The Perfect Society - What should it be like? (Vedic Education's role in it)

A perfect society would be one where one does not need to ask for comfort, but gets comforted. People sense it. they see your pain, and rush to help. In this society people would be sensitive to the needs of others as they are of their own. Everyone shares and has enough prosperity to look after themselves. The differences in economic status remains, but only, as an aspect of society so that people have a chance to look after and serve each other.

Why do humans form societies in the first place ?

Only us humans have the ability to think of the other, and we do not want to live in the competitive spirit like animals do. We do not want to apply "Survival of the Fittest" to ourselves or to anyone else. This is primarily why we have governments and authorities, to help those in need, to act non profitably, so that every member of the society can have a happy life, a prosperous and joyous life.

On the other hand, societies today are increasingly becoming focused on the Self - self greed, self possession, self wealth, self benefit. There is only one thing missing - Self satisfaction. That is because, we are only pleasing our body and mind, but going against the soul, undermining it every moment. We choose jobs for money, we choose relationships seeing external beauty and charisma, we choose people based on marketing skills rather than inner qualities of goodness. No matter how much one has today, it never seems enough, so they try to grab more and more and even try to snatch what others have.

Animals form groups, but cannot form societies, because they live in the moment of present fear. On the other hand humans can imagine fear. 

Animals therefore get satiated with little. When they're hungry, they eat, when they're thirsty, they drink, and when there is a drought, they migrate or die. Humans, on the other hand, imagine the possibilities of drought in the future. This is the imaginary fear I'm talking about. This gives rise to one habbit - to save / to store, which gives the rise to storing money and valuables as well. Animals never save for days to come. The lion fights with the hyenas to eat, and once full leaves the rest for the hyenas. The lion doesn't have the capacity to think that if he saves the remaining meat, he won't have to hunt another day. But we humans can sense that, which is why we create societies and systems - to save.



Animals are innocent, they don't have greed, materialism, etc. They have to struggle for each meal. Humans in general do feel bad about struggling with another human or animal for food. We have the immense capacity to give and share. But even after having that capacity and understanding of sharing, when we don't share, it makes us worse than animals. Because then we aren't willing to share for survival like animals, but because of greed. That leads a person to accumulate more and more and more... more than what they need to possibly consume in most cases. 

To avoid this, societies form cultures and teachings.

Culture of a society, is basically norms that we imply first on ourselves, then our family / home, kids, our relatives, our neighborhood, and so on. These norms are there to help us survive in our society that we have formed. That's why each society has its own cultures. They are initiated with one thing in mind, to save, to share, to secure, and be prosperous and happy. 

Now whether they are aimed at that or not, remains to be seen.

Clearly, a lot of people today want more and more to be stored and secured around them, but aren't willing to share, even on a personal level. Could it be a reason why first our relations, and thus our societies are falling apart? People are unhappy, angry, unfaithful, unwilling, anti-social these days.

The Three Cases :
Let's take an example : Imagine that you have a beautiful car. You have employed a chauffeur / driver to take you around. You are quite a busy man and thus you ask your driver to do a lot of tasks like pick up your kid from school, run errands, do paperwork and other general running around. You know that your car is literally with your driver the whole day, and you can't keep a track of how much fuel he uses or maybe he wastes fuel in some ways. Now you know that the driver is a good person but is careless. Now there are many situations that might follow as a result in different types of societies:

1. A society with dying goodness : 
You might start to keep a check on the fuel reading and try to catch him red handed. The driver scorns at your miserliness and revolts by wasting even more fuel and finding excuses to fool you. You might fire him when it gets out of hand. He might break your windshield or abuse.

2. A society where some people are good : 
You know that the driver is over spending some of your fuel, but you can afford it, so you let it be. You know that the driver is otherwise a good man, runs around all day for you, so you don't wanna disturb the faithful bond. The driver respects you utterly, but keeps misusing the freedom.

3. A Perfect Society : 
You don't wanna disturb the relation because he is a faithful & hard working driver, maybe a little careless, but that's okay. Even the driver realizes after a point that it is his "Dharma" (duty) to take care of his employer's belongings, as he is the one who provides for the driver. Thus the driver becomes careful to not spend too much fuel. The trust between the two of you only grows. You look after him, and he looks after you. Forgiveness is forefront. Appreciation of values rather than material wealth in such a society is common.


Can Laws make a good society ?
Laws are ideally always made to govern the misuse, misconduct, violation, etc of an entity (person or animal) or group of entities by another entity or group of entities through any means.
The point to be noted is that laws need to come into existence only when something wrong is being done. So it needs to be presumed that wrong doing has already crept into the society.

Yes laws definitely help to stop the wrong doing / ills, but they most of the times, they are not made understanding the root of the problem. That's because laws are based on a punishment module, not on an educative module. For example, you can put a person in jail & fine him for domestic violence, even send him force fully into counselling, but no law takes measures to correct that behavior from where it starts.

This is where education plays its part. In ancient India, under the "Gurukul" system, children were taught the values of life, harmony and respect, rather than books on science and literature, in the initial years. The Guru(teacher) inculcated these values through individual experiences of each child, much in the way grandparents and parents would teach their own kid.

In modern education systems, we have made moral science into a subject and do not emphasize that it is the only factor that actually governs our lives and societies till the end of times. It is about how we think of and deal with people. 

