Spring and Telugu Vasantham - Ugadi Festival

After the intense cold of the winter, the spring arrives with its charm and beauty.

It’s time to drop your woolens and set off with an absolutely fresh look.

It is the most pleasant season in India. It begins with the ‘Holi’ in February and continues up to the end of March. Though it lives for the short duration, it bewitches people in such a way that they sing songs in its praise throughout the year.

The spring is one of the most beautiful, and most colorful. It emerges from the Earth.

In this season there is neither too cold nor too hot. That's why the nature wears a kind look. It is at its best with greenery everywhere. All the trees and plants are in bloom. The crops get ripen and the fields look golden. We see new and tender leaves which come out in the branches of the trees. The birds remain silent throughout the winter season. But as soon as the spring comes, they break their silence and start singing sweet songs. They look so gay that it seems as if they are thanking to God with their thousands of notes.


The power of spring and its regenerative effects are evidenced by the fact that every major religion includes a major holiday in the spring season.

At long last, spring would soon be in welcomed in this part of the world. Holi was celebrated all over India last week. The spirit of such a season helps us rediscover the many other blessings in our lives

Nature gives a grand feast to our hungry eyes. Buds of flowers peep to see its beautiful sight. Flowers bloom and spread their sweet fragrance all around. They make us feel healthy and active. We do much work during this season because we never get tired. We feel fresh all the time and this is the main attraction of the spring.

The villages present even more beautiful sight. There we find nature in its full bloom. The green and yellow fields fill our hearts with hope. The farmers look very happy because their crops are ripe and they would soon reap the reward of their months of long labor. They feel a feeling of plenty in the air. The spring revels reach a climax during the Holi festival in March. There is nothing but colour everywhere. Colours denote energy-the vivid, passionate pulse of life. Colour signifies the vitality that makes the human race unique in the universal scheme. Thus, the festival of colours i.e., Holi is a beautiful gift of spring.

Traditionally, Indians note six seasons, each about two months long. These are the spring (Sanskrit: vasanta), summer (grīṣma), monsoon season (varṣā), early autumn (śarada), late autumn (hemanta), and winter (śiśira).


There is no one who does not praise the beauty of the spring. In summer we have intense heat, in winter we have too much cold, and in rainy season we face suffering related to excess rain or scanty rain. It is only spring season when we have no complain at all. We have only pleasure all around and we never get tired of it. It is therefore said that spring is the queen of all seasons. It is really true. It is a matchless season and therefore all welcome it with full heart.

It is believed that the creator of the Hindu pantheon Lord Brahma started creation on this day - Chaitra suddha padhyami or the Ugadi day. Also the great Indian Mathematician Bhaskaracharya's calculations proclaimed the Ugadi day from the sunrise on as the beginning of the new year, new month and new day. The onset of spring also marks a beginning of new life with plants (barren until now) acquiring new life, shoots and leaves. Spring is considered the first season of the year hence also heralding a new year and a new beginning. The vibrancy of life and verdent fields, meadows full of colorful blossoms signifies growth, prosperity and well-being.

With the coming of Ugadi, the naturally perfumed jasmines (mallepulu) spread a sweet fragrance which is perhaps unmatched by any other in nature's own creation! While large garlands of jasmine are offered to Gods in homes and temples, jasmine flowers woven in clusters adorn the braids of women. Ugadi is thus a festival of many shades. It ushers in the new year, brings a rich bounce of flora and fills the hearts of people with joy and contentment!

Ugadi Pachhadi

It is a season for raw mangoes spreading its aroma in the air and the fully blossomed neem tree that makes the air healthy. Also, jaggery made with fresh crop of sugarcane adds a renewed flavor to the typical dishes associated with Ugadi.

• Neem Buds/Flowers for Bitterness
• Jaggery for Sweetness
• Raw Mango for Vagaru
• Tamarind Juice for sour
• Salt for salty
• Green Pepper for hotness


For more dishes go to:
http://www.neivedyam.com/2007/03/ugadi-feast.html

This mixture with all six called "Ugadi Pachhadi”, symbolizes the fact that life is a mixture of pleasure and pain, which should be accepted together and with equanimity.

