The soul is bereft of God-consciousness since eternity. True Yoga is that which unites the soul with God.
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One of the most powerful vibrations to heal and elevate the mind is the sentiment of gratitude. Let's practice feeling grateful to God.
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A deep and burning aspiration to meet our Divine Beloved will propel us forward in spiritual life. *********
Devotion
is love for the highest, and the lowest shall fall away by itself.
Hence, surcharge your mind with noble thoughts of love for God.
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Our heads are fitted with a tiny intellect, two fingers in breadth. But due to pride, we use it even to challenge God and question His ways.
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The Supreme Personality will not be known by our effort, but by His Grace. However, our sincere and humble effort will attract His Grace.
These are all tweets sent by Swamiji, to reveal the Divine knowledge given by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj.
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Announcements Valley Ranch/Irving, TX Bal-Mukund and JKYog Center We
are pleased to start a new center for children's weekly classes as well
as yoga classes and satsang for adults at Valley Ranch/Irving
location. The classes start on January 9th 2011. For
registration/details: Click Here ******* Swamiji
at Kellogg School
of Management Swamiji
addressed faculty and students of Kellogg School of Management,
Illinois on October 12th, 2010. Swamiji delivered a brilliant
lecture on the topic "Spiritual Paradigm for Management". View Lecture ******* Prem Mandir Inauguration Dates Changed The inaugurationof Prem Mandir has been postponed to October 2011.
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Featured Kirtan CD: Aarti
Featured Video:
Endless Lifetimes Have Passed
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Current News JKP News Annual Sadhana Shivir
Annual Sadhana Shivir, which was held at Rangeeli Mahal Barsana, ended on Nov 25th. Devotees were blessed to practice intense sadhana, devotion under the guidance of Shree Maharajji.
Shree
Maharajji inaugurated a three day yoga class from 22nd to 24th October,
which was conducted by Jagadguru Kripalu Chikitsalaya in Rangeeli
Mahal, Barsana. An
Eye Camp was organised at Jagadguru Kripalu Chikitsalaya in Rangeeli
Mahal, Barsana during the Annual Sadhana Shivir. The patients
were treated by senior doctors free of cost. JKYog News The
JKYog Dallas center celebrated Diwali with high spirits and enthusiasm
in the company of the Bal-Mukund children's group on Oct 31st. View Write-up and Photos Devotees from various centers of Orissa
gathered at the Cuttack Ashram to celebrate Shree Maharajji's birthday
on the auspicious day of Sharat Poornima, which was on Oct 22nd.
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Welcome to the Jagadguru Kripaluji Yog e-Magazine
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How to recognize a true Saint by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
Continuing from the previous edition...
You
must be aware of the fact that ninety percent of the people in this
world accept a person to be a Saint merely for the fulfillment of
worldly desires like blessing them with wealth, son, etc. If the
arrival of a Saint at a materialistic person's home brings him good
fortune, then that person starts praising the Saint by saying, "He is a
descended Divine soul. He is God Himself." People accept
this statement to be true. This results in immense faith in your
heart towards that Saint. But during the Saint's next visit to
that person's home, he suffers material loss due to his own
karmas. Then, that very same person's faith is shattered.
He starts criticizing the Saint, and is not even ready to accept the
Saint as an ordinary person.
However, the Mahapurush, or
Saint, does not have a clue that this person accepted him as God, and
later thought of him to be a devil. On the basis of fulfillment
and non-fulfillment of worldly desires, people judge and criticize true
Saints. Due to this reason, they themselves commit naamaparaadh,
serious spiritual transgression, and others who accept their opinion
also become a part of this spiritual transgression. In this way,
far from attaining the Divine Bliss of God, people lose whatever we
have gained in the spiritual realm. And they end up committing
sins and lose this precious human life.
