Posts Tagged ‘Earth’
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
Shad Darshan – Concluding comments:
Nota Bene II
We are asking so many questions about God, but can we ask just a few questions for ourselves? Do we really believe in God? If we really believe in Him, then we wouldn’t be doing what we are doing now. If He really comes in front of us, then we would not be treating Him as we are treating Him now when He is not present in front of us. If He really comes here and sees us doing what we are not supposed to be doing, then would He be proud of us after all His teaching and preaching?
Questions to ask for ourselves:
If we really believe in Him, then have we ever tried to achieve a few good qualities of Him? If we believe in humanity, then how come we, at times, become inhumane to others? We should not be asking for death of others, as in case of death sentence, for the death of our loved ones. God never preached an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, rather He taught us for forgiveness. How can we ask for forgiveness from Him, if are not willing to forgive others? If He is merciful, then why we do not show mercy to others? Why we hurt others or kill them – doesn’t matter if they are animals or humans, friends or foes, rich or poor, good or bad, justified or unjustified, for good or for bad. If we believe Him as the judge of everyone then why are we judging others? If we believe He does justice to others, then how can we do injustice to others? If we believe He is the boss, then why we take His law in our hands and try to be bossy on others. If we know He has tolerated and suffered for others and is still doing so, then why we are not so tolerant to others. Why we bother whom, why, and how others worship to Him, if we are not sure for ourselves why, how, and whom we worship. If we cannot develop any of His good qualities in us, then how can we expect Him to enjoy our company in His abode? If we firmly believe in Him, then why do we have doubt in Him? If we believe in Him then why do we have double standards – one for us and one for others; or why do we have triple standards for our own self – for thinking something else, saying something else, and doing something else?
Lastly, a few words about the science:
Let’s ask a few questions about the science and religion. Has anyone heard any scientists saying, “I study and teach science, astronomy, or physics in college and university, but I do not believe in black hole,” or “I do not believe that black hole exists.” “Well, Gravity is Gravity, but, I believe in Newton’s Gravity and do not believe in Einstein’s Gravity.” “I teach solar system, but I do not believe that the sun is at the center.” “I do not believe that the earth is round. I personally believe that the earth is flat.” Well, this happens in case of religion and religious philosophy. One may hear, among religious philosophers, saying that, “I study and teach religious philosophy, but, I do not believe in God or in His existence.” “I teach religion but I do not believe in Western God. I believe in Eastern God.” “I preach about the religious practices and commands of God to others, but, I personally do not believe in strictly following them.” In science the measures used, for example, of time, length, volume, mass, etc., are standard: nationally and internationally, globally and universally, for the scientists and for laymen, for poor and rich, or for believers and for non-believers. Well, for religion, the measures or ethical and moral do’s and don’ts, such as, not to steal, not to deceive, not to adulterate, not to gain or use wealth in wrongful way, to do humanitarian or charitable work, etc. are all relative, never absolute or neutral. They change according to the person, time, circumstances, creed, greed, wealth, color, race, gender, sexual orientation, and individual preferences. We see double or triple standards for ourselves and for others, for believing, preaching, and practicing. We talk about the Truth but we try to hide the truth. The science proposes and publishes theories, but never impose upon others to believe them. Whichever theory is true would be survived in the harsh experimental testing and rigorous argumentative discourses and debates and then would be accepted widely until it is disproved by another theory that would be more truthful, veridical, and realistic. Science is open to accept the truth and is also open to reject the un-truth. In case of religion, it is not like that. God’s words are all revealed in the scriptures but we want, to believe and interpret them, subjectively, according to our own will, likings, preferences, or necessities. Not only that we want to promote and impose upon others what we believe is true, simply because of our deep faith and love in ourselves. In religion, we are not open to accept criticism, nor are we willing to accept other beliefs simply because we do not know the truth. Until then belief simply remain as a belief. These are the differences between trust in the science and faith in the religion. For the majority of people, in the current era of modernization, religion has remained the subject of belief and discussion only, whereas, science is becoming day by day the subject of trust. The root cause of the difference is in the application or practicing. Whatever the science says people apply and whatever religion says people are reluctant to put into practice.
Why the science and spirituality do not go together? Why religions shy away from the science and why many scientists do not believe in God? Spirituality is based on the faith while science is based on the facts. Spirituality has no limitations, science has limitations. Spirituality thinks farther and faster but philosophically, science thinks comparatively nearer and slower but firmly. We can say that spirituality is far-sighted, science is near-sighted. If we believe in God, then we should not have to worry even for science. Science can make us untrue but not the god. If we worry about the science, then in fact we are worried about ourselves, about the philosophies that we have created, about the understanding of the scriptures that we have interpreted, and about the explanations of God that we have enforced to or imparted upon others, that we might be disproved otherwise by the science. If we do worry, then believe that, God also worries with us. If God doesn’t worry then why should we worry at all? Shouldn’t we be that courageous or confident? Science is not our enemy. Science is our friend helping us to understand the truth, to correct us if we are doing anything mistakenly. Are not we supposed to be using the science to explore the Truth, to propagate the Truth, and to keep us alive and healthy for long to enjoy the bliss of the Truth? Science and spirituality go together and cannot be separated from our lives. As religious people, we might think that science is our enemy, but on the contrary, science is our rival in searching for the truth. So, let it race and go deeper and deeper. It will ultimately help us. Ultimately, a day will come when science will also be ineffable and say, “Truth is there, but we are incapable to describe it.” “Not this, not this,” as it is said for God in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, “Neti, Neti” meaning, “this is not the Truth, the Truth is still beyond – beyond our reach, beyond our description, and beyond our understanding.” God is indescribable.
