Tat Tvam Asi - തത്ത്വമസി

Sabarimala hosts the temple of Ayyappan, located in the Western Ghats range within the Pathanamthitta district in Kerala. The temple is on a hilltop, that is more than 4000 feet above sea level. The Sannidhanam, or the sanctum santorum, is a good climb of about 7-8 kilometers using the shortest route from the banks of Pamba. But, to reach the Sannidhanam, there are a few unwritten rules you need to adhere, that are handed down during the past few decades that people have been going there.

You start with a penance for 41 days, where you keep your physical and mental body clean. Clear your mind of impure thoughts, and develop the ability to remain calm when faced with extreme emotional influence. Specifically people are advised to control anger and not use any foul language. To signify the beginning of this penance, you put a "mala", a chain made of sandalwood or other wood denoting to others that you have begun the journey to reach Ayyappan. Immediately after this ritual, people will also start refering to you as "Ayyappan".

After you kept your promise to yourself during these 41 days, you will need to carry what is called an "Irumudi"; literally meaning "two bags". The bag, actually one bag, that has two compartments, where one is reserved for all the items that are going to be your offering to Ayyappan. The other compartment is for personal items, that you typically require for your journey, ie eatables etc. In earlier days, food was not available near the Sannidhanam, and you had to come back to Pamba. But these days, more offerings are carried in these portions, because of access to food during the journey back and forth.

With a good irumudi, you are now ready to proceed on your journey. There are many ways to reach the Sannidhanam. I will focus on the shortest, which is not necessarily an easy one. The one that i have used. The closest town to the Pamba river entry point to the Sabarimala is Nilakkal. During peak seasons, the government will require all private transportation to stop at this town and then use the KSRTC (government) bus service to reach the Pamba. From Pamba, you take a quick bath in the river. There are times when the water is running very low, and also the bathing ghat can be crowded, and also dirty. For many reasons, the bathing has become a courtesy or a forgone ritual to many. You pay your respects to Pamba Ganapathy and begin your hike.

A good hike, with the irumudi on your head, which is not very heavy, but soon becoming very burdensome, as you climb the steep hill. Since the path is not paved (atleast till the last time i went), there are other obstacles that you encounter. Sharp stones, slippery slopes especially during rain, but one thing is for sure, there are no wild animals.  You reach the main temple zone, and you have one final ascent, the 18 steps to the Sannidhanam. These are at a very high gradient, and you are nearly falling on the person below as you climb up. Once you cross the 18th step, you are in front of the entrance to the Sannidhanam. That's when the truth will hit you. It should it.

Written across the entrance of the Sannidhanam, in huge letters in Malayalam and Devanagari script, is what you were looking for; "തത്ത്വമസി" & "तत्त्वमसि" - "Tat Tvam Asi". Meaning "Thou are that".

You are the one that you seek. After all this journey, this simple truth is revealed to you. That the "one" that you seek is in "you". That God is in you. That God is you. That God and you are the same.

Did you have to come this far? Did you have to endure this journey? Maybe you did, maybe you didnt. The answer again only is known to you. But the hints were always there. The moment you decided you were going to Sabarimala, and you wore the "mala", you were called Ayyappan, by one and all around you. You had already recieved this information, but it takes time to realize the meaning.

For this reason, Sabarimala is open to all. People of all faith are welcome. People adorn in black or blue, colors that are very different from the saffron that is associated with the Hindus. The significance is very important. Recent attempts to change this notwithstanding, the beauty of Sabarimala Ayyappan was that he welcomed all, with a special love for first timers, referred to as Kanni Ayyappan.

Pray to him, pray to yourself. Seek within yourself. You will find it - Tat Tvam Asi!

Kun FayaKun (كُنْ فَيَكُونُ)

Growing up, i had the opportunity to visit many different temples of worship, of different faith. Hindu temples, Christian churches of the Catholic, Protestants and few others, Sikh Gurudwara, Jewish Synagogue, and also the temples of Jains, Buddhists, and a few other faiths, and other places of worship or prayer halls. Most if not all, seemed to follow a set pattern.

Inside the main hall there is usually a focal point, and while being seated anywhere, you had access or a view to this focal point. In a Hindu temple, it was the idol. And most if not all the other places of worship had a symbol, even if it was not a specific idol. Sometime it was a book, or it was pedestal from where the preacher or a leader would lead the prayer. It was easy to get used to the differences amongst the many religions and focus on this unifying theme of a place of worship.

