Monthly Archives: February 2014

Happy Mahashivaratri

Celebrations, Reflections

Shivaratri is going to be celebrated on Thursday, February 27, 2014 all over the world, especially all over India, by millions of people.

Lord Shiva reminds us of serenity, a blissful state, and a focused mind which mostly remains merged with the Infinite Brahman, total self-control, a heart that is filled with love and compassion and which is always thinking for good of all.

Shiva
Lord Shiva

The Ultimate Reality or The Life Force which supports the universe and each individual is called Brahman.  The highest knowledge is to realize that the Brahman has become everything.  The apparent universe came out of Brahman, it is nourished by Brahman and it dissolves into Brahman.  When we see Brahman as a creator, we call It Brahma (the Creator).  When we see Brahman as someone who nourishes the universe, we call It Vishnu.  When we see Brahman as someone who dissolves everything, then we call It Shiva.

There are numerous hymns, bhajans, and dhoons of Shiva which devotees love to sing.  These hymns, bajans and dhoon remind us the glories of Shiva and uplift our mind to the higher state of consciousness.  One of these hymns is “Shiva Mahimna”.  There are several stories in this hymn which elaborate Shiva’s virtues.  One can learn easily through stories.  One of the stories goes as follows SM – 10 (Shiva Mahimna, shloka 10):

Once there was a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu (even though they both were the forms of Brahman!). The dispute was to decide ‘who is greater; Brahma or Vishnu’.  Brahma said he is greater because he creates and Vishu said he is greater because he preserves.  Brahma’s argument was that if he does not create then Vishnu cannot preserve while Vishnu argued that if he does not preserve then creation is futile.  They could not reconcile.  I am sure their followers were more involved in this dispute and almost ready to fight a big war.  At that time a pillar of fire appeared before them.  Brahma and Vishnu both looked at the pillar and were surprised.    They could not see any end to it.  Vishnu asked Brahma, “Did you create this pillar?”  Brahma said, “No.”  Brahma asked Vishnu, “Did you nourish or sustain this pillar?”  Vishnu said that he didn’t.  They both decided to find out more about the pillar, especially to find its support or an end.  Brahma went up and Vishnu went down.  They went as far as they could go, but could not find its end or beginning.  It was an infinite pillar.  Both were shocked to see something beyond the creation.    Brahma and Vishnu were humbled.  The Shiva aspect of Brahman taught them that the time is infinite and many universes were created, being nourished, and had been dissolved into time and this phenomenon continues.  Brahma and Vishnu then praised the Shiva aspect of Brahman.  The Shivalinga which is worshipped in Shiva temple is a symbol of that infinite pillar of fire.  I learned from this story that whenever we think of the infinite, our little ego, pride, achievements look very timid and many times silly.  Thinking of the infinite makes us humble and sane.

There are twelve famous Shiva temples in which these glorious Shivalingas are worshipped.  They are called “Dwadash Jyotirlingas.” I have visited Rameshwaram, Somanath, and Nageshwara.  In all the temples witnessing deep love and devotion of many devotees of Shiva, my mind was filled with divine mood.  In the hearts of the devotees we feel the presence of Shiva.  These devotees were from all over India and abroad.

The following is a link in which one can see the places of these famous Shiva temples.  There are more than 12 famous Shiva temples.  For a devotee it is good to go and visit these temples and feel the presence of Lord Shiva in the hearts of all.

http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/jyotirlinga.htm

The following is a link of 12 famous Shiva temples and their Jyotirlingas which are worshipped every day.

http://www.dwadashjyotirlinga.com/

Swami Vivekananda quoted Shiva Mahimna Shloka-7 in his famous speech of September 11, 1893 given at the World Parliament of Religions held at the Chicago World Fair.  While talking about the harmony of religions and acceptance of all religions as true, he said, “I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.”

Sri Ramakrishna loved Shiva Mahimna Hymn.  Once he was reciting its shloka-32 which says, “O Lord Shiva! If ink is made by dissolving a blue mountain into an ocean, a pen is made by a branch of the divine tree, and the Goddess of Knowledge (Saraswati) writes your glories on the earth (using as a paper) for ever even then she cannot completely describe your glories.”  Thus, thinking of the infinite glories of Shiva, Sri Ramakrishna was overwhelmed with emotions.  He embraced the Shivalingam with both the hands and kept repeating with tears of love in his eyes, “O Shiva!  Your glories cannot be described even by the Goddess of Knowledge.”

We know that everyday tons of research papers are being published.  Each paper solves couple of problems but then most of them make us aware of more open problems.  If we put all our knowledge in a circle and consider the area outside the circle as ignorance, then as our circle of knowledge grows the circumference of the circle which is the awareness of ignorance also grows.

knowledge_ignorance_pic
As knowledge grows, the awareness of ignorance also grows.

