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Last week was Baisakhi, a festival of the Sikhs. The 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh ordained that the Guru Grantha Sahib (the Holy Granth) will be the future Guru of the Sikhs about 300-400 years ago. He felt that human ego could become an impediment if humans were assigned the role of Guru; instead the sacred text should govern their faith and guide them in future.

Sikhs worship God as the nameless, formless, omnipresent, omniscient entity, called Truth. The first line of the Holy Granth starts with the words “Ik Omkar…”, i.e. there is only one divine entity. The text is derived from works of different Sikh Gurus, alongside those of Hindu, Islamic and Sufi saints. The collection of poetry, bhajans, messages, anecdotes, stories etc constitute the entire teachings of the faith. Whenever we visit a Gurudwara, we worship the Holy Granth as Lord Omnipotent. The Granthi (the custodian of the text and the local preacher) narrates from the text and explains its meanings to us ignoramuses!!

In Hinduisim, the Lord is worshipped in the form of a “Shivalinga”. Although the scriptures extol the virtues of the formless, the Nirupa or Nirguna Brahman, our organs of perception cannot relate to Him easily in the formless and nameless. Therefore the Shivalinga is an abstract form of the Lord, which He has made available for us to worship and realize our True Self. Although the “linga” as we see is very small, He is without “adi” or “antha”, i.e. without beginning or end, He is Eternal. There is a story in the puranas, which says that Brahma tried to reach the pinnacle of the Lord’s form as a swan and Vishnu tried to reach the foundation as a boar, but both were unsuccessful. Thus was the beginning less, endless, formless, nameless Lord called Truth (Satyam) established. And that Satyam is Shivam.

Truth is that which never changes, is always the same at all times, whether in the past, present or future. That which is true today under certain given circumstances and which changes tomorrow on the basis of events or happenings, cannot be called truth. That kind of truth is relative; it is conditioned by time and space. The Eternal Truth is the One which is beyond Time and Space, and is called God; “Satnam Waheguru”; Truth is the name of the Ultimate Teacher.

Early in the morning, when we see the orange sun on the horizon, we say “the sun is rising”. In the evening, when we are standing on the sands of the beach, and see the sun dipping into the ocean, we say “the sun is setting”. It is strange, but scientifically the sun never rises or sets. The sun is the same at all times, enlightening, effulgent, radiating its energy around without fear or favor to one and all. It is the earth that is revolving around its axis, and we experience the presence or absence of the sun, depending on whether it is day or night. Thus our experience of the sun is conditioned by the movement of the earth, which is conditioned by time. At that part of time which we popularly call “day” the sun is bright, illuminating and present. At that part of time which we popularly call “night” the sun is absent, so there is no illumination. Similarly although the moon is present in the sky always, because of the brightness of the sun during daytime, we are unable to see or experience the moon. It doesn’t mean that the moon is absent during daytime; it is only that, because of our conditioning during that part of time, we cannot experience the moon.

The phenomenal elements like the sun, moon, stars, planets etc are always there; and they are beyond time. Our own experiences of these elements are governed or determined by our ability to perceive them due to our conditioning at those times. When we are able to go beyond our conditioning; beyond time; we will always be able to experience the joy of these phenomenal elements. Similarly the Lord, who is Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram, is present at all times; our experience of His presence can happen only when we attain Shantam (silence in our within). May He Bless us with His Presence always.

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The primordial sound from which all notes of music originate is “OM”. The Lord who originates, sustains and migrates unto himself, this sound syllable “OM” is called Omkareshwar. Similarly the Lord also is the Master of all dance forms and is called Nateshwar or Nataraj. Thus the Lord is the teacher, performer and spectator of all forms of fine arts, whether it is music, dance or any other “Kala”.

When we visit someone’s house and see a statue of Nataraja on the mantle, we are drawn towards its symmetry in design. The Lord in one-legged ecstasy in his Thandava, with serpents adorning his neck and head as Nagabhushana, the crescent moon on his mane as Chandrashekhara etc evokes a response from us “Wow! How Wonderful!” Now assume that the same statue has a broken leg because the child of the house dropped it and broke it. We are not so wonderstruck looking at that statue because it is not symmetrical or complete anymore. Likewise, early in the morning, around 6-615 am when we are going for our morning walk, we see the golden sun; we bend in obeisance to the sun, gaze into it for a few seconds in silent prayer. Now assume that we left for our walk a little later, say 8.30-9.00 am. At that time, we don’t even want to look at the sun because it is blazing hot and we cannot see it with our naked eyes. In the first instant we say, the Sun is Beautiful and in the second instance we say the Sun is Blazing! We go to our local temple where our favorite bhajan singer is singing a melodious bhajan. We are lost in the ecstasy, and say “How melodious” whereas if the next day, the same singer, due to a sore throat, sings the same bhajan, he sounds hoarse and we don’t like it so much. In all cases, the object of experience remaining the same, our reaction to it changes from a positive extreme to a negative extreme.

Actually the beauty or symmetry or melody that we enjoyed in each of the experiences was because of the quietness or stillness that came into our minds when we witnessed the positives and likewise the opposite reaction was due to the disturbance that enveloped us due to the lack of these positive qualities. Our minds are automatically tuned-in to appreciate these positive experiences and we come to feel the quietness and calmness of our minds, which makes us experience the divinity within us and we come nearer to our Godhood.

While on our Kailash yatra, we are sure to encounter many natural spectacles that will bring to our hearts, this joy and happiness of beautiful experiences. The mightiest of them all will be when we are alone and contemplative in front of Lake Manasarovar or Mount Kailash. To bring in that subjective joy and ecstasy in us at that moment, we must cultivate a constant practice of just savoring the present moment without bringing any thought agitations in our mind. For enabling that, we can learn to calm our minds during the daily pranayama exercise that were taught to us by Nimisha Parikh. We can also do that during our morning walks by training the mind to remain calm without any disturbance.

