Solving a spiritual conundrum .......

 It was a Friday and a long day at work. I was looking to have a relaxed evening and a calm weekend. As I was packing up, my wife called me. She said that she was in downtown and asked whether we could have dinner outside. I thought that was a great idea and told her that I would reach the spot in about 30 minutes. I hopped on to my motorcycle and drove to the place. Since it was a busy area, I could not find any parking nearby and drove couple of blocks and found a parking spot. I soon walked up to the restaurant and we had a good dinner. It was about 9 pm and we were ready to leave. 

I told her to wait at the restaurant and I would get the bike. I was trusting my absolutely poor sense of direction and luckily found my bike. I tried to kick start it and try as much as I did, it was not starting. I reached into my pocket for my cell phone and realized I had left it behind in a bag with my wife. Cursing the heavy bike, I started wheeling it hoping to find a mechanic. Then, horror of horror, the lights went out and there was pitch darkness barring the occasional headlights of a vehicle. I had no idea where I was going, but just kept on pushing the bike. 

I then felt a push on my shoulder and before I could hold my balance, I was falling over the bike and was hitting the ground. I opened my eyes and could see brightness all around. I wondered whether I had died and reached Heaven. Then it slowly dawned on me, I had fallen off the bed in my bedroom. The whole thing was a dream! I chuckled to myself. I had never driven a bike in my life and I had been fooled into believing that I had driven it to downtown.

Then suddenly it struck me. I had been grappling with a spiritual conundrum and suddenly I seemed to have the answer. As per the Indian spiritual thought, the only reality is Brahman or Truth or Consciousness and this entire Universe is an illusion. To explain this, a common example is of the Rope and Snake. In the dark, a rope can appear as a snake. The rope is only the reality and the snake is an illusion. Another example is of the water in a desert. The desert is the only reality and the water in the desert is an illusion. In both these cases, there is a Reality, be it the rope or the desert; there is an illusion, the snake or the water; there is an observer, who is mistaking the rope for the snake and the desert for the water. 

When we try to apply the above example to explain Brahman, it goes into a tail spin. We are told that Brahman is the only reality. If this be the case, who is seeing Brahman as the Universe? If I try and say, it is me, then it is fallacious since I am also an illusion. So, it appears as though Brahman itself is getting confused by itself. It is like me seeing my own shadow and getting confused. This was not making sense at all.

This is when the above dream gave me clarity. Now, who was dreaming? I, who was sleeping on my bed in USA was the dreamer. Who created the various characters in the dream including me, my wife, the restaurant, the motor cycle etc? Again, it was me sleeping on my bed in USA. Who enjoyed the meal in the restaurant? Who felt the pain of pushing the motorcycle? It was not me, the sleeper. It was me, the character in the dream created by me that was feeling the pain. Who realized that they were fooled and when did they realize? The character me in the dream never realized that he was being fooled.  Was me the sleeper fooled? Not at all. If I the sleeper realized I was being fooled, then obviously I would not be in a dream.

So, I the sleeper who is the reality created an universe, of which I was not aware till I woke up. In my dream, all the emotions felt by my character were true, but meant nothing to the real me. However, if I the sleeper did not exist, the universe would never have existed. Whatever happened to my dream character in the dream, I, the real person who was sleeping had no role nor did that dream experience create any harm to the real me. Did I have to summon any real power to create my dream? Did I the sleeper decide the characters, the content, the start time and end time of my dream? Absolutely not! It was the ignorance of my dream character of the reality that made him experience both the pleasure of the dining and the pain of pushing the motorcycle.

To conclude, Brahman is the only reality. Due to its innate so called feature, called Maya, it appears to create the illusory world. Brahman has just provided the foundation for the illusion and is in no way responsible for the illusion, just as the rope is not responsible for creating the snake or the desert is not responsible for creating the water mirage or I the sleeper is not responsible for the emotions of my character in the dream. It is not Brahman who is fooled in the illusory world. The characters in the illusory world are fooled by the illusion just like my dream character. Now, knowing this about my dream, if I could somehow re-enter the same dream, how would I be? Me, the dream character would enjoy the dinner, but know that the reality is different. Me, the dream character would experience the pain stoically knowing that it is an illusion and will end soon. So, also, for a person with true knowledge of Brahman, it is possible to live through the dualities of life consisting of joys and sorrows stoically knowing all this is an illusion.

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Please buy and read any of these books:


My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide

The Spirit of Spirituality

Winning During The Corona Crisis

These days, anywhere we look and anyone we talk to, there are only dark discussions or forebodings about the Corona virus. Many of us are knowingly or unknowingly sinking into a depression from which we may find it very difficult to emerge even after this crisis ends. Hence it becomes most important to retain our sanity in these difficult times and emerge the same person as we were before all this at a minimum or better still, take the opportunity and become a better person. In this article, I would like to talk about my practices to remain positive. I would like to clearly state that this is not a panacea or a medical advise. Each reader has to make their own decisions on how to remain positive and this article at best can provide pointers.

