Be Inspired

Who teaches the fish to swim? How does the bird learn to fly? Look at the mother who demonstrates to them how to catch the prey.The human beings have the advantage of learning from others.Some people follow the rolemodel of their choice and some others set their own standards.In any case,an inspiration is required to shape one's course of actions.

Let me introduce a person whom I have never met and not even spoke to her over phone. I merely came to know about her while going through the mails in a yahoo group. In that mail,she corrected the mistake of a person who gave the name of a district in Tamil nadu incorrectly.She had attached a google map to locate the place for better understanding. Later,she sent me a breath taking photograph of a dwarapalaka ,taken at Gangaikondacholapuram.When I wrote a blog on the dilapidated temple at Kollumangudi,near Mayiladuthrai,she readily came forward to help rebuilding of this ancient shrine.All I understand from her mails is that she had visited many historic temples of Tamilnadu and acquired lot of information on temple architecture. Her name is Katherine (Nationality not known)whom I introduce to the readers with pleasure with the strong feeling that she will become an inspiration for many of us who have not turned towards the glorious temples built by our ancestors.

During my visit to Sirugudi,some 30 km off Mayiladuthurai,I met two ladies who came from U.S. Surprisingly,they handed over a palm leaf manuscript to the priest and asked him to keep it at the feet of the main deity and conduct archana in their names.I was stunned when I came to know that these foreigners had Indian names and gave their nakshatra(Star) for performing the archana.During my interaction with them they disclosed that the manuscript was the gateway to know about their previous birth. The palmleaf had indicated that they had an association with this place in their previous birth.

Similarly,my friend's brother who lives abroad (whom I have not met so far) came forward to help for the noble cause of renovating the dilapidated temples.
I sincerely hope and pray that these examples would bring more awareness and inspiration for many people.

Creating interest is of prime importance in our agenda before expanding our horizon.
Let us be inspired and ready to keep our eyes and ears open to grab good thoughts.
(To be continued)

Hinduism is so flexible that it advocates the worship of God in His various forms to suit the likes and maturity of the worshipper.These forms are meant to realise the formless God at a later stage.As the concept may be difficult for a layman it never compels anyone to accept God only in a particular form.It simply teaches him to accept the ever existing Almighty. It even sets goal for the individual to attain the state where there is no birth or death.In other words, it is described as "jeevan mukthi".

As God is described as omnipresent he can not be confined to one particular form or shape. However,the devotee can choose any form of his like for the purpose of concentration and regularisation of his worship. The faith gets moulded at this stage and remains as a strong platform. Failure to understand the basics right may lead to the extent of blaming the religion without even making an attempt to know the Truth.

Critics simply comment without going deep into the subject. But it is a pity that even the so called believers whose faith is shaky are unable to silence the critics by their wisdom. The inability to answer makes the faith taking a back seat. They start doubting the numerous forms described as the weakness.But it indeed is the strength of the religion in the sense that it is so kind to all human beings in giving opportunities and choices which can fit them best.
The next question would be to tell the benefit of knowing the fundamentals.

As stated earlier, the blind faith would terminate if the shaky platform is collapsed in difficult times. The greatest benefit one would derive is to understand what he is practising. The next feeling would be to rejoice what he has experienced.The refined step would be to share his experience with others. The ultimate step would be to reach those who need to be taught. All are expected to be familiar with the often quoted sentence from Thirumoolar's Thirumandiram,

நான் பெற்ற இன்பம் peruha இவ்வையகம்

It is with this message/introduction we move on to share the basics of this great religion.

To be continued