Facebook - Falsebook.

One of the reasons which Buddha cited for repeated existence in a human body, and the repetition of which we suffer in the form of repeated births and deaths and the consequent experience of pain and suffering in the human body, is due to the thirst for existence. Thirst for existence means this – I wanted all the pleasurable objects in the world for myself. We are constantly drawing all the pleasurable objects of the world towards our body.  We wanted to preserve this body at all costs - even if it costs the lives of others. This thirst for existence is the outcome of false identification of ourselves as a body. It is the outcome of ignorance. It is the outcome of false-ego that did not exist. The whole bane of mankind and the whole lot of pain and suffering is because of the thirst for existence.

Facebook is nothing but this thirst for existence. People are so desirous of their existence in a name and form, and people are so desirous of their appearance, beauty, aesthetics, and attachment to their bodily form. This represents nothing but the glorification of the body, which is nothing but flesh and blood, and other nauseating substances. Facebook is a ‘falsebook’ and is full of masks. People mask their worries, problems in the form of a hug or a smile. Everyone wanted to show that he is the happiest person on earth, though devoid of happiness. Mankind has no clue of where they are heading. Mankind has no clue about how to solve the fundamental problems of life. The only way not to confront these problems is by masking. It reminds me of the story, The Emperor’s new clothes, by Hans Christian Andersen. People are just like the ministers, who give ‘Likes’ and say to the naked emperor, ‘Oh your clothes are so beautiful’ and so on. It is just like that. Don’t be overwhelmed by the falsity of the Facebook.

Facebook - Just like that - Emperor's New Clothes

Sometimes people know all these things and yet they are helpless. They are just driven away by the mass tendency. Sometimes they are driven away by the vacuum in their lives. The creating of vacuum in one’s life is dangerous, for it leads to depression. Man must know his infinite nature i.e. Pure consciousness. It can never be a vacuum.

The best example for Samkhya philosophy is this Facebook. Man or the user of Facebook is Purusha or Pure consciousness. Whereas, Facebook represents Prakriti (the Ego principle, the five elements, the body and the Universe). Facebook is the world for us, just like Prakriti is for Purusha. The whole world of Prakriti or Facebook is created for the experience of the Purusha or the user. Now comes the seeming bondage between the user and Facebook, though the user is inherently independent of Facebook. The Prakriti or Facebook brings up the experience for the Purusha in the form of joys and sorrows. Liberation is nothing but the separation of Purusha and Prakriti or withdrawal of Purusha from Prakriti. When he becomes separated, he becomes free from pain, free from the experiences of Prakriti and so on.

Falsebook.

I would not recommend you to go back to stone age, but we must understand the underlying falsity beneath this social media. I would recommend to use it for mature and higher purposes or nothing at all.

*I am sorry if this post has offended anyone.

Thank You.

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Vedanta - The Search For ‘One’.

We in our lives are searching for ‘one’, knowing which we would be able to solve all the problems in our lives. The scientists are busy searching for a fundamental particle, which is nothing but the search for one, and knowing which they would able to solve all the problems in the universe. This is the mother of all sciences and this is the mother of all spirituality – the search for ‘One’.

Vedanta is one of the ancient system of Indian philosophy, the truths of which our ancient seers have experienced, and put into a systematic form by our subsequent Acharyas. The ancient and modern seers have seen this truth, have experienced this truth, and have transmitted this truth from Guru to disciple, and the knowledge of which is considered to be of paramount importance. That is the reason why we hold our Gurus in high regard, and we have every reason to believe that the sacred mantra which we received from our Guru, originated directly from the Vedas itself, and transmitted by the Guru Parampara.

What is this ‘One’ is like? Take, for example, computers. In computers, there is a programming language and a machine level language. All programming languages are broken down into a machine level language, which is nothing but 0’s and 1’s. But we could not actually see the 0’s and 1’s. What we could see is the output in the form of an interface, like an operating system. Similarly in Vedanta, there is a fundamental 'One'. 

