I claim no supernatural authority ....

My teaching is my own interpretation of our ancient books, in the light which my Master shed upon them. I claim no supernatural authority. Whatever in my teaching may appeal to the highest intelligence and be accepted by thinking people, the adoption of that will be my reward.

Interview, October 23, 1895. Complete Works, 5.186.

All religions have for their object the teaching either of devotion, knowledge, or yoga, in a concrete form. Now, the philosophy of Vedanta is the abstract science which embraces all these methods, this it is that I teach, leaving each one to apply it to their own concrete forms. I refer each individual to their own experiences, and where reference is made to books, the latter are procurable, and may be studied by anyone. Above all, I teach no authority proceeding from hidden beings speaking through visible agents, any more than I claim learning from hidden books or manuscripts. I am not an exponent of any occult society, nor do I believe that good can come of such bodies. Truth stands on its own authority, and truth can bear the light of day.

Interview, October 23, 1895. Complete Works, 5.186-87.

I had a deep interest in religion and philosophy from my childhood, and our books teach renunciation as the highest ideal to which we can aspire. It only needed the meeting with a great Teacher--Ramakrishna Paramahamsa--to kindle in me the final determination to follow the path he himself had trod, as in him I found my highest ideal realized.

Interview, October 23, 1895. Complete Works, 5: 186

Concentrating the powers of the mind is the only way to knowledge. In external science, concentrating the mind is--putting it on something external; and in the internal science, it is--drawing towards one's Self. This concentration of mind we call Yoga.

Conversation at Harvard, 1896. Complete Works, 5.299.

All morality can be divided into the positive and the negative elements. It says either "Do this" or "Do not do this." When it says, "Do not," it is evident that it is a check to a certain desires which would make us slaves. When it says, "Do," its scope is to show the way to freedom and to the breaking down of a certain degradation which has already seized the human heart.

Written in answer to a question put by a Western Disciple. Complete Works, 8.147.

Those who depend upon the world for enjoyment are the "bound" (tāmasika). Then there are the "egotistical" (rājasika), who always talk about "I," "I," "I." They do great work sometimes and may become spiritual. But the highest are the "introspective" (sāttvika), who live only in the Ātman.

Retreat given at the Thousand Island Park, USA. June 25, 1895. Complete Works, 7.12.

When you give something to a man and expect nothing--do not even expect the man to be grateful--his ingratitude will not affect you, because you never expected anything, never thought you had any right to anything in the way of return. You gave him what he deserved. His own karma got it for him, your karma made you the carrier thereof. Why should you be proud of having given away something? You are the porter that carried the money or other kind of gift, and the world deserved it by its own karma. Where is then the reason for pride in you? There is nothing very great in what you give to the world.

Class on Karma Yoga. New York, January 3, 1896. Complete Works, 1.90.

కౌముది ఆగస్ట్ 2009

కౌముది జూలై 2009

Truth and Sannyasa

Truth is of two kinds: (1) that which is known through the five ordinary senses and by reasoning based thereon; (2) that which is known through the subtle, supersensuous power of yoga.

Knowledge acquired by the first means is called science; and knowledge acquired by the second is called the Vedas.

From "Hinduism and Sri Ramakrishna," originally written in Bengali. Complete Works, 6.181.

Sannyāsa is recognized in the Vedas without making any distinction between men and women. Do you remember how Yājñavalkya was questioned at the court of King Janaka? His principal examiner was Vācaknavī, the maiden orator--Brahmāvadinī, as the word of the day was. "Like two shining arrows in the hand of the skilled archer," she says, "are my questions." Her gender is not even commented upon. Again, could anything be more complete than the equality of boys and girls in our old forest universities? Read our Sanskrit dramas--read the story of Śakuntalā, and see if Tennyson's "Princess" has anything to teach us!

Interview in the Prabuddha Bharata. December 1898. Complete Works, 5.230.

