I Am Only Human

We typically encounter a number of kinds of people in our daily lives. Some of them are good and kind to us, some are not. When someone is kind to us, we typically respond back being kind to them. But what do we do, or how do we react, when someone is unkind to us? Revenge has been the oldest of the motivations known to mankind to commit crimes against humanity. A crime many not be a "legal crime", it could be a moral crime or a crime at a spiritual level - cursing or emotionally hurting or abusing others, fostering bad thoughts (thinking bad must come to those who did bad to us), etc. Since we directly did not influence their fate in any "Legal Terms", the human system of law and justice may not get us. However, there is a higher system of justice, known to those who believe in a higher power, that will take its course.

"Retribution comes, behold! For, if a man goes unpunished, his children shall receive. If not, his grand children will bare the blow" -Bhagvad Gita

Even the most virtuous among us have committed such crimes at least once. And the ones who are presumed to have not, have been known in our history as saints. We often justify our bad actions or thoughts against others stating "If (s)he has not done what (s)he has done to me, I would not have reacted in such a way. I am only a human being. (S)He made me act this way.". We blame someone else (or their actions) for our reaction, thereby absolving ourselves of all personal responsibility. We also sight the scientific theory of "Every action has equal and opposite reaction". We seldom accept that we, and we alone, are the masters of our (re)actions. Our reaction may have earned its motivation in someone else's actions. However, the reaction itself is ours. We could have reacted differently, but we chose to mirror the actions of others in our reaction. If someone acted unkindly to us, we chose to repay their acts of unkindness by acting unkindly to them. We could have chosen to act kindly, or ignore the actions of unkindness. But we did not! Therefore, the justification of "I am only human" is just a poor excuse of who we really are. In reality, we acted not in an opposite manner, but in the same manner as them. Further more, we tend to forget the underlying fact of "equal and opposite reaction" theory applying to our own actions as well. We also tend to overlook the resultant chain reaction to our reactions. Take the example of a couple, say Jack and Jill. Jack acts badly towards Jill à Jill responds in kind, acting badly to Jack’s bad actions à Jack is now more upset and strikes back at Jill à Jill continues the streak. This cycle continues back and forth until both destroy each other. Another manifestation is, Jack treating Jill bad à Jill cannot get back at Jack, so she chooses to treat Jim badly à Jim cannot get back at Jill decides to treat Jeff badly à Jeff cannot get back at Jim à and the chain continues spreading bad actions. The psychology behind this is - "If I were treated better in my past, I wouldn't be the way I am today". The fact is, we chose to be how we are today - not our past or someone else. Unfortunately, such spread occurs faster for bad actions and reactions than good. If someone is kind to us, we are kind to them if we can be, or we are kind to others if we can be. The ideal (and spiritual) way is to be at the end of the chain of bad reactions and at the start of the chain of good actions. At the least, we be a link in replicating the good deeds done to us as fast as we can. In conclusion, I offer the following thoughts for your consideration. Our actions, and our actions alone, define us and who we are. What someone else has done to us does not define who we are. How we reacted defines who we are. Motivations to our actions have no place here. Regardless of the motivations, how we act/react defines who we are. Therefore, to better define ourselves, we, at best, start as many chains of good deeds as possible, and watch them grow. If they don't grow, continue starting new ones. If we cannot start new chains of good, at the very least, we must strive to be the last one in the chain of bad deeds/thoughts. What that means is, if someone did something bad to me, regardless of their reason for bad actions, I shall not respond equally with another bad action, nor shall I allow myself to be "just another link" in the chain and pass on the bad to the next. Then, we can claim - "I am only human". Otherwise, we are just "trying to be human" (or perhaps not even trying) and hence cannot claim "I am only human". Som Gollakota (Woodinville, WA) Website:http://www.gollakotainc.com cabaõૐõbabd