Therefore,
we should never accept a person as a Saint based on someone else's
words, even if it takes the whole lifetime to recognize and accept
someone as a true Saint. According to the scriptures, it is
better to be late in finishing the work in perfect form, than to be
wrong. Moreover, we cannot progress properly on the path of
devotion without the guidance of a true Saint. And, it is also
said in the Shastras that if someone is devoted to a fake saint,
then the Guru as well his disciple attain hell. Thus, the most
important task,before surrendering to God, is to recognize a true
Saint.
In general, there are three types of behavior seen in a Mahapurursh:
1. Baalavat, Simple and innocent as a child - This kind of Mahapurush has a simple and innocent heart like that of a child. He likes clear and straightforward talk and behavior. He is neither affected by abuse nor pleased by any praise. In fact, a Mahapurush is pleased when one abuses him. A man abused Lord Buddha the whole day. Then, Lord Buddha said, "This person might be tired, give him something to eat and drink. He will get some energy back and start abusing me again." Hearing this, the man who was abusing Lord Buddha was shocked and remarked, "My abuses did not affect him at all." He then bowed down in front of Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha said, "If you give something to a guest, and he does not accept it, then with whom will that gift remain?" The man replied, "It will remain with the giver." Lord Buddha said, "So, you showered me with abuses, but it was of no use to me, so I did not accept it. If you would have recited something about God, then I would have accepted it. So, with whom will those abuses remain?" Hearing this, the man who abused understood the truth and asked for forgiveness.
Tulsidasji says:
nindak niyare rākhiye, āṅgan kuṭi chhavāya |
nit sābun pānī binā, ujjval kare subhāya ||
"The
person who criticizes should be given a place in the courtyard of the
house so that by his abuses, we will continuously test us, and we will
realize how much pride is within us."
We
recite prayers in front of God saying, "O God! Nobody is as sinful and
evil as I am, please bestow Your Grace and Mercy upon me." But
the moment we come out of the temple and someone calls us, "You are an
angry person, you are a fool!" we are ready to fight with that
person. Usage of abusive language is such a seed that grows
rapidly, but a saint is like dead soil, where no seeds can grow and all
abuses go waste with no effect. Abuses and criticism never affect
him.
2. Jadavat, uncivilized, oblivious of the social conventions of this world - The actual state of a Mahapurush
is beyond the material world. Because, his world is the Divine
realm and he is not from this material world. The mind of a Mahapurush
is constantly absorbed in the Divine Bliss of God, while bodily he
wanders in this material world. Hence, sometimes he is not
conscious of the social norms and conventions of this world, and his
behavior appears to be like that of a madman.
3. Unmattavat, like a madman, without bodily consciousness - The Bhagavat states:
evaṁvrataḥ svapriyanāmakīrtya jātānurāgo drutachitta uchchaiḥ |
hasatyatho roditi rauti gāyatyunmādavan nṛityati lokabāhyaḥ ||
A
Saint possesses the treasure of Divine Love. It is the ultimate
and highest attainment amongst all achievements. It is the power
through which devotees enslave God and make Him dance to their
tune. However, it is the nature of a Mahapurush to hide
that Love. But sometimes, during the remembrance of his Beloved God's
Name, Virtues, Pastimes, and Chantings, it becomes difficult to hide or
control it, which causes his love to manifest externally. He
forgets that he is present in the material world, and starts dancing,
sometimes crying loudly, laughing, singing, and jumping. In this
state, a Mahapurush behaves like a madman. The scriptures mention the various states of these Divine emotions, as ashta satvik bhav. By these bhavs,
or Divine emotions, we can predict the depth of Divine Love within the
Saint's heart. From external appearance, this state of the Mahapurush is similar to a madman.
Now, for
recognizing a true Saint, we will be discussing some direct evidences,
some signs, which are generally seen in a Saint's behavior.
To be continued in the next edition....
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Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana by Swami Mukundananda
Continuing from the previous month... vṛiksh se baṛhakar sahiṣhṇu bhāv bhī ho pyāre sabako do sammān āpun mān jani chahu pyāre
Let
us now study the second point: Become more tolerant than a tree.
