Respected members:
There is a Kshetram indeed. However, it cannot be seen but can only be felt
and experienced. We all harbor this
deep desire for "kuzhu and the misai( desire for the tasty gruel but we do
not want the gruel to spoil our proud moustache)"
Pardon the reference, but no insult or injury intended to anyone. Please
read this in the spirit in which this is
written and not as a derision or criticism on any individual.
If one is not wrong, the captioned subject started with a member posting
deep grief over the state of affairs
and condition of temples/places of worship etc. and wondering whether some
sort of community based co-operative effort
would solve this problem. Among the many responses, one is from Shri
Thillaisthanan Krishnan
We all love, cherish, have this deeply constant urge to be identified with
a caste, group, sect, religion etc. The core
of the subject with which we wish to be identified is a set of unique
characteristics
which affords permanent protection the person. For example, if A says that
he is an Arab from Libya, then another
Moslem from say Trivandrum may easily identify himself with this
stranger-Arab in the common bond of their religion Islam.
In case of a dispute, a problem or danger, both would join forces and
irrespective of their individual
characterstic / habits, tendencies, personal beliefs etc. they would try to
tackle their common-community problem.
We are all aware of how this subtle psychology works. While this may be in
general acceptable to a limited extent as
for example when a South Indian is posted to say SIBERIA the first thing
he tries to is to ascertain whether there is
any 'Indian' there, anyone remotely connected with his homeland. If he
finds there are three families, one a Punjabi, another
a South India and a third a Bengali, who do you think he will make friends
with first ? The fellow-South Indian. Why ? Even
though there is a Punjabi and a Bengali, both from his motherland, both
having the common cultural heritage of strains
from Hinduism, still he will 'strongly prefer' something closely to his
'own' identity, what ever that be.
He may make friends with the Punjabi and Bengali, but his main heart and
basic primary affinity will be towards his 'own'
If X says that he believes in Shiva, immediately his membership to a group
which claims to follow Guru Nanak or Jesus
is cancelled. He is excluded. He cannot even debate, present his views, or
question. All doors are locked tightly
shut. We all know how this psychology works. It is subtle yet very potent.
The person who believes that his and his belief alone is supreme and
everything else can be either ignored or
disbelieved is nursing an illusion. The search is for something lasting,
something permanent, something eternal and
full of support and strength, undecaying through the ages. The English were
masters in this. The common distinguishing
factor being the colour of your skin - White or dark ?. If dark, then you
were a native and if white, then you were
one of "theirs"
We therefore need to be a bit more focussed especially given our constant
desire to keep our spirituality intact.
Looking at things with wide-angle lens would be a better starting point.
If you look at the pictures of this blessed earth
from the Moon you see a colored ball. Individuals are not visible, nor are
temples and images. What is visible though
is a mysterious vastness, an extraordinary silence and the heavenly bodies
including the earth. It must surely have
been the most extraordinary sight to behold for those lucky astronauts when
they looked at the outside from space.
In a similar manner, if we can focus on the broader aspect and address the
broad question we can reduce
our entire concern as "why are the Vedas being systematically cut down,
ignored and continually misinterpreted?"
Say what you may, the central point which everyone is concerned is why is a
place of worship, a place associated
with peace, goodness, wholesomeness, harmony become degraded, ignored etc.
why is there a decline of values,
decline in perception and all round casual approach constantly surfacing in
all our spiritual endeavors? We pray
a lot, have lot of satsangs, associate ourselves with learned and sincere
people, contribute a lot to the betterment
of society and downtrodden, are socially active and yet, yet despite all
these sincere efforts we do not see
any improvement. We therefore, lament at the said state of affairs. We feel
a wave of pity and thats it. We may share
our concern with our brothers with these and other web-members, web-site,
make a huge noise, raise slogans, drum
up support groups etc. but in the end, the problem remains as it were
without any solution in sight.
Are we mistaking the trees for the woods ?
The Patanjali Yoga Sutras are also called as "Raja Yoga". Subsequent Yoga
teachers, commentators and sages have all commented,
authored and introduced many types of Yoga i.e. Hatha Yoga (where the
emphasis is on physical culture), Bhakti Yoga, Gyana Yoga,
Karma Yoga,Laya Yoga, Mantra Yoga etc. but there is one and only Raja Yoga.
I.e. Everyone of these authors, everyone of
these saints, sages and great teachers have consistently agreed one thing
namely that what Sage Patanjali is referring is to
the highest form of Yoga and the real meaning, namely, where the mind is
tackled. Since everything emanates from our
thinking process itself, the why and how is addressed in a scientific and
logically, rationale and practical manner.
That is why it is called the King of Yogas i.e Raja Yoga. One of the
greatest Raja Yogi was, incidentally our
beloved Shri Piratti's extraordinary father the Sage-wise-King Janaka!!
Suddenly some of you might wonder, what connection has Yoga to the above
topic. It has a deeper relevance if one looks closely
at what Yoga propose in general ? It explains why and how the mind works,
why thoughts originate and how they act like a two
edged sword and the role of devotion, karma, love, surrender, prayer etc.
In short, the why and how of our basic make-up,
function and role in this world is sought to be brought within the
periphery of our perception.
Now as part of the solution to the various woes of mankind, a path called
the "Ashtanga" or 8-limbed path is advocated.
Many lay men in general have misunderstood the concept of Yoga as being
something to do with the health/physical body
postures and meditation. But if you care to read the Yoga Sutras, the wise
Sage Patanjali has placed physical and
mental aspects, including the famous Pranayama routine as 3rd and 4th
respectively and not given them the highest
importance of the 1st and 2nd place. The first place or first principle is
"Yama" i.e. social aspects. Remember it is
not a personal thing. Society comes first. Then the second principle is
"Niyama" or personal habits, observances which
includes - Souchya, Santosha i.e. cleanliness and contentment. The Yama
or foremost principle covers
5 things. Ahimsa,Satya, Asteya, Bramacharyam and Aparigraha
In short, what Patanjali is indicating is the 'pot cannot call the kettle
black'. You cannot hope to advance ahead
spiritually if you are full of himsa(violence), covet others' things, are
untrue to your word or conduct etc. These are
social norms eternally true. Even the famous Ten Commandments in the Old
Testament endorse these principles which
incidentally happen to the corner stone of both the Buddhist, Confucian,
Tao, Jainism religions. Remember also,
that all these religions are much after the Yoga Sutras.
Personal cleanliness, personal satisfaction/contentment are given secondary
importance. Then the third aspect is Asana
which physical postures and fourth Pranayama.
Even Iswarapranidhani or worship/surrender to God etc. is discussed much
much after Yama. It is part of Niyama
Meditation and its various meanings etc. follow from place 5 to 8.
So You can easily conclude from these that one could not be selfish and
hope to get away with it. Selflessness is the first step i.e.
the Society comes first and then 'my'/'me', 'mine'.
Today, sadly everything has turned topsy turvy. Physical well being is
paramount. Meditation is the ‘in’ thing and without
‘culturally’ pleasing aesthetic postures people feel they are not involved
with Yoga and so on.
Now the Sandhyavandanam, which is ritual prescribed by the Vedas much
before the advent of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras,
also enshrines the same principles. i.e. society comes before the
individual self. That is why during Sandhya, the phases are :
Act 1 : Achamanam and Argyam - no where the self, i.e.the person's name,
gotra, star, lineage, famil background, are they referred.
It is a straight Om Achutaya Namaha, Om Anantaya Namaha, Om Govindaya
Namaha.
Act 2: Gayathri chanting. Again it starts as above with the Achamanam and
ends with the Gayathri
Act 3 : Gayathri upasthanam i.e. sending HER Back to her original abode
from our hearts
Act 4: After restoring to her original glory, the man is eligible to now
stand before the Gods, elements and nature and
reveal his 'petty' self i.e. his identity. Hence the Abhivadyam is said
wherein his name, family name, Guru's, gotra,etc.
are revealed to the Vedas.
Till Act 3 the man cannot reveal the identity given by this world, given by
his parents. Even if his parents have
given him the blessed name of "Narayana" he still has to do the 3 acts and
at the 4th stage, do the Abhivadyam
and declare to the Vedas that he is "Narayana sarma" and so on.
To bring your attention back to where we began. What is the essence which
this writer is trying to convey ? We need to
temporarily forget what is 'our' own. We need to respect only the Vedas and
its strictures. As the Vedas have often declared,
if we can do the basic minimum of sustaining and propagating the Vedas then
all other issues will take care of themselves naturally.
The Vedas will take care literally. During the days when the barbaric
tartars and Mughals from the wild Northern plains invaded
this blessed country and tore down temples by the hundreds and threatened
many religious places, many Sages suggested
that for the sake of mankind the practice of Sandhya alone may be
diligently continued so that in places where there
was wholesale all round destruction and utter annihilation of physical
structures, where worship of image and idols
was punished with death, man could still stand firm inside with the
eternally invisible support of Dharma.
Today is no better. Only instead of ungainly and openly crude nomads, man
has acquired and coating of the veneer of
education and knowledge and this excess of knowledge has resulted in
depletion of basics i.e. ignorance of Vedas,
tradition, Sandhya and other aspects of spirituality. Values in general
have eroded comparatively in this
Kali Yuga or Iron age. This incidentally, was also predicted in the Vedas.
And finally to come to original concern and query of this discussion. It
is true that temples and worship is totally neglected
and there is A desperate need for honorable, knowledgeable elders. If this
is not a strong suggestion, maybe those ‘retired’
people can Individually - if groups can be formed nothing like it- try to
propagate the importance of Sandhya among the youth
of today. Especially where parents are in India and the children abroad in
good vocations or the other way, when both the parents
And children are in the West and in good economic conditions and having
physical, mental, material comforts and ease.
They can propagate the importance of the Sandhya and ensure that this is
not given up. They may use whatever
Methods their strength and knowledge permits, but they should form a
reliable and authoritative source for others
to emulate. For example this writer came across a peculiar case when 4
generations were in Australia and the
Grandfather was quite reluctant to start the Sandhya - he was apparently
not doing it regularly and was now 80 - as his
Son who himself was 65 was getting an inferiority complex since his
grandson who was 40 was being questioned by
His great grandson who was 13 and who had done his Upanayanam as to why
what “Kolu - tattha” was doing was not being
Done by the father. The father did not have the time and inclination. He
would not listen to his own father and his own
Father who was 65 felt upset when he heard that his father of 80 was keen
to start the Sandhya. Everyone except the
80-year old man -who was keen to start - were casual. They simply grouped
themselves under the omnibus excuse
of ‘where is time ?, we tell the Gayathri ? ‘ as if they were doing the 80
year old grandfather a favour. They even advised
him to give up his new found religio-spiritual craze of Sandhya and
derisively told him at times that what ought to have
been done at 8 why can’t the man forget and wake up now and do, when God
has anyway blessed him with wealth,
materials, comforts, good job for his progeny, 4 generations of better
life etc.
This writer recently learnt that Stephen Pinker and other contemporary
psycho-philosophers have recently floated a new
Philosophy called the “Systems philosophy” where they briefly try to
explain consciousness and how this world/universe
evolved etc. The admit the Big Bang theory and say that after the Big bang,
with the Sun acting as a catalyst the earth
Started forming and life happened and so on. Remember, these people are
total atheists and utterly rationale and highly
Educated men of Science who are steeped in research. They have postulated
this theory where the importance of
Our beloved Surya/Sun is highlighted. And what is the Sandhyavandanam if
not worship of the Sun ?
If each of you can make at least one member do the Sandhya perennially,
then you have taken care of the main divya Desam
Of Vaikuntham !!
Om Tat Sat
Tat Tvam Asi
Sadagopan
<sgopan@computer To:
Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
.net> Tiruvengadam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
saranagathi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Srirangasri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
srivenugopala@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
07/21/03 08:20 Parakalamatham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
AM
desikasampradaya@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Please respond malolan_net@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
to tiruvengadam cc:
tamarapusampath@xxxxxxxxx, tatacharya@xxxxxxxxx,
sudha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [t'vengadam] Service to
Senior Srivaishnavites.
Dear Sriman Narasimhachari Swamy:
Thank you very much for your wonderful
and welcome suggestion . I agree with
you that any amount of Funds thrown
at revitalizing Dhivya dEsams would not
succeed by itself unless there is a dedicated
ownership of responsibilities to offer
shrama dhAnam , personal participation in
GhOshtis , provide the outside link ,
"propagandize the dhivya desam " to
the world of aasthikAs and motivate
the Bhattars and assure the well being
of their families.
There will not be one strategy. Our AchAryAs
have "adopted" some of these dhivya dEsams
and provide support. Cases in point are:
Thirukkudanthai , Naathan Koil et al.
Rest are supported by aasthikAs from Overseas
coordinating with their retired parnets , who
do not necessarily live at these dhivya dEsams.
ShrimAn Venkat of Bahrain is setting an example
for such kaimkaryams in coordination with his
retired father and a group of aasthikAs .
Thalaicchanka NaaNNmathiyam temple is a case
in pint.
SrIman Pattangi has described the efforts of
another group , who are actively involved
in addressing the problems thru shrama dhAnam
and dedicated funds .
Then there are financially sound dhivya desams
like Oppiliappan Koil, where retirees after
a full life in the outside world carry on
with Kaimkaryam to the Lord ( NithyAnusandhAnam
at the evening ) since their elders have performed
such kaimakryams for generations. I am thinking of my
classmate , SrI V.N.Gopala Desikan , who was
an executive in the Indian Railway Services
and after his retirement returned to Oppiliappan
Sannidhi and takes part in the Kaimkaryams.
There are aasthikAs like SrIman SatakOpa
TatachAryAr , who has "adopted " the dhvya
Desam of DhIpa PrakAsar Temple and ThUppul
Swamy Desikan Sannidhi Nithya AarAdhanam.
He is tireless in his efforts to raise core funds
to support the nithyArAdhanam at these two sannidhis,
pay for the Bhattars and Saamagriya.
Establishments of PaatasAlais at abhimAna Sthalams like
Vaduvoor is accomplishing these goals of the presence
of VaidhikAs and protecting the traditons .
In all these matters , the pilfering by mean minded
Temple Executives and the benign neglect by
the Trustees, the Hindu Religious Endowment Board
( The Government Body for supervision and fair
distribution of revenues genrated at rich temples )
has to stop.
The problems are huge but can be addressed steadily
with the help of dedicated , who have the comfort
level to return to these dhivya dEsams and
wean themselves from the dependence on
the "pleasures " of urban lives .
A hybrid life of part time residence at ancestral
villages , where the dhivya desams are and
the city , where the children are for jobs
might be the solution.
With prayers for addiitonal positive developments
in this area of vital interst to all of us,
V.Sadagopan
>> --- "R Narasimhachariar" <rnchariar_2311@xxxxxxxxx>
>>wrote: > Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 12:20:14 +0530
>>From: "R Narasimhachariar"
>><rnchariar_2311@xxxxxxxxx>
>>Subject: Re:To the cause of Senior Srivaishavites
>>To: T Sampath Kumaran <tamarapusampath@xxxxxxxxx>
>>
>>Dear Sampath Kumaran swamin,
>>I appreciate the interest you have been taking to the
>>cause of senior Srivaishanvites. In this connection I
>>would like to post the following for the kind
>>attention of srivashnavites of our groups.
>>It is a pity that most of our Divya Desam temples are
>>deserted, and at times you find one archakar
>>conducting kainkaryam in a group of temples located
>>close by. There is paucity of elderly srivaishnavites
>>even for ghosti, and participation in Nitya Aradhana.
>>Financial support alone will not suffice the worship
>>in these temples but active participation by elderly
>>Srivaishnavites is much needed. Many Srivaishavites,
>>after retirement from service still cling on to city
>>life. They often clamour that our Divya Desams are
>>neglected. Instead they can settle themselves in one
>>of the Divya Desams, once they complete their
>>commitments to their families. TV, Telephone and
>>e-mail facilities are available even in remote
>>shetrams. Myself and some of my friends after service
>>in Central Govt. at Delhi have shifted to towns
>closer
>>to Shetrams and contribute our service in some of
>>these shetrams. Fortunately we can still command
>>services in India for a price and can lead a
>>comfortable life. I would appeal that seniors instead
>>of planning to join their children abroad or look for
>>Homes, can think of forming groups and re-settle in
>>Shetrams where they can have mental peace and
>continue
>>to carry on their nityanustanams and render service
>to
>>Sriman Narayana in these shetrams. This will motivate
>>archakas, and other bhakthas to continue to live in
>>these shetrams.
>>Let us take a vow to rebuild our Shetrams, and
>>continue to retain their glory for the younger
>>generation.
>>Dasan
>>Naraimhachariar
>>
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