Tag: surrender

Surdas

Submitted by madan_gautam on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 15:26.
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Fast Facts

Function:

Saint

Traditions:

Bhakti

Main Countries of Activity:

India

Date of Birth:

1478 A.D

Place of Birth:

Uttar Pardesh, India

In His/Her Body ("alive"):

Date Left His/Her Body:

1583 A.D

Other Related Gurus:

Kabir,Tulsi Das, Ravi Das

Biography

Surdas (1478 – 1583) was a blind Hindu devotional poet, singer, and a saint (sant), who followed the Shuddhadvaita school of Brahmavada. He was a desciple of Mahaprabhu Shri Vallabhacharya. He lived during reign of king Akbar (1542-1606).

Surdas spent most of his years in Vrindavan and created the epic literary work Sur Sagar, which originally contained 100,000 poems. Surdas is regarded as the most influential poet of Braj Bhasha and the 'Bhakti movement' after Tulsidas.

Biography

What little knowledge that we have of Surdas's life comes from Ain-e-Akbari and Munshiat-e-Abul-Fazl, both written during Akbar's time.

Surdas was born blind and hence received harsh treatment from his family, and during his early childhood. One day at age 6, when he heard a group of devotional singers, passing by his home he simply followed them, and he left home forever. At age eighteen, Surdas met his future guru, the sant Sri Vallabhacharya on the banks of river Yamuna. Vallabhacharya took him under his tutelage and thus began Surdas's teaching in prevalent Bhakti Shuddha advaita (Non-dualism philosophy), as Vallabhacharya was the founder of the Pushti sect (Pushtimarg) in India.

Soon Surdas memorized the entire Shrimad Bhagvat and started reciting it to throngs of people, and immersed himself into deep devotion to Krishna.Subsequently he went on to write some of greatest works in Hindu philosophy and Bhakti literature, the "Sur Sagar" (Ocean of Melody), Sur Saravali and Sahitya Lahiri.

Surdas never married, and made a living by singing bhajans and giving discourses on religious subjects, and lived all this years in Braj.

Literary Works

While his poetry is loved by all who know it, there are at least two very different explanations of its origins. To some, the poet is believed to have been a disciple of the philosopher Vallabhacharya, and is believed to have composed one hundred thousand verses; the Lord Krishna is said to have completed the composition of another twenty-five thousand in his name. In this version of his life and works, it is believed that his collected poems, known as the "Sursagar" or "Ocean of Sur", were largely lost, leaving some 5000 surviving poems in current editions.

A different view of Sur's career appears in some recent scholarly publications. In this interpretation, the "ocean" of poetry attributed to the name "Surdas" continued to grow after the poet's death, with contributions honoring his name made by many anonymous poets of later centuries. All of these poems appear in countless different variations in manuscripts from different regions and different eras, with the differences resulting from the embellishments and elaborations made by many different singer-poets. Manuscripts are seen in this view as representing singers' repertoires, collected haphazardly by many devotees in different times and places. Some 1500 poems bearing his name appear in manuscripts dating within a century of the poet's death. Scholars find a core of some 400 poems appearing so widely distributed through this corpus that they may convincingly be said to have dated from his lifetime. In this scholarly perspective, the facts of his life, or of the "original" composition of any given verse, are simply unknowable. All we have for certain is a "Sur tradition", reflecting a vibrant and dynamic effort by many oral poets over a period of centuries.

Prolific composition through Inner Vision

Surdas was a very prolific composer. He is known for his "Sur Sagar" (Ocean of Melody). This magnum opus is said to originally contain 100,000 poems or songs; however, today only 8,000 have survived. These songs on the life and adventures of Krishna were dictated by him to an assistant, who had to write faster than the poet could dictate! Endowed with an inner vision, the poet dictates as if he is seeing the exploits of Krishna directly.

Impact

On Bhakti movement

The philosophy of Surdas is a reflection of the times. He was very much immersed in the Bhakti movement that was sweeping North India. This movement represented a grass roots spiritual empowerment of the masses. The corresponding spiritual movement of the masses happened in South India in the first millennium A.D.

On the status of Brij Bhasha

Surdas' poetry was a dialect of Hindi language, Brij Bhasha, which was till now considered to be a very plebeian language, as the prevalent literary languages were either Persian or Sanskrit. The works of Surdas immediately raised the status of Brij Bhasha from a crude language to that of a literary language of great repute.

