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Practice devotion in all places; do not think that a
place is dirty or impure and therefore unfit for prayer to God. God purifies everything that is impure, and He
Himself can never becomes impure in the process. God has simplified the practice of devotion to
such an extent, that everyone can practice it in any circumstance.
***********
Desire is caused by attachment and attachment to any object
is caused by repeatedly thinking of that object as a source of happiness.
*************
If you repeatedly think of an object as being a source of
happiness, your mind will become attached to it. Once your mind is attached, it
will give rise to a desire for that object.
If that desire is fulfilled, it gives rise to greed and if the desire is
not fulfilled, it gives rise to anger. Either
of these will happen. Therefore if you
have worldly desires you cannot be free of anger or greed.*************
When you do service of God you will receive God's grace, then
you will receive His love, your heart will be pure and He will take care of
your future.***********
The three essential means to reach our ultimate aim of God realization
are - the human life, proper association with a true Saint and intense longing
to attain the Divine Love.
Constantly realize the presence of God and Guru with you. Never feel
that you are alone. This is very important for devotion. When this decision becomes firm, then your
mind will easily become focused in meditation and you will never commit any
sin.
***********
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Announcements
JKY Gift Shop Online!
You can now browse and shop for all your
favorite lectures DVDs, Kirtans and Books from Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
and Swami Mukundananda.
****
Swamiji USA Tour 2010
Swami Mukundananda's USA Tour 2010 planning has started.
Along
with enlightening lectures, the program offers Yoga and Meditation
sessions to provide a holistic treat for body, mind, and soul.
The
tour starts with East Coast programs from the first week of May
and will continue through October, covering most of the major cities
across USA.
View Tour Schedule
****
Retreat with Swamiji
Philadelphia
29th - 31st May 2010
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Current News
JKP News
Holi Sadhana was held between 10th and 28th February,
2010 at Mangarh. Thousands of devotees
participated in the Sadhana program.
A four-day eye camp was organized
at Jagadguru Kripalu Chikitsalaya starting 24th Feb. About 520 eye operations were performed during
this period with an average of 130 operations per day. This has immensely benefited not only
poverty-stricken villagers near Mangarh, but also people from far off places.
Ashram commits to give lifelong medical and educational aid
Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat deeply regrets the sudden tragedy that
took place during the 'Brahm Bhoj' at Mangarh on the March 4th, 2010. The ashram offered all possible
aid to the affected families, and within a fews days, over Rs 10 million was
distributed in compensation to them.
Although it would be impossible to repay for the tragic loss of lives,
Shree Maharajji's Grace would always be with the departed souls. The ashram has also committed to bear all the
medical and educational expenses of their family members, for their entire
life.
JKY News A spiritual picnic was organized on Feb 20th at Sangam Palace,
Indore. Swamiji spent a fun-filled day with all
devotees gathered there. Devotees were
thrilled to sing kirtans along with Swamiji. There was a bhajan
competition, leela description, singing, and dancing to keep people of all ages
engrossed and entertained all day long!
Sant Sammelan - Puri, Orissa
A very special event, Sant
Sammelan (convention of saints) was held in Puri Dham, Orissa on Feb. 22nd
to celebrate 500 years of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji's arrival in Puri. Many reputed saints and dignitaries were
invited to this convention of saints.
Swamiji was a special guest of honour on this occasion, and his speech
on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was continuously applauded by the highly devotional
audience of Puri Dham. The speech will
shortly be made available on YouTube.
Swamiji successfully completed 10-day lecture series at Utsav
Ground, IP Extension, Delhi.
In the morning session, there was a program on mediation. The devotees immensely benefited from this
program.
Swamiji gave an enlightening talk on the topic of "How to reach
THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH" in IIT Delhi on March 25th, 2010. The talk was followed by an
enthusiastic Q & A session.
Swamiji gave a special lecture on "Shree Jagannatha Mahaprabu" on
March 26th in the famous Baliyatra Padia Ground of Cuttack.
The program was a part of the "Jagannath Chetana Mahadiveshan" organized
for the propagation of Jagannath Sanskriti amongst the people of Orissa.
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The Editor
Jagadguru Kripalu Yog
XVII/3305, 1st Floor,
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Near PUSA,
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Welcome to the
Jagadguru Kripalu Yog
e-Magazine |
Kaamanaaye-Desires
by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
sab kāmanā bhagā de govind
rādhe
man chhin chhin hari-guru
meṁ lagā de
We
all have a mind that is responsible for all the actions that we perform. Firstly, it is the mind that constantly
creates desires. The question is, why do
we have desires? This is because, all souls desire true happiness, i.e. happiness
associated with God. To fulfill this natural desire for Bliss, the mind constantly
creates 'desires' every moment. There
are five types of desires - the desire to see, desire to hear, desire to smell,
desire to taste and desire to touch or feel.
