Have our gods failed us

Sep 09, 2015 Have our Gods really failed us? Editorial by Harsha V Dehejia 920 VIEWS 33 COMMENTS India is a land intoxicated with religion -- its people involved with gods and goddesses, thirty three million of them -- where every home has a shrine, every street corner a temple, every family a kula devata, where every important event of one’s life is presided by a god, where in every month there is a festival in honour of a deity, where we greet each other on the street with salutations like ‘Jai Shri Krishna’, ‘Ram Ram’, ‘Radhe Radhe’ and so on. It would not be wrong to say that the Hindu civilisation is god-centric, not homo-centric. In the vedic period struck by the forces of nature around us. we spoke of Agni, Vayu, Surya and Marut and performed yagnas to send our spirits soaring upward. In the Upanishads our search turned inward and our watchword was tapas or the discovery of truth through inward contemplation. With the turn of the millennium we crafted cosmic stories or the puranas where we created anthropomorphic gods and thus started our sampradays based on Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Ganesha and Surya. Adding flavour to this heady pantheon were semi-gods like Kubera and Kama, celestial beings like the gandharvas and kinnaras. Then we had sages who, gifted with vision, brought the distant truth closer to us. Despite the plethora of godmen our gods remained primal and pristine; we turned to them in awe and veneration and they presided over our lives. Today, however, we have displaced our gods with godmen, we turn to gurus rather than to gods, pour our heart out to babas and bapus, matas and mas. Our concerns are the alleviation of samsaric pain and suffering, physical and emotional, and not the quest of a higher truth or the search for spiritual serenity or realisation of ultimate reality. Why have our gods failed us, we ask? Or, have we failed our gods? While the vedic period may have been beset with wars, the post-vedic period was largely peaceful and prosperous. Tradition was defined by Buddha and Mahavira, Bharata and Bhartrhari, Panini and Patanjali, enriching our sense of inner Self. Modern India however is suffering breakdown of traditional values and economic setbacks -- despair rather then delight, sorrow rather than serenity, uncertainty rather than certitude seem to be the order of the day. Perhaps this has inspired the need to find a guru who can guide and provide hope. The iconography of our gods are visual metaphors that invite aesthetic analysis. Their varied and beautiful forms call for contemplation to convert rupa or form to arupa or the formless and take us from vritti or churning of the mind to nirodha or stillness. In the 19th and early 20th century our search for truth was mixed with our struggle for national freedom and we had enlightened rishis like Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Ramana Maharshi, Vinobha Bhave as well as leaders like Gandhiji. They created ashrams reminiscent of those in the upanishads. But the harried and troubled mind today is looking for quick answers and solutions, it wants to find instant solutions to heal its fractured psyche, replace chaos with calm, disorder with order. Godmen and godwomen of today promise just that, some with a hug, others with a mantra, still others with ambiguous practices and we turn to them in droves – looking for the genuine master in the midst of all the garishness and cacophony – seeking solace. Our gods, though, are still waiting. They have not failed us, but perhaps, we have failed them. .

