Indian political horizon. The first session of the Indian National Congress was held in Bombay in December 1885 under the president ship of Womesh Chandra Banerjee and was attended among others by and Badr-uddin-Tyabji.

At the turn of the century, the freedom movement reached out to the common unlettered man through the launching of the “Swadeshi Movement” by leaders such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo Ghose. The Congress session at Calcutta in 1906, presided by Dadabhai Naoroji, gave a call for attainment of ‘Swaraj’ a type of self-government elected by the people within the British Dominion, as it prevailed in Canada and Australia, which were also the parts of the British Empire.

Meanwhile, in 1909, the British Government announced certain reforms in the structure of Government in India which are known as Morley-Minto Reforms. But these reforms came as a disappointment as they did not mark any advance towards the establishment of a representative Government. The provision of special representation of the Muslim was seen as a threat to the Hindu-Muslim unity on which the strength of the National Movement rested. So, these reforms were vehemently opposed by all the leaders, including the Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Subsequently, King George V made two announcements in Delhi: firstly, the partition of Bengal, which had been effected in 1905, was annulled and, secondly, it was announced that the capital of India was to be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.

The disgust with the reforms announced in 1909 led to the intensification of the struggle for Swaraj. While, on one side, the activists led by the great leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal waged a virtual war against the British, on the other side, the revolutionaries stepped up their violent activities There was a widespread unrest in the country. To add to the already growing discontent among the people, Rowlatt Act was passed in 1919, which empowered the Government to put people in jail without trial. This caused widespread indignation, led to massive demonstration and hartals, which the Government repressed with brutal measures like the Jaliawalla Bagh massacre, where thousand of unarmed peaceful people were gunned down on the order of General Dyer.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

Jalianwala Bagh massacre of April 13, 1919 was one of the most inhuman acts of the British rulers in India. The people of Punjab gathered on the auspicious day of Baisakhi at Jalianwala Bagh, adjacent to Golden Temple (Amritsar), to lodge their protest peacefully against persecution by the British Indian Government. General Dyer appeared suddenly with his armed police force and fired indiscriminately at innocent empty handed people leaving hundreds of people dead, including women and children.

After the First World War (1914-1918), Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi became the undisputed leader of the Congress. During this struggle, Mahatma Gandhi had developed the novel technique of non-violent agitation, which he called ‘Satyagraha’, loosely translated as ‘moral domination’. Gandhi, himself a devout Hindu, also espoused a total moral philosophy of tolerance, brotherhood of all religions, non-violence (ahimsa) and of simple living. With this, new leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose also emerged on the scene and advocated the adoption of complete independence as the goal of the National Movement.

The Non-Cooperation Movement

The Non-Cooperation Movement was pitched in under leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress from September 1920 to February 1922, marking a new awakening in the Indian Independence Movement. After a series of events including the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, Gandhiji realised that there was no prospect of getting any fair treatment at the hands of British, so he planned to withdraw the nation’s co-operation from the British Government, thus launching the Non-Cooperation Movement and thereby marring the administrative set up of the country. This movement was a great success as it got massive encouragement to millions of Indians. This movement almost shook the British authorities.

Simon Commission

The Non-cooperation movement failed. Therefore there was a lull in political activities. The Simon Commission was sent to India in 1927 by the British Government to suggest further reforms in the structure of Indian Government. The Commission did not include any Indian member and the Government showed no intention of accepting the demand for Swaraj. Therefore, it sparked a wave of protests all over the country and the Congress as well as the Muslim League gave a call to boycott it under the leadership of Lala Lajpat Rai. The crowds were lathi charged and Lala Lajpat Rai, also called Sher-e-Punjab (Lion of Punjab) died of the blows received in an agitation.

Civil Disobedience Movement

Mahatma Gandhi led the Civil Disobedience Movement that was launched in the Congress Session of December 1929. The aim of this movement was a complete disobedience of the orders of the British Government. During this movement it was decided that India would celebrate 26 ^th January as Independence Day all over the country. On 26 ^th January 1930, meetings were held all over the country and the Congress tricolour was hoisted. The British Government tried to repress the movement and resorted to brutal firing, killing hundreds of people. Thousands were arrested along with Gandhiji and Jawaharlal Nehru. But the movement spread to all the four corners of the country Following this, Round Table Conferences were arranged by the British and Gandhiji attended the second Round Table Conference at London. But nothing came out of the conference and the Civil Disobedience Movement was revived.

During this time, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were arrested on the charges of throwing a bomb in the Central Assembly Hall (which is now Lok Sabha) in Delhi, to demonstrate against the autocratic alien rule. They were hanged to death on March 23, 1931.

Quit India Movement

In August 1942, Gandhiji started the ‘Quit India Movement’ and decided to launch a mass civil disobedience movement ‘Do or Die’ call to force the British to leave India. The movement was followed, nonetheless, by large-scale violence directed at railway stations, telegraph offices, government buildings, and other emblems and institutions of colonial rule. There were widespread acts of sabotage, and the government held Gandhi responsible for these acts of violence, suggesting that they were a deliberate act of Congress policy. However, all the prominent leaders were arrested, the Congress was banned and the police and army were brought out to suppress the movement.

