The Chakra News » Editor

Picture of the Week: Vishnu Bhagwan

Editor — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:50:27 +0000

Vishnu Bhagawan

(CHAKRA) Vishnu (also spelled as Visnu) is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God. In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatara, most famous of whom are Lord Ram and Krishna. The Trimurti (3 forms) is a concept in Hinduism “in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva the destroyer or transformer.

Hindus and Monotheism

Editor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:03:31 +0000

By Dr Koenraad Elst

The Arya Samaj and Monotheism . Is there a Vedic monotheism? The occasion for this paper on monotheism and its presence or absence in Hinduism is an upsurge in the Arya Samaj’s long-standing campaign to convince Hindus of the superiority and Vedic basis of monotheism. Founded in 1875, the Ârya Samâj, in effect “Society of Vedicists”, was a trail-blazer of Hindu revivalism and anti-colonial nationalism until Independence. It worked bravely for the reconversion of Indian Muslims, the only humane solution to India’s communal problem. Some of its spokesmen gave their lives for speaking out on Islam, most notably Pandit Lekhram in 1897 and Swami Shraddahananda (co-founder of the Hindu Mahasabha) in 1926. The Arya Samaj also led the way in the abolition of caste discrimination and the acceptance of widow remarriage, both as a matter of Vedic principle and in order to free Hindu society of its weaknesses which its enemies were exploiting to their advantage.

Unfortunately, in its opposition to the predatory religions of Islam and Christianity, it interiorized some of their beliefs and attitudes. Foremost among these was the assumption that monotheism, the belief in a single God annex the condemnation of all worship offered to any being but Him, is the supreme form of religion. Hence, the Arya Samaj decreed that the Vedic religion had always been monotheistic, so that Islamic and Christian missionaries had nothing to teach the Vedicists about the true religion of the One God. If Hinduism now seemed like the polytheistic religion par excellence, this was partly due to post-Vedic degenerative developments and partly to textual misinterpretation of the seemingly numerous god-names in the Vedas. In reality, or so the Arya Samaj claimed, these many gods were only different faces of the One God.Until Independence (completed by the struggle against the Nizam of Hyderabad for Hyderabad’s accesion to the Indian Union in 1948, in which the later Arya Samaj president Vandematharam Ramachandra Rao took a leadership role), this monotheistic

reinterpretation of the Vedas could be excused as a tactical device useful in the Arya Samaj’s main struggle, viz. against the predatory monotheistic religions. Ever since, however, and especially in the recentmost decades, the Arya Samaj seems to have forgotten its original mission, and is now turning the bulk of its polemics against fellow Hindus who have not embraced this monotheistic reading of the Vedas. In effect, the Arya Samaj has become Christianity’s and Islam’s first line of attack against Hindu polytheism.

As an organization, the Arya Samaj is no longer very powerful or important, but its message has spread far and wide in educated Hindu society. The same is even more true of a similar movement, the Brahmo Samaj (°1825), a flagbearer of the Bengal renaissance which tried to translate Hinduism into rational-sounding concepts acceptable to the British colonizers and the first circles of anglicized Hindus. Whereas the Arya Samaj embraced a Christian-like religious theism, the Brahmo Samaj tended more towards a modern Enlightenment-inspired deism, i.e. the philosophical acceptance of a distant cosmic intelligence rather than a personal God biddable by human imprecations and sacrifices. But like the Aryas, the Brahmos rejected Hindu polytheism as a degenerate aberration from the true Vedic spirit.

In the course of the 20^th century, the Arya and Brahmo views of Hindu tradition have become mainstream among English-speaking Hindus. Many introductory textbooks on Hinduism used in India, and most of those used in NRI-PIO circles, deny Hindu polytheism and insist that the many Hindu gods are merely faces of the One God. Thus, among the textbook edits proposed by two Hindu foundations that triggered the California textbook controversy of 2005-2009, a prominent one was the replacement of “gods” with “God”.Before entering the specifics of the monotheism argument, let us say beforehand that we don’t believe the contents of this argument have been decisive in the Arya Samaj’s prioritizing the struggle against polytheism nor in its abandonment of its original alertness against Islamic and Christian aggression. On both issues, the organization is simply riding with the tide. Now that Nehruvian “secularism” has become the norm, it is just not done to criticize Christianity or Islam (except by the brave) or to describe their conversion offensive as a problem. The Arya Samaj has abandoned its own raison d’être. We may not be able to counter anyone’s opportunistic reasons for being on the safe side of an existing trend; but we are in a position to refute the theological justification which the Arya Samaj proclaims for its adoption of “Vedic monotheism”.

1. The dawn of monotheism

Monotheism is not merely the cult of a single god, which would be called henotheism, but also implies the active rejection of all other gods. The recipient of monotheistic worship is notHeis Theos, “one god”, but Ho Monos Theos, “the only god”. Thus, Hindus worshipping an ishta devata, “chosen deity”, selected from among many, are henotheists but not monotheists. A Hindu who never worships any god except Shiva, but doesn’t object to his neighbour’s worshipping Krishna or Durga, fails the test of monotheism.

1.1. Akhenaten’s solar Monotheism

At the present state of knowledge, the first recorded monotheist was Pharaoh Akhenaten or Ekhnaton (r. 1351-1334 BC). He not only worshipped a single god, the solar disc Aten, but also tried to terminate the worship of other gods, starting with the removal of Amon from his own original name Amenhotep (“Amon is satisfied”), which he replaced with Akhen-Aten (“Living spirit of Aten”). Later, his son would make the reverse movement, changing his own name from Tut-ankh-Aten (“Living image of Aten”) to Tut-ankh-Amon. Akhenaten’s monotheism didn’t survive him for long because it went against the grain of Egyptian culture and sensibilities.

