We hope the July 2009 edition of Tattva finds you enjoying your summer. For students, summer is an opportunity for personal growth and play. These few months allow us ample time to reflect, to study ourselves and identify strengths and weaknesses, and to figure out what we want – what makes us happy. We also get time to think about what we have to offer; how we can contribute to society, how we can make our families proud, and how we might demonstrate gratitude towards our friends. And perhaps most importantly, summer provides us a unique opportunity to carelessly flail our limbs in free-form and enjoy ourselves to the fullest, without an end in sight. So we hope that Tattva can be a part of your summer, and further encourage you to participate in the 2009 Essay Contest, for which the deadline is just a couple of weeks away. Follow the tab at the top of the page for more information on the essay contest. We thank you for your interest in Tattva Magazine, and hope you thoroughly enjoy the rest of your summer.

Cheers,
Tattva Team

The typical image you see of India is not the one of the glistening modern metropolis such as Bangalore, or of the booming Bollywood industry, or even of some of the picturesque wonders out in the countryside. Instead, we’re treated to a National Geographic image of a cow obstructing the passage of cars, motorcycles, and carts on a trash-strewn highway, oftentimes accompanied by a dirty three-year old boy in rags, begging for money. Now do such images occur? Yes, I can’t deny them. Do they occur on a daily basis? Probably. India is such a vast expanse of land, filled with so many people, that you’d be hard-pressed to find a day where this scene did not happen in one city or another. But by making this the central theme of Indian photography and journalism abroad, they’re trying to send a message to those Indian youth who are part of the audience of these attacks.

And if it’s not the trivial stuff, then the media turns its trained biased eye on politics. When Israel can get a country by displacing Palestinian people, why can’t we replace the mosque in the ancient city of Ayodhya? Such sentiments are brushed aside. “Fanatics,” they call people with this notion. In the 2004 Parliamentary elections, we were getting ready to support as Prime Minister the Italian-born, Catholic, white woman, Sonia Gandhi, who happened to marry her way to her current position. In what other place would people opposing such a maneuver be viewed as radicals by the media? Even in the United States a naturalized citizen cannot run for President.

It’s not easy to shake off the chains of this incendiary journalism, but it’s something I strive to do. I always view stories about my motherland with a saffron state of mind.
What is saffron? Basically, it’s a lighter shade of orange. But it’s not just a color or pigment. Saffron is a symbol of the Indian people, and of Hinduism. In older days, the great kings of the subcontinent would hoist the radiating flag on their chariots as they rode into battle; a second sun beaming over the bloody battlefields. Saffron is the color of purity, like the burning fire which purges the evil from our minds and souls. It’s the light that guides our culture through the thousands of years of imperialism, so that we stand together, one billion strong, despite the attempts of the British, of the Mughals, of the Huns, and of Alexander “The Great,” to obliterate us.

From temple vandalism to empire building, from Partition to poverty, we’ve done something the Ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Mayans couldn’t do: stayed alive and remained important. We gave the world its current numeral system (ironically enough classified as “Arabic numerals” in history books) and continue to give the world important scientific concepts as pioneers in medicine and engineering (who hasn’t heard of the prestigious IITs?). And we have this beacon of hope, the real “banner that yet waves,” the illuminating rang of saffron as our emblem. It transcends across the physical plane and into the hearts and souls and minds of those who are willing to believe in our ideology.

I could say that saffron is my “mantra”, but I know what that word really means and where it really comes from. Merriam and Webster raped our words like the Caucasian fitness schools did our Yoga, extracting the spiritual essence—the core of the techniques—and crudely translating the postures into simple English, to dilute its potency. On TV, I can hear about economic “gurus,” listen to Apu, or find out how Louisiana’s Governor, Bobby Jindal—the first Indian-American to become governor—ended up hating us so much that he changed his first name and converted to Christianity, but still finds himself snubbed by John McCain at the hands of Sarah Palin.

Or I can see the news about the canonization of Sister Alphonsa Bharanangnam in the fall of 2008 by the Catholic Church, amidst the religious “turbulence” of the region. The Pope and his cronies have funneled money into numerous protests and articles condemning the Hindu people of the region for stirring up unnecessary hatred against “defenseless” and “poor” Christian missionaries and indigenous Indians. But this is merely a political charade, meant for pandering to the international community and that all-so benevolent media force, in a fairly successful attempt at forcing our corrupt government bureaucracy to crumple up like an empty paper bag under the pressure.

What the Catholic Church tries to hide is the vibrant Christian community that existed before the days of European imperialism. They like to flaunt the success of their missionaries, such as Mother Theresa, but none of this can offset the condescending attitude the Catholic man from abroad brings into India. They feed the poor, but desecrate our culture; they build schools but teach our people to view their way of life as inferior. They corrupt the minds of young rural Indian children with the vivid Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, blood and gore and all, while forgetting that in America, the Passion of the Christ was rated R and highly controversial.

In these tribal regions of India, Christian missionaries have been causing hostilities with the Hindu priests, hurling epithets in their direction, and threatening to kill them in some instances. Alas, their preemptive warning came to pass. Months before the canonization, they raided the ashram of eighty-year old priest Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, shooting dead the priest himself and four others, in front of hundreds of innocent children which the ashram shelters.

The response of the missionaries is simple and callous: defer blame to Marxist rebels in the region, despite the fact that they were ones plotting with these rebels and they were the ones who had attacked Swami Lakshmananda eight times in nearly forty years. And naturally, the government found itself mired in a bogus investigation, and the world refused to take notice until the next day, when the outraged villagers responded to the shooting death by burning a convent, which was vacated save for a couple of nuns, out of which only one died. And then, of course, the media became compelled to take action.

I was online that day, and happened to read an article from the Associated Press. In it was no mention of the murdered Priest; just a depiction of the “brutality” from the “Hindu fundamentalists.” And that is how they try to douse out our eternal saffron flame that radiates through these turbulent times. They try to make us flee from our heritage in disgrace; try to protect their cause by turning world opinion against us, to make us take a ‘secular’ approach at ruling our own damn country.

Is violence ever justified? Not really. Ahimsa (nonviolence) is a central tenet in Hinduism. But cowardice is weakness, and in an era when Islamic terrorists have bombed the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan, and in cities like Jaipur and Bangalore recently (to say nothing of the attack on Mumbai), there comes a time when the flame rages fiercely, to the point where it cannot be contained until it asserts itself boldly, a brilliant spark of rage against the drab dismally gray scenery. And that’s the power of saffron.
Blasphemy.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” my Catholic school principal used to say to me at times when it clearly wasn’t warranted, like when I needed to retort the bully who tried to demean me on a constant basis. Of course, such dogma comes in handy when it’s time to cover up like a murderer who was caught red-handed. Which ‘wrong’ hurts more: the sexual abuse of a young boy or the subsequent murder of one of the defrocked priests in jail? The closing of a school due to debt from multimillion dollar lawsuits or the activism against the closure? The murder of an eighty-year old Hindu priest and his wife or the subsequent riots? Well, which one could have been avoided had one of those not occurred first?
There comes a time when we must remember our roots and follow their blazing path towards justice. There comes the time when a central potent light guides us all. A spark was ignited, and it has now grown into a ball of flame capable of cleansing us of our weakness, bringing us back onto a track of peace and prosperity.

It’s the saffron state of mind, and it glows brighter than ever before.

Sanchay Jain is in twelfth grade at Boston Latin School. You can contact him at   jetblackskj@yahoo.com.

“…You are not entitled to any benefits resulting from your actions. At the same time you are not entitled to a state of not acting at all. Thus you should act according to your stature without any hope of enjoying the fruits of your action.”

Karma Yoga is one of the most important Dharmas that come with acquiring the Human Form. Dharma and Karma share the cause-effect relationship in which the living entity has to know and understand its Dharma. Dharma is the Hindu Sanskrit word for ‘Duty’; those who pursue their Dharma to its true purpose and value also have its positive fruits, or Karma, ‘Action’. It is one’s righteous duty to follow their Dharma because a living entity’s wheel of Dharma is forever dependent on his/her Karma in which the entity has complete control over its own Karma. Therefore, Dharma and Karma have a strong relationship with one another. There are three different kind of Karmas; Prarabdha, Sanchita, and Agami. Prarabdha Karma is the Karma that is ripe for reaping; it is the Karma that we cannot escape. There are certain things in our lives that we cannot explain, certain circumstances that we have no control over; this is where we have to take Prarabdha Karma into account. It is the Karma that is leftover, the result of all the actions that were discontinued in one’s past life that carried on to the present life and are finding themselves ready to unwind. In addition, Sanchita and Agami Karma are the other two Karmas that play a significant role in one’s present life that. If the soul of a body is the train trying to reach its ultimate destination, the spiritual world, Prarabdha, Sanchita, and Agami Karmas are its machinery ready to help the train reach its destination. In Vedanta Philosophy there is a famous analogy of a hunter getting ready to shoot the arrows in his hand. The arrow that has already left his hand, which he cannot hold on to or recall, is the Prarabdha Karma. The arrow ready to leave his hand to which he strongly grasps on is Sanchita Karma. The bundle of arrows in his back, which are waiting is his Agami Karma. He has no control over the Prarabdha Karma, which is going to reach its destination no matter whether the arrow is pointed at a particular direction, is already on its way, or soon going to come to an end. However, what a living entity has complete control over is his or her Sanchita and Agami Karma, the arrow in their hands (the present) and the arrows on their back (their future). For at this point we should carefully consider where we want to point the arrow for this is ultimately where Karma Yoga comes in.

Sanchita and Agami are the Karmas that everyone has control over through the previous analogy in Vedanta Literature we understand that we truly have control over our future. We can only shape, twist and turn, for the better or for the worse of our future. Karma is a Hindu Sanskrit word for ‘action’. Whether one takes it in terms of its true meaning or not, one thing we are for sure in the present modern age is that Humans are consumed by the notion of having pleasure, pleasure to its fullest form. Some have the following perspective on life, “all you know you have is today, you do not know if there is a ‘tomorrow’ so live life to its fullest for now”, however, this is where the action of taking life for granted comes in. Through this thought, one embarks on a journey to achieve nothing but pleasure regardless of what that pleasure can do to one. As Swami Vivekananda explains “the goal of mankind is knowledge, pleasure is not the goal of man but     knowledge…It is a mistake to suppose that pleasure is the goal. The cause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for. After a time man finds that it is not happiness, but knowledge, towards which he is going, and that both pleasure and pain are great teachers, and that he learns as much from evil as from good.”

In my opinion, knowledge and truth should be the ultimate goals of life, for knowledge and truth are eternal while pleasure is temporary. Knowledge and truth must always be pursued from the beginning to the end of life for they provide the strength for the soul to transmigrate on to its next life. One must realize that in order to pursue such eternal values, one has to discover and realize from within the value of such values. Knowledge and truth are not just a given, but they are what is already out there to discover because they are found internally. When one conquers this inner self and discovers that this knowledge and truth are running through his or her atomic soul every second, every moment, it is when such realization results in action. This action determines our present and our future and the only action we ourselves have control over. Abdul Kalam once said “Dream, dream, dream for dreams are turned into thoughts and thoughts result in action”. This ‘dream’ or this so called ‘thought’ is what our soul tells us. If we realize that such a thought must result in an action only so that it benefits the community around us, such a thought must result in an action.

In addition, the only way to know if a certain thought should be turned into an action is to perform it as it is one’s Dharma. Performing an action purely in its form without expecting any results is the only way one can perform such actions for their own, true purpose. Taking up that one thought and pursuing it to its final result without any expectation is the true meaning of Karma Yoga. With the body, the mind, the intellect, and even with merely the senses, the Yogis perform action towards self-purification, thus having abandoned attachment. Those who are disciplined in Yoga abandon the fruits of action and attain continuous peace. The goal of anyone’s life is to achieve eternal peace, and such peace can only be attained in Yoga. Self-purification is a key element which one must work towards. A person of many positive habits transforms the thought into positive actions. Such positive habits also aid the person in self-purification, which is a platform for positive actions. Karma Yoga is the best yoga to pursue because it is proven to be the easiest to attain.

This self-purification can also be achieved through the five Kosas; Annamaya (Physical), Pranamaya (Life Force), Manomaya (Mental), and Vijnanamaya (Intellectual) through which certain physical Yogas can be performed for self-purification. All of these Kosas, which are enhanced by various Yogas, lead to Anandamaya for which there is no practice of Yoga because this is where the person achieves Anandam (happiness). Once this Anandamaya is achieved one achieves Sat-Chita-Ananda, which is also known as Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. All of this allows us to perform a part of Karma Yoga called Nishkam Karma, a selfless action that is performed without any expectation of fruits or result. When one pursues just Nishkam Karma through Karma Yoga, one also attains the other three Yogas. However, in order to perform Karma Yoga that benefits both the self in regards to our Sanchita and Agami Karma and the society, we shall do Seva. Through Seva, which is selfless work, one can use the concept of Karma Yoga to both provide strength for the inner self and the society. Doing Seva is the only way to achieve the self-satisfaction and eternal self-happiness. Another benefit of Karma Yoga is that the rest of the three Yogas are also achieved. While working with the Bhutanese Refugees, I looked to the concept of Karma Yoga to give a meaning to what I do and why I do it. Through this, Bhakti, Jnana, and Raja Yoga have become a central part of my life. Reading the Bhagavad Gita (Jnana Yoga), the Vedas, Upanishads, and various other scriptures and works like that of Swami Vivekananda, I was able to give my Karma Yoga a meaning. Through such understanding of these works, I also understood the meaning of Bhakti (Spirituality/Devotion) Yoga where everything I do now comes from within. Raja Yoga has its benefits where it provides me with a sense of stability in my mind and heart regardless of what kind of Karma I may experience. In addition, it provides my soul with the positive energy to face any kind of obstacles in life. For example, there is the analogy of a person in a dark room looking for a blanket. The person does not have to find all four corners of the blanket in order to find the blanket, and if he finds and latches onto one corner, the rest of them are achieved, and the blanket is acquired.

What all of us must be doing is giving each other a perspective of life through which we lead. It is up to the individual to look at a certain perspective and see if it is right for them to pursue. Any kind of thoughts, beliefs, or actions must not be forced on a person because such things must always come internally. Wherever knowledge is, the mind follows. Wherever truth is the heart follows. Let us not force our religions on each other, and let us not try to convert each other. You believe what you believe in; I will believe what I believe in. Give me a perspective; do not force me into what you think. It is said that one-fourth we learn from our Gurus (teachers and parents), one-fourth we learn from our peers, one-fourth we learn from texts, the last one fourth through time and experience. So let us observe what others say, let us listen to what others believe in, let us read to clarify those perspectives, let us respect those who have experience what we have yet to experience, and then let’s make up our mind and lead a positive, meaningful life that benefits ourselves, our community and our world. I’m not a Hindu, I’m not a Muslim, I’m not a Christian and I’m not a Jew. I’m not an Indian, I’m not an American, I’m not Chinese, and I’m not an Arab. I was born on this Earth as a Citizen of Humanity; let my service ultimately be for these citizens of humanity who have every right over their own thought, own body. Let us share our perspectives and thoughts but never force them, let’s leave up to each other to decide the path of life. Let us start NOW, let’s make our move NOW, no cause and no contribution has age, as the youth this is the time to benefit and make a change in this world for a future that is better for all.

Sai is an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University. He is majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering with a minor in astronomy. He is also a varsity cross country and indoor and outdoor track runner for his university. He is the founder and president of CWRU Hindu YUVA.

The weekend was packed with very creative and interactive sessions which encompassed both intellectual and physical sessions, allowing for a proper balance,  leaving the students with a clear sense of self-identity (what is my culture, my religion, my heritage) and new found, ever-lasting friendship. The intellectual sessions were delivered through workshops, discussions, power point presentations, and videos, while the physical sessions included a variety of games, canoeing, and hiking.
Two themes were chosen for the retreat – Challenges we face as Hindu Youth in America and Seva (service). The theme for Saturday was Seva, and one of the first activities done to convey this concept was canoeing. Students were divided up into teams, and various tasks/challenges had to be overcome while canoeing (i.e providing dry blankets to little children without it getting wet, narrating a bedtime story to children etc).  By using this creative avenue, the importance and works of different organizations that are involved in Seva was introduced, focusing particularly on an organization called Umang, which is working towards educating and improving the lives of poor children in Mumbai, India. Also, a video was shown which summarized and re-emphasized the variety of Seva projects that are going on in India, allowing students to see the challenges and changes that have come about as a result of the projects thus far. Similarly, a workshop session which addressed different societal problems (water bottles and its detrimental effect on the environment, domestic violence, Bhutanese refugees etc), were given as scenarios to the teams, and each team had to come up with a television commercial (skit), a t-shirt design with logo and punch-line, and some other creative method to raise awareness regarding the issue. The second day theme was the Challenges we face as Hindu Youth in America, and this theme was presented through another a workshop, where teams were given different scenarios to enact and possibly provide a solution on how to deal with those issues. Some of the scenarios used were, roommate mocking Hindu dharma, a professor teaching incorrect information about Hinduism/India, conversion on campus, etc.  Along with the workshop session, an informal discussion on the need to come together and the role of the Hindu Youth and such retreats was discussed. This session was more for the students to speak, ask questions/concerns, and offer their perspective on this concept. With the guidance of people like Saumitra Gokhale and Yashwant Belsare, this session was able to throw light on some of the of basic questions regarding our culture, our religion, our identity and the need to keep it alive. A presentation by Saumitra Gokhale on the “Hindu Compass: Where does it point,” elaborated the various challenges and opportunities we face as Hindus, where we can contribute as Hindus, our roles as the youth, the need for working together to overcome our challenges.  Again, this session was very informal, allowing students to discuss their practical challenges. Also, this session reminded the students of where their roots are really stemming from, what their heritage holds and can offer to the world, leaving the youth inspired, motivated, and confident in themselves and their abilities to make a difference.
An innovative approach was taken to bring in Hindu philosophy and religion to the retreat, without making it monotonous and boring.  In essence, the entire session was a discussion, however to make it more interesting and fun, small video clips on various controversial and complicated situations were shown from the Mahabharata and Ramayana.   The purpose of this was to look at these scenarios through the perspective of a youth (and not look at them as stories, as most of usually do), and analyze, criticize, argue, agree and question each other, eventually learning the deeper, symbolic meaning of those particular characters and situations.  Some of the characters discussed were Shabri, Ekalavya, Draupadi, Duryodhan, and Dronacharya.  This session allowed the youth to relate to the characters and situations, which created a better understanding and respect for the epics.   Another insightful session was the panel discussion in which current full time volunteers of HSS, along with those who have already served, were asked questions regarding their experiences, their role models, and their personal motivation for this kind of work.  This session became instrumental in portraying that the challenges and questions they faced are very similar to those that the youth are currently facing, and these can be overcome if we come together.  But, listening to inspirational experiences was not enough to get the youth going. Different activities in which the youth can make difference on campus and in their communities were also discussed.  Registering Hindu Yuva on campuses and doing activities such as speaker on campus, yoga marathon, and adventure camps are some of the ways to stay involved and continue to become more aware and proud of the culture we are descendents of.
Of course, the evenings were for Shakha, where time was dedicated for learning Niyuddh and playing different games such as Danda goal and “stacking the seven flat stones.”  The “Hiking for the divine trinity” was another activity which really brought out healthy competition and team spirit.  The hiking consisted of a treasure hunt, along with an obstacle course that had to be done by each team member.  The last obstacle, and most probably the hardest of all, was to sing “Hum yuva hai hum kare mushkilo se samana,”
– the camp song – by heart.
The nightly sessions, or ratri karyakrams, usually were followed after dinner. Saturday night, the students joined the family camp (which was going on simultaneously) in their cultural show and enjoyed a performance of a variety of folk dances from the different parts of India.  Similarly, on Sunday night, the students put up their own cultural show and showcased their own talents, through singing, dancing, and enacting small skits and playing various instruments.   The cultural show was then followed by a long night of campfire songs, solving riddles, munching on some midnights snacks, and then finally calling it a night.  Monday was the last day of the youth retreat, and thus, consisted of a concluding session, where testimonials were offered by the students, after which an inspirational and energizing speech was delivered by Saumitra Gokhale.
The purpose of the retreat was to re-connect to our Hindu roots, but in a creative manner, that which appealed to the youth, and without a doubt, the two and half days spent together in the Laure Walker State Park, allowed the students to better understand, find new interest in, and strengthen their pride for their rich, ancient religion – Santana Dharma.

Sathya Sai Baba preaches love and the unity of all world religions and asserts that people who follow him do not need to give up their original religion. His followers view his teachings as syncretic (uniting all religions), but his message remains fundamentally Hindu. He says that he has come to restore faith in and encourage the practice of the teachings in the Vedas. Several books and discourses by him, such as the book Ramakatha Rasavahini, teach the literal interpretation of Hindu mythology and advocate the practice of Hindu Dharma.
Apart from teaching the unity and equality of all the religions Sathya Sai Baba places particular emphasis on the role of women (especially mothers) in society. He has stated that mothers build society. That is why he teaches respect for parents, especially for the mother. He also said that the level of a nation depends on their respect for women.
Across the globe local Sathya Sai Baba groups assemble to sing bhajans, study Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings, do collective community service, and teach Education in Human Values. Baba’s movement is not missionary and Baba discouraged publicity for him in a public discourse in 1968. Bhajans are sung at nearly every meeting with the names of the traditional Hindu deities as well as saints and prophets of other religions occasionally replaced by Baba’s name.
Based on Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings, his organization advocates the five basic human values. These values are truth, right conduct, living in accord with natural law, non-violence, love for God and all his creatures and peace.

Other primary teachings are:

Love for all creatures and objects.
Putting a ceiling (limit) on one’s desires
Celibacy after age of fifty.
Everything that has been created is maya (illusion), only God is real.
Every creature and object is God in form, though most do not experience this as their reality.
Vegetarianism, moderate and sattvik diet.
Abstinence from drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and taking drugs.
Detachment from the material world.
Meditation (dhyan). Baba teaches four techniques: repetition of the name of God, visualizing the form of God, sitting in silence, and jyoti (Flame/Light meditation).
Inclusive acceptance of all religions as paths to realizing the One (God).
Importance of bhakti (devotion) to God.
Developing virtues (prashanti) and eschewing vices of character.
Japa and other sadhana (spiritual exercise) to foster devotion.
Reverence for parents, teachers and elders.
Sense control
Highly committed devotees use the phrase “Sai Ram” as a salutation.
Women should strive to realize stri-dharma, the inherent virtues of womanhood.
Altruism
Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings are said to be realized by observing the following four principles:
There is only one Caste, the Caste of Humanity;
There is only one Religion, the Religion of Love;
There is only one Language, the Language of the Heart;
There is only One God and He is Omnipresent

Dr. Arnold Joseph Toynbee (1889-1975) the great British historian:

His massive research was published in 12 volumes between 1934 and 1961 as `A Study of History’. Author of several books, including Christianity: Among the Religions of the World and One World and India. Toynbee was a major interpreter of human civilization in the 20th century. What follows are some extracts of his writing that reveal that it is only Hindu teachings such as propagated by Sai Baba that would save the world in the Twenty-first Century.
‘It is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a Western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in self-destruction of the human race. At this supremely dangerous moment in human history, the only way of salvation is the ancient Hindu way. Here we have the attitude and spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together in to a single family. So now we turn to India.
This spiritual gift, that makes a man human, is still alive in Indian souls. Go on giving the world Indian examples of it. Nothing else can do so much to help mankind to save itself from destruction.
‘This is a hard saying for adherents of the higher religions of the Judaic family (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), but it is a truism for Hindus. The spirit of mutual good-will, esteem, and veritable love … is the traditional spirit of the religions of the Indian family. This is one of India’s gifts to the world. At the close of this century, the world would be dominated by the West, but that in the 21st century “India will conquer her conquerors.”
We are now well within 21st century and for the ‘spirit of mutual good-will, esteem and veritable love’ to prevail among all people it is desirable that verses like the ones from Surah 6, that are quoted below, are removed from Quran.

30. If you could but see when they will be held (brought and made to stand) in front of their Lord! He will say: “Is not this (Resurrection and the taking of the accounts) the truth?” They will say: “Yes, by our Lord!” He will then say: “So taste you the torment because you used not to believe.”

49. But those who reject Our Ayât, the torment will touch them for their disbelief (and for their belying the Message of Muhammad).

Such verses only mark violent differences borne from belief in some metaphors. That these verses are metaphors was perhaps in the mind of the 18th century British historian Edward Gibbon when he wrote in the Chapter 50 of the History of decline and Fall of Roman Empire: “The faith which, under the name of Islam, he preached to his family and nation is compounded of an eternal truth, and a necessary fiction, That there is only one God, and that Mahomet is the apostle of God.”
In the next paper we shall try to understand the concept of enacting positive change in the Society as advocated by Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Colonel Mahendra Mathur prematurely retired from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army in 1975 to build a highway in Tobago. Subsequently he was appointed Director of National Emergency Management Agency of Trinidad and Tobago before retiring in 1998. You can contact him at <mmathur@tstt.net.tt>

Kriya Yoga is a five-fold complete process of God realization such as Kriya Hath Yoga, Kriya Kundalini Pranayam, Kriya Dhyana Yoga, Kriya Mantra Yoga and Kriya Bhakti Yoga. The word ‘Kriya’ has derived from the letters‘Kri’ meaning ‘Action’ and ‘Ya’ meaning Soul. Kriya Yoga is a scientific technique, which closely follows the method propounded by Sage Patanjali in Yogashastra, the monumental treatise on Yoga. In the five-fold Kriya Yoga is process, the common platform is Karma Yoga. The techniques of Kriya Yoga give constant Divine Perception. Its speciality is that it develops simultaneously body, mind and soul, in the shortest possible time.

After regular practice, Kriya Yoga can reduce the toxins and blockages and bring the energy flows which circulate and passes through various channels and Chakras.  Once the transformation starts on biological level, it reflects on the mind. In the process, habits such as over-eating and over-sleeping, tiredness and irritation will automatically subside.

“The mental freshness at any work gives concentration to hear the Divine sound and feel the transformation within. The feeling of oneness with the Supreme Consciousness gives a movement to meet and experience God”. The difficulties. which are linked with our Chakras, endocrine system and organs, totally disappear, removing the internal blockages. It is the consciousness of the energy which goes from physio-consciousness to Supreme Consciousness”, says Sadguru Mangeshda.

Five senses and five elements fully support this Kriya or action. A normal person generally takes 15 breaths per minute. But due to stress and shaky mind, it becomes 22 to 28. As per the fundamental principle of respiration, all energy forced out during exhalation is not regained during inhalation resulting in the loss of some energy. In the process, normal life span is reduced to the extent of energy loss. Forcing out energy is more than normal during anger, fear and tension. The retention of oxygen in the system is minimized on such occasions and carbon is collected in the respiratory system every minute. The blood becomes impure and with every breath, we hardly pass oxygen to the blood vessels. Through Kriya techniques, blood is purified first and bring the flow of Albumin, Globulin and Fibrinogen which are the proteins running through the blood vessels, keeping the body healthy and lustrous.
In Kriya practice, deep inhalation is taken and sufficient oxygen goes into the lungs, heart and brain. The oxygen purifies the impure blood and the purified blood carries hemoglobin to the whole system. This hemoglobin constantly passes through over 72 billion blood vessels and fine tissues.