In the Vedic culture, till about the end of teenage years, the student only learnt good moral values like - Why should one donate and give, the keys to happiness, how to judge what path to take etc. It was only after that the student became confident and decided on which career path to follow. You see, career was only a part of life and not the whole life itself. There were universities for medicine, architecture, literature, astronomy, engineering, agriculture, chemical sciences, etc. But schools were generally for basic core values. 

The point is that in the growth years, the student isn't taught competition, but rather taught how to respect others, build values, and so whatever career path they chose later on, they were able to do things for the society with harmony rather than being materialistic all the time.

This in turn ensured the prosperity of everyone. Today, wealth and resources are largely, and quite stupidly I would say, accumulated in only a few hands. It is insane, how these people would behave clinging on to their wealth. And worse is that we have made these people our role models (the industrialists and businessmen who have earned a lot of money). No wonder every individual today wants to walk that path. They want to focus on the result of work(money and success) rather than the work itself. So obviously, they will chose greedy ways, and those who still won't be able to earn much (there'll always be such people in society) will take their frustration & anger out through unnecessary violence and similar bad habits.

What kind of a society do we want ?
There is some wisdom in ancient texts. People of Indian subcontinent were most spiritual, most prosperous, and most progressive for a large part of the history that we know of. It is only the degradation (like caste system and greed) brought in by elements of societies that snowballed into foreigners taking over and being able to deceive these people, and rob them of their natural prosperity. 


Under the foreign rule, the ancient value based education system was banned, by law. The sustainable nature of industry and agriculture were destroyed, by uncaring atitude of the new ruling government. The ecosystem was tormented (ponds and lakes dried leading to famines and death) by policy making. People were made homeless by grabbing land under Law. This has happened in each and every culture across the world.

So think, 
Will making laws help make a perfect society, when the laws are being influenced by the most powerful and greedy themselves. I feel, we need to ignore those and focus on our own kids and neighborhoods. For example, let the government build schools and define examination, but we need to concentrate on what real education our children are getting. Are we educating to make children run after money and success, or are we educating them so that they can love and share and live life peacefully and happily, even in difficult times.

Keep Thinking
OMCULTR

Where is My Soul ? Experience your Soul... Right Now (Guided by Hindu / Vedic teachings)

There are many who say that they don't believe in a soul. Fair enough. Why should one, when one cannot experience the Soul? Our schooling doesn't teach it, and sometimes scientists also say that there is no such thing as the Supreme Soul... Hell... There is even no such thing as a Soul.

Its all mental and nervous mumbo-jumbo, of our amazing brain. We are chemical structures reacting and acting in a particular way, and that's what makes us feel love, hate and such emotions. Nothing like a Soul exists.


How did I experience my Soul ?
Now this is not the only way, its just my method, and I wanna share it. It could be useful.
It is simple and I'm sure many people can do it. Takes a few seconds and a little practice whenever one's got time and solace. If interested, you can give it more time.

Whenever I'm just relaxing, closed eyes or open, I realized that I see a lot of thoughts rushing by in my head, like images and videos, one after the other, which is what we call "Thinking". This thinking always projects images in connections to each other. For example, I could start with - "Oh, the dinner was tasty... yesterday had tasty food at that restaurant... its wall had a picture of a guitar... guitars are cool... that guitarist at yesterdays show was awesome.... "(cont.) and so on. And then I think... What was I thinking in the beginning... and what am I thinking now?
These don't seem like involuntary actions at all, it seems like I'm voluntarily letting the memories flash one after the other, like playing with them. They form a chain in connection to an instance in one thought, leading to another, but as soon as I like something, I voluntarily and creatively start imagining by changing my thoughts, (cont.)... I'm learning to play the guitar... there is a guitar in my hands... crowds cheering for me... I'm dressed in black jacket.... riding in my Bentley... rich rockstar... and so on.

I realize that all this while there is an entity(Me) that was using my brain to browse through and produce these images by will. The brain was like the super computer producing such fast results, animating and editing videos(thoughts) in split seconds;
the nervous signals were like a super duper heavy duty video/animation software;
the memory was like the 50,000 GB hard drive which stores so much information.

But who was the video editor? 

Oh no, I got so lost in all these videos and images, that I never realized the existence of that one entity that is operating all this. That was Me. I was using my brain. I was in control. But who am I ?

Then I thought, my body is a machine. My brain being a part of it, functions like a machine too. When it functions well, my reflexes are fast, my imagination is good. When it malfunctions, like in the case of all sorts of mental disorders, it does not function properly. Now I started thinking that suppose I have an accident and lose my memory, or some part of the brain stops working to cause paralysis, my consciousness will still be intact. I know that I'm paralytic and a part of me isn't working. I KNOW that. Even the heaviest of brain damages do not take away that sense of "Me". Suppose, if I go into coma, and wake up after many years, supposing that my memory is washed, and I'm even not thinking stright, can't calculate, but still, the question I would ask is, Who Am I ?  Somehow I still know the existence of ME.

Sometimes people call this, The Soul. 

"Aatma" in Sanskrit(Vedic language) means Soul.
"Paramatma" = "Param"(Supreme) + "Atma" = Supreme Soul / God

In Vedas, it is clearly established, that if we learn to see our own soul, in other words, when we realize it more and more, see our souls activated and in constant action all the time, we start getting closer to answers to that very basic question - What/ Where/Who is God ? Because all the souls who think they are separate from each other are actually the same Soul trying to find its meaning by forming different forms / bodies and using different "Indriyas"(senses in sanskrit). Once we start to control our "Indriyas", we can clearly see the Soul - Live in action. Once we know the soul completely, all the desires which are projected through the senses seem so unimportant in comparison to the true bliss.

