I was watching this show on youtube Sri Krishna. At one point, Lord Brahma stresses the importance of reading Srimad Bhagavatam, especially in the Kali Yuga, where Jnanam, and Vairagyam have been eroded away from humanity. He truly mentions that one, after many unfortunate births & deaths, is truly fortunate indeed to have the opportunity to have access to the scriptures like Srimad Bhagavatam. It is such a humbling thought for me to have the association of great bhaktas in Corvallis, and to have the facility to read Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita with them. I am truly blessed. The Lord's paadukais are indeed the means, as well as the Goal.
Another point I liked is how the Lord says: "I myself go and welcome the bhakta, who has abandoned all pride, and has resorted to me with utter helplessness. " I pray to that Merciful Bhagavan that he always keep me humble and show me the way to his Lotus Feet!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Tirupathi - A Glimpse of Heaven on Earth
Today afternoon, I was thinking about my first darshanam of the Divine Lord Balaji at the Tirupathi Temple. It was about 6 years ago, one fine summer morning of 2001 that me and my family visited the Tirupathi Temple for the first time. I distinctly remember that day because I was miserably ill on the day of our darshanam, and my grandmother and my cousin accompanied my parents and my sister to Tirupathi. We stayed in one of the dharmashalai alloted by TTD office the previous night, at the base of the Tirupathi hill. Our appointment with the Lord was on the following morning. My parents woke up early in the morning and left as my mother was to perform "anga-pradakshinam" at the temple. Since I was not in a state to wake up early and leave with them, my Grandmother, my cousin, my sister and I were to take a later bus up the hill for our rendezvous with Lord Venkateshwara.
We reached at about 11:00am, finished our religious ablutions before getting in line for the big moment. That was the worst part for me as I barely had the strength to stand for about 2 hours before the darshanam. As we inched closer to the main shrine, my anticipation grew steadily. As I stepped into the main alleyway that leads to the main shrine, I could feel a transformation in the surrounding atmosphere. Outside, a moment ago, it was so crowded, it felt so .... worldly.
I could see the wonderful Vigraha of Lord Balaji as we approached it. It was an "out-of-the-world" experience - completely divine and blissful. It felt as if something inside me leapt in joy as my mortal body approached the main shrine - as if it wanted to break out of my sick body, and yearn for communion. The flow of time had stopped. It felt as if a rain drop was fast approaching the vast ocean with an eager anticipation to merge within, after a long treacherous journey over many lifetimes. I could not take my eyes off the beautiful form of the Lord for the entire duration as I approached the Deity. I was shaken back into the mortal existence when the "ushers" accosted me out of the shrine area to keep the line moving. It felt like a lifetime of an eternal existence coming to an end. One cannot help turning back and taking a last view of the Lord in Vaikuntham before you step back into the world. I was sick, but my insides were leaping with joy now. It was indeed a very personal moment with the Lord in his Abode - a brief journey into Heaven. The entire darshanam would not have lasted more than 20 seconds, but it definitely felt more than that. And the memories that I carried back were priceless. I am very thankful to my parents who took me with them to experience this wonderful moment.
Above all, I am thankful to Lord Balaji to have spent those brief personal moments with me, and to have gifted with me with a remarkable experience that I cherish and remember vividly even to this day.
We reached at about 11:00am, finished our religious ablutions before getting in line for the big moment. That was the worst part for me as I barely had the strength to stand for about 2 hours before the darshanam. As we inched closer to the main shrine, my anticipation grew steadily. As I stepped into the main alleyway that leads to the main shrine, I could feel a transformation in the surrounding atmosphere. Outside, a moment ago, it was so crowded, it felt so .... worldly.
