Ajay0

The Buddha-nature is the pure mind, also known as the Buddha-mind, luminous mind and true mind. It is the first point emphasized by Buddha in the Dhammapada. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.01.budd.html An impure mind (tainted by the poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion) leads to suffering. A pure mind (untainted by the poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion) leads to happiness. The three poisons that defile the originally pure mind are greed, hatred and delusion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_poisons Here greed is but an intense uncontrolled desire or craving for more pleasant sensations and experiences, while hatred is but an intense uncontrolled desire or aversion for unpleasant sensations and experiences, leading to destructive thoughts, speech and acts. The mind filled with strong desires in the form of cravings or aversions due to conditioning is considered impure and deluded, due to its inability for proper perception and interpretation of events or facts, and consequent incapability for proper judgement, correct and ethical action. A judge being partial towards his own criminal son due to desire for his well-being inspite of evidence to the contrary, a religious fanatic arguing for the destruction of other religions, well as a jingoist nursing irrational hatred for other nations are some commonplace examples of a deluded mind caught in its own conditioning and resulting cravings/aversions and being swayed by them mechanically like a puppet. The unconditioned mind is the pure mind which can properly perceive and act correctly, as opposed to the impure mind with the filters of conditioning that may generate likes and dislikes, cravings and aversions that would lead to incorrect perception, poor judgement and wrong actions.

An insightful article by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar highlighting Mahavira's teaching of Ahimsa or nonviolence. Mahavira is the founder of the Jain religion and is a contemporary of the Buddha. https://www.freepressjournal.in/spirituality/guiding-light-by-sri-sri-ravi-shankar-breathing-ahimsa

There is a difference between needs and greed. The greed part is where the desire or craving comes in. Cravings are bound to end in suffering due to the factors of impermanence or saturation. Needs are finite, but desires can be infinite. One can spend all one's life in satisfying desires for transient pleasures of an expensive nature, and not getting peace and joy of a lasting nature that is found in the Buddha nature within, free of cost. It is also the one who is anchored in the Buddha nature within, who can enjoy the pleasures of the world without being attached or slavishly addicted to them . The one who is not anchored in the Buddha nature within, will be inordinately attached to sensory pleasures leading to addictions and imbalance and mental disorders, and greater tendency towards poor judgement, vice and crime. Studying the background of some serial criminals , I found that it was their intense desires in the form of cravings that lead them to their transgressions of morality and virtuous conduct, even seeking pleasure in sadistic activities. They had no understanding of the nature of desire or Buddha nature within, and allowed their cravings instilled by conditioning, environment and imagination to get the better of them in the search for pleasure of a transient nature which they confused with happiness. Desires of an uncontrolled nature are thus bound to affect the judgement of the individual and become destructive and harmful in nature.

More than 30 of the Vedic sages were women. Gargi and Maitreyi are two famous female sages mentioned in the Vedas. https://thesanatanchronicle.com/2020/08/30/brahmavadini-the-forgotten-tradition-of-women-scholars-in-ancient-india/ In modern times, there has been female enlightened sages like Anandamayi Ma, Sharda Devi, Nirmala Devi, Mata Amritanandamayi, Shivayogini Amma, Mother Meera, Rajini Menon, Anandmurti Gurumaa, Karunamayi Ma, Vimala Thakar, Shri Anandi Ma, Gurumatha Amma, Shree Ma who had numerous disciples in India and all over the world.

This is not true based on what I know. Prajnatara , Bodhidharma's enlightened teacher was a woman. BAsed on my understanding, it was Prajnatara who persuaded Bodhidharma to spread Zen Buddhism in China.

I had come across some sayings of Dr. David Hawkins with respect to emotions and the numerous thoughts they induce. I had put them in the quotes section here some months back. Press on ' Ajay0 replied to a topic'. I think meditating on emotions can have a force-multiplier effect as they are more subtle and basic than the thought process. I think it is very important to emphasize this. Rather than trying to stop emotions which may lead to its persistence, I just try to be aware of them and this gradually dilutes them along with the numerous thoughts that follow in the wake of the emotion.

