Shankara's Visit to Texas !

Date: May 17, 2006 12:48 PM


"Guruji, I love you and you are my AdiShankara.".. soft and little tremble in my voice as I looked straight into HIS eyes and uttered these words... and there came the smile, the most famous and precious smile which stole the hearts and minds of millions of people all around the globe. It was my golden moment, my time of enlightenment, me with my Shiva, and that was it.. No amount of good Karma can get you a Guru, GuruDev once said.. its just HIS love and grace that brought me that moment.. Then GuruDev lifted his hand and patted my shoulder and blessed me... Blessed me like the divine touch of Bhagwan Sri Ram, which turned a stone into a beautiful angel..

"Guruji.. tum mile, dil khiley aur jeene ko kya chahiye" (Guruji, I found you and my heart blossomed, Is there anything more valuable than this in life ?) .. that was what went on in my mind, as 200 other devotees lined up to have the darshan of Guruji at the Uvalde Activity center on a beautiful sunny saturday in Texas.. and what a darshan it was !.. Guruji spoke to each and everyone... we all could not have wished for more. there was abundance.. so rich was the time.. so satisfying the experience.. my two eyes were not enough to behold the glory of his compassionate love.. the senses cried out their limitations in capturing the picture of my master.. if there's a heaven, we were in it.

"Marugela raa.. O Raghavaa".. the melody from the vichitra veena was so enchanting that the chirping birds took a recess and were lost in the sound along with us on this very peaceful evening..There was GuruDev, seated underneath a tree.. some of us were sitting on the grass and some on chairs... It was sunset time.. the animals and other living beings caught up in everyday activities were returning home to rest.. it was time to relax and just be joyful.. This was how it should have been when Dakshinamurthy taught the wise men in silence.. or when Ashtavakra spoke of wisdom to Janaka.. or during the discourses of Yagnavalkya in the times of Naimisharanyam.. It was satsang time and the party was on.

"Gayatrananta charitam tava naradopi".. (Your infinite glories are sung by Narada and other rishis) ..surrounded by all angels and rishis we sang the glories of the Lord in the Lord's presence.. the first satsang on the occassion of the opening of the first ashram in the United States.. amidst a wealth of devotion in the ocean of gratitude.. we all merged.. We celebrated HIS 50 years (though HE has no beginning and no end) as HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar..

"Imam prapya bhajasva maam".. I am blessed to be singing HIS name and for being part of this celebration.

with love and respect,

Merry XMas from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (High Res)

From the North Pole straight to your heart. Music by Trans Siberian Orchestra

Shankaraya Mangalam !

Shankaraya Shankaraya Shankaraya Mangalam..
Shankari Manoharaya Shaaswataya Mangalam..

Gurudeva Mangalam Sadgurudeva Mangalam..
Gajananaya Mangalam Shadananaya Mangalam

Shankaraya Shankaraya Shankaraya Mangalam..
Shankari Manoharaya Shaaswataya Mangalam..

Rajarama Mangalam Sri Venu Krishna Mangalam
Sitarama Mangalam Sri Radhe Shyama Mangalam

Shankaraya Shankaraya Shankaraya Mangalam..
Shankari Manoharaya Shaaswataya Mangalam..

Anandam Mangalam Paramanandam Mangalam
Sadananda Mangalam Chidananda Mangalam.

Shankaraya Shankaraya Shankaraya Mangalam..
Shankari Manoharaya Shaaswataya Mangalam..


blessed are those who long for the divine.

blessed are those who have tears of gratitude for him..

Real treasure is the treasure of longing..

the longing which consumes every thought, every feeling and every breath.

blessed are those who see only him.. dream of only him.. think of only him.. speak of only him..

blessed are those who merge with him.. have nothing to do but to do his work..

blessed are those who feel his presence all the time.. and even the time becomes him.. there is no past, present or future.. its all him..

blessed are those whose known and unknown universes are pervaded by him..

blessed are those whose faces glow with the divine love.. with that ecstasy.. with that unparalleled love for him... who sing and dance in the intoxication of his love.

blessed is this planet.. this moment.. blessed are you and me.

Jai Gurudev !

Maine Socha Na Tha..

with lots of love and gratitude for my beloved Guruji His Holiness Sri Sri RaviShankar. Jai GuruDev.

Wonder..

What is all this.. ?

the world. the people.. the problems.. the events.. the triumphs.. the tribulations.

where did all this come from..

what is the meaning of anything.. what is going on..

What does anything mean anyway ?

Does it even matter what I am thinking right now ?

Its so huge.. and vast .. the entire entity is so unfathomable.. the dynamics are crazy.. its all so quickly changing..

the 6 billion people on the planet will be dead in the next 100 yrs .

which means that.. 60 million ppl die annually on an average.

which equals to 5 million a month .. and 166,000 people die every day !!..

and an equal or more are born..

and uncountable plants, animals, birds, fishes are born. and they die too.



just looking at this dynamic activity creates an awe at the force of this existence..
how much power or energy gets transformed..

the creation is busy all the time.. its a tireless worker.

its a wonder !..

where does it want to go with all this ?

where is the creation heading to ?

how long does it want to keep doing what its doing.. ?


its crazy.. that was just the physical world..

in the mental , subtle space . the creation is also crazy

so many thoughts come and go.. in so many minds.. its just unbelievable..



the subtle space is like the mirror image of the realm of the thoughts..
because both are infinite, one cannot really say which is more deep !

well.. i dont know what a maze we all are living in..

i really dont know !..

the point is one cannot really find out how deep this thing is..
but one can really live a peaceful life by realizing how huge the infinite creation is..

by looking at the big pic.. the small complaints and nonsense disappear into nothing..


thinking about the infinite makes the mind vast.. and this makes the mind relax.

i dont know what it is.. but its all fun!

This is my first blog. Hello World !. hahaa.

I like the name of this blog.. I called it Padmapadam..

Padmapada .. i just love that name..

Padmapada was a disciple of Sri AdiShankara..

Once when Sri Acharya was at Kasi ( I think) he called out to his disciple who was on the other side of the river Ganges.. the disciple, heeding his master's call just started walking on the water. and where ever he stepped on the surface of water a lotus or padma bloomed to support him.. and thus he was able to cross..

and his name became PadmaPada..

I think there is a deeper meaning in it.. u can just walk across any water when you have that love and the trust.