IF I SEE GOD, HOW WOULD HE LOOK LIKE?

     We all worship God and even those who do not believe in Idol worship , do Idol worship Cross , Mary or Jesus are nothing other than Idol worship. But the question arises , if I see God, what form will he be? Will he be Lord Ganesh or Lord Shankar , or Lord Krishna? Would he be HE or SHE  and would he be in form of Human Being ? The answer is  in Bhagavat Geeta . The answer is HE / SHE WILL BE WHAT YOU WANT HIN /HER WANT TO BE . So if one worships one form of the God , he will  see that form. In Geeta Lord Krishna states that 'by worshiping a God you will achieve that Heaven of that God.'

    We all have our own choice of the GOD . One cannot worship Formless God . So in India, we have FAMILY GOD called KOOLDEVATA , the God in a form that the entire family worships But then as with our regular life, we may have a friend who lives next door to us. But we have more friendship with some one else who may not live physically close to us , but is close to us otherwise. So we 'prefer one over other when we want to tell our secrets , ask for help or share our happiness etc. The same hold true in our spiritual life. We have one form of God - an Idol that we are exposed to as our Family God , but then in our personal life we have some other form , that we feel is closer to us . So this form of God is called personal God or ISTA DEVATA -ISHTA means one which is favorable to us. 

  This brings me to my original question and the answer, what form will I see upon death if I see God . It will be the form that I WANT IT TO BE . If that is male forms - Ganesh , Vishnu , Shankar, Krishna or female form Goddess Lakshmi or Sarasvati or Durga etc. .WHATEVER WE WANT WE WILL GET OR SEE. One thing for sure the formless omnipresent GOD will be in form and will be seen as if it has limits. This is why we say that the God is father - mother - friend . 

DRAUPADI AND 5 PANADAWAS

     This blog is for those who know or have read , heard about the Mahabharata. The story of Mahabharata is well known to Indians  and the Bghagavat Geeta is part of it. On the battle field when Arjuna has doubts about fighting Kaurawas , who were his cousins , the Lord Krishna gives him a lecture  and that discourse is called Bgagavat Geeta. In that epic - it is largest poetry in any literature-Arjuna goes for the wedding competition called SWAYAMVARA -just like the TV show of BACHELER ,and wins Draupadi . When he comes home ,his mother Kunti, tlles him to 'share' whatever he has won among his brothers and so Draupadi becomes wife to all 5 Pandawas. This may sound impossible  or difficult to accept today and it has some meaning. Even in those days men were allowed to have more than one wife, but women were not allowed to have more than one husband. So what does this mean ?

    The answer is in symbolism in Mahabharata. The 5 Pandawas represent 5 big elements  and also 5 Chakras the coccygeal, sacral, lumbar, thoracic and cervical  and they also are related to Earth-PRUTHVI-Water-AAP,-Energy Fire -TEJ, wind or Air -VAYU, and Space- AKASH. The Drupadi represents coiled up energy in the lowest part of the spinal cord called KUNDALINI SHAKTI. When one does the meditation, and the Kundalini is AWAKENED - becomes JAGRUT , it ascends the spine touching each of the above CHAKRAS  and then there are different sounds and visual thins that one hears and sees . This is the MARRIAGE between Draupadi  and 5 Pandawas. 

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BLISS

   We often talk about Bliss  or ANAND. In our day to day life we have pleasure and then at a higher level we talk about Bliss. There is difference between the ordinary pleasure that we get with day to day activity. So what is the difference when we talk about BLISS or ANANDMAY KOSHA or the pleasure  that we get with eating ice cream and then when we do chanting or with Samadhi. In Hindu concept these things are called by different names. In the ordinary day to day life when we do something to please the sense organs - any of the 5 - we eat, listen, touch, see or taste - we get happiness. This is directly connected to the object that we come in contact with through our sense organs. Without the direct contact we will not be able to get the happiness.. We cannot get pleasure just by thinking about ice cream or seeing it. We must taste it . So, the happiness is external or at least depending upon contact of the external object with our sense. This is called VISHAYANAND .Vishay is object .So the idea is that Anand or happiness comes from object or Vishay , but we still need MIND to have the happiness. So 2 things are needed  with Vishayanand. The next one is called BHAJANAND . When we do chanting or pray  without asking for mortal things and do meditation, we also get  happiness. It becomes more intense when our mind is EKAGRA or single pointed and we achieve the higher levels of Samadhi. This does mot depend upon any external object that has to come in contact with our senses. We do need something - some Mantra or Image etc. but it all HAPPENS IN MIND . So, the mind is needed but not the senses. This is called BHAJANAND. This happiness is at higher level but it is still in Mind. The highest level of Bliss is the BRAHMANAND. When the Samadhi is perfected and we are one with the ultimate CONSCIOUSNESS ,it gives a bliss or happiness that is called BRHMANAND But we have to PERCEIVE that WE ARE SAT CHIT ANAND  and we are not BODY-MIND -INTELLECT  UNIT. As long as we have separation from the ultimate consciousness the happiness is borrowed  and is not at he highest level. It will still need the Body-Mind - Intellect for perceiving it.

