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HINDUISM
Towards a peaceful and harmonious life
Chelvathamby Maniccavasagar
The All Ceylon Hindu Congress held the ”Sivathondar” Conference on
May 28 and 29, 2011 in Jaffna at “Navalar Arangu” and “Theivath Thiru
Magal Sivath Thamil Selvi Arangu” respectively at Nallur Sri Durgadevi
Mani Mandapam.
In fact, the main aim of this memorable conference is to create a
religious awareness among Hindu and also to enrich and enhance the
religious knowledge of the younger generation.
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Thirugnana Sampanthar Nayanar, Thirunavukkarasu Nayanar and
Sundaramoorthy Nayanar |
Besides, this conference is also meant to establish a “Hindu
Religious Research Centre” with the view to provide “Saiva Vidagar
Training”.
Kandiah Neelakandan, a Senior Attorney-at-Law and General Secretary
of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress made elaborate arrangements for the
success of the conference in which several Sivathondars from Colombo,
Mannar, Hill Country and Eastern Province participated.
Many Religious Scholars from Sri Lanka and abroad participated in
this two conferences. On the first day “Manithanaya Mamani” and
president of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress V Kailasapillai presided at
the conference and former Supreme Court Judge C V Wigneswaran delivered
the keynote address.
Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministry Director Shanthi Navukkarasu
Professor Shanmugathasan and V Mahalingam were the guests of honour.
Kandiah Neelakandan addressed the gathering on “Sivathandar Greatness
and Saiva Vidagar Training”.
On the second day the Vice President of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress
and President of Tellipalai Sri Durga Devi Devasthanam President
“Chenchot Chelvar” Aru Thirumurugan presided at the conference and Dr.
Kumaraswamy Somasundaram, Former-Director-General of the National
Institute of Education and Vice President of the All Ceylon Hindu
Congress, Hon V Mahalingam attached to the Indian High Commission,
Jaffna, Swami Sarvarupanantha, Professor (Mrs) Kalai Vani Ramanathan, Dr
Kanagasabathy Nageswaram, Professor C Sivalingarajah and several others
addressed the gatherings on Various subjects.
”Vidai Kodi Chelvar” Sinnadurai Dhanabalaa and Dr M Kathirgamanathan
who are greatly involved in social and religious services also
participated at this glorious conference.
In fact, Dhanabalaa, Vice-President of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress
and President of the Social Welfare group and Dr M Kathergamanathan
Secretary of this group donated cash to purchase two cows and three
serving machines respectively for individuals who were affected by war.
Further, the significance of this conference is the hoisting of
Nanthi Flags at the premises of the temple, in and out of the conference
hall and also carrying the flags during the long procession which indeed
gave added beauty and splendor to the conference and everyone was
impressed by this excellent appearance.
Eswaranathapillai Kumaran, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Tamil,
University of Jaffna spoke on “Srila Sri Arumuga Navalar and all the
sixty three Nayanmars mentioned in ”Periyapuranam” which is considered
to be peerless Kaviyam.
Furthermore, “Periyapuranam” was composed by “Theiva Sekkilar”, a
great religious scholar and devotee of Lord Shiva. In fact, he was the
Chief Minister in the Chola Kingdom when it was ruled by King
Kulothungan – 2.
”King Kulothungan” was very much impressed by Jainism and embraced
this religion which was completely opposed to ”Saivism”.
Realizing the futility of Jainism, Sekkilar completely transformed
the mind of King Kulothungan by way of telling him the greatness of Lord
Shiva and his Divine and miraculous deeds. In fact, Sekkilar mentioned
the glories of 63 Nayanman and how Lord Shiva blessed them.
When the King heard about this he requested Sekkilar to go to Thillai
in Chidambaram where the temple of God Shiva is situated and to invite
all the eminent Religious Scholars for a scholarly discussion.
When the Religious Scholar heard about Sekkilars presence at this
temple for a lengthy talk about these Nayan Mars, they came in large
numbers.
Sekkilar in the presence of the King Kulothungan and all these
religious scholars narrated the stories of all the 63 Nayanmars and when
he finished his narration the King and all other scholars very much
impressed by the Divine deeds of these Nayanmars and wholeheartedly
accepted ”Saivism” is the only religion which can lead them on the path
of peace and salvation.
Indeed, Periya Puranam which includes all the 63 Nayanmars proclaims
the eternal value of ”Love”. Even saint Thirumoolar Says ”God Shiva is
Love”.
