TEN FANTASTIC ANSWERS.........................

Shortly after producing "LOOKING INTO HINDUISM...FROM MY POINT OF VIEW", I came across an article entitled ' TEN QUESTIONS ABOUT HINDUISM AND TEN TERRIFIC ANSWERS' which has been published by Hinduism Today with a well defined goal of educating Hindus and non-Hindus about what is considered to be the ten most provocative questions in Hinduism...The answers to these questions have been given by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. The answers were given in subtlety and transparency, that I felt obliged to share this piece of information with the fellow members out there, in an effort to bring us out of the veil of darkness...


TEN QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK ABOUT HINDUISM AND TEN TERRIFIC ANSWERS

1. Why does Hinduism have so many Gods?

Contrary to prevailing misconceptions, Hindus all worship a one Supreme Being,though by different names.This is because the peoples of India with different languages and
cultures have understood the one God in their own distinct way.Through history there arose four principal Hindu denominations—Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism. For Sai vites, God is Siva. For Shaktas, Goddess Shakti is supreme. For Vaishnavites,Lord Vishnu is God. For Smartas—who see all Deities as reflections of the One God—the choice of Deity is left to the devotee. This liberal Smart perspective is well known, but it is not the prevailing Hindu view. Due to this diversity, Hindus are profoundly tolerant of other religions,respecting the fact that each has its own pathway to the one God. One of the unique understandings
in Hinduism is that God is not far away, living in a remote heaven, but is inside each and every soul, in the heart and consciousness,waiting to be discovered.This knowing that God is always with us gives us hope and courage. Knowing the One Great
God in this intimate and experiential way is the goal of Hindu spirituality.

Elaboration: Hinduism is both monotheistic and henotheistic. Hindus were never polytheistic, in the sense that there are many equal Gods. Henotheism (literally
“one God”) better defines the Hindu view. It means the worship of one God without denying the existence of other Gods. We Hindus believe in the one all-pervasive God who energizes the entire universe. We can see Him in the life shining out of the eyes of humans and all creatures. This view of God as existing in and giving life to all things is called panentheism. It is different from pantheism, which is the belief
that God is the natural universe and nothing more. It is also different from strict theism which says God is only above the world, apart and transcendent. Panentheism
is an all-encompassing concept. It says that God is both in the world and beyond it, both immanent and transcendent. That is the highest Hindu view. Hindus also believe in many Gods who perform various functions, like executives in a large corporation. These should not be confused with the Supreme God.
These Divinities are highly advanced beings who have specific duties and powers—not unlike the heavenly spirits, overlords or archangels revered in other faiths. Each denomination worships the Supreme God and its own pantheon of divine beings.
What is sometimes confusing to non-Hindus is that Hindus of various sects may call the one God by many different names, according to their denomination
or regional tradition. Truth for the Hindu has many names, but that does not make for many truths. Hinduism gives us the freedom to approach God in our own way, encouraging a multiplicity of paths, not asking for conformity to just one. There is much confusion about this subject, even among Hindus. Learn the right terms and the
subtle differences in them, and you can explain the profound ways Hindus look at Divinity. Others will be delighted with the richness of the Indian concepts of God. You may wish to mention that some Hindus believe only in the formless Absolute Reality as God; others believe in God as personal Lord and Creator. This freedom makes the understanding of God in Hinduism, the oldest living religion, the richest in all of Earth’s existing faiths.

2.Do Hindus believe in reincarnation?

Carnate means “of flesh,” and reincarnate means to “reenter the flesh.” Yes, Hindus
believe in reincarnation. To us, it explains the natural way the soul evolves from immaturity to spiritual illumination. Life and death are realities for all of us.
Hinduism believes that the soul is immortal, that it never dies, but inhabits one body after another on the Earth during its evolutionary journey. Like the caterpillar’s transformation into a butterfly, physical death is a most natural
transition for the soul, which survives and, guided by karma, continues its long pilgrimage until it is one with God. I myself have had many lives
before this one and expect to have more. Finally, when I have it all worked out and all the lessons have been learned, I will attain enlightenment and moksha,
liberation. This means I will still exist, but will no longer be pulled back to be born in a physical body. Even modern science is discovering reincarnation. There have
been many cases of individuals’ remembering their past lives. These have been researched by scientists, psychiatrists and parapsychologists during the past decades
and documented in good books and videos. Young children speak of vivid past-life memories, which fade as they grow older, as the veils of individuality shroud the soul’s intuitive understanding. Great mystics speak of their past lives as well. So do our ancient scriptures, the Vedas, reveal the reality of reincarnation. Reincarnation is believed in by the Jains and the Sikhs, by the Indians of the Americas, and by the Buddhists, certain Jewish sects, the Pagans and the many indigenous faiths. Even Christianity originally taught reincarnation, but formally renounced it in the twelfth century. It is, in fact, one of the widest held articles
of faith on planet Earth.

Elaboration: At death the soul leaves the physical body. But the soul does not die. It lives on in a subtle body called the astral body. The astral body exists in the nonphysical dimension called the astral plane, which is also the world we are in during our dreams at night when we sleep. Here we continue to have experiences until we are reborn again in another physical body as a baby. Each reincarnating soul chooses a home and a family which can best fulfill its next step of learning and maturation. After many lifetimes of following dharma, the soul is fully matured in love, wisdom and knowledge of God. There is no longer a need for physical birth, for all lessons have been learned, all karmas fulfilled. That soul is then liberated, freed from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.Evolution then continues in the more refined spiritual worlds. Similarly, after we graduate from elementary school we never have to go back to the fifth grade. We have gone beyond that level in understanding. Thus, life’s ultimate goal is not money, not clothes, not sex, not power, not food or any other of the instinctive needs. These are natural pursuits, but our real purpose on this Earth is to know, to love and to serve God and the Gods. That leads to the rare and priceless objects of life: enlightenment and liberation. This Hindu view of the soul’s evolution answers many otherwise bewildering questions, removing the fear of death while giving assurance that each soul is evolving toward the same spiritual destiny, for the Hindu believes that karma and reincarnation are leading every single soul to God Realization.


3. What is karma?

Karma is one of the natural laws of the mind, just as gravity is a law of
matter. Just as God created gravity to bring order to the physical world, He created karma as a divine system of justice that is self-governing and infinitely
fair. It automatically creates the appropriate future experience in response to the current action. Karma simply means “action” or “cause and effect.” When something
happens to us that is apparently unfortunate or unjust, it is
not God punishing us. It is the result of our own past actions. The Vedas, Hinduism’s revealed scripture, tell us if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Thus we create our own destiny through thought and action. And the divine law is: whatever karma we are experiencing in our life is just what we need at the moment, and nothing can happen but that we have the strength to meet it. Even harsh karma, when faced in wisdom, can be the greatest catalyst for spiritual growth. Understanding the way karma works, we seek to live a good and virtuous life through right thought, right speech and right action. This is
called dharma.

