Awakin Talks Webinar Series

On Jan 16, 2019 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Signals Even GPS Cannot Detect, by Aylie Baker:

Another good example is cameras in our phone--you will see people taking photographs and selfies instead of enjoying the specific moment and surrounding environment. People are pre-occupied with the thought of taking a picture and sharing the picture with their friends in social network instead of enjoying the surroundings.

On Aug 15, 2018 Sanjeev Verma wrote on The Practice Of Soft Eyes, by Parker Palmer:

A no bhadraH kratavo yantu vishvataH - Rig Veda

Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides.

This verse from Rig Veda summarizes this passage quite well. Most of the fundamental scientific inventions have come about through the practice of soft eyes. Newton use his soft eyes to discover the Laws of Gravitation--Archimedes discovered the buoyancy laws while he was in bath tub.

Life is interesting because it is uneven and that brings to us a number of surprises --these surprises are there to reveal secrets of this universe.

Sometimes we are not ready to open to new ideas--Galileo used to his soft eyes to discover that earth is round. He could have used his narrow eyes of then well accepted notion that the Earth was flat.

On Aug 15, 2018 Sanjeev Verma wrote on The Practice Of Soft Eyes, by Parker Palmer:

à¤† à¤¨à¥‹ à¤à¤¦à¥à¤°à¤¾à¤ƒ à¤•à¥à¤°à¤¤à¤µà¥‹ à¤¯à¤¨à¥à¤¤à¥ à¤µà¤¿à¤¶à¥à¤µà¤¤à¤ƒ Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides.

This verse from Rig Veda summarizes this passage quite well. Most of the fundamental scientific inventions have come about through the practice of soft eyes. Newton use his soft eyes to discover the Laws of Gravitation--Archimedes discovered the buoyancy laws while he was in bath tub.

Life is interesting because it is uneven and that brings to us a number of surprises --these surprises are there to reveal secrets of this universe.

Sometimes we are not ready to open to new ideas--Galileo used to his soft eyes to discover that earth is round. He could have used his narrow eyes of then well accepted notion that the Earth was flat.

On Jul 27, 2017 Sanjeev Verma wrote on The Boss And The Attendants, by TKV Desikachar:

Intellect gives us the discerning power-gives us wisdom ( or Panya)--helps us to distinguish between right and wrong actions. However the intellect acquires its power when the mind is quiet. We acquire this discerning power when the mind is quiet since we look at things with the help of intellect through the prism or lens of mind. We can not see things clearly when our prism or lens is clouded. It is important to tame or quieten the mind in order for us to acquire discerning power. Our mind is always under constsnt agitation--lots of thoughts bouncing around--just like Brownian motion. These random thoughts take away our Wisdom. Finally I think that we often loosely use the term heart instead of mind--it is a part of our physical existence that regulates blood flow in our body. Probably we mean mind when we use the word heart. Similarly we often end up using the word brain instead of intellect.

On Jan 19, 2016 Sanjeev wrote on Absurd Heroism, by Margaret Wheatley:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciSF0vX6pMw&feature=youtu.be

everyone needs to contribute for the betterment of society..Delhi has shown it at experiential level..

On Jun 23, 2015 Sanjeev wrote on A Bigger Container, by Charlotte Joko Beck:

This passage basically says that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Spiritually, w are an infinite container. Physically, we are limited in time and space. This container keeps on becoming bigger as we we grow outward from physical space to mind space, from mind space to intellect space & intellect space to spiritual space. As we grow spiritually, we develop an ability to see life as it is that helps to become a better person. We end up seeing impurities or vices in physical & mental space. It is like going out of system and observe things from outside to see impurities in system

On Jun 12, 2015 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Not Minding What Happens, by Eckhart Tolle:

This passage is short and simple but there is deeper meaning hidden in it. There is reason to whatever happens in our lives. It is a Karma theory--Theory of Cause & Effect. There are also a number of external factors that are not in our control. This reminds me of my sailing days. While sailing you have to be very alert regarding wind direction, water waves etc. You do not think why wind changed direction or as to why water waves came. You constantly keep looking for them and take corrective action. You simply accept the reality of the moment and act accordingly. We have control over our present and we should act wisely in our present.