Tags:a tooth for a tooth, Absolute, an eye for an eye, animals, application, astronomy, bad, belief, believe, believers, believing, Black Hole, bliss, boss, Brihadaranyaka, charitable, circumstances, color, commands, Concluding comments, confident, courageous, creed, criticism, Darshan, debates, discourses, discussion, disproved, do’s and don’ts, double standards, Earth, enemy, enforced, ethical, experimental, explanations, facts, faith, far-sighted, foes, forgiveness, friend, friends, gender, globally, God, good, gravity, greed, humanitarian, humanity, humans, hurt, imparted upon, impose upon, indescribable, ineffable, inhumane, injustice, internationally, interpret, interpretations, judge, justice, justified, laymen, length, liking, love, mass, measures, merciful, mercy, modernization, moral, nationally, near-sighted, necessities, Neti, neutral, non-believers, Nota Bene, person, Philosophy, physics, poor, practice, practicing, preaching, preference, preferences, promote, race, realistic, relative, religion, religious practices, rich, rival, science, Scientists, sexual orientation, Shad Darshan, spirituality, standard, subject, subjectively, sun, testing, time, tolerant, triple standards, trust, Truth, truthful, understanding, universally, unjustified, Upanishad, veridical, volume, wealth, will, worry
Posted in Hinduism - Philosophies, Nota Bene II | Comments Closed
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
Shad Darshan – Concluding comments:
Nota Bene I
Philosophy is a vision or explanation of the Truth. In the modern times of materialism, industrialism, capitalism, greedism, and superficialism several questions do arise apart from the philosophical views discussed above. The most important and commonly asked question in present time is: Does God exist, or rather, still exist compared to older time of innocence and less materialism? Do we have proof of His existence? If He exists, then why something bad happens to someone who firmly believes in Him compared to the non-believer? If He exists then where does He truly reside? Does He have control over us or do we have gained control over Him, by scientific power, monitory power, political power, or may be by trick? If He has control over us then is He going to keep the control with Him forever even after the great advances of science, such as, cloning, stem-cell research, and creation of living cell in the laboratories? Should we worry about that or about Him? And lastly, do we really have earned that right to ask these questions, especially the last one?
Let’s try to answer these non-philosophical questions of reality about the Reality?
God’s reality
Whether God is real and true, there is one God or many rivals of Him or only someone’s God exists and else’s God doesn’t, all of these questions are truly up to Him to answer or look out. Let’s ask ourselves before asking such questions, are we really ready to take care of His issues? Isn’t He all-capable to respond by Himself? Isn’t it our greatest illusion that we are taking care of His business when we are not even fully capable of taking care of ourselves, our own business, when we are constantly asking for His help or others’ help in our day to day life. So, rather asking just for the sake of asking let us be real and true to ourselves which would be more fruitful and beneficial to us in the path of spirituality.
God’s existence
The true and faithful answer for God’s existence would be that “God exists and still exists.” For someone He may be in the form of the motivating force, vital force, or energy but He does exist. The cosmos is not bare or unattended without the presence of the Supreme Divine Authority. It is definitely controlled and intricate right from the biomolecular or microscopic level to the cosmic level. The highly intricate design of the cell at molecular level and of atom at subatomic level does require a designer and to operate that machinery for the definite purpose does require the intelligence. If anything happens in the universe we do have reason or material explanation to believe it on the name of the natural laws of science. But the universe itself is the phenomenal happening how can we explain its reason? Without the higher or supreme intelligence or authority (not just the force) the existence of everything would not have been possible.
A big question disturbing everybody, “Why something bad happens to me or only me?”
We all believe that, we are all comparatively good people, we may be more or less religious but are, for sure, spiritual or may be believers of God. Then, why something bad happens to us or only us? To understand that, let’s first understand the difference between the understanding of materialists and theists about the phenomenon of happening. Materialistic people understand that if anything happens to us, good or bad, is due to a chance. Spiritual or theist people understand that if anything happens to us, good or bad, is due to God’s will or destiny. God always wants to do good to us. God never does anything bad to anybody. It is never His intention. It means that, whatever bad happens to us must be because of some reason other than God. So, everything cannot be placed on God’s will only. There must be part of our role too. For that, Hinduism has proposed the role of Karma in deciding our own destiny – the importance of good actions and bad actions to make or create our own destiny or fate. Otherwise there wouldn’t be importance of good doings and bad doings. Yet, everything cannot be placed on Karma too? What about if someone is good, does good karma but put oneself in bad place at bad time or reaches at right place at right time? What about if someone is good and one’s intention is good too, but, does something bad unintentionally or unknowingly? So, other than actions (karma or kriyā), there must be some role of other factors too, such as, place (desh), time (kāl), company or association with (sang), command (mantra), bad books or bad media (shāstras), initiation or membership to organization or group (dikshā), and emulation or contemplation of the role model or the chief upon whom one trusts and ponder (dhyān). Now, the question arises that suppose if a good or Godly person, by mistake, knowingly or unknowingly, or circumstantially, has committed any bad action, should such action be pardonable or not? Even the President has an authority to pardon death sentence, then why not God be authorized to do so. For this reason, theists have again placed God’s will at the top. The Supreme Being is the final authority and not the karma or any other influencing factors.
God’s residence
The question is where does He reside in the cosmos or on the earth apart from His abode? Rather someone would ask that where do we keep Him? Let us ask that to ourselves. Do we keep Him on our head, within our thoughts, on our tongue only, within our heart, within our conscience or just in our pocket or pocketbook? Truly speaking God resides in our heart, mind and soul. We are looking for God in the sky but we cannot see Him there. We are looking for God on the earth but we cannot believe Him in the human form. If He would come in non-human form or some alien form would we be ready to believe Him? No, we would be rather scared. So, how can we know Him? God is right in front of us but we are not ready to believe Him. God is in our heart, mind, and soul but we never try to look inside in ourselves. God is not far away from us. Even His abode is not far away from us. It is not up above in the sky nor is it down in the center of the earth. It is right within us, not even an atom’s distance away from us. We need those kinds of spiritual eyes or vision to see it.
