Let us THINK : By Dr.King: Recent Episodes
Dr.King
[Quick links] [Pause] If you ask this question to a Hindu, probably hewould flounder to give a straight simple answer. He could speak forhours about what Hinduism is all about but never define it preciselyin unambiguous words.
[Quick links] [Pause] Neitherthe Advaitis nor the Dwaitis would accept this equation. Each side isbiased by what their preceptors have said. And the debate goes on,about which is the right view. I think if we can see that both aresame, many confusions would get resolved. But how do we do thatwithin the framework of the Upanishads?
This word Brahmacharya is probably the most misunderstoodword. People somehow link it to ‘preserving sexual energy’,being celibate, transmuting the ‘sexual power’etc. There is a long history behind all these notions and it is hardto see the light.
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As per the traditional belief, whatever truth one finds in theUpanishads is an attempt by the Upanishadic sages to explain theirexperience, that they had when they were in deep state of meditation.That is the realization they arrived at. It is a different matterwhether they could describe their experience exactly as they wentthrough it. But anyone who goes on their path, would surelyexperience the very same truth and it needs no furthervalidation.
What is this realization as per the Upanishads?
[Quick links] [Pause] TheBhagavad Gita has a complete chapter on meditation – chapter 6,Dhyana Yoga. This deals with how someone undertakes this pathof realization or attainment of ultimate truth. It also explains whathappens when someone reaches the culmination of this path and what isthe ultimate truth that one realizes.
Akka Mahadevi is on the final phase of her journey. She wants to makethe impossible possible. Though without a body consciousness, shedoes have a body and that body has its own limitations. It wants tosee the formless in some form. That is because it can only perceiveforms. It does not understand abstract things.
In the previous episode, we saw how a young girl namely Mahadevidared to take on the entire world. She did not care how the worldlypeople look at her. She discarded all identities, even the identityas a female!
She went around naked without any hesitation or feeling of shame.
[Quick links] Before we get into this dreaming business, let us start this episodewith a startling incident.
It was an assembly of great saints, all of whom had experienced Godin their own way. There were men and women who had gathered togetherto share their individual experiences with each other. They had alsocome for a serious discussion about how the society can be reformed.
[Quick links] We were discussing the story of one of most revered mediaeval saints of India, namely Goda. Goda is in love with God! And she has nohesitation to admit it openly. So, she sings expressing her love toGod. She imagines herself to be one of the cowherd girls who livedwith Krishna, when the God descended on earth in the human form ofKrishna.
[Quick links] [Pause] Probably a Christian or a Muslim may even shudder to think of such athing. Romance with God?! Maybe it sounds blasphemous. But not inIndia among Hindus. There, it is perfectly alright to have a ‘loveaffair with God’. Well, only if you are a female. As a femaledevotee, it is perfectly all right to look upon God as your malecompanion, your beloved, your lover.
[Quick links] [Pause] Many modern Yoga teachers define Yoga as union. Union withwhat? Many definitions have been given. But the fact remains thatmost of us mean body exercises, when we say Yoga. It is aboutmanipulation of the body, it is about fitness of the body, it isabout ‘control’ of the body and its instincts. That is the domainof Hatayoga.
So, what is this union about?
Patanjali Yoga goes a step further. It talks about movingbeyond the body and mind. It talks about the soul. And if at all youcan use such a word, it talks about uniting with your real self, orattaining Kaivalya – a state where the soul is completely free.
But is that the end? That is what we will be seeing in thisepisode.
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Con el tipo de popularidad que ha alcanzado el Yoga estos días,estoy segura de que habrás probado alguna "forma" de Yoga.Probablemente también te haya beneficiado. Pero si quieres saber mássobre lo que el yoga puede hacer y cómo funciona realmente, esteepisodio es para ti. Por favor sigue escuchando.
[Quick links] [Pause] Just like our modern-day computers, our minds too have EPROMSwith pre-stored instructions that enables us to boot strap, and go onwith our lives. These instructions are essential for living. But theybecome a problem when they somehow get corrupted. Imagine how acomputer would behave if its EPROM is corrupted. It just crashes 😉 That would also be our state, if we have a faulty mental EPROM.Before we talk about how the practice of Yoga helps in setting righta corrupted mental EPROM, let us face the fundamental question namely-
[Quick links] [Pause] One goes through a long process of Yoga, following its 8 steps.And finally, he or she attains the state of Samadhi. Is that the endof the journey? What exactly happens at that final stage, inanticipation of which the Yogi had dedicated all his life, goingthrough the arduous practice of Yoga? That is what we are going todiscuss in this episode.
[Quick links] [Pause] Upanishads always fascinated me. For those people who are notfamiliar, Upanishads are the philosophic parts of the ancient IndianVedas. And Vedas are probably, the oldest available scriptures of theworld. While most Indians view Upanishads with lot of reverence, manywesterners, which include well known scientists and intellectuals,consider them as the peak of human intellectual endeavors.
