Charma Slokam.

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

Yesterday I was in a lecture by a ISKCON Maharaj and he spoke about this famous Charma Slokam in the Gita (since I requested). I found that the interpretation is different from the one in the Sri Sampradayam. In the ISKCON phylosophy, the word dharman refers to duties of all kinds including any religious obligations one may have. However, in Sri Sampradayam, the word dharman (in Pravritti maargam) refers to all prayaschitta-dharmas, or all obligations taken to compensate for our wrong doings, but the essential dharmas should not be renounced. Bagu (short for Bagavaan) takes care of all the prayaschittas, thus paving the way for bhakti to emerge. In light of Eckhart Tolle, the Sri Sampradhayam interpretation seems right, at least when following the Pravritti maargam.

On Growing Old.

I think I heard this idea somewhere as almost everything for me now looks familiar. Anyway, I will come to the point. The reason for our physical growth is because of the flexibility of our body to cope up with the mind's energy. As soon as our bodies become stiff and inflexible, aging starts, as our mind still works with the same energy. Probably that's why yoga-aasanas helps in slowing the aging process!

Sunset House.

My new painting - (paint by numbers, of course). The original doesn't have the sun like bright spot in the middle - that's the flash glare. It looked nice and I left it alone.