1. Places of Worship

2. Its Ghosts' Time

3. Cutting edge of Hindu Renaissance in Jaffna

4. BEING sprouts the Metaphysical Blossoms - Vallalaar

5. Why do Hindus not bury their dead? Why do Hindus cremate?

6. Forehead Marks are Sacraments

7. Consciousness: A Hindu perspective

8. The Mantra Recital and Temple Worship - Appar

9. Repenting and Confessing - Appar

10. Fear Not Astrological Effects - Sambanthar

11. The Devout Are Immune to Evil Forces - Sambanthar

12. Transductive Perceptions and the Attainment of Moksa - Tayumanavar

13. Displacing Religion with a Free Assembly - Vallalaar

14. One Can Relate Oneself to BEING Directly - Vallalaar

15. The Divine Ecstasy - Tiruvasagam

16. Hermeneutic Science and Religious Conflicts - Tayumanavar

17. He Blesses All - Vallalar

18. BEING is the Eyes of All - Namaalvaar

19. The religious roots of ethics

20. The Psychoanalysis of Appar - TiruvaiyaaRu

21. ThiruccAzal - Manickavasagar

22. Saivism Accepts the Vedas but not the Vedic Sciences like Jyotisha - Tayumanavar

23. The Myths are Metaphysical Dreams - Namaalvaar

24. Ethics: secular perspectives

25. Metaphysical Dreams, Visions & Sounds

26. Three kinds of laws

27. Sanmaarkam is there is the Depths of all Religions - Tayumanavar

28. Morality, Religion, and War

29. Spirituality - Religious Perspective

30. Seeing BEING with the Third Eye - Tayumanavar

31. Transductive Perceptions and Transcending Religions and Scriptures

32. Monodoxy

33. Agni-Rudra

34. The Flip Side of Monodoxy - AGA

35. Shakti in the Vedas

36. VaLLalaar the Supreme Integrator

37. The Metaphysical Meanings of SaNmuka and Ganesha - Vallalaar

38. Global Ethic

39. Aram

40 Criteria for Truth Content in Religion

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Places of Worship

The Gods of Greece resided on Mount Olympus, which Homer described thus:
"Olympus, abode of the gods, that stand fast for ever. Neither is it shaken by
winds nor wet with rain, nor does snow fall upon it, and the air is outspread
clear and cloudless, and over it hovers a radiant whiteness." This reminds us of
the Himalayan peak where Shiva and Parvati of Hindu lore reside. The gods could
well be up above in the vast expanse of extra-terrestrial space, beyond the
starry firmament. The ancient vision was that the Gods resided way too far for
ordinary humans to climb and reach.

Because they are so distant every religion constructed halls and altars where
the Divine might come to reside, where men and women can gather to pay homage to
the Almighty. Temples were built for Minerva and Jupiter on the hills of Rome.
The grand edifices built for them have crumbled down for archeological probes or
they have been renovated to attract tourists. All man-made gods have a history.

In ancient India there were devalayas (Houses of Gods) for the Sun-God Surya and
the Sky-God Indra, but now we have mandirs and koyils consecrated to Rama and
Krishna, Shiva, Kali and Murugan.

In the Judaic tradition, the place of worship was also a place where people went
together (synagog). It was in the synagogue that religious teachings were
proclaimed to the faithful: i.e. the synagogue also served as a kind of public
school for religious studies. The Jewish scholar Arthur Herzberg explains that
"The central function of the synagogue was to cultivate a value perhaps more
important that prayer to Jewish faith, the study of the Torah." On Sabbath,
people gathered in the synagogue to hear a reading of a passage from the Torah
and to gain understanding of its interpretation. To this day, this is enshrined
in the central act of public worship in Judaism on every major occasion.

In the Christian world assemblies for common worship services became churches.
When Paul and Peter initiated such groups, perhaps they did not realize that
some day churches would spread to every corner of the world, just as, when the
first temples were erected in India no one foresaw a day when there would be
temples in Malaysia and Madagascar, in London and Pittsburgh.

Periodic calls to prayer through a hearty proclamation that God is great is an
important feature in the worship centers of the Islamic world. Here the
traditional mode is to prostrate as a gesture of surrender to the Almighty:
which is why the place is called a masjid, which literally means a place for
prostration. Known as mosque in English, it has a wall without doors with a
niche called mihrab which points to the direction (qilba) of Maccah where the
Prophet had established the very first mosque of the tradition. Then there are
the stupas and the multi-layered pagodas of Buddhism. To these may also be
attached residence halls for the monks of the tradition. The architectural
elements of the building are also regarded as worthy of reverence. Though Buddha
himself was indifferent to questions about God's existence, he has been
symbolically deified in the tradition. Therefore his images are revered and
worshiped in Buddhist temples. The gurudwara (Doorway to the Master) is the Sikh
place of worship where the faith's scripture (Guru Granth Sahib) is all that is
worshiped in reverence, and the One God is invoked as waheguru.

Places of worship are the sanctified centers one expresses gratitude to that
which caused the world and humans to be. In such centers, the human spirit
invokes in humility the magnificence of the Unfathomable Mystery that has
actualized this world: This is a lofty goal of religions.

V. V. Raman
June 26, 2006

Its that time of the year when Taoists and
Confucianists worship the ghosts. Yes, spirits that inhabit the surrounding areas. Animism. Chinese believe that this is the time of the year when the gates of the netherworld become open and the spirits roam around the town and country.

Traditionally they appease the spirits by offerings of roast pork, whole chicken, roast duck, incense, beer as well as mock paper money that is burnt. They believe the fire transforms and carries the
money as well as the intention to the other world
where it benefits the recipient - just like we believe.

Offerings are placed in front of the home on a desk and family
members pray by offerings joss sticks to the
makeshift altar on the desk. Ghosts are referred to as 'good
brothers', and members pray hoping that 'the
brothers are appeased and protect our businesses'.

Often town or village elders, or trade clansmen pool resources
together to have a group prayer that may last a week or month.
Looking our from the balcony of my apartment, I can see the
crowd gathering. Music is blaring, young boys and girls hanging
out and children running around. Here there is a large altar built on the
sidestreet together with a stage. Everyone prays at this altar. In
the evenings the ghosts are feted to a show, often involving chinese
dancers and singers. Dancers are sexily clad to inspire and entertain
the good brothers. It is a time for the entire family entertainment too, as
most people may not be able to afford going to nightclubs, or think its
improper. Moms push prams, others feed their babies, girls giggle and
plenty of well wishing by everyone. Dozens of hawkers have set up stalls
serving the devotees. Large flags and banners flapping in the wind at
every corner as the thick incense wafts from nine foot joss sticks that
burn thru the night. There is gaity in the air.

"Marketplaces are killing grounds and are floating with spirits. We
do all this to help them seek reincarnation", one says. Ladies and
gentlemen, this is the working together of beings of two worlds for
common benefits. In furthering harmony we seek brotherhood even
beyond this world. Such is the chinese culture, as ancient as
the Hindu, and in many ways equal and a parallel. We in Malaysia are
fortunate to experience similar but different cultures, and to contribute
and partake of it.

Pathmarajah
Aug 25th, 2003

We have many things to learn from this example

Excerpts:
====================================
After about 300 years of intense persecution under the Portuguese and the Dutch, the Hindus of Jaffna heaved a sigh of relief when the British took over at the fag end of the 18th century. The era of forcible conversions to Catholicism (under the Portuguese) and to Protestantism (under the Dutch) was over. But British rule did not turn out to be an unmixed blessing. It had created a new danger, the danger of conversion through education and systematic propaganda through the use of the new print medium. The new British rulers handed over government-run schools to the missionaries, and gave grants-in-aid to non- government schools. The latter was a great help to missionary-run schools.

The missionary-run schools and medical missions presented a very new and beguiling face to the people of Jaffna, who, under Portuguese and Dutch rule earlier, had been dragooned into accepting Christianity and economically exploited thereafter by the state-backed missionaries. But many Jaffna Hindu Tamils, mainly of the elite Vellala, Chettiar and Brahmin castes, felt that the power of the missionaries was insidious. They feared that if the Hindus, mainly Saivite, were not careful, they could be overwhelmed by the missionaries armed with all the tools of modern propaganda then available, namely, a virtual monopoly over the educational system and the printed word.

Often, education made the student critical of Christianity and see the danger that it posed to his own indigenous religion. But this, by itself, did not make the Saivites take measures to assert their faith and oppose the proselytising activities of the missionaries. What triggered active resistance was the stepping up of vile anti-Saivite propaganda by the missionaries. The first to protest against such characterisations and write against Christianity was Muthukumara Kavirajar (1780-1851). His works, which were printed later, became an important weapon in the armoury of the Saivites.

It was at this time that Arumugam Pillai (1822-1879) entered the scene with a bang. Arumuga Navalar was Sri Lanka's foremost Saivite or Hindu revivalist; the harbinger of Tamil nationalism; and the cutting edge of the long, and successful campaign against Christian proselytising.

Navalar was unique among the campaigners for Saivism in Jaffna in as much as he was into it full time. He took to Christian methods of preaching which had been effective. Like the Christian pastors, he preached in the places of worship. On December 18, 1847, Navalar set the ball rolling with a lecture at the Vaideeswara temple in Vannarpannai. He lectured there every Friday. And he went from place to place together with his devoted colleague and assistant, Kartikeya Aiyar of Nallur. Taking the cue from the Christian missionaries, Navalar made his religion relevant to real life.

Navalar gave a new interpretation to Saivisim which instilled in his audiences pride in their traditional faith. His endeavours helped blunt the Christian missionaries' criticism of Hinduism and Hindu practices. Navalar took a very novel approach to Saivism and and Christianity. He drew similarities between them and used them to argue that the Christian missionaries had no right to criticise Saivism and paint it in lurid colours.

Navalar noticed striking parallels between the liturgies of the temple in Jerusalem and the temples of Siva in Sri Lanka and India. Navalar wondered why the missionaries approved what the Israelites did, and disapproved a similar thing done by the Saivites. If they could justify the Israelite rituals as a means to absorb the thoughts of God, the Saivities could justify their rituals too, he argued.

Navalar's familiarity with Christianity led him to feel that Saivism required a written and revealed set of scriptures that would parallel the Bible's comprehensive authority. Arumuga Navalar believed that the Sanskrit and Tamil scriptures of Agamic Shaivism purified popular and Puranic religion, elevated the ignorant, and inspired the literati. With the aid of wealthy persons in both Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu ( with which he was in close touch), Navalar started many schools. These schools taught Saivism as well as modern subjects to make them relevant to the needs of the modernising world. He put difficult Saivite poems and commentaries into easily understandable prose, which would also be as elegant and thought provoking as the original. He designed a graded Saivite curriculum.

The other most important contribution of his was the establishment of a Saivite press with a machine he brought at Madras. The press, which started functioning in 1850, churned out Saivite literature and commentaries, and Navalar's own writings in a big way.

The most dramatic use of the press was the publication of anti-Christian literature between 1852 and 1854. In 1954, came a booklet for effectively countering Christian propaganda, entitled "Abolition of the Abuse of Saivism." The missionary then concluded that it could not be denied that the booklet had "great effect" in favour of Saivisim and against Christianity.

Navalar's tireless work, which included ceaseless traveling, writing, and speaking, had a telling impact on Tamil society in Jaffna. It revived pride in the traditional religion, reinforced ties with Hindu India, reined in the marauding state-backed missionaries, and sowed the seeds of Tamil nationalism. Bishop Sabhapathi Kulendran had no option but to admit that it was largely due to Navalar that Christian conversions in Jaffna did not live up to the promise they showed in the early part of the 19th century.
====================================

After about 300 years of intense persecution under the Portuguese and the Dutch, the Hindus of Jaffna heaved a sigh of relief when the British took over at the fag end of the 18th century.

The era of forcible conversions to Catholicism (under the Portuguese) and to Protestantism (under the Dutch) was over.

In the liberal atmosphere created by the British, most converts reverted to their traditional religion, namely, Hinduism.

Daniel Poor, a pioneer of the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) noted that with the Dutch yoke off their shoulders, the Hindus of Jaffna returned to "sweet idolatory" and temple building was resumed at a frenetic pace.

As Dr Murugar Gunasingam says in his book, Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: A Study of its Origins (MV Publications, Sydney 1999), there were as many as 329 Hindu temples in Jaffna in 1814. Many had come up in the first few years of British rule.

Earlier, the Portuguese had destroyed as many as 500 temples. In Dutch times, temples were in disuse, as the Brahmin priests had been chased out.

Threat from a new quarter

But British rule did not turn out to be an unmixed blessing.

It had created a new danger, the danger of conversion through education and systematic propaganda through the use of the new print medium.

The new political and economic order established by the British was creating employment opportunities for the Hindus of Jaffna, which necessitated an education.

And the Hindu Tamil youth of Jaffna were eager to seize these opportunities and acquire an English education for that purpose.

Seeing a potential in this for gaining converts, the new Protestant missions which followed the British flag, set up schools and boarding houses, including some for girls.

Printing presses were established to churn out easily accessible Christian literature on a large scale.

The new British rulers handed over government-run schools to the missionaries, and gave grants-in-aid to non-government schools. The latter was a great help to missionary-run schools.

The missionary-run schools and medical missions, with their dedicated and selfless staff, presented a very new and beguiling face to the people of Jaffna, who, under Portuguese and Dutch rule earlier, had been dragooned into accepting Christianity and economically exploited thereafter by the state-backed missionaries.

Missions fail to make headway

However, despite possessing all the necessary tools for mass conversion, the Protestant missionaries did not make much headway.

According to Dr Gunasingam determined evangelisation by the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) from 1816 to 1839 had yielded only 492 converts.

Success eluded the Wesleyan Mission and the Church Missionary Society (CMS) also.

Gunasingam says that conversion was low because, unlike the Portuguese or the Dutch, the British did not make conversion a necessity for obtaining government jobs or state patronage.

The British had also declared that they would not allow forcible conversions.

Missionaries create insecurity

But many Jaffna Hindu Tamils, mainly of the elite Vellala, Chettiar and Brahmin castes, felt that the power of the missionaries was insidious.

They feared that if the Hindus, mainly Saivite, were not careful, they could be overwhelmed by the missionaries armed with all the tools of modern propaganda then available, namely, a virtual monopoly over the educational system and the printed word.

The liberal education, which the mission schools provided, had created awareness among the Saivites and sharpened their critical faculties.

While the missionaries hoped that education would make the young Saivites see the truth of Christianity and the falsehood of Saivism, it had the opposite impact, notes Gunasingam.

Often, education made the student critical of Christianity and see the danger that it posed to his own indigenous religion.

But this, by itself, did not make the Saivites take measures to assert their faith and oppose the proselytising activities of the missionaries.

What triggered active resistance was the stepping up of vile anti-Saivite propaganda by the missionaries.

According to Gunasingam, the missionaries started attacking Saivisim and Saivite practices viciously because they were frustrated with the poor rate of conversion.

In his article entitled Arumuga Navalar and the Hindu Renaissance Among the Tamils in the book "Religious Controversy in British India" edited by Kenneth W Jones, D Dennis Hudson gives a particularly telling example of the missionary view of Saivism.

He quotes the Protestant periodical Morning Star as saying: "There is nothing in the peculiar doctrines and precepts of the Saiva religion that is adapted to improve a man's moral character or fit him to be useful to his fellow men".

"If the world were to be converted to the Saiva faith, no one would expect any improvement in the morals or the happiness of men."

"Everyone might be a great liar and cheat, as great an adulterer, as oppressive of the poor, as covetous, as proud, as he was before without the purity of faith."

The "Skandapuranam" one of the most sacred texts of Saivism, was denounced as a set of "extravagant fictions many of which are of immoral tendency."

The Morning Star and other publications were also making disparaging remarks against the famous Kandaswamy temple in Nallur, saying that it was a den vice.

The attacks on this temple, which was the nerve centre of Saivisim in the Jaffna peninsula, was seen as a frontal assault on Tamil culture and Tamil pride.

Rise of Hindu protest

The first to protest against such characterisations and write against Christianity was Muthukumara Kavirajar (1780-1851).

His works, which were printed later, became an important weapon in the armoury of the Saivites.

The first collective action on the part of the Saivites of Jaffna was a meeting held by a group drawn from the elite Vellala, Brahmin and Chettiar communities, at the Siva temple at Vannarpannai in September 1842.

Among the leading lights present were Sathasiva Pillai, Swaminatha Iyar, Viswanatha Iyar, Arumuga Pillai, Kandaswamy Pillai and Arumuga Chettiar.

The group decided to set up a "Veda-Agama" School to teach children the Vedas, the Agamas (temple worship) and the elements of Saivisim.

The plan was to discourage parents from sending their children to Christian mission schools.

It was also decided to purchase a printing press to counter the media war unleashed by the missionaries.

Though the purchase of a printing press took time, the Veda Agama school started functioning in 1842.

Enter Arumuga Navalar

It was at this time that Arumugam Pillai (1822-1879) entered the scene with a bang.

As Arumuga Navalar or simply as Navalar, he was to become Sri Lanka's foremost Saivite or Hindu revivalist; the harbinger of Tamil nationalism; and the cutting edge of the long, and successful campaign against Christian proselytising.

