Achuthananda - Many Many Many Gods of Hinduism: Turning believers into non-believers and non-believers into believers

Dear Reader,

Lately Ive noticed that you and I are both so busy attendingto ourselves that we hardly have time for anything else. The whole world seemsto be drifting into an inescapable spiritual vacuum without asking importantquestions about who we are and why we are here on this planet.

Although the timeless truths of the universe were revealed tous more than five thousand years ago, we no longer have the time to seek answersto the questions of life. Advancements in science were expected to bring uscloser to the truth; instead, science has set us farther apart. Unless we areprepared to learn from history, we are bound to make the same mistakes over andover again.

It is always interesting, sometimes revealing, and occasionallyenlightening to learn about the truths discovered by the sages of ancient India. The truths are not apparent at once, for the passage of time has distorted them somuch that they are often shrouded in myths, lore, and legends.

Many thousands of years ago, a wise sage was illumined. Toconvey his thoughts, he resorts to metaphors unique to his time and place.Those who write down his words and pass them to history are hardly illumined asthe sage, and they misrepresent the metaphor, turning divine truth on its head.You see, its not hard to imagine how an original idea can become distorted ormisunderstood as it moves from place to place and from time to time.

The sacred literature of Hinduism is vast and representsthousands of years of accumulated spiritual experiences, yet it remains largelyignored or forgotten. And thats why I am writing to you. If you agree to stopto think about yourself and your future for a mere ten minutes a day, I will sharewith you the timeless truths of ancient India. In these moments, you willdiscover the wisdom of our ancestors and the keys to your future. Well, thatsjust a few minutes more than the time people would have spent investing inthemselves. Like you, the world is too busy to learn the lessons of life.

Swami Achuthananda

In India, the religion is the culture and the culture is thereligion.You cannot learn one without understanding the other.

Swami Achuthananda

As a young kid, I stumbled upon anancient piece of writing from a little-known Hindu guru. What caught myattention were these lines: Lend me your full ear, for the thing I am about totell you is central in becoming a good Hindu. I wish to share with you thetruth that is as plain as the day and old as the hills yet ignored in the dailywake of life. Hold on to the next five pivotal words which, if kept closely inyour heart, will transform your life from a mere existence into lasting peaceand happiness.

The edges were frayed, and the ink had faded, making reading extremelydifficult. Holding the manuscript delicately, I peered to the bottom of thepage.

What goes around comes around.

And that was the end. I wish he had written more, for the wordsmade little impact on a nine-year-old boy. The old Swamiji was definitelyright, but this was one of the timeless truths I was forced to learn the hardway. Cynicism and skepticism had let me down all these years.

The law of karma states that your thoughts, words, and actions- good and bad - circle back to determine your future. Simply put, you are responsiblefor your own actions. If you plant goodness, you will reap goodness, but if youplant evil, it will come back and hurt you. It is the universalprinciple of cause and effect. Later, when life taught me every action has anequal and opposite reaction, the forgotten words of Swamiji reverberatedresoundingly in my mind. Evil deeds, like chickens, will sooner or later comehome to roost.

Although most people accept this as common sense, others willsay, It is not the fruit of your action, but the gods in heaven that decideyour destiny in fate. And the ones immersed in science will claim, Nonsense! Everythingis happenstance, except the laws of science.

While they have difficulty buying into the notion of karma, Iam busy booking tickets for a Bollywood thriller. This upsets a handful ofpeople, who are unconvinced by reincarnations or remakes of the past. Most folks,however, appreciate the alluring dances and the melodrama of Indian movies.When the lover rescues his beloved from the clutches of a villain, justiceprevails once again in this world. Its sweet karma revisited in cinema.

If you believe the law of karma acts independently to create afair, self-governing system of justice, then meet me at the gate for an eveningof entertainment. We will first dance to the Bollywood beat, and then we willtake over the world.

In the poem The Blind Men and theElephant, American poet John Godfrey Saxe (18161887) relates the fable of sixmen of Indostan who went to see an elephant, though all of them were blind.

Those who havent read the poem will learn that the first blindman felt the broad side of the elephant and thought the elephant to be very likea wall. The second, feeling the tusk, cried out, No, the elephant is like aspear. Holding the squirming trunk with both hands, the third said, You areboth wrong. The elephant is like a snake. The fourth blind man, feeling theelephants knee, declared, Fools, the elephant is clearly like a tree.Caressing the ear, the fifth said, Did you say tree? The elephant resemblesmost like a fan. Surprised at all these, the sixth man, seizing the swingingtail, said, Are you all crazy? Anyone can see the elephant is like a rope.

Like the blind men, people have formed their own perspective onHinduism from their experience. While some say it is a mystic religion withendless contradictions, others declare Hinduism is about karma and cycles ofreincarnation. Hinduism has millions of gods, many with multiple limbs.

Although each perspective tells us a bit about Hinduism, notone adequately describes the religion. The oldest of the major religions, Hinduismis a collection of traditions, beliefs, and practices deeply rooted in theIndian subcontinent. Many religious movements have led tothe present form of Hinduism, but its ancient roots can be traced to thecultures of the Indus Valley and Indo-European people. Many people findHinduism mystic, for it does not have a historical founder or an authoritativescripture, like the Bible or the Koran.