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Have a deep look at the Logo of SIV-G 

Significance of the logo SIV-G and its Spiritual Base

The single eye depicts the ‘third eye’ in every human being.  The black spot inside stands for the imbibed, innate, hidden and insulated core values in every human being.  The white background hints at the depth to be reached inwardly to be aware of the good nature of the Self.  This awareness is the Self Imposed Vigilance (SIV).  The arrows originating from SIV radiates in all direction, carrying the ‘spark of SIV’ in red color.  The gap between the arrows and the outer portion of the eye indicates the distance to be traveled in the materialistic world and apply the SIV which lead towards good governance before merging ultimately with the Eternity.  

THE SOURCE OF ALL ENERGY

Govindarajan Suresh


 

And God said: "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit -- to you it shall be for food." (Gen.1:29)

 

Sun, the great power generator of this Universe, is the ultimate source of energy. Every form of energy in this universe can be traced to Sun as the ultimate source. Thus the Sun becomes the Primary source of energy for the universe. However, the God nature has given the capacity of deriving the energy directly from the Sun to the Plants alone. The human and other beings are denied of such a capacity. By deriving the energy directly from the Sun, the plants become the Secondary source of energy in the universe. Such a very denial to human and other beings to derive energy directly from the Sun is an indicator that the energy has to be drawn from the secondary source if it is not possible from the primary source. Of course, man-made non-living materials have been designed to derive the energy from the Sun (solar energy), popularly known as solar cells. But the solar energy cannot form a substitute for food.

The reason why God denied such a capacity to derive the energy directly from Sun to human and other beings is a ‘million dollar question’. In fact, if God decides now to provide such a capacity to human and other beings, the world would become a better place to live. There would not have been any poverty, sufferings of hungry, misery, hatred and misunderstanding. We can see only peace all around. But that is not the case. God probably purposely did not allow the human and other beings to derive energy directly from the Sun, else the inquisitiveness to know God would not have been there. 

The fact that human can not derive the energy directly from the Sun has left him with the option of deriving energy for his survival from the next possible source, that is the Plants, the secondary source of energy as mentioned earlier. By becoming a deriver of energy from the secondary source, the human as well as the other beings become the tertiary source of energy. This transformation of energy in this manner is very much in line with the law of transformation of energy which the science advocates; ‘Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; but can be converted from one form to another’. 

Further transformation of energy from the tertiary source takes place when the source (the human and other beings) gives back the energy to the universe itself after death. Thus the normal flow of energy is from the primary source to the secondary source, then the secondary source to the tertiary source and then to the ultimate end source, that is the universe itself.  That is how the energy moves in the cycle from one part of the universe to another as governed by the Law of Nature. 


  

The Source of Energy
Source of Energy

The point to ponder here is; “when the normal flow of energy is from the higher level to lower, why is it that human being at tertiary source should derive energy from another tertiary source”.  Why did the human being, who is known for finding a shortcut everywhere, choose a longer route to derive energy?  Why does he prefer to derive the energy from another tertiary source when the God-given secondary source is readily available?  Is it because of this route of human being that so much of storage facilities are needed to store the food grains (secondary source of energy) across the country and out of which a huge percentage are lost due to inadequate storage and distribution system?  Is it because of this route of human being that there has been a need for having storage facilities to store fruits and vegetables (secondary source of energy) and in that process so much of them are lost because of lack of storage and distribution facility? 

Is it because of this natural law of deriving energy that God allowed Adams to eat an Apple?  Nevertheless, the reason given by the great 13th century Jewish philosopher Nachmanides on the initial dietary law can not be set aside.  He commented on Genesis 1:29, “Living creatures possess a moving soul and a certain spiritual superiority which in this respect make them similar to those who possess intellect (people) and they have the power of affecting their welfare and their food and they flee from pain and death.”  

(Published in the magazine Direct Path of Ramana Kendra, New Delhi)

This is a sort of an encounter I had with the Maharishi himself, of course, in my vision.   I tried to invoke the Maharishi in me and wanted to have a conversation with Him rather than a confrontation.  Here it goes.  (a word of caution to readers : this conversation (imaginary) is an attempt to go as closer as possible to the Maharishi with the limitation of my understanding combined with ignorance). 

