SIKHISM

Sikhism from Sikh, meaning a "disciple", or a "learner"), is a religion that originated in

the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent about the end of the 15th century.[4][5] It
is one of the youngest of the major world religions. The fundamental beliefs of
Sikhism, articulated in the sacred scripture Guru Granth Sahib, include constant
spiritual meditation of God's name, being guided by the Guru instead of yielding to
capriciousness of mind or psyche, living a householder's life instead of monasticism,
truthful action to dharam (righteousness, moral duty), being of selfless service to
others, equality of all human beings, and believing in God's grace.[6][7][8] In the early
21st century there were nearly 25 million Sikhs worldwide, the great majority of them
living in the Indian state of Punjab.[9]
Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru (1469 –
1539),[10] and the nine Sikh gurus that succeeded him. The Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind
Singh, named the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib as his successor, terminating the
line of human Gurus and making the scripture the eternal, religious spiritual guide for
Sikhs.[11][12][13] Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a
monopoly on Absolute Truth.[14][15]
The Sikh scripture opens with Ik Onkar (ੴ), its Mul Mantar and fundamental prayer
about One Supreme Being (God).[16][17] Sikhism emphasizes simran (meditation on the
words of the Guru Granth Sahib), that can be expressed musically through kirtan or
internally through Nam Japo (repeat God's name) as a means to feel God's presence. It
teaches followers to transform the "Five Thieves" (lust, rage, greed, attachment, and
ego). Hand in hand, secular life is considered to be intertwined with the spiritual
life.[18] Guru Nanaktaught that living an "active, creative, and practical life" of
"truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity" is above the metaphysical truth, and
that the ideal man is one who "establishes union with God, knows His Will, and
carries out that Will".[19] Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, established the
political/temporal (Miri) and spiritual (Piri) realms to be mutually
coexistent. [20] Sikhism evolved in times of religious persecution. Two of the Sikh gurus
– Guru Arjan (14. April 1563 – 25 May 1605) and Guru Tegh Bahadur (12. April 1621
– 19. December 1675 ), after they refused to convert to Islam, were tortured and
executed by the Mughal rulers.[21][22] The persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of
the Khalsa, as an order to protect the freedom of conscience and religion, [21][23] with
qualities of a "Sant-Sipāhī" – a saint-soldier.

BELIEFS AND CULTURE

* Sikhs believe everyone, men and women, has equal status before God, who created
the universe and all faiths. Human beings are encouraged to develop their moral
character through generosity, humility and self-reliance.

* Sikh means ―seeker of knowledge‖ in Punjabi, the language of India’s Punjab region
and of Sikhism’s holy books.

* Sikhism was divinely revealed to its first guru, or prophet, Guru Nanak, who died in
1539. Nine gurus followed him, the last of which, Guru Gobind Singh, died in 1708.

* Sikhs keep their hair uncut, or natural, as a sign of living in harmony with God. Men
— and some women — cover their hair with turbans as a mark of their faith. Boys
start wearing a patka over their hair when it is long enough to tie into a topknot.

* The kara is a steel bracelet worn by Sikhs to remind them of the unity of God. The
kirpan is a ceremonial dagger (though not a weapon) that is meant to remind Sikhs of
the duty to fight injustice.

* The Sikh place of worship is known as a gurdwara, and it is where the Sikh holy
book, the Guru Granth Sahib is kept, though copies are also found in Sikh homes. In
a gurdwara, all remove their shoes, and women cover their heads.
* The central Sikh shrine is the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, India, which is also
known as the Golden Temple.

* After services, Sikhs partake in the langar, a communal meal, typically of Punjabi
food, cooked and served by volunteers.

* The first Sikhs came to the U.S. about 100 years ago. They are most concentrated on
the coasts, with a large Sikh population in Queens, N.Y.

