Tuesday, October 2, 2007

A. Parthasarathy is the founder of Vedanta Academy [A True Guru and exponent of Gita]


Equipped with a deep understanding of human nature and a deeper knowledge of Vedantic tenets, A. Parthasarathy—scholar, teacher, sage—tries to make life more peaceful for all

A tall, thin man in spotless white kurta and lungi, with a long red tilak adorning his forehead, the 70-plus A. Parthasarathy is the founder of the Vedanta Cultural Foundation, a charitable trust that runs the Vedanta Academy near Mumbai, India. Hailing from a business family, Parthasarathy devoted 40 years of his life to the study and practice of Vedanta. With a multi-disciplinary academic base, he also has the style to back up his scholarship—a fact corroborated in his seminal work Vedanta Treatise.

But beneath all the erudition, Parthasarathy's message is simple: stress is an internal phenomenon. Impulses, feelings, likes and dislikes reside in the mind. And the intellect holds reason and discrimination. The body is driven by the mind and/or the intellect, and stress results when the mind overtakes the intellect.

But does this imply that there's no place for feelings? Parthasarathy points out that the idea is not to feel less, but to cultivate the intellect as the supreme guiding force behind feelings. He gives the example of not getting up early in the morning to exercise. "The mind will tell you to sleep just a little longer," says the scholar, "but the intellect guides you to rise and shine."

Parthasarathy provides no short cuts: if you want to be happy, you must begin from within. The emphasis is on vivek or listening to the voice of the intellect. Knowledge of right choice comes 'through Knowledge'. But how do you attain 'Knowledge'? One way is the study of Vedanta, part of ancient Indian scriptures, which Parthasarathy offers to teach. But the journey towards knowledge, he contends, can only begin when you become conscious of your ignorance.

Parthasarathy also conducts seminars for senior corporate professionals. When he is not on lecture tours, he is busy teaching at his Academy.
[Copy from -Life Positive]

Vedanta Treatise: The Eternities [vedanta is my religion]




Swami Parthasarathy has written several books, including one on the Gita, one on Shankara’s Atmabodha and a commentary on several of the Upanishads. The Vedanta Treatise was his attempt to summarize Vedanta from his readings of the classical texts and from his studies with his own guru, Swami Chinmayananda. He still travels the world giving lectures on the Gita and also runs a school in Bombay, which provides a three-year residential course on Vedanta. An excellent introductory book, it tends to be more practical than theoretical, emphasizing bhakti and karma yoga aspects more than those of j~nAna. This is in line with the quotation on all of his cassettes that “The Bhagavad Gita is a technique, a skill for dynamic living, not a retirement plan”.
Note that the link is to Amazon.co.uk since Amazon.com does not stock the book at the time of writing.

"Selfish love or devotion is that which caters to your individual satisfaction, which merely pleases your body, mind and intellect. It is impure. It ceases to be love or devotion. It is attachment. Whereas, unselfish love or devotion satisfies the interests of others as well. It is directed towards your community or your nation or your fellow beings. It is pure. Selfless love or devotion is universal. It is directed neither to individuals nor to nations. It pervades everywhere, resides nowhere. It is divine."

Monday, October 1, 2007

KRISHNA - Lover, fighter, poet and Hindu hero


KRISHNA - Lover, fighter, poet and Hindu hero


The dashing, daring blue-skinned hero who drove women wild and demons to despair. KRISHNA is not just a Top Hindu God, he's practically a superhero. But he had to work for it. Most of his formative years were spent avoiding death at the hands of jealous nasties. His uncle KAMSA was a tyrannical Demon King. Uncle Kam was quite happy ruling ruthlessly until one day he received some bad news. A mysterious voice informed him that his half-sister DEVAKI would give birth to a demon-destroying hero - and now might be a good time to reconsider his life insurance policy.


VISHNU changes the baby


KAMSA was furious and hit on the amazingly original plan of killing all his nephews. But the cunning VISHNU saved the day by transferring KRISHNA and his twin BALARAMA to a womb with a view in a quieter neighbourhood. Sweet little Godlet DEVA was substitued in their place. Wicked KAMSA would have killed her instead but the Gods whisked her away to heaven. Once KRISHNA was safely born, his troubles really began. A succession of baby-killing demons tried their best to dispatch him. One of these, PUTANA, sneaked a job as a wet nurse. She dabbed poison on her nipples, but greedy KRISHNA sucked so hard he sucked her inside out. He had a heroic digestive system.


Countryside Krishna


Once grown up, KRISHNA and his womb-mate BALARAMA parted company. BALARAMA, who was not nearly so heroic as his dark-skinned brother, became the God of Farming and spent the rest of his life plowing fields and hitting people. Meanwhile, KRISHNA went to chase girls in the countryside. This suited him down to the ground. And then KRISHNA found himself with 16,000 girlfriends. This was not entirely due to his good looks and charm; he came to the rescue of the lovely maidens and was forced to marry them all to prevent moral complications. This idyllic lifestyle was cut short when it was revealed that he was really the eighth incarnation of VISHNU and was therefore supposed to be doing important Godly work instead of marrying everyone. So KRISHNA left to start a new career as demon destroyer and hero. Pausing only to kiss goodbye to his 16,000 wives.


Superstar of Hindu Hollywood


Many tales have been told of KRISHNA's amazing adventures. How he rescued RUKMINI from a devilish marriage. How he feuded with the villainous SISUPULA. How he grappled with fate and dodged death the way some people dodge the tax collector. How his bones ended up in JUGGERNAUT, the God of Heavy Goods Vehicles. But you get the picture.


KRISHNA is truly a SuperGod. He's clever, sexy, cunning, and blessed with outrageous good fortune. In the Hollywood of Heaven, he is a rich and famous celebrity. The star of epic philosophical action-adventure Mahabharata and creator of the sublime poem Bhagavad-Gita, his name is revered all over the world.


But we still don't believe his first name is Harry.