How to use the tongue in communication ? It is the most important tool in our life for communication. Upanishads say.

Vaang me manasi prathishtithaa, mano me vaachi prathishtithaa. Mind and words are exist complimentary and both reflect the condition of other. Hence use the tongue properly for a value based life and communication What should be the status of mind? Mind should always prepare to face positives and negatives in our life. There will be ups and downs, in our life. Value based life means a stabilized mind too. What to do when we see the negatives ? Use your eyes for seeing the negatives and positives. Use the positives for adopting in your life. Use the negatives to Inform others, as examples, for not using these. Teach them the consequences of adopting the negatives. From where can we learn the positives and negatives ? Learn all the positives and also analyze all the negatives through your ears and eyes from your home, surroundings, movie, hospital, orphanage, club, liquor shop , road side, in the bus, in the train, . From the news papers, magazines, books, .. Search for knowledge through internet . the knowledge is available readily in front of you on anything and everything. How to analyze what we see in our day to day life ? Scientifically, rationally and logically analyze them and then use if they are good. if they are not good discard them. It is your dharma to learn from the surroundings and also teach others. When you teach others you learn better. Always ask the question why, what, when, where, who , whom and ho before taking anything in or rejecting anything out. How to understand the surroundings ? Use your eyes for enjoying the nature, the pictures, the cordial relation of many people, the mission oriented work done by people without expecting anything back. God has given a lid (only) for eyes, which ever you do not want to see close them.. How to widen our vision ? You can see the family relation in your home, the human relation in the society and the state of our motherland. You can see the past glories and present development of Bharath. And future of our great nation. You can hear and see the messages given by great people. How to think and what to think or how to utilize the thinking capacity ? People have great capacity to think about the past present and the future of themselves, their family, their society and their nation. Some people are different from others because they spend time and energy for thinking about the mankind as a whole for serving them. What are the main points to think for analyses ? We should think both the physiological and psychological aspects which are crucial for human beings. Even for knowing ourselves, we have to study others, because we need to compare us with others and evaluate the good and the 1

bad. We can get more when we discuss with others. We can gain maximum on various aspects of one and all by the proper use of our tongue. What aspect should we remember whenever we think ? We should remember that there are positives and negatives, success and failure, profit and loss, worries and happiness, etc in life. What about the application of tongue ? Tongue is a very sensitive and the most valuable sensory and functional organ. Since it is present in a slippery pool of saliva. It can slip at any time. So we have to be careful, says nityaneeti, when we use it. It plays the crucial role of communicating, singing, chanting and so on. How to use words ? How the words can influence others ? The words can be valuable for many people. It can guide, evaluate, appreciate, criticize, make fun of, misguide, motivate, entertain, curse and so on. It can save you and sometimes it can even kill you. It can protect you and if not carefully used it can destroy you. Maximum result output will be obtained by the careful use of tongue and words. There is a Sanskrit usage vaak saram. The word arrow. The word can be sharp like arrows. A stone thrown can never be controlled once it is gone from your hand, so is the condition of the words already used or uttered. Once you have told something negative or positive, it is told for ever! At the maximum, you can apologize if it is negative, but cannot literally withdraw the words. Hence words are to be used carefully. Use correct words in the correct time to the correct person, in the correct way, with a correct gesture. Use mild, sweet, calm, selective, positive, specific, meaningful, flowery, clear, polite, words for conveying the correct meaning . Never use more words than required. Never convey the message, in half. Be bold and straight forward when you are communicating. The listener should get the correct, real and whole meaning. Talk or communicate sincerely with a smiling face. How important is word - mind relations ? As described earlier the mind is exposed through words and words are established on the Mind ! If you have a good Mind, the words will be good. Clear Mind can give clear and good words .It can build good relation. The words can also break the relation, if the words are not good. What the upadesa sara tells about talking ? Nitya neeti a great Indian book of upadesa tells us that only very few people can talk with dignity, using sweet words, understanding the situation, with full respect of the audience and with a powerful understanding of the subject What is the foundation for progressing? Foundation of man is the Mind. We have already analyzed the use of ears, eyes and the tongue for a value based life . The word man has derived from Sanskrit word mana: ( Hindi man). What was the method adopted by Rishies for finding the truths ? In the modern science, the research is being carried out in a laboratory and the observations are collected as data. But our Rishies were doing many 2

