Mode of Goodness: September 2020

Friday, September 11, 2020

PHASES of THE MOON & OUR LIVES:

SB 11.7.48 -- The various phases of one’s material life, beginning with birth and culminating in death, are all properties of the body and do not affect the soul, just as the apparent waxing and waning of the moon does not affect the moon itself. Such changes are enforced by the imperceptible movements of time. Vedabase.io

Purport:

The body undergoes six changes: birth, growth, maintenance, production of by-products, dwindling and death. Similarly, the moon appears to grow, diminish and finally disappear. Since moonlight is a lunar reflection of sunlight, it is understood that the moon itself does not grow or diminish; rather, we perceive the reflection of the moon in various phases. Similarly, the eternal soul is not born, nor does it die, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (2.20): na jāyate mriyate vā kadācit. We perceive the reflection of the soul in the form of the gross material body and the subtle mind, which undergo various material changes. Vedabase.io SB 11.7.48

In every birth-death cycle, there are lots of studies, struggles, work, excitement, sadness ☹️, fun, LOL 😂.....many up & down moments like a six flags ride....in our lives. The upward evolution (not a downward... LOL 😂) of our consciousness towards the Mode of Goodness meaning our spiritual development is a sign of a successful journey irrespective of the happiness, sadness, power, wealth, degree, position & fame we acquire in every cycle.The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness.

Here God says in Gita:

TEXT 22: Bg 2.22: As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. Vedabase.io

Bg 3.38: As ﬁre is covered by smoke, a mirror is covered by dust and the embryo is covered by the womb similarly the living entity is covered by different degrees of consciousness.

TEXT 6: Bg 14.6: O sinless one, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode become conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge.

TEXT 10: Bg 15.10: The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this.

With respect to everyone’s values & beliefs, whichever GUIDELINES ( Bible, Quran, Torah, Tripitaka-Buddhism, Agama-Jainism, Guru Granth Sahib-Sikhism, Gita or any other...) METHODS or WAYS work for us are all good.

THANK YOU.

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MY SPIRITUAL INSPIRATION , SOURCE & THE GURUS:

I am inspired to hear & read the Vedic Scriptures by regularly listening to Sri Pandurang Shashtri Athvale, also known as Dadaji ( speaks on Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Veda based discourses & western philosophy ) and the association of Swadhyay Parivar every Sunday in Swadhya Kendra.

I also hear and read the discourses & literature on Vedic thoughts from Srila Prabhupada, his disciples & grand disciples ( HH Bhakti Rasamitra Swami, HH Chaitanya Charandas Prabhu, Shubha Vilas Prabhu, Vraja Vihari Dasa, Sutapa Das, Amarnath Dasa, HH Bhakticharu Swami, HH Urmila Devi Dasi, HH Sivarama Swami, HH Radhanath Swami, HH Romapada Swami, Lal Govind Prabhu (Gujarati & Hindi), Prahalad Maharaj in Surat (Gujarati) .......and many more from ISKCON......).

FYI: A good source of Vedic literature: Vedabase.com Srimad Bhagavad Gita is the essence & Srimad Bhagavatam (SB) is the nectar of all Vedic scriptures. Repeatedly hearing/reading & meditating the Scriptures, Eating Sanctified Pure Food and Chanting or Hearing the Vedic Mantras are nourishing to our heart (Soul), transcendental to our consciousness, purifying to our senses and thus helps us to overcome our weaknesses or deficiencies. Yes, we do have good qualities within us but there is always a room for improvement.

It is always a good idea to share our good thoughts & knowledge with others. Thanks to the Facebook & Social media for providing me the platform. Of course I use Smartphone & Google search to collect some data.

Besides my parents, wife, teachers, family & friends GREATFUL to EVERYONE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED in MY LIFE. Hopefully my enthusiasm will continue by Grace of the Guru & God (Krishna , Absolute Truth).

NOTE:

Many times a word Hearing is used instead of Listening when it comes to the Scriptures. Because Scriptures are so potent that simply by Hearing them even if you don’t try to interpret or analyze or understand them still there will be passive positive effects on our mind & senses.

