Bhaishri - "Live like the fly that sits on sugar"

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Jai Shri Krishna
The Bhagavad-Gita talks of many ways, or paths, in which we can reach the Almighty. 
For seekers of knowledge, there is the path of knowledge called ‘gyan yoga’. 
For people who have love and devotion towards God, there is the path of devotion called ‘bhakti yoga’. The majority of us are treading the path of ‘karma yoga’, the path of action.We are not sanyasi’s (ascetics). We are householders and we can learn from the Bhagavad-Gita how to live a fruitful, peaceful and happy life. We can learn how to enjoy all that life has to offer in a tasteful manner, while at the same time offering everything we have to the Almighty.We always prefer sweetness, whether in taste or in smell. We dislike bad odours and bad tastes. In many ways, we are like flies! However, the Gita teaches us that we should learn to live like the fly that sits on sugar, and not like the fly that sits on honey. Both of these flies enjoy sweetness; but the former is free to fly away after enjoying the sugar while the latter gets stuck in the honey and loses its freedom to fly.We need not feel sorry for being in the world. Nor should we blame life for various deceitful bonds. Nor do we need to pray to God for setting us free from this world. Instead of such negative thoughts, we should gladly accept the life bestowed upon us.People often say that this world is an illusion, but our longing for physical comforts does not cease, or even decrease! Why this fallacy? One should thank God for everything that He has given to us. One should accept it as a kind gift to be used humbly and to be offered back to Him with the same humility. Thinking negatively without renunciation is hypocrisy.There are devotees who do not like the world. They constantly say,”O God, You are good; but the world created by you is bad.” How correct are they in saying this? Is this their love for God? God will certainly not like someone talking ill of His creation. How can we speak negatively of all the things of this world that we ourselves long for throughout our lives? We should live the life given to us joyfully.The life and the teachings of Shri Krishna show us how to live. We need to be like the fly that enjoys the sweetness of the world without becoming attached to it. That way, we will enjoy all that we face and carry out all our actions in a fruitful manner. This is the secret to being a true karma yogi.

                                                                                                            .....Bhaishri

Bhaishri's Message from Kathas # 5

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Purifying the Mind

Bhagavat katha enhances Bhakti Rasa. Nothing is as effective to purify our minds as Bhagavat katha and purity alone is achievement. Purity is the most superior and easiest means for attaining God. By repeating the name of God the feeling of void is eliminated from our life.


Tulasidasaji says:
"ehi kalikala na sadhana duja
      joga jagna japa tapa brata puja
      ramahi sumiria gaia ramahi
      santata sunia rama guna gramahi"

“In this Kali-yuga, there is no other means of worship, neither meditation, sacrifice, prayer, penance, vows nor rituals. Meditate only on Rama; sing only of Rama; and hear of only Rama’s infinite perfections.” (Uttarakanda129.6)

The Bhagavat katha indeed is the only way to achieve Bhagavat prema (devotion), which is the real goal. Thirst for love is an eternal permanent aspiration in a man’s heart and the Bhagavat katha bestows on us the love for God.

Bhaishri's Message from Kathas # 4

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Stilling the Mind
The Shrimad-Bhagavat was first recited by Shukadeva Gosvami and was repeated for the second time in the forest of Naimisharanya. Naimisharanya is not just an area of land, it is also traditionally a venue for speakers and listeners. Spiritually, Naimisharanya is wherever the mind becomes still. In the Shrimad-Bhagavat, Brahmaji states that the mind is very unsteady. Whenever it becomes still, that should become the place for meditation and bhajan. The problem is that the mind is never still; it is an uphill task to still the ever-fleeting mind. The remedy of stilling our fleeting mind is vairagya, being unattached to the temporal knowing them to be transitory by nature. Whenever your mind gets stilled, that is your Naimisharanya.

Bhaishri's Message from Kathas # 3

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Always Resort to the Bhagavat
It is said: sada sevya, sada sevya shrimad-bhagavati katha. The Shrimad-Bhagavat katha is sada sevya. It is worth reading and studying at all times. It is both: an aushadhi (medicine) as well as a rasayana (tonic). 
The Bhagavatkatha is an aushadhi for those who are troubled and tormented by the afflictions of this world and by taking medicines diseases get cured but by taking a rasayana the diseases are prevented. The diseases get completely destroyed and this is the benefit of a rasayana. Hence a rasayana is ‘sada sevya’ meaning that it can be taken every day even when you are not afflicted with any disease. So, even if you are a grihasth (house-holder) the Bhagavat katha is sada sevya, to be resorted to at any time and if you are a sannyasi the Bhagavat katha is still sada sevya. It is worth resorting to by everyone at all times.

