Gurucharanam Saranam
A LETTER TO INDIA TOWARDS WORLD PEACE
(This letter sent in two parts by Navajyoti Sree Karunakara Guru to the then Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi, on September 11, 1984 marks the beginning of an effort to evolve a model for living: taking into account the continuity of the present, past and future; taking into account the need not only of the Indians but also of others in the world. In other words, it is an attempt to take a primal step from where life could start afresh...)
My Dear Mother,
To deserve to be addressed thus, anyone’s action has to attain a state of purity. This is addressed to you in the desire of evolving a new model for living for India and for the world; may it be an inexhaustible treasure for the country; may it be a source of fulfilment to us and to you who is with us, and to the world in general.
In the Hindu tradition, the genesis of Man is said to be through a series of ‘Manus’. Later incorporated into the Hindu worship has been the Trinity – the Trimurthi of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. The world at the moment appears to be on an eager course to reach something. This searching is evident if one were to observe keenly the entire animal world. The intent is linked with a movement towards the better. The totality of this intent has been brought to light by Manu and his Parampara - in the Indian context – through the dynamic of total renunciation sanyasa.
This is obvious without anyone having to tell us about it. It is evident in the fact that India had universities (Nalanda, Takshashila) that excelled any other in the world. It is evidenced in our professed pride till today in our ancient traditions. How much of it is related now to our direct experience? And how much of it is romanticised by our imagination? This is to prepare for a collective inquiry into this important question. Behind these humble words is the urge to inspire the younger generation in love and respect to take the initiative for further action by giving them a perspective on the present situation on the basis of an evaluation of our successes and failures.
For the forming of this necessary perspective for future generations, what is necessary is that we take a course of action which is in keeping with the times. This awareness is contained within us and is a message meant for the faithful the world over. ‘In keeping with the times’ is to be elaborated upon.
There is a general belief that this is the Kali Yuga. There is also a belief prevalent among people that in Kali the world’s dissolution will take place, a view which has the concurrence of other scriptural traditions as well. Our scriptures reckon that this is the seventh manvantara after the genesis of the world and there are seven manvantaras more to pass.
The present manvantara is ‘Vaivasvata’ Manvantara; its 28th Chaturyuga (Quartet of Ages), of which the fourth quarter, the Kali Yuga, is running. In this Kali Yuga all varnas – Sudra, Kshatriya, Vaisya and the Brahmin - should work together towards unity in terms of faith, of love and of creed. Our living has now to be modelled in terms of the coming Satya Yuga on the awareness that our actions have already been touched by the future prophets; the perfect sanyasis, in whom will be combined the wisdom of the sages (rishis) and the excellence of action characteristic of the celestial beings (devas). Living seeds are to be established, oriented towards the coming Satya Yuga, involving them in such action as would inspire such orientation even in others. The governance also should aim to towards such orientation. We may also function with the conviction that the power of the state, to a certain extent, can contribute towards an evolved pattern of living.
How does the state perceive what it should do in accordance with the times? This has to be an inference from the successes and failures of the bygone yugadharmas. If action is not based on such awareness, there is a saying of the wise men of old: ‘If it comes along well and good; if not one loses just a string.’ It is a success if one could pull a huge boulder with a string. If it does not move, what one loses is merely the lasso and a little time. If the action is in harmony with time no pulling needs to be done. A mere touch and it will move in the steam. The string that is karma (action) would guide the movement of the boulder.
Yes, the stream is in full flow: all that is left for us to do is to swim across with our sights set on the goal. We are indeed lucky that this grace is now upon us, that we have an opportunity to be totally successful in this swimming across i.e. in our karma, our action.
It is the Mother’s good fortune, or ours, that you are the mainstay of the State that is meant for action, mindful of the Supreme Truth – God, Brahman or Parabrahman: which is symbolised by various names in various religions.
In silent salutations to the Grace that is upon us which enables us to celebrate it in work.
In salutations to you, Mother, who could initiate that first step towards attaining the courage for higher and foresightful action.
Karunakara Guru
Part-II
My Dear Mother,
It is hoped that the intent and the aim are both clear from the foregoing. The aim, as also the action and redress as would widen the aim, have been obscured by flaws and weaknesses that occurred. Countless proofs are available and not a single one has so far been fundamentally examined and redress sought. Suggestions towards the medium for this action have been indicated by several great men. Some have even initiated such action; among them those alone have succeeded who acted in accordance with their times. Of these the foremost are Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, and their followers
Krishna clarified our path here, much before these great men. Krishna’s life is a proof of the fact that he had to incarnate himself to rectify some flaws that occurred in the great men before him. These flaws have been responsible for some of the crises not only in India but the world over. There is no room for doubt that Lord Krishna elucidated this with foresight for us all. The Will of the Brahman, the Cosmic Will, is expressed thus through many. In this process some have wasted their karma when they faltered in the impulses that guide us towards that Will: by karma hereis meant the energy that is invested in the human body at birth – the vehicle of action. That the Brahmic decree was clear beforehand is evident in the royal status the Yadavas had attained.
Legend has pictured Kamsa as a tyrant. May be he wasn’t one really. The incidents of Krishna’s infancy brought out the entire gamut of Kamsa’s violent traits. Krishna with his Karma destroyed these traits, and in their place suggested what excellence in action should be, ennobled by reason and by means of action. He explained it in the 18 cantos of action and war in the Bhagavad Gita. It is also marvellously suggested that we follow Krishna by the annihilation of the 18 akshouhini army which included all the elders and acharyas like Bhishma and Shalya who so far had been beacons of light to all.
The path Krishna showed could not be attained by us. We have, besides, sullied and destroyed that example. That the Kohinoor, which belonged to the royalty here is now on the British crown symbolically indicated that we did not or could not follow Krishna or that path was not made clear to us. Much before this other invaders took away a precious Sivalinga, one of the foremost objects of our veneration, which is now used as a stepping stone to their place of worship.
If we are believers, on the one hand somewhere something went wrong with our ancestors; our tradition of worship was upset. On the other hand the processes of the State were warped.
And those who were brought up in the cold clime became ready for any battle for survival, and with their industry became capable of effecting fundamental changes in the world. AS a result of this development, we have become brown sahibs mimicking them. However, we could learn some aspects of contemporary knowledge only through their language. This we should not forget.
It is amply clear that whatever traditions had prevailed earlier no longer find a reflection is areas of religion, governance or societal norms. There has been no progress. There is no doubt that this country will move towards a grave danger if we fail to change or initiate a change in the current degeneration the world is facing.
Like Krishna and Mohammed there have been the twelve legendary sons of the low caste woman – their works proclaiming that the deva’s attainments are child’s play. This by no means suggests that there is no deva, devi or other deities in the tradition of the Trimurti worship.
The prescription for the Kali Yuga i that the deva should incarnate himself as a human being and do works that would benefit the states of the deva (the deity), rishi (sage) and sanyasin (renunciate). Values emerging out of these works are to be handed down to common men through preceptors (gurparampara) or prophets pravachakaparampara). For this purpose the State and the believers in the Vedic system – the Vaidiks, the Pandits and the action-oriented – should come together to seek the direction that is in keeping with the present day. Guidance should be sought from a jnani (seer) on whatever issues necessary.
We are in possession of a medium today of knowing past, future and present in the actual experience of life by revelation. A path in keeping with this gift will enable us to achieve enlightenment: this knowledge is akin to how Krishna revealed himself to Arjuna or like the path Mohammed has mentioned (“I received through Word, Light and Form,” is the statement). What he said then, on the basis of this kind of knowledge, has come true now: “The deserts will become cities; endless treasures can be dug out of this sandy earth.” It is high time for us to realise that it is only through such knowledge and through men of such knowledge, that the country or State can flourish.
Towards this end an opportunity needs to be created for the devout and the renunciate to work together. An attempt to unify the followers of different religions should be made. For this approach those who know the past, present and future, and can evolve a path in keeping with the sequence of time and events should be listened to. In this context the only word that can be relied upon is the jnani’s.
There is no room for doubt that a corrective for the world can be effected through the help of such jnanis if the State and the learned willingly believe in the word of such a jnani and act from that belief. There has been an Annunciation that this can be achieved through us, as a parampara. We are glad to tell you what has been thus told to us.
The Annunciation received in 1973 according to the asariri (the Word from Light):
“What I have been desirous of through ages has now been realised.”
From that point onwards till now we have received revelations. All such revelations have proved to us that the destiny of the world can be known by us. We would like to be the subject of experiment and observation whereby you could investigate and find the truth of our claim.
This is written with the prayer that your resources, ours and the knowledge of scholars may come together to evolve a model that would be beneficial to the world at large. We are communicating these words to you in the hope that you, mother, and other heads of state, philanthropists and scientists may come together to ward off the crisis that the world is facing.
Today the world is divided into two categories: those who believe and those who do not. Be that as it may, we all know that human life is the same beneath the differences in the externals. No difference seems to be discernible except that each country conducts its life according to its geographical, environmental and intellectual conditions. In this context India has been enjoying an image of a peace symbol. This image is the result of the skill in action that our ancestors had been able to achieve. This ability has been perfected through a parampara of preceptors and intellectuals. This tradition has evolved certain excellent ideas and tenets; but all that could be concluded is that an error that happened somewhere along the line has soured this tradition, rendering it unfunctional and alienating it from society.
If you seek, there is an answer; we are in possession of the knowledge. The State could involve itself completely in communicating this knowledge into the lives of young boys and girls. It could make parents aware of the need to evolve a life-value based on a blending of education and culture. For this it could entrust some capable public servants with a plan which will reach out to families individually, irrespective of caste or creed.
The children who grow up in this new tradition will revere their parents. They will not break and destroy universities. They will not find it in them to quarrel among themselves over religion, caste or ethnic differences.
The true path towards this change would be to follow the advice of jnanis and work out a plan which will reconcile the values of religion and the goals of politics. Merely quoting puranas and epics will not help. A jnani who knows the present and future alone can handle the situation effectively. The State should, to start with, have faith in people and be able to create such faith in them.
We have received the Grace for taking a step like this: the time is ripe for the Sate to bring activists together.
In the desire of persuading your attention and the attention of other activists in this matter,
Karunakara Guru
(Courtesy: Santhigiri Monthly, Santhigiri Publications)
A View of Santhigiri Ashram
Lotus Parnasala and Sahakarana Mandiram , Santhigiri Ashram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Monday, August 16, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
The Dynamics of Spiritual Practices
Gurucharanam Saranam
The Dynamics of Spiritual Practices
Mukundan P.R.
There are spiritual hierarchies – animals, humans, spiritual planes of ancestors, celestials, rishis and sages which all exist in this universal egg as expressions of the Supreme Consciousness. The Hindus knew it more than any others. But it is the Hindus who are blind to this truth than any others in the world. The deities, gods and goddesses, angels, jinnis and so on exist in a spiritual plane much below in spiritual evolution.
Like in the human world, there is ignorance and sensual indulgence, competition and jealousy in the world of the celestials too, though in a different ethereal dimension. If a human being worships such deities and angels, by oneself or under the guidance of a guru, what the soul begets are the same qualities and level of spiritual growth the deity or angel has perfected in their embodiment. It is this truth, generally people forget while following such worship tradition.
There are thousands of Gurus who propitiate spirits and deities and attain certain spiritual powers, and exhibit it in front of the ignorant believers, who mistake it as the proof of divinity and get misguided in the path of spirituality. We objectify our faith in God by attaching ourselves to one or the other gods or gurus who follow the deity tradition. We have tribal gods; gods and gurus who are fenced into thousands of castes and sub castes. And we have Christian God, Muslim God. Do we require any further proof to understand our pathetic fall and the ridiculous ideologies we follow without ever bothering to think?
