Cover Ups

Blooming Stars - Swami (Dr) Snehanand Jyoti

A discourse on layers, levels, and nuances of truth is truly inexhaustible and really unnecessary here. In connection with the culture of lie, we are mainly concerned with moral truth (vyavaharika satyam) that is concerned with the expression of what is in one’s mind and the verbal or written expression of it. What is in one’s mind needs to agree with one’s verbal or written speech. There is no intentional deception in what one says or does. Saying something different from what is truly in one’s mind with the intention of deceiving is a clear lie. Intentionally keeping truth away from someone who has a right to it is tantamount to a lie.  Cover-up of truths and facts, vague or misleading statements, or statements that can be interpreted in more than one way – all these intentional acts with the purpose of deceiving denote lies. There are myriads of clever and sophisticated ways of intentional deception. They all need to be carefully examined in their contexts. The language in equivocation, for instance, can lend to two or more interpretations. Subterfuge can be another deceptive stratagem in order to conceal one’s true intent or to evade or escape from obligations or responsibility. The essential element in a lie is one’s intentionality. There are some persons who have their hidden agenda that may only come to the surface much later or never at all. In all these, one’s purity of intention, the hall-mark of truth and spiritual maturity, and self-transparence will determine the extent of lie and falsehood. The intentional absence of accuracy, exaggerations, minimizations, and other such ploys can also lead to many problems. The deceptive persons can be so creative and ingenious in either hiding truths or misrepresenting facts or putting important things camouflaged under colorful and distracting details. I am reminded of a story in which the thief stated that he stole a rope at the end of which was a cow. We are all aware of people who deceived us in various ways. The number of betrayals of trust, small and big, is increasing as each day passes.

A couple of weeks ago when I experienced a painful betrayal of trust from someone thought to be a very close friend, my manager as well as my wife told me I am very trusting, and this would not have happened if I had everything in an official document. They were right. But on the other hand I showed them a news item on that very day, March 16, 2012,   in a local news paper, Malayala Manorama, that reported that a husband riding on the back of a motor scooter that his wife was driving cut her neck and killed her at a stop in the middle of a big city (Kochi), and drove away the scooter. What legal document could have stopped that tragic event? What happened to one’s word of yesterdays when one’s word was as good as gold? Again another tragedy was reported on the front page of the same paper that very day. An Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was investigating the death in the police custody of a man who murdered his wife when this ASP committed suicide under tremendous, unbearable emotional pressure. He had sought psychiatric/psychological help for his stress. A police officer investigating this very case before him had quit after his house was attacked by goondas (anti-social elements).  In his suicide note he was highly critical of two senior CBI officers, one senior judicial officer, and a high-ranking lawyer who put pressure on him to change his investigative findings. He also received death threats for which he had sought protection from the court. What is our own condition when the very officers who are supposed to protect us commit the very same crimes that they are supposed to protect us from?! (To be continued)

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Living to the End

Life's Lessons - Joseph Mattappally

I once heard a friend humorously stating the difference between the words 'complete' and 'finished'. He said that when you marry the right one, you are complete; if you marry the wrong one, you are finished; and when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are completely finished. In a sense, each human being lives as if eligible to be completely finished; they are always caught with the wrong one, the wrong attitude. Some say that human greed for things are confined to just four things: the Mobile, the auto mobile, the TV and a wife. This is not true; the inherent human craze is not restricted to just a few things only; they basically believe in competition and hoarding. They are frantically after every sustainable and non-sustainable thing as if they are destined to live as long as the earth or the universe exists or are responsible for a long chain of lineage, that is to come. But unfortunately, I have never heard of anyone who has crossed even 150, save those fancy stories from legends and myths. Just like ‘more Whisky you have the more you start feeling single’, the more one has the more is the human greed to hoard more. Is just this not the cause of all struggles on earth? I think it could be.

For a reason, people generally say that this or that I do is found good for me (as far as my future is undisclosed…..this is my only option). As I understand it, nothing is revealed even a minute early, not because it will damage the universe but because it will spoil the charm of living. With future revealed wide open, never will our deeds be the same. As on earth, the upper world also is ruled by the laws of cause and effect and any being is responsible for that changes which it causes in this universe, because of him. They sure will spoil themselves, riding away from the purpose.

According to Vedic texts of India, super human powers are classified into thirty two; grace of prediction is only just one among them. The more we go deeper into the higher levels of consciousness the more we get access to consciousness ranges of universal knowledge, irrespective of past or future. Everything is stored in the akshic records. There are two paths – we can reach these levels artificially or naturally. It is like a man on meditation for forty years having levitation experience and another getting the same experience on a single dose of marijuana. Even religionists resort to artificial short cuts that lead to psychedelic experiences – this is the most dangerous approach of all because they are presented in the disguise of pure spiritual path. They can never be genuine realized souls, even though they might claim to be so.

            I don’t mean a conclusion to this mysterious riddle of predictions and omen reading; just I wanted to say that knowing the future not only spoils the charm of living but also pushes off anyone away from the purpose proposed in this life. The man, who lives in future dies in it; the one who lives in the present is ever present.

