HINDUISM-A Hard Nut to Crack

INTRODUCTIONTo understand ancient Indian spiritual culture isnot simply a matter of scholarship. To achieve acorrect understanding, it essential to enter into atradition of practices and disciplines and to studyunder the guidance of a self-realized spiritualteacher. In other words, those with realization ofthis knowledge can impart it to those willing tofollow certain standards in their life. I have beenfortunate to be studying like this for close to 30years.1

HINDUISM TOLERANT & RESPECTFUL OF OTHER RELIGIONSThe most outstanding characteristic of Hinduismis the readiness to respect and accept all the gen-uine and compatible religious and spiritual pathswithin its fold. My first spiritual master told usthat, if someone is a Christian or a Muslim, heshould be encouraged to be a good Christian orMuslim.

Those groups who pledge allegiance to leadersand traditions that do not follow or value the fouruniversal principles of religion: Truthfulness,Compassion, Cleanliness & Austerity, cannot be considered genuine reli-gions, even if in their ranks there are sincere people who individually followthe these principles out of common sense and decency.

I was brought up as a strict Catholic in the eastern United States. I hadclose association with priests my whole childhood. But somehow I did not getclarity on some basic spiritual concepts that I now hold near and dear to myheart. I will share some of this with you today. Also, after taking up mypresent spiritual practices, my appreciation and understanding of Jesus hasincreased. I have lived and studied in India off and on for over 7 years.

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HINDUISMA Hard Nut to CrackDeep Understanding NotAccessible by Scholarship Only

Requires Hearing from Self-Realized Spiritual Mastersand PracticingVedic Knowledge

HINDUISM IS TOLERANT &RESPECTFUL OF OTHERGENUINE RELIGIONSGenuine Religions arecharacterized by:1. TRUTHFULNESS4. COMPASSION2. CLEANLINESS3. AUSTERITY

The Jesuits have a technique they use in the missionary field. To learn some-thing completely foreign to them, They will ‘suspend their own beliefs’, forthe time being, in order to grasp it. I would like you to try the same in thisclass. Whatever your belief system is at present, suspend it for the next houror so and see if you can understand this presentation.

THE STORY OF NIXONThere was a British pilot in WWII, named Nixon, that was shot down behindenemy lines. His cockpit jammed, so he had to ride the plane down until itcrashed. On the way down, he said a prayer, that, if he survived the crash,he would dedicate himself to God 24 hours a day.

He woke up in a French hospital as the somehow were able to get him out ofthe wreckage. After healing his broken body, he returned to England and,true to his word, began to visit different religious clergy there telling themhe wanted to dedicate himself 24 hours a day to God.

An Anglican Bishop told Nixon that they didn’t have such a program inEngland, but he heard that there was such a program in India.

Nixon was an educated man. He went to India to Benares and became a pro-fessor at the University there. In a short time, he became very impressedwith the wife of one of the other professors there who answered his spiritualinquiries eloquently. She was a vaisnavi, a devotee of Lord Vishnu.

He took initiation from her and accepted her as his spiritual preceptor. Intime, he became aware of a vow he could take to renounce the world anddedicate himself 24 hours a day o God. He approached his spiritual teacherfor the mantra for initiation into the renounced order.

This lady told Nixon to come the next day. She spoke to her husband andthey agreed for her to take a vow of renunciation and she receive the san-nyas mantra. She gave Nixon this sannyas mantra on the next day and hebecame a barefoot wandering holyman in India.

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THE ANCIENT WORLDWhen we talk about India, we are talking aboutthe ancient world. All the major world religionstrace their roots to the ancient world, from themiddle east to India. Christianity, Judaism andIslam from the Middle East, Hinduism andBuddhism from India. Western Europe is the OldWorld and America is the New World.

VEDAS-5,000 YEAR OLD SCRIPTURESMost of my presentation today will be basedon the 5,000 year old scriptures of Indiaupon which the ancient spiritual culture ofIndia is founded.. Veda is a Sanskrit wordthat means knowledge.

The vedas come from an even more ancientoral tradition in India From time immemori-al, knowledge was passed from spiritualmaster to disciple. In previous ages it wassufficient for a disciple to hear once from his spiritual master and he wouldremember it for the whole lifetime. I represent one of the four recognized dis-ciplic successions in India. This line is called the Brahma Madhva GaudiyaSampradaya.

