I love to believe

             I love to believe

When the first rays of the morning sun lightens up my face,

I believe that in that light I can somewhere see your face

When I put my naked feet upon the wet morning grass,

I feel as if you are walking with me holding my hands

And when the gentle breeze ruffles my hair,

I can feel your gentle care.

When the sun’s rays provides me warmth,

I feel I am in the care of your arms

And whenever I look up at the stars,

I feel you are beckoning me with open arms

And when after all day of hard work

I retire home dejected and tired

I feel that you come to me,

In the darkness of the night,

Draped in white moon light,

You come with mother’s care

And with your hands running through my hair,

You send me to sleep, while singing a beautiful lullaby…

Don’t know if all this is just a dream, but still I love to believe…..

                                                                                                    

                                                                     -Debabrata Banerjee  

Eternal Companion

Whose company do you see O jilted lonesome?

Whom do you vainly seek in temples and forests so fearsome?

Why do you seek refuge in vain mortal sensory pleasures?

When in your heart lays the ultimate treasure.

O brother look inside and seek recluse at his lotus feet,

Seek the one whose glory and company supersedes everything for which you ever have plead…

                                                                                               -Debabrata Banerjee  

Ssshhh! Listen

Ssshhh! Listen

Listen calmly O my mind!

To the most beautiful music you can ever find.

In the silence of this moment,

Listen as the universe sings to praise the omniscient.

Let go O my mind,

All your fears dragging you behind,

Let go all your worries,

And like a bird flying in the high skies,

Let your dreams fly like kites.

Believe, believe O my mind;

Believe that you are divine

Believe that neither death nor destruction is for you,

And search for that true bliss lying within you.

Believe in the love of your heavenly father,

Believe that you are neither earth, water, fire nor ether

Nor any of those combined together

You are what your soul says,

You are pure consciousness.

                                                                                               -Debabrata Banerjee  

Dear Teacher,

I still can faintly recollect that fateful day,

The day when I left my mother’s arms and comfort of home;

To come under your umbrella,

And begin the journey towards becoming myself;

Like every eventful journey that too had began with teary eyes,

Tears perhaps for the fear of facing the unknown,

Or perhaps they were the tears of a joyous heart,

Anticipating its rebirth and preparing for a new life.

Through all these years I have learnt and grew under your ever watchful eyes,

You have encouraged me in my every success

Reprimanded & corrected me for every wrong step I ever put,

And whenever I was lost in the darkest of alleys,

You were always there showing me the way to light.

Through all these years by your selfless care and protection,

You have helped to scalp out myself,

 Like the artisan who delicately curves out God’s idol,

From just a formless heap of mud.

You have helped me create my identity,

To have a face among the faceless millions.

No words of praise that I say today can do justice to your selfless service,

But there is one line that I want to scream today at the top of my voice,

Although I haven’t seen the mythical God,

I don’t have any regret either.

Because God for me is you my teacher.                                     

                                                                                          -Debabrata Banerjee 

What is the message that the characters of Mahabharata war (Pandavas) give through blowing their conch shell?

Tatahsvetairhayairyukte,mahatisyandanesthitau;
madhavahpandavascaiva,divyau sankhau pradadhmatuh

                                         ….. B.G.CHAP 1 VERSE 14

After the Kaurav, Krishna and Arjun, riding in their magnificent, sacred chariot drawn by flawlessly white horses (“white” symbolizes purity), also blow their “celestial” conches. “Celestial” means beyond the material world. Yogeshwar Krishna’s transcendental message is a promise to render unto souls the most auspicious, unworldly existence that is beyond the worlds of both mortals and gods, and verily the whole universe (Brahmlok), which is all afflicted with the fear of birth and death. If the words in this verse are carefully looked at they indicate something…It says the chariot is celestial (not made of gold or silver) conch is celestial, everything is pure and celestial so the poet wants to state that their message is also celestial.

Beyond these worlds there is only the one unique and indescribable God. Krishna’s message is of establishing a direct contact with this Supreme Being. But how will he affect this state?

Pancajanyamhrsikeso,devadattamdhananjayah;
paundramdadhmaumaha-sankham,bhima-karma vrkodarah

                                              ….. B.G.CHAP 1 VERSE 15

So Hrishikesh (lord of the senses), who knows all the mysteries of the human heart, blows the conch PANCHJANYA. This is a declaration of his intent to restrain the five organs of perception which correspond to word, touch, form, taste, and smell, and to transmute their inclinations into devotion.

