Nirvana 2015 Issue 87 (Oct-Dec)
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ISSUE No. 8786 OCT ISSUE – DEC No. 201 865 OCT – DEC 2015 RAMAKRISHNA MISSION RAMAKRISHNASINGAPORE MISSION MCI SINGAPORE(P) 009/09/2015 MCIISSN0218 (P) 009/09/201-7183 5 ISSN0218-7183 State of Spiritual enlightenment or illumination. Nirvana releases humans from Pearls of Wisdom the cycle of birth, suffering, death and all forms of worldly bondage. In this issue... Uddhava Gita Translated by Swami Madhavananda Pearls of Wisdom 1 Śrī bhagavān uvāca from Uddhava Gita Editorial 2 The Lord said: The Real 'I' and the phantom I 4 Those who discarding these three ways of devotion, knowledge, and work taught by Me, feed through their Swami Muktirupananda restless organs their petty desires, pass on from birth to death. Sri Rama and Sri Ramakrishna 9 The steadfastness to the duties of one's particular sphere Jayasekhar is described as merit, and the reverse is defect. This is the criterion about them. Sri Krishna as Banke Bihari 12 With a view to test the fitness of things, purity and A devotee, Sri Sarada Devi Ashram, South Africa impurity, merit and defect, as well as conduciveness to well-being and its opposite are enjoined even with regard Cultivation of Strength and Fearlessness 17 to things of the same group, for the sake of piety, of practice, and of the manitenance of life respectively Swami Budhananda O sinless one, for those to whom piety is but a burden, News & Notes 22 I have laid down the above rule of conduct. (To be continued) Uddhava Gita 16 (1 - 4) Edited and Published by Swami VimokshMuktirupananda,ananda, President,President, RamakrishnaRamakrishna Mission,Mission, 179 Bartley Road, Singapore 539784 Tel: 6288 9077 Fax: 6288 5798. email: [email protected], Website: www.ramakrishna.org.sg Print Production: EAZI Printing Pte Ltd 1 1 State of Spiritual enlightenment or illumination. Nirvana releases humans from Pearls of Wisdom the cycle of birth, suffering, death and all forms of worldly bondage. In this issue... Uddhava Gita Translated by Swami Madhavananda Pearls of Wisdom 1 Śrī bhagavān uvāca from Uddhava Gita Editorial 2 The Lord said: The Real 'I' and the phantom I 4 Those who discarding these three ways of devotion, knowledge, and work taught by Me, feed through their Swami Muktirupananda restless organs their petty desires, pass on from birth to death. Sri Rama and Sri Ramakrishna 9 The steadfastness to the duties of one's particular sphere Jayasekhar is described as merit, and the reverse is defect. This is the criterion about them. Sri Krishna as Banke Bihari 12 With a view to test the fitness of things, purity and A devotee, Sri Sarada Devi Ashram, South Africa impurity, merit and defect, as well as conduciveness to well-being and its opposite are enjoined even with regard Cultivation of Strength and Fearlessness 17 to things of the same group, for the sake of piety, of practice, and of the manitenance of life respectively Swami Budhananda O sinless one, for those to whom piety is but a burden, News & Notes 22 I have laid down the above rule of conduct. (To be continued) Uddhava Gita 16 (1 - 4) Edited and Published by Swami VimokshMuktirupananda,ananda, President,President, RamakrishnaRamakrishna Mission,Mission, 179 Bartley Road, Singapore 539784 Tel: 6288 9077 Fax: 6288 5798. email: [email protected], Website: www.ramakrishna.org.sg Print Production: EAZI Printing Pte Ltd 1 1 The Real ‘I’ and the phantom I Editorial Swami Muktirupananda Ceaseless Cosmic Worship wami Vivekananda delivered the silent one. As long as this Slectures on Jnana-Yoga in familiar ‘I’ plays its active role and Once Swami Brahmananda visited the Bose Research Institute. London and New York in 1896. occupies the centre stage the He saw how the plants were sensitive to external stimuli. The One of the lectures was on The silent I lies hidden and does not whole day his thoughts centred round on the plant life. While real and the apparent man. The reveal itself. In other words, talking to Boshi Sen, he said, “There was a time when Thakur real man is the essence of our when one is present the other is (Sri Ramakrishna) could not step on the grass, but would jump being and what he appears absent. It reveals to one who from one bare spot to another to avoid hurting the grass. At that externally is false one. There is a cares to know about it and not to time, we simply didn’t believe that a grass could be sensitive! difference between the two like others. From what I saw today, I realised how infallibly true his light and its shadow. The real perceptions