Thursday, April 29, 2010

Rediscovering India rediscovering yourself

Stories of explorers and archaeologists discovering evidence supporting the existence of faith , religion , spirituality and belief in a superpower (God ) aren’t unheard of .The search for truth is no different for followers of Hinduism than it is for preachers of the other faiths. Then again is it?

We have often criticized the way of life “Hinduism” and religious texts advice Hindus to follow, while the criticism is necessary in itself, in doing so we have neglected the very depths of our own history of thought. Hindus have always been conscious of the concept of parallel universes, a world divided into Maya and Truth, by the Gods. The division of men into castes is no longer relevant and yet we are constantly aware of these divisions made by man 

.Despite the error of our ways, there is one thought that has perpetrated our minds for centuries. The belief that God is within us, the knowledge that we are responsible for the life we lead and awareness of a power that guides us , this power is not just above , it is the power inside .For a lot of people who refuse to believe in God , the image of God for them is that of a magician , someone who ideally “should”  treat ill people , fight evil , and perform miracles .God cannot solve all our problems, what God is capable of doing is ease our problems not by a miracle but by giving us strength , strength to deal with the situations in which we call him for our assistance. He or she is the torch that enlightens us . Haven’t we often compared our parents and Gurus with God? They cannot perform miracles though at least not in the literal sense of the word. We do not need to search for God, or see him,he is always around us. However, listening to him can help steer clear most obstacles. Listen to his voice. The above discussion isn’t specific to Hinduism, the discussion is about sensitivity to a higher power. 

If you go exploring and digging up for truths and secrets hidden under multiple realms of our country you shall find - NOTHING for truth is seldom hidden, all has been laid out in the open. You don’t need to go to places to enlighten your soul, you don’t have to cross geographical boundaries, all you have to do is have some faith and take the leap into the realms of clarity, places without deception. Even as it isn’t necessary to go to different places, there are places where one crosses over the fragile veil between Maya and truth .The very soil on which we stand has witnessed all that has passed,one might argue that how different is one place from the other and I agree the soil is no different . The soil isn’t different but the air which we breathe is, what has passed on different soils is deterministic. Only when you clear the air of deception will you be able to  breathe in the true aroma of the soil which is nothing but the aroma of your own thought . This is what India teaches me everyday, despite the mirages that surround us , the truth is not hard to get to , for these mirages  do not hide the truth they simply co-exist , just as mythology and history do.

3 comments:

Incognita said...

"We have forgotten the need to go into the depths of our own history of thought. Excavating old sites is the excavation of history of event , what i am talking about is the history of thought"
Profound!
"I have always wanted to go to different places of religious merit to read ancient texts , but something made me realised that I dont have to go anywhere to do that , that something responsible for this realisation was the soil of the very earth on which i stand."
Remind me to share with you a legend on this theme.
"We Indians have a history of parallel universis a world divided , always divided , by the Gods , a world divided between MAYA and TRUTH"
The divisions however are porous. Again I could write a whole book. In fact I am writing one :)
Keep exploring these themes. This journey is important. There are defining moments and there will be more.

Karan Leo Vohra said...

I am exploring ,I am living .. and am finding a little about India everyday .
Did I tell you about my recent trip to paharganj ?..
I went into the gullies , the shops ,
the bars , the cafe's .. looked at things ( wanted to buy them too heehe ) ..
And explored beautiful houses that have survived the test of time ...

Incognita said...

Too few of those houses are surviving. Yesterday I felt my heart wrench as I drove past a familiar site. Turned my head almost anticipating the worst. The gates and the plinth were left. One more jewel shattered to dust. Do a post on your Paharganj foray. I've visited a couple of times. It was kind of terrifying but possibly my circumstances were not the best right then. I'd like to see it through your eyes.
I have to come back to your words about the history of thought. There is a collective history of thought and it goes back several lifetimes. I've had some amazing encounters on that journey backwards in thought. travelling upstream. Eddies, whirlpools, still deep lakes where you pause and drink. Rapids you climb up, rivers that lead you to their source.