HINDUISM-A Hard Nut to Crack

INTRODUCTION To understand ancient Indian spiritual culture is not simply a matter of scholarship. To achieve a A Hard Nut to Crack correct understanding, it essential to enter into a Deep Understanding Not tradition of practices and disciplines and to study Accessible by Scholarship Only under the guidance of a self-realized spiritual teacher. In other words, those with realization of Requires Hearing from this knowledge can impart it to those willing to Self-Realized Spiritual Masters follow certain standards in their life. I have been and Practicing fortunate to be studying like this for close to 30 Vedic Knowledge years.1

HINDUISM TOLERANT & RESPECTFUL OF OTHER RELIGIONS The most outstanding characteristic of Hinduism HINDUISM IS TOLERANT & is the readiness to respect and accept all the gen- RESPECTFUL OF OTHER uine and compatible religious and spiritual paths GENUINE RELIGIONS within its fold. My first spiritual master told us Genuine Religions are that, if someone is a Christian or a Muslim, he characterized by: should be encouraged to be a good Christian or 1. TRUTHFULNESS Muslim. 4. 2. CLEANLINESS Those groups who pledge allegiance to leaders 3. AUSTERITY and traditions that do not follow or value the four universal principles of religion: Truthfulness, Compassion, Cleanliness & Austerity, cannot be considered genuine reli- gions, even if in their ranks there are sincere people who individually follow the these principles out of common sense and decency.

I was brought up as a strict Catholic in the eastern United States. I had close association with priests my whole childhood. But somehow I did not get clarity on some basic spiritual concepts that I now hold near and dear to my heart. I will share some of this with you today. Also, after taking up my present spiritual practices, my appreciation and understanding of Jesus has increased. I have lived and studied in India off and on for over 7 years.

1 The Jesuits have a technique they use in the missionary field. To learn some- thing completely foreign to them, They will ‘suspend their own beliefs’, for the time being, in order to grasp it. I would like you to try the same in this class. Whatever your belief system is at present, suspend it for the next hour or so and see if you can understand this presentation.

THE STORY OF NIXON There was a British pilot in WWII, named Nixon, that was shot down behind enemy lines. His cockpit jammed, so he had to ride the plane down until it crashed. On the way down, he said a prayer, that, if he survived the crash, he would dedicate himself to God 24 hours a day.

He woke up in a French hospital as the somehow were able to get him out of the wreckage. After healing his broken body, he returned to England and, true to his word, began to visit different religious clergy there telling them he wanted to dedicate himself 24 hours a day to God.

An Anglican Bishop told Nixon that they didn’t have such a program in England, but he heard that there was such a program in India.

Nixon was an educated man. He went to India to Benares and became a pro- fessor at the University there. In a short time, he became very impressed with the wife of one of the other professors there who answered his spiritual inquiries eloquently. She was a vaisnavi, a devotee of Lord .

He took initiation from her and accepted her as his spiritual preceptor. In time, he became aware of a vow he could take to renounce the world and dedicate himself 24 hours a day o God. He approached his spiritual teacher for the for initiation into the renounced order.

This lady told Nixon to come the next day. She spoke to her husband and they agreed for her to take a vow of renunciation and she receive the san- nyas mantra. She gave Nixon this sannyas mantra on the next day and he became a barefoot wandering holyman in India.

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THE ANCIENT WORLD When we talk about India, we are talking about ANCIENT WORLD the ancient world. All the major world religions World Religions come from trace their roots to the ancient world, from the the East & the Ancient World middle east to India. Christianity, Judaism and MIDDLE EAST-Christianity, Islam from the Middle East, & Islam Buddhism from India. Western Europe is the Old World and America is the New World. INDIA-Hinduism & Buddhism

VEDAS-5,000 YEAR OLD SCRIPTURES Most of my presentation today will be based THE -THE OLDEST on the 5,000 year old scriptures of India SCRIPTURES IN THE WORLD upon which the ancient spiritual culture of written down 5,000 years ago India is founded.. Veda is a word Based on ANCIENT that means knowledge. ORAL TRADITION written down because of present The vedas come from an even more ancient IRON AGE of Quarrel & Hypocrisy oral tradition in India From time immemori- al, knowledge was passed from spiritual VEDA means KNOWLEDGE master to disciple. In previous ages it was sufficient for a disciple to hear once from his spiritual master and he would remember it for the whole lifetime. I represent one of the four recognized dis- ciplic successions in India. This line is called the Madhva Gaudiya .

