Iyya

I was travelling with a professor of comparative religions. I asked him for percentages of different religious groups in the United States. He asked do you want published figures or real figures of those who practice these religions sincerely. These two figures are very different, he said. When I studied statistics at least 25% of all Americans have practised one form of yoga or another. At least 10% practice regularly.
Edison discovered light. Once discovered it belonged to the whole world. Patanjali, an Indian sage who lived thousands of years ago, discovered the truth of inner light and made it available to the whole world. There was no copyright fortunately. Patanjali is great because he did not create an organisation. Once an organisation is created truth is cremated. A real rose is beautiful and God given. A plastic rose is not. The difference between truth and organised religion is the same as between a real rose and plastic roses.
Another great Master J Krishnamurthy said after creating his organisation that the organisation has only the right to publish his teaching and writings, but not to comment upon them. If Krishna and Jesus meet they will hug each other; but Krishna’s cows and Jesus’ goats will bicker and fight with each other. Masters are truth, followers are corrupt. Organisations and followers create complications so as to exploit people, to control people.
Patanjali says when my teachings are no longer true, this book will die; let it live as long as it is the ultimate truth. I want only truth to survive. If I create an organisation, my followers will try for the survival of the organisation not the truth. If Krishna and Buddha descend today their temples will not welcome them; it will disturb their vested interests.
This openness is what makes me call Patanjali a saintist, a saint and a scientist, a mystic and scientist combined in one. He created this book to understand how to reach the ultimate truth and then is ready to stand by and let his book be replaced if some one else comes up with a greater truth. We still cannot add a single word to enhance his sayings. Only a person who is so confident can be so open. It is like a money-back guarantee, which is possible only if you have absolute confidence in yourself and what you believe in and say.

Source: The Economic Times

Anyone who has taken high school science classes knows that human beings are made of chemicals and that the study of those chemicals and the structures in which they are configured is called biology. Everything that happens in the brain has chemical manifestations and sources. If you close your eyes and think hard about polar bears, that has a chemical effect on your brain. When you remember some episode from your past, you do so through the complex chemistry of memory. Childhood trauma and subsequent difficulty can alter brain chemistry. Thousands of chemical reactions are involved in deciding to read this book, picking it up with your hands, looking at the shapes of the letters on the page, extracting meaning from those shapes, and having intellectual and emotional responses to what they convey.
If time lets you cycle out of a depression and feel better, the chemical changes are no less particular and complex than the ones that are brought about by taking antidepressants. The external determines the internal as much as the internal invents the external. What is so unattractive is the idea that in addition to all other lines being blurred, the boundaries of what makes us ourselves are blurry. There is no essential self that lies pure as a vein of gold under the chaos of experience and chemistry. We must understand the human organism as a sequence of selves that succumb to or choose one another.
Andrew Solomon

Source: The Economic Times

Iyya Comments:
idhu romba mukiyam inga, indha lines paarunga

We must understand the human organism as a sequence of selves that succumb to or choose one another.

ellamae chemical reaction thaan, namma ippo edho nenaikarom, adhukku theviayanadhu correcta varudhu illa.
Aiyaa gave one tamil article entitled “வயதாகிறதே என்ற கவலை இனி வேண்டாம்”.
கவலை இனி வேண்டாம் - idhu irundhalae podhum appuram epdinga vayadhaagum?

That article goes like - We are now living in the world of genes, where we can identify which gene is responsible for what disease, replace that and cure that disease. scientists are now researching on which gene is responsible for death, once that is known, one can live always. Earlier sithars and azhwaars used to live of 5000 years. Looks like that will become possible now.

Iyya Comments:
Aiyaa had written the last lines of the english article in this tamil article.
pala genes illeenga, ellamae onnu la irundhu vandhathu thaan. velicham onnu thaan.
azhwarkal ellam epdi avlo naal irundhaanga, avanga kadavula mattum thaan nenaichaanga, vear ehduvum illa. kadavul ulla irrukaradhu thaan uyir. avara pogaama paathutta eppomae irrukalam.

maththavanga sollradhu ellam nambaadheenga, ungallukku ulla paarunga, uyriukku enna venumo adhu ulla irrukku, adhu ennanga? anbu, adhaan anbae sivamnu sollraangilla…

The Upanishads are the most important scriptural source for a spiritual aspirant embarking on a study of Vedanta. But, the prerequisites for undertaking Vedantic study are quite stringent; hence it is difficult for the majority of seekers. Why do the Upanishads deter even the ardent aspirant? The reason is the emphasis on meditation on the formless Absolute for attaining spiritual knowledge, which dispels ignorance — the cause of bondage. Will worship of God in His aspect of manifold form then not result in spiritual knowledge, which leads to liberation?

