“Temples – Repository of Spiritual Truths.”

Temples – Repository of Spiritual Truths.

From the time immemorial, not only Hindus not only people who belong to the Rishi cultures, but all over the world in all traditions creating a space for divine has become a part of our lives.

Not only in Hindu tradition, any religion, any Master, any cult, any group, first thing they do is creating a space for divine. Not only human beings, even animals when they live together, some of the beautiful researchers video graph, some of the beautiful researches they say even animals don’t use a particular area for their eating or for their regular life. Particular area they allot only for rest. They don’t use that space for anything else. All they do is only resting. Ofcourse they don’t know anything called worship or prayer. That’s the reason they use only for rest. If they knew they would have used for it, we don’t know.

In every tradition, creating a space for divine or creating a place in which they can relate with the divine has become a part of their culture, part of their life. Here in these 3 series of discourses, I will try to explain the science behind the Hindu temples. The idea behind the Hindu temples, why these structures are created. Especially when you travel in Bharat you will see such huge structures. The other day I was taken to a particular University by a professor. I met a Noble Laureate in San Jose. He was taking me around his University. The person who was accompanying me, another person was explaining to me about the whole University. He was bragging a little too much about the whole structure. It is okay to be proud of your University, nothing wrong. But he made a statement –‘Nothing like this exists in Bharat or nothing like this exists in your country’. I just smiled thinking come to our villages, every village in Tamil Nadu has a much bigger structure than this whole University. Completely done in granite.

Every village of Tamil Nadu will have a much bigger structure in granite. Why? Our ancestors have created such huge structures in every village. What is the need. What culturally, socially, spiritually we got from these huge structures. Why, first of all have they created it.

Before entering into the subject, I would like to mention a beautiful study done by a doctor Franc Rudolph. He went and stayed in Amazon along with a group of tribes, for 30 years. Not one, but 30 years he stayed with them to do some research about their life style. There is one important thing I want all of you to know. Those tribes believe that by creating an image of a particular person and invoking that person’s energy into that image or clay idol, they can heal that person or they can transmit any disease to that person. They believe in a phenomena called transmitting diseases or healing disease through a clay image. They create a clay image and invoke his energy into that clay image, then they heal him through that image or they transmit a disease to him, even death. These tribes believe this idea. This doctor wanted to understand /study about it. He goes there with all his equipment to do research with his video camera, etc, to analyze what is going on behind this phenomena.

Not one year or two years, 30 years he stays with them, does a research and then he publishes a beautiful paper. Three things mainly he says. He says if he has observed 100 incidents, more than 98 became true. This is the first statement he makes. He observed that if he has observed 100 , in more than 98 health is transmitted, or the death is transmitted. That is the first thing. Second thing he says, not only to human beings, even to trees they are able to transmit. That is the second thing. He says they make a clay model of a particular tree and just by infusing energy through some vibrations, through some sounds they make that tree wither and die or a dead tree is brought back to life. Thrid thing not only with living human beings, even with dead human beings they are able to play. A person who is dead, within three days they are able to bring back, bring that person back to life. Its very mysterious and very strange if you can, you can get this book called ‘Hidden Mysteries’and read it. He gives enough of proof, evidence and all his case studies, researches in 30 years. He has published all this in a book called ‘Hidden Mysteries. ‘

Finally he comes to the conclusion, he gives the conclusion – this group of tribals they are able to transmit disease or health or death through just a clay image even if the person is thousands of miles away. Even if the person is thousands of miles away. Second thing, not only to the persons, to the trees also and animals also. Third thing, not only with the living beings, even with the dead persons, they are able to play. They are able to bring dead persons back to life within 3 days or they are able to relate or talk to the dead persons for ever. They are able to relate continuously with those persons, even dead persons.

If you look at this phenomena. If you can relate to the ordinary persons with an image why not relate with the Divine energy which has created the whole Universe. Again and again people ask me-‘Swamiji why are you worshipping idols in Hinduism’. I tell them – ‘No, in Hinduism, there is no idol worship. We don’t worship idols, we worship through idols’. It is not idol worship, it is worship through idols. There is a very big difference between idol worship and worship through idols. We should understand when we go and stand in front of idols do you go and pray – ‘Oh Stone, please give me boon’, ‘Oh Statue, please give me, please heal me’ . Do we pray to the statue, do we pray to the idol? No! We pray ‘Oh, Devi, please bless me’ , ‘Oh Shiva, please heal me’. We worship through idol, not the idol itself. There is a very big difference, worship through idol and idol worship.

