Sita Jayanti - Birth Of Sita Mata - Example of Woman Hood and Women Suffering in Today's society?

Namaste, Hari Om,

I am very happy and privilaged after God's grace to discuss Mother Sita today. We will be hosting a small satsang on Mother Sita shortly and thought it would be nice to write a few words on this Divine Devi .

There are many aspects to look at when we appreciate this wordly mother, the philisophical aspect, the spiritual aspect and then the physical aspect in which the wordly people (i.e. common man) identifies with.

Philisophical Aspect: How do we look at Sita Mata in a Philisophical manner? What does she represent, what is her ideals in respect to children, husband and family? She represents a perfect woman, a mother, sister and daughter. She is the divine param shakti that resides all over, that param shakti existed at all times, it has no starting or ending - this could be hard to fathom, but every source has an enegery point, the dawn of everything is that divine spark, the param shakti. Sita Mata is the worldly mother that seeks the best interest for us all, she is the name we call in our time of need, in our time of hunger and thirst. She represents the values and culture of women, she represents the challenges women face in society through all ages [will talk  more on this soon].

Spiritual Aspect: The Divine Devi represents a mother that can ease our troubled minds, raise our spirituality and love. In the Ramayana, Sita represents our love, the pure bliss that can be attained by surrendering to the feet of God. When Ravana (represents uncontrolled senses, evil tendencies and the Rajasic quality) captures Sita Mata (our inner love/bliss), looking and praying to that divine power (Shri Sita Ram - Yes Sita as well, as Half of Sita is Ram and half of Ram is Sita etc..), thus Shri Ram slays (tames our senses, destroys evil and the Rajasic qualities) Ravana and freeing Sita Mata (our inner divine bliss). Shri Sita Mata is inside all of us, we have been captured by Ravana in some moments in life (i.e. arguing, hatred or anger) we tend to lock away that inner beauty, that divine love inside of us (Sita Mata). We must use the key of the Lord's grace to unlock our true selves, show the world that we are divine and loving just like Sita Mata and we will bring out the Sita Mata in everyone. Ask that divine Shakti, O Lord, control my thoughts so they may be positive and helpful to all. The Divine Sita Mata guides us all, the divine love inside of us truly guides us all.

Physical Aspect: Many questions arise when we look at the Divine Mother and her path in life from youth to the time of marriage then as she goes into the forest with Shri Rama. Many events take place, but some of the challenging and sad point that many see as socities downfall is when she went through Agnipravesham.
Before we act or think with anger or impluse, we must always remember, Lord Vishnu’s Lilas are Achinthya and Adbhutha. Which simply means beyond the Comprehension of common man. At times you need to think impassionately to understand these Intricacies [But do not lose the lesson/reason and why she suffered and the pains she went through due to society's view of Women..More on this below]. Do not get caught up in the suffering or physical pains, these are done to show many aspects of life as human beings on earth with the divine spark inside of us. We must look at Sita Mata as a representation of Women around the world, the divine devi that sustains life is that supreme Shakti. We as society should understand how we treat women and value them in a greater light. The suffering by Sita Mata on a physical level was to also show the world of the pressures and challenges women face in this day and age. In a man dominated world, Sita Mata shows the struggles that women face in every age. We must always treat women, especially those that are close to us in our lives as Goddesses on earth, they hold special powers that men can not comprehend. I always believe God will listen to a mother before a father, reason being is that a mother has a spiritual connection that goes beyond realms when it comes to a child. Sita Mata's pains and suffering must never be taken for granted, although it was on a Achinthya and Adbhutha level, we must derive the lessons and learn from them.

To add to the physical sadness that was imposed on Sita, lets look at another event; the abonishment of Sita by Balakrishnan M; "Regarding Sita’s banishment, in Uttara Kanda, Lord Ramachandra demonstrated, the ideal king should look at the interest of the country that his own personal interest. Remember that Lord Rama, belong to line of Ishvaku, Harichandra, Aja and etc where the kings even willing to sacrifice their own life to uphold dharma. Even Lord Rama oonce said to Sita in Aranya kandam that he was willing to give up Laksamana, Sita and his own life to uphold dharma. It was the conflict between  the duty of the king and duty as the husband. Well, what would you do if you were caught in that position?

It was not an easy decision to make. Even in modern days, in management of organization a classical
management writer by the name of Henri Fayol in one of his 14 principles of management said the individual
interest must be subordinate to organizational  interest.

So Lord RamachandraGita Chapter 3, Lord
Krisna says whatever actions of a great man will be followed by people in general."- (from Indiadivine.org, Balakrishnan M)

In the end, we can talk about the side stories and how Sita was treated and what took place, but we must look at the lessons and teachings and use them in our lives. What is the point of talking about these things and how the importance of Women are in our lives if we do not implement it etc..? There are many versions of the Ramayana in which points can be taken, i.e. Adhyatma Ramayana states that Sita Knew she will be kidnapped by Ravana, and Ravana knew he would meet death at Shri Rama's hands etc.. In the end, some say we should not look at the negative events that has happened to Sita, "its part of the Lila etc..", but this would be wrong, not everything is done for God's sake, its done for humanity's understanding. We must understand the events and relate it back to our society and ourselves, We must take the lessons and view women in our lives as that Divine Sita Devi.


Please read the articles below on Sita Mata for more information,

Jai Sita-Ram,
- SimpleHinduBhai



[From Hindu-Blog.com] Sita Jayanti is observed on the eighth day (Ashtami) during the Krishna Paksha of Magh month by some Hindu communities in South India. The day is observed as Sita Ashtami or Janaki Janma in some regions in North India. It is popularly believed that Mata Sita, wife of Lord Ram and incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, was born on this day.

The story of Mata Sita continues to inspire millions of people. For some she is the embodiment of purity and wifely devotion. For some she represents the struggles that women face in all ages in a male dominated society.

King Janaka found Mata Sita while ploughing the field. Thus she is considered the daughter of Mother Earth. Fed up with the ways of the world finally she takes refuge on Mother Earth's lap when the earth opens up to receive her.

The day is observed with satsangs and special pujas in Lord Ram Temples.

It must be noted that the birthday or Jayanti of Mata Sita is known as Sita Navami for some Hindu communities in western and eastern parts of India and is observed in Vaishaka month (April – May).


Sita as Daughter of Ravana – The Story of Sita Born as Daughter of Ravan

(hindu-blog.com)

There is an interesting story mentioned in some Hindu books and folk tales that mentions Sita as the daughter of Ravana. Legend has it that Vedavati, a pious woman, wanted to marry Srihari Vishnu. To marry Vishnu, she gave up worldly life and became a hermit and built an ashram on a riverbank.

Once while Vedavati was meditating on the riverbank, Ravana, the demon king, happened to see her. He was enamored by her beauty and tried to violate her. To escape from Ravan she jumped into a fire pit created for yajna. Before dying she cursed Ravan that in her next birth she will be responsible for his death.

In her next birth, Vedavati was born as Ravana’s daughter. Soon after she was born, a voice from the sky warned that the baby will be responsible for her father’s death. To save his life, Ravana threw the little girl child into the sea. The child fell on the lap of sea-goddess Varuni. Goddess Varuni took the girl child to the shores and gave her to earth-goddess Pirthvi.

Goddess Prithvi then gave her to King Janaka. As per Ramayana, Sita was found by King Janaka while ploughing a field.

Worship of the Goddess in Hinduism by Sarah Caldwell © By Sarah Caldwell, Harvard Divinity School

Namaste, Hari Om,

Below article is from Sarah Caldwell, original link found here, http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/i_es/i_es_caldw_goddess_frameset.htm. This article was passed on by a fellow SimpleHinduBhai reader, and since it is filled with good knowledge we have decided to post it here. 