Navalar was unique among the campaigners for Saivism in Jaffna in as much as he was into it full time.

He had stubbornly remained unmarried to retain his independence.

Having been a student of, and a teacher in, the Wesleyan School, where he was the favourite of the Missionary cum Principal, Peter Percival, Navalar, came with a good grounding in Christianity. This helped him argue against it authoritatively.

He took to Christian methods of preaching which had been effective. Like the Christian pastors, he preached in the places of worship.

Cutting edge of Hindu revivalism in Jaffna

On December 18, 1847, Navalar set the ball rolling with a lecture at the Vaideeswara temple in Vannarpannai. He lectured there every Friday.

And he went from place to place together with his devoted colleague and assistant, Kartikeya Aiyar of Nallur.

Taking the cue from the Christian missionaries, Navalar made his religion relevant to real life. In his lectures, he would stress, apart from the theological and liturgical aspects of Saivism, the evils of adultery and drunkenness; the virtue of non-killing; the need to treat women with respect; the importance of giving alms; and the need to protect the cow.

Navalar gave a new interpretation to Saivisim which instilled in his audiences pride in their traditional faith. Simultaneously, he sought reform of Hindu society.

His endeavours helped blunt the Christian missionaries' criticism of Hinduism and Hindu practices.

Drew similarities between Saivism and Christianity

Hudson notes that Navalar took a very novel approach to Saivism and and Christianity.

He drew similarities between them and used them to argue that the Christian missionaries had no right to criticise Saivism and paint it in lurid colours.

Navalar noticed striking parallels between the liturgies of the temple in Jerusalem and the temples of Siva in Sri Lanka and India.

He pointed out that the Israelites, who were chosen by God as his own children, believed that the Lord dwelt in the ark made of wood and lived between the cherubim. And He had bestowed grace upon them.

Likewise, the Saivites believed that God dwelt in the idol of Siva and bestowed grace on them.

The Israelites made a sanctuary for the worship of God. The Saivites built temples.The Isrealites worshiped the cherubim and the bronze serpent. The Saivites worshiped images made of gold and silver.

The Israelites displayed bread and wine in their temples. The Saivites kept fruits as prasadam. Both Israelites and Saivites burnt incense.

The Israelites burnt the heifer (cow) and took its ashes for use. The Saivites used the ashes from the dung of the heifer as "Tiruneer" or "Vibhuti".

Navalar wondered why the missionaries approved what the Israelites did, and disapproved a similar thing done by the Saivites.

If they could justify the Israelite rituals as a means to absorb the thoughts of God, the Saivities could justify their rituals too, he argued.

Navalar pointed out that Christ and the early Christians followed the rites and ceremonies of the temple.

The bible had said that it was the duty of every Christian to observe them. How then could the missionaries now abandon them, he asked.

In Navalar's view, the proselytizing Christians were a blessing in disguise, because he believed that Lord Siva was using the Christian missionaries to awaken Saivites to the truths of Saivism as contained in the Agamas.

Need for comprehensive written scripture

Navalar's familiarity with Christianity led him to feel that Saivism required a written and revealed set of scriptures that would parallel the Bible's comprehensive authority.

And he believed that the Agama scriptures would serve the purpose because they eliminated the unsavory practices in popular Saivism, even as they gave a sophisticated justification of temple worship.

Writing on Navalar's view of the Agama scriptures, Husdson writes: "On the one hand, the Agama scriptures eliminated some of the popular Shaiva culture, such as animal sacrifices and the worship of malevolent deities and demons, that the missionaries attacked ceaselessly and that had no scriptural basis".

"On the other hand, they provided a sophisticated and profound theological interpretation of temple worship and of the Puranic stories of the gods that nullified the sneers of the missionaries."

"Arumuga Navalar believed that the Sanskrit and Tamil scriptures of Agamic Shaivism purified popular and Puranic religion, elevated the ignorant, and inspired the literati."

Changes character of Hindu schools

With the aid of wealthy persons in both Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu ( with which he was in close touch), Navalar started many schools.

These schools taught Saivism as well as modern subjects to make them relevant to the needs of the modernising world.

He discouraged learning by rote, which had been the traditional method in schools, especially religious schools.

He put difficult Saivite poems and commentaries into easily understandable prose, which would also be as elegant and thought provoking as the original. He designed a graded Saivite curriculum.

The other most important contribution of his was the establishment of a Saivite press with a machine he brought at Madras.

The press, which started functioning in 1850, churned out Saivite literature and commentaries, and Navalar's own writings in a big way.

According to Hudson, the most dramatic use of the press was the publication of anti-Christian literature between 1852 and 1854. In 1954, came a booklet for effectively countering Christian propaganda, entitled "Abolition of the Abuse of Saivism."

Commenting on this booklet, a missionary wrote in Morning Star that Navalar had shown an "intimate and astonishing" acquaintance with the Holy Bible and that he had "cunningly" defended the rituals, practices and lingam worship of the Saivas "on the authority of our own writings!"

The missionary then concluded that it could not be denied that the booklet had "great effect" in favour of Saivisim and against Christianity.

Navalar's tireless work, which included ceaseless traveling, writing, and speaking, had a telling impact on Tamil society in Jaffna.

It revived pride in the traditional religion, reinforced ties with Hindu India, reined in the marauding state-backed missionaries, and sowed the seeds of Tamil nationalism.

Bishop Sabhapathi Kulendran had no option but to admit that it was largely due to Navalar that Christian conversions in Jaffna did not live up to the promise they showed in the early part of the 19th century.

BEING sprouts the Metaphysical Blossoms

VaLLalaar outlines here his understanding of BEING that he sees as the One who discloses Himself in various kinds of Siva archetypes. He is the King who rules the whole cosmos with His decrees and because of which there are RULES regulating the various processes in the cosmos, including the spiritual realms. As the soul struggles with various kinds of actions then He feeds them with various kinds of GuNas, dispositions and only because he remains the Mountain of GuNas. The guNas the creatures display in their behavior are not their creations but rather endowments coming from BEING.

Along with these GuNas come metaphysical illuminations where He is the inexhaustible source of metaphysical wisdom and which blesses the souls with immense joys put here in terms of the metaphor of the sweet tasting fresh honey molten sugar and so forth. However as it has been noted already the Njaanam, the Absolute Metaphysical Illumination is to be enjoyed only in Deep Silence where the soul is made to be the same as BEING and in that non-dual way of being, enjoy the Njaanam.

But this can be enjoyed only if the soul becomes capable of Transductive Perceptions, the visions of the Third Eye and which is made possible by the icon of BEING as the Three-Eyed Siva. The transductive perceptions take the souls into the final metaphysical illuminations, that which clarifies all indubitably, something said to be even difficult fot the celestial beings, the devas to attain and enjoy.

Because of this it turns out that BEING is essentially pedagogic - always instructing the ignorant souls on Njaanam and for which He sprouts the metaphysical blossoms in all conditions so that no soul is deprived of it and the Bliss that becomes available through it. Each time a soul has such a blossom sprouting in the soul, it also enjoys the presence of BEING there as its fragrance and which gives a fullness and sanctity to the whole of existence.

25.

koovee eN kuNakkunRee kunRaa njaanak
kozunteenee cezumpaakee kuLirnta monak
kaavee mey aRivu inba mayamee enRan
kaNNee mukkaN koNd karumbee vaanat
teevee atteevukkun teLiya oNNaata
teyvamee vaadaamal tikaz ciRpootap
puuvee appuvil uRu naRu maNamee eGkum
puuraNamaay niRaintaruLum punitat teevee

Meaning:

O Maka Deva!

You are the King of the cosmos regulating all with your decrees. You are also a mountain of the guNas so that you bless the creatures with whatever they deserve. You also bless the creatures with Njaanam along with also immense joys so that You are like the fresh honey, the sweet sugar and so forth, You also pull the deserving into Deep Silence and there disclose the Njaanam that cools their desires with authentic metaphysical understanding that produces endless bliss. You with your icon of the Three-Eyed Siva open up the metaphysical eyes of the souls and appear to them as sugarcane that produces the sweet Amutu. You appear as the gods in the heavens remaining also the God of all gods. On top of it all you sprout the ever fresh blossoms of metaphysical wisdom remaining along with them like their fragrance. With all these you make the souls become fully saturated completed and divine in essence.

Why do Hindus not bury their dead? Why do Hindus cremate?

1. Hindus believe that the physical body is a garment to be worn in the bhuloka to experience it, and to be discarded when its old and worn out.

2. We believe that we do not need to keep the dead body for a 'day of resurrection'. We get fresh new bodies at each reincarnation.

3. Cremation reminds the dead to depart and not linger on earth due to attachment of loved ones. It prevents the departed soul from trying to reenter or reinhabit the dead body due to attachment to loved ones. (it prevents near death experiences.) Those souls that do not proceed with their journey, linger in the in-between region of the bhuloka and lower antarloka. We call them ghosts.

4. When two persons have sex, a psychic bond develops between them, esoterically seen as a white cord or tube between the two from the muladhara of one to another. Thru this cord they mutually influence each other, in mind and emotions. Over time this hollow tube becomes stronger and bigger, as much as 6 inches or more in diameter, and seem to defy space - can extend over thousands of miles.

Where there has been sex outside of the marriage, three or more persons become connected. There are tubes running from one to another, to another, and so on. Mystics say that most of humanity today is connected in this way. Trillions of such tubes are connecting most humans. With so much of connections, these mass of white tubes is esoterically seen as a fog-like shroud covering humanity and making it impossible for humanity to be seen by the beings of the antarloka or sivaloka. It is for this reason sex outside the marriage is forbidden. With just one such sex, we may become connected to millions. The cord takes 12 years to decay since the last sex. For these 12 years one still feels the emotions of the other partner, often entering into moods, depressions, confusion, inablity to be decisive, and not sure of wants and goals and often opposite wants. This is because the moods and wants of one is affecting and clashing with another.

During the high aarathi at puja, the mass of white fog is 'lifted' or made translucent for just a split second, and the doors between the bhuloka, antarloka and sivaloka is opened.

Souls occupy the physical body at birth, but dont quite fit in or settle in, until the first sex. After the first sex, they fully settle into their physical body - they have 'entered the world' ('he has left the home') - and the full force of their prarabda karmas begin, and the full force of the anava is put into motion. At first sex, their psychic bonds with the parents is severed, and this too looks like tubes running from the parents to the children. It is this parent-child psychic cords that protects the child from the full force of karmas before sex.

The soul body which is itself occupying an astral body, also now occupies a physical body and there is a psychic current or cord connecting the physical to the astral body.

Cremation burns all these psychic cords immediately, and propels the soul on its journey. With cremation the cord attaching the astral body to the physical is cut loose.

5. Children, monastics and unmarried persons are assumed to be celibates and they have no such connections with the world, and not properly into the world yet. They may be buried.

6. Children, below puberty, are usually not cremated to spare the parents of agony.

Sex - celibate or not - is the main determinant as to whether Hindus cremate or bury their dead.

These are the monastic esoterics and unwritten conventions underlying Hindu practices.

Regards.

The first and foremost reason for forehead marks is that it is a sacrament. After puja, the priests hand out these sacraments to the gathered devotees. These sacraments, consisting of vibhuthi, kumkumam, sandanam, flames, flowers, and teertham were placed before the diety and blessed. These sacraments 'convey' the diety's blessings to the devotees. The sacraments are meant to be adorned or consumed. By adorning and consuming these sacraments, we 'receive' the diety's blessings, which works in mysterious ways in untangling our karmas, removing certain karmas and concerns, smoothening and ordering certain karmas, readjusts the ida, pingala and sushumna currents, and in the process grants our wishes, for this is the reason we go to temple - to get our wishes and concerns fulfilled, as long as it is within the overall prarabda karma of our lifetime.

(Not all wishes are granted, as it may not be consistent with the
reason of taking this birth, or that certain wishes granted may
produce worse results and karmas in the longer run. We have to
understand that the reason we are taking birth is to resolve karmas,
not add on more, or add on and fulfil more wishes. Certainly not for
Hindus, for being a Hindu would mean we are in the penultimate stages
of births, and therefore naturally more concerned with inwardly
matters, compared with other religions where outwardly issues remain
equally paramount).

The second reason for forehead marks is that after puja we usually
return home, visit the home altar, and leave some of the excess
sacraments and flowers there. This action serves to 'tie' the home
altar to the temple we have just visited. The sacraments 'blesses'
and serves to 'consecrate' the home altar and thereby making the home
altar like a subsidiary to the main temple. A relationship like that of
a head office and branch then exists between the main temple that we
frequent in our village and our home altar. For our home altar has no
power or presence of a diety on its own. It 'draws' it power and the
presence of a diety by its connection to the main temple in the
village, and that this connection is established and reestablished
countless times by our regular visits to the main temple, and the
sacraments that we place at the homa altar as well as adorning the
sacraments from the temple serves to 'tie'. As an anology, the temple
is the power station and the home altar is the substation. The
sacraments are the transmission wires.

The third reason for sacraments/forehead marks is this. We live in
the bhuloka, and our physical world is far removed from the astral and
spiritual plane. Those planes are not visible or 'sense able' to us
due to 'a thick fog' that layers between the three words. The fog is
produced by kala/time, a natural phenomenan of the the kali yuga, and
doubly compounded by our personal karmas and as well as our group/
community/national karmas. These karmas 'envelop us', envelop our
soul body thereby producing ignorance of our true self as well as the
existence of other worlds and gods. It is for this reason that temples
came to be.

In the temples during pujas, the chanting, the icons of gods, the
flames, the sacraments, the presence of a congregation of believing
devottees, the ringing of bells and music, all serve to lift the veil
of fog just for a moment. For a split second, the fog thins out, and a
blurred glass plane becomes transparent, and all of a sudden we in
the bhuloka, in the temple, become visible to the gods. They are able
to see us, read our minds and concerns, read our lifetime karmas, and
then reply to our prayers, concerns and wishes appropriately. By
consuming and adorning the sacraments, we assist the gods and devas in
'remaining connect' to us, and assist them to assist us.

From the point of view of the gods in the spiritual and astral plane,
these sacraments appear to be glowing or effervescent with the grace/
shakti of the gods, thereby making us visible sufficiently long enough
for them to perform their job of assisting us with our karmas. Without
the sacraments, we lose connection with the gods within seconds or
minutes. The 'line is then down or the telephone exchange is busy'.

Now these matters are set out in the Agamas, specifically the
original 28 Saiva Agamas, where the rules of constructing temples,
consecrating dieties, serving of offerings, pujas, order of sacraments,
etc are set out in detail. But no reasons are given, just injunctions
to follow. It is the same in the vedas too, where no reasons are given
for the methods. We intuit the reasons with our worship and meditation,
which appear as flashes of inner knowledge during times when we are
inwardly drawn, as well as knowlege given by gurus.

Of course the forehead marks serve other reasons too; badge of
affiliation, status in society(married), use of acupressure points to
stimulate the outer and inner nervous system, beauty, etc.

In ages past, sage-poets in India probed into the roots of consciousness, and
they formulated some fascinating views on the subject. Their startling
conclusion was that human consciousness is a pale echo of something far more
magnificent. Expressed through the aphorism, tat tvam asi: Thou art That, it
says that every conscious entity is a spark from an underlying effulgence, and
can flash a radiance as its source alone can.

The capacity for awareness and experience, for logical analysis and joyful
interaction is an intangible component of Homo sapience. This is the essence of
what one calls the human spirit. Just as there is more to a flower than soil and
tree-branch, so in the Hindu view, the spirit is more than neural network,
heartbeat and vital breath, though these are what create and sustain it here
below.

Hindu thinkers reasoned that if there is splendor in the perceived world and
pattern in its functioning, and if it can all result in the grand experiences of
life and thought, then even prior to the advent of humans, there must have been
an experiencing principle of a vastly superior order. This Cosmic Experiencer
(Brahman) spans the range in space and time. Just as the expanse of water in
the seas is scattered on land in ponds and lakes and cups and bottles,
all-pervading Brahman finds expression in countless life forms. We are miniature
lights from that universal brilliance. We have emanated from that primordial
splendor, like photons from a glorious galactic core, destined for terrestrial
experience for a brief span on the eternal time line, only to re-merge with that
from which we sprang.

One may wonder if this is really so, or is a scientific hypothesis, or merely
poetic imagery. We may never know. But if it is only poetry, let us remember
that poetry and prayer are for the human spirit what the telescope and the
microscope are for human eyes. Lenses enable us to discern entities beyond our
normal cognition, and profound poetry is a response of the human mind or spirit
to that which is not fathomed through logic and reason. Poetry brings home to
us, indeed it forces us to reckon, the world of experience, not in terms of
sense data and charts and proofs, but in subtle and holistic ways. It reveals
the meaning and majesty in the universe that lie in a realm beyond the plane of
rigid rationality. Poetry is mystic experience verbalized.

Thus, Hindu spiritual vision paints individual consciousness on a cosmic
canvass. It recognizes the transience of us all as separate entities, yet
incorporates us into the infinity that encompasses us. It does not rule out the
possibility of other manifestations of Brahman, sublime and subtle, carbon or
silicon-based, elsewhere amidst the stellar billions. It recognizes the role of
matter, and the limits of the mind, but sees subtle awareness at the core of it
all. It does not speak of rewards and punishments in anthropocentric terms, nor
of a He-God communicating in local languages. Yet, it regards the religious
expressions of humanity as echoes of a Universal Spirit, even as volcanic
outbursts reveal submerged forces of far greater magnitude.

