Mythology & History,

Today people want a historian to certify before they can trust. No problem. Only that in ancient times when time was plentiful and life was laid back there were often no historians eager to record the day to day happenings. They could not profit from writing books and they did not want political patronage for personal gains either.

Events were passed on in oral tradition. The oral accounts later recorded as Puranas were believed because people did not have the inclination to lie. Those in extremely rural or tribal settings will know that the extremely poor and the tribal do not know how to lie. They are pure at heart. (Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God).

Indians were for ages sheltered from the guile of the world due to the geographical location. They were able to retain their simplicity and innocence. The Vedas were orally transmitted before they were written down. Yogi's know how to reflect on the reality and verify the authenticity of oral traditions before writing them down. (Today there is a lot of interest centered around Akashic records. Events recorded in energy frequency. We ourselves are the authors and therefore can retrieve them if we know the way).

In Sri Chaitanya's time we see his followers meditate on the places associated with Lord Krishna and rediscover them. Shankaracharya went around locating lost idols and re-establishing places of worship. At Puri it was he who could locate the idols of Lord Jagannath and renew the traditions. These are the benefits of yogic practices which Indians were aware of and they practiced with great diligence overcoming tremendous challenges.

Thus when we irreverently question that oral tradition we insult the innocence of our forefathers and the sacrifice of our Yogi's who gave up all pleasures to realize God and keep beneficial knowledge and traditions alive.

True civilizations are not pleasure seeking, neither are they profit or power seeking. They realize the essence of humanity and the goal of life. (The goal of life is God realization - Sri Ramakrishna). Spirituality is the basis of existence scientifically proven by quantum physics. There is no matter. Matter is an illusion. There is life everywhere, there is activity everywhere, intelligence everywhere, consciousness everywhere. The veil of illusion that binds us to matter and material pleasures (Maya), and the ego that makes is believe we are individual keeps us from realizing the truth.

If we feel we have evolved, if we feel we have progressed, we must renew that seeking. (Journey towards God even if you are lame or crippled in spirit, to wait for healing is to lose time - Anonymous). Why be fooled by the transient and temporary when the truth is out there waiting to embrace us if only we are willing to make the effort?

Our soul is anxious to meet God. If our body and mind drags us away, the spirit suffers within and manifests as restlessness, anxiety, stress, emptiness and we know that these deficiencies affect our bodies at a very deep level. Happiness is in discerning the yearnings of the soul and realizing it, all pleasures on earth are but obstacles dragging us to the mirage of transience. When shall we begin?

Chakradhar hinted that those very souls who mistakenly indulged in the world mired in maya travelled to Him at night to complain that they were not able to fulfil the life’s purpose. Thus do you see why we are so empty and frustrated inside and what we seek is actually spiritual as material achievements have not satiated us.

Spiritual journey begins with faith. The unseen, unheard, unspoken, untouched, cannot be measured with physical parameters and can never be. [Brahma has never been soiled because it can never be tasted (Brahma kokhono ucchista hoi nai)- Sri Ramakrishna].

I do not know how qualified I am in writing this. I have neither practiced, nor have I realized. But I do feel the need to turn away from materialism and the lust for name, fame and lucre that has laid the planet to waste. There is the intense need for a fresh paradigm, one that is waiting to be discovered in our own backyard.