Its well written how the links between life and how the Goddess is seen, its wonderful research and data on the supreme Shakti and her names.

Please Enjoy Sarah's Article below,

- SimpleHinduBhai

______________________

Worship of the Goddess in Hinduism

by Sarah Caldwell

© By Sarah Caldwell, Harvard Divinity School

Sponsored by 25th Anniversary Conference of the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Pittsburgh, 2000

Yaa devi sarvabhuteshu buddhi rupena samsthitaa
Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaha

To that goddess who dwells within all beings in the form
of intellect, I bow again and again and again

– Chandi Path (Devi Mahatmya), Ch. 5, v. 20

On a recent visit to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, I wandered through the Indian art gallery. Ensconced against the southern wall of the gallery stands a glorious life-size granite image of the goddess Durga, voluptuous, lithe and graceful, her foot poised delicately on the severed head of the buffalo demon Mahishasura. Visitors meander past casting bemused glances at her soft yet powerful body and her knowing smile. Of all the images of Hindu deities, it is perhaps this conflation of supreme power and tender loveliness that most arrests the visitor's eye and challenges our concepts about the divine. It was a similar image of Durga that first caught the eye of Professor Tom Coburn, a distinguished scholar of Sanskrit who has translated the great scriptural account of Devi's triumphs, the Devi Mahatmya, in his book Encountering the Goddess. In an article written for the Indian journal Manushi, Professor Coburn has described his initial enchantment with Durga, a love affair that led to a lifetime of distinguished scholarship and study.

South Asian religions have given birth to some of the loveliest and most sublime images of feminine divinity the world has ever seen, as well as some of the most mysterious and powerful. These range from graceful miniature paintings of Sita pining for her beloved husband Rama, or Radha awaiting a tryst with Krishna in a forest grove to imposing images of Durga and Kali gracing south India's stone temples. In villages throughout the subcontinent, Devi takes the form of a simple rock, a mound of mud, a wooden carving, a bronze statue, a painting, a poster, a sword, a tree, as she receives the loving attentions of worshippers, blesses homes and agricultural fields, and watches over the fate of her children. Of the world's living religious traditions, it is only in Hinduism that such extensive worship of divinity in the female form may be found.

The Hindu goddess in all her myriad of forms has also been celebrated in poetic verses of praise for many centuries. The ancient Tamil classic, Cilappadikaram, eulogizes its benighted heroine, Kannaki, who in her rage at a king's injustice, tore off her left breast and burned the city of Madurai to the ground before rising to the sky as a goddess. The exquisite Gita Govinda of Jayadeva details in verses heavy with longing and love the ecstatic union of Krishna with the beautiful Radha. In pleading, begging, railing, desperate lines, the Bengali Ramprasad Sen explores the depth of love and despair that is the love of the dark Mother Kali. The Saundarya Lahari (often attributed to Adi Shankara) details the magnificent, radiant form of the Devi as queen of the universe, and reveals the esoteric meaning of her form as the Sri Yantra, the geometric pattern of energies that describes the inner workings of the universe.

Yet the Hindu apperception of the feminine divine goes far beyond even this almost infinite wealth of images and poetry. Hindu philosophy also includes sublime and intellectually sophisticated theologies of the Goddess. Shakta theology in particular, unlike any other living religious tradition, attributes supreme divinity, power over creation, all speech, nature, mind, and liberation, the universe itself, to Devi, the Goddess, who exceeds even the great gods Shiva, Vishnu, Indra, and Brahma, upon whose bent backs she sits in glory. In astounding philosophical terms, Shakta theology propounds a doctrine that unites devotion to the goddess's supremely attractive feminine form with subtle apperception of the inner workings of the universe. Furthermore, tantric religious traditions provide specific means for ritual worship of and yogic meditation upon the goddess, directing the worshipper to a state of complete identification and union with her. These precious traditions of Hinduism, kept secret and revealed only to a few initiates for millennia, are beginning to be known better today and to be shared with a wider circle of devotees. Within this great tradition lie the potential seeds of a revolution in the way human beings conceive of our world, ourselves, and one another. It is well worth studying and understanding the great tradition of goddess worship in Hinduism, for the benefit of oneself and humanity at large.

The fundamental meaning behind all of these images is the recognition in Hinduism of divine energy as a feminine force, Shakti, which literally means "power." This power takes a wide variety of forms, including nature, creation, life force, movement, mind, and strength, as well as the power to dominate or destroy. Early Samkhya philosophy viewed reality as fundamentally dual, consisting of Purusha, the conscious Self (seen as Male), in interaction with Prakriti, nature and the phenomenal world, including the mind (understood as a Female principle). The processes of yoga referred to in the Upanishads and formally codified in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in the 2nd C BCE are designed to extricate the pure, eternal, unblemished Self from its intricate identification with the phenomenal world, both external and internal, in the form of thoughts and perceptions. Techniques of self-control and meditation were developed to allow for the recognition of the Self's separateness from Prakriti, and to cultivate direct self-awareness free of the mind and senses.

The philosophy of Vedanta rejected the dualistic claims of the Samhkya system, reinterpreting the feminine principle of Prakriti as Maya, the illusory power of the divine Brahman (transcendental Self). 

The feminine Maya had no intrinsic reality, but was merely a projection of Brahman, appearing as a great seductress ensnaring the mind and senses and drawing them away from awareness of their fundamental nature as Self or Purusha. Ascetic disciplines of fasting, celibacy, and meditation detached the mind from its natural outward-moving tendency and turned it forcibly inward; intellectual disciplines such as viveka (discrimination) and vairagya (detachment) sought to penentrate and dissolve the unreality of Maya. Buddhist and Jain philosophy, which developed in the same period as the late Upanishads (around the 6th C. BCE), also relied upon this theory and hence emphasized asceticism, detachment, and the rejection of the pleasures of the ensnaring phenomenal world. Women, who were relegated socially to the role of wives and mothers, were naturally seen as antithetical to the aim of moksha or liberation from the snares of samsara, cyclical, desire-motivated existence. Thus during this influential early age of Indian religious thought, the feminine principle of divinity as well as human women were identified as obstacles to the real aim of human life, moksha, or permanent spiritual liberation from the cycles of rebirth.

Of course, while forest-dwelling ascetics and yogis attempted to break their attachments to the world, a different, life-affirming strain of Hindu practice and belief flourished unbroken from the Vedic period to the present. The fundamental symbolism of the ancient Vedic fire rituals was the creative power of the sacrifice, resulting from the coming together of the female and male life forces (symbolized by the spark created from the friction of the fire-sticks rubbing together). Human reproduction and well-being, not moksha, were the fruits sought by supplicating the divine powers in the Vedic fire ritual. Although goddesses played a relatively minor role in the Vedic ritual corpus, by the Classical period (1st-11th C. CE) of Hinduism, their presence was central. As temples and devotional Hinduism underwent a dramatic period of growth in response to the challenge of Buddhism and Jainism, goddesses rose in importance. Powerful and appealing female divinities embodying every possible aspect of existence began to be envisioned in temple sculpture and eulogized in hymns of praise.

In temples, rituals of puja (worship) were performed daily to goddesses, sometimes as wives or consorts of powerful male deities, but sometimes alone, as in the case of Durga, Saraswati, Mahalakshmi, and many others. The iconography of these female divinities drew heavily from the very ancient sculptural tradition of yakshis, female fertility spirits, whose smiling, ample, voluptuous frames adorned the gateways of early Buddhist and Jain temples from the 5th c. BC. The ideal of feminine divinity was from the beginning identified with life force, erotic beauty, sexual fertility, motherliness, and power. Even the goddess of war, Durga, was envisioned as a supremely attractive and desirable young woman at the height of her potential reproductive powers (though remaining a virgin, and hence channeling those potential powers toward other aims for the benefit of the world). Only the goddesses of disease and destruction, such as Sitala, Manasa, Mariyamman, and Kali, were sometimes shown as haggard, emaciated, and ugly; yet even these goddesses were revered and propitiated, as part of the inevitable cycle of life and death. The Hindu goddess in all her forms was always linked to this complete acceptance of the ever-changing, transformative cycle of life.

