When I read the novel Kratu for the first time I found the story interesting then felt like reading again and again each time discovering something that gives joy as if knowing and understanding my own mind. Kratu moves through such a large scale of the time frame that reading itself becomes a journey of understanding that which is still continuing for us in spite of seemingly ever-changing everything in India. Also, each line is like a quote to be memorised. So have taken up notes which can be read frequently in times when we are moving on the bus or quoting something in between discussions. 

Kratu Quotes

1. A smile is the product of Certainty, good or bad.

2. Exploration, Knowledge, Freedom, life had revealed its secret to Kratu in simple steps.

3. Grandparents love grandchildren unselfishly and so their love is intense. There is no give and take in it, nor is there any fine print of future expectation attached to it, as parents generally have.

4. Joy lies in being free, we do not even realize that life is a burden, the body, mind, emotions and memories are a burden. The aim of life should be to get rid of these burdens to get the joy of the free. No wonder many prefer death over life.

5. Nothing grows without boundaries around it.

6. Growth is life, stagnation is death.

7. If you think that you are not growing, then know for sure that you are degenerating.

8. The Company of the learned has its own virtues.

9. Luxury of freedom hates the discipline of knowledge.

10. One who has to demand has no friend.

11. A man can attain God through true friendship.

12. Fame will elude you but fulfillment you will have.

13. The changes came over to Kratu imperceptibly.

14. Life is above everything.

15. I curse that you may never forget anything. Stay cursed till eternity.

16. Time stood before him as eternity, Time is born in the mind.

17. Fear of known is mere pain. The real fear is the fear of unknown.

18. Emotions are devoid of intelligence.

19. Cosmic Correction Centre, Futuristic Correction Centre, Futuristic Hell.

20. Kratu trembled at the language. Sanskrit the language of the cultured, did not permit crude expression, which made its speakers refined in their tastes.

21. Spirit Land – The USP of the place was dissatisfaction only those who were intensely dissatisfied with life ended up hero.

22. Mind is composed of matter and it can know only that world which has the same composition as itself.

23. Your experiences are all in the mind, which get recalled as memory to refer to new kind of knowledge.

24. You are what your memory is.

25. Viciousness demands sharpness of mind; crude minds can be violent but not vicious.

26. He selected dolts as his consultants and appointed violent ones as peace makers.

27. One advantage of learning is that it sharpens the mind and thus helps it think even in dire circumstances.

28. Hitting for pleasure is the privilege of the parents.

29. He thought sarcastically, ‘Criminals talking of protecting constitution.’

30. Fear moves the universe. It makes one talkative, silent, amusing, vicious, frozen, jumpy anything.

31. When crushed to the core, one’s essence oozes out. That is how grape gives wing, mustard gives oil & stone gives dust.

32. To stand before someone known in an alien land is the greatest confidence booster.

33. Humility before the fake is mere fake.

34. Kratu’s purity, born of austerities and learning allowed him freedom to move.

35. Dadhichi’s sacrifice is the greatest that the world will ever see and will learn from.

36. The world run on sacrifice light comes when oil burns and the light of life shines when people make sacrifices.

37. ‘Progress, thy name is sacrifice. Human blood has to be sprinkled to sanctity the path before the convoy of progress passes.” thought Kratu Pensively.

38. Wisdom and emotion are not public display. Words of the wise are more precious than gold for a miser, and so they seldom speak in public or before the uncultivated. Waste not your words on insensitive or shed tears on the unworthy. That is the mantra for inner peace.

39. The road to greatness is paved with raw pebbles. There will be wounds and blood for a Traveller of this path. Learn to respect the traveller without looking at his wounds.

40. A time comes when one has to tell who he is.

41. The Universe rises in me and sets thither. Alone do I exist, none else is there Iam intelligence pure and one. Not body, senses, nor mind ever.

42. Time is a manufacture of mind.

43. It is difficult to be great, but it is more difficult to see greatness in others. It takes ages of patient learning to appreciate others.

