felt that there was another Vipula who appeared before him and accused him of unrighteous behavior. The nights became sleepless and restless
One day he decided to leave the ashram and go to another city. On the way, he stopped for the night at a roadside rooming house. When he tried to sleep, he heard two people talking. One of them invited the other to gamble, but he answered. "Never. Do you think I'm like Vipula?" Vipula was shocked to hear this. Looking out the window, he saw two people, one dark, the other light. He wondered how they knew about his secret deed.
The next morning he went to the nearest river to bathe. There he saw six girls who came to swim and draw water. One of the girls complained that her necklace disappeared after bathing. Her friend replied, "You must have left him at home. We are not like Vipula who steals things." Vipula froze upon hearing this exchange and began to wonder how the girls knew about his secret theft.
He decided to leave the city, but soon ran into a group of ten young men who were being interrogated by two soldiers from the city guard. The soldiers said that several gems that adorned the dining room of the local temple were missing. They wanted to search the wanderers to see if any of them had stolen these stones. The wanderers vigorously defended their innocence, but the watchmen insisted on a thorough search. Finding nothing, the guards decided to let the suspects go when one of the wanderers remarked: "We told you that we have nothing. Do you think we are the same liars as Vipula?" This time Vipula was simply shocked. He believed that sinned secretly, but it seemed that the whole world knew about it. He decided to return to his guru, confess his evil deeds and ask for forgiveness.
Vipula returned to the ashram and was touched to see with what joy his guru and his wife received him. Vipula confessed to what he had done and asked for forgiveness. He also asked his guru how so many people could have known about his secret sins. The Guru replied, "My dear child, there are no deeds that we can do without the knowledge of others."
There are higher divine powers that are witnesses of all our deeds. They know everything there is to know. Witnesses of our deeds take on the forms of Kala (time), Dik (direction) and Atma (essence). The two people you met in the rooming house were personifications of day and night - light and dark. The six girls on the river bank were the personification of the six mouths (seasons). All of them are aspects of the time that witnessed your actions. The ten wanderers you have met represent the ten dik devatas who control the directions. (According to Indian tradition, the ten directions are east, west, south, north, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, up and down.) These directions have also witnessed your deeds. Finally, Vipula outside of you, pointing his finger at your wrong actions, was none other than the personification of your essence. All these forces are silently watching everything that we do. There is a Higher Power who knows everything. Ordinarily it is invisible to us, but in spite of your delusion, thanks to the purity of your heart, this power has manifested before you. Therefore, do not think that there is any action that can remain secret."

1-26
GURU FORGETTING HIS GURU

On the banks of the sacred Ganges, the guru lived with his disciples "rdin. One of the disciples was very devoted to his guru and made amazing progress in his spiritual search.
One day the guru asked this disciple to bring some firewood for the sacred hearth from the forest on the other side of the river. The disciple immediately set off, but when he came to the water, he learned that the boatman would not be there all day. Ученик страшно огорчился оттого, что не смог выполнить поручение гуру Finally он обратился с мольбами к богине Ганга, чтобы она позволила ему пересечь реку, так как он получил задание от своего святого гуру. With these words he lifted his joined palms up, proclaiming "Shri gurubhyo nama (salutations to my guru)" and entered the water. Miraculously, he walked on the water, crossed the river and came back with what the guru desired. The guru sat nearby and watched the scene, dumbfounded. He was bursting with pride: his disciple managed to cross the river simply by calling to him "How great must be my glory," thought the guru, whose pride knew no bounds.
He quickly walked to the river and stepped into the water. But as soon as he stepped into the water, he immediately slipped and fell into the river. Luckily, a peasant who was sitting on the shore dived into the water and managed to pull the panting guru out. The startled guru lay down on the ground, shivering from the cold. "What was wrong?" he thought. "How is it that my student miraculously walked on water just by mentioning my name, and I immediately drowned?" he added aloud. На что крестьянин, спасший гуру, сказал: "Господин, я видел, что случилось. Я малограмотный человек, но позвольте рассказать о моих впечатлениях. Really, ваш ученик с вашим именем на устах прошел по воде. Вам тоже нужно было упомянуть имя своего гуруWhat matters is the bhavana (attitude) towards the proclamation of the name, and not the glory of the one whose name is mentioned."
The Indian epic constantly confirms the practice of yoga. At the beginning of yoga exercises, one should traditionally pray and say that we, the students, are grateful not only to our teacher, but also to the teacher of our teacher, etc., up to the first teacher Ishvara.

