NL Vol-1 Mail Issue 23

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Volume: 1Issue :23

10th December, 2009ThursdayNachiketanjali

NACHIKETA TAPOVAN ASHRAMGairan Tanda, Kodgal Village, Jadcherla Mandal, Mahaboobnagar Dist-509301

Ph: +91-40-23113887 Mobile: 98491 68937 www.nachiketatapovan.orgE-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Our best work is done; our greatest influence is exerted, when

we are without thought of self.

I can never refuse

anyone who addresses

me as Mother.

- Sarada Devi

16

BOOK-POST

TO,

Let us open ourselves to the one Divine Actor, and let Him act,

and do nothing ourselves.

For Private Circulation only

Tapovan's Balayogis

Our little shimmering stars of Nachiketa Tapovan Vidya Mandir

love to express themselves in the form of drawings, paintings

and poems. Here's a glimpse of the magic of our star!

We love them all dearly!

Kasim

Anand

NACHIKETA TAPOVANPlot No.70, Phase I, Kavuri Hills, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500 033

Phone No. 040 23113887 Mobile No. 9849168937Regd. By Govt. of A.P. (Regd. No. 53/IV/99)


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EDITORIAL

Subhadra K.

As desire increases, so increases the power of pleasure, so the

power of pain.

Contents Page No.

Message by Swamiji 3Mataji's Message 4Eternal Values 5Spiritual Quest 6Celebrations 7Ashram 8Reader's Article 10

Upanishad 11Publications & Events 12Upcoming Events 13Sponsor Options 14An Appeal 15

Quotes bySwami Vivekananda

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor

Subhadra K.

Editorial Consultants:

Annapurna R.Sowja A.

Despite the infrastructure provided in

religious literature to get over the problems

in life, there still lurk doubts among even

those who hold to Gods feet, as why they

are being subjected to grief though they

offer worship and prayers to God. The

sufferings and pleasures are related to the

past actions. People have to experience theconsequences. We adore the rose and enjoy

its fragrance. But the rose comes with the

thorns. If we want the rose we have to accept

the thorns. It comes as a package.

Adopting devotional exercises will certainly

enable us to gain moral strength. The grief

will be mitigated. Seeking the company of

the pious, devout and selfless people is one

of the methods of developing devotion. The

reason is that they dont indulge in idle

gossip. Their thoughts are always pinned toGod. They will not hanker after material

benefits. As such, in their midst, we will also

be acquiring the traits which make us eligible

to approach God. It is equally important to

choose friends who will be in a position to

give us only genuine and proper guidance,

when we need it badly. Friendship so secured,

after due discrimination, should remain

everlasting like a treaty made in good faith.

The best example is that of the rain water.

It pours down on different surfaces of the

earth but when dug out, it bears the

characteristics of the soil through which it

flowed. Human mind has the tendency to

change in accordance with the traits of

companions. Keeping good company is

essential for facing the currents bravely.

3This is the one central idea in the Gita: work incessantly, but be

not attached to it.

Intention

Swami Nachiketananda

There was a beautiful girl in a small

village. She always had to go to the

forest to get firewood. One day when

she was collecting firewood, four

youngsters caught and tried to

physically assault her. She was bold

and courageous and put up a fight but

in front of four devils she was helpless.One passerby who was young,

energetic and handsome saw this

occurrence and fought with those guys

and saved her life. She thanked that

gentleman for saving her life. Then

he said "It is getting dark and my house

is nearby so come with me, spend the

night in my house and tomorrow I shall

drop you at your house". She had no

other option than to accept his

proposal as it was getting dark and her

village was quite far away.

When they reached his house he

offered tea and asked her to take a

bath. He gave his clothes too. While

she was taking bath he prepared

dinner. Then they both had dinner

together. After dinner when it was

time to go to bed, he caught her

hands and in a gentle voice asked her

if she can share the bed with him. She

was stunned and shocked. That

moment she felt that she had lost herinner strength. She felt as if somebody

is pouring hot oil in her ears. She felt

those are not the helping hands of a

saviors but the shackles which will

create a permanent mark on her.

Tears started rolling down her cheeks.

