Spiritual Suggestions

So, keep questioning, frustrate yourselves with questions and answers and argue with others but be on the spiritual path. Someday, u will understand everything as it is.

there is no convincing answer of why we are born!!

Thinking is the root cause

Thinking (right or wrong...it depends) is the root cause for all the problems - physically, mentally, socially, materially and spiritually.

Thinking is an Addiction. Get rid of it.

Spiritual Suggestions

"agitation, restlessness, frustration and above being in hurry to achieve or get rid of something" is the root cause for not being able to meditate.

Letting go

‎"Letting go" is good but we must remember that 'the tides which goes back comes again and hits the shore'. Pain is something like that. It comes again and again leaving us devastated. Wounds have become Scars but those Scars can also become Wounds if we are not alert!!!

Spiritual Suggestions

What I noticed from my personal experience with meditation is that unless we reduce our "agitation and hurry" we may not get the right results that fast.
There is a school of thought that some people are born with some qualities which includes doing meditation also and for them, it may be natural and very easy. But for others, it may not be the same. We must judge our self in this regard and not get bluffed by all the stuff or saying thrown at us.
If one is getting good results easily and in a very short time, it's OK but he must understand that it is just on a temporary one and that meditation is only showing affect on weak or upper layers. One must go deeper and deeper to get real benefits of meditation.

Making life a worth living is what life is all about!!!!

Spiritual Suggestions

Our thoughts and emotions covers up reality. Control the thoughts and emotions from those thoughts, u can see things as near to reality.

Awareness is always there but 'Right Awareness' is what is needed and that occurs only when we have con...trol over the 'types of thoughts and emotions'.

Spiritual Suggestions

Two people cannot have same type of experiences because they are totally different from one another. The input (which is our body, karma and mind) is processed by a formula (meditation or any other type) which results in some by...product(calmness, agitation, enlightenment and so on).

What really matters here is not the formula or byproduct but the input ...so is the input so will be the output.

All our efforts and understanding must make us realise our input 'as it is' and from there work on it to progress gradually.

Our aim to walk on spiritual path must be to work on our own 'input' but unfortunately people are running after 'byproduct'.

Spirituality is a very long journey; definitely not of single life......

'Agitation and Comparison'' are the biggest obstacles for any sadhak.

Going to Temple

We go to temple because we cannot go "Internally" and try to use 'external support like a form, person or place' to dive ourself into 'internally'.

Spirituality is not for sale; if it is for sale, it is not spirituality.

• As S.N. Goenka says, "What price u can pay for true technique and teaching?"

• The moment u start walking on spiritual path, "greed, lust and materialization" runs away from you.

• True Spirituality can never be marketed....it can be only given freely.
  
  Any person or organization who tries to sell Spirituality are not at all spiritual but are into the 'business of spirituality'.

• Even books and workshops priced more than its real price is only a business.

Time...

Time will make everything to settle on its own but it will be a long process and lot of our energy is wasted by that time. But if we can somehow manage ourself to handle those situations and restless to some degree, we will be benefited a lot.

Unfulfilled dreams forever....

From childhood I wanted to touch the feet of Main Statue of Balaji at Tirumala. For some time, I use to meditate thinking I am infront of the main deity.

Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell are not something there UP...based on our karma in this life and from past lives, we will get a womb for next birth and that womb will define your surroundings, problems, nature and so on. That stay in heaven or hell is nothing but a life span in a human body.

Now, look at ourself and answer to oneself whether u r in heaven or
hell in this birth. Whatever may be your answer, if we can realize that
based on our previous karma we are where we are either in heaven or
hell...i think that is enough.

 

Ayodhya issue...

The issue of Ayodhya is not about land but more of ego clashes between brothers, I think. When that was addressed by the High Court, all these brothers who fought with each other for decades are now calm. May that peace prevail for ever.

No one like him......

Is Gandhi relevant today? This questions comes up now and then. 

The way the people of India and particularly the way Indian Politicians have behaved after the Ayodhya verdict....what to expect more than that.
I think it is right tribute the country has paid for the Nation of Father after Independence.

My first book on Gandhi was "My Experiences with Truth" brought from Anand Bhavan in Allahabad (it is Nehru house in Allahabad). Brought that book only because it was Rs.20/ at that time and the cheapest book available in the bookstall. All... Nehru books were priced more than Rs.100/- and wanted to complaint to someone to keep their prices low. Before that, I never liked Gandhi at all. I started reading that book in the train from Allahabad to Anantapur which was more than 3 days journey between lots of halts in between due to heavy rains.