Worshippers of deities, angels and gods can never attain tranquility and spiritual fullness due to their bonding with the sensual, imperfect world of the spirits and deities. Initially, a man who worships the deities might gain worldly – wealth and enjoyment in life. In fact it would be the result of one’s own earnings in the soul, which they would have enjoyed otherwise too with the sole strength of their ‘punya’ - the soul-virtue. The virtue in the soul is the positivity, the radiance or the health of the soul, arising from right conduct and virtuous actions in life, which gets embedded in the soul and from which arises good luck in life in proportion. This earning of the soul is being ignorantly pawned with the deities by the unsuspecting devotee as a guarantee for continued joy in this life and life hereafter.
The deity sucks the virtue of the devotee and leaves him bankrupt of soul-virtue. It happens because the deity is unable to enhance the soul-virtue of the devotee due to its own spiritual confinement in a lower spiritual plane. However, initially, the deity may be able to bestow some small favors on the devotees, which is intended to cement the devotees’ faith. The devotees get misguided going by the small experiences and in return pawn their soul to such powers by way of prayers, vows and worship. This bonding with the spirits becomes a spiritual liability not only for the worshipers' soul but its grip goes deeper into the family lineage. When a person dies after worshiping such spirits his or her soul becomes extremely uncomfortable in the astral plane unable to get further spiritual elevation.
To get spiritual elevation, the souls in the astral plane should be able to take birth in the homes of parents who live a spiritually elevated life. Unfortunately, the progeny of the ancestral soul would be blindly following the worship tradition in the family, whatever the ancestors followed. So the way of escape becomes impossible for the ancestral souls. The tragedy gets accumulated and it works like a curse on the family concerned due to the desperation of the ancestral souls. The aforesaid disquiet of the ancestral souls affects the family genetically in various ways – poverty, disasters, family imbroglios, misfortunes, physical and mental debilities and unhappiness. The family slowly disintegrates losing all luck and prosperity. These ancestral souls are also born sometime with mental and physical debilities due to the blemishes accumulated in the soul through wrong worship, karma and dharma. In astrology, it is termed as ‘Pitru Dosha’ or ancestral demerits.
The life and work of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru was to rescue the families from this predicament of ancestral curses and to give them a way of worship that will nourish their soul, not nullify its virtue. The performance of Guru Pooja in Santhigiri is for this spiritual cleansing and reorientation.
Our mistake is in the selection of medium towards God. We mistake the medium of spirits, gods and goddesses as the Almighty God. Our mistake is our ignorance in understanding the concept of Guru, the medium between God and man. Generally in India, people accept a Guru in their life. But the mistake lies not as much in the acceptance of Guru, but in the selection of Gurus. If you accept a Guru who is devoted to a god or goddess of aforesaid nature, that Guru can take you only to that level of spiritual truth. Most of the Gurus including the ones belonging to the monotheism of Sankara are deity worshipers, though they theorize about the formless Truth, the Brahman. The ashrams belonging to Sankara tradition do not entertain non-Brahmins in their ashrams, much less offer food to them. It is due to this lack of love, people do not give any heed or respect to such sanyasis and ashrams.
It is very disheartening to see that there are hundreds of ashrams and sanyasis today, who bother about caste and religion. This is equally true of other religions as well. A real sanyasi is beyond all sorts of human discriminations. In the ascetic tradition of India, one should not ask a Sanyasis about his previous stage in life - his name, family, caste, educational details etc. Because the sanyasi is one who has identified the oneness of his soul with the souls of all other living beings. There is only one vibration in the heart of a sanyasi - that is of joy and unconditional love. This unconditional love and joy can flow only when the heart is connected to the supreme source of that love - the Light of God. It cannot be gained from the lower planes of tamasic and rajasic spiritual powers, angels, deities and gods or from the gurus whose spirituality is based on deity worship or spirit worship not only of Hindu tradition but of any other religious traditions.
The first point in the checklist before accepting a Guru is this – whether the Guru is attached to a deity. Go ahead if he is not, and find out next whether he is experientially connected to the Supreme Light of God. If he is connected to the Supreme Light, he will be the one who receives words and visions from the Light. Go ahead still further and find out whether you are able to yourself experience the Divine through him, find out whether he is able to know your soul, its trajectory and make you aware of yourself. A supreme guru is like a mirror in which you see your own reflection; it reflects your own truth. These are the basic checklists one should follow while selecting a Guru. And Guru you must select in order to elevate yourself in the spiritual ladder. The difference between spirituality (of Guru-disciple order or Gurumargam) and religion lies in this experiential aspect.
The Dynamics of Spiritual Practices
Mukundan P.R.
There are spiritual hierarchies – animals, humans, spiritual planes of ancestors, celestials, rishis and sages which all exist in this universal egg as expressions of the Supreme Consciousness. The Hindus knew it more than any others. But it is the Hindus who are blind to this truth than any others in the world. The deities, gods and goddesses, angels, jinnis and so on exist in a spiritual plane much below in spiritual evolution.
Like in the human world, there is ignorance and sensual indulgence, competition and jealousy in the world of the celestials too, though in a different ethereal dimension. If a human being worships such deities and angels, by oneself or under the guidance of a guru, what the soul begets are the same qualities and level of spiritual growth the deity or angel has perfected in their embodiment. It is this truth, generally people forget while following such worship tradition.
There are thousands of Gurus who propitiate spirits and deities and attain certain spiritual powers, and exhibit it in front of the ignorant believers, who mistake it as the proof of divinity and get misguided in the path of spirituality. We objectify our faith in God by attaching ourselves to one or the other gods or gurus who follow the deity tradition. We have tribal gods; gods and gurus who are fenced into thousands of castes and sub castes. And we have Christian God, Muslim God. Do we require any further proof to understand our pathetic fall and the ridiculous ideologies we follow without ever bothering to think?
Worshippers of deities, angels and gods can never attain tranquility and spiritual fullness due to their bonding with the sensual, imperfect world of the spirits and deities. Initially, a man who worships the deities might gain worldly – wealth and enjoyment in life. In fact it would be the result of one’s own earnings in the soul, which they would have enjoyed otherwise too with the sole strength of their ‘punya’ - the soul-virtue. The virtue in the soul is the positivity, the radiance or the health of the soul, arising from right conduct and virtuous actions in life, which gets embedded in the soul and from which arises good luck in life in proportion. This earning of the soul is being ignorantly pawned with the deities by the unsuspecting devotee as a guarantee for continued joy in this life and life hereafter.
The deity sucks the virtue of the devotee and leaves him bankrupt of soul-virtue. It happens because the deity is unable to enhance the soul-virtue of the devotee due to its own spiritual confinement in a lower spiritual plane. However, initially, the deity may be able to bestow some small favors on the devotees, which is intended to cement the devotees’ faith. The devotees get misguided going by the small experiences and in return pawn their soul to such powers by way of prayers, vows and worship. This bonding with the spirits becomes a spiritual liability not only for the worshipers' soul but its grip goes deeper into the family lineage. When a person dies after worshiping such spirits his or her soul becomes extremely uncomfortable in the astral plane unable to get further spiritual elevation.
To get spiritual elevation, the souls in the astral plane should be able to take birth in the homes of parents who live a spiritually elevated life. Unfortunately, the progeny of the ancestral soul would be blindly following the worship tradition in the family, whatever the ancestors followed. So the way of escape becomes impossible for the ancestral souls. The tragedy gets accumulated and it works like a curse on the family concerned due to the desperation of the ancestral souls. The aforesaid disquiet of the ancestral souls affects the family genetically in various ways – poverty, disasters, family imbroglios, misfortunes, physical and mental debilities and unhappiness. The family slowly disintegrates losing all luck and prosperity. These ancestral souls are also born sometime with mental and physical debilities due to the blemishes accumulated in the soul through wrong worship, karma and dharma. In astrology, it is termed as ‘Pitru Dosha’ or ancestral demerits.
The life and work of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru was to rescue the families from this predicament of ancestral curses and to give them a way of worship that will nourish their soul, not nullify its virtue. The performance of Guru Pooja in Santhigiri is for this spiritual cleansing and reorientation.
Our mistake is in the selection of medium towards God. We mistake the medium of spirits, gods and goddesses as the Almighty God. Our mistake is our ignorance in understanding the concept of Guru, the medium between God and man. Generally in India, people accept a Guru in their life. But the mistake lies not as much in the acceptance of Guru, but in the selection of Gurus. If you accept a Guru who is devoted to a god or goddess of aforesaid nature, that Guru can take you only to that level of spiritual truth. Most of the Gurus including the ones belonging to the monotheism of Sankara are deity worshipers, though they theorize about the formless Truth, the Brahman. The ashrams belonging to Sankara tradition do not entertain non-Brahmins in their ashrams, much less offer food to them. It is due to this lack of love, people do not give any heed or respect to such sanyasis and ashrams.
It is very disheartening to see that there are hundreds of ashrams and sanyasis today, who bother about caste and religion. This is equally true of other religions as well. A real sanyasi is beyond all sorts of human discriminations. In the ascetic tradition of India, one should not ask a Sanyasis about his previous stage in life - his name, family, caste, educational details etc. Because the sanyasi is one who has identified the oneness of his soul with the souls of all other living beings. There is only one vibration in the heart of a sanyasi - that is of joy and unconditional love. This unconditional love and joy can flow only when the heart is connected to the supreme source of that love - the Light of God. It cannot be gained from the lower planes of tamasic and rajasic spiritual powers, angels, deities and gods or from the gurus whose spirituality is based on deity worship or spirit worship not only of Hindu tradition but of any other religious traditions.
The first point in the checklist before accepting a Guru is this – whether the Guru is attached to a deity. Go ahead if he is not, and find out next whether he is experientially connected to the Supreme Light of God. If he is connected to the Supreme Light, he will be the one who receives words and visions from the Light. Go ahead still further and find out whether you are able to yourself experience the Divine through him, find out whether he is able to know your soul, its trajectory and make you aware of yourself. A supreme guru is like a mirror in which you see your own reflection; it reflects your own truth. These are the basic checklists one should follow while selecting a Guru. And Guru you must select in order to elevate yourself in the spiritual ladder. The difference between spirituality (of Guru-disciple order or Gurumargam) and religion lies in this experiential aspect.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Spiritual Cleansing - Gurupooja at Santhigiri
Gurucharanam Saranam
Spiritual Cleansing - Gurupooja at Santhigiri
(Sacred words of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru)
Translated from the original Malayalam
We fought one another remaining in a system which laid down that we should not touch, step into, accept or perceive the sanctified aspect within all performances. In that fight, varnashrama dharma was lost and the caste system arose. The castes were also not to touch one another. All the karmas were hit by this system. We (at Santhigiri) are taking back that bruised karma, which many had tried in vain earlier. Santhigiri’s karma is directed at reverting to the caste-less state and not at devoleping a sanyasa cult. Nor is it aimed at tracing the root of the Indian civilization with a view to retrieve it. It is not necessary to lift it up. Because this is Kali: The dharma of Kali is not to step on the shoulder of the errors that have arisen in the whole world and then revive it. Our karma as well as the dharma of Kali is to wipe out the aspect of error.