Proof of His existence
If we have kept Him present forever and uninterrupted in our conscience then the solid proof of His existence is right there. Then probably the question of His existence wouldn’t even arise in our minds. Our actions will speak for our proof of God. We will get the answers to the above and all of the questions arising in our mind about God. God is right there, not outside but within, in our inner self – in our conscience. If He is not there, then where else He could be? He would just be in the books of philosophies in the libraries or in the classrooms for study.
God’s control
If God is the Supreme Being, then we do not have to wory for losing His control over to the science. If He is the Creator, then He, for sure, knows about the Destruction or Dissolution, and even for the Recreation of the worlds! He must have planned or, if not, then He must have the capability to do that. Otherwise He wouldn’t be at that Supreme position. He has smartly given finite lifespan or lifetime to every living and non-living things in His creation. He has made everything dependent upon Him. He must have kept that key with Him. Rather than God controlling us, we are taking control over ourselves, over our fellow brothers and sisters, over their wealth, their property, their land, and their freedom in the name of God and in the name of religion – some might have done in the past and some may doing now. And, if we do not stop this now, then somebody else will be doing in the future. Among these where is God’s control? Who is the real controller – God or us?
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Posted in Hinduism - Philosophies, Nota Bene I | Comments Closed
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
Shad Darshan – Concluding comments:
Conclusion II
In conclusion, all of the above philosophies of Hinduism describe about the fundamental realities, from one, two, three, or five, and their relationships with each other. We can reduce all the realities, before the creation, to just one reality – God. But then we cannot explain all the realities that are in existence after the very first creation. The creation itself is a reality. We have to explain everything based on the minimum possible number of fundamental realities considering all the past, present, and future scenarios of existence. Even scientists have difficulty in reducing everything to just one particle and one force.
All philosophies agree that the Supreme Being is one, unique, incomparable, and unparalleled, who is conceived or understood as the perfect, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, creator, source, and controller of the universe, the cosmos, and everything. He is eternal, without beginning and end, forever stable, and unchanging. He is beyond time, space, deeds, and material world of maya. He is Soul of the souls and God of the gods. In Hinduism, He is known as Paramatma, Parabrahm, Purushottam, or Narayan. “Parabrahm” is so named because it is beyond or transcendental to Brahm (Param Brahm).
Brahm or the Abode of Parabrahm (God) is another reality which is penultimate to Parabrahm. Initially Brahm and Parabrahm were inferred as one reality, but later on it was clearly understood that Parabrahm and Brahm, God and His abode, cannot be just one reality. They are two different realities. Scriptures have described some of the characteristics exclusively for Parabrahm that cannot be applies to Brahm or any other realities. Parabrahm is the Supreme Being – the topmost creator, controller, and the essence of all. Parabrahm is described as the soul (shariri) of Brahm (sharir). Brahm is described as the body (sharir) of Parabrahm. Just as body (sharir) and soul (shariri) seems to be one, Brahm and Parabrahm were also understood to be one reality. But, they are not one and the same entity. Parabrahm can sustain without Brahm, but Brahm cannot sustain without Parabrahm.
In Hinduism, there is description of a super-soul or universal soul called Purush or Ishwar. In Hinduism, there is a crucial distinction between Purush and Purushottam (God). Ishwar or Purush is the super-soul of brahmand (whole universe). Hinduism describes about many brahmands. It is obvious that if there are many brahmands and each brahmand is governed by its own super-soul, then there are possibilities of existence of many super-souls. Existence of many Purushas is described in Sankhya scriptures and other scriptures like Mahabharat and Purans.
In Hinduism, individual soul is understood as ontologically distinct reality from God, Nature (Prakruti), and other realities. There are many individual souls or inner-self called atma or jiv limited to each mundane physical body. Each soul is separate, distinct, and different than its body. Therefore, bodily relations are simply bodily relations and are limited to the current birth only. The past, present, and future bodily relations have nothing to do with the souls. Once the soul is free from its three kinds of body it gets liberation or salvation. Soul has to be brahmanized (brahmrup) to get ultimate salvation called Atyantik Moksh. For that the living being has to take the shelter of God and completely and unconditionally surrender to Him, who resides forever in His abode and also, as His presence on this earth, in Satpurush (God-realized person or sant), in Satshāstra (Holy Scriptures), and in Satkriyā (pious and virtuous actions). No one has seen God as scientists see or observe tiniest particles or farthest galaxies and quasars. Everything what we know about God is from the holy scriptures. Scriptures have described every tiniest detail and the characteristics of God and His true and the choicest devotee or follower. Hinduism believes in worshiping the present form of God on the earth and that also in the form like us with which we can find some resemblance or similarity, develop intimacy, do some communication, and enjoy the same bliss on this earth and in this very life as we would enjoy in His abode. This also makes sure that what we are getting here, we will be getting there in His abode. Anyway, salvation ultimately is in His presence, in His service, and in His close association whether here or in His abode.
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Posted in Conclusion II, Hinduism - Philosophies | Comments Closed
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Concluding comments:
Conclusion I
All of the above philosophies of Hinduism have one thing in common. They are all derived from and consistent with the triad of authentic Hindu scriptures known as Prasthan Trayi, namely, Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita, and Brahm Sutra. They include the essence of all the ancient Hindu scriptures, namely, Vedas, Upanishads, various sutras, various smrutis, all the Purans, Mahabharat, and Ramayan. Number wise Hindu scriptures are not just a few texts but they are hundreds in numbers, consisting of hundreds of thousands of verses (shloks) and short sentences (sutras), and all of them are in Sanskrit or other vernacular languages derived from Sanskrit. It is difficult to study single-handedly and understand them all individually. This explains why there are many interpretations, explanations, and commentaries just about one single Truth and the five fundamental eternal realities in Hinduism.