With the help of scientific breathing techniques of Kriya Yoga, the impurities in the bloodstream and malfunctioning of the body organs is removed. This is achieved by passing the subtle force of Pranic energy through Nadis, which in turn pass through nerve centres called Chakras. This Pranic energy travels from down, passing through seven Chakras. The five main parts of the breath such as Apana, Samana, Vyana, Prana and Udana are interrelated to the seven Chakras which facilitate the transformation.

Kriya Yoga practiced under a Realised Guru can increase lifespan and attain enlightenment. Kriyaban, the practioner of Kriya Yoga should have faith in his Guru and be totally surrendered to him. The ego of the practitioner should be sacrificed at the feet of his Guru and then only the love and respect of the Guru will be bestowed on him.

There are six levels of Kriya Dikshas taking a Sadhak step by step towards the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the highest stage of spirituality. Kriya Yoga brings discipline at all levels. The increased energy level enables a person to get success in any field. Regular Kriya practice allows one to explore and know the mind and go beyond. The six building blocks of Kriya Yoga are: Asanas (physical postures), Mudras (External expression of an inner attitude), Bandha (Physio-psychic locks), Mantra (Special sound pattern), Pranayam (Manipulation of breath to control Prana) and Psychic passage awareness.

Sadguru Mangeshda Kriya Yoga Foundation is aimed at spreading awareness about holistic living with a healthy body, mind and soul. It has 72 centres worldwide. Sadguru Yogiraj Sri Sri Mangeshda has dedicated his life to awaken and integrate people of all religions, castes and creed by a strong bond of Unconditional Love and Unconditional Forgiveness by spreading love energy all over the world.  A spiritual village is coming up on the banks of river Amba on Khopoli-Pali Road in Raigard district. The 65-acre plot nestled in the wilderness of hillocks is located at an altitude of 1,600 ft. above sea level. (For details, visit www.mangeshda.org).

My mother introduced me to yoga in 1970 in St. Louis, Missouri.  As a divorced mother of two, she was a force of independent feminism and as such explored all radical alternatives including the ancient science of life. A nimble, nubile nine year old, I took to the postures with ease. I especially enjoyed the vision of my mother and her girlfriend in their purple and orange leotards and tights which they called their pumpkin suit and eggplant suit. Both of them were relaxed and full of lightheartedness as they cared for their body-mind-spirit. It was great to be allowed to tag along for that groovy grown up experience.

Yoga continued for me at the end of my dance classes during our stretches. It was always my favorite part of dance. By the time I was 18, I was asked to teach the stretching part of dance classes for my friend who conducted the rest of the classes. Jill still says I started teaching yoga with her back then in 1978, but we just couldn’t call it that then because it wasn’t “cool.” So between disco class and gymnastics, I taught yoga at the YMCA in the small midwestern town where we went to high school.

Adult teaching started in 1985 when I was on retreat at a women’s fitness camp in Wisconsin. The regular yoga teacher was called away for a family emergency, and it was either I step up, or there was no class.  In my pajamas, barefoot, I began teaching on the lawn at dawn. I pulled from the few words of encouragement from my teachers, as well as what I had learned from the few books on the subject at that time.

Twenty-four years later, I can say I had no idea I would still be teaching.  I’d continued dancing and was with a post-modern company, as well as having become a psychotherapist.  Yoga helped me immensely heal from injuries dancing, as well as help me keep my center as a therapist.  It facilitated my integration of these separate aspects of my self and as such I always approached teaching as an opportunity to be an undercover angel of transformation, whether the students knew of the vast path they has stepped onto or not.

At first, dancewear clad moms tried to get their bodies back in shape in church basements or those exotically inclined sat cross-legged in baggy pants in the name of yoga. Large cities had a few yoga studios with diverse practices from gentle Sivananda stlye to the challenging rope walls of Iyengar style without much interface. In myself I distilled the best of what the practice offered me and blended it together with my demeanor as a psychotherapist and my presentation as a dancer.

Having benefitted greatly from yoga coming to America, I felt strongly pulled to go meet it in its home- the mother continent of India in 1992. After practicing one-on-one in a sari with a teacher named Padma, I had a greater understanding of the authentic practice. Only afterward did I fully enter and inhabit the role of yoga teacher. Subsequent trips to India have deepened my awareness of the part yoga practice may play in the life of a householder.

In the early 90’s students were starved for the powerful practices that yoga offered as an alternative to the joint jarring aerobics popular at that time.  I taught the only regularly scheduled yoga classes on the remote island of Kauai in Hawaii for years. In the late 90’s on Guam I did the same. These experiences had me teaching at athletic clubs, in new age book stores, privately in fabulous homes, in science classrooms, for the opera, at the jail as well as in my own studio.

I started Yoga Teacher Trainings in Bali as a way for me to replace myself so I could return to the mainland to be nearer my aging (gracefully) mother. I met Bob Smith there and continued to teach YTTs with him in Seattle as a bridge for my return to the mainland. No culture shock has been as great as what I faced upon coming “home.”

Yoga studios seemed to spring up on every corner like the Starbucks which seemed to fuel them. Everywhere there were consciously clad cool yoga students carrying yoga mats in specially designed bags. Yoga props were for sale at the big box stores. Yoga videos were at the checkout stands at the supermarket. Yoga music, clothing, jewelry, and furnishings were available at every bookstore or studio as if the whole lifestyle were something one could buy. Yoga magazines and books filled shelves with ads and “expertise.” It was dizzying and a little scary considering what the pictures were showing as correct posture, often contradicting themselves from one page to the next. Bob Smith says the yoga trend “turned into a physical exercise program lacking the rest of the limbs” referring to the eight limbs of yoga as stated in the Sutras. Heated rooms burning fossil fuels to franchise spirituality needs “to reconnect to the root of the practice.” I concur wholeheartedly.

During my 10 years at the Hatha Yoga Center (HYC), I have continued teaching YTT as well as regular daily classes, private sessions, retreats and workshops.  I’ve stayed with my daily practices which inform my service to others. I’ve watched while yoga hybrids have come and gone. Strip Yoga, Yoga with your Dog, YoPi, swirl around in the greater yoga community here in Seattle, yet I stay to my eclectic and consistent practice and enjoy the reports from others who are checking out the trend. Mostly, withdrawing my senses from all that external focus so I can practice asana, pranayama, and meditation based on the yamas and niyamas with concentration and contemplation on the Divine Within keeps me enriched on this infinite path. Regardless of how many clothes anyone is wearing or the presence of other species, we all need the authentic practice during this time of challenge on the planet.

Here at the HYC there is space for sacred practice for true seekers who ritualistically come together to form a caravanserai of community carrying yoga forward while the material world around is crumbling. America may be the cutting edge of yoga and as such we have a responsibility to bring through the authentic spirit and not just capitalize on the trendy commercial opportunity it once was. HYC has offered 20 classes per week for over 30 years and all are welcome to drop by and share the open and attentive classes we offer.

I’ve been blessed by being able to ride the wave of yoga in America, a small ripple at first, and then gradually crest its big face. Then there’s the Ocean.

Ki McGraw is a teacher at the Hatha Yoga Center in Seattle, Washington. She has been practicing yoga for forty years. You can contact her at kimcgraw@hotmail.com.

And all this I have found to be fibs
For they think..deep in their heart that
everyone other than them, will go to hell
They look upon us and call us infidels
They entice us to become like them by money,murder and any means available

They do not remember what they owe to our country,
They think the country is their enemy
They boldly slight it
And my people, are under a cloak of ignorance
Being peace loving my people will not do anything

They think that bombs and money
can make us like them
Through terror and financial prowess
They want to create slaves all over

My own people see all this
And turn a blind eye towards it
They are not concerned about
Country, culture and heritage
They are more worried about money and pleasures of the flesh

Why mother India, why?
Why are your sons and daughters so ungrateful to you?
You have given them everything
And they behave like spoilt brats
And they curse your holy soil

Oh Lord, if this is not the height of intolerance and injustice
What is? What is the way out of this terrible plight?
Why can’t a man do good things in his own way?
Why should he become like someone else?

And yet our people think
We are communal if we think about ourselves
And we are secular if we think only of them
Our people do not care for their brethren

And yet, after all this they say
Their philosophy stands for love, peace and universal brotherhood

Sharath Kumar is from Dallas, TX. He has written this poem describing the anguish of a thinking Hindu on how others are trying their best to convert Hindus.

“At present, human society is being misled by leaders who are blind, for they do not know the aim and objective of human life, which is self-realization and the reestablishment of our lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead…” –A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada-Founder/Acarya of ISKCON

One can believe in God or not but this is for anyone who wants to know the true purpose of being a human. As humans we all believe deeply in our atomic soul that there is something that is running this universe, something that is running our daily lives and our activities. The things we did in the past, the things we do now, the mistakes we learn from, the motivation or thought that we must do something or something must be done for our own sake or for someone’s sake is vital. The truth is that we are all interconnected; when one proposes a thought in a discussion, someone else might be thinking the same thing, as basic as that thought might be…the forces of nature, the law of nature allow us as humans to bring all those likeminded together to achieve a feat or a goal. Those in a given profession, for example those in the medical field, regardless of where they are born, brought up, went to school, etc., are brought together by the laws of nature to one place to do one common good, perhaps in a particular situation to save someone’s life. Sometimes people discover an epiphany, “Perhaps this is why God has brought me here or this was my purpose.” We as living creatures have a purpose and the universal laws of nature bring those with the same purpose together to perform an action.

As we live in a material world consumed by materialistic objects in every way, we cheat ourselves and blind ourselves from what our true common purpose is as humans, that is to go back to serve the Creator who has created us. That is the force that put us together, gave us the mind, the personality, the actions, the thoughts to be who we are today or who we are going to be. It is the duty of every human being to understand his constitutional position with God and to act accordingly. We sometimes tend to say, “There is no God” or “I am God” or even “I don’t care for God.” But in actuality this challenging spirit will not save us. God is there, and we can see Him at every moment. As Prabhupada would say, if God isn’t there the Sun would not be setting, the tides would not rise, the Earth would not orbit the Sun, and we would not be here. It is because of all these peaceful processes that we need to recognize the importance of the force in nature, the Supreme Being behind this force. There are different features of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He is the original root of the entire cosmic manifestation. In one sense it is not possible for us to escape Him for our destinies and fate are controlled by Him.

We must always remember that human life is attained only after an evolution of many millions of years in the cycle of transmigration of the spirit soul. In this particular form of life, the economic questions are more easily solved than the lower, animal forms. There are dogs, pigs, cows, horses and so on, whose economic necessities are just as important to them as ours are to us, but the economic questions of these animals and others are solved under primitive conditions, whereas the human being is given all the facilities and resources for leading a comfortable life by the laws of nature. We should ask ourselves the questions, why is a man given a better chance to live than all those other animals? Why are we at this time, in this position, with all these things? Prabhupada gives the example of why a highly posted government officer is given better facilities for a comfortable life than an ordinary clerk? The answer is very simple: the important officer has to uphold duties of a more responsible nature than those of an ordinary clerk. Similarly, the human being has to maintain and uphold higher duties than the animals, which are always busy filling their hungry stomachs. But by the laws of nature, the modern animalistic standard of civilization has only increased the problems of filling the stomach. When we approach some of these polished animals for spiritual life, they say that they only want to work for the satisfaction of their stomachs and that there is no necessity of inquiring about the Supreme Being.

Thus, we as humans need to value our human life and the lives of others. We need to work towards valuing each other’s thoughts and feelings; we need to try to make a difference in the lives of those in need. There are helpless children and woman, dying and suffering. There are people out there living in fear and pain. There are genocides taking place that are going unnoticed. We argue over laws, we argue about the political situations, we say we keep doing “what is good for our country and for the people,” however, in my opinion, if we can get rid of “our country” and work for the welfare as not the citizens of a nation but as Citizens of Humanity and truly understand the importance of each other’s lives, this is when we can break barriers and save millions of lives. Religions, ethnicities, countries, languages, and everything else that make each of us different can remain as they are. but as humans our true goal should be one and the same and that is help ourselves by helping each other.

The goal for each one of us is to conquer ourselves and our minds before we conquer the world. We are given this human form of life not just to work hard like the animals out there, but to attain the highest perfection of life. It is of course true that no human can achieve perfection but our goal is to achieve perfection. It is when we truly understand our own purpose and understand our own personal motives that we can use such motives for the betterment of the community. If we do not want that perfection then we will have to work very hard, for we will be forced to by the laws of nature. Our present economic crisis shows that we are going to have to work harder and harder. This process has already begun, and every year the necessity for harder work for fewer wages will increase. We are given this human form to behave civilized not as animals. Anything we do besides being civilized and humane men and women, we are portraying animalism. Animals have no restrictions whereas humans have certain restrictions. Yet human beings are not meant to work hard like animals, and if a man fails to uphold his duties as a human being, in Hinduism we call this Dharma, he is forced to transmigrate to the lower species of life by the laws of nature of this we say Karma and the process of Reincarnation. Everything we do in our lives is up to us but what we do and where we will go is called Karma-Kanda.

Through the process of reincarnation, those who are born in well-to-do families solve the problem of having to find sufficient food from the beginning of life, which is close to the life of an animal, and later a comparatively easier and more comfortable way of life can be led. Being so situated, one has a good chance to make progress in spiritual realization, but as ill luck would have it, due to the influence of the present Iron Age (which is full of machines and mechanical technology) wealthy people are often misguided for sense enjoyment, and they forget the chance they have for spiritual enlightenment. There are people of royalty around the world, there are billionaires all over the world who control the markets, there are aristocrats in every country, there are celebrities and so on, but as we see on VH1’s “the Fabulous life of…” many of them spend millions of dollars on material things that only cause them to go infinite in their spending. But they never realize the value of having such a position, which is when they abuse their wealth, and obscure the true purpose of the power they are given. We are meant to solve the ultimate problems of life which arise due to the laws of nature. Civilization is static unless there is spiritual movement. The soul moves the body, and the living body moves the world. We are concerned about the body, but we have no knowledge of the spirit that is moving that body. Without the spirit, the body is motionless or dead. The human body is an excellent vehicle by which we can reach eternal life. Prabhupada clearly puts it, “…it is a rare and very important boat for crossing over the ocean of nescience which is material existence. On this boat there is the service of an expert boatman, the spiritual master. By divine grace, the boat plies the water in a favorable wind. With all these auspicious factors, who would not take the opportunity to cross over the ocean of nescience?”

There is certainly a great deal of comfort in the first class coach of a train, but if the train does not move toward its destination, what is the benefit of an air-conditioned compartment? Contemporary society is much too concerned with making the material body comfortable and luxurious. We live in an Age of Information in which we are all concerned about the advancement of science, in this field or that field but not in our own life. We think that acquiring material things in life is the only advancement and that by having this or that we are better than others. In all truth, no one has information of the real destination of life, which is to go back to the Supreme Being. We must not just remain seated in a comfortable compartment; we should see whether or not our vehicle is moving toward its real destination. By being consumed with material aspects of life we forget the spiritual aspect, we forget to value our soul which is the most important goal of life. There is no ultimate benefit in making the material body comfortable at the expense of forgetting the prime necessity of life, which is to regain our lost spiritual identity.

We need to lead lives that are good for our soul and the society around us, we need to do things that benefit our lives and the longevity of our lives, keeping ourselves as pure as possible in every way so that we may continue to help and benefit those in need, those less fortunate around us. Given the opportunity to go to college, attain education to educate ourselves, and being presented a job so that we can live lives that are comfortable to us is all done only for one purpose, to use the fortunate lives presented to us by the Creator, whoever He is, to help those around us and help ourselves. Those thoughtful of themselves and those around us and who fulfill the purpose of life, Dharma, do his or her duty is someone that sets an example as a human being and gives true meaning to the existence of his/her soul. The work I have been doing the past few months with Bhutanese refugees has brought me to this conclusion about life. It made me understand that I am truly thankful for what I am given and have. Perhaps, we shall realize that to have this human form in the first place is to perform our duty of helping our civilization. That we must help others, by this we help ourselves, our soul, which is eternal. By helping better something that is eternal in this world and not concentrating on our material body we give true meaning to our lives.

Whether you believe in God, a Force, or a Spirit, think about your life…what can YOU do to make your life better, selflessly, and what can YOU do to help those around you, again selflessly? Think about the importance of spiritual identity, from a spiritual point of view if you can escape the desires that your senses constantly are attracted to and detach from the material things that make you temporarily happy and realize this, if you can concentrate on those immaterial aspects of life, one’s soul in his/her material body can achieve immaterial, eternal self-satisfaction and happiness. It is only a matter of understanding and realizing who we really are and by doing that we can understand others through such self-realization all of us can work toward helping each other.

Gayatri Mantra
AUM BHOOR BHUWAH SWAHA,
TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM
BHARGO DEVASAYA DHEEMAHI
DHIYO YO NAHA PRACHODAYAT

Translation
Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life,
Remover of pain and sorrow,
The Bestower of happiness,
Oh! Creator of the Universe,
May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light,
May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.

Sai is an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University. He is majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering with a minor in astronomy. He is also a varsity cross country and indoor and outdoor track runner for his university. He is the founder and president of CWRU Hindu YUVA.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

In 1915 Gandhi returned to India. Within 15 years he became a leader of the Indian nationalist movement. Using the tenets of Satyagraha he led the campaign for Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by the British for his activities in South Africa and India. Altogether he spent seven years in prison for his political activities. More than once Gandhi used fasting to impress upon others the need to be nonviolent.

India was granted independence in 1947, and partitioned into India and Pakistan. Gandhi had been an advocate for a united India where Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace but gave in to the demand of Muslims for a land of their own. On January 13, 1948, at the age of 78, he began a fast with the purpose of stopping bloodshed in India – he was helpless in stopping the massacre of Hindus in Pakistan. After 5 days the opposing leaders pledged to stop the fighting and Gandhi broke his fast. Twelve days later he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse.

Gandhi tried to lead a life as suggested by the Gita. What follows is his interpretation of that book.

The Object of the Gita

The object of the Gita was to show the most excellent way to attain self-realization. That matchless remedy is renunciation of fruits of action. This renunciation is the central sun around which devotion, knowledge and the rest revolve like planets.

The body has been likened to a prison. There must be action where there is body. No embodied being is exempted from labor. And yet all religions proclaim that it is possible for man, by treating the body as the temple of God, to attain freedom. Every action is tainted, be it ever so trivial. How can the body be made the temple of God? In other words how can one be free from action that is from the taint of sin? The Gita has answered the question decisively. “By desireless action; by renouncing fruits of action; by dedicating all activities to God, that is by surrendering oneself to Him body and soul.”

But desirelessness or renunciation does not come from talking. It is attainable only by a constant heart churn. Right knowledge is necessary for attaining renunciation. Learned men may recite the Vedas from memory, yet they may be steeped in self-indulgence. So that that knowledge may not run riot, the Gita insists on devotion accompanying it and has given it the first place. Knowledge without devotion will be like misfire. Therefore, says Gita, “Have devotion and knowledge will follow.”

The devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness. It certainly is not blind faith. The devotion of Gita has least to do with externals. A devotee may use, if he likes, rosaries, forehead marks, make offerings, but these things are no test of his devotion. He is the devotee who is jealous of none, who is a fount of mercy, who is without egotism, who is selfless. Who treats alike cold and heat, happiness and misery, who is ever forgiving, who is contended, whose resolutions are firm, who has dedicated mind and soul to God, who causes no dread, who is not afraid of others, who is free from exultations, sorrow and fear, who is pure, who is versed in action, and yet remains unaffected by it, who renounces all fruit, good or bad, who treats friend and foe alike, who is untouched by respect or disrespect, who is not puffed up by praise, who does not go under when people speak ill of him, who loves silence and solitude, who has a disciplined reason. Such devotion is inconsistent with existence at the same time of strong attachments.

No one has attained his goal without action, says Gita. While on one hand it is beyond any dispute that all actions bind, on the other hand it is equally true that all living beings have to do some work whether they will or not. Here all activity, whether mental or physical, is to be included in the term action. Then how is one to be free from bondage of action, even though he may be acting? The manner in which the Gita has solved the problem is unique. “Do your allotted work but renounce its fruit – be detached and work – have no desire for reward and work.”

He who gives up action, falls. He who gives up the reward, rises. All acts that are incapable of being performed without attachment are taboo. Thus murder, lying, dissoluteness and like must be regarded as sinful and, therefore, taboo. Man’s life then becomes simple, and from that simplicity springs peace. When there is no desire for fruit, there is also no temptation for untruth and himsa.

The verse that follows from Surah 5 of the Quran should then be made taboo, if Gandhi’s teachings are to be followed, for avoiding murder and sin.

88. Then what is the matter with you that you are divided into two parties about the hypocrites? Allâh has cast them back (to disbelief) because of what they have earned. Do you want to guide him whom Allâh has made to go astray? And he whom Allâh has made to go astray, you will never find for him any way (of guidance). 89. They wish that you reject Faith, as they have rejected (Faith), and thus that you all become equal (like one another). So take not Auliyâ’ (protectors or friends) from them, till they emigrate in the Way of Allâh. But if they turn back (from Islâm), take (hold) of them and kill them wherever you find them, and take neither Auliyâ’ nor helpers from them.

God is: Gandhi’s Argument

There is an indefinable mysterious Power that pervades everything. I feel it though I do not see it. It is this unseen Power which makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the sense.

But it is possible to reason out the existence of God to a limited extent. Even in ordinary affairs we know that people do not know who rules or why and how he rules. Yet they know that there is a power that certainly rules. That law which governs all life is God. I may not deny the law or the lawgiver because I know so little about It or Him.

I do dimly perceive that whilst everything around me is ever changing, ever dying there is underlying all that change a living power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves, and recreates. That power or spirit is God. And since nothing else that I see merely through senses can or will persist, He alone is.

In the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists; in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, and Light. He is love. He is the supreme Good.

The realization is preceded by an immediate faith. He who would in his own person test the fact of God’s presence can do so by a living faith.

Self-Actualizing

Similar are the writings of – American 20^th Century Psychologist A.H. Maslow which follow. Self-actualizing people are, without one exception, involved in a cause outside their own skin, in something outside of themselves. He described eight ways in which one self-actualizes.

First, self-actualization means experiencing fully, vividly, selflessly, with full concentration and total absorption. It means experiencing without the self-consciousness of the adolescent. At this moment of experiencing, the person is wholly and fully human. The key word for this is “selflessly,” and our youngsters suffer from too little selflessness and too much self-consciousness.

Second, let us think of life as a process of choices, one after another. At each point there is a progression choice and a regression choice. To make the growth choice instead of the fear choice a dozen times a day is to move dozen times a day toward self-actualization. Self-actualization is an ongoing process; it means making each of the many single choices about whether to lie or be honest, whether to steal or not to steal at a particular point, and means to make each of those choices as a growth choice.

Third, to talk of self-actualization implies that there is a self to be actualized. There is a self, and let the self emerge. Most of us, most of the time, listen not to ourselves but to outside voices of authority, tradition, advertisements, news reports etc.

Fourth, when in doubt, be honest rather than not. Looking within oneself for many of the answers implies taking responsibility. That is in itself a great step towards actualization. Each time one takes responsibility; this is an actualizing of self.

Fifth, A person who does each of these little things each time the choice point comes will find that they add up to better choices about what is right for him or her. One comes to know what his destiny is, who his wife or husband will be, what his mission in life will be.

Sixth, Self-actualization means using one’s intelligence. It means working to do well the thing that one wants to do. To become a second rate physician is not a good path to self-actualization. One wants to be first-rate or as good as one can be.

Seventh, peak experiences are transient moments of self-actualization. They are moments of ecstasy which cannot be bought, cannot be guaranteed, and cannot even be sought. One must be, as C.S. Lewis wrote, “Surprised by joy.” Breaking up an illusion, getting rid of a false notion, learning what one is not good at, learning what one’s potentialities are not – these are also part of discovering what one is in fact.

Eighth, finding out who one is, what he is, what he likes, what he doesn’t like, what is good for him and what bad, where he is going and what his mission is – opening oneself unto himself. Repression is not a good way of solving problems.

The distinction between the self and non-self is broken down. There is less differentiation between the world and the person. We know that it is possible for a person to get more pleasure out of food through having his child eat it than through eating it with his own mouth. Just as beloved people can be incorporated into the self so can be beloved causes and values. To identify one’s highest self with the highest values of the world means a fusion with the non-self. When you see yourself moving successfully toward truth, justice, beauty and virtue you will be loving and admiring yourself. So also may a person with great talent protect it and himself as if he were a carrier of something which is simultaneously himself and not himself. He may become his own mentor.

Conclusion

Gandhi beautifully quoted the first shloka of Isho Upanishad to teach the doctrine of equality.

Know that all this whatever moves in this moving world is enveloped by God.
Therefore find your enjoyment in renunciation, do not covet what belongs to others.

Since he pervades every fiber of my being and of all of you, I derive from it the doctrine of equality of all creatures on earth and it should satisfy the cravings of all philosophical communists.

]]> http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2009/06/gandhi/feed/ http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2009/06/attributes/ http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2009/06/attributes/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:37 +0000 admin http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/?p=885 The Bhagwad Geeta is a seed scripture for all of mankind, as Sri Krishn has preached to Arjun about almost all the necessities needed for a seeker traveling on the path of true spiritualism. A few of the questions have been raised by Arjun himself to get his doubts clarified and almost all the remaining important factors are projected by Sri Krishn and answered in full length by him with metaphysical details for obtaining true knowledge. With a doubt in his mind, Arjun has asked Sri Krishn to let him know about the mark of the man who has attained the state of true meditation and equanimity of mind; how does such man with firm discrimination speak, sit, and walk? We will discuss these same questions in detail as preached by Sri Krishn in Bhagwad Geeta.

That Soul which has resolved his doubts is in the state of Samadhi or perfect absorption of thought in the Supreme Spirit, the one worthy object of meditation. One who has achieved even-minded discrimination by identification with the eternal essence, which has neither a beginning nor an end, is said to be in the state of abstract contemplation of the nature of the Supreme Spirit. Arjun asked Sri Krishn for the qualities of the person with a mind of equanimity engaged in such contemplation. How does a man with steadfast wisdom speak? How does he sit? What is his gait? Arjun has thus asked four questions.

Answering his questions, Sri Krishn preaches to Arjun that a person is then said to be steadfast in mind when he has renounced all the desires of his mind and achieved contentment of the Self through the Self. When a man has renounced all his desires and achieved his Soul’s contentment through the contemplation of his Soul, he is said to be a man of firm discernment. This Self is apprehended only through complete abandonment of passion. The sage who has viewed the ineffable beauty of his Self and found perfect satisfaction in him is the man with a steady judgement.

Sri Krishn adds that he is indeed a steady-minded sage who is unmoved by sorrow and indifferent to happiness, and who has overcome his passion, fear and anger. He whose mind is untroubled by bodily, accidental, and worldly sorrows, and who has rid himself of desire for physical pleasures, and whose passions, fear, and anger have been subdued, is the sage with discrimination who has achieved the culmination of spiritual disciplines. Sri Krishn then points out other qualities of this saintly man.

He says further that such man has a steady mind who is entirely free from attachment and who neither gloats over success nor abhors failure. That man has a firm wisdom who is totally free from infatuation and who neither welcomes good fortune nor repudiates misfortune. That alone is auspicious which draws a Soul to the being of God, whereas that which pulls the mind to temptations of the material world is inauspicious. The man of discrimination is not too happy in favourable circumstances and he also does not scorn adversities, because neither is the object which is fit for attainment different from him nor is there for him any evil that may sully the purity of his mind. That is to say that he has now no need for further striving.

