When local myths power Hanuman

RAJESH SAHAY comes across a shrine in Rajasthan where the Ramcharitmanas is being continuously recited

Every place in India has a temple dedicated to Hanuman. These shrines also have localized mythological stories associated with them. These unique legacies reflect the immense faith people repose in the Hanuman of their locality. Everyone considers Hanuman to be a sidha, the proven one.

Recently, I went to a small village called Avikanagar, located in Tonk, 80 kilometres from Jaipur. The village is known for its Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute (CSWRI). ‘Avika’ in Sanskrit means sheep. But more than the wonderful research institute that CSWRI is, people there strongly recommended that I visit the local Hanuman temple. I was told that this was a sidha Hanuman temple, and since it is located in a ghati, valley, adjacent to the village, the deity here is known as Ghatiwale Balaji; Balaji is one of the several names by which Hanuman is endearingly called by his devotees.

It was a Saturday evening and the congregation at the temple was larger than usual. Local people visit the Ghati Darbar — as the temple is popularly known — to seek Hanuman’s blessings.

It is believed that no one returns empty-handed from the Ghati Darbar, and one’s wish is sure to get fulfilled by the ‘local’ Hanuman.

Inside the temple, I saw a priest reciting the Ramcharitmanas. I was told that whenever a wish of any devotee gets fulfilled, he is expected to revert to the temple authorities by volunteering to arrange for the recitation of the Ramcharitmanas. This may be a single or multiple recitations depending on the gravity of the wish that gets fulfilled. A friend from CSWRI, who accompanied me said that since his posting at the institute five years ago, the epic poem has been recited continuously. Local people confirmed that the recitation has been going on for as long as they remember. That the recitation has continued for years together is proof enough of the fact that wishes do get fulfilled at this temple, the priest pointed out. Faith does move mountains!

When I enquired about the methodology adopted for keeping track of a devotee, the temple priest said that all that a devotee has to do is to enter his name in the register maintained for the purpose and pay a nominal amount to the priest for reciting the Ramcharitmanas. As and when his turn comes, the temple authority will inform him beforehand. The devotee may or may not visit at the time to initiate the recital, but the recitation starts in his name, culminating in a small puja that is performed every evening. In the register, I found names of devotees who have come from far-off places, both from India and abroad.

All temple activities are managed on a no-profit, no-loss basis by a small group of locals engaged in the business of wool. The only source of income for the temple is the small contributions made by devotees, which is meticulously accounted for and used for the development of the temple precinct. Sometimes, devotees even arrange for community feasts.

My friend said that retirement is a big day for the local government staff, and colleagues of a retiring person arrange for community feasts in the temple. On the day of retirement, the entire office gathers at this temple for a warm send off to the retiring colleague in a huge procession with pomp and show with devotional music blaring all around.

As I left the temple after offering my puja, I was overwhelmed by the belief that people repose in Ghatiwale Balaji, strengthening my faith in local faith and myths.

4 Things you NEED to say goodbye to in 2018

Unlike many others I didn’t go out partying or holidaying this New Years holiday weekend (not that I am complaining or regretting anything); it’s just that I am acknowledging how I got more time to ponder over how do I wish to begin my New Year 2018.

While I was trying hard to make my New Year’s resolutions list, I kept sliding back into the thoughts that reminded me how my 2017 went by… And, all of this made me realize that before I embark on a new journey, I needed to let go of a few things first.

So, this year I won’t be working on new things, in fact, I would try to let go of these few things…

1. Goodbye to rampant social media addiction

As I didn’t go on any holiday or to any party this New Years, as an obvious fact I didn’t have anything to post on my social media timelines. This kind of made me a bit uncomfortable for the first few hours of New Year, which also made me realize that I was totally throwing away the memorable moments that I lived with my family and my dog. Most of us would hate to admit, but we are now being driven by social media milestones, more than in our actual life, for example: getting maximum likes on photos, going on a luxurious holiday mid-year, check-ins every week, posting engagement and marriage announcements etc.