Now, I think Nehru made me to go thru Gandhi writings.....forcefully!!!

A Complete philosophy is what I can say about Gandhi writings and his life. Start reading about him and u will realize why he was called "Mahatma".

He talks about everything from Spirituality to Sex to Society to Politics and what not. No person in recent times has so much strong views on each topics.What is amazing is the clarity he has on them, the way he puts things in right perspective and what amazes more is that the more he talks about modernity, the more it resembles from the past...glorious past of Indian thought. He mixed every thing...history, law, religion, heritage, personal, politics, cultures, society, capitalism, humanity, caste, communism.......

 

Life is like a fish out of water

Life is like a fish out of water....when this poor fish is struggle for a breath and to get back into water as soon as possible; U want it to understand philosophies, to meditate, to control his senses, thoughts, be compassionate and what not....

Hampi

Vijayanagar – “the city of Victory” is the old name of Hampi – The Ruins. Infact, great effort was made to make all the great places and historical events to be distorted or resort to different names and the credit goes to the British era to look down Hinduism, Indian Heritage and its History.

This “Hampi” is the same place called “kishkindha” in Ramayana, where Vali, Surgriva and Hanuman lived and the cave where Surgriva killed a Rashatya (demon) is called as Surgriva cave even now and once Sugriva kept sita jewel inside the cave (which was brought by Hanuman from Lanka) and a mark made on the rock by it, is still visible. Vali is also cremated in Nimbapuram, and u find lot of monkeys here.

Hampi is on the banks of Tungabhadra river and covered by rocky hills on all sides. There are lot of natural rock formation in Hampi may be due to the earthquakes or formed naturally. These hills contains many mineral springs which are said to cure health problems. The local people are familiar with this type of water medicines in a particular place for particular disease and are using them for centuries. The “Water therapy” which has now become popular in the west was used by our ancestors to cure the diseases and they knew the importance of water and its importance for the survival of the life on the earth. Water as considered as the purest and lot of importance was given to the water in daily life, starting from bathing in the natural flowing water in the early morning to the coconut water as a soft drink. There were special festival, puja and homas for the gods/goddesses who were worshipped by all.

Many Dynasties like Sangama, Saluva, Narasinga, and Karnataka have ruled this part of South India till 14^th century but only one among them, Sri Krishnadevaraya, who ruled in 15^th century, built what Hampi is now. He not only acquired power on all fronts by spreading his kingdom in South India, but also patronage literature, Arts, music, poetry, dance and above all constructing many incredible temples, forts, dams, building and also restoring and supporting almost all major temples in South India. He has contributed a lot to the temples and Hindu culture in the South India post 15^th century.

ENTER THE RUINS……..

Ur Guide – TIRUMALANATH

U can reach Hospet from Goa, Bangalore and Hyderabad by train or bus and travel 13 kms from Hospet by bus or taxi and u will step ur foot on the world’s famous and only ruins – The Hampi.

The first temple u sees on the right side from Kamalapur (a village on the way to Hampi from Hospet, where u can stay with the local people in their houses as a paying guest) is Chandrasekhara temple.

Almost in all the temples in Hampi, statues or sculptures are missing or damaged by the invaders after the defeat in 15^th century and what we see the ruins are only the foundations of the temples or buildings. The whole of the empire was burned, looted for months after the defeat of Hampi rulers. If the ruins can mesmerize us to such a extent, then imagine how the original Hampi would be at that era.

Opposite to Chandrasekhara temple is octagonal baths used for bathing and Saraswati temple on the back side. Come back again to the main road, just adjacent, u will find Queen’s Bath, as usual used by the Queen – as saying go. But my doubt is if the Rajmahal is far away and the building is also on the entrance to the city, people don’t build bathrooms at that juncture, that to in those times, when high society women are kept away from common man’s eye. One arguable point to agree is that this is the first point of water to reach the town from the river. But my gut feeling is, this bath would be used by the Queen or others for taking dip before entering into the temples. In olden days, the King, Queen and all other people would visit various temples in the morning before starting their dialy activities. Even in Penukonda (second or summer capital of Sri Krishnadevaraya), there was a tradition where King would visit one temple everyday and the same number of temples were constructed in Penukonda for that purpose. Penukonda in Anantapur district is also interesting place with number of temples, forts and most famous Hanuman statues everywhere…….everything in my next blog on penukonda.

