How Islam began.

https://youtu.be/PDxKxnVZtgo

Lord Krishna- The Love Guru.

Lord Krishna- The Love Guru.

Our basic instinct is eating, mating and fighting. Krishna was fond of butter, women and fighting.

There are many facets to Krishna – the naughty kid, the majestic prince, the most romantic lover, valiant warrior and shrewdest politician.

Krishna, through his life story , shows us the way to live a full, rich life and doing all the actions without any attachment to the outcome.

As a child Krishna was very naughty and mischievous like any normal child and was famous for stealing butter. The message to humanity was probably not to make childhood too serious and children should be allowed to enjoy themselves without restrictions of right and wrong.

As a young man Krishna was a passionate lover and the Kama sutra and Raas Leela is full of his erotic love affairs with Radha. The message to humanity probably was to lead a normal passionate loving life and not be too moralistic and idealistic. Have fun and enjoy life for only lovers can know the true meaning of desire and love and thereafter God.

As a man Krishna was a good administrator or king and guided the complex battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas beautifully. The message to humanity probably was to fight with commonsense and make all efforts through diplomacy to avoid a fight and if that fails then one should fight for righteousness without any attachment.

Krishna never went into seclusion and deep contemplation or practiced severe austerity in some remote mountain – he was a normal human being with a normal life and his message is to lead a normal happy life. There are four main goals of life as per Indian philosophy – Dharma or Virtuous living ; Artha or material prosperity ; Kama or desire and Moksha or Liberation  and Krishna taught humanity how to achieve all the goals while leading a normal life by his personal example.

The purpose of the story is to bring out the life of the Divine incarnation as simply as possible and what we can understand is that without being too perfect we can achieve perfection by only loving everyone. The love circle keeps on expanding in different forms and emotions from friends and family to lovers and then to community, society and all of humanity in a natural progression. Therefore God manifests wherever there is love.

To avoid intellectualism and display of knowledge this story has been kept very brief and simple to provoke the mind to re-think about being too perfect or moralistic and judgmental about everyone, when God’s incarnation is Himself so full of life and liberal in His outlook.

Osho.

Osho.

The man who shocked the world with the largest fleet of Rolls Royce Cars and Rolex watches and luxurious lifestyle.

Osho was born in 1931, completed his MA in Philosophy in 1956, taught Philosophy from 1957 to 1966. He was a master debater who challenged orthodox religious leaders in public debates. He addressed gatherings in major Indian cities which varied from twenty to fifty thousand people in open air maidans.

From 1970 he started initiation of seekers into Neo-Sanyas in which he asked his disciples not to renounce the material world but instead renounce all past conditionings and belief systems. What he actually meant was that on the homeward journey of the Divine Consciousness would mean greater realization of the original state and abandoning the grosser impressions which he had gathered during the process of evolution in an increasing manner. Every soul has animal tendencies and social conditioning which have to be abandoned like fear, violence, etc.

From 1980 Osho started offering a wide range of therapy which combined eastern meditation techniques with western psychotherapy.Osho as a master of Philosophy knew all the great religious leaders and their philosophy which had shaped humanity He also understood Psychology very well and made the whole topic of Spirituality very engaging and interesting and transformed human beings from sexual to evolutionary beings.

Osho has been ranked as one of the most influential personality along with Gautama Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi.

There are almost 698 books published based on his discourses by more than 200 publishers in 60 languages. The actual books listed on topics like Yoga, Zen, Buddhism, Tantra, Taoism, Vedanta, Sufism, Jesus Christ is around 244 books.

Osho was an intellectual with wide knowledge and was a teacher who devised many innovative methods to get into the meditative state.

Today the Osho community tries out all the latest techniques like past life regression ,hypnotheraphy, shamanic healing , reiki, tarot reading , sound meditation and lots of other healing methods.

Osho was a man who was far ahead of his time and did contribute a lot in raising Human Consciousness which was his mission. Osho always said he was creating conditions for the birth of a new kind of human being - often referred to as "Zorba the Buddha'- a new man who was a synthesis of science and spirituality. What he was referring to probably was the fifth human race. 

Osho never claimed to teach anything and therefore I can only say that he talked a lot about balancing the masculine and feminine energies. He talked a lot about the sexual repression and conditioning by society which had repressed individuality and freedom. As per Osho sexual repression lead to all kinds of disorders in society which manifested in violence, aggression and terrorism, the moment the sexual energy was channeled properly , it travelled towards love, peace, happiness and joy which is the natural state of a child without any ego. 

