THOUGHT FOR THE DAY--FOURTH
QUARTER OF 2017
HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL PROGESS WITH ARIDRA DARSANAM
I
have pleasure in forwarding the New Year message from Muralidharan Iyengar of
Singapore. Hindu Americans do not have
the problem of "internecine feuds basing on sub-faiths, caste,
creed, habitual insipid and jejune intra-faith rivalries within Sanatana
Dharma, pettiness, ego trips and one-upmanship but the problem of very survival
of Hinduism" in a foreign soil as projected by him for India but we
live in a Nation which has completely
wiped out European culture the base from which it built an United
Secular Nation. With so many inter-faith marriages taking place such Hindus here are more likely to
join the SBNR group who are almost 40% of the major Faiths Christianity and
Judaism. They may not turn Communists because of their desire to grow rich
individually but might start a new religion of Atheists, which to
a large extent has already official blessing.
The
problem with Hindus in India is, theoretically they believe their religion is
based on Sanatana Dharma but not seen in the sectarian religious practices
which has built in strong walls which Hindu Americans blindly import from India
along with sectarian priests and not listen to spiritual leaders who are active
in USA. These spiritual leaders want to promote Sanatana Dharma with its true
value of Universal Oneness. If we listen to these spiritual leaders we can, not
only hold on to our future generation to Hindu Dharma but also attract these
40% SBNR and in due course turn the whole Nation spiritual. This is the most
opportune moment to Arise and Awake to the Problem than at the time of
Swami Vivekananda. At that time America even banned Hindus from migration
identifying them as pagans which has now slipped out of its hands to touch the
fundamental right of any American Citizen. It is for you to think and act
by setting our own house in order. We do not even want to change our
geographical name Hindu and take pride in calling our religion as Hindu
religion whose 95% are in India only. Hindu migrants from India to Singapore
never adopted that country as their own and instead of ruling the country now
reduced to the minority status of mere 8% and always want baby-sitting
from India crying wolf unlike us. I join Muralidharan Iyengar in wishing
you a Happy Prosperous, Peaceful Spiritual Progress Year and express my
gratitude for his tireless service to spread Hindu Dharma in Singapore in
particular and all over Globe in general.
"Namaste.
As the year 2017 (CE) draws to a close and 2018 CE opens with lot of hope and
promise in a few hours from now, may I seize
this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!
May The New Year shower you with eternal bliss in every dimension of your life
through the blessings of Lord!
Incidentally,
the New Year is also an important occasion from the Sanatana Dharma
tradition (which Hindus in USA observe
on January 2)--it marks the annual Ardra Darshanam of Lord Nataraja.
This occasion is an important festival in Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu,
though Abhishekam is performed to Lord Nataraja in all Shiva
temples. Chidambaram is a temple that is sacred from both Shaivite
and Vaishnavite traditions as the temple has shrines for both Lord
Nataraja and Lord Govindaraja and is counted as one of the 108
Tirupatis in the Vaishnavite tradition.
In
this connection, I am delighted to share a rare 10-stanza hymn by the great Sri.
Appayya Dikshitar, who was a great exponent of Advaita philosophy
who never saw any difference between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu,
titled as Momaramana Dasha Shloki (otherwise known as Hariharabheda
Stuti). This hymn was apparently sung by him when Lord Govindaraja
shrine was reopened by Vijaya Nagar king Rama Raya in Chidambaram temple.
It is a beautiful prayer on both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu and
the construction of the hymn with fantastic choice of words is fabulous.
The
beautiful prayer, emphasizing the non-duality of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, is
perhaps the most important armor for as well as message to ponder by every
follower of Sanatana Dharma in the New Year and beyond. In 2017 and the
recent past, the Sanatana Dharma has seen vicious onslaughts from every
conceivable angle from other faiths and liberals. It is much more serious
situation that one might imagine.
But
the silver lining is that reality is slowly dawning on the followers that the
very existence of Sanatana Dharma is squarely dependent on each and every one
of us - how we
perceive the reality and react in a positive manner without giving in to the
habitual insipid and jejune intra-faith rivalries within Sanatana Dharma,
pettiness, ego trips and one-upmanship. It does not require any sophisticated
Large Data Analysis or Artificial Intelligence to deduce that, we ourselves are
the root cause of the piquant situation we are in and not the bogeys of
exploitation by other faiths. Our internecine feuds basing on sub-faiths,
caste, creed, class, etc. have only provided fertile ground for exploitation -
it is a cop-out to blame the exploitation, which is natural and to be expected.
The
intra-faith rivalries within Sanatana Dharma, especially in the south, are the
most laughable and most dangerous at the same time. It is high time we asked
ourselves which part of our scriptures prescribe this insanity (and if they
did, are they really part of our scriptures). When will we be mentally ready to
graduate from being a wilful child to an adult at least as a baby step (leave
alone the eternal knowledge that we must get as prescribed by our scriptures -
that is far beyond our reach as we are mired in petty skirmishes).
May
the Lord Brahman bestow us the divine knowledge and power to tide over
inadequacies in our spiritual pursuits in the New Year!
stoShye
mahendraM ripu-darpahaM shivaM nArAyaNaM brahmavidAM variShTham |
Aditya
candrAshviyugasthaM AdyaM purAtanaM daityaharaM hariM || (Varaha Purana,
Chapter 15, Verse 9)
Meaning
: I extol Lord Hari who is Mahendra, Shiva (the dispeller of haughtiness of
enemies), Narayana (the best among they knowers of spiritual wisdom), the
ancient being who permeates the sun, moon, Ashvins, and destroys demons.
ahaM
tvAM tu vijAnAmi vijAnAmi mAM tvaM jAnAsi mAdhava |
Avayor
antaraM ko.api na pashyati janarddana || (Varaha Puranam, Chapter 136, Verse
30)
Meaning
: (Lord Shiva tells Lord Vishnu) O Madhava, I know you and you know me. None
finds any difference between us. Brahma too is not known as different from us).
May
the year 2018 bring a fresh perspective on our perspectives and a resolve to
save Sanatana Dharma for future generations!
With
best regards and Pranams,
K.
Muralidharan Iyengar (Murali)”
Please go through
my discourse:
http://nrsrini.blogspot.com/2012/01/naatya-with-nataraaja-on-aaridra_22.html
--December 31, 2017
TAKE THE CULTURE OF SANSKRIT TO ALL CORNERS AND TURN THE WORLD SPIRITUAL
Many educational Institutions abroad offer facilities to Study Sanskrit as
well as do research in Sanskrit, the
premier and most ancient
language of India. Many people do not
know that in 1949 Dr. B R Ambedkar as the Law Minister tried his best to make
Sanskrit our national language. This had received full support from even Tamil
Nadu, known to be anti-Sanskrit. There are records available about the press
statement given by Dr. B R Ambedkar on 11 September 1949 stating: “What is
wrong with Sanskrit?” Not only that, in this regard, he prepared a draft
bill to amend the constitution; but the same was opposed by his own followers.
