What they saw... ..where does the soul go after death...? From Katha Upanishad.the Teachings of life beyond Death

In the class on Raja Yoga at the Vedanta Society of Toronto on April 16th.
We continue to discuss the subject of Death..and after and also of non attachments.
Our Teacher the revered Swami Kripamayananda Maharaj and a group of ardent students..our Swami quotes this poem from the Katha Upanishad which is part of the Vedas which are the oldest and most vast spiritual literature known to mankind. the Kath Upanishad means `Death as Teacher '. Here symbolically God, teaches us deep lessons of life through death and some of the most beautiful poems and passages in the Sanskrit language come from here. This passage describes what and where a man goes after death..Our Teacher Swamiji explains to us that Swami Vivekananda the great sage always spoke of death and that unless we overcame the fear of death we could not live truly..facing death was being able to give up our greatest attachment which was to our own bodies..Speaking about death is not morbidity it is going beyond all fear..our teacher told us about how he has seen or heard of many cancer patients including the late first president of the Vedanta Society of Toronto..Swami Pramathananda Maharaj living a life of joy, dignity, courage and happiness even when they knew that their days were numbered..also view

Remembering both 9/11 and August 14th- 2003... when The Lights went out in many ways.....

Below is the immortal Poem taken from the Katha Upanishad...

From the Poem..The Ruler Within 

How can I know that blissful Self, supreme,
Inexpressible, realized by the wise?
Is he the light, or does he reflect light?

The Ruler  Of Death replied..:

There shines not the sun, neither moon nor star,
Nor flash of lightning, nor fire lit on earth.
The Self is the light reflected by all.
He shining, everything shines after him 
There is a city with eleven gates
The river flowing down from the mountain.
For this Self is supreme!

The adorable one who is seated
In the heart rules the breath of life.
Unto him all the senses pay their homage.
When the dweller in the body breaks out
In freedom from the bonds of flesh, what remains?
For this Self is supreme!
We live not by the breath that flows in
And flows out, but by him who causes the breath 
There shines not the sun, neither moon nor star,
(Taken from the Kath- Upanishad ) The city of eleven gates.


Some Highlights of the class: on the subject of no attachment and no ownership a student gives a beautiful example taken from the philosophy of the Native Indians..they think..I belong to my beloved and not my beloved to me..just as I belong to the land and not the land to me..so I don't fight over it or divide it..

Another example. Back in India this gentleman ( our class mate ) owns a rare Vintage car which is just one of six left in the world. Yet he has never ridden in it or driven it. He just pays for it..while his Driver in India drives, it cleans it..maintains it and takes it to the Vintage car rally's..so he wonders  what does `ownership mean' who really owns what?

Our spiritual teacher Swami Kripamayananda maharaj also tells us that the holy Bhagwad Gita is the essence of all the Vedas and the holy Literature of the ancient scriptures..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katha_Upanishad
Here is the rest of the Poem Taken from the Katha Upanishads it has been transalted into English from Sanskrit  by Max Mueller.

There is a city with eleven gates
Of which the ruler is the unborn Self,Whose light forever shines.
They go beyond sorrow who meditate on the Self
And are freed from the cycle of birth and death.
For this Self is supreme!

The Self is the sun shining in the sky,
The wind blowing in space; he is the fire
At the altar and in the home the guest;
He dwells in human beings, in gods, in truth,
And in the vast firmament; he is the fish
Born in water, the plant growing in the earth,
The river flowing down from the mountain.
For this Self is supreme!
The adorable one who is seated
In the heart rules the breath of life.
Unto him all the senses pay their homage.
When the dweller in the body breaks out
In freedom from the bonds of flesh, what remains?
For this Self is supreme!
We live not by the breath that flows in
And flows out, but by him who causes the breath
To flow in and flow out.
Now, O Nachiketa, I will tell you
Of this unseen, eternal Brahman, and
What befalls the Self after death.
Of those unaware of the Self, some are born
As embodied creatures while others remain
In a lower stage of evolution,
As determined by their own need for growth.

That which is awake even in our sleep,
Giving form in dreams to the objects of
Sense craving, that indeed is pure light,
Brahman the immortal, who contains all
The cosmos, and beyond whom none can go.
For this Self is supreme!

As the same fire assumes different shapes
When it consumes objects differing in shape,
So does the one Self take the shape
Of every creature in whom he is present.
As the same air assumes different shapes
When it enters objects differing in shape,
So does the one Self take the shape Of every creature in whom he is present.