We decorate the entrance of our houses with fresh mango leaves. And on the ground in front of their house we draw colorful floral designs. Wear new cloths. Everything looks feel-good on the day.


Later, people traditionally gather to listen to the recitation of the religious almanac (Panchangam) of the coming year, and to the general forecast of the year to come. This is the Panchanga Sravanam, an informal social function where an elderly and respected person opens the new almanac pertaining to the coming year and makes a general benediction to all present.

With all these, and

కొయిల కుహు కుహు రాగాలతొ, సరదాల సరాగలతొ, నొరూరే మామిడి పులుపుతొ, కొత్త చింతపండు రుచితొ, కమ్మని బెల్లం, వేప వగరు, పచ్ఛని మామిడి ఆకుల తొరణాలతొ, మురిపించె ముగ్గులతొ, కోటి ఆశల హరివిల్లుతొ నూతన సంవత్సరం ళొకి అడుగిడె సమయాన, మీకు, మీ కుటుంబానికి, మీ శ్రేయోభిలాశులకు విరొధి నామ యుగాది శుభకాంక్షలు

Stock your mind

What do you have in mind?" is actually, "What are you thinking about?"

You have to study and learn so that you can make up your own mind but you can't make up an empty mind. You cannot flush out anything from your brain. Why? Because it is a repository of information. It only takes input and processes the data and makes it organized, linked and mapped with other related and associated information. It is your house of treasure and no one in the world can interfere with it. Your mind is your house and if you fill it with rubbish from the cinemas it will rot in your head.

Suppose you wanted to arrive at a specific location like a beautiful landscape and you find a route map that would be a great help to you in reaching your destination. But suppose you were given the wrong map. But still you are unaware whether you are reaching to your destination or not. You go on following the map. Can you imagine the frustration, the ineffectiveness of trying to reach your destination?

You might work on your behavior -- you could try harder. Be more diligent. Double your speed. But your efforts would only succeed in getting you to the wrong place faster. You might work on your attitude -- you could think more positively. You still wouldn't get to the right place, but perhaps you wouldn't care. Your attitude would be so positive, you'd be happy wherever you were.

The point is, you'd still be lost. The fundamental problem has nothing to do with your behavior or your attitude. It has everything to do with having a wrong map.

When you encounter frustrating obstacles along the way, then attitude can make a real difference. But the first and most important requirement is the accuracy of the map.

We simply assume that the way we see things is the way they really are or the way they should be. And our attitudes and behaviors grow out of those assumptions. The way we see things is the source of the way we think and the way we act.

Stock your mind with all possible information that is required for you mind to analyze and give you a right plan to implement. The more information you give, the more accurately will be the plan. Your brain is a super computer when supplied with input and predefined result, it gives the result as you specified. Your work is to supply with sufficient right data to it.

It is not a program to give Insufficient Data Error or Data out of range error. It doesn’t throw any exception. It processes with only available required information and produces the result which you perceive to be the actual result you desired. So,

Stock your mind, Stock your mind, Stock your mind.

The Sound of Silence

What is sound? According to modern science, it is vibration.

Where there is vibration there is a sound. Conversely, to produce a sound the vibration corresponding to it must also be created.

Among the five elements of the universe, Sound is the first and most subtle sense, making it the most powerful. Sound's object is akasha(Sky), the most subtle element.

Consider human beings and other creatures. What is it that determines their health and feelings? The breath that passes through our nerves and blood vessels, during respiration produces vibrations and on them depends the state of our health.

Breath is vital not only to the body but also to the mind. The mind which is the source of thought and the vital(pranik) energy that is the source of breath are the same. Healthy or unhealthy thoughts are to be attributed to different vibrations of the nadis.

