Sadhana Shikhara Gaurava Puraskaara - Awaarded to Susheela Acharya

A Report in Udayavani Mumbai (Kannada) 26th Feb 2011

Smt. Susheela Acharya

Sadhana Shikhara Gaurava Puraskaara awarded to 

Dr. Kulkarni, Susheela Acharya, M N Suvarna

Mumbai Feb. 25

The Karnataka Sangha Mumbai's annual Sadhana Shikhara Gaurava Puraskaara has been bestowed on senior literary laureate Dr G V Suvanra, Susheela Acharya and Guru M N Suvarna.

Reminiscences of my student days

My Pranaams to Gurudev Pujya Swamiji, my lifelong teacher and guide from my school days onwards. I remember attending one of his earliest public talks in Bombay on Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 9). The first verse alone is what I remember from the talk... Rajavidyaa Raajaguhyam. Subsequently, our Vedanta youth group had an opportunity to meet him at a private residence, and we were regaled by his frank, humorous, and perceptive observations. His story of ‘Annammal and therefore logic’ still rings fresh in my mind.


The ‘Teenagers’ Group’ was very cohesive and enthusiastic, and we didn’t miss an opportunity of attending lectures and satang. Group members included Geeta (Swi. Brahmaprakashananda) and Ram Mohan (Sw. Brahmavidananda) and many others who have studied Vedanta from Pujya Swamiji over the years. My father S V Acharya was our ‘Saarathi’, driving us in his Ambassador to most of these sessions. Our group met at least once a week and shared and the precious learning gathered from the discourses. Doubts were debated and unresolved questions were reserved for Pujya Swamiji to answer.

Wisdom to Know the Difference

Q. In the serenity prayer, though one is asking god for serenity to accept certain things and to change certain things and wisdom to know the difference, isn't that wisdom a question-mark? The attitude of surrender is so difficult.


I agree with you that wisdom is a vague word. As long as we live, we are learning, and our wisdom grows (hopefully) in the process. Ultimately there is no end to learning, and we do make mistakes. Real wisdom is the humility to admit that we were wrong or that we made a mistake. Only then are we ready to change or make amends.


Maturity, growth, wisdom - all these words reveal a degree or extent of a particular progression from ignorance towards knowledge, from conditioned thinking towards free thought, from beliefs towards facts. Ultimately, we require that much wisdom as will make our lives better, harmonious, functional and fulfilling. Is this asking for too much?

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Serenity Interactive

Topics of Interest

Fear      Beliefs      Control Dramas      

Ethics      Renounciation   Expectations

knowing the difference     contentment     acceptance     conditioning

more pages

Distinctions - Complacency vs Contentment

A couple of years ago, my friend dropped in with a proposal for a multilevel marketing scheme. “There’s a lot of money for you to make, Uday,” he said. When I politely refused, he insisted, “You should change your attitude and think positively. You can be as rich as your heart desires. Invest now and see your wealth grow beyond expectations.”

That got me thinking. Am I putting this proposal off due to my middle class background, or am I genuinely not interested? There are some people who will never know their potential until they take the decision to buy in. Then there are other people who will struggle their entire life and not reach the promise they hoped despite having bought in.

So the question remains: What made me say no? Fear? Competition? Public opinion? Past conditioning? Inability to visualize riches? Complacency or Contentment?

The Heart of Acceptance

Acceptance requires that I come to terms with facts - I need to face the truth no matter how bitter it is. Acceptance does not mean approval or agreement. When my heart rebels against what my head says is true, I help the heart see what my head knows. The heart can then look for alternatives in co-operation with the head.


Acceptance is not easy. It implies my being able to confront disappointments and sadness. Life is a series of experiences to be assimilated, not a tragedy to be borne. Suffering is one side of life. Joy is the other. I have to deal with the one and value the other. Suffering is to be managed and minimized - I certainly do not have to suffer for suffering's sake. Suffering should motivate me to find solutions - not make me feel helpless and miserable. I am invested with the power of choice - I can choose wisely or foolishly. I responsible for making the appropriate choice - my choice can make or break my life.


In a hopeless situation, acceptance means that I register the fact, cut my losses, and move on to rebuild my life. I need to assess my loss, to realize its full implication, to experience in-depth the feeling of grief, and to finally to let it free to go its way.


