Ulta Reservation

It is ironic that while the minority Muslim community in India sees reservations as its birth-right, it is the majority Muslim community in Malaysia that is the beneficiary of reservations in that country. 'Minority-I-win, majority-you-loose' seems to be the credo of Islam worldwide.

Merchants of Death

Modi was clearly speaking in response to Sonia's calling him a Merchant of Death. He wanted to put across that the epithet fits her more since under her dispensation Merchants of Death like Afzal Guru are being protected from the hangman's rope, while Merchants of Death like Shorabbudin meet their nemesis under his dispensation.

A macro or a micro solution?

It appears to me often that we, as humans, when talking of world problems and its solutions, take it for granted that if our social circumstances can be ingeniously arranged, then we would have brought heaven down on earth. I also wonder whether it could not be that there are no macro problems or solutions, because all the problems are actually those that originate in our own individual heads, reside there, mature there and finally accompany us to the afterlife or wherever. Ergo, if we examine our heads, with or without a shrinker, we might be on the way to the only peace and bliss that’s attainable – that which we create and live by in our own little minds. Maybe I’ve got it thoroughly wrong and I need to head for a shrinker? Any shrinkers out there?

Why we need to be good in English

In we wish to survive in the battleground that today’s world has become, we need to be armed with the most powerful weapon of the day and that is English. But if English is the most powerful weapon we can have at our command, our own mother tongue is the muscle we need to have. Without muscles we would hardly be able to lift any weapon. Yet, even with Arnie’s muscles, we could be shot through the head by a child if we don’t have a gun ourselves.

By saying thus, I hope I have placed in perspective the role of mother tongue and English, each, in our lives today.

Arrest the creeps on Tehalka

Those who went on camera (or hidden camera) and revealed that they participated in the communal riots in Gujarat ought to be immediately arrested. That action and ugly reaction happens in the spur of emotional moments is understandable, but to gloat over one’s participation many years down the line and seek to claim individual ‘credit’ for what was obviously mass spontaneous reaction of the masses at large speaks of a pervert mind. Worse, to use the occasion to settle political scores is despicable. Arrest the fellows; they are creeps with pathetic motives who want to exploit an orgy of violence, the lessons of which would be better learnt if analyzed in dispassion and not made an issue of political controversy.

A Prime Minister’s loss of sleep and a Chief Minister’s misfortune – the power of Muslim vote.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, quiet reminiscent of Manmohan Singh’s, “I did not sleep all last night” sigh upon hearing the news of Dr. Haneef’s arrest in Australia on terror charges, said, upon hearing that the mother of Rizwanur Rehman, who was allegedly murdered for marrying a Hindu girl, was not coming to meet him as scheduled because he has not agreed to a CBI probe, “We were scheduled to meet at my residence on Oct 10. Till Oct 9 I knew she was coming. But then I read in the papers that she does not want to meet me. This is really my misfortune.” To mitigate his misfortune, the next day the Chief Minister instead went to the house of the victim’s mother.

That a victim’s (the police say it was suicide) mother did not come to meet him became a misfortune for the Marxist Chief Minister and he had to make amends for it by going to meet her would of course seem to be a great humanitarian gesture. The secular press have lauded it thus too. But I wonder if the CM has had similar misfortunes before - maybe in the case of some Hindu victim? Unlikely, because Muslims account for 30% of West Bengal’s electorate and the majority Hindu votes are all secularized and nothing to worry about.

The Sethu of cultural unity

Former Indian High Commissioner to UK Shri L.M.Singhvi, who passed away a few days ago, was paid a rich tribute in an orbituary by Sudheendra Kulkarni in Indian Express online edition of 14.10.07, titling it "A Saraswati Putra who built many Sethus". Incidentally, it was Vajpayee who called him Saraswati Putra in condoling his demise.

I quote from Kulkarni's orbituary, which illuminates the depth of the word Sethu in the consciousness of India's culture:

Quote: To present a glimpse of his greatness, let me cite a small excerpt from his 1996 speech at Stanford University, titled ‘Building Bridges for India through a Global Indogenic Movement’. The term ‘Sethu’ is very much in discussion these days because of the controversy over ‘Ram Sethu’. But look at the profound sense that Dr Singhvi mined from the word.

"Sethu represents a very meaningful metaphor in the treasure chest of India’s heritage. Even at the risk of sounding archival, I would like to share with you an adage in Sanskrit, which illumines the functional-teleological range and rationale of building Sethus: Sethubandhanam Sarvaranjanam; Sethubandhanam Margasadhanam; Sethubandhanam Snehakaranam; Sethubandhanam Vihita-taram; Sadabhavyam Sadadivyam; Sadasatyam Sanatanam (May bridges be built to secure welfare and happiness of all; to blaze new trails and facilitate passages; for the cause of affection among individuals and groups and for goodwill among nations and peoples; for salvaging that which matters; let this Sethu ever be magnificent and always graced by divine purpose; let it always represent the eternal truths enshrined in the enduring and universal vision of India.)” Unquote

Islam is an idol worshiping religion.

I contend that Islam is an idol worshiping religion. When I say this, it would be surmised that I am out to create mischief because it is universally understood that Islam is dead against idol worship. But I do not level this charge to taunt the Muslims out of any spite. I love Muslims. They are as human as anyone else. But my problem is with the claim of Islam that it does not believe in idol worship.

In fact all worship is idol worship. It is not possible to worship except that worship be idol worship. The condition of idol worship is that there be a worshipper and a thing worshiped. Muslims might say that there is no “thing” that a Muslim worships. That what they worship is only the unimaginable power called Allah who created the universe. Be it so, except that they have a need to reduce that unimaginable power to a word “Allah”. A sound idol, I might say and the Muslim will say I am merely quibbling to provoke.

However, my deeper reason to accuse Muslims of being the idol worshipers they would rather die than admit is that Islam considers Allah, the creator, as separate from His creation. This means that when we, the creation or creature want to connect with Allah, we have perforce to turn outwards – ever so symbolically proved when the common Muslim raises his vision upwards when he wishes to thank Allah in ordinary conversation. Of course in formal prayers Muslims turn towards Mecca – which becomes the central point to which they direct their prayers. Add to this the fact that the central point contains a huge cube structure, which if the Muslims can get near enough they would lavishly kiss, completes the case that the Muslims are indeed idol worshippers.

The case becomes all the more apparent when we consider that there has been a successful ancient teaching called Adviata which even today continues to be the undercurrent of the oldest religion in the world – Hinduism. Advaita says that God is actually what we essentially are and is not a phenomenon separate from us whom we have to seek for outside and idolize concretely, as Hindu idol-worshippers do - or turn it into a faith, as Muslims do.

Muslims protest at any allegation that the Kaaba represents an idol through or with the help of which they worship Allah. They insist that they worship only Allah and pray directly to Allah. Which is why they find it impossible to even sing Vande Mataram because that would be tantamount for them to worshiping something other than Allah.

Therefore, we cannot ignore the basic question, “What is worship?” It would seem that worship, according to Islam, is the process taught by Mohammad which Muslims are expected to perform 5 times a day. However, it would surprise the reader to know that Mohammad himself was quoted in a hadidth to imply that worship is not merely an external form, its essence is indeed the internal state of mind. Mohammad went on to say that if the approach is right, even sex with one’s wife is worship and would be rewarded by Allah. This was said when his companions asked "How are we going to be rewarded for doing something we enjoy very much?" The Prophet asked them, "Suppose you satisfy your desires illegally, don't you think you will be punished for that?" They replied, "Yes." "So," he said, "by satisfying it legally with your wives, you are rewarded for it." The hadith or its commentary concludes, “This means, they - legitimate sexual intercourse - are acts of worship.”

While I am at present unable to vouch for the genuineness of the Hadith, but if true, it goes on to prove that for Mohammad the very act of living legitimately (as instructed by the Quran) is worship. It being so, and the Kaaba being the centre of the Hajj rituals, there is little doubt that kissing the blackstone embedded in the Kaaba forms a part of Islamic worship - idol worship, pure and simple.

Saying thus, I rest my case.

Heroic bridge and psychological damage

Someone recently asked me whether it has not been a fact that Hindus have down the millennia come to believe in Rama and the events associated with Rama’s story without seeking any physical evidence for it and would not the Hindus continue to believe in the story of Rama’s bridge even if the mythical bridge makes way for a canal? I told him the whole principle is one of background. Unless we are aware of the background of anything, we would not be able to do justice to the existence of that thing. For example, unless a doctor knows the background or history of the patient, he would not be able to properly treat the patient. It is our experience that if a person is drunk, he would tend to forget his background and may end up being violent to his own family members, though in normal circumstances he would never imagine attacking his own family.

