Year: 2018

Respected Swamiji, shri Vijayji and all fellow students,

Namaste, my name is Chaula Joshi and I have been a student of Vedanta for a number of years, participating in the regular classes with Shri Vijay Kapoor.

I am extremely blessed to be sitting in front of You Swamiji and to listen to the week long courses. On behalf of Arsh Vidya Centre and from all of us we owe you a debt of gratitude for all that you have done to teach us your wisdom of self knowledge. Your simplicity of examples, explaining why we should learn Vedanta, and the importance of attaining the goal of Moksha has been marvelous.

It was just a few months ago I had a talk with you and by Iswara krua and Gurukrupa your visit came to reality. No words can explain our emotions and we cannot thank you enough for your visit to California. With your simple and profound statements your teachings are very clear and now with your blessings we should adopt this knowledge.

Your Mundka upanishad lectures describe the importance of the agnihotra ŸAGNAS. In modern society this may not seem possible, but one must do Sandhyavandana. You have stressed the importance of doing Seva Karma, which is for eg. Guru seva, Volunteering for the cause in organizations being akarta are essential for antahkaran shuddhi so that we become adhikari for knowledge to take place. 

The teachings of higher values: Love yourself and respect yourself, will fall all the values of values into place. Your examples of how to remove the Panch kosha to see the self was straightforward and clear. Thank you Swamiji for teaching us your vision.

On behalf of all the students here, I humbly request your presence next year and looking forward to your teachings.

Chaula Joshi

 

HariH OM ,

It is with a heart filled with love and gratitude that I speak these words on behalf of all of us. Thank you for your visits to California which I pray with be regular every year. Our sincere salutations to Sri Vijay Kapoorji, our Bay Area resident guru who tireless teaches us week after week.

As students of Vedanta, we begin our study with shravanam, mananam and nididhyasam and through a life of karma yoga ,bhakti and prayerful life, we develop viveka and vairagya and a burning desire for moksha. You have taught us that our swarupaH is sat chit ananda, that all the limitations that we place on ourselves are superimpositions on our Truth alone., that the ahankara or the small “i” is ultimately false.  Consciousness alone is the truth of me as chit, which is sat , and which is anantam , my very swarupah, knowing which I gain moksha in the here and now and from which there is no returning to the cycle of life and death as it dissolves the sukshma sarira or antahkarana which travels with us from lifetime to lifetime.

In meditation you guided us to suspend our identification with the body mind sense complex and remain in the awarenesss of the Self as we appreciated Ishawara’s vibhuti as the order of the universe.  In meditation, we saw our true nature as purna, asanga, nirgunaH atma.

In the Drk Dhrushya VivekaH. we focus on the real “I”, and the process of tvam pada shodhanam , through which we cleanup the false notions of ourselves., to remove the false cognitive plurality of ourselves. These false notions arise from our identification with our psycho- physio complex which cause us to feel limited and incomplete contrary to our Truth wherein we are unlimited and Purna.

Swamiji, you are a masterful teacher. Your teaching is systematic with examples that are easily understood. Your wit adds lightness to the subject matter and your skill brings us back to the subject on hand. Thank you for making the time for your visit to us. We remain eternally grateful to you and pray that we may be blessed with your guru krupa as we continue our journey. May we be so blessed that we can continue to learn at your lotus feet year after year.

Harih OM.

Zarina Kaji

Thank you Swamiji for this retreat where we can immerse ourselves at your feet and listen to the precious words that you speak. Our only wish is that it was longer. I know I speak on behalf of every shishya in this room. With your kindness, clarity and humor, you have expounded on the Kathopanishad with the story of Nachiketas, which inspires us to see the Truth about ourselves as Sat Chit Anantam Brahma.

May we discover the fullness and happiness that is our true nature and not be reluctant of embracing our reality as the manifestation of total freedom and happiness.
May your krupa bless us with a receiving mind and not a resisting mind.
You showed us the importance of paying off our obligations to our ancestors and to society who have all contributed to our growth. May we learn to Learn to develop such an attitude of gratitude. May we grow to become contributors and not consumers of society.

May we all strive to bring out the Nachiketas within all of us; with an intense longing for the truth, may we be alert at all times, choose the shreyas over the preyas, without any compromises or excuses.
May we strive to become an uttam adhikari like nachiketas , cutting asunder the ashwathama tree of samsara with the three vs of vicara, viveka and vairagya. May we understand the futility of acquiring and protecting and give it up lock stock and barrel. May the desire of all desires, to be free, full and complete, become the only desire in our mind and may we have the courage and fortitude to recognize that.
May we see the inderlying consciousness as the very substratum of myself in all four states of existence , waking, dream, deep sleep and turiam.
May we be aware that our truth, the Atma is like the Sun that can be covered by the clouds of ignorance but continues to shine brightly once they move on.
May we have the maturity to understand the Vedic equation of B=A, but A is not = B.
May the mithyatvam of the creation not delude us from our reality, which is based in Satyam alone.
May we understand that there is no birth or death for the Atma whose nature is Self-evident and Self illuminating and Anantam.
May we gain the emotional maturity to see the events in the creation as merely that and not allow them to affect the peace that is my nature.

