1.09.2015

PK - Faith and our identity on this planet.

And the repercussions of Faith as our identity on this planet

A French artist paid with his life, an Indian director got paid 200 crores. 

The various faces of religion are indeed interesting to see in terms of the way it has shaped us up through history. Our outlook has changed and we have moved away from the core concepts of schools of thought to just numbers in terms of followers to self proclaimed Gurus.

Satire is a humorous way of bringing reality to the fore, but most people really don't want to know it. That's the sad side of being human, specially in these times. An artist drew out Prophet Muhammad and he paid for it dearly with his life, why, because someone else couldn't tolerate the apparent blasphemy. Meanwhile back home, a director cracked a joke on the primordial truth, a concept way beyond our realm of understanding and we all laughed. Believe me I felt very sorry about the director's ignorance towards his faith and ours because we laughed rather than feel ashamed about it. 

We are a very emotional race and we identify our existence with our faith but if the same faith is not completely understood where are we headed? Chaos rules when anything spoken against our Gods is not taken to kindly though we realize that we are not in a position to explain why we believe our Gods exist. But here is the thing, if the director tried to go against any other faith apart from Hinduism, he would probably have met a similar fate in the future at some point. People don't forget when you hurt them you know. But with Hinduism, it shows two things about us, our tolerance and our ignorance. Whether its good or bad is debatable, but we live in an age where being Hindu in Hindustan is fast becoming a curse. 

A group figured out that it was wrong, and they chose to vandalize theaters, its definitely better than taking the gun and killing someone. The unfortunate thing is the group doesn't quite know what was wrong with the movie but for the fact that it did hurt sentiment. One argument is that its just a movie, see it and forget it. But another argument is that it made 200 crores which means many people may completely agree with it. If that is true, we are so doomed. 

Everything was right about PK, everything was beautifully stitched together but it clearly depicted the director's ignorance about why things are done they way they are specially in ritual. Oh MY God and PK both claim that milk should not be poured over the Shiva linga but fed to the poor. While am not against the thought of feeding the poor, I will explain why milk is necessary to pour over deities, not only Lord Shiva's emblem. 

Have you seen fairness cream commercials that shout out the presence of milk as an ingredient. Milk is important for it has the magical essence that can deliver a living thing to immortality. Anything/anyone bathed in milk regularly has a greater chance of survival in addition to remaining youthful. Similarly, at temples which are the super power centers of our deities made of specific stone and installed with prana pratishta, need to be consistently bathed in milk to keep the energies active and running, thus delivering these temples as living temples. And we visit temples to reach these sacred shrines and be graced by the power that surrounds them. That is the essential purpose of our temple visits. Alternatively we can also enshrine them at home and build our own little power centers at home. The concept works like fire, whether you light one lamp or several lamps, the first flame is as bright as the last frame lit. Similarly whether we have power centers at temples or in our homes, we are accumulating drops of supreme power around us to enhance our living environment. And milk is the essential ingredient to keep the power center active and therefore the giver of milk, the cow is a sacred animal. We DONT kill it or eat it. Ideally the milk should drain out to the river or the sea and should not go down the gutter. But it is not meant for consumption after use for it is empowered and the physical body will not withstand its energies. 

But who is going to explain this to us? At the same time it doesn't mean its a wasted ritual!

Unfortunately, we don't realize these truths and as we sink deeper into ignorance, we tend to laugh and pay 200 crores rather than cry and feel pathetic about ourselves. 

But there was on fantastic portrayal in the movie that made me really appreciate the director. The depiction of seeking God desperately and the sadness of failure because of our own inadequacy probably touches our hearts the closest for we all at some point have come face to face with this frustration. That emotion was true, honest and completely humble. 

We need to persist in our faith, we need to seek the truth and we need to give room in our minds to accept ritual for this discipline has an impact and it will show the way surely if we are true seekers without doubt and ready to surrender to the Lord. 


10 comments:

SPK said...

