What is the material world?

Humans are often criticized for their attachment to the material world. It's considered as some sort of trap where once you get stuck, it's difficult to get out. The reason for our spiritual and moral decline is often blamed on our desires and attachments associated with this material world. What is this material world after all? Is it our planet, our surroundings, our possessions, people around us? What is it?

If we assume God is the creator of all living beings, then this whole earth or universe is its creation, so how it can be a trap or a bad thing? If this material world is so bad or it's a trap full of so many distractions and evil things then why God sent us here?  For me, earth is the best planet in the entire universe and we are lucky to be on it, that's why we call it our mother planet/earth. How can our mother be a distraction or source of our downfall? We are still trying to find evidence of life on other planets and it’s very much possible that we might find evidence on some of them but still, our earth will be the most beautiful planet for us.

Now let’s see why this planet or material world or attachment is often criticized in scriptures/religions. This is the place where we are born and live our entire life and during that process, we get attached to many things which is quite natural. Most religions believe either there is life after death or there is some other planet or world that is supposed to be better than ours where one goes after death. It’s also believed that your attachments on this planet hinder your journey to that unknown destination. All religions paint different pictures of that promised land (heaven or hell whatever you want to call it) and also prescribe different ways to qualify to go there. We use everything available on this planet to fulfill our needs and desires. After serving us so well and honestly his poor material world gets blamed for our attachments and miseries.

The aim of religion was to replace all our attachments with only one attachment, the God or whatever other entity that religion preaching. They see these material attachments as the biggest threat to them and want to eliminate their competitors that's the only reason I see they criticize it. People many times use wrong ways to satisfy their desires or greed, but they don't do this only for their material desires there are enough examples of religious extremism, forceful conversions, hatred about non-believers, communal riots, etc. All these are due to human attachment to religion/God. People think it's God's will to preach their religion and they are serving/pleasing God by doing this. It is even said that “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.” How come only material desires or attachments are blamed/criticized in scriptures but not religious attachments? 

These so-called distractions and attractions around us are part of life and life is interesting because of them. Running behind them is not the whole purpose of life; everything has its own importance and meaning in life. For example, eating is necessary for living but if you only pay attention to eating and do nothing else, if eat as much as you can without any control, then you know what will be the result and it might become the cause of all your problems and destruction. Give importance to things as much as they deserve and to know how to do this is living a balanced life. Every person is different and different things have different importance to different people.

This planet is our home for the rest of our life and we are privileged to have it. Whatever we learn, achieve, discover, and create is all from this so-called material world. It's the source of all our happiness, problems, and sorrows. There is a perfect world around us that provides us everything we need, it has enough for our needs but not for greed. The real material world, its imperfections or attachments or distractions are not outside but they are inside our mind and we need to control that, no point in blaming anyone for that. So called heaven or hell everything is here and we experience it so many times during our life but don't realize it. It's our duty to take care of this planet as generations to come will be living here. We should try to make this place more beautiful than it was before we leave.

Thanks for reading and please share your opinions about this topic.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

Where is God?

This is a very complex question, and everyone might have different opinions about it. I am sharing my perspective, you are free to challenge it and question it. Everyone will agree that it's a difficult subject to handle and I don't think I can cover it in one post but still, I am going to try. 

It is believed that God is omnipresent (present everywhere), omnipotent (unlimited power), omniscient (infinite knowledge), omnibenevolence (perfect goodness), and eternal. If it's true, then why do we look for that power in Temples, Mosques, Churches, or any other places?  

