Aum!

This is the primordial sound that is often referred to as the first vibrations- the first form of energy that reverberated through the Universe. Reading a text on Quantum Physics and a scientific justification to a Purpose Driven Universe I was surprised that noted Physicist Bernard Haisch quotes a textual reference to Indian texts written 25 centuries ago!

He calls it the Perennial Philosophy and says that it has three essential tenets:

1. The physical universe of matter is not the sole reality. Other non-physical realities exist and may not be perceivable directly by the physical senses. (It is interesting that this is compatible with String and M theories that propose existence of other dimensions which have radically different sets of laws that govern and define them.)
2. Our human nature has both a material side subject to physical laws, birth and death as well as a non-material immortal spirit or soul, which is actually the more essential side because this is made of the same stuff as the ultimate source which is generally regarded as God.
3. All humans possess a capacity to intuitively perceive the true multifaceed nature of ourselves and this greater reality.

This Haisch says, has been written in the ancient Indian texts and its elements are to be found in the mystical streams of all religions.

In school we used to sing a Vedic prayer- in Sanskrit. Its rough translation in English:
That is perfect.
This is perfect.
From the perfect, arises perfect.
Perfect alone remains.

That Perfect is Aum. The anahad naad. The energy without boundary. I have heard it in the humming of machines and in the solitude of my own breath. I have experienced it in the car and in the mountains. It is a feeling and a sensation that transcends awareness into consciousness. It begins with being very aware. It grows into being fully conscious. And Relaxed.

Aum is considered the easy and the perfect beginning to all mantras in Hunduism. If you make a mistake in the chanting, it alters the energy of the mantra. But if you begin with a correct Aum, the mantra energy cannot be violated.

Aum is the essence and the force that is ours to realise.

Aum.

Shanti.

Peace.

Punya Bhoomi Bharat

We are very fortunate to be born in India. Bharat has been and continues to be referred to as Punya Bhoomi- the land of good deeds.

We have the high mountains guarding our head. The Himalayas make it very difficult to penetrate our Northern borders. And these high peaks are also the purported abode of the Gods. The high terrain and the strength of the Divine is always a protective shield that makes it near impossible to walk through at leisure and walk out without effort. This strong geographical barrier has been one reason why we have never even thought of imposing our religion, Hinduism on anyone outside the confines of our 'Northern Wall' and have always been able to absorb most of what came from outside into our world of gold and sagacity.

And... the Himalayas are still growing. These mountains are young and continue to increase the complexity and the difficulty of invading our country from the north.

Then, we are surrounded on all three sides by the flowing waters of the oceans and the seas that merge imperceptibly into each other. We are singular in having an ocean named after a country. The Indian Ocean mergesinto the Atlantic on one side and into the Antarctic Ocean on the other and carries the air we breathe into the vast wilderness of the globe- crossing all boundaries and accessing all borders.

Our 'feet' in the southern and related borders are forever awash in the waters of the seas and oceans touching and playing with us.

Purity in mind- with the heights of the Himalayas and the clear crisp air of the mountains, and the cleansing of the waters splashing at our feet have added a glow to our collective intellect and soul power.

The terrain is varied and harsh as well as full of a power that can nurture a spiritual experience in the mundane. In fact there is no mundane in Bharat. Each part of her landscape has a beauty and a strength that few others on the globe can feel or fathom.

We do not know when our religion began... and who founded it. We know that we accept everyone and every faith or even a lack of faith in accordance with immutable and simple laws of nature. We know whether we encounter water, or snow, or steam, they are basically the same. We know whether we choose to call our Almighty Allah or Christ, we will all be addressing the same entity.

We do not bury our dead- we consign them to flames. And the ashes are all that remain to mingle with our land. All that remains? Ashes are the essence of our earthly remains- all that we did in this world that was good. And it merges back with the earth that bore our burden while we walked the land as humans. Whatever we did that cannot be carried over is burnt and lost into the atmosphere, too. Thus, all our ancestral Karma is still in our land and feeds any soul that can be open enough to receive the energy of the souls that still roam the world.

The power of life unfettered and  unbridled mingles with the earth and roams the world making us unique under the firmament.

We have a vast body of literature largely written inpoetic metaphor that has long since lost its meaning for the present geerations but which lends itself to a tremendous amount of in depth study and has layer upon layer that reveals our depth even in the eras that are from a far bygone time.

It is time for Bharat to rise again.
It is time for India to cleanse herself of all the corruption and stand tall again.
It is time for all of us to once again celebrate our nationhood in all its glory and its power.

Let us then pledge that the earth will find peace again, that the skies will be bright and clear again, that the intellect will be pure again, that the body will be shashwat again... That we will live upto the name of our country.