Watched a you tube video where a tantrik spoke of realising Shiva. Not surprised as a practising Hindu. I have blogged about the ant and the boot story many times. The ant at the foot of a man cannot picture the boot of the man or the foot of the man or the man himself or the world behind him with the size of its brain cells. If it tries to exceed the limitations of its birth/janma faculties, the brains of the ant shall burst. In order to proceed further, the ant has to grow larger brains. In short, the ant has to evolve to next state of its existence for better perception of things. But if the ant does as a lowly creature break the ceilings of perception and happens to realize the boot of the man, the foot, the man and the world beyond, then the ant in its lifetime attains Nirvana. The ant merges with the supreme Jyothi or the super or collective conscience. Indian/Hindu saints have done that for centuries: from Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to Swami Vivekananda to Vallalar. Hindu Thamizh history is full of inspiring life stories of englightened men and women: the Nayanmar and Azhwars and others. However ignorance is a bliss. If you don’t have to concern yourself like one curious ant wanting to know what is beyond your realm in your present lifestate, then it is fine. Your world begins and ends with the boot mountain and universe in front of the ant-you! Otherwise this knowledge of the nether is attainable only upon giving up your physical body – upon your passing to the other world. Why is there now a frenzy to know more about Hinduism or Buddhism. Precisely this. Dharma keyed it in where the Abrahamics failed grandly. This is what led Annie Besant and others to India – to establish the key. We still have Besant Nagar as part of Chennai. Yes, the Hindu gods are realisable with powerful chants and some relentless upasanas (meditation practices or mind exercises) as the tantrik claims. Yoga is the tool that enhances your sensory perceptions and gives you the physical and mental fitness to handle the energy of deities you worship. Its much more to do with controlling your senses that can hone your power of perception. I have watched videos in you tube of practising Christians from around the world take to Hindu ways and seek deities. As a Hindu I believe that we live in a civilization that was lost and found. The helicopter markings in Kailasa temple for landing, the flying chariot of Ravana, the missiles mentioned in Ramayana and Mahabharatha, the Ram Sethu built by Lord Ram and ‘vanara sena’ discovered under the sea between Sri Lanka and India – all these are just a few pointers unearthed that suggest at an advanced civilization that once flourished in a different plane of time that was lost to an impending apocalypse. What we have today are remnants – pieces that we picked up and try to stitch together as Dharma. While so, it was disturbing to learn of research into transcendental meditation that paves way for a higher conscience like the (hypothetic) ant, breaking the glass ceiling and realizing the galaxy beyond its original imagination. Not everything is for marketing. The greatest accomplishment of Hindu Dharma is proof that the Abrahamics have wasted thousands of years chasing the wrong rabbit! Who says deities are formless. May be that’s why you cannot see or picture your imagined/cultivated desert god! Our deities are bodied and can be realizable the way they may be pictured. The temple rituals and pujas are merely the base of the pyramid called Sanathana Dharma. It is for beginners. You don’t get stuck up at this level if you want to see the higher dimensions. Hinduism with idol worship is easily relatable to simple folks – the peasants. The idols are mere focal point of our attention. If the mullah wants to make more out of that, then it means his entire nationhood is limited to the the tattered piece of his national flag. In short, an idol is to Hinduism what a national flat is for a nation. Representative. A symbol, no more. Just as we decorate the flag and celebrate it, we celebrate idols. Some religious forms came out in denial of existing, established ways of life. That is the basis of their survival. Anyway, most of the Hindu substance was guarded as ‘rahasya’ for centuries. Now with everything being googled, there is no more such a thing as ‘rahasya mantra’ that can be administered only to worthy few. However, the tantrik held out hope. Even if the evangelists want to seek Hindu deities with diligence covertly adapting Hindu practices, the number that can make it to the gateway for enlightenment for every age stays limited and thoroughly rationed! That’s some good news. Why a Hindu. This is why. A Hindu is a rare breed. As the world wakes up to the undeniable truth, Hindu spirituality gains momentum. Many ardent practising Hindus owe our growing faith to the ‘vibes.’ Hinduism is not sold door to door like Christianity is, like Stayfree and Harpic. Neither did Hindu Dharma spread by the sword the way Islam did and does. Seekers embrace Hindu Dharma finally on questioning themselves. Self realization is possible only with a tool such as Hindu Dharma. And as the tantrik says, an authentic guru with a good lineage can lead you up there. The global stars are not in India without a reason. It takes years for someone to get to this point. Being born a Hindu, you learn it growing up. You have the advantage of playing in the homeground so there is no excuse if it don’t use it well enough. If you are born in India a Hindu, you have to make most of it or you will be squandering a birthtime opportunity. Millions in India do remain ignorant still, pre-occupied with ritualistic worship and limiting themselves to their busy ant-life gathering and saving for a rainy day. Materialism has ruined things for Hindus. Our spiritual training has to give us the mental discipline and improve our capacity for ‘out of box’ thinking. Like the physical body can be trained to be fit, the mind can be trained to go beyond its limited faculties. Only sages and saints train themselves systematically to ‘realize the truth’ in their own lifetimes. How many of us have we laughed at the meditating Sadhus with the anthills growing around them (most as seen in old Tamil flicks). How many times have we poked fun of those who take ‘sanyas’ – the celibacy vows to become hermits. So if you are a non believer or an Abrahamic, do not force yourself. You are the ant that cannot imagine more than that level. You belong in the physical, tangible world. You need logic and reasoning and scientific proofs without which you can never see beyond the boot – to the hovering man or the world behind him. So the first obstacle in the thought process you have to do away with when it comes to finetuning your conscience is: dispensing with the sense of logic and be open enough to receive ‘vibes’ that may be illogical. Under other circumstances, only substances can give you the same result with hallucination or hypnosis. I am talking about the level of conscience that is realizable without substance use or abuse when you transcend realms. Not even those ants like me who know of the ceiling but who can do nothing about it can make a difference. Sadly for those like me, the inability looms like a tragedy as we realize we shall have to be reborn a thousand times to nurture a superior mind and break the birth cycle. By superior mind I do not refer to the scientific or engineering or money making business mind. By superior mind, I am referring to the ant brain that can break ceilings in its own lifetime and can transcend in to the other world. So as of now we are resigned to this state of existence nevertheless we try! Not adding fresh Karma to the load we already carry has a role to play in our punar janams (rebirths). Sometimes I wonder why are we Hindus so complicated. Why can’t we have simple food like the pizza or bread. Why should even our cuisine be so complex with so much of grinding and powdering and deepfrying and shallow roasting and masalas (spices) and lentils and a stunning range of veggies and food grains. But isn’t ours the best palate in the world. Exiting a world cup soccer match in Qatar via a mall, I looked around for restaurant table. The Indian Tandoor had a hundred plus waiting crowd comprising of multiple nationalities (that would have taken them hours before being served) whereas every other restaurant such as European, Chinese, Turkish, Arab etc., had table to spare. Why are our clothes so indigenous. That six yard unstitched piece of cloth that goes for a sari. That four yard unstitched white piece of cotton clothing that goes for dhoti for men. Would they ever dissappear from the face of the world? Why do we have our traditional native classical/folky music to dance to art and literary forms. What about our grand granite temple complexes? Why cannot we be so easily anglicized the way the Filipinos or even the Chinese are. In a similar way is fashioned the Hindu spirituality. It has labyrinths you have to traverse before you could get to the core. If you have to be discouraged by the skin and the pulp, you will never get to see the seed. The more materialistic you are, the farther you move away from the quiet world of inner awakening. As I said, some of us got the message but we have no way of going in there. We cannot figure out but we try to give our best. To those who haven’t a clue, its going to take that much longer to realize what is what.