44. Joy lies in fullness.

45. Knowledge is an end in itself.

46. Higher reaches are achieved by giving up one’s attachment for the lower.

47. Son any work of yours that does not enrich you is a sheer waste. The goal is to make your inner self rich and not merely to complete a task.

48. People and objects, whose help you take in accomplishing your work should also benefit through you. When you use the axe, its edge should get sharpened, instead of it getting blunted as happens with it all the time.

49. Only the selfish use persons and objects without caring for them.

50. One has to learn humiliation to learn humility.

51. Anger, the inseparable friend of failure.

52. It is the great irony of nature that when one loses the external weigh of relationships, he starts staggering under the increased emotional weight.

53. Every dance of destruction results in a rhythm of creation.

54. Every narration is an extension of the narrator. Take up any story or even history these are all reflections of the narrator in words.

55. Learning is the process in which one learns to fill the incoming data in the existing frames, existing in one’s mind.

56. Witty, aren’t you? Wit is a gift of God to the special one.

57. Homa was too young to recognize humility born of strength.

58. The truly strong are innocent at heart they neither scheme nor can they understand that others can be scheming.

59. Be Strong, Be Free.

60. The miserly always keep something back for them, but the strong do not hesitate to give all.

61. Knowledge creates aspiration which turns in to achievement. Never stop learning.

62. Be free. Strength liberates you; fear binds you down.

63. To demean someone is to squeeze him in a smaller space.

64. The truly strong also have the strength to hold their strength in check.

65. Strength is weakness and weakness is strength.

66. Anger is the ornament of the weak.

67. The strong are never shrewd.

68. The weak love to be loved but the strong love to love.

69. Crisis is the portal to new opportunity.

70. Life is such a beautiful chance to achieve and to give.

71. You will have to love someone someday to know what it means to be GOD.

72. God is love and he can be reached only through love.

73. When God desired to create, he, the absolute existence appeared as three – Strength, Wisdom & Love.

74. Existence is Strength, Strength allows you to be what you are even when everything around you crumbles.

75. Wisdom means to know that you exist, and you will continue to exist.

76. Pain in life comes only because we want to hold tightly what we are not.

77. Love means to be wise about your existence. You love your existence and all that you consider to be the extension of your existence.

78. When your love extends to the whole universe, you become truly wise.

79. Love makes you free, so does wisdom and strength.

80. God is wisdom; Wisdom is love, and love is strength.

81. All pain and suffering come only because one lacks strength, Wisdom and Love.

82. One moves from the collective to universality through individuality.

83. We get a body to express an idea.

84. There are different kind of matter and energy all over the universe: - Broadly these can be classified as: -

        a.    Physical Energy – that makes our earth run.

        b.   Psychic Energy – that runs the world of Ghosts and Gods.

        c.    Mind Energy - that permeates the Universe.

        d.   Will of God – Mother of all energy.

85. People go to various spheres by power of their good karma & thoughts.

86. Awareness increases eminence.

87. Learn to be Aware.

88. Sit firmly like Kurma, the diving tortoise.

89. Keep focusing on the fish till you master its mind.

90. The controlled Mind is your true friend.

91. Awareness-Eminence-Existence. This is now the Mantra for the Kratu.

92. Time, as perceived by the mind, is a measure of internal events.

93. People are so attached to their body that they hardly realize what a burden they carry all the time.

94. People keep complaining why bad things happen to them without ever realizing that their own thoughts, reflected from the great walls of the cosmic Mind, hit them with redoubled force.

95. Everyone claims to be different, but there never is a unique person. You all are made from the same template.

96. Ideas – Words – forms.

97. “Is there a way that I can have more powers”. “Yes, if you free your mind of thoughts.”

