THE LEGACY OF “TANTRA”,“NAGA SADHUS” & “MOKSHA”… DEBAUCHING THE SPINE OF FAITH

THE INNER WORLDS OF FAITH/SUPERSTITION

“MOKSHA” or “MUKTI” is no longer a HINDUISM myth or belief. Its potent nature has not failed to impress people all around the world of different religious faiths. The search for final liberation from the soul’s recurring transitions into life and death has attracted the attentions of man. “MOKSHA” is the Sanskrit word given to the emancipation of spirit from “SAMSARA” and the continuous suffering that it involves.

The concept was first developed in HINDUISM and later on its heritage was carried forward via BUDDHISM, JAINISM and now by the various spiritual gurus.

I was trying to recollect the facts associated with the attainment of MOKSHA and got to know that it is related with KUNDALINI and arising of SHAKTI, the goddess of power and fearlessness. KUNDALINI means coiled and is considered to be the hidden centre of energy placed at the end of the spine, the arising of which can result into a high level of enlightenment and the FINAL FREEDOM i.e. MOKSHA. There are particular stages required in the awakening of this secret and sacred source of energy. They involve definite ways of meditations which consists of PRANAYAMA, OCEAN BREATH, BREATH OF FIRE and regular practice of this, basically related to the four kinds of yoga techniques as mentioned in YOGATTATVA UPNISHAD.

The concept is pragmatic. Even if we leave the KUNDALINI awakening concept aside, the breath control yogic methods do help you to slow down the mental thought process and helps you to attain the peaceful substances.

Coming to what I feel an exaggeration and self declared strategies are TANTRA and SEXUAL RITUALS.

TANTRA states that the whole world is a play ground of goddess SHAKTI and lord SHIVA. The practice involves worship of SHAKTI through specific rituals involving MANTRA and YANTRA. Apart from these digestible ways there are few secret practices which involve sexual procreations, sepulchral in lieu of death and laxation that involves elimination of fecal wastes in form of vomiting and micturition.

Even relation of such phenomenon can cause nausea in a normal human but there are people who do believe on this. The recent SWAMI NITYANAND episode is an issue of great concern. The consent form which his followers signed had a thorough essence of TANTRA being practiced. It is said to believe that such sexual performance awakens the SUSHMUNA NADI and KUNDALINI rises upward within it.

Sex according to me is very personal for every human being and it should be maintained as it is because this is one of the many behavioral facts which separate a human from an animal and makes us a superior living beings and a better creation of god.

THE WORLD OF NAGAS

After mentioning all these beliefs or should I say credulous nature of YOGIC FAITHS, I would like to mention the NAGA SADHUS who made the front cover news of all the papers in the last thirty days when KUMBH MELA was in progress.

Austere, mystic and nomadic vicars are some descriptions used for the NAGA SADHUS who are believed to be the practitioners of YOGA and believed to be enlightened humans in search of MOKSHA. They are considered to have relinquished all the worldly attachments and pleasures including the sexual desires and live in forests, caves and temples all around INDIA.

Among the many clans of SADHUS like the JATA who carry swords, the AGHORIS who are expected to keep company of the ghosts and reside in the SHAMSHANS where the dead bodies are burnt; there are the NAGA SADHUS who are naked and non shaven wearing their hairs in form of thick locks. They are also called DIGAMBARAS.

NAGAS are considered to be a paradigm of renunciation. With their long hairs and ash smeared bodies, the NAGAS regard themselves as the illustrations of LORD SHIVA. They are even accompanied with ancient weaponries like TRISHULS, SWORDS and STICKS representing their warrior naturism. They smoke on CHILLAMS with marijuana and the blues eyes represent them being high, not due to some enlightenment but due to the dope.

The NAGAS make their public presence felt during the KUMBH by taking the holy bath in the GANGES in HARIDWAR.

They are the sole show stealers of the grand event and people flock from around the corners to see them.

The SADHUS and their unconventional ways have always left the world mesmerized. They feel to be holy because they are not concerned with the regular needs of a normal human. Anything which is different is appealing but to the extent where you are not aware of the grave secrets behind it.

MY INNER BELIEF

Speaking much without knowing enough can be fatal so I want to say that all my views are my feelings and not something which I have concluded through some extensive research work.

The only thing which seems to be rational in all the legends stated above is the YOGA and the breath control practices suggested by it as I have stated before. TANTRA and its secret rituals, the SADHUISM and renunciation of social life is not at all something which satisfies my senses.

All the religions around the world preach one thing in common; WE HUMANS ARE REPRESENTATION OF HOLY ON EARTH AND GOD CONSIDERS EACH OF US AS OWN. Being aware of this doesn’t require bringing such acute transitions in the life given to us by the almighty. It is equivalent being a non believer when you adopt something which is out of the flow. If a person is a devotee, he doesn’t need to reside in the caves with dismantled hair and ugly looks to impress the creator and achieve the immortality as MOKSHA.

The day I was born, I was told that GOD RESIDES IN BEAUTY, LOVE, HUMANITY, CARE, POSITIVITY and UNCONTAMINATION. I feel it is lucid to believe this than staying dirty and living on dope and scarcity.

We are not born humans to stop working and live like wanderers surviving on anything we get. With the size of brain that we are blessed with, we are here to create the wonders that god expected us to do while creating us. Not to waste our life for some hypothetical faith on MOKSHA.

It is great to keep one’s mind balanced but it is insane to go to such an extent just to meet some liberation. Why to? We were not born to think about the pains and hassles of life but to feel the beauty of the world and to enhance it.

