Devi: I and Brahman are One. Brahman is not meant for the ordinary or the ignorant souls

[Guest guest]

>

> " In the Devi Gita the Devi proceeds to describe her essential

> forms. The Devi declares that prior to creation, She is the only

> existent entity, the one supreme Brahman and is pure consciousness.

> The Devi Gita is clear about salvation and attainment of eternal

> life: " Even when a person performs bhakti, knowledge need not

> arise. He will go to the Devi's Island. Till the complete knowledge

> in the form of my consciousness arises, there is no liberation. "

>

 

" The supreme divinity, Lalita, is one's own blissful Self. "

 

Bhavana Upanishad 1.27

 

 

" She alone is Atman. Other than Her is untruth, non-self. Hence is

She Brahman-Consciousness, free from (even) a tinge of being and non-

being. She is the Science of Consciousness, non-dual Brahman

Consciousness, a wave of Being-Consciousness-Bliss. "

 

Bahvricha Upanishad 1.5

 

 

" The Devimahatmya refers to two different traditions regarding the

origin of the Great Goddess: in the first Devi is explained as the

Mahanidra of Visnu embodied as the universe, eternal, incarnated in

many forms. She is " drawing herself out from the eyes and the various

organs and limbs " of Visnu: when Great Sleep leaves Visnu, he

awakens. In this form she is the great creator: she creates the

entire universe, she is the cause of bondage and transmigration, the

cause of final liberation too. She is both fierce and auspicious: she

gives to mankind boons for their final liberation.

 

The second account of Devi's origin has a different ring and seems to

be the older one. It not only mentions the Vedic gods but it is

somehow reminiscent of the Indra-Vrtra myth -- the fight of the High

God against the demon usurper, who has conquered the gods and assumed

the place of Indra. Devi here is no longer the prakrti of Visnu but

the essence of all the gods, " godhead " in a concrete sense. She

surpasses all the individual gods in power and glory because in her

all the qualities of the gods are embodied...

 

Thus the salvation of gods and men has been accomplished, and Devi

receives praise from all the devas. In the cause of this prayer all

the essential qualities of the Devi are mentioned, and the basic Devi

philosophy comes to the fore: Devi " is the origin of the universe,

the resort of all, the primordial prakrti. " She is the " supreme vidya

(knowledge) which is the cause of liberation. " She is " durga, the

boat that carries men across the difficult ocean of worldly

existence, " she is " Sri who has taken her abode in the heart of

Visnu, " and she is " Gauri, who has established herself with Siva.

Devi offers a boon, and the devas choose the following: " Whenever we

think of you again, destroy our direst calamities. " ...

 

Devi-avataras are also found in the Puranas. They have the same

function which Vainavas ascribe to Visnu-avataras, namely to protect

the world in successive ages from demons and other evil. This theory

also helps to explain the numerous goddesses as manifestations of One

Supreme Goddess: " Bhavani is worshipped by the gods in all her

repeated incarnations. She always kills demons by incarnating herself

on earth and she protects all creation in heaven, earth and the

nether world...

 

She explains her own nature according to Advaita: " I and Brahman are

one. " "

 

K. K. Klostermaier, Hinduism: A Short History

Oneworld Pub., 2000, p. 200-2.

 

 

 

BRAHMAN

 

Brahman is the central theme of almost all the Upanishads. Brahman

is the indescribable, inexhaustible, omniscient, omnipresent,

original, first, eternal and absolute principle who is without a

beginning, without an end , who is hidden in all and who is the

cause, source, material and effect of all creation known, unknown

and yet to happen in the entire universe.

 

He is the incomprehensible, unapproachable radiant being whom the

ordinary senses and ordinary intellect cannot fathom grasp or able

to describe even with partial success. He is the mysterious Being

totally out of the reach of all sensory activity, rationale effort

and mere intellectual, decorative and pompous endeavor.

 

The Upanishads describe Him as the One and indivisible, eternal

universal self, who is present in all and in whom all are present.

Generally unknown and mysterious to the ordinary masses, Brahman of

the Upanishads remained mostly confined to the meditative minds of

the ancient seers who considered Him to be too sacred and esoteric

to be brought out and dissected amidst public glare.

 

Though impassioned and above the ordinary feelings of the mind, the

masters of the Upanishads some times could not suppress the glory,

the emotion, the passion and the poetry that accompanied the vast

and utterly delightful , inner experience of His vast vision. In the

Mundaka Upanishad the mind explodes to reverberate with this verse, "

Imperishable is the Lord of love, as from a blazing fire thousands

of sparks leap forth, so millions of beings arise from Him and

return to Him. " Again in the Katha Upanishad we come across a very

poetic and emphatic expression, " In His robe are woven heaven and

earth, mind and body...He is the bridge from death to deathless

life. "

 

The Brahman of the Upanishads is not meant for the ordinary or the

ignorant souls, who are accustomed to seek spiritual solace through

ritualistic practices and rationalization of knowledge. Discipline,

determination, guidance form a self-realized soul, purity of mind,

mastery of the senses, self-control and desireless actions are some

of the pre-requisites needed to achieve even a semblance of success

on this path. Only the strong of the heart and pure of the mind can

think of dislodging layer after layer of illusion and ignorance that

surrounds him and see the golden light of Truth beckoning from

beyond.

 

He is not like the other gods either. He is incomprehensible even to

almost all the gods. And He chooses not to be worshipped in the

temples and other places of worship but in one's heart and mind as

the indweller of the material body and master of the senses, the

charioteer. He is too remote and incomprehensible to be revered and

approached with personal supplications although He is the deepest

and the highest vision mankind could ever conceive of or attain.

 

The weak and the timid stand no chance to approach Him even

remotely, except through some circuitous route. For the

materialistic and the otherworldly who excel in the art of

converting everything and anything into a source of personal gain,

He does not offer any attraction, solace or security as a personal

God.

 

That is why we do not see any temples or forms of ritualistic

worship existing for Brahman either at present or in the past. We

only hear of fire sacrifice, later to be called Nachiketa fire, to

attain Him, which was taught to the young Nachiketa by Lord of

Death, but lost in the course of time to us. Perhaps the sacrifice

was more a meditative or spiritual practice involving the sacrifice

of soul consciousness than a ritual worship.

 

Whatever it is, the fact is that Brahman of the Upanishads is more

appealing to the seekers of Truth and Knowledge than seekers of

material gains. Even during the Islamic rule when the principles of

monotheism challenged the very foundations of Hinduism , Brahman was

never brought into the glare of public debate to challenge the

invading and overwhelming ideas of the monotheistic foreign theology.

