Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in or around Jan. to Mar. 2023

When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer).

To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers may have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwQf8mDlUnA , around 9 mins. [ISKCON bhajan]

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0dJKE4rYY4 , around 20 min. video (Rishikesh travel video)

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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eda6GIqtaPY (SPB Bilvashtakam)

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Jnani identifies himself with all-pervading Brahman and uses his mind and body as his instruments for worldly activities, whereas an ajnani (ignorant person) identifies himself with his body - From The Mind of a Jivanmukta, http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2000s/2009/0902/0902mnjv.html (recent link as earlier link is now broken)

The content of the below shared Facebook post is also on my blog. It came to my attention today as I saw there were some visits to the associated blog post. I felt it appropriate to share an extract from the post (which is an extract from another site):

In this context, here is an interesting extract from The Mind of a Jivanmukta, http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2009/bfeb09/jivan.shtml :

A jivanmukta is a sage free from the trammels of births and deaths while living. Though the instinctive mind with low desires has been destroyed in him, his spiritual sattwic mind does not perish. Like flowers and fruits that are latent in a seed, a residue of sattwa, the cause of intelligence, rests always in the heart. If the mind were completely annihilated as soon as one attained jnana, the jivanmukti state would be impossible. How would the jivanmukta be able to undertake worldly dealings without the instrument of the mind? Therefore, a jnani identifies himself with the all-pervading Brahman and uses his mind and body as his instruments for worldly activities, whereas an ajnani (ignorant person) identifies himself with his body. There have been cases of jivanmuktas like Raja Janaka who attained jnana and utilized their mind and body in this manner for the well-being of humanity at large.

Sri Rama and Sri Krishna were ever resting in Brahman even when they were ruling their kingdoms. They were ever conscious of their essential sat-chit-ananda (truth-consciousness-bliss) Brahmic nature, even though they assumed human forms. They utilized their minds and bodies as their instruments when they were performing various activities.

--- end extract from yogamag.net ---

[From FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid0VKsPQmh9pAcQFm2mmAWsexzwDeEK6ytenLsGj9dJp3pxbeK2xAL6eknnS1v4NnTal which shares 2019 FB post of mine titled, "Peace of mind alone is NOT Moksha/liberation; Moksha on death; Moksha while being alive (Jeevanmukti)" ]

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The Turkish ambassador to India using the Sanskrit saying, Vasudhaiva kutumbakam (world is one family, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasudhaiva_Kutumbakam ) in his grateful acknowledgement is very noteworthy. May such feelings of brotherhood and sisterhood among all peoples of the world flourish, irrespective of race, religion and nationhood. My prayers to Almighty God (Allah, Easwar, Yesu ...) to help the people affected by this horrific earthquake in Turkey, Syria and elsewhere.

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My comments from associated FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid02ncJr959Pj893gs9vh9NWXEcSaBx8Yr2pHCLpc2TVyFvJsq6p3LwufQgeFZHXs1til (slightly edited) :

Europe is going through a difficult time now. I just don't have the spiritual ability to know whether it is a Karmic outcome. But like you said, one wonders whether it is a collective karmic outcome.

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This period surely seems like a period of big change in world powers equations. Powers that dominated the world for centuries are now being challenged by powers that were dominated by them in the past but now are re-emerging. History tells us that in such situations, wars break out between the current powers and the emerging or re-emerging powers. But in today's context, such wars between major powers are unthinkable (Ukraine - Russia war cannot be viewed as a direct war between major powers). However, on the economic and other fronts, major changes are happening in the world. I had never thought when I was in my twenties and thirties (1980s and 1990s) at which time I did fair bit of travelling and interaction with people across the world, that such a time would come. But come it has. My prayers to God that such a period of great change has minimal suffering for the people of the world.

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Vani Jairam singing live the "Mere to Giridhar Gopal" song. She sang the song for the 1979 Hindi film Meera with Hema Malini playing the Meera role.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YLjyQBWduI , 4 min. 5 secs.

The song in the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMtPn6-fjq0 , 4 min. 6 secs.

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Sad to hear about Vani Jairam passing away.

This is the song of hers that I love where Vani Jairam is singing in Marathi with Kumar Gandharva (video is not live and has pics of Kumar Gandharva (and family) and Vani Jairam and others). For somebody who grew up in Tamil Nadu, even if she moved to Mumbai after her marriage, her Marathi language singing is awesome, IMHO.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vani_Jairam :

In the same year [Ravi: 1969], she was introduced to the composer Vasant Desai who was recording a Marathi album with singer Kumar Gandharva. Upon listening to her voice, Desai chose her to sing the song "Runanubandhacha" for the same album along with Kumar Gandharva. The album released to much popularity among the Marathi audience and the duet song was well received. 

--- end wiki extract ---

ॠणानुबंधाच्या जिथून पडल्या गाठी.. Kumar Gandharva_Vani Jairam_Bal Kolhatkar_Vasant Desai..a tribute, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0CXNZyGVeU , 6 min. 41 secs.

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Sonu Nigam (Live Performance) - Saibaba Bolo, in physical presence of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, in Mumbai in 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H065apHwDZk , 7 min. 3 secs.

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Sonu Nigam (Live Performance) - Aisi Laagi Lagan Meera Ho Gayi Magan, in physical presence of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, in Mumbai in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8HnmuZMmbk , 7 min. 38 secs.