The mind desires to enjoy subjects
related to these five senses, and it can desire for objects only in two areas -
either related to God or related to maya, the material world. Hence, this mind can either desire for God or for material
objects. There is no third area where the mind can seek for happiness.
If
we believe that happiness can be achieved from this material world, we will aim
to fulfill our desires in this realm. If we believe that happiness can be
achieved from God, we will automatically desire to attain Him. This is a
natural tendency and not learnt from anyone. Not just humans, but even animals
and birds have this innate understanding. The mind works in accordance with the
decision of the intellect, and has to desire what the intellect thinks is the
source of true happiness.
svatantraḥ
kriyamāṇe vai kṛito bhagavatā vidā
Our experience of this world has taught us that there is no real
happiness in material objects. Initially, we may derive a lot of pleasure, but
with time, happiness disappears. We might have embraced our dear ones - mother,
father, son, daughter, husband or wife thousands of times and cherished our favorite
Indian sweet - rasgulla thousands of times, but we still remain tensed and
disturbed. We have not achieved eternal peace or happiness from any of them. Our
ultimate goal is to find happiness but our experience seems to be the opposite.
We think
that the attainment of a material object or a person will make us happy. But when we get it, we no longer derive
happiness from it. We get disturbed
because that object no longer provides the same level of happiness as before. We have all experienced this before, across
countless lifetimes. It is the intellect that must decide that the material
world has been created for the body, and not to provide happiness for the soul.
surapati brāhmaṁ padaṁ yāchate
This
disease of desire affects even celestial personalities. This quote above says that the king of heaven,
Lord Indra desires for the seat of Lord Brahma. What about humans? We wish to earn millions or
become the Prime Minister of India. This
is the limit of our desires. What else
we can desire? But even the king of heaven Indra
has desires. Lord Indra has the
ability to get whatever he wants by just wishing for it. He has Varun, Kuber and Yamraj as his servants. Yet,
he has desires. Why? It is because he is
still deprived of the love of God. He did not attain the happiness related of the
soul.
Pleasure
related to the senses are
present in this material world as well as in heaven. It is a myth
of this material world that we
get immense happiness. After the initial
pleasure, it keeps decreasing with time and finally turns to sadness.
For example, on the arrival of a newly wed
bride, we dance, sing and spend lots of money. Extra care is
taken for her. But after a few days or weeks of association, we
tend to be disappointed with her. We think that, "may be the
other bride is
good". The others person's wife is better".
Everybody
wants his / her own happiness. The way you
expect to get happiness from your wife, similarly, even your wife expects to
get happiness from you. It is very
obvious that there will be a conflict since both are fooling each other to get
happiness, but none of them have it. Both
say that they wish for happiness to the other.
But in reality no one wants the happiness of the other.
Until we become
God-realized souls, no one can wish or work for the happiness of others. Once a soul reaches the stage of saints like Tulsidas, Surdas, Merabai or Kabir, then that soul that think of
helping others since that soul has nothing left to achieve. These people can now work for the happiness
of others or not do anything because their motive is fulfilled. The desire to reach God has been fulfilled and
eternal happiness has also been attained.
Material desires were destroyed in the beginning itself. A
God-realized soul has no more desires! Now, they will desire to give happiness to
others.
par upakār vachan man kāyā, sant svabhāv
man kāyā
What
can God or God-realized Saints do? There is nothing that they wish to
achieve
further for themselves. They can only work for the benefit of
others. The desire for God will arise once
we let go the desire for this material world. We have only one
mind. If we had two minds, one could desire to achieve
God and the other could desire for the material world. But since
we have only one mind, we can desire
for only one of these things. Due to this confusion, the intellect is
not able to make any decisions. When we get disappointed with
this material
world, the desire for God arises. But the very moment we start
receiving
happiness from the material world, we start desiring for it.
Our
condition is very similar to that of a dog. If you beat a dog, it will run away from you. It
stares at your from a distance with anger. If you now give the dog something to eat, it
will start wagging its tail and come back to you. Again if you beat it, the dog will run away
and if you give something to eat, it will again come back to you.
Similarly, when we are disappointed with our mother,
father, brother, wife, husband or son, we start thinking that saints are true and
God is everything. But when we start
receiving happiness from them again, we again get attached to the material
world. Like toys, we dance to the tune of other people. Our mothers, sons, wives and husbands make us
dance to their tunes. We get detached from the material world many times and get
attached again.To be continued in the next edition....