experiments in the Mind which was an internal laboratory for them. Thinking in meditation was the tool used by them. Deep thinking ( dhee + yaanam= dhyaanam moving through the pathway of wisdom) gave them wonderful results, on the ultimate truths, facts and essences. How this approach is being appreciated by the modern science ? Now a days modern physicists like Prof. Fritjoff Capra, Prof. George Sudarshan, and many western and Indian scientists started realizing that the Mind can be programmed for getting knowledge on various branches of learning. Hence they ( like our forefathers) said about training the Mind for getting novel ideas and knowledge. This can lead to discoveries and inventions. It can give novel pathways for science , spirituality, and so on. In short we have also to look with in because a miniature form of the universe is within us. It is said that as is the microcosm so is the macrocosm . For knowing more about the macrocosm we can give suitable training to the Mind of the microcosm through yoga. How can we train our mind for leading a happy life ? There is another aspect which we should take care of about the Mind for a value based life. We should always inform our mind that there is happiness + sorrow, ups + downs, profit + loss, laughing + crying, success + failure, friends + enemies, appreciations + criticisms in our life. We have to inform ourselves (and to all those who are connected with us) that we have to prepare, in our life, for facing both. We have to keep in Mind that these couples are not at all permanent. They are temporary. They will come and go, creating temporary problems in our mind. How to keep the mind away from the problems of life ? The best method for escaping (or saving) from many of these problems is to keep awareness that there are happiness + sorrow, ups + downs, profit + loss, laughing + crying, success + failure, friends + enemies, appreciations + criticisms in our life and they are temporary. What is the ultimate truth to be informed to our mind ? We have also to inform our mind that we ourselves are temporary in this world which is one of the ultimate truths. Generally we may live here for a maximum of 26500 days. Each day we will be breathing for about 23080 times ! Each breath is leading you towards graveyard. When, how, where, the last breath takes place is luckily not known ! So we are working continuously, thinking and informing our mind that we are permanent. We know the truth, but we are not reminding the mind. How to consol the mind during crisis ? Dear friend ! We are not permanent, nothing connected with us is permanently belong to us. Even this body will not be with us permanently. It is also temporary. Your relatives will burn it off or burry it when your soul leaves your body. Are you afraid ? Why should we think like this ? is it not discouraging and pessimism ? Not at all ! We have to think like this and continuously remind us about this because, whatever we do, think, say, see, hear..we can do it in a positive way and useful way for ourselves, our family, our society and our motherland, 3

(and if possible) for the whole mankind. Our Rishies reached the last point. In short they utilized their body till last day knowing that they are not permanent. What is mind and how can we tame it ? Mind is the sources of happiness, sorrow, contentment, ego, hatred, fear, anger, satisfaction, satisfraction, .and all types of feeling. Mind is the source from where all the questions like why, what, when, where, how, for what, for whomquestions arise. Mind is the source from where we evaluate, estimate, justify, rationalize, enquire.everything, every action/deed and every word. Mind is the source from where the relations arise and the relations break/set. Mind is the source of every doubts, confusion, tension, jealousy, ambition, Mind motivates for hard work, achievements, success, moving forward, stopping the march, struggling.Mind is the source from where the terrorism arises Mind leads you to a peaceful or pieceful life. Mind creates or solves problems for you and all those who are connected with you. Mind connects your body with ears, eyes, nose, tongue and skin by way of receiving the messages from surrounding. Mind gives guidance and direction to all the functional organs to respond according to the message received from the sensory organs. Mind makes a man/woman: a minister, teacher, student, soldier, wife, husband, child, servant, master, brother, sister, guide, Rishi, Asura, DevaMind gives you dignity, respect, affection, actualization, realizationMind gives the sense of heat, cold, taste.WATCH is a word by which you can guide your Mind: Words, Action, Thought, Character, Heart. (Connect the first letters from these ) but mind is always disturbed and perturbed. Mind is like a monkey which never rests. If mind, is not protected well it can take you to mental hospital. What happens when we become mentally abnormal ? The moment you are mentally abnormal, you and all those connected/related with you will hate you and would like to get away from you. Mind can travel faster than light and electricity. How mind is used in yoga ? Mind has a state of taking something to it known as: Dharana Mind can process that (what is taken) steadily if training is given known as: Dhi+ Yaana = Dhyaana ( = moving through the Mind/ wisdom) Mind can reach a last point with continuous and strenuous training known as Samaa + Dhi = Samaadhee (= stabilized Mind). Training is needed for driving a cycle or car. The training required for vehicles running at ground level is not so hard, it can be achieved in few days. But when you go to a higher level, for flying an aircraft, higher level training is required. Using the aircraft, if you have to attack your enemies , you should have experience and training at still higher level. How yoga helps to explain all these ? For elevating ourselves, trained mind is required. That training is Yoga. That mental training can control the aircraft ( your body), the enemy (all the negatives of your mind and body) it can protect the motherland ( all your relatives and friends), it can protect the world. That is what our Rishies were doing. What is philosophy and how far it is useful ? 4