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My comment in my FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid02HoW8cTTNbdKHUioeG3GJqpNnCpKt6tSTnsouEt5SsovaxTDHQqByHXLdErSmLgGFl which shares another post [I am not sure if I can share the content of the shared post and so am not including it here]:

Well said! I love the words 'sacred isolation'. I think it's the first time I have come across this phrase.

I thought some more about these great words, in my context.

In my case, it is a mix of:

*) Teachings and lives of Sathya Sai Baba and Shirdi Sai Baba, as well as great masters like Ramana Maharshi and some disciples of these Avatars and masters.

and

*) What emerges as direction for the path forward, during 'sacred isolation' sadhana and prayer.

Some part of my path has been, and is, clear from lives of the Avatars and great masters mentioned earlier. But some part of the path was/is fuzzy, and has emerged with growing clarity and continues to do so, in my 'sacred isolation'.

...

My comment on the post: 

A friend commented privately (and was OK to share it publicly when I asked him): Why not call it Sacred unification 😊.

I responded: I would say it is sacred isolation to explore the path to sacred unification and, God willing, to achieve sacred unification over time. Interesting comment, sir. Thanks.

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From my FB post:  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid0cvKBhNBKmZxprZWuvLXfzZYWAmCGF3DciWVqQFqmvpijSUBtg5Duj4y9nPi9FX5Rl which shares another post :

Wonderful experience of a person who was, as per the post, a classmate of Swami in Uravakonda, who had got into a horrible drug addiction. It was his faith in Swami along with great efforts from him that rescued him from that horrible habit which destroys not only the addict but has a terrible impact on his family.

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Nowadays Facebook does not provide me notifications for all comments made on my posts; Tag me if you want to ensure that I see your comment

I noticed that Facebook nowadays, sometimes does not provide notifications (to me at least) for comments posted on my posts. For some comments it does but it does not do so for some other comments. Perhaps there are some bugs/flaws in Facebook software for this feature.

But if I am tagged in the comment then I think Facebook always notifies me of the comment. So if you see that I have not responded to a comment of yours on my post, it may be because I have not been notified of it by Facebook and so don't know about your comment. In such cases, please tag me in that comment (by modifying it) or by adding another comment to it which tags me. Then I will be notified of it by Facebook and see your comment and also respond to it.

I should also say that for some comments on my posts which don't really need a comment or reaction from me, I choose not to respond/react. But if a comment tags me, I try to always respond/react to it.

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A lot of spiritual wisdom in that quote, IMHO, and coming from somebody whose community faced a lot of hatred, and who ultimately was assassinated due to hatred but whose work lives on and continues to inspire many. Great man!

[FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid07xmjYY7LNbtXXCVJSejmhtFTEPMYiKEbquD8AoENJo7YHYzc6mQWzbokvtc4juHrl shares pic with following caption:

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 16, 2023 ]

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1 min. video (published over a month ago on her death anniversary). Sharing it as it is a great short clip about her. I had not known that her first name is Madurai indicating that she is from (born in and seems to have been raised in) Madurai (for more on her background, see her wiki page, M. S. Subbulakshmi , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._S._Subbulakshmi ). Given what I have learned about history of Tamil Nadu over past few weeks and months, I find it very interesting to know that she was born and raised in the historic city of Madurai which is referred to as "the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu" in its wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurai . The wiki page also tells us how ancient Madurai city is, and gives us a quick historical background in this paragraph: "Madurai is closely associated with the Tamil language. The third Tamil Sangam, a major congregation of Tamil scholars, is said to have been held in the city. The recorded history of the city goes back to the 3rd century BCE, being mentioned by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to the Mauryan Empire, and Kautilya, a minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya. Signs of human settlements and Roman trade links dating back to 300 BCE are evident from excavations by Archeological Survey of India in Manalur.[9][10][11] The city is believed to be of significant antiquity and has been ruled, at different times, by the Pandyas, Cholas, Madurai Sultanate, Vijayanagar Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Carnatic kingdom, and the British East India Company British Raj." 

Hmm. Fascintating history! Wikipedia is an awesome Internet phenomenon that has contributed greatly to increasing my knowledge about history in general, and history of India in particular.

[My FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid02qNr6rzc6Rw31Muh7jS5qcARNq33AUzJ7PobMYbkUH3VPztDSkQ9qHUguZds4Zv8Xl which shares another post]

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The truth that does not change even with the passage of time!

Ravi: I think that is one of the great learnings I have acquired from Hindu scripture and from teachings of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and spiritual masters like Ramana Maharshi, along with fair amount of spiritual sadhana I have engaged in (though I still have many human flaws). It is such changeless truth that is the core of one's being and which is deathless, while all of the material world including one's body and mind, changes and eventually dies or gets destroyed.

[From FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid02x3tTXFPNa4iiQ3i5LDhz4Nw2WYx5Em9ZNm7tx2JkMMhJLhtL5JbrYZMSfHmhnjFvl which shares another post with Sathya Sai quote  translated from non-English language:

"The eighth flower is the Truth; one that does not change even with the passage of time." Only the Divinity remains unchangeable in the past, present and future. When this flower sprouts in your heart, it will reward them with eternal fragrance.”

-Sathya Sai Baba

Peace place; 06-10-1981

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No place where God is not there!

[FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid023Jid9U8efF9TLvmqz1QGoQhosak2UwU825F8suvovW6aksLcuKfZSJgYz1ZSDGZl shares post with Sathya Sai Baba quote: "God is not found separately in temples or in Ashrams."]

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