Specialized rituals in Hinduism

 Specialized rituals in Hinduism

My mind is freshly soaked into one such ritual which seeks to propitiate the noble souls of women folk of a particular lineage, who were highly evolved to “bless”( not to be confused with benediction) the living women folk of the same lineage.

The name of this ritual is more popular in the south ( the north has a very different “version” of this same concept, and difficult for average minds to correlate it ) known as “prayer to departed non-widowed-married-women”.

The origin of this southern version of ritual is a bit unknown. Scriptures are conspicuously silent. And it is therefore…..that  the details vary a lot between each household. The daughter-in-law is supposed to adapt herself to the version of her hubby's house, but today's “madams” try to impose their mom's  version and the purpose gets defeated, oblivious to the performers.

The unique feature of this ritual is, the whole process is a sharp contrast to all other rituals, marked by the absence of chants( mantras), sacrificial-fire and the exclusivity of male members. The “results” pose a serious challenge to the males, whose mastery in invoking, propitiation of gods, demigods, departed souls of both types, evolved and stuck souls, is challenged. Perhaps the origin itself is owed to the deterioration of quality in male dominated rituals ( something like, tuition & coaching centers becoming the solemeans of fetching rank-holders in matric, & plus-two exams….whereby, regular schools, who charge exorbitant fees are shamed 😜).

I was naturally pushed to a meditative state, due to the deep impact of decades of intense spiritual practices that I was involved into. Probably this “mind-set” ( of a meditative fellow) triggered an observation which was a bit unique and uncommon. The most significant of the observations were….

a).there may not be a direct synchronicity between the benedictions  sought and the blessings-granted by the invoked+propitiated evolved souls, simply because of the difference  in the “nature” of states these 2 sets of women folk are…..   Departed ones have no sense of earthly “time” and the situation. They do have a slight awareness about the location, owing to the strong-vibes emanating from  the  “process”.

b).the women folk of past centuries were better aware of the mismatch of situation between the seekers and the sought. Therefore, they “devised” a structure plus design ( akin to excellent softwares by today's computer programmers), to institute a powerful & functional interface in place to bridge the gap between blessings offered & benedictions sought.  ( though I cannot “claim” any proficiency or mastery at weaving a seamless interface, I do try to devise one, to the best of my abilities, subject to certain level of freedom allowed to me by those around🙏).

c).trust is still a significant factor in preservation of this powerful ritual ( a tuition center remains dependent on the individual dedication and expertise of the faculty, when it does-not-follow any of the protocols of a regular school 😜)

d).interpretation of certain subtle hints, that are available only to the keen eyes of the observers, among participants and witnesses to the ritual, is crucial to the propagation & preservation of this ritual ( here i must mention that, I transcended the limitations of traditional protocols that reached my generation down the memory lane of  several generations, and with mentionworthy success. I am indebted to my own dear women-folk on my family for having placed a deep trust in me and my eccentricities, in re-shaping this ritual to reach newer types of households! 

Femininely yours,

psn ( 24 june 2024)

Demonetisation Versus Civic-sense

 Yes! 😂

Looks odd isn't it?

Demonstration of 86% of total currency in a society( India that is Bharat)?

It shouldn't have succeeded when the “civic sense” is worst, in India, going by the known-modern Parameters/yardsticks of “civic sense” ?????

May I attempt to suggest something more bizarre?

Bharat never had a structured design to teach “civic sense” for thousands of years, though we had a civilization which produced maximum enlightened beings on this globe( something like : 42% of Nobel laureates  hailed from just one tiny community called jews😜👍)

Civic sense was an indispensable “topic” needed to be taught, when there was something basically-deficient in the very fundamentals of a culture. 

Try and teach “independence, liberty & freedom” to a society, and they naturally look towards preservation of these values! Once you think of preserving something, “defense” is an inalienable component😜. How else  do you propose to defend your freedom, liberty and independence, without using rights( and laws to enforce them)?

Bharat thought of delving deep into the purpose of human life! 

This became a “purpose” merely because desi ancients used their sense of discrimination at its best possible levels. Discretion was an inevitable outcome.  Judiciousness in the excercise-of-discretion, was a consequence of deeper perceptional grasp when discrimination became a prioritized functionality of human mind ! ( nature supported, when natural vegetation obviated the need to “toil + struggle” for food-for-survival. ( desert cultures had to struggle to survive,  and resorted to slaughter of moving life forms, when vegetation was absent)

Deep recognition of interdependence with everything & everyone around, must have engrooved the minds into an evolvement in  reverence for these qualities in everything & everyone around, which sustained a quality-life in the humans with volitional consciousness ! ( this volitional consciousness is proportional to the depth of self-awareness that a person seeks in oneself!  Obviously an enlightened being has a peak level of awareness 😜👍)

When there are several people who are spiritually evolved, with a good number of enlightened ones among them, will they need a separate tuition in civic sense? Does not the “sense of inclusiveness” generate enough common sense to be civilised-also?

Well, our genetic memory got shaken up when “demonetisation” snatched our purchasing power overnight!.  And we revived our trust for others, in a big  way, though for a very limited period.  Reverence is not going to exist in exclusivity of trust( test this!).  And therefore, the “brilliant economists” who aren't quite familiar with this kind of trust are splitting their hair, being unable to find out how India “survived” demonetisation by PM modi?  ( Gurumurthy, an advisor to Modi, during demonetisation,  lectured abundantly about the rustic trust in Indians which helped tide over shortage of currency during demonetisation!)  Haven't we proved our civic-sense, during extreme shortage of medium of exchange called currency, due to demonetisation? 

Civically yours,

psn (21 june, 2024)

Interpreration of statutes

 interpretation of statutes

You care a damn about it ....