Disraeli observed, “to be conscious that you are ignorant is the first step to knowledge”.  What is very important is the awareness of being ignorant.  Maharishi once said that the awareness of being ignorant is not ignorance.  Of late, I have mastered this art of measuring my ignorance, thanks to my proximity with people who are not so.  Somebody rightly said, ‘only after started reading, I realised that I had much more to read!’  Similar is the realisation on my ignorance. 

What would I do, when someone ask me to talk about Ramana Maharishi.  I would gladly take it, but not before convincing and completely accepting myself of the fact that I am ignorant in yet another way.  Nevertheless, as Maharishi himself said in the case of blindfolded man left by robbers, I would hopefully find the way, with His grace.  In the words of Maharishi; “Just as a man blindfolded and left by robbers in a jungle enquiries his way home and returns there, so also the ignorant one (blinded by ignorance) enquiries of those not so blinded and seeks his own source and returns to it”

How did I come out of the forest, is an interesting introspection and a sort of an encounter I had with the Maharishi himself, of course, in my vision.  I tried to invoke the Maharishi in me and wanted to have a conversation with Him rather than a confrontation.  Here it goes.  (a word of caution to readers : this conversation (imaginary) is an attempt to go as closer as possible to the Maharishi with the limitation of my understanding combined with ignorance).   Strangely and surprisingly, in my vision of conversation with the

Maharishi, the first question was put forth by the Maharishi to me before I could start mine:

Maharishi : Who are you to talk about me?

Me  : I am Suresh, Vigilance Officer

Maharishi : Suresh is your name.  Vigilance Officer is your occupation.  Who are you?

Me  : I am an Indian national, a Tamilian, born to an orthodox Hindu parent.

Maharishi : I am neither asking about your nationality nor your parents.  Who are you?

Me  : I weigh 72 kg with a height of 170 cms and now 42 years of age 

Maharishi : You are talking about your physical body.  Who are you?

Me  : I am this physical body being operated by the Anthakarana, the Mind, Intellect, Memory and Ego, which I call MIME.  Maharishi, in fact, I have come out with MIME management and professing this as a tool to realise my concept of SIV-G : Self Imposed Vigilance for Good Governance. 

Maharishi : That is good.  The country needs more such initiatives.  Best wishes!  But do not deviate from the real question.  If you are this body operated by your MIME, what happens to them when you are sleeping.  Where do they go?  If you are only this body, then will you stop the people from taking your body to the burial ground, when you die?  Now tell me who are you?

Me  : Maharishi, I realised that I am neither this body, nor the MIME which operates this body.  I am something beyond this MIME and the Body.  When I travel inwardly and go beyond this MIME and Body, I see yourself in myself Maharishi.  Am I correct?

Maharishi : Yes, you are.  Not only me, you can see everyone and everything in you.  

Me  : Maharishi, may I ask you a question.

Maharishi : Yes

Me  : May I now talk about you, if called upon.

Maharishi : Yes, not only about me; talk about me in you; talk about you in me; talk about me in all; talk about all in me; talk about everything in everyone and everyone in everything. 

Well, this conversation is what came to my mind when I visualised that I am just sitting before the Maharishi.  Forgive me for the remix.  Of course, it is a sample to prove my level of ignorance!  Nevertheless, a true account of the teaching of Ramana Maharishi will make this conversation meaningful and complete.  Once Maharishi gave a teaching to an American disciple, wherein He said, “Only one Consciousness, equally distributed everywhere.  You through illusion give It unequal distribution.  No distribution, no everywhere”.  These are the very words spoken by the Maharishi, as read in the “The Upanishadic Lore – In the light of the teachings of Bhagvan Sri Ramana” by “WHO” (1942).  How beautifully the Oneness is explained!

Further, I will be failing miserably if I do not give an account of the actual conversation which took place in 1935 between the Master and two Moslems (25th December 1935) (from “Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi”(1968), Published by Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai)

D : Has God a form?

M : Who says so?

D : Well, if God has no form is it proper to worship idols?

M : Leave God alone because He is unknown.  What about you? Have you a form?

D : Yes.  I am this and so and so.

