HINDU RENAISSANCE ... 1

This group aims to propagate the principles of Hinduism and make the world aware of the glory of the Hindu civilization. Hinduism holds the key to the highest spiritual principles and the Hindu way of living may be the way the world may be saved from impending destruction at the hands of religious fanaticism and intolerant totalitarianism. The Hindus as a race have been the most peaceful in world history and, as such, a resurgence of Hindu culture is the urgent need of the hour both from the standpoint of our national security as also from the global standpoint. The world is in dire need of the pristine principles of the Vedas for its very survival. Hence, the objective of this group is to promote vigorously the fundamental tenets of Hinduism in both its theoretical and practical aspects.

Our Motherland has been partitioned once on the basis of religion, the Hindu-Muslim divide, as existent in the then political conditions and we can ill-afford to have another such divide in the future. Hence, the integrity of the nation demands the strengthening of its age-old Hindu culture of universal acceptance and democracy of the spirit. Hindus must not weaken themselves through caste divisions any more but must rather help each other to bring about national solidarity. This effort will not be exclusive but must include all like-minded citizens of the land who wish to participate in the process of nation-building. Sanskrit should be made the national language and its study must be made compulsory for all Hindus. Only then will Hindus become aware of their true heritage and will learn to conduct themselves like true sons and daughters of the soil.

HINDU RENAISSANCE ... 2

Hindus must cast aside caste identity and stand together as a cohesive unit if they are to survive as a race. These caste divisions have served their purpose, and often gloriously so, but have now outlived their utility. They are weakening the fabric of Hindu society and stand as the great bar towards attainment of social unity within the Hindu fold. The lower castes have suffered great tyranny at the hands of upper caste Hindus and have been often so marginalized down the ages that they have fallen easy victim to Muslim and Christian conversion conspiracies. These are proselytizing religions that thrive on inducing members of other religions to join their fold to bolster their ranks. Economic inducement, malicious propaganda and political enforcement by conquering races have all played their due roles in wooing lower caste Hindus away from their fold into the rank and file of these Semitic religions. But the worst offenders have been the Hindus themselves. Instead of lending a sympathetic helping hand to these hapless fellow Hindus, the upper caste Hindus have historically only rained scorn, atrocity and alienation on them, even denying them basic living conditions to survive with any semblance of human dignity. Like animals these children of God have been treated down the ages and made to labour for their upper caste social masters till they have lost their individuality. The consequence of this terrible neglect of the masses has been the weakening of the nation and it falling a victim eventually to the Mohammedan invasion which began a 850 year period of alien tyranny ending with that most vicious rule of the British lasting for the last 190 years of this dark phase of Hindu history. But the Lord has been kind and once more we are free as a race and a nation although we have received a truncated India by way of independence. Nonetheless, we now have the chance to rectify our past mistakes and start afresh to rebuild our Hindu culture. The civilization that began on the banks of the Indus (Sindhu), the Ganga and the Saraswati had flourished for over four thousand years before its pulse weakened and it went into its shell to preserve its sanctity and character. The hindrances that came in the way of its free expression during the Muslim period and the British period are now no more and we stand as a sovereign nation with the opportunity and the power at our disposal to shape our own destiny, that of fulfilling the evolution of our race in line with the master plan of our Vedic sages and seers. It is thus meet that we Hindus realize the gravity of the moment and start the process of rebuilding our ancient civilization which through foreign thrust has been much wounded and which may be restored to its pristine state only by the healing touch of mutual love and respect, service and care, renunciation and realization. Following in the foot-steps of our Rishis and Avatars down the ages we must again come up as the premier spiritual people of the world and shine on world civilization as a beacon of light. To the ushering in of such a day let us pledge ourselves and let us in accordance start pouring in our labour of love for our beloved Motherland that she may occupy premier place in the comity of nations. Jai Hind!      

WHO CARES TO GO IN?

