Guest guest Posted September 28, 2008 Report Share Posted September 28, 2008 Excellent explanation about Dharma indeed Sir. This shows your depth of thorough knowledge ! Thanks for guiding us.Dr.Ashwin Rawal--- On Sun, 28/9/08, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr wrote: Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr Re: Dharma Cc: sivacharya Date: Sunday, 28 September, 2008, 12:11 AM Namaste,As Vimalananda says, dharma is indeed personal. Krishna clearly says in Bhagavad Geeta "Follow your own dharma. It is dangerous to follow someone else's dharma".Following the path of dharma basically means engaging in the right action/duty. Right action varies from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. It is dependent on what nature expects from you, which in turn is based on who you have been in the past, what actions you did in the past while identifying with the action, who you affected in the past (and how) with the actions that you identified with, what debts you created in the process, and what mental tendencies you accumulated until now.If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to kill evil persons, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the message of uniformity of all religions, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the ritual of homam in the world, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to make a lot of money and construct a temple, that becomes one's dharma.* * *The dharma of a being may change from one life to another.At the time of Mahabharata war, it was Arjuna's dharma to kill his gurus, elders and relatives. The time then was such that there was too much weight on earth and nature wanted earth to be relieved of some weight. Tremendous destruction was to take place and civilization destroyed to a great extent, to welcome Kali yuga and set the tone for it. Arjuna being a great warrior, it was his dharma to facilitate that. Some people he deeply loved and respected were on the other side and it was his dharma to kill them.When the same Arjuna was born again in the 19th century as one of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa' s sishyas (Swami Yogananda had been Arjuna in a previous life, according to Ramakrishna) , his dharma was different in this new time and place. He was born to renounce material life despite his aristocratic upbringing and live the simple life of a monk and inspire generations to embrace a simple life of mental detachment and service to others. When he is born again (which he has to, as per what Ramakrishna said), his dharma based on the time and place may be something else.* * *The tricky question is: How does one decide what is one's dharma?Some people have interpreted Krishna's words saying "follow your own dharma and not someone else's dharma" in the light of castism. Though the concept of caste (varna) has been there in Hinduism for a long time, the concept of caste mobility was very much there. Valmiki was a shudra who lived by killing birds. He became a brahmana and a maharshi later. Vishwamitra was a kshatrita and a powerful king. He became a brahmana and and a maharshi later. Basically varna shows one's aptitude. One starts off with the varna of father, because that is what one is exposed to in childhood. As one develops in life, one gets one's own varna based on what one does.Thus, the misinterpretation of Krishna's words which tells you to know your dharma from your caste is wrong. Moreover, there are not just 4 dharmas in the world. Each person has individual dharma.Knowing what one's dharma is is very very very difficult. If one is pure enough, one will *know* one's dharma. In fact, all of us have a part of our mind that tells us what our dharma is, but it is surrounded by a lot of noise from other parts of our minds which tell other things. Thus, we get confused.We should make the best judgment combining discrimination and intuition and decide what is our dharma and follow it sincerely. We may be err, but doing the best we can is all that we can do!More than following dharma, what is of utmost importance is to engage in actions without identification. *That* alone ensures that we are not accumulating new karmas, i.e. not increasing the load. We should not build too much attachment to what we are doing. We should engage in the best possible actions (based on our best judgment on what our dharma in the given situation is), with as little attachment and self-identification with the action as possible. When the action is finished, we should leave the result to god. We should not think "I did it", "what will happen now", "will it work" etc. Such adherence of nishkama karma yoga (unfication through untached action) will simplify our ego and purify our consciousness slowly. As we become purer, our mind will work sharper and tell our dharma clearer. There is a positive feedback here. This will slowly enable us to see our dharma clearly and follow it without incurring new karmas. This is not easy, but not as difficult as people think.The bottomline is: Even if one is not following one's dharma, one's sense of "this is my dharma" gets refined with time if one engages in action with little attachment.* * *In deciding one's dharma, one's intellect and intuition are the inputs. Another external input is the words of scriptures and learned men. One can derive one's dharma from them. A special place is given to one's spiritual master. If one surrenders to a spiritual master, one can take the words of the master to determine one's dharma and follow it sincerely.When Arjuna was confused about what his dharma was and thought killing gurus and relatives was not dharma, he had a guru in Krishna who clarified his dharma. When Narendranath (Swami Vivekananda) was confused about his dharma and wanted to renounce the world and go to a secluded place to do sadhana, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa cried and prevailed upon him to stay in the material world and do the work of Mother for him.One who is not in tune with nature and does not know who one is, what one's debts are and what nature expects from one can err in the judgment of what one's dharma is. If one's guru is an elevated soul with a clear insight into one's inner core, such a guru can give perfect guidance.* * *Bottomline is that I (or anybody) cannot outline a set of principles and declare that as the dharma. No, dharma changes from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. Also, there are no thumbrules to find out what one's dharma is. But, one can refine one's understanding of one's dharma by increasing internal purity. By doing various kinds of spiritual sadhana (like homam, japam etc) and engaging in actions without much attachment, one can slowly purify oneself and refine one's understanding of one's individual dharma.Best regards,Narasimha------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homamDo Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpanaSpirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdomFree Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - - "dahiyajiten" <dahiyajiten@ .co. in><>Saturday, September 27, 2008 8:02 AM Dharma> Namaste to all>> i just finished my Aghora series> and in it in last part> Vimalanda says path of dharma is very personal.> Can somebody share views on that and how can we approach> towards it> Does it has to do something with vedas and upanishads>> regards> jitender Connect with friends all over the world. Get India Messenger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 2008 Report Share Posted September 28, 2008 Om Gurave Namah Dear Narasimha, Your posts are exquisite and bring so much light. I am also forwarding some of them to others. With gratitude, Willa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 2008 Report Share Posted September 28, 2008 Dear Narasimhaji Another wonderly inspired post by you!!!! I did not understand one line of your post. You said during the time of Mahabhrata there was tremendous weight on this planet. I could not completely understand what you ment by this. Is it a literal meaning of figuratative meaning? Also, could you tell me the name of reference of the book where Sri Ramakrishna says Yogananda was Arjuna. Thank you once again for your mails which are an inspiration to us all. -Regards Rajarshi "This above all: to thine own self be true!" - Hamlet--- On Sun, 28/9/08, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr wrote: Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr Re: Dharma Cc: sivacharya Date: Sunday, 28 September, 2008, 12:11 AM Namaste,As Vimalananda says, dharma is indeed personal. Krishna clearly says in Bhagavad Geeta "Follow your own dharma. It is dangerous to follow someone else's dharma".Following the path of dharma basically means engaging in the right action/duty. Right action varies from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. It is dependent on what nature expects from you, which in turn is based on who you have been in the past, what actions you did in the past while identifying with the action, who you affected in the past (and how) with the actions that you identified with, what debts you created in the process, and what mental tendencies you accumulated until now.If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to kill evil persons, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the message of uniformity of all religions, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the ritual of homam in the world, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to make a lot of money and construct a temple, that becomes one's dharma.