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Chopping the Headf

Views and Words - Dr. K S Radhakrishnan

It is at this point that we have to think of a different way of life that says that though there is flesh and blood in human beings, they are something more than that. According to Bible, “Man can never live by bread alone.” He needs something that comes out of the mouth of God. That something can be anything. It has been identified as heaven by Jesus. The moment we think that we are in need of something more than the flesh, that something is the foundation of the human beings, then the communication has to be directed to that end. From flesh to flesh we have to shift the communication to spirit to spirit or heaven to heaven. So the heaven in me and the heaven in you must be identical. This fact has already been explained in a brilliant manner with logical precision and clarity by the Advita System. The Advaita basically says that the world is a pluralistic entity but amidst that pluralism there must be something that is identical in everything that makes communication possible. A man and man, that is flesh and flesh, mind and mind; and also something more than flesh and mind. That something that exists in me and you that makes communication easy and possible.

The problem of communication is really important in the present day world. With the physical proximity that has already been seen in the world, thanks to the development of IT and transportation, we must be able to get in touch with the other within the least possible time. But the unfortunate fact is that the physical proximity alone is not enough to understand oneself and the other. So we have to find something more than that. That is why the Advaita System says that human beings are something more than what we directly perceive. Advaita asks ‘who you are?’ ‘I am the body’, that is one of the finest answer one can give. But are you the body alone? ‘No I’m more than that. There is mind in me.’ ‘Are you mind alone?’ ‘No, I’m more than that. There is spirit in me.’ ‘Are you Spirit alone?’ ‘No I’m more than that. There is pure Ananda in me’. This type of experience also must be identical. This problem has either been forgotten or misrepresented by many of the scholars and exponents of various Systems of thought, especially that of Western origin, more precisely that of the Greek origin, because Greek philosophy basically believes in bifurcation. There is no unity in Greek philosophy and the philosophical development of bifurcation is the central problem of Greek philosophy. That problem has not yet been properly solved by the tradition. So, generally we would like to say that there is a Decarthian problem or the Carthesian bifurcation, which says that there is difference between body and mind. Hence, we have got a psychology that is entirely different from that of the physiology.

There is physiology and psychology and these two systems are working on different systems of thought. Physiological rules and regulations need not be applicable to the psychological operation; hence we have the psycho-somatic; soma means body and psycho means mind. The somatic entity need not be applicable to the mind because mind is an entity totally different from body and what exactly is the relation between body and mind still remains an unresolved question or puzzle or riddle in the entire history of the Zen thought. Resolving this question Richard Rorty has suggested that it is possible to have a man without mind. So if there is no mind there is no question of any division between body and mind. This is as easy as possible to treat the headache of a man then it is better to chop the head itself; then we must be able to eradicate the whole ache due to the ailment of the head.    

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Bhaje Govindam- An Analysis 2

 Health and Happiness  -Dr Dwarakanath

By repeating the words "bhaja govindam" thrice in the very first two lines of the first sloka itself, Sankara is trying to bring home the point that human being has no other escape except immersing oneself in the thoughts of lord, and praying with utmost sincerity, reciting the divine namas of the lord rather than getting engrossed in anxieties to possess wealth or acquire social status or achievements. Here the rules of grammar mean all secular knowledge and earthly acquisitions or possessions. the one who runs after materialistic gains is mad. The purport of these words is that any amount of knowledge cannot save the soul when death knocks at the door of this limited body. at that time, one has to leave behind one's material benefits and social status. These acquisitions will not help one gain the knowledge of the soul, which is permanent, when the impermanent body withers, it turns out to be a dead-wood. It does not mean that one should shun away the pursuit of living for knowledge, but, at the same time, one should understand its limited capacity, and one should seriously try to acquire that knowledge which alone can save a person from the slavery of imperfections.

            We should remember the truth that it is a manifested world and it is impermanent. other than god or soul, everything else is temporary. Death will snatch away the existence of the body and the manifested world. What is the use of all the acquisitions and secular knowledge then? So, while living in this secular world, or materialistic world, one should endeavour to understand and master the secret of purposeful life. One should identify oneself with the lord, who can only give solace to the parched materialistic lives. One should progress spiritually after each death, instead of getting deeper and deeper into mundane pleasures. it is rather sad that quite a few of us are of the opinion that spirituality is for those who retired from employment or aged people. The intellect, which has not been trained to remember god till one attains sixty years, will never resort to spirituality after that. even if it does, for argument sake, what is guarantee that the cruel hands of death will not embrace one before that. so, one should understand the fallacy of this argument and train the mind from the childhood itself to start practicing recitation of the lord's name with every breath that one inhales and exhales, otherwise it is just impossible to remember god's name at the time of death. it is, therefore, imperative that one should keep repeating the divine namas of lord at every possible moment. Bhaja does not mean monotonous and routine ritual with mechanical chanting of some selected namas or mantras.