I realized that my soul/Me, its constantly working and making decisions willingly. It does what is necessary without rest. And why would it rest, it never tires. My body gets tired, I decide to sit. My mind gets tired, I/ my soul decides to take a break, go out. But if there is urgent work, I pressure my body to work, I pressure my mind to work. This sense of urgency depends from soul to soul so differently, that it cannot be calculated. If it were upto the brain, it would have calculated the stress levels of my body in terms of chemical imbalance, and would have put me to sleep. It believes in the survival instinct, so why would it let the body perish knowing that over working is not good for the body. But I / The Soul is thinking about commitment to work and others benefit, which is why it pressures my body to work not listening to the signals of my brain.

I'm actually never getting tired. When I say that I'm getting tired, it just means that my body is getting tired, or my brain is, but try to see that one being, that is You, that never feels tired. 

I also realized, that when I'm doing something out of greed or thrill (like over-speeding in traffic, or refusing a beggar whose asking for alms, or stealing someone's job, shoplifting, or even over pricing a product to earn a little more from a customer, or telling a lie for personal benefit, etc), at that very moment my Self splits into two; one tells me to go for it, one tells me not to.

Its generally my social learnings and values, my mental structure, my thinking, etc which tells me to think of myself, my pleasure, my greed, my fears, my reputation (what is also called for the devil / satan). But there is this other strong force, always there, which knows what is wrong and right once it gets information. Its so sensitive, that it pricks me in a slight way even when I'm having meat these days, for example. Since the time(about 6-7 years of age) I realized, that a whole animal has been killed, and customers like me are the reason why they're being killed frantically, I started to get that poking from the soul whenever I had meat.

Q. What would my brain tell me based on evidences it grew up with over the years, and survival instincts? 
A. My parents eat meat. Everyone has it. Its tasty, its proteins. If humans can grow them they can kill them too. This is our societal norm. People have been doing it for ages. People would think I'm stupid if I quit. Food chains promote it. Its delicious. Being Bad is Good in today's world.

Q. What would be bugging / poking me, even when the brain is giving evidences?
A. Why should an animal die for my taste buds. Humans give birth on intention too, so does that mean that the parents can kill their child. All these arguments are being given by the brain to satiate addiction of the senses; in this case, its taste buds.

Even after this, I pushed my soul away and continued with meat for more than 25 years since birth. It was because I liked it and could not refuse it. Later, when I started to pay attention to this poking going on inside me, I decided to quit eating meat. I saw myself going closer to peace, understanding and happiness. By body became healthier and my mind could work much faster and sharper.
I slowly started to develop control over my senses and thus the addictions too.

I saw, that the Soul constantly thinks of the other(other than me), which is why the virtues come up to pinch me, but my brain only thinks about its own survival and greed, and it argues with my soul constantly, and most of the times I let my brain and body win.

Why does the soul always think of the other??? 
Could it be that it realizes that the other is also itself. And it realizes that the brain and body are locking it in illusion but it is eternally connected to every other soul in the planet. Which is why when we see a person cry, we start to feel the pain. Even babies, their thinking and understanding is not so developed. But you keep a crying baby in a room full of babies, soon they'll all start crying. There is something connecting them, even when they do not have the means to communicate.

This is why the Vedas indicate that babies are like purest forms of God themselves. Their soul is so pure, because their brains haven't developed yet. They know no fear but are able to sense everyone's pain. You would sense that capability in pets also. And yet sometimes we grown up humans, who have so many advanced tools and techniqueswith the mind and body, cannot understand others pain and others problems and point of view. That's because we have so covered up ourselves in materialism and materialistic thoughts(career, house, car, reputation, sex, bank balance, self image) always. That is why we always feel insecure and intolerant of the other.

People don't even wanna adjust with their families anymore, forget the rest of the world.

When its a case of survival, and you haven't had food for 3 days, your Soul justifies stealing this one time. Brains wouldn't function that way. Brains would work according to programming. But souls(The Real You) make the same body and mind function differently in different situations.
It only knows right and wrong.

You'll notice that the soul never rests.
If the body is too tired, it lies down, but the soul keeps observing. Even when we sleep the soul imagines (what we call dreams). It uses the brain's data and plays around with it and also creates new imaginary mixed  up stuff that never existed in the brain, in quite the same way, when we were thinking voluntarily, remember?

When you wake up from sleep, it seems real till 
the time you've woken up.

So if our soul is behaving exactly the same way when we are awake or asleep, it means that our souls are not in the control of our brain. Its the opposite. Our soul / We have a different reality with our eyes open, and a different reality in sleep.

One real world for the soul

Another real world for the soul

I like the dialogue in the movie - "The Matrix". A question is asked - "Imagine if you could never wake up from your sleep, how would you know the difference between the two worlds".
In our world(not in the movie) somehow we can never teach ourselves, when we dream, that it is a dream right now and I will wake up from it. Its only when you wake up, that you realize that it was not reality.
I think that when we sleep in this world, we (our soul) wakes up in the another world and we say to ourselves - "Oh that was just a dream", and when we sleep there, we wake up here, and say the same thing. And this happens every single night. No matter how much you try to tell yourself that you'll just be dreaming at night and that it isn't real, you still believe that its real, till you wake up.
Why would that happen?

