In the ongoing debate about the position of religion on evolution, this is the best position I have seen, and it comes from nowhere other than Swami Vivekanada and his teachings on Vedanta.
The video at the end does a superb job of explaining the confluence of Vedanta and evolution. I am trying to give a gist here.
Vedanta rests on 2 basic beliefs with regards to existence and evolution.
1. There is a continous all pervading Consciousness in the Universe.
2. The Conscious manifests itself in a cyclic manner.
With these two basic beliefs one can understand the whole of evolution as well as the formation of universe. The underlying Consciousness first manifests itself in the simplest, the most subtlest form as energy during the Big Bang. The formed energy becomes grosser and more complex and forms matter in the form of atoms, molecules and inanimate objects.
The next step of evolution is the combination of atoms and molecules into small, living organisms, which become more and more complex from microbes to small animals to mammals. Man, of course, forms the most complex of these, and has an added faculty of rationality as a result of evolution.
The common thread in the process of evolution is the struggle of the Consciousness to manifest itself in more and more complex form, starting with pure energy and ending in man. The view of Vedanta is not antagonistic to Darwin's theory of natural selection, but in accordance with it.
The last step of this process is the evolution of man. And it is not more at the macroscopic, gross level of body, but it is in the subtler, more complicated level of mind. Human mind has no doubt evolved over time, and become more complex. What is the end result of this evolution of mind? What is the next step in the manifestation of this Consciousness after the formation of a rational mind?
That step, is the realization of the human self, the understanding of the nature of the manifesting Consciousness, the realization of the unity of all existing things into that Consciousness. This is the attainment of Buddhahood, where no duality exists, where the understanding of Consciousness as the sole all-pervading entity dawns upon the man. That is the completion of evolution, the highest possible state of manifestation, the realization of the Unmanifest.
Thus, Vedanta has complete agreement with evolution and science, as far as the mechanism is concerned. But Vedanta goes a step ahead and generalizes the entire process as the manifestation of the Consciousness.
I hope the video, with Swamiji's teachings, gives a better idea of the same.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Line becomes a circle?
This is an attempt to explain a concept from one of Swami Vivekananda's lectures. It was first raised on the SV community on Orkut.
There is no motion in a straight line. Everything moves in a circle; a straight line, infinitely produced, becomes a circle....
-Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works, Vol 5.
The essential thing to keep in mind is that there can only one thing which is infinite. A straight line when extended in either direction reaches infinity. However, it cannot reach two different infinities in two opposite directions, since having 2 infinities would be absurd. Hence, it reaches the same infinity in both directions, i.e. the two ends of a line when infinitely extended meet at infinity, or in other words, the line becomes a circle.
Apart from the geometry, what is the significance of saying 'line becomes a circle'? The point Swamiji was try to drive is that nothing in life is completely bad nor is it completely good. A person cannot have a life in which everything is bad, nor can one have a life in which everything is good. When things start taking a turn towards the downward side, they cannot keep doing so infinitely, for at some point, they have to take a turn towards good.
A belief in this inevitable cycle is 'hope'. Hope is what drives the world and makes a person do things amazingly. Hope is what provides energy to get up in the morning and do the same chores daily. Take out hope from a person and there is no difference in him and a robot. Keeping up one's hopes, inspite of the circumstances, is real test of life. What Swamiji says in the lecture is that there is no need to loose this precious hope, since it is nature's law that things will inevitably turn better.
Let our lives be always filled with the hope to do good things, and let the hope give us determination and courage to perform them.
There is no motion in a straight line. Everything moves in a circle; a straight line, infinitely produced, becomes a circle....
-Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works, Vol 5.
The essential thing to keep in mind is that there can only one thing which is infinite. A straight line when extended in either direction reaches infinity. However, it cannot reach two different infinities in two opposite directions, since having 2 infinities would be absurd. Hence, it reaches the same infinity in both directions, i.e. the two ends of a line when infinitely extended meet at infinity, or in other words, the line becomes a circle.
Apart from the geometry, what is the significance of saying 'line becomes a circle'? The point Swamiji was try to drive is that nothing in life is completely bad nor is it completely good. A person cannot have a life in which everything is bad, nor can one have a life in which everything is good. When things start taking a turn towards the downward side, they cannot keep doing so infinitely, for at some point, they have to take a turn towards good.
A belief in this inevitable cycle is 'hope'. Hope is what drives the world and makes a person do things amazingly. Hope is what provides energy to get up in the morning and do the same chores daily. Take out hope from a person and there is no difference in him and a robot. Keeping up one's hopes, inspite of the circumstances, is real test of life. What Swamiji says in the lecture is that there is no need to loose this precious hope, since it is nature's law that things will inevitably turn better.
Let our lives be always filled with the hope to do good things, and let the hope give us determination and courage to perform them.
Monday, November 13, 2006
The Song of the Soul
Day after day
Night after night,
Wonders a soul
About its plight
Why’d I come
On this earth
Whats the reason
Of my birth
It looks around
Towards all sources
In books of ages
In temples and churches
They all run mute
And fall short
To satisfy him
A poor soul smart
It looks beyond
To the world real
Into nature infinite
For answers surreal
Rises the sun
To clothe the earth
And comes the moon
To spread the mirth
Rises a flower
Shining in happiness
Grows a fruit
Gives away its ripeness
From rivers and mountains
To birds that sing
States the mother nature
Giving is the thing
Live to give
Give to live
Is the only message
Of every age
Giving is the aim
Tis the only goal
Of its existence
Realizes the soul
To give is to be pure
To help is to believe
To serve is to worship
To love is to live
Love and compassion
Are His only wishes
Rest all are dogmas
Unnecessary and worthless
The one who knows
And follows this always
To the last breath
Is the realized Self
That is the aim
That is the goal
To be good and pure
That’s why you’re here.
(Inspired by Swami Vivekananda's lecture 'The Real Worship'.)
Night after night,
Wonders a soul
About its plight
Why’d I come
On this earth
Whats the reason
Of my birth
It looks around
Towards all sources
In books of ages
In temples and churches
They all run mute
And fall short
To satisfy him
A poor soul smart
It looks beyond
To the world real
Into nature infinite
For answers surreal
Rises the sun
To clothe the earth
And comes the moon
To spread the mirth
Rises a flower
Shining in happiness
Grows a fruit
Gives away its ripeness
From rivers and mountains
To birds that sing
States the mother nature
Giving is the thing
Live to give
Give to live
Is the only message
Of every age
Giving is the aim
Tis the only goal
Of its existence
Realizes the soul
To give is to be pure
To help is to believe
To serve is to worship
To love is to live
Love and compassion
Are His only wishes
Rest all are dogmas
Unnecessary and worthless
The one who knows
And follows this always
To the last breath
Is the realized Self
That is the aim
That is the goal
To be good and pure
That’s why you’re here.
(Inspired by Swami Vivekananda's lecture 'The Real Worship'.)
The gist of worship
It is in love that religion exists and not in ceremony, in the pure and sincere love in the heart. Unless a man is pure in body and mind, his coming into a temple and worshipping Shiva is useless. The prayers of those that are pure in the mind and body will be answered by Shiva, and those that are impure and yet try to teach religion to others will fail in the end. External worship is only a symbol of internal worship; but internal worship and purity are the real things. Without them, external worship would be of no avail. Therefore you must all try to remember this.
This is the gist of all worship – to be pure and to do good to others.
......
This unselfishness is the test of religion. He who has more of this unselfishness is more spiritual and nearer to Shiva than anybody else, whether he knows it or not. And if a man is selfish, even though he has visited all the temples, seen all the places of pilgrimage, and painted himself like a leopard, he is still further off from Shiva.
~Swami Vivekananda
Every man works to live. One who does not work is but an extra baggage on the earth. How then does one choose one's work? What is the final aim of one's existence, one's occupation?
The only reason to do anything should be to help those around us. Love and compassion towards all is the only aim, is the only religion, it is one's only true belief, it is the only thing that gives meaning to existence. To love is to live, and one has to live to the fullest.
How is one 'good' and 'pure' in one's daily life? By simply realizing the ultimate aim of the activity is being selfless. Try to love, try to help, try to serve, it is always the right thing to do. If you are a doctor, fight to save every patient's life, if you are a waiter make sure every customer is fed, if you are a builder, make sure every building you build is a perfect home for someone.
The difference is in treating what you do as a job and treating it as a duty. The duty is to serve whomever you can, however you can. From the shoe-maker to the President, no matter what job you have, make it a duty, make it your service.
That is the only knowledge and wisdom, no religion, no saint, no holy book can teach anyone anything more. To try to inculcate that in what we do, and to do our work with that attitude, without any results, without any selfishness is the only thing. It is the gist of religion, it is the gist of life.
May we all proceed on this path of righteousness, may our minds be free from enchantments, may we all live to serve, may we all help and be kind, pure and giving. May giving love and compassion be the only mission of our life.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Indian thought and Western Science
The main difference in the two IMO is that Indian philosophies developed on an abstract basis versus the exact nature of the Western rationale (which has it's roots in Aristotle and Greek science). Consider the view of nature of the two - The Western thought says everything is divisible. You break a substance into atoms and molecules, they are further divisible into electrons, protons etc, which are further divisble. Everything can be studied by dissecting it infinitely. This thought, although changed a little bit with particle physics and quantum theory still forms the basis of Western science.
On the other hand, Indian or more correctly Eastern thought believes in the essential unity of things. If you want to study and object, do not break it, rather see its interaction with others, and most importantly study the system as a whole, rather than its parts. To state a simple example compare Ayurveda and Western medicine. Antibiotics are full of side effects,as any doctor should tell you. On the other hand, Ayurvedic medicines are such that the "whole body" is considered, hence curing a burn does not affect any other organ. The whole body is treated rather than the individual parts. With a little thought, one can get this stark difference in thoughts in Eastern and Western philosophies easily in almost all of their aspects.
The same happens when one deals with the question of evolution. With their characteristic experimentation, Western scientists came up with classic explanations of the phenomena. Microbes to aquatic animals to amphibians to terrestrials to apes to humans. One can see the evolutionary tree in any biology book.
The Indians, on the other hand do not give as much attention to the detail. They base their theories on abstract concepts. They realize that everything starts small, as a seed. Be it a plant, an animal or a work or a thought, it needs a seed. Thhe seed, when nourished completely results in a plant. Like Tukaram says:
'Aadhi beej ekale, beej ankurale rop vadhale'
or there was but one seed, the seed germinates and the plant grows.
The Indians realize this inevitable process in all processes. The seed germinates, grows and dies. This is the inescapable law of nature. Similarly, there cannot be something as complicated as a man ad hoc. It (the life) has to start with something small, simple, but has all the potential to fully grow. But what was in the small is also in the magnification, hence the equal importance given to all life-forms in Indian scriptures. The basic knowledge that life started with simpler creatures and then became more and more complicated is present in the Indian thought, however there are no details filled in like the Western thought. A classic example (and proof) of this is the Nasadiya Sukta or Creation hymn in Rig Veda. It says there was a ‘source of power’, and nothing else. From ‘It’ came everything else. This is the highest generalization about the nature of the process, without any details. The stress again is on knowing the essential nature, and not the details.
With this striking difference in methodology, the one striking similarity is that they both are intensely rigorous. When one says that mind has a material nature and depends on external input (like food, water) just like the body, the rishis have studied the mind carefully to discern that. In Indian thought, the entire stress is on experience, no logic, words or explanations, only experience proves the truth. There is not a shred of blind belief; all realities described as ‘truth’ are open to questioning and have stood the test of repeatability. The same can be said of Western science, with one major difference. The difference being that science still admits there is no ‘Theory of everything’, in other words, science is still not in a position to explain everything. On the other hand, Indian rishis claim to have found the truth and simply describe it as ‘indescribable’. Although they say the truth cannot be conveyed in words, they prescribe the ‘yoga’ for finding out the truth for oneself. This is perhaps the only thing to suggest that Western thought is on its way, while the Indian philosophy has reached the goal in deciphering the truth, and hence is able to grasp the underlying unity in all the things.
To sum up, it is wrong to say one system of thought is superior to another or vice versa. Rather, both are not only complementary but also useful for the human race. While the spiritual thought process (Indian/ancient Vedic for our discussion) is required for a basic sense of understanding of our own Self (no matter what degree the understanding is at), the Western science and technology is required for the daily sustenance and wellbeing of the race. A combination of both, and an intense study of both is required for the advancement of the human race!
On the other hand, Indian or more correctly Eastern thought believes in the essential unity of things. If you want to study and object, do not break it, rather see its interaction with others, and most importantly study the system as a whole, rather than its parts. To state a simple example compare Ayurveda and Western medicine. Antibiotics are full of side effects,as any doctor should tell you. On the other hand, Ayurvedic medicines are such that the "whole body" is considered, hence curing a burn does not affect any other organ. The whole body is treated rather than the individual parts. With a little thought, one can get this stark difference in thoughts in Eastern and Western philosophies easily in almost all of their aspects.
The same happens when one deals with the question of evolution. With their characteristic experimentation, Western scientists came up with classic explanations of the phenomena. Microbes to aquatic animals to amphibians to terrestrials to apes to humans. One can see the evolutionary tree in any biology book.
The Indians, on the other hand do not give as much attention to the detail. They base their theories on abstract concepts. They realize that everything starts small, as a seed. Be it a plant, an animal or a work or a thought, it needs a seed. Thhe seed, when nourished completely results in a plant. Like Tukaram says:
'Aadhi beej ekale, beej ankurale rop vadhale'
or there was but one seed, the seed germinates and the plant grows.