Vedanta takes us from the gross world to the subtle world, and from the subtle world to the ‘one’, just like we go from OS to Programming language, and from programming language to machine level language. And again, Vedanta traverses from ‘One’ to many, just like we come from machine level language to programming language, and from programming language to interface and so on. The only difference between the Vedanta of Hinduism and Sunyavada of Buddhism is that the former holds the fundamental truth to be ‘1’, whereas the latter holds the fundamental truth to be ‘0’.

Machine level language.

Therefore, the Vedantic scriptures are replete with meditations from many to ‘One’, and from ‘One’ to many. They are also replete with meditations of the fundamental ‘One’ pervading the whole universe and so on. They are also replete with meditations of origin and dissolution of the universe and so on. Vedanta concludes, that the ‘One’ in man is ultimately synonymous with the Universal One (Brahman-Atman Akiyam). What exists is actually the ‘Universal One’ or Brahman. The seemingly manifold universe is because of ‘Maya’ or illusion.

Vedanta prescribes some basic qualifications for the seeker of this ultimate truth. They are the qualifications of self-restraint and so on. The seeker of truth should approach an illumined Guru or the knower of Brahman earnestly, and the Guru, in turn, showers his grace on his disciple and teaches the ultimate truth. The Guru then instructs the mode of spiritual practice or contemplating upon truth. The disciple then puts his effort assiduously, and contemplates upon the nature of ‘One’, and ultimately succeeds in attaining the truth, culminating in the form of an experience. The disciple then becomes free from all ‘Upadhis’ or limitations originating from ignorance or Maya. He then becomes free from the cycle of repeated existence in the human body.

Vedanta recognizes two aspects of Brahman. One is Saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes) and Nirguna Brahman (Brahman as a whole or without attributes). Saguna Brahman is our Gods and Goddesses, and our Avatars, where the Brahman or the Knowledge of Brahman is manifested in its fullness. Rama, Krishna, and Ramakrishna are the great Avatars, who have manifested this fullness of the Brahman.

Rama - Fullness of Brahman is manifested in this divine form.

 Our whole country is built upon this grand edifice of Vedanta. Our nation is integrated into the form of relationship between Guru and a disciple. It is very important for a seeker of Vedantic truths to approach a Guru and know these truths. As a Hindu race, it then becomes the duty of every Hindu to seek a Guru and get initiated by the mantra. The purpose of receiving mantra is only for the attainment of the knowledge of Brahman and not by any other means.

Sri Ramakrishna is the great Avatar of this age, and the greatest ever since, for he practiced and attained the truths of all religions. He found the ultimate truths of all religions to be ‘One’. The greatest thing about Sri Ramakrishna is his humility, which comes from the fullness of the knowledge of Brahman. If someone addresses him as Guru, he feels great pain, and if someone asks for some ‘upadesa’ he says, what do I know? He don’t even hurt a grass and doesn’t stand on anyone. He supports everyone who seeks his refugee. He is the incarnation of purity itself. He is our light in the moments of darkness. 

Thank You.

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Event-Driven Programming in Man for Self-Revelation.

Everyone knows of what an event-driven programming is like. We make a program which responds to an external event, for example, a right-click on a button or pressing a key on a keyboard and so on. A typical VB program. We in our lives, right from our childhood, there are millions of event-driven 'incidents', generating them continually, and revealing ourselves of who we actually are. These events are not of external origin, as we normally think, but of our own making. We make our own events to find out who we actually are.

An event is bound to happen in nature. This earth, and all its living and non-living entities, are part of a grand scheme made for the outcome of events. All beings have to overcome nature at every instant for survival. These so-called survival events are generated in relation to the body. For example, in animals, the events are mostly the tests for survival and there it ends. We can, therefore, find these animals to be too sensitive in response to an external threat posed by nature and other species. Their survival instincts are so subtle that they can detect danger at a great distance. For example, birds are very sensitive to dangers from nature and other species. Animals all throughout their lives, fight for the survival, and events are mostly generated on the platform of nature only for survival.

