DIVINEINFORMATION PART 15 Dear friends,
While going through one of my externalmemory device, I came across some good information stored from a website (not available now). I thought of sharing interesting ones fromthem as a series. These are short information. Inpart 15 , I am starting with 67th item in this posting. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 24-05-2021.In May 5, 1995 67 Lead a lifecentred on God Manypeople are bewildered why there is so much of suffering in the world The replyto them is that men in general, have become highly selfish and their interestsare in material gains only The result is that they have forgotten about theexistence of a superior power. There is nothing wrong in remaining a householder but one shoulddischarge all obligations as service to God. Birthas a human being is a rare privilege conferred by God. Only man can think ofthe Almighty's compassion and take steps to reach His kingdom. Man's life is ajourney towards this goal. A person who proposes to travel abroadhas to go through several formalities. Should he not adopt similar measures forhis spiritual journey? For this, he should seek the guidance of a religious leader andrepose faith in him. Some describe this world as hellbecause they face failures and disappointments. But they can convert it into aheaven by turning their attention to God and leading a spiritual life. Ifthere is no instant success, God should never be blamed. Man 's efforts should be directed towardsachieving four aims. He should live in conformity with the Divine Law. Heshould earn wealth and enjoy worldly pleasures through legitimate means andwithout transgressing the Law of Righteousness. The fourth end is to securesalvation. Some think that religion is meant only for the old. On the other hand, if theyregulate their activities from younger days, they can lead a peaceful life. Another mistake man commits is hisfailure to realise that he has come from God and his concern should be to goback to Him. He can rise to the level of the Divine or be a demon. With hispower of discrimination, he can lead a life of detachment, and cultivate thehabit of remaining contented. His only duty is to love God sincerely. SriGanapathi Satchidananda Swami in a lecture said, blame and praise are the twosides of the coin called life. A person should accept his faults when pointed out by others and evenbe grateful to them. To acquire equipoise, and to train the mind to beperfectly calm amidst the pairs of opposites (such as honour and dishonour, joyand sorrow) one has to seek the company of pious men whose vigilant guidance,can help him to go through life. Serviceto the spiritual guides and to society, joining the company of saintly men, andshowing respect to elderly persons with character, will make life's journeypleasant. Meditating on God for sometime daily, chanting the names of theDivine and avoiding association with evil forces which may tempt a person, willhelp to develop purity ofthoughts. December5, 1995 68 Prayer essential in all stages of life Prayer and worship are necessary in a man's lifeat different stages of development; when he depends on external supports, whenhe needs moral strength and when he offers his complete surrender to God forgaining spiritual knowledge. His ultimate plea to God is not to be reborn inthis material world and get caught in the whirlpool of transmigration. Everyhuman being has two types of biographies; his external personality consists ofhis birth, growth, study and progress. But the accomplishments he gains are notof much importance because they relate only to the physical body. They aretemporary and will be lost. The human frame will wither as age advances. Theseexternal achievements will all come to an end. Our scriptures tell us that anyamount of such external achievements will not contribute to the growth of thesoul or the individual. What is important is the internaldevelopment or the growth of the "inner" personality which can bereferred to as the second biography This growth consists in building of character and gaining maturityHence tradition lays emphasis on man's inner growth Technological advancementmay contribute towards the growth of external personality Religion plays itsrole and takes care of man's internal development To achieve that, we havedifferent types of rituals For instance, observance of festivals likeSivarathri helps to strengthen our inner personality. There are three levels of worship to theAlmighty In the first stage of human life, people are dependent on externalsupport to enjoy material welfare. Thesupport from others like parents is necessary during life and hence at thislower level, prayer is necessary. Man wants protection infamily life and he seeks God's grace for his survival. As he registers progressin life, he finds that it is not very wise to depend on worldly matters as theycannot be permanent. Itis at this juncture, man thinks of the "Imperishable", the Almightyand seeks His guidance. He starts worshipping apersonal God like Rama, Siva or Devi. He wants to derive moral strength fromGod to get rid of all his emotional problems. Prayers provide this strength. Here man becomes dependent on God. SwamiParamartananda in a lecture said, at the third level man offers his totalsurrender to God, when he becomes Self-dependent. Even at this stage he can conduct Puja, meditate anddisplay his devotion. Thus at all stages man offers worship and prays Thenature or type of devotion at the final level makes him Self-dependent andplead with God, "Letme not be reborn and