Elaboration: Karma is basically energy. I throw energy out through thoughts, words and deeds, and it comes back to me, in time, through other people. Karma is our best teacher, for we must always face the consequences of our actions and thus improve
and refine our behavior, or suffer if we do not. We Hindus look at time as a circle, as things cycle around again. Professor Einstein came to the same conclusion. He saw time as a curve, and space as well. This would eventually make a circle. Karma
is a very just law which, like gravity, treats everyone the same. Because we Hindus understand karma, we do not hate or resent people who do us harm. We understand
they are giving back the effects of the causes we set in motion at an earlier time. The law of karma puts man at the center of responsibility for everything he does and everything that is done to him. Karma is a word we hear quite often on television. “This is my karma,” or “It must have been something I did in a past life to bring such good karma to me.” We hear karma simply defined as “What goes around, comes
around.” In some schools of Hinduism, karma is looked upon as something bad—perhaps because we are most aware of this law when we are facing difficult karma, and not so aware of it when life is going smoothly. Even some Hindus equate karma with sin, and this is what evangelical Christians preach that it means. Many people believe that karma means “fate,” a preordained destiny over which one has no control, which is also untrue. The process of action and reaction on all levels—physical, mental
and spiritual—is karma. Here is an example. I say kind words to you, and you feel peaceful and happy. I say harsh words to you, and you become ruffled and upset.
The kindness and the harshness will return to me, through others, at a later time. This is karma. An architect thinks creative, productive thoughts while drawing plans for a new building. But were he to think destructive, unproductive thoughts, he would
soon not be able to accomplish any kind of positive task even if he desired to do so. This is karma, a natural law of the mind. We must also be very careful about our thoughts, because thought.


4. Why Do Hindus worship the cow?

Hindus regard all living creatures as sacred—mammals, fishes, birds and more. We acknowledge this reverence for life in our special affection for the cow. At festivals we decorate and honor her, but we do not worship her in the sense that we worship the Deity. To the Hindu, the cow symbolizes all other creatures. The cow is a symbol of the Earth, the nourisher, the ever-giving, undemanding provider. The cow represents life and the sustenance of life. The cow is so generous, taking nothing but water, grass and grain. It gives and gives and gives of its milk, as does the liberated soul give of his spiritual knowledge. The cow is so vital to life, the virtual sustainer of life, for many humans. The cow is a symbol of grace and abundance. Veneration of the cow instills in Hindus the virtues of gentleness, receptivity and connectedness with nature.

Elaboration: Who is the greatest giver on planet Earth today? Who do we see on every table in every country of the world— breakfast, lunch and dinner? It is the cow. McDonald’s cow-vending golden arches and their rivals have made fortunes on the humble cow. The generous cow gives milk and cream, yogurt and cheese, butter and ice cream, ghee and buttermilk. It gives entirely of itself through sirloin, ribs, rump, porterhouse and beef stew. Its bones are the base for soup broths and glues. It gives the world leather belts, leather seats, leather coats and shoes, beef jerky cowboy hats—you name it. The only cow-question for Hindus is, “Why don’t more people respect and protect this remarkable creature?” Mahatma Gandhi once said, “One can measure the greatness of a nation and its moral progress by the way it treats its animals. Cow protection to me is not mere protection of the cow. It means protection of all that lives and is helpless and weak in the world. The cow means the entire subhuman world.” In the Hindu tradition, the cow is honored, garlanded and given special feedings at festivals all over India, most importantly the annual Gopashtama festival. Demonstrating how dearly Hindus love their cows, colorful cow jewelry and clothing is sold at fairs all over the Indian countryside. From a young age, Hindu
children are taught to decorate the cow with garlands, paint and ornaments. Her nature is epitomized in Kamadhenu, the divine, wish-fulfilling cow. The cow and her sacred gifts—milk and ghee in particular—are essential elements in Hindu worship, penance and rites of passage. In India, more than 3,000 institutions called Gaushalas, maintained by charitable trusts, care for old and infirm cows. And while many Hindus are not vegetarians, most respect the still widely held code of abstaining from eating beef. By her docile, tolerant nature, the cow exemplifies the cardinal virtue of Hinduism, noninjury, known as ahimsa. The cow also symbolizes
dignity, strength, endurance, maternity and selfless service. In the Vedas, cows represent wealth and joyous Earthly life. From the Rig Veda (4.28.1;6) we read. “The cows have come and have brought us good fortune. In our stalls, contented, may they stay! May they bring forth calves for us, many-colored, giving milk for Indra each day. You make, O cows, the thin man sleek; to the unlovely you bring beauty. Rejoice our homestead with pleasant lowing. In our assemblies we laud your vigor.”


5. Are Hindus idol worshipers?

The stone or metal deity images in Hindu temples and shrines are not mere symbols of the Gods. They are the form through which their love, power and blessings flood
forth into this world. We may liken this mystery to our ability to communicate with others through the telephone. We do not talk to the telephone; rather we use it as a means of communication with another person. Without the telephone, we could not
converse across long distances; and without the sanctified icon in the temple, we cannot easily commune with the Deity. Divinity can also be invoked and felt in
a sacred fire, or in a tree, or in the enlightened person of a satguru. In our temples, God is invoked in the sanctum by highly trained priests. Through the practice of yoga, or meditation, we invoke God inside ourselves. Yoga means to yoke oneself to God within. The image or icon of worship is a focus for our prayers and devotions. Another way to explain icon worship is to acknowledge that Hindus believe God is everywhere, in all things, whether stone, wood, creatures or people. So, it is not surprising that they feel comfortable worshiping the Divine in His material manifestation. The Hindu can see God in stone and water, fire, air and ether, and inside his own soul. Indeed, there are Hindu temples which have in the sanctum sanctorum no image at all but a yantra, a symbolic or mystic diagram. However, the sight of the image enhances the devotee’s worship.

Elaboration: In Hinduism one of the ultimate attainments is when the seeker transcends the need of all form and symbol. This is the yogi’s goal. In this way Hinduism is the least idol-oriented of all the religions of the world. There is no religion that is more aware of the transcendent, timeless, formless, causeless Truth. Nor is there any religion which uses more symbols to represent Truth in preparation for that realization. Humorously speaking, Hindus are not idle worshipers. I have never seen a Hindu worship in a lazy or idle way. They worship with great vigor and devotion, with unstinting regularity and constancy. There’s nothing idle about our ways of worship! (A little humor never hurts.) But, of course, the question is about “graven images.” All religions have their symbols of holiness through which the sacred flows into the mundane. To name a few: the Christian cross, or statues of Mother Mary and Saint Theresa, the holy Kaaba in Mecca, the Sikh Adi Granth enshrined in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Arc and Torah of the Jews, the image of a meditating Buddha, the totems of indigenous and Pagan faiths, and the artifacts of the holy men and women of all religions. Such
icons, or graven images, are held in awe by the followers of the respective faiths. The question is, does this make all such religionists idol worshipers? The answer is, yes and no. From our perspective, idol worship is an intelligent, mystical practice shared by all of the world’s great faiths. The human mind releases itself from suffering through the use of forms and symbols that awaken reverence, evoke sanctity and spiritual wisdom. Even a fundamentalist Christian who rejects all forms of idol worship, including those of the Catholic and Episcopal churches, would resent someone who showed disrespect for his Bible. This is because he considers it sacred. His book and the Hindu’s icon are much alike in this way. Are Hindus idol worshipers? Hindus do not worship a stone or metal “idol” as God. We worship God through the image. We invoke the presence of God from the higher, unseen worlds, into the image so that we can commune with Him and receive His blessings.


