Who is independent? Not our body, for it depends upon external conditions; nor our mind, because the thoughts of which it is composed are caused. It is our soul that is independent. The Vedas say that the whole world is a mixture of independence and dependence, of freedom and slavery, but through it all shines the soul independent, immortal, pure, perfect, holy.
----
Interviewer: Swami, what you claim is that all is good?
Vivekananda: By no means. My claim is that all is not--only God is! That makes all the difference.
----
Teach yourselves, teach everyone his real nature, call uon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come when this sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Troubleshooting a rebooting Nokia N95 8GB
Faced a frequently rebooting N95 8GB phone in this week. The error message that was coming was sim card not registered or similar.
Uninstalled extra applications from the phone while in offline mode. Went to the customer care of mobile operator and got a replacement sim card. No problems since the activation of the replaced sim. The old N95 8 GB works like new.
Uninstalled extra applications from the phone while in offline mode. Went to the customer care of mobile operator and got a replacement sim card. No problems since the activation of the replaced sim. The old N95 8 GB works like new.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
My Didama's native place in India's pre-partitioned East Bengal
Our forefathers happen to come from then East Bengal before 1947 partition of India. In my effort to show my maternal grandmother, her fond memories of childhood in Chittagong in 1920s,30s and 40s, I corresponded and got the help of people from US, Canada, India and current Bangladesh sometime in 2007. I got great help from Bangali-Bondhu yahoogroup. Finally I was able to get a few photographs of the place of her childhood. It is called Ranir Dighi in colloquial in Chittagong Bangladesh
The house is one of the houses visible on the east side of Ranir Dighi. However my grandmother(Didama) was unable to pin-point the exact house as lot of things seem to have changed in last 70 years.
My Grandmother - Alo Rani Roy also remembers her classmates in school who had participated in the Chittagong uprising against British.
Lot of thanks are due to my friends Arnab of Canada, Xiaur Rahman of Chittagong and other friends in Bangali-Bondhu yahoogroup.
My grandmother happens to be a spirited lady and quite well-learned for her times. Being part of the times of Chittagong revolution, she is always filled with nationalistic fervour. When she named her younger son Shibaji after the maratha warrior king Shivaji little did my grandmother know how her elder daughter would be living major part of the adult life in Maharashtra.
The house is one of the houses visible on the east side of Ranir Dighi. However my grandmother(Didama) was unable to pin-point the exact house as lot of things seem to have changed in last 70 years.
My Grandmother - Alo Rani Roy also remembers her classmates in school who had participated in the Chittagong uprising against British.
Lot of thanks are due to my friends Arnab of Canada, Xiaur Rahman of Chittagong and other friends in Bangali-Bondhu yahoogroup.
My grandmother happens to be a spirited lady and quite well-learned for her times. Being part of the times of Chittagong revolution, she is always filled with nationalistic fervour. When she named her younger son Shibaji after the maratha warrior king Shivaji little did my grandmother know how her elder daughter would be living major part of the adult life in Maharashtra.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Essence of Upanishadic Teaching
Essence of Upanishadic Teaching
( From Hindu Dharma by Shri ChandraShekarendra Sarasvati Swamiji of Kanchi)
In the view of modern science the phenomenal world exists in the time space frame. The Upanishads declare that being freed from the time and space factors, we can grasp the ultimate-truth
That is at the source of Cosmos. How to transcend Time and space? Is it possible?
An example can be citied from everyday life. We lap up the newspaper reports of the fighting going on in a distant country, say Iraq. If a dispute or trouble erupts in our home or country like Pakistan, we forget Iraq and turn to Pakistan. The newspapers themselves push reports of Iraq to some corner and highlight developments in Pakistan. But when a quarrel breaks out even nearer, say a quarrel over Tiruttani between Tamils and Telugus Pakistan is forgotten and the boundary quarrel claims all our interest. Now when we come to know about a street brawl in our neighbour hood, we throw aside the newspaper to go out and see for ourselves what the trouble is all about. Again, when we are watching the street fight, a friend or relative comes and tells us that a war is going on in our own home, a fight between wife and the mother. What do we do then? We forget the street brawl and rush home at once.
On an international level Iraq war is perhaps of great importance. But we pass from that to quarrels of decreasing importance. Why? Iraq is far away in space. We are more concerned about what happens nearer us than about far away happenings.
The time factor is similar. How inconsolably we wept when our father died ten years ago. How is it that we do not feel same intensity of grief when we think of his death today? On the day a dear one passes we weep so much but not so much on the following day. Why is it so? Last year we earned a promotion or won a prize in a lottery. We jumped for joy then, didnt we? Why is it that we dont feel the same thrill of joy when we think about it today?
Now let us turn our gaze inward. If we become aware of the battle going on within us, the battle fought by the senses, all other quarrels will become distant affairs like Iraq war. Just as nearness in space is a factor in determining how we are affected by an event, so too is nearness in time. An event occurred far away in space and long ago in time, loses its impact even when we are turned outward and remain conscious of time and space.