Talking philosophy is good, understanding philosophy is better, practicing philosophy is the best. Adopting philosophical approach is always difficult. But still at times or whenever you are in crisis and confusion, the philosophy can console you like a great friend. What is the relation between the philosophy and spirituality ? Many people think that philosophy is associated with spirituality. Philosophy need not be mixed with spirituality, because it can independently exist and can be practiced even without the support of spirituality. What are thoughts ? Many people have gone deep into the subject and their analyses are better than what I am presenting here . Thoughts are part and parcel of our day to day life. Mind can very rarely attain a stable state and always it wanders through thoughts. If not properly guided the mind can get diverted into side roads. Some times bringing the mind back from the side roads may be difficult. Generally all our thoughts are based on what we understand and experience (understood) through our sensory organs. How can we further explain thoughts and the applied thoughts ? There are biased thoughts and unbiased thoughts. Similarly there are positive and negative, destructive and constructive, good and bad, useful and useless, pleasant and unpleasant, thoughts. The thoughts generated in you may be concerned only with you or with others which can seriously affect you or lightly influence youSome of the thoughts are highly motivating which contribute to a better and positive results. They can influence our approach, work, discussion, communication, analysis, evaluation, etc For a positive approach in life, positive thoughts are needed . It is easy to say and advise so, and not so easy to practice. But we have to practice. How to develop positive thinking and reach to positive thoughts ? If our aim is to generate positive thoughts for adopting in each and every aspect of our activities. The best method for this is to create Awareness about the positive and negative sides of each and every activity/ action. Think that there are positive and negatives in the life for everyone. There can be positive or negative incidents connected directly or indirectly with you, your family, relatives, society, nation and mankind as a whole. Whatever positive you are getting go through the positives If there are negative incidents, remember to remind yourselves that these incidents are not created by you ( If originally you have not the created). Console yourselves and lead your thoughts to a positive level. How to create awareness ? Creating awareness does not mean discouraging or detaching, but giving a real and actual picture of the situation. This will create an awareness on the problems, methods, work input, work output, results, rewards, sharing,. This will console and motivate you every minute, hour, day,Once you get the self training in this philosophical approach on creating awareness, then it is easy to retain our mind on the good pleasant and unbiased thought level. Without much strain your awareness will bring back your thoughts from the bad side of roads to the good main road, where you can enjoy guiding your mind. 5

What are the benefits of good thoughts ? Through the good thoughts the mind can drive the body, smoothly, because of the awareness about the humps and gutters on the roads. When we can proceed carefully we need not count the humps nor the gutters, because our destination and time of reaching there, are important. Your work will be smooth, your approach will be calm, at least you can try to make as much smooth and happy as possible. You can definitely be successful in all endeavors. This is philosophy of life and this is the applied philosophy. How far modern science know about the mind ? Modern Scientists have learnt about the mind only to a very small extent. Our Rishies were continuously using their mind, intellect, wisdom and doing saadhana for learning everything within ourselves and outside ourselves. Finally they came to the conclusion that as is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm. How the above approach is connected with our day today life ? Each and every planet and celestial body does its work of rotation and revolutions as its dharma every minute. We are also rotating in the samsaara chakra said our Rishies. Lord Krishna specifically said, who is not involved in this rotation is like keeping away from the natures rule. The internal and external knowledge could be derived by continuous saadhana through experience and experiment of rotation and revolution . What is human consciousness and universal consciousness ? According to Indian concept, everything in the nature is controlled by paramaathma chaitanya (the universal consciousness = UC), the omnipotent omnipresent divine power which can also be said as parabrahma chaitanya. How the paramaathma chaitanya (UC) does its work ?. I think the explanation is not that complicated. It is just like a manager gets things done through his employees by giving different responsibilities! The omnipotent omnipresent manager gets the things done through its own employees manifested in every creature. Now suppose the manager is the father (beeja pratha pithaa) and the employees are his children, then the manager employee relationship will be as (employees become) part and parcel of the manager ( i.e aham sarvasya prabhava:), and they are the product of the manager itself. In a similar way, the divine power paramaathma chaitanya, spares a small part of it to each andevery one of us ( infinitesimally small) which can be called as jeevaathma chaitanya. How jeevaathma chaitanya and paramaathma chaitanya related ? This jeevaatma chaitanya is given a body and wisdom/intelligence by the paramaathma chaitanya. The body is so shaped as to undertake the mission bestowed upon it by the paramaatma chaitanya. Here the body is the manifestation and manipulation of the jeevaathma chaitanya ( which in turn is connected with paramaathma chaitanya as explained). How the body performs the duty ? When the body (of a creature) is ready , the mind, intellect, wisdom, thinking, analyzing, estimating, evaluating, extrapolating, intra-polating, justifying, 6