Philosophy

Shuddhadvaita

Due to the training he received from his spiritual guru, Surdas was a proponent of the Shuddhadvaita school of Vaishnavism (also known as Pushti Marg). This philosophy is based upon the spiritual metaphor of the Radha-Krishna Rasleela (The celestial dance between Radha and Lord Krishna). It propagates the path of Grace of God rather than of merging in Him, which seems an extension of the belief of earlier saints like Kabir Das.

Foremost amongst the Ashta-chaap

Eight Disciples of the Master-Teacher Vallabhacharya are called the Ashta-chaap, meaning, eight reprints (of the Master). Surdas is considered to be the foremost among them.

Sources:

WIKI

Teachings

Compositions

प्रभू मोरे अवगुण चित न धरो ।

समदरसी है नाम तिहारो चाहे तो पार करो ॥

एक लोहा पूजा में राखत एक घर बधिक परो ।

पारस गुण अवगुण नहिं चितवत कंचन करत खरो ॥

एक नदिया एक नाल कहावत मैलो ही नीर भरो ।

जब दौ मिलकर एक बरन भई सुरसरी नाम परो ॥

एक जीव एक ब्रह्म कहावे सूर श्याम झगरो ।

अब की बेर मोंहे पार उतारो नहिं पन जात टरो ॥

prabhU more avaguN chit n dharo |

samadarasI hai naam tihaaro chaahe to paara karo ||

ek lohaa pUjaa meM raakhat ek ghar badhik paro |

paaras guN avaguN nahiM chitavata kaMcan karat kharo ||

ek nadiyaa ek naal kahaavat mailo hI neer bharo |

jab dou milakar ek baran bhaI surasarI naam paro ||

ek jIv ek brahma kahaave sUr shyaam jhagaro |

ab kI ber moMhe paar utaaro nahiM pan jaat Taro ||

Lord, heed not my faults!

You are known as he who sees as all equal,

at will you can take me across the ocean of existence.

One iron is used in worship, another in butcher's steel;

The philosopher's stone counts not merit or fault

but turns both to purest gold.

One is called "river", another a "rivulet" filled with murky water;

when they merge they become of one colour and are known

as "Sursari"(Ganges), river of gods.

The soul and the Supreme are given different names,

but all is one in Sur's Shyam.

This time, take me across, or give up your vow to be saviour!

अखियाँ हरि दर्शन की प्यासी ।

देखो चाहत कमल नयन को, निस दिन रहत उदासी ॥

केसर तिलक मोतिन की माला, वृंदावन के वासी ।

नेहा लगाए त्यागी गये तृण सम, डारि गये गल फाँसी ॥

काहु के मन की कोऊ का जाने, लोगन के मन हाँसी ।

सूरदास प्रभु तुम्हरे दरस बिन लेहों करवत कासी ॥

akhiyaa~M hari darshan kI pyaasI |

dekho chaahat kamala nayan ko, nis din rahat udaasI ||

kesar tilak motin kI maalaa, vrindaavan ke vaasI |

nehaa lagaae tyaagI gaye tRuN sam, Daari gaye gal phaa~MsI ||

kaahu ke man kI koU kaa jaane, logan ke man haa~MsI |

sUradaas prabhu tumhare daras bin lehoM karavat kaashI ||

Our eyes thirst for a vision of Hari;

They long to see the lotus-eyed one,

grieving for him day and night.

Wearing a saffron tilak and pearl garland

and dwelling in Vrindavan,

he gave us his love, then cast us aside like a blade of grass,

throwing a noose around our necks.

No one knows what is in another's mind,

there is laughter in people's hearts;

But Lord of Surdas, without a vision of you

we would give up our very lives.

[edit] Surdas in Guru Granth Sahib

Surdas is considered as a Bhagat in Sikhism and his works, 'Surdas bani' are inserted in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs. One of his composition are as follows:

ਛਾਡਿ ਮਨ ਹਰਿ ਬਿਮੁਖਨ ਕੋ ਸੰਗੁ ॥
shhaadd man har bimukhan ko sa(n)g ||
O mind, do not even associate with those who have turned their backs on the Lord.

