As we look for love in people and possessions, the weary heart collapses in the heap of unanswered questions – Will I ever be loved deeply? What/whom can I anchor myself on, when everything around me is uncertain and insecure? How can I overcome my fears?
Further doubts emerge – Since Advaita, Non-duality and Bhakti is jiva’s love for Bhagavan which rests on duality, can Advaita and Bhakti walk hand in hand? We reflect, reframe and reconnect in the light of what Narada Bhakti Sutras reveal for us.
A life of connection and oneness through Self mastery and Self discovery
The Bhagavad Gita reveals the vision that you are amrtam (not subject to death) and the joyful way of living to see the vision. The Gita is Amrtam because it is a complete teaching of the sweet essence of the Vedas. Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya reminds us that to ‘the one who has studied the Bhagavad Gita even a little, there is no discussion with Yama, the Lord of Death.’(Bhaja Govindam – 20). Such is its glory!
To be able to pray is a huge privilege. And all of us (irrespective of our gender, class, nationality differences) have been blessed with this privilege to pray.
A prayer is centred on a self conscious and self-judging person relating to an altar.The mode employed by the person praying is never the same – it differs from person to person. Even for a given person it differs from time to time. A prayer can be a simple mental or oral chant or a strict elaborate vedic ritual.
There are three different forms of karma, action, in prayer: kāyikam, physical, vācika, oral and mānasam, mental. Performing a ritual is a physical form of prayer. Singing praises of Bhagavān is an oral form of a prayer while chanting a mantra silently is a mental prayer.
All of us have a very important and fundamental relationship whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we like it or not, and that relationship is with Iśvara, the Lord. In this relationship, one may be an agnostic, an atheist, a believer or a devotee, but related, one is.
Puja is one of the most beautiful ways to invoke the devotee in oneself and establish a relationship with Iśvara, the Lord. Puja is called Kāyikam karma, an action involving one’s limbs. It also includes speech and mental action in the form of chanting and thinking of the Lord.