barney

Character Determines Caste A Brahmana (Brahmin or priest) is no Brahmana if he is not endowed with purity and good character, and if he leads a life of dissipation and immorality. A Sudra is a Brahmana if he leads a virtuous and pious life. What a great soul was Vidura! What a noble, candid, straightforward student was Satyakama Jabala of Chhandogya Upanishad! Caste is a question of character. Varna is not the colour of the skin, but the colour of one’s character or quality. Conduct and character count and not lineage alone. If one is Brahmana by birth and, at the same time, if he possesses the virtues of a Brahmana, it is extremely good, because certain virtuous qualifications only determine the birth of a Brahmana.

Being fanatical is not the same as loving God and his creatures. Ramakrishna did not ask each and everyone to wear dhoti and be madly in love with God. Instead he advice his followers to love God and his creatures that include we human beings. May be you have not understood what he meant. Every individual irespective of his vocation becomes a kshastriya when it comes to the matter of defending his family or country. So, in short kshatriyas are not born but made in this yuga. When a citizen enrolls in the army no one will question him if he is from the kshatriya or not because there is no space in the enrolment form mentioning only kshatriyas are allowed to join the army. Karna was not considered to be of Kshatriya origin but the truth is he was from the kshatriya family but Bishma disqualified him from the competetion of archery saying he does not know of his origin. But in the end Bishma did ask Karna to forgive him for humiliating him in the public. Let us not divide the unity of people through caste. In the 21st century anyone can take up any profession of his desire as per qualification. So, the subject of caste does not arise here. I know of non brahmins who from young age had been taken into the school of gurukulam and have now become qualified gurukal and conducting temple rituals as a brahmin priest would do. We are not in the past yuga to decide who must do what. So, I hope you would understand my point and forgive me for bringing this up. India is a democratic country and let the people decide what kind of rule they want. I know your dreams but that would not work in this yuga. It will only happen after the kali yuga ends and so be it. Let nature take its cause on such matters. You can advice the people of such rules but you cannot compel them to accept your theory.

If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.

This is for not respecting nature. Nature is reminding man not to mess with it. The sea is a live giving source but man is doing to it is very obvious. The big powers testing their nuclear bombs in sea. Planting hazardous divices for scientif test without realizing that it will harm micro organs that is vital to the survival of other living creatures of the sea. It is man's own bad action that triggers such devastating consequences upon man. It is not only the sea but on land too. The earth should be respected as a live giving source for all living creatures includoing man. Without it there would be no life form. But what do we see, man destroying forest in the name of decelopment and wealth. Trees are cut down indiscriminately for money, clearing jungles without consedering the lives of other creatures survival. All this action will eventually cause hardship to man himself. Goid has nothing to do with your onw action. Every action there is a reaction and that is the law of nature. But I can assure you that modern man would not want to listen to such lectures coz it does not bring any material gain to him so, he will continue with his quest for success and gain while nature will go on teaching him lessons much greater than TSUNAMIS.

Fraud in the Bible or It Sucks That You Don't Know Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic What is Pious Fraud? Pious fraud was a common technique employed by early Christian writers to make a point. Their intention was to convert anyone and everyone by any means available. One of the more persuasive methods was to write a text and falsely tell others that it was written in first person. For example, the four canonized gospel tales were not written by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. That has been a well known fact for about 200 years. And to this day, no one knows who the gospel stories were written by. These texts are perfect examples of pious fraud. Pious fraud is the foundation of the deception known as Christianity and it continues to this day. During the first couple of centuries of the Common Era the early Christian priestcraft, which would eventually become the early Catholic fathers, were in the process of assimilating religions from all over Europe. Ultimately the new religion become known as the Christian religion, or more accurately The Catholic Church. The Bible was put together by hundreds of people who were either at the head of the fraud or were pawns in its assembly. Once the original languages were translated into Latin, it was only a matter of time before the original language nuances could be discarded. Ever wonder why it was punishable by death to read the Bible during the Middle Ages? Punishable by death by the common folk to read it, that is. Well, the reason was that the priestcraft was well aware of the errors, inconsistencies and flat-out lies that riddled the Bible. If the common man found out, it could have been the death of the Church's authority, power and control over the masses. And since the original languages are rarely, if ever, used by those who read the Bible (well, those who actually READ it), the fraud is perpetuated. When a pious fraud is knowingly perpetuated in the name of power and money, you have deception. Remember, 1700-2000 years ago, when these texts were being assembled into a 'new testament', the vast majority of humanity was illiterate. Science was not known. Demons rules the world. Anything could be put forth and said to be 'absolute truth' when it was in fact, completely fraudulent. What is the implication of this? The implication is self-evident. The story of Genesis, that Christian proselytizers love to advance (altho it is part of the much older Jewist texts), is a complete and utter forgery. In that story we are led to believe that there was a single god who created the earth, etc. in 6 days. Not only has science proven the timeline to be completely false, the religious aspect is a complete fabrication. At the time that the Genesis story was supposed to have been written the Hewbrew people were not monotheistic. That's history. They believed in many gods and Genesis proves it. The story actually goes back to before the Hebrews were a distinct people-it is not Hebrew in origin. Pious Fraud in Translation Let's take a look at the very first words of the book of Genesis. Note very carefully that the Hebrew culture, at the time of this writing, was not monothestic, but rather, polytheistic. Will your priest, minister or preacher tell you that? No. But you can find out for yourself with a simple dictionary. The Hebrew word for God is el; the plural is elohim, gods. What is the first sentence in the Bible? "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Here is Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew (transliterated into the Latin alphabet, of course): "Bereshith bara elohim," etc., "In-beginning created (the) gods (the) heavens and (the) earth." In the same chapter the word "elohim" (gods) is used thirty times., Those gods are the ones who created the 'universe' in 6 days. To clarify, here is the translation of the Hebrew text of Genesis 1. Notice how Jewish and Christian 'fathers' don't bother to tell you what the original text says. They would like you to believe that a single god created everything. But, they messed up big time and actually translated it properly. In plain English, the translation reads 'let us make man in our image': Here are three examples of the Hebrew plural gods mentioned in Genesis: 1. "And-said elohim (gods), let-US-make man (adam) in-image-OUR, after-likeness-OUR" (1:26). 2. And when "adam" had eaten of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge, "the Lord God" said, "Behold, the-man has become like one of US, to know good and evil" (3:27). 3. And when the Tower of Babel was being built: "The Lord [Heb. Yahveh] said ... Come, let US go down," etc. When speaking of the Hebrew deity, Yahveh, elohim, (gods) is used in the Hebrew texts, The plural elohim is used 2570 times. It is always falsely translated to the singular "God", thus falsely making us believe that this text was written at a time when the Hebrew people were monothestic, when it clearly is the case (written at least 2570 times, no less!) that they WERE NOT. In the three Genesis verses above, there are three different designations of the Hebrew deity or deities: elohim, (gods), falsely translated "God": Lord God (Heb. Yahveh-elohim); and Lord (Heb. Yahveh). Yahveh is the proper name of the Hebrew God, which, in English, is Jehovah. Yahveh-elohim is a Hebrew "construct-form" which is translated to "Yahveh-of-the-gods." Invariably these personal names were falsely translated "Lord" and "Lord God," respectively, for purposes of pious fraud. First Man, First Woman There was no first man "Adam," according to the Hebrew text. The word adam in Hebrew is a common noun, meaning man in a generic sense and in Genesis 1:26, it states: "And elohim (gods) said, Let us make adam (man)"; and so "elohim created ha- adam (the-man); ... male and female created he them" (1: 27). In the second creation story, where man is first made alone: "Yahveh formed ha-adam (the-man) out of the dust of ha-adamah-the ground" (2:7). Man is called in Hebrew adam because he was formed out of adamah, the ground; just as in Latin man is called homo because he was formed from humus, the ground. Early Christian father Lactantius stated it as 'homo ex humo' ('man from the ground', or 'dust' as it commonly stated today). The forging of the name Adam from the Hebrew noun adam into a mythical proper name Adam, was after the so-called Exodus. The fraud in the forging of fictitious genealogies from "in the beginning" to Father Abraham. And this wasn't done by Christians, but rather by early Hebrew priests. Nonetheless, early Christians took this deception and used it for their own newly forged religion. Who has a Soul? In Genesis 1 is the account of the creation of the elohim-gods-on the fifth day, of "nephesh hayyah" which is "the moving creature that hath life," and of "nephesh hayyah-every living creature" out of the waters (1:20, 21); and on the sixth day of "nephesh hayyah-the living creature" out of the ground (1:24); and he gave to ha-adam-the-man dominion over "kol nephesh hagyah-everything wherein there is life," (1:30.) The Hebrew text states that all animal living creatures are by God called "nephesh hayyah," literally "living soul". In Chapter 2 is the history of ha-adam made from ha-adamah; and, in contrast to these lowly "living creatures" (nephesh hayyah), Yahveh-clohim "breathed into his nostrils nishmath hayyim -- (living breaths), and ha-adam became nephesh hayyah-a living soul". (2:7) In Hebrew everywhere you read the word nephesh it simply means soul, and hayyah (living) is the feminine singular adjective from hai, life. In the original Hebrew texts, Man was created exactly the same as the other animals. All had or were 'nephesh hayyah' or living souls. Remember, tho, that the reason there are two creation stories is because two culture's stories of creation were woven together by the early Hebrew priestcraft. Unknown scribes, in translation, made animals merely creatures, and "Creation's masterpiece, Man," became a "living soul." They falsely altered these plain words so as to deceive us into believing a special God-breathed soul is in man which is completely different from animal that merely perishes to dust. The implication of this is that someone has fraudulently decided that we are a special creation that has a soul, and eliminated the actual words of what Genesis says. Now all other animals don't have a soul. According to the story, all things that live have a soul. So what happened here? Forgery. That's what happened. Chalk one up for vegetarians. There Was No Continuous Hebrew Monotheistic Culture When Yahveh appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush, and announced himself as "the God of thy fathers," he was a total stranger to Moses. How do I know? Read the account. It doesn't take a scholar to read where Moses ASKS who's taking. No, Moses wasn't merely surprised at the voice…he simply didn't know what was going on. (The fact that Moses is just a rehash of the Egyptian Mises is another essay altogether. But for the purposes of this essay, I'm pretending that Moses was a real person.) Moses did not know this Yahveh, and had never heard of him. So that he asked, "What is thy name?" -so that he could report it to the people back home in Egypt, who had never heard it. After some intermission, the God came directly to the point, and declared-here are the exact words-one of the most notorious falsities in the Hebrew text: "And elohim spake unto Moses, and said unto him., anoki Yahveh -- I am the Lord! "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of el-shaddai, but by my name Yahveh (JEHOVAH) was I not known to them." (Ex. 6:2, 8.) The Hebrew God for the first time since the world began, is "revealed" to mankind the "ineffable name" of Yahveh, here first appearing in the Bible translations, and there printed as JEHOVAH in capital letters; for more vivid and awe-inspiring impression. But this is a notorious lie-since we known that Moses did not write the first five books of the Hebrew text. In Genesis 2:4, the name YAHVEH first appears; "in the day that Yahveh-elohim made the earth and the heavens." Its first recorded use as a mystical personage, was when Eve "conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from Yahveh-the Lord." (Gen. 4:1.) The personal name YAHVEH occurs in the Book of Genesis one hundred and fifty-six times. It's spoken dozens of times by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as any one can read in Genesis. Every single time that the title "the Lord" and "the Lord God" appears, it is a false translation by the priests for the Hebrew personal name YAHVEH. Throughout the Hebrew "scriptures" it occurs thousands of times: "The sacred name occurs in Genesis ~156 times; and is found in the Old Testament approximately 6000 times, either alone or in along with another Divine name." More exactly, the Tetragrammaton (YHVH), appears in the Old Testament 6823 times as the proper name of God as the God of Israel. As such it serves to distinguish him from the gods of the other nations." Thus was the Hebrew tribal god YAHVEH distinguished from Bel, and Chemosh, and Dagon, and Shamash, and the dozens of "gods of the nations". Just as James would distinguish his name from Rudolph, or Cary, this was precisely the Hebrew usage-to distinguish one heathen god from another. And this the pious translators, foisting their fraud on us, sought to hide, giving names to all the "other gods," but suppressing a name for the Hebrew deity, who as "the Lord," or "the Lord God," was high and unique, "a god above all gods," -the one and only true God-thru the use of a tetragrammaton. But yet a more malicious and evil-intentioned deception, 6828 times, is the name of the Hebrew God concealed by false rendition for the deliberate purpose of forging the whole Hebrew texts, as translated, into a semblance of harmony with the false declaration of Exodus 6:3, that "by my name YAHVEH was I not know unto them." Search as one may, outside Exodus 6:3, the god-name YAHVEH (Jehovah) is never to be found in the translations, except in Psalm 78:18, and Isaiah 12:2 and 26:4. (But they are irrelevant for this discussion because those passages were written well after the original 5 books were forged.) The false translations thus "make truth to be a liar," the lie of Exodus 6:3 to seem the truth; and a barbarous heathen tribal god among a hundred neighbor and competitive gods to be the nameless One Lord God of the Universe. For more on this tribal god, you can read Who is this Jehovah and Where Does He Live? What does this imply? It implies this: the Hebrew-Christian-One-God is a patent forgery and myth; a mythological Father-god can have no "only begotten Son"; Jesus Christ is a myth even before he is mythically born by the forged whimsy of the early Christian 'fathers'. A Few Translations These translations, while only three in number, will change your whole way of thinking about what is being presented in your Bible. Son of Man: In all three major Semitic languages (Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic) the term barnasha means "human being". Jesus often referred to himself as a human being (28 times in the Gospels). Barnasha comes from bar (son) and nasha (man). The meaning of barnasha has created a lot of confusion in the Gospels. It is impossible to translate the Aramaic term of barnasha literally as "son of man" - and yet most biblical translators have and still do just that to this day. In the Aramaic language the word bar is combined with many other words to create different meanings - most specifically is means a "likeness." For example barabba means "resembles his father". Barhila translated literally would mean "son of power" but in reality it means "soldier". So when we read in the Gospels the phrase "son of man" it should be read correctly as "human being". Son of God: The word bar means a likeness or resemblance to the suffix word. The Aramaic term that Son of God comes from is bardalaha. Translated literally as "son of God" it does not mean this. Bardalaha in reality means "like God" or "God-like". So when Jesus is referred to as the "Son of God" we should read this correctly as "God-like" or "like God". So what does that tell you about the translation we read in today's Bibles? It tells you that Jesus was not the Son of God - but that he was "God-like". There is a big difference. Jesus himself repeatedly referred to himself as a "human being". The Aramaic reference does not mean one is physically divine - it means there is an important spiritual relationship between God and the man whom is bestowed that phraseology. In addition, don't forget that the Council of Nicea in 325 CE voted to change the human Jesus to a supernatural being. It wasn't until that time that any church thought of Jesus as such. Only Begotten Son: The world ehedaya is Aramaic. It is very important to understand its meaning when hearing that phrase being bantered about. When we read that Jesus was God's "only begotten son" - it is an incorrect translation of the Aramaic word. The term is found exclusively in the Gospel of John. The phrase we read in English was translated from a Greek word, monogenes. Monos means "single" or "one" and genos means "kind". So the Greek translation originally was with "one-of-a-kind". So where does 'begotten' come from? The Greek word genos is distantly related to the verb gennan which means "to beget". Thus, to translate monogenes as "only begotten" is improper and incorrect--which is an indication of an ill-trained translator being involved with the text. The actual translation should be "unique son" or "one-of-a-kind". The Aramaic word ehedaya means "sole heir" and "the beloved". So when we combine monogenes ehedaya we get "one-of-a-kind, beloved son". That's considerably different from 'only begotten son'. http://www.mksmith.org/

