Yoga and Dhrupad Bandhuta

Book Review and Notes on "Indra's Net : Defending Hinduism's Philosophical Unity" by Rajiv Malhotra

Goal of the book

1. Nexus of Western scholars specializing in creating and sustaining dominant narratives. Subvert such vested interests.
2. Inspiring "Intellectual Kshatriyas" who will carry forward the defence of Hinduism against these special interest groups.
3. "Invading the Sacred" book broke the grip of Freudian pseudo-analysis of Hinduism
4. "Breaking India" book brought awareness of fissioning forces subverting culture and identity of Bharat to make it easy prey for vested interests.
5. "Being Different" book exposed propensity of Western Universalism to digest other cultures by mapping their concepts onto ours. "Finding similarities" or manufacturing them.
6. "Indra's Net" book exposes attacks at integrity of Hinduism by claims that everything good is derived from Western Science and Religion and Everything bad is inherent in Hinduism. Also trying to malign and undermine Swami Vivekananda's worldview by claims of "Neo-Hinduism".
7. "Indra's Net" from Atharva Veda taken up in Buddhism - "Everything is a reflection of Everything"
8. Vivekananda's 'tat tvam asi ethics' i.e revival of seva as Karma Yoga based totally on Vedic Thought.
9. Propounds that Hinduism has an "Open Architecture" with a "toolbox" of philosophies forming the Indian Universal worldview. Kind of like a distributed system made up of cooperating sub-cultures.
10. Open society is easily digested using 'salami tactics'. Suggests use of "porcupine defence" and "poison-pill-defence" as safeguards against digestion by Closed-Member-Based-Cultures. Kind of like GPL and LGPL in s/w terms.
11. Target audience is mainstream Hindus misinformed about their Sanskriti. Create a 'home team' of intellectual leaders to research, rearticulate Hinduism to current situation.
12. Opposition from 'sickularists' and 'old-guard Hindus' claiming 'communalism' and 'deviation from tradition' respectively.
13. 'Darshan' is the aspect of 'embodied knowing by 'anubhava' in addition to reasoning and knowledge of texts.
14. 'Smritis' are regularly written and re-written as per context of that age.
15. West is confined to its own labels of 'traditional', 'modern', 'post-modern' at different times. Hinduism on the other hand has always allowed these 3 to co-exist.
16. Western view of Bharat tries to use its characterization of tradition as being backward to create and leverage conflicts and contradictions.

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Main points raised in the book :

1. Openness of Hinduism allowing Indra's Net to reflect the inherent diversity of the universe. (Many ways to God/Self Realisation.)
2. 'Khandana' of manufactured idea of "Neo"-Hinduism and maligning of Swami Vivekananda. (Like the "real" Vasudeva Western imposters are 'pretending to the throne' by fabricating 'I-was-first' "history".)
3. Tracing lineage of Contemporary Hinduism to earliest traditions.
4. Exposing misappropriation and digestion of concepts, ideas in a piece-meal fashion by West. (Old 'soma' in new 'wine' bottles).
5. Anti-Digestive defense mechanisms against exploitation of Open-Architecture - 'porcupine-defense' and 'poison-pill-defense' to make explicit non-negotiables of core philosophy.
6. Respecting and living with different global points of view i.e. 'astika' and 'nastika'.

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[BookReview] "Hindu Dharma : The Universal Way of Life" by Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi MahaSwamiji of Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham

An excellent Book on Sanatana Dharma published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
Written by Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi MahaSwamiji of Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham. 

Hinduism/Sanatana Dharma is so vast that like a sprawling Banyan tree it's difficult to grasp its vastness. This extremely difficult task is made to look feasible by the effortless yet authoritative voice of this Seer.

It describes both a Bird's eyeview and a peek into the internal workings of this vast, great and Sanatana Dharma. Describes all the Vedas, Shastras, Ved-angas :

http://www.kamakoti.org/newlayout/template/hindudharma.html

A monumental work by Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi, the (erstwhile) Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.