The Indians realize this inevitable process in all processes. The seed germinates, grows and dies. This is the inescapable law of nature. Similarly, there cannot be something as complicated as a man ad hoc. It (the life) has to start with something small, simple, but has all the potential to fully grow. But what was in the small is also in the magnification, hence the equal importance given to all life-forms in Indian scriptures. The basic knowledge that life started with simpler creatures and then became more and more complicated is present in the Indian thought, however there are no details filled in like the Western thought. A classic example (and proof) of this is the Nasadiya Sukta or Creation hymn in Rig Veda. It says there was a ‘source of power’, and nothing else. From ‘It’ came everything else. This is the highest generalization about the nature of the process, without any details. The stress again is on knowing the essential nature, and not the details.
With this striking difference in methodology, the one striking similarity is that they both are intensely rigorous. When one says that mind has a material nature and depends on external input (like food, water) just like the body, the rishis have studied the mind carefully to discern that. In Indian thought, the entire stress is on experience, no logic, words or explanations, only experience proves the truth. There is not a shred of blind belief; all realities described as ‘truth’ are open to questioning and have stood the test of repeatability. The same can be said of Western science, with one major difference. The difference being that science still admits there is no ‘Theory of everything’, in other words, science is still not in a position to explain everything. On the other hand, Indian rishis claim to have found the truth and simply describe it as ‘indescribable’. Although they say the truth cannot be conveyed in words, they prescribe the ‘yoga’ for finding out the truth for oneself. This is perhaps the only thing to suggest that Western thought is on its way, while the Indian philosophy has reached the goal in deciphering the truth, and hence is able to grasp the underlying unity in all the things.
To sum up, it is wrong to say one system of thought is superior to another or vice versa. Rather, both are not only complementary but also useful for the human race. While the spiritual thought process (Indian/ancient Vedic for our discussion) is required for a basic sense of understanding of our own Self (no matter what degree the understanding is at), the Western science and technology is required for the daily sustenance and wellbeing of the race. A combination of both, and an intense study of both is required for the advancement of the human race!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Kabir's doha
Kabir was a saint in India, who is dear to many people's heart. Unlike many other saints who walked in India from time to time, Kabir refused to have himself categorized as either a Hindu, Muslim, or a Sufi or a bhakta. Kabir's dohas are usually in simple, easy-to-understand Hindi, with a very nice meaning and moral.
I wish to present one of his dohas here.
Moko Kahan Dhundhere Bande
Mein To Tere Paas Mein
Na Teerath Mein, Na Moorat Mein
Na Ekant Niwas Mein
Na Mandir Mein, Na Masjid Mein
Na Kabe Kailas Mein
Mein To Tere Paas Mein Bande
Mein To Tere Paas Mein
Na Mein Jap Mein, Na Mein Tap Mein
Na Mein Barat Upaas Mein
Na Mein Kiriya Karm Mein Rehta
Nahin Jog Sanyas Mein
Nahin Pran Mein Nahin Pind Mein
Na Brahmand Akas Mein
Na Mein Prakuti Prawar Gufa Mein
Nahin Swasan Ki Swans Mein
Khoji Hoye Turat Mil Jaoon
Ik Pal Ki Talas Mein
Kahet Kabir Suno Bhai Sadho
Mein To Hun Viswas Mein
This is a crude translation:
Where do you search me, my friend
I am near you
Not in a teerath(holy place), nor in a moorat (idol)
Nor am in solitude
I am neither in a mandir or a masjid
Nor am in the Kaaba or in Kailas
I am near you, my friend,
I am near you.
I am not in jap (recitation) or in tap (penance)
Nor am in proceedings or in fastings,
I dont stay in kriya-karma (action)
nor in yoga or in sanyaas (renunciation)
Not in the pran (the vital elements) or the body
Not in the universe or the sky
I am not in the womb of nature
Or in the breath of the breath
If you look for me, you can find me immediately
With searching just for a moment,
Says Kabir, listen all you good folks,
I am present in the trust (vishwas).
As is evident, the 'I', in the whole poem is the 'Self' or the 'truth' or simply the 'peace', that a common man searches in his life. Kabir starts off by declaring it is not to be found in any of the common places, such as places of worship, holy places, or in actions or renunciation. It is not even present in the body or the breath or the sky or the Universe. The last verse, then says, that "it is always within us, and hence can be found within a moment, if you know where to look for."
The moral of the doha is to turn oneself inward, to seek what one is finding within and not outside. All our life, we move around to try and find some things. Although there is an excitement of search, there are also wounds we incur as a result of ceaseless movement. The key to stopping this is to look for the truth first within oneself, which according to Kabir, is where it always rests!
In the last line, Kabir says, 'main to hun vishwas mein'. 'Vishwas' can be translated as faith or belief or trust. Here, Kabir asks the seeker to simply have trust in God! Most people try to find Him, without trusting Him. The key is complete submission, like Krishna asks one to do in Gita. Do your duty, let Him take care of the results. If you depict your life as a chariot, the key is to hand over the reins in His hands and do what part He asks one to do. That is the complete 'trust', which Kabir asks a person to have within himself. Only a man with such complete submission comes close to finding the truth!
May we all have that trust within ourselves, may we all follow the path of complete submission, may we all get a taste of that Infinite Bliss the saints covet! May we all follow on our path towards Truth!
I wish to present one of his dohas here.
Moko Kahan Dhundhere Bande
Mein To Tere Paas Mein
Na Teerath Mein, Na Moorat Mein
Na Ekant Niwas Mein
Na Mandir Mein, Na Masjid Mein
Na Kabe Kailas Mein
Mein To Tere Paas Mein Bande
Mein To Tere Paas Mein
Na Mein Jap Mein, Na Mein Tap Mein
Na Mein Barat Upaas Mein
Na Mein Kiriya Karm Mein Rehta
Nahin Jog Sanyas Mein
Nahin Pran Mein Nahin Pind Mein
Na Brahmand Akas Mein
Na Mein Prakuti Prawar Gufa Mein
Nahin Swasan Ki Swans Mein
Khoji Hoye Turat Mil Jaoon
Ik Pal Ki Talas Mein
Kahet Kabir Suno Bhai Sadho
Mein To Hun Viswas Mein
This is a crude translation:
Where do you search me, my friend
I am near you
Not in a teerath(holy place), nor in a moorat (idol)
Nor am in solitude
I am neither in a mandir or a masjid
Nor am in the Kaaba or in Kailas
I am near you, my friend,
I am near you.
I am not in jap (recitation) or in tap (penance)
Nor am in proceedings or in fastings,
I dont stay in kriya-karma (action)
nor in yoga or in sanyaas (renunciation)
Not in the pran (the vital elements) or the body
Not in the universe or the sky
I am not in the womb of nature
Or in the breath of the breath
If you look for me, you can find me immediately
With searching just for a moment,
Says Kabir, listen all you good folks,
I am present in the trust (vishwas).
As is evident, the 'I', in the whole poem is the 'Self' or the 'truth' or simply the 'peace', that a common man searches in his life. Kabir starts off by declaring it is not to be found in any of the common places, such as places of worship, holy places, or in actions or renunciation. It is not even present in the body or the breath or the sky or the Universe. The last verse, then says, that "it is always within us, and hence can be found within a moment, if you know where to look for."
The moral of the doha is to turn oneself inward, to seek what one is finding within and not outside. All our life, we move around to try and find some things. Although there is an excitement of search, there are also wounds we incur as a result of ceaseless movement. The key to stopping this is to look for the truth first within oneself, which according to Kabir, is where it always rests!
In the last line, Kabir says, 'main to hun vishwas mein'. 'Vishwas' can be translated as faith or belief or trust. Here, Kabir asks the seeker to simply have trust in God! Most people try to find Him, without trusting Him. The key is complete submission, like Krishna asks one to do in Gita. Do your duty, let Him take care of the results. If you depict your life as a chariot, the key is to hand over the reins in His hands and do what part He asks one to do. That is the complete 'trust', which Kabir asks a person to have within himself. Only a man with such complete submission comes close to finding the truth!
May we all have that trust within ourselves, may we all follow the path of complete submission, may we all get a taste of that Infinite Bliss the saints covet! May we all follow on our path towards Truth!
Thursday, August 10, 2006
The Cup
This is an attempt to interpret the poem 'The Cup'. It is a poem by Swami Vivekananda with a very beautiful meaning.
The poem is set up as the Almighty speaking out to his child, the man!
The 'cup' is the cup of karma/mind where the good and bad thoughts and deeds get added and subtracted. Every person begins life with an empty cup. A baby is the most innocent person, the only emotion it understands is love and does not bear anything against anyone. Its 'cup' is empty. As we grow up, we add good and bad 'drinks' to the cup, making a queer concoction called life. But the thing is there is only 1 cup per person and you have to drink what is in the cup before you die. If you add sweet things in the forms of good deeds, you get a sweet drink in the form of good action by others towards you. If the drink is dark, like Swamiji says comes from faults and passions, you get a bitter drink from the cup!
This reminds me of a story in the life of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa. Once his so-called tutor (who taught him mysteries of samadhi) was telling him "Just like you have to wash a cup daily so that they dont corrode, you should practise little meditation daily so cleam your mind". Ramakrishna snapped at him "What if your cup is made of gold?". Totapuri realized he was teaching a Master, with the purest possible mind!
The 'road' is life. No matter who one is, everyone has to walk on the 'road', or 'lead life'. The road is painful and full of 'stones' or hurdles and one constantly gets hurt by them. The Lord says that to make the journey pleasant, he set some 'friends' along the road, which are the companions one gets along in life. Although the friends make the journey little confortable, each one has his own road. The friend will lead his life and go to Him in the end, and so will the child. That is his road, this is the child's; they only meet for a while and off they go again - alone!
This is your task. It has no joy nor grace,
But it is not meant for any other hand,
And in My universe hath measured place,
Take it. I do not bid you understand.
I bid you close your eyes to see My face.
The 'task' is the most important thing, it is what the child is on the road for! It is the duty one man has in his life. Each one's duty is unique, and is not meant for anyone else! He finallyasks the child to not worry about the reason why that work is given to him, just says to do it. Like Krishna says in Gita, "The action is your right, work without worrying about fruits!". God asks is child to simply close his eyes and pray, and see the face of Almighty within himself!
May we all lead on our roads, doing our tasks and may we empty our cups. Good and bad karma, both bind us down. It is when the action is done without an apparent intent to achieve something, does the cup remain empty! May we all lead our life to empty that cup. May we all close eyes and find the Almighty within ourselves! May we all walk on the road to the Infinite, Immortal Bliss!
The poem is set up as the Almighty speaking out to his child, the man!
This is your cup -- the cup assigned
to you from the beginning.
Nay, My child, I know how much
of that dark drink is your own brew
Of fault and passion, ages long ago,
In the deep years of yesterday, I know.
to you from the beginning.
Nay, My child, I know how much
of that dark drink is your own brew
Of fault and passion, ages long ago,
In the deep years of yesterday, I know.
The 'cup' is the cup of karma/mind where the good and bad thoughts and deeds get added and subtracted. Every person begins life with an empty cup. A baby is the most innocent person, the only emotion it understands is love and does not bear anything against anyone. Its 'cup' is empty. As we grow up, we add good and bad 'drinks' to the cup, making a queer concoction called life. But the thing is there is only 1 cup per person and you have to drink what is in the cup before you die. If you add sweet things in the forms of good deeds, you get a sweet drink in the form of good action by others towards you. If the drink is dark, like Swamiji says comes from faults and passions, you get a bitter drink from the cup!
This reminds me of a story in the life of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa. Once his so-called tutor (who taught him mysteries of samadhi) was telling him "Just like you have to wash a cup daily so that they dont corrode, you should practise little meditation daily so cleam your mind". Ramakrishna snapped at him "What if your cup is made of gold?". Totapuri realized he was teaching a Master, with the purest possible mind!
This is your road -- a painful road and drear.
I made the stones that never give you rest.
I set your friend in plesant ways and clear,
And he shall come like you, unto My breast.
But you, My child, must travel here.
I made the stones that never give you rest.
I set your friend in plesant ways and clear,
And he shall come like you, unto My breast.
But you, My child, must travel here.
The 'road' is life. No matter who one is, everyone has to walk on the 'road', or 'lead life'. The road is painful and full of 'stones' or hurdles and one constantly gets hurt by them. The Lord says that to make the journey pleasant, he set some 'friends' along the road, which are the companions one gets along in life. Although the friends make the journey little confortable, each one has his own road. The friend will lead his life and go to Him in the end, and so will the child. That is his road, this is the child's; they only meet for a while and off they go again - alone!
This is your task. It has no joy nor grace,
But it is not meant for any other hand,
And in My universe hath measured place,
Take it. I do not bid you understand.
I bid you close your eyes to see My face.
The 'task' is the most important thing, it is what the child is on the road for! It is the duty one man has in his life. Each one's duty is unique, and is not meant for anyone else! He finallyasks the child to not worry about the reason why that work is given to him, just says to do it. Like Krishna says in Gita, "The action is your right, work without worrying about fruits!". God asks is child to simply close his eyes and pray, and see the face of Almighty within himself!
May we all lead on our roads, doing our tasks and may we empty our cups. Good and bad karma, both bind us down. It is when the action is done without an apparent intent to achieve something, does the cup remain empty! May we all lead our life to empty that cup. May we all close eyes and find the Almighty within ourselves! May we all walk on the road to the Infinite, Immortal Bliss!
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
When I Asked God
This poem is self-explanatory! Very beautiful and meaningful!
When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face
When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve
When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People
When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard
When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard
When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others
God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted
He Gave Me Everything I Needed
(P.S. I am not very sure if this is indeed composed by Swami Vivekananda, since I couldnt find it in the Complete Works. But it is still very beautiful!)
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Should one believe in God?
I guess before believing or not believing in God, and finding reasons for either, it is necessary to say what you mean by God. And I believe therein lies the answer to the posed question as well.
