Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Satyam Param Dhimahi

At the Brahmnaad, a performance by 1200 sitarists in Delhi, Sri Sri Ravishankar, a spiritual master and founder of The Art of Living, made the whole congregation chant 'Satyam Param Dhimahi'.

The first verse of Shrimadbhagvatam (Bhagvad Purana) by Maharishi Vyasa states 'Satyam Param Dhimahi' (May we meditate upon the ultimate Truth). A treatise on the glories of Lord Krishna commences with such pious sankalpa - May we meditate upon the ultimate truth ! Such was the vision of our ancient Rishis. Even as he starts to shower accolades on his diety Lord Krishna he wishes all to rest in truth! He does not start this mega document by saying 'Krishnam param dhimahi' (may we meditate upon Lord Krishna) or 'Vishnu param dhimahi' (may we meditate upon Lord Vishnu) or 'Shivam param dhimahi' (may we meditate upon Lord Shiva). He says 'Satyam Param Dhimahi' (May we meditate upon the ultimate truth)!! This is Sanatan Dharama. This is the basis of Hinduism....abiding in the truth! This is the dharama that has been suffering the onslaughts of alternate belief systems that rest not on truth but on concepts like jehad and conversions. Today we need to protect this Sanatan Dharama that has never preached killings of those not adhering to its tenets or has also never preached conversion of others to its tenets. Today we need to stand up for this Dharama, that which blesses all to rest in Truth. As Krishna goaded Arjuna to fight for re establishment of Dharama, today many Arjunas are needed to stand up for the survival of this Sanatan Dharama.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

WOW & HOW - VII

WOW :

Charlie Chaplin once won 3rd prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest!

HOW :

Sara was horrified to find a fly in her tea. The waiter took her cup to the kitchen and returned with a fresh cup of tea. She shouted,"You have brought me the same tea!" How did she know?

Monday, February 2, 2009

The Call of Dharma

The word Dharma is derived from the root verb ‘Dhr’ which means to ‘uphold’, to ‘nourish’ or to ‘sustain’. Dharma is that which upholds humanity. Dharma is not religion. Religion is a restrictive concept that relates to individual societies laying down the conduct of its members in personal and social context. Thus, while Dharma outlines universal principles of existence, religion limits its canvas by seeking adherence to specified modes of worship and social interactions. As such Dharma unites but religion ends up being restrictive and thus divisive. Dharma is the law or a divine order that recognizes the nature of things in existence and is that all encompassing principle which outlines the humanity’s interaction and response to existence for its own sustenance. In other words Dharma is that which sustains and protects humanity.

The Vedic people in ancient India followed the Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan means eternal. Thus, Sanatan Dharma refers to that which is relevant since eternity and shall be relevant till eternity. It is interesting to note that the eternity of Sanatan Dharma is not just because it is indestructible or it is timeless but because it is capable of making its followers eternal by providing to them the ultimate knowledge of existence. It provides the follower the path of truth leading him to attain union with the soul.

However, Dharma which helped India prosper from time immemorial, which is said to protect humanity from ills and is so all powerful that it can lead individuals themselves to the state of being eternal, where is it today? How come India today is facing upheavals of discord and conflict? There is a remarkable dictum in the eighth chapter of Manu Smriti “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha". It implies Dharma protects those who protect it. Dharmo rakshati means dharma offers protection i.e if one chooses to live a life guided by the principles of Dharma. The second part of the dictum is rakshitaha i.e the dharma itself requires protection. This means that the concept of Dharma whose protection we seek needs to be protected!

While Dharma itself encompasses values of universalism, acceptance, tolerance, embracing diversity, etc., the second part of the statement “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha” spurs us into action. When a large section of the society starts to resort to Adharma and causes major upheavals in the society, it becomes necessary to take to action to protect dharma.

Thousands of years ago, Lord Krishna goaded Arjuna to fight, not for selfish purposes, but for higher principles of Sanatan Dharma. Adharma had attained proportions threatening dharmic (righteous) existence of humanity. Thus, the war of Mahabharata became necessary for restoration of dharma. What India is facing today is as alarming. Terrorism all over the world has assumed dimensions that threaten existence itself. Killing and maiming of innocents in the name of beliefs, dogmas and religion is destroying all the principles that Sanatan Dharma propagated. Today once again Dharma is in danger. And the call of Dharma is – action.