About 5,000 years ago, the 4th and most polluted age, the Iron Age began.This industrialized age is characterized by quarreland hypocrisy. Lives and memories are short, peopleare misguided and unlucky, and most everyone isdisturbed by something or other. Due to the unfortu-nate qualities of this age, this oral tradition ofknowledge needed to be written down. This knowl-edge with it’s many branches was first organizedinto 4 sections, the Rg, Sama, Yajur and Atharvavedas. The author who compiled this knowledge inwritten form was an empowered incarnation ofVishnu, named Veda Vyas.

First, I would like to take a few minutes show you some of the obstacles inthe way of understanding this ancient spiritual culture.

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THE VEDAS-THE OLDEST SCRIPTURES IN THE WORLDwritten down 5,000 years agoBased on ANCIENT ORAL TRADITION written down because of presentIRON AGE of Quarrel & Hypocrisy

VEDA means KNOWLEDGE

ANCIENT WORLDWorld Religions come from the East & the Ancient World

MIDDLE EAST-Christianity,Judaism & Islam

INDIA-Hinduism & Buddhism

VEDIC LITERATUREScompiled by Veda Vyas,an incarnation of Vishnu

4 Original VedasRG VEDASAMA VEDA YAJUR VEDAATHARVA VEDA

MODERN INDIAN CULTURE IS DAMAGED & COVEREDLarge parts of northern India have been dam-aged and covered in the last 1000 years byinvaders, so today there is confusion about vedicculture even in India itself. The very word‘Hindu’ originated about 1000 years ago as a mis-pronunciation by invaders of the word ‘Sindhu’,which was the name of a sacred river and valleywhere some ancient Indian people once lived. Themispronunciation was “Indus.” While this wordhas some meaning in Persian, it is not Sanskrit. This word ‘Hindu’ is notfound in the vedas.

The Muslims began their conquest of northern India around the 13thCentury and ruled parts of northern India for about 5 centuries. During thistime, they killed many brahmins, destroyed many ancient temples, raisedwhole cities to the ground and generally tried to bury the ancient history ofIndia.

The British overcame the Muslims in the mid 1700s and ruled northernIndia for another 200 years, The term ‘Hindu’ was popularized during theBritish rule of India, to differentiate the Indians from the Muslims who werefighting at the time, some say, with the help of the British policy of ‘Divideand conquer.’

MISINFORMATION & PROPAGANDAIn the 1800s, a few Englishmen, who wanted to clear their conscience ofwrongdoing, admitted in writing that the British government paid them andother men in the East India Company to re-write the history of India. Themotivation? The British could not tolerate a civilization more ancient orgreater than their own. The more recent American Indologists have followedthe British indologists’ modernization and distortion of Indian history. You’llfind a lot of this kind of dis-information which originated in the British erain India in scholarly books and on the internet .

HINDUISM IS ACTUALLY SANATAN DHARMAMany spiritually cultured Indians and Saints inIndia generally agree that the vedic spiritual cultureof India would be better served to be known asSanatan Dharma rather than ‘Hinduism’. We will

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MAIN OBSTACLES TO UNDERSTANDING HINDUISM

“HINDU” not a vedic termINDIA damaged & coveredMisinformation & ConfusionOur Western OrientationMaterial indentity with body

HINDUISM would be more easily understood as:1. SANATAN DHARMA2. VEDIC DHARMA3. BHAGAWAT DHARMA4. VAISNAVISM

still use the term Hinduism because of it’s wide acceptance, although youshould be aware that it confuses the distinct and varied beliefs in Indiawhich can better be understood under the broad conception of SanatanDharma.

Before I explain what ‘Sanatan Dharma is, I would like to ask you all a ques-tion. In the late 60’s, my first spiritual master asked an auditorium filledwith students and faculty at MIT, “Can anyone tell me what the difference isbetween a living person and a dead person? Would anyone here like to tryanswer that? Don’t feel bad if you don’t get it. Not even the faculty at MITgot it, but that was 30 years ago.................

OUR OWN EDUCATION & CONDITIONINGThe simple answer is Consciousness. It is no mistake that the MIT scientistsmissed this point, because consciousness was not included in their empiricapproach to understanding this world and the elements in it. And growingup in the west and being educated here, many of us have been conditioned tothink like the scientists.