The masculine energy is aggressive, violent, show of strength, masochism which we witness in society as glamorization of guns, armed struggles, boxing, wrestling and other aggressive sports which give vent to our animalistic instincts. The feminine energy is all about love, nurturing, caring, kindness, generosity. The mind and ego are more logical and masculine in approach whereas the heart with feelings,desires and emotions is more feminine in approach. The feminine energies as per Osho has been repressed in society and to have a more loving society the morality has to be redefined.Therefore he talked a lot about bringing the heart and mind into harmony.

Even in our movies we see the Angry Young Man – Amitabh Bachan was glorified as a Macho Man and thereafter we had the chocolate boys Aamir Khan in QSQT a romantic movie. Men prefer a movie with fighting and women prefer romantic movies – therefore the film producers go for a mix of violence and romance to make their movies a hit. Too much of violence should not be portrayed as society unconsciously starts glamorizing violence , in fact the values of love, humbleness and unity should be given more coverage in media.The anger is from the mind or Ego and the love is from the heart – man is programmed to be aggressive so that he can protect his wife and children and women are programmed to operate from the heart with feelings and emotions so as to be loving and nurturing to nourish and raise a family .

Osho was one of the greatest thinker and philosopher and was not a Sadguru like Shiridi Sai Baba or the Sufi Saints or Bhakti Saints as he had not reached complete Divinity. Some crucial insights were still not revealed to him completely as probably the time was not right for the human race in its evolutionary journey.

Osho however was a very brave man who had the courage to talk about taboo subjects and demystified a lot of things. Spirituality as per Osho is only for the rich people who can afford the luxury of meditation and not for the poor. He missed out on stressing the most important aspect of loving God by loving the whole of humanity through service, that is evolving out of individualism to expansion of the spirit.

Osho was a great man with phenomenal knowledge, wit & logic and its not easy to understand or judge such great people. Like all saints he has left a huge amount of audio and video recordings so that people can get his message directly, he was highly controversial due to his liberal views on sex and therefore one has to see his videos to understand , read his books and discourses to decide. 

I personally hated religion as I found the temples to be dirty and full of illiterate ,greedy people who exploited the devotees emotionally and economically. Therefore my personal approach to religion was through meditation and Osho's discourses were highly relevant and helpful for me. Thereafter I found Shiridi Sai Baba as the true master for the whole of humanity as I had more belief and faith in the Sufi and Bhakti Saints.

Everyone needs to be guided differently and some are devotees of Ram, Krishna , Jesus but for me Shiridi Sai Baba was a simple man with whom I could directly communicate.

A helpful website http://www.oshoworld.com/

Bhakti Movement – Bhakti has Shakti.

Bhakti Movement – Bhakti has Shakti.

We all want to be happy in life, make our families and children happy, provide freedom from oppression, poverty and unhappiness.

No one wants to kill others children, taking away others livelihood, spread hatred and violence.

However the nature of human life is such that there is greed, cheating for more profits and business, rivalry and competition in society.

The saints therefore try to unite the people by breaking down barriers for peaceful co-existence and bring about harmony in society.

The Bhakti Movement was spread throughout India to bring about unity and fight oppression and injustice by Saints like Kabir, Guru Nanak, Namdev, Mirabai, Shri Chaitanya, Ramanand, Ramunaja and Sufi Saints.

Without too much of intellectualism and loosing the gist of the message of the Saints we can broadly bring out the commonality of the movement.

Firstly, all the Saints avoided Sanskrit language and appealed to the masses by speaking the common language of the people and contributed to the evolution of Indian languages like Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Kashmiri and Hindi.

Secondly , all of them believed in music along with constant remembrance of God . Bhajan, Kirtan, Qawwali, Gurbani were different methods of singing praises of God. Many saints composed poetry and music and were highly creative people.

Thirdly , they all believed in loving God by loving the whole of humanity without any distinction of nationality, religion , caste or creed. This love was often expressed in the form of community feeding or langar to bring about a feeling of Oneness.

Lastly , the birth and death of the saints were often shrouded in mystery , we know that the bodies of Guru Nanak and Kabir disappeared leaving behind only flowers. Mirabai and Shri Chaitanya both merged into the temple idols and were not traceable.

The common message of all the Saints was that human life is meant to be enjoyed and celebrated with food, music, dancing and evolving towards Divinity.

Moses.

Moses.

One of the most popular guy among all the religions is Moses. He was the guy who spoke to both God and Archangel Gabriel and wrote all about the creation in the Genesis.

The creation, its beginning; the Creator, His motives and objectives behind creation; the soul, its attributes; the stages of evolution of creation, etc. have been the subject matter of intense metaphysical inquiry and speculation. Each religion has had its own theories regarding these aspects of creation.