[Quick links] [Pause] Patanjali’s Yoga is centered around mind. But throughout thediscussion about Yoga, Patanjali rarely describes this mind nor howit functions. The reason is that Patanjali assumes the model of themind as put forth by Samkhya. So, it becomes necessary to know whatSamkhya says about the mind in order to fully understand Yoga. Inthis episode, we will be doing exactly that.
[Quick links] [Pause] It is amazing how ancient Indians were preoccupied with comingup with various theories about the mind. These theories were notaimed at understanding the mind, the way our modern neurosciencedoes. But they were driven by practical applications. One such theory of mind was Buddhist theory of mind as recordedin the Buddhist scripture, namely the Abhidamma Pitaka. Based on thistheory, Buddhists developed various meditative practices. We willdiscuss this Buddhist theory of mind in this episode.
[Quick links] [Pause] Whether mind is just the brain or is it something mysterious,has always been a point of debate. The more we understand our brain,more we will be closer to understanding the mind, as well as thelimitations in our scientific methodology. For more than one reason,it seems that there is something more to the mind than just thebrain. In this episode, we will see why it is necessary to keep anopen mind before arriving at any conclusions.
In the previous episode we stopped at ‘stages of samadhi with awareness’ and showed how all the steps of Yoga till that point can be completely explained in terms of neuroscience. That means, all that can be scientifically verified.
Contrary to common perception, Yoga has more to do with Meditation than physical exercises. There are lot of misconception about these real aspects of Yoga. Lack of knowledge and willful distortion by many commercially motivated Gurus, have earned the name pseudoscience to Yoga. This is quite unfortunate.
In the past episodes we saw how yoga helps in minimizing the thought-wars that generally give rise to stress. But mere stress reduction is not the ultimate goal of Yoga.
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Unless you are a novice who is just introduced to Yoga, you probably have noticed that the effectiveness of Yoga practice gradually tapers off over a period of time. It is no longer as effective as it once used to be. Why does that happen?
[Quick links] [Pause] In this episode, we will take up one of the well-known‘creation hymns’ of the ancient Indian Vedas. But we will belooking at this hymn from a slightly different point of view.
[Quick links] [Pause] Big bang theory is the most widely accepted scientific theory abouthow our universe emerged 13.7 billion years ago. Though there is notmuch of empirical evidence about this theory yet, except formathematical derivations, it is most likely to be true. This theorywas propounded in the late 1940s and refined in the past few decades.But what is amazing is that there are seemingly similar descriptionsof the origins of the universe, in the more than 5000-year-old Vedas.– the most ancient scriptures of India. In this talk, I willbriefly touch upon one such description.
[Quick links] [Pause] Almost all the meditation practices that are propagated today arebased on the idea of Kundalini and associated Chakras.The concept of Kundalini is so popular that one has to think twicebefore calling it as a myth 😉 It can be viewed as blasphemous! I had discussed earlier how one of the well-known Gurus of our times,namely Swami Dayananda Saraswati, brushes aside Kundalini basedmeditation as “not meditation”.
Let me look at this practice a bit more in depth before sharing theviews of some of the well-known Yogis of our times, on this idea.
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Patanjali is normally credited with laying out a formal base for Yoga or meditation. The meditation talked about by Patanjali seems to be a reframing of early Buddhist meditative practices in the light of Upanishadic meditation, and under the strong logical framework of Samkhya. What does Patanjali say about meditation?
[Quick links] [Pause] Once, one of my readers surprised me by saying that Upanishads nevertalk about meditation! Probably he was watching a bit too many of thevideos by the Advaiti Swami that I talked about, a few episodes ago😉 That Swami sometimes says that meditation is only an aid to moveon the path of enquiry or Jnyana Marg; and as such, meditationcannot lead to ultimate realization. We have already discussed aboutthis earlier, when I talked about that swami.Is it then true that Upanishads don’t talk about meditation?
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Many modern Gurus propagate different techniques which they eithercall as ‘mindfulness meditation’ or ‘insight meditation’.They make tall claims about what these can really achieve. Butactually, these are rehashing of well-known Buddhist meditativetechniques. So, it is important to know about these Buddhistmeditation techniques, that have a long history and are still beingpracticed among the Buddhists.
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Nowadays one keeps coming across YouTube videos on ‘Guided Meditation’. Sitting face to face with a ‘live’ Guru and going through a session of guided meditation has become a thing of the past. It is time for running a ‘Meditation ap’ on your mobile phone, totally in the comfort of your cozy home. Of course, nothing comes free. Instead of paying a hefty fee to a Guru, you end up paying subscription fee to the ap maker 😉Am I also talking about one such guided meditation?
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After the heavy and philosophically intense previous episode, let me start this episode with a light and hilarious story.
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Once someone asked Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Guru of Swami Vivekananda, the question “Is God Saakaara – with form, or is he Niraakaar – without form?”.
Ramakrishna had spent most of his life worshipping God in a feminine form of Goddess Kaali. Even during meditation, he could see none other than the figure of Kaali. How could he have answered this question, other than by saying “Of course God has a form!”.
But Ramakrishna was supposed to be a realized person. How did he actually answer this question?