The beauty of Hinduism is that it allows complete religious freedom at the same time teaches to develop the utmost tolerance for others’ belief. This is exactly opposite of bullying. Smruti shastras allow devotees to worship their own deity as God or demigod (devata) and to follow their own choice of scriptures according to their own level of understanding and intelligence irrespective of the Ultimate Truth. Yet, at the same time it also teaches to keep in mind that one is allowed to compare anything or anybody with God but one can never compare God with anything else that is lower than the level of God in His whole creation, not even with the transcendental and penultimate reality Brahm – the abode of God. This was the understanding of Madhavacharya when he placed Lakshmi at the little subordinate or subservient level to that of Narayan (God). Hinduism tells the truth to the followers of any deity or any God other than the Supreme Being, Parabrahm Purushottam Narayan, cautioning them, that whosoever follows other than Purushottam Narayan will be led to that particular person’s or deity’s own destination depending on that person’s or deity’s own power and capability but not the final resting place or the ultimate destination of the most powerful Supreme Being. The ultimate destination or the final redemption can only be reached by following the Truth, the true Supreme Being, or by achieving the truly ultimate knowledge. Hinduism tells never to follow blindfolded. It says to use one’s own intelligence and judgment objectively and see the behavior, level, and achievement of the Guru (guidance counselor), his Guru or master, and his students or followers. It also advises to disregard the social or worldly etiquettes, manner, or any other external variables of the true Guru in learning the brahm-gnan. Hinduism helps also by providing all the necessary guidance and guidelines to understand, know, and follow the Truth and at the end leaves the responsibility of taking final decision on the individual. Hinduism never forces anybody in following the religion, it just tells about the Truth. Shad Darshan shows the science of how to know the Truth. No matter whom one follows, no matter which path one follows, and no matter which decision one takes, it always advises never to lose one’s spiritual joy – the bliss of brahmanized state (brahmpanu) or the eternal happiness one gets by having union or close association with Brahm or Brahmanized sant or satpurush.
The Satyam (the truth), Shivam (the greatness), and Sundaram (the beauty) of Hinduism is that leaving aside its religious and philosophical aspects, and keeping one’s own faith or belief in one’s own religion, religious practices, religious philosophy, and the choicest deity of worshiping, one can still study, understand, and practice the universal, natural, and humanitarian aspect of it to bring the mental peace, world peace, and the heaven, paradise, or swarg on the earth.
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Posted in Conclusion I, Hinduism - Philosophies | Comments Closed
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – Parabrahm
Parabrahm, Purushottam, or Narayan: Part IV
For the human form of God, there are also two kinds of understandings prevailing: Paroksh bhāv and Pratyaksh bhāv. Paroksh (para + aksha) means beyond our vision or eyesight, when He does not remain in front of our eyes. Paroksh bhav means the feelings created in common people’s mind that God has left this world bared without His protective presence, when God leaves this ordinary human form and goes back to His abode. Some even have feeling that “their God” has come last and no God will come or appear now or afterwards. Pratyaksh (prati + aksha = in front of our eyes) means the feelings created in learned person’s mind that God never leaves this world unattended and He is always present in this world to guide us. Pratyaksh bhav means the feeling of God right in front of our eyes, not even a slightest distance away from our eyes. Paroksh form of God means the form, revelation, or manifestation of God that has previously happened on this earth. Pratyaksh form of God means the present form of God in our own time for our own sake of fulfillment of our wishes, bliss and happiness, and ultimately our liberation. Shri Krishna Bhagwan in Bhagvad Gita says that, “Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bhārata, abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmanam shrujāmi aham ||” (Bhagvad Gita: 4.7) Meaning, “Whenever there is a decline in religious practices, O Arjun (the descendent of King Bharat), I by myself manifest in this world and outroot the evil.” God or God-realized sant is always present on this earth to reestablish and revitalize the transcendental religious practices (Sanātan or Ekāntik Dharma) and to liberate the souls (jiv) that are following the said religious practices. The feeling of God present right in front of our eyes is very important in worshiping.
The form of God is very difficult to understand, but we have to trust the words of the scriptures – the words of God Himself. We can say that, God on Earth and God in His abode are like difficult-to-understand yet unhesitatingly accepted wave-particle duality or uncertainty principle of the science. We, as an inexperienced people, have to believe it. In Hinduism, sakar and nirakar forms are described mainly for Brahm only. Whenever nirakar form is described in the scriptures it is in reference to Brahm only. In Hinduism, God is always described as sakar. He is omnipotent or all-powerful. He can take any form whatever He wants, as many as He wants, and as many times as He wants. If He says He will appear and He may not. If He says that He wouldn’t and He may appear. Obviously, we do not have any control over that and we cannot put any limitations over that too. God is independent. He can do whatever He wants. “Hari, chāhe jo kare so hoye,” meaning, whatever God does it happens. Sometimes it looks like we have the control over His form. When God takes the form or avatar, it doesn’t mean He transforms Himself to that form but He “appears” to us in that form. He never changes His original form, nor does He leave His abode. In Hinduism, sakar forms of God (avatars) are described parallel to the evolution of living beings on Earth. Initial avatars are described in animal forms, such as, Matsya (the fish), Kurma (the tortoise), and Varah (the boar). All latest forms or avatars are in human forms to show the similarity or likeness with us, such as, Vaman, Parashuram, Ram, Krishna, and Buddha. If, we had a form different than human, then God also would have taken that different form for our salvation. Thus, the human form of God is most closely related to us. Now, what does sakar mean in Hinduism? Sakar means human like but divine form with all His divinity and without any of the worldly attributes of the body, such as, aging, gender difference, changes of maturity, personality traits, psychological problems, etc. God is never described as nirakar or even as an abstract entity. God has definite but an absolute form.