 

And even during the period of the Bhakti movement , when the path of

devotion assumed unparalleled importance in the medieval Hindu

society, Brahman was somehow not made the center of direct worship

in the form of Brahman as such. He became the personal God with a

name and form, but as Brahman remained out side the preview of the

Bhakti movement.

 

Perhaps the exclusion was so evident and seemingly so intentional

that even Lord Brahma, the first among the Trinity and the first

among the created, was also simultaneously excluded from the

ritualistic worship, probably for the similarity in names. Very few

temples exist for this god even today in India, probably as He is

seen more as a source of intelligence and creativity than of

material wealth.

 

Some Upanishads do describe Brahman as the Lord of Love. It is a

description born out of pure personal experience of a seeker of

truth, not from a devotee's imaginative and self-induced emotional

energy. The description and approach, therefore, is more

philosophical and impressionably revelatory in its approach than

feverishly emotional or reverently devotional. The reason was not

difficult to understand.

 

Brahman was too remote, indifferent, disinterested, too vast a

principle to be reduced into meaningful and intellectually

satisfying forms and shapes and worshipped as such. Existing beyond

all the surface activities of illusory life, he was like the remote

star, heard but rarely seen, seen but vaguely remembered, remembered

but rarely explicable, unlike the daily sun that traversed across

the sky spreading its splendor in all directions and appealing to

the common man with its intensity, visible luminosity and comforting

him with its assuring and predictable routine.

 

Hidden, however, in the practice of Bhakti was the inherent and

inviolable belief that the aim of all devotion was the attainment of

the Supreme Self, though the path chosen for the purpose was

circuitous and symbolic, rarely suggestive of any direct involvement

of the eternal Brahman Himself in His original formless condition.

Since the mind could only comprehend and derive inspiration in a

language that it can understand and interpret, the Saguna Brahman,

Iswara in the form of various manifestations became the object of

devotion and personal worship.

 

But the same was not true of the formless Nirguna Brahman, beyond

duality and activity. Ignoring the citadels of human civilization,

He, the Absolute, continued to remain in the hearts of His spiritual

aspirants, away from the din of materialistic life. He remained

confined even as of today, to a few illumined minds, guiding them in

His mysterious and invisible ways through the minds of self-realized

souls, who have been too spiritualistic and disinterested in worldly

life to consider any thing other than self as a matter of spiritual

interest.

 

The ancient seers described Brahman as the One eternal principle,

the unity behind all, the connecting principle, the light shining

through all. But at the same time they also referred to him

variously as almost every thing. He was thus One and the many, the

finite and the infinite, the center as well as the circumference,

the enjoyer as well the enjoyer, the hidden as well as the manifest,

in a nut shell, every thing and any thing that we can conceive of or

imagine or perhaps much more than that. Incomprehensible even to the

gods, as Kena Upanishad narrates, He stands above all, tall and

mysterious, almost incommunicable except through personal experience

and inner voyage.

 

As a formless Being He was the Nirguna Brahman, the unqualified

principle totally beyond the reach of all levels of intelligence.

Assuming myriad forms He becomes Saguna Brahman, the one with

attributes and qualifications. In this capacity as the formless and

the One with form, He becomes all the multiplicity in this vast

universe. He becomes everything and also nothing. Thus He is the day

and night, light and darkness, knowledge and ignorance, the river

and the ocean, the sky and the earth, the sound and the silence, the

smallest as well as biggest of all and also the abyss of the

mysterious nothingness.

 

The attributes are many and repetitively suggestive of His

universality and His unquestionable supremacy. This existence of the

duality and the myriad contradictions inherent in the creation of

life are the riddles which the minds of the disciples were expected

to understand and assimilate till all the confusion and

contradiction becomes reduced to one harmonious and meaningful mass

of Truth.

 

In the Katha Upanishad we come across this explanation of Brahman

being compared to the Aswaththa tree in reverse ,whose roots are

above and the branches spread down below. " Its pure root is Brahman

from whom the world draws nourishment and whom none can surpass. "

Actually this is an analogy drawn from the Sun whose base is above

and whose rays spread downwards in thousand directions.

 

Myriad are the ways in which Brahman is described in the Upanishads.

The verses strenuously struggle to explain the novice students of

spiritual practice the immensity of the object of their meditation.

Theirs is a feeling of respect and reverence mixed with fear and

awe. Even the gods seems to be not very comfortable with this

concept of an unknown, mysterious and unfathomable God. The Lord of

death explains to the young Nachiketa, " In fear of Him the fire

burns, the sun shines, the clouds rain and the winds blow. In fear

of Him death stalks about to kill. "

 

He is the creator, the life giver and also the reliever of the

devoted and determined from Bondage. The manifest universe is his

creation. He created it through Self-projection, out of Ananda, pure

Delight. The process of creation is not very explicitly mentioned

but one can draw some inferences from verses such as this, " The

deathless Self meditated upon Himself and projected the universe as

an evolutionary energy. From this energy developed life, the mind,

the elements, and the world of karma. "

 

This is not the God who can be supplicated with rituals and

sacrifices. The Upanishadic seers did not show much respect to the

outer aspects of religious practice. The rituals according to them

constituted the lower knowledge. " Such rituals, " declares Mundaka

Upanishad, " are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of worldly life,

of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are they who try to cross

the sea of worldly life on these poor rafts. " The argument does not

end here. It goes on, " Ignorant of their ignorance, yet wise in

their estimate, these deluded men proud of their learning go round

and round like the blind, led by the blind. Living in darkness,

immature unaware of any higher good or goal, they fall again and

again into the sea. "

 

Hinduism: Belief in One God

 

The Hindus believe in many gods and goddesses. At the same time they

also believe in the existence on one Supreme God, whom they call

variously as Paramatma (Supreme Self), Parameshwar (Supreme Lord),

Parampita (Supreme Father). Iswara, Maheswara, Bhagawan, Purusha,

Purushottama, Hiranyagarbha and so on.

 

God is one, but also many. He manifests Himself in innumerable forms

and shapes. As Purusha (Universal Male), He enters Prakriti (Nature,

Matter or Divine Energy) and brings forth the numerous worlds and

beings into existence. He upholds His entire creation with His

unlimited powers.

 

He is both the Known and the Unknown, the Being as well as the Non-

Being, Reality as well as Unreality. As the Unknown, He is rarely

known and worshipped for difficult and painful is the path for those

who choose to worship Him as the Unmanifest (The Bhagavad-Gita

XII.6).

