Similarities between Hindu Bhajans & Christian Psalms & Hymns- 31 Mar 08

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram fm Riyadh to Sai family around the world

 

As most of you know, Sthotrams and Bhajans are an

integral part of Hindu form of worship as also in Sai

centers. They do not override Vedas which is the basis

for the “Theology” (the study of religious faith,

practice, and experience; especially : the study of

God and of God's relation to the world)

 

However they form, as it were, a second channel from

individual or group of devotees, to God on a personal

level. Unlike Vedas they can be recited any time

without rituals.

 

Is there a similar practice in other religions? Yes,

Atleast in Judaism and Christinaity- both of which as

you know, came after more than 3000 years after

Hinduism.

 

Recently I happened to come across an article on

Psalms (in a US newspaper) and did some research

finding more about it. I wish to share it with you.

Psalms (Pronunciation: sämz, sälmz,

somz\ P is silent). It is a collection of

sacred poems forming a book of canonical Jewish and

Christian Scripture- an individually printed volume of

Psalms for use in Christian religious rituals is

called a Psalter.

 

The word psalms is derived from the Greek: Psalmoi,

originally meaning " songs sung to a harp "

Scholars have determined that there are groups of

psalms that can be classified together because of

similarities. The main forms are:

 

1. Individual Laments

2. Communal laments

3. Songs of Trust

4. Individual Thanksgiving Psalms

5. Royal Psalms

6. Wisdom Psalms

7. Pilgrimage Psalms

8. Liturgical Psalms

 

Another way of categorizing the Psalms: Orientation,

Disorientation, Reorientation.

 

Psalms are used throughout traditional Jewish worship.

Many Jews complete the Book of Psalms on a weekly or

monthly basis

 

The Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican

Churches have always made systematic use of the

Psalms, with a cycle for the recitation of all or most

of them over the course of one or more weeks.

Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul, is one of the

best-known prayers of praise;

 

The Liturgy of the Hours is centered on chanting or

recitation of the Psalms, using fixed melodic formulas

known as psalm tones. Early Catholics employed the

Psalms widely in their individual prayers also;

however, as knowledge of Latin (the language of the

Latin rite) became uncommon, this practice ceased

among the unlearned.

 

Following the Protestant Reformation, verse

paraphrases of many of the Psalms were set as hymns.

These were particularly popular in the Calvinist

tradition, Martin Luther's A Mighty Fortress is Our

God is based on Psalm 46.

 

In Great Britain the Coverdale psalter still lies at

the heart of daily worship in Cathedrals and many

parish churches. The new Common Worship service book

has a companion psalter in modern English.

Anglican chant is a method of singing prose versions

of the Psalms.

 

Here is excerpts from US newspaper:

 

Worshipers turn to ancient Hebrew verses to discover a

powerful tool for intimacy with God.

By K. Connie Kang, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 29, 2008

 

The Psalms, says theologian Eugene H. Peterson, are

God's gift to those who want to learn how to pray.

 

" If we wish to develop our entire heart, mind, soul

and strength, the Psalms are necessary, " the author of

the bestselling " Message Bible " writes in " Answering

God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer. " " We cannot

bypass the Psalms. "

 

" It showed me that it's OK to tell God anything --

that you are mad, sad, angry, " she said. " Before I

studied the Psalms, I'd tell God everything except I

was mad at him. "

 

She now finds her relationship with the divine more

intimate and complete. " I think God wants us to be

honest with him, " she said.

 

Why do some people find the Psalms such a powerful

vehicle for prayer? Theologians say the answer lies in

their vast variety, emotional honesty and occasional

bluntness.

 

" What makes the Psalms great for prayer is that they

do not hide the truth from God, " said Rolheiser,

president of Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio,

Texas. " They give honest voice to what is actually

going on in our minds and hearts. "

 

" Every word of the Psalms, every image, every phrase

can be translated in so many different ways, " she

writes in her forthcoming book, " Psalms of the Jewish

Liturgy: A Guide to Their Beauty, Power and Meaning.

(Liturgy: a rite or body of rites prescribed for

public worship)

 

The Psalms offer such a vividly variegated range of

qualities for God that our whole understanding of

godliness expands. " For example, the God in the Psalms

is simultaneously " royal, majestic, tender,

compassionate, loving, healing, eternally just and

capable of great rage, " she writes.

 

" The same God who hurls hailstones across the sky and

'hangs the heavens as if they were drapes' also

'protects the outsider' and 'helps widows and orphans

stand on their feet.' The same God who makes sure the

baby birds are fed also hitches a ride on the wings of

the wind and frolics with Leviathan! "

One of the best-known verses in Western literature,

starts with its immortal opening " The Lord is my

shepherd, I shall not want. "

 

In " Answering God, " Peterson tells readers that

prayers are tools, " but not tools for getting, but

being and becoming. "

 

" At the center of the whole enterprise of being human,

prayers are the primary technology. Prayers are tools

that God uses to work his will in our bodies and

souls. Prayers are tools that we use to collaborate in

his work with us. "

 

Pranams

P.B.V.Rajan