Rituals of worship to the goddess today take place in almost infinite variety, but their aim is always to propitiate and increase Shakti, divine energy, manifest as life force. This life force may take the form of health and healing from disease, the auspicious growth of plants and abundance of food, marital happiness and sexual enjoyment, reproductive health and the birth of children, wealth and success in work activities, intellectual and artistic skill and acumen, or victory over one's enemies. The force that perpetuates life is the holiest thing in the practice of Hinduism, supremely auspicious, and it is this auspiciousness that Devi represents. In her life-perpetuating form, the goddess is beautiful, benevolent, fertile, motherly, attractive, full of knowledge, compassion, and desire. She embraces and enlivens all aspects of reality. Pictured as an idealized queen and wife, endowed with supernatural beauty and virtue, adorned with magnificent ornaments and always bestowing grace and bounty, the Devi in this form is Saumya, benevolent. She is the object of desire, and is usually shown as the wife or consort of an appropriate male divinity, whose power or Shakti she is (e.g., Lakshmi-Vishnu, Parvati-Siva, Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, etc.).

Throughout the Hindu world, elaborate, extensive temple rituals and festivals celebrate the goddess's wedding to her divine spouse (examples include Meenakshi Kalyanam, Rama-Sita Kalyanam, Parvati-Siva Swayamvaram, etc.). The extraordinary dedication of time, resources, and priestly knowledge to the periodic reenactment of these divine weddings underscores the profound spiritual significance of the marital bond. In fact marriage is considered the most important samskara, or rite of passage, in the human lifespan. In the marriage ritual the bride is identified with the goddess Lakshmi, adorned and worshipped as the bringer of supreme auspiciousness into her new family. As she undertakes her new responsibilities as wife and mother, a woman joins the daily round of domestic worship conducted by women of the family, centering around the kitchen shrine. Upon rising in the morning she will bathe and draw a kolam or rangoli on the doorstep, to welcome the goddess Lakshmi into the home. In all her activities the wife and mother embodies the divine feminine force of life, auspiciousness, and joy. It is she who is believed to keep the husband and children alive and happy through her careful attention to their welfare and satisfaction, through cooking, fasting, prayer, teaching, and self-care and beautification. The auspiciousness of goddess Lakshmi, so necessary to life in the world, is also celebrated lavishly at Diwali, the festivals of light and life in dark times.

Sometimes it is the mother aspect of the goddess that is emphasized in Hindu worship; here she is represented iconographically on her own, not as part of a spousal pair. The forms of the independent mother goddess are almost infinite, and are especially important on the local, village level in India. Most villages have a local mother goddess who is believed to have arisen in that particular geographic location and who is intimately tied to the welfare of the village. She functions as the protector, provider, and punisher of the village, and must be constantly propitiated, worshipped, and consulted in order to assure order and avert disease and disaster. Kali, Sitala, Mariyamman, and Durga embody the wrath of the fierce aspect of the goddess in forms known throughout India. Although this form of goddess worship is prominent in village shrines, it is also very important at the temple level, particularly in Bengal and Kerala, where temples to Kali or Bhagavati predominate. Often the temple festivals in these regions are tied to the agricultural cycle, and the goddess is believed to undergo a periodic reproductive cycle akin to that of human women. Ritual worship takes place during the hottest season, when the goddess is understood to be undergoing her menstrual cycle, and in need of sacrificial offerings and excitement before a period of rest and renewal.

Hindus show deep reverence to the earth as the Mother Goddess. From the most ancient times, rivers, mountains, hills, the sky, and in fact all of the earth, have been respected as the body of the goddess itself. The river Ganga, the most important of the Hindu river goddesses, is an embodied liquid divinity, whose grace flowing over the bather's body can be felt to empower, cleanse, purify, heal, and enlighten. The Shakti Pithas, locations where parts of the goddess's body mythically fell to earth and installed themselves, are seats of power where pilgrims can directly experience the goddess. Hills, mountains, stones, and anthills all manifest miraculous powers throughout the Indian subcontinent, and are ancient places of pilgrimage and renewal. Before building a house, undertaking cultivation of plants, starting a ritual, or beginning a dance, Hindus pray to Bhumi Devi, the earth goddess, for her blessings and forgiveness.

Perhaps the most important festival to the goddess is Navaratri, the nine nights of worship dedicated to the goddess Durga. This festival takes place in some form throughout the Indian subcontinent in the bright moon fortnight of the Hindu months of Chaitra (March-April) and Ashwin (September-October). The sacred text recounting the destruction of a series of demons by the goddess Durga or Candi, the Chandipath, is recited each evening for nine nights. On the eighth day a homa or fire sacrifice is offered to Durga Devi in celebration of her triumph over evil. The nine nights of worship are divided into groups of three, recognizing the triple form of the goddess as Durga/Lakshmi/Saraswati. Durga or Camunda is the goddess of power, destruction of negativities, and fierce strength in the face of adversity and evil. The story of her destruction of demons symbolizes the need fiercely to confront one's own limitations and negative qualities and eliminate them. 

Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity and abundance, represents the ability to enjoy, share, and love, made possible by self-purification and the recognition of the divine manifest in all. After cultivating moral purification and an attitude of optimism and generosity, Saraswati, goddess of higher knowledge, finally is propitiated as the one who makes it possible to realize divine wisdom and light. The festival of Navaratri, like many forms of Hindu worship, incorporates many levels of meaning. It can be a harvest festival, a time for family and friends to gather and share, a time of rest and renewal, a time of fasting and penance. Spiritually, Navaratri can be a recognition of the necessity to destroy old habits to make way for new experiences and knowledge, a celebration of growth and rebirth, and a profound experience of the goddess as one's inner power of consciousness.

A unique aspect of Hinduism not found in other world religions is the recognition of an intimate link between the goddess and the force of intellect, mind, and speech. This is reflected in contemporary Hinduism in the person of the goddess Saraswati. Portrayed in spotless white garments and seated upon a swan, Saraswati holds in her hands a palm-leaf manuscript and a veena (the Indian lute), symbolizing her power over speech, literature, learning, and the arts. School children venerate Saraswati to excel in their studies, and often place their schoolbooks and pens upon her alter toward this end. The identification of the goddess with speech and intellect has ancient roots in Hinduism. Vedic hymns recognize Vac as the power of speech, the power that inspired the production of mantras. The identification of the goddess with language is later elaborated in Shaiva philosophy, where the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet are collectively referred to as Matrika Shakti, the power of the "little mothers" (the letters themselves). By calling the letters "mothers," the sages drew our attention to the creative, generative powers of language. In this concept the goddess manifests to create the universe through pulsation (Spanda), which animates the mind as subtle thoughts, and emerges on the physical plane as speech. All of material creation is also embodied in the subtle vibrations of this divine speech, and mantras, which encapsulate these energies, when properly pronounced, can actually recreate material reality.

