Friday, 26 October 2012
Dog
Linga Every Where
Eknath grew up in a devout family in Maharashtra. From childhood, he developed intense devotion for Panduranga (a form of Lord Vishnu worshipped in Maharashtra). As a young boy, his father had once asked him to do the puja in the family shrine. Eknath completed the puja and refused to move from that spot until Panduranga came in person and ate the naivedyam (sacred offering to Bhagavan) that Eknath had offered. He became known for his devotion to Panduranga and Eknath himself was satisfied. Sant Namdeo, another famous saint, was passing through Eknath's hometown. At bhiksha, he tapped Eknath on the head with his staff and said, "the pot is kaccha" implying that he was an immature devotee like a wet clay pot that had not yet been fired in the kiln. Eknath was offended and asked what he should do to become "pukka", (mature). Sant Namdeo sends him to Shri Visobha Kechar in a remote village.
Eknath goes to that village and enquires after the teacher. On being told, Shri Visobha is in the temple, Eknath goes to the temple. There he finds an old man sleeping on the floor with his feet resting on the shivalinga. Shocked, Eknath goes and rudely wakes up the old man and rebukes him for his effrontery in placing his feet on the Lord. The old man sleepily says that he is tired and would Eknath kindly move his feet away from the Lord. Eknath angrily, lifts the old mans feet and places them away from the shivalinga. Lo and behold, a shivalinga springs up where he placed the old man's feet. Furious, Eknath repeatedly moves the old man's feet only to find that wherever he placed the old man's feet, a shivalinga appeared. It dawned on Eknath that this old man could be none other than Shri Visobha Kechar. He prostates to the teacher and asks that he reveal the nature of the Lord.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Mithyaa Haa Sansaara - Eknath Maharaj
मिथ्या हा संसार । अवघा मायेचा बाजार ॥१॥
mithyaa haa sansaara | avaghaa Maayecha baazaar ||1||
स्त्रिया पुत्र धन । हे तो सर्व मायिक जाण ॥२॥
striyaa putra dhan | he to sarva Maayika jaana ||2||
यांत गुंतू नको नरा । न करी आयुष्य मातेरा ॥३॥
yaat guntoo nako naraa | na kari aayushya maateraa ||3||
वाचे वदे हरिहर । करी ध्यान निरंतर ॥४॥
vaache vade Harihara | kari dhyaan nirantara ||4||
एका जनार्दनी नरा । नित्य भज हरिहरा ॥५॥
Ekaa Janaardani naraa | nitya bhaja Hariharaa ||5||
mithyaa haa sansaara | avaghaa Maayecha baazaar ||1||
स्त्रिया पुत्र धन । हे तो सर्व मायिक जाण ॥२॥
striyaa putra dhan | he to sarva Maayika jaana ||2||
यांत गुंतू नको नरा । न करी आयुष्य मातेरा ॥३॥
yaat guntoo nako naraa | na kari aayushya maateraa ||3||
वाचे वदे हरिहर । करी ध्यान निरंतर ॥४॥
vaache vade Harihara | kari dhyaan nirantara ||4||
एका जनार्दनी नरा । नित्य भज हरिहरा ॥५॥
Ekaa Janaardani naraa | nitya bhaja Hariharaa ||5||
Saturday, 30 June 2012
Grip of Habits: Theory of Karma
The way we live our life is not a conscious way of living. We live a mechanical life propelled by our habits. It is the easiest way to live, but it makes our life dull.
We do feel cozy and comfortable but our level of consciousness starts going lower. The sharpness in our life comes when we bring more and more awareness to each moment. Then we can get out of the vicious circle of habits and liberate ourselves from karmic bondage.
The theory of karma exists, but only for those who live life without full awareness. For a man of awareness, a Buddha, this theory has no relevance.
Osho often told the story of a Hindu mystic, Eknath, who was going on a year-long pilgrimage, visiting all the sacred places of the country. A thousand people were travelling with him.