Why, the entire thrust of Hinduism is to make man realize his own nature, his essence, his background, if you may, to solve all his problems (discovery of the atma and all that). This being so, it goes without saying that if Hindus are to forget or cease to be in connect with their past history and culture, as depicted in all their scriptures and literature of ancient times, then Hindus would only be all the easier to prompt to work against their own interests. Hence, the importance of Ram Sethu being saved. It is one of the very rare physical memories of those ancient times we have inherited and we have to ensure that it is left intact so that our progeny would not lose a tangible connection to their history.

Furthermore, just as the Hindus have cherished the story of Rama and events connected to Rama, including the heroic bridge, any slur on the story and events connected would cause irreparable psychological damage to the sense of sanctity of Hindus. This would be a greater damage than the physical damage.

My fellow Hindus, what a fall!

Hindu temples have long been game for the covetous eyes of secular political parties in India. Secularism, as is well known as practised in India, means non-interference in the affairs of Muslims and Christians and neutering Hindus in their affairs. This time when they came to power, the Marxists in Kerala decided to be the role model of secularism and leave competing Congress far behind and with no doubt in anyone's mind as to who is truly the secular champion of India. Their two pronged strategy was pandering to the religious minorities while simultaneously scorching the very ground of Hindu religious sentiments. For example, by bringing a purposely flawed education bill they ensured that minority institutions continued to thrive and favour the elite. However, in the case of the Hindus, they brought in a well thought out Devasom Bill and without any opposition captured the temples of Kerala. They ensured that the Bill would not be a mere legislation on paper by bringing a rabidly anti-Hindu marxist as Minister. This minister made it his daily practise to insult the Hindus and pour contempt on Hindu rituals. The latest is his minions granting the contract for making the famous Aravana payasam of the even more famous Sabarimala temple to a Muslim. The Marxists signaled that their conquest of the temples was complete and they would now run the temples on truly secular principles (that is, they would allow non-Hindus to run the temples) when the Minister said with a veneer of legality that he would not interfere in the questionable tendering process that gave the tender to a non-Hindu because the decision was taken by the Devasom Board and he is not the one to interfere in the rights of the Devasom Board. He could finally sound liberal because he has by now already packed the Devasom Boards with his nominees. With his henchmen in place, he has the opportunity to wash his hands off any blood.

My fellow Hindus, what a fall!

Kumaraswamy - a bout of fevicol-ingitis

I wonder what the Dad-son duo of Deve Gowda and Krishnaswamy are croaking about vis-à-vis the local election results being a mandate for them to continue with the Chief Ministership disregarding the power-sharing agreement entered into with BJP 20 months ago. While the JDS got 1499 seats (an increase of 360% over their previous 415 seats), the BJP got a no-less-impressive 1170 seats (an increase of 330% over their previous 351 seats). Moreover the Congress, getting 1581 seats (suffering a 30% decrease compared to their previous tally of 2232 seats) is still the largest single party. By JDU logic, the mandate actually went in favour of Congress! Would the JDU therefore hand-over the Chief Ministership to the Congress?

The fact of the matter is that Kumaraswamy is suffering from a bout of fevicol-ingitis, which makes it difficult for him to vacate his seat of power, stuck to it as he is. Here’s wishing him recovery without having to undergo operation removal in the election theatre.

Ram Jethmalani - nuked India better than nuclear India

Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer’s article on 28th Sept 07 in the Asian Age warned of the dangers of any nuclear deal with USA and emphasized the need for India to pursue independent non-nuclear options for self-sufficiency in power. While Iyer’s article reveals that he still carries his communist baggage of anti-Americanism (picked up from the days when he was a Minister in the first communist government in the world in Kerala), Ram Jethmalani’s response to Iyer (3rd October, Asian Age) was the response of an out and out rooter of Americanism. What is intriguing, however, is when Jethmalani says, “I say that India does not need bombs. If the Pakistanis or the Chinese have plans to destroy us with nuclear bombs, I would rather allow them to do so.” He continues, “Gandhi’s India will never plan the murder of the human race. Unfortunately Marxist philosophy neither sees the force of moral action nor respects the inscrutable forces of providence which ultimately destroy insane murderers of fellow beings.”

On one hand Ram says we are inadequate to the task of meeting our power needs and have necessarily to cooperate with the US, on the other hand he prefers India being nuked rather than possess even deterrent nuclear bombs.

Senility appears to have finally caught up with the great Ram Jethmalani.

Times of India - sack your copy writer.

Today, October 2nd, Times of India devoted its full front page to a write-up on Mahatma Gandhi, saying we needed a second October. It went on to say that Mahatma Gandhi created history and rewrote geography.

What is meant by "rewrote geography"? I condemn the insinuation that partition of India was a creditworthy event and the Mahatma's honourable legacy. Times of India needs to apologise for this slip and immediately sack its copywriter in contrition.

The way secularism works in India.

On one hand the UPA government wants to benefit the Muslims through exclusive development projects on the basis of their religion (via Sachar report) while on the other hand they want to deny Hindus their religion on the basis of a particular development project (Sethu Samudram Project). In other words, accept Islam to benefit Muslims and deny Hinduism to hurt Hindus. This is the art of secularism in India.

Sanyasi’s explanation worse than ‘twisted news’.

VHP leader Swami Vedanti’s call for Karunanidhi’s head over the latter’s Ram remarks was actually made in the context of a Muslim Minister’s call for the head of those who caricatured Prophet Mohammad and if Swami Vedanti had persisted that he could be arrested or whatever only after the ex-Minister is first arrested, it would have been quite logical. But now when the swami says that his statement was twisted by the press and he was only quoting Hindu texts on the price of blasphemy, he is obviously missing the Hindu spirit. The idea of blasphemy is alien to the Hindu culture and scriptures, particularly the Bhagwad Gita. Freedom to believe or disbelieve is the sine-qua-non of Hindu culture.

Whatever, the Ram Sethu agitation has begun with a bang. Its success would depend on the kind of leadership that takes it along. We would do well not to have anyone without the courage of conviction in the ranks of the movement’s leadership.

========================

25.09.2007

Swami Vedanti should not have retracted his statement. If he called for Karunanidhi's head, he was justified because Karunanidhi had ridiculed the very essence of his religion. He should have said he is ready for any punishment for giving such a call, but arrest me only after you arrest the Muslim minister who called for the Danish cartoonists' heads. Instead, the Swamiji not only retracts his call, but worse, he says that he was just quoting the punishment for blasphemy in the Hindu scriptures including Bhagwad Geeta. Swamiji should know that the freedom to accept or not accept a religion is the very birthright given to a Hindu by the Hindu culture. No Hindu scriptures have any blasphemy laws, least of all Bhagwad Geeta. In fact, Hindu scriptures are Shrutis. Swamiji may at best be able to quote from some Smriti. But have we not abandoned all those Smrits long ago?

So I condemn the Swamiji not for calling for Karunanidhi's head, but for not having the courage of his conviction and attempting to give an erroneous picture of Hinduism. He has to be removed from VHP.

Irresponsible journalism

Seema Mustafa, the Asian Age’s star journalist, has reported in the front page of today’s (22.09.07) Asian Age that Delhi Gymkhana Club’s election is due later this month and that in the fray for Presidentship are our country’s serving Chief of Army Staff Gen. J.J.Singh and head of Western Air Command Air Marshal P.S.Ahluwalia. This much is fair journalism. But she went on to allege that Gymkhana Club “has become a war zone for the Indian Army and Air Force”. She has insidiously mentioned that the Club “has several representatives of defence manufacturing companies and middle-men as its members”. For our benefit she has also reported that the two contenders are not on talking terms – “instead of speaking politely to each other to work it out, they kept throwing verbal darts at each other”. She goes on to make the startling revelation that “The Gymkhana Club contest has sharpened difference between the Army and the Air Force, with officers who are members taking polarized positions.” and takes the opportunity to add that “the services are divided outside as well”, what with each group being pitted against the other in the matter of even promotions.

Being a frequent reader of her regular articles in the Asian Age, I am convinced that she is committed to take an Islamist-Left view of all matters, particularly being ribald against the Hindutva forces. Therefore her sensationalist reportage of a mere local club election (albeit a prestigious one), to the extent of casting aspersions on the integrity of our top officers and even the defence institution itself is in keeping with the Islamist-left discomfort with any national/nationalistic institution.

Seema Mustafa’s article comes in the wake of a High Court verdict sentencing 4 journalists to imprisonment for casting aspersions on a retired Chief Justice of India. Since her article under the head “General fights air marshal for post at Delhi elite club” is more contemptuous in nature, she ought to be prosecuted by law.

