Upanishads and Scientists.

The Upanishads are a collection of Sanskrit texts transmitted orally from teacher to student over thousands of years.

Upanishads are concerned with the nature of reality, mind and the self.

Some of the more well-known among the physicists who brought about a major change in Quantum Physics were Einstein, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg.

Schrödinger was first exposed to Indian philosophy around 1918, through the writings of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

An ardent student of the Upanishads, Schopenhauer had declared, “In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life. It will be the solace of my death.”

The Isha Upanishad states, “the Brahman forms everything that is living or non-living … the wise man knows that all beings are identical with his self, and his self is the self of all beings.”

Schrödinger was fascinated by this thought.

These days people often use "Vasudaiva Kutumbakam".

The most common meaning thought is " The world is my family".

Used for immigrants, Rohingyas, and several other political contexts.

I always wondered: Would we allow a terrorist/thief/murderer/rapist into our house in the name of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam?

Digging deeper I found a completely new meaning. Thanks to Shri @Sampadananda ji!

This popular phrase in Sanskrit is, in fact, the last part of a full verse, meaning ‘He is mine and the other is not, this is how a narrow-minded person thinks. For the high-minded one this world is but one family.'

In this verse, a narrow-minded person is self-centred.  This is how he always thinks: ‘What I do is right and what others do is wrong. My way of thinking and feeling is true and the way others do is false. I am sincere and others are not as sincere as I am.'

Ultimately it means that ME and MYSELF are right, true, sincere, intelligent, and unbeatable. This is narrow-mindedness and the most widespread disease.

Hindu Calendar NEW YEAR

There are many theories regarding the creation of the Universe, such as the Big Bang theory, the Proto-universe theory, the Inflationary theory, the Bubble Universe theory, etc.

Out of these the Big Bang theory is most widely accepted by the scientific community (still s bit controversial). According to this theory, the big bang occurred almost 13.8 billion years ago and the Universe came into existence.

In a Hindu Scripture, the ‘Chandogyupanishad’, it is said that the Supreme God (Parameshwar) made a sankalp (resolve) ‘I am one, I will manifest in several forms’, and the Universe was created. (Tat Tvam Asi).

The calculation of the number of years since the creation of the Universe as well as the number of years till the dissolution of the Universe has been done by the Rishis in India. Rishi Vasishtha has mentioned that the creation of the Universe happened 34.5 billion years ago.

The creation of the Universe happened on the Hindu Calendar Date (tithi) of Chaitra Shukla Pratipada. Thus, the Hindu calendar begins on the sunrise of this tithi. This date usually falls on any day from late March to mid-April on the Gregorian calendar.

"How Drug Companies mislead doctors and harm patients?"

This is a title of a book written by a British physician Ben Goldacre.

One of the famous example cited by him is an example of one particular antidepressant reboxetine.

Only one trial of this was published out of seven when tested against a 'placebo'. Obviously the trial published found it to be effective and the remaining six trials remained unpublished.

What were these unpublished trials like?

The same antidepressant was tested against serotonin reuptake inhibitors. It was proved in this trial that the particular antidepressant was not only less effective but also had worse adverse effects.

I'm just citing one such example from the book.

The second major point raised in this book is about how pharmaceutical companies market their products, how they intrude into medical syllabus/education, how they influence the doctors and regulators in supporting their medicines, etc.

My Example:

Colgate-Palmolive Co. announces the publication of the textbook Periodontal Disease and Overall Health: A Clinician’s Guide,Second

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Morarji Desai(MD) #Thread

Our late Prime Minister Morarji Desai blew India’s most critical covert operation, fully compromised our secret services, & helped Pak make the “Islamic bomb”.

MD a staunch follower of Gandhian philosophies, was a morally corrupt man.

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India’s Pokhran test in 1974 triggered the arms race between India & Pak. Being very wary of India’s fledging nuclear capabilities, Pak sought any help needed to build nuclear weapons for itself.