get immersed in the sea of turmoil". Hindu Gods, Deities and Spirits 69 Gods of the Vedic Period Much of the meaning of the Rig Veda is imperfectly understood and themeanings of many words have become obsolete for many centuries. However abroad concept of the religion of Rig Veda is clear enough. The chief object ofworship is the Deva (Prajapati – father of all gods and humans), who is seen as ‘thebright, shining one’. Prajapati retreated in history and was replaced bymany other major gods. The main gods of Vedic period are Indra, Varuna,Surya, Agni, Soma, Rudra and Yama Indra, thewarrior God, was associated with thunder and storm. He rode in a bright chariot with athunderbolt in his hand as his weapon (akin to Zeus of the Greeks and Thor ofthe Germans). He is also depicted riding his mount, Iravata the elephant. Varuna, secondonly to Indra in importance, was the guardian of the laws of nature. He watched the populace for any misdeedsand assured a moral society. He was ethically the highest Vedic god andwas pure and holy. The cosmic order (Rta) was his responsibility. Mitra, animportant god connected with vows and covenants is also mentioned in the Zoroastrian pantheonunder his Greco-Iranian name Mithras. Surya, the sun god has several other forms andnames. Savitur, the stimulator, is mentioned in the holy Gayatrimantra. Pushan another sun god was the protector of the herdsman. Visnhnu,also exhibited solar characteristics and covered the earth in threepaces. He would gain prominence much later in Hinduism, and would beretained as the main deity. Agni, the firegodwas considered as an intermediary between gods and men for he consumed thesacrifice and carried it to the gods. Somawas originally a plant extract, which made a potent drink. However, latersoma was identified with the moon. Rudra was aremote god, dwelling in the mountains. He was an archer and had a fiercecharacter. He couldbring disease with his arrows and at the same time was the guardian of healingherbs. Later Hinduism adopted many of his characters in their deity Shiva. Yama, lord of the dead, was also the guardian of the ‘World of the Fathers’,where the blessed dead ancestors feasted in bliss forever. A few goddesses also arementioned in the Rig Veda. Prthvi was the goddess of theearth. Aditi was the great mother of the gods. Ushaswas the goddess of dawn while Ratri was the spirit of the night. Aranyani, a naturegoddess was the lady of the forest. None of these goddesses played a major role in thepractice of the religion. The prominent gods were exclusively maledominated. Kama the love-god was the Indian version of cupid, ahandsome man with bow and arrow in his hands. 70 Gods of Hinduism-Trimurthy To an uninformed observer Hinduism may appear chaotic andpolytheistic. However, fundamentally Hindus believe in a Universal God and this belief is derived fromthe Vedic philosophy of the World Soul. The hundreds of godsportrayed are faces of the same single force, the Universal God. This Godis all pervasive, omnipotent and omniscient, in the true Vedic sense (sarvantharyami). A Hindu will seethe power of God in everything that surrounds him, animate or inanimate. Animals like cows, monkeys or snakes may be consideredsacred and even an ordinary stone may hold the power of God. The all-pervasive God is the creator of all matter and everythingcreated by the Universal God represents a part of Him. This may appear asidolatry to a Western observer, whose religion generally condemns it, but aHindu worships the Spirit that the idol represents rather than the idolitself. It only gives the worshipper a channel or a symbol to concentrateon during his prayers and meditation. Originally, three majorfaces of gods came to be popularly worshipped, namelyBrahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Shiva is almostas popular as Vishnu and is evolved from the fierce Vedic god Rudra. Residing in the Himalayan Mount Kailasa, Shiva is a great ascetic, alwaysmeditating for the welfare of the world. He is covered with ashes and from hismatted hair flows the sacred river Ganga. He is death and time, which destroy all things. On his foreheadis a third eye, an emblem of his superior wisdom. His neck is blue (Neelakantan),from the effects of the poison he drank in order to save the humanity. The bullNandi is his mount and beside him sits his beautiful wife, Parvathi. Shiva is also the god of fertility and is mostly worshipped in thephallic symbol called Linga. In the South he is also called as Pashuapati (Lord of the Beasts). TheShaivite sect considers Shiva as the Supreme Being. The protector and maintainer ofhumanity is Vishnu. He lives in the highest heaven, the Vaikunta. A great eagle (Garuda) is his vehicle and Lakshmi is his wifeseated to his right. He is considered as the Universal God (as early as in the BhagavadGita). He is also called as Hari (as against Hara, another name forShiva). Vishnu became an embodiment of many popular gods, namely Vasudevain Western India and Narayana, an obscure god mentioned in the Brahmanaliterature of Upanishads. Krishna, the hero of theepic Mahabharata came to be identified as an incarnate (avatar) of Vishnu. Rama, the heroof the epic Ramayana was another major avatar of Vishnu, incarnated in order torid the world of the demon Ravana. When there is disorder in the world Vishnuwill incarnate himself to restore order for the welfare of the world. Inall there are ten avatars of Vishnu. I will continue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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