Everything in Guru Granth Sahib has been compiled together to bring an understanding and a dialogue with the Eternal so that we may understand the 'True' essence of Ek Onkar (The One all existing forever continually creating Lord.). Bhagat Surdas Ji is an example of this very principle

Guru Arjan Dev - The fifth Guru of Sikhism also created a Shabad keeping in view the Soordas's poetry.

Locations

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Sadhguru Sri Nannagaru

Submitted by mithin78 on Fri, 01/02/2009 - 14:52.
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Fast Facts

Function:

Guru

Traditions:

Advaita. Self Enquiry, Arunachala

Main Countries of Activity:

India

Date of Birth:

September 23 1934

Place of Birth:

Kommara in West Godavari Dist., Andhra Pradesh, (India),

In His/Her Body ("alive"):

Yes

Biography

He had his early vision of Shri Bhagavan Ramana in a vivid dream in the year 1957, when the Maharshi kissed him on his cheeks thrice and ever since there from, there has been a marked turn in his daily life.He is acclaimed and hailed by his devotees and disciples as " NANNA GARU." "Nanna" in telugu meaning "Father" and "Garu" is a honorific. Thus, he is endearingly, called as "Respectable Father."

Shri Bhupathiraju Venkata Lakshmi Narasimharaju, as has been christened by his parents, born on September 23 1934, hails from a tiny village Kommara in West Godavari Dist., Andhra Pradesh, (India), has settled at Jinnur of the same district. He was born in his grand parent's house. His father Sri Suryanarayana Raju died when he was a child, and his mother Smt. Rajayamma and grand mother have fostered him. His devout family of pious disposition had its own imprints on him in his childhood. He accompanied his grand mother and visited holy places , even as a boy. Sri Sivananda of rishikesh blessed him saying "BE GOOD AND DO GOOD."

People throng around him in thousands and listen to him with rapt attention and lisp, "The Raman, Manna," his mouth drops and get surcharged by it, which modulates their lives and they turn towards spirituality. His meditation sittings attract men and women from all corners of the world and those that meditate in his presence aspire for his occasional "piercing" looks, which turn their minds and thoughts from things external towards the "Heart" center. His silence preaches volumes and a single powerful meditative glance of him confers inexplicable bliss.
Sri Nannagaru tours exhaustively to quench the spiritual thirst of his devotees and often visits the holy Kshetra, Arunachala.
His service in spreading the sacred tenets of Shri Bhagavan Ramana is invaluable. A constant refrence of this will leave an indelible impression on those who are treading the path of Spirituality.

Sources:

srinannagaru.com,http://members.tripod.com/~kris727/biograph.htm

Teachings

An Interview with Sri Nannagaru
(Here are some questions that may invite you to share your knowledge of the self)

Who are you? What is your role in this life ?

I am a lover of Humanity. My role in this life is to spread the spiritual knowledge and the eternal goodness.

· What is a Guru? Who is a Guru?

Guru - God - Self - all Same The outer guru helps you to turn the mind to where GOD is. The inner Guru pulls the mind into its source. The Guru brings the weakness in the mind to one’s attention. The Guru’s grace gives you the strength to throw out the Vasanas (The tendencies of the mind). It is the Guru’s duty to drag your bad habits out of you and to burn them. God know your habits and tendencies for God is within. Real Guru is true Self.

· Is it necessary to have a Guru on the path of awakening to one’s true Self?

A Guru is absolutely necessary on the path of awakening to one’s true Self.

· What is your teaching?

To awaken your true nature - True ‘I’ - to realize ultimate truth, the truth that is always present in the heart. It was already there. Recognize what is already here - and now, what is always present.

· What effort can the disciple make?

To be absolutely in firm faith and unconditional surrender.

· I have heard you say, "Silence prepares the mind to see its source". Can you help me in this?

Silence is Best. Silence is Best. Silence is Best. Silence can also teach. Guru’s silence prepares the disciple’s mind to see its source. Seeing the source of mind, one’s true nature is revealed.

· How do you explain this Love that you evoke in the disciples?

I have extreme Love and affection towards the disciples to raise them above sorrow.

· Here we are gathered at the feet of Arunachala, the sacred mountain Ramana called Home/Shiva/The Self/The Guru, What is your relationship to Arunachala and to Ramana?