In a sense, air going into our body in different ways is a manifestation of the yogic science: it is because of the vibrations caused in our nadis as a result of the passage of our breath that our emotions and powers take shape. There is a saying, "What is in the macrocosm is present in the microcosm. " As mentioned before, the vibrations within us produce vibrations outside also and these are the cause of worldly activities.

When you play the flute, the sound is produced by the air discharged in various measures through different outlets. Our throat has a similar system to produce sound. It is not that the throat alone is involved in this process. How do we speak and sing? Speaking or singing is an exercise that has its source below the navel in the "muladhara" or "root base" of the spinal column. From this point the breath is brought up in various measures as we speak or sing.

When the powers of nature are unfavourable to us, is there a way to change their behaviour and make them favourable to us? Is there also a means by which our mind could be brought under control when it goes haywire? If everything is caused by vibration, by sound, there must be a way of making the forces of nature favourable to us and of purifying our mind and bringing it under control through this very sound. The Vedas constitute such sound.

The Vedas are called "Sruti. " That which is heard is Sruti. "Srotra" means the "ear". The Vedas have been handed down orally from generation to generation and have not been taught or learned from any written text. That is how they got the name of "Sruti". Why were these scriptures not permitted to be written down? Because the sound of the Vedas cannot be properly transcribed. There are sounds or phonemes that cannot be accurately represented in any script.

On recognizing the power of the sound and its significance, the Vedas were taught with Sound as a key factor. There is a specific vibration to sound and it has been proven that sound can easily change the mental state of a person. Thus a sound can itself rise the level of Consciousness.

There is anomalous power in sound. When we spell the Vedas, the sound produced in the form of sound waves makes a rotation. These wave rotations become synchronous with those produced by the rotation of the earth. When this merging happens, anomalous energy gets produced.

You’ve probably heard the Sanskrit word paramahamsa, which literally means supreme swan. The swan is a symbol of purity. Incidentally, the Goddess Saraswati rides on a swan. The swan is also a symbol of So Hum, the basic mantra of the breath, the incoming (So) and the outgoing (Hum). When you reverse the mantra, it is hamsa which means swan. Saraswati is the Goddess of speech. She wears a white sari which she keeps white by purity, she wears crystal beads and she rides on a swan. Why a swan? The swan has a secret. If you pour milk on the water, the swan can take the milk out of the water, because there is an acid in the mouth of the swan that allows it to absorb the milk and leave the water behind. So the swans or the paramahamsas (the pure ones) know what is the nectar, the milk, and are able to drink in the nectar and leave the water (the world) behind. So by drinking in the sacred sounds of the Vedas and sounding the mantras you are in fact filling the glass of your being with this sacred milk, the Vedic sound vibration. This sacred milk fills your being and displaces all of the ink, the tamas or darkness, from your being. The real presence of the Divine occurs when the transcendental divine sound flows through us.

Om or Aum’ is a mystical or sacred Sanskrit syllable.Om is the universal name of the Lord.It is considered as the root mantra of all mantra.Om or Aum’ is the sound which is not the result of the striking of two objects. It, rather emanates on its own. It is the primal sound of the universe that contains all sounds in itself.

Om or Aum’ is the nearest sound which can be used to address the totality of consciousness.Om or Aum’ is the eternal sound. It is the sound of your soul.Feel it. Om or Aum’ is truth, vibration of consciousness.Om or Aum’ is peace, the primordial sound of the universe.

It is made up of the letters A (phonetically as in "around"), U (phonetically as in "put") and M (phonetically as in "mum"). The sound emerging from the vocal chords starts from the base of the throat as "A". With the coming together of the lips, "U" is formed and when the lips are closed, all sounds end in "M".

Four parts of OM: The OM Mantra has four parts. First, is the sound like "Ah," then "Uuuu," then "Mmmm," and finally the silence beyond the mantra. Thus, the mantra is also written as AUM, as well as OM. The three sounds, and the silence have the following meanings: 1. The A sound refers to the gross world. 2. The U part refers to the subtle realm. 3. The M refers to the causal plane, out of which the gross and subtle emerge. 4. The Silence after these three, refers to the absolute reality that is the substratum for each of the other three realities.