Is Ka'aba part of Allah?

Some Mullah has issued a Fatwa against Salman Khan for idol-worship by participating in Ganesh pooja. I would wish to ask the Mullah, what about the Ka'aba in Mecca? Why do the Muslim pilgrims get so thrilled upon seeing it that they kiss the black stone embedded in it? Muslims maintain that they worship only Allah and nothing else. If so, why do they keep the black stone in the centre of their most holy mosque? Just the way Hindus keep the idol at the centre of their temple. If Muslims kiss their idol, circumbulate around it, sip zam zam water - the Hindus bow to their idol, circumbulate it and sip theertha water. Any difference? And yet if the Muslims say they worship only Allah, it can only mean that the Ka'aba is part of Allah!

Advani, soldier of Hindutva

There is talk in newspapers about Advani once again taking the reins of BJP. While there will be no replacement of Rajnath Singh, Advani indeed needs to be the face of BJP once again. Except for the 'Jinnah fiasco', Advani has been an impeccable leader. Even the Jinnah episode was a misplaced one due to the unexpected immaturity shown by some leaders of the Sangha Parivar itself. Advani had only pointed out to the Pakistanis the secularism advised by Jinnah to his compatriots in the Pakistani Constituent Assembly. Which was such an irony, coming from a man who had just partitioned a nation on the basis of religion. Advani wanted eyes to open in Jinnah's own bastion. But some twisted reporting by the Indian media suggested that Advani was championing the arch villian of partition. The impluse of all who know Advani should have been to doubt such reports, but some of our own leaders preferred to go by newspaper reports and even went to the extent of calling Advani a traitor. The great man he is, Advani bore it all, without even once going for an ugly rukus over the issue within the Sangha Parivar. Thanks to his maturity, he saved Sangha from schisms over personality clashes.

Sangha no doubt must have gone over the whole episode dispassionately and concluded that Advani was more wronged than wrong. Hence, his deserving rehabilitation.

Carry on, soldier of Hindutva - we are with you.

M.F.Hussain and Karunanidhi - birds of a feather

DMK's Karunanidhi is surely kindered to M.F. Hussain. Both love to rubbish Hindu sentiments and both restrict their rubbish to Hinduism. If Karunanidhi finds it comfortable to quote Valmiki calling Rama a drunkard, would he also feel comfortable quoting the Hadiths pointing to Mohammad being a child-molester, what with his pre-puberty marriage and all that? No, not at all. Karunanidhi, like M.F. Hussain, practises freedom of expression only in the Hindu melieu. They need to be taught that Hindus will no longer tolerate being ridden roughshod upon.

The secular kowtow

A judge of the High Court wonders aloud if the famous Siddhi Vinayak Temple ought not to be relocated as a security measure, considering it could be subject to rocket launchers from nearby high-rise buildings. Probably he would recommend that it be relocated to a mountain in a deserted area! I think actually it is the judge who ought to be relocated to a mental hospice.

It is galling that such comments are passed nonchalantly, particulary in the wake of opinions that Rama is only a mere mythical character, a big white lie, a drunkard and what not. It is gratifying that Advani is being heard on this subject. With his sharp intellect, broad wisdom and great grasp of the nuances of political implications, he is not going to allow idiotic comments to go unchallanged in the name of secular perogative. (That is to say, the freedom to rubbish Hindu sentiments while kow-towing to Muslim sentiments.)

Communist hatred and communist opportunism at play.

So the cat's out of the bag. Karat in his latest book wants India to collaborate with China for our energy needs. China is OK but not America. Why? Plain communist antipathy towards the power ever ready to call the communist bluff. An added bonus now is Muslim votes. Communist hatred and communist opportunism at play!

The error of Islam

When Islam says there is only one God, is it not reducing God to a countable object? If something has to be countable, it has to be less than the total. Therefore, according to Islam, Allah is less than the total.

This error of Islam is reinforced by the Islamic teaching that the Creator and His creation are not one, but separate entities. This error is also obvious if we see that before Allah created the universe, nothing existed except Allah. If there was only Allah, then surely Allah created the universe from the reality that Allah was. Therefore the Creator and His Creation are not separate entities but different aspects of the same entity.

Thus, the correct teaching ought to be not that there is one God and a separate creation, but that all creation is God in multitudinous divine expressions. The correct teaching, as put forth by Hinduism, leads man to discover his divinity whereas a God separate from his creation, as put forth erroneously by Islam, leads man to reduce himself to a slave of Allah. Being thus a slave of Allah, he acts not as per the divinity of Allah, but as per the limitation of his own mind. Hence, Islam is not spiritual but identity oriented.

2 comments:
ஜயராமன் said...
SirA very interesting post. Thanks for this.If there is only one Unit, then total is same like the unit. Therefore, in the case of OneGod, the discrepancy does not arise.In Hinduism also, there is only one advaita. Ofcourse, the advaita concept is entirely different, but the "oneness" idea is same.Allah is nothing but an alter-ego of Muhammad. There are many contradictions to Allah's world. Allah also resides in a heaven and the creation of that heaven has not been clear. If the heaven is also created by Allah, Where was he before that. If Allah's heavan also exists with Allah, who created that?Also, If allah created this world, why is there so much difference in wealth and happiness in the world? Why Allah has not given any good resources to his own land (middle east) which was an uninhabitable desert before oil was found. Why did he allow all his followers to suffer for millienum?I am sure that if you examine all these questions, then Islam will turn out to be empty conceptually.ThanksJay
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 1:46:00 PM
Venu said...
Thank you for your comment. I also got the opportunity to go through your blogs. Deep stuff you've written. I shall be revisiting them to offer my humble comments.Meanwhile, about this "There is only one God" teaching of Islam - it is, according to Muslims, not a discovery by man in his heightened consciousness. It is (as Muslims believe), a proclamation that came down from God to man. Now why on earth would God proclaim that there is only one God? If He (Allah) teaches man how to reach him, then would man have any doubt as to who or how many Allah is? But in the Quran there is no teaching as to how man can reach God. The only teaching is how man can be a good slave of Allah. A good slave also means a loyal slave. Therefore, to ensure no divided loyalties, Allah proclaims that He is the one and only God. In truth, Quran, as innumerable other scriptures, is not from a phenomenon separate from man, but from insights experienced by a self-realized soul. But probably unique in Mohammad’s case, when compared to say Krishna, Buddha, Shankaracharya or Jesus, was that he (Mohammad) often relapsed from his heightened consciousness. Which is why Quran has quite a lot of ‘Satanic’ verses where Mohammad orders killing for no reason but that of difference in faith – the same Mohammad who in another verse said that to kill one man is to kill humanity.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 9:07:00 PM
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Bhagwad Geeta for a restful mind

Everything in the natural state is in the state of dharma, that is, harmony. It is when there is disharmony, due to the restless mind, that the mighty ones strive to restore harmony. Bhagvad Geeta is the art and science of the restful mind. It is only the restful mind that can ensure harmony in society. Therefore it is incumbent on all human beings, not just Hindus or Indians, to learn the science and art of the restful mind, as taught in the Bhagvad Geeta.

No value for Hindu sentiments?

The point is, since the time of Ramayana it is believed by the Hindus that Rama built a bridge connecting Dhanushkodi (India) and Thalaimannar (Sri Lanka) to move his army to defeat Ravana and rescue Sita. As if to prove this, there exists a "30-kilometre-long naturally occurring chain of sand banks". Why not leave alone the formation, whether a natural one or man (monkey) made? Doesn't Hindu sentiments have any value at all?

Mohammad's progress

[I got the following from the Net. Quite a curious progression.]

A biography of our prophet reconstructed from ayas of Quran for the benefits of Quran only muslims.

MO WAS INITIALLY NOMINATED AS A SLAVE

He started his career in Mecca with the rank of a Slave .2.23 We reveal verses unto our slave MuhammadHis duties were just to warn people .25.1 He is a warner to the peoples.

HE WAS NO BETTER THAN AN AVERAGE JOE

He didn't even know if God intended to put him in hell or heaven..46.9 I do not know what will be done with me I am just an ordinary warner .'.

HE HAD NO AUTHORITY

He had no power or charge over the people..17.54 we, have not sent thee to take charge of them..

AFTER FEW YEARS MO WAS MADE A PROPHET / MESSENGER

98.2 I am messenger/prophet from Allah

ORIGINALLY HIS MESSENGERSHIP WAS ONLY FOR MECCA AND IT'S SUBURBS

6.92 And this (the Qur'an) is a blessed Book which We have sent down, confirming (the revelations) which came before it, so that you may warn the Mother of Towns ( i.e. Makkah) and those around it.42.7 We sent by inspiration to thee so that you warn the Mother of Cities (Mecca) and those around her.