It is easy to be mislead, like any wayfarer views, Hinduism to be a religion that propitiate a stone idol in place of god. As you mature in the faith, you realize and become aware of other teachings in vast truth of Hindu teachings, that god is universal. God has many forms. An idol is simply a symbol of god, and only a token to help your mind focus. And then it is easy to appreciate the different systems of faith, and how invariably, every religion that abhors idol worship, has to succumb to the trappings of us mortals. That God needs to be replaced by a symbol of some sort. The choice of the symbol, like the gods, are many.

All of these teachings and learning, didnt prepare me for my first visit to a Mosque. My first visit to a mosque, was the Jama Masjid in Delhi. For whatever reason, i didnt get the opportunity to visit a mosque before that. I have seen many a Dargah, but also realize the difference in this Sufi tradition of Islam, from some of the core tenets of Muslim belief system. God is formless, as God is beyond all this. I get that part, as there exists a similar concept within the teachings of other religions too. But there is philosophy, and then there is the practical offer of a prayer.

When i walked through the main courtyard of the Masjid, and arrived at, what would otherwise been the location of an idol or pulpit, i was instead greeted by a book shelf. Although this was part of a pleasure trip, the visit to the mosque, was not just to see around, but also offer prayers. And so, here was me, standing just before this old wooden shelf, filled with even older looking books, i would presume they were copies of the Qur'an.

I suddenly felt lost. I was unsure, what to do next. I am not a Muslim, nor had i before this, attempted to learn how Muslims offered prayer. All this was immaterial though, because in my mind it should have been simple as walking up to sanctum sanctorum, and offering your prayers. Well in this case, i was perplexed, as there was no defined sanctum sanctorum. And even if this was the center or a pivotal point within the mosque, there was nothing to grasp my attention.

This shelf of books also stood in front of a rather imposing wall, which was carved into a nice facade, looking like an arch. I didnt know then, but now know, this is the Mihrab, which helps point the direction to Mecca to the Muslims.

As i stood there, contemplating for a few seconds, i was able to better understand the concept of a formless god. Hindus see god in every form. But here i had to come to terms with this new idea. New idea? Not at all. At the least, not to me. No matter which temple i visit, my prayers are always done with my eyes closed. And so, truly when i think about it, the temple, an idol or a sanctum is only helpful in creating an apt ambiance and an appropriate atmosphere. But, standing here facing nothingness, was an important lesson, often missed out in temples and other idolatry worship. It was a reckoner to the fact, sometimes it is difficult to conceive the inconceivable. And so, even with a lot of gyaan around this, i was for a moment, taken aback.

We take it for granted that it is so easy to access or imbibe the spirit, we call god. Its in a picture, in a name, in an idol, a book, a cross, a stone, a metal, even a piece cloth. Its quite another thing to think that it is, but unfathomable. It is, beyond comprehension. And hence i think the reason to mandate that it be kept that way in Islam. A difficult choice to make, but when adhered to, a creates a truly higher plane of thought.

In the end, when you think about it really deep, you will understand: many forms, any forms, no form, are all the same.

Jab kahin pe kuch nahi bhi nahi tha
Wahi tha Wahi tha Wahi tha Wahi tha

Woh jo mujhme samaya
wohjo tujhme samaya
Maula wahi wahi maaya

Kun fayakun Kun fayakun

Creation Theory

I am not so sure if God created man/woman or whatever. But it appears that man did create God. Every major religion in the world today, has some story around the creation of a man and a woman. The most popular across the world, atleast the Christian and Muslim world, is the story of Adam and Eve. Hindu literature speaks of Manu, who was the first man created by God. There is an entire page on Wikipedia, that is dedicated to the first man and or woman.

However, the more i think about it, the more i am certain, the story is entirely the opposite. God was created by man, not necessarily the first man. He had to. There was simply no way to control the unruly masses. Some form of laws were important. Laws alone were not enough, because, people probably found out that, they could break these laws, without having to worry about punishment. Talk about a flawed justice system. There had to be a higher being, that we all feared and willingly accepted as lord. The punishment for sins and rewards for good deeds were perceived, and not real. I am sure you understand how easy it is to convey perception of pain or reward, than the actual reward itself. Man, bestowed by eternal greed, fear and despair or by the quest for bliss and joy, can be influenced more by a promise than anything tangible.