In his discourse, Sri Goda Venketeswara Sastri said after Lord Krishna graced Arjuna with the vision of His cosmic form while teaching Him the truth on the battlefield (the Bhagavad Gita), he also raised a similar doubt. Arjuna asked, “There are Your ever-steadfast devotees who love and worship You as the Divine Person; there are again others who contemplate on You as the Imperishable Absolute — which of these has a greater understanding of Yoga?” Contrary to the teaching of the Upanishads, the Lord replied, “I consider them to be the best Yogis, who endowed with supreme faith, and ever united through meditation with Me, worship Me with the mind centred on Me.” In this context in the Gita He has thus spoken highly of adoration of God with form.

This must thus be seen from the perspective of the person to whom these teachings are intended. Vedanta (the Upanishads) certainly is only for one who has developed detachment to the world. But, not all will have the necessary dispassion as long as identification with the body continues to exist. It is commonly said that a person comes to the fold of Vedanta only after hundreds of births. Hence it must be the culmination of the spiritual practices that the individual has performed in countless births.

Considering how difficult it is to reach this level and the strain involved in pursuing it till Self-realisation results, Lord Krishna taught that He could be worshipped in form, which is relatively easier for a devotee. The same end (liberation) that a man of wisdom (Jnani) attains by meditation taught in the Upanishads is thus granted by the Lord to one who worships Him; God thus overlooks the aspirant’s shortcomings by taking into consideration his devotion and steadfast faith in Him.

Source: The Hindu
dated Apr 25, 2006

Iyya Comments:
booka padichaalum, evlo janmam edhuthaalum idhellam varaadhu, avara nenaicha mattum podhum…
namma ellam expreience panni sollrom. unga kailaiyae vendiya saktji irukku, adhu ellathaiyum seri pannidum. ungallukku enna venumo adhu ungallukku ulla thaan irrukku…

Yoga, which has become popular the world over, has somehow become synonymous with asana, the postures for exercising the body. While these are vital, it is to be understood that asana is only one of the eight stages (ashtanga), enumerated by sage Patanjali in his Yogasutra (2,29). In fact, asana is the third of these stages, preceded by yama (self restraint) and niyama (observations and rules), enumerated respectively in sutra 30 and sutra 32. These, therefore constitute the basic postulates, the following of which is necessary before further progress is possible through the other six stages.
The listed yama are ahimsa (non injury), satya (truthfulness), astheya (honesty), brahmacharya (continence) and aparigraha (not being greedy). Ahimsa also presupposes elimination of injurious thoughts and finds expression in the Bible, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mathew, 5,44).
Satya (truthfulness) also involves the search for that truth whereby one would divine God’s ways and comprehend beauty and harmony all over — the concept of John Keats, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” (Ode On a Grecian Urn). Astheya, brahmacharya and aparigraha are also verily the manifestations of a truthful life, regulated by positive thoughts.
The five Niyama (2,32) are shaucha (cleanliness), santosha (happiness/contentment), tapah (austerity), svadhyaya (self study) and iswarapranidhanam (surrender to or worship of God). Cleanliness of body and surroundings is also a vital aspect in selfdiscipline, as are santosha and tapah. Such control is the means of sublimating those basic instincts of man, which though potentially powerful, can also take him to ruin. While the Bible (James, 1,12) declares “blessed is the man that endureth temptation”, Milton observes that the command of one’s self is the greatest empire one can aspire for. Kural, the Tamil classic of Valluvar affirms that effective self-control places one among Gods. (Kural, 121). Svadhyaya is the sure means to realisation of one’s potential.
Finally, the aspirant has to obtain supreme humility in the knowledge that whatever be his strengths, divine sanction is needed for real progress. Indeed, this humility is obtained through surrender to divinity, iswarapranidhanam, in the conviction, “Man proposes, God disposes”!