Though, in spiritual language He is transcendental to us, in worldly language, He is a reality like us, so His messengers or representatives are also like us. His language is like our language. His way of communication is like our way of communication. He can listen to our prayers. He can feel our pain. He can fulfill our wishes. He can accept our services and worship. This is all because He is like human beings, but He is not human being. He is divine being. He is master and we are His servants. He is boss and we are His subordinates. He is king and we are His subjects.
Tags:abode, Absolute, abstract, aksha, all-powerful, Arjun, Avatars, Bhagvad, Bhagwan, bliss, Brahm, Buddha, Darshan, dharma, Earth, Ekāntik, entity, evil, evolution, form, Gita, God, God-realized, happiness, Hinduism, human, jiv, King Bharat, Krishna, Kurma, liberation, living beings, manifest, manifestation, Matsya, Narayan, nirākār, only. Omnipotent, Para, Parabrahm, Parashuram, paroksh, Paroksh bhāv, Philosophy, practices, prati, pratyaksh, Pratyaksh bhāv, Purushottam, Rãm, reestablish, religious, revelation, revitalize, sākār, salvation, Sanātan, Sant, science, Scriptures, Shad Darshan, Shri, souls, Swaminarayan, transcendental, unattended, uncertainty principle, Vaman, Varah, Vedānta, wave-particle duality, wishes, world, Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bhārata
Posted in Hinduism - Philosophies, Navya Vishishtadvaita, Parabrahm - Part IV, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies | Comments Closed
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – Parabrahm
Parabrahm, Purushottam, or Narayan: Part II
How God is described in Hinduism? According to Shri Swaminarayan in his own words, “There is a mass of divine light that is like countless millions of moons, suns and flames of fire. That mass of light appears to be like an ocean. The form of Purushottam Bhagwãn resides within that luminous, brahmarup abode of God, and He Himself assumes an avatãr from that form. “What is that God like? Well, He transcends both the perishable (Kshar) and the imperishable (Akshar); He is the cause of all causes; and countless millions of aksharrup muktas worship His holy feet. Out of compassion, that very same God is manifest and present before your eyes in an incarnated form for the purpose of granting ultimate liberation to jivas…” (Vachanāmrut: Gadhadā III-31)
How a person cultivates faith in God? The faith in God has always been cultivated through His manifestation on the earth. Shri Swaminarayan says that, “Please listen, I wish to speak to all of you about God. Whenever (jyāre) a jiva attains a human body in Bharat-khand, God’s avatãrs or God’s sãdhus will certainly also be present (vicharatā) on earth at that time. If that jiva can recognize (olkhān) them, then he becomes a devotee of God.” (Vachanāmrut: Vartāl 19)
This is the universal message of Hinduism to the human being in which Shri Swaminarayan does not specify any particular God (Bhagwan), sadhu, or person. God means the Supreme Being and Godly sadhu or person means the truly qualified sant or person per scriptures in whom God would like to stay fully, personally, and forever. The word, “whenever” means, not only in his time or in the present time but he is also talking about the past and the future. The word, “Bharat-khand” literary means “Bhārat or India.” But it may also mean the better place or pious land to live and worship God, where righteousness, truth, justice, and peace are prevailing. The word “God’s avatār” means manifestation of God in human form. The words, “God’s sādhu” means truly qualified Sant or Godly person who is having God forever in his heart, mind, and soul; who is brahmanized or God-realized; who is the guard and guide of universal humanitarian religion called the “Sanātan Bhagwat Ekantik Dharma”; who do not kill demons or bad people but accept them under their refuge and take out their evil power, their vicious, poisonous, or bad nature, their evil thoughts, evil actions, evil ways, and evil manners from their hearts and mind to make them like sant, spiritual, or godly persons like themselves. The word “vicharatā” means travelling around on this earth to guide us in our life and to share the happiness, joy, or bliss of God with us. It also means that the earth is never barren without having the presence of God. The word “olkhān” means the one who knows that God or truly qualified Godly person or Sant and associates with him for the only motive of salvation or liberation.
Shri Swaminarayan describes, “Shri Purushottam Bhagwãn, whose form is forever divine, is seated in extremely luminous Akshardhãm. That same God assumes the avatãrs of Rãm, Krishna, etc., upon this earth for the sake of granting liberation to the jivas. Then, the jiva that develops firm faith in that God by profoundly associating with the Sant progresses spiritually day by day…” (Vachanāmrut: Vartāl-12)
How to know God according to the scriptures?
When God assumes an avatar on this earth; He possesses 39 characteristics or attributes as a king (the ruler) and 30 characteristics as a sadhu. These attributes of manifest form of God are described in the 1st canto (SB: 1.16.26-28) and 11th canto (SB: 11.11.29), respectively, the Shrimad Bhagwat Puran.
Shri Swaminarayan says that, “The 39 characteristics of God’s avatar in the form of king are listed in the first canto of the Shrimad Bhagwat (Puran). The 30 characteristics of God’s avatar in the form of sadhu are listed in 11th canto.” He says that, “The one who aspires for liberation should recognize God through these characteristics and seek refuge of that (avatar or manifestation of) God. One should have complete faith in Him. One should perform His bhakti (worship) while observing or following His injunctions.” (Vachanāmrut: Vartāl 10)
Tags:1st canto. 11th canto, 30 characteristics, 39 characteristics, abode, akshar, Akshardhām, aksharrup, associating, attributes, Avatar, Avatars, bad, bad people, barren, Being, Bhagwan, Bhagwat, bhakti, Bhārat, Bharat-khand, bliss, body, brahmanized, brahmarup, cause, Darshan, demons, devotee, dharma, divine, divine light, Earth, Ekāntik, evil, faith, form, Gadhadā, God, God-realized, godly, happiness, heart, Hinduism, human, humanitarian, Imperishable, India, injunctions, jiva, jivas, joy, justice, jyāre, king, Krishna, kshar, liberation, luminous, manifestation, message, mind, Muktas, Narayan, olkhān, Parabrahm, peace, perishable, Philosophy, poisonous, power, present, Puran, Purushottam, Rãm, recognize, refuge, religion, righteousness, sadhu, sãdhus, salvation, Sanātan, Sant, Shad Darshan, Shri, Shrimad, soul, spiritual, Supreme, Swaminarayan, Truth, ultimate, universal, Vachanāmrut, Vartāl, Vedānta, vicharatā, vicious, worship
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Monday, June 21st, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – Brahm
Brahm, Akshar, or Aksharbrahm: Part III
Two aspects of Brahm The scriptures also describe two aspects of Brahm, namely, sagun and nirgun. The sagun and nirgun aspects of Brahm are the special divine powers or potentials of the original form of Brahm. The original eternal form of Brahm is the manifest visible human form of Brahm. The distinction of sagun and nirgun applies only to Akshar, Brahm, or Aksharbrahm. Purushottam is beyond and transcendental to both of them.