Going beyond the tenets of mechanistic-materialist science, one may find
something elevating in regarding every conscious being as a spark from a Cosmic
Whole. I have presented a vision from the Hindu world, not as a Truth that I
call upon others to accept, but as an uplifting thought to regard ourselves as
part of that from which the universe sprang. In this grand scheme, every fellow
human becomes yet another spark from the same sublime source. When such a
worldview is internalized, it can inspire an outpouring of caring and
compassion, of love and respect! From this perspective, as our materials bodies
are stardust, our spiritual dimension is cosmic dust.

Tirunaamam anjcezuttu ceppaaraakil
       TiivaNNar tiRamorukaal peecaaraakil
Orukaalun tirukkooyil cuuzaaraakil
       UNpatanmun malarpaRittiddu uNNaaraakil
ArunooykaL keda veNNiiRu aNiyaaraakil
       ALiyaRRaar piRantavaaRu eetoovennil
PerunooykaL mika naliyap peyarttunj cettup
       PiRappataRkee tozilaaki iRakkinRaaree
 
Meaning:
 
Those who do not chant the name “Siva! Siva! and the mantra ‘Namasivaaya’ indicative of the Panjcakrittiyas of BEING both loudly and softly; those who do not reflect and speak often the DSTRUCTIVE powers of BEING by beholding the Fire-Colored Siva; those who championing Atheism and thus not believing in the existence of gods do not go the temples and worship the deities there; those who not do the arccanas with fresh blossoms before having meals; those who do not wear the Sacred Ash on their forehead in order to secure inner purity and with that drive away all the mental and physical diseases - all these people become unfit for the blessings of BEING. Now if asked why they are allowed to exist at all, know that it is for them to suffer with diseases difficult to cure and thereby immensely suffer  by way of extirpating the evil karmas they have acquired and thus simply live to die and to be reborn to continue such miseries till they become pure.
 
Comments:
 
Saivism is a very rational religion that focuses upon man becoming PURE psychologically so that he can lead a life in good mental and physical health and because he becomes fit thereby for the endless Grace of BEING. Living in the vicinity - the Cannitaanam of BEING - is the safest thing one can do to secure all the protection one needs to safeguard self and body from the attack of the evil forces that bring about diseases and death. Thus religious life is NOT simple a life of vain study of scriptures and verbal profession of dogmas and so forth. It is living with a will to be PURE at heart and with that mindful of every action of oneself so that they do not deviate from this inner purity.
 
Now Appar enumerates a number of overt behaviors that are indicative of such a disposition and all centering on temples and icon related thinking and rituals.
 
He mentions first of all the Mantra Recital - that of the name  ‘Siva Siva’ and the root Siva-mantra Namasivaaya (just like Tirumular) which one can do anytime anywhere. The Mantra Recital follows after the collapse of Icon Thinking which is more concrete and which enable an individual to apprehend BEING as Panjca Krittyan Njana Muurtti and so forth.
 
Now central to BEING-as-Pancjakrittiyan, the Agent of the Five Fold Universal Praxis is that of Destruction and which is symbolized by the Fire-Colored Shape He assumes, Siva as Kaalagni Rudra. One must continually contemplate upon the presence of DESTRUCTION  everywhere and hence Rudra for only then the associated praxis of regeneration sustenance and so forth will become intelligible. One must wage a war with evils within oneself and with Grace of Rudra-Siva destroy all these so that on can become PURE.
 
Now this is related to the symbolic act of wearing the Sacred Ash on the body and which symbolizes the act of destruction and as its limit becoming absolutely PURE. To become PURE in and out is the primordial MEANING of existence and must live as for this. And this brings in the need to avoid animal sacrifices and replace it worship with fresh blossoms. This way of worship indicates a transmutation of self so that it expresses LOVE unto all and not at all animosity and an Inner Purity within the aesthetics of Beautiful.
 
This inner PURITY and dominance of LOVE ensures the flow of Divine Grace, the aruL so that because of the divine presence all evil forces are naturally driven away making existence itself a joyous one lived with good mental and physical health.
 
Now the question arises: How is that there is also the gift of existence for those who do not live thus and thus become beyond the grace of BEING?
 
Such people are also given a lease of existence but not to enjoy the bliss of divine presence but rather SUFFER by way of extirpating the evil karmas already lodged in the deeper recesses of their Unconscious. They assail the person as incurable mental and physical diseases and bring about premature death and so forth by way of allowing the evil karmas express themselves out and with that also disappear.

Loga

Loga

There is an urgency to distiniguish carfefully the cosmological views with those of astrological and depth psychological. Hindu life, at the moment, is dominated by misleading astrological notions which constitute an impediment for further progress in the genuine  Way of life, the ThiruneRi. Hence I have chosen to study the KooLaRu Tiruppatikam of Sambantar slightly ahead of schedule. This hymn is said to have been composed when  Sambantar wanted to visit Madurai on the invitations of MangkayaRkarasiyar, a Chola princess married to  the Pandia King of the times who was a Jain. Madurai was a stronghold of Jains in those days and who were very violantly opposed to the Bakthi movement spreading fast in the rest of Tamil country. He was cautioned NOT to visit Madurai for there was a fear that he might be killed. However the young Sambantar braved it all and in fact succeeded in bringing back Saivism to Madurai. This verse was composed to show that as long the  believe in Siva is genuine and strong, there is nothing to fear any mishaps especially the astrological forces.  On the whole we have an astute analysis of the evils that would follow anyone when he goes the wrong way. There is in this Pathikam an analysis of why culture decays and the community as a whole declines. In this sense this parallels Appar's patikam that begins with "naam yaarkkum kudiyelloom", a classic in metapolitics.
He also succeeds in severing the metaphysical thinking that conflates the deities which are spiritual forces with palanetary objects, a believe probabaly very primitive but the nevertheless wrong.

Loga

Sambantar 2-1 (The Second TirumuRai, Patikam 85)

veeyuRutooLi pangkan vidamuNda kaNdan
mika nalla viiNai tadavi
maacaRu tingkaL kangkai mudimeel aNintu en
uLamee pukuntavatanaal
njaayiRu tingkaL cevvaay putan viyaazan veLLi
cani paambu iraNdum udanee
aacaRu nalla nalla avai nalla nalla
adiyaarkku mikavee

BEING who has as HIS equal half the WOMAN, the Umai of bamboo-like  frame has implanted Himself within me in the archetypal forms as the ONE who plays the faultless Veena, and as the ONE wearing the pure Half Moon and Ganges on His tuft. And because of this for devout people (like me) the forces like the NjayiRu (Sun) , TingkaL (Moon) Cevvaay (Mars), putan (Mercury) viyaazan (Jupiter), VeLLi (Venus), Sani (Saturn) and the Snakes Ragu and Keetu will NOT do anything evil but only good, the really good.

veeyuRutooLi pangkan: The ONE who has as equal half the WOMAN, Umai of bamboo-like frame
vidamuNda kaNdan: the One who is blue throated because the Poison (the aalakaala visham) that he drank
mika nalla viiNai tadavi: playing the most excellent VeeNa;
maacaRu tingkaL kangkai mudimeel aNintu en uLamee pukuntavatanaal: because He has implanted Himself within me in the archetypal forms where He wears the crescent Moon and the Ganges on his tuft
njaayiRu tingkaL cevvaay putan viyaazan veLLi sani paambu iraNdum udanee: the(astrological) forces sun, moon , mars, mercury, jupiter, venus saturn and the two snakes become immediately
aacaRu nalla nalla avai nalla nalla adiyaarkku mikavee: faultless forces that do good and only good for the devout people (like me).

Commentary
In this,one of the most remarkable and revolutionary patikams, a complex of issues are brought in to make the point that for the devout people who have succeeded in having implanted the archetypal presence of BEING in their mind and body, no evil forces can be effective but on the contrary they are transformed into the GOOD, forces that become benign and immensely benevolent. Hence it is declared that the ACTUAL presence of BEING in  certain archetypal forms within can TRANSFORM the evil forces that are destructive and oppressive into something good and beneveolent.

This immediately rules out that these so called astrological planets are actually the planets in the sky for obviously they being inert, if at all they in some combinations bring about misfortunes and miseries akin to earthquakes storms dry spells and so forth, they will be INEVITABLE whether the person is devout or not, and has succeeded in IMPLANTING certain archetypal forms of BEING within his mind and body or not.

Another added reason to reject these astrological planets being identified with astronomical planets is that the SNAKES Ragu and Kethu are also considered as astrological while there do not exist anything equivalent to them in the sky circulating in definite orbits.

The mention that these as SNAKES gives a clue as to their REAL nature: they are forms of KUNDALINI, the Libidinal Force for it is as Snake that it makes its appearance in dreams and mythologies. Thus it also makes it clear that the astrological planets are MYTHOLOGICAL and hence something that are encountered in dreams and dream-like experiences. They are, in other words, ARCHETYPAL FORMS of a peculiar kind that are in the world and also in the mind and body of the people.

Here we should recall that Sani is understood by the Siddhas as the Anava Malam appearing as this astrological figure in dreams and mythologies but actually a force of destruction and disintegration that  also exists in the body and most probably in the spinal cord and which ultimately is the cause of death.

We may also understand the remaining astrological planets in terms of the shape Kundalini acquires under the impact of Bindu and Natham (Yin and Yang) It is clear that the Sun is the Kundalini with the Naatam while the Moon that with Bindu. Sani, as the DARK Planet is the presence of aNavam and hence as that which SWALLOWS any presence of Kundalini, or the Primordial Libidinal Energy. The remaining planets can be seen as the various combinations of Naatam and Bindu and how they structure the structureless Kundalini.

With this understanding of what are  in fact these astrological bodies, we can understand better the claims of Sambantar.

BEING as the ONE who has the WOMAN as HIS equal half is BEING with the WHOLE of KUNDALINI, the Cauldron of ALL the POWERS, of ALL ENERGY for she is PARASAKTI, the transcendental POWER. And He appearing as the ONE playing the VEENA shows that HE can be BENIGN and KIND and who can WILL happiness and pleasures for the souls through the fine arts and so forth, i.e through aesthetics. That He is the BLUE throated shows that HE , and only He can swallow and keep in the throat this death and miseries bringing aaNava malam, that which destroys everything by eating up every libidinal energy transforming it into nothingness. The archetypal forms wearing the crescent moon and the Ganges are the forms that can bless one with longevity, virility, vitality, good health and so forth, ie. that which CONTINUES the supply of KUNDALINI in an uninteruppted manner.

Now it becomes clear why the PRESENCE of these archetypal forms in the BODY and MIND can tranform the socalled astrological forces and into those that bring only the good for the really devout.

For the presence of BEING in these archetypal forms, either DRIVES away Sani or weakens it 's presence and hence the hold of aaNavam itself, the root cause of all the miseries in life. Functiong WITHOUT aaNavam in whatever situation, no matter how challenging it can be, can only bring success and not failure. It is this understanding that appears to be behind the IMMENSE COURAGE with which he entered Madurai and challenged the Jains who were even ready to kill him.

Loga

Sambantar 2-6

vaaLvari  ataLataadai varikoovaNattar
madavaaLtanoodum udanaay
naaNmalar vanni konRai naticuudi vanten   
uLamee pukunta atanaal
kooLari uzuvaiyoodu kolaiyaanai keezal    
kodu naakamodu karadi
aaLari nalla nalla avai nalla nalla
adiyaar  vavarkku mikavee.

BEING wearing as a dress the tiger's skin with swordlike strips  and loins of similar nature, has implanted himself within me, along with the Woman  wearing also the brilliant flowers of Vanni and KonRai and the Ganges. With the powers provided by BEING with this archetypal forms, there is nothing to fear from people who degenerate to the level of beasts that kill like the fierce tigers, wild elephants, wild boars, lions, serpents and bears. For devout people even these beastly forces will turn out to be benign.

vaaLvari atalataadai :  wearing the the skin of tiger with sharp stripes
varikoovaNattar: loins of  of the same
 madavaaL tanoodum udanaay : with WOMAN coming along
naaNmalar vanni konRai naticuudi : wearing the brilliant flowers of Vanni and KonRai along with the Ganges
vanten uLamee pukunta atanaal : because BEING has implanted Himself as such in my heart
kooLari uzuvaiyoodu kolaiyaanai keezal:  people like the firece tiger, violant elephants and wild boar
kodu naakamodu karadi aaLarii: fierce serpents  bears   and man eating lions
nalla nalla avai nalla nalla : are good really good are they
adiyaar  vavarkku mikavee: for the devout and exceedingly so.
 
Commentary.

We must recall here Sambantar sang this Hymn when he was about to go the Madurai , then a stronghold of degenerate Jains, when people advised him that he should NOT go as it may NOT be save. The incidences in Madurai -- his residence being set on fire and intense debate he had with Jains and so forth further reinforce this view. There was anticipation of Violance of an intense kind and certainly from PEOPLE and NOT wild beasts. And hence the wild animals mentioned here are NOT actually the beasts in the jungle but peopel who have DEGERATED to the level of such beasts ever ready to kill mercilessly in the face of opposition to their views.

Sambantar met the challenge and as History would show attained victory by his bravery astuteness and brilliance. It is against this that we have to look at the meaning of BEING wearing tiger-skin garments with sword-like stripes, a metaphor or an archetypal form that emerges also in dreams. The tiger skin with sword-like strips is a yantra of a kind which when implanted by BEING in the hearts of people, would make them flare up in intense anger and thus become very courageous and ready to FIGHT the evil and bestly individuals. Angry words and outburts lead to violence and hence clashes of a severe kind where people involved lose their cool and become beastly given over to forces of destruction. Thus such individuals fight each other and try KILL each other and victory belongs to those favored by BEING.

This is a mechanism already in the world to eliminate the beatsly individuals and thus maintain humanity in safety and security. There are always heroes to fight against the decadent sociey and put it back on the RIGHT PATH here the tiruneRi.

This is also the "Pali Teertal " that Sambantar  mentions elsewhere - BEING demanding "sacrifice" to bring back sanity into the world again by eliminating the insane and beastly.

When disputes cease to be civilised, when rationality fails and irrational madness takes over and conditions the social behaviour of the people, BEING Himself eliminates them, it would appear, by making them fight each other like wild beasts providing, at the same , a sanctuary for the devoted.

Rational dialogues cease to hold ground, physical violance takes over.

Loga

Transductive Perceptions and the Attainment of Moksa

Tayumanavar ranges very wide here and seeks to explain how the great devas, the various puraNic figures, the Vedic Rishies, the innumerable Siddhas and so forth attained various Siddhies and the intermediate mukties and finally the total releasement and which is the real Moksa.

The secret of Sitambaram here is how the devas Rishies the mighty kings like Manu and so forth attained Moksa and on the way also enjoyed some psychic powers that make them quite outstanding in many ways. Such figures remain there not only highly praised but also worshipped by people taking them as models on how to live. To this list we can also add the Nayanmars and Alvars who were also granted Moksa.

But what is the secret that is unfolded here?

All these celestial and divine human beings had their Third Eye opened and through that BEING discloses Himself and the games He plays in the world so that these beings are extremely sure as if the fruit in their very palms, a metaphor in Tamil to point out indubitablity, apodictic certainly and so forth.

The vision of the Third Eye is what we call Transductive Perceptions (TD), the Vinjnjaank Kaadci also called the Yogak kaadci and so forth. Such capabilities or Siddhies remain there as the potential for all and with which they will be blessed provided they strive to gain the Njaanam through becoming less and less infected with Malam. The existence only with the sensory perceptions and ordinary cognitive processes will continue till the Third Eye is opened and TD becomes also possible.

But why is this so important?

The secrets of existence, the various dramas and games BEING plays as Siva-Sakti can be witnessed and understood only during the course of such visions and where the contents become the substance of real mythologies that may become corrupted by the human intellect incapable of TD.

The souls that enjoy TD witness BEING through His games He palys and interpreting the meaning of these dramas, gain an understanding that leads them to enjoy the Njaanam that which dispels the presence of the Malam. As the soul becomes purer and purer with dispelling more and more of the Killing Malam, there comes to prevail more and more of Njaanam and which finally leads to being blessed with Moksa itself the final and total releasement so that the soul is freed from further embodiments and phenomenal circulations.

8.

ViNNavr intiran mutaloor naarataati
viLaGku sapta rishikaL an viiNai nallor
eNNariya sittar manuvaati veentar
irukkaati maRai Munivar ellaam intak
kaNNakan njaalam matikkat taanee uLLaG
kaiyin nellik kabipool kaadiyaakat
tiNNiya nallaRivaay iccamayattu enRoor
cwppariya sitti mutti veernataar enRum

Meaning:

There are the celestial beings like Indra Narada the bright Sapta Rigies the Gandaravs who string the VeeNa , the innumerable Siddhas, the great kings like Manu , the Vedic rishies and so forth. All these great beings, human and celestial attained everlasting fame in the wide world only because BEING opened up their Third Eye and let them witness directly the various games He plays and through which He manages the world. There is authentic understanding developed though such means and which leads to the gaining of Njaanam with apodictic certainty as if the fruit is already in the palms . Such an unders6tanding also blesses them with the various kinds of Siffhies that are difficult to describe and finally the Moksa itself.

