Sunday, October 20, 2019

Q & A between a devotee and Mr.Wisdom !!


   Recently I happened to meet an elderly couple and the lady is a pious devotee of Lord Shiva. This person never misses to worship Pradosham no matter which part of the world she is. Seeing people like her and few others in my day to day life, reading Arthamulla Indumadam  I wanted to pen a blog on religious matters. I will present the blog in a Q&A manner and Mr.Wisdom is a fiction character I will have to respond to my questions. I will be asking questions from a common Devotee’s point of view.

Sundarbuddy: I have been worshiping pretty regularly and even observe viradham and involve myself in religious activities but unfortunately my requests are not answered by God ? Why ?
Mr.Wisdom: The same question is there amongst all young generation, people feel I have gone to padhayatra, I have observed viradham, I have offered pooja, I have taken Irumudi, I have taken Kavadi, Paal kudam etc., but nothing really works. The key is “Faith” ..no matter what you do but if you do not have full faith in god then that may not bring you desired results. Unfortunately today’s generation want everything fast right from food, dress etc., patience is something they have not experienced. Once you have faith and patience prayers are answered in fact answered in much better way.

Sundarbuddy: There is a construction going on in a Temple and really wish I can do for much for the temple but financial constraints are not allowing me to sponsor much. How am I to cope ?
Mr.Wisdom: I can understand your feeling, see not everyone can sponsor financially. If your intent is good you can try to do good in many ways. For example you can volunteer and sponsor time, refer friends and help temple for volunteering in different areas, you can bring guys on board who can cut down costs for the Temple by either selling their products or services; Bottom line there are many different ways you can help the temple. Almighty knows everything, many people in India are so very economically weak and lord blesses everyone and people can do to the best of their ability. If your financial status allows you to sponsor you should sponsor and consider yourself very blessed to do that.

Sundarbuddy: What is your take on VIP darshan?
Mr.Wisdom: Let us take Lord Athivaradar, he came and talk of the state was about him. Priest made money, temples made money, Kancheepuram businesses like hotels, lodges, restaurants, Transports all made money…but Lord Athivaradar came and went inside silently. Just to segregate crowds based on time availability for devotees there has to be mechanisms and one such thing is VIP darshan ….if Superstar comes in normal queue then how to control crowd ? I am not defending VIP dharshan ….if something disturbs you coming in VIP darshan then go in normal queue.

Sundarbuddy: Why do we have many temples nowadays?
Mr.Wisdom: In 1990’s Tambaram used to be Chennai outskirts but now it looks like it is in middle of the city. Such is the state of expansion and it is practically impossible for people to commute long distances to visit temples on weekdays; Hence we are seeing more new temples in every locality.

Sundarbuddy: I feel visiting Pazhani on Thaipusam day, Sabarimala on Mandalam day but scared about the crowd too …what am I to do?
Mr.Wisdom: There is no right or wrong thing ….You can choose to go whenever your personal space allows. God expects true bhakthi and he will always bless you whatever day you go; That being said if your schedule allows you to go on those particular days then you can very well go and you may just have to be prepared with huge crowd.

Sundarbuddy: Your take on Pariharam?
Mr.Wisdom: You take a course and then you score poor marks, your next step will be how to improve my scores. Pariharam is one such thing to improve things in life and unfortunately it is commercialized and some people start losing hope on it.

Sundarbuddy: Your take on Astrology and 7.5 years sani?
Mr.Wisdom: Astrology is a beautiful subject and it is like an ocean. Problem is middleman in the name of astrologers know 50% of the subject and try to teach us where we get only 30-40%; Overall we don’t get to understand things fully. 7.5 years Sani is law of nature, one must undergo that phase no matter who you are. It will teach you what life is all about and once you come over you will be a much matured human being.

Sundarbuddy: Some temples hold lots of significance but personally not able to go, what am I to do?
Mr.Wisdom: No matter which temple you go but always pray with Faith. Let me take Thirukadaiyur for example, this is one temple which is busy all 365 days in a year; It holds lots of significance and once you try to understand its significance you will start to appreciate more. Once again if your personal space allows to visit certain temples on the days you want consider yourself very blessed else pick any temple of your choice and pray with full faith.

Sundarbuddy: I see temples are too crowded and once people occupy spots they don’t move. What am I to do?
Mr.Wisdom: Yes ..this happens, people should be considerate and allow everyone to worship. Next time you face this situation try to worship and leave room for the next person and am sure you will have more sense of satisfaction.

Sundarbuddy: Your take on natural calamity and environmental damages?
Mr.Wisdom: This is purely due to greedy nature of human beings. If animals have FB account they would pose a selfie with a post saying people are occupying our land since now we see other way around. It is high time young generation take measures to improve mother nature since their future generation needs a good environment to live.

Sundarbuddy: People settle abroad due to several factors but some still care about where they were brought up and try to donate in every possible way; I see some completely neglecting their home country and it is very disappointing to see these folks? Your take
Mr.Wisdom: Desa bhakthi and Theiva Bhakthi are two things and it is like asking physics question in a biology question paper. So sorry this question is out of syallabus

Sundarbuddy: These days we see too much of competition even for religious organizations and we see so many people contesting elections, your thoughts?
Mr.Wisdom: This is very interesting trend that is happening …In a way it is good since people are signing up to volunteer their time. All this election, Title is like a fantasy …if you really want to service God title doesn’t matter; Some may say Title gives you more authority to pursue things which is true but God knows everything and you can render your service to God unconditionally and he is ready to accept.

Sundarbuddy: Unfortunately in this competitive world everything is considered as a race and Padhayatra is no different ..your take?
Mr.Wisdom: Well Padhayatra is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy mother nature and experience the bliss; Very unfortunate if people consider this as a race …You helping fellow devotees and having a nice conversations with fellow walkers spreading love can be a very memorable experience. Consider yourself lucky and blessed if your physical fitness allows you to reach the destination faster.

Sundarbuddy: I feel it is not fair to inherit bad karma due to my forefathers ? Your take on this
Mr.Wisdom: This is simple law of nature …You inherit both good and bad deeds due to you and your forefathers, like how we accept assets from forefathers we also have to accept  their wrong doings.

Sundarbuddy: I was very excited that we as a family was about to host a Pooja, but then realized my wife had Chums and it was very disappointing not to host the pooja? How to cope up with this?
Mr.Wisdom: No one can control everything beforehand, things like these do happen but your intent and Bhakthi is important. Be assured that later we will know that things happened for a better cause.

Though I have written the blog, I myself do not follow some of the things mentioned. Worship is all about faith and spreading love to near and dear ones.

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