Sunday, September 28, 2014

A mind that is pure (Bangara Manasu)

One must have the grace of God to attain the highest state or the complete bliss state. Ishwara’s (God) grace is of utmost importance to reach the highest state. If His grace is not there, then all efforts may not be successful. The mind is the creation of God. A mind free from desires, greed and jealously, and which neither sees good nor bad, such a mind is known as ‘bangara manasu’ (a mind that is pure). Such a mind is given by Maha Vishnu.

All the sadhana or spiritual practice that we are doing is to attain that ‘bangara manasu’. Our actions in the past affect us in this birth in two ways: the body suffers from disease; and the mind gets trapped in grief. Both disease and grief are fruits of previous actions (done in past births). So, in this life you must not keep recalling issues that have affected you. Leave them, forget them and move forward. In this life, do not be bothered about the past and the future. Future actions will take place as they have to. Thhinking about them and disturbing the mind is not correct. Each one must learn to dwell in solitude (Ekanta Vasa) at least for an hour each day.

If you face all events in life happily, slowly the result of the past actions decreases. Gradually you will gain supreme knowledge. Each task or work assigned by God to you must be performed in a righteous way. If it is not possible, then do not do it. As far as possible do not jump into other people’s issues. This again leads to ignorance. But you can do tasks for the welfare of others.

"He alone is the Giver" - (Dr.Mithin)



Sri Nannagaru 's birthday was coming up on September 23 and I wanted to go and meet Him on that day. I called him and asked permission to come for that day. He said You are always welcome Work in the hospital prevented me from having concrete plans but soon I found myself in the car heading to Jinnuru early morning of September 23 to meet him. I arrived by about 10o c lock by which time I learnt that the Saint had gone for rest. I went away and had my breakfast and visited some agricultural fields in that area and came back by 12 by which time the Saint had come back. I met him and he expressed pleasure and took me along and made me sir next to him. As the devotees flocked around him he made me sit with him and discussed about a patient whom I was supposed to see during my visit to this village. One trait of Sri Nannagaru I noticed was he would be very worried and concerned and very particular about a patient who told him his woes and would rest or feel relaxed only when he came to know that the patient had been sufficiently attended by me.

After that he asked me to follow him to Jinnuru kshetram where he would give his speech for the occasion. The patient I was supposed to see would come they're and Sri Nannagaru asked me to see the patient in his room as He gave his speech. People bring hundreds of fruits and sweets to him every time as offerings which he would touch and give as prasad to all. I used to bring sweets or fruits to him initially but soon discontinued the practice because I argued within myself that it is better to go empty handed to him and take what he gives because that would be symbolic of the fact in my life that he alone is the Giver...



So I was waiting what he would give me this trip. Even though hundreds of fruits are being given to him he did not give me any. A lady devote had given a small package to him. He enquired as to what was there in the package Tirupati Laddoo she said I smiled suddenly and thought so this is my prasad! So Nannagaru turned and looked at me smiled and gave the Laddoo. Soon So Nannagaru went to give his speech and I returned to his room in the ashram to see the patient. After the discourse Sri Nannagaru came back to the room and talked with some of the devotees and me.

His teaching in a nutshell 'God and World are not two entities. Whatever exists is God Alone. If you're in the world as different from God you are living in illusion. When you recognise the world also as God then the world disappears and what always was GOD alone remains. Unnadanta Brahmamokkatey

He even said that 'When we die we think we are dying but forget to realise that it is only the body which is dying and there is something in us that cannot die. The Goal of Life is to realise that Thing in us which does not die. Then fear of death vanishes and the soul transcends the idea of birth and death'

A peetadapathi came today and asked Sri Nannagaru 'When I am with you I feel peaceful but when I indulge in worldly matters I lose the Peace. How to sustain it?' Sri Nannagaru replied' Remember God in your worldly activities also. For it is not physical plane but the spiritual plane which is important. Then you will derive Peace.'

After that I took his leave and came away

Saturday, September 6, 2014

About Vedas

Traigunyavisayaa vedaa nistraigunyo bhavaarjuna
nirdvandvo nithya sattvastho niryoga kshema aatmavaan (2-45)

O Arjuna, the Vedic scriptures deal with the matters relating to three gunas(attributes).
O Arjuna, but rise above them. Being free from the pairs of opposites, let your mind be always steady in the pure spiritual consciousness; do not endeavor to acquire or preserve that is forbidden; Become Self Realized.

