||हरी ॐ तत्सत|| - Hari Aum Tat Sat

For those of you who know me, you know that I love to use the phrase: Hari Aum Tat Sat. Some have questioned what the meaning behind this phrase is. Without fail, it always leaves that person thinking more in-depth about things. I shall endeavour to explain the relevance of this phrase.

Before I do go ahead with an explanation, let me start with a bit of background information about the phrase. I originally "discovered" the phrase after my mother had booked tickets for the 2 of us to see the Morari Bapu Ram Katha in Dubai in 2005, through Hari Aum Holidays (located in Southall). Despite the Katha being cancelled, the tavel agency put together a tour of Dubai instead. I had never travelled to Dubai, so for me it was an exciting prospect. My mother has been to Dubai so many times, I'm suprised she isn't employed as a tour guide for the country.

Now, upon arriving Abu Dhabi airport (don't ask why we didn't fly direct to Dubai airport), we were greeted with a coach which was kept together by carpet tape. After filling the luggage compartment with tonnes of luggage (bearing in mind the tour group consisted of about 60 people- all Hindu Gujurati's), a Johnny Lever lookalike greeted us with a bellowing "HARI AUM". To which the under 25's all sniggered, and the over 25's replied in a rather feable manner with the same phrase. This was my first actual encounter with the phrase, and from then on, every morning, every time we got on to the coach during the tour, we were faced with that magnificent phrase. When I came back to the UK, this phrase became "my thing", and I spread the love amongst everyone near and dear to me.


After the original formation of the Hari Aum Millitants (HAM- Miran, Vikesh and myself being the millitant aspect), we opted to change the name to something less threatening, so we just stuck to Hari Aum. The original idea of HAM was to spread Hindu awareness amongst the people, whilst showing people a more spiritual path. The same applies now, although we're more about the spiritual aspect of life. For more information, the "Hari Aum - It's A Way Of Life" group exists on the almighty Facebook, whilst the Hari Aum website is under construction.

Now, enough about the small talk, let me explain to you the meaning behind Hari Aum Tat Sat. I'll break it down for you, word by word. This phrase originates from Sanskrit.


Translation word for word:

Hari - Immanent Reality

Aum - Transcendent Reality

Tat - Both are

Sat - Truth

Therefore, "Immanent Reality and Transcendental Reality are Both the Truth."

Now, I can tell you have a rather confused look on your face, I did too. But I'll explore the concept further, so you can fully understand.

Immanent Reality: "Immanent" is defined as being within the limits of possible experience or knowledge. In this case, it refers to God or the Supreme Being being within our grasp, in a sense that we are able to reach him (or her) through the things we can see, feel and touch. A perfect example is idol worship. A stern belief in worshipping idols brings us to believe that we are closer to God, that if we perform certain duties to the idol, then we are blessed in someway. I am in no way criticising this particular method, it is absolutely fine. If idol worship brings one closer with God, then who am I to stop someone from doing so. Effectively, God is manifested in the world.

Transcendental Reality: "Transcendental" can be defined as something that is beyond common thought or experience; mystical or supernatural. So the opposite of Immanent, something that we cannot see, feel or touch. This means that God is completely outside of and beyond the world. A prime example of this is meditation, where we aim to reach a higher state of mind, state of being in order to reach God. Rather than worshipping an idol to reach God, we use ourselves to reach God.

Both are: Self explanitory really, refers to both the mentioned subjects.

Truth: Again, fairly self explanitory. Both are undeniably inseparable.


Now, you may be thinking (hopefully) that both terms contradict one another. Ofcourse they do, but is that not the same as everything else created within the universe? For man, there's woman. For right there's wrong. For left there's right. For the sun there's the moon and so on. And in all these cases, aren't both terms the truth?

One cannot function without the other.

This is only the beginning of such an in-depth topic. If you would like to discuss this further, then please leave a comment on my wall with your e-mail address, and I'll be more than happy to get back to you.

Hari Aum Tat Sat

हरी ॐ तत्सत

The Power Of Music..

Music. The most powerful tool to unlock a human being. We hear music all the time, but we barely ever listen to it. Okay, I'm not talking about your average 50 per-cent song, but songs with meaning. Instrumentals more notably. There is so much love, passion, feeling and power contained within each song, and it's waiting to be unlocked. All you have to do is listen.