constructing, destructing, surviving.powers are also given to the mind which is in the body (of each creature). This is the way through which the nature gets its job done as Generation, Observation & Destruction ( srushti- sthithisamhaaram). What is the role of the G O D All the three powers are encapsulated and filled within each creature. Each and every animal, plant, micro organism, has got specific responsibility ( responsibilities) bestowed upon it by the nature for undertaking natures mission like the manager gives the responsibility to his staff. Are human beings a highly developed animal or a super animal ? It is wrong to say that human being is highly developed animal. Different animals have different type of super qualities and qualifications, Some of which have far higher developed body systems than that of human beings; Does man have any limitations ? A kite can see a small seed from a distance of three kilometers, a cat can see even in blinding darkness, a dog can hear minutest sound, a cheetach can run at 160 kilometers per hr and jump from one tree to another without slipping its legs, a humming bird can fly from African continent to India without stopping anywhere in three or four days over the Arabian sea. Consider a bat, an ant, lion, cow, every animal has very specific super organs. Perhaps for man all other body parts are developed at low level but the brain has developed more. What are the limitations of man ? It is said that Human beings are created by god in his image with all the qualities ..Is this correct ? It is wrong to think that man is the most developed creature among the creations of the nature. Man is the only animal which cannot live without a social group. For everything, men need others help. A human baby needs minimum 1 year for walking by itself, it needs protection for many years, it needs study classes for communicating with others, a baby is to be taught systematically about the edible and non edible things but no such training is needed for any other animal. The animals know by itself which are edible and non edible. The human beings have nothing super like some people think . Perhaps human beings are superior in destructive power than other animals. How the mind of the man vary from that of animals ? Nature has given us the mind and body with a power to think about the past, present and future of everything and anything. And our body is the tool for undertaking the mission given to us by the nature. So it is we said that sareeram aadhyam khalu dharma saadhanam ( body is the prime tool for undertaking the dharma dharma means; duty+ responsibility + privilege of an individual). The mind connects body with the dharma. What is the role of our body as designed by the nature ? We are expected to undertake the dharma by ourselves. Which is known as swadharma. We have vyakti dharma, kula dharma, kutumba dharma, samooha dharma, raashtra dharma and loka dharma. 7

What is vyakti dharma ? Vyakti dharmas are those to be undertake as an individual. We eat, breath, walk, sleep, wear dress, take bath, etc. ..These are for the existence of the body ( existence of ourselves). We can undertake our dharma if and only if our body exists (i.e. we exist). What is the role of the body in performing our dharma ? Vyakti dharma is very important and so we should not neglect our body at any cost, even in the name fasting for many days. Even a pooja is performed after the aatma pooja by putting three flowers on the head. The body is the tool for doing every activity. Hence the tool should be defectless and perfect . What is this I ? is this the body or Mind ? Here I is very important because the whole world is there for me only if I am there. I am the doer, viewer, communicator, connector, guide, worker, manager, I am given many jobs by the creator for fulfilling his mission. So who am I ? This question has been asked in our Upanishads by many students of vedantha. The question in Sanskrit is ko aham (koaham ? who am I ?) The answer given by the Upanishads or the vedanthists is soaham = I am the divine power ! Bhagavath Geetha says nimittha maatram bhava savya saachin ! I (and my body) am the tool in the hands of the divine power (= nature or paramaathma chaitanya), Just like you are a tool / worker for your manager for undertaking his mission. You are the tool for the divine power. The body is important, because it is the tool for undertaking that mission. How do I help to undertake the mission of divine power ? Your legs take you to the destination, hands do lot of work, tongue communicates, your eyes see the things and guide you, ears take the message from others and inform you the messages, your brain thinks guides you in your activities..Hence your body is so composed as to undertake many missions, by perfectly analyzing and understanding the missions. Your organs are very crucial factors for you. You are the inevitable component in the hands of divine power. Hence it is your vyakti dharma to maintain your body properly with perfect physical and mental health. How food and body relates in the dharmic way of explanations? The basic building unit of your body is the food. Yatho anna: thatho mana: whatever food you eat the mind develops accordingly. A wild beast is wild in nature because it takes such a type of food. You know what happens for a drunkard and for drug addicts. You know the cause of AIDS, the cancer, the heart problems, the psychosomatic diseases and also for the suicides. None of these diseases is generally seen in animals. The reason is that human beings violate the vyakti dharma of maintaining their body. How to build the body ? The body should be built with good food which creates no deleterious effects to our body. Whatever food creates short or long range problems to our body and 8

