I have posted articles on the close affinity between Hinduism and Greek Religion.
Krishna and Balarama have been worshiped and there is evidence to state that Hercules was Balarama, elder brother of Krishna.
There is a report by Aristoxenus, a disciple of Aristotle.
English: Bust of Socrates in the Vatican Museum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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this Indian met Socrates in Athens and asked him what he studying. Socrates replied that he was studying human life. The Indian at this point laughed and asked him how could he study human life without studying the divine. The quote is as follows
‘Now Aristoxenus the Musician says that this argument comes from the Indians: for a certain man of that nation fell in with Socrates at Athens, and presently asked him, what he was doing in philosophy: and when he said, that he was studying human life, the Indian laughed at him, and said that no one could comprehend things human, if he were ignorant of things divine [Eusebius of Caesarea: Praeparatio Evangelica (Preparation for the Gospel). Tr. E.H. Gifford (1903) — Book 11]
It is not sure if Socrates changed his mind, but his student Plato was influenced. Plato who previously argued that human and divine affairs were the same, started distinguishing between the two. According to Plato there was one kind of study concerning nature, another concerning humans and a third concerning dialectic.
‘But he maintained that we could not take a clear view of human affairs, unless the divine were previously discerned: for just as physicians, when treating any parts of the body, attend first to the state of the whole, so the man who is to take a clear view of things here on earth must first know the nature of the universe; and man, he said, was a part of the world; and good was of two kinds, our own good and that of the whole, and the good of the whole was the more important, because the other was for its sake.[Eusebius of Caesarea: Praeparatio Evangelica (Preparation for the Gospel). Tr. E.H. Gifford (1903) — Book 11]
Citation.
Mcevilley, Thomas C. The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies. 1st ed. Allworth Press, 2001.
The Universe, according to Hinduism,is made of the Five Elements,Earth, Water, Fire, Air Ether.
Prithvi,Appu,Agni, Vayu and Aakasa.
Vayu, on his mount, the gazelle symbolizing swiftness Devanagari वायु Sanskrit Transliteration Vāyu Affiliation Deva, Guardians of the directions Mantra Om Vayuve namaha Mount Gazelle
When these remain together the Universe gets dissolved and remains dormant.
During Pralaya, Dissolution these elements get withdrawn and remain separate.
When they get together the Creation takes place.
These five elements are in our body.
In Tantra Sastra of Devi, these elements are managed to Realize God or Self.
How each element s placed in our body will be detailed in another article.
We shall see the function and nature of Vayu in our Body.
Whatever Philosophy talks about or trying to find out is what ‘Life’ is.
The body we have functions because of breathing; once the breath leaves never to return, it becomes dead.
How and why the Vayu or Air remains in the body with Nine outlets is a mystery.
As creation takes place the elements enter the gross body (without Life) which is made of Earth, Prithvi.
The Fire, Agni, together with Vayu helps the body remain warm and become Live.
Vayu settles in three forms.
It functions as three zones.
Vadha-It helps the body in its Ten functions.
Five are primary .
Prana-vayu is the most dominant air because it is this air only which ceases the function of the body in the end and departs.
The second vital air is apana which is in the region spanning the genitalia to the thorax.
Its function is to regulate the excretory process by causing digested food particles to descend and create pressure on the bladder for micturition and colon for excretion of faeces.
Vyana air circulates throughout the body and a slight tilt in its balance causes disease.
Udana air travels between the region of thorax and pharynx. If it attains imbalance then the vital organs of the body is affected with disease.
Samana air is in the navel region and its function is to maintain the body mass in position.
Five are secondary.
They are,
Naga air causes the action of belching;
Kurma air controls the function of batting of eyelids;
Krikara air regulates the function of sneezing;
Devadatta air produces yawn when the body is depleted with oxygen and
Dhananjaya air occasions the grave internal Pranayama sound.
2.Pitha,Vayus here help in Digestion.
For details see my Post Digestion, Hinduism.
3.Kapa.These Vayus help in discharging the refuse in the body.
These three functions are represented by the Trimurthis.
Brahma- Vadha-Blood Circulation.
Vishnu-Heat-Note that Vishnu reclines in Water and the Garland He has is of Tulasi which is heat generating.
Rudra-Kapa-Death, Destruction-cold-Shiva resides in Smashana, which is Hot and his garland or the leaves which is used for His worship is Bilva is Cold in its property.