* Sikh is properly pronounced ―sik‖ but you will likely not be corrected for saying
―seek.‖
IMPORTANT OF SIKHISM
Originality and clarity of the Sikh faith was instrumental in promoting it from its
inception in about 1499 and the voluntary adoption by the masses with eagerness and
whole-heartedness.
Complete equality, non-discrimination, standing up for true justice, promoting an
enduring spirit of positivity (Chardikala), life of service & dedication, promotion of
loving communities and the respect, recognition & worship of only One God - the
creator of everything and everyone are basic values that are well-known and gave the
world a simple and universal faith. Today, some 540 years after the birth of the
founder of Sikhi, Guru Nanak, it has more than twenty five million followers, and is
the fifth largest faith in the world.
Sikhi is respected world over and is known as a religion of peace and unity of
mankind. The Sikhs have only fought wars to defend themselves or others but are
probably the only section of society that have never fought wars as aggressors.
For the Gurus promoted all human beings as one and the same, and they are all
above discrimination. The Gurus showed real love for all of humanity. Muslims were
equally dear to them as Hindus, or any others. It is well known that Bhai Mardana a
Muslim, spent his whole adult life with Guru Nanak, accompanying Guru with
his Rabab as a musician and the Guru's closest companion everywhere that the Guru
went.
The foundation of Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar - the premier Sikh shrine, was laid by
a Muslim saint Hazrat Mian Mir. Guru Arjun Dev incorporated in Guru Granth
Sahib - the Sikh Holy Book, hymns of God-oriented saints - both Hindus as well
as Muslims. Hymns of any saint that found a place in this Holy Book, are honoured
like those of the Gurus, and every Sikh bows equally in reverence to all of them.
The Sikh faith is the faith of preaching; of dialogue; and not of conversions. It is a
truly interfaith approach to universal brotherhood of humanity undertaken when the
word 'interfaith' did not exist.

WHOS IS THEIR GOD

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion and hence, believes that "God" is One, and prevails
in everything,[1] as symbolized by the symbol Ik Onkar (one all pervading spirit)[2]. The
fundamental belief of Sikhism is that God exists, indescribable yet knowable and
perceivable to anyone who surrenders his egoism and Loves the Almighty. [3] The Sikh
gurus have described God in numerous ways in their hymns included in the Guru
Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhism, but the oneness of the deity is
consistently emphasized throughout.
God is described in the Mool Mantar (lit. the Prime Utterance)[4][5], the first passage in
the Guru Granth Sahib:
The opening of the scripture tells us about the description of God: "God is One. He is
the Supreme Truth. He the Creator, is without fear and without hate. He is immortal.
He is neither born and nor does He die. By Guru's grace shall He be met. Chant And
Meditate on His Name. In the beginning, He was the Truth. Throughout the ages, He
has been the Truth. He is the Truth now and He shall be the Truth forever" (Guru
Granth Sahib Ji, 1).
The most important aspect of being a Sikh, is to understand that, there is one endless
God. He is indescribable, inestimable, indubitable, infallible, intangible, imperishable,
immutable, immortal, immaculate, immanent, unconquerable, unique, formless,
fearless, deathless, timeless, ageless, compassionate, omnipresent and creator of all.
"There is only the One Supreme Lord; there is no other at all. Spirit, soul and body, all
belong to Him; whatever pleases His Will, comes to pass" (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 45).
God loves everyone. Sikhs believe there is no one superior to God. Furthermore, Sikhs
believe that God created all beings, animals, birds, creatures, including humans.
When the first great Guru, the founder of Sikh faith, Guru Nanak Dev Ji gave this
definition to the people who believed differently in God, they were surprised and they
asked him, who told you this and how did God come in existence? The great Guru
explained that God Himself gave him this information. God has always been present.
The concept of time is very worldly. There is no time, beginning or end when it comes
to God. This is very hard to understand for us humans because we are used to the
concept of begin and end with time.
People further asked Guru Nanak Dev Ji about what does God look like? The great
Guru preached that God is formless. God is beyond gender and shape. "He has no
form, no shape, no color; God is beyond these three qualities. One understands Him,
O Nanak, with whom God is pleased" (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 283). God has no body,
He is the greatest Spirit of all and our soul is a part of Him.
The main difference between Sikhism and some of the world’s other religions is that
there are people who worship Jesus and believe Jesus is God, some people worship
Buddha and believe Buddha is God. The Sikh Gurus themselves said that they are not
to be worshipped. They expressed very clearly not to worship anyone except
God. Guru Gobind Singh Ji even put it in harsh words and said, ―Those who call me
God will fall into the pit of hell. Consider me as a humble servant of God and have no
doubt about it.‖ He wanted to be very clear that He is not God and should not be
worshipped. One should only worship the One Almighty Lord.

