I am deeply indebted to  debyemm for her kind help in drafting this blog.

Aware of my “I am”, I chose a path of humility. Many, many years ago, during my wandering, I came across a big lake. A beautiful lake. Being very tired I decided to rest under the shadow of a tree near the lake….and I slept.

I had a dream … in my dream I saw a Hindu Brahmin coming to the lake. He collected the pure water from the lake and called it “Jal”. On the other side of the lake, I saw another person approaching the lake. He was a Muslim, and he too collected water from the lake. He called it “Paani”. As I was watching the Muslim, I saw a Christian approaching the lake. He also collected, and …yes … called it “water”.

Time passed, and in early 2005, I thought of finally “retiring”. But in meditation, which occupies me daily, I heard a voice “you have unfinished work”.

Hearing the call, I left Suradevi.

And I discovered Gaia, pure, vibrant, kind, and loving.

It was all DIVINE WILL.

As I started posting blogs and participating in various groups I was blessed to come close to the Angels of Gaia.

In one of my blogs “How the body, mind and soul are related” , I expressed the vision “I wish someone would compile the verses/sayings from all the different sources from ALL RELIGIONS about the SAME subject. Truth is same, and it would be an enlightening experience for all to see how everyone speaks the same truth”. To my utter joy and gratitude, I found others here who shared that desire deep in their hearts and One Light Many Windows, the group project, was born.

Now another Divine Vision becomes manifest in the 9:09 Gaia Minute.  I ask that any who have found connection with me here at Gaia, join together with others who have already begun this combined prayer.  In many places throughout Gaia – for example, in Gaia Community Vision, in The God Pod, in Living Metaphysics, In Passing, in Meeting Love, in Walking the Labyrinth, in World Heritage Society, in Intergral Veg*n, in several others as well as in One Light Many Windows - there are links to this contemplative practice we are called to.  

Please feel free to cross-link to these or any others that you may find, and write about it in your blog, place links upon your Profile Pages; that word of this prayer time can ripple ever outward, amplifying and bringing together massive numbers of human spiritual energy conduits, ever increasing exponentially.

This project asks only that you observe solemn and spiritual silence with gratitude for our Mother Earth and all the ways she cares for us as part of herself.  May we understand in our hearts how deep and true and powerful her Mother-love for each of us is.  We are some part of her.  May we be mindful that our highest qualities are a reflection of her highest qualities.  May we be mindful that our Mother Earth is the source of all sustenance and the nurturing of our very lives.   In contemplation, may we realize truly our inextricable ONENESS with our Mother Earth.

Now, it is time, for me to finally leave. I am going to a place, where I will no longer have access to the internet, but you may send messages to my heart, I will hear them within that space.  Never give up on love.

I am confident that twice each day, morning and night, for 9 minutes beginning at 9:09, in each participant’s time zone, this Divine Mandate – will join my heart with yours in combined prayer.  An hourly wave that takes place on opposite sides of the globe simultaneously, every hour.  Every hour, somewhere, it will be 9:09.

Please consider also, if both morning or night at 9:09 in your time zone, does not work for you, that you may also define time by the word MUHURTA, the moment of NOW.  As noted, at 9 past the hour, someone, somewhere, will eventually be part of this prayer project and will be meditating with you.

I am confident that this final wish of mine - that we join together in combined prayer, as agreed to by all you beautiful Gaians, will enable my work now begun here, to continue for many years, after I am gone. 

In Vedic Hindu system, a person who renounces the world to become a sanyasi performs the Viraja Homa, or 'Universal Sacrifice'. It is the final fire sacrifice and the mantras of this sacrifice are deeply significant. These mantras are found in the Maha-Narayana Upanishad of the Krishna Yajur Veda.

In this blog I metion the Viraja Homa mantras with English tranlations to illustrate the deep spiritual significance of the sanyasa ritual.