Survival event - Watch out for the threat.

But in the case of human beings, it is altogether different. Human beings are made for evolution, and therefore, events in human beings are made for more than survival. But initially, when we are born, we too face the same threat as that of animals. We have the threat of disease always looming over our heads and a threat from nature. Remember the day when we were sick, when we contracted malaria, jaundice, and chickenpox and so on. These events are generated by us to reveal our survival against nature. They are the events for self-revelation and every human being has to pass through these events. Nowadays we have modern medical technologies to cope with the threat from disease and nature.

Man since he survived from the physical threat level, events will be unfolded in a way to go beyond the physical threat level. Next, comes the stage when we grow up. We have to go to school to receive education, and now we are no more in our cozy homes. We gradually train to become part of the society. Now, man generates events to test his adaptability to his society. Remember the first day when we were in school, and remember how many of us made friends on day one? In my case, I don’t remember exactly what happened on that day but naturally cried a lot, for I have lost the security from my home and parents. The school is just an event to graduate into the social level. Here comes the building up of personality in school. We gradually become more conscious of our self-image and we develop our own character.

Slowly, we reveal more of ourselves about our moral and ethical nature. This is the stage where we develop these basic qualities of ‘Yama’ and ‘Niyama’. The events we generate come in such a way that we unfold them to know more about our moral qualities.

Ahimsa – The first day when we fought with our so-called enemies in our class. We generated these events to test our capacity for non-violence.

Ahimsa tested.

Satya – When we lied to our teacher and parents regarding our homework and marks. We generated these events to test our capacity for truthfulness.

Asteya – The day when we stole an object from someone. We generated these events to test our non-stealing resolve.

Brahmacharya – Of course these tests comes later. But they test our capacity for our susceptibility and of our conduct towards opposite sex.

Aparigraha – When we don’t accept of what is freely given. When we take a freebie from someone, we lose our freedom and discretion, and this is a test for that resolve.

These tests continue in our lives as long as we don’t develop them. If these qualities are not formed, we generate them continually till we attain a sort of infallible nature from these moral qualities. These are very crucial stages in our lives and our children must be taught these qualities. If they don’t develop them, they are going to generate events till they sort out.

For example, a boy or a girl can master these moral precepts and put into practice at an age of 16, and someone who has not mastered these qualities will generate events till he attains those qualities. We now at this age we must examine ourselves, do we have the capacity for violence? Do we have the capacity to tell lies? Do we have the capacity to steal? Do we have the capacity for wrong conduct? And do we accept any freebies or favor for something? If we are clean with them, then events will unfold for a greater evolution, and if not the events will be generated to test and develop these moral qualities.

Next comes the set of events that will turn our lives upside down. We have evolved from physical threat level, and we become morally infallible, and next comes the test of who actually we are? Do you remember the day when we saw the dead man for the first time, and do we remember the day when we saw people of old age, and people who suffer from the terminal disease? Everyone in their lives would have generated these events for evolution. A person who is awakened will accept the challenge of these events and pursue the evolution path.

Four sights of Buddha.

Remember Buddha, he at once understood that he has to evolve, and shed his life altogether on seeing the above-mentioned sights. And mankind has to evolve spiritually, and until then the test continues. If one has rightly understood, one would search for higher things, and if not they continue to experience the tests of evolution. We keep generating these events until we attain the highest truth. If you think that spirituality is not yours, and it is a vocation meant for our friend Vishnu Shankar, then you are wrong. Because the event-driven programming kind of thing which is in you, will make you reveal, and continue to evolve till you attain the highest goal.

The struggle doesn’t end when one has given up the world. Buddha had to face many temptations, it tested his lure of the opposite sex, and tested his ability to stand against bodily corruption and so on. The struggle continues and tests continue until we attain the highest goal i.e., liberation.

Mara the tempter.

