All of us,including the plants,animals and inanimate beings(we think they are inanimate), are from God/Nature/Holy FatherAllah.
Praying for the welfare of all these is the proper Prayer.
“God is all encompassing and is full.The Universe is full,having come from Him.Having come from the Full,Full Remains.Even if after taking full(Universe) the Full( God) remains full.Let there be Peace , Peace ,Peace.
(Santhi Mantra of Isa and Brhadaranyaka Upanishad)
* For those who feelthat how full can remain fulll after taking full out of it-if you share your knowledge,after having done so,your Knowledge remains the same( full) and the one to whom you have imparted also has the Knowledge in full.
Category: Indian Philosophy
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Universal Prayer.
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The Art of Defying Death.
‘On a misty spring night in 2005, I approached my apartment, on a tony block on the Upper West Side facing the Hudson. I felt relaxed and calm. Earlier that day I had attended a yoga workshop with a guru from India, then completed a writing assignment for a health and spirituality magazine about, as it happened, instinct — or antar-jñana, inner knowledge. I opened the outer door to my vestibule, then crossed through its inner door and into my lobby, leaving my back to the entrance. I got a prickly feeling, I don’t know why. I turned. There I saw, pushing open the inner door, an ink-black, gloved hand, exaggeratedly large, controlled and deliberate. It charged toward me. It was trailed by a body, the picture of death.’ NYT 14 Oct 2009
http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/the-art-of-defying-death/#comment-23701Comment:
We do not think of Death normally as we are afraid to face its inevitability.Once we know that it is inevitable, our life, our ambitions and plans are fragile and shall end in a micro second ,we shall learn to be humble and more humane.We shall be thankful for what we have and not whine over what we imagine we do not have.
Purpose of Yoga is to possess equanimity both under pleasant and unpleasant circumstances,not conquering the fear of Death, for it is inevitable. -
Caste System India-Scientific, Based on Disposition
Caste system does not permit people to mistreat others.
Cover of Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies People often confuse Caste with Varna, which means group that has a particular disposition and vocation.
What people are talking now is about caste, which is a distorted view of Varna, which has no sanction of Sastras, the Holy Writs.
Most of the great sages and Gods worshipped do not belong to Brahmin community, supposedly higher in echelon.
In the Holy Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva,Brahma and Vishnu are Kshatriyas while Siva is a Brahmin.
Brahma and Vishnu are classified as above because one is originator (Brahma) of Life and Vishnu is a Protector, both functions are that of Kshatriyas while Siva liberates from the world through Knowledge and hence called a Brahmana.
Society has been divided into four parts based on dispositions and profession.
They are-Brahmanas-Education (both spiritual and Temporal) Kshatriyas-Rulers and Protectors Vaisyaas-Commerce people Sudras-
People who support all the other three.
Inter caste marriage was allowed then.
Other castes are all man-made, especially Dalits and there is no evidence in Shastras that a community of Dalits have been in existence on the lines explained above.
A group of people were named as Panchamas, the fifth who were born of intercaste marriages whose disposition and profession was not very clear.
They were the flotsam who did not specifically do a particular job and were doing jobs of all kinds; hence they could not be classified.
Over a period of time, people, instead of assigning them a particular role in the Society, started using them for all jobs and they also complied with it.
Thus were formed the Panchama Varna.Slowly as they belonged to no specific class, the were treated differently and they were left from the mainstream.
This is the origin of Dalits.
You will be surprised to know in the caste system, there is a group called Karai(Bund) Velalar, whose job is to maintain Tanks and bunds during rainy seasons,Kar Velalars who supervise the functions of the other group.
Similarly every group/sub group has definitive function and they were treated with equal respect.
People have distorted it without understanding the concept and core idea and have misused it.
It needs correction by educating people on this effective tool of Social control.
To conclude, the Sage who is worshiped as the Revealer of the Great, Core Hindu Prayer, which is regarded as Mother of all Prayers, The Gayathri Mantra is Viswamitra, a Kshatriya.
Reference .
Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies
By Abbe J. A. DuBois, Henry K
Available in Google Books.
Srimad Bhagavad Gits
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Caste System (India) needs Reform?
Caste system has worked for India for centuries,excepting during British Rule.
British used the Division of labor ,promoted by Caste System to Divide and Rule.
Contrary to what people think, mistreatment of lower castes had not been in vogue prior to their regime. The Gods ,Krishna, Rama, are not Brahmins.Rama is a Kshatriya and Krishna is a cowherd.Disposition and conduct determine caste and nothing else.
As of today Caste in India exists for Politicians to garner votes .Ordinary Indian to day does not think of Caste any more,especially the educated.Mistreatment of some castes are still on in India .It is practiced by some communities,like Kshatriyas(never by a Brahmin) because of old habits.This is also mending.
So called lower castes are also moving up the social order and they are well integrated into the main stream.
However still some way to go.This will happen by literacy alone and not by enacting laws.This will increase the divide into a chasm.
Unlike Race or other Divisions in Society,caste system is not based on Race or creed or language.It was based initially on the Disposition of the individual to perform a task.To day we find Doctors children becoming
Doctors,Lawyers offspring as Lawyers( at least in India).
Similarly,based on the skillset of the individual,caste system was formed.
This has no bearing on birth.
Unfortunately many of the systems founded by Hindus were not not understood properly, have been practiced by rote with out reading the texts.
It is a fact that differences between individuals can not be wished away nor one’s feeling of Superiority.This is the Nature of Man.Casteless., people say.But is it feasible or possible?Inequality/divisions will be there in the world;only thing is it shall be known by a different name, like poor and the rich,Party members and common man in Communist countries,Nation Vs Nation,Language Vs Language,Region vs Region, profession Vs profession.
When an individual has a particular disposition or Aptitude and if he is raised in the environment which nurtures it, he/she will realize his/her potential..This is exactly what Caste is all about.
http://worldhaveyoursay.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/should-india-be-left-to-reform-at-its-own-pace/#comment-167690Related:
People often confuse Caste with Varna, which means group that has a particular disposition and vocation.
What people are talking now is about caste, which is a distorted view of Varna, which has no sanction ofSastras, the Holy Writs.
Most of the great sages and Gods worshipped do not belong to Brahmin community, supposedly higher in echelon.
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What is Perception?
It is not merely interpretation of Data that poses problems.The act of perception itself is difficult to understand.Perception, at the rudimentary level,is the process by which the stimulii are received and interpreted by the brain.We are aware of the brain/brain’s existence only by its receipt and interpretation of stimulii.So, we need brain to perceive and the things perceived to prove the existence of brain.
The interplay of senses and objects to be perceived,interplay of senses and brain determine Perception.We are aware of the senses because of brain and brain because of senses and objects perceived.
At the external level, what constitutes a whole object is difficult to fathom.Is it because of a particular trait we perceive a thing as we see it or an integtrated traits /qualities that makes us aware of an object as a whole?
How do we recognise objects as such?
Is it only through senses? In that case , how did we recognise it as a particular object at the first instance?If it is because we have been told so, how did the first individual recognise it as such?
Further, things change continuously and same thing or event presents a different picture from a different angle in case of vision(ex:see different angles from the camera in a game, say cricket or foot ball) and different interpretation when we perceive at different times the same thing /event.
The answer is in Indian Philosophical treatises.
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