The same

young girl who

was able to

fight against

four devils was

not able to

fight against

one devil. Inthat very

moment everything started flashing in

front of her eyes and she remembered

how her mother brought her up and

shown the path of divinityhow she

nurtured and shaped her while going

through the turmoil of lifehow she

starved and fed herhow she used to tell

the stories of Ma Sita, Savitri and Kunti

and tried to infuse tender valueshow

she taught her to fight against

corruption, wrong act and gave her tight

hugs whenever she was in distressand

today?

No matter how knowledgeable we are,

we feel helpless in such situations. Action

devoid of good intention will always

damage the very purpose of life. There

are people who can guide and mould if

needed, but before that it is important

for every human being to understand the

intention. Situations are bound to be

there with or without good intentions.Hence it is time for the beautiful girl

hidden in every human being to decide

the course of life, to reorganize inner

strength and thrash if it is wrong or accept

if it is right.


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4That wonderful poem, without one note in it, of weakness

or unmanliness.

Swami Shivanandamayi

Application of Gita

Gita Jayanthi is a

wonderful and auspicious

day in the history of

Sanatana Dharma. Today is

the day when a new Veda,

Panchama Veda has taken birth. Today

is the day when lord of the lords, Sri

Krishna imparted the Brahma Vidya,the Yoga shastra to Arjuna. So it was a

true Gita Jayanti in Arjunas life, thats

why he had a glimpse of Vishwaroopa;

that was the Gita Jayanti in Arjunas

life but not in our life.

What I feel personally is just by

reading Bhagavad Gita hundreds and

thousands of times and trying to

analyze, by having discussion for hours

together on Bhagavad Gita, we can

understand but we may not experience

Bhagavad Gita. Understanding andexperiencing are two different aspects.

When you experience Bhagavad Gita

that day will be the true Gita Jayanti in

your life.

How to experience Bhagavad Gita?

Sometimes you may feel

attachments, relationships,

responsibilities, family and society are

the few obstacles on the path of

spirituality. But once you experience

Bhagavad Gita, all the obstacles

become powerful tools on the path ofspirituality.

Bhagavad Gita is a Sanjeevani for

each and every individual in the

universe. By following Bhagavad Gita

a warrior can learn the art of yuddha,

a Bhakta can draw divine nectar, a Yogi

can find the way of Union with the

Supreme soul, a Sanyasi can find true

renunciation, a Jnani can draw a true

knowledge, a house holder can bring

balance between family life and

spiritual life etc There are many

streams of Yoga given by Lord Krishna

to the mankind. Bhagavad Gita is auniversal message and a timeless

wisdom which helps us to cross this

ocean of Samsara.

When Arjuna wanted to escape

from the Dharma Yuddha, Jagadguru

Sri Krishna removed the clouds of

ignorance from Arjunas mind by

singing the divine song of Brahma

Vidya and made him experience the

ultimate spiritual reality of the

Brahman. Bhagavad Gita or this

divine song is going on in us constantly,but we are not paying attention to it.

If you experience Bhagavad Gita you

can listen to that divine song. To

experience Bhagavad Gita you need

not by-heart entire Bhagavd Gita.

Take any one sloka which you like most

and practice it in your daily life, then

the day will come when you can

experience entire Bhagavad Gita, like

Sant Meera and Sant Tukaram. That

day is a true Gita Jayanthi in your life.

Then you will not only celebrate GitaJayanthi once in a year, but every

moment of your life. You can

experience that essence of Gita in

every breath of life. Jai Ma Gita, jai

Ma Gita , Jai Ma Gita.

5Infinite faith and strength are the only conditions of success.

R. Annapurna

Eternal Values

Whenever I am on the city roads

commuting, I cant help notice the chaos,

rashness, recklessness, and lack of chivalry

spilling among the citizens of Hyderabad

which is more or less a unit of India. Each

person is looking out only for him/herself

and walking in a daze. And what is with the

suicides in our state? Somewhere along the

course of time Suicide superseded guns andknives as a weapon whose domain is

expanding every day from domestic to

academic, social and political fields. Looking

at all this one cant help wonder as to what

happened to the tenets on which our

culture is based. Why is there a wide gap

between what we can do and what we do,

what we learn and what we apply, what

we talk and what we deliver!

We could find answers to our questions in

the teachings of Revered Srimat Swami

Ranganathanandaji Maharaj. Swamiji was

born on 15th December 1908 in Thrissur near

Trichur in Kerala. We pay a humble tribute

to the Great Karmayogi of the Modern

age by regurgitating his teachings from the

following excerpts from My Life is My Work

published by Nachiketa Tapovan.

