RADHA ASHTAMI CELEBRATION.

Hare Krishna

23^rd  of September, 2012 this year is celebrated all over the world by Lord Krishna devotees as Radhashtami.  The date need not be the same in future years. On Radhasthami  day devotees fast like they do on any Ekadashi in honour of Sri Radha or Radharani and visit Radha Krishna temples.

Radharani is always picturised with Lord Krishna as his extremely true and ardent lover. In other words,  without Lord Krishna, Radharani has no identity of her own. Her importance gains only because of her association with Lord Krishna.  Radharani is HIS eternal lover.

This relationship can be better explained by understanding Radha Rani as representative of an individual  soul that craves the re-association and continued association of the Super Soul  i.e Lord Krishna. No  physical  relationship in the material sense is intended here or elsewhere. We have to be clear that we are a soul and not a body. And therefore it is only a relationship between a minute  soul and an unimaginably  huge Super Soul.  Individual souls are represented by the female form of Radharani. Lord Krishna is the Supreme Soul and assumes  the  male form.

Lord  Krishna  says that we (our souls) are a minute  part of  him. Having been separated from HIM, our soul needs to connect with HIM as often and as continuously and intensely as it can. However what we see  in the  material world  is that  our soul gets  superceded and superimposed by our material body and senses. Our soul gets  overwhelmed  by the material desires and gradually we  forget the soul within which leads  to a   wider disconnect with God.

On this  day  prayers  are held across temples to fulfill the desire of the soul (Sri Radharani) to connect to its long lost owner and lover Lord   Krishna. People sing bhajans in glory of Lord Krishna and dance to the beating of cymbals and mridangam. A joyous atmosphere prevails. If and when an individual soul connects to God there is infinite joy and ecstacy. The ecstacy grips   every one in the congregation and these are electrifying moments. Once this desire of connecting to God gets fulfilled, there is a craving for the  joy and connection to continue till eternity.  Therefore this day is observed to signify the hidden Radharani in all of us. Our  soul has no relevance in the absence of its  connection to the Supreme Soul.

The festival underlines the statement that humans alone have the sense and ability to connect  their soul to the Supreme Soul. This is the effect of only Bhakti or intense passion inherent in all of us and waiting to reveal itself. So says the Holy scriptures.

From this day onwards, reading of the Holy Srimad Bhagavatham by all devotees commences to be completed within seven days. People who have the Holy book, which is Lord Krishna himself, make it a point to complete reading and understanding it within seven days. Their prayer is to enable them to connect to  Lord Krishna.

Wishing readers a happy Radhashtami and Happy Bhagavat Sapthah. And happy connection with the Lord.

Hare Krishna

TERRORISM AND RELIGION

On the one side people are losing belief in religion and on the other side religious fanatism is gaining ground. Both of them are extreme behaviors.  The poor and the illiterate have always looked upon religion and places of worship to cry their hearts out. This helps them  take a softer view of their  problems. The illliterates  constitute a majority of those who regularly visit places of worship and listen to preachings regularly.  

Some of the poor  turn  fanatics after they are brainwashed into taking weapons or resorting to subversive ways. The quality of such a crowd is more of brawn and less of brain.

It is generally seen that with increasing literacy, people acquire purchasing power and in the process many have become atheists. They condemn all religious practices or take a liberal view of all religions. They claim to be secular.

However there are  some  literate people who  have shown a liking to religion.  The religious propagandists or fanatics   wait  to grab them. These literate people are show cased by the religious fanatics  to attract huge crowds to their congregation. It becomes easier to communicate,  preach and convince if you have in your pack a speaker who is  a scientist or a  doctor, or an engineer or a Management graduate.  If these people are brainwashed to resort to violent means , violence  acquires a new meaning . Many computer wizards, doctors, engineers, etc.,  have fallen into the hands of the terrorists after being brainwashed.  Terrorism and fanaticism takes a new meaning as these literates help  by providing  sophisticated and devastating techniques  to attain goals.

The emerging scenario of educated people resorting to violent methods in the name of religion is acquiring new proportions  and  educated people should take care to ensure that their moderate views are not polluted by  extreme views.

While parents have a duty to educate their children to lead  a successful life, they also owe a duty by tracking their  children’s movements and  ensure  their children  are exposed to  moderate and tolerant views on religion. These days many parents are  weeping in disbelief after finding that their hard earned or borrowed money has  gone down the drain. It hurts  a parent  to see their  child getting educated and falling into  the lap of a  fanatic or a terrorist.   “PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE”.  

HINDU GOD IS UNBELIEVABLE – SAY YOUNGSTERS

The statement that Hindu God  is unbelievable was and is made by many people, particularly youngsters. I also said the same once upon a time, until years of pondering made me realize otherwise. I often asked :

What made foreigners from all over the world  come to India and  seek spiritual knowledge? Whereas many Indians were slowly losing belief in God.   

What made people like Swami Prabhupada  attract so many foreigners (in the 1960s and  1970s) into the movement called the Krishna Consciousness movement (ISKCON)?  And he could construct 108 temples all over the world in a little less than ten years. All for the global population interested in spirituality. And even today the movement continues unabated without a pause.  

I  chanced  to meet a very learned person associated with ISKCON who said that in the West, unlike in India, people then and now do not know what it means to know GOD and connect to him. They are totally in the dark about religion and understood spirituality as something associated with the mind. When their eyes were opened, and convinced, they readily followed Krishna Conscious movement and the teachings with all good and serious intentions. It was easy for them as the foreigners  were not obsessed with their religion in particular.  

Then why are young   Indians  turning away from their  beliefs and God when Indian knowledge is so well absorbed by the people from abroad.

India is  the land of spirituality, which was and is looked at with awe by the people and visitors from abroad. They are amazed with so many paths to reach God. So many Yogas. So many practices – like Mantras, Tantras , Yantras, etc. So many Gods to worship. However this plentiful is largely misunderstood by its own people.

As a child, when I went out with my friends, I found all following their own path and as a community of students we all felt confused. Elders and teachers found it difficult to explain why this diversity existed  when there is only ONE  GOD. It was confusion confounded. Too many paths, with too many explanations would confuse the most intelligent. This plentiful of everything relating to knowledge about GOD has led to many Gurus also preaching their philosophy by running  down and insulting other philosophies and groups. Everyone of them said and say  that their teachings and path to  God is the truth and all others are bogus. Too many philosophies , Gurus, etc has led to a confused  younger generation  to the point of their losing faith and belief in GOD. They therefore feel that Hindu God is unbelievable.

We say that Charity begins at home. Is it not the responsibility of parents and teachers to educate children about the reality. The religious teachers should be more tolerant and stop critisising other practices and paths. If this  negative teaching is not substituted by positive teaching, the same religious teachers would be abandoned  without students and followers in the near future.