Sri Ramakrishna told his disciples again and again that lust and greed are two forces which drag down people from their path of righteousness and spiritual development.  So, sincere spiritual seekers have to watch out for these two forces.

We see that Shiva’s living is very simple.  Even though by his little blessing one acquires riches, his means of living are very few (SM – 8).

Shiva’s self-control regarding lust has been beautifully described in SM – 15.  It says that the arrows of the god of lust never come back without hitting the target.  They are always victorious.  Meaning lust drags down the minds of demons, humans, and angles from their righteousness and spiritual path.  That god of lust shot his arrow of lustful thought to Shiva.  Lord Shiva opened his eye of knowledge and not only the arrow but the god of lust himself was burnt to ashes.  The story goes that after this the wife of the god of lust came to Shiva and explained that it was not her husband’s fault.  He was asked by all the Devas to do this.  She asked for forgiveness.  Shiva out of compassion told that your husband will be immortal and he will reside in the minds of all.

Shri Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, “Renounce lust, greed, and anger because these are three doors to hell.  They destroy all the good things of a person.” (Gita 16.21).

Lord Shiva showed us that lust is a thought and it can be destroyed by a thought of knowledge, the awareness of our divine Self.  Our true identity Atman does not have any gender.

Let us also remember Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts on worship of Shiva.  Swami Vivekananda says, “This is the gist of all worship–to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva; and if he sees Shiva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Shiva in him, without thinking of his caste, or creed, or race, or anything, with him Shiva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.”  Swami Vivekananda wanted his disciples to see Shiva in each individual and serve him/her unselfishly.

In order to be pure and to see Shiva in all, we have to do spiritual practice and learn self-control from Shiva.

Life after Death

Reflections, Vedanta

A young boy asked death whether there is life after death.

The story of the Kathopanishad goes as follows (this is an outline of the story in my version):

DSC04082
Beginning of Kathopanishad

In India, during the Upanishad time, a person who had renounced everything used to receive the highest honor.  Powerful kings used to bow down to the Sadhus who had renounced everything.  Even now we see at many places in India similar honor given to the sadhus.

A Rishi Uddalaka decided to perform a Yajna in which he had to renounce everything he had.  He had a huge Ashram and many cows.  At that time the wealth was considered by the number of cows one has.   When the time came closer for the Yajna, he started worrying about the future of his young son named Nachiketa.  Then, he decided to give away old cows that were of no use and were about to die.  He kept good cows hidden.   Nachiketa saw this.  He thought that his father is doing wrong thing and this will not do good to him.  But, how can he tell this to his father?  An idea came to his mind.  If his father gives him away to someone, then he did not have to worry about him.

Nachiketa went to his father and asked him to whom he is giving away to.  Father did not like the question.  He ignored him.  Nachiketa asked him second and third time.  Now, father got mad and said that he is giving him to death.

yama-nachiketa
Lord Yama and nachiketa

Nachiketa sat down in meditation to go to the Lord of Death, called Yama.  When Nachiketa went to Yama’s home, he found that Yama was away for his work.  Nachiketa waited for Yama outside his house for three days without food, water and sleep.  When Yama returned home he felt sorry for Nachiketa.  To reward him, Yama requested Nachiketa to ask three boons.

Nachiketa asked his first boon that when Yama will release him to go home his father will receive him with love and accept him as his son.  Yama granted that boon to him.

Nachiketa asked second boon to learn a Yajna which takes him to heaven.  Yama taught him the Yajna and being pleased with his capacity to learn said that this Yajna will be known as Nachiketa Yajna.

The third boon is the central theme of Kathopanishad.  This young boy Nachiketa asked Yama that among the two groups of people, one who believes that there is life after death and another who believes that there is no life after death, who is telling the truth.  Nachiketa wanted to know this from the Lord of Death who is the only one knows what happens after death.

Death is a mystery of life.  No dead person ever came back to tell us what happens after death.  Many do not want to talk about death.  But, we cannot avoid the fact by not talking about it.  Death makes life more important and valuable.  From the perspective of death we can decide what is important in life and what is not.

What was the Yama’s answer?  Instead of giving the answer, Yama offered Nachiketa wealth, long life and pleasures of life.  Yama said, “O Nachiketa! This is a subtle knowledge.  Even highly evolved souls like Devas want to know this.  You can ask me long life, children, grandchildren, kingdom, and all the pleasures of the world. Please do not ask this boon.”  Nachiketa said, “O Yama! Long life comes to an end.  Pleasures of the senses are short-lived and they wear out senses.  You are the only teacher who can answer my question.  Therefore, I am not asking any other boon.”

