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Om is one of the most chanted sound symbols in India. It has a profound effect on the body and mind of the one who chants and also on the surroundings. Most mantras and vedic prayers start with Om.

All auspicious actions begin with Om. It is even used as a greeting – Om, Hari Om etc. It is repeated as a mantra or meditated upon. Its form is worshipped, contemplated upon or used as an auspicious sign.

Om is the universal name of the Lord. It is made up of the letters A (phonetically as in “around”), U (phonetically as in “put”) and M (phonetically as in “mum”). The sound emerging from the vocal chords starts from the base of the throat as “A”. With the coming together of the lips, “U” is formed and when the lips are closed, all sounds end in “M”.

The three letters symbolize the three states (waking, dream and deep sleep), the three deities (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva), the three Vedas (Rig, Yajur and Sama) the three worlds (Bhuh, Bhuvah, Suvah) etc. The Lord is all these and beyond.

The formless, attributeless Lord (Brahman) is represented by the silence between two Om Chants. Om is also called pranava that means, “that (symbol or sound) by which the Lord is praised”. The entire essence of the Vedas is enshrined in the word Om. It is said that the Lord started creating the world after chanting Om and atha. Hence its sound is considered to create an auspicious beginning for any task that we undertake. The Om chant should have the resounding sound of a bell (aaooommm).

Om is written in different ways in different places. The most common form symbolizes Lord Ganesha�s. The upper curve is the head; the lower large one, the stomach; the side one, the trunk; and the semi-circular mark with the dot, the sweetmeat ball (modaka) in Lord Ganesha’s hand. Thus Om symbolizes everything – the means and the goal of life, the world and the Truth behind it, the material and the Sacred, all form and the Formless.

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Usually we call our home as a temple but still most Indian homes have a prayer room or altar. We lit a lamp and Worship our Lord every day. Most of other spiritual practices like japa - repetition of the Lord�s name, meditation, paaraayana - reading of the scriptures, prayers, and devotional singing etc are also done here. On auspicious occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and the like, we had special worships. Each member of the family – young or old – communes with and worships the Divine in the prayer room.

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The Lord is the entire creation. He is therefore the true owner of the house we live in too. The prayer room is the Master room of the house. We are the earthly occupants of His property. This notion rids us of false pride and possessiveness.

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The ideal attitude to take is to regard the Lord as the true owner of our homes and us as caretakers of His home. But if that is rather difficult, we could at least think of Him as a very welcome guest. Just as we would house an important guest in the best comfort, so too we felicitate the Lord�s presence in our homes by having a prayer room or altar, which is, at all times, kept clean and well-decorated.

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Also the Lord is all pervading. To remind us that He resides in our homes with us, we have prayer rooms. Without the grace of the Lord, no task can be successfully or easily accomplished. We invoke His grace by communing with Him in the prayer room each day and on special occasions.

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Each room in a house is dedicated to a specific function like the bedroom for resting, the drawing room to receive guests, the kitchen for cooking etc. The furniture, decor and the atmosphere of each room are made conducive to the purpose it serves. So too for the purpose of meditation, worship and prayer, we should have a conducive atmosphere – hence the need for a prayer room.

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Sacred thoughts and sound vibrations pervade the place and influence the minds of those who spend time there. Spiritual thoughts and vibrations accumulated through regular meditation, worship and chanting done there pervade the prayer room. Even when we are tired or agitated, by just sitting in the prayer room for a while, we feel calm, rejuvenated and spiritually uplifted.

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We as Indians, prostrate before our parents, elders, teachers and noble souls by touching their feet. Our elders bless us back by placing his or her hand on or over our heads. It is done daily, especially when we meet elders and particularly on important occasions like the beginning of a new task, birthdays, festivals etc. Abhivandana is served to introduce one-self and to announce one�s family and social culture along with prostration in certain traditional circles.

To touch the feet in prostration is a sign of respect for maturity, nobility, age and divinity that our elders personify. It is a symbol of the sacrifices they have done for our welfare and our recognition of their selfless love for us. It�s a way of acknowledging the greatness of another humbly. It reflects the strong family ties, which has been one of India�s enduring strengths as well as our social security.

The aashirvada (blessings) and sankalpa (good wishes) of elders are highly valued in India and which we seek during prostration. Positive vibrations are created by good thoughts. There is tremendous strength in good wishes springing from a heart full of love, divinity and nobility. We invoke the good wishes and blessings of elders which flow in the form of positive energy to envelop us, when we prostrate with humility and respect. That�s why the posture assumed whether it is in the standing or prone position, enables the entire body to receive the energy thus received.

There are different forms of showing respect:

Pratuthana : Rising to welcome person���

Namaskaara: Paying homes in form of namaste

Upasangrahan: Touching the feet of elders or teachers�����������������������

Pratyabivaadana: Returning a greeting�����������������������������������

Shaashtaanga: Prostrating fully with the feet, knees, stomach, chest, forehead and arms touching the ground in front of the elder.���

Well, i think there are even more than that but nobody does the easiest namaste. What do you think?

��������� We, Indians greet each other with namaste. While saying the word namaste, our two palms are placed together infront of the chest and head bows towards the other person. We do namaste to all, means those older than use, of the same age, younger than us and also to strangers and even us.

