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Repeatedly contemplate, "I am not this body. I am the eternal soul that is a fragment of
God. Hence I belong to Him, and He alone
is mine."
***********
True Devotion to God is without self-seeking. It is
causeless, trusting, forgiving, patient, ever-increasing. That Divine Love is our goal.
*********
If you desire spiritual advancement, you must trust
a Guru completely, allow Him to take you by the hand and guide you to
God. You have heard that faith can move mountains. Let these words
become your own experience by trusting a Guru in the same way as you trust
worldly people.
********
Sing the glories of the Names, Virtues, Forms,
Pastimes of the Lord. Hear them, and meditate upon them. This 3-fold devotion is the simplest.
************
If you desire spiritual advancement, you must
trust a Guru completely, allow Him to take you by the hand and guide you
to God. Guru will help you along the spiritual path with obstacles
and problems as and when you face them.
If your mind urges you to do something bad,
postpone it. Later, your thinking may
change, and you may be saved from doing it. *************
Maya is like the loving mother who slaps her child so
that it does not walk on the wrong path, and pushes the child towards God. These tweets were sent
by Swamiji from his Twitter account, to remind us of the eternal spiritual
principles, as taught by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. |
Did You Know?
Receive Daily Inspirations
********Become Swamiji's Friend
on Facebook
Stay connected, get the latest updates on
Swamiji, JKYog events and much more on Facebook.
Steps to Join Swamiji on Facebook********
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Announcements
Join Swamiji at
Camp Olympia Retreat
for the experience of a lifetime
Sept 4th - 6th 2010
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Featured Kirtan CD:
Sundar Shyam
Science & Spirituality Part I
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Upcoming Events
Swamiji's USA Tour
Tampa, FL
July 18th - 23rd
Plano, TX
July 25th - 30th
Smyrna, GA (Atlanta)
Aug 1st - 7th
Norcross, GA (Atlanta)
Aug 8th - 13th
Houston, TX
Aug 15th - 21st
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Current News
Glimpses of Fresno
Retreat
The Retreat at Fresno was yet another memorable event for
every one. Devotees were thrilled to rejoice
in the divine vibrations of Swamiji's presence.
It was an enlightening and highly motivating program. Swamiji
showered his grace and affection on everyone.
"Excellent!
Indescribable! Each and every aspects of day to day life were
enriched. Lots of confusion and lack of understanding were clarified with
simple and easy to understand language. Clear and concise delivery of lectures was
instrumental in elevating my knowledge of God and path to him."
View more Testimonials
Do
try to attend the Camp Olympia Retreat and be a part of the special spiritual holiday
with Swamiji.
Weekly Classes for Children
Bal-Mukund centers for children have been started in various
cities across USA. The weekly classes for children, in the age group of 5-15,
are offered. Bal-Mukund centers are in New Jersey, New York, Maryland,
Connecticut, Los Angeles, San Jose and Chicago. To enroll or start Bal-Mukund
classes in your center, please contact:
Media Coverage
Swamiji's
tour of USA continues to gather increasing attention and coverage in
the media.
Swamiji successfully completed his enlightening
discourses at Northridge and Chicago. Yoga and Meditation programs were
also conducted by Swamiji.
Swamiji's discourses on the topic "Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana"
and Yoga & Meditation Program are currently going on in Tampa, Florida,
and will conclude on July 23rd.
He will then proceed to Plano for a week long lecture series and Yoga
& Meditation program.
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The Editor
Jagadguru Kripalu Yog
XVII/3305, 1st Floor,
Ranjit Nagar,
Near PUSA,
New Delhi - 110008
India
7405 Stoney Point Dr
Plano, TX 75025
USA
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Welcome to the
Jagadguru Kripalu Yog
e-Magazine |
How to recognize a
true Saint
by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
In the last lecture it was explained that every
individual, whether Indian, American, Chinese or Canadian, young, old, male or
female, performs various actions only with the aim of attaining happiness. The Vedas say that, even the most learned
scholars cannot know God, because God is beyond human intellect. Although the Vedas are filled with knowledge
about God, nobody can understand the Vedas even after infinite lifetimes, as
they are God's voice, and hence Divine.
Therefore,
Ved Vyas states:
tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ
śhreya uttamam
śhābde pare cha niṣhṇātaṁ brahmaṇyupaśhamāśhrayaṁ
(Bhagawat)
This means, "To know God, one has to surrender to a
genuine spiritual master."