6. Are Hindus forbidden to eat meat?

Our religion does not lay down rigid “do’s and don’ts.” There are no commandments.
Hinduism gives us the wisdom to make up our own mind on what we put in our body, for it is the only one we have—in this life, at least. Vegetarians are more numerous in the South of India than in the North. This is because of the North’s cooler climactic conditions and past Islamic influence. Priests and religious leaders are definitely vegetarian, so as to maintain a high level of purity and spiritual
consciousness to fulfill their responsibilities, and to awaken the refined areas of their nature. Soldiers and law-enforcement officers are generally not vegetarians, because they have to keep alive their aggressive forces in order to perform their work. To practice yoga and be successful in meditation, it is mandatory to be vegetarian. It is a matter of wisdom—the application of knowledge at any given moment. Today, about twenty percent of all Hindus are vegetarians.


Elaboration: This can be a touchy subject. There are several ways to respond, depending on who is asking and the background in which he was raised. But the
overlying principle that defines the Hindu answer to this query is ahimsa—refraining from injuring, physically, mentally or emotionally, anyone or any living creature. The Hindu who wishes to strictly follow the path of noninjury naturally adopts a vegetarian diet. It’s a matter of conscience more than anything else. When we eat meat, fish, fowl and eggs, we absorb the vibration of the instinctive creatures into our nerve system. This chemically alters our consciousness and amplifies our lower nature, which is prone to fear, anger, jealousy, confusion, resentment and the like. Many Hindu swamis advise followers to be well-established vegetarians prior to initiation into mantra, and to remain vegetarian thereafter. But most do\ not insist upon vegetarianism for those not seeking initiation. Swamis have learned that families who are vegetarian have fewer problems than those who are not. Poignant scriptural citations counsel against eating meat. The Yajur Veda (36.18) calls for kindliness toward all creatures living on the Earth, in the air and in the water. The Tirukural, a 2,200- year-old masterpiece of ethics, states, “When a man realizes that meat is the butchered flesh of another creature, he will abstain from eating it” (257). The Manu Dharma Shastras state, “Having well considered the origin of flesh and the cruelty of fettering and slaying corporeal beings, let one entirely abstain from eating flesh,” and “When the diet is pure, the mind and heart are pure.” For guidance in this and all matters, Hindus also rely on their own guru, community elders, their own conscience and their knowledge of the benefits of abstaining from meat and enjoying a wholesome vegetarian diet. Of course, there are good Hindus who eat meat, and there are not-so-good Hindus who are vegetarians.
Today in America and Europe millions of people are vegetarians because they want to live a long time and be healthy. Many feel a moral obligation to shun the mentality of violence to which meat-eating gives rise. There are good books on vegetarianism,
such as Diet for a New America. There is also a fine magazine called Vegetarian Times. The booklet “How to Win an Argument with a Meat-Eater” is online at: www.himalayanacademy.com/ books/pamphlets/WinMeatEaterArgument.html.
Are Hindus forbidden to eat meat? Hindus teach vegetarianism as a way to live with a minimum of hurt to other beings. But in today’s world not all Hindus are vegetarians.


7. Do Hindus have a Bible?

Like the Taoist's Tao Te Ching, the Buddhist Dhammapada, the Sikh Adi Granth, the
Jewish Torah, the Christian Bible and the Muslim Koran—the Veda is the Hindu holy book. The four books of the Vedas—Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva—include over 100,000 verses. The knowledge imparted by the Vedas ranges from earthy devotion to high philosophy. Their words and wisdom permeate Hindu thought, ritual and meditation. The Vedas are the ultimate scriptural authority for Hindus. Their oldest portions are said by some to date back as far as 6,000 bce, orally transmitted for most of history and written down in Sanskrit in the last few millennia, making them the world’s longest and most ancient scripture. The Vedas open a rare window into ancient Indian society, proclaiming life’s sacredness and the way to oneness with God.

Elaboration: For untold centuries unto today, the Vedas have remained the sustaining force and authoritative doctrine, guiding followers in ways of worship, duty and enlightenment. The Vedas are the meditative and focus for millions of monks and a billion seekers. Their are chanted from memory by priests and laymen daily as liturgy in temple worship and domestic ritual. All Hindus wholeheartedly accept the Vedas, yet each draws selectively, interprets freely and amplifies abundantly. Over time, this tolerant allegiance has woven the varied tapestry of Indian Hindu Dharma. (priestly manuals), Aran yakas (forest treatises) and Upanishads (enlightened discourses). The Samhitas and Brahmanas affirm that God is immanent and transcendent and prescribe ritual worship, mantra and devotional hymns to establish communication with the spiritual worlds. The hymns are invocations to the One Divine and to the Divinities of nature, such as the Sun, the Rain, the Wind, the Fire and the Dawn— as well as prayers for matrimony, progeny, prosperity, concord, protection, domestic rites and more. The Aranyakas and Upanishads outline the soul’s evolutionary journey, provide yogic philosophical training and propound realization of man’s oneness with God as the destiny of all souls. Today, the Vedas are published in Sanskrit, English, French, German and other languages. But it is the popular, metaphysical Upanishads that have been most amply and ably translated.
Vedas advise:
“Let there be no neglect of Truth.
Let there be no neglect of dharma.
Let there be no neglect of welfare.
Let there be no neglect of prosperity.
Let there be no neglect of study and teaching.
Let therebe no neglect of the duties to theGods and the ancestors” (Taittiriya
Upanishad 1.11.1). “United your resolve, united your hearts, may your spirits be one, that you may long together dwell in unity and concord!” (Rig Veda 10.191.4). “There, where there is no darkness, nor night, nor day, nor being, nor nonbeings, there is the Auspicious One, alone, absolute and eternal. There is the glorious
splendor of that Light from whom in the beginning sprang ancient wisdom” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4.18). “Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad, one should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation. Stretching it with a thought
directed to the essence of That, penetrate that Imperishable as the mark, my friend” (Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.3).


8. Why do many Hindus wear a dot
near the middle of their forehead?


The dot worn between the eyes or in the middle of the forehead is a sign that one is a Hindu. It is called the bindi in the Hindi language, bindu in Sanskrit and pottu in
Tamil. In olden days, all Hindu men and women wore these marks, and they both also wore earrings. Today it is the women who are most faithful in wearing the bindi.
dot has a mystical meaning. It represents the third eye of spiritual sight, which sees things the physical eyes cannot see. Hindus seek to awaken their inner sight
through yoga. The forehead dot is a reminder to use and cultivate this spiritual vision to perceive and better understand life’s inner —to see things not just physically, but with the “mind’s eye” as well. The bindi is made
red powder (called sindur, traditionally made from powdered turmeric and fresh lime juice), sandalpaste or cosmetics. In addition to the simple dot, there are many types of forehead marks, known as tilaka in Sanskrit. Each mark represents a particular sect or denomination of our vast religion. We have four major sects: Saivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Vaishnava Hindus, for example, wear a V shaped tilaka made of white clay. Elaborate tilakas are worn by Hindus mainly at religious events,though many wear the simple bindi, indicating they are Hindu, even in the general public. By these marks we know what a person believes, and therefore know how to begin conversations. For Hindu women, the forehead dot is also a beauty mark, not unlike the black mark European and American women once wore on the cheek. The red bindi is generally a sign of marriage. A black bindi is often worn before marriage to ward off the evil eye. As an exotic fashion statement, the dot’s color complements the color of a lady’s sari. Ornate bindis are even worn by actresses in popular American TV shows.