The people who take the path of SADHUISM and TANTRA according to me are the most self-centered beings who are so much involved in their personal fulfillment that they just forget their duty towards HUMANITY, EARTH and OTHER LIVING BEINGS.

ARE THESE SO CALLED MYSTICAL THINGS OVER RATED?

With the vast media coverage of all the events involving the BABAS and the spiritual practices, we are giving these renunciates a big uplift to promote their legacy. According to them, they don’t need it but they have not shown any hindrances as yet to stop them being projected as celebrities and holy lots.

I think our media should stop this. Our country has a record population of citizens who don’t work and we don’t need any more. It is going to affect our economy more. 40% of earning mass cannot support 60% of such spiritual mobs.

India has to grow more and for that everyone needs to work, not to search some liberation from it.

THE FINAL VERDICT

If given the full authority I would love to delete the sects in our religions which are so widely misunderstood that they create something so not human. We cannot come closer to god by denouncing our loved ones and all our responsibilities or having some crude forms of sexual pleasure.

OUR COUNTRY NEEDS TO GROW UP AS A WHOLE. SWAMI NITHYANANDA and may be more will not let us do that. I am not against their personal lives and believe me I was speaking in favor of NITHYANANDA till I came to know that he was involved in TANTRIC practices.

TANTRA VIDYAS and all such things will never make your presence closer to god. They cannot. The way in which they defy the rules of being a HUMAN are massive. They create a devil out of a man.

I hope everyone realizes this someday or the other.

TO BE A BELIEVER OF GOD DOESN’T REQUIRE ANY PAINS, IT IS A GIFT TO ALL OF US. WE CAME WITH IT. WE CAME WITH THE FAITH ON ALMIGHTY.

JUST NOURISH IT AND ONE DAY YOU WILL FEEL THAT, THE TIME YOU WERE BORN IN THIS WORLD WAS THE HOLIEST AWAKENING.

THIS WORLD IS A GIFT AND EVERYTHING AROUND IS YOUR GIFT!

…..amit mohan

PS: If you like the post, please visit Indrowine's Curtain Raiser and Blog Post and give some comments which could help me frame a post on Traffic on Indian (PUNE) roads. 

Refer my last post here on Life's Lovely Cradle too.

RAAVAN : A MUSICAL GRACEFULNESS

A.R. Rahman, Gulzar and Mani Ratnam team up again after GURU to create a musical brilliance in RAAVAN.

A.R. Rahman is not a rhythm maker, he is an experience. There is no escape from the hypnotic effect of his music. His music rises from one level to another defeating his previous music. It is relative to god of music competing with his own creations.

And then there is Gulzar, a poet of his own might and demands. Sometimes I think, only he could understand what was in his mind while penning down the verses but then the fact remains, the reverberations that he causes with the movement and pace of music is inevitable, animated and flushed with beauty and delicacy.

Last but not the least, Mani Ratnam, the gem of Indian Cinema proves how close he is to harmony again. If Roja was an appetizer; Dil Se, Bombay, Yuva and Guru were the high class main courses and now RAAVAN is the tastiest dessert anyone can feast upon.

Talking about the music album, RAAVAN consists of six stunning tracks.

1. BEERA, sung by Vijay Prakash and Mustafa Kutoane is the promotional track as seen in the first look of RAAVAN on televisions. It doesn't have a very extensive lyrical base. Sung to extol the character of RAAVAN portrayed by Abhishek. The word BEERA is repeated a number of times throughout the song but I am sure of one thing that in the next few months one is sure to hear the ringtone of various mobiles set up as BEERA. BEERA comes up from a Hindi word VEERA. The catchiest song and the best use of exhilarating music in the recent times.
   

Look for the line: "Janm na pooch, jaat na pooch,

Pooch jo pehchaan BEERA ka abhimaan hai,

Beera ke dus maathe Beera ke sau naam

Chere jo Beera ko…dhama dham dham…"

1. BEHNE DE, sung by Karthik has the true essence of Rahman's music and Gulzar's lyrics. A soft revolting song with varied pitches. The metaphoric lyrical radiance is the strong suit of this song.
   

1. THOK DE KILLI, sung by Sukhwinder Singh is again full of lots of energy and pumps you up whether or not you understand the real meaning of Gulzar's lines. One time listening will not satisfy your hunger of discovering the effects being produced by this track. It is highly stimulating and enriching. Sukhwinder Singh's voice adds the additional x-factor to the song.
   

   
   

2. RANJHA RANJHA, sung by Rekha Bhardwaj and Javed Ali is an extended version of the famous Punjabi poetry "ranjha ranjha kardi hun main, aape raanjha hoi". Gulzar adds his lines very intelligently to the historic lines and Rahman composes the music which acts as a catalyst to the overall bohemian upshot that the song produces. Rekha and Javed Ali sing the song brilliantly and with the equal craziness as required for singing such songs.
   

   
   

3. KHILI RE, again sung by Rekha Bhardwaj is a slow romantic song showing the grave emotion of separation. Rekha is the star of the song. Her voice passes through your ears, directly to your heart like a cold reliving breeze during a sunny afternoon.
   

   
   

4. KATA KATA, sung by Ila Arun, Sapna Awasthi and Kunal Ganjawalla is a marriage folk song. Ila and Sapna add the required feel to this traditional number. A beautiful song, wonderful to listen and has its own charm. It will be difficult to understand but a proper hear will let you make out the meaning and after the sense gets clear, the song just keeps on engaged.
   

   
   

As stated before, RAAVAN proves the intensity of the great maestros. Not like the recent trends in music, RAAVAN has songs based completely according to the requirement so it gets unconventional sometimes.

A must listen for all the true music lovers.