The
Geeta states:
tadviddhi praṇipātena
paripraśhnena sevayā
"One who desires to attain the Divine knowledge of
God, will have to surrender to a true Saint who has thorough knowledge of the
scriptures and also has practical experience of God. Question him with a sincere mind and serve him with dedication."
The Ramayan also says:
guru binu bhavanidhi taraī na koī
Hence, we understand that the Vedas and all the
other scriptures together state that, without the guidance of a Guru, one
cannot know God.
So, how do we recognize a genuine Saint or a Mahapurush?
It is very difficult for an ordinary person to
determine whether a soul has attained God or not. Because like God, a God-realized Saint can
only be known by a Saint of the same level. Just as God cannot be grasped by the material senses, the mind or the
intellect, similarly, a Mahapurush cannot be identified by the same senses. Nevertheless, a Saint has to be recognized by perception, interaction,
and scriptural evidence, otherwise no one would have ever attained God until
now.
In general, there are two types of Saints and two
categories of 'fake' Saints that should be understood, before solving the
problem of recognizing a Mahapurush.
1.
The first
category of Saints is the one who have attained God, and they have
complete
knowledge of God. Their behavior is
simple and according to the notion of Saints. Hence, it is easy
to recognize them. In other words, they appear to be same from
outside as well as inside.
2. The
second category of Saints were Mahapurush from inside but appeared and
acted as worldly persons from outside. History
bears evidence to the fact that most of the Saints belonged to this
category. Because, we usually judge
others by external behavior, it becomes difficult to recognize such
Saints. It is the nature of Saints:
gopanīyaṁ gopanīyaṁ gopanīyaṁ
prayatnataḥ
They hide their love, their
true identity, and perform worldly actions called Leelas.
3. Now, the first category of worldly
people are those who are worldly from inside and perform worldly actions from
outside. These types of people are the
most common in this world, and we do not get cheated by assuming that they are Mahapurush. They can easily be identified.
4. The second category of cheaters is one
who is worldly from inside but acts like a Mahapurush from outside. They give discourses on
Vedas and Shastras, they dress up as Saints, and have disciples also. It is extremely difficult to identify such
cheaters because we normally judge persons by their external behavior.
So, now we have to understand the people who are
true Saints or Mahapurush, and the
ones who pretend to be saints. Since we
have not been able to identify these two types of personalities till today, we
have not found a true Saint. You may say
that the one who is truly a Mahapurush,
can never be worldly from outside. It is
a well-known truth that, after attaining perfect knowledge of God, one can
never be overcome by Maya, lack of
knowledge, and ignorance.
But our history is filled with Saints who performed
many worldly deeds. We have had great
Saints like Prahalad, Dhruv, Janak,
and Ambrish who after God-realization, ruled for millions of years. Hanuman and Arjun fought a war, killed crores
of people but were experiencing the Divine Bliss of God from within while
performing those actions. It is a well-known
truth that from the very moment a person attains God, he can never come under
the clutches of Maya again. The Vedas say:
sadā paśhyanti soorayaḥ tadviṣhṇoḥ
paramaṁ padam
A Saint always experiences Divine Bliss
eternally. If that eternal Bliss,
eternal knowledge is snatched away one day, why would one strive for it for
many lifetimes? Just like a grain of
wheat or rice loses its power to germinate forever when roasted, similarly,
after God-realization, one is liberated from Maya forever.
Historically, in spite of being beyond Maya, Saints acted as if they were under
Maya. In Satyug, we have the example
of the creator of universe, Lord Brahma. He had four sons, who were eternally
liberated souls. Once, they were on their way to Vaikunth. At the entrance,
they were stopped by the gatekeepers, Jai and Vijay. The sons got angry and they cursed Jai and
Vijay to turn into demons. Just imagine,
an eternally liberated soul is so absorbed in the Bliss of Brahm that he neither sees, hears, or thinks other than
the self. So, how come they saw Jai and
Vijay and in spite of being beyond Maya,
cursed them in anger?To be continued in the next edition....
