From experience and satistical data, it is evident that most of the general populace believe in presence of GOD, but the mass propaganda by some atheist believers who are totally inimicable towards Supreme Lord tend to put a doubt in a rather innocent crowd who have no answers to the questions posed and debated by them. Due to this ignorance in the mass of people, many have turned to atheism and many are loosing their strong faith in goodness. This has let to many misconceptions regarding behaviors out of the jurisdiction of religious text which seem very obvious in today's world.
A very common question people ask when it comes to religious practices ,is Do you believe in GOD?. The question of believing or not believing comes when we have incomplete knowldege or conception of that particular object. But if you have knowledge and can be verified experimentally , then that so called belief becomes a fact and hence makes it very easy to answer this question. On the other hand, faith is very important ,infact it is the first step in knowing anything, for example , if one has no faith in the educational system , one will not learn much from it. Only having little faith makes it difficult to protect , in circumstances when majority are either unaware or inimical about our faith and often it dwindles in such circumstances.But if this faith when properly nutured by knowledge becomes a fact, which can stand any critisism and will lead to a better foundation in understanding a particular concept.
When question comes to GOD, most people have strong faith but are often bewildered by critizism and debates over exsitence of GOD with no results, and hence it is very essential that people in general be educated in these concepts. It is a nautral phenomenon,only by knowing a particular person can one's faith , trust and love for that person increase. Same holds true for Supreme person. As we have to take efforts to know any person, by bonding , similarly it requires effort to know the Supreme person. The only difference stands in the medium of knowing. The process of knowing the Supreme Lord is by reading about him through Bhagavad Gita and Vedic literature. Now the next question that may be raised is , why only Bhagavad Gita , why not Bible, or Kuran or anyother scriputre, why do we have to follow only Bhagavad Gita?. If we analyze all the scriputures scrutinizingly we will find , that the message is same, to love GOD, but agian inorder to love someone, we have to know someone. Any scripture if followed strictly will lead to that goal there is no doubt about it. But when I speak of science behind the faith, Bhagavad Gita very distinctly and very scientifically explains very nature of the living entity, reasons for things we see around us, gives you knowledge on what the nature is , its working, reasons for various mentalities we see around us, the purpose of our existence and the path how to achieve this purpose. All these things are explained purely through the point of view of our Creator. All the questions and doubts that spring up in ones mind can be answered by Bhagavad Gita and many other Vedic literatures. All these answers are available very scientifically for us to apply and realize the Absolute truth. Some others may question if that is so then why is that there are so many scriptures that are available, why is every one not reading only Bhagavad Gita? A very valid question but this question can be answered by a simple example, teachers teach their students depending upon the capacity of the students, a teacher teaching a particular subject in 4th grade will not teach the same material to students in a higher grade. Similarly , different sciptures differ in details and practices inorder to adjust to the understanding capacity to a particular group of people, but the goal is same to attain the Supreme , to know HIM. Bhagavad Gita is the preliminary study in gaining knowledge about GOD, as one begins to understand Bhagavad Gita, then one may progress furthur with the study of Literatures like, Srimad Bhagavatam and other Vedic literatures. At this point I would like to clear a very common misconception about Bhagavad Gita, people due to the humbug tend to thing that,everything might be true , yes bhagavad Gita is sceintific etc, but it is a Hindu scriputure , so by reading Bhagavad Gita we are changing our religion? , But nowhere in Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna , says , that this teachings are only meant for Hindu's NO, It is meant for everyone. Hinduism, Chirtianism, Muslim and other religions as we know today are man made and the conflicts that often occur between these sects are because of selfish and egoistics interest of these groups. There are many evidences which show that , 5000 years ago , when Bhagavad Gita was spoken , there was no Hindu, Christian or Muslim religion, these have been recently labelled by men. Practices followed may differ in these groups but the science is the same, which is give by the LORD HIMSELF in Bhagavad Gita.