Inwardness is the primary condition of spirituality and that begins by learning to love how to stay at home after the day's work is done. The mind must be trained to look inward and and that can never happen if one is in the midst of frivolous enjoyment of the senses all the time. The student must study, the householder must work and the retired man must contemplate the Divine.The object of life is Self-realization through education from experience, both internal and external. Work must overcome inertia and wisdom must consume work. Then will come true inaction which is the highest mode of phenomenal living with action proceeding out of the impulse for world-welfare without attachment or proprietorship. A free flow of spontaneous execution of work by Nature through the agency of the mortal coil having no vestige of egotism clinging to it and having no residuum of effect on the soul is the essence of such detached performance of work and is verily the living-free state. Action now is inaction and inaction the intensest action. This is the depth-condition of the soul where surface waves have no access and the disturbances thereof are no more. The mind in this deeper realm feeds on the superconscious and often dissolves in the process to reveal the luminous Self by whose light the universe is lit up. This inwardness, this awareness of the deeper self, this diving into the inner recesses of the Being forms the core principle of spirituality and is the basis of ethics, discovery of the higher laws of existence and of whatever is good and noble in life and living. Renunciation is, thus, the life-line of spirituality and sacrifice the watchword of civilization. Without the inner life there is nothing substantial to religion or morality, nothing that can sustain man through the vicissitudes of terrestrial life where the blows of Nature are terrible and death-dealing. The life of the spirit is this seeking within for the inestimable treasures of the soul that otherwise elude the material man engrossed as he is in the pursuit of his evanescent dreams, the perishable commodities of life. The inner life opening, the gateway to freedom is thrown open. Mortal man is no more captive within the confines of the body and the mind but is free to soar high into 'that heaven of freedom' whence there is no more a return to this terrible quagmire of relativity where death stalks all and fear rules the life of things. Care must, thus, be taken to restrict the outward flow of our mind and we must consciously traverse within ourselves, deep within the soul of our existence to be free and blissful, fearless and blessed, unfettered radiant beings rambling through the play-field of phenomena careless of consequence for we have burnt the very seed of desire and attained to kaivalya (the lonesome, solitary state of being). May all lead the inward life and attain to peace and blessedness! Om!       

DELHI CHOKES

DELHI CHOKES

Delhi is choking. Yet, inhabitants of Delhi keep deliberating the merits of the Odd-Even Formula for private vehicles to be in operation from the New Year. While deliberations are always welcome, the way they are being conducted seems to indicate that the people are yet to awake to the fact that soon Delhi will have to be evacuated of its population if stringent measures are not immediately adopted to counter the menace of the deadly air pollution that threatens the life of the capital city of our country. Now is not the time for idle deliberation but is the time for emergency action. The people have been made aware of the menace of air pollution much faster and in a much more effective way by them being prospectively subjected to the inconvenience of delimitation of private vehicular commuting. How far the Odd-Even Formula will work in combating the poor air quality obtaining in Delhi remains to be seen but a beginning will have been made from where the adoption of further measures may follow which hopefully will be more effective. Any restraint on air pollution needs to be welcomed now as there may still be time to just about redress the badly tilted balance. Any further delay may prove catastrophic as, at the current rate of growing pollution, Delhi soon will become uninhabitable. It is time to wake up and start working to reset the air quality of Delhi which is now the most polluted city of the world.

PLANT TREES

Ultimately, the air pollution problem may be traced back to the indiscriminate felling of trees in man’s mad bid for urbanization. Trees photosynthesize to remove carbon dioxide, liberate oxygen and transpire water vapour to usher in rain which cleanses the atmosphere. The sidewalks of Delhi are denuded of trees as massive building projects spew dust into the air. Vehicular pollution is an added menace, especially those that run on diesel which emits seven times more pollutant into the air than petrol. Trucks commute through the avenues of Delhi whole night at an alarming frequency damaging the air quality dangerously. The rapid growth of industry, the high population and its concomitant demands on the city’s environ and the recent cold-wave sweeping across North India have made Delhi’s air toxic beyond parallel and needs immediacy of emergency action and a long-term action plan to back it up if our capital city is ever to be environmentally healthful. The government of India must make it mandatory for corporate houses to plant trees by way of CSR to the tune of 1% of their net profit over and above the 2% they are liable to spend as of now. It should be the top priority of the governments, both at the Centre and the States to go about a massive tree-plantation programme. Children should be taught gardening in schools and practical gardening should be included as a subject in all school curricula.