Swamiji, you are a guru who with your humility bless us with your knowledge and clarity.
May we be so blessed to learn at your lotus feet year after year.
Harih om

Zarina Kaji

HariH Om.Thank you Swamiji for 4 days of exposition on the Daivi and asuri tendencies that reside in each of our minds ,  as though in the battlefield of Kurukshetra., between Dharma and Adharma. As human beings, we have to gain the emotional maturity to claim the Daivi virtues which are our  intrinsic nature and discard the asuri tendencies that can intrude in our hearts and minds  and overpower our thoughts, intensions and actions. Who amongst us does not wish for total freedom from pain and sorrow, limitedness and helplessness?  These are alien to our very nature and hence unacceptable. Your teaching  showed us  how actively cultivating the Daivi sampatis  we can move closer to knowing and assimilating the knowledge which will grant us total freedom.

Abhayam , the first Daivi quality we much cultivate is to confront any fear and learn to focus on the present moment , . not stress or worry about the future over which we have no control. See the silver lining in every cloud, be grateful for the present and accept what comes our way with prasada buddhi . We must not squander the joy of being alive with the fear of death.

Satva Samshuddhi : We must cultivate harmony between our thoughts, words and actions. In other words we must be a genuine person with pure thoughts behind every intention.

Next comes Gyan yoga VyavasthitiH Our commitment to learning and assimilating this rare and precious knowledge. Must be constant and unwavering. With the conscious development of these divine qualities, , we can progress from being an impulsive person, to a deliberate person and finally to a spontaneous person in whom these divine qualities which are inherent in us are effortlessly manifest in full measure.

May we cultivate the quality of Daanam , by sharing wealth, be it money, time, talent or empathy in keeping with our capacity.

With Damah may we progress by exerting self control over our organs of perception and action.

With Yagna, may we worship Ishwara with prayer to invoke His grace in our spiritual journey.

May we learn through Svadhya the importance or self- study, chanting and recitation.

May TapaH teach us to be less of a consumer and more of a contributor.

May I strengthen the divine quality of Arjavam, where I remain steadfast and straightforward in my thought, words and deeds.

May I always remember that Ahimsa paramo dharma. May I not hurt any being  at the physical, emotional and mental level.

May I cultivate the value of Satyam, always speaking the Truth in a kind manner.

Akrodha, : May I learn to diffuse the anger that may arise in me . May I learn to let go, forgive, move on and make accommodations for other’s actions. May my actions always flow from a place of love and kindness in my heart., through pratipaksha bhavana.

Tyaga: May the bondage of likes and dislikes release me through renunciation.

ShantiH: May I have the tranquility of mind where there are no demands or expectations.

Apaishunam: may I never expose someone’s defects and instead have a value for overlooking them and see their strengths instead of their shortcomings.

May Daya teach me to be sensitive to the pain of others, expressing  as compassion and empathy.

Aloluptvam: May I no longer have a longing for something , falsely  thinking it will be the source of my happiness.

May  I cultivate with MArdavam,  a gentleness in my thoughts, words and actions, To always remember that it is more important to be kind than to be right.

With the equality of Hrir, may I be naturally modest in my behavior even when no one is looking.

Achaapalam , May I not expend my energy with purposeless actions and speech.

May TejaH provide me the vigor that I need to not be influenced by others and understand the value of these values.

With Kshama: May my heart be large enough to accommodate the inner plight of the other , to respond with love even in the face of an injustice.

DhritiH : a can do attitude to continue our pursuit of Moksha in spite of any obstacles we might face.

Saucham: a purity of the body, the environment, with a pure and disciplined mind.

Adhrohah: a complete and total absence of ill will or hatred in my mind towards any thing.

Atimanita: May I never pretend to be something other than what I am to impress others and demand their respect

All these Daivi Sampat qualities when nurtured, and practiced  reward us with gaining AntaH karana shudhhi.

Why do we need the antah karana shudhhi?  So that when we are taught the  tatparya of the scriptures, they come alive for us and we can assimilate them in full measure.

 

Next Bhagavan Shri Krishna describes the Asuri tendencies that can prevent us from gaining Moksha, the freedom that we all that we seek . The asuri tendencies are the opposite of the Daivi tendencies but we need to be aware of them and be alert so that we do not get swayed by them.

DambhaH :Pretending to be other than what we are  due to a lack of self acceptance.

Darpa: a bully on the outside with no real substance on the inside.

AtimanaH – having a false and excessively high opinion of myself.

Krodha: anger leading to violence on words and deeds.

Parushyam: rudeness, intentionally humiliating another person

Agyanam: the inability to  conduct viveka, to see what is right and what is wrong.

We all have both the daivi and asuri tendencies in different measure and our goal is to neutralize the asuri tendencies with alertness,  effort and  consciously choosing the opposite  with pratipaksha bhavana.  As human beings, only we have the ability to choose to be happy or unhappy., depending on what qualities we choose to nurture in our lives. We need to and can tap into the daivi treasure within us to uplift our own perception of ourselves, thus leading us to become the perfect person, with emotional maturity , where one is purnaH, where no grand event or disappointment can  affect our  sense of freedom., which we can invoke when we tap into this divine wealth we all have within us.

May you always be blessed with good health and vigor to keep teaching us in the coming years. Once again Swamiji, Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing this knowledge with us, for making the time for us and for your gurukrupa in blessing us as we progress on this incredible journey.

HariH Om.

Zarina Kaji