From there, if u moves towards right on the same road, u will find King’s palace .ha-ha….only foundations remain and everything else was burned or pulled down. I wonder which company made bulldozers were used as it takes lot of efforts for days and by a hundreds of people to do the destruction in such a large scale. After visiting Hampi, I realized that it takes lot of effort and rock ridden passion/dispassion to make or unmake something. Now climb on ‘Kings Audience Hall’ and u will get the full view of the whole ruins of Hampi. Spent some time to feel the light air and sweat a little in the hot sun as it is beginning to a hard trip of three days. Take as many as snaps u can and also keep in view the map of the kingdom, which u will be exploring in the coming days. While getting down, look at the bottom where u will find lot of sculptures on the heavy rock displaying various games played at that time. Ads and Advertisers never leave us alone. They are lot of playgrounds, underground chambers and bath tubs used during festival seasons. There is a very small well surrounded by beautiful artistic carved rocks.

Besides this, is the famous Hazara Rama Temple having all the epics put on the walls of the temple. The epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Lavakusha (sons of Sri Rama) and many other important tales from Hinduism and their culture including the animals are also presented in a very systematic manner (they knew the flowchart technique and explained such a long epics in short and straight manner). Its a wonder, huge volumes of epics are told in few scenes (same like film trailers) which people can understand and more surprise thing is that the illiterate people understands these concepts well than the literate one.

Move further, u will find a museum and Guard’s quarter. We must also demand Mr. Narayana Murthy to allocate quarters to all in Electronic City……heck with this traveling dialy to office.

Relax a bit, have tea under the tree in front of the museum and pay Rs.10 to enter into Zenana Enclosure. I don’t know how it got its name. There is a Queen’s place at the beginning (u see I have thinking mind based on the fact. Remember I told about the Queen’s bath at the entrance. Why would Queen daily go there for bath when her resides here) and right to that, the famous Lotus mahal and watch tower in the right corner. And just cross the wall, u r before elephant stables and Guard’s room. There is something messy about all these….how come Queen’s palace so close to elephant stables and guards’ room and bathroom such a long distance from here.

Again come back to the main road, it is very long and walking in hot sun, it’s a different experience. This is a right place for people who want to be active physically and stretch the body for 2 to 3 days. If u r tired and bored with the routine…going to films, parks, discos, then Hampi is the place to be in for a weekend. My suggestion is to go alone, stay in small lodge in Hospet or Kamalapur. Take bicycle for rent (Rs.50 per day) and explore the ruins in the heat and dust. That makes the trip manlier.

From there, if u moves on, u will find “underground temple”, then famous Narasimha statue and large stone linga immersed in water. There are Sri Krishna temple and Vishnu temple followed by Ganesha statue and opposite to that, few natural formed stones whose pictures are below. Just right to that is the “Kadalaikallu Ganesha Temple” - the biggest Ganesha and u will be mesmerized by the size. Sit in the temple facing towards to the Bazaar street and from here, u have the best view of the small town with big temples and the river in the backdrop.

Just moving further, I want to bring to ur notice about the size and type of the statues of Narasimha and Ganesha. Sri Krishnadevaraya is known for the big and great things. If u visit penukonda, u will find lot of big sized statues of the Hanuman on every corner of the town. We are very unfortunate to be left with one or two statues and the remaining lost in the time of history. But those few have given the gimsle of the art and talent of the earlier people.

Go down and u will find the famous Virupaksha, Pampati temples and Hampi Bazaar (it is the same place where diamonds where sold openly in the streets of Hampi as vegetables are sold today) and right to it, the famous – Matanga Hill (hill which had prominent place in Ramayana). Move further, u will find Achyutaraya temple, Varaha temple, Anantasayana shrines, many jain temples and Sugriva cave along with the old bridge on Tungabhadra river. On the way, u will find King’s balance which was used on special festival days to weight the king and donate same quantity of gold and diamonds to the people.