About 5,000 years ago, the 4th and most polluted age, the Iron Age began. This industrialized age is characterized by quarrel and hypocrisy. Lives and memories are short, people VEDIC LITERATURES are misguided and unlucky, and most everyone is compiled by Veda Vyas, disturbed by something or other. Due to the unfortu- an incarnation of Vishnu nate qualities of this age, this oral tradition of knowledge needed to be written down. This knowl- 4 Original Vedas edge with it’s many branches was first organized RG VEDA into 4 sections, the Rg, Sama, Yajur and Atharva SAMA VEDA vedas. The author who compiled this knowledge in YAJUR VEDA written form was an empowered incarnation of ATHARVA VEDA Vishnu, named Veda Vyas.

First, I would like to take a few minutes show you some of the obstacles in the way of understanding this ancient spiritual culture.

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MODERN INDIAN CULTURE IS DAMAGED & COVERED Large parts of northern India have been dam- MAIN OBSTACLES TO aged and covered in the last 1000 years by UNDERSTANDING HINDUISM invaders, so today there is confusion about vedic “HINDU” not a vedic term culture even in India itself. The very word ‘Hindu’ originated about 1000 years ago as a mis- INDIA damaged & covered pronunciation by invaders of the word ‘Sindhu’, Misinformation & Confusion which was the name of a sacred river and valley Our Western Orientation where some ancient Indian people once lived. The Material indentity with body mispronunciation was “Indus.” While this word has some meaning in Persian, it is not Sanskrit. This word ‘Hindu’ is not found in the vedas.

The Muslims began their conquest of northern India around the 13th Century and ruled parts of northern India for about 5 centuries. During this time, they killed many , destroyed many ancient temples, raised whole cities to the ground and generally tried to bury the ancient history of India.

The British overcame the Muslims in the mid 1700s and ruled northern India for another 200 years, The term ‘Hindu’ was popularized during the British rule of India, to differentiate the Indians from the Muslims who were fighting at the time, some say, with the help of the British policy of ‘Divide and conquer.’

MISINFORMATION & PROPAGANDA In the 1800s, a few Englishmen, who wanted to clear their conscience of wrongdoing, admitted in writing that the British government paid them and other men in the East India Company to re-write the history of India. The motivation? The British could not tolerate a civilization more ancient or greater than their own. The more recent American Indologists have followed the British indologists’ modernization and distortion of Indian history. You’ll find a lot of this kind of dis-information which originated in the British era in India in scholarly books and on the internet . HINDUISM HINDUISM IS ACTUALLY SANATAN would be more easily Many spiritually cultured Indians and Saints in understood as: India generally agree that the vedic spiritual culture 1. SANATAN DHARMA of India would be better served to be known as 2. VEDIC DHARMA Sanatan Dharma rather than ‘Hinduism’. We will 3. BHAGAWAT DHARMA

4 4. VAISNAVISM still use the term Hinduism because of it’s wide acceptance, although you should be aware that it confuses the distinct and varied beliefs in India which can better be understood under the broad conception of Sanatan Dharma.

Before I explain what ‘Sanatan Dharma is, I would like to ask you all a ques- tion. In the late 60’s, my first spiritual master asked an auditorium filled with students and faculty at MIT, “Can anyone tell me what the difference is between a living person and a dead person? Would anyone here like to try answer that? Don’t feel bad if you don’t get it. Not even the faculty at MIT got it, but that was 30 years ago......

OUR OWN EDUCATION & CONDITIONING The simple answer is Consciousness. It is no mistake that the MIT scientists missed this point, because consciousness was not included in their empiric approach to understanding this world and the elements in it. And growing up in the west and being educated here, many of us have been conditioned to think like the scientists.

