Ever since we were a small kid, we are ringing the bell in the temple as a ritual or an order from our elders. Do we know the meanings of it? Following are some of the quick guesses with explanations:

Is it to let the Lord know we have come? He does not need to be told, as He knows everything and that’s why we call him Antaryaami or Trikal-gyaani.

Is it to wake up the Lord? But the Lord never sleeps.

Is it a form of seeking permission to enter His precinct? It is a homecoming and therefore entry needs no permission. The Lord welcomes us at all times.

Then why do we ring the bell?

Well, actually the ringing of the bell produces what is regarded as an auspicious sound. It produces the sound Om, the universal name of the Lord. There should be auspiciousness within and without, to gain the vision of the Lord who is all-auspiciousness.

Even while doing the ritualistic aarati, we ring the bell. It is sometimes accompanied by the auspicious sounds of the conch and other musical instruments. An added significance of ringing the bell, conch and other instruments is that they help drowned any inauspicious or irrelevant noises and comments that might disturb or distract the worshippers in their devotional ardour, concentration and inner peace.

As we start the daily ritualistic worship (pooja) we ring the bell, chanting:

Aagamaarthamtu devaanaam

gamanaarthamtu rakshasaam

Kurve ghantaaravam tatra

devataahvaahna lakshanam

Translation: I ring this bell indicating the invocation of divinity, So that virtuous and noble forces enter (my home and heart); and the demonic and evil forces from within and without, depart.

Photo courtesy: http://www.sabaidesignsgallery.com/media/content/BigTempleBellWeb.jpg

Also every point on the circumference of a circle is equidistant from the center. This means that wherever or whoever we may be, we are equally close to the God. His grace flows towards us without partiality.

Generally pradakshina is done clockwise and the reason is not to avoid a traffic jam!   As we do pradakshina, the God is always on our right. In India the right side symbolizes auspiciousness. So as we circumambulate the sanctum sanctorum we remind ourselves to lead an auspicious life of righteousness, with the God who is the indispensable source of help and strength, as our guide – the “right hand”.

Indian scriptures enjoin – matrudevo bhava, pitrudevo bhava, acharyadevo bhava. May you consider your parents and teachers as you would the God. With this in mind we also do pradakshina around our parents and divine personages.
We as a part of custom do pradakshina around ourselves after pooja. In this way we remember that the supreme divinity is within us, which alone is idolized in the form of the God  that we worship outside.

     Fasting in Sanskrit is called upavaasa. Upa means “near” + vaasa means “to stay”. Upavaasa therefore means staying near (the Lord), meaning the attainment of close mental proximity with the Lord.

Then what has upavaasa to do with food?

     We spent a lot of our time and energy in procuring food items, preparing, cooking, eating and digesting food. Certain food types make our minds dull and agitated. Hence on certain days man decides to save time and conserve his energy by eating either simple, light food or totally abstaining from eating so that his mind becomes alert and pure. The mind, otherwise pre-occupied by the thought of food, now entertains noble thoughts and stays with the Lord. Since it is a self-imposed form of discipline it is usually adhered to with joy.

     Also every system needs a break and an overhaul to work at its best. Rest and a change of diet during fasting are very good for the digestive system and the entire body.

     The more you indulge the senses, the more they make their demands. Fasting helps us to cultivate control over our senses, sublimate our desires and guide our minds to be poised and at peace.

     Fasting should not make us weak, irritable or create an urge to indulge later. This happens when there is no noble goal behind fasting.

     The Bhagavad-Gita urges us to eat appropriately – neither too less nor too much – yukta-aahaara and to eat simple, pure and healthy food (a saatvik diet) even when not fasting

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

          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.
   

          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.

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.

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.

Following Shlok defines importance of Aachaaraas:

Aachaaraath labhathe hi ayu:

aachaaraath dhanamakshayam

aachaaraath labhathe suprajaa:

                          aachaaro ahanthya lakshanam

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.

Achaaryaath paadam aadatthe

paadam sishya swamedhayaa

paadam sa brahmachaaribhya

                sesham kaala kramena cha

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.

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.

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

     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.