Wednesday, 20 October 2021

And The Purport.

The SummumBonum.

सं भानम्

-----------------©----------------

Poetry : 21-10-2021

--

Everything takes place in Time, 

Everything takes place at a Time, 

Place assumes existence in Time,

Space assumes existence in Time.

The Birth takes place in Time, 

The Death takes place in Time, 

Time itself manifests in consciousness,

Consciousness is the The Principle,

Unborn, Undying, Eternal, Substratum,

Time and Space are the ephemeral, 

Mortal-dying, born-reborn, false, 

Consciousness is the only Reality, 

Immortal, Deathless, Spirit, The Heart.

***



The Perspective.

The Evolution.

-------------©------------

This navarAtra नवरात्र,  I came across a new revelation. Now I can put forward an altogether new approach and a concise view about what is the Evolution. 

The Unconscious, and the Conscious. 

The Material-Life, the Objective Reality is the beginning, when the consciousness splits itself into a world outward, and a world inward.

This split consciousness is the self. 

It could illuminate a quantum or a whole world beside it. The beginning, which is also the very beginning of TIME, a relative life as self, evolves in the quantum.

This is the Unconscious Evolution, as it is truly the infinitesimally small expression of the whole, reflected into the quantum.

We could now speak of quanta as the plural of the quantum. Which is the multitude of number of such infinite selves. 

Each individual self assumes a form and figure, though not necessarily a name. The name is the secondary stage of evolution.

Yet this whole movement, the evolution, is in the way of the Unconscious.

Unconscious is the Nature. 

In a self, this Unconscious Progressive Evolution keeps evolving to a stage when it matures and assumes the form of ego or the personal ego. 

This personal ego keeps surviving and feeding upon itself, yet is never fully mature.

This could mature but could never attain the full significance of its worth. But then at a stage, as soon as its attention turns upon itself, that is, it turns inwards and tries to find out what is the very nature of this consciousness, the quantum, -the egg-consciousness, the ego-consciosness, bursts open.

It is then revealed that the consciousness only is the Life and the Life is the consciousness only. The two are but the aspects of Whole, Unique, One and  Single Reality.

The Unconscious Evolution takes the form of the Conscious Evolution.

That is the only Spiritual Endeavor.

The conscious,  the consciousness of the self or the individual consciousness merges into this Whole from where it had started its journey.

That is the Biography and the Autobiography of the consciousness. 

***



Tuesday, 19 October 2021

महाकाली / MahAkAlI

उपसंहार / The Epilogue.

-----------------©-----------------

छिन्नमस्ता / ChinnamastA 

--

मातृ-शक्ति / The Mother Principle, before being born as the शैलपुत्री or the daughter of the हिमवान्, The Himalayas, was born as सती, -the daughter of दक्ष प्रजापति / dakSha prajApati. 

The evolution of consciousness was quite unconscious at that time. 

Life of the humans, who are but one of the 10 species who are again born of the 10 sons of ब्रह्मा, brahmA - the विरञ्चि / Creator-aspect of the Lord Supreme, was destined to follow the nature and this nature itself is verily the सती / satI, the skill.

These 10 sons of brahmA are the primal and foremost fathers of all living beings. 

The word दक्ष / dakSha means an expert and a skilled one. 

This is how the story in PaurANika vein is true even at present times. 

सती / satI is verily the knowledge and skills indeed. 

The consciousness reached to its highest possible evolution as we see that our this day scientists and technicians may have attained perfection. 

The story narrates that at the times when दक्ष / dakSha had  सती / satI as His daughter, and she was earnestly devoted to Lord Shiva, did great arduous penance in order to propitiate the Lord.

Though the Lord Shiva married her, she was only the nature and an example of Art and skill only.

Then in the same time, when she was living with the Lord Shiva and serving Him in full devotion, during times of the त्रेता-युग / tretA- yuga, The Lord Supreme took the अवतार / avatar in the human form as the prince of दशरथ / dasharatha, named राम / Rama, the son of दशरथ, -dasharatha, the King  of  अयोध्या, and was sent to excile in the forests for 14 years, when His wife,  सीता / seetA, was kidnapped by रावण / RavaNa who at that time ruled over the kingdom of  लंका / lankA.

When Lord Shiva saw Lord Rama, He bowed to Him and satI couldn't see why He bowed before RamA, who in her opinion was an ordinary mortal only. 

She expressed her doubt before Him, so the Lord suggested to her :

"Why don't you find out Who  is RamA and why I bowed to Him!"

This is exactly how our this day perfection in science and knowledge is trying to find out. 

Then सती / satI in order to find out if RamA was an ordinary mortal or as was told to her by her husband, The Lord Supreme, took the form of  सीता seetA and secretly appeared before RamA.