One among them, the main opponent, B P Mourya stated in a recent letter (dated
14 February 2001) that “because of my inexperience I opposed the resolution.”
Added to that, he praised the merits of Sanskrit and reflected the importance
of the events happened. After Independence when India was clueless about which
language should be made its national language, several western scholars had
asked with surprise – Why this laughable and meaningless search when you
have Sanskrit?
In the Vedas, it is said that the
Sanskrit language itself is the nation. It is the means to all prosperity (अहं राष्ट्री संगमनी वसूनां चिकितुषी प्रथमायज्ञियानाम्। तां मा देवा व्यदधुः पुरुत्राभूरिस्थात्रां भूर्यावेशयन्तीम्॥– Ṛgveda-saṃhitā 10.125.3).
In the Tolkappiyam, the first
grammatical treatise of the Tamil language, it is said that Sanskrit is equally
applicable to all regions of the country (வடசொல் எல்லாத் தேயத்திற்கும் பொதுவாகலானும்).
Though these examples and incidents are enough
to write a book, we would complete this by reiterating the words of our beloved
Kannada poet Kuvempu in his poem ‘ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಮಾತೆ’ (‘Mother
Sanskrit’) –
“At the dawn of the earth, in the unknown
past, a faded historical vision could recognize, you played as a new born in
the cradle of the eternal white Himalayan slopes of Mother Earth! You, the
Goddess of Words, are the sculpture carved out of the first refined utterances
in the hymns of the Āryamātā!… We, the civilized, can’t live without
your milk, how can this Bharata-khaṇḍa live without you?”
When Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister, the
Central Government declared the full moon day (pūrṇimā) of the month of Śrāvaṇa as ‘Sanskrit
Day.’ It is not just a day for remembering, but a day to get initiated into
Sanskrit. It is the day to determine to spend our rest of our life per the
values learnt from Sanskrit and to work for the same. This is an
auspicious day popularly known as Śrāvaṇi in Kalpa-sūtras and known for the
upākarma (day of re-commencing the study of the Vedas). It is the
day we must listen (śrāvaṇa). It is said, “उपाकृता वै वेदाः” (“We are
initiated to the quest of knowledge”) and this is indeed a day to initiate our
quest of knowledge. Now the Central Government in India has declared the
entire week as “Saṃskṛta sapthāha.” With all these efforts, throughout the
nation we need to celebrate Sanskrit, serve Sanskrit, and take the culture of
Sanskrit to all corners.
Today [c. 2005] we have about three crore
(thirty million) students studying Sanskrit at schools and there are eleven
Sanskrit universities. More than two hundred and fifty universities conduct
graduate courses, post-graduate courses, and doctoral research in Sanskrit. Not
only in India but in forty other countries, Sanskrit is being studied deeply.
Around sixty daily, weekly, monthly Sanskrit magazines are
available. We have more than ten thousand people writing in Sanskrit
today. We have more than five thousand Sanskrit gurukulas. Millions of
people are using this language like their mother tongue. This being so,
Sanskrit, our pride, will it vanish? No, certainly not!
In this context please go through the
write up by Rutger Kortenhorszt, Sanskrit teacher in John Scotus School in
Dublin,
Ireland: “Why does My Child Study
Sanskrit?” Coming from a Westerner
who is also a full time Sanskrit teacher makes the topic more interesting. It is logical, wiser and beneficial to start teaching Sanskrit to children at all
Baala Vihaar and Vedic Heritage classes now held in America at different
places to make the study of Vedas possible.
Wisdom of Vedas leads one to Vedanta and Spirituality for Happy Living
Together, Peace and Prosperity. We have
talked about it a lot in the past. Vedanta considers Whole World as One Family
tied by the Universal Binding Force of Love and its teachings are aimed at
Universal Oneness and the Same Self Abiding in All. Without deep study of
Sansakrit Vedanta can’t be understood and without Vedanta there is no
spirituality. Rutger Kortenhorszt sends
a powerful message in the attached write-up. He not only preaches but practices
also.
Make Sanskrit planetary language,
teaching it exiting and enjoyable. If Rutger Kortenhorszt can do
it in Ireland why can’t we? Make Sanskrit Planetary Language, exciting and
enjoyable and Explore Spiritual Wealth.
--December 31, 20
Comments:
This is excellent. I am glad to be receiving your messages.
--Ranga from Germany
18 POINTERS TO WELCOME YEAR 2018
I take the
pleasure in forwarding the Practical Spiritual messages from 18 chapters of
Bhagavad Gita, 18 pointers to welcome New Year 2018. In this connection I draw
your kind attention to a similar discourse given by me in August 2011 though I
have picked up different slokas from each chapter as the key-sloka keeping only
spiritual focus. I wish I could have been more worldly-wise and appealing to
you!
Swami Chidananda in his inimitable style attaches more importance to their practical applications in life. The 18 pieces of advices are: 1) Examine your attachments; 2) Give up your attachment to results of action; 3) Recognize ‘how you are made’ or ‘where you belong.’; 4) Knowledge liberates 5) Be like the lotus leaf!; 6) Be like the steady flame in a windless spot; 7) Recognize the Divine everywhere!; 8) When one hand of yours is at work, hold God with the second; 9) Nothing can destroy you when you are devoted to God; .10) God (the Truth) is ever with you, in your own heart !; 11) Hate none; be attached to none!; 12) Respect both jnāna and bhakti!’ 13) The supreme truth is the light of all lights!; 14) You become very sensitive, caring and understanding when the attribute of sattva is predominant in you; 15) God makes us know, remember or forget too!; 16) Scriptures are your guide!’ 17) Speak what is true, pleasing, beneficial and not agitating; 18) Give up the thousand ideas of who you are, and abide by the Pure Self.
Please enjoy the talk and derive benefit from the
wisdom thoughts of Swamiji!
Let us dedicate the New Year to all our Saints and
Gurus! Wish you all A Happy Prosperous Spiritual NEW YEAR 2018
18 POINTERS TO WELCOME YEAR 2018
Lessons from Geetā’s 18 Chapters
As we ring in
the New Year 2018, it can be refreshing to pick a flower each from the 18
bouquets presented by Sage Vyāsa in form of the 18 chapters of the Song
Celestial.
1 Examine
your attachments. The very word that the old king Dhritarāsthra uses to
refer to the Kauravas, in the very first verse of the grand poem is “māmakāh”
– “my sons”. All our conflicts, battles or wars – call them as you may –
arise from strong attachments implied by the word “my”. Can we question our own
attachments? (1-1)
2 Give up
your attachment to results of action. The line that is perhaps most quoted
from the Geetā is, “Your right is to your duty, and not to the fruit thereof.”
Yes, a very precious teaching of Lord Shri Krishna is that we must focus on
doing our duty, giving our best to others in every situation, and not waste our
energy in regrets over ‘what we got’ or anxiety over ‘what we will
get’. (2- 47)
3 Recognize
‘how you are made’ or ‘where you belong.’ We must dedicate ourselves to
serving in the capacity that is aligned with our personality. Without comparing
with others, who are made differently, we bring out the best from within us,
and that is the prominent teaching of ‘swadharma’. It is better to die
in ‘swadharma’ (our own, right field) than to seemingly do well in ‘para-dharma’
(the field where somebody else belongs).