 

He exists in all and all beings exist in him. There is nothing other

than Him, and there is nothing that is outside of Him. He is

Imperishable, unknowable, immortal, infinite, without a beginning

and without an end. All the same when worshipped with intense

devotion and unshakeable faith, He responds to the calls of His

devotees and comes to their aid and rescue.

 

All the gods and goddess are His manifestations only. In His female

aspect He is Shakti, who as the Divine Universal Mother assists the

whole creation to proceed through the process of evolution in Her

own mysterious ways.

 

The relationship between man and God is purely personal and each can

approach Him in his own way. There are no fixed rules and no central

controlling authority on the subject of do's and don'ts. There are

of course scriptures and Smritis but whether to follow them or not

is purely an individual choice.

 

The concept of monotheism is not new to Hinduism. It is as old as

the Vedas themselves. References to One indivisible and mysterious

God are found in the Rigveda itself. The concept is the central

theme of all the Upanishads in which He is variously referred as

Brahman, Iswara, Hiranyagarbha, Asat etc.

 

While the students of Upanishads tried to understand Him through the

path of knowledge and there by made it the exclusive domain of a few

enlightened persons, the bhakti marg or the path of devotion brought

Him closer to the masses. The One Imperishable and Ancient Being was

no more a God of remote heights, but down to the earth, ready to

help His needy devotees and willing to perform miracles if necessary.

 

The rise of tantric cults added a new dimension to our understanding

of Him. To the tantric worshippers the Supreme Self is the Universal

Mother. Purusha is subordinate to Her and willing to play a

secondary role in Her creation. By Himself He cannot initiate

creation unless He joins with His Shakti.

 

On the abstract level He is satchitananda. Truth, Consciousness and

Bliss. He is the inhabitant of the whole world. There is nothing

that is outside of Him or without Him. He exists in the individual

being as Atman, the Enjoyer who delights in Himself, without

undergoing any change, but willing to participate in the cycle of

births and deaths and bear witness to all the illusions of life.

 

He can be realized in many ways, which broadly fall into three main

categories: the path of knowledge, the path of devotion and the path

of renunciation. Of this the middle one is the best, the first one

is very difficult and the third one requires immense sacrifice and

inner purification. In the Bhagavad-Gita we come across the path of

action which combines the rest of the three into one integrated

whole in which a devotee has to live his life with a sense of

supreme sacrifice, performing his actions with detachment, without

any desire for the fruit of actions and offering them to God with

pure devotion and total surrender.

 

Hindus have a very broader approach to the concept of God. The names

that people give to Him are just mere reference points for the sake

of our understanding. How can He have names, who is actually beyond

all words and thoughts? He represent the loftiest ideal which

mankind can aspire to achieve. He is the goal and reaching Him in

our individual ways is the very purpose of our lives. Those who

quarrel on his name are blind men who grope in darkness and go to

the worlds of ignorance.

 

Truly the Brahman of Hinduism represents the Highest principle which

the human mind can ever conceive of. He is not God of just one world

or a few worlds, but represents the entire known and unknown

Universe as well as the past, the present and the future that is yet

to come.

 

Brahman

http://www.hinduwebsite.com/onegod.htm

[Guest guest]

http://www.adishakti.org/_/devi_i_and_brahman_are_one.htm

[Guest guest]

Dear all, below extract from Mother talk about Brahma and Principle of Brahma.

 

http://sahaj-az.blogspot.com/2009/05/principle-of-brahma.html

 

with love

r

 

, " jagbir singh " <adishakti_org

wrote:

>

> >

> > " In the Devi Gita the Devi proceeds to describe her essential

> > forms. The Devi declares that prior to creation, She is the only

> > existent entity, the one supreme Brahman and is pure consciousness.

> > The Devi Gita is clear about salvation and attainment of eternal

> > life: " Even when a person performs bhakti, knowledge need not

> > arise. He will go to the Devi's Island. Till the complete knowledge

> > in the form of my consciousness arises, there is no liberation. "

> >

>

> " The supreme divinity, Lalita, is one's own blissful Self. "

>

> Bhavana Upanishad 1.27

>

>

> " She alone is Atman. Other than Her is untruth, non-self. Hence is

> She Brahman-Consciousness, free from (even) a tinge of being and non-

> being. She is the Science of Consciousness, non-dual Brahman

> Consciousness, a wave of Being-Consciousness-Bliss. "

>

> Bahvricha Upanishad 1.5

>

>

> " The Devimahatmya refers to two different traditions regarding the

> origin of the Great Goddess: in the first Devi is explained as the

> Mahanidra of Visnu embodied as the universe, eternal, incarnated in

> many forms. She is " drawing herself out from the eyes and the various

> organs and limbs " of Visnu: when Great Sleep leaves Visnu, he

> awakens. In this form she is the great creator: she creates the

> entire universe, she is the cause of bondage and transmigration, the

> cause of final liberation too. She is both fierce and auspicious: she

> gives to mankind boons for their final liberation.

>

> The second account of Devi's origin has a different ring and seems to

> be the older one. It not only mentions the Vedic gods but it is

> somehow reminiscent of the Indra-Vrtra myth -- the fight of the High

> God against the demon usurper, who has conquered the gods and assumed

> the place of Indra. Devi here is no longer the prakrti of Visnu but

> the essence of all the gods, " godhead " in a concrete sense. She

> surpasses all the individual gods in power and glory because in her

> all the qualities of the gods are embodied...

>

> Thus the salvation of gods and men has been accomplished, and Devi

> receives praise from all the devas. In the cause of this prayer all

> the essential qualities of the Devi are mentioned, and the basic Devi

> philosophy comes to the fore: Devi " is the origin of the universe,

> the resort of all, the primordial prakrti. " She is the " supreme vidya

> (knowledge) which is the cause of liberation. " She is " durga, the

> boat that carries men across the difficult ocean of worldly

> existence, " she is " Sri who has taken her abode in the heart of

> Visnu, " and she is " Gauri, who has established herself with Siva.

> Devi offers a boon, and the devas choose the following: " Whenever we

> think of you again, destroy our direst calamities. " ...

>

> Devi-avataras are also found in the Puranas. They have the same

> function which Vainavas ascribe to Visnu-avataras, namely to protect

> the world in successive ages from demons and other evil. This theory

> also helps to explain the numerous goddesses as manifestations of One

> Supreme Goddess: " Bhavani is worshipped by the gods in all her

> repeated incarnations. She always kills demons by incarnating herself

> on earth and she protects all creation in heaven, earth and the

> nether world...

