PRAYASCHITHA (ATONEMENT)

Prayaschitta (penance) is prescribed in Indian religious texts (Vedas)  as  procedure for atonement of SINS.. When people commit sins, violating the dharma - a value system prescribed in the Cosmic Law, Prayaschitta offers a way out of the resultant guilt and its painful burden on mind. The practice prayaschitta, involves fasting, chanting of mantras, charity, pilgrimage, etc., in order to atone with the gods and with fellow humans. This penance is also understood to help liberate the performer from the adverse consequences of Karma and Sins.

A liberal interpretation of Prayaschitta would be a cathartic exercise to rid the minds of sinners of their sins and the the guilt they suffer from. One would interpret this as a psychotherapeutic procedure.

Whatever the interpretation, this is an admirable procedure to help sinners overcome the mental burden of carrying the guilt resulting from their misdeeds (Sins), and lead them to a more peaceful life. Whatever the rationale of these vedic procedures, one must accept its value in helping humans out of their crises.  

REBOUNDING SINS

PUNCTUALITY

BE YOURSELF

MONKEY TRUTH

ALTRUISM

FREEDOM-LIBERTY

HISTORY

TAKING RISK

MOTHERS' LOVE

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SIX WISE MONKEYS

The "three wise monkeys", sometimes called the three mystic apes, are a pictorial maxim. Together they embody the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".

The source that popularized this pictorial maxim is a 17th-century carving over a door of the famous Tōshō-gū shrine in Nikkō, Japan.

The three monkeys areMizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil.

MY COMMENTS

The three evils depicted in the MAXIM makes an incomplete list. In my view, there are at least 3 more evils humans indulge in, making the total six(6).  The pictorial representation of the SIX EVILS appears below.

 

SOULGASM

We have a South Indian Musician in our list of favourites - O. S . Arun. Find him very different, creative, and interesting. 

O S Arun belongs to a family of renowned musicians - his brother is O S Thyagarajan. Arun has training in Carnatic, Hindustani and regional (folk) music.  Sings Bhajans, Devarnamas, Abhangs and Kirtans with equal comfort. His other DVD albums are: "Bhajans For U" and "Soulabhyam".

The unique ability of Arun is that he innovates and improvises the rendering all the time to invest his performance with freshness and novelty, making his music very rewarding to the listener. His music touches the soul and makes it soul-stirring. There are moments when the listener is taken to peaks of ecstatic experiences, touching the heart, head and body at once. It is a rare emotional experience. This is really the difference between technically perfect rendering that does not touch the heart and performance that combines technical excellence and emotional quality to make the music soul-stirring. The peak of soul-stirring experience is comparable to the orgasmic experience (climax) in a wholesome sexual act. I can only do full justice to the experience by calling it - SOULGASM (Meaning: Orgasmic experience to the soul).

I believe, a consummate musician must be able to touch peaks in technical excellence and soulgasmic quality. After all, music is the combination of 'sapthaswaras' (seven notes in an octave) to awaken the listener's senses and to impart a wholesome experience to it. Taking this experience to a climax results in soulgasm. That makes a consummate musician.

DANCE IN RAIN

   dance anyway!

BLESSINGS & LESSONS

WITHIN US

FACT OF LIFE

PROFOUND TRUTH

HEAD HIGH and MIND CLEAN

LOST A DIAMOND

TRUST

The other day, my friend Pramod came up and complained bitterly: "You don't trust me any longer".

Look dear Pramod: "Of late, you have been deviating from truth on many occasions. I have concrete evidence of 'lying' by you.

"Everyone lies occasionally" - said agitated Pramod.

"Agreed. Listen Pramod; There are "occasional liars", "habitual liars", and "compulsive liars". The first category are sensitive, and lie only when cornered, and with reservations. The second category are somewhat less sensitive, and lie even when avoidable, as a matter of habit. The third category are sick, highly insensitive, possess uncontrollable urge to lie, and lie all the time disregarding consequences, and causing hurt and harm to many without any discrimination or remorse".

"Where do I stand?" - enquired Pramod.

"Look!; I accept 'occasional' liars, but am guarded ("Trust-and-verify" model). I am very uncomfortable with 'habitual' liars; often verify what they say and do, often to their discomfort. I never trust 'compulsive' liars; I avoid them and refuse to deal with them normally. You are probably a habitual (second category) liar".