If however the situation is redeemable or reversible, I take heart and meet the situation squarely, letting go of blame and dejection. I may wish for miracles, but I keep my eyes wide open to see, and my hands all ready to act.Acceptance does not mean compliance or defeatism. Life is like a computer game that starts from the beginner's level and progresses to higher levels of skill and difficulty. The challenge in life is to move on to the to the more difficult levels once the elementary levels are mastered. But no matter how skilful, there is always a level where I am out of my depth - I have to strike a balance between hitting out pointlessly and surrendering too easily.


Acceptance is what is implied in the serenity prayer. Where I can, do; where I can't, let go. I can use the word "tolerance" in the same way in the broadest sense of the word. Both these words have a upside and downside. I use the word "acceptance" in a positive sense rather than in the negative. The positive reveals a healthy attitude towards a difficult situation. The negative indicates the defeatist attitude of a person who has thrown in the towel and passively bears the brunt of the situation without looking for answers. Tolerance has the additional meaning of live and let live. One can tolerate difference of opinion and idiosyncrasies without having to accept or subscribe to those beliefs.


In the short run, I may need to minimize my pain so that I can get on with my life. This I can do by putting pain on the backburner, while I attend to necessary urgent affairs. I do not have to be a victim, paralyzed by pain. However, over the long term, I need to attend to the pain and heal myself. Acceptance requires that I to take the time to process my sorrow, and to eventually emerge a winner. It requires courage to deal with unpleasant issues in my life. But in the long run, I can make my life happy and fulfilling.

Karmanyeva Adhikaaraste Maa Phaleshu Kadaachana

Dear A....,


Regarding the Gita verse that you have explained:


KARMANYEVA ADHIKAARASTE MAA PHALESHU KADAACHANA
MAA KARMA PHALA HETUR BHUR MAA TE SANGOSTVAKARMANI
Bhagavad Gita - 2 - 47




1. KARMANYEVA ADHIKAARASTE
You can control (i.e. freely choose) action.


You are right about the confusion about the words adhikaara. General understanding is that you have a 'right or 'duty' to act but no 'right' over results. Adhikaara as choice or control makes for better meaning.


2. MAA PHALESHU KADAACHANA
Never over the results.


We can contol actions but not results. The results accrue because of universal laws of cause and effect. I can push a button to switch on the light, but if there is power shut down, mere pushing buttons cannot give me light. I have to find some other way.

Ethics and Conflict : Serenity Group Interactive Articles

Ananthakrishnan:


Taitriya Upanisad in Sishya Valli gives following options:


1. Sastram & a Person who follows Sastram:


If there is a Contradiction between above two, then follow Sastram and omit person who is not following Sastram in that praticular Context.Eg. Durvasa Muni/ Viswamitra etc.,


2. Since Scriptures are made before 1000 of 1000 years, it can not predict all sitautions which we come across in day to day life.In that case, follow a Dharmic person though he alters Sastram to suit the situation.Eg. Lord Krishna in Maha Bharata violated Dharma in many occassions.


With above examples we understand that, nothing is absolute in the world including Dharma and there are lot of Grey areas and a clear line is not visible to follow what in a given situation.Can you elaborate on this?


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Uday :


You are very correct in your conclusions.
Nothing is absolute other than Brahman.


As for Dharma, it follows the cycle of changes according to the Yugas. Even though there are universal dharmas like truth and non-violence, the same are related to the situation and social structures. Hence what is proper for one culture may not be acceptable in another culture.


Shastra gives the thumb rule for dharmas. The wise ones interpret these rules and apply them to the present situation. There can be differences of opinion regarding the interpretations, but as long as there is no hidden motive or agenda, most interpretations may be taken as accceptable. The decision has to be made so as to be compatible with both shastra and conscience. The difficulty comes when the two are in conflict and both have equal weightage. At such times, it is time to consult someone more informed and experienced with such matters. In the event of no such help being available, we surrender to Ishwara and make the decision. Such decisions are may turn out right or wrong, but then we are ready to accept the consequences as learning experiences.

Reminiscences of a father and vedantin - A principled man and fighter to the core

I grew up knowing my father as a strong person who could provide me support and quite acceptance. However, whether due to his or my own communication blocks, we could never really come to intimate terms. A quite mutual respect and admiration for each other was the closest thing I had in common with him.


Dad was inspired to study Gita early on when I had presented him Chinmaya's Gita as a birthday gift. Till then his interest was only in dramatics and he and my mother participated in the Kannada theater in Bombay. He joined our youth group for weekly forays to Powai Ashram and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan for Swami Dayananda's lectures. We 10+ youngsters packed into his Ambassador and had a great time. He joined me in Rishikesh for 3 months during his vairagya period and had to be coaxed back to bombay by my mother and the rest of us. His streak of reclusiveness kept reoccuring but his attachment for family always brought him back.