* * *The dharma of a being may change from one life to another.At the time of Mahabharata war, it was Arjuna's dharma to kill his gurus, elders and relatives. The time then was such that there was too much weight on earth and nature wanted earth to be relieved of some weight. Tremendous destruction was to take place and civilization destroyed to a great extent, to welcome Kali yuga and set the tone for it. Arjuna being a great warrior, it was his dharma to facilitate that. Some people he deeply loved and respected were on the other side and it was his dharma to kill them.When the same Arjuna was born again in the 19th century as one of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa' s sishyas (Swami Yogananda had been Arjuna in a previous life, according to Ramakrishna) , his dharma was different in this new time and place. He was born to renounce material life despite his aristocratic upbringing and live the simple life of a monk and inspire generations to embrace a simple life of mental detachment and service to others. When he is born again (which he has to, as per what Ramakrishna said), his dharma based on the time and place may be something else.* * *The tricky question is: How does one decide what is one's dharma?Some people have interpreted Krishna's words saying "follow your own dharma and not someone else's dharma" in the light of castism. Though the concept of caste (varna) has been there in Hinduism for a long time, the concept of caste mobility was very much there. Valmiki was a shudra who lived by killing birds. He became a brahmana and a maharshi later. Vishwamitra was a kshatrita and a powerful king. He became a brahmana and and a maharshi later. Basically varna shows one's aptitude. One starts off with the varna of father, because that is what one is exposed to in childhood. As one develops in life, one gets one's own varna based on what one does.Thus, the misinterpretation of Krishna's words which tells you to know your dharma from your caste is wrong. Moreover, there are not just 4 dharmas in the world. Each person has individual dharma.Knowing what one's dharma is is very very very difficult. If one is pure enough, one will *know* one's dharma. In fact, all of us have a part of our mind that tells us what our dharma is, but it is surrounded by a lot of noise from other parts of our minds which tell other things. Thus, we get confused.We should make the best judgment combining discrimination and intuition and decide what is our dharma and follow it sincerely. We may be err, but doing the best we can is all that we can do!More than following dharma, what is of utmost importance is to engage in actions without identification. *That* alone ensures that we are not accumulating new karmas, i.e. not increasing the load. We should not build too much attachment to what we are doing. We should engage in the best possible actions (based on our best judgment on what our dharma in the given situation is), with as little attachment and self-identification with the action as possible. When the action is finished, we should leave the result to god. We should not think "I did it", "what will happen now", "will it work" etc. Such adherence of nishkama karma yoga (unfication through untached action) will simplify our ego and purify our consciousness slowly. As we become purer, our mind will work sharper and tell our dharma clearer. There is a positive feedback here. This will slowly enable us to see our dharma clearly and follow it without incurring new karmas. This is not easy, but not as difficult as people think.The bottomline is: Even if one is not following one's dharma, one's sense of "this is my dharma" gets refined with time if one engages in action with little attachment.* * *In deciding one's dharma, one's intellect and intuition are the inputs. Another external input is the words of scriptures and learned men. One can derive one's dharma from them. A special place is given to one's spiritual master. If one surrenders to a spiritual master, one can take the words of the master to determine one's dharma and follow it sincerely.When Arjuna was confused about what his dharma was and thought killing gurus and relatives was not dharma, he had a guru in Krishna who clarified his dharma. When Narendranath (Swami Vivekananda) was confused about his dharma and wanted to renounce the world and go to a secluded place to do sadhana, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa cried and prevailed upon him to stay in the material world and do the work of Mother for him.One who is not in tune with nature and does not know who one is, what one's debts are and what nature expects from one can err in the judgment of what one's dharma is. If one's guru is an elevated soul with a clear insight into one's inner core, such a guru can give perfect guidance.* * *Bottomline is that I (or anybody) cannot outline a set of principles and declare that as the dharma. No, dharma changes from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. Also, there are no thumbrules to find out what one's dharma is. But, one can refine one's understanding of one's dharma by increasing internal purity. By doing various kinds of spiritual sadhana (like homam, japam etc) and engaging in actions without much attachment, one can slowly purify oneself and refine one's understanding of one's individual dharma.Best regards,Narasimha------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homamDo Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpanaSpirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdomFree Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - - "dahiyajiten" <dahiyajiten@ .co. in><>Saturday, September 27, 2008 8:02 AM Dharma> Namaste to all>> i just finished my Aghora series> and in it in last part> Vimalanda says path of dharma is very personal.> Can somebody share views on that and how can we approach> towards it> Does it has to do something with vedas and upanishads>> regards> jitender Did you know? You can CHAT without downloading messenger. Click here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 2008 Report Share Posted September 28, 2008  Namaste, I meant it figuratively. For the reference on Yogananda, you can read the section on Swami Yogananda in "God Lived with Them: Life Stories of Sixteen Monastic Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna" by Swami Chetanananda. * * * There have been many great yogis, babas, saints and swamis in the last few thousand years of Kali yuga. But Ramakrishna Paramahamsa stands out in one way. He is one master who mastered every single path. He mastered bhakti yoga, jnaana yoga, karma yoga and even raaja yoga. He worshipped and experienced Rama, Krishna, Kaali and several forms. He even reached the state of nirvikalpa samadhi, where there is no "experience". He was in sahaja samadhi always. He was able induce tremendous experience in people by mere touch or mere look. Yet he was simple like a child and had zero ego (that is why he could do all that!!!). Many "gurus" force their dharma on their sishyas and have no ability to recognize the true nature and dharma of each sishya. They force sishyas to chant the mantra they chant, worship the form they worship and walk the path they walk. Ramakrishna had deep insight into the true nature of each sishya and gave specific instructions. He taught totally different mantras, totally different forms and totally different paths to different sishyas. He even taught contradictory things to different sishyas. When one sishya who needed to mend his aggressive attitude roughed up somebody for insulting his guru, he scolded "shame on you. With your attitude, you did not defend your guru, but brought shame to him. You should learn to be calm and ignore such insults. THAT will place your guru in a good stead and not your aggression". When another sishya who needed to mend his soft demeanor ignored insults of Ramakrishna by some people and came away silently, he scolded him "shame on you. Shastras say that you should kill one who insults your guru. How can you ignore such wrong behavior? You should give them a piece of your mind." Spiritual sadhana does not mean just chanting a mantra or repeating a procedure everyday for a certain period of time. Spiritual sadhana is a continuous process by which one transforms oneself from inside out and