mind are not advised for sustainable health. It can create diseases with a short period or within a range of time. How can we compare body building and building a house ? A house should be built with good building materials, so is the body . If building materials are low grade, it affects the beauty, durability and strength of the building. All these three factors are important and an abnormal food can destroy the beauty, durability and strength of our body. How, in India the food and exercise are compared in a dharmic way ? Hita ahaara and mitha aayaasa or mitha aahaara and hita aayaasa are the two criteria ( food and exercise) for good health. These two are known as aswini devatha. The human body and different digestive organs are designed for the vegetarian food, ( which also include milk and milk products). Specifically our teeth, tongue, alimentary canal and the digestive systems, etc. are designed for veg food. Why we say Non veg is not good ? Even a change in food from non vegetarian to mixed vegetarian could change the health of the Eskimos dramatically. Their heart problems reduced significantly. The level of cholesterol, saturated fat, etc could be brought to the balancing level This result can be extrapolated for everyone. It has been described that even the brain chemistry or body chemistry changes with food, What is aahaara suddhi ? It is said that aahaara suddhi is an important factor for healthy body and mind. It can reduce significantly the chances of cancer, heart problems, psychosomatic disorderns, and many meat based diseases coming from the deleterious factors of the animals slaughtered for meat. How the world takes Veg food ? Green restaurants are sprouting world over. People are shifting to veg for maintaining good health and long life. Vegetarian clubs, veg societies, veg groups are doing great work for spreading the messages. What are the studies undertaken in this line ? Many studies and research findings have been published on the intake of veg. Prof. Vin Bergs studies and also the results published in many books are fantastic and shining examples of the merits of veg food. Is it not that our ancestors take non veg in India ? Yes many rishies might have been taking the non veg. Let us take good only from the heritage. If bad is presented in heritage, discard them without hesitation. Is that Sri. Rama had taken non Veg. ? He might have or might not have taken non veg.. Different books give different explanations. If you are going to follow each and every aspect of Sri. Ramas life. You are going to be at risk. Because he spent almost 14 years in forest, he built a bridge,etc., If you are also ready to follow all those then definitely you can take the type of food taken by Sri.Rama ! 9

Can we get good health by Veg alone ? Food is only one among many aspects to get good health . For good health scientific achaaras are also to be performed which give purity in character and behavior. Hence to the extend possible one should follow, scientific and rational achaaraas in our day today life. These customs and rituals which have been described earlier have variety of psychological, physiological, building family relation and building good social life based merits. Hence they are to be followed in our day to day life. These acharas do have some spiritual benefits also. What are the other factors to be guided for good health ? The mind also should be maintained at a level of high purity. When the questions asked in our scriptures ko aham ? ( who am I ?) the reply received was soaham ! (= I am that = I am that omnipotent omnipresent divine power). There is another meaning for soaham, When you repeat soaham-soham-sohamsoham- - -> hamsoa-. Hamsa. It becomes hamsa- Hansa = swan = the bird which can take milk from the mixture of milk and water (according to our mythology) = the one which can take good alone from the mixture of good and bad. How Bhagavath Geetha explains the body and mind ? You know Bhagavath Geetha is an ultra modern management book which focuses on body, mind, time, through dharma point of view. Hence we will read a news paper report published Business week, USA Business magazine. It is reproduced in the New Indian Express on 26th October, 2006,: The report has the title Gita is the new mantra for big biz in US. Big Business in the US is embracing Indian philosophy in a significant but sometimes quirky new trend. How Geetha is Penetrating the Western society ? The article contues..! Suddenly, phrases from ancient Hindu texts such as the Bhagavat Gita are popping up in management tomes and on website of consultants, while top business school have introduced self mastery classes that use Indian methods to help managers boost their leadership skill and find inner peace in lives dominated by work. How the direct experience play the role of spreading Geetha ? The article continues .! More important, Indian born strategists also are helping in transforming corporations. Academicians, and consultants such as C.K. Prahlad, Ram Charan and Vijay Govindarajan are among the worlds hottest business gurus, Pete Engardio and Jena McGregor write in the October 30 issue of the publication. What is the role of Indian professors ? About 10% of professors at Harvard Business school, North westerns Kellog School of Business and the University of Michigans Ross School of Business are of Indian descent- for higher than other ethnic groups. when senior executives come to Kellog, Wharton, Harvard, or Dartmouths Tuck, they are exposed to Indian values that are reflected in the way we think and articulate, How the Indian background helps in spreading Indian philosophical outlook ? 10

The magazine quotes Deepak C. Jain, Head of the Kellog School as saying. Indian theorists have a wide range of backgrounds and philosophies. But many of the most influential acknowledge that common themes pervade their work. How Geetha is to be practiced ? First the conviction that executives should be motivated by a broader purpose than money. Another is the belief that companies should take a more holistic approach to business. The third one that takes into account the needs of shareholders, employees customers, society and the environment. Some can even foresee the development of a management theory that replaces the shareholder- driven agenda with a more stakeholder focused approach. What is the meaning of the new word Karma capitalism ? The article continues The best way to describe it is inclusive capitalism, the magazine says , citing Prahlad, a consultant and University of Michigan professor who ranked third in a recent Times of London poll about the worlds most influential business thinkers. You might also call it Karma Capitalism. For both organizations and individuals, its a gentle, more empathic ethos that resonates in the post-tech-bubble, post Engron Zeitgeist, These days, concepts such as emotional intelligence and servant leadership are in vogue . Where once corporate philanthropy was an obligation, These days its fast becoming viewed as a competitive advantage for attracting and retaining top talent. Where are the changes taking place in theoutlook of modern management experts? Here the rallying cry in the 1980s and 1990s may have been Greed is Good today its becoming Green is Good And while it used to be the hip in management circles to quote from the sixth century BC Chinese classic . The art of War, the trendy ancient Eastern text today is the more introspective Bhagavad Gita, the Business Week says. Earlier this year, a manager at Sprint Nextel Corp. penned the inevitable how-to guide: The key Message of Bhagavad Gita on Effective Leadership According to him, enlightened leaders should master any impulses or emotions that could sound judgment. Body and mind for leadership..what is the Geetha way ? Good leaders are selfless, take initiative and focus on their duty rather than obsessing over outcomes or financial gain, the magazine says. this is the status of Bhagavath Geeth and the Indian Management messages Any other Indian literature explain dharma and management , in a better way ? This has already been explained in detail in the first part of this text. We were discussing about the dharma. For understanding dharma you have to learn the ten commandments which has been discussed earlier. Other than vyakti dharma , what is the other dharma ? Kutumba dharma is a major dharma bestowed upon us by the nature. In fact it is for each and every animal to procreate and look after them for short of long period. For human beings it is the dharma to have dharmic offspring and to lead a happy cultured life. 11