Shaiva philosophy envisions the Godhead as consisting of the inseparable pair Shiva and Shakti, Being and Consciousness. Neither exists without the other. These two are imagined as a divine husband and wife engaged in endless erotic play. This image signifies the deeper meaning of the Self (prakasha-illumination) enjoying the manifold phenomena continually unfolded by Shakti (vimarsha-reflective consciousness). In fact the mind with its constant inner movement is nothing but a dancer entertaining the witnessing conscious self, ever still and unaffected yet deeply enjoying the play of consciousness. In this metaphor the process of conscious existence is itself a great love affair, a union of Shiva and Shakti, Being (Sat) and Consciousness (Chit), leading to inner bliss (Ananda). A shift in awareness allows us to recognize all of reality as nothing but this blissful play, the dance of Shiva and Shakti.

Shaiva philosophy explains that the potential for this awareness lies within every person, in a dormant form known as Kundalini Shakti. This divine power is envisioned as a sleeping snake coiled three times in the base of the spine, at an energy center known as the muladhara chakra. In order to realize the play of divine Being and Consciousness taking place within us, it is necessary to awaken this sleeping goddess that resides within the body, and to purify oneself through spiritual disciplines, devotion, and study. The practices of Kundalini Yoga awaken and cultivate this subtle form of the goddess, which is in fact divine consciousness, leading it toward the energy center located in the crown of the head, the sahasrara chakra, said to be the abode of Lord Shiva. When the goddess as Kundalini Shakti unites with Lord Shiva, divine bliss and permanent liberation from suffering and ignorance ensue. The practices of Kundalini Yoga are thus another form of worship of the goddess within one's own body, as one's own consciousness and true inner self.

A form of Hindu worship that unites all aspects of the goddess and aims to attain not only well-being in the world, but also supreme spiritual knowledge and ultimate liberation, is the tantric practice of Sri Vidya, the Supreme Wisdom. In Sri Vidya practice, Devi is worshipped as Tripurasundari, the Beauty of the Three Worlds. Tripurasundari is envisioned as Rajarajeshwari, Queen of the Universe, Goddess who holds the key to all knowledge and powers. She is the supreme creator; all worlds and powers dwell within her body in the form of minor Devis, who are each enumerated and propitiated through the worship. The essence of Sri Vidya practice is encoded in the texts Lalita Sahasranama and Saundarya Lahari, which are recited daily in many parts of India, but can be properly understood only through initiation by a guru of the tradition. Through the use of mantras (sacred syllables embodying the energies of the goddess), mudras (ritual hand gestures that awaken subtle energies and seal the relationship of the seeker to the chosen deity), guided meditation, and external puja (offerings of various kinds) to the Sri Yantra, a complex geometric representation of the goddess as the entire universe, an initiate installs the goddess into his or her own body and then proceeds to move backwards through the process of creation to dissolve his or her consciousness back into its source.

One feature of the worship of Hindu goddesses that is seen throughout India is the tendency to venerate groups of goddesses, who are yet understood to be emanations of a single Devi. This tendency reflects the realization that nature has the tendency to multiply and proliferate. From a single fertile cell, two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four cells arise through division of the the original one, leading to an almost infinite array of cells which then arrange themselves into different functions and form a human body. Throughout the natural world this tendency to proliferate and multiply signifies life. After a period of growth, decay sets in and the cells begin to decay and degenerate, eventually leading to death and reabsorption into their source, the material elements from which life arose. This basic pattern of proliferation and decay extends to all of creation, including the mineral world and the universe of stars, planets, and galaxies. 

It is this profound understanding of the patterns underlying the phenomenal universe that is reflected in the tendency to portray goddesses in enumerated groups. The oldest of these is the Seven Mothers (Saptamatrika), who scholars have suggested represent the Pleiades, an important constellation of the tropical night sky; others suggest that they also may represent the seven chakras or energy centers identified in the subtle physiology of Kundalini Yoga. Hindu iconography also celebrates Eight Lakshmis (Ashtalakshmi), Nine Durgas (Navadurga), Ten Great Wisdom Goddesses (Dasa Maha Vidya), Sixteen Phases of the Lunar Cycle or digits of the moon (the Nitya Kala Devis), and 64 Yoginis (esoteric female teachers). Each of these groupings has profound meaning in tantric practice. In the tenth century circular temples to the 64 yoginis were constructed in East Central India, in the center of which worshippers would conduct secret rites to identify themselves with the creator pair Shiva/Shakti. In that golden age of tantric knowledge, human females played the role of teachers and adepts as well as wives, servants, and partners to male yogis. Temples such as the Kailasnath temple in Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu, which preserve images of these human yoginis in postures of instruction and veneration, let us know that during this period, the goddess, in her aspect as teacher, sexual partner, and creator of life, was overtly worshipped in the person of human women.

The vast landscape of goddess worship in Hinduism is impossible to grasp in a single lifetime, much less in a brief essay. However the richness of this tradition, and its potential to contribute to the religious understandings of people the world over, is immense. Many people throughout the world are seeking to improve the relations of humans to their physical world, and to one another. In the profound sacred geography of Hinduism, which reveres the earth as a goddess, are plentiful resources for regenerating the ecological awareness of human beings. 

Whether through participation in pilgrimages to sacred rivers and mountains; through the celebration of the beauty, wisdom, and power of the manifold goddesses in the exquisite rituals of puja; through initiation into the profound mysteries of Kundalini Yoga and Shakta tantra; or simply through the recognition of divinity in the human body of every man and woman, Hindu tradition offers the world an almost infinite array of ways to sacralize every aspect of mundane existence. From cooking to business to pleasure to knowledge, Devi is the source from which all success and joy arise. For those seeking ultimate knowledge, the Sri Vidya practice is arguably the most elaborate and esoteric form of worship of the goddess, and also one of the most theologically complex. It would take many lifetimes to fully grasp the depth of the symbolism and beauty of the ritual practice encoded in its tradition. This form of understanding of goddess has great potential to expand our concept of the divine in many religions. Women, especially those raised within Hinduism, should be encouraged to read and study deeply the meanings of these great traditions, and to realize the presence of the goddess within their own minds and bodies. Men can learn to respect and revere the feminine as well as masculine qualities, and to see Devi in all women. Such an attitude, that embraces all of creation and all beings as pulsations of divine love, will heal and uplift our world.

References and Further Reading:

Bhattacharyya, Narendra Nath. The Indian mother goddess. 3rd enl. ed. New Delhi : Manohar Publishers & Distributors, 1999.

Brooks, Douglas Renfrew. The secret of the three cities: an introduction to Hindu Sakta tantrism. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1990.

____________. Auspicious wisdom: the texts and traditions of srividya sakta tantrism in south India. Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, 1992.

Brown, Cheever Mackenzie. The triumph of the goddess : the canonical models and theological visions of the Devi-Bhagavata. Albany : State University of New York Press, 1990.

____________. The Devi Gita: the song of the Goddess; a translation, annotation, and commentary. Albany : State University of New York Press, 1998.

Caldwell, Sarah. Oh Terrifying Mother: Sexuality, Violence, and Worship of the Goddess Kali. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Coburn, Thomas B. Encountering the goddess : a translation of the Devi-mahatmya and a study of its interpretation. Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, 1991.

Dehejia, Vidya. Yogini, cult and temples: a tantric tradition. New Delhi : National Museum, 1986.

____________. Devi : the great goddess: female divinity in South Asian art. Washington, D.C. : Published by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad and Prestel Verlag, Munich, 1999.

Hawley, John S., and Donna M. Wulff, eds. Devi: goddesses of India. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1996.

Kinsley, David R. Hindu goddesses: visions of the divine feminine in the Hindu religious tradition. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1986.

____________. Tantric visions of the divine feminine: the ten mahavidyas. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1997.

Pintchman, Tracy. The rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition. Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, 1994.

Woodroffe, John George, Sir. Sakti and sakta: essays and addresses. 8th ed. Madras : Ganesh, l975.