purifies oneself. That way, every action and every thought becomes a sadhana and offers an opportunity for introspection and transformation of internal attitude. Anyway, coming back to the point, Ramakrishna is not a normal sadhaka or a normal guru. He belonged to a very special class of sadhakas and he was an exceptional guru to an exceptional group of sishyas. Without his [indirect] blessings, I would be a nobody and would be lower than dirt. I would not be able to say anything intelligent or meaningful in spiritual matters. Those who are impressed/inspired by something I write should be thankful to my guru Dr Manish Pandit and to Sri Ramakrishna for showering their grace using me as an instrument and not to me. BTW, you are all free to forward my posts that you like to people who may be interested in spiritual discussions. I have no problem. As I said before, I am a servant distributing the wealth of a king (Mother) as asked by the minister (my guru). Best regards,NarasimhaDo a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homamDo Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpanaSpirituality: Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org - rajarshi nandy Sunday, September 28, 2008 2:44 PM Re: Re: Dharma Dear Narasimhaji Another wonderly inspired post by you!!!! I did not understand one line of your post. You said during the time of Mahabhrata there was tremendous weight on this planet. I could not completely understand what you ment by this. Is it a literal meaning of figuratative meaning? Also, could you tell me the name of reference of the book where Sri Ramakrishna says Yogananda was Arjuna. Thank you once again for your mails which are an inspiration to us all. -Regards Rajarshi "This above all: to thine own self be true!" - Hamlet--- On Sun, 28/9/08, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr wrote: Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr Re: Dharma Cc: sivacharya Date: Sunday, 28 September, 2008, 12:11 AM Namaste,As Vimalananda says, dharma is indeed personal. Krishna clearly says in Bhagavad Geeta "Follow your own dharma. It is dangerous to follow someone else's dharma".Following the path of dharma basically means engaging in the right action/duty. Right action varies from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. It is dependent on what nature expects from you, which in turn is based on who you have been in the past, what actions you did in the past while identifying with the action, who you affected in the past (and how) with the actions that you identified with, what debts you created in the process, and what mental tendencies you accumulated until now.If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to kill evil persons, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the message of uniformity of all religions, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the ritual of homam in the world, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to make a lot of money and construct a temple, that becomes one's dharma.* * *The dharma of a being may change from one life to another.At the time of Mahabharata war, it was Arjuna's dharma to kill his gurus, elders and relatives. The time then was such that there was too much weight on earth and nature wanted earth to be relieved of some weight. Tremendous destruction was to take place and civilization destroyed to a great extent, to welcome Kali yuga and set the tone for it. Arjuna being a great warrior, it was his dharma to facilitate that. Some people he deeply loved and respected were on the other side and it was his dharma to kill them.When the same Arjuna was born again in the 19th century as one of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa' s sishyas (Swami Yogananda had been Arjuna in a previous life, according to Ramakrishna) , his dharma was different in this new time and place. He was born to renounce material life despite his aristocratic upbringing and live the simple life of a monk and inspire generations to embrace a simple life of mental detachment and service to others. When he is born again (which he has to, as per what Ramakrishna said), his dharma based on the time and place may be something else.* * *The tricky question is: How does one decide what is one's dharma?Some people have interpreted Krishna's words saying "follow your own dharma and not someone else's dharma" in the light of castism. Though the concept of caste (varna) has been there in Hinduism for a long time, the concept of caste mobility was very much there. Valmiki was a shudra who lived by killing birds. He became a brahmana and a maharshi later. Vishwamitra was a kshatrita and a powerful king. He became a brahmana and and a maharshi later. Basically varna shows one's aptitude. One starts off with the varna of father, because that is what one is exposed to in childhood. As one develops in life, one gets one's own varna based on what one does.Thus, the misinterpretation of Krishna's words which tells you to know your dharma from your caste is wrong. Moreover, there are not just 4 dharmas in the world. Each person has individual dharma.Knowing what one's dharma is is very very very difficult. If one is pure enough, one will *know* one's dharma. In fact, all of us have a part of our mind that tells us what our dharma is, but it is surrounded by a lot of noise from other parts of our minds which tell other things. Thus, we get confused.We should make the best judgment combining discrimination and intuition and decide what is our dharma and follow it sincerely. We may be err, but doing the best we can is all that we can do!More than following dharma, what is of utmost importance is to engage in actions without identification. *That* alone ensures that we are not accumulating new karmas, i.e. not increasing the load. We should not build too much attachment to what we are doing. We should engage in the best possible actions (based on our best judgment on what our dharma in the given situation is), with as little attachment and self-identification with the action as possible. When the action is finished, we should leave the result to god. We should not think "I did it", "what will happen now", "will it work" etc. Such adherence of nishkama karma yoga (unfication through untached action) will simplify our ego and purify our consciousness slowly. As we become purer, our mind will work sharper and tell our dharma clearer. There is a positive feedback here. This will slowly enable us to see our dharma clearly and follow it without incurring new karmas. This is not easy, but not as difficult as people think.The bottomline is: Even if one is not following one's dharma, one's sense of "this is my dharma" gets refined with time if one engages in action with little attachment.* * *In deciding one's dharma, one's intellect and intuition are the inputs. Another external input is the words of scriptures and learned men. One can derive one's dharma from them. A special place is given to one's spiritual master. If one surrenders to a spiritual master, one can take the words of the master to determine one's dharma and follow it sincerely.When Arjuna was confused about what his dharma was and thought killing gurus and relatives was not dharma, he had a guru in Krishna who clarified his dharma. When Narendranath (Swami Vivekananda) was confused about his dharma and wanted to renounce the world and go to a secluded place to do sadhana, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa cried and prevailed upon him to stay in the material world and do the work of Mother for him.One who is not in tune with nature and does not know who one is, what one's debts are and what nature expects from one can err in the judgment of what one's dharma is. If one's guru is an elevated soul with a clear insight into one's inner core, such a guru can give perfect guidance.* * *Bottomline is that I (or anybody) cannot outline a set of principles and declare that as the dharma. No, dharma changes from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. Also, there are no thumbrules to find out what one's dharma is. But, one can refine one's understanding of one's dharma by increasing internal purity. By doing various kinds of spiritual sadhana (like homam, japam etc) and engaging in actions without much attachment, one can slowly purify oneself and refine one's understanding of one's individual dharma.Best regards,Narasimha------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homamDo Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpanaSpirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdomFree Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - - "dahiyajiten" <dahiyajiten@ .co. in><>Saturday, September 27, 2008 8:02 AM Dharma> Namaste to all>> i just finished my Aghora series> and in it in last part> Vimalanda says path of dharma is very personal.