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| Reflections… |
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Volume: 1 Issue: 13
May-June 2009 |
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Shreyas, an Inner Challenges initiative, is a retreat for discerning
guests to step away from the hectic demands of modern life and spend
time in unwinding, reflection, rejuvenation and rediscovering the
simple pleasures of life.
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
This is my first visit to Shreyas and
it has truly been a journey of
discovery. It offers all that one is
in search of far away from the
madding crowd chaos we live in ...
peace, tranquility, care, joy of
being close to nature, finding one's
self & knowledge of spirituality,
Mantras, Yoga, Pranayama, eating
pure vegetarian food & loving it.
Know thyself & discover a whole
new world. A big thank you to all
the staff of Shreyas who make
Shreyas special….
Mandini P (Mauritius) April 09
I have had a wonderful stay this
past two weeks… It has all the
spirituality of an Ashram, the
comfort, amenities, and fabulous
food of a resort/ Spa and the
surroundings of a well run ranch.
That is an amazing and impressive
combination and I feel grateful to
have been here…
Who could ask more?
Gwen Grabb (USA) April 09
Well it didn’t take me long to
come back and Shreyas was even
better the second time round. I
almost felt like part of the family,
there was so much care and
attention to every detail – all done
with genuine devotion. So, thank
you, thank you, I will be back and I
will send all my friends.
With love to you all
Claire Paterson (UK) March 09 |
Lakshmi Tattwa
Concept of True Wealth
Notes from sessions at Shreyas
by
Sri Shankar Narayan
(Continued from Mar / Apr ’09 issue)
Significance of the symbols
(a) Lotus
 |
Goddess
Lakshmi is
represented as
standing or
sitting on a
fully bloomed
lotus and also
holding a lotus in her hand. |
The lotus emerges from dirt,
but is exquisite. Its leaves are
on the water but water cannot
stay on it. Similarly, we must
remain in the world but not get
attached to it. This should also
be our attitude towards
prosperity.
We must be trustees of wealth
but not be possessive about it.
All those who want to possess
wealth are indeed possessed by
the wealth!
Lotus blooms slowly. It shows
that each of us has tremendous
potential that is waiting to
bloom. Worshipping the Divine
Mother will enable us to
harness and manifest our
hidden potential.
Bhakti will do the energy
processing that is required for
our potential to unfold.
The blooming lotus also tells
us that life is all about
development.
Mahalakshmi enables the
unfoldment of all our hidden
talents so that we become a
vibhuti (glory) of the Divine.
The lotus turns its face to look
at the sun. When Mother
Lakshmi holds it in her hand, it
shows that we have to seek
out the sun, meaning
knowledge and atman.
|
b. Her four arms
 |
Mother Lakshmi
enables us to fulfill
our (four) purushartha. This is why she has four
arms. She makes us
systematically fulfill
by unfolding our
potential in the
process. |
(c) Complexion of the Goddess
White We cannot claim to be
prosperous if we don’t have the
highest purity. To invoke real
prosperity, we have to have
physical as well as mental purity.
Mother Lakshmi’s white
complexion indicates her
stainless sattva guna, indicating
highest purity.
Golden The manifestation in
golden complexion indicates
that the goddess is there as agni (read gold, material wealth) and
with it one can do everything
that one wants in this world.
Pink The complexion signifies
motherhood. It denotes
maternal love and compassion
(daya and karuna) for all her
children. Wherever the
Mahalakshmi tattva manifests as
succor, she manifests with pink
complexion.
These imageries and symbolisms
are not the result of imagination
of the ancients. The Rishis have
actually discerned these
vibrational patterns in their
tapas. If we do sadhana we too
can have the realization of
Mahalakshmi tattva!
to be continued…
Extract of Guest Comments
Our stay lasted only 15 hours - it
should have been 15 days! We had
a wonderful time, thanks for your
hospitality - we captured the best
of Shreyas on tape, so we won't be
able to forget how beautiful this
place is!