Somehow this word idol worship and this idea has been used just to condemn our way of life. Without understanding what is happening. The people who look at the whole process superficially started condemning it. Just because they condemn, we also started believing it. Especially last fifty years, after this so called western scholars, when they started translating Vedas, when they started disrespecting our culture. Max Mueller started translating Vedas just to disrespect it. Just to torture it. Just to prove there is nothing worth in it. He writes in his letter, to his mother ‘I have translated these books, just to show them they have nothing’. With a deep disrespect he translated it. He has condemned it. The very purpose for translation is to condemn it.

Of course, once the Western scholars have done their job, the Eastern scholars have also picked up the same way of thinking. Same trend. Including Radhakrishnan. Including Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who we respect as a great philosopher whom we respect as a great philosopher. Including him, they have started taking up the same way of thinking style. Same trend of thinking and started condemning our idol worship, our way of worship through idol, our culture. In many places they are not able to tolerate, they are not able to digest our way of life. So they give emphasis more to the Advaitic philosophy or the monastic philosophy, just to show to the people we have something juicy, the other things are non-essential. They don’t understand the whole thing is essence. There is no such thing in our system. Only the Advaita is essence, only the philosophy is essence and our culture is something less than Advaita or which needs to be condemned or altered. There is no need. The whole thing is essence. Whatever we have from the first line to the last line, it is essence. There is nothing that needs to be edited in our scriptures. There is nothing that needs to be altered in our culture. There is nothing that needs to be rearranged in our way of life. But somehow because of these Western scholars, even these so called Eastern scholars including Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, they have started thinking, writing, preacing that we are degraded in cultural form. Our everyday life, our day to day life, our practical culture is away from our Sruthi. It is not ! Only thing we have not understood. We have lost the connection between the Sruti and Smruti. We have lost the connection between our Upanishads and our Agamas. We don’t have persons who can relate and explain. Just because we don’t have persons who can relate and explain, we can’t say our Agamas are something less than Sruti.

No way our culture, our practical philosophy, our day to day life is less than our Advaita Siddanta, or the backbone of our Bharatn tradition. We need to understand the day to day culture, the temple worship, the fire rituals everything is a clear practical Vedanta. It is the essence of our wisdom. It is the juice of our Rishis’ research reports.

A person who creates a formula to reproduce the same experience which happens in the outer world is a scientist. For example, Newton saw apple falling from a tree and something happened in his consciousness and he created the law of gravity. He created few rules, regulations, understanding, formula to reproduce the same experience in other beings. He is a scientist. A person who creates a formula to reproduce the experience which happens in the outer world is a scientist. A person who creates a formula to reproduce the experience which happens in the inner world is a mystic.

Mystic or a saint who creates a formula to recreate the same experience which happens in the inner world. These temples, our rituals, poojas, homas, all these things are formulas created by our rishis to reproduce the same experience which happened in their inner space. They have created a formula to recreate the same experience in our beings, which happened in their inner space. When we don’t understand or we don’t practise we just can’t say it is not true. Just because we don’thave enough patience. Just because we are not able to give enough time to work with these formulas, you can’t say the very formula is wrong. You can’t say the very root is something wrong.

First thing we need to understand worship through idols. It is not worshipping the idols itself. Next thing why the temples. Now I want to explain another one experiment. It is a beautiful experiment done by a Japanese doctor. He has published a book also called ‘Messages from Water’. A beautiful book which has become very popular in the recent times, especially after the movie – ‘what the bleep do we know’. It is a beautiful movie which has become very popular. In that they speak about his experiment. He has done a very beautiful experiement. In that he takes 10 glasses of water,same water, same type of glasses. 10 glasses he fills with water, keeps in 10 different rooms, he goes to one room and creates a positive good vibration, like uttering words like peace, meditation, silence, good words. He utters good words and creates positive vibrations. Then he goes to the next room, starts screaming violence, terrorism. These are the words he shouts and creates a negative biration. He goes to thethird room and chants a few words from Dhammapada, the Buddhist scripture. Like this he chants different words in different rooms and then he freezes the water, sees the through microscope and photographs them. He comes out with amazing results. He says the water which he energized through positive words, they shine like diamonds. in photographs they shine like diamonds. The water which he used negative words like war, terrorism, all these negative words, he says he does not know from where the color darkness landed on them. They look dark like a devil and almost like a devil’s pictres or ideas are represented in those photographs. Not once or twice, more than 300 experiments he has done and he says water can just radiate, respond to your thoughts.