Hence, inorder to understand anything in this world we should have faith. It is a common occurence , faith leads to knowledge similary, knowledge leads to faith. In our daily mundane world , if one has to gain knowledge about a particular subject he should have faith in that subject matter to further investigate into it, which leads one to knowledge, and similarly once a person acquires knowledge about a particular phenomenon and practices it , his faith increases. So it is utmost neccessary , for those who have faith to acquire the required knowledge to protect your faith in GOD. Those who want to develop that faith , have to practice the teachings in Gita. So Bhagavad Gita is such a wonderful body of knowledge that , it is beneficail to whomsoever may read it seriously. Even a fraction understanding will make one happier than before. It is my most humble request to all, to take advantage of this great book and expereince its results. There is nothing to loose in this experiment, Even if one fails he would sooner or later come to a point of understanding the philosophy , and if one seriously follows the teachings is sure to make his life perfect in all respects.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Navrathri festival --- turns into a concert
Today is October 13th 2007 , just yesterday the age old festival of Navratri started. I went to one such arrangement made to celebrate this festival, but truly speaking it felt as if I have come to a concert.
Navrathri as all the festivals in ancient India are celebrated with a spiritual and a divine objective. Navrathri means Nine nights of worship to Goddess of Strength. First three nights are for the worship of Mother Durga to invoke her blessings to counter our sinful activities, Second three nights are for the worship of Mother Lakshmi to bestowed upon us spiritual strength and goodness , and the Last three nights are for worship of Mother Saraswati for spiritual knowlegde.
These are the main reasons for which the festival is celebrated. Also every festival has a pure format where in a person can invoke his or her devotional and spiritual energies to attain the ultimate goal of life which is salvation as per the Vedic Literature.
During Navrathri the form of worship is my dancing in circles and singing bhajans and kirtans praising the activitites and nature of Mother Durga, and thanking her for protecting us from the demons. These dances are performed seperately by men and women to maintain the purity of affairs to obtain devotional objective. These have to be followed strictly which will make one blissful and happy during the festivities.
But it was really saddening to see the celebrations in todays Kaliyuga. Today if anyone asks a youngster, that Why do you celebrate Navartri , the common reply would be " To have fun, enjoy, socialize etc", but no mention of the worship to Goddess Durga. Nobody knows why they are dancing in circles before a diety. Navrathri has lost its main spiritual objective. Formerly songs and bhajans were sung using traditional instruments like drums, cymbals to create a divine atmosphere suitable for the festival, today people have become so much advanced that they think that full orchestra will make Goddess happy. They also think that instead of praising Mother Durga through devotional songs, Goddess will become pleased if we sing some cheap Hindi Flim songs and dance obscenly on these songs and while all the stupidity is going on we will perform a short aarti for Mother Durga for about 15 minutes and then again we will start our dancing on Hindi songs like some concert. Moreover people have become even more brilliant , thinking Navrathri festival is a fashion parade , where in people can were any type of revealing clothing to attract attention. Girls no longer care to dress in a decent way , boys are trying to show off their new hair styles. Girls and boys are freely dancing and mingling without any concerns , Some how or other people also started thinking that Mother Durga will be pleased and bestow her blessings on them if they are drunk during the festival. These are some of the malpractices which has crept in the modern day celebration of Navrathri.
People and Organizers of todays world have made a mockery of the divine Goddess and the festival for her and they are acting in order to satisfy their selfish desires of enjoyment. In the selfish quest to fulfill their motives they are spoiling the future generation of people who have no clue why are they celebrating a particular festival, Nobody even cares to ask these questions that what is the purpose of celebrating Navrathri , why is that garba is done, why do we worship Goddess. It is the responsibility of the older generation to impart this knowledge to the younger generation and tell them the significance and importance of this or any festival , inorder to invoke devotion and quest for spiritual knowledge in them, since it is the most important science which should be know , but unfortunately, due to the effect of the age , every one is just very busy in fulfilling their own desires without even caring for the anger of the Goddess.
Many older people themselves are in ignorance and hence are not able to explain the importance of spirituality and the festivals celebrated in Vedic culture. It is a pity that people have adjusted to such malpractices and failed to see the consequences. Now many people out of their sheer ignorance and weakness in mind , which probably they are not able to figure out , are not protesting , but that will not stop the reactions to these irresponsible actions. So it is very important that instead of simply encouraging the younger generation to fall into the ditch of darkness and ignorance, make it a habbit for them to ask the question Why? , since if one does not become inquisitive to understand things, the person will be fooled by the laws of nature again and again. Everything has its reactions. It is very sad that due to lack of knowledge many innocent people who are capable of learning will also have to suffer.