God is invented or created by man, with a form of his likeness. This God is then presented as someone to be feared, and so must be appeased. The likeness then takes on fearful appendages and weapons. Or sometimes the God is merciful, and then is cloaked in white to signify purity and peace. The imagery must be the reason why some of the newer religions, atleast one in particular, require that there be no image at all to represent God. But even this attempt has not been fully successful, because people have attempted to fabricate alternates, like symbols to personify or equate to God.

The biggest causation for this theory is the medley of God and religions. Each religion has its God. Many of the newer religions, that originated in the Common Era (CE), have one or more Prophets, holy books, and its house of prayer. Each conceivably, distinct from the other. But, each new religion or faith, simply modifies  the set of beliefs in practice at that time. The hope and intent is for Man to evolve into something better, but invariably it can also regress or simply diverge. Man constantly evaluates the moral code structure and wants to gravitate to something different.

Few of the older religions, Hinduism in particular, professes polytheism, and provides its followers an array of gods and goddesses, and also demons and evils. The more the merrier, seemed to be their philosophy. Even the later religions that profess monotheism have not been able to control its followers, and have them adhere to its basic tenets. Many of them have varied branches, that can be radically different from the claimed origins. Man, it seems will not be bound down, when it comes to him and his God. He is more than willing to experiment, and if required another God to suit his tastes.

And finally, if God did really exist, she would clearly have done a better job, than create this species, which manages to invent unique ways to find unhappiness.

What's in a name?

Strange as it seems, a mere name plays a small but important role in the large scheme of my beliefs and my religion and culture. I am not referring to name of inanimate objects or other living creatures, but referring to our names, mine and yours. At an earlier instance, i had blogged about my name, and how it came about. My name was picked by my grandmother. These days you hear about people picking fancy names with intricate meanings, sanskrit one, ancient ones, new and modern ones, famous ones. Ram, Krishna, Aishwarya and Vijay (name used often by Amitabh in movies) used to be some very common ones. 


How does this all matter? And specially what is the religious connotation? Its clear what link that names like Krishna and Ram have. Children are named after personal gods and goddesses as way to appease their deities. Some parents name their children, in the fervent hope that they live up to their names. That will explain the numerous Kalam and Sachin that abound India.


All this seems so foreign, rather noise to me now. A small, and possibly insignificant lament by elderly neighbour fed my thought cells, with the most brilliant concept. It was not new, and is possibly known for centuries to others in India, but not me. To me this single explanation was meant to last a lifetime. 

We used to call this elderly neigbhour, KRK Uncle. KRK is initials, and i will leave it at that. He had named his children Shankaran, Raman and Narayanan, typical malayalee names of these lords. Of course, school, college and workplace had butchered their names to Shanks, Ram and Nara. I was sitting and have some idle chat with him, when someone referred to his youngest by this short name Nara. He politely answered the query, and sent off the enquirer. He then turned to me, and lamented about how names are being butchered. He then said, "in those days, we used to name our children, after gods. At our death bed, when we called out to our sons and daughters, we had the privilege of dying, while uttering the name of a god. It was believed that would take us to heaven." 


What struck me most was not the heaven or the dying part, but the fact that everytime one called out the child's name, you were calling the lord's name too. As i said earlier this simple explanation, prevailed on me. It was clear to me then, that this would influence the name i chose for my child. I called my son, Govind. A trip to Thirupati, few years before the birth of my son, influenced this particular variant of Krishna's name. 

Well there are intentions, and best laid out plans. I can tell you this. I chant the lord's name almost a thousand times a day. It usually takes about ten utterances of Govind, in increasing  tenor and temper, to gain my son's attention. Someone is surely paying attention, and extracting a price.

What is Om?

What is Om or Aum? The chart and the explanation for Om was what i took from the discourses of Bhagavad Gita, by swami Chinmayananda. He put it very simply, that Om is like 'x' in an algebra equation. An unknown, that we seek to find. We dont know who God is, so we shall represent him with a symbol, and that symbol is Om. He used this chart to show how the body, mind and intellect interacted with Om or God.

BMI chart as used by Swami Chinmayananda.

Of course there is more to Om, than just what i picked and highlighted here. But i found this very succint and stuck in my head. Now take this thinking a bit forward, like other math equations or logical reasoning. If Om were to represent God, it then represents any God. So no matter what name we call that being, it could then be represented with this symbol Om. Or rather another way to look at it is, to say people have replaced the symbol Om with names. Names they like to hear, names they like to say, names they like to sing, names they like for what it means, or names they like because of what it represents and many other reasons.