Even today, western scientists still promote the HINDUISM OR idea that life, or consciousness, came from inert SANATAN DHARMA matter. In other words, a ‘primordial soup’ of inert Incompatible elements somehow made the quantum leap into with Evolution theory animated single-cell organisms and evolved from or Western Scientist idea there into more complex forms. This is the main- “Life comes from Matter” stream concept of evolution which we’ve all been exposed to. Also, evolution theory contains the idea that we are all progressing onwards and MODERN EVOLUTION THEORY upwards from monkeys and cavemen and that Vedic version differs from: there is no God and that everything we see 1. life comes from primordial before us some cosmic accident by some natural soup (chemicals/matter) selection. There are many problems with this theory that don’t get discussed enough, so this 2. Men evolve from monkeys theory goes largely unchallenged. But even 3. Civilization gradually Darwin had problems believing this himself rises from cavemen when he would look at a peacock feather and 4. General spin that world try to understand the utility of such a thing in is evolving upwards. the scheme if ‘Survival of the fittest.’

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THE THEORY THAT MATTER GENERATES CONSCIOUSNESS My spiritual master once paraphrased evolu- WHAT IS MORE REASONABLE? tion theory in it’s simplest terms: What the Consciousness from Stone? scientists are actually proposing is— Stone from Consciousness? “Consciousness is coming from stone (stone densest form of matter). But, he said this is VEDIC VERSION: not a very reasonable theory to promote— that Spirit, or Consciousness something infinitely more valuable animates matter. (Consciousness) is coming from far less valu- Conscious Creator(God) able(stone). He said it would be more reason- responsible for the creation able to theorize that stone is coming from con- of Matter & Spirit sciousness: that stone is just one idea in the world of consciousness. Actually, our experi- ence here is that things ARE coming from subtle to gross. If you you simply think about something long enough, desire it and work towards that, it even- tually manifests on this gross plane of matter. And, as conscious beings, we are manifesting so many things in this world by manipulating material ener- gy.

SPIRIT MOVES MATTER So, this is the vedic version, that Spirit or Consciousness moves matter. According to the vedas, all material bodies, from the elephant to the ant, are all animated by spirit. All living organisms are driven by the presence of a soul. And that soul is who we are. When the body is no longer in suitable for habitation, we leave this body and go somewhere else. Some may resist this idea, but this is clearly stated in the ancient vedas of India.

Denying this is something like denying the law of gravity. Someone might deny the law of gravity and even jump out of a 100 story building to prove the point, But on the way down he’ll probably wish he had a parachute. Gravity does not depend on us believing it, or not believing it to work. Neither does the soul in the body. And neither does God, for that matter.

BODILY IDENTIFICATION These days, most everyone is heavily identified with their material body and everything connected to it. We are being constantly being judged according to our body. Saints and scriptures of different traditions are the exception to this rule. They generally advise us that we must realize the spirit within all of us as sacred and act accordingly.

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SANTATAN DHARMA-”WE ARE SPIRITS IN THE SANATAN DHARMA MATERIAL WORLD” ”We are Spirits in the So, Sanatan Dharma means that we are in Material World”-Police essence, Spirit, and that we should act according- We are spirit in essence ly, Just as the essence of sugar is sweetness, and & we should act accordingly heat and light cannot be separated from fire, we recognizing the sacredness cannot avoid being spirit in essence, No matter if of life in everyone. one identifies himself as Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist,agnostic or atheist, this Obstacle to understanding: universal principle applies to everyone. Strong identification with body and everything connected to it. .Most religions have some some concept of an immortal spirit soul, But, over time, this idea has been obscured, and, in some cases, even rejected. For example, as a young Catholic, I was told “You have an immortal soul.” But who is this “You” in possession of the immortal soul.? Is it me my temporary body or ego? How can can something temporary possess something eternal? What I should have been told is, “You are the eternal spirit soul inside a temporary materi- al body.” That would have been clear and in line with the vedic version of Sanatan Dharma. Someone said it this way, “We are not a material beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a material experience.” CONSEQUENCES OF NOT RECOGNIZING SPIRIT IN And because this concept of everyone being EVERYONE AS A CHILD OF GOD spirit souls is not clear in various religions, it opens the door for fundamentalism and Fundamentalism & Fanaticism fanaticism. In extreme cases, those who do Poisoning Religion with Politics or not share a group’s particular belief system ignorance are labeled infidels or heathens and are con- ceived to be fit to be either aggressively con- Justifying aggression against others verted, squelched or even killed. In recent such as ‘heathens,’ ‘infidels.’ & idol- times, it has been the practice of politicized itors, or whatever so-called religionists to dehumanize entire populations to pave the way for genocide or mass murder. This is against any real understanding of spirituality or reli- gion. Too much trouble in this world is caused by 3rd and 4th class religion- ists who don’t follow their own teachings while they fight over God’s proper- ty.