We can follow either the Quran, Bible,Torah, Tripitaka-Buddhism, Agama-Jainism, Guru Granth Sahib-Sikhism, Gita or any other Philosophy which makes sense to us, purifies us, elevates our consciousness and qualifies us to understand God and instill the love of God & his creation. (whichever way we can understand God -- either Personal with many names or Impersonal as an universal consciousness & energy).

Don’t try to understand God by Name, Religion or Depiction (means image, picture...etc) but try to understand him by the Definition through Scriptures. The Transcendental subject of God & his creation cannot be understood by mental speculation. Some times people ask why God is Supreme? It is just like asking why is the circle circular? Just by definition, the circle is circular. Similarly by definition, God is unborn, complete, unlimited, infinite, eternal, the Absolute Truth the source of everything, cause of all causes.

I see God, besides the above mentioned qualities, as an eternal living person (not a abstract or some kind of light) known by the name KRISHNA meaning one who attracts everyone has also MANY other NAMES, forms, abodes, incarnations, activities, qualities, associates, is full of wisdom, bliss, and the cause of all causes.

Here Lord says in Gita

Bg 9.17 -- I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the puriﬁer and the syllable oṁ. I am also the Ṛg, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.

TEXT 18: Gita 9.18: I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed.

Bg:13-12:-- Accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth ( God ) – all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance. ( Vedabase.com ).

Saturday, September 5, 2020

WISDOM OF TOLERANCE:

(The original article is written by Chaitanya Charandas Prabhu Title--Tolerating Phases of Bad Fortune https://iskconnews.org/tolerating-phases-of-bad-fortune,6338/ modified a little bit, by less then 3%.... LOL 😂).

Sometimes we have experienced ourselves or seen that our family, friends...our loved ones are going through worse times of their lives. Things keep going wrong one after another. To navigate such phases, or even to just survive them, we need lots of patience and tolerance. Intolerance keeps us agitated, rushing from one apparent solution to another.

Does this mean that we fatalistically do nothing to solve problems? No not at all, even during ancient time in Vedic tradition for example it didn’t say the sick person to just live with their pain; it treated them with a sophisticated branch of medical knowledge, Ayurveda. Unfortunately, our capacity to tolerate distress is eroded by modern thought. Modern society-thoughts operate on ideology of self-determination with thinking that we alone are the makers of our destiny (time, place & circumstances....situation like COVID-19 also have impact on our destiny).

By our intelligence and efforts, we can get rid off everything undesirable and attain everything desirable. The notion that we are the controllers of our life is so central to our worldview that we define our success and self-worth in terms of our capacity to mold the circumstances & situation always in our favor. Given such self-conceptions, uncontrollable situations don’t just frustrate us – they shatter us. No wonder mental health problems have risen with the spread of modernity. If we wish to respond to difficulties intelligently, not impulsively, we need to change our beliefs about controllership.

Gita wisdom offers a better understanding of our position and purpose in the cosmic hierarchy of things. The Bhagavad-gita (15.07) states that we are eternal souls parts of the supreme being God. He is the supreme controller and we being his parts are partial controllers. Wisdom of Spiritual knowledge prepare us mentally to develop tolerance & patience during difficult times of our life.

Tolerating distress doesn’t mean that we become totally passive; it means that we act first for spiritual elevation not material rectification. The Gita (18.58) urges us to take shelter of the process of Spiritual Yoga ( Bhakti Yoga ) which raises our consciousness above the material level of reality to the spiritual level. Spiritual yoga will elevate wisdom of love & tolerance in us to face any intolerable situation.

Here God says in Gita:

TEXT 14: Bg 2.14: O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed. Vedabase.io

Bg 15.7 -- The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

Bg 18.58 -- If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost. Vedabase.io

Let’s have a lot of Wisdom, Tolerance & some LOL moments 😂.....

It is easy to say, but difficult to follow. I am in the same boat with everyone else, or I may even be behind, but thinking in the right direction will help us to go in the right direction.