Thinking about It

In the Shiva Purana, there comes a portion in which Lord Shiva had blessed some sincere and proficient, yet, temporarily distracted pandits with higher knowledge. What he taught is known as Upadesa Sara. In this life, because we have so many desires, talents and resources, we can pursue various paths. However, the text is the ultimate gift of guidance as we understand the main thing that we should...

What philosophy is the Vedas trying to teach? How should Hinduism be practiced? When will we get to hear the call of the Lord? When will our hearts be filled with so much devotion that true silence is experienced? Upadesa Sara, written by Ramana Maharshi, is a perfect and beautiful way to delve into such topics. In this first episode, snippets from Maharishi's life teach us that the Lord is, in ac...

Bhaja Govindam's last verse instructs that if nothing else is possible, hold on to the Guru. The Guru is one who has already journeyed and is beaming with bliss. Despite our essence being truth, we see confusions, limitations and challenges. So when they come into our lives, the light within us is brought out. Also, the spiritual journey is pathless and open land with infinite possibilities. The G...

To be able to distinguish between eternal and ephemeral is what is required in the seat of meditation. Viveka is used to find what's the difference between the changing and unchanging.  We need to hold on to what's unchanging through the process of meditation. Another tool of meditation is jappa that helps with the process of thinking about the higher. All the steps in Bhaja Govindam has been trai...

The way we live our life determines what kind of meditation we have, and the meditation we have determines what kind of life we live. There is a very strong link between our breath and state of mind. Lust, fear, excitement all cause us to breathe very fast. Pranayama helps us slow down our breath which immediately silences the mind.  It doesn't last, it's just step one. It's the perfect tool to in...

Money is very important and valuable. But our relationship with money can get very unhealthy. It's the one thing has the capability to get in between friendships, family, romance and every relationship.  We oddly need a little of it to know that it doesn't matter as much. But when we have more than that, we may forget.  We like it because it's so immediate. Money serves the purpose of instant grat...

Bhaja Govindam constantly reminds us how strong a hold our desires are. Desires are extremely hard to give up. We think we're enjoying our indulgences, but it actually ends up hurting us. Especially if we don't have discipline. The fine balance is very hard to maintain as well. It's like flipping a coin where one side is enjoyment and the other is suffering. We're actually holding on to suffering....

Swamini Supriyananda talks about the importance of charity. Charity is a beautiful way to open the heart. Money is very temporary. There's nothing that we have that we can claim is truly ours other than our mind. We're just trustees for everything else. It's our responsibility that we should give to others. It's a privilege given to us to share.

Today's session concludes the meditation challenge. Throughout this series, we have explored and indulged into the various meanings of this mantra: we have understood the practical meaning –which we can apply to our daily life, but we have further delved into the deeper, more reflective meanings that are needed in order for us to develop and grow spiritually in our meditation. Today, we focus on t...

Day 20 delves on a deeper level of understanding – one where we connect to the most sacred part of our being, and find divinity within us. Fundamentally, we all seek happiness in everything we do. This happiness we seek is one which never fades – it is everlasting. We have seen, that which never ends is Truth, the happiness we seek is the same as truth. Today's meditation places emphasise on being...

As we draw to a close on exploring this mantra, we truly glimpse the deepest secret it reveals, and the immense power this mantra values.  "Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya" - leads us to light. To meditate on this is to see the source of all light. The light that illumines every other thing. The light of consciousness which shines within our own minds.  Prepare yourself to delve on this highest meaning and...

The truth is that which always was, which is now and which will always be. From the line "Asto Ma Sagmaya", we learn that truth and existence go hand in hand, as that which never changes is existence. Things come and go but existence stays.  Whilst we notice the things that are existing, we tend to fail to notice the existence that allows it to be there.  From the changing, lead us to the changele...

Today, we re-explore the meaning of "from death to immortality". We existed before this body, and therefore, we will exist even after the body doesn't. The scriptures repeatedly inform us that we are born into a body, but we don't belong to it – for we are not bodies with a soul, we are souls with a body. In the seat of meditation, we silence our minds and detach from our mortal bodies to recogniz...

