Sunday, May 31, 2015

Why so many Gods?

Being a Hindu is little complicated, as you have your own set of questions on mind while trying to comprehend vast scriptures written mostly in Sanskrit that explain Hindu Dharma. It gets complicated further as there are few questions asked that we struggle to explain. One such FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) is "Why do we have so many Gods in Hinduism?". It looks like a difficult question to answer and needs reference to many scriptures, excuse me for making an attempt using my intuition instead.

Lets compare the whole concept and working mechanism of God to a leading bank like SBI. Now if this system is looked at as a single entity then it is called Paramatma - concept defined by Vedas. We don't expect to find only one person we see in news ie., chairman of SBI present in each of its branches we walk in. What we expect is a set of sub-functions with defined areas of responsibilities delivering the task that SBI is expected to perform. In similar fashion we have different sub-functions like creation being performed by Lord Brahma, sustenance performed by Lord Vishnu and destruction performed by Lord Shiva.

Now a followup question asked is "Is it not confusing us if we have so many Gods to worship?" Actually it is not. Like in previous example, which ever branch we walk-in, we are essentially doing banking with SBI. So which ever God we offer prayer to is being referred to same Paramatma. In a family set up it self, one kid has more affinity to mother, one kid has affinity to father. So the kid with affinity towards mother can happily pray Goddess Sakti in various forms like Durga. The kid with affinity towards father can identify God with Lord Vishnu or Lord Shiva. In any case the sincerity in worship is all that matters. So my view is as opposed to complicating things, it's really giving flexibility in worship.

Sunday, May 3, 2015

How to control Wavering Mind/Manas

I was asked this question when I was 26 by a cousin who was barely 20s. I did not know the answer then. Firstly I did not expect this question from some one in early twenty's, especially when rest of the world is bothering about girls, movies and so called materialistic enjoyment. It has shaken my conventional knowledge that these sorts of question arise when a person reaches a threshold age or starts getting grey hair or no hair on head situation.

As the kid who asked me this question was sweetest one, he patiently listened to the answer I gave without doubting that it could be wrong. I don't even remember now, what answer I gave. But I did not forget that question. Every time I come near any book, discourse or discussion around that topic, I kept my eyes and ears open.

When I was recently listening to Bhagavdgita CD of Late Ghatasala garu, I suddenly realized the answer to that question is clearly stated by Lord Krishna. Even though many times from many people we learn that Bhagavadgita is quick reference document for any query on Sanatana Dharma, I rarely had ventured to get into the details. Here is what I learnt from Gita

Question: Manas keeps wavering back and forth between material things. How do we control it
Geethacharya's Answer : 

There are two ways of controlling wavering mind/manas

1) Abhyasa :  Meaning practice. We keep manas in check by relentless practice by feeding it only the good things and keeping in check its interaction with sensual desires that are unwarranted. Keep it busy with work, keep feeding it with good material then it gets used to the good deeds and thus stops wavering on sense objects

2) Viragya: Means Renunciation. We keep telling the manas - hey buddy you think this (sense object) is permanent? It is not and it perishes with time. Why do you after all going after something that is not true. If every sense object and desire is visualized in a viraga manner then wavering mind starts discarding them as unfit of its attention over time.