I'm using my Hindu name as that was what I have been called since my birth. Infact instead of calling it in full my parents and all the rest have been calling me by this name but the truth is my name according to birth natchatira is Dandauthabarney[one of the names of Lord Murugan] but in short they have been calling be Barney. Now as for the actual spelling my late father made certain changes due to his believe in numerology. So, do not worry as I'm a Hindu and my name is Barney. I do not like using fictious names. Why should I? I fear no man but accept God Himself. I'm sorry if my name souded like a Christian name but the truth is my wife was a born Christian as her origin is of European mix Asian[Eurasian] it was a love marriage and she willingly coverted to Hinduism as our marriage was held according to Hindu rites and conducted at Sri Dhandauthabarney Temlple at my birth place. And now it has been a blissful marriage of 30 years. So, I hope you'd understand why am I against those Hindus who think they know better than others.

May be you too do not understand my view and who told you that I'm not born a Hindu? If a Hindu does not have authority over his religion than that religion is not Hinduism. For your information this is a discussion forum and every member has the right to put his view point here. I've never spoken against Hinduism and would not allow anyone to do so but what I'm refering to is the way most Hindus behave like what is happening in Chennai relief camps of the Tsunami Victims. I've heard many stories of such before this and that is why I'm so disgusted with these animal behaviour of people who call themselves Hindus. You may not like to hear the real truth coz the truth is bitter but as Hindus we have to accept the truth instead of pretending that all is well among Hindus. Sorry, but what has to be said will be said.

Kali yuga corruption was foretold and who is the cause for such? It's the same keepers of the verdic sastras. So denying the happening would not do you or oters any good. Admit it and say something like the gurdians of thw sastras would educate the fallen Hindus on the matter. Why do you want to be stuborn and deny the matter exist in India? I know there are true Hindus who do not discriminate but their numbers ae small compared to Hindus who have the qulities of animals instead of man. Qualities of man is suppose to be godliness but some do not possess such instead their is animaliness. Possessiveness, Selfish, Anger, Retaliation, Roudyness, Scavanging, Thievery and Anarchy are all animaliness. As long as Hindus have the above qualities they cannot call themselves as Hindus and India has 3/4 of them.

what we are talking about is discrimination the caste. You can call it varna but "JATI" is order of life among the Indians. Divided by different jatis, the one that claims to be of the higher cast would refuse to do anything with the lower caste. The lower caste would not be allowed to enter the houe of a high caste and if the need arise they could only enter through the back door and many other ristrictions and it is only happening i India and no where else. Sow me a country that divides the people by JATI. May be you are living in dream land that you are not aware of reality..

I have heard and seen race discrimination in all parts of the world but caste discrimination is only happening in India, the land that claims to be the oldest civilization and talks of Dharma. I'm an Indian but India is not the country of my origin but my forefathers. I hate to say this but never will I crave to visit India which discriminates its own race. I do not blame Hinduism for the stupid of of some selfish human being with qualities of animal. Educating this beings is a waste ot time as the are beyond redemption. For thousands of years Saints like Adhi Shankarara, Ramakrishna, Ramalingam and many others have thought to respect all living creatures and love them as you love yourself. Nothing could change these animals as it is their karma to take on such sins to suffer in their next birth. But I pray that the future generation of India would be different what what we experience now.

Indian Express Friday, January 07, 2005 Tsunami can’t wash this away: hatred for Dalits In Ground Zero, Dalits thrown out of relief camps, cut out of food, water supplies, toilets, NGOs say they will start separate facilities JANYALA SREENIVAS Posted online: Friday, January 07, 2005 at 0058 hours IST NAGAPATTINAM, JANUARY 6: There's something even an earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale and a tsunami that kills over 1 lakh people can’t crack: the walls between caste. That’s why at Ground Zero in Nagapattinam, Murugeshan and his family of four have been living on the streets in Nambiarnagar. That’s why like 31 other families, they have been thrown out of relief camps. That’s why they are hounded out of schools they have sneaked into, they are pushed to the rear of food and water lines, given leftovers, not allowed to use toilets or even drink water provided by a UN agency. That’s why some NGOs are setting up separate facilities for them. Because they are all Dalits. They are survivors from 63 damaged villages—30 of them flattened—all marooned in their own islands, facing the brunt of a majority of fishermen who are from the Meenavar community—listed in official records as Most Backward Class (MBC)—for whom Dalits are still untouchable. The Indian Express toured the camps to find an old story of caste hatred being replayed in camp after camp: • In the GVR Marriage Hall Relief Camp, Dalits cannot drink water from tanks put up by UNICEF. The Meenavars say they ‘‘pollute’’ the water. • In the Nallukadai Street Relief Camp, a Meenavar Thalaivar, or leader, grabbed all cartons of glucose biscuits delivered by a Coimbatore NGO. The Dalits were told: these are not for you. • At Puttur Relief Camp, the Meenavars have hoarded family relief kits, rice packets, new clothes and other relief material. When the Dalits asked for some, they paid a heavy price—they had to spend the night on the road. • At the Neelayadatchi Temple Camp, Dalits are not allowed inside the temple, especially when rice and cash doles are being handed out. • Dalits from three villages taking shelter at Ganapati cinema hall in Tharambagadi are thrown out every night because the Meenavar fisherwomen say they did not ‘‘feel safe’’ falling sleep with Dalits around. • So 32 ostracised Dalit families took shelter in the GRM girls’ school in Thanjavur. But four days ago, even the school asked them to vacate saying it was due to re-open. Those doing the discriminating brush all this aside. Says Chellayya, a Meenavar fisherman at a Tharambagadi camp: ‘‘These Dalits have been playing mischief, going back to the villages and looting houses. That’s why we don’t want them around here.’’ To which Dalit activist K Darpaya says: ‘‘What’s left in the houses for Dalits to take? And where will they keep the loot even if we assume they have taken something? In the relief camps? On the road side?’’ There’s an irony here. For, the district administration and relief agencies have to depend on the strong network of Meenavar fishermen to disburse aid and relief. But so rampant has the discrimination become that relief in-charge for Nagapattinam district Shantasheela Nayar, Secretary, Rural Development, is deputing District Adi Dravidar Welfare Officers to relief camps. ‘‘They will look into the problem and report back on what can be done to put an end to this. We certainly do not discriminate but if the fishermen themselves are doing it because of their local status, what can the government do?’’ says Nayar. Talk to some of the victims and instead of bitterness and anger, there is grief and helplessness. ‘‘In Nagapattinam, three relief camps we went to denied us shelter saying they had no space. At the Nataraja Damayanti high school, the watchman refused to let us in,’’ says Murugeshan. At first, the families did not understand why but as door after door slammed in their faces, it became clearer. They approached their local municipal councillor K Tilagar. ‘‘He assured us we would be given shelter soon but he disappeared,’’ says another survivor Anjamma. In the neighbouring GVR camp, Dalit fishermen said they are being nudged out of relief and compensation queues. ‘‘We are inside the camp but kept in the far corner. Whenever officials and trucks come to give food, we are left out because nobody allows us to get near the trucks. Some men form a ring around us and prevent us from moving ahead in the queue,’’ says Saravanan, a Dalit survivor. ‘‘The Meenavars are more privileged as they get to sleep inside the rooms and are first to receive food and water. We have to sleep outside in the verandahs or in the open ground,’’ says Jivanana. Kesavan, a Dalit of Nambiarnagar, says he was prevented from drinking water from a plastic tank put up in the hamlet on Monday. ‘‘We are forced to bring water in plastic cans from outside the village. The Collector’s office has put up the tank here and provides clean water but it is not for us,’’ he says. V Vanitha, a Class X Dalit student, says adolescent girls are prevented from using toilet areas at Tharambagadi. ‘‘Small children have no problem but it is an ordeal for us. There are no toilets here and they prevent us from going to the area which serves as an open toilet,’’ she says. Says activist Darpaya: ‘‘Dalits are not allowed to drink water from tanks put up by UNICEF. Even in relief camps, Meenavars don’t want to sit with Dalits and have food. Some of them manage to get rice but other relief items coming in like biscuit packets, milk powder and family household kits are denied to Dalits.’’ Says M Jayanthi, a coordinator of South Indian Fishworkers Society (SIFS): ‘‘Dalits are facing discrimination in all relief camps where they are present. But society does not want to raise the issue as it would complicate things further. Without making it public, we are opening separate facilities for Dalits exclusively,’’ she says. Sevai, an NGO-based in Karaikal, Pondicherry, 20 kms from Nagapattinam, is the first organisation to address the issue. Coordinator R Indrani says: ‘‘Since Dalits are not receiving sufficient food and water, we have started cooking for them in separate kitchens. They come from wherever they are taking shelter and we provide them whatever they want. We are also considering separate camps for them.’’ Several NGOs which noticed the problem raised the issue during their meeting with District Collector M Veerashanmugha Moni. ‘‘But no one is willing to take up the matter at the field level as this could complicate things. We don’t want friction between the two castes by trying to address it during this crisis,’’ says the team leader of NGO Accord, which is working among Dalits.

