Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Last updated on 28th Oct. 2017 https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=411102299304749&id=100012149461697 informs us that today is Prof. Anilkumar Kamaraju's 75th birthday. The Facebook post is authored by Smt. Sarojini Shyam Kanagala who is the daughter of Prof. Anilkumar Kamaraju (AK sir). I have given below some pics of AK sir with Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba that were put up on that Facebook post, presuming that Smt. Sarojini Kanagala and AK sir would not mind me doing so. The first pic also shows Bhagawan with AK sir and his wife. [To open a pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window, and in new tab/window click on pic to zoom in.] I (Ravi) added the following comment (slightly edited) on above Facebook post: In my considered view, Prof. Anilkumar Kamaraju is Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's divine university, Sathyam Vada Dharmam Chara (Speak the truth, follow ethical/righteous living) university, Pr...

Saudi Arabia to vet use of Prophet’s sayings to counter extremism, http://www.themalaymailonline.com/world/article/saudi-arabia-to-vet-use-of-prophets-sayings-to-counter-extremism , 19th Oct. 2017. Ravi: Wonderful to read about this initiative from Saudi Arabian rulers and government who are the "Custodian" of the two holy mosques of Mecca and Medina. I think this will do a lot of good as it may, in all probability I hope, promote peace loving Islam which is tolerant of other faiths and other sects of Islam different from Sunni & Wahhabi Islam. By tolerant I mean that even if Sunni and Wahhabi Islam will not accept other faiths/doctrines like Hindu, Christian and even Shia Islam and various Sufism (Sufi Islam) traditions as valid, it will NOT give any support or religious sanction to violent attacks against followers of these other faiths (including those of Shia Islam faith and Sufis). I pray to Almighty God to shower His Grace on this wonderful initiative taken by ...

Note: This post is copy-pasted from  https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2017/10/transcript-of-usa-secretary-of-state.html  on 21st Oct. 2017. Last updated on 20th Oct. 2017 Here is the transcript of USA Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's 'Remarks on "Defining Our Relationship with India for the Next Century"', 18th Oct. 2017:  https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2017/10/274913.htm . Given below are large extracts from the above transcript: USA Secy. of State Rex Tillerson: ... So first, let me wish everyone a happy Diwali to all our friends in the United States, in India, around the world who are celebrating the Festival of Lights. Generally, fireworks accompany that. I don’t need any fireworks; I’m getting too many fireworks around me already. (Laughter.) So we’ll forgo the fireworks. My relationship with India dates back to about 1998, so almost 20 years now, when I began working on issues related to India’s energy security. And I’ve had many t...

I made the following comment on Facebook post of USA President Trump, whose contents are given below: "Thank you sir for your best wishes for Diwali. - Ravi S. Iyer from India." The two pics below are screenshots taken from the Facebook video.  [To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window, and in new tab/window click on pic to zoom in.] Text contents of USA President Trump's Facebook video post:  https://www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/videos/10160011016295725/ , dated 18th Oct. 2017 (Indian Standard Time), are as follows: Today, I was deeply honored to be joined by so many administration officials and leaders of the Indian-American community - to celebrate Diwali -- the Hindu Festival of Lights. As we do so, we especially remember the People of India, the home of the Hindu faith, who have built the world’s largest democracy. I greatly value my very strong relationship with Prime Minister Modi. Diwali is o...

Given below are my recent comments (slightly edited) on Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/shubha.kumar/posts/10159114674795538 , which is about the Indian embassy in Argentina putting up pics of a function of Muddenahalli group in Escobar (presumably a place in Argentina) including pics of Madhusudan Rao Naidu, the FALSE CLAIM communicator, in the function. Sairam sister --name-snipped--! As the Indian embassy in Argentina has got involved, my considered view is that both the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust as well as the International Sathya Sai orgn. must put out their public views on the matter ON SOCIAL MEDIA, including any protest letter they write to the Indian embassy in Argentina. Once they do so, then I for sure will support them (presuming that they protest about it PUBLICLY) on social media. ---- --name-snipped--, Well, the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust has a Facebook account, I believe. SSSCT has also issued PUBLIC statements referring to Muddenahalli in the past (i...