Perhaps he could have made people accept his religion sincerely if he had at least combined it with political successes and prosperity. In his own new capital Akhet-Aten (“Horizon of the Aten”, Amarna) he concentrated a community of followers that enjoyed privileges provided for from the state treasury, which means the rest of the people had to subsidize his socio-religious experiment. His foreign policy was a disaster, he neglected diplomacy and military fortifications and thus greatly weakened his empire. After his death, the Egyptians tried to quickly forget him.

Akhenaten’s present popularity, attested by his enormous overrepresentation in textbooks on ancient Egypt, is a consequence of the plentiful and innovative artworks depicting him, his chief wife Nefertiti and his Aten cult; and mostly of his monotheism, deemed uniquely meritorious. Since Moses, the founder of Israelite monotheism, lived in Egypt about a generation after Akhenaten, it is widely assumed the Pharaoh influenced the Prophet.

1.2. Moses’ monotheism

Moses found his One God when he was living in the desert as a guest of Jethro, the priest of the Beduins of Midian (Exodus 2:15 ff.), a region in the northwestern corner of Arabia where he had fled to as a fugitive from Egyptian criminal justice, wanted for manslaughter. He experienced an audio-visual sensation while looking into a burning bush, a desert plant from which an ethereal oil evaporates that catches fire in the noontime heat. A voice told him to take off his shoes as he was standing on hallowed ground, i.e. in the presence of a divine being. The god, when asked by Moses for his name, introduced himself as “I am that I am” (eheyeh asher eheyeh). Biblically, this is understood as a hint at the name Yahweh, interpreted through approximative folk etymology as “the Being One”, “the One Who Is”; or by later exegetes with airs of profundity, as “the One Whose Essence is Being”.

In fact, as the great Orientalist Julius Wellhausen has shown, the name Yahweh is Arabic (its root is attested in the Quran) and means “the Blower”, apparently the Beduin god of wind and storm. Egypt’s Nile Valley has an extremely stable climate with endless sunshine, but the desert is subjected to sand storms, hence the logic of Moses’ replacing the Pharaoh’s sun god with a storm god.

After having fallen from grace in Egypt, Moses fashioned himself a new career as the national leader of the Semitic immigrant population in Egypt, which he led away to Palestine. Along the way, in the wilderness of Sinai, he staged a show with smoke and trumpets and had the gullible people believe that he had seen God on the mountain and received the Ten Commandments from Him. These consist of two unrelated parts. The second part is age-old general morality of the “thou shalt not kill” and “thou shalt not commit adultery” type. Of course people don’t need a divine revelation to know that societies couldn’t function for long without such a set of basic rules. Other nations didn’t bring God in and called these rules the mos maiorum, “the ancestral customs”. In this case, however, they were tagged on as a second half to the first set of commandments, which by contrast went completely against the tradition. Rendered more acceptable by the coupling with indisputable rules of morality, this first part was quite revolutionary, viz. Moses’ new theology. This included a prohibition on using God’s name lightly (a taboo also found in other religions), on making images of God, and most of all, on offering worship to any god beside Yahweh.

The first thing Moses did when he came down from the Sinai mountain with his rock-hewn Ten Commandments was to slaughter 3000 religious dissenters. These were enthusiasts of Ba’al, “Lord”, originally a generic term of address for kings and gods, later used specifically for the Northwest-Semitic fertility god Hadad. He is known from Semitic royal names like Jeze-bel,Bel-shazzar, Hanni-bal and Bal-thazar. This traditional fertility god was typically depicted as a bull. For the purposes of worship, the devotees in the Sinai had fashioned a statue (what Hindus call a mûrti) of the bull god from their own jewelry: the “Golden Calf”.

Nowadays this term is used as shorthand for crass materialism and greed, as if this moral vice were needed to justify the devotees’ mass slaughter by Moses. In fact, they were anything but greedy, they donated their wealth in exchange for the joy of having a focus for their religious exercise of worshipping Ba’al. It was not because of a moral vice that they were put to death, but only because they worshipped another god than Yahweh. The latter could not tolerate this since he was, in his own words (as reported from Mount Sinai by Moses), “a jealous god”.

Moses did not live to see the conquest of the Promised Land, of which he only caught a glimpse from afar. His successor Joshua devised a clever strategy of keeping the non-combatants concentrated outside the war zone and attacking the cities one by one. Citing orders from God, he eliminated the native fellow-Semitic population, the Canaanites. This he justified with a promise which he claimed Yahweh had made long before (scholars’ estimate: 4 to 5 centuries) to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Note that the natives were not asked for their theological opinions. They were not killed because of their polytheism, and it seems unlikely that they could have saved themselves by quickly converting. At that time, Yahweh was still the god of a nation, not of a community of like-minded believers.

1.3. Henotheistic origins

It is widely assumed among scholars that the Yahweh cult was initially henotheistic rather than monotheistic. Yahweh insisted that his followers worship only him and no other gods, but this did not immediately imply that other gods were deemed non-existent and illusory. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”, the first of the Ten Commandments, can be read as a husband’s claim on the absolute loyalty of his wife. By no means does such a husband deny the existence of other men, he merely demands that his wife disregard all other men and devote herself exclusively to him. In the initial phase, Yahweh’s religion makes no truth claim about the non-existence of other gods, rather it sees them as dangerous seducers who have to be kept at bay. From the 13^th to the 7^th century BC, Israelite monotheism was in a formative stage of a henotheism increasingly hyperfocused on the chosen One God, leading to the ultimate black-out of the other gods. From seductive rivals to Yahweh, they shrivel to become illusory projections of the human mind.