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JESUS In contrast, Jesus has been recorded as saying things like, What you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me. (Matthew 25) Jesus also said he came to fullfill the law of the old testament, which includes “Thou Shalt not Kill.”

LIFE IS SACRED According to the vedas, life is sacred. It is full of purpose, as the immortal soul journeys through many lifetimes before he finally realizes his spiritual nature and makes his peace with his Creator and returns to Him in the Kingdom of God.

THEORY & PRACTICE Now, it is one thing to theoretically accept that you are a spiritual being, and another to actually realize this. That is why some spiritually focused persons take up austerities, penances, , and other spiritual disciplines; to realize they are something beyond these material bodies.

So, we have varieties of paths in India that follow this same principle of real- izing their eternal spiritual essence, their Sanatan Dharma in different ways such as Vaisnavas, Shaivites, , Shaktas & Ascetics, Of course, the foundation for all of these paths have some basis in the vedas.

VAISNAVAS, SHAIVITES, YOGIS, SHAKTAS & ASCETICS REALIZING SPIRIT Ascetics mortify the flesh to detach themselves from car- Vaisnavas nal desires as did in medieval Europe who Shaivites flogged themselves. Yogis practice an 8-fold mystic Yogis process for balancing the physical processes of the body, quieting the senses and the mind to make it fit for one Shaktas pointed concentration and meditation on God within the Ascetics heart. Shaivites also practice asceticism and yoga and meditate on Lord Siva. Shaktas appeal to the governing goddess of the mate- rial creation for her benedictions. And the Vaisnavas, 1996 BRITANICA who says in (verse Sanskrit & BOOK OF THE YEAR English slide) are higher than all of the above, practice Vaisnavas 70% of devotion to God in the form of Vishnu or Krishna to 800 million clear their path back to the spiritual world. This last category is by far the most common form of Hinduism. 25% are Shaivites Overwhelming majority worship Vishnu

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MOST HINDUS REVERE & KRISHNA Behind me are two pictures of the most popular of Vishnu in India.,Lord Rama and Sri Krishna. The story of Rama, the Ramayan, has been recorded in ancient times by the sage . Veda Vyas tells the story of Krishna in the epic and in Srimad Bhagavatam. These books are some of the most read and studied books in the world, right up there with the Bible, full of lessons in ancient culture and spiritual realiza- tions. It has been said, “If it isn’t in the Mahabharata or the Ramayan it isn’t in India.” VEDIC LITERATURES VEDIC LITERATURES BY VEDA VYAS by Veda Vyas After Veda Vyas compiled the original 4 vedas, he wrote 4 vedas supplementary historys called , the Puranas . Veda Vyas also codified all this knowledge Upanishads in stories for the less educated masses in the epic Mahabharata Mahabharata which also contains the Bhagavad Gita, a.Bhagavad Gita So Storytellers, usually , could tell illiterate villagers these stories in the evening after they came home from the fields and even they would become cul- tured in vedic truths.

