Pitri-Paksha: Annual Ancestor-Worship

The annual ancestor-worship or 'Pitri-Paksha' is a period that is observed during the dark half of the Hindu month of 'Ashwin.' This period of 15 days is set aside by the Hindus for the remembrance of their ancestors. During this fortnight, Hindus donate food to the hungry in the hope that their ancestors will also be thus fed. It is this time that Hindus throughout the world reflect on the contributions their forefathers made to their present life, and the cultural norms, traditions and values they set for us in order to make our lives better.

Three Debts an Individual is Born with

According to the Vedic scriptures an individual is born with three debts. The debt to God is called ‘Dev-rin.’ The debt to the sages and saints is called ‘Rishi-rin.’ The third debt to one's parents and ancestors is called ‘Pitri-rin.’ These three debts are like three mortgages on one's life, but not liabilities. It is an attempt by Hindu scriptures to create an awareness of one's duties and responsibilities.

"Pitri-rin" - Debt to One's Parents & Ancestors

The third debt an individual is expected to pay during one's life is to one's parents and ancestors. One's entire existence, including the family name and the great dharma one belongs to, are the gifts of one's parents and the forefathers. Just as your parents, who brought you into this world, protected you when you were weak and frail, fed you, clothed you, taught you, and brought to you up, your grandparents performed similar duties for your parents.

How to Repay the Debt to Ancentors

So how is this debt repaid? Everything that one does in this world should enhance the fame and glory of one's family, and of one's forefathers. Your ancestors are anxious to help you in all your endeavors and the departed souls are capable of doing so. However, they have one expectation from all of us and that is to perform acts of charity in their names during their annual visits to your homes in their subtle, invisible bodies.

A Pure Act of Faith

You do not have to believe in this unique Hindu ritual because it is purely based on faith called 'shraddha' in Hindi. Hence, another name for annual ancestor worship is 'Shraadh,' derived from the word 'shraddha' or faith. However, you will agree that it is the responsibility of everyone to keep up the pride of the family lineage by performing actions that promote the good of all. The fortnight of ancestor worship is nothing but a reminder of your lineage and duties towards it.

Ritual to Remember Forefathers & Repay their Debt - Gyan Rajhans

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Six Blind Men & The Elephant

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk
Cried, "Ho! what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up he spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope.
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen.

A Hindu Parable - John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)

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Hindu Wedding Vows

A traditional Hindu wedding ceremony is elaborate and complex, incorporating fifteen specific rituals. There are no vows in the Western sense, but the Seven Steps, or Saptha Padhi, around a flame (honoring the fire god Agni) spell out the promises the couple makes to each other:

"Let us take the first step to provide for our household a nourishing and pure diet, avoiding those foods injurious to healthy living."

"Let us take the second step to develop physical, mental, and spiritual powers."

"Let us take the third step to increase our wealth by righteous means and proper use."

"Let us take the fourth step to acquire knowledge, happiness, and harmony by mutual love and trust."

"Let us take the fifth step so that we are blessed with strong, virtuous, and heroic children."

"Let us take the sixth step for self-restraint and longevity."

"Finally, let us take the seventh step and be true companions and remain lifelong partners by this wedlock."

Wedding Vows - The Knot

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Eight Types of Hindu Marriage

There are eight types of marriage described in the ancient Hindu text of Manusmriti (Laws of Manu) or "Manava Dharma Shastra":

• Rite of Brahmana (Brahma) - where the father of the bride invites a man learned in the Vedas and a good conduct, and gives his daughter in marriage to him after decking her with jewels and costly garments.
  
• Rite of the Gods (Daiva) - where the daughter is groomed with ornaments and given to a priest who duly officiates at a sacrifice during the course of its performance of this rite.
  
• Rite of the Rishis (Arsha) - when the father gives away his daughter after receiving a cow and a bull from the brightgroom.
  
• Rite of the Prajapati - (Prajapatya) where the father gives away his daugher after blessing the couple with the text "May both of you perform together your duties"
  
• Rite of the Asuras (Demons) - when the bridegroom receives a maiden after bestowing wealth to the kinsmen and to the bride according to his own will.
  
• Rite of the Gandharva - the voluntary union of a maiden and her lover, which arises from desire and sexual intercourse for its purpose.
  
• Rite of the Rakshasa - forcible abduction of a maiden from her home after her kinsmen have been slain or wounded and their houses broken open.
  
• Rite of the Pisaka - when a man by stealth seduces a girl who is sleeping or intoxicated or is mentally disbalanced or handicapped.

As Described in the Laws of Manu - Subhamoy Das

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5 Mysteries That Will Never Be Solved (Pt.3)

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?

This is the big question. The one that has puzzled humankind since we have been able to contemplate such things.

Is there life after death? Where do we go? Is there a literal Heaven and Hell? Do we go to another dimension? Another planet? Or do we just blink out and cease to exist?

There is no hard, scientific evidence for life after death. But there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence that our spirits – our energy, our souls, or whatever it is that makes us who we are – survive death in some other plane of existence. There are the thousands upon thousands of ghost reports, recorded since the beginning of human history, the most compelling of which are the encounters with recently deceased loved ones who appear to relatives to assure that they are well and happy in their new lives.

Then there are the near-death experiences in which people who have clinically died are revived. They report having been transported through a tunnel of light to another existence where they meet loved ones who have passed on, as well as, in some cases, religious figures. Did they experience life after death firsthand?

