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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