The Buddha, Saint Thiru Valluvar, Jesus Christ and other countless
great ones had declared that Adharma should be conquered by Dharma and
Enmity by Love. This is true, yet this is the way meant solely for
spiritually evolved.
The normal man and prudent man can never emerge as a Devotee, so long
as he clings to his normalcy and prudence.
In fact, true devotees are tender hearted, but tough minded. Firmness
of purpose characterises them.
Undoubtedly, this “Siva Thondar Conference which was organised by the
All Ceylon Congress, particularly the General Secretary Kandiah
Neelakandan, President V Kailasapillai, “Vidaikodi Chelvar” Sinnadurai
Dhanabalaa, Dr M Kathirgamanathan, “Chenchot Chelvar” Aru Thiru Murugan,
Shanthi Thirunavukkarasan and all others who participated in large
numbers deserves our congratulations and appreciation for the tremendous
success of this conference.
Indeed, this Sivathondar Conference will definitely redeem thousands
of people from darkness of ignorance, conflicts and contradictions,
trials and tribulations and enable them to lead a life of Dharma, peace
and harmony.
From mortality to immortality of Bhagavan Baba
K C Sinnathambi
It is an accepted fact and an established scientific truth that all
compounded phenomena have to get decompounded and revert ultimately to
their original states. That which are integrated, have to be
disintegrated at some stage or other. So too, there is no denying the
fact that human together with the other constituents are glued, cemented
and held together temporarily, by the Karmic Energy, Genetic Energy and
The Divine Energy, is subject to the inexorable, inescapable and
merciless law of death or mortality, at some stage of its existence.
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Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba |
The period of the existence of human body is controlled and governed
by the operation of the three energies referred to above and their
effectiveness. This law, is equally applicable and operational, as far
as all living beings, animate, inanimate, sentient and insentient beings
and things are concerned. In this world of uncertainties, of constant
changes and of impermanency, death or immortality, is the only settled
fact. Yet, no one is aware or knows as to when, where or how death would
take place.
Any degree of protection, caution, or place could never secure any
one from the clutch of death. Whatever the position, status, or station
in life, death has no regard or respect. Avatars, God-men, saints,
savants, saviours, seers, kings, monarchs, rich and poor are all equal
before the law of death and are not immuned from it.
“Five gross elements”
Human mind refuses to accept death as the final leveler or the
finality of existence. This has been the declaration of renowned,
respected and accepted sages, saints, spiritual leaders and philosophers
of the religions of the world, barring a few, that death of a body or
its disintegration is not the end of one existence. This was quite
beautifully and convincingly expressed by the eldest brother of Pandavas,
King Yudhishthira, when he was asked as to what was the most wonderful
fact of life and he states,”..... Each and every one is subject to
death;, man, woman and children are dying by the thousands in every
moment, yet, those who remain behind believe themselves to be out of the
reach of death...... .”
The physical body of man, composed of the five gross elements and the
five subtle elements, at the time of death, disintegrate, disunite and
fall apart; but the Indwelling Spirit, the Life-Force, the Psyche, the
soul, or the vital energy, consisting of the inner building blocks or
the energy particles, such as the Karmic Energy, Genetic Energy,
totality of thought energy, death proximate thought energy, the mind,
the intellect, the ego and the divine energy or the spark, continue to
persist and exist in subtlest form, seeking and looking out for a
suitable body, place, a receptacle for depositing it, in order to
continue with its existence.
This thirst, craving for existence is a beginning-less and timeless
urge. The period of time for its disposition varies, depending on the
frequency, potency and the propelling power of the built-in-energy. If
human being is considered only as a physical entity, death is,
definitely thought to be the end of its existence whereas, human being
is not just a psycho-physical being, but a spiritual entity, not
realized, not comprehended, become aware of, by all, excepting a few.
This is the declaration of all the Holy Scriptures, which is echoed by
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in His Divine Discourses.
If death is accepted as the final end of a human being, it is bound
to throw a challenge to our sense of justice being defeated and foiled,
more so, in particular, in relation to our actions, our labour, our
desires, our aspirations and passions, remaining unfulfilled, unrealized
and reap the fruits thereof. It is therefore, reasonable and justifiable
to conclude that human reason, human feeling, cannot and would not
accept death as the finality and the end of human existence, for that
matter, any being or life.
