I have again changed my life pattern. I have deleted a couple of things, added something, changed the order and time of doing them.
It goes like this now...listen in the morning to the Vishnu Sahasrnama, then an article from Sakala Kaariya Siddhiyum Shrimadh Ramayanamum, then a chapter from the Bhagavd Gita and then prostrating to the God(s) in the Puja room. This is my Dharma.
Around noon, I plan to work for 6 sessions of 45 minutes (like 2 for programming and 4 for writing). This is my Artha.
In the evening, I think I will play games, watch nice movies, browse online, walk in the beach etc. Perhaps romancing will get added to this list. This is my Kama.
After 7'O clock, I will be chanting the Dvaya mantram 54 times. This is my Moksha.
18 years back, I thought that I had, and accomplished, everything. Unfortunately for me, I had got only Artha and Kama. And both went away.
The order of getting these 4 things is natural and important. I wasn't taught Dharma as a child though I knew that I was expected to be good. I added to it..."as far as I can help it." Such an attitude got me safe most of the times. Those times when I couldn't help it, I was rewarded with the stick. At least, I knew something about Dharma. What I knew about Moksha or Nirvana were music bands. Actually, I wasn't very impressed with Moksha because it just meant an absence of suffering. My mathematical brain equated the absence of a negative, without any hint on the positive, to be zero. And zero looked boring. If you are anxious to know whether I know anything better now, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I still don't know clearly how the absence of suffering can be the presence of joy. But within 48 days, starting from today, I hope to get an answer.
I dropped doing any social service. Doing it seemed to be the correct thing to do as a means of sacrifice but the Bhagavad Gita says that the best sacrifice is the Knowledge sacrifice, which I'm already doing by reading a chapter from the Bhagavad Gita. In life, there is no good in doing anything even a little more or less. Life doesn't allow it. By accepting to live by the Bhagavad Gita, I will be doing a better though not obvious sacrifice.
BTW, is my writing better? I've been learning. :-)
I have stopped writing the prayer and gratitude journal since I will be chanting the Dvaya mantram. It's not like I'm conservative or that I don't believe that writing the journal isn't an act of surrender. Infact, these changes in me are largely a result of doing it. I feel more relaxed chanting. And, it also supports my belief that the Charama Sloka is a synthesis of everything till then told by Shri Krishna. I believe that the 4 instructions in 65th verse in the 18th chapter synthesizes whatever was told before that and that the next verse synthesizes the 4 instructions into Maam Yekam Sharanam Vraja. I believe that the Dvaya mantram has all the 4 components in it.
It goes like this now...listen in the morning to the Vishnu Sahasrnama, then an article from Sakala Kaariya Siddhiyum Shrimadh Ramayanamum, then a chapter from the Bhagavd Gita and then prostrating to the God(s) in the Puja room. This is my Dharma.
Around noon, I plan to work for 6 sessions of 45 minutes (like 2 for programming and 4 for writing). This is my Artha.
In the evening, I think I will play games, watch nice movies, browse online, walk in the beach etc. Perhaps romancing will get added to this list. This is my Kama.
After 7'O clock, I will be chanting the Dvaya mantram 54 times. This is my Moksha.
18 years back, I thought that I had, and accomplished, everything. Unfortunately for me, I had got only Artha and Kama. And both went away.
The order of getting these 4 things is natural and important. I wasn't taught Dharma as a child though I knew that I was expected to be good. I added to it..."as far as I can help it." Such an attitude got me safe most of the times. Those times when I couldn't help it, I was rewarded with the stick. At least, I knew something about Dharma. What I knew about Moksha or Nirvana were music bands. Actually, I wasn't very impressed with Moksha because it just meant an absence of suffering. My mathematical brain equated the absence of a negative, without any hint on the positive, to be zero. And zero looked boring. If you are anxious to know whether I know anything better now, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I still don't know clearly how the absence of suffering can be the presence of joy. But within 48 days, starting from today, I hope to get an answer.
I dropped doing any social service. Doing it seemed to be the correct thing to do as a means of sacrifice but the Bhagavad Gita says that the best sacrifice is the Knowledge sacrifice, which I'm already doing by reading a chapter from the Bhagavad Gita. In life, there is no good in doing anything even a little more or less. Life doesn't allow it. By accepting to live by the Bhagavad Gita, I will be doing a better though not obvious sacrifice.
BTW, is my writing better? I've been learning. :-)
I have stopped writing the prayer and gratitude journal since I will be chanting the Dvaya mantram. It's not like I'm conservative or that I don't believe that writing the journal isn't an act of surrender. Infact, these changes in me are largely a result of doing it. I feel more relaxed chanting. And, it also supports my belief that the Charama Sloka is a synthesis of everything till then told by Shri Krishna. I believe that the 4 instructions in 65th verse in the 18th chapter synthesizes whatever was told before that and that the next verse synthesizes the 4 instructions into Maam Yekam Sharanam Vraja. I believe that the Dvaya mantram has all the 4 components in it.
