Austerity of Speech and Socrates Test of Three

Austerity means being in a state of self-control or a state of denial.In sanskrit, it can be translated as Tapas or following a steady practice with the aim of spiritual or higher gains.In Chapter 17 of Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna explains various types of austrities that elevate ones consciousness from the material or worldly platform to that of spiritual.The verse 15 below, especially talks about the austerity of speech.

“anudvega-karam vakyam

 satyam priya-hitam ca yat

 svadhyayabhyasanam caiva

 van-mayam tapa ucyate

Translation: Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature(Bg 17.15)”.

I think, this is a very important verse that is useful not only for spiritual but also for day to day basis. It is the general tendency of people to gossip about something or someone, either at work place or

meeting up with friends.Gossip - is the root cause of so many misunderstandings,tensions,friction between people and friends. The whole atmosphere and the relationships are spoilt just by this.Ever wonder why people gossip ?. I think one reason is that people who feel low or bad about themselves get a temporary relief by talking bad about others or trying to expose or show something negative in others.And, there are so many other reasons like, people gossip to get some attention, popularity, envy, to make them feel part of a group etc. It is said that if you find a fault in someone, it is because you have that same fault within you – hundreds of times more than what you are trying to show in another person. Of course, this is not same as constructive criticism by some well wishers, parents or seniors. Thus, control of tongue or urge to speak nonsense is the most important aspect of Austerity of speech.

In ancient Greece,Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of  your students?"

"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test called, the Test of Three."

"Test of Three?"

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

No," the man said, "actually I just heard about It."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued. "You may still pass though, because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"

The man was defeated and ashamed. This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.So next time, you meet someone and they want to say something to you, You know what to ask?.Is it true, useful and something good ?.

Which Exit to take and Whom to depend on ?.

An Empty Freeway

Long Time ago, when I was still new to Melbourne, I went to Tullamarine Airport to drop my friend.I don't know the route but, he was guiding me and reached Airport without much problem.He gave me ample instructions of going back with details like, which exit to take etc.But, you know when you are new, everything looks same and you get jumbled up with the names of the road.Becuase, I was smart (I thought so), I was not carrying anything like a Navigator or a Melway.And, it was a pre Smartphone era.So before starting from the Airport, I called one of my friend to ask for directions.It was a Saturday morning and he had a big night the day before.So, he picked up the phone and said, OK call me after 5 minutes when you are on the road. So I started off and after five mins, I called him and it went to his voice mail. Frantically, I tried again and again with no luck. Here, I am on the Freeway trying to figure out, which exit to take and avoid the Tollway and don’t know which exit to take. Somehow, I took one of the exits, the Bell street and managed to reach

home safely without paying Toll charges. After couple of hours, I got a call back from my friend and the first thing he asked me was, where are you.Apparently, he got a dream that I was driving on Hume Highway, on way to Sydney and looking for an exit. We both had a good laugh and he is still a good friend.The takeaway from this incident is that, in life you have to be careful about depending on people in making crucial decisions and choices.This is a simple incident but, in life we do come across many situations like this.For example, I know an elderly person, one of my relatives.He is scared of death and never wants to be alone.So, always wants to be

surrounded by some of the family members like his wife, children etc. But, really when the time comes, even though one is surrounded by all the people whom we love, who can save us from the imminent death.? When the time comes,no one can save others.

In Srimad Bhagavatam it is said,

dehapatya-kalatradisv

atma-sainyesv asatsv api

tesam pramatto nidhanam

pasyann api na pasyat

Translation: "Persons devoid of atma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife, etc. Although sufficiently experienced, still, they do not see their inevitable destruction."