Sri Krishn adds that as a turtle pulls in its limbs, this man reins in his senses from all objects, and then he truly has a steady mind. When a man pulls back his senses from all sides and restrains them within his mind like a turtle pulling its head and feet within its shell, his mind is steady. But it is only an analogy. As soon as the turtle knows that the danger is gone, it again expands its limbs. Does a man of steadfast wisdom also, in the same way, let his senses loose after restraining them, and resume enjoyment of worldly pleasures?

Sri Krishn says that while objects of sensual pleasure cease to be for the man who withdraws his senses from them, his desire for these objects yet remains; but the desires of the man of discrimination are completely erased by his perception of God.

The objects of sense come to an end for the man who has rejected them because his senses no longer perceive them, but his desires yet survive. The feeling of attachment lives on. But the passions of the yogi, the doer of selfless action, are annihilated by his perception of the ultimate essence that is God. The accomplished, or enlightened, sage does not, like the turtle, re-extend his senses to objects which are pleasing to them. When once his senses have shrivelled, all the influences and impressions (sanskar) he has carried with him from a previous existence are irrevocably dead. His senses do not then return to life. By apprehending God through the observance of the Way of Selfless Action, even the attachments to objects of sensual pleasure become extinct. Force has often been a feature of meditation, and by its use seekers rid themselves of objects of sense. But thoughts of these objects persist. These attachments are brought to an end only with the perception of God and never before that, because before this stage residues of matter persist. Sri Krishn means precisely the same when he proclaims that although a man’s association with objects of sense ends when he restrains them from reacting to these objects, he is rid of desire for these objects only when he knows his own Self as the identical God through meditation. So we have to act until we have achieved this perception. Goswami Tulsidas has also said that at first there are passions in the heart, which are swept away only by true devotion to God.Sri Krishn speaks about how difficult it is to withdraw the senses from their objects. He says:

“O son of Kunti, men ought to subdue their senses which seize forcibly even wise and striving minds, and devote themselves to me with perfect concentration, because only that man’s mind is unwavering who has achieved control of his senses.”

Mutinous senses ravish even discerning and active minds, and undo their steadiness. So with full control over his senses, equipped with yog and devotion, Arjun should find shelter in God, of whom Sri Krishn is an incarnation, for that man alone has a firm mind who has subdued his senses. Here Yogeshwar Krishn explains what ought to be prevented in the course of worship, as also the components of spiritual seeking which it is the duty of men to undertake. Restraint and prohibition alone cannot subdue the senses. Along with negation of senses there must also be incessant contemplation of the desired God. In the absence of such reflection, the mind will be preoccupied with material objects, the evil consequence of which we see in the words of Sri Krishn himself.

He adds further that they whose thoughts are of sensual objects are attached to them, attachment gives rise to desires, and anger is born when these desires are obstructed. The feeling of attachment persists in men who have yet got over their concern with the objects of sense. Desire is born from attachment. And there is anger when there is an obstacle in the way of satisfaction of desire. And what does the feeling of anger give rise to? Sri Krishn preaches:

“Delusion is born from anger, by which memory is confused; confusion of memory undermines the faculty of discrimination and, when discrimination is lost, the seeker deviates from the means of absolution.’’

Confusion and ignorance arise from anger. Distinction between the eternal and the transient is obliterated. Remembrance is shaken by delusion, as it happens with Arjun. Sri Krishn says again that in such a state of mind one cannot determine wisely what to do and what not to do. Confusion of memory weakens the seeker’s dedication and loss of discrimination makes him deviate from his goal of being one with God. Here Sri Krishn has emphasized the importance of cultivating unconcern with sensual objects. The worshipper’s mind should rather always be concerned with that-word, form, incarnation, or abode-by which his mind may be enabled to be one with God. The mind is drawn to sensual objects when the discipline of worship is relaxed. Thoughts of these objects produce attachment, which in its own turn results in desire for them. Anger is generated if the satisfaction of this desire is obstructed in any way. And ignorance finally undoes the power of discernment. The Way of Selfless Action is also said to be the Way of Knowledge, for it has always to be kept in view that desire must not be allowed to enter the worshipper’s mind. There are, after all, no real fruits. Advent of desire is inimical to wisdom. Steady contemplation is, therefore, a necessity. A man who does not always think of God strays from the right path that will lead him to ultimate bliss and glory. However, there is one consolation. The chain of worship is only broken, not completely destroyed. Once the joy of worship has been experienced, when taken up again, it resumes from the same point at which it was discontinued. This is the fate of the worshipper who is attached to sensual objects. But what is the lot of the seeker who has mastered his mind and heart? Sri Krishn adds:

“But that man achieves spiritual tranquility who has mastered his mind and who remains unaffected by sense-objects although he may be roaming amidst them, because his senses are properly restrained.”

Possessed of the means of spiritual realization, the sage who has experienced an intuitive perception of the identity of Self and the Supreme Spirit achieves the state of the most sublime peace, because he has subdued his senses, and therefore remained untouched by their objects even though he may be wandering in their midst. No prohibitions are needed for such a man. There is for him nothing unpropitious anywhere against which he should fight and defend himself. There is also for him no good for which he should yearn.Sri Krishn says that after realizing the ultimate repose, all his (the seeker’s) sorrows disappear, and the blissful mind of such a man quickly grows in firmness. Blessed with a vision of God’s ineffable glory and his divine grace, all the worshipper’s griefs-the temporal world and its objects which are the abode of all sorrows-vanish and his power of discrimination grows strong and steady. Hereafter, Sri Krishn dwells upon the lot of those who have not achieved the saintly condition. He says that a man without spiritual accomplishment has no wisdom nor true faith, and a man without devotion knows no peace of mind. Since happiness depends on peace, how can such men be happy?”

A man who has not undertaken meditation is devoid of selfless action oriented wisdom. This impoverished man is even deficient in the feeling of devotion to the all-pervading Spirit. How can such a mad, without an awareness of the Self within and the God without, be at peace? And how can he, without peace, experience happiness? There can be no devotion without knowing the object of devotion and knowledge comes from contemplation. Without devotion there can be no peace and a man with a disturbed mind cannot experience happiness, much less the state of changeless, eternal bliss. He says that for, as the wind captures the boat on water, just so even one of the senses, that roam amidst objects of their gratification and with which the intellect dwells, is strong enough to sweep away the discrimination of one who is unpossessed of spiritual attainment. As the wind drives a boat far away from its destination, even one out of the five senses roving amongst objects perceived by the intellect can get hold of the man who has not undertaken the task of spiritual quest and discipline. Therefore incessant remembrance of God is essential. Sri Krishn again dwells upon the importance of action-oriented conduct.

Sri Krishn further says,” Therefore, O the mighty-armed (Arjun), the man who prevents his senses from straying to objects has a steady discrimination.”

The man who restricts his senses from being drawn to their objects is a man of steady wisdom. “Arm” is a measure of the sphere of action. God is called “mighty-armed” (mahabahu), although he is bodiless and works everywhere without hands and feet. The one who becomes one with him or is inclined to him and is on the way to his sublime splendour is also therefore, “mighty-armed.” That is the significance of the use of this epithet for both Sri Krishn and Arjun.

He preaches that the true worshipper (yogi) remains awake amidst what is night for all creatures, but the perishable and transient worldly pleasures amidst which all living creatures stay awake are like night for the sage who has perceived reality. The transcendental Spirit is like night for living beings because he can be neither seen nor comprehended by thought. So he is like night, but it is in this night that the spiritually conscious man remains awake because he has seen the formless and known the incomprehensible. The seeker finds access to God through control of senses, peace of mind, and meditation. That is why the perishable worldly pleasures for which living beings toil day after day is night for God’s true worshipper. The sage alone, who beholds the individual Self and the Universal Self and is indifferent to desire, succeeds in his enterprise of God-realization. So he dwells in the world and is yet untouched by it. He says that as the water of the many rivers falls into the full and ever constant ocean without affecting its tranquility, even so the pleasures of sense merge into a man of steady discrimination without producing any deviation, and such a man attains to the state of the most sublime peace rather than yearn for sensual enjoyment. He adds that the man who has renounced all desire, and who conducts himself without ego, arrogance, and attachment, is the one who achieves peace. Men who have given up all desire, and whose actions are entirely free from the feelings of I and mine, realize the ultimate peace beyond which there is nothing to strive for and achieve.Sri Krishn finally concludes:

“Such, O Arjun, is the steadfastness of the man who has realized God; after attaining to this state he subdues all temptation and, resting firmly in his faith, with his death he continues in this state of rapture of the union of his Self with God.’’

Such is the state of one who has realized God. Rivers of temporal objects merge into these ocean-like sages who are endowed with self control and an intuitive perception of God.

Shri Mrityunjayanand is a disciple of most revered Swami Adgadanand ji and is fully committed to the universal promotion of the message of Bhagwad-Geeta. You can contact him at mrityunjayanand@hotmail.com.

We are pleased to present to you the latest edition of Tattva. This edition has many interesting articles, including a colleges student’s reflection on how she changed after attending a youth conference, and a student’s

experience working with Bhutanese youth during his spring break. Congratulations to those of you who applied for the Yuva for Sewa fellowship program. We look forward to hearing about your volunteering experiences this summer. As always, if you would like to contribute an article or have any suggestions for Tattva, you can contact the Tattva team at tattva-editor@hinduyuva.org. Vishwa Dharma Ki Jai!

Click here to read the May 2009 edition of Tattva.

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.”

-Herman Melville

 “It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.”

-Khalil Gibran

I have been attending Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh shakha since I was twelve years old. We’ve heard it said before, but it’s common knowledge that children just don’t understand the importance of going to shakha when they are little. I know I didn’t.  In my imagination, it was simply a place to play with other children on a weekly basis. I was told that it would help me keep in touch with my Hindu culture. As I got older, however, I realized that it was a little bit more than these simplistic generalizations. According to the HSS website, the goal of having weekly meetings in the form of shakhas is to “organize the Hindu community in order to preserve, practice and promote Hindu ideals and values.” I understood that as I entered my teenage years. I understood that the point of going to shakha, family camps and Sangh Shiksha Vargs was to develop characteristics that would enable me to be proud of my Hindu culture and be a leader in society. Somehow, as I became a young woman, I found myself wanting to get involved more and more, and I no longer needed to go to shakha at anyone’s insistence. I wanted to make a difference.

But then I entered college, and the game plan unintentionally changed. I am now in my second year at UCLA, a neuroscience major, and I have not been regularly going to shakha for the past couple years. There are many explanations for this—I was living away from home, there was no shakha near by my campus, my classes are harder, but excuses are excuses. Sure, whenever I went home for a visit I would try to attend utsavs, but only if it fit my schedule. I knew that entering college was the beginning of a new chapter in my life, and shakha now had a diminished role. I didn’t even bother too much about this new development, because in my mind, there was nothing I could do about it anyways. But I should have known better, and attending the Southern California Yuva Sangam on April 11^th, 2009 at San Diego State University has rejuvenated me, transforming my passive apathy into passionate activism. Perhaps it may be useful to read my thoughts on the Yuva Sangam with the following picture in mind. I was not simply a college student who had just gotten out of touch with Sangh. Rather, I was a student, thrust in the chaotic, unpredictable, fast-paced environment of college, my beliefs challenged, trying to find out who I really was, what I really stood for and what path I should take in my life amidst people who all seemed sure that they held the right answers. I found myself lost, standing at a road with too many forks, unable to differentiate the right from wrong. I was desperate for answers, for some sort of sign that would lead me in the right direction. Little did I know that sign would come in the form of a Yuva Sangam.   

Two years, ago, before the first week of college, some told me that the college years would be some of the best years in my life. Others said it would give me a chance to learn what it really felt like to be independent. But the advice that I hold most true today came from my mother, who told me that I would meet many different types of people in college, and that no matter who my friends were or what my major was, to always remain true to the beliefs I grew up with. At the time, it seemed along the lines of the parental advice I got on a daily basis, nothing I didn’t know already. It seemed like common sense to me.

So enter the college scene. It was amazing. UCLA was vibrant, it was fresh, and I felt like I belonged. I stayed away from the usual college vices we all hear about. I was lucky enough to find friends who I felt comfortable with. I loved my classes, and signed up for extracurricular activities that would keep me busy and ensure I got the best college experience possible. I had found my niche.

But one college vice crept up on me. I hadn’t even realized it had for a long time. It was the ego mentality. The “I have to study because I want to do well in school so I can be something important in life” mentality. I was surrounded by competitive, Type A students who were only making me stress out more. The petty drama—be it about friends, about grades, about boys—that is synonymous with crazy college students did not help either. So I found myself questioning whether I really knew what was right for me. Everyone seemed to know what they wanted to do with their lives, what they had to do to get there, and I began to believe that the goals I had been working towards to didn’t seem good enough to be on par with everyone else’s. I wasn’t enjoying the college experience as much as everyone else was anymore.

I had heard about Yuva Sangams for a long time, but I was never old enough to go to one. And because I felt on the outside looking in at the warm environment that is Sangh, I figured I should go to my first one with an open mind. I figured it would be the best opportunity I could get in order to reintroduce my mind to the Sangh philosophy that I seemed disconnected with for such a long time.

From the minute I entered through the door, the familiarity seeped into my system, making me feel comfortable even though I was in a room filled with individuals I had never met before. It was the fact that we were all part of Sangh, one organization I knew wouldn’t discriminate against anyone because they studied for x number of hours or took this many units. We were simply all Hindus. The easygoing atmosphere, the joking around, the friendly competition that came with the khel, instantly made me feel relaxed. It was the charcha session that made me realize how much I had been missing. The talk of how much we as Hindus had contributed to the world and what we can do using what we have learned from going to shakha to better the society we live in was the sign I had been looking for. I needed to do a better job implementing the Hindu philosophy of living life, something I had done so well as a child, but was struggling with as a college student. The fact is, in college, we are given many paths to take. For those who have a strong foundation with who they are and what they want to be, the right path immediately is clear. But I got overwhelmed with all the choices I had to make all on my own. The strong foundation that shakha had given me as a child was crumbling because I unknowingly had shifted my priorities and that left shakha nowhere near as important as it should have been.

What really made me realize how easy it should have been for me to choose the right path in college was the talk about Sewa. I was enraptured by the work that Sewa International had been doing in the past and what they are doing now. I was inspired by the service everyone involved with the Bhutanese refugees was doing—be it simply visiting them or donating clothes. It gave me a good feeling in my heart, knowing that I was part of an organization that prided itself with helping others. But even more so, I felt like I should be doing more to help others as well. That I needed to stop getting overwhelmed and hiding beneath the ego mentality and with an open heart and mind help others who needed it. I needed to implement the morals I had grown up hearing from my mom—that service to humanity is service to God. And all it took was going to one Yuva Sangam to reawaken a dormant optimist that was hidden deep underneath layers of stress and tension. This is why I am promising myself that one summer I will apply to the Yuva for Sewa program and dedicate a few months to going to India and serving any project that is given to me through this program. This is why I will be more active in doing activities that hold no other purpose other than to be a good Hindu and citizen in this society. The Hindu way of life was the way to live. As the generation of the future, it is up to us to never be apathetic, and to believe that our Hindu faith is a strong basis to positive changes in the society we live in. All it took was one Yuva Sangam for me to realize that.    

Amanda is a student at University of California, Los Angeles. She is studying neuroscience.

As the great Gujarati poet Narasinh Mehta said in Vaishnava Janato, “Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye, man abhimaan na aane re,” meaning, “He who is a Vaishnava (devotee of Ram and Krishna) does good to others, especially to those who are in misery; such a person does not let pride enter his mind.” Those who think and transform their thoughts into action for the betterment of society truly make this world a better place. However, this work should be approached as Seva; it is the action that is necessary and important, not the fruit of the action.

Being a Hindu, the principle of Seva has always been an integral part of my upbringing. My parents taught me to show the utmost respect toward others, be dedicated to the work ahead, and be a person of good thoughts and deeds. As universal as these principles are, not everyone my age seems to understand the importance of service. As dedicated as we are to our schoolwork in pursuit of the perfect job, car, house, etc., we tend to overshadow the main goal which is, in my opinion, the advancement of the human civilization, advancement in terms of leading proper, meaningful lives. What good is the technology we build today if it’s not built with the right intention or purpose? The result of what we create is only as good as the intention we create it with. This means that it is vital to do everything without attachment toward the result. Like Mahatma Gandhi said, “You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.” Unknowingly, this was how I discovered the level of impact I have personally made on many Bhutanese refugees.*

When I started two months ago, I was just a one-man army eager to help better some aspect of the refugees’ lives. As I visited them every weekend, every visit made me that much closer to them, gave me that much more reason and value for what I was doing. I began to realize that many of them, very capable of attaining a high level job with a sustainable income, had no idea which direction to take in terms of pursuing an education. Hard working, determined to make something out of their new lives, many of them approached me to help them enroll in a local college. Already seeing that this was what I should focus on and with the suggestion of Dr. Agrawal and Sreenath, I decided that instead of going home for spring break I was going to stay on campus to work with the Bhutanese youth. During my 10 day spring break, I alternated my meetings with the Bhutanese youth at West Park and Cleveland Heights in Cleveland, working with them one-on-one to try to understand their concerns and assess their academic situation. Project Vinaya Vidya was the title I gave the project, with “Education is necessary to turn knowledge into Power” as its subtitle. In addition, during these 10 days I spent time with many of them finding out their level of education, their academic interests, current position, and future goals. With this information I designed a college level resume for each one of them that they could use to provide straight-forward information to college counselors. In addition to educating them about the college application process, I also spent a few days sitting with the younger kids tutoring them in math, reading comprehension, and chemistry, motivating them to work hard and keep up their grades. Archimedes once said, “Give me a level long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” Even though it might take one person to inspire and motivate the world, it takes a whole group of people with a common goal to use such inspiration and motivation to make a difference. 

At the end of my 10 day “Vistarakship,” an event was organized to promote two projects: Project Vinaya Vidya and Project Mitralaya. Project Vinaya Vidya started off with a Saraswati Pradana through which we prayed that nothing would stop this new generation of Bhutanese-Americans in their goals and endeavors. Then I gave a presentation that primarily focused on the American education system and what those who are in high school, and those who already have three-year degrees from back home need to do in order to enroll in college. In addition, we had the local Cuyahoga Community College counselors come in and give a presentation on their own programs, including placement tests, foreign student transcript evaluation, financial aid, career counseling programs, and primarily the education system. After this, Professor Sreenath of the EECS Department at Case Western gave a presentation about enrolling in vocational, associate degree and four year colleges. exhorting the youth to think five and 10 years into the future while acknowledging the immediate needs of survival. At the end of the event, I gathered all the Bhutanese youth I worked with over the spring break to meet the final goal of the entire project: enroll them into a local community college. I spent about two hours sitting with each of them and going over the application for the community college with the help of a few volunteers I gathered a few days earlier. I described to them the next steps we would be following after the initial enrollment. Currently, most of the youths’ transcripts are being evaluated; as soon as this is done we will be working on financial aid and going over the importance of FAFSA. Many of the students will be enrolling either late summer and/or early fall. 

Through this entire process, what has kept me motivated and focused on helping these students is the Bhagavad Gita. During the thirty minute ride to visiting the refugees, I read the Gita trying to understand why I do, what I do. When one considers work as divine service (“To serve Humanity is to Serve God”), one can do it anywhere, at any time. Doing Seva is uplifting yourself, your people and your world. It is a practice that feeds us spiritually and awakens us to the greater truth of our own being. Self-realization, Atma Jnana, is the knowledge of one’s self, knowing that one’s body is only his or her material existence but whatever he or she does, their soul endures and it is that soul that is atomic in its nature. Doing such Seva enriches, nourishes, and rejuvenates the inner-self, making one realize the importance of one’s work in every aspect of their life. 

Seeing the success of what I have accomplished in less than four weeks and the impact I have made without any expectations, I wanted to expand my service work beyond what I individually was doing. During the Vinaya Vidya event many of the volunteers present there have seen the power that philanthropy can do therefore; motivating them through such an event gave me a reason to start something big. With the advice of Dr. Sreenath and motivation of Dr. Agrawal, I created the Case Western Chapter of Hindu YUVA, Youth for Unity, Virtues, and Action. The goal of this student organization is to raise awareness through Hindu culture, principles, and values by promoting philanthropic work for the development of the Case community and the local Cleveland area. In addition to the main goal of spreading philanthropy, CWRU Hindu YUVA also promotes the importance of promoting Hindu culture among the general body in order to preserve the culture and traditions in terms of understanding the meaning behind Hindu slokas, mantras, philosophy, and so on. Such an establishment is important because as a new generation of Hindus born and brought up in the United States, we are responsible for continuing the culture, the ‘sampradayas,’ the values, and the principles given to us by our immigrant parents who want nothing but the conservation of our invaluable roots because your roots are what give you the identity of who you are. Various events are planned in the fall through which CWRU YUVA will work towards hosting more events like Vinaya Vidya in collaboration with local student organizations that want to spread philanthropy expanding the scope of doing Seva on a bigger scale. Personally, my quest to spread peace has just begun. As Swami Vivekananda would say, “You cannot help anyone, you can only serve.” Arise Awake and Stop not till the Goal is Reached!

*For more information about the Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment project, please visit www.sewausa.org.

Sai is an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University. He is majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering with a minor in astronomy. He is also a varsity cross country and indoor and outdoor track runner for his university. He is the founder and president of CWRU Hindu YUVA.

Growing up in Bharat, I have always heard people proclaiming, “All Religions are the same and they teach the same thing.” Elders, teachers, great men of Bharat, leaders and intellectuals, all of them have been drumming the same tone. Naturally I believed in it until I could think for myself. I have seen that it is only in Bharat that one hears the above expression. I have lived in the West for quite some time and I must say I haven’t seen any staunch Christian say the same. I have seen that practicing Christians believe that they alone are right in their beliefs and everyone else who is not a Christian has no chance of being saved. The same goes for Muslims. I have some Muslim friends who are pious and committed to Islam. But they are sincere in their belief that they alone are the chosen people and that they have the last word on Religion, Truth, God and that all non-Muslims are doomed.

It made me wonder why are Hindus so keen on speaking for the other religions? I have heard Hindus eagerly quote the mantra from the Rig Veda “Ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti” to mean that truth is one and that truth is called as Allah or Jesus by different religions. They don’t quote the entire mantra. They quote only a fourth of the mantra. The entire mantra is:

Indram mitram varunam agnim ahuhu

atho divya sa suparno garutman

ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti

agnim yamam matarisvanam ahuhu (Rigveda 1.164.46)

‘They hail him as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni or the Divine Garuda.

Truth is one and the Wise ones refer to the truth by different names as

Agni, Yama, and Matarisvan.’

To use this verse to say that all religions are the same is a blatant misuse of the profound verse. To say all religions are the same, one must have studied deeply all the different religions. I have seen that people who claim that all religions are the same have rarely studied other religions. They are just parroting that statement they heard from someone and it is not a conclusion that they arrived at by their own study, understanding and conviction. Also I wish to raise a fundamental question. Is Hinduism also a religion like Christianity and Islam? Why should we consider religions on par with Hinduism?

Before I begin, I want to decipher the word religion. A word means one thing in one part of the world whereas in another part of the world, the same word means something totally different. Take the instance of the word secularism. In the West it means the separation of the Church and the State. Where as in Bharat, the definition of secularism is “Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava” which means all religions will be considered equal and given equal preference. Thus the meaning of secularism is totally distorted in Bharat. And particularly secularism in the current context implies animosity towards anything Hindu.

What does the word religion connote in the Western world? It connotes that a religion should be monotheistic. In other words they should believe in One God. It should have a Prophet and that Prophet is reckoned to have been the person who started the religion at a particular point in history. So the three main religions we have are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Of course there are other religions like Zoroastrianism, Shintoism, Bahai, and so on. But for the purpose of this discussion let us consider the monotheistic religions, particularly Christianity and Islam because they are the only two religions aggressively competing for converts. The rest of the religions are non-converting and therefore non-aggressive and non-invasive. Judaism is a non-converting religion. In other words, you can’t convert to become a Jew. Either you are born a Jew or you are not a Jew. But Christianity and Islam thrive on conversion. In fact they feel that if they don’t convert, their statuses are in peril. So they have perfected the art of conversion. Another feature of monotheistic religions is that they all believe that this One God, whom they claim created the world, is located up in Heaven. And all the monotheistic religions have a ‘Day of Judgment.’ In the cases of Christianity and Islam in particular, the theology is imposed so strongly that people are told that if one doesn’t accept their doctrines, one would have to be punished with eternal damnation and all believers of the respective doctrines would go to Heaven and stay with God forever. That is what is meant by the word salvation. They all believe in one birth and you have to proclaim your faith and adherence to the particular doctrines of your faith in this birth or you will burn in the eternal pit fire of hell. And there is no chance of redemption.

In the East, the word religion has a different sense all together. We call it Dharma. There is no English equivalent for the word Dharma. It is loosely translated as religion. But it is definitely not religion in the Western sense. Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana means timeless, meaning there was never a time when it was not. Dharma is a profound word. 

It is also called Vaidika Dharma because it is based on the Vedas. The Vyakhya (elaboration) of Dharma is “Dharyate iti Dharma.” That which upholds everything is Dharma. There is a Cosmic order in the Universe. That order is manifest as everything in this Universe. That which holds this vast and wonderful universe with all its millions of stars, galaxies, planets with all the things and beings in harmony is this Rita, the Cosmic order. The Cosmic order includes the physical, physiological, psychological and spiritual order. All these are the manifestations of Bhagavan. For Hindus, Bhagavan (The Lord) is present in the form of the Cosmic order. In fact Bhagavan is never separate from this Universe. The Shastras (scriptures) say that all that is here is Bhagavan. “Isavasyam idam sarvam” meaning Bhagavan pervades everything like Akasha (space). Nothing is separate from Akasha. The Creator and the created are non-separate like the spider and the web, like the dreamer and the dream.

That which holds this Rita, this cosmic order is Dharma. So to me, Dharma is a way of life, values of life and expression of life that is in keeping with the vision and understanding of Isavasyam idam sarvam. Being committed to Dharma means having this grand vision of life that all that is there IS Bhagavan and expressing that vision and understanding through our thoughts, words and deeds. That in essence constitutes a Dharmic life. A Dharmic person never goes against the Natural Cosmic Order. Why? Because if I rub against the order, I will get rubbed in the process. If I hurt somebody, I may get away from man made laws because my brother in law is in the Police Department, but I will not be able to escape from the Cosmic law. It is this sense of Dharma that should be the basis of all our endeavors. I should not hurt anybody or anything because I don’t want to be hurt and also by hurting anything or anybody I am hurting something of which I am a part. I should not steal because I don’t want anybody to steal from me. The Mahabharatha speaks of a time when Dharma ruled the world when it says,

Na Rajyam Naiva Rajasit Na Dando na ca Dandikaha

Dharmenaiva Praja Sarvaha Rakshantisma Parasparam

The verse above means that there was a time long ago where there was no Kingdom nor a King and no punishments nor a person who would administer punishments. Everybody protected each other with a sense of Dharma. In other words, Dharma was the protector of the people. Everybody acted according to Dharma. So that is our notion of Dharma.