Bhagavad Gita means the Song of God, This book has been studied and glo- ried for thousands of years. Krishna explains the essence of the vedas in 45 minutes to his friend and warrior-disciple Arjuna just before great battle 5.000 years ago in northern India. VEDIC LITERATURES Finally, Veda Vyas summarized the Vedas in the 4 Original Vedas vedanta sutras. But somehow he remained unsatis- & many volumes of fied. After consulting with his spiritual master, supplementary literatures are Narada Muni, he realized that, although he had all compiled by Veda Vyas, written so much knowledge for the benefit of the Srimad Bhagavatam world, the conclusion of all this knowledge was not Vyas’ natural commentary clear. So Veda Vyas wrote his own natural com- reveals Krishna as origin of all mentary on the vedas called Srimad Bhagavatam. Although it was stated in many places in the previ- ous vedas, this commentary made it crystal clear that Vishnu was the Supreme Godhead and that Krishna was the original Vishnu.

PROBLEM UNDERSTANDING THE CONCLUSION OF THE VEDAS Now what makes the vedas confusing? Because the vedas address many dif- ferent types of people in different situations. We take birth in this world in 9 many different kinds of situations. The son of a PROBLEM UNDERSTANDING doctor or a wealthy person in the west will have THE CONCLUSION OF VEDAS a completely different environment and life Vedas address different types of experience than a person born in a poor family persons in different stages of life or in a war torn country where you have to struggle day to day just to survive. The educa- Vyas wrote 18 PURANAS tional systems, the society we live in, our par- 6 for those situated in Goodness ticular life experiences, but most importantly, 6 for those w/Passionate nature our association, shape the way we think, eat 6 for those covered by Ignorance and live.

The vedas address all classes of people in many different stages of spiritual evolution. For example, Veda Vyas wrote 18 upanishads. Six of those upan- ishads were directed for those predominantly in the mode of Goodness, six were written to help those in the mode of Passion and six were meant to ele- vate those in the mode of Ignorance.(verse in Bhagavad Gita)

3 MODES OF NATURE This is a very important concept you will not find anywhere else, so listen closely. Everyone in this world is influenced by a mixture of these three modes or gunas(ropes, of material nature). This is why some people like President Bush and some people hate him. This is why some people become vegetarian and some do not. This is why some people take shelter of drugs while others take up the practice of yoga. 3 MODES OF NATURE You can think of the modes as the three primary col- Goodness ors, Yellow(Goodness) Red(Passion) and Enlightened Blue(Ignorance) Slide Passion Desires Ignorance Everyone is influenced by a mixture of these three Suffering modes. Ones activities, the way one eats, what a per- son associates with determine what modes is affected by. Even places, environments can influence the modes one is affected by. The early morning is in the mode of Goodness, noon is in the mode of passion and night is in the mode of darkness or ignorance. Hawaii’s mild climate is in the mode of goodness.

Getting up early and going to bed early is in the mode of goodness. Interested in spiritual enlightenment, doing good and offering.service to oth- ers, like eating healthy food, clean air & water, quiet reflective living are

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more in the mode of goodness. Saints are in the LORD SIVA HELPS mode of pure goodness. Fasting or practicing other THOSE IN IGNORANCE austerities for spiritual awareness is in the mode of Siva Purana says goodness. worship Siva as Supreme Vedas advise regulation A person predominantly in the mode of passion has of bad habits, once week or many desires, intense hankering, likes city life and month, or add a ritual to it. has as enjoying spirit. They are pleasure seekers but they are frustrated because most temporary General idea is to improve pleasures they seek end in suffering. towards mode of Goodness

Those in ignorance are inclined to do things that are destructive to themselves and others. Too much sleep, intoxication, iner- tia, violence and unhealthy practices affect both the body and mind to be in the mode of ignorance.