>

> She explains her own nature according to Advaita: " I and Brahman are

> one. " "

>

> K. K. Klostermaier, Hinduism: A Short History

> Oneworld Pub., 2000, p. 200-2.

>

>

>

> BRAHMAN

>

> Brahman is the central theme of almost all the Upanishads. Brahman

> is the indescribable, inexhaustible, omniscient, omnipresent,

> original, first, eternal and absolute principle who is without a

> beginning, without an end , who is hidden in all and who is the

> cause, source, material and effect of all creation known, unknown

> and yet to happen in the entire universe.

>

> He is the incomprehensible, unapproachable radiant being whom the

> ordinary senses and ordinary intellect cannot fathom grasp or able

> to describe even with partial success. He is the mysterious Being

> totally out of the reach of all sensory activity, rationale effort

> and mere intellectual, decorative and pompous endeavor.

>

> The Upanishads describe Him as the One and indivisible, eternal

> universal self, who is present in all and in whom all are present.

> Generally unknown and mysterious to the ordinary masses, Brahman of

> the Upanishads remained mostly confined to the meditative minds of

> the ancient seers who considered Him to be too sacred and esoteric

> to be brought out and dissected amidst public glare.

>

> Though impassioned and above the ordinary feelings of the mind, the

> masters of the Upanishads some times could not suppress the glory,

> the emotion, the passion and the poetry that accompanied the vast

> and utterly delightful , inner experience of His vast vision. In the

> Mundaka Upanishad the mind explodes to reverberate with this verse, "

> Imperishable is the Lord of love, as from a blazing fire thousands

> of sparks leap forth, so millions of beings arise from Him and

> return to Him. " Again in the Katha Upanishad we come across a very

> poetic and emphatic expression, " In His robe are woven heaven and

> earth, mind and body...He is the bridge from death to deathless

> life. "

>

> The Brahman of the Upanishads is not meant for the ordinary or the

> ignorant souls, who are accustomed to seek spiritual solace through

> ritualistic practices and rationalization of knowledge. Discipline,

> determination, guidance form a self-realized soul, purity of mind,

> mastery of the senses, self-control and desireless actions are some

> of the pre-requisites needed to achieve even a semblance of success

> on this path. Only the strong of the heart and pure of the mind can

> think of dislodging layer after layer of illusion and ignorance that

> surrounds him and see the golden light of Truth beckoning from

> beyond.

>

> He is not like the other gods either. He is incomprehensible even to

> almost all the gods. And He chooses not to be worshipped in the

> temples and other places of worship but in one's heart and mind as

> the indweller of the material body and master of the senses, the

> charioteer. He is too remote and incomprehensible to be revered and

> approached with personal supplications although He is the deepest

> and the highest vision mankind could ever conceive of or attain.

>

> The weak and the timid stand no chance to approach Him even

> remotely, except through some circuitous route. For the

> materialistic and the otherworldly who excel in the art of

> converting everything and anything into a source of personal gain,

> He does not offer any attraction, solace or security as a personal

> God.

>

> That is why we do not see any temples or forms of ritualistic

> worship existing for Brahman either at present or in the past. We

> only hear of fire sacrifice, later to be called Nachiketa fire, to

> attain Him, which was taught to the young Nachiketa by Lord of

> Death, but lost in the course of time to us. Perhaps the sacrifice

> was more a meditative or spiritual practice involving the sacrifice

> of soul consciousness than a ritual worship.

>

> Whatever it is, the fact is that Brahman of the Upanishads is more

> appealing to the seekers of Truth and Knowledge than seekers of

> material gains. Even during the Islamic rule when the principles of

> monotheism challenged the very foundations of Hinduism , Brahman was

> never brought into the glare of public debate to challenge the

> invading and overwhelming ideas of the monotheistic foreign theology.

>

> And even during the period of the Bhakti movement , when the path of

> devotion assumed unparalleled importance in the medieval Hindu

> society, Brahman was somehow not made the center of direct worship

> in the form of Brahman as such. He became the personal God with a

> name and form, but as Brahman remained out side the preview of the

> Bhakti movement.

>

> Perhaps the exclusion was so evident and seemingly so intentional

> that even Lord Brahma, the first among the Trinity and the first

> among the created, was also simultaneously excluded from the

> ritualistic worship, probably for the similarity in names. Very few

> temples exist for this god even today in India, probably as He is

> seen more as a source of intelligence and creativity than of

> material wealth.

>

> Some Upanishads do describe Brahman as the Lord of Love. It is a

> description born out of pure personal experience of a seeker of

> truth, not from a devotee's imaginative and self-induced emotional

> energy. The description and approach, therefore, is more

> philosophical and impressionably revelatory in its approach than

> feverishly emotional or reverently devotional. The reason was not

> difficult to understand.

>

> Brahman was too remote, indifferent, disinterested, too vast a

> principle to be reduced into meaningful and intellectually

> satisfying forms and shapes and worshipped as such. Existing beyond

> all the surface activities of illusory life, he was like the remote

> star, heard but rarely seen, seen but vaguely remembered, remembered

> but rarely explicable, unlike the daily sun that traversed across

> the sky spreading its splendor in all directions and appealing to

> the common man with its intensity, visible luminosity and comforting

> him with its assuring and predictable routine.

>

> Hidden, however, in the practice of Bhakti was the inherent and

> inviolable belief that the aim of all devotion was the attainment of

> the Supreme Self, though the path chosen for the purpose was

> circuitous and symbolic, rarely suggestive of any direct involvement

> of the eternal Brahman Himself in His original formless condition.

> Since the mind could only comprehend and derive inspiration in a

> language that it can understand and interpret, the Saguna Brahman,

> Iswara in the form of various manifestations became the object of

> devotion and personal worship.

>

> But the same was not true of the formless Nirguna Brahman, beyond

> duality and activity. Ignoring the citadels of human civilization,

> He, the Absolute, continued to remain in the hearts of His spiritual

> aspirants, away from the din of materialistic life. He remained

> confined even as of today, to a few illumined minds, guiding them in

> His mysterious and invisible ways through the minds of self-realized

> souls, who have been too spiritualistic and disinterested in worldly

> life to consider any thing other than self as a matter of spiritual

> interest.

>

> The ancient seers described Brahman as the One eternal principle,

> the unity behind all, the connecting principle, the light shining

> through all. But at the same time they also referred to him

> variously as almost every thing. He was thus One and the many, the

> finite and the infinite, the center as well as the circumference,

> the enjoyer as well the enjoyer, the hidden as well as the manifest,

> in a nut shell, every thing and any thing that we can conceive of or

> imagine or perhaps much more than that. Incomprehensible even to the

> gods, as Kena Upanishad narrates, He stands above all, tall and

> mysterious, almost incommunicable except through personal experience

> and inner voyage.

