Thursday, February 7, 2008

Simple it sounds, yet so powerful it is!!

Yesterday during a coffee break with my colleagues, my feet accidentally touched my colleague and my immediate reaction was to say sorry (of course in an Indian style). We might have seen, especially with Indians, when something/someone comes in their way and if accidentally their legs/feet touch the person or things like books, vessels, etc. we bow down, touch the person/thing and do a little prayer.

Of course, this might seem stupid to outsiders. Why should someone pray if his/her legs touch a book or a person? Socially, our legs touching an elder shows disrespect. Again society instills fear in children saying if your legs touch books, you will not study well.

These are surely social reasons. But I was thinking there should be some deeper meaning to all this. It seems to have been present in Vedic lifestyle for a long time. Society cannot come up with a new concept. It can only twist an existing concept to suit its needs. So there should be some deeper meaning to it. Paramahamsa Nithyananda says Vedas are true knowledge and following Vedic lifestyle leads one to enlightenment. If that is the case, how does this seemingly social practice fit in the path enlightenment?

Paramahamsa Nithyananda recalling His first enlightenment experience says, 'when the experience happened, I found myself in everything around me. I was not able to eat food because in that food also I saw myself. How can I eat myself?' He says that an enlightened being sees the Divine, the Self, Himself or Herself in everything and everyone.

And this is precisely what is inculcated in children in the practice that I described above but with a twisted meaning to it :) If we remove the societal reasons to the practice, we can unearth a beautiful meaning to the whole practice of seeing God or Divine or our own Self in each and everything around. By touching them and praying we are respecting our own Self or the Divinity in them. Beautiful isn't it?

Now, people who do not understand call this stupid but once we understand what and why behind it, we see that everything that was a part Vedic lifestyle leads one to enlightenment. The whole Vedic lifestyle was such that every little action would turn the thoughts and energy towards the divine, and realizing It. Paramahamsa Nithyananda says Veda means true knowledge, that knowledge with has not been corrupted by the mind. He says, 'when we don't interfere and let the mind rest, true knowledge or Veda happens.'

Such simple things, yet so powerful and deep; our intellect does not allow us to believe that people actually get enlightened by following something as simple as that. Infact this is a powerful Shiva Sutra in which one goes beyond the limits of the body and sees everything and everyone around as the one. Let me leave you with a beautiful video where Paramahamsa Nithyananda talks about a mystical experience that He witnessed during His wandering days...

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