Secondly, our Dharma was not founded by an individual Prophet like the Monotheistic religions. Bhagavan Krishna or Bhagavan Rama did not start our Dharma. They were born into our Dharma. They were born as Vaidikas. I have had a few people in the West ask me when our ‘religion’ started. I would respond to them saying that the question is like asking, “When did Physics start?” Did the laws of Physics start on a particular day? Isn’t it that the laws of Physics have always been there as long as this creation has been? Similarly, our Dharma has always been throughout the myriad cycles of manifestation (Shristi) and dissolution (Pralaya). So it is not that our Dharma originated at some particular point in History. Hence it is called Sanatana. It has always been there. It was manifested by Bhagavan at the time of Shristi and it becomes unmanifest at Pralaya.

Thirdly, our concept of Heaven is not where you go and stay permanently. Our Shastras tell us that heaven is a temporary place one goes to enjoy the fruits of one’s good Karmas (Punyas). It is said “Kshine Punye Martya Lokam Vishanti.” After ones Punyas are exhausted, one will have to go back to Martya loka or the earth where one gets another chance to work for Moksha (liberation from cycle of births and deaths) which is not salvation. Salvation means you are condemned and then you need to be salvaged. Our scriptures do not consider us as condemned. It refers to us as “Amritasya Putraha” meaning immortal children. Moksha is the outcome of Self Knowledge. 

Dharma doesn’t divide humanity into believers and infidels as religions do. We also have amongst us those who are Nastikas. Nastikas are those who don’t accept the Vedas as a valid means of knowledge. The Nastikas include the Baudhas (Buddhists), Jainas (Jains) and Charvaks (materialists).

Vaidika Dharma recognizes that all forms of worship of the Lord to be true as elucidated in the Rig Vedik Mantra above. Since the Lord is not separate from this Universe, we can invoke the lord in any form. Pushpadantacharya’s Shiva Mahimna Stotram says, Ruchinam Vaichitryat Ruju Kutila Nana Patha Jusha Nrinam Eko Gamya Tvam Asi Paya Samarnavaiva.

According to ones disposition, one takes to a form of worship or a path of Sadhana (Spiritual Practice) which may be direct or meandering and all those paths are valid as long as they are ultimately the worship of Bhagavan which in turn leads us to Atma Gyan or Self Knowledge.

Bhagavan also says in the Bhagavad Gita, “Ye Yatha Mam Prapadyante, TansThataiva Bhajamyaham” (Ch 4 Verse 11), which means. “In whatever form people worship me, in that form I respond to the devotees and bless them.” That is why we have so many forms. We can invoke and worship the lord in whatever form we wish to, according to our taste and disposition. And we are not idol worshippers as the others like to accuse us. We are Bhagavan worshippers. We worship Bhagavan in the idol. So we have all the different panthas (paths) each specializing in the worship of Bhagavan in one form or the other. Thus we have the six main recognized forms of worship according to Bhagavan Bashyakara Acharya Shankara which includes Shaiva (worshippers of Bhagavan Shiva), Shakta (worshippers of Bhagavathi or Goddess), Vaishnava (worshippers of Bhagavan Vishnu), Ganapathya(worshippers of Bhagavan Ganapathy), Kaumarya (worshippers of Bhagavan Karthikeya) and Saurya(worshippers of Bhagavan Surya). Many forms of worship are of recent origin and we accept them also as long as they lead us to the Knowledge of the Atma (Self).

Above all, Dharma cannot be imposed. It can be revealed or taught, but never imposed by force. Again, to quote from the Mahabharatha, ‘Dharmasya Tattvam Nihitam Guhayam’ which means the expression of Dharma comes from within a person. It can never be imposed. Religions are almost always imposed on people either by lure or by force.

So when you consider these, it is not difficult to recognize the profound differences between religions and Dharma. How can we consider Hindu Dharma as a religion? How can we accept that Dharma and religions are the same? People who claim that All religions are same are ignorant of religions as well as of Dharma. I would like to say that there may be many religions, but there is only one Dharma and that is the Sanatana Dharma or Vaidika Dharma or Hindu Dharma. We are belittling this Dharma by calling it religion or even worse, calling it faith. Religion when elaborated properly according to the Western concept turns out to be dogmatic and cannot be accepted as valid or cannot be compared to Sanatana Hindu Dharma which is vast, profound and timeless.

Acknowledgements

“Foundations of Dharma” – Shri Swami Iswarananda Giri

“What is Hinduism?” – Shri Swami Dayananda Saraswathi

“Hindu view of Christianity and Islam” – Shri Ram Swarup

“Defence of Hindu Soceity” – Shri Sita Ram Goel

Sunil is an IT Professional working for a State Agency in South Carolina.  He is a student of Hindu Dharma with a deep and abiding interest in Hindu History.  He was deeply influenced by the writings of Shri Sita Ram Goel and Shri Ram Swarup.

We are what we think we are. The habitual inclination of our thoughts determines our talents and abilities, and our personality. Thus, some think they are writers or artists, industrious or lazy, and so on. What if you want to be something other than what you presently think you are? You may argue that others have been born with the special talent you lack but desire to have. This is true. But they had to cultivate the habit of that ability some time — if not in this life, then in a previous one. So whatever you want to be, start to develop that pattern now. You can instill any trend in your consciousness right now, provided you inject a strong thought in your mind; then your actions and whole being will obey that thought. So wrote Paramhansa Yogananda.

Life of Yogananda                                                                                                        

Paramahansa Yogananda, born Mukunda Lal Ghosh  was a yogi  who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi.

He met his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, in 1910, at the age of 17. He describes his first meeting with Yukteswar as a rekindling of a relationship that had lasted for many lifetimes: “We entered oneness of silence; words seemed the rankest superfluities. Eloquence flowed in soundless chant from heart of master to disciple. With an antenna of irrefragable insight I sensed that my guru knew God, and would lead me to Him. The obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawn of prenatal memories. Dramatic time! Past, present, and future are its cycling scenes. This was not the first sun to find me at these holy feet!”

In 1915, he took formal vows into the monastic Swami Order and became ‘Swami Yogananda Giri.’ In 1917, Yogananda founded a school for boys in Dihika, West Bengal that combined modern educational techniques with yoga training and spiritual ideals. A year later, the school relocated to Ranchi. This school would later become Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, the Indian branch of Yogananda’s American organization.

In 1920, he went to the United States as India’s delegate to an International Congress of Religious Liberals convening in Boston. That same year he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship to disseminate worldwide his teachings on India’s ancient practices and philosophy of Yoga and its tradition of meditation. For the next several years, he lectured and taught on the east coast and in 1924 embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour. Thousands came to his lectures. The following year, he established in Los Angeles, California, an international headquarters for Self-Realization Fellowship, which became the spiritual and administrative heart of his growing work. Yogananda was the first Hindu teacher of yoga to make his permanent home in America, living there from 1920-1952.

On March 7, 1952, he attended a dinner for the visiting Indian Ambassador to the U.S., Binay Ranjan Sen and his wife at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. At the conclusion of the banquet Yogananda spoke of India and America, their contributions to world peace and human progress, and their future cooperation, expressing his hope for a “United World” that would combine the best qualities of “efficient America” and “spiritual India.” As he ended his speech, he read from his poem My India, concluding with the words “Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God—I am hallowed; my body touched that sod.” At the very last words, he slid to the floor, dead from a heart attack. Kriyananda wrote that Yogananda had once stated in a lecture, “A heart attack is the easiest way to die. That is how I choose to die.

His Teachings

One must never give up hope of becoming better. A person is old only when he refuses to make the effort to change. That stagnant state is the only “old age” I recognize. When a person says again and again, “I can’t change; this is the way I am,” then I have to say, “All right, stay that way, since you have made up your mind to be like that.”

No matter what his present state, man can change for the better through self-control, discipline, and following proper diet and health laws. Why do you think you cannot change?  Mental laziness is the secret cause of all weakness.

Everyone has self-limiting idiosyncrasies. These were not put into your nature by God, but were created by you. These are what you must change — by remembering that these habits, peculiar to your nature, are nothing but manifestations of your own thoughts.

The spiritual man conquers wrath by calmness, stops quarrels by keeping silence, dispels inharmonic by being sweet of speech and shames discourtesy by being thoughtful of others. There is no more liberating action than sincerely to give people kindness in return for unkindness.

At death, you forget all the limitations of the physical body and realize how free you are. For the first few seconds there is a sense of fear — fear of the unknown, of something unfamiliar to the consciousness. But after that comes a great realization: the soul feels a joyous sense of relief and freedom. You know that you exist apart from the mortal body.

The consciousness of the dying man finds itself suddenly relieved of the weight of the body, of the necessity to breathe, and of any physical pain. A sense of soaring through a tunnel of very peaceful, hazy, dim light is experienced by the soul. Then the soul drifts into a state of oblivious sleep, a million times deeper and more enjoyable than the deepest sleep experienced in the physical body…. The after-death state is variously experienced by different people in accordance with their modes of living while on earth. Just as different people vary in the duration and depth of their sleep, so do they vary in their experiences after death.

Yoga is the art of doing everything with the consciousness of God. Not only when you are meditating, but also when you are working, your thoughts should be constantly anchored in Him. If you work with the consciousness that you are doing it to please God, that activity unites you with Him. Therefore do not imagine that you can find God only in meditation. Both meditation and right activity are essential, as the Bhagavad-Gita  teaches. If you think of God while you perform your duties in this world, you will be mentally united with Him.

The Hindu masters taught that to gain the deepest knowledge one should focus his gaze through the omniscient spiritual eye (at the point between the eyebrows). Those who go deep enough in their concentration will penetrate that “third” eye and see God.

During deep meditation, the single or spiritual eye becomes visible as a bright star surrounded by a sphere of blue light that, in turn, is encircled by a brilliant halo of golden light. This omniscient eye is variously referred to in scriptures as the third eye, the star of the East, the inner eye, the dove descending from heaven, the eye of Shiva, and the eye of intuition.

If you contact God within yourself, you will know that He is in everyone, that He has become the children of all races. Then you cannot be an enemy to anyone. If the whole world could love with that universal love, there would be no need for men to arm themselves against one another. By our own Christ-like example we must bring unity among all religions, all nations, and all races.

So long as God’s children differentiate, “We are Indians and you are Americans; we are Germans, you are English,” so long will they be bound by delusion and the world divided. Much war and suffering and destruction will be prevented if we cease to emphasize differences and learn to love all without distinction or prejudice. Be more proud that you are made in the image of God than that you are of a certain nationality; for “American” and “Indian” and all the other nationalities are just outer coats, which in time will be discarded. But you are a child of God throughout eternity. Isn’t it better to teach that ideal to your children? It is the only way to peace: Establish the true ideals of peace in the schools, and live peace in your own life

I believe that if every citizen in the world is taught to commune with God (not merely to know Him intellectually), then peace can reign; not before. When by persistence in meditation you realize God through communion with Him, your heart is prepared to embrace all humanity.

I am neither a Hindu nor an American. Humanity is my race, and no one on earth can make me feel otherwise. Prejudice and exclusiveness are so childish. We are here for just a little while and then whisked away. We must remember only that we are children of God. I love all countries as I love my India. And my prayer to you is that you love all nations as you love America. God created a diverse world to teach you to forget your physical differences with other races; and, from the debris of misunderstanding and prejudice, to salvage your understanding and use it to make an effort to know Him as our one Father.

Therefore, my friends resolve that you will love the world as your own nation, and that you will love your nation as you love your family. Through this understanding you will help to establish a world family on the indestructible foundation of wisdom.

Follow the ways of God. Set a time apart each day to meditate on Him. When you commune with God, you shall feel toward everyone as toward your own. No one can ever make me feel he is not mine. All human beings are God’s children, and He is my Father.

Thomas Trahene                                                                                                                   

Not very different are the thoughts of the Sixteenth Century spiritual writer, Thomas Trahene, which follow.

Your enjoyment of the world is never right till every morning you awake in Heaven; see yourself in your Father’s place; and look upon the skies, the earth and the air as celestial joys; having such a reverend esteem of all, as if you were among the Angels. The bride of a monarch in her husband’s chamber hath no such causes of delight as you.

You never enjoy the world alright till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars; and perceive yourself to be sole heir of the whole world, and more than so because men are in it who are every one sole heirs as well as you. Till you can sing and rejoice and delight in God, as misers do in gold, and king in specters you can never enjoy the world.

Till your spirit filleth the whole world, and the stars are your jewels; till you are as familiar with the ways of God in all ages as with your walk and table; till you are intimately acquainted with that shady nothing out of which the world was made; till you love men as to desire their happiness with a thirst equal to the zeal of your own; till you delight in God for being good to all; you never enjoy the world. Till you more feel it than your private estate, and are more present in the hemisphere, considering glories and beauties there, than in your house; till you remember how lately you were made, and how wonderful it was when you came into it; and more rejoice in the palace of your glory than if it had been made today morning.

Yet, further, you did not enjoy the world alright, till you so love the beauty of enjoying it, that you are covetous and earnest to persuade others to enjoy it. And so perfectly hate the abominable corruption of men in despising it that you had rather suffer the flames of hell than willingly be guilty of their error.

The world is a mirror of Infinite Beauty, yet no man sees it. It is a Temple of Majesty, yet no man regards it. It is a region of Light and Peace, did not men disquiet it. It is the Paradise of God.

Quite different is the teaching in Surah 5.51: O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Auliyâ, they are but Auliyâ’ to one another. And if any amongst you takes them as Auliyâ, then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allâh guides not those people who are the Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong­doers and unjust).

No wonder the conflicts between Muslims and the rest are unending. If the whole humanity imbibed the teachings of Yogananda on humanity the world could still become a Temple of Majesty as visualized by Trahene. Yogananda emphasized the underlying unity of the world’s great religions, and taught universally applicable methods for attaining direct personal experience of God.

Colonel Mahendra Mathur prematurely retired from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army in 1975 to build a highway in Tobago. Subsequently he was appointed Director of National Emergency Management Agency of Trinidad and Tobago before retiring in 1998. You can contact him at mmathur@tstt.net.tt>

Bhagwad Geeta is “Yog Shastra”.Sri Krishn has preached in length about all the possible metaphysical terms which are necessities of a seeker to know about while traversing on path of real spiritualism. He has very clearly defined the terms “Yog” and “Yogi” as well in details. He has preached Arjun in verse forty six of Chapter six:

                    tapasvibhyo ‘dhiko yogi
                    jnanibhyo ‘pi mato ‘dhikah
                   karmibhyas cadhiko yogi
                   tasmad yogi bhavarjuna

“Since yogi is superior to men, who do penance, or men who follow the path of discrimination, or men who desire the fruits of action, O Kurunandan, you should be a doer of selfless action.”

A yogi, doer of selfless action, surpasses all ascetics, men of knowledge as well as those of action. So Krishn’s final counsel to Arjun is that he should be a yogi. This necessitates an appraisal of what all these types are. The ASCETIC is one who practices severe austerities and mortification of the body, mind, and senses to shape the yog which has not yet started flowing through him like an unimpeded current. The DOER is one who is engaged in the ordained task after knowing it, but who applies himself to it without either making an appraisal of his own strength or a sense of dedication. He is just engaged in the carrying out of an enterprise. The MAN OF KNOWLEDGE, follower of the Way of Knowledge, is engaged in the performance of the deed of yagya only after gaining a full understanding of the process from a noble mentor, an accomplished teacher, as well as with a clear appraisal and judgment of his own strength; he holds himself responsible for both profit and loss in the undertaking. The YOGI, doer of selfless action, performs the same prescribed task of meditation with a sense of total surrender to the adored one; the responsibility for the success of his yog is borne by God and the Yogeshwar. Even when there are prospects of failure he has no fear, because the God, whom he craves for, has taken upon himself the task of supporting and upholding him. All the four types of action are noble as such. But the ascetic, the man of penance, is still engaged in equipping himself for yog. The doer, the man of action, engages in action just because he knows that it has to be undertaken. These two may fail, because they have neither a sense of dedication nor a proper discernment of their assets and liabilities. But the follower of the Way of Knowledge is aware of the means of yog and also of his own strength. He holds himself responsible for whatever he does. And the yogi, the doer of selfless action, has cast himself at the mercy of his adored God, and it is God who will protect and help him. Both of these tread well on the path of spiritual salvation. But the way on which the safety of the worshipper is looked after by God is the superior of the two. It is acknowledged by Krishn. So the yogi is the most superior of men and Arjun ought to be a yogi. He should engage in the task of performing yog with a sense of complete resignation. The yogi is superior, but even better is that yogi who dwells in God through his Self. Now let us discuss here about the definition and some characteristics of “Yogi” as preached by Sri Krishn in Bhagwad Geeta.

Sri Krishn preaches in first verse of Chapter six:

                       anasritah karma-phalam
                       karyam karma karoti yah
                       sa sannyasi ca yogi ca
                       na niragnir na cakriyah

“The man, who performs the ordained task without desiring its fruits, rather than the one who just gives up (lighting) the sacred fire or action, is a sanyasi and a yogi.”

Sri Krishn insists that only that man who has made true renunciation or achieved yog who engages in the one action that is worthy of doing with absolutely no desire for any rewards. No one becomes a sanyasi or a yogi by just desisting from the ordained action. There are many kinds of work, but out of them the action which is fit to be undertaken and which is ordained is only one. And this one action is yagya which means “worship,” the one means for the attainment of God. The practice of it is action; and the man who does it is a sanyasi and a yogi. If a man has just stopped lighting fire or tells himself complacently that he has no use for action because he possesses Self-knowledge, he is neither a sanyasi nor a doer of selfless action.Sri Krishn further speaks about this:

“Remember, O Arjun, that yog (selfless action) is the same as renunciation (knowledge), for no man can be a yogi without a total rejection of desire.”

What we know as renunciation is also yog, for no man can be a yogi without giving up all his desires. In other words, sacrifice of desire is essential for men who have chosen either of the ways. Superficially it appears so easy, for all that we need to do in order to become a yogi- sanyasi is to claim that we are free from desire. But according to Sri Krishn it is by no means so. He adds:

“Whereas selfless action is the means for the contemplative man who wishes to achieve yog, a total absence of will is the means for one who has attained to it.”

Performance of action to achieve yog is the way for the reflective man who aspires to selfless action. But when repeated practice of the deed gradually brings one to the stage at which the final outcome of selfless action emerges, absence of all desire is the means. One is not rid of desire before this stage; and further he says:

                        yada hi nendriyarthesu
                        na karmasv anusajjate
                        sarva-sankalpa-sannyasi
                        yogarudhas tadocyate

“A man is said to have achieved yog when he is unattached to both sensual pleasure and action.”

This is the stage when a man is not given to sensual pleasure, nor to action. When the culmination of yog is once reached, who is there beyond to strive and look for? So there is no longer any need of even the prescribed task of worship and, therefore, of attachment to action. This is the point when attachments are completely broken. This is renunciation-(sanyas); and this is also achievement of yog. While a worshipper is still on his way and has not yet arrived at this point, there is nothing like renunciation.

In chapter six, Sri Krishn preaches that God dwells inextricably in the heart of the man who rests in his own Self and reacts evenly to the dualities of nature such as heat and cold, pain and pleasure, and honour and humiliation. Perfect repose flows through one who has conquered the mind along with the senses. This is the stage when the Soul is liberated.He preaches in verse eight and nine of Chapter six:

                         jnana-vijnana-trptatma
                         kuta-stho vijitendriyah
                         yukta ity ucyate yogi
                         sama-lostrasma-kancanah

“The yogi, whose mind is quenched with knowledge-both divine and intuitive, whose devotion is steady and constant, who has conquered his senses well, and who makes no distinction between objects ostensibly as different as earth, rock, and gold, is said to have realized God.’’

The yogi who has achieved this state is said to be endowed with yog. He has reached the crowning point of yog which Yogeshwar Krishn has portrayed in Chapter 5. Perception of God and the consequent enlightenment are knowledge. The worshipper is but grovelling in the mire of ignorance if there is even the slightest distance between him and the adored God and the desire to know him remains unfulfilled. What is called “intuitive” knowledge (vigyan)  here is knowledge of God’s functioning through things, acts, and relations (the manifest universe) which reveal how he is all-pervading, how he prompts, how he guides innumerable Souls simultaneously, and how he is knower of all times-past, present, and future. He begins to guide from the very moment when he makes his advent in a heart as the revered one, but the worshipper is unable to know this at the initial stage. It is only when he has reached the culmination of his contemplative exercise that he gains full awareness of God’s ways. This is vigyan. The heart of the man who is accomplished in yog is satiated with this achievement combined with his knowledge of God and accurate insight. Continuing with his account of this adept in yog, Sri Krishn adds in verse nine:

“That man is indeed superior who view all with an equal mind: friends and foes, the antagonistic, indifferent, neutral or jealous, kinsmen, and the righteous as well as sinners.’’

After perception of god, a sage is both equal and even-minded. A man is said to be endowed with yog when, restrained by the practice of selfless action and contented with Self, his mind is freed from all desires.

Thus, when disciplined by the practice of selfless action, the mind of a man is firmly centered on God and is indeed dissolved in him, and when there remains no desire, the worshipper is said to have attained to yog. In the state in which even the yog-restrained mind is dissolved by a direct perception of God, he (the worshipper) rests contented in his Self.

This state is achieved only by a constant and long practice of yog. In the absence of such exercise, there can be no restraint of the mind. So when the intellect, the refined mind that has been curbed by yog, also ceases to be because it is absorbed in God, the worshipper perceives him through his Self and abides with contented happiness in his own Self. He apprehends God, but he dwells contented in his Soul. In the moment of attainment he sees God, face to face as it were, but the very next moment he finds his own Self overflowing with the eternal glories of that God. God is immortal, constant, unmanifest, and vital; and now the worshipper’s soul too is imbued with these divine attributes. True, but now it is also beyond thought. So long as desire and its urges exist, we cannot possess the Self. But when the mind is restrained and then dissolved by direct perception, the very next moment after the visionary experience the embodied Soul is endowed with all the transcendental qualities of God. And it is for this reason that the worshipper now lives happily and contented in his own Self. This Self is what he really is. This is the point of crowning glory for him.

After knowing God, he (the yogi ) dwells for ever and unwavering in the state in which he is blessed with the eternal, sense-transcending joy that can be felt only by a refined and subtle intellect.Such is the state after attainment in which the worshipper lives for ever and from which he never strays. Moreover in this state, in which he believes that there can be no greater good than the ultimate peace he has found in God, he is unshaken by even the direst of all griefs.After he is once blessed with God’s transcendental peace, settled firmly in the state of his realization, the yogi is freed from all grief, and now even the most painful sorrow cannot affect him. It is so because the mind, that feels, is now itself dissolved. The most sublime happiness is the lot of the yogi whose mind is at peace, who is free from evil, whose passion and moral blindness have been dispelled, and who has become one with God. Nothing is superior to the happiness that comes to this yogi, for this is the happiness that results from identity with God; and this ultimate bliss comes only to that man who is perfectly at peace in his heart and mind, free from sin, and whose property of passion and moral blindness has been subdued. Thus constantly dedicating his Self to God, the immaculate yogi experiences the eternal bliss of realization. The emphasis here is on sinlessness and continuous devotion. The yogi needs to possess these qualities before he can experience the blessedness of touching God and merging into him. So worship is a necessity. The worshipper, whose Self has achieved the state of yog and who sees all with an equal eye, beholds his own Self in all beings and all beings in his Self.Yog brings about the state in which the even-minded worshipper sees the extension of his Soul in all beings and the existence of all beings in his own Soul. Sri Krishn adds further:

                        atmaupamyena sarvatra
                        samam pasyati yo ‘rjuna
                        sukham va yadi va duhkham
                        sa yogi paramo matah

“The worshipper, O Arjun, who perceives all things as identical and regards happiness and sorrow as identical, is thought to be the most accomplished yogi.”

The man who realizes that this Self is also the Self of all other creatures, who makes no difference between himself and others, and for whom joy and grief are the same, is the one for whom there are no longer any distinctions nor discriminations. So, he is rightly regarded as a yogi who has attained to the highest excellence in his discipline. In verse forty seven of chapter six, Sri Krishn says

                        yoginam api sarvesam
                        mad-gatenantar-atmana
                        sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
                        sa me yuktatamo matah

“Among all yogi I think that one the best who is dedicated to me and who, abiding in the Self, always adores me.’’

Sri Krishn regards, among all yogi-doers of selfless action, that one as the best who, immersed in his feeling of devotion, always adores him. Worship is not a matter of display or exhibition. Society may approve of such display, but god is offended. Worship is a secret, private activity, and it is undertaken within the heart. The ascent and descent of worship are events that belong to the Innermost seats of thought and feeling.

In chapter five, Sri Krishn preaches:

“The doer, who is in perfect control of his body through a conquest of his senses, pure at heart and single mindedly devoted to the God of all beings, is untainted by action even though he is engaged in it.’’

That man is possessed of yog, of selfless action, who has conquered the body, whose senses are subdued, whose thoughts and feelings are spotlessly clean, and who has realized his identity with God, the Spirit of all beings. He remains unblemished even though he is involved in action, because his deeds are aimed at garnering seeds of the highest good for those who lag behind. He is untainted because he dwells in the essence that is God, the fountain head of the vitality of all beings. There is nothing for him hereafter for which he should quest. At the same time, there can be no attachment to what he has left behind, because they have all paled into insignificance. So he is not engulfed by his deeds. Thus we have here a picture of the ultimate stage of the worshipper who has achieved selfless action. Sri Krishn explains again why this man, blessed with yog, remains unattached to action? In verse eight and nine of chapter five, he says:

                         naiva kincit karomiti
                         yukto manyeta tattva-vit
                         pasyan srnvan sprsan jighrann
                         asnan gacchan svapan svasan

                         pralapan visrjan grhnann
                         unmisan nimisann api
                         indriyanindriyarthesu
                         vartanta iti dharayan

‘‘The man who perceives, in whatever he is doing, whether hearing, touching smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, giving up or seizing, and opening or closing his eyes, that only his senses are acting according to their properties and that he himself is a non-doer, is indeed the one with true knowledge.’’

It is a belief, or rather experience, of the man to whom God is visibly present that he does absolutely nothing. Rather than being a mere fancy, it is a firm conviction he has arrived at through the performance of action. After having known this he cannot but believe that whatever he appears to be doing is really the operation of his senses according to their natural properties. And, when there is nothing higher than God whom he has apprehended, what greater joy can he aspire to have by touching any other object or being? Had there been something better beyond, there must have been attachment. But after the attainment of God there is no further goal to strive for. And neither is there anything left behind for him to renounce. So the man endowed with attainment is unimmersed in action. This thought is now illustrated by an example. The lotus grows in mud, but its leaf floats above the water. Ripples pass over it night and day, but if you look at the leaf it is always dry. Not a drop of water clings to it. So the lotus growing in mud and water is yet unsullied by them. Just so, the man, all of whose actions are merged into God (this dissolution occurs only with perception, not before), and who acts with total detachment because there is nothing beyond to be desired, is unaffected by action. Yet he is busy with the performance of action for the guidance and good of the ones who are behind him.

Sages give up the attachment of their senses, mind, intellect and body, and act for inner purification.A sage abandons all desires of his senses, mind, intellect, and body, and practices selfless action for inner sanctity. Does that mean that the Self is tainted with impurities even after he has merged into God? It cannot be so because after this dissolution the Self becomes one with all beings; he sees his own extension in all beings. So he acts, not for himself, but for the purification and guidance of other beings. He acts with his mind, intellect and physical organs, but his Self is in a state of actionlessness and constant peace. He appears to be active outwardly, but inside him there is only endless tranquility. The rope cannot bind any longer because it is burnt out and what remains is only the impression of its twists.Sri Krishn says:

                          yuktah karma-phalam tyaktva
                          santim apnoti naisthikim
                          ayuktah kama-karena
                          phale sakto nibadhyate

“The sage who sacrifices the fruits of his action to God attains to his state of sublime repose, but the man who desires rewards of action is chained by desire.’’