>

> As a formless Being He was the Nirguna Brahman, the unqualified

> principle totally beyond the reach of all levels of intelligence.

> Assuming myriad forms He becomes Saguna Brahman, the one with

> attributes and qualifications. In this capacity as the formless and

> the One with form, He becomes all the multiplicity in this vast

> universe. He becomes everything and also nothing. Thus He is the day

> and night, light and darkness, knowledge and ignorance, the river

> and the ocean, the sky and the earth, the sound and the silence, the

> smallest as well as biggest of all and also the abyss of the

> mysterious nothingness.

>

> The attributes are many and repetitively suggestive of His

> universality and His unquestionable supremacy. This existence of the

> duality and the myriad contradictions inherent in the creation of

> life are the riddles which the minds of the disciples were expected

> to understand and assimilate till all the confusion and

> contradiction becomes reduced to one harmonious and meaningful mass

> of Truth.

>

> In the Katha Upanishad we come across this explanation of Brahman

> being compared to the Aswaththa tree in reverse ,whose roots are

> above and the branches spread down below. " Its pure root is Brahman

> from whom the world draws nourishment and whom none can surpass. "

> Actually this is an analogy drawn from the Sun whose base is above

> and whose rays spread downwards in thousand directions.

>

> Myriad are the ways in which Brahman is described in the Upanishads.

> The verses strenuously struggle to explain the novice students of

> spiritual practice the immensity of the object of their meditation.

> Theirs is a feeling of respect and reverence mixed with fear and

> awe. Even the gods seems to be not very comfortable with this

> concept of an unknown, mysterious and unfathomable God. The Lord of

> death explains to the young Nachiketa, " In fear of Him the fire

> burns, the sun shines, the clouds rain and the winds blow. In fear

> of Him death stalks about to kill. "

>

> He is the creator, the life giver and also the reliever of the

> devoted and determined from Bondage. The manifest universe is his

> creation. He created it through Self-projection, out of Ananda, pure

> Delight. The process of creation is not very explicitly mentioned

> but one can draw some inferences from verses such as this, " The

> deathless Self meditated upon Himself and projected the universe as

> an evolutionary energy. From this energy developed life, the mind,

> the elements, and the world of karma. "

>

> This is not the God who can be supplicated with rituals and

> sacrifices. The Upanishadic seers did not show much respect to the

> outer aspects of religious practice. The rituals according to them

> constituted the lower knowledge. " Such rituals, " declares Mundaka

> Upanishad, " are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of worldly life,

> of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are they who try to cross

> the sea of worldly life on these poor rafts. " The argument does not

> end here. It goes on, " Ignorant of their ignorance, yet wise in

> their estimate, these deluded men proud of their learning go round

> and round like the blind, led by the blind. Living in darkness,

> immature unaware of any higher good or goal, they fall again and

> again into the sea. "

>

> Hinduism: Belief in One God

>

> The Hindus believe in many gods and goddesses. At the same time they

> also believe in the existence on one Supreme God, whom they call

> variously as Paramatma (Supreme Self), Parameshwar (Supreme Lord),

> Parampita (Supreme Father). Iswara, Maheswara, Bhagawan, Purusha,

> Purushottama, Hiranyagarbha and so on.

>

> God is one, but also many. He manifests Himself in innumerable forms

> and shapes. As Purusha (Universal Male), He enters Prakriti (Nature,

> Matter or Divine Energy) and brings forth the numerous worlds and

> beings into existence. He upholds His entire creation with His

> unlimited powers.

>

> He is both the Known and the Unknown, the Being as well as the Non-

> Being, Reality as well as Unreality. As the Unknown, He is rarely

> known and worshipped for difficult and painful is the path for those

> who choose to worship Him as the Unmanifest (The Bhagavad-Gita

> XII.6).

>

> He exists in all and all beings exist in him. There is nothing other

> than Him, and there is nothing that is outside of Him. He is

> Imperishable, unknowable, immortal, infinite, without a beginning

> and without an end. All the same when worshipped with intense

> devotion and unshakeable faith, He responds to the calls of His

> devotees and comes to their aid and rescue.

>

> All the gods and goddess are His manifestations only. In His female

> aspect He is Shakti, who as the Divine Universal Mother assists the

> whole creation to proceed through the process of evolution in Her

> own mysterious ways.

>

> The relationship between man and God is purely personal and each can

> approach Him in his own way. There are no fixed rules and no central

> controlling authority on the subject of do's and don'ts. There are

> of course scriptures and Smritis but whether to follow them or not

> is purely an individual choice.

>

> The concept of monotheism is not new to Hinduism. It is as old as

> the Vedas themselves. References to One indivisible and mysterious

> God are found in the Rigveda itself. The concept is the central

> theme of all the Upanishads in which He is variously referred as

> Brahman, Iswara, Hiranyagarbha, Asat etc.

>

> While the students of Upanishads tried to understand Him through the

> path of knowledge and there by made it the exclusive domain of a few

> enlightened persons, the bhakti marg or the path of devotion brought

> Him closer to the masses. The One Imperishable and Ancient Being was

> no more a God of remote heights, but down to the earth, ready to

> help His needy devotees and willing to perform miracles if necessary.

>

> The rise of tantric cults added a new dimension to our understanding

> of Him. To the tantric worshippers the Supreme Self is the Universal

> Mother. Purusha is subordinate to Her and willing to play a

> secondary role in Her creation. By Himself He cannot initiate

> creation unless He joins with His Shakti.

>

> On the abstract level He is satchitananda. Truth, Consciousness and

> Bliss. He is the inhabitant of the whole world. There is nothing

> that is outside of Him or without Him. He exists in the individual

> being as Atman, the Enjoyer who delights in Himself, without

> undergoing any change, but willing to participate in the cycle of

> births and deaths and bear witness to all the illusions of life.

>

> He can be realized in many ways, which broadly fall into three main

> categories: the path of knowledge, the path of devotion and the path

> of renunciation. Of this the middle one is the best, the first one

> is very difficult and the third one requires immense sacrifice and

> inner purification. In the Bhagavad-Gita we come across the path of

> action which combines the rest of the three into one integrated

> whole in which a devotee has to live his life with a sense of

> supreme sacrifice, performing his actions with detachment, without

> any desire for the fruit of actions and offering them to God with

> pure devotion and total surrender.