Source: The Economic Times

Iyya Comments:

Iyya has written the 121 kural:
அடக்கம் அமரருள் உய்க்கும் அடங்காமை
ஆரிருள் உய்த்து விடும்.

aamanga correcta ezhudirukaaru. yama, niyama thaan first.
amaidhiya irundha thaana kadvulai ninaikka mudiyum, so first amidhikku varanum…

“Man proposes, God disposes” - aama neenga nenaikaradhai thaana avar panraar, avar thaana panna mudiyum, ulla avar thaana irrukaar, naan panrennu solli thaan naasam panraanga, avanaiyum keduthu aduthavanaiyum kedukaraan…

idhu thaan innaikku ‘Hindu Article’yum correcta vandhirukku…
romba correcta ez

கொக்கொக்க கூம்பும் பருவத்து மற்றதன்
குத்தொக்க சீர்த்த இடத்து.

nenachadhu udane nadakaadhunga, adhukku kalam varanum, aana kalam varumbodhu adhai mudikka thayaraga irrukannum…

It’s weird and yet it has become normal. Whatever moves faster is better. Communication is at the speed of light. The world is a global village. Electronic mails have to be responded to within the hour. We all are always in a tearing hurry. Doing what?
We are all driven by greed and fear. Greed tells us that there is no time to lose. Fear tells us that we are going to lose. So we hurry not knowing what we are going to lose, not knowing what its value is.
We run because we are afraid to stop; afraid to stop and reflect on what we are doing and why. We are afraid to be with ourselves. To be silent can be terrifying as it makes one vulnerable to oneself.
A young man came to see me.
He said: Swamiji, I have everything sorted out. I am building a house with a 25-year loan. By that time my daughter (a two-year-old holding his hand) will be ready for marriage. My son (an infant that his wife is carrying) will be in a good job. The house would be very valuable and we can get a lot of money by selling it. We will invest most of it and settle down with you at the Ashram.
He had finished off 25 years of his life in just ten minutes. He still feels that his calling is spiritual. Is mortgaging the present for the future spiritual?
This constant running is a reflection of our inner restlessness. We certainly feel we have missed out on life. Has the running been worth it? This is the fastest route to suffering, the expressway.
There is good reason to plan for tomorrow, it’s important. However, let’s not forget to live today!
We take ourselves too seriously. What we do in our lifetime hardly matters in the bigger picture. It is lost in the vast expanse of the universe.
Things go on silently in the universe; so peacefully without any contradictions; millions of solar systems function with such beauty! Things happen in nature in spite of us not because of us.
When we realise this we relax into ourselves. We feel centred in our being. There is a deep sense of trust and peace that envelops our being. When this happens, we will not find the need to hurry through our lives.

Source: The Economic Times

Iyya Comments:
idhu thaanga unmai, idhai nalla purinjukonga…

kovapadaravan modhala thannai azhichukaran, appuram thaan adhai mathavangallukku kodukaraan. modhalai andha kovathunala vara kettadhai avan ethuttu thaan adhuthavanukku koduka paakaraan. aanal idhanala adhuthavanuku onnum aagadhu…
idhaithaan, “Pirarkkinna murpagal seiyyin thamakkinna pirpagal thaamey varum”

துப்பார்க்குத் துப்பாய துப்பாக்கித் துப்பார்க்குத்
துப்பாய தூஉம் மழை.

The Brahmavaivarta Purana and certain other narrations conceive of the story of Savitri, who had married Satyavan, though she had known that, as per astrological predictions, he was destined to die young. Reposing full confidence in the power of her chastity and love which bound her to Satyavan, she recited regularly an invocation (mantra), taught to her by Anusuya, the wife of the great sage, Atri.
On Satyavan’s death on the predicted day, Savitri pleaded with the god of death, Yamaraja, who she was able to see through her power of chastity, (pativrata shakti), to restore her husband to life. Yamaraja noted that, as Satyavan’s time had come, he could do nothing. However, impressed with her persistence and devotion, he offered her any other boon. Savitri promptly demanded that she be blessed with children. Instinctively, Yamaraja granted the boon and was embarrassed when Savitri pointed out that it was impossible for this boon to fructify in the absence of her husband, to whom alone she was bound as wife through her vow of chastity (pativratadharma). Yamaraja, overcome with emotions of admiration, helplessness and respect, restored Satyavan to life, uniting the couple to long years of conjugal bliss.
The above is an indication of the promise inherent in a Tamil saying, vidhiyai mathiyaal vella mudiyum, meaning that one can win over even fate by intelligence. The Hindu belief that fate is all powerful as it is shaped by one’s past actions (karma) has also to be read with the declaration in Bhagawad Gita that the supreme glow of powerful intelligence can burn away and thus preempt the impact of all karma (4,19 and 4,37). In a similar manner, Patanjali, in his Yoga sutras observes that suffering which would otherwise visit one, can be avoided (2,16).
Practical illustrations abound in actual life on the working of the concepts as above. Intelligent planning, business re-engineering and relaying the system can turn around even a sick company (which would otherwise have closed down) into a profit making venture. Even a building with vital faults in design and construction, can become a strong edifice through the needed and proper architectural alterations.
Herein indeed lies the difference between fatalists and those who mould even their destinies through the power of persistence and intelligence!