Meanwhile, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who stealthily ran away from the British detention in Calcutta, reached foreign lands and organized the Indian National Army (INA) to overthrow the British from India.

The Second World War broke out in September of 1939 and without consulting the Indian leaders, India was declared a warring state (on behalf of the British) by the Governor General. Subhash Chandra Bose, with the help of Japan, preceded fighting the British forces and not only freed Andaman and Nicobar Islands from the Britishers but also entered the north-eastern border of India. But in 1945 Japan was defeated and Netaji proceeded from Japan through an aeroplane to a place of safety but met with an accident and it was given out that he died in that air-crash itself.

“Give me blood and I shall give you freedom” – was one of the most popular statements made by him, where he urges the people of India to join him in his freedom movement.

Partition of India and Pakistan

At the conclusion of the Second World War, the Labour Party, under Prime Minister Clement Richard Attlee, came to power in Britain. The Labour Party was largely sympathetic towards Indian people for freedom. A Cabinet Mission was sent to India in March 1946, which after a careful study of the Indian political scenario, proposed the formation of an interim Government and convening of a Constituent Assembly comprising members elected by the provincial legislatures and nominees of the Indian states. An interim Government was formed headed by Jawaharlal Nehru. However, the Muslim League refused to participate in the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly and pressed for the separate state for Pakistan. Lord Mountbatten, the Viceroy of India, presented a plan for the division of India into India and Pakistan, and the Indian leaders had no choice but to accept the division, as the Muslim League was adamant.

Thus, India became free at the stroke of midnight, on August 14, 1947. (Since then, every year India celebrates its Independence Day on 15 ^th August). Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minster of free India and continued his term till 1964. Giving voice to the sentiments of the nation, Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said,

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance…. We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.

Earlier, a Constituent Assembly was formed in July 1946, to frame the Constitution of India and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected its President. The Constitution of India which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 ^th November 1949. On January 26, 1950, the Constitution was came into force and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected the first President of India.

Courtesy : http://www.archive.india.gov.in

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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/when-the-mind-is-in-the-present-moment-swami-chinmayananda/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/when-the-mind-is-in-the-present-moment-swami-chinmayananda/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2015 14:36:27 +0000 admin Articles http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7469 When the mind drops its perceptions of sense objects and stops identification with its thought dances, at that stage in meditation, the mind is no-mind. When thoughts rush out in their mad fury to hug objects of pleasure, they are called extrovert thoughts, and to quiet these is the sacred function of the path of […]

When the mind drops its perceptions of sense objects and stops identification with its thought dances, at that stage in meditation, the mind is no-mind. When thoughts rush out in their mad fury to hug objects of pleasure, they are called extrovert thoughts, and to quiet these is the sacred function of the path of meditation. When these outgoing thoughts are eliminated, the resulting condition of the mind is known as the no-thought state of highest mediation.

Thoughts gush in to flood the mind with angry bursts of self-riotous compulsions mainly from two sources: the past and the future. Some thoughts stem from the past, dragging along with them memories of the good and bad done in the days gone by. These confuse the individual with regrets and sorrows, joys and pleasures raised by his memory from the stinking tombs of the past, forcing him to relive the dead past in the fragrant moments of the present.

The future is the other source of our thoughts. We are often flown upon the wings of our mind’s fancy and imagination to a world of dreams — where we are made to shudder at the future possibilities of failure, tremble in hopes of successes, and swoon in the expectation of total losses or large profits.

The past is made up of dead moments and to unearth the buried moments is to live with the dead. We do so when we waste our energies in unproductive and wasteful regrets over things we have already committed. The more we remember them those very vasanas are getting more deeply fixed into our personality structure.

When we are not engaging ourselves with the negative preoccupation of entertaining the regrets of the past, we are wandering in the fairy castles of our fancied future, peopled with ugly fears, horrid dreams, unnerving hopes, and perhaps, a thousand impossible expectations.

In short, when our minds are not rattled by the perception of objects, let us not thereby conclude that we have quieted our thoughts. Often, it is not so. The mind, when it is not engaged in the worldly objects that are right in front of it, can choose its own private fields of agitation by dragging up the buried corpses of a diseased past or by bringing up vivid pictures of a tragic hopelessness as the sure possibility of the immediate future! In either case the mind of the individual at meditation can get sadly disturbed.

Therefore, the rishis advise us: “Moment to moment engage the outgoing mind to live in the present. Completely reject the past. Renounce the future totally. Then, in such a bosom, the agitated mind shall reach the state of mindlessness.” This state of mind is called no-mind.

The content of the present moment, divorced from all relationships with the past and future, is the absolute fullness of the Infinite. Eternity is experienced at the sacred depth of the present moment. To live in the present, independent of the past and the future, is to experience samadhi, the revealing culmination of meditation. Seek it yourself. Nobody can give it to anyone else. Each will have to reach there all by himself, in himself, with no other vehicle than himself. (August 3 is Sadhana Day. Swami Chinmayananda, founder of Chinmaya Mission, took mahasamadhi on this day in 1993).