Desire is like fire. If it is under control, it is a useful tool. If not, you risk getting burned. All crimes like theft, murder, rape, paedophilia and others can be traced to strong desires in the form of cravings or aversion that result in lust, greed, hatred and so on. All the vices are nothing but strong desires. Understanding the nature of desire, one must control and channel it into constructive areas rather than destructive ones. This is where control and disciplining of the mind as taught by Buddha comes into the picture.

Sin repeatedly perpetrated, destroys intelligence; and the man who has lost intelligence, repeatedly commits sin. Virtue repeatedly practised, enhances intelligence; and the man whose intelligence has increased, enhances intelligence; and the man whose intelligence has increased repeatedly practises virtue. ~ Vidura Neeti (Mahabharatha) Saintliness is not dumbness! Divine perceptions are not incapacitating! The active expression of virtue gives rise to the keenest intelligence. ~ Sri Yukteshwar ( Autobiography of a Yogi)

Today (6-4-23) happens to be a full moon. Hopefully, i may be able to utilize this as an opportunity for spiritual exercise, though I wish had worked on this two days earlier to make the most of it. Sadhguru had also talked about the full moon being an opportunity for faster advancement. https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/pournami-the-night-of-the-full-moon

@ Nuralshamal I hope you have not lost much money in this issue. That and the feeling of being cheated perhaps maybe agitating you. I would ask you to relax, detach and leave this matter aside. It is hard to meet a genuine astrologer these days. To a large extent, the quality of a genuine astrologer depends on his intuition , that springs from a pure mind or no-mind or pure state of consciousness. An enlightened master had talked on how hitherto expert and precise astrologers get their readings wrong later on, as greed for money and fame corrupts their mental state and consciousness, resulting in error.

Hi Nuralshamal, I am sorry that you had a bad experience with Nadi astrology. I would say I had a nadi reading myself, and my experience was similar to that of your uncle. Due to positive reviews by my friends, I went to the naadi astrology institute and gave my thumb print and was asked to return back after two weeks, so that they could fetch the palm leaves that corresponded to my thumb print. I returned and they went through a couple of old palm leaves checking out whether the data in the leaves corresponded to my life data. A few of the leaves were wrong, but they finally came to a leaf that matched my name, parents names, and other family data in exactitude. They took this leaf and then switched on a tape recorder with a casette, and started speaking from the leaf about my past life and present life issues. The information was quite valuable to me, made a lot of sense with respect to my present life tendencies, and the future predictions came true as well. It was pretty interesting, and I just kept the information in a mental folder for future reference. Years later, while sightseeing a town festival, I came across an old astrologer seated on the ground and waiting for customers. Feeling sorry for the old guy, I decided to take his service thinking that the fees money of 50 rupees would be useful to him and ease his life a bit. However the old guy turned out to be an expert astrologer, and said in exact detail what the nadi astrologer said about my past lives and present life too. Impressed I shelled out 500 rupees instead . The fact that two different astrologers said the same stuff or information in vastly different points in space and time, vouched for its accuracy to me. This also helped to dispel my skepticism and disbelief in astrology as well, which had been conditioned in me from childhood by rationalists and rationalist literature. I was curious to know your own experience. That you stated your uncle had a great experience, prompted me to state my own experience as well. Imo, you might have had a better experience if you had personally contacted the institute in person. It's possible that you might have contacted a fake nadi astrologer, or maybe the communication gap did not allow proper flow of information.

Whatever is done lovingly, with righteous purity and with peace of mind, is a good action. Everything which is done with the stain of desire and with agitation filling the mind is classified as a bad action. ~ Ramana Maharshi The result of spiritual practice should be our inner transformation into better human beings. After practicing for months or years, we should be less prone to anger, pride, and jealousy. Our practice should lead us to a vaster, calmer mind. ~ Shechem Rabjam Rinpoche

Despite my focus on creating a calm and equanimous mindset prior to the full moon, I found thoughts of past memories of a negative, depressing kind stirring within me and stirring similar emotions within me for a long time yesterday night. In retrospect, this helped me to gauge my state of unconsciousness, or ability to be aware when forceful thoughts and emotions of a compulsive nature comes up. I figured out from this that a lot of inner work needs to be performed to clean up the vasanas or psychological impressions within. I understood my inner pressure points, issues and the need to work on them. I think the amplifying effects of the full moon, as described by spiritual masters, could help one to recceing the mind better and gathering necessary intel on it. The full moon period isn't over yet, and I wish to make the most out of this period.