On Jun 3, 2015 Sanjeev wrote on Love is the Source of Fearlessness, by Margaret Wheatley:

"Love" is an abstract concept. "Love" can be for a cause--for instance Love for country or Love for an idea--that is very common in silicon valley--people take risk and start a new venture or enterprise because they are in "Love" with an idea. It comes in different flavors. Every being has four layer of existence--physical, subtle than physical is mind, subtle than mind is intellect and subtle than intellect is the soul. The love for a cause can exist in any one of the four layers--however the power of "Love" and fearlessness goes up with higher intensity as you move up in the ladder from Physical self to Spiritual Self.

On May 17, 2015 Sanjeev Verma wrote on A Strange Predicament, by Pavithra Mehta:

Everyone is a spiritual being having a human experience- each experience is different.

On May 13, 2015 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Mistake of Immense Proportion, by Jacob Needleman:

Outer World is an Extension of Inner World--Material World and Inner World are made of same sub-atomic particles. Problem happens when start looking for happiness in the outer world--when in reality happiness can be found in the inner world itself. Both inner World and Inner World are governed by the same set of rules. Sin is one when violate the rules of the nature--that govern both inner and outer world. For instance, we eat unhealthy then we suffer. Similarly when violate rules in the outer world then imbalance in the nature happens and as a consequence planet and all of us living in the planets suffer. Probably this should be the right decision of SIN. SIN is merely a mistake when we escape punishment :-)

On Apr 30, 2015 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Force of Kindness, by Sharon Shalzberg:

Kindness is an abstraction of positive thoughts and ideas. When you think positive then positive energy is emitted through you at sub-atomic level--you become like an antenna sending positive vibrations all around your existence in this universe. You become kind to your own existence at physical, emotional, intellectual & spiritual levels. You then try to do kind things to everyone at all four dimensions of your existence. Let each of us become kind in all four dimensions and spread positivity around us through our strengths in four dimensions.

On Jan 13, 2011 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Entertainment Vs. Art, by Lariv Athem:

Very Interesting passage! This inspired me to put my all time favorite quote on "dancing"--a popular art that entertains also :-)

"Your purpose in life isn't to arrive at a destination where you find inspiration, just as the purpose of dancing isn't to end up at a particular spot on the floor. The purpose of dancing--and of life--- is to enjoy every moment and every step, regardless of where you are when the music ends."

Sanjeev

On Dec 30, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Embracing the Mystery of Uncertainty, by Alan Briskin:

Somik, Thanks for summarizing the discussions from yesterday's talk by Rev. Heng Sure. I left a bit early since I did not to stay very late--your excellent summary helped me a lot to catch up with later part of discussions. I would like to respectfully differ on certain issues and represnt a very different perspective to certain points that came during discussions. The discussions on gods ( with the lower case), referred to as the "devas" without giving enough background was a disappointment. The language of heaven and hell as well as doctorines associated with this language have their origin in the monotheistic religion of the Abrahmic tradition. There is no mention of this in Vedic Philosophy. It was later adopted in our Puranic books--the origin was from some where else. The concept of Devas enjoying all kind of things that they did not have on earth was an attempt to fool ignorant people. In a certain faith, drinking is bad on earth but heavens have rivers of wine. Same is true in Purans--heaven where Devas enjoy Som Ras ( Wine). This whole concept of Devas and Heaven was a tool to exploit poor people. This has nothing to do with spirituality and Vedic Philosophy. I would like to further point out that Vedic philosophy is monotheistic. The word "Deva" is from the Sanskrit language meaning "a being of brilliant light"--for example Sun referrred to as Deva in Veda. I will quote from Vedic literature that shows that the terms "Devas" were used to described various attributes of the same God--known as "Ohm" in Vedas. "AUM is the Great God who is Omnipresent (like ether)" Yajur Veda XL-17 "He is called Brahma--the Creator of the Universe; Vishnu-All-Prevading; Rudra-Punisher of the wicked; Shiva-Vlissful and Benefactor of all; Akshara-Imoortal, Omnipresent;Swarat-Self effulgent; Kalagni-Cause of the dissolution of the world and regulator of time; Chandrama-the source of H... [View Full Comment]

Somik,

Thanks for summarizing the discussions from yesterday's talk by Rev. Heng Sure. I left a bit early since I did not to stay very late--your excellent summary helped me a lot to catch up with later part of discussions. I would like to respectfully differ on certain issues and represnt a very different perspective to certain points that came during discussions.