The Vedas -- Rgveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvanaveda -- are the first four of the pramanas (authoritative texts) of our religion and also the most important. Of the remaining ten, six are Angas of the Vedas and four are Upangas. Man possesses a number of angas or limbs. In the same way the Vedas personified -- the Vedapurusa -- has six limbs. ( It must be noted that the Vedas are also spoken of as Vedamatha, Mother Veda. ) The four Upangas, though not integral to the Vedas, are supporting limbs of the Vedapurusa. The Angas, as already stated, are six in number -- Siksa, Vyakarana, Chandas, Nirukta, Jyotisa and Kalpa. The four Upangas are Mimamsa, Nyaya, Purana and Dharmasastra. The Vedas are fundamental importance; the Angas and Upangas derive their importance from them. Ayurveda, Dhanurveda, Arthasasthra and Gandharvaveda are called Upavedas, subsidiary Vedas. Their connection with the prime scripture is thus obvious. The Vedas must be learned along with the Angas and Upangas. Such a thourough study of the scripture is called "Sa-Anga-Upanga-adhyayana" (study of the Vedas with the Angas and Upangas). The term "sangopanga", which has come into popular usage, is derived from this. If a speaker deals with a subject thoroughly, whether it be politics or something else, we use the word "sangopanga" in describing his performance. The term refers to the ancient caturdasa-vidya (the six Angas plus the four upangas). We have totally forgotten the old system of education but our culture is so steeped in it that we still use the term (sangopanga) to refer to any full scale treatment or exposition of a subject. The inference is clear. That for centuries the Vedas, together with their Angas and Upangas formed such an intimate part of life in Tamil land that a term associated with this tradition, "sangopanga", is still used by the common people there. But the irony of it is that today we do not know even the names of these old sastras. The Vedas form the core of our religion and are the direct authority for our dharma and for all our religious practices. They are our Bible, our Qur'"an, our Granth sahib. But, of course, the Vedas are far far older than these scriptures of other faiths. All of them originate from truths found in the Vedas. The very word "Veda" connotes what is authoritative. There is a practice of reffering to the Bible, the Quran and other scriptures as the "Christian Veda", "Mohammedan Veda", "Parsi Veda", "Sikh Veda" and so on. Christians in India refer to the Bible as "Satya-Veda". It is rather difficult to speak about the Vedas as a topic. One does not know where to begin and how to conclude. It is a bewildering task. The magnitude of our scripture is such -- and such is its glory. "Pramanam Vedasca", says the Apastamba Dharmasutra. The Vedas are indeed the sources of all dharmas as well as the authority on which they are founded. A book that has been cherished by the great men of th Tamil country from the earliest times is Manu-dharma-nul (Manusmriti). Throughout India, Manu's dharmasastra is held in the highest esteem. In Tamil Nadu there was a king who earned the name of "Manu-niti-kanda-Cola" for the exemplary manner in which he administered justice. Once a calf got crushed under the wheel of the chariot ridden by his son. The king was so just and strict that, when the aggrieved cow, the mother of the calf, sought justice, he ordered his son to be crushed to death under the wheel of the same chariot. For us "Manu-niti-sastra"(Manusmriti) is the authority on dharma. But does it claim that it is the authority for all dharma? No. "Vedo'khilo dharmamulam", says Manu, i. e. the Vedas constitute the root of all dharma. They prescribe the dharma for all time, he says. We must obey the dictates of the Vedas. When we are asked to accept a statement without questioning it, it is customary to remark; "Is that the word of the Vedas? " This confirms the fact that the common people believe that the word of the Vedas, or their injunction, must be obeyed without being questioned. The "Vedavak" (the word or pronouncement of the Vedas) has been our inviolable law for thousands of years. The Principal upanishads: The upanishads that have been commented upon by Sankara and other teachers have have acquired extra significance as the principal or more or less "canonical" upanishads. These are: Aitareya (Rg Veda) Brhadaranyaka (Sukla Yajurveda) Isa (Sukla Yajurveda) TaittirIya (Krshna Yajurveda) Katha (krshna Yajurveda) Chandogya (Sama Veda) Kena (Sama Veda) Mundaka (Atharva Veda) Mandukya (Atharva Veda) Prasna (Atharva Veda) Hindu View of the Individual: Hindu scriptures teach that an individual is essentially ãtman clothed in a physical body. The Sanskrit word ãtman, meaning "God within," is usually translated as soul, self, or spirit. If the physical body of an individual were compared to a computer, the ãtman would represent the electricity that operates the computer. Thus, without ãtman, the human body is insentient. In a human body ãtman is the source of the mind, intellect and ego sense. Hindu scriptures declare that ãtman is immortal and divine. In Hindu view, therefore, an individual is potentially divine and eternally perfect. There are two states of existence associated with ãtman: the bound state and the liberated state. In the bound state, ãtman is associated with a physical body. As a result of this association, ãtman is subject to mãyã, which causes it to forget its true divine nature and commit evil deeds in the world. The powers of mãyã are two-fold. As cosmic ignorance, mãyã deludes the ãtman into forge-tting its own true nature. As creative energy (shakti) of Brahman, mãyã is the material cause of the universe. In the liberated state, ãtman is said to have attained moksha (spiritual perfection) and consequently enjoys union with God. Moksha simply means freedom of the individual from ignorance, i.e. realization of one's own true divine nature, or union with God. Although there are various viewpoints, the predominant Hindu view is that the same ãtman dwells in all beings. Thus, all human beings have a common source and are interconnected in a subtle way. The reason humans are different from each other (or at least think they are different) is that the manifestation of ãtman in a physical body depends upon the type and construction of the physical body. Just as the same electricity manifests as cold in a refrigerator and heat in an oven, the same ãtman manifests as a saint in one human body and a sinner in another human body, owing to the past karma (see Chapter 6). Thus a sinner of today is a potential saint of tomorrow. In Hindu view, an individual is not born a sinner, but commits sin due to mãyã. Just as darkness quickly disappears upon the appea-rance of light, an individual's delusion vanishes when he gains self-knowledge. Self-effort and guru's (spiritual preceptor) grace is all that is needed to dispel one's ignorance and attain self-knowledge. Practical Significance: The Hindu view of God allows one to exercise complete freedom in worship. A Hindu may worship any deity as he chooses based upon his own mental constitution. He knows that different modes of worship are just different roads to the same destination of union with God. He has no quarrel with other religions as he considers them as different rivers flowing to ultimately merge in the same ocean. As such, he has no urge to forcibly convert other people to his own faith. The belief in the existence of the all-pervasive Divinity in the universe creates an attitude of acceptance, reverence, benevolence and compassion for all things and beings in the mind of a Hindu. He does not see any intrinsic evil in Nature. He sees the ground, the sky, the trees, the hills and mountains, and the rivers all sacred. The Hindu concepts of the individual and the world eliminate the fear of God or eternal hell from one's mind. A Hindu considers life a divine pilgrimage from "unreal to real, darkness to light, and death to immortality." 4 Being on this road of pilgrimage, a Hindu has no intention to hurt anyone. He is thoroughly convinced that whatever he does in this life will come back to him in the next life. Thus he must do good and be good now, as he will have to come back again and again in this world until all scores are settled.

On the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition (December 6, 1992), it is important for Hindus (and Muslims) to understand the importance of the event in the context of Hindustan's history, past and recent, present and the future. Savages at a very low level of civilisation and no culture worth the name, from Arabia and west Asia, began entering India from the early century onwards. Islamic invaders demolished countless Hindu temples, shattered uncountable sculpture and idols, plundered innumerable palaces and forts of Hindu kings, killed vast numbers of Hindu men and carried off Hindu women. This story, the educated-and a lot of even the illiterate Indians-know very well. History books tell it in remarkable detail. But many Indians do not seem to recognise that the alien Muslim marauders destroyed the historical evolution of the earth's most mentally advanced civilisation, the most richly imaginative culture, and the most vigorously creative society. It is clear that India at the time when Muslim invaders turned towards it (8 to 11th century) was the earth's richest region for its wealth in precious and semi-precious stones, gold and silver, religion and culture, and its fine arts and letters. Tenth century Hindustan was also too far advanced than its contemporaries in the East and the West for its achievements in the realms of speculative philosophy and scientific theorising, mathematics and knowledge of nature's workings. Hindus of the early medieval period were unquestionably superior in more things than the Chinese, the Persians (including the Sassanians), the Romans and the Byzantines of the immediate proceeding centuries. The followers of Siva and Vishnu on this subcontinent had created for themselves a society more mentally evolved-joyous and prosperous too-than had been realised by the Jews, Christians, and Muslim monotheists of the time. Medieval India, until the Islamic invaders destroyed it, was history's most richly imaginative culture and one of the five most advanced civilisations of all times. Look at the Hindu art that Muslim iconoclasts severely damaged or destroyed. Ancient Hindu sculpture is vigorous and sensual in the highest degree-more fascinating than human figural art created anywhere else on earth. (Only statues created by classical Greek artists are in the same class as Hindu temple sculpture). Ancient Hindu temple architecture is the most awe-inspiring, ornate and spell-binding architectural style found anywhere in the world. (The Gothic art of cathedrals in France is the only other religious architecture that is comparable with the intricate architecture of Hindu temples). No artist of any historical civilisation have ever revealed the same genius as ancient Hindustan's artists and artisans. Their minds filled with venom against the idol-worshippers of Hindustan, the Muslims destroyed a large number of ancient Hindu temples. This is a historical fact, mentioned by Muslim chroniclers and others of the time. A number of temples were merely damaged and remained standing. But a large number-not hundreds but many thousands-of the ancient temples were broken into shreds of cracked stone. In the ancient cities of Varanasi and Mathura, Ujjain and Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi and Dwarka, not one temple survives whole and intact from the ancient times. The wrecking of Hindu temples went on from the early years of the 8th century to well past 1700 AD a period of almost 1000 years. Every Muslim ruler in Delhi (or Governor of Provinces) spent most of his time warring against Hindu kings in the north and the south, the east and the west, and almost every Muslim Sultan and his army commanders indulged in largescale destructions of Hindu temples and idols. They also slaughtered a lot of Hindus. It is easy to conclude that virtually every Hindu temple built in the ancient times is a perfect work of art. The evidence of the ferocity with which the Muslim invaders must have struck at the sculptures of gods and goddesses, demons and apsaras, kings and queens, dancers and musicians is frightful. At so many ancient temples of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, for example, shattered portions of stone images still lie scattered in the temple courtyards. Considering the fury used on the idols and sculptures, the stone-breaking axe must have been applied to thousands upon thousands of images of hypnotic beauty. Giving proof of the resentment that men belonging to an inferior civilisation feel upon encountering a superior civilisation of individuals with a more refined culture, Islamic invaders from Arabia and western Asia broke and burned everything beautiful they came across in Hindustan. So morally degenerate were the Muslim Sultans that, rather than attract Hindu "infidels" to Islam through force of personal example and exhortation, they just built a number of mosques at the sites of torn down temples-and foolishly pretended they had triumphed over the minds and culture of the Hindus. I have seen stones and columns of Hindu temples incorportated into the architecture of several mosques, including the Jama Masjid and Ahmed Shah Masjid in Ahmedabad; the mosque in the Uparkot fort of Junagadh (Gujarat) and in Vidisha (near Bhopal); the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra right next to the famous dargah in Ajmer-and the currently controversial Bhojshala "mosque" in Dhar (near Indore). Hindu culture was at its imaginative best and vigorously creative when the severely-allergic-to-images Muslims entered Hindustan. Islamic invaders did not just destroy countless temples and constructions but also suppressed cultural and religious practices; damaged the pristine vigour of Hindu religion, prevented the intensification of Hindu culture, debilitating it permanently, stopped the development of Hindu arts ended the creative impulse in all realms of thought and action, damaged the people's cultural pride, disrupted the transmission of values and wisdom, cultural practices and tradition from one generation to the next; destroyed the proper historical evolution of Hindu kingdoms and society, affected severely the acquisition of knowledge, research and reflection and violated the moral basis of Hindu society. The Hindus suffered immense psychic damage. The Muslims also plundered the wealth of the Hindu kingdoms, impoverished the Hindu populace, and destroyed the prosperity of Hindustan. Gaze in wonder at the Kailas Mandir in the Ellora caves and remember that it is carved out of a solid stone hill, an effort that (inscriptions say) took nearly 200 years. This is art as devotion. The temple built by the Rashtrakuta kings (who also built the colossal sculpture in the Elenhanta caves off Mumbai harbour) gives proof of the ancient Hindus' religious fervor. But the Kailas temple also indicated a will power, a creative imagination, and an intellect eager to take on the greatest of artistic challenges. The descendants of those who built the magnificent temples of Bhojpur and Thanjavur, Konark and Kailas, invented mathematics and brain surgery, created mindbody disciplines (yoga) of astonishing power, and built mighty empires would almost certainly have attained technological superiority over Europe. It is not just for "political reasons" that Hindus want to build grand temples at the sites of the (wrecked) Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, and the Mathura idgah. The efforts of religion-intoxicated and politically active Hindus to rebuild the Ram Mandir, the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, and the Krishna Mandir are just three episodes m a one-thousand year long Hindu struggle to reclaim their culture and religion from alien invaders. The demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on 6 December 1992 was just one episode in the millennial struggle of the Hindus to repossess their religion-centered culture and nation. Meanwhile, hundreds of ancient Hindu temples forsaken all over Hindustan await the reawakening of Hindu cultural pride to be repaired or rebuilt and restored to their original, ancient glory.

During their spiritual quest, the ancient rishis experienced sparks of divinity in all things and beings of the world. The vision of the Hindu scriptures is thus a vision of the unity of all existence, summarized as follows: 1. There are many ways of conceiving the Supreme Reality (Brahman) and numerous ways of approaching It. To insist that one's own way is the only way is thus wrong and harmful. 2. God is the source of goodness and truth. Man's goal in life is to seek union with Him. This union can be sought in many ways, all requiring sincerity of purpose, self-sacrifice and discipline. 3. The highest religious experience is the one in which an individual transcends the intellect and realizes God immediately. 4. The concept of "survival-of-the-fittest" is God's law for the animals. Harmlessness to all creatures is His law for humans. 5. There is natural order (rita) inherent in the natural world. There must be moral order (dharma) inherent in human life. Everyone must be responsible for his (or her) actions and their conse-quences (karma). We cannot blame God for our ills. 6. Individual responsibility and one's ethics are a foundation for individual happiness and social stability. 7. The universe is a wheel of sacrifice (yajña). At the beginning the Supreme Lord performed self-sacrifice to create the universe and set the wheel in motion. The water sacrifices to form clouds, the clouds sacrifice to make rains, the rains sacrifice to grow food, and the food sacrifices to feed humans. In turn, humans must sacrifice for the welfare of the Mother Earth and all its creatures. There is no intrinsic evil in Nature nor any evil force in the world to oppose God. Man commits evil only due to ignorance (mãyã). 9. Love, freedom and peace are fruits of the tree of divine consciousness, which can be planted by worshipping God regularly and systematically through yoga, meditation, study of scriptures, by performing religious rites and ceremonies-as enjoined by scriptures-and selfless work.

If you think your path is direct so be it while I would like to take a path that I feel is more at ease and comfortable. Krishna is only on of HIS names some would love to call HIM while others call HIM by different names. Krishna which means "all attractive" is only the name given to the all knower who is Supreme Brahman who resides in all living entity. I can call him by whatever name I wish to call and he would not mind a bit as long as that name is in praise. Let us not argue on names of the Supreme Brahman. He spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna in Dvapara-yuga, but this does not limit His position as the adi-purusha (the original Supreme Person) and the adi-guru (the original teacher). Some ignorant people feel it is Sri Krishna and none other name should be mentioned. Sri Krishna was only for Dvapara-yuga and now we are in the age of Kali and the Supreme Brahman is yet to show his glimpse. Till he appears again people have the right to make their choice whithout any force. "Brahma, Vishnu, Sadhasiva, Hara Hara Hara Hara Magadeva". Get my point? Just because you do not understand or wish not to undersand does not give you the right to conduct yourself in this manner. Many have acheived Self Realization without the help of any Gurus and realizing God within you is the utmost spritual achievement of man in this birth. We can agrue the whole life time on this issue but what is the benefit? If you feel what you believe is right by all means follow that but let others have their choice because path to Godhead is not ristricted to one way only and you must remember that the vedas a four and not one.