Water can hold, radiate and respond to your thoughts. When a simple water can respond to our thoughts, our vibrations, why not a structure? Why not a temple, why not a stone? It can become alive with our thoughts, our emotions. Our Masters have created so many methods, techniques to hold the positive energy, so that humanity can be helped by that positive energy. The mechanism or techniques which they created to hold that positive energy and radiate is what we call Temples. They have created so many methods. They have tried to install the energy in the earth elements, in the stone. That is what is the idols, moorthies. They have tried to install the same energy in the water. That is what is tirthas. That is why every Bharatn temple will have a tank or a river as a tirtha. Third they tried to install the same energy in the fire. Every Bharatn temple will have a lamp which is never switched off, is never put off. It will have a lamp or a agni which will be continously burning. And ultimately the air. The very air is filled with the vibrations of mantras. The mantras continuously when they are repeated, chanted, the very air vibrates with that pure vibrations. Above all the space, the ether. You can see the temple architecture, it is always created in the dome structure. Whether it is South Bharatn or North Bharatn the dome structure.

The dome structure is created to hold the ether. It is almost like a battery. They say if you can hold one lightning, if you can store one lightning in a battery , if you have some battery or method to store one lightning, you can supply electricity for any city for more than one year. More than one year you can supply electricity for any city, for any big city. Only thing we don’t have such a system or method, we don’t have that type of batteries. These temples are created just to hold enormous energies, so that when enlightened Masters come they will install their energy. All the Bharatn temples are installed by an enlightened Master. It is like when a rich person dies, he leaves all his property through his will to somebody, some of his sons, daughters or some relatives. He leaves all the properties. Same way when an enlightened person leaves his body, he leaves all his tapas, all his punya, all his merits. Our Masters have designed beautiful battery which can hold this energy and radiate it for thousands of years. Temples are the batteries in which they have stored their energy.

Palani is installed by a great saint called Bohar. Tanjavore is installed by great saint called Karumura. Tiruvannamalai is installed by a great saint called Edaikadan. So every temple, of course Madurai Shiva himself came down in the name of a Siddha. Name itself is Siddha. Shiva himself came down -----and installed his own energy. Every temple is installed by an enlightened Master. They have created a beautiful battery in which they can store their energy, in which their energy can stay and radiate and help millions of people for thousands of years. It is because of the concentrated energy in the garbha mandir, your prayers become reality.

We should understand one thing, how our prayers become reality,how our prayers comes to real life, how they become reality. If you keep a slide in front of a projector light, you will see that slide in screen as reality. If you keep a temple slide, you will see the temple. If you keep the actors slide, you will see that actor. iF you keep an actress slide, you will see that actress. Whatever you keep in front of the projector light, you will see that in reality. Same way whatever thought we keep in front of a concentrated energy, you will see that thought will become reality. The garbha mandirs or temples are high intense energy, potential energy which is created by an enlightened Master and maintained by regular poojas and mantras. Continuous repetition of mantras charges the whole energy, the whole space is kept alive. Whe you go and stand in front of this energy field, when you offer your thoughts, simply the whole thing becomes reality. For example, if you are continuously repeating a particular thought, again and again, you will see your body and mind, every thing will be directed towards that thought. Same way if you go and stand in front of an energized moorthy, in front of energy space in the temple and create a wish, your whole body and mind will be tuned to that thought. Naturally it will become reality in your lives.

In the temples, two things will happen. First thing you will have the shakti to make your dreams into reality, next thing you will have the buddhi to realize what you think as reality itself is a dream. Shakti to make your dreams into reality, buddhi to realize that the reality itself is a dream. Both happens when you are in energy space. Temples are created to replace an enlightened Master’s presence. Enlightened Masters when they leave the planet earth, when they leave their body, they wanted there should be some space which can continuously inspire people, which can continously heal, which can inspire, which can give them the experience of spirituality, which can give them a sacred feeling. That is why they have created these structures. And you should understand the energizing process.