Monkey and the Buffalo Budha

Ajanta Caves, in India, offer some spectacular Buddhist paintings with many legends behind those paintings. The one shown here is titled "Monkey and the Buddha as a Buffalo". The legend behind the picture goes something like this. The Buddha, in a previous birth, is said to have been a very peace-loving and righteous buffalo, who wandered to a forest every day grazing grass around it. A very wicked monkey in the surrounding area would trouble the buffalo Buddha by climbing on his horns and playing irritable games. The gentle buffalo bore all the monkey-tricks to practice the virtue of forbearance, saying “Inflicting grief on others to overcome one’s own discomfort is no virtue; As the results of such acts shall not bear the fruits of true happiness. The monkey would have his lesson some day. And he (the buffalo) would be saved from the guilt of inflicting pain on others”. A few days later, a savage buffalo wanders around the trees grazing grass. The monkey, mistaking the savage buffalo for the Enlightened One, tries his tricks, only to be thrown on the ground and killed by the sharp horns of the savage buffalo. The monkey got his lesson for the bad deeds in the end, and the virtuous buffalo is also saved from the guilt.

Excellent story, excellent lesson to be learnt. Be kind even to those who are unkind to you, for they will receive the fruits of their actions in the end.

Here is another lesson I would like to learn from the picture and the characters (and their characteristics) in the pictures.

1. Buffalo traditionally signifies ignorance and laziness – as ignorant as an Ox (or lazy like a buffalo)
2. Monkey signifies mischief, irresponsibility, playfulness, carefree life

 We all have laziness and ignorance in us, and our mind keeps wandering in every possible direction (usually, not in the right direction). It took a buffalo to be reborn as a Sidhartha, with enormous will power and penance, to find the truth about this world and become Bodhi Satva (or Buddha). More often than not, the buffalo in us makes us complacent and does not let us move forward. When we do try to get on the move, the wicked monkey in us gets on our shoulders and head (mind), shuts our eyes to the truth and leads us in the wrong direction. It may take a savage beast in us to slaughter the monkey – but then, from a lazy buffalo, we have just turned into a savage beast – a few steps backwards than a step forward.  

For the buffalo in our above story, it took patience and calm to move forward to Sidharth, and for Sidhartha, it took will power and penance to become Bodhi Satva (or Buddha). For our miniature existences, it takes patience to acquire the light of knowledge and wisdom to beat the monkey and get the lazy/complacent buffalo in us moving in the right direction. Quite often, we use very creative excuses to remain complacent – I don’t have time, I am very busy with work, my husband/wife/kids need me, and when everything else fails, we conclude saying – I am not at that level of spiritual maturity yet; it will take a lot of time.

This is a vicious circle of worldly life, if you ask me! “I am not spiritually mature” à “I am not that wise” à “I don’t have a lot of knowledge” à “I have a family to take care of, so I don’t have time for anything else” à “I am not spiritually mature enough to give up the world yet”. We go around in circles like this. But fortunately, we don’t have to. It is our “ajñāna andhakāraṁ” (or the darkness of ignorance) that is causing us to go around in circles like this. With knowledge and implementation of knowledge, one gains wisdom. With wisdom, one realizes that we don’t have to “give up the world” to serve and reach the lord.

In my previous article, I wrote about practicing detachment towards Karma (actions) and how Gita articulated it. In another verse (“bramhanya adhāya karmāṇi”), the Gita says “The one who performs his duties and actions without any attachments towards the actions or the results, surrendering both unto the God, he would not be touched by the sins of this world – “padma patramivāmbhasa” – like a lotus leaf in water (yet dry and untouched by water). More about this verse at a later time.

In conclusion, I offer the following for your consideration. So long as we have that lazy buffalo in us, and the wicked monkey inside our heads, we remain where we are, without any advancement – either in this mortal world or in the spiritual world. With the stick called Knowledge of the Supreme Self, we chase the wicked monkey out of our heads and shoulders, and make the buffalo get up, shake off the dirt and run toward those green pastures. That will be our run towards spiritual wisdom, salvation, eternal peace and happiness.

Please do share your thoughts and inputs. I greatly appreciate, value and look for your perspectives.