The discussions on gods ( with the lower case), referred to as the "devas" without giving enough background was a disappointment. The language of heaven and hell as well as doctorines associated with this language have their origin in the monotheistic religion of the Abrahmic tradition. There is no mention of this in Vedic Philosophy. It was later adopted in our Puranic books--the origin was from some where else. The concept of Devas enjoying all kind of things that they did not have on earth was an attempt to fool ignorant people. In a certain faith, drinking is bad on earth but heavens have rivers of wine. Same is true in Purans--heaven where Devas enjoy Som Ras ( Wine). This whole concept of Devas and Heaven was a tool to exploit poor people. This has nothing to do with spirituality and Vedic Philosophy.

I would like to further point out that Vedic philosophy is monotheistic. The word "Deva" is from the Sanskrit language meaning "a being of brilliant light"--for example Sun referrred to as Deva in Veda.

I will quote from Vedic literature that shows that the terms "Devas" were used to described various attributes of the same God--known as "Ohm" in Vedas.

"AUM is the Great God who is Omnipresent (like ether)" Yajur Veda XL-17

"He is called Brahma--the Creator of the Universe; Vishnu-All-Prevading; Rudra-Punisher of the wicked; Shiva-Vlissful and Benefactor of all; Akshara-Imoortal, Omnipresent;Swarat-Self effulgent; Kalagni-Cause of the dissolution of the world and regulator of time; Chandrama-the source of Happiness.: Kaivalya Upanishad

"All the Vedas and Shastras declare AUM as the primary and natural name of God. All others are his secondary names." Manduk Upanishad.

Gita and Budha

I found the question regarding Gita and Budhha very interesting and amusing. I have to be honest here--I think that Budhhism provides a path of escapism. I am sure a Budhhist monk would have advised Arjun to run away from batte field and meditate in Forest. Krishna first used the path of diplomacy with Duryodhana but he realized that war was the only way out. I do not think that Arjun did not want to fight just because he was standing against his relatives--he was coward. King Ram also had sent a yogi and diplomat Hanuman to Ravan for a truce but Ravan did not get the message--Ram then went for War--in this case Ravan was not related to Ram. Ancient Vedic wisdom says that if diplomacy does not work then you have to go for War as a last resort.

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On Dec 28, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Embracing the Mystery of Uncertainty, by Alan Briskin:

I liked this passage...it sends an important message to all of us. All the living beings are connected to each other at spiritual level. If we are at peace with ourselves then we raditae positive energy and vibes and that impacts everyone who comes in our close vicinity--it does not matter whether they are fellow human beings, animals or plants.

Similarly, if we live in a society that has lot of unrest and turbulence then that impacts us also. A successful society is one that cares about each other. This gives us a spiritual principle:

"One should see one's own greatest wlefare as residing in the welfare of others."

Sanjeev

On Dec 25, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Individual and Social Ethics, by Bertrand Russell:

Pancho, Thanks for summarizing your thoughts so nicely. Probably you should become our guest speaker in one of our wednesday meditation. I liked the way you presented your thoughts. The true spirituality is about connecting with one self--meditation helps us in this process. You have summarized it so nicely: "May all become compassionate,courageous and wise" True spirituality is about becoming compassionate, truthful and honest human being--in fact we can add a lot to this long list of virtues. Also I agree that Nature is our great Guru--the keen observation of nature with meditative mind has led to lot of discoveries in physical and spiritual sciences. You then mentioned that Conscience is our Guru-Meditation helps us in this process--when we sit quietly then we connect to our "True Self" or conscience--we see ourselves in "pure" or "true" form. In fact, word "Mantra" means state of deep meditation and most of the discoveries-both in physical and spiritual world- happens through "Mantra" or deep meditation. Ancient Rishis ( or professors) made lot of discoveries through "Mantra" or deep meditation. "Mantra" is not about reading a "hymn" in Sanskrit--when we say that certain event or discovery happened through a "Mantra"--that basically means that a certain Rishi or professor discovered certain mystery in the physical or spiritual science through deep meditation or research--not much different from the discoveries made by present day "PhD" student or researcher. The books on spiritual sciences such as "Gita", "Guru Granth Sahib", "Vedas" and "Upanishads" are also our Guru since they guide us in the discovery of "Mystical" world of spiritual sciences. [...] I just want to make some clarifications here. I am not presenting any theory or new interpretation of "V... [View Full Comment]

