Ques on MahaBhrarta. Peep in/ DT Nt pg 25 - Page 24

Originally posted by: mnx12

God's idols or images in temple are, " prana pratishthita". When a one visits the temple, gets pulled by the divine energy. He tries to communicate with idol in simple language or recites prayer, shloka, mantra etc, trying to connect with the power. Gets satisfaction of conveying his feelings to god. He may find means of getting his worries solved, reassuring his faith.

This is a small way of conditioning ones mind in getting connected with the supreme power. Over a period of time, his mind gets closely connected to the power, based on his faith. Fortunate ones may grow ahead on this path & try to understand god more by performing austerity, read upanishads, holy scriptures etc. That is gyana of the supreme power. Leading into realisation of God. 

Self realisation follows after this stage resulting in being one with the supreme consciousness. 

Here one has to unlearn previously learnt scriptures too. 

In books it may appear as simple stuff as aatma has to realise paramatma, or aatma is part of paramatma. 

In reality one has to live or actualise oneself or live in unison with the supreme consciousness as the supreme consciousness. 

Its a long process. At times going on from many births. What aadi shankaracharya explained is absolutely right. He explained only about initial steps leaving the worthy seekers to learn & live this path from an eminent guru.

Wonderful explanation regards the bolded part and it seems a logical progression for the human being. Your answers are always helpful and are clear to understand. Thank you.

I have just started reading the texts and sometimes it becomes too taxing to understand all the subtle underlying concepts with my limited knowledge. I find there are too many texts like so many Upanishads, and schools of philosophy. But, the underlying theme in all of them more or less seems to proclaim that human potential is not limited and human being can very well achieve divinity which could be translated as Moksh/Liberation. Only the methods in these texts to achieve that stage seems to differ. For example, as per Maharishi Patanjali who mentions in his Yug sutr, practising of strict Brahmacharya in word, deed and in thoughts encompasses all that is needed for a human being to realize his full potential. As per him, there is nothing that cannot be achieved through the practice of Brahmacharya. Likewise, other texts seem to suggest a different path, where one who practices regular rituals as mentioned in Vedas, like performing of Yagna and so on, and it would result in achieving of liberation. Different texts seem to give diiferent paths, but they all seem to suggest, freeing oneself from the cycle of birth and death is the supreme goal of human birth.

Also, what I find is, Puranas seem to suggest there is a specfic personal God ex: Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna and so on, who are ready to grant boons to devotees who pray to them ardently and are able to perform miracles for their behalf. Whereas, some of the texts of  Upanishads seem to portray the supreme power as an impersonal supreme consciousness devoid of any physical characteristics and thrust the burden back to human being, where it seems to emphasize on getting Gnana is paramount and only thus one can achieve Moksh.

To me, the answers given by you all, that various paths do exist, without exclusivity of any one particular path. And a blend of such paths is also needed as well, seems correct and logical. 

Thanks for understanding the explanation.

Maharshi Patanjali, was right during his time period. Today its difficult to follow his path. Similarly performing yagya every day, may not be possible. Hence one has to find a practical, workable path, which can be different each one of us. Best part is never try too hard. Just let it happen.

Puranas are story based. They introduce us to various entities of our faith. Upanishads are to be followed after Puranas. 

Its important to understand them instead of just reading. It may happen what you are reading today can be understood later. But if you have knowledge stored in mind, realization can happen any time in just a blink of a moment. Hence never stop the learning process. 

Various path does exist. We can follow one suitable to us & find exclusivity in it. As one progresses, logic vanishes only realization, actualization remains.

Beautifully and concisely expressed. Thank you.

Happy Maha Shivratri dear revered friends in this thread.⭐️⭐️⭐️

Our culture, traditions, and festivals have a deeper meaning. All of them are associated with a specific divine energy. This divine energy is given a name and form for us to understand the virtues, qualities, and its blessings clearly. One among these energies, and the presiding energy, is Shiva.

Ever thought why is Shiva the subject of such deep wonder and worshipped so widely in India? Could Shiva be an actual person? Does divinity possess a human form? And would it be limited if that divinity was in a human body? Many questions with innumerable answers! Want to know from our good friends here.😊

The Vedas and Upanishads tell us that our life has a hint of Lord Shiva. In those philosophical discourses, Shiva is nothing but that deep state of peace, calmness and inner stability. 