98. The good thing about meditation and its practices is that its effects never wither away.

99. Good and bad are all same here, these are thoughts.

100. Disaster loves to build over time to create a lasting effect.

101. Freedom from fear and greed makes life enjoyable.

102. Yoga is about inclusiveness.

103. Humar is a sign of intelligence.

104. No faith runs on irrationality only your faith is not my faith and your cause effect relation is not my cause effect relation.

105. By its very nature, mind can know something only in real time, and can never between past, present and future. For it, present is the only reality and eternity.

106. Living in the present, one thinks that he will never die.

107. Achievement not meeting up expectations makes one sad.

108. The present knows no future, nor does the present know the past.

109. A visitor from tomorrow is an oxymoron.

110. The cost and speed of communication is the measure of progress of a society.

111. Discipline withholds freedom but gives security.

112. To know the particulars, one requires special acumen even if he knows the general.

113. Karma makes one enjoy and it makes others poor.

114. Karma is the great ruler; it is the great regulator.

115. Whatever one may do, its result will reach him sooner or later in this of that birth.

116. Body exposure is directly proportional to the level of incompetence in any profession.

117. Rhythm is creation.

118. To be wise is to know that rhythm is in everything.

119. Everything in the Universe is the physical form of an idea, and every idea comes from God.

120. Spirituality is not for the masses.

121. Learn the art, master it and be blessed.

122. Everything in the world was a worship of Diving.

123. Think on it. Meditate on it. Be one with it. Let us see what comes out of all that then.

124. No one ever gets anything by effort. Effort merely creates the platform where success may descend if the giver wishes to.

125. Sleep is the time when the mind brings order to its house. More garbage means that a person would require more hours of sleep to clean up the mess.

126. Love was when the mind had no thought other than that of God.

127. Mind is finite and the brain has limited capacity.

128. Manu was not an authoritarian, nor was he an idle reformer. He felt the need to codify habits that were going to be beneficial to all. For that he had to first know how the cultured lived all over Indian Sub-Continent and what they practiced by way of achara(rites), Vyavahara(dealings) and Prayscitta(Penance).

129. Calmness comes when a person is face to face with oneself.

130. Death is not an end but only the portal to a new life.

131. As for the future of Indian, I must say it is brilliant. But for that to happen, the cultured have to come down from their high pedestals. Brahmins ruined the flow of culture to the masses by being exclusive. Now the same mistake is being duplicated by the present generations. The cultured have to be responsible towards the society, but see how the neo-rich are interested only in accumulating power and wealth for themselves. By becoming exclusive, they are harming the society, which will collapse again. Once the bright ones realize this and get down to rebuilding India, things will surely change forever.

132. Loud tears are the sign of the uncultured, the brave rarely show them.

133. Life is not important; the philosophy of life is.

134. Joy comes in being one with your nature and not in chasing what you are not.

135. A subtle body, as of a dead person, can experience only the world of subtle elements.

136. Freedom is the goal, young man. Be free.

137. One can enjoy a thing only without getting attached to it emotionally.

138. The seed comes when the field is ready, greatness comes when the mind is ready.

139. It takes a lot of learning to know that you know nothing.

140. Joy lies in the infinite.

141. Life is strange, Miss Divi. It collapses if a little extra is added or a little is taken away. A perfect balance alone makes life go well.

142. Emotions are the great enemy of Mind Power.

143. To grow in life, which is the goal of human life, always strive to be among your peers or with the greats. You will not get adoration, but you will surely grow.

144. A mind can spontaneously recognize a similar mind, be that lustful or wise.

145. Silence is the sign of Maturity.

146. Think beyond the cage and you will see the infinite space waiting for you.

147. Eternal separation alone is true on this earth, everything else fall short.

148. Death will come to each of us, even if we do not want, so give life a chance.

149. Life is a great chance, the great platform that allows one to improve and move ahead.

150. One achieves everything in life only through concentration.

151. Every suffering is the conflagration that burn down the dross in one’s personality.

152. Suicide is not the gateway to peace but is the trapdoor to hell.

153. Build your strength by loving something or someone, without wanting, expecting or accepting.

154. Want nothing, accept nothing. Believe me, you will become great.

155. Is not it interesting in life that we remember negative things more clearly than all the positive things that might have happened to us?