Elaboration: Men and women of a particular religion wishing to identify themselves to one another often do so by wearing distinctive religious symbols. Often these are blessed in their temples, churches or synagogues. Christians wear a cross on a necklace. Jewish boys wear small leather cases that hold scriptural passages,
and the round cap called yarmulka. Sikh men wear their\ hair in a turban. In many countries, Muslim women cover their head with a scarf, called hajib. Do not be ashamed to wear the bindi on your forehead in the United States, Canada, Europe or any country of the world. Wear it proudly. The forehead dot will distinguish you from all other people as a very special person, a Hindu, a knower of eternal truths. You will never be mistaken as belonging to another nationality or religion. The sacred forehead dot is an easy way of distinguishing Hindus from Muslims. And don’t be intimidated when people ask you what the dot means. Now you have lots of information to give a good answer, which will probably lead to more questions about your venerable religion. For both boys and girls, men and women, the dot can be small
or large depending on the circumstance, but should always be there when appropriate. Naturally, we don’t want to fl aunt our religion in the face of others. We observe that many Christian men and women take off or conceal their crosses in the corporate
business world. Some communities and institutions disallow wearing religious symbols entirely.


9. Are the Gods of Hinduism really married?

In popular, village Hinduism God is represented as male, and God’s energy, or Shakti, is personified as His spouse—for example, Vishnu and
Lakshmi. In Hindu temples, art and mythology, God is everywhere seen as the beloved, divine couple. Philosophically, however, the caution is always made that God and God’s energy are One, and the metaphor of the inseparable divine couple serves only to illustrate this Oneness. Hinduism is taught on many levels to many different people, and to uneducated people who are not able to understand high philosophy, Hinduism is taught in story form. Because the temple is the center of every Hindu community, and everyone is focused on the temple and the Gods within it, the Gods are the major players in these stories. Hindus who understand the higher philosophy
seek to find God on the inside while also worshiping God in the temples. Simple folk strive to be like a God, or like a Goddess. These tales, called Puranas, have long been the basis of dance, plays and storytelling around the fire in the homes to children as they are growing up. The stories illustrate how a family should live, how they should raise their children, and much more. Before the printing press, there were few books, and Hinduism was conveyed orally through stories and parables. While these often violent children’s tales should not be perpetuated, there remains
much of value in the extensive writings of the Puranas.


Elaboration: Those who learn the higher Hindu philosophies know that Gods are neither male nor female. In fact, attaining to that Godly level of being is one of the mystical goals of yoga. This is accomplished by blending the feminine and masculine currents, ida and pingala, into the spiritual current, sushumna, in the center of the spine within each individual. Hindus know that the Gods do not marry, that they are complete within themselves. This unity is depicted in the traditional icon of Ardhanarishvara, Siva as half man and half woman, and in the teaching that Siva and Shakti are one, that Shakti is Siva’s energy. Siva is dearly loved as our Father-Mother God. Yet, sexual gender and matrimonial relations are of the physical and emotional realms, whereas the Gods exist in a stratum that far supersedes these levels of life. For that matter, the soul itself is neither male nor female. Some modern swamis now urge devotees not to pay any attention to Puranic stories about the Gods, saying that they have no relationship with the world today—that they are misleading and confusing and should no longer be taught to the children. Instead, they encourage followers to deepen themselves with the higher philosophies of the Vedic Upanishads and the realizations of Hindu seers. Other faiths sometimes criticize the Hindu religion as a sort of comic-book religion, and we should not be part of perpetuating that image by passing on such misconceptions as the marriage of the Gods. Other religions move and adjust with the times. Hinduism must also do so. It must offer answers to the questions about God, soul and world—answers that are reasonable, that can be understood and accepted even by a child, that are coherent,
sensible and strictly in accord with scripture and tradition. This is necessary in the technological age, necessary in order that Hinduism will be a religion of the future, not of the past.


10. What about caste and untouchability?

Caste, from the Portuguese casta, meaning “clan” or “lineage,” refers to two systems within Hindu society. The first is varna, the division of society into four groups: workers, business people, lawmakers/ enforcers and priests. The second is jati, the thousands of occupational guilds whose members follow a single profession. Jati members usually marry within their own jati and follow traditions associated with their jati. In urban areas they often enter other occupations, but still usually arrange marriages within the jati. Wealth, especially in urban areas, often trumps caste. Industrialization and education have greatly altered India’s jati system by eliminating or changing the professions upon which it was originally based, and opening new employment options. The jatis are evolving to function today less like guilds and more like large clans of related families. At the bottom are the so-called untouchables, who perform the dirtiest jobs and have suffered much like the black people of America, who were freed from slavery just 138 years ago. Strong laws have been passed in India to end caste-based discrimination. Modern Hindus rightly deplore caste abuse and are working to set matters right. Just as in the US, it is a difficult task that will take decades, especially in the villages.


Elaboration: Caste is, no doubt, the biggest stick that Hindus get beaten with. It is taught as the defining attribute, or fatal flaw, of Hinduism in Western schools. Untouchability as a formal system shocks Westerners. One response we can make is to separate social stratification from the issue of racial/class discrimination. First issue: social stratification. India is one of the world’s oldest societies. It has sustained a continuity of culture and religion for thousands of years. Europe, on the other hand, has seen millenniums of upheaval. Still, one only has to go back to before the 17thcentury industrial revolution to find a social system that is similar to caste. European society then comprised the landed elite (including royalty, a hereditary caste maintained to this day), merchants, artisans and peasants. The artisans formed guilds, occupation-based organizations that served both as closed unions and marketing monopolies. The guild legacy remains in Western\ surnames such as Smith, a metal worker. There was no public education system, and each generation learned at home the family occupation. There was little technological change, so jobs were static. Industrialization and public education altered (but did not destroy) this class system in the West, just as they are changing caste and jati in India today. Second issue: racial/class discrimination. Most Indians are unfamiliar with the extent of discrimination in the West today. In America, for example,\ hundreds of thousands live destitute and homeless on city streets, as true “untouchables.” US cities are more racially segregated than before the 1950s Civil Rights Movement because of “white flight” to the suburbs. Black Americans receive harsher sentences than white Americans for the same crime. Many Native American Indians live at the bottom of society, destitute and alcoholic, on barren Indian reservations. This kind of response—we can call it the “You’re one, too” defense—doesn’t mean Hindus should not work much harder to end caste discrimination. But it reminds others that no country in the world is yet free from racial discrimination.

Looking into Hinduism from my point of view.........

Why is that in Hinduism’s doctrine(particularly Shaivism), asserts the presence of God in every living and non-living beings? Why is that Hinduism believes in reincarnation so inexorably and what is the significance behind that concept?And last but not least, the most intriguing question of all, how humans are created according to Hinduism, with reference to Shaivism . In answering these questions, I am not going to treat them individually, but rather provide explanation by treating them as a whole.