Pancho,

Thanks for summarizing your thoughts so nicely. Probably you should become our guest speaker in one of our wednesday meditation. I liked the way you presented your thoughts.

The true spirituality is about connecting with one self--meditation helps us in this process. You have summarized it so nicely:

"May all become compassionate,courageous and wise"

True spirituality is about becoming compassionate, truthful and honest human being--in fact we can add a lot to this long list of virtues.

Also I agree that Nature is our great Guru--the keen observation of nature with meditative mind has led to lot of discoveries in physical and spiritual sciences.

You then mentioned that Conscience is our Guru-Meditation helps us in this process--when we sit quietly then we connect to our "True Self" or conscience--we see ourselves in "pure" or "true" form.

In fact, word "Mantra" means state of deep meditation and most of the discoveries-both in physical and spiritual world- happens through "Mantra" or deep meditation. Ancient Rishis ( or professors) made lot of discoveries through "Mantra" or deep meditation. "Mantra" is not about reading a "hymn" in Sanskrit--when we say that certain event or discovery happened through a "Mantra"--that basically means that a certain Rishi or professor discovered certain mystery in the physical or spiritual science through deep meditation or research--not much different from the discoveries made by present day "PhD" student or researcher.

The books on spiritual sciences such as "Gita", "Guru Granth Sahib", "Vedas" and "Upanishads" are also our Guru since they guide us in the discovery of "Mystical" world of spiritual sciences.

[...]

I just want to make some clarifications here. I am not presenting any theory or new interpretation of "Vedas" or "Mantra". The word "Veda" has come from sanskrit word "Vid" or Knowledge. Vedic hymns are called "Mantra" because the spiritual knowledge in these books was acquired through deep research or meditation by Rishis or Professor in the field of Spiritual sciences.

[...]

The Sanskrit word mantra- (m.; also n. mantram) consists of the root man- "to think" (also in manas "mind") and the suffix -tra, designating tools or instruments, hence a literal translation would be "instrument of thought".

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On Dec 23, 2010 sanjeev Verma wrote on Individual and Social Ethics, by Bertrand Russell:

Somik, thanks for a your thoughtful and detailed reply. I guess that we have to sometime sit together and discuss the issues in detail. Sometimes, it is not that easy to discuss spiritual issues over the message board. In addition, I am not good at writing long emails. Anyway, let me summarize my thoughts and we could take our discussions further when we next meet in person. I am against organized religion because it is relatively a new concept--may be few thousand years old. There is no mention of word "Hindu" in anyone of the so called Hindu scriptures-Vedas, Gita, Ramayan etc. Gita and Vedas talk about Manav Dharma and do not address a particular sect or community. We limit the scope of a book on spirituality to a section of society once we start using word "Holy" before that. This does not happen in the world of physical sciences and this has lead to the tremendous progress in the realm of physical sciences. Like Physical science, spiritual science is also for the benefit of humanity and should be shared and should not be associated with an organized religion or sect. I believe that Physical science has its limitations--even characteristics of sub-atomic particles are known through inference and one needs the help of spiritual science to look at the world subtler than sub-atomic particles. We can go into that world through practice of meditation and Yogic sciences. I think that there is a bit of confusion when we talk of "Mysticism". Respected Haricharn Das ji made a very interesting observation--no one would believe him if he could travel on a space ship to Galaxies come back to the earth and tell people about his experiences--I agree with him on that--there are still some people who do not believe that man ever went to moon. If a master or enlightened person comes to me and says that enlightenment is like seeing million suns at the same time then I would believe him. I believe in this kind of &quo... [View Full Comment]

Somik, thanks for a your thoughtful and detailed reply.

