Why are we born??
What for we have born??
Look into these questions
and think about them for a minute. Don’t these make you to
think about yourself? I have attended to some to the religious teaching and
philosophy classes from some missions in and around my home town. They tend to
always stretch their conversation on ‘KARMA’.’KARMA’ is a word from SANATHANA
DHARMA - HINDU DHARMA .It’s nothing but encountering Good/Bad situations’ in
your present janma(birth) based upon your past janma’s good/bad
deeds. That’s the reason why India is called ‘KARMA-BHOOMI’ (Land of Karma).
Who decides your Karma???
Of course God decides your
Karma. What you want to be??How you want to be??He takes into account of all
your Punya/papa Karya(Good/Bad deeds) of your previous birth and decides your
fate.
Whats MOKSHA??
In Indian
religions moksha or mukti release
—both from the root muc "to let loose, let
go") is the final extrication of the soul or consciousness (purusha)
from samsara and the bringing to an end of all
the suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated
death and rebirth (reincarnation).
There are believed to be
four Yogas(disciplines) or margas(paths) for the attainment of
moksha. These are: working for the Supreme (Karma Yoga), realizing the Supreme
(Jnana Yoga), meditating on the Supreme (Raja Yoga) and serving the Supreme in
loving devotion (Bhakti Yoga). In Hinduism, there exist three types
of Vedanta schools, Sankara’s Advaita, Ramanuja’s Visistadvaita, and Madhva’s
Dvaita. Each contain their own view on the concept of moksa, or liberation,
that is consistent with their philosophies; however, all three schools remain
loyal to the overall understanding and worship of Brahman, and claim to hold
the truths in reference to the Upanishads. Advaita holds the belief that moksa
is not achieved until ignorance is removed from our human tendencies through
deep meditation, while Ramanuja states that Brahman makes up every being, and
to find liberation one must give up his will to the Lord. Lastly, Dvaita
explains that every soul encounters liberation differently, and each soul
requires a different level of satisfaction to reach moska.
Vedanta approaches are
split between strict non-duality (advaita), non-duality with
qualifications (such as vishishtadvaita), and duality (dvaita).
The central means to moksha advocated in these three branches vary.
1.
Advaita
Vedanta emphasizes Jnana Yoga as the ultimate means of achieving moksha, and
other yogas (such as Bhakti Yoga) are means to the knowledge, by which moksha is
achieved. It focuses on the knowledge of Brahman provided by traditional
vedanta literature and the teachings of its founder, Adi Shankara. Though
Advaita philosophy existed from the period of the Vedanta and the Upanishads,
and was advocated by many saints like Sukha, Sanaka, Goudapada and Govinda
Bhagvatpada, Adi Shankara is its most famous and profound presenter.. Hence, he
is cited many times as founder of Advaitha. Through discernment of the
real and the unreal, the sadhak (practitioner) would unravel
the maya and come to an understanding that the observable
world is unreal and impermanent, and that consciousness is the only true
existence. This intellectual understanding was moksha, this was atman and Brahman realized
as the substance and void of existential duality. The impersonalist schools of
Hinduism also worship various deities, but only as a means of coming to this
understanding - both the worshiped and worshiper lose their individual
identities.
2.
Dualist
schools (e.g. Gaudiya Vaishnava) see God as the most worshippable object
of love, for example, a personified monotheistic conception
of Shiva or Vishnu. Unlike Abrahamic traditions, Dvaita/Hinduism
does not prevent worship of other aspects of God, as they are all seen as rays
from a single source. The concept is essentially of devotional service in love,
since the ideal nature of being is seen as that of harmony, euphony, its
manifest essence being love. By immersing oneself in the love of God,
one's karmas (good or bad, regardless) slough off, one's illusions
about beings decay and 'truth' is soon known and lived. Both the worshiped and
worshiper gradually lose their illusory sense of separation and only One beyond
all names remains.
One must achieve moksha on
his or her own under the guidance of a Guru. A guru or a siddha inspires
but does not intervene
Difference between being
Spiritual and being Religious:
At times people tend to
believe being spiritual and being religious are different. No there are
different roads to reach same destination.
If you’re following a
particular religion it has its own customs, duties and you need to follow them.
Does that ever occur to you Why we need to follow them? The answer to this
question itself gets us the answer to the difference b/w being Spiritual and Religious.
Moksha can be attained from
four yogas(See above Para).By being religious you are bounded by certain
principles and karyas which you need to do them(Acharan) .For example consider
a Brahmin in Hindu religion, The religious activity starts from waking up in
the early morning taking bath, doing
Sandya-vandana,Surya-Namskara,Deepa-Aradhana followed by chants, Hymns .What we
tend to believe that these activities makes him religious but not
Spiritual. No, Religion is nothing but a set of structured systems and
theories which induce the thinking of spirituality. It helps you to find the
right questions to ask about yourself and find the appropriate answers about
yourself. The difference between religion and spirituality is simply that most
religions offer a specific set of beliefs and structures to help people to
attune to their innate spirituality. The difference between religion and
spirituality is in form only, for the true essence of all spiritual and
religious practices is God.