Dharma does not imply inaction or non action but indicates all those actions that are necessary for sustaining the health of humanity. Although it propagates the virtue of tolerance, it does not imply tolerance of intolerance. In fact Dharma cannot exist without a confrontation of intolerant ideas. The concept of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam (world is one family) ingrained in Sanatan Dharma propagates acceptance of diversity. But tolerance and acceptance of diversity does not mean acceptance of tyranny.

Adi Shanakara says in Gita Bhashya “Vedas state two fold dharma for the maintenance of the world, one characterised by action and the other by renunciation. Dharma is that which leads directly to liberation and worldly prosperity.” In the Karana Parva of Mahabharata it is stated “Dharma is for the stability of the society, the maintenance of social order and the general wellbeing and progress of humankind. Whatever conduces to the fulfilment of these objectives is Dharma, that is definite.”

Today India is facing onslaughts from dangerous belief systems which are threatening peace and prosperity that the country has been moving towards in the last 60 years since its Independence from the British rule. These belief systems have thrived over the centuries on the dogmas of terror, brutality, murders and crusades against those with alternate ways of life who are termed by them as non believers. They have practiced the doctrine of jihad – a code of murder and rapine disguised under the coating of a religion. Jihadi terrorism in India today aims at establishing this belief system in India by extermination of Hindus, the followers of Sanatan Dharma.

On the other hand, the self righteous anti Hindu intellectuals have joined these enemies from within. In the garb of globalism, tolerance, coexistence, they are competing with these enemies in undermining the Hindu pride and glorious traditions. They are using the pen and particularly the visual media to project distortions in the minds of the people of this country. At a recent meeting in Mangalore Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living said “With the support of intellectuals supporting terrorists, the pen has also become another terror along with gun, threatening the integrity and sovereignity of the nation.”

India today is secular because India is a Hindu majority country. India is a democracy also because India is Hindu. If Hindus, the followers of Sanatan Dharma, do not rise to check these onslaughts, the days of secularism and democracy in this country are numbered. The need has arisen to for Hindus to awaken from their slumber to protect Dharma. In other words, to protect Dharma is our Dharma today.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Master-piece

I stare at the canvas in front of me. This large painting sheet in front of me. All filled with colors. Some bright, some dull, some stark and loud, some mellow and somber. Colors carefully put in by me, and some splashed recklessly.

I am breathing hard, at wits end, on a mindless mission to color some more. The parts I like, I touch them not. While feverishly trying to add some sense to the spaces that make me not so happy anymore.

And as much as I try, the colors just run, and mix up with others to make all look as one. I gasp for breath and cry for a pause, and then I see the top right corner on the canvas wall.

There in the corner was a whiteness I had never seen. Where did that come from, that glossy sheen? Staring at it, such beauty I saw. All innocently and in awe.

Oh! it actually was left all alone. Untouched by colors, untouched by me, this little section was the "Master"-piece.

Friday, January 23, 2009

WOW & HOW - VI

WOW :

India was the richest country in the world before the British invasion in the 17th century !

HOW :

You have 2 jars, one of them fits exactly 5 litres and the other one fits exactly 3 litres. How would you get exactly 4 litres using these two jars?

Friday, January 16, 2009

History waiting to repeat?

The family visit to Agra last week was for the benefit of my two young nephews aged 9 and 7 years who had never seen the Taj. Strangely the visit for me turned out to be a morose one. The Taj did not seem as splendorous as it used to. The grandeur of its marble seemed to have been visibly effected, presumably, by pollution since I last saw it around two and half years ago. The badly lit inside was depressing and too claustrophobic. The too well known story of 22,000 craftsmen having their hands cut off upon the orders of the Emperor after the completion of the monument seemed to stain the beauty of the Taj as I looked at it.