VaLLalaar On Life Free of Death - 27.

Displacing Religion with a Free Assembly

The best of Tamil metaphysicians and perhaps also of the world were always very uneasy with religions because of the fanaticism and brutality they nourish. Despite religions being something unavoidable, it has nurtured a culture of hatred than of love and compassion though they may have such intentions as the hard core. However in application we hardly see this- they freeze the mind and make dogmas out of certain precepts and in that also intolerant of freedom of thought.  Religions lack the openness and flexibility that genuine spiritual life demands, centred as it is on seeking TRUTH.

VaLLalaar not only advocates the San Maarkkam, the Way of Enlightenment but also seeks to institute a SaGkam for this Way of Life as the civilized alternative to the religions. But it was perhaps too advanced a notion, and never took roots except in the mind of a few.

Those who follow  this Way of Life are the large hearted individuals who want to FREE themselves form the evils of ordinary religious life where superstitions and madness rule. VaLLalaar sees himself as one of these great souls who do NOT care for religions and their propagations but only for BEING who remains the support and the Supreme Ruler of all as the Lord of the Tillai- the Ground of all origins where He dances the Dance of Bliss with Sakti.

The San Maarkkam is Nan Maarkkam the GOOD way of life  for what it encourages is the seeking of Njaanam and with that becoming Clean and Pure. It is GOOD for all for as long as one is in the centre of this Way of Life, BEING causes the flow of Amutu, the ambrosia that gives continuously good physical and mental health. Once a person gets into this Way of Life, BEING through such means ensures that a person does not fall off and lead a deviant way of life and which is sure to take the person more and more into the grips of Malam and hence more DIRT within with its attendant evils,.

The religious way of life, the Pun Maarkkam the Way of Life that is mean and miserable and which may hold within itself the Tun Maarkkam - the Evil  Way of Life where instead of humanity there is only bestiality. To such people, BEING as the PuNNiyan the source of all that is good is beyond the comprehension. There is Metaphysical Ignorance that conceals the presence of such a BEING and because of which they do not cultivate Love and Compassion but rather only the passions to convert others into one’s own religion.

BEING is for the genuine seekers who are open  flexible and not at all worried about religions, is not only the great Medicine who cures all ailments but also the  ParipuuraNan, the One who saturates all desires so that the soul sees itself as ful filled and hence wanting nothing. Finally BEING discloses Himself as the Arud Perunjcootim -the Great Light of Love and  the visions of which  install the Njaanam deep within and which makes one understand all.

27.

samaarkkap peruG kuNattaar tam patoiyai enait
        taaGkunRa perumpatiyai tanitta sabaapatiyai
nanmaarkkattu enna nadattic sanmaarkka saGka
        nadivirukka aruL amutam nalkiya naayakanai
punmaarkkaekku aRivariya puNNiyanai njaanap
        puuraNa meypporuLaakip poruntiya maa maruntai
tun Maarkkam tavirttaruLi ampalattee nadanj cey
        arudperunj cootiya ulakiir terud koLai caarviiree

Meaning;

BEING is the Lord of those great souls who opt for the Way of Enlightenment over and above the religious. This BEING also remains my Great Lord and whom I understand as the One who dances in the Tillai, the Place of Origin of all He keeps on guiding me in the right Way of Life and which enabled me to stand in the very centre of the Assembly of the Way of Enlightenment and where I was also blessed with the Amutu by BEING Himself. Such a BEING, the One who is wholly GOOD, remains beyond the reach of those who follow the Way of Life where Njaanam is not cultivated but only envy and hatred, BEING for those who follow the right WAY confers absolute TRUTHS and which also serve as the great medicine that cures all ailments. Such a BEING keeps on dancing in the Vast Metaphysical Space disclosing for the deserving as the Immense Light of Love and Compassion. So those who are still locked up in worldly life - I beseech you to seek metaphysical illuminations by joining this assembly of seekers of Njaanam.

VaLLalaar On Life Free of Death- 28.

One Can Relate Oneself to BEING Directly

The central insights that emerge in this verse is that anyone can relate himself DIRECTLY to BEING (God) provided he frees himself from the snare of worldly affairs, the ulaka vaatanai.  When the soul is preoccupied with only the worldly matters it is sufficiently Pure and Clean and because of which BEING discloses Himself only indirectly - through archetypes icons scriptures and so forth and which bring along with them many intermediaries - prophets, messiahs, guru-s Rishies and so forth.  When the soul is still entangled in the worldly matters, only such INDIRECT ways of relating to BEING are possible, However when during such a way of life, if there has been real learning and the soul becomes Pure and Clean, BEING discloses Himself directly and blesses the soul with an unmediated immediacy where He also emerges as the saR Guru, the Great and the most authentic Teacher.

Those who wish to avoid the miserable and painful death by the disintegration of the body parts by the Killer Energy of Malam, this is the way to redeem themselves and enjoy a kind of death where it is not at all painful - there is no disintegration of the body parts and death comes as the separation of the soul from the body BEING Himself and by way of granting Moksa to the soul.

This is not in a way death at all for it is not caused by Malam and because of which it us called Deathless Existence.

VaLLalaar beseeches all worldly folks to understand this and seek out a DIRECT relationship with BEING and which requires even going beyond icon worship, scriptural exegetics, the edifying discourses by the so-called gurus and so forth. In ordinary life we must continuously strife towards becoming Pure and Clean so that only love and compassion prevail in the soul.  Hatred, envy egotism and so forth are the foes for establishing a direct relationship with BEING and who will serve as the most authentic Guru. Only through such achievements that one can get the Njaanam for only BEING can teach this Njaanam and which alone will prepare the soul for Moksa. As noted by Meykandar, BEING does not grant Moksa before blessing one with Njaanam.

        
28.(5593)

Saar ylaka vaatanaiyait tavirttavar uLLakattee
        Sattiyamaay amarntaruLum uttam  saRkuruvai
Neer uRavai evaraalum kaNdu koLaR karitaam
        Nittuya vaan poruLai elaa nilaikaLum taanaaki
Eer uRavee vilaGkukinRa iyaRkai uNami tannai
        Ellaam ceyyavalla pati itai enakkaLitta patiyai
Oor uRavi enRu adaintu ulakiir pooRRi makizntidumin
        uLam ellaam kasinturuki uLLapadi ninaintee

Meaning:

BEING installs Himself and becomes the most authentic Guru only in the soul; of those individuals who have freed themselves from the snares of worldy attachments. He stands as the One directly experienced but only for such people, and for others He remains quite distant. He is the absolutely permanent divine object and who becomes all the cosmic states and hence the TRUTH in the natural world as well. Any relationship directly with Him is spiritually elevating for He remains One capable of all, It is such a BEING who taught me all these. So people who are still locked up in worldly matter!, Pull out yourself from such entanglements and seek out to be directly with BEING, live happily always praising Him and with the heart melting in Love and Compassion for all, meditating on Him always.

The Tiruccatakam, the Sacred hundred of Tiruvasakam, by popular believe is the most moving hundred verses in the whole of Sacred Tamil literature, It marks a departureÊ in religious literature where the humility of the soul and its LOVE for BEING get articulated in such a way that it melts the heart of even the ordinaryÊ readers.

The hundred verses are grouped into tens, patikams and I feel very happy that at last last I have found the timeÊ to translate with my own commentaries to this magnificent piece of sacred poetry the crest jewel of Sacred Tamil

Loga

Tiruvasakam- Tiruccatakam : MeyyuNartal 1-1

The Divine Ecstasy

For anyone interested in the psychology of the religious ecstasies the poems of Manikkar, the author of Tiruvasakam will be a very interesting source of rare data. There is an abandonment, a letting go of all bounds and constraints without worrying for anything and which comes quite a shock even to students of Manikkar, the great and cool scholar who also wrote the Tirukkoovaiyaar, an outstanding grammatical treatise on BaktiÊ modeled on the basis of MARRIAGE of the soul to BEING.

In these poems abandonedÊ are these scholarly cautionsÊ composure and coolness.ÊRapturous emotions take over as if the soul is in fact enjoying a kind of sexual union with BEING, almost the same as the ecstasy of St. Theresa.

The allusions to sexual kind of ecstasy are very clear in the language used. The body trembles,Êbeads of perspiration flows profusely, the eyes shed tears in immense bliss with the heart burning with great passions

However what is different from the ordinary sexual ecstasy is thatÊ here it not just epimeral, short-lived and which may even bring about a distaste for it.

Here there is no letting it go - the stance of Bakti the praising and calling for victory with hands raised over the head, areÊ NOT allowed to change and decline.Ê They areÊ maintained steadfast so that the ecstasy continues to be enjoyed.

1.1

meytaan arumbi vitir vitirttu ub virai aar kzaRku en
kaitaan talai vaittu kaNNiir tatumbi vetumbi uLLam
poytaan tavirttu unnai
pooRRi saya saya pooRRi ennum
kaitaan nekiza videen udaiyaay
ennaik kaNdu koLLee

Meaning:

ÊWith the whole body trembling and perspiring I raise my hands over my head and worship Your divine feet with fragrant flowers and brilliant anklets!Ê With the heart made absolutely pure with no falsities there, shedding tears and with the heart unable to control itself and overcome with great ecstasy I simply praise you and call for, Victory ! Victory! Unto you.ÊNow I hope you will see my stubbornness in maintaining myself in this stance which I will never abandon!

Loga

Hermeneutic Science and Religious Conflicts

From very ancient times India has been the battleground of many religions. Over and above Saivism Saktaism VaishNavism and so forth, there were also the Yajna centered Vedism, the revolutionary Buddhism, the Ahimsa centered Jainism and so forth. After the arrival of Islam and Christianity there were many who became adherents of these foreign religions with a dynamics of their own. Here we see for the first time intense efforts on the part of Muslims and Christians to CONVERT the Hindus and others using strategies that were quite alien to Indian culture. Among the Indic religions conflicts were resolved through very intense debates sometimes very furious. However such encounters, though not quite successful in resolving conflicts, led to development of Tarkka Sastras and Hermeneutic Logic and so forth.

Among the Tamils and mainly due to the persistent influence of Tolkaappiyam, even religious life was not spared the encroachment of SCIENCE but not the very limited positive sciences as in the West but rather the more inclusive Hermeneutic Sciences. Music and Dance, e.g. are not simply arts - they have been developed as Hermeneutic Sciences among the Tamils

In the Indian cultural world the various conflits were sought to be resolved through a kind of Logic such as that of the Naiyayikas where it was understood that Brama karaNam piramaaNam, i,e that it is logical measure called PramaaNam which generates only valid and hence true knowledge (brama). Thus while most schools accepted Perception, Inference and Metaphysical Utterances (aapta vakkiyas, Agamas etc) as the PiramaaNas, the Buddhists did not accept the Agamas but only the first two. So such conflicts were essentially beyond resolution for each participant came with his Logical System which became controversial on their own.

It is in the course of such impasses that the Tamils recovered the original shape of Indian Logic as enunciated in Tolkaappiyam along with the Hermeneutic Sciences called Nuul NeRi. Thus each religious system was seen as a TEXT that can be studied as belonging to Hermeneutic Sciences and subjected to Hermeneutic Logic that is inherent to it. We have as the most elaborate applications of these in MeykaNdar’s Botham and AruNandi’s Siddhyar - the greatest philosophical accomplishments of the Tamils, the equivalent to which do not exist anywhere in India and in any language including Sanskrit.

The point of it all is that there are NO pramaaNas as such - the soul is taken into a metaphysical journey where various kinds of TEXTS are presented and they are INTERPRETED and a CLARITY of understanding is reached with the flow of LUMENS deep within. Thus any religious scripture can be taken as a TEXT, interpreted and understood as to what they are, what deep insights they encrypt. At this point emerges further insights whereby the inadequacies - if they exist- of the system emerges and thus the whole system DECONSTRUCTED and the mind made to move ahead to a system of thought less inadequate.

As one moves in this way making sure that the mind does not get arrested into some kind fixations, it will dawn in the end that all the religions are only partially right and that the soul must TRANSCEND all religious in order to be with BEING and enjoy Njaanam. At this point the people will also see that the various religions are like steps that BEING provides for us climb up further and that they are contributory in this way towards the final redemption - the reaching of the PEAK

9

Ceppariya sanayaneRi ellaam tattam
Teyvamee teyvam enum ceyarkkai yaana
Apparisaa varum awtee pidittu aavippaar
Aduttavanum nuulkaLum virittee anumaanaati
Oppuvittu uraippar iGGan poy meyyenna
onRillai onRen paarppatu oppaataakkum
ipparicaanj samayamumaay allaavaaki
yaatu samyamaum vaNaGkum iyalpatu aati

Meaning:

There are many religions the correct understanding of which remain quite difficult. But nevertheless we see that each religious person extols his own religion and maintains that it is superior to all other religions. Such a pride is quite unnatural and lacking genuine understanding they keep on preaching the greatness of their own religions and which in turn elicit serious objections where many treatises are written with logical principles used to refute the false views. It is claimed that there are truths and falsities and that through LOGIC one can settle the matter. However such disputes remain beyond resolution and BEING emerges in the mind of such people making them realize that such disputes are in vain. He shows that He is the GROUND of all religions and that at the same time He remains beyond all these religions. Those who transcend all religions will see that the one and the same BEING remains common to all and beyond all.

????????????? ????????????? ???????????? ???????
kallaarkkum katravarkkum kaLipparuLum kaLippE (305)
To the unlearned, and the learned, You shower blessings, the Showerer,

???????????? ????????????? ???????????? ?????
kaaNaarkkum kaNtavarkkum kaNNaLikkum kaNNE (306)
To those who have not seen, and those who have seen You, You are the eye of their eyes, the Seer,

????????????? ?????????????? ??????????? ????
vallaarkkum maattaarkkum varamaLikkum varamE (307)
To the victorious, and the feeble, You are the giver of boons, the Bountiful One,

????????????? ??????????????? ????????????? ?????
madhiyaarkkum madhippavarkkum madhikotukkum madhiyE (308)
To those who do not respect and those who respect You, You Give of respect to all, Respected One,

????????????? ?????????????? ???????? ?????
nallaarkkum pollaarkkum natunindra natuvE (309)
To those who are good and those who are bad, You stand amidst them as justice, Central One,

????????????? ?????????????? ?????????????? ????
nararkaLukkum surarkaLukkum nalangotukkum nalamE (310)
To those in hell and to those in heaven, You are the giver of wellness, Wellness One,

????????????? ???????????? ???????? ?????
ellaarkkum podhuvilnatam itukindra sivamE (311)
To all, immanent, You dance amidst them, Auspicious One,

??????? ??????????? ???????????? ?????
enarasE yaanpukalum isaiyumaNin tharuLE (312)
My King, bless my praising song to You with music.

Pathma

BEING is the Eyes of All

One of the central metaphysical insights that runs across the whole gamut of Dravidian metaphysical thinking and perhaps the whole of Indian Tantrism is that BEING shows and that souls SEE only because BEING shows thus. This is put metaphorically that BEING becomes the EYES of both the embodied creatures in the world, the MaNNoor and the celestial beings, the souls who are liberated from embodiment but still without Moksa, the ViNNoor.

Thus BEING shapes the SEEING of the creatures so that they become progressively more evolved and as already observed and recorded in Tolkaappiyam ( c. 500 BC). The seeing begins with the sense of touch and evolving ends up with the visions provided by the eyes. However what is of special interest here is the visions of the metaphysical eyes common to human beings and the celestial beings. While the Saivites call this the visions of the Third Eye where in the Icon of Siva they depict this with an eye on the forehead, in VaishNava icons we see this being celebrated as part of Yoga, the Yoga Nidra or ARituyil and which makes quite clear what kind of vision this is.

There are things that are concealed for the ordinary visions but which become available during dreams and dream-like higher visions called Transductive Perceptions, the Yogak Kadci. This is a capacity all human beings have and gets opened only for the deserving. Once this is opened up, BEING also shows the games He plays providing various kinds of CLUES as to how to interpret and understand them. Thus we have a natural Hermeneutic Semiotics, a kind of instruction by BEING himself and which would lead to understand and enjoy the Njaanam provided the souls thus blessed remain steadfast in this task despite the many challenges on the way.

Though the Tantric Way of Life begins with temple worship, the celebrations of festivals rituals and so forth and which encourage Icon Thinking finally end in a kind of Yogic Way of Life where Transductive Perceptions become the main stuff of life. Such people are also a kind of heavenly beings such as those who remain steadfast in the hill top of TiruveGkadam, a metaphor for the metaphysical way of life, a life away from the earthly life below at the foothills.

3.

kaN aavaan ennum
maNNoor viNNorkku
taN aar veeGkada
viNNoor veRpanaee

Meaning:

The Lord of the cool mountain of VeeGkadam the hill of the celestials, also becomes the metaphysical eyes of both the earthly beings as well as the heavenly.