This is like a breath of fresh air from the very source of Hindu culture and spiritualism.

It gives insight into the whys of religious and social practises and how they weave the culture and religion into an indivisible whole.

Great people have the capacity to explain complex and subtle things in the simplest of words.
Words which stand the test of changing times as they connect with the eternal.

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has done a great service to mankind by publishing these very words.

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[My opinion on why we should read this book: Hindu Dharma]

We are constantly being bombarded by opinionated media on Hinduism.
For people getting confusing signals from "secular", "westernized" and opinionated views of Hinduism
This is like a breath of fresh air from the very source of Hindu culture and spiritualism.

Many of the things said in this book may not be exactly "mod" or even sound "counter intuitive" to the Westernized Indian (like myself) of today.

The fact is I've been so out of touch with my own culture that I identify and know more about foreign culture than my own roots.
I feel like a xeroxed American in my own land. This book is an important step in getting back in touch with my own roots.

This is because we're aping the ways of the West esp. now the American ways.
Without seeing the undesirable things that are creeping into our society.
Unfettered freedom leads to degeneration and decadence a la "Roman Orgies".

The western media and its "indian" counterpart has thoroughly brain-washed us into visions of "Progress".
Seeing the state of our US brethren struggling with drugs, teenage sex, crime and bare-faced consumerism doesn't spell much progress as far as I can see.
Big business trying to sell all kinds of things to lonely people (split from their families and easy prey).
This is packaged as "freedom of choice" and "standard of living" instead of a fall in a sense of values.

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The kamakoti.org has transcribed the book with help from students of BITS Pilani for online access :http://www.kamakoti.org/newlayout/template/hindudharma.html

http://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/ (the original Tamil version Deivatthin Kural)

1) Origin of the Universe from Omkara : 
Excerpts from the book 'The Vedas' by Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kama Koti Peetham :http://www.arunachalavedas.org/pdfs/The_Vedas.pdf

[Book Review] 7 Secrets of Hindu Calendar Art: Insight into the Meaning Behind the Symbols of Hindu Mythology

Devdutt Pattanaik is quite good at explaining the symbols in more concrete ways while still retaining the esoteric meaning.

It has 7 visually engaging chapters on Ganesh, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva/Shankara, Devi, Brahma.
The closest thing I can think of is that at first glance it looks like a "Dummies Guide to Hindu Symbols through Calendar Art". It uses a few illustrative calendars with text "bubbles" to identify each element of the symbolism.
Looks can be deceiving though.
The text then goes on to explain in more detail how the whole tapestry is built out of seemingly simple symbols to convey a very deep meaning.
Though the author steers clear of going in too deep (to avoid losing his audience who may not yet be ready for whole thing) the symbols he's talking about are at the heart of Tantra and much of other branches of Hinduism.

He follows the difficult path of "Being as simple as possible but no simpler" without distorting the implied meaning at the heart of the symbol. It's a bit like explaining General Relativity to a child while trying to retain scientific truth.

We take our myths in our stride in India, esp. I guess the "educated" people. Reading up on the esoteric meaning behind the symbols makes you really think how much our ancients went deep into the human nature and the depths of the Universe.

Lord Vishnu's lies on a serpent called Ananta (the Infinite) with 3 and half coils on KshirSagara ocean of milk. Super explanation of what each of the symbols stand for. After reading this visiting a temple was an eye-opening event.

I never looked at Calendar art as more than a slightly over coloured, slightly garish visualization of gods/goddeses (like our film posters). But that was before reading this book.

Links:
Devdutt Pattanaik's Blog has many interesting articles: http://devdutt.com
Book webpage : http://devdutt.com/7-secrets-from-hindu-calendar-art/
Decoding Lakshmi: http://devdutt.com/decoding-lakshmi/
Lakshmi is symbolised by the over-flowing pot. (TODO)
Garba (Dance of the Pot): http://devdutt.com/the-dance-of-the-pot/
The Song of the Crow (From Finite to Infinite) : http://devdutt.com/the-song-of-the-crow/
Chimera vs Nava-Gunjara (Unity in Diversity) :  http://devdutt.com/the-flawed-gaze/
Nath-Jogis: http://devdutt.com/legends-of-the-nath-jogis/
Hamsa (goose not swan?!) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa_(bird)

Nature Versus Nurture (Some thoughts on RoseBuds, Children and Self Realization)

Got this forward called 'God's Rosebud' which indicates the role of ego .