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The Advaita of Sankara says that “only the God exists and this world is just an illusion – or Mythya, - Brahma Satya, Jagat mythya”. And many modern Swamis like the one I was referring to in the previous episode, keep repeating this view. This in spite of the fact that many later Indian philosophers, who succeeded Sankara, strongly refuted this concept of mythya as put forth by Sankara. They did not agree that this world is an illusion.
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I know, those of you who have ever dirtied your hands trying to cultivate something, must be wondering what I am talking about! “Zero cost and Eco friendly”? Does it sound a bit oxymoronic? Or is it just a wishful thinking? 😉
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When you interact with the world around you, have you ever noticed something? No matter what your eyes see, or ears hear, or tongue tastes, or nose smells or your hands touch, it is your mind that ultimately provides you the information. If you are asleep, or unconscious, no matter what your eyes see or ears hear, and so on, you will not be aware of anything! So, it is the mind that sees, or hears, touches, tastes, and smells.
That being the case, how do you know that what you see, or what you hear, or what you touch etc. actually exists out there?
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In the previous episode we saw how science adopts a monistic view of the world and reduces everything into mere objects. And that ‘everything’ includes each one of us. Science is also so paranoid about subjectivity that it emphasizes on objectivity and looks down on all subjective aspects of us. On the other hand, many of us, either by training or by intuition believe that we are not just the body, but we also have a soul that gives us the subjective experiences.
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Most of us never get this question. We always assume that the world is indeed what we perceive it as. That is our notion of reality.
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Probably you think that it sounds like a long list of unrelated practices. But they are not. All of them belong to an overlapping series of mystic practices. These practices can be found in almost any part of the world, in any time period, though these keep changing in terms of their meaning, details, and the purpose.
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Have you ever tried listening to some wonderful music recital on your mobile phone, sitting in a bustling market place? You know it is futile, unless you are wearing noise cancelling earplugs. The surrounding noise would totally submerge the music coming from your phone. Either you have to move to a quiet place or use an appropriate device.
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Honestly, I don’t know what many of the modern Gurus mean when they say that they are ‘realized’.
Someone attains realization while sitting casually on a rock, another gets it when waiting for a train in a busy railway station, and so on!
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I was once asked this question when I wrote my first book on Yoga. Well, let me remind that by Yoga I meant some meditative practice, and not the physical discipline that the word represents these days 😉 I was a bit irritated by that question. I was a purist who believed that Yoga is beyond experiencing, beyond mystifying. It is a journey beyond the mind. Hankering for some experience was demeaning the potential of Yoga, that is what I thought.
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In the last episode we saw how the Varna and caste system in India developed over a period of time. Its main drawback was that it became more and more dependent on the birth of an individual rather than on his/her nature or profession as originally envisaged.
[Quick links] [Pause] In the previous episode, we discussed the Varna system that wasprevalent in India. It is this Varna system that later gave rise tothe often-criticized caste system.
[Quick links] [Pause] In one of his talks, the well-known Hindu revivalist namely Mr. RajivMalhotra almost accuses India’s past colonial rulers for givingrise to the caste system in India. This great scholar based in US,with several books to his credit, goes into the genesis of the word‘caste’ and tries to absolve India from this dark spot which hasalways tarnished the glorious past of India.
[Quick links] [Pause] I had an Indian friend who lived in US for a while. She was workingin IT industry like most Indians who migrate to US. She told me aninteresting incident.
[Quick links] [Pause] Most westerners brush aside Hinduism as a polytheistic religion withidol worship at its core.
People of Abrahamic religions pridethemselves as practitioners of monotheistic faith. That they feel,makes their faith superior to ‘the rest of the Pagan’ faithsystems.
If you have followed my previous posts and or many of myearlier posts, you will agree that monotheism is not some prerogativeof the Abrahamic religions.
[Quick links] [Pause] Upanishads are the ancient Indian texts believed to be dating back toat least 5000 years. They are parts of the Vedas. They formedthe main philosophic texts of Ancient India, at least before theadvent of Buddhism.Some of the thoughts expressed in these Upanishads are amazing, seeneven from today’s point of view. My intention is not to say thatwhatever expressed in them is right. I just want to highlight howwrong we are when we try to assign a chronology to intellectualevolution.
[Quick links] [Pause] Most religions have a creator God. This creator God is the one who isbelieved to have created this world. If you are a believer, you justaccept this without asking questions. But the modern Atheists likeRichard Dawkins don’t agree that any such God exists. In that case,how did this world come into existence?
[Quick links] [Pause] I recently had an interaction with a young Indian friend of mine, ateenager with a rather religious Hindu background. This young man wassure that God does not exist since there is no proof that he does. Onsecond thoughts, he however, chose to categorize himself as agnosticrather than atheist 😉
Why does one slog for 10 hours a day, may be 5 days a week? Obviously, to earn money and enjoy! We acquire things, amass wealth, with a single point agenda – enjoyment. All our focus in life is around enjoyment! Whether it is a street dog or an advanced Yogi, all want to enjoy. It is just that each has a different definition for enjoyment 😉
[Quick links] [Pause] Sometimelast year, on August 18th 2022, to be precise, I startedmy new series of talks based on the ancient Indian scripture namelythe Bhagavata. That day happened to be the birth day ofKrishna who was the focus of my talks. That series went on for33 weeks and finally concluded this year i.e. on March 30th2023.
