Dharm...

परिस्थितियों के साथ मनुष्य के लिए धर्म की परिभाषा भी बदल जाती है और मनुष्य को अलग अलग रूप में अपना धर्म निभाना पड़ता है

Ram naam chanting

Came across this interesting article by Atul Thakur on the way of RAM NAAM chanting....worth trying...

Ram mantra is considered to be Taraka mantra. The Sanskrit word Taraka denotes a star. A star traverses in space and acts as a guiding light. Similarly, a Taraka mantra is that which provides guidance and helps liberate one’s self from the cycle of birth and re-birth. When examined, one finds that the word Ram is a combination of two sounds, Raa and Om - sounds of two very important and powerful chakras or centers within the human body.

Chakras:

There are seven chakras in the human body (I won’t go into detail in this article). The lower three chakras deal with one’s material life while the upper 4 deal with one’s spiritual life. The sixth center is the Ajna chakra, which is located between the eyebrows, is considered the king of all chakras. To become spiritually elevated, the body’s prana or life force has to pass through this center. This chakra is the gateway to higher consciousness and is where the powerful light of the ‘Inner Guru’ resides. The third center or Manipurak Chakra is the king of the lower centers and controls the materialistic aspect of life. Anyone with a strong third chakra will usually have all the material comforts in life. Therefore, one’s material strength is not only dependent on our Karma (actions), but is also dependent on the Manipurak chakra.

Meaning of RAM Mantra:

As mentioned earlier, the word Ram comprises of two parts - Raa and Om. When the two sounds are joined, it forms Ram. The sound of the third chakra is Raa, while the sound of the sixth chakra is Om. By reciting Raa, the karma stored in the lower centers is churned. By adding Om to the end, the churned karma is submitted to the sixth chakra (Ajna Chakra) where the light of the Guru evaporates the karma.

This mantra is also called the ‘mantra of Surrender’ as one is surrendering the karmafrom the third chakra to the sixth chakra. As karma is removed by the sixth center, the ego is reduced and the light of higher consciousness shines through. A sense of lightness and happiness prevails over the body and gives one the power to help one cross the ocean of samsara or life.

How to Chant:

The chanting of the mantra should be done with a lot of vibrations. Beginning the mantra with Ra, the focus should be at the nabhi (navel) and when the sound progresses toOm, the focus should be between the eyebrows – the Ajna Chakra. Both the sounds must have as much vibration as possible. In order to receive its benefit, the mantra should be recited by prolonging the word Ram i.e. Raaamm.

It is important to note that nothing should be recited or chanted before or after the mantra. In fact, the word Ramitself is sufficient and anything added to the mantra only dilutes its effectiveness. Furthermore, one should be attentive and focused, concentrating on the third and sixthchakra.

Benefits:

Over time whoever chanted the name of Ram became famous, strong and attained salvation. Hanuman, a great devotee of Lord Ram, recited this mantra mentally and served and surrendered to Sri Ram every second of the day. He was able to subdue the powerful planets and their effects and perform miraculous feats for Sri Ram. Swami Tulsidas recited the mantra and become a famous poet, and Sage Valmiki overcame his past karma and became a great writer.

In the current environment, this mantra can resolve any mental and/or physical problems one may face. Just surrender your worries to the third eye (Ajna Chakra) while chanting this mantra, and let the higher power resolve the issues. Of course, one’s prayers should always wish well for others and should never foster any negative thoughts towards any being.

Retrospection

Long time. Many things come to my mind as i write this after long time and penning them down honestly is what this is all about. It’s Diwali and my first after marriage, also my first with no grand- parent in physical form to give blessings as all of them have progressed their journeys to being formless. I wish all, the ones with & without form a very happy, enlightening & blessed Diwali.

It is almost the year-end now and an important milestone to sit back and do some retrospection. This gives me the opportunity to do something that I truly love i.e. spend time with self. It is like re-unification with the soul after long journey. As I delve deeper, I come to know the difference between ‘Being self’ & ‘Being with self’. One has to know self to be self and that is where ‘Being with self’ matters. Self exploration is the task one should undertake frequently to know ourselves better, to make ourselves understand what are we comfortable with, what are the things that truly matter to us, to help us understand the deviations in you from the true you, to understand what satisfaction really means to you and to understand a point from where we should take cues for further journey. ‘Being with self’ will help you identify the true self & ‘Being self’ will instill in you the conviction & complete accountability of your actions. The key is to improve your true self by devoting yourself completely to almighty; this will ensure clear conscience. It is very critical to have clear conscience as same knowledge has different effect on different people depending on their upbringing, mannerism & innate nature. That signifies the upbringing nature of our next generation.

Coming back to my retrospection -this reminds me of a quotation “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans”. But no harm in taking cues from retrospection. I believe the retrospection should be a continuous process and one should not await any milestone to do it. I wish if I’d follow this going forward. I believe, best way to retrospect is to ask self, if i were to die this moment, then which category would this deed of mine count in..moral/immoral & the best way to fix anything wrong is to accept it immediately & apologize for it. Not always you will get time to fix the mistakes later. Well, to summarize retrospective for self, I wish if I could utilize time more efficiently for that is the most important but irrevocable asset that I spend cheaply & consistently.

Once again wishing all a very enlightening & blessed Diwali!

Not satisfied with own behaviour?