Lord Yama was greatly pleased with Nachiketa.  He said, “O Nachiketa!  Any human being would have been tempted by a fraction of the pleasures I offered to you.  I offered to you all the possible pleasures available on the earth, but your mind was not deviated by them.  You are worthy for such knowledge.  May I have students like you.”

Kathopanishad is enriched with wonderful and inspiring thoughts following which we can acquire the highest knowledge possible for a human being.  Here I will just state few of these thoughts along with the answer to the basic question:  Is there a life after death?

Few teachings of Yama (of Kathopanishad):

  •  Pleasurable and preferable choices come to every human being.  Pleasurable things give pleasures to the senses and mind which are short-lived and bring miseries as their consequences.  They also increase our ignorance of ourselves and others. Preferable things lead us to the highest knowledge which gives us deeper understanding and awareness of human life and other people.  Such things bring unlimited happiness, satisfaction, and unselfish love for all.  Wise people chose preferable things over the pleasurable things.  While people with short-sightedness chose pleasurable things and then suffer
  •  Behind our body, mind and intellect, there is Atman (Soul) which is our true identity.  Body, mind and intellect are constantly changing.  These changes can be realized because of having Atman in the background.  Our body, mind and intellect are material.  They are made out of five elements, namely space, air, fire, water, and earth.  Atman is not made out of anything.  Just as we remove body, mind and intellect from a human being Atman remains, similarly if we remove name and form from the universe, Brahman (God) remains.   Atman is pure.  Its nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss absolute.  It is the center of our existence. When the atman leaves the body, the body becomes dead.  Without Atman body, mind and intellect are nothing but matter.  All knowledge and bliss comes from the Atman.  This Atman cannot be killed by any weapon, nor can it be burnt by the fire, nor can it be drowned by the water, and nor can it be blown away by the wind.
  • Atman and Brahman are same.  Imagine, a pot is floating in an ocean and there is ocean water inside the pot.  Just as the water of the ocean outside the pot is the same as water inside the pot, Atman in an individual is the same as Brahman outside the individual.  Also, what is in the macro (universe) is in the micro (atom).  All characteristics of a tree are in its seed.  Thus, all characteristics of Brahman are in the Atman.
  • In order to realize this Atman (our true identity) we have to focus our mind on the Atman through the help of our pure (unpolluted) intellect.  The realization of Atman is not an intellectual knowledge.  This realization does not come only from reasoning.  Since our senses drag our mind away from the Atman to the world of sense-objects, we have to control them.  A person having no control on the senses, mind and intellect cannot realize this Atman.  A beautiful analogy is given in the Kathopanishad:  “A chariot is going in the world.  The senses of a being are the horses, mind is the rein, intellect is the driver and the Atman is the master sitting inside the chariot.”  We have to control our senses by our mind, our mind by our intellect, and our intellect by the power of our Atman.  Only then we have a smooth ride in this world.
  • A person with bad character, a restless person, and a person without self-control cannot realize this Atman.
  • Only a person who has realized this Atman (our true identity) can have ever-lasting peace of mind.  No one else.
  • It is not easy to realize this Atman.  One has to take proper guidance from knowledgeable people and properly make efforts to realize It.  Realization of Atman is difficult, but not impossible.  Many people have realized this Atman and have blessed humanity with their knowledge, love, and guidance.  Kathopanishad says to all, “Arise!  Awake!  And stop not till this goal (realization of Atman) is reached.”
  • After getting proper guidance from Lord Yama, Nachiketa realized this Atman and acquire the highest knowledge, eternal bliss, and immortality.

Answer to the question: “is there a life after death?”

The answer is “Yes, there is life after death.  But, it is for those who have not realized this Atman.”  Those who have realized the Atman become one with Atman and remain in bliss until they chose to acquire a life.

Mother Nature is compassionate.  A human being cannot fulfill all the worldly desires in one life.  Many unfulfilled desires remain when a person dies.  So, Mother Nature or Atman or Brahman creates bodies to fulfill these desires.  I tell students that a human being cannot sleep for 10-12 hours every day or eat as much as one wants.  Human body and human environment are not fit for this.  Thus, a person who had cravings left to sleep many hours in a day, or eat ferociously, or have unlimited sense-pleasures, then in the next life Mother Nature gives a body of an alligator, or a bear, or a dog to fulfill these desires.  When one gets tired of these limited pleasures, a life of ignorance and miseries, then Mother Nature gives a human body which is fit to realize one’s true identity, Atman.