Courtesy : http://www.speakingtree.in

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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/yoga-of-synthesis-by-swami-sivananda/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/yoga-of-synthesis-by-swami-sivananda/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2015 05:28:32 +0000 admin Articles http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7463 The mind has three defects, namely, impurity, tossing and veil of ignorance. The impurities could be removed by the practice of Karma Yoga and selfless service; the tossing by devotion and chanting; ignorance by the practice of Jnana Yoga, that is, inquiry, analysis, service and meditation. Then Self-realisation is possible. Action, emotion and intelligence […]

The mind has three defects, namely, impurity, tossing and veil of ignorance. The impurities could be removed by the practice of Karma Yoga and selfless service; the tossing by devotion and chanting; ignorance by the practice of Jnana Yoga, that is, inquiry, analysis, service and meditation. Then Self-realisation is possible.

Action, emotion and intelligence are linked to this body. They should work in perfect harmony, in unison. The Yoga of Synthesis alone will develop the head, heart and hand, and lead one to perfection. To become harmoniously balanced in all directions is the ideal of religion and of yoga.

To behold one’s Self in all beings is jnana, wisdom; to love the Self is bhakti, devotion; to serve the Self is karma, action. When the jnana yogi attains wisdom, he is endowed with devotion and selfless activity.

Karma Yoga is spontaneous expression of his spiritual nature, as he sees the one Self in all. With perfection in devotion, the practitioner is possessed of wisdom and activity. For him, Karma Yoga is a spontaneous expression of his divine nature, as he beholds the One everywhere. The karma yogi attains wisdom and devotion when his actions are selfless. Through Yoga, the Self can be seen, loved and served.

Follow one yoga as the basic and combine other yogas. A little practice of Hatha Yoga — asanas and pranayamas — will give you good health; Raja Yoga will steady your mind; upasana and Karma Yoga will purify your heart and prepare you for the practice of vedanta. Sankirtan will relax your mind and inspire you. Meditation will take you to liberation.

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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/keyword-is-compassion-by-h-h-dalai-lama/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/keyword-is-compassion-by-h-h-dalai-lama/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2015 05:26:07 +0000 admin Articles http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7461 How do we develop concern for others and for ourselves? Analyse and make comparisons, and then develop a conviction for change. You could start by analysing the value of negative feelings or ill-feeling towards others. Then you can consider what that means to you and how you feel about yourself. Then probe the value […]

How do we develop concern for others and for ourselves? Analyse and make comparisons, and then develop a conviction for change. You could start by analysing the value of negative feelings or ill-feeling towards others. Then you can consider what that means to you and how you feel about yourself.

T hen probe the value of the mental attitude and value of the mind that shows concern and compassion for others. Analyse and make comparisons between these two mental attitudes. I have found that a lack of self-confidence and insecurity brings about fears, frustrations and depression.

However, if your nature changes to a selfless concern for the welfare of others, you will experience calmness, a sense of inner strength and self-confidence.

The capacity for compassion one has for others is the measuring rod for one’s own mental state, and compassion develops an inner strength.…

Many people believe that the practice of love, compassion and forgiveness is of benefit to others and will serve no specific purpose to one’s self. I think that is wrong. These positive emotions will immediately help one’s own mental state.

Many believe that meditation means closing your eyes and sitting motionless, but there are various levels of meditation. Analytical meditation can divert the mind from the problems at hand, but it doesn’t help in reducing your problems.

The better way is to face the problem and tackle it from various aspects, reducing mental burden. The problem may remain but the mind achieves peace and calm, and the problem can be dealt with more effectively and positively.

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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/environmental-ethos-in-vedic-times-by-kamla-nath-sharma/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/environmental-ethos-in-vedic-times-by-kamla-nath-sharma/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2015 15:12:36 +0000 admin Articles http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7435 Today, the natural resources of the earth are being mindlessly exploited globally far beyond need, resulting in a poor state of their regeneration and causing irreversible damage to the planet. This year’s World Environment Day theme – ‘Seven billion dreams. One planet. Consume with care.’ — therefore, is highly relevant. Starting from space, a Vedic mantra, […]

Today, the natural resources of the earth are being mindlessly exploited globally far beyond need, resulting in a poor state of their regeneration and causing irreversible damage to the planet. This year’s World Environment Day theme – ‘Seven billion dreams. One planet. Consume with care.’ — therefore, is highly relevant.

Starting from space, a Vedic mantra, ‘prithivy apah tejah vayuh akashat’ depicts sequential primal appearance of the five basic gross substances, called ‘panch mahabhuta’ — namely, space, air, fire or energy, water and earth — from which all universal matter is created.