By this oblation may my in-breath, out-breath, diffused breath, up-breath and middle breath become purified. I pray that I become effulgent and bereft of all obstructing sins and their cause, the pasions in me. For this end may this oblation be appropriately offered into the consecrated fire. Svaha!

By this oblation may my speech, mind, sight, hearing, taste, smell, seed, intellect, intention and aim become purified. I pray that I become effulgent and bereft of all obstructing sins and their cause, the pasions in me. For this end may this oblation be appropriately offered into the consecrated fire. Svaha!

By this oblation may my seven bodily ingredients - outer and inner skin, flesh, blood, fat, marrow, sinew and bone - become purified. I pray that I become effulgent and bereft of all obstructing sins and their cause, the pasions in me. For this end may this oblation be appropriately offered into the consecrated fire. Svaha!

By this oblation may the limbs and the parts of my body comprised by the head, hands, feet, sides, back, thighs, belly, shanks, the generative organ, the middle part of the body and the anus become purified. I pray that I become effulgent, bereft of all obstructing sins and their cause, the pasions in me. For this end may this oblation be appropriately offered into the consecrated fire. Svaha!

O thou Divine Person, who is dark blue and who is red in eyes make haste to favour me. Grant me more and more purity. Be a grantor of knowledge and purity to me through the medium of my preceptor. May my thoughts become purified. I pray that I become effulgent, bereft of all obstructing sins and their cause, the pasions in me. For this end may this oblation be appropriately offered into the consecrated fire. Svaha !

English translation source

and much more ....

Hug for the World

According to Varaha Purana, Lord Brahma’s son Kashyapa had four wives. Kashyapa’s first wife gave birth to Devas, second to Garudas, third to Nagas (snakes) and fourth to Daityas (demons). The third wife was called Kadroo, so Nagas are also known as Kadrooja.

Kadru was mother of one thousand Nagas. Some prominent names being Sesha,Vasuki, Takshaka, Anant, Kanwal, Karkotak, Kalia, Aswatar, Padma, Mahapadma, Shankh, Kulik, Pingal etc.

When all these snakes started tormenting human-beings,lord Brahma cursed them that they would be annihilated due to the curse of their own mother, but that is another story.

The snakes got terrified and promised to mend their ways.They then requested lord Brahma to give them a place to live in.Lord Brahma instructed them to go to three different netherworlds-Sutal,Vital and Patal. He also warned them that during Vaivaswat manvantar Janmejay would perform a grand yagya with the objective of destroying the wicked snakes but the virtuous among them would manage to survive.

It was Shraavan Shuddh Panchami ( The fifth day of the Bright half of the Hindu month Shravan-July-August). On that day the entire snake family got a new lease of life (( read my blog How the snakes were saved - A Hindu mythology). This day is considered a sacred day by Hindus. The festival Nag Panchami is celebrated on this day.  The five Nāgas worshipped on Nag Panchami are Ananta, Vāsuki, Taxak, Karkotaka and Pingala.

Note: Please note that there are also several other legends associated with Nag Panchami. 

In a recent private communication, a bright gaian soul asked me this question : ”do we share same faith or two good faiths.”

An attempt to identify the underlying spirit and intention of the UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS is important and useful. However, there is also this risk that such exercise may lead people astray. By the very nature, these attempts remain explained in analogies and abstract ideas only. We should reflect on these and discuss them keeping in mind that in the final analysis we must always resign ourselves to never fully knowing God's wisdom and mercy.

“God disdains not to use the similitude of things, lowest as well as highest. Those who believe know that it is truth from their Lord; but those who reject Faith say: “What means God by this similitude?” By it He causes many to stray, and many He leads into the right path; but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path).” (Al-Baqarah 2: 26)

We know that different traditions have different ideas about the nature of Ultimate Reality, but in the final analysis, this Reality is a Mystery which lies beyond the reach of any thoughts, ideas, words, or concepts whatsoever.
 Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, opened his The Tao Te Ching with these famous lines:

"The Way which can be verbalized is not the true Way."