Do you remember any special moment from 2017, of which you don’t have a social media proof?

2. Goodbye to toxicity

Stop tagging along with the baggage from the past. It’s not always about memories, sometimes an individual's presence can also trigger exhaustion in life. There are times when we really work hard to move on, but the presence of such toxic people hold you down. So this year, instead of working hard on making more good memories and meeting new people, try to forego the presence of toxic people/memories from the past- a job/relationship rejection, fear of failure, let go people that make you feel vulnerable, the idea of giving up on career, love, marriage or friendship, etc. Sometimes, even the tiniest of toxicity could rob you of your peace...

Can you identify the ones (people or memories) that made your life a living hell in this past one year?

3. Goodbye to plastic healthy habits

Like many of you, I too have invested a great deal of money in ordering healthy salads online (boasting of having a mom's touch), getting multiple gym memberships, trying online weight loss gimmicks (dadi maa's nuskhe), etc. I would hate to admit, but I lost a fair sum of money and time in past one year, and not a single pound of weight, stress, anxiety, and depression. Moving forward I have decided to let just the One-man army (my mother) handle my health. Trust me, if your mother could raise you just fine, up until you took the matter into your own hands (and ruined things beyond repair), then she can manage your leftover mess as well. Remember, how she ensured you ate healthily, had a fair amount of time involving physical activities and kept you immune to any climatic flu? So this year, let her decide and prepare your meal plan, spend time with her, and make sure that you spend at least an hour playing outside and not slugging inside a closed gym. I am guessing that you never smoked and got drunk in your childhood, right?

Calculate the amount of money and time that you spent on (plastic) healthy eating in last one year? (Go and give that money and time to your mother, and let her make you healthy again...)

4. Goodbye to self-doubt and mediocrity

Did you spend 2017 hesitating over that a solo trip (fearing safety), asking for a raise/promotion or saying NO to your boss's bizarre approach (fearing over losing job), investing in big return plans (fearing over losing money), buying property, or chasing your dream, etc? This has got to stop. Wonder who comes up with these excuses, each time you got high of taking the risk? It's none other than your inner voice. So this year, say goodbye to self-doubt and settling for anything less than you deserve. Remember, only you can achieve Your Goal, but if you give up, someone else might Live Your Dream...

THE FUTURE OF HUMAN CIVILISATION

Question: How has human civilisation grown as a community and what is its future?

Maitreya Dadashreeji:

Dear Friends!

Absolute growth! Humanity has taken giant leaps in terms of Science and Technology, especially in the last 30-40 years. Ideas about human life have changed. Things are more quick and fast. There is no doubt that today’s man can achieve efficiently, what a hundred years ago man would have found difficult or impossible to achieve. Human design and life has changed significantly. A major factor that propelled this change was the increase in the human population. The population explosion thus demanded material support to meet these needs. The human brain in the act of survival or in providing support to fellow beings gave rise to unimaginable, pathbreaking and landmark inventions in the recent history of human civilisation. Each invention was just a beginning or a new milestone for successive chapters in human development.

And of course, as we saw a growth in the quality of human life, there have emerged some shortcomings that we are facing today. In the aspiration for a better and comfortable life, we have disrupted the original harmonious design of planet Earth. Human activities have exploited the natural resources dramatically, leaving dirt and darkness for the future. They have hijacked the role of operating and managing the world from Nature. Their active and corruptive intervention is doing less good and more harm. What you breathe and eat have been mixed with pollutants and toxic chemicals. From soil to sea, nothing has been spared by humans to turn a once pristine world into one filled with pollution and toxin.

