Sashtang Dandvat Pranams 7 Spiritual Insights into Dandvat Pranam What is Sashtang Dandvat Pranam? Prostration is an integral aspect of Sanatana Dharma. Hindus, prostrate before elders or people in the renounced order, to seek their blessings. Why should we Prostrate? When the body is aligned vertically with the palms joined, facing each other, in a stretched condition, above the head, lying on the chest, with the knees, wrists, chest, thighs, genitals, and toes resting against the ground, it represents a powerful energy meridian. This pose is Dandvat Pranam. When the inner mood of the heart, is that of prayer and surrender, this pose shall immediately attract, the vital energy force of the universe. It aligns the bodily currents, just as electricity aligns the electrons, in an electric conductor. This alignment calms the mind and energizes the chakras. It supports the Awakening of Kundalini without fail. Paying obeisance through prostration is an effective means towards one’s higher journey. It is in the Hindu faith, that one’s life goal is towards attaining the Supreme. Other than this there is no purpose to life; only such a person is a true Hindu. In the golden old days of yore, prostrations, offering the body full length with the body stretched, fully on the ground, in front of saints and elders, was a common practice. Significance of Dhoti in Sanatana Dharma You would have seen traditional people wearing Dhoti while visiting their Guruji’s ashram. Dandvat Pranam (Sahtang Dandvat) is a mark of respect for both, God and Guru. In many parts of rural India, dhoti has survived to remain the regular outfit for men. However, with metropolitanization, this tradition has disappeared. Dhoti is the simplest cloth possible to cover one’s body. It is not fancy whatsoever. Meant only to cover the body, dhoti marks simplicity and dignity. Silk Dhoti’s are most preferred for auspicious, religious, and spiritual festivals. Men in South India prefer to wear Mundu which is a single piece of cloth wrapped around the thighs, less commonly seen in Northern India. It is simple and extremely comfortable to wear. Traditional outfits do not have any knots. So, next time you wear a dhoti, ensure you don’t tie too many knots to it! Spirituality aims at simplicity. If desires are less, only needs remain. Fulfilling the needs of a spiritual aspirant is the Lord’s responsibility, which He should graciously fulfill. So, let’s continue… With changing times, Dandvat Pranam practice lost its presence. Foreign invasions and British influence on the common man, has killed this practice, which then considered to be an expression of the higher journey. A Spiritual Practice Called Sashtang Dandavat This practice of prostration, takes the form of sadhana when associated with the Supreme. In holy sites connected with Sanatana Dharma, there is a sadhana or spiritual practice of paying obeisances through prostrations around holy structures like mountains and rivers. People offer 108 prostrations in front of rivers like the Ganges and Sarayu Devi in Ayodhyaji. People make many prostrations to Goverdhanji hill and the river Yamunaji in the Mathura district, in Uttar Pradesh, India. These rivers and mountains are fully spiritual by Nature. They are a storehouse of other-worldly energy. Undertaking a spiritual routine of prostrations is known as “Vandanam”. Vandanam” is one of the 9 main processes of Bhakti Yoga. This practice breaks the unnecessary and unhealthy body vibrations and harmonizes the bodily vibrations in such a way that the chakras or energy centers become capable of raising the overall consciousness of the individual offering prostrations. This process is also known as “Dandavat” or the act of “falling like a stick”. Benefits of Surya Namaskar The more one subscribes to the habit of offering prostrations, the more, humility grows within one’s heart and one becomes capable of becoming a vessel to spiritual grace. It is a practice that females offer “Dandavat” without touching their chest to the ground. This means, only their knees and head must touch the ground with knees folded and body crouched. The process of “Dandavat” can be life-changing if taken up as a process of spiritual practice. People undertaking spiritual practices offer something known as “Surya namaskar” at dawn which also means