God is Now Here...

 I came across this expression today -


“God is no where" can remain unchanged; there is no need to confront or contradict
that expression. The only thing necessary is to read the letter "w" in
"where", in conjunction with the previous word "no", so that it
becomes, "God is now here!" The negative suddenly becomes positive!
Similarly, by merely unifying your vision towards God, the distinctions
and differences you see in the world disappear and the many becomes
One. Great devotees from all the religions have realized this truth by
their unwavering faith won through the purification of the mind.
- Divine Discourse, Vidya Vahini.

It is so true - similarly, many issues we face in life can be turned positive by just changing our views on it.  Moreover, many individuals are busy trying to prove or not prove the existence of GOD.  But that is not the issue in the spirituality. 

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Self Transformation

"Transformation" is the hottest word in town.  "wardrobe trasformation", "Kitchen transformation", "Living room transformation" etc... etc... Recently, the "Self Transformation"..

What is transformation? - Transforming from one thing to the other.  "Self Transformation"  is also a fundamental goal of the Buddha's teaching, an essential part of his program for liberation from suffering.  Self transformation is about changing this lower consciousness, characterised by delusion, greed, and aversion (to use the example of the Buddhist kleshas, or you could mention Catholic seven deadly sins or anything else), to one distinguished by Gnosis and Empathy

Self transformation might be said to be distinguished by four elements, the Map, Path, Guide, and Practice.

I was listening to a talk today - a particular section in it caught my attention.... In order to understand God or to understand anythings - we have to become it... We have to transform ourselves to that....

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Faith Vs Trust

I had an uplifting day today.  Went to hear a talk by Mr. Dato Jegatheesan who had come from Malaysia.  He is one of the leaders of Sai Organization, and a dynamic speaker.  What interested me most is that he was also once like me questioned everything and anything about life and God.  I also liked his approach on life and how he explained everything with reasons.


Dato’ J. Jegathesan was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1944. Dato’ is a title conferred by the Malaysian Monarchy to honor prominent citizens, similar to the title Sir, conferred by the British Monarchy.Jegathesan was also an agnostic because no one could answer the question, “where is God?”. He used his charm, devastating humour and silver tongue to slash the religious beliefs of his family and friends. June 1976 was a turning point in his life. He had a profound spiritual experience and he began to read about religion - Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Taoism, the major religions of Malaysia. Guided and motivated by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and HIS urgings that a HINDU MUST BECOME A BETTER HINDU, A CHRISTIAN A BETTER CHRISTIAN, etc. HIS call for Service to Humanity and Unity of Faiths, his living room became an Inter Faith shrine.

In his talk today, he mentioned that he wanted to start a project for youths - called HOPE - meaning
Honour Ones Parents Everyday.  He went on to talk about how the today's youth get merged in media and materialistic life and forget the beings who brought them to this world. I also believe that in order to understand on self spiritually, it is important to respect elders and parents.  When we start doing this automatically we become humbled and undertake humility.

He also spoke about Faith & Trust / Surrender...  Many of us call ourselves as we believe in God and God will save us from whatever problems we are facing.  But, when put our faith or trust in God to a test, how many of us will pass this? He narrated this interesting story to illustrate his point.

A man who is an ardent devotee of God and who is always looked up by the spiritual and religious organization once went hiking and accidentally slipped and fell.  Luckily he held on to a branch at 1000 ft high.  With no hope he starts to pray to God - " Oh God, please help me, as a honest and truthful devotee of you, I pray to you.".. Well, God heard his prayers and replied, " My dear son, let go of the branch and as you fall down I will hold you in my arms and save you"... ..
So what do you think the devotee did? .... he looked down and then looked up and asked God " Are you kidding me? , stop joking, where the rope? throw it!"....

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WEEKLY KNOWLEDGE

This is something I received on my email and wanted to share :)

WEEKLY KNOWLEDGE

BACK TO SPACE

From time to time the earth shakes and in its shaking wakes up the man who is in slumber, who not only misuses

Nature but puts his faith in bricks and mortar. Your true security is in the Self not in bricks and mortar.

Perhaps this is what Nature wants to convey to you. Earthquakes, floods and volcanoes all drive

home the truth that nothing

is permanent and you cannot find security in that which is not permanent.

They all come to you as a shock and wake you up.

When such calamities occur we try to understand their cause so that we can blame someone.