Water has enjoyed the highest social and religious status in ancient Indic culture. Prayers in all four main vedas, refer to water as nectar, honey, source of life, protector of earth and environment, cleanser of sins, generator of prosperity, and ambrosia. Sages in Yajurveda pray thus: “O Water, thou art the reservoir of welfare and propriety, sustain us to become strong. We look up to thee to be blessed by thy kind ambrosia on this earth. O water, we approach thee to get rid of our sins”. Rivers were considered divine and worshipped as goddesses and people were ordained to use their life-sustaining waters most judiciously and with greatest reverence.

Today, we have lost sight of the fact that the resources are finite. Of all of earth’s water, only 0.007% is accessible for human use. Today, globally more than 1.1 billion people have inadequate availability of water.

In vedic cosmology, Prithvi or earth symbolises material base as mother and the Dyaus, upper sky or heaven, symbolises the unmanifested immortal source as father, which together and between them, provide paryavaran, the environment.

An Atharva Veda hymn says, ‘Mata bhoomih putroham prithivyaah’, reminding us of our responsibility not only towards our motherland but also to Planet Earth. The mantra refers to earth differently as ‘bhoomi’ and ‘prithvi’ implying that while my motherland is my mother, I am also a child of Planet Earth.

TheYajurveda addresses Prithvi as a guardian, praised for being benevolent to humankind, and is prayed to for continued protection: ‘O Earth! Fill up your broad heart with the vital healing air, waters and flora. May the benevolent life-giving air circulate for a bountiful Earth’. Another prayer says, ‘Pleasant be you to us, O Earth, without a thorn be our habitation. May your development grant us bliss and sustenance’.

In hymns of the Rig Veda, seers seek blessings of the sun and wish every part of the earth to be prosperous and mountains, waters, and rivers to be propitious. The importance of vital healing air, fresh unpolluted waters and healthy flora on earth was recognised and wished for in the hymns of the Atharva Veda.

Nature and its seasons are governed by cosmic laws of integration and balance, called ‘Rit’ in the vedas. Keeping an eye on Rit, human activities can be directed to global sustainable development. A hymn of the Yajur Veda says, ‘O learned people, fully realise your conduct towards different objects of the universe’. But, in today’s world we are misusing scientific and technological breakthroughs to indiscreetly and greedily exploit natural resources, thereby causing imbalances that make it difficult to maintain natural harmony.

Ancient Indic philosophy always wished for everyone to be happy and free from ailments, ‘Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niraamayaah’ – Let everyone be well and happy — and pleaded for an all-inclusive holistic development on the planet for harmony, ‘Saa no bhoomirvardhayad vardhamaanaa’ as in the ‘Bhumi Sukta’ of Atharva Veda.

(The writer is chairman, AquaWisdom and was formerly secretary, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), New Delhi).

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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/sadhgurus-message-for-international-yoga-day/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/sadhgurus-message-for-international-yoga-day/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2015 15:08:00 +0000 admin Articles http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7432 The United Nations has declared that June 21 will be celebrated every year as International Yoga Day. The resolution was co-sponsored by 175 of the 193 member nations, and was so popular that it did not have to go for a vote and was adopted by an acclamation. Here is Sadhguru’s message on this important […]

The United Nations has declared that June 21 will be celebrated every year as International Yoga Day. The resolution was co-sponsored by 175 of the 193 member nations, and was so popular that it did not have to go for a vote and was adopted by an acclamation.

Here is Sadhguru’s message on this important event.

Yoga is the exploration of the very mechanics of life. It predates all religion and opened the possibility of raising a human being beyond limitations set by nature, if willing to strive. Making the science of Yoga available in the purest form is the responsibility of this generation. This science of inner development, wellbeing and liberation is the greatest gift for future generations. Congratulations to the Prime Minister for having initiated the process for declaring June 21 International Yoga Day.

International Yoga Day is Crucial

The word “yoga” literally means union. Yoga does not mean twisting of body, tying limbs into knots, holding of breath or doing some other circus. The word “yoga” means, in one’s experience, everything has become one. It is a system of raising human ability to perceive, to enhance individual human beings to realise their ultimate nature. Yoga is the most profound exploration of the very mechanics of life.

International Yoga Day is coming at a crucial time. The yogic science is of utmost significance now, like never before. Today we have tremendous tools of science and technology, enough to make or break the world. It is very important that we have an inner sense and awareness of life, that we experience every other being as a part of ourselves. Otherwise, our pursuit of wellbeing will destroy all.

If a certain population in the world experiences this, if a certain percentage of the world truly becomes meditative, definitely the quality of the world will change. Particularly if the leadership in the world experiences the unity or the yoga of life, there will be a dramatic change in the way the world will function. For all the problems of humanity, the solution is in enlarging one’s perception of life, from individuality to universality. The declaration of International Yoga Day is a significant step in this direction, and can have a ripple-effect across the planet.

Acknowledging yoga in this way will be immensely beneficial, particularly for the youth. Nowadays, a lot of young people are taking to yoga because it is usually the youth in the world who have a passion for truth. Youth is humanity in the making. Because they are in the making, they can shape themselves in whichever manner they want. If only youth are taught to handle themselves with a little more consciousness, then they are a great possibility. Otherwise, youth can be very compulsive. If they become a little more conscious, we have a great future for humanity and also the environment around us.