The Purpose of Religion "Religion is the means of realizing dharma, artha, kama and moksha....The man wants to live happily without lacking for anything. There are two types of happiness: the first is ephemeral: and the second is everlasting happiness, not transient pleasure. ... The pleasure gained from material possessions is momentary and you keep constantly hankering for more.......It is because people are ignorant about such happiness, how elevated and enduring it is, that they hanker after the trivial and momentary joys of kama." "Our true quest must be for the fourth artha, that is moksha.... Moksha is the state of supreme bliss and there is no quest beyond it . . . We must find release from our body and dwell in our true home, which is moksha. . . God has sentenced us to goal (imprisoned us in the body) for our sins. If we practice virtue, He will condone our sins and release us from the prison of our body before the expiry of the sentence. We must desist from committing sinful acts so that our term of imprisonment is not extended and endeavour to free ourselves and arrive in our true home, that is the Lord. This home is bliss that passeth understanding, bliss that is not bound by the limitations of time, space and matter . . ." "If we practice dharma (denoting beneficent action, good or virtuous deeds), without expecting any reward - in the belief that Isvara gives us what He wills - and in a spirit of dedication, the impurities tainting our being will be removed and we will obtain the bliss that is exalted . . ." "All the same it is difficult, to start with, to be without any desire altogether. Religion serves to rein in desire little by little and take a man, step by step, from petty ephemeral pleasure to the ultimate bliss. First we are taught the meaning and implication of dharma and how to practice it, then we are instructed the right manner in which material goods are to be acquired so as to practice dharma; and thirdly, we are taught the proper manner in which desire may be satisfied. It is a process of gaining maturity and wisdom to forsake petty pleasure for the ultimate bliss of moksha. " "Moksha is release from all attachments. It is a state in which the self remains ever in untrammeled freedom and blessedness. The chief purpose of religion is to teach us how this supreme state may be attained." "We know for certain that ordinary people do not achieve eternal happiness. The purpose of any religion is to lead them towards such happiness. Everlasting blessedness is obtained only by forsaking the quest for petty pleasures. The dictates of dharma help us to abandon the pursuits of sensual enjoyments and endeavour for eternal bliss. They are also essential to create a social order that has the same high purpose, the liberation of all. Religion, with its goal of liberation, lays down the tenets of dharma. That is why the great (people) understand the word 'dharma' itself to mean religion." Unity of Religions "All religions have one common ideal, worship of the lord, and all of them proclaim that there is but one God. This one God accepts your devotion irrespective of the manner of your worship, whether it is according to this or that religion. So there is no need to abandon the religion of your birth and embrace another . . . " "One big difference between Hinduism and other faiths is that it does not proclaim that it alone shows the path to liberation. Our Vedic religion has alone not practiced conversion and the reason for this is that our forefathers were well aware that all religions are nothing but different paths to realize the one and only Paramatman . . .Sri Krsna says in the Gita: 'In whatever way or form a man worships me, I increase his faith and make him firm and steady in that worship' . . . This is the reason why Hindus have not practiced-like adherents of other religions-proselytisation and religious persecution. Nor have they waged anything like the crusades or jehads. . ." "All historians accept the fact of our religious tolerance . . . they further remark that Hinduism spread through trade and not through force." "In my opinion the Vedic religion was once prevalent all over the world. Certain ruins and relics found in various regions of the planet attest to this fact. Even historians who disagree with my view concede that in the past people in many lands accepted Indian culture and the Indian way of life willingly and not on account of any force on our part . . . " "It cannot be said with reason that those who ply the different vehicles are guilty of competing with one another for the fare. After all, it is their livelihood. But it makes no sense for the adherents of various faiths to vie with one another to take a man to the one and only destination that is God . . . " " That the beliefs and customs of the various religions are different cannot be a cause for complaint. Nor is there any need to make all of them similar. The important thing is for the followers of the various faiths to live in harmony with one another. The goal must be unity and not uniformity." Distinctive Features of Sanatana Dharma "Our religion has a number of unique or distinctive features. One of them is what is called the theory of karma, though this theory is common to religions like Buddhism which are offshoots of Hinduism" "What is the karma doctrine? For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. There is an ineluctable law of physics governing cause and effect, action and reaction. This law pertaining to physical phenomena our forefathers applied to human life. The cosmos includes not only sentient beings endowed with consciousness but also countless insentient objects. Together they constitute worldly life. The laws, the dharma, proper to the first order must apply to the second also. According to the karma theory, every action of a man has an effect corresponding to it. Based on this belief our religion declares that, if a man commits a sin, he shall pay the penalty for it. Also if his act is a virtuous one, he shall reap the benefits thereof." "Our religion further asserts that one is born again and again so as to experience the consequences of one's good and bad actions. 'Do good.' 'Do not do evil,' such are the exhortations of all religions. But Hinduism (and its offshoots) alone lay stress on the cause-and-effect connection. No religion originating in countries outside India s to the cause-and-effect connection, nor to the reincarnation theory as one of its articles of faith. Indeed religions originating abroad hold beliefs contrary to this theory and strongly oppose the view that man is born again and again in order to exhaust his karma. They believe that a man has only one birth, that when his soul departs on his death it dwells somewhere awaiting the day of judgment. On this day God makes an assessment of his good and bad actions and, on the basis of it, rewards him with eternal paradise or sentences him to eternal damnation. . ." "Isvra who decides our faith after death on the basis of our karma is infinitely merciful . . . He gives us another birth, another opportunity to reap the fruits of our good and bad actions. The joys of heaven and the torments of hell truly belong to this world itself. The sorrow and happiness that are our lot in our present birth are in proportion to the virtuous and evil deeds of our past birth . . ." " In his mercy the Lord gives us every time a fresh opportunity to wash away our sins. The guru, the sastras, and the temples are all his gifts to wipe away our inner impurities. The Isvara, in his compassion, places his trust even in a sinner confident that he will raise himself through his own efforts and gives him a fresh opportunity in the form of another birth to advance himself inwardly-is not such a belief better than that he should dismiss a sinner as good-for-nothing and yet reward him with heaven? . . . So long as we believe in such a thing as human endeavour we should think that Isvara's supreme compassion lies in trusting a man to go forward spiritually through his own efforts. It is in this way that the Lord's true grace is manifested . . ." "There is strong evidence to support the reincarnation theory. A lady from the west came to see me one day and asked me if there is any proof of reincarnation . . . 'Leave aside the question of God consigning a man to eternal hell after his death,' I said to the foreign lady: 'We are not witness to such a phenomenon. But now you have seen with your own eyes how differently the children are born in the hospital that you visited. How would you account for the differences? Why should one child be born rich and another poor? Why should one be healthy and another sickly? And why should one be good-looking and another unpretty? . . . How are we to account for the differences between one being and another if we do not accept the doctrine that our life now is determined by the good and the bad we did in our past births.' . . . " "Parapsychologists have done considerable research in the subject and their findings are in favor of the theory of rebirth . . . The parapsychologists verified these facts [the fact that some people remember their past lives] and to their amazement found them [the recollections of their past life] to be true. . . " "The doctrine of the incarnations of the Lord-avataras-is another unique feature of our religion. The Realty (Sadvastu) is one. That It manifests itself as countless beings is one of our cardinal tenants. It follows that it is this one and only Reality that transforms itself again and again into all those beings that are subject to birth and death. Also it is the same Reality that is manifested as Isvara to protect this world of sentient beings and insentient object. Unlike humans He is not subject to the law of karma. It is to live out his karma-to experience the fruits of his actions-that man is born again and again. But in birth after birth, instead of washing away his old karma, he adds more and more to the mud sticking to him." "If the Lord descends to Earth again and again it is to lift up man and show him the righteous path . . . Isvara is to be known in different states. That the Lord is all-that all is the Lord-is a state that we cannot easily comprehend. Then there is a state mentioned in the "vibhuti" yoga of the Gita according to which the Lord dwells in the highest of each category, in the 'most excellent' of things. To create the heights of excellence in human life he sends messengers to earth in the guise of preceptors (acaryas), men of wisdom and enlightenment (jnanins), yogins and devotees. This is another state in which God is to be known. Not satisfied with the previouse states, he assumes yet another state: he descends to earth as an avatara. The word 'avatarana' itself means 'descent'. Isvara is 'paratpara' that is 'higher that the highest', 'beyond what is beyond everything'. Yet he descends to earth by being born in our midst to re-establish dharma . . ." "Altogether the Vedic dharma that is Hinduism accepts the concept of incarnations of the Lord. Saivas too are one with Vaisnavas in believing in the ten incarnations of Visnu. " "That the one and only Paramatman who has neither a form nor attributes is manifested as different forms with attributes is another special feature of our religion. We worship idols representing these forms of deities. For this reason others label us polytheists. Their view is utterly wrong. Because we worship the one God, the one Reality, in many different forms it does not mean that we believe in many Gods. It is equally absurd to call us idolaters who hold that the idol we worship is God. Hindus with a proper understanding of their religion do not think that the idol alone is God. The idol is meant for the worshipper to offer one-pointed devotion and he adores it with the conviction that the Lord who is present everywhere is present in it also. We see that practitioners of other religions also have symbols for worship and meditation. So it is wholly unjust to believe that Hindus alone worship idols-to regard them with scorn as idolaters is not right." "That ours is the only religion that does not proclaim that its followers have an exclusive right to salvation is a matter of pride for us Hindus. Our catholic outlook is revealed in our scriptures which declare that whatever the religious path followed by people they will finally attain the same Paramatman. That is why there is no place for conversion in Hinduism . . ." "We may not approve of people being forced into a religion or of conversions carried out by temptations placed before them. But we need not for that reason doubt that those who spread their religion in this fashion really believe that their work will bring general well-being. . ." "The countries are many and they have different climates and grow different crops. Also each part of the world has evolved a different culture. But the Vedas encompassed lands all over this planet from the very beginning. Later other religions emerged in keeping with the changing attitudes of the nations concerned. That is why aspects of the Vedic tradition are in evidence not only in the religions now in force but in what we know of those preceding them. But in India alone has Hinduism survived as a full-fledged living faith." "It must also be added that this primeval religion has regarded-and still regards-with respect the religions that arose subsequent to it . . . 'Live and let live' has been and continues to be the ideal of our religion. It has given birth to religions like Buddhism and Jainism and they (particularly Buddhism) have been propagated abroad for the Atmic advancement of the people there . . ." " [Hinduism] has also another important [distinctive] feature-the sociological . . . All religions have their own philosophical and theological systems. Also all of them deal with individual life and conduct and, to a limited extent, with social life. 'Look a-upon your neighbour as your brother.' 'Regard your adversary as your friend.' 'Treat others in the same way as you would like to be treated yourself.' 'Be kind to all creatures.' 'Speak the truth' 'Practice non-violence'. These injunctions and rules of conduct relate to social life up to a point-and only up to a point. To religions other than Hinduism social life or the structure of society is not a major concern. Hinduism alone has a sturdy sociological foundation, and its special feature, 'varnashrama dharma' , is an expression of it." "Varna dharma is one and asrama dharma is another (together they make varnasrama dharma). Asrama dharma deals with the conduct of an individual during different stages of his life. In the first stage, as a brahmacarin, he devotes himself to studies in gurukula. In the second stage, as a youth, he takes a wife, settles down in life and begets children. In the third, as he ages further he becomes a forest recluse and, without much attachment to worldly life, engages himself in Vedic karma. In the fourth stage, he forsakes even Vedic works, renounces the world utterly to become a sannyasin and turns his mind towards the Paramatman. These four stages of life or asramas are called brahmacarya, garhasthy, vanaprastha, and sannyasa." "Varna dharma is an 'arrangement' governing all society. It is very much a target of attack today and is usually spoken of as the division of society into 'jatis'. But 'varna' and 'jati' are in fact different. There are only four varnas but the jatis are numerous . . . Critics of varna dharma brand it as 'a blot on our religion' and as 'a vicious system which divides people into high and low'. But if you look at it impartially you will realize that it is a unique instrument to bring about orderly and harmounious social life" The Religion without a Name "We speak of the 'Hindu religion', but the religion denoted by the term did not in fact have such a name originally..... In none of our ancient Sastras does the term "Hindu religion' occur. The name 'Hindu' was given by foreigners. People from the West came to our land across the Sindhu river which they called 'Indus' or 'Hind' and the land adjacent to it by the name 'India'. The religion of this land came to be called 'Hindu'.... " "All religions barring our own were established by single individuals. 'Buddhism' means the religion established by Gautama Buddha. Jainism was founded by the Jina called Mahavira. So has Christianity its origin in Jesus Christ. Our religion predating all these had spread all over the world. Since there was no other religion to speak about then it was not necessary to give it a name..." "If ours is a primeval religion, the question arises as to who established it. All inquiries into this question have failed to yield an answer... Vyasa and Krsna state the Vedas existed before them...... The sages themselves say: "It is true that the mantras became manifest to the world through us. That is why we are mentioned as the "mantra rishis'. But the mantras were not composed by us but revealed to us. When we sat meditating with our minds under control, the mantras were perceived by us in space. Indeed we saw them (hence the term mantra-drastas). We did not compose them." [The seers are not 'mantra-kartas'.]" "All sounds originate in space. From these arose creation. According to science, the cosmos was produced from the vibration in space. By virtue of their austerities the sages had the gift of seeing the mantras in space, the mantras that liberate men from this creation. The Vedas are apauruseya (not the work of any human author) and are the very breath of the Paramatman in his form as space. The sages saw them and made a gift of them to the world." "If we know this truth, we have reason to be proud of the fact that we do not know who founded our religion. In fact we must feel happy that we have the great fortune to be heirs to a religion that is eternal, a religion containing the Vedas which are the very breath of the Paramatman." What Do the Vedas Teach Us? "The Upanisads proclaim that all the Vedas together point to a single Truth (Kathopanisad, 2.15). What is that Truth? 'The Vedas speak in one voice of a Supreme entity revealing itself as the meaning of Omkara.' ... Although the Vedas deal with many matters, all of them together speak of one goal, the One Reality. But the question arises why they concern themselves with different entities also when their purpose is only One Entity. "It is through the various entities, through knowledge of a multiplicity of subjects, that we know of this One Object. Yoga, meditation, austerities, sacrifices and other rites, ceremonies like marriage, state affairs, social life, poetry: what is the goal of all these? It is the One Reality. And that is the goal of Vedas also. All objects and all entities other than this true Object are subject to change. They are like stories remembered and later forgotten. (In our ignorance) we do not perceive the One Object behind the manifoldness of the world. The Vedas take us to the One Reality through the multifarious objects that we do know. "To attain this One Reality we need to discipline our mind in various ways. Performing sacrifices, practicing austerities, doing the duties of one's dharma, building gopurams, digging ponds for the public, involving ourselves in social work, samskaras like marriage, all these go to purify our consciousness and, finally, to still the mind that is always agitated (cittavrtti-nirodha). The purpose of different works is to help us in our efforts to attain the Brahman ..." "The goal of the Vedas is to shed light on [this] Atman.. The rituals enjoined on us in their first part and the jnana expounded in the second have the same goal - knowing Isvara, the Brahman or the Atman. The beginning of the beginning and the end of the end of scriptures have the same ultimate aim ..." "The senses are incapable of perceiving the Self. They are aware of only outward objects and they keep chasing them ... But the mind does not easily remain fixed on our goal. So it is only by performing outward functions that we will gain the wisdom and maturity to turn our look inward. We will develop such inner vision only by refusing to be dragged down by the mind and the senses, and for this we must perform Vedic works. "After learning about, or knowing all other matters, by inquiring into them and by making an assessment of them, we are enabled to grasp that by knowing which we will know everything. That is the reason why the Vedas deal with so many branches of learning, so many types of worship, so many different works, so many arts and so many social duties. By applying the body in various rites we loose consciousness of that very body. By directing our thoughts to various branches of learning, by examining various philosophical systems and by worshipping various deities, the mind and the intellect will in due course be dissolved." "... If we perform Vedic sacraments and worship and chant mantras for the well being of the world, the desires of the body and the mind will wilt. Eventually, we will develop the maturity and wisdom to gain inner vision. In this way we will obtain release here itself ('ihaiva'). Release from Samskara, from the cycle of birth and death. When we realize that the body and the mind are not 'we' and when we become free from them - as mentioned in the Upanisads - we are lliberated from worldly existence. "The purpose of Vedas is achieving liberation in this world itself. And that is the glory. Other religions promise a man salvation after his departure from another world ... Those who have attained it will not return to this world to tell us about it ... But the Vedas hold out the ideal of liberation here itself, if we renounce all desire and keep meditating on the Self. Moksa then will be within our grasp at once ..." "... The Vedas refer to Paramatman as 'Tat' which means 'That'. At the conclusion of any rite or work it is customary to say 'Om Tatsat'. It means, 'That is the Truth'... If Vedas proclaim the Paramatman as 'Tat', that is a distant entity ... Actually it s not so. What is far away is also close by. The Vedas proclaim: 'Durat dure antike ca.' (Farther than the farthest, nearer than the nearest)... You look for the God thinking him to be far from you. So long as you are ignorant(that is without jnana) he is indeed far from you. Even if you look for him all over the world you will not find him. He is in truth with you. ... " "... 'That you are' or 'That thou art' (Tat tvam asi) is a vedic mahakavya. The 'tvam' here does not mean the quality or essential nature of any entity or object. The word has two meanings: 'essential nature' ('beingness') is one meaning; and 'you' or 'thou' is another. The Acarya has used 'tvam' as a pun in a stanza in his Saundaryalahari. It is a combination of the two words 'tat' and 'tvam' that the word 'tattvam' has come into use. Any truth arrived at the conclusion of an inquiry is 'tattva' - thus denotes the One Truth that is the Paramatman. "What we call 'I', what we think to be 'I', that indeed is Isvara: or such awareness is Isvara. If you do not possess the light within you to discern this truth you will not be able even to conceive of any entity called the 'Isvara'. The consciousness of 'I' is what we believe to be the distant 'That'. 'That and you are the same, child,' is the ultimate message of the Vedas. ..." 'The mantras have 'bijaksaras' (seed letters or seed syllables). Like a big tree (potentially) present in a tiny seed, these syllables contain immeasurable power. If the bijaksara is muttered a hundred thousand times, with your mind one pointed, you will have its power within your grasp. "Whatever power there is in the world, whatever intellectual brilliance, whatever skills and talents, all must be present in God in a rudimentary form. The Vedas proclaim, as if with the beat of drums: 'All this has not sprung without a root cause. The power that is in the root or the seed is the same as the power that pervades the entire universe. Where is that seed or root? The Self that keeps seeing all from within, what we call 'idam,' is the root'..." "...When lighting strikes in flashes, when water cascades, the power is manifested. In the same way you must try to make the supreme truth within you manifest itself in a flash. All Vedic rites, all worship, all works, meditation of the mahavakyas, Vedanta - the purpose of all these is to make the truth unfold itself to you - in you - in a flash. "Even the family and social life that are dealt with in the Vedas, the royal duties mentioned in them, or poetry, therapeutics or geology or any other sastra are steps leading towards the realization of the Self. At first the union of 'Tat' and 'tvam' (That and you) would be experienced for a few moments like a flash of lighting ..." "The goal of the Vedas is inward realization of the Brahman here and now. We learn about happenings in the world from the newspapers...The Vedas constitute such a paper. They tell us about things that cannot be known to ordinary new-gatherers and also about things occurring in a place where there is neither telegraphy not any tele-printer. It is through the medium of this newspaper that the sages who possess trans-sensual powers keep us informed about matters that are beyond this world and beyond the comprehension of the average man..." "The Vedas contain stories told to impress on us the importance of a concept, stories that raise ideas to a high level. The injunctions with which these stories are associated must be accepted in full but the stories themselves may be discarded as 'arthavada', that is they need not be brought into observance. "What is 'anuvada'? Before speaking about a new rule or a new concept, the Vedas tell us about things that we already know. They go on repeating this without coming to the new rule or concept, that is things known to us in practical life and not having the authority of Vedic pronouncements. This is 'anuvada'. "Anuvada and arthavada are not of importance and are not meant to convey the ultimate purpose or message of the Vedas. What we do not know otherwise through any other authority and what the Vedas speak of is 'vidhi'. And that is the chief 'vada', the true tattva, that true intent of the Vedas. "To explain further. What is mentioned in the Vedas but can be known by other (mundane) means is not incontrovertible Vedic authority. The purpose of the Vedas is to make known what is not known. They speak about things we know and do not know, but their chief purpose is the latter - what they state about what we do not knoow ..." "The non-dualist truth is proclaimed in a number of hymns and in most of the Upanisads, but this is not in keeping with our outward experience. The ultimate Vedic view is that all objects are indeed not separate from one another but are the outward manifestation of the same Self. "Our religious and philosophical works have two parts - purvapaksa and siddhanta. In the purvapaksa or initial section of a work, the point of view to be refuted (the view opposed to that of the author of the work) is dealt with. If we read only this part we are likely to form an impression opposite to what the work intends to convey. To refute an opinion other than one's own, one has naturally to state it. This is the purpose of the purvapaksa. In the siddhanta section there is a refutation of the systems opposed to one's own before the latter is sought to be established. Scholars abroad are full of praise for the fact that in our darsanas or philosophical works the views of systems opposed to those expressed in the darsanas are not concealed or ignored but that their criticisms and objections are sought to be answered. "From what is said before, does it mean that non-dualism is incorporated in the purvapaksa of the Vedas so as to be refuted in the latter part? No, it is not so. The jnanakanda in which the Upanisads lay emphasis on non-dualism is the concluding part of the Vedas. The karmakanda which speaks of dualism precedes it. So if the Vedas first speak about the dualism that we know and later about the non-dualism that we do not know, it means that the non-dualistic teaching is the supreme purpose of the Vedas..." "From the non-dualistic standpoint there is no need to counter other systems, viewed on their own proper levels. It is only when these levels are exceeded that the need arises to counter them. That is how our Acarya and other exponents of non-dualism countenanced other systems. "By the grace of Isvara, scientific advancement so far has done no injury to things Atmic and indeed modern science takes us increasingly close to Advaita whose truth hitherto could not be known by anything other than the Vedas. In the early centuries of science, it was thought that all objects in the world were different entities, separate from one another. ... Subsequently when the atomic science developed it was realized that all the elements had the same source, the same energy. "Those who meditate on the Self and know the truth realize that this power, this Atman, is made up of knowledge, awareness. And it is knowledge (jñana) that enfolds not only inert objects but also the individual self to form the non-dualistic whole. ... Vedic Sakhas "When the Vedas are said to have no end. How can one talk of there being an "end to the Vedas (Vedanta)"? The message of the Vedas, the truths proclaimed by them, the teachings with respect to Self-realization occur in the concluding part (Upanisad) of each of the Vedas, that is Vedanta. "Why should the Vedas, which are infinite, have been divided into so many sakhas or recensions? A man must be imparted all that is necessary to purify his mind and prepare him for Self-realization ...What a man needs to learn to refine himself, become free from all impurities and finally mingle in the Supreme Being - the text conforming to such needs is separated from the unending Vedas to make a sakha. "A Vedic recension includes all the works relating to a Brahmin's life from birth to death. A Brahmin must memorize the mantras of the Samhita, perform sacrifices according to the Brahmanas to the chanting of the mantras, and later cross the bridge constituted by the Aranyaka, the bridge that connects the outward with the inward, that is study intensely the Upanisads that are concerned exclusively with the inward. In this way he finally becomes liberated, with the inward and the outward becoming one. "For the wise and the mature a single mantra is enough to free them from worldly existence. But to become pure, an ordinary man needs to perform many works and conduct worship in many ways. He has to do japa and meditation. Each sakha contains mantras, rituals and instruction in the science of the Self to enable him to find release." Veda and Vedanta. "The rituals mentioned in the karmakanda of the Vedas are sought to be negated in the jnanakanda which is also part of the same scripture. While the karmakandas enjoins upon you the worship of various deities and lays down rules for the same, the jnanakanda constituted by the Upanishads ridicules the worshipper of deities as dim-witted person no better than a beast. ... Vedanta it is the Lord teaches us in the Gita and in it he lashes out against the karmakanda. ... At one place in the Gita, Sri Krsna Parmatman says to Arjuna: 'The Vedas are associated with the three qualities Sattva, rajas and thamas. You must transcend these qualities. Full of desire, they (practitioners of Vedic rituals) long for paradise and keep thinking of pleasures and material prosperity. They are born again and again and their minds are never fixed in samadhi; these men cling to Vedic rituals'. ... Does not such talk contradict all that I have spoken so far about the Vedas. That they are the source of all our dharma? With some thinking we will realize that there is in fact no contradiction." "... The purpose of the Vedic rituals is to take us , by degrees , to this state (beyond the three gunas). So long as we believe the world is real, we worship the deities so as to be vouchsafed happiness. And this world, which we think is real, is also benefited by such worship..." "In our present state of immaturity, it is not possible to think of the world being unreal. Recognizing this, the Vedas provide us the rituals to be performed for happiness in this world. Because of our inadequacies, we are unable to devote ourselves to a formless Paramatman from whom we are not different. So the Vedas have devised a system in which a number of deities are worshipped. But, in course of time, as we perform the rituals and worship the deities, we must make efforts to advance to a state of wisdom and enlightenment in which the world will be seen to be unreal and the rites will become unnecessary. Instead of worshipping many deities, we must reach the state in which we will recognize that we have no existence other than that of our being dissolved in the Paramatman. We must perform Vedic sacraments with the knowledge that they prepare us to go to this high state by making our mind pure and one-pointed. "If we perform rituals with the sole idea of worldly happiness and carry on trade with the celestials by conducting sacrifices (offering them oblations and receiving benefits from them in return), we will never come face to face with the Truth. Even if we go to the world of the celestials, we will not be blessed with Self-realization. Our residence in paradise is commensurate with the merit we earn here and is not permanent. Sooner or later we will have to return to this world and be in the womb of a mother. The ritual worship and other sacraments of the Vedas are to some extent the result of making an adjustment to our present immature state of mind. But their real purpose is to take us forward gradually from this very immature state and illumine us within. It would be wrong to refuse to go beyond the stage of ritual worship. "If, to begin with, it is not right to refuse all at once to perform Vedic rites, it would be equally not right, to subsequently, to refuse to give them up. ... Some of them (people) can speak eloquently about the Upanishads from a mere knowledge of the truths propounded in them and we do not see them emerging as men of detachment with true awareness of the Self. The reason for this is that they have not prepared themselves for this higher state of perception through the performance of rituals. ..." "In the olden days there were many people belonging to the category of those refusing to take the path of knowledge and wished to remain to the path of karma.. Now the people belonging to the former category (just the opposite) predominate. ..." "In keeping with his times, Krsna Paramatman spoke against people who confined themeselves to the narrow path of karma. If he were to descend to earth to teach us, he would turn against those who plunge into the study of Upanishads, spurning Vedic rites. ... Graduating to the Upanishads without being prepared for them through the performance of Vedic rites is a greater offense than failure to go along the path of jnana form that of karma. " "The Vedas and Vedanta are not at variance with one another. The karmakanda prepares us for Vedanta or jnanakanda. The former has to do with this world and with many deities and its adherents are subject to the three gunas. But it is the first step to go beyond the three gunas and to sever oneself from worldly existence. If we perform the rites in the karmakanda, keeping in mind their true purpose, we shall naturally be qualifying for the jnanakanda. . . All rituals, all worship, are meant to make a man aware of the Reality ... To start with, we must perform the rites prescribed by the Vedas. But in this there must be a realization that they are but steps leading us to the higher state in which we will ultimately find bliss in our Self, a state in which there will be neither rites nor duties to perform ..." "When Vedic rites are performed in a spirit of dedication to Isvara, they will loosen your ties little by little, instead of keeping you bound to this world. If you perform rites to please the Lord, without expecting any reward, your mind will be cleansed and you will transcend the three gunas. This is the meaning and purpose of 'yajna'. ... Karma is not the goal of Vedas. You must go beyond the stage of performing Vedic rituals even if they be for such a noble purpose as that of creating welfare in the world, cleansing your consciousness and propitiating the deities. "You must rise higher to the plane where you will realise that nothing other than Paramatamn exists, that the phenomenal world is unreal, that they are no entities called deities (devatas) with an independent existence of their own and that there is no 'I'. When you come to this state, there will be no need for Vedas too for you: this is stated In the Vedas themselves. ..." "It is part of wisdom and enlightenment to realise that the gods are not separate from us. Vedanta points a way to realise this truth, and shows us how we may free ourselves from works and even worship of the gods and reach the stage where there is no difference between us and all the rest." The Vedas proclaim that the one Brahman, called the Truth or Reality, is manifested as so many different devatas or deities. Since each devata is extolled as the Paramatman, we know for certain that monotheism is a Vedic tenet. It is wrong to believe that the Vedas to polytheism merely because they speak of many deities. In doing so, they mean the one and only Brahman is revealed as many deities. It is for the conduct of the affairs of the cosmos that the Paramatman has created the various divine powers. These divinities are also in charge of the forces of nature, the feelings and urges of man. The supreme Godhead has created them in the same way as he has created us. He fashioned us out of himself - which means he, it is, that came to be sso many human beings also." "This is the reason why non-dualism proclaims that the Paramatman and the jivatman (the individual self) are one and the same. In the same way, it is he who is manifested as the many deities. However, until we are mature enough to recognize the truth of non-dualism and realize it within, and until we reach the state in which we realize the that we are not separate from the Paramatman, we have to perform the rituals and help one another. In the same way, the deities are also to be looked upon as separate entities and are to be worshipped through the sacrifices. This is the laws of the Vedas. "If we and all other creatures are to be happy in this world, we must have the blessings of the deities who govern the cosmic forces. It is for this purpose, to propitiate and please them for their grace, that the Vedas impose on us the duty of performing sacrifices. "If we attain jnana, the wisdom to realize within the oneness of all, there will be no need for these deities. We may worship the Paramatman directly. However, so long as we make efforts to find release from this pluralistic cosmos, we have to worship the deities as separate entities. ..." "The deity appears during a sacrifice when he is invoked with mantras. Those who are wise and mature will perceive them with their eyes. Even if they do not, the power of the deities will be subtly revealed to them. However offerings cannot be made directly to them. ... it must be offered in the sacred fire in a form acceptable to them. ... (As the food we eat is burned and digested by the gastric fire and the essence alone carried to all parts of the body in the form of blood), the subtle essence of the offerings are conveyed by the sacrificial fire to the deities invoked. What remains after the sacrificial fire has consumed the offering ('yajnasista') is taken as prasada by the performer of the sacrifice." "...When the thought waves of the Paramatman have come to us in the form of mantras, they must truly be pregnant with the utmost power for good. ... They (the celestials) too have their own wants and desires and these are met by the sacrifices performed by us. If they help us by making our mundane existence happier, we have to help them by performing sacrifices. If we conduct yajnas so that they may flourish, they will in return bless us with well being. .... The Lord says in the Gita: 'The Gods and mortals support each other. ... You keep the devas satisfied with the performance of sacrifices. And let them look after your welfare by producing rain on earth. Thus, helping each other, be more and more prosperous and happy.' ..." "The Lord has endowed us with the capacity to work and the celestials with the capacity to protect. There is similar division of work in this world also. ... Though the devatas look to us for help, it must not be forgotten that they belong to a higher plane and that we must be respectful towards them." "...We say 'na mama' (not mine) when we offer any material in the sacred fire. Such an oblation is consumed by Agni and conveyed to the celestials invoked. It is thus they obtain their sustenance. In this way, we also propitiate our fathers (pitrus), those belonging to our vamsa or clan. The Vedas contain directions about how rites meant for the pitrus are to be performed. "The rite meant for the deities must be performed with devotion and those meant for the pitrus or fathers must be performed with faith. What is done with devotion is yajna and what is done with faith is sraddha. ..." "A yajna or sacrifice takes shape with the chanting of mantras, the invoking of the deity and the offering of havis (oblation). The mantras are chanted (orally) and the deity is meditated upon (mentally). The most important material required for homa is the havis offered in the sacrificial fire - in speech and body (mano-vak-kaya) are brought together. Ghee is an important ingredient in the oblation. While ghee by itself is offered as an oblation, it is also used to purify other sacrificial materials - in fact this is obligatory. In a number of sacrifices the vapa (fat or marrow) of animal is offered.