RamA was apparently though looking as if  searching for सीता / seetA,  knew well that  it was  सती / satI, who in the disguise of  सीता / seetA, is trying to clear out her own doubt about Him, if He was or was not The Lord Supreme.

When Lord Shiva knew about what  सती / satI had done, He grew angry and agitated and gave up  सती / satI as His wife, for He could not see  सीता / seetA, in this form. 

Later on, the father of  सती / satI, दक्ष प्रजापति  / dakSha prajApati, arranged a big यज्ञ / yajna, and as is the custom, invited to all devatA but didn't invite Lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva, permitted  सती / satI to attend the ceremony,  and He immersed Himself into deep समाधि / samAdhi.

When at the home of her father, सती / satI was ridiculed by her sisters and others, she burnt down herself in the  योगाग्नि / yogAgni / the Fire of yoga. 

When the news reached to Lord Shiva, He sent His servants to disrupt the  यज्ञ / yajna, that was being performed by दक्ष / dakSha.

We can see now the simily and  understand, when our this day science and knowledge, may be how-so-ever advanced and perfect, immolates itself in the  योगाग्नि / the Fire of yoga, then only will undergo transformation when it could attain the Lord Supreme.

Before that, let us have another glimpse of  देवी / devI. The Consciousness, Who in order to perform Her role of आदि-शक्ति / Adi-shakti, took the forms of the काली / kAlI, and छिन्नमस्ता / ChinnamastA.

।। नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ।।

***

Wednesday, 13 October 2021

सिद्धिदात्री / siddhidAtrI

The 9th Phase / Face / Form / of देवी / devI, the मातृका  / the Mother Principle is :

सिद्धिदात्री / siddhidAtrI or दुर्गा / durga.

She is of the kind of  शक्ति / Power, while शिव / shiva, is the Father Principle.

चित् / चितिशक्ति or the बुद्धि / Intelligence is गणेश gaNesha.

The whole manifestation could be viewed in any, or of all of these 3 forms. These 3 aspects of the Supreme Reality are again the One Unique Principle that is variously pointed out as :

ब्रह्मन् / Brahmana,

आत्मन् / The Self, 

परमात्मन् / The Ultimate Reality,

ईश्वर / The One Who governs this whole Existence, From Who emanates this visible world, and in Whom dissolves again and again. चैतन्य / Consciousness,

महत् / Cosmic, Divine, आधिदैविक, that is a link between the अधिभौतिक / gross and the आध्यात्मिक / Spiritual.

The Reality is a but the homogeneous harmony between these 3 aspects.

One can approach, attain this Reality through devotion to any of these 3 aspects.

As the intellect is the manifest form of the Intelligence, in the गणपति अथर्वशीर्ष thus Intelligence Principle is addressed as the :

प्रत्यक्ष ब्रह्म .

As the आत्मन् / self / परम आत्मन् / Self is denoted / addressed as अहम् / "I AM" Principle and, 

As the चित् / Consciousness is the omnipresent, the omniscient and the omnipotent, irrefutable and the undeniable fact, the same is denoted / addressed as  देवी / devI.

This is the essence of देवी दुर्गा / devI durgA, the Mother Principle, who is worshipped during the नवरात्र पर्व / navarAtra festival. 

***

नवरात्र पर्व की शुभ कामनाएँ !

navarAtra festival Greetings!

***



Tuesday, 12 October 2021

महागौरी / mahAgaurI

Material, Divine and Spiritual

----------------------©-----------------------

The material aspect of the existence is known / sensed in consciousness and not the other way around.

The Spiritual aspect of the existence is reflected in consciousness only.

Consciousness is the Divine aspect which is the support of all existence.

This consciousness couldn't be categorized or divided into as the individual, total, collective or the universal.

Still, the conscious evolution is the only way through which the individual consciousness attains and subsequently merges into the Supreme, Ultimate Reality.

The same process is described in different ways in the texts as :

श्री देवी-अथर्वशीर्ष, देवीभागवतम्, दुर्गासप्तशती.

Veda also helps in understanding the same through the various स्तुति / hymns and prayers, like the लक्ष्मी सूक्तम्, उषःसूक्तम्, पृथ्वी-सूक्तम्.

--

The next Phase / Face / Form

Of देवी / devI, चेतना / Consciousness Is :

महागौरी / mahAgaurI, 

Who is of the शुभ्र / Shining, शीतल / Cool, धवल / White, of स्वच्छ वर्ण / Fair complexion, abiding in शान्ति / peace, तुष्टि / tranquility, and आनन्द / bliss.

Another name given to this form of देवी / devI is  वैष्णवी / vaiShNavI, Who is रमा / raMA.

रमा / raMa is also the name of pArvatI - the consort of Lord Shiva and also of LakShmI, - the consort of Lord  विष्णु / viShNu.