Arunachala and Ramana are the same. There is only one Iswara. Body bound "I" is not real "I". When you are attracted to Arunachala, whether you know it or not, Arunachala comes through unseen connection. This is a good attachment and helps one to live an ego-less life.

Those who are attracted by Arunachala shall get liberation through Arunachala. It is by Arunachala’s grace we are attracted to him. It is by the grace of Arunachala, the EGO is shattered and destroyed.

Ramana - I have extreme Love for Ramana. I did not see him in the physical body in this life. In 1957, HE came to me in a dream and kissed me on the right cheek and said, "This is enough for the time being".

Definitely I can say one thing, from my previous life there is some connection with HIM in Arunachala itself. I have a strong mental contact with him. I have great respect and reverence for him. Now and then, I think he is my nearest and dearest relative, the most intimate friend. HE gives me tender loving like the compassionate mother. He is my father, mother, Guru, God. He is everything for me. I love HIM. I live for HIM.

Ramana is walking Arunachala.

For about the last 30 years I have lived a Ramana-centered life. HIS life and teaching greatly influenced ME. Ramana helped me. He graced me to have glimpses of the truth.

· Ramana’s teaching was primarily Self-enquiry - Advaits Vedanta - and now, here it seems we are celebrating in Krishna’s garden with a form of Krishna - and his many beautiful gopis. What is the relationship of the path of Bhakti and the path of Self-enquiry?

Devotion is essential. Devotion is necessary to support the Self_enquiry. Enquiry without devotion is like sugarless coffee.

· What is happening in the Guru’s glance of Grace? What do you see when you look in our eyes?

Guru’s glance gives grace to you. Grace helps understanding which is essential to know the truth. Grace deepens understanding of True union. Guru’s glance of grace is helping you get nearer and nearer to the truth of the heart. When I look in your eyes I see whatever you are. I see your true nature not the body mind complex. You are neither this body nor this mind.

· You speak of the necessity of controlling ‘mind and senses’ in order to know the truth within. Can you explain this to someone whose Western conditioning has been to explore and develop the mind and senses?

Practice Truth in everyday life. Clarity is most essential. Live an intelligent life, an ego-less life. Let your behavior be in accord with a compassionate heart. Don’t lie. Don’t cheat. Let go of envy and jealousy. Mercy, Goodness and kindness in your heart and supplimentaries to the spiritual enquiry into Truth

· It is written in your booklet, "The only worthwhile and true training is that which enables you to know who you are". To someone who has never come to India, who has never heard of gurus or sadhana, yet who earnestly desires to know the Truth of the Self, what do you suggest?

Simple Living, Clarity in thinking, Clarity in speech and action. A generous heart. Wisdom and compassion must be united. Whether eastern or western mind, right thinking must be practiced. Living truthfully everyday, whether one knows it or not, ultimately Truth reveals itself to oneself.

Beloved Master, in my understanding there is only one Truth, there is only one Guru and all I can say is Thank you for being here - in form, in this manifestation. And thank you for this opportunity to put such questions as these at your feet so that if you choose to respond and an interview happens, other friends may receive the "calling card" of the song of the One Heart. Papaji once said, "Ramana is that which dwells in the core of All Being, in the Heart of All That is". Whatever is thy will - it will be so! I thank you for this showering of Grace.

Photos

A gallery of photos of the guru and/or that are related to the guru

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Links

Official Website

Devotees website

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True Surrender

Submitted by avi on Fri, 02/01/2008 - 00:39.
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You have been told that in order to get rid of something painful, you have to accept it, not to resist it.

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Surrender to Chaos

Submitted by lilian on Fri, 12/28/2007 - 22:57.
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The world around us as well as the world inside us (which are not different, it is just the ego that separates them) are chaotic.

They are chaotic in all aspects: in the sense that we do not really understand them, in the sense that our mind is not fast enough to keep pace with and observe them in real time, in the sense that they are composed from endless tiny particles, details, and processes, in the sense that we cannot have any control over them, none whatsoever!

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Have you ever inquired what belief in God actually means?

Submitted by davids on Thu, 04/29/2010 - 19:35.
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When Jesus so persistently asks us to believe in God, he actually asks us to believe in something which we don't know whether it exists or not, right?

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