In fact, in all civilized societies

more human beings of Sattvik type

are present. We have to treat

even a criminal with some

respect. We are very rough

in dealing with other human

beings. A little element ofSattva

must come into our lives. Whenpeople think about this, they get

the impulse to change from tamas

to rajas and from rajas to sattva.

That is the importance of this

science of three gunas

All culture is the product of

discipline of the impulses; and

culture is specifically a human

phenomenon A little gap

between the input and output,

even the most ordinary men have.Just put a little stop between input

and output. Suppose somebody

abuses me; immediately I abuse

back. Dont do so; that means you

are an animal, an automaton as

we say "If the action is one

unit the reaction can be ten units,

or it can be no unit. You are

handling your own mind. You are

creating a sense of calmness

within. Great achievements will

come thereby.Today if we want to develop our

nation into a powerful one, we

need to change the mind of the

people, make it a trained mind, not

a stuffed brain.


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6The Impersonal God seen through the mists of

sense is personal.

SPIRITUAL QUESTSwamiji answers questions from the seekers.

Questions are welcome from everyone.

They can be e-mailed to [email protected]

Will the knowledge of Ayurveda

help a sadhaka on the spiritual

path?

Ans: Yes. Any kind of knowledge

helps a sadhaka while treading thespiritual path. Knowledge is a

beautiful means of transport

through which sadhakas can

transform their lives and cross the

ocean of samsara. About Ayurveda,

there are many herbs which can be

a wonderful substitute for hunger,

lethargy, and so many other hurdles

in life. But how to use those herbs

while treading spiritual path is more

important. Now-a-days people are

administering herbs only to damagethemselves and others physically,

mentally, emotionally and

spiritually. They are enjoying

temporary happiness and paying

heavily for that experience,

whereas genuine sadhakas will

never entertain herbs and will follow

the path and food habits intended

for. Ayurveda says, food should be

taken like a medicine, similarly herbs

also can be taken like a medicine.

No doubt Ayurveda is a wonderful

storehouse for genuine sadhakas

but a disastrous knowledge for the

person who just started journey into

spirituality without knowing the real

purpose of using it for higher

dimensions of life.

What are the major obstacles in a

sadhakas life?

Ans: Thought is the biggest hurdle on

the path of spirituality. If sadhaka is

practicing as per guidelines set by qualifiedsouls then there is possibility to go beyond

the thought, whereas without guideline

and proper understanding if sadhakas try

to march towards their goal, they get

entangled into thought itself.

Take the example of Japa. Japa is a

divine thoughtbut still it is a thought. If

we are going to cling onto it, then no

matter whether we pass through divinity,

we may get only glimpse of it but not the

total experience. It is like we are

travelling by train and having a glimpse

of a beautiful city sorrounded by nature.

But still it is a glimpse not the real city. If

we want to experience the city then we

need to get down from the train and

enter into city to experience it.

Paramhamsa Ramakrishna used to have

Kali Darshan. Once His Guru told him to

cut Kali into thousand pieces with the

help of 'Viveka' and go beyond. Thus we

need to understand how to drop this

biggest hurdle and dive deep into divinity.

No one can get anything unless he earns it. This is

an eternal law. 7

Gita Jayanti and Datta Jayanti Celebrations

Gita Jayanthi marks the

anniversary of the day

Lord Krishna gave His

"Immortal Message" to

Arjuna on the battlefield

of Kurukshetra. The

birthday of the Bhagavad

Gita, is celebratedthroughout India by all

the admirers and lovers

of this most sacred

scripture on the 11th day

Ekadashi , of the month

of Margashirsh. At Tapovan Swami

Nachiketananda consented to give His

Divine Message and after chanting

verses from Bhakti yoga elaborated

on the sublime message of the Gita. His

gospel embodied words of wisdom

coming from the infinite ocean of

knowledge, the Absolute Itself. He

stressed on the fact that mere talks and

lectures will not help us in any way and

putting into practice the teachings of

the song celestial

is very essential. He

gave the audience

instructions on how

to live an inspired

life and how to deal

with situations inlife.

