An affair with the Elephant God🔗

As a baby THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was carried by his mother's father, whose name he had been given, to the Arunachala temple every day. His grandfather used to tell him mythological stories and legends of the Hindu tradition, the puranas, as they went around the temple. Especially interesting to the child THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM were the stories of Prahlad, Dhruva and Markandeya. In Hindu puranas Prahlad, Dhruva and Markandeya were from childhood deeply attracted to spirituality. They spent all their time meditating upon forms of the Divine and reached enlightenment before adolescence. These stories were deeply imprinted in the child's memory. These mythical and mystical models became role models inspiring him in his future activities. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's grandfather was his first teacher; and the stories that he heard from his grandfather his first lessons inspirituality.

From childhood THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's spiritual inclinations were very clear. His grandfather's elder brother's wife opened up her box of jewelry to the young THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM one day and asked him to pick whatever he liked. The young child without hesitation picked up a rudraksha mala, a necklace made of beads of plant seeds, which is usually worn by spiritually evolved people and those aspiring to the spiritual path*. Rudraksha* literally means Siva's tears and come sin many forms, depending on the number of facets the seed has. Rudraksha serves as a battery, getting charged by the energy produced during meditation, and discharging it as needed to the wearer. Any normal child would have picked up a bauble that shone; something that was visually attractive; THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, however, unerringly chose what he knew would be of value to him in life.

Child THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM loved playing with images and idols of Gods and Goddesses unlike other children who played with toys and dolls. He collected these idols and by associating with sculptors in the temple learnt how to make them as well both from wood and soft stone. Some of the idols that he had made and worshipped and played with are available in Dhyanapeetam.

When THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was about three, he was given an idol of Ganapati as a gift. Ganapati or Ganesa as he is called otherwise is the son of Siva and Parvati. He is a jolly god with a pot belly and an elephant head, riding on a mouse. Ganapati is always prayed to before any practicing Hindu embarks on any serious venture to bless that venture; he is the remover of all obstacles and brings success. It is said that his own father Siva had to come back and pray to him when he forgot to obtain his blessings before he went to battle a demon!

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM started worshipping the idol with great devotion. The vigraha, the idol, was not an inanimate statue to the child; it was a living object. He related with the idol at a personal level, offered Ganapati food, and became upset when Ganapati did not eat the food offered to him. He would threaten to drop the idol in the well that was in the center of the house. Cajoling and threatening, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM gave Ganapati a deadline to eat or else. He waited for three to four hours even after giving Him this deadline. When Ganapati still did not oblige, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM placed him carefully in the bucket that was used to bring the water up from the well, along with some food, and slowly lowered him by loosening the rope that was attached to the bucket. At each level of lowering THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM cajoled and threatened the idol again and again. He had mixed emotions; anger that Ganapati did not listen to him, did not care for his threats; at another level fear that if he did drop Him into the water, He may die. When the bucket reached the bottom of the well and floated on top of the water, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM felt that he had carried out his threat far enough and that Ganapati by now would have eaten. He then brought Him up, and found to his chagrin that He had not eaten the food after all. Angered, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM lowered the idol again, hoping that this time Ganapati would have better sense; when he brought Him up again the food was untouched.

By now the child had lost his anger and felt no longer any interest in threatening Ganapati. He felt only compassion that Ganapati had not eaten. When THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM told his family members about this incident, they laughed at him. They made fun of his childishness in trying to get the Ganapati idol to eat. They also worried that if THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM dropped the idol in the well, they would have to spend money in buying him another idol as replacement, and told him they would not buy him another one if he lost this.

Around this time THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM heard the story of Nambiandar Nambi. Nambi's father was a priest at a temple. One day his father had to go on an errand, and told Nambi to carry out the daily puja ritual and also to offer food to the God. Nambi took his father at his word and after the puja placed some food in front of the idol, drew the cloth screen in front of the idol and waited for the idol to eat. After a while when he looked in the food was untouched. Nambi started crying. He felt he had made a grievous mistake and the God was angry with him. He was also afraid that his father when he returned would be angry with him for not doing the job entrusted to him properly. Nambi started bashing his head against the stone wall of the temple, telling the idol that if He did not eat the food offered to Him, he would break his own head and die. When he looked up after a few minutes, the food had been eaten.

When THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM heard this story he was very upset and hurt. If God ate Nambi's food, why would He not eat THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's food? Suddenly he realized that there was a difference. Nambi had tortured himself, hurt himself; he did not torture the idol; he did not threaten God like he himself did. Nambi did not lower his God into the well threatening to drown him; instead he offered his own life.

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM decided he will not eat if Ganapati did not eat. He placed some food in front of the idol and waited. When Ganapati did not eat, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM did not eat his food as well. He took the food from his mother, pretended as if he was going to eat, walked to the back of the house and dumped it. This went on for two to three days. Each day Ganapati's food was replaced. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's parents did not realize what was going on. Despite his hunger the child kept his resolve and waited for Ganapati to eat, dumping his own food untouched.

Believe it or not, at the end of the third day the food in front of the idol disappeared. The child was overwhelmed with love. Tears rolled down his cheeks. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's spiritual life started in earnest at this point in time. He had realized through personal experience the power of devotion and faith. From then on every day till the day of his own enlightenment THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM would only eat after offering food to Ganapati. Only when He ate, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM ate. After enlightenment, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM never ate; only He ate!

Why do Hindus worship idols?

Hindu mythology refers to 330 million Gods; perhaps even 3.3 billion Gods. To most people unfamiliar with the Hindu philosophy these numbers are reason for scorn and laughter.

There are religions and cultures that abhor idol worship, associating idols with pagan worship, and considering their own mode of worship as civilized. There are those cultures and religions which are exclusive and bounded, and who do not allow all those who do not accept their value systems in totality into their forms of worship. Hinduism is an inclusive religion open to all who walk in; there is no exclusivity of beliefs in the Hindi philosophy. Hindu philosophy allows dissent from within. Often times, one would find pictures of Jesus Christ in the altar of the very religious Hindu household, worshipped in all seriousness along with Siva and Vishnu.

It is easy to dismiss and ignore. Belief systems that have been embedded in our unconscious from childhood block us from anything new and different that is in seeming contradiction to those beliefs. Human beings limit themselves by such beliefs. Many of these beliefs are through societal and religious sanctions that are quite selfish in protecting the interests of those who control society and religion. They have no spiritual validity; there is no spiritual Truth that underpins these beliefs.

All it requires is a little bit of introspection and intelligence from the human mind to become aware and conscious of the over arching Truths which may seem to defy factual reality. It needs this conscious understanding to realize how the Hindu philosophy originated and where these numbers of millions of deities came from.

Hindu philosophy believes that all beings are divine in origin and in character. All religions, all great religions established by enlightened Masters say the same thing: we human beings are all divine in nature. There is absolutely no confusion on this score. In Hindu religion this Truth is clearly defined as divinity present in the individual, the soul, spirit or atman and the Divinity of the Universe, God, Cosmic Energy or Brahman. Atman and Brahman are one and the same; they are the same energy. There is no room for an atheist belief in Hindu philosophy. There is no God outside of you; you are God. All that is needed is to realize this Truth. Enlightened Masters have realized it; others are yet to. That is all the difference there is.

Both atman and Brahman are formless. They are energy. Atman is the energy enshrined in our mind bodies; Brahman is the Energy pervades the Universe. All that Hindu mythology states based on this belief is that every one of us is a deity, a god; not just the human beings alone but as well all living beings. The numbers of 330 million or 3.3 billion or 33 billion would refer to the number of beings on this Planet Earth. All these beings are forms of energy and are an integral part of the Cosmic or Universal Energy which is our normal concept of God.

The Hindu scriptures, the Vedas and the Upanishads state very clearly Existence is formless Energy. It is formless both at the universal level and in the individual level. This energy is eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and all pervading. In the great Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, Krishna as the embodiment of the Cosmic Energy says: no weapon can destroy this Energy; water can not wet It; wind can not dry It; fire can not burn It; It Is eternal; It lives on.