The Divine will, according to the Vedas, created what is known as Hiranyagarbha. The Vedas tell us that Hiranyagarbha consists of panchbhoot or five basic elements of nature- sky,water,light,space and matter or earth. According to Science, the ‘cosmic egg’ emits a high density cloud consisting of neutrons and proton particles (Hawking and Carl Sagan).This condensed egg ,because of extreme inner temperature , had a release point with the material pushing from the centre outwards in a siphon action. 

Its apt to mention here that first ripple created by the Divine Will is the basis that created the Hiranyagarbha and through the Hiranyagarbha , the materials of creation. These are what are known as the Ishwar Tatwa or the Nad Bramha (the Cosmic Sound). Shakespeare called it the ‘music of the spheres’. What Moses saw was the “sonorous light” or the light that spoke. It was the light that gave sound which ordered the Ten Commandments.

I always like to think of the Big Bang as an atom bomb – a cracker which we light during Diwali, the bomb always throws off a cloud of gas and dust. Science tells us that the high-density energy clouds spread all over and at a certain point they started creating nebulae. Gradually, these nebulae began to snowball and gained in energy and compactness. They came to be known as stars. The Divine Will changed to Divine Consciousness with the coming of energy fields of the sun or for that matter entire constellation of stars was created out of consciousness. When the earth came out of the sun, a third change occurred. The Divine Consciousness changed to energy and then to gross elements like water,earth ,stone,etc. The homeward journey began appearing in the form of cosmic consciousness gradually, first in the form of fish, then amphibians, birds, animals and finally man in the image of God.    

The Book of Enoch which talks about the Watchers who are Angels dispatched to Earth to look after humans. The Angels start lusting for human women and defected in masse to illicitly instruct humans and procreate among them. The children of this union were called the Nefelim or Nephilim and they were the giant race that once inhabited Old Earth. The fallen angels taught their wives and children a variety of new technological skills, magical knowledge and occult wisdom. This suggests that psychic abilities and magical powers were originally an ancient inheritance from the angelic realm given to early humans. God however allowed a Great Flood to rid the earth of the Nephilim, but sent Uriel to warn Noah so as not to eradicate the human race. The Watchers are bound “in the valleys of the Earth until Judgement Day.

In the esoteric Luciferian tradition they were a special elite order of angelic beings created by God to be earthly shepherds of the first primitive humans. It was their task to observe and watch over the emerging human species and report back on their progress. However they were confined by the divine prime directive not to interfere in human evolution. Unfortunately they decided to ignore God’s command and defy his orders and became teachers to the human race, with unfortunate repercussions for both themselves and humanity. A coincidence here is that in the famous TV Serial ‘Star Trek’ we have a similar prime directive of non interference.

 The Nephilim Giant's were having an orgy on Earth and therefore were sent to the underworld as punishment as per the scriptures.  An interesting coincidence which is coming out is that the Earth has a lot of volcanic tunnels which formed at strategic points where the gravitational pull of other star from distance Galaxies helped eruptions. Now these volcanic tunnels were capped by Pyramids and it seems like the Nephilim giants had built these pyramids. 

So when there was a great flood and Noah was helped by God a few people of Atlantis had gone under these Pyramids to escape from the flood and gone into the mythical inner world. We have already discovered tunnels running over six hundred kilometers in many places in the world.

After the flood water receded a few of these survivors of Atlantis came out of the Pyramids and formed the Egyptian civilization. 

Moses had a unique task of taking away the descendants of Abraham from Egypt to the promised land of Cannan or Israel known as ‘The Exodus’.

We find from the scriptures that a few Nephilim Giants were still there in  Cannan or Israel and have also heard the story of David and Goilath. The promised land was similar probably to the garden of Eden in Babylon or the Sumerian civilization where a new history was unearthed talking about Annunaki or the people from Planet Nibru.

Anyway it all makes sense as Moses has written everything in the Genesis and Book of Enoch, the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Qumran caves also talk about the same things.

The mission of Moses was to free the people of twelve tribes from probably the twelve zodiac signs.

So there may be a lot of truth in the story of Moses which may be subsequently uncovered by the scientists and archeologist in the future.

Moses is however a great guy who laid down the rules and did a lot for evolving the human race. We must always look into our scriptures and study them for it is very essential for us to find out our origins.

The fifth human race which is a new race is an exciting new shape of humanity with highly advanced scientific knowledge and much similar to the Star Trek characters who look after and help evolve life in different planets. So maybe we would be something like the watchers for helping new civilizations evolve in future.

It is time now to give up our differences and see the commonality in all our religions, we all are children of One God, we must learn to love the whole of humanity and break down all barriers of nationality , color, caste , sex and unite for a common goal of evolution towards Consciousness and Awareness.