This evolution is summarily acted out in the evolution of the Biblical god’s other name, Elohim. In Northwest-Semitic (Canaanite, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Hebrew), this is a masculine plural form, meaning “gods”. The Semites had a god El, whose name lives on in personal names like Gabr-i-el, “my strength is God”, Mi-cha-el, “who is like God?”. In cuneiform, this name was rendered with the sumerogram Dingir, showing a star. That indeed is the original West-Asian concept of the gods: they were stars, collectively “the heavenly host”. One of the oldest epithets of Yahweh is “Lord of Hosts”, i.e. the supergod presiding over the army of gods in their daily march across the sky (which again presupposes that the other gods were real, though lesser in stature). The contrast between polytheism and the first monotheism was quite literally that between the numerous stars in the night sky and the lone star of the day sky.

A noun derived from El is the feminine abstractive noun Eloha, “a god”, “deity”, better known in its Arabic form Ilâha. This countable noun referred to any of the numerous gods worshipped by the Pagan Arabs. With the South-Semitic definite article al-, this becomes Al-Ilâha, “the god”, better known in its contracted form Allâh. Both in Hebrew Elohim and in Arabic Allâh, we see how the conception of the One and Only God, to judge from his name, is rooted in the polytheistic conception of “god” as a countable noun, “one of the gods”. As if a single star was selected, looked at ever more closely until it outshone and rendered invisible all other stars, and was then reinterpreted as the only star in existence.

This rootedness in polytheism is found in most languages where the concept of a single God was introduced. To the pre-existing Greek and Latin generic terms theos and deus, “a god”, the emerging Christian Church assigned the new monotheistic meaning “God”. In Germanic, the word god seems to have been a uncountable noun since pre-Christian times, but of neutral (rather than of masculine) gender, i.e. impersonal: “the numinous”, “the divine”. Its Sanskit etymological equivalent is hutam, “(that which is) honoured with libations/sacrifices”, “(that which is) worshipped”. Here too, the Christian monotheistic term is borrowed from a pre-Christian non-monotheistic conception, viz. of the divine as a numinous essence present in an undefined number of gods and perfectly thinkable apart from a single personal God. In Chinese, Protestant missionaries have chosen the old term Shangdi as their translation of the Biblical names for “God”. They may not have realized that in Chinese, which doesn’t morphologically distinguish plural from singular, this ancient term had been conceived as plural: “the powers on high”, “the gods above”.

In the 19^th century, the idea of an Urmonotheismus, a primeval monotheism, gained ground. It meant that the historically attested polytheistic religions had come into being as aberrations from an older monotheistic religion. Islam had pioneered this idea with its claim that Adam had been the first Muslim and that the Kaaba, built by Adam, had later been usurped by the Pagans for the polytheistic worship which Mohammed had found (and destroyed) there. But in the actual history of early monotheism, we find its cradle was polytheistic, with no trace of a reference to an earlier, primeval monotheism.

1.4. The jealous God

In polytheistic pantheons, gods with a specific character are typically counterbalanced by gods with the opposite character, e.g. war-like Ares or Mars with harmony-seeking Aphrodite or Venus. No doubt the Arab Beduin storm-god Yahweh had brothers and sisters in the pantheon who represented less stormy traits to keep the whole in balance. If the idea of a single god had been thought up in the abstract, one could have expected him to be neutral, elevated far above all those pairs of opposition. Later thinkers working within a monotheistic framework will indeed try to understand their god in this manner: as a coincidentia oppositorum, “unity of opposites” (thus German philosopher Nicolaus Cusanus, 15^th cent.). Instead of a war-god held in check by a peace goddess, you would logically get a single god transcending the war/peace opposition.

However, that is not how monotheism originally came about. When all other gods were outlawed, Yahweh nonetheless retained his character of tribal storm god, but no longer counterbalanced by more pleasant fellow-deities. Though not as sexually playful as the Indo-European storm-gods Indra, Zeus, Jupiter, Perkunas, Perun or Donar (unless you include his begetting Jesus upon the Virgin Mary, and even that fling on the side he outsourced to the Holy Ghost), Yahweh resembles and outdoes them in choleric flare-ups and violent discharges of anger. Thus, his initiative to destroy mankind by means of the Flood was motivated by anger at the disappointing performance of his own human creatures.

Let Yahweh’s short temper be his privilege and that of his followers, the one thing truly objectionable about him from the viewpoint of the non-believers is only his effort to destroy alternative gods and their religions. Pre-Christian Israelite history is punctuated by episodes of slaughter against non-Yahwists. Thus, the prophet Elijah challenged a group of Ba’al priests to have their god produce a miracle and set fire to a sacrificial animal. Of course miracles don’t exist, so nothing happened; and when Elijah had Yahweh set alight his own sacrifice after he had sprinkled “water” on it, the gullible were taken in, but he had obviously used a trick (petrol?). At any rate, the next thing we know is that he had the 450 Ba’al priests put to death. His own disciple Elisha organized a coup against the Ba’al-worshipping queen Jezebel and killed her and 70 of her relatives.