As the sun, who is the eye of the world,
Cannot be tainted by the defects in our eyes
Or by the objects it looks on,
So the one Self, dwelling in all, cannot
Be tainted by the evils of the world.
For this Self transcends all!

The ruler supreme, inner Self of all,
Multiplies his oneness into many.
Eternal joy is theirs who see the Self
In their own hearts. To none else does it come!

Changeless amidst the things that pass away,
Pure consciousness in all who are conscious,
The One answers the prayers of many.
Eternal peace is theirs who see the Self
In their own hearts. To none else does it come!

tning, nor fire lit on earth.
The Self is the light reflected by all.
He shining, everything shines after him

This beautiful Poem from The Katha Upanishad described that beautiful place where the soul goes to after death..it is taken from the Poem...The Ruler Within (from the Katha Upanishads

In this Poem the child Nachiketa asked The God of Death...
How can I know that blissful Self, supreme,
Inexpressible, realized by the wise?
Is he the light, or does he reflect light?
The King Of Death:

On the more eclectic side the `Movie Heaven is for Real' is also a Movie worth a watch..not too much of the ' Holy Holy stuff' but very sweet and believable especially for those who study the Vedantic truths..it is a true story of a little boys near death moments and the extremely spiritual experience that he had..)

The Majestic always stride Alone.." The Glory and Beauty of `Aloneness" the Road to all Freedom..

The Majesty of Aloneness..The `Time Travel ' Techniques of the Yogis and Overcomming Self Destructive 'Love..'

The Majestic Always Stride Alone..Even in a crowd of Millions..they are Apart and Detached..as if a silent witness to the play of the world..Part of it and yet Apart from it..reminding one of the Majestic Lion striding alone and unafraid  in the forest of the wild..or the grandeur of a Golden Eagle that flys high and soars above the turbulance of the world below..

This " Aloneness" is known as `Kevalam" in Sanskrit and depicts the quality of detachment and deep strength..it does not mean being selfish, aloof, Single or a loner...shunning family and freinds or being a hater....but being a Free soul even in the midst of all the trials and tribulations and storms of this life..
The  Holy Bhagwad Gita ( Chapter 12) describes such Men and Women of wisdom as " He who is alike to freind and foe..Alike in honour and ignomy..in heat and cold..given to contemplation and content with whatever comes unasked,,unattached to wealth and belongings and sence of `Mine'.

He who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate to all, who is free from the feeling of I and mine, even-minded in pain and pleasure and forbearing

Meaning: Ever content, steady in meditation, self controlled and possessed of firm conviction, with mind and intellect fixed on me, such a devotee is dear to me.

Meaning: He by whom the world is not afflicted and whom the world cannot afflict, he who is free from joy, anger, fear and anxiety - he is dear to me. ( the one who does not provoke others nor is provoked by them...)

He who has no wants, who is pure and prompt, unconcerned, untroubled, and who is selfles

in all his undertakings, he who is thus devoted to Me,

That one says Sri Krishna " is dear to me...

The 56th Aphorism of Patanjali which we are studying goes like this goes like this :

सत्त्वपुरुषयोः शुद्धिसाम्ये कैवल्यमिति ॥५६॥

56. By the similarity of purity between the Sattva and the Purusha comes Kaivalya.



Swami Vivekananda In meditation..

Swami Vivekakananda :When the soul realises that it depends on nothing in the universe, from celestial beings to the lowest atom, that is called Kaivalya (isolation) and perfection. It is attained when this mixture of purity and impurity called Sattva (intellect) has been made as pure as the Purusha itself; then the Sattva reflects only the unqualified essence of purity, which is the Purusha.

We are in the class at the Vedanta Society of Toronto . Our Spiritual teacher the Revered Swami Kripamayananda Maharaj Head of the Canada centre. .He explains to us the beautiful verse in context to both life and death..we are in the class of spiritual studies on Wednesday April 9th ."  Love your beloved...your family..your parents..your spouse...your children..give them your best....but know that they belong to God and can at moment be called back to him..do not have the extreme attachment of the weak..but the strong and spiritual love of `Kevalam'..I am the witness.." Our Swami K spoke about the extreme love and attachment which brings pain and heart break to the point of self destruction as a great weakness which should be overcome..

" Everyday death stalks us..our most beloved can be seperated from us suddenly without reason..we often hear examples of people who cannot bear this seperation and then they in turn either committ suicide, or take to drugs or alcohol or become mentally unstable because they cannot bear this pain..their `attachment to another person is that intense' How can we love deeply without that Love becooming self destructive ?"