1-28
CORRECT BHAVANA

Two brothers, Gopal and Bala, both God-fearing and religious, went on a pilgrimage to a temple located in a remote village. After several days of travel, they arrived in the evening in this village and began looking for a place to stay for the night. A business
took place on the eve of the most significant temple festival of that year, so all the premises were already occupied. They were told that the only free space left was in the house of a local prostitute. Left with no choice and realizing that this place could be taken, they went to the named house for the night.
The next morning they woke up early and began to prepare to arrive at the temple at the appointed time. But they ran into a new problem. Arriving from afar, they brought with them luggage, which, by the way, represented all the property they had. They didn't want to leave him unattended. The solution was found when Gopal generously offered to stay and look after the luggage while Bala was involved in the celebration. Bala agreed, but when he reached the temple, he suddenly realized that his brother was left alone with the prostitute. It even seemed to him that this was the real reason why his brother had offered to stay. Confused, he did not think of anything else during the whole holiday.
Gopal, sitting near the things in the house, thought about how lucky his brother was. He imagined God, luxuriously dressed, sitting in the midst of a crowd praising him, and himself sitting in a prostitute's house. “But thanks to this place, we were able to stay, and at least my brother got the opportunity to see everything,” he reassured himself.
Later, when Bala returned, they went back to their village. Suddenly it began to rain, and the brothers hid under a tree. Suddenly lightning struck the tree, and both brothers died. Bala found himself falling into hell while his brother ascended to heaven. He cried out to God, asking why he had been treated so unfairly. After all, this morning in the temple he participated in the praise of God, while his brother spent time in the company of a prostitute. God replied: "The only thing that matters is your bhavana. While you were in the temple, seeing your brother with a prostitute in front of you, he, staying in the prostitute's house, saw me."

NARASIMHA MEDITATION

The Shankara Vijayam text contains an authoritative account of several episodes from the life of Adi Shankara. In one of the stories we are talking about a disciple of Shankara named Padmapada. Once Shankara was visited by the head of the Kapalikas (a religious group that sacrificed animals and people). He told Shankara that in order to complete an important ritual, he needed to sacrifice either an emperor or a great saint. So he asks Shankara's permission to cut off his head and offer it as a sacrifice. Shankara, who did not particularly have deep feelings for his own body, readily agreed to this proposal.
He, however, warned the kapapika that this should be done in the absence of the disciples, otherwise they would oppose the sacrifice. He asked the kapapik to meet him the next evening under a tree where he would meditate. His disciples will not be present and the sacrifice will not be interrupted. The next evening, the kapapika approached the tree under which Shankara was meditating. He drew his sword and prepared to behead Shankara. Suddenly Padmapada appeared and the pandemonium began. When Shankara opened his eyes, a strange picture appeared before his eyes. Kapapika lay lifeless and torn to pieces, and Padmapada stood over him, blood dripping from his nails. Shankara was not at all surprised to see the usually gentle Padmapada in this ferocious posture. He politely inquired whether Padmapada had

felt that there was another Vipula who appeared before him and accused him of unrighteous behavior. The nights became sleepless and restless
One day he decided to leave the ashram and go to another city. On the way, he stopped for the night at a roadside rooming house. When he tried to sleep, he heard two people talking. One of them invited the other to gamble, but he answered. "Never. Do you think I'm like Vipula?" Vipula was shocked to hear this. Looking out the window, he saw two people, one dark, the other light. He wondered how they knew about his secret deed.
The next morning he went to the nearest river to bathe. There he saw six girls who came to swim and draw water. One of the girls complained that her necklace disappeared after bathing. Her friend replied, "You must have left him at home. We are not like Vipula who steals things." Vipula froze upon hearing this exchange and began to wonder how the girls knew about his secret theft.
He decided to leave the city, but soon ran into a group of ten young men who were being interrogated by two soldiers from the city guard. The soldiers said that several gems that adorned the dining room of the local temple were missing. They wanted to search the wanderers to see if any of them had stolen these stones. The wanderers vigorously defended their innocence, but the watchmen insisted on a thorough search. Finding nothing, the guards decided to let the suspects go when one of the wanderers remarked: "We told you that we have nothing. Do you think we are the same liars as Vipula?" This time Vipula was simply shocked. He believed that sinned secretly, but it seemed that the whole world knew about it. He decided to return to his guru, confess his evil deeds and ask for forgiveness.
Vipula returned to the ashram and was touched to see with what joy his guru and his wife received him. Vipula confessed to what he had done and asked for forgiveness. He also asked his guru how so many people could have known about his secret sins. The Guru replied, "My dear child, there are no deeds that we can do without the knowledge of others."
There are higher divine powers that are witnesses of all our deeds. They know everything there is to know. Witnesses of our deeds take on the forms of Kala (time), Dik (direction) and Atma (essence). The two people you met in the rooming house were personifications of day and night - light and dark. The six girls on the river bank were the personification of the six mouths (seasons). All of them are aspects of the time that witnessed your actions. The ten wanderers you have met represent the ten dik devatas who control the directions. (According to Indian tradition, the ten directions are east, west, south, north, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, up and down.) These directions have also witnessed your deeds. Finally, Vipula outside of you, pointing his finger at your wrong actions, was none other than the personification of your essence. All these forces are silently watching everything that we do. There is a Higher Power who knows everything. Ordinarily it is invisible to us, but in spite of your delusion, thanks to the purity of your heart, this power has manifested before you. Therefore, do not think that there is any action that can remain secret."