I would like to discuss my practices across multiple planes of consciousness:

a. Body
b. Mind.
c. Intellect
 and finally how to actualize the positivity.


Body

I very sincerely follow every guideline released by the WHO or CDC in terms of self sanitization, social distancing etc. and I am sure most of you are following them too. I believe that prevention is better than cure and do whatever best I can to develop immunity. Whether we can develop immunity against Covid is a question mark. But, I am hoping that with my practices, I am developing immunity to other known infections like influenza. In addition, though totally stuck at home, I make sure I get light to moderate exercise. Some of you may be lucky enough to have a mini-gym in your house. We do not have one. But I ensure I keep walking around the house briskly, climbing stairs etc. and get at least an hour's worth of exercise daily. I also make sure that this one hour includes deep breathing exercises. I make sure I eat nutritious food rich in Vitamin C, Proteins etc. I make sure I eat enough fruits and vegetables. I do not eat junk food. I drink enough fluids and to the extent possible, I avoid cold water. I boil the water and drink it. I get a good sleep of at least 7 hours daily. With these practices, I believe my body is well exercised, nourished and rested to to be able to face the challenges of the virus attack.

Mind

Everyday in news and social media, it is almost always the same negative news of the Covid virus. If it is not about the virus, it is about negativity in politics. So, I try to avoid listening or watching such news. I do not have subscription to cable tv and hence am not subject to constant bombardment. I do browse websites of reputed publications to keep myself aware of what is happening so that I can protect myself and my loved ones. I have cut down on forwarding any negative news on social media and am focusing on sharing good news only. I read books on spirituality and listen to good lectures.

The mind is very fickle and needs to be controlled. Hence it is worthwhile to have routines/rituals/practices which force the mind to be positive. Over a period of time, with practice, these become routine. Some of my daily habits include the following:

a. Gratitude: Wake up first thing in the morning with an attitude of gratitude that my loved ones and I are safe; Tell a simple prayer to the Universe that there be peace and happiness everywhere. Only after this, I go about my morning routine.

b. Small acts of charity : Most of us are generous, but cant be doing charity daily. Luckily, I have found sites, where just for  a click, an advertiser will feed someone or provide shelter to animals etc. For the past 20 years, I have been doing this every single day. I am not telling this to crow about myself, but to state that an act of generosity makes the mind happy and positive.

c. Prayers : I make sure that I spend a minimum of 5-10 minutes in the morning to pray as per my customs and traditions. I am sure each person has grown up seeing how their families pray and follow traditions. I have found it giving me a calming effect.

d. End of the day reflection : Just before I sleep, I reflect on the day's events as a separate non-critical observer. I pray that the following day bring the best of news for the whole world.

Intellect

Whereas the mind is impacted by emotions and is fickle, the intellect is stable. Only thing is that we have to listen more often to our intellect and not to our emotions. For this, Vedanta has given us some fantastic tools,a few of which I am listing below:

a. Right action

In the current environment, nothing is gained by worrying. I, not being a health professional or researcher, can do nothing to cure people or find a cure. My worrying about it will not bring a cure. The only thing I can do is to continue doing whatever I am doing in the best possible way. If I can send in a charitable contribution, I will. If someone needs reassuring voice, I will provide it.

b. Let things happen

Vedanta has taught us not to worry about the future or the past, but focus on present. Bad times wont last forever. Mankind has lived through disasters and will rebound. So, let events happen. I will be cognizant of events, but wont obsess over them.


c. Karma : Whatever we face, good or bad at individual level or universal level, is due to our own deeds. So, today, if we face a bad situation, it is due to some action we collectively have taken as a society. It may be due to our gross negligence of the environment, our greed to own everything at expense of the non-privileged people, our cruelty with animals etc. Whatever the impact of these actions, the results had to happen. So, whatever situation is there, the only option is to whatever best I can and do whatever positive things I can, to do my bit for a positive future.


d. Prarabdha Karma

Related to the doctrine of karma is the concept of Prarabdha Karma. All our desires and actions over several births create an almost inexhaustible storehouse of desires. Based on the most pressing desires, we take a body to fulfill that set of desires. These are Prarabdha Karma. Once the desires related to this are exhausted, the body is of no further use and dies so that we take a new body to experience the other desires.

So long as this body has current desires to fulfill, nothing will kill it, even the worst virus. If at all it kills, it means that we will take a body to fulfill other desires and this body is no more useful. It is like throwing out a dress that has shrunk as we grow. We have to throw it out and take a new dress.