Human life is directed not only by worldviews, but also by values. Science
provides worldviews based on observation and analysis. It functions on the basis
of a value system, which includes disinterested quest, commitment to truth,
honesty in reporting of results, and the like. But science does not prescribe
rules in interpersonal interactions which are an important part of societal
ethics.

Traditionally, the principles of ethics were formulated by religions and
inculcated by elders in a community. Thus, in the Judaic tradition, the Ten
Commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Though one may doubt the
literal veracity of God handing over a do-don't list to an individual, tradition
records the date on which this occurred as the third day of a Hebrew month
(Sivan). The Judaic world celebrates this event as Shavuot: the season of the
giving of law. The commandments instill the values of honoring parents, of
remembering God at least once a week, of not stealing or killing, and the like.
One is asked not to have any other God but the one who gave the commandments:
perhaps what was demanded was loyalty to the enunciated principles.

Christians derive their moral inspiration from the Biblical life of Jesus, in
particular, from the Sermon on the Mount. Of this, St. Augustine wrote: "If any
one will piously and soberly consider the sermon which our Lord Jesus Christ
spoke on the mount, as we read it in the Gospel according to Matthew, I think
that he will find in it, so far as regards the highest morals, a perfect
standard of the Christian life.. The sermon is brought to a close in such a way
that it is clear there are in it all the precepts which go to mould life."

Values in the Hindu world are enunciated in various sacred texts. For example,
the Bhagavad Gita recommends the following essential virtues to be cultivated:
"Fearlessness, purity of mind, determination in pursuit of knowledge and
austerities, charity, self-control, and performing prescribed rituals,
recitation of the Vedas, meditation, rectitude; non-violence, truthfulness,
being without anger, self-sacrifice, peace of mind; not criticizing, compassion
towards beings, non-coveting; gentleness, modesty, steadfastness; courage,
forgiving, fortitude, purity, freedom from malice and haughtiness." The
Dharmashastras prescribe behavioral norms and laws.

In the Islamic world, the moral and legal framework is inspired by what is known
as the Sharia which is derived from the Holy Qur'an where it says: ".We gave you
the Sharia in religion. Follow it, and do not follow the lust of those who do
not know." Traditional Muslim world regards the Sharia as the will of God, which
has been described as "the totality of religious, political, social, domestic,
and private life."

Like the Dharmashastras of the Hindu world (which are no longer in vogue in
India), the Sharia (which is practiced to varying degrees in various Islamic
nations) spells out not only what one must do, but also punishments for specific
derelictions. It includes the so-called Hadd-offences, mentioned in the Qur'an,
which must be dealt with medieval severity, such as lashes on the back, severing
of hands, and stoning to death. There are complex and varied commentaries on it,
and also different schools of Sharia.

Thanks largely to world-wide communication systems, the recognition of
barbarities inherent in some traditional systems, as also a growing global
trans-religious ethical system, modernists in all traditions are trying to
re-interpret, modify, and even discard some of the injunctions in traditional
religious frameworks which strike us as anachronistic, unconscionable and
unacceptable in our present age. In the process, however, some socially
beneficial traditional values are also being lost.

Appar 4:3 TiruvaiyaaRu
 
maatarp piRaik kaNniyaanai malaiyaan makaLodum paadip
pootodu niir cumanteetti pukuvaar avarpin pukuveen
yaatunj cuvadu padaamal aiyaaRu adaikinra pootu
kaatan amdappidiyooduG kaLiRu varvana kaNdeen
kaNdeen avar tiuppaataG kandariyaatana kaNdeen
 
Meaning:
 
BEING as Candrasekaran wearing the beautiful Crescent Moon as a head ornament stays with Parvati, the daughter of the King of Himalayas. Holding this in my mental vision and singing of them eloquently, I follow behind the adiyars who carry only fresh blossoms and pure water for worship and enter the temple. As I move along with them inconspicuously and near the Temple in AiyaaRu, I noticed on the way a male elephant coming with a young female elephant and in love with it.  At that point I saw with my mental eyes, the Divine Feet of Siva (where he creates the male and females of all species with agitating the Natam and Bindu). Thus I saw what are impossible to witness with the fleshy eyes alone.
 
 
Comments:
 
Appar obviously draws attention in this verse that a natural phenomenon such as the male and female elephants being in love with each other and enjoying sexual bliss can be SEEN differently. For those who posses the capacity to penetrate the surface features and gain a vision of the DEPTHS, the love and sexual union of the animals (and human beings) disclose the Dance of Bliss of Siva who by manipulating the Siva Tatvas Natam and Bindu (the Yin and Yang of Taoism) creates the male and female of all species in such a way that they are drawn to each other with the intention for enjoying the bliss of sexual union. The eyes of the ordinary people who have only the fleshy eyes that show only the PHYSICAL and without even a hint of the Third Eye that discloses the metaphysical depths, can only see that as an instance of carnal sexuality but not the Dance of BEING at the depths and where as Siva and Sakti there is also sexual union.
 
At every expression of love and at every act of sexual union there is the union of Siva and Sakti at the deepest level and for those who manage such a vision of ordinary sexual unions of the creatures they become SACRED, and ICON that help witnessing of Siva and Sakti in sexual union of a kind.
 
This vision comes as a new disclosure to Appar and for which he is so immensely grateful.
 
But there are many preconditions for gaining such a vision and appreciate the aesthetics behind it all, a natural marvel that in fact it is. These preconditions are:
 
One must understand the Icon of BEING as the wearer of the Crescent Moon, that which can become the amutu, ambrosia of good mental and physical health and hence longevity. The Woman becomes here the Parvati, the Lady of Earth but located at the peak and hence someone not that easily approachable. Parvati here is the same as the Sumerian (and Toda) Nin Hur-Sag, the Lady of the Peak. She is also the ManonmaNi of the Ajna Cakra who descends at lower Cakras as the various Female Powers, KalaivaaNi Laksmi etc.
 
Thus one must gain a vision of BEING as such and SING about it so that the aesthetics, the MUSIC of it all is kept alive.
 
Now having gained it and to sustain it in the vision,  one must worship, not with animal sacrifices and so forth but only fresh blossoms and pure waters. One must kill and expel the animistic thinking that shows ties with the flesh in order to sustain the vision of Siva--Parvati in love embrace.
 
Now another attendant feature is that one must have conquered the EGO, the tendency to push oneself to the front and establish various kinds of signposts of one’s presence. One must follow the crowd of Adiyars inconspicuous and hence totally humble. As long as the Ego is present, there will be metaphysical BLINDNESS and because of which the vision of the Depths will not be available.
 
Now what is wrong with Western Psychoanalytic account of such events?
 
Against what is implied by Appar in this verse, it would follow that such Western scholars lack the EYES to see the Divine Sexual Embrace of Siva and Sakti at the depths of all natural events where we have a male and female coming together to enjoy sexual bliss. The SACRED in every act of sexual union is beyond the reach of such scholars and because of which they become something revolting, carnal and promiscuous. The fault is NOT in such events and their depiction in temple iconography and so forth but rather in the BLINDNESS of such scholars who cannot see the DIVINE presence in such events.

Loga

thirucciRRambalam

pUcuvathum veNNIRu pUNbathuvum poN^garavam
pEcuvathum thiruvAyAl maRaipOlum kANEDI
pUcuvathum pEcuvathum pUNbathuvum koNDennai
Icanavan evvuyirkkum iyalbAnAn cAzalO.

thirucciRRambalam

Meaning:
(One girl
Gets smeared in white ash! Wears fiery snake!
But through the holy mouth speaks vedas! See (the irony)!
(The other girl
Whatever be that He smears with, speaks, wears.
God became natural to all souls! cAzalO!

Notes:
Buddhists from Srilanka challenged mANikka vAcakar in the presence of chOza king at thillai. They mocked at the form, deeds and principle of the God. mANikka vAcakar called a dumb girl, made her sing the challenges posed by them and his beautiful responses to all of those as thiruccAzal. The monks became dumb.

"Icanavan evvuyirkkum iyalbAnAn".

There are so many souls in the world and each has its own style and complication. In a simplified example, the needs of a philosophically oriented and process oriented souls could be totally different. This also varies as the souls mature through different stages. If God were to bluntly say there is only one way to exist to get to the Bliss, many souls will never make to it. Rather Lord shiva for each of these unique souls through their different stages appear in the form that is natural to their maturity and tries to uplift them. That Lord's grace is immense, immense!

shaivam.org

Saivism Accepts the Vedas but not the Vedic Sciences like Jyotisha

What we have in this verse is a direct critique of the various spurious sciences called VedaGkaas (vedangas)such as Jyotisha SiKsha and so forth the so-called Vedic Sciences. Right from SaGkam days at least we see ample evidences to show that the Vedas were there among the Tamils and where we also see them being highly respected. But the best of the Tamil philosophers never accepted the arts or sciences called the VadaGkas that we shall call the Vedic Sciences here. They accepted the Vedas only as a compendium of remarkable metaphysical hymns that encrypt profound metaphysical insights and for which reason the Kings and others patronized the recitation of the Vedas in the Tamil country and of course along with Sacred Tamil. The Saivism that also accepts the Vedas as useful scriptures is called Vedic Saivism the Vaitiika Saivam.

In this verse Tayumanavar compares the Yoga Sciences Saivism promotes against the Vedic Sciences and which are said to be MayarvuRu - those disciplines which confuse the mind than clarify. The so-called Vedic Sciences are not at all sciences but rather various gimmicks that confuse and mislead the people. They are not sciences at all but only pretences that ought to be discouraged in the interest of true spirituality.

The proper practice of Yoga where we have iyaman niyaman and so forth are immensely rational and such practices are consistent with the depth psychological essences of the soul so that if practiced beneficial outcomes are possible. It is BEING (God) Himself who through the Astangka Yoga shows the RIGHT Way and blesses with joys those who practice these sciences as prescribed by the experts and who write about the various Asanas and so forth by the inner promptings of BEING Himself, here Siva Himself who is also seen as the Maha Yogi - the Great yogi

BEING becomes the various deities and for those deserving shows what are good and what moments which are appropriate for certain actions and so forth the caupaana paksha etc. When a person lives on the guidance given by BEING and through the deities, we can reject all the Vedic Sciences which do not depend at all on BEING and the various deities that He becomes in order to guide the human beings. Here we must recall that BEING becomes the EYES of all and SHOWS for them to see what moments are appropriate and what are not.

So those who reject the Vedic Sciences and proceed in their existential struggles wholly dependent on the deities to guide them in all their undertakings get crowned with a CLARITY as against the immense confusion the Vedic Sciences create.

While Vedism may be beautiful but not the so-called Vedic Sciences which are the products of degenerate and irrational minds who do more harm than good for the spiritual well being of people

In the Yoga Sciences we can link up the various practices with their outcomes and formulate even various kinds of rules and explanations as we find in Tirumular Patanjali and so forth. Such claims allow for testing as it is being done now. The Vedic Sciences defy such testing for simply there is no rationality at all in them. They are a a kind of games more to provide a false satisfaction than anything else.

10.

iyalvenRun tiriyaamal iyamam aati
eNkuNamuG kaaddi anbar inpamaaki
payan aruL apporuLkaL parivaaramaakaip
paNpuRavunj caupaana pakshang kaaddi
mayaluRu mantiram cidcai cootidaati
maRRu aGka nuul vaNaGka maulin mooli(?)
ayarvaRac cenniyil vaittu raajaaGkattin
amarnatatu vaitiika caivam azakitu anto

Meaning:

The Myths are Metaphysical Dreams

One of the facets of Dravidian culture as enshrined in the Sacred Tamil is the incorporation of a field of science that I call Hermeneutic Semiotics, a form of hermeneutic science that connects the Tamils with the Sumerians and related ancients. They carefully distinguished between the ordinary dreams and metaphysical dreams and where the metaphysical dreams are taken as the visions of the Third Eye. Such experiences constitute the stuff of Transductive Perceptions, and because of which the MYTHS are celebrated as integral parts of divine culture. The living BEING discloses Himself continuously in the metaphysical dreams of people guiding them continuously provided they develop this capacity that remains a possibility they can cultivate.

The help-line from BEING is always available but it comes in the shape of metaphysical dreams and related experiences neglecting which we remain deprived of direct help from BEING. Excessive attachment to scriptures are just as effective in shutting off this as disbelieve in such possibilities. The we have the genesis of false sciences like astrology nymerology and so forth.

The myth or metaphysical dream that Namazvar mentions here is that of KaNNan as Govinda lifting up the Govardana Hills and keep it raised  with his forefinger effortlessly to provide shelter from heavy rains for the cows. This theme is similar to dreams in which we have a person hoisting a umbrella over the head of another person to provide some kind of security. The parents hold such an umbrella over the heads of their children during heavy rain and which signifies that they provide the psychological security when they are in need of it.

What it really means is that BEING is there always and assuming the shape of KaNNan provides in some ways, hidden or open, a psychological security so that the person does not breakdown beyond recovery.

The HELP is always there provided one lives in way where we keep on LEARNING of such blessings of BEING as does Namazvar. We must sensitize ourself to such metaphysical dreams so that during moments of great stress, we can free ourselves from the problems by dreaming out a solution that BEING Himself provides.

We have to lead a life of Icon Thinking, of Hermeneutic Semiotics to avail ourselves the help-line of BEING always there.

4.

veRpai onRu eduttu
oRkam inRiyee
niRkum emmaan ciir
kaRpan vaikalee

Meaning:

My Lord KaNNan lifts up the Govardana Hill and holds it up without any problems to provide shelter for the cows from heavy rains. Such essence if BEING as KaNNan are the subject  matter  that I study every day.

Confucius spoke with gentleness on the basic guidelines for being fully human.
We read in his Analects about benevolence, charity, love, right conduct, duty
towards others, selflessness, loyalty, reciprocity, honoring parents, and the
like: simple, yet sophisticated virtues with no mumble-jumble about God or
after-life or heaven. While stressing self-control, he did not recommend
self-denial.

In the seventeenth century, while Gentiles and Grotius argued that the notion of
the law of nature "in the juridical sense had come to be seen as that part of
the divine law which issues from the essential nature of man, who is
distinguished from animals by an appetite for tranquil association with his
fellows and by his tendency to act on universal principles," Thomas Hobbes
speculated that even the highest moral behavior was ultimately instigated by
selfish motives and colored by unhealthy passions. In Hobbes' view, even
gratitude was never pure, but tainted by a secret hostility toward the giver.

Gradually, like other long-held prerogatives of religions, ethics too began to
be usurped by the rush of rationality and science. With knowledge of the mores
of various cultures and study of the behavior of different species, as also with
an understanding of the role of genes in biology, scientists have been analyzing
the source and significance of ethical principles. Fields like anthropology,
biology, and evolutionary psychology have brought down the sources of morality
from scriptural pedestals to survival needs, cultural forces, and genetic
programming.

Many do's and don'ts are explained in terms of what is conducive to societal
survival and healthy species-propagation. Scientifically inclined thinkers are
persuaded that the impetus for ethics may often be traced to DNA; i.e. that
moral acts are emergent manifestations of molecular matter. Researchers into the
behavior of animals have been revealing how non-humans sometimes act very much like us in morally sound ways. Frans De Waal's work shows that lowly animals can be mutually friendly, caring, and cooperative. This is in consonance with the ideas on morality developed by Michael Cavanaugh who has discussed the thesis that "inside each of us, as a function of our muscular and nervous and hormonal systems, is a propulsion toward various kinds of actions. We share that
propulsion with animals." Richard Dawkins developed the idea of the selfish
gene, which may be regarded as the twentieth century elaboration of Hobbes's
thesis by which altruism is no more than camouflaged self-serving scheme. In
this view, whether it is bees that kill themselves to protect the hive, or
jihadists who blow themselves up to protect their cause and creed, or Mother
Teresa who dedicated herself to serve the abandoned, ultimately it is all genes,
which are at work to propagate themselves. Dawkins argues that we are unique
only in that we can refuse to succumb to the selfish gene. Others, mostly from
religious perspectives, insist that there is more to kindness, compassion,
caring and love than gene-instigated neuron firing.

A look into the history of ideas generates little hope that the question will be
settled by debate or laboratory revelations. This is the kind of issue that
cannot be resolved by reason, argumentation, measuring device and mathematics.

When subjected to explanation, morality tends to lose its potency as an
imperative for action. One can practice much virtue without postulating genetic
coding at the root of kindness or compassion. The Samaritan who feeds a hungry
stranger accomplishes much of value even if she has no inkling of DNA and RNA,
and hasn't read erudite philosophers who write books on what makes us moral
beings.

V. V. Raman
August 10, 2006

It is inspiring to read all these translations and explanation from the various bakti literature on Transductive Perceptions which resonates with what I wrote on Visions and Dreams. One must carefully distinguish between ordinary dreams and metaphysical dreams which can be confusing.

Experiencing ordinary dreams and trying to interpret or understand them usually leads to fear and anxiety and this may be the source of religious superstition as well as predictive astrology perhaps too. My experience is that temple and home shrine worship as well as japa helps us make this distinction between mere dreams from metaphysical dreams in the sleep state, as well as pave the way to receive metaphysical visions in the waking state. Making this distinction is very important.