Fear, Hatred and Violence have been used throughout history to create divisions and control humanity and love has always been the binding force for families, societies and humanity to unite. Freedom against oppression, exploitation, violence and injustice is important for evolution of humanity and Moses was a very brave guy who led his people towards freedom in difficult circumstances.

Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ interestingly is recognized as a Prophet in the Quran and is mentioned several times – probably twenty five times, as I have not read the Quran. Now the purpose here is not to display any intellectualism or dry knowledge, the point which is being put across is that the fight between Islam and Christianity is something futile because everyone is a child of the same God.

The masters or sons of God the Almighty, born in groups in different parts of human society, taught the human race at its infant state its primary lessons in science and arts and gave a thrust to the progress of human civilization. They descended on the Egyptian civilization and taught them occult sciences, building of Pyramids, Geometry, Alchemy,etc. Earlier they had built the Atlantis civilization, the mother of later civilizations, which drowned in the sea. They taught Architecture ,Design, Mathematics, principles of warfare, etc. to Roman Empire.

Who were these great spiritual masters or Prophets, from where did they come, what was their purpose, are they still hanging around us to help us ???

Jesus Christ was born to a simple Jewish girl known as Mary in a place called Bethlehem; three wise men from the east were guided by the stars to the place where Jesus was born. The alien theorists often claim that the star which guided the wise men was probably a spaceship or something like UFO.

The Masters are the precursors of the man of the fifth human race that is coming in slowly. The Masters have been carrying on the experiment on different planets, not only of our solar system but also on planets in other solar system. The present research into the possibility of organic life on Venus, Mars and Moon in particular will be successful, as the Masters had earlier experimented on growth and sustenance of “organic life forces” on these planets. The purpose of the Masters is to advance evolution by raising the potential of man – the best of nature’s creation on this planet.

Jesus Christ taught us love and sacrifice, because true love leads to sacrifice as seen when a mother sacrifices for her children.

We must now be mature and logical to distill the true teachings of all the wise saints and their common message was we are all children of the only one God and therefore should love and evolve. The Masters always respond to our love and devotion .

Kabir - The Rebel.

Kabir.

Writing a story when most of the information is available on the internet is by itself futile if we are not able to add a different perspective to the story.

Saint Kabir Das- the name itself is intriguing because in Arabic , Kabir means “great” , Das means “slave” or “servant” in Sanskrit. He was probably born of a virgin mother like Jesus Christ and when he died his body strangely was replaced by flowers which were divided among his hindu and muslim devotees.

Writing about a hard core rebel is something very difficult, but the very act of rebellion means that the consciousness is high as a conformist does not need to be aware as he is a follower blindly following the others.

Kabir spoke in the local language, was not an intellectual, his poems came out of his heart which was full of devotion for God. He was a great saint who staying in Benaras used to torment the learned Brahmins and he was against both orthodox Hindus and Muslims and probably took a lot of pleasure in taunting the orthodox people. Along with sayings of Baba Farid , the Sufi saint, the sayings of Kabir were also included in the Guru Granth Sahib.

Now Kabir did not want anyone to be a blind follower of either Hindu or Muslim religion and wanted everyone to be reasonable and logical. He had very short and profound sayings or couplets known as Dohas. These Dohas were highly meaningful and have influenced Indian society and specially Bollywood music till date.

Some of his Dohas are given below:-

All-Time Favourite Doha

"Dukh Mein Sumiran Sab Kare, Sukh Mein Kare Na Koye, Jo Sukh Mein Simran Kare, Toh Dukh Kahe Ko Hoye." Meaning: "During suffering, everyone prays to the Lord, but when experiencing happiness, we forget to thank God. If one were to pray to God even during the good times, can the bad times ever trouble one?"

Everyone Knows This One

"Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala, Bura Naa Milya Koye, Jo Mann Khoja Aapna, To Mujhse Bura Naa Koye." Meaning: "I searched for the crooked man, but failed to find one. But when I searched within myself, I realised there was none more crooked than me!"

A Quote For Today

"Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ab, Pal Mein Pralaya Hoyegi, Bahuri Karoge Kab." Meaning: "Instead of doing tomorrow's work on the morrow, do it today, and do today's work, right now! If the moment is lost, can you get it back any way?"

Life Is Like A Grinding Stone

"Chalti Chakki Dekh Kar, Diya Kabira Roye, Dui Paatan Ke Beech Mein, Sabit Bacha Na Koye." Meaning: "Looking at the grinding stones, Kabir laments, In the duel of wheels, nothing stays intact."

