IS THE BHAGAVAD GITA CONNECTED TO TEMPLE PRAYERS?

Sometimes I get invited to ritual prayers held at private homes and at temples and other places, though I sometimes oblige, I yet do not join in the prayers.

People might think (those who know that I am a student of the Gita), "Why doesn't he join in? Is it not this that is taught in the Holy Gita? The simple answer is Yes, and No.

Yes, in the sense that the mantras or verses that are uttered – is the only common bit, and this is where "knowledge" and "wisdom" for man are found – in the verses. But sadly, at temples, these wonderful and meaningful verses are not translated from Sanskrit to English [or any other language] by the priests, so the people are still in ignorance (ignorance here means, not informed of the 'Knowledge of the Scriptures' e.g. Bhagavad Gita, etc.).

The whole point of any religion is for man to behave himself well in the world and to be kind to everyone and everything. They preach that God is everywhere and in everybody, and to see God there. Hence, coming back to the connection between the Gita and Rituals at temples, the Gita focuses on the 'Knowledge' aspect only. This 'Knowledge' is for mankind to understand and imbibe for it also explains the Goal of Life that we should achieve. It is known as 'Transcendental Knowledge' because it literally transcends someone from worldliness to holiness. It transforms his personality and nature all together.

Therefore, ancient sages have considered these two paths opposite to each other, as the person who goes to a temple will usually 'ask' for something of his 'desires'. On the opposite side of the fence is the Gita reader – who is taught 'not to ask', to be 'desireless' because desire leads us to sorrow, and to 'renounce' the world. As you can see here, these two paths seem to oppose each other, and this is the main reason why someone who is following the Path of Knowledge, or 'Jnana Yoga', cannot also practice Deity Worship or 'Bhakti Yoga', because this will make him very confused and miss the goal all together.

From Gross to Subtle is the mantra of Hinduism. The gurus and scriptures remind us that we should move from the gross to the fine, starting with our thoughts, actions and speech. We should work towards becoming 'finer' and more  'polished' beings because God is a subtle being and not gross. And if the goal of man's life is to merge with Him, then how can we do it if we are still gross in our thinking and personality? This is also the other connection between Bhakti (actions) and Jnana (mind/contemplation) – moving from the gross to the subtle.

In the famous and ancient Katha Upanishad, where the young Naciketa has a deep and meaningful conversation with the Lord of Death himself on the Goal of Life states:

“To those who wish to cross over the ocean of worldly experience through sacrifices, the Naciketa Fire stands out as a fine bridge. We know of this fire, and we can also perform it. And we also know of the way that takes you to the other shore where you become one with ‘Para Brahman’ (Brahman without attributes) and you attain fearlessness.” 1.3.2

Those who are inclined towards ritualistic worship can use the Naciketa Fire (a ritual) as their bridge across the ocean of worldly experiences (this world). Through it, they eventually go to heaven where they become one with Virat, and hold an important position, such as that of Yama. But these people do not fully enjoy this position. They get tired of it after a while, and they struggle to become completely ‘merged’ with Brahman. Sooner or later they succeed, and that is what is called “liberation”.

There is another group of people who do not like this roundabout way of attaining liberation. They do not want to waste time going to heaven, for there is nothing in heaven or elsewhere that attracts them. They want to attain Self-knowledge right away. When they die, they completely ‘merge’ with Brahman. That is a state where there is only oneness. Since there is no duality, they have nothing to be afraid of. They therefore go beyond fear. They see only one Self everywhere.

“Know that the embodied Soul as the master of the chariot who sits within it, and the body is the chariot. Consider the intellect as the charioteer, and the mind as the reins.” 1.3.3

Further, as stated in one of my other articles here, the people who worship the Demigods will end up in the Demigod World, whilst the people who worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, the people who have firmly established their faith in the Boss of All Gods by reading the Bhagavad Gita, they aim for Eternal Happiness from within and nothing else – and this is the Goal of Life – to be Happy.

Bhakti Yoga, from what I have come to understand, is for a devotee to learn to focus his mind on someone called "God", but it is not the goal. After a devotee, who has belief in and is focused on God, has mastered Bhakti, he should ascend to realising that God is within him and not outside of him. So to do this, he should take the study of the Scriptures (Jnana Yoga) which shall guide him to his real Self and then the God within him.

So, the next time if anyone wonders why is it that people who read the Ancient Hindu Sacred Scriptures, such as, the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, do not go to temples, you now know why.

"This is what Vedanta says, "'To know God is to become God' and to behave and act godly, godly, godly." – Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

The goal of life is to know that the Individual Self and the Cosmic Self (God) are one and the same. – Katha Upanishad

You are Joy

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YOUR VERY BREATHING IS PRAYER

SELF-CONTROL IS KEY

“The intellect is incapable of discriminating between right and wrong and is also connected with an uncontrollable mind, it is like a charioteer who has to deal with uncontrollable, vicious horses.” – Katha Upanishad (Ancient Hindu Scriptures)

If a person cannot judge right from wrong, he is at the mercy of his impulses. He may then do and say things that he should not, things that are obviously wrong and are more likely than not to do him harm. If, over this, he has an uncontrollable mind, his misery will be endless. He will be like a charioteer who himself is silly and ignorant, and has to, in addition, deal with very wicked and uncontrollable horses.