Although we have noticed untoward events, fortunately, there is a visible sense of change proposed by many since recent times. All is not yet lost. There is hope. Sensitive and responsible people have started taking appropriate measures to correct the past mistakes. This corrective action itself is going to define the future outlook of the planet and the people. At this juncture of human evolution, all of you need to take a decision. You have to define your path and move in that direction. If there is a machine that paints people with white or black, which colour will you go with? It’s not that one is good or the other bad, but you have to make a choice. It’s mandatory to get painted by the colour of your choice. You can’t act and hide comfortably as grey in the crowd. This will set the direction for you and for the planet as well.

As we have seen in the past, many earlier civilisations progressed as a race, evolved as a being and then disappeared like a drop of water. They contributed and participated harmoniously in shaping the planet to their best. Even in those colonies, there were diverse shades of personalities. People had their views and differences. At various instances, conflicts and disagreement resulted in human loss. A few corrected themselves and a few couldn’t. They had ample opportunities to make their choices. They did what they were supposed to do. It seems human beings haven’t learnt any lessons from the mistakes made by earlier civilisations. Here is the choice you have to make now.

At this period, we see that human existence will progress into two different categories. These categories will eventually form two types of communities, community A and community B. Here, community A represents a constructive and harmonious approach to life. This community will be based on high values and an all-inclusive belief system. Discrimination due to region, religion and race would cease to exist. The truth will prevail. They would believe in freedom and bonding. Their power and foundation would be love. They would act and think, based on Love. By now, you must have guessed, what kind of community B might be. It represents a destructive and disruptive approach to life. They would believe in divide and rule. This mindset would try to control and dominate. They exult in division. They would never hesitate to destroy anything that comes in their path. Selfishness and greed would be their friends. Their force and foundation would be fear. They would act and think, based on fear.

Assess and decide for yourself! Make your choice. Life gives you freedom and knowledge. Make use of this knowledge to make the right decision! The world is changing and so will you have to. We wish the best for all of you and hope that you dedicate your life to create a better world by participating in and strengthening the process of setting up community A.

Looking forward to see you as a member of community A!

Love and Blessings!

Maitreya Dadashreeji!

Why Shivlinga must never be worshiped with Haldi?

In one of our previous articles, we advised against keeping a ‘Shivlinga’ at home or in a place where it wouldn’t be regularly and religiously worshipped with proper rituals. Not doing so is condemned as an act of disrespect towards the deity.

Bholenath is known for living a minimalist life and thus likes to be revered in the simplest way. He need not be worshiped by offering rich foods and fruits or adorned with beautiful embellishments.

It is written off in ancient scriptures that Lord Shiva can be simply appeased with a Dhatura fruit, Bael leaves, bhang, fresh cold cow milk, sandalwood paste, and bhasma. In Hindu religion, it is often understood that dutifully worshiping Lord Shiva, in return appeases all the Gods and Goddess in heaven.

In one of the chapters of the Shiva Purana, which primarily centers on the lives of Lord Shiva and his chief consort Goddess Parvati, is mentioned the religious way of worshipping them both and what all must be avoided while worshiping them.

Today, we are going to share the reason behind why Lord Shiva is never offered Turmeric (Haldi)…

Even though it is considered a highly sacred element for all religious purposes and is used in the rituals of worshiping all Gods and Goddess, however, Haldi is never offered to Lord Shiva or his Shivlinga.

According to the scriptures, Shivlingam is a representation of a male yoni, particularly Lord Shiva’s, which is widely revered for its manifestation of his enormous energy. For this reason, it is always worshiped with elements that are endowed with cooling properties like milk, sandalwood, bhasma, etc.

However, turmeric is related to inducing feminine beauty. And Lord Shiva, who had always stayed away from worldly pleasures and lived off as celibate is never worshiped with Haldi.

UNDERSTANDING SELF-LOVE

Q-Dear Dadashreeji, As 'self-love' is very important, is there any particular process that will help us love ourselves more?

Dadashreeji:

Dear Friends!

