Ravindran Kesavan

One is not sure whether Sankara wrote all those that are attributed to him. Sankara is even supposed to have written a work on very sensual love called Amarusadaka. The story behind this goes like this. When he defeated Mandanamisra by debate in philosophy, mandanamisra's wife came to resque her husband by cornering Sankara with questions relarted to intimate love life. Obviously sankara could not answer them being a celebate monk. He asked for time and went to Kashmir, entered , by prakaya pravasa siddhi in to a dead king Amaru's body, engaged in the sex life with the king's multitude of young wifes and composed the love poetey called amarusadaka, came back and answered all the questions of mandanamisra's wife, there by won the seet of jnana peeda. It is highly doubtful that a saint like sankara has anything to do with such a notoriously sexual work like amarusadaka ( I have a copy. It is explicitly sexual and sensual) Another work arrtibuted to sankara is Soundarya Lahari. There is a story attached with that too. Sankara went to Kailasa to visit Siva. When Lord Siva saw a mortal approaching the Kailasa shrine, He instructed his attendent Dravida Kasibu, to wipe away the songs of the goddess that is written on the wall of the temple, as that was not suitable for the mortal to learn them . But while Dravida Kasibu was engaged in wiping the song Sankara was quick enough to learn almost half of it and commited them to memory. Then he composed the rest himself to complete the work. Though this work is attributed to Sankara there is evidence that the said work is in existence and available in certain tantric tradition much before Sankara. Around great personality there are stories and myths and false attributions of works of all sorts. This kind of attribution is very common those days. There are many other examples of fictitious and false attribution like this on many other great personalities too like Agastia, Truvalluvar (A reputed tamil poet) which could be easily proved as fictitious . There is in any case controversy as to Sankara's auther ship of Soundarya Lakhari, and Amarusadaka, and most other religious work that he is supposed to have written. The only uncontroversial thing about Sankara is his work on advida. There is a strong oppinion amoung scholars that he did not write anything else in his entire life time. Ravindran

Dear Deepak, Wow! Your second dreem is wonderful and very very lofty. I know the mantra of guru- mantra of Siva the first guru. You may try this mantra to fulfil your dreem. Chant this mantra imagining the feet of Siva in your head. Om HSKhPhrem Ha Sa Ksha Ma La Va Ra Yum Sa Ha Ksha Ma La Va Ra Yim HSoum SHoum Sri Siva Aadi guru Sri paadukaam pujayaami namaha. If you invoke this mantra and succeed to activate your guru centre (That is situated in your head), Siva will instruct you from inside you. This is a secret tantric technique. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Guest, I dont know what exactly you experienced. But going by your description, I gather it is not a regular normal kind but a spiritual or mystical kind. That is why your doubt arises at the first place. Since I dont know the content of your experience let me just offer you a logic. You argue that your experience could be mere product of brain chemistry. Which experience is not? Everything is product of brain chemistry and physiology. Is your seeing the sun not invole brain processes? The visual sun or the colours you see in the flowers on your garden are responses of your brain (to ecectromagnetic waves). There by do you deny the true presense of the sun or flowers? No! ( I