THEN HE WAS MADE A MESSENGER FOR ALL ARABS

36.6 In order that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are heedless.14.4 (Hilali / Khan) We sent not a Messenger except with the language of his people, in order that he might make (the Message) clear for them.44.58 We have made this Koran easy for thee in thine own tongue, that they may take the warning.41.44 And if We had made it a Quran in a foreign tongue, they would certainly have said: Why have not its communications been made clear? What! a foreign tongue?( for us arabs)

LATER HE WAS MADE MESSENGER FOR ALL PEOPLES AND CREATURES

25.001: Blessed is He Who sent down the Quran upon His servant that he may be a warner to all the nations. 21.107 We have sent you as mercy unto all creatures. In his new position it became mandatory for all to make Mo their judge in all disputes.4.65 By the Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make thee judge in all disputes between them.

HIS NEXT PROMOTION WAS " SEAL OF PROPHETS"3

3.40 He is the "Seal of the Prophets". Seal of Prophets had additional perks of getting the top facilities in paradise.17.79 (Hilali,Khan) Your Lord will raise you to Maqaman Mahmuda (a station of praise and glory, i.e. the highest degree in Paradise!).

HE WAS THEN PROMOTED TO "ASSOCIATE ALLAH"As " Associate Allah", Mo's orders were made at par with Allah's orders and both their names came side by side in decision making as well as authority to be obeyed .

3.32,4.13,59,69,5.92,8.1,20,46,9.71,24,47,51,52,54,56,33.33,47.33,49.14,58.13,64.12 "Obey Allah and obey Mohammed" 33.036: It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path.

HIS FINAL PROMOTION WAS "ALLAH IN CHARGE"

Finally Allah decided to step down and give total authority to Mo.4.80 Obeying Mohammed is obeying Allah.Giving a pledge to Mo became giving a pledge to Allah. 48:10 Verily, those who give pledge to you (O Muhammad) they are giving pledge to Allâh.

EVEN ALLAH SENT HIS PRAYERS TO MO

33.56 (hilali/Khan) Allah sends His Salat (prayers) and salutes to the Prophet (Muhammad SAW) .

Divinity

Divinity is not a phenomenon external to man. It is what man essentially is and he can awaken to it by going through and beyond his consciousness. The science of idol worship is an aid for man to awaken to the power within himself - the power that transforms itself into avtars and rishis from time to time to inspire man to the science of self-discovery.

"Historical reality behind the myth of Krishna"

Amor said...
what's the historical reality that lies behind the myth of krishna?amor
September 3, 2007 2:07 PM


History is the recording of events gone by. The further back in time an event whose recording has survived to the present times, the more likely that event had a tremendous impact historically, otherwise memories of that event and its recording would have been forgotten in due course of time. Krishna's life was one such event which obviously had a tremendous impact in his times and subsequent times. All titanic events are embellished in its recording. Men would stand in awe of such personalities and events. We call such recordings myths, but if this is not satisfactory for the modern man with a professional approach, Krishna's life too could be reduced by historians to a bare-thread portrayal. In the simplest of labeling, Krishna was a Guru. If a student of history were to study the hagiography of Sri Satya Sai Baba, a modern day guru, he will understand the inevitability of great gurus becoming myths.

Food first for the body or soul?

Swami Vivekananda said that you have to fill a hungry stomach before you can enlighten an ignorant soul. Since enlightenment is simply being connected to our innermost self and this connection is the sine-qua-non of controlling even hunger, I am wont to say that a man ought to be taught the principles of self-connection even before being fed. This is particularly so because what Swami Vivekananda said is being construed as conceding that we should take care of our material well-being before plunging into spiritualism, whereas what Swami Vivekananda was literally thinking of was the hungry masses of India who were totally impoverished, starving and slavish. Even to such a suffering mass of people, I would say that as you cook food for them, as they are eating, we ought to tell them to search for the more nourishing food within. Today, a 100 years later, a great majority of the starving masses of Swami Vivekananda’s times have moved away from the edg. They now have the bare minimum needed to survive and are poised to go beyond in the material realm, what with the surge to being a global power and all that. This much we can credit to India’s post-independent progress, even though it started of at a ridiculed ‘Hindu rate of growth’ pace. Therefore today, doubly so, food for the soul is even more urgently to be fed than food for the body.

Allah, the imperfect creator?

To the question, "Who founded Islam?" if you, a non-Muslim, thought Prophet Mohammad is the correct answer, then you are in error. According to Muslims, Islam existed right from the first man Adam. In the course of time, man began to wander away from the true path of Islam and even interpolate the original holy book and debase it. Allah therefore had to preforce again send the same message of Islam through a messenger. This was repeated many times till Allah got fed up and sent down the original message for the last time in the form of the Quran through Mohammad the last messenger. This is how the Islamic theology goes.

It can be agreed that Allah does not have to send another messenger because the last message through Mohammad has remained intact upto the present and has Allah's own guarantee that it will remain intact till the end of time. However it cannot be denied that the majority of mankind has still not come to accept Allah's last ditch message and worse, many so-called believers have strayed from the message. The terrorists, for example (particularly so because Islam proclaims that it is a religion of peace). This being the case, when is Allah going to bring mankind onto his path? Does it mean that till the very end Allah would not have succeeded? Is it because he forsaw this being the case that he has revealed the apparatus of the last judgement? Does this, again, not mean that Allah has created a flawed creation and forever a part of his creation has to roast alive in hell as a proof of this?

The truth is that no God would have created anything imperfect. And indeed, there is no imperfection on earth. Hinduism proclaims this. It is only that many are not beneficiaries of this perfection because they are still in the ignorant mode of maya. But eventually everyone wakes up to the reality of perfection, after many lifetimes maybe, but wakes up nevertheless to see that there never was any imperfection and it was only an illusion. This is the Hindu teaching. Islam, unfortunately is straddled with an Allah who has been imperfect with his creation and punishes his creatures for it by roasting them eternally in hell.

This is why Islam is unable to go beyond the relationship of Master and slave between the creator and his creation whereas Hinduism proclaims that all creation is divine and we have just to wake up to this fact.

Science says, let's discover the ultimate before naming it. Islam says, we've named the ultimate Allah - and thereby all discovery ends.

You [http://www.islam101.com/] have quoted the following in the beginning of your site:

"In the 1994 Pulitzer Prize winning photograph on the left, an African boy, nothing but a skeleton, was trying to crawl towards a U.N. Food Shelter, about one kilometer away. Behind his back, a few yards away was a vulture waiting for the boy to die to feast. The vulture did not attack the living boy. It could have. But it has God-given law that it follows. Even the animals have law of God that they obey. Not the man. So many governments, groups and individuals have become worst than the vultures! May God have Mercy on the suffering humanity!"

You say that the vulture could have attacked the boy but it did not because it follows a God-given law. You lament that man tends not to follow God-given laws. What you mean is that animals are totally programmed by God whereas man is not. That is to say, God has given man a free-will. Why do you think God did thus?

I think it is truer to say that there is no such God who programmed animals and gave man free-will. This is just the typical theory of people who need an eternal father figure for psychological reasons and who therefore ascribe all observable facts as His doing. Wouldn't it be more honest if we await what science would unfold by and by of the mysteries of the universe?

Suspend laws, end terrorism?

If tough laws would add to terror, as a TOI survey contends, would doing away with laws end terrorism?

BJP - abandoning nationalism for appeasement

The BJP’s greatest strength was its ideology of Hindutva, which it inherited from the RSS. Hindutva in politics is the working out of Hinduism’s vision of freedom – freedom from want, freedom from fear and indeed attaining the freedom of all freedoms – that of moksha. This covered the grounds of economics, defense and spirituality. However, somewhere down the line BJP appears to have become embarrassed by Hindutva, probably because it got infected by pseudo secularism, which it had earlier criticised. The fall is obvious because now the BJP has become a votary of restoring Wakf Land to the Muslims.

Right from its inception, the RSS has been organizing people not on the basis of their religion, but on the basis of Indian nationalism with a view to make our nation, the great ancient Hindu Rashtra, a glorious nation once more. Neither the RSS nor the BJP sought to attract people on the basis of religion. And those attracted towards it were taught to be Indians first and Indians last. But this appears to have changed.