Spiritual practices that are to practised througoutt one's life time such as deep devotion and total  ` Surrender" which is " Sharanagatha"  to God. The true devotee belives that God is his Father and Mother..he will take care of him and everything that happens good or bad is for  a reason I trust in him completely and turn to him each day in times of peace and trials..I am his child..meditation and prayers and repitition of God's name give us tremdendous strength to face the loss of our loved one..
The Other way is that of the " Wise' which in Sanskrit is " Gyan Yoga" by analysis....by realising I and mine are all impermanent.." Life is a Gift loaned to us from God and when the time comes he asks to take back what he has given"  says our Swami..He gives us a beautiful example .".imagine your neighbour has lent you some utensils..a few months later he asks for them to be returned..will you fight, quarrel, yell and go into depression ? Imgine that your loved ones are gifts of Love loaned to you..treat them well and when God asks to take them back..do not destroy yourself because he has taken what belongs to him"...Says Swami Kripamayananda Maharaj.
Even this Body is impermanent according to our path of Vedanta..We have this deep identity with our bodies and our self identity that is why we suffer..Examples of how we identify ourselves with our bodies so much is reflected in views like " I am young..I am beautiful, intelligent and charming..I am Blue eyed and Blond haired..I am Irish...or American..I am Aryan....I am a Brahmin and of Royal Blood.. You are not as intelligent as I am....I am a CEO..I am a Star..and I am the best.People who feel a need to constantly compete with  others and reinvent and `Makeover' themselves..to spend thousands on Cosmetic surgery and not on self development of the spirit and the mind..are stuck with self identification of the body .." Live each moment of your life carefully" cautioned Sri Sarada Devi.." Each action has a " Karmic result'.....
In the treatise by Swami Sarvagathananda Maharaj the late head of the Vedanta Society of Boston..a few techniquiqes of meditation which help us take the path of ' Wisdom' were described. ...
* Imagine in meditation that you are sitting by a stream of water..that stream is your life..think of it from a particular moment of time..analyse it before and after that `point of time' you are not ' In the stream' but by the stream so you cannot be washed away..you will see how many people came into your life and went away..how much happned good and bad..how you faced those days and how you will face the future...that meditation gives us the ability to see our self and our lives as a witness and gives us strength...Sri Ramakrishna often said that the wise man is like a dry coconut..the kerneal inside is free from the shell..which means There is so little self identification with his " Shell" which is the Body..
Another example he oftem gave was that man should live as a Mud Fish or  a duck in water..never getting wet or `soaked' with the world..at the end of the ' Game' nothing was ever yours to begin with.....

Revered Swami Kripamayananda our Spiritual Teacher.

One of the students mentioned that in his meditation he often felt that since the body came from " Dust" and the `Five elements 'there never was a time when he was not or would not be since oneday we would all be dust and our Swami K..said that was the exact Buddhist thought of meditation .
However  In Vedanta we believe that the soul travels from life to life and we were all created  to begin with as Divine..our " karma and actions of each life determine our  next body and Life and that is why we must always live carefully and spiritually ..We are free from the `birth and death cycle' only when we reach again that state of perfection and oneness with God which we began with..
In The Bhagwad Gita Chapter 2 : this is the description of the Soul...

20. He( The soul) is not born nor does He ever die; after having been, He again ceases not to be.

Unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient, He is not killed when the body is killed,

21. Whosoever knows Him to be indestructible, eternal, unborn and inexhaustible, how canthat man slay, O Arjuna, or cause to be slain?

22. Just as a man casts off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so also the embodied Self casts off worn-out bodies and enters others that are new.

23. Weapons cut It not, fire burns It not, water wets It not, wind dries It not.

The Self is partless. It is infinite and extremely subtle. So the sword

cannot cut It, fire cannot burn It, wind cannot dry It.

24. This Self cannot be cut, burnt, wetted nor dried up. It is eternal, all-pervading, stable,ancient and immovable.

25. This (Self) is said to be unmanifested, unthinkable and unchangeable. Therefore,

knowing This to be such, thou shouldst not grieve.

Finally Sri Krishna promises this to all Mankind.."There Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these Kings..nor in the future shall any of us cease to be".