Last updated on 14th October 2017 Given below are my recent comments (slightly edited) on a Facebook post in response to above question of how to quieten the monkey mind: Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's words as sung by him tell us one way to achieve that: Satsangatwe Nissangatwam, Nissangatwe Nirmohatwam, Nirmohatwe Nischalatattwam, Nischalatattwe Jeevan Mukti. Hare Rama! Hare Rama! Rama Rama Hare Hare! Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Krishna Krishna Hare Hare! Here's the song sung by Bhagawan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8l3zkBiZ6k , 3 min. 21 secs. --- I think it is part of Bhaja Govindam of Adi Shankara but I don't know whether Bhagawan modified it a little. ... It is not just a reminder to take the holy name of God/Avatar but a mix of spiritual wisdom and holy name of God. ... Bhagawan was crystal clear about spiritual directions in such matters. A dream Guru he was, to me at least! --- Let me try a literal translation of the first two lines of the ab...

Given below are words of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba from a discourse given in Kodaikanal on 23rd April 1993, which was printed in Oct. 2017 Sanathana Sarathi. [I came across it while I was reading Sanathana Sarathi yesterday night.] In earlier days, when the population of the world was only 100 crores [Ravi: 1 billion] , most people treaded the spiritual path. They undertook spiritual practices to attain Divinity and liberation. Considering human life as evanescent like a water bubble, they sought to know the eternal truth. Now the population has increased to 600 crores [Ravi: 6 billion] . The population has increased but desire for liberation has decreased. The reason is the modern system of education. This system of education creates unlimited desires in man. It does not inculcate the desire for liberation. The students, the educationists and the patrons of education, all struggle to fulfil their worldly desires. The first plan of a student is take up a course of study which ...

Given below is a Facebook post of Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, https://www.facebook.com/narendramodi/photos/a.10150164299700165.421791.177526890164/10159511788295165/ dated 9th October 2017 : From my visit to Vadnagar (my hometown) yesterday. [To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window, and in new tab/window click on pic to zoom in.] ----- My comments on my share of above post here: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/1991960861020481 are as follows: Shirdi Sai Baba temples are all over India. Gujarat being a neighbouring state of Maharashtra (where Shirdi Sai Baba was based) naturally would have its share. Good to know that PM Modi's hometown too has its Shirdi Baba temple and that PM Modi worshiped there. Sabka Maalik Ek (The Lord/Master of all is One)! [I thank Indian PM Narendra Modi and have presumed that he will not have any objections to me sharing the above contents from his Facebook post o...

This post follows up on my earlier post, Canada PM Justin Trudeau speech in Jul 2017 on 10th anniversary celebration of Toronto Hindu temple,  https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2017/10/canada-pm-justin-trudeau-speech-in-jul.html , 8th Oct. 2017. The transcripts as well as screenshot pics below are from the video: 10th Anniversary Celebration of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Toronto, ON, Canada, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soZ2VWyvzWY . [To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window, and in new tab/window click on pic to zoom in.] ---- From around 13:37 in the video, Toronto Mayor John Tory says: And I want you to know, as the mayor of the city of Toronto, and I say this on behalf of all of the people of the city of Toronto, how proud we are to have this magnificent and unique mandir (temple) located in our beautiful city. ... And to follow up (on what) minister Baines said about making Canada a better place, you make T...

Given below are my recent comments (slightly edited) on a Facebook post: My view is that Swami's message was suited to the persons who were the target of the message. [So Swami would send sweets to students, and would not be very appreciative of students giving up on sweets as a penance!] Too much vairagya in students would not have been appropriate, I think, as Swami wanted them to be in the world and also follow Sathya, Dharma, Shanti & Prema values. .... But to grown ups, I think Swami did talk about vairagya. In my considered view, Prema (selfless love) and Vairagya (detachment) are the hallmarks of an evolved spiritual person. ... My experience of physical form Sathya Sai during my regular (almost every day when Bhagavan was in Parthi) darshans and discourse-sambhashans (discourses would NOT be every day, of course) of him from Oct. 2002 to March 2011 is that Swami would interact with students, many times, as a loving parent. We would be told of Swami inquiring of st...

Prime Minister Trudeau celebrates the 10th anniversary of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaaZBtsiCxk , 8 min. 18 secs, published Jul. 25th 2017 Another video which uses clips from the above video and adds some pics of the temple: https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1661055697259247/ , around 2 mins. I have transcribed some parts of Canadian PM Trudeau's speech below: Jai Swaminarayan! [Applause]. Thank you. Hello everyone! Kem cho! (How are you, in Gujarati) [Applause] I first want to thank his divine holiness for welcoming me so warmly today. ... My friends, it is truly a pleasure and an honour to join you in celebrating 10 years of the BAPS Swaminarayan mandir as well as the vibrant community that made this possible. Built according to principles outlined in ancient Hindu scripture, it is without a doubt, one of Canada's architectural wonders with its intricate stone and wood carvings. How remarkable and fitting ...