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Sat-Chit-Ānanda: A Stepwise Contemplation

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Context: Reflection on https://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/part1kurall69.htm  தான் உள்ளதாகவே உணராத ஒன்று இருந்தும் இல்லாதது மாதிரிதான். ‘ஸத்’ தாகிய பிரம்மத்துக்கு, தான் இருப்பதாக அறிவு இருப்பதால்தான் தன் சக்தியை இத்தனை தோற்றங்களாகக் காட்ட முடிகிறது. இப்படியாக ‘ஸத்’ தன்னைத்தானே அறிந்துகொள்வதைத்தான் ‘சித்’ என்கிறோம். ஞானம் என்றும் அறிவு என்றும் சொல்வது அதைத்தான். ‘ஸத்’ என்பது ஈசுவரன். ‘சித்’என்பதே அம்பிகை. தன்னையே அறிந்து கொள்ளும்போதுதான் ஆனந்தம் என்கிற உணர்வு உண்டாகிறது. ஈசுவரனும் அம்பாளும் – காமேசுவரனும் காமாக்ஷியும் சேர்ந்து – ‘ஸத்சித்’ஆனந்த பிரம்மமாக இருக்கிறார்கள். 1. Sat is pure existence Brahman is not something that possesses existence. Brahman is existence itself, Sat. Ātman is Brahman. Therefore, the Self is not merely an existent individual. The Self is the very existence because of which the body, mind, thoughts, and world are experienced as existing. Begin with the undeniable recognition: I exist. Before saying, “I am this body,” “I am this person,” or “I am happy,” there is ...
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Seeing the Tree Through the Ripe Fruit

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Seeing the Tree Through the Ripe Fruit An Exercise in Viveka «" Do you judge of an apple tree and the taste of its fruits by the unripe, undeveloped, worm-eaten ones that strew the ground, large even though their number be sometimes? If there is one ripe developed fruit, that one would indicate the powers, the possibility and the purpose of the apple tree and not hundreds that could not grow." Swami Vivekananda, Letter to H.H. the Maharaja of Khetri» Swamiji's analogy is an invitation to cultivate viveka, the capacity to distinguish the essential from the incidental, the permanent from the changing, and ultimately the Ātma from the anātma. Ordinarily, our attention is drawn to imperfections. We define a person by a few mistakes, a family by its difficulties, an institution by its failures, and often ourselves by our upādhis. This habit of thought arises because we identify entirely with the realm of anātma, the world of body, mind, personality, circumstances, ...
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Stepwise approach ....to Self abidance

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1. Be still. Let the body relax. Observe the breath. This requires sustained practice. 2. Watch the mind. Let thoughts, emotions, memories, and the mantra arise and pass. This too requires sustained practice. 3. Recognize that breath, thoughts, and feelings, are all chalanam, movements appearing to you. This recognition becomes steady only through repeated practice. 4. Ask, "Where is this breath appearing? Where is this thought arising?" This question is not for analysis. It is a subtle shift of attention. 5. Do not answer conceptually. Notice that every experience is appearing in awareness, here and now. Again, this is a shift of attention, not an intellectual conclusion. 6. Shift attention from the movement to the awareness in which the movement appears. 7. Recall the vision of Vedānta. Every appearance has your own svarūpa-caitanyam as its adhiṣṭhānam. Let the śāstra gently redirect your attention to your own svarūpa. 8. Remain as that awareness. Invest time he...
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Śrī Vyāsa Anugraham: A Few Key Ślokas for Reflection on Śrī Vyāsa Pūrṇimā 2026

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Śrī Vyāsa Anugraham namo ’stu te vyāsa viśālabuddhe phullāravindāyatapatranetra । yena tvayā bhāratatailapūrṇaḥ prajvālito jñānamayaḥ pradīpaḥ ॥ Salutations to you, O Vyāsa, whose intellect is vast ( viśālabuddhi ) and whose eyes are broad like the petals of a fully blossomed lotus. By you was kindled the lamp of knowledge ( jñānamayaḥ pradīpaḥ ), filled with the oil of the Mahābhārata ( bhāratatailapūrṇaḥ ). Svādhyāya is itself a key sādhana . Among the great texts available to us for svādhyāya , the Mahābhārata occupies a foremost place, for it unfolds the entire range of human life through dharma , artha , kāma and mokṣa . In our sampradāya , it is revered as the Pañcama Veda , the fifth Veda. Clearly, studying all one hundred thousand ślokas of the Mahābhārata is a stupendous undertaking that may require many years. Nevertheless, we can visit a few selected ślokas (59 to be precise) from this great Itihāsa and receive their benefit through svādhyāya and manana .  ( All vers...
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Śrī Nīlakaṇṭha Mahādeva Nāmāvaliḥ (drawn from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)

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  Foreword This nāmāvali has been composed in with inspiration, drawing directly from the words, phrases, and vision of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 7, verses 30 through 46 . These verses first reveal the transcendent greatness of our Swami as the Supreme Light beyond the three guṇas, inaccessible even to Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Indra. They then portray the boundless compassion of Mahādeva, who, seeing the suffering of all beings, gathers the all-pervading Hālāhala poison into his palm and consumes it for the protection of the worlds. The blue mark left upon his throat becomes not a blemish, but the ornament of the great and compassionate Swami. The purpose of this nāmāvali is twofold. First , it is meant to help us repeatedly contemplate the divine līlā of Swāmī and his immeasurable compassion as Nīlakaṇṭha Mahādeva. Second , it is an attempt at Bhāgavata-pānam , drinking deeply from the nectar of the Bhāgavata. May the repetition of these names bring to the hea...
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