One can aim at experiencing true Love in two ways. One way is loving the self and the other is loving the Divine. The first way demands knowledge and practice. The latter requires devotion. You may follow any path of your choice. Any path may work for you. However, to experience true love it is not mandatory to practice self-love first and then the Divine. Many do talk about this myth. They say, “ You can’t love any-one unless you love your self first.” Does anyone define what the self is here? This passing comment should not govern your life. To practice anything in your life, first, understand it and then work on it.

The self has got layers of ignorance, a mixture of good and bad qualities. The self knows its strength and weakness. Your self is a bundle of past experiences and memories. Some of them are pleasant and some are annoying. Having known the mistakes of the past, you have to love this self unconditionally. It is defi-nitely a taxing act for a human mind to accomplish. But there is a way to begin with effective steps to ele-vate your state. Now, Let us understand three key steps one can take towards self-love! These are easy and practical steps for anyone to practice.

i)Acceptance: It is a state of being at ease with oneself. You are required to accept your self with your strength and weakness. The difficult part is to accept deep-rooted negative judgments within one’s consciousness. Such negative memories resist the process of acceptance. These block formations keep you tied whereby not allowing you to accept the self. However, it is not impossible. We have seen seek-ers successfully doing it when helped through the process of Divine intervention. Self-acceptance lays a strong foundation for your spiritual growth. Start practicing it!

ii)Do what you love: A majority of the population ends up doing things they never loved doing. They ex-perience anxiety, restlessness and a lack of interest in life. They are drained and remain indifferent towards things around them. The prolonged state of hopelessness in life invariably results in a depres-sion. In this manner, you move away, which is opposite to the state of true love. If you can’t do what you love to do due to any reason, at least devote some time for it once a week or a few hours a day. It will do wonders in your life.

iii)Give: An effective remedy to brighten up your low-spirited life. It is an act of love. You give what you feel is right. You have complete freedom and a choice to offer help to someone. There is absolutely no force or rule in this. You bring a smile on someone’s face. Your life becomes more meaningful and someone’s purposeful. In the end, both are benefitted from giving a new direction to life. Hence, get in-to the giving mode to initiate the change!

These steps will get you closer to love your self. Make these steps an integral part of your life! When you try to follow these steps wholeheartedly, you attract the blessings of the Divine towards you. What you receive at the end is immense blessings turning your life into the Light.

The easier path to experience true love is through loving the Divine. Here, self has a lesser role to play in your spiritual growth. When you connect with the Divine directly, you do not have to separately practice loving the self. The state of loving the Divine is more profound than the external self-love. You just have to practice devotion or love your Inner-Divine to receive the boon. The path we teach about connecting with the Divine is ‘Maitri Yog’. In this, the Divine is your true friend. Your entire consciousness is filled with Love. You exude only Love at the end, transforming the world around you.

Love the self!

Love the Divine!

Love Nature!

Love and Blessings!

Dadashreeji

om namo shivai!!

Ash-smeared ETERNAL YOGI

Why do we adore Shiva sitting in meditation with ash covering his body? Just to remind us that everything is ash. This body is ash and it will become ash. That is the symbolism of vibhuti, to remind us that we are dust and nothing else.

The body that we call ‘I’ is actually just a pile of dust. When we pray and offer ourselves to Shiva, we cannot forget that everything belongs to the Supreme. Our bodies will go through the furnace, through fire, then where are all our possessions, knowledge and other acquisitions? The spirit will go on in another body; it will carry on in other spheres to grow, advance, to look for the Divine. Shiva is a great Yogi who is seated within each of us. That is why we say Shivoham, we identify our Self with Shiva. These are not mere words. When we say Aham Brahmasmi, it means we are Divine. I do not say ‘I am God.’ I say ‘I am Divine’ because that is the essence of human nature.

Each of us is Divine and when the external identity is dissolved, the true, Divine identity of what we really are, reveals itself. Shiva is always seated in meditation to represent that the mind has to calm itself. As long as the mind is wandering, there will be misery.

