Meditations on Transcendence

The unchecked mind spins illusions, drawing one into false pursuits of happiness. These mental constructs are distractions from the ātman, the essence of one's true self. As the Bhagavad Gita declares, "उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत्" (Gita 6.5), uplift the self by controlling the mind, not letting it degrade you. The mind must be ignored when it strays from śāstra-jñāna (scriptural wisdom). The Upanishads say, "मन एव मनुष्याणां बन्धमोक्षयोः कारणम्" (Amṛtabindu Upanishad 2), the mind is the cause of both bondage and liberation. The true bliss arises from focusing on the ātman, which is Vishnu—the essence of essence, the eternal root of all joy. Concentrate on Vishnu, for He is the source of bliss. Withdraw from the mind’s fake ideas, knowing it is an unreliable guide. The mind, when uncontrolled, is the śatru (enemy), but when directed toward Vishnu, it becomes a path to liberation.

 Fire is pointing in upward direction (davanala) Fire gives heat (Samsara always supplies heat) Samsara supplies 3 kinds of heat - adibhuta, family and friends give heat; adidaiva, nature gives heat int erms of environmental impact and pandemics; adibhuta, our mind body gives heat thru diseases and other emotions, feelings Finally all heat is due to uncultured mind Mind has to be cultured by hearing, analyzing and application of sastras Most important function of mind is world view The knowledge embraced by the mind decides the world view If world view is wrong, it generates unwanted emotions Mind stops when right world view is architected then there is continuous touch with bliss of soul Both these properties indicate that fire of problems obstacle we face take us upward, closeness to god Receive welcome heat, redirect that heat to burn sins and internal toxins and glow in bliss

  Besides these two, there is the greatest living personality, the Supreme Soul, the imperishable Lord Himself, who has entered the three worlds and is maintaining them. Supreme soul is distinct, this needs to be understood Imperishable Lord entering and maintaining - this is his task for play - vilasa External driven Du-Kha mind has a condition to feel superior among ones relatives friends When this condition is violated it produces Du-Kha Means the world configuration is not matching the mental condition The world configuration is exposing you as inferior - hence unsatisfying of condition and hence radiation of sad emotion feeling Solution is to erase this condition with unity view - ekatvam astitah One need not be better materially from others to be happy - this is a wrong ROM condition fed into the brain since time immemorial for conditioned Kshara jiva Weaken this condition thru sastru jnana and cakshu Become indifferent to all that is heard and told One doesnt need to do anyt...

 Instagram is worse that serial or a movie This is due to very frequent context switching Better stick on Its called wandering from one to another, to another, to another One who is attached to this jumping cannot qualify for liberation Frequent and fast context switching causes depression Mind wants to continuously jump World is a never ending tree of illusion; one can keep jumping from one to another Life is nothing but a wandering from one branch to another without tasting essence Life on the tree of illusion is tough;  Elevation liberation and entanglement The world of illusion has quality of stickiness Hence we are perpetually bound to illusion The jumping is due to concept of boredom on a branch Leading to variety is mother of enjoyment - a routine packed with variety creates bliss In Gita it is called - variety in [ahara, vihara, cesta] - these 3 destroy depression Vihara is relaxing walk with friends etc..... Cesta is some service for benefit of the world Ahara is whol...

The other day as i was wading thru the morning traffic, i couldnt help but notice the new big billboard on MG road opposite HSBC bank. The vibrant dashing colors attracted my attention. The bangalore metro in construction slows down the speed after one crosses the Raheja tower circle on MG road. This makes it easy for one to catch glimpse of huge billboards on both sides of the road. The billboard read -'Kahani Hamare Mahabharath ki' with a very attractive huge cutout of the Pandavas. A new serial during everyday prime time 9PM on 9X channel. I became very excited due to my new found resurgent interest in knowing Mahabharatha in detail. My old college pal rekindled this interest in me after he showed a very authentic translation by Kisori Ganguli hosted for free on the internet. Also i became happy for my kids that they can sleep off the day by remembering the woderfully divine characters of Mahabharath rather than the Rajiv Sharmas of 'Minchu'. We wanted to come out of...