Sagun aspect or form of Brahm is extremely large, vaster than the vastest objects combined in the creation. Compared to the vastness of Brahm, infinite number of brahmands (universes) appears to be like dots or mere atoms (anu) compared to each of his pore or a hair follicle (roma). It is not that those brahmands shrunk in their sizes but because of the extreme vastness of Brahm that multiple brahmands appear to be extremely small.
Nirgun aspect or form of Brahm is extremely subtle, subtler than even subtlest object in the creation. It is subtler than even an atom, subtler than even an ordinary space, because it is cause of them. In his nirgun form, Brahm is pure (shuddha), bright (prakāsheyukta), non-associating (asangi), and non-attaching, non-sticky, or non-interacting (nirlepa) with maya and its effects. These are nirgun qualities of Brahm.
Two forms of Brahm
The scriptures have also described two swarups of Aksharbrahm. Swarups are divine forms of onself. These two forms are: Impersonal and Personal. Swarups are like two physical states or forms of the same entity that differs in several of his properties, like different physical states of matter or different physical forms of carbon. But the ontological element (tattva) of both these forms is the same confusing the philosophers. This is the reason why nirākārvādi philosophers (believers of formless or impersonal Brahm) differ from the sākārvādi philosophers (believers of personal Brahm or God). Both forms have been described in the scriptures, but philosophers and their followers couldn’t believe both opposite and contradictory characteristics in the same entity so they gave them preferential treatment and propone one particular form. Shri Swaminarayan (1781-1830) could easily grasp that reality explained to the world.
Having these two contradictory forms of one entity is rather difficult to understand and perceive meaningfully and intellectually. It is like the wave-particle duality of matter, the most puzzling phenomenon in the universe, in which a particle behaves like a wave and wave behaves like a particle. But, it is the widely accepted and proved fact, which can be explained by the quantum mechanics fathered by Werner Karl Heisenberg (1901-1976) by first publishing his theory of uncertainty in 1927.
The same thing is true about Brahm. Shri Swaminarayan explains that, Brahm is nirakar in the sense that it has no māyik trigunātmik ākār or form; instead it has divine Sachchidanand form. Brahm is never described in the scripture as an abstract entity. Brahm is sakar in the sense that he is like a person or personality but in divine sense. Brahm is not like a person having mayik or worldly characteristics, such as, gender difference, aging, external signs of maturity, internal signs of organ systems, personality characteristics, traits, temperaments, behavioral patterns, mood changes, etc.
Brahm serves Parabrahm Purushottam – the Supreme Being, in a two-fold manner.
In his impersonal (amurta) form, he is like the light (prakāshrup) – limitless, and formless (nirākār). Impersonal form is known as ekarasa (homogenous), chaitanya (consciousness), and chidakash (divine-space as against ordinary space). In this form, he is also known as divya (divine) tejomaya (light-like), and Brahm-mahol (abode), and serves God by being God’s supreme divine abode that supports or sustains countless brahmands, akshar-muktas (liberated souls), and Parabrahm (God).
In his personified (murta) form, Aksharbrahm always remains at the service of Parabrahm (God) as His humble servant and never goes away from His eyesight or vision even for a fraction of a second.
Though Purushottam (God) is present everywhere (omnipresent) in His creation, by His inner guiding (antaryāmi), inspiring (prerak), and controlling (niyantā) power, as much as He is present in His Aksharbrahm, He is not present in Prakruti-Purush, Pradhan-Purush, Mahattattva, Virat Narayan, Brahmā, Marichi-like Prajāpati, Kashyap-like Prajāpati, and devatas like Indra, as well as, in Human Beings, animals, birds, insects, plants, and others, respectively. This is known as tāratamya presence of God in His creation.
Purushottam is the cause of Aksharbrahm and Aksharbrahm is the cause of creation. From tiny portion of space (ansh or amsha) of Aksharbrahm Mahapurush is born, which initiates and activates Mahamaya to create countless pairs of Pradhān and Purush. From each pair of Pradhan and Purush, a Virat-Purush (the essence of brahmand), Mahattattva (primordial matter of brahmand), and the whole brahmand (universe) is created. The whole creation is described in detail in Purans and other scriptures of Hinduism.
This Brahmdham or Akshardham, as the abode of Purushottam, is transcendental and beyond even the space-time. The space-time curvature stops there or folds over itself, so that the time (kāl) or the multidimensional and multidirectional space (desh) doesn’t reach there. Universe is limited by the space-time, so that, the nature (maya), and even deeds or actions (karma) doesn’t reach there. Only the souls (jiv or ātmā) free from their three kinds of worldly bodies reach their after becoming brahm-like (brahmrup). Without developing, cultivating, or attaining Brahm-bhāv, (Brahmanization), that is, without becoming brahm-like (brahmrup) even souls cannot reach there and by developing Brahm-bhav even without dying soul enjoys the same bliss and happiness of Brahm and Parabrahm on this very Earth.