(3-35)
4 Knowledge
liberates. The wisdom of our true nature – Self-knowledge – is the panacea
to all our ailments. No matter how wrongly we have been living and how
disorganized or defective our ways have been, we can cross over all misery by
the power of ‘right knowledge’. This liberating understanding acts as a boat
that takes us across the wide river of worldly suffering. (4-36)
5 Be like
the lotus leaf! If we could fix our mind in the Pure Truth (or God, if that
is preferred), that is ever free of the crippling ideas of “I, me and mine,” we
can live (and work) in freedom. This is comparable with the lotus leaf, which
remains dry despite water being around it all the time! (5-10)
6 Be like
the steady flame in a windless spot! The good news is that we can set right
our messed life by working on ourselves patiently. Through frequent
contemplation on spiritual truths, our mind becomes like the steady, bright
flame in a windless spot. Situations of mutually opposite nature like defeat
and victory, insult and praise etc. cannot throw us off balance. (6-19)
7 Recognize
the Divine everywhere! A thread, though often invisible, holds a number of
precious stones together in a necklace. God (or the Pure Self) is similarly
ever present, though invisible, in everything that is beautiful, marvellous and
magnificent. We must have the eyes to see the Divine everywhere. (7-7)
8 When one
hand of yours is at w ork, hold God with the second. As soon as the work is
over, hold God with both your hands. The great scripture advises us to
constantly remember God and keep doing our duty. (8-7)
9 Nothing
can destroy you when you are devoted to God. Our constant anchoring in
higher values, remembering the deeper dimension of Awareness as our true nature
(rather than the body or the mind), will stand by us. Gravest circumstances
pass away and – thanks to our spiritual wisdom – we shall emerge unhurt and
victorious.(9-31)
10 God (the
Truth) is ever with you, in your own heart! The Lord says, “I am the Self,
seated in everybody’s heart! I’m their beginning, the middle and the end!” We
thus constantly question the play of our spiritually ignorant mind, which
misleads us to believe we are away from God. (10-20)
11 Hate
none; be attached to none! The Geetā assures us that a virtuous life,
guided by right values and love of God, where we neither cling to anyone nor
harbour ill will against anybody, is sure to help us unite with divinity.(11-
55)
12 Respect both jnāna
and bhakti! We are told in no uncertain terms that we can
approach the Truth either ‘without name and form’ or as a personal God.
Considering the numerous attachments that we typically have, the former way of
adoring the ‘inexpressible’ is harder; the latter way of adoring the Truth in the
form of a person is less hard! (12- 5)
13 The supreme truth is the light of all lights! The
highest reality, called Brahman elsewhere, is of the nature of Pure
Consciousness (termed chit elsewhere). The Geetā presents this principle
of Awareness (called prajnānam in Aitareya Upanishad) as “that which
is to be known” (jneya). (13-17 )
14 You
become very sensitive, caring and understanding when the attribute of sattva
is predominant in you. Employing a beautiful metaphor, Shri Krishna
says, “Light emanates from every pore of your body,” when sattva gets an
upper hand over rajas and tamas. (14-11)
15 God
makes us know, remember or forget too! The ego is utterly false. Our idea,
“I do, I think, I write, I speak, I create or I destroy” is not the truth.
Everything is God’s doing. We are normally unable to visualize the dynamics of
the totality and, for us, the individuality appears very real. (15- 15)
16 Scriptures
are your guide! In the matters of right and wrong, where subtle perception
of human values and enhanced sensitivity to real life conditions come into the
picture, the great scriptures, rightly interpreted by pious, broadminded scholars,
guide us. They help us decide what we may do and what we may not. (16-24)
17 Speak
what is true, pleasing, beneficial and not agitating. An orderly daily life
is marked by self-discipline on the planes of body, speech and mind. The four
criteria that decide austerity in the context of speech are: our words should
not be false; they should not agitate the other person; they should be
pleasing; and they should benefit the other person. (17-15)
18 Give up
the thousand ideas of who you are, and abide by the Pure Self. (The
devotional interpretation of this is: give up all notions of duty and surrender
to Me) In the context of self-inquiry, we need to do what our conscience says
out duty is; on a deeper level, however, we must abandon the numerous concepts
of I, which are but faces of ego only. Abidance in the Self then happens. All
sins come to an end then; all suffering ceases. (18-66)
1
māmakāh pāndavās-chaiva - verse 1.1
2
karmani eva adhikāras-te, mā
phaleshu kadāchana – 2.47
3
svadharme nidhanam shreyah – 3.35
4
jnāna-plavena eva vrijinam
santarishyasi – 4.36
5
padma-patram-ivāmbhasā – 5.10
6
yathā deepo nivātastho nengate.. –
6.19
7
sootre mani-ganā iva – 7. 7
8
mām-anusmara yudhya cha – 8.7
9
na me bhaktah pranashyati – 9.31
10
aham-ātmā gudākesha – 10.20
11
nirvairah sarva-bhooteshu – 11.55
12
kleshah adhikatarah teshām – 12.5
13
jyotishām-api tad jyotih – 13.17
14
sarva-dvāreshu dehe asmin prakāsha
upajāyate – 14.11
15
mattah smritih jnānam apohanam cha – 15.15
16
tasmāt shāstram pramānam te – 16.24
17
anudvegakaram vākyam satyam
priya-hitam cha yat – 17.15
18
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām-ekam
sharanam vraja – 18.66
--December 30, 2017
Comment:
Thanks
for the Gems! Wish you Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year! We appreciate
everything you do for us!
--Suma Srinivas
LEGACY OF HINDUISM AND ITS SPIRITUALITY IN HOLLYWOOD MOVIES
You are all
familiar with the famous Hollywood Movie Back
to The Future of 1985. Back to the
Future was released on July 3, 1985, grossing over $381 million
worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film of the year 1985. Hollywood though has its focus on the
Future, depends on the Back to the Past
for its inspiration. In this context let us examine some of the popular movies
in which the legacy of Hinduism and its spirituality had its profound influence
in making these films. Hollywood has
made Avatar, Yoga, Dharma and Karma
common English words in American
dictionary. Please go through the following critical study of some of the
Hollywood Movies.
How movies
embraced Hinduism (without you even noticing)
From Interstellar to Batman and Star Wars the
venerable Hindu Religion has been the driving philosophy behind many hit
movies. Why?
Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi in
Star Wars … is he really a Hindu?
Interstellar’s
box office total is $622,932,412 and counting. It is the eighth
highest-grossing film of the year and has spawned an endless raft of
think-pieces testing the validity of its science and applauding the innovation
of its philosophy. But it is not so new. The idea that propels the plot – there
is a universal super-consciousness that transcends time and space, and in which
all human life is connected – has been around for about 3,000 years. It is
Vedic.
When the film’s astronaut hero (Matthew McConaughey),
declares that the mysterious and all-knowing “they” who created a wormhole near
Saturn through which he travels to save mankind – dissolving his sense of
material reality in the process – are in fact “us”, he is simply repeating the central notion of the Upanishads,
India’s oldest philosophical texts. These hold that individual human minds are merely brief reflections within a cosmic
one.