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Secrets of Spiritual Sadhana
by Swami Mukundananda
Continuing from the last month...
These are the next lines of the series "Sadhana Karu Pyare".
roke
unate prem māṅgo, daras māṅgo pyāre
hvai
ke ati vyākul karahu nit karuṇ krandan pyāre
māṅgu
jani una bhukti muktin, bhoolihuṁ tum pyāre
Our goal is to attain the love of God. We need God's love and it is priceless. If it could be valued in terms
of money, we may have paid the price. If we ask God what is the price, He might
say, "A 100 million". We could even try to bargain and ask for a discount of 50%.
God replies, "What price can you pay for this? It is priceless". At times, people
snatch or steal things that cannot buy. If we try to
frighten God similarly and ask Him to give us His love, God will say, "What can
you do to me? I have unlimited powers and you cannot overpower me".
So, we cannot
attain His love forcefully. Then what can we do? We can only love God and ask Him
for His love. We can ask God for His love, and He will give it to us. It is
that simple. But there is a condition we have to fulfill in order to receive
His love.
God showers His love when a devotee asks Him with the true
intention of receiving Divine Love. Only then will a devotee receive God's love.
What if we ask God to grace us with His love and He says, "What will you do if I
do not grace you?" We could say that, "Alright, I will continue to smoke and
drink the way I used to". God says, "Then in that case, you do not have the
true desire to receive My love."
"First, you must create the true desire to attain
Divine Love. You must feel anxious and cry, and then ask for My love". Cry the
way a child cries in front of its mother. The child does not consider itself to
be a highly qualified individual or capable enough to get milk on its own. Hence,
the child cries in front of its mother for milk. The mother understands the
reason why the child is crying and hence comes running to feed the child.
At times, the kid gets smart and pretends to be crying;
the mother understands that he is acting and when he cries seriously,
the
mother understands that too. God says that you must cry and ask
for love the
way a small child asks its mother for milk. Do not consider yourself to
be
wealthy. Instead, consider yourself to be helpless. The mother
might be mistaken.
The child might be crying due a stomach ache, and the mother might
think that
the child is crying out of hunger. But God says, "I do not make
such mistakes. I know everything and I am seated within
you. There is no question of mistakes.
You must create the desire to attain My love, and leave the rest to Me".
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
has just advised us that we have to shed tears and ask God for His love
and Divine vision. Now, he tells us the opposite, i.e. what not
to ask for. He
tells us not to seek material desire and liberation.
Materialistic people are
egoistic, and they ask for these two things since the goal of a
materialistic
person is to get away from sadness. According to the Darshan Shashtras, it is our final goal to be released
from the sadness in the world.
trividhadukhātyantnivṛittiratyantapuruṣhārthaḥ
The Sankhya Darshan
says, "The goal of human life is to attain freedom from sadness and a life full
of happiness". It is for these two reasons that we want liberation and material
desire. Through material desire, we ask for the material happiness, and through
liberation we ask Him to end our sadness. There are a lot of challenges that we
can face due the desire for liberation. If we ask God according to our intellect,
we may get into trouble because we ask according to the level of our intelligence.
For example, if we take a small child to a jeweler's shop and
ask him to choose
between a diamond necklace and a chocolate, he would definitely take
the
chocolate. The child does not understand the value of diamonds and only
understands a chocolate. Similarly, we have seen material love.
We have no idea
about the love of God. That is the reason we ask God for good
health, marriage,
wealth, fame and so on. We run behind such material
desires. Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says that if we keep
running behind such material desires, we will not be able to attain God's love.
merī chāhī mat
karo, maiṁ moorakh ajñān terī chāhā meṁ prabho hai merā kalyāṇ
There are two main challenges on the path of God's love. Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji's principle student
and disciple, Roop Goswami had
written in Bhaktirasamrut sindhu-
bhukti mukti spṛihā
yāvat piśhāchī hṛidivartate, tāvadbhatisukhasyād kathamabhyudayo bhavet
"Liberation and material desire are two of the biggest impediments in bhakti. As long as they are present in our hearts,
the desire
for God's love does not arise." If we want to practice
devotion to attain God's love, we must remove the desire for liberation and
material pleasure from our heart.
Once there was a king named Sanjay. He was a very greedy person. A devta, celestial god, appeared in front himand asked the king to spell
his desire. Sanjay asked for a baby who would give only gold i.e. if the baby
vomits it will be of gold, his sweat will be gold and so on. The devta thought that the king's bad days
have begun. Soon, Sanjay had a baby
named Svarnasthivi. Now when Svarnasthivi vomited it would be of
gold. The baby's sweat was gold and everything the baby expelled from its body
was made of gold.