Even today, western scientists still promote theidea that life, or consciousness, came from inertmatter. In other words, a ‘primordial soup’ of inertelements somehow made the quantum leap intoanimated single-cell organisms and evolved fromthere into more complex forms. This is the main-stream concept of evolution which we’ve all beenexposed to. Also, evolution theory contains the ideathat we are all progressing onwards andupwards from monkeys and cavemen and thatthere is no God and that everything we seebefore us some cosmic accident by some naturalselection. There are many problems with thistheory that don’t get discussed enough, so thistheory goes largely unchallenged. But evenDarwin had problems believing this himselfwhen he would look at a peacock feather andtry to understand the utility of such a thing inthe scheme if ‘Survival of the fittest.’

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HINDUISM ORSANATAN DHARMAIncompatible with Evolution theoryor Western Scientist idea“Life comes from Matter”

MODERN EVOLUTION THEORYVedic version differs from:

1. life comes from primordial soup (chemicals/matter)

2. Men evolve from monkeys3. Civilization gradually

rises from cavemen4. General spin that world

is evolving upwards.

THE THEORY THAT MATTER GENERATES CONSCIOUSNESSMy spiritual master once paraphrased evolu-tion theory in it’s simplest terms: What thescientists are actually proposing is—“Consciousness is coming from stone (stonedensest form of matter). But, he said this isnot a very reasonable theory to promote— thatsomething infinitely more valuable(Consciousness) is coming from far less valu-able(stone). He said it would be more reason-able to theorize that stone is coming from con-sciousness: that stone is just one idea in theworld of consciousness. Actually, our experi-ence here is that things ARE coming from subtle to gross. If you you simplythink about something long enough, desire it and work towards that, it even-tually manifests on this gross plane of matter. And, as conscious beings, weare manifesting so many things in this world by manipulating material ener-gy.

SPIRIT MOVES MATTERSo, this is the vedic version, that Spirit or Consciousness moves matter.According to the vedas, all material bodies, from the elephant to the ant, areall animated by spirit. All living organisms are driven by the presence of asoul. And that soul is who we are. When the body is no longer in suitable forhabitation, we leave this body and go somewhere else. Some may resist thisidea, but this is clearly stated in the ancient vedas of India.

Denying this is something like denying the law of gravity. Someone mightdeny the law of gravity and even jump out of a 100 story building to provethe point, But on the way down he’ll probably wish he had a parachute.Gravity does not depend on us believing it, or not believing it to work.Neither does the soul in the body. And neither does God, for that matter.

BODILY IDENTIFICATIONThese days, most everyone is heavily identified with their material body andeverything connected to it. We are being constantly being judged according toour body. Saints and scriptures of different traditions are the exception tothis rule. They generally advise us that we must realize the spirit within allof us as sacred and act accordingly.

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WHAT IS MORE REASONABLE?Consciousness from Stone? Stone from Consciousness?

VEDIC VERSION: Spirit, or Consciousness animates matter.

Conscious Creator(God)responsible for the creation of Matter & Spirit

SANTATAN DHARMA-”WE ARE SPIRITS IN THEMATERIAL WORLD”So, Sanatan Dharma means that we are inessence, Spirit, and that we should act according-ly, Just as the essence of sugar is sweetness, andheat and light cannot be separated from fire, wecannot avoid being spirit in essence, No matter ifone identifies himself as Hindu, Christian,Muslim, Jew, Buddhist,agnostic or atheist, thisuniversal principle applies to everyone.

.Most religions have some some concept of animmortal spirit soul, But, over time, this idea hasbeen obscured, and, in some cases, even rejected. For example, as a youngCatholic, I was told “You have an immortal soul.” But who is this “You” inpossession of the immortal soul.? Is it me my temporary body or ego? Howcan can something temporary possess something eternal? What I shouldhave been told is, “You are the eternal spirit soul inside a temporary materi-al body.” That would have been clear and in line with the vedic version ofSanatan Dharma. Someone said it this way, “We are not a material beingshaving a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a materialexperience.”