Som Gollakota (Woodinville, WA)
Website:http://gollakotainc.com/Spiritual.aspx

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Karmaṇyeva adhikāraste...

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेशु कदाचन मा कर्म फलगे तुर्भुः माकेसंगोत्व कर्मणि	karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleśu kadācana mā karma phalage turbhuḥ māke saṁgotva karmaṇi
Rough Translation: The rights you have are over your actions and not on the results of your actions. You should not be the reason for such results,. This does not mean that you must refrain from your actions.

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Karma is usually mentioned in numerous contexts, depending upon the speaker, to mean numerous things. When I asked many the question "What do you mean by Karma?", some associated it with things in general, some associate with only bad things, while some others even struggle to articulate what it meant. The common thing in all these three type of people is, they all associated it with what happened (or is happening) to them. This is because, one of the most common references of Karma implies - Bad Deeds (as in "It is my karma"). However, the meaning of Karma is quite simple.

Karma = Actions; Deeds. Plain and Simple! 

Karma (Sanskrit) means Actions, not the Results. Results Sanskrit are Karma Phala (or Fruits of Actions). The reference "It is my Karma", in reality means whatever happened or is happening to me is the result of my own actions (or lack of actions), and not the results of someone else's. By stating so, we are absolving everyone else from the blame and taking responsibility for the results. There are three different parts in the above verse.

1. Your right is only over the actions (or Karma)
2. You have no right over the results (or Karma Phala)
3. You must not be the reason for the results, yet must not refrain from performing actions

The first two are pretty straight forward. Since we can only control our actions before we perform them, we have every right over them - we can control and perform the right actions. However, once actions are performed, the results shall follow regardless of anything else. Therefore, we do not have any rights over the results. The third one appears a bit more complicated and self-contradicting. How can I perform actions and yet not be the reason for the results? The gīta is filled with such contradictions. The gīta is one giant 700-piece puzzle. Each verse renders a piece of the puzzle and the gīta as a whole is the solution. The essence of gīta is detachment. The third part is clarified when one delves deeper into the part with an understanding of the essence of the gīta. The following is my understanding of the third part. Since you can only control the actions before performing them, one ought to think hard and analyze possible consequences of one's actions. After careful consideration of our actions, we ought to perform the (presumably) right actions with at most detachment, devotion, and dedication to the Lord. The reason detachment is mentioned first is to stress the importance of renouncing all attachment to the actions as well as the results of the actions. This can be achieved by means of at most devotion to the Lord. The devotion will then help us dedicate all the results (or Karma Phala) to the Lord. When we achieve these three 'D's prior to our actions, and then perform actions, we would not be the reason for the results. The Lord and the Lord alone will then be the reason for the results. This will absolve our spiritual Self (or the soul) from all repercussions of our actions. We must perform our actions as per the set of guidelines provided by our chosen faith. Results, such as they are, come from our actions. Assuming that our actions are right, the results would follow. That said, it is important to draw a distinction between good actions and harmful actions. Regardless of their nature (good or harmful) the results will follow. Regardless of the dedication, the repercussions of our actions will be felt by our physical self. This is true whether we perform the actions with our knowledge and consent or without. An simple example I often sight in this regard is - touching fire will result in burnt hand and pain, regardless of touching it with or without our knowledge and/or consent. It doesn't matter if we touched fire because we wanted to burn, or someone has held our hand and forced us on to the fire, or just by an accident. It doesn't matter whether we are grown ups who understand the nature of the fire or infants who don't have such an understanding. The result will follow and be felt by our physical/mortal self. The soul (the spiritual Self) acts a transceiver of the actions performed by the host (the physical self) in which the soul resides. The intentions and thoughts, and the actions resulting from such intentions and thoughts affect not just the physical self, but also the spiritual Self. While the results of actions at the physical level are received by the physical body that performed such actions, the results at the soul level sometimes transcend the physical body. As such, the results of actions performed/transmitted by one soul during the lifetime of one body may thus be received by another body of the same soul. The unfortunate consequence in this transcended results is that the body in which the soul is now residing is unaware of the actions performed by the body in which the soul resided at the time of transmitting, and yet bares the brunt of those actions. Hence the words of God - You (as a body) do not have any right to the results. Your actions shall have repercussions, either while you are still hosting the soul, or the soul moved on to the next body. Towards the end of the gīta Discourse given to the mightiest of the warriors, Arjuna, the Lord himself is said to have clarified - "Dedicating ALL your actions and their consequent results to me, becoming free of all desires by means of the knowledge of me, dispelling your pride, and setting aside your worries and sadness, Oh Mighty Warrior, fight the war.". With that thought, I will now conclude this writing and leave any readers out there to delve on these thoughts of mine, on your own. Please do feel free to contact me with your thoughts and inputs. I do value and appreciate them.