THEY BELIEVE IN HOW MANY GODS?

There is one God
 1. One God:- of all the Universe - The fundamental belief of Sikhism is that God exists, not
merely as an idea or concept, but as a Real Entity, indescribable yet knowable and
perceivable to anyone who is prepare to dedicate the time and energy to become perceptive
to His persona. The Gurus never spoke about proofs of the existence of God: For them He
is too real and obvious to need any logical proof.
 HINDUISM
Hinduism is an Indian Dharma, or a way of life,[note 1] widely practiced in South Asia.
Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, [note 2] and some practitioners
and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal tradition," or the "eternal
way," beyond human history.[4][5] Scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion[note 3] or
synthesis[6][note 4] of various Indian cultures and traditions, [7][note 5] with diverse
roots[8][note 6] and no founder.[9] This "Hindu synthesis" started to develop between 500
BCE and 300 CE,[10] following the Vedic period (1500 BCE to 500 BCE).[10][11]
Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared
concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to
sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Śruti ("heard") and Smṛti ("remembered").
These texts discuss
theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple
building, among other topics.[12] Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads,
the Bhagavad Gita, and the Agamas.[13][14] Sources of authority and eternal truths in
its texts play an important role, but there is also a strong Hindu tradition of the
questioning of this authority, to deepen the understanding of these truths and to
further develop the tradition.[15]
Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or
aims of human life,
namely Dharma (ethics/duties), Artha (prosperity/work), Kama (desires/passions)
and Moksha (liberation/freedom/salvation);[16][17] karma (action, intent and
consequences), Saṃsāra (cycle of rebirth), and the various Yogas (paths or practices to
attain moksha).[14][18] Hindu practices include rituals such as puja (worship) and
recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, and
occasional pilgrimages. Some Hindus leave their social world and material
possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa (monastic practices) to achieve
Moksha.[19] Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from
injuring living beings (ahimsa), patience, forbearance, self-restraint, and compassion,
among others.[web 1][20] The four largest denominations of Hinduism are
the Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism.[21]
Hinduism is the world's third largest religion; its followers, known as Hindus, number
about 1.15 billion, or 15-16% of the global population.[web 2][22] Hindus form the
majority of the population in India, Nepal and Mauritius. Significant Hindu
communities are also found in other countries.[