offering prostrations to Sun-God. Offering obeisance’s to the Sun, increases vitality and personal power. One becomes the owner of a healthy body and one also gains immense fame and wealth, if one were to do Surya namaskar for a year, at dawn, without fail. Offering obeisance through prostrations, is an act of sadhana or spiritual practice, that can bless one with the highest benefits incomparable to any material gains. Dandvat Pranam symbolizes Humility and has great significance in spiritual circles. Humility in Santana Dharma The goal of Sanatana Dharma is to help living entities attain freedom from their compulsive thought and action patterns and attain liberation. Sanatana Dharma recommends greatly, the attainment of humility in the heart as the number one step. Even Attaining Humility at heart can qualify one sufficiently to get to liberation. Expression of humility happens in two ways. One is through action and the other through a thought or a feeling in the heart. Sashtang Dandvat Pranam makes our heart soft Spiritual rigor, recommended by Shastra, is a step towards this goal, to make the heart soft. The outward representation of humility is to bow down, to prostrate. Prostration is the recognition of our smallness when compared to the vast expanse of the rest of Creation. Sanatana Dharma uses the technical term Dandvat Pranamto represent such Prostration. Wise men of Bharath say that physical action even when done mindlessly, in the long run, can result in a change of heart, in alignment with the action. Offering Sashtang Dandvat Pranam to All ? For example, if someone is hard-hearted, elders following the Dharma recommend to the person performance of Dandvat Pranam to each and every individual the person meets. This is the way to express humility. Initially, we may do an activity with detest. But if the activity is pure and genuine and we continue the

The Upayana Ceremony   The ceremony of Brahmopadesam is Upanayanam, which means, “taking near,” taking the young aspirant near Brahman, that is to say, introducing him to Brahmajijnasa (desire to know Brahman), the path of Brahman. It is one of the Samskaras (purificatory acts), rites which reconstruct the personality, reform the mind, purify it and re-build it. It makes the person receiving it a Dwija (a twice born)! The boy is born first into the world; now, he is born into the Sadhaka world. He becomes a Brahma-chari – a person who walks towards Brahman. So, it is a very significant day in the lives of these people, a day they must long remember with joy and thankfulness. It is the day when their hearts were turned towards God; and they should try not to run away from God hereafter; that is a great responsibility. 1 Gayathri manthra is Universal prayer The initiation was done by the Upadesham (instruction) of the Gayathri manthram. The manthram (sacred formula) is a universal prayer that can be used by men of all climes and creeds, for, it calls upon the Glorious Power that pervades the Sun and the three worlds to arouse, awaken and strengthen the Intelligence, so that it may lead to intense Sadhana (spiritual practice) and Sadhana may lead to success. Every little moment or incident results in sound; only, you may not be able to hear, because the range of your ear is limited. The falling of an eyelid over the eye makes a sound, the dropping of dew on a petal makes a sound. Any little agitation disturbing the calm is bound to produce sound. The sound caused by the primal movement that resulted in the enveloping of Brahman by self-evolved illusion is the Pranavasabdha or OM. The Gayathri is the elaboration of that Pranava and so, it is now held so venerable that initiation into spiritual life is achieved by its contemplation. The sound of a Manthra is as valuable as its meaning. Even a poisonous cobra is quietened by music; Nadham (sound), has that allaying property. The child in the cradle stops wailing as soon as the lullaby is sung; it may not carry any meaning; it may be a nonsensical rhyme or just a jingle, but, it quietens, soothes the nerves and induces sleep. In the case of the Gayathri, the meaning too is easy and profound. It does not ask for mercy or pardon; it asks for a dear intellect, so that the Truth may be reflected therein correctly, without any disfigurement. 