So whether the virus kills us or not, there is nothing to worry. This is how I cheer myself.


e. The supremacy of the soul

I tell myself that I am not the body, mind and intellect. I am the Supreme Brahman  or Consciousness and these events like the virus attack can only impact my body and mind. They will not impact my true self.

There are many more tools available in books like the Bhagwad Gita, the Upanishads etc. I am absolutely certain that other holy books of other faiths have equivalent tools to sharpen the intellect.

Actualize the positivity

All this talk of the body, mind and intellect are fine. But how do I actualize the positivity? For me, it is through meditation and visualization. On most days, I try to meditate at least for 30 minutes. Mine is a simple technique. Readers are free to follow or plan on their own technique. I do deep breathing for about 5 minutes and clearly experience the air filling my lungs and I imagine positivity is entering my system. I exhale and visualize all negativity leaving my system. Once this is done, I focus on the 5 basic elements of earth, water, fire, air and space. I visualize the evergreen and bountiful earth, the fresh  flowing rivers cleansing me inside out, the holy fire that our ancestors lit during rituals and yajnas, the air that gives me life and the vast space of which I am a part or is a part of me. I then focus on positive energy in each of my systems - my brain, my limbs, my circulatory system, respiratory system etc. I visualize them being strong to take on any challenges. Finally I visualize a positive world which is cured of the virus and is filled with prosperity and peace.

Conclusion

Using the above practices, I think I have been able to maintain a reasonably calm composure and I am confident that I can face any adversities strongly. Readers are free to comment and reach out to me if they need any specific guidance.

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Please buy and read any of these books:


My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide

The Spirit of Spirituality

The Futility Of Stealing

I  have covered 3 aspects of Yama in my earlier posts - Satya or truthfulness, Ahimsa or Non violence and Brahmacharya - the awareness of higher reality. Today, I take up another aspect of Yama - Astheya or non-stealing.

Though many of us know what stealing means, we generally tend to look at stealing as taking someone's object only.  Let's expand the definition to include not just physical objects, but also time, thoughts, energy, emotions and ideas. How many of us have not forcibly taken someone's time, ideas emotions etc.? So most of us are thieves of something or the other, however harmless it may seem. Just because a cop will not arrest me for stealing someone's time, does not mean that I am not a thief. We read an article of value, but do not think to thank the author, we go to a place of worship and partake of the food and do not give anything back in return, we bug someone to help us with ideas and when that idea clicks, we do not remember the person. We depend on someone to solve our emotional or loneliness issues, but ignore them when we are fine. All these are examples, where we have taken something of value from someone and did not pay for it. So, from a spiritual standpoint, it is an act of stealing.

Why should one not steal? Well, from the grossest perspective, it is illegal and can land one in jail. From a slightly higher perspective, the moral perspective, as taught in almost all religions, one should not take someone else's property, whatever be it. Since we are all spiritual students, let's explore this from a higher plane.  Why does one steal? Obviously, it is to get something which I cannot normally get. But, at a more basic level, why is there a need for an object? It is to fill a void in our life and we hope that the object we are seeking will fill that void. Next, why the void at all? We are in reality the Supreme Bliss and still are seeking a measly object to be happy? That's because we are overcome by ignorance about our true self and by identifying ourselves with the puny body/mind/intellect, we try to be happy by finding different objects. When one object does not satisfy us, we move to the next object. When we want an object and cannot get it by normal means, either we become frustrated or in extreme situations indulge in stealing that object. 

Let us explore another concept of spirituality to nail the futility of stealing. The other day, as I was browsing, I got a strange message asking me to click on a site. I clicked and it took me to Bank of X site and strangely, I was in somebody's account. Seeing a huge balance, I was tempted to move some money from here to my personal bank account. Telling myself it was not right, but still overcome by momentary greed, I moved some money into my account and exited. I went into my account and noticed the large amount credited and was happy. I was so happy that I started laughing and shouting. That's when my wife tapped me and told me to wake up!!

Now, in the dream, who was the person browsing? it was Me. Who created the message about the bank account? Me !. Whose account was I into ? An account I had created in my mind! Whose account did I transfer from and into? I transferred money from an account in my mind to another account in my mind. So, who stole what from whom?? As ludicrous as this seems, when one steals, this is exactly what happens. As mentioned earlier, the only reality is Brahman. This means there is no second at all and any multiplicity we see is only due to ignorance. When the only reality is Brahman, what am I stealing and what from whom?  

I will let readers mull over this !