Hindu-Blog.com: The story of Kusha Grass and The Birth of Kush – the son of Sri Ram and Sita

The story of Kusha Grass and The Birth of Kush – the son of Sri Ram and Sita (From: Hindu-Blog.com http://www.hindu-blog.com/2011/02/story-of-kusha-grass-and-birth-of-kush.html)



Kusha or Durva is the name of the grass that is widely used in prayers and rituals in Hindu tradition. An interesting folktale connects Kusha grass to the birth of Kush, the son of Sri Ram and Sita. As per the folktale, after her banishment from Ayodhya, Sita gave birth to Luv at the ashram of Sage Valmiki.

One day Sita left Luv in the custody of Sage Valmiki and went into the forest to collect firewood. But when the sage left for his daily prayers, Luv wandered into the forest and followed his mother. Upon returning, Sage Valmiki on not finding the child became tense.

Valmiki searched for Luv everywhere but was unable to find him. The sage thought that some wild animals might have carried the child away. He could not even think about saying this to Sita. Therefore, he took a Kusha grass, used his divine powers, and created another Luv, who had all the qualities and characteristics of the original Luv.

Sita soon returned with Luv and was surprised to see the twin. Valmiki then explained what had happened. As he was born from Kusha grass, the twin was named Kush.

Please note that such stories related to Ramayan are very famous in various regions and cultures. However, the original story states that Sita had given birth to twins.

The above story reminds us about the now much talked about cloning. Were our Rishis aware of the cloning technique?

Beautiful Story on Hope and Faith - Must Read!

Namaste, Hari Om,

This story is very touching, lets all dont forget the childlike faith that was once in all of us, its still there..

Feel free to pass it on to those you love,

Glory to Thee,
- SimpleHinduBhai

(Email came from a very good friend, thanks for the touching story..Not sure who the original author is..).

A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. 

She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes .. 

Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door. 

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment.  Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it! 

'And what do you want?' the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages,' he said without waiting for a reply to his question. 
'Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,' Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. 'He's really, really sick...and I want to buy a miracle.' 

'I beg your pardon?'  said the pharmacist. 

'His Name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now.  So how much does a miracle cost?' 

'We don't sell miracles here, little girl.  I'm sorry but I can't help you,' the pharmacist said, softening a little. 

'Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.' The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, 'What kind of a miracle does your brother need?' 

' I don't know,' Tess replied with her eyes welling up. I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money.' 

'How much do you have?' asked the man from Chicago  

'One dollar and eleven cents,' Tess answered barely audibly. 

'And it's all the money  I have, but I can get some more if I need to.' 

'Well, what a coincidence,' smiled the man. 'A dollar and eleven cents---the exact price of a miracle for little brothers. ' 

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said 'Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the miracle you need.' 

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well. 

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. 

'That surgery,' her Mom whispered. 'was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?' 

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost..one dollar and eleven cents....plus the faith of a little child. 

In our lives, we never know how many miracles we will need. 

A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law.  I know you'll keep the ball moving! 

Here it goes. Throw it back to someone who means something to you!

A ball is a circle, no beginning, no end. It keeps us together like our Circle of Friends. But the treasure inside for you to see is the treasure of friendship you've granted to me. 

Today I pass the friendship ball to you. 

Pass it on to someone who is a friend 
to you.

MY OATH TO YOU... 

When you are sad.....I will dry your tears. 

When you are scared.....I will comfort your fears. 

When you are worried.....I will give you hope. When you are confused......I will help you cope. 

And when you are lost...And can't see the light, I shall be your beacon .... Shining ever so bright. 

This is my oath......I pledge till the end. 

Why you may ask?.......Because you're my friend. 

Signed: GOD 

Find us on Twitter.com now! @SimpleHinduBhai..

Namaste, Hari Om,

We are now on Twitter, please add us to follow our posts.

@SimpleHinduBhai
http://twitter.com/#!/SimpleHinduBhai

Jai Shri Krishna,
- SimpleHinduBhai

Poem By SimpleHinduBhai: "Meri Pyaari Radha Swamani...Shri Brindavan Mein.."

"The loving tears of joy within our hearts shower the world with love"

Namaste, Hari Om,

This poem was inspired by a Bhajan (devotional song) by Anil Hanslas, "Hamaro Dhan Radha".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p226bgt_UqQ ,<- yeh Bhajan heaven ki tarah bahot sundar hain. (this bhajan is beautiful like heaven)...

Such a beautiful voice Anil Ji has, I wish I had one drop of his graceful voice, the love from this bhajan struck me so much I wrote this poem from Krishna Ji's point of view as he talks to his one and only Radha Swamani Devi.

(Krishna is looking at Radha, his voice is not saying this, but every atom and creature in this world is telling Radha Devi these words....).... Apke liye, Mera man Krishna Ji ke pyaare Haatho mein, maine yeh lihka (For you, My mind In krishna Ji's loving hands, I have written this). Every husband should look at his wife in this way vice versa, every child should look at their parent in this way (vice versa etc..).. every atom that loved another atom, any particle that has loved another particle should look at each other as RadhaKrishna, ever lasting eternal love that janam-janam will never part..Shri Radha Radha...............Hamaro Dhan Radha Radha...


Meri Pyaari Radha Swamani...Shri Brindavan Mein,

Together we will always be the devotee's loving tears, Brindavan Mein,

Your undiscriminating love removes all devotees fears, Brindavan Mein,

Together we will be the eternal enlightenment, the loving Dove, Brindavan Mein,
You Maha Rani are my salvation, the immutable symbol of my love, Brindavan Mein
Together our love will shine like the Sun that soothes, Brindavan Mein,
You are the loving wind between all matter that moves, Brindavan Mein,
Together our love serves as a secret reminder for all, Brindavan Mein,
You are the pause in every living being's breath big or small, Brindavan Mein,
Oh Radha your smile can put the fiercest tiger in a trance, Brindavan Mein,
Together our love will be in everyone's devotional dance, Brindavan Mein,
All the birds and trees can not move without our divine connection, Brindavan Mein,
Together our love is seen in the sacred waters as a divine reflection, Brindavan Mein,
My Devi, you are the reason for living, as nothing can be loving as you Shri Radha Rani, Brindavan Mein,
Together we will be the gopis in every devotees heart's Vaani, Brindavan Mein,
Nothing can dare move without your love that is a magnificent feat, Brindavan Mein,
Together we are the heavens, suns and moons as we take the divine seat, Brindavan Mein, 
Oh Radha I am but a parrot that is caught in your hearts cage, Brindavan Mein,
Together our love helps the blind see, the frail walk with no sway, Brindavan Mein,
Your eyes, a river of love has washed me swiftly away, Brindavan Mein,
Together our love is a drought's cure, a warm soothing rain shower, Brindavan Mein,
Even As Narayana, forever in my heart you are always my right, beautiful flower, Brindavan Mein,

Meri Pyaari Radha Swamani...Shri Brindavan Mein,

Prem ke Sath Maine lihka, With Love I have written,
- SimpleHinduBhai

*Note "Always my right, beautiful flower", Lord Vishnu holds a flower in his right hand, every aspect represents Radha, even as a beautiful flower.. She is always his right, in the last line.
*Brindavan Mein, in Brindavan, City where Lord Krishna is known to have visited and played in. 
*Vaani means voice here; Together we will be the gopis in every devotees heart's Vaani [voice], Brindavan Mein,

Why do we take people for granted?

"To the world you maybe just one person, but to one person you maybe the world"

Namaste, Hari Om,

Gods blessings to one and all, may the all mighty force grant us energy to love one and all. For we all are brothers and sisters that have crossed paths somehow somewhere in our past lives, yet we might not know it. I will talk about two sides of the coin, from the person taking someone for granted, and the person being taken for granted.