             It is rather much deeper than that. The true bhajan of lord is to offer true seva or service to lord with love and devotion and in that sense, every human being is a lord. He does not get enamoured or attracted by the pomp and show of the devotee. he looks deep into the heart of the devotee to see how much sincere one is while worshiping him or serving the needy, treating them as (the) god himself (i.e., manava sevahi madhava seva).there are nine types of service to be offered at the feet of lord. a devotee canadopt any one, according to one's choice and temperament. they are (1) sravanam(listening to the stories or glory of lord), (2) keertanam (singing the glory of the lord), (3) smaranam (constantly thinking about the nature and beauty, divine qualities and characteristics of the lord, (4) paadasevaram (adorning the sacred feet of lord in a spirit of self-obliteration), (5) archanam (worshiping the lord with rituals, mantras and with self-less love), (6) vandanam (salute or to pay obeisance to the lord), (7) dassyam (serving the lord), (8) sakhyam (invoking an affectionate friendship with lord, and (9) aatmanivedanam (to offer oneself with complete dedication or total surrender to the lord as a humble gift at his altar).

 Every devotee has the liberty to choose a path that is convenient and appealing to one to realise the god. In all the above modes of worship, the spirit of bhaja is visible. With this bhava, the devotee has to worship the god, who is the knower of each atom of this universe. He is the very essence of all animate and inanimate beings in this universe. So, god is the atman, god is the brahman, god is the highest reality and the very essence of this universe. Each devotee should seek one's identity with that spirit, force, reality, truth and supreme brahman or god, instead of wasting one's time in materialistic pursuits of secular knowledge for worldly possessions, name and fame.

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How Lucky We Are

Smart Plus - Rakesh Mittal I A S 

In April 1990, I was nominated for a twelve-week training programme in U.K. under the Colombo Plan. The course was to be held at Ilkley near Leeds, a small town with a population of about 20,000.  However, it had all the amenities of a big town like good market, parks, schools, clubs, etc. The town was quite prosperous going by the number of cars. Overall it was a lovely place and life seemed quite comfortable. In the same course there was another officer from the Kerala cadre. He was a year junior to me. We became quite friendly very soon. During the first week, one day we were walking on the streets of Ilkley, appreciating its beauty and comforts. Spontaneously came from my friend, ‘How lucky they are!’ Though he was right yet his way of saying implied as if we were unlucky. So I kept silent thinking it to be the best way of responding. He felt little uneasy with my silence and wanted to know the reason. I said I would agree with him if he maintained his opinion till the end of the course.  The matter ended there.

As days passed by, we became closer to each other. We had many things in common. We both were North Indians and vegetarians. We used to cook our dinner together. Soon we started learning about the weaker side of the so-called heavenly materialistic life of Western society. Our first experience was in the matter of food. Being vegetarian we found it very difficult to manage our food, particularly the lunch, which we had to take in the mess. The problem was on two counts. Firstly, very few vegetarian dishes were available and, secondly, they were so mixed up with non-vegetarian dishes that the sight of them repelled us. My own problem was compounded by my being diabetic.  Our request to provide us something which we could eat without reservation, brought no result. My case was referred to a dietician whose report didn’t come till the end of the course.  As a result I had to stop taking lunch in the mess and managed on my own. At times we tried to draw the attention of the Course Director by appealing to his emotions but there was no effect. Every time some rule or management problem was made an excuse.

This set us thinking about our own society and the country. Howsoever poor we may be, we cannot see others going hungry, more so if they happen to be our guests. Nothing to say of human beings, even dumb animals are taken care of in our country. Most of us derive a great sense of pleasure from feeding others. I don’t think that if a foreign national in our land poses a genuine problem we would not do our best to help him, particularly in matters of food. But what we experienced in U.K. was just the opposite. For our Course Director, everything was commercial matter and genuine human need was no consideration. This made my friend doubt his opinion expressed in the beginning of the course.

In the course of our interaction with several natives, we learnt about many other strengths of our society. The first, of course, was that we are much better hosts. We take care of our guests even at the cost of our own convenience. Secondly, our family system is a matter of envy to them. It is difficult for them to imagine how a marital bond can last throughout one’s life. When we were to return at the end of the course to join our families, some native lightly remarked that as far as they were concerned, one could not be sure of finding his family intact after a gap of so much time. This could be an exaggeration but it definitely reflected the insecurity of their family system. Through another incident we learnt that doctors in U.K. do not attend to patients during weekends. Those who can be approached are very expensive. As a result, a patient has to wait till the next working day, irrespective of his problem. Similarly, meeting someone without an appointment is almost impossible.  As a result the problem of loneliness is increasing causing many complications.

All this is not to suggest that nothing is good in Western society. There are plenty of things to be learnt from it. The idea is not to compare the two societies, but is to establish that it is wrong to pass a hasty value judgment on any society. Every society has its strengths and weaknesses. Also a strength from one point of view may be a weakness from another. Indian society has plenty of strengths but we are becoming unaware of them. On the other hand we try to adopt the weaknesses of other societies. This had made my friend to comment in the beginning. However, having observed things closely, he changed his remark from ‘How lucky they are!’ to ‘How lucky we are!’. My silence in the beginning was also understood by him.

