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Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 10-14.

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Chapter 10: The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatmya -14.   ( A talk given on the 13th of October, 1972, during the Navaratri worship.) This significance is brought out in all our epics and Puranas. Whether in the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, whether in the Bhagavadgita or the Devi-Mahatmya, they tell us the same account in different terminologies and with different emphases. It is always a song of the soul. The Bhagavadgita is a song of the soul, the Over-soul speaking to the lower soul. Here again, we have a similar account of the actual Sadhana involved in the realisation of this ultimate harmony of the soul with the Over-soul. The spiritual practice of a Sadhaka is, therefore, a confronting of the three forces of Tamas, Rajas and Sattva, gradually, stage by stage, in their cosmic significance, forgetting not for a moment that we are not 'islands'. No man is an island. You must have heard the poet's saying: "No man is an island unto himself." T

BHARATHAM : A NATION OF SPIRITUALITY - A STUDY OF THE PRESENT

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Opinion    27/04/2016.        504.          All Members,         Respected family members of this great holy Nation.   Sub : BHARATHAM : A NATION OF SPIRITUALITY - A STUDY OF THE PRESENT    Ref : All  Indian states are failure with regard the below  given  requirements list. The Chief ministers, and the political parties of all  most  all  states  are without any VISION. The Major Requirements in the Nation's Development : - 1. Infrastructure. 2. Town / city plannings. 3. Discipline in the construction and uniform office buildings. / housings / shopping centers / government offices. 4. Garbage disposal / recycling management 5. Drainage facilities. 6. Public rest rooms/ toilets 7. Water management. 8. Recycling of used /waste water. 9. Rainwater management. 10. Parks/ playgrounds/ 11. small  children parks. 12. Public libraries. 13. Traffic and Road discipline. 14. Preservation of Nature./ Monuments etc. 15. Cleanliness. 16. Parking area wherever necessary

Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 10-13.

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Chapter 10: The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatmya -13.   ( A talk given on the 13th of October, 1972, during the Navaratri worship.) So, the dance of the cosmic spirit, in its supernal effort at self-transcendence, is majestically described in the beautifully worded sonorous songs of the Devi-Mahatmya, where we are given a stirring account, a stimulating description of what Maha-Kali did, what Maha-Lakshmi did and what Maha-Sarasvati did in bringing about this evolution, transformation of the whole range of Prakriti from Tamas to Rajas, from Rajas to Sattva and from Sattva to Supreme Vijaya, mastery in the Absolute, God-realisation. All our scriptures, Puranas and epics, all our ceremonies and celebrations, all our festivals and Jayantis – whatever be the occasion for a religious performance – all this is charged with a spiritual connotation, a significance which is far transcendent to the outer rituals which is involved in their performance. Every thought, every a

Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 10-12.

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Chapter 10: The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatmya -12.   ( A talk given on the 13th of October, 1972, during the Navaratri worship.) When you lift one thread of a cloth, the whole cloth comes up, because of the interconnection of the warp and the woof of the cloth. Likewise, there is an internal interconnection of beings, which prevents any kind of individual effort for the sake of salvation. That is why salvation is universal, it is not individual. When you attain to the Supreme Being, you become the Universal Being. You do not go there as a Mr. So-and-so or as a Mrs. So-and-so. The path of Sadhana also is a cosmic effort of the soul, a subtle secret which most Sadhakas are likely to forget. It is not a small, simple, private effort of yours in the closet of your room, but a dynamic activity of your essential personality, internally connected by unforeseen relationships with everything in the cosmos. When you enter the path of the spirit you have also, at the

Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 10-11.

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Chapter 10: The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatmya -11.   ( A talk given on the 13th of October, 1972, during the Navaratri worship.)  By Swami Krishnananda How can you contact a thing when there is a glass between you and the thing? Yet you can see it. So they say even Sattva is an obstacle, though it is better than the other two forces in the sense that through it you can have a vision or an insight into the nature of Reality which transcends even Sattva. There is a glass pane and you can see a mango fruit on the other side of it. You can see it very well, but cannot get it; you cannot grab it. You know the reason. Even Sattva is a subtle medium of obstruction, which acts in a double form – as complacency or satisfaction with what has been achieved, and an ignorance of what is beyond. These two aspects of Sattva are indicated by the two personalities of Sumbha and Nisumbha. They have to be dispelled by the power of higher wisdom, which is Maha-Sarasvati. Actio

Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 10-10.

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Chapter 10: The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatmya -10.   ( A talk given on the 13th of October, 1972, during the Navaratri worship.)  By Swami Krishnananda Sattva is also a Guna, unfortunately. We always praise Sattva and regard it as a very desirable thing. But it is like a transparent glass that is placed between us and the Truth. You can see through it, but you cannot go beyond it because though the glass is transparent, it can obstruct your movement. It is not like a brick wall, completely preventing your vision, as Tamas does; it is not like a blowing wind which simply tosses you here and there, as Rajas does; it is a plain glass, through which you can have vision of Reality, but you cannot contact Reality nevertheless. Swami Krishnananda To be continued  ...

Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 10-9.

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Chapter 10: The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatmya -9.   ( A talk given on the 13th of October, 1972, during the Navaratri worship.)  By Swami Krishnananda Ajnana or ignorance is an opposing power subtler than its effects in the form of Mala and Vikshepa. Distraction and direct sensual desires are the outer expressions of a subtle ignorance of Truth – Avidya or Ajnana. Why do we desire things? Because, we do not know the nature of Truth. Why does a strong wind blow? Because, the sun is covered over with clouds. The sun is covered by the clouds first, then there is darkness, and then a gale or cyclone starts blowing from the north, breaking our umbrellas and uprooting trees. All these happen because the sun does not shine. Even so, when the Atman is covered over by ignorance of its nature, the winds of desire begin to blow, and they come like violent storms. Impetuous is the force of desire. You cannot stand against it, because the whole of Nature gets concentrated

Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 10-8.

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Chapter 10: The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatmya -8.   ( A talk given on the 13th of October, 1972, during the Navaratri worship.)  By Swami Krishnananda Their very essence has to be sucked, because a desire is not an outward form or an action; it is a tendency within. You may do nothing, and yet you will have desires, because desire is not necessarily an activity. A desireful person need not be very active. He can be sitting quiet, doing nothing, saying nothing, and yet be full of desires because it is a tendency of the mind, an inclination of consciousness, that we call a desire. That can be inside, even if there is outwardly nothing. This is the Vikshepa Sakti – distraction, tossing and the chameleon-attitude of desire – which attacks us, when, with herculean efforts, we try to destroy or gain control over Kama and Krodha, Madhu and Kaitabha. After Madhu and Kaitabha, we get Mahishasura and Raktabija. Thus Mala and Vikshepa are the primary oppositions in our spiritua