Old age awaits like a tigress
2022
क्षमी दाता गुणग्राही स्वामी पुण्येन लभ्यते ।
अनुकूलः शुचिर्दक्षः कविर्विद्वान् सुदुर्लभः ॥
Only after much pious action does one attain a master or husband who is forgiving, generous, and a taker of one's virtues. Even more rare is one who is favorable, pure, expert. wise and learned.
Bhoja-prabandha 93
व्याघ्रीव तिष्ठति जरा परितर्जयन्ती
रोगाश्च शत्रव इव प्रहरन्ति देहम् ।
आयुः परिस्रवति भिन्नघटादिवाम्भो
लोकस्तथाप्यहितमाचरतीति चित्रम् ॥
Old age awaits like a tigress, threatening, menacing;
diseases, like enemies, attack the body,
Life is slipping away like water from a burst jug,
and even so people engage in evil acts...
is it not astonishing?
Vairāgya-śataka 38
यावत्स्वस्थमिदं शरीरमरुजं यावज् जरा दूरतो
यावच्चेन्द्रियशक्तिरप्रतिहता यावत् क्षयो नायुषः ।
आत्मश्रेयसि तावद् एव विदुषा कार्यः प्रयत्नो महान्
सन्दीप्ते भवने तु कूपखननं प्रत्युद्यमः कीदृशः ॥
When the body is still healthy, when old age is far away, when all the senses are working with peak efficiency, when there are still many more years to live, one should endeavor intensely, using this body to elevate the self to the highest state. Trying to do this when one is at the fag end of one’s life is like starting to dig a well when the house is already on fire.
Barsana is really my best place right now. I feel so natural there. I love the narrow lanes and streets. I love the sandstone stairways that go up to the temple. The upward climb is invigorating and I try to do it without stopping or slowing my gait. As I write I can feel the effects in my upper calves.
Continued Three days in Barsana
2018
My son, Pavel Brzezinski, will be giving a piano recital at the Loyola High School chapel tonight, at 19h. I am really happy that he is doing this. Anybody from Montreal who would like to hear a bit of Chopin and Mendelsohn, give it a shot. Merde, Pavel! Mais vraiment, merde!
2016
I was never hated so much as when I loved. And still love goes on.
2014
jina ho to pura jio, marna ho to pura maro.
kintu is samsar men dukha, adha jia adha mara.
If you are going to live, then live completely. If you are going to die, then die completely. But what a misery it is to be in this world, half-alive, half-dead.
2013
Some may wonder what I mean by mutual guruship. I came across this quote just now which connects with my concept rather nicely: "A soul connection is a resonance between two people who respond to the essential beauty of each other's natures, behind their facades, and who connect on a deeper level. This kind of mutual recognition provides the catalyst for a potent alchemy. It is a sacred alliance whose purpose is to help both partners discover and realize their deepest potentials. While a heart connection lets us appreciate those we love just as they are, a soul connection opens up a further dimension—seeing and loving them for who they could be, and for who we could become under their influence."
John Welwood, Love and Awakening: Discovering the Sacred Path of Intimate Relationship.
2013
My dear friends, God was alone and he said, "This is no fun." And so he split himself into two and became "as a man locked in embrace with a woman." Thus it is said, Radha and Krishna are one soul in two bodies. All romantic love is an attempt to recreate this original simultaneous oneness and difference. In one dimension we recreate, in another we serve, that ideal. The transformation of the world through love passes through this gate. We worship Radha and Krishna and no other. We pray for the Love that inundates them to guide our intelligence.
2013 Same file
Proper loving relations have to be based on liberty and equality. This means that the patriarchal attitude is automatically excluded. Where power relations are dominated by the male and the woman is seen as subservient, i.e., where the guru-chela spiritual dynamic is essentially a one-way street, the relationship may reach a certain level of love, but never the fullness of mādhurya.
Parakiyā bhāva means that a woman takes the freedom and independence to choose, and the man recognizes that he must be more than just a viṣaya. In svakīyā, the woman puts herself in the position of dependence. The time has passed for these things. Men need to cast aside the false and purely external assurances of patriarchy, which ultimately only support false ego and false power and subvert the emotional completion that comes from genuine spiritually profound love. Learn the art of love through the system of mutual guruship. Learn the system of mutual guruship from a Yugal guru.
2012
Love works best when you have self-knowledge. Love makes self-knowledge worth having.
2012
Radharani teaches the mynah bird how to glorify Krishna. This verse has only short syllables!
agha-baka-śakaṭaka-dava-bhaya-haraṇa
nava-dala-kamalaja-mada-hara-caraṇa |
caraṇa-jalaja-nata-jana-caya-śaraṇa
paṭha khaga jaya jaya dhara-vara-dharaṇa ||
2013
My dear friends, God was alone and he said, "This is no fun." And so he split himself into two and became "as a man locked in embrace with a woman." Thus it is said, Radha and Krishna are one soul in two bodies. All romantic love is an attempt to recreate this original simultaneous oneness and difference. In one dimension we recreate, in another we serve, that ideal. The transformation of the world through love passes through this gate. We worship Radha and Krishna and no other. We pray for the Love that inundates them to guide our intelligence.
