Lesson 2

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

Lesson 2

 

---------

 

 

Here is my attempt

 

 

 

1. Try to define the role of God in your life

 

The main objective of my life is to attain moksha.

i.e unite with Brahman.

God's role is to help me to achieve this.

 

2. What have you done in the past one year to come

closer to God?

 

Started to read the BhagavadGita.

I have started to chant Mantras and go to the

temple daily.

 

3. Which statement is more relevant:God is all, or All

is God ?

Both the statement leads to the same thing, but the

approach(our perception)

is different.

 

When we say "God is all",we see God in all things -

living as well as non-living.

We are concentrating on the whole.

 

When we say "All is God",we see God through these

objects(living & non - living).

We are concentrating on the parts.

 

'God is all' is more relevant for me. God is

infinite. When we say 'all',

we are refering to some finite figure though it may

be several

billion things.

Even if we group(since all these things are atman)

this 'all' together it will form only a small part

of God.

 

 

4. How is the role of a jyotish different from a

priest?

 

Astrologer Interprets the Vedas, but priest rarely

intreprets the verses

verses from the vedas. Priest chants on behalf of

the

worshipers and the worshipers do not know what the

priest is

praying for them.

So the Astrologer has more

responsiblilty since he should not interpret

incorrectly.

 

Priest helps us to acknowledge the existence of

God. This he does

by performing puja on behalf of us. But he does not

tell

that this god is present in each of us(in fact in

all the things in this universe.)

This knowledge is given by the Astrologer.

Astrologer helps the human(atman) to attain Moksha.

Moksha is got

by tapasya ie. once own effort rather than the

effort(in chanting

vedas,by performing puja) of the third

person(priest).

 

 

Jyotish is a vedanga and is related to the eye of

Narayan.

It has light and gives us the power to see - to see

through darkness.

Similarly, the Jyotish, with the divine grace and

knowledge,

possesses the power to see through the darkness (of

maya) and guide the person in his life.

Thus, he becomes the eyes or the guiding factor of

a person.

Therefore, a Jyotish should personally possess the

right qualities to get the blessings of Sri Narayana

and be able to pass it on to other people.

 

Jyotish is a guide but a priest is not.

 

 

5. Make a list of all Sanskrit terms in this Lesson

under different starting

letters and prepare your personal dictionary of

Jyotish/Sanskrit

terminology.

 

A

----

Agni : Fire

Akash : Ether - the vacuum within which everthing is

encompassed.

Atman : The soul(conscious self) - also BRAHMAN

Avidyamaya: ignorance

 

B

----

Brahman: One who has attained self-realization.

Brahmagyana : Wisdom(Knowledge of Self and

discrimination)

Bhakti : Devotion. Devotion can be towards God or

anything else.

Brhaspati: priest of the demigods, Guru (teacher) of

the Devatas.

 

D

----

Deva: Demigod - is derived from the word "diva"

meaning the give - thus, Deva means the one who gives

away. Eg. Pavan Deva - the one who gives wind.

 

G

----

Gati : Direction

Graha: Graha is actually a point or object in space

which influences life/activities on Earth. Rahu and

Ketu have no material body, yet they are grahas

(planets).

Guna : Nature

Guru : Jupiter - also known as Deva Guru, Brihaspati.

M

----

Marga : Path

Maya : illusion(of this material world)

 

N

----

narayana- the Supreme Personality of Godhead

The word Narayana is derived from two words - Nara

(human) and Ayana meaning direction. Thus, the

direction that should be of man is Narayana - i.e.,

towards mukti or emancipation.

 

O

----

Om: the first syllable representing God

 

OM is all pervading. All things are within OM and all

things are from OM.

 

P

----

Paramatma : Supreme conscious self; Atma of God.

Prakriti: Nature.

Prithvi : Earth

Purusha : man.

 

R

----

Rajas : Creative quality.

 

S

----

Satwa : quality(in us) which moves us towards God,

realization of God who is the ultimate truth.

Satwik : One who is possesed(in greater quantity) with

Satwa qualities.

Shakti: energy

Sthavara : Stationary things

Surya : the Sun, natural atmakaraka

Sukra: Venus, the priest of the demons

 

T

----

Tamas : quality(in us) which moves us away from God

- Tamas means ignorance, darkness etc.

Tapasya : Sincere Effort and determination

 

U

----

Upadesha : Lecture

 

V

----

Vayu: Wind

Veda : Knowledge

Vedanga : Part of Veda

 

 

 

 

Regards,

Rajaram

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Namaste all

 

My attempt to answer the assignments in SJVC Lesson 2.

