You R Responsible.....

Hi,

I have been thinking how we sometimes blame other people for our moods etc. But on the contrary if you decide YOU are responsible for all your moods, for all your actions, in the beginning depression will take over. But IF you can pass through that depression, soon you will feel light because now you are freed from the other, now you can move on your own. You can be free, you can be happy. Even if the whole world is unhappy and unfree it makes no difference. Otherwise, how is a Buddha possible? The whole world is the same. It is just the same as it is for you, but a person who has realized the above fact goes on dancing and singing; he is freed.

And the 1^st freedom is to stop throwing responsibility on the other; the 1^st freedom is to know that you are responsible for action as well as in-action. One of my friend called me and said that people misuse him and take unfair advantage of him, he says some of his friends are selfish and misuse his kindness. I told him that if people are trying to use you, God has given you intellect to decide what do and when to say NO. Be nice to people but don’t be naïve. Using people is their karma getting used or not is your free will.

Responsibly Yours,

….Anu

Navratri --- Time for cleansing and rejuvenation

Here is an article where Sri Sri explains the meaning and significance of navratri.....


The festival of Navratri is celebrated with prayers and gaiety in the beginning of the Ashwin (autumn) and the beginning of Chatira (spring). This period is a time for self-referral and getting back to the source. During this time of transformation, Nature sheds the old and gets rejuvenated; animals hibernate and life emerges back afresh in the spring.


According to Vedic science, matter reverts back to its original form to recreate itself again and again. The creation is cyclical, not linear; everything is recycled by nature- a continuous process of rejuvenation. The human mind, however, lags behind in this routine cycle of creation. Navratri is a festival for one to take the mind back to its source.


The seeker gets back to the true source through fasting, prayer, silence and meditation. Night is also called ratri because it brings rejuvenation. It gives relief at the three levels of our existence — physical, subtle and causal. While fasting detoxifies the body, silence purifies the speech and brings rest to the chattering mind, and meditation takes one deep into one’s own being.


The inward journey nullifies our negative karmas. Navaratri is a celebration of the spirit or prana which alone can destroy mahsihsasura (inertia), shumbha-nishumbha (pride and shame) and madhu-kaitabh (extreme forms of craving and aversion). They are completely opposites, yet complementary. Inertia, deeply ingrained negativities and obsessions (raktabeejasura), unreasonable logics (chanda-munda) and blurred vision (dhoomralochan) can be overcome only by raising the level of prana and shakti, the life-force energy.


The nine days of Navratri are also an opportunity to rejoice in the three primordial qualities that make up the universe. Though our life is governed by the three gunas, we seldom recognize and reflect on them. The first three days of Navaratri are attributed to tamo guna, the second three to rajo, guna and the last three to sattva guna. Our consciousness sails through the tamo and rajo, gunas and blossoms in the satva guna of the last three days. Whenever sattva dominates in life, victory follows. The essence of this knowledge is honoured by celebrating the tenth day as Vijaydashmi.


The three primordial gunas are considered as the feminine force of our magnificent universe. By worshiping the Mother Divine during Navaratri, we harmonise the three gunas and elevate sattva in the atmosphere.


Though Navratri is celebrated as the victory of good over evil, the actual fight is not between good and evil. From the Vedantic point of view, the victory is of the absolute reality over the apparent duality. In the words of Ashtavakra, it is the poor wave which tries to keep its identity separate from the ocean, but to no avail.


Though the microcosm is very well within the macrocosm, its perceived separateness is the cause of conflict. For a gyani (wise), the entire creation becomes alive and he recognizes life in everything in the same way children see life in everything. The Mother Divine or the pure consciousness itself pervades all the forms and has all the names. Recognizing the one divinity in every form and every name is the celebration of Navratri. Hence, special pujas honouring all aspects of life and nature are performed during the last three days.


Kali is the most horrific manifestation of Nature. Nature symbolizes beauty, yet it has a horrific form. Acknowledging the duality brings a total acceptance in the mind and puts the mind at ease.

The Mother Divine is recognised not just as the brilliance of intellect (buddhi), but also the confusion (bhranti); she is not just abundance (lakshmi), she is also hunger (shudha) and thirst (trishna). Realising this aspect of the Mother Divine in the entire creation leads one to a deep state of Samadhi. This gives an answer to the age-old theological struggle of the Occident. Through wisdom, devotion and nishkama karma, one can attain advaita siddhi or perfection in the non-dual consciousness.


P.S: Don't you all think how easily Sri Sri (Guruji), explains the spiritual meaning of traditions in such a nice way......


Happy Navratri....

Activities Fair @ Columbia University

Hi,
Today we had the annual activities fair on campus, where all the clubs come together; set up tables to advertise and interact with students. We too had our table and it was a big hit. We served fresh fruits, candies and cookies to the students and also told them what exactly we do on campus. It was very windy outside and the flower vase we had on the table fell with all the water spilling on table, this somehow created a chaotic situation for a little while. But that is what art of living is all about to be unperturbed even in chaos.

How to make PANEER - INDIAN COTTAGE CHEESE

As a student in U.S, paneer (a kind of Indian Cheese) is not available in grocery stores. Here is a very easy protocol to make delicious paneer at home and then cook whatever u want with it.

1. Take half gallon of Stoniefiled Organic Whole milk. I like whole milk as the paneer comes out very nice, I have no idea what happens with reduced fat milk.