CITIZEN'S PARTICIPATION

The crux of the problem is that the average man is neither aware nor willing to take the lead and do something to combat the menace of pollution. Selfishness is the root of desire and desire the impelling motive for consumerism which in turn is the cause of pollution. Limiting desires through spiritual awakening will result in change in life-style and help to curb pollution. Human need should be catered to and not human greed. Exploitative capitalism and its concomitant evils coupled with the demands of an ever-exploding population is the root cause of the damage to the environment. But in the current global scenario there seems to be no alternative to capitalism in some form or the other. Hence, the welfare element, which theoretically is the hallmark of the Indian economy, needs to be activated on a grand scale and governmental effort needs to be backed up by citizen's participation to bring about a transformation in the current status of the air quality obtaining in Delhi and elsewhere in India. Every Indian must commit himself/herself to the health of the environment and must pledge his/her service to the nation to clean up the air. Else, we shall all share a catastrophic common fate.

HOPE

We cannot give up without a valiant effort to clear up the mess we have landed ourselves in. We must conjointly work with a united resolve to clean up the air we breathe. Success is bound to come if we stand united on this front. Hope is the single attribute that failed to escape the box of Pandora. It is abreast in us and shall be the springboard for our actions as we endeavour to bring back the air quality in Delhi and other polluted cities and towns to normalcy. Every act undertaken in this bid is welcome and is the harbinger of a brighter day, a clearer air and a bluer sky. Let us hope that such a day soon dawns on us and may we work incessantly towards the ushering in of such a dawn. Jai Hind!        

WOE UNTO THE NATION!

When Parliamentarians behave worse than naughty school children and the business of the nation is held to ransom, one wonders what sort of an independence we have achieved through all our trials and tribulations, the sacrifice of the masses over the years and the blood spilt from the bodies of our countless martyrs whose only dream was to liberate us from the shackles of political servitude, economic deprivation and social subjection. One watches with horror the proceedings of Parliament as members charge into the Well of the House, throw paper at the Chair and generally disrupt the functioning of the house through sloganeering, often a monotonous, irritating drone and often a belligerent barrage of verbal vehemence outstripping the standards of Parliamentary decorum. Such irresponsible conduct of the law-makers of the land sets such a low standard of civic behaviour that the youth of the nation have nothing worthwhile to learn from their political leaders and the nation at large can scarce reconcile to the gross wastage of legislative time in pursuance of petty politicking by the people’s representatives. A total of 11 bills were passed in the Lok Sabha and only 3 were passed in the Rajya Sabha which was the worst hit by continuous ruckus caused by the Opposition benches. The nation is on the move and India is fast becoming a global economic powerhouse. But this progress is being significantly retarded by the indiscriminate indiscipline of our lawmakers. Parliament must formulate punitive measures to be adopted against errant legislators who violate the norms of the House and obstruct its smooth functioning. Such measures must be statutory and auto-effective the moment such violation takes place. For instance, a member charging into the Well of the House must be liable to automatic expulsion from the House for the day or for several days or for the entire Session, depending on the number of such violations made by him. Such stringency alone will make our Parliament function properly and allow the business of the House to be conducted in the desired manner. One looks forward to the next Session of Parliament to see if there is any improvement in the behaviour of our esteemed legislators. Till then, we, the citizens of this great country, must carry on manfully our own task of building our nation in our own small way. Let our leaders learn from us what it is to be patriotic, what unselfishness is all about and what the motherland means to every Indian. We will proceed despite our regressive politicians and we will march ahead to occupy pride of place in the comity of nations. Jai Hind!    