Before, I venture into the explanation, allow me to enlighten you guys with some other detail.In actual fact, Hinduism is not Hinduism at all, but its real name is Sanadhana Dharma which literally means the ‘eternal values’. Since, the values that we are speaking about is not transcient but eternal,so one could say that Sanadhana Dharma@Hinduism does not have a begining nor an end. As a matter of fact, Hinduism is a kind of teaching that emphasizes universal truth through self realization and it by its own virtue, not a religion at all. That is the very reason why, there is no perfect boundary of how would you classify a person of being a Hindu, and also no such thing as converting into Hinduism. This is simply because Hinduism, is said to be ubiquitous. The second thing that I would like to highlight here, is on the type of belief that we Hindus generally have. Many have been mistaken to assume that Hindus believe in many Gods. This is not true.Hinduism is not polytheistic but it is monotheistic. The forms of many God that you might have seen or come across with, are just expressions of different aspects of God that Hindus believe in. The rational behind this is very simple indeed; A wholesome devotion is only possible if you truly understand what you are believing in.Understanding on the other hand, requires an elucidated explanation of each behaviour of the God, since even humans are said to be intricatingly complex in terms of behaviourism. Besides that, it is also to give the devoties the liberty of choosing an image that he or she truely feels united with.Hinduism is also pantheistic. The reason for this claim, will be elaborated in the following passages. The concepts in Hinduism is so enriched and sophisicated, that it requires a step by step approach to fully comprehend the essence and since it might take years doing so, below is just a quick glimpse of what it is.


Pantheism is the belief held by people that God is in every block of living and non living matter.This sort of belief can be said an anchor in illustrating the other complex concepts in Hinduism. Based on Hinduism, humans are said to go through a cycle of life whereby the cycle has two repetitive phases and these two phases will but put into an end by the ultimate phase. The two preceding ones are mass energy/ body mass/ physical state and your soul(yes, Hindus totally believe in the existence of souls or commonly referred as Athma in the language itself). The ultimate phase and the one believed to be the paramount of all, is moksha(it is said to be the state in which you become united with God and freed from the cycle of birth). This basic concept led to the belief in reincarnations. Even in the sacred text of Hinduism, it has been explicitly stated that life evolved in Earth. At first, as we all know, there were these single cell organisms, and then life subsequently evolved into a more complex multicellular beings and right now we humans are said to be at the pinnacle of evolution, which is inevitably true, and the reasons are coming up in my following sentences. The celebrated theory of evolution initiated by Charles Darwin has provided very concrete and convincing case for the reasons of why evolution takes place,and it is untill now appears to be the most plausible answer(survival of the fittest and natural selection). In Hinduism however, we have a rather denonative meaning behind it. In the whole universe, there are only two things which are eternal or ever lasting; God and the soul within you. In each birth and reincarnation, the soul can be visualised as being inside a container of boiling water because the soul is said to be in a desperate search for a way to get back to the Source, which happens to be the God.Until then, there would be any body masses exchanged throughout the process and evolution progressively takes place because there happens to be a need for a much efficient way of doing it. After many many series of such evolution, humans seem to be the best fitted one for the task. This is because, a return to the source, will only be possible if the inner soul is post mortemed to the finest degree, in this case the soul. The other term of this, is self realization. Humans with an heightened ability to fully exploit their intelligence, have come up with various way of doing so, one of which is meditation.( the precambrian organisms could not achieve this feat because their limited and relatively simple bodily system do not require a large capacity of the brain. Evolution primarily took place to subliminally achieve a threshold intelligence so that this could be attained).

So, in a nutshell, reincarnation is a struggle of the soul to return to the source and will only cease once moksha is obtained.


The marked difference between Hinduism aand Islam is about the space in which the God is contained. Islam says, “ Everything is God’s “ .....whereas in Hinduism, it is believed that “ Everything is God”..... The only difference in both the sentences is the apostrophy ‘s’ , but...as you can see, this small difference yields two diverging concepts. Let’s look into the view of the Hindus.
As I said before, there are two eternal entities namely God and the Soul. The reason why soul is considered to be eternal is because its origin itself. A soul could be pictured as a fragmented piece of the infinitesimally fraction of the God’s thought or God himself. This is the essence of life. This maybe the rational of why babies are quiet oftenly compared with the purity of God, because at this point of life( infancy), the soul is still untarnished and therefore comparable to God. But the happenings or the event in the subsequent part of life, are the deteriorating factors of the soul, and therefore the soul loses its sanctity and eventually its true identity( the person is barred from looking into as desires develop). What is the true identity then ??? The quest to find this identity of the soul, is what commonly known as ‘ achieving moksha’. To achieve this task, as I said before, one will have to transcendent worldy thoughts and achieve the initial soul’s transparency..............

So, what happens when the person achieves moksha???......The soul will be reunited with the source as in the God.....or in another words, collectively these fragmented souls will coalesce and rejoin the God and therefore, at this moment, the enlightened soul becomes the God himself....So, the astonishing truth is, everyone and everthing is God....


Recently, I had one of my friend asking me ,what is the point of the soul’s disunion and subsequent consolidation and the reunion? This is a fair question to be asked, I mean, why this such troubling method......To explain this , let’s look at a very simple anology(it may seem lame, but good enough to give a vague idea of why these things happen).

1. Just imagine that the God is a 5 year old kid in a dark room. The room has no entrances nor exits.
2. The small boy wakes up, and switches on the light. He then walks a box containing all his toys, and then he empties the content on the floor.
3. He then, starts playing with his small soldiers figure by arranging them everywhere and making up an imaginative story in his on mind. He continues playing the rest of the day.
4. Then, when he feels tired, he keeps all the toys back into the box, switches of the light and goes to sleep.
5. He then repeats the routine on a daily basis.

The small kid is God. He lives in the room by himself. Although some may be taken aback by the concept of God creations as a past time, there is no other way of putting it better. This analogy is just for those who doubts the existence of God, since if they can be so critical about God, the analogy can be as critical and practical as they can be..I mean ...who LOVE boredom....no one and God is included. But however, for those friends who fully understand things, the truth is that, this cycle of reunion and dissociation is never-ending, and it is the way it is because it is suppose to be in that way.An end has to be put when (judgement day)..when there is moral degradation so serious that there are no chances of repenting, then, God interferes to make things right, through what I would say...... REFINEMENT...