A devotee must be more forgiving than a tree that bears fruits.
When someone throws a stone at the tree, it does not get angry but in
return, gives us a fruit.
Once,
there was a powerful king in North-west India. His name was Raja
Ranjeet Singh. The famous Kohinoor diamond was owned by his
kingdom. Later, the British seized and took it away with them to
England. Raja Ranjeet Singh was blind in one eye. One day,
a small boy who lived in his kingdom was trying to hit a mango tree
with a stone. Unfortunately, the stone hit the king instead of
the tree. The king asked, "Who has hit me with a stone?" The
king's servants pointed to the boy. The king asked him to be
brought to the court.
The
boy's mother thought that her son would be now killed as the king would
sentence him to death. When the boy was taken to the king, he
asked the boy what he was doing there. The small boy replied that
he was trying to hit the tree to get a mango. The King then gave
him a basket full of mangoes. People were astonished and asked
him, "You did not get angry with the boy? He hit you, and why
have you gifted the boy with a basket of mangoes?" The king said,
"If the stone had hit the tree, it would have given him mangoes.
Am I even worse than the tree? After all, I am a human being and
my behavior should be better than the tree. If the tree gives
mangoes in return, then I should at least give a basket of
mangoes."
This
shows that it is the nature of a tree to be tolerant and
forgiving. Here, Shree Kripaluji Maharaj tells us to be even more
tolerant than a tree; to practice and apply this quality of tolerance
in our daily lives. Five hundred years ago, Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhuji also said that devotees should be more tolerant than a
tree.
Since this is a material world, everybody is not a Mahapurush. Everybody has three modes of Maya within themselves. Some have - Sattvagun, quality of goodness, some have Rajogun, quality of passion, and some have Tamogun,
quality of ignorance. People will behave with you in various
ways, and if you are not tolerant, you will tend to get angry saying,
"He is like this; She is like that; He is very bad." By doing so,
our mind will get dirty and spoiled. Due to this reason, to keep
our mind in a healthy condition, we are being told to be tolerant.
There
was a Saint named Ekanath. He wrote the 'Naath Bhagavat', just as
Jagannathji wrote the Bhagavat in Oriya. The 'Naath Bhagavat' in
Marathi is a suitable match for the highly admired Oriya translation of
the Bhagavat. Saint Ekanath was a very sincere and intense
devotee of Shree Krishna. There was an incident in his life which
was very unique.
Saint
Ekanath used to bathe in the holy river Narmada in Maharashtra.
One day, after bathing, as he started to come out of the river, a
Pathan stood close by and looked very irritated. When the Saint
Ekanath came out, the Pathanspat on him. Saint Ekanath said, "Jai
Shree Krishna" and went back to the river to bathe again. When he
came out, the Pathan spat on him again. Even after this, Saint
Ekanath did not get angry or upset. He quietly went back and took
bath again. As soon as he came out of the river, the Pathan spat on him
again. It had now turned evening and this event had continued
since morning. People gathered around the banks to find out who
would lose. As of now, nobody was winning, neither the Pathan nor
the Saint.
The
Pathan finally lost patience and asked the Saint, "Are you made of wood
or stone? I spat on you so many times, but you did not even ask me why
I am doing this to you? You did not react at all." Saint Ekanath
replied, "Your actions have not harmed me. Instead, you have
acted as my well-wisher. Because of you, I took bath in the pure
and sacred waters of Narmada so many times. Then why should I get
angry with you?"
The
lesson that we get to learn from this is that there are many people in
this world who will oppose us. But, if we learn to become more
tolerant, our heart will get purified.
So,
what is the key to purify our heart? Find a person who keeps on
finding faults in you and criticizes you. Put a tilak on him and
keep him in the courtyard of your home. It means, respect the
person who keeps finding faults in you. Let him criticize and
oppose you continuously. Tolerate him patiently and
silently. This will help purify your heart at a very fast
rate. This practice of tolerance is for your own benefit.