These three zones do not remain in balance.
The struggle for existence, therefore , continues.
Once they are kept in balance one can reach Eternal Life.
The Siddhas have mastered this.
Of the Deities Ganesha and Hanuman are masters of this and are the important deities to worship in this Sadhana.
The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali lists eight steps to realize the Self.
These steps are followed in the order they are prescribed.
This is called Ashtanga Yoga, the eight limbs of Yoga.
Vigyana Bhairava Tantra.
Skipping one step and jumping to another, which is what most of the modern Gurus(?) prescribe will not yield results, on the contrary shall produce ill effects, both to body and mind.
The Eights steps by Patanjali are.
1.Yama
2.Niyama,
3.Asana,
4.Pranayama,
5.Prathyahaara,
6.Dhyana,
7.Dharana and
8.Samadhi.
While Yama and Niyama indicate things one should abstain from and ones to follow, Asana speaks about postures Prathyahaara, Dhyana, Dharana explains the developments int the art of concentration.
These three terms, Prathyaahara, Dhyana and Dharana are different stages and many are not aware of the subtle, essential differences between them.
Prathyaahara is the withdrawal of senses and the focusing of the mind on the object.
Here one is aware that, apart from the object to be focussed upon, of the objects other than the object being concentrated upon.
Dhayana is that stage where the object and the one who is concentrating the object are present in the mind of the one who is concentrating.
In Dharana this duality of the Perceiver and the Perceived disappears.
This is the culminating step of Yoga.
To explain it,
Lets us assume one is concentrating on an Object, it may be Mantra, Image or Idol.
In Prathyaahaara, you are aware of yourself, the object and things and people around you.
In Dhayana, you are aware of yourself and the object.
In Dharana,the object and you disappear.
Buddhism also follow this principle.
In Hindu texts, Vigyana Bhairava Tantra deals with this subject in detail.
Lord Shiva explains to Parvati,Uma.
The Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (Sanskrit: विज्ञान भैरव तन्त्र, Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra) is a key text of the Trika school of Kashmir Shaivism. Cast as a discourse between the god Shivaand his consort Devi or Shakti, it briefly presents 112 meditation methods or centering techniques (dharanas).[1] These include several variants of breath awareness, concentration on various centers in the body, non-dual awareness, chanting, imagination and visualization and contemplation through each of the senses. A prerequisite to success in any of the 112 practices is a clear understanding of which method is most suitable to the practitioner.
Reference Books for study.
Sri Vijnana Bhairava Tantra: The Ascent, by Swami Saraswati Satyasangananda (Swami Satsangi), softcover, Yoga Publications Trust/Bihar School of Yoga, 2003, 499 pgs., includes for each verse: Devanagari script, English with Sanskrit pronunciation, word-by-word meaning, overall meaning, relevance of words used, and commentary; plus appendices, glossary, and index.
The Book of Secrets: The Science of Meditation, Volumes 1-5, by Osho (Rajneesh), softcover, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2010, (1st edition 1972), ISBN 978-0-312-65060-5, 1328 pgs., a commentary based on Paul Reps’ translation below
The Book of Secrets: 112 Meditations to Discover the Mystery Within, by Osho (Rajneesh), hardcover, St. Martin’s Griffin, 1998, (1st edition 1972), ISBN 978-0-312-18058-4, a commentary based on Paul Reps’ translation below
The Radiance Sutras: 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight, by Lorin Roche, Ph.D., softcover, Sounds True, 2014 (1st edition 1994), ISBN 978-1-60407-659-2, 352 pgs., purposely personal, poetic, non-scholarly; admits that he omits or changes more ‘difficult’ verses.
Vigyan Bhairava Tantra – 112 Meditations for Self-Realization, by Ranjit Chaudhri, softcover, Prakash Books, New Delhi, India, 2008, ISBN 978-81-7234-292-0, republished as: 112 Meditations for Self-Realization, 2011, ISBN 978-81-7234-371-2
Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self-Realization, by Swami Lakshmanjoo, edited by John Hughes, Swami Lakshmanjoo was a Kashmiri Shaivite Master, and teacher of Paul Reps, Jaideva Singh, and Lilian Silburn, hardcover + 7 CDs, 315 pgs., the book is a transcript of Swami Laksmanjoo’s talks on the 7 CDs, A. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers in association with Ishwar Ashram Trust, 1st Indian edition (3rd revised edition), 2011, ISBN 978-81-215-1238-1, B. Universal Shaiva Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA, 2007, 4th edition (1st edition 2001), ISBN 978-0-9816228-0-4,
Vijnana Bhairava: The Practice of Centring Awareness, by Bettina Baumer & Sarla Kumar, commentary by Swami Lakshmanjoo, softcover, Indica Books, Veranasi, India, 2002 (republished 2007), ISBN 978-81-86569-35-1 or 9788186569359, highly edited version of Swami Lakshmanjoo’s book with CDs above.