This is significant as this is the चित्, / cit चिति-शक्ति knowing aspect, and two are one whole indivisiblity.

The Divine Consciousness accompanying both these Lords (Shiva and viShNu), Who are but  सत्  / sat aspect of the Supreme Reality.

This सत् / sat and चित् / cit are what is known as  सच्चित् / sat-cit or saccit.

This is the परम श्रेयस् / Auspicious and Ultimate, that is attained in the conscious evolution.

***

Monday, 11 October 2021

कालरात्रिः! / kAlarAtri

The sixth Phase / Face / Form of देवी / devI.

-----------------------------------©---------------------------------

The next form of the Consciousness is named after "Time", that is a manifestation / expression of the Supreme, Who is Lord Shiva deathless,  Beginningless, and hence omnipresent. ... :

"अक्षरात्संजायते कालो कालाद् व्यापकः उच्यते... "

As is described in the :

 शिव-अथर्वशीर्षम् / shiva-atharva-sheershaM.

In this way "Time" came into existence.

This is the "Time" if the Physicists :

Gita chapter 10 points out :

प्रह्लादश्चास्मि दैत्यानां कालः कलयतामहम् ।

मृगाणां च मृगेन्द्रोऽहं वैनतेयश्च पक्षिणाम् ।।३०।।

This is what is "Time" in terms of measurability. Only after arising of the intellect / imagination  (बुद्धि), the notion of "Time" appears in the mind.

As soon as the earth as a material-mass took place into its orbit, there was the 'day'  in the half part of the sphere, that is the earth. Yet in the another half there was the 'night'.

"Time" or the physical time on earth began when the earth started revolving around the sun. 

"Time" and "Space" are two aspects of the one and the same essential Reality, and according to the "अथर्वण" / "atharvaNa", nothing else could be 'before' the arrival of the "Time", and we could say, this 'before', 'during' and 'after' are but the  aspects of "Time" only.

Again, कालरात्रि / kalarAtri .

A distant echo of this term could be found in the proverbial phrase : 

"The dark night of the soul".

That is when and how this conscious evolution  comes across ignorance of the Self / Reality and obscured in the intellect (बुद्धि) falls a prey to this ignorance and conflict.

Gita, chapter 7 points out :

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वंद्वमोहेन भारत ।

सर्वभूतानि सम्मोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप ।।२७।।

And, how in the individual, this consciousness -principle is covered under this ignorance and conflict from the very birth itself, and no one is exception to this.

This ignorance and conflict in consciousness-principle is never be a collective phenomenon, but a universal truth only.

This is what "कालरात्रिः" / "kalarAtri" all about.

This is the seventh Phase / Face / Form of :

देवी / devI. Who is worshipped on the sixth day of the  नवरात्र / navarAtra festival.

***








Sunday, 10 October 2021

स्कन्दमाता / skandamAtA

The next is :

स्कन्दमाता / skandamAtA.

Who is the mother of the Lord :

भगवान् कार्तिकेय / kArtikeya,

कार्तिकेय स्कन्द is also known as :

षाण्मातुर्, / one, having six mothers.

He was brought up by six motherly forms of

देवी / devI.

Though He is born of भगवान् शिव / Lord Shiva and देवी पार्वती / devI pArvatI, He at once after his birth, jumped up and evolved into thIs form of having six faces in a fraction of a second.

So this form of devi has again six attributes of which Lord Skanda is the manifestation.

***

कात्यायनी / kAtyAyanI

Phase / Face / Form : 4

------------------------------------

The fourth stage of Conscious Evolution has been named :

कात्यायनी / kAtyAyanI. 

Which is the word indicating one is elder, pure, ripe and mature in mind and spirit, 

This form of  देवी / devI is indicative of a grown up elderly woman. She is also fully pure, mature, in mind and spirit. She is said to be :

रक्तवसना / clothed in red.

This may also point out the stage when the life transforms from the bone to serum, and serum into the blood.

But as this corresponds to the divinity as well, the same is indicated as the :

Spiritual Conscious Evolution.

also. 

This is described in the 

श्री देवीअथर्वशीर्ष / Sri devI-atharvasheerSha,

as in the following verse :

हृत्पुण्डरीकमध्यस्थां प्रातःसूर्यसमप्रभाम् ।

पाशाङ्कुशधरां सौम्यां वरदाभयहस्तकाम् ।

त्रिनेत्रां रक्तवसनां भक्तकामदुघां भजे ।।२१।।

This is the very form  where we could find the same in the 

उषःसूक्तम् / uShaHsUktaM 

In the Veda.

This is when the sun has just come up over the horizon in the east. 