By becoming tolerant, you will speedily progress in the spiritual realm.
Shree
Kripaluji Maharaj tells in the next line, never to look for any
respect. Expecting to be praised is also a material desire.
It is called as bhaktijaat anarth, of impurity arising in the
heart due to devotion. The desire to be appreciated for
practicing devotion is a big disaster in the spiritual realm.
When others praise us for being a devotee, we start liking it and begin
to expect admiration. People start thinking what they should do
so that people start respecting them. "How should I get respect?"
this becomes the primary aim and, "How should I practice devotion?"
becomes a secondary thing. In temples, people donate appliances
and get their names written on them. Not just their name but,
they also get their father's and grandfather's name written on
it! If we ask them, that you have given Rs.1000, but why are you
getting your name written on it? They say, "We get our names
written so that people should come to know that we have donated
money." What will they get by letting others know about
their charity?The spiritual principle is the reverse of this:
ghitasya bhavet vṛiddhiḥ kīrtitasya bhavet kṣhayaḥ
If
you do something good, there is no need to announce it to the
world. Only then you will get the fruit of your good deeds.
By telling others of your good deeds, their value gets reduced.
Once, due to this, the king of Heaven, King Nahush, had a spiritual
downfall. He was evil by nature. All the celestial gods and
sages wanted to get rid of him. Everyone decided to make him
speak about all his good deeds. They asked, "O King! What good
deeds have you performed in order to acquire the seat of Indra?"
The king then got excited and started narrating all his
accomplishments. He said, "I did this yagya; chanted these mantras; performed fasting for long periods; and
gave so much charity." As he kept saying them, the pious results
of his good deeds diminished. When the importance of his good
deeds ended, they told him that his tenure as Lord Indra had now ended
and he would have to leave. He had to leave heaven and come back
to this material world as a human being. So
the principle is - Do good deeds but never speak them out. When
the desire for seeking respect gets into our head, then the feeling of
devotion gets finished. We should always stay away from this.
To be continued in the next edition.....
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Question:
Some
religions, like Islam, serve no good purpose. They mislead people
and serve to increase their confusions. Their followers, rather
than elevating themselves, degrade themselves. Why did the
all-wise God create such religions in different parts of the world?
Answer: Our
judgments are often based on inadequate data and understanding.
All the prophets in history delivered their message in accordance with
the time, place and circumstance in which they were preaching.
Without understanding this principle, we could jump to rash judgments
on their teachings.
The
Hindu scriptures declare that the Buddha was God Himself. And yet
He preached a religion that accepts neither the concept of God nor the
soul. "Sacchita pariyodapanam etam buddhanushasanam". The
emphasis is only on cleansing your mind. Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
explains that at the time of Gautam Buddha, people were over-indulging
in the ritualistic aspect of the Vedas. They were engaging in animal
sacrifice. The Buddha preached a philosophy that helped the
people rise from the platform they were at. Buddhism was the perfect
philosophy for the people in that situation at that time. Now, if
we were to say that Buddhism is a bad religion because it does not
mention the existence of God, how far from the truth we would be.
Similarly,
Christianity too may seem elementary in comparison to the Vaishnav
philosophy, yet it has served humankind for two millenniums. If we read
the writings of Thomas Kempis, St. John of the Cross and St Francis of
Assissi, we will feel humbled before their fervor for devotion, their
zeal for preaching, and their complete intoxication for God.
The same holds true for many Sufi saints, like Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi,
and Moinuddin Chisti. When I was a child, there was a Hindu girl
in our neighborhood who used to read the Namaz, without ever having
learnt it from anyone (she forgot it by her sixth year). It is
possible that she was a good Muslim in her last life, and God arranged
for her to continue the journey by giving her an appropriate Hindu
birth in this life. So God alone is aware of the full importance
of Islam in the development of humankind, and its impact on the
development of culture, architecture, literature, music, etc.