Bhaishri's Message from Kathas # 2

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Be a Servant of Shri Hari
Being an employee is being subservient but we are slaves to money, power, fame and status. Sometimes we are slaves to our addictions and at other times we are slaves to our greed. Sometimes we become slaves to lust and at other times to anger or envy. We are dissipating our lives in vain having dumped them in sensual pleasures. If at all you want to be a slave, then be a slave to "Shri-Hari."
Muni Sutikshana says to Lord Rama in the Ramacharitamanasa (Aranyakanda 10.3): asa abhimana jai jani bhoren, main sevaka raghupati pati more. “Never let this exalted feeling disappear from my mind, even in an unguarded moment, that I am Rama’s servant and He is my master.” Only he who is a true lover and tyagi can be a true servant. Service will bring about happiness, love, joy and renunciation in your life.
Seva is related to sat (truth) and only he who has a true understanding can renounce. By merely changing to saffron coloured robes one does not become a sannyasi. Only when one gains true knowledge and awakens into the divine consciousness does one realise that this world is an abode of misery. Being freed from this world and joining with God alone is true yoga. It is only a true lover who is useful to God while one who is not a true lover is of no use to Him. However learned one may be, if there is no love in one’s heart then even a learned scholar is like an animal. Without the grace of the guru one does not develop love for God. It is after surrendering to the guru that one gets joined with the Creator. We meet our guru simply by the grace of God.

Bhaishri's Message from Kathas # 1

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Be Useful to Others
The Gita asks us to become a yogi, to be useful to others. If you are useful to those around you then you automatically become a yogi. Anyone who loses his efficacy loses his very existence, be it an individual or an object. Both are discarded when their utility is lost. Therefore one should maintain and safeguard one’s utility. In order to be useful, a person should have three qualities: prema (love), the spirit of tyaga (sacrifice) and seva(service). It is prema that enables us to sacrifice and it does it so quietly without any publicity. Only a true lover can be a true tyagi (one who has renounced) and peace prevails in the life of a person who is a true tyagi. It is also a matter of pride to be a sevak.

Tree - symbol of benevolence

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Jai Shri Krishna
There is a saying in classical Indian poetry that a lake, a tree, a saint and the rain are all symbols of benevolence, i.e., they are constantly giving to others. If we spend some time to think about this, we can learn much about the act of benevolence from such elements of nature.You may ask how can we learn to give from a mere tree? There is a wonderful story, which is a true incident that took place in Saurashtra, that best illustrates this.One day, the King of Bhavnagar was relaxing in the garden surrounding his palace. There was a high boundary wall separating the garden from the outside road. Just at that time, a poor Brahmin and his young son were walking on the road. It was very hot, and the young child was extremely hungry. He noticed a high mango tree from beyond the palace garden wall. The tree had bent across the wall and there were ripe mangoes on the outstretched branch.Forced by temptation, the boy picked up a stone from the road and threw it at the stem of the fruits. His aim succeeded and he caught a beautiful ripe mango. Unfortunately, the stone exceeded the target and struck the King who was sitting in the gardens. The stone hit the Kings head, which began to bleed. The guards quickly ran towards the road and caught the young Brahmin boy and his father.When presented in front of the King, the Brahmin, trembling with fear, began to beg to the King to pardon the boy for his mistake. Soldiers and ministers laughed at the Brahmin’s request and advised the King to punish them both.The King politely asked them both not to worry. He asked the young boy "Did you throw the stone, my son?" The boy immediately accepted his fault with tears in his eyes.The King then asked "Why?" The boy replied hesitantly, "I was hungry. I threw the stone to drop a mango from the tree." "What happened when you threw the stone?" asked the King. "A mango fell from the tree. This is what I have in my hand. Please forgive me. I did not throw the stone to hit you." The King immediately ordered his prime minister that both father and son be released and additionally be given 500 coins! All the ministers and soldiers were surprised and wandered why the King was rewarding them instead of ordering punishment! The King was amused to see their astonishment and explained with a smile, ”When the stone struck the tree, it gave the boy a mango. The same stone struck me. Wouldn’t I be meaner than a tree if I did not give anything? If a mere tree can be benevolent to a young boy, why cannot I, a human being, do the same? Such are the lessons we can learn from simple elements of nature that constantly give us all we need without any expectation or hesitation. The sun, the mountains, the rivers and lakes, the earth and the wind: they are beautiful symbols of benevolence. Perhaps we too can evolve to become symbols of benevolence.