Why do we take people for granted?

This is an interesting topic that happens in all of our lives, the first encounter is most likely with parents, then with a significant other, i.e. partner.

Is there a science or reasoning why we do? I am sure there are scientific reasoning that deals with brain cells and the Limbic System sometimes called the "emotional brain" or "Old Mammalian Brain. We will not dive into that as its complicated and not too simple.

Taking people for granted is sometimes done without a notice to the person "taking someone for granted", they are either caught up in their busy life, or find their life more important to stop to spend time, help or chat with someone. We often live life by the second, everything that is happening is happening now, not 1 minute before or after the present, but now.

When we forget to look at the big picture and worry too much about the "now" we overlook people, things and tend to loose focus of our goals. Life is not easy as humans are emotional creatures for the most part and live off of each other to an extent (note this is from a general point of view).

We often look at someone's short comings before we look at their positive strengths, a person can do 9 things right out of 10, but that 1 wrong thing they have done will scar their image or perception in our mind. This is a way of taking someone for granted, we overlook their value and worth to us as its covered with emotions that are wrong and temprorary but we choose to elongate the bad image. We take people for granted because we are not thankful for their contributions to our lives. Is it subconsious that we do this? Possibly, similar to a parent who provides care and support for a child, the child is unaware of how hard the parent must work to keep the house running. The child is unaware of complexities of earning income, paying for bills, driving a car, risks of time and trade offs - all the child sees is the parent and their want/desire not fulfilled, thus calling the parent bad (taking for granted). Same for a wife or husband, one might not see the worth and work that goes on behind the scenes to support a relationship.

Same with God/the powerful force, we seldom think of the good karma/things that has happened to us, we often call Gods name for the bad things happening to us, versus thanking and praising God for the good things. For Example, we pray for food, but when we have food do we offer thanks? Most do, but its a way of being thankful and not taking anything for granted.

Its sad in life that we recount someone's worth when relationships end or parting with the soul comes about. We never realize how much that person is worth to us till they leave. We often tell ourselves why couldnt I say nicer things, why couldnt I help more, why couldnt I spend more time with this person, or why I couldnt be more thankful instead of ignoring or treating them bad. We all get warnings to enjoy each other and be thankful throughout our lives, why wait till parting with someone to recount these wishes? Do it now for time waits for no one! We think someone will always be by our side, we think they will always give us money, food or love, we always think that they will never die or part. Open your eyes to that person, each day we spend overlooking someone because a tv show or party is more important we lose that one day spending with them. Dont feel bad, its normal behavior, but if the person is blatnantly telling you, "spend time with me", or "You take me for granted", OPEN YOUR EYES AND EARS! Sadly this happens with older folks, they hold the most wisdom in our lives, yet we act like they are not worth anything. This is a sad outcome due to many things, primarliy technolody. Older folks hold life long advice that can help us become stronger and better humans on earth.

We should avoid taking someone for granted, especially someone who takes very good care of us. Someone who has taken good care of us, who is taking good care of us and who will be taking good care of us should not be taken granted for. Relationships with parents, grandparents, siblings, husbands, wives and childern etc.. Can be ruined if someone is taken for granted. Some of the negative outcomes if someone is being taken granted for;

The person who feels like they are being taken for granted*;
- Feels easily intimidated when they try to voice their words or ideas, because they will feel like they have nothing special to say as they fear they will be hurt or yelled at (yelling is another sign of being taken advantage of). Happens allot in many relationships, with parents and significant others. If a child has no outlet, who will they turn to?
- A parent who takes a child for granted will cause their child to withhold thoughts and feelings, shutting down when they are sad, angry or confused as they feel they have no outlet. You never get close with each other, thus building on the relationship pains - communication that is open and nice (both ways) will solve this.
- The person being taken advantage of will always put on a face that everything is ok, this false face is appeasing and they would rather do this than face intimidation or being hurt by the person taking them for granted. - This is where communication comes back in, voicing yourself will help even if you are not being heard.
- People who are being taken for granted develop fears that they dont want to talk further, they feel their worth is nothing infront of the person who is using them/taking them for granted etc.. The person taking them for granted uses tactics that causes pain and suffering that they dont even realize. - We must be careful of our fears with this, this could stem from worrying to much, You worry so much (worry about what the other person said, worry about what they meant by it, worry about how you reacted etc) that your worry creates a sense of helplessness and powerlessness. A parent that feels like they are helpless must find other ways to talk to their child, a partner must find other ways as this attitude does not grow the relationship very well.

We are all on earth for special reasons, some will know that reason within this realm, or another realm. Above examples relate how someone feels when they are being taken for granted, sometimes we never see this when we are living our life. A loved one will never say, "you are taking me for granted", they are afraid it will hurt you, but we need to open our eyes and consider how much they mean to us then spend more time to put a smile on their face.

What if you feel like you are being taken for granted?
 
In our life we give so much love and support but when we feel we are being taken for granted you could just sit down and talk to the person, you dont always have to be stepped on etc.. It is good to help other people. Unfortunately in today's world people take your goodness for granted and start taking advantage of it. So, help people but show as if you are doing it as a favour and making an exception. Make them feel obliged and indebted to you. People may call you a snob, but let them. It is much better than been taken for granted.

The person taking you for granted loves you, but they get caught up in your goodness and kindness and takes advantage of it, they abuse your love to get what they want. If you are a parent this will sound familiar around the time of gifting presents. It is always not nice to be nice. Let people know that you too can get upset and can call a spade a spade. Be polite, tactful and diplomatic but speak out your mind. Tell people clearly what you feel. They will never take your feelings and emotions for granted.

Some people feel that you are stuck with them and will take you for granted all the time, put your foot down and wake them up with your serious but loving words. Let them know of your value and worth, because you are equally worth more to them as they are worth to you.

If you are reading this post, ask your self, Do I take anyone for granted? And put yourself in their shoes, what if you had a daughter that treated you the way you treated your mother? Or (parent view) what if your parents treated you that way etc..? Or What if you did selfless things for your parenter and they treated you bad or took you for granted? Ask your self...

Consider this a warning not to take people for granted, we all need these warnings in our lives, dont wait for the hospital bed side, or a sad movie, or even parting with the loved one.

Always remember, put God first in everything we do, always have a kind heart but logical mind, we do live in a perfect world (As it was created by God), its the minds of people that are not so perfect :).

"To the world you maybe just one person, but to one person you maybe the world"

*Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-You-Being-Taken-For-Granted?&id=757974

Jai Shri Krishna,

-SimpleHinduBhai

Hindu Calendar - Updated for 2011 - Thanks to Swaha International

Namaste, Hari Om,

The Hindu Calendar for 2011 is now up to date thanks to Swaha International.

You can click calendar on the right side of the Blog, or click http://www.swahainternational.org/calendar/.

Many scriptures talk about special days in Hinduism that signify importance on many levels. We should always look at the calendar daily as it contains important dates for fasting, celebrating and observing special rites.

Special days are not just special due to its name or occasion, planets, suns, moons and stars are aligned in a special way for a reason, and on certain days energy can be channeled and transmitted easily, thus praying/fasting or meditating can raise our spirituality greatly.

Credit goes to Swaha International, many thanks!

Jai Shri Krishna
- SimpleHinduBhai

Simple Hindu Bhai Facebook Page - Please become a fan..

Namaste, Hari Om,

Please click the link to join our Facebook page, please forward to all your friends and family to stay up to date as well.. You can take part in discussions and post on topics and events..

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Simple-Hindu-Bhais-Blog/233430351518

Thanks!
-SimpleHinduBhai

Snake and Ladder had its origin in India - Hinduism Connection

Namaste, Hari Om,

Interesting article from Hindu-Blog.com, enjoy!

