Seeing God in all beings

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/society/faith/seeing-him-in-all-beings/article18619096.ece

Great learning brings great humility, for it exposes the extent of one’s ignorance. That is why Lord Krishna extols the vision of a true bhakta who is endowed with the knowledge of the infinite greatness of the Lord and of His all-pervading presence that inheres in the entire creation, pointed out Sri B. Damodhara Dikshitar in a discourse.

There are as many kinds of devotion as there are individuals. The average devotee is generally compassionate and affectionate to all beings, but feels a sense of differentiation between friends, enemies and so on.

The beginner in the path of devotion worships the Lord in the form of a deity or some form, but fails to accept His presence in other beings. But a true bhakta sees the Lord in all beings and also sees all beings in His Self. This vision is the culmination of jnana and bhakti and a bhakta never slips from this awareness.

It is said that once Saint Eknath, when retuning from Kashi Yatra, was moved to see a donkey almost dying of thirst on the way.

Without any hesitation, he opened a vial of Ganga water and poured it into the parched mouth of the donkey. He saw only the Lord in the soulful eyes and not the donkey.

In the case of Saint Namadev, he once chased a dog that had taken away the bread given to him by his wife, only to offer it the sugar and ghee as well which it had left behind. The dog became the Lord in front of him.

When Lord Shiva is said to have come in the form of a chandala to grace the yagna of Somasi Mara Nayanar, the Adiyar unhesitatingly offered the same hospitality he would offer others.

The Lord wants to show that in the eyes of a true bhakta, where Truth alone is revealed, there is no need for Him to come disguised.

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Krishna's Mercy

“Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 16.7)

Due to duality in a material existence, there is constant conflict among various forces. Happiness goes against sadness. Heat contrasts with cold. Light dissipates darkness. As far as the way to enjoyment, there is both pravritti and nivritti.

In a verse from the Bhagavad-gita, Shri Krishna mentions both. Pravritti is translated as “what should be done” and nivritti as “what should not be done.” In comparing the different religions of the world, the focus is often on the latter.

Imagine the scene of attending a fair. The various religions each have their own booth at the venue. You can visit any one that you like. The person interested in religion goes up to the…

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Actor Irrfan Khan stands up for animal rights #respect

Source : The Indian Express

Actor Irrfan Khan has landed himself in a controversy over remarks on the Islamic ritual of ‘qurbani’, or sacrificing animals on Eid-al-Adha, while he was in Jaipur for the promotion of his upcoming movie Madaari.

“Jitne rituals hain, jitney festivals hain, hum unka asal matlab bhool gaye hain. Hamne unko ek tamasha bana diya he. (We have forgotten the real meaning behind rituals and festivals and have turned them into a spectacle). Qurbani ek bahut ahem festival hai… it means sacrifice. Goat was then a prime source of food and there were many who went hungry. So you had to, in a way, sacrifice something dear to you and distribute it to people,” Khan said in Jaipur on Thursday.

“But today if you bought two goats from the market, and have nothing to do with them (no attachment), how is it sacrifice? It is common sense: anyone who is sacrificing should ask themselves, if you take life of something else, how will you get sawab (reward in the context of Islam) for it? Aap jaan kisi aur ki le rahe ho, aap qurbaan usko kar rahe ho, aapko punya kaise milega bhai? It is common sense,” the actor said.

“So we should understand why our festivals and rituals were really started. If we don’t understand it, it can be misused,” he said.

The comments drew criticism from clerics. Rajasthan’s chief quazi Khalid Usmani said, “The comments display a lack of Islamic knowledge. He probably got carried away emotionally while speaking on the subject. If he indeed wanted to make comments on the issue, he should have first apprised himself thoroughly of the subject.”

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali said, “The comment seems to have been inspired from the current atmosphere in the country regarding consumption of meat. Sacrificing an animal on Eid-al-Adha is a symbolic gesture. It is to instil passion in a person so that one is ready to step up when called upon by the family or nation for sacrifice. His comments are baseless.”

AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani said, “He is not an expert on religion… Today, goats and other animals are sacrificed in a symbolic gesture; the intention is still sacrifice. If he says that one should really sacrifice something dear, then one can’t go and kill their child, else people will call him mad. Going by his comments, it seems he made them sarcastically,” Jilani said.

The clerics’ reactions provoked a rejoinder from Irrfan on Friday. He tweeted, “Pls Bhaiyon, who r upset with my statement, either u r not ready to introspect or u r in a hurry 2 reach 2 a conclusion.”

Personal View:

Every religion and culture on earth needs to continuously introspect logically and reform itself. Dynamism and reform elevate religions, not undermine it. There are similar rituals in almost all religions that need to be stopped. All such past rituals are logically incoherent with modern times and common sense demands them to be stopped. Irrfan Khan has taken a bold step by becoming a voice for the voiceless. More power to him. God bless him. Like the reformer Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Irrfan will find himself surrounded and criticized by many orthodox people who do not want to change and help make their religion improve. It takes great courage to speak up surrounded by so many furious people who do not want change. People like Irrfan are rare in the world. Hope other celebrities also take a stand on such issues because many people get influenced by their opinions. Becoming a voice for the weaker sections among all species on earth and helping to uplift them is the real service to God.

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