I remember a very interesting story that I want to share here, many thousands of years ago; it was believed that every person on this planet was a God. But humankind abused their powers (as usual), so God decided to take it all away. The problem was where to hide the godhead-the source of our talent, potential, glory, and power (our consciousness). The first adviser of God said, ‘Why don’t we dig a hole deep in the ground and hide the godhead in there?’ ‘No,’ replied God, ‘eventually someone will dig deep enough and find it.’ The second adviser said. ‘Why not put this power on the top of the highest mountain?’ Again God refused. ‘No, someone will eventually scale that mighty mountain and find it.’ Finally, the third adviser said, ‘How about hiding the godhead at the bottom of the world’s deepest ocean?’ God replied, ‘No, someone will dive down deep into the ocean and discover it.’ They thought about it a lot. After some serious thinking, they found the solution and decided to place this source of extraordinary power, magnificence, and glory inside the heart (or mind) of every man, woman, and child on the planet, because they’ll never think to look there. They were so right. We don’t even try to look inside ourselves but search all over the world for God. 

Every religion gives a different picture or description of God and gives different explanations about its powers and ways to please that power. If you read then you might get an impression that God is some superpower who wants you to praise him/her all the time and behave in a certain way to please him/her, and if you don't, there are dire consequences for that. This description satisfied the curiosity of the human mind for a long time but doesn't sound very logical in today's era. Why God be a slave slave-loving entity wanting his/her subjects to please him/her? If he/she created the world then how come we are evolving? Was original creation faulty that we are evolving? If the human species was born in God God-created world why have we modified it so much that we are staying today in a totally human-made world? There are many questions like this which pop up in my mind.

I thought about it a lot, after all, what is God? I think Consciousness in us is nothing but God, it's a personal thing. This power is part of every living being on this planet and universe. Consciousness is omnipresent like God; whatever we experience our consciousness is there, it’s eternal. Whatever we create is from our consciousness, its source of all our knowledge (omniscient), it lies behind all our understanding, without that we are nothing. We don’t realize this and think that God is some separate entity that is somewhere outside us and try to search for it in different places.

The individual in us wants to know God or wants to be in God's consciousness because we have an illusion that there is an individual in us that is separate from our consciousness. This illusion or confusion was created by many theories/religions that describe God differently. Consciousness and God are two names of the same thing. The irony is that we search for that power externally in all human-made places but not where it truly resides. Even if we consider God as some external entity and assume we are its creations Then, God should be vast like the ocean (just for the sake of comparison), and we are like waves of that endless ocean, without ocean waves don’t exist. Wave and ocean are different forms of the same thing, they don't exist without each other, and we also don't exist without our consciousness. When we realize our true nature, then we meet our God there and then itself (I call it Self-realization). Waves don’t have to go anywhere to meet the ocean, similarly, a person with pure consciousness doesn’t have to go anywhere to meet God as he/she is always with God.

There are two types of distances in any relationship one is physical distance and the other one is spiritual distance. Often people concentrate only on physical distance as it’s easy to measure and easy to feel, if you hold somebody’s hand then you are physically close to that person but that doesn’t mean you are spiritually connected with each other. At the same time, people living thousands of miles from each other can feel that they are with each other but it’s not the physical intimacy that makes them feel together, it is the spiritual intimacy. Once you have that spiritual intimacy then all physical boundaries don’t matter. By going to temples and churches or by having idols people are trying to reduce the physical distance from God, but that’s not the case physically we are always close to God as that entity resides within ourselves, we can realize it only when we realize the true nature of ourselves. So, think about how to reduce spiritual distance then you will realize that physical distance doesn't matter anymore.

We worry so much about our future meeting with God and what will happen after death that we waste our lives just worrying about it. If we search within ourselves then only we can find our God otherwise we may wander many places, read many texts, and hear people’s opinions about God, its existence, and what they think about it, but will never be able to experience it ourselves.

Thanks for reading and please share your views and questions.

Related Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

Are marriages made in heaven?

According to me not at all, marriages are decided on earth by humans, we make and break them. One can marry once or multiple times, or not marry at all. It is a personal choice and a legal matter. There is nothing divine either in marriage or human life, the first is a legal contract and the second one is a biological phenomenon. The human mind is very unsteady and it tries to run from one place to another, so to reduce this instability in long-term relationships concept of marriage was introduced. Centuries ago when societies were very conservative, social male-female interaction was very restricted and limited, females were allowed to interact with only males from their own family. This created a unique system of ‘arranged marriage’ where everything was decided by elders and the bride-groom had very little say in their own marriage. I think this resulted in the belief that to whom you will get married is your destiny (because it is not in your hand) that’s why they say marriage is made in heaven. All the rituals, oaths, and celebrations associated with marriage are just to make us realize the importance of that relationship. Like any other relationship, marriage requires a lot of understanding and adjustment to make it successful. As society progresses (intellectually and materially) concept of marriage also evolved with time.

