To understand the Hindu soul and India better, I recommend the book, ‘The autobiography of a Yogi’ by Shri Paramahamsa Yogananda – that I am still reading! A must for Americans, Europeans and Chinese. Unmissable. Its not of learning about India. Its to know WHO YOU ARE ACTUALLY!
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Read this comment in one of the You tube videos posted on India-China scholarly meet or whatever. I didn’t watch the video. Browsed the comments section. Thought of catching up later, but forgot. Now cannot trace it back.
Interesting to note that. We think they are our adversaries. But they clearly have understood India and what it means to be this ancient Hindu dharmic land. Probably it is because, we both are world’s oldest civilizations.
Frankly that is why I never compare India with America or China. America is the greatest country on earth – yet in last 300 years, not a single saint-philosopher has emerged from the States, who reportedly attained enlightenment. Same is true of entire middle east. Also China. India never ceases to produce Mahaan after Mahaan – string of enlightened beings who break the glass ceilings and traverse the cosmos, returning to their physical bodies by the end of the day. What is the point in going to the Mars and Jupiter when you cannot train your mind to achieve what Indian Yogis have been doing for centuries. Who says deities don’t exist. Even in this 21st century we have thousands in India who can manifest their Ishta Devta, deities, who can appear before their eyes. Having said that, it is for us to manifest God in whichever form we please. Of course formless as well. That kind of mental discipline and advanced spiritual training is attainable only through intense meditation or Japa that is the hallmark of Sanatana Dharm (Hinduism) and Buddhism, offshoot of Hindu Dharma. No hallucination, no dope, no mind tricks, no exaggeration, no lies. You attain your high ONLY through mental discipline when the Maya or the Illusion shall fade and you become God and God is you (Advaita). You look inward. You see yourself as god in the inner altar of your heart. That is when you break the birth cycle and attain liberation or Nirvana. You become god, you realize the god in you, you become a beam, a ray of the Light. For some people, this profound wisdom of Hindu Dharma may sound blasphemous. (Heard an online guru explain the difference between Hinduism and Buddhism – where we diverge: Hindus become part of the light. Buddhists dissolve without atma. Without a trace. Become nothingness on enlightenment, never to be reborn ever again. Up until the point of rebirth, Buddhism converges with the mother religion Sanatana (hinduism).
Hindus believe in reincarnations. You are living one of your 1000+ births right now that’s all. To get to this point, you must have been in 84000 wombs of lesser life – from the millipedes and centipedes to the avian, bovines and canines besides other wild life and even mosses and fungi. Whether you progress or regress with each birth depends on what you do with your freewill that is out of scope for even the deities when it comes to direction or control. Every birth is a correction until you evolve into the highest being. So where do massacres, brutality, rape, injustice leave one. This is why Hindu Dharma does not sanction any of these including religious conversion against one’s will. To evolve into the highest state of being, you have to LOVE and NOT KILL. Where violence is promoted, GOD CEASES TO DWELL. As simple as that. This is no rocket science.
Ritualistic worship (with idols) is symbolistic in Hindu Dharma, nothing more. Its like having national flag to salute at but the nation is not just the flag flying at the end of the pole. Idol worship is just that. The west dubbed what they could not understand as ‘paganistic.’ For one thing, they cannot believe that Hindu philosophy is so advanced and that no other single religion is scientific enough or comes a close second to ours (except perhaps Buddhism that inherited the core Hindu beliefs). By the way, even the cross and the statue of the virgin are paganistic, aren’t they.
The more materialist you become immersing yourself in the fathomless pit of Maya, the more distance you put between God and yourself. I have seen that when shopping is on my mind, even my Japa (meditation) suffers. Focus shifts. The vibes/experiences that would be rare occurances, stop forthwith. I have to tune myself mentally and focus with intention to gain my foothold back into the world of Mantras and Japas of the Divine. With just a foot inside (?) I reckon therefore what it takes to make even a little progress once you find your path. You have to be relentlessly non materialistic, developing a sense of detachment and selflessness at the same time. You become more neutral. You are still human so you may be prone to slight weaknesses of emotion and skewed sense of judgment. Its okay. With time, you iron out these wrinkles.