An Experiment with the Soul
I imagine if I was blind since birth, I wouldn't have this immense video gallery in my memory obviously.
If I was also deaf since birth, I would have no sound files in the memory.
If I also did not have any other senses of hearing, taste and touch, I would basically have no means to experience this world through my senses, thus no memory at work, thus no imagination.
In that case, would I still have, pretty blank surely but still, a sense of myself? What would it be like? I would know no happy moments, no sad ones, I won't feel when someone pushes me, throws me, no sensory feelings basically. But would I sense my existence in a very still manner or not? What do you think?

Try feeling this. Ok wait, even imagination wouldn't work in a person like that, so how would you imagine.
Mmmmm.... if only you and I could blank out all our senses, which basically means all our connections to the outer world, would we be able to realize what that would feel like. Just the soul.

Could meditation help?

Let's try this simple one right now. Close your eyes, and focus on certain imaginations constantly for 5 seconds each - like a tree, a laughing girl, a laughing boy, a dog, sunset, etc. Like this make a few projections of your choice (let them come randomly) and keep each constant in your mind for a few seconds(but don't count, don't be rigid with timing, let it be natural).

Realize that these images are all in front of you, so you should turn your focus inwards on the one who is looking at these images. Feel the presence of You - the video editor.

Feel the stillness that is not your body, and not your mind.

And Ask
Who am I ?
What I visualize as myself is just my body and face, what if I did not have my eyes.
What I imagine is just my name(given by parents) and designation(given by society),
suppose I could not hear.
What I love in food is also a sensation only. Suppose I could not taste or smell.
What I feel are touches on skin, suppose I could not feel touch.

But do I still feel me, as still as a rock , but do I sense the presence of ME?

Note : Those who are disabled from one or two senses are known to be more sensitive to love and emotions. The soul is always as active, as loving(like a child), as innocent; Maybe its the memory of the senses that form an illusion of who I am, build my ego, build selfishness. The soul is like unending love and is the same that runs through everybody(which is why it can sense pain of others). Its the mind that covers it up in "Maaya" (an illusion).

When we try to separate the illusory senses that wake up our ego, we should be able to feel the presence of The Self - The Soul.
When we realize and feel the same Self / Soul running through every being, we feel the essence of God, omnipresence of God. When we're able to practice this, we are filled with knowledge, peace and senses that are far more capable than the basic 5 senses we think we have.


Keep Realizing the never tiring Soul every moment.
Saurabh Dey (OmCultr)



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What is Religion ? - an observation

There are so many registered religions across the planet. This post is especially targeted towards the mindsets which practice the race in number of followers through conversion. I have noticed, that whenever I see a clipping in newspapers on tension between different faiths(Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Jews, etc), I never see the word "religion" written. It says - "Communal Tension" or "Communal Violence".

But on the other hand, another term - "Religious Communities" is used to segregate people of a certain kind of belief from those of other beliefs. So even if they are siblings, they can be of different religions, depending upon various factors. Therefore it definitely is not something that is biological or geographical in nature. It is something that just came into existence, and definitely out of a motive. Most of the self righteous, conversion fanatic religions, are actually the youngest belief systems with their own set of rules and laws.

It seems very political to me as natural communities and belief structures always have their core values straightened out, and they are pretty much the same and are used as philosophy rather than to frighten people, and then there comes a class of people with dogma in their hands, which makes others uncomfortable. The dogma constantly needs to be explained and re structured in words to make people believe it. That shouldn't be the way if it was the word of God, particularly when God constantly keeps asking people to fear Him. 

The Vedic texts indicate that fear never brings love and respect, it only brings animosity and jealousy.

Here are some conclusions I have come to as to why and how religions came about to be.

Note : Vedic culture (Hindu, Buddhist, etc) is a way of life, not a dogmatic religion.

The Oxford Dictionary gives this definition of religion :

noun

[mass noun]
• the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods:ideas about the relationship between science and religion
• [count noun] a particular system of faith and worship:the world’s great religions
• [count noun] a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion:consumerism is the new religion

I would say that its quite a modified, twisted definition.
The word "religion" is a derivative of the Latin word "religo/religare," meaning "to bind".

This was later interpreted as, binding yourself to worship of one true God. But the Latin word probably wasn't developed thinking that way. It quite literally meant - "to bind". Thus I don't see religion any where close to God or spirituality. Spirituality attracts and enlightens, it certainly does not bind.

I have witnessed some conversion techniques. The argument given is that - "It is the right way", "We need to show you the right way", "We know better than you", "You are going astray", "This is God's will" etc. This is almost always followed by an emotional tearing down of confidence and mocking of beliefs of the victim. But then that's only an argument.

The real reason for conversion is greed of economic and political power through subjugation. Religion ensures both. I mean, if a person has certain beliefs, that's good; but why would he/she propose to dictate the same to others as law. Yes, that's right. Dogmas are laws, do's and don'ts without the explanation of Why? How? What? They say that the laws if followed will take the believers to heaven, not that if they are kind and nice to all, then that is supposed to happen.

Communities have always existed everywhere as a group survival tactic. Communal diversity is very natural in animals and humans. It is primarily the development of a society in a particular place with a certain resources. There used to be a time when all communities around the world used to behave and act naturally harmonizing with their surroundings. The dessert dwellers acted according to their habitat, the forest dwellers according to theirs. Even towns, villages and civilizations that were created in the same places, people's eating and clothing habbits, ornaments and traditions, rituals and cultures, depended on the climate, food sources, water availability, soil fertility, etc.