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Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana
by Swami Mukundananda
Continuing from the last month...
char achar meṁ lakhahuṁ apano, iṣhṭa
kahaṁ nit pyāre
sarvadā sarvatra hari ko, sāth
mānahuṁ pyāre
āpu ko ikalo kabahuṁ jani, mānu
man mahaṁ pyāre
We must see God in
every entity. If we begin to realize
that God resides in every person then, there will be an end to the two biggest
obstacles in devotion - raag and dvesh, attachment and hatred. The two biggest hurdles in bhakti can be surpassed with Divine
vision. How would we have enmity towards
someone if we see God in every entity?
Bheemsen had married a demoness called Hidamba.
They had a son named - Ghatotkach. Ghatotkach had a son and named him Babrisaan. Babrisaan was a very powerful person. When the
great Mahabharat war was about to
begin, Babrisaan showed his interest
to go to battle. When Shree Krishna saw that Babrisaan was marching towards the
battlefield, He realized that he had the capability to change the situation of
the war. He decided to talk to him. Shree Krishna asked him, "Where are you going?" "To join the war", replied Babrisaan. Shree
Krishna then asked him what he can do.
Babrisaan took his bow and arrow and aimed at a nearby tree. With just a single shot, he cut down all the
leaves of the tree and offered them at the feet of Lord Shree Krishna. Shree Krishna was
very impressed. God then asked him that
would he give Him something if asked for it. Babrisaan replied, "Anything
you ask for my Lord, whatever You want." Shree Krishna asked him to
promise Him that he would give whatever He asked for. Babrisaan promised to do so.
Shree
Krishna then asked Babrisaan to
give Him his head. Without a word, Babrisaan cut his head and gave it to Shree
Krishna. Shree Krishna then placed
his head in the sky so that he could watch the whole Mahabharat. After the war, Shree Krishna asked Babrisaan what he saw. Babrisaan said that all he could see Shree
Krishna everywhere. "I could see You in both Kauravas and Pandavas." Shree Krishna was very pleased with his words. Today, people in Rajasthan worship Babrisaan in the form of Khatu Shyam.
Shree Kripaluji
Maharaj says that we must also try to
see God in every entity.
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj further tells us how to make bhakti, devotion a part of our daily life. We
consider bhakti to be different and
separate from our day to day life. We
think that we need to do devotion for half an hour and spend the rest of the
day as we want. Shree Maharajji says
that this is not the right way to lead our lives. We need to add devotion into our lives. i.e.,
whatever we do in twenty-four hours should only be devotion.
This is explained by Shree Krishna:
yatkaroṣhi yadaśhnāsi yajjuhoṣhi dadāsi yat
yattapasyati kaunteya tatkurukha
madarpaṇaṁ
He says, "Arjun! Whatever you do, offer it to me".
There was a legendary and brave king in the
history of India
- Chatrapati Shivaji. He was a spiritual person. His Guru was Samarth Ramdas. He used to
roam around with his bowl for alms and the king was his follower. Once, he was roaming in the capital of the kingdom of Chatrapati Shivaji with his bowl and begging for
alms. When Shivaji saw this, he got an idea. He wrote a letter to his Guru that he would
like to gift his kingdom to him, and placed that letter in his Guru's
bowl. When Samarth Ramdas read this, he smiled.
Samarth
Ramdas told
Chatrapati Shivaji, "What will I do with this Kingdom? I am a saint and my duty is to remember God
and remind others to think of God." He
told Shivaji that you are a king and
it is your duty to rule the kingdom. Now
that you have given the kingdom to me, rule over it by thinking that it is your
Guru's, and not yours.
Similarly,
we should lead our lives with the
same thinking that whatever we have belongs to our Guru. Whatever
we do, it is for our Guru. This way, our life will not be
separate from bhakti. Even if you possess a lot of wealth, think that it belongs to your Guru. We should use only what is important and
necessary for our body, and the rest we should dedicate to our Guru's seva. This is the way that we inculcate bhaktiin our daily lives. Shree Kripaluji
Maharaj gives us a very powerful formula that is, to constantly think and
remember Shree Krishna and your Guru with you always. Whenever you begin some work, first realize
the presence of God and Guru in front of you, and watching you. Then begin your work; but after one hour,
stop your work for a moment, and again realize that Hari-Guru are watching
you. Once you have practiced to
do this in hourly intervals, then reduce the
time to half-hour. Then reduce the
duration further to fifteen minutes. In
this way, with practice, we will reach the stage where we will always feel the
presence of God and Guru with us.