>

> Hindus have a very broader approach to the concept of God. The names

> that people give to Him are just mere reference points for the sake

> of our understanding. How can He have names, who is actually beyond

> all words and thoughts? He represent the loftiest ideal which

> mankind can aspire to achieve. He is the goal and reaching Him in

> our individual ways is the very purpose of our lives. Those who

> quarrel on his name are blind men who grope in darkness and go to

> the worlds of ignorance.

>

> Truly the Brahman of Hinduism represents the Highest principle which

> the human mind can ever conceive of. He is not God of just one world

> or a few worlds, but represents the entire known and unknown

> Universe as well as the past, the present and the future that is yet

> to come.

>

> Brahman

> http://www.hinduwebsite.com/onegod.htm

>

[Guest guest]

Dear r,

 

thank you for letting us know. Yes, JN's work is out there for everyone to see

and admire. Yet, as Jagbir stated in Post 10520:

 

" i know WCASY members, collective leaders and other SYs will reject outright any

reference to http://adishakti.org and the revelations of the Divine Feminine.

They will decline the irrefutable evidence and Sure Signs of the Holy Scriptures

that sets forth the promised eschatological evolution of human beings into the

eternal spirit. They will refuse to consider that the Divine Feminine has given

unassailable proof that Shri Mataji is indeed the Adi Shakti, Her very

incarnation. They will still maintain that we are a family of possessed children

craving attention, fame and glory. "

 

/message/10520

 

That is why, as nice as the writings may be, there is something missing in the

greater picture/eschatological scheme of things.

 

violet

 

 

 

, " sahaja_joga " <pure.faith108

wrote:

>

> Dear all, below extract from Mother talk about Brahma and Principle of Brahma.

>

> http://sahaj-az.blogspot.com/2009/05/principle-of-brahma.html

>

> with love

> r

>

> , " jagbir singh " <adishakti_org@>

wrote:

> >

> > >

> > > " In the Devi Gita the Devi proceeds to describe her essential

> > > forms. The Devi declares that prior to creation, She is the only

> > > existent entity, the one supreme Brahman and is pure consciousness.

> > > The Devi Gita is clear about salvation and attainment of eternal

> > > life: " Even when a person performs bhakti, knowledge need not

> > > arise. He will go to the Devi's Island. Till the complete knowledge

> > > in the form of my consciousness arises, there is no liberation. "

> > >

> >

> > " The supreme divinity, Lalita, is one's own blissful Self. "

> >

> > Bhavana Upanishad 1.27

> >

> >

> > " She alone is Atman. Other than Her is untruth, non-self. Hence is

> > She Brahman-Consciousness, free from (even) a tinge of being and non-

> > being. She is the Science of Consciousness, non-dual Brahman

> > Consciousness, a wave of Being-Consciousness-Bliss. "

> >

> > Bahvricha Upanishad 1.5

> >

> >

> > " The Devimahatmya refers to two different traditions regarding the

> > origin of the Great Goddess: in the first Devi is explained as the

> > Mahanidra of Visnu embodied as the universe, eternal, incarnated in

> > many forms. She is " drawing herself out from the eyes and the various

> > organs and limbs " of Visnu: when Great Sleep leaves Visnu, he

> > awakens. In this form she is the great creator: she creates the

> > entire universe, she is the cause of bondage and transmigration, the

> > cause of final liberation too. She is both fierce and auspicious: she

> > gives to mankind boons for their final liberation.

> >

> > The second account of Devi's origin has a different ring and seems to

> > be the older one. It not only mentions the Vedic gods but it is

> > somehow reminiscent of the Indra-Vrtra myth -- the fight of the High

> > God against the demon usurper, who has conquered the gods and assumed

> > the place of Indra. Devi here is no longer the prakrti of Visnu but

> > the essence of all the gods, " godhead " in a concrete sense. She

> > surpasses all the individual gods in power and glory because in her

> > all the qualities of the gods are embodied...

> >

> > Thus the salvation of gods and men has been accomplished, and Devi

> > receives praise from all the devas. In the cause of this prayer all

> > the essential qualities of the Devi are mentioned, and the basic Devi

> > philosophy comes to the fore: Devi " is the origin of the universe,

> > the resort of all, the primordial prakrti. " She is the " supreme vidya

> > (knowledge) which is the cause of liberation. " She is " durga, the

> > boat that carries men across the difficult ocean of worldly

> > existence, " she is " Sri who has taken her abode in the heart of

> > Visnu, " and she is " Gauri, who has established herself with Siva.

> > Devi offers a boon, and the devas choose the following: " Whenever we

> > think of you again, destroy our direst calamities. " ...

> >

> > Devi-avataras are also found in the Puranas. They have the same

> > function which Vainavas ascribe to Visnu-avataras, namely to protect

> > the world in successive ages from demons and other evil. This theory

> > also helps to explain the numerous goddesses as manifestations of One

> > Supreme Goddess: " Bhavani is worshipped by the gods in all her

> > repeated incarnations. She always kills demons by incarnating herself

> > on earth and she protects all creation in heaven, earth and the

> > nether world...

> >

> > She explains her own nature according to Advaita: " I and Brahman are

> > one. " "

> >

> > K. K. Klostermaier, Hinduism: A Short History

> > Oneworld Pub., 2000, p. 200-2.

> >

> >

> >

> > BRAHMAN

> >

> > Brahman is the central theme of almost all the Upanishads. Brahman

> > is the indescribable, inexhaustible, omniscient, omnipresent,

> > original, first, eternal and absolute principle who is without a

> > beginning, without an end , who is hidden in all and who is the

> > cause, source, material and effect of all creation known, unknown

> > and yet to happen in the entire universe.

> >

> > He is the incomprehensible, unapproachable radiant being whom the

> > ordinary senses and ordinary intellect cannot fathom grasp or able

> > to describe even with partial success. He is the mysterious Being

> > totally out of the reach of all sensory activity, rationale effort

> > and mere intellectual, decorative and pompous endeavor.

> >

> > The Upanishads describe Him as the One and indivisible, eternal

> > universal self, who is present in all and in whom all are present.

> > Generally unknown and mysterious to the ordinary masses, Brahman of

> > the Upanishads remained mostly confined to the meditative minds of

> > the ancient seers who considered Him to be too sacred and esoteric

> > to be brought out and dissected amidst public glare.