Tags:abode, abstract, actions, aging, ākār, akshar, akshar-muktas, Aksharbrahm, Akshardhām, amsha, amurta, animals, ansh, Antaryāmi, anu, asangi, aspects, ātmā, atoms, behavioral patterns, birds, bliss, Brahm, Brahm-bhāv, Brahm-like, Brahm-mahol, Brahmā, brahmand, brahmands, Brahmanization, Brahmdhām, brahmrup, bright, cause, chaitanya, characteristics, Chidākāsh, consciousness, contradictory, controlling, Creation, Darshan, deeds, Desh, devatās, divine, divine-space, divya, duality, Earth, effects, ekarasa, entity, form, formless, forms, gender difference, God, guiding, hair follicle, happiness, Heisenberg, Hinduism, homogenous, human, Human Beings, impersonal, Indra, insects, inspiring, jiv, Kal, Karma, Kashyap-like, liberated, limitless, Mahāmāyā, Mahapurush, Mahattattva, manifest, Marichi-like, matter, maturity, maya, mayik, mood changes, multidimensional, multidirectional, murta, Nature, nirākār, nirākārvādi, nirgun, nirlepa, niyantā, non-associating, non-attaching, non-interacting, non-sticky, omnipresent, ontological element, organ systems, Parabrahm, particle, person, Personal, Personality, personified, phenomenon, Philosophy, physical states, plants, pore, Pradhān, Pradhan-Purush, Prajāpati, prakāsheyukta, prakāshrup, Prakruti-Purush, preferential, prerak, primordial, properties, Purāns, pure, Purush, Purushottam, quantum mechanics, roma, Sachchidanand, sagun, sākār, sākārvādi, Scriptures, servant, Shad Darshan, Shri, Shuddha, souls, space, space-time, Supreme Being, Swaminarayan, swarups, Tāratamya, Tattva, tejomaya, temperaments, time, traits, transcendental, trigunātmik, universe, universes, Vedānta, Virat Narayan, Virat-Purush, visible, wave, wave-particle, worldly
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Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Sharir – Tattvas Part III (contd.):
Prans – in General V
To understand the pran, let’s first understand the body. What is body? How does it function? According to Hinduism, body is the God given vehicle to attain salvation for the soul. The soul is firmly attached to the three kinds of body, just as the germ of the seed is attached to the three kinds of layers of the fruit. As long as it has this attachment, soul cannot go to the abode of God, because body cannot go there and so the soul firmly attached to it.
The purpose of the life, according to Hinduism, is not to be born, live for hundred years, and die, again and again, during which we gain something and lose something, we enjoy little and suffer more, and at the end we leave everything here on this earth and cannot take anything with us. This is not we were meant for. God gave us this life to help others, to enjoy the bliss of God and to let others enjoy the same, to attain freedom and liberation from the cycle of births and deaths by offering devotion to God and by serving to His devotees. So, let’s try to understand the body first to understand the pran.
Body can be compared with the factory producing energy in the form of carrier molecules. It has three major divisions. First, the resources division or “In” division: The raw materials are air and food. Air has oxygen in it and food has necessary nutrients and water in it. They are the key elements for survival of body factory. They are gathered and concentrated or breakdown in tiny pieces by two main systems: the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems, governed by Pran and Udan, respectively. Second, the transportation and distribution division or the central transverse division: After gathering resources are then transported and distributed for processing by circulatory system governed by Saman. Third, the waste management division or “Out” section: After processing the resources, waste management is done by excretory system and the expansion or growth is done, if needed, by reproductive system both of which are governed by Apan. Finally, the end products are produced and utilized for specific purposes, such as, growth, movements, mobility, routine maintenance, repair, pleasure, cognition, etc. Since body cannot store the energy, the production and utilization of the end products are done instantaneously and side-by-side. The excess or surplus of raw material gathered or created are stored in different parts of the body for emergency uses. The whole production and utilization process is governed by Vyan. This summarizes, in short, the functions of prans in the body.
The most important vital elements, oxygen and nutrients, gathered and processed by the respiratory system and by the gastrointestinal system are governed by Pran and Udan, respectively, on one side. Pran controls respiration and Udan controls digestion grossly. Both together ultimately produce the most important energy in the form of chemical energy (ATPs) necessary for the growth and maintenance and in the form of chemical free energy (heat). The processes are known as cellular respiration and catabolism. The energy released is utilized instantaneously for growth and differentiation of cells and synthesis of complex molecules by anabolic pathways and the most toxic elements, carbon dioxide and waste products, such as lactic acid, acetic acid, ammonia, and urea, are removed from the body by the excretory system. Both are governed by Vyan and Apan, respectively, on the other side. Vyan controls overall metabolism and Apan controls overall excretion. Pran (also known as inward process) and Apan (outward process) functions oppositely from each other. Pran means inhaled breathing and Apan means exhaled breathing. Similarly, Udan (in Hinduism, known as upward process) and Vyan (in Hinduism, known as transverse process, in Greek catabolism means downward process – kata means downward and ballein means to throw and anabolism means upward process – ana means upward and ballein means to throw, both combined becomes the transverse process) also function oppositely from each other.
In the middle (known in Hinduism as Navel or central region) is Saman. Both sets of opposite processes or functions, for example, “in” and “out” of the resources and waste products, energy production and energy utilization, catabolism and anabolism, and growth and destruction of cells are balanced by Saman.
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Prāns provide all the energy or vitality to our body. Prans control all the functions of our body. “All that exists here is under the control of pran.” “Pranasyedam vashe sarvam trideve yatpratishitam |” (Prashna Upanishad Prashna-II.13) Therefore, it is said in the Upanishads that, pran moves our hands and feet. Pran moves our eyes and tongue. Pran moves our lungs and the heart. Pran is responsible for all the actions in our body. Without pran the body cannot function.
