Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

After reading the article, Why Sheldon Pollock matters,  http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/lead-article-by-ananya-vajpeyi-why-sheldon-pollock-matters/article8361572.ece , in today's (17th March 2016) The Hindu, I thought of getting some exposure to Sheldon Pollock (unknown to me prior to this article). I came across a Tehelka interview of his in 2011. I was aghast to hear him say something about Goddess Saraswathi appearing in his dream and saying something to him. I don't even want to mention it here (readers who want to know about it can see point 2 here: http://indiafacts.org/10-excerpts-sheldon-pollocks-interview-tehelka/ ). That was enough for me to stop getting further exposure to Sheldon Pollock. I mean, this was a very disrespectful thing to say in a public interview. I am sure many Christians would have found a similar statement made publicly in the context of the Virgin Mary to be as offensive as most, if not all, Goddess Saraswathi worshipping Hindus would feel...

A question was posed to me today, 16th March 2016, in comments section of Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/terry.reiskennedy/posts/10209028707293675 , as follows (slightly edited): Does Swami (Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba) speak through each and everyone of us or just some people? --- Ravi S. Iyer (I) responded (slightly edited): Bro. ---name-snipped---, let me give you my view on your question. Please note that my view could be wrong - I do not claim to be an enlightened person. My approach to spiritual reality has been Advaita and so I have focused more on Swami's Advaita type teachings. Swami taught that he is in the depth of our inner selves and that the voice of our conscience is the voice of God. Swami also taught that all of us (at our inner selves level) are God. [Here there is an issue of differentiating between the clear voice of conscience and the mind which is caught up in some desire or the other; I think that differentiation can come through practice of...

Last updated on 16th March 2016 Given below is my part of a comment exchange on different types of truth with respect to Muddenahalli belief on March 13th & 14th, 2016 (the full comment exchange can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/terry.reiskennedy/posts/10209028707293675 ) Ravi S. Iyer wrote (slightly edited) in response to a comment by Muddenahalli belief supporter that he has the prerogative to speak the truth (that Muddenahalli so called subtle body and its so called communicator claims are the truth): --name-snipped-- I think you mean the truth as you perceive it. Or do you think you know, really know, the truth about so called communicator? May I also ask you whether you consider yourself to be self-realized and so KNOW the truth, the Sath, that Bhagavan talked about? --- Ravi S. Iyer wrote (slightly edited): BTW --name-snipped--, my question to you is genuine. And not intended as a trick question. You may be aware that at least one person associated with ...

Last updated on 18th Sept. 2020 18th Sept. 2020 Update: I had an inner urge to name-snip the names of some person(s) in this post and so have done so. This post seems to have got missed out in the name-snipping I did some months ago. Given below is a comment exchange I had on a Facebook post somewhere on 12th & 13th March 2016 S Ramanan Rao wrote (slightly edited): Dear --name-snipped--, there are many things happened during Avatars glorius 86 years. Swami in Kulwant Hall told once that he is still looking for His true devotee..i think that was in 2007. Many times swami fired and cuddled the same devotee for both meritorious and de-meritorious activities. If we go by what Swami has prescribed qualities for a Devotee, I think no body will qualify. Swami knew this and still made ordinary devotees to a Hero status to carry on His mission. But when I compare our Sai devotees with other organization, we are much blessed by bhagwan to practice the spiritual values in a Dharmic ...

Extract from transcript of Flint, Michigan, USA, democratic presidential candidates debate, 6th March 2016, http://time.com/4249183/democratic-debate-flint-full-text-transcript-seventh/ . QUESTION: Thank you. Senator Sanders, do you believe that God is relevant, why or why not? SANDERS: Well, I think — well, the answer is yes, and I think when we talk about God whether it is Christianity, or Judaism, or Islam, or Buddhism, what we are talking about is what all religions hold dear. And, that is to do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. (APPLAUSE) I am here tonight, and I’m running for president. I’m a United States Senator from my great state of Vermont because I believe that, because I believe morally and ethically we do not have a right to turn our backs on children in Flint, Michigan who are being poisoned, or veterans who are sleeping out on the street. (APPLAUSE) SANDERS: What I believe as the father of seven beautiful grandchildren, I want you to worry about...

IT is not an exaggeration to say that the persons and incidents portrayed in the great literature of a people influence national character no less potently than the actual heroes and events enshrined in its history. It may be claimed that the former play an even more important part in the formation of ideals, which give to character its impulse of growth. In the moving history of our land, from time immemorial great minds have been formed and nourished and touched to heroic deeds by the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In most Indian homes, children formerly learnt these immortal stories as they learnt their mother tongue at the mother's knee. And the sweetness and sorrows of Sita and Draupadi, the heroic fortitude of Rama and Arjuna and the loving fidelity of Lakshmana and Hanuman became the stuff of their young philosophy of life. The growing complexity of life has changed the simple pattern of early home life. Still, there are few in our land who do not know the Ramayana and t...

I downloaded English translation of full Mahabharata (12 volumes) today with a plan to browse-read it. What I mean by the term browse-read is that I plan to either browse through some parts or read some other parts, thereby covering the whole epic (English translation). I have done similar browse-read of other Hindu scripture (English translation) in the past like Rig Veda Samhita (For an overview of Rigveda, the oldest Veda scriptural text and one of the oldest Hindu scriptural texts, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda , and for the samhita (hymns) part, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda#Hymns ), and  Shathapatha Brahmana (from one branch of Yajur Veda) (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatapatha_Brahmana ). In case others are interested in knowing the free download link page that I used to download the Mahabharata epic (in English), here it is: http://www.holybooks.com/mahabharata-all-volumes-in-12-pdf-files/ . Please note that the 12 files are fairly big down...