> Can somebody share views on that and how can we approach> towards it> Does it has to do something with vedas and upanishads>> regards> jitender Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 2008 Report Share Posted September 28, 2008 Hare Rama Krishna Dear Narasimha, Ive read several apparently derogatory things about Paramahamsa Yogananda- that he ate meat, drank and had women at different times. Some accounts seem very authoratative so I am inclined to believe where there is smoke there is fire. How can we reconcil he is spiritually special when he was involved in some many other worldly things.? http://ramakrishnayb.blogspot.com/2008/02/95-where-is-safety-for-fish-and-goats.html Best wishes Lakshmi "Narasimha P.V.R. Rao" <pvr wrote:  Namaste, I meant it figuratively. For the reference on Yogananda, you can read the section on Swami Yogananda in "God Lived with Them: Life Stories of Sixteen Monastic Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna" by Swami Chetanananda. * * * There have been many great yogis, babas, saints and swamis in the last few thousand years of Kali yuga. But Ramakrishna Paramahamsa stands out in one way. He is one master who mastered every single path. He mastered bhakti yoga, jnaana yoga, karma yoga and even raaja yoga. He worshipped and experienced Rama, Krishna, Kaali and several forms. He even reached the state of nirvikalpa samadhi, where there is no "experience". He was in sahaja samadhi always. He was able induce tremendous experience in people by mere touch or mere look. Yet he was simple like a child and had zero ego (that is why he could do all that!!!). Many "gurus" force their dharma on their sishyas and have no ability to recognize the true nature and dharma of each sishya. They force sishyas to chant the mantra they chant, worship the form they worship and walk the path they walk. Ramakrishna had deep insight into the true nature of each sishya and gave specific instructions. He taught totally different mantras, totally different forms and totally different paths to different sishyas. He even taught contradictory things to different sishyas. When one sishya who needed to mend his aggressive attitude roughed up somebody for insulting his guru, he scolded "shame on you. With your attitude, you did not defend your guru, but brought shame to him. You should learn to be calm and ignore such insults. THAT will place your guru in a good stead and not your aggression". When another sishya who needed to mend his soft demeanor ignored insults of Ramakrishna by some people and came away silently, he scolded him "shame on you. Shastras say that you should kill one who insults your guru. How can you ignore such wrong behavior? You should give them a piece of your mind." Spiritual sadhana does not mean just chanting a mantra or repeating a procedure everyday for a certain period of time. Spiritual sadhana is a continuous process by which one transforms oneself from inside out and purifies oneself. That way, every action and every thought becomes a sadhana and offers an opportunity for introspection and transformation of internal attitude. Anyway, coming back to the point, Ramakrishna is not a normal sadhaka or a normal guru. He belonged to a very special class of sadhakas and he was an exceptional guru to an exceptional group of sishyas. Without his [indirect] blessings, I would be a nobody and would be lower than dirt. I would not be able to say anything intelligent or meaningful in spiritual matters. Those who are impressed/inspired by something I write should be thankful to my guru Dr Manish Pandit and to Sri Ramakrishna for showering their grace using me as an instrument and not to me. BTW, you are all free to forward my posts that you like to people who may be interested in spiritual discussions. I have no problem. As I said before, I am a servant distributing the wealth of a king (Mother) as asked by the minister (my guru). Best regards,NarasimhaDo a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homamDo Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpanaSpirituality: Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org - rajarshi nandy Sunday, September 28, 2008 2:44 PM Re: Re: Dharma Dear Narasimhaji Another wonderly inspired post by you!!!! I did not understand one line of your post. You said during the time of Mahabhrata there was tremendous weight on this planet. I could not completely understand what you ment by this. Is it a literal meaning of figuratative meaning? Also, could you tell me the name of reference of the book where Sri Ramakrishna says Yogananda was Arjuna. Thank you once again for your mails which are an inspiration to us all. -Regards Rajarshi "This above all: to thine own self be true!" - Hamlet--- On Sun, 28/9/08, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr (AT) charter (DOT) net> wrote: Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr (AT) charter (DOT) net> Re: Dharma Cc: sivacharya Date: Sunday, 28 September, 2008, 12:11 AM Namaste,As Vimalananda says, dharma is indeed personal. Krishna clearly says in Bhagavad Geeta "Follow your own dharma. It is dangerous to follow someone else's dharma".Following the path of dharma basically means engaging in the right action/duty. Right action varies from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. It is dependent on what nature expects from you, which in turn is based on who you have been in the past, what actions you did in the past while identifying with the action, who you affected in the past (and how) with the actions that you identified with, what debts you created in the process, and what mental tendencies you accumulated until now.If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to kill evil persons, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the message of uniformity of all religions, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the ritual of homam in the world, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to make a lot of money and construct a temple, that becomes one's dharma.* * *The dharma of a being may change from one life to another.At the time of Mahabharata war, it was Arjuna's dharma to kill his gurus, elders and relatives. The time then was such that there was too much weight on earth and nature wanted earth to be relieved of some weight. Tremendous destruction was to take place and civilization destroyed to a great extent, to welcome Kali yuga and set the tone for it. Arjuna being a great warrior, it was his dharma to facilitate that. Some people he deeply loved and respected were on the other side and it was his dharma to kill them.When the same Arjuna was born again in the 19th century as one of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa' s sishyas (Swami Yogananda had been Arjuna in a previous life, according to Ramakrishna) , his dharma was different in this new time and place. He was born to renounce material life despite his aristocratic upbringing and live the simple life of a monk and inspire generations to embrace a simple life of mental detachment and service to others. When he is born again (which he has to, as per what Ramakrishna said), his dharma based on the time and place may be something else.* * *The tricky question is: How does one decide what is one's dharma?Some people have interpreted Krishna's words saying "follow your own dharma and not someone else's dharma" in the light of castism. Though the concept of caste (varna) has been there in Hinduism for a long time, the concept of caste mobility was very much there. Valmiki was a shudra who lived by killing birds. He became a brahmana and a maharshi later. Vishwamitra was a kshatrita and a powerful king. He became a brahmana and and a maharshi later. Basically varna shows one's aptitude. One starts off with the varna of father, because that is what one is exposed to in childhood. As one develops in life, one gets one's own varna based on what one does.Thus, the misinterpretation of Krishna's words which tells you to know your dharma from your caste is wrong. Moreover, there are not just 4 dharmas in the world. Each person has individual dharma.Knowing what one's dharma is is very very very difficult. If one is pure enough, one will *know* one's dharma. In fact, all of us have a part of our mind that tells us what our dharma is, but it is surrounded by a lot of noise from other parts of our minds which tell other things. Thus, we get confused.We should make the best judgment combining discrimination and intuition and decide what is our dharma and follow it sincerely. We may be err, but doing the best we can is all that we can do!More than following dharma, what is of utmost importance is to engage in actions without identification. *That* alone ensures that we are not accumulating new karmas, i.e. not increasing the load. We should not build too much attachment to what we are doing. We should engage in the best possible actions (based on our best judgment on what our dharma in the given situation is), with as little attachment and self-identification with the action as possible. When the action is finished, we should leave the result to god. We should not think "I did it", "what will happen now", "will it work" etc. Such adherence of nishkama karma yoga (unfication through untached action) will simplify our ego and purify our consciousness slowly. As we become purer, our mind will work sharper and tell our dharma clearer. There is a positive feedback here. This will slowly enable us to see our dharma clearly and follow it without incurring new karmas. This is not easy, but not as difficult as people think.The bottomline is: Even if one is not following one's dharma, one's sense of "this is my dharma" gets refined with time if one engages in action with little attachment.