This is a famous सुभाषितम् (Wise-saying) in Sanskrit:

अयं निजः परो वेति गणना लघुचेतसाम् |
उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् ||

ఇతడు నా వాడు, ఇతడు పరుడు అనే ఆలోచన చిన్న బుద్ధి కలవాళ్ళకు ఉంటుంది. ఉదారమైన మనస్సు గలవారికి ప్రపంచమే తమ కుటుంబం అవుతుంది.

He is my person. He is not mine. Thus thinks the small-minded. For large-hearted, whole world is their family. 

God Exists -- Proved by great ancient Logician Udayanacharya in his book "Nyaya Kusumanjali".

 

Courtesy the anugraha bhashanam of Sri Bharathi Tirtha Mahaswamiji given at Tirumala, I came to know that there is a book titled "Nyaya Kusumanjali" authored by Udayanacharya. Mahaswamiji said that Udayanacharya is a great logician and he proved to the world that God exists with the help of logic.

 

Telugu copy of Nyaya Kusumanjali by Udayanacharya can be downloaded from here. http://archive.org/details/nyayakusumanjali021914mbp It is from the good old Vavilla Press. As I said earlier, it is a comprehensive treatise on the existence of God using the Indian Logic called Tarka/Nyaya. Author of this book is Brahmasri Peri Lakshmi Narayana Sastri Garu. Pages 557.

For non-Telugu folks, there is a Sanskrit version available at http://archive.org/details/NyayakusumanjaliAcno26875

Book Review of "Viveka Chudamani" and "Aparokshanubhuti"

Book Review of Vivekachudamani and Aparokshanubhuti: A tribute to Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya on his birthday today

In my last post in "realizations" blog, i have made a claim that Jagadguru Adi Shankarcharya is an ultimate scientist who walked the planet and the Sringeri Sharada Peetham as #1 learning institute on the planet. I have also substantiated my claims to the best of my abilities. I tried to be crisp in my substantiation. However, that doesn't seem to suffice as per some of my esteemed friends. I very much respect their objection. There are infinite ways to establish a truth. Hence, i was brief. However, i would check with my friends and find out what is their criteria for sufficiency of proof. I gave them what I thought is necessary. BTW, sufficiency of proof would also depend on the IQ of the reader. The more the IQ, the lesser the proof required and vice versa.

Based on the comments that i received from my esteemed friends, there seems to be a necessity to provide the book review of "Vivekachudamani" and "Aparokshanubhuti".

Therefore even though not planned, i intend to provide below the book review of "Vivekachudamani" and "Aparokshanubhuti" for the benefit of my friends.

Vivekachudamani

• This book is all about the highest/ultimate Truth. It is the science of sciences.
• The bottomline of the book is Viveka -- ability to discriminate between Truth and Non-Truth. It is all cutter logic.
•  I deliberately don't want to say what is the ultimate truth taught by the book. I will leave it for the reader's discretion because every reader of this book may have his own experience of the truth. If i say something, that might color the perception of the reader and also possibly belittle the truth if i don't get it fully right. I don't want to take chances here.
• Before we embark reading the book, we need to earn our qualifications/eligibility by practising Sadhana Chatusthaya (Slokas 17-28).  We can give ourselves a time of 3-month or 6-month or an year to practise Sadhana Chatusthaya. If we are not successful on the sadhana chatusthaya, we should go to Bhagavad Gita.
• Vivekachudamani is the short-cut to the ultimate truth. It is somewhat risky unless the reader is selfless and got pure by Sadhana Chatustaya and also has strong logic skills. Really Safe but long-cut is Bhagavad Gita where Krishna explained the ultimate truth in 18 different ways. Based on the individual temperament one can go for former or latter.

Aparokshanubhuti

• While Vivekachudamani talks about the highest truth, it doesn't give too many practical methods to realize the truth. It covers some though.
• Hence, the great Shankaracharya, authored a book which is dedicated to practical steps to realize the truth. While one can expect more of a theory and less of practicals in Vivekachudamani, one can expect more of practicals and some theory in Aparokshanubhuti.
• If someone says, it is all religion and not science.. This is the book I recommend. It is all practice. It is all science. I call it science of sciences because it covers highest truth and shows the method to realize it.

