Who Cares ?!?

After my lecture in Sringeri, there was Q & A. I had explained from the Bhashya, that it is not only Sravana but for some, very rare exceptional, people can gain release through other means also. There was
One Sanyasi who asked me, if iam saying that on need not do Sravana etc ?
That is a tricky question, I told him so too. One cannot answer these type of questions with just a YES or NO. I gave him the example of such a question from Yoga Sutra Bhashya, the question like, "is there birth after death?" , and, I added another question, "I heard you were mentally unstable and got it cured, is it true?". You say Yes, you are in problem if you say No, you are in deeper problem. That is why Bhagavwn Bhashyakara has added so many adjectives, Very rare exceptional..

Next, one old Sannyasinis disciple asked the difference between Patana and Paatana and Adyayana and Adyapana, they are synonyms.

After the Q & A when I was going toward to my room, a group of people started asking different questions. The old Sannasini asked about, the difference between Sravana and Patana or Adyayana. And said they were different, because after Sravana one does Manana etc...
I simply asked her, whether if that was a Siddanta or a Poorvapaksha (Answer or a Question). The difference is if it was a Siddanta, I said i accept what she says, When see said it was a Poorvapaksha, i said it was wrong to say Manana after Sravana, she interupted and said but that is the way. I said here (now) itself you are disproving your statement. If it was Sravana and then Manana, you would have taken time to think and ask. So, the conclusion is Sravana and Manana normally takes place simultaniously, and in some rare cases later, like understantion a joke when we are travelling or in the washroom.

Another mataji asked me, why i asked the question, if it was a Siddanta or Poorvapaksha?. Here i would like to introduce you to some dialogue which took place between us before a couple of years. In Uttarkashi, when i was invited for a lecture, one day they had asked this Mataji to speak, in the evening, i just commented on it and said, "i heard the lecture was nice". She immediately asked me whether i listened. To which i had replied in Tamil "naan yaar pechaiyum ketkaradillay" (I don't listen to anyone). This I reminded her then, That was then and now i understand not only me but no one really listens to anybody, i answered. As bhagavan says in Gita "Prakrtim yati ca bhootani nigraham kim karishyati" - the jivas are slaves to theit Prarabdha, what will control do, and below this sloka Bhagavan Bhashyakara says, "mama va anyasya va" - mine or others (control).


So, as i already in another blog had explained that when we see in a birds eye view, there is nothing wrong with the creation.

My Karma !!!

After a long gap we are back. The comments kept us out.

I was in sringeri recently for a talk, it was a bhashya parayana with a lecture everyday in the evening. Tried to skip (will understand why later) this programme, but, let us say I went. Before i went for the talk, since i was there for only the talk, another Acharya of a very prestigious ashram had raised a storm. He had said, the teaching method the others were following was wrong, there can be no sakama and nishkama in upasana but only in karma. (Sakama - karma performed with desire, Nishkama - karma performed without desire). Since, the Q & A did not solve this, some sadhus out there asked me to give a fitting reply.

Since, i was delivering a lecture on Brahma Sutra Adyaya 4 Pada 1 & 2, i included this in the talk itself.
I said that, there are many places in the upasana khanda where there are other results prescribed. First negative results, when the disciple goes to the Guru to learn more about the particular upasana he is doing, the Guru asks him what type of Upasana they are doing, one says "eye as Brahman" the Guru says you will loose the eyesight, then the other says "ear as Brahman" Guru says you will loose your hearing. So much for the Guru, one goes to him to get the fear removed and the Guru puts in him more fear. But, that is to attract him to the complete Upasana. In Taiteriya, Chandogya, Brhadaranyaka etc there are many a Upasana with results from gaining Son, wealth, food etc....

So, clearly as in Karma in Upasana too we can have Sakama and Nishkama adjectives.

Apart from the Sruti explanation, if the Upasana is only Nishkama and if the result is Brahma Vidya, if one meditates for even for a second, then, his release from the Bondage is gaurenteed.

Cooking Stories

These are some interesting cooking stories, which happened and not cooked up :).

When I was in Virakth Ashram, my neighbor Atmananda, who is from Maharashtra, gave me some beaten or parched rice (don’t remember which one it was) and asked me to prepare some upma. Upma is a fastfood variety of south india. I read somewhere recently, in some cooking competition someone won by preparing this item. Generally in south, rava - granules of powdered rice is used. The method of cooking is (oh, everyone wants to start a cooking class, even shihan hussaini - the famous karate man and I hear he is multi-talented., who throws everything everywhere, hope the food he teaches to cook, is not for throwing like that), 1. Fry the rava dry. 2. Pour some oil and in it little lentil (optional  tomato, vegetables  etc) and 3. Pour water in a vessel, after it boils pour the rava and stir till it gets cooked. Easy. Now, this I tried. After 15 minutes when he came by to see the progress, the parched rice was floating in water, I have not poured the right mount, and the water was excess. Seeing this, he got angry and told me to do abhisheka (holy bath) with it, and in a huff left the place. See, marathis prepare it with onions etc and will be dry, this I learnt later.

The previos experience was in the beginning, and the next episode was when I had just left Virakth Ashram, and have come to Ram Nagar. I with My neighbours Swami Vishnu Das ji and Br. Brahmatma Swaroop ji had gone to Dehradun, there they bought instant idiappam. Idiappam is a south Indian version of Chinese noodles. On the way back they were discussing on how to prepare. They didn’t know to, i volunteered not just because, they did not know. But it is fairly easy. You follow almost the same method in upma, but don’t fry the noodles. And add lemon juice later and mix it properly. So, with this knowhow I was ready in the evening to prepare this lemon-idiappam. My good/bad time, when I put the idiappam noodles in water, in matter of seconds it absorbed all the water and it became like a semi-paste. Ad what followed was a disaster. When the product is cooked (!!??!!) and brought for eating, both my neighbours had a funny expression on their face. There is a expression in tamil “sollavum mudialla mellavum mudialla” – they could neither say nor swallow, no pun intended ;).  

I said good/bad time because, from the next day I was not allowed inside the kitchen. They said, we liked your job, we may not be experts like you, but we will manage without your help.