[Quick links] [Pause] You remember the circumstances in which God agreed to appear on earth? We discussed that in the very beginning. It was to put an end to many tyrants who were wreaking havoc on earth and tormenting helpless people. With the killing of Kamsa, Chanura, Jarasandha, Duryodhana and so on, God’s purpose of coming to earth was successfully completed. Now it is time to lower the curtains and end this divine drama.
[Quick links] [Pause] Ancient India had her own atomic theory propagated by sage KaNaada. That theory talked about atoms, sub-atomic particles and their combinations. But did those Indians have nuclear missiles too? Based on superficial similarities, many commentators of ancient Indian scriptures tend to believe so. What they really had is something difficult to guess, but it appears as if they had more fierce weapons than our present-day nuclear missiles.
[Quick links] [Pause] We often justify our wrong ways by quoting this adage. Many of the wars fought these days stealthily follow this principle. Even the terrorists use this to justify their dastardly acts. They even claim the support of their religious scriptures which apparently preach them that way!
[Quick links] [Pause] I was talking about war preparations and all of a sudden, I now am talking about Bhagavad Geetha! Were you surprised?
[Quick links] [Pause] Having failed to convince Duryodhana about the futility of the war, Krishna set out on the next strategy namely Bheda or ‘divide and rule’. He wanted to weaken Duryodhana and force him to give up war.
[Quick links] [Pause] We were discussing the plans of Krishna to go to Hastinapur as a peace maker. It was a strange situation. On one hand, Krishna very well knew how futile his attempts were. He also predicted the end game and assured Draupadi that war was going to happen and her revenge would be taken. On the other hand, Krishna wanted to play his role as a human being. He set off to Hastinapur as an envoy of Yudhishthira who wanted to avoid war at any cost. Yudhishthira was even prepared to give up his claim for the Kingdom.
[Quick links] [Pause] As we discussed in the previous episode, Sanjaya reaches Upaplavya with a message from the Kauravas. He informs the Pandavas, that Dhritarastra wants peace and not war. The only condition is that the Pandavas should forget whatever had happened and live in peace with Duryodhana. But there was no talk about giving back their kingdom to them which Duryodhana had snatched from them deceitfully.
[Quick links] [Pause] The Pandavas finally completed their 13 years of exile. They went through lot of hardships both when they spent their 12 years in the forests as well as when they spent a year incognito. Especially the last year was quite tough.
[Quick links] [Pause] In the previous episode, we saw how the wicked Dhushasana dragged Draupadi, the Queen of the Pandavas, to a fully assembled court. Her husbands had lost not only themselves but also her, to Duryodhana. As per the rules of the unfair dice game, all of them were now the slaves of Duryodhana who could treat them in whatever manner he felt right. Draupadi was pleading for help. But none had the guts to take on Duryodhana. Not even his blind father Dhritarastra.
[Quick links] [Pause] The purpose of Bhagavata was to instill devotion in God and assure helpless people that God would always come to their rescue. But Mahabharata had a different focus. It was a complex plot where intricate ideas of right and wrong are dissected and contrasted to bring out the subtle nuances of righteousness. Many a times it is difficult to give a verdict on what is right in a given complex situation.
[Quick links] [Pause] We were discussing about Krishna’s stories from Bhagavata. Now all of a sudden, I seem to shift from Bhagavata to another Indian Epic namely Mahabharata. It is not without reason though.
We were discussing the interesting story of Avadhoota – a completely liberated person who was moving around like a mad man completely nude. Though Avadhoota had attained the ultimate knowledge, he never had any specific Guru. He imbibed whatever he knew from various sources which he considered as his Gurus. Some of these were not even human.
In the previous episode, we saw 8 of them namely fire, moon, sun, pigeon, boa constrictor, sea, moth and bee. We also saw what Avadhoota learnt from these Gurus. Let us continue with rest of his Gurus in this concluding episode on Avadhoota’s story.
[Quick links] [Pause] HappyNew year and my best wishes! I have some interesting things to announce for this New year.
[Quick links] [Pause] We were discussing the interesting story of Avadhoota – a totally liberated person who was moving around like a mad man, completely nude. Though Avadhoota had attained the ultimate knowledge, he never had any specific Guru. He imbibed whatever he knew from various sources which he considered as his Gurus. Some of these were not even human.In the previous episode, we saw 4 of those Gurus namely earth, air, sky, and water. We also saw what Avadhoota learnt from these Gurus. Let us continue with some more of his Gurus in this episode.
