A color version of my french blog in New SpringWidget

Get this widget!




Put it anywhere you want
Just press the option menu and share it
anyway you want




.

Next monday

I will be giving a few classes on the relationship between indian and tibetan art and the philosphy and spiritual dimension that it carries -- to students in a montreal public school



.

See my french blog in a New SpringWidget

Get this widget!


Put it anywhere you want
Just press the option menu and share it
anyway you want

More on the subject of my book

Myfrench book just published last week is a translation and anexplanation of a book done by my indian philosophy teacher :Satyanarayana das.

The title : Conte de l'Inde ancienne

For those who do not read french I will copy here parts of his articles on this subject.
I copy thm here in case you cannot see it on his web site : http://www.jiva.com/
(the original article was at this location: you can also see other articles there)

------

Best of Hitopadesha—Part - II
The Four Goals of Life
by Dr Satya Narayana Dasa

The Backdrop
About 1,500 years ago the King of Iran got hold of a book that contained the secret of how to raise the dead by means of rasayana, an elixir of life. The book explained the procedure to extract the elixir from herbs and trees growing on the high mountains of India. Eager to sample this elixir, the King sent his chief minister on a quest for the prescribed herbs and trees.

In India, the minister was well-received and aided by the sages. He scoured the mountains for the herbs and trees to make the elixir. No mixture he made, however, could bring the dead back to life. Finally, the disappointed minister concluded that the information was false.

Greatly distressed about returning empty-handed and disappointing his king, the minister asked his hosts what to do. They led him to a famous philosopher, who once searched in vain for the same elixir, and in the end discovered that the elixir was actually a book.

The philosopher explained that the story about the elixir was allegorical. The high mountains in the story represented the wise and learned men of lofty intellect; the trees and herbs, which are the products of the mountains, indicated the various writings of those sages; the elixir itself denoted the wisdom extracted from the sages’ writings, which revived the dead intelligence and buried thoughts of ignorant materialistic men.

Relieved and elated, the minister begged a copy of the book from the philosopher, translated it, and returned to his king. That book we know today is a variant of the book of Hitopadesha.

The origins of this book are a little less known. Study of old hand-written manuscripts, however, reveals that Narayana Pandit, who lived in the fourteenth century Bengal province of India, wrote the book on the request of King Dhavalchandra. Traditionally, it was taught to the initiated students in gurukula (ancient Hindu residential school in India).

Hitopadesha, or “Good Instructions”, is famous for its wisdom and is one of the most popular books on ethics and polity. It uses the story-within-a-story format, with animals as the main characters. It is popular with children because of the fables, in which characters of animals are used to personify certain traits found in humans. I am happy to have been able to translate this book from its original Sanskrit couplets. This will surely expand the reach of Hitopadesha and help children and grown-ups alike by being a tool while taking decisions. It will also inspire them to overcome their daily problems.

Below is an extract taken from the first chapter of Hitopadesha. I have selected the twenty-sixth couplet from this chapter. This is the second write-up of a series of total three articles that will be published in future.

“If one does not attain any of the goals of religion, economic development, regulated sense-gratification, and liberation, one’s life is useless, like the milk-less nipples hanging from a goat’s neck.”

The Four Goals of Life
According to ancient Indian scriptures such as the Vedas, the purpose of human life is to strive for the following four goals—pursuing one’s religion, attaining economic development, accomplishing regulated sense-gratification, and attaining liberation. Accordingly, the Supreme Lord offers human beings four types of pathways in the form of shastras (scriptures) to guide us towards the fulfilment of these goals.

The first among these is Dharma Shastra (theology and liturgy) that explains and lays down a person’s religious duties according to his or her age and nature of work. Second comes Artha Shastra (economics) that elucidates on the use of ethics by people while acquiring wealth by fair means. It also advises rulers on better public administration and offers instructions on proper conduct. The third guiding light is Kama Shastra (treatise on sex) that describes the process of gratifying one’s sexual desires without transgressing religious principles. Moksha Shastra is the fourth Dharma Shastra that describes how to attain liberation from the cycle of death and re-birth.