VARNASHRAM SYSTEM VEDIC SOCIETY To illustrate this system, it is useful to hear Qualified by Work, not birth about the vedic organization of society. There 4 VARNAS are 4 types of men according to their nature. 1. Brahmins- Teachers, Priests The corruption of the Caste System is the rigid 2. Ksatriyas- Warriors & Kings attempt to restrict these roles in society according to birth and not by qualities or work. 3. -Merchant Class Samskaras. born in Doctor family-doctor. 4. Suddras- Workers (70%) good birth The 1st class men are the Brahmins, the intellectual priestly class. They are spiritual enlightened as they know -spiritual substance. They are advisors to kings are truthful, austere mode of goodness Ksatriyas are the next best class, Those men with fighting spirit- the warrior class. Soldiers to Kings, their duty is to protect the innocent and deal with the criminal elements in society. Their qualities include chivalry, honor, nobility. courage. generosity, Truthfulness, responsibility Ksatriyas are a mix of passion and goodness. are the 3rd class men. They have the intelligence for commerce, organizing business and generating wealth. They are given responsibility to organize food production and in vedic society the responsibility for cow pro- tection. Vaishya are a mix of passion and ignorance

11 Suddra are the 4th and largest class. These men are meant to serve the other 3 classes. The laborer class is provided for and they are characterized to be a mix of ignorance and passion

Besides the 4 Varnas, there are 4 Ashrams.in VEDIC SOCIETY Vedic life. each is meant to be 20 or 25 years Stages of Life in length. At 5 years of age the boys go to the 4 SPIRITUAL ASHRAMS school of the spiritual master to be trained in (20-25 years each) spiritual life. They remain celibate until mar- 1. Bramacharya- celibate Student ried. These students are called bramacharyis. 2. Householder- Familyman At age about age 25 a man generally takes a 3. Vanaprastha- Retired life wife and starts a family. This Householder 4. Sannyas- Renounced Order ashram.

After 25 years of family life, when the children are grown and the wife is provided for, sexual relations stop and the man may travel to holy places with his wife and they live as a retired couple for as many as 20 years, focus- ing on spiritual life and getting the man ready for the renounced stage of life. This is called the vanaprastha stage.

Finally, the man renounces the world and separates from his wife as a Sannyasi. He practices many austerities to prepare himself for the next life and hopefully will attain God Consciousness, so at the moment of death he remembers God. For such a fortunate soul, he goes to the spiritual world to be with God.

KARMA We are creatures of habit. We are all dealing with & ACCOUNTABILITY karma, past and present. Karma simply means, Action & Reaction action and reaction. Even modern physics recog- nizes the law of material nature that, “Every Material body- Past Karma action has an equal and opposite reaction.” So, if Parents & Place of Birth gross matter works like that, why not subtle mat- Samskaras- Tendencies ter? Good Karma / Bad Karma Karma can be Changed So, if you do something good, you get a good result, If you do something bad, you get a bad Spiritually motivated activities result. Dah. If you do something really bad, you have No reaction may go to prison or even get sentenced to lose your life! 12 Karma means accountability. The human form of life is a life of responsibili- ty. In this form of life, one has developed intelligence beyond that of animals and can know right from wrong, what is up and what is down that we are all going to die, More importantly, in the human form, one can know God.

ANIMAL LIFE & HUMAN LIFE So the vedas encourage those in the human ANIMAL LIFE VRS. HUMAN form of life to purify themselves so they can Animal life- Instincts/ No Free Will become more spiritually conscious and Eating, Sleeping, Mating & Defending enlightened. If one misuses this human No Karma form of life by simply engaging in common animal propensities of eating, sleeping, Human Life- Developed Intelligence mating and defending and neglects to Can know Right from Wrong develop his spiritual awareness, he may Free Will & Accountability lose his status as a human being and fall Knows Death is coming back down into an animal form where he Can Know God can simply eat, sleep, mate and defend. Animals are not held accountable for their actions, but simply suffer out their lives until they are once again awarded a human birth. Human life is a life where there is opportunity to improve your situation and change your karma.

In India, it is basic to their spiritual culture to understand we are spirit souls and that human life is an opportunity to upgrade to a better position in the next life.