> >

> > Though impassioned and above the ordinary feelings of the mind, the

> > masters of the Upanishads some times could not suppress the glory,

> > the emotion, the passion and the poetry that accompanied the vast

> > and utterly delightful , inner experience of His vast vision. In the

> > Mundaka Upanishad the mind explodes to reverberate with this verse, "

> > Imperishable is the Lord of love, as from a blazing fire thousands

> > of sparks leap forth, so millions of beings arise from Him and

> > return to Him. " Again in the Katha Upanishad we come across a very

> > poetic and emphatic expression, " In His robe are woven heaven and

> > earth, mind and body...He is the bridge from death to deathless

> > life. "

> >

> > The Brahman of the Upanishads is not meant for the ordinary or the

> > ignorant souls, who are accustomed to seek spiritual solace through

> > ritualistic practices and rationalization of knowledge. Discipline,

> > determination, guidance form a self-realized soul, purity of mind,

> > mastery of the senses, self-control and desireless actions are some

> > of the pre-requisites needed to achieve even a semblance of success

> > on this path. Only the strong of the heart and pure of the mind can

> > think of dislodging layer after layer of illusion and ignorance that

> > surrounds him and see the golden light of Truth beckoning from

> > beyond.

> >

> > He is not like the other gods either. He is incomprehensible even to

> > almost all the gods. And He chooses not to be worshipped in the

> > temples and other places of worship but in one's heart and mind as

> > the indweller of the material body and master of the senses, the

> > charioteer. He is too remote and incomprehensible to be revered and

> > approached with personal supplications although He is the deepest

> > and the highest vision mankind could ever conceive of or attain.

> >

> > The weak and the timid stand no chance to approach Him even

> > remotely, except through some circuitous route. For the

> > materialistic and the otherworldly who excel in the art of

> > converting everything and anything into a source of personal gain,

> > He does not offer any attraction, solace or security as a personal

> > God.

> >

> > That is why we do not see any temples or forms of ritualistic

> > worship existing for Brahman either at present or in the past. We

> > only hear of fire sacrifice, later to be called Nachiketa fire, to

> > attain Him, which was taught to the young Nachiketa by Lord of

> > Death, but lost in the course of time to us. Perhaps the sacrifice

> > was more a meditative or spiritual practice involving the sacrifice

> > of soul consciousness than a ritual worship.

> >

> > Whatever it is, the fact is that Brahman of the Upanishads is more

> > appealing to the seekers of Truth and Knowledge than seekers of

> > material gains. Even during the Islamic rule when the principles of

> > monotheism challenged the very foundations of Hinduism , Brahman was

> > never brought into the glare of public debate to challenge the

> > invading and overwhelming ideas of the monotheistic foreign theology.

> >

> > And even during the period of the Bhakti movement , when the path of

> > devotion assumed unparalleled importance in the medieval Hindu

> > society, Brahman was somehow not made the center of direct worship

> > in the form of Brahman as such. He became the personal God with a

> > name and form, but as Brahman remained out side the preview of the

> > Bhakti movement.

> >

> > Perhaps the exclusion was so evident and seemingly so intentional

> > that even Lord Brahma, the first among the Trinity and the first

> > among the created, was also simultaneously excluded from the

> > ritualistic worship, probably for the similarity in names. Very few

> > temples exist for this god even today in India, probably as He is

> > seen more as a source of intelligence and creativity than of

> > material wealth.

> >

> > Some Upanishads do describe Brahman as the Lord of Love. It is a

> > description born out of pure personal experience of a seeker of

> > truth, not from a devotee's imaginative and self-induced emotional

> > energy. The description and approach, therefore, is more

> > philosophical and impressionably revelatory in its approach than

> > feverishly emotional or reverently devotional. The reason was not

> > difficult to understand.

> >

> > Brahman was too remote, indifferent, disinterested, too vast a

> > principle to be reduced into meaningful and intellectually

> > satisfying forms and shapes and worshipped as such. Existing beyond

> > all the surface activities of illusory life, he was like the remote

> > star, heard but rarely seen, seen but vaguely remembered, remembered

> > but rarely explicable, unlike the daily sun that traversed across

> > the sky spreading its splendor in all directions and appealing to

> > the common man with its intensity, visible luminosity and comforting

> > him with its assuring and predictable routine.

> >

> > Hidden, however, in the practice of Bhakti was the inherent and

> > inviolable belief that the aim of all devotion was the attainment of

> > the Supreme Self, though the path chosen for the purpose was

> > circuitous and symbolic, rarely suggestive of any direct involvement

> > of the eternal Brahman Himself in His original formless condition.

> > Since the mind could only comprehend and derive inspiration in a

> > language that it can understand and interpret, the Saguna Brahman,

> > Iswara in the form of various manifestations became the object of

> > devotion and personal worship.

> >

> > But the same was not true of the formless Nirguna Brahman, beyond

> > duality and activity. Ignoring the citadels of human civilization,

> > He, the Absolute, continued to remain in the hearts of His spiritual

> > aspirants, away from the din of materialistic life. He remained

> > confined even as of today, to a few illumined minds, guiding them in

> > His mysterious and invisible ways through the minds of self-realized

> > souls, who have been too spiritualistic and disinterested in worldly

> > life to consider any thing other than self as a matter of spiritual

> > interest.

> >

> > The ancient seers described Brahman as the One eternal principle,

> > the unity behind all, the connecting principle, the light shining

> > through all. But at the same time they also referred to him

> > variously as almost every thing. He was thus One and the many, the

> > finite and the infinite, the center as well as the circumference,

> > the enjoyer as well the enjoyer, the hidden as well as the manifest,

> > in a nut shell, every thing and any thing that we can conceive of or

> > imagine or perhaps much more than that. Incomprehensible even to the

> > gods, as Kena Upanishad narrates, He stands above all, tall and

> > mysterious, almost incommunicable except through personal experience

> > and inner voyage.

> >

> > As a formless Being He was the Nirguna Brahman, the unqualified

> > principle totally beyond the reach of all levels of intelligence.

> > Assuming myriad forms He becomes Saguna Brahman, the one with

> > attributes and qualifications. In this capacity as the formless and

> > the One with form, He becomes all the multiplicity in this vast

> > universe. He becomes everything and also nothing. Thus He is the day

> > and night, light and darkness, knowledge and ignorance, the river

> > and the ocean, the sky and the earth, the sound and the silence, the

> > smallest as well as biggest of all and also the abyss of the

> > mysterious nothingness.

> >

> > The attributes are many and repetitively suggestive of His

> > universality and His unquestionable supremacy. This existence of the

> > duality and the myriad contradictions inherent in the creation of

> > life are the riddles which the minds of the disciples were expected

> > to understand and assimilate till all the confusion and

> > contradiction becomes reduced to one harmonious and meaningful mass

> > of Truth.