And because this concept of everyone beingspirit souls is not clear in various religions, itopens the door for fundamentalism andfanaticism. In extreme cases, those who donot share a group’s particular belief systemare labeled infidels or heathens and are con-ceived to be fit to be either aggressively con-verted, squelched or even killed. In recenttimes, it has been the practice of politicizedso-called religionists to dehumanize entirepopulations to pave the way for genocide ormass murder. This is against any real understanding of spirituality or reli-gion. Too much trouble in this world is caused by 3rd and 4th class religion-ists who don’t follow their own teachings while they fight over God’s proper-ty.

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SANATAN DHARMA”We are Spirits in the Material World”-PoliceWe are spirit in essence& we should act accordinglyrecognizing the sacredness of life in everyone.

Obstacle to understanding: Strong identification with body and everything connected to it.

CONSEQUENCES OF NOT RECOGNIZING SPIRIT IN EVERYONE AS A CHILD OF GOD

Fundamentalism & Fanaticism

Poisoning Religion with Politics orignorance

Justifying aggression against otherssuch as ‘heathens,’ ‘infidels.’ & idol-itors, or whatever

JESUSIn contrast, Jesus has been recorded as saying things like, What you do tothe least of my brethren, you do to me. (Matthew 25) Jesus also said he cameto fullfill the law of the old testament, which includes “Thou Shalt not Kill.”

LIFE IS SACREDAccording to the vedas, life is sacred. It is full of purpose, as the immortalsoul journeys through many lifetimes before he finally realizes his spiritualnature and makes his peace with his Creator and returns to Him in theKingdom of God.

THEORY & PRACTICENow, it is one thing to theoretically accept that you are a spiritual being, andanother to actually realize this. That is why some spiritually focused personstake up austerities, penances, yoga, and other spiritual disciplines; to realizethey are something beyond these material bodies.

So, we have varieties of paths in India that follow this same principle of real-izing their eternal spiritual essence, their Sanatan Dharma in different wayssuch as Vaisnavas, Shaivites, Yogis, Shaktas & Ascetics, Of course, the foundation for all of these paths have some basis in the vedas.

VAISNAVAS, SHAIVITES, YOGIS, SHAKTAS & ASCETICS Ascetics mortify the flesh to detach themselves from car-nal desires as did monks in medieval Europe whoflogged themselves. Yogis practice an 8-fold mysticprocess for balancing the physical processes of the body,quieting the senses and the mind to make it fit for onepointed concentration and meditation on God within theheart. Shaivites also practice asceticism and yoga andmeditate on Lord Siva. Shaktas appeal to the governing goddess of the mate-rial creation for her benedictions. And the Vaisnavas,who Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita(verse Sanskrit &English slide) are higher than all of the above, practicedevotion to God in the form of Vishnu or Krishna toclear their path back to the spiritual world. This lastcategory is by far the most common form of Hinduism.

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REALIZING SPIRIT VaisnavasShaivitesYogisShaktas Ascetics

1996 BRITANICABOOK OF THE YEAR Vaisnavas 70% of 800 million Hindus

25% are ShaivitesOverwhelming majorityworship Vishnu

MOST HINDUS REVERE RAMA & KRISHNABehind me are two pictures of the most popular avatars of Vishnu inIndia.,Lord Rama and Sri Krishna. The story of Rama, the Ramayan, hasbeen recorded in ancient times by the sage Valmiki. Veda Vyas tells the storyof Krishna in the epic Mahabharata and in Srimad Bhagavatam. Thesebooks are some of the most read and studied books in the world, right upthere with the Bible, full of lessons in ancient culture and spiritual realiza-tions. It has been said, “If it isn’t in the Mahabharata or the Ramayan itisn’t in India.”

VEDIC LITERATURES BY VEDA VYASAfter Veda Vyas compiled the original 4 vedas, he wrotesupplementary historys called Puranas, theUpanishads. Veda Vyas also codified all this knowledgein stories for the less educated masses in the epicMahabharata which also contains the Bhagavad Gita,So Storytellers, usually brahmans, could tell illiteratevillagers these stories in the evening after they camehome from the fields and even they would become cul-tured in vedic truths.

Bhagavad Gita means the Song of God, This book has been studied and glo-ried for thousands of years. Krishna explains the essence of the vedas in 45minutes to his friend and warrior-disciple Arjuna just before great battle5.000 years ago in northern India.