BJP is now seeking Muslim votes by promising to get Wakaf lands back for them, without any attempt to teach the Muslims that the Indian nation ought to be greater than Islam, which is a product of Arabic nationalism – that there ought to be an Islam rooted in Indian culture which says that though the truth is one, it is expressible in many ways. This proves that the Muslim leaders in the BJP have themselves not imbibed the nationalism that the Sangha Parivar seeks to have imbibed on its members. Instead, its Muslim leaders are pandering to the exclusivity of Islam. It is even more ironic, considering that Muslims believe that once a Wakaf land, forever a Wakaf land, without the right of the state to even think of acquiring it for the greater common good. Precisely a case of diluting nationalism, which the BJP once swore to represent.

The BJP ought not to take its core constituency of nationalists for granted.

Consciousness and Awareness

Consciousness is inherent in all living beings. When we humans use the power of consciousness to awaken to reality from moment to moment, it is called awareness.

Advani, lead the way

The left is blackmailing the Congress on purportedly the Nuclear-deal but actually on their Anti-Americanism. While the BJP has consistently maintained that it was not against the nuclear-deal per se but only against some clauses in it, the impression was the BJP was opposing just for the sake of opposing and in the process imperiling our growing friendship with USA. It is well that Advani has now come out to clearly say that all that is required is an amendment in the Indian Atomic Energy Act to ensure that India’s sovereignty is not compromised in the deal. He has also pointed out that while the 123 agreement USA has with China says that the 123 agreement will override all national laws, the 123 agreement with India gives each nation the right to frame its stand to safeguard its national interest.

Advani, the great communicator. May he come on the centre-stage.

CPI-M hypocrisy

Vis-a-vis opposing the nuclear deal and suporting the UPA government, CPI-M is hunting with the hounds and running with the hare. Their hypocrisy will be seen through. Worse, their mortal fear of the BJP.

Headless Chicken!

The Left Brigade led by the Marxists and the ‘Secular’ brigade led by Lalu Prasad Yadav are against the Nuclear deal with America. The Left is pro-China and their communist blood is unable to bear the thought that India with the help of America would become stronger than a China ruled by communists. Whereas the secular brigade would prefer we settled with a pipeline deal with Iran through Pakistan because that is what the Muslim constituency would want. It is unfortunate that the BJP is keeping company with the Left-Secular-Islamic alliance. BJP should support Manmohan Singh on the nuclear deal with America. Otherwise we would fit the tag of headless chicken as colourfully put by Ronen Sen.

Hindus – yes to refugees, no to infiltrators. Muslims – contrary?

India has, for ages, been the refuge of the persecuted. From the Jews after the sack of their temple in Jerusalem, Arab merchants, Parsees from Persia, Syrian Christians, Armenians, Tibetans fleeing the Communist purge, Bangladeshis upon Pakistani genocide to the Sri Lankan Tamils escaping Sinhalese persecution.

Today when Taslima Nasreen has sought refuge in our land, it is in keeping with our tradition to offer her refuge. This would reflect the space we afford for everyone, no matter what their convictions. A space of inviolability produced by the Hindu culture of acceptance.

Hindus by and large welcome her whereas Muslims appear to be against offering her refuge as they have no space for contrarian religious opinion. The irony here is that when it comes to infiltrators, whether from Pakistan or Bangladesh, the Mullahs do not hesitate to provide logistical support to amalgamate them inconspicuously into the population at large while organizations like the Shiv Sena want the infiltrators to be sent back.

Is this difference of approach what it is that makes one a nationalistic and the other an anti-nationalist?

BJP should support Manmohan Singh.

20th August, 2007.

With the BJP having already said they are not per-se against the nuclear deal but only against some clauses in it, they should support Manmohan Singh at least morally on this issue. We cannot have the Leftists and supporters of Islamic Talibanisation (the so-called secular parties) break our growing relationship with USA. The pseudo-secular parties of India are, inter-alia in opposing the deal, pitching for an Indo-Iran alliance! In order to challenge Talibanisation, let the Hindutva forces align with America and Christians world-wide.

Talibanised polity

I do not fear God for the simple reason that God is not someone out there for me. How can I fear my own essence? Marxists are such folks that they would even support Pakistan if Pakistan can help destroy Hindutva forces. And all Indian polity, with the exception of those who have come out of the playing fields of the Shakha, are willing to appease Muslims to such an extend that they would not mind the Muslim polity in India becoming Talibanised. Hard facts, my friend.

India Talibanised?

By now the Indian masses should have been out on the streets protesting against Islamic intolerance. This is not happening because the Congress and Left, being natural allies and running most of the governments since independence, have been lulling the majority Hindus to be politically correct in appeasing the minorities. If it were not for the RSS and the unmeasured strength and influence of the sanyasis and gurus of India, we would have already become an Islamic satellite nation. The only way to save the integrity of India and the Hindus is to strengthen the RSS and honour our sanyasis and gurus. Otherwise, as Neeraj Agarwal says, http://www.ndtvblogs.com/views/viewcomments.asp?gl_guid=&blogname=khabarbazaar&q_blogid=18747&ref=8/18/2007%207:56:52%20PM the Taliban dream will be realised.

Taslima and M.F. Hussain - Facts vs. Imagination

[This is in response to the blog “Why Muslims hate Taslima Nasreen” by Ansari Mohammed Rehan.]

http://www.ndtvblogs.com/views/viewcomments.asp?gl_guid=&blogname=rehan&q_blogid=18553&ref=8/14/2007%205:27:31%20PM

Unless there is freedom of expression, humans will be stunted. Only through freedom can truth be discovered, lived or re-lived.

To compare Taslima and M.F. Hussain is misplaced. Taslima's was a rebellion against the Islamic society that she felt was oppressing women. She is or was herself a Muslim. Whereas M.F.Hussain was simply giving wings to his imagination when he painted, for example, Sita riding nude on Hanuman's tail. While freedom of expression includes freedom to run riot imaginatively, Hussain has consistently chosen Hindu icons to be colourful with. Why no icons from his own religious world of Islam? Thus I would see M.F. Hussain as a hypocrite whereas Taslima's is a cry of an oppressed womanhood under Islam.

Another point. For example, I might find it questionable that a much married man in his 50s who again marries a 9 year old girl is touted as a model of mankind and may write about it. Would I thereby be charged for character assassination or hurting of religious sentiments? The point is, I would be basing my expression on facts like Taslima and not on imagination like Hussain.

The essence of Islam

13.08.07

[Pursuant to attack on Taslima]

The essence of Islam is not just faith, but its establishment as the chosen religion for mankind. This alone explains its determination to silence opposition. Christianity was in the same league, but Christians, awakened by the forces of secularism and democracy, have by and large reduced the Church's role to just ministering the flock and not as an arbiter of mankind's destiny. Since the Muslims do not have a church but only loose cannon Mullahs, there is a need to sober them to reality. Appeasing them, as secularism in India tends to do, would not sober the Mullahs. Only a zero-tolerance approach to fanaticism would do it. Would India rise to the occasion?

Taslima and intolerent Islam

[On reading that Taslima was attacked in Hyderabad by Muslims for criticizing Islam.]

Truth does not need to be defended. The greatest truth is that we are God, as expounded in the Advaitic vision. There has never been any history of anyone dying or killing to protect or spread this vision. On the other hand, Islam, which is an idolatrous religion par excellence as it seeks to place Allah on a pedestal never to be questioned but only followed slave-like, would naturally go to war to protect its God. Because unlike Hindu idol worshippers, the Muslims believe their single idol Allah created them (and everything else). The Hindu idol worshipers know they created the idols in order to discover God within themselves. Therefore expect Muslim intolerance and violence in the name of Allah to continue unabated so long as there are people who believe that Islam is a stunted religion.

The You Tube challenge

The biggest challenge yet to the reading habit may come from You Tube. When we can select the subject we want to hear, with the bonus of seeing the speaker or the background being described. The book, at least to new readers, may seem too much of a bother. But no one having gone through the thrill of snuggling into bed and into a mystical world with a promising book would trade their book for anything else - the You Tube challenge notwithstanding.

Response to a typical Muslim blog

[NDTV these days have so mined their comments slot that it is difficult to get a comment through unscathed. I post my comments to a typical Muslim blog here]

You say if you consider leaders, scholars and scientists proportionate to their population, Muslims have produced more leaders than any other ethnic group. Here, I think you are forgetting the Jews. And if you consider over the entire span of human civilization, then it has to be the Hindus, because they are the longest surviving cultural group. Again, if you consider just the so-called modern period, then the contribution of Muslims to modern science, discovery and technology is almost zilch.

About fundamentalism being present in all religions, it is only Mohammad the founder of Islam who showed his fundamentalist (intolerant) tendencies by destroying the idols of others’ religions.

