Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Guru - Jiddu Krishnamurthi




J. Krishnamurthi was an enlightened soul, a writer and philosopher whose mission was to bring about a positive change in human personality.

Jiddu Krishnamurthi was born on May 11, 1895 in Madanapalle, Andra Pradesh state and is from a family of telugu speaking Brahmins.  He was at most times assumed to be mentally retarded and punished by his parents and teachers for revealing his psychic experiences. 

Through his association with the theosophical society, he was able to bloom into a true spiritual guru. He believed that everyone should meditate and  have a more spiritual approach to living. He respected humanity and nature and wanted everyone to treat themselves well and preserve Earth.  

He did not encourage intellectual pursuits.  He believed that the ultimate truth can be realized only through each seeker’s awareness to his own experience, understanding and observation leading to involution (inward growth).

Later he said, “I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or coerce people along a particular path. ... This is no magnificent deed, because I do not want followers, and I mean this. The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth”. 

He compared himself to Thomas Edison, meaning that the seeker has to just flick the switch as all the hard work had been done by him through his process of self-realization. He wanted seekers to simply live the teachings laid out by him, in order to attain the higher consciousness. 

He attained liberation through his own personal experiences and observations and died on February 17, 1986.

Quotes of J.Krishnamurti


If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem.

In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.

Religion is the frozen thought of man out of which they build temples.

The end is the beginning of all things, Suppressed and hidden, Awaiting to be released through the rhythm Of pain and pleasure.

The flowering of love is meditation.

There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.

Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay.

We all want to be famous people, and the moment we want to be something we are no longer free.

What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear,not how to escape from it.


Sunday, April 29, 2012

Religion and Dharma


Religion is a collection of cultural and belief system that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and sometime to moral values. 

 
According to Swami Rama: The words "religion" and "dharma" denote two entirely different concepts and perspectives. Religion is comprised of rituals, customs, and dogmas surviving on the basis of fear and blind faith. Dharma--a word, unfortunately, with no English equivalent--encapsulates those great laws and disciplines that uphold, sustain, and ultimately lead humanity to the sublime heights of worldly and spiritual glory. Established in the name of God, a religion is an institution that requires a growing number of adherents for its expansion and future existence. A religion discriminates against human beings who do not belong to its particular order and condemns their way of living and being, whereas dharma is eternal, looking for no followers for its propagation. With no discrimination whatsoever, it leads a human being beyond the realms of man-made, institutionalized dictums. Instead of creating fear of God, it makes God manifest in the human heart, not in an anthropomorphic form, but as the absolute and universal One in whom all diversities reside in perfect harmony.

The Upanishads saw 'Dharma' as the universal principle of law, order, harmony, all in all truth, that sprang first from Brahman.

In the Brihadaranyaka's own words:
Verily, that which is Dharma is truth.

'Satyam vada, Dharmam chara'
Literally means, Speak the Truth and Practice Dharma.

Ancient Hindu scriptures emphasize the importance of 'Satya' and 'Dharma'.  Satya is the eternal, absolute and unchanging truth. Dharma is often translated as righteousness, Law or Natural Law.

When you add language and living style (traditions, practices and habits) to Dharma, it becomes Culture.


Acknowledgements:

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Shirdi Saibaba on Postal Stamps



Shri Shirdi Sai Baba (1835-1918), Hindu Saint

 Postage stamp issued by India Posts, India
Issue date: 2008, May 20. 
Scott Catalog # 2242
The Government of India issues stamps through India Post (Department of Post), which is part of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. Visit the official website of India Posts for more details
http://www.indiapost.gov.in/

To know more about Hindu saint Shri Shirdi Sai Baba
Visit the official website http://www.shrisaibabasansthan.org/index.html