* * *In deciding one's dharma, one's intellect and intuition are the inputs. Another external input is the words of scriptures and learned men. One can derive one's dharma from them. A special place is given to one's spiritual master. If one surrenders to a spiritual master, one can take the words of the master to determine one's dharma and follow it sincerely.When Arjuna was confused about what his dharma was and thought killing gurus and relatives was not dharma, he had a guru in Krishna who clarified his dharma. When Narendranath (Swami Vivekananda) was confused about his dharma and wanted to renounce the world and go to a secluded place to do sadhana, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa cried and prevailed upon him to stay in the material world and do the work of Mother for him.One who is not in tune with nature and does not know who one is, what one's debts are and what nature expects from one can err in the judgment of what one's dharma is. If one's guru is an elevated soul with a clear insight into one's inner core, such a guru can give perfect guidance.* * *Bottomline is that I (or anybody) cannot outline a set of principles and declare that as the dharma. No, dharma changes from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. Also, there are no thumbrules to find out what one's dharma is. But, one can refine one's understanding of one's dharma by increasing internal purity. By doing various kinds of spiritual sadhana (like homam, japam etc) and engaging in actions without much attachment, one can slowly purify oneself and refine one's understanding of one's individual dharma.Best regards,Narasimha------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homamDo Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpanaSpirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdomFree Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - - "dahiyajiten" <dahiyajiten@ .co. in><>Saturday, September 27, 2008 8:02 AM Dharma> Namaste to all>> i just finished my Aghora series> and in it in last part> Vimalanda says path of dharma is very personal.> Can somebody share views on that and how can we approach> towards it> Does it has to do something with vedas and upanishads>> regards> jitender Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 28, 2008 Report Share Posted September 28, 2008 Namaste Lakshmi Bahen, Sorry to intrude. I think Narsimha Garu mentioned about Swami Yogananda who was disciple of Thakur and NOT Paramhamsa YogaNanda. BTY i've great regards for Paramhamsa Yoagananda. Thanks Utpal , Lakshmi Kary <lakshmikary wrote: > > Hare Rama Krishna > Dear Narasimha, > Ive read several apparently derogatory things about Paramahamsa Yogananda- that he ate meat, drank and had women at different times. Some accounts seem very authoratative so I am inclined to believe where there is smoke there is fire. > How can we reconcil he is spiritually special when he was involved in some many other worldly things.? > http://ramakrishnayb.blogspot.com/2008/02/95-where-is-safety-for- fish-and-goats.html > Best wishes > Lakshmi > > > > " Narasimha P.V.R. Rao " <pvr wrote: >  Namaste, > > I meant it figuratively. > > For the reference on Yogananda, you can read the section on Swami Yogananda in " God Lived with Them: Life Stories of Sixteen Monastic Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna " by Swami Chetanananda. > > * * * > > There have been many great yogis, babas, saints and swamis in the last few thousand years of Kali yuga. But Ramakrishna Paramahamsa stands out in one way. He is one master who mastered every single path. He mastered bhakti yoga, jnaana yoga, karma yoga and even raaja yoga. He worshipped and experienced Rama, Krishna, Kaali and several forms. He even reached the state of nirvikalpa samadhi, where there is no " experience " . He was in sahaja samadhi always. He was able induce tremendous experience in people by mere touch or mere look. Yet he was simple like a child and had zero ego (that is why he could do all that!!!). > > Many " gurus " force their dharma on their sishyas and have no ability to recognize the true nature and dharma of each sishya. They force sishyas to chant the mantra they chant, worship the form they worship and walk the path they walk. Ramakrishna had deep insight into the true nature of each sishya and gave specific instructions. He taught totally different mantras, totally different forms and totally different paths to different sishyas. He even taught contradictory things to different sishyas. When one sishya who needed to mend his aggressive attitude roughed up somebody for insulting his guru, he scolded " shame on you. With your attitude, you did not defend your guru, but brought shame to him. You should learn to be calm and ignore such insults. THAT will place your guru in a good stead and not your aggression " . When another sishya who needed to mend his soft demeanor ignored insults of Ramakrishna by some people and came away silently, he scolded him " shame on you. > Shastras say that you should kill one who insults your guru. How can you ignore such wrong behavior? You should give them a piece of your mind. " > > Spiritual sadhana does not mean just chanting a mantra or repeating a procedure everyday for a certain period of time. Spiritual sadhana is a continuous process by which one transforms oneself from inside out and purifies oneself. That way, every action and every thought becomes a sadhana and offers an opportunity for introspection and transformation of internal attitude. > > Anyway, coming back to the point, Ramakrishna is not a normal sadhaka or a normal guru. He belonged to a very special class of sadhakas and he was an exceptional guru to an exceptional group of sishyas. > > Without his [indirect] blessings, I would be a nobody and would be lower than dirt. I would not be able to say anything intelligent or meaningful in spiritual matters. Those who are impressed/inspired by something I write should be thankful to my guru Dr Manish Pandit and to Sri Ramakrishna for showering their grace using me as an instrument and not to me. > > BTW, you are all free to forward my posts that you like to people who may be interested in spiritual discussions. I have no problem. As I said before, I am a servant distributing the wealth of a king (Mother) as asked by the minister (my guru). > > Best regards, > Narasimha > > Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam > Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpana > Spirituality: > Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net > Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org > Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org > > > - > rajarshi nandy > > Sunday, September 28, 2008 2:44 PM > Re: Re: Dharma > > Dear Narasimhaji > > Another wonderly inspired post by you!!!! > > I did not understand one line of your post. You said during the time of Mahabhrata there was tremendous weight on this planet. I could not completely understand what you ment by this. Is it a literal meaning of figuratative meaning? > > Also, could you tell me the name of reference of the book where Sri Ramakrishna says Yogananda was Arjuna. > > Thank you once again for your mails which are an inspiration to us all. > > -Regards > Rajarshi > > > " This above all: to thine own self be true! " - Hamlet > > > > --- On Sun, 28/9/08, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr wrote: > Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr > Re: Dharma > > Cc: sivacharya > Sunday, 28 September, 2008, 12:11 AM > > Namaste, > > As Vimalananda says, dharma is indeed personal. Krishna clearly says in > Bhagavad Geeta " Follow your own dharma. It is dangerous to follow someone > else's dharma " . > > Following the path of dharma basically means engaging in the right > action/duty. Right action varies from person to person, from time to time > and from place to place. It is dependent on what nature expects from you, > which in turn is based on who you have been in the past, what actions you > did in the past while identifying with the action, who you affected in the > past (and how) with the actions that you identified with, what debts you > created in the process, and what mental tendencies you accumulated until > now. > > If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person > to