{"id":749,"date":"2019-05-08T04:10:06","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T04:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/?page_id=749"},"modified":"2019-05-10T23:02:19","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T23:02:19","slug":"watch-may-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/watch-may-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: May 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"InThisEdition\">In this edition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"#InUpComingEvents\">Upcoming events<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#GeethaVahini\">Geetha Vahini<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Himself\">Easwaramma Day<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Rama\">Self-condemnation is egoism<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#DevotionalActivities\">Devotional activities in Chicago and suburbs<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"InUpcomingEvents\">Upcoming Events<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li> <strong>Sunday May 05, 2019 Easwaramma Day Celebrations<\/strong><ul><li>Devotional program starts at 10:00 AM followed by SSE presentation<\/li><li>Time: 09:30 AM &#8211; 12:00 PM<\/li><li>Venue: River Forest Community Center<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Sunday May 12, 2019 Mother&#8217;s Day Celebration<\/strong><ul><li>Regular Center activities followed by lunch (prepared by men)<\/li><li>Time: 09:30 AM \u2013 01:00 PM<\/li><li>Venue: River Forest Community Center<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Saturday May 18, 2019 Workshop: Inside Out &#8211; The path to authentic Freedom<\/strong><ul><li>Chicagoland all center program with Dr. Sanjay Mahalingam and Dr. Supriya Rao<\/li><li>Time: 02:00 PM \u2013 05:00 PM<\/li><li>Venue: Alcott Center, 530 Bernard Dr., Buffalo Grove, IL<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Sunday May 19, 2019 SSE Graduation and Guest Speaker<\/strong><ul><li>SSE Graduation and guest speaker Dr. Sanjay Mahalingam<\/li><li>Time: 09:30 AM &#8211; 02:00 PM<\/li><li>Venue: River Forest Community Center<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"GeethaVahini\">Geetha Vahini<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The faculty of the mind is as a strong current of electricity.\nIt has to be watched from a distance and not contacted or touched. Touch it,\nyou are reduced to ashes. So too, contact and attachment give the chance for\nthe mind to ruin you. The farther you are from it, the better. By skillful methods,\nyou have to make the best use of it, for your own welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>The bliss which the Sthithaprajna is immersed in does not arise from external objects, he has no need of them either. &nbsp;Ananda is in everyone, as part of his very nature. Those with pure consciousness find the highest bliss in the realization of their own reality, the Atma. That joy is Swasampaadyam (self-earned, so to say). It is known only to the individual, it is self-evident. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Arjuna had not known this,\nKrishna had to clarify it in simple terms in the 56th, 57th and 58th slokas.\nJoy or grief can be met with in three forms: <em>Aadhyaathmika <\/em>(sufferings\ndue to mind, psyche), <em>Aadibhouthika <\/em>(sufferings due to elements) and <em>Aadidaivika\n<\/em>(suffering due to demigods). It is well known that sins bring grief as a\nretribution and meritorious deeds bring joy as reward. So advice is given to\navoid sins and perform meritorious deeds. But the Sthithaprajna (a\nsteady-wisdom individual) knows neither the pain of grief nor the thrill of\njoy. He is not repulsed by one or attracted by the other. He will not retreat\nbefore pain or run forward towards pleasure. Only those who are ignorant of the\nAtma will exult or droop, when stricken with joy or grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Sthithaprajna will be ever engaged in <em>Manana<\/em>, or contemplation and rumination. He is called <em>Muni <\/em>(One who has controlled the mind and is established in silence). His intellect is steady, be-cause the senses do not harry it. One point has to be understood here. Conquest of the senses is essential for sadhana (spiritual practice); but that is not all. So long as the objective world continues to attract the mind, one cannot claim complete success. That is why Krishna says, \u201cArjuna! Establish mastery over the senses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then you need have no fear, for they become serpents\nwith the fangs removed.\u201d But there is still danger from thoughts and impulses\nwhich draw you outwards. Desire has no limit, it can never be satiated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So along with the mastery of the senses, one must establish\nmastery of the mind also. That is the sign of a Sthithaprajna (a steady-wisdom\nindividual), and not a <em>Gathaprajna <\/em>(a no-wisdom individual). Where does\nthe Gathaprajna go? To perdition and nowhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The upward path, the higher stage\u2014that is for the Sthithaprajna.