A religion carries an entire civilization on its back for ages and ages. How then can we reject Islam as a bad religion?
The Bible says, "Judge not lest ye be judged". The beauty of our Vedic
scriptures is that they give us a broad vision of humankind, where we
do not look upon ourselves as going to heaven and all others as going
to hell. Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj shows this spirit by quoting
from all the religious traditions of the world. Shree Maharajji
also says in the Prem Ras Siddhant that often followers of one path
consider themselves to be superior, and look down upon all other
religious organizations, Gurus and denominations as being
inferior. This is a Naamaparadh, or a spiritual transgression.
Swamiji answers selected questions related to Yog, Spirituality and Philosophy every month on our e-Magazine.
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Bal-Mukund Showcase
Bal-Mukund
welcomes all contributions of creative works from children in different
areas including poetry, moral stories, art work, etc.
Submission Guidelines
********* Bal-Mukund Contribution
Moral Story Vidur
Vidur
was one of the wisest personalities who lived in the time of Shree
Krishna. Born of a maidservant of Ambika and Ambalika, the wives
of Vichitravirya, Vidur was the half brother of Pandu and
Dhritarashtra.
Though
he had two wives, Vichitravirya was unable to beget children, and the
great sage Ved Vyas was summoned for consultation. Faced with the
powerful aura of the sage, Ambika shut her eyes while Ambalika turned
pale and weak. Only the maidservant accompanying them remained
calm, and in due course, children were born to all three of them.
While Ambika's son was born blind, Ambalika's son was frail and
weak. It was the maid's son who was born with the knowledge and
wisdom of the great sage, and grew to be Vidur - respected by the young
and old alike.Vidur was an incarnation of Yamraj, or Dharmaraj, the god
of righteousness and also of death. Yamraj incarnated as Vidur
due to the curse of the sage Mandavya.
As
the son of a maidservant, Vidur was never considered a contender for
the throne of Hastinapur. However, Bheesma insisted on educating
him on par with his brothers and made him their minister. Even at
an early age, Vidur displayed his greatness and wisdom, guiding his
royal half-brothers on the right way to rule the kingdom.
Vidur,
as the chief counsel to Dhritarashtra, continually advised him against
wrongdoing, even when he knew that his counsel would go unheeded.
Once, Dhritarashtra was so angry at his advice that he ordered him to
leave the city at once. Vidur, without an angry word in response,
left the city and headed towards the abode of the Pandavas.
However, Dhritarashtra soon realized his error and sent messengers to
bring back Vidur, who agreed and came back. He did not harbor any
negative feelings towards Dhritarasthra, for was firm in simply doing
his duty, and did not care if people glorified or misbehaved with him.
Vidur
was also among the few people who were aware of the Divinity of Lord
Krishna. When Shree Krishna arrived at Hastinapur to advise
Duryodhan against the war, He chose to stay at Vidur's humble dwelling,
instead of the grand palace designated for Him. Vidur and his
wife were thrilled and made every arrangement possible for their Divine
guest.
An
interesting story illustrates the love that Vidur's wife had for Shree
Krishna. On coming to know that Shree Krishna would be coming to
his house, Vidur rushed to the market to purchase foodstuffs for his
Divine guest. However, Shree Krishna reached before Vidur could
return, and began knocking on the door. When Vidurani opened the
door and saw her Beloved Lord at her doorstep, she was overcome with
happiness, and catching His hand, brought Him in. Desiring to
feed Shree Krishna with her own hands, she went to the kitchen and
brought a bunch of bananas. However, she was so deeply absorbed
in devotional thoughts that she began dropping the fruit and putting
the banana peel in Shree Krishna's mouth. Krishna calmly ate the
peels without uttering a word. This blunder was discovered only
when Vidur reached home and saw what his wife was doing. He
scolded Vidurani, and offered the food items he had brought to Shree
Krishna.