In this karma, both the genders of householders should earn a great level. The householder-life (grihasthashram) is a great concept wherein a householder elevates himself (in such a manner) that through his offspring and lineage, he acquires the intelligence to rule the world; the karma (way of action) to impart goodness to the world or even become capable of assuming the role of the protectors of the world or its motherhood. Without knowing this, you live and perish as opportunists.
You don’t know what God-worship is. You do not know even to act distinguishing what is the Householder, Sanyasi, Yogi and Karmi. None of these karmas is now with us. Our success in life lies in retrieving them. This is the first effort in the world (in this direction). No where else has this effort taken place. Let it come if it is going to come elsewhere. We have reached the stage of the humbleness of the performance of God’s creative contemplation.
When I first reached this place for the actualization of this performance, I was told not to stay where I could be seen by two persons together. Many sort of things happened here at that period. The people of this place also know some of it, but their knowing was of no avail. When I first made a hut here, I handed over its care to some local residents here. And you came in (here) witnessing their fall. What is that fall like? These people had come and witnessed the happenings here. Despite many events which took place in front of them, being caught by cognitive lacking, they were distanced (from here) forever in a manner that it is impossible for them to come back or take it back. Some of them repent today saying that it was (their) flawed action. However, there is no use of their saying so.
The karma now being performed here today is aimed at moulding such offspring who can give birth to the array of deva (god), devi (goddess), rishi (seer), sanyasi (renunciate) and jnanis (the wise) who were worshipped by our forefathers with love and reverence. Nobody who came until now has done this performance, for God has not ordained them for it. But God has granted us that karma. You should realize that, but you fail to understand it in whatever way it is said. In this institution, where more than 15,000 families performed Gurupooja, there are no people even countable by fingers who live knowing it in that greatness. How will you then discern this karma? Many children of this place who were once associated with this have forgotten this. I have not told them anything. Whenever they come to me, sometimes I try to prick them saying it like a story, but they have no pain. Why so? Because all of us are the progeny of people who have read the ancient tales and epics like a story and, turning that story into play, made it into recklessness.
When it is mentioned that our subject is to correct this ignorance - what becomes necessary is your children. But they are not able to be brought forward because the dharma by which we worshipped, and were made to worship with the offerings of love and wealth, is entangled with our soul. (Such being the truth), when a girl is born, she is led away from her virtues in such a manner that her goodness is unable to be known. When a male-child is born, he is transformed into a drunkard in such a manner that he is unable to know what duty he has towards the world. There is a great effort in changing these vices. This effort in one way is good. For, at least, for that sake, you would get in contact (with Guru) and act.
There’s a saying among us that the husband is God! Is the meaning of this saying then a fool, who fulfilled (his life) with theft and one who has never shown justice to anything? Does it mean an unchaste person who has not learned to live in righteousness, living without humility and virtue, pulling down the undergarment of women? It is all this we are creating and letting out. How can they manage this country? What all this depravity (depredators) cannot perform?
The ‘Gurupooja’ here is the foremost karma which I am doing for this for you. (I am) not talking about its greatness. I don’t understand such greatness. I am not leaned, great by virtue of wealth, capability or education. God has not led me into any such things. But there is one thing. God has granted you a suitable setting where irrespective of your status, you can assemble. And through this, together through you and your offspring, children are taking birth from whom will be born several great souls who are capable to do whatever (good) for the country and indeed the whole world. We don’t know how it is made to happen.
But we do it in the Sankalpa (conception) called ‘Sankalpamathrena Parameswarah’, whereby, after envisioning everything that has come until now in the law of Devi-Devas - giving whatever they require (they are not abandoned) - a way is found by the path shown by God to give them an opportunity to take birth or make them entitled for liberation. We are handling this exactly the way the revelation is received from God to perform this. It’s not performed, as someone might think, attracting some evil spirits by sitting and chanting. Nor is it performed bringing a ‘root’ from the places where I spent life. I have not taken any ‘root’ of others. I have not found a suitable scenario also wherein I could take this ‘root’. There are no suitable ‘roots’ either. In fact, it is being nurtured by scraping off all these ‘bottoms’, then burning them with fire, scooping good mud and then planting the sapling there. What is required for it is, suitable children. You do not know how I perform it. That is my sadness.
What I am making you do is a performance, which, by correcting the flaws in the traditions that have come from the beginning until now in the deva and rishi lineages (trimurty and seer traditions), without exterminating the essence of these lineages, will transform them into a great status. Then how great should be your eminence? It is a performance in humility to bring within you the privilege of not only ancestral souls, gods, goddesses and rishis but even some genderless ghosts also to be born of you (for release). Retaining the truth in that path, transform yourself as the sanctified work emerging from that truth. This is the goal. I have no other rationale or doctrine. I have done this for 15,000 families in this manner, but they are unable to take it. Not merely that but building up contrary attributes in their actions, make it the cause for its destruction. There are about fifteen households who have perished like this in this locality despite performing it with genuine sacrifice, prayers and contemplations; rest of the families (perished) leaving this place.
The ancestors did have (their share of) good and bad (in them). The difficulty was great when these (the deeds of ancestors) were tried to be eliminated. You will understand it when you reflect on the great souls of the past, in order to realize that. But the biographies made up on them are unsuitable for such evaluation.
For instance take ‘Geeta Govindam’. What is the purpose of making children enact Krishnaleela? You are inflating the sensuality already present in them, by adorning and bringing up children in this manner and spoiling them - adding to the fulfilment of such action and taking it up. This is what the Saktheya, Saiva and Vaishnava have done here. You cannot change it at all. This is the fact behind the coming of so many great souls. We don’t have the aptitude to remove it through (our) lifetime. But we have the luck.
You will not be able to find a similar thing (Gurupooja) elsewhere in the world. Nor has it ever happened in the world. In your epics mention is made about the ‘Bhageerata Prayatna’ (the effort of Bhageerata). Bhageerata was a king and he could do many things, but there too, not this. Here, you are endowed with awareness in a manner of witnessing it yourself and accepting with discrimination. God has ordained it for you. It is in the said awareness the deva, devi, rishi, monk, jnani (seer), the devout, the pitru [ancestral souls] are all guided and placed in auspicious constellations. Your children, after living truthfully, are entering into that constellation. Even if you are unable to become so, it should be made possible through your children. This is the great work that you do for the world. After performing this (Gurupooja) for you, I am guiding you how you should live till the birth of a progeny. (However), you do not understand that. Instead, making your children listen and obey, describing it as some other big thing, you are not allowing them to come in front, in (the matter of) dharma.
*****
Spiritual Cleansing - Gurupooja at Santhigiri
(Sacred words of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru)
Translated from the original Malayalam
We fought one another remaining in a system which laid down that we should not touch, step into, accept or perceive the sanctified aspect within all performances. In that fight, varnashrama dharma was lost and the caste system arose. The castes were also not to touch one another. All the karmas were hit by this system. We (at Santhigiri) are taking back that bruised karma, which many had tried in vain earlier. Santhigiri’s karma is directed at reverting to the caste-less state and not at devoleping a sanyasa cult. Nor is it aimed at tracing the root of the Indian civilization with a view to retrieve it. It is not necessary to lift it up. Because this is Kali: The dharma of Kali is not to step on the shoulder of the errors that have arisen in the whole world and then revive it. Our karma as well as the dharma of Kali is to wipe out the aspect of error.
In this karma, both the genders of householders should earn a great level. The householder-life (grihasthashram) is a great concept wherein a householder elevates himself (in such a manner) that through his offspring and lineage, he acquires the intelligence to rule the world; the karma (way of action) to impart goodness to the world or even become capable of assuming the role of the protectors of the world or its motherhood. Without knowing this, you live and perish as opportunists.
You don’t know what God-worship is. You do not know even to act distinguishing what is the Householder, Sanyasi, Yogi and Karmi. None of these karmas is now with us. Our success in life lies in retrieving them. This is the first effort in the world (in this direction). No where else has this effort taken place. Let it come if it is going to come elsewhere. We have reached the stage of the humbleness of the performance of God’s creative contemplation.
When I first reached this place for the actualization of this performance, I was told not to stay where I could be seen by two persons together. Many sort of things happened here at that period. The people of this place also know some of it, but their knowing was of no avail. When I first made a hut here, I handed over its care to some local residents here. And you came in (here) witnessing their fall. What is that fall like? These people had come and witnessed the happenings here. Despite many events which took place in front of them, being caught by cognitive lacking, they were distanced (from here) forever in a manner that it is impossible for them to come back or take it back. Some of them repent today saying that it was (their) flawed action. However, there is no use of their saying so.
The karma now being performed here today is aimed at moulding such offspring who can give birth to the array of deva (god), devi (goddess), rishi (seer), sanyasi (renunciate) and jnanis (the wise) who were worshipped by our forefathers with love and reverence. Nobody who came until now has done this performance, for God has not ordained them for it. But God has granted us that karma. You should realize that, but you fail to understand it in whatever way it is said. In this institution, where more than 15,000 families performed Gurupooja, there are no people even countable by fingers who live knowing it in that greatness. How will you then discern this karma? Many children of this place who were once associated with this have forgotten this. I have not told them anything. Whenever they come to me, sometimes I try to prick them saying it like a story, but they have no pain. Why so? Because all of us are the progeny of people who have read the ancient tales and epics like a story and, turning that story into play, made it into recklessness.
When it is mentioned that our subject is to correct this ignorance - what becomes necessary is your children. But they are not able to be brought forward because the dharma by which we worshipped, and were made to worship with the offerings of love and wealth, is entangled with our soul. (Such being the truth), when a girl is born, she is led away from her virtues in such a manner that her goodness is unable to be known. When a male-child is born, he is transformed into a drunkard in such a manner that he is unable to know what duty he has towards the world. There is a great effort in changing these vices. This effort in one way is good. For, at least, for that sake, you would get in contact (with Guru) and act.
There’s a saying among us that the husband is God! Is the meaning of this saying then a fool, who fulfilled (his life) with theft and one who has never shown justice to anything? Does it mean an unchaste person who has not learned to live in righteousness, living without humility and virtue, pulling down the undergarment of women? It is all this we are creating and letting out. How can they manage this country? What all this depravity (depredators) cannot perform?
The ‘Gurupooja’ here is the foremost karma which I am doing for this for you. (I am) not talking about its greatness. I don’t understand such greatness. I am not leaned, great by virtue of wealth, capability or education. God has not led me into any such things. But there is one thing. God has granted you a suitable setting where irrespective of your status, you can assemble. And through this, together through you and your offspring, children are taking birth from whom will be born several great souls who are capable to do whatever (good) for the country and indeed the whole world. We don’t know how it is made to happen.
But we do it in the Sankalpa (conception) called ‘Sankalpamathrena Parameswarah’, whereby, after envisioning everything that has come until now in the law of Devi-Devas - giving whatever they require (they are not abandoned) - a way is found by the path shown by God to give them an opportunity to take birth or make them entitled for liberation. We are handling this exactly the way the revelation is received from God to perform this. It’s not performed, as someone might think, attracting some evil spirits by sitting and chanting. Nor is it performed bringing a ‘root’ from the places where I spent life. I have not taken any ‘root’ of others. I have not found a suitable scenario also wherein I could take this ‘root’. There are no suitable ‘roots’ either. In fact, it is being nurtured by scraping off all these ‘bottoms’, then burning them with fire, scooping good mud and then planting the sapling there. What is required for it is, suitable children. You do not know how I perform it. That is my sadness.