156. Be great in your own right, sis. Take up either dedication to Knowledge or Creation of Wealth for the society, or Service to others. Or give up all for the World.  Take up one or more or these and become blessed in LIFE.

 

Hinduism

These days, the social media, News Channel, News Papers and all the platforms of information are full of terms, “Hinduism”. Some display it as conflicting religion with so many inner differences and others present it as a way of external conflict with other religion. The word Hindu and Hinduism is geographical and of late origin. The land of the river Sindhu (Indus) and the people inhabiting it came to be known as ‘Hindu’ among the ancient Persians, in whose language , the ‘S’ of Sanskrit became ‘H’ and this name continues till date. From this point of view all religion of Indian origin like Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism or Tribal cults became different facets of Hinduism or Trial cults became different facets of Hinduism. But in practice the term Hinduism is applied to the religion dependent on Vedas. The adherents of Hinduism never gave any particular name to their own religion except the world ‘dharma’, which simply means the eternal law that supports and sustains those who practice it. Also during that time there was no religion to distinguish it from others.

Being an inclusive religion, it is difficult to define Hinduism the way Islam of Christianity can be.

However, a Hindu is expected to have these core convictions.

1)   Acceptance of the Spiritual truth as preached in the Vedas, and elaborated in any of the sacred books of the Hindus.
2)   The belief in the transmigratory nature of the individual soul till it attains Mukti. This is the state of freedom from every kind of duality like birth and death, good and bad.
3)   Acceptance of different faith of religions as ways to perfection.

“Veda” are the scripture of Hinduism. It is also called Shruti (lit. heard), since they were passed down from the teacher to the disciple orally and were considered too sacred to be written down. The Veda has four-fold division based on poetic metre they are Rig-Veda, Sam-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Atharva-Veda. The contents of these books are the records of the Spritual realization of the Sages of that Period. Some of the Mantras of the Vedas are quite popular like Gaytri Mantra, which is recited regularly by millions.

The Rig-Veda is primarily a book of Prayers. The Yajur-Veda is a work of Liturgical practices. The Sam-Veda comprises hymns, taken mostly from the Rig Veda and set to music. The Atharveda is like an appendix supplying additional information on all aspect of Veda.

Each Veda is again divided into four section: Samhita (Collection of Mantras), Brahmana (Liturgical instructions, generally in prose), Aryanka (Symbolical Contemplation of Vedic Rituals), Upanishad (Metaphysical reflections). Next in importance to Veda comes Smritis (smrti=rememberance) or Secondary Scripture. The various dharma sutras, smrtis, itihasas and puranas as also nibandhas (digests) come under this category.

Ramayana and Mahabharata are the two sacred epics (Itihasas) that has served as the hope and inspiration of the Hindus. Among the smritis or secondary scripture special mention must be made of Gita, which is a part of great epic the Mahabharata, composed of 700 verses. Gita contains wonderful ideas of ethics, religion and philosophy packaged in one integrated whole which can be declared as a Book for all the Hindus of the modern age. There are 18 Puranas composed for masses for easy understanding of Spritual Truth. The Tantras are mostly about mother worship. Most of the Hindu rituals are either from Puranas or Tantra traditions. The smritis under the smritis (secondary scripture) are the law books of the Hindus which prescribe the personal and social code. There are innumerable smritis of which the most Famous is Manusmriti, written, around 2nd Century BCE. The sages knew that a society ruled by archaic laws becomes stagnant. So, new smritis were codified from time to time according to the need of the age. Unfortunately, no new Smriti of Stature has been written in the last thousand years or so.

The ultimate Aim of Hinduism is to lead a person towards Mukti (Freedom). But because not everyone is capable of taking up this great idea, Hinduism helps people improve their quality of life by offering three worldly ideas. Thus there are four of these, popularly known as purusartha (goals of life).