\nOf these two masteries, if the mind is subdued, that alone is enough. It is not\nnecessary then to conquer the external senses. If the mind has no attachment\nwith objects, the senses have nothing to cling on to. They perish by inanition.\nLove and hate are both starved out of existence. The bonds of the objective\nworld are cut, though the senses may yet be affected by it. For him who has\nbeen blessed by an awareness of the Atma, how can anything worldly bring grief\nor joy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the stars fade into invisibility when the sun rises,\nso too, when the Sun of Knowledge or Jnana rises, grief, agitation and\nignorance vanish.\n\nMan has three chief instruments: the mind, the\nintellect, and the senses. It is when these three work in unison and co-operate\nwith one another that either \u2018immersal in the flux\u2019 or \u2018liberation in the\nknowledge of the Atma,\u2019 is realized. Krishna anticipated that Arjuna will be\npuzzled to know what will happen \u201cwhen which operates with which.\u201d So He himself\nprovided the answer. \u201cArjuna,\u201d He said, \u201cwhen the mind co-operates with the\nsenses, you enter into the flux called <em>samsara <\/em>(change). When it\nsubordinates itself to the intellect, you attain the knowledge of the Atma. One\npath leads to <em>Samsara-praapthi <\/em>(worldly fulfillment); the other, to <em>Atma-praapthi\n<\/em>(fulfillment of the soul). The intellect must resolve, the mind must carry\nout the resolution so made. That is the correct procedure.\u201d\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><strong>-Excerpts from Geetha Vahini<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Himself\">Easwaramma Day<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>An <em>Avatar<\/em> is an Incarnation of God. In a broad sense, everything in the Universe is a manifestation of God. Yet, the term<em> Avatar<\/em> is reserved for those Incarnations wherein the Lord deliberately assumes a specific form for a specific purpose. Swami says,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mother is man&#8217;s first preceptor (guru). She gives him the\nphysical body. Besides, she gives the father to man. She alone can point the\nfather to the child and draw his love and care toward it. The mother bears,\nfosters, and molds the child into humanness, so gratitude is due to her first\nand foremost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My life is My Message. So I am setting an example of\nreverence to the Mother. Nature is the mother in whose lap mankind grows. And\nnature fondles the child and says, &#8220;Child (babu), that is your father, see.&#8221; Though Mother Nature draws attention\nto God, but the children seldom pay heed. How can they, who do not love the\nmother that fosters them with affection and zeal, adore the Master of Nature?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This day is Easwaramma Day. The significance of the day\nis that it is celebrated as Children&#8217;s Day, a day when little children are to\nbe reminded of the ideal, a day when she presented an ideal. No one can escape\ndeath, but the aim of everyone should be to remind oneself of the Divine at the\ntime of death or have some holy or sacred thoughts. The importance of this day\nis known to many. Kasturi just spoke about it. There is a saying in Telugu,\n&#8220;The proof of the Good is the way they die.&#8221; Genuine devotion is\nevidenced during the last moments. I shall point out a small incident\nconcerning the goodness of Easwaramma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The summer classes were on at Bangalore. In the morning\nat 7, breakfast had to be served to the\nstudents. They went round singing spiritual songs in the streets (nagara\nsankeerthan) and returned at 6. I gave them darshan (sight of a holy person) at\nits close. Then, I went for my bath. Meanwhile,\nEaswaramma had finished her bath; she drank her coffee as usual, quite happily,\nand took her seat on the inner verandah. All of a sudden, proceeding to the\nbathroom, she cried out, &#8220;Swami, Swami, Swami,&#8221; thrice. I responded,\n&#8220;Coming, coming.&#8221; Within that period, she breathed her last. What\ngreater sign of goodness is needed? She had no need to be served and nursed.\nSwami will come to the memory at that time only for a very few. The mind will\nusually seek and stay on some object or the other, some jewellery or valuables.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the ground floor, she called, &#8220;Swami!\nSwami!&#8221;. I replied, &#8220;Coming, coming,&#8221; and she was gone. It was\nlike the elephant&#8217;s calling and the Lord proceeding to bless it &#8212; the two\nwires achieving connection, the release happening instantaneously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the authentic consummation for which life must\nstrive. Beside her at the time was her daughter Venkamma and her granddaughter\nShailaja, but she called out only for Swami. Getting this yearning at the final\nmoment is the fruit of holy purity. It is the sign of an ideal adorable life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Love for mother has to be fostered by everyone. Barely\none in a million realizes that he owes food, blood, and life itself to the\nmother. Wherever she may be, a mother is verily divine.