According to the Vedas, man’s average lifespan can be divided into four equal Ashramas (segments)—Brahmacharya (celibacy), Grihastha (family life), Vanaprastha (hermitage and mendicancy), and Sannyasa (renunciation). The first segment (Brahmacharya) constitutes the student life during which one learns the importance of all the four goals in life. During the course of Brahmacharya, students are expected to live a celibate life inside a gurukula under the tutelage of a guru (master). Throughout the rest of the Ashramas, one should practise religion, earn money and indulge in activities that gratify one’s senses in such a way that the three neither become come in the way of nor become independent of each another.

The Goal that Demands Self-Restraint
Here, I would like to throw light on the Kama Shashtra which is often mistaken for a means to encourage promiscuity. A case in point is Kama Sutra, a treatise on sex authored by Vatsyayana. Vatsyayana does not prescribe unrestricted sensual pleasure, nor is he opposed to it. A person who indulges excessively in the enjoyment of the senses cannot expect a happy and a long life. He therefore prescribes self-restraint and celibacy during the student life so as to channel one’s energy solely into acquiring knowledge. He also explains the importance of dharma, artha, and kama and concludes that artha is superior to kama, and that dharma is superior to artha.

Amazingly enough, Vatsyayana himself was a lifelong Brahmachari (celibate) and he wrote the book to encourage self-control, not sexual pleasure. He declares this in the concluding verses: “This Kama Sutra has been compiled by me, while observing celibacy and trance to teach proper human conduct, not attachment to sex. One who knows the essence of Kama Sutra and who protects dharma, artha, and kama by his dealings in society, will certainly become jitendriya—a master of his senses.”

The Ultimate Goal
Observing the above discussion, Narayana Pandit says in Hitopadesha that an intelligent human being must pursue one or more of these four goals according to his or her respective shastra. Otherwise, his or her life will be compared to the useless udder-like appendages hanging from a goat’s neck from where kids cannot expect milk. The pursuit of artha and kama while ignoring the scriptures will not lead one to the ultimate goal of life because although the living entities are naturally attracted to sensual gratification, the real goal is to become free from it.

Hence, the ultimate purpose of the sanctioned sense-pleasure is Nivritti (renunciation). When artha and kama are pursued according to the shastras, they can be counted as the Supreme Goals as they ultimately lead to the detachment of the body from its by-products. This is in addition to the fact that ultimately there is only one Supreme Goal—the attainment of moksha. The other three goals enable one to realise the fourth by dovetailing one’s natural human propensities.

The Fifth Goal
Here, I think it is worthwhile to mention Shri Chaitanya, a devotee of Lord Shri Krishna. He, however, is of the opinion that beyond these four goals there is a fifth one too, which is the highest goal of human life—prema (love of God). Prema brings peace in this life and the next, while the other goals simply lead to temporal happiness because in the next life we must start all over again.

Today, everyone is searching for the perfect person to love and be loved by, but, by forgetting the Almighty, the source of love, we have created so many false objects of affection. Without a loving relationship with someone as perfect and worthy as God Himself, we cannot be one with Him and be happy. This propensity to love is gained by chanting the Lord’s names without offence under the guidance of a bonafide guru.

From myth to mystical reality

"Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of the human life."
Joseph Campbell

... but the discipline of higher yogas, like bhakti-yoga,
is meant to free us all of all illusions
to connect with pure love to the ultimate source

You can now follow me on twitter

Follow me on twitter

Here is my twitter ID : http://twitter.com/guytetreault

For the uninitiated, Twitter is like a blog or message board with
really short messages (less than 140 characters in length). It's used
to update others about what you are doing, what you are thinking,
things you think others should check out, etc.

To get more knowledge on how to use twitter see this link






.

My french book

My french book just published last week is a translation and an explanation of a book done by my indian philosophy teacher : Satyanarayana das.

For those who do not read french I will copy here parts of his articles on this subject.
I copy thm here in case you cannot see it on his web site : http://www.jiva.com/
(the original article was at this location: you can also see other articles there)

My french book launch of last week

My french book just published last week is a translation and an explanation of a book done by my indian philosophy teacher : Satyanarayana das.

The title of my book : Conte de l'Inde ancienne

For those who do not read french I will copy here parts of his articles on this subject.
I copy thm here in case you cannot see it on his web site : http://www.jiva.com/
(the original article was at this location: you can also see other articles there)

------

Best of Hitopadesha—Part - I
Knowledge—the Highest Form of Wealth
by Dr Satya Narayana Dasa

The Backdrop
About 1,500 years ago the King of Iran got hold of a book that contained the secret of how to raise the dead by means of rasayana, an elixir of life. The book explained the procedure to extract the elixir from herbs and trees growing on the high mountains of India. Eager to sample this elixir, the King sent his chief minister on a quest for the prescribed herbs and trees.