McConaughey’s character doesn’t just talk the
talk. He walks the walk. So, the multidimensional tesseract – that endlessly
reflective prism he finds himself in as he comes to this realization, and in
which he views life from every perspective – is the film’s expression of Indra’s net, the Hindu metaphor which depicts the
universe as an eternal web of existence spun by the king of the gods, each
of its intersections adorned with an infinitely sided jewel, every one
continually reflecting the others.
Of course, Hollywood’s eager embrace of
Buddhism, yoga and other esoteric Indian systems is not new. David Lynch is an outspoken exponent of
transcendental meditation,
Richard Gere follows the Dalai Lama and Julia Roberts affirmed her Hinduism in the wake of Eat, Pray, Love – a movie that tells the tale of a modern American woman’s journey towards peace
through Indian spiritual practices that grossed over $200m (£128.6m).
Hinduism can get the tills ringing even when it urges parsimony.
Nolan has long been a devout subscriber to the
cause. A director famed for being able to get a multimillion dollar project off
the ground with only his own name as collateral, he clearly knows the value of
pre-existing brands such as Hinduism. His breakthrough hit, Memento, had Guy
Pearce as an amnesiac whose unreliable consciousness is the faulty lens through
which we see the story of a murder, told both in chronological and reverse
order. This notion of distrusting individual reality and looking beyond it for
truth was extended in Nolan’s Inception, in which Leonardo DiCaprio leads a
team of “psychonauts” on a heist deep within the recesses of a billionaire’s
mind – a spiraling adventure of dreams within dreams in which the laws of
nature increasingly bend and warp – before finding its purest expression in Interstellar.
Interstellar … spiritual journey?
“Look at the first Matrix movie,” says
producer Peter Rader. “It’s a yogic movie. It
says that this world is an illusion. It’s about maya – that if we
can cut through the illusions and connect with something larger we can do all
sorts of things. Neo achieves the abilities of the advanced yogis [Paramahansa]
Yogananda described, who can defy the laws of normal reality.”
Rader’s latest movie, a documentary about Yogananda, who was among the first gurus to bring Indian mysticism to North America in
the 1920s, has been a sleeper hit in the US. The film documents how influential Hindu philosophy is in
American culture, with contributions from the likes of the yoga-devoted
hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. “There’s a big pent-up demand,” thinks Rader.
“There are a lot of closet spiritualists who are meditating, doing yoga,
reading books and thinking about a bigger reality. And now they can come out
and say, ‘Yes, I’m into this.’ Steve Jobs read Yogananda’s book once a year. He
bequeathed a copy of it to everyone who attended his memorial. It helped
inspire him to develop products like the iPad.”
But before Nolan, before the Matrix, before,
even, the iPad, there was Star Wars. It was the film, with its cosmic scale and
theme of a transcendental “force” that confers superhuman powers on those who
can align with it, which opened up mainstream American culture to Indian
esotericism more than anything else. George Lucas was influenced by the
mythologist Joseph Campbell, whose work A
Hero With a Thousand Faces traced the narrative arc common to all mythic
heroes that Luke Skywalker would embark upon. Campbell himself lived by his Upanishadic mantra “follow your bliss”,
which he derived from the Sanskrit term sat-chit-ananda.
Keanu Reeves in The Matrix.
“The word sat means being,” said
Campbell. “Chit means consciousness. Ananda means bliss or
rapture. I thought, ‘I don’t know whether my consciousness is proper
consciousness or not. I don’t know whether what I know of my being is my proper
being or not, but I do know where my rapture is. So let me hang on to rapture,
and that will bring me both my consciousness and my being’.” His mantra was the
paradigm for Skywalker’s own realization of the force, the sense of peace,
purpose and power gained once he allowed himself to accept and unify with it. “If you follow your bliss,” thought
Campbell, “you put yourself on a kind of
track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you
ought to be living is the one you are living.”
As his mastery of the force neared its peak,
Skywalker comes perilously close to taking Vader’s sinister path. With this,
Star Wars established the principle in Hollywood of superheroes having to
overcome an inner darkness while battling an external enemy, and finding an
enlightenment in the process. Nolan’s trilogy of Batman movies – in which a
tortured protagonist struggles as much not to become his nemesis as to defeat
it – have introduced a whole new generation to the Indian god-myths and the teachings of yoga that emphasize the
priority of one’s internal journey while facing the challenges of the outside
world. Next year, even younger recruits to the cause will feel the force of
the new JJ Abrams’ Star Wars movie.
“Spirituality is the open-secret,” says Rader. “A lot of people know that if we quieten down we can tap into a deeper
power. And the movies that tap into that, like Star Wars and Interstellar, are
hugely popular. Audiences know what the film is telling them, they have a sense
that this story is working on a deeper level. It’s telling them that there’s
more to life than just the ordinary. That there’s something much bigger, and
they’re a part of it.”
A philosophy to which many are keen to
subscribe is what makes religions successful. Movies, too.
--December 30, 2017
JAINA ON VEGAN AND HIGHER SPIRITULITY
I am privileged to forward the following
New Year Greetings to all HR Participants from Pravin K. Shaw of JAINA based on
Jaina Dharma.
We wish you and your family a Beautiful upcoming Holiday Season and a
very Happy New Year full of Love, Laughter, Peace, Prosperity, Happiness, and higher
Spirituality.
Be
generous to Needy people and kind to mother Earth and compassionate to all
living creatures.
Please eliminate the usage of Styrofoam
and plastic plates, bowls, cups etc., and use biodegradable paper products to
save the Earth and various sea lives.
Please practice to live strictly
vegetarian (Vegan) life by eliminating any usage of animal products from
our life. This is the most practical way to be compassionate to five sensed
animals.
Please totally eliminate dairy (milk)
products and silver leaf (varakh) from our diet and ritual ceremonies.
Please eliminate the usage of Silk,
Wool, Peacock Feathers, from our ritual ceremonies. All such products
involves significant violence to our animals and birds
Going through this message I began
to focus on two words Vegan and Higher Spirituality. I have talked to
you a lot on Vegetarianism and Spirituality in Hinduism. Going through Puranas
it is very clear Rama was not a vegetarian
and Krishna was not a vegan who are Hindu Idols in their human avatar.
Hailing from Mysore my thoughts went back to Bahubali and Mahamastabhisheka.
The next Mahamatsatakabhisheka is scheduled from February 17 to 25 in 2018.
Bhagwan Bahubali, the son of the first of the
twenty four Jain Tirthankaras, is worshiped for living with
exceptional qualities that he displayed during all stages of his life from
conception, birth, renunciation, enlightenment and salvation. This 57 feet tall
statue is the most magnificent among all Jain works of art.
The Mahamastakabhisheka begins by
devotees carrying 1,008 specially prepared vessels (kalashes). The statue is
then bathed and anointed with libations such as water, milk, sugarcane juice, and saffron paste, and sprinkled with
powders of sandalwood, turmeric, and vermilion.