Now let us analyze the original objective of celebrating Navrathi. It was to invoke devotion and spiritual bliss, which is a reality, but due to the corruption , the younger generation thinks worship of GODS and GODDESS to be a mere myth, which diverts them to demoniac propensities which they see around them. Modern So called Disco Dandiya and dancing on Film Songs are no way invoking any kind of bhakti or devotion , infact , such lusty songs and music are just polluting their minds and making their conviction of Goddess worship being a myth even stronger. Moreover , Girls and boys during Navratri are supposed to dance in seperate circles and not intermingle and dance freely dashing with each other. Also The foremost and main intension of Navrathri is to praise the Goddess, but instead of doing that we are keeping Mother Durga aside and Praising Hindi songs. Also this scared festival is to be done in a pure way , where in girls are supposed to dress decently and boys are also have to be traditionally dressed with humility, but today, Navratri has become a hunting ground for boys and girls and a fashion stage, where in boys are interesed in having "cool" haristyles and dress and girls are more intend on dressing more in a revealing manner to attract attention. So one question remains , where is the pleasure of the Goddess for which this festival is meant , to be thankful to her and please her , since we cannot possibly be able to repay her for the blessing she as already bestowed upon us insignificant souls?. If we keep our selfish motive of entertainment in the center instead of Mother Durga and try to enjoy the festival, then there is no surprise that we see so much exploitation, crimes , fights, sexual assaults etc during these festivites, which is a mere reaction to our disobedience of the orders of the Goddess and sign of her displeasure.
Hence it is very essential that instead of encouraging the ignorance of the younger generation, elders and parents have to educate first of all themselves than the younger generation to avoid being pushed into ignorance, or else it will lead them to ruination.
Navrathri as all the festivals in ancient India are celebrated with a spiritual and a divine objective. Navrathri means Nine nights of worship to Goddess of Strength. First three nights are for the worship of Mother Durga to invoke her blessings to counter our sinful activities, Second three nights are for the worship of Mother Lakshmi to bestowed upon us spiritual strength and goodness , and the Last three nights are for worship of Mother Saraswati for spiritual knowlegde.
These are the main reasons for which the festival is celebrated. Also every festival has a pure format where in a person can invoke his or her devotional and spiritual energies to attain the ultimate goal of life which is salvation as per the Vedic Literature.
During Navrathri the form of worship is my dancing in circles and singing bhajans and kirtans praising the activitites and nature of Mother Durga, and thanking her for protecting us from the demons. These dances are performed seperately by men and women to maintain the purity of affairs to obtain devotional objective. These have to be followed strictly which will make one blissful and happy during the festivities.
But it was really saddening to see the celebrations in todays Kaliyuga. Today if anyone asks a youngster, that Why do you celebrate Navartri , the common reply would be " To have fun, enjoy, socialize etc", but no mention of the worship to Goddess Durga. Nobody knows why they are dancing in circles before a diety. Navrathri has lost its main spiritual objective. Formerly songs and bhajans were sung using traditional instruments like drums, cymbals to create a divine atmosphere suitable for the festival, today people have become so much advanced that they think that full orchestra will make Goddess happy. They also think that instead of praising Mother Durga through devotional songs, Goddess will become pleased if we sing some cheap Hindi Flim songs and dance obscenly on these songs and while all the stupidity is going on we will perform a short aarti for Mother Durga for about 15 minutes and then again we will start our dancing on Hindi songs like some concert. Moreover people have become even more brilliant , thinking Navrathri festival is a fashion parade , where in people can were any type of revealing clothing to attract attention. Girls no longer care to dress in a decent way , boys are trying to show off their new hair styles. Girls and boys are freely dancing and mingling without any concerns , Some how or other people also started thinking that Mother Durga will be pleased and bestow her blessings on them if they are drunk during the festival. These are some of the malpractices which has crept in the modern day celebration of Navrathri.