Datta Jayanthi is the

birth celebrations of Adi

Guru Dattatreya, the

Trimurti Avatar of

Brahma, Vishnu and

Shiva and is observed on

the full moon day in the

month of Margashirsh.Nachiketa Tapovan

celebrated this great

event on December 1st

2009. Swamiji invited

Smt Sandhya, a

volunteer of Tapovan to enlighten the

Vidya mandir children on the great

Avatar. After lighting the lamp she

narrated the story of Dattatreya who

is the son of Atri Maharshi and

Anasuya and how the Trinity granted

her the boon of becoming her son.He remained an Avaduta-a sage who

remains in pure nature and had 24

gurus whom he found in nature and

society. Smt Sandhya gave a very

knowledgeable account on the Guru

and related it to

Sanathana Dharma.

The children were

i m m e n s e l y

benefited by her

talk. They had

spiritual Prasad

along with food.


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9As soon as you make a sect, you protest against universal brotherhood.8

Temple

Temple work in progress at Nachiketa Tapovan Ashram, Gairan Tanda, Kodgal Village, Jadcherla Mandal

It is always good to give a few strong strokes and rest on your oars.


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11There is no new religious idea preached anywhere which

is not found in the Vedas.

Yoga Vashishtha

Once upon a time in a city that did not

exist, lived three brave and happy princes

two of whom were unborn and one was

never conceived. In a tragedy all their

relatives died and the princes left their

place and set out to go elsewhere. The

journey was long and tough. To escape

the scorching Suns ferocity they soughtthe shade of three trees of which two did

not exist and the third was not even

planted. They ate the fruits of the trees

and rested for some time before they

proceeded further.

They reached the banks of three rivers;

two of which were dry and third had no

water. The princes had a refreshing bath

and quenched their thirst in them and

furthered their journey. They rode into a

huge city which was about to be built. Inthe city they came across three

magnificent buildings of which two were

not built and the third had no walls. They

entered the palaces and found three

golden plates; two were broken and the

third was pulverized. They picked up the

pulverized plate, took ninety nine minus

one hundred grams of rice and cooked it.

The princes invited three holy men as

their guests; of them two had no body

and the third had no mouth. After the

holy guests had eaten, the princes sharedthe remaining food to their full. And they

lived in that city for a great long time in

peace and joy.

This was a story narrated by

Brahmarshi Vasistha as a part of His

teachings to young Sri Rama to illustrate

how mind in its state of ignorance

imagines bondage. What is known as

creation is no more than real than the

people in this story. This world is

nothing more than an idea. Vasitha

teaches Sri Rama to Reject the error

of ideation and be free of ideas;

remain rooted in truth and attain

peace. (Adapted from Vasisthas

Yoga by Swami Venkatesananda)

10The real individuality is that which never changes and will

never change; and that is the God within us.

Religion and purpose of life

Perhaps the best description of

religion is what Swami Vivekananda

says To be good and to do good is

the whole of religion. I have never

come across so simple a sentence that

describes religion. Most of us think

religion to be rituals and sacrifices to

be performed but religion is muchmore than. It is through service to

humanity that we serve God. But

unfortunately most people do not

stop to think that for a moment. Our

first duty is towards our parents,

family and community. It is through

our fellow feeling and love we can

realize God. Most of us should

remember to show respect to elders,

behave well with all, totally abstain

from rash behavior, anger and hate.

To love and care for animals for they

are so innocent and dependent on us.

It is very simple but it has to be

consciously inculcated till it becomes

a habit. It will then come from within;

then our lives will be worthy of our

birth, or else all is wasted. In todays

fast world we do not often care for

others; our selfish motives do not take

into consideration others work. If we

think of others as our own, all

problems will get solvedautomatically. If we are traveling in

bus and consider the person standing

in front of us as our brother or sister

and carry his/her bag or ask him/her

to sit in our chair for a while it

becomes so pleasant. Then no such Sukanya Ghosh

thing as stranger will ever exist. But it

has to be practiced knowingly. Finally your

or my way of thinking will influence

somebody else and a chain will be built.

Then we can dream of a society which is

truly united, compassionate, humanitarian

and ready to serve God.


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12Life and death are only different names for the same fact , the two

sides of the same coin.

Announcement

Dear Readers,

We are happy to announce the launch of

NACHIKETANJALI, a monthly magazine

with spiritual flavour for all age groups,

on January the 26th

of 2010.The response to the Announcement

cum pre-launch meet held at Tapovan

on the 5th of December 2009

was encouraging and soulful.