My homestate Tamil Nadu alone has produced so many enlightened beings even in last 100 years. Over centuries, there have been thousands literally and thanks to Sangam Tamil Literature, we have concrete evidences for how advanced Tamil Hindu society was even 1000-2000 years ago. Throughout India, the statistics is staggering. And many Yogis don’t even announce their existences. Some come to light that’s all. America is the land of the bhogis – the most materialistic people. India is the land of Yogis. Our prime minister himself is a yogi. And before him we had Atal ji who was also a bachelor. Our ex president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, even if muslim by birth, was ascetic by nature. Hindu by culture. India is blessed to have had this kind of leadership in last two decades. Even Hindu gods aver that, in order to DEFEAT ADHARMA, one can resort to adharmic means. Sama, beda, dhana, dhanda – the principle explained by Chanakya in the Arthashastra.
For me, achievement is this. Advancement is this. Of course , like any normal human being, I enjoy the materialistic comforts. In fact I cannot live without aircon and certain creature comforts. Yet, I know the purpose of my life is NOT this. I acknowledge, this is one of my thousand births. It is for us to discharge our duties entirely without omission in this birth of ours, following dharmic ways and means. And for some reason, I believe too that I could be in the last few cycles of my births . If it does not happen in this lifetime for me, I shall definitely attain Mukthi (liberation) in a few more,. That is my strongest belief.
Americans and Chinese want to build the tallest skyscrapers and nuke powered submarines and fly out to Jupiter and Uranus. Average Hindu aspires for his/her present birth to be the last and be free of the birth cycle, attaining Moksha (enlightenment) forever. NOT ANOTHER GARBHA VAASAL FOR ME PLEASE. Not another mother’s womb please Oh, Universal Mother.
We all strive for different motives. Part of the reason for poverty in India is this strong Hindu faith. May the Chinese and Americans witness the Ganga Aarthi at Varanasi and funeral pyres burning through 24 hours. May they step into our most ancient temples and attend our grand temple festivals from Puri to Kedharnath, from Tirupathi to Shringeri, from Guruvayur to Dakshineshwar. You will know what it is to be a Hindu, an Indian and why we just don’t bother what America is doing or China is doing or even middle east is doing.
Still we have a stomach to feed. Family to take care of. Materialism matters but materialism need not have to become excessive greed. Once the family is settled, it is time to focus on your next voyage – next birth, that’s all.
I find everything else empty sorry. Everything seems so fake – from branded accessories to the designer clothes to even jewelry and sedans. Only one thing keeps popping up in my mind: of the urge to become enlightened – even if I don’t have substance for it in this janam. Knowing, by how many leagues you fall short HURTS.
This is why the Hindu tribe has to keep up. For the sake of the world. For the sake of humanity. May we uphold the dharam and may we aspire over anything and everything – for only one thing, that is the upliftment/liberation of the soul.
From India, young men and women go to America seeking economic prosperity. From the same America, there are even Hollywood actors and others who come to India seeking spiritual gurus and their guidance for attaining enlightenment.
For even this profound truth to sink in your mind, you got to be on a different plane of reality that has got least to do with materialistic aspects of life. There is more to the soul than pandering to one’s whims and fancies. Pleasures vs Happiness or Pure Bliss. Temporary vs Permanent. Mirage vs Reality.
Once you are 50, you know you have covered over half of your journey already. What lies ahead is less, compared to the distance you covered in the first half of the century. Its time therefore to prepare your mind for the next jaunt – your reincarnation, rebirth. From the summit, you could plunge into the abyss. From the landlord and the commanding businessman, you could be reborn a pauper with his begging bowl out. Rebirths are humbling experiences for those who fail to learn their lessons in their current births. Compassion is for OUR OWN SAKE. Be gentle with others. Everyone is on their soul journey, with a specific assignment. The poorest and the most miserable are on their toughest assignments working through their karma, learning their life lessons. The high and the mighty are going to learn theirs in their rebirths.
Whatever you are today, whatever you have today, you must have craved for in a previous birth or many births. So never misuse the gift. You choose your looks, your geographical area of birth, your faith, your parents everything for specific lessons. Let us make the best use of our own choices in life. Doesn’t matter if you are a Hindu on non Hindu. Irrespective of whoever you are, rebirth awaits all of us. Cycle after cycle after cycle is what is to follow – unless otherwise we train our mind with intention and determination (yes shradhdha and saboori) to attain liberation from this vicious cycle of birth.
BE GOOD, DO GOOD. NOBODY IS GOING TO BE HERE FOREVER.
vijiravindran's 