People and Organizers of todays world have made a mockery of the divine Goddess and the festival for her and they are acting in order to satisfy their selfish desires of enjoyment. In the selfish quest to fulfill their motives they are spoiling the future generation of people who have no clue why are they celebrating a particular festival, Nobody even cares to ask these questions that what is the purpose of celebrating Navrathri , why is that garba is done, why do we worship Goddess. It is the responsibility of the older generation to impart this knowledge to the younger generation and tell them the significance and importance of this or any festival , inorder to invoke devotion and quest for spiritual knowledge in them, since it is the most important science which should be know , but unfortunately, due to the effect of the age , every one is just very busy in fulfilling their own desires without even caring for the anger of the Goddess.
Many older people themselves are in ignorance and hence are not able to explain the importance of spirituality and the festivals celebrated in Vedic culture. It is a pity that people have adjusted to such malpractices and failed to see the consequences. Now many people out of their sheer ignorance and weakness in mind , which probably they are not able to figure out , are not protesting , but that will not stop the reactions to these irresponsible actions. So it is very important that instead of simply encouraging the younger generation to fall into the ditch of darkness and ignorance, make it a habbit for them to ask the question Why? , since if one does not become inquisitive to understand things, the person will be fooled by the laws of nature again and again. Everything has its reactions. It is very sad that due to lack of knowledge many innocent people who are capable of learning will also have to suffer.
Now let us analyze the original objective of celebrating Navrathi. It was to invoke devotion and spiritual bliss, which is a reality, but due to the corruption , the younger generation thinks worship of GODS and GODDESS to be a mere myth, which diverts them to demoniac propensities which they see around them. Modern So called Disco Dandiya and dancing on Film Songs are no way invoking any kind of bhakti or devotion , infact , such lusty songs and music are just polluting their minds and making their conviction of Goddess worship being a myth even stronger. Moreover , Girls and boys during Navratri are supposed to dance in seperate circles and not intermingle and dance freely dashing with each other. Also The foremost and main intension of Navrathri is to praise the Goddess, but instead of doing that we are keeping Mother Durga aside and Praising Hindi songs. Also this scared festival is to be done in a pure way , where in girls are supposed to dress decently and boys are also have to be traditionally dressed with humility, but today, Navratri has become a hunting ground for boys and girls and a fashion stage, where in boys are interesed in having "cool" haristyles and dress and girls are more intend on dressing more in a revealing manner to attract attention. So one question remains , where is the pleasure of the Goddess for which this festival is meant , to be thankful to her and please her , since we cannot possibly be able to repay her for the blessing she as already bestowed upon us insignificant souls?. If we keep our selfish motive of entertainment in the center instead of Mother Durga and try to enjoy the festival, then there is no surprise that we see so much exploitation, crimes , fights, sexual assaults etc during these festivites, which is a mere reaction to our disobedience of the orders of the Goddess and sign of her displeasure.
Hence it is very essential that instead of encouraging the ignorance of the younger generation, elders and parents have to educate first of all themselves than the younger generation to avoid being pushed into ignorance, or else it will lead them to ruination.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Maha mantra
" हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे
हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे "
" Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare "
हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे "
" Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare "
Reality beyond mundane vision
As I sit besides the window and watch the squirels moving around , I come to see the truth in the teachings of Bhagvad Gita. These creatures were constantly restlessly moving around and eating, as soon as other squirell was around they start chasing each other inorder to defend ,these creatures are in ignorance of the real truth, they are acting under illusion which gives them intelligence to only eat , sleep ,mate and defend, It is impossible for them to understand the higher nature they belong to . In order to understand this they have to go through the evolution process of changing their bodies until they reach the human form of life where they will have the intelligence to understand their real purpose of existence.
Looking at them , I wondered how many millions of years I must have spend , being a squirell, a tree, a insect, a hog, a dog and many forms and finally by the grace of Krishna I have been given this chance to understand what really I am , Where is my real home, who is GOD and why are we here. But , even though I am fortunate enough to get the human form of life , it is shameful that i am just wasting it in the lower inferior activities . I have already wasted 27 years of this precious human form of life in eating, sleeping , mating and defending , and trying to please my senses and others without knowing why am I existing and what is my role. I am wasting this high intelligence , in developing improved ways of eating , sleeping , mating and defending , which I already was engaged in my previous births , and for which I had a better body and senses to enjoy. Especially last 10 years I have just wasted in false pursuits to satisfy my mind and body , coming under the grip of maya. Seeing these animals I feel fortunate and wish to stop this useless activities I have been indulging into for so many years , And I pray with all my heart and soul to Krishna,that being a very minute and incapable particle of your manifestation, I do not posses the strength and intellect to fight maya and hence I take shelter of your Lotus feet, surrendering the results of all the activities for the pleasure of Krishna. I pray to All merciful Lord, to give me the intelligence and strength so that I do not wavier from this path of Devotional service ,anytime and be attached to HIS holy name, for this is the only way to get out of the precarious conditions we have put ourselves into .
