spiritual regeneration

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namast�

As I look and listen from around the world it comes to me that there cannot be peace on this good earth without a spiritual regeneration.

Now why is this so ? Because within differentiated and fragmented awareness its purpose is more diversity. This diversity in and of itself has brought variety to the world and we see this play thought-out nature. For human society this diversity has brought many technological improvements within the world ( iphones, computers, commutations at the speed of light) yet it has not brought balance and harmony to society. So many gadets, so many games, toys, devices, yet people are still looking for more.

So, one thinks, let's do away with this technology , we then will find peace at hand. While this may pass some ~logical~ test, it falls short on the proper view of what is lacking. Now what is lacking ? Balance within the individual. This is more then the proper amounts of vitamin A,B, C, proteins, calcium and the like. This nutrition balance is valuable, but it does not solve the overall issue of what is lacking - balance.

And what of this balance? It is the proper balance of dynamic activity with dynamic deep silence. It is Diversity supported with the full awareness of unity. In our lives the differentiated/multiplicity of life's actions to possess more has trumped the undifferentiated purity of of the silence of Being. It is as if a movie that plays on the big silver screen has forgotten that its own image dances on this screen and without this screen it has no existence.

So what is needed ? Spiritual Regeneration as I see it. The infusion of the silence of Being that lives and supports activity yet is not ~stained~ by the excessive engagement of action ( that brings about more actions and more differentiated awareness).

So , one must ask, what is the actions, process, approach for spiritual regeneration ? It is far beyond belief or prayer. And this is my question to the esteemed HDF reader. What in your mind is a comprehensive view ( or components) of what this spiritual regeneration may look like ?

All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone ― Blaise Pascal


iti śivaṁ

[smaranam]

praNAm

So , one must ask, what is the actions, process, approach for spiritual regeneration ? It is far beyond belief or prayer. And this is my question to the esteemed HDF reader. What in your mind is a comprehensive view ( or components) of what this spiritual regeneration may look like ?

It comes with grace from the Supreme.

1. Passion for adhyAtma - like searching deep inside the heart-forest without much thought of the outer world, hunger, thirst or other comforts.

2. The drive and automatic instinct to dive deep into the ocean to catch the chintAmaNi-diamond that is only an arm's distance away, but not yet caught. Once caught, the "thing" that keeps the sadhak latched onto its infinite beauty indefinitely.

3. The intense greed to obtain some kind of service to Govind and His devotees in the world, heart and Gokul.

4. The irrational interest in watching ShyAmsundar walk around (in rapt attention). His Lotus Feet are so so soft that when they fall on dry twigs, stones, it gives the Gopis a heart attack. His Lotus Hands are so Lotus that the way they hold the flute or pet the cow is something that no piece of art can beat. His Lotus Face is undescribable and so is the expression on it. His Lotus voice, speech, attitude, artistic asthetic beauty, bonding, promises, integrety...

For the devotee who has caught a short glimpse of the infinite liquid chintAmaNi ocean called VAsudev a.k.a. GhanaShyAm there is no turning back. Gone is the world. Gone are the gadgets, fascination for technological advancement (although perhaps able to appreciate the genius from a distance). Gone are mundane social networks and mundane interests - be they individual or group. Gone into the forgotton background is the worldly [hyper]activity as if an ignored TV screen with CNN or other news channels on and nobody watching.

vachaman charitam gamanam nRtyam sakhyam dRshTam shishTam gunjA mAlA Gopi gwAlA haraNam ramaNam rUpam tilakam bramitam samitam salilam kamalam YamunA veNu reNu ....
MadhurAdhipater akhilam madhuram...

continued...

[smaranam]

vachaman charitam gamanam nRtyam sakhyam dRshTam shishTam gunjA mAlA Gopi gwAlA haraNam ramaNam rUpam tilakam bramitam samitam salilam kamalam YamunA veNu reNu ....
MadhurAdhipater akhilam madhuram...

For the devotee who has caught a short glimpse of the infinite liquid chintAmaNi ocean called VAsudev a.k.a. GhanaShyAm there is no turning back. Gone is the world. Gone into the forgotton background is the worldly [hyper]activity as if an ignored TV screen with CNN or other news channels on and nobody watching.

continued...

