Musings on The Wake Up Call for Sanatana Dharma

Swami ji’s recent posts begs the question: What can I do about it? This post is an attempt to answer the question for myself, and I am sharing it, as a lot of us are discovering the answer for ourselves.  There is no single answer, and you need to find what resonates with you. With that let’s start.

If you recall, Bhairavi Ma said to Swami ji

“ Many esoteric sciences have disappeared and you have to bring them to life.”

If Truth be told” (pg 188)

Summary of key points shared by Swami ji in his last 2 posts

1. 1. “The Vedic ideology is dying a slow death, it’s…. And the chief cause of that is just that: the absence of courage by its followers.”
   2. “The crisis in preserving the Vedic teachings for future generations is very real. 99% of our children don’t know even one verse of the Bhagavad Gita. Ask them anything related to Vedic scriptures and they are mostly clueless.”
   3.  “The dharma can advance only if we don’t make it about gurus and so-called custodians of religions but about principles. Dharma is much bigger than I am and it exists only because of you, its practitioners. “
   4.  “Now more than ever before, we need more courage, kindness, and truth in the world.”
   5. ” The way to revive the Vedic glory is not by negating or demonizing those who follow a different path but by introducing the extraordinary beauty of the Vedas to the world.”
   6. “It’s not just what I’m seeing but what I am foreseeing that concerns me. I feel compelled to do my two cents’ worth in preserving and passing on the teachings of the Vedas.”
   7. “Instead, rise up and vow to do something about the cause. Use your energy to not profess your love for me but to preserve, practice and propagate the Vedas.”

So, we recognize how important this mission is to Swami ji and he also said that is why he is here. We can use the above points as guidance along with self reflections to come up with what we should do.

What can we do about it?

We can look at this from three lenses of who is the medium in Divine Mother’s goal – Guru/Swami ji, Self, Family.

1. Swami ji/Guru-

First and foremost as we know Swami ji  is leading the efforts in reviving Dharma and Vedic culture through Sadhana app and other initiatives.

We should support this fully and

a. We, the devotees and followers of Dharma, should make our contributions, and see to it that there are enough funds for building the app, and all his causes.  We can also help raise funds through our friends and family who will connect to the cause.

b. Use the app regularly, and benefit from it.  I had shared here  how Sadhana app is the portkey to subtler & higher dimensions of consciousness. This will encourage others to be aware of the app.  Share the app with friends and family.

2. Self

The only person we can change is ourselves. We can influence our conduct only, and through that only influence others.  Hence we should begin with asking what I can do for “Self”

a. Our Conduct

Our conduct and the way we lead our life is paramount. No dry rituals can help us. It is in our conduct alone that we show to our society the values our Dharma/what we stand for actually is.

Example – If you think of Sikhism, you are reminded of the seva bhaav they show and how in any calamity there is a Sikh group serving.  You are reminded of Langar – where free food is provided to anyone.

Swami ji has shared with us above –  we need more courage, kindness, and truth in the world.

We have been guided on the path of a life which has

• Compassion/Kindness to others & self,
• Living with Gratitude, whatever life presents
• Truthful in our words. Courage to share our truth
• Be proud of our heritage, values and culture.

b. Work on Self Realization

Working on our own self realization is the biggest service we can do to mankind. The above conduct is a prerequisite for the same.

Besides conduct, we can pick up any path, which suits us – Mantra Sadhana, Meditation, Sri Vidya, Bhakti, Seva.  Many of these are Vedic, and Tantra paths, so by practicing and pursuing them we would anyway become a sadhak who inspires other sadhak.

In this path, Swami ji is guiding us, and for those who have taken initiation from Swami ji or any other Guru  they have been given the steps to follow every day. Keep up with your practice, and review your progress with Guru periodically.

The path of Mantra Sadhana, Yagna, and doing Sadhana as per Vedas has been a key part of the Swami ji’s path. He is guiding us on this path one step at a time, and some of us with whom this resonates, should learn to walk on this path, and realize our Self.

Be Aware & Practice It. Share it

Swami ji has shared

“The way to revive the Vedic glory is not by negating or demonizing those who follow a different path but by introducing the extraordinary beauty of the Vedas to the world.”

“Use your energy to not profess your love for me but to preserve, practice and propagate the Vedas.”