Please buy and read any of these books:


My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide

The Spirit of Spirituality

The 8 Step Path To Eternal Happiness - Ashtanga Yoga

Let me start this post with defining the purpose of human life. Is it just to acquire wealth, procreate, gain position, own big houses, cars, yachts etc ? One may say yes to all of above. But if we take a step  further and ask ourselves why we need all above. The answer would be , I need them because they make me happy. If we go further, do we need happiness for one hour, day, week etc, the obvious answer is we need eternal happiness. For most of my readers, the source of eternal happiness is known to be internal since we are the very embodiment of Peace and Happiness. However, by our wrong identification with our body, mind and intellect, the Divine Soul within which is pure and forever happy associates itself with feelings of sadness, pain etc and appears to be seemingly sad. So, the route to eternal bliss is not some far fetched road, but a road within our own hearts to discover our true self.  All this sounds good in an intellectual discussion, but is of no practical use to a seeker of the Infinite happiness. 

I can tell a budding boy the greatness of being a top seed tennis player and show him all the dreams. But that is just a pie in the sky. If I am serious about guiding him, I should show him the path to become a top seed player. I have to tell the boy about nutrition, about the type of bats, the techniques to play, the type of mental determination needed, the type of exercise needed etc. I also have to tell him how to progress from junior league to state league  to national to international league. 

In exactly, the same way, a seeker of Infinite Bliss needs instructions on how to prepare for the journey and how to progress on the journey. Many spiritual leaders have suggested their own paths for their followers. One such path which is very methodical and logical is Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga. Patanjali, the great ancient exponent of Raja Yoga, wrote that the path to enlightenment embraces eight stages. This eight-limbed approach, known as Ashtanga Yoga is not to be mistaken as a step-by-step approach but a multidimensional approach in which all eight limbs are practiced simultaneously. 

The 8 fold path consist of the following:

1. Yama
2. Niyama
3. Asana
4. Pranayama
5. Pratyahara
6. Dharana
7. Dhyana
8. Samadhi

The 8 fold path is actually broadly categorized under two major headings:

• Refining our personalities, gaining mastery over the body, and developing an energetic awareness of ourselves

• The first 4 stages fall under this category

• Controlling the senses, the mind, and attaining a higher state of consciousness.

• The last 4 stages fall under this category

In this article, I am covering what each of the 8 stages mean. 

1. Yama, deals with one's ethical standards and sense of integrity, focusing on our behavior and how we conduct ourselves in life. 
2. Niyama, the second limb, has to do with self-discipline and spiritual observances. 
3. Asanas, the postures practiced in yoga, comprise the third limb. 
4. Pranayama consists of techniques designed to gain mastery over the respiratory process while recognizing the connection between the breath, the mind, and the emotions
5. Pratyahara,  the fifth limb, means withdrawal or sensory transcendence. It is during this stage that we make the conscious effort to draw our awareness away from the external world and outside stimuli.
6. Dharana, or concentration is the process to slow down the thinking process by concentrating on a single mental object: a specific energetic center in the body, an image of a deity, or the silent repetition of a sound.
7. Meditation or contemplation is the stage where the mind has been quieted, and in the stillness it produces few or no thoughts at all.
8. Samadhi, is a state of ecstasy when the practitioner has reached his ultimate goal and realized ultimate bliss.  

 In subsequent posts, I will go deeper into them.

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Please buy and read any of these books which are available on Amazon.com.


My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide

The Spirit of Spirituality

Rudram - The Concept of Ishwara

The Rudram chant is dedicated to Ishwara in the form of Lord Shiva. Before we proceed further in understanding the concepts behind the Rudram chant, it is worthwhile to try and understand the concept of Ishwara. Rather than approach it from a religion oriented approach, we will try a different approach so as to make the concept inclusive irrespective of religious affiliations.

If we look around the world without constantly looking at our smartphones or, for a minute without, thinking of our office or family, what do we see? We see the sun rise everyday in the East and set in the West  and  rise again. A flower always blooms. When a fruit falls from a tree, it always falls down.  A standard set of things will always happen in a methodical manner. The earth rotates on its axis at the same speed it has been for several years and revolves around the sun at exactly the same rate. Even if we look within ourselves, our heart by and large beats at the standard rate every day. Each part of our body follows standard rules and functions as it should. Well, people may be wondering what am I trying to prove? Does it not appear that there is order in the universe? 

The universe is a cosmos and not chaos. There exists a scientific law / order in every aspect of the universe. Everything in the universe has a definite role to play in the scheme of things. There is a perfect order in the physical, physiological, and psychological universe. The whole universe is nothing but order. There is no disorder at all. Even in every apparent disorder there is order. This ‘order’ in which the universe is manifested and harmoniously exists is called as the Lord of the Universe or Ishvara . Albert Einstein said, “The basic laws of the universe are simple, but because our senses are limited, we can't grasp them. There is a pattern in creation.” Each religion may have developed its own way to explain this universal power and may also call it differently. But the fact remains that, whatever be the name, the universal concept remains the same. We will now move to the concept of Ishwara as enunciated in the Indian school of thought.