HERE HE COMES AGAIN

It is a hopeless task trying to regenerate human society without a prior self-regeneration, assuming, of course, that the present state of affairs, both at the social level and at the individual, is a degeneration of an earlier higher state of affairs. There is an utter destitution of human values today across the world, a phenomenon quite as universal as the environmental pollution that plagues humanity today. The task of salvaging the situation, thus, is an onerous one and requires not only expert diagnosis of its causes from the analysis of its symptoms but also the activation of a massive amount of spiritual energy that will effectively counter the evil tendencies of the times. Such a Herculean task is not for ordinary mortals to accomplish and is the domain only of an Avatar-like personality and his entourage. The times are, thus, pregnant with the possibilities of such an advent and we must gear ourselves for such a deluge of spirituality that is in the offing. On our part we must spiritualise ourselves actively to heighten our Self-consciousness in order to combat the challenges of the hour as also to ready ourselves for the great advent of the supreme personality of the age, the ideal man, the messiah of the masses who will deliver us from the tyranny of the times with his message of eternity and his spirit of enlightenment.

It may sound like the vain hope of the devout in desperate desertion of his post in life in favour of superstitious supposition of supernal help but careful study of the forces at work today in human society and the history of the world-movements in the domain of spirituality will lend credence to my thesis that the advent of the Avatar is due as the final remedy to the current discordance to which humanity seems to have no clue. Mere mechanical adjustment of the forces no more seems to suffice in terms of restoring their lost harmony. What is required is an inner adjustment of the psychological and, even deeper, the spiritual forces that are in operation at the world level. Hence, the imperative of the times, the necessity of the hour, the sheer resolution of the restoring forces in secret functioning within the womb of humanity makes the descent of the Divine not only a distinct possibility but an almost certainty in the minds of the spiritually discerning. The modus operandi, though, is for the vaster forces to determine and the interpretation of the descent for future humanity to depict.

I shall rest my thesis here with a plea to all devotees to align themselves with the massive action plan of Swami Vivekananda and his twin motto of Self-realisation and world-welfare through renunciation and service. Only then may we save the world from utter annihilation and resurrect the hopes of humanity for a brighter future and a safer home, planet earth, for we must never forget that the messiah ever manifests himself in the hut of the humble and in the dwelling of the devout. Unto us belongs his hospitality and unto us is the blessing thereof. May the Lord be born amongst us again to save us from the material mire and set us once more on to the royal avenue of Godhead! Hail humanity! Jai Ramakrishna!     

THE MYSTIC MANTRA

The Ishta Mantra is potent. The Guru imparts power to it at the time of initiation. Besides, these mystic formulae were discovered by the Rishis of yore in their spiritual realizations and were cognized as being potent at source. Also, these seed words (beej mantra) acquired added potency through their repetition over thousands of years by spiritual aspirants whose mind-force enlivened them. Thus, a person who has been graced by his Guru with the holy name, the mystic syllable or the seed word needs to consider himself fortunate for he has been granted the key to attaining his liberation in this very life by reverential repetition of the mantra. He must on no account fail to chant the mantra regularly with utmost love and reverence for in it lies his highest good. The Guru or the spiritual preceptor is the one that unconditionally showers his love on the shishya or the disciple. There is no barter there. It is pure, unsullied love fraught with the highest benediction. The Guru seeks nothing in return for his tremendous act of taking upon himself the sins of the disciple at the time of spiritual initiation save that his spiritual child may attain to spiritual illumination one day. He patiently waits for that blessed moment and all along keeps clearing the way for his arrival there by removing the obstacles, the hindrances that lie on the path. Eventually, on the blessed day the Guru appears before the disciple in his supreme spiritual splendour before merging in the Divine who is the Chosen Ideal of the disciple. The disciple is sublimated in consciousness by the effulgence of the Divine before him before he is absorbed in its radiance and transported to the realm of freedom, immortality and perfection. The Guru and the disciple are now no more separate as they are both merged in the Divine. The triune are an inseparable whole. The mantra has met its mystic end. Now no more chanting, no more meditation, just eternal union. Jai Guru! Jai Ramakrishna! Om!

CHANT FOR THE WORLD

Devotees, chant your Ishta-mantra (the Holy Name) for world-welfare. The Name of the Lord is potent and so is the Beej Mantra (the Seed Word). Constant repetition of it will lead to purification of your mind-stuff and in turn help society through your holy influence. Moreover, the power of thought is immense. It can transform your surroundings if you are sincere in your spiritual practice. The Beej Mantra is a potent tool for the spiritual transformation of the world. You must have faith in its power and in your ability to help yourself and the world along through incessant repetition of it. The thought-force emanating from your concentrated mind will penetrate the consciousness of humanity and bring forth a wondrous change in human attitude and action. So, the highest charity you may practise in this world is to be spiritually sincere and active for the sake of self-preservation and world-welfare. May God guide your steps towards Self-realisation and may He who is the Father of all lead you all to work for the regeneration of human society! Jai Ramakrishna!

