Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu

I wish Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all blogger friends from all over the World.  I take this opportunity to discuss about a vedic shloka (verse) which is sung at the end of all Hindu rituals and prayers. Om lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu.This shloka is very close to my heart and I never miss to invocate this verse at the end of my daily prayer. The literary meaning of this verse is "May all the beings in all the worlds become happy and peace there everywhere", it may look very simple but the concept behind this invocation is very significant looking at the complexity of our Universe. Our ancestors ( Rishis & munis) were very knowledgeable in all aspects and they proved what Lord Sri Krishna said in the holy Bhagavad-Gita,  that is Jnana (knowledge) is supreme. Though it is always true that energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, our Rishis and munish developed a strong additional energy field by developing a positive mindset and performing vedic rituals. They used shlokas as positive affirmations, were able to manifest and achieve positive changes in the universe. The best example is the creation of a new world by Vishwamitra Mahrashi by his mental power which is mentioned in one of our epics. The knowledge gathered by rishis through their spiritual activities made them to realize that the entire creation is one entity. They realized that in a family only one member cannot be happy if others are not so and they applied this theory to each and every component of this creation. Negative energy created in one part of the world is going to affect other parts also. Since ignorant people are bound to produce negative energy, our rishis came out with sustainable solutions to nullify it through daily rituals like, Yajna, yaga, homa, paryers with positive affirmations etc. The importance of environment protection is emphasized in all our rituals and even in Bhagavad-Gita Lord himself talked at it. I have bloged about saving this earth through Indian rituals and routines in my older posts like we-will-save-earth. The invocation of the shloka Om lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu is aimed at keeping the whole creation of God in a healthy condition and I think chanting it by millions of people with positive frame of mind is going to do so. It is also time to pray Lord Jesus to make us knowledgeable. Lord Jesus showed mercy on us and showed the importance of scarifies by example.

Remembering the departed soul in Vedic way!

Hi friends, Indian civilization is the oldest one and it has produced many precious gifts to man kind. Vedas are the oldest Sanskrit literature in which one can have the deep knowledge of Indian way of life. Vedas are compiled over a period of time and till today most of our day to day rituals are having connection to any of the four Vedas, especially Yajurveda. From birth to death during various occasions specific rituals are performed and a trained priest will be engaged if the ritual is complicated. After the death of parents, death anniversary (shradda) will be performed by their children either on the day of the death as per Hindu calendar or during mahalaya period. In our house at my native place, every year we perform our parent’s death ceremony and under the guidance of our family priest all rituals are carried out. My knowledge about Veda is almost zero but I believe if every ritual explained in these sacred books if performed systematically, then it is going to produced enormous amount of positive energy. During the rituals I used to follow the instructions of the priest mechanically but my mind remembers my parents and good things they have done towards us. I feel this ritual for a common believer like me is an opportunity to remember parents and express my gratitude in the form of offering. I heard that there are many complicated rituals like perjanya yagna from which we can make it rain at any time. Rituals explained in Vedas are for the betterment of man kind and they replace the negative energy created by our inhuman activities with Divine energy.

Indian rituals and routines: Part-3

One of the most common routine practices seen throughout India is greeting each other with a word namaste when two persons meet for the first time in a day. Both palms are placed in front of the chest as shown in the picture while the word namaste is said. You can greet anybody with namaste either he is known person to you or a stranger irrespective of his age. When two persons greet one another with namaste, it is believed that a silent communication take place between inner beings and a good will gets created between two hearts. It is said in ancient Indian scriptures that greeting Namaste is nothing but an act of worship of all pervading supreme power. The persons who know the real significance of greeting namaste will be benefited more in terms of creating positive energy for himself as well as to his fellow human beings where as persons who wish namaste as a social gesture can make more friends for themselves. One can see shade of socialism in each and every rituals and routines which we practice in India and namaste is one of the examples where every individual is treated with dignity and equality. But it is very sad to see that this age old practice is slowly disappearing because of cultural pollution.