 
Such indigenous people still exist, but can be seen only among the tribals and forest dwellers away from the modern civilization. They have maintained their ingenuity and belief structure till this day, probably because of their non materialistic ways, shyness and simple minds, who know no shame, no fear, and no regrets, who live free and treat men, women and nature equally.

Rudyard Kipling's poem - "The White Man's Burden" explains the conquest over these beautiful indigenous people of the world. Religious conversion was quite a flagbearing event while conquering indigenous people. Religion sometimes helps to justify atrocities, in the name of the unknown - God. It was an excellent plan for mental conquest and automatically the economical and infrastructural plunder followed.There are loads of documented history on how ancient civilizations, had been converted into subjugation, changing their culture, food habits, clothing and other habits, by ridicule, by force, by laws and by religion.

Religion is also called "Faith", but to me, it isn't so. Faith would be to believe and trust. Religion on the other hand is quite opposite of faith in creation, it boasts of self righteousness and total intolerance.

If studied, interesting similarities can be drawn out of the core beliefs of all these ancient civilizations, regarding God's presence in nature, culture of dance and music, social gatherings, culture of ornamentation and clothing, harmony and respect, equality of women and men, strict punishments for thieves and robbers, etc. It can be studied that their developments were based on far more logical conclusions than the religious preaching.  The jungle dwellers and tribes across the continents, still have this similarity and simplicity. They may look different but their core values are the same. The respect for "Unity in Diversity" is the same.

Why is there agitation in the name of Religion? 
People focus too much on which religion is better / correct. It becomes a matter of pride and ego. Religious books sometimes seem to be like law books and order punishments for particular behaviors.. It seems like its the law of a particular land not eternally applicable. I feel, this is where the main problem is. If the religious books had focused more on eternal truths of body, mind and soul, and how to find God and peace in one's life(which can be experienced) rather than finding God after death (which no one has experienced), they would have been followed in a much better way. Atheists might not have appeared into the scene at all.


The Vedic culture / Hinduism / Buddhism / Jainism etc, isn't seen as a religion by many experts. There are no particular conducts of a person that need to be done in order to please the clergy. No conversions. No changing of names. There are farmers in south India, who are Christian, but follow Vedic practices and rituals in farming. 

They do it primarily because it helps their yield. No differences. They know that these Vedic practices (Homa Farming : Youtube video) are based on nature and environment alone, some ancient science probably, but no dogma, no politics. The best part is that they never had to convert.

Here is an example of another Australian Christian family : Youtube video

So many people around the world do Yoga and Meditate in the name of Om. Did they have to convert. On the other hand some fanatics see it as a threat and something that will make their followers astray.
Here is an example : Video
This to me looks like the fear that people will be set free and none will fear them and their laws. What's the need I ask, what's the requirement of such intolerance. When the whole world adopted their culture and ways, clothes and music, what is the problem if there is a little exchange. Its quite foolish.
I as a kid, brought up in a Hindu family, Vedic at heart, was sent to a Christian missionary school. I've learnt about Jesus Christ and his life and sacrifices. My parents or the society never had a pinch of doubt or fear that I would get converted. That's the case with a lot of Hindus.

The Vedic scriptures and books, focus on soul searching and secrets to happiness in every sphere of life.
Yoga and meditation are only a few ways. Thus more and more scientific verification of Vedic knowledge is being heard of in recent times. Many modern scientists have read and respected the Vedas for its philosophy and forward approach towards finding the Truth.

Humans are naturally born looking for answers, finding their purpose, with logic, in search of love and spiritual experiences. Breeding intolerance will only make them angry and self destructive.

Use the soul to make decisions as your mind is only a reflection of others. That reflection called Religion.

Saurabh Dey (Omcultr)

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Who are Om and the Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) ? - Hinduism / Vedic God’s Hierarchy

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva / Mahesh. Who are they? What are they? What do they signify? There is certainly a hierarchy in the Hindu pantheon which is quite interesting. But more interesting is the process of understanding Supreme God, and who the Trinity are.

Here’s the Hierarchy (the ones who are Supreme and their forms)

1. Om / Param Brahm (Supreme One – without a second)

Param Brahm is also acknowledged as Om(Frequency of Creation) & Brahmaand(Universe / Entire Creation)

Its Attributes : No forms, no patterns, it is pure consciousness. It curves into itself to create all matter and energy. It is like waves of consciousness (cannot be imagined, can only be realized). Modern science is saying that every atom and every photon of light is basically created out of a conscious wave of nothingness / infinite possibilities) and they call this probably the primary source of everything. Imagining something like "infinite possibilities" is so weird; isn’t it?

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Okay let’s try to understand it this way. Consciousness runs through everything (all matter and all energies). It is not bound by time or space. Time and space are contained within it. It consciously changes its own frequencies(curves into itself) to form opposites in creation(light and dark, up and down, forward and backward, happening and not happening, ). Without these opposites, creation of any kind isn’t possible. We, in our daily lives, use these opposites every second and nano-second to make conscious and sub conscious decisions – lungs breathe in and out, cells create and die, heart pumps and pulls, to be active or inactive, to do or not do something, to say yes or no, to see or not see, to open or close, to attract or distract. This in physics is referred to as the theory that every action has and equal and opposite reaction, and without it no happening is possible. That is why Param Brahm / Om is also Karma(action – reaction theory)itself. Thus what is created will also destroy - Universe created will destroy, life will face death, you do good to others, others will do good to you. Every action will most definitely have an equal and opposite reaction. that is why nothing is constant in our lives.