Sanjay had now become very rich and everybody around came
to know about it. He was not able to tax the people as before. People
understood that there might be some other source of income. Gangsters now tried
to find out the source of this wealth and heard about his kid. They kidnapped Svarnasthivi and took him with them. They
decide to kill him and distribute different parts of his body. One took his
hand, the other took his leg, and the third person took his head. The king heard
of this, and started crying. The devta
arrived and told him that whatever he had asked for has become the reason for
his sadness.
We have been asking for liberation and material desire
since countless lifetimes, but now we have to learn to ask for just two things, i.e. God's
vision and His love. Shree Maharajji says, "Ask God to give us the intellect and
understanding so that we can pray and attain His love. Pray to God and ask Him
for increasing detachment from the world, so that you can do more seva. Since your goal is to serve Him,
this type of desire will not be considered selfish because it is done with the aim
of attaining His love and vision. Make His seva your goal and ask Him for His love".
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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. Their work may be show cased on the JKYog website.
Bal-Mukund Contributions
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Saakshi Gopal
Once
there were two brahmins, one elderly
and the other young, who were inhabitants of a place known as
Vidyanagar in South India. After touring many places of
pilgrimage, the
two brahmins finally reached Vrindavan.
The elderly brahmin was very satisfied
with the service of the young brahmin, and he wanted to offer his youngest
daughter in marriage to him. The young brahmin received the promise of the elder one before
the diety of Gopal in Vrindavan making Him a witness.
When both brahmins returned
to Vidyanagar, the younger brahmin raised the question of his marriage, but
the elderly brahmin, due to obligations to his friends and wife, denied the
promise. The young brahmin who had firm faith in Gopal said, "Lord Krishna is my
witness and the entire world accepts His words". The old brahmin replied, "If
Gopal personally comes here to serve as a witness, I shall surely give my
daughter to you".
Because of this, the younger brahmin returned to Vrindavan and narrated the whole story to Gopal Ji. He knew that
although the Deity of Gopal appeared to be stone, He was his dearest Lord
Himself.
Gopal Ji being obliged by the young man's strong
faith, agreed to accompany him. But He said, "Do not try to see Me by
turning around. As soon as you see Me, I shall remain stationary in that very
place. You will know that I am walking behind you by the sound of My ankle
bells". Thus Gopal Ji followed the younger brahmin, who could hear the tinkling
sound of Gopal Ji's ankle bells.
When he neared his own village, he developed
a strong desire to see the Lord's beautiful form. So he turned back and saw Gopal
standing there smiling. Gopal Ji said, "Now you can bring the old brahmin's
family. I shall stay here and shall not leave".
When everyone assembled, Gopal Ji
testified to the promise of the elderly brahmin. Thus the marriage was
performed.
Later, the King of that country constructed a fine temple for Gopal, Who
became very famous under the name of Sakshi-Gopal (the witness Gopal).
Moral:
One must have complete faith and belief in God. Just like the young
brahmin, who always believed in Gopal and knew that God will help him
as a witness. His faith ensured that Shree Krishna graced him with His
vision.
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Question:
How one can have inner
peace or concentration in Bhakti, Sadhana or Meditation when problems surround the
person?
Answer:
As long as we are in
material bondage, we cannot hope to be totally free from misery. We
will all grow old, we will all become sick, and we will all die one
day. Who can escape these realities of life? Besides this, we all
have sanchit karmas (the karmas of endless past lives) that create
suffering/happiness for us from time-to-time. Not even God violates
this law of karma. The Puranas tell us that the Pandavas suffered
immensely, even though they were great devotees of Shree Krishna.
King Dashrath passed away from the world leaving Kaushalya a widow.
They were the parents of God Ram, and yet He did not interfere to
remove their miseries.
As human beings, we
are instructed by the scriptures to help others,
and endeavor to mitigate their sufferings. But we must do it in a
detached manner, and leave the results to God. How do we know, after
all, that God is not giving them suffering for their wellbeing? The
Bible states: "God sometimes gives misery in our lives, to turn us
away from sin, and seek eternal life."
The Bhagavatam states:
taṁ
bhrañṣhyami saṁpadbhyo yasya chechhya manugrahaṁ
God says,
"When I wish to bestow the highest treasure of Divine Love upon
someone, I first prepare the soul by giving suffering." At the level
of our thinking, material suffering is bad, but in the Divine plan, it
may be necessary for the evolution of the soul.
When
we wish to do
good to others, we think of removing their material miseries.
This is only a very partial and temporary solution - you give
food to a hungry person, and after six hours, he is hungry again.