I included metaphysical visions not in a dream state but in an awake state. As well as the hearing of metaphysical sounds. It may be that myths from the epics and puranas had its source in metaphysical dreams and visions. Only if explained this way can I accept the epics and puranas; as a collection of Hindu metaphysical dreams and visions. Then they were written and padded with human additions and interpretations. This I cannot accept.

These are quite different from metaphysical visions in the awake and conscious state which I feel is the source of the vedas, agamas and bakti literature where the words were seen, and the sounds heard in the waking state, rather than compositions of the writer's mind. In each of the bakti hymns there is a description of the vision of the Lord that the saint experienced. for instance, 'ponnaar meyniyane,....minnaar sensadai mel'. This is a description of the Lord in that metaphysical vision in the waking state.

I feel that spiritual journey starts with the first metaphysical hearing, dreams or visions. After that one is told what to do from within and there is no use for shastras which can be discarded. Anyone who is still holding on to shastras has not quite yet begun the spiritual journey, has not had any metaphysical dreams, visions or hearing. Nothing to inspire him from within or guide him except mere books. The trick is one must discard the books and shastras first before these inner doors open.

The Taoist religion too have these concepts of metaphysical visions and sounds. Its called Kuan (light) and Yin (sound). This concept has been concretised in the icon of Goddess Kuan Yin who is the Goddess of Mercy too. The worship of this goddess serves to help unfold metaphysical dreams and visions and distinguish it from ordinary dreams. In the same way meditation in that religion helps to unfold the seeing of light and hearing of inner sounds.

So we have worship leading to having metaphysical dreams in the sleep state. Then the practice of being in solitude or meditation leads to hearing of metaphysical sounds first, then seeing the light and then having experiencing metaphysical visions in the awake state.

To summarise:
1. ordinary dreams in the sleep state,
2. metaphysical dreams in the sleep state,
3. metaphysical sounds in the awake state,
4. metaphysical visions in the awake state.

I have encouraged persons to try and hasten this unfoldment by practising being in solitude. Simply being alone in the home for some hours and doing nothing. A few have heard the inner sounds. But all of them experienced recalling the past, feeling remorseful, self confessing and feeling repentful. This is an important part of what I call clearing the subconscious and a beginning step on the path of meditation. The mind has to be sufficiently cleared and disentangled from conflicting thought patterns before one can start receiving metaphysical dreams, sounds and visions. Only after this can metaphysical experiences take place.

Pathma

From the most ancient times human beings have regulated life and society by
adhering to certain well-regulated patterns of conduct. This has been achieved
by the enactment of laws which, as a member of a society, one agrees to obey.
Such human-made or statutory laws govern all civilized societies. Statutory laws
preceded the recognition of laws of nature. This is one reason why the term law
was introduced to describe ordered behavior in the physical world. It was
reasoned that Nature is also governed by strict laws formulated by its Creator.

Statutory laws prescribe constraints on the members of a society. These are
meant in principle to safeguard the interests of all people, rather than to
promote those of a few. Obedience to such laws implies that everyone sacrifices
some personal freedom; and there is a check on inconsiderate use of one person's
freedom that affects others negatively.

Statutory laws can be broken, i.e. one can violate these laws. Such violations
are, of course, subject to appropriate penalties in a society. In other words,
the breaking of a human-made law may result in unpleasant consequences for the
law-breaker. But a law of nature cannot be broken, even in principle.
Violations of statutory laws are crimes or felonies. Violations of laws of
nature are regarded by some as miracle. Miracles are not allowed in science.

Between statutory and natural laws are certain kinds of laws whose status has
been the subject of much controversy. These are the so-called moral laws. They
arise from a unique characteristic of humans in an evolved state. Human beings
experience what is called a conscience: which is an intangible pointer that
seems to indicate the difference between good and bad, between right and wrong
action. External and preached principles of good and bad behavior may be
questioned or discarded, but the inner impulses for right action, and the deeper
personal feelings of guilt are often inescapable.

But it is also true that the inner ethical directives don't always point in the
same direction in all individuals, let alone in peoples of different cultures.
Anthropologists and behavioral psychologists trace the origins of some of our
inner ethical principles to inculcation of value systems from infancy, by
mother, father, friend, preceptor, and cultural environment.

And yet, one may argue that human beings, even with completely different
cultural upbringings, do have certain common criteria of right and wrong
conduct. Consider the following extreme cases: The cruel torture of a wounded,
invalid, blind four year old child who is gasping for breath would be regarded
as a wrong act by normal human beings in any society. Similarly, practically
any normal human being will consider it a preferable (good) gesture to offer
some water to a sick, old woman dying of thirst rather than take away whatever
water may be within her reach.

Whether or not moral laws have the same standing as physical laws, they resemble
statutory laws in one important way: They can be violated. Those who are
inclined to give objective validity to moral laws invoke a new idea in the
context of this possibility. They maintain that there operate in the universe
(by which they mean in this context the world of humans) certain inescapable
laws of action and consequences governing our behavior. Invariably and
inevitably, our good and bad actions will be rewarded or punished sooner or
later. This is implied in the law of karma in the Hindu worldview and in
"Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" of the New Testament. This
prompted Immanuel Kant to declare: "Two things fill the mind with ever new and
increasing admiration and awe .: the starry heavens above, and the moral law
within."

V. V. Raman
August 12, 2006

Sanmaarkam is there is the Depths of all Religions

Right from SaGkam days at least the Tamil philosophers were thinking very deeply about the SAMENESS that exist among people of different cultures and which they isolated and described in various ways. Thus we have KaNiyan PuuGkunRaNaar, the astronomer declaring Yaatum Uuree YabarG KeeLir, where it means 'Every city is my city and all are my brethren'. He must have seen the deepest metaphysical layers and noted that it remains the SAME for all people and that in every culture there are also philosophers who recognize this and work for unity among  human beings

Next we have TirukkuRaL (c. 200 AD) so universal that almost scholars of all religions claim that it belongs to their religion or holds the same principles as their religions.

Now after this we have Tirumular (c. 6th cent AD) who coins with the term Sanmaarkkam to describe this universal metaphysical dimensions and with that founds Saiva Siddhanta, a metaphysics that explains, as many have noted,  ALL religions and metaphysical systems. Saiva Siddhanta provides a framework for mapping ALL religions and with that provide a theoretical framework to UNDERSTAND and appreciate the unity and diversity that exists in world religions. Thus there is a TRANSCENDANCE of all religions and hence a mental framework where the different religions are not rejected as false but rather something that is only partly true but which has within it the most universal and hence something the SAME as all rellgions.

Tayumanavar attends to this special feature of Saivism in this verse and describes how Saivism as the Sannmaarkkam can really bring about a sense of Unity among people of all religions and which he claims he has witnessed in person in Tillai, the most sacred place for the Saivites.

Thus Saivism that enshrines Sannmaarkkam is not a religion among religions but rather that which rises ABOVE all but at the same time leads the people to recognize this deeper and universal dimensions in their own religions. Saivism does not seek to convert but seeks to draw the attention of all towards the DEPTHS of their religions where lurks this Sanmaarkkam. In Tamil Nad among the great Tamil scholars but who are Muslims and Christians we see this kind of understanding. Some of the best exponents of Tayumanavar are Christians and Muslims and who quote extensively from Al Koran and Bible to show the SAMNESS of thought. This must have been eminently visible during the times of Tayumanavar where in this verse he mentions that seeing such individuals is a real pleasure as he loves this Sanmaarkkam.

We may also note here that this Sanmaarkkam, already present in all religions holds the possibility of providing a solution to end the bitter religious wars and terrorism of the modern world where even S. India is not exempted.

12.
sanmaarkka njaanatin poruLum viiRu
        samaya saGkeetap poruLum taanee enRaakap
panmaarkkam neRiyiniluG kaNdatu ilai
        pakarvariya Tillai manRud paartta pootaGku
enmaarkkam irukkutellaam ceLiyaa yenna
        eccamayattavrakaLum vantu iRainjcaa niRpar
sanmaarkka njencamuLLa yenakkut taanee
        kaNdavudan aanantaG kaaNdalaakum.

Meaning

The final conclusions of Sanmaarrkkam, the Way of Enlightenment and that of the most authentic reliigion are the same and hence such a unity is not to be seen in the diverse and deviant religions and ways of life.  However as another Secret of Sitambaram it is to be noted in Tillai the greatness of which is indeed difficult to describe, Those who belong to different religions but who come to Tillai and see the secret there exclaim that what is present in my religion but concealed remains clear and open here.And because of this even people of different religions would come here and enjoy praising BEING here. I am of the Way of the Enlightenment and  when I see such a unity among people of diverse ways of life, I really see joys all around.

A cardinal principle in most religions is respect for human life. Spokespersons
for all religions proclaim that their religion regards human life as sacred. How
could harm and hurt, maiming and killing fellow humans be part of any religious
teaching?

And yet, few religions (or secular governments) regard war as an instrument of
killing. This may seem ironic at first blush, but the irony is resolved through
the notion of just war. A just war is one whose initiation or conduct is
justified (if not always justifiable on impartial standards) on moral and/or
practical grounds.

In so far as wars lead to destruction and to the death of innocent
people, they are vicious, inhuman, and abhorrent. Ironically, Karl Marx
notwithstanding, not all wars in history were instigated by economic greed
alone. Some were prompted by the urge to spread one's own version of Truth,
other's to right the wrongs one imagines elsewhere, yet others to establish what
one regards as one's own version of what is good for the world, and some even to
make aliens believe in the right kind of God.

Thus, for example, if an alien horde occupies one's country, or desecrates one's
culture, a battle to throw it out would be regarded as just. Or again, if a
nation inflicts harm and subjugates another nation (or sometimes even a helpless
section of its own people), unleashing a war against such a government is
sometimes regarded as just.

Waging war for establishing moral rectitude is grandly illustrated in the
Kurukshetra war of the Mahabharata where Lord Krishna preaches to his disciple
Arjuna that he ought to take up arms against a sea of miscreants who had broken
every principle of righteous behavior (dharma). As Krishna urged Arjuna to wage
war against those who had usurped his family's land, the God of the Old
Testament inspired war against the Canaanites because they were occupying the
land that God had given to the Jews.

Another moral justification for killing, through war or otherwise, is when one
refuses to accept the God of one's tradition. The injunction to kill in the name
of one's faith, and for its propagation all over the world, is nowhere more
explicitly an emphatically stated than in the Holy Book of a great religion:
"Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you (9:123)." "When you
meet the unbelievers on the battlefield, strike off their heads and, when you
have laid them low, bind your captives firmly (47.3)."

The Sikh Guru Gobind Singh said: When all efforts to restore peace prove useless
and no words avail, lawful is the flash of steel; it is right to draw the
sword.' This reminds us of what Krishna had done in the Mahabharata, and of the
line in the Torah: "When approaching a town to attack it, first offer them
peace."

Perhaps the greatest insight on war is to be found in the Dhammapada of
Buddhism: "Whosoever were to conquer in battle a thousand times thousand men,
and another were to conquer one, that is, oneself, he indeed is the greatest
victor in battle." This, if course, refers to wars caused by raw greed and
hunger for power over other peoples, for it is only in such wars that one speaks
of conquest.

It is sad and shameful that wars are painful blots on human history, and are
part of religious traditions which have sanctioned, sometimes even instigated
war in one context or another. But then, cynical realists have quipped that a
pacifist is one who has never been mugged. Judged by the sufferings inflicted,
all wars are evil. Judged by long-range impacts, there have been good as well as
bad wars. Only when our resources are limitless, all economic and social
injustices are erased, and religions understand that there are multiple paths to
spiritual fulfillment, will the seeds of wars be completely eradicated.

Since the dawn of self-awareness, human beings have soared beyond the biological
urgencies of food and procreation, shelter and security, and have created art
and poetry, music and philosophy. They have wondered about the world and the
reason for existence. These are expressions of what we call the human spirit.

Religion is an important manifestation of this spiritual potential of Homo
sapiens. It can enable us to experience the world apart from the natural needs
of hunger and thirst. It can elevate us to levels that transcend our material
concerns. Religions are like lofty peaks rising high above the surrounding
plains of our physical being, merging, as it were, into the nebulous domain of
heaven itself, beckoning the human spirit with their enticing grandeur. Some say
religious visions are as insubstantial as mirages, others that they lead us to
rarefied realms of reality.

Human beings have always sought to get a glimpse of such realms, to connect ever
so slightly with the ethereal beyond of which we may be pale reflections. The
spiritual quest is the expression of the deepest urge to connect with the Whole.
In Michelangelo's masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel, the tip of Adam's finger
barely touches that of God, as if created Man is moving away from the Creator.
It could also be interpreted as the human spirit trying to get in touch with
the divine.

In every religious tradition, there are modes by which one seeks to affirm one's
spirituality: a simple prayer in a kneeling posture of humility in the Christian
world; in the Islamic world, the heart-felt proclamation that Allah is great;
chanting from the Talmud in the Jewish world; ecstatic singing of Krishna's name
in the Vaishnava world; or just silent meditation in serenity of dawn. All these
are efforts to confirm our spirituality, they are outlets for our instinctive
yearning to connect with the Unfathomable.

To the religious aspirant, spirituality is linked to a profound experience that
enriches life by revealing features of the tangible world that are not as
obvious when one is in the rough and tumble of life, and tossed by the passions
of anger and frustrations and cravings for creature-comfort. The person of
faith, in ritual or worship, while reciting a prayer, singing a psalm, or
invoking a mantra, experiences a communion that, like the philosopher's stone of
alchemy, transforms the lead and copper of animal existence into the silver and
gold of divine delight. Saints, sadhus, and Sufis in every tradition have moved
beyond the prayers of the day and season, and merged with the Mystery. These are
the mystics venerated in religious traditions, for in them one sees spirituality
attain its pinnacle. The rest of us are like amateur climbers who walk the
carved out tracks to reach a modest plateau, or play in the plains, the saints
are like arduous Alpinists who have reached Everest.

From the religious perspective, spirituality refers to an aspect of the world
that is beyond the material-energetic, a level too subtle for scientific probes.
It also refers to an innate capacity in us which enables us to become aware of
the transcendent through a variety of means which are recommended by the
spiritual disciplines of the world. In order to utilize this capacity, one often
needs to embrace a religious mode, be initiated into some religious practice,
and undertake the quest with serious intention. In other words, from the
perspective of religion, spirituality is an attribute of the human condition.
Like rationality, it is the capacity to raise our awareness to a non-material
plane of reality. Our spiritual dimension can also provoke us to love, kindness,
caring, compassion, truth and beauty.

V. V. Raman
August 16, 2006

Seeing BEING with the Third Eye

As I have mentioned already several times, one of the themes that connects the Dravidian metaphysics with Sumerian and other ancient cultures is the centrality of the visions of the Third Eye that I call the Transductive Perceptions (TP). AruNandi calls this Yogak Kaadci the Yogi Visions and mentions that anyone can enjoy this provided they do the necessary tapas, and weaken the hold of Malam in their souls. What blocks off the TPs is the Malam as it does also the ordinary perceptions where it can be limited partial distorted illusory and so forth.

Tayumanavar in this very interesting verse and quite unique to Saivism that celebrates the icon of Siva with the Third Eye, brings out a number of implications of this as another Secret of Sitambaram.

The first he mentions that this enables one to identify the most authentic metaphysical treatises among the so many that can be confusing and contradictory.  A person with the capacity for TPs sees the world outside and understand the inside of them, how they are fabricated and so forth and with that identify the metaphysical  treatises that are consistent with such visions.  It turns out that such treatises also expound the Triadism that Pati Pasu and Paacam are anati and that the Pati, the Lord is indeed the Power that brings out the cosmos and manages it continuously. The visions of the Third Eye destroy the metaphysical blindness which makes one a disbeliever.

Now as a person continues to understand BEING thus, there is a development in understanding of BEING that corrects many social evils. BEING is beyond all spatial measures like width height expanse and so forth. BEING remains and Integral Whole and hence One who cannot be described in any spatial terms.  As such He is also Nittiyam, the always there and as the Unchanging the forever the SAME and only because such visions also enable one to see BEING beyond temporality of Time Consciousness. The visions of the Third Eye, the Yogic visions have the power to FREE the soul from temporality and hence time. Only such a soul can see BEING as Nittiyam - always there as the SAME.

Such visions also disclose that BEING is beyond likes and dislikes and that being wholly LOVE BEING does not show any favor towards some and neglect others.  Being wholly LOVE, He also not put, like those following the VarNa Thinking, some as close to God and some others as distant and where these notions translate into various social actions of high caste low caste and so forth with special privileges for the high castes,

The implication is that the caste-ridden Hinduism  is a FALSE and degenerate Hinduism, a Hinduism that not appreciate the possibility of the visions of the Third Eye which alone would inform the soul the true essence of BEING( God)

Finally ot turns out that such a soul will also LEARN that BEING is ultimately BEYOND the mental constructs and words and languages. One must transcend LANGUAGE and hence ALL scriptures to understand that BEING is already with the soul in and out without ever departing even for a moment. We remain ignorant of this presence of BEING only because we remain BLIND glued as we are to the visions of the normal five senses closed  to other possibilities.

