Devotional Approach To Knowledge & Surrender

How is the premise that all men are mortal arrived at? Followers of the inductive method wish to arrive at this premise through experiment and observation। We may thus study that this man died and that man died, and after seeing that so many men have died we may conclude or generalise that all men are mortal. The major defect in this method is that our experience is limited. We may never have seen a man who is not mortal, but we are judging this on our personal experience, which is finite. Our senses have limited power, and there are so many defects in our conditioned state. The inductive process consequently is not always perfect, whereas the deductive process from a source of perfect knowledge is perfect. The Vedic process is such a process. There are successive disciples of Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya' Nimbarka, Vishnuswami and other great sages. Vedic literature is understood through masters. Arjuna understood the Bhagavad Gita from Krishna, and if we wish to understand it, we have to do so — so to speak — from Arjuna. We ought to tally our understanding with that of Arjuna to know that our understanding is correct. The Gita is neither an ordinary book of knowledge nor a dictionary. It is not difficult to understand the necessity of going through rigorous tutelage to understand the Gita. If we wish to be a lawyer, engineer or doctor, we have to receive the knowledge from qualified lawyers, engineers or doctors. A new lawyer has to become an apprentice of an experienced lawyer, or a young man studying to be a doctor has to become an intern and work with those who are already licensed practitioners. Our knowledge of a subject cannot be perfected unless we receive it through authoritative sources. This has been acknowledged in the Gita. In the Bhagavatam, Vamana said to Shukracharya, the spiritual master of demons: "Your disciple Bali Maharaj is in difficulty, it will be befitting for you to perform yajna for his benefit". Shukracharya smiled and replied, "My disciple has seen you and you have graced him... and he has performed 'Anusankirtana'' that is, he has recapitulated your Name, Form, Attributes, Pastimes, after hearing about these from a bona fide pure devotee. Where is the necessity of performing Karmakanda Yajna? By utterance of your Holy name and glories, all defects in the utterance of mantra and tantra (inversion of sequence) and sinister influence of place, time and articles are removed". Anusankirtana means recapitulation of the glories of the Supreme Lord, heard through a bona fide preceptorial channel. Preferably, the hearing should be from a bona fide devotee, not from a professional singer. The Brihad Naradiya Purana emphasises that the way in kaliyuga is Harinama. Sage Veda Vyasa confirms the same in the Bhagavatam. There are infinite forms of devotion, of which chanting of the Holy Name is the foremost. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has given the following five principal forms of devotion: association of sadhus, chanting of the Name, hearing of the Bhagavatam, dwelling in transcendental realm of Mathura Dham, and worship of deities with firm faith. Out of these, namasankirtana is the best. The writer is president, All India Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math and World Vaishnava Association.

Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj

Art of management for executives and yogis

Self-management is at the base of any external management effort। It is an internal process of managing one's body, thoughts, intellect, emotions and spirit. It is a process of trying to overcome emotions like anger, jealousy, greed, ego, and undue attachment. It is a process of developing concentration, equipoise, tolerance, the ability to take calculated risks and plan long term. Yoga aids self-management as it is a philosophy of life, not restricted to just asana and pranayama. It is a path of allround development of an individual: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Patanjali defined yoga as a technique of mind control. Vashishta said yoga is a skilful strategy to calm down the mind. Both managers and yogis are expected to remain steadfast in situations both favourable and unfavourable. In the most-quoted verse 48 of chapter two of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna advises: "Being steadfast in yoga, O Arjuna, perform actions, abandoning attachment, remaining unconcerned as regards success and failure. This evenness of mind is known as yoga. A manager is required to use authority. But unless authority is combined with dispassion, the result can be contrary to expectation. Today's manager is required to have qualities of a good leader - ability to construct a creative vision and capacity to have trusting relationship with large number of people with whose help this vision is to be fulfilled. External milieu, with all its network and artifacts, is in truth a projection of man's internal milieu. A manager with clarity of personal goals and calmness of mind can only be an able manager. This is where yoga helps. Man is in the first part of the word manager, thereby indicating the need for man-management as the most crucial part of management. As Swami Anubhavanandji puts it, management is an intuitive art of relating yourself with various stakeholders in a company such as staff, customers and suppliers. Yoga teaches us the art of treating every human being as a form of the divine. Use of higher consciousness in dealing with people is sure to result in better motivation and loyalty among stakeholders. There are certain key differences between western management concepts and yoga based management. The former starts with the premise that a person remains inactive unless propelled by action through motivation - money, position or recognition. Yoga-based management starts with the belief that every individual is divine by nature and the purpose of yoga is to bring out this divinity. Any individual, by nature, wants to do good work but unsuitable conditioning may prevent him from doing so. Commitment in the true sense can only be inspired for a cause bigger and better than self. Western management philosophy puts primary emphasis on competition, while in yoga way, the emphasis is on collaboration and individual creativity. In the West there is greater emphasis on goal achievement for the firm, while in yogic management, success of the firm is an inevitable by-product of the holistic goal of making this world a better place to live in with the spirit of yajna. In the former, karma is an input which can be hired, while Indian philosophy focuses on duty as one's dharma.

Throwing moods out

This is a wonderful method to throw out your moods or emotions। It is one of Patanjali's techniques from the Yoga Sutra in which he says: The mind becomes tranquil by alternately expelling and retaining the breath. Osho explains further how breathing and thinking are deeply connected, as if they are two aspects of one phenomenon. If you are little mindful you will find that whenever the mind changes, the breathing changes. For example, you are angry: immediately the breathing changes, the rhythm is gone. When you are silent and relaxed, the breathing has a different rhythm. Try this: The next time anger erupts, don't allow the breathing to change; retain the rhythm of the breath as if you are happy. Anger is not possible then because the breathing forces the inner glands in the body to release chemicals in the blood. The body is ready to fight or take flight; the body is in an emergency. This change comes through hammering of the breathing. Whenever you feel that the mind is not tranquil, first exhale deeply. Always start by exhaling. Exhale deeply: As much as you can, throw the air out. While throwing out air, the mood will be thrown out too because breath carries the mood. Expel the breath as far as possible. Pull the belly in and retain for a few seconds. Let the air out and don't inhale for a few seconds. Allow the body to inhale: Inhale deeply as much as you can. Again stop for a few seconds. The gap should be the same as when you exhale - if you kept the breath out for three seconds retain the breath inside you for three seconds. Exhale totally and inhale totally, and make a rhythm. Breathe in, hold then breathe out, hold: Immediately you will feel a change coming into your whole being. The mood will go and a new climate will enter you.

Amrit Sadhana