Daily Reads-2: November 19, 2009

Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - Volume VII

Though this book is in my Daily Reads collection, I find I am not actually read it daily - so many distractions, disturbances and demands on my time. What to do! However, today I could read it. I generally read only a page or two and savour what I have read.

From today's reading, the following passage impressed me most and hence I am excerpting it here.

"The greatest sin is to think yourself weak. No one is greater: realise you are Brahman. ... Stand up and say, I am the master, the master of all. We forge the chain, and we alone can break it."

Daily Reads-1: October 24, 2009

1. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Mahendranath Gupta -
(A beautiful translation from Bengali by Swami Nikhilananda - Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai)

My Bible. Though read several times, reading again daily at the rate of one or two pages a day. Hence it occupies a special place on my table. It is a present from my dear friend, Dr.R.Janakiraman. He has very kindly inscribed the book for me. It reads: "To Suri, with Love, Signed R.Janakiraman, 07.07.1990.

Nearly for seven or eight years, it was just gathering dust in my bookshelf. A time came when I was going through a very miserable period in my life, somehow I sought out the book and started reading. It acted like a balm and changed the course of my life completely.

Read today pages 325-326. They contain some useful guidance for householders from Sri Guru Maharaj himself:

"Master: It is extremely difficult to practise spiritual discipline and at the same time lead a householder's life. There are many handicaps: disease, grief, poverty, misunderstanding with one's wife, and disobedient, stupid, and stubborn children. I don't have to give you a list of them.

But still there is a way out. One should pray to God, going now and then into solitude, and make efforts to realize Him."

Neighbour: "Must one leave home then?"

Master: "No, not altogether. Whenever you have leisure, go into solitude for a day or two. At that time don't have any relations with the outside world and don't hold any conversation with worldly people on worldly affairs. You must live either in solitude or in the company of holy men."

Probably based on the views of the Master only, nowadays 'Andar Yogam' programs are conducted in the various branches of the Math. I did attend 'Andar Yogam' consecutively for three years at the Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tirupparaithurai, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu. These 3-day Andar Yogams were conducted just after Sri Ramakrishna Jayanthi. They were unforgettable experiences and will remain ever green in my memory. They made my journey on the spiritual path a little easier.

Actually 'Andar Yogams' are conducted on a regular basis at Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tirupparaithurai. In case you are interested, you can write to them or get a copy of 'Dharma Chakram', the Tamil monthly, published by them.

Diwali Greetings!

HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL OF YOU!

With Love

Suri

"Books I have Loved" by OSHO

OSHO: "To me a book is not just a book, it is a love affair... I have loved reading from my very childhood. My own personal library consisted of one hundred fifty thousand rare books of all the religions..."

Grateful thanks to OSHO International and YouTube.

'Life after Death' by Deepak Chopra

Grateful thanks to Dr Deepak Chopra and YouTube.

Jesus: Story of Enlightenment by Dr Deepak Chopra

'New Realities' with Alan Steinfeld interviews Deepak Chopra about his most recent book - JESUS: A Story of Enlightenment.

Dr Deepak Chopra never ceases to amaze me by his breadth of vision, depth of knowledge , benevolent heart and universal thinking. This video interview reinforces my belief that he is one of the greatest thinkers, writers and speakers of the present-day. In this interview, he tells he is planning to write more books in this 'Story of Enlightenment' series, which is a joyous news.

Grateful thanks to Dr Deepak Chopra, Alan Steinfeld, 'New Realities' and YouTube.

The Third Jesus by Dr Deepak Chopra

Websites to Watch-1: The Pulitzer Prizes Website

Booklovers eagerly look forward to know the Pulitzer Prize Winner every year. To be included in the short list for the Prize itself is considered to be an honour that is, next to the Nobel Prize. It is the Fiction Category that catches the eye of every booklover. But what many generally don't know is Pulitzer Prize is awarded to 14 categories of newspaper journalism, besides other categories like Musical composition, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Drama etc. The Pulitzer Prizes were instituted to honour excellence in Journalism and Arts since 1917. The awards are presented by the Columbia University, USA distinguished work by an American author, preferably dealing with American life.