There is a beautiful sloka in Taitreya Upanishad. They say from akasha came the vayu, from vayu came the agni. Agniyar apaha, apap pruthvi, prathibyor annam. From agni came the water, from the water came the earth. From the earth other things, it continues. Same way energy is also brought. First thing the energy exists beyond the ether, beyond the space as Atman, atma shakti. Through the visualization or through meditation, the energy is brought to the Akasha shakti or the space. From there through verbaliations or through mantras, it is brought to the air, through the chanting of mantras it is brought to the air. From there through the fire rituals, throught the homas it is brought to the fire. From there it is brought to the kumbha, the water. From there it is brought to the bimba and installed, the idol. That is the way the energy is brought and installed inside the statue or the idol inside the moorthy, inside the vigraha. When the energy is installed inside the vigraha, you cant call that as a statue, it becomes a diety.

There is a big difference between idol and diety. In Vaishnavism, we call it archavatara. Different incarnations of God. God has taken different incarnations. He took incarnations of Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Parushurama, Kalki, so many incarnations. Same way he takes the incarnation of a vigraha, archavatara to receive the worship and prayers of devotees. Once the energy is installed, once the prana-pratishta is done, once the energizing is done, it cant be called as idol anymore. It is archavatara. We call it incarnation of God. The divine descended in the form of idol, vigraha. They say it in a beautiful way- the Brahmanda expresses itself in the pindanda through the idols. The cosmic energy radiates itself, makes itself available to us through these idols, through these vigrahas, through these statues. We need to understand how it is possible and how we can derive benefit from it. Even Einstein says there is no such thing as a matter and energy separately existing. We don’t have a clear cut boundary between matter and energy.

After Einstein, the very idea of matter and energy has disappeared, because he says whatever is, is energy. When he says e=mc2, whatever exists is energy. That is what the Upanishads say. The last statement of science , e=mc2, whatever is energy, the first statement of Upanishad is ‘isha vasyam idam sarvam’. Whatever exists is energy. So the last statement of science is the first statement of Upanishads. Whatever exists is energy. When whatever exists is energy, why not we will be able to relate to this energy through these idols. Idols are the windows through which we can see the vast empty sky. Through which you can see the whole sky.

Sky is the Brahmanda. Idols are the windows through which you can see the Brahmanda, through which you can relate with the Brahmanda. For example, suddenly if some Tsunami or some natural calamity happens. If all of us have lost our cell phones, except one person. Only one person has got one cell person. If he says that – ‘I can speak through this small thing to the other part of the world’, will we believe ? No we will not believe if he says he can speak to the other part of the world just with this small instrument. First thing we will not be able to believe. Second thing if he proves he can talk to the other part of the world, he will become a great saint. We start worshipping him, respecting him. That is the same thing that happened in our Eastern cultures also.

Temples are cell phones. In those days, everyone was able to relate. Today the Tsunami of Western civilization has entered and destroyed the whole thing. Today the Tsunami of cultural invasion has happened and destroyed the whole thing. Now only few are able to operate the cell phone. First thing the modern younger generation, they are not ready to believe that the cell phone works, next thing if at all we see some proof we make him as saint and you say ‘Oh it is such a big job, very difficult job. He is able to do, he is a great saint, an enlightened person’. But I tell you cell phone works and it is very easy. Not only it works, it is very easy. It is for common man, it is for common public. It is for all of us. Just because we lost few keys we can’t say this lock cant be open.

Just because we lost a few techniques we cant say our ancestors are fools for building these huge structures. They are not as we think. Surely they are much more intelligent than us. Understand, the society with TV is surely much sophisticated, much more cultured than the society without TV, because now they have more comforts. Ofcourse more choice among the miseries. Anyhow they have atleast more choice, more options. How a society which has got TV is more sophisticated than the society which does not have TV, same way, actually the TV, cell phone, refrigerator all these things are created by much more sophisticated and intelligent society. Same way our temples are developed, by a highly cultured intelligent society. Only thing, now, we lost the technique or the method to use them for our day to day life. For our everyday life.