What I am making you do is a performance, which, by correcting the flaws in the traditions that have come from the beginning until now in the deva and rishi lineages (trimurty and seer traditions), without exterminating the essence of these lineages, will transform them into a great status. Then how great should be your eminence? It is a performance in humility to bring within you the privilege of not only ancestral souls, gods, goddesses and rishis but even some genderless ghosts also to be born of you (for release). Retaining the truth in that path, transform yourself as the sanctified work emerging from that truth. This is the goal. I have no other rationale or doctrine. I have done this for 15,000 families in this manner, but they are unable to take it. Not merely that but building up contrary attributes in their actions, make it the cause for its destruction. There are about fifteen households who have perished like this in this locality despite performing it with genuine sacrifice, prayers and contemplations; rest of the families (perished) leaving this place.
The ancestors did have (their share of) good and bad (in them). The difficulty was great when these (the deeds of ancestors) were tried to be eliminated. You will understand it when you reflect on the great souls of the past, in order to realize that. But the biographies made up on them are unsuitable for such evaluation.
For instance take ‘Geeta Govindam’. What is the purpose of making children enact Krishnaleela? You are inflating the sensuality already present in them, by adorning and bringing up children in this manner and spoiling them - adding to the fulfilment of such action and taking it up. This is what the Saktheya, Saiva and Vaishnava have done here. You cannot change it at all. This is the fact behind the coming of so many great souls. We don’t have the aptitude to remove it through (our) lifetime. But we have the luck.
You will not be able to find a similar thing (Gurupooja) elsewhere in the world. Nor has it ever happened in the world. In your epics mention is made about the ‘Bhageerata Prayatna’ (the effort of Bhageerata). Bhageerata was a king and he could do many things, but there too, not this. Here, you are endowed with awareness in a manner of witnessing it yourself and accepting with discrimination. God has ordained it for you. It is in the said awareness the deva, devi, rishi, monk, jnani (seer), the devout, the pitru [ancestral souls] are all guided and placed in auspicious constellations. Your children, after living truthfully, are entering into that constellation. Even if you are unable to become so, it should be made possible through your children. This is the great work that you do for the world. After performing this (Gurupooja) for you, I am guiding you how you should live till the birth of a progeny. (However), you do not understand that. Instead, making your children listen and obey, describing it as some other big thing, you are not allowing them to come in front, in (the matter of) dharma.
*****
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Origin of Trimurthi Tradition
Gurucharanam Saranam
The Origin of Trimurthi Tradition
(The sacred words of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru)
Translated from the original Malayalam
An annunciation was received soon after I started an Ashram: ‘You need to think about your life’. At that time I could not figure out what it meant. I asked for a clarification from my Guru, Pattani Swami. He said: ‘I have received two indications only. You will get the rest’. The first idea was that it was not enough to seek only the spiritual. The second was that it would become necessary to reform the practice of Sanyasa.
Prayer and worshipful observances were done as directed thirty four times in the name of ‘completion’. On the seventh day after the prayer began, on the thirty fourth time, an annunciation was received that a ‘kumbham’ (earthen pot) should be prepared and kept (ceremonially). For four years we were not able to do it properly. In the fifth year we performed this in a humble manner.
We have been shown this for the sake of humanity which is the characteristic of an actualization from the five elements (panchabhuta) through the five senses (panchendriya) and five sheaths (panchakosha). This observance is being done here by effecting a change in the system of such rites performed so far. Not everyone gets such a right.
This is a path in which working of miracles (siddhi) is not allowed. Siddhi is not Jnana (knowledge). Those who were with me had also insisted that it was in order to perform some miracles. Permission was also sought from Brahman and it was given. Later it was indicated that it is not good. Therefore it was not pursued. That is the history of this place. The details of preparing Kumbham were given to us some years ago. Direction was given to do it with the strength of will that our Parampara should have the abundant power to carry this.
The tradition of Trimurthi worship is strongly alive among the Hindus. At one time, it remained so powerful that no one could avoid it. When it was veiled in Varnasrama Dharma, it became rootless in the soil of Kerala. It is with the British rule that Varnasrama broke down and started wearing out. This blight has not gone fully. The theoreticians have kept this away from public knowledge. Though independence was gained through the theoreticians of nation-state who followed it, so far good things could not be touched, using that benefit. This can only be achieved through children who have such a vasana (propensity). This should be realized with the family as a base and it should be imparted to the society and the young children. For this, a great deal of effort has to be made, because the foulness of each region is latent in its people.
It has been shown here (through revelation) about all the worship traditions that have come up in the world and also all the past preceptors and their glorifications. From the beginning of Kali Yuga preceptors (Gurus), have been made to take birth for this purpose. It was revealed later that we were made to perform the aforesaid acts of Poortheekaranam (completions) for the sake of bringing a new generation of progeny from whom the negativity from a certain phase of Kali has been removed. Even I was not let into the mystery of this. If I were to know it directly, pride could arise. Therefore the Will of the Brahman got it carried out without letting me know.
Nothing goes on without the gross (sthoolam), the subtle (sookshmam), the causal (karanam) and the effect consequential (karyam). It is the householders (grihasthashramis) who have to come up as the most qualified. They have got deteriorated the world over. But through the householders who believe here the essence of Truth is being proved. There are householders here who have perceived it in totality. Some of them had rich experience of even receiving the Word from the Supreme. But because of a lack of vasana (propensity), they are not able to put in their efforts with steadfastness. Steadfastness can come only to celibates (Brahmacharis).
It was mentioned earlier that we could not prepare the Kumbham in accordance with the directions received; at that point the circumstances were not favourable. Kumbham can be carried as a vow to eliminate incurable diseases. Those who have undergone a mental breakdown can take the vow. To remove bad habits also this vow can be taken. Besides, it can be done also for the fulfilment of a wish. It has been revealed that the Kumbham vow will yield the desired results if it is taken with true devotion.
It is a rare happening in aeons (Yugantaras). If there is a lapse in following the Will of Brahman, you can get an opportunity for correction through this. That is what has been revealed. This will lend infinite punyam as well as an earning which can never be exhausted. Whatever has to come let it come and whatever has to go let it go – thinking thus, you should boldly carry this forward. Whatever is done here has been done out of conviction, resulting from direct experience. All this is yours. The responsibility to bring up this as an organisation and to sustain it is yours.
Q: What is the reason for the cyclic nature of the four yugas?
Guru: This question itself is the result of the incalculable antiquity of the Hindu tradition. The Sanatana religion means the culture of great souls who came from time to time. We find in history that cultures based on the worship of Sakti, Shiva and Vishnu have tried to improve the quality of life. In between some preceptors have come up, following a religious parampara, but those who have emerged that way do not belong to the tradition of the primal Manu. In the present Manvantara, in the tradition of Vaivaswata Manu, at the end of the third chaturyuga to be exact, a preceptor called Satyatrana faltered in Selfhood due to certain shortcomings following which life deviated from the Cosmic Law given by the Almighty. Satyatrana’s concept was like a transformational ideology (parivarthanavadam). Thereafter the Trimurthi (Trinity) tradition was brought in the seventh chaturyuga to actualize the Will of God.
Q: So there was no Trimurthi tradition before this?
Guru: No. It is the line of Manus who control, each for a given time span, the dynamics of the evolution or dissolution of the world in accordance with the Will of the Brahman. The origin, creation, sustenance, and dissolution come through fourteen such epochs called Manvantaras. The spiritual character in accordance with the Will of Brahman has evolved in this manner.
Q: Why is it that most of the people do not know about the existence of a Manu tradition?
Guru: it was mentioned earlier. The feeling of ‘I’ (Aham Brahmasmi) developed in the line of Manus. In the higher planes of knowing it was seen that all the wisdom and knowledge attained so far have come through it (the Manu tradition). This ‘I’ ness can be seen in any of the books of Vedanta. You talk to any common people - this bloated notion of a free ‘I’ (ego) can be seen. When this comes up in the circle of ascetics (brahmacharis), then such notions come forth through the master-disciple lineage. In the tradition of deity- worship (devaparampara), the ‘deva’ (god) I am devoted to or the ‘devi’ (goddess) I am devoted to is the greatest and most glorious. Because of such possessiveness in individuals, all kinds of deities, chamundi, yakshi, pey, maruta, matan, mantramurthi (dark, evil spirits such as succubi, ghosts, ghouls etc.) became the ‘Lords’. This has happened because of people’s selfishness and egoism.
Q: Why has it happened so?
Guru: It was mentioned already that when the Brahmic Will could not be conducted because of certain failings in the Manu lineage, the Trimurthi tradition came into being from the Will of that Brahmic power. Vedanta (jnana) was lost to this trinity tradition. Ritual worship, prayers and ‘manifestations’ became all its character. When that character worsened to become the ‘exhibition of power’, induced by spirit possessions, the human kind could not perceive fully the greatness of God nor carefully know or learn its extent or its sources of knowledge.
Q: If Guru says so, wouldn’t it come to mean that all that has come so far is wrong?
Guru: Yes, whatever I said so far is that – that they are not correct.
Q: But Guru said that the Trimurthi system came into being for carrying out the Will of Brahman consequent to a mistake that happened in the Manu lineage.
Guru: (Due to the) emergence of Varnasrama, castes and castes upon castes, those who worshiped according to the Trimurthi tradition could not function in accordance with the goodness of the Age. Earlier to this tales were created using the mediacy of srutis and smritis and they were presented as authentic. Before that, as there appeared the creed of ‘materializations’ some sanyasis themselves handled the traditions of siddhi. As it all came up to this, the tradition of Manu faded away even from memory. This degradation of the times is due to the refusal to modify the customs that required a change according to the age and the falsification of the ideology that the abode of Brahman should all the time be with the celestials (deva) and Brahmins.
The Origin of Trimurthi Tradition
(The sacred words of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru)
Translated from the original Malayalam
An annunciation was received soon after I started an Ashram: ‘You need to think about your life’. At that time I could not figure out what it meant. I asked for a clarification from my Guru, Pattani Swami. He said: ‘I have received two indications only. You will get the rest’. The first idea was that it was not enough to seek only the spiritual. The second was that it would become necessary to reform the practice of Sanyasa.
Prayer and worshipful observances were done as directed thirty four times in the name of ‘completion’. On the seventh day after the prayer began, on the thirty fourth time, an annunciation was received that a ‘kumbham’ (earthen pot) should be prepared and kept (ceremonially). For four years we were not able to do it properly. In the fifth year we performed this in a humble manner.
We have been shown this for the sake of humanity which is the characteristic of an actualization from the five elements (panchabhuta) through the five senses (panchendriya) and five sheaths (panchakosha). This observance is being done here by effecting a change in the system of such rites performed so far. Not everyone gets such a right.
This is a path in which working of miracles (siddhi) is not allowed. Siddhi is not Jnana (knowledge). Those who were with me had also insisted that it was in order to perform some miracles. Permission was also sought from Brahman and it was given. Later it was indicated that it is not good. Therefore it was not pursued. That is the history of this place. The details of preparing Kumbham were given to us some years ago. Direction was given to do it with the strength of will that our Parampara should have the abundant power to carry this.
The tradition of Trimurthi worship is strongly alive among the Hindus. At one time, it remained so powerful that no one could avoid it. When it was veiled in Varnasrama Dharma, it became rootless in the soil of Kerala. It is with the British rule that Varnasrama broke down and started wearing out. This blight has not gone fully. The theoreticians have kept this away from public knowledge. Though independence was gained through the theoreticians of nation-state who followed it, so far good things could not be touched, using that benefit. This can only be achieved through children who have such a vasana (propensity). This should be realized with the family as a base and it should be imparted to the society and the young children. For this, a great deal of effort has to be made, because the foulness of each region is latent in its people.