KOTHA BRAHMA?

Brahma antareo non, bahireo non, Brahma swatantra, jagatproponchobohirbhuto, indriyaateet, desh-kaal-nimitter shimanar bahirey. Ei arthey Brahma anatarer antostholokey, brahmander bahirey, prithak sattwaa, ek jnar dwitiyo nai, achal, atal, sumerubat. Ei Brahmabastu ke kendra korei Mayamoy prohelikar srishti jar bastobik nitya kono astitwoi nei athocho apato protiomaan indriyagrahya satya. Jagat sansar tai satya o astayer adbhut bhouto mishran, anirbachaniyo marichikasama ghatanar chironton probaho jar loy ekmatra jnanonmeshey. Takhon indriyer indrapatan o apnar swaswarupey abosthan. Atmajnan e Brahmajnan o Mayar nasher karon, moksha, mukti, nirbaanlaabher hetu.

LIVE THE LIFE ... 22

Words, words, senseless words, frothy, fuming, toxic words, barbed words, veiled words, hurtful words, healing words, words galore everywhere, utterances meaning nothing. Words that are the fruit of vision, realization replete in transcendence true, such words, for sure, are the harvest of the soul laden with the essence of things. The rishi utters his mantra, seen in the depth of his soul, that carries the message of the causal world and the tiding far beyond. The universe is the expression of the Word, the Om that holds it all, the summation of all of vibrated sound, itself the non-vibrating source. This syllabic mystic mantra enfolds us all in its arms as we dabble in its derivatives the babble of the flesh. But if we redirect our attention towards this, our verbal source, our sonic origin and attempt to scale the heights of transcendence by penetrating this sound wall, then freedom is ours beyond the sound. Then all that we shall ever utter again, should we return to the plane of relativity, will be tinged with the flavour of the soul that sees into the heart of things and our words will be potent enough to bring forth transformation in others. Then, and then alone, will we be ready to do real fruitful work for the regeneration of humanity, not before. The babble will have given way to utterances profound pouring from the depths of the soul and our very words will be Veda.

Awake, awake, my friends and set about transforming your lives by following the blueprint laid down by Vivekananda. It is the need of the hour, the imperative of the times and the very basis on which shall rest future humanity as it grapples with the forces of darkness to arrive at the gateway of freedom, light and immortality.

LIVE THE LIFE ... 21

Devotees of the Ramakrishna Order, unite your wills to serve the cause of the Master. Live glorious lives full of the fire of spirituality such that people stand in awe of you. Your flaming character will be a beacon of inspiration for all and will draw them towards the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda ideal. The object is to manifest individual divinity to bring about collective transformation in human society whereby spirituality will be the vibrant basis of global living. Pursuit of excellence must include pursuit of truth, both scientific and philosophical, with rationality as the common denominator for all endeavour. But this rationality must not be dry intellectuality. Rather, it should be the bedrock on which systems must be built and existing systems must stand instead of fanatical faith in irrational assertions passing off as gospel truth. It is here that work must be done. Irrationality must not be allowed to pass off as revelation. Rather, the latter must be in fulfilment of reason and so, transcending it. But even such transcendence must be explainable in rational terms, so to say, and not arbitrarily thrust on humanity as the exclusive vision of a seer or a prophet. Indeed, as Swami Vivekananda had beautifully articulated, instinct evolved is reason and reason transcended is inspiration or super-conscious revelation. Instinct, reason and inspiration---these three are in an ascending series, each being the fulfilment of the one preceding it. Thus, the primary requisite in this path of spiritual seeking is for one to be founded on reason and not to subscribe to any faith based on fanciful stories which have no credible basis of evidence to back them up. And the evidence again must be scrutinized with scientific rigour before acceptance if it passes the test. This is the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Way.