by Shyamananda Das | Nov 27, 2014 | WEB EXCLUSIVE
Conflict is the very nature of this material world. Even cells within our bodies are in conflict. The subtlest of all elements of creation is the false ego. And all other elements are both evolving as well as resting upon the false ego. What is the false ego? It is the false sense of identity. The Bhagavad Gita explains that besides these eight gross and subtle elements there is another nature, a spiritual nature which is the source of consciousness, the source of life. And that is our real identity: that we are spirit souls. We are conscious beings. “I am this body and all the designations of this body are me. I am man or woman, I am black or red or yellow. I am American, or Indian, or Pakistani or Russian. I am Hindu, Muslim, Jew, Christian, and Buddhist. I am rich, I am poor”. These are all temporary designations. They are not really the self, because they all change. The body is constantly changing. When you were an infant baby, you looked completely different. In your youth your body grew and as an adult you saw further change. Our spiritual master used to say that if you throw a stone in a pond it creates circles that expand to the end of the pond. If every stone is thrown in the same central place, all the circles will flow out harmoniously. If you throw many stones in different parts of the pond, each will have their center. Therefore all the circles will collide. The water will become chaotic. Unless human beings understand our common relationship with... read more
by Shyamananda Das | Nov 27, 2014 | WEB EXCLUSIVE
What do you see in this photograph? Do you not see a happy family – mother and two lovely children. Does it ever occur to you. that there is something missing here ? Well, to many so-called educated people this is exactly how they see the world around them. They see mother nature and they are in awe about her capacity to produce everything in such variety. People also see humans, animals, reptiles, plants, birds and an almost endless array of creatures. These are the ‘children’ of ‘mother’ nature. It is mentioned in the Vedas that this mother provides bodies for her children in four ways – eggs, seeds, perspiration and embryos. Birds are born from eggs, trees and plants are born from seeds, some species like bugs are born from perspiration and humans are born from embryos. In this way eighty four lakh varieties of material bodies are available for the living entity. How does one get a material body? It’s simple. Material thoughts generate material bodies. And confined in a material body it is just assumed that one will be forced to think in material terms and thus the process goes on and on. There is simply no escape. No, wait! There is still one face missing in our photograph. The father. How can a mother give birth to a child without the seed provided by the father. But some scientist can claim that I am not able to see the father, therefore I am presuming that either nature is producing on her own or that the father is dead. Even in the most modern industrial plants... read more
by Shyamananda Das | Nov 27, 2014 | WEB EXCLUSIVE
Over a 100 million in attendance, a mini-city springing on the banks of the confluence of three rivers,over 30,000 police personnel to give security, miles and miles of power cables, sewage pipelines and a budget of 1200 crore rupees. Unbelievable as it sounds, and all this for just forty days. No, this is not a political protest, rock concert or shopping extravaganza. In fact, in these days of religious and spiritual consciousness on the wane, nothing, absolutely nothing compares with this spectacular Vedic event. We are discussing the Kumbha-mela, dubbed the largest gathering of humanity on this planet. The exact historical origin of this gathering is a subject matter for scholars and empiricists to wrangle about, but when I visited the Mela on February 17, I was convinced that the Lord remains the most popular person – ever. I was not present during the busiest bathing dates, but yet I was very impressed with what I saw. Let me relate a personal incident. I was watching a group of pilgrims enter our camp and I saw that they were in front of our dismantled dioramas depicting Lord Vishnu saving the life of Gajendra the elephant. To my surprise, the group started to offer obeisance to those dioramas. I asked myself, “What is this that sustains their faith?” It seems that this is what is wrong with Hinduism today. People appear to just flock anywhere where salvation is promised. And especially at the Kumbha-mela, just one dip in the icy cold waters promises you mokse (liberation) from all your sins. But what could be the real reason behind this ancient... read more
