Hindu Rituals and Routines

[Guest guest]

Namaste Anand, here are excerpts of the file sent by Krishnaji below.

 

Introduction

Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life. Unlike other religions,

Hindu dharma has many specialties. This is not known as a religion,

it is known as the dharma; Sanaathana Dharma. Sanaathana means,

according to Bhagavath Geetha, which cannot be destroyed by fire,

weapons, water, air, and which is present in all living and non

living being. Dharma means, the way of life which is the `total of

all aachaaraas or customs and rituals'.

Sanaathana Dharma has its foundation on scientific spirituality. In

the entire ancient Hindu literature we can see that science and

spirituality are integrated. It is mentioned in the 40th chapter of

the Yajurveda known as Eesaavaasya Upanishad that use scientific

knowledge for solving problems in our life and use the spiritual

knowledge for attaining immortality through philosophical outlook.

Remember that in each and every aachaaraa there will be a component

of spirituality in it. Without spirituality, nothing exists in

Sanaathana dharma. Generally everyone bear a wrong impression that

this spirituality is religion. Spirituality is different in Hindu

dharma. Here the question of religion does not exist at all, because

Hindu dharma was not created by an individual, prophet or an

incarnation. Spirituality is a part of every Hindu custom in the

normal life of a Hindu.

Aachaaraas are to be followed based on their merits available from

the self experience; you need not blindly follow a teacher or someone

who gives advice without reasoning. All these aachaaraas are

mentioned for the prosperity of the human beings and it should be the

prime focus for practicing the Hindu aachaaraas.

Achaaryaath paadam aadatthe

paadam sishya swamedhayaa

paadam sa brahmachaaribhya

sesham kaala kramena cha

This is an important advice given in smruthies. It means a person can

get only one quarter of knowledge from Achaarya - the teacher,

another quarter by analyzing self, one quarter by discussing with

others and the last quarter during the process of living by method

addition, deletion, correction, and modification of already known

aachaaraas or new aachaaraas.

Aachaaraath labhathe hi ayu:

aachaaraath dhanamakshayam

aachaaraath labhathe suprajaa:

aachaaro ahanthya lakshanam

Aachaaraas are followed for the psychological and physiological

health and long life; Aachaaraas are followed for prosperity and

wealth; Aachaaraas are followed for strong family and social bondage

and following the Aachaaraas give a fine personality, dharmic outlook

and vision, says our dharmasaastra.

In India everyone followed Aachaaraas for the above mentioned

psychological, physiological, family relation, social benefits and

national integration based benefits. It is your right and duty to

understand scientifically, rationally and logically the meaning of

each and every Aachaaraas and follow the same in your life

systematically.

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1. Why do we light a lamp?

In almost every Indian home a lamp is lit daily before the altar of

the Lord. In some houses it is lit at dawn, in some, twice a day – at

dawn and dusk – and in a few it is maintained continuously - Akhanda

Deepa. All auspicious functions commence with the lighting of the

lamp, which is often maintained right through the occasion.

Light symbolizes knowledge, and darkness - ignorance. The Lord is

the "Knowledge Principle" (Chaitanya) who is the source, the

enlivener and the illuminator of all knowledge. Hence light is

worshiped as the Lord himself.

Knowledge removes ignorance just as light removes darkness. Also

knowledge is a lasting inner wealth by which all outer achievement

can be accomplished. Hence we light the lamp to bow down to knowledge

as the greatest of all forms of wealth.

Why not light a bulb or tube light? That too would remove darkness.

But the traditional oil lamp has a further spiritual significance.

The oil or ghee in the lamp symbolizes our vaasanas or negative

tendencies and the wick, the ego. When lit by spiritual knowledge,

the vaasanas get slowly exhausted and the ego too finally perishes.

The flame of a lamp always burns upwards. Similarly we should acquire

such knowledge as to take us towards higher ideals.

Whilst lighting the lamp we thus pray:

 

Deepajyothi parabrahma

Deepa sarva tamopahaha

Deepena saadhyate saram

Sandhyaa deepo namostute

I prostrate to the dawn/dusk lamp; whose light is the Knowledge

Principle (the Supreme Lord), which removes the darkness of ignorance

and by which all can be achieved in life.