This is a generic forward originating from some western religious sites. 

Also found it on SpeakingTree : http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/god-and-i/gods-rosebud

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GOD'S ROSEBUD

: A new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day.
Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice.
The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals.
The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry.
But because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact. It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do. Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it,the older preacher began to recite the following poem...

"It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine."
"The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so easily,
But in my hands they die."

"If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?"
"So I'll trust in God for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to God for guidance
In each step along the way."
"The path that lies before me,Only my Lord and Savior knows.
I'll trust God to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose."

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Set me thinking as to what, how much and why we should try teaching to our children.

Should we leave to themselves without interfering in their development.
Because sooner or later they will come up against the same wall of uncertainty, limitations and resulting frustrations and questions that people have had for aeons.


As Kabir says :
"Dheeray Dheeray Re Mana, Dheeray Sab Kuchh Hoye
Maali Seenchay So Ghada, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoye"

At most we can tend the rose bush by giving it access to earth, sunlight, air and water.
The gardener however is optional, as God has made each living thing capable of fending for itself and developing itself.

There are many wild Rose bushes which prosper without any gardener.
Children are like that too. They grow irrespective of parents, teachers, society.

Why then do we need schools and other institutions to pass on things? If we do need them How much do we need them?

Too much of these  things will harm the Rose bush and too little will also harm it.

The only role of gardener is to supply the things that the Rose bush requires at appropriate times in appropriate quantities (appropriate to the needs of the bush - NOT the gardener). The gardener will disappear but a tree he planted may live for many centuries. The key words being 'appropriate to the need' I think.

Things are required in different doses at different 'Ritus' of life.
Our ancient 'Rishis' made the different 'Ashrams' for this reason.
The Rishis also realized that not all people are having same goals - Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. They also saw that at different times/circumstances people can change their views and goals. This happens as a result of their Samskaras and their life experiences.

The Rishis insight into 'Ritam' the foundation of 'Ritu', showed them how one can co-operate with the inner and outer Nature i.e. atma and param-atma.

Like the sugar pills of Homeopathy, they mixed in different potencies of medicine (Parmatma) through stories, songs, rituals.
The more diluted the potency the more powerful and long-lasting the effect.

Children at young stage want stories of Bala-Krishna (or today's Chotta-Bhim or SuperBoy)
Teens want stories of hero-worship (Krishna's adventures in an Adult world or today's Superman/Batman).
Adults want stories of self fulfillment (Ramayana/MahaBharat - Kings/Queens controlling Nature/Others)
Older people want stories of experience and wisdom (Yoga - controlling Self)

However with the advent of British education all this was discarded.
That system was trying to supply British administration with clerks and staff.
People who follow orders and don't think (too much) for themselves.
Today the same system supplies MNCs with clerks and staff.

Each person comes with his own unique combination of desires, goals, experiences and Samskaras. So each person needs his own unique path to self-realization. This unique path he/she has to walk by oneself. With the help of their own Inner Guru. The Outer Guru can only point the way. The exact specific steps etc have to be taken by the person.
The needs of the person are of prime importance. 

As Rajiv Malhotra describes in his book 'Being Different' - this is the Pull-mode of Santana Dharma i.e. the person takes as per his/her 'Patrata' (in English we can very loosely translate this as a phrase - Requirement-Need-DigestionPower etc).This is quite different from the Push-mode of other religions.

All we can hope to do is to go back to our own Roots of Ritam.
And re-discover the connection with Parmatma.
Whether we succeed or not depends on efforts of parents, teachers and most importantly guidance from realized Gurus.