Day: June 21, 2023
Bone health for Indian seniors
Flew into Dallas from Doha where we had to transit for the next flight in five hours. Alighting from QA flight I noticed dozens of wheelchairs awaiting passengers. I wondered, whether there had been as many super seniors or senior citizens in the flight or whether I missed something. Doha/Dubai transit flights to the US almost always are full of Indian passengers. On previous occasions I have flown straight to Washington DC, Seattle and Miami. From nowhere I could recollect such a big bunch of attendants with wheel chairs waiting for passengers at the nexus of the aerobridge with the flight exit. In that small niche were cramped dozens of wheelchairs as men and women jostled up for space. I lost count after mentally picking up twenty minimum, lugging my cabin bag. It was time for immigration. Here I caught up with the wheelchairs finally for finer details. Around thirty of them, all for senior Indian citizens who had flown in probably to their children’s homes in Dallas. Texas boasts of very high number of Indian immigrants vast majority of who are IT professionals. Explains. Dallas especially is heavily populated with ethnic Indians. I am 53 myself and wondered whether I would end up in that special queue for wheelchair passengers some of who seemed as young as sixty. It was a disconcerting feeling to note that both Indian men and women, probably grandparents, had no general health and specifically knee strength to board long flights or stand waiting in serpentine immigration queues. It took us one hour. There were only two counters: one for regulars and one for wheelchairs. The third one was for American passport holders. I glanced at those who queued up in my own and noticed that there were many Caucasian women both in front of me and behind me. Quite a few of them were much older. They could have been European or British or Australian or South American/Mexican. I wouldn’t know the difference. But they were holding good. A couple of them were too old really – like in their eighties and nineties. Yet they held their forte, happily and cheerfully chatting away in French or Spanish or English or whatever. Neither can I pick up American or any other accented English. I understand only the Indian English! I could see straight away that they looked less tired from our Indian grandparents. Much older men and women from Europe/Australia or from wherever around the world could carry on not depending on wheelchair comfort. Our Indian elderly looked weakest and depleted of energy. The first onslaught could have started right with the flight food! I can understand this: from India it is more than twenty four hour flight to the US across the Atlantic or Pacific. It takes toll on the already physically unfit elderly of ours. Vegetarianism is the chief culprit behind knee damage. Most of us Indians do not want to admit to the offending truth. I run the risk as well but I cannot imagine myself touching even an egg. A couple of mothers of my son’s friends have already had knee replacement in their fifties. Many more are scheduled to go under the knife in next couple of years. Indians have inherited not only the narrowest arteries among the human race making us most vulnerable species to heart disease. We also have acquired knees and other joints with poorest strength. We have the weakest stamina that got computed into our genes after generations of shunning the red meat and limiting our food choices to vegetarianism or bare minimum meat and fish. We have the thinnest or sparse body hair. Brittle bones. Lifestyle conditions like blood pressure and diabetes are rampant among Indians mainly due to our food habits. The next almost viral complaint among us is the thyroid issue. Most of us seem to get it in our late forties or early fifties with the onset of menopause. Thyroid is a leading reason for developing other complications with our body organ functions. Is there an end to our voes. That Dallas airport scene with lines of wheelchaired Indian seniors is the reality we must face. What cannot be obtained with food nutrients can be to somewhat compensated with workouts. We can’t obviously fix our genes now. I am lagging on the physical fitness front as well. High time to return to Yoga and core strengthening and walking. I am in fact already picturing myself shortly in that wheelchair line and that scares me! No excuse for depending on wheelchair until at least you are seventy five and almost a super senior. We Indians have to rejig our daily menu to include bone strengthening minerals and add supplements to our routine if required. Quality of life is as much important. Physical independence also is quality of life that we must never compromise on. Screening for bone density must be annual and regular feature of masters checkup along with mammograms and pap smears and treadmills.
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