Can we hence work on the task of introducing the Vedas and it teachings to the world.  We begin by learning them ourselves and practicing their principles in our daily lives.

i. Bhagavad Gita – If you look at the pillars of Sanatana Dharma, Bhagavad Gita is one of the central one. Have we read this holy scripture? If not, we should look at ways to study and internalize Gita in our daily lives.

Bhagavad Gita also is a summary of Upanishads, and what more are direct words from the Lord’s mouth. Swami Vivekananda when he traveled as a monk, with minimal items, carried 2 books, Bhagavad Gita was one of them.

There are many places you can start, and a lot of good commentaries are there.

• There are many good courses by Chinmaya Mission, ISKCON,  Swami Mukunandananda and more. Indic Academy has various courses.
• Om Swami ji also has shared his commentary in audible.
• You can visit your local Ramakrishna Math/Ashram or Chinmaya Mission or any other Vedanta center where you can learn this.
• There is WhatsApp study group which I am part of and the link to join is here – https://chat.whatsapp.com/HWBgMUcQ3TS427uhvZi0Sn

ii. Upanishads – As you know Upanishads are texts that appear at the end of Vedas and showcase the philosophy or highest purpose of veda.  Once we have read Bhagavad Gita we can read some of the key Upanishads, like Isha, Mundaka, Katha, Chandogya. There are some excellent commentaries and videos on the same.  What is important is that we reflect on the teachings and internalize when we study and not just focus on rote learning.

iii. Divine Mother & Sri Hari – If you love divine mother, then reading Lalitha Sahasranama, and understanding its meanings is a great Sadhana. Chant it daily to see its impact. Here , a few of us have shared our experiences with LSN chanting.
If you love Sri Hari Bhagwaan, then chanting Vishnu Sahasranama, understanding its meaning can be your practice.

Once we have learnt and imbibed it, we can share our learnings of the Vedas through our own writings, videos, podcasts, so it reaches more. We do have a few devotees among us who are working on that.

Other Practices – 

• Are we visiting temples or places where you can have Satsang? Do we keep in touch with like minded devotees
• Do we read and reflect on our scriptures regularly?
• Do we remember God before eating our food and thanking him for that? Do we bring the divine in our presence before starting the daily work or in key meetings? Do we offer the fruits of our work each day before starting?
• Do we start the day with a prayer to divine in Gratitude? Do we end our day meditating on our Guru/Ishta and reflecting on our day.

You can pick the practices that resonate with you.

3. Family & Friends

We do have an ability to influence those who are in touch with us. Our degree of influence varies depending on the role we are playing. Like, if we have young children they look up to us and absorb a lot more.

Our conduct and our following of basic practices and our sharing of scriptures would make them aware of these.

Let us also be very clear that when we are proud of our heritage or share our path, we don’t negate or demonize those who follow a different path, but by introducing the extraordinary beauty of the Vedas to the world.

We should be full of love towards others from different paths, among those who agree or disagree.  Infact love is the only way we can overcome hatred, and love those who disagree with you, even more.  It is extremely hard, we recognize especially when faced with difference in opinion, or provocative situations, but Swami ji has shown his path of Love by numerous examples, and let us make him proud by following that.

So that is it my friends,  looking at this through the three lenses of Guru/Swami ji, Self, and Family & Friends, how we can act in doing our duty towards preventing further decline of our Vedic culture, values and practices. Let us work together to make Swami ji proud of his vanar sena (monkey brigade).

None of this is new, Swami ji has been guiding us on the path of self transformation since many years.  We just need to add few more elements and bring more focus and courage in our actions.

Let us choose our next steps carefully. Please leave in comments your thoughts and reflections.

ps: Sometimes we get overwhelmed by the problem, especially when we come in contact with a shocking truth. But remember, we are a medium, we  are a dot –  a dot when in harmony, can cause a domino effect. We should just do our part – like a tree who gives 260 pounds of oxygen per year, enough for a family of four.   We should not think we are the forest, but do our bit well. Together all of us can be the forest.

We may not be able to solve the full problem, and we should not get attached to outcome (BG 2.47), but be happy to do our bit, carefully, cleverly and with full intention. Leave the rest to Divine Mother to guide us. 🙏Om Sri Matreh Namah🙏