Som Gollakota (Woodinville, WA) Website:http://www.gollakotainc.com

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The True Essence of Ramayana (Inner Meaning)

"RAMA" itself means "Sarveshu Ramante iti Ramah" - that which revels in everyone of us, the pure light of Consciousness, the Atman, the Self, the Atma Rama. The Spiritual essence in us, can come out only as a son of Dasaratha, One who has conquered all the ten indriyas - 5 gyanendriyas and 5 karmendriyas. It will be born in you and reborn only in Ayodhya (Yuddha means conflict, Ayodhya means where there is no conflict, meaning, where all conflict has ended). In that Ayodhya which is ruled only by the self-controlled man (the one given to self-indulgence and pleasures can have no peace and tranquility) Dasaratha's son Rama is born. This Rama, the pure self, cannot enter into any active participation in life unless wedded to the mind. Seeta (the mind) is ready, She is not born to Janaka by Wedlock. While ploughing the land, he finds Seeta. The mind appeared from the most inappropriate place ever. It is absurd to enquire deep into this. Later you find that the same Seeta disappears into Mother Earth. From mother Earth she came, to mother Earth she went back. From where the mind comes, and where it disappears during Samadhi nobody can tell. This is Maya. Wedded to the mind when Rama returns, he finds that he cannot live in Ayodhya. For, once the mind has come, you start expressing through it. You had to enter the forest of life, self-exiled as it were. So long as Seeta was looking up to Rama, living in Rama, for Rama, by Rama, she never found any difference between Ayodhya and a jungle. But how long can the mind remain constantly centered in the higher divine potential in us? It has to become extrovert, And this is just what happened the moment Seeta looked away from Rama. The golder deer was noticed, The finite, ephemeral, ever-changing objects, start pulling you towards them. The mind demands them. Once desire polluted, you fall. When Rama goes, he winks at Lakshmana, and they both understand that the poor deluded girl is suffering. Seeta is left in Lakshmana's Charge. Lakshmana represents Tapas (austerity). He had no reason to to the jungle. But he left of his own accord, and he lives in perfect brahmacharya, even without sleep. It is perfect Tapas. But then, one cannot live in tapas. The delusion of the other world will force you to give it up. The moment Seeta hears the sound of Rama's voice, she forgets Rama's glory and might and becomes anxious about his safety. She even urges Lakshmana to go to her husband's aid. Once desire enters your bosom, as an ordinary individual you cannot constantly live in tapas. But you can at least draw a line, thus far and no further. But once tapas has been given up, such lines are of no use. You readily step over them. And when you do this instead of Dasaratha, you are confronted by Dasamukha, the opposite character. The latter is an extrovert as the former is self-controlled. 5 Gyanendriyas and 5 Karmendriyas together constitute the Dasamukha. A totally extrovert man lives in the flesh. Such a man is a sensualist and a total extrovert. Materially he can become great as did Ravana who ruled over a prosperous land, Lanka. Compared to this land, Ayodhya was under-developed and village like. Seeta realised that she had fallen down and to prevent a further fall, she firmly said 'No' to Ravana and remainded in the garden under an Ashoka Tree. Soka means Dukha i.e sorrow, Ashoka therefore meand 'not dhuka' (devoid of sorrow). You & I will have sorrow, but we do not recognize it. This is the 'Ashoka' state. Under the tree of non-recognition of sorrows, when we want to remain steadfast in character, we will doubtless be tempted and put to a lot in strain. But in that Ashoka attitude, we should remain steadfast, constantly remembering Rama. The spiritual essence in man can kill and destroy Ravana, the ten-headed monstrocity of extrovertedness. It can do it with the army of monkeys. The monkey has 2 qualities - Asthiratwa and Chanchalatwa - Instability & Restlessness. The thoughts in the human mind have these two qualities. They cannot remain sthira - stable. The monkey cannot remain on one branch, it jumps from one branch to another and from one tree to tree. If it gets tired and sits on a tree, it will still be restless, and scratch all over. Thus, it cannot even keep quiet even for a minute. So too, our thoughts. They can never remain quiet, but keep jumping from topic to topic. The army of thoughts is to be controlled. But at this moment, Vali-who stands for lust - controls them. This has to be destroyed. And how? It can be only done from behind, and not from the front. It is like a person wanting to curb his desire for alcohol. He cannot do it by sitting before the bottle; for the moment he does this, not only is half the strength gone, but the pull of the bottle is three times as strong. Hence every time it is your lust that wins, and not you. So, if ever you want to conquer this lust, you have to shoot it from behind the tree. Vali has such great power, that any time an enemy approached him, half the strength of the enemy would drain away and Vali himself would become three times stronger. So, Rama had to kill him from behind. To whom should he then give the kingship of the monkey clan - the thoughts? To whom better than Sugreeva? 'Greeva' means reins, 'Sugreeva' means well-reined, i.er well-controlled. When the thoughts are under one's control, the army is then available to cross the frontiers and reach Lanka to kill the ten headed monster and bring Seeta back. Jai Shri Rama. -Swami Chinmayananda.