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Post Battle Humiliation

Message of Peace - Justice P K Shamsuddin

Later Mohammed came to know that Khalid Ibn Sufia inciting the people to evade Medina. Mohammed commanded Abdulla Ibn Umay to travel to Medina in order to know more. Abdulla found that Khalid was in the company of some women. Abdulla pretended that he came to give him necessary support to attack Medina. Khalid told Abdulla that he was raising an army to attack Medina. Abdulla took him to a distant place and put an end to his life. Abdulla returned to Medina and reported the matter to Mohammed. It had the effect of silencing Benu Libyan. But Benu Libyan was planning to avenge the murder of their leader Khalid Ibn Sufia.

At that time, some tribesmen came to Mohammed and said that there were some Muslims among them and requested him to send some of his companions to instruct them his teachings, pass them the principles of Islam and to recite Quran. Mohammed decided to send his companions to such areas. Heeding to their request, he sent six of his notable companions. When they were camping near a well belonging to the tribe of Hudhyl at a place called Al Rag, the six companions found that they were cheated and they were surrounded by enemy with drawn swords. The companions also got ready for a battle. But Ubay tribesmen said to them that it is not their intention to kill them and they only wanted to make them captives and take them to Mecca. The Muslims looked at one another and decided that a humiliating captivity in Mecca was far worse than their life. They rejected the promise of the Ubay tribesmen and got ready to fight, though they knew well that they were far outnumbered. In the fight, three of them were killed and others were over powered. The tribesmen tied their hands and took them to Mecca. Abdulla Ibn Khalid managed to pull his hands free and took sword to fight with them, but he was killed. The other two captives were taken to Mecca and sold by Ubay. Zayd Ibn Dalthina was purchased by Sufian Hahwan Ibn Umayyah in order to revenge for the death of his father Umayya Ibn Khalab. The captive was given to his servant Mastan for execution. Mastan questioned the captive and asked him, “Oh Syed, did you not prefer that Mohamed is precious than his life” Syed announced and said, “No by God, certainly I prefer that Mohammed be where he is, saved from all harm.” Abu Sufian said, “Never have I seen anyone more beloved by his companions than Mohammed.” Mastan executed the order of his master and killed Syed. The remaining captive was kept in jail until such time he was crucified. He asked them to be allowed to pray which was conceded by them. After finishing his prayer he exclaimed, “My God, were I not afraid that you might think that I was not ready to die, I would have longed at that time.” Makhwan lifted him to the cross and tied him to it. With great passion he prayed to God, “Oh God, reduce their number rout and disperse them, Do not let any one of them escape.” There was such a ring on his voice; the executor fell to the ground as if his curse was real.  

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Assault on Honesty (A Culture of Lie-5)

Blooming Stars - Swami (Dr) Snehanand Jyoti

After having familiarized ourselves with a culture of lie that we are living in, we need to plan to get out of it. We need to realize that we are not helpless victims who are trapped in it. We can freely choose to create a culture of truth. It is important to devise a remedy or treatment plan for the culture of lie. We need to understand what truth is in order to consciously practice and live it. In every moment of our day we need to live, move, and have our being in truth.
A search for truth necessitates a desire for the constant awareness of truth. A search for truth is the only worthwhile pursuit in life. As Gandhi in his final years defined truth as God, everyone’s pursuit in life needs to be rigorous and continuous search for truth. Gandhi’s own autobiography is appropriately titled Experiments with Truth. In the Western Philosophy, truth is defined as 1. Ontological Truth: conformity between outside reality as it exists and the idea of that reality in the mind of the creator or exemplar of that reality, 2. Logical Truth: conformity or correspondence between outside reality and the idea of it in the mind of the actual knower, and 3. Moral Truth or veracity: conformity or agreement between the known reality and the expression of that knowledge. The very essence of truth involves the various relationships of correspondence between original idea and thing, thought and reality, or knower and known. Here I do not want to get into very complex, pedantic, and philosophical discussions about reality, sensation, perception, cognition, and epistemology. I also do not want to get into the criteria of truth. The Eastern (Indian) Philosophy giving truth the highest place, equates truth with God  Bhahma sathyam, jagan mithya: God alone is truth, the world is only appearance (illusion: what is not true).
The best description of God is Sachidanandam (Sat-Chit-Anandam: Truth-Consciousness-Bliss); Hindu philosophy and scriptures equate truth with righteous living: Sathyannasthi parodharmah: there is no religion higher than truth; Sathyameva jayathe, na anrutham: truth alone wins, not unrighteousness. Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti: that which exists is One, sages call it by various names. They summarize the very essence of one’s entire living as Sathyam vada, Dharmam chara: speak truth, move (live) righteously. They prescribe the way truth is to be spoken: Satyam bruyat priyam bruyat na bruyat satyam apriyam, priyam cha nanrutam bruyat esha dhrmah sanatanah: speak truth in such a way that it is pleasing to others, do not speak truth which is unpleasant to others, never speak untruth that might be pleasing; this is the way of eternal morality. Indian Philosophy talks about 1. Paramarthika Satyam: the real truth or the truth as it is; it corresponds to Ontological Truth, 2. Pratibhasika Satyam: truth as it appears; it can also include illusions and delusions, and 3. Vyavaharika Sathyam: truth that is involved in everyday transactions; it corresponds to Moral Truth. (To be continued)

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Oh My Sweet Heart!