Conditioning - Baggage from the Past : Childhood Decisions

Conditioning




Natural fears are inborn, not learned. As babies, we instinctively tense up at the loud noise of crackers bursting. We respond to our caretaker’s absence with fear of abandonment. We respond to our parent’s angry voice with ‘fight or flight’ response. Fear is a natural and healthy response to threats to our life and limb. Fear is wired into our DNAs.


However, most of our fears are learned fears. Fear of darkness, fear of falling, fear of getting burnt, fear of insects, fear of crowds – we are not born with these. These fears are picked up over time – we learnt to fear them by experiencing the consequences  like being lost, injuring a leg, burning a finger, getting stung, or getting hurt in a fight.


Conditioned fear is learned and inculcated. As children we learnt to fear the cane – for cane was associated with canings that came as punishment for our wrong doing. We learned the fear of exams – for exams were associated with failure and unpleasant consequences. We learn to fear policemen and bosses for the same reason – by associating them with authoritarian parental figures. They remind us of the threatening father or mother whom we were afraid of as children.


Conditioning also occurs by observing others’ behaviours. Many of my fears have come about by observing and copying my parents’ behaviours. My social anxiety, fear of crowds, fear of darkness, were reinforced by watching my mother respond to such situations. Conditioned behaviour becomes extremely powerful because it is continuously reinforced by experience and example. We grow up with our fears until they becomes second nature to us - we become one with our fears.

Free from Attachments

I came across this line in an article about attachments. I thought it made a lot of sense - "It's not just objects, but desires too - an attachment to always being right, to "knowing" what is going to happen next. They're a waste of energy".

Swami Dayananda's talk

We had the wonderful opportunity of listening to Swami Dayananda and seeking his blessings, when he visited the Hindu Temple in Minneapolis, USA, last week. The talks are posted as a collection of video files on you tube. I share the link here for the readers to enjoy, share and discuss. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fX6Gdgyl0s

Lead us from Darkness towards Light

An interesting Exchange


Q.
I do not want to say OM because I really don’t believe in Indian gods. I don’t think they are real.
They seem like silly fairytale characters. I believe that Jesus is real and not the Indian gods. Jesus is God. The only God. I feel like he can help me more in life.


R.  
I think you are a person who knows her mind and will do only what she is convinced about. You do not have to chant Om if you are not convinced. You do not have to worship Hindu gods if you do not have to. I respect your decision. I just wanted you to think about a couple of things if you can:


Do not reject and throw away what you have without examining its worth.


Do not believe something is worthless just because someone tells you it is worthless.


If you wish to question me about Om and Hindu gods, I will be happy to respond. Would you like that?

The eternal value of Trust - Subha Giri

This week, my little daughter is lucky enough to have both sets of Grandparents to play with. Watching her with them brought back wonderful memories of my childhood with my Grandparents and what they call here “extended family”, which to me is really just “family”. 

Complete with Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, I remember more than enough eyes that watched over me and more than enough hands that met my needs. In today’s world filled with anxiety and fear fanned by media and our own mind, I’m amazed at how something as simple as “family” truly helps to build this “web of trust” around this little child.

Trust. To me it is the deepest sense of comfort and well being that emerges from feeling that “everything will be okay in the end”; “ The Universe has a plan”. 

I like the word “trust” over the word “faith”. “Faith”, today is used more as a noun-form with varying interpretations. Also, more importantly, there is a sense of certainty about the word “trust” that the word “faith” somehow does not convey. 

It is this trust, which when shaken, drives anxiety and fear. It is human to have emotions that haunt us from the past and threaten us for the future. But trusting that healing would come through for the past, and the future would happen, as it is set, is very calming and liberating to me.

For my daughter, it is this trust that gets reinforced every time she is comforted when she is hungry or unwell, by all these “extra” loving hands, over and above her mother and father’s love. This “extended” family of inner circle that she learns to trust. It is this “family” that perfectly blends the biological and the social webs of trust for her. 

Slowly evolving from the trust in the family is the value to trust the immediate environment, the next tier of friends and neighbors and then the ultimate trust – the trust on this entire Universe - or “Eshwara”, as Swami Dayandanda would so eloquently describe it.

It is this gift that I got from my family, that I pray for my little girl to have, for her to enjoy sharing in her life. May be this is the reason that most legacy, material or otherwise, goes by the word "trust"?!!