1)   Dharma, righteous living that results in a more meaningful life.
2)   Artha, acquisition of wealth through rightful means.
3)   Kama, enjoyment without transgressing the social and religious norms.
4)   Moksha, liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

The essential difference between religion and every other branch of knowledge lies in religions acceptance of non-material spiritual existence as the substratum of every material thing. Almost all religion other than Hinduism is founded upon the words of a master and hence the idea of God is usually similar, if one were to replace the Gods then it is nearly impossible to distinguish them, but in Hinduism many sages have contributed to its corpus, the God cannot be expressed as one-way road only. There are innumerable accepted ideas of God. The supreme reality in Hinduism is known as Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss) which carries two ideas- the Impersonal and Personal. In impersonal idea, God is infinite, ever free, without a form and beyond the grasp of Human Mind.

When the same reality is perceived by mind it is Personal God, who is merciful powerful and with innumerable noble qualities. We live in a democratic country; Hinduism teaches democratic God. There are about 33 Crore (330 Million) of God of which a Hindu can choose any one of liking or mental makeup and progress towards knowing more of God till one understands that ultimate reality and attains Moksha.

This year, the world is celebrating 125th Anniversary of the Swami Vivekananda speech in Chicago at Parliament of World’s Religions. In his paper on Hinduism he says, “To the Hindu, man is not travelling from error to truth, but from truth to truth, from lower to higher truth. To him all the religions, from the lowest fetishism to the highest absolutism, mean so many attempts of the human soul to grasp and realise the Infinite, each determined by the conditions of its birth and association, and each of these marks a stage of progress; and every soul is a young eagle soaring higher and higher, gathering more and more strength, till it reaches the Glorious Sun. Unity in variety is the plan of nature, and the Hindu has recognized it. Every other religion lays down certain fixed dogmas, and tries to force society to adopt them. It places before society only one coat which must fit Jack and John and Henry, all alike. If it does not fit John or Henry, he must go without a coat to cover his body. The Hindus have discovered that the absolute can only be realised, or thought of, or stated, through the relative, and the images, crosses, and crescents are simply so many symbols — so many pegs to hang the spiritual ideas on. It is not that this help is necessary for everyone, but those that do not need it have no right to say that it is wrong. Nor is it compulsory in Hinduism.

One thing I must tell you. Idolatry in India does not mean anything horrible. It is not the mother of harlots. On the other hand, it is the attempt of undeveloped minds to grasp high spiritual truths. The Hindus have their faults, they sometimes have their exceptions; but mark this, they are always for punishing their own bodies, and never for cutting the throats of their neighbors. If the Hindu fanatic burns himself on the pyre, he never lights the fire of Inquisition. And even this cannot be laid at the door of his religion any more than the burning of witches can be laid at the door of Christianity.

To the Hindu, then, the whole world of religions is only a travelling, a coming up, of different men and women, through various conditions and circumstances, to the same goal. Every religion is only evolving a God out of the material man, and the same God is the inspirer of all of them. Why, then, are there so many contradictions? They are only apparent, says the Hindu. The contradictions come from the same truth adapting itself to the varying circumstances of different natures.

It is the same light coming through glasses of different colours. And these little variations are necessary for purposes of adaptation. But in the heart of everything the same truth reigns. The Lord has declared to the Hindu in His incarnation as Krishna, "I am in every religion as the thread through a string of pearls. Wherever thou seest extraordinary holiness and extraordinary power raising and purifying humanity, know thou that I am there." And what has been the result? I challenge the world to find, throughout the whole system of Sanskrit philosophy, any such expression as that the Hindu alone will be saved and not others. Says Vyasa, "We find perfect men even beyond the pale of our caste and creed."