Just because we lost a few keys, we can’t say the original system itself is useless. It is much more important than any other comfort, any other out worldly thing. It is much more basic need for our life than anything else. That is why if you see the Bharatn villages, it will be very funny. The houses will be constructed with ordinary mud and ordinary material. But the temples will be constructed with granite stone. If you go to every village of Bharat, the costliest structure of that village will be temple. The costliest structure of the village will be temple. In some villages if you sell the whole village also, it will be much less than the cost of the whole temple. Even if you sell the whole village you will not get that much money which they have spent for the temple.

Our ancestros know the importance. This is the place where the culture is alive, where you can relate with others. This is the space in which you can rejuvenate yourself. Next temples have played a major role in keeping the social structure alive. Somebody asked me, ‘Swamiji, why do Hindus waste all their wealth in constructing temples, building these huge structures?’ I told him Bharat is alive, Hindus are alive as a group of people, as a community as a country just because of these temples. It is temples which kept our whole culture alive. Our whole structure alive. Even if Manu comes down, Manu is the person who is the creator of our laws, the Manusmriti.

The first book which says what we should do and what we should not do. The dos and donts are clearly explained by Manu in his Manusmriti. Even if Manu suddenly comes down to planet earth and starts walking in the Bharatn villages, surely he will not find much difference. He may find little extra, the TV, refrigerator, all these things extra. But the core life, the main thread of the lifestyle is the same. It is alive, it is preserved. It is still there. More than 10,000 years of recorded history. We have more than 10,000 years of recorded history. In the modern day, the societies, civilizations which are just a few hundred years old are shaking. The younger generations are questioning the elders.

All the rules are questioned. So much of rebels or so much of confusion, so much of depression. But this society which has more than 10,000 years of recorded history is still alive. The roots are same, and I wanted to mention onemore thing. There is no country or culture which has not invaded Bharat. And there is no country or culture which is invaded by Bharat. There is no culture or country which has not invaded Bharat or Hinduism and there is no culture or country which has been invaded by Bharat or Hinduism. But still, this culture is alive, the country is alive. But again and again our temples are broken and destroyed. But again and again, it stands in a much more beautiful way. Vishwanath temple is destroyed more than 14 times. Somanath temple is destroyed more than 70 times. Not 17. Only Gajni Mohammed destroyed 17 times. More than 70 times it is destroyed.

All major temples of Bharat are destroyed at least 10 times. At least 10 times it is destroyed. But again and again it stands up. How? And the funny thing you see the King who built the temple, his palace is demolished, his palace is no more, but the temple stands, it is standing. The person who built the Tanjavore temple, Rajaraja’s palace is no more. There is no palace. But the temple is alive. I am sure the same architect, the same Stapadhi only would have built both. The same Stapadhi would have build the temple and the palace. But the palace is not there. Temples are standing. Temples are surviving. How? Because they are something more than physical structures.

Temples are like satellite relay centers where the high intense spiritual energy is created. Where the high intense spiritual vibrations are created and sent to all over the world to help the human beings to heal them physically, mentally, emotionally and above all spiritually. It is we who is supposed to take the responsibility. It is we who are supposed to learn how to tune ourselved into that higher energy. How to relate with that higher energy. How to benefit with that higher energy. It is we who are supposed to discover the key how to unlock this lock and experience the inner treasures. It is we who should know the contact numbers to activate the cell phone. Meditation is what I call - is the key to unlock this door and experience the inner treasure. Meditation is what I call - is the number through which you can activate and relate with this higher energy. Meditation is the master key to relate with the energy which is in the form of moorthy. Which is avialable to use in the form of deity. That is the only way we can open the window of idol and see the Brahmanda. We can open the window of deity and see the cosmic energy, experience it and have all the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefit.

Tomorrow we will see practical technique to tune ourselves into this cosmic energy. How the religion is relevant to spirituality. How the day to day practices of religion can be made into spirituality. When we do it with awareness, any ritual can become meditation technique. When we do it without awareness even a meditation technique can become a ritual. How we make spirituality into religion. How we should make religion into spirituality. Tomorrow we will see the subject Religon and Spirituality and a practical technique to tune ourselves into this cosmic energy which is installed in the deities through our ancestors, through these mantras, through these poojas, through this worship, through all these great rituals by our ancestors and spiritual Masters.