suppose) Then why do you reject your experiences of soul god and the like as nonexistant simply because they involve your brain processes? What I am arguing is that by mearly showing that behind an experience there is brain chemistry and physiology is not a sufficient argumrent to infer that what you experience is an hallucination. You experience everything in the world by this process only. There is no experience that is appart from your brain's involvement . Brain is the instrument that is precisly meant for creating experience. And in any experience you will find its concrete physiological and chemical process.You need to establish something more to show that it is all halucination. -You need to prove that those things you experience do not exist in reality. A mere fact that there is brain chemistry or physiology behind it will not do, as all experiences are of this nature only. One way to test that what you experienced is real or not is through experimentation of the scientific kind. Let me explain. How do the scientist know for certain that therir theories and picture of the universe are true and not the product of their imagination? How do the atomic physist know for sure that his atomic model is a real fact ?( no one has seen the atom not even by instrumentation. There is no such microscope that can magnify an atom to the level of visibility) The proof lies in that such model works in reality. Besides it can explain otherwise lot of unexplained phinominon , it can also be used practically.The scientist can build atomic reactors as well as atom bombs by the knowlegde of this model. That is the proof. Similarly if your model is working , if you could explain otherwise unexplained phenominon and do things otherwise not possible - say siddhis - if you are powerful as a result of this knowledge - then it is real. The fundamental difference between illusory knowlegde and real knowledge is that real knowledge works in reality- it has power- illusory knowledge doesnot - it has no power. This is the difference between madness and genious. A madman might hallucinate and delude that he can blast the earth by moving his finger, but actually he cannot do it. But a scientist or technologist can actualy blast the earth by moving one finger - by pushing a button. If you have genune siddhis then it is likely your knowledge is no illusion. No madman has any siddhis - (a mad man is powerless and helpless). It is now just a matter of clearly conceiving and systematising it. For which you need to work, like a scientist. I have had similor experiences and doubts like you. wWhich I resolved, through systematic regorous invistigation. I can perhaps help you to desolve your doubts. Please do feel fgree to discuss. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Bart, That is very interesting news to me. It matches with my experience. Your post motivates me to systematise and write my findings though it is not instrumentation based scientific research. It is based on my direct experience of a mystical sort. But I think there is much scientific basis to it. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Srikanth , It is true that Kleem is used as a killaka, but that is not its universal use. In mantra sastra every mantra has a Bija, Shakti and Kilaka, just like each mantra has its own Rishi, Chandus and devada. The killaka varies from mantra to mantra. (For example for the mantra Am hreem krom, it might be like hreem bija am sakti krom kilaka or something like that). Kilaka is a part of the mantra that we chant and hense will change from mantra to mantra. That is, Kleem is not a universal killaka. Regards, K.Ravindran