Visit to the Agra Fort was no better. How Akbar, the so called ‘emperor’ died suspected to have been poisoned by his own ambitious son Jahangir. How Jahangir blinded his own son Khusraw, a contender for the throne as per Akbar’s will. Shah Jahan, Jahangir’s son killed his own brothers to secure the throne and was finally imprisoned by his own son Aurangzeb in this very Agra Fort ! Listening to the guide giving the tales of treachery, deceit, barbarism, cruelty and ruthless ambition that was played out in these monuments of Moghul historicity, I wondered how this land of Vedic culture based on truth and dharma gave way to such lowly culture of killings, loot, plunder and lust!

Greed, lust, cruelty and barbarism reflected in every story told by the guide. He showed us the phansi ghar in the basement (not open to public so we could just peep in) just below the Jahangiri Palace which incidentally was a place for rest and pleasure for the women in the emperor’s harem. It made me wonder why a phansi ghar was situated inside the living quarters and just below the place where the emperor indulged in pleasures. I was then told by the guide that this was the place where the women (queens) of the harem who fell out in disfavour were tortured and executed! Only a Moghul emperor could drink the choicest of wines and enjoy pleasures sitting atop a dungeon where hapless and screaming women were being tortured and tormented.

Looking down from the Fort we were shown a tank like structure and were curious. The guide related the story. It was a favourite sport of the members of the royal family. Elephants were kept around the tank deprived of water in hot seasons. They were drugged to make them thirstier. In that state after days of deprivation of water, they were led to this tank which was filled with alcohol. As they drank the alcohol, in that inebriated state of extreme thirst, they bloodied each other as the emperor and other royals watched with pleasure!

This was the culture that invaded the land where Sanatan Dharama was practiced. A land where animate and inanimate were revered, where birds, animals and even rivers, mountains were worshipped!

That Hindu India was prosperous and full of riches has been chronicled by various travellers. It was a coveted land. One is told of how rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds were embedded in the walls of the Moghul monuments and mausoleums creating ornate designs. Jewels were set into the floors across the vast marble. The splendour and wealth of the Moghul courts has been narrated over the years. Where did all this wealth come from? Obviously plundered and looted from the people of the land. Babur the first Moghul was a nomad and obviously did not bring it from his country. The wealth was plundered from the temples, state treasuries and the peoples of this land. It was the wealth of the Hindu land conquered by the invaders given to plunder and loot.

Even before Muslims came to India, there were wars and battles between the Kings. There were conquerors and there were the conquered. However, the wars were mainly fought between the martial classes. Strange as it may sound today, the Kings and princes observed time honoured conventions that were sanctioned in Shastras. For example, places of worship were never touched. The Brahmins and the learned were not harmed, women were not violated, and cows were not killed. In fact, non combatant civil population were never killed or captured as the battles were mostly fought in open spaces. The local population was never plundered and war booty was an unknown concept in wars and battles fought then. The kings had a code of honour and violating this code was considered reprehensible and kings found it worse than death.

However, Muslim invaders came with a different code. They would fall upon unarmed, hapless civil population after a victory on the battlefield. They would burn down villages and towns after the defending martial warriors had been killed. They went in for mass murders of the civil population and Brahmins were their special targets. They pillaged and looted even from the bodies of the dead. They raped and captured women who were considered a part of the booty. Those who were not killed were sold as slaves. This was the code of the Muslim invaders – code of their Prophet. They did it all for their Prophet as ‘holy warriors’. The world famous historian, Will Durant has written in his Story of Civilisation that "the Mohammedan conquest of India was probably the bloodiest story in history". The Hindus found it very hard to understand the psychology of this new invader which they were witnessing for the first time in history. If one were to read the chronicles of those times, advent of the Muslims into India became possible only through deceit and treachery and not out of valor or greater prowess.

Then came the British and the plundering of this hapless people continued and more than ever before. It was not a plundering for a short while. It lasted for a full 200 years from the battle Plassey in 1757 to Independence in 1947. So much so that a country which even after being ruled over by the Muslim invaders for so long was considered the “brightest jewel in the British Crown”, at the beginning of the 20th century, India was the poorest country in the world in terms of per capita income! After 1000 years of attacks against Hinduism, India gained Independence but at the cost of partition of the land with hundreds of thousands of Hindus killed and driven out of their homes by Muslim claimants to the North Western part of the country.