This philosophy is also mentioned by Christian
saints. Brother
Lawrence was a Father in a small
church. He wrote a book - Practice of the presence of the God.
In the book, he states: "If I were a preacher, I
would preach nothing but the practice of the presence of God.
Every other spiritual practice will happen
automatically." Other saints read the book
after his death and said that this is a remarkable and highly admirable
spiritual practice. They recognized Brother Lawrence to
be a great soul and exhumed his ashes
to Westminster Abbey, London. Shri Aurobindo had also said, "Live
always as if you are under the very eye of the Supreme soul and the
Divine Mother." |
Question:
There are so many miseries in this
world. Yet God does nothing to stop all
this. Doesn't this make God merciless,
whereas we all know God as All Merciful and Graceful?
Answer:
Suppose a child does something wrong
and his mother slaps him, does this action of the mother make her merciless? No. This
is, in fact the grace of the mother that she is trying to correct her child
from the very beginning. If we get a boil
in our body, we go to doctor. The doctor
operates and removes that boil, giving us immense pain. Now, does that mean the doctor is
merciless? No. The doctor is giving us treatment. He is getting rid of our pain.
Similarly, we have forgotten God
since eternity and have attached ourselves to the objects of this world and are
full of material vices like lust, anger, greed, etc. If we do not get miseries in this world, we
will never think of God. We are
suffering so much, and still we do not surrender to God. Think, if there was no suffering in the world,
then who would have remembered God? Initially, these miseries of the world make many people walk towards
God. Therefore, the miseries of the
world are not the hardheartedness of God. In fact, it is His Grace in disguise. Saint Kabir said:
"Sukh ke maathe sil pare naam hiye te jaye,
balihari wa dukh ki jo
pal pal naam rataye"
When we endeavor elevating our soul,
we will realize that material comfort does not contribute to self-growth. Hardships push us towards higher
consciousness. Swami Vivekananda said,
"Life is the continuous unfoldment of a being under circumstances tending
to press it downwards." Circumstances will create difficulties, and
will press us downwards. But when we
face them, we will be forced to enhance our abilities and understanding, and in
the process we will grow internally.
So, when we implement this perspective,
we will see the Grace of God in all situations, and even more in adverse
circumstances.Swamiji
answers selected questions related to Yog, Spirituality and Philosophy every
month on our e-Magazine.
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Bal-Mukund Children's Program
Bal-Mukund
is a specially designed personality development program for children,
envisioned by Swami Mukundananda. It endeavors to:
* Educate young minds in the knowledge of Vedic
wisdom, to lead a virtuous
life.
* Enthuse the spirit of giving with a service attitude.
* Encourage problem solving with courage, confidence and faith.
* Entertain creativity, expand power of concentration and focus.
Bal-Mukund Showcase
Bal-Mukund welcomes all contributions of
creative works from children in different areas including poetry, moral
stories, art work, etc.
*******
Bal-Mukund in Retreat at Fresno, CA
Bal-Mukund Program at the
retreat was a highly motivating and a
wonderful spiritual experience for all the children. Under the
divine presence of Swamiji, children enjoyed every moment of it.
Various fun-filled activities were organized for children like
devotional skits, games, drawing competition, Yoga & Meditation
sessions,
and parikrama at the park.
This is what children had to say:
Having fun in Bal-Mukund, spending time with
Swamiji and increasing my attachment with God. I would definitely recommend this retreat to
my friends to improve their attachment to God.
Shivam
Sadachar (Torrance, CA)
Swamiji's lectures influenced me and I am going to
start doing yoga regularly. His lectures
inspired me to go towards God and be a better person. The Bal-Mukund class was really fun and I got
to meet new friends.
Tanvi
Tamhane (Fremont, CA)
I like how Swamiji is very active, fun-loving and
at the same time, spiritual and motivational. It was nice that he was also
dancing and jumping during the bhajans and parikrama.
Sanjana
Kamath (Fremont, CA)
QUIZ
How much do you know about Shree Krishna? Take a quick test and find out for yourself!
1. In which city did Shree Krishna appear?
for His birth?
3. What is the name of Shree Krishna's
mother?
4. What is the name of Shree Krishna's
father?
5. Who shifted Him from jail after His
appearance?