 

2. Why do we have a prayer room?

Most Indian homes have a prayer room or altar. A lamp is lit and the

Lord worshipped each day. Other spiritual practices like japa -

repetition of the Lord's name, meditation, paaraayana - reading of

the scriptures, prayers, and devotional singing etc are also done

here. Special worship is done on auspicious occasions like birthdays,

anniversaries, festivals and the like. Each member of the family -

young or old - communes with and worships the Divine here.

The Lord is the entire creation. He is therefore the true owner of

the house we live in too. The prayer room is the Master room of the

house. We are the earthly occupants of His property. This notion rids

us of false pride and possessiveness.

 

The ideal attitude to take is to regard the Lord as the true owner of

our homes and us as caretakers of His home. But if that is rather

difficult, we could at least think of Him as a very welcome guest.

Just as we would house an important guest in the best comfort, so too

we felicitate the Lord's presence in our homes by having a prayer

room or altar, which is, at all times, kept clean and well-decorated.

Also the Lord is all pervading. To remind us that He resides in our

homes with us, we have prayer rooms. Without the grace of the Lord,

no task can be successfully or easily accomplished. We invoke His

grace by communing with Him in the prayer room each day and on

special occasions.

 

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Each room in a house is dedicated to a specific function like the

bedroom for resting, the drawing room to receive guests, the kitchen

for cooking etc. The furniture, decor and the atmosphere of each room

are made conducive to the purpose it serves. So too for the purpose

of meditation, worship and prayer, we should have a conducive

atmosphere - hence the need for a prayer room.

Sacred thoughts and sound vibrations pervade the place and influence

the minds of those who spend time there. Spiritual thoughts and

vibrations accumulated through regular meditation, worship and

chanting done there pervade the prayer room. Even when we are tired

or agitated, by just sitting in the prayer room for a while, we feel

calm, rejuvenated and spiritually uplifted.

 

3. Why do we do Namaste?

Indians greet each other with namaste. The two palms are placed

together in front of the chest and the head bows whilst saying the

word namaste. This greeting is for all - people younger than us, of

our own age, those older than friends, even strangers and us.

There are five forms of formal traditional greeting enjoined in the

shaastras of which namaskaram is one. This is understood as

prostration but it actually refers to paying homage as we do today

when we greet each other with a namaste.

Namaste could be just a casual or formal greeting, a cultural

convention or an act of worship. However there is much more to it

than meets the eye. In Sanskrit namah + te = namaste. It means - I

bow to you - my greetings, salutations or prostration to you. Namaha

can also be literally interpreted as "na ma" (not mine). It has a

spiritual significance of negating or reducing one's ego in the

presence of another.

 

The real meeting between people is the meeting of their minds. When

we greet another, we do so with namaste, which means, "may our minds

meet," indicated by the folded palms placed before the chest. The

bowing down of the head is a gracious form of extending friendship in

love and humility

The spiritual meaning is even deeper. The life force, the divinity,

the Self or the Lord in me is the same in all. Recognizing this

oneness with the meeting of the palms, we salute with head bowed the

Divinity in the person we meet. That is why sometimes, we close our

eyes as we do namaste to a revered person or the Lord – as if to look

within. The gesture is often accompanied by words like "Ram

Ram,Jai Shri Krishna", "Namo Narayana", "Jai Siya Ram", "Om

Shanti" etc - indicating the recognition of this divinity.

When we know this significance, our greeting does not remain just a

superficial gesture or word but paves the way for a deeper communion

with another in an atmosphere of love and respect.

 

4. Why do we prostrate before parents and elders?

Indians prostrate before their parents, elders, teachers and noble

souls by touching their feet. The elder in turn blesses us by placing

his or her hand on or over our heads. Prostration is done daily, when

we meet elders and particularly on important occasions like the

beginning of a new task, birthdays, festivals etc. In certain

traditional circles, prostration is accompanied by abhivaadana, which

serves to introduce one-self, announce one's family and social

stature.

 

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