Why?

It doesn't constitute to be,

your bread & butter... damn simple!

Now, what if......

the underlying principle is common to interpretation of all other concepts, ( at least those which decide the course of your life )... coarse-or-smooth 🤔  ? The journey?

Unfortunately,  we don't have a software that can decrypt the concise form of life-affecting VALUES !

a classic example is the verses of Gita.  Its worth is evidenced by the interest evinced by the intellectuals globally, since millenuims!  Without needing to be goaded, persuaded or so like other religions, this irreligious piece of literature at once appeals to the intellect. Intellect takes care of the deficiency of a structured design in our society to ensure a correct interpretation, after decryption of these compressed concept filled verses!

Why did the ancients commit this omission? A "key" to decrypt plus interpret wisdom of sages meant to last as long as human format lasts as a life-form?

Well, they found it redundant. The syllabus in schools then was more than adequate to ensure a correct decoding ( decryption & interpretation) plus...an accurate plus customized functional format being FORMULATED future generations, to suit the ever-changing life situations. I am both, a witness & a conjurer of the process of translating the ancient concepts into a tailorised functional form! 

Functionally yours,

psn (19th June, 2024)

Customisation as a concept

 I was mentioning a joke of my kid age.

We were allowed to wield a fountain pen when we reached 6th class.

A good number of my friends hailed from "urdu" speaking families. When a kid from urdu-family borrows my pen, I warn him " don't write urdu with my pen and spoil my nib 😡..." he laughs heartily ( urdu is written from right to left, unlike other languages.

The reference to "nib"  poked into my untapped memory cell 🤣

It is obsolete now, but a good joke at least.

In 6th, we were allowed "fountain pens" ( ball point was prohibited.  But it was like prohibiting "vodka" in chittur thekke-gramam... any way, ball point was rare😰🙏)

The nibs were cheap and therefore rough. If we write too fast, nib might tear the paper  ( only costly nibs were "tipped" to write smooth)...

Kids....that we were....

some of us grip the neck as if trying to hold a hen which might fly away if held loosely.

This tight grip aches a few palms. Another fallout was, nibs get twisted soon. 

This twisting, if it goes beyond a certain angle, the split at nib widens, and flow of ink floods🤣.... 

We had a "variety of casualities" due to wrong use of weapon called ink-pen/fountain pen.

My "observation" helped me, to help them....

They just give their pen and say " ps....please make my pen write smooth. " a day later I take back my pen, and they check if...I made it smooth! Only in a few cases, I need to bend the nib gently to adjust to that kids way of holding the pen ( little did i know at that age....😰🙏🙏🙏.... I was learning the _*basics of customizing gadgets*_ a concept 💡)....  this concept of customizing it to fit somebody like a tailor-made garment.... helped me to do far better as a volunteer in spiritual programs, for some 6 plus years. I could devise ways to make freshers adapt faster to certain subtle processes and turn their attention inwards to experience some vibes, flutters, movements inside them😜... the usual 5 sense organs aren't going to help, to experience your inside. These 5 sensory tools open outwards only😜🙏🤣🤣

Thought......you might find it tolerable to read!

Adaptably yours,

PSN (16 june 2024)

Dealing with concepts

 Dealing with concepts

What kind of concepts?

Well, the problem starts here itself 😰

We have concepts related to material life, and those which aren't related to material life !

The second one is what our friends who declare atheism, are negating its very existence 😜

Okay, whichever concepts we are okay-with, ( for whatever reason) …how do we deal with it?

Only humans face this “project” of dealing with concepts ( not even A.I. enabled robotic machines 🤣…. They are just embedded software designed by us, just as all other life forms have an embedded software designed by nature!)

So, our design ( again by nature) is going to decide as to how we “look” at all our concepts ! 

This “looking” itself depends on our 4 tools ( how we learn, perceive, emote and discriminate whatever comes into our eyes & minds vision )

Typically, today's scientifically evolved brains, are excellent at designing a functional version of any concept.  ( a mech-expert designs a nuclear power plant and “purifies” uranium rods using rings of the same material.  A techie, designs an interactive networking system which learns and restructures itself to suit the ever-varying situation in the network of interlinked artificial brains 😜🙏).

What about the  concepts related to our lives itself?  ( the problem starts with identification of the subtle energy called “life” which keeps ticking in us 😜.) Modern Medical science has, through an unspoken mutual understanding,  confined its learning to the physicality of life's functional design, which has a gross form and is within the sensory level of perception. Whereas, ancient medical science, being primarily spearheaded by spiritual giants( rishis, saints or any other name by which they were known) happened to “design” the concepts in an inalienable manner from concepts related that evasive/elusive “life” energy 🤣. The evidence for this preceding sentence is seen in the diverse approach to the very basics of these sciences, and the mutual “untouchability” practiced by the experts in these respective sciences😜

If the foregoing has not yet induced any boredom, mind-fatigue etc up-till this point,

Then….. a question.  “ any concept, we like to “deal”... needs to be understood, primarily, isn't it? And only thereafter, the designing of its “functional” structure to be conceived? “

Next question : “ the concepts related to materialistic aspects need not be understood by the designer of its functional structure, though not an ideal thing,  whereas, the concepts related to non-materialistic aspects, cannot function at all, unless its concepts are grasped😜. Even ready-made structures like meditation, elude its grasp, and evade its results, as per my observations of 5000 plus seekers for whom I happened to volunteer over 7 years as a part of backup-support team 🙏….

Those who never had to deal with perplexing concepts, will bother to learn only few “life-saving” and absolutely essential concepts like laws of gravity, and that too, when they slip too often by stepping on a banana-peel 😉 

Rudimentarily yours,

psn ( 9th June, 2024)