It has been shown here (through revelation) about all the worship traditions that have come up in the world and also all the past preceptors and their glorifications. From the beginning of Kali Yuga preceptors (Gurus), have been made to take birth for this purpose. It was revealed later that we were made to perform the aforesaid acts of Poortheekaranam (completions) for the sake of bringing a new generation of progeny from whom the negativity from a certain phase of Kali has been removed. Even I was not let into the mystery of this. If I were to know it directly, pride could arise. Therefore the Will of the Brahman got it carried out without letting me know.
Nothing goes on without the gross (sthoolam), the subtle (sookshmam), the causal (karanam) and the effect consequential (karyam). It is the householders (grihasthashramis) who have to come up as the most qualified. They have got deteriorated the world over. But through the householders who believe here the essence of Truth is being proved. There are householders here who have perceived it in totality. Some of them had rich experience of even receiving the Word from the Supreme. But because of a lack of vasana (propensity), they are not able to put in their efforts with steadfastness. Steadfastness can come only to celibates (Brahmacharis).
It was mentioned earlier that we could not prepare the Kumbham in accordance with the directions received; at that point the circumstances were not favourable. Kumbham can be carried as a vow to eliminate incurable diseases. Those who have undergone a mental breakdown can take the vow. To remove bad habits also this vow can be taken. Besides, it can be done also for the fulfilment of a wish. It has been revealed that the Kumbham vow will yield the desired results if it is taken with true devotion.
It is a rare happening in aeons (Yugantaras). If there is a lapse in following the Will of Brahman, you can get an opportunity for correction through this. That is what has been revealed. This will lend infinite punyam as well as an earning which can never be exhausted. Whatever has to come let it come and whatever has to go let it go – thinking thus, you should boldly carry this forward. Whatever is done here has been done out of conviction, resulting from direct experience. All this is yours. The responsibility to bring up this as an organisation and to sustain it is yours.
Q: What is the reason for the cyclic nature of the four yugas?
Guru: This question itself is the result of the incalculable antiquity of the Hindu tradition. The Sanatana religion means the culture of great souls who came from time to time. We find in history that cultures based on the worship of Sakti, Shiva and Vishnu have tried to improve the quality of life. In between some preceptors have come up, following a religious parampara, but those who have emerged that way do not belong to the tradition of the primal Manu. In the present Manvantara, in the tradition of Vaivaswata Manu, at the end of the third chaturyuga to be exact, a preceptor called Satyatrana faltered in Selfhood due to certain shortcomings following which life deviated from the Cosmic Law given by the Almighty. Satyatrana’s concept was like a transformational ideology (parivarthanavadam). Thereafter the Trimurthi (Trinity) tradition was brought in the seventh chaturyuga to actualize the Will of God.
Q: So there was no Trimurthi tradition before this?
Guru: No. It is the line of Manus who control, each for a given time span, the dynamics of the evolution or dissolution of the world in accordance with the Will of the Brahman. The origin, creation, sustenance, and dissolution come through fourteen such epochs called Manvantaras. The spiritual character in accordance with the Will of Brahman has evolved in this manner.
Q: Why is it that most of the people do not know about the existence of a Manu tradition?
Guru: it was mentioned earlier. The feeling of ‘I’ (Aham Brahmasmi) developed in the line of Manus. In the higher planes of knowing it was seen that all the wisdom and knowledge attained so far have come through it (the Manu tradition). This ‘I’ ness can be seen in any of the books of Vedanta. You talk to any common people - this bloated notion of a free ‘I’ (ego) can be seen. When this comes up in the circle of ascetics (brahmacharis), then such notions come forth through the master-disciple lineage. In the tradition of deity- worship (devaparampara), the ‘deva’ (god) I am devoted to or the ‘devi’ (goddess) I am devoted to is the greatest and most glorious. Because of such possessiveness in individuals, all kinds of deities, chamundi, yakshi, pey, maruta, matan, mantramurthi (dark, evil spirits such as succubi, ghosts, ghouls etc.) became the ‘Lords’. This has happened because of people’s selfishness and egoism.
Q: Why has it happened so?
Guru: It was mentioned already that when the Brahmic Will could not be conducted because of certain failings in the Manu lineage, the Trimurthi tradition came into being from the Will of that Brahmic power. Vedanta (jnana) was lost to this trinity tradition. Ritual worship, prayers and ‘manifestations’ became all its character. When that character worsened to become the ‘exhibition of power’, induced by spirit possessions, the human kind could not perceive fully the greatness of God nor carefully know or learn its extent or its sources of knowledge.
Q: If Guru says so, wouldn’t it come to mean that all that has come so far is wrong?
Guru: Yes, whatever I said so far is that – that they are not correct.
Q: But Guru said that the Trimurthi system came into being for carrying out the Will of Brahman consequent to a mistake that happened in the Manu lineage.
Guru: (Due to the) emergence of Varnasrama, castes and castes upon castes, those who worshiped according to the Trimurthi tradition could not function in accordance with the goodness of the Age. Earlier to this tales were created using the mediacy of srutis and smritis and they were presented as authentic. Before that, as there appeared the creed of ‘materializations’ some sanyasis themselves handled the traditions of siddhi. As it all came up to this, the tradition of Manu faded away even from memory. This degradation of the times is due to the refusal to modify the customs that required a change according to the age and the falsification of the ideology that the abode of Brahman should all the time be with the celestials (deva) and Brahmins.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Yugadharma and the Householders
Guruvani
(The Sacred Words of Navajyoti Sree Karunakara Guru)
Yugadharma and the Householders
(Translated from the original Malayalam)
Material reality is very important to mankind. Disregarding physical phenomena nothing can be understood. Our body arises from karma (action); that is materiality. What can be achieved without the physicality of the human body? To assume the Dharma of the body, Karma is necessary. Only the knowledge gained through (the medium of karma) will be useful to us. Only that knowledge has a locale. How have all of us - men and women, small and big - transmitted this knowledge through our lives?
There was a time when a disease was diagnosed from the pulse. When it was modernized it has become impossible without touching the blood, bone and marrow. Still, wherever and whatever is examined, it is not known where the disease is located. All the undiagnosed diseases would be covered up by jargon too difficult to understand. We are enslaved by some jargon or the other like this. There should be a change to this error.
It is the householders, grihasthasramis, who should correct this fault arisen from habit. Only they can do it. They have to struggle a lot for it. Many more hardships will have to be undergone compared to what we undergo for the sake of husband, wife, children, education, wealth and power. For setting this karma right one should decide to make one’s own house the very starting point. It should be handled in such a way that everybody can understand it. For, from the time of birth until one is able to walk, it is in the home-environment that one grows. For a mother (girl-child) who is brought up thus, that tendency (learnt from home) would be in her blood, marrow and flesh. For developing such inclination in mothers, first the men themselves should inculcate it. The home environment should be thus developed as far as possible. When such effort is coupled with the accumulation of virtue, punya, the prevailing method of education itself will change the world over.
When there is no clarity of aim with awareness, the God-given blessedness of the earth itself will be lost owing to a deviation from the course of mankind’s (right) karma and dharma, resulting in children who sow ruin all-round. (Hence) it should be done in accordance with the changing times. That it has not been done this way is the reason why thinkers, rulers, physicians, householders in the world and social activists regret they have got into a vicious circle. Even those who, standing in the midst of people, dish out moral teachings and Vedantic aphorisms taking the name of great preceptor-traditions are convinced that their own lives and the whole life of the society that they lead are caught in this vicious circle. These are people who do not think about the matters that have come by divine dispensation or evaluate the Yuga Dharma. The populace, therefore, being caught and trodden under the grip of devotion, liberation, rationalism or atheism has moulded the householders in such a manner that they have become ready to be thrown into a big fire-pit that is looming large.
All the technologies discovered by the West to save themselves, enduring shivering cold and snowfall, are pitched towards us to spell ruin. Though we possess here a nature suitable for living by whatever means and a land rich with agricultural produce, we remain idle, hands locked, making others to work in the manner of slaves, acting as the lords - the consequence of which we are experiencing ourselves today. The result of that very karma has come back to us. We have got a situation, wherein, after cultivation, in order to crop the produce, the consent of someone else has to be sought. If the crop is to be harvested full, one has to stand with folded hands before the hewer. Otherwise half of the crop might be left uncut in the field. Thus we are in the midst of all kinds of degradation. We have no drinking water, no law and justice. What kind of freedom do we have? We, who do not have freedom, say we are free. Except polluted air, what do we have to take in? Aren’t the five fundamentals, the panchabhuthas, themselves polluted? In our country the situation is at least a little different because there are no big factories and companies functioning in our land. The world falls apart like this while our notion is that the world is progressing. Ignorant multitude of people, who mindlessly glorify science and technology! (There are) some others who are aloof from all this. There are yet other ignorant people who say yes to whatever is told. This karmic circle makes your life empty because it does not let you think or make others think about the perpetual loss and destruction taking place in the world. I am reminding you again about those intimations being given to the world for the past many years as the Words of God.
The technology of the Westerner - who tries to show superiority by writing, sketching and experimenting to prove whether the greatest invention is ‘ours’ or ‘yours’ - not being satisfied with the assault from both land and sky, is destroying the people through ideology, activism and government. I am reminding you once again that the householders of the whole world ought to be vigilant; otherwise they are preparing themselves to cast their own future generations into a vast fire pit that is getting formed. Because, whatever way it is created, do the parents have any alternative other than letting the children be in this very society?
What does each one do in the name of politics? Politics is a thing (karma) which gets extinct in a day and fated to be so. But the youngsters who are unaware run after politicians and take politics for their life. They start reflecting about it only when half their life is over. By that time, turning back becomes impossible because they are not in a position to start afresh. Ask any leader, who has crossed the middle age, in private. And he would agree that it (his entry into politics) was a mistake. If it is considered seriously, you will realize that this is an outrageous wrong being done to the younger generation. But we have not realized at all what a great wrong it is! This evil will vanish from the very face of the earth, if the householders could unite and act with a will. It is enough for you to understand that it is deception and it will disappear on its own. Until you realize this situation for yourself you will not be able to listen to and believe in any counsel. This karma (the politics of today) does not have to be eradicated willfully; you need only perform your duty with awareness.
What is that duty? It is fulfilling the karma (efforts) accrued through previous births. It is not possible for you to act from the awareness of all past lives and achieve the completion. It is not necessary for you to know it either. It is enough to learn to believe. This is what Jesus said that your faith will save you. You should learn to have faith. A Source is being given to you for faith. Remaining firm on that Source, everything can be accomplished one by one. You, your wife and children are involved in the same karma. What you attain should be attained by them also. The father should be one who has attained love through faith, karma through love, virtue (punya) through karma, and good fortune through virtue. The womb of a mother suitable for this is also necessary. Have we brought up such virtuous mothers? A father, who has to be god for the children, should he not reach at least the level of knowledge of showing the path to God? Your search should be for this. Whatever else you find for them would not do. This is karma. This is virtue. The father and mother who reach this virtuousness actualize the ‘progeny of the world’. This is not the accomplishment of the renunciate, the sanyasi. What can be done if you householders live abandoning this? Caste, religion or class is not applicable to the life of householders. The dharma of the age should lead you as the light.