While Shava is motionless or lifeless, Shiva is with the potential of life. Anything with Shiva is with life and anything without Shiva is shava: a dead body.lifeless.

So, Shiva is auspicious, Shiva is life and Shiva is potential. Shiva is all-encompassing - the universal soul or consciousness.🙏🏻

Happy Maha Shivratri to all.

Happy Maha Shivratri to all.

Thanks Viswasruti for bringing those questions to light. Beautiful explanation on Lord Shiva, so concise but so deep. 👌

As for me, abstract concepts with too much technical detail, as I have found in my limited reading of some texts such as Advaita Vedanta and few Upanishad texts to be too hard to grasp for my intellectual level and actually felt depressed reading them, similar to when I was reading the core concepts of Buddhist philosophy. I found them to be on the Nihilistic patterns, which was hard for me to digest. I have started reading Yog Sutras of Maharishi Patanjali and they thus far seem to be to the point, devoid of abstract concepts, brief and with practical application. Need to read it more and think through on them, the journey has only just started.

I believe God is with unlimited potential, so to me praying to Lord Shiva in imagining him in human form is comforting. As per my understanding, there is a universal ruler, and can take physical form as and when needed. I don't have any doubt in the existence of the Almighty, or the concept of karma. The stumbling block which has always been uncomfortable for me, had been the reason for our existence, what circumstances led to our creation. After creation, I understand the concept of karma plays a role in the cycle of birth and death but what actually led in the first place to our creation and the reason for such. Not all answers satisfied me fully on this question.

As per my understanding, one can become divine, if he is able to conquer his desires. That is what our texts say so and that is what our revered sages said so. But, as mnx12 had said earlier, just like practicing of Brahmacharya is not possible for everyone at this point in time, so does conquering of desires. But, we can have some reasonable yardstick to start with, like slowly controlling your wants, and start to lead life with purity. I think Patanjali Maharishi is on the money, when he says absolute Brahmacharya at some point in time will bring one Kaivalya. This I find is the biggest exam one can endure in life, no other test is more difficult than to practice absolute Brahmacharya in thought, deed and in word.

The "Shiva Sutras", an exceptional text for understanding Lord Shiva & soul, very important for seeker, a must read.  Please go through this book, whenever time permits.

https://archive.org/details/SwamiLakshmanjooShivaSutrasTheSupremeAwakening354pAnomolous/page/n3/mode/2up

Thank you mnx12 for sharing the link. 

I just saw this thread. See each festival for me is symbolic with the stories associated with it. They contain the deeper meaning of the festival and practices that are suitable for our times. In South Shivratri is believed to be the day shiva consumed the poison for the welfare of the world and Parvati held it in his neck. Fasting and staying awake the whole night is believed to bring auspicious tidings. But for me Shivratri denotes the churning of our own minds. Understanding ourselves where just like ocean churning involved devas and asuras good and bad will emerge from that churning. Just before ur real potential or amrit emerge we will get the darkness within us as poison.we need to accept it without allowing it to destroy us invoking the power within us just like Parvati or shakti held shiva throat to stop poison from spreading.for me this is the message of shivratri.churn ur mind.eliminate the darkness and reach for the light for larger good.as more individuals find light within society will improve.

 

Originally posted by: shruthiravi

I just saw this thread. See each festival for me is symbolic with the stories associated with it. They contain the deeper meaning of the festival and practices that are suitable for our times. In South Shivratri is believed to be the day shiva consumed the poison for the welfare of the world and Parvati held it in his neck. Fasting and staying awake the whole night is believed to bring auspicious tidings. But for me Shivratri denotes the churning of our own minds. Understanding ourselves where just like ocean churning involved devas and asuras good and bad will emerge from that churning. Just before ur real potential or amrit emerge we will get the darkness within us as poison.we need to accept it without allowing it to destroy us invoking the power within us just like Parvati or shakti held shiva throat to stop poison from spreading.for me this is the message of shivratri.churn ur mind.eliminate the darkness and reach for the light for larger good.as more individuals find light within society will improve. 

Welcome to this highly spiritual thread Shruti.🤗 Waiting to see your comments regarding the different topics discussed here, in an elaborate manner.