Veda implies Knowledge. We have four Vedas namely Rigveda, Yajurveda, Atharvanaveda and Samaveda. The Vedas mention not only about Self Knowledge but also about material knowledge. The hymns that are chanted at the time of marriage or while performing rituals (apakarma) when the Jiva leaves the body are all but Vedic hymns. Apart from these, the Vedas also mention about how to construct a house. Hence there is nothing left out in the Vedas that remained unmentioned. The Vedas have narrated about the sattvic, rajasic and tamasic qualities. The behavior pattern that prevails in a person when a particular quality becomes predominant also has been mentioned in the Vedas. All these qualities bind you. Hence transcend them and go forward. God has put Maya in all the three qualities. Of them there may be good as well as bad qualities.Don’t get into the affair of these qualities. All these are related to Maya. Try to transcend these qualities. You must overcome these qualities. You must attain Self Knowledge.

Nirdvandvo: You will get several dualities in your life. Learn to bear them. You will become purified and your intellect (buddhi) becomes steady if you learn to bear them. If you bear these dualities, your mind will not become your enemy but will remain as your friend. If your mind becomes your friend, it will serve you. If your mind becomes your enemy, it will harm you. It is not important as to how you are treated by the society; what is important is that your mind should be within your control. You get happiness or sorrow according to your destiny. Don’t get elated when you are happy and don’t get depressed when you are sorrowful. Thus always keep your brain balanced.If you thus remain balanced, your intellect (buddhi)gets concentrated and purified.

Nithya satvastaha:That which is Truth is permanent and that which is not Truth is transient. There is a Truth within your Heart. It is very close, near and dear to you. It is not only close to you but You are That (Self). But due to your wrong thinking and wrong identification, you are not able to identify this truth. If you want to be joyful, learn to abide in the Heart. Then all of them ie your body,mind, senses and intellect (buddhi)come into your control. Only then you become joyful. If you remain within the control of your senses and mind, you cannot become joyful. Therefore we must learn to control them. The happiness derived from control cannot be attained from comfort. Therefore Bhagavan said: "If possible,learn to befriend the Self within your Heart; if you are unable to do it, try to attain Holy Company. Then you will get the yearning to attain Self Knowledge due to their vibrations."

Niryogakshema:God is here narrating about the weaknesses within man. Yoga implies earning that which you don’t possess. Protecting and preserving that which you have earned is Kshema.Everyone is involved with these both ie yoga and kshema. If you spend all the 24 hrs in acquisition and preservation when will you seek the Truth? God looks after their yoga and kshema who do not think of their yoga and kshema. But you are afraid that God may not look after the same. You don’t even have the faith that God exists. When you don’t even possess the faith in the existence of God, how will you depend upon Him? One who is looking after this world will also look after you. If you constantly think of your yoga(acquisition) and kshema(preservation) your mind will get extroverted but not introverted.

Aatmavaan: Antahkarna implies the inner instrument ie.,mind. It should always be kept pure.As you keep your body clean, even your intellect (buddhi)should be kept pure. You cannot attain Jnana without the purity of the intellect (buddhi). The water looks steady and pure when there are no waves in it. Similarly your intellect(buddhi)should resemble such water in order to attain Self Knowledge. The true Bliss and Joy are contained in Self alone. What you currently experience is only happiness and of Joy.If you are happy today, all your happiness may be converted into sorrow on one day or the other. However if you attain Self Knowledge, all your sorrow will be converted into joy. Therefore the Lord says: "Oh! Arjuna, purify your mind and attain the wealth of Self Knowledge." Wherever you see, if you experience bliss, peace and joy, why should you depend upon the external things

"Faith is a blessing of Guru" - (By Neelima)

I just wanted to share my experience as the experience shared by many others in the blog helped me deepen my faith in Nannagaru.

