A Hindu's Views on Hinduism

For one to be a true Hindu he needs to know what Hinduism stands for and according to me it is choice and freedom to practise a belief system of one's own.

We can find a lot of aspects in Hindu ways of life that are contradictory as well as utterly negative and derogatory to popular beliefs. Frequently in scriptures we can find Gods coming in as characters that exhibit all flavours of human tendencies and emotions and many of their actions put to test the very belief of the followers. But again we must consider that Hinduism, unlike any other religion is not organized, hierarchical or structured. It is neither strict nor hard in its beliefs and forms rather a way of living than a religion.

What we must understand is that being a very very flexible religion Hinduism permits a lot of different thoughts and interpretations of its rules and regulations along with the very nature of it's Deities. A lot of literature that may come across as blasphemy is tolerated and even promoted so that people can discuss and relate wordily life with spiritual life. Ultimate aim of Hinduism being the union of man and god or God Realization, it gives a lot of paths for that depending upon the status of mind of each follower. All philosophies are right depending on the level of spiritual growth one has obtained. This is very well elucidated in Bhagvad Gita.

A true Hindu never questions other's faiths and never degrades anyone on the basis of their beliefs . One must discuss , assimilate facts and then think upon it and find out what is right for one , but then one must also make allowance to other's right to be like that too. What is right for one may not be right for other and Hinduism advocates and accepts it unlike many other religions. Other religions have a strict hierarchy and well defined right/wrong concepts which makes them uneasy with the freedom of Hinduism. They are baffled with the outright contradictions in Hindu scriptures and thus cannot digest the facts behind them.

Hinduism provides all but a freedom of choice.. The freedom to choose from a lot of its many scriptural paths, a path of your liking to satisfy your needs and reach the God/Place which you want to ultimately.

Hinduism as a belief system does not advocate what to do and what not - it merely points out the various scenarios and the results and urge the follower to make a choice" An intelligent choice" as there are more than enough instances and examples of each action and its reaction in its multitude of scriptures and literature.

3 Questions

The most important questions that comes up in life are :-

Q1) Which is the perfect time to act ?

The most perfect time to act is NOW!!-- The Present Moment. Why?? Because it's only now that we have any power to act. We cannot predict what will happen in the next moment, but can very well do what we should do, right now!!. Time that's gone is gone for ever and what that will come is a mystery, Only this moment is under our control. .

Q2) Who are the most important people in life?

The most important people in your life are People who are with us right now. As explained earlier we have no control over the past (Which is gone forever) or over the future moment, but can act only in the present moment. So the people whom we are with, are the most important people for us for the present, as we don't have any idea of knowing whether we will meet anyone else or who will remain with us in future.

Q3) What must be most important action?

The most important action is To do good to the people whom we are with. As this being the most important time and whom we are with right now are the most important people, the most important action for us is to do good to them in whatever possible way we can and must. Again we don't know what will happen in next moment, who will be with us then and what results our actions bring, So the Best action for now is to do GOOD , in whatever manner we can, to all those who are with us right now. Doing good is an excellent insurance for future, as by doing so, we can be sure that we have not offended anyone and most importantly there is no guilty feeling.

Bhagvad Gita - What I Learnt

Life is a process of a series of experiences which are mysteriously and inextricably connected with the entire universe in all its planes of existence - Thus when Bhagvad Gita offers solutions to the problems of life and prescribes method of regulating and harmonizing its modes it has to take into account every thing in the universe to which life is related – The greatness of Gita lies in its integrality of its scope the universality of its teachings the all comprehensiveness of its doctrine.

The primary cause of trouble in which man finds himself is the erroneous notion which he has about his relations with the body, the world and virtually with God. The perishable nature of body and the world, and the immortal nature of the conscious soul within are forgotten – Truth and Falsehood of life comes into light when the events and facts are analyzed with pure reason unbiased with objects of sense-perception.

Man cannot cease action. Action is the law of individual life. To act, and not allow the reason to get attached to acts is the essence of Karma yoga. Cessation from physical action is not non-action. Vital, emotional, mental and intellectual action is real action. Through out his life, Man has no freedom to abstain from actions. According to Gita action law or Karma Yoga is action based on the consciousness of the absoluteness of God, the surrender of oneself to God.