What is God? Swami Vivekananda explains this beautifully in one of his lectures (The necessity of religion). The entire concept of God and its necessity can be traced back to the struggle of every society to fight nature, to go beyond what seems to be limit of one's prowess. Early man thought rain gives food and water. Since the survival off human beings was based on it, 'rain' is a kind God. But sometimes it rained too much and it destroyed food. So 'rain' is also a God who became angry. It all lead to nature worship. With progress in instruments, technology and knowledge about surroundings, man reached a stage where he can exert 'control over these so-called gods. If Sun-god decides to be too hot, man can build a shelter and protect himself. If 'rain-god' decides to be evil and destroy crops, he can route the water away and save his food. Thus, he could control these aspects, and hence they lost their 'god-hood' in the mind on the man.
Although there was a progress in the physical sciences, there still were other battles man fought. There was the fate, the future, the death. These things still haunted the man and hence subsequent versions of 'gods' became those who could either conquer these for men or help men conquer them. In a way, we find most people even today believing in these concepts of Gods. One prays for safe return of a beloved gone to war, because God can control that person's 'fate'. An ill-man's relatives pray to a God to save the dying man because they believe that God can fight death. In some way or another, always God is the person who does something which the worshipper is powerless of doing.
This is the God of the masses. The God who gives hope, strength, belief in a higher power, and becomes ultimately the Savior. Most people believe in God for exactly these reasons.
But every once in a while, there are certain men and women in every society for whom this concept of God is no good. They declare that such a definition of God as ‘savior’ is very narrow and unsatisfactory. They take one of the two paths, and both lead them to gaining higher understanding about God. Some worship God, assuming He is the highest for only the sake of worshipping. They ask for nothing, only keep giving whatever they have to offer. Some offer worship, others offer love and yet others offer all their deeds or actions to God. These people, due to lack of want, have a clear mind, and have all their faculties towards the higher truth, and hence are blessed with higher understanding of their own selves and God.
The second category of people undertake a rigorous effort in the understanding of the principles of nature, and their own Self by various men. These men become the ‘Enlightened Ones’, who understand the basic unity between the human being and the Universe. The people in first categories become the Mirbaais, Prahlads and Tukarams of the world. The second become the Buddhas, Christs and Shankaracharyas of the world.
The one thing that runs common in the teachings of all these great men and women is the fact that they proclaim the existence of a higher truth that is not seen in the human world or experienced by any of the senses. More importantly, they claim that this higher truth is what every human being possesses in himself but is unaware and can become potentially aware. Some called it by the name Krishna, some Brahman, some the ‘Father in the Heaven’ and some say it is Allah. One could say that the ‘gods’ of the masses are but lower versions of what these souls called as the ‘truth’. Some people see a small stream, some see a waterfall, others see a lake or a river and yet others, with their wide eyes see the ocean. However, the 'wise' ones among us realize that the essential element in all these different forms is the water, each of these are but a temporary form, the ultimate reality is water!
With this perspective, is there is a God for us to believe in? The answer is both yes and no. If believing in Krishna helps you, he is the God for you, if believing in Brahman or a Lord in heaven or Allah works for you, he is your concept of ‘God’. An atheist believes that law of causation explains all, then that is his God. In a way, we all begin as agnostics, and over a time form an opinion of ours about God. For some this concept comes solely from religious books, family and various places of worship, while some see beyond all these and use their own faculties to understand Him!
More than anything else, the concept of God is the most personal and hence should not be enforced upon anyone else. Like a Sufi poem goes,
“Dair Mein Tu Haram Mein Tu, Arsh Pe Tu Zameen Pe Tu
Jiss Ki Pohonch Jahan Talak Us Ke Liye Waheen Pe Tu
Tum Ek Gorakh Dhanda Ho"
(You are in every place of worhip, on the throne in heaven and on earth, however far one can reach, you are there for him, you are a mysterious puzzle.)
So yes, with his definition of God, everyone believes in a God, only the names, definitions and concepts of God differs from person to person. The need for a person is to believe in his God sincerely and not to force his or her. The requirement is tolerance, let each individual define and believe his own 'God'.
May the Krishna, the Allah, the Lord, the Yehowah all give us peace on this beautiful earth, may we all open our eyes and see their light, may we all learn to respect each other's concepts, may we all reach the peace within, and create the peace outside!
What is God? Swami Vivekananda explains this beautifully in one of his lectures (The necessity of religion). The entire concept of God and its necessity can be traced back to the struggle of every society to fight nature, to go beyond what seems to be limit of one's prowess. Early man thought rain gives food and water. Since the survival off human beings was based on it, 'rain' is a kind God. But sometimes it rained too much and it destroyed food. So 'rain' is also a God who became angry. It all lead to nature worship. With progress in instruments, technology and knowledge about surroundings, man reached a stage where he can exert 'control over these so-called gods. If Sun-god decides to be too hot, man can build a shelter and protect himself. If 'rain-god' decides to be evil and destroy crops, he can route the water away and save his food. Thus, he could control these aspects, and hence they lost their 'god-hood' in the mind on the man.
Although there was a progress in the physical sciences, there still were other battles man fought. There was the fate, the future, the death. These things still haunted the man and hence subsequent versions of 'gods' became those who could either conquer these for men or help men conquer them. In a way, we find most people even today believing in these concepts of Gods. One prays for safe return of a beloved gone to war, because God can control that person's 'fate'. An ill-man's relatives pray to a God to save the dying man because they believe that God can fight death. In some way or another, always God is the person who does something which the worshipper is powerless of doing.
This is the God of the masses. The God who gives hope, strength, belief in a higher power, and becomes ultimately the Savior. Most people believe in God for exactly these reasons.
But every once in a while, there are certain men and women in every society for whom this concept of God is no good. They declare that such a definition of God as ‘savior’ is very narrow and unsatisfactory. They take one of the two paths, and both lead them to gaining higher understanding about God. Some worship God, assuming He is the highest for only the sake of worshipping. They ask for nothing, only keep giving whatever they have to offer. Some offer worship, others offer love and yet others offer all their deeds or actions to God. These people, due to lack of want, have a clear mind, and have all their faculties towards the higher truth, and hence are blessed with higher understanding of their own selves and God.
The second category of people undertake a rigorous effort in the understanding of the principles of nature, and their own Self by various men. These men become the ‘Enlightened Ones’, who understand the basic unity between the human being and the Universe. The people in first categories become the Mirbaais, Prahlads and Tukarams of the world. The second become the Buddhas, Christs and Shankaracharyas of the world.
The one thing that runs common in the teachings of all these great men and women is the fact that they proclaim the existence of a higher truth that is not seen in the human world or experienced by any of the senses. More importantly, they claim that this higher truth is what every human being possesses in himself but is unaware and can become potentially aware. Some called it by the name Krishna, some Brahman, some the ‘Father in the Heaven’ and some say it is Allah. One could say that the ‘gods’ of the masses are but lower versions of what these souls called as the ‘truth’. Some people see a small stream, some see a waterfall, others see a lake or a river and yet others, with their wide eyes see the ocean. However, the 'wise' ones among us realize that the essential element in all these different forms is the water, each of these are but a temporary form, the ultimate reality is water!
With this perspective, is there is a God for us to believe in? The answer is both yes and no. If believing in Krishna helps you, he is the God for you, if believing in Brahman or a Lord in heaven or Allah works for you, he is your concept of ‘God’. An atheist believes that law of causation explains all, then that is his God. In a way, we all begin as agnostics, and over a time form an opinion of ours about God. For some this concept comes solely from religious books, family and various places of worship, while some see beyond all these and use their own faculties to understand Him!
More than anything else, the concept of God is the most personal and hence should not be enforced upon anyone else. Like a Sufi poem goes,
“Dair Mein Tu Haram Mein Tu, Arsh Pe Tu Zameen Pe Tu
Jiss Ki Pohonch Jahan Talak Us Ke Liye Waheen Pe Tu
Tum Ek Gorakh Dhanda Ho"
(You are in every place of worhip, on the throne in heaven and on earth, however far one can reach, you are there for him, you are a mysterious puzzle.)
So yes, with his definition of God, everyone believes in a God, only the names, definitions and concepts of God differs from person to person. The need for a person is to believe in his God sincerely and not to force his or her. The requirement is tolerance, let each individual define and believe his own 'God'.
May the Krishna, the Allah, the Lord, the Yehowah all give us peace on this beautiful earth, may we all open our eyes and see their light, may we all learn to respect each other's concepts, may we all reach the peace within, and create the peace outside!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Good Thoughts?
I had to write this before I could post any more blogs.
I planned to write on this blog because I believe every person gets good thoughts once in a while, and it is a part of being a good human being to develop these thoughts and make them known to people. I believe doing our part in spreading our good thoughts definitely helps in increasing the good will in the world.
But where does one get good thoughts from? There always are minor squibbles in each person's life. And most of us get over them and smile in front of the world neverthless. That smile might be fake sometimes for most of us, but still it gives sense of hope. A smile returned with another smile, even from a stranger, gives a sense that there is some good existing in the world. There is this sense of things being in order. We play these little games, but they do a lot in maintaining a sense of well-being in the world.
But last week has been shocking and I personally found it difficult to maintain that smile. And it was not for personal reasons. First, my city, Mumbai, was attacked. Again. For absolutely no fault of theirs, more than 200 people lost their lives, and around 1000 were injured. This comes along when the wounds of Varanasi blasts have not even started healing! For some it may be a way for gaining political clout, for others, mean to spread their version of a religion and for yet some other people, a simple means to vent their frustrations with what they think is wrong. But for those who died, and their families, it meant the end of the world, the breaking of a sweet thing called 'home'.
This was not just a single incident. There is havoc going on in the Middle East, not to forget Afganistan and Iraq. There was a bomb-blast in Pakistan too. Without going into who is right or wrong, any action or inaction leading to the death of so many people is wrong. There is news that some 600 Indian farmers committed suicide because of various reasons - not able to support their families, pay loans and malnutrition. In any other country, 600 suicides in a span of a few months would have become the talk of the whole nation. In this case, neither the media, nor the government seemed concerned.
Terrorism, hunger, poverty, lack of education, diseases... the list goes on. These are the real problems facing us today. No matter how much optimism one has, one has to accept that the world is going through a very bad phase now. Not only is it bad that about half the world is hungry, the problem is the other half doesnt care about it.
In this context, where do the good thoughts fit in? How does one flaunt the smile to a stranger when the inside is full of disappointment, anger, resentment and depression? The answer, I believe is again in hope! In spite of all the bad things happenning, there still are people working for others. There still are the common men and women of the world who believe in the value of life and love. The same blasts in Mumbai which signified inhuman acts by some men gave an opportunity for others to show their human side. There were 100s in the hospitals within an hour of the blasts to volunteerily donate blood. That is a sign that the indomitable will of human spirit is still strong and nothing can crush it.
Sai baba, a sage from India, said the biggest mantra for a human being is 'shraddha and saburi' - faith and patience. With these, a man can climb mountains of difficulties. There is still faith in the human side of people, in the fact that even in this age of inhuman killings, there are people who believe helping another individual is their duty and can derive happiness from doing it. All we need is patience. If there is any strength in the feeling of love, the human spirit shall survive - as it has done in the past.
Meanwhile, we should all do our little part in spreading the good will. We should all still give that free smile spreading happiness, we should still use our means and facilties to spread our good thoughts. There might be a dark night going on, but the only thing that will come out of it is a bright morrow.
Let us all join hands and work for the survival of good will and love. Let us all wish for a happy world and spread the hope. Let us all give that smile!:)
I planned to write on this blog because I believe every person gets good thoughts once in a while, and it is a part of being a good human being to develop these thoughts and make them known to people. I believe doing our part in spreading our good thoughts definitely helps in increasing the good will in the world.
But where does one get good thoughts from? There always are minor squibbles in each person's life. And most of us get over them and smile in front of the world neverthless. That smile might be fake sometimes for most of us, but still it gives sense of hope. A smile returned with another smile, even from a stranger, gives a sense that there is some good existing in the world. There is this sense of things being in order. We play these little games, but they do a lot in maintaining a sense of well-being in the world.
But last week has been shocking and I personally found it difficult to maintain that smile. And it was not for personal reasons. First, my city, Mumbai, was attacked. Again. For absolutely no fault of theirs, more than 200 people lost their lives, and around 1000 were injured. This comes along when the wounds of Varanasi blasts have not even started healing! For some it may be a way for gaining political clout, for others, mean to spread their version of a religion and for yet some other people, a simple means to vent their frustrations with what they think is wrong. But for those who died, and their families, it meant the end of the world, the breaking of a sweet thing called 'home'.
This was not just a single incident. There is havoc going on in the Middle East, not to forget Afganistan and Iraq. There was a bomb-blast in Pakistan too. Without going into who is right or wrong, any action or inaction leading to the death of so many people is wrong. There is news that some 600 Indian farmers committed suicide because of various reasons - not able to support their families, pay loans and malnutrition. In any other country, 600 suicides in a span of a few months would have become the talk of the whole nation. In this case, neither the media, nor the government seemed concerned.
Terrorism, hunger, poverty, lack of education, diseases... the list goes on. These are the real problems facing us today. No matter how much optimism one has, one has to accept that the world is going through a very bad phase now. Not only is it bad that about half the world is hungry, the problem is the other half doesnt care about it.
In this context, where do the good thoughts fit in? How does one flaunt the smile to a stranger when the inside is full of disappointment, anger, resentment and depression? The answer, I believe is again in hope! In spite of all the bad things happenning, there still are people working for others. There still are the common men and women of the world who believe in the value of life and love. The same blasts in Mumbai which signified inhuman acts by some men gave an opportunity for others to show their human side. There were 100s in the hospitals within an hour of the blasts to volunteerily donate blood. That is a sign that the indomitable will of human spirit is still strong and nothing can crush it.
