Gods & Goddesses

Isn't it amazing how a simple question can send us on a very long journey?

My Iranian friend Ali once asked me , why do you Indians have so many Gods and Goddesses? Shyamoli another friend asked why does God have to be male?

Like many Indians, being continuously exposed to Western philosophy and Christian beliefs, I found the entire concept of Hinduism strange and inexplicable. So I set off on a journey to learn more about Hinduism.


First thing I learnt was, Hinduism cannot be appreciated easily through a Western mindset. It is difficult if not impossible for a person schooled in Western philosophy which is fundamentally the Greek philosophy and within the thought and belief framework of Abrahaminical religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Here God is seen as man like sitting on a throne directing affairs of the world. Greek Gods are seen as super human beings that live for ever. This is quite different from Indian approach and philosophy.

Hinduism is not even a religion it is  highly evolved abstract thought, scientific, and an advanced way of life, which has repeatedly passed the test of time. 

Educated in an Anglo Indian school, we were taught that God made man in His own image.  The truth is that, Man has made God in his own image.

A visit to any Hindu temple more than 2500 years old will reveal no statues or paintings of God & Goddesses. Depiction of Gods & Goddesses as is commonly observed by us in Hindu temples was taken up by Hindu priests only after followers of Lord Buddha started placing His statues in Buddhist temples.

The Goddess in Hindu scripture is not the female version of God favoured by feminists, nor is God the all powerful judgmental external agency described in the Bible who sets down codes of conduct and determines what is right and wrong. God is not even the deified hero of Greek mythology which shapes Western thinking and hence modern discourse. Goddesses and Gods have very particular meanings in the Hindu understanding of the universe.

Hindu thought starts with an observation; the human ability to imagine, that enables us to position ourselves outside nature. We alone of all living creatures can refuse to submit to nature's laws. The human mind is potentially God while nature is always Goddess. 

Thus Hindu Gods stem from the trinity of the three fundamental forms of the human mind.  Brahma is the mind that is indulgent and dominating and a God that will not be worshipped. For Brahma, nature is the Goddess Saraswati, source of wisdom awaiting his enlightenment. Shiva is the mind indifferent to others point of view, the hermit is considered the destroyer. For Shiva, nature is the alluring Goddess Shakti awaiting his engagement. For the mind that cares for others point of view is the preserver Vishnu. For Vishnu, nature is the playful Goddess Lakshmi, source of enrichment and abundance. 

Each one of is a God, and everything in nature is a Goddess. That is why nature is worshipped in millions of ways, the water, the trees, the land, the air, the mountains, the animals and the creatures and the flowers and vegetation. All worship from the mind is possible only if there is love and respect for nature and for existence. 

If we expand our minds, (hence the word Brahman. 'Brah' for expand, and 'Man' for mind, in sanskrit) to understand, respect and be one with nature then we too shall be enlightened.

Most people merely exist, rarely using their minds. Intellectually weak or lazy minds  rather than expanding their minds, fill it very quickly with dogma and perceptions, which have been handed down to them by others, mainly their parents, teachers, priests or political leaders. 

Human beings are the only known creatures that possess imagination, and expand their 'Mann' or what we call mind. That is why man is called  'Mannas or Mannav', meaning the one with a mind. Man does not live in isolation but within nature,  however because of our imagination we tend to position ourselves outside of nature. 

We alone of all living creatures can refuse to submit to nature's laws. The human mind is potentially God while nature is always Goddess. 

Thus, in Hinduism, God is the male form which represents the mind, the world of thoughts. The Goddess or the female form represents nature, the world of things.

This also helps to explain the statements,

• God is within each one of us 
• God is everywhere and within everything. 

Concepts have been drawn from the writings of Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik.

Forgive me, for I have sinned

A river is a source of life, nurturing people, vegetation, and animals living on the lands through which it flows.  The river is only doing its duty, following it's nature or what people in the East call as 'Dharma'.


