Greatness of Indian Scriptures & Musings on Towards Truth

01/16/2004

Let this Fri-Call begin with an extract from Max Mueller, the great German scholar and philosopher:
" If I were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with all the wealths, power and beauty that nature can bestow -- in some parts a very paradise on earth --
I should point to India. If I were asked under what sky the human mind has mostly developed some of the choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions to some of them, which well served the attention even of those who have studied Plato and Kant, I should point to India. "
Another great European thinker confessed that only two things had filled him with awe and wonder: the vast starry galaxies yonder above, and the great expositions of the Indian philosophic thoughts "

Such were the outpourings of admiration of great Western thinkers for India, its rich and priceless heritage of Wisdom, that is ever-revealing and eternal. Millineums ago, the ancient sages and seers of that hallowed land, with their keen insight and penetrating vision, delved deep into the innermost recesses of their intellectual contemplation, to unveil the Truth Absolute, the eternal i.e., the unborn and undying, all-pervasive, all-inclusive, changeless and ever-blissful entity, as also the meaning of creation, and the very purpose of human existence. The Vedic texts, and the great Upanishadic dialogues between enlightened Gurus and their inquisitive disciples, dealt with the very substratum, the inner core of the entire universe and creation, and, step-by-step paths shown towards the realisation of that Ultimate Truth, which was stated to be the most important goal and objective of human existence. The dissolution of individual ego in the Cosmic Consciousness. The merging of the wave with the Ocean.

Now to my poem entitled " Who am I ? " from ' Random Musings' :

WHO AM I ?

Who am I ?
I am my name.
Nay, my name can change ;
I am not a mere name !

I am my body.
Nay, body is but a machine
Steered by the mind;
So then, I am my mind.

Nay, I can't be mere mind,
For my mind wavers;
My intellect governs it, sobers it.
Yeah, I am then my intellect.

Nay, I can't be mere intellect.
For, intellect is but a filament
That glows while current is on ;
I can't be just a filament !

Then, who am I ?
Not just my name, nor body,
Nor mind, nor intellect ---
I am the very Current that Glows thru all !

Musings

Next, here are some of my musings from the book ' Pearls of Wisdom ' :

Universe is like a coconut. If only one can pull out the thick fiber of illusion ( Maaya ) enveloping it, and break the hard shell of ignorance, one can regale the sweet nectar that is concealed within and taste the delicious kernel of Supreme Bliss !
* * *
Knowledge is concerned with intellect, and is objective in scope. It involves mostly acquisition of information in whatever field it be. Wisdom on the other hand, is introspective, and is concerned with subjective experience, blooming from the lotus of one's heart, in pursuit of the Ultimate Truth leading to Supreme Bliss. Knowledge without Wisdom is inadequate for spiritual progress.
* * *
The water in the swimming pool provides quiet pleasure to the swimmer, who almost effortlessly just floats on his back. But the same water arouses ghastly fear in one who knows not how to swim. So is the ocean of life, which for the ignorant and the un-initiated, is a souce of constant dread and anxiety, though for the Wise one who realised the Truth, the same ocean is no cause for such a dread.
* * *
The gas (petrol) in the gas-tank of an automobile represents the potential energy; but the same fluid while passing thru the media of the engine, which makes the vehicle move, expresses itself as kinetic energy. So are Siva and Sakthi, Purusha and Prakruthi, the Un-Manifest and the Manifest.
* * *
The entire world is nothing but merely a shadow of your thought ! As you walk away from the Light, the shadow lengthens and lengthens, frightening you. Make a right-about turn and face the Light. You do not see the shadow anymore !
* * *
Anything, animate or inanimate, which can be comprehended and experienced by our senses, is bound to be impermanent, liable to be lost, and perishable !
* * *
Let your individual ego, the little chip of ice formed by the chill of ignorance, be melted away by the warmth of knowledge and Wisdom, and dissolve back into the Pool of Divinity, the Eternal Universal Consciousness.
* * *
The river hath no peace until it meets the ocean. So with the individual soul till it merges with the Supreme Soul.