[Quick links] [Pause] Guruis a Sanskrit word which means a teacher – someone who shows you the way. Many of us spend our lifetime searching for a Guru in our spiritual journey. We try to coverup our lazy lifestyle by saying that we have not yet found a proper Guru. And some of us hang on to fake Gurus who mislead more than lead us on the right path. Bhagavata talks of a strange man who claimed that he had not one but 24 Gurus! But most of them were not even human!
[Quick links] [Pause] Aswe discussed a few episodes ago, Krishna did his schooling in a residential school run by a well-known teacher by name Sandipani. Such residential schools were called Gurukul– literally meaning ‘family of teachers’. Students lived in such Gurukuls along with their teachers and their family, during the period of their study which could be as long as 12 years. During that period, these students not only studied various subjects but also took part in the day-to-day household activities of the teachers’ family. In a way, it used to be all-round-training.
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| | | Jara bringing child Jarasandha |
Withthe dual intention of freeing the Kings imprisoned by Jarasandha and also attending special Rajasuya ritual organized by Yudhishthira, Krishna and his entourage reaches Indraprastha. It would have taken several days for them to travel from western end of India to almost Northern end.
[Quick links] [Pause] Krishnahas left behind his naughty childhood days. And also, the playful youthful days. He is a mature person now, married and also with several children. Though he was not the King, for all practical purposes, he worked like the representative of aging King Ugrasena – his maternal grand father.
Have you ever wondered how a King or Prime minister or President of a country spends his typical day? Here is a short snap shot that Vyasa provides.
[Quick links] [Pause] Whilehe was in Gokul, as a mischievous kid, Krishna was often accused of stealing butter. As he grew into a young man, people accused him of stealing the hearts of young girls. He was now an adult and the prince of Dwarika. But accusations of stealing never left Krishna. And now, he was faced with the accusation of stealing an expensive Gem. What is this new story?
[Quick links] [Pause] Krishnawas now in Dwarika. He was no more the boy of Mathura. He had grown into an adult. Naturally, like all human beings he too fell for the cupid’s arrows. That is, he too fell in love like a typical human being. But it was not a one-sided story. Nor was it a smooth love affair. Let us discuss this love story in this episode.
[Quick links] [Pause] The book that I am going to announce today is not really a new book. I had started working on it 2 years ago, but I was not very comfortable giving a final shape to it. It is about a highly revered ancient Indian scripture, or shall I say the most controversial one. It is highly revered since it is supposed to put down in clear terms, everything about Brahma or God. I am terming it controversial since the same book has been used to justify diametrically opposite view points by many great Indian philosophers.
[Quick links] [Pause] Wewere discussing events in Mathura after Kamsa was killed by Krishna. Kamsa’s father-in-law, namely Jarasandha was furious about the killing of Kamsa. He wanted to wipe out the entire Yadavaclan to which Krishna belonged to avenge Kamsa’s death.
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| | | Uddhav meeting the cowherd girls |
Afterfreeing Mathura from the clutches of the tyrant Kamsa, Krishna installed Ugrasena– Kamsa’s father, as the King of Mathura.
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| | | Krishna curing Trivarka |
WhenKrishna and Balarama were going around in the majestic city of Mathura, they came across two types of people. There were some who were close admirers of Kamsa and loyal to him. They tried to slight Krishna in whatever way they could. But there was a vast silent majority who suffered a lot from the tyrant Kamsa. They were quite jubilated to see Krishna. They had heard so many heroic stories about Krishna that they were hoping that Krishna would free them from the oppressor Kamsa.
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| | | Akrura lands in Vrindavan with an invite from Kamsa | |
Wereyou surprised?
The Kamsa, who was all along doing everything possible to kill Krishna, how could he think of inviting Krishna to Mathura? Was he repenting for whatever wrongs he did against Krishna? Was he thinking of patching up with Krishna to avoid his death in Krishna’s hands? Or was his wicked mind scheming for something very big?
[Quick links] [Pause] TheKrishna’s story that you have been listening to for the past few weeks is now in a book form – e-book, Paperback as well as audio. Each format has its own advantages.
[Quick links] [Pause] Inthe previous episode, we saw how Vyasa apparently portrayed Krishna as a flirtatious boy.
More than getting into the historicity of the incident narrated in the previous episode, I am more curious as to why Vyasa included such an incident in the Bhagavata. Did Vyasa really want to portray Krishna as a flirtatious boy?
[Quick links] [Pause] Krishnais often portrayed as a ‘lover boy’! Probably, in any other religion, thinking about God as a lover boy is blasphemous! But not so for most Indians.
They enjoy looking at Krishna as a very flirtatious, and even sometimes as a person who goes beyond all socially accepted norms when it comes to ‘love’.
[Quick links] [Pause] | | | Krishna in Vrindavan | Child Krishna seemed to be always getting into problems. When he was a small kid, the cruel ogress Putana tried to kill him. When he survived that attempt, a cart almost fell on the cradle in which he was sleeping. But he escaped unhurt. As Krishna grew up, there were more such calamities which seemed as if planned by someone to kill him.