However, until the expansion of Christianity, this campaign of destruction was limited to the Israelites or such foreigners as lived among the Israelites and had an influence on them. It did not interfere with the religion of “the nations”. To be sure, there was plenty of slaughter of non-Israelites during the conquest of the Promised Land. But this was simply to make way for the Chosen People, to create living space, not to make them change their religion. On the contrary, it was taken for granted that “the nations” (goyim) had other religions than that of Yahweh:“And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars — all the heavenly array — do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshipping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.” (Deuteronomy 4:19)

You’ve read that right: the heavenly hosts as the gods forbidden to the Israelites, have been “apportioned to all the nations” by Yahweh, who consequently didn’t want them to worship him instead of the gods given to them. This again testifies to the fact that Yahweh was originally conceived as a tribal god, entitled to the loyalty of his own tribe but without universal pretentions (just as a husband is entitled to his wife’s loyalty but not to that of all women).

The first dim apparition of Yahweh’s universal ambition is perhaps Prophet Isaiah’s fantasy of an end-time in which all nations come to pay tribute to the Israelites and their god in Jerusalem. But it is only later, in the multicultural and universalizing climate of the Hellenistic states (4th-1^st cent. BC), that some Israelites start conceiving of their God as universally valid. This didn’t make them embark on massive missionary campaigns, but on a small scale they did start to attract converts or “proselytes”. Jewish thinkers like Philo of Alexandria briefly tried to incorporate notions from Greek philosophy, such as Plato’s “idea of the Good” or Aristotle’s “unmoved mover”, into their conception of God.

It fell to Christianity to complete this job of incorporating the universalist Greek concepts of the Absolute into the monotheistic construction of God. Because Christianity had universal rather than national ambitions, it made the destruction of everyone else’s “false gods” its chief mission. This same mission was later interiorized and amplified by Mohammed. To the surviving non-monotheistic traditions, monotheism became an all-devouring predator and a self-declared enemy.

Sri Satya Sai Baba Message: Love all Serve All

Editor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:53:44 +0000

Professor Anil Kumar

Dr. O. P. Sudrania

Dearest Sai Brothers and Sisters, Sai Ram.

Below is the text of a message that trickled in my inbox on an interview of Professor Anil Kumar, a long forty year old devotee of Swami and also His official interpreter of lectures whenever He delivered them after the passing away of Professor N. Kasturi. I have personally met and heard his lectures in Puttaparti delivered in the lecture halls on Education in Human Values (EHV).

One interesting story I remember from his experiences of Swami is as follows.

Once someone brought some cakes of “puranpollis” which are sweet pancakes made of flower and fried on a pan. They are quite tasty sweet dish. It must have been five or six of these. He is very fond of them. So he wanted to eat them alone without anybody seeing him and sharing with.

He went in his bathroom with them to eat so that nobody can even see him by chance and came out. Nobody had seen him. He subsequently went to Baba and Baba cracked a joke with him.

Baba said, “You are selfish and ate all the puranpollis alone in bathroom”. Professor Anil Kumar burst into a big laughter in embarrassment while narrating it and said to Swami, “Swami, you even go into people’s bathrooms and see them. It is not very nice”.

Such is the omnipresence of Swami. Please enjoy the following interview with Prof. Anil Kumar.

Below is the Text of a Wonderful Interview done by THE NATION, a Thailand based Newspaper with Prof. Anil Kumar during his four day visit to Thailand earlier this month.

Many Questions have been answered in this Wonderful Interview by Prof. Anil Kumar.

Have also attached with this mail the Whole Text of the Interview in
PDF and Word Format below.

Here is the Link to Interview published in the Newspaper – The Nation

Here is the interview, please enjoy it reading:

How do you explain the huge amount of cash and jewellery found in Sai Baba’s room, which was unearthed after his death, especially as the Sathya Sai Organization does not seem to have a history of soliciting funds?

You know, [devotees], they’re trying to hand it over to him personally. But he never

accepts. They want to give something. He rejects it openly, throws it in their face. But these people don’t give up. They send them by courier, they post it. And those that were received by mail were [left] lying there. But he had never looked at them. He never used that money. He never touched those packets. There were many cheques for huge amounts that had not been cashed, some dating back to

1993. Had he been money-minded he would have got them cashed. Many [packets] were not even opened. Because he was not at all bothered. All the money and jewels found in his room have nothing to do with him.

Why was all the money not taken away? Why was it left lying in the room?

Because no one had access to his room. No official could go to his room. They had to wait for him downstairs. He came down and talked to them. No one knew what was lying in the room. It was news even to the officials. I, having had proximity to him for four decades, can categorically say that he never talked about money. Money was never a criterion for him for anything. Money was never a consideration for anybody to come close to him. He attached no value to it. If you take my example, I was an ordinary college lecturer, with a hand-to-mouth existence … so how could I be so close to him? I never gave him anything.

Among the jewels found in his room were gems apparently given by a king of Saudi Arabia. Can you throw some light on that?
I’ve no knowledge of the variety of jewels collected over there or the sources they came from. Was there any meeting with the Saudi king or his representatives? I ask this because Saudi Arabia is a puritanical Islamic state. Here I can say one thing. Sai Baba was very simple and so is his place, Prashanthi Nilayam [in Puttaparthi town, southern India]. It doesn’t get any facelift just because VIPs or dignitaries are visiting. Prime ministers, presidents and other VIPs come but there are no special decorations. In all probability, he [the Saudi king] or his representatives must

have come. Baba may not be accepted as an incarnation or as divine by everyone, but his teachings are universal. His educational system is universal. His educational system aims at total personality development, comprehensive growth. It is a value-based education. So, no matter what the religion, everyone can follow it.

A lot has been said and written over the years about the ‘miracles’ he performed - producing ash and trinkets, gold chains, rings and watches, etc. His devotees loved it, critics hated it, skeptics were unconvinced. Scientists and para-psychologists did studies on them. Some dismissed them as sleight of hand, others were unable to explain them. For someone who saw them at close proximity, how do you look at it?