Source:Hinduism by Samarpan
Encyclopedia of Hinduism Swami Harsananda

Basic across Religions

          Religious wars in today’s world is common. Every day in newspaper we find people fighting for defending their religious founders and ideals. In fact the boundary of each religion has become like that of countries that needs to be defended and fought for. Fanatics are ready with their guns and weapons to kill at moment’s notice and also ready to become suicide bomber, killing themselves and their targets. On one hand if scientific developments is leading to increase in benefits and comforts of people then on another side it is giving a tool to fanatical fighters to work stealthly thereby causing mass destruction. On comparing the basics of religion we will observe the futility of such activities of much destruction and also the ideals expected to be achieved by mankind.

Actual Reality which only the knower of experiencer knows.

Idea of Gods

Brahma, Vishnu, Jesus, Buddha, Ahura Mazda, Allah etc. Believe in Gods with Form or Formless. Actually Idea of an all-pervading infinite perfect being.

Methodology

Different according to time, place, situation. Rituals, rules, dos and don’ts, Idols, non-idols, scriptures likes Vedas, Puran, Bible, Quran, Zend Avesta etc.

Basics

Truth, Purity, Honesty, Non Stealing etc.

         Basics: - When we observe the ways of religion scientifically we will become aware of the overall puzzle and intricacies of process involved. The basics of all religion are the foundation stone upon which the whole edifice of organization is built. There cannot be any religion with the idea of stealing, hatred, dishonesty etc. The basics of all the religion is in short Truth, Honesty, Purity, Non Stealing etc. The morality of all religion are same except that each sect tries to present it as their own. The Hindus, Christians, Muslims etc. all over the world want their followers to follow the moral and ethical code. In ancient book of Patanjali Yoga Sutra we find this system of practise in religion being systematically organised as Yama and Niyama. The concentration level of mind increases with each step of practise and it becomes necessary to become established in moral and ethical code of conduct. If the concentrated mind contains any strain of negative thought then it will become more potent to express itself in action thereby obstructing the progress of the aspirant. We find numerous spiritual gurus and practitioner doing act which does not befit them and damages their social respect due to being not properly established in moral code of conduct.

   Methodology: - After the basics, the methodology of each religion is different. Their scriptures describe their way of achieving the specified objective thorough the rituals, code of conduct etc. The Methodology of the working of each religion is different. The Hindus offer prayer to their gods, reading puran etc. Muslim's prayer is the way of Namaz, Sahada (Faith), reading Quran etc., Christians praying in Church, reading Bible etc. Each religion being developed in specific time zones has their own procedure to work upon in day to day life dealings. Also in methodology we find the difference of practise based upon the dominant quality of aspirant emotion, intellect etc.

   Ø  Bhakti: - Some by nature being more emotional do follow the Bhakti way like repetition of god’s name, worshipping with love, reading stories about love of god etc.

In the Book, Universal Message of Bhagvad Gita, Swami Ranganathananda writes,

         “Our country never had the problem of drunkenness. Most people never knew what is an inebriating drink, though unfortunately, after independence, we are learning it quickly and well, because the bhajanananda idea is being forgotten. We used to take the name of God; after a whole day’s work, when we would come back home, we would repeat the name of God, sing Ramnam Sankirtan. Our common people did not need this external kick coming from drinks and other drugs. That joy, bhajanananda, is taken away from them today. So, they have to depend upon the external joy. And what is the result? Unhappy homes, break up of marriages, etc. So human being must understand how to experience joy from within.”

  Ø    Jana: Intellectually dominant individuals try to think out about God and know him directly by discriminating the real from the unreal. “Real me” is found out by constant discrimination between false identity and real identity.

Swami Vivekananda lecturing on Jana Yoga says, “We see, then, that this human being is composed first of this external covering, the body; secondly, the finer body, consisting of mind, intellect, and egoism. Behind them is the real Self of man. We have seen that all the qualities and powers of the gross body are borrowed from the mind, and the mind, the finer body, borrows its powers and luminosity from the soul, standing behind.”