Sai baba, a sage from India, said the biggest mantra for a human being is 'shraddha and saburi' - faith and patience. With these, a man can climb mountains of difficulties. There is still faith in the human side of people, in the fact that even in this age of inhuman killings, there are people who believe helping another individual is their duty and can derive happiness from doing it. All we need is patience. If there is any strength in the feeling of love, the human spirit shall survive - as it has done in the past.
Meanwhile, we should all do our little part in spreading the good will. We should all still give that free smile spreading happiness, we should still use our means and facilties to spread our good thoughts. There might be a dark night going on, but the only thing that will come out of it is a bright morrow.
Let us all join hands and work for the survival of good will and love. Let us all wish for a happy world and spread the hope. Let us all give that smile!:)
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
4th of July
Thousands of Americans today celebrate the Day of Independence from their colonial rulers more than 300 years ago. For the Hindus in India and abroad, and also his other followers, this day marks the one on which Swami Vivekananda took samadhi in 1902. For several reasons, this marked the end of an era and the beginning of another one. It is a remarkable thing that the greatest disciple of all times took samadhi on the day of American Independence, 4th of July, and his guru, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa had done the same on the day India was destined to get its Independence in 1947, on 15th August 1886. It was fitting that the work the guru had started in India was continued by the most fitting disciple all over the world.
The emergence of this guru-shishya pair into prominence in India and abroad both hold great significance for various reasons. It was a time in India when Macaulayian education was fastening its grip over the young Indian intelligiensia. Every year, thousands of Indian youth were being educated in Western education and were made to hate Indian traditions, culture and way of life. It had become a fashion to ridicule anything Indian or Hindu and the young minds were being foolishly drawn to Western ideals. Vedas and other scriptures were being ridiculed like never before! At this time, one voice firmly declared that the Hindu religion and Hindu thought were the things which should make the Indian nation most proud and it was a wealth which all Indians should cherish. This voice, which echoed in the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, soon swept across all of the Western world and captured back the hearts of the Indian youth. 50 years of Macaulayian education was rendered useless and once again thousands of Indian men and women were inspired by this young monk to study, respect and nourish Indian traditions and values. This was the voice of Swami Vivekananda and he was speaking the words of his guru Ramakrishna Paramhamsa.
The phenomenon, that this guru-shishya pair were, had its effect not only on the Indian mentality and general public, but also changed the way Westerners looked towards India. Hundreds of Westerners were first impressed, then inspired and finally won over by this spirited Hindu sadhu wearing a saffron robe and speaking in their own language about some of the boldest religious principles they had ever heard! Several of them were so attracted to Swami Vivekananda's personality that many of them followed him to India; only to find there were 15 or so of his fellow disciples here, each of whom was as spirited as him and each showed a different aspect of their guru's personality. The lectures and yoga lessons that Swamiji gave in the West completely changed the outlook of Westerners towards these practices and a lot of success of these things today in the West can be attributed to him.
Today, more than ever there is a need for the following of the teachings of this great pair. In the day when religious fanaticism is on a monotomic rise, there is a need of a voice saying that all religions are finally ways and means to realize the same Eternal Truth. When the mind of a person is being constantly grippled by insecurity, loss of faith and self-doubt, the practice of yoga is very much necessary to maintain a physical and mental equilibrium. When the rich are becoming richer and poor are becoming poorer, when the gap in haves and havenots is widening faster than ever before, when all a person can think of is accumulating as much wealth as possible, teaching the ideal of renunciation proposed and followed by these two great mean is the real need of the hour!
It has been 104 years since the great light name Swami Vivekananda merged into its source after being on this earth for a mere 39 years. The work he did in these 39 years has taken firm roots and has spread across the whole world under the name of Ramakrishna Mission. His words have inspired thousands of men and women across the world and is changing the life of thousands more daily. It is time we all gather together under his guidance and follow on the path towards truth prescribed by him!
May we all progress towards this greatest Truth and ultimately realize the true, Immortal, Infinite nature of our Self! May we all be blessed with that Immortal Bliss which he always said is rightfully ours! May we all feel the Sat, Chit, Anand that even the highest of the yogis crave for!
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
What saved Hinduism?
Often it has been wondered in discussion groups, media about the reason for the existence of Hinduism, and the reason it has survived the incessant attacks. The other major religions of the world, Judaism, Zorastriarism (religion of Parsees) and infinite others which existed in the past are either extinct now or have to lead a meagre survival. For more than 1000 years, India, the home of Hinduism was ruled by non-Hindus for the major part, yet the flame of Hinduism didnt burn out! Hinduism still has its flag high up, making the name 'Sanatana Dharma' given to it very apt.
But what is the reason behind this greatness of Hinduism. Mind you, it is not just a religion in the sense that people follow certain religious practices, go to temples etc. So far, in some form or another, the Hindu way of life has survived not just in India but beyond. True that it has got mixed with the other cultures it came in contact with, has trasnformed with the necessities of time, but still it continues to add its own favor in the places where a Hindu goes.
So what makes Hinduism unique? Is it the Vedas, Upanishads and Gita? But hardly a percent of Hindus read any one of them in their entirety! Also, the possibility of a book of such stature as a Veda or an Upanishad being lost in say a Babylonian culture cannot be denied. Is it the philisophy? For ages, people have kept thinking about ways of explaining nature; and have created philosophies in that attempt! Is it the Indian science, culture, arts and architecture which preserved Hinduism? But there are the pyramids, the whole of Mayan artefacts and the Roman collosium. There was Greek geometry, Roman science and amazing artforms all over the world. The fact that Indians were good at each of these things hardly explain the survival of Hinduism.
I had been thinking about this for a while now, and the answer came in an indirect manner in one of Swami Vivekananda's lectures! It is amazing how whenever I feel down or disturbed, opening a page in the sayings of the great man makes all my agonies unreal and trivial! The words have such energy that inspiration flows into a person by simply reading them!
The lecture I read was the one titled 'My Master', which is his discourse on life and teachings of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa. Of the hundreds of lectures SV gave since his historical speech at Chicago, this probably is the only one where he speaks of his Guru's personal life! The reason behind this is that he wanted to spread his guru's teachings, not his guru's fame!
In the course of his description of his Guru, he starts with first explaining what India stands for, what India means! He says that the basic soul of Hinduism and of India, the one common thread that binds the hundreds of sects in Hinduism together is this, 'There is a certain higher principle which is unmanifest, which exists in a dimension higher than the ones that are manifest; and the sole aim of human life is to realize that principle'. He says it is around this principle that the whole of Indian life revolves, the understanding of this higher principle! Indians can call it with multiple names such as moksha, mukti, nirvana, atma-dnyaan, they all mean the same thing, realizing the truth of life!
And therein lies the secret of Hinduism's survival! The sole aim is realization, for which a book, a messenger, a prophet, or even a son of God is not needed. For this, a clergy is not needed! Neither is the knowledge of a particular language required! One does not even have to be a genius to understand the truth! All that is needed is a pure heart and an intense desire to know the truth! Swamiji explains that as a boy, his guru, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, naturally possessed these qualities, and that they truly signify the defining characteristic of a true Hindu!
So how could Hinduism be destroyed! The invaders came and plundered. They destroyed the temples and the idols! But that was simply the 'body' of Hinduism, the external visible part! They destroyed the books, mistranslated and misprojected them! They even tried to burn the great libraries, which were 'mind' of Hinduism. The books simply stated the truths, they were not the truths! The last attempt, the one done by Western education was to play with the 'intellect', where the young minds were systematically taught to hate their religion and culture. But alas! They missed the important thing, the 'soul' of Hinduism! The Hindu declares that the body,mind and intellect of a person are mere the projections, the manifestations! The real nature of a man is his soul! So is it with a religion. The soul of Hinduism is in realization and that is as strong as ever!
Can this soul ever be destroyed? No! It is a basic nature of humans to enquire, to ask about what is beyond to try to find out what the beginning and the end of the existence is! Until this nature exists, such a question will always come up, "What is beyond?" and until such a question rises, noone can kill the soul of HInduism! The self-enquiry will continue, beings will realize their true nature and the flag of Sanatana Dharma will shine high!
This immortality of the soul of Hinduism is the real reason for its eternalness! All other factors are the after-effects, the helping tools. As long as there is one man on this earth who wishes to enquire in his real nature, Hinduism continues to exist!
It is well summarized in the story of King Alexander and the monk he meets! Alexander, the ruler of half the land on earth, is impressed by the life of this monk and wishes to take him to Greece with him. But the monk refuses. The king promises all the riches, a comfortable life and a big piece of land, but the monk refuses to move! Alexander finally draws his sword and says if he doesn not oblige, he will simply kill the monk!
At this the monk laughs and says, "This the stupidest thing you have ever said! I have realized I am not the body but the soul, and my soul cannot be pierced by any weapon or burnt by a fire. It is immortal!"
Such is the soul of Hinduism! The Alexanders of the world can try as much as they want to kill it, it is immortal, indestructible! Like the seed that springs from the land in the form of a tree, it will always rise no matter how deep it has been buried!
May we all become such seeds and blossom into trees where the flower of realization blooms and spreads its fragrance to the whole world!
But what is the reason behind this greatness of Hinduism. Mind you, it is not just a religion in the sense that people follow certain religious practices, go to temples etc. So far, in some form or another, the Hindu way of life has survived not just in India but beyond. True that it has got mixed with the other cultures it came in contact with, has trasnformed with the necessities of time, but still it continues to add its own favor in the places where a Hindu goes.
So what makes Hinduism unique? Is it the Vedas, Upanishads and Gita? But hardly a percent of Hindus read any one of them in their entirety! Also, the possibility of a book of such stature as a Veda or an Upanishad being lost in say a Babylonian culture cannot be denied. Is it the philisophy? For ages, people have kept thinking about ways of explaining nature; and have created philosophies in that attempt! Is it the Indian science, culture, arts and architecture which preserved Hinduism? But there are the pyramids, the whole of Mayan artefacts and the Roman collosium. There was Greek geometry, Roman science and amazing artforms all over the world. The fact that Indians were good at each of these things hardly explain the survival of Hinduism.
I had been thinking about this for a while now, and the answer came in an indirect manner in one of Swami Vivekananda's lectures! It is amazing how whenever I feel down or disturbed, opening a page in the sayings of the great man makes all my agonies unreal and trivial! The words have such energy that inspiration flows into a person by simply reading them!
The lecture I read was the one titled 'My Master', which is his discourse on life and teachings of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa. Of the hundreds of lectures SV gave since his historical speech at Chicago, this probably is the only one where he speaks of his Guru's personal life! The reason behind this is that he wanted to spread his guru's teachings, not his guru's fame!
In the course of his description of his Guru, he starts with first explaining what India stands for, what India means! He says that the basic soul of Hinduism and of India, the one common thread that binds the hundreds of sects in Hinduism together is this, 'There is a certain higher principle which is unmanifest, which exists in a dimension higher than the ones that are manifest; and the sole aim of human life is to realize that principle'. He says it is around this principle that the whole of Indian life revolves, the understanding of this higher principle! Indians can call it with multiple names such as moksha, mukti, nirvana, atma-dnyaan, they all mean the same thing, realizing the truth of life!
And therein lies the secret of Hinduism's survival! The sole aim is realization, for which a book, a messenger, a prophet, or even a son of God is not needed. For this, a clergy is not needed! Neither is the knowledge of a particular language required! One does not even have to be a genius to understand the truth! All that is needed is a pure heart and an intense desire to know the truth! Swamiji explains that as a boy, his guru, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, naturally possessed these qualities, and that they truly signify the defining characteristic of a true Hindu!
So how could Hinduism be destroyed! The invaders came and plundered. They destroyed the temples and the idols! But that was simply the 'body' of Hinduism, the external visible part! They destroyed the books, mistranslated and misprojected them! They even tried to burn the great libraries, which were 'mind' of Hinduism. The books simply stated the truths, they were not the truths! The last attempt, the one done by Western education was to play with the 'intellect', where the young minds were systematically taught to hate their religion and culture. But alas! They missed the important thing, the 'soul' of Hinduism! The Hindu declares that the body,mind and intellect of a person are mere the projections, the manifestations! The real nature of a man is his soul! So is it with a religion. The soul of Hinduism is in realization and that is as strong as ever!
Can this soul ever be destroyed? No! It is a basic nature of humans to enquire, to ask about what is beyond to try to find out what the beginning and the end of the existence is! Until this nature exists, such a question will always come up, "What is beyond?" and until such a question rises, noone can kill the soul of HInduism! The self-enquiry will continue, beings will realize their true nature and the flag of Sanatana Dharma will shine high!
This immortality of the soul of Hinduism is the real reason for its eternalness! All other factors are the after-effects, the helping tools. As long as there is one man on this earth who wishes to enquire in his real nature, Hinduism continues to exist!
It is well summarized in the story of King Alexander and the monk he meets! Alexander, the ruler of half the land on earth, is impressed by the life of this monk and wishes to take him to Greece with him. But the monk refuses. The king promises all the riches, a comfortable life and a big piece of land, but the monk refuses to move! Alexander finally draws his sword and says if he doesn not oblige, he will simply kill the monk!
At this the monk laughs and says, "This the stupidest thing you have ever said! I have realized I am not the body but the soul, and my soul cannot be pierced by any weapon or burnt by a fire. It is immortal!"
Such is the soul of Hinduism! The Alexanders of the world can try as much as they want to kill it, it is immortal, indestructible! Like the seed that springs from the land in the form of a tree, it will always rise no matter how deep it has been buried!
May we all become such seeds and blossom into trees where the flower of realization blooms and spreads its fragrance to the whole world!
Thursday, June 29, 2006
How far will you carry the baggage?
Once a guru and his disciple were walking in the forest and came across a river. At one end of the river were a few young women who wanted to cross the river as well. But the water was too deep for them and they were not able to cross the river. Seeing this, the guru picked up each one of them one by one and carried them to the other side of the river. In the end, they crossed the river themselves and kept on walking on their course.
