Material Happiness and Spiritual Salvation

Meaning: According to the line of Rigved 10/31/2 — for those wishing material happiness and spiritual salvation, it would be proper to have truthful dealings in mind, speech and deeds and to be partners in good deeds. This is the only means of achieving permanent happiness.

Message: There is a very close relationship of mind, speech and deeds. Whatever thoughts that arise in our minds are expressed through speech and our deeds are in accordance with that. After that we have to bear the result (good or bad) of those deeds. The mind is supreme because it is in contact with the organs of sensation as well as organs of action. No organ can become active in any work without the cooperation of the mind.

Only with firm willpower it is possible to keep the highly mobile mind under control. This mind goes on wandering from moment to moment and the fundamental basis of spiritual life is to keep it ruthlessly at one spot. Concentration in and dedication for any work is not possible at all without keeping the mind under control. Only with the reins of the mind, do the organs come under control and wicked activities do not survive. In this way it becomes easy for men to discard faults and wicked tendencies, he gets saved form sinful acts and gains real spiritual knowledge by self study and 'satsang' (good moral company and study of scriptures) by making good use of time.

This true knowledge remains like an armor over the mind and prevents the entry of sinful tendencies. With the slightest weakness in this amour, sinful tendency enters the mind. With the company of excellent men and by listening to their lectures with respect, we can strengthen this armor and open up the road to success in life.

Tremendous alertness and carefulness is required for saving the mind from sinful tendencies. Man experience sweet thrill in sinful feelings. Those who save themselves from this temptation are saved from destruction.

When man obtains excellent knowledge by controlling his mind, then his speech is truthful and so also are his deeds. With good and truthful conduct only, the works for the welfare of the people are carried out and with that only, is God's grace achieved. to experience God, one's total mind has to be surrendered to God. Spiritual development is not at all possible without constant practice of trying to experience closeness with God and experiencing God's existence during every moment of one's life.

We are able to obtain true knowledge by controlling the mind through satsang, and through self-study as well as worship and spiritual endeavor but very quickly we wander away from our objective, lose whatever has been obtained and become unhappy.

For permanent happiness and salvation it is necessary that, believing in God as our witness, we always keep ourselves away from sinful deeds.

Music of the Soul

Tension is triggered when we stretch ourselves beyond our mental, physical and financial capacities and capabilities. The root cause is our expectations. When what we expect to happen does not happen, frustration lead to tension. This in turn leads to compression of the spiritual heart, which is the foundation of Bhakti or devotion that connects us to our soul.

To overcome stress, we need to release tension and come to enjoy a serene and a tranquil life and for this we need to introduce Bhakti into our lives. You might ask, is devotion different than prayer? Prayer is a concentrated effort from us directed towards God, where in devotion is to acknowledge that energy as God.

Devotion helps to release pressures of unwanted thought. Thinking without incorporating devotion creates jagged thought patterns which strain the mind, creating pressure, leading to more stress and tension. Wherein thinking with devotion - that is, thinking with love creates soft, soothing thought patterns which bring about calmness, serenity and lends that musical resonance to our thoughts without pressure, stress or tension. This kind of devotion was followed by great Bhakti saints like Kabir, Namded, Mirabai, the Namazhwars, Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa, Tyagaraja and Tansen.

Devotion helped Bhakti saints to cultivate an awareness of soul through music. This awareness brought them clarity from the ocean of thoughts that tend to cause storms and imbalances in the mind. Devotion brings about focus and awareness with devotion makes possible the experience of unconditional love. A sincere devotee comes to understand the import of true love and its essence.

Remember here the difference between alertness and awareness. Alertness is focusing our thoughts on a particular task externally through the mind where in awareness is being in focus of our tasks all the time through devotion and love.

Devotion and love lubricate the soul and the absence of any friction makes possible the creation or discovery of the rhythm of the soul that is reflected in the cosmic rhythm. Music loosens the knotted heart knot known as rudragranthi. Seamless and fluid love helps to remove rusty thoughts and rigid mindsets and thus begins the clearing of all doubt. Shruti or rhythm converts itself in a musical form and rhythm converts itself in a musical form and this we call raga.

The rhythm we experience creates in us positive, divine thoughts from within like a series of air bubbles rising up to oxygenate fish in a fish tank. We enjoy these patterns of thoughts which bring about visualization and a state of realization in us.

Raga like Pahaad, Bhoopalim Kalayani and Yemen in classical Hindustani music traditions and Mohana, Ananda Bhairavi, Yemen Kalayani, Hindola and many more in classical Carntic tradition. Bach and Tchaikovsky for instance in classical western tradition or just devotional renderings lead one to experience joy and peace and could well lay the foundation to progress on the path of bliss-attainment.

Therefore, sing, dance and experience joy for life is beautiful.

Nature of Renunciation

Don't desire sense-enjoyments. The body is being maintained by providence any way. Have no attachment towards any thing because everything is ever-changing. Know this and be contented. The Supreme Self, witness to these changes, is eternal. Know the majestic glory of the Eternal and be one with that. Enjoy both, the ever-changing and the eternal. Don't allow yourself to be dragged down by the ever changing and do not turn back from the eternal.

For ages we have been wandering through numerous forms of life because of our desire lust and attachment. "Get rid of the sense of 'I' and 'mine' of the pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain. Destroy all ignorance and differences.

Have no attachment and no hatred; eradicate all defects from the mind. Root out desire from your heart. Bring supreme good to your real Self. Destroy duality; contemplate on Self abiding in all/" Thoughts of duality breed vices like attachment and hatred, fear, grief, worry remorse desire and the sense of 'I' and 'mine'. Contemplate on the Universal Self.