2 Requisites of spiritual discipline The Brahmachari has vowed himself into a life of spiritual discipline. Now what are the requisites for the discipline? First : Faith, that can stand the ridicule of the ignorant, the cavilling by the worldly, the laughter of the low-minded. When someone ridicules, you should argue like this within yourself: Is he ridiculing my body? Well, he is doing what I myself would wish to do; for, I too want to escape out of this attachment of this body. Is he ridiculing the Atma? Well, he is doing the impossible, for, the Atma is beyond the reach of words or thought; it is unaffected by praise or blame. Say to yourself, “My Atma thathwa (Principle of the Self) is Nischala (immovable), it is Nirmala (pure),” and carry on. Second: Do not worry about ups and downs, loss or gain, joy or grief. You are yourself the maker of the ups and downs. If you but care, it can all be one smooth level. You label something as loss and something else as gain. You crave for a thing and when you get it, you call it joy; when you don’t, you call it grief. Cut the craving off, and there will be no more swinging from joy to grief. Third: Reason out and get convinced of the truth, Sarvam Brahmamayam(All is Brahman). You know there are five elements or bhuuthas, which constitute, by their permutations and combinations, the world called Prapancham, the “Five-constituted.” Prithivi or the Earth element has five qualities, the maximum, and so, it is the grossest. It has its own special characteristic of gandha (smell), as well as the characteristic of the other four, namely, sparsha, rasa, ruupa and sabdha (touch, taste, form and sound). The next one Jala, the water-element has only four, its own special one – taste and touch, form. So it is subtler than the Earth-element. Agni is subtler still, because apart from its special characteristics of form, it has only two others, sound and touch. Vayu, the Air-element has touch as its special and one more quality, sound. Finally, the lightest and subtlest of all the five, Akasha, the Sky-element, has only one characteristic, its own, namely, sabdha. Now, God is subtler than even Akasha and so He is all-pervading, even more than ether or anything more pervasive than that. His nature is beyond all human vocabulary, beyond all human mathematics. Have this conviction well stabilised in your intellect. 3 Establishment of Dharma by Adhi Shankara Fourth: Be steady in spiritual practice, and never hesitate once you have decided on it. When the bus is moving on, the dust will be floating behind as a cloud: it is only when it stops with a jerk that the dust will envelop the faces of the passengers. So, keep steadily engaged in the practice. Then, the cloudy dust of the objective world will not cover your face. Shankaracharya came to this world for the work of Dharmasthapana (establishment of righteousness), but he did not wage a war against the narrow sectarians or the wild theologians who opposed him or the critics who condemned him as a pseudo-Buddhist. He won them over by argument, persuasion and preaching. He spoke softly, but, with conviction. He gave his opponents fair chances to present their cases to the best of their ability and sometimes he even helped them to clarify their own points of view. Through Bodha (knowledge) alone can Dharma be saved in the modern Kali-age. That is why I am engaged in bodha (imparting knowledge), in this task of re-constructing through upadesha (instruction). When you scatter seeds on the surface of the soil, they do

Mooji & Sacred Heart  If You Hear These Words Inside Your Heart, You Are Free Today In these closing words of the Zmar Silent Retreat, Moojibaba reads a letter which opens up a deep looking into the nature of pure consciousness, ‘I Am’ presence, and the arising in consciousness of the conditioned person. Moojibaba explores in depth the difference between ‘Nirguna Brahman’ — God without attributes, absolute awareness — and ‘Saguna Brahman’ — God with attributes, the divine Presence. “We love to taste the honey, but we don’t want to be the honey. Here, you are tasting the honey, and you are also the honey. We are running out of words. Though speaking, when I speak of Nirguna, it is wordless, there are no concepts. It is really what you are. This is a communication from heart to heart in the presence of the Absolute.”