Now, the younger monk got to thinking; for a sanyassi it is wrong to touch a woman! How come then, his guru, an age-old, respected monk, not only touch a woman, but carried a whole bunch of them across the river? He thought not only had his guru committed a terrible sin, but in fact cheated the whole order of monks, and hence betrayed him! "How blindly did I trust this man! But he is a traitor and has cheated me. He is no Guru, he is a quack!" Such were his thoughts throughout the journey.
At the end of the day, they reached a small hut where they were planning on staying for the night. All this time, the guru had seen the restlessness of the disciple, but kept quiet. But for the disciple, it was becoming too much! Finally, it became impossible for him to hold it in anymore! He blurted out "How could you touch those women and carry them in your shoulders? Dont you know it is a sin to touch a woman's body for a monk?"
At this, the Master simply smiled, and replied "My child, they are not women for me, but simply human beings, who were in need of help. And it is my duty to help whoever is in need of it!
However, I left the women at the bank of the river. But you kept carrying them in your mind all this time!"
At this, the young disciple realized that his guru is a realized man! No sin can touch him, but it is his own folly, which makes him think bad of his guru. He apologized for his behavior and there was no more any doubt in his mind!
In some way or another, we are all like the young monk. Not because he doubted, but because he was carrying an unnecessary baggage with him. Since the time a man begins understanding things, there is a feeling in him that the world is unfair to him! Everyone is unfortunate in some respect, some more than others! The people we meet always inflict pain to us in some form or another! A trusted friend betrays you, a dear relative you like very much hurts you or an unknown person in the street insults you for no reason! We expect a person to behave in a certain manner, and when he/she does not, we become extremely unhappy. All these stay in our mind for so long, pecking at it minute by minute and make us miserable! We all have this extra baggage that keeps pulling us down!
So what do we do? We should throw away this baggage! True that the world is unfair to you! True that the people around you could have been and should have been more considerate and supportive of your feelings! True you deserved more affection! But what is the solution to it? One option is to become a victim of the situations and stay victimized. Curse the fate, cry over it and loose all hope!
The other, more righteous approach is to rise like a phoenix! Become a bigger person and show it to the world. When one is a child, one fights all the time in school for the simplest of things. At that point of time, it is a matter of life and death to the child! However, if the same two kids meet when they are older, the matter for which they once fought is forgotten. Their spectrum has widened, the outlook changed! Why cant we have the same outlook towards life? Why cant we carry the message of love for the world? When you start caring for the world, when you see the amount of suffering in the world, the small things around you seem so trivial that it is almost a sin to care about them! For a king ruling a kingdom, the feud in two villagers in not a thing to worry, he has a whole kingdom to care!
There was a photograph in a forward going around some time back. It was of a small African child dying out of malnutrition. It had the tiniest possible arms, not a single muscle to show, and it was lying on the ground with eyes barely open, giving a helpless look. A vulture was standing right by it, ready to take a bite of that most unfortunate child as soon as it dies! It is the most shocking photo I have ever seen! (The photographer was given a prize for the picture and he committed suicide within 6 months because he could not bare the trauma of that sight!)
Can there be more misfortune in this world? What importance are the smallest of the things in life when a child has to see its own death waiting to take a bite from his body? Who cares if there is less sugar in a tea when millions around the world have not had a single decent meal all their lives? What right do we have to complain of a simple momentary pleasure denied to us when thousands around the world have no idea what comfort means?
It is with this perspective that we need to leave all our baggage behind! The world is at the same a very wonderful and a very horrible place. It is for us to enjoy and mend at the same time! We have to uplift our lowly lives to the level where the happiness of all around us becomes our happiness! Without expectations, without a possibility of recognition, with strong determination and immense strength, we should lift ourselves and try to achieve this goal of happiness for all! We have to fly in the sky as high as possible, all of us together! The sooner we leave the baggage behind, the higher shall we rise!
Let us all get the strength to fly high! Let us all learn to love and forgive, let us become free of all the baggage!
Now, the younger monk got to thinking; for a sanyassi it is wrong to touch a woman! How come then, his guru, an age-old, respected monk, not only touch a woman, but carried a whole bunch of them across the river? He thought not only had his guru committed a terrible sin, but in fact cheated the whole order of monks, and hence betrayed him! "How blindly did I trust this man! But he is a traitor and has cheated me. He is no Guru, he is a quack!" Such were his thoughts throughout the journey.
At the end of the day, they reached a small hut where they were planning on staying for the night. All this time, the guru had seen the restlessness of the disciple, but kept quiet. But for the disciple, it was becoming too much! Finally, it became impossible for him to hold it in anymore! He blurted out "How could you touch those women and carry them in your shoulders? Dont you know it is a sin to touch a woman's body for a monk?"
At this, the Master simply smiled, and replied "My child, they are not women for me, but simply human beings, who were in need of help. And it is my duty to help whoever is in need of it!
However, I left the women at the bank of the river. But you kept carrying them in your mind all this time!"
At this, the young disciple realized that his guru is a realized man! No sin can touch him, but it is his own folly, which makes him think bad of his guru. He apologized for his behavior and there was no more any doubt in his mind!
In some way or another, we are all like the young monk. Not because he doubted, but because he was carrying an unnecessary baggage with him. Since the time a man begins understanding things, there is a feeling in him that the world is unfair to him! Everyone is unfortunate in some respect, some more than others! The people we meet always inflict pain to us in some form or another! A trusted friend betrays you, a dear relative you like very much hurts you or an unknown person in the street insults you for no reason! We expect a person to behave in a certain manner, and when he/she does not, we become extremely unhappy. All these stay in our mind for so long, pecking at it minute by minute and make us miserable! We all have this extra baggage that keeps pulling us down!
So what do we do? We should throw away this baggage! True that the world is unfair to you! True that the people around you could have been and should have been more considerate and supportive of your feelings! True you deserved more affection! But what is the solution to it? One option is to become a victim of the situations and stay victimized. Curse the fate, cry over it and loose all hope!
The other, more righteous approach is to rise like a phoenix! Become a bigger person and show it to the world. When one is a child, one fights all the time in school for the simplest of things. At that point of time, it is a matter of life and death to the child! However, if the same two kids meet when they are older, the matter for which they once fought is forgotten. Their spectrum has widened, the outlook changed! Why cant we have the same outlook towards life? Why cant we carry the message of love for the world? When you start caring for the world, when you see the amount of suffering in the world, the small things around you seem so trivial that it is almost a sin to care about them! For a king ruling a kingdom, the feud in two villagers in not a thing to worry, he has a whole kingdom to care!
There was a photograph in a forward going around some time back. It was of a small African child dying out of malnutrition. It had the tiniest possible arms, not a single muscle to show, and it was lying on the ground with eyes barely open, giving a helpless look. A vulture was standing right by it, ready to take a bite of that most unfortunate child as soon as it dies! It is the most shocking photo I have ever seen! (The photographer was given a prize for the picture and he committed suicide within 6 months because he could not bare the trauma of that sight!)
Can there be more misfortune in this world? What importance are the smallest of the things in life when a child has to see its own death waiting to take a bite from his body? Who cares if there is less sugar in a tea when millions around the world have not had a single decent meal all their lives? What right do we have to complain of a simple momentary pleasure denied to us when thousands around the world have no idea what comfort means?
It is with this perspective that we need to leave all our baggage behind! The world is at the same a very wonderful and a very horrible place. It is for us to enjoy and mend at the same time! We have to uplift our lowly lives to the level where the happiness of all around us becomes our happiness! Without expectations, without a possibility of recognition, with strong determination and immense strength, we should lift ourselves and try to achieve this goal of happiness for all! We have to fly in the sky as high as possible, all of us together! The sooner we leave the baggage behind, the higher shall we rise!
Let us all get the strength to fly high! Let us all learn to love and forgive, let us become free of all the baggage!
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Duality, yin-yang and the nature of life
To say that this post is inspired from a chapter in the book 'The Tao of Physics' might be an understatement. Not only am I taking concepts and images from the book, some of the analysis also finds its source there! Anyway, I think this might be an interesting read (its going to be an interesting write for sure!) Interested readers can read the book for better analysis.
The basic conjecture in Tao, the Chinese philosophy is that there is an underlying equilibrium of two opposing forces in nature. The Chinese call these the yang and the yin. The yang symbolizes the maculine nature of reality, the rational, calculating, analyzing side; whereas the yin represents the feminine, the more sensitive, delicate, conscious side of things. Chinese believe that all human life is an interplay between these two forces, and an equilibrium is desired between the two for a smooth functioning of things.
To a certain extent, the same idea is also seen in Indian thought as well. Indians once believed in the concept of purush and prakruti, which bear some semblence to the yang and the yin respectively. The concept of 'arda-narishwar' avatara of Shiva (having half woman's and half man's body) is also a representation of the same.
This duality is not only seen in human nature, but also in all things in life. Every aspect of life has this dual nature, or rather everything has these seemingly opposite extremes to itself. Good-evil, success-failure, life-death, expansion-contraction, up-down, positive-negative are all examples of these opposites.
The greatness of Chinese (and also Indian) philosophy lies not in the realization of this duality of things, but in overcoming the so-called opposite natures of the duality, and realizing the underlying unity in them. For this, a simple diagram is used (again from the book!).
Consider a path taken by a particle rotating in the circle. The particle is nature and it rotates along the circle of life. The basic nature of Nature is to keep rotating. However, the human conscience perceives this circle of life, not from the top as seen in the left side of the picture, but from side, as seen in the left; and hence sees a projection of the same! So, what we see is that the nature oscillates between two opposite ends, and hence the apparent extremes in everything! In the projection, there is an up and a down, a positive and a negative, which is essentially how we perceive the world!
The realization, then, is simply changing the frame of references from a projection to the real nature of Nature, that of the revolving circle! This is the Tao. This is also the moksha in Indian thought, where uplifting one from the cycle of life and death is desired! What is a consequence of this? We realize that there is nothing absolutely good or bad, but the Absolute is beyond good or bad! There is no complete happiness or sorrow, but the Perfection is beyond both of these. We realize ups and downs in life are not absolute, but the real nature of life is beyond both.
The daily grind of life is like running in the circle round and round and round, while consfusing ourselves with the false successes and failures. If we take a moment to look, we realize it is neither about running as fast as we can, nor going as high as we can; but about understanding that the highs and lows, ups and downs are but the two sides of the same thing, and that one is bound to follow the other. We do our work with this inevitable sequence in mind, and work without the desire of fruits in a completely detached fashion. This is message of Tao, this is the message of Gita, and this is the essence of life.
May we all lead our lives following this ideology and may we all proceed in our paths towards the realization of the true nature of life!
The basic conjecture in Tao, the Chinese philosophy is that there is an underlying equilibrium of two opposing forces in nature. The Chinese call these the yang and the yin. The yang symbolizes the maculine nature of reality, the rational, calculating, analyzing side; whereas the yin represents the feminine, the more sensitive, delicate, conscious side of things. Chinese believe that all human life is an interplay between these two forces, and an equilibrium is desired between the two for a smooth functioning of things.
To a certain extent, the same idea is also seen in Indian thought as well. Indians once believed in the concept of purush and prakruti, which bear some semblence to the yang and the yin respectively. The concept of 'arda-narishwar' avatara of Shiva (having half woman's and half man's body) is also a representation of the same.
This duality is not only seen in human nature, but also in all things in life. Every aspect of life has this dual nature, or rather everything has these seemingly opposite extremes to itself. Good-evil, success-failure, life-death, expansion-contraction, up-down, positive-negative are all examples of these opposites.
The greatness of Chinese (and also Indian) philosophy lies not in the realization of this duality of things, but in overcoming the so-called opposite natures of the duality, and realizing the underlying unity in them. For this, a simple diagram is used (again from the book!).
Consider a path taken by a particle rotating in the circle. The particle is nature and it rotates along the circle of life. The basic nature of Nature is to keep rotating. However, the human conscience perceives this circle of life, not from the top as seen in the left side of the picture, but from side, as seen in the left; and hence sees a projection of the same! So, what we see is that the nature oscillates between two opposite ends, and hence the apparent extremes in everything! In the projection, there is an up and a down, a positive and a negative, which is essentially how we perceive the world!
The realization, then, is simply changing the frame of references from a projection to the real nature of Nature, that of the revolving circle! This is the Tao. This is also the moksha in Indian thought, where uplifting one from the cycle of life and death is desired! What is a consequence of this? We realize that there is nothing absolutely good or bad, but the Absolute is beyond good or bad! There is no complete happiness or sorrow, but the Perfection is beyond both of these. We realize ups and downs in life are not absolute, but the real nature of life is beyond both.
The daily grind of life is like running in the circle round and round and round, while consfusing ourselves with the false successes and failures. If we take a moment to look, we realize it is neither about running as fast as we can, nor going as high as we can; but about understanding that the highs and lows, ups and downs are but the two sides of the same thing, and that one is bound to follow the other. We do our work with this inevitable sequence in mind, and work without the desire of fruits in a completely detached fashion. This is message of Tao, this is the message of Gita, and this is the essence of life.
May we all lead our lives following this ideology and may we all proceed in our paths towards the realization of the true nature of life!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Casteism in Vedas
The purpose of this post is to give a translation of the Vajra Suchika Upanishad, which discusses castes in Vedas, and talks about the evolution of man to the Perfect Being, Brahman.
The term 'vajra' means a thunderbolt and 'suchika' means a needle. Together, this Upanishad is supposed to be as strong as a thunderbolt and yet as piercing as a needle in the removal of ignorance and the illumination of knowldege.