Deha - Body, apatrya - children, Kalatra - wife. Sukadeva Gosvami is telling Pariksit Maharaja that "These things will not give you protection."(Bhagavatam 2.1.4)

Further on, in the next verse he advises,

tasmad bharata sarvatma

bhagavan isvaro harih

srotavyah kirtitavyas ca

smartavyas cecchatabhayam

Translation: O descendant of King Bharata, one who desires to be free from all miseries must hear about, glorify and also remember the Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul, the controller and the savior from all miseries.   (Bhagavatam 2.1.5)

The three gates leading to Hell

tri-vidham narakasyedam

dvāram nāśanam ātmanah

kāmah krodhas tathā lobhas

tasmād etat trayam tyajet

There are three gates leading to this hell – lust, anger and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul.(Bhagavad Gita 16.21)

Lust, Anger and greed as explained by Lord Krishna are the three gates that leads one who is affected by these qualities to hell. These qualities should be given up by a man of discrimination because, they cause the degradation of the soul. Generally, the demons are described as having these qualities and a person who becomes prey to these himself  becomes demoniac. And, of all the three a lust is considered as the most deadliest and insatiable and difficult to control. It is said that nothing in the three worlds can ever satisfy a lusty person. Lust is said to be more deadly than a snake poison because, a snake bite can be cured by administering a right antidote but, there is no remedy for lust.

Thus, when one tries to satisfy lust, there are some serious implications. One who is lusty can never be satisfied permanently. And, when one get temporary enjoyment and happiness by the action, they in-turn make him more lusty and more greedy, because he wants that happiness more and more. When someone is unable to satisfy lust, anger develops and greed arises. That is , whatever he is not able to enjoy, even other also should not be able to enjoy.

This is what happened in the case of Ravana, who was so lusty that he was not happy, even after having enjoyed beautiful woman, and having hundreds of wives, the moment he heard about Mother Sita and incited by Shurpanaka, he immediately wanted to enjoy her.Disguised as a saint, he kidnapped her by force. In the process he lost everything, including his brother, his son and all his army of demons. Finally, he lost his life killed by mighty arrows of Lord Rama.The problem of Ravana is that he wanted to enjoy Sita, separately from Lord Rama.

Generally, Lust is used to denote a strong desire for sex, but it can also mean lot of things like being lusty for power. Basically, any strong or dirty desire that is abnormal and cannot be satisfied. The only way to control lust is by purifying ones consciousness by practice of spirituality, by developing right conduct, regulating ones life and habits, developing vairagya or detachment. By experiencing a higher, spiritual taste one gradually able to gives up the lower modes and tastes.

Once a colleague of mine told me that, he was cleaning up his bedroom, ward robe and took out nearly 25 t shirts and shirts. Some of them he wore only once or twice and others he never wore them at all. Then, I asked him why did you buy so many, when you don't or cant wear them?.This is OK, I thought especially when I remembered the wife of former dictator  president and military rules of Philippines,served as a First Lady  she had about a collection of 3000 shoes which were destroyed by termites and floods after lying in storage for 26 years.

Nothing in this world can satisfy a lusty person.

Supreme God - The Perfect Creator

This is a small instructional and Moral story typed verbatim by my son Gopal, from one of his story books.I told him to do so, just to keep him busy and not disturb me from what I was doing.When I saw what he had done, I was quite impressed and decided to post it here.The simple story helps us to illustrate, how Supreme God is the perfect creator of everything, animate and inanimate we see in this world. Right from highly intelligent Human beings, Huge trees, Mountains, Rivers, Stars, planets, the Sun and the Moon. If we carefully observe, we realise that everything is created in a perfect way and nothing came about by chance. There is an intelligent creator, the most perfect and Supreme being who is behind everything including ourselves. That’s why in Srimad Bhagavatham the Supreme God is called the Otam and Protam, like the threads supporting a cloth going horizontal and vertical across the length and breath. He is also mentioned as Aniyor Aniyan and Mahato Mahiyan – the smallest of the small and the largest of the large. In Bhagavad Gita, The Supreme Lord explains the same as below –

“mattah parataram nanyat

 kincid asti dhananjaya

 mayi sarvam idam protam

 sutre mani-gana iva

O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me.Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread (BG Chapter 7 Verse 7)".

Let’s get into the story my son typed from his story book.