Marriage is a human-made concept and institution there is nothing divine or spiritual about it, its partnership at a different level. It’s widely accepted in all societies and cultures. Therefore, most societies feel the need to respect and preserve it. In many societies, it helps in the smooth functioning of society, brings some stability to human relationships, and nurtures the concept of family. We are not yet successful completely in curbing our animal instincts so most of us need these types of intuitions and laws to curb our animal instincts and have harmony in our social and personal lives. 

Traditionally concept of marriage was to allow the development of long-term relationships between a man and woman to create a family. But today this definition is changing to a commitment to a long-term and honest relationship between two individuals. It is being debated whether these individuals need to be a man and woman. According to me, marriage can be between any two individuals as long as both are willing to enter and honor the commitment. This is what I believe and there can be different opinions on this and I totally understand it. People are entitled to have their own opinions and express them in a democratic manner. If you think logically then you might understand what I mean. I wonder how can we say that same-sex people can’t get married. Why not? If they are willing to enter into a long-term relationship and honor their commitment, why can't they get married. 

Our society was male-dominant for centuries and marriage was also designed heavily to favor males, where all changes (name change, family change, loss of property rights, etc.) were forced on females. As wives, women's role was restricted to specific duties which were mainly related to household chores. Things are now changing very fast but I think females suffered a lot because of unfairly biased rules where they have to compromise so much just for the sake of a long-term relationship with a man to bring some stability in their life.  

Marriage is also not an institute only designed to produce legitimate kids. Becoming a parent is a personal choice. It requires some maturity and capacity to bear the burden and responsibility of a parent. Everybody eligible to get married is not ready or eligible to become a parent, so marriage and parenthood are two different things and we should not mix them together. Historically both these things are linked but I think we are mature enough to understand that these two things are separate and have nothing to do with each other.

I would like to end this post with one interesting quote "You don’t really need someone to complete you. You only need someone to accept you completely".

Thanks for reading and don't forget to share your views and comments.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

Does Religion Divide or Unite People?

This is a very complex and challenging topic and includes many layers. What makes me ask this question? Why religion was created? What is its situation today? Is there any need for religion in today’s world? These are very relevant and important questions.

Many centuries ago we didn't have a proper understanding about things like nature, life and its complexities, and many other things. People at that time needed some system that could help them to solve these mysteries and religion was born to explain these things. It tried to do the same thing that science does for us today, that is to offer some explanation about questions and concerns of society. Religion did it without much experimentation or empirical evidence on which today's science is based. Another important question is if God/truth is one then why do we have so many religions in the world? Before the beginning of the modern era modes of communication were not that well developed, knowledge or information generated was difficult to communicate and transfer, so people living in different regions developed their own way of understanding nature and its functioning. This gave birth to so many religions which we see around us today. They are very different in their approach but all try to explain the world through some superpower that they think created and controls this universe. Religion is nothing but a belief system that was created to help people understand the mysteries of the universe. It helped to satisfy people's curiosity about uncertainty and unpredictability in life. People who believe in a certain set of ideas about the creation of the universe and its creator associate themselves with a certain type of religion.

Now let’s try to understand why every religion claims that their way or method is correct/better than others and is their claim right. Suppose we assume that number 4 is the ultimate truth (or God). Someone who discovers 2+2=4 will think he/she found the secret of the ultimate truth and that’s the way to go, in a way he/she is right. However, if he/she thinks (as most religious groups who believe in their scriptures blindly think) that’s the only way to reach 4 then they are definitely wrong, 1+3=4, 5-1=4, 10-6=4 and like that there are so many ways to reach that ultimate target and each of them is unique and correct in their own way. By this logic, I think that every person is entitled to have his/her own religion. What most of us do is stick with one method that we like or feel is correct and say all other methods are wrong. All religions agree that god is one but then again fight on ways to reach or please that god. This simple math example shows that there are many ways to reach the same destination.