Subha Giri

Personal Pages

Susheela Acharya         Vasudeva Acharya           My student years     

Subha Giri

more pages

Uday Acharya : Vedanta and Arsha Vidya Links

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http://vedantasatsangh.blogspot.com
My site for Vedanta and Spirituality


http://sites.google.com/site/vidyavaridhivedanta
Vidya Vaaridhi Trust


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http://www.cob.sjsu.edu/venkat_s/vedanta/
Link to my earlier articles


http://udayacharya.blogspot.com/
My personal blog


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My Teacher Swami Dayanandaji's sites


http://www.arshavidya.org/teachers_SWAMIJI.html
Swami Dayananda


http://www.arshavidya.org
Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Saylorsburg, PA


http://www.arshavidya.in/index.html
Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Anaikatti, Coimbatore


http://www.dayananda.org/
Dayananda Ashram, Rishikesh


http://www.arshavidya.org.uk/dayananda.html
Arsha Vidya UK


http://www.avgsatsang.org/
Arsha Vidya Satsang


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Swami Brahmavidananda's sites


http://arshavidya.foundation.googlepages.com/aboutus

List of my sites and blogs

http://sites.google.com/site/vedantaserenity/
My Site for Vedanta and Spirituality


http://sites.google.com/site/vidyavaridhivedanta
Vidya Vaaridhi Trust


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http://www.cob.sjsu.edu/venkat_s/vedanta/
Link to my earlier articles


http://udayacharya.blogspot.com/
My personal blog
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http://mindflextraining.com/
Mindflex - The Learning Organization
Training with a Heart


http://mindflex.blog.co.in/
Mindflex blog - Uday Acharya
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http://urbanleavesinindia.blogspot.com/
A Vidya Vaaridhi Trust initiative for City Farming


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http://www.facebook.com/udaykumaracharya
My Facebook URL


contact me at:
uday_acharya@hotmail.com
My hotmail id
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Uday Acharya
A-101 Mani Bhavan,
11th Road, near Post Office
Chembur,
Mumbai 400071
Phones: 09833663108, 02225286788


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My training website has just been launched. You can visit us on the following url:


www.mindflextraining.com


email: info@mindflextraining.com


welcome to mindflex, the learning organization.


with best regards,
Uday

June 2008

my first blog in over a year.

I have doing regular weekend softskills programs for ITM business school with centres at Churchgate, Sion, Malad, Vashi, etc. Also occasional programs for Reliance Energy, Mainstream Training Centre, The Dawn Club, Lions International, etc.

My Vedanta weekly classes are held at Mazagon, Chembur, Vashi, and Kharghar.
I have done a bit of writing for Life Positive, DNA, and Asian Age. I was interviewed by Ranjit Hoskote of Times of India and the article appeared in Sunday Times of India of 8th August 1999.

At present I am on the verge of starting a softskills training organization providing facilitators and trainers for corporates all over India.

Am also planning to do some podcasting of my classes in Vedanta. I have recently acquired an Acer laptop with webcamera and hope to do some recordings if I could get some technical help.

Thats for now. See you soon.

Self-Introduction

Hi All!

I am a teacher of Vedanta and conduct HRD training
programs for students, for corporates, and for the community.

I enjoy music - I have a ear for it, and sing, but without any
special training. I enjoy trekking - have been to the himalayas
often since my teacher has his ashram there.

I stayed in Swami Dayananda Ashram at Rishikesh for over seven years
from 1979 after completing my Vedanta course at Sandeepany
Sadhanalaya in Mumbai (1977,78).

I have been teaching for over 20 years now for groups of vedanta
students in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai through weekly classes and
spiritual retreats.

My interests extend to reading and I have a good collection of books
on varied topics, mostly to do with and personal growth and living
skills.

My back ground of Vedanta, exposure to my teacher on topics
like 'Value of Values' and 'Emotional Maturity', discussions with
colleagues and friends on contemporary issues, and answering
questions on Vedanta and spirituality on the net, and my reading
habits - all these have given me material for my HRD training
workshops.

I have workshops for MBA students at ITM (Institute of Technology
and Management) on self esteem, stress management, decision making,
goal setting, intelligence quotient, emotional quotient, and
spiritual intelligence. Corporate workshops include time management,
stress management, change management, team building, communication
skills, values and ethics, and the like.

I would like to compile the material that I have on various topics,
update them, and make it available in a simple easy to digest
format. I will be discussing some of these topics with you so that
we can develop the ideas in an organic way.


with kind regards,
Uday Acharya

Ph: 9833663108
email: udayacharya56@gmail.com