Ishwara is a  Hindu philosophical concept of God referring to the Supreme Being which is the lord and the ruler of everything. Hinduism uses the term Ishwara exclusively to refer to the Supreme God in a monotheistic sense.Every effect must have its cause. This universe  therefore being an effect must be preceded by a cause, and this cause is Īshwara. As per the Indian school of thought, Ishwara has fashioned this universe by his will. He conceptualized the universe, created the "raw material" for the universe, provided the "intelligence" needed for creation and actually created the universe. 


The Five manifestations of God (Īshvara) according to the Indian school of thought are:

1. Para — the transcendental Super Absolute form from which the universe appears
2. Vyuha — the four emanations  Vasudeva, Sankarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and  Aniruddha; which have cosmic function of projection, preservation and transformation.
3. Vibhava — Incarnations which appear from time to time to rectify and restore harmony and balance to the universe, such as Narasimha, Rama, Krishna to name a few.
4. Antaryamin — the form abiding within all living beings.
5. Arca-avatara — the appearance out of condescension and love, in icons that are made and consecrated according to the vedic rituals.

Recognizing this Universal order and relating to Isvara by not rubbing against the order is the Vedic / Yogic way of life . When there is an absence of resistance on my part, that is when I reveal that the Lord rules outside and HE rules inside also. When I discover the Lord in and through everything, the distance between I, and Īśvara becomes too thin and disappears.. All that is here is Ishwara. Every phenomenon is Ishvara. This Ishvara, the total can be invoked through any name or form. This vision will help one to see the Lord in everything  in the universe and achieve complete serenity  and happiness in life. 

The Veda gives us five different types of Yagnas to connect with Ishwara; 

1. Manushya Yagna : Loving and supporting other human beings
2. BhutaYagna: Supporting the nature and other living beings 
3. Pitru Yagna : a. Love and support for family Pitru Yagna  b. Remembering and being grateful to ancestors
4. DevaYagna : a. Surrendering to GOD / Higher Cause b. Propitiating our own body and mind c. Prayers and all spiritual / religious practices
5. BhrahmaYagna: Study and propagation of the scriptures

Shri Rudram can be used as a means for performing Deva Yagna and BhrahmaYagna

Conclusion: There is an order in the whole universe, which ensures its smooth functioning and each religious thought has its own name to define and explain this power that ensures universal order. In the Indian school of thought, this universal power is called as Ishwara. Shri Rudram is dedicated to Ishwara in the form of Lord Shiva. We will discuss more about invocations to this form of Ishwara in our subsequent posts.

Introduction To Rudram

The other day, I was reflecting about my life. For the past several decades, I have been working several hours daily in a job which is not something mindbogglingly interesting. I have been earning money, spending on my family every day and the routine continues punctuated by vacations once in a while. As I near the end of my professional life, I wonder, what was my purpose in life? Even an animal will work daily, feed itself and in most cases take care of its family. What did I as a living being with a supposedly better intellect than an animal achieve in this life?  I am sure similar types of thoughts arise in most of us sometime or the other. How do we get answers to these questions?

Some of us may read an autobiography of a famous personality and may suddenly realize something in that book which becomes our purpose in life. For someone, a sudden event may be the trigger which enables them to hopefully understand their purpose in life. But what if none of these type of events enable us to understand our nature and our purpose in life? One sure source to enable us to understand our true nature, our relationship with this entire universe and our purpose in life are the scriptures. 

Each religion has its own scripture born out of the realization and thoughts of great souls. Talking specifically about the Indian scriptures, we have the Vedas, within which are embedded the classic Upanishads as the greatest source of such deep knowledge. But then, who has the time, the patience and commitment to undertake such studies. It's very few of us. Then what is the solution? We then have classics like the Bhagwad Gita which have condensed the teachings of the Upanishads in a easy  to read and understand format. Again, many of us will say, we do not have time. The ever loving and understanding masters of yore in their deep love for mankind and its up-liftment, created smaller documents or mini-scriptures which are relatively short, easy to remember and contain within them the full power of the Upanishads. Some such documents include the Vishnu Sahasranama and the Rudra Chamakam, which we are introducing today.

Sri Rudram also known as Śrī Rudrapraśnaḥ, is a hymn offered to the all pervading Brahman, designated as Rudra-Śiva, present in auspicious, benign forms as well as terrible forms which He assumes at the time of the dissolution and the destruction of the cosmos. It occurs in the Taittirīya Saṁhitā of the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda in the 4th kāṇda (chapter), 5th praśna (topic). It is also known as Namakam because of the repeated word namaḥ in it. The Rudram chant is dedicated to Ishvara in the form of Lord Shiva . Rudram means remover of sorrows. “Ruth” means sorrow and “dra” means “remover”. 