6. What was the time of His appearance?
7. Name
the river which Vasudevji crossed
while shifting Shree Krishna from the
jail?
8. From where to where was Shree Krishna
shifted?
9. The appearance day of Shree Krishna is
known as _____________.
10. Shree Krishna is the ______child of
Shree Devakiji and
Vasudevji.
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Trivia Time
Jagadguru Shankaracharya
Jagadguru Shankaracharya was a great philosopher who
propagated the philosophy of Advaita vada, or non-dualism. Jagadguru Shankaracharya
is considered by many to be an avatar of Lord Shiv Himself. He was the first Hindu saint in modern
history to be honored with the title of Jagadaguru.
He was born to a devout brahmin couple in the village of Kaladi in Kerala. His parents prayed to Lord Shiv for a son,
and so when the child was born, he was aptly named Shankara.
Even at an early age, Shankara's brilliance and
extraordinary spiritual powers were obvious to all. While Shankara was a little child, his father
passed away, leaving his mother to take care of him. Right from his childhood, Shankara wanted to
renounce the world and become a sanyasi.
Shankara met his Guru, Acharya Govindapada, on the banks
of the river Narmada. Acharya immediately recognized
the brilliance of the young man and made him his disciple. Shankara learned the Vedic scriptures from
his Spiritual Master and wrote several commentaries on them.
Although fated to live only till the age of sixteen, sage
Ved Vyas himself appeared before Shankara and granted him another sixteen years
of life to continue his work. Shankara
moved to Kashi and continued writing commentaries on major Hindu scriptures. He wrote the famous bhajan, Bhajo Govindam,
while at Kashi. The essence of this
bhajan states that life is short-lived, like a dewdrop on a lotus petal that
can fall anytime. Therefore, it is
important to realize one's spiritual goals before giving up this physical body.
Shree Shankara traveled throughout India, and
engaged in many great debates with leaders of different schools of
thought. He went to all the prominent
seats of learning, and defeated the scholars with his explanations. Consequently, he became known as "Jagadguru,"
or "Spiritual Master of the world."
Shree Shankara wrote Bhashyas or commentaries on the
Brahma Sutras, the Upanishads and the Gita. The Bhashya on the Brahma Sutras is called Shareerik Bhasya. Shankara
wrote commentaries on Sanat Sujatiya and Sahasranama Adhyaya. His commentaries on logic and metaphysics are
very widely acclaimed. His other
important works include the Viveka Chudamani, Atma Bodha, Aparoksha Anubhuti,
Ananda Lahari, Atma-Anatma Vivek, Drik-Drishya Vivek and Upadesh Sahasri. Shree Shankara wrote innumerable original
works in verses, which are matchless in sweetness, melody and thought.
During the last decade of his life, Shree Shankara
accepted the dual nature of God. He
accepted that the Supreme Lord is also Sagun (with all the Gunas), Savishesh (with all the attributes) and Saakar (with all forms). He composed innumerable verses in praise of
Lord Krishna, Lord Ram, Lord Shiv and Mother Durga. His works includes some of the best poems in
Indian literature, describing the beauty of Shree Krishna.
At the age of 32, Shankaracharya visited Kedarnath with
his disciples where he expressed his wish to give up his material body. He delegated the responsibility of carrying
forth his work to his four main disciples who were made heads of four
institutions at Sringeri, Jagannath Puri, Dwaraka and Badrinath. He also gave the essence of all his teachings
in ten verses. It is said that as the
verses were being chanted, Shankaracharya went into samadhi and his body
disappeared without a trace. |
Jagadguru Kripalu Yog
Padmasan
Method
Sit in Dandasan.
Fold your right leg and place it above the left thigh; sole of the foot should
face upward. Now fold your left leg and place the left foot above the right
thigh. In the final position both knees will be on the floor, the spine should
be straight and shoulders tension free. Place your hands on the knees in any mudra. Close your eyes and relax your body. You may swap the legs and repeat the asan
in the other direction.
Benefits
It is possible to
stay in this asan for a long time. The spine is automatically straightened. The
lower spine becomes straight which relieves depression and tension. It helps
strengthen the nervous system. It stimulates digestion, as blood circulation gets
concentrated in the abdominal area instead of the legs. It helps deplete extra
fat from the sides of the waist.
Contra-indication
People with sciatica or weak knees should not do
this asan.
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