Moksha –Can be attained by
even being Religious or by even being Spiritual.
In Spiritual way of living
Human believes in own soul as a God. Enlightening of our own soul happens
in the in Spiritual approach . People do meditations, Yoga and many other
spiritual practices which makes their own soul purified. For being
spiritual, you don't necessarily need to attach yourself with a religion. When
you find it difficult to attain the self-awareness by yourself, the religious
lectures by the Gurus can help you to do this. They are just serving the role
of spirituality boosters. Most of us want to be wiser, more compassionate, more
aware, and have more meaningful lives. Religions try to address these desires.
You can do this by yourself or by attaching to a religion. It depends upon the
individual.
Missions and their way of
practice:
We have many religious,
spiritual missions in and around world. See people like Swami Vivekananda, Yoga
paramahamsa these people practiced the spiritual way of life. Paramahamsa
followed Karma yoga throughout his life. These people are spiritual Gurus. We
have many missions like Chinmaya Mission,Ramakrishna Mission,Ramachandra
mission etc..,
Ramakrishna Mission:
“Ramakrishna mission
believes in Jiva is shiva “
Ramakrishna and Swami
Vivekananda's message of "Daridra Narayana" to indicate that ‘service
to poor is service to God’
The motto of Ramakrishna
Math and Ramakrishna Mission is:
“Atmano mokshartham jagad
hitaya cha”
"For one's own
salvation, and for the welfare of the world"
-Its Objective is to To
spread the idea of the potential divinity of every being and how to manifest it
through every action and thought.
Rama Chandra
Mission: (source:Wikipedia)
The Shri Ram
Chandra Mission (also named SRCM or "Sahaj
Marg") is a non-profit organization,a spiritual movement. It
was registered in 1945 in India, by Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur (aka
Babuji) (1899–1983) in memory of his spiritual teacher, Shri Ram Chandra of
Fatehgarh (aka Lalaji) (1873–1931). Lalaji and his lineage claim that
Lalaji was the first "non-Muslim" Master of the Naqshbandiya Sufi
Order and that his Master was Hazrat Maulana Shah Fazl Ahemad Khan Naqshbandi
Mujaddadi Mazahari r.a. (Huzur Maharaj) of Raipur (Kaimganj), Uttar Pradesh,
India. Lalaji was initiated on January 23, 1896 at 05 P.M. and was conferred
full Master-ship on October 11, 1896, which he remained to his death on Aug.
14, 1931. The teachings of Lalaji are the teachings of his Master, Huzur
Maharaj, of whom he was declared "a perfect copy" by an independent
panel of other religious disciplines.
The stated purpose of the
Shri Ram Chandra Mission is to "awaken the divine consciousness and
support on the path of evolution", and according to the movement, its
modified form of Raja Yoga starting at step #7 of Patanjali's “Raja Yoga “
The Sahaj Marg system uses
the cleansing of the past impressions (sanskara), meditation on the heart and
the support of a living spiritual master.
Chimaya Mission:
Chinmaya mission is a
Hindu spiritual organisation engaged in the dissemination of Vedanta, the
science of the Self as expounded in theVedas, particularly the Upanishads,
and other important Hindu scriptures including the Bhagavad Gita. Chinmaya
Mission was established in India in 1953 by devotees of the world-renowned
Vedanta teacher, Swami Chinmayananda. Under his guidance, these devotees
formed the nucleus of a spiritual renaissance movement that now encompasses a
wide range of spiritual, educational, and charitable activities, touching the
lives of thousands in India and outside its borders. Administered by Central
Chinmaya Mission Trust in Mumbai, India, the Mission is now headed
by Swami Tejomayananda. There are over 300 mission centers all over India
and Abroad.
Idol-Workship:
I can’t clearly say this-
Idolatry does not find any support from Vedas.
In chapter 32 of Yajurveda
it has been said that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ or material
shape. He cannot be seen directly by anyone. His name is so great that only the
Name is enough to invoke Him. He pervades all beings and all directions.
Vishnu has been equated to
Yagya or Yagna ("sacrifice") as early as in the Vedas.[9]
The Vishnu Sahasranama
("Thousand names of Vishnu") also relates Yagya as a name of Vishnu.
In Yagna, God is worshiped
by honoring fire and fire is the vehicle that takes the request to God.Thats
the reason why Some Missions see their own soul as a God and work ship it by
spiritual forms rather than any idol.
Myself being a religious
person I can see the greatness of god in the chants, Mantras,Hymns,Epics.I
consider it as one of the approach for the liberalization-attaining Moksha
–Salvation. I know that one day I would become spiritual (although I didn’t
started leading my life as a Spiritual one ) .I have seen people directly
started a spiritual approach rather than religious Approach. No
problem all roads are leading you to a ‘MOKSHA-Town’ .What matters
is “How you are driving on those roads with your Vehicle gifted by your Guru
“.The vehicle (Teachings ) which your guru gave to you will
make to reach your desired destination(PARAMATMA-GOD) .The questions which I
asked you at the beginning will definitely be answered by
following any one of these approaches
“SARVE-JANA SUKINO
BHAVANTHU”
No comments:
Post a Comment