Nina Lehn Hoff (Germany)
RTL Television team - April 2009
|
Page 2
Power of an Awakened Mantra
In an unbroken spiritual
lineage, the wisdom of mantra
flows incessantly from teacher
to student in all its purity and
fullness. Through initiation a
teacher not only imparts the
mantra and the correct
method of practicing it, but
also sows the seed of spiritual
wisdom directly in the heart
of the student. A teacher may
have knowledge of many
scriptures and their mantra
practices, but she imparts only
those that she herself has
received from her lineage.
Mantras received from the
lineage are called jagrata
(awakened) mantras, and only
they have the power to
engender an awakening in the
student. We might find a
mantra that is written
correctly in a book, and begin
practicing it with all the proper
steps, but still fail to receive
the promised result. But when
an accomplished master
confers the same mantra, it
exhibits its powers. As an
example, I will share one of my
experiences.
When I first came to United
States, I was fascinated with
one of the most revered
scriptures, Soundaryalahari. It
consists of a hundred mantras
and it is the subject of a
number of well known
commentaries – one of which
explains the practical
application of the mantras.
According to that commentarythe aspirant must repeathe
mantra (in this case a long verse composed
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in a melodious
meter) one thousand times
every day for forty-five days. My master, Sri Swami Rama,
was in a distant city, so I
undertook the practice on my
own and completed it. But to
my disappointment I did not
notice any of the effects the
commentary described.
I though perhaps my mind was
not one-pointed, or my heart
was not pure enough. Or
perhaps my karmas were not in
my favour. I also remembered a
saint saying that in Kali Yoga
(this present era in which our
morality, inner strength and
power of determination have
declined) these practices have
to be done four times more
intensely than the scriptures
stipulate. Thus I continued the
practice and exceeded even that
amount. Still the promised
result did not manifest.
Meanwhile my master called me
to him. One day he said very
lovingly, “I want you to do a
special practice. It is very
important for you.” Pointing at a
book he said, “Can you bring
that book?”
I got up and brought the book
to him. It was Soundaryalahari,
the scripture I had been
studying and practicing on my
own. Swamiji opened the book
to the verse I had repeated
thousands of times, and putting
his finger on it said, “Practice
this mantra for thirty -three
days.”
I asked, “Is there any ritual or
anything else to be done as a
part of this practice?”
“No. Just do japa [the repetition
of mantra]” “How many times, Swamiji?”
“Thirty -three times every day.”
Because I had already repeated
that same mantra a thousand times every day times every day for several
months with no discernible
effect, a subtle but potentially
destructive thought came to my
mind: If nothing happened when
I repeated the mantra a
thousand times, then what could
I expect from thirty-three
repetitions?
|
Trying to hide my ego and
doubt under the guise of false
innocence, I said, “Only thirty-
three times, Swamiji?”
“You can do it forty -five times
if you want,” he replied.
Still I argued” “Just forty -five
times? Is it enough?”
Very lovingly, Swamiji looked
at me and said, “If you really
want, you can repeat it a
hundred times a day.”
So I did the practice, and the
result was fulfilling and
delightful as the text had
described. With a sense of
deep gratitude, I went to
Swamiji and reported that,
through his blessings, I had
completed the practice with a
wonderful result. To my dismay
Swamiji did not seem happy
with me.
After a couple of minutes of
silence, he said gently, “My
master has done these sadhanas and simplified them
for students. Now people
instructed by you will have to
repeat this mantra not less that
a hundred times.”
I got the
lesson.
Extract from
‘The Power of Mantra & The
mystery of initiation’ by Pandit
Rajmani Tigunait, a disciple of
Swami Rama of Himalayas |
Page 3
Living the Wisdom of the
Bhagavad Gita
Pawan Malik
(Contd… from Mar / Apr ’09 issue)
The Gita also shows us how a
person should behave when they
realise they don’t know the
answer. Many existentialist
philosophers were also seekers
like Arjuna. These philosophers
did not have the courage of Arjuna
to be humble about their
ignorance. Instead they turned
their ignorance and offered it as a
solution. They have stated that
life is an accident, it has no
meaning, and that you live, you die
-that’s it. So enjoy life – you have
no one to answer to. This is
dangerous.