Choose Your Words Carefully

"Aisee Vani Boliye, Mann Ka Aapa Khoye, Apna Tan Sheetal Kare, Auran Ko Sukh Hoye." Meaning: "Speak such words, without the ego's manipulative ways, that not only your own body remains composed, you also give your listeners joy through your words."

In Its Own Sweet Time

"Dheere Dheere Re Mana, Dheere Sab Kuch Hoye, Mali Seenche So Ghara, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoye." Meaning: "Slowly, slowly, O mind, everything happens at its own pace, The gardener may water with a hundred pots of water, but the fruit only arrives in its season."

Just Enough

"Saayi Itna Deejiye, Ja Mein Kutumb Samaye, Main Bhi Bhookha Na Rahoon, Sadhu Na Bhookha Jaye." Meaning: Give me only so much, O God, that it suffices to fulfil the needs of my clan, I should not suffer cravings, nor should my visitor go unfed."

What Use Is It To Be Aloof?

"Bada Hua To Kya Hua, Jaise Ped Khajoor Panthi Ko Chaya Nahin, Phal Laage Atidoor." Meaning: "Of what use is eminence, to be like a tall date tree? It neither offers shade to travellers, not is its fruit easy to reach!"

The Divine Is Inside You

"Jaise Til Mein Tel Hai, Jyon Chakmak Mein Aag, Tera Sai Tujh Mein Hai, Tu Jaag Sake To Jaag." Meaning: "Just as a seed contains oil, fire is present in the flintstone, the Divine is inside you, realise this if you can!"

Love, The Biggest Teacher

"Pothi Padh Padh Kar Jag Mua, Pandit Bhayo Na Koye, Dhai Akhshar Prem Ke, Jo Padhe So Pandit Hoye." Meaning: "Reading books hasn't made anyone wiser. But the One who has experienced even the first flush of love, knows more about Life than a learned man."

Love Stories Are Sweet

"Akath Kahani Prem Ki, Kuch Kahi Na Jaye, Goonge Keri Sarkara, Baithe Muskae." Meaning: "Inexpressible is the story of love, no one can fully describe what it feels like, Similar to the dumb guy who has eaten sweet sugar, he can only smile to show his pleasure."

Reading about the life of different Saints may expand our horizon for all Saints always said the same thing – to love God is to love humanity without distinctions of caste, creed, nationality or religion. The function of all Saints was to break all the barriers and bring about unity and love.

Prophet Mohammed.(PBUH)

Prophet Mohammed.(PBUH)

The first man Adam was the son of God and thereafter everyone is a child of the One and Only God.

Prophet Mohammed was a descendent of Ishmael, son of Abraham and father of the warring tribes of Arabian peninsula.

Now Ishmail was a child of Abraham from his Egyptian maid and along with his mother he was left in the desert by Abraham.

It’s a strange story that Abraham first had Ishmael and then later had Issac from his wife Sarah. Both Moses and Jesus trace back their lineage to Issac.

Anyway the story is that Ishmail and his mother were left in the desert and were desperate for water and hearing their prayers God showed them a well (Zamzam well), both mother and son settled in the same place which soon grew into a prosperous city known as Mecca. Ishmail was later married to an Egyptian girl and had twelve sons who later went on to form the twelve warring tribes of Arabia.

Very interestingly Mecca was the focal point in the trade route between Syria and Egypt and other cities. So Ishmaiel and his mother traded water for goods from the traders who rested their caravan in Mecca. Both Ishmael and his mother lie buried in a place near Kabbah which is the first house of worship built on earth for the worship of Allah and rebuilt by Prophets Abraham and Ishmaiel.

Prophet Mohammed was born in 570 AD in Mecca which had idols of 360 gods and goddesses and this was a source of huge revenues for the Quraysh Tribes in charge.

The mission of Prophet Mohammed was similar to Moses and his ten Commandments,  to re-establish law & order in society, demonstrate and complete the laws of moral, ethical, legal, social conduct and other matters of significance for humanity at large. He united the fighting Arab tribes under Islam and brought about clarity that there is only One God.

Humanity had evolved and with growing complexity of trade and warfare the Prophets always worked for the greatest good for the greatest number and they always redefine religious codes and re-establish moral values on earth.

The Qur’an mentions twenty five Prophets by name and provides an insight of their mission , struggle and their communities. The Qur’an also mentions four previously revealed Scriptures of Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus. Islam requires belief in all Prophets and revealed scriptures as part of the Articles of Faith.

The laws of Moses in Israel had lost their relevance and therefore the Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammed through Archangel Gabriel.

Another interesting fact is that the Byzantine & Sassanid Empires were on the decline as the Holy Roman Empire could not hold itself together.