For obvious reasons, i am not divulging my name or email id.
But there are few thing that i would like to point out as well (whether you term them as flaws in your posts or whether you term them as ignorance, i leave that choice to you).

Reasons why PK strike a chord with me and with so many others who contributed towards that 200 crores

1. I am sure you would accept that in the name of God there are so many fake godmen (& women) fleecing innocents of their hardearned money.

2. Till date we all believe and continue to believe in the creation theory. But at the same time, when someone questions that theory, we immediately jump on them and call them ignorant.
It is a scientific world today and we seek proof for various things. Likewise when someone says God exists or the creation theory is how we came into existence, all one is saying is show proof.
It's not that hard, is it?

3. Hinduism has always been a tolerant faith. If we had been like others, we would have not allowed the mughals or the english to rule over us for so long.
We would have retaliated and done something then and there.

4. you should also explain why we are ignorant?. We are ignorant simply because we are not being taught/explained about our rich past in a simple and easy way.

If someone is going to tell me that we should pour milk over Shiva linga, i might ask him why do we do that.
And we all know if i asked that question, he or she is either going to slap me or say "dont say things like that or God will punish you".
But what i have is a valid question? I am not going to accept something blindly just because we have been doing that so centuries.
Explain that in a clear way so that it is easy for us all to understand.

Don't push those explanations aside saying "ummachi kannu kuthiduva"....

At the end of it all, we are all in a rat race towards truth.
Some accept it blindly and some question them until a suitable answer is found.

So you cannot say the director is ignorant because he took the difficult route.

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Well thought out, well put and thankyou for sharing your view. Here are my thoughts to your comment.

1. Completely agree with you.

2. It is hard to show proof in the method of science that you are asking for. There is a world out there beyond the limited world of science you and I know. All I can say is it would be a good idea to read up and contemplate, else we can die waiting for proof.

3. Agree again

4. Why are we so dependent on "being taught"? The answers are all around us. We just need to spend time observing and thinking and we will eventually get there. There is no simple and easy way... if PHD was easy, many would be super educated by now but for a PHD you need to put in years. Its the same with faith. Hence I repeatedly use the word Ignorance because we want proof and we wont believe otherwise.

5. I have explained to you the reason for Abhishekam to the best of my knowledge. I tried to make it simple for you. I hope you can appreciate it.

6. Don't push those explanations aside saying "ummachi kannu kuthiduva"....

I agree with you, spiritualism can only be taught with love, not by fear. I dont agree with that kind of explanation either.

Bottom line, its not a bad idea to ask questions. You should, but at the same time please have the patience to wait for the answer. It wont always come when you want it.

Rest is up to your talent to love the Gods and learn about them, in what ever method you take.




Anonymous said...

Hello SPK,

I am a sincere seeker of Truth and if I may respond to your questions# 2 and #4 based on my understanding.

#2. "It's not that hard, is it" >>>>> It is hard, to know something beyond our senses using our senses is difficult, otherwise everybody would have attained moksha. I don't want to use the term "impossible" as we have several people that have experienced the Truth in every age, time and again. Not sure if you have read the lives and works of yogis of past and present, not sure if you experienced god's help and presence subtly at any time or not, the knowledge that is passed on to us is eternal, it needs god's grace to understand and experience it, the amount of understanding depends upon our spiritual evolution.

#4. "We are ignorant simply because we are not being taught/explained about our rich past in a simple and easy way." >>>>> May I ask: Have you sincerely “tried” to seek the reasons for the rituals we follow? If we have sincere thirst for knowledge, there are resources everywhere. In this internet world and with loosened restrictions on passage of knowledge which was originally closely guarded by Brahmins, there are spiritual/Vedanta discourses everywhere. So many works in text and audio are available for free from "genuine" resources. It depends on "how" you wish to be taught.

It has a become a fashion of sorts to mock the swamis these days but I wonder how many acknowledge the selfless work of so many yogis, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekanada, Swami Sivananda, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Dayananda Saraswati to name a few, there were/are so many people who spent most of their lives seeking knowledge and then in sharing it with us.