To be able to realize God in this form is impossible for us guys. Those who do, achieve Moksha (salvation / freedom from being enveloped in form and energy as humans or other species)

Idol worship or rituals, etc of Param Brahm cannot be done, because it cannot be imagined in the first place. You can only close your eyes and pray. It has no specific gender, no specific form, not any specific energy(its not like light, heat, etc because energy has a flow and pattern). At the same time, because of such a nature, it can also be all of them (it is every gender, every form and every type of energy). It can form infinite forms and creatures. It is totally creative. Apart from that, it is the conscious force within every living being that takes decisions and thinks.
It is the force that goes against the brain fed rules, and reaches out to help, love and revolt.

2. The Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva)

Om/Supreme consciousness curves into itself to make finite possibilities out of infinite possibilities (as indicated earlier). For that to happen, any possibility, needs to have three attributes in time and space:  Start, Middle and End – also called creation, sustaining period and destruction.
The Trinity represents these three aspects of the spirit.

Without destruction, creation will have no meaning, creation will be ever growing (like cancer cells). Without a period of sustenance (i.e. if immediately after creation comes full destruction), there would be constant creation and constant destruction, nothing will sustain. There will be no concept of time / lifespan / period. There will be no concept of 'past-present-future', which in turn means that there will be no concept of life(as life is the amount of time anything sustains). Sustenance is necessary to make lifespan/timeline/life of anything possible (lifespan of the universe, planets, stars, life of animals, plants, life of bacteria, cells, atoms, life of humans, etc.). Time = Life.

 “Brahma - the creator”(not to be mistaken for Param Brahm or Brahmaand) is basically the creative phenomenon /force, "Shiva / Mahesh - the destroyer" is the destructive phenomenon /force. "Vishnu - the preserver", as a phenomenon, comes in the middle of Brahma and Shiva to sustain this creation. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are all phenomenon of the same consciousness in order to make lifespan / life possible in time and space. Every spec of matter and every photon of light gets created, sustains, then it destroys/transforms. It is the basis of anything and everything.

Note: When we say our bodies destroy, what really happens is, that it transforms/breaks down into other elements and then are used to form / create something else. Degradation / death is basically one form transforming to another. That is why Shiva – the destroyer is also seen as The Transformer.

Unlike Om / Supreme consciousness, these three can be imagined and can be realized in and around us, as the process of creation, sustenance, and destruction / transformation unfolds in the universe. All of these forces are conscious like Om and thus to be able to communicate to them through a medium, they have been given forms(the formless have been given forms)

Brahma’s four heads represent the four Vedas (the four categories of knowledge). It does not literally mean that actually the phenomenon called Brahma has four heads. But since human knowledge is contained in the brain, is communicated through the mouth, the head is a sign of knowledge. All these images have been codified in illustration, so that children and others could be explained the presence and attributes of divinity. This way they can understand the basic virtues and philosophical science behind the secrets of life. So Brahma has four heads(not in reality) to explain the scripted and identified knowledge of life given by the Creator.


Vishnu is shown as the preserver dreaming in half sleep mode. His dreaming is the representation of the idea that this Supreme Consciousness is curving into itself delaying its own destruction (and thus creating time and lifespan). I don't think there is a better way to represent that other than Vishnu in a state of dreaming(which is neither activity/creation, nor inactivity/death) in half -sleep. Vishnu holds many items, and since they cannot fit in 2 human like hands, he has been given two more. These items are symbolic of intangible things like virtue, Dharma(righteousness),  ability to destroy and protect. If you want to know what each of these signify, you should research more.

Shiva is shown as the meditating ascetic. Why? Because he keeps reminding that in the end, everything destroys and becomes pure consciousness again, nothing is constant, so keep your mind away from materialism. He is also called Bholenath(the innocent lord), because inspite of being so powerful, he does not engage to plan or shape events like Vishnu(who plans and shapes events so that they can continue to happen, which makes our universe sustain).

Half Vishnu - Half Shiva, showing equal importance and harmony.

Why Vishnu = Shiva ?
Without sustenance, destruction has no meaning (as there would be no fear of destruction) and similarly without destruction, sustenance would be boring and without a purpose. That is why Shiva and Vishnu are bound together, in a particular form representation. They have total love, total understanding and total devoution for each other. This is very evident in many Avataars and many mythological stories(Ram & Hanuman, Shiva & Parashuram, etc).

Why isn't Brahma worshiped ?