The RSS is a nationalistic organization and just because India does not find a mention in the Quran, do not think she is not sacred. India is the field of mankind’s most successful spiritual quests and therefore India is sacred and believing so is nationalism. There is nothing fanatical about it. It is all about reverence.

Many Hindus oppose secularism because in India secularism has come to mean appeasing the Muslims for votes.

Godse is a hero because he saw the partition of India as an unforgivable sin. But he erred in holding Gandhi responsible for it. He should have bumped-off Jinnah, one of the persons who have made it to your ‘Great-Muslims’ list. Maybe he thought that Jinnah stands exposed anyway and it is Gandhi that needs to be exposed. He chose to do it, unfortunately, rather dramatically.

Muslims have never co-exited peacefully with other faiths. Jinnah’s two-nation theory is proof of it.

When I comment, I reiterate, I do not mean Muslims as individuals or even as a community. I only refer to Muslims who portray themselves as blue-blooded products of Islam. In this respect I see neither Dr. Kalam nor Azim Premji as products of Islam. It is their excellence in the secular fields that has made them what they are. Moreover, their mindset is unlikely to invalidate others’ religions, unlike a loyal Muslim who insists only Islam is valid.

An ode to RSS

I do not know what your experience of the RSS is, but to the best of my experience, they are wholly dedicated to inculcating nationalism in the hearts of the populace at large. That they choose to call this nationalism Hindu nationalism does not reduce their nationalism to just those who believe in Hinduism. For the RSS the word Hindu is akin to Bharath, as in Bharath Mata ki Jai. However, I must concede that the BJP has not been successful enough in upholding the national vision of the RSS in the field of politics - they often find it difficult to transcend electoral compulsions. Nevertheless, due to the unfading light of nationalism emanating from the RSS, we shall pass through the present darkness and live to see resurgent India as the pride of humanity.

The new 7 wonders of the world

[This is in response to a blogger who wondered who authorised the organisers of the 'new 7 wonders of the world'.]

The organizers have authorized and empowered themselves. In a democracy we are allowed that and we cannot grudge them on being original about the idea. However, what is not democratic is that it is not a one-person-one-vote affair. Apart from being able to vote again and again using different e-mail ids, you can also pay and buy the right to vote. So the whole exercise is a sham. Nevertheless, as the 7 ‘winners’ would have a lot to gain by way of tourist publicity, we might want to vote because we do not want to miss the propaganda benefits that the monuments we like would gain. It is a shame that the channels in India, while naturally calling for a vote for Taj Mahal, is not mentioning the Angkor Wat, a great edifice in honour of the Indian culture.

Imageless

[When I was asked to described myself in a form.]

Descriptions, particularly of one's own self, create images. We are beyond images. So why descriptions?

Dr. Pranoy Roy for President

[This is in response to a blog that suggested Dr. Pranoy Roy for President. I couldn't paste my response. Thus I post it here.]

Pranoy Roy is an exceptionally talented person and he must be a rare manager to have nurtured so many more talents of superlative quality. However, he does come through as a wee-bit more business minded that I would be comfortable with. Observe his glee whenever he announces a commercial break - it is a dead giveaway.

Either an Indian or an American - no divided loyalties

When people like Sanjay Puri, Chairman of the US-India Political Action Committee, say they are PROUD to be Americans, they sound rather traitorous. When called upon to be just law-abiding citizens of America, they want to prove themselves more loyal than the king. It would do them more credit if they consider themselves simply as Indian Residents of America, with all their pride being reserved for India.

Should we provide in advance for food and medicine?

Nisargadatta Maharaj, when asked if we should not provide in advance for food and medicine, said, hunger would bring the food and illness the medicine.

Mukesh Ambani's 27 storey private residence?

A 27 storey private residence? Mukesh Ambani being a practical businessman, the truth might not be quite like that. He might be building this so-called 'private residence' as also a place where his many business associates around the world might stay while in Mumbai on business with him. It will add up to being more economical than putting them up in 5-star hotels. Not just that, some portion of the skyscraper might even be reserved as alternate 5-star (or 7 star) residence for international celebrity tycoons on par with the Ambanis. That would explain the 'staff of 500' he might have in the building. Such tycoons (Bill Gates, for example) might feel more comfortable being Ambani's personal guests (though a paying one) than being put up in a 5 star hotel without a personal tycoon touch.

Anyway, we need not bother what the rich do with their money. So long as their money is put in circulation (not for evil purposes, of course), it would benefit all.

Freedom of sacred spaces

The basic question is about the freedom of sacred spaces for each and every individual. That is to say, the inviolable rights of every individual to live with dignity must ever be respected. For individual rights to be ensured, the entire race of human-hood, nay, creation itself, is likely to have some inviolable principle which would not permit any transgression. Is there such a principle in creation?

The ancients have discovered or were revealed this principle and in Hindu parlance, it is called Dharma. What is Dharma? Dharma has been defined to mean that which sustains the true nature of a thing. Heat, for instance, is the Dharma of fire, the very nature of fire. If there is no heat in fire, then fire would not be fire. Even the minutest of things has its Dharma, called the swa-dharma. Is there something like a dharma for the entire creation? There is, is the indication of the finest minds that have applied itself on this subject. What do they proclaim?

Universal Temple Entry

Please do not forget that Guruvayoor Temple is one among the many thousands of Hindu temples and each temple has its own rituals and customs. Hinduism does not have a tradition of steamrolling all variations of customs into a monolithic or homogenous whole. Therefore, if a Muslim or Christian wants to go to a temple, there are many in which they are not barred - Sabarimala being the most famous example.

Purification rites are extant in most temples of Kerala, but not all. Even here, during temple festivals, wearing footwear into the temples, for example, is allowed. Since there are measures (like menstruating women not being allowed into temples) and counter-measures (purification rites in case of transgression of customs), it is clear that the thrust of temple management is an environment of understanding of temple traditions and cooperation by temple-goers. Let us not upset the traditions of Guruvayoor (or any other temple) simply because a particular temple has its own peculiar traditions and rites.

In this context, I would have gone to the extent of adding that if certain temples did not allow certain castes temple entry, it was not right on the part of any social reformer to change the situation and call for universal temple entry into such temples. It would be inhuman only if some castes were prevented from going to temples at all. This situation had never arisen in Hinduism. All castes always had their own temples. No one was prevented from believing in anything or worshiping in any manner. This is not the case of Islam in Arabia. Where are the idol-worshippers or their temples today in Arabia? Both have been wiped out in the name of Islam and Islamic homogeneity.

However, as I said above, I would not say the social reformers were wrong. Their action has ensured that Hindus have been saved from being irretrievably splintered. Imagine me, of a certain caste, going from temple doors to temple doors to ensure that I get through only into the temple of my caste. Mercifully, such situation does arise among Hindus today, except in some parts of India where the so –called lower castes are still kept away. Hopefully, the situation there too would change.

Sikhs and Dera

The Sikhs are flexing their muscles on a non-issue. Someone dressing up like Guru Gobind Singh should only flatter the Sikhs, for is not imitation the best form of flattery? It would also do well for the Sikhs to remember that while they may be a majority in Punjab, they are a minority in all the other states of India. Any violence in the name of religion in Punjab may backfire all over India, particularly as the Dera is being instigated by Congress and Congress has the track-record of the notorious anti-Sikh riots of Delhi. Let the Sikhs show the Hindu spirit of acceptance of other religious viewpoints and not reflect the Muslim spirit of intolerance.

Hajj and idol worship

It is ironic that Muslims, who do not believe in idol worship, feel compelled to visit the master idol in Mecca at least once in their life-time. Of course, they would deny that going to Mecca is to worship the idol there. They worship only Allah. But by limiting Allah to a favourite spot and considering a pilgrimage to that particular spot the epitome of religious fulfillment, the practice is nothing less than idolatry, as understood by an idolater like me.

Freedom

All failures are because we identify with external accumulation as success, when in truth external accumulations only help in creating an image of ourselves and trapping our true self. Getting rid of all such notions of success is freedom. Thus free, we shall be truly creative.

Amrita TV

[In response to what I feel is some swayamsevaks' unnecessary critique of Amrita TV]

I suggest we leave Amrita TV alone. Haindava Keralam is a Sangha inspired site. Let us seek to improve ourselves instead of wasting our energy elsewhere. Having a channel like Amrita TV where we can have darshan of Amma regularly is in itself a major blessing. Let us not try to teach Amma how to run things. Let us have faith in her that she knows best and in the meantime seek to strengthen Sangha in every which way.