There is again striking resemblance with the form of Lord Shiva as :

अरुणाचलेश्वर शिव / AruaNachaleshwara Shiva,

who is the very आत्मा / Self,  who resides in the cave of the heart of all beings.

We can also relate this to Gita, chapter 18, where Lord Sri-Krishna points out : 

ईश्वरः सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति ।

भ्रामयन् सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया ।।६१।।

And in chapter 10 again :

अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः ।

अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ।।२०।।

A Yogi could meditate upon the Supreme Reality in this way, through any of these above forms and can attain Him.

We all know the red is the color of the light that moves fastest, is easily seen and therefore used for caution as a sign of danger.

Again this form of देवी / devI is the very 

"I AM" principle everyone is always aware of  spontaneously, naturally and effortlessly.

From here, we could discover a lot about the :

चेतना / Consciousness.

This is the very heart of Conscious Evolution, that takes place when one tries to understand and contemplate upon the Supreme Reality.

***



Saturday, 9 October 2021

कूष्माण्डा

 The Fourth Phase. 

------------------------------

The fourth phase / face of देवी / DevI is named / कूष्माण्डा / KuShmAnDA, which means the hidden  unmanifest potential of शक्ति / Consciousness.

Like a water-melon or a pumpkin, which grows and bursts up out many seeds which sprout in the yet newer shoots, This form of  शक्ति / देवी  or the Consciousness, has all the future manifesta-tions in the seed-form.

This is again the same प्रकृति / prakriti-aspect of the शक्ति / Consciousness, which is unique and one with the 

शिव /Shiva-aspect or the 

पुरुष / Purusha of साङ्ख्य-Sankhya दर्शन .

***


Friday, 8 October 2021

चन्द्रघन्टा

Phase - III

-----------------

ChandraghanTA / चन्द्रघन्टा is The third form of : देवी / Devi, Consciousness, which is revealed in the hearts of all sentient beings, - Resplendence / Radiance, and the Sound, and again, the same is also experienced by the individual as the indwelling Spirit, in terms of the :

 "I AM" sense, by all.

Gita, verse 22, Chapter 10, points out :

वेदानां सामवेदोऽस्मि देवानामस्मि वासवः ।

इन्द्रियाणां मनश्चास्मि भूतानामस्मि चेतना ।।२२।।

सामवेद  / sAmaveda is devoted to sound and the singing the mantra.

"I AM" सामवेद / Samaveda, amongst the Veda.

देवता / DevatA is the आधिदैविक / Divine sphere of the  existence, where each स्वर / note of music and each वर्ण / letter of the matrix of the spoken / written वर्ण, letters is the manifest form of the Divine in particular name and form. 

Amongst them, वासवः / Indra is the highest. 

And again, "I Am", verily the इन्द्र / Indra, amongst all these various DevatA-s, who dwell in the heart of man :

हृदिस्था देवताः सर्वा हृदि प्राणाः प्रतिष्ठिताः ।

हृदि त्वमसि यो नित्यं तिस्रो मात्राः परस्तु सः ।।

(शिवाथर्वशीर्षम् ३)

In the इन्द्रियाणि / senses, "I AM" the  मनः / mind, and mind is the moon. The physical moon is the same as the mind of man. Just as the Physical Sun is the आत्मन् / Self of the material-world.

The physical sun and the physical moon are located in the material-sky, but the mind and self reside in the heart or the आत्मन् / Self.

I AM the Consciousness and I AM the Self.

And last but not the least is the consciousness, be it the physical, the bodily, the objective of the various objects in the world, or one's own mind, where one is aware / conscious of one's own existence, of the "I AM". Spontaneously, always, without any effort whatsoever.

"I AM" this Consciousness of one's existence in all beings.

Another description of the same is given by the words : नाद / nAda and बिन्दु / bindu, in the sacred texts.

नमो चन्द्रघन्टायै सर्वदा हृदि स्फुरति या ।

आभाति स्वनति सर्वेषां स्वघोषेण नित्यशः ।।

I bow to  चन्द्रघन्टा / ChandraghanTA, Who shines and announces Herself, in the heart of all, The Consciousness, Who declares Her presence by Her Radiance and Her Voice.

***

Thursday, 7 October 2021

द्वितीया ब्रह्मचारिणी

Phase - II

--

Once the seed-consciousness manifested into a rock or stone, it kept growing, expanding like ब्रह्म / the Brahman. Therefore performing the तप / austerity. Though being the very ब्रह्म / Brahman itself, it had a name and a form so  was she साकार ब्रह्म / The Brahman.

This conscious-ness That is essentially  ब्रह्मन्  / Brahmana, thus was express in a name and a form, -the visible existence. 

From the निराकार / the formless evolved the form / साकार. 

