KENOPANISHAD -1: Swami Krishnananda.

  

Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF)

Limitless joy for Janmashtami day 🦚

At Adi Sankara Nilayam, celebrations began with the Nagar Sankirtan and Akhanda Nama Japa in the Illom, where devotees chanted the sacred names of the Lord

Swami Sharadananda led the celebrations and proceedings through the day.

At dusk, the temple came alive with the lighting of Chuttuvilakku, followed by a beautiful procession with kids dressed as Krishna and Radha, and a stunning demonstration of Kalaripayattu in front of the Illom.

The beautiful puja at 10 PM was accompanied by the recitation of Vishnu Sahasranama stora. As part of the shodashopachara - students of Puja Vidhanam course and CVV performed a captivating play portraying Krishna’s birth and his delightful childhood antics.

The chanting of the Lord’s name continued until midnight with increased fervor as the lights dimmed and everyone looked on in wonder as a beautifully decorated cradle was revealed to announce the birth of Lord Krishna. 

Joyous bhajans that enamoured devotees to dance with joy and singing continued as the Mahaprasad was distributed. 

May Lord Krishna's blessings continue to guide us on the path of righteousness and love.

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Wednesday, 13 Sep 2023. 06:30.

Upanishads

KENOPANISHAD

Introductory

Post-1

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Introductory

Karma and upasana act as steps leading to jnana. The immediate reality experienced by the human being is the physical body connected with the physical world. The function of the body is to act objectively in relation to external existence. It is never possible to keep one's individuality inactive, because activity is a necessity that urges the individuality to transcend itself in some other state that is superior to the preceding one. Action can be destroyed through action alone, even as iron is cut by iron. Individuality can be transcended through individuality.

Upasana is a mental act, while karma may also be a physical act. Mind also is a constituent of individuality. The mind can be transcended through mind itself. The laws of the body and the mind are overcome through karma and upasana. Karma should be done as a necessity of individual life and not as a process of self-satisfaction. This is the distinction between selflessness and selfishness. Upasana is the method of subduing the distractive character of the mind through concentration on the one objective reality, viz., God. God is the unified wholeness of objectivity, though in upasana it is not possible to consider God as the secondless Absolute. The body becomes steady and calm; the mind becomes unshaken and the aspirant becomes fit for the higher state of Self-knowledge by purification attained thus through karma and upasana.

All actions done for the sake of the satisfaction of oneself become mothers of rebirth, because every desire has to be fulfilled today or tomorrow. The vastness of desires makes it impossible for the individual to fulfil all of them in this life itself. The nature of the future birth is determined by the desires that are left unfulfilled in this birth. Pleasures and pains experienced in this life are the results of the positive and the negative reactions of desires and actions. Knowledge is possible, therefore, only for one who ceases from desiring objects, whether physical or psychological, real or ideal.

Even the memory of desires and experiences has to be erased out. Nothing that is objective can be perpetual, because something becomes an object only when it has a relationship with a subject. All relationships constitute bondage. The mere fact that objects exist in the world does not constitute bondage. It is the relationship that is developed between one object and another that constitutes bondage. Desire for the knowledge of Brahman is not a desire, because such a desire is like the movement of a straw towards fire. Desire shall be burnt by the knowledge of Brahman. Movement towards the Self within is not the development of a desire, but the process of the cessation of desire. The senses and the mind get withdrawn and dissolved in the unity of the Self. Immortality is the condition of the experience of the Self as free from the connections that it appears to have with the not-Self.

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To be continued

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