��������� Actually, there are five forms of traditional formal greeting in the shaastras from which namaskar is one of them. Namaste can be casualised or formalised as a cultural convention or an act of worship. In Sanskrit namah+te = namaste. It means � I bow to you � my greetings, prostration or salutes to you. Namah is having spiritual significance of decreasing one�s ego in the presence of another as namah can be interpreted as �na� (not) �mah� (mine)

��������� When we meet each other physically, it is actually a real meeting of our minds. In this meeting when we say namaste with folded palms over the chest, it means as �may our minds meet.� The forward bowing of the head is to show a form of extending friendship inlove and humility.
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��������� There is even much deeper meaning of doing namaste spiritually.� The self, the lord, the divinity or the force is the same in all. Understanding this oneness with the meeting of the palms, we respect the Divinity in the person we meet. We close our eyes sometimes as we do namaste to a, it me revered person or the Lord � as if to look within. The gesture is often accompanied by words like “Jai Shri Krishna“, “Namo Narayana“, “Jai Siya Ram“, “Om Shanti” etc – indicating the recognition of this divinity.

��������� When you know such significance of this graceful namaste, it does not remain as a superficial gesture or word but makes the way for a much deeper communication with other in an environment of love and respect.

In almost every Indian home a lamp is lit daily before the altar of the Lord. In some houses it is lit at dawn, in some, twice a day � at dawn and dusk � and in a few it is maintained continuously – Akhanda Deepa. All auspicious functions commence with the lighting of the lamp, which is often maintained right through the occasion.

Light symbolizes knowledge, and darkness – ignorance. The Lord is the “Knowledge Principle” (Chaitanya) who is the source, the enlivener and the illuminator of all knowledge. Hence light is worshiped as the Lord himself. Knowledge removes ignorance just as light removes darkness. Also knowledge is a lasting inner wealth by which all outer achievement can be accomplished. Hence we light the lamp to bow down to knowledge as the greatest of all forms of wealth.

Why not light a bulb or tube light? That too would remove darkness. But the traditional oil lamp has a further spiritual significance. The oil or ghee in the lamp symbolizes our vaasanas or negative tendencies and the wick, the ego. When lit by spiritual knowledge, the vaasanas get slowly exhausted and the ego too finally perishes. The flame of a lamp always burns upwards. Similarly we should acquire such knowledge as to take us towards higher ideals.

Whilst lighting the lamp we thus pray:

Deepajyothi parabrahma
Deepa sarva tamopahaha
Deepena saadhyate saram
Sandhyaa deepo namostute

I prostrate to the dawn/dusk lamp; whose light is the Knowledge Principle (the Supreme Lord), which removes the darkness of ignorance and by which all can be achieved in life.

We as a Hindu are blessed with a cultural heritage of thousands of rituals and customs known as Aacharaas. This customs and rituals are for us to improve the productivity and life. There are no strict rules or regulations to follow. That is the reason that present survey shows we had forgotten almost every customs and rituals except couple of flexible rituals. And,now we had started getting curse of it in manner of new psychological and physical health problems. This clearly signifies that our culture and dharma is founded on scientific spiritually.

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If you go back to search in our ancient literature, it is clearly posted in Eesaavaasya Upanishad, the 40^th chapter of Yajurveda that use spiritual wisdom to attain immortality through philosophical outlook and use scientific knowledge for solving problems in our life. Spiritual is closely intermingled in each and every Hindu custom and so in every life of Hindu.

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Following Shlok defines importance of Aachaaraas:

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Aachaaraath labhathe hi ayu:

aachaaraath dhanamakshayam

aachaaraath labhathe suprajaa:

������������������������� aachaaro ahanthya lakshanam

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Aachaaraas should be followed for prosperity and wealth, strong family and social bondage. According to our dharmasaastra, it gives fine personality, dharmic outlook and vision. We need to follow it for our benefit and it is our right as well as duty to understand scientifically, rationally and logically the meaning of each and every Aachaaraas and follow them in our life systematically.

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Achaaryaath paadam aadatthe

paadam sishya swamedhayaa

paadam sa brahmachaaribhya

��������������� sesham kaala kramena cha

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Above is an important advice given in Smruthies, it means that a person gets only one quarter of knowledge from Aacharya � the teacher, another quarter from analyzing himself, one quarter from discussing with others and the last quarter by method of addition, deletion, correction and modification of already known Aachaaraas or new Aachaaraas.

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We will explain in upcoming MONDAY LEARNINGS about common Aachaaraas at our Vedic Learnings so as to help someone understand the wisdom of our ancient heritage. By doing such noble work, we are expecting to get the quarter of knowledge from discussing with others.

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Now, it is your turn, your right and your duty!!

���� Is this the time to go back? Most of us will answer it as �not really� if they don�t know the content. But, we would suggest that this is the right time to go back. Yes, after leaving a rote and contingent life for more than two decades i thought of going back. It is known that such reverberating adventures are not always favorable but at the same time meaningless enliven life will lead us to academic Alzheimer�s disease. I don�t say that nobody knows every answer of the questions that they come across in their life. But it takes time to find them ranging from seconds to centuries.� At the same time, we�want a key that opens almost every locks and that search ends in our ancient literature. And, while mentioning mentoring ancient literature we mostly end up around universal mentor � “Srimad Bhagwad Gita”.

���� Besides me, I found two young imprudently wise pundits who shares the same idea and will keep creatively stubborn like me alive.�This blog is collaboration of our work and also an enduring commitment to our culture. Filtration of our souls until it gets immortal would be the highest compensation we can expect with it.� This is probably the homework which is undone since birth and we hope to finish before getting involved in its revolving interest rate.��