A View of Santhigiri Ashram

A View of Santhigiri Ashram
Lotus Parnasala and Sahakarana Mandiram , Santhigiri Ashram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Thursday, March 21, 2019

What is Ailing Hinduism?

Much before the advent of Christianity and Islam, India gave the world the monotheistic view of God and theories related to the creation, the evolution of life, time concept, karma, reincarnation, etc. Although the Vedas venerate gods that are organic to the cosmic apparatus, they go beyond and present us the concept of formless and manifest facets of God. The formless God is called Brahman, who with a desire to create the universe manifested Himself as the Cosmic Purusha. So Purusha is the First Born of God, the kinetic form of the unborn, unknowable God. Vedas and Upanishads clearly say the formless Brahman made Him known by appearing in the form of a Cosmic Person. Borrowing this Vedic idea Bible writers say that God created man in His own image.
According to the theory of creation in Hindu scriptures, Purusha remained in the fluid of the universal egg for a long time and finding Him alone, He split himself into two, as a man and a woman with a desire to create. (His first creations were sages or rishis, it is said). The name of the Purusha is Manu and the woman Satarupa. It is mentioned further that from this pair the human race originated; hence Manu is considered the progenitor of mankind. These ideas of creation traveled worldwide and took regional forms. The Purusha began to be worshipped in various forms and names in subsequent ages. The Hindus equated Him with the trinity gods Siva, Vishnu, Brahma and so on. In the prophetical religions, Purusha is worshipped as the Father in Heaven, Allah, etc. The Manu became the myth of Adam in Christianity and Islam.
Manu in Indian spirituality is the Creator himself, not just the human ancestor. Manu is God in creative mode. For this reason, the world-time is named Manvantara after Manu’s name by the primordial rishis. Therefore, Indian spirituality is monotheistic in essence although not in practice currently. The concept of a monotheistic God originated in India. However, during the course of time, certain socio-spiritual distortions occurred in India. The Vedic scribes re-wrote Purana Samhita (mythological treatise which was one in the beginning) and portrayed Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva as the authorities of creation probably to bring these pre-Vedic traditions together. They altered the Manvantara time calculation subservient to trinity god Brahma instead of Manu, according to the revelations received through Sri Karunakara Guru. Manu lost all significance. During the long ages of editions and re-editions of Vedic texts in the hands of Vaidikas, the history of Manu was lost except his name. The Vedic priests not only made trinity gods equal to Brahman but made the community of priests too equal to a god. They instituted a hierarchical caste system that gave no spiritual rights to others. The other communities were prohibited from learning Vedas and rituals and were left to worship evil spirits and tribal gods.
According to Manu Parampara or Sanatana Dharma, only Trikala jnani (all-knowing) gurus are the spiritual authorities in every yuga. Sri Ram was the Guru of Treta yuga and Sri Krishna of Dwapara Yuga. The object of Worship in Sanatana Dharma is Brahman alone, the formless Supreme Light, through the medium of an epochal Guru, who appears in every age. From the beginning of this new age Kali Yuga (which began approx. 5200 years ago), God sent great souls like Sri Krishna, Sri Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak, Kabir Das, and others. However, the Vaidikas brought these great souls under the Trimurti system through interpolated Puranas which portrayed them as avatars of one or the other gods. For example, is the myth of Sri Krishna and Sri Buddha who are mentioned as avatars of Vishnu in the Puranas. The great Mahatmas and their words were not recognized in order to promote the monopoly of Vaidikas.
Further, Vedanta philosophy brought great spiritual distortion in the minds of people as its real essence was misunderstood. The people became full of ‘ahamkara’ or ego-ness as they were taught to think they are Brahman (Aham Brahmasmi). Any sinful person and even an evil spirit can become equal to God in this way. A person can attain Brahman only after cleansing all karma doshas and pitru doshas (karmic and genetic imprints and debilities) through many reincarnations and after crossing many spiritual stages. A fully realized Guru who knows the past, present, and future and who is the spiritual authority of age is necessary for such spiritual cleansing and a spiritual voyage through the cosmic egg.
Thus the Sanatana spiritual order was distorted. God sent other messengers like Moses, Jesus and Prophet Mohammad outside India and tried to re-establish Sanatana Dharma world-view. Since the origin of Sanatana Dharma is in India, the prophets of Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) did not get revealed the full idea of the secret of creation and related knowledge with regard to the evolution of life, the theory of karma, reincarnation, etc. So Christianity and Islam present only a dogmatic half-baked view of God and creation. Only Sanatana Dharma presents an all-encompassing inclusive world view. Sanatana Dharma is time tested, eternal and the divine plan for spiritual evolution.
God sends an epochal Guru, a Kalanthara Guru in every age. Accordingly, He sent another great reformer, a divine messenger to India as the spiritual authority of this new age - Kali Yuga. The name of that great Soul is Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru (1927-1999), whose abode is in Thiruvananthapuram, at the southern tip of India, in Kerala. The great Guru’s spiritual intercession cleanses the individual and family from all karmic and genetic sins and leads one to peace and divine joy. The Guru has led thousands of families to the new order - Guru Margam getting rid of all caste, gender, and religious segregations. In the new order, the venerable is only Brahman, the One God. Mediators are not priests, but the all-knowing Guru and his lineage of realized spiritual masters.