We asked our Swami what the purpose of our lives if the ones we loved are taken away..and then he said that to start with just being a spource of happiness and a blessing to everyone we meet is a great way to find the purpose of our lives..
Here is a Beautiful litle clip which was shared by a Devotee :: Believe in good: http://youtu.be/cZGghmwUcbQ

The  next Aphorism is also described below by Patanjali...as we retrace our steps in the book..
 53 क्षण-तत्क्रमयोः संयमाद्विवेकजं ज्ञानम् ॥५३॥

53. By making Samyama on a particle of time and its precession and succession comes discrimination.

Swami Vivekananda :How are we to avoid all these things, these Devas, and heavens, and powers? By discrimination, by knowing good from evil. Therefore a Samyama is given by which the power of discrimination can be strengthened. This by making a Samyama on a particle of time, and the time preceding and following it. ( Samyama means meditation that is concentration, continuation and culmination)..
Our Swami Kripamayanada Maharaj explanied that this method of mditation on a Partcle of Time..in depth can actually enable a serious spiritual aspiarnt..the ability to spiritaully ' Time Travel " and visit the past in all its reality and also the future in all its reality..that is how Spiritual masters can know their future and even the exact time of their deaths..

How do we know about things and beings that seem totally mysterious to us ?

 Aporism 54 : जाति-लक्षण-देशैरन्यताऽनवच्छेदात्तुल्ययोस्ततः प्रतिपत्तिः ॥५४॥

54. Those things which cannot be differentiated by species, sign, and place, even they will be discriminated by the above Samyama.

Swami Vivekananda : The misery that we suffer comes from ignorance, from non-discrimination between the real and the unreal. We all take the bad for the good, the dream for the reality. Soul is the only reality, and we have forgotten it. Body is an unreal dream, and we think we are all bodies. This non-discrimination is the cause of misery. It is caused by ignorance. When discrimination comes, it brings strength, and then alone can we avoid all these various ideas of body, heavens, and gods. This ignorance arises through differentiating by species, sign, and place. For instance, take a cow. The cow is differentiated from the dog by species. Even with the cows alone how do we make the distinction between one cow and another? By signs. If two objects are exactly similar, they can be distinguished if they are in different places. When objects are so mixed up that even these differential will not help us, the power of discrimination acquired by the above-mentioned practice will give us the ability to distinguish them. The highest philosophy of the Yogi is based upon this fact, that the `Purusha' ( our souls) is pure and perfect, and is the only "simple" that exists in this universe. The body and mind are compounds, and yet we are ever identifying ourselves with them This is the great mistake that the distinction has been lost. When this power of discrimination has been attained, man sees that everything in this world, mental and physical, is a compound, and, as such, cannot be the Purusha. ( Everything that causes us to feel that we are different..is not the truth )..

तारकं सर्वविषयं सर्वथाविषयमक्रमञ्चेति विवेकजं ज्ञानम् ॥५५॥

55. The saving knowledge is that knowledge of discrimination which simultaneously covers all objects, in all their variations.

Swami Vivekananda Raja Yoga :Saving, because the knowledge takes the Yogi across the ocean of birth and death. The whole of Prakriti ( Nature)  in all its states, subtle and gross, is within the grasp of this knowledge. There is no succession in perception by this knowledge; it takes in all things simultaneously, at a glance.

Little Nuggets from the Class : Question : Was Sri ramakrishna as ' Bhakta ' ( Intense devotee ) Or a Gyani ( Man of true wisdom ?)
Swami K : Sri Ramakrsihna was a Bhakta  ( Intense Devotee) externally and a Man of total wisdom and Logic ( Gyani ) internally..
SWami Vivekananda was a Gyani on the outside and a Bhakta on the inside...

.The " Dangers of Supernatural Powers" and The significance of the Nine days to Rama Navami...



Swami Vivekananda..the Sage who spoke of fearlessness..

 How " Temptation " can destroy the Powerful..The Danger of Super Natural Powers of the False Prophets and The symbolism of the Nine Days of Rama Navami..

This topic of Temptation was the subject of discussion during our class at the Vedanta society of Toronto on Wednesday April 2^nd . We were studying Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda who explains the ancient Yoga aphorisms by Patanjali . The study is based on the ancient texts of Patanjali which date back thousands of years and the Vedas which are the oldest  recorded spiritual texts known to all mankind.