Sit back (cup of tea in hand, preferbly), press play on the above video, and just listen to the music. Feel the power. Feel the passion. Feel the love. It's all there, your ears are the key.

The song is a keyboard version of "Sanu Ek Pal Chain Na Aave, Sajana Tere Bina" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. This means "I can't get one moment of peace, without you my dear".

Enjoy.

What is the point?

Religion. Most people have one, most of them believe in it, most of them practice it.



It is said to be the cause of all war's. True to a certain degree. Where does it begin? With those that take their religion a little too far.



Now I'm not one to say that we shouldn't take religion seriously, because I'm an active Hindu. But when people start formulating their own idea's of certain texts and aspects of faith, without full knowledge and background, that's when, as the saying goes, "shit gets messy". A prime example of "shit getting messy" is on a particular Facebook group; "The Sick Truth About Hinduism"; where the admins of the group appear to be of the Sikh faith, and are spreading malicious rumours about Hindu rituals and pastimes. Now cleverly they have created a reference list to show where their information has been obtained from, but upon closer research I found that all of the discussions and topics have been taken from an Anti-Hindu website, which is run by those of the Muslim faith.

Subsequently, I let the group know that I'm fully aware of where the information is from, and that I'm fully aware of the truth that the Administrators of the group are not of the Sikh faith, but are followers of Islam. When a certain "Gulab Singh" (which is the name of a Sikh freedom fighter, and the first Maharaj of Jammu & Kashmir) read my comments, I was blocked from posting any more messages.

Now, I have no problems with people who want to discuss issues related to Hinduism, however controversial, but when people can't handle arguments against their own and go off on a tangent, that's when it gets irritating. Especially since I have been blocked from making any comments, it shows the blatent cowardice of those opposed to my views. If you can't stand the heat, you better get out the kitchen is probably the best way to put it.

What I'm trying to get at in essence, is that if people are willing to start such a controversial issue, and truly believe what they saying is right, then understand what I say and argue against it. Excuse my language, but DON'T PUSSY OUT OF A DEBATE. I love debates, and have done since primary school (my first experience was when we re-enacted the House of Commons in year 5 with Miss Jackson - how many of my fellow Barley Lane companions remember that?). And I like to think that I keep an open and rational mind when it comes to such debates, but if the opposing party cannot reciprocate I ask you this- what is the point?

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who matter don't mind, and those that mind, don't matter"

~Dr Seuss

First and Foremost..

Well, I have now entered the world of the blogging. Before today.. I lie, before about half an hour ago, I hadn't the faintest idea what this blogging lark was all about. But after a quick fire search on the webs most reliable resource of information (aka Wikipedia), I have been "well informed" (if such a thing exists) on how this all works. And now I'm a blogger.

Where to start.. The beginning is always a good place, I suppose. The simple reason for me to start a blog is so I can share my thoughts with the world. Many of you are under the impression that my moments of silence are a sign of my connection with a certain Homer J. Simpson. How wrong you are (most of the time). No, I do not picture a monkey banging a pair of cymbals whilst doing back flips in my quiet times. Quite the contrary, in fact. My time is better spent understanding the deeper concepts of life, much of which will be honoured with a space on this blog.

But before I do move on to the nitty gritty, let me take a minute to explain the meaning of the blog.

The name of my "blog spot" is Chai Corner. "Chai", roughly translated, means Tea. Better yet, it is the name given to tea in Asian countries, which generally consists of milk, water, sugar and plenty of masala (herbs and spices). I love chai. I believe that a good cup of chai first thing in the morning (or any time of the day) will give you a boost, no matter what you have to do or what you have planned. The masala gives it that extra kick (for those of you who are interested to know more, feel free to join the Facebook group "The Indian Masala Tea Appreciation Society").

The name given to this particular blog space is "Pyar Vali Chai". Translated, this means "Tea made with Love", which is exactly what is required to make a good cuppa chai. It's not always about the ingredients that you physically use, but what goes in to the making of it.

Now that I've explained what this is all about, I'm going to let you carry on with your daily tasks. Chances are that nobody will really read this, but I don't care. It's a place for me to express myself and my views. If you happen to stumble across this blog, I hope that you do enjoy what is to come.

Each post will end with a quote or a picture, to clear out some of the cobwebs we have building upstairs. Today, I shall end with both.

Hari Aum Tat Sat

"We turn to God when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them" (Author Unknown)