For me such a name is Krishna. I have my own reasons to pick this name, the image, the characterisation, the teachings etc. But yet, to me, he is just a god, could be any god, or could be used to represent any other god, as all others being an avatar of him. So i have replaced Om, in my equation with Krishna. Right or wrong, it works for me.

Idol worship

Idol worship is considered the bane of hinduism, and also of some other religions. The newer religions presented a more philosophical base to their thoughts, which only basically usurped the similar knowledge already available in the older religions. But the followers of these new religions seem to have ignored or overlooked the very strictures and teachings that talk about omnipresence and curse of objects and icons that are meant to symbolize the god. They, the followers, have in fact found new means to represent this faceless god with books, numbers, signs, objects, icons and even pictures.

Even scriptures in hinduism, have attempted to wean followers from their stupor, but have failed miserably in their appeal to the masses. Philosophers who have preached and touched people about these, are in turn, made into new icons of worship. It is common in hinduism, as in other forms of religion, that preachers and philosophers are consecrated and made into new demi-gods, only to give rise to new variations of the same religion.

The Hindu scriptures state that God is beyond comprehension by mind and intellect. Powerful as they are, their scope is insufficient to contain him. So the human mind is incapable of a true conception of God. The question, "Who made God?", arises only because mind cannot comprehend that which has neither beginning or end. 

- Paramahansa Yogananda.

Why is that people tend to overlook these, or are not able to fathom the depth of this philosophy? We are all children, or rather naive. Age of a person has never been representative of their wisdom or knowledge. It takes wisdom and courage to understand the difference between something that is 'beyond comprehension' and a block of stone that can be touched and bathed. Awareness of this difference, is probably easier to attain, because there are plenty who have been talking about this for a long time. But the courage to let go of the idol, that you so beheld all these years is more difficult to acquire.

And so till that moment, we, all of us, irrespective of our religion will continue to worship or look upon icons that symbolize god. Till then we are just a mere mortal, floating on log of wood, lost in the vast open sea, praying to a figment of our imagination.

Hindu fundamentalism

It is often said by promoter and followers of the Hindu religion, that is 'a way of life' or 'Universal Religion'. It is one of the very few religions in the world that does not have a prohpet or a founder or single person responsible for its inception. Most detailed discourses about the evolution, for want of a better word, of Hinduism, center around the fact that there were numerous ideas and ideators, which helped fashion the core. The religion, practices, rituals, books, motifs, symbols and gods are just as many as there are followers. It is therefore virtually impossible to determine clearly when and how this religion came about. Although, religion as a concept required a certain evolution of social form of the humankind, before it had to take shape or form.

The Hindu religion was born out of arguments, discourse and dialogue between numerous proponents. It evolved from a clash of ideas. Sometimes diametrically opposite each other, as in including and support for the concept of atheism within its fold. If one philosopher taught that there was 'one god, with many names', another was quick to add that 'there were none and the god you prayed, was in you'. Every new century opened and introduced new paradigms. The wax and wane of the vaishnavites and shaivites, brought to fore the supreme nature of each of these gods. Mantras, rituals and sacrifices were the bane, introduced by some. While atman, brahman, and karma are the grace described by some. With Polythesim in practise, Monothesim as a concept, it was but natural to see how some people could be driven away.

It is in this context that you cannot, but react with a sense of amazement, that people who are the so called proponents of this religion today, take a very narrow centric view. The religion or culture has supported many of today's so called social evils for eons and centuries. But yet, we awaken each day to marauders burning and pillaging in the name of god. Again, they are only trying to save a tradition or ritual, which possibly is only a hundred years old, all in the name of a lord, who has been in existence for about a thousand or two thousand years. 

It is always difficult to rationalize with these. And there is no reason to do so either. This religious divide, which today is fought in the name of different gods, and externalized as hindu vs islam vs christianity, was very much a part of the internal divide within hinduism.  Kings who favoured different sects within the Hindu religion, have warred with others. Viewed from this angle, it just means we are going through a different revolution. Even in the last hundred years, movement like the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Theosphical Society, Ramakrishna Mission and people like Gandhi, Narayana Guru, Aurobindo etc., have reformed or propounded different doctrines. While all these havent lead to bloodshed, they still have resulted in upheaval.