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Operation Kahuta, one of the deadliest missions of RAW was launched in 1974 with the motive to locate and confirm the existence of the Pak’s secret weapons program.

It took around a decade for RAW to build a network within Pak under the leadership of RN Kao.

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Priority of RAW was to pin point the location of the missile production facility. It is important to remember that Pak kept this so close under wraps that even with the extensive network, RAW got only rumours.

RAW established a good network inside Pakistan by late 1970’s.

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RAW heard rumours about Kahuta plant.

A stunning intelligence operation was carried out by RAW in which they stole the hair samples from the barber shops in Kahuta where the nuclear scientists would come for hair cut.

The samples were analysed for radiation traces.

Vengalil K.Chinnammalu Amma

She was the sister of a well-known diplomat & former Defense Minister, V. K. Krishna Menon.

A feminist by nature, she felt examining the history of ancient India, a society in which women enjoyed full freedom, in the Puranas and the Epics was found.

She argued : Didn't Kunti & Draupadi have opinions regarding the Mahabharata War?

When Shri Krishna set forth as the messenger of the Pandavas, didn't an impassioned Draupadi argue vehemently against a compromise?

Neither Krishna nor the Pandavas interrupted her on the grounds that she was trespassing on matters beyond her authority.

When Nala seemed hell-bent on squandering the treasury & ruining his people,

Damayanti didn't stay passive, saying that ruling the country was none of her business.

It is this gentle lady who entrusted the care of the young Prince, the heir to the throne, with the minister, on seeing that her husband had taken leave of his better senses and judgement.

Acc to her, a woman is more prone towards minute observation of dealings in the external world. Man remains engrossed in his own thoughts and emotions. External goings-on would not catch much of his attention. Therefore, woman has far more acute powers of observation.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple history

In 1194, more than 1000 temples were demolished by Qutub-Al-Din-Aybak. These sites remained untouched for the next 50 years till Razia Sultan constructed a mosque on the forsaken place of the Vishwanath temple.

Vishwanath temple was reconstructed in the area of Avimukteshwara, which again faced partial destruction by Mahmud Sharqi.

In 1494, Sikandar Lodi demolished several temples including the Vishwanath temple.

In 1585, a scholar Narayan Bhatt rebuilt the temple.

Mahmud Ghazini and Shah Jahan (1627-1658) demolished all reconstructed temples.

It was Aurangzeb in 1669, who ordered the demolition of Vishwanath temple and built a Gyan Vapi mosque.

Aurangzeb destroyed several temples but also wanted to change the name of Varanasi.

He wanted to name it as Muhammadabad but was unsuccessful.

It was Ahilyabai Holkar who took the initiative to rebuild the temple around 1775.

The present Vishwanath temple is fairly small in size compared to the original one.

On April 13, 2021, the managing committee of the mosque & the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board have moved the Allahabad HC to restrain the proceedings of a local court, which recently directed the ASI to conduct a physical survey of the mosque compound adjacent to the temple.

#Thread on Roshni Act

LIn 1990, Farooq Abdullah government decided to generate resources for hydroelectric power project. This scheme was called as the “Roshni".

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The Abdulla govt, decided to give proprietary rights to all the encroachers holding the state property unauthorisedly till 1990 at some fixed rates. The aim of the govt was to raise 25k crores.

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Under Farooq Abdullah, the cut – off for the encroachment on the state land was 1990. In 2004, Mufti govt extended it to 2004 and in 2007, Ghulam Nabi further extended it to 2007.

Total 17 years of encroachment was legalized.

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The main aim of the Roshni Act was to change the demographics of a Hindu dominant Jammu.

This was a strategic plan devised to hit at the internal security of Jammu and build 100+ mosques all over Jammu.

Isn't this #LandJihad ?

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The J&K HC declared it is as an illegal, unconstitutional and unacceptable.

The SC handed it over to CBI and he CBI complains that the J&K bureaucrats aren't cooperative.