This was my experience in last months full moon , Feb 4-5-6. I keep a diary and decided to record anything of the unusual. Found that these days there was a certain pressure on my mind tending to agitation. I never gave much importance to the full moon period, other than taking time to enjoy its beauty in the dark sky. Because of the experience and the data in this thread, I have decided to take it seriously for spiritual benefits if any. This months full moon is on March 7 th, and I have decided to spend as much time on spiritual practices as possible on 6-7-8 March, or at least to maintain a calm and equanimous mind. which can then be maintained relatively easily the rest of the month.

I found this informative article on the full moon and its effects on the human system as well as spiritual practices... https://www.thepranichealers.com/the-significance-of-full-moon

We have a saying in Tibet that engaging in the practice of virtue is as hard as driving a donkey uphill, whereas engaging in destructive activities is as easy as rolling boulders downhill. ~ Dalai Lama (Ethics for the New Millennium) We have a saying in Tibet that engaging in the practice of virtue is as hard as driving a donkey uphill, whereas engaging in destructive activities is as easy as rolling boulders downhill. It is also said that negative impulses arise as spontaneously as rain and gather momentum just like water following the course of gravity. What makes matters worse is our tendency to indulge negative thoughts and emotions even while agreeing that we should not. It is essential, therefore, to address directly our tendency to put things off and while away our time in meaningless activities and shrink from the challenge of transforming our habits on the grounds that it is too great a task. ~ Dalai Lama (Ethics for the New Millennium) In particular, it is important not to allow ourselves to be put off by the magnitude of others' suffering. The misery of millions is not a cause for pity. Rather it is a cause for developing compassion. We must also recognize that the failure to act when it is clear that action is required may itself be a negative action....inaction is attributable less to negative thoughts and emotions as to a lack of compassion. It is thus important that we are no less determined to overcome our habitual tendency to laziness than we are to exercise restraint in response to afflictive emotion. ~ Dalai Lama (Ethics for the New Millennium)

Insightful article by Sister B.K.Shivani of the Brahmakumaris on practicing traffic control of the mind with respect to unhealthy thoughts and emotions... https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20230116-sister-bk-shivani-practise-traffic-control-of-the-mind-2318376-2023-01-06

I recall reading of Yogananda on practicing concentration on the point between the eyebrows, stating that it helps to bring about the super-conscious state. https://yogananda.com.au/gita/gita0612-13.html The Brahmakumaris consider the point between the eyebrows as the region where the soul is embedded. Consequently, concentration on this point is an important spiritual exercise for them so as to identify with the soul rather than as the body. They consider the human being in this manner as an eternal soul inhabiting a temporary body, and the spiritual focus being on soul-consciousness or identifying oneself as a soul rather than body-consciousness or identifying oneself as a body.

The Druze is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion that holds belief in reincarnation as one of its fundamental beliefs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze Druze believe that at the end of the cycle of rebirth, which is achieved through successive reincarnations, the soul is united with the Cosmic Mind (al-ʻaql al-kullī). This is similar to the stance of the Dharmic religions of India, which emphasize Moksha or Nirvana meaning liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. Dharmic sects similar to the Druze in terms of belief in monotheism and reincarnation are Sikhism, Arya Samaj and Prajapita Brahmakumaris.

Ethical discipline is a necessary pre-requisite for philosophical enquiry and Self-realisation. Ethics is an enquiry into the nature of good and is concerned with an analysis of the concepts of good and bad, virtue and vice, right and wrong. ~ Swami Sivananda Ethics lead to restraint of the lower self and thereby the mind is calmed. Through calmness of mind, discrimination dawns and one knows the Self. Without ethical perfection there is no spiritual progress. ~ Swami Sivananda

I was of the impression that either Aurobindo or Swami Krishnananda was the greatest Hindu scholar in modern times. There is a website on Swami Krishnananda highlighing his articles and books... https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/ I have never heard of Gopinath Kaviraj before. I understand that he is a disciple of Anandamayi Ma, whom I respect a lot. But I have never come across his books or even quotes till date.