This is the Age of Kali. The Dharma of Kali is the guidance given by the Guru who has come (to the earth plane) extinguishing all karma, going beyond tantric and mantric rituals and actualizing the Saakteya, Saiva and Vaishnava traditions and (who has) earned the right for liberation through cycles of birth accumulating virtues in life. Kali is brimming in a manner that declares that even the teachings of Jesus and Mohammed are not enough. If the Dharma of Kali is to be accomplished, the wife and mother in our households should be virtuous like the wife and mother of Prophet Mohammed. Initially the prophet could not make out the Word from Light. The Prophet thought that it was an illusion. It was his wife and mother who understood and encouraged him. They were of such goodness and qualification.
The householders should be able to bring up such a girl (wife) who would say (to her husband) that, “I would pray for you so that you may attain whatever blessedness.” Only if you do karma of this much virtuousness, you can become the heirs to the work of redeeming the Age. It cannot be got by one who has disqualification in karma, no matter how high his status.
If this ever revolving orbit of planets is to offer us beneficence remaining in their paths, the grace of God is indeed essential. People should get this knowledge through the Governments. This should be accepted by the people and governments as much suitably.
How can one think and realize the possibility of interstellar destruction, if we disregard these matters, immersed as we are in mirage-like rhetoric and words of consolation? We must maintain constant vigilance to accept this physical duty by our life, if we are to bring up India as the basis of prosperity and the true source of the Word of God.
(The Sacred Words of Navajyoti Sree Karunakara Guru)
Yugadharma and the Householders
(Translated from the original Malayalam)
Material reality is very important to mankind. Disregarding physical phenomena nothing can be understood. Our body arises from karma (action); that is materiality. What can be achieved without the physicality of the human body? To assume the Dharma of the body, Karma is necessary. Only the knowledge gained through (the medium of karma) will be useful to us. Only that knowledge has a locale. How have all of us - men and women, small and big - transmitted this knowledge through our lives?
There was a time when a disease was diagnosed from the pulse. When it was modernized it has become impossible without touching the blood, bone and marrow. Still, wherever and whatever is examined, it is not known where the disease is located. All the undiagnosed diseases would be covered up by jargon too difficult to understand. We are enslaved by some jargon or the other like this. There should be a change to this error.
It is the householders, grihasthasramis, who should correct this fault arisen from habit. Only they can do it. They have to struggle a lot for it. Many more hardships will have to be undergone compared to what we undergo for the sake of husband, wife, children, education, wealth and power. For setting this karma right one should decide to make one’s own house the very starting point. It should be handled in such a way that everybody can understand it. For, from the time of birth until one is able to walk, it is in the home-environment that one grows. For a mother (girl-child) who is brought up thus, that tendency (learnt from home) would be in her blood, marrow and flesh. For developing such inclination in mothers, first the men themselves should inculcate it. The home environment should be thus developed as far as possible. When such effort is coupled with the accumulation of virtue, punya, the prevailing method of education itself will change the world over.
When there is no clarity of aim with awareness, the God-given blessedness of the earth itself will be lost owing to a deviation from the course of mankind’s (right) karma and dharma, resulting in children who sow ruin all-round. (Hence) it should be done in accordance with the changing times. That it has not been done this way is the reason why thinkers, rulers, physicians, householders in the world and social activists regret they have got into a vicious circle. Even those who, standing in the midst of people, dish out moral teachings and Vedantic aphorisms taking the name of great preceptor-traditions are convinced that their own lives and the whole life of the society that they lead are caught in this vicious circle. These are people who do not think about the matters that have come by divine dispensation or evaluate the Yuga Dharma. The populace, therefore, being caught and trodden under the grip of devotion, liberation, rationalism or atheism has moulded the householders in such a manner that they have become ready to be thrown into a big fire-pit that is looming large.
All the technologies discovered by the West to save themselves, enduring shivering cold and snowfall, are pitched towards us to spell ruin. Though we possess here a nature suitable for living by whatever means and a land rich with agricultural produce, we remain idle, hands locked, making others to work in the manner of slaves, acting as the lords - the consequence of which we are experiencing ourselves today. The result of that very karma has come back to us. We have got a situation, wherein, after cultivation, in order to crop the produce, the consent of someone else has to be sought. If the crop is to be harvested full, one has to stand with folded hands before the hewer. Otherwise half of the crop might be left uncut in the field. Thus we are in the midst of all kinds of degradation. We have no drinking water, no law and justice. What kind of freedom do we have? We, who do not have freedom, say we are free. Except polluted air, what do we have to take in? Aren’t the five fundamentals, the panchabhuthas, themselves polluted? In our country the situation is at least a little different because there are no big factories and companies functioning in our land. The world falls apart like this while our notion is that the world is progressing. Ignorant multitude of people, who mindlessly glorify science and technology! (There are) some others who are aloof from all this. There are yet other ignorant people who say yes to whatever is told. This karmic circle makes your life empty because it does not let you think or make others think about the perpetual loss and destruction taking place in the world. I am reminding you again about those intimations being given to the world for the past many years as the Words of God.
The technology of the Westerner - who tries to show superiority by writing, sketching and experimenting to prove whether the greatest invention is ‘ours’ or ‘yours’ - not being satisfied with the assault from both land and sky, is destroying the people through ideology, activism and government. I am reminding you once again that the householders of the whole world ought to be vigilant; otherwise they are preparing themselves to cast their own future generations into a vast fire pit that is getting formed. Because, whatever way it is created, do the parents have any alternative other than letting the children be in this very society?
What does each one do in the name of politics? Politics is a thing (karma) which gets extinct in a day and fated to be so. But the youngsters who are unaware run after politicians and take politics for their life. They start reflecting about it only when half their life is over. By that time, turning back becomes impossible because they are not in a position to start afresh. Ask any leader, who has crossed the middle age, in private. And he would agree that it (his entry into politics) was a mistake. If it is considered seriously, you will realize that this is an outrageous wrong being done to the younger generation. But we have not realized at all what a great wrong it is! This evil will vanish from the very face of the earth, if the householders could unite and act with a will. It is enough for you to understand that it is deception and it will disappear on its own. Until you realize this situation for yourself you will not be able to listen to and believe in any counsel. This karma (the politics of today) does not have to be eradicated willfully; you need only perform your duty with awareness.
What is that duty? It is fulfilling the karma (efforts) accrued through previous births. It is not possible for you to act from the awareness of all past lives and achieve the completion. It is not necessary for you to know it either. It is enough to learn to believe. This is what Jesus said that your faith will save you. You should learn to have faith. A Source is being given to you for faith. Remaining firm on that Source, everything can be accomplished one by one. You, your wife and children are involved in the same karma. What you attain should be attained by them also. The father should be one who has attained love through faith, karma through love, virtue (punya) through karma, and good fortune through virtue. The womb of a mother suitable for this is also necessary. Have we brought up such virtuous mothers? A father, who has to be god for the children, should he not reach at least the level of knowledge of showing the path to God? Your search should be for this. Whatever else you find for them would not do. This is karma. This is virtue. The father and mother who reach this virtuousness actualize the ‘progeny of the world’. This is not the accomplishment of the renunciate, the sanyasi. What can be done if you householders live abandoning this? Caste, religion or class is not applicable to the life of householders. The dharma of the age should lead you as the light.
This is the Age of Kali. The Dharma of Kali is the guidance given by the Guru who has come (to the earth plane) extinguishing all karma, going beyond tantric and mantric rituals and actualizing the Saakteya, Saiva and Vaishnava traditions and (who has) earned the right for liberation through cycles of birth accumulating virtues in life. Kali is brimming in a manner that declares that even the teachings of Jesus and Mohammed are not enough. If the Dharma of Kali is to be accomplished, the wife and mother in our households should be virtuous like the wife and mother of Prophet Mohammed. Initially the prophet could not make out the Word from Light. The Prophet thought that it was an illusion. It was his wife and mother who understood and encouraged him. They were of such goodness and qualification.
The householders should be able to bring up such a girl (wife) who would say (to her husband) that, “I would pray for you so that you may attain whatever blessedness.” Only if you do karma of this much virtuousness, you can become the heirs to the work of redeeming the Age. It cannot be got by one who has disqualification in karma, no matter how high his status.
If this ever revolving orbit of planets is to offer us beneficence remaining in their paths, the grace of God is indeed essential. People should get this knowledge through the Governments. This should be accepted by the people and governments as much suitably.
How can one think and realize the possibility of interstellar destruction, if we disregard these matters, immersed as we are in mirage-like rhetoric and words of consolation? We must maintain constant vigilance to accept this physical duty by our life, if we are to bring up India as the basis of prosperity and the true source of the Word of God.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The Difference Between Guru and the Deities
GURUVANI
(The Sacred Words of NavajyotiSree Karunakara Guru)
Translated from the original Malayalam
The Difference Between Guru and the Deities
What is the range of the term ‘Guru?’ From someone who does a job to a person engaged in the virtuous work of (imparting) self-realization comes under the definition of Guru. Leaving the field of occupation, when one reaches the spheres of pranamayam (energy sheath), jnanamayam or vijnanamayam (knowledge and wisdom sheaths), mere bookish knowledge becomes inadequate as instructions are to be sought here.
The lack of punyam in the soul gets expressed as various diseases in the body. This has to be cured by employing different methods. Textual knowledge does not help in this. Where textual knowledge does not help, that path of dharma, which enables one to seek merit (punya) through karma (action), helps. Such dharma has influence on the soul as well.
The dynamic of action being such, action without dharma hinders the soul and the body in course of time. A person follows his basic instincts and propensities (vasanas) accrued from past births.
Some may do more good deeds and some tend to do bad deeds more. Sometimes, the individual is not in a position to distinguish between good and bad. Therefore when he does a bad deed, taking it to be a good one, his entire activity turns bad.
Unless one confesses to Guru about one’s negative karma, no solutions can be found and one comes to a dead end. In an excess of devotion (bhakti) some resort to strange deeds and invite people’s displeasure. Yet others imagine themselves to be persons of still higher attainment and would act and even move like a yogi or mystic.
In course of time, the activity of such persons loses clarity. It becomes incomprehensible (even) to themselves. They will not be able to assess for themselves whether the path of initiation (upadesa margam) or the path of concentrating on a favourite deity (ishta devata sampradayam) is suitable for them. Beings in the subtle plane start manifesting before a person who follows either of these paths for some time.
Such manifestations would be according to the evolution of the soul of the devotee. If there is a manifestation, the devotee will be full of zeal in his pursuit. His devotion (bhakti) would also increase. He would start getting visions in the waking state of consciousness (jagrat), dream state (swapnam), profound sleep (sushupti), the higher fourth state (turiyam) and a still higher state (turiyatitam).
The inner visions start with the elementals, go on to lower beings such as matan, maruta, and mantramoorti, and to apparitions of mystics such as yogi, jnani, karmi and so on. Demonic beings capable of creating powerful movements in the five elements are among them.
These are the ‘lords’ in some households and ‘gods’ in some others. The devotee who has visions of them might even get the feeling that these ‘lords’ and ‘gods’ are pleased in his presence. He would then feel proud that he has attained certain heights. He might get visionary experience in dream as well as in the waking state. He would become respected in the locality. In terms of the soul’s growth, some of these persons get stuck at this stage.
If there is no Guru to guide, at this stage a situation may arise, which invites the displeasure of family and neighbourhood. They could say bad things about him and he may even be physically beaten up. Since the devotee has extrasensory experiences, he would still cling on to his object of worship. He would carry on as if his experience is spiritual. He would indeed have many matters to present as authentic! As indicated above, there would also be deeds to his credit that ought to make those around him believe (in him).