- SimpleHinduBhai,

______________________
http://www.hindu-blog.com/2006/11/snake-and-ladders-had-its-origin-in.html


The game had its origin in India and was called Moksha Patam or Parama Padam or Mokshapat. It was used to teach Hinduism and Hindu values to children. The British renamed it as Snakes and Ladders.

Now, when and who created this game? Most people believe it was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. There are certain references which take the game back to 2^nd century BC.

The ladders represented virtues and snakes vices. In the original game square 12 was faith, 51 was Reliability, 57 was Generosity, 76 was Knowledge, and 78 was Asceticism. These were the squares were the ladder was found.

Square 41 was for Disobedience, 44 for Arrogance, 49 for Vulgarity, 52 for Theft, 58 for Lying, 62 for Drunkenness, 69 for Debt, 84 for Anger, 92 for Greed, 95 for Pride, 73 for Murder and 99 for Lust. These were the squares were the snake was found.

The Square 100 represented Nirvana or Moksha.

The British took the game to England in 1892 and named it Snakes and Ladders and changed it according to Victorian values.

"Why God Permits Evil and How to Rise Above It" - by Paramahansa Yogananda

Namaste, Hari Om,

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Truly wish to thank all of you for the support and readings over the past year. You have truly inspired me to keep on researching and presenting great information on not only Hinduism, but other spiritual aspects that reinforce the fact that, "Ham sab ek hain", we are all one! By the grace of God this site has gotten thousands of hits per month from various countries in North/South America, Europe and Asia. I am truly blessed and honored to reach so many people with such simple words.

I received probably one of the best gifts of my life to date, a book by Paramahansa Yogananda, "Autobiography of a Yogi". I am very thankful for this book, I almost do not want to call it a book, it is a gift from a mighty force that is spreading the message of love and faith for the all mighty and human kind. The giver of this book is forever in  my heart as they have added energy and love to my spiritual path in more ways than they would ever know.. With love, I deeply thank you sincerely.

Its a truly special book, it was predicted long before its time, it was predicted to come out before the birth of the Author himself. It holds great spiritual power as it was written for our time and beyond. When reading it, questions will be answered in your mind, and you will start to conceptualize the scenery and emotions throughout the book. One cant help but find themselves in a new state of mind after reading each page.

By the grace of God, I will highlight a couple of key points from the book throughout the year. One particular interesting question that always arises is, Why is there so much evil on earth, why does God allow this and what can we do.

Of course Shri Shri Paramahansa Yogananda Ji can explain this as his knowledge came from a divine voice, but I wish to talk on a perception of the below teachings from the great Swami.

In life we tend to always remember the bad, the things that are not within our comfort zone. It happens with fellow humans, someone can do something nice nine out of ten times for us, but we will always remember that one time they did something bad, more often than the nine good things. We have to change our perception of how we look at life, being thankful and always looking at the glass half full (versus half empty) will put us in a calming state of mind.

Same for life, we focus too much on things that are negative, we have so much goodness going for us we are not even aware. In today's world, we are blessed with so many great things such as the speed of information, advanced economies and caring people all around us. Knowledge moves at the speed of light, but does it get absorbed at the speed of light? Sometimes but not always..

Back to the presence of Evil in this world, it will always be there. We should learn to accept and deal with negative aspects of our life just as we accept and deal with positive aspects of our life. Within negative situations in life there are blessings, we sometimes look at negativity as Evil. If someone cuts you off on the road, you might get angry and mad, but there could be a divine play at hand, what if you were speeding and by that person cutting you off the Police radar detects you at a lower speed, thus avoiding a ticket. Another example, you do not get that big promotion into the new division of your company. As you remain in your current position you are sad, but then a few months later you learn that the whole division was let go due to budget cuts, you are thankful for not having it but at the time of not getting it you were sad. We must develop a habit to always remember the will of the divine power and install faith in everything that happens. We must say, "Oh great divine power, you know whats best, please guide me".

We should always maintain a steady mind, extreme reactions and emotions will corrupt our outlook. Be the same when you win the lottery and the same when you lose the lottery - everything in life happens for a reason, the Divine Will is at play and we must have faith that it will be for the good. Even in sorrow we can understand what happiness is, even in anger we can understand the value of calmness, even in Evil we can understand the power of Good.

The below readings from the special book will further describe "Why God Permits Evil and How to Rise Above It". Its truly one of the best answers I have ever heard. Enjoy and let it develop questions and thoughts in your mind that reflects on our outlook of life. If you have never read, "Autobiography of a Yogi", I highly encourage you to do so.

Jai Shri Krishna
- SimpleHinduBhai




_____________________

Why God Permits Evil and How to Rise Above It
by Paramahansa Yogananda

Why God Permits Evil by Paramahansa Yogananda (Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles, California.  All rights reserved).

Some say that God (consciousness) doesn’t know evil, because they can’t explain why a God who is good allows robberies, murders, disease, poverty, and other terrible happenings that are going on constantly on this earth. And yet, evil provides the contrast that enables us to recognize and experience goodness. Evil had to be, if there was to be any creation. If you wrote a message with white chalk on a white board, no one would see it.


 There is another angle about duality, or good and evil that I want to explain to you. If a movie producer made movies only of angels (of only goodness), and showed them in the movie theatres morning, noon, and night everyday, he would soon have to close up his business. He (the producer) has to produce variety in order to attract people’s attention.

 The bad man makes the hero look so much better! And we like plots that are filled with action. We don’t mind looking at exciting movies about danger and disaster, because we know they are only movies (a mere appearance on a screen). If you could see what is going on behind the screen of this life, you wouldn’t suffer at all. Life is a cosmic movie (projected within the screen of consciousness). I look at the beam of God’s light, which is projecting these scenes on the screen of life (consciousness). I see the pictures of the whole universe coming from this beam.

 Another time I was sitting in a movie theatre watching a movie on a screen. And then I looked into the projection booth. I saw that the projectionist was not interested in the movie, because he has seen it over and over again. Instead, he was reading a book. The projector was doing its job: there was the sound, and the beam of light was casting realistic images on the screen. And there was the audience caught up in the drama.

 From age to age, from civilization to civilization, the same old movies are shown over and over again, only with different characters playing the parts. When I took my gaze from the light of the projector and looked at the audience in the movie theatre, I saw that they were going through all the emotions of the actors in the movie. They were suffering with the hero, and reacting to the evil of the villain. To the audience it was a tragic experience. To the operator in the projection booth, it was only a movie! And so it is with God. He has created (imagined) movies of light and shadows, the hero and the villain, good and evil, and we are the audience and the actors.

It is only because we identify with the play too much (as being real) that we are in trouble. Without shadows as well as light (contrasts) there could be no picture. Evil is the shadow that converts the one beam of God’s light into pictures or forms. Therefore, evil (contrasting with good) is the shadow of God that makes this play possible. The dark shadows of evil are mixed with the pure white beam of the virtues of God. He wants you not to take these pictures so seriously.

The director of the movie sees the murders and the suffering and the comedy and the drama as means to create interest for the audience. He stands apart from the play and directs and observes it. God wants us to behave with detachment realizing we are only actors or observers in his cosmic movie.

 The way to supreme happiness will not be found by the scientist nor by material-minded people, but by those who follow the masters who say “Go back to the booth of the infinite (awareness) from which you can see the projection of all these cosmic movies. Then you won’t be troubled about God’s creation, God’s play.” Because you are a part of it now (identify with it as being real), you suffer. You must stand aside and watch (witness) it, and then you cannot suffer. When you are an observer, then you can enjoy this play. This is what you must learn.