Both these textbooks are available in English at Ramakrishna Mission and Chinmaya Mission.
Also, there are some Telugu textbooks available too. Chandrasekhar Bharati Mahaswamiji's commentary is also available in Kannada and English.

Sincerely,
Jiddu Naga Subrahmanyam

Book Review of Yoga Vasistha

By God's grace, I was extremely fortunate to read Yoga Vasistha in Telugu written by an author who was born-blind (Sri Vennelakanti Sundara Rama Sarma Garu). I am amazed how a born-blind could write such a splendid Telugu translation of Yoga Vasistha which is originally in Sanskrit.

I want to write a quick book review for those who are interested:

• Yoga Vasistha is one of the top books that I have read. It is a Moksha shastra revealing the nature of the universe and the human mind. 
• Sage Valmiki has written two Ramayanas. First one is the popular story of Rama, Sita, Hanuman and Ravana. Second is the Vasistha Ramayana, quintessence of the 18-day discourse made by Vasistha to Rama.
• Popular Ramayana tells us the external nature of Rama but it doesn't talk much about the internal nature (state of the mind or psychology) of Rama.
• It is the second Ramayana (Yoga Vasistha) that reveals the internal nature of Rama when he was asked to go to forests, when Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, when he has to face the battles with mighty demons like Ravana etc.
• It was Jagadish Chandra Bose who scientifically discovered that plants also have life. However, Vasistha has already revealed in Thretha Yuga itself that plants also have life. Interestingly, he says, metals, rocks etc also have life. Perhaps, someday some scientist will discover that too.
• Although I am not an expert of quantum physics, I do understand that it says there is no objective reality to the world but only a subjective reality. This very finding has been hammered through out Yoga Vasistha. I don't know how Quantum physics can answer the question as to how multiple people can have the same subjective reality of the world when there is no objective reality to it, but Vasistha does clearly explain this  in response to Rama's question.
• I honestly feel, we are reinventing the wheel and rubbishing the Vedas etc as mere humbug and unscientific beliefs.
• It is a great treatise on human psychology leading to Moksha or Jivan Mukta state.
• Unlike most other books on Vedanta which are theoretical in nature, Vasistha explains the concepts with umpteen real-life anecdotes/illustrations for quick assimilation by Rama.
• Caveat: Before we embark on reading this book, we would do well to acquire Sadhana Chatustaya as laid by Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya and master texts like Bhagavad Gita. There is little use in reading advanced vedantic books unless we master basic vedantic works.

If anyone interested to know more, I will be happy to guide.
BTW, Vasistha is one of the three rishis of my gotra. I am really proud that I am a remote little descendant of this great rishi. 

Sincerely,
Subrahmanyam Jiddu (jnsubbu@gmail).

Atmano Mokshartham Jagat Hitaayacha
आत्मनो मोक्षार्थं जगत् हितायच
First one should liberate oneself and then do good to society/world.
                                                      --- Swami Vivekananda.

सत्यमेव जयते

The origin of the Satyameva Jayathe motto is a well-known mantra 3.1.6 from the Mundaka Upanishad. The mantra is as follows:

satyameva jayate nānṛtaṁ
satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ
yenākramantyṛṣayo hyāptakāmā
yatra tat satyasya paramaṁ nidhānam^[3]

सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं
सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः ।
येनाक्रमन्त्यृषयो ह्याप्तकामा
यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परमं निधानम् ॥६॥

In English

Truth alone triumphs; not falsehood.
Through truth the divine path is spread out
by which the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled, reach
where that supreme treasure of Truth resides.

In case you didn't know, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya is the one who adopted this upanishad quote for the Ashoka Chakra.

More details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyameva_Jayate

Satyam Bruyat Priyam Bruyat Na Bruyat Satyamapriyam  |
Priyamcha Na anrutham Bruyat Esha Dharmah Sanatanah ||

सत्यं ब्रूयात् प्रियं ब्रूयात् न ब्रूयात् सत्यमप्रियम् ।
प्रियम्च नानृतं ब्रूयात् ऐश धर्मः सनातनः ॥

Let's speak truth which is sweet. Let's not speak truth which is not sweet.
Let's not speak falsehood which is sweet. This is Sanatana Dharma (eternal dharma).