I’ll quote him. He called it his visiting card. Once you give a visiting card to someone you don’t have to introduce yourself again. He steps into your life as a visitor sending a visiting card through a miracle in your life. That which you think is impossible is made possible through a miracle and makes you believe in something transcendental, extra-sensual. The miracle is a bait to draw a person closer to God. He gives an example: to make a child go to school, what do you do sometimes? Give a chocolate. But it’s the schooling that is important, not the chocolate. Similarly, a miracle happens in your life, so you will turn your mind towards the divine or spiritual life.

But magicians say even they can perform some of these ‘miracles’ and you don’t need any divine powers… Magicians do it as a profession. But in Sai Baba’s case, miracles are not performed, they happen. The happening of a miracle is different from doing it. One is spiritual, the other is physical

Can you expand on that?
A magician can perform under certain conditions. But Sai Baba, anytime, anywhere could materialize something for you. A magician will not be able to do that. He needs special conditions to perform. But Baba, by his will, could make things happen. Sai Baba’s miracles have a higher purpose; a magician is only aiming for attraction with commercial value. A leading Indian scientist, S Bhagvantham, who was the vice-chancellor of a university and even the director of India’s defense research organization, stayed with him and studied the miracles and became totally convinced that miracles happened in Sai Baba’s presence, at his will. One Italian doctor, who attended an international meeting of thoracic surgeons in Puttaparthi, said that though his reputation might be at risk, he would like to state that only Sai Baba could run such a sophisticated super-speciality hospital free of charge.

A BBC documentary on Sai Baba, called “Secret Swami”, blighted his reputation with accusations of sexual abuse. If the accusations were false why didn’t his organization or he defend himself or take action?

I, personally, would have liked to deal with it differently. But the thing is, Sai Baba never encouraged anybody to counteract [the accusations], especially on his behalf. He said truth is triumphant and spotless. It doesn’t need anybody’s support.

He went one step further and said to his devotees, “you’re happy praising me, they’re happy attacking me. I want both to be happy”. He narrated a story from the Buddha’s life. When the Buddha reached a village, all the youngsters there mocked him and made fun of him for abandoning his wife and child and walking shaven-headed, wearing ochre robes. The Buddha listened patiently and said “Is it over? Are you exhausted? My disciples are on their way. If they hear the things you said, they might beat you up. I don’t want violence. So please finish whatever you want to say before they come”. That’s the compassion of the Lord. Sai Baba told us if you’re pained to hear all the criticism, you have legs to walk away. He wanted all of us to develop a state of mind that does not become elated when praised, or depressed when criticized or blamed.

A lot has been said and written about his reported clairvoyance. Apparently in 1998 he told his inner circle that the world was headed for many natural disasters and that the earth’s axis might even shift. We now know that during the Japanese earthquake/tsunami the earth’s axis did shift. Are you aware of any predictions he made which came true?

He said long ago that Muslim nations will go through turmoil and terrorism. We’ve seen that in Afghanistan and Iraq; he predicted the unification of Germany, and long, long ago he said the Soviet Union will collapse. Then, he also predicted the decline of the US economy and the dotcom bust.

Talking about clairvoyance, he said more than once that he’d live to 96, but actually passed away at 85. How do you explain that?
Some Hindu scholars believe that, as per the lunar calendar, he did live to 96. According to the lunar calendar, a year has 324 days. Sai Baba never said he’d live to 96 according to the solar calendar.

Two years ago, he pointed to a spot and told me, “This is going to be my Samadhi [resting place].” When I told him “please don’t say that”, he said “why are you afraid? It’s inevitable for anybody. Death is the dress of life”.

The British architect Keith Critchlow, who was close to Prince Charles and designed the super-speciality hospital in Puttaparthi, reportedly advised Prince Charles to visit Sai Baba. And Charles was said to be keen to make the trip. There are two versions of this story: one said the British spy agency MI5 dissuaded Charles from visiting Sai Baba because of the sexual abuse allegations; another said they had a quiet meeting. Can you throw some light on that?

It’s true that Critchlow wrote to Prince Charles [advising him] to meet Sai Baba. The

authentic version I have heard is that the airport in Puttaparthi is small and was not in a position to accommodate the kind of plane Charles would travel in. Later, I heard that Charles regretted not being able to meet Sai Baba, and sent his respects through an emissary.

Since he encouraged everyone to practice their own religion, what kind of role did he envisage for himself?

He saw himself more as a catalyst; as a unifying factor; he wanted synthesis, not antithesis. He has left an enormous legacy of free schools, educational institutions, free hospitals, social service organizations.

His presence obviously helped raise funds all these years. But now, will these institutions be financially sustainable?
Right now, we’re in a state of shock. But he has left us with principles to follow, and

enough money. The interest accrued on the principal amount will be enough for the [Organization’s] maintenance. There will be no shortage of funds.

If you had to sum up his message in a few words, what would it be?
Love all, serve all; the hands that serve are holier than the lips that pray.

With my humble Pranams at His Lotus Feet
OUR LIFE IS HIS MESSAGE

2 of 2 File(s)

About Sai Baba’s Life by Dr. Anil Kumar.docx

About Sai Baba’s Life by Dr. Anil Kumar.pdf

Pakistani Sikhs and Other Minorities Demand Seat in Senate

Editor — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:58:59 +0000

Pakistan has a Muslim-majority population with a decreasing minority community made of Sikhs, Hindus and Christians

Sikh’s in Pakistan are demanding a seat in the Senate or upper house of parliament. They are requesting that a seat be reserved for minorities in the country to have some hope for their community to be represented even in the smallest possible way.