Move on to Vithala Temple, which houses the world famous “Stone chariot” which was used on festival days for taking the “Vigraha mutris” around the streets of Hampi. This Stone chariot is fully made of stone and was able to move freely….who was that great engineer?????? Who got the idea of building a chariot of stone???? How were the roads then in Hampi???? Do we have to laugh or cry with what we have …the roads and vehicle both. compared to the roads and vehicle of 15^th century. There are lot of many small temples and very big stones of the river side. Spent some time on the rocks but be carefully about people and make sure not to slip between the stones as they are lot of unknown small small caves.

Once thing u will notice throughout Hampi is the importance given to the animals, plants and eco system on the walls of every temple preaching the importance of the nature to everyone and the need to protect it as in return it protects us and the future generations. We are realizing the same fact which our elders have understood and injected this concept in the daily life either through fear or faith. Many of the superstition of the older time have their reason at that particular period and seem to look funny or degraded today for us. The religion in olden days was same as constitution of today, guidelines for living in society and coexisting.

The most striking in whole Hampi is the engineering and technology of yesterdays which solved their day to day problems in a very systematic manner which we are not able to do now. The water supply to all places and palaces from Tungabhadra river was passed through ‘stone water canals’ and supplied through stone pipes, even though the river is far below the town. Another is technical marvel is the passage of fresh air and light in all the buildings and forts in Hampi. And more over, this well designed capital with wide roads, temples, parks, water bodies and playgrounds in every corner of Hampi is lot better than any of our present famous cities. One important thing to note – two sides of Hampi is covered by water bodies and wind flow from that sides in the evening making the Hampi cool at night times. Records suggests that Sri Krishnadevaraya at the beginning wanted to build his empire at a place called Kashapuram near Guntakal in Andhra Pradesh which is around 100 kms from Hospet. But after giving due consideration to the water resources, Hampi was finalized. A small but famous Hanuman temple has been build by the king in Kashapuram.

More details in my next blog….just throw ur comments.

Suggestions:

1. Plan a three day trip to Hampi.

First day – Starting from Kamalapur museum to Zenana Enclosure.

Second day – Start with Narasimha statue to Matanga Hill

Third day – Vithala temple to river side temples

2. Don’t forget to go for “HERITAGE TOUR” in the morning at 6 am to 9 am covering many unknown temples on the river side and getting chance to interact with local people and know their culture. Cost is Rs.250.
3. Make a point to see Sugriva Cave and spent some time near the banks

Of Tungabhadra and top of the Kings Audience Hall.

4. Take lot of photos. I bet u will find all animals on the walls of Hampi.
5. Take bicycles/bikes on rent to go around. They are cheap.
6. Have big water bottles as u don’t get anywhere till u reach Hampi bazaar.
7. U can hire autos for Rs.200/- for side seeing, but not suggested.
8. Have the local food and spend nights imaging how Hampi would be in 15^th century. RUINS ur IMAGINATION. 

Holy places of Saivite religion

Certain places are regarded as holy places and merely by being associated with them, one attains liberation.  The sthalapuranam says one can attain salvation by being born in Tiruvarur, by meeting death in Kashi, by worshipping in Chidambaram and by merely thinking of Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai.

Followers of Saivite religion love to cherish these five temples enshrining five different types of linga representing each of the five elements: earth, air, fire, water and sky.  At Kanchi, Siva-Sankara is worshipped in the form of prithvi linga; in Tiruvanaikovil is the water (Appu) lingam, enshrined under a jambu tree and is therefore called jambu lingam; at Sri Kalahasti, the linga is represented as air or vayu; Chidambaram is the abode of akash linga; and in Tiruvannamalai is said to deify fire, is jyotir linga.

Kumbhabhishekam

To assure the presence of the divine in any temple constructed according to the guidelines of agamic scriptures, the temple rededication and consecration known as kumbhabhishekam is done.  According to the ancient agamic principles, if periodic kumbhabhishekam as well as regular daily puja is not properly performed, the divine power of a temple will be forfeited.  It is said that, in cases of such neglect, the divine presence initially will the inner sanctum and reside for a time of some three years in the vimanam (dome) of the temple.  With continued neglect the divinity will shift from the vimanam to the sthalavruksha (temple tree) where it will abide for an additional 12 years, at which time, if proper agamic practices have not been reinstated, it will return to its origin in the Sun.  Hence, in order to preserve the divine presence within a temple or recover the “forgotten” divinity in the case of temple restoration after a long period of neglect, the scriptures prescribe the performance of kumbhabhishekam every 12 years.

Regards,

Tirumalanath

tirumalanath@gmail.com