Abandonment vs. Attachment. The middle path seems like a balanced way.

Rest is between the Rose bush, the Rose and God.

Learning Sanskrit via Vagyoga. Mnemonic fun techniques vs. Rote-Learning

Note: 
Please add comments below this blog I'll reply back when possible (maybe a long gap).
I'm unable to reply to individual queries on private email-ids.

Need to restart my learning as I'm busy with some work right now. 
This time I'll be maintaining a wiki to take down points to remember from each lesson.

I've now reached Varna Padam Lesson7 of 'Vagyoga Sanskrit Mnemonic Technique'

It's absolutely delightful to re-discover old words and see them in a new light.

Need breaks between lessons to assimilate so much information into useful knowledge.

To find links to barely-understood words, phrases and stories.

Just started with Word-based examples in Lesson6 of Varna Padam.

Already the much improved approach of 'sandhi-vichhed' is showing results.

It allows to get at core meaning of words (used blindly or by-habit till now).

'Sanskrit Made Easy' book with clear diagrams and additional examples helps reinforce the core concepts. It also helps makes the meaning stick in one's mind.

How I started on this journey to learn Sanskrit in a totally different way:

My dear late father used to explain many words based on 'dhatu's to us even as children.

Words would be from Konkani, Marathi, Hindi, Telugu or Sanskrit words.

As a child he'd learnt Sanskrit the traditional way.

But as a grown up he relied more on his intuition of dhatu's than on memorized grammatical rules. And that's how he taught us to look at words and languages.

He had a good enough knowledge of Sanskrit having studied for Pandit exam.

He would come up with intuitive hints by just dipping into his experiences.

Lately I've been digging into spiritual meanings of Yoga terms.

Naturally I was missing my father's insight into 'dhatu's of these esoteric words.

A few books would explain some terms in akshara/dhatu forms but the majority of terms remained unexplained. Some other books chose particular English interpretations of terms - sometimes completely out-of-context with the subject matter. Not wanting to rely on someone else's skewed interpretation left me with little options.

With my limited knowledge of Sanskriti I didn't the knowledge-base that my father did.

Understanding Vagyoga technique is made much easier because of the foundation my father laid in my childhood. All this in a very 'sahaj' and natural way.

For a long time I asked myself 'How to learn Sanskrit in this intuitive and delightful way?'.

What I needed was a natural, scientific yet intuitive way to understand Sanskrit - from roots to leaves.

Given the number of masters in any field there had to be someone out there who had already brought this art to full bloom?

Yet, internet searches only yielded small nuggets of information on 'akshara' meanings etc.

What I really admire in Vagish-Shastri-ji's method of teaching Sanskrit:

Thank God that I was lucky enough to find a person who had already done this - Shri Vagish Shastri. Someone who was not only intuitive enough to understand the 'rasa/bhaav' in the 'akshara's and 'shabda's, But he'd also invented and perfected the method over many years.

Someone who could explain the technique to even foreigners in a systematic, step-by-step and scientific way. Even as an Indian I find myself having to re-think or correct some incorrect pronounciation or conceptual understanding of languages.

In many places I'm forced to think why Shri Vagish-ji is stressing on some fine-points in the video.

When I think it over for some time I see why it's required - to understand the language clearly and not to by-heart some rules.  Esp. the part about Chhandas, as it's not stressed at all in teaching Hindi .

Sanskrit being a Mantric language is superbly precise, evocative of various bhaavas and supremely flexible to accomodate any idea.

As a loose analogy - Aksharas are like elements in Periodic Table. When they join together they form Molecules and compounds. Adding pre-fixes and suffixes changes the properties of the root word (dhatu) in predictable way. So if you know the chemistry of the language (Rasa-Shastra) then you can make any combination of 'shabda', 'vakya' and even 'kaavya' exactly as you like.

As Shri Vagish-ji explains so simply and elegantly - what binds them together is 'Natural Law'.