What is desire? I want to get something. To seek pleasure in doing something, grasping, seeing and listening. We have been hankering after these desires for ages; yet we didn't get happiness that lasted. Had we got lasing happiness as much as the water on the tip of a needle, we would have had tons of happiness with us by this time. But nothing of that sort happened and we are left with zilch for all our efforts.

Krishna says" Renounce desire; next renounce longing as well. Even after this, attachment or the sense of 'mine' is left. This too brings misery. Renounce the sense of 'mine' as well. But even after renouncing attachment, desire and longing, there remains the ego of renouncing these. This ego too has to be renounced. Ego is of two kinds — natural ego, an evolutes of Prakriti and unnatural or ignorance borne ego.

Natural ego is limited to the body alone. It preserves and protects the body. It says, 'I am the body'. If the body feels hungry, the natural ego provides food to it; if the body is tired, it takes it to the bed. If the mind feels bored it takes the body to a place of entertainment. Natural ego is not that painful.

Ego in transient things like this is my house, I have this much money, I have this much land, I have so many friends is unnatural or ignorance-borne ego.

In reality true renunciation means complete disbelief in favorable and unfavorable conditions because the favorable gives rise to attachment, and the unfavorable to hatred. The absence of attachment and hatred is the only renunciation. Renunciation brings in theism, and then it gets transformed into love and after having experienced theism in absolute sense that love gets culminated in knowledge. Liberation is achieved by renunciation of desire and not by giving up things. The mind becomes free from prejudice after renouncing vanity; it attains peace and the ability to attain to Supreme Brahma.

Desire, longing, the sense of 'mine-ness' and ego or the sense of 'I-ness are the causes of rebirth. If one renounces these four one becomes liberated here and now.

The Sources of Rain is the Ocean

Meaning: According to the line of Athervaved 14/1/13 — when the ocean creates the rain (through evaporation of its water into clouds), the rivers get water, that is, the ocean controls the rivers. Similarly, o wife! You too make the entire family happy by becoming the owner of the house.

Message: The life of a householder is full of responsibilities. Only men whit deep insight, understanding and practical skills can be successful in this phase of life. Even educated men commit mistakes because of lack of practical skills, then what to say about uneducated persons? One develops practical-ness by living with experienced men. It is not possible merely by getting high education. A person must obtain the knowledge from experienced people about the practical conduct with parents, parents-in-law, brothers, sisters and other family members after matrimony.

The joint family system in our country is a blessing in disguise and a person gets exposed to family's responsibilities right from childhood. There is great importance of the joint family system from the spiritual and sentimental viewpoint also. Service to parents, help to brothers and sisters and to think of problems of the family members as one's own and getting involved in their solution, reduces one's selfishness. And increases generosity of mind and heart. Those thinking of only their own bodies and the comforts of their wives may obtain certain facilities in early life, but they have to suffer the punishment for their narrow-mindedness for the remaining life. The usefulness of a joint family is realized during illness, weakness, calamities and quarrels and fights and at that time the other members of the family help in their own way and lighten the burden on the family. The inclusion and maintenance of unworthy, incapable, mad and wicked is possible in a joint family system. Left to themselves, such men would have found even begging and survival difficult.

The new bride is the centre of the family and all family members have some expectations from her. The maintenance of the family's cheer, joy, enthusiasm and harmony depends on her practical skills. If mutual goodwill warmth, courtesy, respect and cooperation are maintained, then dissatisfaction and malice are never produced. Every member of the family must fulfill his duties properly and must not claim undue rights. It should not happen that because of being seniors some persons keep enjoying and the juniors have to work like the ox carrying the burden of drudgery in an oil-mill. This leads to the division of the family.

The administration of a family should be like the mutual relationship between the ocean and the rivers. The ocean is the master of all the water in the world. The water of the rivers also flows down into it, but the ocean never considers the water as his exclusive property. Through clouds, he rains down the water to every nook and corner of the world. Similarly it is expected of the new bride that, becoming the mistress of the happiness and comforts of all members, she should consider as her supreme good-luck to think of their interests with sobriety and gain the love and respect of the family members.

Of the Shelf Gene Tests in US

Want to find out what diseases await you in the future, your chances of developing Alzheimer's? Or whether you will pass something on to your child? Then a trip to the pharmacy may reveal all.

Biotech firm Pathway Genomics announced on Tuesday that personalized DNA tests to detect the risks of developing certain disease will soon be available at Walgreen's, a large chain of pharmacies.

It would be the first time that such tests would be commercially available for consumers, even though the company has offered them online for some time.

The Pathway Genomics kit, dubbed the "Insight Saliva Collection", enables the user to take saliva swabs following simple instructions and send them off to a California laboratory for analysis.

Costing between $20 to $30, the kit will be on sale at some 7,500 branches of Walgreen's from the weekend.

After sending off the swab, the customer has to log onto the Pathway Genomics site and create a personal account to order the tests they are interested in, out of three proposed sets costing up to $ 249. By analyzing the client's DNA, the company can test for markers which could indicate whether the person is at risk for about 70 diseases, including breast or prostate cancer, heart disease, diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis.

They can also test for responses to drugs such s anti-cholesterol medication, the anti-coagulant warfare or tamoxifen used to battle breast cancer.

Couples can also spend $ 179 if they wish to know whether they risk passing on hereditary disease such as cystic fibrosis to their future children. "Every one has the right to know the secrets hidden within their own DNA," the company says on its website. "With personal DNA testing, you can take preventative steps to improve your future, and even extend your life".

If you have faith in the three hundred and thirty millions of your mythological Gods, and in all the Gods which others have introduced into your midst, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you. Have faith in yourselves and stand upon that faith and be strong Swami Vivekananda Great men can even by their words erase the worrying fears generated by an inferiority complex Bhagavata Purana