What happens to the land given to the encroachers?

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Tulasi Gowda was born in a poor Hallaki tribal family & lost her father when she was only 3 and a child-bride at 12.

She started working at a very young age as a labourer for the Karnataka Forestry Department. Her main duty was to take care of the seeds in the Agasur seedbed.

Over the years, Gowda achieved extraordinary results, also thanks to her deeply-rooted cultural heritage, as in her matriarchal tribe women have been in charge of protecting, looking after and cultivating the land for hundreds of years.

She walked barefoot through plantations, can discern the state of budding plants by just touching them lightly. She’s never been to school, but knows perfectly how to interpret tamarind, eucalyptus and dozens of other plants.

Tulasi Gowda started her journey in the 60s when she was younger than Greta Thunberg by making this world a better place to live by planting one sapling after another.

Today she's 73, but when people way younger than her fail to do anything to arrest the effects of climate change, she is still as busy as she was six decades ago.

Every year she plants and nurtures thousands of trees and goes on about her deeds like no one’s watching.

Placing very strong points about some people, without naming those "celebrities". Please ponder upon these.

Several of our Sanatanis follow such people and these "celebrities" time and now hurt our religious feelings, and demean our culture in several ways.

What those people who delight in running down the Hindu culture forget is that Sanatan Dharma and our culture at large have been very self critical.

As a result of this self-critical attitude, several bright sparks rebelled against particular aspects of Hinduism and started their own religions, the Buddha, Mahavira, Basweshwar, and so on.

The beauty of Sanatan Dharma is that it established a friendly relationship with the followers of these religions and treated the progenitors of these new faiths as their own prophets.

We know of several Hindu households in which image of the Buddha is displayed with other Hindu deities in their puja rooms. We have worshiped them all without any discrimination.

MUDRAS AND THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT.

Mudras – meaning ‘seal’, mark’ or ‘gesture’ in Sanskrit – are said to intensify the effects of our yoga or meditation practice and enhance the flow of energy. They are also used in Indian classical dance.

Any living body is made of 5 distinct elements :
Fire, Wind, Ether/Space, Earth, and Water.

According to Ayurveda, disease is the result of an imbalance in our body caused by a deficiency or an excess of one of these 5 elements.

The 5 fingers represent : Thumb:fire, Forefinger:wind, Middle finger: space, Ring finger:earth, & Little finger: water.

The fingers essentially act as electrical circuits & the use of mudras adjust the flow of energy which balance these various elements & accommodate healing.

The finger tips of every living being have many concentrated nerve root endings which are free energy discharge points. Science also confirms that around every tip there is a concentration of free electrons.

By touching together of the tips of the fingers or the finger tips to other parts of the palms this free energy (Prana) is redirected back into the body along specified channels, back up to the brain.

Because Mudras work on Nerves, they are "Neural Science."

#VivahPanchami thread. Why did Shri Ram marry Mata Sita & what does it signify?

Tulsidas describes it as:

देखि सीय सोभा सुखु पावा। ह्रदयं सराहत बचनु न आवा।।
जनु बिरंचि जब निज निपुनाई। बिरचि बिस्व कहं प्रगटि देखाई।।

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It means, seeing Sita, Ram was delighted. He was all praise for her in his heart; but said nothing. Her beauty seemed to him as if Brahma had presented the whole world’s beauty before his eyes.

Sita on the other hand kept praying to Paravati & wished Ram to be her husband.

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Spiritual Significance:

Dashrath (Ten Chariots) represent 5 sense organs & 5 organs of action.

Ram represents pure form of Atman, i.e consciousness. Sita means Earth & represents मन (mind).

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When Ram married Sita, the marriage represents: Pure Light merging with the Mind, which gives birth to the human body.

When Consciousness (Ram) merges with mind (Sita), conflicts arise. Both enter the dark forest of attractions & distractions (वनवास).