Sardar Ramesh Singh, chairman of Sikh Naujwan Sabha, Pakistan, said that the Sikh community currently has no representatives in the National Assembly of the government. A delegation representing minority communities met with the new minority affairs secretary demanding that the one seat be reserved for the minority community.

Four new seats have been added to the 100-member Senate. They have been added and will be reserved for the minority community during the upcoming March election.

The lawmakers of the four provincial assemblies elect majority of the Senate representatives while a few seats are left to be filled based on recommendations of the government.

During the meeting with the minority affairs secretary, Michael Javed, a Christian representative and leader of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf brought to attention the fact that the government was not able to keep its promise of reserving 5 % of jobs for non-Muslims.

He further stated that after this known fact he finds it hard to accept and believe that four seats will in fact be saved for minority representatives in the March election. He fears that even if a minority is selected, he/she will be forced to resign due to discrimination, and harsh treatment by other government officials and representatives. He also brought to attention the fact that in the minority affairs department in Sindh, the secretary has no place to sit.

Mangla Sharma, member of the Pakistan Hindu Welfare Council stated that although parliamentarians are given financial aid for minorities, it is never used properly and hardly reaches the community members at all.

Global Epic on Karma to Benefit World’s First Museum of Buddhism and Yoga

Editor — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:51:41 +0000

By Dorje Lama

Buddhism - Lord Buddha

(CHAKRA) Albert Einstein famously dubbed Buddhism ‘the religion of the future’ and several studies show Buddhism to be the fastest growing religion among Westerners all over the world. In addition, the PEW Forum has found that a 65% majority of Americans subscribe to Dharmic practices like yoga, meditation, karma and the number continues to grow in record numbers.

To help everyone with their New Year’s resolutions, complimentary digital downloads are being offered of the most ambitious international film ever made on Eastern philosophy – ‘Karma Yoga: The New Revolution’. Filmed all over the world in India , Japan , France , UK , USA , Switzerland , Hong Kong and Hungary , the epic features more teachings of Lord Buddha as well as the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads than any other film with real-life testimonials of how Westerners are increasingly using Dharmic traditions to overcome serious life challenges from cancer to strokes.

The film is presented by Zenji Acharya, who hails from the oldest Buddhist lineage of India and donations will benefit the world’s first Museum of Buddhism and Yoga. Featuring an unrivalled collection of Buddhist and Hindu artifacts, antiquities, manuscripts and murtis, the Museum will unite all traditions of Buddhism – Mahayana, Vajrayana and Theravada as well as build a bridge between Buddhists, Hindus, yoga practitioners and spiritualists worldwide.

The Buddhist Assemblage will include the earliest original Indian depictions of all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Devas from the Gandhara, Gupta and Pala empires of India that inspired the majority of art all across Asia over many millennia. Be it Lord Buddha’s own Footprint Buddhapada and His earliest aniconic representations of the Triratna and Dharmachakra – all over 2000 years old, a 4^th century Gupta masterwork that reflects the glory of Nalanda; a large antique sculpture of the emaciated Siddhartha or the last full-size prayer bust of Amitabha in the trademark Black stone of the 8^th century Pala Empire, the Museum will feature rare artworks unmatched by any other collection. It will also contain the earliest Indian depictions of Avalokiteshwara, Maitreya and Vajrapani and an unprecedented gallery dedicated to history’s second most influential monk Bodhidharma – the founder of Zen Buddhism who himself resurrected to Amitabha’s Pure Land. In addition, the collection features the world’s oldest and longest thangka in 24K gold showing the Indo-Tibetan influence; ancient scrolls of China’s most famous Buddhist emperors, original art by Japan’s all-time greatest Buddhist monks including Nichiren, Hakuin Ekaku, Obaku Kosen, Ikkyu Sojun, Otagaki Rengetsu, Takuan Soho and Samurai legend Miyamoto Musashi and masterworks by the greatest Buddhist painters in history such as Seeshu Toyo, Katsushika Hokusai and Ando Hiroshige who all inspired Europe’s Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Obrist among others.

In addition, the Museum will feature some of the rarest Hindu deities that feature prominently in Buddhist texts and architecture as Guardians of the Buddha and that reflect the artistry of majestic Hindu empires from Pallava and Chola to Hoysala and Vijayanagara. There will also be the oldest palm-leaf manuscripts of Tipitakas, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and Puranas and collectibles of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Shankaracharya – all of whom venerated Lord Buddha in superlative terms. Each item will be used to teach Dharma and visitors will be allowed to interact with these relics through prayer, meditation and chanting – a feature no other world-class museum allows. The Museum will also produce films, art exhibitions, magazines and speaking events to promote Dharmic philosophy to all demographics with a special emphasis on the youth and the young at heart.

This monumental project is the brainchild of Zen Acharya (Sanskrit: Dhyanacharya) – the only Western acharya to share lineage with Indian Buddhist gurus such as Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, Bodhi Dharma, Nagarjuna, Asvaghosha, Buddhaghosha, Nagasena, Kumarajiva, Padmasambhava, Atisa and the like. The ‘last of the Jedi Knights’ so to speak, Zenji’ hails from a direct line of Buddhist Brahmin sages that built dozens of temples near the Buddha’s home in Magadha over a millennia ago and were appointed by the Palas of Bengal – the last Buddhist empire of India – to preserve Buddhist practices. In fact, the temples continued to honor the traditions of Shakyamuni, Amitabha, Lokeshwara, Vajrapani and Maitreya long after Buddhism disappeared from India and they carry the oldest figures of Dharmapala Nio that are seen today across Japan as Kongo Rikishi temple Guardians. The temples also bear architecture similar to the greatest Buddhist centers Vikramashila and Nalanda where the monks taught and also contained a monastery for monks who brought Buddhism down the Silk Road to China from where it spread to other parts of Asia . Moreover, the compound includes a cave for meditation similar to the one used by Bodhi Dharma at the Shaolin monastery of China .