The genesis of riots in India

It is tragic that you lost your mother in the Godhra riots. You are a Hindu, going by your name, and this is proof that the riots were not one sided, as the Muslims and ‘secularists’ are trying to make it out. Whoever dies, it is a human being that dies. The humanity in us would make us all weep.

Even if no one can guarantee there won’t be riots again in the future, let us at least try to understand the root cause of riots in India.

The Hindu culture of acceptance of various ways of living sustained harmony amongst the various communities in India over the millenniums and even at its darkest periods, no Hindu community was sought to be annihilated - at worst there was only isolation of certain communities. This is the most important thing to note of Hindu history. What caused incalculable rapture to this harmony was the advent and spread of Islam, with its “My way the only true way” aggression. Godhra was only the latest of the innumerable displays of intolerance, which began with the Islamic destruction of temples and forced conversions in the 11th century and reached its climax in the partition of India. With determination to identify with a foreign ruler Baber, a bogey full of innocent pilgrims were burnt alive. Hindus took to violence spontaneously, as a reflex action, due to the burning of pilgrims. In some cases of riots, it is difficult to pinpoint what caused the riots, but in the case of Godhra, it is absolutely clear that it was caused by the burning of the bogey. Even if there is a difference of opinion as to who burnt the bogey (which would end once the Commission’s report is released), there is no doubt that it was then widely perceived, reported and accepted that the Muslims burnt the bogey. All the victims of the riots were due to spontaneous violence that took place. Violence is always ugly, whoever indulges in it. When passions calmed down, no one hounded anyone out of Gujarat. Compare this with what happened and continues to happen in Kashmir against Hindus there. Not spontaneous acts of violence but predetermined acts of ethnic cleansing, planned by Pakistani leaders for the Muslim cause.

If we are ever to say goodbye to religious violence, we must expose the doctrine of “my way the only true way”.

The Trinity of religious intolerance

Judaism, Christianity and Islam were the pioneering Trinity with religious intolerance as their hallmark, what with their "My religion only true religion" stand.

History overtook Judaism and scattered and isolated it into small communities across the globe till it was almost extinguished by Hitler. The Christians, with a heavy guilty conscience, relocated them in their original homeland and saved them. Today Judaism is an harmless entity in the world of religions.

Christianity, in the name of religion, wiped out the culture of indigenous communities around the globe, right till the Red Indians and upto our Nagas. However, the historical de-linking of the Papacy from politics eventually brought about democratic and largely secular Christian communities and except for the missionary with his conversion agenda, Christianity is no longer a threat to the world. In any case, in spite of the Church, it always had the saving grace of Jesus Christ, whose message was spirituality though he did not teach the techniques leading to it. The Christian communities are now ripe to see the Vedantic light of Hinduism – that there are many ways to divinity.

Islam, on the other hand, is still under the delusion that it is on the brink of conquering the world, without being aware that the ground is slipping beneath its feet, as testified by the Avenger Ali Sina.

May the world be rid of narrow-mindedness. May the world be engulfed with love and harmony, peace and understanding.

Burkha

Burkha has become a discredited form of dress because it is associated with Islamic religious fanaticism.

Islam's political ambitions

The relevance of Islam today is due to the strength the Muslim communities the world over have received from oil wealth and its resultant political strength, long centuries after they were down and out with the collapse of their many empires, the last being the Ottaman empire. The enrichment and political prominence of a community does not per-se mean a danger to other communities but in the case of Islam, the sine-qua-non of the religion is bringing the world under its dominance. This means ending democracy and secularism, ending freedom of speech and freedom of dissent. That is to say, the real danger is the political nature of Islam and its inability to regulate its constitution, the Shariat, to the requirements of each age. The danger is not that there is one more religion called Islam, but that Islam has political ambitions.

A Sangha revolution

I.

Sangha parivar of swayamsevaks inspired by daily shakha to rejuvenate the glory of Hindu Rashtra should stand united. It appears that there are personality clashes in the organisation. All those who for whatever reasons are unable to work in any sister organisation should return to work for the spread of Sangha shakhas, instead of forming divisive parallel organisations. I would call upon Raman Pillai Sar to dissolve his organisation and return to the roots to set up model sangha shakhas. And mired in controversy, I would call upon Mukundettan to resign from the BJP and return to being a Mukhya Shishak. Somettan should call for assimilating Sangha strength, not dissipating it. As swayamsevaks, is it possible for us to have any conviction other than the efficacy of Sangha shakas to fulfill our dreams of a resurgent Hindu Rashtra? Then why betray ourselves?

II.

Sangha should call for the winding up of all Sangha Parivar organisations, including RSS itself; call all swayamsevaks to work directly to strengthen the shakha system. To ensure a smooth transition of the dissolution of Sangha and parivar organisations and assimilation of all swayamsevaks into organised shakha activities, a nodal body should be constituted of all Sangha adhikaris. Within a few years, Sangha would be able to influence society more and very systematically, its strength being based solely on shakha power, which magic has made the Sangha what it is today. However, our strength is so dissipated with so many organisations that sometimes we seem to be working at cross purposes. Winning elections as a political party would not be of much consequence to our dream of seeing a strong Hindu Rashtra. Only swayamsevaks burning bright with inspiration of the Shakha can bring it about. In short, let’s work for a revolution in India with Sangha Shakha power and not work at cross and have nothing but a hallow reputation.

Godhra

Would the riots in Gujarat have taken place if the Godhra incident did not take place? Who burnt the train bogey in Godhra? Who are all the people arrested for it? Muslims. Who are all the people who have been charged for burning the train? Muslims. Have any Hindus been arrested for burning the train? No. The Banerjee commission has only said that it is not possible to burn the bogey from outside. So who burnt it from inside? Who pelted stones on the bogey to divert the attention of the passengers? Muslims. Has the trial begun? No. Who will be pronounced guilty? Let’s await the trail. Till then, the popular notion is that Muslims burnt the bogey. It is natural to quote the popular notion about an incident till it is proven otherwise.

Freedom of expression

Your attacking Hinduism is not a problem at all. You are welcome to do it and strain all your energy at it. Hinduism is a vast ocean and a few pebbles would do it no harm. But not so Islam. It is a very delicate religion needing to be protected by a State and with violence. This has been proved by a few cartoons of Mohammad. The problem is that Islam proclaims that it is the only true religion and Allah last spoke in the 7th century and it has a political goal to Islamize the world (which it has been trying since Mohammad but has not succeeded yet). Faith is fine and faith moves mountains (hope you understand the proverb this time) and no one can have any quarrel about faith. Again, it would be OK if you choose to believe faith as a fact. But in that case you cannot deny me or anyone the right to question such assertions. Remember, there is nothing I want from you, not even answers to my queries. But I shall exercise my freedom to write and respond to any writings in public space. How I write and what I write is my freedom. You too have the same freedom. Thanks much to the phenomenon of the internet. So carry on buddy, as shall I.

Krishna

Let me assure you on behalf of the all the Krishna Bhaktas of the world, and I do this because I know that not a single Krishna Bhaktha will disagree with me, that whatever you say about Krishna in the negative, by the sheer charisma his personality weaved in his generation and all succeeding generations and continue to weave even today, the same is transmuted into the positive. All Hindus would say, Krishna? With him everything is a dream. Isn’t he the mischievous one who stole butter, stole the lasses clothes and hearts and stole a war from the Kauravas? Krishna is Hinduism greatest wonder, its most exquisite personality, its unparalleled teacher – in short, its superstar. Krishna’s attainments and accomplishments are unique in the history of mankind. There is no spiritual savant who has not been energized by the very thought of Krishna. There is no singer who has not sung his glory, no writer who has not written about this marvellous personality and no dancer who has not danced to mystical glory in his aura. Watch Krishna in the TV serial Mahabharatha. In the newest of man’s medium, he has been watched in more languages and more number of people than any other religious personality. That’s Krishna, the conqueror of hearts for ever.

Spying for the enemy

[This is comment on blog condemning the media for exposing the 3 rings of security proposed to protect the Indian Cricket team from terrorist attacks.]

While it is the duty of agencies involved in security arrangements to keep their plans secret, it should also be laid down as the duty of the media not to expose anything which would compromise the security of the nation or its people. Such news exposes should be classified as spying and should incur the wrath of provisions against spying for the enemy.

The Quran and other publications

Dear Citizen Kane, I have read the Quran (Marmaduke Pickthall, English) and I have enjoyed the grandeur of its literature. I have not made an in-depth study to discover how amazing it is. I hope to do so one day, Inshallah. But do you honestly think that the Quran is the only book that has been described in superlative language by non-believers? I believe that as far as publications in English go, the majority opinion is right - that nothing beats Shakespeare. And if you are talking about spiritual depths or scientific knowledge, the Vedas are acknowledged by a large number of non Hindus to be a corpus of unsurpassable magnitude.