 Śrī Rudram is divided into 11 anuvākas (passages) and consists of 37 ṛks (verses) in various Vedic chandas (meters) in anuvāka 1, 10 and 11. Anuvākas 2 to 9 and the last line of anuvāka 11 consist of 130 yajus (sacrificial formulas  After praying and identifying Rudra with everything in the Namakam, the Camakam is usually recited immediately after, in which the devotee asks Him to give him everything (347 things to be precise) coupled with the article ca (and) and the verb me kalpatām (be granted unto me).

After each chanting of one round of Rudram one Anuvaka each of Chamakam is chanted. Eleven recitations of Rudram followed by one recitation of Chamakam is called Ekadasa Rudram. This constitutes one unit of Rudra Homam. Eleven rounds of Ekadasa Rudram makes one Laghu Rudram. Eleven Laghu Rudra chantings make one Maharudram and eleven Maharudram recitations is the Athirudram. In a “AtiRudram yagna”, everyday one Maharudram is completed and in eleven days an Athirudra Mahayagnam is completed. Thus in the Athirudra Mahayagnam, the Srirudram hymn is chanted totally 14,641 times by 121 Ritwiks in 11 days with the performance of 1331 Rudra Homams simultaneously.

Benefits of Rudram
 
It is said: “By reciting Veda once, he becomes pure on that day, but by reciting Rudram the very next moment he gets purified.” Yet another verse declares: “Where a devout reciter of the Rudram lives, be it in a village or town, that place will be free from disease, drought, thefts, and other ills.”  Śiva Purāṇa further explains: “By chanting Rudram, one gains both worldly pleasures and liberation.” The Jābāla Upaniṣad states: “Once the students of sacred knowledge asked sage Yājñavalkya: Can we gain eternal life by repetition of mantras? Yājñavalkya said: By the repetition of śatarudrīya a man becomes immortal, for the names of God therein are nectarine.” Kaivalya Upaniṣad also declares: “Whoever reads śatarudrīya becomes pure as fire, becomes pure as air”.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Rudram chant is a powerful means of cleansing one's inner self and to explore the divinity within each of us. To those who do not have the time to go through the Vedas, but are desirous of understanding their purpose in life, the Rudram is an excellent vehicle to learn and master the universal principles or truths. In subsequent posts, we will discuss the meaning behind the chant. 

I wish the greatest of the Lord's blessings on all of us as we pursue the spiritual path.

  

Ganesha - The myth, the inconsistencies and the symbolism

Introduction

Across India, if there is one God, who is revered, it is Lord Ganesha, the elephant headed God. He is seen as the God to pray to remove all obstacles. During any major religious function, it is Ganesha who is prayed first. Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva and his divine mother is Parvathi. Over a period of thousands of years, myths have been told about Ganesha. Outside of Hinduism, people may wonder why there are so many Gods. The main reason is that, Hinduism is full of symbolism. Unfortunately, even devout Hindus have just looked at the myth, rarely ever questioning anything and totally eliminated understanding the symbolism behind Ganesha. If there is a painter using his brush on a canvas, it is like people admiring the movement of the brush or the texture of the paper without for a minute stopping to see the picture. In this article, I hope to bring out the mythological story, the inconsistencies and the real symbolism.

The Myth

Shiva and Parvathi are a loving couple. Once Shiva goes on a penance. Then Parvathy creates a small child out of mud and gives him life. The child is Ganesha. Ganesh is in charge of protecting the house and he has been strictly told not to let anyone in. Once Parvathy has gone for her bath and Ganesh is guarding the house. Shiva comes back after several years of penance and is prevented from entering his house by Ganesh. A battle ensues and Shiva cuts off Ganesh's head. In the meantime, Parvathi comes out and is grief stricken seeing her dead son. Shiva realizing his mistake, looks around and sees an elephant. He kills the elephant and puts its head on to Ganesh's torso and Ganesh comes to life with a elephant's head.

The Inconsistencies

1. Shiva's anger

If any one tries  to do meditation for even 20 minutes, one will notice the amount of peace that can be experienced. Here in the story, we have Shiva, one of the most spiritual of all Gods, who has come back after doing penance for several years and in a matter of minutes, he becomes so angry!! IS this not totally incredible? Many times when we are playing with kids, we experience similar things. The child thinks it is preventing us from doing something and is enjoying itself. Will we in anger, beat the child for preventing us? So, how can anyone sane believe that Shiva, first of all as an adult, would become angry at a child? Second, how is it possible for someone with so many years of peaceful meditation to become angry at all?

2. Inhuman killing

As per the myth, Shiva killed Ganesh and to to make it worse, killed an elephant. The elephant was innocent and had nothing to do with the whole situation. Recently, there was an incident in a zoo in USA, where a young child accidentally fell into a gorilla's cage and the zoo people killed the gorille even though it had not harmed the child. Universally, the sympathy was for the gorilla. So, is it reasonable to think that a person of Shiva's stature would not only kill Ganesh, but also an innocent animal?