When I came across different faiths and tried to understand them I didn’t find anything fundamentally different in any of them, rather it amazed me that there are so many ways to teach basically the same philosophy. The presence of many religions should make humans happy. If someone doesn’t like one particular religion just choose another, pretty simple. Either everyone is right or all are wrong, when we understand this then there won’t be any problem in understanding each other's faiths and beliefs. The world will be a beautiful place with no hatred no fight based on religion, and there will be at least one less reason to kill each other. Hinduism is often criticized for its idol worship and having many Gods-demigods, or seeing god in everything (tree, fire, air, stones, etc.). It's written in Vedas that the creator of the universe is a formless, imageless, and genderless entity. However, if you assume there is some creator or god then what’s wrong in having some image of that god using our imagination and giving it some name. Already we created religion, so what’s wrong in creating God, and then why not have many forms of it. It’s like having a vending machine from which one can choose whichever God he/she likes. If they are different forms of the same thing then what’s the problem? If you like, nothing wrong in worshiping God as a formless entity and also nothing wrong in worshiping it in some form, everyone is entitled to have their own God, it's a personal thing. If we agree all religions lead to the same ultimate truth then why to question others' methods. In science, there are different branches, and all try to look for scientific facts. However, chemist doesn't ridicule physicist or try to convert them to chemist. This is because they both know that even though their ways are different they are leading to the same destination. If everyone is heading to the same destination but just taking a different path then what's the problem? 

Why don’t humans wonder if religion was created to unite us, and make us more civilized and tolerant towards each other why are we doing exactly the opposite.  Today religion divides more than uniting people, and we have to blame ourselves for this situation. This is why I asked in the beginning, do we even need religion anymore. We converted religion in exclusive societies, where people believing certain sets of principles are welcomed but not others. Let’s stop this division and hatred based on religion and live like civilized humans are supposed to live. Humanity is the only religion everybody is born with, let's not try to divide more.

Thanks for reading and please share your views and questions on this topic.

Related links for further reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religions_and_spiritual_traditions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_religion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_origin_of_religions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_persecution

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

Motivation: from where and how to get it

First of all, we need to know why and when we need motivation. Many times we are not happy with our jobs, our relationships, and our life in general sucks. This all makes us lethargic, and dull and we lose interest in almost everything. Fierce competition in every field, our disappointments and failures make this situation more complicated. This situation leads to a lack of interest, depression, and a pessimistic attitude towards life.  Sometimes we don’t even realize that we are going through this phase, we suffer, and people around us also suffer because of this. In today’s competitive, fast-moving world people don’t have time for each other, they are fighting for their survival. Our needs are limited but desires are huge, unlimited, endless. To get out of this hopeless situation we need some motivation and positive thinking. 

According to me the best way to get out of this mess is to learn to motivate ourselves without any external help. Everyone can’t afford to attend those motivational speeches, courses, or classes, at least I didn’t get a chance to attend them. The neighborhood where I spent my first 30 years of life exposed me to many different situations of life. I consider myself lucky in that aspect, I became very rich in experience. But my problem was I didn’t have anybody to guide me, to motivate me (unless you call your parents heavy expectations about you as a motivation). So, I searched for it in books and made many friends and it helped me a lot, I got motivation from my friends and books, and that’s how I learned to motivate myself. That's why according to me best way to get motivated is to motivate yourself, it’s not that easy but trust me it’s not that difficult either. 