So Confidence Arises that we can be totally freed from time and space if We Turn Inward.
When we are asleep we are oblivious of space and time without any effort on our part. But we do not have the awareness of being free from them. We must go to the state in which we sleep without sleeping and are immersed in bliss of Jnana as well as freedom from space and time. In such a case even we receive a stab wound we will not be affected by it. It would be like happening in a remote land like Iraq.
Now let us think about our real goal what is it? Peace and tranquility. Let us consider what we must do for this goal. So if we are to remain detached we must think that what happens close by is happening in a remote place. We must also learn to think that all happy and unhappy incidents of the moment occurred some ten years ago. We must remain in the absolute state of being ourselves.
The essence of Upanishadic message is the burning desire to be free from time and space. All that we need to do is to pray to lord and make an effort to develop the will and capacity to put the happenings of the moment, back in time and distant in space.
The first of the ten major Upanishads, Ishaavaasya Upanishad, says:
Tadejati tannaijati taddoore tadvantike
Tadanatarasya sarvasya tadu sarvasyaasya bahyatah.
It is afar yet it is near. It is indeed within. This statement refers to time and space, and creates the urge in us to be freed from both. The next mantra,
Yastu sarvaani bhootaani aatmanyevaanupashyati
Sarva bhooteshu aatmaanam tato na vijugupsate.
This mantra asks us to see, time, space and all the creatures, in our self itself. Then there will be no cause for hatred, delusion or sorrow. Nothing will affect us. This truth of being free from time and space, this truth of Upanishads, is to be realized within as an experience.
( From Hindu Dharma by Shri ChandraShekarendra Sarasvati Swamiji of Kanchi)
In the view of modern science the phenomenal world exists in the time space frame. The Upanishads declare that being freed from the time and space factors, we can grasp the ultimate-truth
That is at the source of Cosmos. How to transcend Time and space? Is it possible?
An example can be citied from everyday life. We lap up the newspaper reports of the fighting going on in a distant country, say Iraq. If a dispute or trouble erupts in our home or country like Pakistan, we forget Iraq and turn to Pakistan. The newspapers themselves push reports of Iraq to some corner and highlight developments in Pakistan. But when a quarrel breaks out even nearer, say a quarrel over Tiruttani between Tamils and Telugus Pakistan is forgotten and the boundary quarrel claims all our interest. Now when we come to know about a street brawl in our neighbour hood, we throw aside the newspaper to go out and see for ourselves what the trouble is all about. Again, when we are watching the street fight, a friend or relative comes and tells us that a war is going on in our own home, a fight between wife and the mother. What do we do then? We forget the street brawl and rush home at once.
On an international level Iraq war is perhaps of great importance. But we pass from that to quarrels of decreasing importance. Why? Iraq is far away in space. We are more concerned about what happens nearer us than about far away happenings.
The time factor is similar. How inconsolably we wept when our father died ten years ago. How is it that we do not feel same intensity of grief when we think of his death today? On the day a dear one passes we weep so much but not so much on the following day. Why is it so? Last year we earned a promotion or won a prize in a lottery. We jumped for joy then, didnt we? Why is it that we dont feel the same thrill of joy when we think about it today?
Now let us turn our gaze inward. If we become aware of the battle going on within us, the battle fought by the senses, all other quarrels will become distant affairs like Iraq war. Just as nearness in space is a factor in determining how we are affected by an event, so too is nearness in time. An event occurred far away in space and long ago in time, loses its impact even when we are turned outward and remain conscious of time and space.
So Confidence Arises that we can be totally freed from time and space if We Turn Inward.
When we are asleep we are oblivious of space and time without any effort on our part. But we do not have the awareness of being free from them. We must go to the state in which we sleep without sleeping and are immersed in bliss of Jnana as well as freedom from space and time. In such a case even we receive a stab wound we will not be affected by it. It would be like happening in a remote land like Iraq.
Now let us think about our real goal what is it? Peace and tranquility. Let us consider what we must do for this goal. So if we are to remain detached we must think that what happens close by is happening in a remote place. We must also learn to think that all happy and unhappy incidents of the moment occurred some ten years ago. We must remain in the absolute state of being ourselves.
The essence of Upanishadic message is the burning desire to be free from time and space. All that we need to do is to pray to lord and make an effort to develop the will and capacity to put the happenings of the moment, back in time and distant in space.
The first of the ten major Upanishads, Ishaavaasya Upanishad, says:
Tadejati tannaijati taddoore tadvantike
Tadanatarasya sarvasya tadu sarvasyaasya bahyatah.
It is afar yet it is near. It is indeed within. This statement refers to time and space, and creates the urge in us to be freed from both. The next mantra,
Yastu sarvaani bhootaani aatmanyevaanupashyati
Sarva bhooteshu aatmaanam tato na vijugupsate.
This mantra asks us to see, time, space and all the creatures, in our self itself. Then there will be no cause for hatred, delusion or sorrow. Nothing will affect us. This truth of being free from time and space, this truth of Upanishads, is to be realized within as an experience.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
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