The emphasis here is on your ‘judgment’ as well as your ‘ability to control your mind’. Sorrow to you if you lack in both.

“When a person has a discriminating intellect, and has that intellect always joined to a mind that is under control, and his senses are also under control, then he is like a charioteer who has well-trained horses to handle.” – Katha Upanishad (Ancient Hindu Scriptures)

Self-control is the key to spiritual progress. First and foremost, you have to have a good, discriminating intellect. The next thing you need is a mind that is always ‘under control’. When a ‘discriminating intellect’ works in conjunction with a ‘controlled mind’, you are as a happy charioteer enjoying the services of good and well-trained horses. Now your mind and your senses can never mislead you, and your progress towards Self-knowledge is assured. Once you attain Self-knowledge, you are no longer a victim of worldly temptations (the causes of sorrow). You are then an “ideal” person.

“He whose intellect is not able to discriminate between right and wrong, and whose uncontrolled mind lets his senses run after impure things (i.e. things detrimental to spiritual progress) – such a person can never attain Self-knowledge. On the contrary, he gets caught in the cycle of birth and death.” – Katha Upanishad (Ancient Hindu Scriptures)

This verse discusses what happens when a person is not able to decide between what is right and what is wrong. That means he has a weak intellect.

Invariably such a person cannot control his mind. He is not his own master. His mind is his master, and thus he will always run after things that will hurt him spiritually. He cannot help it. His ambition at one time might have been to attain Self-knowledge, but with such a weak intellect and consequent preoccupation with sense pleasures, he will drift away from his original goal. He will move in the other direction – to the world. Birth and death will thus be his destiny.

We need to learn to control ourselves, we might live to regret certain actions we have taken in the moment of delusion and upset.

Extract from the upcoming book – A CONVERSATION WITH DEATH (Katha Upanishad) Compiled by Joy Nandy

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See yourself which is the source of all wealth, possessions and power

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This is a small book that has the Ultimate Knowledge of life that also explains the Goal of Life which leads us from darkness into illumination.

It is based on the teachings of the ashram and the great Sri Sankaracharya's 'Vivekacudamani – The Crest Jewel of Discrimination'. He is the Guru of gurus. It preaches that man should 'discriminate' between what is real and what is unreal, starting with himself, in order to live a happy and peaceful life. The realisation that a person's identity is not made up of his body or mind and in anything else that he possesses, including his education and status in life, is what liberates a person and gives him or her eternal joy, making this world of pain and sorrow into a blissful one.

This book contains some of the greatest wisdom from some of the greatest minds beyond the ancient times, that is now specially reproduced for the modern man to deliberate upon and apply in his life to make his human life purposeful and meaningful. Everyone should read it for his or her own sake, no one else is done a favour because he or she is who will enjoy happiness.

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TOP ARTICLE: WHY IS THE HINDU THE LOSER IN SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE

As much as a proud Hindu would like to proclaim that he is born to the oldest religion on earth, he is yet deprived of its wisdom compared to the other main religions.

How is this so?

When a Christian goes to the Church, the Priest/Pastor may mention a few hymns in Latin from the Holy Bible and later translated to simple English and explain the values and meaning of the hymns to him.

When the Muslim visits the Mosque, he attends a prayer. The meaning of the Arabic verses or ayat are later explained by an Imam in simple Malay, so the devotee understands. These verses are from the Holy Quran.

However, when the Hindu goes to the Temple, he vaguely 'hears' some mantras chanted in Sanskrit by a Priest (when the priest offers prayers to a deity).

The priest does not translate the valuable meaning of the mantras into any language a Hindu devotee can understand (it doesn’t matter anyway, he was chanting to the deity). The Hindu leaves the temple thinking this is all that's required of him and is happy. He leaves the temple no wiser than when he walked in. He firmly believes in the ‘magic’ of “God” – that his prayers will be answered by magic. There is nothing else for him to do on his part.

Just like the hymns and ayat, the mantras are where the "Knowledge for Man" resides.

This is why only in Hinduism we have temples with priests, and ashrams with gurus. Two separate places. You will not find gurus at temples, and similarly you will not find priests at ashrams. Two separate sets of people with opposing beliefs. The temple priests are for deity worship; the gurus for spiritual knowledge – the understanding of the “I” in us, “realising the God within” and the destruction of the false ego in Man. The mantras are chanted in both these places and are mostly the same in meaning, but at the temple the meaning of the glorious mantras are never explained (unlike the Mosque and Church), whilst at the ashram this is all that is explained from the Bhagavad Gita/Vedas.

The Sanskrit language originally had only 36 phonemes, the words of the originally 700, now c400 slokas or verses all originated from only 36 phonemes – yet the meaning of each of them, the Knowledge for Man, is immense and what is required for Man to live a life in peace, happiness and abundance.

The Magic is in the Slokas/Mantras.

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