At Bodh Gaya where Lord Buddha gained His enlightenment, Zen made a vow to his ancestors to honor their traditions and preserve the teachings of the Tathagatha. For this reason, he conducted years of research into the forgotten Buddhist practices of India and early Buddhist traditions of Asia and discovered that a great deal of what passes off for Buddhism in the West is not in line with what his ancestors had intended. He also realized that the only way Buddhism will thrive is if it can generate excitement and enthusiasm among the youth who often do not relate to monks in general. This is why Zenji is using “upaya kausalya” or skillful means to make Buddhism and Dharmic traditions exciting and cool to young people as well as older generations.

Akin to a Buddhist version of Joel Osteen, Zen is giving a whole new face and voice to Dharma. Instead of a shaved head, he maintains the long cascading hair of a yogi. Instead of a monk’s garb, he wears modern suits. While he fluently quotes Sanskrit and Pali, the bulk of his Dharma talks engage eloquent British motivational speaking in the realm of Tony Robbins generating excitement and enthusiasm. Instead of merely referencing old scriptures, he also cites present day pop culture scenarios so that everyone can relate to the applicability of Dharma even in this day and age. Inspired by the Jatakas and Ramayana, Zen is also using the power of film to communicate dharma and will also present another epic on the Bodhisattva Warriors and Dharmapala Defenders in the near future. In addition to art exhibitions, Zen is also ushering in a new collection of “Spiritual Bling” or dharma related accessories to reflect spirituality instead of materialism. And while he has been compared to Deepak Chopra, Zenji is able to reach out to the youth in a manner that is simply unprecedented as he honors the Buddhist heritage of India’s past by introducing it to the world’s future.

Not since Dr. B.R. Ambedkar has Buddhism had an Indian ambassador. Zen Acharya is ready to answer the call.

Yoga as Anti-Hindu Invective

Editor — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:46:16 +0000

Yoga

(CHAKRA) In the burning atmosphere of anti-Hindu hatred it is not surprising that strenuous attempts have been made to detach yoga from its obvious Hindu roots. At first this may seem incredible when one considers that it is more than just exercises. The mantras associated with the practice are evidently rooted in Hindu civilisation. Yet when the pervading discourse is obsessed with reducing Hinduism to the lowest common denominator of caste and widow burning then we should not be surprised that anything positive about it is arrogantly brushed off. Speak of Gandhi’s non-violence and this is cited as being due to the immense influence of Christianity, notably Sermon on the Mount. The ancient Indians invented decimal numbers and the concept of zero. Nevertheless we still refer to them as Arabic numbers. Mention that for two millennia Jews flourished in India without any hostility and Hindus are sternly reminded to not get cocky but remember that credit for this is due to all India’s communities – which conveniently ignores the never ending cycle of anti-Semitism within western civilisation to this day. The same negative methodology is applied to when Hindus state that India was the only country where Zarathustrians, followers of the indigenous religion of Iran , found sanctuary from persecution. So successful is this anti-Hindu animus that these facts regarding India being a haven for persecuted communities is scarcely known.

Yoga, meditation, vegetarianism and other practices with deep spiritual significance are thus detached from their Hindu roots just as the great mathematical and scientific achievements of India ’s antiquity are crushed from common knowledge. This is by no means a coincidence because to deny a people, culture and civilisation its true credit it must first be denied even the minimal amount of legitimacy. Hence we do not simply have Hindus being denigrated as a civilisation but as a people. How many protests and how much lobbying occurs over Hindus ethnically cleansed and persecuted in Kashmir , Bangladesh , Pakistan and Sri Lanka ?

It is in this atmosphere that the American company YogaMatic decided to enter the fray. As with many yoga practitioners they were quite happy to plunder Hindu culture for their own selfish profit motive yet deny credit to its source. Hence they manufacture yoga mats with images of Ganesha ,Buddha and Aum. For Hindus having sacred imagery on the floor to be stepped underfoot or sat on is incredibly disrespectful and offensive. Now perhaps YogaMatic were genuinely unaware about this. But try and take up the issue with them and you find that it is here that a virulent strain of anti-Hindu animus kicks in. DogMatic ‘eco-friendly’ companies such as YogaMatic are happy to take notice of Hindu culture when they exploit it as a tool of unbridled selfish capitalism but at the same time make claims of understanding Yoga. Yet like with so many others with power they are happy to ignore the rape, slaughter and massacre which adherents of that culture suffer on a daily basis while the world averts its gaze.

About a year ago this company was contacted by one Anju Taglani Harkishindas who, as his her right as a consumer, enlightened them about the offence caused by the use of such sacred images. Their response was not to even acknowledge her complaint. Subsequent emails have also gone unanswered. After all who cares what passive Hindus think? Now, as is the case in many other situations, it is was another community being insulted there would no doubt have been a very different response. Products may not have been withdrawn but at the very least corporate responsibility would have dictated a reasonable response as opposed to a wall of silence. Yet in the world’s most powerful nation where political candidates wear their religious affiliations with pride and as a panacea against all sins they have committed, it is only the Hindu beliefs that appear marked out for inferior treatment.