The first Tirthankara of Jain Religion is sage
Rishabha of Ikshvaaku race, son of King Nabhi and Merudevi. King Rishabha is
the father of Bharata. He is also called Adinatha. Rishabha is also an
avatar of Vishnu like Buddha and that is
why Hindus love to install Mahavir Vardhamana icons in American Hindu Temples
(Albany;Huntsville) and perform Abhisheksha ceremony similar to Hindu deities with milk, yogurt
and honey. But JAINA Of America has embraced VEGAN and is against the use and
consumption of Dairy products> They are silent on honey. In Argentia
strictly Vegetarian Hotels do not serve animal charcoal bleached cane sugar but
serve honey for coffee.
But what could have inspired American Jains to go
VEGAN unlike Jains in Karnataka in their
mission to promote Higher Spirituality?
Donald Watson coined the term vegan in 1944
when he co-founded the Vegan Society in England. At first, he used it to
mean "non-dairy vegetarian", but from 1951 the society defined it as
"the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals". Interest in veganism increased in the 2010s.
More vegan stores opened, and vegan options became increasingly available in
supermarkets and restaurants in many countries.
Veganism is both the practice of abstaining from the use of animal
products,
particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A follower of either the diet or the
philosophy is known as a vegan. Distinctions are sometimes made between
several categories of veganism. Dietary vegans (or strict vegetarians) refrain
from consuming animal products, not only meat but also eggs, dairy
products
and other animal-derived substances. The term ethical vegan is often applied
to those who not only follow a vegan diet but extend the philosophy into other
areas of their lives, and oppose the use of animals for any purpose. Another term is environmental veganism, which refers to the avoidance of
animal products on the premise that the harvesting or industrial farming of animals is environmentally damaging and unsustainable.
Well-planned vegan diets can reduce the risk
of some types of chronic
disease, including heart
disease. They are regarded as
appropriate for all stages of the life including during infancy and pregnancy
by the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians
of Canada, and
the British
Dietetic Association.
The German Society for Nutrition
does not recommend vegan diets for children, adolescents, or during pregnancy
and breastfeeding. Vegan diets tend to be higher in dietary fiber, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron and phytochemicals; and lower in dietary
energy, saturated fat, cholesterol, long-chain
omega-3 fatty acids,
vitamin D, calcium, zinc and vitamin B12. Unbalanced vegan diets may lead to nutritional
deficiencies that nullify any beneficial effects and may cause serious health
issues. Some of these
deficiencies can only be prevented through the choice of fortified foods or the regular intake of dietary
supplements.
Vitamin B12
supplementation is especially important because its deficiency causes blood disorders and
potentially irreversible neurological damage.
Vedic culture strongly believed in rearing
cattle and use of dairy products in worship and diet. This in turn motivated
Hindus to introduce Abhishekam in rituals, though it reaches public sewers to
be taken care of by UchChishta Ganapati (Ganapati of left-over food of
Vamachara) probably influenced by the Greek Belief that Cleopatra beauty queen
always took bath with milk to enhance her beauty. No Yajna is possible without
Ghee. Liberal use of dairy products was within the discipline of Vedic Spirituality. But American Jains
have moved to Higher Spirituality
forgetting their past origin of Sanatana Dharma that gave to rise to Jain
Philosophy which built the religious wall of Jain Religion after the
reform by Mahavir Vardhamana the
24th Tirthankara. American Jains are further fortifying Jainism with
VEGAN inspired by the doctor from UK. I am
sure he did not get his
inspiration from Jains of UK, Dr. Donald Watson. May be some Highly Spiritual
Jain might build a temple for him raising him to the status of Jain Saint if
not Tirthankara, where no Abhisheka is done with dairy products, like the Sai
Baba Temples of Hindus which is also showing its growth in USA as Hindus are
not comfortable with 33 Crores of deities with the growing Hindu population and
arrival of migrants from various lands! Their children married to VEGANS form Christianity will love it or may
influence their Christian partner if already a VEGAN! Jains are famous for
their sweets. Having adulterated so much Varak
pure silver foil being unable to meet
the growing demand they have included it under banned items of Higher Spirituality!
--DECEMBER 25, 2017
How can we make January 1, an auspicious Religious Events Day in Hindu Temples?
Gregorian Calendar commencing on
1 January was distinguished as Circumcision Style date because this was
the date of the Feast of the Circumcision,
the observed memorial of the eighth day of Jesus
Christ's life after his birth, counted from the latter's
observation on Christmas, December 25. Pope
Gregory acknowledged January 1, as the beginning of the New Year
according to his reform of the Catholic Liturgical Calendar.
The celebration
of 1st January as a D-day (New Year Day) under Christian calendar is
nothing but a sign of cultural slavery. The Christians through its English and
Portuguese regime over 200 years put havoc upon our religion, culture, economy,
self-respect and society as a whole. But still we celebrate 1st
January in a meaningless way which gives us only cultural pollution, including
rushing to the temple to make a New Year Resolution and then forget all about
it. But it can be observed in the way
celebrating Kalpataru Diwas, which has a greater and meaningful significance for us.
Kalpataru Day also called Kalpataru Diwas or Kalpataru
Utsav is an annual religious festival observed by monks of the Ramakrishna Math monastic order of Hinduism and
lay followers of the associated Ramakrishna Mission, as well as the worldwide Vedanta Societies. These organizations follow the teachings
of Ramakrishna, the 19th century Indian mystic and figure in
the Hindu Renaissance.
Actually Swami
Vivekananda believed that Bhagavan Ramakrishna Paramahamsa came to this world to
save Hindu Dharma, when Hindus had
already faced drastically an ethnic cleansing from 60 crores to a meager figure
of 20 crores by the onslaught of barbaric Islam from the beginning of Islamic
invasion in India and 2 crores of Hindus were converted to Christianity as
accounted by Swamiji at the time of writing the Constitution of Belur Sri
Ramakrishna Math in 1897.
Swami Vivekananda
actually founded Ramakrishna Math and Mission with a missionary zeal to protect
Hindu Society through freedom and revolution. Swamiji wanted to bring back
converted Muslims and Christians as patriot and the followers of Bharat
Samskriti (Culture). He wanted a Social Change on the basis of Bharatiya
concept of emancipation. Swamiji perfectly believed that Bhagavan Ramakrishna
was incarnated as a savior of Hindu people from the onslaught of
Islamic barbarism and Christian Conspiracy of Conversion. Obviously, Bhagavan
Ramakrishna was his Master in all respect. And hence, followers of Ramakrishna
observe 1st January as Kalpataru Day to protect Hindu Dharma
and Samskriti and do not celebrate 1st January as Happy New
Year!