Sanatana Dharma scriptures denote the Supreme Reality in terms of :

The Father Principle, and 

The Mother Principle.

Intellect is the Child-Principle.

This second phase of consciousness is then worshipped on this second day of this 

नवरात्र पर्व/ navarAtra parva.

--

The Intellect that is but the very 'Quantum' of the modern Physicist, is the :

Child-Principle, 

Which acquires formless-ness from :

the Father-Principle,

And the form,  from :

The Mother-Principle.

So in form and formless-ness are but the  two aspects of this Intellect.

The 'Quantum' too, in the same way, has a material-aspect and an 'uncertainty' aspect. 

--

This is how 

Shiva / शिव, Shakti / शक्ति, गणेश /Ganesha, all are :

ब्रह्मन् / Brahmana, --the 3 aspects of the one and the same Reality, :

 The Unique Supreme Reality.

***

And just now, today (08-10-2021) only, I find a news-item from SA (Scientific American) captioned :

You may have missed --

"What God, Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness Have in Common 7w "

Made available to me by Google!

May be relevant to this post.

शिव / Shiva, शक्ति / Consciousness, and गणेश / Ganesha are the exact parallels to : 

The God, The Consciousness, and The Quantum Mechanics,

Respectively. 

***

Thanks Google! 

--





Wednesday, 6 October 2021

प्रथमा शैलपुत्री

।। नवाह्नपारायणम् ।।

---------------©--------------

The Religion of evolution. 

"Time is a cruel deception."

Yesterday I wrote this about while describing the "scientific faith and belief".

Today something new dawned upon me.

This is the first day of :

शारदीय नवरात्र 

shAradIya navarAtra.

A scientist tries to test a premise, a hypothesis or an idea that takes place in his mind. 

He believes if it is proved true, I can evolve into a newer understanding and knowledge. 

Ignoring the very source of this idea, he is so absorbed in his thought that it never occurs to him that there is an unshakable ground where all these ideas sprout up and I, inadvertently get indulged in those many ideas.

He never pays attention to the fact that all these ideas come to him in his mind during the waking state of the mind.

Even more so, he though claims this mind as his own, and believes with full and firm acceptance that he is the master of his mind, he has no least idea about where-from comes up this mind and exactly who or what controls 'his' mind.

There is something beyond his mind that lets  this mind work and perform various intellectual activities.

This is the way of the scientific faith and belief, -the theory, which though hold true during his waking state, but he hardly knows what happens to them when he is either asleep or lost in some dream.

Nevertheless, he can sure see for himself, that there is this consciousness about everything around and of oneself, that is never lost. By no logic, no experience or example one can deny it.  Even if refuted or denied the denial itself shows its existence.

This first day of 

navarAtra - the nine nights, 

When the consciousness manifested, gradually evolved and grew up, prospered in man, denote how this consciousness is the very origin and the prime source of all that was, is and will be.

The first name of that Supreme Reality is :

शैलपुत्री / shailaputri

Which indicates, first of all that consciousness was illuminated in a rock or stone.  No wonder She is appropriately called शैलपुत्री / shailaputri .

We know shell and cell.

A shell is where in the very beginning, the life was manifest. The same is true about :

A cell. 

The biological cell.

This is the first day. 

The same consciousness reigns over the three realms of :

अधिभौतिक / Adhibhautika, -Material, 

आधिदैविक / Adhidaivika, -Divine, 

आधि-आत्मिक (आध्यात्मिक) - Spiritual. 

Respectively.

नवाह्नपारायणम्  / navahnapArAyaNaM,

Points out a study / worship that is done and performed in 9 days. 

Another meaning is :

What is renewed in successive 9 nights / days.

--

Tomorrow will be the next,  -the second day of this study, worship.

***




The Virtual and The Ritual

Virtue and Sin. 

------------------------

A religion that is practiced and a religion that is performed spontaneously, inspired by the nature are far more different from one-another.

No wonder, in the Religion that is but prompted by understanding the nature of being and life is quite from the one that is forced upon one by the tradition and custom

According to the Kathopanishat / कठोपनिषद् 1/2/1 :

अन्यच्छ्रेयोऽन्यदुतैव प्रेय-

स्ते उभे नानार्थे पुरुष्ँसिनीतः ।

तयोः श्रेय आददानस्य साधु

भवति हीयतेऽर्थाद्य उ प्रेयो वृणुते ।।

The verb-root 'सिन्' -सिनीते means बद्ध्यते  to bind. 

The word 'sin' in English, could be a derivative of this Verb-root, सिन् as it has the same meaning. 

The two words in Sanskrit for virtue and sin are  respectively :

पुण्य and पाप .

पुण्य comes from पुनाति - what purifies. 

पाप / पातकं comes from :

What takes one to a downfall.