BELIEF AND CULTURE

Common to virtually all Hindus are certain beliefs, including, but not limited to, the
following:
 a belief in many gods, which are seen as manifestations of a single unity. These deities
are linked to universal and natural processes.
 a preference for one deity while not excluding or disbelieving others
 a belief in the universal law of cause and effect (karma) and reincarnation
 a belief in the possibility of liberation and release (moksha) by which the endless cycle
of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara) can be resolved
  Hinduism is bound to the hierarchical structure of the caste system, a
categorization of members of society into defined social classes. An individual’s
position in the caste system is thought to be a reflection of accumulated merit
in past lives (karma).
 Observance of the dharma, or behavior consistent with one’s caste and status,
is discussed in many early philosophical texts. Not every religious practice can
be undertaken by all members of society. Similarly, different activities are
considered appropriate for different stages of life, with study and raising
families necessary for early stages, and reflection and renunciation goals of
later years. A religious life need not be spiritual to the exclusion of worldly
pleasures or rewards, such as the pursuit of material success and (legitimate)
pleasure, depending on one’s position in life. Hindus believe in the importance
of the observation of appropriate behavior, including numerous rituals, and the
ultimate goal of moksha, the release or liberation from the endless cycle of
birth.
 Moksha is the ultimate spiritual goal of Hinduism. How does one
pursue moksha? The goal is to reach a point where you detach yourself from
the feelings and perceptions that tie you to the world, leading to the realization
of the ultimate unity of things—the soul (atman) connected with the universal
(Brahman). To get to this point, one can pursue various paths: the way of
knowledge, the way of appropriate actions or works, or the way of devotion to
God.
 Hindus believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both
immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.
 Hindus believe in the divinity of the four Vedas, the world's most ancient
scripture, and venerate the Agamas as equally revealed. These primordial
hymns are God's word and the bedrock of Sanatana Dharma, the eternal
religion.
 Hindus believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation,
preservation and dissolution.
 Hindus believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each
individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words and deeds.
 Hindus believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births
until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, liberation from the
cycle of rebirth, is attained. Not a single soul will be deprived of this
destiny.
 Hindus believe that divine beings exist in unseen worlds and that temple
worship, rituals, sacraments and personal devotionals create a
communion with these devas and Gods.
 Hindus believe that an enlightened master, or satguru, is essential to
know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal discipline, good
conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry, meditation and surrender
in God.
 Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and
therefore practice ahimsa, noninjury, in thought, word and deed.
 Hindus believe that no religion teaches the only way to salvation above
all others, but that all genuine paths are facets of God's Light, deserving
tolerance and understanding.

Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world. Hinduism is world's third largest religion
after Christianity and Islam. Hinduism is the dominant religion in India, where Hindus
form about 84 per cent of the total population. Hinduism is also known as "Sanatan
Dharma" or the everlasting religion. Hindu religion is based on the concept that
human and animal spirits come back to earth to live many times in different forms.
The Hindus believe that a soul moves up and down hierarchy on the basis of
behavior.

According to Hinduism a person is born into the higher class because he/she must
have done good deeds in past life whereas a person is born into poverty and shame
because of misdeeds in past life. Central to Hinduism are the concepts of
reincarnation, the caste system, merging with Brahman, finding morality, and
reaching Nirvana (the peaceful escape from the cycle of reincarnation). According to
Hinduism the paths to salvation include rituals, devotion and the way of knowledge
(realization of reality and self-reflection). If the practitioner follows the paths of these
ways, salvation can be achieved.

The main Hindu scriptures are Sruti (what is heard), Smriti (what is remembered) the
Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Upanishads, the Puranas and epics. The Sruti include
deeply religious things communicated to a seer and recorded. The Vedas, the religious
writings, include mantras (hymns of praise), brahmanas (sacrificial rituals) and
Upanishads (108 sacred teachings). The Smriti include the law (books of laws),
puranas (myths, stories, legends) and epics (sets of holy myths including Ramayana
and Mahabharata).

IMPORTANT OF HINDUISM
Hinduism will glow with its previous glory provided the following mis-understandings
are removed from it::

1) Unimaginable God:

a) This is a misunderstanding in all the religions including Hinduism. This space,

which is subtle energy, is infinite. This infinity is not the absolute inherent
characteristic of the space. It means that the space is not infinite by itself. The space
is generated from the unimaginable God. If you reach the boundary of the space, you
touch God like touching the soil on reaching the boundary of the ocean. You cannot
touch or imagine God. This is the reason for the infinity of the space. Thus space is
relatively infinite.