Arjuna too could have provided
answers but he chose to be a
humble seeker, and therefore
received the grace of the Divine,
acting through Krishna, who
illuminated him to the truths about
life. We should also be careful
not to turn our ignorance into
solutions. Generally, you will
find we seek affirmations from
friends and family on our own
point of view, only because we
can then convince ourselves, we
are right.
Krishna begins his masterful
rendition of inspiring leadership in
the second chapter. On being
asked by Arjuna to guide him,
instead of revealing his status as
god incarnate, offering the
solution, and expecting Arjuna to
follow his advice, he pushes Arjuna
into confronting his inner conflicts.
He wants Arjuna to realise the
truth for himself for only then will
he be able to withstand all that life
has to throw at him.
He wants Arjuna to understand
that conflicts are a way of life
and they present an opportunity
to transcend and grow. Without
journeying through doubt, faith
will not become stronger.
Without experiencing suffering,
happiness will not be
appreciated. Life has to be
experienced and every living
moment has to be cherished. All
apparent inequities and
difficulties
|
must be viewed as a
means to grow and to understand that there is a core within us all; something that
remains unaffected by pleasure
or pain, life or death.
Many of us wish to escape bad
times, sometimes by adopting a
Guru, who we feel would provide
us spiritual salvation and alleviate
our bad times. We seek spirituality
not to understand our true nature,
but to avoid hardships.
Krishna is showing all of us that
spirituality must be lived, day by
day, moment by moment. Every
conflict must be confronted, every
drama must be experienced – only
then will we grow. The message of Gita is to embrace life and never
worry. Live life in its totality and
accept whatever this life brings to
us. Not only accept but rejoice in
it since it is an opportunity to grow
and learn.
The Gita consists of 18 chapters.
The first is depicting the anguish of
Arjuna. The second chapter is the
executive summary of the entire
Bhagavad Gita. The following fifteen
chapters are an exposition of the
truths revealed in the second and
the eighteenth is a grand summary
of the teachings again. The second
chapter itself is broken into 4 main
sections. The first section is when
Arjuna asks Krishna to be his
spiritual guide and Guru officially.
The second section is a sharing of
the highest truths about life and
being – called Sankhya, and why
Arjuna should not grieve for the
impending death of kin. The third is
the teaching of Karma Yoga and the
fourth, the qualities of a spiritually
enlightened person.
In the Sankhya section of the Gita, Krishna reminds Arjuna that the
changeless entity upon which the
experiences of change take place is
called the “Atma”, whose
fundamental nature is of Pure Existence, Pure Consciousness and
Pure Bliss (Sat Chit Ananda). It is
only name and form that changes
with time and therefore what is
the point of grieving. The essence
itself remains immutable,
omniscient, omnipotent, |
and
omnipresent, transcending space,
time and causation.
Our conflicts arise from non
understanding of our true nature
and further by misunderstanding
that we are the body mind and
intellect (The “I”). As this sense
of “I” is constantly changing, we
feel lack and discontentment in
our limited state. This discontent
creates a tension that is commonly
referred to as desire or “Kama”.
To fulfil desire, we perform action
or “Karma”. This desire which is
trying to take us to a sense of
fullness is instead interpreted by
the individual ego as being for the
purpose of avoiding pain and
seeking pleasure in the world.
However, there is no lasting joy in
things which do not last, and we
must therefore strive to recognise
our inherent nature of fullness
with right knowledge known as Jnana.
Even Arjuna, although a
knowledgeable Prince, was unable
to hold the subtlety of this truth.
Therefore, Krishna proceeds tell
him about Karma Yoga, a science
of purifying the mind and of self
transformation that will prepare
Arjuna (and us) to receive, hold,
assimilate and understand the
truth about our real Self. We
must understand what karma is
since it drives our experiences.
We must also understand how
Karma can be transformed into
Karma Yoga so that the mind can
be purified for higher order
spiritual pursuits.
As we progress through the Gita,
the dialogue will move through a
series of questions and answers
that elucidates metaphysical
concepts such as the body/soul
(matter/spirit) distinction, the
principle of non -attached action,
the virtues of discipline (yoga) and
meditation, the importance of
knowledge (jnana) and devotion
(bhakti). Krishna will teach that
perfection lies not in renunciation
of the world, but, rather in
disciplined action (karma-yoga),
which is to be performed without
attachment to results (Karmaphala
-sangha). He will tell us about the
essential drivers of human
personality, the Guna’s and also
tell us how to differentiate
between the good and bad qualities within us, and how to work with them.