"I am sorry; give me a chance. I will make an effort to get out of this stupid urge to lie. Can probably accept most or all of those situations and sincerely explain my position without resorting to lying. I will develop the willingness to accept the consequences of speaking the truth.
'Good', dear friend. Stay close to TRUTH! I will give you a chance. I will also be very happy to have retrieved you from the disgraceful existence of being labelled 'liar'
"Remember: I fully trust, without second thought, all those who adhere to TRUTH. It is wonderful to be part of a trustful society."
My question to every liar and especially to the 'compulsive liar' is ---- "

'Good', dear friend. Stay close to TRUTH! I will give you a chance. I will also be very happy to have retrieved you from the disgraceful existence of being labelled 'liar'

"Remember: I fully trust, without second thought, all those who adhere to TRUTH. It is wonderful to be part of a trustful society."

My question to every liar and especially to the 'compulsive liar' is ---- "TELL ME THE BASIS ON WHICH I CAN TRUST YOU; I WILL ADOPT IT, MOST WILLINGLY"

IDOLATRY (Idol Worship)

I have for long ridiculed Idolatry (IDOL WORSHIP) and argued that GOD is the 'state of being a perfect human'. My view is that God cannot be found in any place or idol; one has to look for and find Him within oneself. Most religions accept that God is 'one'; then why the multiple entities worshipped by religious groups? In fact, Hindus practise idolatry liberally, and worship a dozen or more Gods in various forms and shapes. Their faith is different and multiple. All of them get the solace they are seeking.

What is idolatry? Usually defined as:

"Worship of any cult image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic God". ...... "Hinduism neither prescribes nor proscribes worship of images (idols)" ........ "Hindus believe with regard to God that he is one, eternal, without beginning or end, acting by free will, almighty, all-wise, beyond all likeness and unlikeness, and that he does not resemble anything nor does anything resemble him"

(Wikipedia)

I have tried to examine the opposite viewpoint. My take on this is:

"Human race, when faced with adversities, looked up to someone to redeem them from their suffereing. They soon realised that no living being on earth has absolute control on the events that govern their life. This led to the concept of a supernatural power that controlled and shaped all that is happening in the universe. They saw earth, sun, moon, stars, water, wind, living nature (flora and fauna) and several other entities that constantly functioned in a harmonious manner to keep the universe going. It was soon realised that these entities were beyond humankind to alter or mend. Naturally, the mankind looked upto some celestial power that governed the life of everything everywhere. Thus was born the concept of GOD as an entity not approachable by earthly means. . Soon helpless and suffering people took to prayers as the only means to invoke their GOD for redeeming themselves from suffering.

Mankind required some symbol for their prayers rather than praying to an abstract power. The five elements (Panchabhootha - Water, Fire, Wind, Earth and cosmos) that kept life going were identified and some imaginary physical form or symbol was evolved to help praying. Several new forms of God ensued to suit every social group. Some adopted great humans who did enormous good for mankind, such as Lord Krishna, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammad, Buddha, Guru Govind Singh, and so on). These worshipers formed ehnic groups and adopted their God's teachings as their scriptures (Gita, Quaran, Bible, Budhist Teachings, Guru Granth Sahib) and made it their religion. This is perhaps the genesis of religious groups Hindus, Christians, Mohammadans, Sikhs, Budhists, and so on. In time, many more entities and religious groups and sub-groups evolved, and established their own cult and religious entity".

Thus God is worshipped and prayers are used to invoke God's grace to redeem mankind from sufferings that were beyond human power to redeem. The idols they evolved as their God became the focal point for their prayers. They prayed in total faith and attained mental strength to carry on and on.This, in short, is idolatry'

Having said all these, the question now is: How can we take away these idols from the people for whom the idol is the form in which they had faith, and from which they drew inspiration? When you can hang a picture of Mahatma Gandhi on your wall to draw inspiration from it, why not other idols? Idol is thus the accepted (acceptable) medium for humans to seek help from the supernatural - call it by any name.

Based on this analysis, I feel inclined to accept 'Idol Worship' as a practical device for mankind to draw solace and inspiration for overcoming their problems and sorrows. The device and the form are absolutely 'unique' for each person (personal God), and represents his/her faith. Faith is the guiding light for mankind; let us grant it.

Let us leave everyone to choose their God or idol as their symbol of faith, and as a means for redemption from suffering. I now believe, faith and idol worship are personal and individual; as real as life itself. It cannot be based on a mandate or order from any other, whoever it may be.