1-26
GURU FORGETTING HIS GURU

On the banks of the sacred Ganges, the guru lived with his disciples "rdin. One of the disciples was very devoted to his guru and made amazing progress in his spiritual search.
One day the guru asked this disciple to bring some firewood for the sacred hearth from the forest on the other side of the river. The disciple immediately set off, but when he came to the water, he learned that the boatman would not be there all day. Ученик страшно огорчился оттого, что не смог выполнить поручение гуру Finally он обратился с мольбами к богине Ганга, чтобы она позволила ему пересечь реку, так как он получил задание от своего святого гуру. With these words he lifted his joined palms up, proclaiming "Shri gurubhyo nama (salutations to my guru)" and entered the water. Miraculously, he walked on the water, crossed the river and came back with what the guru desired. The guru sat nearby and watched the scene, dumbfounded. He was bursting with pride: his disciple managed to cross the river simply by calling to him "How great must be my glory," thought the guru, whose pride knew no bounds.
He quickly walked to the river and stepped into the water. But as soon as he stepped into the water, he immediately slipped and fell into the river. Luckily, a peasant who was sitting on the shore dived into the water and managed to pull the panting guru out. The startled guru lay down on the ground, shivering from the cold. "What was wrong?" he thought. "How is it that my student miraculously walked on water just by mentioning my name, and I immediately drowned?" he added aloud. На что крестьянин, спасший гуру, сказал: "Господин, я видел, что случилось. Я малограмотный человек, но позвольте рассказать о моих впечатлениях. Really, ваш ученик с вашим именем на устах прошел по воде. Вам тоже нужно было упомянуть имя своего гуруWhat matters is the bhavana (attitude) towards the proclamation of the name, and not the glory of the one whose name is mentioned."
The Indian epic constantly confirms the practice of yoga. At the beginning of yoga exercises, one should traditionally pray and say that we, the students, are grateful not only to our teacher, but also to the teacher of our teacher, etc., up to the first teacher Ishvara.

1-28
CORRECT BHAVANA

Two brothers, Gopal and Bala, both God-fearing and religious, went on a pilgrimage to a temple located in a remote village. After several days of travel, they arrived in the evening in this village and began looking for a place to stay for the night. A business
took place on the eve of the most significant temple festival of that year, so all the premises were already occupied. They were told that the only free space left was in the house of a local prostitute. Left with no choice and realizing that this place could be taken, they went to the named house for the night.
The next morning they woke up early and began to prepare to arrive at the temple at the appointed time. But they ran into a new problem. Arriving from afar, they brought with them luggage, which, by the way, represented all the property they had. They didn't want to leave him unattended. The solution was found when Gopal generously offered to stay and look after the luggage while Bala was involved in the celebration. Bala agreed, but when he reached the temple, he suddenly realized that his brother was left alone with the prostitute. It even seemed to him that this was the real reason why his brother had offered to stay. Confused, he did not think of anything else during the whole holiday.
Gopal, sitting near the things in the house, thought about how lucky his brother was. He imagined God, luxuriously dressed, sitting in the midst of a crowd praising him, and himself sitting in a prostitute's house. “But thanks to this place, we were able to stay, and at least my brother got the opportunity to see everything,” he reassured himself.
Later, when Bala returned, they went back to their village. Suddenly it began to rain, and the brothers hid under a tree. Suddenly lightning struck the tree, and both brothers died. Bala found himself falling into hell while his brother ascended to heaven. He cried out to God, asking why he had been treated so unfairly. After all, this morning in the temple he participated in the praise of God, while his brother spent time in the company of a prostitute. God replied: "The only thing that matters is your bhavana. While you were in the temple, seeing your brother with a prostitute in front of you, he, staying in the prostitute's house, saw me."

NARASIMHA MEDITATION

The Shankara Vijayam text contains an authoritative account of several episodes from the life of Adi Shankara. In one of the stories we are talking about a disciple of Shankara named Padmapada. Once Shankara was visited by the head of the Kapalikas (a religious group that sacrificed animals and people). He told Shankara that in order to complete an important ritual, he needed to sacrifice either an emperor or a great saint. So he asks Shankara's permission to cut off his head and offer it as a sacrifice. Shankara, who did not particularly have deep feelings for his own body, readily agreed to this proposal.
He, however, warned the kapapika that this should be done in the absence of the disciples, otherwise they would oppose the sacrifice. He asked the kapapik to meet him the next evening under a tree where he would meditate. His disciples will not be present and the sacrifice will not be interrupted. The next evening, the kapapika approached the tree under which Shankara was meditating. He drew his sword and prepared to behead Shankara. Suddenly Padmapada appeared and the pandemonium began. When Shankara opened his eyes, a strange picture appeared before his eyes. Kapapika lay lifeless and torn to pieces, and Padmapada stood over him, blood dripping from his nails. Shankara was not at all surprised to see the usually gentle Padmapada in this ferocious posture. He politely inquired whether Padmapada had