® CHINMAYA MISSION® WEST BIMONTHLY NEWSLETTER March 2010, No. 134 In This Issue SPIRITUAL TRAILS Graceful Aging My Teacher, Swami Tapovanam TraveLogUe Vande Mataram Chinmaya Dham Yatra ReFLeCTIoNS What Prayers Do Lead Me from the Unreal to the Real My Guru Is in the Driver’s Seat Pujya Gurudev’s Demand Ashtakam NewS Prabhavalis Arrive at CM Houston New Properties for CM Centers Bhumi Puja in Virginia CM Dallas/Fort Worth Family Camp Chinmaya Rameshwaram Opens CHYK Retreat CM San Diego’s Ninth Anniversary CHYK Austin Film Workshop CM New York’s CORD Walkathon Kenopanishad at CM Niagara Falls CM Minneapolis Events ANNoUNCeMeNTS Easy Sanskrit Online Course CORD USA 17th Mahasamadhi Camp Dharma Sevak Course 2010 Pujya Gurudev’s Birth Centenary Chinmaya Publications: New Arrivals CIF’s Correspondence Vedanta Courses Worship at Adi Shankara Nilayam Ottawa Awakening Canadians to India Summer CHYK Retreat CM Trinidad Summer Camp Vedanta 2010: CMW’s One-Year Course CM Chicago Summer Kids' Camps Mission Statement To provide to individuals, from any background, the wisdom of Vedanta, and the practical means for spiritual growth and happiness, enabling them to become positive contributors to society. 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CHINMAYA PUBLICATIONS Editor: Brahmacharini Aparna Chaitanya Layout: Odalis Valdivieso Cover Photo: Anjali Singh www.chinmayapublications.com Copy Editors: Dipali Trivedi, Lynne Matous, Meera Srinivasan, Paulomi Raiji, James Hausman CM Centers' Liaison: Seema Jani Toll Free (888) CMW-READ Submissions: [email protected] 'Krishnalaya' CMW Headquarters/Retreat Center: (707) 207-5011 / fax (707) 247-3422; [email protected] [email protected] CMW Executive Secretary: Brahmacharini Aparna Chaitanya / (305) 279-8456; (215) 396-0390; fax (215) 396-9710 fax (305) 477-5362; [email protected] d His Holiness Swami Tapovanam Desire is at the root of all action, good or evil. A man of detachment has no desire. Of what use is action to such a man whose sole aim is the realization of truth? He alone is entitled to a life of action, who is still attached to action but unattached to its fruits. It will help him to attain purity of mind. One who is pure of mind, and whose mind is ever fixed in the thought of Brahman and who revels in it needs [to] follow no rules of action. He who has attained purity of mind does not turn his mind to action, which produces a state of turmoil. Source: Ishvara Darshan d His Holiness Swami Chinmayananda Actions are the louder expression of thoughts. The quality of thought is ordered by the nature of our inner belief and faith. Actions are nothing but the actor’s thoughts projected and expressed in and through him. The secret of action is to get established in equanimity, renouncing all egocentric attachments, forgetting to worry over successes and failures. Every action motivated by egocentric desires thickens the veil of ignorance and permits not even a single ray of our essential Divinity to peep through to illumine the Life in us. Source: Chinmaya Uvacha d His Holiness Swami Tejomayananda The individual cannot have any right or might apart from the total. The part cannot exist apart from the whole. Hence, from the Lord alone do we get the capacity to desire, know, and act. Before acting, if we keep this in mind, then apart from Him, how can we have any doership? He alone acts through us. We thus see that action, done with egocentric desires, binds man. When actions are performed with the understanding that the Lord is the Governor of all actions . and the Giver of all results . the mind becomes purified since vasanas are [being] exhausted, and such a mind becomes an aid to liberate man. Source: Upadesha Sara Click here for Pujya Guruji’s Itinerary Spiritual Trails Graceful Aging by Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda Continued from CMW News, January 2010 Acharyaya priyam dhanam-ahrtya. Kushalan-na pramaditavyam. After learning from the teacher, it is the Never be negligent toward your welfare. student’s duty to give dakshina. Earlier, no The expression, “Take care of yourself,” is fees were collected; the students went to common. When someone is unwell, we say, the guru-kulam to stay and study. Whether “Take care of yourself.” To a traveler, we say, rajkumar or brahminkumar, everyone “Be careful,” meaning, no one else will take studied together. And at the end, they offered care of you. And even if someone is willing whatever dakshina they wished. Thus, the to take care of you, you must first be willing teacher instructs the students here to be to accept it. You may be unwell, and your mindful and give what is dear (priyam) to the assistant may give you your medications, but guru when offering dakshina, for dakshina you must also be ready to take them. When represents the student’s heartfelt gratitude you travel, your ticket, your bag, your clothes, to the guru. This means, from whomsoever your passport, your money—all that you need you learn something—whether karma vidya, must be with you. Who else will take care of jnana vidya, or upasana vidya—always be these? And then, of course, there are bigger grateful to that person. In this way, maintain things to be taken care of—like your income respect for the guru-shishya tradition. tax filings! Praja-tantum ma vyavachchhetsih. Bhutyai na pramaditavyam. Do not break your family lineage. Go home, Here, bhuti means “prosperity.” Never be get married, have children, and continue your negligent toward prosperity. In whichever vamsha parampara, for whatever one learns field or profession you are, there must be in guru-kulam must be passed on. Of course, some material profit to sustain yourself and there are students who do not enter grhastha your family. Accordingly, you must continue ashrama and right away take to the spiritual to upgrade your knowledge in your field. path instead. For them, praja-tantum does This is called bhuti. When a doctor decides not come in the form of a householder’s life, to specialize in a field, it is for bhuti. Thus, but in the form of continuing the guru-shishya the teaching here is that one should continue parampara, so that whatever branch of learning throughout life and be successful at knowledge has been learnt is passed on in the whatever one does. guru-shishya tradition. Svadhyaya-pravachanabhyam na Now, though the acharya has positively pramaditavyam. given his instructions, yet he emphasizes certain points again, warning the students In self-study and giving discourses (spreading never to be negligent or take these teachings this knowledge), do not be negligent. lightly. So, though it was said, “Satyam Continue studying, and share all that you vada. Dharmam chara,” yet the acharya learn. After your study courses in Chinmaya emphasizes, “Satyan-na pramaditavyam. Mission, be sure to become a teacher and Dharman-na pramaditavyam”: Never ever impart what you