The man who is blessed with the final outcome of selfless action and who dwells in God-the root of all beings, and who has forsaken desire for the fruits of action because the God who was the goal of his action is no longer distant from him, achieves the state of sublime peace beyond which there is no greater peace and beyond which he will never again know restlessness. But the wayfarer, who is still on his way and attached (he has to be attached because the “fruit” of his action, God, is still unattained) to the consequence of his action, is fettered by it. So desires continue to arise until the moment of attainment, and the worshipper has to be on his guard right till that point. Even if the attainment is to be tomorrow, today the worshipper is at best only an ignorant man. So the questing worshipper ought not to be careless. 

Shri Mrityunjayanand is a disciple of most revered Swami Adgadanand ji and is fully committed to the universal promotion of the message of Bhagwad-Geeta. You can contact him at mrityunjayanand@hotmail.com.

Looking for something different and unique to do this Memorial Day weekend? Interested in a weekend full of new friends, sweat-it-out activities, brainstorming, mad fun with wild nature and refined cultural evenings? Hindu YUVA chapters across 5 campuses in the Carolinas, GA, and FL are putting together a Southeast regional retreat called “Yuva Sangam - A confluence of young minds.” The weekend will be full of cool workshops, enlightening talks, yoga, team games, unique real life stories by experienced volunteers. The Yuva Sangam will be from Friday May 22nd to Monday May 25th at Laura Walker State Park in Waycross, GA. For more details, contact: Nomesh (nomesh@gmail.com, 919-308-6355) or Mohona (mohona.sarkar@gmail.com).

 As always, with each new month comes a new edition of Tattva. This edition has many interesting articles and editorials. This year, many important festivals fall in April, among which are Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti. We recently celebrated Yugadi, which is known as Hindu New Year. This day recalls the inspiring occasion when the invading Sakas from Central Asia were vanquished by the great emperors Shalivahana and Vikramaditya in the 1st Century A.D. As a meaningful coincidence, the great founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, was also born on this very day of Yugadi in 1889. On this festive occasion let us take inspiration from these great souls. Jai Shri Ram!

As always, if you would like to contribute an article or have any suggestions for Tattva, you can contact the Tattva team at tattva-editor@hinduyuva.org. Click here to read the April 2009 edition of Tattva.

“God is dead. We have killed him.”

-Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

 From 9th grade through my freshman year at New York University (NYU), I lived the typical Indian teenager’s life. It revolved around four things: good grades, competitive debate, tennis, and my friends. Sure, I celebrated all the major Hindu festivals, including Durga Puja, Saraswati Puja, Diwali, Holi, etc. but I knew very little about my religion and made little time to learn. My religion was important only on holidays and celebrations. It meant that I got nice clothes, performed dances and plays during the pujas, and hung out with my friends. This was fine while I was at home in Houston.

However, when I came to NYU, I left everything behind. I was alone in an unfamiliar city, left to myself for the next four years of my life. I wanted the same sense of community I had in high school, but had no idea where to find it. This past year, I started attending a shakha* close to NYU in an attempt to find that community. The shakha was a good experience: it was comprised mostly of college students and young professionals, and it was a good way to spend my Thursday nights. I was sporadically learning about my own religion, but I was more interested in finding friends than finding religion. When I was invited to the Northeast Yuva Vargh (youth camp), I said yes thinking that it was essentially a retreat for high school seniors, college students, and young professionals. I would meet some great people, stay up late at night having fun, and come back refreshed for the rest of the spring semester. My friend mentioned that the vargh would help me explore some spiritual questions that I normally wouldn’t consider, and since I had made a New Year’s Resolution to understand more of my Hindu heritage, I thought this event was as fun an event as any to start keeping that resolution.   

The first morning was akin to a culture shock. I was woken up by a friend at 7 am. On cue, I started groaning and complaining, but quickly quieted down when I realized that he had gone to sleep an hour after I had slept and woken up an hour earlier in order to organize the morning activities. I was used to waking up at noon, rolling around in bed for an hour, and not starting anything useful until 2 pm on any given Saturday. So, when I was told that I must be ready to start the day’s activities by 8 am, I scoffed at the suggestion. However, as I watched other swayamsevaks get ready without needing any outside motivation (i.e. a kick to the kidneys or a good dose of freezing cold water in the face) I knew that I had to also, for at least the next two days, force myself to do the same or risk being thoroughly embarrassed in front of everyone. 

The phrase “peer pressure,” used proverbially or as a term of art, carries a very negative connotation. It bears images of teenagers or young adults acquiescing to their friends’ demands to smoke, drink, or otherwise engage in illicit activities just to fit into a social group. However, the positive peer pressure dynamic is present in a very different context at the yuva vargh: it becomes a tool that is used to instill discipline, responsibility, and order among otherwise very rowdy college students and young professionals. Every time a shikshak called “daksha”, I was amazed at how quickly everyone stopped what they were doing and came to attention. There was no delinquency: if you were “bold” enough to not pay attention to the speaker, you would be standing alone, with 30 pairs of eyes bearing down upon you, wondering why you could not follow a simple command. 

But you weren’t standing to attention just to listen to some boring lecture. The activities at the vargh were thoroughly enjoyable. Niyuddha, a form of Indian martial arts, was taught both days by fellow students who had previous knowledge of the art. For someone who had very little exposure to any kind of martial arts before coming to shakha and the vargh, this was a unique experience. By the end of the vargh, I had learned a three kick combination that could knock someone out cold (unfortunately, I have yet to properly test my newly acquired skills).  The games and the scavenger hunt were not only physically challenging but also intellectually invigorating. The games had something for everyone: for the competitive person, winning in dodge ball or kabaddi was paramount; for the problem solver, a series of riddles, number games, and brainteasers awaited. 

When I described these activities to my suitemate back home, he was amazed that a collection of high school seniors, college students, and young professionals were so into such “kiddy” games. After all, never in a million years would you find college kids playing these games at a dorm party. But, the games were incredibly successful because they weren’t played aimlessly: each game had an underlying message and honed essential skills that are required for success in any field or profession. Seemingly simple things, like proper communication, logical thinking, team work, and trust were emphasized in each of the games. The message hit home because of the competitive element: If you didn’t trust your teammates, or weren’t willing to work together, you would lose. And no one, no matter how apathetic or unwilling, likes to lose. This method may seem “kiddy” to the outsider, but multi-million dollar corporations and agencies spend thousands of dollars every year on workshops that attempt to instill the same values into their employees. I’m willing to bet that the games at the vargh are more successful than the workshops are. 

We did all this in good fun at the vargh, but for me, the most important part of the vargh was the hour or so we spent each day in our discussions (charchas). Truthfully, it has always been very difficult for me to balance spirituality and my desire to do well in my academics, sports, etc. I always found myself pushing spirituality aside to concentrate on more pertinent tasks, like the next exam, the next debate tournament, or the next tennis match. Moreover, trying to maintain some balance between success and hanging out with my friends was already hard enough. I just didn’t have time for spirituality. This was my justification, and for the vast majority of people, it was enough. 

However, as I sat down talking to people who had either a) managed to strike that balance or b) found religion important enough to try and find some spiritual balance, I was in unfamiliar surroundings. I was used to being around friends who fervently believed that anything unrelated to material success or reward could be sacrificed. Sure, we were happy with what we had accomplished, but was happiness only defined along a material dimension? Was it worth it to ignore the spiritual aspect of our lives? Was God really dead? 

Above all else, this vargh has shown me that Nietzsche is wrong. It is true that we routinely ignore our spiritual lives and the teleology of religion and instead make material success the basis of all our actions. But that does not mean that God is dead; rather, God is simply waiting. Waiting for us to realize that spirituality and material responsibility can not only co-exist, but flourish if we put in the effort. Why? Taking the time to practice our religion instills within us self-discipline, confidence, leadership, respect, and a sense of community that can carry us farther than we could ever envision if we only consider our material well being. The students who were leading the vargh were living proof of this. 

As I sat around talking to my peers about ways to balance our lives, I found that I wasn’t alone in dealing with this problem. To some degree, everyone encounters this conflict. The simple question becomes, are we willing to work harder to find that balance? Prior to the vargh, I would have gone with the tyranny of the majority and flatly refused. The harsh reality of the material world was hard enough to navigate. 

However, this weekend has shown me otherwise. Improving our spiritual selves only helps us in navigating the real world. It gives us a way to move outside of the constant pressure cooker that we live in, even if for a fleeting moment. I was lucky enough to spend an entire weekend away from that pressure. I came in hoping to have a good time. I had a great time, but left with far more intimate knowledge of myself than I could have ever imagined. Talk about unexpected.

*A shakha is a weekly gathering of people to learn about and preserve Hindu culture through yoga, games, discussions, etc. (To learn more, please visit www.hssus.org.)

Alexander, Ashoka and Akbar are the three celebrities enjoying the title of ‘the great’ for right, wrong or no reasons. While the first one was a cruel invader and the second one a clear native, the third one was a hybrid. (He tried to be more of a native but belonged to lineage of invaders.) All three have made contributions to history that have impacted the lives of ordinary Indians and continue to produce social aftershocks even today. But it is definitely warranted to search for more “greats,” and even the greatest, from our history. I find no better candidate than Bhakta Prahlad to be appointed as the greatest.

Skewed JNU historians will definitely frown on this choice because, according to them, Bhakta Prahlad is part of mythology and not recorded history. But how are the two differentiated when we have all the “mythological” landmarks associated with the Ramayana and Mahabharata readily available in front of our eyes, and none related to the over-publicized “historical” visit of Saint Thomas to India in 52 AD?  Yet we are told and taught that Lord Ram and Lord Krishna were mythological figures, but Saint Thomas was a historical truth! The humiliating effect of such distorted historical studies, imposed earlier by the British and now by the followers of suicidal secularism, has already destroyed the self-respect of three or four generations of Indians since 1947. It is now time for those who love India and its true history to re-discover the true heroes from our own version of history, of which our mythology is an integral part. Scanning back from the heights of human knowledge as of today, Bhakta Prahlad who revealed the eternally truthful concepts of Advaita and Evolution stands out as one of the greatest ever in human history. 

Omnipresent Ishwar

It took almost two thousand years of Western history to reach the conclusion that energy and matter are same and interchangeable. But it was a simple truth known to a boy like Bhakta Pahlad. In fact he went a step further when he said that Ishwar is present everywhere. He knew that Ishwar is energy, Ishwar is matter and Ishwar is everywhere and everything. The seed of the supreme and matchless philosophy of Advaita was sown in the human mind then and thereon. When Ishwar is present in everything, its presence in energy, humans, animals and inanimate is understood. It took millions or thousands of years for Adi Sankara to pick up the thread again and enunciate it further. And we had to wait until Albert Einstein to put together an expression (e=mc^2) for a part of the grand theory of Advaita. The equation between Ishwar and energy or matter is still awaited. 

By declaring to his father Hiranyakasipu that Ishwar is present everywhere, Bhakta Prahlad also made the profound statement that Ishwar is present within him too. According to me, this is the most significant statement ever made by any individual in the history of mankind. With one simple statement Bhakta Prahlad broke the myths of an external entity of Ishwar and the concepts about other worlds. The whole universe including its animate and inanimate is only manifestations of Ishwar and IT is present everywhere in everything at every time. The recorded revelation of Ishwar in an appropriate form to Hiranyakasipu from the nearest pillar proves this beyond even an iota of doubt.  Now it takes only our own efforts to understand this simple truth and realize the Ishwar within each of us to usher in a truly socialistic, secular and sustainable society anywhere in the world. 

Evolutionary Narasimha

In the bicentennial year of Charles Darwin who is credited with the discovery of human evolution, it must be difficult to digest that the concept of evolution was illustrated to the whole world by a simple devotee during immemorial times in India. The biography of Bhakta Prahlad is well known for all lovers of our mythology. When confronted by his ignoramus father as to demonstrate the existence of Ishwar everywhere, Bhakta Prahlad had little choice but to point to the nearest pillar. And what came out of the shattered pillar was an eye-opener not only for Hiranyakasipu but to the entire scientific world. The form Ishwar (remember IT is everything everywhere everytime) chose was the form of Narasimha, half lion and half human. This peculiar form not only opened Hiranyakasipu’s eyes, but revealed so many truths to body of human knowledge.

The fearful form of half-lion and half-man is a symbolic combination of the most powerful among animals and humans. The meaningful figure depicts a critical stage of evolution of animal into human form. If the Advaita concept connects the inanimate to the animate, the majestic form of Narasimha points to an evolutionary trend from animals into humans. It is indeed difficult for any other religion other than Hinduism to accept the truth in evolution. But for a Hindu like Bhakta Prahlad there was no better way than presenting Narasimha to illustrate the truth in evolution. The ten incarnations of Ishwar, some in animal form and some in human form, in an evolutionary cycle confirm the concept of evolution in no uncertain terms.  

It is a well known “secret” that the twin concepts of Advaita and Evolution have shattered the very foundations of many established religions in the present day world. Myths of monopoly god, its father, holy spirit, prophets, angels, paradise etc., are completely meaningless in world which knows about the evolution of species and that energy, matter and Ishwar are all one and the same. But for the political agenda behind these religious facades, people would have discarded them by now. It is now only a matter of time before every human recognize the Ishwar within and try realizing in his or her own lifetime. And when that happens, the first human who can claim to have led them out of ignorance will definitely be etched in human history as Bhakta Prahlad, the greatest. 

J. Ajith Kumar is an engineering graduate who has worked with various reputed engineering consultants in India and abroad. He is also a freelance writer who has authored several articles. He can be reached at jajithkumar@hotmail.com.

Recently, most of the world has been mesmerized by the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Originally intended for direct release on DVD, the Danny Boyle-directed depiction of poverty in India’s largest metropolis, Mumbai, received favorable responses at both the Telluride and the Toronto International Film Festivals, which led to the movie being released onto the big screen. The film, loosely adapted from Vikas Swarup’s novel, Q and A, has received both commercial and critical success, especially in the Western world, where it has won eight Academy Awards and seven British Association Film Awards. As of March 24, 2009, the film has grossed $290,526,218 altogether.  

However, Slumdog Millionaire has also received a substantial amount of criticism. People have objected to the one-dimensional projection of a bleak and poverty-infested Mumbai, with Shyamal Sengupta, professor of film studies at the Whistling Woods International Institute for Films, Media, Animation, and Media Arts in Mumbai, suggesting that the film is a “white man’s imagined India. It’s not quite snake charmers, but it’s close. It’s a poverty tour.” Slum residents in Patna, Bihar, have protested against the use of the word “dog” to describe their plight, and have torn down posters and ransacked movie theaters in response. Meanwhile, others have spoken out against the portrayal of Hindus as sole aggressors during the Hindu-Muslim riots in 1993 and the riveting image of the lord Rama during this scene.

Far more disconcerting were the initial reports that the child actors who had been picked up from the Bandhra slums were remaining in these slums at the conclusion of filming and screening. Newspapers have reported that Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, playing the role of Jamal’s brother, Salim, was paid £1,700, while Rubina Ali, who played Latika, received £500 for a year’s work on the film. Both children were living in makeshift shacks, and Ismail was living with a father diagnosed with tuberculosis. Eventually, the scrutiny compelled Danny Boyle to announce that the children had been given trust funds which they could access upon turning eighteen, and had also been provided with transportation to attend school, and shortly after the Academy Awards, the children were provided housing.

While the criticism directed at the movie is certainly valid, it is, alas, not the root of the problem. We cannot dispute these facts as inaccurate. Unfortunately, poverty in the wretched slums of India’s major cities is a real issue that adversely affects millions. Hindus, Muslims, and Christians have taken turns slaughtering each other during periods of unrest (and the Mumbai Riots in particular are actual historical events), orphaning millions of innocent children and leaving scars that likely will never heal. And while the slum child actors may have been short-changed, we have to remember that there are millions of children with worse luck in the same slums who will never get such an opportunity in their miserable lives.

The controversies surrounding Slumdog Millionaire are real concerns, and as humiliated as we may feel by them, these concerns are ultimately ours to resolve. For the moment, millions of Westerners have been awakened to this squalor and are now feeling empathy for the struggles of slum children. Perhaps donations may increase from this section, but little else will come from the hype and hoopla of this film, and we will soon be reminded of the fact that the attention span of this section towards social problems is ephemeral. Already, the popularity of this movie has begun to wane as new films begin to hit the theaters. 

Slumdog Millionaire will fade into lore, but poverty and religious strife will not be distant memories in the near future. Should these be the permanent stains to our motherland’s legacy? Should we be resigned to argue over the scope of such demeaning projections? Is there no way to prevent further hyper-exposure of India’s social ailments?

The only way to stop coverage of these blemishes is if we work to eradicate them. As daunting as this task may sound, nothing else will suffice. The people wallowing in the muck of the slums are our brothers and sisters, and we must take this to heart. We must be willing to take time out of our lives to spend with our extended family, in order to help them. Not only should we donate money, we need to donate ourselves whole-heartedly to rid the slums of their poverty.

Aatmeeyata (personal bonds) is the solution to India’s twin predicaments presented by Slumdog Millionaire, and it is a solution that is hard to come by due to sheer numbers. Containing over one billion residents within Akhanda Bharat itself and millions of others who have migrated abroad, the Indian Diaspora is often too vast. Every individual is focused on their own interests. There isn’t enough space to contain us all, and in the following social Darwinism, cutthroat competition leaves some people insignificant, and perhaps even dispensable. Bonds are easily shattered in such an environment.

But if we can strengthen the connections to bind us together as an extended family, we can eliminate many problems. Humanity is restored, and we are able to look at each person as a valuable part of the whole scenario. Bonds will compel us to lift the unfortunate out of their bitter pit. Unity will strike down religious discord and conflict.

As idealistic and unfeasible as this solution may sound, dismissing this solution as such will allow for more men such as Danny Boyle and companies such as Fox Searchlight to continue to make hundreds of millions of dollars off the brutal realities of slum poverty and communal violence.

Though Rakshabandhan has already passed us in 2008 and is yet to come upon us in 2009, I feel that the sentiment it embodies should be appreciated eternally, and that the value it instills should be practiced every day. For that purpose, I will convey my relationship with this festival. So what does Rakshabandhan mean? It means funny-colored bracelets for us guys and smiles, pictures, hugs for the girls; a couple of moments of perhaps awkward ritual, bearing feelings uniquely and almost exclusively shared by our youth generation. Apart from all of that, though, there’s a palpable ambience that spreads within the family and between the siblings that we also share. Those who have participated in this festival understand the very unique relationship it celebrates.

In Hindu tradition, we portray our values visually. Just as we bend to touch the feet of our elders when we seek their blessings, our sister ties a knot at our wrist to show her firm confidence in us. And similarly, we wear it to show our self-inspired obligation to fulfill our duties as brothers; vowing to be a strong fist when our duty calls and a soft hand when she needs one. 

Rakhis have traditionally embodied that sacred bond between brother and sister, but today, it has the capacity to mean a lot more. Rabindranath Tagore began a practice of Rakhi Utsavs in 1905, in which rakhis were tied to neighbors, friends, and loved ones in an effort to bring the entire community together in harmony. Such an action of innocent but convicted love and faith brought societies together, little by little. Such actions can bear significance to the neighborhoods we live in today as well. Brotherhood and sisterhood and camaraderie are more necessary now than they ever have been. And the emergence of such issues as faith, nationality, and belief as agents of division have endangered the colorless, origin-less, religion-less bond of love from potentially forming between us. 

The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh recently organized a unique project in Virginia. They rallied community youngsters, and traveled to local police stations and firehouses with the objective of showing their appreciation for the officers’ service and bravery by having the kids tie the rakhi for them. Even though the project fell on a Sunday, “five cops who [were off] duty drove back to the police station to [receive their rakhis].” They later “thanked the kids for thinking about them” and rewarded them by “giving them a tour of the fire truck and explaining [to the kids] their services.” The power of honest actions and the expression of love and appreciation prove unwavering, just as Tagore showed us a century ago.

Rakshabandhan is a hallmark time to observe, as it allows a family to re-invite and bring to light again those subtle bonds that may be buried all in a day’s work. But at the same time, Rakshabandhan expands the definition of family. By expressing faith and love for the stranger, we arouse in them a similar spirit, a spirit of humility and responsibility to his or her fellow human being. Such a uniting force is the festival of Rakshabandhan, such a unique celebration within the world’s cultures, that it is only right that we share it with pride; share it with the mission of unity and brotherhood. That is the mission of today’s Rakshabandhan. That is where we fulfill our call to duty as Hindus in our world, and make real Tagore’s vision of amity.

Sources:

Meaning & Significance of Rakshabandhan, http://www.raksha-bandhan.com/meaning-significance-of-raksha-bandhan.html

India Interacts, http://hssusa.indiainteracts.com/2008/08/21/hss-celebrates-rakshabandhan-with-american-firefighters-and-police-officers/

Anand Jayanti attends the University of Texas at Austin as a freshman, and takes an interest in music, film, and poetry. Having lived in the United States for 15 years with only intermittent trips back home, Anand eternally seeks a means of reattachment.

In very simple words, attainment to the Supreme Spirit who is beyond worldly attachment and repulsion is yog. Sri Krishn has preached in verse 23 of Chapter six:

        taṁ vidyād duḥkhasaṁyogaviyogaṁ yogasaṁjñitam|

        sa niścayena yoktavyo yogo’nirviṇṇacetasā||

        ”It is a duty to practice this yog, untouched by miseries of the world, with vigour and determination, and without a sense of ennui.”

That which is equally free from worldly attraction and repulsion is named yog. Yog is experiencing the final beautitude. Attainment of the ultimate essence, that is God, is yog. Engaging in this yog without a sense of monotony or boredom (ennui) and with resolution is a sacred obligation. He who is patiently engaged in selfless action is the one who succeeds in achieving yog.

He adds further that it is person’s duty to sacrifice all the desires that arise from will, along with attachment and worldly pleasure, and restrain well with the mind the senses from straying here and there. The final dissolution in God comes only gradually with the practice of yog. When the mind is fully under control, the Self is united with the Supreme Spirit. However, at the beginning, when the worshipper has just set out on the path, he has to concentrate his mind patiently on, and think of nothing else except, God. The way of this spiritual enterprise is that attainment comes only with constant application. To trim the mind along with the body and senses in keeping with the goal is penance. They tend to digress from the goal but have to be pulled back and applied to it. Yog is the joining of the Soul, wandering amidst nature, with God who is beyond nature. Usually, the meeting of two objects is yog. But is it yog if a pen meets paper or a dish meets a table? Of course not, because both are made of the same five elements: they are one, not two. Nature and the Self are two entities, distinct from each other. There is yog when the nature-based Soul meets the identical God, and when nature is dissolved in the Soul. This is the true yog. So there are many who resort to a strict practice of restraint because it is conducive to this union. Nonviolent but severe austerities such as restraint, religious observance, the appropriate posture of sitting, serenity of breath, withholding of the mind along with the physical organs, retention, meditation and perfect absorption of thought in the Supreme Spirit, are indicated as the eightfold features of yog.

In chapter two, verse 48, Sri Krishn preaches:

         yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanaṁjaya|

         siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṁ yoga ucyate||

         ‘‘The equipoise of mind that arises from profound absorption in the performance of action after renouncing attachment and being even-minded in respect of success and failure is, O Dhananjay (Arjun), given the name of yog.”

Resting in yog, renouncing infatuation for worldly ties, and looking at success and failure with an equal mind, Arjun should undertake action. But what action? Sri Krishna’s pronouncement is that people should do selfless action. Equipoise of mind is what is called yog. The mind in which there is no unevenness is full of equanimity. Greed destroys its evenness, attachments make it unequal, and desire for the fruits of action destroy its serenity. That is why there should be no hankering after the fruits of action. At the same time, however, there should also be no diminishing of faith in the performance of action. Renouncing attachment to all things, seen as well as unseen, and giving up all concern about achievement and non-achievement, we should only keep our eyes fixed on yog, the discipline that joins the individual Soul with the Supreme Spirit, and lead a life of strenuous action.Yog is thus the state of culmination. But it is also the initial stage. At the outset our eyes should be fixed on the goal. It is for this reason that we should act keeping our eyes on yog. Equanimity of mind is also named yog. When the mind cannot be shaken by failure and success, and nothing can destroy its evenness, it is said to be in the state of yog. It cannot then be moved by passion. Such a state of mind enables the Soul to identify himself with God. This is another reason why this state is called Samattwa Yog, the discipline that makes the mind filled with equanimity. Since there is, in such a state of mind, complete renunciation of desire, it is also called the Way of Selfless Action (Nishkam Karm Yog). Since it requires us to perform action, it is also known as the way of Action (Karm Yog) . Since it unites the Self with the Supreme Spirit, it is called yog. It is necessary to keep in mind that both success and failure should be viewed with equanimity, that there should be no sense of attachment and that there is no desire for the rewards of action. It is thus that the Way of Selfless Action and the Way of Knowledge are the same. He adds:

         buddhiyukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛtaduṣkṛte|

         tasmādyogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam||

         “As the Soul endowed with a mind of equanimity renounces both meritorious and evil deeds in this world itself and the art of acting with equipoise is yog, the endeavour to master the way of equanimity of discrimination is Samattwa Yog.’’

Stoic minds give up both the sacred and the sinful in this life itself. They adopt an attitude of detachment to both. So one should strive for the equanimity of mind. Yog is the skill of acting with equipoise. The human body is meant for worship of God. Sri Krishn says that when mind achieves the state of steady contemplation of God, it will become changeless and constant, and then one will master the skill of even minded discrimination. He will then achieve the perfect equilibrium which is the ultimate state of immortality. This is the crowning point of yog. And the realization of this state will be manifested to the doer alone, not to anyone else, when his practice of yog has reached maturity, not at its inception, not in the middle, not externally but within his heart-within his Self. Sri Krishn preaches in verse 41 and 42 of Chapter four:

          yogasaṁnyastakarmāṇaṁ jñānasaṁchinnasaṁśayam|

          ātmavantaṁ na karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañjaya||

          tasmādajñānasaṁbhūtaṁ hṛtsthaṁ jñānāsinātmanaḥ|

          chittvainaṁ saṁśayaṁ yogamātiṣṭhottiṣṭha bhārata|| 

“O Dhananjay, action cannot bind the man who relies on God and who has surrendered all his actions to him by the practice of karm-yog and all whose doubts have been put to rest by knowledge.’’

Action cannot enslave the man whose deeds are dissolved in God by the practice of yog, whose doubts have been resolved by perception, and who is united with God. Action will be brought to an end only by yog. Only knowledge will destroy doubts. So Krishn finally says:

          ”So, O Bharat, dwell in yog and stand up to cut down this irresolution that has entered into your heart because of ignorance with the steel of knowledge.’’

Arjun has to fight. But the enemy-irresolution-is within his own heart, not outside. When we proceed on the way of devotion and contemplation, it is but natural that feelings of doubt and passion will arise as obstacles before us. These enemies launch a fearful assault. To fight them and overcome them, through the destruction of uncertainties by the practice of the ordained yagya, is the war that Arjun has to wage, and the result of this war for him will be absolute peace and victory after which there is no possibility of defeat. 