To all those who behave like fanatics and fundamentalist in the name of religion, they only need to look back in history, and see that they are not alone. However, they do need to understand that barring a few situations, mostly created by fewer individuals, many of these so called changes or thoughts have come in a peaceful manner. This religion promotes and depends on discussion, discourse and most importantly disagreements. If it weren't for disagreements, we would have missed out on many important texts and studies, that are considered integral part of the Hindu religion today. The first and foremost that sticks in my mind, is Adi Shankaracharaya and his theory that there is difference between the individual and god.

A Theism

Atheism is rejection of 'theism' or as i would call it, belief in an alternate 'theism'. Atheism is not new to India or the Hindu religion itself. Neither is it the prerogative of people from the sub-continent. In Europe and the western world, atheism seems predominant within the scientific society or within societies that established political and government structures centered around Communist and Marxist philosophies.

In India too, today, the Communist are large preachers of the atheist theory. In Tamil Nadu, where i come from, atheist philosophies have been propounded by the Dravidian movement to counter the Brahman influence within the erstwhile congress party. The Dravidian party also provided my first indulgence with atheism and interaction with atheist philosophy. Thanthai Periyar from Tamil Nadu was alive when i was born and have some vague memories of news surrounding him.

Recently i also met a staunch communist in my family (family as we malayalee's call it, my brother-in-law's father-in-law !), who is self proclaimed atheist, while his wife and everyone else in the family are staunch believers. He has no problem in living with these believers, while he upholds his principles. It was an interesting experience, and i pulled up courage to ask him, who he called out to, in times of crisis or need. He didnt, was his answer.

While i am not an atheist, i dont condone this philosophy either. I think there is some rationale and meaning to it all. Come to think of it, we did evolve from a monkey, so then why is our god not looking like a monkey (well with an exception to Hanuman). Instead we have turned mortal philosophers into god, be it Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus or Mohammed. All of them were born into this world and also died. And then there are stories about their immortality. Well about 200 years from now, people will find it difficult to believe that a half-naked old and fragile man was able to bring a mighty empire to its knees. Am sure stories told then will include magical staff, bullet-proof shawl and dhoti and also a powerful drug that he manufactured at the beach which was used later to overpower the British. Phew !!! What a story !!

So the long story short. Who is god ? Did god create us ? Or did we create god ? If there is no god, then how do you explain the fact that 'faith' has such a remarkable effect on people ? If God didnt come down and preach to us and show miracles and prowess, how does one explain these ? If we created God, why did we stop at one, two, twenty or hundred ? Why didnt we create a billion of them ? And if there is a god, why does he allow people to be killed in his name ?

Krishna

What is it about Krishna that attracts me ? Well, what is there not to be attracted to this icon? One of the few gods, that appeal to children, women, men, young and old, and even the rogues
? I think i must also thank NTR for my liking of Krishna. He is the one who constantly played the role of Krishna in movies. That was an image that stuck in my head for a long time, till Nitish Bhardwaj carried it off, with the same elan.

No its not about the image alone. There is the message. Numerous, tho some attributed to him, but you cant discount the whole Bhagwad Gita, which is his song to us poor souls. His vision for our salvation. There is so much in there and i have only scratched the surface.

I was born in Trishoor, Kerala. I grew up in Madras (now Chennai), but Trishoor was the place i lived every summer vacation for first 16 years. My grandmother (ammooma) was the first to introduce me to Krishna. I was also fortunate that i lived near the Thiruvambady temple in Trishoor. Between the sanctity of this temple and the stories narrated by my ammooma, i fell in love with this character who stole butter, irritated the towns people, women folk and other cowherds, played the fool with his brother and family, always caused worries for his mother but most importantly had his heart in the right place. It must have mirrored some of my qualities as a child. Think of it, so here is a god, that does everything you do as a kid. Now why would you conjure up anyother person to protect you from evil and bad dreams. Hanuman comes close, but then he is half monkey.

As i grew up, i was introduced to the Krishna, who saved his village form the wrath of another god, Indira. He did this, when Indira was angry because the people prayed to the mountain Govardhan instead of him. This story of Krishna taught me that rituals are just that rituals, and truth lies elsewhere. The Krishna in Mahabaratha was the epitome of all things right. His means to achieve dharma, also seemed so appropriate in todays worldly sense. He didnt hide behind all things godliness. He believed in the end, good must win, evil must be vanquished.