The Lost City

Dwaraka- A LOST CITY RECOVERED -
Dwaraka was a western Indian city submerged by the sea right after the death of Sri Krishna. This was regarded as a grandiose metaphor, part of a story filled with great myths. But in the early eighties an important archaeological site was found at the site of the legendary city of Lord Krishna.
Situated in Saurashtra, at a point where the Gomti river meets the Arabian sea, it has acquired multifarious names down the ages: Dwaraka, the gateway to eternal happiness; Swarnapuri, the city of gold, Swarnadwarika, the golden gateway. Why is that the rediscovery of Dwaraka has not attracted the same degree of attention in the West, as that of ancient Troy by Heinrich Schliemann?Literary texts like the Mahabharata, Harivamsha and Purana contain traditions about the foundation of Dwaraka, its planning and glory. Before the legendary city of Dwaraka was discovered some scholars were of the view that the Mahabharata being only a myth it would be futile to look for the remains of Dwaraka and that too in the sea. Others held that the Kurukshetra battle was a family feud exaggerated into a war.Excavations done by Dr. S.R. Rao at Dwaraka prove that the descriptions as found in these texts are not to be discarded as fanciful but are to be treated as based on actualities as seen by their authors. The architecture of the old Dwaraka of Krishna is majestic and wonderful. The great poet Premanand has in his Sudamacarit described its splendid beauty and majesty. Dwaraka is mentioned as Golden City in Mahabharata, Skanda Purana, Vishnu Purana and Harivamsha.Interesting descriptions about its construction are found in Purana. «Fearing attack from Jarasangh and Kalayvan on Mathura, Sri Krishna and Yadavas left Mathura and arrived at the coast of Saurashtra. They decided to build their capital in the coastal region and invoke the Vishwakarma, the deity of construction. However, Vishwakarma says that the task can be completed only if Samudradeva, the Lord of the sea provided some land. Sri Krishna worshipped Samudradeva, who was pleased and gave them land measuring 12 yojans and the divine architect Vishwakarma build Dwaraka, a city in gold». Another story says that at the time of the death of Sri Krishna, who was hit by the arrow of a hunter near Somnath at Bhalka Tirth, Dwaraka disappeared in the sea.
The information and material secured through underwater excavation of Dwaraka corroborates with the references to the city of Dwaraka, made in various Sanskrit literary works. In Mahabharata, there is a specific account about the submerging of Dwaraka by the sea, which reads thus: «The sea, which had been beating against the shores, suddenly broke the boundary that was imposed on it by nature. The sea rushed into the city. It coursed through the streets of the beautiful city. The sea covered up everything in the city. Even as they were all looking, Arjuna saw the beautiful buildings becoming submerged one by one. Arjuna took a last look at the mansion of Krishna. It was soon covered by the sea. In a matter of a few moments it was all over. The sea had now become as placid as a lake. There was no trace of the beautiful city which had been the favourite haunt of all the Pandavas. Dwaraka was just a name; just a memory».The importance of the discovery of Dwaraka lies not merely in providing archaeological evidence needed for corroborating the traditional account of the submergence of Dwaraka but also indirectly fixing the date of the Mahabharata which is a landmark in Indian history. The Thermoluminiscence date of the pottery from Bet Dwaraka which is also connected with the Krishna legend is 3520 years Before Present. Identical pottery is found in the submerged city of Dwaraka. Thus the results have proved that the account in Mahabharata as to the existence of a beautiful capital city of Dwaraka of Sri Krishna was not a mere figment of imagination but it did exist.
Besides the sea-ports, there were renowned cities which were washed away by the rivers on whose banks they were situated. We may cite here the case of Hastinapura and Pataliputra, situated on the bank of the river Ganga and falling victims to flood-fury. The Mahabharata mentions that Hastinapura was washed away by the Ganga and consequently the Pandavas had to migrate to Kaudambi. Pataliputra which was the premier city of the land (agranagara) and the test of the excellence of all the cities in the words of Dandin, the author of the Dashakumaracarita, later became the worst victim of inundation. The submerged parts of these cities are to be treated as protected monuments and great treasures of the ancient heritage of India. If Dwaraka excavations throw a flood of light on the history of the city which was associated with the life events of Krishna, the underwater excavations of Ayodhya situated on the bank of the river Sarayu might yield valuable information about the historicity of Rama, his age and contemporary urban status.
Since 1983 the Marine Archaeology Unit of the National Institute of Oceanography is engaged in the offshore exploration and excavation of the legendary city of Dwaraka in the coastal waters of Dwaraka in Gujarat. Brief accounts of the findings of the underwater search for the lost city have appeared in 1987, Progress and Prospects of Marine Archaeology in India, and in 1988, Marine Archaeology of Indian Ocean Countries.A brief account of the discovery of the submerged city of Dwaraka of Mahabarata fame and the salient features of the structures exposed as a result of underwater excavation conducted at Dwaraka and Bet Dwaraka by the Marine Archaeology Unit of the National Institute of Oceanography under the direction of Dr. S.R. Rao from 1983 to 1987 appeared in 1988 (40 years of Research - A CSIR Overview). Offshore exploration of the legendary city at Dwaraka was resumed in 1988 and continued through 1990 (see the Journal of Marine Archaeology, 1990), further seaward of the Temple of Samudranardyana (Sea God) at Dwaraka with a view to trace the plan and extent of the port-city and the purpose of the massive stone walls built on the banks of ancient Gomati. It was also necessary to ascertain whether its architectural features were in conformation with the description of the city of Dwaraka given in the epic Mahabharata. A second object was to obtain more corroborative evidence for reclamation referred to in the epic. Thirdly, the nick point where the ancient Gomati river joined the sea had to be determined. Lastly, the cause of submergence of the city was another problem that needed further investigation.Dwaraka was a city-state extending upto Bet Dwaraka (Sankhodhara) in the north and Okhamadhi in the south. Eastward it extended upto Pindara. The 30 to 40 meter-high hill on the eastern flank of Sankhodhara may be the Raivataka referred to in the Mahabharata. The general layout of the city of Dwaraka described in ancient texts agrees with that of the submerged city discovered. Four enclosures are laid bare; each one had one or two gateways. The port Aramda on way to Bet Dwaraka was the first gateway in the outer fortifications. The bastions flanking gateways of submerged Dwaraka resemble those of Kusinagara and Sravasti carved on the Gateways of Sanchi Stupa. The prasada referred to in the epic must be the high fort walls of Dwaraka, a part of which is extant. The epic says that flags were flying in the city of Dwaraka. This can be corroborated by the stone bases of flag posts found in the sea bed excavation. Umashankar Joshi is of the view that antardvipa in the region of Kugasthali referred to in the Mahabharata must be Bet Dwaraka. The Bhagavata Purana says that before leaving his mortal frame Sri Krishna put the ladies and children in boats and sent them to Sankhodhara.The buildings built of smaller fraction stone blocks are razed to the ground leaving only small portions of the thick fort walls, bastions and protection walls (built with massive stones) which are too heavy to be moved by tides and currents. From the structural remains in Dwaraka and Bet Dwaraka waters, it is possible to visualise that the city-ports were large and well planned.Every significant antiquity that corroborates a statement of the Harivamsa is the seal bearing the motif of a three-headed animal representing the bull, unicorn and goat. The Harivamsha says that every citizen of Dwaraka had to carry a mudra as a mark of identifications The seal (mudra) found in the excavation belongs to 15th-16th century B.C.Nearly two decades after marine archeologists found the lost city of Dwaraka off the coast of Gujarat the state government continues to drag its feet on a proposal to establish the world's first underwater museum to view the remains of the city submerged in the Arabian Sea.
The proposal for the museum, submitted by the Marine Archeology Center of the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa, involves laying a submarine acrylic tube through which visitors can view through glass windows the ruins of the city said to have been be ruled by Sri Krishna, 3500 years ago.Discovered in 1981, the well-fortified township of Dwaraka extended more than half a mile from the shore and was built in six sectors along the banks of a river before it became submerged. The findings are of immense cultural importance to India.«The search for the lost city has been going on since 1930» — S.R. Rao, who is still actively involved in the excavations, told India Abroad. «It is only after marine archaeologists started exploring the sea-bed near modem Dwaraka from 1981 that the structural remains of the city were found».Rao said that if a fraction of the funds spent on land archeology were made available for underwater archaeology, more light could be thrown on Dwaraka, which had much archeological significance because it was built during the second urbanization that occurred in India after the Indus Valley civilization in northwestern India. Dwaraka’s existence disproves the belief held by Western archeologists that there was no urbanization in the Indian subcontinent from the period between 1700 BC. (Indus Valley) and 550 BC. (advent of Buddhism). As no information was available about that period, they had labeled it the Dark Period.«The findings in Dwaraka and archeological evidence found compatible with the Mahabharata tradition remove the lingering doubt about the historicity of the great epic. We would say Krishna definitely existed», said Rao. What is needed, he added, is the political will to reconstruct the cultural history of the Vedic and epic periods of northern India.Over 200 experts from 84 countries, who gathered under the aegis of UNESCO in Paris recently to examine a draft convention on the issue, unanimously agreed that underwater cultural heritage was in urgent need of protection from destruction and pillaging.In Dwaraka, Krishna is supposed to have built a mighty kingdom on a site selected for him by Vishnu’s learned ‘vahan’, Garud. The city he built is supposed to have extended over 104 kms. It was well fortified and surrounded by a moat, spanned by bridges, which were removed in the event of attack by an enemy.Archaeological excavations have unearthed artifacts that prove that modern Dwaraka is the sixth settlement of the name on this site. The earlier cities have been, at various times, swallowed by the sea. The waves of the sea still lap the shores of this famous town, lending scenic beauty to this important pilgrimage destination.The Dwarkadhish temple, dedicated to Sri Krishna, is the focal point of all pilgrimages. Parts of it date from the 12th-13th century and others from the 16th, but the Jag Mandir, its sanctum sanctorum, is supposed to be 2,500 years old. The hall in front is richly carved and supported by 60 massive pillars, each one hewn out of a single stone slab. Many of the sculptures date from the Maurya, Gupta and Chalukya periods. Some of the subjects are of Jaina and Buddhist origin. The temple is 157 feet high.Another important pilgrimage site in the ancient city of Dwarka is Gomti ghat. The myth attached to the original temple says that it was built overnight at the instructions of Vajranabh, the great-grandson of Krishna, by the divine craftsman Vishvakarma. Archaeologists are undecided about the date of construction of the temple that exists now, but it is generally believed that it was rebuilt in the 10th or 11th century AD after the original temple was destroyed, probably during the Muslim invasions.Most of the temples and pilgrimage spots around Dwaraka are associated with Krishna and the Vaishnavite tradition. However, the temple of Somnath, which is not very far from this place, is dedicated to Shiva as Nagnath or Nageshwar Mahadev, and enshrines one of the twelve ‘Jyotirlinga’ which according to the Purana manifested themselves as columns of light in different parts of the country. The magnificent temple that stands there now is a replica of the original temple.An archaeological site, dating back to 7500 BC and older than hitherto oldest known human civilisations including those found in the Valley of Sumer, Harappa and Egypt, was discovered by a team of Indian marine archaeologists in the Gulf of Cambay off Gujarat coast. "For India, it was the first time that such an important discovery was reported from near Dwaraka site, the off-shore region where underwater archeological exploration was in progress", Union Minister for Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi said at a crowded Press conference. "Further investigation of this area was important as it might throw some light on the development of human civilisation, besides having a bearing on the Indian history", concluded Dr. Joshi.
In order to establish without any doubt wheter or not the ruins on the seabed are effectively of the city of Dwarka, a group of archaeological experts and Indian Navy divers are conducting a scientific survey off the Gujarat coast."We found building blocks and collected samples. These have been sent for dating to establish the antiquity of the site," Alok Tripathi of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) told, who is the ASI’s only marine archaeologist.A 21-member team conducted the survey in January-February 2007. It comprised 10 specialists from the ASI and 11 divers of the Indian Navy.«While the ASI has the requisite data and archaeological expertise, the Indian Navy has the necessary wherewithal and expertise for subsurface search, exploration and recovery of artefacts,» Rear Admiral, S.P.S. Cheema, assistant chief of naval staff, explained. "Before the excavation, naval divers were indoctrinated by ASI experts on the procedures and method to be followed during the investigation. These included aspects like documentation, controlled digging, and the retrieval, packaging and transportation of samples" Cheema said. "The idea was to achieve maximum extraction without damaging the environment," he added.Before commencing diving operations, a specialised naval hydrographic team systematically surveyed the area off Dwarka with the help of multi-beam sonar and side-scan sonar. The navy had deployed its survey ship INS Nirdeshak for this in November 2006."This enabled us generate a 3D model of the seabed so we could narrow down the area of search. We initially marked out a 200 metre by 200 metre area and eventually narrowed this down to 50x50 metre area, "Tripathi explained.