The sense of possession is the greatest of deluding factors in human life. Bhagvad Gita talks about this as follows

“What ever that had happened, happened for good
What ever that is happening, is happening for good
What ever that is going to happen is also for good
Why worry about anything that you lost,
For nothing in this world was brought by you when you came in here
And nothing will be taken back by you when you leave this world

Whatever riches you claim to be your own today was some one else’s yesterday
And it will be some one else’s tomorrow for sure.”

So don’t worry about all this but live your life according to the law of Karma.

The Bhagvad Gita may be called “anasakti –Yoga” – The Yoga of non-attachment.

[Actions as Devotion to God, God as supreme, Free form attachment to the fruits of one’s action and equal apathy towards other beings – Marks of one who will reach the final destination – i.e. Brahma sakshathkaram ]

The emotional spirit of the Bhagvad Gita’s teaching, is the continuous consciousness of Absolute while the routine duties of life are discharged without reluctance and with joy of the knowledge of the fact that entire activity of universe is an overflow of the process of divine consciousness

The agent, the goal, the instrument and the process of action is Brahman. Essence of Gita’s ethical philosophy is based on “isavasya Upanishad” where the doctrine of “Nishkama Karma” has been suggested.

The purpose of human life is the recognition of the divine and Gita describes a number of ways and their relative merits, so that each reader is presented freedom of choice – A knowledge powered and intelligent choice..

FAITH ..Thats all everyone has

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof : Is God good?

Student: Sure.Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student : Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student : No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist.What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat.But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't goany further after that. There is no such thing as cold . Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence ofheat . We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy . Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it .(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, brightlight, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.Now tell me, Professor.Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen theProfessor's brain?(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain,sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

A Prayer That Was Answered

I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties - To make me Strong

I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems - To Solve

I asked for courage and God gave me dangers - To Overcome

I asked for prosperity and God gave me Brawn and Brain - To Work

I asked for Love and God gave me troubled people - To Help

I asked for Favours and God gave me opportunities - To Utilize

I received nothing what I wanted, but received everything what I really Needed.......

Time : Management at its premium

We are being conditioned throughout our lives to hurry, be efficient, and never to waste time. Each of us ,every day, every minute, are influenced and hoodwinked by product ideas that provide fast-foods, speedy deliveries and instant success. We are bombarded with time saving technologies and gadgetry , super swift software and precision chronograph that track time to the nth degree. We move faster, talk faster, work faster and live faster. Children wants to grow up faster and grownups grow old faster. In today's mad rush, that we call life, the time itself seems to be picking up speed.

What is the impact of eating breakfast during the commute to work or using a cell phone as we weave through city traffic? A safety hazard? Absolutely. A stressor. Of course. A time saver? Not really.

The one thing that never returns however hard we try is time. You cannot save, stretch or salvage time. You can only use time. If you use it for trivial, needless or superfluous things, you are actually wasting it. We try to cheat life by cramming more into each hour, but by doing so, we simply displace something else or ruin what that hour already contains.

There are only a few things that can be done simultaneously while preserving the integrity of each, such as listening to the radio while taking a bath or reading a book while waiting for a delayed flight to depart, but these are few and far between. In general, what appear to be time savers are actually life wasters in disguise. In the name of personal productivity, organizational efficiency or time strategies, we have been sold a bill of goods by well-meaning time management consultants who are paid handsomely to keep us on the fast track. Sometimes we are moving in the opposite directions to the track. What is the point in running up a down escalator?

Time management is not doing more things in less time. It is doing more important things in the time that we have. And who is to determine what is important? You are. It's your time. It's your life. You may want to live it at a fast pace and in that process burnout before your time or may go slow and wait, watch and enjoy all that life unfolding before you, savoring each and every moment that we have on this beautiful paradise called EARTH. The choice is yours .

At times it's more important to slow down and enjoy the moment

There's a walking trail in one of the parks I've had once visited, that winds its way leisurely around a little pool, through green grassy lawns, a small wooded area, along a rivulet and eventually emerges on the other side. People negotiate its many twists and turns as they get their daily dose of exercise. A pleasant walk indeed through morning mist and dew.

But none too surprising , there were shortcuts invariably at almost every turn. Little paths worned out through the grass by people who have been programmed by life to seek out the shortest distance between two points. Has this world gone completely mad? Why would someone whose sole purpose in the morning was to exercise or enjoy the outdoors want to take a shortcut? Yet its sad but true. Man is always hurrying..Hurrying to get things he wants or thinks he wants.

Carrying on on this, I think, we negotiate life the same way. We try to get through it in the least possible time. Who has time to smell the flowers? Just trample them underfoot as we carve another shortcut through life.