The thief of the town also came and said, "I know that I am a thief and not worthy enough to be a member of your group, but do give me a chance. I would like to come for the pilgrimage".
Eknath said, "It will be difficult, because one year is a long time and you may start stealing people's things. You may cause trouble. Please drop this idea". But the thief was insistent. He said, "For one year I will stop stealing, but I have to come. And I promise you that for one year I will not steal a single thing from anybody". Eknath agreed.
But within a week trouble started, things started disappearing from people's luggage, and even more puzzling was that things would disappear from somebody's bag only to be found in somebody else's.
The man in whose bag they would be found would say, "I really don't know how these things have come to be in my bag".
One night Eknath, pretending to be asleep, lay awake, and he watched. In the middle of the night, the thief started changing things from one person's luggage to another person's. Eknath caught him red- handed and said, "What happened to your promise?" The thief said, "I have not stolen a single thing. But this is my old habit. In the middle of the night if I don't do some mischief, it is impossible for me to sleep. And for one year, not to sleep? Be compassionate I am not stealing, things are just exchanged from one person to another. And moreover, after one year I have to start my stealing again, so it will be good practice also".
So we are victims of our habits. Hindus call it the theory of karma: Each action that we repeat, or each thought — because thought is also a subtle action in the mind — it becomes more and more powerful. Then we are in the grip of it.
We are imprisoned in the habit. When we get angry, we rationalise and say that the situation demanded it. That's how our ego goes on thinking that we are still the boss, but we are not. Anger comes out of old patterns, out of the past. And when anger comes we try to find an excuse for it.
Osho points out: Nobody is responsible except you. Nobody can make you angry, and nobody can make you happy. You become happy on your own, you become angry on your own, and you become sad on your own. Unless you realise this, you will always remain a slave.
Our relationships are creating miseries for us for the simple reason that we lack awareness, our behaviour is coming out of unconsciousness. Become more and more conscious to make life blissful.
We do feel cozy and comfortable but our level of consciousness starts going lower. The sharpness in our life comes when we bring more and more awareness to each moment. Then we can get out of the vicious circle of habits and liberate ourselves from karmic bondage.
The theory of karma exists, but only for those who live life without full awareness. For a man of awareness, a Buddha, this theory has no relevance.
Osho often told the story of a Hindu mystic, Eknath, who was going on a year-long pilgrimage, visiting all the sacred places of the country. A thousand people were travelling with him.
The thief of the town also came and said, "I know that I am a thief and not worthy enough to be a member of your group, but do give me a chance. I would like to come for the pilgrimage".
Eknath said, "It will be difficult, because one year is a long time and you may start stealing people's things. You may cause trouble. Please drop this idea". But the thief was insistent. He said, "For one year I will stop stealing, but I have to come. And I promise you that for one year I will not steal a single thing from anybody". Eknath agreed.
But within a week trouble started, things started disappearing from people's luggage, and even more puzzling was that things would disappear from somebody's bag only to be found in somebody else's.
The man in whose bag they would be found would say, "I really don't know how these things have come to be in my bag".
One night Eknath, pretending to be asleep, lay awake, and he watched. In the middle of the night, the thief started changing things from one person's luggage to another person's. Eknath caught him red- handed and said, "What happened to your promise?" The thief said, "I have not stolen a single thing. But this is my old habit. In the middle of the night if I don't do some mischief, it is impossible for me to sleep. And for one year, not to sleep? Be compassionate I am not stealing, things are just exchanged from one person to another. And moreover, after one year I have to start my stealing again, so it will be good practice also".
So we are victims of our habits. Hindus call it the theory of karma: Each action that we repeat, or each thought — because thought is also a subtle action in the mind — it becomes more and more powerful. Then we are in the grip of it.
We are imprisoned in the habit. When we get angry, we rationalise and say that the situation demanded it. That's how our ego goes on thinking that we are still the boss, but we are not. Anger comes out of old patterns, out of the past. And when anger comes we try to find an excuse for it.