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Page 4
Each one of us carries an Arjuna
within us, and the mind of humans
at the beginning of the 21st
century may not be too different
from the one who fought 5000
years ago. Unlike Arjuna, our
Mahabharata is often fought over a
long period and our discontent and
disappointments accumulate over
time. Nevertheless, we must all
strive to understand how to get
the most out of life, our role in
life, and its ultimate purpose, else
we run the risk of living an aimless
existence.
When should you start on this
journey, a wise man was once
asked? He replied, “Start the
day before you know you are
going to die.” Since, we do not
know when we will die; the
answer is “start here and now”.
That’s all the time we have –
the past is gone and the future
is not here.”
- Concluded -
CARROT & RAW MANGO
SALAD
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 3 -4
Ingredients
- 2 teacups carrots, grated
- ½ cup mint & coriander
leaves, torn
- ¼ cup raw mango, grated
To be mixed for the dressing
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon freshly crushed pepper
- Salt to taste
Method
Lightly toss all the ingredients for
the salad. Chill. Pour the dressing
and serve immediately. |
Practice of Shavasana
Relaxation in corpse pose
Lie comfortably on a mat with the
legs slightly apart. Pull the
shoulders down. Relax the arms
with palms facing upwards. Gently
close your eyes.
Inhale deeply and exhale
completely. Have a gentle smile
on your face and be comfortable.
Allow the whole body to relax.
Moving from the toes to head,
relax each part of the body one
by one completely. Bring your
awareness to the tip of the toes,
gently move your toes, and relax.
Slowly relax the soles, ankle
joints, calf muscles, knee caps,
relax the thighs muscles,
buttocks, hip joints, pelvic region
and the waist region.
Now…relax your lower part of
the body completely.
Gently bring your awareness to
the abdomen and observe the
abdominal movements for
sometime, relax your abdominal
muscles and the chest muscles.
Bring your awareness to your
lower back, relax your lower
back, and loosen all the vertebral
joints one by one.
Relax the muscles around the
back. Relax your back and
shoulder blades completely.
Shift your awareness to the tips
of the fingers, gently move them,
and relax. Relax your fingers one
by one.
Relax your palms, loosen the
wrist joints, relax the forearms,
loosen the elbow joints, relax
your arms and biceps, and relax
your shoulders.
Shift the awareness to your neck,
slowly turn your head to the
right, and left, again bring back to
the center. Relax the neck. Relax |
your middle part of the body,
completely.
Gently bring your awareness to
your head region. Relax your chin,
lower jaw, upper jaw, lower and
upper teeth and tongue. Relax the
throat. Relax your lips, relax
lower and upper lip.
Shift your awareness to your nose,
observe your breath, and relax the
nostrils.
While inhaling notice the cool air
coming entering the nostrils and
while exhaling, feel the warm air
coming out. Take a few deep
breaths.
Relax cheek muscles. Relax the
eyes, feel the heaviness of eyeballs,
relax your eye lids, eye brows and
the centre of the eyebrows.
Relax your forehead, temples,
ears, the sides of the head, back of
the head and crown.
Observe your whole body from
toes to head and relax. Become
aware of your body lying on the
ground, completely relaxed. Take
a few deep breaths.
Gently move and stretch your
body. Feel the lightness, alertness,
and movement of energy
throughout the body. Slowly bring
your legs together and the hands
by the side of the body.
Turn over to the left or the right
side and come up. Sit in a
comfortable position with eyes
closed. Observe the breath as well
as the subtle changes in the body
for a minute.
Whenever you feel ready to open
your eyes, with a few blinks, do
so. Try to maintain silence as long
as you can.
Benefits
Practice of Shavasana, post asana
practice, helps in relaxing and
energizing the entire body.
It is extremely beneficial for
managing stress and its associated
problems like exhaustion,
disturbed sleep, headaches etc. |
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