Some generate events and learn quickly and attain freedom like Buddha. For others it, may take a single life time to many births, until he understands the truth. But the happiest thing is that everyone is going to attain it for sure. Some earlier and some later and so on. Remember all your past events and how far did you evolve? You cannot escape kid.

Thank You.

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Preserving Vital Energies - The Key to Higher Life.

Preserving vital energies (Brahmacharya) in the body holds the key to illumination in the spiritual life. It is living up in a plane, higher above the normal body-consciousness.  It is a life of freedom from Prakriti altogether. To understand how this vital energy helps in achieving freedom, we need to understand the spiritual anatomy of the human body.

This is what Swami Vivekananda said about the spiritual anatomy of the human body. He says, “According to the Yogis, there are two nerve currents in the spinal column, called Pingala and Ida, and a hollow canal called Sushumna running through the spinal cord. At the lower end of the hollow canal is what the Yogis call the "Lotus of the Kundalini". They describe it as triangular in form in which, in the symbolical language of the Yogis, there is a power called the Kundalini, coiled up. When that Kundalini awakes, it tries to force a passage through this hollow canal, and as it rises step by step, as it were, layer after layer of the mind becomes open and all the different visions and wonderful powers come to the Yogi. When it reaches the brain, the Yogi is perfectly detached from the body and mind; the soul finds itself free.” (Raja Yoga: Chapter – The Psychic Prana)

                These nerve currents are very subtle. They can only be comprehended when the ‘subtle-vital force’ (Kundalini) is awakened. Normally, this ‘subtle-vital force’, remain idle and not awakened, because the human mind normally dwells in the lower plane of consciousness. There are seven planes of consciousness in which the human mind dwells. They are,

1) Muladhara 2) Svadhistana 3) Manipura 4) Anahata 5) Visudhha 6) Ajna and 7) Sahasra

Seven planes.

When the human mind dwells in the lower plane of consciousness, the vital energies in the body remain dissipated. Since they are dissipated, the vital energies in the body remain weak. Since the vital energies remain weak, Kundalini is not awakened, and therefore, one cannot progress higher up in the spiritual life. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that we need to preserve the vital energies in the human body. If the vital energies were preserved, one is able to scale up in the consciousness plane, and attain liberation. The man then attains freedom from nature altogether. How to do it?

1.       Cut off all bodily associations:

The idea of body is nothing but ignorance. Men who are awakened generally move away from all bodily associations. Some call it as ‘cruel’ to desert one's parents and so on. But it would be crueler not to know oneself. It would be crueler still to remain ignorant all throughout our lives. Should everyone move out of their homes, what will happen to the society? But this option is only for awakened men and women who desire liberation. It doesn’t intend escapism from duty or any other reason. It arises from the goal of attaining freedom.

It is difficult for married men and women to do so. It would be better for them to preserve an atmosphere altogether free from bodily associations, and to dwell in that place for a certain period of time. For example, a meditation room, or a place for spiritual retreat, and so on. We as a nation are so proud of our spiritual capabilities, but most of us are ignorant of the real need for meditation. In India, in our homes, we find only a small chamber for Puja, where we hang up all Gods and Goddess. We need a room and which should be completely dedicated to meditation. I wonder, in a spiritual country as ours, we don’t have separate rooms for meditation in our households.

Every Indian household needs a meditation room.

2.       Do not look at a women or men:

Looks like a Taliban rule, but there is no other way. For men - don’t look at the women, and for Women - don’t look at men. What happens in doing so? In doing so, we remain free from the bondage of Prakriti, we remain free from the bodily ideas, we remain free from sense-impressions, we remain free from the consequent actions of sense-impressions, we remain free from subsequent rebirth, and at we last remain free from pain and suffering. Do not look at a women or men absolutely, if you want to preserve absolute Brahmacharya. If you happen to look at them look them in the attitude of a brother and sister and so on.

3.       Refrain from all acts of sensuality:

To preserve absolute Brahmacharya, one must refrain from all acts of sensuality. Because all sensual activities dissipate the vital energies in the body. Sensual acts are the acts, arising from the contact of sense organs with sensual objects or objects of enjoyment. All sense organs have an equal measure in dissipating the vital energies. Therefore, one must always remain on one’s guard against these sense objects.

