The Essence of the Aitareya and Taittiriya Upanishads - 3.5. - Swami Krishnananda.

Chinmaya Mission :

The annual Balavihar camp took place from April 23rd to April 29th, 2023, at Chinmaya Sandeepany in Chokkahalli, Bengaluru. Under the divine presence of Omkareshwara and the 45 ft Ganesha statue, nearly 100 children participated in the camp. Titled "5G Network for Life," the camp focused on the 5 G's: Geeta, Govinda, Guru, Gyan, and Grace! The Camp Acharyas included Swami Gahanananda,  Swami Dattapadananda, and Swami Krutatmananda.

The children were divided into 8 groups named after famous Rishis. The camp featured sessions on Vedic Chanting, theme talks, workshops, Stotrams & Bhajans, stories, games, and even talks by the children themselves. Workshops played a crucial role in reinforcing the concepts, where the children showcased their understanding through various activities. They were also given creative and challenging worksheets based on the book "Game of Life."

The camp song, "5G Network for Life - the very best network for life," became a hit and was sung during the late evening sessions. The workshop organized by the Chinmaya Yuvakendra allowed the children to bond with the seniors while enjoying outdoor activities.

The Kaituttu dinner, served with love by the sevaks, and the late evening strolls around the Ganesha statue were among the highlights of the camp. On the final day, a live quiz based on the camp's teachings impressed everyone with the children's depth of understanding. The camp concluded with Paduka Pooja, leaving lasting memories for all involved.

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Monday,  22  May,  2023. 07:40.

Chapter 3: Ishvara and Jiva-5.

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We are not hungry in the ordinary sense. Any amount of food that we eat, whatever may be the diet that we take, cannot satisfy us because our real requirement is not this food. It is not the khichadi, the dal, the chapatti, the puri or the laddu that can satisfy us. But it appears as if this is what we require. It is not any kind of drink that we are actually in need of. Something else is the need; and that need is very deep. It is like the very deep-rooted chronic illness of which we have no knowledge on the superficial surface.

We are not asking for any kind of contact, really speaking. We are thoroughly mistaken, and that mistake itself is lost sight of completely. This complete oblivion of the very reason behind this hunger is called avidya. These terms do not occur in the Upanishad. I am explaining from the terminologies of the later philosophies.

Ignorance precedes every kind of action in the direction of the possession of the requirements of the senses. We run after things on account of an ignorance, which covers our consciousness, of the reason behind the very existence of this hunger. There is only one need that we have, and not more than one—the need to become one with That from which we have been separated, and out of which we have been thrown. That is all. The divinities within are hungering. It is not the tongue or the ear or the nose that asks for things; it is the divinities within that are hungry. Indra, Varuna, Surya, etc., are the deities which are superintending over every part of our body. They are the rulers, they are the masters, they are the actual occupants of this habitat called this body. They ask for a reunion and a rehabilitation with the status they have lost. This hunger for reunion with the Universal manifests itself in a diversified form through the senses as desire to see, desire to hear, desire to taste, desire to touch, and so on. Hence, these are artificially created tentative satisfactions, because no other satisfaction is available. When everything has gone, whatever is available satisfies us.

The senses are thus duping us in this way by making us think that our need is something different from what it really is. What the child cries for is something, and what we give it is something else. It may be having an acute stomach ache, but we give it a sugar candy. We say, “Take this sugar candy. Don't weep.” We do not know why the child is weeping. It has some ailment. It cannot express itself, poor thing! It has some deep-rooted agony which it is not able to speak out in its own language. But we are trying to pacify it, pamper it by things which are actually not what it needs. So is the case with the hunger or the thirst of the soul.

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To be continued

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