In India, the minister was well-received and aided by the sages. He scoured the mountains for the herbs and trees to make the elixir. No mixture he made, however, could bring the dead back to life. Finally, the disappointed minister concluded that the information was false.

Greatly distressed about returning empty-handed and disappointing his king, the minister asked his hosts what to do. They led him to a famous philosopher, who once searched in vain for the same elixir, and in the end discovered that the elixir was actually a book.

The philosopher explained that the story about the elixir was allegorical. The high mountains in the story represented the wise and learned men of lofty intellect; the trees and herbs, which are the products of the mountains, indicated the various writings of those sages; the elixir itself denoted the wisdom extracted from the sages’ writings, which revived the dead intelligence and buried thoughts of ignorant materialistic men.

Relieved and elated, the minister begged a copy of the book from the philosopher, translated it, and returned to his king. That book we know today is a variant of the book of Hitopadesha.

The origins of this book are a little less known. Study of old hand-written manuscripts, however, reveals that Narayana Pandit, who lived in the fourteenth century Bengal province of India, wrote the book on the request of King Dhavalchandra. Traditionally, it was taught to the initiated students in gurukula (ancient Hindu residential school in India).

Hitopadesha, or “Good Instructions”, is famous for its wisdom and is one of the most popular books on ethics and polity. It uses the story-within-a-story format, with animals as the main characters. It is popular with children because of the fables, in which characters of animals are used to personify certain traits found in humans. I am happy to have been able to translate this book from its original Sanskrit couplets. This will surely expand the
reach of Hitopadesha and help children and grown-ups alike
by being a tool while taking decisions. It will also inspire them
to overcome their daily problems.

Below is an extract taken from the first chapter of Hitopadesha. I have selected the fourth couplet from this chapter. This is the first write-up of a series of total three articles that will be published in future.

“The best wealth is knowledge—it cannot be stolen, it is priceless and imperishable.”

The original couplet puts forward the three reasons why vidya (knowledge) is the best wealth.

Aharyatvat—Knowledge cannot be stolen
A rich man is always anxious that his wealth may be plundered or embezzled, lost in speculative business or gambling, or that he or his relatives may be held for ransom. Today’s rich man can easily become tomorrow’s pauper. As depicted in the epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira lost his entire kingdom in a day and Dhritarashtra lost all his sons in eighteen days along with the kingdom they had acquired by intrigue against their cousins, the Pandavas. Here, material wealth and happiness is compared with the instability of a drop of water on a lotus leaf. The short story that follows illustrates the precarious nature of riches.

Once, two brothers left their village to seek their fortune. One brother entered a gurukula and studied. The other became an apprentice to a rich merchant. After some years they decided to visit their parents and offer whatever they had earned. On the way, dacoits attacked and seized all the wealth of the brother who was the merchant’s apprentice. The other brother, who was only carrying wealth in the form of knowledge from books in his mind, was left untouched.

Knowledge cannot be snatched or taken away. It is permanent, never burdensome to carry, and causes no anxiety. Instead, it alleviates one’s anxiety. Therefore, knowledge is the most stable form of wealth. Furthermore, spiritual knowledge is never lost, even after the demise of the body. It is a permanent asset.

Anarghatvat—Education is priceless
Although worldly affluence is limited, vidya is unlimited, for no one can estimate the extent or value of one’s knowledge. With knowledge, one can earn any amount of wealth. Consultants in different fields earn millions, while their knowledge remains intact; in fact it increases with time and experience. Knowledge is also priceless in the sense that it cannot be purchased like other commodities; it has to be earned by individual effort.

Aksayatvat—Education is imperishable
Worldly riches diminish when distributed. As a result, most people are not enthusiastic about indulging in charity. Vidya, however, increases when shared with others.

