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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00090 Mar 2003

 
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Srimathe RAmanujaya Namaha

Dear Shri Swami,

Thanks for that excellent post. Kindly accept my pranams.

Yatheendra Pravanam Vandhe RAMYA Jamataram Munim

Adiyen Ramanuja DAsan,
Lakshmi Narasimhan

--- In ramanuja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Mohan Sagar" <mmsagar@xxxx> wrote:
> Respected Devotees,
> 
> This is in response to Sri Soundararajan's "scary question" 
regarding the
> origin of Sriman Narayana. His restless nights are something that 
I can
> very much relate to, since I went through the same stuggles several 
years
> ago when I began my own quest for spirituality. I would like to 
share a
> little of what helped me come to resolution with this experience, 
in the
> hope that this will help provide some solace to him and others. My
> apologies in advance for any errors or misconceptions on my part:
> 
> As educated human beings in general, and as South Asians in 
particular, our
> knack for science, engineering, and medicine have expected us to be 
able to
> provide solutions in a prompt and effective way based on our 
education and
> the resulting experience that has come with it. Consequently, we 
have
> conditioned ourselves into turning to rational analysis and 
intellectual
> contemplation for providing us with all the answers. So, whether 
it is our
> next big project at work, or the Mysteries of the Universe, we rely 
on the
> same set of tools - our mind and our education - to try and provide 
us with
> the answers that we seek.
> 
> But, to our AchAryas, our minds and intelligence are not seen in 
this same
> light. According to them, while our upanishads revel in the glory 
of the
> human birth in its being able to apply the mind - rather than just 
relying
> on instinct as is the case with most other creatures on this earth -
this
> mind is also seen to be unruly and easily swayed and distracted. 
One
> upanishad, the Chandogya Upanishad, likens the mind, and the manas 
(subtle
> body) that operates it, to a beautiful and colorful bird that can 
be enjoyed
> and appreciated in full flight. But, just as any bird, if left to 
operate
> freely, it can literally run away from us and lead us on a chase to
> re-capture it, just as it does when it asks difficult questions of 
itself
> and goes off onto seeming never-ending intellectual speculation.
> 
> So, to make this bird-like mind still be beautiful in its 
creativity, but
> conditioned to not run away from its master, the soul, we require 
something
> to tether it, something that will allow us to guide it and pull it 
back in
> place when it starts to take us on those "scary journeys". This 
something
> is not a conditioning of the mind, because its very nature is to 
fly, but
> rather is the conditioning of the one who tethers it, its master, 
the soul.
> 
> So, to realize God, to truly know Him within our heart of hearts to 
be the
> Eternal Love that is the source of all That is and Is Not, requires 
not a
> journey led by our minds, but rather one that is led by our heart, 
for it is
> our heart, our True Nature, which already has all of the answers to 
all of
> the questions to experiencing Sriman Narayana. And the way to 
master this
> this heartfelt experience, is through the willingness to cultivate 
two
> important qualities, vinayam (commitment) and vidhEyata (a humble
> willingness to follow).
> 
> And both these qualities should be directed towards the only one 
who can
> make us experience God within our Hearts, the only one who can 
provide us
> with the solace that will remove the doubts and fears of our unruly 
mind,
> the only one at whose feet we can place our heads at night and rest
> comfortably in the knowledge that He will lead us on the right path 
leading
> to God. This person is the one whom the Lord Himself blessed us 
with out of
> His Boundless and Unconditional Love for all of us, Bhagavad Sri 
Ramanuja.
> 
> If we place ourselves in the care of our Sri Ramanuja by serving our
> AchAryas, He becomes the "tether" that helps us to maintain control 
over our
> mind such that we can guide it on a good and spiritually fulfilling
> journery. We soon find ourselves becoming less dependent on our 
mind as
> being the source for answers, but see it in its true light as 
merely a tool
> for the soul to learn about, enjoy and serve the Divine. The 
answers to
> questions such as the immortality of God become irrelevant as mental
> exercises, because we can be rest assured that through Ramanuja 
katAksham
> (Ramanuja's Grace), our hearts will one day open to the wisdom that 
is
> already part of our svarUpam, our True Nature. By serving 
Ramanuja through
> service to our AchArya, we become the masters of our minds and 
bodies, and
> live a life on earth of peaceful and loving contemplation of God, 
seeing
> everything and everyone as having their source in Sriman Narayana, 
and
> seeing every moment as an opportunity to revel both in the Wondrous 
Mystery
> and in the All-embracing Love that are His Very Nature.
> 
> I hope this helps.
> 
> adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
> Mohan
> 
> 
> > 
______________________________________________________________________
__
> > 
______________________________________________________________________
__
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 09:14:25 -0800 (PST)
> > From: vimalkumar ranganathan <panardasan@xxxx>
> > Subject: A very Scary Question!!
> >
> >






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