Sri Krishn has preached in verse one of Chapter four how this yog is transplanted by Yogeswar? Is it that way which is before us in present shape under modern concepts and activities? Is it so easy? He says: 

         imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavānahamavyayam|

         vivasvānmanave prāha manurikśvākave’bravīt||

         “It was I who taught the eternal yog to the Sun- (Vivaswat), who then taught it to Manu, who taught it to Ikshwaku.’’

It was he, Sri Krishn says, who at the beginning of devotion (kalp), imparted the knowledge of eternal yog to the Sun (symbolizing righteous impulses), from whom it was passed on to Manu (symbolizing mind), son and then to Ikshwaku (symbolizing aspiration).Sri Krishn, as we have seen, was a yogi. So it is a yogi, a sage dwelling in the Supreme Spirit, who initiates the everlasting yog at the beginning or, in other words, at the commencement of worship and transmits it into the life breath. The Sun represents the way of God-realization. God is the “one light that gives light to all.”Yog is everlasting.Sri Krishn has said that the inception, the seed, of this process is indestructible. If it is but begun, it does not cease until it has achieved perfection. The body is cured by medicines, but worship is the remedy for the Soul. The beginning of worship is the beginning of Self-cure. This act of devotion and meditation is also the creation of an accomplished sage. To the primitive man lying unconscious in the night of ignorance, who has not given a thought to yog, is brought to the perfection of yog when he meets with an enlightened and totally accomplished sage-just by looking at the great man, by listening to his voice, by rendering albeit an inadequate service to him, and by associating with him. Goswami Tulsidas has also said this: “Ultimate bliss is granted to the man who has perceived God as well as to the man who has been noticed by God.”

Sri Krishn says that at the beginning he taught yog to the Sun. If a realized sage just casts a glance at a devotee, the refinement of yog is transmitted into the life-breath of the lucky Soul. All beings that live are animated by the sun-by God who is subject to himself alone. Since light is life or breath, it is ordained that the Supreme Spirit can be attained only by the regulation of life-breath. Transmission of pious instincts into life breath of early man is the imparting of knowledge of yog to the Sun, after which in due time the seed of this perfection sprouts in the mind. This is how sun passes on the knowledge to Manu. After the seed has sprouted in the mind, there will arise a wish for the realization of the sage’s utterance. If the mind has something in it, there is also the desire to achieve it. This is Manu’s preaching yog to Ikshwaku. There will be a longing, or aspiration to do that ordained act which is eternal and which liberates from the bondage of action. If it is so, there is the will to act and worship is quickened. This yog, transmitted by an accomplished saint into the breath of the primitive, barbaric man, and thereafter flowing from breath into the mind, thence to longing (or aspiration), and from that to active practice, thus developing by gradual stages, reaches the royal stage and is then revealed to the seeker. Sri Krishn now speaks about the characteristic marks of the man who is blessed and purely engaged with yog. He preaches in verse seven of Chapter five:

          yogayukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ|

          sarvabhūtātmabhūtātmā kurvannapi na lipyate||

         “The doer, who is in perfect control of his body through a conquest of his senses, pure at heart and single mindedly devoted to the God of all beings, is untainted by action even though he is engaged in it.’’

That person is possessed of yog, of selfless action, who has conquered the body, whose senses are subdued, whose thoughts and feelings are spotlessly clean, and who has realized his identity with God, the Spirit of all beings. He remains unblemished even though he is involved in action, because his deeds are aimed at garnering seeds of the highest good for those who lag behind. He is untainted because he dwells in the essence that is God, the fountain head of the vitality of all beings. There is nothing for him hereafter for which he should quest. At the same time, there can be no attachment to what he has left behind, because they have all paled into insignificance. So he is not engulfed by his deeds. Thus we have here a picture of the ultimate stage of the worshipper who has achieved selfless action.Sri krishn, in chapter five has preached in onwards verses about the characteristic marks who is blessed with this eternal Yog.

(For more details, kindly refer “Yatharth Geeta” the world famous exposition on Bhagwad-Geeta by Paramhans Swami Shri Adgadanand ji who is an accomplished and totally enlightened sage from India. The exposition is available atwww.yatharthgeeta.com for ready reference in almost all the major languages of the world).

Shri Mrityunjayanand is a disciple of most revered Swami Adgadanand ji and is fully committed to the universal promotion of the message of Bhagwad-Geeta. You can contact him at mrityunjayanand@hotmail.com.

The origin of the Sanskrit word “Vedanta” is Veda + anta. Veda means intuitive knowledge or wisdom. The root verb “vid” means to know. Anta means end, conclusion, essence or a goal. So, Vedanta means the final conclusion as well as the goal of Vedas. There are four Vedas, Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda, which are the timeless collections of inspired thoughts and intuitive wisdom. Vedantic wisdom, philosophy and practice are based on three major sources of inspired writings namely, Upanishads, Bhagvad-Gita, and Brahma-Sutra. These three together are known as the foundations of ancient wisdom, Prasthana-trayee. 

Philosophy of Vedanta

 It is a perennial philosophy of enlightened life and the practical way of realizing it, sanatana dharma. The universe is an organic whole and has a natural order called Ritam. Every thoughtful human being is wonderstruck by its beauty, complexity, and infinite expressions. One who has understood the truth of being an integral part of this natural order has an intuitive understanding of the ultimate reality within and without oneself, Ritam-bhara prajna. The search is for the fundamental truth, which underlies the flux of all changing phenomena. The author of Kena Upanishad asked: ‘What is that, which being known, everything else becomes known?’

There are two forms of knowledge, a direct, aparoksha, and an indirect, paroksha. The direct knowledge is first-person, immediate and without any reflective thought and recall of memories. The indirect knowledge involves slow deliberate cognition with reflective thought, associations, and reactive memories. Direct knowledge is like eating an ice-cream and experiencing for yourself its taste, flavor, and coolness. Indirect knowledge is like reading a description of an ice-cream, or seeing some one else eat it.

The direct intuitive knowledge, prajnanam, is based on personal experience. There is no subject-object duality in the direct experience, aparoksha anubhuti. It is a pre-reflective process. Such a self-inquiry leads one on an inward journey to self, antar-gaman, self-knowledge, atma-jnana, and the self-realization of being, atma-sakshatkar. The essential truth within, satyasya satyam, can be realized from within. It is the pathless path to self. 

We have to learn to watch the drama of life dispassionately. This includes changes in our surroundings, parisara, our physical body, deha, physiological activities like breathing, shvasana, as well as the mind, manas, and its activities like thinking, vichara, intending, sankalpa, recalling, smruti. We need to learn to stay still and undistracted in the present moment, until we realize the truth of our spontaneous, sahaja, tranquil, shanta, and exhilarating being, ananda.

Self-realization springs from within, because the fundamental truth of our existential being is within. It is not outside in the changing phenomena. There is something amazingly beautiful within each one of us – a primal feeling, adi bhavana, of an endless, ananta, spontaneous wonder, vismaya. It is complete in itself, poorna. It lacks nothing. It is the greatest wonder within, which needs to be discovered by our own watchful enquiry. We are an integral part of this incredible natural order, Ritam. We are in nature and nature is within us at every level of our biophysical and mental organization. We should realize this amazing integration in our own heart. This is what Vedanta is all about.

The main thesis of Vedanta is that the ultimate reality of the universe, Brahman, and the ultimate reality of a conscious human being, Atman, are two aspects of the same essential truth. Our task is to discover this truth in our own life and appreciate the wonder of this amazing existence, jagat.

Brahman: The Ultimate Reality of the Universe

The word Brahman is derived from the root verb Bruh, which means to grow, to expand, to surge. It is a ceaseless, spontaneous bursting forth or emerging. It is the primal reality as well as the organizing principle of the universe. Brahman is the reality of the real, satyasya satyam, the source of all existence. This absolute reality of Brahman is truth, satyam, consciousness, jnanam, and infinite, ananta. It is also described as existential, blissful, conscious being, sat-chit-ananda. It is not merely a featureless absolute, but the whole universe is its incredible expression. Chaandogya Upanishad described Brahman as Tajjalan, that, which gives rise to, sustains, and absorbs the universe, tat-ja-li-an. It is the creative matrix of the dynamic universe. Universe is truly a uni-verse, a single poem, a single process. We are an integral part of it.

Brahman is not an object of thought or reflection. It is not the result of any human action or creation. It is beyond all possible description. It can only be known intuitively in the core of one’s being. It is the unfathomable ground of the universe, which encompasses every thing in it. Brahman is both transcendent as well as imminent in the universe. It is both the real as well as the realized. The essence of the individual, atman, and the existential totality, brahman, are two aspects of the same truth.

Atman: The Ultimate Reality of a Conscious Human Being

The word Atman is derived from the verb an ‘to breathe.’ It is the breath of life. It is the essential being of the individual, the self or the soul. Atman persists when the not-self is systematically eliminated from conscious awareness. The not-self includes all objective phenomena like the world, body, mind, intellect and ego. The Atman is the ultimate conscious witness, sakshi. Some vedantins think that Atman is an unborn, aja, and immortal, amar, element, bhaga, in a person. Atman is the essential self-conscious being. It is the foundational reality of an individual being.

Atman as Brahman

The unity of atman and brahman can only be realized directly and intuitively, within the calm and clear stillness of one’s own being. One can realize the self-renewing, spontaneity of one’s own being. It is the nondual, advaita, experience of the existential singularity, ekatva. That is why this philosophy of vedanta is also known as advaita vedanta.

The Individual Self

The individual self is called jiva, one who breathes. It is the biological aspect of human individuality. It is also called purusha, the primal person. The individual jiva is the doer, karta, as well as enjoyer, bhokta, of various life experiences. It has the biophysical body, deha, the subconscious organizing energy, prana, and conscious mind, manas. The manas is composed of five sensory faculties (hearing, sight, touch, smell & taste), five executive or motor faculties (speech, hands, feet, excretory and generative), and an overall executive intelligence, buddhi. In addition, mind also includes the matrix of memory, chitta, and the sense of I, ahamkar. The four mental elements (manas, chitta, buddhi & ahamkar) together form the inner organ of conscious experience, antah-karana.

The Skillful Practice of Vedanta

 To realize the truth within, we have to become alert and be aware of all that is happening from moment to moment, both within and around us. Such an attitude of being fully and whole-heartedly present in the current moment is called presence, mindfulness, or vipashyana. It is a special orientation, observation, or perspective. It is a unique process of self-absorbing, renewing and staying undistracted every moment. It is like bird-watching, when one is quiet, non-intrusive, passive but totally engrossed in the act of the watchful experience. One’s whole heart and being are still but fully attentive in the moment. It is just watching, listening and eventually just being in the moment.

There is no world-teacher; world IS the teacher! World includes all that is happening both within and without. Each living moment can teach us something new, because no two moments are identical. The whole world is a process, which is continuously changing and evolving. One can learn continuously and directly from every change. An awareness of any change is cognition or knowledge. Human body and mind are both the means as well as the receptacle of personal experience, knowledge, and understanding, Shariram adyam khalu dharma sadhanam.

In order to notice a change fully, one must be keenly attentive, free, still, silent and present-minded. One has to wake up not only from the day-dreams, but also from the so-called wakefulness. Such an awakened awareness with direct, primal experience, aparoksha-anubhuti has been called the fourth state of consciousness, Turiya. According to vedanta philosophy that is the goal of daily life. When, one is continuously in harmony with the primal, existential being, Adi Purusha, one’s life can be spontaneous, sahaja, effortless, ayatna, selfless, nirahamkar, all-caring, sarvatmaka, and inspring, prajnanam Brahma.  

The Inward Path to Self-Realization

 An inward, pathless path has been described in many of the Vedantic texts including Prasthana-trayee, Patanajali’s Yoga-sutra, Adi Shankar-acharya’s Atma-anusandhana, Atma-bodha, Prabhodha-sudhakar, Aparoksha-anubhuti, and Vedanta- sara.

 Patanjali’s eightfold path, Ashtanga Yoga, has been expanded by Adi Shankar-acharya in his Vedanta-sara and Aparokshanubhuti. He describes fifteen specific skills to be learnt for self-realization.

1)                           Self-restraint, Yama is the development of one’s ability to voluntarily quiet one’s sensory-motor activities to reach a level of profound peace, bliss, and spontaneous silence within, shant or tushni bhava. One should also remind oneself that the whole existence is a single reality, Brahman.

2)                           Undistracted attentiveness, Niyama is continuous, whole-hearted dwelling on what is happening at the moment, and to stay undistracted from any events of the past and any expectations of the future.

3)                           Letting go, Tyaga of all phenomena that can be objectively experienced and reminding oneself that one’s true nature, one’s essence is atman, the ultimate reality within. This object is not mine, Idam na mama.

4)                           Inner verbal quiescence, Mounam is being still and totally silent mentally. Such mental silence is spontaneous, sahaj samjna and indescribable, shabda-vivarjit. One should let it happen within oneself. Let it blossom. It is the matrix of all verbal and vocal activity.

5)                           Solitude, Vijanah is a quiet personal space, in which there is no intrusion by distracting people or sounds.

6)                           Moment of time, Kala can create an arousing mental phenomena or it can take one to a blissful, nondual state in the blink of an eye, nimeshatah.

7)                           Steady posture, Asana is the effortless position of the body, in which one can dwell easily on the essential reality, Brahman. This can occur spontaneously, effortlessly, sukhena, and unceasingly, ajastra.

8)                           Mental quiescence, Chitta-Bandha is letting the mind come to a natural standstill state.

9)                           Bodily equilibrium, Deha-Samya is the collective quietness of the body and mind to realize the truth within.

10)                       Expanded, global awareness, Jnanamayi Drishti is an expanded, limitless, nondual awareness when the totality of the experienced world is seen as the quantum reality, Brahman. There is no subject-object differentiation in such an eco-systemic, expanded, global conscious state.

11)                       Natural, conscious breathing, Pranayama is awareness of every breath. During inhalation, puraka, one should contemplate, “I am Brahman, the truth within.” During the internal pause, kumbhaka, one should let the mind pacify itself. During exhalation, rechaka, one should think, “This objectively experienced world is not my true being. This self, jiva, is not me, not me. neti, neti.”

12)                       Inward self-withdrawal, Pratyahara is withdrawing the wandering mind from all experiential objects, events, and to let it get absorbed in the truth within, Brahman.

13)                       Sustained consciousness, Dharana is uninterrupted, conscious awareness of the truth-within, like a continuous stream of oil, akhanda taila-dharavat.

14)                       Meditation, Dhyana is a blissful state, contemplating on the feeling that “I am free, swatantra, and independent, niralamba. I am the truth, the Brahman.”

15)                       Self-absorptive Integration, Samadhi is an unchanging, nitya, uninterrupted, indescribable, spontaneous, anahata, awareness of the truth. One forgets oneself as an isolated person, jiva. This actualizes the ultimate reality. In this state, the person becomes the truth, Brahman itself, Brahmavid Brahmaiva bhavati. He/she lives an enlightened, inspired, blissful and selfless life naturally, effortlessly.

Direct Intuitive Experience, Aparoksha-Anubhut

The following are some of the quotations of wisdom, maha vakyas, from the self-realized, vedic sages, rishis. These are profound expressions about the fundamental nature of a conscious human being and the humanly experienced world:

1)      Sarvam khalu idam Brahma. All this is Brahman, the quantum reality.

2)      Ayam Atma Brahma. This self is Brahman.

3)      Aham Brahma-asmi. I am Brahman.

4)      Tat tvam asi. You are that.

Adi Shankar-acharya expressed true self-realization, Atma-jnana, from his personal experience and understanding as follows:

“I am truly Brahman, the ultimate being-in-reality, which is equanimous, sama, serene, shanta, existential, sat, conscious, chit, blissful, ananda, non-changing, nir-vikar, non-formed, nir-akar, flawless, nir-avadya, non-decaying, a-vyaya, healthy, nir-aamaya, beyond appearance, nir-aabhasa, non-wavering, nir-vikalpa, pervasive, atatah, attributeless, nir-guna, restful, nish-kriya, enduring, nitya, steady, a-chyuta, pure, nir-mala, immovable, nish-chala, infinite, anant, sacred, shuddha, non-aging, a-jara, imperishable, amara. I am not the mere appearance of a physical body. This is the true self-knowledge realized by the wise.”

Finally, there are profoundly meaningful expressions from the Vedantic literature like:

English Translation of Vedic Quotes

by Vinod D Deshmukh

ॐ (AUM, The Absolute)

(Absolute: Free from imperfection: Perfect.

Perfectly embodying the nature of a thing.

Being self-sufficient and free of external references.)

*** 
 
एकं ज्योतिः बहुधा विभाति I

One flame (Energy) shines in many ways (Forms).
*** 

असतो मा सद् गमय I

Guide me from unreal to Real.

तमसो मा ज्योतिर गमय I

Guide me from darkness to Light.

मृत्योः मा अमृतं गमय I

Guide me from death to Life (immortality).
*** 

ठेविले अनंते तैसेची रहावे

Let me live the way the Infinite designs. 

चित्ती असो द्यावे समाधान I

May there be bliss (content) in my heart.

वाहिल्या उद्वेग दुक्खची केवळ

Carrying bitter unhappiness only leads to more suffering.

भोगणे ते फळ संचिताचे I

We have to experience the consequences of our actions.

तुका म्हणे घालू तयावरी भार

Tuka says let us leave this load (suffering) on Him.

वाहू हा संसार देवापायी I

Let us devote our life to His service.
*** 

देहो देवालयः प्रोक्तः स जीवः केवलः शिवः

This body is the temple. The living being is sacred. 

त्यजेत् अज्ञान निर्माल्यं सोऽहं भावेन पूजयेत I

Let us discard the old flowers of self-ignorance,

And worship the Self as the Divine.
*** 

अपाणि पादोः अहम् अचिन्त्य शक्तिः

I am that incomprehensible energy

That acts without hands or feet,

पश्यामि अचक्षुः स श्रुणोमि अकर्णः I

That can see without eyes and hear without ears.

अहम् विजानामि विविक्त रूपो

I can comprehend various forms,

न च अस्ति वेत्ता मम चित् सदाहम I

But, no one knows me as the timeless awareness.
*** 

तदेजति तन्नैजति तद्दूरे तद वन्तिके

It moves. It moves not. It is far. It is so close.

तदन्तरस्य सर्वस्य तदु सर्वस्यास्य बाह्यतः I

It is within all. It is beyond all.
*** 

स्वल्पापि दीप कणिका बहुलं नाशयेत तमः

Even a brief spark of light can eliminate dense darkness.

स्वल्पापि बोधो निबिडं बहुलंनाशयेत्तथा I

Similarly, even a brief insight (understanding)

can eliminate deep ignorance.
*** 

अन्तःपूर्णो बहिःपूर्णः पूर्णकुम्भ इवार्णवे

Submerged in an ocean, a pot is full within and without. 

अन्तःशुन्यों बहिःशून्यः शुन्यकुम्भ इवाम्बरे I

Being in the sky, a pot remains empty within and without.
*** 

पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात पूर्णँ उदच्यते

This is whole. That is whole.

From whole emerges whole.

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते I

Even after the emergence of whole,

The original (Absolute) remains whole.
 ***

भूः भुवः स्वः तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यम
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि धियोयोनः प्रचोदयात् I

We meditate on that supreme effulgence

Of the radiant Being within,

The indwelling Guide within all beings.

May It inspire our intellect (to realize the Truth).
*** 

श्लोकार्धेन प्रवक्षामि यदुक्तं ग्रन्थ सहस्रभिः

I will declare the essential Truth in half a stanza,

which has been elaborated in thousands of books: 

ब्रह्म सत्यम् जगन मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः I

The Absolute is the Truth.

The experienced world is (transient) appearance.

An individual is none other than the Absolute.

***

ब्रम्हैवाहं समः शान्तः सच्चिदानन्द लक्षणः I

I am truly the Absolute Being-in Reality,

Which is equanimous, serene, existential, conscious, blissful,

निर्विकारो निराकारो निरवद्यो अहम् अव्ययः I

Non-changing, unformed, flawless, non-dissipating,

निरामयो निराभासो निर्विकल्पो अहम् आततः I

Healthy, non-apparent (real), non-wavering, pervasive,

निर्गुणो निष्क्रियो नित्यो नित्यमुक्तो अहम् अच्युतः I

Attributeless, restful, enduring, steady,

निर्मलो निश्चलो अनंतः शुद्धो अहम् अजरो अमरः I

Pure, immovable, infinite, sacred, non-aging, imperishable.

नाहं देहो हि असद् रूपो ज्ञानं इति उच्यते बुधैः I

I am not merely this apparent body.

This is the true Self-knowledge expressed by the wise.

***

न विज्ञातेः विज्ञातारं विजानीयाः I

The knower of the knower is not knowable.

***

चिन्मात्रोहं सदाशिवः I

I am the absolute awareness, the absolute goodness.

***

अत्र अयं पुरुषः स्वयंज्योतिः भवति I

In this state, the self becomes Self-Illumined.

निर्वात दीप इव I

Like the unperturbed flame of a lamp.

***

आत्मनि संविशति आत्मनांत आत्मानम् I

Self submerges self into Self.

***

आत्मनि एव आत्मना तुष्टः I

One becomes blissful within oneself.

तरति शोकं आत्मविद I

Knower of Self overcomes grief.

ब्रह्मविद ब्रह्मैव भवति I

Knower of Brahman becomes Brahman.

(Brahman: Absolute Blissful-Conscious-Being-Existence-Energy.)

***

Suggested Reading

Vedas

1)      Jean Le Mee and Ingbert Gruttner: Hymns from the Rig-Veda, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1975

2)      Antonio T. de Nicolas: Meditations through the Rig Veda: Four Dimensional Man, Shambhala, Boulder and London, 1978

3)      Devi Chand: The Yajur Veda, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi 1994

4)      Ganapati, SV: Sama Veda, Motilal Banarasidass Publishers, Delhi, 1992

5)      Devi Chand: The Atharva Veda, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi, 1980

Upanishads

6)      Radhkrishnan, S: The Principal Upanishads, Harper Collins Publishers, New Delhi, 1994

7)      Mahadevan, TMP: Upanishads, Arnold-Heinemann Publishers, New Delhi, 1975

8)      Swami Madhavananda: Minor Upanishads, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1980

9)      Deshmukh, VD: Turiya: The Fourth State of Consciousness and the STEP Model of Self-Consciousness, Journal of Interdisciplinary Crossroads, vol. 1, no. 3 (Dec 2004) pp. 551-560

Bhagvadgita

10)  Swami Swarupananda: Shrimad Bhagvad Gita, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1967

11)  Radhkrishnan, S: The Bhagavadgita, Harper Collins Publishers, New Delhi, 2004

12)  Antonio T. de Nicolas: The Bhagavad Gita: The ethics of Decision Making, Nicolas-Hays, Berwick, Maine, 1990

Brahma-sutra and Vedanta

13)  Swami Ghabhirananda: Brahma-Sutra Bhasya of Shankaracharya, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1996

14)  Swami Tattwananda: The Quintessence of Vedanta, Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashram, Kalady, 1991

15)  Swami Nikhilananda: Vedantasara or The Essence of Vedanta of Sadananda Yogindra, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1978

16)  Swami Vimuktananda: Aparokshanubhuti or Self-Realization, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1966

17)  Parthasarathy, A: Atma-Bodha: Knowledge of Self, Vedanta Life Institute, Mumbai, 1986

18)  Samvid: Prabodha-Sudhakara: The Nectar Ocean of Enlightenment, Samata Books, Madras, 1987

19)  Swami Tejomayananda: Tattva-Bodhah of Sri Adi Shankaracharya, Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, Mumbai, 2002

20)  Swami Madhavananda: Vivekchudamani of Sri Shankaracharya, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1970

21)  Swami Jagadananda: Upadesh-Sahasri of Sri Shankaracharya, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Madras, 1970

22)  Swami Ashokananda: Avadhuta Gita: Song of the Free, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Madras,1981

23)  Bhagwat, LB: Sri Jnanadeva’s Amrutanubhava with Changadeva Pasashthi, Samata Books & Sri Mira Trust, Chennai, 1997

24)  Huxley A: The Perennial Philosophy, Harper Collins Publishers, 2004

Yoga-sutras

25)  Trevor Leggett: Shankara on the Yoga-Sutras, Motilal Banarasidass Publishers, Delhi, 1992

26)  Taimni, IK: The Science of Yoga: The Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali, The Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, Illinois, 1961

27)  Deshmukh, VD: Presence: The Key to Mental Excellence, Jacksonville, Florida, 1990

28)  Jaideva Singh: Vijnana-Bhairava or Divine Consciousness, Motilal Banarasidass Publishers, Delhi, 1999

29)  Akers, BD: The Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika of Svatmarama, YogaVidya.com, Woodstock, New York, 2002

Pranayama

30)  Nagendra, HR: Pranayama: The Art and Science, Vivekananda Kendra Yoga Prakashana, Bangalore, 1998

31)  Swami Ramdev: Pranayama: Its Philosophy & Practice, Divya Prakashan, Hardwar, India, 2005

32)  Swami Kuvalayananda: Pranayama, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, 1966

Meditation & Consciousness

33)  Swami Paramananda: Silence as Yoga, Vedanta Centre, Cohasset, Mass. 1974

34)  Bhikkhu Bodhi: In the Buddha’s Words, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2005

35)  Bhante Henepola Gunaratana: Mindfulness in Plain English, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2002

36)  Rosenberg L: Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation, Shambhala, Boston, 1999

37)  Krishnamurti, J: The Meditative Mind, Krishnamurti Foundation of America, Ojai, California, 1989

38)  Deshmukh, VD: Neuroscience of Meditation, TSW Holistic Health & Medicine (2006) 1, 275-289

39)  Siegel DJ: The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2007

40)  Zelazo PD, Moscovitch M, & Thompson E (Eds): The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness, Cambridge University Press, 2007

Vinod D Deshmukh MD PhD is a retired neurologist from Jacksonville, Florida. He was an Associate Professor of Neurology at University of Florida. He has published four books of his original poems and essays: Presence: The Key to Mental Excellence, The Last Leaf, A Poet’s Walk and Poet’s Vision and sixty scientific articles including The Neuroscience of Meditation, The Multi-stream Self, and The Mind in Vedanta and Neuroscience.”  He lives a simple, creative, and meaningful life of presence or mindfulness, and love for Nature and Life. 

 “That” of the Upanishadic teaching “That Thou Art” was explained by Swami Chinmayananda as the Supreme Reality from which all names and forms have emerged. and “Thou” by Maharishi Ramana as non-personal and all-inclusive awareness. The “art” of the teaching flows smoothly from the main advice of Swami Sivananda which can be reduced to twenty points. And this advice anyone can follow.

Life of Swami Shivananda

Born in 1887 in Pattamadai, Tamil Nadu, South India, Swami Sivananda whose name was then Kuppuswami, was a brilliant boy at studying as well as gymnastics. He was naturally inclined toward spiritual and religious practices. His parents were very devoted to Lord Siva and Kuppuswami eagerly joined them twice daily for worship (Puja) and Kirtan (Mantra chanting). His natural selfless spirit led him to a career in the medical field. The young Dr. Kuppuswami went to Malaysia where he was given the responsibility of running a hospital.