It's a beautiful life, but who has time to notice? Life expectancy has increased but its benefits have been nullified by our distorted perception of time. We are living faster than the speed of life. We are literally racing to our deaths. If you are a participant in the rat race, get off the track. Let the die-hards pass you on the way to the finish line.

The secret of life is not to be the one to finish it first, but the one to enjoy it the most. Don't live speedily; live abundantly.

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Hinduism and The Matrix

The Matrix an action masterpiece created by the Wachowski brothers has produced millions of fans around the world. But does the Matrix trilogy have deeper meanings than just guns technology and computers. This is a take on that thought.

The Matrix philosophy.

There are some interesting connections between The Matrix trilogy and Hindu philosophy. The Matrix has got some aspects that may be considered as example for some of the concepts of Hinduism. Maya, Moksha, the concept of God and the balance of good and bad can all be understood through its well-known plot.

For the uninitiated, The Matrix is about a computer hacker (Neo) who is given the knowledge by Morpheus (A Guru or Acharya perhaps ?) that the world he was living in is not real, and just a simulation created by machines of the future. He also comes to know that machines have enslaved humanity and are now harvesting and breeding them just as a power source. He comes to know of the escaped rebel group who are fighting war against these machines and races to save the city of the real world (Zion), created by others like him, from the machines.

Let's start from the beginning . Neo, a computer hacker, is wondering about what The Matrix is, after he hears about it in a chat room. It haunts him for a long time, until he meets Trinity, aide of Morpheus, who tells him how to find out. Neo asks her, "What is the Matrix?", to which Trinity replies, "Twelve years ago I met [Morpheus], a great man, who said that no one could be told the answer to that question. That they had to see it, to believe it." Morpheus here forms what can be said as a guru or teacher, a realized one who leads his followers to truth. He tells Neo exactly what Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said to Swami Vivekananda's question, "What is God?" Hinduism says that God cannot be explained and that truth can only be experienced.

Later in the movie, Morpheus shows and explains to Neo about the Matrix, the world from which he was living in before he got to the real world. Neo asks, "This isn't real?" To which Morpheus replies, "What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about your senses, what you feel, taste, smell, or see, then all you're talking about are electrical signals interpreted by your brain." In Hinduism, this concept of the "Matrix" is called Maya. It is said that the world we live in is just an illusion, created by our minds. Our senses, feelings and emotions are just illusions we trick ourselves into believing in. In explaining Maya, Sri Adi Sankara very often refers to the example of the rope and the snake. As long as one mistakes a rope for a snake, he is frightened and reacts to the rope as if it were a real snake. When he realizes that what he sees is only a rope, he laughs.

The Hindu concept of God is the state in which one realizes that the world is just a Matrix, or Maya, and that everything around him is an illusion. This state is called Nirvana, or much more aptly the state of Nirmohatva, which Neo attains in the movie after he realizes what the Matrix is. ( The poem Bhaja Govindam by Sri Adi Sankaracharya goes like this :

" satsangatve nisangatvam ;

Nisangatve nirmohatvam;

Nirmohatve nischalatatvam;

Nischalatatve jeevanmukhti")

Then, in the second movie, the Creator calls Neo "an unbalanced equation". By this he is hinting to what exactly Hinduism puts forward. Good cannot be alone in this world. Without Badness, the aspect of goodness has no meaning. Without Darkness one cannot appreciate light.There has to be a balance of good and evil, of creation and destruction. Among the Hindu Pantheon of Gods, the three main deities or TRINITY are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the destructor. Creation and preservation does its part in sustaining the world for a time after which destruction is necessary because "Everything that has a beginning has an end."

The Wachowski brothers might not have thought of Hinduism when they created the Matrix trilogy. But taking on the spirit of sanathana Dharma ( the real and imperishable Truth), to fully realize oneself , we must do what Morpheus says "Wake up, Neo, Wake UP."

Arise, Awake and Rest Not Until the Goal is Reached!!

Swami Vivekananda

Life - Boring? NEVER ...

I've often found people telling me (others) that their life is so boring and there is nothing left in the day to cheer them up. Far too often I've seen people fall into a tiresome routine, where they repeatedly do the same thing over and over again; day after day, everyday. They begin feeling that there just isn’t any excitement in their lives anymore. They start wishing that they were someplace more exciting, doing something that demanded a little more action, a little more fun to do and so on. In fact, they begin wishing they were anywhere but where they are right now.