Life's Lessons - Joseph Mattappally

          There is a known poem of an unknown author, written on sweet heart. It reads, 

“……The friends who come and the hour they
Who out of your house depart,
Will judge it not by the style you show,
But rather by the size of your heart.
For making money is not hard 
To live life well is an art:
How people love you, how they regard,
Is all in the size of your heart.” 

The unknown poet wants each heart to be as big and wide as possible, so that nothing in this world escapes it. Does a heart expand that much? The poem says that the heart decides what you are and it also decides who you are. The poem means that the heart is something more than an organ responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. The common Western assumption that human body is just a lump of matter formed of cells or an assembly of parts does not however explain this phenomenon properly. 
 It is in the East that we find appropriate scientific explanations on the subtlety of matter. We need not be a thorough mystic to understand the influence of subtlety in our daily lives. If somebody asks a group, who Ram is, Ram comes forward with his right palm on chest centre to say, ‘It’s me’. In our excitement to remember something, do we not scratch on our eye brows? None of these things are part of a training …… they happen instinctively. It’s of no use physically investigating on this behavior pattern of living beings. Yoga but knows it. This energy field around any human body is partly visible; we call it aura. According to yogic sciences, chest centre is the individual existence centre too and forehead centre is the triggering point of our inner vision. The science of yoga says that the whole body we experience is only gross form of a subtle energy that has the beginning at an unknown point. This is one reason why we believe that we have connection with the Ultimate Source. 
The formation energy of any being is love and heart is the centre of love; it is the centre of one’s’ existence. The reason why we have so much of physical heart problems is that we have serious relationship problems either in giving or receiving love. A blockage in the subtle form around always manifests as a physical problem. If you simultaneously receive and give love without any holding, I assure you absolute health with regard to heart and associated functioning. We need to accept that there is a subtle mould around any gross body. It is this energy form that we precisely call spirit. The more we go into the subtlety of matter the more we find out love in its’ dense states and pure forms. 
Poems are no jokes, so are masterpieces of the great. They are spontaneous flow of subtle truths in structured language. Accepting the known and the unknown alike makes right living. 

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Flesh Verses Flesh

Views and Words - Dr. K S Radhakrishnan

Democracy can never be maintained in a uni-polar world; it can be maintained only in a pluralistic world. One of the positive aspects of the new market economy and the IT revolution is that it has made the whole world into a world of plurality. For ex. a man who lives in a remote village of Kerala cannot remain aloof from the developments of other parts of this affluent world. The so called European culture has often been accused as an inferior stuff by the Oriental group of philosophers, writers and scholars. But today, nobody can keep away from the influence of the so called European culture because even without your invitation, either you like it or not, the European culture is within the frames of your own living room. Whether you like it or not, it is there. The other ‘now-a-days’ is very near to you in physical terms.

The question, how is it possible to get communicated with the other who is physically very near to you, leads you to the problem: what is common between oneself and the other. The other here can be a religion, a system of life, a philosophy, a continent, a man with a difference or an object with a difference. The other is too near to you either in the virtual world or in the actual world. Since the other is too near to you, you will be forced to get communicated with the other. The question on the tool that helps to get communicated with the other is a fundamental question. To make communication easier, however, that common element has to be identified and experienced. But, this seldom happens in the present day world. This is a very serious problem. Though we have developed too many theories on communication, the real problem of communication is within oneself, not anything external to him. That is what that is common between ‘I’ and ‘You’; in another sense, what is common between oneself and the other, what is common between one religion and the other, what is common between one continent and the other, what is common between one philosophy and the other. If there is nothing common between one religion and the other, the only possibility is relational conflict. If there is nothing common between ‘I’ and ‘You’ the only possible relation is estrangement.

Estrangement means, ‘I will be really afraid of you’. An estranged entity or an estranged person or whatever it may be, it creates fear in human beings. So, there must be fear. So what is common between ‘I’ and ‘You’? While Jesus was teaching His philosophy and way of life, this question was asked. When He was talking about the kingdom of God, this question was raised. We see Him saying that what is common between you and me is the heaven. That means that there must be heaven in you and me; there must be something common in between you and me that makes communication possible. So communication can be made easy and possible only when one is able to find out the common aspect that exists in me and the other.