One day Dr. Kuppuswami had the opportunity to cure a wandering Sannyasin (renunciate or Monk) who then gave the doctor instruction on Yoga and Vedanta. From that day on his life changed, and gradually Dr. Kuppuswami became more introspective and could not stop pondering the great questions of life. Filled with a tremendous desire for spiritual growth and enlightenment, Kuppuswami went to North India in search of his Guru. After spending time in Banaras, he travelled north to the Himalayas.

In the holy town of Rishikesh, Kuppuswami discovered his Guru who gave him Sannyas. After taking these vows, Swami Sivananda Saraswati, as he would be known henceforth, got absorbed in extremely intense daily Sadhana and Tapas for the next 10 years. Now Swami Sivananda became one of the most prolific Yoga teachers who has ever existed. Although he rarely left the little town of Rishikesh Swami Sivananda’s teachings spread quickly throughout our entire planet.

His Teachings:

1. Brahmmuhurata. Get up at 4 a.m. daily. This is Brahmamuhurta which is extremely favourable for Sadhana. Do all your morning spiritual Sadhana during this period from 4 a.m. to 6:30 or 7 a.m. Such Sadhana gives quick and maximum progress.

2. Asana. Sit on Padmasana (lotus pose), Siddhasana (adept’s pose) or Sukhasana (any pose you like) for your Japa and meditation for half an hour, facing east or north. Increase the period gradually to three hours. Practice Sirshasana (headstand) and Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) for maintenance of health and Brahmacharya. Take light physical exercises as walking, etc., regularly. Do twenty rounds of easy, comfortable Pranayama (breathing exercises). Do not strain yourself while doing Pranayama.

3. Japa. You can repeat any Mantra (sacred syllable), such as pure Om or Om Namo Narayanaya, Sri Ram, Sita Ram, Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram, Om Namah Sivaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Saravanabhavaya Namah, Hari Om, or Gayatri (a sacred Vedic Mantra), according to your taste or inclination, from 108 times to 21,600 times daily.

4. Dietic Discipline. Take Sattvic food. Observe moderation in diet (Mitahara). Do not overload the stomach. Give up those things which the mind likes best for a fortnight once or twice in a year. Eat simple food. Milk and fruits help concentration. Take food as medicine to keep the life going. Eating for enjoyment is a sin. Give up salt and sugar for a week or a fortnight. You must be able to live on rice, dhal and bread without any pickle. Do not ask for extra salt for dhal, and sugar for tea, coffee and milk. Non-vegetarians should try their best to gradually give up flesh-eating. They will be immensely benefited.

5. Meditation. Have a separate meditation room under lock and key. If this is not possible then a corner of the room should be set apart with a small cloth screen or curtain drawn across. Keep the room spotlessly clean.

6. Svadhyaya. Study systematically the Gita, Ramayana, Bhagavatam, Vishnu-Sahasranama, Upanishads, Yoga Vasishta, and other religious books from half an hour to one hour daily, and have Suddha Vichara (pure thoughts).

7. Elevate the Mind. Learn by heart some prayer - Slokas (prayer verses), Stotras (hymns) and repeat them as soon as you sit in the Asana before starting Japa or meditation. This will elevate the mind quickly.

8. Brahmacharya.  Preserve the vital force (Veerya (seminal energy)) very, very carefully. Veerya is God in motion or manifestation (Vibhuti). Veerya is all power. Veerya is all money. Veerya is the essence of life, thought and intelligence. This instruction is not for bachelors only. Householders also must follow it as far as possible. They must be extremely moderate in their marital connections with their spouse. This is very important.

9. Charity.  Do charity work regularly, every month, or even daily according to your means. Never fail in this item. If necessary forego some personal wants but keep up this charity regularly.

10. Satsang.  Give up bad company, smoking, meat and alcoholic liquors entirely. Have constant Satsang (association with holy people). Do not develop any evil habits. Deliberately exert to develop positive virtuous qualities.

11. Fast.  Fast on Ekadasi (11th day of the Hindu lunar fortnight) or live on milk and fruits only. 

12. Japa Mala.  Have a Mala (rosary) around your neck or in your pocket or under your pillow at night. This will remind you of God. Twirl the beads during your leisure. You should repeat the Name at all times, whatever task you may be engaged in.

13. Observe Mouna.  Observe Mouna (vow of silence) for a couple of hours daily. Do not make gestures and inarticulate noises during the period of silence.

14. Discipline of Speech.  Speak truth at all cost. Speak a little. Speak sweetly. Always utter encouraging words. Never condemn, criticize or discourage. Do not raise your voice and shout at little children or subordinates.

15. Be Content. Reduce your wants. If you have four shirts, reduce the number to three or two. Lead a happy, contented life. Avoid unnecessary worry. Be mentally detached. Have plain living and high thinking. Think of those who do not possess even one-tenth of what you have. Share with others.

16. Practice Love. Never hurt anybody. Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah (Non-injury is the highest virtue). Control anger by love, Kshama (forgiveness) and Daya (compassion). Serve the sick and the poor with love and affection. This is service of God.

17. Be Self Reliant. Do not depend on help. Self-reliance is the highest virtue.

18. Self-Analyze. Think of the mistakes you have committed during the course of the day, just before retiring to bed (self-analysis). Keep a daily spiritual diary and self-correction register as Benjamin Franklin did. Maintain a daily routine and resolve-form. Do not brood over past mistakes.

19.  Do Your Duty. Remember that death is awaiting you at every moment. Never fail to fulfill your duties. Have pure conduct (Sadachara).

20. Remember God. Think of God as soon as you wake up and just before you go to sleep, and at all other times whether engaged in any work or not. Repeat His Name always. Surrender yourself completely to God (Saranagati).

This is the essence of all spiritual Sadhana. It will lead you to liberation. All these spiritual canons must be rigidly observed. You must not give any leniency to the mind.

A connection with the divine      

Similar is the advice by W. Jane Robinson in her book Divine Declarations. She says, ”In moments of happiness, in moments of grief; in times of darkness, in times of light; in feelings of abandonment, in feelings of belonging; in a present of soaring heart, in a future of hopelessness; in the sense of self-worth, in the sense of worthlessness, we all experience a pervasive longing for a deeper connection—a connection with the divine.”

Robinson emphasizes the need for understanding our divinity and power. We should make a divine declaration to the effect that, “I am a divine being, a spark of the divine source. I am worthy. I am loving and loved. I live in a supportive world, supported by God, the divine source. My inheritance is abundance in love, health, joy, peace and all my heart desires for a wonderful life.”

One should consider oneself worthy and regardless of past circumstances, of great value. Robinson points out, “I see the little child in me and I nurture that child with love, respect, and emotional support. I forgive myself for past mistakes and forgive others who may have hurt me intentionally or unintentionally. This should be made into one’s divine declaration.”

Robinson stresses on maintaining a healthy mind, body and spirit. For this she advocates working “to resolve any situations in my life that are emotionally intolerable. I will take steps in my life to know who I really am and explore my options to live up to my dreams and potential.”

She talks of love, gratitude and forgiveness because “I now know that when I forgive someone, I free myself from the bondage of pain. I release myself from this pain.”

She wants one to open oneself to the flow of the universe and share because “sharing is the outflow, creating space for new expansive energy into my cycle. It is the cycle of universal abundance. I receive, give and receive again,” so as to create a cycle of blessings in life and in the lives of others.

She tells us to stand tall, live authentically, set boundaries and enjoy living in one’s divine power. Here one needs to nourish one’s life through the practice of “positive thinking, meditating, praying, communing with nature, attentive focus, and living in my truth…I allow divine energy to flow into my life and allow it to flow outwards as I share with others.”  Robinson adds, “I now choose to awaken to my divinity lovability and I declare my divine connection to God, the Source and All That Is—my life depends on it.”

Contrary Verses                                                                                                             

When life could be so much improved by implementing advice of Gurus like Swami Sivananda, it is a pity that a section of society is subjected to teachings which are quite contrary in terms of flesh-eating, violence and promiscuity. What follows is a selection of such verses from the Quran.

And We shaded you with clouds and sent down on you Al-Manna and the quails, (saying): “Eat of the good lawful things We have provided for you,” (but they rebelled). And they did not wrong Us but they wronged themselves.

And whoever seeks a religion other than Islâm, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.  86. How shall Allâh guide a people who disbelieved after their belief and after they bore witness that the Messenger is true and after clear proofs had come unto them? And Allâh guides not the people who are Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers). 87. They are those whose recompense is that on them (rests) the Curse of Allâh, of the angels, and of all mankind. 88. They will abide therein (Hell). Neither will their torment be lightened, nor will it be delayed or postponed (for a while).  

151. We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they joined others in worship with Allâh, for which He had sent no authority; their abode will be the Fire and how evil is the abode of the Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong­doers).

Surah 4, Verse3. And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan ­girls, then marry (other) women of your choice, two or three, or four but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one or (the captives and the slaves) that your right hands possess.                                                         

Last Words

Such verses definitely contribute towards spreading terror. No amount of measures taken after 26-27/11 have been able to stop the bomb blasts at Guhawati. Major and bold steps need to be taken to prevent people from getting conditioned by such verses. On the other hand teachings of Gurus like Swami Sivananda should be taught in all schools. It is much better to be a warrior in the mould suggested by Swami Sivananda:

Be thou a spiritual warrior of Truth. Put on the armour of discrimination. Wear the shield of dispassion. Hold the flag of Dharma. Sing the song of Soham or Sivoham. March boldly with the band of Pranava-Om Om Om. Blow the conch of courage. Kill the enemies like doubt, ignorance, passion and egoism and enter the illimitable kingdom of blissful Brahman. Possess the imperishable wealth of Atma. Taste the divine immortal essence. Drink the nectar of Immortality.       

Colonel Mahendra Mathur prematurely retired from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army in 1975 to build a highway in Tobago. Subsequently he was appointed Director of National Emergency Management Agency of Trinidad and Tobago before retiring in 1998. You can contact him at mmathur@tstt.net.tt>

Come enjoy the beginning of spring with Hindu YUVA at our Youth Retreat! It’s one full day of activities that include games, a treasure hunt, discussions, a guest speaker, cultural performance by Bhutanese kids, a campfire, and lots more. Come enjoy this full day of activities while making new friends and learning more about our amazing heritage. The Youth Retreat will be from 2PM Saturday April 4 to noon Sunday April 5 at Chestnut Ridge campsite in Efland, NC. Rides will be provided! For more information, contact Shivani at shiv.tarheel11@gmail.com.

Yuva for Sewa

It’s not too late to apply for the Yuva for Sewa fellowship program! Sewa International is offering summer volunteer internships through service projects in India and USA. The projects are designed to develop personality, build leadership and team work, empower visionaries and provide experience in helping the community. Anyone over the age of 18 can apply. Make a difference this summer…apply for Yuva for Sewa! The application deadline is April 15, 2009! Visit www.sewausa.org/yuva-for-sewa for more information and to apply.

Best wishes to everyone on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri. Sewa, or selfless service, is an integral part of Hindu Dharma. Swami Vivekananda said, “They who see Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worship Shiva. They who want to serve Shiva must serve His children — must serve all creatures in this world first.” This month’s theme is “sewa” and we invite everyone to reflect on how we can all incorporate sewa in our daily lives.

Sewa International provides a unique opportunity for youth to volunteer their time and talent for the less fortunate, through the Yuva for Sewa fellowship program. Please be sure to read the Yuva for Sewa article in this edition. We encourage all Tattva readers to consider giving some time as a Yuva for Sewa volunteer this summer. Please also pass the information about Yuva for Sewa to anyone who may be interested. 

As always, if you would like to contribute an article or have any suggestions for Tattva, you can contact the Tattva team at tattva-editor@hinduyuva.org. Please visit www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2009/03/ to read the March 2009 edition of Tattva.

Last summer, four college students participated in YFS in Bangalore, India. Each fellow helped improve different parts of society, working on projects of their interest that would create a lasting impression on each person they came across. Shikta Sapkota, a student at Florida State University, volunteered at Nele (Children’s Shelter) and other projects in Bangalore. She describes her experiences as more than just social work: “This internship has not only provided me a platform to serve others; it has also been a medium through which I can evaluate my strengths and weaknesses.”

Rajiv Ramdeo, a student at University of California Irvine, volunteered at a children’s cancer hospital where he interacted with children coping with the effects of cancer and gained deeper knowledge of cancer through projects and working with doctors. Dwijavanthi Kumar, a recent graduate of the University of Iowa, successfully initiated health-related projects in Bangalore. “It was a phenomenal experience that I would recommend to everyone,” describes Dwijavanthi .

California Polytechnic State University Alum, Katelyn Kerrigan, volunteered at Nele and other projects in Bangalore. Katelyn spent her time teaching English with the aim of increasing the standard of education for the underprivileged. Moreover, she was able to bond with the children while learning about their family and friends as well as teaching them songs and dances. For more on their experiences, please visit http://www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa/yfs-experiences.

Katelyn Kerrigan working with a group of girls in Bangalore, Karnataka

Sewa International invites youth between the ages of 18 and 30 to participate in this exciting and memorable summer internship. This year, Yuva for Sewa offers a variety of projects in India as well as in the US. With projects in the rural and urban parts of Maharashtra and Bangalore, participants can choose from health related activities including volunteering in hospitals and promoting Ayurveda (traditional Indian herbal medicine), educational enhancement, women empowerment, rural development, vocational training, social progress for children in slums, and much more. Each project is intended to improve the fellows’ understanding of the community they will be working with through a hands-on approach as well as helping to better their circumstances. US projects specialize in helping disadvantaged communities such as the Native American community and Bhutanese refugees who have recently immigrated to the US under the United Nations provision. Understanding their culture and needs in order to improve their living situations will be the aim of these projects.

Fellows will be working with local NGOs, who will organize their boarding, transportation, and living arrangements as well as provide mentorship for the fellow. An orientation program at the beginning of the internship will educate the fellow on the background of the community and its challenges, what is expected of them, and how they can best accomplish his goals. Furthermore, language lessons will also be available to assist in communication. All the projects with descriptions and requirements are listed on the YFS website below.

For an opportunity to discover yourself while you discover the world, visit http://www.sewausa.org/yuva-for-sewa for information about the application process and apply by March 31st. We welcome you to experience the ‘joy of giving.’
Contact info@sewausa.org with questions. 

Yuva for Sewa Video

As two armies confront one another and clash on a battlefield where Arjuna passes through a dreadful phase of melancholy and regret, Duryodhana is not ready for any compromises. The outcomes of a solution by the incarnation of the lord himself proved ineffective. Sri Krishna says to Arjuna, “Your only duty is to act and not to hanker after the fruits thereof” (Gita Chapter II: 47). Such seva, or “selfless work,” is essential in life. An attitude of selflessness, preforming actions with a selfless discernment, is what is needed for one to attain the purity of mind. One can argue that the goal of life is not peace of mind and that one does not necessarily need to desire a peace of mind. However, to attain all the pleasures and happiness in life and thus achieve moksha or liberation, karma yoga is necessary. My own happiness and my pleasures in life are secondary when it comes to helping those who are less fortunate than I am. Being an engineering major and a collegiate athlete, one can say that I do find peace of mind in the selfless work that I do for the community, but even such seva came to thought when I started reading the Bhagavad Gita.

The Bhagavad Gita has been the root of all of my actions in life, especially when it has come to seva or karma yoga. Born in India and brought up in the United States, I have been both around poverty and wealth. However, it was not until my current freshman year in college that I have been personally motivated to do something that made a difference in the community and in someone’s life. After ending a long day of school, work, and running, I finally came to my dorm room to finish a verse of the Gita, but the thought of the man I met a few days earlier who took his time to explain his homelessness still lingered in my head. At the time, I immediately donated twenty dollars out of my pocket, but I realized that money does not solve everything. Feeling helpless, I met with a few community leaders to perhaps use my passion for running and my spiritual knowledge as a way to help people escape the pain and struggles in their lives. While this idea was still in my head, a remarkable thing happened. At the Indian Student Association Benefit Dinner, “Eat to Educate,” Dr. Sree Sreenath of the Case Western Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department gave a presentation about the Bhutanese Empowerment Project. Soon after listening to his presentation, I approached him very enthusiastically to learn about the history behind these refugees and I realized then that the problem needed immediate attention.

Spending the rest of the event with Dr. Sreenath gathering directions and information about some of the refugees living in Cleveland, I took the RTA Train to the west side of Cleveland and visited some of the refugees the very next day. As I entered the basement of the apartment of one of these families, I felt like I was back in my homeland, feeling very close to my roots. This one particular family welcomed me very graciously as they had been told that morning that I was coming. As I sat down and introduced myself as a student from Case Western Reserve University, they gathered around me very eager to listen to what I was saying. I tried to approach them not as a volunteer of an organization but as a friend; a fellow descendent from the same part of the world who is willing to do his best to help with the situation they are faced with. In other words, I wanted to be their path to the “New World.”

As I have come to understand the problems of these refugees, I created a plan for each of them and advised them on what I think they should do and the path they should follow. For example, a very bright 11th grader, Daya, was sitting next to me and had no idea how to get into college. Putting myself in his shoes, it was hard to imagine being so motivated and eager to work hard and study hard without having any knowledge of the tools available. So, I made him a checklist of things to do such as taking the SATs and acquiring letters of recommendation. I am also currently working with him on his admission’s essay in which I advised him to write a story on his amazing journey to America and his perspective as a refugee. Many of the refugees I have met are among the brightest people I know. For example, Bhim and Hari both have their Bachelors Degrees in mathematics and chemistry, respectively. Hari’s brother, who is on his way to the United States, has a Masters in physics. Though they have much expertise and a high level of education, they are living in a new country working for a minimum wage, not knowing what they can make of themselves. Seeing this really motivated me to help these individuals find their paths to success. As Dr. Sreenath would put it, “The talent is there, the education is there, but they need someone to help them become acculturated with this new society, a new community, and this is where students like you come in.”

The stories I have mentioned in this article are only a few of the many. The United Nations expects to have more than a staggering 60,000 refugees in the next few years coming in to the United States, the largest refugee project ever undertaken by the U.N. The Bhutanese Refugees Project consists of 30 families – 109 people in Cleveland and 24 families – 100 people in Akron. Most of these refugees need help acquiring basic needs such as education, vocational training, and women empowerment. Some of the projects that volunteers like myself and other students from Case Western are working on are Project “Vahan,” or wheels –  helping them earn a Drivers License, Project Vani – teaching English as a Second Language, and Project Bala – providing children with a  cultural education. These are just a few of the various projects that are designed to serve the refugees. Sewa International volunteers like Dr. Sudesh Agrawal are also involved in helping these refugees through yoga and meditation. Just last week Dr. Agrawal and I visited a library basement where we plan to teach the refugees yoga – such as Surya Namaskara – and engage them with my spiritually and intellectually inclined discussions on the Bhagavad Gita. Many of the incoming refugees in the next few years will be facing the same world that Bhim, Hari, Daya, and many others are currently facing. As young Hindus born and brought up in the United States, having come from the same part of the world as these refugees, we all have a duty to fulfill. Whether that duty is to provide these refugees with strength and hope through tough times by simply talking to them or to actually go out and find them jobs, we all have the tools, the knowledge, and the power to help those less fortunate than us, help these new future generations live the American Dream.

Sai Santosh Kolluru is an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University. He is majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering with a minor in astronomy. He is also a varsity cross country and indoor and outdoor track runner for his university.

Children at Adarsha colony, Bangalore

After graduating from college last May, I decided to take a year off because I wanted to pursue medicine and needed time to apply to schools for the next year. I also strongly believe in social responsibility and taking action to improve society. Therefore, I applied for a fellowship with the Youth for Seva NGO in Bangalore, India hoping for an experience to broaden my perspective, to apply all the knowledge I’ve learned in school, and of course to affect positive changes in people’s lives. I chose Bangalore because I’m already familiar with the language and culture and therefore I could affect more direct change with spending minimal time adjusting to the atmosphere.

 I arrived in Bangalore on September 10th not knowing what to expect. I knew I wanted to make a difference and get an idea of all the projects that need to be done. Because of my interest in medicine, I wanted to work on projects relating to healthcare. However, at that time volunteers were not being properly engaged in hospitals and clinics. Nevertheless, there were other health-related activities such as the mobile clinic and sporadic health clinics around the city.

Eye clinic, Bangalore

My project coordinator, Venkatesh Murthy, helped me organize my time in order to get an idea of working in different settings.  During my time in Bangalore, I helped initiate several health-related projects. One of my aims was to design and implement a volunteering system in Kidwai Cancer Institute to facilitate a framework for the willing volunteers in the society as well as to help hospital staff and administration. Though it was difficult to work within the bureaucracy of the hospital, it turned out be a great success. Working with the children diagnosed with cancer and enabling others to come teach them on a weekly basis was extremely fulfilling.

I also interviewed low-income patients in the Breast Cancer ward of Kidwai and documented how they mobilize funds for their cancer treatment. Since most of the patients in Kidwai are from rural areas with little property or income, they often sell most of their belongings to afford cancer treatment. I hope to submit the survey report as a grant proposal to the state government.

Mobile clinic, outskirts of Bangalore

Furthermore, I worked with mobile clinics both in Bangalore and in remote Tribal areas in B.R. Hills and supplemented health education to the medical care. I felt that many of diseases and minor ailments could be prevented by the appropriate addition of health education to the medicine the patients were receiving.

During my time in Bangalore, I met a diverse group of people and worked with motivated and skilled volunteers. I definitely met with difficulties in achieving my goals, but the support from my team-mates and from the patients was a huge motivating force. Overall, my experience volunteering in these projects cannot be described in words alone. It was an experience I would not trade for anything in the world. The things I learned, the people I met, and the positive change that I helped affect has changed my life and the way in which I view the world. I hope everyone gets an opportunity to have such experiences.

Dwijavanthi Kumar graduated in May 2008 from the University of Iowa with a degree in with Biomedical Engineering. To learn more about her experience as well as the experiences of other youth volunteers, please visit www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa/yfs-experiences

Sewa, by definition, is any physical act one performs for the benefit of others in need.  In Sanskrit, it is described in the shloka Paropakaraya Punyaya, Papaya Parapeedanam, i.e. any action resulting in the good of others is noble and should be followed.  Sewa is essentially selfless service toward humans, animals, nature, and even the self.  For every service done for  others is a service done for the self and, in effect, a service done for God, as illustrated in the shloka, “Iswarah Sarva Bhutanam Itruddesha Arjuna Tishtati,” which means that the same God who is present in me is also present in other human beings.

An integral component of sewa is daana, or charity. However, such charity must be impersonal. Charity is not a tool for making one feel more superior for having given; it is not rewarded with platinum plaques and gold medals. Charity, like service, is done for punya, purity of the heart.

Types of Sewa:
Sewa consists of two parts: runa- debt that is owed, and yagna – a sacrifice, or how to repay that debt.  We owe a debt to everyone and everything that has affected who we are now and who contributed to us being where we are today. From the engineers and scientists who developed new technologies, the doctors who took care of our well-being, and our parents who have guided us and provided us with unending resources, we have incurred countless debts. How do we repay this debt? How do we help those who have helped us? Through sewa or yagna.

There are five general types of runa, each corresponding with a yagna:
1. Devaruna-Devayagna: This is a debt to all the natural forces that replenish life at every moment: the sun, rain, etc. To serve these forces, one must respect them and preserve them, not just through pooja adorned with ritual, but with a deeper understanding of the importance of nature and what is owed to her.

2. Rishiruna-Rishiyagna: A type of debt owed to the teachers who have contributed to the field of knowledge, be it through a professor’s lecture, a grandparent’s wisdom, or a writer’s book. It is a debt that is repaid through passing the knowledge to others or adding to the large store of knowledge.

3. Pitraruna-Pitrayagna: This is an obligation to parents who have raised their children and helped develop their personalities. Whatever we become in life, we become because of our parental figures. We owe them compassion and respect when they are alive, care in their old age, and shraadha with their death.

4. Nararuna-Narayagna: Beyond the teachers and the parents, nararuna is what is owed to fellow human beings.  This is the yagna most commonly identified through various NGOs working to assist men and women who are deprived in any way by building schools and hospitals or raising funds for the homeless.

5. Bhutaruna-Bhutayagna: A responsibility towards the animals who have nourished our environment and contributed to our existence. For example, take the earthworm, whose presence provides fertile soil. It is our duty to care for the animals as they have cared for us.  

Sewa is performing all of the mentioned yagna to fulfill the obligation we owe to everyone, including nature and God.

How Sewa is performed
Sewa can be spiritually driven or performance driven. NGOs are excellent examples of professionally managed and effective service givers. Sewa is done with efficiency to better the lives of as many people (or animals) as possible and produce the best results.

But, at a more individual scale, sewa can be spiritually motivated. With this, results are not the most significant factor. Rather, service is done as a sacrifice and driven by principles and morals, for the betterment of the community at all levels, including self-development.

As a rishi once said, “Mountains and valleys both peacefully coexist.” Sewa, too, can be highly effective and efficient but must also have the depth of spirituality. There is no right or wrong way to do sewa; It is done to see the smiles of children in need, the appreciation in the eyes of the old, and in the integrity of existence.

References:
Bauddhik on Sewa, by Venkatesh Murthy
http://www.sewausa.org/
http://www.nhsf.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=184&Itemid=186 (National Hindu Students Forum UK)

Abhipsa Kar is a sophomore in Preble High School, Wisconsin. She is part of ADIRE, a non-profit organization that helps develop villages in Orissa. She enjoys volunteering at nursing homes and schools during her summers.

Refugee camps

The population in Bhutan mainly consists of two communities: the Drukpas and the Lhotshampas. Bhutanese rulers forced the Lhotshampas, minority ethnic Nepalis from Southern Bhutan, to adhere to unusual regulations in order to create a homogenous culture across the nation. The unfair treatment included compelling them to wear traditional clothing, stripping them of their citizenship, and forcing them into exile. Nepali language classes and Hindu schools were also terminated with the intention that this would put an end to their customs and beliefs. In 1985, conflict between these two communities resulted in a mass exodus of Lhotshampas to Nepal. These Bhutanese refugees in Nepal were considered “illegal immigrants” despite their Nepali origins. Until 1994, more than 110,000 Lhotshampas took refuge in seven United Nations-administered camps in Nepal living in very poor conditions. Initially, the refugee population aided in developing an infrastructure prioritizing education and the standard of living, however, as more and more refugees sought shelter in these camps, the situation gradually worsened. Donations from around the world decreased and the educated youth found jobs outside of the camps. The camps would not serve as a permanent solution to the growing number of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.

The United States eventually volunteered to resettle 60,000 of these refugees, with the remainder destined to go to other developed nations including Australia, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand and Denmark who have offered to resettle 10,000 each. In 2008, they began arriving in the United States in what the UN has described as one of the world’s largest resettlement efforts ever.  These refugees are given only a few months of support from the government and the resettlement agencies. After that, they are required to become self-sufficient.  The most pressing needs are for financial assistance, employment, and basic material needs. They also require support to help them make the transition to this new land.

Bhutanese Refugees in Dallas, TX

These are families who cannot afford to buy essentials such as blankets, winter jackets, and toys for their children. Many have no jobs or are students and have no income. Although the VolAgs (Voluntary Agencies), or resettlement agencies, provide some support for the first few months, it is not adequate. Since agency support and government aid is not available to them for an extended period of time, the assistance of Sewa International is quickly becoming a lifeline for many of these families. The Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment (BRE) project by Sewa International is working towards helping the refugees for their short term and long term needs. Necessities such as living arrangements, clothing, and employment have been arranged through local volunteers to smoothen the transition to a new way of life.

