shri gurubhyo nanaH It is appropriate here to say a few words about the performance/or lack of Sandhyaandanam as gleaned from shri krishanamacharya - yogacharaya of KYM chennai. Shri Krishnamacharya led his life according to how Shri Desikan has said- dividing his days into 5 parts and worshipping according to Shri Desikan's guidelines. He also tried his utmost to spread the message of performing Sandhyavandanam, when he lived. (Just a few days ago, we were informed that he would lecture once a year and also do tadiyaraadani on that day for everyone who came.) Here are a few points from his lectures on Sandhyavandanam: Since the Muslim invasion hundreds of years ago, society has given less importance to these practices. The combined result of the Muslim invasion and the British rule has bee devastating. As we started ignoring Sanskrit and because of the propaganda that it is a 'dead language', we really started beliving it - as a result, even the basic knowledge and comprehension of daily practices slowly disappeared. (As the understanding disappeared, few people believed in our religious practices - and doing the Sandhyavandanam became more of a superstition - this is adiyen's comment after listening to him!) Also, every step in Sandhyavandanam has physical/ mental/spiritual importance. Just as we take a little bit of water and say 'achyutaaya namaH' we get indriya shuddhi (cleanliness of the body). And the shuddhi gets transmitted to the mind and the spirit and we become 'clean'- which means that we become cleared of bodily diseases, mental confusion or worries and when this happens it becomes easier to do 'dhyanam' of ShrimanNarayanan. And isn't this the ultimate goal? As some 'side effects' (!!!) we get other worldly benefits as well. Krishnamacharya was very particular as to how the hands should be held and the posture (of standing) and so on. He also said that there is a scientific basis for every single movement. As Shri Anbil RAmaswamy puts it "It is an exercise physical, psychic and spiritual all at once" and it is a good workout. Incidentally, meditation (dhyanam)is also part of it- so we don't have to go anywhere to learn it! This part has been explained very well by Shri Krishnamacharya. He also explains the significant part played by the breath or 'pranan' in 'Dhyanam' and explains why and how this has to be done. Another word from him: If our elders have not taught us this, then the point is that we should go looking for whoever will tell us and that in itself is significant. I hope everyone of us gets our doubts cleared by none other than Shriman Narayanan by way of Shri Ramaswamy, Yogacharya Krishnamacharya and others. I also request Shri Ramaswamy to post the nyasakramams in detail, if possible, for those of us who cannot be in Atlanta. Unfortunately, I was never present during Shri Krishnamacharya's demonstrations of Sandhyavandanam, because I did not work in Chennai - but he has spoken to us in detail about this. We do have a few transcripts and recordings though. Looking back, I can see how little we understood then, and as we practised more and more, how everything became clearer, but there is stilla long way to go. And what a treasure he has left us! yogacharyam Krishnamaryam Guruvaryam bhaje Venky Venkatesan ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/VkWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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