20 Quotes on the REALIZATION OF BRAHMAN - GOD " More are the names of God and infinite are the forms through which He may be approached. In whatever name and form you worship Him, through them you will realise Him." "It is said that truthfulness alone constitutes the spiritual discipline of the Kaliyuga. If a man clings tenaciously to truth he ultimately realizes God." "God can be realized when a man acquires sattva. Householders engage in philanthropic work, such as charity, mostly with a motive. That is not good. Yet it is very difficult to leave motives out of one's actions." "All will surely realize God. All will be liberated. It may be that some get their meal in the morning, some at noon, and some in the evening, but none will go without food. All, without any exception, will certainly know the real Self." "The rishis of old attained the Knowledge of Brahman. One cannot have this so long as there is the slightest trace of worldliness. How hard the rishis laboured ! Early in the morning they would go away from the hermitage, and would spend the whole day in solitude, meditating on Brahman. At night they would return to the hermitage and eat a little fruit or roots. They kept their mind aloof from the objects of sight, hearing, touch, and other things of a worldly nature. Only thus did they realize Brahman as their own inner conciousness." "In the kaliyuga, man, being totally dependent on food for life, cannot altogether shake off the idea that he is the body. In this state of mind it is not proper for him to say: 'I am He'. When a man does all sorts of worldly things, he should not say, 'I am Brahman'. Those who cannot give up attachment to worldly things, and who find no means to shake off the feeling of 'I', should rather cherish the idea, 'I am God's servant; I am His devotee.' One can also realize God by following the path of devotion." "Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then, through His grace, one realizes Him in course of time. God can be seen. One can talk to Him as I am talking to you. " "People speak of doing good to the world. Is the world such a small thing? And who are you, pray, to do good to the world? First realize God, see Him by means of spiritual discipline. If He imparts power, then you can do good to others, otherwise not." "The yogi seeks to realize the ParamAtman, the Supreme Soul. His ideal is the union of the embodied soul and the Supreme Soul. He withdraws his mind from sense-objects and tries to concentrate it on the ParamAtman. Therefore, during the first stage of his spiritual discipline, he retires into solitude and with undivided attention practises meditation in a fixed posture." "Of course you can realize God without complete renunciation ! Why should you renounce everything? You are all right as you are, following the middle path. [note: Thakur was speaking to a BrAmho devotee] - like molasses partly solid and partly liquid. Do you know the game of nax? Having scored the maximum number of points, I am out of the game. I can't enjoy it. But you are very clever. Some of you have scored ten points, some six, and some five. You have scored just the right number, so you are not out of the game like me. The game can go on. Why, that's fine !" "I have heard that man can acquire superhuman powers through Theosophy and perform miracles. I saw a man who had brought a ghost under control. The ghost used to procure various things for his master. What shall I do with superhuman powers? Can one realize God through them? If God is not realized then everything becomes false." "One should not think, 'My religion alone is the right path and other religions are false.' God can be realized by means of all paths. It is enough to have sincere yearning for God. Infinite are the paths and infinite are the opinions." "There is no use in merely making a noise if you want to establish the Deity in the shrine of your heart, if you want to realize God. First of all purify the mind. In the pure heart God takes His seat. One cannot bring the holy image into the temple if the droppings of bats are all around. The eleven bats are our eleven organs: five of action, five of perception, and the mind." "God cannot be realized without purity of heart. One receives the grace of God by subduing the passions - lust, anger, and greed. Then one sees God. I tried many things in order to conquer lust. "When I was ten or elevn years old and lived at KAmArpukur, I first experienced samAdhi. As I was passing through a paddy-field, I saw something and was overwhelmed. There are certain characteristics of God-vision. One sees light, feels joy, and experiences the upsurge of a great current in one's chest, like the bursting of a rocket." "God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole." "God is realized by following the path of truth. One should always chant His name. Even while one is performing one's duties, the mind should be left with God. Suppose I have a carbuncle on my back. I perform my duties, but the mind is drawn to the carbuncle." "Once a man realizes God through intense dispassion, he is no longer attached to woman. Even if he must lead the life of a householder, he is free from fear of and attachment to woman. Suppose there are two magnets, one big and the other small. Which one will attract the iron? The big one,of course. God is the big magnet. Compared to Him, woman is a small one. He who has realized God does not look upon a woman with the eye of lust; so he is not afraid of her. He perceives clearly that women are but so many aspects of the Divine Mother. He worships them all as the Mother Herself." "How is it ever possible for one man to liberate another from the bondage of the world? God alone, the Creator of this world-bewitching mAyA, can save men from mAyA. There is no other refuge but that great teacher, SatchidAnanda [existance-knowledge-bliss]. How is it ever possible for men who have not realized God or received His command, and who are not strengthened with divine strength, to save others from the prison-house of the world?" "God is realized as soon as the mind becomes free from attachment. Whatever appears in the Pure Mind is the voice of God. That which is Pure Mind is also Pure Buddhi; that, again, is Pure Atman, because there is nothing pure but God. But in order to realize God one must go beyond dharma and adharma." "For the Kaliyuga the path of bhakti is especially good. One can realize God through bhakti too. As long as one is conscious of the body, one is also conscious of objects. Form, taste, smell, sound, and touch - these are the objects. It is extremely difficult to get rid of the consciousness of objects. And one cannot realize 'I am He' as long as one is aware of objects." "A man cannot realize God unless he gets rid of all such egoistic ideas as 'I am such an important man' or 'I am so and so'. Level the mound of 'I' to the ground by dissolving it with the tears of devotion." "Spiritual discipline is necessary in order to see God. I had to pass through very severe discipline. How many austerities I practised under the bel-tree ! I would lie down under it, crying to the Divine Mother, 'O Mother, reveal Thyself to me.' The tears would flow in torrents and soak my body." "I vowed to the Divine Mother that I would kill myself if I did not see God. I said to Her: 'O Mother, I am a fool. Please teach me what is contained in the Vedas, The PurAnas, the Tantras, and the other scriptures.' The Mother said to me, 'The essence of the VedAnta is that Brahman alone is real and the world illusory.' The SatchidAnanda Brahman described in the Vedas is the SatchidAnanda Shiva of the Tantra and the SatchidAnanda Krishna of the PurAna."