b) Take the case of a stream of smoke coming from the fire. If you travel in the smoke,
after some time, you can touch the fire. The stream of the smoke is finite because on
reaching the boundary of the smoke, you can touch the imaginable fire. On contrary,
you cannot reach the boundary of smoke (space) if the fire (God) is unimaginable.
Hence, the finite or infinity of the space depends on the imaginable or
unimaginable nature of God respectively. The infinity of space is not its
characteristic, but, is due to the unimaginable nature of its generator, the God.

c) The constant expansion of the universe also speaks the same. As you travel along
the universe, it expands so that you cannot reach its boundary and touch the
unimaginable God. By this, the constant expansion is again relatively justified i.e.,
with respect to the unimaginable God. The constant expansion is not the absolute
phenomenon of the universe, but, it is a relative phenomenon since the aim of the
expansion is only to see that you should not touch the boundary of universe or
God.

d) The space cannot exist in God since the product(space) cannot exist in its
cause(God) before its generation. If the space exists in God even before its generation,
it means the generation of space becomes meaningless. Anything is said to be
generated, if it is absent before its generation. This means that the space and hence,
the spatial dimensions do not exist in God and hence can never be imagined. The
unimaginable nature is, thus, justified.

e) The unimaginable God proves Himself by performing unimaginable events called

miracles. You cannot discard a genuine miracle as magic. Even if you discard
miracles, the infinite space with unimaginable boundary stands as the solid proof for
the concept of existence of unimaginable nature indicating the existence of
unimaginable God.

f) The bending of space along the boundary of object proves that space is something
(subtle energy) and not nothing. Hence, generation of space becomes a logical concept
since something can be only generated and nothing cannot be generated.

2) Gayatri:

a) Gayatri means the divine song on God, which brings the grace of God for our
protection. This is the root meaning.

b) Gayatri is not a Vedic hymn, which is composed in a specific meter called Gayatri.
The meter is named as Gayatri without its application of root meaning. Hence, the
Vedic hymn in the Gayatri meter is not at all Gayatri.

c) Any devotional song on God is Gayatri and every human being is eligible to sing a
devotional song on God.

d) Hence, it is foolish to say that Gayatri is prohibited to certain castes.

e) It is doubly foolish to say that the ladies are not eligible for Gayatri. In fact, the
ladies with their sweet voice singing devotional songs are really eligible for the real
Gayatri.

f) The misunderstood Vedic hymn called as Gayatri, prescribed only to certain castes
brought splits in Hinduism.

g) No injustice was done to any caste from the beginning of the creation since every
human being is eligible for the real Gayatri. The initiation of Vedic hymn called Gayatri
through holy thread (Upanayanam) is not necessary to all the human beings because
all the human beings are eligible for the real Gayatri.

3) Yajna or sacrifice:

a) The fire is of three types: wooden fire (loukikaagni), electricity (vaidyuta agni) and
the burning hunger in the stomach (devata agni or vaishvaanara agni).

b)The first two types of fire are used (YajnaSadhanam) for cooking the food by heating
with the ghee. The third type of fire is in a hungry person (AhamVaishvaanaro...Gita),
which should be served (YajnaUpaasyam). The cooked food with ghee should be
submitted to the hungry person and such submission is called as Yajna or Homa. The
ghee fried food is the best and hence the submission of such food is the best practical
service.

c) Ghee also means the food fried with ghee. When two items are associated, one item
represents the other. A person carrying apples is called as 'apples'. Ghee is
misunderstood as the direct ghee only. The third type of fire is misunderstood as the
wooden fire. Both these misunderstandings resulted in burning ghee directly in the
wooden fire causing pollution, which stops rains.

d) Agni means the spiritual preacher as said in the first hymn of the first Veda
(Agnimeele...). The word Agni comes from Agri (first), which means that the spiritual
preacher must be worshipped in the beginning by serving the special ghee fried food
and this is the real Homa to Agni.

e) Deities are said to eat through the mouth of Agni, which is mouth of the spiritual
preacher in Whom all the deities reside as per the Veda (Yaavateervai...). This is again
misunderstood and food or ghee is burnt in wooden fire.

f) Practical sacrifice of wealth in the form of food is considered to be the real service for
which alone the divine fruit appears. Based on this point, cooking and serving the food
to hungry people was considered to be the most important sacrifice and hence almost
all the volume of the Veda speaks about such sacred practical sacrifice.