kill evil persons, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental > tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the message of > uniformity of all religions, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's > mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the > ritual of homam in the world, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's > mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to make a lot of > money and construct a temple, that becomes one's dharma. > > * * * > > The dharma of a being may change from one life to another. > > At the time of Mahabharata war, it was Arjuna's dharma to kill his gurus, > elders and relatives. The time then was such that there was too much weight > on earth and nature wanted earth to be relieved of some weight. Tremendous > destruction was to take place and civilization destroyed to a great extent, > to welcome Kali yuga and set the tone for it. Arjuna being a great warrior, > it was his dharma to facilitate that. Some people he deeply loved and > respected were on the other side and it was his dharma to kill them. > > When the same Arjuna was born again in the 19th century as one of > Ramakrishna Paramahamsa' s sishyas (Swami Yogananda had been Arjuna in a > previous life, according to Ramakrishna) , his dharma was different in this > new time and place. He was born to renounce material life despite his > aristocratic upbringing and live the simple life of a monk and inspire > generations to embrace a simple life of mental detachment and service to > others. When he is born again (which he has to, as per what Ramakrishna > said), his dharma based on the time and place may be something else. > > * * * > > The tricky question is: How does one decide what is one's dharma? > > Some people have interpreted Krishna's words saying " follow your own dharma > and not someone else's dharma " in the light of castism. Though the concept > of caste (varna) has been there in Hinduism for a long time, the concept of > caste mobility was very much there. Valmiki was a shudra who lived by > killing birds. He became a brahmana and a maharshi later. Vishwamitra was a > kshatrita and a powerful king. He became a brahmana and and a maharshi > later. Basically varna shows one's aptitude. One starts off with the varna > of father, because that is what one is exposed to in childhood. As one > develops in life, one gets one's own varna based on what one does. > > Thus, the misinterpretation of Krishna's words which tells you to know your > dharma from your caste is wrong. Moreover, there are not just 4 dharmas in > the world. Each person has individual dharma. > > Knowing what one's dharma is is very very very difficult. If one is pure > enough, one will *know* one's dharma. In fact, all of us have a part of our > mind that tells us what our dharma is, but it is surrounded by a lot of > noise from other parts of our minds which tell other things. Thus, we get > confused. > > We should make the best judgment combining discrimination and intuition and > decide what is our dharma and follow it sincerely. We may be err, but doing > the best we can is all that we can do! > > More than following dharma, what is of utmost importance is to engage in > actions without identification. *That* alone ensures that we are not > accumulating new karmas, i.e. not increasing the load. We should not build > too much attachment to what we are doing. We should engage in the best > possible actions (based on our best judgment on what our dharma in the given > situation is), with as little attachment and self-identification with the > action as possible. When the action is finished, we should leave the result > to god. We should not think " I did it " , " what will happen now " , " will it > work " etc. Such adherence of nishkama karma yoga (unfication through > untached action) will simplify our ego and purify our consciousness slowly. > As we become purer, our mind will work sharper and tell our dharma clearer. > There is a positive feedback here. This will slowly enable us to see our > dharma clearly and follow it without incurring new karmas. This is not easy, > but not as difficult as people think. > > The bottomline is: Even if one is not following one's dharma, one's sense of > " this is my dharma " gets refined with time if one engages in action with > little attachment. > > * * * > > In deciding one's dharma, one's intellect and intuition are the inputs. > Another external input is the words of scriptures and learned men. One can > derive one's dharma from them. A special place is given to one's spiritual > master. If one surrenders to a spiritual master, one can take the words of > the master to determine one's dharma and follow it sincerely. > > When Arjuna was confused about what his dharma was and thought killing gurus > and relatives was not dharma, he had a guru in Krishna who clarified his > dharma. When Narendranath (Swami Vivekananda) was confused about his dharma > and wanted to renounce the world and go to a secluded place to do sadhana, > Ramakrishna Paramahamsa cried and prevailed upon him to stay in the material > world and do the work of Mother for him. > > One who is not in tune with nature and does not know who one is, what one's > debts are and what nature expects from one can err in the judgment of what > one's dharma is. If one's guru is an elevated soul with a clear insight into > one's inner core, such a guru can give perfect guidance. > > * * * > > Bottomline is that I (or anybody) cannot outline a set of principles and > declare that as the dharma. No, dharma changes from person to person, from > time to time and from place to place. Also, there are no thumbrules to find > out what one's dharma is. But, one can refine one's understanding of one's > dharma by increasing internal purity. By doing various kinds of spiritual > sadhana (like homam, japam etc) and engaging in actions without much > attachment, one can slowly purify oneself and refine one's understanding of > one's individual dharma. > > Best regards, > Narasimha > ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - > Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homam > Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpana > Spirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdom > Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. net > Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.org > Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org > ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - > > - > " dahiyajiten " <dahiyajiten@ .co. in> > <> > Saturday, September 27, 2008 8:02 AM > Dharma > > > Namaste to all > > > > i just finished my Aghora series > > and in it in last part > > Vimalanda says path of dharma is very personal. > > Can somebody share views on that and how can we approach > > towards it > > Does it has to do something with vedas and upanishads > > > > regards > > jitender > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 Sir, Jai Ramakrishna. You are indeed blessed. Jai Ramakrishna. -Regards Rajarshi "This above all: to thine own self be true!" - Hamlet--- On Mon, 29/9/08, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr wrote: Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr Re: Dharma Cc: sivacharya Date: Monday, 29 September, 2008, 4:11 AM  Namaste, I meant it figuratively. For the reference on Yogananda, you can read the section on Swami Yogananda in "God Lived with Them: Life Stories of Sixteen Monastic Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna" by Swami Chetanananda. * * * There have been many great yogis, babas, saints and swamis in the last few thousand years of Kali yuga. But Ramakrishna Paramahamsa stands out in one way. He is one master who mastered every single path. He mastered bhakti yoga, jnaana yoga, karma yoga and even raaja yoga. He worshipped and experienced Rama, Krishna, Kaali and several forms. He even reached the state of nirvikalpa samadhi, where there is no "experience" . He was in sahaja samadhi always. He was able induce tremendous experience in people by mere touch or mere look. Yet he was simple like a child and had zero ego (that is why he could do all that!!!). Many "gurus" force their dharma on their sishyas and have no ability to recognize the true nature and dharma of each sishya. They force sishyas to chant the mantra they chant, worship the form they worship and walk the path they walk. Ramakrishna had deep insight into the true nature of each sishya and gave specific instructions. He taught totally different mantras, totally different forms and totally different paths to different sishyas. He even taught contradictory things to different sishyas. When one sishya who needed to mend his aggressive attitude roughed up somebody for insulting his guru, he scolded "shame on you. With your attitude, you did not defend your guru, but brought shame to him. You should learn to be calm and ignore such insults. THAT will place your guru