Advaita, Shiva Sidhdhantham and Christianity

[Guest guest]

Harsha: Passing on something from Ramji that might be useful.

 

Ram Chandran <chandran

 

Advaita, Shiva Sidhdhantham and Christianity

 

Trinity in Advaita - Brahman, Jiva and the World. There is fundamental

unity in the Trinity and appearance of separation is due to the limitation

of intellect. One has to go beyond the intellect to experience the unity.

 

Shiva Sidhdhantham is a very ancient philosophy that dates back to more

than five thousand years. It is well practiced by South Indians who believe

in Siva as the eternal and never-ending creator. The philosophy is explained

by the trinity - pathi, pAchu, and pAcham. Shiva is the pathi, Jiva is the

pAchu and the worldly attachment is pAcham. Jiva (pAchu) due to worldly

attachment (pAcham) undergoes sufferings and with the blessings of Brahman

(Shiva), Jiva gets the freedom from bondage. When pAchu surrenders to pathi

(Shiva), pAcham disappears. In Shiva Sidhdhantham, pAcham is classified into

three - Anavam, kanamam, and mAyai (ego, deed and effects, and illusion).

The Tamil scripture thruman^dhiram describes Shiva Sidhdhantham in greater

details. The bottom line of Shiva Sidhdhantham is the fact that pathi

(Shiva) is unaffected!

 

The philosophy is explained beautifully using an analogy: Jivas are

compared to leaves on the tree loaded with a heavy snow fall. Due to the

weight of the snow (worldly attachment), leaves suffer. But with the

blessings from the sun (pathi) the snow (pAcham) evaporates and disappears

from the leaf. The leaf gets the freedom and smiles (experience of bliss)

due to the presence of sun. There is fundamental unity between pathi, pAchu

and pAcham!

 

The Trinity in Christianity is explained by Father, Son and the

Holy-ghost. Father is pathi and Son is the Jiva and Holy-ghost refers to the

death of pAcham due to Grace. Again, there is fundamental unity between

Father, Son and the Holy-ghost.

 

Conclusion: If we make sincere efforts to find the unity, the unity and

oneness can be experienced. The path and direction may appear different and

all such appearance only confirms our ignorance!

 

Ram Chandran

 

Burke, VA

[Guest guest]

Harsha: Found this on the web. Can anyone confirm this?

 

Indian Monk Breaks Year Long Fast,

Only Warm Water Twice Daily

 

By Y.P. Rajesh

 

5-1-98

 

BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - A Jain monk ended a 365-day-long fast in

south

India Friday, drinking half a cup of warm water mixed with cloves, saffron

and other herbs. ``Sri Sahajmuniji Maharaj decided to break his fast three

and a half hours after sunrise and did so in the presence of other

monks,''

said Manakchand Kothari, secretary of the Jain religious organization

where

the monk had fasted since May 1, 1997.

 

Sahajmuniji, 65, clad in white robes and sitting cross-legged, said he

undertook the fast for self-purification that would spread peace and

brotherhood and influence people to shun discrimination and regional

differences. During the fast he lived by drinking hot water -- once after

sunrise and once before sunset -- at the Jain religious center in

Bangalore.

 

Doctors say that, under normal circumstances, two months is about as long

as a human can survive without nourishment. ``It has been possible

probably

due to the combination of his will power and his experience of fasting,''

said Dr Prakash Chand, a consultant radiologist and ultrasonologist, who

helped look after the monk's health. The two doctors who examined

Sahajmuniji Friday said his vital systems were normal, outside of a pulse

rate that rose after he consumed herbal water. Sukumar Shetty, a general

medicine consultant at Bangalore hospital, said Sahajmuniji's long fast

was

``very, very unusual and difficult to explain medically.'' ``It may be

possible for a few weeks to live only on water and practically impossible

to maintain normal health. Water has no calories and the body's reserves

of

fat and protein cannot last for one year,'' Shetty said.

 

The doctors said Sahajmuniji weight had dropped from 173 pounds before the

fast to 95 pounds. ``Protein levels have come down; his lipid profile

shows

a decrease in levels and his fat deposits have been fully utilized. He is

almost skin and bone now,'' the doctors said. Leaders of political

parties,

including India's new Home Minister L.K. Advani, were among thousands of

devotees who visited the monk to seek his blessings. At least 30 million

Indians practice Jainism, a religion that started about 1,800 years ago

and

preaches peace, celibacy and austerity.

 

Monks say it centers on sacrifice and self-mortification, contending that

strict discipline offers the only escape from a mundane world. The

tightly-knit Jain community is dominated by a rich business class with a

large influence on India's economic activities. Sahajmuniji held his first

fast in 1964 in the northern Indian state of Haryana. In 1994, he

abstained

from food for 201 days in Bombay, India's commercial capital. Kothari said

Sahajmuniji would gradually return to a normal diet over two weeks, moving

from water to milk and soft food before consuming solid food.