Dionysius the Areopagite, the 6th century Christian mystic wrote:

"That One which is beyond all thought is inconceivable by all thought."

Again,  Sufi Al-Junayd  said similar words:

"Whatever may be imagined in thy heart, God is the opposite of it."

Sufi Abu Bakr al-Kalabadhi maintained:

The fact that we describe God as having all these attributes in no way bestows any attribute on Him: our description is merely our own attribution, an account we give of an attribute which exists through Him.

The Upanishads declared:

"The Spirit supreme is immeasurable, inapprehensible, beyond conception, never-born, beyond reasoning, beyond thought. His vastness is the vastness of space."

Nagarjuna  the Buddhist sage said:

"The ultimate truth which is indeterminate is the unutterable dharma. There the sphere of the speakable ceases, the activities of the mind come to an end."


Buddha said of his own teachings:

"These teachings are only a finger pointing toward Noble Wisdom … They are intended for the consideration and guidance of the discriminating minds of all people, but they are not the Truth itself, which can only be self-realized within one's own deepest consciousness."

The four Purusharthas

Hinduism has defined four goals (aims) of human life which are called the four purusharthas ("purusha" means a human being or God, and "artha" means an object or objective. This "purushartha" means the objective/goal of a human being). These four goals create a stable social framework within which one can live peacefully and gradually evolve spiritually.

The first goal is Dharma. The root of the word dharma comes from dhri, which means to uphold or maintain. Dharma is defined in Sanskrit as "dharayati iti dharmaha", meaning dharma is that which upholds. Again, it is said "dhriyate iti dharmaha", thus meaning not only what is supported is dharma, but that which does the supporting is also dharma, . So dharma consists of both the force that sustains as well as what is sustained. It can also be said that there is the path of dharma as well as its conclusion, the object of dharma, or what we are seeking, the goal of life. So dharma is the means as well as the goal.   Dharma is the first human goal and forms the foundation for the pursuit of the other three goals. Dharmic actions are those individual, social, political, and professional actions which are based upon the four virtues - truth, ahimsã, morality and ethics.

The second goal is Artha. The Sanskrit word "artha" has several meanings. In the context of the four purusharthas, the word "artha" mans material wealth (although in deeper spiritual interpretation of the four purusharthas, many wise sages have interpreted the word artha as "meaning/understanding of one's existence"). Hinduism recognizes the importance of material wealth for the overall happiness and well being of an individual. While Hindu thinking advocates simple living, it does not glorify poverty, and does not consider wealth as a hurdle to self realization. It is greed and attachment to wealth that is considered a hurdle, not the wealth by itself. Thus "Artha" means to earn wealth in accordance with dharma.

The third goal is Kãma. There is a general misconception which associates the word Kãma  with sexual desires. Kãma actually means all the physical, emotional, and intellectual desires of a person. In Hinduism and in Buddhism, desire has been considered to be the root cause of all sufferings. However, Hinduism acknowledges Kãma as a goal of human life and declares "he who performs his prescribed duties out of desire in the right manner will obtain the fulfillment of all the desires and reach the deathless state."

The fourth and final goal is Moksha or liberation. Moksha denotes spiritual perfection, which, according to Hindu thinking, is attained automatically when one leads a life that is dedicated to dharma. 

The five debts (Rin)

The purpose of purusharthas is to ensure that people would not neglect their obligatory duties by becoming obsessed with particular desires that may lead to moral and social degeneration and destruction of values. To further ensure a stable social framework, Hinduism introduces the concept of debts.

According to the Taittiriya Sanhita (6.3.10.5),  a child is  born with three debts to repay in his (or her) lifetime.

Human beings get easy access to the objects created by God, hence they become indebted to the deities. This is called "Deva Rin (rin=debt)". This debt must be repayed by performing various religious acts and worships (puja).