But according to धर्म / सनातन चिरन्तन धर्म, this is not moral / ethical point of view.

It is rather the Law of धर्म, that is spontaneous and should come from right understanding of what in the end results in good and / or in bad.

That is why this Religion Perennial suggests that one should follow one's natural tendencies even if this looks inferior to some other how-so-ever superior one. Gita chapter 3 points out:

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात् स्वनुष्ठितात् ।

स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ।।३।।

The Religion of Gita is therefore always the very practical in that it prompts one to discover our inherent real Dharma and not the one that has forced upon us by tradition or custom.

The very idea of 'convertion' is abominable, -not only in the Gita, but in the सनातन, चिरन्तन, धर्म and all its scriptures.

The 'virtual' and the 'ritual' means what is in the वृत्ति, and what is the way, - रीति !

So, the 'virtual' may be aimed at performing some desired result, and the 'ritual' may mean the way it is done at the formal, practical level.

Presently, there are no concepts in our religions about what makes one pure in mind, heart and spirit and what falls one down.

There are do and don't do in these religions but nowhere it is suggested that one should find out the truth within oneself by means of inquiry and discovery.

That is how the contemporary religions keep on having different teachings, ideals, ideologies and as a result there is conflict and confusion.

Conflict is essential and inherent in belief and faith. Be it a scientific one also.

Science begins with a premise, a hypothesis or an idea, but ignores the very CONSCIOUSNESS where-in the idea takes place. 

The Consciousness, that manifests in the three states of mind and yet also transcends all the three is the foundation of all Life and Existence.

This is how 'धर्म' is nature and spontaneity.

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Tuesday, 5 October 2021

Religion Perennial.

The Search of a new paradigm.

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Civilization in its beginning, took different routes in different parts of the earth.

There were all those gifts of nature like the mountains, woods, oceans, plains, the rivers, and lush green Savannah along-with deserts.

Man evolved as a species, be a cave-man or one who had instinctive tendencies to stay alive and survive the challenges of living, in different ways.

But, was there really an evolution as we are  taught and believe!

Could we ever know with certainty that this evolution really took place in a millennium or in a few thousand years! 

We just can't believe that man and all other species could have born in a single spec of time, in an instant!

Time is such a cruel deception!

Let it be put aside for the moment.

Once the man had discovered the spoken language, and attained skill in talking and communicating in a meaningful way, he might have developed the ideas about God and such hypothetical things.

Before this he might have been adept in thinking and contemplating about himself and the world around him.  Did he use any words of any language? 

Well, most of the men might have discovered how to live in a society as an organic whole system, and as an organized entity. 

There could have been the envy, authority, fear, struggle for power over the others and those stronger physically, then might have become the kings, the leaders of the people.

There may be others who had inclination to the deeper existential questions. Who saw in nature and the surroundings as if they could talk and communicate, connect well with all them, be it a tree or the stone, the sun, moon, stars, rivers, mountains, and even the dawn and the twilight.

Through sheer insight they could see that the existence is ever so expanding ( Brahman / ब्रह्मन्) and though they knew and understood that the space is but a non-material attribute of this whole existence, that is a universe in itself, consciousness is the very foundation upon which is this stupendous whole stands and yet no one knows from where came this whole! 

But it might have flashed soon upon them, that this consciousness is truly five-fold that one is endowed with in the forms of the 5 senses.

These five senses, or the five organs of sight,  speech, sound, smell and touch are, through which, the space where one finds himself during waking hours, is something which is this very non-material sky which he thinks has no beginning nor end.

He also knew by comparing the three states of consciousness, (which he still didn't try to define), that there is a dream-state, and yet another, -the deep, dreamless sleep state, which one goes through repeatedly, where this consciousness is the only connecting thread, upon which these three states are strung over, like the flowers in a garland.

So, the sky and the waking state is inherent  essentially within the same consciousness of which, the waking, the dream and the deep dreamless sleep are the three manifestations only.

He and those other 'seers' like him might have seen that the Reality is within, and not there in the external visible world outside there!

Though this manifest visible world  is also very well structured and consistent, perfect in its own place and own way, devoid of any visible contradictions, there are sure many a paradoxes there as well, and we can perhaps never resolve them, because this state itself is uncertain and a temporary one. 

Better, if we dive deep within and try to find out the truth of the matter (and the truth of the non-matter as well!).

What instrument could possibly help us in finding out this! 

No doubt, the 'attention' itself is the pointer that is presently available to us. And it is the best one also.

So they might have turned their attention inwards, and tried to understand this very consciousness itself indeed.

There they might have discovered the Veda, ( वेद), because what they learned and taught to others was so orderly, compact, systematic, and perfect that there was no contradiction any, between what they had learnt and what they taught.