To get to know some great books by contemporary writers, a visit to this site is very helpful. There is a lot more to learn.

http://www.pulitzer.org/

For example, for the year 2009, the Pulitzer for Fiction has been awarded to Elizabeth Strout (Random House), for her book “Olive Kitteridge”. As it is mentioned in the site, this book is "a collection of 13 short stories set in small-town Maine that packs a cumulative emotional wallop, bound together by polished prose and by Olive, the title character, blunt, flawed and fascinating".

Some other famous winners of the Pulitzer for Fiction are: James A.Michener, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer, John Updike, John Cheever,Toni Morrison and Jhumpa Lahiri.

Also read "Pulitzer Prize" and "Pulitzer Prize for Fiction" in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Fiction

Grateful thanks to The Pulitzer Prize Website and Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.

My Scrapbook-1: "I become a member of World Public Library"

Today is a happy and memorable day for me. I became a member of World Public Library and have started downloading books which I love. Without any planning or thought, it just happened today. Of course, I knew long back that one could become a member of World Public Library and thus get the benefit of accessing 5,00,000 books. All one has to do is pay $ 8.95. But somehow it seemed to be out of my grasp.

Today, thanks to my friends Dr.V.Sundaram, who provided his credit card and Dr.S.Malaikkani, who advanced the money, within minutes I became a member. It was so easy. For one full year, I will have the right to download whatever books I love/like from their collection.

On perusing the catalogs and collections of WPL, I found Project Madurai, which is a treasure trove of classic Tamil literature, Bhakti literature and some modern short stories and novels too. Most of the afternoon was spent in downloading selected books of my choice. I realize now compared to the wonderful opportunity to download and read some great books, the payment involved is almost nothing.

Further, there is another added attraction. Members get free access to more 20 lakh books of World eBook Fair Collection from July 4 to August 4, 2009.

So I am very happy today. I intend to spend a few hours daily at their site downloading the books of my choice. If you are a booklover like me, why don't you also become a member of WPL?

Hope I will have matter to post in this blog more frequently now. I look forward to it.

Reminiscences-1: "Love of Books"

Lives of the great always fascinate me. I have a good collection of biographies, autobiographies and memoirs. Notwithstanding, I would borrow books from various libraries on the subject to read. At one time, I was a member of Madurai Kamaraj University Library and had three cards to borrow books. As if that is not enough, I enrolled a friend of mine as a member of that library and thus increased the number of cards available for borrowing books to six. Those days the university library used to 8 am to 8 pm all the 365 days of the year. I would go there on a holiday with an empty suitcase. Select 6 bulky volumes covering the above three categories and return home carrying them in my suitcase. In retrospect, I am surprised at my own zest for reading and quest for knowledge. For it meant, taking 6 buses: Home to Karaikudi Bus-stand by town bus; Karaikudi to Madurai by moffusil bus; Madurai Bus-stand to University Library by city bus and then the same in reverse order.

All that zest and quest have been diminishing with the passing of years. My dreams ("impossible and impracticable dreams", my wife would call them) have also started fading after bumping into reality regularly and repeatedly. However, I am glad to inform you that my dreams have not been totally destroyed. Still there is some ray of hope in far corner of my heart.

Nowadays I am more inclined towards spirituality, biography slowly receding into the background. (My son says that is because at last I have accepted the fact that I would be me, notwithstanding reading any number of lives of the great). So be it.

My collection of books amounting to about 3000 has been posing space and health problems. My wife reasons with me: "How many years more are you going to live? Do you really believe you will ever be able to read all the books in your lifetime? As the books collect dust and cause allergic disorders, why not be reasonable and keep only the most cherished books, getting rid of the others?" I had to yield and have started the painful process of decluttering. So far I have got rid of about 1000 books. Then I realized I nearly had a mountain of newspaper and magazine clipping, besides xerox copies of some of my choicest collection. They are even more difficult to sort out and dispose of.

I shall keep you informed how fare in this difficult task. Thank you.