I guess that we have to sometime sit together and discuss the issues in detail. Sometimes, it is not that easy to discuss spiritual issues over the message board. In addition, I am not good at writing long emails. Anyway, let me summarize my thoughts and we could take our discussions further when we next meet in person.

I am against organized religion because it is relatively a new concept--may be few thousand years old. There is no mention of word "Hindu" in anyone of the so called Hindu scriptures-Vedas, Gita, Ramayan etc. Gita and Vedas talk about Manav Dharma and do not address a particular sect or community. We limit the scope of a book on spirituality to a section of society once we start using word "Holy" before that. This does not happen in the world of physical sciences and this has lead to the tremendous progress in the realm of physical sciences. Like Physical science, spiritual science is also for the benefit of humanity and should be shared and should not be associated with an organized religion or sect.

I believe that Physical science has its limitations--even characteristics of sub-atomic particles are known through inference and one needs the help of spiritual science to look at the world subtler than sub-atomic particles. We can go into that world through practice of meditation and Yogic sciences.

I think that there is a bit of confusion when we talk of "Mysticism". Respected Haricharn Das ji made a very interesting observation--no one would believe him if he could travel on a space ship to Galaxies come back to the earth and tell people about his experiences--I agree with him on that--there are still some people who do not believe that man ever went to moon. If a master or enlightened person comes to me and says that enlightenment is like seeing million suns at the same time then I would believe him. I believe in this kind of "Mysticism"--I believe that Yogic science teaches us how to reach there and there are people, who have reached there. It is not easy but possible--it is about going in a world subtler than sub-atomic particles.

However, I would not believe in miracles seen through naked eyes. I think that Physical science can explain everything that we see from our eyes. For instance, our mythology says that Prahalad was thrown in to the fire and nothing happened to him--this kind of things are unbelievable and I refuse to believe them--the Dharma of Fire is to burn and it will burn irrespective of whether the body thrown into Fire is that of a godly person or sinner. Physical science can not explain things that are subtler than sub-atomic particles--you have to go to spiritual scientist for that. However, it can explain most of the things that we through naked eyes. I agree that there can be some unknown things and God will let us know about those things through in course of time through some scientist in future.

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On Dec 23, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Individual and Social Ethics, by Bertrand Russell:

Somik,

Thanks for capturing the important points from yesterday's talk. I also really enjoyed respected Haricharan Das ji's talk and was impressed by him.

However, I guess that we need to talk a bit more about "mysticism". For instance, it was difficult for me to believe the story regarding the column of light that he saw in his Guru during his birthday celebration. I would like to be proven wrong. I had heard these kind of stories about other Gurus also but I have never had this sort of personal experience. Sometimes, my feeling is that some followers of Gurus treat their Gurus as God and start seeing super natural powers in them. For instance, I recently met San Rajinder Singhji Maharaj ( www.sos.org) and I heard similar stories about him from his followers. I am also following his Path but I do not see God in him like his other followers.

I do believe in the existence of spiritual people, who bring to us the science of spirituality but I only see in them a spiritually advanced person-not God. These people are much closer to God than many of us are.

Sanjeev

On Dec 23, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Individual and Social Ethics, by Bertrand Russell:

It was interesting to listen to thoughts of guest others and others on wednesday meditation.

Someone mentioned that she was new to spirituality. My feeling is that everyone is spiritual. Anyone, who is connected to his/her spirit is a spiritual person..anyone who is truthful, honest or has compassion in spiritual. If you have element of aforementioned virtues then you are a spiritual person. I have not met a single peson, who is a personification of all vices or devil--similalrly I have not seen or met any person, who is a personification of all virtues or God.

Couple of weeks back, i quoted a hymn from Yajusveda that says--God is perfect, formless and unborn. I tend to agree with this notion. Humans can not be perfect and hence I do not believe in the notion of Avatar or reincarnation of God in human form. personalities like Ram, Krishna, Gandhi were great souls but they were not perfect--they all made mistakes in their lives.