Therefore we see that Islam at that time within a span of hundred years spread till China in east and Europe in west thus bridging the east & west through the silk trade route to bring about assimilation of cultures.

Personally,I have not read the Qur’an but find it very interesting that it was so detailed on all aspects of human life and social conduct and relationship. We must read all the scriptures for proper understanding of human evolution throughout history.

Sheikh Noor-ud–din Wali or Nund Rishi.

Sheikh Noor-ud–din Wali or Nund Rishi.

The anchor of any society lies in spirituality, the thoughts and feelings of the people determine what sort of life and society they build. Mahatma Gandhi fought for the freedom but was against violence and hatred. He stressed on love and service to humanity.

Indian society has been very fortunate to have great Spiritual leaders like Buddha and Guru Nanak who have founded religions. Adi Shankara reorganized Hinduism.

One of the Sufi saints who has impressed me a lot was Nund Rishi – founder of Rishi Sufi Silsilah a funny name which came to my mind repeatedly and I was forced to write about him. Nund Rishi or Sheikh Noor-ud-din-Wali lived between 1379 and 1438 and is known as the patron saint of Kashmir and had his Khanqah at Charar-e-Sharif near Srinagar.

Nund Rishi is unique because he inherited the spiritual legacy of Lalla Arifa, a Shavite female mystic when he was born. Nund Rishi belonged to the family of Raja of Kishtwar, they had embraced Islam at the hands of Sufi saint Yasman Rishi , spiritual preceptor of Nund Rishi also. Nund Rishi founded the Rishi order or Silsilah Rishian which is indigenous to Kashmir.

Kashmir had witnessed a unique amalgamation of three prominent cultures and religion – The Shaiva Philosophy of Rishis of the ancient traditional followers of Lord Shiva, the Sufi mystic movement which came from Arabia through Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and Buddhism which was a remnant of the ancient Silk Trade Route as Buddhism had entered China through the Silk Trade Route.

The Buddhist monasteries had become centers of literacy, culture with well organized marketplaces, lodging and storage, but the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism ended with rise of Islam in Central Asia and the Sufi Khanqahs replaced the monasteries.The Sufi Khanqahs became something like Caravan Sarais where merchants often rested in their travels along the Silk Route. Any progressive society apart from Spirituality needs a strong network for trading and a robust economy for progress.

Nund Rishi used poetry as a tool to spread knowledge of the absolute. He was a revolutionary and taught love for humanity along with tolerance and service. His poems and clarity of his teachings that Islam crusaded against social injustice and stressed on love, tolerance and service impressed a large number of people who embraced Islam.

Nund Rishi or Sheikh Noor-ud-din Wali played the role of a social reformer and raised his voice against oppression.

Today we need to understand our history and culture and work towards building a better future with love and tolerance. The society will always evolve as per the thoughts and feelings of the majority of the people and Spiritual thrust and strength is only provided by God.

Buddha.

Buddha was a nice guy who was born in a palace, he had a lovely wife and had everything going fine, but then he wanted to know the ultimate truth.

I really don’t know why he had to leave his house when he could have sat in his garden and meditated under any tree – guess he also realized his own stupidity when he announced that the middle path is the best way, a balanced way between extremes of indulgence and abstinence.

I have always been fascinated by Buddha because I had a lot of Amar Chitra Katha Comics and had read a lot of Jataka Tales or stories about Buddhas past life as various animals.

I used to imagine myself sometimes as an ant or deer or monkey leading a life in the forest and wondered how I never remembered my past lives.

Being a logical person and not believing in any superstitions, I liked Buddha’s approach of simple four noble truths and eight fold path. It was very easy and simple to practice.

Later, I started appreciating Buddha a lot when I realized that evolution of life of a child inside the mother’s womb was similar to evolution as per Charles Darwin – an egg slowly became a fish, snake, lizard, monkey and then finally a human. The Jataka Tales are similarly about evolution and have lessons of love and sacrifice.

The turning the wheels of Dharma was also deeply appreciated when I realized that our life is nothing but a series of cause and effect and the law of karma is nothing but a simple rule of reaping the fruits of whatever we have sown in the past. The cycle of life is nothing personal and it was always possible to get off by attaining liberation through work or karma, for Buddha said that it was possible by doing work with detachment and not getting entangled to the results.

Buddhism has spread all across the globe due to its simplicity and in today’s world it remains the most scientific and relevant teaching. We should practice love, compassion and generosity for all living creatures for life is constantly evolving as the wheels of time keep turning in a cyclical fashion. Let’s sow seeds of love, kindness, forgiveness and goodness.

Hazrat Baba Tazuddin – (The saint who was admitted to the Mental Asylum.)