Well there is nothing unnatural or unusual about feeling bored from time to time. This is just our bodies’ way of telling us to up the life's tempo; to find something a bit more challenging, stimulating and interesting to do. Sometimes we get the message loud and clear and immediately quicken our pace by setting our sights on the achievement of a worthwhile goal or objective. And sometimes we don’t, allowing ourselves to sink into a sea of monotony, where everyday is just as dull as the day before. Its plain fact that boredom is never an issue whenever we are doing something we really enjoy.

Its cent percent true that life is never boring, but often people choose to be bored and forget how captivating and enjoyable life is. I for one feel that people are not bored by situations or surroundings but primarily with their selves. Their life, drudging along in the fast lanes, cease ; to stop, wait and relish those small happenings and incidents, to appreciate and understand the beauty of life around them, to enjoy the thrills of never ending challenges that lay along the path. They become kind of robotic beings with no mind and action of their own.

Happiness can never be found it’s but created. Every situation has got something to cheer about and every setback can be opportunity..An opportunity to do better.

My favorite Quote

"You laugh at me because I am different, but I laugh at you because you are all the same."

-------- UNKNOWN

Human Normality

A baby that didn’t cry wouldn’t be normal. A wild animal that didn’t like to hunt wouldn’t be normal.(A politician who follows people's politics likewise wouldn't also ,at present be normal)And a human being who doesn’t like to think and learn isn’t normal. This definition of human normality is proper, even if statistics show that most people are not, in this sense, normal. If that’s so then defenitely something is terribly wrong, but the problem is not with this definition.

Wars : Defined

Even now people do harbor an idea that mankind will soon outgrow wars, that wars are fought because of ignorance or immaturity, because nations distrust or misunderstand one another, or simply because they enjoy fighting. Well what a wishful thinking!! From where does these folks get such an idea? After all wars are fought when two nations, both want something only one of them can have, decide to discuss it on that Stone Age principle " Might Is Right". Its that there is no misunderstanding or anything. They understand each other only too well.

Happiness and Want

The things a person wants, and the things that will make that person happy, are hardly ever the same things. And this remains true, even if you know it to be true. So much frustration and disappointment could be avoided if people could learn this simple principle, and adjust accordingly their overall strategy for the pursuit of happiness.
More often than not one gets what he wants and straight away laments on how he could have got something better. Human mind is such a mystery that I doubt even the Creator couldn't help marvelling at it.

Something to ponder:- From Bhagavad Gita

Na karthruthvam na karmmani lokasye srijathi prabhu:
Na karmmabhalasamyogam swabhavasthu pravarththathe.

(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 5:14)

Nadaththe kasvajith papamna chaiva sukrutham vibhu:
Agyanenavruthum gyanamthena muhyathi janthava:

(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 5:15)

Time and Timing

Within the range of human emotions it is the sense of time that is one of the most conspicuous sensibilities characteristic of human species. Our sense of time is so unique and advanced from other living beings in this world and forms the very basis of the integrating that we posses. An awareness of history,the passage and importance of time and the experiences gained becomes, for the society, the mechanism with which one define ourselves,looking into the past for a self-authenticating sense of purpose and direction and turns to the future with resolve and determination and acting in our present for it. Within the range of time - consciousness is a sense of "timing";things coming into the being and pass out of being with a kind of strange but thoroughly acceptable logic. Nowhere is this so evident than in the world of human mind, the sphere of ideas operative within human intellect. Thus "thinking drive" of human experience is one with the emergence of our special consciousness and sense of time and timing.

What is Real ?

If real is what we see,hear, taste or feel then it is nothing but electrical signals as interpreted by our brain ( As told by Morpheus to Neo)

They say that its mind that holds the key - key to our lives,our perceptions, understandings and ultimately the way we end up living and influencing the society we live in. All the battles and the struggles in this world are actually fought in minds of people, in those who actually fight and those who watch. The one who can hold on his mind longer wins the war...Be it the one inside or outside....
Great Men are the products of (their) grater minds. Though its their actions that made them great , those were actually guided,conceived and materialized by some powerful thoughts - a natural outgrowth of their in self that made them what they are....And those who will be.....

Tat Wam Asi - That Thou Are

We Are What We Think

Think , For That is Mind's Food
So we must else it dies
And without a mind to it
How can we MIND -IT

.........But many a time it pays to be mindless regard less of what mind says