VEDIC COSMOLOGY—3 WORLDS According to vedic cosmology, there are 3 plan- VEDIC COSMOLOGY etary systems, the upper heavenly planets, 3 Planetary Systems middle planets and lower hellish planets. In Upper-Heavenly Planets the vedas there is no such thing as eternal damnation. The souls in this world elevate or Middle-Earth part of this system degrade themselves by their actions(karma) A. Some pleasure, some pain and sometimes they go to heaven and some- Lower-Hellish planets times they go to hell for some temporary pun- ishment for their bad behavior. No Eternal Damnation

The Earth is in the middle planetary system. While heaven is characterized by heavenly enjoyments and hell is characterized by suffering, there is some of both here. Relatively speaking, Hawaii is a nice place on this planet while,

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Iraq and Afganisthan are not desirable places to be right now. So, according to their karma, souls are apparently enjoying or suffering in this world.

There are sections of the vedas that entice people VEDAS-MANY VOICES of different natures to practice some sort of sacri- Encourages Regulation fice in their lives so they can go to heaven at the for gradual elevation & end of this lifetime. The vedas also prescribe reg- improving Karma ulation of certain activities that will degrade a person if he indulges in them without restriction. Sometimes gives instructions to attain Heavenly Planets- VEDAS HAVE MANY VOICES “if you do this you get this” So you are starting to get a picture that there are Also instructs how to many different instructions in the vedas meant achieve Final Liberation for different types of people. Taken all together, it from Birth & Death can appear contradictory and confusing. That’s why we have self-realized spiritual teachers who understand the conclusions of all this knowledge and can guide us according to our individual situation..

HEAVEN & THE KINGDOM OF GOD While heaven and the Kingdom of God are HEAVEN VRS. KINGDOM OF GOD obscured in some religions, it is clearly stat- Heaven / Temporary ed in the Bhagavad Gita and the vedas the Kingdom of God / Eternal the Spiritual world and Heaven are not the Kingdom of God, or Spiritual World, same at all. Jesus is recorded to have said, Beyond (outside) this Universe “Heaven and Earth will pass but the Kingdom of God is forever.” Material World is a Reflection of the Spiritual World but is That is a vedic statement. The upper Under the Influence of Time Heavenly planets are within this universe, which is described in the vedas like a coconut, The coverings of this universe are successive layers of earth, water, fire and air, and ether and outside of this universe is the eternal spiritual sky or the Kingdom of God.

THIS WORLD IS A REFLECTION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD Here is where it gets interesting. The eternal spiritual sky also has planets and is a world of variety, according to the vedas. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato described this world as the “Shadow

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World,” a mere reflection of the real world. And that is a vedic statement. This world of temporary forms is a reflection of the eternal world full of trees and birds and living beings not under the influence of time.

ETERNAL TIME Time is the problem here. Everything here is under the influence of time. In the material world, no matter how good it gets, we all share the same prob- lems, Buddha saw this. The problems we are all up against are repeated birth, death, old age and disease. This is unnatural for the spirit soul which is eternal by nature, full of knowledge and bliss.

DEMIGODS VRS. THE SUPREME GODHEAD DEMIGODS & SUPREME GODHEAD Demigods live in the heavenly planets and Demigods- empowered representatives look after universal affairs. That means of God. They Reside in the Heavenly the rains and the sun and moon all the Planets & look after Universal Affairs. life-giving and devastating forces in this world are regulated by demigods. There’s GOD (Vishnu) is the Creator/Controller many demigods but they are simply of Everything & Resides in Spiritual empowered by God to do their jobs here in World but Expands Himself Here. this world. They get their power from Vishnu who also is represented here but mostly resides outside of this universe.

The demigods, no matter how powerful, are spirit souls like you and me, but due to some good karma, austerities etc, they have been placed in charge of something in this universe while residing in a Heavenly world where every- one has palatial homes, Many are gifted musically and many have mystic powers,( like if they wanted a mango they just think mango and it appears in their hand.) Pele is a demigod

3 DIFFERENT BODIES 3 BODIES IN ONE Many demigods have ethereal bodies, not earth, water bodies like ours. All of us here Gross Body- Earth, Water, Fire Air, & have a gross body. Our flesh and blood bod- Ether. Demigods have Ethereal bodies ies are made up of earth, water, fire air and Subtle Body - Mind, Intelligence, ether. Then we have a subtle body, mind, Ego. Ghost Body. Dream Body intelligence and ego. The subtle body fits on Fits like a glove on gross body the gross body like a glove. When we dream at night, our gross body is just laying there, Spiritual Body-Develops as we real- but our subtle body is active doing so many ize our unique relationship with God

15 things. Our subtle body is also our dream body. The soul, in our heart region, animates both the gross and subtle body.