[Quick links] [Pause] Allmothers complain about the naughtiness of their children. But which mother does not want her child to be naughty? In fact, all mothers just enjoy it. More tantrums the child throws, more the mother likes it! Imagine a child very serious like an adult. He is no longer a kid 😉
[Quick links] [Pause] We were discussing how God arrived on earth in human form. He took birth as the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison cell, where they were imprisoned by the wicked Kamsa. As it turned out, Vasudeva shifted the newborn to Gokul, where his friend Nandagopa’s wife had just given birth to a female child. He exchanged that kid with his own and returned back to the prison.
[Quick links] [Pause] Thatwas the dark fortnight of the rainy month of Sravana. It was almost middle of the night. The moon had not yet risen. The sky was pitch dark. There were lightning and thunder storms, followed by torrential rains. The river Yamunahad flooded. Kamsa was taking rest in his palace, unable to fall asleep. He knew very well that any moment Devaki was going to give birth to her eighth child. The taunting tone of the ‘voice from skies’ was still reverberating in his ears. Will it really happen? He kept thinking. He tried to fall asleep, reassuring himself that nothing of that sort could happen since both Vasudeva and Devaki were imprisoned in a high security prison guarded by his trusted soldiers.
But...
[Quick links] [Pause] In response to request from many of my readers/listeners I have added share buttons on each of my blog pages to share the page on whatsappor telegramin addition to other channels. These buttons appear either on the left margin – in the case of desktop viewing, or page bottom – in the case of mobile viewing.
[Quick links] [Pause] The Bhagavata contains lot of stories about incarnations of God. One of them, namely that of incarnation as Krishna is what I am going to narrate in this series.
Bhagavata depicts quite a dramatic prelude to the ‘God coming to earth’.
[Quick links] [Pause] That could be a bit controversial question to raise 😉 We come across more and more people who firmly deny the need for any God in today’s circumstances.
As always, I would like to analyze this issue rather than outright take any position.
[Quick links] [Pause] Today I am going to start a new series of short talks based on the Indian scripture namely the Bhagavata Purana. This is a scripture comprising of stories about God Vishnu in many of his Avatars or incarnations. The word Vishnu literally means – someone who is all pervasive. Who can be all pervasive, but God? That way, Vishnu is not limited to God of some sect of Indians, nor some specific religion. He is the God of any God centric religion. His reach is beyond sects, beyond religions, and even beyond India.
[Quick links] [Pause] First of all, let me apologize for not speaking to you for the past few weeks. I am going through some voice related issues, and I prefer to remain silent for some time. I hope to get back to you as early as possible.
I have a short announcement to make. I have made sampling of all my audiobooks simple. This will help you in deciding to choose the right book for you in a matter of minutes without switching sites and product pages. This is a small but powerful addition to UBL of my books.
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The journey I am referring to is both the journey of our ancestors over thousands of years as well a journey that I took you along for the past several episodes talking about that.
[Quick links] [Pause] We have been discussing about Upanishadic truths and how different people view them. I personally go by the obvious meaning of the Upanishads without resorting to any mental gimmicks. I do it not just because I revere the Upanishads but also for the reason that the idea of unification as put forth by the Upanishads has a deeper implication in our lives.
[Quick links] [Pause] I had a friend who believed firmly in the theory of Maya talked about by modern Advaitis. This elderly gentleman used to drive a long distance just to meet me and engage me in a lively debate. He somehow wanted to convince me that this world is an illusion and all that exists is just Atma and nothing else!
[Quick links] [Pause] Advaitis who propagate the theory of illusion or Maya have a tough time explaining many mundane things they keep doing. Most of these people indulge in worship of some deity or sometimes even their own preceptors who are deified!
[Quick links] [Pause] At a time when the world is faced with an imminent world war, and nasty menace of unending religiously motivated terrorism, let us talk something positive.
[Quick links] [Pause] One of the reasons for our confusion is our unruly mind. It obscures clarity. It keeps dragging us outward. It puts before us myriad baits and makes us forget our true nature.
[Quick links] [Pause] A few episodes ago I was talking about this world as a drama played by the Atma that has taken many forms. Each form has a role to play in this drama. Some of them play a sad role and some play a happy role. From the point of view of the drama there is nothing sad or happy about it. Each form is just playing its role. So, no need to worry about it.
[Quick links] [Pause] That definitely sounds absurd! It violates basic math and common sense. But Vedas do have such strange mathematics.
[Quick links] [Pause] I have been trying to portray this world as a drama played by the Atma all throughout the previous episodes. That was not my opinion but that is what logically follows from whatever is narrated in the Upanishads.
[Quick links] [Pause] Many modern ‘intellectuals’ who proudly declare themselves to be atheists would probably find many supporters in ancient India 😉
That is because most of the ancient Indian schools of thought were inherently atheist in the core. They did not believe in a ‘creator’ God who created this world, just like our modern atheists 😉
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Many devout Christians believe so. It is a different matter though, Jesus never claimed that he is God! He almost always addressed himself as ‘son of man’ or at most as ‘son of God’ but not as ‘I am God’.