Strangely, when you find someone to blame you feel comfortable,

but with natural calamities you cannot blame anyone.

It comes to you as a shock. With wisdom, shocks can make you grow in leaps and bounds.

 Without wisdom a shock can only lead you to negativity and depression.

 

Q. Why should nature destroy small innocent children?

A. Nature just does its job. It does not discriminate between young and old.

Do you think that all those who eat bamboo shoots and eggs or pluck flower

buds are not compassionate maybe, maybe not!  

Instead of questioning Nature, wake up and see the opportunity for seva (service).

Wisdom is to consider the earth as your Valentine.

Whether it shakes or breaks, it is dear to you.

You always see good coming from it.

The four elements, other than space, create turbulence from time to time.

If you depend on them for support, they will shake you and lead you back to space.

Finding security in inner space is spirituality.

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Sri Rudram and Chamakam

Well,  today is my fourth day since I'd started my "spiritual saathana".... I've decided to learn to meditate and try and study the or listen to the "Rudram".  So everyday I have been listening to "Rudram" and learn it.

Rudram is a hyme devoted to 'Lord Shiva'. The hyme is in two parts - first part is known as the 'Namakam' and the second is the   'Chamakam'.  Namakam is asking Lord shiva to forget his fierceful look and become peaceful and bless us.  Chamakam is listing the number of blessings we got from praying to 'Lord Shiva', and asking him to bless our lives.  Below are the audio files.

Sri Rudram mp3
Chamakam mp3

Vedha's are so pure and listening to the above chantings gave me a different experience that is beyond words to describe.  As I mentioned in the previous posts, it is very difficult for me to sit and meditate.  I day dream and think about a lot of irrelevant things and fool myself.  Interestingly,  when I was listening to the above chantings ( only Sri Rudram, I haven't started listening to Chamakam),  I was in a different state - at least I think.  I wasn't day dreaming as I used to.  I should correct my self - I wasn't day dreaming as much as I used to.  Let's see how well I do in future...

Here is a document explaining the meaning of Sri Rudram and Chamakam.


Sri Rudram with Translation and Interpretation

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Life , God and Universe...

I am sure that I am not the only one questioning the life and everything that we see... " What is life, what is universe? what is the begining and ending of all this? ... What is God? What is Super Natural? Where did we begin? How did we begin? etc.. etc...

Every religion has one thing in common - that is there is God, he / she is omnipresent and nothing but love.  From what I understand - according to Hinduism, we are all part of God.  In that what is meant by self is the " inner self" or known as " spirit, Athman".... The "Athman" is part of God and it has no birth or death.  Also,  when we meditate - according to many school of thoughts meditation is concentration - concentrating on something / some object.  However, I was listening to a lecture on Bhagavat Gita - in that the speaker explained meditation from a different point of view which was interesting.  He said -

When we pray - we talk and God Listens... But
When we Meditate - God talks and We Listen...

Well, how does all this tie into the questions I was asking before?  -
What is life?
Well in Hinduism, there is not just one purpose of human life, but four:

Dharma - fulfilling one's purpose
Artha - prosperity
Kama - desire, sexuality, enjoyment
Moksha - enlightenment

I'll try and learn first and then explain these in another post : )

what is universe? what is the begining and ending of all this?, Where did we begin?, How did we begin?
Hindu religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths dedicated to the idea that the cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite number of deaths and rebirths. This is better explained in this post (Source)

What is God?

As I mentioned before, all religions beleive that there is God and form and method of worship differs religion to religion. In general Hinduism considers God not just as the Supreme All-powerful Gigantic One. For Hindus God, as is, is beyond any attributes of form, color, shapes ... That is, God does not have any specific form or name. In this state God is referred to as nirguNa brahman (attributeless god). However God takes forms as perceived by humans and this perceived form is called saguNa brahman (god with (good) attributes). These forms could range from calm to fierce to yogic (1). Each form has its significance. For example when one is depressed and sees the form of God Strong and Powerful, the seeker feels the moral boost that God would definitely be the support for the right thing. ( source )

Well in my point of view - If God is part of Athman... then He / She is within, within me... So in order to understand God - I need to Understand myself... Correct?

Well, that is what I am trying to understand with this blog - As I learn and understand I'll share my experience with you all ( whoever is reading ) this blog... It is a form of Discipline for my self :)

Well... till my next post - live , love and enjoy life....

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