Wednesday 28 December 2011

By spell of illusion one tries to be happy by serving his personal sense which will never make him happy. Instead of satisfying his/her own personal material sense, he/she has to satisfy the sense of the lord.
This system of Yoga called Bhagavadgita was spoken to sun god and sun god explained it to Manu (first king of earth). Over the course of time, it was lost. This time the lord spoke again to Arjuna in the middle of Kurukshetra.

There are five systems of devotions
1) Devotee in passive state
2) Devotee in active state
3) devotee as a friend
4) Devotee as a parent
5) Devotee as a conjugal lover

These stages are called Svarupasiddhi. To understand Bhagavadgita one must have one of these quality.

Lord's personality is difficult to understand. It can not be known even by personalities greater than human. This is why one must read Bhagavad Gita in spirit of devotion.

The subjects of Bhagavad Gita comprehends five basic truths
1) What Gos is 2) What prakriti is 3) What cosmic menifestation is 4) How it is controlled by time 5) What the activities of living entities are

Jivas are small parcels of supreme lord. Therefore Jivas and material nature are part of Prakriti. Jivas are concious. Therefore Jivas prakriti is superior. This does not mean that Jivas prakriti is superior than the God, because lord is concious of all bodies while Jivas (living beings) is concious of his/her particular body.

The lord resides in every living's heart. Lord is the one who gives direction by making determinations. Then according to the actions the living being suffers or enjoys. These karmas can be changed, when the living being is in mode of goodness, in sanity and understands the types he/she should adapt. If this occurs then all of his/her past activities can be changed. Therefore Karmas are not eternal.

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Gita's indwelling lord in Marhkham diasporic community

Epic poem called Gita was sung by Krishna in the middle of the battle field infront of Arjuna. Although the purpose was to get Arjuna to stand up and fight against his relatives, but the dillemas that Arjuna faced during the war are same that common human faces in his everyday life in different format. Markham Hindu diasporic community faces many challenges, such as settlement, child nurturing, survival, politics and many others. Diasporic Hindu community has been vulnerable to their culture and history. According to this community, their culture, history and disciplines represent them in today’s age. Mahabharata is helping diasporic community by constantly reconnecting them with their history and culture. Nevertheless three important impacts of Mahabharata on Canadian diasporic Hindu community are found in unity, selfless love and individual strength.
More over Mahabharata is an incorporation of many interesting ideologies, such as politics, traditional Indian society and religion. According to Gita everyone bears the fruit of their own action. Though not all actions can lead to success, in such situation Gita reminds of individual strength. It helps the fallen one to rise up and keep walking on the path of karmayoga. Gita points out the enemy and true friend of human, therefore every human can realize their strength and weaknesses. Therefore even after failure, fear to do an action can lead to misery, hence Gita creats a strength in every human so the goal is reached.
             Two important ideas of Bhagavada geeta are harmony and non attachment. Untill human does not recognize that there is one controller of all the creatures and he resides in everyone's body.  Along with humans god is also indwelling withing all nature's creation. This devine thought of Gita has bought unity and the notion of other is not other but he is my devine borther. Markham Hindu diasporic community has understood this concept, which has lead to respect and care for nature. Thus, Gita's indwelling lord creates reverence for self, reverence for others and reverence for nature, which enriches humanity and markham diasporic Hindu community.
           Five Pandavas verses hundred Kauravas fought an epic battle of Mahabharata, which resulted in the destruction of Kuru clan. Five Pandavas fough boldly with devine power of Krishna on their side. Neverthe less Five pandavas won this battle through their strength in unity. Mahabharata constantly teaches Hindu diasporic community to seek for unity. Allthough five pandavas had five different body element they shared one soul, which led to their success in every event. Likewise Mahabharata instructs markham diasporic Hindu community to seek success in unity.
         According to T.S. Rukmani today's individual is facing a lot of turmoil, but there is one turmoil which has to do with oneself. This turmoil prevents an individual from living successful soical and family oriented life. Individual is suffering from all kinds of 'syndromes' all of which can be traced to a lack of self esteem and self confidence that is subliminally promoted by Gita and Swadyay community. Gita's ultimate objective is the promotion of human dignity and moral values. Swadhyaya is a community which is actively taking the message of Gita to North American diasporic community.
                      Mahabharata has reflected the fundamental lessons of what faith and refuge in god can acheive. Gita is a source of social, moral, and spiritual inspiratin not only for Markham diasporic Hindu community but for mankind. Gita has something to teach to everyone. It is a previlage for Hindu diasporic community to have an access to such a divine poem. Due to Gita it is easier for today's Hindu parents to pass on the teachings to new generation which is in constant contact with western culture. It also helps new generation to take pride in their Indian identity. Mahabharata has given this community a new strength and helped in identifying their culture and root.
             Swadhyay community is influenced by Pandurang Shastri Athavale, who has successfully sent the message of Gita to almost all Hindus living in North American diaspora. Swadhyay is a character building excericise which is helping to connect with devine and nature. The restoration of human dignity and self respect is echoed in diasporic hindu community in Markham.