How to chant AUM:

Chant AUM beginning slowly with A sound increasing the sound U and slowly ending with M sound. While chanting AUM, the force should come from the stomach. Have you heard how airplane takes off?? first soft , loud and louder and softer.There are 4 things we should not forget while chanting AUM.Syllables There are 4 syllables in AUM. A, U, M and silence. while chanting AUM we should not move any part of our body even mouth should not be moved.Try to sit up straight.

How to say “OM”?
The saying or singing of the sound “om” (pronounced “aum”). Om is a simple sound that creates vibration, teaches slow & deep breathing, calms the mind.

Say/sing “ar” as in the start of “argh” for 2 seconds, then blend this into the sound of “u” like the end of “you” for 3 seconds, and end by blending into the sound “m”.

Try to create and feel the “a” starting in the abdomen, the “u” in the chest and the “m” in the mouth and lips. Your mouth will start open like a circle for a, half close to an oval or u and close fully to make them.

A: sound emanate from throat (force comes from stomach, force should come up toward your head)
U: sound emanate from tongue, sounds the loudest
M: Sound complete in back of your throat.
PAUSE OR SILENCE BEFORE ANOTHER A

At this time bring your concentration above your head. Please practice with this!!

BENEFITS
After you say/sing om, it becomes a memory too – a sound in the silence of your mind. When you say it is also a feeling, a vibration. When you do it, you learn that you need a deep inhale and a slow exhale (which is good breathing technique). Instead of a normal 12-15 (shallow) breaths a minute you reduce to about 4 (10 seconds exhale, 5 seconds inhale, repeated). It’s creates oxygen richer blood for the body …and brain.

IMPORTANT TIP
To ensure comfort and ease of breathing (and therefore clarity of say/singing om, sit upright so that your abdomen and lungs can freely expand and contract. Slouching restricts the lungs.
Yogi’s believe the body has a limited number of breaths.Therefore,

slower breathing = longer life
Life starts with breath, and ends when breath ends.In between we breath, non-stop, in and out.

Better breathing = better life

Life Responds

What you believe in you become. Your thoughts become your actions.

When your thoughts are positive the environment around you too looks positive. One negative thought may leads to wars and fights. It gives raise to enemity or rivalry towards with yourself. You start hating yourself inside and start blaming others for your situation.Stop thinking negative.

Start Dreaming. The dreams you choose to believe in come to be true.

When you feel in your innermost being that you will achieve what you set out to do, you open the way for miracles.

Choose to believe something good can happen from every thing that happens. Expecting it to happen good energizes your goal and actually gives it momentum.

Life responds according to your thoughts and your WILL.

When you are negative inside and only you spell positively, it doesn't yield good results. Life understand only what you are inside and it responds the same. then it looks all negative results happening around you. You find all wrong people surrounding you. You start thinking everything and everyone are working around make you away form your desires.And unknowingly you start hating people inside.

One has to know that every human being is surrounded by some electric waves. The strength of waves comes from your thoughts and beliefs.

Observe when you are angry, the waves around you change accordingly. Others can feel the dis comfortableness to be near to you. They move away from you even they don't know you are angry or sad inside. See children or pet animals very easily understand your angry. This causes the breakdown of your communication with your near and dear one's who are around you.

That's the power of your thoughts. So spread positive waves around you. Then people around you like to be with you and your companionship too.

Let you life responds as you like it to. Don't become slave to your wants and desires that grows the angryness, greedyness, selfishness inside you.

Have a beautiful celebrating Life.

Wishing you all Happy Colorful Holi.....

Red, blue, orange, green, yellow, white, pink all colours are dying to touch your face.

Here I send you Rainbow message…

Dipped Colors of Joy and happiness,

Those will make your life even more colourful..

May God gift you all the colors of life,

colors of joy, colors of happiness,

colors of friendship, colors of love

and all other colors you want to paint in your life.

Wishing you a Happy Holi…