What more is available for kutumba dharma? Kutumba dharma is important for everyone. Building a family like every other animal and plant. The difference between the man and other animals (as expected by the nature) is that man brings up their off-springs with culture and value based life system with a systematic improvement from the primitive level to a higher/ cultured level. That is growing with culture and civilize them. How human beings can be different from other animals ? The human beings are taught externally and internally for a better individual to lead social life. They are expected to support- help - reduce others pain- protect - others directly or indirectly. They have to study and understand the Nature which has the most important role given to human beings by the Nature . Understanding the Nature/ the divine power which is responsible for the creation of everything. The western scientists are looking deep into these aspects now . How can we say that nature expects all these from us ? Every researcher is doing only the study of Nature and Natures products . See the work of botanists, zoologists, biochemists, physicists, chemists, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, You will know that the Botanists are trying to understand the natures product: the plants, its cells and tissues, and the way they function. Zoologists are studying the animals and their organs and their function. Biochemists try to understand the biochemical changes taking place in the living products which again is the natures contribution/ product. Physicists analyze the natures laws/rules, the light/ sound/electricity/magnetism/ atoms/molecules/gravity/etc. The chemists analyze all the natural elements and their compounds, the anthropologist analyze the behavioral pattern of the human beings as individual or group. Sociologists analyze the sociological behavior pattern of the human beings; the social animals. The psychologists analyze the mind a unique creation of the divine power/Nature. So every scientist is directly or indirectly is trying to understand the nature and the divine power through their own methods. What is the purpose of these analyses of Nature / Natures products.? For understanding ourselves we have to understand the nature. It is the prakruthi with which we are all made of. Every one should understand the nature for refining himself, his family and the society. This is the vyakti dharma, kutumba dharma and samooha dharma. Everyone has to undertake their dharmas as under different position, mother, father, brother, sister, wife, husband, teacher, servant, manager, clerk, minister, scientistsand so on. Can we say protecting dharma is dharma ? Yes Bhishma, the great role player in Mahabharatha says dharmam eva hato hanti dharmo rakshati rakshita: Those who are destroying dharma, dharma will destroy him. Those who are protecting dharma, dharma will protect them . How to protect dharma ? Create an awareness on dharma, practicing the dharma, spreading the messages of dharma, keeping the dharmic values, are all the part of protecting the dharma. Hence dharmo rakshathi rakshitha: those who are 12

protecting dharma, the dharma will protect them, in turn. The Nature expects us to protect it, so that the nature will protect us . Many people ask about dharma. How to answer all these questions ? A suggestion to every Indian on the attitude to be followed for answering questions on any subject particularly on Indian heritage. We could see that many people mislead others by giving wrong answers. One should not try to answer the questions if he/she does not know the answer correctly. Wrong answers or imaginary answers will be used for denigrating our heritage. If we do not know the answer, the best reply is I do not know. I shall try to collect the answer. If I get I shall inform you. If we are not giving answer , will it not look bad ? It is not possible to give answer for every questions on Indian heritage or sanathana dharma. One need not feel shy of his ignorance. But try to learn. Why it is impossible to give answers for all the questions ? Because various subjects/explanations on the Indian heritage knowledge are distributed in 1280 authentic foundation literature + more than 10,000 commentaries in Sanskrit + more than 1,00,000 sub commentaries in different regional languages, written during different period of time, by many authors which contains the original, scientific and logical answers for all the questions. The explanations have been given by our forefathers by the process of additions, deletions, modifications and corrections based on saastra + aapthavaakya + prathyaksha + anumaana pramaanam principles. The correct answer for any question on Indian heritage will be available in one or more of these literature. It is impossible for everyone to go through such vast number of books. Is it difficult to learn or study these books ? It is impossible to learn even 1 % in this life/janma. Hence answering or explaining every question / concept/ sankalpa/ aachaara/ vichaara /message of story / historical fact / darsana / message /.. should be done very carefully without leading to a wrong justification /analyses /interpretation /commentary /rationalization / conclusion /.. Can a scholar be able to give a perfect answer for all questions? We should also remember that the answer for each question vary from person to person / circumstances /background / application / etc. of the listener and teacher. Even the way of presentation can make a lot of difference , as far as the heritage subject is concerned. If the answer vary from person to person, how can we say it is the answer ? The answer varies with the background of the listener. The answers will vary for a young student/ post graduate / scholar /layman/ subject expert. The scholars might have interpreted in many ways. People can even feel that the answers are contradictory to each other, even though, in reality, they are complimentary. Can one give a better explanation for this approach ?