4.       Meditate:

Meditation is conducive only when one has achieved a certain degree of freedom from Prakriti. It is conducive only when one is able to live a life above the level of body consciousness. It is only possible when one has restrained and followed the above-mentioned rules. One may ask, where is the happiness when you cut off all relationships? Where is the happiness, when you don’t look at the sensual objects? And what is life without these enjoyments?

From our childhood, we are aware only of the lower form of sense enjoyments. There are some higher forms of happiness, which we are not aware of, in the form of peace arising from meditation. The lower enjoyments don't even form an iota of what the higher peace represents. When one goes higher up, one feels broadening of the soul, in the form of compassion towards all beings, in the form of actionable social work for suffering humanity, and so on.

Higher Peace  - No trouble from Prakriti

When Prakriti is totally cut off, one feels the higher planes of lives opening up, as Swami Vivekananda mentioned. As we have seen earlier, the lower planes represent the bodily ideas and the higher up the plane, there is a progress from bodily ideas to spiritual ideas. The lower plane represents name and form of ordinary objects and the higher plane is devoid of name and form, and where pure consciousness resides. Practitioners of Bhakti will find the forms of God in higher planes and merge into a formless aspect of God in still higher planes.

5.       Lifestyle:

The lifestyle which is suitable for this purpose is the middle path. Sleep, food, and work must be regulated and must be done in the attitude of self-surrender to God. Regular Yoga helps in regulating the Prana, which is vital in keeping the energies higher up. The ultimate goal of Yogis is not selfish – that is for one’s own liberation. But the Yogi works for the liberation of all beings and until then he keeps the work on. Therefore, it must be not be mistaken for a selfish endeavor.

Attitude of self surrender to God.

So, preserve vital energy to progress higher up in life, and ultimately achieve freedom from pain and suffering. 

Thank You.

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Mother of All Conflicts: Analysis and Resolution.

The root of all conflicts in life is this – I wanted the whole world to follow me. We at all times and all throughout our lives are doing this, that we wanted the whole world to follow suit. We at all times project our energies in that end. Man always want to expand in infinite mode and that is the reason he wants the whole world to follow him. He considers himself as an ideal. But man because of his entanglement in Prakriti or material phenomena, wanted to project the ideas of material in the infinite plane as well. There lies the root of all conflicts. The root of all conflicts always happens in the material world in the areas of politics, power, economy and other areas.

For example, take our great freedom fighters. Each had their own ideal, and each wanted their ideal to be followed by our countrymen. The great Mahatma Gandhi wanted to achieve his goal of freedom only through the method of non-violence and not by any other means. Whereas, our great Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose wanted the non-violent struggle to mature into a form of a violent end for achieving freedom. Each followed their own course and had their results as well. India achieved its freedom through the combination of non-violent and violent struggles, and each learned their lessons in turn. The ideals of Gandhi suffered a setback when India was partitioned and the ideas of Netaji suffered a setback when the INA and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), were routed in the battle of Imphal.

Gandhiji and Netaji

It is because of the same reason that our great Mahatma Gandhi failed to intervene when Shaheed Bhagat Singh was handed over a death sentence. Fall in line with my ideas or fall out. Sorry, I cannot help you. This is the problem. 

Again there is a struggle between the capitalist and the communist countries. The whole world, as a result, was on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. The Russians found the ideal of communism suitable for them and, in turn, wanted the whole world to follow suit. The Americans want it in the other way. They wanted the whole world to be democratic and embrace capitalism. The conflict of these ideologies resulted in a series of cold war conflicts ranging from Vietnam to Afghanistan.

Cold War

This happens at the individual level as well. I wanted the whole world to embrace the ideas of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. Whereas my friend wanted me to get married and another friend wanted me to continue my studies and so on. Each one wanted to reform the whole world. The struggle between a husband and a wife, the struggle between parents and their children, the struggle between students in a class, and all forms of struggle is nothing but the struggle of ideas overwhelming each other.