We also study the Treatise of Swami Sarvagathananda Maharaj the late spiritual head of the Vedanta society of Boston US, who explains the works in context to both the East and the West in his treatise..
Satan came to tempt the Christ and Mara came to tempt the Buddha when they had attained supreme God hood..in the story of Sri Ramakrishna the spiritual Master of 19th century India , his ardent disciple Mathur Babu tried to often `test' him by taking him to places of ill repute..in each place Sri Ramakrishna became more God intoxicated and even saw the divinity manifested in the most `fallen' of women..He would bow and  salute them from afar and changed their lives with just a glance...Similarly there were often people who tried to `Test' the great Sage Swami Vivekananda and failed each time..
In our current context we can see examples of the High and Mighty falling because of the alure of " Lust and Greed"..heads of States, Heads of World organizations..Heads of Financial Institutions and men and women held as leaders in all walks of life..have to face unseen `temptations'.  As we  as individuals grow in power in any walk of Life..this Temptation is what we have to be most careful of as it can lead to our losing everything in a moment of weakness..
In the last many months we have been studying Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda. In the chapter ' Powers of the Mind " we studied the Powerful results of deep meditative states which Spiritual masters have attained since ancient times.
Some of the conclusions and results which we attained from this study were the
 ' Dangers of Powers" These powers can be super natural or very material and worldly.

Sri Ramkrishna Paramahansa

This study is very important and  significant in today's world in both the East and the West where we see the Rise and Fall of thousands of ` Self styled Prophets' and `God-men' and " women" who claim " Miraculous powers", " Super Natural Powers" and claim to have thousands of followers..

Through out the Book Raja Yoga Swami Vivekananda the author warns of the dangerous effects of the use and display of these " Powers" which can ultimately destroy both the " False Prophets and their followers. The Psychological effects of this kind of forced Meditation for the sake of attaining powers can also lead to mental imbalance and insanity he warned in one place.
Yet supernatural phenomena is the greatest lure of many religious " streams" today .
Sri Ramakrishna the spiritual Master whose life and teachings were carried by Swami Vivekananda to the Western world.and which was the essence of pure unadulterated " Love for God and only God "often condemned those who display and seek supernatural powers as the `Be all and end all of religion' as indulging in the " Filth of the Lowest Being" ..He once revealed to Swami Vivekananda that he could transmit  all those supernatural powers if he wished..and they would bring millions of folowers but they would not take any one God ward and towards the final destination of true Peace and Bliss.
A Very senior Monk of the Ramakrishna order once described `False Prophets' as those who lure people with displays and experiences of super natural powers and in the end lead to the destruction of themselves and their followers..The test was to see if the people who followed these " Super Natural " peddlers became stronger human beings..more sane, logical..practical, God loving and productive or ended up as substance abuse addicts and brain washed patients  in Psychiatric wards..
" the test of a true man of God is that he can create in you a love for God and develop in you the " Peace that surpasses all understanding" as described in the words of Jesus said the Swami.
It is strange but true that many of the prominent " Self Styled Prophets" in the West and Miraculous `Gurus' of the East.. have made their name and fame and money based on the `marketing of " Super Natural and Miraculous Powers" . Interestingly if you study their words and claims  closely they have often picked up examples from Raja Yoga / Patanjali/ Vedanta, Kundalini Yoga and Buddhism and  tried to fit it into their own scriptures and interpretation of the scriptures and then  turned around and denounced Vedanta, Hinduism, Buddhism and other old religions and those that follow them as followers of " False Gods" .
In India A certain "Bhagwan" who was once one of the richest men on earth was finally expelled from every country and died in ignominy in the city of Pune...he often made crude jokes about of his own `birth' religion hurting the religious sentiments of millions. At one time he owned a fleet of Diamond crusted Rolls Royce cars and amongst his followers were celebrities from Hollywood/ Bollywood and members of the Royal families of Europe. In the West the we have seen many examples of Catholic priests who use their " position and power " to abuse young children . Meanwhile the long list of names of " Self styled' prophets  and evangelists whose careers have been tainted or ended with scandal and shame in the western world will show up on any  Google Search.
Our Spiritual Teacher Swami Kripamayananda Maharaj explained..the Temptation of  Power is so great that only one in a million spiritual aspirant who has reached that state has the courage and the " Power " to renounce them and carry on towards the Goal.which is God realization alone...
The Bible Says ""And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep." 2 Peter 2:2

The aphorisms from verses 50 to 52  of Patnajali are very powerful and are as follows :

तद्वैराग्यादपि दोषबीजक्षये कैवल्यम् ॥५१॥51. By giving up super natural powers ( attained by great discipline) comes the destruction of the very seed of evil, which leads to `Kaivalya’. ( which means standing alone)