This is especially true with spiritual knowledge. A man enriched with transcendental knowledge can distribute his wealth unlimitedly, yet his wealth of realisation will only increase. This can be practically tested when one tries to explain the philosophy of Vedic literature, which presents the path of pure devotional service to Lord Krishna as the true culmination of all knowledge. The more one talks about the Vedic teachings, the more one’s store of transcendental knowledge increases. This experience is available to anyone who does not adulterate the true spirit and intent of the Lord’s instruction to Arjuna.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, “In this endeavour there is no loss or diminution.” When one dies, his worldly wealth is left behind, but spiritual knowledge is never lost. It is carried with his subtle body to his next life. In this way, spiritual knowledge is superior to worldly opulence.

In this connection, there is a story about a proud king who was attached to worldly opulence. A saintly person once called on him, and noticing the king’s strong attachment to mercenary objects, suddenly became very serious. “Why have you become so grave?” asked the King.

“I can foresee,” replied the saint, “that very soon you will die; but don’t worry. Your pious deeds will elevate you to the heavenly sphere. However, there is one problem! Your heavenly palace will be infested with mosquitoes, and though you will have a nice mosquito net, it will have a hole through which the mosquitoes will enter and bite you.”

Though the king liked the saint’s message, the bit about the mosquitoes disturbed him. For, he hated them. However, he
assured the saint that he would simply have the net mended.

The saint replied, “That’s alright, except for the fact that in heaven there are no needles. So when you die, be sure to take a needle with you.”

“But how can I take a needle with me?”

“I have no idea,” said the saint, “but if you cannot even take a needle with you, then why are you so proud of your earthly opulence?”

Hearing this, the king realised the futility of his attachment and forsook his false pride.

Therefore, knowledge is the highest form of wealth.

Endnote
To sum up, here, I quote Shri Shukracharya, who says, “Vidya is superior to material wealth as it is the cause of earning all other wealth; it always increases when given in charity; it is never burdensome to carry; and no one can ever forcibly take it away.”


.

How to keep a Photography Journal

I love to take pictures in an artistic way.

I would like to share with you some tips that I found on the web
on how to improve our photography skills

Keep a Photography Journal

Sometimes when Lisa and I are out, I would get this great idea for a photograph that I would like to try out but more often than not, I'd forget it before we even get home. Fed up, I decided to start a photography journal.

Lisa wanted to join me and got a Moleskine for it since she prefers writing on those. I got a local one that's similarly made but bound in real leather. The construction is not as sturdy but it's cheaper so it works for me. But enough about notebooks and back to the topic at hand.

It's only been a few days but I've written a quite a few things in it already. Here are some of things I've written in mine:

1. Ways to Improve

I selected some of my shots that I think could be improved in some way. I then shrunk them down in Photoshop so I could cram as many photos as I can in a 4R print. I'd print them out and cut them up, and then stick them on the notebook. (Lisa likes to say I'm scrapbooking, so I hum the theme to The Godfather while doing this to feel more manly.) Beside the images, I write down what could have made the photo better.

see the full article

Waves of loves

@19, originally uploaded by RTaunton2008.

Does love ripples in our hearth in waves or in blossoms ????

See 24 videos of me speaking on different subjects

Here is the link to all of them

Most of them are in english language -- some in french
(I got many more french vodeos on YouTube : over 40 of them)

You can suscribe to the video pages because more of them is coming

Importnat video I did a few years ago

I found back a video of myself I did a few years ago.

The subject is very important.

It is not something people usually want to hear but it is a major feature explained in the great classicla of youga : Bhagavad-gita

http://www.veoh.com/channels/glprob



.

Eisntein knew the limits of material sciences

Dad's Argument with Einstein., originally uploaded by Ya Ya.

No, this trick won't work... How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? --- Albert Einstein

My profile on on LinkedIn

I am now present on LinkedIn

Do not hesitate to connect to my profile to grow our respective network of interesting people.

You will find my profile at the following link



.

Want to hear what type of music I like ???

Bleue intense, originally uploaded by merlin600058.

Go to my Songza account to see a selection of ot:
http://songza.com/gopi108

Mosaic of Kaleidoscopes & Mandalas

Mosaic of Kaleidoscopes & Mandalas, originally uploaded by Tobyotter.

Enlightening art that makes our hearth glow

The word mandala is a sanskrit word that refers to a sacred circle. The word mandala itself is derived from the root manda, which means essence, to which the suffix la, meaning container, has been added. Thus, one obvious connotation of mandala is that it is a container of essence.

Vedanta at the rescue

Close up #2, originally uploaded by RebeVane.