[Quick links] [Pause] Ramana Maharshi was a great saint who lived amidst some of us till recently. He passed away in 1950. There are many people alive even today who have seen and interacted with him in a place called Arunachala in Southern India.
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We were discussing a mind game in the previous episode where an actor plays multiple roles ‘simultaneously’. What does this game have to do with the Advaita and the concept of Maya that we were discussing about in previous episodes?
[Quick links] [Pause] Ihave a smart neighboring kid who is just 2-year-old. She can hardly express herself clearly. But some of her utterances amaze me and show how shallow we, the ‘so called adults’ are!
[Quick links] [Pause] Theanalogy and explanation that I am going to discuss now apparently is first put forth by some well known Swami of Ramakrishna order, successors of Swami Vivekananda. This analogy is often used by many modern Advaita teachers to explain the concept of Maya or illusory nature of this world. The analogy is quite interesting and very close. But not quite close. Let us see how.
[Quick links] [Pause] Theworld we know of is unfathomable, and infinite in dimension. There could even be worlds beyond the reach of our senses. Added to this, this world has an unfathomable past and hopefully future too. Can we describe this massive entity, at least the intelligent part of it, in just twelve sentences? One of the Upanishads namely the Mandukya Upanishad from the Atharva Veda seems to make exactly such a claim! What does it say?
[Quick links] [Pause] Manyof us over emphasize on logic and reasoning. Rightly so, if you are scientifically oriented person. Science does stress on logic and reasoning and discourages subjective opinions or views. Many of the scientific ‘truths’ are accepted not because some great scientist like Newton or Einstein has said so, but because they can be arrived at using logic and reasoning and of course mathematics. Even when some of their findings are yet to be proven empirically, we take it for granted that they are true since these scientists based their discoveries on sound foundation of logic and reasoning.
[Quick links] [Pause] Inthe previous episode, we were talking about how the great philosopher Sankara came up with his theory of illusion or Maya in the process of explaining how the single Atma that alone exists ‘appears’ as many things. I am not sure whether there is any basis for this concept of illusion in any of the well-known Upanishads that Sankara often quotes. So, obviously later opponents of Sankara criticized him for inventing this concept. It is a different matter though that their objection was mainly because the concept of Maya as put forth by Sankara, did not fit in their philosophy of personified God.
[Quick links] [Pause] Manyof us often gloat over our limited knowledge. We think that we have understood everything in this world and we deem ourselves qualified to question deep philosophical truths.
[Quick links] [Pause] Inthe ritual parts of the Vedas the emphasis has been on performing various rituals to please the Devas and get whatever you want from them. This ‘whatever’ refers to worldly riches, good companions and children, a secure and comfortable life, protection from enemies, and may be heavenly abodes after death. But do all these make you happy forever?
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I am not even asking – “Are we on a wild goose chase?”. Because I am sure that we are 😉 Looks like all our activities are centered around how to make money! If some activity does not make money, then it is not worth pursuing it. That seems to be our line of thinking.
[Quick links] [Pause] Before I go further talking about the Upanishads, I thought it is essential to clear some questions. These questions may give an impression that the Vedas are self contradictory and can be seen as a bundle of incoherent things. Some of the contradictions that one recognizes immediately are
[Quick links] [Pause] We were talking about the two questions that Gargi posed to the great scholar Yajnyavalkya. Gargi says that her two questions are like two fierce arrows that she has sent to shoot down Yajnyavalkya’s claim that he knows what God is.
[Quick links] [Pause] Ask this question to a staunch believer. Probably, he can’t give you a logical answer. But then faith and logic often don’t go together. Faith does not ask questions but merely accepts what is told. In the religious scenario asking questions is even forbidden. So, we just accept the existence of God even when we don’t know what that God is!
[Quick links] [Pause] During one of my early morning walks in a remote Indian village, I came across this elderly gentleman. He looked quite old with his wrinkled face betraying his age. He greeted me with a smiling face and introduced himself as a retired banker. He proudly declared himself as a person belonging to a faith that believed in a single God. Basically, he was a Muslim. I
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No matter what modern historians would say, when one studies Samhita parts of the Rigveda one gets tempted to believe that ancient Indians were indeed in touch with divine Aliens or the Devas from other worlds. The dialogues with the Devas are so intimate. The descriptions of the Devas, their vehicles, as well as the way they arrive at the sacrificial place, all look so real. One refuses to believe that they were all part of superstition or the beliefs of primitive men.
[Quick links] [Pause] In the previous episode we discussed how everything is readied for the animal sacrifice. But neither the Adhvaryu, nor the Hotr, not even the Udhgatr or the Brahma would like to kill the animal. They don’t want to taint their hands with blood! But the animal has to be killed before it can be offered to the Devas. How do they do that?
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In the previous episode I raised a serious issue. Is it right to kill a fellow being even if it is meant for the betterment of the entire world?
