Sunday, August 23, 2015

Agni - short video

Nice video. One of the secrets of upāsana is to develop a personal relationship with the concerned devatā. This video demonstrates that feeling. Nice point about agni being a representative of sūrya. Note that the āhuti during prātaḥ aupāsana is to sūrya bhagavān and during sāyam aupāsana is to agni bhagavān.


Monday, August 03, 2015

Look busy only when the boss is looking

Hope this was in jest (and i think so). Else it typifies the problem with organized religion. In fact, coming to think of it, i am not sure about the 'Jesus is coming' thing too. If he is not coming, shouldn't we care?


A personal relationship with Agni

This is a nice (though limited - want more!) interview with Dr. Robert Svoboda, author of the Aghora trilogy.  i really like his writings though don't agree on some points - mainly because of the straying from traditional thought.  A piece of this interview hits the nail on the head on bhagavAn agni. This is the reason why agni is so important even from a ritual perspective e.g. the compulsory aupAsana for married couples.
 
6. For an aspiring student of the Veda sampradaya what is the message you have?
A two-word message: bhuta shuddhi. The entire world of manifestation in general, and our human bodies in particular, are composed of the Pancha Mahabhutas, the Five Elements. The more these elements are purified in ourselves the better each of will be able to perceive reality. Of these five perhaps agni, or fire, is most important, because it can transform density into subtlety and vice versa. The first word of the first verse of the first hymn of the first mandala of the first of the Vedas, the Rg Veda, is agni; to truly study the Veda or any body of wisdom that has emerged from the Veda it is I believe essential to develop a personal relationship with fire, however that might manifest for you.

Saturday, August 01, 2015

Please stop playing with the Veda!

This (starting 27:55) is the kind of idiocy that makes one's blood boil.

First, the Veda is not to be chanted by the uninitiated - this is pure trampling on sacred ground. Second, the pronunciation is absolutely terrible. Third, she goes on to say something like "if you want to pass this course, you have to chant" and then "c'mon, don't be shy...it's very easy". Easy? Ma'am, even after growing up in an environment full of Veda we spend YEARS to get it right. We approach the Veda in an extremely sacred way. The orthodox will not even recite a syllable if they are not in their traditional wear and do not deem themselves pure enough. There are disciplines we follow to get there.  This is our tradition. Please don't steal it and abuse it. And no, this is not some kind of secular knowledge that you can just pick up - even if you were told otherwise by your friendly neighborhood Indologist. dhanyavadah.