Finally, Veda Vyas summarized the Vedas in thevedanta sutras. But somehow he remained unsatis-fied. After consulting with his spiritual master,Narada Muni, he realized that, although he hadwritten so much knowledge for the benefit of theworld, the conclusion of all this knowledge was notclear. So Veda Vyas wrote his own natural com-mentary on the vedas called Srimad Bhagavatam.Although it was stated in many places in the previ-ous vedas, this commentary made it crystal clear that Vishnu was theSupreme Godhead and that Krishna was the original Vishnu.

PROBLEM UNDERSTANDING THE CONCLUSION OF THE VEDASNow what makes the vedas confusing? Because the vedas address many dif-ferent types of people in different situations. We take birth in this world in

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VEDIC LITERATURES by Veda Vyas

4 vedasPuranasUpanishadsMahabharata

a.Bhagavad GitaVedanta Sutras

VEDIC LITERATURES4 Original Vedas& many volumes of supplementary literatures areall compiled by Veda Vyas,

Srimad BhagavatamVyas’ natural commentaryreveals Krishna as origin of all

many different kinds of situations. The son of adoctor or a wealthy person in the west will havea completely different environment and lifeexperience than a person born in a poor familyor in a war torn country where you have tostruggle day to day just to survive. The educa-tional systems, the society we live in, our par-ticular life experiences, but most importantly,our association, shape the way we think, eatand live.

The vedas address all classes of people in many different stages of spiritualevolution. For example, Veda Vyas wrote 18 upanishads. Six of those upan-ishads were directed for those predominantly in the mode of Goodness, sixwere written to help those in the mode of Passion and six were meant to ele-vate those in the mode of Ignorance.(verse in Bhagavad Gita)

3 MODES OF NATUREThis is a very important concept you will not find anywhere else, so listenclosely. Everyone in this world is influenced by a mixture of these threemodes or gunas(ropes, of material nature). This is why some people likePresident Bush and some people hate him. This is why some people becomevegetarian and some do not. This is why some people take shelter of drugswhile others take up the practice of yoga.

You can think of the modes as the three primary col-ors, Yellow(Goodness) Red(Passion) andBlue(Ignorance) Slide

Everyone is influenced by a mixture of these threemodes. Ones activities, the way one eats, what a per-son associates with determine what modes is affectedby. Even places, environments can influence themodes one is affected by. The early morning is in the mode of Goodness, noonis in the mode of passion and night is in the mode of darkness or ignorance.Hawaii’s mild climate is in the mode of goodness.

Getting up early and going to bed early is in the mode of goodness.Interested in spiritual enlightenment, doing good and offering.service to oth-ers, like eating healthy food, clean air & water, quiet reflective living are

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PROBLEM UNDERSTANDINGTHE CONCLUSION OF VEDASVedas address different types of persons in different stages of life

Vyas wrote 18 PURANAS6 for those situated in Goodness6 for those w/Passionate nature6 for those covered by Ignorance

3 MODES OF NATURE

IgnoranceSuffering

PassionDesires

GoodnessEnlightened

more in the mode of goodness. Saints are in themode of pure goodness. Fasting or practicing otherausterities for spiritual awareness is in the mode ofgoodness.

A person predominantly in the mode of passion hasmany desires, intense hankering, likes city life andhas as enjoying spirit. They are pleasure seekersbut they are frustrated because most temporarypleasures they seek end in suffering.

Those in ignorance are inclined to do things thatare destructive to themselves and others. Too much sleep, intoxication, iner-tia, violence and unhealthy practices affect both the body and mind to be inthe mode of ignorance.

VARNASHRAM SYSTEMTo illustrate this system, it is useful to hearabout the vedic organization of society. Thereare 4 types of men according to their nature.The corruption of the Caste System is the rigidattempt to restrict these roles in societyaccording to birth and not by qualities or work.Samskaras. born in Doctor family-doctor.Brahmin good birth

The 1st class men are the Brahmins, the intellectual priestly class. They arespiritual enlightened as they know Brahman-spiritual substance. They areadvisors to kings are truthful, austere mode of goodness

Ksatriyas are the next best class, Those men with fighting spirit- the warriorclass. Soldiers to Kings, their duty is to protect the innocent and deal withthe criminal elements in society. Their qualities include chivalry, honor,nobility. courage. generosity, Truthfulness, responsibility Ksatriyas are amix of passion and goodness.