కౌముది: జూన్ 2009

కౌముది: మే 2009

The eternal fragrance of Mahakavi Sri Sri

How does one describe a poet, writer, lyricist, progressive thinker and a great personality like Sri Sri (Srirangam Srinivasa Rao)? It is best to describe him in his own words perhaps. He once said,“1930 daaka Telugu sahithyam nannu nadipinchindi. Aa tharvaatha nunchi daanni nene nadipisthunaanu (Till the 1930s, Telugu literature guided me, after that, I am guiding her). Even after his death in 1983, Sri Sri continued to guide Telugu literature. He would continue to do so, like Mahakavi Gurazada, as long as Telugu language and literature exist.

If the scriptures cannot help!!!

If the scriptures cannot help all people in all conditions at all times, of what use, then, are such scriptures? If the scriptures show the way to only the monk and not to the householder, then what need has a householder for such one-sided scriptures? If the scriptures can only help people when they give up all work and retire into the forests, and cannot show the way of lighting the lamp of hope in the hearts people of the workaday world--in the midst of their daily toil, disease, misery, and poverty, in the despondency of the penitent, in the self-reproach of the downtrodden, in the terror of the battlefield, in lust, anger and pleasure, in the joy of victory, in the darkness of defeat, and finally, in the dreaded night of death--then weak humanity has no need at all of such scriptures, and such scriptures will be no scriptures at all!

Sayings and Utterances. Complete Works, 5.420-21.

The day was memorable

Dalit voters taste freedom at last

By By Our Correspondent

Apr 27 2009

hyderabad

April 26: For Mrs D. Lakshmamma, a middle-aged labourer, April 23 was a day of triumph. She was able to cast her vote freely at last, enjoying a privilege which thousands of Dalits have been denied since Independence.

The day was memorable in another sense too. Mrs Lakshmamma, a resident of Bandameeda Harijanawada, a Dalit colony, walked across the main streets of Kalicherla village to reach the polling station. This too was a rare privilege.

The 2009 general elections will be remembered for many things. But for this group of Dalit families, it was a day when they tasted real freedom for the first time, braving the threat of feudal lords who had dominated them all their lives.

“After reaching the polling station I was doubtful whether they will allow me to vote because I don’t have a voter ID card,” said Mrs. Lakshmamma. However, the polling staff allowed her to vote since she had brought her ration card as proof of identity. It may be surprising to many, but in the politically vibrant Chittoor district, there are about 50 villages where Dalits and Muslims do not dare to cast their vote. Elections to local bodies will always be unanimous in these villages that fall in Chandragiri and Tamballapalli assembly constituencies. When elections take place for the Assembly or Parliament the voters’ lists will have the names of Dalits but they will never see a polling booth.

“Ironically, the polling percentage used to be 90 per cent in booths under which the Dalit colonies fell,” said the Chittoor district collector, Mr Ravichandra.

This time, the collector and the superintendent of police, Mr K. Lakshmi Reddy, took the initiative to instill courage among Dalits after some organisations complained to the chief electoral officer, Dr I.V. Subba Rao, about the stranglehold of feudal lords. But the arrogant feudal lords brazenly said that they would spend Rs 1 crore to ‘manage’ the authorities.

To restrain them, the collector ordered the police to slap cases under SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act against those who tried to stop Dalits from voting.

The Dalits are happy at getting the right to vote but are also afraid of retaliation. The district collector has assured them that he would keep a continuous vigil to prevent this.

కౌముది: ఏప్రిల్ 2009

Email in Indian Languages

When you compose a new mail in Gmail, you should now see an icon with an Indian character, as the screenshot below shows. This feature is enabled by default for Gmail users in India. If you do not see this function enabled by default, you will need to go the "Settings" page and enable this option in the "Language" section.

When you click the Indian languages icon, you can type words the way they sound in English and Gmail will automatically convert the word to its Indian local language equivalent. For example, if a Hindi speaker types "namaste" we will transliterate this to "नमस्ते." Similarly, "vanakkam" in Tamil will become "வணக்கம்." We currently support five Indian languages -- Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam -- and you can select the language of your choice from the drop-down list next to the icon.