  Ø    Raja Yoga: Some people being naturally contemplative practise Raja Yoga, Meditation, and Concentration etc. Concentration is increased by practise and is directed inwards to watch the activities of mind. As we observe the external things and compare them, in a similar way the sense doors are closed and the mind is made to observe the internal.

  Swami Vivekananda in his introduction to Raja Yoga writes: “The powers of the mind should be concentrated and turned back upon itself, and as the darkest places reveal their secrets before the penetrating rays of the sun, so will this concentrated mind penetrate its own innermost secrets. Thus will we come to the basis of belief, the real genuine religion. We will perceive for ourselves whether we have souls, whether life is of five minutes or of eternity, whether there is a God in the universe or more. It will all be revealed to us. This is what Raja-Yoga proposes to teach. The goal of all its teaching is how to concentrate the minds, then, how to discover the innermost recesses of our own minds, then, how to generalise their contents and form our own conclusions from them. It, therefore, never asks the question what our religion is, whether we are Deists or Atheists, whether Christians, Jews, or Buddhists. We are human beings; that is sufficient. Every human being has the right and the power to seek for religion. Every human being has the right to ask the reason, why, and to have his question answered by himself, if he only takes the trouble.”

 Ø Karma: Work oriented people being naturally prone to work addiction practises Karma Yoga, it is working without expecting any fruits of work. Swami Tyagananda in his book, “Walking the Walk”, beautifully illustrates in the diagram how this is accomplished.

Swami Tyagananda writes: “Detachment is the AX which breaks the karma and snaps the link that connects desire with karma. We need to keep in mind that behind every link in the karma chain stands a conscious person.” Accordingly detachment from karma comes by the following methods:

• Work for Work Sake: - For those who don’t believe in a personal God.
•  Work as an offering to God: - For those who do believe in a personal God.

To break the karma chain, we must attack its weakest link, the link that connects desire with karma.  This is accomplished through a twofold practice of detachment as mentioned above. Swami further elaborates, “All the four yogas have their specialized approaches to develop detachment from desire. But detachment from karma is where karma yoga lays special emphasis and the two principal methods employed are “work for work’s sake” and doing “work as an offering to God. Both these method spring from love”

Idea of Gods: - The Idea of Gods is different in different religion. Even in each religion there are many sects and believers of different Gods, demi gods, subsidary gods etc. The Hindus are said to have 33 crore gods. Muslims, Christians initially has one founder but later on they were also divided to sects. Similarly so many religious ideas started with one founder but later on they were branched into multiple sects according to difference of opinion, interpretation, heir etc. Again some religion give emphasis to form and some to formless. Some disregard idols some worship idols. In fact the idea of God is basically a thought of perfect infinite being, who is the cause of the Universe or Existence. The reasoning mind wants to understand that perfect law or being from whom the whole universe came and emotional heart want to feel it and become one with it in love. According to St Augustine (354-430 A.D) God is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things. Nothing exist outside Him, beyond Him, and without Him. He is the creator of reason, and yet superior to it. Reason cannot comprehend Him fully. In the ancient book of world i.e. Rig Vedic Nasadiya Sukta, hymn of Creation we find

“But, after all, who knows, and who can say

Whence it all came, and how creation happened?

The gods themselves are later than creation,

So who knows truly whence it has arisen?”

Pursha Sukta of Rig Veda speaks of creation as coming out from God.

“Thousands of heads has the great being.

Thousands of eyes has he and thousands of legs.

He manifests the world.

He stands beyond the count of ten fingers.”