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The whole Itihaas of Ramayan revolves around the re-union of the Mind with Consciousness.

Ram & Sita aren't merely two separate individuals. Sita is his reflection & Ram is Sita’s power of action. Their physical manifestation reflects a deeper unity between the two.

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#Thread on Sri Rudram

The text of Sri Rudram is drawn from Krishna Yajurved, one of the four Veds.

Sri Rudram is divided into two parts - the Namakam and the Chamakam.

Namaka lays stress on virakti (detachment) whereas Chamaka dwells on desires for this and that. What is to be discarded and what is to be desired?

"NA" means no, while "MA" means want. I don’t want anything, I don’t want anything is the first half.

While the second half, chamakam means I want. I want indicates being full of desires. What do they desire? Oh Bhagwan, grant us pure air; grant us good drinking water; bless us with good food.

A shlok defines Sri Rudram very beautifully: "Among all sources of knowledge, the Vedas are supreme. In the Vedas, Sri Rudram is supreme. In the Rudram, the Panchakshari mantra (namah Sivay) is supreme & in Panchakshari mantra itself, the two syllables 'Siva' is supreme!"

The benefits of chanting Sri Rudram are

• Rudra drives away negative energies.

• Helps us to sail this ocean called life smoothly.

• Removes Ignorance, and helps us to realise our true selves.

#Thread on #MahaShivaratri

The five faces of #Mahadev -

🔸️ Sadyojata - the newly born consciousness

🔸️Vamdev - preserves consciousness

🔸️Aghora - The power of dissolution of the terrifying things within us. Representing the dropping of our ego.

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🔸️Tatpurush - the power of obscuration, represents the transition period from extreme darkness to complete light within us.

🔸️Ishaan - the power of revealment, representing moksha or the oneness.

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On Mahashivratri, dances are performed for time immemorial, which are termed as cosmic dance

5 key dance forms of Natraja

🔸️ Srishti - Creation

🔸️Samhara - Destruction of the self/ego. "There's no being, only becoming"

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🔸️Sthithi - Maintainence/Protection
To accept that change is normal & maintain the state of a selfless being.

🔸️Tirobhava - Concealment
Maya, illusion and the veil of ignorance can pull one away from Sthithi.

🔸️ Anugraha - Liberation/Moksha.

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What's the significance of #Mahashivratri ?

It's the wedding of material & spiritual.

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Just visited the Adi Shankaracharya's establishment (Sharada Peetham) at Sringeri, Karnataka. What surprised me, & even shocked me was the fact that at the free meal (Prasadam) served there,

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I saw some women wearing full #Burqa , with a band of their children & their men eating the Prasadam.

Mind you, Adi Shankaracharya represents core #Hinduism and people visiting the place are staunch #Hindus .

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Obviously, the meal cooked was not at all #Halal and yet these #Burqa - wearing females and their families had no problem eating their meal there.

Needless to say, no one objected to them partaking the meal and they were served as happily as anyone else.

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The thoughts that then arose in me were as follows:

🔸️ Isn't the propaganda put out by media that #Hindus hate Ms, or they have a problem seeing women wearing #Burqa , totally false?

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🔸️ The fact that these women and their families came in for the meal without any fear is a perfect example of all-inclusive, permissive, and benevolent attitude of #Hindus .

Everything is inter-linked. And therefore everything has numberless causes. The entire universe contributes to the least thing. A thing is as it is, because the world is as it is. You see, you deal in gold ornaments and I - in gold.

Between the different ornaments there's no causal relation. When you re-melt an ornament to make another, there is no causal relation between the two. The common factor is the gold. But you cannot say gold is the cause. It cannot be called a cause, for it causes nothing by itself

It is reflected in the mind as 'I am', as the ornament's particular name and shape. Yet all is only gold. In the same way reality makes everything possible and yet nothing that makes a thing what it is, its name and form, comes from reality.

- Nisargdatta Maharaj

Suprabhat 🙏🏽