Google search with 'kleem" gives number of entries on it. K.Ravindran

Kleem is a bija of Krishna. It is also bija of Kamadeva as well as godess Kameswari (one of the names of the wife of Siva ), and one of the beejas of Kali. It is technically called Kamabija in tantra sastra and supposed to fulfill all desires, provided it is initiated and practiced in proper way. Specially it causes emotitional agitation (Kshoba) of the creatures of the three worlds K.Ravindran

Dear Sunil Kanoria, The Rishis know it by the science of astrology which is based on karma theory. The karmic chain determines everything un-failingly. Your puzzle and confusion arises out of the notion that you have freewill. But this is not so. Our life is strictly governed by the law of determinism. In another forum ( in astrology forum) I have discused the concept of determinism. Let me repeat it here. Take for example the paper that is lying on your table. (With a open window and no fan) . You notice that now that paper moves. Why did the paper moved? The paper does not have freewill – it did not decide to move and executed that decision. – It moved because the wind flowing through the open window moved it. But why did the wind flow at that time? The wind had no free will either. The pressure difference in the atmosphere some where caused the wind to flow. Why did the pressure change? No freewill, the temperature difference at that place caused the pressure difference. But why the temperature changed? ….We shall stop here as there is no end to this. The idea is that everything in the universe has a cause, and events are in a cause effect chain. This is called technically determinism. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" /><o:p></o:p> World obeys deterministic laws, and it is this determinism that allows scientists to predict the events of the world. For example assume that you have information on the temperature change a few miles away from your room, accurately measured by your friend in a lab. And you have accurate information of all the objects in between that place and your room - the trees buildings etc – in minutest details. Now you can calculate with a super computer , inputting these details, what effect this temperature difference will have on the pressure and what speed and volume the wind will flow in which direction and how much of its energy will be lost in colliding with the hurdles before it reaches your room. You can calculate when that wind will arrive and strike your paper with what force. Hence you can determine accurately how much and in which manner that paper would move and at what time. All this you can do much in advance. When the temperature difference is noticed a few hours before your paper moved, you could calculate and predict the paper’s movement that is going to happen a few hours latter, much advance in time. This is the same with any event in universe as the universe obeys laws deterministically. Events in the universe do not behave whimsically as there is no freewill. <o:p></o:p> This is the same with human behavior. Though we assume free will ordinarily events in our life are strictly governed by the deterministic laws of karma. Free will is an illusion. Hence given certain initial details one can predict accurately what is the entire chain of events going to be. This is the principle of astrology a science of rishis. This is how two thousand years back they could predict accurately that after two thousand years a person named Sunil will be born and would live in these these manor. It is a thorough going science and a proof for karma theory. <o:p></o:p> As to your confusion about spiritual events being predictable, Vedic astrology is a branch of Veda and hence is by very essence spiritual. Vedic astrological treaties do maintain the combination for devada bhakti, upasana and moksha. In fact Vedic astrologi’s original purpose is not material divining but spiritual, being a part of veda. There is nothing against the nature of astrology in predicting one’s spiritual inclination, ista devada, path of sadana and result ( sidhi and mukti) . These are the subject matter of Vedic astrology. People who follow astrology in spiritual matters are tremendously benefited. <o:p></o:p> Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Ranjeetmore, There is quite detailed document on yoga and samadhi validated by the experienced practitioners. The Nirvikalpa samadhi does not brerak off generally and is final state as the soul completely merge with the ultimate in this state and is a no-return state. As Nirvikalpa erraces all karmic seeds, there is no reason for the soul to return to the world. It breaks off and the person is brought back to the ordinary world consciousness only in few cases , where the person is specially assigned for certain special devinly ordained tasks. Shaunaka is one of them and Ramakrishna is another. If they were not brought back, we will not even know about Nirvikalpa samadfhi's existence. Their very purpose ariving here in the world is not to seek their personal mukti but to guide others. And that is why they returned back, not because Nirvikalpa state is not final state. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear all? Why are you bothered about the irrelevent details about guru's fallenness and the like? Does a guru's reputation matters? Go by the spiritual benifit you have derived from the guru as the genune criteria. If you are hightened in spirituallity by the guru's instruction that is a genune guru. If you are not , that one may not be genune. There is such a simple test. Do you know the story of Dattatreya, He was 'mad', 'drunken' and with many other vices, apparently. But he was a genune and powerful spiritual guru. Stories have it that people who surrendered to him made tremendous spiritual progress. On the other hand there are many gurues in the world who are very virtuous and perfect as per the social and religious norms but thoroughly inadequate in a guru's role. their instruction are mechaniocal and does not spiritually benifit any one. Judge not a guru by his appearences and behaviours. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear deepak, There is a very esteemed and revered mantra of Siva called Sri Rudram. But it is longish and would take an hour or so to complete the chanting. And if you dont know sanscrit it could be a torture. Non-the-less it is worthwile to learn it. You can here it when priests conduct rudrabisheka to the lord, in sive temples. Siva stuti is another short one . Bilvastaka is yet another. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Bart, No I was not in my body when I saw mystical visions. Nor I can say that I was outside my body in some spacial location. There are two ways to comprehend where I was at that time. At some phases of mystical vision I felt that I was everywhere along with the entire universe as the intelligence of the universe. At other phaces I felt that I was a detached witness - a transcendantal consciousness - not located in anywhere with in the emprical universe but beyond it. Spacial temporal location makes nosense as the consciousness was the one which witnessed the space and time as its objects. Just like a camera takes the picture of everything cannot be found in its own picture - to give an analogy. To use mystic's language, I was nowhere and I was everywhere. No it was not two diminisonal . It is the regular three dimentional at times and at times it is more - I dont know how many. I believe it is fourteen dimentional though it is an inference from the fact that I saw the entire cosmos sprang up from preciously fourteen crisp formulas/ mantras. But that may not mean that the dimentions are fourteen. The vedio show you have attached is either not working or I dont know how to use it Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Bart, There could be a truth in your conjecture, because I had once a mystical experience, induced by mantra yoga, in which I saw a mind boggling fractal design of the universe. First, , one day, I saw this empirical universe of matter that we are aware of (or capable of being aware of with our gross senses) is just a small part of a greater reality, which was complete. Then in the next day I saw that this greater reality is just a part of still greater reality that was complete. Then the third day further unfolded to still greater complete reality and so on and so forth. Every time I thought that this is the complete reality, only to be challenged the next day. This process of unfolding universe with in universe, or universe and super universes continued day after day, till I gave up my arrogance that I knew the entire truth. I became really modest that I don’t know the entire complete truth and perhaps the sequence of part whole reality is infinite and hence I cannot know the whole truth. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" /><o:p> </o:p> The whole thing was a fractal design though I did not know that time the word ‘fractal’ I read about complexity and chaos much latter. I called the reality I saw as Mayicocosam – meaning Magical Cosmos. <o:p> </o:p> I don’t know whether the real universe is really like this. Physical science offers no clue to this. But I am sure there is an experience like this in our deeper mind. The way we see the universe or reality depends on the way we are wired neurologically and the brain chemistry of consciousness. Any change in the brain chemistry or the wiring pattern alters our perception and conception of the world. That is our experience of the world is arbitrary and one possible way to of seeing and understanding the world. There are many many ways of seeing reality depending on our conscious states. (Or Neural web and chemistry) Going by my direct experience the neural net as well as chemistry belongs to complex dynamic system and hence might have a fractal base, though I am not sure on this. Only future development in cognitive science would have answer for this. What I am sure of is that there is an experience of fractal structure of the world in our mind. This vision is truly mind boggling and awe inspiring, and can be considered as the universal form of the god. I did consider that as the universal form of the goddess that I was worshipping that time with her mantra. And perhaps Arjuna might have had an access to this experience. <o:p> </o:p> Do work on your model. Perhaps the answer would come from it. <o:p> </o:p> Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Milly, I dont know whether she has picked up english nowadays. Her original language is Malayalam. But no worry. She has enough transalarers around her always. There are many forign deciples with her. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Milly, She is a true saint. She did rigorous spiritual sadana in her early years and realised god, by intense bhakti and tapas. Her God of devotion is Siva. But she is universal like any truely realised mystic. Apart from her hug, which comes from her realization that all souls are devine, you can ask any spiritual doubt you have . She is a realised person and She can answer any spirritual question and guide you properly. Though she is illetrate you will be stunned at her ability to clarify on spiritual matters . Dont miss that opportunity. Ask her your spiritual questions and concernes. Regards, K.Ravindran