The Genesis is in the Genetics – it’s a controversial statement, but scientists are now finding out a lot of truth in this statement. It seems our DNA contains all the information and memories are passed down through generations. The wise ones have always said that all knowledge is within us, it seems to be more appropriate with the latest research in Genetics, DNA, Cloning, etc.

My humble research on the Sufi Saints since the last twenty five years has lead me to belief that most Sufi Saints trace back their lineage to Prophet Mohammed.

Today I write about Hazrat Baba Tazuddin, one of the Perfect Masters or Qutabs. The Qutab is the pivotal point in the administration of the perceptible and the imperceptible universe around us. Some of the Qutabs or Perfect Masters in the past have been Hernes, Enoch, Orpheus, Abraham, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Christ, Prophet Mohammed, Adi Shankracharya and many others.

The Sadgurus or Perfect Masters or Qutabs are extremely busy in evolving the human capacity to higher potentials and magnitudes to bring in the fifth human race with much superior potential. The exploration of space, genetics engineering, discovery of sub-particles of the atom, unbelievable expansion of information technology , oceanic explorations, cloning of animals, spread of occultism and paranormal experiments are indications in that direction. Today communication takes place through the medium of electromagnetic waves. Tomorrow, the fifth human race will develop the capacity to communicate through a mental process with each other. Newer and newer energy fields will be discovered and used by human beings.

Hazrat Baba Tazuddin was one such Sufi Saint and Perfect Master who was a direct descendant of Sufi Naqshbandi order Baha –ud-din- Naqshband Bukhari. Baba’s forefathers migrated from Mecca and settled down in Madras. When he was six years and studying in madarasa, a highly evolved spiritual saint Hazrat Abdullah Shah came and give him  a dry fruit after eating which he remained in spiritual ecstasy for three days- this was similar to Shaktipata in Hindu Yoga system . Hazrat Tajuddin joined the Nagpur Army Regiment at the age of twenty in 1881 and served in Sagar as an army sepoy .

Later Hazrat Tazuddin used to meditate with a highly developed spiritual soul known as Hazrat Baud Saheb in Sagar.  A favourite couplet that captured his heart was ……”Drink wine , burn Quran and Kaba; dwell in the mandap (temple) but never hurt the feelings of ,or cause pain to, any human heart.” At height of spiritual ecstasy he submitted his resignation directly to the Commandant of his Unit and left the camp.

Thereafter he roamed around Sagar and probably to secure food and shelter and a place from where he could function, he deliberately went naked in front of the British women,  was arrested and sent to the lunatic asylum in 1892 .

He lived happily in the mental asylum for 16 years and operated out of his cell where all people including the top dignitaries and British administrators came to have his darshan , the crowd was so huge that British government started charging fees for his darshan, so as to recover his fooding & lodging expenses.

After living in the Asylum for 16 years he shifted to the Palace of the Maharaja of Nagpur , here he operated a langar for feeding the huge crowd which came to have his darshan. He was always kind, compassionate & generous & fulfilled all the wishes of his devotees.

The effect & influence of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti of Ajmer and of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi on the rulers of that time can be historically established. Similarly Hazrat Tajuddin had a profound influence on the different rulers as Raja & British Administrators all were lovingly guided by him. We find behind every temporal ruler a spiritual ruler throughout history and the Sufi saints were always an influence on the rulers.

Today human civilization is on the threshold of a big change through change in rulers, wars, large scale destructions, new discoveries which will lead human civilization forward in the path of evolution.

We need at this time sustenance and spreading of spiritual energy on earth through temples, churches, mosques and revival of ancient spiritual sites like the Dargah or Khanqahs of Sufi Saints to guide us forward.

Amma – Mata Amritanandayi.(The saint who hugs you like a mother.)

Amma was born in 1953 in a small coastal village in Kerala, India. At the age of nine years she was withdrawn from school to look after her seven siblings and the household as her mother was ill. She collected food scrapings from door to door for feeding her cattle and realized the pangs of hunger and suffering.

The sufferings made her delve deep into meditation and she realized that suffering is due to past actions or karma of the person. Amma accepted the concept but she refused to accept it as a justification for inaction. “If it’s one man’s karma to suffer, isn’t it our Dharma (duty) to help ease his pain and suffering?”

Since 1987 Amma has been conducting programs throughout the world in selfless service, her  unique form of Darshan is hugging people like her children, she hugs almost 12000 people in a span of twenty two hours and has hugged more than thirty six million people over a span of thirty years. Simply spreading love, compassion and kindness.

