Misusing religion?

This is not the first time a holy man or better known as "samiyaar" has been caught in the act. Some may think that the whole thing is being blown out of proportion, but believe me, its not. Coming back to the current issue, the person caught in the act calls himself a spiritual guide and according to Hinduism, there are certain rules for being a holy man. The main ones are not eating non-vegetarian food and not consuming alcohol. The next one is abstinence from sex, both physically and mentally. But this person has broken this rule. He has no right to call himself a Swami anymore.

This Swami Nithyanantha has about 1200 'ashrams' all over India and the world. By this, you can see the extent to which he has cheated people. He earns millions of Rupees and now we are in doubt what this money is being used for, perhaps paying for call girl services? No one knows what else he has been doing besides this. This is a cause for major concern as he could be funding terrorists, involved in flesh trade, drugs smuggling and many more. We just don't know what he has been up to.

This is a wakeup call for people all over the world to stop believing in such people who claim themselves to be mediators between God and us. Why do we need a mediator to communicate with God? Just ponder over it. We have temples all over the place, so why do we need a mediator. Another point is that, if these people are really servants of God as they claim to be, then why do they need all this money and luxury. True swami's or god men are those people who live in caves and forests meditating in order to reach God. These people have only one thing in mind, which is reaching God. They don't go around promoting themselves and taking money from people.

Once upon a time temples used to be not just a place of worship, but also a place of service to the community. They used to provide food for the needy, school for children and many other services. But now, people running temples are more concerned about earning money and enlarging the temple. The main focus of serving the people is slowly being forgotten. The money being put into 'hundial' is not going to the God but rather being spent by the people running the temple in the name of God. What is the point of having such a big temple and buying all kinds of gold ornaments for the deity? Did God ask for all this? Think over it.

My opinion is that we should spend the money which we put into these 'hundial' for helping the poor and needy. There are thousands of children in the orphanages around who are living a life of poverty. We can help them live a better life. Educating a child means sowing the seed for their whole life and maybe others too. The child may go on to help many other children just like them.

I believe that providing one meal to a person who needs it is more satisfying and rewarding than giving millions to these so called 'Samiyaar' and temples. I have seen some temples that are focusing on helping the needy and serving the community rather than just enlarging the temple. Hats off to them and I hope we can change the current system for the better.

My plea to everyone is not to believe in the kind of people and waste your money. Please help others which is known as 'Seva'. The 'Seva' is the most appreciated form of devotion in Hinduism for a common man, so please do this instead of going to a mediator. Not only Hinduism but all other religion including Christianity, Islam and Buddhism teach us only to do good and not bad to others. So just follow this one teaching and everything else will fall into place. Trust that God is within all of us and you will certainly find God.

Love or Hate

What is the world coming to of late? The world is full of hatred and violence that even Mother Nature is against humanity. The recent earthquakes, tsunami, fires, floods and volcanic eruptions are proof of this. This reminds me of a saying, "The universe gives to you in return what you give to it".

There is this little story that I want to share. There was this little boy in a small village by the hills. He is a shepherd, taking care of a dozens sheeps. He tends to get bored and lonely sometimes, so he shouts at the top of his voice to entertain himself. He was surprised when he heard another voice repeating whatever he said. He tried asking who it was but all he got in return was whatever he himself shouted. This went on for some time.

One day, a traveller was passing by the place and he saw what the boy was doing. He immediately knew that the boy obviously didn't that the repeated sound was none other than the echo of his own voice. He asked the boy what he was doing and the boy told him everything. The boy was shouting angrily at his own echo. The traveller then said to the boy, "That is the universe giving you back in return whatever you gave to it". He then told the boy to shout, "I love you". The boy shouted it and his echo repeated the same. The boy was surprised. The traveller then told the boy that the universe will give you back whatever you give to it. So, if you say nice things you will get nice things in return.

This is not just a story but something which is happening in our everyday life. We do bad things and expect good things to happen to us. How is this even logical? This is the Universal Law, we get back in return whatever we give. So, if we want good things to happen to us, then we should try doing good things too.

We should try spreading peace and goodwill to people around us. Spread the love and feel it coming back to us more than we could imagine. Try not to hate anyone but accept their flaws and shortcomings, and love them too. Its always easier to love someone rather than hate them. You use less energy and also help yourself when you try to love someone. Whereas when you hate someone, you stress yourself, think of bad things and end up with a negative energy which ends up harming yourself more than the person you hate.

So choose to love and not hate. Love your family, friends and maybe even your enemy. Try to make someone's day, not ruin it and I'm sure that your day will be made to. Honestly, nothing can beat the satisfaction I get when I have helped someone. Even small things like offering my seat to an elderly person in the bus or giving someone directions. Enjoy all the beautiful things that life has to offer. I even want to thank my enemy(I don't have one technically...just the people whose company I don't enjoy much), as they have taught me what I should not do in my life.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to say that I love you all very much. Each and every person present in my beautiful life. You people make it meaningful and worth living. I love my life and I thank GOD for giving me this life. So spread the love and go make someone's life meaningful and beautiful today.

My entry into the world of blogging...

I have always wanted to start my own blog and now I have done it. I see this as a way to convey my opinions on current affairs and also a way to express my mind. I always have lots of things floating in my head, so this is going to be a way to bring them to light and to make it useful.

To all my friends, please read whatever I post and give your honest comments. Enjoy my future posts.