Today I understand what a priviledge and supreme advantage it is to know Indian languages to study Sanskrit. I'll be doing all I can in ensuring that I pass on this knowledge to my son and daughter over time.

There is so much more that I would like to convey but I'll put a running commentary as I do the course on my blog for future reference.
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The video courses(http://vagyoga.co.in/Sanskrit_at_home.pdf) are available from the contact number at the vagyoga website (http://vagyoga.co.in)http://www.vagyoga.co.in/aboutus.htm 

Video VagYoga Video Mnemonic method to learn sanskrit : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff4-Ew6Ie6M

Books on learning sanskrit easily : http://www.vagyoga.co.in/publications.htm

Note : Please be sure to mention if you are an Indian as you'll get the videos at special price of Rs. 350 or so. You can download from link sent via email (vagyoga at hotmail.com)

15 videos Varna Padam (book available)
27 videos Pada Padam (no book)
no video Vakya Padam (book available)
Bhagvat Gita (70 audio cassettes in mp3 files

Guruji Vagish Shastri received Honour from President of India for his contribution towards Sanskrit : https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=579289488830632

 

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See Also : 
0) Amazing insight into "Why Sanskrit is so special" : http://uttishthabharata.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/sanskrit
1) Learning Sanskrit Videos : http://vimeo.com/user4149423/videos
2) Learning Sanskrit without memorizing huge number of rules. Instead stories and principles behind why the rules are so : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff4-Ew6Ie6M
3) Learning Sanskrit in a new easy to remember Mnemonic method :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zynGfJv_ElY
4) Wikipedia Picture shows evolution of Akshara written form from Brahmi :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Skriptit-plain.svg
5) Some information on evolution of Scripts in Indian Languagages.
For example why is Telugu script so different from Hindi?
http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part6/chap5.htm

"In Quest of God : A Pilgrimage to Kailash-Manasarovar" by Nitish Bharadwaj & Monisha Bharadwaj

In Quest of God : A Pilgrimage to Kailash-Manasarovar

By Monisha Bharadwaj, Nitish Bharadwaj
Publisher : India Book House

Book info at google books: http://books.google.co.in/books/about/In_Quest_of_God.html?id=oxgWAAAACAAJ

About the Book : - Lake Manasarovar, an expanse of sparkling blue water sprawling over several miles, and the snow clad Mount Kailash are considered by Hindus to be the centre of the universe. The holy lake is believed to be the seat of Brahma the Creator and Mount Kailash the abode of Lord Shiva and his consort, Parvati. The entire area covering many thousands miles is an oasis of peace and serenity.

About the Author : - Monisha Bharadwaj studied Ancient Indian History and graduated from the London School of Journalism. Her unparalleled knowledge of Indian culture imbues her writings with the essence of India. Great Diamonds of India is the culmination of five years of research in India and London.An internationally acknowledged author, her books include The Indian Pantry, The Indian Kitchen, Inside India Quintessential Indian Style, Indian Beauty Secrets, and Stylish Indian in Minutes (IBH). She co-authored In Quest of God: A Pilgrimage to Kailash-Mansarovar (IBH). The Indian Pantry was short listed for the coveted Andre Simon Award (UK) and the UK Guild of Food Writers Award. It received the Literary Award in 2001 from the Academie Gastronomische in Germany.Nitish Bharadwaj has been a student of Sanskrit and the Hindu scriptures since the age of four and has had the opportunity to interact and learn from a great number of spiritual masters. A passionate photographer, he has travelled all over India, capturing the countrys natural heritage and ancient temple architecture. He is also a prolific actor, best known for his unsurpassed performance of Lord Krishna in the epic television series Mahabharata.The authors made their pilgrimage to Kailash-Mansarovar in May-June 2001 with their guru HH Swami Sadyojata Shankarashrama.

http://www.fishpond.in/Books/Quest-of-God-Monisha-Bharadwaj-Nitish-Bharadwaj/9788175083509

http://www.fishpond.in/Books/Journey-to-Land-of-Shiva-Pankaj-K-Singh/9788186880944