Source of Happiness

Source of Happiness All of us want to be happy. When asked about what he wants in life, every person replies: I want to be happy. We link happiness with material things. We believe that money and relationships are the source of happiness. Definitely, money is essential to fulfill our basic wants and keep us in comfort. We need loving relationships which support and lift us in life. Good health, good looks, power, prestige - all give happiness. But it is short lived. The happiness that comes from all these vanishes quickly and we keep yearning for more possessions, power etc., as others have more than us. When we look around, we see powerful people, many with good health and wealth, others having relationships with many loving people. We find that most of them are always angry and irritated and not happy. The source of happiness is Self. We have to make up our minds to be happy and we become happy. The soul within is Bliss. This bliss is covered with layers of negative emotions and desires of mind. When we shift aside these layers by will and determination, with a smiling positive attitude, we become happy. We all know these truths but generally choose to ignore them. Let us see the story of the happy monk and the reasons for his happiness: Once upon a time, there was a monk in the forest. He meditated sincerely and over a period of time, developed his mind. He freed himself from unwholesome and ugly thoughts and became content and happy. His peaceful nature and friendliness drew others to him and he had several hundred disciples living with him. Most monks in his group were dignified and serious. But there was one monk, though dignified, was always smiling. No matter what happened, he never lost this glimmer of inner happiness. When it was a happy occasion, his laughter rang out merrily. At times the other monks would ask him why he was so happy and smiling. The happy monk smiled more broadly and told them that they would not believe him and if they thought he spoke a lie, that would be a dishonour to his master. Seeing his constant smiling face, his master knew this monk had found the source of happiness within and made him his primary assistant. Once, the entire group of monks went to the city. The King permitted them to live in his pleasure garden for the spring time. When summer approached, the monks got ready to return to the forest. The King was concerned about the health and well being of the leader of the monks as he was now old and not keeping good health. He requested him to stay in the city and send the other monks back. The leader accepted the King’s request and made the happy monk the new group leader and sent them back. The happy monk practiced intense meditation and gained more wisdom and insight in life and reality. His inner happiness always shone on his face. He missed his master and wished to share his new experiences and insights with him. So he went to the city. When he arrived, he sat at the feet of his master. They did not speak much but every now and then the happy monk would say: What happiness! O what happiness! The King came for a visit then. He paid his respects to the old leader. However, the happy monk did not get up and show proper respect to the King. He sat there with a broad smile and kept saying – o what happiness! The King felt angry and insulted. He had the burden of the entire kingdom on his head and was stressed out. Yet he had made time to visit the monk and was not given due respect. He asked the old leader if the happy monk was stupid from overeating and lying around all time. The old leader replied: O King, this man was a mighty, powerful and wealthy King like you. He became a monk and his old happiness is nothing compared to his state of joy now. He used to be surrounded by armed men, who guarded and protected him. Now, he sits alone in the forest with nothing to fear. He has given up the burden of worrying about wealth that has to be protected. He is free of the worry of wealth and the fear of power. His wisdom protects himself and others. He advances in meditation to such inner peace, that he cannot keep from saying: O what happiness! The King understood the message. He stayed with the monks for some time and received advice from them. He was at peace. When we get wealth and power, we fear for their safety and we lose our happiness. The only wealth which increases with time and for which we do not have to fear is the Holy name of God. The source of all happiness is Love of God. Let us do bhakti, the SitaRam Mantra and meditation and live in peace and happiness. From the teachings of Dhyanyogi Omdasji http://www.divineomdasj- isoundmeditation.com/, http :/ /www.divinebrahmnaad.com/

Pot belly Ganrsh

Aug 31, 2013 Pot-belly and Elephant Head of Ganesha Blog by Gyan Rajhans 5626 VIEWS 9 COMMENTS There are numerous names given to Ganesh according to different attributes attached to the symbolic representation of a "perfect being". Ganesh or Ganapati means the Lord of the multitudes. "Vighneshwara" means the God who removes all obstacles and `Vinayaka' means the supreme leader. Ganesh is also a symbolic representation of a man of perfection. Various Ganesh symbols, when put together, have many times been made a target of criticism by those who are ignorant of the meaning behind the "odd mixture" of human and animal parts in a divine form. The worship of Ganesh does not mean the worship of an idol but a constant reminder of the value to be inculcated in the worshipper if he/she wants to attain the state of perfection. This may shock ignorant people, but the elephant-headed Lord of auspiciousness represents some of the highest and best ideas in our scriptures. Let me go through two of Ganesha symbols today. Pot-belly Ganesha's endearing pot belly is equated with space; it is vast enough to hold all wisdom and all life. Ganesh, a man of perfection must have the capacity to stomach peacefully all the experiences of life-pleasant or unpleasant. Such a man is always depicted in every culture as a jovial man with Big Belly like Santa Clause and Happy Buddha . Elephant Head The elephant head of Lord Ganesh is the over-seeing, all-seeing, eternal witness, the unmanifest supreme. Ganesha is the lord of all, manifest and unmanifest. The memory of an elephant is, of course, proverbial. A leader must possess wide understanding. He should have a discriminating intellect. Both quantitatively and qualitatively an elephant's head was found to represent this aspect. The elephant ears are like winnows that separate the wheat from the chaff. All experience must be subjected to scrutiny to determine what is essential and what is non-essential. This is a critical aspect of judgement. The discerning and the wise do what they must and let the rest be. The elephant trunk has a peculiar efficiency. Here is a tool strong enough to uproot a tree yet delicate enough to pick up a pin from the ground. This range of adaptability is not known to any single man made instrument. This perfect discriminating adaptability in a perfect man can be used in the outer world for solving problems. Elephant Tusks: Discrimination implies a choice, say, between wisdom and folly, good and evil, right and wrong. This choice is expressed in two tusks. The broken tusk symbolizes the man of discrimination, whose choice in the field of action is always the right one. It is well known that left side (the side of our hearts) is emotion dominated and right side is intellect dominated, In the picture above, we find that the broken tusk is the left one. This symbolizes the dominance of rationale over emotions.