Vaishya are the 3rd class men. They have the intelligence for commerce,organizing business and generating wealth. They are given responsibility toorganize food production and in vedic society the responsibility for cow pro-tection. Vaishya are a mix of passion and ignorance

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LORD SIVA HELPS THOSE IN IGNORANCESiva Purana says worship Siva as Supreme

Vedas advise regulationof bad habits, once week ormonth, or add a ritual to it.

General idea is to improvetowards mode of Goodness

VEDIC SOCIETYQualified by Work, not birth4 VARNAS1. Brahmins- Teachers, Priests2. Ksatriyas- Warriors & Kings 3. Vaishyas-Merchant Class4. Suddras- Workers (70%)

Suddra are the 4th and largest class. These men are meant to serve theother 3 classes. The laborer class is provided for and they are characterizedto be a mix of ignorance and passion

Besides the 4 Varnas, there are 4 Ashrams.inVedic life. each is meant to be 20 or 25 yearsin length. At 5 years of age the boys go to theschool of the spiritual master to be trained inspiritual life. They remain celibate until mar-ried. These students are called bramacharyis.

At age about age 25 a man generally takes awife and starts a family. This Householderashram.

After 25 years of family life, when the children are grown and the wife isprovided for, sexual relations stop and the man may travel to holy placeswith his wife and they live as a retired couple for as many as 20 years, focus-ing on spiritual life and getting the man ready for the renounced stage oflife. This is called the vanaprastha stage.

Finally, the man renounces the world and separates from his wife as aSannyasi. He practices many austerities to prepare himself for the next lifeand hopefully will attain God Consciousness, so at the moment of death heremembers God. For such a fortunate soul, he goes to the spiritual world tobe with God.

KARMAWe are creatures of habit. We are all dealing withkarma, past and present. Karma simply means,action and reaction. Even modern physics recog-nizes the law of material nature that, “Everyaction has an equal and opposite reaction.” So, ifgross matter works like that, why not subtle mat-ter?

So, if you do something good, you get a goodresult, If you do something bad, you get a badresult. Dah. If you do something really bad, youmay go to prison or even get sentenced to loseyour life!

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KARMA & ACCOUNTABILITYAction & Reaction

Material body- Past Karma Parents & Place of BirthSamskaras- Tendencies

Good Karma / Bad KarmaKarma can be Changed

Spiritually motivated activities have No reaction

VEDIC SOCIETYStages of Life4 SPIRITUAL ASHRAMS(20-25 years each) 1. Bramacharya- celibate Student2. Householder- Familyman3. Vanaprastha- Retired life4. Sannyas- Renounced Order

Karma means accountability. The human form of life is a life of responsibili-ty. In this form of life, one has developed intelligence beyond that of animalsand can know right from wrong, what is up and what is down that we are allgoing to die, More importantly, in the human form, one can know God.

ANIMAL LIFE & HUMAN LIFESo the vedas encourage those in the humanform of life to purify themselves so they canbecome more spiritually conscious andenlightened. If one misuses this humanform of life by simply engaging in commonanimal propensities of eating, sleeping,mating and defending and neglects todevelop his spiritual awareness, he maylose his status as a human being and fallback down into an animal form where hecan simply eat, sleep, mate and defend.Animals are not held accountable for theiractions, but simply suffer out their lives until they are once again awarded ahuman birth. Human life is a life where there is opportunity to improve yoursituation and change your karma.

In India, it is basic to their spiritual culture to understand we are spiritsouls and that human life is an opportunity to upgrade to a better position inthe next life.

VEDIC COSMOLOGY—3 WORLDSAccording to vedic cosmology, there are 3 plan-etary systems, the upper heavenly planets,middle planets and lower hellish planets. Inthe vedas there is no such thing as eternaldamnation. The souls in this world elevate ordegrade themselves by their actions(karma)and sometimes they go to heaven and some-times they go to hell for some temporary pun-ishment for their bad behavior.