International Yoga Day & June 21

Ecology and human consciousness cannot be separated. The first fundamental fact of looking inward is always to see that you are naturally very much a part of everything around you. But now the problem is we are always trying to look at life in pieces – and that will never work. Only because human beings have become insensitive, we have to talk today about saving the world, which is a silly idea because it is we who are protected by Mother Earth, not the other way round! None of this would be necessary if human beings understood that, whether we like it or not, we are reverberating as a part of this existence.

Yoga is an essential science to bring this understanding and experience. This knowledge was transmitted thousands of years ago by the first yogi or Adiyogi. On the day of the summer solstice, Adiyogi turned south and first set his eyes on the Saptarishis or Seven Sages, who were his first disciples to carry the science of yoga to many parts of the world. It is wonderful that June 21 marks this momentous event in the history of humanity.

The effort to bring the spiritual process to the world, and particularly to those individuals who have a big influence upon the rest of the world, has been on for a long time. Ashtavakra enlightened Janaka around eight thousand years ago. Krishna’s whole life’s mission was to marry the spiritual process and the political process. Krishna not only worked with kings, he also established over a thousand ashrams across the northern plains of India.

International Yoga Day: Looking Inwards

Yoga essentially means that in search of wellbeing, you don’t look up. Because if you look up, you will hallucinate, you will start imagining things which are not in your experience. And above all, you do not know which is up and which is down. In the last hundred and fifty years, most of humanity looked up, and a small segment looked out – gathering wealth and building palaces. But today, a large part of humanity is looking out instead of up. If we look out for human wellbeing, we will destroy the very basis of our existence, which is what we are doing. We have different names for this – ecological problems, global warming, climate change – but human beings are just looking out in pursuit of wellbeing. That is all it is. The only ultimate solution, and the only way human beings will truly know wellbeing, is by turning inward. This is what yoga means. Not up, not out, but in. The only way out is in.

For some time, we have been working with political, economic and academic leaders because they have a certain amount of influence over the wellbeing and lives of others. About eleven years ago, in our Wholeness Program, somebody said, “Sadhguru, all this is great but what about the country? What about the nation?” So I said, “We have a list of two thousand people who can make a difference for this country. You get me these two thousand people, you will see that a wonderful change will happen.” During these years, I think we have touched around forty percent of these two thousand people. They are making a quiet change.

And now, a situation has come where the leaders of nations are speaking about yoga. Not just in India, but in the highest international body – the United Nations. Two minutes of our Prime Minister’s speech at the UN was about yoga. Seven minutes of his interaction with the President of the United States was about yoga. This has never happened before. One hundred and seventy-five out of one hundred and ninety-three countries pitched behind the resolution to be passed for International Yoga Day on June 21.

International Yoga Day: Making an Impact

We definitely want to do something for International Yoga Day that will make a big impact on the planet. We want to offer simple yoga to the world that every human being can do. Something that gets people in tune immediately and brings a certain harmony to the system. From there, we can offer more and more elaborate forms of yoga. We are looking at about one hundred locations where large-scale yoga programs will happen from morning until evening. You can volunteer at these locations or you can do your own thing somewhere else. And if do your own thing, we will equip you with a simple video. You can at least make sure ten different people learn some form of simple yoga on that day – after one, five or seven minutes of yoga, a subtle transformative process will begin.

International Yoga Day means the whole world should do some type of yoga. Let us make it happen!

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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/life-of-adi-shankaracharya/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/life-of-adi-shankaracharya/#comments Sun, 26 Apr 2015 06:42:24 +0000 admin Articles http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7387 Birth and childhood: Sankara was born to the nambUdiri brAhmaNa couple, Sivaguru and AryAmbA, in a little village called kAlaDi in Kerala. The couple had remained childless for a long time, and prayed for children at the vaDakkunnAthan (VRshAcala) temple in nearby Trichur. Siva is said to have appeared to the couple in a dream […]

Birth and childhood: Sankara was born to the nambUdiri brAhmaNa couple, Sivaguru and AryAmbA, in a little village called kAlaDi in Kerala. The couple had remained childless for a long time, and prayed for children at the vaDakkunnAthan (VRshAcala) temple in nearby Trichur. Siva is said to have appeared to the couple in a dream and promised them a choice of one son who would be short-lived but the most brilliant philosopher of his day, or many sons who would be mediocre at best. The couple opted for a brilliant, but short-lived son, and so Sankara was born.