I could see the wonderful Vigraha of Lord Balaji as we approached it. It was an "out-of-the-world" experience - completely divine and blissful. It felt as if something inside me leapt in joy as my mortal body approached the main shrine - as if it wanted to break out of my sick body, and yearn for communion. The flow of time had stopped. It felt as if a rain drop was fast approaching the vast ocean with an eager anticipation to merge within, after a long treacherous journey over many lifetimes. I could not take my eyes off the beautiful form of the Lord for the entire duration as I approached the Deity. I was shaken back into the mortal existence when the "ushers" accosted me out of the shrine area to keep the line moving. It felt like a lifetime of an eternal existence coming to an end. One cannot help turning back and taking a last view of the Lord in Vaikuntham before you step back into the world. I was sick, but my insides were leaping with joy now. It was indeed a very personal moment with the Lord in his Abode - a brief journey into Heaven. The entire darshanam would not have lasted more than 20 seconds, but it definitely felt more than that. And the memories that I carried back were priceless. I am very thankful to my parents who took me with them to experience this wonderful moment.
Above all, I am thankful to Lord Balaji to have spent those brief personal moments with me, and to have gifted with me with a remarkable experience that I cherish and remember vividly even to this day.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Sri Nrisimhapriya
I figured a good start for this blog would be to share with you all the importance of reading spiritual magazines and scriptures. Since I am a Hindu, Iyengar, my list will be biased towards my culture and "kalaachaaram". But I think it is a universal principle/guideline that applies to all serious religious aspirants from all religions. I personally subscribe to two very enlightening magazines: Sri Nrisimhapriya from Sri Ahobila Math, and Back To Godhead from Iskcon.
I must say that I find myself more elevated after reading Sri Nrisimhapriya. I am almost captivated by the wealth of spiritual information it has. I did not realize how addicted I was to this magazine until recently, when by some twist of divine destiny, I did not get the July and August issues of the magazine, until now. The other magazine Back To Godhead has some appealing articles, but is more on the lines of Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya, which is based on Sri Chaitanya's (who was a parallel of Sri Ramanujacharya in West Bengal region) teachings. Nevertheless, the underlying messages from these magazines are clear:
I must say that I find myself more elevated after reading Sri Nrisimhapriya. I am almost captivated by the wealth of spiritual information it has. I did not realize how addicted I was to this magazine until recently, when by some twist of divine destiny, I did not get the July and August issues of the magazine, until now. The other magazine Back To Godhead has some appealing articles, but is more on the lines of Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya, which is based on Sri Chaitanya's (who was a parallel of Sri Ramanujacharya in West Bengal region) teachings. Nevertheless, the underlying messages from these magazines are clear:
- There is no time to be wasted to start being inquisitive about our soul, and its realtionship to the Divine Absolute Truth.
- For modern times (a.k.a. Kaliyugam), Saranagati (a.k.a complete surrender) to the Lord is the only recourse for humanity.
- Continued hearing of Lord's message through various media like satsang, daily scripture study, spiritual magazines, and regular temple visits is very crucial to maintain a sustained state of surrender.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
To do or not to do !
For a long time, I have been planning to ink down some of my thoughts and clips from a lot of the spiritual books/magazines that I have been reading recently. Not that I am lazy or anything, but it never actually happened (its been 5 years since I have been "planning"). So finally one fine day (which also happens to be today), I heard about this wonderful new toy called "blogs" from my roommates, and "voila !", I said, "finally, a way to waste my time usefully online!".
I never thought it could come to this. I mean I waste so much time browsing the wonderful wonderland of internet, that I never thought I could get something useful out of this. So here goes, I finally repented my ways, and decided to
make some good use of my surfing skills ! Maybe the wave will fizz out, and I won't post anything anymore after this, like I did with my other blog. But this time, I have told myself to waste some useful time online, so there should be more to come (or maybe not ??).
I never thought it could come to this. I mean I waste so much time browsing the wonderful wonderland of internet, that I never thought I could get something useful out of this. So here goes, I finally repented my ways, and decided to
make some good use of my surfing skills ! Maybe the wave will fizz out, and I won't post anything anymore after this, like I did with my other blog. But this time, I have told myself to waste some useful time online, so there should be more to come (or maybe not ??).
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