3. The head surgery

As per the myth, Shiva put the elephant's head on to Ganesh's torso. This was brilliant surgery. But then, if Shiva is such a super surgeon, why did he not just fix Ganesh's own head to his torso? Why did he have to kill an elephant and fix its head? Does it sound logical?


Rationale

If we see so much illogical sequences in the story, why do we still believe it? Can we just throw out the whole story and say that this Indian God, Ganesh is a creation of unreasonable and illogical people and stop worshiping Ganesh? I can almost sense the so called rationalists smirking and saying yes! But throwing out the concept of Ganesh because of the illogical story, is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 

So, why did ancient India create this myth? The ancient teachers would possibly have used the myth to create attention and then drawn people towards the actual symbolism. However, over centuries, the symbolism would have gradually faded away and the myth would have grown, making the whole purpose of the story meaningless. This leads us to the next step of uncovering the symbolism.



The Symbolism

The wide head and large ears symbolize the need for openness of the individual to receive and assimilate the higher knowledge of the Self. It is ignorance alone which prevents us from realizing our full potential of Divinity. If we can open ourselves to "listening" to the powerful messages contained in the scriptures, which enable us to lift ourselves out of our depths of ignorance, we are on the path to self enlightenment and a divine personality with infinite happiness. However most of us are so deep rooted in ignorance and are not even aware that we are ignorant. Like in a dream, when a lion comes and we wake up, we need some event in our life to shock us and hopefully look for the ray of light through which we will get out of the ignorance.

The trunk of an elephant is a very unique organ. It knows the type of gentleness to apply when accepting and eating a banana. At the same time it knows the strength to apply when holding the trunk of a tree and pulling it off the ground. It symbolizes the human intellect with an unique capability to discriminate. As I have covered earlier, it is the phenomenal capability of the human intellect to discriminate, which separates us from animals which do not have this capability. What should we use the intellect to discriminate? Not just bad and good, which are worldly concepts. But the intellect should be used to discriminate between what is real and what is unreal. It may come as a shock to most people, to know that this world with all its glossy and bright objects is unreal. It is like an illusion. In a dream, I can be with the most beautiful lady. But that is not reality. Similarly this world is like a dream and the reality is elsewhere. The reality is our true nature, which is absolute bliss.

As a person dreaming, and being a character in the dream, what is the reality? For the character in the dream, the dream world appears to be the reality, whereas the absolute reality is me who is fast asleep in my bed room, which the dream character will never know. In the same way, being in this glittering world, we will never know our reality unless we employ the strong discriminating capability of the intellect to understand that this world is unreal and we are dream characters and the reality is divine bliss or Brahman.

Ganesha has only one tusk and the other is broken. It symbolizes the breaking of the concept of duality. My life is not different from any other life as a life principle. The same life principle that exists in me exists in another human being, animal, bird, fish, insect or a plant. There is no duality. The same principal of electricity runs in a small bulb, a floodlight or any giant equipment. There is absolutely no duality. The only reality for electrical devices is electricity. Rest all are names and shapes of objects using the same core reality. In exactly the same way, Brahman or the Life principle is our only reality. Each of us has different names and shapes, but the underlying reality is one only and that is Brahman.

Another interesting aspect of Ganesh is the mouse. The mouse is seen as the vehicle of Ganesh. Looking closely at the image, we see the mouse right in front of a bowl of delicacies eagerly looking at Ganesh only. The mouse symbolizes our mind. Just like a mouse, our mind moves around from place to place. Whereas the mouse scurries around looking for edibles, our mind flirts around with objects of desire. Our mind is never constant. in that numerous thoughts arise and through the thoughts, we are driven towards objects of desire. But in the symbol of Ganesh, we do not see the mouse going after delicacies. This symbolizes that when the mind is under the control of a discriminating intellect, we will not be running after worldly objects. The mind is like a  leash of a carriage driven by the five horses, representing the five senses. Unless the leash is held tight under the guidance of a good rider, the horses will run in whatever direction they wish and derail the chariot.

In exactly the same way, if our mind is not under the guidance of a well developed intellect, the sense organs will drive us towards various objects of desire, ultimately ending in disaster for us. This concept is also superbly symbolized in the image of Arjuna and Krishna is the Mahabharatha war. Arjuna is like us, a living entity, a jiva. He is in a chariot and traveling, just as we travel on our life's journey. The horses driving the chariot are the sense organs which go towards their favorite sense objects. The mind is the leash holding the horses or the sense organs. In Arjuna's case, the leash was held by none other than Krishna, the divine incarnate and this led him to success in the war. The war we fight daily is not against others, but against our own ego. In this fight, if our mind is controlled by a powerful intellect, we will win the war and subdue our ego and merge with the eternal Brahman.

Though the worship of Lord Ganesh may itself be the end objective of people, an understanding of what the Lord symbolizes may bring more meaning to the worship.