“Ours is the
eternal land, the eternal people, the eternal religion, whose strength,
greatness, holiness may be overclouded but never, even for a moment, utterly
cease. The hero, the Rishi, the saint,
are the natural fruits of our Indian soil; and there has been no age in which
they have not been born.”—says Sri Aurobindo
(Bande mataram-I6 April 1907)
The problem with
Saints’ worship in Hindu temples is, we have too many of them like our 33
million deities. It is customary in South Indian Temples to consecrate 12
Azhwars, predominantly Ramanuja and
Andal adding sanctum for Vedanta Desika
in Vishnu temples and 63 Nayanmars in Siva temples. Also individual
temples for saints Like Sai Baba, Swami Narayan are becoming popular. At the
same time Tiruvaiyaru removed all Nayanmar
and Navagraha icons from Siva temple saying they are pseudo-devatas. It
will be therefore appropriate to
dedicate one day to all saints with the worship of Sun deity as the
propeller of Intelligence, deity of Gayatri
and overlord of all Zodiacal Nakshtras, Stars and Planets. (Nakshatra graha taaraanam adhipatih)
January 1 is an
ideal day to honor all our spiritual and
religious leaders in Hindu American Temples,
who have dedicated their lives to protect and
propagate Dharma and also have
established various Maths
(Sankara, Ahobila, Gaudiya etc.) and monasteries like Chinmaya Mission,
Ramakrishna Mission, Divine Life Society,
ISKCON, Arsha Vidya Gurakula, Vedanta Institute, ISHA Foundation,
International Society of Divine Love, FOWAI
Forum etc. on a foreign soil to preserve and propagate Sanatana Dharma
and Spirituality for Peace, Prosperity and Happiness of Humanity based on the
Wisdom of Vedas.
We all rush to
temple in America and many Hindus in
India too to celebrate New Year and make a resolution, with the divine
witnessing, on January 1. While Christian Americans make it a Religious Day
Mass to celebrate the Circumcision of Jesus Christ, the Son of Heavenly
Father American Hindus can make it the
Namakaranam Day (naming ceremony) of
Sun, the emanation (Vyahriti) of the Supreme Being, Brahman since the Sun
emerges out of the darkest Winter Solstice Day on 22nd December and grows in
length. This could also be Uttarayana Day dedicated to Sun deity which would be
more appropriate than the wrongly celebrated notional Uttarayana on Makara
Sankranti Day a fortnight later by Hindu Temples in India. Naming ceremony in
Hinduism is done after 10 days of birth of a child. They may in turn
correct their mistake over centuries,
though our Mathadipatis are silent over it. They threw away also the Hindu
National Calendar which was presented to Hindu community by a team of experts appointed
by late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru aligning with Gregorian calendar. Also
we start the New Year with “Sri Gurubhyo
Namah”
January 1 is also
our customary annual Resolution Day, be it right or wrong to do so on January
1, and we rush to temple to participate in special Abhishekams planned for the
day by the temple authorities. Let us also make this an auspicious Day as suggested
above. The Chāndogya Upanishad identifies 30 levels of human excellence, all of
them contributing to glory of living. The ultimate realization of the infinite
truth (bhoomā) transcends these thirty.
Sankalpa is an integral part of all Hindu worships and rituals. The 4th
among the 30 is Sankalpa, right resolve or true determination. Whenever
we take up projects - small or big - it is important to make the right resolve,
prepare mentally for the whole investment of time and energy and then execute
the work effectively. Let us therefore make this January 1 Resolve auspicious
as witnessed by the Supreme and stand committed to it in spite of many distractions and temptations.
Wish You All a Spiritual New Year of Peace,
Prosperity and Progress towards Perennial
Joy
--December
24, 2017
Comments:
Andhra Pradesh Government issued an
order that Hindu temples cannot celebrate or conduct special pujas on January
1st. In Tamil Nadu Hindu temples, special pujas are never conducted on January
1st, but only on 1st of Chittirai month.
--Dr. G. Nagarajan
THE SIGNIFICANT ROLE OF TEMPLES &
RELIGIOUIS INSTITUTIONS
Swami Dayananda with his benediction to a thought provoking
article: The Significant Role of
Temples & Religious Institutions by
Swami Jyotirmayananda advises all Hindu Temple Authorities & Religious
Institutions in General and North America in particular as follows:
“The Mandirs have to play a significant role in the growth of the
Hindu community in terms of its capacity to uphold Hindu Dharma…”
* * *
“We need to make temples not just a center of rituals and
congregation but lighthouses of philosophy and knowledge, which are the basis
of Hindu Dharma…”
* * *
“Creating an environment where the youth understand, appreciate
and love their Hindu culture is a crucial need today, as is uniting all Hindu
temples under one umbrella…”
The various points touched upon by Swami
Jyotirmayananda are:
1.
Temple is an altar of
worship
2. Need for
collective prayer and participation
3. Unknowingly
belittling the profound form of worship
4. Stop using the
terminology of the antagonists to describe our Dharma
5. The Hindu concept
of God vis-à-vis that of the Semitic theologians
6. Panentheism, the
only term in English to describe the Hindu
7. Dharma and
especially Hindu modes of worship
8. A simple, three
point program for translating spiritual ideals into our daily life
9. Hindus can and
should educate & guide the Hindu masses in temples
12. Temples as centers
of learning
13. The valuable roles
that temples can play in the ethos of the Hindu community
14. The special role
temples can adopt overseas in initiating
15. “Inter-faith”
dialogues with people of the Abrahamic faiths
16. Modern man should
develop a rational and scientific understanding of the use of temples
17. In temple,
knowledge, devotion and service are blended into a harmonious whole
18. How the Hindu
temples differ from the Christian churches or the mosques of the Muslims
19. Some directional
points which the temples should seriously consider
20. Convincing the
modern mind of the scientific temper underlying the spiritual concepts and
worship practices
21. Temples have to
play a significant role in the growth of the Hindu community in terms of its
capacity to uphold the Hindu Dharma
I believe I have touched
on most of these points in my several of discourses repeatedly. Some of the
important discourses are;
Dr. Phil Goldberg, Author of American
Veda has the following words of appreciation on the above discourses sent to
him as a participant:
"You are
quite right to bring these researches to the attention of the Hindu
community. The implications are huge. Not mentioned below are some
other trends in the data, in addition to the decline in the number of people
identifying with mainstream Christianity: an increase of interest among
Christians and Jews in the mystical, or meditative, aspects of their traditions
that were long hidden away; an increase in people who seek spiritual wisdom
from a variety of sources; an increase in people who call themselves “Spiritual
But Not Religious.” In my talks, and in “American Veda,” I make the case
that this is a direct result of access to Sanatana Dharma through gurus,
swamis, yogacharyas, etc. We are becoming what I call a nation of yogis.
People acquired the notion of regular sadhana and practical methods to add direct
experience to their spiritual lives.
There
is no doubt much for Hindus in America to contemplate in all this. Like
Christians and Jews, future generations
of Hindus may not go to temples just because their ancestors did, except
for rites of passage and holidays (like Christians who show up only on Easter
and Christmas). They will want to know WHY rituals are done before doing them, and will want teachings and
practices that directly enrich their lives and elicit the spiritual experience that rishis pointed to. At
least that is what I surmise in my own research
and conversations.”
Please go through the attached
detailed article on the subject as presented by Swami Jyotirmyananda and highly
commended by Swami Dayananda with a powerful message to Temple authorities of
North America.
--December
23, 2017
Comments:
Very interesting
Informative about HINDUISM etc. +++.
Dr. Hiranya Gowda.