Indian rituals and routines: Part-2

One can hardly see any Indian house without a prayer room or alter where all pervading Almighty is worshiped. In spite of the space constrain in side a house; Indians try their best to spare some space where prayers and other spiritual practices are conducted. Positive energy generating activities including repetition of the Lord's name, meditation, reading of the scriptures, prayers, singing of bhajans or devotional songs are practiced daily by family members. With all these spiritual activities the prayer room will be pervaded with positive vibration and the family members who spend time inside the prayer room will have sacred thoughts which results in creation of positive energy. The accumulated positive energy which originated through regular meditation, worship will take care of the negative energy created by human activities.

Since Lord is the creator of entire creation we believe he is also the owner of our house and as a mark of our love and respect to him we keep a room for him. In this way we remain humble even if we posses wealth. We are only earthly occupants of His property

Indian rituals and routines - Part1

Hi friends, continuing my earlier post “We will save the Earth!”, I would like to explain why we do light lamps in our homes in India. Hardly one can see any house in India without a glowing lamp in side the worship room and entrance of the house both early morning and evening; in some houses one can see continuous lighting (not electrical lamp). Even in temples we used to light lamps with different oils including ghee made of cow milk. As a matter of fact every auspicious or religious function starts with lighting of lamp. We believe light symbolizes knowledge and absence of light or darkness is ignorance. The Lord is the "Knowledge Principle" (chaitanya) who is the source, the enlivener and the illuminator of all knowledge. Hence light is worshiped as the Lord himself. Where there is real knowledge, there is no place for ignorance and we believe knowledge is the greatest forms of wealth which one can possess and a knowledgeable human being will never do injustice to mother nature and its creations.

The following Sanskrit prayer will be sung before lighting a lamp, which means I prostrate to the dawn/dusk lamp; whose light is the Knowledge Principle (the Supreme Lord), which removes the darkness of ignorance and by which all can be achieved in life

Deepajyothi parabrahma
Deepa sarva tamopahaha
Deepena saadhyate saram
Sandhyaa deepo namostute

A lamp lit with natural oil or ghee keeps the surrounding atmosphere cool and creates a pleasant spiritual feeling which in turn produces positive energy and sum total of this positive energy may nullify negative energy created by our fellow men.

We will save the Earth!

Hi friends, I am born and brought up in a traditional Hindu family and there are many rituals and routines which are practiced in my home as well as in millions of Indian homes since centuries which I want to discuss here in detail. From early morning to night till we go to bed, various rituals are observed and I believe each one of them add value to our life. These practices are not only means to keep our self healthy and wealthy but allow us travel in a path which may take us nearer to the supreme power which is omnipotent and omniscient. Though these rituals are part and parcel of our life in India and we do practice them holistically, some of us may fail to answer the question - Why you do this?

So, I will answer these questions as posts in my blog and I am proud to do this. We are hearing stories of end of the world in near future (preciously in the year 2012) and the justification given by the propagators of these stories. But I believe the spiritual activities which we practices in our day to day life generate positive energy and spread it in all directions and nullifies the negative energy which otherwise can create havoc. As we all know mass prayer can create miracle in a given day, similarly millions of people practicing spiritual rituals selflessly and silently are adding positive energy to the world and making it safer. After the disastrous Indian Ocean earth quake or Tsunami in the year 2004, there was a meteorological prediction about occurrence of another tsunami in southern part of India and some seashore were isolated as a safety measure. Sea level was rising with violent waves. Under such uncertain conditions, thousands of people gathered on the sea shore of a south Indian village and started chanting “Gayatri mantra” a powerful vedic chant. After few hours of non stop chanting, the sea started showing kindness towards the people who gathered there where as it took more time to recede in other parts. Those people who propagate and justifies the so called 2012 world disaster may become a laughing stock after December 2012. I believe, as long as Indian spiritual power is intact, our world is safe and according to Hindu religious books, our earth will be free of any major disaster for another million years. Indians can save the Earth from disaster through their spiritual activities.

My next post will be about answering the question- why do we light a lamp in our home?