The Illusion of Life – Alan Watts If you awaken from this illusion and you understand that black implies white, self implies other, life implies death, (or shall I say death implies life?), you can feel yourself – not as a stranger in the world – not as something here on probation, not as something that has arrived by fluke – but you can begin to feel you own existence as absolutely fundamental. I am not trying to sell you on this idea, in the sense of converting you to it. I want you to play with it. I want you to think of it’s possibilities, I am not trying to prove it. I am just putting it forward as a possibility of life to think about. So then, let’s suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream you wanted to dream, and that you could, for example, have the power within one night to dream for 75 years of time, or any length of time you wanted to have. And you would naturally, as you begin on this adventure of dreams, you would fulfill all your wishes. You would have every kind of pleasure you can concieve. And after several nights of seventy five years of total pleasure each, you would say “Well that was pretty great”. But now let’s have a surprise, let’s have a dream that’s not under control, where something is going to happen to me that I don’t know what it’s going to be. And you would do that and would come out of that and you would say “Wow that was a close shave, wasn’t it”? Then you would get more and more adventurous and you would make further-in and further-out gambles to what you would dream. And finally, you would dream where you are now. You would dream the dream of living a life that you are actually living today. That would be within the infinite multiplicity of choices you would have. Of playing that you weren’t God, because the whole nature of the godhead, according to this idea, is to play that he is not. So in this idea then, everybody is fundamentallythe ultimate reality, not God in a political kingly sense, but God in the sense of being the self, the deep-down basic, whatever there is. And you are all that, only you are pretending that you are not. We need a new experience — a new feeling of what it is to be ‘I.’ The lowdown (which is, of course, the secret and profound view) on life is that our normal sensation of self is a hoax, or, at best, a temporary role that we are playing — with our own tacit consent, just as every hypnotized person is basically willing to be hypnotized. The most strongly enforced of all known taboos is the taboo against knowing who or what you really are behind the mask of your apparently separate, independent, and isolated ego.” “As is so often the way, what we have suppressed and overlooked is something startlingly obvious. The difficulty is that it is *so* obvious and basic that one can hardly find the words for it. The Germans call it Hintergedanke, an apprehension lying tacitly in the back of our minds which we cannot easily admit, even to ourselves. The sensation of ‘I’ as a lonely and isolated center of being is so powerful and commonsensical, and so fundamental to our modes of speech and thought, to our laws and social institutions, that we cannot experience selfhood except as something superficial in the scheme of the universe.” “The difficulty in realizing this to be so is that conceptual thinking cannot grasp it. It is as if the eyes were trying to look at themselves directly, or as if one were trying to describe the color of a mirror in terms of colors reflected in the mirror. Just as sight is something more than all things seen, the foundation or ‘ground’ of our existence and awareness cannot be understood in terms of things that are known.” “You cannot teach an ego to be anything but egotistic, even though egos have the subtlest ways of pretending to be reformed. The basic thing is therefore to dispel, by experiment and experience, the illusion of oneself as a separate ego.” “Furthermore, on seeing through the illusion of the ego, it is impossible to think of oneself as better than, or superior to, others for having done so. In every direction there is just one Self playing its myriad games of hide-and-seek. Birds are not *better* than the eggs from which they have broken.” –Alan Watts

  It’s All a Dream  My Dears! The time will come when the whole of this dream will vanish. To everyone of us there must come a time when the whole universe will be found to have been a mere dream, when we shall find that the soul is infinitely better than its surroundings. In this struggle through what we call environments, there will come a time when we shall find that these environments were almost zero in comparison with the power of the Soul. It is only a question of time, and time is nothing in the infinite. It is a drop in the ocean. We can afford to wait and be calm. With Blessings.