Those who follow the path of worshipping a favourite deity like matan, maruta, or mantramoorti would sprinkle holy ashes, engage in tantric rites and initiation rituals, in order to earn people’s respect. These are minor tricks inspired by the deity itself. The devotee and those who believe in him get caught and even incarnations could be wasted this way. This could have happened in past births also (to the devotee).
The practitioners of such devotion might take to wandering, and their end might come on the roadside somewhere. Yet others would practice yoga, initiation through mantras and worship of favourite deities and just pass away (without much progress).
Some work towards altered states of consciousness like pratyaharam and dharana related to the samadhi state. Striving thus, they earn certain spiritual experiences as well as perceptions of life. As they are meticulous about their personal cleanliness and bodily purity, they will be held in high esteem at home and outside.
As they go forward, the lack of soul’s merit (punya) as well as the needs of the body will block their progress. Here things get mixed up. Correction and direction can be received at this stage only from a Guru; Guru becomes inevitable here. That is the depth of the riddle that is Guru.
When visions, as indicated above, are received, and 7444 of them realized, an aspirant attains one ‘stage’. If an individual with a healthy body and punya in the soul strives relentlessly and consistently, it would take 181/2 years to complete this one stage.
Even such completion would take an aspirant (if he is a beginner in spiritual life) only to ‘Vetalanagaram...’ – the realm of powerful but dark (tamasic) beings. If a mistake is made at this level, one would stagnate at the same level through many births and deaths without progress. The line from the Gurugita, “aneka janma samprapta karma bandha vidahine”, could be reflecting this cycle of birth and death.
An aspirant could fall into such error whichever path he takes – be it jnana, karma or bhakti. Some who have come up in the jnana path also have written about this.
Sri Narayana Guru’s Daivachintanam refers to the same experience. It is from his spiritual knowledge that he draws and speaks. To get out of the negative, one must pursue the positive, he says. But he does not make it clear as to how to go about it.
It is one among millions and millions of tyagis (seekers who lead a life of self sacrifice) who becomes capable of getting such a perspective. Many souls incarnate and depart in a variety of ways. In all this there would be truth also. The truth, in words of dharma, is in the correction by discriminating between right and wrong.
A person who completes 70748 visions of this kind will evolve to a high plane (daivasannidhanam) moving closer to the Supreme. Until and unless the human race realizes the value of this great and inexplicable astral process, no one can even guess what the plight would be. Even the rationalists turn out to be exponents of futile efforts in this field.
More dangerous than these aspirants and rationalists who create perverse karmic streams are those poets and thinkers who present a world vision based on intellect, without an inkling of the gross-subtle-cause-effect (sthoolam-sooksmam-karanam-karyam) relationships. The above mentioned rationalism (yuktivada) and liberationism (muktivada) have led to the philosophy of people like Charvaka.
These people have a handicap. They don’t have the maturity of awareness that can lead them to their own liberation. But we keep in mind that they have the skill to open up the storehouse of knowledge of the entire world.
The effort in this area is of two types of devotion -- without using intelligence (mooda bhakti) and devotion born of knowledge (jnana bhakti). Of these, the second group pursues the path of jnana bhakti and will not have any touch with real spiritual experience.
The subjects that their intellects absorb and the writings of those who are in tune with them are of intense value to themselves; everything else would be senseless to them. But legs tire equally for the person who is chased, and the person who chases. Both will fall pathetically in the end. Rationalism and liberationism have only this much of essence.
But the real liberationist is not in these lists. The author of Gita has qualified him with great words: the one who combines intelligence with spiritual power – “budhya yukto yoga balena chaeva.”
Some of the scholars who enthrall people with their textual knowledge are projected as jnanis by some (other kind of) rationalists. There are also persons who are stuck in unthinking devotion (mooda bhakti) till the end. These are the type of people who were described earlier as scapegoats of the sorrow that is Vetalanagaram. People of textual knowledge, no matter how great they are, are slaves to this realm of the spiritual world.
The aspects of gross-subtle-cause-effect (sthoolam-sooksmam-karanam-karyam) are related to the soul’s karma and dharma. The Guru who lends gross-subtle-cause-effect to soul’s karma and dharma should be a bold doer with direct spiritual knowledge and should respect and consider the five elements (panchabhoota), five senses (panchendriya), five sheaths around the soul (kosas), the individual soul (jivatma), the Absolute (paramatma) and dharma.
Without Guru, the aspirant may reach the aberrant state of the liberationist/rationalist whose action does not bear any fruit.
Thiruvalluvar does not seem to have discussed dharma, artha, kama and moksha but he has made references based on them. It is not possible for an ordinary person to function without these.
As far as liberationism and rationalism are concerned, they do not rise up to any conceptual height. It does not help to forget the fact that at this point every one falls. Reason and liberation are two ideas which deserve special and serious consideration. Such consideration is a way to freedom.
The dharma of Guru is eternal and inscrutable. Guru is the giver of vision (knowledge) pertaining to the level of the atom, the indivisible totality (akhandata) and the object of one’s worship.
He possesses the clarity of knowing the past, present and future. He can impart that proof to others as well; he causes recurrence of their life situations, to reach a corrective solution.
The difference between Guru and deity is immense. A life without realizing this is fruitless. The deities worshipped – devas and devis - are nothing at all in comparison with the visionary disciple of such a Guru.
(The Sacred Words of NavajyotiSree Karunakara Guru)
Translated from the original Malayalam
The Difference Between Guru and the Deities
What is the range of the term ‘Guru?’ From someone who does a job to a person engaged in the virtuous work of (imparting) self-realization comes under the definition of Guru. Leaving the field of occupation, when one reaches the spheres of pranamayam (energy sheath), jnanamayam or vijnanamayam (knowledge and wisdom sheaths), mere bookish knowledge becomes inadequate as instructions are to be sought here.
The lack of punyam in the soul gets expressed as various diseases in the body. This has to be cured by employing different methods. Textual knowledge does not help in this. Where textual knowledge does not help, that path of dharma, which enables one to seek merit (punya) through karma (action), helps. Such dharma has influence on the soul as well.
The dynamic of action being such, action without dharma hinders the soul and the body in course of time. A person follows his basic instincts and propensities (vasanas) accrued from past births.
Some may do more good deeds and some tend to do bad deeds more. Sometimes, the individual is not in a position to distinguish between good and bad. Therefore when he does a bad deed, taking it to be a good one, his entire activity turns bad.
Unless one confesses to Guru about one’s negative karma, no solutions can be found and one comes to a dead end. In an excess of devotion (bhakti) some resort to strange deeds and invite people’s displeasure. Yet others imagine themselves to be persons of still higher attainment and would act and even move like a yogi or mystic.
In course of time, the activity of such persons loses clarity. It becomes incomprehensible (even) to themselves. They will not be able to assess for themselves whether the path of initiation (upadesa margam) or the path of concentrating on a favourite deity (ishta devata sampradayam) is suitable for them. Beings in the subtle plane start manifesting before a person who follows either of these paths for some time.
Such manifestations would be according to the evolution of the soul of the devotee. If there is a manifestation, the devotee will be full of zeal in his pursuit. His devotion (bhakti) would also increase. He would start getting visions in the waking state of consciousness (jagrat), dream state (swapnam), profound sleep (sushupti), the higher fourth state (turiyam) and a still higher state (turiyatitam).
The inner visions start with the elementals, go on to lower beings such as matan, maruta, and mantramoorti, and to apparitions of mystics such as yogi, jnani, karmi and so on. Demonic beings capable of creating powerful movements in the five elements are among them.
These are the ‘lords’ in some households and ‘gods’ in some others. The devotee who has visions of them might even get the feeling that these ‘lords’ and ‘gods’ are pleased in his presence. He would then feel proud that he has attained certain heights. He might get visionary experience in dream as well as in the waking state. He would become respected in the locality. In terms of the soul’s growth, some of these persons get stuck at this stage.
If there is no Guru to guide, at this stage a situation may arise, which invites the displeasure of family and neighbourhood. They could say bad things about him and he may even be physically beaten up. Since the devotee has extrasensory experiences, he would still cling on to his object of worship. He would carry on as if his experience is spiritual. He would indeed have many matters to present as authentic! As indicated above, there would also be deeds to his credit that ought to make those around him believe (in him).
Those who follow the path of worshipping a favourite deity like matan, maruta, or mantramoorti would sprinkle holy ashes, engage in tantric rites and initiation rituals, in order to earn people’s respect. These are minor tricks inspired by the deity itself. The devotee and those who believe in him get caught and even incarnations could be wasted this way. This could have happened in past births also (to the devotee).
The practitioners of such devotion might take to wandering, and their end might come on the roadside somewhere. Yet others would practice yoga, initiation through mantras and worship of favourite deities and just pass away (without much progress).
Some work towards altered states of consciousness like pratyaharam and dharana related to the samadhi state. Striving thus, they earn certain spiritual experiences as well as perceptions of life. As they are meticulous about their personal cleanliness and bodily purity, they will be held in high esteem at home and outside.
As they go forward, the lack of soul’s merit (punya) as well as the needs of the body will block their progress. Here things get mixed up. Correction and direction can be received at this stage only from a Guru; Guru becomes inevitable here. That is the depth of the riddle that is Guru.
When visions, as indicated above, are received, and 7444 of them realized, an aspirant attains one ‘stage’. If an individual with a healthy body and punya in the soul strives relentlessly and consistently, it would take 181/2 years to complete this one stage.
Even such completion would take an aspirant (if he is a beginner in spiritual life) only to ‘Vetalanagaram...’ – the realm of powerful but dark (tamasic) beings. If a mistake is made at this level, one would stagnate at the same level through many births and deaths without progress. The line from the Gurugita, “aneka janma samprapta karma bandha vidahine”, could be reflecting this cycle of birth and death.
An aspirant could fall into such error whichever path he takes – be it jnana, karma or bhakti. Some who have come up in the jnana path also have written about this.
Sri Narayana Guru’s Daivachintanam refers to the same experience. It is from his spiritual knowledge that he draws and speaks. To get out of the negative, one must pursue the positive, he says. But he does not make it clear as to how to go about it.
It is one among millions and millions of tyagis (seekers who lead a life of self sacrifice) who becomes capable of getting such a perspective. Many souls incarnate and depart in a variety of ways. In all this there would be truth also. The truth, in words of dharma, is in the correction by discriminating between right and wrong.
A person who completes 70748 visions of this kind will evolve to a high plane (daivasannidhanam) moving closer to the Supreme. Until and unless the human race realizes the value of this great and inexplicable astral process, no one can even guess what the plight would be. Even the rationalists turn out to be exponents of futile efforts in this field.
More dangerous than these aspirants and rationalists who create perverse karmic streams are those poets and thinkers who present a world vision based on intellect, without an inkling of the gross-subtle-cause-effect (sthoolam-sooksmam-karanam-karyam) relationships. The above mentioned rationalism (yuktivada) and liberationism (muktivada) have led to the philosophy of people like Charvaka.
These people have a handicap. They don’t have the maturity of awareness that can lead them to their own liberation. But we keep in mind that they have the skill to open up the storehouse of knowledge of the entire world.
The effort in this area is of two types of devotion -- without using intelligence (mooda bhakti) and devotion born of knowledge (jnana bhakti). Of these, the second group pursues the path of jnana bhakti and will not have any touch with real spiritual experience.
The subjects that their intellects absorb and the writings of those who are in tune with them are of intense value to themselves; everything else would be senseless to them. But legs tire equally for the person who is chased, and the person who chases. Both will fall pathetically in the end. Rationalism and liberationism have only this much of essence.
