The Spirituality Blog

Thoughts from James Clear   Yoga teacher and spiritual leader Sadhguru on the miracles of daily life: "Every moment there are a million miracles happening around you: a flower blossoming, a bird tweeting, a bee humming, a raindrop falling, a snowflake wafting along the clear evening air. There is magic everywhere. If you learn how to live it, life is nothing short of a daily miracle." Source: Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy ​ ​ ​ ​   Philosopher and author Arthur Schopenhauer on the importance of reflection and contemplation rather than mere reading and research: “You may accumulate a vast amount of knowledge but it will be of far less value to you than a much smaller amount if you have not thought it over for yourself; because only through ordering what you know by comparing every truth with every other truth can you take complete possession of your knowledge and get it into your power." Source: Essays and Aphorisms (Hat tip to Nat Eliason )    ...

  The Lord Almighty is present everywhere and in all objects in the universe. Is it enough if one worships Him as being resident in an idol? A: While it is important for many of us to resort to an external object such as an idol or a photograph to help us visualise the Lord in our prayers, the ultimate visualisation that we need is to feel His presence in our heart. The Upanishat illustrates the example of a person trying to wake up a sleeping person by talking to the sleeping person, singing his praises, etc. None of this is enough to wake the person who is sound asleep. Yet, when the person physically shakes the sleeping man, he wakes up. The Lord’s presence in one’s heart is symbolically suggested by this episode. The message here is that praying internally, by visualising the Lord as resident in one’s own heart, is much superior to praying by visualising the Lord in external objects such as idols. Another important message from this is that one should realise the presence of ...

✓ The Lord Almighty controls the sense organs of perception, and the action of all living beings. ✓ The wandering mind can never be under the control of mortals and can be subdued only by the grace of the Lord Almighty. ✓ The Lord cannot be comprehended fully by anyone. The best one can do is to realise that the Lord has infinite, auspicious attributes. ✓ There is a gradation in the innate capabilities of various deities who all act under the control of the Lord Almighty. ✓ The Lord is to be worshipped as Tadvanam, one who is all-pervasive and one who is worshipped by all. ✓ The path to eternal salvation has three facets – knowledge of the Lord, means of attaining this knowledge, and the source of this knowledge. ✓ One who implements the teachings from this Upanishat will achieve the grace of the Lord Almighty and attain eternal bliss.

 How does a trustee describe the Lord? No one can fully describe the Lord who has infinite auspicious attributes. Hence, the Upanishads resort to three categories of descriptions to convey the Lord’s nature in a way that can be comprehended by humans: 1. Positively – by pointing to the Lord’s limitless attributes such as compassion. 2. Absence of negative attributes (defects). 3. Possessing seemingly contradictory attributes: He is smaller than smallest imaginable object and larger than largest imaginable object. The Lord is near, yet He is far. He is inside every object and at the same time outside the universe. He is everywhere, yet He travels with infinite speed (for the purposes of comprehension, the Upanishat indicates that He travels faster than the speed of thought). All beings are in Him, and He is inside all beings  How does a trustee pray to the Lord? A: In the present Upanishat, Manu – who is the trustee – offers a very thoughtful, sincere prayer to the Lord by subm...

How does a trustee thank the Lord for the blessings received? A: It is impossible to thank the Lord fully for all the blessings He has showered on humanity. In this Upanishat, the trustee mentions that all he can do is to ‘say that he can only bow before the Lord with utmost sincerity and devotion’ to thank Him as no one can offer anything of value to the Lord who owns everything in the universe. It is interesting that the trustee does not say that he will bow to the Lord with utmost sincerity and devotion. He only mentions that he can only say that he will do this. There is a difference. The trustee is indicating with utmost humility that we are not even capable of sincerity and devotion, so we cannot indicate that we will offer sincere prayers to the Lord. Rather, we are only capable of saying that we can do this. Such humility is indeed the hallmark of a trustee.   The Lord is all-pervasive and regulates all activities in the universe. ✓ The Lord is the only independent ent...

One takes the Supreme Stance in life when one sets the right values for the world. Considers objects and being,action and perception ,emotion and thought to be ephemeral, transient. Renunciation is the insignia of spiritual growth. Emanating from knowledge of the Eternal Self. A spiritually evolved person commands a true spirit of renunciation. He runs his family with love and affection, possesses property, enjoys the senses. While he goes through these experiences his mind remains anchored in the Supreme Self within. With the mind rooted in the Self he understands the futility of the world. Feels that inner dispassion towards the events and experiences of mundane existence.  Few in the world today have a proper understanding of this magnificent stand of renunciation. The ignoramuses feign this illustrious state of being by their outward practices. They live in seclusion. Discard property and possession. Avoid sense contact. Put on an act of celibacy. With all that their minds ente...

 https://bhaktimarga.ie/ekadashi-fasting/ The realm of spirituality is as diverse as it is intriguing. Across the globe, a myriad of practices transcending time and space have been devised to cultivate inner peace, mindfulness, and connection with the divine. Among these age-old traditions, Ekadashi fasting – a significant ritual in Hinduism – stands as a testament to spiritual discipline and well-being. Unravelling the Ekadashi tradition The term ‘Ekadashi’ originates from Sanskrit, where ‘Eka’ means one and ‘dashi’ means ten, collectively translating to ‘eleven’. As such, Ekadashi refers to the 11th day of each half of the lunar month in the Hindu calendar, which is observed twice a month. The tradition’s origins can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures – the Puranas – which contain the first recorded instructions for observing Ekadashi fasts. It’s believed that Ekadashi was the day when Lord Vishnu, one of the primary deities in Hinduism, awoke after a...