However, for the average human being it is a complex and difficult task to contemplate upon this formless energy. It is too abstract, too distant; it is too much of an intellectual exercise; or alternatively it requires blind faith without understanding to accept this concept. It is a lot easier for the average human to visualize this formless energy in easily identifiable super human forms, to relate to such form with devotion and with emotion. Emotion is always stronger than intellect.

This is what Hindus did. They created forms to represent the formless to reach the masses. Forms that had features similar to humans and sometimes animals, familiar to them, and forms with whom they could identi fy. Mythology and folklore were created around these forms, once again to reach the masses. What is the point in trying to reach the human heart with dry intellect? Intellect without heart only creates monsters, modern day terrorists.

Most Hindus and almost all Hindus are familiar with the many forms that Hindu Gods (and Goddesses) take. Almost all Hindu households will have a puja room or an altar that holds pictures and idols of these many forms of divinity as well as sages and enlightened Masters. Many Hindu households have pictures of Christian, Islamic and other religious Saints and enlightened Masters proudly displayed in their altars and worshipped along with Hindu deities and Masters. Most Hindu households offer ritual prayers in this puja room every day.

When Hindus worship idols of Gods and Goddesses, they do not worship stones, meat objects or wooden images; what they worship are the visualized forms of the formless energy. What Hindus do is to worship the formless energy beyond the forms of these idols through the stone or wooden or metal idols; Hindus worship the formless through the form.

This concept of idol worship is one of the most misunderstood ideologies of Hindu religion, and it arises even amongst educated Hindus out of lack of knowledge of the underlying principle. It is far better to identify with a form of your visualization that appeals to you and which can uplift you, than to pray to the formless using one's dry intellect. What the heart can reach, the head never can; only when you reach at least the heart level, the connection with the Being can begin.

Often times one is told by a well read, Western style 'convent' educated Hindu, who believes he is above all rituals including idolatry, that it is foolish to worship a stone image. How much more foolish to worship something that does not even seem to exist? Is it more intelligent or scientific to believe in another human being who lived thousands of years ago, of whom all we know is through what others have written, than to believe your own heart and being in the here and now?

Spirituality is beyond science, far beyond science. Einstein, arguably the greatest Scientist who ever lived said: the last step in science is the first step in spirituality. Science has no explanation till date for creation of the Universe. Spirituality states that Universe always existed and will continue to exist. Despite Darwin and the Catholic Church, there is no proof as to how living matter emerged out on non living forms, what science terms as 'abiogenesis'. There is only this word, no knowledge behind it.

Science, in the quantum physics, has established beyond doubt that all matter is energy. The first verse o f the first Upanishad, the great Hindu scripture says beautifully: Iso vasyam idam sarvam. From Energy arises all matter. This was stated 5000 years ahead of Einstein. This is what he referred to when Einstein made the statement that we read earlier. He said: My theory could only talk about how all matter releases energy. Thousands of years ago there was wisdom that stated that all this matter came from a source of Energy.

If one looks deeper and deeper into any matter, as with looking at an atom through a highly powered electron microscope, all that we would find is emptiness. The emperor has no clothes on! The atom has nothing to it!! Energy is formless. Yet, we see things around us which are in form.

It is not difficult for any one today, truly educated in science, to realize that ultimately form is formless, and that the formless can and is represented by form. This is what the great rishis, Hindu sages said many thousands of years ago.

Who are Incarnations?

Majority of Hindus have simple belief and faith in their Gods and Goddesses. They believe with their hearts and with deep emotion that these forms are real and are living forces. They also believe that Gods whom they visualize in various forms arrive on Planet Earth as Incarnations or avatars in human form. Stories, legends and epics are built around these incarnations. In the case of Vishnu, the Conserver of the Universe, ten avatars are listed.

The mythology of the ten incarnations of Vishnu is in a sense the story of evolution of life forms. The story is one of the creation and the ending of the Planet Earth in a metaphoric sense, and the sequence of life forms is the sequence of the incarnations. First is the fish incarnation, matsyavatara, depicting origin of life form as aquatic creatures. This is followed by kurmavatara, tortoise incarnation,