 This aspect has often been forgotten by the present day Western thinkers. The present day world is too much concerned with anti-foundationalism. For example Richard Rorty asks, “Where are the foundations? I have not seen it.” But, if there are no foundations communication is impossible. Communications can be possible only if there are certain foundations, which must be common for the one and the other. That common element can be reduced to human flesh alone. Then flesh must be able to communicate with flesh. Only the identical elements make communication easy. If one thinks that man is flesh alone then everything that he expresses about man must be the various dimensions of the flesh alone and everything that can be communicated to the flesh alone. Here, the flesh communicates with the flesh. That sort of a communication system says that man is nothing but a lump of flesh and there may be blood also. So, if at the moment one thinks that human beings can be reduced to flesh alone then everything that is related to human beings must be related to the flesh also. It is here that we have to confine ourselves to the pleasures that can be enjoyed through the sense organs. Epicureans firmly believe that the human aim is to enjoy the maximum sensual pleasure. The moment we admit that our aim is to enjoy the maximum pleasure, then we have to admit that this pleasure is related to flesh alone.   

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Bhaje Govindam - An Analysis -1

 Health and Happiness  -Dr Dwarakanath

The basic purpose of human existence is to realize the Self. Soul is considered as the representative of God in the human body, which is made of Pancha Tanmatras- five senses, i.e., sound, touch, visual, taste and fragrance. These are represented in our body by Pancha Jnanedriyas, five sensory organs, i.e., Eyes, Ears, Nose, Tongue and Skin. If these gross aspects are properly used for the service of others with Nishkama Bhavana- non attachment and for self-advancement spiritually, then one can overcome the innate sense-habits of body-identification and develop intuitive perception and discrimination. Discrimination is distorted by the limitations of sense impressions. The only way out of getting entrapped in this quagmire or quicksand is to raise oneself above the body-consciousness. There are several ways for it. Of them, the most important are Bhakti, Jnana and Karma Yogas. Yoga means to unite; to unite one with the chosen God or Goddess following one of the three paths identified above, depending upon one's temperament and taste. One of the minor compositions "Bhajagovindham" of Shankara shows the way to achieve this.

Sankara brought about a moral, religious and spiritual harmony, integration, renaissance and awakening in the Hindu religion and society. The impact of His teachings is so strong and deep that the roots of His Advaita Vedanta or philosophy are firmly established as long as human race exists. Bhajagovindam is a small or minor composition of Sankara compared to His other monumental works such as "Bhasyas", but it contains the essence of Vedanta and awakens the man to think on such questions as "What is the purpose of this life?", "What is the Truth?", "Where does one get peace of mind?", etc. Such questions are many and may appear simple but the answers are very difficult.

Shankara attacks Moha- desire- maya at its roots through this composition, which was initially known as Moha Mudgara, but later on popularized as Bhajagovindham, so as to dispel illusions and delusions and show where the remedy lies for the misery. In 31 simple, sweet and lucid Slokas, giving easy and homely analogies and illustrations for easy understanding, Sri Sankaracharya dissects the human psyche by explaining the fallacy and futility of the human life, if one does not take shelter under Dharma or Truth or God. It contains fundamentals of Vedanta, which are taught in simple and musical verses so that, even from childhood one can grow up amidst the melody of Advaita. With each sloka He removes the veils of ignorance, dispels Maya, explains the reasons for illusion and delusion and also prescribes remedy for the misery. He exhorts each one of us, through these Slokas, to develop discerning and discriminating faculty, which is dormant in us, due to our complete surrender to Moha and worldly attractions, in order to distinguish between the permanent and the transitory, the real and the unreal and to practice dispassion (or Vairagya). All this is possible only by cultivating devotion for realizing God, the abiding Truth and making a concerted effort to get released from the bondage of this phenomenal existence.

I think it is useful to reproduce what Late Sri Rajagopalachari, popularly known as Rajaji said about Bhajagovindham. "Sankara crossed the ocean of Maya as easily as one steps over a small irrigation channel in the field. He wrote a number of Vedantic works for imparting the knowledge of the Self. He composed a number of hymns to foster the sense of devotion in the hearts of men and this I consider to be his greatest service. One of these hymns is the famous Bhajagovindham.

Some immature critics of Indian philosophy believe and say that the way of devotion is different from the way of knowledge. The learned employ this distinction to emphasize a particular thesis on which they discourse in different contexts. I think we should not get confused by this and fail to understand the truth. When intelligence matures and lodges securely in the heart, it becomes wisdom. When that wisdom is integrated with life and issues out in action, it becomes devotion. Knowledge which has become mature is spoken of as devotion. If it does not get transformed into devotion, such knowledge is useless tinsel. To hold and to say that Jnana and Bhakti, knowledge and devotion, are as different from each other as gold is from baser metal is to expose one's ignorance." Thus spoke Rajaji!

Bhajagovindham, While reciting, it sounds like a prayer or devotional song rather than a group of few Sanskrit Slokas and expounds the art of realization with a deeper diagnosis for human unhappiness. (Contd.)

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The Ganges does not Hoard

Smart Plus - Rakesh Mittal I A S 

Once I got the opportunity of visiting Haridwar twice in quick succession. I enjoyed both the visits immensely. The sight of a large number of pilgrims having a bath at ‘Hari Ki Pauri’ and participating in the evening aarti fascinated me. The faith of our people always leaves a great impression on me whenever I visit a holy place. Irrespective of reasoning behind this faith, I believe that in it lies the strength of our people. It is a different matter that this faith is exploited by some.