We built this new feature using Google's transliteration technology, which is also available on Google India Labs, Orkut, Blogger and iGoogle. I hope you find this feature useful to communicate with those of your friends and family who prefer to write in their native language, and it will be available soon to businesses and schools using Google Apps. Now back to replying to all those Hindi emails I got from my family and friends today!

Posted by Chandramouli Mahadevan, Software Engineer

Don't -touchism

What do you consider to be the function of your movement as regards India?
Vivekananda: To find the common bases of Hinduism and awaken the national consciousness to them. At present there are three parties in India included under the term "Hindu"--the orthodox, the reforming sects of the Muslim period, and the reforming sects of the present time. Hindus from North to South are only agreed on one point, viz. on not eating beef.

With which of these three parties do you identify yourself, Swamiji?

Vivekananda: With all of them. We are orthodox Hindus, but we refuse entirely to identify ourselves with "Don't-touchism." That is not Hinduism: it is in none of our books; it is an unorthodox superstition which has interfered with national efficiency all along the line.

Interview in the Prabuddha Bharata. September 1898. Complete Works, 5: 226

Karma Yoga

Here are two Sanskrit words: Pravṛtti, which means revolving towards, and the other is Nivṛtti, which means revolving away. The "revolving towards" is what we call the world, the "I and mine"; it includes all those things which are always enriching that "me" by wealth and money and power, and name and fame, and which are of a grasping nature, always tending to accumulate everything in one center, that center being "myself." That is the Pravṛtti, the natural tendency of every human being; taking everything from everywhere and heaping it around one center, that center being our own sweet self.

When this tendency begin to break, when it is Nivṛtti, or "going away from," then begin morality and religion. ... Nivṛtti is the fundamental basis of all morality and all religion, and the very perfection of it is entire self-abnegation, readiness to sacrifice mind and body and everything for another being. When we reach that state, we have attained to the perfection of Karma Yoga.

Class on Karma Yoga. New York, January 3, 1896. Complete Works, 1.85-86.

ఎంసిఎక్స్ స్టాక్ ఎక్స్ఛేంజి

MCX SX launches Telugu website

ఎంసిఎక్స్ స్టాక్ ఎక్స్ఛేంజి (ఎంసిఎక్స్—ఎస్ఎక్స్) దిగుమతిదారులు, ఎగుమతిదారులు, పెట్టుబడిదారులు, కార్పోరేషన్లు మరియు బ్యాంకులు వారి ద్రవ్య ప్రమాదావకాశాలను తక్కవ ధరలో మరియు గొప్యత పారదర్శకతతో మరియు భద్రతతో హెడ్జ్ చేయుటకు వీలు కల్పిస్తుంది. పెద్ద సంఖ్యలే బ్యాంకులు, కార్పోరేటే మరియు బ్రోకరేజ్ హౌస్లు వారి ట్రేడింగు సభ్యులుగా, ఉండడం వలన ఎంసిఎక్స్—ఎస్ఎక్స్ ఆశించిన ప్రమాణాలలో లిక్విడిటీ మరియు డెప్తును అన్ని వర్గాలు వాడకందార్లకు ఎక్కువగా అందజేస్తుంది. ఇంకా, ఎంసిఎక్స్—ఎస్ఎక్స్ అన్ని వ్యవహారాలకు పూచీకర్తగా ఉంటూ ప్రతీవాది వలన కలుగు ఇబ్బందుల నుండి తొలగిస్తు అన్ని వ్యవహారాలకు భద్రతను కలిపిస్తుంది. పెద్ద వాడకందార్లకే కాకుండా, ఎంసిఎక్స్—ఎస్ఎక్స్ చిన్న మరియు మధ్య తరహా వ్యాపారస్థులకు (ఎస్ఎంఈ లకు) మరియు భారతీయ నివాసులకు, ద్రవ్య మార్పిడి మార్కెట్ ను అందుబాటులోకి తెస్తూ ఇదివరకంతగా లభించని ధరనిర్ణయించే సామర్థ్యానికి పెంపొందించి ప్రయోజనము చేకూరుస్తుంది.

కౌముది: మార్చ్ 2009