I have been studying a lot of art history and it has led me into a lot of other fields, made me ask questions, try and find answers which i must say have come to me in the strangest way ever!
for the last 6 months i have been dwelling on Lord Shiva, his forms, the places of worship, the characterestics of his temples ... well just about everything. I have noticed that just one things kept constantly coming back to me, and this was the basic yantra which defines everything, centrally the energy center for shiva. This caught my eye for a very long while and i just found myself at a dead end waiting for something to happen in reality, for me to see what all this was about. This research into Hinduism and to a certain extent "magic" if i can call it has led me to do and believe many things which are normally not expected of a city bred woman.
For one, I have realized a few things about this great society we live in, i have figured how happy they are to live in a make belief world where there are no troubles.... strange isnt it, how can you not have trouble, and why hope for a trouble free life where everything comes easy! trouble defines that circumstance that comes into your life which you certainly do not accept. Its the non acceptance(personally or socially) of it that leads it to be defined as trouble.
Second, the average man on the street is not willing to experiment more than he needs to with his faith. My father and a few other oldies in my family are not exactly sure that what am going into is the best for me. but fear rules them and i think thats what their down fall/ignnorance is all about. they will never get it. religion doesnt stop with going to a temple, you have not even scratched the iceberg of potency of faith if you think its enough to just display your so called religiousness, or know a few stories from mythology.
Thirdly, this religion has been tested by time, its lasted everything, obviously people were not dumb to just sit around carving rock all across the countryside, spreading a faith! somethings just never changed through the ages... thats what is our culture. The gods remained the same, those associated with the gods remained the same, the actions of ritual associated with the gods remained the same. look around you and you will know the next time you see a stelae with two entwined snakes carved into it, that ancient schools of thought are just a foot away from you, just silent, waiting for you to realize them...
All this starts with the complete faith and knowledge of yantras which are the stepping stone towards finding out more... of course you dont go about getting one until you are initiated.. and initiation is not an easy task. its meant for those who are mentally eligible for it. Am sure this flew above your head.. i know..lets leave it here, beyond this .. i cannot explain.
3 comments:
Hi!
Let's see the basics of what we call today as Hinduism.
BASICS OF HINDUISM
The basic question that ever remains to be posed to oneself is, “Who am I?”
Logically, to the best of my knowledge, I did not exist in the present form, say, some 100 years ago, and might not reappear 100 years hence. I am also aware that my base, the earth, alongwith other members of the planetary system, is in existence for over four billion years and likely to continue for a similar duration. Thus my maximum posible existence in the present form on earth, being under 200 years, is negligible compared to the possible life span of the earth or the universe, i.e., it is like ‘a flash in the pan’.
The wise Hindus were the people who inhabited this part of the globe more than six century B.C. ago, the period of their reported historical fall, after which Jainism and Buddhism started taking roots in India. The religion or the search for the truth, the ‘Hindus’ practised was called Sanatan dharma or the religion that had continued from time immemorial. The ancients believed in the absolute truth, i.e., the word ‘truth’ was used for something which remained unchanged with time. The basis of this religion was that the Creator, the absolute truth, was formless or Nirakar. He is unborn and unending. Whereas, the physical forms in the universe are images within His head that are ever changing with time, or like unreal characters in a fictitious story that has a beginning and an end. The world was therefore called mithya or a lie, an outcome of Maya or illusion.
Thus, in view of the above, just as a novel or a story serves as an entertaining pastime, although the prescribed books in schools and colleges could be boring but serving some useful purpose, the drama of physical forms could be serving a similar purpose for the Creator. And/ or, the drama in human life, the most evolved among animals, is continued because He is seeking His own origin, and failing again and again, for even the wise ancients appear to have failed in reaching at His beginning.
Hi again!
About performance of rituals by the present day humans, I would like to separately narrate a story that was once told to me by my late father.
He said that once upon a time, on the bank of a river, there lived a priest who used to swim over to a Shiva temple on an island that existed in the middle of that river. He did so daily, without fail. He used to perform the ritual worship of the Shivlinga installed there. In the same village, there also lived an atheist who too used to regularly visit the temple after return of the priest. But, instead, he would strike at the Shivlinga with his footwear held in his hand.
The process went on for many years, till one day when there was a high flood in the river.
The priest, with the fear of getting drowned, decided not to perform the ritual that day, justifying the act by explaining to himself that as he had been a devotee of Shiva for years, He wouldn’t mind his absence for a day. The atheist, however, swam over to the other bank, despite difficult conditions. And, as soon as he was about to strike the Shivalinga, the Lord, in person, appeared before him! He lay flat on His feet and begged to be excused. However, Shiva told him to get up and ask for a boon, because in reality it was he who was His true devotee, and not the priest! For, had he been the real devotee, unlike the atheist, he wouldn’t have had mortal fear while performing the daily rituals, because then he would have had faith in Him!
Hi,
that was a lovely post. reminds me of Kannappa nayanar. He too has a very similar story.
Regds
Kavitha
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