In my research field of drug discovery, there is a very high failure rate, the success rate to get a suitable drug candidate is less than 0.5%, so, it looks quite a gloomy situation. But I enjoy my work and cherish all aspects of it. I am not worried about my final destination as I want to enjoy my journey. I believe that there can be many people whose destination might be the same but everybody’s journey is unique and special. We worry a lot about results, our targets, and achievements. Because of all these worries and concerns, we don't enjoy our journey. In my case, I believe that every molecule I am making might be the next blockbuster drug to cure that disease and it gives me immense pleasure to put all the efforts and hard work towards its synthesis. I am not worried about its fate once it’s synthesized because that’s not in my hands. I believe that it may not be possible for everyone to get the best job in the world but it’s in our hands to give the best possible effort to whatever job we have. I also try to exercise on a fairly regular basis, but I just don’t exercise because I am scared of getting fat or having high cholesterol. I do it because I enjoy my workout, I like the environment of the gym, and seeing people in action, that spirit motivates me, my workout makes me tired but also makes me feel good.

If we look around we can get motivation from many small things. The problem is that we worry too much about the future, failures, fear of competition and so many other things that mess up our minds and consume our energy. So, cheer up and be happy because happy people are always motivated.

Thanks for reading, please share your comments. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

Women and Religion

Why all religions and sects are created by Men? Why there is not a single female who created any major religion or wrote any significant religious text/scripture?

I always get these questions and wonder if anyone else thinks about it or not. Why do we see most religious institutes (Temples, Churches, Mosques, and many others) headed or controlled only by men? If you see any major religion, its messenger or creator or even person in charge today is male, WHY? Why are we afraid to give women control of religion?

I personally believe that women are as capable as men in every aspect of life and there is no reason to believe that they couldn't write the scriptures, be a messenger of God, or create any religion. I think it was the social structure of our society (male dominance, patriarchy, and misogyny) that suppressed their abilities, confined them to a particular role, and denied them their due credit.

It’s my belief that women were involved in discussions and debates when our society was more open and liberal (maybe thousands of years ago). They must have participated when Vedas used to be debated and discussed and contributed their ideas during those times. I believe women must have contributed heavily to those debates and discussions; we just don’t have that record. But slowly as society started getting controlled more by muscle power than brain power they lost their place and that’s when men took over all the leading positions and also got the credit for that work. We twisted religious scriptures and messages, interpreted them as per our need and convenience, and forced certain sections of society to live under deprived conditions, even invented a horrible cast system out of it. I am not talking only about Hinduism or any particular religion here; all religions are guilty of this, religions all over the world discriminated against women. If we had allowed it to be a dynamic system, and encouraged a more inclusive approach, I don’t think this would have happened.

Women were confined to the home to perform household duties, and produce kids. They were hailed as Mata, Devi, and whatnot but were not allowed to cross boundaries set for them by society (males). Their role was limited to daughter, sister, or mother. They were totally dependent on males for their living, safety, or even existence. They were oppressed for centuries and slowly got used to it and most of them started believing in their role which was decided by male dominated society. Even in the most affluent societies of the world women fought for centuries to get their rights, till recently they were even denied basic rights like education and voting.

It’s good to see that now women have realized their true nature and decided to come out of this cage and explore their true potential. They are openly challenging some of the restrictions put on them by age-old traditions and I feel happy to see their liberation. By liberation, I don’t mean external liberation (clothes, jobs, etc) but they should liberate their mind from the clutches of patriarchy. I would like to listen to women's views about religion which was used by society to suppress them for ages.

Today we have a chance to create a society without any discrimination and with equal rights for everyone. I think after a long time we have reached this point again and let’s not miss this chance again otherwise humanity will never forgive us.

Thanks for reading and your comments are welcome.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

Science and Religion

Do science and religion go together?

For me the answer is ‘Yes, very much’ rather they are made for or made from each other. There was no difference between science and religion when humanity started, they were one and the same. According to me, Vedas are the first and oldest science journals or scientific societies formed. They used to get updated and debated, and people from all sections of society used to contribute their ideas and views during those debates and discussions.  Humans needed this process of generation of knowledge to explain and understand many things around us which used to confuse people in those times and science does the same thing today. But somehow this was discontinued at some stage for some reason.