Samarpan, author of famous book Tiya, Param, Junglezen & more recent Craving the Sky in his write up on, “Living Hinduism – the world and beyond” says:

“Yoga shows how when a person starts meditating, he first mediates on some gross object, say, a flower. As the mind becomes concentrated, he tries to mediate on that flower without confining it in space-time. Once successful, he mediates on the subtler components of the flower. This is the point where Indian philosophy and the present day Physics part their ways. Physics tries to break down the flower into compounds, elements, molecules, atoms, and finally into subatomic particles. But the goal of Indian philosophy is not to explain universe, but to realise God, so it does not care for the actual molecular structure of the flower, rather, it looks for the relevance of the flower to the observer, who takes it in through the five senses as touch, taste, colour, sound, and smell. Whatever the chemical composition of an object or its sub-atomic layout, ultimately the object will have to be observed by a person through the five senses that can grasp its specialised properties. The finer components of an object that are graspable by the senses are known as tanmatras, which are five in number for each of the senses.

A yogi then learns to mediate on the constituent tanmatras of the flower, and slowly goes deeper into meditation when layers after layer of the covering that made the existence of flower possible, get uncovered. The Yoga philosophy, and consequently, Vedanta terms them, in terms of their subtler nature, as – matter, tanmatras, cosmic ego, cosmic intelligence, and unified existence. Beyond these rungs of the universe lies the spiritual reality that is variously called as Atman, Purusha, God, etc.”

Our practical experience make us see so many idea of gods like that of Jesus, baby Jesus, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Sarasvati, Druga etc. that make us ponder about the significance of each of these. For this the Indian thought believes that each mind is unique and everyone’s choice is different, similarly our liking for each gods is different and by following our own idea of god through its own methodology we can realize the actual god. In fact we can take the example of mould where the melted gold is poured and when it hardens then the mould is broken to get the desired shape. The Idea of God is like a mould and the individual character is made to melt and separate the ore of impurity through the methodology, poured in the mould of Idea and when mould breaks the god shines in its own purity.

Actual Reality: - The actual reality experienced by the founders of religions or sages are beyond the grasp of ordinary man without any similar practise. When they spoke, their words became scriptures but unless we have understood their words and gone through similar experiences it is impossible to get the original import of their meaning. Suppose in his whole life, a man has seen only black cow and someone after seeing the white cow tell the man about cow using the world only "Cow", then his understanding will be that of black cow only. Similarly the transcendental experiences when spoken in words is interpreted by general people in their own way but unless originally experienced subjectively, it is of not much value.

Swami Vivekananda speaking on Practical Vedanta says:-

“Great souls, who first felt these great ideas in their hearts, manufactured these words; and at that time many understood their meaning. Later on, ignorant people have taken up those words to play with them and made religion a mere play upon words, and not a thing to be carried into practice. It becomes "my father's religion", "our nation's religion", "our country's religion", and so forth. It becomes only a phase of patriotism to profess any religion, and patriotism is always partial.”

Although the methodology and idea of Gods are different in all sects and religion but the basic idea behind it is to trace the origin of the cause of universe, know the reason for the phenomenal existence of this world. Free from death, diseases and decay is the goal we want to achieve. In simple terms we want to have unlimited peace. The founders of religion after experiencing certain high level consciousness, established their realised idea of perfection in the world through words and symbols but the followers unable to follow the real import and meaning simply fight over words. Like defending the property or territory, the followers simply defend their faith without any actual individual experience. They only defend the words of their religious founder, methodology etc. With maximum enjoyment of the world as the only objective they fight and will keep fighting. But the sincere ones will reach that God, realizing whom they will find the eternal peace. As Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa after practising the methodology of different branches of Tantra, Vaishnava, Rama, Vedanta, Christianity, Islam etc and achieving the peak state as described in all the major religion of our time has said that we should follow our own methodology and practise sincerely the tenets of our own religion and at the same time we should not fight with other followers. Let us follow and let other follow their own. Religion should not be like a territory to be defended or conquered but it must be a living experience showering love, peace and tranquillity to all. In other words, basics, methodology and ideas of Religion must be used as a scientific investigation & experimentation through our own instrument of body and mind to know the actual reality, the truth of our own existence and that of cosmos.

Reference:

Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol 1 Raja Yoga

Walking the Walk – Swami Tyagananda

Living Hinduism-The world and beyond - Samarpan