Source: The Economic Times

Iyya Comments:
paarunga avanga endha thappum pannanalai, romba pure aanavanga. ivar paarunga yosikama oru boon kuduthu yemaandhu poraar…

Association with the evil-minded is capable of changing the basic goodness of people and downgrading a person’s integrity. Such a dangerous influence can even get one’s priorities messed up as it happened in the Ramayana, when Kaikeyi met Manthara. The drastic change in the course of events that followed in the wake of this association illustrates the fact that evil consequences have immediate impact, said Srimathi Jaya Srinivasan in a lecture.

The poisoning effect of Manthara’s company was such that there was a total transformation in Kaikeyi within a very brief period. She, who had special love for Lord Rama and had expressed such genuine joy at His forthcoming coronation, was now just the opposite. Manthara had turned Kaikeyi against Lord Rama to such an extent that she stood relentless and unyielding to any pressure from anyone as far as the two boons she demanded of Dasaratha were concerned.

A series of thoughts passed through Dasaratha’s mind. He was aware of the ignominy that he would incur either way in this impasse. If he granted the boons, he would be accused of banishing his eldest son and heir apparent to the forest and of showing partiality to his second born. If he refused to grant the boons, he would be blamed for failing to keep his word, a trait that great kings took utmost care to cultivate and uphold.

Dasaratha’s state was a pitiable one. Kaikeyi’s two boons left Dasaratha visibly shaken. This highly esteemed ruler, whose fame and greatness had spread far and wide, now had to stoop at Kaikeyi’s feet pleading with her to relax the intensity of the demands.

When she even threatened to give up her life if Dasaratha sought any relaxation in them, he guessed the imminent and the inevitable that would happen. He would not survive separation from Lord Rama.

Therefore scriptures caution against evil company and recommend the association with the pious (Satsangh). The grace of God is necessary for the spiritual aspirant to seek Satsangh that provides a chance for self-introspection. This leads to Viveka (discrimination) and Vairagya (dispassion) that help one to focus on the eternal and the everlasting rather than the transient and the ephemeral.

ஒன்பது வாயில் ஒரு மந்திரத்தால்
ஐம்புலக் கதவை அடைப்பதுங் காட்டி
ஆரா தாரத் தங்குச நிலையும்
பேறா நிறுத்திப்பேச்சுரை அறுத்தே
இடையிங் கலையில் எழுத்தறிவித்துக்
கடையிற் கழுமுனைக் கபாலமுங் காட்டி
மூன்று மண்டலத்தின் முட்டிய தூணின்
நான்றெழு பாம்பின் நாவிலுணர்த்திக்
குண்டலி யதனிற்கூடிய அசைபை
விண்டெழுமந்திரம் வெளிப்பட உரைத்து
மூலா தாரத்தின் மூண்டெழு கனலைக்
காலாலெழுப்புங் கருத்தறிவித்தே

Idhu avvaiyaar vinayagar kitta paadinadhu. epdi sakthiyai keela irundhu sahasrarathukku konda poradhunnu. idhellam kadavul thaana kudukka mudiyum? idhu padicha yaarukku puriyum?
ulla amaidhi irundhu padikkumbodhu adhaagavae aagi padicha puriyum.

idhai thaan naan simple a, kaathai gavinga, amdihikku vaangannu sollraen….

மனத்தொடு வாய்மை மொழியின் தவத்தொடு
தானஞ்செய் வாரின் தலை.

unmai pesaradhu thavam seiyaravida uyarndhadhunga…

Iyya spoke abt astral body- inga irrupom (physicala), aana thirupathi/palani poittu varanumna varalaam….