Govinda DAmodara MAdhaveti - a must watch (Eng subtitles)
(instead of shouting "Milk for Sale!" the cowherd girls shout GovindA! DAmodarA!! mAdhavA!!!, also in sleep, and wherever they go, as they have gone mad)

vikretukAmAkhila gopa kanyA murAri pAdArpita chitta vRtti
dadhyAdikam mohavashAdavochad Govinda DAmodara MAdhava iti

gRhe gRhe gopa-vadhu kadambA sarve militvA samvayayoge
puNyAni nAmAni paThanti nityam Govinda DAmodara MAdhava iti

sukhAMshayAna nilaye nije-api nAmAni vishnoh: pravadanti martyah:
te nischitam tanmayatan vrajanti Govinda DAmodara MAdheva iti

jivhe sadaiva bhaja sundarANI nAmAni KRsNasya manoharANI
samasta bhaktArta vinAshanAni Govinda DAmodara MAdhava iti

**sukhAvasAne idam eva sAram, dukhAvasAne idam eva jneyam
dehAvasAne idam eva jApyam Govinda DAmodara MAdhaveti

...

jivhe rasadnye madhurapriyA tvam satyam hitam tvAM paramam vagAmi
AvarNayeyA madhurAksharANI Govinda Damodara MAdhava iti

---------------------------------------------

QUESTION: What is the process?
ANSWER:


SB1.2.7
vāsudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaḿ
j�ānaḿ ca yad ahaitukam
By devotion/rendering devotional service unto VAsudev, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.

SB1.2.6
sa vai puḿsāḿ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.

SB 1.1.3
nigama-kalpa-taror galitaḿ phalaḿ
śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saḿyutam
pibata bhāgavataḿ rasam ālayaḿ
muhur aho rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ
O expert and thoughtful men, relish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls.

SB 1.2.14: Therefore, with one-pointed attention, one should constantly hear about, glorify, remember and worship the Personality of Godhead, who is the protector of the devotees.
SB 1.2.15: With sword in hand, intelligent men cut through the binding knots of reactionary work [karma] by remembering the Personality of Godhead. Therefore, who will not pay attention to His message?
SB 1.2.16: O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vāsudeva.
SB 1.2.17: Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.
SB 1.2.18: By regularly hearing the Bhāgavatam from a bhAgvat (pure devotee), and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.
SB 1.2.19: As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.
SB 1.2.20: Thus established in the mode of unalloyed goodness, the man whose mind has been enlivened by contact with devotional service to the Lord gains positive scientific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead in the stage of liberation from all material association.
SB 1.2.21: Thus the knot in the heart is pierced, and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions is terminated when one sees the self as master.
SB 1.2.22: Certainly, therefore, since time immemorial, all transcendentalists have been rendering devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, with great delight, because such devotional service is enlivening to the self.


short answer: Process: drink the intoxicant called Shri KRshNa RAdhavar Gokulesh Gopal Govardhana natha Vishnoh...

jivhe pivasvAmRtam etad eva Govinda DAmodara MAdhaveti

_/\_

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast� smaranam

Thank you for your contributions...
It seems to me that you have nicely outlined an orientation for those that contribute to their spiritual pursuits on a daily basis. Your offers ( IMHO) would nurture their practices, and this is worthy of merit.

The pickle, as far as I can see it, is working with the vast portion of the population where a spiritual orientation is outside their daily mind set.

We may look at a few groups in this manner:

• It ( some level of spiritual pursuit) may be there from time to time
• It may be there on rare occasions
• the person is more brutish and it is not even within the person's mind set

Based upon my observations of the world today, it seems to me these people overall are the majority. What then to do ?

I think one possible solution is to find ways that allow these people to pursue what they normally wish to do, but offer them some approach that enhances their area of interest, but at the same time unfolds their spiritual constitution. That is, a real upāya - that by which one reaches one's aim , a means or expedient. This elegant word is also defined as 'a means of success against an enemy'. What is the 'enemy' here ? Ignorance .

If there is interest I can add to the conversation.

iti śivaṁ

[NayaSurya]

"What in your mind is a comprehensive view ( or components) of what this spiritual regeneration may look like ?"

The components of my own reawakening in 2001.

I think often times it involves some sort of catalyst...something which brings you to a point of seeking.

For me, it was a vision my mother experienced before she died...and my whole family witnessed.

I was always seeking, but her confirmation of what i was feeling in my heart shot me to the moon.

But, after that glow subsides there has to be something more to bring you round.