The more and more we practice, we will be able to capture in our hearts, the ecstasy of being in the presence of the Lord’s Abode whilst at Kailash.

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Ratnagiri, that’s where I am now as I am writing this post. Gem of a mountain or Jewel among mountains, call it whatever you like.

We have embarked on a journey in July to the Best of Gems among mountains, the Himalayas and the veritable centre of the Earth which is Kailash. The pinnacle of our journey, on the physical plane, is the “kailash giri parikrama”, i.e. the perambulation of the mountain. It is said that if a human being performs just one parikrama of Kailash he or she will be rid of all their sins in this lifetime. One other noted mountain, whose “giri parikrama” is considered auspicious, is Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. There is also a temple of the Lord there and he is called Arunachaleshwara. It is here that the Ashram of Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi is located. He was a revered, learned and selfless saint of India. His teachings centered on one unique question which every person ought to ask himself; “Who am I”?

This question seems so simple to answer; I’m Mr X, son of Y & Z, boss in M/s ABC, student of P school, teacher in R college, brother to Q, husband of S, secretary of T Club etc etc. How quickly we can identify ourselves with various positions, relations, situations in life; remarkable isn’t it? But all of these are ephemeral, constantly changing, never constant. They are all a function of time. Today I am the son of my parents, but when they are no more, the relationship changes to “they were my parents”. Today I am husband of my wife, but when we are divorced, “we were husband and wife”. Today I am boss of ABC, but when I resign and join M/s EFG as its boss, “I am the boss of EFG”, likewise with all these various relational or situational relationships. They constantly change. Therefore my identity with them itself changes from time to time.

Strangely our own identity with the name and form is changing. Scientifically, it takes about 20 to 24 weeks for a foetus in the womb to develop life. Probably that is why abortion is considered illegal after this period. Of course in Vedanta, the moment life germinates in the mother’s womb, life is said to have evolved. Ever since this germination, we grow in our mother’s womb, in the apparent comfort of her protection and care. The moment we are released into this world through our “delivery” we cry, in apparent confusion with the new environment; our identity is now changed. Then at our naming ceremony, our father whispers our name into our ears. Peculiarly the name that our parents decide to call us, is different from the name with which we are christened; thus Vikram becomes Vicky, Prakash becomes Pakku, Albert becomes Albie and so on. The form that our body gains, is also different; some are born or grow to be handsome but some are not. But our own identity with this name and form is always very dear to us. We feel “I am the most important person in this world” although we may not say so; because our intellect tells us there are more important people in this world!! Every time anything happens to our surroundings that challenge our identity with this name, form, relation or situation that we have cultivated for ourselves, we become restless, revolting, aggressive, submissive or display some emotion that conveys our discomfort with this new challenge. Thus our strife, sweat and toil throughout our life is directed to meeting these challenges that we have created upon ourselves.

But real knowledge lies in understanding this “I” in us which is identity free, unhappiness free, disappointment free, sorrow free……total bliss; total happiness. The effort in life must be to realize this “I” in us; not by withdrawing from our day-to-day transactions in life, but through these day-to-day transactions, because the knowledge that frees us from this false identification is the one that removes our ignorance about our true Self, which is the Godhood in us.

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As I was driving by today, I saw a bus-stop hoarding about a program by an Islamic Scholar on the topic “Islam; is it a religion of love and compassion” An immediate question that came to mind is; what is religion? Religion is that which takes us nearer to our origin. What does that mean? The Indian word for religion is Dharma; that because of which a thing is what it is; is called Dharma. For instance the Dharma of Fire is heat and so on in the case of other elements also. Without that Dharma, the thing ceases to be what it is. Such being the philosophical explanation, how then does one reconcile to the use of the term “religion”?

The only religion in the world is called “Sanatana Dharma”, i.e. Universal Religion, which is more than 5000 years old. This is the religion of humanity, without any distinction of caste, creed, gender or any other differentiation. As time evolved, at different geographical locations in the world, at different points of time in history, depending on different socio-political climate prevailing at those places and times, some messengers of God must have prescribed certain acts of goodness that assisted the people populating those regions, to reach God, by whatever name they called Him. These prescriptions and practices evolved as “organized religions”. But the innate teaching in all of them, without distinction, was “love, compassion, peace and happiness. So, we can vouchsafe that every religion preaches the same qualities in every heart, irrespective of which language is used, or which name or form or ideal is worshipped.

Without going into any specific religion, I want to give an example of how religions evolved in time. Some of you may, but many may not be aware, of a practice called “Freemasonry”. The motto in this is; “brotherly love, relief and truth”. This was a practice established some 300 years ago, by masons who were employed in constructing some temples, during the time of some kings in Israel. The practices, using geometrical tools and implements, were used to extol virtues of goodness of heart, love for one and all, provide succor to the distressed and aid in realizing God by explaining the ultimate physical experience of humankind; i.e death. In time, these practices gained the importance of “religion” for the followers. Today, those practices may or may not be relevant, but the moot point is, they taught to the people following the religion at that time, nothing but “love and compassion”.  All organized religions have thus evolved for the same purpose.

Therefore in answer to the scholar’s question, we can say that, the practices may be time, location and people specific, but the ultimate destination is the same in all religions; i.e. “peace and happiness”.

A story that I learnt as a child, to which many of you may relate, is that of Kannappa Nayanar. Kannappan was a hunter who hunted animals in the forest, but he was an ardent Shiva devotee. His practices were unacceptable to the norms that we follow in our society, but his devotion for the Lord was pure and unsullied. I will share that story with you in my next post.