This subtle body is also a ghost body which usually leaves the gross body at the time of death. You have seen the movie Ghost? The subtle body pops out of the gross body 3 times in the movie. The man that wrote that script spent 6 months in a monastery in Tibet. Some of what was in the film follows the vedic version. A ghost is someone who is stuck in this world due to some attachment or for some other reason,

So, when the scientist are looking for life, they are looking for organic life forms like those on Earth. They have no idea that the demigods don’t have earth bodies and therefore live on a subtle invisible plane in apparently unhabitable environments where we need space suits to survive.

3 STAGES OF GOD REALIZATION There are 3 distinct stages of God realization. 3 STAGES OF GOD REALIZATION The first is Brahman. Everything is coming Brahman-All pervading impersonal from God and is therefore connected,”It’s all & invisible support for the entire One,” is the expression. The underlying sup- material creation—(symbol) port for everything is Brahman, sometimes referred to as white light, a non-differentiat- Paramatma or SuperSoul ed field of consciousness. God expands in the Heart of all -The Supreme Person God has also entered into his material cre- Creates everything with a spark of ation as the all-pervading Supersoul. He has Himself and resides in his Kingdom entered the heart of every living entity and accompanies them as a witness in their jour- ney through many lifetimes. As soon as the soul becomes aware of God’s presence in his heart, either from the mystic yoga process or through hearing from spiritual authorities, he accepts the Lord in his heart as a guide to help him get back to the Spiritual world. The spiritual master, who is already in touch with the Supersoul, can guide his disciple so that he can also get a clear connection.

Finally, if he is fortunate, the soul comes into connection with self-realized devotional saints and hears about the Lord in His Personal Feature. Bhagavan means God is unsurpassed in six oppulences. He is the most beau- tiful, He is the most powerful, He is All-Knowing, He owns everything, so He is the Wealthiest of all, He is the most Famous and He is the most Renounced. 16 VISHNU AND HIS EXPANSIONS VISHNU AND HIS EXPANSIONS He is infinite and unlimited so He can expand God-Creator & Controller Himself and Express Himself in unlimited of everything ways. Vishnu is One but He expresses Himself Krishna original Vishnu in many forms. As one candle lights another, Vishnu expands into different forms to dis- As one candle lights another playing His unlimited opulences and qualities. Krishna expands Himself to express Himself in different BECOMING GOD CONSCIOUS Vishnu forms There are a number of Yogic Paths to ‘link up i.e., Ram as Ideal King with God. Mystic Yoga where one realizes the Lord within the Heart, where one gives the fruits of his work to God, where he develops knowledge for liberation and Yoga, where one dedicates himself wholesale for God’s pleasure. MAIN YOGIC PATHS One who cultivates real knowledge becomes situated Yoga means “to link up” in wisdom. One who achieves wisdom takes up a life MYSTIC YOGA of devotion. God helps those who help themselves. KARMA YOGA Mystic yoga is not practical for this age. The most JNANA YOGA accessible path open for everyone is a life of devotion. If we arrange our lives as an offering to God, God will All these paths require reciprocate and help us come back to the spiritual world.Otherwise, it is not possible. All things become some Bhakti or Devotion possible with Gods help. The Vedas, in the end, are Knowledge ends devotional and monotheistic. Thank you for your in Devotion attention.

QUESTIONS: I have some copies of a 200 page full-color book, entitled “The Hidden Glory of India,” which I can let you have for the printing cost of $4. This book is layed out in two page spreads that explain many topics about India and Hinduism. You don’t have to read this book, you can just flip through it and reference what you want to read in just two pages. If your interested in this book or have a question about the presentation, you may contact me at: John Daley 935-4905 or [email protected]

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