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The explanation given about a rose flower varies from person to person. It varies for a flower merchant / botany professor /chemist /poet / wreath maker / significantly They all explain about the same flower in their own way. They are all correct answers leading to the ultimate answer. Each of this answer is fact /truth /answer of the questions on the rose flower. None is contradictory but they are complimentary to each other. How to answer for different questions on sanathana dharma ? It is our dharma to learn our heritage and teach others. It is also our dharma to give the correct answer without misleading the listener, for which we should learn first. Learning and teaching are the need of the hour. It should not be for arguing and convincing others beyond a level, but for learning and understanding only, as Sri. Narayana Guru said. What type of questions should be handled carefully ? We should remember that for some of the questions there may not be a logical or scientific or rational answer. Sometimes people at a particular level may not understand the logic or science on that particular issue also. For that type of questions, for the beginners it is only the faith which works, later on the logic is to be added. Can you explain the above statement with example ? If somebody asks what is the science behind keeping a wreath on the dead body ?/ Keeping a flower garland on the samaadhi ?/ Conducting group prayer on the birth/death day ? / Demonstrating all our weapons during independence day parade. Why do we respect a piece of tri color cloth as our national flag ?/ Why do we stand in attention during the reciting of a particular poem (national anthem)? / Why so much money is wasted during the visit of a prime minister or president in his own country ? / Are they not Indians like anyone else ?/ Why so much security for certain Indians when more precious men are living without any security ?/ When a leader of the country passes away why so many foreign dignitaries attend the funeral ? / The dead is not knowing all these ? / These are the questions one cannot answer at all using science or logical analyses. Even in our personal life such questions can come. Why so much money is spent for bringing one girl and boy together in the name of wedding ? Why we invite so many people for our house warming ceremony?. It is also waste of money ? There are thousands of questions like this connected with individual /family /social / national/ life. If you systematically analyze you may not find a very scientific/logical meaning at all.. These are all followed or celebrated Just like that OR as a protocol, tradition or custom or ritual. They may fetch some personal / family / social / national values or happiness. Keep this answer in our mind and analyze some of the Indian/world customs. You may have to give the answer to certain questions like this. So our answer to some of the questions is that since human beings are social animals some of these acharas are followed for their scientific merits, some for social merits, some for psychological merits and few as traditional practices and acharas. Some of them are practiced just like that ! Why so many acharas in India only ? 14

There are hundreds of traditions and achaaras in all the countries, which are practiced on individual/ family/ society or national level, similar to the Indian traditions / achaaras. ( A non Muslim should not enter the city of Madeena/ Mecca. The picture of Prophet should not be drawn. A woman cannot become a Bishop. A pelican type of duck is forced to drink lot of water before cutting it for preparing the thanks giving day special in US and Canada . Like this there are hundreds of beliefs for all). What are the options for answering this type of questions ? We have three options for answering any questions regarding Indian heritage 1. Give the scientific or social meaning 2. Reply by telling that I do not know because I have not studied and 3. They are followed as a traditional practice. Thus we can avoid creating superstitions and confusions. Why Indians have got so many religious books ? That is the specialties and greatness of Indian culture. 1. Indians knew that the knowledge required for human beings cannot be confined to one book. Hence our forefathers presented the knowledge required in 1280 ( this may vary) foundation dharmic literature + 10,000 Sanskrit commentaries + 1,00,000 sub commentaries in regional languages What was our approach on all these religious books ? We have never declared that one book can give all the final knowledge for human beings. Even if written by the greatest scholars in the world all the knowledge required for human beings are vast hence many books are required to take different knowledge to different people. What is our approach to the great ancient Indian scholars who were Rishies who wrote the books ? We have also never declared that one man/ Rishi can give all the knowledge . It is necessary that many scholars should write as many books as possible so that many ancient and novel knowledge can be put together and supplied to the generations after generation. Why are we still composing so many spiritual and heritage books ? We have not said that all the knowledge can be compiled during a particular period of time We always envisaged that many people, should write many books at different period of time and knowledge should continuously grow/expand . It should never remain stagnant. What was the Indian approach on writing new dharmic books ? The commentaries of ancient Indian books and sub commentaries are always the method of addition, deletion, modification and correction of the knowledge during the course of growth of our culture. New books or principles are added there with. What was our advise on taking knowledge ? We always advocated to take the knowledge from anywhere and everywhere . We advised Integration scientific and spiritual knowledge, the Integration of the good from the old and new knowledge. We advise to take good from Bible, 15