As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.

I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.


1. My Humble Understanding  Of Spirituality


My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

2. Attain Infinite Bliss

Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide

3. The Spirit Of Spirituality

The Spirit Of Spirituality

Spirituality Behind Animal Stories

For a change, I am going to tell some stories and let's try to decipher the spirituality behind these stories. The stories may appear hilarious and by themselves may be nice for parents to tell their young kids. However, hidden behind them are profound spiritual messages.

1. Story 1: The lion that thought it was a sheep

A lion cub once got lost from its mother and kept wandering in the forest. It looked everywhere for its mother and with no success was totally dejected and hungry. Soon it came to a meadow where it saw several sheep grazing. It went and joined the flock of sheep. It saw the sheep eating grass and started eating it and to some extent its hunger was diminished. It went along with the sheep flock everywhere. Years went by and now the cub had grown to be a full fledged lion. But it still was part of the flock and ate grass.

One day another lion from the forest came hunting and saw the flock of sheep. As it was prepared to run and catch the sheep, it saw the other lion and held back. The forest lion saw the strange spectacle of the lion eating grass. It silently beckoned the grass eating lion and told it, that it was not a sheep, but someone like it. The grass eating lion refused to believe it. So the forest lion took it to a pond and asked it to look into the pond. Then the grass lion saw that it was exactly like the forest lion and realized it too was a lion.

The forest lion then left for the forest and asked the other lion to join it. The grass lion said it will join soon and went back to its flock. Days passed  and the lion again was back to its routine of eating grass. It had forgotten it was a lion. Only when it went to a pond to drink water and saw the reflection, it realized it was not a sheep, but a lion. Only after repeated cycles of forgetting and reinforcement, the lion realized its true nature and went to the forest.

Spiritual message

We are all infinite. We are the absolute Truth, the supreme Brahman. We are the ocean in our expanse. However, due to ignorance we get lost and identify with our bodies. Even though we are an ocean of abundance, we think we are the wave and suffer. Just like the lion cub thought it was a sheep and behaved like one, we think we are pygmies or small insignificant beings. Just as another lion which knew it was a lion made this grass eating lion aware of its true nature, we need a self realized soul to make us aware of our true nature. Throughout history, such souls have come and tried to tell us about our reality. Be it Krishna of the Hindus, Jesus for the Christians, Buddha for the Buddhists and so on.

They have repeatedly told us that we are infinite and must rise above the body/mind identification that makes us think we are this or that individual. Just like the grass lion understands what the forest lion said, when we listen to such realized souls we get an inkling of our true nature. But once the lecture is over and we get back to our routine, we again forget the message and become the same small individuals.

Just as the grass eating lion had to often look at itself in the pond to convince itself that it was really a lion, we have to constantly keep studying the scriptures or attend lectures till we are convinced that we are the Supreme.


2. Story 2: The Invisible Rope Holding The Camel

There lived in the huge desert, a Bedouin with his set of camels. Once he had to take all the camels to another village and he and his son set off on the journey. After a long tiring march, they came to a village and found a rest house. The son tried to cajole the camels to lie down, but was not successful. He went and told the problem to his father, who asked his son to first tie the camels and then ask them to lie down. The son went back and to his horror, saw that there was no rope. Back he went to his father. The old wise man asked his son not to worry and went over to the camels. He bent under them touching their legs and gave an impression that he was tying them up. He then acted as though he was tying the rope to a log of wood. He then cajoled the camels to lie down and they did so instantly.

In the morning, they got up and the son tried to get the camels to move. But they totally refused to move. Again  the old man came over and pretended he was untying the camels. He made all the relevant actions that he normally did every morning and then the camels started to walk.

Spiritual message

We are all like the camel. We have got so used to the illusory world of objects, that we think we are a small entity and need to get these objects to be happy. Just as the camel never realized that the rope holding it is illusory, we do not realize the hold that the world of objects has over us is illusory. How real is the lovely Miss Universe I marry in my dream? We go after material possessions, emotional love related attachments and any intellectual attachments and stay stuck to the material world.

How do we get over this bondage? The problem is, there is no real bondage, just as the camel did not really have a rope holding them. It is a massive ignorance that makes us feel we are not the mighty Brahman and we think we are bound by worldly objects. So, how does one get over ignorance of anything? If I am ignorant about law of gravity, I will study physics. If I am ignorant about places in the world, I will study geography. Similarly, if I am ignorant about my true nature, the only source are the scriptures. I am not telling that any specific scripture is the best or truer. If truth is ultimate, then all scriptures tell the same truth.


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3 of my books

As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.

I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.


1. My Humble Understanding  Of Spirituality


My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

2. Attain Infinite Bliss

Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide

3. The Spirit Of Spirituality

The Spirit Of Spirituality