HHR has already tried to contact YogaMatic but had no response but will continue to build this campaign against this exploitation of Hindu culture. In the meantime HHR calls upon Hindus to let YogaMatic know of their concerns about their offensive use of sacred Hindu imagery to have it removed.

They can be contacted here :

feedback@yogamatic.com
press@yogamatic.com
customerservice@yogamatic.com
studio@yogamatic.com

The offensive YogaMatic floor mats
http://yogamatic.com/images/P_BIG/_SecondBigPicture%20copy-01.jpg
http://yogamatic.com/images/P_BIG/oneness_ym_0196_SecondBigPicture.jpg
http://yogamatic.com/home.php?cat=9

Picture of the Week: Goddess Saraswati

Editor — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:39:18 +0000

Saraswati

(CHAKRA) In Hinduism, Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti

Saraswati is symbol of knowledge; its flow (or growth) is like a river and knowledge is supremely alluring.

Vietnamese Buddhist Monk Recognized for Hearty Contributions

Editor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:56:28 +0000

Ho Chi Minh Order award

(CHAKRA) The Ho Chi Minh Order award was granted to the Head of Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS), Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue for his hearty contributions to Buddhism in Vietnam and across the world.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nguyen Thien Nhan, was honoured to reward the 95-year-old VBS head at the Vien Minh Pagoda in Hanoi’s district of Phu Xuyen on the outskirts.

At the honorary celebration, the Deputy Prime Minister shared many great words about the VBS head. His contributions to the VBS, to the country of Vietnam, and to the rest of the world, were honoured when passing over the award to him.

During the celebration, PM Nhan, spoke highly of the Patriarch, wishing him well-deserved happiness and good health. He also, thanked all of Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue’s followers, Buddhist dignitaries, monks and nuns both within the borders and outside of it for all their support.

In addition to his gratitude for the Patriarch’s work, PM Nhan stated that he hopes the Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue can continue to share his wisdom with his country and even towards the country’s reform plans.

First Conference for Hindu Priests in North America

Editor — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:45:03 +0000

Hindu Mandir Priest Conference 2012

(CHAKRA) The objective of the Hindu Mandir Priest Conference (HMPC) is sustainability and the advancement of Sanatana Dharma by making the modes of worship meaningful and relevant for the younger generation of Hindus within the United States and Canada. The purohits (priests) play an essential role in the spiritual and cultural welfare of North American Hindu society. The conference will explore ways to make the priests’ roles more effective in meeting the ever changing needs of North American Hindus.

The 1st Hindu Mandir priests’ Conference 2012 (HMPC 2012) will be hosted on April 27-28, 2012 and held in Pittsburgh, USA.

Hindu Priests and religious committee members of temples and institutions are invited to offer their experience and wisdom in specific areas, for everyone else’s benefit.

Some of the detailed discussions will be around the following:

Connecting with Children and Young Adults
Personal Growth and Continuing Education
Shared responsibilities
Samskaras & Festivals
Worship practices: Beyond rituals
Internships, Sabbaticals, Exchange Programs
Challenges of multiple languages, disparate customs
Managing devotees demands
Environmental Considerations
Employment & Benefits
Hindu Chaplaincy Program

It is the hope of the organizers that priests may take several new concepts from this conference and implement in advancing the growth of the respective temples. If you would like to contribute in any of the above roles please contact:

Dr. Abhaya Asthana,
Program Co-Chair, HMPC 2012
abhayaji@gmail.com,
508-875-0432H; 508-314-6069M

Shri Sant D. Gupta,
Program, Co-Chair, HMPC 2012
santguptava@gmail.com
703-495-9299H; 703-980-7487M

Hindu Americans Appalled by GOP Presidential Candidate’s Bigotry

Editor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:44:02 +0000

GOP

(CHAKRA) Hindu Americans are appalled by the recent comments made by Republican presidential candidate and former Senator of Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, on the eve of last Saturday’s South Carolina primary, according to the Hindu American Foundation (HAF). While speaking to a town hall audience, Santorum said that the concept of equality did not come from Islam or “Eastern religions,” but rather from the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Leaders of HAF that had previously worked with Santorum when he served as Senator and even recognized his past work on human rights, were outraged by Santorum’s remarks.

“Sen. Santorum’s presidential campaign is now playing to the lowest common denominator of religious bigotry and prejudice by attacking Eastern religions and Islam,” said Aseem Shukla, M.D., Co-Founder and Board Member of HAF. “His comments not only demonstrate a disregard for America’s great history of pluralism and religious diversity, but also show a profound ignorance of the teachings of Dharma spiritual traditions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.”

Santorum, who addressed a crowd of over 200 people at the Clock Restaurant in the small town of Boiling Springs, further declared that Americans should live “responsibly in conforming with God’s laws,” since their rights and equality come from God.

“For Mr. Santorum to present himself as a ‘true conservative’ is to defame the conservative movement that should never allow itself to be conflated with his intolerant message,” added Shukla.

Despite his last-minute appeals to South Carolina voters, the former Pennsylvania Senator finished in third place with 17% of the vote, behind both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, who received 27.8% and 40.4% respectively.

“Hinduism, the world’s oldest spiritual tradition, has long advanced the concept of equality that transcends humanity and is inclusive of the entire creation that is a manifestation of an immanent and omnipotent God,” said Jay Kansara, HAF’s DC-based Associate Director. “Mr. Santorum would do well in joining the millions of Americans who have actually read and drawn inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita and other Dharmic, or Eastern, scripture before making such divisive and ill-informed statements.”