Last 60 years India has tried to regain its self with economic progress on all the fronts. Today, it is being projected as the 'Superpower' of tommorrow. It has tried to forgive and forget the wounds afflicted since the days of Mohd bin Qasim. It has been trying to think of a better future for its people. Hindus accepted a large part of Muslim population within even though a separate state Pakistan was carved out as homeland for Muslims. They embraced the followers of Christianity which had bled them and ruled over them for over 200 years. All because Hindu way of life is inherently tolerant and accepts all diversity with a vision of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam (world is one family). However, it has again become a target of these two monotheistic religions. For over a decade now Islamic terrorists have been attacking mainly the Hindu population. The objective of the ‘jihadi’ terrorists is to divide India once again on the basis of religion and create what they envision as Mughalistan. On the other hand, the poor and underprivileged are constantly being targeted by the Christian evangelists, converting them to Christianity against lure of money brought in from the affluent West. These conversions have assumed alarming proportions in the last couple of years.

Is history waiting to repeat itself ?

Sunday, January 4, 2009

WOW & HOW - V

WOW :

It is impossible to lick one's own elbow!

HOW :

If you take away some, whole is left. If you take away whole, some is left. How is it?

Saturday, January 3, 2009

H H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's message for the year 2009!

"The last hour of 2008. The time on this planet for us is a gift. Time is a gift to ourself. When we consider time as a gift our whole outlook towards life shifts. Like every year 2008 also has offered you many gifts. With it's thorns it has made you strong, with its petals it has given u joy.

Any event has the good and not so good. The not so good has made you strong and realize you can handle it. Good part gives you peace and tranquility. This Last hour is good to reflect how you welcomed 08 when it came and how it swept you and swirled you and passed you on to 09. 2008 has made many rich people poor. Those who never thought they could come down from their ivory towers had to smell mud. Many who have cheated got exposed. The flaws of capitalism laid bare before our eyes in 2008, like 20 years ago, in 1989 the bubble of communism burst. Through all this time we learnt one lesson- we should never compromise on human values. Love, compassion, sense of gratefulness and vision for everyone has to dawn in our life. 2008 also saw terrorism, loss of life, Sudan, Iraq, Gaza, India had the worst ever terror attacks.

People have asked me — that they are feeling guilty to celebrate. Barely two months after the economy fell, one month after terror attacks — how to celebrate? Yes, you will feel guilty when your celebration is aimed at gratifying yourself. But if the intention is to uplift everyone in your area, just do it. Don't delay it. We will never feel guilty if we our celebration takes people out of their gloomy moods. This celebration becomes service and there is no guilt. And when your service becomes celebration, there is no ego and pride in it. Get this. When celebration becomes service, there is not guilt. And when service becomes celebration, there is no pride. Let us celebrate with this one intention that let's bring home the (Spiritual) Knowledge to everyone — that life, events are impermanent. What is permanent is our spirit, our consciousness. It has no birth and death. Life at a higher plane is eternal and so celebrate every moment knowing that every moment is a gift to us.

In 2009 we have a great responsibility to uplift the planet from the ashes of the disasters of 2008. New hope, new creation has to made. It is easy to get swept away in a negative mode. It takes courage to move out of it. I am sure all those who are here have this capacity … And all those who are listening (and reading this) also have that capacity!

At 11 pm, make 2 wishes
1- Personal - What you want for yourself in 2009
2- What you want for the world (ie: peace in Sudan and Iraq, stronger economy in the US,…)
And if there is no difference between these two wishes, then you are enlightened !!!

Last year there was a concern that there would not be enough food on the planet to feed everyone. This year I feel there will be plenty of food on the planet for everyone (lot of yield will come through). Later this year economically Europe and US will become strong. Don't have concerns. It will become better and better … the second half of the year (2009)."

JAI GURUDEV!
HAPPY 2009!!