I am 24 years old now and my earliest reminiscence of Nannagaru is way back in my childhood. I am indebted to my mother to having me introduced to Nannagaru at that tender age. As a kid I used to accompany my mother to Nannagaru without even knowing the purpose. I was told that he was the walking god and we should worship him. Little did I believe my mother then, as my perception of God as a kid was delusional influenced by the Hindu mythology. Perhaps my mind was not pure enough to see the truth.


Sometimes I went to Nannagaru willingly. sometimes only because my mother wanted me to go and some other times just to kill time. All this time people told me that Nannagaru was divine and never tried to reason much I just blindly forced myself to believe. Later as I grew I used to listen to discourses and was introduced to terms like 'Moksha' , 'Salvation'. I seldom understood what these terms meant but just understood that it was ultimate goal of human life . I liked few simple things that Nannagaru told about our day to day life and felt good when I could actually implement at least a very few of them.
Like many other people around I always thought I never harmed anyone, I was minding my own business and had a feeling that I am good person. But when I sit in front of Nannagaru and hear his discourse all my shortcomings, the impurities in my mind flash in my mind and I sometimes wonder if I even deserve to sit in front of him. I am certainly blessed to be able to sit in his presence. I continued to go to Nannagaru not with any particular purpose but it just became a habit by then. Whenever Nannagaru is in city, I try to go and meet him. There was one part in me which would say I should go meet Nannagaru and other part which would ask me to go to a movie with my friends, sometimes I did surrender to my mind and went for the movie. But many a times there would suddenly be a change of plan with my friends and I will be left with no option but going to Nannagaru. It felt like Nannagaru tethered me to a leash and would sometimes let me wander but would pull me back before I was lost. Later I began to know that Nannagaru was a divine soul but KNOWING is different from BELIEVING. My mind and heart were not ripe enough to have the faith.


His love and compassion are beyond comparison. He could not let an ignorant soul like me wander how ever undeserving I was. He had to teach me in my own ways. I always worshiped god but only for materialistic things. I used to pray to god like many college students for good marks, good job, pass in some entrance exam etc. My mother introduced to me "Shiridi Sai Jeevithe Charitra" (Biography of Shiridi Sai Baba) and "Shri Guru Charitra"(Biography of Dattetreya Swami) by Ekkirala Bhradwaja garu. Of course I did the parayana(read the whole biography in 7 days in a predefined order and with some puja) of these two books a couple of times only for my selfish motives, to get my materialistic list of desires to be fulfilled. But these two books describe the importance and glory of guru exhaustively.Do you see the master mind of Guru?? It is after I read these books and the description of Guru in these books that I started placing faith in Nannagaru and realized the importance of guru in life. I used to relate many incidents and characteristics of guru to Nannagaru and feel blessed that I had Nannagaru in my life.


Although I started placing my faith in nanngaru, my mind wouldn't let me place a 100% faith. I believe having faith is also a blessing that Guru has to bestow upon us. In Guru charithra and Baba charithra it is mentioned that when you cannot decide if you find the correct 'Guru' you should pray to the almighty to show you the right path and do Guru charitra parayana. This is also a method told be ideal in many other religions. Even after I knew about this I was never actually bothered to do a parayana for the quest of a true Guru. Again Nannagaru had to take things into hands and put me o the right path. I had a dream once and in my dream I saw Lord Dattatreya and his mother Anasooya matha. I wondered why I got the dream and I decided to do a Guru charitra parayana. As I was doing my parayana one day in my dream I saw Nannagaru. He was surrounded my many devotees as usual. I went to him and prostrated to him, he smiled at me and blessed me by placing some 'akshitalu' on my head. What more could my mind ask for to convince it that i was on the right path. From that day on my faith in Nannagaru deepened. He has been influencing my life in many ways since then, constantly guiding me and keeping an eye on so that I don't wander. Since then whenever I go to temple I pray for god me to help me keep my faith my guru. As I know that if we can keep our total faith in him and trust him he will always watch out for us and do what is good for us. This has been my experience in many cases. Whenever my faith fluctuates or I wander about in life Nannagaru is always there helping me in his own unique ways which are difficult to express but only can be experienced.

Even now I don't think I am intellectual enough to truly understand the purpose of life and about salvation. But what I know for certain is if keep my total faith in him he will show me the path sooner or later.