I do not have any craving for taking bath in the Ganges. Somehow it has always been so.  Perhaps, it is an impression of my childhood when I observed some so-called holy women of my village behaving in a very unholy manner and their holiness being attributed to their frequent Ganges baths. That was, perhaps, why I never cared to bathe in the Ganges during my 15 days camp on the bank of the river as incharge of the Kartika Mela in the early years of my service.  Even during the above two visits, I took bath in the Ganges only once and that too not at ‘Hari Ki Pauri’.

However, there was a vast difference between my last visit and these two visits after a gap of almost ten years. A lot of water had flown down the river since then and a lot of wisdom had dawned on me.  Questioning the faith of people is no more my nature though I may not have the same faith. I feel faith and reason are two different things and it is not wise to apply reason in matters of faith. A faith may or may not be inspired by reason, but true faith is always enriching.  At times it is beyond reason.

With this change in my outlook, the visit to the town of Holy Ganges was very enjoyable and elevating. I keenly observed the flowing river and wondered at the service it has rendered to the people from time immemorial. While thinking thus, I was fascinated by the scheme of Mother Nature which ensures that there is always a steady flow of water in the Ganges. In fact, the holiness of the Ganges is due to its flow. The moment it stops flowing, its whole sanctity will be lost. It does not consider it necessary to hoard its water in fear of the future. Even then, no one can say for how long the Ganges has been flowing and will continue to flow. Mother Nature takes care of it on its own.

There is a great lesson to learn from this fact. It applies to our acquisitions too. The moment we start hoarding our acquisitions, unholiness creeps in and they become putrefied.  The acquisition then becomes a liability instead of an asset. Be it money, knowledge or any other acquisition, their flow should continue for the benefit of the society at large. The moment we try to store them for our use only, their sanctity is lost. In that case they cease to serve any good even to ourselves, leave alone society. Thus even the virtues become the sources of nuisance, when not shared properly.

The example of the Holy Ganges should also take away any fear that we may have of replenishing our resources. If Mother Nature can replenish the mighty river like the Ganges for time immemorial, it can always meet our needs. These will always be taken care of provided we are willing to share what we have. In fact, when we show our willingness to share, others too come forward to share what they have. Like the Holy Ganges which grows bigger and bigger as it flows and ultimately becomes one with the ocean, our virtues too grow by sharing. We then merge with the Creator which is the ultimate aim of life.

So the simple lesson to be learnt is that all our acquisitions come from Mother Nature and we have no exclusive right to them. They are to be shared and not to be hoarded. If we do so, we too can become as holy as the Ganges.

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The Battle Continues

Message of Peace - Justice P K Shamsuddin

On the next day, Mohammed called upon the Muslims to regroup and pursue the enemy. Only those who had participated in the previous days battle were allowed to proceed towards the Meccan force. Mohammed reached Hanra Al Azad. Abu Sufian and his companions were still at Al Rawha. They met Mahad Al Khaza and he told them that Mohammed and his companions were pursuing them with a large army. Abu Sufian pondered over the consequences of encountering them. He thought of the encounter with Mohammed and his companions; if the defeat them they might destroy Mecca for ever. He therefore played a trick; he sent a message to Mohammed saying that the Meccans would return in order to finish them off. On receiving the message, Mohammed and his companions stayed at Hanra Al Azad for three days. However, the Meccans wanted to celebrate their victory and they returned to Mecca. Waiting for three days, Mohammed and his companions also returned to Medina.

            Abu Sufian and the Meccans, before going home, went to Kaba and offered thanks and prayers to their High God Habal. Muslims, despite the fact that they spent three days in the open, found that their enemies had returned. The battle of Uhd had enabled the non- Muslim elements to stand against Mohammed. Mohammed took special care to keep him addressed of the developments in Medina and outside Medina. He prepared himself to re-establish the local power and reputation. Qulayha and Salmah sons of Khuwayleid and leaders of Banu Hasan inspired the youngsters of their tribes men to attack Medina and seek Mohammed at his own house. When Mohammed heard of this he sent Salmah along with 160 archers, including Abu Ubaidah, Abu Waqquah and Ubaid Ibn Hudayr. The enemies were taken by surprise and they ran away leaving their possessions. The Muslims collected the booty and returned to Medina to once again organize their defense.

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The First Casualty

Blooming Stars - Swami Dr Snehanand Jyoti

Once we come to the realization that our current culture of lie leads to spiritual death, we can do something about it. A disease can be treated only after a correct diagnosis. Children living in the midst of some of the biggest slums in the world in Mumbai, and playing and having fun in the worst foul-smelling garbage are not aware of the rotting stench and foul odor. They get desensitized and get accustomed to that environment. Even though we live surrounded by air, most of the time we are not aware of the medium that we live in. In effect, we may not be aware of the toxic culture that we live in. Signs and symptoms in our society that go into the making of a Syndrome of a Culture of Lie  are:

·         Persons often do not keep their word.

·         Persons including even relatives and close friends betray trust in small and big things.

·         Persons pass the buck and do not take responsibility for their wrongs or mistakes.