The shlokas are from Wiki(http://wikisource.org/wiki/वज्रसूचि_उपनिषद्) and the transaltion is from here:http://hinduwebsite.com/vajrasuchika.asp
॥ श्री गुरुभ्यो नमः हरिः ॐ ॥
यज्ञ्ज्ञानाद्यान्ति मुनयो ब्राह्मण्यं परमाद्भुतम् ।
तत्रैपद्ब्रह्मतत्त्वमहमस्मीति चिंतये ॥
ॐ आप्यायन्त्विति शान्तिः ॥
चित्सदानन्दरूपाय सर्वधीवृत्तिसाक्षिणे ।
नमो वेदान्तवेद्याय ब्रह्मणेऽनन्तरूपिणे ॥
ॐ वज्रसूचीं प्रवक्ष्यामि शास्त्रमज्ञानभेदनम् ।
दूषणं ज्ञानहीनानां भूषणं ज्ञानचक्षुषाम् ॥ १ ॥
(After bowing down to Guru, and wishing peace to all concerned) I am now going to teach you the knowledge of Vajrasuci which dispels ignorance, condemns the ignorant and elevates those who possess the eye of wisdom.
ब्राह्मक्षत्रियवैष्यशूद्रा इति चत्वारो वर्णास्तेषां वर्णानां ब्राह्मण एव
प्रधान इति वेदवचनानुरूपं स्मृतिभिरप्युक्तम् ।
तत्र चोद्यमस्ति को वा ब्राह्मणो नाम किं जीवः किं देहः किं जातिः किं
ज्ञानं किं कर्म किं धार्मिक इति ॥
The Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya and the Sudra: these are the four varnas. The Vedas proclaim that the Brahmana is the first among them and the smritis also affirm it. There is however an interesting aspect about this. Actually who is this whom we refer by the name Brahmana? Is he (the subtle body known as) Jiva ? Is he the physical body? Is he (the descendent of) the community to which he belongs? Is he (the possessor of) the knowledge? Is he (the doer of) the actions he undertakes? Is he (the performer of) the religious rites he performs?
तत्र प्रथमो जीवो ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
अतीतानागतानेकदेहानां
जीवस्यैकरूपत्वात् एकस्यापि कर्मवशादनेकदेहसंभवात् सर्वशरीराणां
जीवस्यैकरूपत्वाच्च ।
तस्मात् न जीवो ब्राह्मण इति ॥
Of this the first premise that Brahmana is jiva is not tenable because the same jiva enters different bodies in previous lives. Although it is one, due to the impact of the past deeds and desires the same jiva happens to reside in many bodies (in different lives). Therefore a Brahmana is not on account of the jiva.
तर्हि देहो ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
आचाण्डालादिपर्यन्तानां मनुष्याणां
पञ्चभौतिकत्वेन देहस्यैकरूपत्वात्
जरामरणधर्माधर्मादिसाम्यदर्शनत् ब्राह्मणः श्वेतवर्णः क्षत्रियो
रक्तवर्णो वैश्यः पीतवर्णः शूद्रः कृष्णवर्णः इति नियमाभावात् ।
पित्रादिशरीरदहने पुत्रादीनां ब्रह्महत्यादिदोषसंभवाच्च ।
तस्मात् न देहो ब्राह्मण इति ॥
Then coming to the statement that the body is Brahmana, this also is not acceptable because universally the body is composed of the self same five elements (the earth, the water, the fire, the air and the ether), from the Brahmanas down to the lowest of the human class and subject to the same processes of old age and death, good and evil in all. One cannot also generalize that the Brahmanas have white complexion, the Kshatriyas red complexion, the Vaishyas brown complexion and the Sudras dark complexion,( because these colors are not uniform among these classes). Besides the bodies can become tainted with such sins as the killing of Brahmans, improper cremation of bodies by their descendents and so on. Therefore a Brahmana is not so because of the body.
तर्हि जाति ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
तत्र
जात्यन्तरजन्तुष्वनेकजातिसंभवात् महर्षयो बहवः सन्ति ।
ऋष्यशृङ्गो मृग्याः,कौशिकः कुशात्,जाम्बूको जाम्बूकात्,वाल्मीको
वाल्मीकात्,व्यासः कैवर्तकन्यकायाम्,शशपृष्ठात् गौतमः,
वसिष्ठ उर्वश्याम्,अगस्त्यः कलशे जात इति शृतत्वात् ।
एतेषां
जात्या विनाप्यग्रे ज्ञानप्रतिपादिता ऋषयो बहवः सन्ति ।
तस्मात्
न जाति ब्राह्मण इति ॥
Then it is said that a Brahmana is so because of his caste. This is not acceptable because there are diverse communities in the world, even in the animal world, and the seers and sages come from different communities. We have heard from the sacred scriptures that many seers were of animal origin. Rishyasringa was born of a deer, Kaushika came from the grass, Jambuka from a Jackal, Valkimi from an ant hill, Vyasa from a fisher girl, Gautama from the back of a hare, Vashista from the celestial nymph Urvasi, Agastya from an earthen vessel. Among these many have attained the highest rank, despite of their lower birth and given proof of their wisdom. Therefore a Brahmana is not so because of his community.
तर्हि ज्ञानं ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
क्षत्रियादयोऽपि
परमार्थदर्शिनोऽभिज्ञा बहवः सन्ति ।
तस्मात् न ज्ञानं ब्राह्मण इति ॥
The argument that knowledge makes a Brahmana is also not acceptable because many Kshatriyas and others have seen the Highest Reality and attained perfect knowledge. Therefore a Brahmana is not so because of his knowledge.
तर्हि कर्म ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
सर्वेषां प्राणिनां
प्रारब्धसञ्चितागामिकर्मसाधर्म्यदर्शनात्कर्माभिप्रेरिताः सन्तो जनाः
क्रियाः कुर्वन्तीति ।
तस्मात् न कर्म ब्राह्मण इति ॥
That karma (actions) make a Brahmana is not acceptable because we see the existence of prarabdha and sanchita karma in all beings. Impelled by their previous karma only all the saintly people perform their deeds. Therefore a Brahmana is not so because of (present) karma.
तर्हि धार्मिको ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
क्षत्रियादयो हिरण्यदातारो बहवः
सन्ति ।
तस्मात् न धार्मिको ब्राह्मण इति ॥
Then it is also not true that on account of dharma (religious duty or activity) is a Brahmana. There are many Kshatriyas who have given away gold as charity. Therefore a Brahmana is not on account of dharma
तर्हि को वा ब्रह्मणो नाम ।
यः कश्चिदात्मानमद्वितीयं जातिगुणक्रियाहीनं
षडूर्मिषड्भावेत्यादिसर्वदोषरहितं सत्यज्ञानानन्दानन्तस्वरूपं
स्वयं निर्विकल्पमशेषकल्पाधारमशेषभूतान्तर्यामित्वेन
वर्तमानमन्तर्यहिश्चाकाशवदनुस्यूतमखण्डानन्दस्वभावमप्रमेयं
अनुभवैकवेद्यमपरोक्षतया भासमानं करतळामलकवत्साक्षादपरोक्षीकृत्य
कृतार्थतया कामरागादिदोषरहितः शमदमादिसंपन्नो भाव मात्सर्य
तृष्णा आशा मोहादिरहितो दम्भाहङ्कारदिभिरसंस्पृष्टचेता वर्तत
एवमुक्तलक्षणो यः स एव ब्राह्मणेति शृतिस्मृतीतिहासपुराणाभ्यामभिप्रायः
अन्यथा हि ब्राह्मणत्वसिद्धिर्नास्त्येव ।
सच्चिदानान्दमात्मानमद्वितीयं ब्रह्म भावयेदित्युपनिषत् ॥
ॐ आप्यायन्त्विति शान्तिः ॥
॥ इति वज्रसूच्युपनिषत्समाप्ता ॥
॥ भारतीरमणमुख्यप्राणंतर्गत श्रीकृष्णार्पणमस्तु ॥
Then who is to be known by the name Brahmana? He who succeeds in perceiving directly the self without a second like an amalaka fruit in the palm of his hand, who is devoid of the distinction of caste, trait and action, who is devoid of all the faults such as the six imperfections and the six states of being, who is of the nature of truth, knowledge, bliss and infinity, who is self existent, without will power, but the impeller and supporter of all will power, who exists in all as the indwelling spirit, who is within and without of all like the ether, who is of the nature of indivisible bliss, immeasurable, known only through ones direct experience, who manifests himself directly as truth, who has successfully overcome such imperfections as desire and passion, who is filled with the riches of tranquility, who has eliminated from his being such states as envy, greed and infatuation, who lives unaffected by such things as ostentation and egoism- these aforesaid qualities make up a Brahmana. This is the opinion expressed by all the srutis (Vedas), smritis (religious books), Puranas (ancient lore) and the Ithihasas (historical works). Otherwise it is impossible to attain Brahmanahood. Meditate upon Brahman, the inmost Self, who is of the nature of truth, consciousness and bliss and who is without a second. Meditate upon Brahman, the very Self, who is without a second. This is the Upanishad.
The term 'vajra' means a thunderbolt and 'suchika' means a needle. Together, this Upanishad is supposed to be as strong as a thunderbolt and yet as piercing as a needle in the removal of ignorance and the illumination of knowldege.
The shlokas are from Wiki(http://wikisource.org/wiki/वज्रसूचि_उपनिषद्) and the transaltion is from here:http://hinduwebsite.com/vajrasuchika.asp
॥ श्री गुरुभ्यो नमः हरिः ॐ ॥
यज्ञ्ज्ञानाद्यान्ति मुनयो ब्राह्मण्यं परमाद्भुतम् ।
तत्रैपद्ब्रह्मतत्त्वमहमस्मीति चिंतये ॥
ॐ आप्यायन्त्विति शान्तिः ॥
चित्सदानन्दरूपाय सर्वधीवृत्तिसाक्षिणे ।
नमो वेदान्तवेद्याय ब्रह्मणेऽनन्तरूपिणे ॥
ॐ वज्रसूचीं प्रवक्ष्यामि शास्त्रमज्ञानभेदनम् ।
दूषणं ज्ञानहीनानां भूषणं ज्ञानचक्षुषाम् ॥ १ ॥
(After bowing down to Guru, and wishing peace to all concerned) I am now going to teach you the knowledge of Vajrasuci which dispels ignorance, condemns the ignorant and elevates those who possess the eye of wisdom.
ब्राह्मक्षत्रियवैष्यशूद्रा इति चत्वारो वर्णास्तेषां वर्णानां ब्राह्मण एव
प्रधान इति वेदवचनानुरूपं स्मृतिभिरप्युक्तम् ।
तत्र चोद्यमस्ति को वा ब्राह्मणो नाम किं जीवः किं देहः किं जातिः किं
ज्ञानं किं कर्म किं धार्मिक इति ॥
The Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya and the Sudra: these are the four varnas. The Vedas proclaim that the Brahmana is the first among them and the smritis also affirm it. There is however an interesting aspect about this. Actually who is this whom we refer by the name Brahmana? Is he (the subtle body known as) Jiva ? Is he the physical body? Is he (the descendent of) the community to which he belongs? Is he (the possessor of) the knowledge? Is he (the doer of) the actions he undertakes? Is he (the performer of) the religious rites he performs?
तत्र प्रथमो जीवो ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
अतीतानागतानेकदेहानां
जीवस्यैकरूपत्वात् एकस्यापि कर्मवशादनेकदेहसंभवात् सर्वशरीराणां
जीवस्यैकरूपत्वाच्च ।
तस्मात् न जीवो ब्राह्मण इति ॥
Of this the first premise that Brahmana is jiva is not tenable because the same jiva enters different bodies in previous lives. Although it is one, due to the impact of the past deeds and desires the same jiva happens to reside in many bodies (in different lives). Therefore a Brahmana is not on account of the jiva.
तर्हि देहो ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
आचाण्डालादिपर्यन्तानां मनुष्याणां
पञ्चभौतिकत्वेन देहस्यैकरूपत्वात्
जरामरणधर्माधर्मादिसाम्यदर्शनत् ब्राह्मणः श्वेतवर्णः क्षत्रियो
रक्तवर्णो वैश्यः पीतवर्णः शूद्रः कृष्णवर्णः इति नियमाभावात् ।
पित्रादिशरीरदहने पुत्रादीनां ब्रह्महत्यादिदोषसंभवाच्च ।
तस्मात् न देहो ब्राह्मण इति ॥
Then coming to the statement that the body is Brahmana, this also is not acceptable because universally the body is composed of the self same five elements (the earth, the water, the fire, the air and the ether), from the Brahmanas down to the lowest of the human class and subject to the same processes of old age and death, good and evil in all. One cannot also generalize that the Brahmanas have white complexion, the Kshatriyas red complexion, the Vaishyas brown complexion and the Sudras dark complexion,( because these colors are not uniform among these classes). Besides the bodies can become tainted with such sins as the killing of Brahmans, improper cremation of bodies by their descendents and so on. Therefore a Brahmana is not so because of the body.
तर्हि जाति ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
तत्र
जात्यन्तरजन्तुष्वनेकजातिसंभवात् महर्षयो बहवः सन्ति ।
ऋष्यशृङ्गो मृग्याः,कौशिकः कुशात्,जाम्बूको जाम्बूकात्,वाल्मीको
वाल्मीकात्,व्यासः कैवर्तकन्यकायाम्,शशपृष्ठात् गौतमः,
वसिष्ठ उर्वश्याम्,अगस्त्यः कलशे जात इति शृतत्वात् ।
एतेषां
जात्या विनाप्यग्रे ज्ञानप्रतिपादिता ऋषयो बहवः सन्ति ।
तस्मात्
न जाति ब्राह्मण इति ॥
Then it is said that a Brahmana is so because of his caste. This is not acceptable because there are diverse communities in the world, even in the animal world, and the seers and sages come from different communities. We have heard from the sacred scriptures that many seers were of animal origin. Rishyasringa was born of a deer, Kaushika came from the grass, Jambuka from a Jackal, Valkimi from an ant hill, Vyasa from a fisher girl, Gautama from the back of a hare, Vashista from the celestial nymph Urvasi, Agastya from an earthen vessel. Among these many have attained the highest rank, despite of their lower birth and given proof of their wisdom. Therefore a Brahmana is not so because of his community.