13

kaaNdal peRap puRattil uLapadiyee uLLuG
        kaadci meynnuul coluG patiyaaG kadavuLee! Nii
niiNda nedumaiyum akalak kuRukkuG kaaddaa
        niRai paripuuraN aRivaay nittamaaki
veeNdu viduppodu veRuppuc camiibam tuuram
        vilakkal aNukutal mutalaam vivakaaraGkaL
puuNda aLabaikaL manvaakkaati ellaam
        poruttaamal akam puRam piNarkkaiyaaki!

MeaNing:

O Lord! Once a person gets to enjoy the capacity for transductive perceptions, then he sees inside of all those things that happen in the outside and which understanding also enables him to identify the authentic metaphysical treatises from the false and misleading.  It also happens that these authentic texts also expound the Triadism, that Pati Pacu and Paasam are anaati and that the Pati the Lord is indeed the Supreme God. As I pursue my understanding of You though such visions  I also learn that You are an integral Wholeness who is beyond such spatial measure as width height and so forth. You are also beyond Time and hence the Nittiyam, the SAME always. I also understand that You are full of LOVE for all so that there is no one is either specially loved or despised by You. For the same reason there are none who are specially favored by you so that some are closer and some others distant and so forth, You do not practice the casteic way of keeping some denied of their rights and kept at a distance and so forth,. You are also beyond concepts and languages and hence One who can be understood only in Deep Silence and at which point people will understand You as already with their soul inside out.

The religious world is a mad world where there is more fanaticism than love, not exempted here the Vedies and many other members of Hindu sects. So against such developments it is pleasing to hear not only the transcendence of religions but also scriptures including the Vedas. The soul must be Pure in order to realize its own most authentic essence.

There is dogmatism fanaticism and violence only because there is Metaphysical Ignorance. Only the ignorant fools will raise the status of their scriptures to that of God Himself or the ONLY Word of God and refuse to take as valid in some ways scriptures other than his own . Thus the Christians will never accept the Al Koran and Muslims the Bible and so forth. Such a conflict also exists among the various sects of Hindusm - the Vedists cannot see beyond the Vedas, Saivites the Saiva Agamas and so forth.

However the best Saiva philosophers have also articulated the NEEED to FREE the mind from such attachments to be one-with BEING. As said by Meykandar (c. 13the cent AD) BEING is vakku manaatiita koosaram, a Divine Movement (koosaram) beyond concepts and languages and hence all scriptures including the Vedas which is after all verbal. BEING cannot be captured by anything verbal and hence even by the Vedas. They can only HINT at but cannot present Him wholly.

But then how to justify this?

Such truths are understood only when we appreciate that there are Transductive Perceptions (TP) and that anyone can enjoy such powers provided he practices the appropriate yogas and tapas . He must practices various kinds of Tapas so that the hold of Malam, the Dark Stuff is weakened.

What blocks off the deeper visions as well as the metaphysical visions is this Malam and people are religious and fanatical only because the Malam is very thick in their soul. It is out of their metaphysical ignorance that they CLING to their scriptures Gurus Prophets and so forth and enjoy a kind of vicarious satisfaction. However if their Third Eye is open and they begin to SEE for themselves the presence of BEING in the DEPTHS, they begin to UNDERSTAND how the worldly events are fabricated and how BEING is there in all such fabrications.

The souls move from practicing rituals and festivals - the Sariyai and Kiriyay and where the Calendar is necessary, to Yoga where the festivals and so forth are no more that necessary. The tapas are performed to get the blessings of BEING to get the Third Eye opened and with that enjoy visions of the Depths and destroy in stages the metaphysical ignorance.

It is in the course of this odyssey that it dawns that one must FREE oneself even from the scriptures including the Vedas to be one-with BEING without any fissures said in the post above :

Finally it turns out that such a soul will also LEARN that BEING is ultimately BEYOND the mental constructs and words and languages. One must transcend LANGUAGE and hence ALL scriptures to understand that BEING is already with the soul in and out without ever departing even for a moment. We remain ignorant of this presence of BEING only because we remain BLIND glued as we are to the visions of the normal five senses   closed  to other possibilities.

We interact with the world in different modes. One of these is through concepts
and ideas. At a sophisticated level of this mode, we try to understand and
interpret the world of in terms of certain broad categories. This approach is
commendable as a goal, insightful in its formulations and fruitful in its
results. But it can also lead to a mind-set which I call monodoxy: Single
belief.

By this term, I mean two things. Monodoxy regards a framework, mode, or system
of ideas as the only acceptable orthodoxy (literally, right belief) such that
those who hold differing views, and even adherents to one's own system who
suggest significant changes to it, are frowned upon or penalized severely.
Furthermore, the validity of its framework is taken so seriously that those who
disagree are vilified, dismissed, or (when possible) actively oppressed.Thus,
monodoxy is a deeply felt conviction that one possesses the right answers to all
question, while others don't. Often monodoxy is also a reflection of the belief
in one's own (or one's group's) intellectual and moral superiority vis-�-vis
others.

Monodoxy is fairly universal. It has been present all through human history, and
in all cultures. It is difficult to avoid it, especially in epistemological,
religious, social, and political contexts where it is most prevalent, because it
is necessary for the practice and furtherance of a system, and sometimes, even
for its survival. There are different types of monodoxy:

(a) Methodological: A particular methodology for the correct interpretation of
the world is taken to be the only valid one. In our own times, scientific
methodology tends to be monodoxical. Mystics and religionists also operate in
monodoxical modes.

(b) Criteria for Truth: In the view of some, the scientific criteria for
validating or rejecting propositions tends to be monodoxical. The scientific
community brushes off as unacceptable systems which spell out other criteria for
truth, such as experiential verifiability, emotional satisfaction, scriptural
compatibility, etc.

(c) Transcendental: This is characteristic of most religions which claim that
their particular visions of the divine (or God) are the only correct ones.

(d) Socio-economic: This is found in political ideologies. Each political party
or philosophy, or economic school holds that its own prescriptions for solving
societal and national problems are the only right ones. Indeed, of all the
causes for monodoxy, economic or political self-interests are perhaps the
strongest. Since it is a theoretical position, it is more common among people
who think and reflect on issues than among business-people, and much less among
the common folk, except when they follow their leaders.

There are two elements in Indian thought which may serve as antidotes to
monodoxy. One is in the Rig Veda where it says that truth is one and the
learned call it in different ways. The other is in the Jaina doctrine to the
effect that truth and reality can't be apprehended from just one perspective.
Recall the story of:

Six men of Hindustan much of them inclined

Wanted to see an elephant though all of them were blind,

That each at least by observation

Might satisfy his mind.

Each blind man formed an idea of the elephant from his partial perspective.
Though all of them were a little right, all of them were in fact wrong.

Disclaimer: I don't regard my reflections on human behavior, attitudes, and
institutions as the only right ones.

Hindus are aware that many gods are one and the same Being but with different names at different stages or states of manifestation although how this came about may not be clear.

Rig Veda - Hymn to Agni
1.072.04
À rodasi brhati vevidÀnÀh pra rudriyÀ jabhrire yajniyÀsah |
vidan marto nemadhitÀ cikitvÀn agnim pade parame tasthivÀmsam ||

1.072.05
samjÀnÀnÀ upa sidann abhijnu patnivanto namasyam namasyan |
ririkvÀmsas tanvah krnvata svÀh sakhÀ sakhyur nimisi raksamÀnÀh ||

Those who are to be worshipped (the gods), inquiring between the expansive heaven and earth (for Agni), recited (hymns) dedicated to Rudra;
the troop of mortal (Maruts), with (Indra), the sharer of half the oblation, knowing where Agni was hiding found him in his excellent retreat.

The gods, discovering you, sat down, and with their wives paid reverential adoration to you upon their knees. Secure on beholding their friend, of being protected, your friends, the gods, abandoned the rest of their bodies in sacrifice.

This hymn is to Agni. Here the gods including the Maruts and Indra searching for Agni, recited hymns to Rudra and with that they were able to find Agni. Clearly we see here that Agni is Rudra, the same one Being with two names. Agni is Rudra - one God but two names.

And that He was hidden (Ta. marai) in the realms between the heavens and the earth. And in order to find him they had to chant hymns.

Upon finding him (realisation) and feeling secure and protected, the gods together with their wives knelt before Agni and paid adoration to him and cast away their bodies (as they had no further use for it after their self realisation).

Further, according to Sayana, this hymn is "dedicated to Rudra: Rudra is equated with Agni; the hymns to Agni are called Rudri_ya, for Rudra is Agni: rudra-agnih; a legend is cited: during a battle between the gods and asuras, Agni carried off the wealth which the former had concealed; detecting theft, the gods pursued the thief, and forcibly recovered their treasure; Agni wept (arodi_t) at the loss; thereafter he was called Rudra (Taittiri_ya Sam.hita_1.5.1.1)."

Krishna Yajur Veda kanda 1
PRAPATHAKA V - The Rekindling of the Fire
Taittiri_ya Sam.hita_ 1.5.1

"The gods and the Asuras were in conflict; the gods, in anticipation of the contest, deposited in Agni their desirable riches (thinking),'This will still be ours, if they defeat us'. Agni desired it and went away with it. The gods having defeated (the Asuras) pursued (Agni) desirous of recovering it. They sought violently to take it from him. He wept; in that he wept (arodit), that is why Rudra has his name."

Thus we see that Agni later came to be called Rudra, although both names are used interchangeably in the rig veda, as well as other names too.

Secondly we see that the way to realise the Lord is to chant hymns, and this has come to be the tradition in Hinduism. Yagnavalkya too reiterates that to realise brahman one has to chant the Satarudriya. All the vedic and bakti hymns are devotional praises to the Lord. The tradition was established right from the rig veda and followed through right down to Ramalingaswami in the 19th century. This is the tapas of the Hindu for realisation or metaphysical insights and visions.

This clears the confusion of the 'many gods' as well as the way towards god realisation.

Today there are only a few temples and icons of Agni in the world. However Agni is present in all Hindu rituals; the passing of the flames during puja and passed to the devotees as sacrament, the oil lamps, in the kindling of the homa fire, in marriages as the Agni-Witness, even as Agnideva of the kitchen firestove, in the preparation of the burnt and purified vibhuthi (cosmic-fire) ash which is smeared on the forehead as a sacrament after prayers and finally consigning the dead body to the jaws of Agni in a cremation - the ultimate sacrifice. All Hindus sacrifice to Agni eventually in much the same way "the gods abandoned the rest of their bodies in sacrifice" after realising Agni-Rudra, as shown above.

Additionally Agni came to be called Rudra, and Rudra is now worshipped as Siva, whose worship is extensive in many forms including as Shakti and Muruga.

Rig 1.31.1 Hymn to Agni
tvamagne prathamo aNgirA RSirdevo devAnAmabhavaH shivaH sakhA

"You, O Divine Fire, were the first of the Angirasa peoples - a Rishi and God (Deva) yourself, the auspicious (Shiva) friend of the Gods!"

RV 2.1.6: Rudra
tvam agne rudro asuro maho divas…

You, O Agni, (as) Rudra, (are) the asura of great heaven…)

We see this Agni-Rudra-Siva connection right in the first and second rig mandala.

Pathma

Many levelheaded thinkers in this day and age would agree that a certain degree
of intellectual arrogance, if not bigotry and fanaticism, is associated with
monodoxy. However, in one's eagerness to avoid this, one may also let oneself
slip into its flip side, which may be called Anything Goes Attitude (AGA). AGA
arises from a number of factors some of which are the following:

First, there is the conviction that it is intrinsically impossible to affirm on
purely logical grounds that one mode of looking at things is necessarily more
valid than another. For example, if God created the world, who is to say if the
Creator had two arms or a hundred? Over the ages, different cultures have
developed different approaches to life and reality. It is naive and ethnocentric
to assume that what one's own culture has developed is the best. The growing
power and dominance of science renders ineffective and helpless religious and
other modes of describing or recognizing reality. This epistemological hegemony
seems to be as unfair. A feeling of guilt on the part of some Western thinkers
that their own civilization has behaved shabbily towards many other
civilizations during the past few centuries also induces AGA.

If monodoxy is narrow in its outlook, is logically and morally untenable, and
harmful in many contexts, AGA can become callous, hurtful, and downright silly
in some others.

An enthusiasm for respecting every explanation of natural phenomena in every
culture, past and present may not always be the most enlightened way. At an
international conference I was attending a few years ago in South Africa, a
speaker from Australia reported that some people in an island believed that
their island had been created the dawn of time by a deity just for them. She
went on to say that Westerners were now teaching in the schools there about
plate tectonics and the formation of landmasses in mid-oceans, and were thus
demolishing the traditional and sacred history of the islanders. This was, she
said, Eurocentric arrogance for it had no respect for the belief system of other
cultures.

I rather doubt that teaching people - whether Westerners or Southerners - about
current scientific findings and worldviews is a display of arrogance. What is
arrogant is to assume that only the Western mind can understand modern science.
If we saw an ancient religious rite involving human sacrifice, would we be
ethnocentrically haughty if we were to make an effort to have them modify the
practice by substituting a symbolic vegetable in lieu of the human?

AGA can also have the effect of shaking faith in one's own cultural, religious,
and philosophical framework, since nothing is taken as having any intrinsic or
absolute merit. It can dissolve distinctions between science and superstition,
between astronomy and astrology, between magic-mongering and medicine, between
UFOlogy and SETI, etc. Some thinkers in the scientifically developing societies
have been lulled by AGA into believing that medieval worldviews are as valid as
modern scientific. When this is applied in the context of diseases, male
superiority, and fear of eclipses, the results can be both ridiculous and
devastating.

Monodoxy must be avoided sometimes, and also AGA. To hold on to absolutes on the
moral plane on purely logical grounds is difficult, but if it is abandoned
altogether, human society could degenerate to a savage free-for-all with no
moorings or maturity. To accept every world picture as valid can land us in
fantasies and superstitions.

Rig Veda 1.164.41
gaurih mimaaya salilaani taksati ekapadi dvipadi sa catuspadi
astaapadi navapadi babhuvusi
sahasraaksharaa parame vyoman

From Siva/Shakti came forth Nada, the Primal Sound,
Shakti is the Great Cause;
She is One and She is Two (Siva/Shakti).
She became everything we see here
And everything we do not see;
She has become all that is
Yet She remains the ever-pure virgin light and intelligence
The cosmic energy that is the crowning glory of existence.
To You we sing this hymn of praise, God Siva.

Notice the reference to the primal'sound' - these are the metaphysical sounds. The allegory is He is light and She is sound. There are several more references to Shakti and Muruga in the vedas too. It doesn't matter in which of the vedas are the mentions. The veda arrangement does not follow any known sequence other than metered verse, prose or chant. In chrono order portions of the atharva veda is the oldest.

Regards.

Pathma

VaLLalaar practices a Saivism that may not be the standard Saivism that enjoys extolling Siva as the Supreme God and in that claims above VishNu of Sri VaishNavism and Brahman of Vedanta and so forth. In many verses VaLLalaar comes up with brilliant and very profound metaphysical insights in terms of which he sees a UNITY of a fundamental kind, a kind of unity that is part of the Samayatiitam, the Transcendance of Religion (and hence also all scriptures) that the best Saivittes have expounded right from very ancient times. The seeds are contained in the Sumerian um-bin sa-ba me su=ti-a : Ta ombin isaiba mey sootiay: those who recite Om, begin to shine with inner radiance. This mantra turns to metaphysics already means the transcendance scriptures and relgions based on them.

This is the highest kind of metaphysical life and no scriptures or religious rituals can supplant it. Thus all these scriptures and religions are only preparatory towards the recital of the Mantra Om and which makes the person shine forth with Njaana that which confers Moksa.

The Tamil philosophers have never forgotten this deep insight and periodically we have great souls who articulate the same understanding in an idiom that is currently fashionable. Perhaps this applies to the whole of Hindusism where the best of the philosophers have articulated this.

Here VaLLalaar not only brings together the divergent Vedantic and Agamic traditions  by mentioning that it is the same BEING who shines as the crest Jewel in both but also integrates the Saiva and VaishNava traditions by saying that it is the same BEING who is  the Crescent Moon Siva and the Tulasi garlanded Tirumaal or VishNu

But the most important is that despite this presence in the scriptures - Vedas Agamas Tantras and so forth, He is a living presence in the bosom of all and as the Mountain of all good qualities so that He continuously reshapes the souls so that they discard the lowly qualities and assume the higher - more loving and compassionate.

Here VaLLalaar also mentions that BEING is Resplendent Light, the Civakozuntu, the Flame that purifies and the blossom of metaphysical wisdom that blooms only during Deep Silence.

When scriptural exegetics and icon worship come along with the understanding that such exercises are NOT final and that when the time comes they OUGHT to be transcended, then we shall recover the SANITY that is true of genuine religion. This is the SANITY that we find not only in the verses of VaLLalaar but also in all the famous mystic-poets of Sacred Tamil

34

maRaimudikkup poruttamuRu maNiyee Njaana
        vaaritiyee anbarkaL tam manatee ninRa
kuRaimudikkum kuNakunRee kunRaa moonak
        koomaLmee tuuya civak kozuntee veLLaip
piRaimudikkum perumaanee tuLava maalaip
        pemmaanee ceGkamalap piraanee inta
iRaimudikku muuvarkkum meelaay ninRa
        iRaiyee ivvuruvuminRi irunta teevee!