Quran, Communism, Sufism,.and so on if good is available from anyone, any country, any religion, any language, for our betterment. What are the other things to be integrated ? Integration of the experienceable and experiementable knowledge is very important in the modern life. Integration of every branch of the knowledge with spirituality. How our vision varies from that of other religion ? We, the followers of sanathana dharma, never argued that only one man can give you salvation. We know that sins cannot be transferred to somebody . We never argued that only one book will protect you from all sins We never said only through this or that pathway you are going to reach god / heaven . We never said ours is the only correct pathway . We never said all those who follow other path ways, than ours will perish. We gave permission to accept any pathway of life. We gave permission to add more/new knowledge to the existing knowledge in their own way. We never advocated to follow anything blindly. What are the basic pramanas advocated in all the Indian concepts and books ? Critical analyses through saastram pramaanam ( message of Bhagavath geetha) aapta vaakyam pramaanam ( dharma saastra message ) prathyksham pramaanam ( message of darsanas) and anumaanam pramanam ( message of Ayurveda ) are suggested What are the specific application based meaning of the above messages? Critical analyses through saastram pramaanam: follow scientific principles wherever possible. aapta vaakyam pramaanam : follow the opinion of the scholars wherever scientific observations are not available. prathyksham pramaanam : Follow the principle seeing is believing where you get the opportunity for first hand observation. anumaanam pramanam . Where all other alternatives do not work then guess and estimate what could be the solution/problem. All the four messages are also followed in the modern approach. How does Indian approach vary in the explanation of god ? Indian are not god fearing people, They are god loving (bhaktas) people, they never consider human beings as sinners. The approach to god is devotion and not the fear psychosis. Always accommodated any new branch of worship and religion. Permission exist to accept and reject any method or every method of worship. Interestingly the best bhakti bhava is known as satru bhava bhakti or dwesha bhava bhakti. How do Indians evaluated atheism and an atheist ? In sanathana dharma there is no objection on somebody becoming an atheist. Atheists were also Rushies in India. Science and spirituality went hand in hand here. Charvaka school of thoughts is full of atheism only. Every branch of Indian literature atheism is included. This can be seen in Mahabharta, Ramayana, Darsana commentaries, puranas and even in dharma sastra

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How does our prayer vary ? All sorts of worships are considered as personal. At the same time chanting mantra, bhajans, story telling, listening to purana, harikatha etc done as group. Anyone can refuse or reject any branch of existing practice /methods /concept / thoughts and create own method. Theprayer was for the well being of one and all including those who are following other pathways People are requested to follow any method after critical analyses in the light of saastram. Can we say we have only one level of god realization ? In India different levels of understanding the nature and divine power exist because the concept of god is different at different levels. We consider the divine power is within all human beings and living beings. Till you realize that concept lower level of worship is practiced. Once level goes up then even lower can be rejected. How do we estimate our temples of worship ? The Indian temples are not merely prayer halls but quantum healing centers Even the status of a stone is elevated to divinity.. The plants and animals were given the divine status. Earth, Sun, air, water and all those are considered with divine respect . One should elevate himself for understanding that these are all the manifestation and manipulation of the divine power. These are the devolution of the divinity. The manifestation of divinity is clearly mentioned in Sanskrit as the brahma vaivartham. Can we say the prayer is a dialogue between devotee and god ? In India the prayer is a dialogue between the god and devotee. We never kept agents /brokers /saints for making large number of followers for our gods . We prayed directly to god. Indians rejected the concept of declaring one person as saint by another person. Generally all these saintship, is given as a recognition for converting people to their religion. Not for god realization. This has never been accepted in India. How our customs and rituals connect with god ? Hindu customs and rituals are not for pleasing gods but for getting psychological, physiological, family based , social and national benefits. The spirituality is added to the customs to make it smooth and whole hearted . to get more faith factor in it. How long you have to worship the god? It is told that till you realized that you are the embodiment of divinity, you have to worship. Once you know soham I am though, then everything can even be stopped. But attaining that level is not easy. Did anyone attain that level ? There were hundreds of Rishies in India who attained that level. They are also known as Harmasa Rishi or paramahamsa Rishi. What is hamsa Rishi? A Rishi who knows that the divinity is within him is the hamsa Rishi. He is the Rishi who can take and absorb only the good from a mixture of good and bad. 17

What are the stages of the Rishihood ? These are the stages of mind. hencve mentally you are born as a man like any other animal, then through vyavahara you reach the primitive state of a soodra, then elevate to vaisya and then kshatriya. From there to brahmana and then Rishi, maharishi, hamsa, Rishi, paramahamsa Rishi and paramahamsa parvrajaka Rishi. All these status are attained by the same man, independent of his birth or caste and gotra of the parents. Can a non Brahmin become a hamsa Rishi ? Vyasa, Vivekananda, aithareya and many many Rishies were not Brahmins by birth. That gives the answer.

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