(Quotations from Sri Ramakrishna) Mahendranath: May I know if one can realize God while performing one's duties? Ramakrishna: All, without exception, perform work. Even to chant God's name and glories is work, as is the meditation of the Non-dualist on "I am He." Breathing is also an activity. There is no way of renouncing work altogether. So do your work but surrender the result to God. (p. 168) Ramakrishna: Let me tell you the truth: there is nothing wrong in your being in the world. But you must direct your mind toward God; otherwise you will not succeed. Do your duty with one hand and with the other hold to God. After the duty is over, you will hold to God with both hands. (p. 195) Ramakrishna: A devotee who can call on God while living a householder's life is a hero indeed. God thinks: "He who has renounced the world for My sake will surely pray to Me; he must serve Me. Is there anything very remarkable about it? People will cry shame on him if he fails to do so. But he is blessed indeed who prays to Me in the midst of his worldly duties. He is trying to find Me, overcoming a great obstacle -- pushing away, as it were, a huge block of stone weighing a ton. Such a man is a real hero." (p. 309) Ramakrishna: If a householder gives in charity in a spirit of detachment, he is really doing good to himself and not to others. It is God alone that he serves -- God, who dwells in all beings... If a man thus serves God through all beings..., if he doesn't seek name and fame, or heaven after death; if he doesn't seek any return from those he serves; if he can carry on his work of service in this spirit -- then he performs truly selfless work, work without attachment. Through such selfless work he does good to himself. This is called karmayoga. This too is a way to realize God. (p. 365) Mahendranath: How ought we to live in the world? Ramakrishna: Do all your duties, but keep your mind on God. Live with all -- with wife and children, father and mother -- and serve them. Treat them as if they were very dear to you, but know in your heart of hearts that they do not belong to you. A maidservant in the house of a rich man performs all the household duties, but her thoughts are fixed on her own home in her native village. She brings up her master's children as if they were her own. She even speaks of them as "my Rama" or "my Hari." But in her own mind she knows very well that they do not belong to her at all. The tortoise moves about in the water. But can you guess where her thoughts are? There on the bank, where her eggs are lying. Do all your duties in the world, but keep your mind on God. (p. 127) Ramakrishna: Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then, through His grace, one realizes Him in course of time. God can be seen. One can talk to Him as I am talking to you. (p. 163) Ramakrishna: God has put you in the world. What can you do about it? Resign everything to Him. Surrender yourself at His feet. Then there will be no more confusion. (p. 353) Ramakrishna: Can one know God through reasoning? Be His servant, surrender yourself to Him, and then pray to Him. (p. 159) The teacher (Quotations from Sri Ramakrishna) The members of the Brahmo Samaj are opposed to the traditional guru systems of orthodox Hinduism. Therefore a Brahmo devotee asked the Master about it. Brahmo devotee: Is spiritual knowledge impossible without a guru? Ramakrishna: Satchidananda alone is the Guru. If a man in the form of a guru awakens spiritual consciousness in you, then know for certain that it is God the Absolute who has assumed that human form for your sake. The guru is like a companion who leads you by the hand. After realizing God, one loses the distinction between the guru and the disciple. The relationship between them remains as long as the disciple does not see God. (p. 253) Ramakrishna: How is it ever possible for one man to liberate another from the bondage of the world? God alone, the Creator of this world-bewitching maya, can save men from maya. There is no other refuge but that great Teacher, Satchidananda. How is it ever possible for men who have not realized God or received His command, and who are not strengthened with divine strength, to save others from the prison-house of the world? One day as I was passing the Panchavati on my way to the pine-grove, I heard a bullfrog croaking. I thought it must have been seized by a snake. After some time, as I was coming back, I could still hear its terrified croaking. I looked to see what was the matter, and found that a water snake had seized it. The snake could neither swallow it nor give it up. So there was no end to the frog's suffering. I thought that had it been seized by a cobra it would have been silenced after three croaks at most. As it was only a water snake, both of them had to go through this agony. A man's ego is destroyed after three croaks, as it were, if he gets into the clutches of a real teacher. But if the teacher in an unripe one, then both the teacher and the disciple undergo endless suffering. The disciple cannot get rid either of his ego or of the shackles of the world. If a disciple falls into the clutches of an incompetent teacher, he doesn't attain liberation. (pp. 225-226) Ramakrishna: The roof is clearly visible, but extremely hard to reach. Narendra: Yes sir. Ramakrishna: But if someone who has already reached it drops down a rope, he can pull another person up. (p. 488) Ramakrishna: Have faith in the guru's words, and work. If you have no guru, then pray to God with a longing heart. He will let you know what He is like. (p. 352) Ramakrishna: He who is the Lord of the Universe will teach everyone. He alone will teach us, who has created this universe... The Lord has done so many things -- will He not show people the way to worship Him? if they need teaching, then He will be the Teacher. He is our Inner Guide. (p. 125) Dying and being reborn (Quotations from Sri Ramakrishna) Vijay: Sir, why are we bound like this? Why don't we see God? Ramakrishna: Maya is nothing but the egotism of the embodied soul. This egotism has covered everything like a veil. "All troubles come to an end when the ego dies." If by God's grace a man but once realizes that he is not the doer, then he at once becomes a jivanmukta: though living in the body, he is liberated. He has nothing else to fear. This maya, that is to say, the ego, is like a cloud. The sun cannot be seen on account of a thin patch of cloud; when that disappears one sees the sun. If by the guru's grace one's ego vanishes, then one sees God. (pp. 226-227) Ramakrishna: In those days of God-vision I felt as if I were passing thorugh a great storm; everything was blown away from me. No trace of my old self was left. I lost all consciousness of the world. (p. 174) Ramakrishna: What is samadhi? It is the complete merging of the mind in God-Consciousness. The jnani experiences jada samadhi, in which no trace of I is left. The samadhi attained through the path of bhakti is called chetana samadhi. In this samadhi there remains the consciousness of I -- the I of the servant-and-Master relationship, of the lover-and-Beloved relationship, of the enjoyer-and-Food relationship. God is the Master; the devotee is the servant. God is the beloved; the devotee is the lover. God is the Food; and the devotee is the enjoyer. "I don't want to be the sugar. I want to eat it" (p. 312)