Human beings acquire the knowledge generated by the ancient sages and intellectuals. Thus humanity is indebted to them. This is called "Rishi Rin".  By studying and acquiring knowledge (and if possible adding matter to the existing knowledge), this debt can be repaid.

A person is indebted to his/her ancestors as they have propagated their lineage and are the cause for his/her birth. This is called "Pitri Rin". To replay this debt, Hinduism advocated (righteous) procreation as well as performing rituals in rememberance of the ancestors.

Another ancient Hindu scripture, Shatpath Brahman (1.7.2.1-6), added two more debts.  According to this scripture:

• a person is indebted to humanity at large (called Nri Rin or Manushya-rin) which can be repaid by treating others with respect and helping them
• a person is indebted to plants, animals and nature (called Bhuta Rin). These debts are repaid by performing the five great sacrificial fires (panchamahayadnya) in the stage of the householder. [Refer ‘Science of Spirituality : Vol. 1 C. Varnashramvyavastha, Chapter 1 C B. Stages of life (ashrams), point - The stage of the householder (gruhasthashram)’.]

 
We can see that the concept of "service" has its roots in the ancient Hindu tradition of the five-fold debt system. The concept of the four ends and five debts generates awareness of one's duties and responsibilities, provides moral and ethical direction to life, encourages family values, and helps one to organize life for individual accomplishments.

There lived in their hermitages two eminent brahmanas, named Bharadwaja and Raibhya, who were dear friends.

Raibhya and his two sons, Paravasu and Arvavasu, learnt the Vedas and became famed scholars. Bharadwaja de voted himself wholly to the worship of God.

He had a son named Yavakrida who saw with jealousy and hatred that the brah- manas did not respect his ascetic father as they did the learned Raibhya.

Yavakrida practised hard penance to gain the grace of Indra. He tortured his body with austerities and thus awakened the compassion of Indra, who appeared and asked him why he so mortified his flesh.

Yavakrida replied: "I wish to be more learned in the Vedas than any has ever been before. I wish to be a great scholar. I am performing these austerities to realise that desire.

It takes a long time and involves much hardship to learn the Vedas from a teacher. I am practising austerities to acquire that knowledge directly. Bless me."

Indra smiled and said: "O brahmana, you are on the wrong path. Return home, seek a proper preceptor and learn the Vedas from him.

Austerity is not the way to learning; the path is study and study alone." With these words Indra vanished. But the son of Bharadwaja would not give up.

He pursued his course of austerities with even greater rigor, to the horror and the distress of the gods. Indra again manifested himself before Yavakrida and warned him again:

"You have taken the wrong path to acquire knowledge. You can acquire knowledge only by study. Your father learnt the Vedas by patient study and so can you. Go and study the Vedas. Desist from this vain mortification of the body."

Yavakrida did not heed even this second warning of Indra and announced defiantly that if his prayer was not granted, he would cut off his limbs one by one and offer them as oblations to the fire. No, he would never give up.


He continued his penance. One morning, during his austerities, when he went to bathe in the Ganga, be saw a gaunt old brahmana on the bank, laboriously throwing handfuls of sand into the water.

Yavakrida asked: "Old man, what are you doing?" The old man replied: "I am going to build a dam across this river. When, with handful after handful, I have built a dam of sand here, people can cross the river with ease. See how very difficult it is at present to cross it. Useful work, isn't it?"

Yavakrida laughed and said: "What a fool you must be to think you can build a dam across this mighty river with your silly handfuls of sand! Arise and take to some more useful work."

The old man said: "Is my project more foolish than yours of mastering the Vedas not by study but by austerities?" Yavakrida now knew that the old man was Indra. More humble this time, Yavakrida earnestly begged Indra. to grant him learning as a personal boon.

Indra blessed, and comforted Yavakrida with the following words:

"Well, I grant you the boon you seek. Go and study the Vedas; you will become learned."

Narrated by Raja Gopala Chari

Source : http://www.hindubooks.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=409