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Darshan (Philosophy) XXXIV
Friday, July 2nd, 2010Shad Darshan – Concluding comments:
Nota Bene II
We are asking so many questions about God, but can we ask just a few questions for ourselves? Do we really believe in God? If we really believe in Him, then we wouldn’t be doing what we are doing now. If He really comes in front of us, then we would not be treating Him as we are treating Him now when He is not present in front of us. If He really comes here and sees us doing what we are not supposed to be doing, then would He be proud of us after all His teaching and preaching?
Questions to ask for ourselves:
If we really believe in Him, then have we ever tried to achieve a few good qualities of Him? If we believe in humanity, then how come we, at times, become inhumane to others? We should not be asking for death of others, as in case of death sentence, for the death of our loved ones. God never preached an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, rather He taught us for forgiveness. How can we ask for forgiveness from Him, if are not willing to forgive others? If He is merciful, then why we do not show mercy to others? Why we hurt others or kill them – doesn’t matter if they are animals or humans, friends or foes, rich or poor, good or bad, justified or unjustified, for good or for bad. If we believe Him as the judge of everyone then why are we judging others? If we believe He does justice to others, then how can we do injustice to others? If we believe He is the boss, then why we take His law in our hands and try to be bossy on others. If we know He has tolerated and suffered for others and is still doing so, then why we are not so tolerant to others. Why we bother whom, why, and how others worship to Him, if we are not sure for ourselves why, how, and whom we worship. If we cannot develop any of His good qualities in us, then how can we expect Him to enjoy our company in His abode? If we firmly believe in Him, then why do we have doubt in Him? If we believe in Him then why do we have double standards – one for us and one for others; or why do we have triple standards for our own self – for thinking something else, saying something else, and doing something else?
Lastly, a few words about the science:
Let’s ask a few questions about the science and religion. Has anyone heard any scientists saying, “I study and teach science, astronomy, or physics in college and university, but I do not believe in black hole,” or “I do not believe that black hole exists.” “Well, Gravity is Gravity, but, I believe in Newton’s Gravity and do not believe in Einstein’s Gravity.” “I teach solar system, but I do not believe that the sun is at the center.” “I do not believe that the earth is round. I personally believe that the earth is flat.” Well, this happens in case of religion and religious philosophy. One may hear, among religious philosophers, saying that, “I study and teach religious philosophy, but, I do not believe in God or in His existence.” “I teach religion but I do not believe in Western God. I believe in Eastern God.” “I preach about the religious practices and commands of God to others, but, I personally do not believe in strictly following them.” In science the measures used, for example, of time, length, volume, mass, etc., are standard: nationally and internationally, globally and universally, for the scientists and for laymen, for poor and rich, or for believers and for non-believers. Well, for religion, the measures or ethical and moral do’s and don’ts, such as, not to steal, not to deceive, not to adulterate, not to gain or use wealth in wrongful way, to do humanitarian or charitable work, etc. are all relative, never absolute or neutral. They change according to the person, time, circumstances, creed, greed, wealth, color, race, gender, sexual orientation, and individual preferences. We see double or triple standards for ourselves and for others, for believing, preaching, and practicing. We talk about the Truth but we try to hide the truth. The science proposes and publishes theories, but never impose upon others to believe them. Whichever theory is true would be survived in the harsh experimental testing and rigorous argumentative discourses and debates and then would be accepted widely until it is disproved by another theory that would be more truthful, veridical, and realistic. Science is open to accept the truth and is also open to reject the un-truth. In case of religion, it is not like that. God’s words are all revealed in the scriptures but we want, to believe and interpret them, subjectively, according to our own will, likings, preferences, or necessities. Not only that we want to promote and impose upon others what we believe is true, simply because of our deep faith and love in ourselves. In religion, we are not open to accept criticism, nor are we willing to accept other beliefs simply because we do not know the truth. Until then belief simply remain as a belief. These are the differences between trust in the science and faith in the religion. For the majority of people, in the current era of modernization, religion has remained the subject of belief and discussion only, whereas, science is becoming day by day the subject of trust. The root cause of the difference is in the application or practicing. Whatever the science says people apply and whatever religion says people are reluctant to put into practice.
Why the science and spirituality do not go together? Why religions shy away from the science and why many scientists do not believe in God? Spirituality is based on the faith while science is based on the facts. Spirituality has no limitations, science has limitations. Spirituality thinks farther and faster but philosophically, science thinks comparatively nearer and slower but firmly. We can say that spirituality is far-sighted, science is near-sighted. If we believe in God, then we should not have to worry even for science. Science can make us untrue but not the god. If we worry about the science, then in fact we are worried about ourselves, about the philosophies that we have created, about the understanding of the scriptures that we have interpreted, and about the explanations of God that we have enforced to or imparted upon others, that we might be disproved otherwise by the science. If we do worry, then believe that, God also worries with us. If God doesn’t worry then why should we worry at all? Shouldn’t we be that courageous or confident? Science is not our enemy. Science is our friend helping us to understand the truth, to correct us if we are doing anything mistakenly. Are not we supposed to be using the science to explore the Truth, to propagate the Truth, and to keep us alive and healthy for long to enjoy the bliss of the Truth? Science and spirituality go together and cannot be separated from our lives. As religious people, we might think that science is our enemy, but on the contrary, science is our rival in searching for the truth. So, let it race and go deeper and deeper. It will ultimately help us. Ultimately, a day will come when science will also be ineffable and say, “Truth is there, but we are incapable to describe it.” “Not this, not this,” as it is said for God in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, “Neti, Neti” meaning, “this is not the Truth, the Truth is still beyond – beyond our reach, beyond our description, and beyond our understanding.” God is indescribable.
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