Veda Means Knowledge Studied By Knowing Meanings

4) Blind recitation of the Veda:

a) The Veda itself means studying the spiritual knowledge composed of Pravrutti and
Nivrutti. The word Adhyayana also means to know the knowledge. Hence, the
Vedadhyayana means to understand the spiritual knowledge from the Veda and not
blind recitation of the Veda without knowing its meaning.

b) In the ancient times, the printing technology was absent and the Veda has to be
preserved through recitation only. Hence, the recitation was also done apart from
studying its knowledge. Moreover, the preservation of the Veda through recitation
avoids the additions and deletions by certain crooked human beings to bring wrong
knowledge. Today, the printing technology is developed and the Veda is printed.
Additions and deletions are not possible. Therefore, there is no need of blind recitation
and all the time should be spent in studying the Vedic knowledge by the student in
the present schools of the Veda.

c) Blind recitation of scriptures is not done in other religions also like Christianity,
Islam etc. This is the wise and correct tradition avoiding wastage of time in blind
recitation. The same tradition should be followed in Hinduism.

d) The scriptures are in their mother tongues in the case of other religions.
Unfortunately, in Hinduism, the scripture is in Sanskrit and very few only know
Sanskrit. Either all the Hindus should learn Sanskrit or read the translated Vedas in
their mother tongue. When the meaning of the recited scripture is not known at all,
the scripture is no more the Veda because the Veda means knowledge studied by
knowing the meanings of the words.

5) Untouchable:
a) The Veda and the Gita speak about four castes only created by God and there is no
fifth caste created by God, which is untouchable. The untouchable caste is formed by
the union of boycotted sinners from all the four castes. It is like boycotting a student
from the school for the sake of the reformation and not for revenge.

b) The sins like killing the helping animals like cows, buffaloes, bulls, etc., for food is
the greatest sin since the Government does not kill a retired employee! Hence, the
concept of untouchable is only to reform the person by diverting from the sin and it
has no any other meaning. This is misinterpreted and an untouchable is treated
permanently untouchable extending the concept even to their further generations!

c) Shabari was from untouchable caste. The Lord ate the fruits bitten by her! She was
the only lady selected leaving all the Brahmin sages to go to the abode of God
with the alive body!!

Genes Transmit Certain Mannerisms And Not Talents

6) Caste System:

a) The caste system is based on the qualities and related actions only and is not based
on the birth. The birth gives only the address of a person that one is born in the caste
of Brahmins though he may not be a Brahmin by qualities and actions. Ravana is a
Brahmin by birth and not a Brahmin by qualities and actions. Rama is a non-
Brahmin by birth but a Brahmin by qualities and actions. Respect is always linked
to the qualities and actions.The Gita says that the caste system was established by
God purely based on qualities and actions only (Chaaturvarnyam...) and is never based
on birth.

b) People say that the Veda says that a Brahmin is born from the face of God
(Brahmanosya...). This is the wrong interpretation. The right meaning is that a
Brahmin stands as the face of the society leading it by spiritual knowledge.

c) Of course, a child born in a caste will acquire the talents and knowledge of that
caste due to influence of the surrounding atmosphere. This should not be attributed to
the genes since genes transmit only certain mannerisms and not the talents. A
child acquiring talents due to the surrounding atmosphere is misunderstood as
acquiring the talents through blood (genes) by birth. The real reason (acquiring talents
from surrounding atmosphere) is hidden and the false reason (acquiring talents by
birth through blood-genes) is projected in its place and this resulted in the split of the
unity of Hindu religion.