तर्हि ज्ञानं ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
क्षत्रियादयोऽपि
परमार्थदर्शिनोऽभिज्ञा बहवः सन्ति ।
तस्मात् न ज्ञानं ब्राह्मण इति ॥
The argument that knowledge makes a Brahmana is also not acceptable because many Kshatriyas and others have seen the Highest Reality and attained perfect knowledge. Therefore a Brahmana is not so because of his knowledge.
तर्हि कर्म ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
सर्वेषां प्राणिनां
प्रारब्धसञ्चितागामिकर्मसाधर्म्यदर्शनात्कर्माभिप्रेरिताः सन्तो जनाः
क्रियाः कुर्वन्तीति ।
तस्मात् न कर्म ब्राह्मण इति ॥
That karma (actions) make a Brahmana is not acceptable because we see the existence of prarabdha and sanchita karma in all beings. Impelled by their previous karma only all the saintly people perform their deeds. Therefore a Brahmana is not so because of (present) karma.
तर्हि धार्मिको ब्राह्मण इति चेत् तन्न ।
क्षत्रियादयो हिरण्यदातारो बहवः
सन्ति ।
तस्मात् न धार्मिको ब्राह्मण इति ॥
Then it is also not true that on account of dharma (religious duty or activity) is a Brahmana. There are many Kshatriyas who have given away gold as charity. Therefore a Brahmana is not on account of dharma
तर्हि को वा ब्रह्मणो नाम ।
यः कश्चिदात्मानमद्वितीयं जातिगुणक्रियाहीनं
षडूर्मिषड्भावेत्यादिसर्वदोषरहितं सत्यज्ञानानन्दानन्तस्वरूपं
स्वयं निर्विकल्पमशेषकल्पाधारमशेषभूतान्तर्यामित्वेन
वर्तमानमन्तर्यहिश्चाकाशवदनुस्यूतमखण्डानन्दस्वभावमप्रमेयं
अनुभवैकवेद्यमपरोक्षतया भासमानं करतळामलकवत्साक्षादपरोक्षीकृत्य
कृतार्थतया कामरागादिदोषरहितः शमदमादिसंपन्नो भाव मात्सर्य
तृष्णा आशा मोहादिरहितो दम्भाहङ्कारदिभिरसंस्पृष्टचेता वर्तत
एवमुक्तलक्षणो यः स एव ब्राह्मणेति शृतिस्मृतीतिहासपुराणाभ्यामभिप्रायः
अन्यथा हि ब्राह्मणत्वसिद्धिर्नास्त्येव ।
सच्चिदानान्दमात्मानमद्वितीयं ब्रह्म भावयेदित्युपनिषत् ॥
ॐ आप्यायन्त्विति शान्तिः ॥
॥ इति वज्रसूच्युपनिषत्समाप्ता ॥
॥ भारतीरमणमुख्यप्राणंतर्गत श्रीकृष्णार्पणमस्तु ॥
Then who is to be known by the name Brahmana? He who succeeds in perceiving directly the self without a second like an amalaka fruit in the palm of his hand, who is devoid of the distinction of caste, trait and action, who is devoid of all the faults such as the six imperfections and the six states of being, who is of the nature of truth, knowledge, bliss and infinity, who is self existent, without will power, but the impeller and supporter of all will power, who exists in all as the indwelling spirit, who is within and without of all like the ether, who is of the nature of indivisible bliss, immeasurable, known only through ones direct experience, who manifests himself directly as truth, who has successfully overcome such imperfections as desire and passion, who is filled with the riches of tranquility, who has eliminated from his being such states as envy, greed and infatuation, who lives unaffected by such things as ostentation and egoism- these aforesaid qualities make up a Brahmana. This is the opinion expressed by all the srutis (Vedas), smritis (religious books), Puranas (ancient lore) and the Ithihasas (historical works). Otherwise it is impossible to attain Brahmanahood. Meditate upon Brahman, the inmost Self, who is of the nature of truth, consciousness and bliss and who is without a second. Meditate upon Brahman, the very Self, who is without a second. This is the Upanishad.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
The song of the Free
I was originally planning to post The Song of the Sannyasin, but instead found this one, 'The Song of the Free' and liked it instantly.
Of all the people who have influenced my life and thinking, I would put teacher-student pair of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Swami Vivekananda at the very top. Swami Vivekananda (maybe I will write a blog on my admiration for him some time) was probably the only saint in modern times to lay stress on individual freedom as much as on spiritual freedom, or the freedom to practise any path towards God. In his words, "We are all born free, the sole aim is to realize that freedom". In this poem, he describes the nature of such a Free Being.
The Song Of The Free
The wounded snake its hood unfurls,
The flame stirred up doth blaze,
The desert air resounds the calls
Of heart-struck lion's rage.
The cloud puts forth it deluge strength
When lightning cleaves its breast,
When the soul is stirred to its in most depth
Great ones unfold their best.
Let eyes grow dim and heart grow faint,
And friendship fail and love betray,
Let Fate its hundred horrors send,
And clotted darkness block the way.
All nature wear one angry frown,
To crush you out - still know, my soul,
You are Divine. March on and on,
Nor right nor left but to the goal.
Nor angel I, nor man, nor brute,
Nor body, mind, nor he nor she,
The books do stop in wonder mute
To tell my nature; I am He.
Before the sun, the moon, the earth,
Before the stars or comets free,
Before e'en time has had its birth,
I was, I am, and I will be.
The beauteous earth, the glorious sun,
The calm sweet moon, the spangled sky,
Causation's law do make them run;
They live in bonds, in bonds they die.
And mind its mantle dreamy net
Cast o'er them all and holds them fast.
In warp and woof of thought are set,
Earth, hells, and heavens, or worst or best.
Know these are but the outer crust -
All space and time, all effect, cause.
I am beyond all sense, all thoughts,
The witness of the universe.
Not two nor many, 'tis but one,
And thus in me all me's I have;
I cannot hate, I cannot shun
Myself from me, I can but love.
From dreams awake, from bonds be free,
Be not afraid. This mystery,
My shadow, cannot frighten me,
Know once for all that I am He.
- Swami Vivekananda.
In the first few stanzas Swamiji glorifies the Free nature of Spirit saying it is so strong that neither the wicked forces of nature, nor the quirks of fate nor the calamities of life can break the Self. It verily reminds one of Krishna's words in Gita about the atman,
"nainam chindanti sastrani
nainam dahati pavakah
na cainam kledayanty apo
na sosayati marutah"
Or 'Him the weapon cannot pierce, Him the fire cannot burn, nor can the rains wet Him or the wind blow him away'
Such is the Self, or the true nature of Man.
The following verses sing the free nature of the Self and hence the poem becomes first person. The 'I', like Sri Krishna in Gita, speaks of the true nature of the Self. Hence I am neither a man, angel or a brute and so on. The Self is free of time, space and causation because each of these talk of duality, and Self has no duality.
'The books do stop in wonder mute' is the reiteration of the Upanishadic verses which mention the Self as 'neti neti' or simply 'not this, not this'.
The last but one verse, 'Not two nor many, 'tis but one,' is a simply wonderful explanation of Advaitic Bhakti. If I am One, all others are in me! Hence I cannot hate or shun anyone, but can only love them and in turn love myself. This is the biggest message of love, 'Love thy neighbour as you love thyself'. Swamiji gives a wonderful explanation of that teaching in this verse!
And the last stanza is a beautiful summary of the concept of Self-Realization!
My shadow, cannot frighten me,
Know once for all that I am He.
Maya, the eternal shadow that engulfs the human beings and makes him think that He is finite and keeps him engulfed in itself, cannot frighten the Self. The aim is to know once and for all, 'I am He'. I am the Infinite, Immutable, Immortal Bliss with no boundaries, no limitations, no form or attributes! I am He! Or in words of Upanishads, "Tat tvam asi".
May we all progress in our path towards the realization of our true Self!
Of all the people who have influenced my life and thinking, I would put teacher-student pair of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Swami Vivekananda at the very top. Swami Vivekananda (maybe I will write a blog on my admiration for him some time) was probably the only saint in modern times to lay stress on individual freedom as much as on spiritual freedom, or the freedom to practise any path towards God. In his words, "We are all born free, the sole aim is to realize that freedom". In this poem, he describes the nature of such a Free Being.
The Song Of The Free
The wounded snake its hood unfurls,
The flame stirred up doth blaze,
The desert air resounds the calls
Of heart-struck lion's rage.
The cloud puts forth it deluge strength
When lightning cleaves its breast,
When the soul is stirred to its in most depth
Great ones unfold their best.
Let eyes grow dim and heart grow faint,
And friendship fail and love betray,
Let Fate its hundred horrors send,
And clotted darkness block the way.
All nature wear one angry frown,
To crush you out - still know, my soul,
You are Divine. March on and on,
Nor right nor left but to the goal.
Nor angel I, nor man, nor brute,
Nor body, mind, nor he nor she,
The books do stop in wonder mute
To tell my nature; I am He.
Before the sun, the moon, the earth,
Before the stars or comets free,
Before e'en time has had its birth,
I was, I am, and I will be.
The beauteous earth, the glorious sun,
The calm sweet moon, the spangled sky,
Causation's law do make them run;
They live in bonds, in bonds they die.
And mind its mantle dreamy net
Cast o'er them all and holds them fast.
In warp and woof of thought are set,
Earth, hells, and heavens, or worst or best.
Know these are but the outer crust -
All space and time, all effect, cause.
I am beyond all sense, all thoughts,
The witness of the universe.
Not two nor many, 'tis but one,
And thus in me all me's I have;
I cannot hate, I cannot shun
Myself from me, I can but love.
From dreams awake, from bonds be free,
Be not afraid. This mystery,
My shadow, cannot frighten me,
Know once for all that I am He.
- Swami Vivekananda.
In the first few stanzas Swamiji glorifies the Free nature of Spirit saying it is so strong that neither the wicked forces of nature, nor the quirks of fate nor the calamities of life can break the Self. It verily reminds one of Krishna's words in Gita about the atman,
"nainam chindanti sastrani
nainam dahati pavakah
na cainam kledayanty apo
na sosayati marutah"
Or 'Him the weapon cannot pierce, Him the fire cannot burn, nor can the rains wet Him or the wind blow him away'
Such is the Self, or the true nature of Man.
The following verses sing the free nature of the Self and hence the poem becomes first person. The 'I', like Sri Krishna in Gita, speaks of the true nature of the Self. Hence I am neither a man, angel or a brute and so on. The Self is free of time, space and causation because each of these talk of duality, and Self has no duality.
'The books do stop in wonder mute' is the reiteration of the Upanishadic verses which mention the Self as 'neti neti' or simply 'not this, not this'.
The last but one verse, 'Not two nor many, 'tis but one,' is a simply wonderful explanation of Advaitic Bhakti. If I am One, all others are in me! Hence I cannot hate or shun anyone, but can only love them and in turn love myself. This is the biggest message of love, 'Love thy neighbour as you love thyself'. Swamiji gives a wonderful explanation of that teaching in this verse!
And the last stanza is a beautiful summary of the concept of Self-Realization!
My shadow, cannot frighten me,
Know once for all that I am He.
Maya, the eternal shadow that engulfs the human beings and makes him think that He is finite and keeps him engulfed in itself, cannot frighten the Self. The aim is to know once and for all, 'I am He'. I am the Infinite, Immutable, Immortal Bliss with no boundaries, no limitations, no form or attributes! I am He! Or in words of Upanishads, "Tat tvam asi".
May we all progress in our path towards the realization of our true Self!
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Abbot's Gift
This post is a followup to some of the questions raised in the original blog on koans.
This is my interpretation of this the koan Abbot's gift.
Things become a little clearer here when one looks at them from the Zen Master's or Abbot's perspective. He knows that the monk is young and new to Zen order, hence wants to teach him something before he goes. In order to do that, he simply gives the monk two choices, either hold the burning coal or disrespect him. Both of them are difficult and the young monk chooses the third way, i.e. to run from making a choice. But, as in life, he cannot do so infinitely. Noone can run ffrom decisions all the time and HAS to make a choice.
So the monk starts meditating on the problem, until he realizes what is the right choice. Not taking the coal and disrespecting the abbot would mean he is going back on his path of Zen, whereas holding the coal will only burn his body. The right choice (since his life's aim as a monk is to advance in Zen) is to take the coal, which is what he decides to do.
On coming to meet the abbot, he immediately thanks the abbot for making him decide in life's choices. That was Abbot's gift to the monk. Since the abbot realizes the disciple has already learnt what he wanted him to, he keeps the coal back and bids the young monk good-bye.
Alternative Explanation:
This is another interpretation I could think of.
As per Buddhist and Zen philosophy, the body does not exist. When the monk comes to visit the abbot first, he is not of that opinion (or has not realized it) and values his body very much. In 3 weeks, he meditates hard and has become Enlightened, and hence realizes the body will not burn since it does not exist. (There are stories when monks with enough meditation are Englightened in a split second).
When he revists the abbot, he thanks him for helping him enlighten. The abbot realizes the young monk needs no further training and bids him goodbye.
(P.S. If anyone else has other interpretations, please put forth. I will be most interested to discuss them!)
(Also posted this on Orkut).
This is my interpretation of this the koan Abbot's gift.
Things become a little clearer here when one looks at them from the Zen Master's or Abbot's perspective. He knows that the monk is young and new to Zen order, hence wants to teach him something before he goes. In order to do that, he simply gives the monk two choices, either hold the burning coal or disrespect him. Both of them are difficult and the young monk chooses the third way, i.e. to run from making a choice. But, as in life, he cannot do so infinitely. Noone can run ffrom decisions all the time and HAS to make a choice.