Brahma, the creative force on the other hand isn't worshipped. Now why would the creator not be worshipped? The philosophy goes something like this. Brahma is surely respected as "Param Pitah"(First father), and is also invoked in rituals and chants, but is not utterly loved and not worshiped from heart. There are stories/mythology behind this, but the main philosophy as I have understood from these stories is like this :

Brahma is the creator of this illusion that we call as the universe. Before that all creation was Om(only consciousness). The stories say that, it is because of Brahma’s inquisitive nature, that he created the various life forms, in delusion. Brahma was the first delusion to separate from the collective consciousness, and started finding his purpose of being(the same way we do). He got egoistic that he is the first one to be and would create everything for the first time, until he was made to realize by Om that the place he was appearing / being is the cosmos(Om) which is timeless. This crashed his ego.
This phenomenon of Brahma, exists in all of us. The life forms that Brahma created, were pure consciousness before, in a state of bliss. Brahma necessitated them to take forms and created this illusion of being in a physical body. All these forms(plants, animals, insects, humans) fell into the competitive spirit(food, hunting, survival) and humans especially in the search for answers, finding God, finding peace, finding purpose of life, fighting over petty issues, etc. It created ego and self righteous pride. It took away the innocent, blissful state and gave birth to competition, suffering and fear, physical and emotional pain. The good thing that we were given is a chance to arise above this competitive spirit, and listen to our souls. That is why we can go against the call of the brain(survival spirit) and donate, sacrifice, share and feel joy in the joy of others. Only humans have the capability to realize that how they are connected to Om.
And so Brahma (inspite of being a necessary phenomenon in creation) is not worshiped.

Vishnu and Shiva, on the other hand, explain the state of grace, peace and tranquility, because they know the truth and need not create in order to search themselves. Brahma created the Vedas in form of explanations - do’s and don’ts, in phrases and explanations, in rituals and methods, but it is Vishnu and Shiva who transform into that very enlightening force and enter into our lives and steadily enlighten our souls. Thus it is said that, even if one has not read the Vedas(created by Brahma), true loving devotion in Vishnu(or any of his forms) or Shiva(or any of his forms) can provide equal or more bliss.

3. Below them fall the Avataars of the Trinity (manifestations at different periods in time to save and guide people) like Ram, Krishna, Hanuman, etc.
4. Below them are the Dev(Male angels) and Devis(Female Angels) also known as Demi Gods (they control various natural phenomenon like rain, sun, planets, wind, etc), the Rishis(seers and sages) and  Prajapatis(Great kings who gave shape to organised society).
5. Below them are other regular humans, animals and plants

IMPORTANT NOTE :  This hierarchy is in terms of enlightenment and knowledge. It does not give the right to disrespect or be cruel as nobody escapes the law Karma(in Om), not even the Avataars of Vishnu or Shiva.

Thank You
Saurabh Dey

Pantheism , Idol worship and Polytheism in Hinduism– Why, What & How come?

  

Pantheism is the belief that God manifests in everything , Idol Worship is worshipping of God through images and idols, and Polytheism is the worship of many different deities in the name of God.

Vedic culture has a very sponge like nature and is all incorporating. What it doesn’t incorporate is “Adharma”(unrighteous conduct). So, as long as one walks on the path of “Dharma”(right conduct, right deeds), it doesn’t matter what their beliefs are. The person will attain bliss and blessings sooner or later. The base philosophy is “Unity in Diversity”. A link to it : http://omcultr.blogspot.in/2012/08/hinduism-vedic-culture-basic.html

Pantheism:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead (Om / Brahmaand) is formless, its not a person or a deity, its not male or female; it is actually the source of everything, actually even that would be incorrect, IT IS everything, and it is the only one that exists.  Actually the opposite is the proper way to describe it. Existence(all that exists) is the One.

So you see God in everything that you find helpful and blissful; in nature’s processes, the flow of rivers, the land on which food grows, the cow which gives you wholesome milk, the trees that give you fruits, etc.

 

In India, you could notice it still, that sometimes when a boy breaks a tree’s branch in sport, or kicks a stray dog for fun, their mother would usually come out of the house, scolding the child, telling them it hurts the tree and dog too. She asks her son, how would it feel if someone breaks your finger or kicks you while you are sitting? She tells her son, that everything in nature has God in it, so respect it, don’t hurt it, take only what you need, but never forget to respect it. Since childhood, the mentality to vandalize, hurt and harm is taken out with this kind of teaching. Compassion and tolerance are the values that emerge as a result. That’s Pantheism.

   

Idol Worship :

Once I came across a story which I should tell you. 

A great Indian philosopher – Swami Vivekananda(Swamiji), was once travelling the whole world to know more about people’s cultures and beliefs across the world. One day, he was crossing a kingdom. The king had heard of this great philosopher from India, and wanted to ask him a few questions, so he invited him to his palace. But the king wasn’t inquisitive it seems, rather he wanted to mock at the beliefs of those he called the hindus.

While the king was posing and a painter was making his portrait, he asked Swami Vivekananda to join him. He asked him laughing it out; “Why is it that I see all these Hindus worshipping idols and pictures, sometimes which they make at home out of clay or stone. How could Hindus be so stupid to believe that their Gods reside in them"? Swamiji smiled and got up. He looked at the king who was posing for a painting of his to be put up on the wall. Then he looked at other portraits on the wall. He went to the last one and asked the king; "Who is this"? The king replied proudly, "its my father, the king of this land before me". Immediately Swamiji spit on the picture. Seeing this, the king got furious, drew his sword out and charged towards Swamiji, but something stopped him suddenly. He saw that Swamiji wasn’t afraid; instead he was smiling, and asked the king "why are you so furious"? The king replied; “I was only asking you a simple question, but you had to insult the royal line. He is my father and the respected former king, how dare you disrespect him? How could you spit on him"? Swamiji quickly replied in the form of a question; "How could you be so stupid to think that I disrespected your father. I just happened to spit on a painting, this isn't your father, neither does he reside inside it, he is already dead. Then why are you so angry"? The king calmed down and understood what Swamiji was trying to teach him.