This reminds me of a flash video game played a long time ago. A fish growing bigger and bigger by eating smaller ones. Ultimately you win the match by swallowing everything and grow bigger. This is what we are doing. We wanted to swallow each other by our good and bad thoughts. The criminal wanted to swallow us; the saints wanted to swallow us and so on.

Fish eating smaller one.

As I said the root of all conflicts lies in the material phenomena. In the spiritual arena, the material world comes to a naught and has no effect on it. The spiritual ideas are just like the law of physics. They cannot be changed or destroyed. It remains forever. If people try to advocate it they remain, and if people try to destroy it they remain, and, therefore, they are called truths. The fundamental truths cannot be altered. Only in the spiritual arena, we find these fundamental truths. The four noble truths, the immortality of the soul as described in Bhagavad Gita, The divine nature of man as mentioned in Upanishads and the freedom of Purusha as mentioned in Samkhya and Yoga are nothing but truths. They cannot be changed or altered.

Immortal truths in Bhagavad Gita

The lower ideas in life are always conflicting in nature because of the association with the material phenomena. As soon as a material object enters in our life conflict begins. For example: How to use the material? When to use the material? Rules and regulations. How to preserve the material? And finally who should own it and so it. Right from simple material object to objects of wealth, conflict arises. Adding every new material raises an issue in our lives. Our real nature is that of pure consciousness and therefore, we cannot hold on to the material phenomena for long.

           It is not that man should not possess wealth or the objects required, but he should be well aware of the conflicts arising from them. Aspiring for higher wealth is good as long as it helps others in the form of charity or a man has to simply face these conflicts. Shedding the material phenomena altogether is possible but it needs tremendous sacrifice.

Therefore, live a life based on higher ideas. Try to find out the higher ideas in your own life and put into practice. It needs tremendous sacrifice as I said. We have give up certain claims and privileges and work from the grass-roots level.  Whenever conflict arises, pull yourself into higher ideas and sacrifice the material part. It is said that Immortality is attained only through sacrifice and not through material phenomena.

Thank You.

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Swachh Bharat - Bhakti and Environmental Pollution.

Religion is one of the key factors in integrating our nation. Someone suggested cricket. Cricket is a sport and no doubt we are passionate about it. If we win a world cup, and if a player had a run riot in a game, we idolize him and elevate him to the status of God. But if we lose a game against Pakistan, and if a player fumbles at crucial points, we don't hesitate to set fire to his effigy and pelt stones at his home. But we don’t burn our Gods nor our places of pilgrimage.

Cricket or Religion?

Some tidbits:

Here are some tidbits about our religion.

Throughout history, our nation has given refuge to persecuted religious communities across the world. We accept all religion as true because of the unitary nature of goal of all religions i.e. liberation. India resembles a big spiritual fair or a mela, with round a clock ceremonies going throughout the year. Take the local calendar for example, and I am sure there is not a single day which is free from religious ceremonies.

We have many symbols, which stand for the religious unity. Ellora caves for example. It is regarded as a world heritage site. It is a series of cave complex carved out of a mountain. There are 17 Hindu caves, 12 Buddhist caves, and 5 Jain caves. And this is the citation by UNESCO about Ellora caves, “…. Not only is the Ellora complex a unique artistic creation and a technological exploit but, with its sanctuaries devoted to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, it illustrates the spirit of tolerance that was characteristic of ancient India”.

Ellora caves

Warcry – In a battle especially during hand to hand combat, soldiers charge on the enemy by yelling something. In India our war cry is religious. These are the war cries of various regiments of  our Indian army.

Gorkha Regiment – Jai Maha Kali / Ayo Gorkhali

Bihar Regiment – Jai Bajrangbali

Rajputana Rifles – Raja Ramachandra Ki Jai

J&K Rifles – Durga Mata Ki Jai

And many more. It exemplifies the religious fervor of our country.