 So, there are 3 different types of happiness - VISHATANAND - BHAJANAND - BRAHMANAND .

IDOL WORSHIPING

   When we talk about many religions in the world, the Abrahamic religion - Judaism-Christianity and Muslim - have no so called Idol Worshiping, In contrast to that in Hindu Religion , we have as many Idols as many people. So the question arises as to why they perceived need for so many Gods? The objection is that there is no REAL(?) God in Idol made out of clay or wood or Brass or even Gold. So why do you have your faith at something that is not real God? There is a sub group of Hindu religion called ARYSAMAJ . They do not do Idol worshiping. The Person who started it was named Dayanand Sarasvati . His story is well known. When he was a child, he went to a temple and saw a small mouse climbing on Lord Shankar PNDI . He thought to himself that if this GOD cannot save or take care of himself from a small mouse , how is he going to take care of me or the world from the evil. So he decided that the Idol worship is useless. The answer is mixed and may or may not be acceptable to everyone. 

   The big shots and proponent of Adwyatya - ONE AND ONE ONLY -Ramakrishna also worshiped Goddess Kali with great passion. When we want to focus our mind  and shut the intellect and try to find out Formless- Limitless- all Pervading -SPIRIT OR GOD -it is impossible to do so. WHAT DO YOU CONCENTRATE UPON . When we concentrate, we concentrate our mind EKAGRA -MIND - we need an object where we can concentrate. All human beings do it ,no matter which religion one follows. The Christians have their mind concentrated upon CROSS or JESUS  or Mary . There is no Jesus in the wooden or Golden Cross but they Respect it , worship it and if someone breaks it or does not treta it with respect , they are upset feel insulted . So they concentrate on SOMETHING may not be an Idol as that is the weakness of Human mind . We can not concentrate FORMLESS GOD. If we believe that the GOD created the entire Universe  and nothing is outside his production, then everything has to be part of the God. If i make a table out of a wood , the wood comes from tree. The tree is not me and it did not come from me. But if did come from the GOD . There is nothing in this universe which was created outside of God and so it MUST have God in it. So everything is GOD Another example is that of a spider  and the net that it creates, The material for the net comes from the spider and same could be said about everything in the universe. So everything is God and for human mind we need an objest to focus and so we have several Idols and we worship not the wood or brass or the gold or the shape or the form , but we worship the Devine - Ultimate being which has no limit of DESH - KAL - VASTU - meaning Location - Time -Identity limitation. When one understands this principle then the form and shape disappears. 

HUMANIZING GOD

    Since we were talking about the God of Death Yamaraj is humanizing the God . We cannot conceive formless -NIRAKAR ,Quality less-NIRGOON  God. So, we have SAGOON or with GOONAS and SAKAR or one with form. This is very well seen in our devotional format. We call the God as Mother or Friend or Father. This is the humanization of the God. When we do POOJA, the worship of the God, this humanization of God is seen. There is a term used for the Pooja - called SHODASH POOJA . The word means 16 steps worship of the God . The humanization is seen in this worship. If we think as to how we treat our guests, we are doing the same with God.

    The 16 steps in Shodash Pooja are similar to our welcoming the guests. These steps are as follows.