My spirtual training has taught me to do "Charitra" Puja ( emulate great people-learn from their lives) not "Chitra" Puja ( worshipping of pictures or idols).. If you want to worship Ram then become courageous like him and fight against injustice.

I fully agree with Respected Dineshji regarding his question on mysticism. I have met many Gurus but i have not seen any miracles with my own eyes--my feeling is that all this talk of miracles is nothing but illusion. I beleive in great masters and Gurus but I do not believe in any miracles. Every one is bound by the Physical laws or Nature--again created by God. Respected Haricharn Das ji mentiojned that Nature was also a Guru. I agree with him on this but I do not belive that any Guru or Master can do something that goes against the physical laws.

On Dec 13, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Building a Creative Temple, by Martin Luther King, Jr.:

Catherine, You should look at the commentary on Gita by Swami Chinmayananda. I do not like to use term "Lord" before Krishna since he was a Yogi and Scholar of Vedic literature and according to Yajurveda: He is One and only One, Sustains entire universe, Omnipresent, Formless, All-Powerful, Perfect, Omniscient, Unborn, Eternal and supports us always. He alone should be worshipped. (Yajurveda 40.8) There are lot of metaphors used in Gita. For instance Professor Krishna states in Gita that noble and spiritual souls are born to again and again to show the people the path of righteousness--some people misinterpreted it to mean that Krishna was "God" himself. God sends us the knowledge of Physical sciences through Prophets like Newton & Einstein and Spiritual sciences through Prophets like Krishna. ... [View Full Comment]

On Dec 12, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Building a Creative Temple, by Martin Luther King, Jr.:

Catherine, Sometimes you have to assert if you are in the right path or path of dharma. You can find answer to your questions in the theis of Professor Krishna, who was a great political and spiritual scientist in ancient India. His thesis is popularly known as Holy Gita--there is nothing Holy about the book-this is a great book on political and spiritual sciences and every word in this book is a gem. King Arjuna had also his doubts and Profesor Krishna tells him to fight for justice or Dharma. Sanjeev

All Comments By

On Jan 16, 2019 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Signals Even GPS Cannot Detect, by Aylie Baker:

On Aug 15, 2018 Sanjeev Verma wrote on The Practice Of Soft Eyes, by Parker Palmer:

On Aug 15, 2018 Sanjeev Verma wrote on The Practice Of Soft Eyes, by Parker Palmer:

On Jul 27, 2017 Sanjeev Verma wrote on The Boss And The Attendants, by TKV Desikachar:

On Jan 19, 2016 Sanjeev wrote on Absurd Heroism, by Margaret Wheatley:

On Jun 23, 2015 Sanjeev wrote on A Bigger Container, by Charlotte Joko Beck:

On Jun 12, 2015 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Not Minding What Happens, by Eckhart Tolle:

On Jun 3, 2015 Sanjeev wrote on Love is the Source of Fearlessness, by Margaret Wheatley:

On May 17, 2015 Sanjeev Verma wrote on A Strange Predicament, by Pavithra Mehta:

On May 13, 2015 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Mistake of Immense Proportion, by Jacob Needleman:

On Apr 30, 2015 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Force of Kindness, by Sharon Shalzberg:

On Jan 13, 2011 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Entertainment Vs. Art, by Lariv Athem:

On Dec 30, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Embracing the Mystery of Uncertainty, by Alan Briskin:

On Dec 28, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Embracing the Mystery of Uncertainty, by Alan Briskin:

On Dec 25, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Individual and Social Ethics, by Bertrand Russell:

On Dec 23, 2010 sanjeev Verma wrote on Individual and Social Ethics, by Bertrand Russell:

On Dec 23, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Individual and Social Ethics, by Bertrand Russell:

On Dec 23, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Individual and Social Ethics, by Bertrand Russell:

On Dec 13, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Building a Creative Temple, by Martin Luther King, Jr.:

On Dec 12, 2010 Sanjeev Verma wrote on Building a Creative Temple, by Martin Luther King, Jr.: