Love For All-----------------Hate For None

Last time when I was visiting a friends place in my native place , I found the banner in one shop.
LOVE FOR ALL ---HATE FOR NONE. It raised lots of questions in my mind .

What is the source of hatred in any religion?

What is the cause of conflict's described in the world history? Where most of the war were fought
on the basis of greed for wealth and hatred.Some of them had plundered and robbed the conquered only for wealth.But many of them not only plundered people for wealth but for intense hatred . How can these actions be justified .

I asked that to many people in the recent times but no body answered to this question properly.
I found one thing very clear that Hatred is an inborn quality of a man like love. You can not separate them widely. If you love some body you have hate some one else . But there are some code or social ethics within which we usually restrict our hatred for others.That at least leave the hated person or group of people unharmed.

But when it exceeds the limit or the boundary of our social ethics it bring some most undeserved consequences that had been blacken the history of the whole human kind. The persecution of the middle ages which had extended its red shadow on the entire modern age are the example that is enough to justify my reason.

Big Questions of My Life

Today morning I was thinking about so many brain storming philosophical question.So I am putting them in the blog so that any one from the viewer can answer my curiosity.

Lets Begin.

1. What is God?


2. What is Religion?


3. What is atma?


4.What is death?


5.Can we clarify each death according to the law of karma?


6. According to Vedanta what should I do against the perpetrator of crime?


7. What is Adwaita?


8. What is singularity of god?


9. How can Vedanta bring back righteousness?


10.What are Upanishads?


11.How can you justify the Sanyas?Don't you think it is against the rule of nature?


12.What is the philosophical flaw in all the world religion that dictate people of that faith to kill people who follow other different faith?


13. Can any religion justify killing and mutilation of innocent people in the name of religion?


14. What is the color of blood?


15. What is the color of Atma(Spirit)?


16. What is multitude of the path to spiritual enrichment ?Can it be really realized?


17. Why people consider that their way to god is the best?


18.With the previous question it comes naturally that how can they judge a best way of spiritual enrichment in a single birth?


19. Without learning about others voice how can oneself claim that his way is best to reach the supreme godhood?


20. Once I read in a very well known educational web site that The God actually created people of certain community to suffer ultimate subjugation and severe humiliation. The person of the superior community also mentioned that in the way to make the whole world belief that Their god is the only god in the universe,They can flow the river of blood and surprisingly the women of the inferior community should be taken as baby producer machine for the superior community. Now my question is why in every subjugation in the history of the entire world the women were those who had been the primary target?By any means. Do every religion of the world permit the subjugation and possession of women forcefully ?Or is it an age old tradition of humiliating a respective culture or civilization or community at the grass root level.


21.With the wake of the previous question can I infer that in every society specifically in every world religion ,women have the least most regard and respect ? Do they consider women as the matter of sexual exploitation ?


My list of questions are getting bigger and bigger .But I have lot many like that. But for now I guess it is sufficient to get the answer of all . My dear friends ,Please join me to solve the toughest puzzle of life so that we can make the life of every single living human being a little more happier and sweeter that ever.

Stroy of A Vedanta Lover and a Teacher

One may wonder what is the use of studying Vedas in the present days. How relevant is it to modern life? And what value does it add to one’s life? It may seem that studying Vedanta is a thing of the past and redundant in present day context.

I would have probably agreed with this view a few years ago when I was growing up in a modern Gujarati family in Mumbai. All my education was in modern schools and colleges in Mumbai. Coming from a family, which had a lot of value for education, after finishing my B.Com, as a family convention, I went to the United States of America for my MBA. My life seemed to have been made!!!

However, after going to the US and observing the society there, many questions started arising in my mind. I started thinking that, it is true that people in USA have a lot more money and physical comforts. However, they don’t seem to have happiness and contentment that I expected them to have. Neither I could say that in India, where people have to struggle for their daily existence have peace and contentment. Then, the questions started arising in my mind, what is the meaning of life? What brings contentment and fulfillment that one is really looking for?

I was just searching for an answer to this question, which was occupying my mind. Then, one day in October 1986, I met Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a great scholar of Vedanta and Sanskrit that changed my life forever.

When I first met him, I was impressed by his command over Sanskrit, his logic, his clear expression. However, coming from a modern background, I also had doubts about the validity of what was being said. That is why, when I first met him personally, I asked him, “Swamiji how do I know that what Vedanta is saying is the truth?” I was impressed by his response!! He didn’t try to be authoritative or try to convince me that what he is saying is right. Instead, he just smiled and said very softly, “You will know it”!!! “You are a smart girl”!!

Listening to Vedanta, slowly my whole being underwent a transformation. I started understanding that the sense of limitation that I was feeling in wake of which I was looking for answers, is in fact a fundamental human problem. Through Swamiji’s teaching, gradually I came to appreciate that Upanishads are a means of knowledge to know the reality of I to be limitless, which otherwise cannot be arrived at. What gave me confidence in Upanishads is when Swamiji stated that in order for Upanishads to be a valid means of knowledge, they can not be contradicted by any other means of knowledge which includes logic. This became a big challenge and I started thinking that until I find some reason or logic that contradicts Upanishads, I have no choice but to listen to what it says, as freedom from limitation is desirable by me and everyone else.

What was striking throughout my learning was the importance that Swamiji gave to Vedanta, the tradition of teaching which starts from Lord Shiva in the form of Dakshinamurti to Vyasa, to Sankara. Swamiji never claimed himself to be the person who realized the truth one fine morning, but clearly stated himself as only a link in the lineage of this teaching.

Moreover, Swamiji brought Isvara in my life. Through out the handling of the teaching, Swamiji emphasized that it is not merely knowing “I am limitless Brahman” but Vedanta reveals the equation, “You are that (Isvara)”. The implications of this are big. In any equation, there are apparent differences that finally resolve in non-difference. Like in the equation 3+2= 6-1, both sides look very different but come to the same result “5”. Similarly, there is a difference between I (who has limited knowledge and capacity) and Isvara (all knowledge and capacity). I as an individual am totally governed by the laws of Isvara. Even the opportunity for me to know, the teacher I get, my capacity to assimilate the teaching that finally enables me to understand the non-difference is given by laws of Isvara. This highlights the importance of relating to Isvara. As I understood the significance of this, I started relating to Isvara in form of order that governs my whole life. My specific prayers to Isvara slowly evolved into having prayerful attitude in and through every event of my life. Once I relaxed in the order of Isvara, Swamiji’s words that revealed identity of oneself with Isvara started becoming a reality.

The importance of this knowledge and tradition grew so much in my life that I decided to leave my job with United Nations as Economist and decided to study with Swamiji for 3 and half years. During this course, we covered several Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Brahma Sutra and Panini system of grammar. Everyday, I could not but thank Isvara for giving me an opportunity to study. Tears used to come when I used to think what merit must I have gathered to have the opportunity to know this truth. During the three years, it was a great learning also to see how Swamiji was living what he was teaching. His compassion, care and interest in every student really validated every one of us, let us grow according to our own capacity, and helped us discover the truth.

Eight years have passed since I completed my course. Life has become such a blessing. This transformation in me is due to this great tradition of teaching. This knowledge, this tradition because of its intrinsic value in solving the fundamental human problem, will continue to bless people of the past, present and posterity. The only thing is that, one has to choose to expose oneself to it.

I have only one prayer now. I pray, “let me also become a link and help others the way I was helped by this great tradition”.


Author - Neema Majumdar

Vedanta -The Yoga of Objectivity
www.discovervedanta.com

A Great thought about Treating our FOES

Question: The Vedas say that we must treat our friends and foes alike. Does that mean we were to treat gently our foes who've harmed us in any way, and still continue to do so?

That's absolutely right when we say stern action must be taken against foes who are out to harm us. And at no point do the Vedas ever say we should be passive sufferers against enemies. What the Vedas say is that we must treat our foes and friends alike at a mental level. This means that we should not hate our foes. This is because hatred doesn’t hurt the object of hatred but it harms the person who hates. Yet, we must take the necessary physical action to deal with enemies.

Even in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna encouraged Arjuna to fight the battle to kill his own cousins and uncles. Lord Krishna said so not because he disliked the enemy but to uphold righteousness.

Similarly, we need to stand up to a person who wants to cause harm.

What is Vedanta & Why should we learn It?

Vedanta is the world’s foremost school of thought on self-management. It finds its’ origin in the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India. It is the philosophical base of Hinduism but remains a universal knowledge and its teachings are pertinent to people from all walks of life irrespective of their nationality, culture and religious background.

The Upanishads are the backbone of vedantic philosophy and they comprise the end portion of the Vedas. Hence the word ‘Vedanta’ which is a combination of the two words Veda which means ‘knowledge’ and Anta which means ‘the end of’ or ‘the goal of’. ‘Vedanta’ literally means ‘the goal of knowledge’ which in this context is not mere accumulation of intellectual or academic knowledge but acquiring knowledge of God and rediscovering our own divine nature. The pursuit of Vedanta is then not just a search for knowledge but it is a search for meaning, a search for that divinity within.

Vedanta provides us with a blueprint for action knowing which we can gain not only material prosperity but more importantly access to our true nature, the Divine Self within. It may be a knowledge that is thousands of years old but it has remained a source of eternal wisdom for several generations and will remain so for many more to come.

The most unique feature of Vedanta is that it does not base itself on any personalities for authority. Its truth is its authority. The Vedas are apaurusheya i.e. un-authored and are eternally valid texts. They constitute Sruti or the revealed scripture. There are numerous other texts, admittedly of human authorship, which are given scriptural status. Foremost among them is the Bhagavad-Gita. They are subordinate to the Vedas in their authority and are valid where they do not conflict with Vedic precepts. These texts are called Smrti or remembered tradition. There is another collection of texts called the Brahma sutras which establish the logical principles of orthodox Vedantic interpretation of Sruti and are called Nyaya. The truth of Vedanta is thus established on the tripartite foundation of Sruti, Smrti and Nyaya.

Thus Vedanta is not a vague subject that is overtly abstract and esoteric. It is a science and must be approached as one would physics, chemistry or mathematics. The concepts must be questioned, tested and made one’s own by living the principles. Only then can you say that you are a Vedantin.

Thaught's of the Day

As my mind is kept busy all the time for tons of thinking, I got some thing which I would like to share with you all.

An idea to take care of the education side as it need greater attention.As we all know that the Education is some how is considered as the back bone of a society .But now a days education has become the fantasy of many because of their limited reachability . I often wonder how it would be if we take the responsibility of one children per person. Then we can bring a whole new budding people who can hold the string of the nation with proper ability.

But the matter is no that much easy as we all know that still we are struggling with the child labor.You would get hardly a children and a handful of family who will be ready to afford to give a better education to their children life. So their must be some alternate source of income available to those left out children which will make sure that the education will not produce hindrance to their daily lively hood or their sustainability.

I thought about it in a much profound manner. I found a way which can be initially difficult to implement but I mam sure that by this way we can really put a firm grasp on the urban and non urban under age people who are interested to get education but could not get it because of their family problem or their financial crunch or any kind of circumstantial influence.

have a look at the below idea. It could work properly if we devise them i a correct manner .


A Fellowship foundation to support the education of needy student who don't have sufficient support from family in terms of economic background. It will provide fellowship to the needy students irrespective of their caste,gender,class and religion.

The selected student will be given stipend for their education until they complete their graduation. Due to the socio-economic
condition of the family they will be encouraged to find part time job so that they can support their family .At the same time they can build their carrier with their hard effort which will give them extra bit of motivation along with challenge to be sustained in the growing complexity of the future world .

The expanse that will be covered under the stipend will be as follow.

1. Books

2. Tuition Fees

3. Other Paraphernalia

4. Two set of Uniform (as per respective school's regulation )

5. Special Stipend (Depending on the outstanding quality of the student)

6. One day Pass of an Amusement Park


The Above mentioned facilities will be provided ON YEARLY basis. The special committee formed by the Foundation will be monitoring the year end performance which will be decisive in continuing the stipend or termination of the fellowship.