As a person shedding worn out garments, takes other new ones likewise the embodied soul casting off its worn-out bodies, enters, others that are new. Weapons can’t cut it, fire can’t burn it, water can’t wet, nor can wind dry it. – Bhagwad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 22
This verse emphasizes the transient nature of the physical body and the continuous cycle of birth and death. Continue reading
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality. – ‘Death’ by Emily Dickinson.
The Bhagavad Gita talks about three levels of understanding ourselves.
The first is knowing what one is supposed to do (Swadharma). Swadharma is a term from sva: proper and dharma: law, duty in Hinduism. According to the Gita, Swadharma is to act in harmony with one’s inborn nature for oneself and society. Continue reading
Isomorphism means similarity in its simplest meaning. There is similarity between the macro cosmos (universe) and the microcosmos which is the human organism. Yoga Darsana Upanishad (4.48—53) describes this. The eternal (sacred) tirtha (sacred ford, holy water, place of pilgrimage) is considered inferior to the sacred tirtha in the body, and external mountains and other places identified with the various parts of the organism. Continue reading
Across the steppingstones of Self-control,
On the banks of the God-intoxicated river,
Where flow the waves of compassion dance,
Strip yourself naked,
And plunge deep into the purifying current!
Only then will the Soul be cleansed
Of the effects of the manifest world.
Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
Aim Hrim Klim
Photo by David Izquierdo on Unsplash
We all strive for innocence. What does innocence mean? Innocence means purity, guiltlessness, and incorruptibility. Our Gurus preach that we must restore our innocence. We can only accomplish this by not being led by our mind and listening to our heart and sinless soul. Continue reading