ARJUNA or Dhananjay (the victor of wealth) is the affectionate devotion that attains to the state of divine exaltation. This devotion is a feeling of tenderness for the desired object, which includes within itself all the experiences of devotees, even pangs of separation and occasional disenchantment and tears. There should be nothing for a devotee except the longed-for God. If the devotion to him is perfect, it embraces the virtues (DEVDATTA) that provide access to the Supreme Spirit.

BHEEM of awesome deeds blows his great conch PAUNDR, which denotes sentiment. The heart is the spring as well as the habitat of feeling. This is why Bheem is called Vrikodar, the large-hearted. Sentiment is fathomless and mighty, and this sentiment is Bheem’s great conch that is now blown. The affection that he represents is embodied in sentiment. That is why Bheem blows the conch named Paundr.

Anantavijayamraja,kunti-putroyudhisthirah
nakulahsahadevasca,sughosa-manipuspakau

                                     ….. B.G.CHAP 1 VERSE 16

King Yudhisthir blows the conch Anantvijay (endless conquest). Kunti is the very image of dutifulness; and Yudhisthir, the embodiment of dharm (natural piety). If one’s adherence to dharm is steady, Anantvijay will bring about the absorption of the Self in the boundless God.

Nakul, who is a symbol of restraint, blows the conch named Sughosh. As restraint grows firmer, evil is subdued and the dominance of righteousness is proclaimed. Sahdev, the adherer to truth, blows on the conch which bears the name of Manipushpak. Sages have described each breath as a precious ruby. “What a pity that we squander the jewels of our breath on idle gossip!” One kind of satsang is the moral discourse we hear from noble men, but the real spiritual discourse is internal. According to Krishn, the Self alone is true and eternal. True satsang comes about when the mind reins itself in from all externals and dwells with the Self. This adherence to truth is cultivated by incessant reflection, meditation, and samadhi. The more joy one feels in dwelling with the one reality, the more restraint one gains over each breath, the mind, and the instruments by which objects of sense affect the Self. The day they are totally restrained is the day when we are absorbed in the ultimate essence. Providing, like a good instrument, harmonious accompaniment to the song of the Self is true satsang. The physical ruby is hard, but the jewel of breath is even more tender than a flower. Flowers fall and wither soon after they bloom, and we can never say that we shall live until the next breath. But if there is true adherence to the Self, it leads us to realize the highest goal through providing control over each breath. There is nothing to proclaim beyond this, although each device is helpful in traversing a certain stretch of the path of spiritual perfection….OM TATSAT

Idol worship or not- which is a better option?

The practice of idol worship has been dealt with negatively especially by the abrahamical religions like Islam, Christianity and judasism. This form of religious worship has been termed as pagan religious beliefs and people have been advised to abstain from such acts. Although; what actually is meant by idol, is a matter of debate among the three religions. However if we turn our heads towards Hinduism we see the rampant practice of not only idol worship but also polytheism. It is said that there are 33 crores of gods in Hindu religions. So the question that arises is which is the true path?

Although the different religions talk of different things... i.e one preaches idol worship while other talk against it, one concept is core to every one of them- “GOD IS ONE AND ONLY”. People following Hindu religion may find this fact disturbing but it is true as evident from following lines that I use from Wikipedia.

“A text in the Shukla Yajur-veda (32.3) reads, “Of Him there is no likeness (pratima), whose glory is infinite”. The Upanishads, which form the philosophical ‘conclusions’ (vedanta) of the Vedas, repeatedly stress the formlessness (nirākāra, no material form) and unimaginable nature of God, and advise the aspirant to realise the divine presence inwardly.”

However, it was evident to the Indian mystics from very early on that it is very difficult to focus on a all pervading but a formless, unimaginable god (especially for beginners) for the purpose of worship and meditation. So they preached idol worship but didn’t in any way recommend idol as god. They only recommended visualization of the single god or ‘eka bramho’ through idol. This idea is also stated by lord Krishna in ‘Bhagabat Gita’ Chapter 12, Verse 5, -

“

It is much difficult to focus on God as the unmanifested than God with form, due to human beings having the need to perceive via the senses.