Sankara lost his father when quite young, and his mother performed his upanayana ceremonies with the help of her relatives. Sankara excelled in all branches of traditional vaidIka learning. A few miracles are reported about the young Sankara. As a brahmacArin, he went about collecting alms from families in the village. A lady who was herself extremely poor, but did not want to send away the boy empty-handed, gave him the last piece of Amla fruit she had at home. Sankara, sensing the abject poverty of the lady, composed a hymn (kanakadhArA stavam) to SrI, the goddess of wealth, right at her doorstep. As a result, a shower of golden Amlas rewarded the lady for her piety. On another occasion, Sankara is said to have re-routed the course of the pUrNA river, so that his old mother would not have to walk a long distance to the river for her daily ablutions.

sam.nyAsa: Sankara was filled with the spirit of renunciation early in his life. Getting married and settling to the life of a householder was never part of his goal in life, though his mother was anxious to see him as a gRhastha. Once when he was swimming in the river, a crocodile caught hold of his leg. Sankara sensed that he was destined to die at that moment, and decided to directly enter the fourth ASrama of sam.nyAsa right then. This kind of renunciation is called Apat sam.nyAsa. The crocodile released him when he thus mentally decided to renounce the world, and Sankara decided to regularize his decision by going to an accomplished guru. To comfort his anxious mother, he promised that he would return at the moment of her death, to conduct her funeral rites, notwithstanding the fact that he would be a sannyAsI then.

Sankara then traveled far and wide in search of a worthy guru who would initiate him and regularize his vow of sam.nyAsa, till he came to the banks of the river narmadA in central India. Here was the ASrama of govinda bhagavatpAda, the disciple of gauDapAda, the famous author of the mANDUkya kArikAs. Sankara was accepted as a disciple by govinda, who initiated him into the paramahamsa order of sam.nyAsa, the highest kind of renunciation. Seeing the intellectual acumen of his disciple, govinda commanded Sankara to expound the philosophy of vedAnta through commentaries on the principal upanishads, the brahmasUtras and the gItA. Sankara took leave of his guru and traveled to various holy places in India, composing his commentaries in the meantime. At this time he was barely a teenager. He attracted many disciples around him, prominent among whom was sanandana, who was later to be called padmapAda. In this period, Sankara wrote commentaries on bAdarAyaNa’s brahmasUtras, the various upanishads and the bhagavad gItA. These commentaries, called bhAshyas, stand at the pinnacle of Indian philosophical writing, and have triggered a long tradition of sub-commentaries known as vArttikas, TIkAs and TippaNis. He also commented upon the adhyAtma-paTala of the Apastamba sUtras, and on vyAsa’s bhAshya to patanjali’s yogasUtras . In addition to these commentarial texts, Sankara wrote independent treatises called prakaraNa granthas, including the upadeSasAhasrI, Atmabodha, etc.

In addition to writing his own commentaries, Sankara sought out leaders of other schools, in order to engage them in debate. As per the accepted philosophical tradition in India, such debates helped to establish a new philosopher, and also to win disciples and converts from other schools. It was also traditional for the loser in the debate to become a disciple of the winner. Thus Sankara debated with Buddhist philosophers, with followers of sAm.khya and with pUrva mImAm.sakas, the followers of vedic ritualism, and proved more than capable in defeating all his opponents in debate. Sankara then sought out kumArila bhaTTa, the foremost proponent of the pUrva mImAm.sA in his age, but bhaTTa was on his deathbed and directed Sankara to viSvarUpa, his disciple. viSvarUpa is sometimes identified with maNDana miSra.

Sankara’s debate with viSvarUpa was unique. The referee at the debate was viSvarUpa’s wife, bhAratI, who was herself very well-learned, and regarded as an incarnation of Goddess sarasvatI. At stake was a whole way of life. The agreement was that if viSvarUpa won, Sankara would consent to marriage and the life of a householder, whereas if Sankara won, viSvarUpa would renounce all his wealth and possessions and become a sannyAsI disciple of Sankara. The debate is said to have lasted for whole weeks, till in the end, viSvarUpa had to concede defeat and become a sannyAsI. bhAratI was a fair judge, but before declaring Sankara as the winner, she challenged Sankara with questions about kAmaSAstra, which he knew nothing about. Sankara therefore requested some time, during which, using the subtle yogic process called parakAya-praveSa , he entered the body of a dying king and experienced the art of love with the queens. Returning to viSvarUpa’s home, he answered all of bhAratI’s questions, after which viSvarUpa was ordained as a sannyAsI by the name of sureSvara. He was to become the most celebrated disciple of Sankara, writing vArttikas to Sankara’s bhAshyas on the yajurveda upanishads, in addition to his own independent texts on various subjects.

Establishment of maThas: Sankara continued to travel with his disciples all over the land, all the while composing philosophical treatises and engaging opponents in debate. It is said that none of his opponents could ever match his intellectual prowess and the debates always ended with Sankara’s victory. No doubt this is true, given the unrivaled respect and popularity that Sankara’s philosophical system enjoys to this day. In the course of his travels, Sankara stayed for a long time at the site of the old ASrama of the Rshis vibhAndaka and RshyaSRnga, in the place known as SRngagiri (Sringeri). Some texts mention that Sankara stayed at Sringeri for twelve years. A hermitage grew around him here, which soon developed into a famous maTha (monastery). sureSvara , the disciple whom he had won after long debate, was installed as the head of this new ASrama. Similar maThas were established in the pilgrim centers of Puri, Dvaraka and Joshimath near Badrinath, and padmapAda, hastAmalaka and troTaka were placed in charge of them. These are known as the AmnAya maThas, and they continue to function today. Their heads have also come to be known as SankarAcAryas, in honor of their founder, and revered as jagadgurus , or teachers of the world. Sankara also organized the community of ekadaNDI monks into the sampradAya of daSanAmI sannyAsins, and affiliated them with the four maThas that he established.