Ayo Gorkhali

Pilgrimage:

                In ancient India, there were saints who took to high places to perform Tapasya. The high places were naturally free from all worldly prospects and, therefore, took refuge in caves and mountains. In due course of time they were illumined, and naturally they had divine visions of Gods and Goddess. These places which were sanctified by the saints became the places of pilgrimage with a temple dedicated to the Gods and Goddess.

Population and Infra.:

                Indian population at the beginning of 1950 was around 361 million, but now we stand at 1 billion. Therefore, in those days, we can assume a fewer population visiting places of pilgrimage in remote locations. The infrastructure in those days was obviously poor, and people have to trudge and trek a lot of distance before their final destination. The pollution problems would be therefore minimum.

                Now with the development of infrastructure and with the development of roads and railways, the places of pilgrimage become easily accessible. Imagine a devout Hindu or any religious person, bound to visit his place of pilgrimage at least once in a year. And we know very that there are thousands of pilgrimage places scattered across our country. Imagine if a population of 1 billion or fewer moving across our nation, from north to south and from east to west.

                The movement will be huge. We have millions of people congregating in Kumbh mela and other grand religious occasions. Kumbh mela is the world’s largest congregation of religious pilgrims. According to stats, an estimated 120 million people visited Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013.

Kumbh Mela

Pollution:

                What would happen to the place of pilgrimage if millions congregate? I would not say that people should not opt for pilgrimage. It is a matter of faith. Hindus have particularly a deep regard for places of pilgrimage. Rivers like Ganga and Narmada are regarded as visible Brahman and regarded as Holy. For pilgrims, it is a matter of salvation.

                But the environmental problems are huge. First there will mass movement and mass transportation, creating mass pollution. Next comes the sanitary issues. Next come the stampede and crowd control. Next comes the river pollution. Next accumulated garbages. Next families separated. There is a whole lot of Hindi movies, where we find the kids separated during Kumbh mela and reuniting by a family song. There is, of course, noise pollution as well with blazing loudspeakers.

                The places of pilgrimage once sanctified by saints became a mere garbage. If the rate of pollution will continue, the places will become toxic. The waters will no longer be mere water, but toxic in content. We, therefore, bear responsible for the future generations to come. In India, the places of pilgrimage are the least clean. At least, we are now awakened by Swachh Bharat programs. But what is the use when there is a lack of awareness about pollution problems among the mass devotees. What about its implications?

Ganges.

                Bhakti is all right, but we owe to nature as well. What we need is a little sensitive bhakti, with a concern for our environment, with a concern for pollution problems surrounding the places of pilgrimage, with a concern to organize and sort out the pollution problems by ourselves. Unless we change ourselves, our environments don’t. Our concern should be more about preserving the sanctity and cleanliness of the places of pilgrimage. There are other innumerable factors contributing to pollution in other areas. For example, Industries, automobile etc.

Some suggestions:

                I would suggest the following to keep our places of pilgrimage clean.

1.       Have a plan. Plan for the travel and stay etc.

2.       Don’t soil your hands with the blood of animals.

3.       Zero littering.

4.       Don’t pollute the rivers.

5.       Use toilets.

6.       Avoid stampede and rush hours.

7.       Use technology to solve problems.

Bhakti and Yoga:

                In India, the majority are the practitioners of Bhakti. There are other options as well. The choice of the spiritual path depends upon the inherent religious tendency in man. A man of Bhakti cannot be forced into Jnana and vice versa and so on. But we must not be forced into anything. We have our own choices. According to practitioners of God without form (Janna and Advaita Vedanta) there is no need for a God Without. According to them, everything is Brahman. They look for God within. There is no need for a visit to the places of pilgrimage and no need to perform rituals and no need to participate in any religious congregation. They find themselves in meditation and reach the goal. What all they need is an isolated spot to practice yoga. So, the prospect of pollution will be zero.

                Bhakti is sacred, but please look at the environment of what you have done.

Thank You.

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