The first clan (नृवंश) who went after in search of power and earth (land) was named :

Kshatriya / क्षत्रिय, 

The next, who went in search of truth and the knowledge, the wisdom and the Reality, was named :

Rishi / ऋषि, Brahmana / ब्राह्मण,

Then the third clan who were after worldly wealth and prosperity, affluence, ensconced happily deep into that, wished these things here in life and even in some future life, if there exists such a one, was named :

Vaishya / वैश्य 

While the rest who were only after living the life for pleasures of this kind and had the sole motto :

"Eat, drink and merry",

by what-ever means and in what-ever way, were named :

Shudra / शूद्र. 

As these tendencies are more or less in all human beings, these are only 'shades' and not the colors / essential characteristics of all and every-one.

This way, these 'shades' were named :

Varna / वर्ण ,

Which implies, though all are born as

Shudra / शूद्र,

Through merit and qualities, they grow up as any one of the above-mentioned 4 kinds.

More over, one may have a mixed up kind of such tendencies, but none is either inferior or superior over the rest. 

The Rishi / ऋषि  discovered Dharma / धर्म, the essential truth of all and everything and no one can transcend or escape from the same.

This principle / element (तत्व) was named :

Yama / यम, 

That governs life and death of all. 

Then they discovered :

Destiny / नियति, 

What ordains happenings at all times, and of every kind, everywhere in the consciousness of the individual (व्यष्टि), 

and of the Totality (समष्टि),

Though all live and have the life in the same Brahman / ब्रह्मन्,

Everyone tends to think he is a unique, and alone in his world where innumerable like him also live and there is possibly,

A Supreme Lord,

 Who controls and regulates lives and death of all.

This Religion Perennial, was named :

सनातन चिरन्तन धर्म.

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Sunday, 3 October 2021

Faith, doubt and Religion.

Mutation of the Mind.

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The man who is but one of the many creatures, evolved into a being through millennia, one who has developed a language which enabled him in associating spoken words with outward objects and then remember the word and associate the word with yet another word so as to develop this further into spoken language. This way, then he could transform the object(s) into an idea.

The congregation of such a multiplicity of ideas further evolved and developed into a complex faculty of thinking where he could relate an idea with any or many other such ideas.

Before the arrival of this skill on the part of his mind / brain, man might be having a memory of the same kind as all other creatures might had. We can say, all those creatures followed  their experiences in the audio-visual forms only, without associating a spoken word or a meaning in terms of a word, which they could associate further with another.

In a way, this memory of an experience, without giving it a name was kind of photographic one. Then the creatures might have related such many memories with an object that could help them behave in such a way, so as to solve their that particular problem.

For example, the relation of the needs like thirst, hunger, the survival and such, and how it could be met successfully. This was prompted by the very experience which then became their habit, and they could live on in a machinical way, face the usual challenges of life, moment to moment.

All this was very simple for them, and they might have kept improving their skills on and on. 

But all this remained at the level where only a glimpse of the past that happened, and of the future that might come, could be there in their mind. 

While in the case of the man, because he could  think in words, and then visualize a picture as well, he could imagine the supposed past event and anticipate a possible future one, in detail.  Not only this, he could further envisage a 'time-interval' so as to think of history of an infinity of such events.

Likewise, he could project and even plan such a future as well. He began to think in terms of the certainty and how he could achieve any certain result of any of his actions.

He became a dreamer and perhaps a visionary as well. Instead he chose to create a middle path, which others could follow. He became the leader, guide, teacher and he had now a mission as well.

In a nutshell, this all was his ambition only.

Others either followed him, accompanied him,  or turned against him.

He invented 'God', defined this 'God' in such a way, so as to suit to his ambition, and as much perfect as he could imagine.

Because of fear and insecurity, greed and hope, others followed this religion.

There might be the doubt, but they couldn't dare, to define this doubt, nor see. Confusion, and fear simmered underneath, and though the guide himself was not sure, the faith arrived on one or the other pretext, and then arrived the tradition.

Then the doubt lurking in the mind of the man, persisted, transformed into various theories and  philosophies, questioning the very existence of such a God, there were many such masters and teachers again, who claimed to be the final and the ultimate.

This all resulted into all these religions and their sects, spread all over the whole world.

Wars were, and are fought even today, between all these different followers of these so many religions and we can't even hope or say, if and when, how all this could come to end.

***


Saturday, 2 October 2021

Religions and Veda.

Dharma धर्म and Veda वेद.