But when we have learnt to calm the mind and surrender it to the Supreme, then He can reveal Himself. That’s the essence of Mahashivaratri — to surrender your mind. Focus it on God. Chant the Divine Name. The three cosmic energies, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, are the three cosmic energies of creation, protection and destruction. These energies create balance in the universe and these are ever-present inside us. We have so much inside us; yet, we are only looking outside.

Only when we look inside, when we forget our body, mind, chores and worries, and sincerely say to Shiva to cleanse our Self so that we can realise Him in each moment, we can understand the meaning of our existence. ■

Seeking Supreme Reality

Spirituality has nothing at all to do with callousness or lethargy. A lazy fellow who daydreams and does nothing useful should not be mistaken for a saint. People have this fear; they say, “If I get absorbed in Brahmn what will happen to my work?” This is an excuse invented by the mind to prevent you from moving in the right direction. First of all, the man who is a serious seeker, seeks the Supreme Reality seriously, not caring for the consequences. He realises that, far from being or becoming inert or inactive, great sages, after realising the Supreme Reality, had always performed their functions much more efficiently and had done such marvellous work that ordinary mortals were astounded..

Consider the examples of Shankaracharya,or more recently, Swami Vivekananda. Kabirdas worked on his loom while he sang his divine songs. Then there was the great King Janaka, who ruled his kingdom so well and yet was absorbed in Brahmn.

In the forest on the outskirts of Videha, Rishi Yajnavalkya used to deliver spiritual discourses and conduct dialogues on the Reality. The seat in the front row was always reserved for Janaka.

One day, a messenger came and shouted that Janaka’s palace in Videha was on fire and that the fire was spreading to the nearby forest. Many of the hermits immediately sprang up and ran to save their few belongings, while Janaka sat unperturbed and steady on his seat, waiting for his teacher to continue his discourse. “This,” said Yajnavalkya, to the so called pursuers of Truth, “is the difference between you and Janaka. He is the king and lives in a palace but is totally unattached to it. His mind is anchored in Brahmn. You are hermits, yet your mind is always anchored to the few trinkets in your huts.”

Janaka was called Rajarishi.You will find Krishna referring to Rajarishis in the fourth chapter of the Bhagwad Gita, called ‘Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga’. In verse 1, he says: “I imparted this immortal yoga to Vivaswan, Vivaswan imparted it to Manu, and Manu to Ikshvaku.” In verse 2: “This yoga, handed down from teacher to disciple in succession, was known to the Rajarishis. But owing to the long lapse of time it was lost to the world.” In verse 3: “I have today disclosed to you the same ancient yoga, which is a noble secret, for you are my devotee and friend.”

It is this yoga of nishkamakarma that is ideal for this age of Kali. Nishkamakarma or desireless action does not mean that you just keep on working like an automaton, no matter what the results are. You set yourself a target to achieve and you plan well to achieve it by putting in hard work with single-pointed attention. This ability to concentrate will come with the practice of meditation. But the difference is that, unlike the ordinary man, you will not be shattered if the results are not as expected. In gain or loss, your mind will be balanced, steady, and unperturbed, and therefore, fully equipped to deal with the situation or to make alternate plans.

This nishkamakarma is also applied to meditation. The practice of dhyana is continued calmly, whether the results are good or imperfect during any particular session. Soon, the mind attains a certain tranquillity and becomes fit to receive the experience known as samadhi. So a spiritual life is not incompatible with worldly existence. Actually, a properly lived life in the world is conducive to meditation. This is especially true, if you are also inclined to practise asanas, pranayama as laid down in the path of Ashtanga Yoga. A wandering sanyasin cannot get proper diet, rest and bath as prescribed for such yoga. The Gita puts it in a nutshell, “This yoga is not for one who eats too much, or too little, sleeps too much, or too little.” Moderation is the key word for the hathayogi and rajayogi. And this is best provided in a householder’s life.■