d) In the beginning of the creation, those human beings, who were interested in the
propagation of spiritual knowledge, were called as Brahmins. A person is not born as
the stamped Brahmin from God. In course of time, their children also achieved the
talent in the profession due to the effect of surrounding atmosphere. Therefore, there
was no unjust partiality in the beginning and in course of time.

e) Certain castes eligible to recite Gayathri hymn were not favoured in any way since
the ladies of the same caste were not given that chance. In fact, such chance is not at
all a favour since the real Gayathri is only to sing the devotional song on God, which
was universal to all the castes. Not only the caste system by birth is meaningless to
give respect but also the blame of ancient sages showing partiality in the caste system
is baseless.
7) Kundalini and Chakras in Yoga:

a) The Chakras are misunderstood as the lotus flowers existing in the spinal cord and
Kundalini was thought to be a serpent sleeping in the first chakra. A chakra is a
whirlpool representing illusion of a specific worldly bond in which the Kundalini
should not be struck and should pass on. Kundalini means the awareness, which is
nervous energy travelling in the form of waves like a serpent. The awareness should
not be attracted by the scent of the lotus flower and should not be caught in the
whirlpool or chakra to be struck there itself. The five chakras are related to the five
elements representing gradually mother, father, wife, children and guiding preachers
in the ascending order. The sixth is mind and the seventh (Sahasraara) is the
intelligence.

b) Your attention or awareness should cross all the worldly bonds and finally should
fix in the intelligence through analytical knowledge and confirmation on God. Leaving
this essence, people are carried away by the misinterpreted yoga with an illusion to get
the miraculous powers. Such powers can be attained only by the grace of God in the
service of the spiritual society.

c) Yoga is misunderstood as doing certain physical exercises and doing the

exercise of breathing, following meditation of some imaginable form by force
and finally ending in unconscious state called Samadhi. All this is done to get
miraculous powers. The real concept of the Veda is to equally enjoy the happiness and
unhappiness in this world and to maintain the continuous bliss like God constantly
enjoying the world.

8) Incarnations:

a) The human being must always catch the contemporary human incarnation, which
is relevant to the humanity. This is not done due to repulsion between common media.
Due to the same reason, after death also, the soul in energetic body repels with the
energetic incarnation of God in the upper world. Thus the loss is now here as well as
afterwards there and thus everywhere and forever.

b) Due to ego and jealousy, the relevant human incarnation is misunderstood as an

ordinary human being and the irrelevant energetic incarnation is always worshipped.
The repulsion between common media is very powerful due to which even a servant-
soul (Indra) in energetic body is worshipped by the human beings (Yadavaas)
neglecting God in the human body (Krishna).
WHO IS THEIR GOD
 THEY BELIEVE IN HOW MAY GODS
THE 33 MILLION GODS OF HINDUISM
Why Hindus worship so many gods and goddesses is a real mystery for most people.
In the West, where the mass majority of people are part of the Abrahamic faith
tradition with one God, the concept of polytheism is nothing more than fantasy or
mythology worthy of comic book material. The interesting thing is that one culture can
see this as fiction while most Hindus, without a second thought, can walk into a
temple with multiple deities, bow down and offer prayer and worship with devotion
treating that deity as much like a person as you and me.

The Bhakti tradition offers an explanation for this complicated theology of millions of
gods. I find this explanation quite satisfying. For a country, state, or city to run
properly, the government creates various departments and employs individuals within
those departments — teachers, postal workers, police and military personnel,
construction works, doctors, politicians, and so many more. Each of these
departments employs hundreds or thousands of individuals carrying out their
respective duties and each sector has an individual or multiple individuals that
oversees the activities of that one unit. Each head of an area is endowed with certain
privileges and powers which facilitates them in their tasks. It’s safe to say that the
number of individuals working for the United States government goes into the
millions. This is just to keep one country working. Multiply that by all the countries on
the planet, which is around 200, and all the people working for these governments,
the total would easily come out to tens of millions of people employed by the various
governments of the world to run one planet.