M : So, then, you are a man with limbs, about three and a half cubits high, with beard etc.  Is it so?

D : Certainly

M : Then do you find yourself so in deep sleep?

D : After waking I perceive that I was asleep.  Therefore, by inference I remained thus in deep sleep also.

M : If you are the body why do they bury the corpse after death?  The body must refuse to be buried.

D : No, I am the subtle jiva within the gross body 

M : So you see that you are really formless; but you are at present identifying yourself with the body.  So long as you are formful why should you not worship the formless God as being formful?

The questioner was baffled and perplexed.  The sage thus diagnosed the disease due to ignorance of our true selves, and the consequent false assumption that the body is the self. Ultimately, we will have to apply the simplest and at the same time a very difficult formula given by the Maharishi ‘Who am I?” Application of this formula is perhaps the best way to invoke the Maharishi in ourselves and pave a way for wading away ignorance.  

Authored by Suresh Govindarajan, Founder, SIV-G and Published recently in 'Direct Path', a magazine published by the Ramana Kendra, New Delhi

 

A virtuous cycle is the one where one good thing leads to another good thing and the cyclic process goes on producing positive good effects all the time.  In a vicious cycle, on the contrary, one bad thing leads to another bad thing and here also the cyclic process goes on making its own effect.  It is very interesting to see how science, religion, spirituality and God form a virtuous cycle, perhaps that is the way they have been designed by the Almighty.

 

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind”, says the epigram of Einstein.  Objective scientific knowledge helps us to reach certain ends.  But there is something, which inspires us for moving towards the ends. And definitely, it comes from some other source, which Einstein believed to be from the religion.

 

The interdependence of science and religion has always been strongly felt.  Bertrand Russell puts this point clearly when he says, “…science can tell him how certain ends might be reached.  What it cannot tell him that he should pursue one end rather than the other”.

 

In fact, science helps human being to a greater extent in fulfilling the materialistic needs.  Whereas, religion goes beyond time-space-causality.   There are beautiful examples available to understand science and religion.  Take a Motor Car for instance.  Science can make a car.  But it cannot train the emotion of the driver so that he will stop it before a crawling baby and not run over.  Religion, on the other hand, cannot make a car but it can train the emotion of the driver so that he will not run it over the baby.

 

It would be interesting to see that the same science could also provide insights for understanding religion and more so, spirituality.   Perhaps, that is the reason why it is believed that in today’s world, self realization or realisation of God would happen through science or scientific religion, may we call it ‘sciencism’!!!!!!

 

Take for instance, the computers.  Just an analogy between computers and human being is a wonderful and meaningful exercise to derive valuable realisation.  The computer hardware and software when compared with human being, makes one understand and realise something interesting.  The hardware of the computers can be matched to the human body.  The computer software can be matched to the human mind.  The interface between the software and hardware, which is the most crucial element, which makes both work, is the binary pulse (electrical signal).  In the case of human being, it is the soul, which connects the mind and the body and operates not only the human beings but also the whole world in turn.  From this analogy, a realisation comes just as the binary pulse (electrical signal) which is the same in all computers, irrespective of their make and model all over the world, the soul in all human beings is also the same, with body and mind constituted differently.

 

In a similar way, ‘Religion’ can also be understood clearly through Science with yet another analogy.  Here the analogy should be made with the Satellite and its launching vehicle.  The purpose of a launching vehicle is to launch the satellite in the desired orbit and then to detach itself from it.  Imagine a situation wherein the satellite or the launching vehicle does not detach from each other after the launch.  It would create a chaos.  This is what exactly is happening with human being when it comes to religion.  The satellite-launching vehicle model is the perfect analogy for understanding the concept of religion and its purpose.  If the soul (jeevatma) is the satellite which has to be launched in to the orbit (spiritual path) to further progress and be merged with the paramathma, then the Religion is the launching vehicle.  The religion must take the soul up to the spiritual path (orbit).  After reaching the orbit, the religion seizes to exist.  In fact, during the journey of the launching vehicle, carrying the satellite, the launching vehicle is burnt out in phases and by the time the satellite is put in to the orbit, the launching vehicle does not exist at all!  Similarly, the purpose of a religion is only to act like a launching vehicle – to vanish after completion of mission.