Illitrate Mohammad and his masterpiece Quran

Dear Citizen Kane, You say, "... the [scientific] verses appeared from the mouth of an unlettered and unlearned person..." Why do you keep saying this? Don't you know that the words of the Quran are Allah's words and not Mohammad's? There is no one among the Hindus who does not believe God (except the atheists among them) and the miracles God performs. The Goddess of Mookambika is known to make the dumb speak. But in the higher explanation of these things, it is the consciousness rising to higher levels and expressing itself. In modern times, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was also illiterate. But the pearls of wisdom that issued forth from his lips are timeless.

Can neither be destroyed nor needs to be created.

Even if the whole of creation is annihilated by God or by accident, only the form will change. It will rebuild itself because its basic aspect, consciousness, can never be destroyed or needs to be created.

On imitation sans understanding

22.01.07

Your saying that Shafai school of thought raises hands before bowing because Mohammad did it for a period is interesting. Mohammad kissed the Aswat in Kaaba and that became part of Hajj ritual, without anyone ever understanding why Mohammad did it.

This reminds me of a story where a puja was going on and a cat came into the hall. The pujari asked his assistant to remove the cat from the place but the cat kept coming back. Being a harmless fellow, he did not want his assistant to hurt the cat in a fit of rage. So he told his assistant to tie the cat to a pole and feed it milk. The cat then dozed off. From the next pooja onwards the cat was tied up before the pooja and kept content with milk so that it is out of harms way. Needless to say, the succeeding generations of pujaris did not start a puja without tying a cat to a pole and giving it milk, even if it had to hunt for a cat miles around. The pujari and Mohammad must have frowned from high heavens!

Rahul Gandhi in gang rape charge

21.01.07

Since this could amount to character assassination of a member of India's most well-known political family, an independent enquiry must be conducted to verify the facts. If it is a false charge, as I suspect, then the so-called victim must be penalized. If it is true, then of course, the law should be allowed to take its own course.

The last messenger

You say there were many books sent out by Allah including the Bible but you also say that they have become corrupt. That is, no book has remained uncorrupt except the Quran. It would have been OK if the Quran is seen by everyone as a perfect book. In its fundamentals itself it appears flawed.

For instance when Allah says there is no god but Him, isn't Allah able to understand that the intention behind all prayers are that it reaches an absolute force? How can any human being pray to any force other than Allah because Allah, according to the Quran, is the only absolute force? Then why did Allah allow his messenger to destroy idols and idol worshippers? On the other hand if Allah wanted everyone to pray in a certain way, then that way would have been the way followed by Adam and Eve and all their descendents since. But it appears that the way of prayers that Muslims have adopted today is a new one initiated by Mohammad and not anything described in the Quran.

Then Allah says that Mohammad is his final messenger. In spite of the fact that the message itself is intact, many different schools of thought erupted immediately after Mohammad’s death. So the finality of the final message did not last even one generation.

My whole point is that Muslims ought to practice Islam to the best of the ability without trying to claim that it is the only true religion. It is nothing but one of the innumerable expressions of man's religious experiences that will continue to flower as long as man continues to live.

Quran - commonplace and warnings.

Most of the verses in the Quran are commonplace advice that are found in all religious scriptures and books of moral stories. What gives the verses its uniqueness is the fear Allah attempts to put into you and force you into abject loyalty. Not a verse passes without Allah reminding you of his power and your lack of all freedom. What good things any man would even otherwise do is reiterated in the Quran as a command from Allah. This is the feeling one gets from a reading of the Quran. I was told by my Sufi friend that there are layers and layers of meaning in each verse. Nevertheless, I ask myself where the uniqueness is when Allah says:

"Alif Laam Raa. A book which we have revealed to you (Muhammad) so that you may lead the people from out of the darknesses into the light by their Lord's leave to the path of the All-Mighty, the Praiseworthy."

Isn’t it said in the Upanishads: Asato Maa Satgamaya, Tamoso Ma Jyotir Gamaya, Mrityo Maa Amritam Gamaya?

IMA and Pranayama

[This is a blog I could not comment on. The writer had pointed out IMA's prejudice against Baba Ramdev.]

Dear Anil, You have put the whole thing in proper perspective. I was suffering from Asthma since childhood (I am now 52) and tried all allopathic medicines including inhaler but all relief was temporary and even caused side effects. I went to an ashram more than 15 years ago and learnt a rarely taught pranayama and my asthma was completely cured and I've never had it again.

There may be a lot of quacks around and by all means verify their claims but let us not be prejudiced against Swami Ramdas only because he has become a symbol of health rejuvenation.

To truly live

To truly live, we should not try to change the way we feel. We have to be aware of our feelings without analysing it or even trying to understand it. It will reveal itself to become our next feeling. Let feelings come and go and new ones arise - we simply have to keep seeing it in a detached manner.

Wife beating in the Quran

Wife beating is not tenable in today's world, whatever the justification. How could God's word be so obscurantist? Satanic verses still remain in the Quran. A revision is called for.

On Singur

Aren't there wastelands that could be used for industrial development? Should fertile farmland be forever destroyed? If farming is no longer remunerative, it is for the best of minds to find a solution to that, not by ceasing farming altogether, but by cooperative farming etc.

It is common sense that first and foremost a society or nation has to be self-sufficient in food production. We can enjoy our drive in a dream car later.

In Muscat in those days

I was in Muscat in the good old days when you bump into the Sultan every so often. Sultan Qaboos and his family, unlike the Saudi Royal family, are not religious bigots. They have allowed a little more religious freedom than in neighbouring Islamic countries. (If they allow more than that, they might not be able to claim they are Muslims.) Alas, it might not last beyond the Sultan's rule.

Loyalty and Spirituality

13.01.07

I am growing more and more convinced that Islam, as I understand through the writings of Muslims I read, particularly in conjunction with other religions, is more about loyalty than spirituality.

The Pioneers

13.01.07.

The ancient folks are venerated because they were the pioneers. The succeeding generations have added to their understanding and the future generation will continue to do so, each generation pioneering one thing or the other. So we have our heroes (and villains too - the chaps who try to destroy where the heroes create). This is as it should be.

Rarest of rare crimes.

Judges sometimes appear to act on mood deciding which is the rarest of rare crimes, otherwise they would not have let free the slaughterers of a school master in Kerala in front of his class children, saying it was not the rarest of rare crimes! I think that was the rarest of rare crime by anyone anywhere in the world. The Marxist killers deserve to be hung alongwith with Afzal Guru and Santosh Yadav.

Comparisons

[This is response to a blog on rediffmail.com, which I did not post. ]

I think you are misleading when you compare Connect 2006 and Ashok Singhal's Birthday meet. The subjects are different. Even if you say that ultimately both meets were impacting India, you have to concede that India is a multi-dimensional entity (as any other nation) and nationalistic frevour in no way hinders economic boom. In fact, they complement each other. Man does not live by bread alone.

[This is in response to a blogger who blamed the parents for the Nithari killings.]

You are somewhat heartless. How can any parent wish ill for their children? The parents did complain to the police, who refused to entertain them. Or maybe the police kept giving them hope that they would return. These poor people did not have access to politicians because they did not have votes. And they had other children to feed, so they could not leave their daily wage jobs and organize long drawn protests. The whole story is not out yet. I am sure the parents were given false assurances by middle-men who lied to them very cunningly. Whatever, let us grieve with the parents and for the parents. They are the victims. And let us do our bit to ensure that all the villains are given no less than the noose, with no one, howsoever remotely connected with the killings, shown any leniency.

Continuum - a new coinage

Oh, I did not mean that I made up the word when I said I coined the word. What I meant was that I used the already existing word to mean my own idea of talking non-stop - where the talk goes on and on - it continues, the unending continuum.

The greatest disease

The greatest disease is not Aids or cancer, but "what-will-the-others-think" fear. For example, it is our attempts to interrupt or camouflage the normal ageing process that makes our ageing experience an ugly one. Aging is not tantamount to ill heath. Moreover, if we are spiritual, we can remain healthy even in the midst of our ill-heath – ironic but true.

Writing history

Writing history is a tricky affair. There is not just history, but versions and versions of it. I think it is best if Governments or official agencies keep their hands off writing history. In fact, history ought not to be taught at schools or colleges at all. It could be pursued as a personal choise and propogated by individuals who are interested in the subject. For the rest, history should be left to their imaginations.