That was reading, education and earnest work, sadhana.

Education is the thing which seems to cause much of the problems in our world, the lack of it.

But, education isn't even the end.

Once you have all that knowledge in your head you have to find a way to merge it and blend it with your living situation.

For me, this has been a situation of great patience. As i can not just pray all day to Mahadeva as i have been...it was causing me to simply slip away.

That balance between what you know and what you are bound to do...our dharma. That balance is so vital.

You have to begin to talk the walk and walk your talk. When the words and actions align...something magical happens.

[shiv.somashekhar]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namast�

As I look and listen from around the world it comes to me that there cannot be peace on this good earth without a spiritual regeneration.

Isn't spirituality all about the soul and its emancipation? I do not see what it has to do with world peace.

Most of the world does lead a peaceful life. As for afflicted regions, we have to accept that a certain percentage of the population will always cause trouble in some form or shape. Human nature combined with the right(or wrong circumstances) will lead to aggression. I do not see spirituality playing any role here. Interestingly, leaders who spearhead such conflicts almost always appear to be theists - a bit of irony.

[ShivaFan]

Namaste �

Let's put this on a practical, day to day level. �The first question is, what is "peace"? � Some couch this in terms of "world peace", which then other "bleeding hearts" further couch this in terms of "the absence of war". �

But I don't think very many Hindus would define this as peace, nor would pretty much even a single Guru or saint would define peace in this manner, not even world peace. �After all, a young chinese girl thrown in a communist chinese prison for refusing to abort her 3rd child under China's "one child policy", I don't think she has "peace". �Nor a relgious minded priest or pandit thrown in a Cuban torture cell or a Pakistani "human organ prison mill" has much peace even if there is no war at the time.

Since peace is an individual perrogative, I suppose it is possible, though unlikely unless spiritual regeneration is on the soul level and personally developed. � Which is not easy to do in this society. �

Like today. I have to go out and run some errands, getting ready to do yard work and later write some computer scripts and pull a bunch of data down from the cloud, and other activities, I may think "ok ShivaFan, how can you make these activities to regenerate the spiritual?". �

There is only one way I know how, it is sort of in align with what Smaranam was saying, though I am not at the fragrant level of a flower as this member whom is an example of what truly is possible, and that is the only thing I can do is either (1) drop all these activities and perhaps read some sacred text which someone else may try and insult and tell me I am not allowed to do, or do Bhakti, or (2) still do these activities but combine Bhakti while doing them (keep thinking of the Lord in image, chant or sing, see the birds around me and be happy in the Divine). � I then become rejuvenated a lot, personally. �Maybe it might "rub off" on others as well, which actually does happen. �

But not to everyone. �In today's activity, I go out to a local grocery. �This is the same one my wife goes to. � One week ago, right in front of the automatic door of the grocery store entrance, a moslem lady was trying to get her shopping cart free from the cart queue right in front of the grocery door, her husband already just entered, and some lunatic comes up to her back and stabs her in the back of the lower neck, then stabs her in the throat when she turns around. �Others chase the freak, as he ran, tackled and threw him down and got the bloody knife. �The grocery store had already called the police before the stabbing to report this very scary person lurking around the carts, but they never bothered to come. �Now they had a freak and a half dead woman in critical condition to deal with upon the second call 2 hours later.

� That could have been my wife.

�What am I going to do about it? �I told her. �I am getting her a taser gun to carry, one of thos high electric shock devices used by some police departments, and she isn't going to that store alone.

� I go out in my car, and I am surrounded by scum. �They worship violence, they consider women second class citizens and "b•%ches" which is the common term, to be abused, they are actually the most selfish scum as well who think they are better than everyone else because they have memorized all the names, teams, scores, records of basketball players by heart, a vast database of gook in their head which somehow makes them a member of a "clique" or special class of idiot, going 80 miles per hour in a 25 school zone, on and on. �

So what should I do? �Go up to a scum like that and say, "Hi, let me tell you about tbe Supreme Brahman"? �

The way I sort of see it, in this age, the peace question is predicated on Bhakti. �Yoga of Devotion or Bhakti is the best, the first along with Karma Yoga or Action, for the West and pretty much the world peace question. �

But I sort of like something Believer said, we can't spend all of our time solving all the world's problems (close to his exact words), otherwise we will be milking a cow all the time. �All we can do is start locally, and very locally with ones self, hope to set an example by being a flower in the weed garden, but for sure if I have to "fight" I will. �I won't abandon the battlefield if the war is on. � �

Anyone have suggestions for me today? �I have to go out and buy some computer paper and printer ink. �Something better than Bhakti while doing it, or stopping by a temple? �There's a bunch of pack animal out of control pot smoking kids that hang out in the lot in front of the business supply store on skateboards and even those gas powered skateboards that have weed trimmer motors mounted on them ready to spit on others. �What's the first step to world peace? �

Om Namah Sivaya

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam:

Since the first physical response is a clenched fist, we need to teach people to recognise a clenched fist in themselves.

We need to stop the violence in the home first. That will change individuals.

This is no easy task .... at all.

Aum Namasivaya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namast�


First, I am happy that people have taken the time to offer their thoughts on this matter. I'd like to offer some ideas to a few things I have read from above.

shiv.somashekhar writes

Isn't spirituality all about the soul and its emancipation? I do not see what it has to do with world peace

Yes, spirituality is about emancipation but it too is about the infusion of sattva that occurs in one's life. It is from this infusion that one grows in peace. How can there be peace in the world if it does not start with the individual , then spills over into our communities and into society? This is the connection point. That society is an extension and reflection of the individual's constitution.

EM sees the initial response of many:

Since the first physical response is a clenched fist, we need to teach people to recognize a clenched fist in themselves.
We need to stop the violence in the home first. That will change individuals.

The violence at home is not only within the household, but as I see it within one's one behaviors and personality. This is the initial ~ field~ ,
the area of kurukṣetra that is in our own selves.

The wise offer the notion of ātmahano janāḥ� i.e. the person or creature ( janāḥ ) that is the killer (hano) of the Self or ātman. That is, the squelching of one's divine nature that makes one a brute or the paśavya - belonging to a herd; a herd or drove of cattle. One's area of attention is ~ all about me~ and one has lost the notion of the sadācāra - the one with virtuous conduct , good manners.


I think also that peace is not the absence of war. This I believe is what shivafan has offered above. Peace as I see it is the abundance of harmony. I do not see this in the world today. I do not see our leaders ( far as I can tell) comprehending this notion. That is why I think it is at the individual level first.
No different then building a house. The ~foundation~ of society begins with the individual. It is here where the work needs to begin. Over time individuals become leaders and then this becomes part of the fabric of society. Yet, to get to this level , it is my opinion that it is not a government plan, a business model, etc. but it is from the spiritual regeneration of the unit of society ( individuals) done in influential numbers.
I myself do not see any other way ( to sustainable world peace) that is effective, positive, and nurturing to society as a whole. That is, its not on the level of logic or trying to rationalize a better person, or ~social engineering~ but by unfolding a person's true nature.

So why do I say this ? When one's true nature is in force it is the driver of proper actions, proper behaviors. The same intelligence that guides the expansion of the universe or the assembly of molecules that form nature's diversity becomes that same force that guides one's proper conduct when one is possessed of the Self.

iti śivaṁ

1. from the īśavāsyopaniṣad.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namast�

... but yajvan, why do you care about peace , about harmony ? these are all 'soft skills'. You live in America where it is relatively at peace, why worry ?

This is an excellent question to consider, no ? The simple fact is this:
We on this good earth influence each other. No one is on their own. There is the fabric of consciousness that surrounds us all. When this is in flux, frazzled, in the throws of turmoil it influences all others consciously or unconsciously.
This should not be such a mystical or foreign experience. When you walk into a room of people and there is something ~wrong~ we sense it. When it is uplifting and positive, we sense it. Like that, it is part of the fabric of consciousness.

So what is the point ? One's spiritual pursuits are influenced by the overall quality of consciousness. That is why there are retreats, or āśrama-s, harbors for silence. Creating a environment that is conducive to one's unfoldment. That is why there is sama� ved. To create a positive influence in the environment.

So, for spiritual regeneration to mature it requests a nurturing environment for that to occur, to be sustained. This is how we get involved. It is via our behaviors , the infusion of sattva within ourselves that we contribute.

iti śivaṁ

words

• sama - having the right measure , regular , normal , right , straight.
  • samaṃ is rooted in √kṛ , 'to put right or in order'.
  • sa+mā = ' together with lakṣmi' , happy , prosperous