Every society or culture from time to time benefits from the presence of very intelligent personalities who become sources of fresh, new ideas and knowledge. Their message acts like fresh air and inspires many people who then become their followers. Some of the groups of these followers decided to make their own exclusive societies (which in many cases get converted in new religions) to preach the teachings of their teacher (or guru or messenger) and they converted those teachings into a set of rigid rules, complicated structure of dos and don’ts. I don’t think the original person delivering this knowledge even desired to have something like this (the religions that we have today). When we declare particular knowledge sacred and ultimate truth then there is no scope for debate. This made science and religion part their ways and they became separate fields. Science is all-inclusive in its approach; nothing is sacred or holy there, it can’t be rigid or static, everything can be challenged, it encourages asking questions, performing new experiments, and new theories, and keeps on adding new knowledge. 

Knowledge is a continuous process and it changes over time as new discoveries are made and it gets updated regularly. Science corrects itself, something which seems to be true today may not be true tomorrow as new technologies come and new theories also come. There is nothing wrong or insulting to prove old theories wrong or find some error in them and correct them. Those scientists who discovered old theories are still considered great scientists with phenomenal minds as they could achieve that feat with such limited technology and resources available at that time. Scientists have disagreements all the time but scientists don't kill each other over scientific disagreement. However, the same cannot be said about religion, history shows us numerous occasions where people kill each other because of religious differences even though all religions claim to teach love and peace. 

Followers of all religions closed doors for any new knowledge believing that all knowledge has been already delivered and everything to be said is already said. Eventually, they started finding it difficult to accept or cope with the new knowledge that was pouring in. Knowledge is a continuous process it won’t stop as long as the human race or living beings exist on this planet, we will keep on learning new things every day. Religion became a separate, sacred entity that then became stationary as nothing was allowed to change (even the wrong assumptions or concepts), and nothing was allowed to be added (not even clearly proven facts). At this point, science and religion started confronting each other more than often. Nowadays science is used to criticize religion and vice versa. Even after not adopting any scientific aptitude, different religious groups try to claim that their religious texts include many scientific facts, but there is no close relationship between these two fields. 

We need to understand that for the welfare of human beings science and religion may have to go together then only both can perform their duties otherwise this unnecessary confrontation will continue like this. We should be ready to correct many rules or concepts that are outdated in many religions, accept new ideas, and move forward. This approach won’t hurt any religion or reduce its dignity. Whenever people will understand this, this whole debate of science vs religion will become meaningless. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

Why did Krishna delivered Bhagavad Gita to Arjun not to someone else?

Why Arjun? Why not Yudhisthir or Bhim or Karna or anyone else, there were so many brilliant characters in Mahabharat so why Krishna chose Arjun for delivering one of the most important religious scriptures in human history. I used to get this question in my mind many times while reading about Bhagavad Gita. People believe that because Arjun was like his discipline and he favored or liked him among all Pandavas that’s why Krishna delivered Gita to him. I think both of them were very good friends with mutual respect and admiration for each other and it’s not because of their relationship but the particular situation during that battle that resulted in the delivery of Gita to Arjun. The significance of this message is great largely due to that situation.

The first thing we should understand is that Arjun was a very celebrated warrior at that stage, neither war nor killing his enemies was a new event for him, he had done that on numerous occasions before. After seeing all his loved ones as opponents on the battlefield he became weak and got confused. He got into a real dilemma on the day of battle and started thinking why is he fighting? Is it worth killing his own relatives for a piece of land? What is he going to achieve after all this? Even if they win the war is that victory worth after so many deaths and destruction? These were all very genuine and relevant questions. Arjun was a warrior and his duty was to fight because of his confusion so many doubts and concerns originated in his mind and he started deviating from his true nature. That’s why I think Gita is delivered for people who are searching for answers and Arjun was such a person on that day. We all are like Arjun at some stage of our life. Gita is not for people who are not looking for the answers or who already have their answers. Other characters of Mahabharat standing on that battlefield have already decided their stand. They had their reasons for being there and were very well convinced why and for whom they were fighting that war, so there was no point in giving them any advice because they didn’t need it and were already on their selected path. Krishna’s advice to them would have fallen on deaf ears. They were pretty convinced about their path and principles that’s why he didn’t try to advise them like he did to Arjun.