Being blind is ok but being ignorant fool is like having honey and do not know the taste and remedial value of it. he world recognize Swami Vivekananda who was a student of Sri Ramakrishna and after all you are just a spect of dirt thats just trying to irritate my eyes. All I need to do is wash them with clean water and its gone. Say what you want but the name of Sri Ramakrishna will remain in the minds of all selrealize souls and followers. But remember yours would perish soon and none would remember you after a year or two of your demise not even your kin folks while Sri Ramakrishna would be remembered for generations to come.

Life of Sri Ramakrishna The life of Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) was a study of methods to achieve higher level of human excellence. It showed humanity the direction and path in which the future evolution should be directed for the progress in human consciousness. This he did by performing various experiments, as a scientist in the field of physics or chemistry would do. 1. First he showed that by self-effort and intense yearning one can concentrate the mind to realize a particular form of divine consciousness. This one form of divinity for him was Ma Kali. His chosen ideal could have been different, and indeed it would be different for people of various places and cultures. There could be no denial of the fact that it is possible to elevate consciousness to a higher plane. This Sri Ramakrishna accomplished on his own without any help of a guru or a teacher. Moreover, he neither had formal education nor did he study scriptural texts to account for this success in his spiritual achievements. For all practical purposes, intense desire and unshakable faith to reach the Truth of Divinity in the stone image of Mother Kali led him to undertake severe austerities and experimentation. Kali Herself became his teacher and guide. The fact of divinity in every living and non-living being soon personified as duality of 'divine object' in the form of Kali and the 'divine subject' in the form of Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna reached the second stage of dualistic consciousness when he started seeing presence of Kali in other beings and objects as well. Thus, a cat and various objects used in the worship in the temple were seen to shine with Divine effulgence and pervading with presence of Mother Kali. This forced him to worship and feed a cat as Mother Herself! Later, he was unable to pluck flowers and leaves for puja (worship), for they were seen as the adoration of cosmic form of Divine Shiva. Thus, he obtained the knowledge of first principle of Vedanta i.e. every being is Divine. (This may be labeled as qualified monism.) Spiritual discipline in the form of intense concentration of mind and one-pointed zeal to know the truth led Sri Ramakrishna to this wonderful realization and experience. His knowledge was thus based on direct perception and no amount of diversion or contrary arguments could disturb the same. 2. The next stage in Sri Ramakrishna's life was to reach the same Truth by other means as well. For this he took help of spiritual Teacher -Bhairavi Brahmani. The ascetic nun, experienced in the techniques of Tantras and Bhakti traditions, tenderly guided Sri Ramakrishna, the novice, on the spiritual path. Her motherly love and concern as a teacher saw Sri Ramakrishna climb one spiritual step after the other with the rapidity about which there is no parallel. He performed intricate and even 'maligned' sadhanas of sixty-four Tantras and reached the same stage of dualistic consciousness of seeing Mother in both living and non-living beings. Moreover, he proved Puranas (mythologies) to be true, which were about to be rejected as imaginary stories by the 'intellectuals and scientifically oriented minds' influenced by British education system. He played with baby Rama in the waters of Ganges; becoming Radha, he experienced pangs of separation from Sri Krishna; Mother Sita presented him with the most beatific smile; and sadhana of servant attitude of Hanuman brought out monkey-like physical and psychological changes in his body and mind. The list is very long and exhaustive. These great achievements and experiments for proving the validity of not only Indian scriptures but also mythologies is a unique contribution of Sri Ramakrishna in the field of spirituality. He proved, for the good of humanity in general and for the 'scientific-minded' Indian youths in particular, that their ancient literature is not a figment of imagination, but is in fact based on facts and truths. Not satisfied with Hindu paths of realization alone, Sri Ramakrishna undertook sadhana of Muslim and Christian religions as well. After getting initiated into these religious faiths, he attained the same higher level of consciousness and realized the truths of respective religions, prophets and incarnations. He found that all religions took the aspirant to the same destination; there was no difference in the final experience. The entire world for Sri Ramakrishna was now a manifestation of Ma Kali, which he called 'Her Play' or 'Lila'. Imbibed with broadness of divine vision, natural love, and respect for all beings Sri Ramakrishna saw 'Narayana or Kali' in every human being. For him there were no drunkards, prostitutes, or wretched persons anymore. Such equanimity of vision is the final culmination of all spiritual knowledge. 3. As the last spiritual discipline, which was to prove unity of existence and would go beyond dualism, Sri Ramakrishna undertook sadhana of Advaita Vedanta under the Teachership of Tota Puri. This great Yogi who had realized the highest Truth of unity of Atman and Brahman came to Sri Ramakrishna at the 'behest of Ma Kali' as Sri Ramakrishna would put it. The guru encouraged Ramakrishna to go beyond dualism, even to 'annihilate the idea of Mother Kali' from his consciousness. Reluctantly, though, taking as an ordained directive from the Mother, Sri Ramakrishna with the power of discrimination and renunciation went beyond Her Form, his most coveted landmark or 'picnic spot' on the spiritual path. This was the highest level of discrimination and renunciation. The resultant nondual experience where 'there is no pleasure or pain, where one does not taste the sweetness of sugar but becomes sugar itself' was not possible even for Sri Ramakrishna to describe in words: From where even the mind with speech returns empty-handed. The result was acquisition of such knowledge that lifts a human being to the level of Brahman, and does not require certification from any else. It also emphasizes the fact that one cannot become what one already is not, or one becomes That what one already Is! Thus, Sri Ramakrishna showed mankind its true divine nature. What next! For most souls who merge with Absolute there is no 'coming back'. Unique and rare is the tradition of a few who live as 'free souls' (Jeevan Mukta) to which Sri Ramakrishna belonged. This highest possible stage in human evolution was telescoped into his short span of fifty years. As Romain Rolland puts it, "The man whose image I evoke was the consummation of two thousand years of spiritual life of three hundred million people." Relevance Today It is not easily accepted or appreciated that the achievements of Sri Ramakrishna were desirable stages in the realm of higher knowledge and consciousness. Fulfillment of cravings of senses and mental faculties is widely accepted as correct or rational human development, for it apparently takes humanity to comfort and pleasure. Although science starts as a search for the highest truth, soon our 'genetic selfishness' puts a break in its progress. The reason for this is that, the method of science seeks knowledge on the basis, and with the help, of senses alone, and this is sure to prove inadequate! Science denies the reality of transcendental truth. Therefore, it is not possible for 'reason' to understand the ways of 'intuition'. Similarly science fails to recognize super-sensory truths even when such truths present themselves to scientists during their arduous and sincere study and research. Life of Sri Ramakrishna helps us overcome this dilemma. It establishes the need for, and the methodology of, spiritual way of life. He lays down new foundation for the system of acquiring higher knowledge that Swami Yatiswarananda called 'the laws of spiritual life.' Sri Ramakrishna proved that whatever we take to be real for the time being affects our whole personality, thoughts, emotions and actions. Our whole being responds to this reality. Science takes material world to be real and hence the inferences drawn are always in doubt, for the real nature of material world is illusory. By discrimination between real and unreal, and renouncing the unreal, the knowledge of higher reality comes to the mind. This is called spiritual awakening, although there is nothing esoteric or secret about it. It is a normal quest for knowledge. Spiritual awakening is the transformation of one's consciousness, which means moving from a lower center to a higher center of consciousness. The more our consciousness expands, the more we see the Divine in all people and the more spiritual we become.