The danger with movies like PK and Oh My God is it shakes the faith of "vulnerable" ones as they might think all swamis are like that, or that the rituals are useless etc. Even when we have so many yogis "experiencing" the external Truth in every age and "proving" that our scriptures are indeed true, our sad state is we ignore those real people and their works and ask for “scientific" proof, we want "reasons", if only we spend some time reading the works of those yogis and correlate it to our life experiences and see what they are trying to explain us in "simple and easy way".

Anonymous said...

Hi Kavita,
Milk is but one of the ingredients used in abhishekams . While we can disagree with the director's views on the usage of milk for abhishekams , we need to appreciate that while there is an apparent revival of sorts in practices & rituals in all temples , there is an inherent lack of understanding & love that spring from an inner purity , both among the worshippers & the priests at large . A yagya or homam conducted by a rishi or mahapurusha has an entirely different effect , then that conducted by ordinary mortals . This is not to say that we should not carry out rituals , but rituals carried out with piety & purity ( even if with limited understanding of the rituals), go a long way towards our spiritual evolution .
The focus of PK was on the commercialization of religion , exploitation of the masses by various godmen . It correctly points out it is our own greed & fear that is exploited by these godmen who have so proliferated our land .
This land of Rishis , Munis , Siddhas & other saints & Men & Women of God , will continue to bear witness to their wisdom . I also wish to point out that those who ask for "scientific proof" have neither bothered to investigate the lives of even one of these spiritual giants , nor have the courage to ask the same from semitic religions like Christianity , Islam, Judaism etc . Today "Science" itself has become the biggest religion , although scientific temper is the desperate need of the hour

Kavitha Kalyan said...

May I ask: Have you sincerely “tried” to seek the reasons for the rituals we follow?

Yes I have in all honestly, and this blog is the outcome of such research and contemplation. I dont have all the answers, but when i do get something, I post it. I may be wrong... but well its worth the try.

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

In this internet world and with loosened restrictions on passage of knowledge which was originally closely guarded by Brahmins, there are spiritual/Vedanta discourses everywhere.

From here on I would rather have a one on one discussion with you. While I agree on the disaster called Brahmins of the day, I dont have a great opinion on the spiritualism splattered across the internet. Remember, deeper the rabbit hole, the lesser the internet is going to help. Its for mass consumption, not for individual need.

I am in agreement with you on the portrayal of "wrong numbers" in the movie and I also agree that the right numbers are few and hard to reach. But, spiritualism is not an easy ride and therefore at the core of it, there are hardly any takers. And yes, the real saints in their time were not recognized easily either.

Do you know why great saints like the Shankaras did puja like you and me? Its not that they had to do it for their spiritual upliftment, they did it to set an example to us so that we could follow them, if not in realization then at least mechanically. But who is to explain this to those yelling out unnecessarily on the numbers to increase Hindu population.

Hinduism needs to be revived in the hearts of everyone... not in head count.

Isha said...

Hi Kavitha,

Just want to clarify that my comment was to "SPK" about trying to seek the reasons for rituals, not you, I have clearly addressed "Hello SPK" in the comment. I appreciate the info you are posting on your blog. Also want to clarify that the anonymous post at 1:20PM was not from me. Looks like you thought both the Anonymous postings are from same person, well anyway.

-Isha

srivilas said...

Hi Kavitha,
The anonymous post at 1:20 pm was by me - srivilas . I appreciate & admire your effort & extensive research backed insights in your blog posts . This is what attracted me to your blog & turned me into a subscriber .

Thanks for sharing,
srivilas

Kavitha Kalyan said...

HI Srivilas, welcome to my blog and thanks for subscribing. :)

Makes my effort worthwhile.

Thanks again.

Neel N said...

There was this well known philosopher who said "those who know don't tell, those who say they know are lying", I think he probably meant that no one really knows.

Unknown said...

Hi kavita,
I am against the PK movie, why are only we asked questions regarding our rituals and faith or by whom the ignorant ones does they know about the Hindu-religion, they surely think we have no answers.....