Meanwhile, Sankara heard that his mother was dying, and decided to visit her. Remembering his promise to her, he performed her funeral rites. His ritualistic relatives would not permit him to do the rites himself, as he was a sannyAsI, but Sankara overrode their objections, and built a pyre himself and cremated his mother in her own backyard. After this, he resumed his travels, visiting many holy places, reviving pUjAs at temples that had fallen into neglect, establishing SrI yantras at devI temples as in Kancipuram, and composing many devotional hymns.

Ascension of the sarvajnapITha : In the course of his travels, Sankara reached Kashmir. Here was a temple dedicated to SAradA (sarasvatI), the goddess of learning, which housed the sarvajnapITha , the Throne of Omniscience. It was a tradition for philosophers to visit the place and engage in debate. The victorious one would be allowed to ascend the sarvajnapITha . It is said that no philosopher from the southern region had ever ascended the pITha, till Sankara visited Kashmir and defeated all the others there. He then ascended the sarvajnapITha with the blessings of Goddess SAradA. (A few centuries later, rAmAnuja, the teacher of viSishTAdvaita, would visit the same sarvajnapITha in search of the baudhAyana vRtti. However, a variant tradition places the sarvajnapITha in the south Indian city of Kancipuram.)

Sankara was reaching the age of 32 now. He had expounded the vedAnta philosophy through his writings; he had attracted many intelligent disciples to him, who could carry on the vedAntic tradition; and he had established monastic centers for them in the form of maThas. His had been a short, but eventful life. He retired to the Himalayas and disappeared inside a cave near Kedarnath. This cave is traditionally pointed out as the site of his samAdhi. Other variant traditions place Sankara’s last days at Karavirpitham or at Mahur in Maharashtra, Trichur in Kerala or Kancipuram in Tamil Nadu. It is a measure of SankarAcArya’s widespread fame that such conflicting traditions have arisen around his name.

True to the traditions of sam.nyAsA, Sankara was a peripatetic monk, who traveled the length and breadth of the country in his short lifetime. His fame spread so far and wide, that various legends are recounted about him from different parts of India. The true sannyAsI that he was, he lived completely untouched by the fabric of society.

Source : http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/sankara-life.html

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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/the-catalysing-role-of-teachers-by-greg-bogart/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/the-catalysing-role-of-teachers-by-greg-bogart/#comments Sun, 26 Apr 2015 06:30:56 +0000 admin Articles http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7383 In many contemplative traditions, learning from an enlightened teacher is considered an important means of advancement on the spiritual path… Many illumined beings and mystics, especially those from Hindu, Sufi and the Zen and Tibetan Buddhist lineages, have maintained lifelong connections with their teachers and are in agreement that the student-teacher relationship is essential to […]

In many contemplative traditions, learning from an enlightened teacher is considered an important means of advancement on the spiritual path… Many illumined beings and mystics, especially those from Hindu, Sufi and the Zen and Tibetan Buddhist lineages, have maintained lifelong connections with their teachers and are in agreement that the student-teacher relationship is essential to the alchemy of transformation. It is also customary in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions to learn from wise spiritual teachers and ecstatic mystics. Although it’s common in some contemporary Western intellectual circles to ridicule gurus and spiritual teachers and to view those who associate with them as naïve or immature, many people continue to pursue the age old tradition of spiritual apprenticeship. A perennial rite of passage, training under the guidance of a spiritual teacher can be a powerful initiatory experience.

The major religious texts of humanity are based on the teachings of illumined men and women of the Spirit, many of whom instructed students.… Spiritual apprenticeship is the path of training under the guidance of spiritual teachers to achieve inner awakening, enlightenment, or realisation of the Self, a state of pure consciousness or spacious awareness that is transpersonal, nonegoic and beyond the boundaries of the individual self.

I use the term spiritual apprenticeship to denote the relationship we have to choose who guide us on the path of sacred knowledge and inner wisdom, as opposed to teachers of secular subjects… How can associating with a spiritual guide aid a seeker on the path, and what could be the challenges and difficulties that can arise?

I observe that here are nine stages of the student-teacher relationship:

Stage one, choosing a teacher: a look at what impels us to search for a genuine teacher, and how we know when we’ve found one

Stage two, initiation: the prerequisites and transformative power of initiation; the link to a lineage of awakened beings

Stage three, discipleship: developing a person-to-person relationship with a teacher, receiving skillful instruction and finding a spiritual practice that leads to inner freedom

Stage four, texting: examination of the student’s character, motives and purity of thought and action; the exposure of one’s imperfections.