The Earth is in the middle planetary system. While heaven is characterizedby heavenly enjoyments and hell is characterized by suffering, there is someof both here. Relatively speaking, Hawaii is a nice place on this planet while,

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VEDIC COSMOLOGY3 Planetary Systems

Upper-Heavenly Planets

Middle-Earth part of this systemA. Some pleasure, some pain

Lower-Hellish planets

No Eternal Damnation

ANIMAL LIFE VRS. HUMANAnimal life- Instincts/ No Free WillEating, Sleeping, Mating & DefendingNo Karma

Human Life- Developed IntelligenceCan know Right from WrongFree Will & AccountabilityKnows Death is comingCan Know God

Iraq and Afganisthan are not desirable places to be right now. So, accordingto their karma, souls are apparently enjoying or suffering in this world.

There are sections of the vedas that entice peopleof different natures to practice some sort of sacri-fice in their lives so they can go to heaven at theend of this lifetime. The vedas also prescribe reg-ulation of certain activities that will degrade aperson if he indulges in them without restriction.

VEDAS HAVE MANY VOICES So you are starting to get a picture that there aremany different instructions in the vedas meantfor different types of people. Taken all together, itcan appear contradictory and confusing. That’swhy we have self-realized spiritual teachers whounderstand the conclusions of all this knowledge and can guide us accordingto our individual situation..

HEAVEN & THE KINGDOM OF GODWhile heaven and the Kingdom of God areobscured in some religions, it is clearly stat-ed in the Bhagavad Gita and the vedas thethe Spiritual world and Heaven are not thesame at all. Jesus is recorded to have said,“Heaven and Earth will pass but theKingdom of God is forever.”

That is a vedic statement. The upperHeavenly planets are within this universe,which is described in the vedas like acoconut, The coverings of this universe are successive layers of earth, water,fire and air, and ether and outside of this universe is the eternal spiritualsky or the Kingdom of God.

THIS WORLD IS A REFLECTION OF THE KINGDOM OF GODHere is where it gets interesting. The eternal spiritual sky also has planetsand is a world of variety, according to the vedas.The ancient Greek philosopher Plato described this world as the “Shadow

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HEAVEN VRS. KINGDOM OF GODHeaven / TemporaryKingdom of God / Eternal

Kingdom of God, or Spiritual World,Beyond (outside) this Universe

Material World is a Reflection of the Spiritual World but is Under the Influence of Time

VEDAS-MANY VOICESEncourages Regulation for gradual elevation & improving Karma

Sometimes gives instructions to attain Heavenly Planets- “if you do this you get this”

Also instructs how to achieve Final Liberation from Birth & Death

World,” a mere reflection of the real world. And that is a vedic statement.This world of temporary forms is a reflection of the eternal world full of treesand birds and living beings not under the influence of time.

ETERNAL TIMETime is the problem here. Everything here is under the influence of time. Inthe material world, no matter how good it gets, we all share the same prob-lems, Buddha saw this. The problems we are all up against are repeatedbirth, death, old age and disease. This is unnatural for the spirit soul whichis eternal by nature, full of knowledge and bliss.

DEMIGODS VRS. THE SUPREME GODHEADDemigods live in the heavenly planets andlook after universal affairs. That meansthe rains and the sun and moon all thelife-giving and devastating forces in thisworld are regulated by demigods. There’smany demigods but they are simplyempowered by God to do their jobs here inthis world. They get their power fromVishnu who also is represented here butmostly resides outside of this universe.

The demigods, no matter how powerful, are spirit souls like you and me, butdue to some good karma, austerities etc, they have been placed in charge ofsomething in this universe while residing in a Heavenly world where every-one has palatial homes, Many are gifted musically and many have mysticpowers,( like if they wanted a mango they just think mango and it appearsin their hand.) Pele is a demigod

3 DIFFERENT BODIESMany demigods have ethereal bodies, notearth, water bodies like ours. All of us herehave a gross body. Our flesh and blood bod-ies are made up of earth, water, fire air andether. Then we have a subtle body, mind,intelligence and ego. The subtle body fits onthe gross body like a glove. When we dreamat night, our gross body is just laying there,but our subtle body is active doing so many

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DEMIGODS & SUPREME GODHEADDemigods- empowered representativesof God. They Reside in the HeavenlyPlanets & look after Universal Affairs.

GOD (Vishnu) is the Creator/Controllerof Everything & Resides in SpiritualWorld but Expands Himself Here.