It was a hot day. Ramu began the long journey to his uncle's village. On the

way,Ramu saw a huge banyan tree spreading its branches, welcoming him to

rest under it's shade. Ramu lay down on the cool grass,reveling in the shade of

the old banyan. As he rested , he looked up at the branches of the tree. He noticed

the tiny fruit on the huge banyan. He said to himself, "I believe that the great lord

is the most intelligent of all. But why did he create a huge banyan tree with such

small fruits! "He thought about the pumpkin creeper in his backyard.  The creeper

was slender but it's fruit was so big. He thought,"surely the lord has made a big

mistake! The huge tree must have large fruits and the small plants, tiny fruits."

The cool breeze and the soothing shade of the banyan tree slowly lulled Ramu

into a deep slumber, when suddenly... The breeze blew harder. It became stronger

and swifter.  The branches of the banyan began to shake. Some dried leaves and

fruits fell to the ground. One bunch of fruits fell on Ramu's head...

He awoke with a start and shook with fright as he wondered what had hit him. 

He thought "If it has been bigger I would have been badly hurt!". He folded his hands

and thanked the lord, "you are the wisest! You made this great big banyan tree for

weary travelers like me to rest under but made it's fruit tiny so that they will not

get hurt badly. I shall never doubt your creation again. You are the PERFECT

CREATOR!"

Ramu thus understood that since, lord is perfect everything created by him is

PERFECT!

The invocation Mantra from Isopanisad says,

“Om purnam adah purnam idam

 purnat purnam udacyate

 purnasya purnam adaya

 purnam evavasisyate

The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance”.

Stress Management lessons from Bhagavad Gita

Stress - We all knew it, have felt it and seen it in life affecting us or someone around. The most intriguing thing about stress is that while for some people, it shows up their face and behaviour, others manage to hide and cover it.Whatever it is, it will affect both, the ones showing up or suppressing it.In today’s world, people are living lives ridden with Stress due to career, job, relationships, Finance etc.

Few years ago, one of my colleague at work suddenly complained of chest pain, palpitation and an ambulance was called. Within an hour, she was in a hospital ICU getting treated for Heart attack. Everyone, including myself were surprised. How can such a thing happen to her. She was a happy, friendly person, married and the husband works in the same company.?

Stress at Work

Work Overload Stress?

Another time, I went to a Migration agent to invite him for a cultural function. The moment, I saw him, I thought Gee.. He looks stressed out. Initially, he thought I was a marketing person just door knocking. When I told him about the event, he whole mood changed and thanked me for inviting him. I asked him, what he is up to and he told me that he is about to go for MRT – Migration Review Tribunal hearing of one of his client. Way back, I wondered – how people take on the stress and troubles of others because they are getting paid

There was one more colleague of mine, who would come to work with red eyes and looking sleepy. He told me that, he gets woken up by these two birds every morning at 6AM. He was quite angry and wanted to take a gun and shoot them. But, what is the problem ? They are actually doing a service to you by waking up in the morning and you don’t need to setup alarm in the mobile. He told me that, he actually goes to sleep very late 2:00AM by watching late night shows, sports. Why.? Because, he can’t go to sleep early. Why? because he lost all his Super or Retirement Money by investing in wrong shares.

So what to do about stress ? There are numerous things that you hear like, pressing a stress ball, punching pillows, exercise, pets, Music, Meditation,walking,doctors, Psychologists and medicines etc. But, again here there is so many choices to make which, in turn puts people into more stress. Should I go for this doctor or that doctor.? Should I go for Allopathy, Homeopathy or Ayurveda, should I listen to Western music or Eastern Music. While, I think all these have some results, it is actually even better to the cause or root of the problem. In software testing, we have something called Root Cause Analysis which is a method of problem solving used for identifying the root causes of faults or problems. This is where Srimad Bhagavad Gita, a revelation from God, a doctrine of universal truth, said to be the essence of Vedas and Upanishads comes to the rescue in eliminating the Root Cause of Stress.

A number of eminent personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Aldous Huxley, Henry David Thoreau, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl Jung, Bulent Ecevit, Hermann Hesse etc. read, praised, drew inspiration and strength from this holy book. Bhagavad Gita is a holistic scripture, deals with all kinds of problems, anxieties, troubles, stress the human beings had to go through in day to day life. For example, verse below from Bhagavad Gita informs that the most crucial and important reason for stress, one goes through in life is attachment to a particular outcome or result.