And there are the many remarkable cases of reincarnation. Are they evidence for life after death?

Why we may never know. As compelling as we may find the reports of ghosts, near-death experience and reincarnation, we must admit that they are not proof. We can consider the sheer number and consistency of them as evidence, but they are not conclusive proof.

The only way we’ll know is…. When we die. And it’s inevitable – we’ll all find out sooner or later.

Stephen Wagner - Paranormal Basics/Info

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5 Mysteries That Will Never Be Solved (Pt.2)

THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT

The Philadelphia Experiment is like the Roswell incident in that it may have been a secret military operation that because of its secrecy has generated a whole shipload of conspiracy theories, contradictory stories and outrageous tall tales.

According to the legend, if we can call it that, in 1943 the US Navy conducted an experiment that involved the destroyer USS Eldridge. The secret experiment wired the Eldridge with powerful electromagnetic equipment that when switched on would render the ship invisible. Not just invisible to radar, like a stealth ship, but invisible to sight. The theory was that the strong electromagnetism would bend light around the ship, effectively making it disappear.

Did it happen? The vacuum created by the Navy’s lack of documentation about the experiment (whatever it was) was filled with creative stories. Not only was the Eldridge rendered invisible, one story goes, it was actually briefly teleported from the naval shipyards in Philadelphia to a naval base in Norfolk, Virginia! Not only that, the unfortunate crew was affected in horrendous ways, from going stark raving mad to finding their bodies embedded in the steel bulkhead of the ship!

Such tales fire the imagination and, by some crazy sense of logic to some, are so outrageous that they must be true. That military is always up to something! A more plausible explanation about the experiment is that the goal was to degauss the ship, so that it would not be so attractive to mines and torpedoes. Or that it was to be invisible only to radar. Or that the equipment was intended to heat the air and water around the ship to create a fog in which the ship could hide.

Why we may never know. There is far less credible evidence – circumstantial, anecdotal or otherwise – for the most fanciful claims about the Philadelphia Experiment than there is for the Roswell incident. There are few witnesses who claim the stories are true, but then the conspiracy theorists say that the rest of the witnesses have been threatened or brainwashed to conceal the truth. And, of course, the Navy is just covering it up. Like most such cases, you can’t prove that it didn’t happen, even though there’s virtually no evidence that it did.

The only way we’ll know is…. Only full disclosure by the US Navy will put the matter to rest. But if they haven’t done so sixty years after the fact, will they ever?

CROP CIRCLES

Will we ever get to the bottom of crop circles? Are they all manmade? Or are there other unexplained forces involved in their creation?

I suspect that most crop glyphs are probably manmade. The so-called circlemakers have demonstrated quite convincingly that they can stomp down amazingly intricate patterns in crop fields using simple tools and detailed planning. So people can make them. Even long-time crop circle researcher Colin Andrews admitted that he believes 80 percent of crop circles are manmade.

What about that nagging 20 percent, however? There are qualities of some crop glyphs that seem to defy the manmade explanation:

• Huge, complicated glyphs are formed in an impossibly short span of time.
• Enigmatic changes in the plants, which cannot be accounted for simply by stomping them down, including: elongated and blown-out nodes; increased plant size and crop yield; cellular changes; and altered seeds.
• Other strange effects have been reported within “genuine” crop circles, including: effects on equipment; unusual electromagnetic measurements; unexplained sounds; drying out and changes to the soil; dizziness and other physiological effects claimed by researchers.

So if some are not manmade, who or what is making them? Extraterrestrials have been blamed, of course, although no compelling explanation has been offered for what the aliens' intention might be. The Earth itself is creating them, some contend, as a way of trying to communicate with humans that they are not being good caretakers of the planet. If so, Earth’s symbolic message is unclear at best.

Perhaps it’s the military that’s responsible again. Perhaps they have the ability to create these complex patterns via high-intensity microwaves beamed down from computer-controlled satellites. Maybe, but again – why?

Why we may never know. Human circlemakers can certainly prove that they have created glyphs that they have been involved with, if they wanted to. But can they prove that they have created all of them? If the Earth or aliens are responsible, they’re not likely to admit it. And if it’s the military, they are unlikely to reveal the technology.

The only way we’ll know is…. I’m not sure how we’ll ever know, unless the circlemakers really do document every glyph they make and perhaps explain how all the anomalies occur. Or unless the military conducts a public demonstration of that satellite.

Stephen Wagner - Paranormal Basics/Info

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5 Principles & 10 Disciplines

The Basics of Hinduism

5 PRINCIPLES

1. God Exists: One Absolute OM. One Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara (Shiva)Several divine forms

2. All human beings are divine

3. Unity of existence through love

4. Religious harmony

5. Knowledge of 3 Gs: Ganga (sacred river), Gita (sacred script), Gayatri (sacred mantra)

10 DISCIPLINES

1. Satya (Truth)

2. Ahimsa (Non-violence)

3. Brahmacharya (Celibacy, non-adultery)

4. Asteya (No desire to possess or steal)

5. Aparighara (Non-corrupt)

6. Shaucha (Cleanliness)

7. Santosh (Contentment)

8. Swadhyaya (Reading of scriptures)

9. Tapas (Austerity, perseverance, penance)

10. Ishwarpranidhan (Regular prayers)

Subhamoy Das - About.com

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