When to use your heart or your brain?

First before knowing the answer to this question, you should first get a clear picture of what heart orientated actually means. When you say that you are actually following your heart, it rhetorically means that you deliberately allowed emotions to take over your discretions or judgments. Even emotions are triggered by the brains, though; the real mechanism behind this is unknown. So, most of the times when emotions come into play, we tend to make the wrong decisions.
Intuition is totally a different thing.It is actually the subconscious part of brain trying to reach out, to be heard over your conscious mind, and it is mostly driven by belief and faith.So, in making very important decisions, an interaction between the subconscious and the conscious mind is important(both are in the brain) and henceforth, the compability of the two is unquestionable.
Then 'how about following your heart’? It is strictly not advisable to use this, but in some circumstances where you are required to speak the truth or to give out a value judgment truthfully, then this may become an important aspect as well.

How fast must you go to time travel?

Time relativity uh??
There was an experiment conducted somewhere in the 2002, where two observers were used. The first one was asked to wait in the airport and the other one boarded the plane.Both of them were supplemented with an atomic clock (the most accurate clock in the world with very high degree of precision), and the time elapsed for the guy to step of the plane is taken (may have been decided by the use of cell phone).Amazingly, it was found out that the static observer was 0.001 behind the guy who has been travelling. The percentage error of the atomic clock is too small to be significant, and therefore the hard to swallow truth is that time is indeed stretchable.
However, as you can see from the above example, even in the speed of an airplane, we would only yield a time delay of a hundredth of a second, and therefore in order to yield a greater elapse, a greater speed would be required and is proposed that, for a substantial time delay, speed of light will be the most favorable.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Guys and girls out there........
This article was written way before the 7th book came out.....but it is only that i am publishing it, due to some refrains.......hehehe. So, don't be skeptic about this.....
And it contains some of the predictions that I made for the 'upcoming' book......
Make sure you guys read it, and just see how accurate I was............





There are many theories lingering about the famous Harry Potter seventh series, Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows, which certainly being awaited by most of the fans worldwide. What would happen to Harry Potter? Will he be able to thwart the Dark Lord or will he or not? The answers, not yet know. However, it is worth making some predictions and guesses which indeed would lighten up the hearts of those so curious that they would not stop discussing about it. So, here we are with some of it.