(Baba) Sri Sathya Sai Baba “Just as Dream and Magic …” II.31:   Just as dream and magic are seen to be unreal, or as in a city in the sky, so also is this whole universe known to be unreal from the Upanisads by the wise. II.4:   As the dream objects are unreal in a dream, so also, because of that very reason, the objects of the waking state are unreal. But objects (in the dream state) differ because of existence inside (the body) and because of contraction (in the dream). II.5:   Inasmuch as the diverse things are (found to be) similar on the strength of the familiar grounds of inference, the wise say that the dream and waking states are one. II.15:   Those objects that appear as obscure inside the mind, and those that appear as vivid outside, are all merely created by imagination. Their distinction is to be traced to the difference in the organs of perception. These sacred verses from the Mandukya Upanisad / Karika exemplify the position from Advaita that, as far as their reality is concerned, the images of the world seen during waking are identical to dreams. I must confess that this was very difficult for me to accept till, many years ago now, one encountered Sri Bhagavan’s literature and His talks on the nature of the world for the first time. It was pretty earth-shattering for me to realize the complete inflexibility with which Bhagavan held on to these very same views; views which were derived, remarkably, not from the reading of any particular Advaitic text, but from His own personal experience of the Supreme State. That the two should match so perfectly, for me at least, has always been a source of wonder, and has led to an unshakeable belief in the teachings.  Here then are some of my favourite quotes from Sri Bhagavan on this theme, jotted down over the years. For me, reading them in one place like this brings home forcefully as to how closely Bhagavan was questioned on these teachings; and also the enormous tenacity with which He never budged even the slightest on this aspect. These teachings holding the World as unreal feature prominently even in Bhagavan’s original works like Ulladu Narpadu, and all put together it should leave no doubt as to how much importance He attached to them. ——————– [From: “Living by the Words of Bhagavan”, by David Godman, Pg 235; Annamalai Swami writes that once Sri Bhagavan made the following remarks about the waking and dream states]   “The world vision which appears in the waking state and the world vision which appears in the dream state are both the same. There is not even a trace of difference. The dream state happens merely to prove the unreality of the world which we see in the waking state. This is one of the operations of God’s Grace. The world of the waking state changes in the same way as the world of the dream state. Both are equally insubstantial and equally unreal. Some people dispute this by saying, ‘But the same world which we saw yesterday is existing today. Dream worlds are never the same from one night to the next. Therefore how can we believe that the world of the waking state is unreal? History tells us that this world has existed for thousands of years.’ We take the evidence that this changing world has been existing for a long time and decide that this constitutes a proof that the world is real. This is an unjustified conclusion. The world is changing every minute. How? Our body is not the same as it was when we were young. A lamp which we light at night may seem to be the same in the morning but all the oil in the flame has changed. Is this not so? Water flows in a river. If we see the river on two successive days we say it is the same river, but it is not the same; the water has completely changed. The world is always changing. It is not permanent. But we exist unchanged in all the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping. Nobody can truthfully say, ‘I did not exist during these three states’. Therefore we must conclude that this “I” is the permanent substance because everything else is in a state of perpetual flux. If you never forget this, this is liberation.” *** [From: “Mountain Path”, Oct 1970, Pg 188 & 189, (Arthur Osborne Commemoration Issue); from the Editorial “What is death if Scrutinized?” by Lucia Osborne quoting Sri Bhagavan (third para is taken from “Day by Day”, Pg 221 19.6.1946)] “You create a dream-body for yourself in the dream and act with it. The same is falsified in the waking state. At present you think you are this body and not the dream-body. In your dream this body is falsified by the dream-body. So you see neither of these bodies is real. Because each of them is true for a time and false for other times. That which is real must be real always. The ‘I’-consciousness is present all through the three states. That alone is real. The three states are false. They are only for the mind It is the mind that obstructs your vision of your true nature, which is Infinite Spirit. Sleep is temporary death and death is longer sleep. Why go to