Why do hindus break Coconut in the Temple

There are many rituals among the hindus, which suggest the mode of transcending the personality layers and realising the Self within. One such ritual is offering Cocunut in a temple. The Coconut represents the Karma Phalas or the fruits of one's past actions, which are in the form of One's Vasanas. Offering of a fruit in a temple or to a Guru symbolises the surrendering of such Vasanas. A Coconut has a nice smooth skin covering a mass of twisted and knitted coir within. Beneath the coir is a hard shell, and in the inner portion of the shell is the white kernel containing the milk. Before a cocunut is offered to the Lord, the priest removes the skin along head of the coconut. The shell is then broken and the tuft is removed to expose the three eyes of the coconut. The milk inside is allowed to flow out at the feet of the Lord. This ritual has a deep significance. The outer skin represents the gross body which has an external show of beauty, but carries in its bosom an abominable cluster of desires and attachments which comprise the subtle body. Man has to renouce all his desires to the exception of one which is to realise the Truth. The retention of the tuft indicates this idea. When one approaches a Guru with this pointed desire and a spirit of surrender, the Guru breaks the hard shell of the intellect and exposes the pure Satwic Vasanas (the white kernel in the case of cocunut) to the Lord. The last lingering desire to realise the Truth is also transcended which is demonstrated by the plucking of the tuft away and exposing the three 'eyes' on the shell. The third eye refers to the 'Eye of Wisdom' known as 'Jnana Chakshu' which gives the intutive vision of the Self. The milk flowing out at the feet of the Lord reprensents the merging of the individual's self with the Infinite Self. Hari Om.