The reality , one may believe it or not is , that we are in a great illusion called the material nature, which is under the control of Almighty Lord Shri Krishna. We are put into this precarious condition, as a result of our activities and desires to lord it over the material nature. Due to these desires we are given different bodies which have the capacity to fulfill our desires for a while, but since we are not in our real constitution of serving the Lord , the so called happiness we derive using our bodies is limited and fade out very soon. We being the parts of Krishna are qualitatively equal to the lord , but with respects to power we are very minute and insignificant in comparison to the unlimited power of the Lord. So it should be noted that , inorder to be happy ,it is essensial to follow the instructions of the Lord as give in Bhagvad Gita, since it is a rule set forth by the Ruler of the world, Everthing that we see around is a property of Krishna, and encroaching Krishna's property for our senses is criminal , and hence the uhappy state of affairs we place our selves into.
It is little difficult to understand these concepts being in illusion of maya, but as soon as one desires from the heart to know the truth and is fed up with the constant changes in the material nature , one can understand these concepts slowly and gradually by the mercy of the Lord. Only thing one needs , is to be completely surrendered to Krishna and a unflinching faith in HIS words and a constant reading of Bhagvat Gita , while following the four regulative principles of , no meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling.
Looking at them , I wondered how many millions of years I must have spend , being a squirell, a tree, a insect, a hog, a dog and many forms and finally by the grace of Krishna I have been given this chance to understand what really I am , Where is my real home, who is GOD and why are we here. But , even though I am fortunate enough to get the human form of life , it is shameful that i am just wasting it in the lower inferior activities . I have already wasted 27 years of this precious human form of life in eating, sleeping , mating and defending , and trying to please my senses and others without knowing why am I existing and what is my role. I am wasting this high intelligence , in developing improved ways of eating , sleeping , mating and defending , which I already was engaged in my previous births , and for which I had a better body and senses to enjoy. Especially last 10 years I have just wasted in false pursuits to satisfy my mind and body , coming under the grip of maya. Seeing these animals I feel fortunate and wish to stop this useless activities I have been indulging into for so many years , And I pray with all my heart and soul to Krishna,that being a very minute and incapable particle of your manifestation, I do not posses the strength and intellect to fight maya and hence I take shelter of your Lotus feet, surrendering the results of all the activities for the pleasure of Krishna. I pray to All merciful Lord, to give me the intelligence and strength so that I do not wavier from this path of Devotional service ,anytime and be attached to HIS holy name, for this is the only way to get out of the precarious conditions we have put ourselves into .
The reality , one may believe it or not is , that we are in a great illusion called the material nature, which is under the control of Almighty Lord Shri Krishna. We are put into this precarious condition, as a result of our activities and desires to lord it over the material nature. Due to these desires we are given different bodies which have the capacity to fulfill our desires for a while, but since we are not in our real constitution of serving the Lord , the so called happiness we derive using our bodies is limited and fade out very soon. We being the parts of Krishna are qualitatively equal to the lord , but with respects to power we are very minute and insignificant in comparison to the unlimited power of the Lord. So it should be noted that , inorder to be happy ,it is essensial to follow the instructions of the Lord as give in Bhagvad Gita, since it is a rule set forth by the Ruler of the world, Everthing that we see around is a property of Krishna, and encroaching Krishna's property for our senses is criminal , and hence the uhappy state of affairs we place our selves into.
It is little difficult to understand these concepts being in illusion of maya, but as soon as one desires from the heart to know the truth and is fed up with the constant changes in the material nature , one can understand these concepts slowly and gradually by the mercy of the Lord. Only thing one needs , is to be completely surrendered to Krishna and a unflinching faith in HIS words and a constant reading of Bhagvat Gita , while following the four regulative principles of , no meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling.
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