In the following Link you will find useful information.
The practitioner of Yoga gains master over the Five elements of Nature,Earth,Water, Fire, Air and Ether..
Eight powers result when one practices Yoga.
1.Anima.
Ability to reduce the size of the body, sometimes even to the size of the atoms. (‘Becoming smaller than the smallest‘ as described in Srimad Bhagavatam by Lord Krishna)
Example: Hanuman had reduced the size of his body while he was searching for Sita in Lanka.
2,Mahima
Ability to assume a gigantic form (‘Becoming larger than the largest‘ as described in Srimad Bhagavatam by Lord Krishna)
Example:
Hanuman assumed a huge form to burn Lanka, he also assumed big form to fight Kumbha Karna
In Vaamana avatar Lord Vishnu increased his form which was so gigantic that it only took him three steps to cover all three worlds
3.Garima.
Ability to become very heavy in weight by will
Example: Lord Hanuman made his tail very heavy that even Bhima couldn’t life it (Bhima who was climbing the GandhaMadana mountains to get Saugandhika flowers for Draupadi was stopped by a monkey whose tail was on the way, Bhima orders the monkey to take the tail off the road, monkey being old tells him to move it himself, but Bhima couldn’t even lift the monkey’s tail)
4.Laghima.
Laghima comes from the word laghu, which means small or light. Laghima is the ability to make the body very light (‘Becoming lighter than the lightest‘). Levitation and flying in the air are its subsidiary powers
5.Praapti.
Word praapti means ‘to obtain’, ‘having obtained’, ‘to have got’. Thus praapti is the ability to acquire anything anywhere.
6.Prakamya.
Theability to obtain anything desired, ability to have realized the dreams
7.Ishitva.
Iṣa=lord; isitva=lordship; The power of absolute lordship over entire creation.
8.Vasitva.
The ability to have everything under control, especially the physical manifestation made up of 5 elements.
Patanjali exhorts not to be taken in b these powers,not to use them , as these will be hindrances to Self Realization.
Now see a Yogi burning in Fire, ,In Thanjavur,India, without any harm to him.
“The Fire Yogi is a 47 minute documentary exploring the journey of a Yogi who has the extraordinary ability to use a unique breathing technique to get into union with Fire.
This documentary portrays a rare and unusual Fire Ritual performed by a Yogi from India and the subsequent chemical analysis of his clothing & physical tests that examine this supernatural phenomenon.
The Yogi has performed this Fire Ritual for a total of 1000 days over the last 45 years.
The Yogi, weighing a mere 94 pounds (43 kilos), has been able to survive on only two bananas and a mere glass of milk with a few drops of water twice a day for the last 28 years.
Many aspects of the Yogi are on the edge of unbelievability, while at the same time highlighting the power and endurance of human mind, body and spirit.
Hoax or Fact:
The story about Fire Yogi is a Fact.
Analysis:
The messages come with a video showing an Indian Yogi performing fire ritual and sleeping in union with it without getting burnt or hurt.
The story is a fact.
In 2002, as a part of quest for Tantrics and Gurus in India, Mike Vasan, a director and producer, went to Tanjore in Tamil Nadu and met a special Yogi named Rambhau Swami (aged 63 then), who had an amazing power of getting into union with Fire. He developed a complete documentary on the sacred ritual that Rambhau performs, where he sleeps on fire of yagna without getting hurt or burnt.
In the documentary video, he shows and explains the unbelievably mystic lifestyle and rare fire ritual of the yogi, Rambhau Swami.
Rambhau Swami claimed that he started his career as a researcher at an ancient library and then went on to learn ancient vedas and their importance before meeting his Guru who taught and showed him a completely different life close to his Spirit and God.
He also says that he has been drinking only a few drops of water since 1975, and two years later, he started limiting his daily diet to a banana and a cup of milk, followed by only three hours of sleep each night. But surprisingly, he looks completely normal, and unlike most others, he is simple, open minded and down to earth, willing to explain his rare fire ritual and its importance.
Rambhau Swami’s famous and elaborate fire ritual starts with his holy bath, followed by meditation, pranayama and a traditional ceremony of honoring Ganesha.
The fire place of the ritual is a kind of sunken pit, into which Rambhauswami offers wide variety of food and other holy items like gallons of ghee, rice, coconuts, sugar cane, herbal green grass, etc.
While offering these, and as the Fire sets ablaze, Rambhau Swami goes into a deep meditative state, covered only by a woollen shawl
. He is shown to interact with the fire with his virtual signs, and at times he gets himself into the fire place, sleeping comfortably in union with the fire, without getting burnt or hurt.
And surprisingly, even his woollen shawl does not burn in fire, but for few scars here and there, which he says happens when he loses his concentration and connection with fire. He is shown to perform this fire ritual for 14 hours at a stretch without any kind of break in between, and on fasting.
After completing the ritual, he breaks it with only 3 sips of water.
The yogi also claims that he has performed this special fire ritual for about 1000 days in his last 45 years.
And in one instance, he claims he has performed this ritual for 27 days continuously without any break.
This has been checked by Hoax Slayer and found to be true and authentic.
Unlike other Faiths, Hinduism does not bring all those who realized Godhead or self-realization under one name, Mystic.
There are Siddhas, Rishis of Different kinds,Munis,Guru,Yogins, Savikalpa and Nirvakalpa,Saints, Sages.
Though there is this common factor of having realized God/Self, there is a minute difference among them.
Please read m posts on Rishis, different kinds.
Siddhas are realized souls, do not die and live eternally.
Yogis reach the State of samadhi.
This is of two kinds.
Savikalpa where the realized soul is seemingly active here.
In Nirvakalpa everything is renounced.
We have yet another classification.
Avadhuta.
An Avadhuta.
Avadhoota (अवधूत avadhūta) is a Sanskrit term from some Indian religions referring to a type of mystic or saint who is beyond egoic-consciousness, duality and common worldly concerns and acts without consideration for standard social etiquette.
Also spelled as Avdhoot, such personalities “roam free like a child upon the face of the Earth”.
An Avadhoota does not identify with their mind or body or ‘names and forms’ (Sanskrit: namarupa).
Such a person is held to be pure ‘consciousness’ (Sanskrit: caitanya) in human form.
Avadhoota play a significant role in the history, origins and rejuvenations of a number of Dharmic Traditions such
hand path (Sanskrit: Dakshinamarga) traditions and left and right channels (otherwise known as the outer channels) of the energetic body, though an
Avadhut may or may not continue such dichotomous rites of the āstika or nāstikaDarśana for they are free from sectarian ritual observance and
affiliation.
Feuerstein (1991: p. 105) frames how the term ‘Avadhoota’ came to be associated with the mad or eccentric holiness or ‘crazy wisdom‘ of some antinomianparamahamsa who were often ‘skyclad’ or ‘naked’ (Sanskrit: digambara):
“The appellation “Avadhoota,” more than any other, came to be associated with the apparently crazy modes of behaviour of some paramahamsas, who dramatize the reversal of social norms, a behaviour characteristic of their spontaneous lifestyle. Their frequent nakedness is perhaps the most symbolic expression of this reversal.”
Sacrifice.
Chandraet al.. (1902: p. 20) equates the ‘chodpa‘ (Tibetan: གཅོད་པ, Wylie: chod pa) as a type of Avadhoota:
“ཀུ་སུ་ལུ་པ ku-su-lu-pa is a word of Tantrik mysticism, its proper Tibetan equivalent being གཅོད་པ, the art of exorcism. The mystic Tantrik rites of the Avadhauts, called Avadhūtipa in Tibet, exist in India.”