Similarly humans are true to their nature. Our lives are akin to a river, alive and full of character. All humans possess their natural qualities of lust, anger, greed, ego and attachments to people and things. We need these qualities to survive. As long as they remain within reasonable limits, these qualities will help us to live healthy and happy lives.

Lust is essential for us to procreate, that is to produce children and live healthy lives. Ego permits us to give confidence to others so that they cooperate and support our endeavours. Anger is necessary to prevent being run over by one and all. Reasonable greed compels us to go out and acquire food, shelter, security and comfort for ourselves and our dependants. Attachment is necessary for us to preserve what we have acquired with so much effort.

Nature is all about balance. As long as there is balance there is tranquility. Sometimes we develop insatiable lust or greed, unlimited anger, undue attachment or get blinded by our ego our lives get imbalanced. The imbalance always causes disharmony, inconvenience and sometimes even agony to ourselves and others. Life becomes a living hell.

Life as can be seen in every facet of nature, is about balance. As long as there is balance there is tranquility. Sometimes we develop insatiable lust or greed, unlimited anger, undue attachment or get blinded by our ego our lives get imbalanced. The imbalance causes agony and inconvenience to ourselves and others.

Awakening and wisdom lies in each individual understanding of who and what they are and what is reasonable and necessary for themselves. People who flow with nature are at peace with themselves, are compassionate, peaceful, happy and useful to themselves and others.




Over the ages and from time to time, Gurus, masters, prophets, messiahs and teachers have come, awoken and guided humanity.  They made people realise that they were all spiritual beings.

Soon after the masters and Gurus left this earth, many clever but not necessarily good people have interpreted the teachings to suit their own convenience. They use organised religion not to liberate or make people spiritual but  to manipulate and control them. for their own purposes





Priests and custodians of all organised religions, in league with political leaders and rulers, have discovered a powerful approach to manipulate and exploit the masses. Messing up minds they inflict on them a terrible sense of guilt, and the masses will do whatever the priests want. Guilt is mostly manufactured. They make people feel guilty not only of having these natural human qualities but even for thinking about them.

This is the reason why in the name of religion, more blood has been shed and more misery caused than all other reasons combined.




'Guilty', people feel they have sinned, and sinners need to be unburdened of their guilt. The priests can demand whatever they like of the guilty and the sinner will gladly pay the price just to feel liberated.






People will repeatedly behave true to their human nature. This will always be considered as a 'sin' by the priests. There are two choices behave unnaturally or to 'sin'. The dilemma is that both choices are bad.

This sets people up to be continuously exploited by the priests. This in turn results in a perpetual  and ever increasing empowerment and enrichment of the priests and the religious bodies. Little  wonder that all organised religious bodies and their caretakers are immensely wealthy and powerful and that there is a constant struggle to control religious bodies.

Many 'religious' people themselves are full of the same human qualities and 'sins' for which they ask us to atone.

Next time ask yourself if you really are a sinner before you ask for forgiveness.

Lost someone?

I was overcome with emotion. Sadness, also anger, and I was certainly very confused.

"Sorry to learn that you lost your father", well-wishers condoled me.

Lost your father?

What could those words really mean?

What does it mean to lose someone?

How could my father be lost to me?

There he had lain before me, his eyes staring into space and his body a little cold.

.

If his body lay there before me then what had I lost?

Oh! Did they mean, I had lost his soul?

But his soul, it did not belong to me, so how could I lose it?

Just because he was my father, had I some right on his soul?

Assuming I had a right, where should I go looking for my father's soul, to reclaim it?

We hear much, but understand little.

"I are not a human on a spiritual journey but a spirit on a human journey".

I now realised that my father and I, we were just travellers who met on this short journey called life. We met and travelled together for a brief while, only to be separated a little later.

What had I lost or what had I gained? What could I give and what could I take? Everything is temporary. These possessions, these relations and even this body, none of it is mine. Who knows what was there before this moment, and what tomorrow will bring?

