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July-August 2007
Sept-Oct 2007
| Reflections… | Volume: 1 Issue: 12 March- April 2009 |
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Spread over 25 acres of landscaped gardens, the architecture and interiors are a seamless confluence of traditional and the modern styles. . Extract
from Guests’ comments I enjoyed every second my stay at Shreyas and I leave feeling totally blissed out and rejuvenated. Mindfulness permeates Shreyas in a whole and sincere way that I
have rarely seen before. I hope I shall be back soon. Shanti, Shanti,
Shanti. |
The right attitude towards wealth… The scriptures do not ask us to shrink from wealth but they caution us not to seek it with attachment or use it to serve our petty egoistic ends. When wealth comes into contact with or is made to flow through channels having such asuri7 qualities, it gets polluted. Thus a right bhava (attitude) is very important. Wealth is one of the Divine Mother’s powers that is essential for the sustenance of srishti (creation). Our responsibility is to work hard to liberate this wealth. Take custodianship of that wealth and channelize it to serve Mother as Virat (cosmos). The processes of liberation,
custodianship and utilization should be dharmayukta (based
on righteousness). When we (learn to) do this, we will automatically
be blessed with prosperity accompanied by peace. Mahalakshmi is thus the Supreme divine shakti. We personify this divine power as a feminine deity, though in reality, divinity has no gender. We need to relate emotionally to the divine, so we look upon her as Mother. This is a beautiful concept in the Vedas. |
There are three powers working simultaneously
in this world—‘srishti, sthiti and samhara.’ Sthiti,
the power of sustenance that is essential for the upkeep of the
cosmos, is called Mahalakshmi. It is ‘She’
who sustains and keeps our body functioning. She works as ‘the
laws’ that govern the cosmos.
Dharma is the power principle that holds and supports every system and enables their proper functioning. Mahalakshmi works as dharmashakti, the power behind dharma. She is the CEO/COO/CFO of the government of divinity (GOD), because of whom this cosmos is functioning. If we understand this principle and align ourselves with it, we resonate with the Goddess and become truly prosperous. The process of understanding and serving Mahalakshmi is called as worship (bhakti). We worship the divine as prosperity, abundance and sustenance, as these are Mahalakshmi tattva.
Symbols are a powerful way to enable understanding. Therefore certain symbolic presentations of Mother Lakshmi are significant for us to understand better. To be continued…  Shreyas Rejuvenation Centre |
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| Living the wisdom
of the Bhagawad Gita In other words, the Gita contains the duty of every person. It derives from the verbal root dhr, which means, “to hold,” giving the sense of “that which holds everything together.” Things are held together by their essential qualities. Dharma is consequently seen as “a given thing’s essence,” or “a thing’s inherent nature.” The dharma of water is wetness. The dharma of honey is sweetness. Although, on the face of
it, Arjuna is advocating peace and Krishna is pushing him to violence;
at closer look, we realise that Arjuna is already at war –
with himself. Arjuna is heart broken as he realises that those
he has come to vanquish are his relatives and loved ones. He is
confused because of his attachments and not because he considers
war to be unjust or unnecessary. His problem is not about killing
people to attain kingdoms and justice, but rather that he has
to kill who he considers to be “his people”. He forgets
at that time that the war was announced only as a last resort,
and after numerous attempts at diplomacy had failed. This is the
crux of the conflict, and something that we can all relate to
easily. Our doubts and insecurities about decisions normally
arise when we have something we consider to be “ours”
to be at risk. Why is it that we are unaffected when strangers by the millions die each day and deeply affected when it is someone we consider to be our friend or family? Realized masters tell us that the ego fabricates an image of the “I” by aggregating all that it considers to be “mine”. So my husband, my father, my mother, my children etc are really an extrapolation of the image of “I”. When a husband dies, then |
So Krishna is aware that Arjuna’s problem is not war or violence – for he would gladly slaughter those he did not consider his own – but that of attachment. Nevertheless, throughout the first chapter, Krishna patiently listens to the lamenting Arjuna, without once interrupting him. This is a great lesson for all of us, who rush to suggest solutions even though the person has not finished telling us about their problems. To be continued…
Hatha Yoga is a Divine Blessing for attaining success in any field. Body and Mind are instruments which the practice of Hatha Yoga keeps sound, strong, and full of energy. It is a unique armour of defence to battle the
opposing forces in the material and spiritual fields. By its practice
you can combat Adhi-Vyadhi and attain radiant health and God-realisation. |
Swami
Sivananda’s Technique: Sit comfortably on a chair, sofa or easy-chair. Draw the air through both nostrils, as long as comfortable. Retain as long as comfortable. Repeat your Ishta Mantra or ‘OM’ while retaining the breath. Then exhale as long as comfortable. You need not observe any ratio between the inhalation, exhalation and retention*; but let the inhalation and exhalation be deep and full. Benefit: The benefits of this Pranayama are incalculable. All the muscles are relaxed. All the nerves are toned. Rhythm and harmony are established in the entire being. Mind is calmed. Circulation is promoted. An inexpressible peace and bliss come to reign within you. You can do it in the morning while lying in bed. Your mind will become alert for commencing Japa and Dhyana. You can do it when the mind is about to lose balance on account of the setting in of lust, anger or other evil Vrittis; the mind will be filled with a great power that will prevent the evil Vrittis from disturbing it. You can do it just before commencing your study; the mind will be concentrated easily and what you study will be indelibly impressed in your mind. You can do it during your office-work; you will get new strength every time and you will never be tired. When you return home from the office you can practise this Pranayama and you will be recharged with fresh energy. The greatest advantage is that once you start doing
it you will do it very often; and your mind can never find an excuse
for not practicing this Ati-Sukha-Purvaka Pranayama, very
easy and comfortable Pranayama which has all the advantages of Pranayama,
without its ‘rules and regulations’. Do it from now
without fail. (* learn the practice to retain
the breath from your teacher and practice under guidance initially)
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