Four Purusharthas - Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha

The four purusharthas or goals of human life are 1. Dharma (righteousness, duty and moral order) 2. Artha (wealth and prosperity) 3. Kama (wordly desires) 4. Moksha (liberation) The ancient hindus never neglected any aspect of human life. The four goals or endeavors of human life constitute the roadmap for a happy life on earth and beyond. Let us try to understand each of the goals briefly: 1. Dharma is the foundation and first of the four human goals. Dharma refers to moral duties, obligations and conduct, namely, vidhis(do's) and nishedhs(dont's). Dharma is always given a highest importance, in Ramayana, Rama himself represented the Dharma and was crowned as a King. In Mahabharat, Krishna himself crowned the Dharma roopa Yugishtir as King. 2. Artha, is the second goal of life for the householder for the attainment of wealth and material prosperity. The efforts or means to realizing this goal must have a righteous and moral basis. It must be based on dharma or lawful means. 3. Kama, is the fulfillment of biological, physical and material desires. The householder is instructed by the shastras to legitimately fulfill his or her wordly desires in accordance with the canons of dharma. Artha & Kama are important goal for the growth and progress of society. 4. Moksha means liberation form the web of maya, freedom from the cycles of birth and death, and the experiences of divine happiness. This is the ultimate goal of human life. It is achieved through taking the refuge of God or a God-realized guru. Through the guru's grace one becomes free from the bondage or maya, and is blessed with self-realization and God-relalization. Hari Om.

Murthi-Puja : Idol Worship

In ancient times, the Indian rishis worshiped the forces of nature like Varundev (sea-god), Indradev (rain-god), Suryadev (sun-god), Agnidev (fire-god), Vayudev (wind-god), etc. They appreciated and appeased them for their contributions to human existence and happiness by chanting various prayers in the form of mantras and performance of yagnas. Later, they deified and personified the devas and the supreme God to offer elaborate rituals of devotional worship. Since it is not possible to focus upon God merely in thought or name, the rishis made pratimas (images or murthis) of clay, stone, metal or wood. With elaborate rituals the supreme God was invoked (pran-pratishta) into the murtis. The rishis regarded the murtis as God himself and they became the focus of worship. The murtis enables the aspirant to draw his or her mind and senses away from the material objects and concentrate on God. A point arrives when the aspirant realizes God, and he or she sees, speaks and touches him. The Shrimad Bhagavatam describes eight types of God's murtis " A murthi is made of one of eight materials: Stone, wood, metal, sandalwood paste or clay (or other material that can be moulded), sand, precious stone, conceived by mind and through paintin or etching." The murti is the soul of a temple. Devotees come for darshan and to offer prayer and worship to him. The ancient tradition of murti-puja imbues diving peace and joy in devotees. Hari Om.

Punarjanma : Re-Birth

Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) teaches that the atma or jiva (soul) is intrinsically pure. It is because of material desires and the ignorance of I-ness and Mine-ness that it goes through the cycles of birth and death. The death of one's body does not destroy one's jiva or atma which is eternal. The jiva takes on another body as a consequence to it's karmas. This is called Punarjanma (Rebirth) or reincarnation. As long as the jiva remains attached to material desires and ignorance it remains subject to the cycles of birth and death. According to the puranas it repeatedly takes birth in the 8,400,000 different life-forms, that include all phylum in the animal and plant kingdoms. Birth in a human body is the highest and rarest of all births, providing an opportunity to attain mukti or liberation of the atma. There are many recorded cases of people who remember details of their past births. By the grace of God or guru the jiva is reborn as a human to purge the layers of base instincts, and overcome his or her moral and spiritual failings. Sometimes a released or enlightened soul(a mukta) is reborn by God's wish to carry out a spiritual mission. When a jiva takes on another body, it is God who gives it an appropriate birth in relation to its karma. When it enters the new physical(sthul) body it does so with its subtle (suksma) and causal (karan) bodies. The four categories into which the jiva is born are: 1) Udbhij (born of seeds i.e plants) 2) Jarayuj (born of womb i.e mammals) 3) Swedaj (from sweat i.e bugs) & 4) Andaj (born of egg i.e birds and reptiles) Hari Om.