> >

> > In the Katha Upanishad we come across this explanation of Brahman

> > being compared to the Aswaththa tree in reverse ,whose roots are

> > above and the branches spread down below. " Its pure root is Brahman

> > from whom the world draws nourishment and whom none can surpass. "

> > Actually this is an analogy drawn from the Sun whose base is above

> > and whose rays spread downwards in thousand directions.

> >

> > Myriad are the ways in which Brahman is described in the Upanishads.

> > The verses strenuously struggle to explain the novice students of

> > spiritual practice the immensity of the object of their meditation.

> > Theirs is a feeling of respect and reverence mixed with fear and

> > awe. Even the gods seems to be not very comfortable with this

> > concept of an unknown, mysterious and unfathomable God. The Lord of

> > death explains to the young Nachiketa, " In fear of Him the fire

> > burns, the sun shines, the clouds rain and the winds blow. In fear

> > of Him death stalks about to kill. "

> >

> > He is the creator, the life giver and also the reliever of the

> > devoted and determined from Bondage. The manifest universe is his

> > creation. He created it through Self-projection, out of Ananda, pure

> > Delight. The process of creation is not very explicitly mentioned

> > but one can draw some inferences from verses such as this, " The

> > deathless Self meditated upon Himself and projected the universe as

> > an evolutionary energy. From this energy developed life, the mind,

> > the elements, and the world of karma. "

> >

> > This is not the God who can be supplicated with rituals and

> > sacrifices. The Upanishadic seers did not show much respect to the

> > outer aspects of religious practice. The rituals according to them

> > constituted the lower knowledge. " Such rituals, " declares Mundaka

> > Upanishad, " are unsafe rafts for crossing the sea of worldly life,

> > of birth and death. Doomed to shipwreck are they who try to cross

> > the sea of worldly life on these poor rafts. " The argument does not

> > end here. It goes on, " Ignorant of their ignorance, yet wise in

> > their estimate, these deluded men proud of their learning go round

> > and round like the blind, led by the blind. Living in darkness,

> > immature unaware of any higher good or goal, they fall again and

> > again into the sea. "

> >

> > Hinduism: Belief in One God

> >

> > The Hindus believe in many gods and goddesses. At the same time they

> > also believe in the existence on one Supreme God, whom they call

> > variously as Paramatma (Supreme Self), Parameshwar (Supreme Lord),

> > Parampita (Supreme Father). Iswara, Maheswara, Bhagawan, Purusha,

> > Purushottama, Hiranyagarbha and so on.

> >

> > God is one, but also many. He manifests Himself in innumerable forms

> > and shapes. As Purusha (Universal Male), He enters Prakriti (Nature,

> > Matter or Divine Energy) and brings forth the numerous worlds and

> > beings into existence. He upholds His entire creation with His

> > unlimited powers.

> >

> > He is both the Known and the Unknown, the Being as well as the Non-

> > Being, Reality as well as Unreality. As the Unknown, He is rarely

> > known and worshipped for difficult and painful is the path for those

> > who choose to worship Him as the Unmanifest (The Bhagavad-Gita

> > XII.6).

> >

> > He exists in all and all beings exist in him. There is nothing other

> > than Him, and there is nothing that is outside of Him. He is

> > Imperishable, unknowable, immortal, infinite, without a beginning

> > and without an end. All the same when worshipped with intense

> > devotion and unshakeable faith, He responds to the calls of His

> > devotees and comes to their aid and rescue.

> >

> > All the gods and goddess are His manifestations only. In His female

> > aspect He is Shakti, who as the Divine Universal Mother assists the

> > whole creation to proceed through the process of evolution in Her

> > own mysterious ways.

> >

> > The relationship between man and God is purely personal and each can

> > approach Him in his own way. There are no fixed rules and no central

> > controlling authority on the subject of do's and don'ts. There are

> > of course scriptures and Smritis but whether to follow them or not

> > is purely an individual choice.

> >

> > The concept of monotheism is not new to Hinduism. It is as old as

> > the Vedas themselves. References to One indivisible and mysterious

> > God are found in the Rigveda itself. The concept is the central

> > theme of all the Upanishads in which He is variously referred as

> > Brahman, Iswara, Hiranyagarbha, Asat etc.

> >

> > While the students of Upanishads tried to understand Him through the

> > path of knowledge and there by made it the exclusive domain of a few

> > enlightened persons, the bhakti marg or the path of devotion brought

> > Him closer to the masses. The One Imperishable and Ancient Being was

> > no more a God of remote heights, but down to the earth, ready to

> > help His needy devotees and willing to perform miracles if necessary.

> >

> > The rise of tantric cults added a new dimension to our understanding

> > of Him. To the tantric worshippers the Supreme Self is the Universal

> > Mother. Purusha is subordinate to Her and willing to play a

> > secondary role in Her creation. By Himself He cannot initiate

> > creation unless He joins with His Shakti.

> >

> > On the abstract level He is satchitananda. Truth, Consciousness and

> > Bliss. He is the inhabitant of the whole world. There is nothing

> > that is outside of Him or without Him. He exists in the individual

> > being as Atman, the Enjoyer who delights in Himself, without

> > undergoing any change, but willing to participate in the cycle of

> > births and deaths and bear witness to all the illusions of life.

> >

> > He can be realized in many ways, which broadly fall into three main

> > categories: the path of knowledge, the path of devotion and the path

> > of renunciation. Of this the middle one is the best, the first one

> > is very difficult and the third one requires immense sacrifice and

> > inner purification. In the Bhagavad-Gita we come across the path of

> > action which combines the rest of the three into one integrated

> > whole in which a devotee has to live his life with a sense of

> > supreme sacrifice, performing his actions with detachment, without

> > any desire for the fruit of actions and offering them to God with

> > pure devotion and total surrender.

> >

> > Hindus have a very broader approach to the concept of God. The names

> > that people give to Him are just mere reference points for the sake

> > of our understanding. How can He have names, who is actually beyond

> > all words and thoughts? He represent the loftiest ideal which

> > mankind can aspire to achieve. He is the goal and reaching Him in

> > our individual ways is the very purpose of our lives. Those who

> > quarrel on his name are blind men who grope in darkness and go to

> > the worlds of ignorance.

> >

> > Truly the Brahman of Hinduism represents the Highest principle which

> > the human mind can ever conceive of. He is not God of just one world

> > or a few worlds, but represents the entire known and unknown

> > Universe as well as the past, the present and the future that is yet

> > to come.

> >

> > Brahman

> > http://www.hinduwebsite.com/onegod.htm

> >

>