Welcome to Day 16, where we reflect on the line of: "Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya" – from darkness, lead us to light. From negativities, lead us to nobilities. At first glance, light is that in which we can see. But to go deeper means to signify light as our awareness of our surroundings.  Today, as we meditate, focus on increasing your abilities to see by paying more attention, by being more aware. Whe...

The more we understand the mantra, the deeper we may dive into it and the more potent the silent of meditation we embody. "Asto Ma Sagmaya". From untruth lead us to truth. We start with ourselves – to see ourselves accurately and then look out into the world more objectively. We often see things clouded by our likes and dislikes and adapt to our surroundings based on these judgements. The truth is...

"Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya" explains that we view death as an end, and so we are bound by the limited time we have on this earth. On the one hand, we occasionally are stuck in contemplation where we feel as though we don't have enough time to get things done. But on the other hand, we also feel that time is moving far too slow – that we have too much of it and we don't know what to do with it. Use...

Day 13 further explores the meaning of light. We previously established that "light" carries meanings of knowledge and fearlessness. Today, we place specific focus on the meaning of goodness.   Darkness is often associated with negative traits in our personality born out of ignorance and selfishness. But our good qualities take us into light – they bring light into both our hearts, and into the li...

After seeing and mastering the literal meaning of the mantra, we must now go beyond this first step, in order to truly be one with its value. "Asto Ma Sagmaya". From untruth lead us to truth. Going deeper, we question: how honest really are we with ourselves? The quieter the mind, the more easily we can see our reaction, and the more clearly, we see how and why the mind is working the way it is. ...

From death lead us to immortality.  We've seen death as an end, but now, we may take this further and really question what the "end" is?  We learn that nothing really ends, it just changes into something else, it transforms. Therefore, death is not an end – it is just a concluding of one phase and the beginning of another. It means we continue – our souls continue. The constant changing bring upon...

Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya: from darkness lead us to light, from ignorance take us to knowledge. When there is darkness, it is very natural to feel fear. Since we cannot see, there is more uncertainty – this is the unknown that often induces such dreads.  Using this session, meditate with the aim of banishing away this fear caused by ignorance and darkness.  With courage, conquer all these fears and u...

Today we revisit the first line of this powerful, mantra, "Asto Ma Sagmaya - from untruth lead us to truth". Truth is when we live up to our convictions. But to take it one step further, it signifies our speech being a result of our thoughts, and so to complete this cycle, the truth is when we are in complete alignment in thought, word and deed. Meditate to see a noble thought become a powerful sp...

The mantra acts as a calling for us to make our lives more meaningful.  "Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya - from death lead us to immortality", acts as a strong reminder that our lives are short and limited. Our inevitable death makes the time of our lives so much more precious that we learn to prioritize on what is truly important. Each and every day presents an opportunity to do so, therefore one should...

Day 7 reflects on "Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya": from darkness lead us to light. Light represents knowledge whilst darkness represents ignorance, therefore this line can be advanced to mean: "from ignorance lead us to knowledge".  Knowledge is power and is empowering. Through meditation, we can turn inwards and we can gain insight into how our mind works and how it controls us. We can discover our thou...

Delve into this shanti mantra that brings peace and freedom: "Asto Ma Sagmaya" - From untruth lead us to truth. The truth extends beyond its simple meaning of being "factual". It extends into the future – to act in accordance of what was said, so what is said in the present remains true in the future. We are not only speaking the truth, but by our conduct we create the truth. This mantra reminds a...

This session focuses on "Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya", from death lead us to immortality. The Bhagavad Gita affirms that whatever has a beginning must have an end. There are multiple beginnings in our lives, and so, subsequently, there must be multiple ends. This occurs when we reach a limit – a point where we cannot go further. That is our end. This line potently provides the meaning of being able t...