The ultimate revelation was the story of about Krishna's death. He died because he was not above the rules of his own dharma. He died to pay for his sins from a previous janma. It doesnt matter what these stories are, what matters is the hidden truth you see. And each person has to read and understand this on their own. My ammooma narrated these stories and explained her rationale, i took what i wanted and made some on my own

To me, these two lines from Bhagawad Gita, defines my entire purpose of religion and life.

karmaNye vaadhikaaraste maa phaleshu kadaachana|
maa karma phalaheturbhuu maate saNgotsvakarmaNi||"

Soon, for me, every god became just another name for Krishna. Talk about avatars. This was more than that. I used to call his name, no matter which temple i went, no matter which god i prayed to.

I am still far away from nirvana, as i have to pay for all my sins i have committed and a few i am working upon. I think it will take a while before i see the paramatma as described by Krishna. Till then, i have only one lord and god to look up to.

Only one God

There is only one god and his name is Krishna.

This might border on conceit or narcissism, given that people from other religions, or even other Hindus may find this very offending. But this is my opinion and this is my blog. And this is not an attempt to offend others, their gods or other gods. My point is simple, all religions speak the same message, that, ‘there is only one god’.

Some of them even name him or her in their scriptures. While there are a lot of references to this in the Hindu scriptures too, they don’t always point to the same name or icon. Krishna, has always declared himself as god, also acknowledges the presence of others in the Hindu pantheon. In this blog, i am not going to into details about why Krishna, but i hope to blog about that too. The character itself is of special meaning to me, and hence the choice becomes easier to make.

We call him or her by many names. Even Hinduism and related offshoots, allows the acceptance of pretty much anything and everything as god or an icon for god, specifies that these are mere substitutes for the bigger and all containing ‘Brahman’. Newer religions have attempted to reduce this level of confusion by mandating that there be only one god. But even they have failed to enforce these strictures.

People find it difficult to associate the philosophy of religion and the meaning of scriptures to their daily lives. To many, if not all, scriptures and philosophy are of profound meaning, to be contemplated about, but when it comes to practice, any and all straws that will help keep them afloat, can and will be treated as god.

While i am not very different, i have been able to exercise some prudence. I try to clutch at straws, but i call them all the same, Krishna. I look up on at all the same, but then what i see is only one image, and that of Krishna. This is not something romantic or idealistic, but more an issue of practicality. It is easier to call out to one person, than to reach out to the rain, sun, earth, wind, money and love gods.

Who is God ? Who are you ?

It appears easy to answer on the face of it. Who is God? We can conjure up images, names, deeds, boons and punishments too, to describe a God we know. Each one of us, have different images or idea of who this person or being is. Or do we ?

Let me try a different take here. Who are you ? I would attempt to answer this by "i am CK".

Are you the name ? Because when you introduce yourself, you say "my name is CK", implying your name is CK, you are not ? While sometime i do pronounce "I am CK". But even as you say this you realize the power of 'ego' that is conveyed through that pronouncement. Again indicating that there is more to it, than just pure truth. Or simply put, that might be false.

Are you the face ? Are you the hands, the body or the legs ? Are you the heart or the mind ? Each of these part of the body is considered yours. That means, these are things you possess but they dont make you. It is my face, my legs, my hand, my heart and my mind, but not me.

Could you, then be the thoughts? The dreams, the emotions, the pain, the love that you have. Because to many people it is the thoughts and words stated that defines them. Here again, these are your thoughts. And the same conclusions can be drawn, as they are yours, but not you. They are mine, but do not define me.

Who is this 'you' or 'i' ? If you try to determine that i am all of these things indicated earlier, all of them put together. Then what happens after you or i die. Well when you die, or i die. We still tend to remain. But then its mostly an imagination in someone's mind. Whereas the i that was used associate myself with, is a dead body that needs to be cremated or buried. Like old clothes, we leave the body we used behind.

So, finally then. Who am i ? Who are you ? Who is God?

Karma - the act of god

karmaNye vaadhikaaraste maa phaleshu kadaachana|
maa karma phalaheturbhuu maate saNgotsvakarmaNi||

These two lines define my entire belief in religion. A short quick meaning is that 'do your duty, and fret not about the rewards'. There is more to it, but thats not what this short blog is about. Its more about that one word 'Karma'.

I was at a Health Summit and Conference recently in New Delhi, where i had the honor of seeing, listening and finally touching the Dalai Lama. His visit was not disclosed before (because of security reasons), and so it was a special surprise to an otherwise dull and boring work session. He spoke a bit about care, compassion and things related to the medical field, and then opened up the floor for questions.