The way it’s explained is that in order to keep the universe running, Krishna, the
supreme being, has put into place individuals that oversee different parts of the
material universe. These individuals are powerful beings that have been appointed by
Krishna and have been bestowed with the necessary powers and abilities to manage
and govern their area of creation. They can be referred to as demigods. For example,
there is someone responsible for the sun and his name is Surya. The goddess
Saraswati is the overseer of knowledge. The creator of the material universe is known
as Brahma. The destruction of the universe is overseen by Shiva and Vishnu serves as
the maintainer. There are individuals overseeing the oceans, the wind, and practically
every facet of creations. When seen from this perspective, 33 million is not that big a
number.

We take it completely for granted that the sun is always perfectly fixed in its position.
If it were to move even slightly closer to the earth we would burn to a crisp and if it
were to distance itself from us, we would become popsicles. We also take it for granted
that all day and all night, there is oxygen in the atmosphere for us to breathe. It’s not
by chance that all this is existing. It has been placed here and someone has been put
in charge of each aspect of it. For example, we plug our electronic gadgetry into power
outlets. That’s not magic and it’s not by chance. It was constructed into the building
to facilitate our needs. If for some reason, there’s a massive power outage, then the
person in charge would have to take responsibility for its maintenance.

The material universe functions like a big governmental structure with heads of
departments managing their respective affairs. These heads or ―demigods‖ have also
been endowed with abilities to grace humanity with certain boons and that’s why so
many people pray to the different gods to have their material wishes fulfilled. Granting
boons to whatever degree deemed appropriate is up to the individual god.

According to the scriptures, the gods live in different realms with life spans that are
much longer than ours. For example, when six months pass here on earth, only one
day has gone by in the upper realms. Another six months equals one night. When a
full day goes by for them, a full year has passed here on earth. According to human
calculation, their lives span to a few billion years. This may sound quite fantastic to
one who is hearing it for the first time, however, it’s not much different than what
Einstein said about the relativity of time. Einstein’s hypothetical experiment known as
the ―twin paradox‖ suggests that if one of a pair of twins travels to outer space at the
speed of light, while the other remains on earth, when the space traveling twin
returns, he will be younger than his counterpart on earth.

There is also a story from the Puranas which parallels Einstein’s hypothetical
experiment. A yogi, by the power of his trained mind, exited the earthly realm for the
higher planetary realms, was informed by the inhabitants of these higher realms that
millions of years had instantly passed on Earth in the mere moments since he had
entered the higher realms. They also told him that all of his relatives and everyone he
had ever known was deceased. The understanding that time is relative is nothing new
for the Hindu tradition. It was quite common knowledge for most Hindus.

Even though the gods live for billions of human years, for them one of their years feels
like a year would feel for us here on earth. After their allotted span of time, most of
them will also die and then different living beings are placed into those positions to
continue overseeing their duties. This is similar to most governmental posts. Each
person in that post can serve in that capacity for a certain duration and then is
replaced. It’s not an eternal post. I’m trying to keep it somewhat simple, as it’s a bit
more complicated than that. There are realms that go beyond the heavenly sphere.
The highest realm within the material cosmos is Satyaloka, where Brahma resides. His
entire life span, if calculated in terms of human years, is 311 trillion years. Within the
material sphere, he overseas everything, including all godly beings. They all work
under his jurisdiction. After his allotted time of 311 trillion years which feel to him like
a 100 years would to us, he also has to die. The conclusion is that nothing in the
material world is permanent. From his perspective of time, our existence is similar to
that of bacteria or some kind of microorganism. There are some organisms that only
live for a few minutes or a few hours, but for that organism, it lived a full and complete
life. From our human perspective, it was just a blink of an eye.