1. Dhyaana – Concentrating on the God in our desired form(Ganesh, Shankar, Krishna or any Goddess)We think about calling our guest , so that will be comparable to concentrating on the God.
2. Aavaahana – Inviting the deity like sending invitation or calling the God. Just like we call our friends and say do you want to come to our place for Cup of Tea or dinner . Same way we invite the God. 
3. Aasana – We offer a seat to rest when the guest arrive at our home.If you recollect we do the same thing to our guests - take them to Living room or Family room and ask them to have a seat. 
4. Paadya – Washing the deity’s feet. When guests come to our place we do show them the restroom and see if they want to wash feet as when you come from outside especially in India with lots or dust  and dirt roads, this is same . The step 5 is similar. 
5. Arghya – Offering the deity water to rinse hands and mouth. Please see step 4.
6. Aachamana – Offering the deity water to drink.Again this step is very common when we have guests . We offer water and in modern society tea-coffee or fruit juice or alcohol is offered. But water is more common in all the societies.
7. Snaana – Bathing the deity. This is not common in modern day societies , but when in India guests come from far away distance by train or by horse carriage in past, we do ask them if they want to take a bath and certainly soap and other things are offered. 
8. Vasthra – Dressing the deity in clean clothes.
9. Yagnopaveetha – Offering the deity a clean sacred thread. This is typical of Hindu religion. The sacred thread - also called Yadnopaveet or JANVHE is worn by every person who has gone through education of religion. 
10. Gandha – Spreading fresh sandalwood paste. Again in modern society we have other things like cream, face powder etc.
11. Pushpa – Offering fresh flowers while chanting the deity’s names.
12. Dhoopa – Spreading incense smoke throughout the house. Just like we would do with candles or air freshener in modern day. 
13. Deepa – Waving a lamp to illuminate the freshly decorated deity. This part is done only when we have very important guests. Even today when a political leader or at the time of wedding the groom or bridegroom comes in we do this part. 
14. Naivedya – Offering the deity food. This does not need explanation.
15. Taambula ­– Offering the deity a refreshing mix of betel nut. In India we offer so called PAAN after the dinner . In modern society we may offer after dinner drink.
16. Pradakshina & Namaskara – This is done when we go around the Deity and then bow down. We do this for our elders either in age or in knowledge in India. The so called SASHANG NAMASKAR. 

  So as one can see the whole POOJA or the worship of the God is if we are treating him or her as out Guest. HUMANIZING THE GOD !!

LORD OF DEATH YAMARAJ

    In this Upanishads  we have concept of God of Death and this may be not understood by people who have not much of the concept of Hindu thought process. So I will try to explain. In Hindu concept we have HUMANISE the Gods as it is difficult to conceive the God with no no form. We also have a concept to have different names for the assigned work for the God .So the same person when seen by his mother will be looked as son and if same person is seen by wife she will identify him as husband  and by his brother as brother and by his patient as Doctor. The person is the same but different people looking at him will call him or look at him in a different way. Now in Hindu religion we have a concept that this unverse was made by the God - same as in other religion. But we have assigned different names to different work or function  and or positions . If we ant to make anything we need Knowledge as to how to make it - from simple back yard Gym to build a computer . So we have a God who created the universe called BRAHMADEO . We have humanize him and so his wife is Goddess Sarasvati, who is Goddess of KNOWLEDGE  and we worship her for blessing to gain knowledge. To maintain anything we need money . Say we want to maintain a big mansion, we will need money. We have a God called VISHNU who does this job and his wife  named Lakshmi is worshipped for getting money. If we need to destroy anything or get rid of bad elements , we need strength and so to destroy we need strength and we have that assigned to God Shiv and his wife is named Goddess Parvati or Durga whom we worship for the strength.In the same way we have a physician for the Gods and we have a Teacher for the Gods  and we also have LORD OF DEATH - the YAMA RAJ . 

KATHOPNISHADA CONCLUSSION

     There are more than 100 Upanishads  and one of the most popular is Kathopnishada. The 10 of them are considered main  and rest are also studied. It is almost like how we study for the examination. Some parts are important and we must know and others are studied if we have time . But main thing is that the theme is same. The reason this one got more popular, is that all of us are interested in knowing about Death and dying. What happens AFTER death is, a question that all of us have thought about . So, when there is story where Lord of Death Yama is giving the answer , all us want to know about it. But when you read through it you realize that the theme is same. Ultimate Goal is same . Ultimate TRUTH is same . Ultimate SPIRIT-BRAHAMA -GOD IS SAME. 

    One thing that I have realized is that there is a theological or philosophical concept in Hindu religion which is as scientific as anything can be there. Every religion has 3 parts. One is the so called 10 commandments -all the religion have similar behavior advice. No religion tells us to steal or kill or tell a lie .Certainly people can distort what is stated in scriptures .But that is not what is told . The second part is  variable based on time and region. Again this is also advice as far as behavior is concerned. But sometimes what was good advice at a particular time may not be pertinent at a different time or place . Not to eat pork or birds with web or Beef etc. may be something like that. Certainly NOT TO KILL ANY ANIMAL IS WHAT I believe. But we may have been asked not to eat beef may be due to need for milk and it's byproducts  and bulls being used for farming and transportation . The same thing may hold true for other restrictions in other religion. Again as one can see these are all related to how we must behave. In Hindu religion we have similar ones , YMA AND NIYAM But the difference is 5 of them are external  and 3 are Internal .DYAN - DHARANA -SAMADHI are Internal  and we need to practice. The last part is philosophical  and that is different in many religions. The concept of Heaven and Heil and Satan  are different in different religion. The same is the concept of what happens after the death.

    My thinking is that one should not stop at just reading these scriptures ,but NEED TO PRACTICE to achieve ultimate freedom . This is what is taught in most and all of HINDU scriptures .