[Quick links] [Pause] There is an interesting incident described in Tipitaka – a collection of Buddha’s discourses. Once Buddha was visiting the ancient city of Nalanda in Northern India. This city hosted one of the renowned Universities in the ancient world. It was like the Stanford, MIT, or Oxford of today. Students from all parts of the world used to throng this place to pursue advanced studies. Many great visiting scholars and teachers used to give lectures in that University about whatever they propagated. Often these teachers used to embellish their speeches with mystifying ideas and baseless claims much like what some of our modern Gurus do 😉 So, one of Buddha’s admirers namely Kevatta, suggested to Buddha that he should precede his discourses by a display of psychic powers by some of his disciples to impress the audience.
[Quick links] [Pause] It may be true that we human beings are the most intelligent of all the creatures on this earth. But does that empower us to behave as if we are the sole owners of this earth? Many religious scriptures declare that this entire world is created for the sake of we human beings. They say that all other creatures have an existence meant for our comforts.
[Quick links] [Pause] If you think that only humans are attracted to intoxicants, you are wrong. Even the Devas of the Vedas have a weakness for drinks. They come running all the way to have a taste of the great drink prepared specially for them by the sages who perform the Vedic rituals and invite them by means of fire signals!
[Quick links] [Pause] Probably, you think that it is a silly question. But the Vedas have an interesting explanation 😉 This explanation is given in the very beginning, just before a Vedic ritual starts.
[Quick links] [Pause] Many of us practice Yoga to keep fit. Yoga has almost become synonymous with body postures or Asana as they are called. You will be surprised to know that health was never the primary goal of Yoga! Even the Hatayoga, the forerunner of modern Yoga, does not have health as the primary goal. It looks at health only as a prerequisite to further practice of Yoga and not as an end in itself.
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In** the previous episodes, I have been talking about various things preparing a ground for the final act namely the Vedic ritual. As we discussed in the very beginning, the ritual part of the Vedas is described by the Brahmana part of the Vedas. They contain elaborate step by step instructions for conducting a typical Vedic ritual.
[Quick links] [Pause] Vegetarianism is considered to be a virtue in many places. In some parts of India, you are looked down if you are a non-vegetarian. What about the Vedic Indians? Were they vegetarians?
[Quick links] [Pause] If you have ever visited Egyptian pyramids, you probably have marveled at their construction. Their construction instills awe, not as much due to the structural complexity, but because of their gigantic proportions. The constructs of Vedic Indians that I am going to discuss in this episode amazes one not because of their size but because of their structural complexity and aesthetic beauty.
[Quick links] [Pause] A few decades ago, I came across a paper published in one of the renowned peer reviewed mathematical journals. The paper claimed that whatever we know today as geometry, trigonometry and so on, actually originated in ancient India. Whether it is the so-called Pythagoras theorem, or the precise value of mathematical constants such as Pi or even methods to approximate the square root of 2, were all known to ancient Vedic Indians! The paper even claimed that the ancient Babylonians borrowed these ideas from Vedic Indians. And the Greeks like Pythagoras could have taken cues from them.
[Quick links] [Pause] If you read some of the mantras in the Veda, it appears as if the Devas or the Vedic aliens used to visit the Vedic Indians as and when they were invited. The descriptions are so vivid and honest and the dialogues are so intimate that it is difficult to believe that it was just a matter of superstition or fakery.
[Quick links] [Pause] In the previous episodes we discussed how the ancient Vedic rituals of India were in fact some kind of communion with aliens from outer world. These aliens were called Devas. This is how ancient Indians viewed the entire process.
[Quick links] [Pause] All of us routinely employ this even without being aware of it. I had a student whose name was some difficult to pronounce Arabic word. That was the first time I was hearing such a name. I had tough time remembering his name. So, once I asked him what that name really means. He not only gave me its meaning, but also told me some story from Quran related to that name. I remembered that name for a long time, after that!
[Quick links] [Pause] UFO sighting, purported incidents of aliens from outer space visiting the earth, and so on, have always intrigued modern humanity. Many interesting and popular movies have been shot based on these themes.
[Quick links] [Pause] I always had lot of interest in the Vedas. But my focus has always been on the Upanishad part that deals with philosophic issues covered by the Vedas. Being a person whose main access to Vedas is through printed books or electronic media, I did not have much need to remember things. My computer could do that job for me 😉
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Contrary to what most people believe, Yoga is not all about ‘twisting and turning’😉. The body postures that are most popular as Yoga today are only a small part of Yoga. The real Yoga is about how we can modulate our minds to achieve various ends.
[Quick links] [Pause] Do you remember how you used to memorize a nursery rhyme in your younger days? If the rhyme is a bit too long, you probably split it into fragments, went back and forth uttering the words in these fragments, probably even repeating some of the words, and so on. You kept repeating this process for a while. That seemed to help you in remembering the rhyme.
[Quick links] [Pause] We were discussing various reasons why Vedic Indians never wrote down the massive texts namely the Vedas. They chose to orally transmit them from generation to generation. No matter why they did that, it was a herculean effort considering the size of these texts. Added to this, there were stringent restrictions on exact ways of pronouncing the Mantras, the elaborate liturgy and so on. They appear to have managed to preserve all these things almost unchanged over thousands of years without resorting to writing them down. How did they manage to do that?