Stage five, grace and guru yoga: the mysterious infusion of blessings experienced in the company of some teachers; balancing grace with self-effort, contemplation of the teacher’s qualities and state of consciousness

Stage six, at the threshold of awakening: achieving the goal of spiritual apprenticeship, the experimental knowledge of the real, Self-realisation in moments of illumination

Stage seven, separating from a spiritual teacher: re-establishing an independent life; resolving emotional conflicts of discipleship; unhealthy merging, facing a teacher’s shadow side; individuation from the teacher.

Stage eight, finding the teacher within: accessing inner source of guidance, such as dreams, symbols, and disembodied teachers

Stage nine, teaching others: with appropriate intention and ethics, sharing what we know; tests of character for teachers; guidelines for spiritual teachers.

Stages one, two and three describe the process of entering into a relationship with a teacher. Stages four, five and six describe the ways we begin to be transformed within the relationship. And stages seven, eight, and nine describe the process of integrating the relationship and internalising the teacher. These aren’t linear stages. Some people might not pass through all nine stages or experience them in the order discussed here. These stages often intersect, blend together, and unfold concurrently. Nevertheless, I believe that taken as a whole, they describe the full style of the student-teacher relationship in all of its complexity. From ‘In the company of sages, the journey of the spiritual seeker’ published by Inner Traditions.

Source : http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-articles/new-age/the-catalysing-role-of-teachers

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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/7377/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/7377/#comments Sun, 26 Apr 2015 06:19:10 +0000 admin Articles http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7377 Birth and childhood: Sankara was born to the nambUdiri brAhmaNa couple, Sivaguru and AryAmbA, in a little village called kAlaDi in Kerala. The couple had remained childless for a long time, and prayed for children at the vaDakkunnAthan (VRshAcala) temple in nearby Trichur. Siva is said to have appeared to the couple in a dream […]

Source : http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/sankara-life.html

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http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/cultivating-the-karma-yoga-attitude-to-life/ http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/cultivating-the-karma-yoga-attitude-to-life/#comments Sat, 14 Mar 2015 14:42:12 +0000 admin Articles http://www.spiritualbangalore.com/?p=7363 Doing karma, engaging in action, is inevitable for anyone. If that be so, how about using karma as an instrument of yoga? Karma yoga offers this option. The term ‘karma yoga’ is used often by different people differently. A rich businessman, who is busy making money for self and family, claims that he is doing […]

Doing karma, engaging in action, is inevitable for anyone. If that be so, how about using karma as an instrument of yoga? Karma yoga offers this option. The term ‘karma yoga’ is used often by different people differently. A rich businessman, who is busy making money for self and family, claims that he is doing karma yoga. Some people think that doing your duty without expecting any reward is karma yoga. But this is not the whole story. Is it possible for an average person who has a family to support and desires to fulfill, to be doing karma yoga?

Let’s see karma yoga from the perspective of attitude. What is the karma yoga attitude to work and why is it so important? The Bhagwad Gita says that karma yoga does not only mean detachment to the outcome — karma yoga has six tenets:

1.Whatever activity we do should not be against the normally accepted socio-ethical code of conduct of a society. Not deceiving people, not appropriating anyone else’s rights, not harming others. are all part of this. Even if such a code is not spelt out anywhere, it means ‘Do not do unto others what you would not want them to do unto you.’

2. Whatever role we have chosen to play in life or which God has given to us should be performed most diligently, without any laxity and with utmost care. Any role that is performed either as an officer, spouse, parent, or student, should be performed with full diligence. Neglect of one’s own duty is not permitted.

3.Our focus should be mainly on the present activity at hand and not on the fruits which that action is likely to bring for us. If a cricket player keeps one eye on the scoreboard always, his game of cricket will surely be spoilt. The anxiety for result spoils the quality of work inputs and such a work does not qualify as karma yoga. That does not mean that fruits will not come. Any action done with diligence is bound to give us good results, but we do not have to be obsessive about fruits. Our job is to focus on the activity.

4.Acceptance of whatever results come as God’s prasad (blessings). Despite doing our best, if results are not as per our expectation one should still accept them by understanding that the results of any effort are not decided only by present karma but have links with past karma too.

5.Absence of sense of doer-ship or ego. If extraordinary results come then also we must not have ego or feeling of ‘I did it’. We must remember that many factors, many people are responsible for our success. Parents, teachers, co-workers, family, society, God –all have played a role in making you perform so well in life.

6.Share whatever fruits you have got in life with all others, whether it is money, knowledge or credit. Appropriating selfishly all that God has given to us is against the concept of karma yoga. Most religions prescribe that a certain portion of one’s income to be spent on charity.

In short, any activity done without ‘selfishness’, ‘carelessness’ and without ‘ego’, can become a karma yoga – a state of blissful action. Such an attitude in everything we do is the karma yoga attitude to life. Karma yoga makes our life happy and contended. And in the long run, it bestows on us purity of mind, which paves the way for true knowledge and ultimate liberation.

Source : Dr Hasmukh Adhia – speakingtree.in

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