”

In another context if we look at the other religions, the Islam has shunned the practice of idol worship and considered it as a great sin. This may have arisen due to the fact that Prophet Muhammad emphasized on the fact that he is only messenger of God and that people should worship only that true god ”allah”. This is the reason why there is no image, statue or even tomb of Muhammad. Muhammad and the Christians likewise emphasized on the practice of worship without an idol form because they believed that people would in time begin to associate the idol to be the true god and forget that it is only an image (a representation or a means to imagine the unimaginable). But if we look at the recent historical findings it is to be seen that at the time bible was being written and before that time in israel people widely practiced idol worship and polytheism. The bible in a bid to overthrow this polytheistic view emphasized again and again on the worship of single god.

The problem with idol worship is that people over time tend to associate over time the image or sculptor or any other inanimate or animate objects over time to be god. While the essence of this philosophy is that they should only be considered as a medium. The situation is best explained by these lines from a poet…

Rathyatra lokaranya, maha dhum dham.

Bhaktora lutaye pore, korichey pronam.

RATH bhabhe ami deb PATH bhave ami,

MURTI bhabhe ami deb hasey ANTARYAMI

Explanation--The poet explains a situation in which the rath (chariot of the god laden with image of deities)is taken through the streets. The devotees are rolling in ecstasy at the sight of the chariot to pay their homage.The chariot thinks itself to be the god, the road things it is the god, the images think that they are god but the true god or brahmo is only laughing at the plight…..

What does Gita say about the worship of demi Gods?

In Gita lord Krishna forbids people from the worship of many Gods. He says that men fail to understand that the Pramatma is the only one who needs to be worshiped. People who have lost their spiritual sense take shelter of demigods for immediate fulfillment of material desires. .So under the influence of their prakriti(the sanskars that they have adopted over several lifetimes(according to Gita all living persons form as a result of sanskars they have adopted over several lifetimes)) they worship other Gods.
          kämais tais tair håta-jïänäù prapadyante ’nya-devatäù
        taà taà niyamam ästhäya prakåtyä niyatäù svayä...........B.G.CH7 SLOK 20
He then states that as soon as one desires to worship some demigod, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to that particular deity. It is because there are no such entity as demigods who could steady the devotion of these devotees, so I myself have to do this.
        yo yo yäà yäà tanuà bhaktah sraddhayärcitum icchati
       tasya tasyäcaläà çraddhäà täm eva vidadhämy aham...B.G.CH7 SLOK 21

He then says that endowed with such a faith, he endeavors to worship a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone.Who satisfies their desires? I. The result of their faith is the satisfaction of their desires and not reward by their worshiped demigod.

         sa tayä sraddhayä yuktas tasyärädhanam ihate
         labhate ca tataù kämän mayaiva vihitän hi tän...B.G.CH7 SLOK 22


Now the natural question arises what is the problem of their devotion to other gods? since  their desires are  getting fulfilled.So lord krishna says in the next sloka.......

             

   antavat tu phalaà teñäà tad bhavaty alpa-medhasäm

   devän deva-yajo yänti mad-bhaktä yänti mäm api..B.G.CH7 SLOK 22

Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary and prone to destruction. Those who worship the demigods go on to unite with demigods, so demigods are also temporary and prone to destruction, but My devotees ultimately unite with me and complete peace and freedom from this mortal illusionary world..Lord krishna again brings the topic of demigods in chapter 9 and says those who worship demigods indirectly worship me but they do so in a wrong way..

        ye ’py anya-devatä-bhaktä yajante çraddhayänvitäù

        te ’pi mäm eva kaunteya yajanty avidhi-pürvakam..B.G.CH 9 SLOK 23

He again says in chapter 8 everybody begining from bramha to the lowest creature are bound by the cycles of life and death But one who attains to me , O son of Kunté, never takes birth again.....

     ä-brahma-bhuvanäl lokäù punar ävartino ’rjuna

     mäm upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate..B.G.CH 8 SLOK 16

So from these slokas from the pious bhagbat gita it is clear that there are no such individuals as demigods. The   divinity is within us. By cultivating which we can reach the sumpreme spirit(Pramatma). Even lord krishna is not a god. Rather he is a yogi who has united with the God; and now from his mouth it is the god who is speaking........OM TATSAT