3 BODIES IN ONE

Gross Body- Earth, Water, Fire Air, &Ether. Demigods have Ethereal bodies

Subtle Body - Mind, Intelligence,Ego. Ghost Body. Dream BodyFits like a glove on gross body

Spiritual Body-Develops as we real-ize our unique relationship with God

things. Our subtle body is also our dream body. The soul, in our heart region,animates both the gross and subtle body.

This subtle body is also a ghost body which usually leaves the gross body atthe time of death. You have seen the movie Ghost? The subtle body pops outof the gross body 3 times in the movie. The man that wrote that script spent6 months in a monastery in Tibet. Some of what was in the film follows thevedic version. A ghost is someone who is stuck in this world due to someattachment or for some other reason,

So, when the scientist are looking for life, they are looking for organic lifeforms like those on Earth. They have no idea that the demigods don’t haveearth bodies and therefore live on a subtle invisible plane in apparentlyunhabitable environments where we need space suits to survive.

3 STAGES OF GOD REALIZATIONThere are 3 distinct stages of God realization.The first is Brahman. Everything is comingfrom God and is therefore connected,”It’s allOne,” is the expression. The underlying sup-port for everything is Brahman, sometimesreferred to as white light, a non-differentiat-ed field of consciousness.

God has also entered into his material cre-ation as the all-pervading Supersoul. He hasentered the heart of every living entity andaccompanies them as a witness in their jour-ney through many lifetimes. As soon as the soul becomes aware of God’spresence in his heart, either from the mystic yoga process or through hearingfrom spiritual authorities, he accepts the Lord in his heart as a guide to helphim get back to the Spiritual world. The spiritual master, who is already intouch with the Supersoul, can guide his disciple so that he can also get aclear connection.

Finally, if he is fortunate, the soul comes into connection with self-realizeddevotional saints and hears about the Lord in His Personal Feature.Bhagavan means God is unsurpassed in six oppulences. He is the most beau-tiful, He is the most powerful, He is All-Knowing, He owns everything, so Heis the Wealthiest of all, He is the most Famous and He is the mostRenounced.

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3 STAGES OF GOD REALIZATION

Brahman-All pervading impersonal& invisible support for the entire material creation—Om(symbol)

Paramatma or SuperSoulGod expands in the Heart of all

Bhagavan-The Supreme PersonCreates everything with a spark of Himself and resides in his Kingdom

VISHNU AND HIS EXPANSIONSHe is infinite and unlimited so He can expandHimself and Express Himself in unlimitedways. Vishnu is One but He expresses Himselfin many forms. As one candle lights another,Vishnu expands into different forms to dis-playing His unlimited opulences and qualities.

BECOMING GOD CONSCIOUSThere are a number of Yogic Paths to ‘link upwith God. Mystic Yoga where one realizes theLord within the Heart, Karma Yoga where onegives the fruits of his work to God, Jnana Yoga where he develops knowledgefor liberation and Bhakti Yoga, where one dedicates himself wholesale forGod’s pleasure.

One who cultivates real knowledge becomes situatedin wisdom. One who achieves wisdom takes up a lifeof devotion. God helps those who help themselves.

Mystic yoga is not practical for this age. The mostaccessible path open for everyone is a life of devotion.If we arrange our lives as an offering to God, God willreciprocate and help us come back to the spiritualworld.Otherwise, it is not possible. All things becomepossible with Gods help. The Vedas, in the end, aredevotional and monotheistic. Thank you for yourattention.

QUESTIONS:I have some copies of a 200 page full-color book, entitled “The Hidden Glory ofIndia,” which I can let you have for the printing cost of $4. This book is layed out intwo page spreads that explain many topics about India and Hinduism. You don’thave to read this book, you can just flip through it and reference what you want toread in just two pages. If your interested in this book or have a question about thepresentation, you may contact me at: John Daley 935-4905 or jjram@verizon.net

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VISHNU AND HIS EXPANSIONSGod-Creator & Controller of everything

Krishna original Vishnu

As one candle lights anotherKrishna expands Himself to express Himself in different Vishnu formsi.e., Ram as Ideal King

MAIN YOGIC PATHSYoga means “to link up”

MYSTIC YOGAKARMA YOGAJNANA YOGABHAKTI YOGAAll these paths requiresome Bhakti or Devotion

Knowledge ends in Devotion

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