2013 Same file
Proper loving relations have to be based on liberty and equality. This means that the patriarchal attitude is automatically excluded. Where power relations are dominated by the male and the woman is seen as subservient, i.e., where the guru-chela spiritual dynamic is essentially a one-way street, the relationship may reach a certain level of love, but never the fullness of mādhurya.
Parakiyā bhāva means that a woman takes the freedom and independence to choose, and the man recognizes that he must be more than just a viṣaya. In svakīyā, the woman puts herself in the position of dependence. The time has passed for these things. Men need to cast aside the false and purely external assurances of patriarchy, which ultimately only support false ego and false power and subvert the emotional completion that comes from genuine spiritually profound love. Learn the art of love through the system of mutual guruship. Learn the system of mutual guruship from a Yugal guru.
2012
Love works best when you have self-knowledge. Love makes self-knowledge worth having.
2012
Radharani teaches the mynah bird how to glorify Krishna. This verse has only short syllables!
agha-baka-śakaṭaka-dava-bhaya-haraṇa
nava-dala-kamalaja-mada-hara-caraṇa |
caraṇa-jalaja-nata-jana-caya-śaraṇa
paṭha khaga jaya jaya dhara-vara-dharaṇa ||
O bird! Recite: Glories ! All glories to you who held the best of mountains! You took away the fear came from Agha, Baka, the demon in the cart, and the forest fire! Your feet destroy the pride of a freshly blooming lotus flower! Those lotus feet gave shelter to all ho took shelter of
you. (GLA 18.4)
2011
We are having a super āndhi (wind storm) here in Rishikesh at this moment.
Sort of like the āndhi of Kaliyuga that is blowing on Vrindavan. Amalgamation of Mathura and Vrindavan municipalities is going through. So busy with the Yamuna, people forgot.
Kali yuga on steroids. Mathura will engulf Vrindavan and slowly turn it into an extension of itself. Well, if they can make ghats like the Mathura waterfront, that might be something.
But some people fear meat and liquor shops coming into Vrindavan. And certainly more materialistic entrepreneurs. I am not optimistic.
2011
A common prejudice in the Gaudiya sampradaya, represented by ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math in most of the world, is that Radha and Krishna's love is the "highest" while human sexuality is the "lowest."
Continued: Personalism is the essence of Sahaja Sādhana
Continued: Personalism is the essence of Sahaja Sādhana
Comments
Also, Jagatji, I've been enjoying following the links you provide to previous posts. If I comment on those, do you see them? I don't want to just shout into the wind.
Wise words for us all (as recently reminded, especially for my own self):
§ 1.27 “Old age prowls like a tiger; age diminishes like water in a broken pot; diseases strike like an enemy. Therefore, take to the auspicious path well before the limbs lose their vitality and the adversities crowd upon you.
§ 1.28 In the various worldly pursuits time flies unnoticed. Involved in his pleasures and pains the Jīva remains unaware of his self-interests.
§ 1.29 Infatuated by the wine of ignorance he does not fear even when he sees in the world the torpid, afflicted, dead, calamity-ridden and extremely miserable beings. He does not realise that prosperity is like a dream, youth like a perishable blossom, life-span momentary like lightning and remains complacent.”
Continue reading at:
https://archive.org/details/Kularnava/page/n12/mode/1up
It is divine providence to read these words Jagadananda Das, especially being truly reminded of my own wretched short-comings today.
MN
"When a yogi transcends the solar realm and enters the lunar realm, they enter into the domain of time. The yogi then becomes established in the eternal and unchanging realm of pure consciousness, which is like the infinite sky. The yogi's breath becomes subtle and unforced, and their mind becomes free from external distractions.
Time is described as a continuous flow or current that carries all things along with it. It is an unbroken stream that flows incessantly, carrying everything with it. This flow of time is always present, and it never stops or slows down.
The yogi is said to be in harmony with the flow of time and is able to move effortlessly with it. They are always aware of the present moment and can move with the flow of time without being affected by it. This state of being is described as being like the ocean, which is always full and complete, regardless of the tides and currents that flow through it."
Source: jñānakārikā (J.D., one will find this text in the Muktabodha Indological Online Text Collection)
"The patient giver, the appreciator of virtues, the self-controlled master – These are obtained through good deeds. One who is supportive, pure, skilful, wise, and learned Is difficult to find."
"The tiger-like old age stands ready to pounce, Diseases assail the body like enemies, Life ebbs away like water from a cracked pot, and yet people continue to do what is harmful... Is it not amazing?"
“As long as this body is healthy, as long as old age is far away, as long as the power of the senses is unimpaired, and as long as life is not spent, one should make great effort towards spiritual advancement. One should not wait until the last moment of life to strive for the highest goal, for that is like trying to dig a well when the house is already on fire.”