A beautiful Prayer


Take a look at the following beautiful shloka:

यं शैवा: समुपासते शिव इति ब्रह्मेति वेदान्तिनो

बौद्धा बुद्ध इति प्रमाणपटव: कर्तेति नैयायिका:।

अर्हन्नित्यथ जैनशासनरता: कर्मेति मीमांसका:

सोऽयं नो विदधातु वांछितफलं त्रैलोक्यनाथो हरि:।।

It means the following in Hindi and English:

हिंदी भावार्थ 

वे तीन लोक के नाथ श्री हरि हमें मनवांछित फल प्रदान करें जिनकी उपासना 

- शैव, 'शिव' मानकर करते हैं, 

- वेदांती 'ब्रह्म' मानकर उपासते हैं, 

- बौध्द 'बुध्द' की तरह 

- तर्क-पटु नैयायिक जिसकी 'कर्ता' मानकर आराधना करते हैं

- जैन लोग जिसे 'अर्हंत' मानते हैं

- मीमांसक जिसे 'कर्म' बताकर पूजते हैं

English Meaning

May the Lord of the universe grant us our wishes who is worshipped by  

- the Shaiva as Shiva,

- the Vedantins as Brahman

- the Buddhists as Buddha

- the Naiyaayikas who specialize in knowledge as 'Karta"

- the Jains as Arhant

- the ritualists of the Mimamsa school as Karma

There is a very powerful implication behind these simple words. This prayer holds the key to bridging the religious differences and the resultant problems. It implies that it is a myth that we worship different Gods; instead, we worship the same God in different forms, and give Him different names. Every religion says that God is all powerful being, present everywhere. How is it possible to have more than one instances of such an all powerful being? It has to be the same God for everyone. 

And when it is the same God for both of us, can there be a reason for any difference between you and me? 

Just think about it.

What is All This Stuff about God?


The choice of topic for this post may surprise you, what is there to discuss about it? We are already well versed with our God; what else can we possibly talk about in this post? The following lines inspired me to write this post:

हरी हरी वसुंधरा पे नीला नीला ये गगन

के जिसपे बादलो की पालकी उड़ा रहा पवन 

दिशाये देखो रंग भरी चमक रही उमंग भारी

ये किस ने फूल फूल पे किया श्रृंगार है

ये कौन चित्रकार है, ये कौन चित्रकार

Looking at the beauty of nature around us can make us wonder about the greatness of its creator, the Almighty God who has created the sky, clouds, stars, Sun, Moon, Earth, mountains, flowers, rivers, ocean, and everything we see around us. 

We have already learnt a few things about the God whom we worship from our religion, which is a different picture for each of us based on our religion. Some of us have learnt that He is an invisible being, while others believe that He has a form, and this form itself may be different for each of us. 

People worship God, give Him different names, or even deny His existence, but let us face it, no one can ignore Him. Does it not point to a strong possibility that such a mighty being is more likely to exist than not?

Most religions advocate that God in some form created the universe and looks after it. If you ask a scientist, he may give you an altogether different answer, talking about the big bang theory, evolution, and other scientific principles that govern the creation and running of the universe, denying the role of any supernatural being in the process.

Let us first look at this important question – did God create everything in the universe? Actually if we change our viewpoint a little, there is no conflict between the scientific view and the religious view on this subject. Imagine that a boy throws the ball in the air we can look at the ball going up and explain the phenomenon in different ways, not really in conflict with each other:

We can pay attention to the ball following the laws of motion. It went up in the air since it had a vertical velocity under the influence of a force and countered by gravitational force etc. 

We can also explain it simply as, "The boy threw the ball in the air, that is why the ball went up".

Similarly, the scientific view that Big Bang started the universe may be true, but it does not deny the possibility that God Himself started the Big Bang process, similar to the boy throwing the ball. 

The existence of God is established, but how do we reconcile different positions taken by different religions about Him?  Which one is correct? Are the Gods worshipped by people of different faith are really different? By the very definition of an Omnipotent God, it sounds logical that it is the same entity, who is given different name and form by different religions. Also, it seems that God Himself does not mind the diverse views people take about Him.

That brings another vital question, Did God create religions? This looks unlikely as why would He create so many different versions in that case? Religion seems to be an attempt by man to understand and explain the universe around him. God does not want people to follow any one particular faith only. The evidence for this is that even after thousands of years people following different faiths and beliefs still co-exist happily together.

How can one experience God? When you go out and see the beautiful nature around, think about its creator and you can begin experiencing Him. Prayer is another established way to experience Him. Taking time to pray as per your belief is the most direct way to experience God. When good things happens in life, remember to thank Him, and when you are in trouble, take your problems to Him in prayer.

Disclaimer: The discussion above is just my attempt to form a simple common view about this very complex topic. No disrespect is meant for any faith, religion, or belief. Advance apologies if anything in the post sounds offensive to you. 

Examination Stress - How to Beat it?


Going through the education process can be so much fun but the fear of examinations takes away all the enjoyment. The goal and the focus of students and teachers shifts from learning to ensuring good performance in the exams. Any chapter that is not important from the point of view of the exam is ignored, and the learning is mostly centered around the questions expected in the exam paper. Exams cause major stress in most students, and board exams cause even more stress. And these days there are exams throughout the year, keeping the students stressed all the time.

The education authorities have tried several changes to improve the situation. They did away with the board exams in class X to encourage learning at that level, but that increased the stress at XII level as the students had no prior experience of a board exam. They tried to do away with marks and switched to grades in class X, but that did not help the situation either. The National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 is another step towards rationalizing the education process. Let us see how it works out in the years to come.

Let us face it, exams are an essential part of the education process, we can not do away with them completely. But if we change the way we look at the exams, it will help reduce the stress associated with it. Currently we see our education as a race and the exams a hurdle in the middle. Our only goal is to win the race, hence we believe that we must crack each and every exam with outstanding marks. Failing an exam or scoring low in it is not at all an acceptable option.  

Now think about how you approach the situation when you go through a medical examination or health check in a hospital. What is your main concern? Is it to crack the medical test with flying colors or to find objective assessment of your health that may help your doctor take the necessary action? Why can’t we view the school exam also in the same way? 

First of all, change your focus to learning as much as you can in every subject you are taught in school. This itself will bring back the joy of learning back. Do it every day, bit by bit, build your true knowledge of the subject. 

Armed with this knowledge, take the test or exam, to assess how well you have learned the subject. It will provide you feedback about the strong areas you know well, and weak areas that needs more work. Use this feedback to work further and improve your knowledge. 

When you take this approach, the continuous evaluation schemes followed in school these days will no longer be a problem for you, and you will start looking forward to the tests, rather than feeling stressed about them.

You may be thinking, how will this approach help me prepare for an entrance exam competition in which I have to perform well to get selected? Well, competitive exams are cracked by students who have learned the subjects well, not just practiced answering a fixed set of questions. Hence, you may find that the shift of focus to learning will help you do better in competitions, and the knowledge you acquire today will come handy throughout your career in future.