The rites of chod differ between lineages but essentially there is an offering of their body as food, a blessing to demons and other entities to whom this kind of offering may be of benefit. This leitmotif and sadhana is common to another denizen of the charnel ground, Dattatreya the Avadhoota, to whom has been attributed the esteemed nondual medieval song, the Avadhoota Gita. Dattatreya was a founding adi guru of the Aghor tradition according to Barrett (2008: p. 33):
“…Lord Dattatreya, an antinomian form of Shiva closely associated with the cremation ground, who appeared to Baba Kina Ram atop Girnar Mountain in Gujarat. Considered to be the adi guru (ancient spiritual teacher) and founding deity of Aghor, Lord Dattatreya offered his own flesh to the young ascetic as prasād (a kind of blessing), conferring upon him the power of clairvoyance and establishing a guru-disciple relationship between them.”
Mahānirvāṇatantraṃ
Woodroffe, in his translation of the Mahānirvāṇatantraṃ from the original Sanskrit into English under his nom-de-plume of Arthur Avalon, may be the opening discourse of the archetype of “Avadhoota” to the English reading public, as none of the Avadhoota upanishads were translated amongst the collections of minor upanishads such as the Thirty Minor Upanishads (Aiyar: 1914).The pen-name is play on the magical realm of Avalon and the young later-to-be, King Arthur, within the story-cycle of tales known generally as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; specifically according to Taylor (2001: p. 148), Woodroffe chose the name from the noted incomplete magnum opus, the painting ‘Arthur’s Sleep in Avalon‘ by Burne-Jones.[9] Moreover, Taylor (2001: p. 148) conveys the salience of this magical literary identity and contextualizes by making reference towestern esotericism, Holy grail, quest, occult secrets, initiations and the Theosophists:
“This is quite important to know, for here we have a writer on an Indian esoteric system taking a name imbued with western esotericism. The name at any rate seems to hint at initiations and the possession of occult secrets. The Arthurian legends are bound up with the story of the Holy Grail and its quest. This was a symbol of esoteric wisdom, especially to Theosophists who appropriated the legend. Anyone who named himself after King Arthur or the mystic isle of Avalon would be thought to be identifying himself with occultism, in Theosophists’ eyes.
How to identify an Avadhuta,
The book of Brahmanirvantantra describes how to identify the avadhuts of the following types:
BramhAvadhoota : An avadhut from birth, who appears in any class of society. Completely indifferent to the world or worldly matters.
ShaivAvadhoota : Avadhuts who have taken to the renounced order of life (sannyas), often with unkempt long hair (jata), or who dress in the manner of Shaivites and spend almost all of their time in trance (samādhi), or meditation.
VirAvadhoota : This person looks like a sadhu who has put red colored sandal paste on his body and wears saffron clothes. His hair are very well grown and are normally furling in the wind. They wear in their neck a Rudrakshamala or a string with bones. They hold a wooden stick (danda) in their hand and additionally they always have an axe (parashu) or a damaru (small drum) with them.
KulAvadhoota : These people are supposed to have taken initiation from the Kaulasampradaya. It is very difficult to recognize these people as they do not wear any signs outside which can identify them from others. The speciality of these people is that they remain and live like usual people do. They can show themselves in the form of Kings or a family man.
The avadhoota represents the pinnacle of spiritual evolution; none is superior to him. Avadhoota means “one who is immortal” (akshara), and who has totally discarded worldly ties. He is verily Brahman himself. He realizes himself to be pure intelligence. He is unmindful of the six infirmities of human birth, namely: sorrow, delusion, old age, death, hunger and thirst. He has shaken off all bondage of the experimental world, and moves about freely like a child, a madman or one possessed by spirits.
He may be with or without clothes. He does not wear any distinct emblem of any order. He has no desire to sleep, beg or bathe. He views his body as a corpse and subsists on food which comes to him from all classes. He does not interpret the shastras or the Vedas. For him nothing is righteous or unrighteous, holy or unholy.
He is free of karma. The karmas of this life and past lives are all burnt away, and due to the absence of kartritva (doership) and bhoktritva (desire for enjoyment), no future karmas are created. Only the prarabdha (unalterable) karmas which have already begun to operate will affect his body, helping to sustain it, but his mind will remain unaffected. He will live in this world until the prarabdha karmas are worked out, after which his body will fall off. Then he is said to attain videhamukti (state beyond body consciousness).
Such a liberated soul never returns to the embodied state. He is not born again; he is immortal. He has achieved the final aim of taking birth in this world.”
Bhad-avadhuta Upanisad, thus: “The Avadhuta is so called because he is immortal ; he is the greatest ; he has discarded worldly ties ; and he is indicated in the meaning of the sentence “Thou art That,”
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