The Hindu Temple - Where Man Becomes God Article of the Month - May 2003 Ancient Indian thought divides time into four different periods. These durations are referred to as the Krta; Treta; Dvapara; and Kali. The first of these divisions (Krta), is also known as satya-yuga, or the Age of Truth. This was a golden age without envy, malice or deceit, characterized by righteousness. All people belonged to one caste, and there was only one god who lived amongst the humans as one of them. In the next span (Treta-yuga), the righteousness of the previous age decreased by one fourth. The chief virtue of this age was knowledge. The presence of gods was scarce and they descended to earth only when men invoked them in rituals and sacrifices. These deities were recognizable by all. In the third great division of time, righteousness existed only in half measure of that in the first division. Disease, misery and the castes came into existence in this age. The gods multiplied. Men made their own images, worshipped them, and the divinities would come down in disguised forms. But these disguised deities were recognizable only by that specific worshipper. Kali-yuga is the present age of mankind in which we live, the first three ages having already elapsed. It is believed that this age began at midnight between February 17 and 18, 3102 B.C. Righteousness is now one-tenth of that in the first age. True worship and sacrifice are now lost. It is a time of anger, lust, passion, pride, and discord. There is an excessive preoccupation with things material and sexual. Temples appeared on the horizon only in the Kali-yuga. During this existing last phase, temples (as public shrines), began to be built and icons installed. But the gods ceased to come down and appear in their own or disguised forms. However, their presence could be felt when the icons were properly enshrined, and the temples correctly built. In contrast to the previous periods when the gods were available to all equally, now it is only the priests, belonging to a traditional hierarchy of professional worshippers, who are the competent individuals to compel this presence. From the contemporary point of view, temples act as safe haven where ordinary mortals like us can feel themselves free from the constant vagaries of everyday existence, and communicate personally with god. But our age is individualistic if nothing else. Each of us requires our own conception of the deity based on our individual cultural rooting. In this context it is interesting to observe that the word ‘temple,’ and ‘contemplate’ both share the same origin from the Roman word ‘templum,’ which means a sacred enclosure. Indeed, strictly speaking, where there is no contemplation, there is no temple. It is an irony of our age that this individualistic contemplative factor, associated with a temple, is taken to be its highest positive virtue, while according to the fact of legend it is but a limitation which arose due to our continuous spiritual impoverishment over the ages. We have lost the divine who resided amongst us (Krta Yuga), which is the same as saying that once man was divine himself. But this is not to belittle the importance of the temple as a center for spiritual nourishment in our present context, rather an affirmation of their invaluable significance in providing succour to the modern man in an environment and manner that suits the typical requirements of the age in which we exist. The basic plan of a Hindu temple is an expression of sacred geometry where the temple is visualized as a grand mandala. By sacred geometry we mean a science which has as its purpose the accurate laying out of the temple ground plan in relation to the cardinal directions and the heavens. Characteristically, a mandala is a sacred shape consisting of the intersection of a circle and a square. The square shape is symbolic of earth, signifying the four directions which bind and define it. Indeed, in Hindu thought whatever concerns terrestrial life is governed by the number four (four castes; the four Vedas etc.). Similarly, the circle is logically the perfect metaphor for heaven since it is a perfect shape, without beginning or end, signifying timelessness and eternity, a characteristically divine attribute. Thus a mandala (and by extension the temple) is the meeting ground of heaven and earth. These considerations make the actual preparation of the site and laying of the foundation doubly important. Understandably, the whole process is heavily immersed in rituals right from the selection of the site to the actual beginning of construction. Indeed, it continues to be a custom in India that whenever a building is sought to be constructed, the area on which it first comes up is ceremonially propitiated. The idea being that the extent of the earth necessary for such construction must be reclaimed from the gods and goblins that own and inhabit that area. This ritual is known as the ‘pacification of the site.’ There is an interesting legend behind it: Once when Shiva was engaged in a fierce battle with the demon Andhaka, a drop of sweat fell from Shiva’s forehead to the ground, accompanied by a loud thunder. This drop transformed into a ravenously hungry monster, who attempted to destroy the three worlds. The gods and divine spirits, however, rushed at once on to him and held him down. When the demon fell on the ground face downwards, the deities lodged themselves on to the different parts of his body and pressed him down. It is because of this reason that the recumbent individual came to be known as ‘Vastu,’ which means the lodgement of the gods. He is pictured as lying down inside the mandala with his arms and legs so folded as to cover the whole area, and his head pushed into the north-eastern corner of the square. As many as forty-five gods are lodged on his body directly on the limbs and joints. This vastu-purusha is the spirit in mother-earth which needs to be pacified and is regarded as a demon whose permission is necessary before any construction can come up on the site. At the same time, care is taken to propitiate the deities that hold him down, for it is important that he should not get up. To facilitate the task of the temple-architect, the vastu-mandala is divided into square grids with the lodging of the respective deities clearly marked. It also has represented on it the thirty-two nakshatras, the constellations that the moon passes through on its monthly course. In an ideal temple, these deities should be situated exactly as delineated in the mandala. In the central grid of the vastu-mandala sits Brahma, the archetypal creator, endowed with four faces looking simultaneously in all directions. He is thus conceived as the ever-present superintending genius of the site. At this exact central point is established the most important structure of the sacred complex, where the patron deity of the temple is installed. Paradoxically this area is the most unadorned and least decorated part of the temple, almost as if it is created in an inverse proportion to its spiritual importance. Referred to as the sanctum sanctorum, it is the most auspicious region in the whole complex. It has no pillars, windows or ventilators. In addition to a metaphysical aspect, this shutting off of air and light has a practical side to it too. It was meant to preserve the icon, which, in olden days, was often made of wood. Also, besides preventing the ill effects of weathering, the dark interior adds to the mystery of the divine presence. Throughout all subsequent developments in temple architecture, however spectacular and grandiose, this main shrine room remains the small, dark cave that it has been from the beginning. Indeed it has been postulated (both by archaeology and legend), that the temple developed from the cave-shrine of the extremely remote past. This is another instance in Hinduism where the primitive and the modern, along with all the developments in-between, can be seen to co-exist remarkably and peacefully. When the devotee enters a temple, he is actually entering into a mandala and therefore participating in a power-field. The field enclosures and pavilions through which he must pass to reach the sanctum are symbolic. They represent the phases of progress in a man’s journey towards divine beatitude. In accordance with this scheme of transition, architectural and sculptural details vary from phase to phase in the devotee’s onward movement, gradually preparing him for the ultimate, awesome experience, which awaits him in the shrine. This process mirrors the four-phased spiritual evolution envisaged in yoga, namely the waking state (jagrat); dream state (swapna); the state of deep sleep (sushupti); and finally the Highest state of awareness known in Sanskrit as turiya. This evolution takes place as follows: On reaching the main gateway, the worshipper first bends down and touches the threshold before crossing it. This marks for him the fact that the transition from the way of the world to the way of god has been initiated. Entering the gateway, he or she is greeted by a host of secular figures on the outer walls. These secular images are the mortal, outward and diverse manifestations of the divinity enshrined inside. In this lies a partial explanation behind the often explicit erotic imagery carved on the outer walls of temples like those at Khajuraho, where the deity inside remains untouched by these sensuous occurrences. Such images awaken the devotee to his mortal state of existence (wakefulness). The process of contemplation has already begun. As he proceeds, carvings of mythological themes, legendary subjects, mythical animals and unusual motifs abound. They are designed to take one away from the dull and commonplace reality, and uplift the worshipper to the dreamy state. The immediate pavilion and vestibule before the icon are restrained in sculptural decorations, and the prevailing darkness of these areas are suggestive of sleep-like conditions. Finally the shrine, devoid of any ornamentation, and with its plainly adorned entrance, leads the devotee further to the highest achievable state of consciousness, that of semi-tranquillity (turiya), where all boundaries vanish and the universe stands forth in its primordial glory. It signifies the coming to rest of all differentiated, relative existence. This utterly quiet, peaceful and blissful state is the ultimate aim of all spiritual activity. The devotee is now fully-absorbed in the beauty and serenity of the icon. He or she is now in the inner square of Brahma in the vastu- mandala, and in direct communion with the chief source of power in the temple. The thought behind the design of a temple is a continuation of Upanishadic analogy, in which the atman (soul or the divine aspect in each of us) is likened to an embryo within a womb or to something hidden in a cave. Also says the Mundaka Upanishad: ‘The atman lives where our arteries meet (in the heart), as the spokes of the wheel meet at the hub.’ Hence, it is at the heart center that the main deity is enshrined. Befittingly thus, this sanctum sanctorum is technically known as the garba-griha (womb-house). The garbhagriha is almost always surrounded by a circumambulatory path, around which the devotee walks in a clockwise direction. In Hindu and Buddhist thought, this represents an encircling of the universe itself. Conclusion Man lost the divinity within himself. His intuition, which is nothing but a state of primordial alertness, continues to strive towards the archetypal perfect state where there is no distinction between man and god (or woman and goddess). The Hindu Temple sets out to resolve this deficiency in our lives by dissolving the boundaries between man and divinity. This is achieved by putting into practice the belief that the temple, the human body, and the sacred mountain and cave, represent aspects of the same divine symmetry. Truly, the most modern man can survive only because the most ancient traditions are alive in him. The solution to man’s problems is always archaic. The architecture of the Hindu temple recreates the archetypal environment of an era when there was no need for such an architecture.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad has eloquent passages on the Absolute. Yajnavalkya says: For when there is duality, then one smells another, one sees another, one thinks of another, one understands another. But when everything has become the Self, then by what and whom should one smell, by what and whom should one see, hear, speak, think, understand? By what should one know that by which all this is known? By what, my dear, should one know the knower? He is the unseen seer, the unheard hearer, the unthought thinker, the unknown knower. There is no other seer but he, no other hearer but he, no other thinker but he, no other knower but he. He is your Self, the inner controller, the immortal, the imperishable. Everything else is evil. In Katha Upanishad we have the story of Nachiketas (which means not perceived—mysticism). He spends three days without food at the house of Yama—i.e., he enters into the third spiritual plane, a plane where the light of Spirit shines with unfading glory, to meet Yama, who offers him three boons. As to the third boon, Nachiketas asks Yama: What exists after death, what is death and immortality? Yama tries to evade him and tells him that he would make him the Lord of the world, he could have all his desires fulfilled, enjoy all the pleasures of the world, etc. But Nachiketas replies: "Transient are all these, O Yama, and they wear out the vigour of all the senses. Keep all these with you." He did not want anything except to know "what there is in the great hereafter." That phrase, "they wear out the vigour of all the senses," refers to the three e's i.e., entertainment, excitement and exhaustion. When we make our minds a playground of our senses, we seek entertainment which leads to excitement; then our vital powers are completely drained and we feel totally exhausted. Then Yama tells him about the one universal, imperishable, changeless Self. He says: "That which is without sound, without touch, without form, without decay, and likewise without taste, without change, without smell, without beginning, without end, beyond the great and ever-abiding—by realizing it one is freed from the jaws of death." In this verse we have the secret of death communicated by Atman. The secret of death held by mind relates only to "after-death states," not its meaning of discontinuity, not in continuity of Time, i.e., not the clumsy words we use for Time—past, present, future, as the Mahatma says—but the Eternal Present. This means that when we are acting on the plane of duality we will be devoured by the illusion of Time. Only when we start functioning from the plane of unity we can reach beyond Time, i.e., the plane of "SAT," Beness—Duration, as H.P.B. says: the "great beyond" of the Upanishads. "I am Time matured, come hither for the destruction of these creatures," says Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita (XI, 32). "Time was not, for it lay asleep in the infinite bosom of Duration," says the Stanza of Dzyan. Time, continuity, are limitations. Hence we have the statement: "Parabrahm (the One Reality, the Absolute) is the field of Absolute Consciousness, i.e., that Essence which is out of all relation to conditioned existence" (S.D., I, 15). Relationships relate only to the plane of duality, where we use words such as karma, reincarnation, principles, higher, lower, etc; whereas on the plane of unity these disappear. There is only one divine principle. In fact, H.P.B. states that there is only one Principle—LIFE. All other principles are modifications of this One Principle. "In occultism every qualificative change in the state of our consciousness gives to man a new aspect, and if it prevails and becomes part of the living and acting Ego, it must be (and is) given a special name" (The Key to Theosophy, Indian ed., p. 116). In fact, we are seven in One. As we function on this plane of duality, how do we get to the plane of unity? As man is indissolubly linked to the Whole and as he is a direct ray of the Absolute, this union is possible for him by cultivating unselfishness and universal love for all that lives and breathes. When his consciousness is turned inwards, there is a conjunction between Manas and Buddhi. In a spiritually regenerated man this conjunction is permanent and Manas clings to Buddhi beyond the threshold of Devachan, when it is said that his third eye is active. As the Bhagavad-Gita points out (XVIII, 4): "Deeds of sacrifice, of mortification, and of charity should not be forsaken." They purify our mind, although they do not make us spiritual. Once the mind becomes pure, it becomes like an alabaster vase, reflecting the radiance of Atma-Buddhi. This "Mind" is manas, or rather its lower reflection, which whenever it disconnects itself, for the time being, with kama, becomes the guide of the highest mental faculties, and is the organ of free will in physical man. (H.P.B. in "Psychic and Noetic Action") When Manas is freed from lower Kama, the pavamana fire (fire by friction) is activated and Buddhi is cemented with Manas. Then man is in a high spiritual state and able to sense the Reality. This is what is meant by saying that his third eye is active. In order to live in Spirit while in a body, a clean life, a pure heart and an eager intellect, coupled with a life of high morality and purity of soul, is a must. Then it is possible to attain to a state where one can have, as described by Iamblichus: (1) ecstasy or illumination, when one is able to use his spiritual vision and see the truth, (2) prophetic visions, (3) action of Spirit through Will, and (4) control over lower elementals. This is Divine Theurgy and it has to be preceded not only by the training of one's inner senses but also by a knowledge of the personal self and its relationship with the Divine Self. Then one becomes like Prospero, the magician "Man-spirit proves God-spirit." H.P.B. states: "With each morning's awakening try to live through the day in harmony with the Higher Self" (She Being Dead Yet Speaketh, p. 12). In this statement we have a hint as to how we can apply the Fundamentals in every aspect of our daily life.

Maya is nothing but the egotism of the embodied soul. This egotism has covered everything like a veil. All troubles come to an end when the ego dies. 'if by the grace of God a man but once realizes that he is not the doer, then he at once becomes a jivanmukta [a liberated being]. Though living in the body, he is liberated. He has nothing else to fear. When a seeker merges in the beatitude of samadbi, he does not perceive time and space or name and form, the offspring of maya. Whatever -is within the domain of maya is unreal. Give it up. Destroy the prison house of name and form arid rush out of it with the strength of a lion. Dive deep in search of the Self and realize It through samadhi, You will find the world of name and form vanishing into void, and the puny ego dissolving in Brahman-Consciousness. You will realize your identity with Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Brahman is the only Reality, ever pure, ever illumined, ever free, beyond the limits of time, space, and causation. Though apparently divided by names and forms through the inscrutable power of maya, that enchantress who makes the impossible possible, Brahman is really One and undivided. Ramakrishna (1836–1886)

barney3089@hotmail.com

Muslims would always quote from their hadith insted of their Koran and here you would want to stick to surti. Times have changed and centruies have goneby and yet your want to be adamant about your belief. Wisemen and come and gone, did their nest to teach egoist like you but what can I say if that is what you want to stick to than I would suggest you live by such. Do not ride in any modern vehicle or use any cell phone to communicate and as a matter of fact you should not log into the net as all this are changes in life over the centuries that man has adapted inorder to blend himself with time. God is not in the surti but in every living entity and when enlightend souls like Sree Ramaling Swami, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Vivekananda, Budha, Mahavira and many others who have found peace in mind and shared their enlightenment to the world it's people like you who oppose such belief and divided the people of the Hindu faith further and further whic paved the way for some to convert to ther religions. I hope you will come to your senses and make amendments so that you would find peace with God who is hidden in your heart.