Worry never robs tomorrow, of its sorrow, it just saps today, of its beauty and strength. We all have only this moment, that is why it is probably called 'the present'.

Therefore I will continue to seek meaning in my existence. I choose to be loving, and true, to spread joy and be useful. As Guru Nanak ji spoke; When death will come calling, then all these relationships and possessions will mean nothing to the soul. So meditate on the one eternal truth, the Creator. Who knows if this breath we inhale could be our last?

Heaven and Hell

Many people search all their lives to determine if there is hell and heaven and if so where they exist.  The following story might help us to find out.







Long ago in Japan,  a big burly Samurai (warrior) came to a Roshi (wise man) and said, “Tell me the nature of heaven and hell.”

The Roshi looked at him in the face and said: “Why should I tell a scruffy, disgusting, miserable slob like you?”  The Samurai's face turned purple and his hair stood up, but the Roshi appeared not to notice and continued, “A miserable worm like you, do you think I should tell you anything?”

Consumed by rage, the Samurai drew his sword, and was just about to cut off the head of the Roshi when the Roshi said, “That’s hell.”



We all are inherently good, we just seem to have lost touch with our pure selves.  The Samurai suddenly realised, that he had just created his own hell. He had permitted himself to be filled with so much arrogance, and anger,  that he was about to kill someone.

Suddenly aware, the Samurai's eyes filled with tears he put his palms together and bowed to the Roshi.

The Roshi said, “That’s heaven.”

Thanks to my friend Sangeeta Karkhanis for this piece

Do we need more of 'successful' people?

The planet does not need more ‘successful people.’ The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places. It needs people with moral courage willing to join the struggle to make the world habitable and humane and these qualities have little to do with success as our culture has defined it.

— Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Let it be

Lord Buddha usually walked from village to village with a few of his followers.

On one such journey whilst travelling, they happened to pass a pond. They stopped there and the Buddha told one of his disciples, I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.

The disciple walked up to the pond. When he reached it, he noticed that, a bullock cart had just started crossing through the pond. As a result, the water became muddy and  turbid. The disciple thought, 'How can I give this muddy water to the Buddha to drink?'

So he came back and told the Buddha, "The water is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink."

After some time, again the Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the pond and get him some water. The disciple went back to the pond again.  This time too he found that the pond was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again the Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. The disciple reached the pond and found that the lake-water was absolutely clean. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to the Buddha.

The Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said,  "Tell me what you did to make the water clean? Nothing. You let it be and the mud settled down on its own  and you got clear water."

Then he turned to all and said, "Mind is also like that!  When it
is disturbed, just let it be. It will settle down on its own. You
don't have to put in any effort to calm it down."


I am grateful to Mr. Arun Yallatikar for these words of enlightenment

This is good

This is good

There is a tale of an African king who had a childhood friend. That friend was a constant optimist, and no matter what happened in life, he always said the same thing: "This is good!" It occured that the king and his best friend went hunting, and on that hunting trip the friend would prepare the weapons and load the guns for his friend and king. But he misjudged, and while shooting, the gun exploded and took off one of the king's thumbs with it. The friend, seeing this, exclaimed: "This is good!" "How can this be good?" Fumed the king. "This is NOT good!". And upon their return, he ordered the friend thrown into the deepest jail cell. Some time later, the king went on another hunting trip, but not far from his destination, he was caught by a group of  cannibals, who took him back to their village to prepare a feast from his flesh. But, when they saw his thumb was missing, they sent him on his way, because it is bad luck to eat an unwhole person in their culture. Upon the king's return, he immediately had his friend freed, and as the friend stepped out of his jail cell, blinking at the light, the king said: "I am sorry my dear friend, you were right all along, it WAS good that I lost my thumb. It was wrong of me to put you in jail." "No, no!" Laughed the friend. "It was good!" "How can you say it was good?" The king was surprised. "Becuase if you hadn't, I would have been with you on this trip."