But the real liberationist is not in these lists. The author of Gita has qualified him with great words: the one who combines intelligence with spiritual power – “budhya yukto yoga balena chaeva.”
Some of the scholars who enthrall people with their textual knowledge are projected as jnanis by some (other kind of) rationalists. There are also persons who are stuck in unthinking devotion (mooda bhakti) till the end. These are the type of people who were described earlier as scapegoats of the sorrow that is Vetalanagaram. People of textual knowledge, no matter how great they are, are slaves to this realm of the spiritual world.
The aspects of gross-subtle-cause-effect (sthoolam-sooksmam-karanam-karyam) are related to the soul’s karma and dharma. The Guru who lends gross-subtle-cause-effect to soul’s karma and dharma should be a bold doer with direct spiritual knowledge and should respect and consider the five elements (panchabhoota), five senses (panchendriya), five sheaths around the soul (kosas), the individual soul (jivatma), the Absolute (paramatma) and dharma.
Without Guru, the aspirant may reach the aberrant state of the liberationist/rationalist whose action does not bear any fruit.
Thiruvalluvar does not seem to have discussed dharma, artha, kama and moksha but he has made references based on them. It is not possible for an ordinary person to function without these.
As far as liberationism and rationalism are concerned, they do not rise up to any conceptual height. It does not help to forget the fact that at this point every one falls. Reason and liberation are two ideas which deserve special and serious consideration. Such consideration is a way to freedom.
The dharma of Guru is eternal and inscrutable. Guru is the giver of vision (knowledge) pertaining to the level of the atom, the indivisible totality (akhandata) and the object of one’s worship.
He possesses the clarity of knowing the past, present and future. He can impart that proof to others as well; he causes recurrence of their life situations, to reach a corrective solution.
The difference between Guru and deity is immense. A life without realizing this is fruitless. The deities worshipped – devas and devis - are nothing at all in comparison with the visionary disciple of such a Guru.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Reordering Hinduism: A Workable Guruparampara
Gurucharanam Saranam
Reordering Hinduism: A Workable Guruparampara
(From the Teachings of Navajyoti Sree Karunakara Guru)
Navajyoti Sree Karunakara Guru said that in the re-ordering of Hinduism, the role of Santhigiri Ashram differs from other Ashrams. Other Ashrams have all followed the trodden path of their predecessors. That is what is going on even now. All this has to be reordered, not partially, but totally. In other words, today we are in possession of three traditions of worship in the Hindu system. A single comprehensive system is to be evolved in the place of these three. For this first of all we have to have the right understanding of the new principle and have full faith in it. The first step is to understand. Only then can it be translated into action. Most people have the old worship tradition in their blood, flesh and marrow: it is part of their very being.
Guru said that once a person’s faith is firm in the new way, the next step is a cleansing of his pitrus and the devas they had worshipped. All these entities as well as the powers he worships now are to be offered up to the Radiance of the Brahman. In their place faith in the Guru has to be established. This faith should be based on the conviction as to what Guru really is. God is to be worshipped in the image of the Guru. This is the ancient Hindu principle. Hence ‘gururbrahma’- that is the Guru is Brahman. And lastly he is ‘saakashaat parabrahman’ - the Absolute Itself. This has to be realized first, to reach it to the people at large. The qualities of such a Guru who has evolved and attained the state of Parabrahman also should be realized.
Guru further said:
"The Parabrahma Guru treats the good and the bad alike. The Guru would try to bring a wicked person to the path of goodness through making him struggle and suffer in life. The good person also is treated the same way. There is only a slight difference. This is the difference: The wicked man’s activities will have a high degree of faults and still the Guru will forgive and show lenience towards him. On the other hand a good person will be disciplined severely. If he is not responsive the Guru might even turn him out. The Guru would not discipline him further.
Why is this so? If the good man goes astray—even if it is just a step amiss— it will amount to a fatal flaw in his life’s dharma. Such a fault cannot be corrected in his lifetime. That is why sometimes gurus are found to reject disciples. It does not matter, let him go, is what the guru would think. If the man stays on and errs further a situation could develop where he can harm himself irreparably.
In the case of the wicked person the guru would go out of his way to give him a chance for reform. That is why in a conscious relationship between guru and disciple, the disciple strives to follow the guru’s words with utmost vigilance. The gurus who thus try to guide people will have numerous difficulties to face. It is because the guru’s word—however righteous or good—will not be in keeping with what people are used to. Look back and you will see the turbulence unleashed by each past attempt to change an existing norm.
Consider the recent religions—Christianity, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism and the Arya Samaj. It is enough to have a look at the history of these religions to have an idea of the enormity of suffering gone through by the founders and their followers. It is this suffering that has given value to their sacrifice. In the context of our times we have to adopt a more forceful and rational path. Otherwise apart from failing to guide people, our road in all likelihood might take a turn for the worse. We might regress immeasurably before we return to the right path again.
Therefore each one in this path should be firm of intent and have confidence in his own strength and reason to carry out his task. The travelers on this path—whatever be their particular way of life— should align themselves to the way of the Guru. We should completely absorb the idea behind it. Only then can we serve the cause and establish norms based on precedence. Otherwise we might break away from the path, impelled by desire or base anger.
It is for this that we need to acquire a complete understanding of this first and be able to glory in it. We should thereafter perceptively make restrained efforts towards progress. Each individual must necessarily be able to exercise reasonable tolerance. He must radiate love and be ready for sacrifice. Only paramparas consisting of such individuals have been able to progress.
All who embrace gurumargam should be courageous, loving and capable. Then all of us can realize the future ordained by God. This is how our guruparampara should set its goal and move forward. It is the householders who should take particular initiative and come to the forefront to propagate the ideal. Men and women should, in the mechanics of living, act only on the basis of mutual respect and affection. The family has unity and wholeness then. Such love fosters generations of good children! It will be easier for such children to acquire the vital knowledge for living. To transmit that knowledge to future generations, two or three other means also have to be adopted.
Firstly there should be no consideration of caste, creed or ethnic divisions in the guruparampara. All should function in unity. This unity will foster togetherness like that of a closely-knit family. Through this, work can be found and done together. Such co-operative efforts can be instrumental in lightening the struggle of life.
Education should evolve in accordance with the values of the parampara and its cultural traditions. Organizational ability and learning combine to develop a sense of unity. In this preparation, we have to be specially mindful of one fact. The guru has to be a person who has accumulated all the powers natural to the devas. It is not for following the path of the devas. But a guru who has not known the path of the devas cannot remedy the errors in that path, to lead humanity.
The guru should fully discover the paths of devas and rishis who were our predecessors and free them from faults. He should have also realized the stages of Devendra and Ganapati. He should have evolved further through the stages of Iswara, Daivam and the Brahmam. Only a Guru of such evolvement can bring about and establish this truth in its entirety".
Reordering Hinduism: A Workable Guruparampara
(From the Teachings of Navajyoti Sree Karunakara Guru)
Navajyoti Sree Karunakara Guru said that in the re-ordering of Hinduism, the role of Santhigiri Ashram differs from other Ashrams. Other Ashrams have all followed the trodden path of their predecessors. That is what is going on even now. All this has to be reordered, not partially, but totally. In other words, today we are in possession of three traditions of worship in the Hindu system. A single comprehensive system is to be evolved in the place of these three. For this first of all we have to have the right understanding of the new principle and have full faith in it. The first step is to understand. Only then can it be translated into action. Most people have the old worship tradition in their blood, flesh and marrow: it is part of their very being.
Guru said that once a person’s faith is firm in the new way, the next step is a cleansing of his pitrus and the devas they had worshipped. All these entities as well as the powers he worships now are to be offered up to the Radiance of the Brahman. In their place faith in the Guru has to be established. This faith should be based on the conviction as to what Guru really is. God is to be worshipped in the image of the Guru. This is the ancient Hindu principle. Hence ‘gururbrahma’- that is the Guru is Brahman. And lastly he is ‘saakashaat parabrahman’ - the Absolute Itself. This has to be realized first, to reach it to the people at large. The qualities of such a Guru who has evolved and attained the state of Parabrahman also should be realized.
Guru further said:
"The Parabrahma Guru treats the good and the bad alike. The Guru would try to bring a wicked person to the path of goodness through making him struggle and suffer in life. The good person also is treated the same way. There is only a slight difference. This is the difference: The wicked man’s activities will have a high degree of faults and still the Guru will forgive and show lenience towards him. On the other hand a good person will be disciplined severely. If he is not responsive the Guru might even turn him out. The Guru would not discipline him further.
Why is this so? If the good man goes astray—even if it is just a step amiss— it will amount to a fatal flaw in his life’s dharma. Such a fault cannot be corrected in his lifetime. That is why sometimes gurus are found to reject disciples. It does not matter, let him go, is what the guru would think. If the man stays on and errs further a situation could develop where he can harm himself irreparably.
In the case of the wicked person the guru would go out of his way to give him a chance for reform. That is why in a conscious relationship between guru and disciple, the disciple strives to follow the guru’s words with utmost vigilance. The gurus who thus try to guide people will have numerous difficulties to face. It is because the guru’s word—however righteous or good—will not be in keeping with what people are used to. Look back and you will see the turbulence unleashed by each past attempt to change an existing norm.
Consider the recent religions—Christianity, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism and the Arya Samaj. It is enough to have a look at the history of these religions to have an idea of the enormity of suffering gone through by the founders and their followers. It is this suffering that has given value to their sacrifice. In the context of our times we have to adopt a more forceful and rational path. Otherwise apart from failing to guide people, our road in all likelihood might take a turn for the worse. We might regress immeasurably before we return to the right path again.
Therefore each one in this path should be firm of intent and have confidence in his own strength and reason to carry out his task. The travelers on this path—whatever be their particular way of life— should align themselves to the way of the Guru. We should completely absorb the idea behind it. Only then can we serve the cause and establish norms based on precedence. Otherwise we might break away from the path, impelled by desire or base anger.
It is for this that we need to acquire a complete understanding of this first and be able to glory in it. We should thereafter perceptively make restrained efforts towards progress. Each individual must necessarily be able to exercise reasonable tolerance. He must radiate love and be ready for sacrifice. Only paramparas consisting of such individuals have been able to progress.
All who embrace gurumargam should be courageous, loving and capable. Then all of us can realize the future ordained by God. This is how our guruparampara should set its goal and move forward. It is the householders who should take particular initiative and come to the forefront to propagate the ideal. Men and women should, in the mechanics of living, act only on the basis of mutual respect and affection. The family has unity and wholeness then. Such love fosters generations of good children! It will be easier for such children to acquire the vital knowledge for living. To transmit that knowledge to future generations, two or three other means also have to be adopted.
Firstly there should be no consideration of caste, creed or ethnic divisions in the guruparampara. All should function in unity. This unity will foster togetherness like that of a closely-knit family. Through this, work can be found and done together. Such co-operative efforts can be instrumental in lightening the struggle of life.
Education should evolve in accordance with the values of the parampara and its cultural traditions. Organizational ability and learning combine to develop a sense of unity. In this preparation, we have to be specially mindful of one fact. The guru has to be a person who has accumulated all the powers natural to the devas. It is not for following the path of the devas. But a guru who has not known the path of the devas cannot remedy the errors in that path, to lead humanity.
The guru should fully discover the paths of devas and rishis who were our predecessors and free them from faults. He should have also realized the stages of Devendra and Ganapati. He should have evolved further through the stages of Iswara, Daivam and the Brahmam. Only a Guru of such evolvement can bring about and establish this truth in its entirety".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)