Meaning:

O Maha Deva!
You remain the most appropriate crest jewel of the Vedas and Vedanta texts and as the vast Ocean of Metaphysical Wisdom. But You are also in the bosom of all as the living reality and who removes the defects of the souls by presenting yourself as the veritable mountain of all goodness. You also stand as the beautiful flower and the Fire of Civanjaanam in the mind of all those who transcend scriptures and religions and practice the Deep Silence. Now when you decide to disclose yourself in iconic forms to stimulate metaphysical thinking, You not only present yourself as the Siva who wears the Crescent Moon on the head but also as the Tirumaal who wears the garland of TuLasi. You also present yourself as the Three Great Gods, Siva VishNu and Brahma and remain ABOVE such iconic forms disclosing yourself as the Pure Light for those who practice Deep Silence.

The Metaphysical Meanings of SaNmuka and Ganesha

VaLLalaar is well noted for the large range of verses he has composed in praise of what he calls Arud Perunj Coti,Ê the Great Radiance of Pure Love. He exulted as all the great mystics throughout the world and from ancient time in the vision of BEING-as-Pure-Radiance which immediately destroys every cultural and religious identity and makes him absolutely universal,

But this doe not mean that he was an iconoclast, someone who avoidedÊandÊdespisedÊIcon Thinking and so forth. He practiced Icon Thinking and though unlike in TevaramÊ andÊDivviya Prabantam not wholly involved in it, but nevertheless he indulges now and then and when necessary bringing out the hidden meanings of some of these Muurtties or Icons.

In this verss we have TWO icons mentioned - both the so-called sons of Siva and which is just another way of putting that these icons are intimatelyÊrelated to that of Siva.

The first he mentions is that of SaNmuka the six-faced Kantan, and which is the phenomenal image of the noumenalÊSix-faced Catasiva. He stays on the depths of the soulsÊin this polycephalic form with each face developing an aspect of human soul so that the soul enjoys a spiritual education that is deep and comprehensive. Thus he remains hidden and concealed in the CAVE of the soul - a very deep recess of the soul and thus remainingÊ UNCONSCIOUS prompts various kinds of desires in the heartÊso that the filth is removed and the soul cleansed. This is what happens when genuine Yoga is practiced.

Now we have also BEING appearing as Ganesha , the God of Inner meditations so that vain and useless and quite often egoistic metaphysical; disputes are avoided and genuine spiritual learning is indulged in withÊ a full freedom of mind.Ê Such individuals are blessed with the heavenly Amutu and which becomes a real metaphysical; feast as joys after joys are experienced.

Thus BEING both as Kantan and Ganesha blesses the souls with an endlessÊseries of good thngs because he is also the fountain-head of limitlessÊ beauties.

35.

kootakanRa yookiyar manak kukaiyil vaazum
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊkuruvee saNmukaG koNda koovee vanjsa
vaatakanRa njaaniyar tam matiyil uuRum
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊvaanamutee aananta mazaiyee Maayai
veetakanRa muttarkaLai vizuGku Njaana
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊceezamee meyyinpa viruntee nenjcil
tiikanaRa meyyadiyaar tamakku vaaytta
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊcwlvamee ellaiyilaac ciimait teevee!

Meaning:

O maha Deva!

You disclose yourself as the Guru in the mental cave of the Yogies who with genuine and ardent tapas have removed from the soul all the pollutants.ÊYou also appear as the six-faced Kantan to teach ALL the aspects ofÊ human existence to the souls. You also shower like the rain of bliss the divine Amutu in the souls of the illuminated individuals who avoid the misleading and egoistic arguments.ÊYou also disclose yourself as theÊ elephant-headedÊGanesha with a huge belly and who swallows the souls who having transcendedÊeven metaphysical understanding have attained moksa. Even for the devotees who are genuine in their quest, you provide a genuine spiritual feast that pleases them immensely and makes them cherish as great treasure, You are in fact all the countless number of good qualities always ever ready to bless the souls with them.

Many roots of ethical injunctions may be traced to various religions traditions.
When one contrasts these lofty formulations with the records of human behavior
in our religious history, one wonders if religions have had as much positive
impact as one could have hoped. But then it is quite possible that we would have
remained more wild and beastly without the religions. Who can tell! What we do
know is that a great many guideposts for commendable conduct can be found in the
teachings of religions.

With the rise of modern science came the emancipation of the mind from many
misconceptions about the nature of the physical world and life forms, as also
views of our species that transcend culture. So began efforts to formulate
frameworks for national and international behavior that would be more humanistic
than doctrinal, more global than parochial. During the twentieth century, two
world wars were followed by a Cold War, countless local conflicts, and mounting
economic, social, and inter-religious problems: the human condition seemed to be
fast deteriorating.

So, at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1993, representatives
from many groups made a joint "Declaration of the Religions for a Global Ethic."
The drafters of the declaration (Hans Küng was the first author) had to be
sensitive to all faiths. Since not all religions are theistic, one had to avoid
invoking God. Controversial topics like abortion and euthanasia were not even
mentioned. No reference was made to prophets and scriptures, nor to the
slaughter of animals for religious festivals. Political tyranny and dictatorship
could not be openly condemned since a number of participants came from nations
where these were very much in vogue. The notion of human rights was already
there in the U.N.

The global ethic declaration expresses noble sentiments: Everyone must be
treated humanely; there must be non-violence and respect for life; one must work
for a just economic order, for tolerance, truthfulness, equal rights, gender
equality and partnership, etc. There was a call for consciousness
transformation. The authors of the document expressed the conviction that "the
new global order will be a better one only in a socially-beneficial and
pluralist, partner-sharing and peace-fostering, nature-friendly and ecumenical
globe." They committed themselves "to a common Global Ethic" and called upon
"all women and men of goodwill to make this Declaration their own."

This was the first ethical document whose signatories come from every religion
in the world. However, it is difficult to come up with new ethical criteria
beyond the age-old principle of not hurting anyone consciously. What is
interesting in this collective effort is that when people from different
religious traditions reflect on values from enlightened humanistic perspectives,
they quickly discover that they have much in common, and that everything that is
of universal ethical value in the religions can be upheld without doctrinal and
metaphysical assumptions.

With all that, interfaith conflicts and crimes have continued: the world has
witnessed the 9/11 atrocity, the launching of Gulf War II, and countless
religious acrimony and sectarian slaughter. No matter how genuine and
enlightened our ethical declarations, ultimately group actions are guided by the
basic instincts of selfishness and cultural self-righteousness. Take away the
first, and groups may not survive. Take away the second, and there may be no
moral conviction.

This is the Tamil concept of 'Right' or 'acts of justness or fairness' as opposed to Dharma. Dharma translates in Tamil as 'Tarumam' and meaning 'charity'. In the sanskrit epics dharma means duty, specifically the varnashrama dharma. This understanding is absent in tamil culture and the varna concept too is not accepted. Unlike dharma, Aram applies to all humans, all races, men and women, equally. It is universal.

Tarumam or charity in tamil culture means 'to give or care for' in words or deeds to others. It is extending kindness and comp***ion to all without thought of reward. Duty is one of the sub-concepts of aram, and not the other way around. In tamil culture 'Right' takes precedence over 'Duty'. We see the clash here right away.

Aram is logical, practical and realistic requiring no books to explain, whereas dharma is idealistic. The onus is on the person to decide 'what is right' in any situation regardless of duty. As Tiruvalluvar explains aram is related to surrender to God whereas dharma need not necessarily be so and can be independent of belief in God. Aram is 'love of god' extended to love of all mankind, animals and the environment - and seeing no difference between these two.

In tamil tarumam means charity, which is not the same as dharma. In short, the tamil tarumam and sanskrit dharma means two different things. Also the tamil aram and the sanskrit dharma also means two different things. I had a quick check of Auvaiyar's 108 aphorisms and the Kural's 1330 couplets and found there is no mention of the word dharma. It is absent in the tamil language and
culture. What we have is Aram, Tarumam and Kadamei. Could it be that we have no concept in tamil for the sanskrit word dharma?

Isn't it strange that such an important concept as dharma is absent in tamil literature as well as absent in in the veda samhitas and upanishads, but found confined only in the epics and late puranas? Tamil and sanskrit are two parallel literatures on Hinduism and yet both have vastly differing views on ethics and morals governing society.

'Kadamai' means inherent duty, obligation or 'what is owed and has to be done or performed. This word comes the closest to the meaning of the sanskrit word dharma. Yet it is still not the same.

Comparing aram and dharma is like comparing apples and oranges as it differs in their impact on worldviews, beliefs, attitudes and actions. And we certainly need to study its impacts on Hindu society and its eventual devastating effects.

Dharma is not a vedic, agamic or tamil concept. The fact that these are not found in these texts means a repeated rejection of such ideas in favour of the concept of aram or 'rightness' as a moral code. We certainly must take extraneous efforts to compare and study these two concepts, whether superior or not, and in the search for truth and justice even overturn them.

No doubt theists and athiests can be ethical and just. But thats about it. Tiruvalluvar takes the idea further and says only one who surrendered to the 'Absolutely Right' (God) can cross the ocean or births and deaths, achieve moksha. Those who fail (being unable to hold on to aram) will not be able to swim, meaning they cannot hold on to aram for long on their own free will.

Aram is left to the person to decide based on his conscience, humaneness and given the situation.

Many writers still confuse, or for convenience translate aram as dharma. The difference in worldviews is huge.

"The concept of "dharma" appears to be an outgrowth of the idea known as "rita". In literary records the usage of the word "dharma" can be traced back to the Vedic times in its more prevalent form – "dharman" and both these words are derived from the same verbal root "dhr" which means to bear, support, sustain and hold. It may come as a surprise that the word "dharma" occurs at least fifty-six times in the Rig Veda!

The Purusha Sukta an important part of the Rig-Veda (10.7.90.1-16), which also appears in the Taittiriya Aranyaka (3.12, 13), Vajasaneyi Samhita (31.1-6), Sama-veda Samhita (6.4), and the Atharva Veda Samhita (19.6), in its 18th text the word "dharma" is used as the laws that guiding humanity.

Also, Atharva Veda describes "dharma" as "prithivim dharmana dhritam" meaning "this world is upheld by dharma". Rishi Kanda defines "dharma" as "that confers worldly joys and leads to supreme happiness" in Vaisesika. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad a pre-Buddhist work sees "dharma" not only as the universal principle of law, order, harmony, but as the pure Reality. In the Brihadaranyaka's own words: "Verily, that which is Dharma is truth. They say of a man who speaks the truth, He speaks the dharma, or of a man who speaks the dharma, He speaks the truth. Verily, both these are the same thing."

Anupama

These two concepts should not be loosely treated as equivalents in different languages but recognised as alternates.

In the vedas and upanishads dharma means rta or cosmic order, harmony, law as well as truth. Since then the word has evolved into something else in the epics and into what it is understood to be today.

Today when people in the subcontinent speak about dharma what they mean is the understanding of that concept as in the epics, meaning it is duty, righteousness, social order, especially varnashrama dharma. That is the dharma I am talking about. It is this concept and understanding of the word that is NOT present in the vedas and upanishads.* The word dharma has evolved from one meaning in the vedas into an entirely expanded and different thing in the epics.

Comparative studies of these two concepts and its impact in their societies and culture as well as a critical analysis of it is crucial for a better understanding of the Hindu religion. By these discussions I have just removed the concept of dharma as a cornerstone of Hinduism and showed it to be just another pebble in the ethical stardom of Hindu cultures and society. The effects of this is huge. Once Hindus come to accept that 'what is right and just' is more important than duty then we would see a seachange in attitudes.

What we do have in our shastras is the agamic concept of 'chariya' which means 'virtuous and moral living'. This is close to aram. Chariya could be as simple as just the yaamas and niyaamas** of Tirumular and Patanjali, or comprehensive as written by Tiruvalluvar and Auvaiyar. Again chariya cannot be equated to dharma.

Chariya is also not a stand alone concept but linked to 'kriya' or 'worship'. Tiruvalluvar makes this connection that only one who surrenders to god can hold on to aram indefinately and overcome samsara.

The Hindu world must come to understand that chariya is the foundation stone of their religion and ethical lives, and NOT dharma. After all they are Agamists. Although aram and chariya^ is the underlying moral and ethics on Hinduism the idea of dharma in the popular media and m*** mind is looming over, diffusing into, and confusing the understanding of Hinduism. This confusion must be removed. One can make a presentation of Hinduism without once using the word dharma.

* In sanskrit context is everthing!

**in none of the yaamas and niyaamas is there a mention of dharma as a requisite of chariya.

^aram and chariya may be termed as equivalents in concepts.

"Merely recognizing that aRam andÊ'dharmaÊare different concepts may allow one toÊ go away thinking that these two concepts canÊco-exist. My view has been that there can be no mutual co-existence. They are fundamentally anti-thetical concepts.

(Varna) Dharma is social evil that has to be opposed and defeated. aRam should flourish, (varna) Dharma should perish.

If there is anything worthy left in Sanskritic Dharma after stripping it of Varnashrama, I will like to hear."
Arul

Pathma

Aram Seiya Virumbu - Auvaiyar
Desire to do what is Right.

The word Aram has been beautifully defined by Thiruvalluvar in the following couplets:

Allukkaru, Avaa, Vehuli, Innaachol- Ivai Naankum,Illukkaa Iyandrathu Aram
A life lived free of evil thoughts, excessive desire, anger & unpleasant words is Aram.

Aran Enapaduwathu Yaathenil- Yaathondrum,Theemai Illathu Seyal

Aram is when your actions are absolutely harmless.

Maranthum Piran Khedhu Seiyatka-Seiyin, Aram Soolum Soolthavan Khedu

Aram will punish those who even unconsciously contemplate harming others.

Aravinai Yaathenil Khollaamai-Koeril, Pira Vinnai Ellaam Tharum

Not killing is an act of Aram. Killing brings in its wake a multitude of bad results.

Aravaali Anthanan Thaal Serntharku Allaal-Pirravaali, Neenthal Arith
Unless one surrenders at the feet of the One who is the epitome of Aram (God) It will be very difficult to cross the sea of life.

The God we worship is one who is Absolutely Right and to seek union with Him-Her, and escape the cycles of birth and death, we have to do what is Right. This is the essence of our religious beliefs as Saivite Hindus.

Thiruvalluvar once again says:

Piravi Perum Kadal Neenthuvar- Neenthar, Iraivan Adi Serrathaar
Those who will be able to cross the ocean of birth and death are those who have surrendered at the feet of God. Those who fail will not be able to swim.

By: Dr.Rajasingham Narendran

Not infrequently, debates and conflicts arise between science and religion
because the proponents of each side adopt different criteria for sanctioning
validity to propositions. It will therefore be helpful if there is mutual
recognition - not necessarily adoption - of what these are. There are at least
seven criteria by which a proposition is taken to be true in the religious
framework.

First, religions are based on the teachings or revelation of personages who are
regarded as spiritually awakened. These teachings are generally accepted as
conveying higher truths from a supernatural source. In other words, the source
of religious truths is accepted as a higher authority.

Religious truths are felt to be as such in the deepest core of one's being,
beyond cerebral analysis and reasoning. As long as this conviction is there, the
associated statement is taken as a religious truth. Such a conviction is what
one calls, in the Biblical phrase, "the evidence of things not seen."

What this implies is that though every religion is practiced in a group-cultural
context, it has also a profoundly personal dimension for the individual. Like
art and music, religious truths are felt and internalized rather than critically
dissected and logically proved, except by theologians and philosophers. There
may be a crowd in a museum but each person experiences a painting at a deeply
personal level. That is how religious truths are also experienced.

Religious frameworks can often lead the practitioner to a heightened state of
consciousness arising from an actual or perceived communion with the cosmos at
large. This may range from a simple experience of inner peace, as during prayer
or meditation, to the ecstasy of heightened mystical experience. This is very
different from the thrill that comes from scientific knowledge, for it doesn't
need understanding of complex concepts.

Religions rest on the attestation of authorities who have confirmed the
proclamations of the initial sources. No traditional religion is without
inspired commentators.

Religious truths provide purpose and meaning to life, and to human existence
more generally.

Religious affiliation has significant impact on the psychological/emotional life
of the practitioner. This is one of the important factors for the appeal and
persistence of religions.

These criteria hold for all traditional religions. Non-traditional religions
(such as religious naturalism, humanism, Unitarianism) formulate rules which
reject or alter some of the principles enunciated above. Their goal and practice
are different from those of traditional religions. The newer religious visions
tend to move away from beliefs that diverge from scientific findings, and try to
do away with some of the negative side-effects of traditional religions. But
they also have the potential for eradicating some of the positive features of
traditional religions. In the reduction of everything to facts, figures and
provable propositions, some of the poetic elements of the religious experience
are diluted, while the solace and comfort that the magic of traditional
religions provide are all but erased.

It is important to recognize that one reason for conflicts between science and
religion is that scientific criteria for ascribing validity to propositions are
quite different. It is not a question of which set of criteria is right and
which is wrong, or which is better and which is worse. It is not just a matter
of adopting one or the other, but of recognizing the contextual relevance,
significance, and value of each. What one adopts or rejects also depends on the
up-bringing and experience of the individual.