Amma stresses on the importance of selfless service to purify the mind and cultivating divine qualities of compassion, forgiveness, patience and self control. She recognizes two types of poverty – one is lack of food , clothing and shelter and the other is lack of love and compassion. She believes if we have love and compassion in our hearts , then we will wholeheartedly serve those who suffer from lack of food , clothing and shelter. This is the secret behind her charitable mission. Amma says that once we experience the highest truth of oneness with an attitude of serving others knowing them to be extensions of one’s self we attain liberation.

Amma says that her religion is love which when expressed is compassion – meaning accepting the needs and sorrows of others as one’s own. She has never asked anyone to change their religion but only to contemplate the essential principles of their own faith and try to live accordingly.

Amma has recorded more than ten thousand bhajans or devotional songs and regards devotional singing as a spiritual practice.

Amma holds free public programs throughout the world and offers words of wisdom and guidance on personal fulfillment as well as climate change, terrorism, women’s right, cross cultural tension and invites everyone to get involved in rebuilding a concerned and caring society.

More information on Amma’s activities can be found on her website www.amritapuri.org which spans across disaster relief, healthcare, education, social welfare , cultural and spiritual activities.

The saints , fakirs, pirs, yogis always focus on love for Humanity across caste , religion , nationality and break down all barriers to help the individual evolve beyond his karma or destiny to liberation by serving humanity.

Guru Nanak.

A lot of things can be said about Guru Nanak, He was a nice guy who was born in a merchant family, He got married and had two sons. He travelled around the world with His Muslim friend named Mardana, He was kind, generous and taught people to love each other and all nice things.

However the purpose of this story is to show another side of history & how the Sadguru’s have been shaping Humanity and our evolution in their unique styles.

Guru Nanak was one of the greatest religious innovators of all time who lived during a very interesting period of history when Babur invaded India and the life of the ten Sikh Gurus runs parallel to the Mughal Empire.

We have seen how the Sufi saints of Chisti order played an important part in the assimilation of Hindus and Muslims.The assimilation stated with Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer during the time of Mahmud Ghori’s invasion and rule of Prithvi Raj Chauhan, it then spread to Delhi ,through Qutab-ud-din Bhakhtiar Kaki during the establishment of the Slave Dynasty of Qutabuddin Aibak & Iltutmish, thereafter it spread to Punjab through Baba Farid and then again Hazrat Nizzamuddin Auliya in Delhi and His famous disciples Amir Khusro and Nassiruddin Chirag –I –delhi. They shaped the social, political and cultural life mainly through their writings , poetry , songs and music. The Delhi Sultanate in the process of trying to destroy the Sufi Saints destroyed themselves and paved the way for the Mughal Empire.

Guru Nanak brought about a revolution through a unique spiritual thrust by which he reorganized the social and political platform based on love, equality and goodness by breaking down all barriers of sex, caste, creed, religion. Needless to say that His work was further consolidated by the nine Sikh Gurus after Him and thereafter the Guru Granth Sahib remained the eternal Guru. The Sikh Guru’s had frequent conflicts with the Mughal Emperors as they considered it a spiritual duty to resist evil and injustice. They organized society as political and societal oppression could not be resisted by individuals.

The unique points which were spread by Guru Nanak and helped shape Humanity are

·         He brought out the importance of local language by encouraging Punjabi & Gurmukhi, he was always for the masses and therefore never encouraged Sanskrit language for the select few to understand God and have any monopoly.

·         He emphasized the role of hard work, discouraged begging and believed in the Householder way of achieving God and never encouraged any of the Guru to be an ascetic. He believed that increased Spiritual awareness leads to increased and vibrant participation in everyday world.

·         “From a woman, a man is born” – Guru Nanak gave highest value and importance to women.

·         He believed in a community concept of Dharamshala which later evolved into Gurudwara where Satsang or meeting of people for community development could take place.

·         He believed in langar or community kitchen for feeding the poor and also breaking all barriers of caste and creed by eating food together as human beings.

·         He believed in Naam Jaap or repeating the name of God to have direct access to God without the help of any rituals or priests.·        

     Sikhism is also highly influenced by the secularism of the Bhakti Saints and Sufi Saints like Kabir and Baba Farid as their hymns and couplets have also been included in the Guru Granth Sahib along with music and langar concept to bring about integration in society.

Therefore we see that a lot of nonsense was wiped out and logical and simple rules for spiritual and material evolution and growth was made.

However I cannot resist the urge to point out that Guru Nanak’s body was not found when He died as only flowers were found, similar to Kabir. The true Guru often fills up his body with pure energy which probably disintegrates into the ether, once the mission is completed.

Let us always remember the simple teachings of helping each other, leading a simple life and serving all as a means of serving God.