Sewa International is working on helping Bhutanese refugees settle down culturally in a new environment, financially, and professionally. Volunteers from Sewa International as well as Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, temples, and other local organizations are helping with the basic essentials including housing and its supplies, transportation for grocery shopping, medical needs, and immigration offices, and setting up internet centers and other forms of communication. Many are helping with driving exams and lessons since transportation is required for almost all activities. In Atlanta, GA as well as other locations, ongoing outreach programs have been implemented. These include visits to families and helping with their day-to-day needs (some individuals and families have even “adopted” them), employment training, driving lessons, and job placement. Above all, volunteers are helping Bhutanese refugees integrate culturally as well. During Makar Sankranti, Sewa International centers celebrated with large numbers of families gathered to welcome new friends and rejoice in this auspicious occasion. With Holi and Ugadi festivals coming up, more celebrations are on their way. By taking families to local temples, celebrating festivals, and providing religious reading material for spiritual development, Bhutanese families have been able to retain their cultural values abroad.

Bhutanese Refugee families support program-Sacramento, CA

However, with the global recession, employment has remained a challenge. Though many of the refugees are educated and can speak English, many of them have remained without a job. The Bhutanese people come from varying backgrounds. Despite their education and experience, they lived in refugee camps where they did not have work permits and were not used to living in a culture where working is something everyone would have to do. With the growing numbers of volunteers, job search and preparation is aiding in refugee employment. In Cleveland, Ohio, the Shangri-La Job Placement Agency, a newly formed group of Sewa International youth volunteers, joined other Sewa International volunteers in celebrating Makar Sankranti while giving tips on finding a job, job etiquette, and financial matters. The Bhutanese refugees benefitted greatly from this resourceful event. Furthermore, Sewa International is applying for federal and corporate funding in order to support the growing numbers of refugees in the US throughout the next few years.

For more information on BRE work across the US or if you would like to contact local coordinators, please visit http://www.sewausa.org/bhutanese-refugee-empowerment-project.

As always, we are pleased to present to you the latest edition of Tattva. Hope you all enjoyed reading the previous edition. The January edition of Tattva had a record number of visits, with nearly 22,000 hits. In this edition, we have a variety of articles, including an editorial on interreligious marriags, a poem written by a college student, and a video interview of an Ekal Vidyalaya coordinator. As always, we look forward to your feedback and contributions. If you woud like to submit an article for next month’s issue, please send it to tattva-editor@hinduyuva.org. Jai Shri Ram!

Please visit http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2009/02 to read the February 2009 edition of Tattva.

Ekal Vidyalaya is an organization that initiates, supports, and runs non-formal one-teacher schools (popularly known as Ekal Vidyalayas) in tribal villages all over India. With the participation of numerous non-profit trusts and organizations, this program has now become the greatest non-governmental education movement in the country.

Mr. Mihir Vaidya, Vice President of Ekal Vidyala, North-west America, spoke to University of Washington students about the organization.

The Self

The essence of Sri Ramana’s teachings is conveyed in his frequent assertions that there is a single immanent reality, directly experienced by everyone, which is simultaneously the source, the substance and the real nature of everything that exists.

His Life
Sri Ramana Maharshi was born to a Tamil Hindu Brahmin family in Tiruchuzhi, Tamil Nadu on December 30, 1879. After attaining liberation at the age of 16, he left home for Arunachala, a mountain considered sacred by Hindus, at Tiruvannamalai, and lived there for the rest of his life. Arunachala is located in Tamil Nadu, South India. Although born a Brahmin, after having attained moksha he declared himself an “Atiasrami,” a Sastraic state of unattachment to anything in life and beyond all caste restrictions. 

Sri Ramana maintained that the purest form of his teachings was the powerful silence which radiated from his presence and quieted the minds of those attuned to it. He gave verbal teachings only for the benefit of those who could not understand his silence. His verbal teachings were said to flow from his direct experience of Consciousness as the only existing reality. When asked for advice, he recommended self-enquiry as the fastest path to moksha. Though his primary teaching is associated with Non-dualism, Advaita Vedanta, and Jnana yoga, he highly recommended Bhakti, and gave his approval to a variety of paths and practices.
 
The Single Immanent Reality
He gave it a number of different names, each one signifying a different aspect of the same indivisible reality. What follows is the explanation of the three terms that he frequently used.

1. The Self. This is his most used term. He defined it by saying that the real Self or real`I’ is, contrary to perceptible experience, not an experience of individuality but a non-personal, all-inclusive awareness. It is not to be confused with the individual self which he said was essentially non-existent, being a fabrication of the mind which obscures the true experience of the real Self. He maintained that the real Self is always present and always experienced but he emphasized that one is only consciously aware of it as it really is when the self-limiting tendencies of the mind have ceased. Permanent and continuous Self-awareness is known as Self-realization.

2. Sat-chit-ananda. This is a Sanskrit term which translates as being-consciousness-bliss. Sri Ramana taught that the Self is pure being, a subjective awareness of `I am’ which is completely devoid of the feeling `I am this’ or `I am that.’ There are no subjects or objects in the Self, there is only an awareness of being. Because this awareness is conscious it is also known as consciousness. The direct experience of this consciousness is, according to Sri Ramana, a state of unbroken happiness and so the term ananda or bliss is also used to describe it. These three aspects, being, consciousness and bliss, are experienced as a unitary whole and not as separate attributes of the Self. They are inseparable in the same way that wetness, transparency and liquidity are inseparable properties of water.

3. God. Sri Ramana maintained that the universe is sustained by the power of the Self. Since theists normally attribute this power to God he often used the word God as a synonym for the Self. He also used the words Brahman, the supreme being of Hinduism, and Siva, a Hindu name for God, in the same way. Sri Ramana’s God is not a personal God; he is the formless being which sustains the universe. He is not the creator of the universe, the universe is merely a manifestation of his inherent power; he is inseparable from it, but he is not affected by its appearance or its disappearance.

God in Quran
There is a wide spread notion that God means the same entity in all religions. Time has come to categorically state that it is not so. What follow are some verses from Chapter II of Quran which prove that the concept of God and His message is quite different in that book, if not contrarory to that of Maharishi Ramana.
161. Verily, those who disbelieve, and die while they are disbelievers, it is they on whom is the Curse of Allâh and of the angels and of mankind, combined.
162. They will abide therein (under the curse in Hell), their punishment will neither be lightened, nor will they be reprieved.
190. And fight in the Way of Allâh those who fight you, but transgress not the limits. Truly, Allâh likes not the transgressors. [This Verse is the first one that was revealed in connection with Jihâd, but it was supplemented by another (V.9:36)].
191. And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah is worse than killing. And fight not with them at Al-Masjid-al-Harâm (the sanctuary at Makkah), unless they (first) fight you there. But if they attack you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.
192. But if they cease, then Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
193. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allâh) and (all and every kind of) worship is for Allâh (Alone). But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zâlimûn (the polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc.)

Once such qualities are attributed to God and are imbibed by ignorant youths, events like killings in Mumbai on 26/11 follow. Somebody has to begin thinking of reformation of Islam by deleting such verses from Quran, however out of context they may be.

‘To be unselfish is every thing, most of all in love and friendship,’ says Goethe, ‘was my highest pleasure, my rule of life, my exercise.’ In the last part of the Ethics treating of ‘the way which leads to liberty’ Spinoza seems to have ascended beyond this village of affections to the level where amor and intellectus are one act. Here ‘the human mind knows itself and its body under the species of eternity, and thus far necessarily has knowledge of God and knows it exists in God and is conceived through God.’

Eighteenth Century German philosopher, Gotthold Lessing’s views on religion are not very different from that of Ramana Maharishi. The Philosopher thought of God as the inner spirit of reality, causing development and itself developing. This world will become peaceful and happy only when the humankind understands God or Self as Ramana Maharishi taught. He proclaimed, “The world is so unhappy because it is ignorant of the true Self. Man’s real nature is happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self. Man’s search for happiness is an unconscious search for his true Self.”

Colonel Mahendra Mathur prematurely retired from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army in 1975 to build a highway in Tobago. Subsequently he was appointed Director of National Emergency Management Agency of Trinidad and Tobago before retiring in 1998. You can contact him at mmathur@tstt.net.tt.

Kalpita Abhyankar is a sophomore at the College of Staten Island on the pre-med track with a major in Biology and minor in English.

However, I have seen marriages work out nicely when, for example, a converted western Hindu male or Dharmist marries an Indian Hindu female, or vice versa, and plan to raise their children in the Vedic tradition. Or even when two converted Hindus marry each other. But when a Dharmic follower marries a person of the Abrahamic faith, the future can be turbulent with unexpected consequences and problems, especially when children are born. Therefore, I do not advise anyone who wants to make sure their family continues in the Dharmic tradition to enter into an interfaith marriage. You simply cannot be sure of what is going to happen and much heartbreak and turmoil can result. The following two articles below by Dr. Dilip Amin will make this clearer.

Part I
Now more and more young people are engaging in interfaith relationships leading to marriage, many times without realizing the complexities associated with their decision. This message will help Dharmic (Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist) young adults make more informed decisions before committing to marry a person of the Abrahamic faiths (Christian, Jew, and Muslim).

As the former president of a Balvihar, I only regret one point of our collective inaction: though we had taught our kids about our religion, we failed to teach them the practical aspects of interacting with young people from other faiths. In the Western world, it is quite common that young adults date those from other faiths during their college years, therefore it should come as no surprise that about a third of our young generation of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists marry a person from outside of these Dharmic faith traditions (http://www.prlog.org/10139529).

In almost all cases where a non-Dharmic life partner is selected, the decision is made by our young adults without pre-emptive advice, guidance, or consultation with their parents. As cited in this article, religious differences could bring complexities in their married life, starting with an unintended religious conversion of Dharmic and their progeny to the faith of their intended spouse. Further, divorce rates in interfaith marriages are double compared to within the same faith marriages (http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifm_divo.htm). For these reasons, it is increasingly important for our young adults to understand potential complications before entering into a serious relationship, ideally during the years in which they still reside under their parents’ roofs.

While interfaith relationships should develop based on a mutual respect for religious diversity, sometimes major differences in fundamental beliefs(http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifm_bibl.htm); (http://www.zawaj.com/articles/interfaith_marriage_iv.html) pose difficulties in finding a common ground.

Dharmics carry this tolerant attitude that all faiths help you attain God, and everyone should respect not only their own religion, but other religions as well. But this tolerant attitude is not universal. Many families belonging to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism (Abrahamic) believe in the supremacy of their monotheistic dogma. Their holy books reject what they consider polytheistic beliefs of Dharma. For example, Hindus believe that although the Ultimate Reality can be worshiped in many forms (Saguna Brahman), but this recognition and practice is forbidden in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, and poses a serious issue when it comes to puja or worship (which is considered very bad idol worship by Abrahamics). According to the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.

Another example, Islam forbids marriage with a non-believer (in Allah). Non-believers are expected to convert to Islam by taking the Sahadah oath, the declaration that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad as his apostle. A similar practice also exists in some Christian sects where there is often intense pressure from family members and the clergy to perform a religious conversion of a Dharmist by Baptism before the church wedding. An uninformed Dharmist will only discover the often times unmentioned expectation of religious conversion after years of being in a romantic relationship. At this point, reluctantly accepting the religious conversion may be the only way of averting a marital grid-lock.

Religious conversion may be a matter of just a brief ceremony, but do not underestimate this ritual as a trivial matter. Taking this oath will set a tone for your life and your children’s lives. You will soon find out that the conversion was not just a matter of satisfying the sentimental obsession of the parents-in-law, but a binding commitment guarded by every member of the new community. As per the Sahadah oath, you will be forbidden to display an image of Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, or Lord Ganesh, or any other deity in your own home since associating partners with Allah is the greatest of all sins. Offering prayers or supplications to anyone, living or dead, is an unpardonable sin. Furthermore, attempting to later reclaim you as a Dharmist, even after talaak (divorce), could be seriously punishable by death or life imprisonment by some Middle Eastern countries’ laws. Therefore, one should be prepared to accept conversion to a new religion as a serious and irreversible process.

Most conflicts in inter-religious marriages will surface after you have children. For Abrahamics, it is vital that children from their marriage follow only the rules of their individual holy book. A Muslim spouse and the community may demand your kids have sunat (religious circumcision) and bear only an Arabic name. A Jewish person may not ask for a religious conversion for the spouse but may want Bris circumcision to declare the Jewish faith for the child. A Christian spouse may require Baptism of children and require them (and you too) to attend Church every Sunday, while you may wish to take your child to the Mandir or Balvihar. Another major consideration is about the expectation for family planning. I know of a case where an Ahmedabadi young woman already has five kids because her Catholic husband did not believe in birth control. Did she know and realize the consequences of her interfaith relationship while dating in college?

In the truest sense, marriage is a secular act and not a religious one. Unfortunately, some religious leaders and communities would like to use the wedding as a tool for their ambition of religious expansion. I learned of a case in Boston where without the Sahadah and Islamic wedding (nikaah), the wedding was denounced by a local Imam and most Muslim relatives did not attend the wedding reception party. In almost all cases of a Hindu-Muslim marriage in which both Muslim and Hindu ceremonies are performed, the religious conversion to Islam (Sahadah) is performed first. Then it is followed by the Muslim wedding ceremony (nikaah) and after that by the Hindu ceremony (Vivah).

Similarly, in many church weddings declaration of faith to Christianity is a mandatory requirement. Therefore, technically speaking, after conversion to Islam or Christian faith has been performed, the Hindu ceremony is a totally superfluous oxymoron because it is a Muslim to Muslim or Christian to Christian wedding performed by a Hindu priest! In such a wedding, do celebrating Hindus really know what why they are celebrating?

While investigating the possibility of a relationship with those from other religions, be sure to find out if there is going to be any pressure to convert for you and your future kids from not just your future life partner, but also from his or her family members and religious community. Not all Abrahamics impose their religious beliefs and practices on their spouse, but it is very important to find out the facts sooner than later. It is also important to note that despite all the potential marital pitfalls, a successful and fulfilling inter-religious marriage is possible, ideally, by not imposing ones respective religious beliefs on the other partner. A similar message has been given in Jodhaa Akbar, Gadar, and Namastey London movies. Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan and Suzanne Khan kept the religions out and got married by a civil wedding, and it is an admirable act. If someone you are dating cannot show you this same respect and expects you to forsake your own religion for marriage, even just in name sake, you must ask yourself if you are prepared to tolerate the intolerance being practiced against you.

Before entering into a relationship, one should have an open dialogue about religious expectations (especially the conversion business) and recognize the far-reaching consequences. Though dealing with this issue early on will obviously be important for the wellbeing of the couple, it is also a significant issue for their children, not to mention the couples extended families who take pride in preserving their religious and cultural traditions that have been passed down for generations and generations. Well-informed and well-thought out decisions for selecting a life mate will certainly bring long lasting happiness in a married life, even if it is an interfaith marriage. But most importantly is that we want to make sure we will have the freedom to follow our traditions and raise our children to do the same without threats to this liberty created by our spouse and his or her relatives.

PART II: Questions about Interfaith Marriages
As the world is getting smaller, people with diverse backgrounds are coming closer. Consequently, more and more young people are making friends and engaging in interfaith relationships leading to marriage, many times without realizing the complexities associated with their decision. These questions and answers are prepared with the objective of educating young people of ALL faiths to help them make more informed decisions before committing to marriage.

What is the main message here?
Interfaith relationships should be based on mutual respect for both faiths, and marriage should be solemnized without imposing religious conversion on a spouse. After marriage, both spouses faiths should get equal respect and consideration in home life and raising children.

Is religious conversion for marriage wrong?
Not if it is discussed early on in the relationship and agreed to by both parties, without coercion. Some conservative Islamic and Christian families still believe in the superiority of their faiths, thus forcing the spouse of any other faith to convert to their faith before an Islamic Nikaah or a church wedding can take place. Such expectations should be discussed upfront before getting deep into a relationship. To ask an intended spouse to give up his or her religion just before the wedding IS UNETHICAL. In such cases, the coerced spouse feels cheated at a time when they expected to experience some of the sweetest memories of their life. It harbors a doubt in their heart if a spouse deceptively practiced proselytism under the guise of love.

What is wrong if one converts to a new faith just for marriage, as far as allowed to practice his/her own faith after the marriage?
Be careful. Religious conversion is not a hollow ritual devoid of any meaning or consequences. Lets take a Christian-Muslim marriage as an example. As per the Sahadah oath to convert to Islam for Nikaah, you accept and declare that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his apostle. Further, you acknowledge that associating others (like Jesus) with Allah is the greatest of all sins. Similarly, baptism before a church wedding means conversion to Christianity and a commitment to repudiate former practices (of Islam) and to live with Christ forever. You must ask yourself what is your intention?

Do my children have to convert too?
This should be the MOST CRITICAL question in interfaith relationships, even if there was no conversion required for the marriage ceremony. Ask if your intended spouse expects your sons and daughters to have baptism, bris (for Jews) or sunat to declare their faith for life.

How is a decision to select a faith usually made?
In most cases, the decision for selection of the faith for the spouse and children is made to please the more rigid and intolerant spouse, or the more stubborn parents / community.

Are the above questions relevant to Hindus?
The Dharmic religions (Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists) are not normally accepted or tolerated by the Abrahamic People of the Book in a marriage. Hindus believe in one Supreme God, but they are free to worship the same God in many forms. However, this practice is forbidden in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and poses a serious issue when it comes to â Puja or the worship of various Dharmic/Hindu forms of God. According to the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods (e.g. Ganesh) before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God punishing children for the inequity of parents, to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. Can we teach our children both religions? It is difficult. Young kids get confused with mixed and often conflicting messages. For example, when you take them to a Hindu or Jain temple, you ask them to believe in, respect, and bow to several forms of God. But when you take them to a mosque or church, they hear just the opposite, exclusive, and intolerant messages. When confronted with such duplicity, children lose faith in any God or religion.

My spouse is open-minded and we could get around these religious expectations.
Remember, a marriage is not just the union of two individuals but, believe it not, a union of two families and two communities. It is ethical to be upfront and honest about your intentions with your new family rather than building life-long relationships on deception and lies.

I am not so religious; I don’t mind religious conversion for marriage to please my spouse.
Life is full of changes. In general, people tend to return to their roots as they age, especially when they have children. How will you feel if you find yourself irreversibly locked into unintended practices?

Conversion is only a formality, why not do it just to please my spouse and his/her family?
The religious conversion is not a one time deal; you are setting a new tone for your life. If you feed a shark, it will come back again for more food. Similarly, religious conversion for marriage will be followed by the expectation of a declaration of faith for your children via baptism, bris or sunat. Later, you may be forbidden to practice your own religion so children would not learn and follow it. Also, your spouse or his/her family may not like to be part of a religious activity while at your parent’s home. When your fantasy love period ends and it transforms into a routine married life, then these issues may become sore points in your life. My spouse did not know before but is asking now for conversion to please his/her parents. Do not be convinced by the old trick of playing innocent. Every one uses that. If after living with the same parents and community for most of their life, he or she should have known of their parents and communities expectations. If he/she had not, then you have the right to question his or her intelligence.

What is the true test that my intended spouse is not a religious fanatic?
Simple! Just ask for two promises, the second one being the more important: 1) No religious conversion for marriage; and 2) No baptism, bris or sunat for your children. But what if he or she does not agree? If someone you are dating lacks tolerance for what you believe in and expects you to forsake your own religion for marriage, even just in name sake, you must ask yourself if you are prepared to tolerate the intolerance that is being practiced against you.

Why do so many marriages end in divorce?
Some of the major reasons are miscalculated expectations and the resulting complaints that my spouse changed after the marriage. Before entering into an interfaith relationship, find out sooner than later, if he or she has true tolerance for what you are. Is a fulfilling relationship possible in an interfaith marriage? Yes, if the interfaith relationship is based on true mutual tolerance for religious diversity. But to find that is more difficult and challenging than most people think.

Additional References:
What Hindu youths go through while dating
(http://community.beliefnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21316)
What Bible says about inter-faith marriages
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifm_bibl.htm)
Islamic views on Marriage to Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and Christians
(http://www.zawaj.com/articles/interfaith_marriage_iv.html)
Interfaith divorce rates (http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifm_divo.htm)
Rutgers University research on marriage
(http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/pubtenthingsyoungadults.htm)

Dr. Dilip Amin is a past president of Plymouth Balvihar and a medical research scientist.

The extent of knowledge about Ishwar is so very confusing that it is very difficult for ordinary humans to comprehend it easily. Many individuals have used this situation very cleverly to their own advantage. I am afraid most of the architects and inventors of newer and newer methods or ways to understand Ishwar fall into this category. More than making ordinary people understand about the real meaning of Ishwar, they have used the opportunity to create cults and beliefs that could help them attain power, both political and material. If we analyse the advent of any of the new religions carefully, we can never miss the truth that a major factor is struggle for or against a powerful state or ruler. Those who wanted to sustain or attain power used an enlightened individual as proxy to achieve their ambitions. That is why we find many religions have fallen after some time. Only the most organized can succeed, but that too would fall because the intentions are not to help people but to control them.

Axiomatic Advaita

There are several funny and illogical suggestions that have come to stay among the brain-washed followers of organized religions. One such is the concept of Ishwar as someone who has a particular form. Many say that Ishwar is a gigantic version of humans and resembles us. Many more keep telling their followers Ishwar is closely watching our deeds (all six billion of us!). And that Ishwar rewards and punishes each one of us on the judgment day according to our thoughts and deeds. Their flights of imagination include heaven and hell as incentives and threats for blindly following the dictates of religious leaders. One look at these ideologies is more than enough to recognize the real intent and realize that it is definitely not salvation for the individuals. It is greed and thirst for power all the way. And a majority of terrorists are generated from these types of beliefs due to such inherent faults.

In sharp contrast, the concept of Advaita is like an open source code with no single author. There is nothing hidden and nothing that questions the innate rationality of human beings. If Ishwar is the one who has created and owns this incomprehensible universe, how can it be so simple as to resemble us and to bother about us. It is even ridiculous to believe that it will give us messages, warnings, rewards and punishments. It is even more absurd to think of Ishwar as something or someone different from everything in this universe. Logically and rationally it has to be something that is part of us and present in everything. And that is precisely what the ancient seers of India could conceptualize so convincingly thousands of years ago. Adi Sankara popularized the concept of Advaita and Einstein’s ‘objective reality’ is nothing different. Advaita answers all the questions of any rational human being who is enjoying absolute and unlimited freedom of thought.

Advantage Advaita

There are several advantages associated with the wonderful ideology of Advaita. Many of the modern and ultra-modern social concepts can stand on their own foot only if we can make all people realize the extent of uniformity and commonality in our make-up. Advaita is a great eye-opener in this regard. Everything is made up of the same entity (let us call it Brahmons -http://www.pseudodictionary.com/brahmons) and just that simple understanding is enough to bring in equality and fraternity among human beings.

Another great advantage is the extent of anti-globalization that is embedded in Advaita. Very often we feel disturbed at the shameless display of hypocrisy and double-standards exhibited by organized religions when they are denouncing the current evils of globalization and liberalization. They are opposing globalization fully hiding the fact that they are doing all dirty things to globalize their own religions. By uninhibited induced and coerced religious conversion, they are attempting to bring everyone under their concept of a single faith. But Advaita stands for the opposite of all these. Each one of us is made up of elements of God and we have God within us. Now it is upto to each one of us to devise our own methods for its realization. There is no coercion and inducement. Each individual enjoys complete liberty in their spiritual pursuits. In fact Advaita gives us the freedom to develop our own religion and modify it as we go along.

The on-going CERN experiments are expected to unravel the mysteries of our universe much more with the help of solid scientific evidences. But for followers of Santana Dharma the end result is crystal clear. When a part of Brahman is present in everything (and nothing) in this universe, the final result of any exploration into the mysteries of our universe is obvious – we will end up seeing a part of Brahman itself. And if ever we can reach such an infinite level of magnification, we will only see a sea of Brahmons floating around everywhere. And such a collection of Brahmons is what we call as Brahman. Then we will realize that the one and only truth is Advaita.

J. Ajith Kumar is an engineering graduate who has worked with various reputed engineering consultants in India and abroad. He is also a freelance writer who has authored several articles. Presently he is working abroad and can be reached at jajithkumar@hotmail.com.

Hinduism takes a broad view of secular (loukika in Sanskrit) human activity. Creativity and social evolution are the goals that are collectively known as Dharma.

The Gita would also appear to support the view that morality applies to secular life. Anishtam, ishtam, mishram cha trividham karmana phalam; Bhavaty-atyaaginaam pretya na tu sannyasinaam kwachit. “Desirable, undesirable and mixed effects are the three fold results of actions that accrue on death to those who had not renounced but not to Sannyaasins.” (XVIII, 12) A Sannyaasi is free of the cause effect relationship after death. The emphasis has to be on the words “after death.”

In worldly life even a Sannyasi cannot escape the Newton’s third law pertaining to cause and effect or action and reaction. But he is not affected in the life after death. Ishopanishad supports the above sentiment. (9-11)

“Those who practice avidya enter into blinding darkness; worse is the darkness for those that practice Vidya.” (9)

The key words are avidya and vidya. These are traditionally translated as rituals or ignorance and meditation or spiritual search respectively. I prefer to describe avidya as knowledge of a lower order or material knowledge. Science would come under this head since it does not attach importance to ‘values.’ This shloka implies that either of the two approaches to the exclusion of the other is disastrous.

“The wise ones say that the two procedures produce different results” (10)

The Upanishad recommends a combination of the two.

“He who knows both forms of knowledge lives the secular life with the help of avidya and understands the Eternal with the help of vidya.” (11)

It is necessary to emphasize that Hinduism doest not advocate amorality or indifference to morality in day-to-day life. Though it appears to be ambivalent in a statement of Taittiriya Upanishad (II, 9), it is not so. It is just non-judgmental or above any arbitrary choice or enforcement. Spirituality is above considerations of morality though an immoral person may not attain any level of spiritual awareness. “The mind and words (existential awareness) are echoed back without realizing the blissful level. One who understands Brahman as Bliss sheds all ‘fears.’ (He is free of all limiting existential loci known as manias, phobias and fears.) He is not tormented by the thought, ‘why have I not done good or why have I committed a sin.’ He is relieved of all such considerations.” Morality strictly applies to the existential order.

The Hindu view of morality is guided by the consideration that the Divine Order should liberate the human mind. The Demonic aspect enslaves the human mind. The Gita says, Deivee sampat vimokshaaya; nibandaaya-aasuri mata. “The divine order liberates while the demonic enslaves. (XVI, 5,i.)  This is why the Hindu view of morality is more of an advisory and less of a commandment. It is also non-denominational.

The above Upanishad (I, 11) defines morality in non-denominational terms. It says, “Stay committed to objective truth; remain creative (follow dharma); do not neglect the study of scriptures; pay the due tuition fee to the teacher; do not neglect to raise a family.” Then the proscriptions follow, “Do not neglect objective truth; do not neglect the virtuous path (dharma); do not neglect your welfare; do not neglect the study of the scriptures etc.” “Treat your mother as divine; treat your father as divine; treat the teacher as divine; treat the guest as divine. Behave only in a blameless manner; do not act otherwise; practice your vocation (in which your are naturally endowed with skills), not others; in case of doubt consult and follow well-versed, respected and incorruptible seniors (Brahmanas) who are co