 

Every launching vehicle (religion) is meant for the same purpose.  Let us see to ourselves, how different launching vehicles (religions) speak of definite attainable goal in more or less specific terms:

 

Launching vehicle 1 - Islam

 

O ye who believe! If ye fear God, 

He will make good your deliverance,

And will put away your sins from you,

And will forgive you,

God is of great bounteousness

(Koran, VIII.29)

 

Launching vehicle 2 - Christianity

 

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

(New Testament : St. Matthew V.8)

 

Launching vehicle 3 - Judaism

 

The Lord hath made known His salvation

His righteousness hath He openly showed

In the sight of the nations.

(Old Testament : Psalms XCVIII.2)

 

Launching vehicle 4 - Taoism

 

The Supreme is the Sanctuary where all things find refuge;

The good man’s priceless treasures,

The Guardian and Savior of him who is not good.

(Tao The Ching, LXII.1,4.)

 

Launching vehicle 5 - Zoroastrianism

 

O ye mortals! Mark these commandments

Which the wise Lord has given

For happiness and for pain;

Long punishment for evil doers,

Bliss for followers of truth,

Joy of salvation ever afterwards for the 

righteous!

(Yasna, XXX.II)

 

Launching vehicle 6 - Buddhism

 

By complete destruction of lust, hatred and 

Delusion devout men are no longer liable 

To suffering, and are assured of final

salvation.  

(Mahaparinibbana sutta II.27_

 

Launching vehicle 7 - Hinduism

 

The Knower of Brahman attains the highest

(Taittiriya Upanishad, II.1.I)

 

The difference exists only in their externals.  The world must now recognise that either there should be a universal ‘launching vehicle’ (religion) so that there is no difference and quarrels on externals or there should be a way to take the mass to go beyond the externals and get in to the internal.

 

But unfathomably, the bondage (mind being the binding force) between the satellite (soul) and the launching vehicle (religion) is so strong that even after the launch into the orbit, the satellite (soul) continues to attach itself with the launching vehicle (religion).  This leads to a situation where the satellite is not able to advance in the orbit (spiritual path) to merge with the eternity.  This also becomes the cause for all the differences and quarrels.  Such quarrels have become a universal phenomenon.

 

The realisation must come now that all these launching vehicles (religion) take us through different paths, but to a same destination - destination of liberation, salvation or merging of jivathma with paramathma or attaining the highest order, or in whatever way one wants to call it.  The end of the religion is the starting point of spirituality and the launching vehicles (religion) are no longer required after this point.  Thus, where the religion ends, the spirituality begins, and where the spirituality begins, the process of realising one’s identity with the Supreme Spirit gets activated.  When one continuously thinks, act and grow with a progressive sense of relationship with this realisation, one becomes more and more spiritual and ultimately, the God realisation or self-realisation is attained.   It is at this stage the awareness of knowing the known begins.  To put it in the words of Sir Arthur Eddington, a scientist, ‘We have found strange foot-prints on the shores of the unknown.  We have devised profound theories, one after another, to account for its origin.  At last, we have succeeded in reconstructing the creature that made the foot-print; and lo! It is our own!”.  After all, the bible also says, ‘The kingdom of heaven is within”.

 

Ultimately, all these give us a clue that the path to God is not through religion, but through spirituality after crossing the religion or even bye-passing religion.  Bagwan, in his own way observed, “Relative knowledge pertains to the mind and not to the Self.  It is therefore illusory and not permanent.  Take a scientist, for instance.  He formulates a theory that the Earth is round and goes on to prove it on an incontrovertible basis.  When he falls asleep the whole idea vanishes; his mind is left a blank.  What does it matter whether the world remains round or flat when he is asleep?  So you see the futility of all such relative knowledge.  One should go beyond relative knowledge and abide in the Self.  Real knowledge is such experience, and not apprehension by the mind”.  This virtuous cycle of science, religion, spirituality and God in the given order is the perfect design towards self - realisation.

 

- Govindarajan Suresh

Founder, Self Imposed Vigilance for Good Governance (SIV-G)

www.siv-g.org