Question and answers:

I always tell people let us analyze these concepts , now I expressed a few concepts and ideas. You can analyze it through your questions. See, only when we analyze these concepts through questions we will internalize it. Usually by listening, we will never be able to internalize it. We have an automatic filtering mechanism in our system. Whatever doesn’t suit with our logic we automatically filter it. You don’t let those ideas into your system at all. Only when it is acceptable by your logic, you allow it inside. When you find something goes above your head, you just stop. Automatically you censor it. Whatever ideas now you have censored, you can analyze it by your question so that you will be able to internalize it. You will be able to digest it. Anywhere you are not able to accept or understand you can raise your questions so that you can internalize these concepts. You are welcome with any questions.

Q: You mentioned that when we worship at a temple our thoughts become into reality because of the energy. I was curious about, we do go through positive and negative thoughts. Is it appropriate inside a temple.

A: It is an important question. Surely you must avoid negative thoughts inside energy space. You are playing with fire, something higher than fire. The energy when it becomes more subtle, the positive effect and negative effects both are serious. Please understand, if you play with stone, the positive effect is also less, the negative effect is also less. With water it is little more, positive and negative both. With fire it is a little more sensitive. With air little more sensitive, with ether it is much more. With electricity, it is too much. If you use it properly it can help you in all possible ways. If you abuse it it can simply destroy our whole life, not only our life, all our property. So be careful, we are playing much more powerful energy than electricity in our temples. So you must be careful to have only positive thoughts. Not only positive thoughts, you should have clear thoughts. You should not give power to self-contradicting thoughts. Please understand, always pray –‘let me be healed’. Never pray, ‘let me get rid of this disease’. When you use the word, ‘let me get rid of this disease’, you are creating self contradicting thoughts.

When you repeat a word, ‘let me get rid of this disease’, you are giving power to the word ‘disease’ also. When you repeat a word ‘disease’ you automatically think about that disease. So by now you have already given power to that word also. Understand repeat only the positive words. Repeat only the words which is straight. Beautifully we have this chamaka mantra. All these words are positive engrams, ‘let me have food, let me have sleep, let me have bed, let me havehouse, let me have cows, let me have wife’. This is the meaning of this chamaka. See these words are all positive engrams. They are all straight words. They don’t have any self-contradicting words. These chamaka and all these things teach us how to have straight words. That is the reason, even if you don’t understand better use our ancient mantras to pray. Because they are very clearly structured. They are already very clearly structured.

When you use your own words, you may use self-contradicting words. When you say a word, let me get rid of this disease, you will be giving power to the disease. If you say let me get rid of this habit, you will be giving power to the habit. I have never seen anybody quitting smoking by continously repeating the words ‘let me quit smoking, let me quit smoking’. Because he can’t . When we utter the word we give power to it. It is like this in Ramayana, a beautiful character Vali. Vali has got a boon if anybody comes and faces him, he will have half of the power of that person. If you go in front of him and face him, half of your power will go away to him, it will go away to Vali. Same way your engrams, if you give power to the self-contradicting samskaras, self-contradicting sankalpas, it will be creating more and more trouble for you. So you should be aware of the sankalpas which you are making. You should be aware of the sankalpas to which you are giving power. So let the sankalpas be completely positive and in a straight line. Let it not be a self-contradicting sankalpas. Please understand, these are thefew basic important things which we need to understand, which we need to practice in our day to day lives not only in the temples, not only in the energy space, even in our regular lives.

Q: When we look back, Bharat thousands of years back, people had the faith and the faith was kind of a starting point to be able to do the things that you are talking about – meditation, devotions, and all those things. Then it leads us to the key that you are talking about to unlock all the wonders of the divine. So I have the feeling that faith is going down. Second thing I would like you to address is how do you instill faith.

A: First thing, your idea the starting point is faith in ancient days is wrong. When our kids are initiated in our gayatri, you should know the meaning of the mantra, gayatri mantra. It says let me meditate on the energy which awakens intelligence in me. Let that energy help me to meditate on it. Om bhur bhuvasvaha.