Bhramacharya & Spirituality  Brahmacharya or spotless chastity is the best of all penances; a celibate of such spotless chastity is not a human being, but a god indeed… To the celibate who conserves the semen with great efforts, what is there unattainable in this world? By the power of the composure of the semen, one will become just like Myself.” – Sri Sankaracharya Introduction Brahmacharya is a divine word. It is the sum and substance of Yoga. Brahmacharya is the Achara or conduct by which you attain or reach Brahman (God). It is life in the Absolute. It is movement towards God or the Atman (Self). Brahmacharya is absolute freedom from sexual thoughts and desires. It is the vow of celibacy. It is control of all the senses in thought, word and deed. Brahmacharya is not mere bachelorhood. There should be strict abstinence not merely from sexual intercourse but also from auto-erotic manifestations, from masturbation, from homosexual acts and from all perverse sexual practices. It must further involve a permanent abstention from indulgence in erotic imagination and voluptuous reverie. In a narrow sense, Brahmacharya is celibacy. In a broad sense, it is absolute control of all the senses. The door of Nirvana (liberation) or perfection is complete Brahmacharya. Celibacy is to a Yogi what electricity is to an electric bulb. Without celibacy no spiritual progress is possible. It is a potent weapon and shield to wage war against the internal evil forces of lust, anger and greed. It serves as a gateway for the bliss beyond, and opens the door of liberation. It contributes perennial joy and uninterrupted bliss. It is the only key to open the Sushumna (the chief among astral tubes in the human body running inside the spinal column) and awaken the Kundalini (the primordial cosmic energy located in the individual). There cannot be any language without words. You cannot draw a picture without a canvas or a wall. You cannot write anything without paper. Even so, you cannot have health and spiritual life without celibacy. An established celibate will not feel any difference in touching the opposite sex, a piece of paper, a block of wood, or a piece of stone. A true celibate only can cultivate Bhakti (devotion). A true celibate only can practice Yoga. A true celibate only can acquire jnana (wisdom). Brahmacharya is meant both for men and women. Bhishma, Hanuman, Lakshmana, Jesus, Mirabai, Sulabha and Gargi were all celibates. The Vital Energy One of the students of Dhanvantari approached his teacher after finishing his full course of Ayurveda (the ancient Indian science of medicine) and asked: “O Bhagavan, kindly let me know the secret of health now.” Dhanvantari replied: “This seminal energy is verily the Atman. The secret of health lies in preservation of this vital force. He who wastes this vital and precious energy cannot have physical, mental, moral and spiritual development.” Veerya (seminal energy) is God in motion. Veerya is dynamic will. Veerya is soul-force. Veerya is the essence of life, thought, intelligence and consciousness. Always remember this. The vital energy, Veerya which supports your life, which is the Prana (life-force) of Pranas, which shines in your sparkling eyes, which beams in your shining cheeks, is a great treasure to you. It is the quintessence of blood. From food, chyle is manufactured; out of chyle comes blood; out of blood comes flesh; out of flesh comes fat; out of fat comes marrow; out of marrow comes semen. Semen is the last essence. It is the essence of essences. Just as sugar pervades sugar-cane and butter pervades milk, so also semen pervades the whole body. It exists in a subtle form throughout the body. It is withdrawn and elaborated in a gross form in the sexual organs under the influence of the sexual will and sexual excitement. Sexual Excitement and its Evil Consequences When a man is excited by passion, the Prana is set in motion. The vital air or Prana moves the internal sap or semen. The semen is put into motion. It falls downwards, just as the clouds burst into the rain water; just as the fruits, flowers, and leaves of the tree drop down by the force of the blowing winds. Note carefully the evil after-effects, once the Veerya is lost. Prana gets unsteady. It gets agitated.. The body and mind refuse to work energetically. There is physical and mental lethargy. Exhaustion and weakness are experienced. You have to take recourse to milk , fruits and other articles to make good the loss of energy. Remember, these articles can never, never repair loss. Bad memory, premature old age, impotence, various sorts of eye diseases and nervous diseases are attributable to the heavy loss of this vital fluid. Those who have lost much of their semen become easily irritated. They lose their balance of mind quickly. Little things upset them. Those who have not observed the vow of celibacy become slaves of anger, laziness and fear. If you do not have your senses under control, you venture to do foolish actions which even children will not dare to do. Man, with his boasted intellect, has to learn lessons from birds and animals. Even animals have more self-control than men. It is only the so-called man who has degraded himself much by indulgence. At the heat of sexual excitement, he repeats the same ignoble act again and again. He has not a bit of self-control. He is an absolute slave to passion. He is a puppet in the hands of passion. Like rabbits he procreates and brings forth countless children to swell up the number of beggars in the world. Lions, elephants, bulls and other powerful animals have better self-control than men. Lions cohabit only once in a year. After conception, the female animals will never allow the male animal to approach them till the young ones are weaned and they themselves become healthy and strong. Man only violates the laws of nature and consequently suffers from innumerable diseases.