You are invited to be a part of Nachiketanjali by

Subscribing to the Magazine

Encouraging subscriptions

Gift subscribing to schools, Libraries,

charitable Institutes and organizations

Writing articles, stories, columns etc.

Contributing educational material

Becoming patrons

Becoming a core member or panelist

Being a sponsor or referring to sponsors

Please note that

Dec.25th issue of Nachiketanjali will be the last newsletter

making way to Nachiketanjali the magazine, February issue

of which will be debuting on January 26 th. There will be no

newsletter or magazine for the month of January. Thesubscription details will be posted shortly.

13The future is only the extension of the present.

Upcoming Events

Celebrations of Ma Sarada Devi JayantiOn December 22nd 2009

At Nachiketa TapovanAt Nachiketa TapovanAt Nachiketa TapovanAt Nachiketa TapovanAt Nachiketa Tapovan

Timings: 10.00 am to 12.00 noonTimings: 10.00 am to 12.00 noonTimings: 10.00 am to 12.00 noonTimings: 10.00 am to 12.00 noonTimings: 10.00 am to 12.00 noon

PERSONALITY

DEVELOPMENT CAMP

Venue:

MNR College

on

Friday 18th December 2009

Timings:

9.00 am to 12.30 pm

Ma Shivanandamayi, who has

attained Asan Siddhi, Mastered the

art of Nauli and has reached the

heights of spiritualism will be

conducting this programme

Swami Ranganathananda's

Birthday Celebrations

on Tuesday

December 15th 2009

Christmas Eve

Celebrations

on Thursday

December 24th 2009


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14First you have to hear, then think, and then practice. This is true of

every yoga.

SPONSOR OPTIONS

Anna daanam maha daanam; vidya daanam mahattaram.

Annena kshanika trupthihi yaavajjeevanthu vidyaya.

Vidya Mandir at Nachiketa Tapovan is currently able to accommodate a family

of about 150 children who receive all-round nourishment from man-making

education to milk-n- meals and basic health- aid in an atmosphere of genuine

love. Kind-hearted Well wishers have been the unseen force behind this offeringto God. We thank you for your continued support.

Vidya Daanam (Education ) Rs. 3500/ year/student

Anna Daanam (Mid-day Meals) Rs. 2800/day

Ksheera Daanam (Morning Milk) Rs. 600/day

Vastra Daanam (Uniforms) Rs. 600/ 2 pairs

Dinnerware (Steel Plates & Glasses) Rs. 5000/ 50 sets

Stationery Supplies (Copier Paper) Rs. 5000/ term

Festivals Celebration Rs. 1500/festival

Oushadhi (Medical Suppl ies) Rs. 5000/month

15

DearAtman

No man is an island. To fight the good

fight we need help. This has been the

basis for the Nachiketa Tapovans

inception and ensuing growth over the

last 10 years from a hut into a 3 storied-

building onto a 40 acre spiritual

complex. Imparting literacy to children

from impoverished families was the idea

with which the divine project started

before it grew into a multifarious

movement. All along Tapovans efforts

received great support from you all in

every way bringing fruition to the noble

intent..

The main focus has never shifted from

Vidya Mandir. Nachiketa Tapovan has

become the haven for the

underprivileged children who have

been nourished with not only milk and

food but also good academicssupplemented by the traditional values

of India. Vidya Mandir will be taking a

big stride this June from offering

Primary Education extending onto

Secondary Education. That is, this

academic year, Vidya Mandir will offer

classes ranging from LKG through 6th

grade.

It requires additional resources, both

monetary as well as human to fund this

progressive step. We hereby make a

fervent appeal for generous donations.

Please participate in this Vidya Daana

Yaga being performed to benefit the

most deserving children and help passon the legacy of our Cultural heritage,

Social values and Religious traditions.

It may kindly be noted that donations

to Nachiketa Tapovan are exempted

from Income Tax U/S 80 G of IT Act,

1961 of Govt. of India. Donations in

the form of Cheques/Demand Drafts

may please be drawn in favour of

Nachiketa Tapovan. We acknowledge

the generous contributions made by

donors.

Swami Nachiketananda

Yours in the service of Motherland

AN APPEAL

By the study of different religions we find that in essence

they are one.

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