Mananam

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...

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...

  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...

  Śrī Śuka introduces the account of King Rantideva: rantidevasya mahimā ihāmutra ca gīyate The glory of Rantideva is celebrated both here and in the higher worlds. Bhāgavata Purā ṇ a 9.21.2   Rantideva was a king, but his greatness did not consist in sovereignty, wealth, military power, or even ritual accomplishment. His glory arose from the manner in which he responded to suffering. We are herewith reflecting on this story, only to know to what extend can a bhakta go, w.r.t. to manifesting unselfishness, as a natural act of compassion. This is being discussed in the context of nivrrti lakshana pārangatah example, during our Gita Mananam.   (Story of the Mahātma Rantideva )  A great king, with flourishing kingdom, was once afflicted by great famine, in which his subjects suffered, for the lack of food and water. He did his best to help, but eventually he had to give away all his wealth to support the people of his land. While doing so, he regarded ...