There is so much misunderstanding about vedanta and hinduism, but it was nice to read one person who had a nice vision of the position of vedanta amidst hinduism and the various conceptions of god. Here is an excrpt:

I understand that Hindus have a variety of "gods," yet underlying Hinduism is Vedanta, which asserts the One that cannot be named. As I see it then, Hinduism, allows for different manifestations of God, but believes in an underlying oneness.

See the full text (and political context)

Have you ever Googled yourself ?

By googling my name it was nice to see that the 10 first entry were all related to me and only on the second page there was mention of other TETREAULT.

Of course this is only a temporary situation with a temporary legal name in a temporary body on a temporary universe... but it is interesting to know that those who are interested in getting in touch with me can still have the possibility to do it

A nice demonstration of loving gratitude

because You love me..., originally uploaded by Princess K8.

Please follow the link above and see the photo and texts of this nice artist. It seems a nice demonstration of loving grattitude... going towards pure love

because You love me...

Even the mundane benefits of meditation are great

photo by Guy Tetreault

What to speak of the spiritual ones !!!



Here is some of the day to day benefit of a meditative discipline

Inner Peace

Concentration

Stress Relief

Improved Health

Alleviates Pain

Get more info on this

Someone has sent you a song!

Hi there! I thought you'd like to check out this song and video.

Ravi Shankar, Alla Rakha - Tabla Solo in Jhaptal
http://songza.com/z/ksbo1c

A very nice explanation of indian raga music by executed by 2 of my favorite musicians -- a very nice video shows it.
---
Brought to you by Songza.com, the music search engine and internet jukebox.

This moring meditation : from 2am to 4h30 am

harangláb , originally uploaded by riverava.

Being invaded
by a space of pure love
for the Absolute Love

:)

Fall colours

Picture by Guy Tetreault

It is fall season again in Canada

The contrast of colour of the colored leafs against the blue sky is
something similar to transfiguration

vedic psychology project

I am working on a book and workshop project.
One of it's goal is to show the amazing vedic perspective in important conception such as this one:

The problem is how to integrate the conscious mind with the physical brain—how to reveal a unity beneath this apparent diversity. That problem is very hard, and I do not believe anyone has any good ideas about how to solve it.

Colin McGinn : "Can We Ever Understand Consciousness?,"The New York Review, June 10, 1999.


More information on this project coming soon !!!

Update of a part of the french classes I have given in the last 5 years

Corry it is all in french language

Here is the complete list updated

307 audio files

157transcribed texts

143 subjects

See it in pdf

Share it

You can now easily share any of this blog content
with your friends or your social websites

The ShareThis plug-in instantly boosts your content distribution!

See it at the lower-left corner of this post?

Easy to use and efficient !!!!

I went to a funeral home during the weekend

Blind and Lilly, originally uploaded by Martin The Hat.

Everyone was nicely dress and shining with sobriety

It is amazing to see how death makes some people
illuminated with more life

My first french book is now available in libraries

The title : Conte de l'Inde ancienne

It is distributed all over the province of Quebec by Prologue

See their web site: http://www.prologue.ca/

The first beam in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN

I always wondered if they discovered new things with the LHC

According to a press release it vas a success :
http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2008/PR08.08E.html

Too bad it will take another six months before they continue the
experiments.

We are all waiting to see what science will have as a new story !!!

What happens at the collision of two black holes

The subject is as abstract as metaphysics
but is is of interest to all of those, like me,
who are interested in what is happening at the utmost corner of the infinite

See the nice video and article:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/37200/title/No_naked_black_holes

Another deep subject of meditation : is the blackness of black holes
related to the dark energy and dark matter which scientist just
discovered that they make
96% of reality ???

Any connection with the Blackish Source of Everything (Krishna in
sanskrit etymology) ?????

Our book launching of last week

Last wednesday we launched our french book on vedic astrology, written by my life companion Andrée Leclerc.

It was very nicely organized by our Edito: Isabelle Quentin

The conference was really appreciated by the public who mentionned that the astrologer knew her subject very well.

We are real pioneers in presenting these many new aspects of india's vedic way of life that has proven essential to go deeper in a life of yoga and meditation.

Next week I will launch my book on Niti -- another not so well known aspect of vedic way of life.

We hope that are efforts will be appreciated

Special invitation for the launching of my french book

The official launching day is october 15 2008

See the details in my french blog