Swamiji meant that worship is actually and only done from our souls, its our method of paying respect to someone; it is our emotion that counts and is called worship. Without the emotion of the worshipper, the worshipped will have no meaning. The idol / image is there to hold our concentration and create relation, and to keep reminding us of virtues, significance and teachings of that personality; just like the pictures of our loved ones do. Frankly, if anyone does what Swamiji did, to my mother’s photograph; I would definitely get very angry, and not because the photo is destroyed, but because spitting signifies that they don’t respect my emotions, the respect I give to her. Am I not an idol/ image worshiper then? Seriously, do I not know that my actual mother isn’t there in the photograph?

In such cases, people wouldn’t like to call it worship, they’ll call it giving respect, but aren’t they the same thing? Can you worship a personality unless you respect them? Can you respect them unless you know about their deeds, their significance, their stories and what they did for humanity, or how they bless us always? To me, worship is like - respect X infinity.

People use an idol or an image mostly, because one in a million humans may have a strong enough divine vision since birth(like saints and sages, like Buddha) to feel the presence of divinity in the universe (in themselves, in the surroundings, etc). Most of us need visual imagery and points of reference to be able to connect to and feel, to thank and complain, to love and respect, to obey and to abide by. Like seeing a photograph reconnects you to that feeling you had with your loved ones, the memories of what they told you. Sometimes you cry and even talk to the pictures. Isn’t that amazing. Those who can surpass this stage and can imagine that supreme consciousness, are the ones we call enlightened.

Try this exercise yourself. Try and visualize consciousness, which you feel all the time through your emotions, 6^th sense, values, virtue, love, compassion, making choices, thoughts, dreams, etc. Try to visualize this Consciousness of yours. Energy can be visualized thru beams of light or sparks, etc, any matter is the easiest to visualize, space can be imagined by possibly blanking out the mind for a moment.

How will you imagine consciousness? Don’t imagine anything visual, coz that would be creating an image.

Goodness cannot be drawn on paper. Yes you can show various drawings which remind of goodness (like people hugging, like a drawing of Jesus Christ, etc), which remind us of goodness, but all these are representations of the feeling of goodness. Goodness is consciousness at work You can't imagine it yet you feel it all the time, explain it, understand it since birth. The same way people represent the this consciousness / goodness through various figurines and idols according to their stories.

Important Note: Try to search for these 3 words in Google images.

1. Matter   2. Energy    3. Conciousness

You'll notice that all sorts of projections and scientific and reflective images of the first two can be found, but when you type the third word, it opens a lot of art and drawings.

This is the essence of Idol Worship.

Polytheism :

Sometimes the question is, where do I find God ?

Vedic teachings indicate that you can’t physically go to a place to find God. Since God is collective consciousness which has transformed into this great illusion called the universe. Thus the life giving waters are divine(so Supreme God in the form of Deity of Water- “Varun Dev”), the food providing land is divine(So Supreme God in the form of Mother Goddess of Earth- “Prithvi Maa ”),, animals are divine(“Gou Mata”, “Nagadev”), and many other forms. You find God everywhere? In fact “Everywhere” itself is a part of God, the only consciousness. 

 

Worshiping all Gods isn't mandatory. The core focus is always on the emotion of worship. Whether you worship a lower deity or a higher deity or Supreme God, or don’t worship any deity at all, but just do good work (good “Karma”), it will all be good.

Vedas are not mandatory, but reflective in its teachings. If you seek the help of a spiritual Guru to understand this knowledge, or any learning for that matter, you could worship your Guru (which basically means to show respect, as we have discussed earlier). You could worship your parents. You could worship all of creation as one entity or as separate entities, whatever you feel comfortable with. Only, when you will be comfortable with your worship, will it be from your heart (for example you feel like swaying and tapping only when you love the music). So generally, people like to worship a particular deity according to their own fondness, favourite story of the deity, or clear understanding of the deity.  Sometimes they worship many deities, sometimes “Param Brahm” or “Om”. Since all these deities are One, it doesn’t matter even if there are thousands of idols or none. Understand that its the emotion and devotion in the worship that matters. That emotion in worship is consciousness itself, in other words, God. Since you are an inseparable part of this universe and woven into this fabric of Divinity itself, your true devotion and good deeds spread and communicate, reciprocate, and spread positive energy (good values & virtues/ happiness) in this divine cosmos, starting from your self, your home, then your neighborhood, country, and then the world; the kind that is required for sustenance of balanced life and a harmonious society.

That, is the true essence of Polytheism.

Fans of Michael Jackson would love him, respect him, hear no bad words about him, support him, listen to his statements or philosophy (on music/entertainment/world peace) and say… “MJ is The God of Pop, I can dance to his music”, rock enthusiasts would say - “Elvis is The God of Rock, his music makes me rock”. Suddenly your Indian friend says – “Lata Mangeshkar is the Goddess of Indian classical music, I only like that.” Does this sound familiar? Different people, different favourites, same emotion of respect towards music and harmony, unified emotion of the endeavor to learn. What is the result? The world is filled with various kinds of good music, for different people, all the time. You can learn other's ways of music, enjoy it if it excites you or not, if it doesn't. But I really haven't heard any musician fight with another musician over who's music is better.

Now, could we say, that polytheism is in our very nature?

Have thoughtful bright days always

Thank You

Saurabh Dey (OMCULTR)