The Panchatantra Stories  1. 2. 3.

The Grace of God  You can notice Lord’s grace in every inch of His creation. In a hot summer you enjoy the delicious sweet juice of grapes, cucumber, oranges and pomegranates and cool Ganga water of Rishikesh and Haridwar. This is Lord’s grace. When you suffer from any serious ailment, you get immediate relief and cure from herbs. This is Lord’s grace. When you walk in a dark night, the stars twinkle and throw light on your path. This is Lord’s grace. When you are unable to bear extreme pain you become unconscious. This is Lord’s grace. When the weather is sultry, a gentle breeze blows and refreshes you. This is Lord’s grace. Lord’s grace will descend in proportion to the degree of surrender. The more the surrender, the more the grace. Kathopanishad says in a thundering voice: Not by study or discourses, not by argument, not by intelligence is the Self attained. He whom the Lord chooses attains Self-realisation. He reveals Himself to such a chosen person. The subtle forms of lust, anger, egoism, pride, etc., can only be totally destroyed through the grace of the Lord. However hard you may strive and do Sadhana, these subtle forms cannot be eradicated through your Sadhana alone. The Lord’s grace completely purifies your heart. It is the Lord only who stirs the aspirants to do Purushartha or right exertion. You should not sit idle and say Lord’s grace will do everything for me. Why should I do any Sadhana? This is wrong philosophy. God helps those who help themselves. God’s grace will descend on those persons only who exert. You cannot expect the Lord to do self-surrender for you. Be up and doing. Strive. Plod. Persevere. The Lord will shower His grace upon you. Mira abandoned everything. She renounced kingdom, husband, relatives, friends and property. She remembered her Lord Krishna, whole day and night. She shed tears of Prem. She sang His praise with single-minded devotion. She gave up food. Her body got emaciated. Her mind was ever absorbed in Lord Krishna. Only then, did Lord Krishna shower His grace upon her. The Lord has five duties. He is Karta (actor), Akarta (non-actor), Anyatha Karta. He veils the Jiva (Tirodhana, Tirobhava). He removes the veil through His grace (Anugraha). People will become idle and say The Lord will do everything for me. Why should I do any Sadhana? I depend upon His grace alone. In order to remove the inertia, Sri Vasishtha and others have preached the Purushartha Vada. In reality it is all Lord’s grace only. Even a leaf or an atom will not move without the sanction of the Lord. May you all obtain Lord’s grace through faith and devotion! May Lord shower His grace upon you all. Glory to the Lord and His grace (Kripa, Anugraha, Prasad).

The Divine Trees & Plants  Peepul: Bodhi Tree of Enlightenment The peepul is in the fig family, with curiously heart-shaped leaves that taper off at the point in a small “tail.” Rather mysteriously, the leaves of this tree rustle even when there is no breeze to move them, which is attributed to the long leaf stalk and broad leaf structure. This tree, also known as “Ashvatta,” is purportedly the most worshipped tree in India. Lord Krishna, the original incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the supreme lord of the universe according to the Vaishnava faith, identifies with the peepul in the sacred text Bhagavad Gita. He states, “Of all trees, I am the holy fig tree.” In addition, the Hindus associate the roots of the tree with Lord Brahma (the creator of the universe), the trunk of the tree with Lord Vishnu (the protector and preserver), and the leaves of the tree with Lord Shiva (the destroyer). The Buddhists also revere this tree since Lord Buddha is thought to have attained enlightenment under the peepul tree. Thus it is also called the Bodhi Tree or Tree of Enlightenment. A red thread or cloth is often tied around the tree for worship and it is considered very inauspicious to ever cut one down. Banyan: Tree of Life This is actually another type of fig tree, with large, glossy leaves and trunks that appear to be composed of a labyrinth of roots (called “aerial prop roots”). It grows around a host plant, often killing the original tree or plant in the process, earning it the nickname “strangler fig.” The banyan tree often represents the Trimūrti, the three lords of cosmic creation, preservation and