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संस्कृत 'धृञ्' - धारणे, अर्थात् धारण किए जाने से बना शब्द धर्म प्रकृति, स्वभाव, आत्मा, सत्य इत्यादि का द्योतक और वाचक भी है। कोई भी वस्तु या जीव, न तो धर्म को स्वरूपतः त्याग सकता है, न ही उसका धर्म उसे। इस अर्थ में वस्तु-स्वभाव ही धर्म है। 

संस्कृत 'विद्' का प्रयोग क्रमशः :

1. 'विद्' - ज्ञाने -अर्थात् मन, बुद्धि, इन्द्रियों आदि किसी माध्यम से, परोक्षतः indirectly जानने अथवा बिना किसी दूसरे माध्यम से अपरोक्षतः directly जानने के अर्थ में,

2. 'विद्' - सत्तायाम् - अर्थात् अस्तित्वमान होने के अर्थ में, 

3. 'विद्' - विचारणे - अर्थात् स्मृति के माध्यम से चिंतन करने,

4. 'विद्' - चेतनाख्याननिवासेषु - अपने अस्तित्व के सहज एवं स्वाभाविक बोध तथा उसके उद्घोष / अभिव्यक्ति करने, तथा, 

5. 'विदलृ' - लाभे - अर्थात् किसी वस्तु की प्राप्ति करने के अर्थ में किया जाता है। 

वेद शब्द मुख्यतः किसी वस्तु का किसी प्रकार का ज्ञान होने, या जानने के अर्थ में प्रयुक्त होता है और इस ज्ञान को ही वेद कहा जाता है। 

इसी विद् धातु के विभिन्न रूप भिन्न भिन्न भाषाओं में भिन्न भिन्न  पाए जाते हैं। पहले तो इस पर ध्यान देना होगा, कि न तो किसी भाषा का उद्भव संस्कृत भाषा से हुआ है और न संस्कृत का ही उद्भव किसी भी दूसरी भाषा से । संस्कृत मूलतः वैज्ञानिक भाषा है जिसका पुनः पुनः आविष्कार किया जा सकता है और तब यह प्रतीत होने  लगता है मानों संस्कृत कोई कृत्रिम या मनुष्य-निर्मित इंजीनियर्ड / man-made engineered language है। कोई भी भाषा कैसे अस्तित्व में आती है, यदि इसकी खोज की जाए तो स्पष्ट होगा कि किसी भी भाषा की संरचना जिन भी मूल नियमों से होती है, संस्कृत उन्हीं मूलभूत नियमों की खोज और आविष्कार मात्र है। 

किन्तु यहाँ इस पर विचार किया जा रहा है कि किस प्रकार इस 'विद्' धातु से (इसके प्रयोग और अर्थ के तारतम्य में) विभिन्न भाषाओं के अनेक शब्दों का संबंध हो सकता है :

संक्षेप में : with, vade, wissen, wise, wed, wedding, Wednesday, faith, fidelity, confidence, confident, diffident, जैसे यूरोपीय भाषाओं के विभिन्न शब्द, तथा, हिन्दी, उर्दू, अरबी, फ़ारसी के 'फ़िदा', इन सभी शब्दों और उनके अर्थ के बीच एक सुनिश्चित तारतम्य pattern है ।

इस प्रकार 'धर्म' के दो रूपों पर ध्यान देने पर प्रतीत होता है कि धर्म भी मूलतः दो प्रकार का होता या हो सकता है। 

पहला है :

ज्ञान के अर्थ में धर्म, जिसे न तो कोई त्याग सकता है, और न जो किसी को त्याग सकता है। 

दूसरा है :

धारणा, मान्यता, विश्वास, मत, विचार, परंपरा इत्यादि के अर्थ में कोई धर्म, जिसे परिस्थितियों के कारण, चाहते या न चाहते हुए भी कोई त्यागने के लिए बाध्य हो सकता है। 

इस प्रकार धर्म और विश्वास यद्यपि परस्पर समानार्थी प्रतीत होते हैं, किन्तु उनका एक ही तात्पर्य हो, यह आवश्यक नहीं है। 

इस दृष्टि से यदि विज्ञान (Science), शब्द की व्युत्पत्ति की जाए तो 'वि' उपसर्ग सहित समस्त ज्ञान ही विज्ञान है। 

अब यदि Science शब्द की व्युत्पत्ति की जाए, तो इसे संस्कृत भाषा की दो धातुओं, सं-उपसर्ग सहित 'शी' - शेते - सोने के अर्थ में, तथा 'संशय' की तरह, 'शंस्' - शंसयते / शङ्क्यते की तरह शंका या प्रशंसा करने के अर्थ में भी ग्रहण किया जा सकता है। 

सबसे अधिक रोचक है इन धातुओं से बने अंग्रेजी भाषा के ये सारे शब्द : 

Conscious, consciousness, conscience,

जिन्हें मन, बुद्धि, चेतना, ध्यान, जागरूकता, विवेक, जैसे अनेक शब्दों का समानार्थी समझा जाता है। 

***