Understand this whole statement nowhere you hear anything about faith in the technique. Only when he starts experiencing that technique then he starts believing or you can say afterwards what happens to you can’t be called as belief. It is the Trust! He develops trust then he is given the ishta mantra. Plese understand, in all other group of religions, in all other religions you are baptized, given faith, you are asked to believe in some concepts, like a teaspoon feeding. Here no faith is required. Hinduism is the only religion which does not ask faith as a pre-requisite. We need to understand Hinduism does not demand or ask Faith or belief as a pre-requisite. When we initiate our kids into gayatri, the meaning of the gayatri is just let meditate on the energy which awakens my intelligence. You are not asked to meditate on a particular deity. You are not asked to believe that some deity exists somewhere, no nothing is told. You are just given these words which creates a kind of vibrations in you. You are asked to repeat it, over. Naturally a person experiences higher awareness and consciousness through these words. Once he experiences, only then he is given philosophy. The system Gurukulam tradition is at the age of 7 he is given gayatri. Between 7 to 14 he will repeat the gayatri. By the age of 14, if he achieves the pratyakatrachaitanyajagrata, means the individual conscious awakening, the first experience, he will be asked to go to study Brahmasutra and he will go for sanyas training. If he does not achieve that experience, he will be asked to study kamasutra and he will go for the grihasta life. If the person who studies Brahmasutra, between the age 14 and 21, if he achieves the complete enlightenment, he will be given sanyas. If he does not achieve the complete enlightenment he will be given yogasutras. This is the way the structure is created. Hinduism does not demand faith. That is the first thing. It is a pure technique. When you start Gayatri, it is a technique, to relate with that energy. It is a technique to relate with the cosmic energy. Early morning, you are asked to repeat that word, to repeat that mantra to tune yourself to that higher energy. It is a simple technique, you don’t need faith, you don’t need belief. You don’t need to believe somebody is sitting somewhere, you need to bow down to that person. No. You are not given any concept when you are initiated. Only after the first experience, after you experience with that mantra, with that technique, then you start growing trust. When the Trust happens to you then you are given philosophy, you are given concepts. Even then in Hinduism, we don’t call philosophies as philosophies. It is called darshana. Darshana cannot be translated as philosophy. Darshana, you can use different word called philasia. What is experience is darshana. Philosophy is what is intellectually conceived. Darshana is what is experienced. So darshana is not philosphy. So understand two things. Philosophy is kalpana means imagination. The intellectual jugglery, intellectual gymnastics or brain candy. That is what is philosophy. Darshana is visualization. What exists, but you don’t know it exists. So darshana is a technique to tune yourself into it.

Example for Darshana is in the daytime also stars exist. But you are not able to see because there is sunlight. Because of sun your are not able to see sun. If you are taught, there is stars in the sky in the daytime also, it is darshana, which is truth which you are not able to experience as of now. If you can tune yourself little bit to it, you will be able to experience. If you have telescope or instruments which is needed, immediately you will start experiencing it. Darshana is the truth which exists, only thing you need to fall in tune with it. That is darshana. Philosophy is just imagination, or playing with more and more words. Philosophy means anybody who can complicate simple things can become a philosopher. Philosophy is complicating the simple things through the intellectual gymnastics, through words. Philasia, darshana is giving you the tips or giving you the methods to experience which exists, but which you are not able to experience in the present moment. There is a very big difference between darshana and philosophy.

All the religions feed their kids with philosophy. Hinduism feeds them with philasia. From the beginning, you are given ony techniques to tune yourself into that ultimate reality. You are never asked to believe. So there is no need for faith, there is no need for belief in sanatana dharma. To experience sanatana dharma you don’t need faith, you don’t need to belief. All you need is the courage to explore, the courage to experience, the courage to gamble. All you need to experience sanatana dharma is the courage to gamble. You need to have courage to enter into it and to see what it is. You don’t need anything else. So there is no need to install faith, to install belief. I tell you all belief, all faith is only superstitious, just skin deep. Only skin deep, you know what is the depth of the skin. All your belief is only skin deep. All we need to give for our kids is ony understanding, not belief. Try to give more and more understandings, why we do all these things. Why you are asked to bow down. Why you are asked to come to temples. Why you are asked to go around the deity. Why you are asked to do namaskar. Give them more understanding, not belief. If you try to give them more and more beliefs, either they will resist, by force somehow by force if you try to infuse, they will become idiots. Please don’t do the mistake, of giving them belief or faith. Give them intelligence, understanding. That is the right way.