Ingredients

2. Empty the milk in a container and bring the milk to a boil, make sure u keep stirring it frequently as it may get stuck to the bottom of the pan, this will spoil the taste.

Milk Boiling

3. When the milk comes to a boil, slowly start adding white vinegar so that the milk curdles. Keep stirring it slowly. For 1/2 gallon 2 - 3 table spoon shld be enough. Do not add too much as it will make the paneer sour. The way I do it, is Iadd a little bit and stir the milk and see if panner comes out. if not add more.

4. After 1 or 2 min you will see the milk curdles and the paneer and water separate. Use a strainer to get rid of excess water. It will take around 1 hr to get rid of the water. Let the paneer be in the strainer for the whole time.

Curdled Paneer

5. Paneer is ready. This fresh paneer will be very fresh so it may break easily. What I do is if I have to cook paneer in the evening. I make it in afternoon or a night before and refrigerate it. So it is hard and easy to cut in cubes.

Paneer is ready

P.S : Shape the paneer --- Take the paneer out from strainer and wrap it in a muslin/cheese cloth. Put something heavy and flat on top of the paneer. I usually fill a cooker with water and use it as a weight. You can leave the weight overnight or 5 - 6 hrs. Once done you can make cubes out of it.

NOTE: The water you get from straining, is a good hair conditioner; so do not throw it. Once it cools down you can use it to wash hair.....

Time - One of the non renewable resources....

A wise man Christine Warren, once said -

Time I have only just a minute. Only sixty seconds in it. Forced upon me, can't refuse it. Didn't seek it, didn't choose it. But it's up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it. Give account if I abuse it, Just a tiny little minute but eternity is in it.

But are we aware how we use our time ? One thing nature made sure was; each one of us on the planet will be given 24 hrs a day, not a second more or less. From the Head of a state to a peon all have the same amount of time for work. And a lot of times when people ask you to do something and the 1st reply we give is "I don't have time". Now think on this carefully, you don't have time or you don't want to make time ? We waste so much of this precious resource on useless issues (browsing internet, facebook, orkut, gossip, thinking too much etc etc). In fact a person who can manage his time can find the time to do everything in life. Having said that I agree it is not that easy, as old tendencies are hard to overcome. But the 1st step to get over a bad is habit is to acknowledge it. Then comes the 2nd step of how to get rid of it. In school days, time use to come at premium, not any more..-:(. 70 - 80 years of life is too short to waste in useless things my friends, so come on wake up and shake up and leave all those judgments, prejudices, and enmity behind. Else you can keep on dragging life and see it as a burden or you can just realize the truth that one day every one has to die so why waste time in getting angry and fighting with people. Why not dance, why not love, why not celebrate, sing and laugh!!!! Just think back and see at your own life, how quickly 20 - 25 yrs have passed, and the rest 50 - 60 yrs will fly away. You know in the Indian scriptures it is said that one of the most difficult things to get is a human life, as the human consciousness has the capacity to reach the zenith. Not possible with any other living form. So in short if we realize just 2 things:

1. One day everyone has to DIE.
2. This human life, right now, is a GIFT.

Then all the distractions the mind has, go away and we see life in a more dynamic form. And meditation is nothing but just a dynamic expression of life.....

So lets be aware of each and every moment and not let these beautiful 70/80/90 years just slip by...-:).

Till then, Lots of love,
Anu

Wasting a lot of time......

Last few weeks I have been very irregular on blog, and in life as I had a couple of issues.
1st I had a severe neck ache, may be due to excessive traveling, odd sleep hrs and sleeping wherever (on the floor, in a bus, on the couch etc etc) I want to. The body is intelligent to signal in its own way, when you mess with it -:).
2nd one of my old collaborators has left to France forever, so that was jolt for me. As I used to work closely with him on the bio side of my experiments, now I am left all by myself -:(.
3rd somehow I felt a sudden loss of energy for the past 2 weeks or so and I have no explanation and excuse for it. Perhaps I have to step up my sadhana and be more disciplined.

I have to remind myself again and again that time is flying away and we should know how to use it to fullest.

But the good part was I developed some cool recipes (Indian, Chinese food), which I will post pretty soon.

Till then
Make use of ur time and Enjoy
..am

Eye Opening Incidence of my LIFE.....

This happened in India. During my freshman year I was traveling with my family for a wedding in Udaipur, Rajasthan. We decided to take a break and get something to eat. We stopped the car at a rest area and each one of us took things to eat like Namkeens (Salted Snacks), tea, coffee, some chips etc. My younger brother was very hungry so he took more than he could finish. After about half hour when we were full we decided to resume the journey. My brother was not able to finish his portion so he asked me what to do. I told him leave it on the ground for the dog to eat. A street dog came and sniffed the food, he licked some of it; but since it was salty and dogs do not like salty food he just walked passed it. During this whole time my eyes were neither on food nor the dog but on a man who was standing approx 2 feet away from the dog and watching the food without blinking his eyes. He was a home less person who was very hungry. As soon as the dog left the place, this person jumped on the food, grabbed it and started eating it.

I was so shaken by the incident that I realized and experienced how important food is. Food that was sniffed and licked by a street dog was being eaten by a human being. Indeed it was clear to me whatever we are doing it is for food. But sometimes we take a lot of things for granted, as we have not seen or experienced the other extreme. As written is Upanishads “Annam Brahmam” – meaning Food is God, I saw it by my eyes that yes food indeed is God and one should not waste it anytime. From that day, I made sure that I do not waste food at all.

Was an eye opener for me......

...Am