To God, this (life) is only a movie, and when you turn to him (consciousness), it will also be a movie to you.

Since God is perfect and this world is not a necessity for his evolution, it is therefore a sort of hobby (play) of God. For example there are two kinds of artists: one type is the commercial artist who makes art pay; and the other type is one who creates art with no market value, simply for the personal enjoyment of it.

 Now we can’t think of God as commercial, for he has nothing to gain from his art of creation. So this world is God’s hobby (play). But it is not any fun for those who are suffering in it. Because your eyes are closed (and you believe the world to be real), you cannot help thinking this world is terrible. But if you keep open your eyes of wisdom and calmness (and realize it is an appearance), you will see there is a lot of enjoyment in this world – just as though you are watching a movie.

There is so much more to life than what you think. Since everything worldly seems so real, how much more so must be the reality (consciousness) that creates this unreal reality (of the world appearance)! But the unreal reality makes you forget the real. God wants you to remember that you wouldn’t mind this world if it were like a movie. Even if the brittle bones of the body break, you would say “Well look at those broken bones”, and not feel any disturbance or suffering. You could say that when you are anchored in consciousness. You will make fun of your habits, and you will be intensely amused at your distinguishing characteristics, as from the balcony of introspection watch yourself perform in the movie of life.

When you know this world to be God’s Lila – his play – then you aren’t upset by the contrasts in this drama of good and evil.

In a dream you behold rich people, poor people, someone strong, someone else groaning with disease, someone dying, and someone being born. But when you wake up, you realize that it was only a dream. This universe is God’s dream. When you are neither touched by the nightmares of disease and suffering and worries, nor bound by the beautiful dreams, then God says “Wake up now! Come back home.”

Mystics are those who are half awake and half dreaming: on one side awake in God, and on the other side dreaming the dream of incarnation. But they can quickly get out of this dream.

So remember, God is dreaming this world. And if we are in tune with him, we will live a divinely intoxicating life and nothing will disturb us. We will watch this cosmic movie as we watch films in a movie theatre, without being hurt. God created (imagined) us that we may dream as he does, enjoying this dream and all its contrasting experiences, as an entertainment, without being affected by it, absorbed in his eternal joy.

Ones values are profoundly changed when one is finally convinced that creation is only a vast movie and that not in it, but beyond it, lies ones own reality (consciousness).

The rishis of ancient India, having penetrated to the original cause of being (consciousness), declare that God is perfect (complete); that he needs nothing, for all is contained within himself; and that this world is God’s Lila (divine play). The Lord (consciousness), it seems, like a little child, loves to play, and his Lila is the endless variety of ever-changing creation.

I used to reason in this way: God was infinite, omniscient bliss, but being alone there was no one but him to enjoy that bliss. So he said “Let me create (imagine) a universe and (appear to) divide myself into many souls that they may play with me in my unfolding drama”.
By his magical measuring power of Maya, he became dual; spirit and nature, man and woman, positive and negative. But even though he has created (imagined) the universe out of delusion, he himself is not deluded by it. He knows that everything is but an (imagined) diversification of his one consciousness. Experiences of the senses and emotions, the dramas of war and peace, sickness and health, life and death – all are happening in God as the dreamer of all things - but he is unaffected by them.

One part of his infinite being forever remains transcendent beyond vibratory (imagined) dualities: there God is inactive. When he vibrates (imagines) his consciousness with thoughts of diversity, he becomes (appears) immanent and omnipresent as the creator in the finite vibratory realm of infinity: there he is active. Vibration (imagination) brings forth (appearances of) objects and beings interacting in space in the motions of time – just as vibrations (the imagination) of man’s consciousness brings forth dreams in sleep.

We can say that God should never have created this world in which there is so much trouble. But on the other hand, mystics say that if you knew you were Gods, you wouldn’t mind it. If you watch a movie, you like a lot of action rather than something dull, don’t you? That is the way you should enjoy this world.

Look upon life as a movie and then you will know why God created (imagined) it. Our problem is that we forget to see it as God’s entertainment (the play of consciousness). When we have finished seeing the movie, we know that nobody was killed; nobody was suffering. In fact, that truth is the only answer I see when I look at the drama of life. It is nothing but an electrical-shadow-show, a play of light and shadows.

Everything is the vibration (imagination) of God’s consciousness condensed into (an appearance of) images. The essence of those images cannot be severed by a sword, nor burned, nor drowned, nor suffer pain of any sort. It (consciousness) is not born, nor does it die. It only (appears to) pass through a few changes.

Just as when you are half awake and can see a dream, and know you are dreaming, and yet are apart from it, that is how God feels this universe. On one side he is awake, and on another side he is dreaming this universe. And that is how you should look upon this world. Then you will know why he created it, and you will not ascribe these dream conditions to your soul. If you pass through a nightmare, you know that is no more than a bad dream. If you can live in the world in that consciousness, you will not suffer.

You won’t mind then, because you will know you are dreaming. Do not pay undue attention to the passing scenes of life. You are the immortal self (consciousness) living only temporarily in a dream that is sometimes (imagined) to be a nightmare. That is the higher philosophy (and truth) of the mystics.


Do not be so sensitive. Emotional sensitivity is the silent cause of all suffering. To give strength to creation as a reality by emotional involvement in it is foolishness! To not sit still and realize your true soul nature, but to drift along as a part of the eternal motion of (imagined) creation is a constant danger to your happiness. Perhaps someday your body will be terribly sick, and though you want to walk or do other things that you used to do in your younger or healthier days, you find you cannot do them; it is a terrible disillusionment for the soul. Before that day comes, make yourself so free, that you can look upon your body with detachment, caring for it as though it were someone else’s.
Be like the active-inactive Lord. In creation he is joyously busy; beyond creation he is joyously quiescent (still) in divine bliss. Be calmly active and actively calm. When you think about your mortal life and all your troubles and identify with them, you do an injustice to the consciousness of God within you. Affirm and realize “I am not a mortal being; I am spirit.”

Everywhere you will see people, good and evil, searching in their own way for happiness. No one wants to hurt himself. Sins are errors committed under the influence of ignorance, or delusion. But for a different degree of understanding, you might be in the same boat. The point is, in everything we do we are seeking happiness. No one can truthfully say he is a materialist, because anyone who is seeking happiness is seeking God. Therefore, in evil as well as in good God is coaxing us back to him by our search for happiness.

The greatest sin is ignorance – not to know what life is all about. And the greatest virtue is wisdom – to the know the meaning and purpose of life and it’s creator (consciousness). To know that we are not little human beings, but that we are one with consciousness is wisdom. Every night in sleep God takes away all your troubles to show you that you are not a mortal being; you are spirit. When there is health and joy, smile in the dream. When there is a nightmare or sickness or sorrow, say, “I am awake in God, merely watching the play of my life”. Dismiss this world appearance of disease and health, sorrow and joy.

Rise above it. Become the Self (consciousness). Watch (witness) the show of the universe, but do not become absorbed (attached) in it.

Death and darkness cannot cast fear upon us, for we are the very consciousness out of which this universe has been created (imagined) by God (consciousness).

So do not be afraid of anything (since life is a dream - only an appearance in consciousness alone).


* The above excerpts are from

Why God Permits Evil and How to Rise Above It

by Paramahansa Yogananda

Why God Permits Evil by Paramahansa Yogananda (Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles, California.  All rights reserved).

Hinduism Today: Hinduism Today Magazine Jan-Mar 2011

Namaste, Hari Om,

Please see the Hinduism Today Magazine, its free in digital form, great magazine with interesting news.

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2011/1-3/pdf/Hinduism-Today_Jan-Feb-Mar_2011.pdf

Enjoy,

SimpleHinduBhai