 

1) Try to define the role of God in your life.

I think , God doesn´t play any role in my life, but he gave me the big

opportunity to live and evolve as a soul than, I´m very gratful for this

and in my humble condition, I´m doing my best to learn, to be a good player

in his drama ,that is life on Earth.

I follow the Tibetan Buddhism .

In fundamental Buddhism, the emphasis is on seeing Truth, on knowing it,

and on understanding it. The emphasis is NOT on BLIND faith. The teaching

of Buddhism is on "come and see" but never on come and believe. Buddhism is

rational and requires personal effort, stating that by only one’s own

efforts can Perfect Wisdom be realized. Each individual is responsible for

his or her own emancipation from anguish and suffering.

Buddhism allows each individual to study and observe Truth internally and

requires no blind faith before acceptance. Buddhism advocates no dogmas, no

creeds, no rites, no ceremonies, no sacrifices, no penances, all of which

must usually be accepted on blind faith. Buddhism is not a system of faith

and worship but rather it is merely a Path to Supreme Enlightenment.

The Buddha referred to his teaching as simply a raft to leave this shore of

suffering and impermanence, and to get to the other shore of bliss and

safety, True Permanent Reality, Nirvana. Upon realization of Nirvana, the

raft is no longer needed.

The Buddha referred to his teaching as the Middle Path, called this because

it avoids the extremes of both self-indulgence in the world and the

self-mortification of strict asceticism. The path he taught incorporates

both intellectual progress plus spiritual progress with practice that

reflects compassion, morality, wisdom and concentration while at the same

time seeing and understanding the world of existence as it truly is.

 

2) What have you done in the past one year to come closer to God?

I´ve been trying, to understand and practice the Eightfold Noble Path of

Buddhism, besides as a businessman I created jobs, helping people to survive.

 

3) Which statement is more relevant:

Both are relevant and mean the same.

 

4) How is a role of a Jyotish different from a priest?

I think the role is the some but with different methods.

 

 

Thanks

 

Virgilio Victor

[Guest guest]

Dear Virgilio,

 

> I follow the Tibetan Buddhism .

> In fundamental Buddhism, the emphasis is on seeing Truth, on

knowing it,

> and on understanding it. The emphasis is NOT on BLIND faith. The

teaching

> of Buddhism is on "come and see" but never on come and believe.

Buddhism is

> rational and requires personal effort, stating that by only one's

own

> efforts can Perfect Wisdom be realized. Each individual is

responsible for

> his or her own emancipation from anguish and suffering.

> Buddhism allows each individual to study and observe Truth

internally and

> requires no blind faith before acceptance. Buddhism advocates no

dogmas, no

> creeds, no rites, no ceremonies, no sacrifices, no penances, all of

which

> must usually be accepted on blind faith. Buddhism is not a system

of faith

> and worship but rather it is merely a Path to Supreme Enlightenment.

> The Buddha referred to his teaching as simply a raft to leave this

shore of

> suffering and impermanence, and to get to the other shore of bliss

and

> safety, True Permanent Reality, Nirvana. Upon realization of

Nirvana, the

> raft is no longer needed.

 

Thank you for the beautiful words.

 

Sri Maha Vishnu is the Supreme deity of Hindus and he took twn main

incarnations. He has two incarnations in Kali yuga. One is Buddha at

the beginning of Kali yuga and the other is Kalki at the end of Kali

Yuga. Buddha's teachings are nothing but Maha Vishnu's teachings for

the fallen ones of Kali yuga. Sadly, many Hindus today engage in

rituals and procedures which they do not really understand and which

they perform mechanically. The real knowledge is gone and only

symbols are left.

 

I appreciate what you wrote about blind faith. Though things changed

in the last few millennia, ancient Hindu philosphical approach is

also consistent with what you mentioned. We respect Guru as a form of

god and listen to him with bhakti (devotion). However, the real

meaning of what a guru teaches can be 'experienced' by one only when

one tries hard to understand. Hindu seers are so open-minded that

seemingly contradictory theories are accepted. The 'Absolute Truth'

is so complicated that it cannot be passed on or taught. It can only

be 'realized' or 'experienced'. One can only realize different parts

of the big picture that the 'absolute truth' is. Sometimes differents

parts of it seem contradictory to a simplistic observer.

 

There was a lot of corruption in Hindu philosophy and Maha Vishnu

came to this earth as Lord Buddha to reset the focus of people who

were lost in symbols, rituals and procedures and forgot the meaning

and purpose.

 

May God bless your search for Truth and everyone else's.

 

May Jupiter's light shine on us,

Narasimha