Sometimes we are unhappy with our own behaviour towards people. While some of us try to introspect this part of the behaviour, others feel bad momentarily and let it go. You will be amazed with the findings if we introspect the way things happened and our reactions expressed in those situations.

The first and foremost being, our responses in that situation are build on reaction of the others. If our responses are build on others reaction then how do we expect to be our self in public? Our true personality will never come out if our behaviour is based on reactions expressed by others. While its true, we'll react to situations as and when they come across, but its very important that they should originate our true personality. Its very important to be aware of your inner self while we come across situations in life. By doing so, you will be more confident, calm, comfortable & convinced while responding back. Do this for yourself as this will bring you inherent satisfaction & happiness with no traces of grief/repentance.


The other part of feeling unhappy about ourselves is, we try to do somethings for our loved ones at the cost of our own happiness. For e.g. Husband/in-laws of a woman want her to give up on career and sit at home. She does so for their happiness while she still feels bad within. Momentarily that will make her loved ones happy but in the longer run, say 10 years later they will still be unhappy about it because of the unhappy energy that woman will consistently transmit as she feels the unhappiness within. And how can a person be happy with someone who is transmitting unhappy energy for long time. Relationships are not all about actions. Success in them mainly depends on the energies you transmit in them. These energies significantly depend on your inherent happiness. And anything that you do against inclination of your true self will not bring you happiness in longer run. And this unhappiness saps the positive energy exponentially resulting in pain,grief & frustration. There is a basic rule about true happiness. It comes only from WITHIN. So if you want happiness of your loved ones, make sure YOU are happy in first place.


Identify your true self & be yourself in any situation of life. Your true self will expose intrinsic nature of the soul within that is of love, peace, happiness, truth, bliss, purity. Therefore, souls always desire for experiences of these
qualities. These are the qualities that naturally emerge when the soul is aware of itself, or in other words, is soul-conscious..

Wishing all a very blessed life!
||Jai Sri Ram||

Your presence is always felt

Was quite disheartened with my poor preparations for mathematics paper in third standard annual exams while you rode me on our bicycle to the school. My nervousness w.r.t preparation was so visible that you stopped and said 'Tu adhich nako lendya galus rey' and explained the carry overs in multiplication n division in simpler terms. It is this habit of yours of making life simple for me without even asking, made you stand apart from all others. I always saw a good friend in you and enjoyed your company to the fullest. Our evening walk from Pawar chawl to godown was one of the most enjoyable evening walks i ever had i.e. clueless of where we are heading to (as i was very small then to understand it was a evening walk to the routine place) but still nice with feeling of being in secured company. The first time when i recollected these memories in college, i wished if i could give you that secured feeling someday but Baba left no stone unturned to do so at his level itself. No regrets, i was more than happy to know the kind of bonding you two had and i always knew you liked him more than anyone else.

Eternal peace is what i experienced while being with you. Your suggestion to read Dnyaneshwari was a turnaround in my life. It helped me shape the character in crucial days of life while shedding the egoism with ease. Yes, i agree with you, reading the same once is not enough. It is definitely not a one-time activity. You are one of the few whom i admired for the qualities like...impeccable concentration & sharp memory, dedication towards the undertaken task (have never seen you doing anything else until the task undertaken is complete...learning laghu Rudra in 4-5 days was gem of a effort and that too at age of 72-74 adds more glory to it), helping attitude , simple living , flawless routine (getting up at 3 am everyday..uh..am still trying to do it atleast once in a week but to no purpose) ,being in good health thorughout, for loving your mother truly and last but not the least for being totally independant

Lately, i was on my way to company (ex-employer L&T) ,while i saw you crossing the road nearby our place. I noticed the stoop in your back that your old age had developed. I felt pity for a second but then very next moment the fact struck my mind that you were still moving ahead ..independently...with confidence.... i wonder if me in your position would even have been able to walk.. with the kind of responsibilities you dealt in life (needless to say 'successfully') my back would have rather broke..i always feel proud of you

I could read the happiness in your eyes whenever you saw me. You used to make me feel so special. I really like the way you give me blessings after the Namaskar. Really used to feel them as they came straight from your heart which used to make my day further. I must confess that the pleasure was all mine in the whole process. I must also confess that your feet was the only place where i felt comfortable in the low's and i want to thank you from bottom of my heart for letting me sit there silently without a single question being asked. Sometimes that is the only thing we need, company of our dear ones without anything being asked. At times, i wondered how you could understand me so well? I thought, I'd miss you badly after you were gone but again the power of your blessings is so strong that your presence is always felt...Nana

'Losing the individuality'

Progress is from seen to unseen, from many to one, from low to high, from form to formless & never in reverse direction.

Its like one and many are the same but are perceived differently at different times. God is both with form & without form and he is that which includes both form & formlessness.

As different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so hey prabhu , the different paths which men take through their tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to thee.

Consciousness is only the surface of mental ocean & within its depths are stored our experiences. Try & struggle, they would come and you would be conscious even of your past life.

Natural Instincts

They are very thrilling and not always in line with liking...yet natural instincts come from within but still not sure from where they originate..Thinking originates from brain whereas likings originate from Mind and hence from the nature of the person but what about natural instincts?
While i say it as natural instincts, it is also called eternal voice/ voice of soul by many wise people.