in a good stead and not your aggression". When another sishya who needed to mend his soft demeanor ignored insults of Ramakrishna by some people and came away silently, he scolded him "shame on you. Shastras say that you should kill one who insults your guru. How can you ignore such wrong behavior? You should give them a piece of your mind." Spiritual sadhana does not mean just chanting a mantra or repeating a procedure everyday for a certain period of time. Spiritual sadhana is a continuous process by which one transforms oneself from inside out and purifies oneself. That way, every action and every thought becomes a sadhana and offers an opportunity for introspection and transformation of internal attitude. Anyway, coming back to the point, Ramakrishna is not a normal sadhaka or a normal guru. He belonged to a very special class of sadhakas and he was an exceptional guru to an exceptional group of sishyas. Without his [indirect] blessings, I would be a nobody and would be lower than dirt. I would not be able to say anything intelligent or meaningful in spiritual matters. Those who are impressed/inspired by something I write should be thankful to my guru Dr Manish Pandit and to Sri Ramakrishna for showering their grace using me as an instrument and not to me. BTW, you are all free to forward my posts that you like to people who may be interested in spiritual discussions. I have no problem. As I said before, I am a servant distributing the wealth of a king (Mother) as asked by the minister (my guru). Best regards,Narasimha------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homamDo Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpanaSpirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdomFree Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - rajarshi nandy Sunday, September 28, 2008 2:44 PM Re: Re: Dharma Dear Narasimhaji Another wonderly inspired post by you!!!! I did not understand one line of your post. You said during the time of Mahabhrata there was tremendous weight on this planet. I could not completely understand what you ment by this. Is it a literal meaning of figuratative meaning? Also, could you tell me the name of reference of the book where Sri Ramakrishna says Yogananda was Arjuna. Thank you once again for your mails which are an inspiration to us all. -Regards Rajarshi "This above all: to thine own self be true!" - Hamlet--- On Sun, 28/9/08, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr (AT) charter (DOT) net> wrote: Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr (AT) charter (DOT) net> Re: DharmaCc: sivacharya@gro ups.comSunday, 28 September, 2008, 12:11 AM Namaste,As Vimalananda says, dharma is indeed personal. Krishna clearly says in Bhagavad Geeta "Follow your own dharma. It is dangerous to follow someone else's dharma".Following the path of dharma basically means engaging in the right action/duty. Right action varies from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. It is dependent on what nature expects from you, which in turn is based on who you have been in the past, what actions you did in the past while identifying with the action, who you affected in the past (and how) with the actions that you identified with, what debts you created in the process, and what mental tendencies you accumulated until now.If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to kill evil persons, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the message of uniformity of all religions, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to spread the ritual of homam in the world, that becomes one's dharma. If, based on one's mental tendencies and karmic debts, nature wants a person to make a lot of money and construct a temple, that becomes one's dharma.* * *The dharma of a being may change from one life to another.At the time of Mahabharata war, it was Arjuna's dharma to kill his gurus, elders and relatives. The time then was such that there was too much weight on earth and nature wanted earth to be relieved of some weight. Tremendous destruction was to take place and civilization destroyed to a great extent, to welcome Kali yuga and set the tone for it. Arjuna being a great warrior, it was his dharma to facilitate that. Some people he deeply loved and respected were on the other side and it was his dharma to kill them.When the same Arjuna was born again in the 19th century as one of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa' s sishyas (Swami Yogananda had been Arjuna in a previous life, according to Ramakrishna) , his dharma was different in this new time and place. He was born to renounce material life despite his aristocratic upbringing and live the simple life of a monk and inspire generations to embrace a simple life of mental detachment and service to others. When he is born again (which he has to, as per what Ramakrishna said), his dharma based on the time and place may be something else.* * *The tricky question is: How does one decide what is one's dharma?Some people have interpreted Krishna's words saying "follow your own dharma and not someone else's dharma" in the light of castism. Though the concept of caste (varna) has been there in Hinduism for a long time, the concept of caste mobility was very much there. Valmiki was a shudra who lived by killing birds. He became a brahmana and a maharshi later. Vishwamitra was a kshatrita and a powerful king. He became a brahmana and and a maharshi later. Basically varna shows one's aptitude. One starts off with the varna of father, because that is what one is exposed to in childhood. As one develops in life, one gets one's own varna based on what one does.Thus, the misinterpretation of Krishna's words which tells you to know your dharma from your caste is wrong. Moreover, there are not just 4 dharmas in the world. Each person has individual dharma.Knowing what one's dharma is is very very very difficult. If one is pure enough, one will *know* one's dharma. In fact, all of us have a part of our mind that tells us what our dharma is, but it is surrounded by a lot of noise from other parts of our minds which tell other things. Thus, we get confused.We should make the best judgment combining discrimination and intuition and decide what is our dharma and follow it sincerely. We may be err, but doing the best we can is all that we can do!More than following dharma, what is of utmost importance is to engage in actions without identification. *That* alone ensures that we are not accumulating new karmas, i.e. not increasing the load. We should not build too much attachment to what we are doing. We should engage in the best possible actions (based on our best judgment on what our dharma in the given situation is), with as little attachment and self-identification with the action as possible. When the action is finished, we should leave the result to god. We should not think "I did it", "what will happen now", "will it work" etc. Such adherence of nishkama karma yoga (unfication through untached action) will simplify our ego and purify our consciousness slowly. As we become purer, our mind will work sharper and tell our dharma clearer. There is a positive feedback here. This will slowly enable us to see our dharma clearly and follow it without incurring new karmas. This is not easy, but not as difficult as people think.The bottomline is: Even if one is not following one's dharma, one's sense of "this is my dharma" gets refined with time if one engages in action with little attachment.* * *In deciding one's dharma, one's intellect and intuition are the inputs. Another external input is the words of scriptures and learned men. One can derive one's dharma from them. A special place is given to one's spiritual master. If one surrenders to a spiritual master, one can take the words of the master to determine one's dharma and follow it sincerely.When Arjuna was confused about what his dharma was and thought killing gurus and relatives was not dharma, he had a guru in Krishna who clarified his dharma. When Narendranath (Swami Vivekananda) was confused about his dharma and wanted to renounce the world and go to a secluded place to do sadhana, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa cried and prevailed upon him to stay in the material world and do the work of Mother for him.One who is not in tune with nature and does not know who one is, what one's debts are and what nature expects from one can err in the judgment of what one's dharma is. If one's guru is an elevated soul with a clear insight into one's inner core, such a guru can give perfect guidance.