hinduism

Have you ever had a dream that you were certain was real, only to wake up and realize that everyone and everything in the dream was really you? Well this is how many mystics describe the nature of our reality, as a dream in which we think we are individual personalities existing in the physical universe. But eventually, like in all dreams, we will wake up. Except in this dream we do not wake up to realize we are still in the world, we awake from the world to realize that we are God.

Jesus recognized that God within him and became Christ - so did Siddhartha Gautama and became Buddha - so did I - and so can you.

If we ask a random orthodox religious person, what is the best religion, he or she would proudly claim his or her own religion to be the best. A Christian would say Christianity is the best, a Muslim would say Islam is the best, a Jewish would say Judaism is the best and a Hindu would say Hinduism is the best. It takes a lot of mental exercise to get rid of such biases.

Christ did to the Jewish orthodoxy, what Buddha did to the Hindu orthodoxy.

When you find out that there was never anything in the dark side to be afraid of _ Nothing is left but to love.

Some perceive God in the heart by the intellect through meditation; others by the yoga of knowledge; and others by the yoga of work. Some, however, do not understand Brahman, but having heard from others, take to worship. They also transcend death by their firm faith to what they have heard.

Lovers of God possess intense concentration. In prayer their attention rivets itself so completely onto God that nothing can tear it away. Even a suggestion of the divine may draw them into a higher state of consciousness. Occasionally this can be somewhat inconvenient. Sri Ramakrishna once went to see a religious drama produced by his disciple. The curtain went up and a character started singing the praises of the Lord. Sri Ramakrishna immediately began to enter the supreme state of consciousness. The stage faded; the actors and actresses faded. As only a great mystic can, he uttered a protest: "I come here, Lord, to see a play staged by my disciple, and you send me into ecstasy. I won't let it happen!" And he started saying over and over, "Money... money...money," so as to keep some awareness of the temporal world.

This prayer in praise of Lord Vishnu be,His incarnations graced earth constantly. शानता_र _शयन त_ना सरश विशवाधार _नसदश _रण शत___ल___नत _लनत _तरधतन वन_ विषण ततहर सर_ल__ाथI bow to Vishnu, Master of Universe unquestionably,Who rests on great serpent bed, peaceful perpetually,From His navel sprouts Lotus of Creative Power surely,He the Supreme Lord of cosmos undeniably does be.- 146 - He supports the entire universe and all-pervading be,He dark as clouds with beautiful Lakshmi form glowingly,He the lotus-eyed, whom yogis see by meditation only,He destroyer of `Samsar_ fear _ the Lord of all `loks_ be.- 147 -

An orchestra of temple bells and chanting erupted suddenly like a pleasing drizzle.

A prayer from Shri Vishwanatha SuprabhataMorning Salutations to Shivaतवम_ तता तता तवम_, तवम_ त___ स तवम_ ।त_ विदत दरविण तवम_, तवम_ सर_ त द द tvameva mata cha pita tvameva,tvameva bandhush-cha sakha tvamevatvameva vidya dravinam tvamevatvameva sarvam mama deva devaYou my mother and father be,You are kin and friend to me;You my knowledge, wealth be,God of gods! You my all do be.

From Brahma Puranराह वषणव त_ा, षड-_ ____ तरि-नतरा __-तरिश-त_-__-_-धराम_तात-धरा दव, नानाऽल_ार-षिता त_-_-धर शरष_, धतद त-_तरि_Meditate on youthful Brahmi* and Vaishnavi* surely,With six hands, four faces, three eyes gives safety,With sword, trident, lotus, wheel, globe, mace be,Greatest _ yellow dressed, well decorated elegantly.

Shani Chalisa॥द_ा॥ Doha_-_ शर शनिद_ रभ, सनह विनय तरा__ह _त ह रव तन, रा_ _ _ ला_Shani Maharaj, glory to you with sincerity,Listen to my prayers I request humbly,Bestow your grace and protect me fully,Keep respect and honour of your devotees.- 341 -

नमसतशरणशिवसान__, नमसत_दवतत_विशवर__नमसत_दवन__तदारविन_, नमसत_ततारिणितराहिदर_॥१She the refuge, peaceful and merciful undoubtedly, She pervades over all, is universal form certainly, Her lotus feet worshipped by universe _ all Glory, On your appeal __rotect me Durga_ saves entirely.- 458 -

॥द_ा॥शर_र _ सर_ र, नि त _र सधारि।बरन_ र_ तत _, _ दा त _रिDohaWith the dust of guru__ lotus feet having,I cleanse the mirror of my soul sparkling,Raghuvar__ spotless glory I be singing,The four fruits of life it ever is giving.- 303 -

_ ��त, _ �व�ण, _ दव त_वर__��सा�ा त ��त त�� _रावनाGuru the darkness dispeller, Guru Brahma the Creator be,Guru Vishnu the Preserver; Guru Shiv the Transformer be,Guru, the Supreme Being in human form _ our savour be,My salutations, awe, gratitude to that Divine Teacher be.- 1 -

_ति तााल _ति, __ _ल तता_ _ाल वदन _ति, _ात तत वि_तताVictory to you, O Mahakali! - To you Victory,The primordial source of all beings - Victory!The formidable-looking goddess - To you Victory,Renowned as the mother of the world - Victory!

My method is atheism. I find the atheistic outlook provides a favourable background for cosmopolitan practices. Acceptance of atheism at once pulls down caste and religious barriers between man and man. There is no longer a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian. All are human beings. Further, the atheistic outlook puts man on his legs. There is neither divine will nor fate to control his actions. The release of free will awakens Harijans [lowest caste] and the depressed classes from the stupor of inferiority into which they were pressed all these ages when they were made to believe that they were fated to be untouchables. So I find the atheistic outlook helpful for my work [helping people]. After all it is man that created god to make society moral and to silence restless inquisitiveness about the how and why of natural phenomena. Of course god was useful though a falsehood. But like all falsehoods, belief in god also gave rise to many evils in course of time and today it is not only useless but harmful to human progress. So I take to the propagation of atheism as an aid to my work. The results justify my choice.

Whatever thought grips the mind at the time of death is the one which will propel it and decide for it the nature of its future birth. Thus if one wants to attain god after death, one has to think of him steadfastly... This is not as simple as it sounds, for at the time of death the mind automatically flies to the thought of an object (i.e. money, love) which has possessed it during its sojourn in the world. Thus one must think of god constantly.