·         Persons find convenient scapegoats for their misdeeds.

·         Big or small lies, “white” lies are said to deceive, escape, evade, and avoid unpleasant situations or consequences.

·         Persons have recourse to opportunistic statements and behaviors.

·         Favors are bought.

·         Valuable gifts are given or showered to “buy” others or their silence.

·         Persons in government or responsible positions compromise their integrity by freely or routinely accepting gifts or bribes to do things that they are hired and paid to do with fairness and without favoritism.

·         Corruption and discriminations are rampant.

·         The rich and the powerful influence the political life and the legal system.

·         Great values and principles are proclaimed but not practiced.

·         There is scant regard for human rights.

·         Threats and intimidations are used to curtail or suppress freedom of expression or behavior.

·         Persons keep others from truth that they have a right to.

·         Persons pretend to be someone other than who they really are.

·         There is great show and pomp outside, but no substance within.

·         Persons minimize, exaggerate, enhance, or distort facts to present and justify their position and conduct.

In a culture of lie there is no passion for truth, there is very little search for truth, and truth becomes the first casualty. (To be continued)

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Smart Time

Life's Lessons - Joseph Mattappally

Is there anyone who answers all questions? I don’t mean Tom types. A friend one day asked Tom “How can you prove the earth is round?” Tom is said to have replied, “I can’t. Besides, I never said it was.” It seems that Tom believed that the responsibility of proving a thing rests only with the one who states something or agrees to something. Most of us have little Toms within and we do not care to find answers to things that do not directly concern us. Still, is it not interesting to find a genuine answer to ‘what is most important in life?’

It is humorously said that we learn the truth from the guy next door. I remember the story of little Jack and Mr. Harold. Jack used to spend much time with Mr. Harold and they were good friends. Years passed by and there came in the news that Harold has passed away. Jack murmured, ‘He's the one who taught me carpentry, I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...’ Jack caught the next flight to his home town. Mr. Harold’s funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away. The night before he had to return home Jack and his Mom stopped by, to see the old house next door one more time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held old memories; so was every picture and every piece of furniture. Jack stopped suddenly. "What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked. "The box is gone," he said. "What box?” Mom asked. "There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said. It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box.  "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said."

It had been about two weeks, since Mr. Harold Belser died. One day Jack received a surprise package. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. ‘Mr. Harold Belser’, it read. Jack ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack carefully unlocked the box just to find a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time!”  Harold Belser.  ‘The thing he valued most...was...my time’ whispered Jack. If we have a habit of observing and making corresponding inferences, it is easy to realize how important other’s time in our life is. That time we spend for others, I love to call it ‘smart time’, because it is the best of all time; also it is the most valuable thing in another’s life. 

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Lessons from the Sky

Views and Words - Dr. K S Radhakrishnan

Democracy does not mean that it is the rule of the human beings alone. The definition that democracy is the government of the people for the people and by the people is an obsolete one. Such a democracy can be termed as anthropocentric democracy where we are concerned only with the right of the human beings alone. We are totally unconcerned with the right of a granule of dust or the whole of vegetative kingdom. Democracy can never be a good system of government if it exploits nature, because it affects the free movement of the individual in one sense or the other in a different manner. So in a democratic set up what happens is that one has to expand the definition of democracy. Democracy has to include not only the human beings but also the biotic and the non-biotic entities of the universe as a whole. So a democratic government must be able to respect the right of a particle of dust and also it must extend a possible regulated mechanism to protect such a right, maintained by the non biotic world. It can never be confined to the biotic world alone but to the non-biotic levels also and then we must be able to protect the right of one and all. So democracy in this sense is not the rule of one or a few over the majority or the minority or the rest who are not part of a particular ideology but democracy means it is the rule by one and all in the sense that everyone must be able to regulate himself. Such a self regulated activity alone can be treated as the basis of democracy.

Then a question can be raised about the nature of non-human beings which are not concerned with the discriminatory power which is not applying the discriminatory power. How can we say that they are also part of a democracy? The answer is that no being or non- being in the universe except human beings will never be able hurt the rights of the other entity. Take for the example of a lion. A lion eats only when it feels hungry. No lion kills another animal as part of their sporting experience. This is not the case of human beings. No being in this universe ever collects anything for its family or its future generation. What they are doing is that they want only what they need at that particular moment of time. Human beings have got the habit of collecting and keeping things for a long time. They expect that they can keep it forever because they falsely believe that they must be able to lead a very long life on earth or probably till the end of it. Such a concept is too dangerous. What is possible is that in a democratic set up the people must be able to understand the fact that non-biotics are strictly following the rules of Nature and the Universal law that governs the macro and the micro, organic and the inorganic in manifestation. But human beings due to their ability to apply discriminatory power have got the habit of collecting and keeping. That is why Jesus once asked his disciples to learn the principles of right living on the earth not from the human beings but from the birds of the sky. No bird hoards anything for the future. It gets enough to satisfy the present. Humans are not able to follow that dictum but the spirit of that dictum should be practiced and maintained by every human being. 

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