The
Lord savored them, but remarked that they did not taste as sweet as the
banana peels of Vidurani, because they had been offered with such
love. Through this pastime, Shree Krishna revealed that the Lord
would accept anything offered with devotion, not just the fruits, but
the peels too!
Once
the Mahabharat war was over, Vidur continued to counsel the Pandavas in
the righteous way of governance. When the time came, it was he
who made Dhritarashtra and Gandhari aware that it was time for them to
leave for the forest, giving up their attachment to worldly life.
Kunti elected to go with them too, and all four of them entered the
forest together. While Kunti, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari soon
left their bodies and attained heaven, Vidur continued his penance
until the time came for him to leave his mortal body.
Moral:
Vidur proved himself the embodiment of dharm - truthful and righteous
conduct. Moreover, he lived his life by the rules of
non-attachment and forgiveness, and above all, devotion to the Lord.
This story is selected from the book,
A must have for all kids!
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Trivia Time
Lord Shiva
Shiva
is one of the chief Gods in Hinduism. His name means, "Auspicious
One." Devotees of Shiva are called "Saivites." Shiva is known by
many other names, including Shambhu ("Benignant"), Shankar
("Beneficent"), Pashupati ("Lord of Beasts"), Mahesh ("Great Lord") and
Mahadev ("Great God").
Along
with Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva forms the "holy trinity"
in Hinduism. He is regarded as "The Destroyer" in the eternal cycle of
creation and destruction of this Universe. Lord Shiva represents
the aspect of the Supreme Being that continuously dissolves to recreate
in the cyclic process of creation, preservation, dissolution and
recreation of the universe.
Lord
Shiva appears in a meditating but ever-happy posture. He has
matted hair which holds the flowing Ganges River and a crescent moon, a
serpent coiled around his neck, a trident (trishul) in his one hand and
ashes all over his body.
His vehicle is a bull (symbol of happiness and strength) named Nandi.
The
holy Ganges River is especially associated with Lord Shiv. It
flows through his hair. The divine story is that King Bhagirath
meditated before Lord Brahma for a thousand years for the salvation of
the souls of his ancestors. Pleased with his devotion, Brahma
granted him a wish. He requested the Lord to send the river
Ganges down to earth from heaven so that she could flow over his
ancestors' ashes and wash their curse away and allow them to go to
heaven.
Brahma
granted his wish but asked him to pray to Shiva, for he alone could
support the weight of her descent. Accordingly, he prayed to
Shiva and he allowed the Ganges to descend on his head, and after
flowing through his thick matted locks, the holy river descended on
earth at Gangotri in the Himalayas.
Lord
Shiva is the true master of 'Yog'. He revealed the 8.4 million
different yogic postures or 'asans' to Goddess Parvati. Various yogis
and sages have then condensed these asans to suit the style of living
according to their day and age.
Lord
Shiva's Divine consort variously manifests as Uma, Sati, Parvati,
Durga, Kali, and sometimes Shakti. Their sons are Skanda
(Kartikeya), the god of war, and the beloved elephant-headed Ganesh,
remover of obstacles.
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Jagadguru Kripaluji Yog Chakki Chalan Asan
Method
Sit in Dandasan.
Widen your legs, leave about 3 feet gap between your feet. Raise
your hands in front to the shoulder level and interlock the
fingers. Try to keep your hands straight and
horizontal. Hands will remain straight and horizontal throughout
the practice. Swing to the right and take your hands over the
right toes. Lean backward, while swinging from your waist as far
as possible. Swing to the left and take your hands over the left
toes. Buttocks should be the pivot point while swinging right,
backward and left. Repeat 5-5 in both directions, clockwise and
anticlockwise.
Benefits
It
tones the nerves and organs of the abdomen and pelvis. It helps
in reducing extra fat from the abdominal area. It corrects the
menstruation troubles. This asan can be practiced during the initial 3 months of pregnancy. It is helpful for postnatal recovery.
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