Insightful article by Sister B.K.Asha of the Brahmakumaris on being self-aware to perform correct actions and attract success. https://thedailyguardian.com/how-self-awareness-brings-success/

The root of virtue is a mind free from the three poisons of aversion, attachment, and ignorance. ~ Phakchok Rinpoche All vices are connected to the feeling of wanting or desiring. All desires keep us in the illusion of fulfillment that is gained only for a fleeting moment. ~ Dadi Janki ( Prajapita Brahmakumaris ) To think and act under the influence of vices is to commit violence because the soul is violating its true nature of peace, joy, love and power. The five forms of violence committed by human beings are to indulge in five vices—lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego. All vices are connected to the feeling of wanting or desiring. All desires keep us in the illusion of fulfillment that is gained only for a fleeting moment. ~ Dadi Janki ( Prajapita Brahmakumaris )

It should be understood that mathematics in its modern form had its origin in India. Mathematics as in the numeral system, arithmetic and zero, trigonometry and decimal system, which the world knows today was developed in ancient India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_mathematics The numeral system as well as zero were the philosophical conceptions of the Sankhya philosophy of sage Kapila and Shunyata philosophy of Buddha. Sankhya means number in sanskrit. The term zero is derived from sifr in Arabic which in turn is derived from the sanskrit Shunya meaning void. Indian mathematics spread to the Arabs who in turn taught it to the Europeans who after centuries of opposition, finally discarded the cumbersome roman numeral system (which could not be used for advanced calculations) in favor of the Indian, a development which revolutionised modern science, technology and accounting. Indian physics through mathematics was developed to the point that In the early part of sixth century A.D., Indian physicist Aryabhata calculated the sidereal rotation (the rotation of the earth referencing the fixed stars) as 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds; the modern value is 23:56:4.091. Similarly, his value for the length of the sidereal year at 365 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes, and 30 seconds (365.25858 days)is an error of 3 minutes and 20 seconds over the length of a year (365.25636 days). Indian mathematics reached Europe six centuries later after Aryabhata. So you can see from here that Indian philosophy has had a strategic and major influence in modern science as we see it now. Science is not a holistic philosophy and results in only partial truths. It takes time and research to gather a holistic understanding. For example, chemical fertilizers and pesticides were considered to be useful and safe by scientists when they were introduced heavily in agriculture. Large spikes in cancer rates and death rates however disproved this illusion and resulted in the movement for organic and natural farming in the west. Similarly when nuclear weapons were used and tested, there was not much understanding about its harmful effects. I have seen an old photograph of American soldiers without protective clothing and even shirts watching a nuclear explosion with the resultant mushroom cloud at a distance which they unfortunately thought to be safe. It was similarly when the adverse effects of exposure to nuclear radiation was understood that such practices hopefully came to an end. However by then a lot of damage had been done due to ignorance. So science cannot result in a holistic understanding of the whole in the beginning itself. It has its own due process for that. I had stated in my own post that research findings were inconclusive on this subject due to lack of sufficient research, but the following correlations were noted between full moons and effects on the human system, which I had put over here. There is no certainty even on the part of the scientists on the reasons for these correlations, and phrases like " It's more likely " and "There does seem to be a link " are used.

There is still an effect on water, and this could be what Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have stated to explain this ancient tradition in Hinduism considering that the human body is largely water in mass. Research is not generally conclusive of the effects of the moon on the human body, but they have perceived changes in those with bipolar disorder, and in blood pressure, blood sugar rates and heart rates during different lunar phases. Humans were also found to be more efficient on full and new moons. https://www.healthline.com/health/full-moon-effects#full-moon-and-cardiovascular-health Scientific research have also observed a correlation between poor sleep and a full moon. https://www.science.org/content/article/yes-you-can-blame-moon-bad-night-s-sleep