Finding Nemo

Just the other day I was walking down the Wall Street in New York, when an amazing building piqued my interest – The Trinity Church. The Trinity church at the intersection of the Wall Street and Broadway has witnessed the history of New York like no one else.   First built in 1698, the church has withstood the changes of times and has also once enjoyed the title of the tallest building in New York. The church is beautiful and the calm inside the church is mesmerizing, contrasting the helm of affairs on the Wall Street. However, it was not the church itself but the name –“Trinity” – that remained in the thoughts. I believe the name refers to the well-established Christian doctrine of Trinity. The doctrine states that the God is present in the three persons – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit.   The three persons are distinct yet are one substance, essence or nature. The trinity is a concept which is the very essence of the Hinduism as well. Almost a...

In my last post I talked about organizing the Peetha for the ritual. During the organization of the peetha, we invoke various gods and worship them in an order. The question thus arises, why do we worship them and why the order? Let’s see below the different actions performed in the worship ritual – Achmanam – Purifying with water. This is also offering the water to Vishnu inside one self Remembering Ganesha – Ganesha is personification of our consciousness. Remembering him makes your mind conscious. Being conscious helps avoid and overcome obstacles. Remember Ganesha is also known as “Vighnaharta”. Pranayam – Restraining the life force. A calm and relaxed mind can concentrate and focus better, compared to an agitated or tense mind. Breathing and mental state have a correlation. When mind is agitated, breathing is irregular and labored. When mind is calm, breathing is regular and smooth. Pranaayaama is a method of controlling the breathing and hence regularizing the life force...

Last week we attended a “Satyanarayana Vrata pooja” at a friend’s place. The host did an awesome job of arranging everything fabulously and had invited quite a few people to participate with them in the rituals. I have attended this pooja a few times in the past as well. Usually the ritual also involves reading the story of Lord Satyanarayana that is expected to absolve the listeners from all their sins and set them on the path of salvation. I listened to the entire story dutifully trying to understand a few questions – Who is Lord Satyanarayana? What is so important in the story that can lead to one’s absolvation? Who can perform this ritual, when and where? Unfortunately, the prevalent story and the ritual did not help me in my quest. Either I was too ignorant to have understood the deep rooted messages, or I was not eligible enough to listen to the voice of God hidden in the story. To help myself with the understanding and preparing myself for the “Satyanarayana Katha and ...

चाँद  काली अमावस्या गई, और चाँद फिर निकला।  रोज नयी छटा बिखेरता, चांदनी की शीतलता लिए, देखो चाँद फिर निकला।  बढ़ता ही रहा, हमारे संबंधों की तरह, विशाल अजगर की तरह, आज की महंगाई की तरह, देखो चाँद बहता ही रहा।  अचानक चाँद रुक गया, हमारा रिश्ता भी बदल गया।  चाँद अब घट रहा था, तुम भी तो दूर जा रहे थे, जब तुम न थे, चाँद पूरा निकला था।  अँधेरा फिर से छा रहा है, हम तुम बिछड़ चुके हैं।  पुनः चाँद का इंतज़ार कर रहे हैं, पुनः मिलन की आस जोट रहे हैं।  अमावस फिर से छा रही है।  पर अब अमावस भयावह नहीं, हम तुम अकेले भी नहीं।  परिपक्व संबंधों की आड़ में, सुन्दर यादों की छाँव में, चाँद फिर से निकलेगा। 

The vedas and puranas are not the scriptures that talk about the religion, but the knowledge that our ancient Indians had. They talk about the existence of life and its purpose. They talk about a framework that defines the life and the actions during one’s lifecycle. We may have seen many frameworks succeeding or failing with time. However, the vedic framework of life has stood tall over time and provides a great explanation for the facts we see often. I shall be trying to narrate stories / incidents from different scriptures that revolve around the closes siblings to the humans – animals. As the western concept – the evolution of humans theory of Charles Darwin – we were once animals. I will be referring to many great scriptures and notable writers in my quest for stories. Please bear with me even if you feel plagiarism. I am just lamenting upon knowledge that I am gathering – not producing. We all know Brahma as the creator of the universe. The vedas tell us that Brahma sta...