திருமந்திரம் - அருளல்

உச்சியில் ஓங்கி ஒளிதிகழ் நாதத்தை
நச்சியே இன்பன்கொள் வார்க்கு நமன்இல்லை
விச்சும் விரிசுடர் மூன்றும் உலகுக்குத்
தச்சு மவனே சமைக்கவல் லானே.

-திருமூலர்

ஓங்காரம் ஆய் நின்ற மெய்யா!

புல் ஆகி, பூடு ஆய், புழு ஆய், மரம் ஆகி, 
பல் விருகம் ஆகி, பறவை ஆய், பாம்பு ஆகி,
கல் ஆய், மனிதர் ஆய், பேய் ஆய், கணங்கள் ஆய்,
வல் அசுரர் ஆகி, முனிவர் ஆய், தேவர் ஆய்,
செல்லாஅ நின்ற இத் தாவர சங்கமத்துள், 
எல்லாப் பிறப்பும் பிறந்து இளைத்தேன்; எம்பெருமான்!
மெய்யே, உன் பொன் அடிகள் கண்டு, இன்று வீடு உற்றேன்;
`உய்ய, என் உள்ளத்துள், ஓங்காரம் ஆய் நின்ற
மெய்யா! விமலா! விடைப் பாகா! வேதங்கள்
"ஐயா" என, ஓங்கி, ஆழ்ந்து, அகன்ற, நுண்ணியனே! 


-மாணிக்கவாசகர்

Yoga Sutras commentry by Swami Vivekananda - 26th aphorism

From Patanjali Yoga Sutras commentry by Swami Vivekananda

26th aphorism

sa poorvesham api guruh kalenanavachchhedat

English Translation by Swami Vivekanada

He is the Teacher of even the ancient teachers, being
not limited by time.

It is true that all knowledge is within ourselves, but this has to be called forth by another knowledge. Although the capacity to know is inside us, it must be called out, and that calling out of knowledge can only be got, a Yogi maintains, through another knowledge. Dead, insentient matter, never calls out knowledge. It is the action of knowledge that brings out knowledge. Knowing beings must be with us to call forth what is in us, so these teachers were always necessary. The world was never without them, and no knowledge can come without them. God is the Teacher of all teachers, because these teachers, however great they may have been—gods or angels—were all bound and limited by time, and God is not limited by time. These are the two peculiar distinctions of the Yogis. The first is that in thinking of the limited, the mind must think of the unlimited, and that if one part of the perception is true the other must be, for the reason that their value as perceptions of the mind is equal. The very fact that man has a little knowledge, shows that God has unlimited knowledge. If I am to take one, why not the other? Reason forces me to take both or reject both. It I believe that there is a man with a little knowledge, I must also admit that there is someone behind him with unlimited knowledge. The second deduction is that no knowledge can come without a teacher. It is true as the modern philosophers say, that there is something in man which evolves out of him; all knowledge is in man, but certain environments are necessary to call it out. We cannot find any knowledge without teacher, if there are men teachers, god teachers, or angel teachers, they are all limited; who was the teacher before them? We are forced to admit, as a last conclusion, One Teacher, Who is not limited by time, and that One Teacher or infinite knowledge, without beginning or end, is called God.

Eternal Lovers

All eternal lovers, be they Romeo and Juliet or Laila and Majnu, Tristan and Isolde, they never really lived together! If they had lived together their eternal love would have to be retold!

What is addiction?

It is a behavior or action that if you don’t do, you will have a terrible feeling of missing something. But if you do it you won’t feel any joy, it will only be mechanical. Addiction means believing that joy or ecstasy happens due to some object, person, or situation.

Shaft of joy

The joy that you experienced ten years ago, the joy that you experienced nine years ago, the joy that you experienced three years ago, and the joy that you experienced one year ago are all independent, individual, unconnected thoughts or incidents. But now, you connect all of those thoughts and create a big shaft of joy.

You may identify your joy with an object, a person, or a space like a particular vacation resort. Now you will try again and again to bring that back in your life, to bring that person, that object, that space, or that same incident back in your life. But try as you might, you will not be able experience the same joy again. This puts you in further pain!

Real Love?

There were three grownups having their morning tea together. Their children were playing on the floor. They were discussing what they would do if danger threatened, and all of them declared that the first thing they would do was pick up their children and escape.

Suddenly, the safety valve of the pressure cooker burst, creating a steam explosion in the room. Within seconds, everyone was out of the kitchen – except for the children playing on the floor!

When Night ends and Day begins?

One day a master asked his disciples how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun.

One of them said, ‘When you can look in the distance and tell whether the animal is a cow or a horse.’ The master said, ‘No.’

Another disciple said, ‘When you can look at a tree in the distance and tell if it is a pine tree or a mango tree.’ The master again said ‘No.’

They asked the master, ‘Then what is it master?’
The master replied, ‘When you can look into the face of any man and recognize your brother in him. When you can look into the face of any woman and recognize your sister in her. If you cannot do this, then no matter what time of the day it is, it is still only night time.’

The Escape plan!

Ten philosophers were imprisoned in a country. They were kept together in one cell. They decided that somehow they should escape from the prison. They sat and made a big plan. They got the mold of the prison door key and made a duplicate key.

Finally, they chose the date of escape. The whole plan was clearly laid out. They decided that on the particular night, two of them will open the prison door with the duplicate key and signal to the others. The others would escape and these two would follow after locking the door behind them.

The day of escape dawned and two of them went to open the door. The rest of them waited for the signal. They waited and waited but never got any signal. Three hours passed. Suddenly the two who had gone to open the door came back and said, ‘We have to drop our plan to escape. It can’t happen today. We will have to do it some other day. We will have to reschedule our escape.’

The others asked, ‘Why, what happened?’

They replied, ‘What to do? The foolish guards forgot to lock the prison door!’