So the monk starts meditating on the problem, until he realizes what is the right choice. Not taking the coal and disrespecting the abbot would mean he is going back on his path of Zen, whereas holding the coal will only burn his body. The right choice (since his life's aim as a monk is to advance in Zen) is to take the coal, which is what he decides to do.
On coming to meet the abbot, he immediately thanks the abbot for making him decide in life's choices. That was Abbot's gift to the monk. Since the abbot realizes the disciple has already learnt what he wanted him to, he keeps the coal back and bids the young monk good-bye.
Alternative Explanation:
This is another interpretation I could think of.
As per Buddhist and Zen philosophy, the body does not exist. When the monk comes to visit the abbot first, he is not of that opinion (or has not realized it) and values his body very much. In 3 weeks, he meditates hard and has become Enlightened, and hence realizes the body will not burn since it does not exist. (There are stories when monks with enough meditation are Englightened in a split second).
When he revists the abbot, he thanks him for helping him enlighten. The abbot realizes the young monk needs no further training and bids him goodbye.
(P.S. If anyone else has other interpretations, please put forth. I will be most interested to discuss them!)
(Also posted this on Orkut).
Friday, June 09, 2006
sambhavami yuge yuge - need of the hour
Sri Krishna says in Gita
'yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamyaham
paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge'
Literally speaking, (or what the 'asitis' guys call the purport), Sri Krishna, in this verse assures that 'whenever the 'dharma' is subdued, and the 'adharma' rises its head, He will 'spring' up. He will appear for saving the good men and destroy the evil ones and establish the 'dharma' from time to time.
On the face of it, this is a straightforward verse, merely Krishna promising that He, as the savior will appear from time to time and save the good men. But the thing is, I find the idea of a personal, acting, talking God faulty. I will first state why.
As per Vedanta (of which Gita is supposed to be a sweet summary), the Supreme Being is One, Infinite, Omnipresent and Unchanging. Now, if something is Infinite, it does not obey laws of time, space and causation (for Infinite is One, and all three of these require the concept of atleast two present); or the concept of any of these does not exist for Him. In plain words, the Infinite Being is immutable.
Now, the question is this, why does Krishna, who is of course a realized Soul, fully aware of this Supreme Consciousness, speaking or acting as the Immortal being say that He will come back as the savior, when clearly He is Immutable/Impersonal?
What makes him say the 'nirgun' 'nirakar' Being of which He is aware, takes a human form (which is a change) and takes efforts to establish dharma, destroy miscreants and save the sadhus?
Well, this is my interpretation.
IMO, what Krishna is reiterating is a fundamental law of this Universe. He merely states that whenever there is too much evil, when people become against their dharma (nature), fault in their duties, there is a resurgence of good, of stability of progress. What has gone down comes up, rises again and reaches the highest point, until the decline starts again. The cycle is complete and continuous.
But there is still the 'sambhavami yuge yuge'! Not only does He say that 'dharma' will be restored, but adds that He himself will be doing it. What He means is that He, the Supreme Being is in every individual to be manifested. It is through the common people, the oppressed and the oppressors that He acts! Whenever there is evil one or many of these oppressed men and women act and there is the establishment of a new system. When He assures that He will 'spring' up (Srujami aham), this is the uprising he is talking about. There are seers and leaders and prophets in every period of time, but the force behind a mass movement is the common people, who fight tyranny, ill will, oppression and help setup a new system based on values of righteousness, justice and equality. That is the 'dharma' He talks about.
So the people who sit with folded hands hoping the savior from sky will come down and slay the evil-doers are doomed. There is no external savior, He resides in us only, in each one and all of us. Realizing this fact and rising up to work is the need of the hour. No amount of praying is going to help, there are so many of us who have no food, no education, there are others who have been illed against by other humans or by nature. And when we do nothing about them that is the sleep 'dharma' has fallen into. Man not caring for man is the resurgence of 'adharma', and we are the ones who should be fighting it. God is within us, we need to act as he says!
May we all realize our true form and fulfil what Krishna rightly says, the establiishment of the true 'dharma' of humanity!
'yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamyaham
paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge'
Literally speaking, (or what the 'asitis' guys call the purport), Sri Krishna, in this verse assures that 'whenever the 'dharma' is subdued, and the 'adharma' rises its head, He will 'spring' up. He will appear for saving the good men and destroy the evil ones and establish the 'dharma' from time to time.
On the face of it, this is a straightforward verse, merely Krishna promising that He, as the savior will appear from time to time and save the good men. But the thing is, I find the idea of a personal, acting, talking God faulty. I will first state why.
As per Vedanta (of which Gita is supposed to be a sweet summary), the Supreme Being is One, Infinite, Omnipresent and Unchanging. Now, if something is Infinite, it does not obey laws of time, space and causation (for Infinite is One, and all three of these require the concept of atleast two present); or the concept of any of these does not exist for Him. In plain words, the Infinite Being is immutable.
Now, the question is this, why does Krishna, who is of course a realized Soul, fully aware of this Supreme Consciousness, speaking or acting as the Immortal being say that He will come back as the savior, when clearly He is Immutable/Impersonal?
What makes him say the 'nirgun' 'nirakar' Being of which He is aware, takes a human form (which is a change) and takes efforts to establish dharma, destroy miscreants and save the sadhus?
Well, this is my interpretation.
IMO, what Krishna is reiterating is a fundamental law of this Universe. He merely states that whenever there is too much evil, when people become against their dharma (nature), fault in their duties, there is a resurgence of good, of stability of progress. What has gone down comes up, rises again and reaches the highest point, until the decline starts again. The cycle is complete and continuous.
But there is still the 'sambhavami yuge yuge'! Not only does He say that 'dharma' will be restored, but adds that He himself will be doing it. What He means is that He, the Supreme Being is in every individual to be manifested. It is through the common people, the oppressed and the oppressors that He acts! Whenever there is evil one or many of these oppressed men and women act and there is the establishment of a new system. When He assures that He will 'spring' up (Srujami aham), this is the uprising he is talking about. There are seers and leaders and prophets in every period of time, but the force behind a mass movement is the common people, who fight tyranny, ill will, oppression and help setup a new system based on values of righteousness, justice and equality. That is the 'dharma' He talks about.
So the people who sit with folded hands hoping the savior from sky will come down and slay the evil-doers are doomed. There is no external savior, He resides in us only, in each one and all of us. Realizing this fact and rising up to work is the need of the hour. No amount of praying is going to help, there are so many of us who have no food, no education, there are others who have been illed against by other humans or by nature. And when we do nothing about them that is the sleep 'dharma' has fallen into. Man not caring for man is the resurgence of 'adharma', and we are the ones who should be fighting it. God is within us, we need to act as he says!
May we all realize our true form and fulfil what Krishna rightly says, the establiishment of the true 'dharma' of humanity!
Monday, June 05, 2006
Kill the Buddha
I am not so sure if this qualifies as a koan, but is surely interesting.
There is an old saying (in Zen):
"If you meet the Budhha on the road, kill him".
At first sight, nothing in the sentence above makes even an iota of sense. First, we all know Budhha died ages ago, so how can we meet him on the road? Second, even if we do meet him, why and how to kill him?
Read on if you decide you are not going to think over this any further on your own.
The first thing we must realize, and it is that 'the road' is not literal! The 'road' signifies the path of spiritual progress. And there is a good explanation of this puzzle in realizing just that. As this guy points it out, what is meant by Buddha is any knowledgable or seemingly knowledgable person. And by kill him, the advice is to shun him or disregard him. Taken together, the hidden meaning or the surmise is 'If on the path of spiritual progress, you see a person claiming to be an authority, disregard him'. Like Shakyamuni himself said, 'Be a lamp unto thyself'. Remove all authority, follow your brain, and analyze everything for yourself. The whole saying does make sense in this manner.
I would like to propose a different, personal interpretation as follows: Buddha correctly identified the root cause of all sorrow as 'desire'. As per him, the desire to have what you dont have or be what you are not, leads to all agony and suffering. In the path of spiritual progress, the first step is to leave all material desires to become the enlightened one. One needs to have a sole aim in life, and that is to realize the truth. But the above sentence asks us to go one step further. On this path towards truth, the seeker reaches a point where he has a sole desire and that is to be enlightened, to meet the Buddha. But the desire to become enlightened itself proves as a hindrance in the path of being enlightened. The right thing to do at this point of time is to leave or kill even this desire of being Enlightened and become truly desireless just like Shakyamuni. Killing the desire to be a Buddha is the only way to become Buddha.
Thus, one must not even heed 'Buddha' on the path, and shun (kill) him.
There is an old saying (in Zen):
"If you meet the Budhha on the road, kill him".
At first sight, nothing in the sentence above makes even an iota of sense. First, we all know Budhha died ages ago, so how can we meet him on the road? Second, even if we do meet him, why and how to kill him?
Read on if you decide you are not going to think over this any further on your own.
The first thing we must realize, and it is that 'the road' is not literal! The 'road' signifies the path of spiritual progress. And there is a good explanation of this puzzle in realizing just that. As this guy points it out, what is meant by Buddha is any knowledgable or seemingly knowledgable person. And by kill him, the advice is to shun him or disregard him. Taken together, the hidden meaning or the surmise is 'If on the path of spiritual progress, you see a person claiming to be an authority, disregard him'. Like Shakyamuni himself said, 'Be a lamp unto thyself'. Remove all authority, follow your brain, and analyze everything for yourself. The whole saying does make sense in this manner.
I would like to propose a different, personal interpretation as follows: Buddha correctly identified the root cause of all sorrow as 'desire'. As per him, the desire to have what you dont have or be what you are not, leads to all agony and suffering. In the path of spiritual progress, the first step is to leave all material desires to become the enlightened one. One needs to have a sole aim in life, and that is to realize the truth. But the above sentence asks us to go one step further. On this path towards truth, the seeker reaches a point where he has a sole desire and that is to be enlightened, to meet the Buddha. But the desire to become enlightened itself proves as a hindrance in the path of being enlightened. The right thing to do at this point of time is to leave or kill even this desire of being Enlightened and become truly desireless just like Shakyamuni. Killing the desire to be a Buddha is the only way to become Buddha.
Thus, one must not even heed 'Buddha' on the path, and shun (kill) him.
koans
(This post has been taken from a post by me on Orkut).
A koan (pronounced /ko.an/) is a story, dialog, question, or statement in the history and lore of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet that may be accessible to intuition.
It is said that koans are the way of Zen for expressing that which cannot be expressed in words (or the truth).
This is supposedly the most famous koan:
"Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand?"
It is said that the one who can hear the sound of one hand is a Buddha or the Enlightened one. It is also said that it takes sometimes three years [http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/koan.html] to realize a koan, because essentially, to realize a koan you have to stop your mind from thinking and simply realize the truth of koan. Hence, koans are the means used by Zen Masters to train and test their pupils.
Abbott's gift
A Zen monk, early in his training, is preparing to leave the monastery and switch locations, for that is common in the Zen practice. Before he leaves he goes to the abbot of the monastery to say goodbye. He does so, but the abbot says he has a gift for him. Now, it is part of the Japanese way to accept gifts and be appreciative; to do otherwise is rude and, therefore, wrong. The abbot takes a pair of tongs and picks up a red hot coal from the adjacent fire pit on which he has a tea kettle.
The young monk starts to contemplate what he should do, and after a few moments, runs out of the hall distressed, for he cannot figure out what he is supposed to do. He can take the coal and be burned, or he can refuse the gift of the abbot. Both, in his mind, are things he cannot do.
He meditates on the problem for the next week, and comes back to say goodbye. However, the same scene is played again, and the same frustration is found when he tries to figure out what the abbot wants him to do.
He meditates further on the subject and feels he has discovered how to respond to the abbot's gift. He returns, for the third time, to say goodbye to the abbot, and as before the abbot picks up a red hot coal and presents it as a gift to the young monk. The young monk simply replies, "Thank you."
The abbot breaks a grin, nods his head, and returns the coal to the fire pit. "You may go now," he says.
How does one explain this koan? What message does it give? I have some ideas, will post a continuation (hopefully) in a few days.
A koan (pronounced /ko.an/) is a story, dialog, question, or statement in the history and lore of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet that may be accessible to intuition.
It is said that koans are the way of Zen for expressing that which cannot be expressed in words (or the truth).
This is supposedly the most famous koan:
"Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand?"
It is said that the one who can hear the sound of one hand is a Buddha or the Enlightened one. It is also said that it takes sometimes three years [http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/koan.html] to realize a koan, because essentially, to realize a koan you have to stop your mind from thinking and simply realize the truth of koan. Hence, koans are the means used by Zen Masters to train and test their pupils.
Abbott's gift
A Zen monk, early in his training, is preparing to leave the monastery and switch locations, for that is common in the Zen practice. Before he leaves he goes to the abbot of the monastery to say goodbye. He does so, but the abbot says he has a gift for him. Now, it is part of the Japanese way to accept gifts and be appreciative; to do otherwise is rude and, therefore, wrong. The abbot takes a pair of tongs and picks up a red hot coal from the adjacent fire pit on which he has a tea kettle.
The young monk starts to contemplate what he should do, and after a few moments, runs out of the hall distressed, for he cannot figure out what he is supposed to do. He can take the coal and be burned, or he can refuse the gift of the abbot. Both, in his mind, are things he cannot do.
He meditates on the problem for the next week, and comes back to say goodbye. However, the same scene is played again, and the same frustration is found when he tries to figure out what the abbot wants him to do.
He meditates further on the subject and feels he has discovered how to respond to the abbot's gift. He returns, for the third time, to say goodbye to the abbot, and as before the abbot picks up a red hot coal and presents it as a gift to the young monk. The young monk simply replies, "Thank you."
The abbot breaks a grin, nods his head, and returns the coal to the fire pit. "You may go now," he says.
How does one explain this koan? What message does it give? I have some ideas, will post a continuation (hopefully) in a few days.
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