In the midst of the furor and commotion of the fact of death, being
an inevitable and an unavoidable consequence of birth or existence, yet
human mind, nay, all beings and things passionately yearn, covet, desire
and crave for immortality or deathlessness, or extension of their
existence even by a fraction of a second. This urge, this desire, this
thirst and longing to escape from the iron hand of death is due mainly
and solely, to the impetus, the momentum, the surge and drive exerted by
the power of immortality of the spirit, the life-force, the soul or
atman.
The existence, animation and survival of the spirit, the life-force,
the soul or atman in human being and its invisibility, its
imperceptibility, and inconceivability had been quite succinctly,
convincingly and irrefutably established by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
in His Divine Discourses by the presentation of the analogy of human
perception and the resultant experience. Bhagavan Baba explains that in
every human perception, there are two distinct factors noticeable. They
are, “The object of perception” and the other is, “the perceiver.” There
is an acute, keen, razor-sharp and pointed difference between, “the
object of perception” and “the perceiver.” Bhagavan Baba continues to
emphasize the fact that the existence of an object, presupposes, “The
existence of a perceiver.” If not for the existence of the perceiver,
there is neither the object, nor the “Act of perception”, or the
experience.
In the absence of these three factors, namely, the object of
perception, the perceiver and the resultant knowledge or experience,
humanity would have been deprived of the vast records of human history,
records, relating to human evolution and other species, scientific and
technological progress and their records.
Human experience totally ignores, rejects and over-looks the
perceiver and gloats over and glorifies the object as the reality.
Bhagavan Baba declares that the most fundamental, cardinal and essential
difference between the object perceived and the subject – the perceiver,
is that the perceiver is self-aware and self conscious, but the object,
or that which is perceived has no inherent, in-born, in built and
natural awareness or consciousness.
“Subject and object”
This distinction between the subject and the object, - the perceiver
and the perceived – has been explicitly and unambiguously explained by
Bhagavan Baba, positing and laying down in principle the universality of
its applicability, equally to human personality as well. Applying this
golden rule to human existence, human body becomes an object of
perception and so also the mind. The function of watching, noticing and
perceiving of the body and the mind is very similar to the act of
observing, noticing, perceiving an external object or an event.
The Watcher, the observer, the perceiver of one’s own body, one’s own
mind, the external objects and events, is none other than the same
identical perceiver and observer. This perceiver, this observer,
performs this subtle function, because of its inherent, natural,
in-built, in-born awareness or consciousness, which is absolutely absent
in the body, mind, object or external and internal events.
The Perceiver, the observer or the watcher, is ever present in human
body, even in the absence of objects and events and plays the role of a
silent, “witness”, at the same time generating necessary current, energy
for their activities and functions. In order to fortify and support this
concept, Bhagavan Baba, postulates that human beings are susceptible to
three states of consciousness, namely, waking, dreaming and deep sleep
states.
He continues to portray, describe and presents the relationship and
the conjunction between the three states and the role of the perceiver,
the observer, and the witness. That which are perceived and observed in
the waking state undergo changes in the dream State and altogether quite
different order of perceived and observed objects, facts and events are
perceived in this state.
Yet, the same perceiver, the same observer, the identical self-same
record-keeper exists persistently; while the objects, facts and events
having undergone changes or constantly changing. It has to be borne in
mind that in these two states – waking and dreaming – feelings,
sensations, thought, memory are in operation.
To be continued
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The flag hoisting Mahotsava ceremony to mark Vaikasi Visaka
festival of Arulmigu Sri Muthumariamman Kovil Wattegama took
place recently. Here the Chief Priest Rev K Sivakumarak
Kurukkal at the ceremony. |
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A special pooja festival titled “Sri Namanavami Aarathana”
organised by the Colombo Aalwargal Samajayam took place at
the Colombo Ramakrishna Mission Hall, Wellawatta last week.
Rev. Aaiyarpadi Ramakrishnan and President International
Hindu Guru Peedam Rev. K. Wytheswaram Kurukkal participated. |
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The annual “Ther” Chariot festival of Arulmigu Srimath Ukkra
Maha Kaliamman Kovil, Sea Street, Colombo 11 was held this
year with the participation of several thousands of
devotees. Here the colourfully decorated chariot being taken
in procession from the kovil premises around the streets. |
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A Bakthi Geetha recital presented by the music group
attached to the Maurapathy Sri Pathrakaliamman kovil
Wellawatta at the music festival titled “Erainama
Sangeerthana” held at the Colombo Tamil Sangam (on
19.5.2011). The event was organised by the Poornam Cultural
Institute, Borella, Colombo 8. Pictures by A Maduraveeran |
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