Karma

Karma means action or deed. No one can remain without doing karmas or even a moment(BhagawadGita). Any physical, mental and emotional action is called karma. For every action there is a result or reaction. Karma is the universal law of cause and effect. Hinduism believes that karma is responsible for good and bad phenomena is a person's life. It is also responsible for the disparities apparent in human life: rich & poor, intelligent & ordinary, good & bad. Hindus believe that nothing in our world is merely accidental or a chance happening. There is a moral law called karma that applies to all living things. As you sow, so shall you reap is a common phrase of wisdom in life, and it succinctly reflects the law of karma. Good actions produce happiness and bad actions results in suffering and misery in the present or in future. There are two types of karmas that a person performs: nishkam and sakam. Nishkam karmas are called detached actions. They are done without any expectation of material gain, ego and mundane desires, but are done solely to please God. Sakam karma are karmas done for a specific material desire or purpose. God gives the fruits of one good and bad karmas. He decides and dispenses the consequences of one's karma. That is, he is the karma phal pradata. Karma or deed does not operate by itself to give results, but when God decides so only then can one experience it's good or bad effects. Hari Om.

Atma

The nearest translation of atma or jiva is self or soul. The ancient rishis or India turned their thoughts inward to discover their inner self. They had a unique experience of a metaphysical entity that was beyond the external, physical world they were living in. They found it to be eternal(sat), having consciousness (chit) and infinitely blissful (Anand). The atma in luminous, pure and bodies; beyond sorrow and decay. They discovered that it was their true self and the very essence of their life. They called it jiva or atma, which is pure, immortal and untouced by evil. They are countless jivas and all animate things have jiva or atmas. The Upanishads teach that the ultimate goal of life is to realize one's self as atma and attain God-realization. They teach that the atma and body are separate. They atma is the life-force of the perishable body. As long as one believes that one is the body one experiences misery and bondage and thus goes through the cycles of birth and death. To realize one's atma the Katha Upanishad instructs that it cannot be done so by merely delivering spiritual discourses, listening to discourses or through one's intellect, but only though God who reveals himself out of abundant grace to the seeker. Hari Om.

Avatars - Rama, Krishna, ..

Avatarvad is the belief that the one, supreme God takes a human or other forms to liberate countless jivas from material bondage and the cycles of birth and death. Avatar liberally means 'one who descends'. The approximate English word is incarnation. It does not exactly mean avatar because Hindus believe that though God himself takes a human or living forms and shows all the physical traits of living beings, he is totally divine. Even thought in a human or any other actions are neither similar to thouse of humans nor other living beings. God's body and his actions are absolutely divine and redemptory. One may ask why God has to descend as an avatar? Can be not liberate souls from his divine abode using his infinite powers? The answer is yes he can. The two main reasons why he incarnate in human and other forms are 1) To fulfill the wishes and accept the love and devotion of his devotees and countless more who are spiritually inclined and 2) To destroy adharma or evil on earth: 'Yada Yada hi dharmasya....' In Srimad Bhagavatham episode of 'Gajendra Mokasam', Sri Maha Vishnu flies down himself to save the gajendra from the cluthes of crocdile. If god wishes, just by his sankalpa he could have killed the crocodile, but the gajendra wished for bhagwan's darshan and hence he came down running to save his devotee. In Mahabharata during the Dhraupati vastrapaharan, Draupadhi did not request for Krishna's dharshan, but requested to save her dignity and hence bhagwan gave her what she asked for. It's all in what the devotees asks with a pure heart and bhagwan fulfills. The first reason allows devotees to develop deep bonds of love and glory through their personal companionship and association with God. Eventually this liberated them from the bondage of maya. In Hindusim there are 24 main avatars, of which ten(Dashavatar) are the principal ones: 1.Matsya(fish) 2.Kurma(tortoise) 3.Varah(boar) 4.Nrusimha(man-lion) 5.Vaman(Dwarf) 6.Parshuram 7.Ram 8.Krishna 9.Buddha 10.Kalki(future) Philosophically there is a reason on the order of avatars, which we'll post it in the following posts. Hari Om.