We all face similar situations like Arjun in our life, it presents us with situations where it’s tough to choose, where it’s difficult to understand which way to go? What is right and what is wrong (it's called dharmasankat)? That’s why it’s been delivered to Arjun and no one else and I think he was the only person who had the capability to understand it and grasp it because his doubts were genuine and his questions were honest. As I said before it's not for people who already have their answers, and believe me there are many people like that, on Kurukshetra battlefield itself except for Arjun everybody had their answers with them.

If Gita was supposed to be the guide to teach how to live life then Krishna would have delivered it to Arjun or to the whole society well before the battle so that Arjun wouldn’t be in any confusion during the battle, why did he wait till that day to deliver it? According to me, Gita makes more sense to you if you are looking for some answers, unless you have any questions Gita won’t appeal to you and would sound like some heavy dose of preaching or any other book. Its significance increases drastically if you are in a dilemma and facing a very difficult situation at any stage of life like Arjun. Arjun is not just a person here it’s a stage of mind; it’s a symbol of a person who is really confused at a very important juncture of his life, in a serious dilemma. It can be me, you, or anyone else; we all are Arjun if we are in that stage.

Mahabharat is an amazing story that you can read at any stage of your life and will find something new every time you read it (depending on what stage of life you are reading), but Gita is not like that you have to be seeking answers to understand it that’s why I think normally it’s studied or read separately. We need to find our Krishna to get our Gita and it can come in any form like any book, person, or any source from where you get your Gita delivered to you. All these religious scriptures (For example Bhagavad Gita, Bible, Quran, and many others) were delivered for people who are seeking answers, and who need some guidelines, you can find answers for many or all of your questions in them. Arjun can be a single person or the entire society and if you have not found your answers yet then keep on searching your Gita may come in any form so be prepared to recognize it, grasp it, and use it as your inspiration and guide.

Thanks for reading and please share your comments.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)

Deool- a must watch Marathi movie

Yesterday I watched the Marathi movie ‘Deool’ which means temple in Marathi. It was an amazing experience to watch this movie, the screenplay, casting, direction, and acting all was amazing. All characters are very well defined and are there in a movie for a reason; rarely we see such a perfect balance achieved in a Marathi movie.

The movie broadly talks about religious faith and its commercialization at the cost of real development. During the movie director very cleverly comments on various contradictions observed in Indian society. It also shows if people decide to take on some task (like temple building in the movie) and are really passionate and united for that cause nothing is impossible even in Indian system which is plagued by red-tapism and dirty politics.

Girish Kulkarni’s role as Keshya is just amazing; he has captured all the mannerisms and details of a typical village boy character. The movie shows an interesting scenario where two people poles apart from each other, pure and innocent devotees Keshya and Anna, people with a more scientific approach towards faith and God understand each other very well but the rest of the society just doesn’t try to understand both of them. The relationship between these two characters is a very interesting part of the movie according to me. Dilip Prabhavalkar’s character (Anna) is interesting as he is not against personal faith or any religion but also cautions people that faith is a personal matter and should remain personal and development is necessary for the village and not to mix them together. He feels sad when people get carried away because of prosperity which comes to them suddenly because of the construction of the new temple and its popularity. It also very nicely shows people's attitude towards popular temples in India. At most of these places, everything is just about money, and bhakti or devotion takes a backseat. These temples are big commercial power centers and money-making machines. It also shows how villagers get rid of real devotees (Keshya) and thinkers (Anna) when they don’t find their presence very convenient. These two people are two rare protagonists whom we don’t see around nowadays and all villagers make use of them for their selfish reasons and don’t even think twice before dumping them.