Swami Vivekananda : He attains Aloneness, independence, and becomes free. When one gives up even the ideas of omnipotence and omniscience, there comes entire rejection of enjoyment, of the temptations from celestial beings. When the Yogi has seen all these wonderful powers, and rejected them, he reaches the goal. What are all these powers? Simply manifestations. They are no better than dreams. Even omnipotence is a dream. It depends on the mind. So long as there is a mind it can be understood, but the goal is beyond even the mind.स्थान्युपनिमन्त्रणे सङ्गस्मयाकरणं पुनरनिष्टप्रसङ्गात् ॥५२॥

52. The Yogi should not feel allured or flattered by the overtures of celestial beings for fear of evil again.

Swami Vivekananda : There are other dangers too; Celestial and other beings come to tempt the Yogi. They do not want anyone to be perfectly free. They are jealous, just as we are, and worse than us sometimes. They are very much afraid of losing their places. Those Yogis who do not reach perfection die and become gods; leaving the direct road they go into one of the side streets, and get these powers. Then, again, they have to be born. But he who is strong enough to withstand these temptations and go straight to the goal, becomes free. ..

 The Nine days to Rama Navami…...How the incarnations destroy the forces of Evil.

“Whenever there is a decline of good  and noble acts and evil dominates..I incarnate myself from age to age to overcome the forces of evil and to protect the meek and righteous..” thus promised Sri Krishna in the holy Bhagwad Gita …in every world religion there is an understanding that God incarnates himself as a Human Being to fight the forces of evil and  that he will return again….and again whenever mankind is in great  danger….in Sanskrit the Divine incarnations are known as the Avatars..( from which the English word `Avatar’ has been derived..)

One of the most noble and heroic of all the 10 Divine Avatars of the ancient Hindus is that of Lord Rama. The Nine day festival of Rama is celebrated after the  New Moon of Spring March/ April.. The legend states that Lord Rama  who was born a Prince was groomed and chosen to be the heir to the throne of his Father the greatest of Kings Dasaratha. of the land of Bharata....( Undivided India).. Because of a wicked boon promised to his youngest wife..the King was forced to send his favourite son Rama into exile for 14 years . Rama his beautiful princess Sita and beloved brother Laxmana spend the 14 years of exile wandering over the plains and mountains of India..In this time..the Demon Ravana kidnapped Sita by disguising himself as an Old sage. Rama and his brother crossed oceans and mountains to rescue her…the entire epic Ramayana is the story of this divine fight of good over the extreme forces of evil and the victory of Rama…The two important points in the story were that Ravana the Demon had all the Supernatural Powers and he used it to grow in evil and power and money and lust..the second was that Sita the Queen of Lord Rama was tempted by the sight of a Golden deer..that was the `lure' the Trap..that led to the Battle..
Also view this post :http://lipimukherji.blogspot.ca/2013/09/when-darkness-encompasses-man-he-turns.html
In the month of March/ April the nine days following the New Moon of the spring are celebrated as the Nine days of Rama and culminates on his birthday which falls on the ninth day.

Ma Annapurna and Shiva

It is also the Spring festival of the Goddess Durga in many parts of India. The Lord Rama invoked the blessings of the Goddess to overcome the Devil Ravana . The eight day is also considered very auspicious as a celebration of God in the form of Mother who feeds the world..she is known as Ma Annapurna and her original Temple is located in Kashi in India. It is said..that even Lord Shiva went to her to ask for sustainance since it is sustainance that  enables us to continue to strive for the highest..
The Ramayana is one of the most favourite of Folk stories of the people of the Sub continent till this day..the Noble deeds of Rama, his heroism, bravery, loyalty to his wife , to his father, to his brother and to his subjects set the standards for what is expected from a King and from a true Man. ..There is a saying that the entire battle of Good versus evil would not have taken place if the queen Sita had not been tempted by the sight of a `golden fawn’ which she wanted as a pet..she sent her husband Rama to catch the fawn ( which was a decoy from the `devil’ and that is when the evil Demon found her alone and kidnapped her..Rama Navamai was celebrated at Vedanta Society of Toronto on Tuesday April 8th with music and prayers and worship..in India it is one of the most special days for the Devotees of Rama who was considered an ideal in every way..whether as a King..or a Husband..or  friend or a son..Swami Kripamayananda Maharaj gave a talk about the incarnation of Rama. The video recording can be seen on the Vedanta Society of Toronto website. Media/ Sunday Lectures.