* * *Bottomline is that I (or anybody) cannot outline a set of principles and declare that as the dharma. No, dharma changes from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. Also, there are no thumbrules to find out what one's dharma is. But, one can refine one's understanding of one's dharma by increasing internal purity. By doing various kinds of spiritual sadhana (like homam, japam etc) and engaging in actions without much attachment, one can slowly purify oneself and refine one's understanding of one's individual dharma.Best regards,Narasimha------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homamDo Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpanaSpirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdomFree Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- - - "dahiyajiten" <dahiyajiten@ .co. in><>Saturday, September 27, 2008 8:02 AM Dharma> Namaste to all>> i just finished my Aghora series> and in it in last part> Vimalanda says path of dharma is very personal.> Can somebody share views on that and how can we approach> towards it> Does it has to do something with vedas and upanishads>> regards> jitender Connect with friends all over the world. Get India Messenger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Namste, A friend asked me this question. Before answering him, I would like to ask the opinion of the learned members: " In the Gita, Krishna says we should follow our own dharma, even if its inferior to another. But say I am a violent & angry man, so my Dharma is one of violence. So can I go around killing people then? If not, I will be going against my Dharma? " with love Shantnu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 , shanracer <no_reply wrote: > > Namste, > > A friend asked me this question. Before answering him, I would like to > ask the opinion of the learned members: > > " In the Gita, Krishna says we should follow our own dharma, even if > its inferior to another. But say I am a violent & angry man, so my > Dharma is one of violence. So can I go around killing people then? If > not, I will be going against my Dharma? " > > with love > Shantnu > I dont think " being violent " is dharma of anyone. Dharma has very deep meaning and it is certainly not one's habits. Dharma as Krishna meant was duty means if one is dong duty of shudra or of a king or of a priest, one is entitled for Moksha as while contine doing his dharma, he should surrender his Karma to Krishna. It is like saying a serving man should not leave his job and try to be a priest to be nearer to god. Dharma is duty of a person where Nature has selected him to be. Aum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 HARE RAM , HARE KRISHAN > " In the Gita, Krishna says we should follow our own dharma, even if > its inferior to another. But say I am a violent & angry man, so my > Dharma is one of violence. So can I go around killing people then? If > not, I will be going against my Dharma? " THANKS SIR JI FOR SHARING A BEAUTIFUL QUESTION there is no Dharma of violance .that time the society was divided into 4 classes and each class had its own Dharma ....... Fighting in a war for the Nation is not violance , but it is duty define by the God Himself. Hence Sir Ji first ask Him what is the cause of your violance and who has given authority to show the violence on OTHERS EVEN TO YOURSELF ......................... HARE RAM ,HARE RAM ,RAM RAM, HARE HARE , HARE KRISHAN , HARE KRISHAN ,KRISHAN KRISHAN , HARE HARE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 25, 2008 Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 , aumji <no_reply wrote: > I dont think " being violent " is dharma of anyone. Dharma has very > deep meaning and it is certainly not one's habits. Thanks aumji & Jitendarji. Can we say that being violent cannot be our Dharma, as God has also given us a Buddhi(intelligence) to control our lower passions? Regards violent people, can they join the army, police, fire brigade, to use their energies in proper way? This way, they are not fighting or suppressing their energies? with love Shantnu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 HARE RAM , HARE KRISHAN > Can we say that being violent cannot be our Dharma, as God has also > given us a Buddhi(intelligence) to control our lower passions? > > Regards violent people, can they join the army, police, fire brigade, > to use their energies in proper way? This way, they are not fighting > or suppressing their energies? THANKS SIR JI I WAS EXPECTING A QUESTION This is not true that violent energy could be utilised in Army , police,............. for the NATION ..... in my opinion violance means " uncontrolled destructive energy used for the satisfaction of own ego " . Hence fighting in a war for the Nation is not a violent act but a duty to protect the Nation from enemies . HARE RAM ,HARE RAM , RAM RAM ,HARE HARE , HARE KRISHAN , HARE KRISHAN , KRISHAN KRISHAN ,HARE HARE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Humble obeisances to all. Regarding dharma, there is one shloka " DharaNat dharma mityaahoo, dharmo dhaarayate praja: | Yasya dharana saMyuktam sa dharma iti me mata:|| "  under this, " I am a violent & angry man, so my Dharma is one of violence. So can I go around killing people then? If not, I will be going against my Dharma? " doesn't suit. violance and anger are instincts of any body and not soul. Regards to everyone. Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger./invite/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 , " jitendra kumar " <jtin_ja wrote: > > This is not true that violent energy could be utilised in Army , > police,............. for the NATION ..... Jitendarji energies are not violent or good, its how we use them. Two people, both with high energies, one of them might join the army & use his energies to help the country. The other gets drunk & starts fights. In both the cases, its the same energy being used. Do you agree? with love Shantnu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 , keshav daund <keshav_daund wrote: > > Humble obeisances to all. Regarding dharma, there is one shloka " DharaNat dharma mityaahoo, dharmo dhaarayate praja: | Yasya dharana saMyuktam sa dharma iti me mata:|| "  under this, " I am a violent & Keshavji, can you please give the english translation, as many people in this club dont know Sanskrit. love Shantnu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 HARE RAM , HARE KRISHAN > > This is not true that violent energy could be utilised in Army , > > police,............. for the NATION ..... > > Jitendarji energies are not violent or good, its how we use them. > THANKS SIR JI FOR CORRECTING ME But in my opinion expressing the word Energy alone is a great topic of Sadhana . But when this energy is associated with fluid , we call it as Fluid energy , when with neuclear mass we call it nuclear energy and when with positive task we can call it as positive energy or ..................... But i am agree with you because your opinion is also right meaning of your statement is also right . Thanks Sir Ji HARE RAM ,HARE RAM ,RAM RAM, HARE HARE , HARE KRISHAN , HARE KRISHAN , KRISHAN KRISHAN , HARE HARE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 OMNAMONARAYANAYA Keshavji , The Sanskrit word Dharm has more than one meaning. Dharma = One`s nature or character Dharma = Righteousness The verse saying violence is dharma refers to the first meaning not the second ijswamy ~SWAMY http://gjnanaswarup.spaces.live.com/blog/ --- On Wed, 11/26/08, keshav daund <keshav_daund wrote: keshav daund <keshav_daund Re:dharma Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 2:38 AM Humble obeisances to all. Regarding dharma, there is one shloka " DharaNat dharma mityaahoo, dharmo dhaarayate praja: | Yasya dharana saMyuktam sa dharma iti me mata:|| " under this, " I am a violent & angry man, so my Dharma is one of violence. So can I go around killing people then? If not, I will be going against my Dharma? " doesn't suit. violance and anger are instincts of any body and not soul. Regards to everyone. Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger. / invite/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 OMNAMONARAYANAYA Jituji, Pranams - Nuclear energy is produced when the nucleus of an atom is split . The nucleus gets fragmented to create energy enough to destroy cities and countries. Sun emits energy. In the Sun, Atoms are not split but nuclei of two atoms fuse producing energy. Solar energy is thus a type of nuclear energy that does not expire or end. Solar energy is " swayambhoo " . It is positive never ending energy. Solar energy can cause Sun stroke and it can also enliven rivers. Spiritual energy of super humans is similar. It is positive or negative depending on how it is used. Lord Sri Krishna did not lose His power after enriching Arjun`s Gjnana . ijswamy ~SWAMY http://gjnanaswarup.spaces.live.com/blog/ --- On Wed, 11/26/08, jitendra kumar <jtin_ja wrote: jitendra kumar <jtin_ja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Solar energy is thus a type of nuclear energy that does not expire or end. Solar energy is " swayambhoo " . ------------------------------ HARE RAM ,HARE KRISHAN THANKS SWAMYJI SIR JI FOR ENLIGHTENING ME KEEP IT UP HARE RAM, HARE RAM , RAM RAM, HARE HARE , HARE KRISHAN , HARE KRISHAN , KRISHAN KRISHAN , HARE HARE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.