No Primate, That could be one association of this symbol you got from Nazi's use of it , just like the Christian meaning of snake symbolism as evil incornate - as lucifer came in the form of snake - but hindus have holy meaning to it - see Vishnu lies on a snake. Swastika has a very good holy connotation not only amoung Hindus but universally accross the globe, in many ancient civilizations. It is an architypal symbol. ( meaning it is universal content of all minds of all cultures). Architypally, this is the symbol - or mandala or chakra - that arises or encounters first in one's spiritual journy. This is the very door of spiritual realm. It is devine and very very holy. It is the seal of the door of spiritual realm. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Deepak, Milly's story of elephant is the explanation to your puzzle. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the grand mystic of Bengal, employs the same story to the religious fight. "No one has seen mother Kali completely. Each prophet has seen a small aspect of Her and propounded a religion". Full truth no one knows and cannot be known. This state of affair is declared by mystics: "Those who speak do not know, and those who know do not speak". Veda itself talks about The Truth as Na Thi, Ne Thi ( not this - not that either) Regards, K.Ravindran

Yet another belief holds that Kalki will be born in Shambhala,- now a mysterious unknown place somewhere in Himalayas, where all beings are enlightened. According to Tibetan Buddhist doctrine, he is the 25th king of Shambhala Kingdom. K. Ravindran

Dear Tirisilex, Being Indian or not is not the determining feature wether you are a Smarta or not. In fact true Vedic thought is non-perochial and universal in its vision and teaching. Basically Smarta is one who takes veda and the related texts as their basis and is an Advaidin. If you find by inclinitation and belief that you are a Smarta then you are. (I am sure you must have studuied the full meaning and implication of this category. Wikipedia has an article on it). If you think you are one - if you represent that brand of philosophy - then you are one. Regards, K.Ravindran.

Dear Justin Why should there be a separate experiencer? In fact for a nondualist, Mukti is precisly the absence of such separate experiencer. I will demonstrate the problem in this kind of argument with another clear example. One western philosopher (I forgot which one) argued that death does not exist – it is not real- as it doesn’t exist within life. When we die there is no life - no consciousness to experience that we are dead. Hence to say there is death is meaningless. (This argument has to be understood in the context of rational philosophy where death is assumed to be the end of existence and not in a religious one where soul, and hence consciousness, survives death.) <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" /><o:p> </o:p> Obviously there is a flaw in this argument. To say that we don’t exist to witness that we are dead – that we don’t exist as a dead being (buying that as a true claim for argument sake) is not equal to say that death itself is not a real fact but a myth. Isn’t it? <o:p> </o:p> Similarly to say Mukti is a myth - simply because in mukti there is no individual self or ego - is a fallacious argument. <o:p> </o:p> Analogically, after an individual rain drop of water merges with the sea there is no separate drop of water distinguishable in the sea. Thereby to argue that the merger cannot take place, and the merging of the drops of rain with the sea is a myth., is not correct. There is a problem in this kind of argument. Regards, K.Ravindran.

Deear one and all , The oneness as well as the formlessness or the inconceivable form - if you like that wording- are clear in many many places in vedas and upanishads in no uncertain terms. Becides it is also the direct experience of mystics all over the world of different religious cultural and temporal settings. This can be experienced and there by validated by anyone, in principle, if one takes the trouble of following the descipline of yoga, which is one of the six essential parts of veda. After all direct experience is the ultimate source of conviction. Note: By this I am not refuting that god can and does take form. After all god is all there is and hence the universe with all its multitude of forms is god's form only. After all universe came from god. God has assumed all forms and hence I dont disagree with the 'formists'. But I do disagree with that 'formists' who argue that god has only one specific form. All forms in existence is his forms and all conceivable and possible forms that may or maynot exist in other alternate universes are god's forms. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Sunil Singh, Can you post the correspondance between the twelve juothir lingas and the twelve zodic signs? Also the correspondance between the jyoyhor lingas and planets? I would be happy to get this information. I am asking this because in tour posting you have said the mapping is given . but the chart which appear in the post is not clear. (Do not post the chart. Charts do not come in this posting properly. Just indicate the sign names and the jyothir linga like: Mesha : ----, Rishaba -----. etc,) Regards, K.Ravindran

Respect to parents and elders is not conditional. It is not to be based on what they give us materially (or even spiritually). Offering respect is a spiritual quality and is unconditional like pure bakti, (which is not based on what gos has given us, but just on our pure love). Conditional respect is a sign of our selfish and materialistic needs. In unconditional respect we see god in those we respect. Even if a person is develish in a material sense , the indweler is god and hence he or she is an instrument of god. Seeing this is spiritual, and if we are thus spiritual respect flows spontaniously without conditions and selfish expectations. It is not what others do to us, that is important it is what we do to others that define our spirituality. Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Vistiji, Can you kindly post the correspondance between the twelve signs and the twelve jyotirlingas? also the correspondance between the planets and the jyotirlingas? Or , if you have already given this information some where can I know where I vcan look for it? Regards, K.Ravindran

Dear Bija, I am already in to it. Regards, K.Ravindran