Osho points out: Nobody is responsible except you. Nobody can make you angry, and nobody can make you happy. You become happy on your own, you become angry on your own, and you become sad on your own. Unless you realise this, you will always remain a slave.
Our relationships are creating miseries for us for the simple reason that we lack awareness, our behaviour is coming out of unconsciousness. Become more and more conscious to make life blissful.
Marriage and Uddhav,
Marriage and family life never came in the way of Shri Janardan Swami in following the path of righteousness. His disciple Shri Eknath Maharaj, also did not consider marriage as an obstacle in following religious practices. In due course he also thought of matrimony and was married to a well-behaved and chaste lady. Her name was Girijabai. She was always hospitable to the visitors and a willing worker at home. She always joined hands with her husband in welcoming each and everybody who visited their house.
At the time of the marriage of Shri Eknath one Shri Uddhav, who stayed at Bijapur and who was known to the family of Shri Eknath, came to Paithan and after the marriage he stayed permanently in the house of Eknath Maharaj.
This gentleman was a man of great capacity and he used to manage all the household affairs of Eknath Maharaj. Because of the "Sadavarta" referred to before, a number of grocery articles were required to be purchased and stored in the house very often. Apart from this, Shri Eknath Maharaj was a saint who was widely known in the country. Hence he always used to have a number of visitors everyday. All these visitors also were required to be sui¬tably entertained. Similarly the festivals, birthdays etc. of all the Gods like Rama, Krishna, Dutta, etc used to be celebrated when also a number of people used to visit Eknath's house.
To attend to all these jobs and manage all the household affairs of Eknath Maharaj was no small job and it required a man of various accomplishments. It goes to the credit of Uddhav that he managed all these jobs quite efficiently.
At the time of the marriage of Shri Eknath one Shri Uddhav, who stayed at Bijapur and who was known to the family of Shri Eknath, came to Paithan and after the marriage he stayed permanently in the house of Eknath Maharaj.
This gentleman was a man of great capacity and he used to manage all the household affairs of Eknath Maharaj. Because of the "Sadavarta" referred to before, a number of grocery articles were required to be purchased and stored in the house very often. Apart from this, Shri Eknath Maharaj was a saint who was widely known in the country. Hence he always used to have a number of visitors everyday. All these visitors also were required to be sui¬tably entertained. Similarly the festivals, birthdays etc. of all the Gods like Rama, Krishna, Dutta, etc used to be celebrated when also a number of people used to visit Eknath's house.
To attend to all these jobs and manage all the household affairs of Eknath Maharaj was no small job and it required a man of various accomplishments. It goes to the credit of Uddhav that he managed all these jobs quite efficiently.
Pilgrimage
According to the instructions of his guru, Eknath started on the pilgrimage. They started from Daulatabad and came to Nasik after a few days. After performing the usual rites there, they went to Panchwati Here Shri Janardan Swami told his disciple to write a Commentary in Marathi on "The Chatushloky Bhagwat".
After finishing this work, Eknath went to Trimbakeshwar. There he paid his homage to the Samadhi of Nivrittinath and composed twenty two Abhangas. Eknath similarly had great respect for Dnyanadeo, Sopan and Muktabai and he has composed Abhangas praising them also.
After finishing this work, Eknath went to Trimbakeshwar. There he paid his homage to the Samadhi of Nivrittinath and composed twenty two Abhangas. Eknath similarly had great respect for Dnyanadeo, Sopan and Muktabai and he has composed Abhangas praising them also.
Janardan Swami thereafter returned to Daulatabad and directed his disciple to visit the holy places of Northern India Among the saints of India there was always a practice to visit the holy places in India in order to get the first-hand knowledge of the condition of the country and the people. Eknath was no exception to this convention. According to the directions of his guru, he visited the
- Fayoshni,
- Tapi and
- Narmada rivers.
- Ujjain,
- Mathura,
- Gokul,
- Vrindavan,
- Kashi,
- Prayag,
- Gaya,
- Ayodhya,
- Badrinath,
- Pushkar and
- Dwarka,
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