New member introduction: shrI Balaji C. Sarman

[Ravisankar Mayavaram]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 10 Jan 99 19:11:43 IST
From: Balaji C Sarman <cbaji at usa.net>
To: msr at isc.tamu.edu
Subject: Re: []

Dear Shri Ravi Mayavaram,

Namaste!

Thank you for your message and very sorry for this late reply.   You had asked
me for a brief introduction about my (Advaita) self and here it goes.

I belong to a very Religious and Orthodox family and I am 24 years old.  I
never knew that there was something called as Advaita Vedanta existed until I
came across the thundering words and works of  Swami  Vivekananda six years
before.  From then on I started attending the daily discourses at the
Ramakrishna Math at Bangalore (I am based at Bangalore) for nearly two years.
During that time there were not  much youth activities going on in the math
except for these weekend discourses and an yearly once "Spiritual Retreat"
for the youth.  It was an accidental Youth meet of the Chinmaya Mission which
brought me among youngsters with similar wavelength (in thinking).  Now I am
an active participant of the Chinmaya Mission and it^Òs youth wing called the
Chinmaya Yuva Kendra (CHYK) since the last three years.   Profoundly inspired
by the thoughts of Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji, all my attempts are to make
these thoughts my own and put them into action.  At the Yuva Kendra we hold
weekly classes for an hour and a half discussing Gurudev^Òs works and extending
the same to various aspects.  As far as my knowledge in the Advaita Philosophy
is concerned I don^Òt know how much I know.  But one thing is sure, once I came
into the fold of Vedanta, there was some sort of satisfaction that I am not
able to get from other sources now.

I think this much introduction should suffice.

With Warm Regards,
Hari Om.
Balaji


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>From  Sun Jan 10 17:06:48 1999
Message-Id: <SUN.10.JAN.1999.170648.0500.>
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 17:06:48 -0500
Reply-To: ramakris at erols.com
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <ramakris at EROLS.COM>
Subject: Re: jnAna, bhakti, and karma (long)
Comments: To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
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Anand Hudli wrote:

>  I must thank you for bringing up an important point about
>  the relation between bhakti and jnAna.
>
>  As I understand it, the main question as to how bhakti can be
>  compatible with jnAna can be answered in two ways, - a simple
>  and short answer or a long answer. First, the short answer -

[ excellent mail deleted ]

Thank you Anand for the well thought-out reply. After reading this all
my doubts were solved. I realized after reading your mail that a similar
thought is expressed by bhagavAn sha.nkara himself. In the daxiNAmUrti
hymn, he says "saxAttattvamasi-iti veda vachasA yo bodhayatyAshritAn" or
teaches the words of the veda "Verily that art thou", to those who
surrender unto him. Also in the gauDapAda kArikA bhAshhya 1.16 he says
"yadA vedAntArtha-tattvabiGYena **paramakAruNikena** guruNA nAsyevaM
hetuphalAtmakaH kintu tattvamasIti prabodhyamAnaH". Thus the grace of
the guru is held essential by sha.nkara and the guru-saguNa brahman
relationship is made explicit in the Dakshinamurti Hymn. Thus, as you
pointed out, bhakti is not inconsistent with shravaNa, etc.

Sorry for the late reply. I had gone to India for a few weeks in
December.

Rama

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>From  Sun Jan 10 19:01:18 1999
Message-Id: <SUN.10.JAN.1999.190118.0500.>
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 19:01:18 -0500
Reply-To: ramakris at erols.com
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <ramakris at EROLS.COM>
Subject: Re: When Lord Yama knocks one's door!
Comments: To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
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Ravisankar Mayavaram wrote:

> When the mind is troubled by mundane concerns like deadlines and
> other worries, the verse that bring solace to the heart is
>
> bhajagovindaM bhajagovindaM
> govindaM bhajamuuDhamate |
> saMpraapte sannihite kaale
> nahi nahi rakshati DukR^iJNkaraNe || 1 ||
>
> When one pauses for a moment and asks this question, "If I were
> to die now what use of this is to me?" Be it an official deadline
> or a Ph.D degree or memorizing a rule from grammar book! It will
> not at all help, yet we all worry about them. In addition, as
> shrI shankara says in subrahmaNya bhujangam:

I don't know if we need to be that pessimistic. If one did not know the
grammar rules, one wouldn't be able to understand the bhaja govindam
stotra in the first place. The verse can only mean that empty learning
is of no use. Be it a learning a grammar rule or getting a Ph.D degree,
if one offers it to Lord Narayana, it will help not only when Yama
knocks at the door, also in the next life. The svalpenApi dharmam verse
from the gItA will offer enough solace in any situation. In chapter 6,
Lod Narayana makes clear that "nahi kalyANakR^it kashid durgatiM tAta
gachchhati". In my recent trip to India I obtained a book called
"Personification of Perfection, Life and teachings of H.H Jagadguru Sri
Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal". In that there is an incident of one
of his disciples who did not want to take some advanced degree which he
had started and asked permission to come to Sringeri instead. Apparently
H.H refused and later told him that any task taken up must be completed.

You might also know the story of karmumame kaNNayinAr nAyanAr (the
devotee who got immeersed in his work) and attained mukti finally. I
feel that too much thinking about whether anything will be useful at the
time of death and so on can be quite deleterious in discharging one's
duty properly. The verse kAyena mansA vAchA verse in the sandhyA prayer,
sums up what we need to do perfectly.

Rama.

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