LET US DEDICATE
DECEMBER 25 TO MITRA/VARUNA OR CELEBRATE IT AS UTTARAYANA
DAY
2000 Years before the birth of Christ,
Christmas was celebrated as Mitra/Varuna
Day, Winter Solstice day as well as Mid-winter Celebration Day by different
cultures. The middle of winter has long
been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of
the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and dawn in the darkest
days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the
worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days
and extended hours of sunlight. In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through
January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would
bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast
until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse
believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would
be born during the coming year. International folkish Asatru Organization with
its chapter worldwide and with its headquarters in Grass valley California also
celebrates Winter Solstice Festival for
12 days—December 21 to January 1.
The end of December was a perfect time for
celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were
slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it
was the only time of the year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In
addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and
ready for drinking.
In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden
during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed
he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then
decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose
to stay inside.
Saturnalia - In Rome, where winters were not
as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn,
the god of agriculture—was celebrated.
Compare this with Makara Sankranti Day celebration of Harvest Season and
Pongal! Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing
for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were
plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a
month, slaves would become masters. Peasants were in command of the city.
Business and schools were closed so that everyone could join in the fun.
Also around the
time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the
children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated
the birthday of Mitra, the god of the
unconquerable Sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mitra, an infant
god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mitra’s birthday was the most sacred
day of the year. In the early years of
Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated.
Hindus and Persians are believed to have the
same origin, for both are fire worshipers and the god Mitra occurs in the
religion and the sacred books of both races, i.e. in the Vedas and in the
Avesta. It also fits into the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. In Vedic hymns he is frequently mentioned and
is nearly always coupled with Varuna, but beyond the bare occurrence of his
name, little is known of him (Rigveda, III, 59). It is conjectured (Oldenberg,
“Die “Religion des Veda,” Berlin, 1894) that Mitra was the rising sun, Varuna
the setting sun; or, Mitra, the sky at daytime, Varuna, the sky at night; or,
the one the sun, the other the moon.
Mitra and Varuna, the Vedic Deities were worshiped in Mesopotamia,
Turkey and Italy much before the advent of Christianity. These Deities are
mentioned in the Zend Avestha of Parsis of Iran. The Pagan Worship preceding Christianity had
Mitra and Varuna included.
Mitra and Varuna are two deities (devas)
frequently referred together in the ancient Indian scripture of the Rigveda (sam no mitrah sam
varunah). They
are both considered Ādityas or deities connected with the Sun;
and they are protectors of the righteous order of rta. Their connection is so close that
they are frequently linked in the dvandva compound Mitra–Varuna.
Mitra is a divinity of Hinduism whose function
changed with time. In the Mitanni inscription, Mitra is invoked as one of the
protectors of treaties. In Rigveda Mitra-Varuna, are worshiped together as
Devatas assisting Deva-- Brahman, the principal guardians of ṛtá
"Truth, Order", breaches of which are punished. In the late
Vedic texts and the Brahmanas, Mitra is increasingly
associated with the light of dawn and the morning Sun (Aruna), while Varuna becomes associated with the
evening, and ultimately the night.
The winter
solstice is on December 21 and is the “shortest” day of the year and marks
the start of the winter period. This is because the tilt of the Earth’s axis is
least aligned with the sun, providing us with the least daylight of the year.
After December 21, the nights will begin to get shorter and days longer as our
planet rotates towards the sun.
Christmas Day falls within the 12 days of celebration of Winter
solstice day heralding the lengthening of day light. Hindu Temples keep the
temple open all day on Christmas Day and indirectly declare it as a Special
Religious Events Day. Sri Ganesha Temple in Nashville will also be conducting
special Abhishekam to Sri Ganesha on this day
to interest the Holiday crowd.
I
believe all Hindu Temples keep open all day long on December 25 and January 1
most of them making them special worshipful days in harmony with the National
Religious Celebration sentiment. I
therefore wonder why Hindu American Temples cannot direct this day to the
worship of Mitra/Varuna who were once worshiped by many traditions and Sun on January 1 who are Vedic gods that are
often declared as Vyahritis of Parbrahaman—sam
no Mitrah sam Varunah | sam no bhavatu aryama| sam no indro brahaspatih
sam no vishnururukramah| namo Brahmane…… keeping with the ancient
tradition of all cultures of
celebrating this day and January 1 dedicated to Sun to glorify Uttarayana Punyakala Day which will be
more meaningful than celebrating it on far off January 14 on Makara Sankranti
Day after a fortnight? Hindus generally
perform naming ceremony after ten days of birth and in many cultures Winter Solstice Day was celebrated as Sun’s
Birthday! Similarly we can also celebrate International Yoga Day on June 21 as
Dakshinayana Day astronomically of religious significance. Hindus celebrate it also on a wrong day on
July 16. All Hindus are wrong in religious
observing of solstice days! We can openly declare December 25 as a Hindu
Religious Worship Day making it attractive to Hindu American kids who have
chosen their partners from Christian Faith whose number is ever increasing. Thus we will be pleasing all including
conservative Hindu Americans. We may also conclude this Uttarayan Punyakala
Week on January 1 giving it a
grand-finale and making January 1 also an official Special Religious Day of Importance
coinciding with January 1 New Year. Christians who were in power influenced by Pope Gregory made this
Christian Religious Day, New Year for
the whole world against National and
religious sentiments. New Year's Day, liturgically marked was the
Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus,
which is still observed as such in the Anglican and Lutheran churches. New
Year Abhisheka Ceremony can be directed to Sun as Parabrahman, conducting
Abhisheka to both Rudra and Venkatresvara. This could be a Resolve Day
(Sankalpa Day) being the holiest day that brings to an end the 12 days of celebration
of Uttarayana Punyakala. 12 days also signify Sun as the presiding deity of 12
Zodiac signs. The ball is in your court to convince the conservative Hindu
Temple Authorities in USA to make December 25 and January 1 really Hindu
Worshipful and Auspicious Days and also make them more meaningful for our
children and future generations with divided religious disciplines.
Please
refer to the article by United Church: Christmas Before Christ in the Google.
--December 23, 2017
LET US RECOGNIZE AND HONOR OUR MISSIONARIES AND SAINTS
Hinduism is practiced and preached by
many Hindu organizations, each of which follows the variants and perspectives
of all or particular philosophy propagated and transferred
through generations by saints.
"Hinduism is a more recent nomenclature given to a conglomeration of
heterogeneous traditions and plurality of beliefs and worship with a long
history of development from the Vedic (that which has originated from Vedas—the
four ancient texts which contain the core of Hindu Philosophy and
beliefs)sacrificial religion through the worship of epic and Puranic heroes and
personal deities, cults and sects, as well as philosophical system
rather than to a monolithic tradition or structure based on a single system of
beliefs and worships or single text as scripture ” says Champaka Lakshmi in her
book on The Hindu Temples. “The religious culture which now goes by the name Hinduism gave itself
no name because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal
adhesion; asserted no sole infallible dogma; set up no single narrow path or gate of
salvation; it was not a creed or cult;
it was the continuously enlarging
tradition of the Godward endeavor of the human spiri” says Aurobindo.