were!” man is light and the apparent one The Mundaka Upanishad is his shadow – insubstantial. compares these two selves to two Later, while staying in Bhubaneshwar Math, he said to the monks Swamiji some-times calls them birds and how they behave. One there: “Trees have life. If you serve them you will feel it. They lower self and higher self. What eats the bitter and sweet fruits will never become ungrateful. He who serves them will receive are these two selves in a simple and experiences pleasure and flowers and fruits in return.” way we will discuss. pain and the other silently watches. So also Katha Seeing the striking roses in the Bangalore Lalbaug garden, he All of us as human beings have Upanishad dwells on this subject. remarked, “Look, the celestial maidens are laughing!” Pointing at two ‘I’s or two selves inside us. the green lawn, he would say, “as if the Divine Mother has Other living beings whether birds I What is the first fact of life? All spread green velvet!” or animals have only one self. It human beings also including is the unusualness of human other living beings are aware of I once asked my revered Gurudev Sri Swami Nirvananandaji beings to possess two entities. one’s existence or the feeling of Maharaj how was his Gurudev Swami Brahmanandaji would view Another strange fact is only a few being alive. When a person is the entire cosmos. He said to me that his Gurudev would ‘feel’ are aware of this and the majority conscious of his existence he with his mystical eyes that cosmic worship was always on. remain ignorant of it. The says, “I am alive, I exist.’ About characteristics of these two this self-evident thing nobody has He one day, saw a new brahmacharin plucking flowers for selves are different. One I is true, to tell us nor we have to learn Master’s worship. He rebuked him sharply: silent and unchanging and from anyone. It is effortless. another I, is a phantom, None makes any attempt to know “What are you doing? Do you want to make that tree devoid of chattering and constantly the existence of oneself. To flowers? You think Sri Ramakrishna is seated only in the shrine changing. The phantom I is know the other things of the world and does not come to the garden? Pick those flowers only which assertive, dominant and dictates we need efforts and help from are hidden behind the leaves and always leave some flowers all the activities of the body and others. But not this fundamental outside in each tree.” To Brahmananda Maharaj, those trees mind. Everyone is familiar with fact of life. We use ‘I’ or ‘I am’ to also were worshipping the cosmic God with their blossoms! this aggressive self and not with refer to oneself as an individual or 1 1 2 3 The Real ‘I’ and the phantom I Editorial Swami Muktirupananda Ceaseless Cosmic Worship wami Vivekananda delivered the silent one. As long as this S lectures on Jnana-Yoga in familiar ‘I’ plays its active role and Once Swami Brahmananda visited the Bose Research Institute. London and New York in 1896. occupies the centre stage the He saw how the plants were sensitive to external stimuli. The One of the lectures was on The silent I lies hidden and does not whole day his thoughts centred round on the plant life. While real and the apparent man. The reveal itself. In other words, talking to Boshi Sen, he said, “There was a time when Thakur real man is the essence of our when one is present the other is (Sri Ramakrishna) could not step on the grass, but would jump being and what he appears absent. It reveals to one who from one bare spot to another to avoid hurting the grass. At that externally is false one. There is a cares to know about it and not to time, we simply didn’t believe that a grass could be sensitive! difference between the two like others. From what I saw today, I realised how infallibly true his light and its shadow. The real perceptions were!” man is light and the apparent one The Mundaka Upanishad is his shadow – insubstantial. compares these two selves to two Later, while staying in Bhubaneshwar Math, he said to the monks Swamiji some-times calls them birds and how they behave. One there: “Trees have life. If you serve them you will feel it. They lower self and higher self. What eats the bitter and sweet fruits will never become ungrateful. He who serves them will receive are these two selves in a simple and experiences pleasure and flowers and fruits in return.” way we will discuss. pain and the other silently watches. So also Katha Seeing the striking roses in the Bangalore Lalbaug garden, he All of us as human beings have Upanishad dwells on this subject.