Dialogues of Keshya with his God are very interesting, especially when he talks with God after the construction of the temple. It also nicely comments on what might happen if we implement the women's reservation policy without any prior training for women to handle the power that they will get because of that policy (see the character of women Sarpanch of the village). It also nicely shows the effect of globalization (sudden availability of money and technology) on India's small towns and villages. It is an Indian language film to be really proud of. Don’t miss it.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

Why to write and how this blog started?

Everyone in this world has something to say. Everybody’s story is unique and interesting. I used to think that a lot has been already said or written about this and related subjects. So, who would listen to me if I wanted to tell my views? I believe that everyone is unique in this world and should share his/her ideas, experiences, and views and that’s how the world will progress. We need to be open to new views and ideas even if sometimes they sound strange. I saw many people don’t even think about these issues or follow whatever is told to them blindly. Even after progressing so much in technological areas and in science we still have a very primitive understanding of religion and its role in today’s world. We need more and more people to express their views so that we can have healthy debates on ideas and opinions. People will understand that basically, all religions teach the same thing, and if the central idea or ultimate teaching is the same then what’s there to fight about? All religious books even though they are great guiding texts have limited significance in today’s world. I am not saying to dump them but use them as reference books, not as commandments. We are a much better civilized society today than thousands of years ago when these books were written; we need to become more tolerant towards each other. Basically we humans generally express only two emotions love and fear; all our actions can be summarized under these two emotions. We need to bring more love into our lives so that it can drive fear away from our lives, it’s not that difficult task and the good thing about it is that it’s in our hands. So let’s share our views, experiences, and opinions and we all can learn something from each other.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

New Beginning

This is a new beginning for me; I used to write my diary on regular diaries. I have so many of them stacked here and also in Pune my hometown in India. I started writing a diary when I was in school and have most of my diaries with me telling some stories at different stages of my life and its always very interesting to go back and read a few chapters from your own life. My life has been a very incredible journey so far full of very interesting encounters and experiences.

Since the last few months, I have been reading a lot in the field of mythology. My aim is to understand the deeper meaning of life. What is religion? What is God? Why do people believe or don’t believe in God? What is Moksha? Why do different people or sects advise different ways to achieve Moksha? What are the incarnations of Vishnu? Why they were necessary? And many, many questions like this, I can’t list all of them, but I have many more questions and they keep on popping up in my mind so many times whenever I read a particular text or listen to some seminar on mythology, or attend any religious gathering. I see people around me and always think why do most people follow certain rituals without understanding the logic behind them? Most of these rituals when introduced did have some sort of reasoning or logic behind them, but rarely people try to understand it and analyze if it’s still a valid or reasonable thing to do. Why do they believe in scriptures blindly without even trying to understand their meaning? Why?? I also wonder why these doubts or questions, don’t come up in other people’s minds?…either they know the answer or they are ignorant or they don’t care or they are incapable of thinking like I can…but I am also a normal person like most people around me, born and brought up in a very humble atmosphere so why do these questions keep on coming to me? My parents didn’t force me to follow any particular belief, they were busy setting up their life as immigrants in Pune they tried to provide us (me and my two brothers) a decent life to the best of their ability and I am really grateful to them for that. They gave us a lot of freedom to choose our careers and also the way we want to live. I read many Marathi books during my college and school days maybe these books had a profound effect on my thinking and behavior, so I consider myself lucky in this aspect.

I am reading and thinking a lot these days and trying to find answers to these questions myself and I think I am heading somewhere, I am sure I will reach my destination and I am determined to walk until I reach there. This is not a road map or guide or mantra to achieve self-realization instantly, these are my thoughts and you have all the right to agree or totally disagree with them, debate about them, raise questions or concerns about them to me, and be sure that I will try to answer them to best of my ability.

I don't promise to answer everything. I am here merely to help you seek the right questions along with me. The answers lie within us. Wherever I interpret the scriptures or any writing whether I understand their real meaning or not is not my concern, if they help me and you uncover our minds and discover our reality then this effort has served its purpose….Let the discovery begin...let's enjoy this journey together.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)