I am not decrying the need for doing material charity to society.
But that is not the only kind of charity that exists. The
highest charity is to help someone attain love for God, and get out of
the cycle of life-and-death. The God-realized Saints engage in
this Divine charity. They remove the root cause of suffering of
the souls, which is forgetfulness of God. We are not so elevated
ourselves, as to engage in this divine charity by ourselves. But if we
help the God - realized Saints in their work, effectively we engage in
the highest charitable work we possibly can.
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Trivia Time
The
greatest treasure of knowledge is locked in the sacred Hindu scriptures,
popularly known as the Vedas, Upanishads and the Shastras. It is an ocean of Divine wisdom that is eternal, and
originally revealed by Lord Brahma, with the Grace of Lord Shree Krishna. With
the passage of time, many God-realized saints reminded souls of the Divinity of
scriptures by revealing, commenting and deciphering as appropriate with the
time of their presence. This sacred knowledge was passed down from master to
disciple, and is still followed today.
The
principle Hindu scriptures comprise the Vedas, Upanishads, Shastras, Puranas,
Ramayan, Mahabharat and Bhagwatam.
There
are four Vedas: Rigved, Yajurved, Samved and Atharvaved.
According to the Muktikopnishad,
there are 21, 109, 1,000 and 50 branches, respectively, having a total of
approximately 100,000 verses in their 1,180 branches. Today, only a fraction of
these verses are available. These verses are called mantra bhag or sanhita. There are the same number of
branches (1,180) called the brahman,
and the same number of branches (1,180) called the aranyak, which have the same number of (1,180) Upanishads. This whole
collection is called the Vedas.
The
Upanishads have their own Divine character and they are directly related to
God, and show us the path to God realization, whereas the sanhita and the brahman
section of the Vedas are related to the attainment of the celestial luxuries.
Brahman and aranyak
Brahman: The brahman section of the four Vedas explains about the yagyas in great detail as to which yagya should be performed and how. Every
branch of the Ved had its own brahman
which was 1,180. But, in the modern days, only a few are available.
Aranyak: Out of 1,180 aranyakas only a few branches are
available today. The Upanishads,
which are the main section of the aranyakas,
are widely available. The sanhita and
the brahman part of the Vedas relate
to the yagyas and Vedic rituals. Aranyakas tell us more about God and
prescribe some forms of worship to God. But the Upanishads, which are the prime part of the aranyakas, teach us to renounce worldly attachment and surrender to
God to receive His Grace. Hence, the Upanishads
are called the gyan kand (the true
knowledge) of the Vedas.
The
Upvedas - There are four Upvedas (up means supplementary). Arthved (science of sociology and
economics), Dhanurved (science of
war), Gandharvaved (science of
music), and Ayurved (medical
science).
The
Vedangas - There are six Vedangas (parts of the body of the Vedas): Vyakaran,
Jyotish, Nirukt, Shikcha, Chand and Kalp Sutras.
Shastras
- There are six Darshan Shastras, schools of philosophy. The Poorv Mimansa,
Nyay, Vaisheshik, Sankhya, Yog, and Uttar Mimansa (Brahm Sutra). All the six
Darshan Shastras are in sutra form.
Smritis
- Smritis are the books of codes related to social living. There are 18 Smritis and more than 27
Upsmritis.
Other
than these, the Vyakaran is considered
the primary book on Sanskrit grammar. The Ramayan and Mahabharat are an
integral part of the rich history of Bharat varsh, and contain the true
philosophy of attaining God's Grace through single minded devotion and
surrender to God and Guru.
The
Bhagwatam is regarded by most bhakt
saints as the most important scripture that describes the Divine leelas of
Radha Krishna in the most comprehensible and beautiful form. The Bhagwatam
stands at the pinnacle of all the known holy scriptures, dedicated completely
to the attainment of the Supreme Divine Bliss of Radha Krishna through selfless
devotion.
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Jagadguru Kripalu Yog
Trikonasan
Method
Stand-up straight. Keep a distance of about 3 to 4 feet
between the legs. Raise both arms
sideways to your shoulder level,
palms facing downward. Inhale (Radhey) in this position. While exhaling
(Shyam), bend down to the right from
your waist and try to touch the right foot with the right hand. Raise your left
hand above the head so that it is parallel to floor. Remain in this
position for five seconds. Inhale (Radhey) while
coming back up gently to the initial position. Repeat 5 times in both
directions.
Benefits
It stretches the
sides of your body and tones the
muscles. It burns extra fat around the waist. It stimulates the
nervous system and alleviates depression. It
induces 'Jataragni' or 'the fire of
digestion' in the stomach and alleviates constipation.
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