“karmany evadhikaras te
 ma phalesu kadacana
 ma karma-phala-hetur bhur
 ma te sango 'stv akarmani (Bhagavad Gita 2.47)

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty”.

So the universal message given out is that we should carry out our duties and obligations in life towards our parents, society, world with integrity and honesty and not to worry about the results.You have the right to perform your duty but, not the results. Learn to work without attachment and not expecting the returns But, what about the performance and productivity. People think that, if you are not attached to the fruits or outcome, the productivity may go down. But, the opposite is true that, the productivity actually goes up by being detached because, there is less stress.That is why surgeons don't operate on their family members, or the businessman managing his own business is more stressed and the reason, why so many people fail in a driving test.But, as you can see, Karma Yoga or acting dutifully without attachment is an art and science. There are different stages and paths one needs to learn and practice like, Sakama Karma Yoga where one is attached to the fruits of action,Nishkama Karma Yoga where one is selfless and not attached to the results.

As per Bhagavad Gita, A Yogi is not the one who creates things from his hands or stays in the ground with his face buried (as you see in places like Kumbha Mela), but one who can perform his prescribed duty, under most distressing conditions, still remain calm and equipoised. As you can see, all this is from the one verse of Bhagavad Gita. There are numerous Root Causes and solutions explained in the preceding chapters, all the way to the 18^th Chapter.

Janmashtami – Appearance day of Lord Sri Krishna

The Janmashtami festival is celebrated on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) of the month of Shravan (August–September) in the Hindu calendar. This weekend is going to be a very busy, exciting and happy time of the year. This is the biggest event of the year organised by ISKCON- Melbourne. Thousands of people visit the temple and there is a continuous prasadam distribution that will be happening all over the weekend. I do little bit of volunteer work at the temple. There will be cultural programs, children activities, dramas and other events. Luckily, this year Janmashtami happens to come on the weekend and the temple authorities decided to conduct the program for two days. Probably, the highlight of the whole program will be the mid night darshan, when a number of devotees fill the temple room and pay their respects to Lord Krishna. The atmosphere will be electrifying, with hundreds of devotees singing the Kirtans glorifying Lord Krishna who made his appearance 5000 years ago in Mathura,India. Just like Sun rises every day and sets in the evening, Lord Krishna makes his appearance and disappearance in one universe and goes on to do the same thing in other universes for the pleasure of his devotees.

A verse from Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, text 6 the Lord says

ajo 'pi sann avyayatma
bhutanam isvaro 'pi san
prakrtim svam adhisthaya
sambhavamy atma-mayaya
Translation:- Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient beings, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.

If you are in Melbourne, do visit the temple. It is actually, amazing to see so many people coming from all parts of Melbourne. It’s a time to catch up with lot of old friends and some of them come only once a year, on this day and do as much service as they can. Of course, there are number of service opportunities for someone interested. Overall, I can assure you that it will be a spiritually rewarding experience and the best weekend break you can get. 

Jhulan Yatra – The Swing Festival

The Jhula or Swing

This is a sweet and wonderful ceremonial festival where the deities of Radha and Krishna are placed on a beautifully decorated swing or Jhula and the pastimes of the divine couple are enacted by swinging and offering prayers to the Lordships. Here are some photos from the ISKCON Temple in Melbourne. This is a festival which reflects the devotion and mood of devotees of Lord Krishna. Everyone gets a chance to push and swing, invoking a loving servitude and happiness. This is observed for five days with the last day of the Jhulan Yatra coming to an end on the Balaram Purnima – the appearance day of Lord Balarama festival. The swing is decorated everyday with different flower garlands, creepers, leaves etc. One day, as I was standing in the long queue, waiting for my turn to push the swing, a Australian standing behind me said this, “ How wonderful and sweet is this festival ? This is the heart of all religions, the unconditional love for the God. But, not many people can see this”. But, you are here and I think, you can see it – I said. And he replied “ Oh Yeah – only a fraction of it. I am lucky and happy to be here today”.  

Jhulan Yatra

Radha Krishna Deities

The Swing ready with Radha Krishna Deities