\nIt is said, &#8220;Regard the mother as God, the father as God, the preceptor as\nGod and the guest as God (Matru Devo Bhava; Pitru Devo Bhava; Acharya Devo\nBhava; Athithi Devo Bhava).&#8221; The mother stands foremost among these four.\nShe is indeed the first teacher for everyone. Only the mother strives most for\nsecuring the wellbeing of the child by showering on him boundless affection and\nlove and showing him the father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone should treasure in their heart love for their\nmother, who has borne them, reared them with love, and fostered them with care.\nThe person who forfeits their mother&#8217;s love will not earn anyone&#8217;s love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone should strive to make his mother happy. He should seek from the mother nothing but her love and blessings. Mothers should strive to keep their children on the straight path. Only such mothers and children are worthy of the name. When mothers and children act properly, the nation will develop along the right lines. Righteousness will spread from the family to the whole world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\">&#8211;<strong>Baba&#8217;s Divine Discourses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Rama\">Self-condemnation is Egoism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Once, Krishna pretended to be\nsuffering from headache, intense, unbearable headache! He acted that role quite\nrealistically. He wound warm clothes around His Head and rolled restlessly in\nbed. His eyes were red and He was in distress. Rukmini, Satyabhama and the\nother queens rushed about with all kinds of remedies but they were ineffective.\nAt last, they consulted Narada and he went into the sick room to consult\nKrishna Himself and find out which drug would cure Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Krishna directed him to bring\n&#8211; What do you think the drug was? &#8211; The dust of the feet of a true bhakta!\nNarada manifested himself in the presence of some celebrated bhaktas of the\nLord; but, they were too humble to offer the dust of their feet to be used by\ntheir Lord as a drug!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is also a kind of egoism:\n&#8220;I am low, mean, small, useless, poor, sinful, and inferior&#8221; &#8211; such\nfeelings also are egoistic; when the ego goes, you do not feel either superior\nor inferior. No one would give the dust wanted by the Lord; they were too\nworthless, they declared. Narada came back disappointed to the sickbed. Then,\nKrishna asked him, &#8220;Did you try Vrindavana where the gopis live?&#8221; The\nqueens laughed at the suggestion. Still, the sage had to hurry. When the gopis\nheard He was ill and that the dust of their feet might cure Him, without a\nsecond thought they shook the dust of their feet and filled his hand with the\nsame. By the time Narada reached Dvaraka, the headache had gone. It was just a five-day\ndrama, to teach that self-condemnation is also egoism and that the Lord&#8217;s\ncommand must be obeyed by all bhaktas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"DevotionalActivities\">Devotional Activities in Chicago and Suburbs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Every Monday<\/strong><ul><li>Bhajans in Aurora Shirdi Mandir from 07:00 PM &#8211; 08:00 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Every Wednesday<\/strong><ul><li>Bhajans in Hoffman Estates from 07:30 PM &#8211; 08:30 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Every Friday<\/strong><ul><li>Bhajans in Oak Brook from 08:00 PM &#8211; 09:00 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>First Saturday of the month<\/strong><ul><li>Bhajans in Glenview from 04:30 PM &#8211; 05:30 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Saturday May 18, 2019<\/strong><ul><li>Paduka Puja in Bolingbrook from 10:30 AM &#8211; 12:30 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Thursday May 23, 2019<\/strong><ul><li>Bhajans in Bolingbrook from 07:30PM &#8211; 08:30 PM<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em><a href=\"#InThisEdition\">Back to the top<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this edition Upcoming events Geetha Vahini Easwaramma Day Self-condemnation is egoism Devotional activities in Chicago and suburbs Upcoming Events Sunday May 05, 2019 Easwaramma Day Celebrations Devotional program starts at 10:00 AM followed by SSE presentation Time: 09:30 AM &#8211; 12:00 PM Venue: River Forest Community Center Sunday May 12, 2019 Mother&#8217;s Day Celebration &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/watch-may-2019\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Watch: May 2019&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-749","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":765,"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/749\/revisions\/765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centers.saimedia.org\/chicagometro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}