What is the meaning of the following mantra?

Guru Brahma Gurur Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheshwaraha
Guru Saakshat Param Brahma
Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha

गुरुर्ब्रम्हा गुरुर्विष्णु गुरुर्देवो महेश्वराः | गुरुः साक्षात्परब्रम्ह तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ||

Here Guru means the master. There are three masters of the universe (also known as the Trimurti):

1. Maheswara (also known as Shiva) – the destroyer or transformer;
2. Vishnu – the maintainer who also provides love and knowledge;
3. Brahma – the creator or the Intelligent designer.

This is one of the oldest Sloka addressed to the Godhead, who also exists as Trimurti. The master (Guru) is truly representation of Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheswara. The One is Saakshat (verily) Guru who creates, sustains knowledge & love, and destroys ignorance. It is the One that becomes three but is One essentially. I salute (Namaha) such a Master.

                      Shiva
			/\
                       /  \
                      /    \
                     /      \
                    /        \
                   /          \
                  /            \
                 /______________\
            Vishnu              Brahma

(Fig.01: The Trimurti – act as the One who is also in three.)

Meaning of Other Words

• Guru – the One (Master)
• Saakshat – verily
• Param Brahma – the God Absolute (the One)
• Tasmai – such Master

The date of the Gita are not known with certainty and scholars of an earlier generation opined that it was composed between the 5th and the 2nd century BCE. However, within the text of the Bhagavad Gīta itself, Lord Krishna states that:

the knowledge of Yoga contained in the Gīta was first instructed to mankind at the very beginning of their existence.

A few books claims that the Bhagavat Gita is over 5,000 years old.

This is an excellent article. Everyone is going to die but you can learn from other peoples experience especially regrets. From the article:

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

=> Read more

If you get into any trouble or into a crisis or an emergency situation at work:

1. Calm down.
2. Become the calmest person in the room.
3. You’ll be able to figure your way out of it.

Today I found an interesting and cool quote about the happiness and peace:

To achieve that state of lasting happiness and absolute peace, we must first know how to calm the mind. By turning the mind’s concentration inwards, upon the self, we can deepen that experience of perfect concentration. This is the state of meditation.

– Swami Sivananda

Happiness is nothing but of living a good life, or flourishing a good life. But to achieve that state of lasting happiness and absolute peace, you must calm down yourself.

Beyond books quote from Chanakya who has been considered as the pioneer of the field of economics and political science:

One whose knowledge is confined to books and whose wealth is in the possession of others can neither his knowledge nor wealth when the need for them arises.

– Chanakya Niti 39

This is so true. For example, if your wealth is control by your father or wife, you will not able to use it when required. Similarly, if your knowledge is restricted to books you will not able to provide good services to others. In other words practical knowledge is important to solve many complex problems of the life. Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, put all this in a singe statement:

We learn not is school, but in life.

Sadhu Vaswani has published an excellent article in TOI titled as – “Why wait for passing of laws to do right?”. The article explains how to heal yourself:

Hurt no one! Learn to practise ahimsa to yourself first. There are many cells in your body. Every bad thought, every vicious desire harms the cells in you. You are their guardian, so keep away from bad thoughts. Cultivate ekagrata or one-pointedness, the power of speech and the power of silence. Speak to the point. Learn to sit in silence and adore silence. The silent ones reflect divine action in the third stage. In the first stage are great men or heroes of history, in the second stage are sages and in the third stage are the silent ones.

The avoidance of violence

You should not harm your self or do no harm to others. Every cell in your body can hurt you with bad thoughts. Gandhi promoted the principle of ahimsa very successfully by applying it to all spheres of life, particularly to politics. The load Krishna are particularly keen on ahimsa. From Bhagavad-gita As It Is Chapter 10 Verses 4-5:

Ahimsa, nonviolence, means that one should not do anything which will put others into misery or confusion. Material activities that are promised by so many politicians, sociologists, philanthropists, etc., do not produce very good results because the politicians and philanthropists have no transcendental vision; they do not know what is actually beneficial for human society. Ahiḿsā means that people should be trained in such a way that the full utilization of the human body can be achieved. The human body is meant for spiritual realization, so any movement or any commissions which do not further that end commit violence on the human body. That which furthers the future spiritual happiness of the people in general is called nonviolence.

However, some of use thing that nonviolence mean not killing or destroying the body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress. From Bhagavad-gita Chapter 13 Verses 8-12:

People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. So unless one elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence. One should try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement. That is nonviolence.

Read more: Why wait for passing of laws to do right?

Thought is a mental process which allows an individual to model the world, and so to deal with it effectively according to their goals, plans, ends and desires. However, we are at the mercy of the mind that make us happy or depressed person. With meditation one can control mind.

The Vishvas Foundation has published an interesting article :

When we are afflicted with a disease like malaria, we don’t treat each symptom like fever, pain and shivering, one by one. We just treat the disease and the symptoms automatically vanish. So deal directly with the mind and symptoms like stress and strain will disappear. Vishvas meditation is mind management.

Read more

Lord Krishna clearly give us the message for the complete liberation:

One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, free from all dualities, easily overcome material bondage and is completely liberated, O mighty armed Arjuna.

– Bhagavad Gita 5.3

Here are some powerful thought about the purpose

Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny. He has something to fulfill, some message to be delivered, some message to be delivered, some work to be completed. You are not here accidentally; you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you.

– OSHO

The main purpose of life is to live right, think right, and act right. The soul must languish when we give all our thought to the body.

– M. K. Gandhi