Today
it draws lot of support from Bhagavad Gita which itself is a compendium of all
Upanishads and philosophic thoughts. Hinduism is based on
the Vedas, some
of which are humanity's oldest inscriptions on life and spirituality. They
differ on how to achieve life's ultimate goal – Atma
Jnana or self-realization. Devotees
can choose any path depending on their individual nature. Some of the
noteworthy Organizations are:
- All World Gayatri Pariwar
- Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha
- Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
- Arya Samaj
- Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha
- Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
- Brahmo Samaj
- Chinmaya Mission
- Dayananda Mission
- Divine Life Society
- FOWAI Forum of Swami Chidananda
- Gaudiya Math
- Hindu Forum of Britain
- Hindu Maha Sabha (Fiji)
- Hindu Janajagruti Samiti
- Hindu Students Council
- Hindu Mandirs Executive Council (USA)
- International Society for Krishna Consciousness
- International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation
- International Vedanta Society
- Isha Foundation
- Jagannatha Society of North America
- Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham
- National Hindu Students' Forum (U.K)
- Ramakrishna Mission
- Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia
- Patanjali Yogpeeth
- Pakistan Hindu Panchayat
- Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha of Trinidad and Tobago
- Sant Shri Asharamji Ashram
- Sri Chinmoy
- Sri Ramana Ashram
- Sri Sarada Math and Ramakrishna Sarada Mission
- Sringeri Sharada Peetham
- The Council of Hindu Temples of North America
- Vishva Hindu Parishad
- Vivekananda Kendra
Hindu
Temples in America should recognize the tireless service of these
organizations that are not only serving the Hindu community
which is being threatened in a foreign soil influenced by other cultures but
also due to more Hindus choosing their partners from
Abrahamic Religions attracted by the universal binding force of
Love, who either turn atheists or say they area SBNR not knowing what that
Spirituality is, but also working with a zeal to Outreach,
propagating Sanatana Dharma to all religions that have the base in
it.. The solution lies in propagating Vedanta as the Religion of the
future as Vivekananda prophesied a century ago to establish world peace and
tranquility. I believe all the above organizations that have their foreign
base are dedicated to that cause. It is therefore worth recognizing their
selfless service in our prayers and Temple worship and pay our tributes to all
Saints at least once a year. It may not be possible or relevant for us
to promote worship of saints in temples installing their Murthis as they
are countless. For this special worship we may get the inspiration from
the Kalpataru Divas Celebration promoted by Vedanta society of
Ramakrishna Math and see how best to adopt it in our Temple worship
within Agama and Tantric discipline about which we will talk soon.
--December 20, 2017
COMMENTS:
It is interesting to read about Pakistan Hindu Panchayat! They must be
really courageous!
--A.S. Narayana
HOW CAN WE MAKE DECEMBER 25 AND JANUARY 1 REALLY SPECIAL RELIGIOUS DAY IN HINDU AMERICAN TEMPLES?
Hindu Temples keep the temples open all day long conducting special Abhishekam Ritual and also label it as Special Religious Events Day on both the December 25—Christmas Day as well January 1—New Year Day, under the camouflage “to attract special Holiday Crowd from outside”. Both these are Christian Religious Holidays and special Religious masses are held in all churches in which a Hindu married to a Christian partner do take part besides visiting Hindu temple for the special worship. Christmas is celebrated as Nativity Festival heralding arbitrarily fixed birth of Jesus Christ by Catholic Church and January 1 as Circumcision of Jesus Christ on the eighth day of his birth. What justification do we have to make these days Special Religious Events Day for Worship in Agama and Tantric based Hindu Temples and also complying with Gita “tasmaat sastram pramanam te”—be guided by Sastras. Christians may not find a valid reason to celebrate Divali in Churches though White House can but Hinduism is large hearted and has sound Religious background as to the celebration of these two holiest Religious American Holidays in Hindu Temples. Hindu American Temple authorities can openly declare these two days as religious Hindu Festivals about which I will talk about soon instead of sitting on the wall and can please their Inter-faith married children and orthodox religious followers who are silently grumbling and critics from Hindu Indians.
Hindu migrants choosing their
partner from Abrahamic faiths is ever on the increase and their children are
confused with no guidance either turn atheist or call themselves as
SBNR. After few generations it would be hard to find a true Hindu just as what
happened to European culture in America. Sanatana Dharma has universal
appeal and we would be wiser to call ourselves as Sanatana Dharma
followers rather than clinging to the word Hindu which is a geographical
name meaning those from the Land of Sindhu River who come from many
religions consisting Abrahamic, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh and Pagan religions.
It should also be noted while Churches and Mosques are Assembly Halls for
Prayers, Hindu or Buddhist or Jain Temples are places of worship in a divined
charged sacred atmosphere. Also unlike India we have special role to play as
migrants and minority religious community.
Here are some quotes from our spiritual Gurus, Swami
Dayananda, Yogi Ravi Sankar and Swami Chidananda;
*** “The Mandirs have to play a significant role in the
growth of the Hindu community in terms of its capacity to uphold Hindu Dharma…”
* * *“We need to make temples not just a center of rituals and
congregation but lighthouses of philosophy and knowledge, which are the basis
of Hindu Dharma…”
* * *“Creating an environment where the youth understand,
appreciate and love their Hindu culture is a crucial need today, as is uniting
all Hindu temples under one umbrella…”
The special role temples can adopt overseas in initiating
“inter-faith” dialogues with people of the Abrahamic faiths.
Hindu temples can adopt a special role overseas, is in initiating “inter-faith”
dialogues with people of the Abrahamic faiths, just as the latter do in the
Western countries. In recent years, Churches and Mosques have initiated
interfaith meetings, often with an ulterior motive of identifying future
prospects for possible conversion to their own faiths. While even the Acharyas
of our traditions have no mental reservations about attending such meetings in
churches or mosques or any place of worship, it is not often easy for people
of Abrahamic faiths to visit our temples. They often have mental blocks
about our places of worship because of the behavioral and intellectual
conditioning that they have had through their Western education, their parents
and their religious teachers, about religions originating from the Hindu
traditions. It is here that the religious traditions arising from Sanatana
Dharma have greater advantage over the Abrahamic faiths since our
traditions are devoid of such inhibitions and confer no special virtue on those
who attract others to our spiritual traditions. No doubt, we also welcome those
who want to earnestly explore our paths to self-knowledge. By ourselves initiating
a monthly or quarterly inter-faith dialogue sessions within the portals of
our temples, we can perhaps dispel many misconceptions, which are spread by
the adherents of Abrahamic faiths about our forms of worship and our religious
traditions. We can also thus be effective communicators with our neighbors who
are of the Abrahamic faiths. We can also celebrate some of the American
Religious Holidays within the discipline of agama and Tantra recalling the
history of the past which we have overlooked as in the case of December 25
and January 1. After all religions sprang out of Sanatana Dharma.
Please go through my detailed e-mails on Role of Hindu American
Temples, Christmas and New Year Celebration in Hindu Way in the coming weeks
and give them your serious thought and consideration opening the door for
Inter-faith Dialogue about which we need not feel shy with our Vedic
maxims “Vasudhaiva kutumbakam, Atmavat sarva bhooteshu, sanghachchdvam
sam vadadvam , krinvanto visvamaaryam, aano bhadrantu kratavah yantu
visvatah….”
December 19, 2017
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