The first question came from a person, who wanted to know, 'in this fast paced life, we dont have time to pray and think about god everytime'. He wanted the Dalai Lama to 'help us quickly remember god everyday, some mantra or special prayer that we could quickly offer everyday'. I was thinking 'hmm, interesting question, but then what could someone say to this kind of question'. While everything he says is true, what he is asking for is impossible. The very fact that someone asks such a question means lack of faith and time. Was he asking for the secret mantra that Dalai Lama had to reach god.

Then the Dalai Lama spoke (i am paraphrasing here, so please dont quote this literally) 'you dont have to pray to god everyday. Karma Yoga - that is the best way to reach god. do your best to help others. reach and remember god, by your actions'. I was flabbergasted, because that statement he made, perfectly mirrored my belief in my religion.

The Hindu Dharma has many means or paths (yoga) to reach god, Jnana, Bhakti and Karma yoga. Jnana yoga takes you to the ultimate truth, using the path of knowledge. Bhakti yoga is the path of devotion. Karma yoga is the path, through your actions. In the Bhagavad Gita, these paths are clearly defined. And while i have given very simplistic definitions and outlook to each of these paths, there is more to it than just the meaning of the words jnana (knowledge), bhakti (devotion) and karma (duty/action). But to me, us simplistic mortal, who are looking for the easy way out, the karma yoga is the really the easy way out. But action towards whom ?

To others, your fellow human beings, your family, friends, neighbours, service providers, and last but not least to yourself. I believe that we all live and breath because of the 'soul' or 'atma' in our body. We are born many times, as many living things, because we need to uplift this atma, so that it can reach its ultimate goal, the 'paramatma'. How do you get there ? Well, one lifetime at a time. Each lifetime, we better ourselves by doing better and better things, more help to people, more service to society, selfless service to human and other living things. That is our karma, and we will benefit from all the good karma in this lifetime, and have a better life the next. And so slowly, one lifetime at a life, we move along the path to the paramatma.

Why this Blog?

For sometime, actually for quite sometime, i have been arguing with myself about God, religion and whole purpose of life etc. I oscillate from an atheist to a god loving and fearing being. I have no qualms though, when i argue against the concept of god, while also folding my hands in prayer. It may reek of double standards, but that hardly makes me unique in this world.

I believe in a supreme being. I believe his name is Krishna, for any other name simply doesnt cut it for me. I believe in him, when i see sun rise with a glory of colours, when i see hear a bird sing a tune, when i see the ocean and its powerful waves, when i see the mountains climbing up to touch the sky, when i see the distant star twinkle in the night, or when during a rare night i can see the milkyway (akash ganga), or even when i think how i am alive today, but just a bones and flesh when a small piece of him goes away from me. I am what i am, because of the life in me, and that according to me is the God i worship, because soon after i am dead, i am referred to as a 'body' that needs to be cremated or buried. But not a person who needs to be fed, bathed, clothed or cared for.

Then again, when i think of God as a person who came and stated things, gave us rules in the form of scriptures, created the wonderful heaven we can gain entry into, or the hell we will burn if we dont obey or pray, i can only see him as a creation of men. Men who felt that they must create some form or being that can be looked up to, by mere mortals, for divine direction. And then after creating the God they wanted, they also went about creating the rules. These rules then evolved (much to the displeasure of the proponents of 'creation' theory) to take new forms and sub-clauses because of new thinking and living. God soon became just a tool, to manage human beings. Lessons of management, teaches us that, when you manage a large group of people, it necessary to divide and organize them, and so we then got ourselves different gods to please each smaller group.

This blog is my way of trying to prove or disprove to myself, whether god exists, god created man, man created god, god gave us scriptures, or did the scriptures define a god. More importantly it is also my theory of God, religion and scriptures, how i approach these and how i use these for my everyday life. I believe in the concept of hinduism, which gives me the utmost freedom in choosing my god and my scripture, in choosing my path to attain moksha. While other religion may offer the same salvation, but my understanding, very limited as it is, indicates that i need to subscribe to stricter path.

I hope to write out my thoughts and explanation to things i see in this universe, when i find a link to my God, or when i feel his hand or touch. And also use this to argue against myself and other views which i dont agree with, in terms of religion, scriptures and god itself. This is a search for truth, and so help me god.