destruction—namely, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. It is very often used for metaphorical reference in the Vedic scriptures written in ancient Sanskrit. With its ever-spreading roots and branches, it is also symbolic of life and fertility in many Indian cultures and is consequently worshipped by those who wish to have children. The revered banyan tree is never cut, and thus often grows over many acres. Bael: A Medicinal Tree The bael is a slender, aromatic tree that bears a sweet, yellow-green fruit. It is a very medicinal plant as well as a sacred tree. All parts of it are used for different healing purposes—the roots, leaves, and fruits—and it has proven effective in combatting many different kinds of bacteria. It is known as “Sivadruma” by the Hindus, and the leaves are often offered to Lord Shiva, who is known to be particularly pleased by this tree. Baels have trifoliate leaves, i.e. a leaf structure of three, and this is sometimes thought to symbolize Siva’s trident or the Trimūrti (described above) as well. Ashoka: A Guard Against Grief This is a small evergreen tree, with dark green leaves and fragrant orange-yellow to deep red flowers. The name of this tree means “without grief” or “one who gives no grief.” Water in which the ashoka flowers have been washed is used as a protective and healing draught against sorrow. It is representative of Kama Deva or the God of Love in the Hindu faith, and thus it is also associated with fertility. In fact, the bark of the tree is used as a remedy for reproductive disorders and to restore fertility. It is also thought that Lord Buddha was himself born under an ashoka tree and so it is often planted in Buddhist monasteries.trident or the Trimūrti (described above) as well. Coconut: Ceremonial Food The classic appearance of the coconut palm, with its slender trunk, large fan-like leaves, and round hard-shelled fruit, is beloved as a symbol of exotic beaches and tropical forests. In India, however, coconut trees are used for all kinds of religious purposes, mainly utilizing the coconut fruits in puja (religious ceremonies) and all kinds of traditional food preparations. Some say that the fruit represents Lord Shiva, with the three black marks on coconuts depicting his eyes. Around the world, the coconut fruit is well regarded for its distinctive flavor, nutritional benefits and even medicinal value, possessing anti-bacterial properties. Mango: Icon of Love and Fertility Mangos can grow exceedingly tall, over 100 feet, and can live hundreds of years. When mature, these trees have dark green leaves and put out small white, sweet-smelling flowers, which eventually ripen into the famous luscious fruit. In India, the mango is commonly seen as a symbol of love and fertility and is used in religious and social ceremonies accordingly. The mango leaves are often strung in a garland and hung over the entrance of a dwelling to mark an auspicious occasion. The Buddhists revere the mango for it is believed that Lord Buddha created a huge mango tree in Shravasti, an Indian district, from a seed. The mellow, sweet flesh of mangos is very popular everywhere for its delicious flavor. Banana: The Resourceful Tree Their huge lush green leaves make it clear that bananas thrive in a very rainforest-like environment. The leaves, fruits and flowers of this tree are all utilized in Indian religious ceremonies. For example, the fruit is offered to various gods and goddesses, especially Lord Vishnu and Sri Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune. Banana leaves are used as plates to distribute blessed and offered food, called prasadam. Those of the Hindu faith also worship the banana trees, bearing fruits and flowers, for the welfare of the family. This tree is certainly more than just a household fruit in India. Neem: A Tree of Healing Neems are drought-resistant evergreens in the mahogany family, with small tapering leaves and white, fragrant flowers. The flowers and leaves are used in traditional Indian cooking and small preparations of neem are consumed as part of the New Year’s celebration in several provinces. Deities are sometimes garlanded with offerings of neem flowers and leaves. It is greatly respected for its medicinal uses, including anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and even sedative properties. It is also commonly used as a “toothbrush.” People in India (as well as Africa and