                                                                                                           ...... Bhaishri                                                                                                      

Love for God

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Jai Shri Krishna
Very often we are instructed by scriptures, saints and family members that we must love God. They tell us that God should be the object of our love. However, we cannot force ourselves to love God, can we? Love for God must develop naturally within our hearts and it must be spontaneous. Let us look at scientific phenomena to help us understand this better.

Isaac Newton described the law of gravity in scientific terms, but gravity has been defined differently by our Rishis. The scriptures say that gravity is applied when a small object is attracted to a larger object from which it is derived. As the small object is derived from the larger object, it has the same characteristics as the larger object, but on a smaller scale. Therefore, when a rock is thrown into the air, it returns to earth because it has emerged from, and is a part of, the earth. Similarly a flame always burns upwards, because it is derived from the sun and therefore has the same characteristics as the sun.
The larger object is known as the 'anshi' and the smaller object is called the 'ansh'. The ocean is the anshi and the drops of water are the ansh. When it rains, the drops of water fall and finally flow into the ocean because of the attraction between the ansh and theanshi. This attraction between ansh and anshi is described in our scriptures as ‘bhakti’.
Though we may not realize it, we are on a natural journey towards loving God. Many people spend their lives searching for truth, for knowledge, for happiness. These qualities of truth, knowledge and happiness are associated with God. 
In the scriptures God is described as ‘sat-chit-ananda’, truth-knowledge-happiness. We have a natural love for truth, knowledge and happiness, and therefore strive to achieve these. This is nothing but bhakti for God.
God is the anshi and the individual soul is the ansh. Our natural tendency is to return to God, where we came from. We always strive for the best things in life. This is because in essence, we are a part of the Supreme God and therefore it is in our nature to want the best.
When realized masters see people performing bad deeds, they understand that these people have forgotten their true nature. Hence, they do not get angry, but they bless these people with the hope that they will understand and realise their true nature.

                                                                                                         ......  Bhaishri

Sutra by Bhaishree

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Jai Shri Krishna,
                             Here is a nice quote by Bhashree


Upcoming Katha (LIVE)

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sandipani.org
Jai Shri Krishna

Bhaishr's next Katha will be from
14/12/2010
To
20/12/2010 
Venue: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Dhobitalab, Crossmedan, Mumbai.

We are pleased to share that ths Katha will be telecasted on Sanskar channel from 03 pm - 7 pm everyday. Don't miss this opportunity.

Bhaishri's Philosophy

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Bhaishri’s discourses contain a balance between devotion and wisdom. Whilst he entrancingly leads people into bhakti bhav (devotion). He also shares the tenets of wisdom that are enshrined in the scriptures. Citing examples from the Shrimad Bhagavat Puraan, Shri Ramcharitmanas, Shrimad Bhagavad Gita and other devotional recitations and enlightening scriptures like the Upanishads and Shubhashitas, Bhaishri, in his unique style shows us the path to lead an ideal life, to be a true devotee, with a complete understanding of life’s spiritual laws and thus indicating the path of salvation.

From highlighting the importance of our revered scriptures which teach us ethics and the direction in which we must take our lives, to the importance of our venerated Gurus, Bhaishri continues to enlighten his listeners, rekindling the flame of knowledge and devotion within them.

Bhaishri expounds the Dvait, Dvaitadvait, and the different schools of Advait philosophy in the most simple ways, very often, quoting great sages like Shri Vallabhacharyaji and Shri Adi Shankaracharyaji.

His discourses are a beautiful expression of the various philosophies that exuberate the richness of our Sanatana Dharma leading all of us to an understanding of life’s subtle Truths.

About Bhaishri

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Pujya Bhaishri Rameshbhai Oza, lovingly addressed as ‘Bhaishri’, has dedicated his life to disseminating the divine teachings of the scriptures to thousands of listeners around the world. He is also a guide and mentor to the hundreds of students at Sandipani Vidyaniketan, Gujarat.

Bhaishri identifies spirituality as being a way of life. His style of teaching is simple yet insightful. His wisdom is philosophical, yet pragmatic. Bhaishri’s profound study and reflection of the holy texts awards us with the very essence of these ancient scriptures.

His humble disposition endears him not only to his followers, but also to the respected community of learned saints. He is known as Bhaishri as he fulfils the role of an elder brother providing support, guidance and love.

Many have expressed their thoughts, feelings and gratitude through letters to Bhaishri and private meetings. Those with spiritual quests found their answers. Those seeking more, found peace.

Today, Bhaishri continues to enrich the lives of people all over the world, through his profound wisdom and ever-flowing compassion.
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