Chants

We have all heard chants in some form or the other, we have heard priests chanting in temples and closer home we have heard our parents or grandparents chanting. It does not matter what religion you follow, which tradition or culture you belong to, each one of them have some kind of chanting as a spiritual practice. 

While some of us have picked up what was taught to us during our growing years, some of us have questioned the necessity or practicality of chanting. Some of us might have questioned our parents why is it important to chant, and in all probability we were told to do as was said and not question customs!

There is a huge difference between doing something because it imposed on us and doing something because you believe in it. This belief may be religious, spiritual, scientific or psychological- the means to strengthen your belief does not matter. When you chant because you believe that it will affect you in some positive manner only then does it make sense to take up chanting.

You might have often wondered if chanting and prayers are mere superstitions.  Well, all around the world studies and experiments have been conducted to probe into this very aspect. All of them have found that psychological, neurological, and physical changes do occur in the body as a result of chanting. More about this later.

So does that mean chanting is magic? Is it all hocus-pocus? Well, no, there is no magic in chanting! It is purely scientific.

 The Superstring theory of Physics supports the fact that everything in the universe is made up of sound and vibration including the human body. As long as the body is in a state of natural resonant vibration, we are healthy. Disease sets in when some part of our body vibrates at a counter frequency and blocks the energy to that part. Here is where the chants come into effect. Chants create vocal harmonics with a combination of sound and vibration and thus are known have a positive impact on our body.

Jai Shri Krishna!

To be cont…

Avatars

Lord Krishna and Maha Vishnu are interchangeably used to denote one and the same God. Maha Vishnu took the form of Krishna when he incarnated on earth to destroy evil and to liberate the devotees from the cycle of births and deaths.

In one of the shlokas of the Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna says,

“Pari-tra-naaya saadhu-naam vina-shaya cha dush-kritam,

Dharma-sanstha-panar-thaya sam-bha-vami yuge yuge”

It means,

To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I manifest myself, millennium after millennium.

-Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4 Shloka 8

Maha Vishnu is said to appear on earth in ten forms known as the Dashavatars – Dasha meaning Ten and Avatar meaning form. Before his avatar as Lord Krishna, Maha Vishnu also incarnated as :

A fish-  Matsya  Avatar who rescued the first man Manu from a great deluge.

A turtle – Kurma Avatar who bore the mount Mandara on his back during the Samudra manthan

A boar – Varaha Avatar who restored mother Earth after rescuing her from the demon Hiranyaksha

Half lion and half man- Narasimha Avatar who protected his devotees from Hiranyakashyapu

A Dwarf- Vamana Avatar who destroyed the pride of King Mahabali

A Rishi – Parashurama Avatar who is one of the saptarishis

A King – Rama Avatar who defeated the mighty Ravana

A cowherd – Krishna Avatar who destroyed the evil Kamsa and many other evil doers.

There are two more avatars of Maha Vishnu described after this-

A yogi- Buddha Avatar

Eternity- Kalki Avatar. This reincarnation is yet to appear and is foretold to appear at the end of Kali Yuga

These may just appear as stories to some, while to others these represent a sacred part of their religion. There may be debates on whether these incidents actually took place or were only a figment of someone’s elaborate imagination. We could never have definite answers!

But there are things beyond religion and beyond facts and that is what forms the basis of our life.

Scientist tell us about Darwin’s theory of evolution, where life that began from a fish, evolved to become a man over many many centuries. The Dashavatars of Maha Vishnu are said to mimic what scientist are telling us today. This means that our ancestors knew things that we are only discovering now.

That is precisely the reason I believe, these avatars tell us something beyond the stories, they teach us lessons beyond what is visible on the surface. We just need to scratch them and read the hidden meanings.

Jai Shri Krishna!

Krishna Deewani Meera...

This is one of my favorite songs. The song is about complete surrender unto the Lord without worrying about the consequences. Read about Meerabai's devotion and unflinching faith in Krishna here.

Jai Shri Krishna!

The God in Blue...

I have chosen to name this blog- My Blue God, and hence I think it is only appropriate that I begin with what is actually Blue with the God! I wrote about auras surrounding people yesterday in my introductory post. Here’s more about it-

Every substance has an aura around it. An aura is nothing but a field of energy that surrounds every being. It is this energy that fires the physical being and yet maintains its own form. Can you see it? Apparently you can- when your body’s chakras are awakened. Yoga is one of the tools to awaken your chakras. Well, what about other people, who have not yet taken to yoga? Again, everyone can feel auras. We may not yet see it until we become fully aware but the presence can be felt nevertheless.

Our auras can be felt by people around us and though they may not realize it is the aura that they are feeling, it is responsible for how people feel about you. For instance, if you think back, some people just attract you to them while some people repel you, and this has nothing to do with the person being known to you or being a stranger. It also has nothing to do with the person actually looking beautiful or not. You could have no explanation as to why someone feels so good to you while someone doesn’t feel right at all. The explanation is the aura surrounding them. You don’t have to be a psychic to read someone’s aura. Even a baby can feel auras; you can observe that in the way the little ones react to different people!

So, coming back to my Blue God, people who described Krishna as Blue, perhaps referred to his blue aura and not his blue skin per se. The highly aware and conscious people could feel and see Krishna’s Aura that was all encompassing, and all inclusive.

Almost all books describe how attractive Krishna was! We read about the Lord’s lotus shaped eyes, and the face that made women go weak in the knees and made men compelled to listen to him! We read about his lips that looked like the bud of a rose and the celestial fragrance that flowed from his body. It enchants us even as we read about him! It was actually Krishna’s blue aura that was responsible for his attractiveness.

Krishna’s outermost aura is described to be an Irresistible blue in color and it is this aura that made him irresistible.  It was this Blue aura that pulled the Gopis to him like a magnet, made the birds and animals stop in their tracks and stand by to admire him, and even made his sworn enemies fall in love with him! Such was his charm!

Krishna’s inner aura is described to be Electrifying blue in color. This aura signifies the highest level of enlightenment. People with Electrifying blue auras function in such a way that they seem almost superhuman. They hold people in awe about their intelligence and capabilities.

Maybe that is why many of the Hindu Gods are shown as Blue. Think of Lord Shiva, or Lord Rama, and you will relate this to their auras too. The people in those times, who had seen them and were aware of their auras,  chose to describe them as Blue skinned when they wrote about them and I guess there’s where the blueness of the Lord originated from.

Let me know your thoughts…

Jai Shri Krishna!

Introduction

Krishna- The Blue God has fascinated me ever since I was a child. It was not just his color that had me captivated, it was the aura that the color exuded. From the azure sky to the turquoise sea, blue always reflects an all-inclusiveness, something that encompasses everything around us, something that's bigger than our perception and yet very much concentrated in our self.

Pictures led us to believe that Krishna was Blue in color, and we believed that his skin was indeed blue. But it was not his body that was blue, but rather his aura that exuded the blue color. Every person has an Aura, the field of energy that is around every being, that which is not a part of one's physical form and yet is always around it, radiating the energy that arises out of the physical form.

People who saw his aura, or were aware of the blueness of his energy, described him as being blue in color. And thus, Krishna, came to be known as the Blue God.

This Blog is dedicated to the Lotus feet of Lord Krishna, and if his being inspires and interests you as much, then do join me in this journey of love for the Blue God.

Jai Shri Krishna!