The Vedas

Like all other religions Hinduism, too, has its authorized sacred text, called the Vedas. They are ancient sacred texts of hindus that were revealed by god to the enlightened rishis of India. For hindus there is no higher scriptual authority than the vedas. All other hindu texts derive their source and authority from the vedas. The Vedas were orally transmitted from generation to generation in the form of mantras. The four main vedas are Rig, Yajur, Sama and atharva. The Rig Veda is the oldest and contains 10,522 mantras offering prayers to God and devas. The Yajur veda has 2,000 mantras that deal with rituals of worship. The Sama Veda has 2000 mantras that are sung in Yagnas. The Athara Veda contains 6,500 mantras that deal with medicine, victory, frienship, progeny,etc. The Vedas, also known as the shruti shastras, consist of samhitas (mantras), Brahmana texts (application of mantras in Samhitas for various yagnas or religious offerings, Aranyakas or forest texts (deals with contemplation) and the Upanishads (sublime texts that contain the essence of Indian Philosophy, dealing with the nature and relation of god, jiva, moksha..etc). The Orthodox hindu schools of thought and sampradays are called astik becausee their beliefs and practices are based on vedas, brahmanas, aranyakas and upanishads. Heny David Thoreau reflects upon the vedas, "What extracts from the vedas I have read fall on me like a radiant light of a higher and purer luminary, which describes a loftier course through a purer stratum'. Hari Om.

One God - many Gods

One Supreme God: Hinduism has often been misunderstood and misinterpreted as a religion of many 'Gods'. But hindus believe in one Supreme Bhagwan(God). The Rig Veda clearly states 'Ekam Sat Vipraha bahudha Vadanti' - 'To What is one, sages give many names'. He is Sat-Chit-Anand (eternal, Consciouness and blissful). He is supreme, all-powerful, the all-doer and all-prevading. Bhagwan is the giver of the fruits of karma to all souls(Karma phal Pradata). He is also known as parabrahman, paramatma or parmeshwar. Bhagwan has a divine, personal form (sakar), however he is also believed by a portion of hindus to be formless or impersonal(nirakar). He comes on earth is human and other forms to liberate the pious souls, fulfill their devotional wishes and destroy evil. The 24 avatars or incarnations are the manifestations of Bhagwan. They are held in higher esteem than the devas. Bhagwan is believed to be supreme(savopari), the all-doer(sarva karta), to have a divine form(divya sakar) and to be ever present (prakat) on earth through a god-realized guru. By devoloping such conviction one becomes liberated from the bondage of maya and attains moksha. Devas or devatas are the minor gods, of which, according to the puranas, there are thousands(indra, agni, surya, varun, vayu, yama and many others). They are all minor deities who exercise their powers in accordance with the authority and instructions of supreme bhagwan. They are remembered and worshiped as devas. Hari Om.

GROUP DISCUSSION ON COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HINDUISM

We are over whelmed with the response we received from the first group discussion on Hinduism topics and are strongly considering the request from all the devotees to have this event as frequently as possible. As we have a important general body meeting this week, we are hosting this group discussion event next Sunday, the Feb 1st 2009 at 11.30 AM. We at Sanatan Dharma Temple & Cultural Center are starting these discussion topics to all those who are intrested in learning more about our culture and its real value. As this would not be a discourse kind of a program, but it's more like learning from one another through discussions, research and knowledge sharing. The format we are using here is, we'll decide on the questions we'll be discussing for this month and encourage people to voice in their thoughts and knowledge. Language is no barrier for these discussions groups, everyone will be given a chance to speak or ask. The topics we'll be discussing for this month on Sunday, Feb 1st @ 11.30 AM are 1) Why does Hinduism have so many Gods? 2) Do hindus believe in Re-incarnation? 3) What is Karma? 4) Why do hindus worship the cow? 5) Are hindus idol worshippers? 6) Are Hindus forbidden to eat meat? 7) Do hindus have a bible? 8) Why do hindus wear a dot near the middle of their forehead? 9) Are the gods of hinduism really married? 10)What about caste and untouchability?> Please pass this to all the people who will be interested to participate and know more about these topics or would like to share their esteemed knowledge with the rest of the group. Please encourage your teenagers to participate in these discussions as we feel that they would be extremely benefited from these discussions.