LILY POTTER
Lily Potter is definitely one of the most important characters that we would have to discus a bit before even looking at any other. By a matter of fact, the story would not take place if at the first place Lily did not protect Harry Potter when he was baby, in which will not give the trouble of finding and killing Voldemort because he himself not be alive. From the start of the story, J.K. Rowling had given great deal of emphasis on how Harry so similar to his mother in many ways. Harry is said to be looking exactly as James Potter and to have his mother’s eyes. Besides this, his mother is said to be very funny, very courageous, and very brilliant student by Professor Slughorn, the Potion Master in the Half Blood Prince. He also said that there could not be anyone as he could remember who do not like her as soon as knowing her. This selective preference by a great wizard is indeed something to be given a thought about, because it bears some significance in it. For an instance, Harry has the same characters as his mother except for the fact that he does not possess the touch in Potions like his mother. So, this leads me in making some conclusions about his mother. Firstly, his mother could be someone of great status such as the heir of one of the founders of Hogwarts, most likely Gordic Gryffindor. This however might not be true as we already know that Lily Potter is just a Muggle with gifted abilities. But the theory of being the heir of someone powerful could be swayed to James Potter instead, explaining the whereabouts of the invisibility cloak that he possessed and the uncanning ability for a wizard. Yet, this may not be true. But one thing for sure is that, the truth that we would know about Lily Potter in the future would be an extremely important piece of information.
Aberforth
Who is Aberforth? Many would wonder. The significance of Aberforth in the last book appeared to me, when Dumbledore died in the previous series, AS we all know, Dumbledore had been Harry’s greatest protection since he had been undeniably the only one the Dark Lord ever feared. Harry Potter is just going to turn to 17 in the next book, and this age would just depict to us how young and vulnerable Harry would be compared to Lord Voldemort. Harry, so far had been spoon fed with the information on Lord Voldemort and how things happened, because obviously, we would not expect a seventeen year old to know that much. However, Harry had proven many times of his capability when he many times had been able to defy Voldemort evil attempts. In my opinion, I believe that the author would introduce a new character (as she herself said that her favorites or Order of The Phoenix member is yet to come). Harry had missed out to learn a lot of valuable things about the magical world; in fact he does not know anything much about Dumbledore at all. So, rationally speaking, the one who would be able to enlighten Harry with this knowledge is ought to be very close to Dumbledore and a great wizard himself. So the best choice would be Aberforth, Dumbledore’s only brother. Indirectly, Aberforth may have been much of a help in the previous books if what I had stated above is true. Harry himself conceded on how familiar the bar man in the Hog’s Head had been to him (spectacled, tall and thin frame, with long white beard. These attributes certainly is familiar to Dumbledore). Besides this, Harry had said about how one of the rooms in the bar gives a disconcerting smell of goats. This particular statement may also refer to Aberforth, as he had been closely associated with goats during his schooling days, where he might be working out with bezoars (stone taken out from the stomach of a goat which has the superlative effect on most of the poisons in the world) for the Order secretly. Moreover, during the day in which Professor Sybill Trewalney made the prophecy about Harry to Dumbledore, she had been overheard by someone whom apparently passed the information to the Dark Lord as it concerns about his master’s destiny. However, that guy was not able to capture most of the things that had been said as, he was later got chassed out by the bar man after causing some commotion. This shows that the bar man had known about he importance of the prophecy and had done that in favor of Dumbledore (If he had not interrupted, Voldemort would have heard the whole prophecy).Further more, during the meeting between Voldemort and Dumbledore, Dumbledore had somehow impressed Voldemort by giving out his unexpected knowledge about his intentions of wanting to become a teacher in Hogwarts, which on other hand had been regarded as Dumbledore’s omniscient capabilities by Voldemort. Dumbledore simply replied that he has a very close friendship with the local bar man whom would take the trouble of informing any peculiar movements to Dumbledore. We ourselves know that Dumbledore does make a frequent visit to the Hog’s Head despite having a better one which is nearer, for a drink. These accounts certainly had convinced you about how close Dumbledore had been to this bar man, whom coincidently has the same features as Dumbledore.

R.A.B.

Who is this mysterious person? This person had obviously been a highlight in the previous book. He had said that he had been the first one to discover Voldemort’s Horcrux and that he was about to destroy it. He also mentioned that he would not be alive when Voldemort comes to retrieve the Horcrux. He certainly wanted to cause harm to Voldemort by replacing the potion in the goblet with some powerful poison, which unfortunately Dumbledore drank instead, draining out Dumbledore’s power (Dumbledore was right about Voldemort all the time even when he said that Voldemort would not want to kill the person who reaches his Horcrux, but would want to know the wizard who suppose to be great if he or she is capable of overcoming his obstacles. Bad luck for Dumbledore; someone had reached there earlier and replaced the potion). Is this R.A.B bad or good? Obviously, if he is trying to kill Voldemort, he would be in the same boat as Harry. One of the guesses of who is R.A.B is Aberforth. This is because according to Dumbledore, he said that only a very great wizard could get pass through the obstacles prepared by Voldemort, and in my opinion Aberforth surely has at least the slightest trace of the immense power that Dumbledore has, thus making him qualified to be called a great wizard. However, intriguing factors do exist, where if it is Aberforth, then why did not he tell to his brother about the Horcrux. Dumbledore was almost certain that he is the only one who knows about the Horcruxes, but he was clearly wrong. Besides this, the fact that Aberforth would refer Voldemort as the Dark Lord is almost implausible, because it means that he approves Voldemort dominance and superiority which makes him sound more like a Death Eater, which clearly he is not. Another possible guess of who this R.A.B would be is Regulus Black, Sirius Black’s brother.Regulus Black had turned his back at Voldemort just before his fall, where he was on the run. That means that Regulus Black was a Death Eater and would have possibility of calling Voldemort as the Dark Lord, because he is use to call like that. Moreover, the fact that this R.A.B. knows that he is about to die, shows that he had been already been the hunted, so he was just counting his days. The dubious factor in this case is that, one would doubt on the magnitude of power that Regulus Black could possibly possess .I personally do not think that Regulus Black would have such powers as to surmount the obstacles placed by Voldemort. But one thing for sure is that, we would later discover the identity of this R.A.B. .


Severus Snape

The most uncertain character that exists through out the story would definitely be Severus Snape. Many people including Harry and his friends are not convinced with his atypical history nor his present. Harry hates him because he as his father’s most detest enemy, the one who is responsible for his parents death, and the one who eventually killed Dumbledore. Conflictingly, Dumbledore has his 100% trust on Snape from the start. Dumbledore sometimes resorts in discussing confidential matters only with Snape despite knowing that Snape could be employing Occlumency against him, as he is highly accomplished in that. Dumbledore is pretty much convinced that Snape is spying over Voldemort on behalf of him and not the other way round. However, Harry had got the confirmation for his suspicions right after Dumbledore got killed that Snape is bad. But I do still believe that Snape is indeed good and serving in behalf of Dumbledore. There are several reasons to it. Firstly, Dumbledore would not be so stupid to let his weakness of believing the best of people to get over him. Dumbledore had shown reputation over his sharp alertness when he alone did not believe Voldemort when he was at school when everyone else believed. Dumbledore himself in every occasion, had proven beyond doubt that he was always correct even when he judged Voldemort’s potion before his death. In this case, we are looking at the precision in Dumbledore’s judgments in many things, thus clinging to that I believe that Dumbledore is correct about Snape. Secondly, Dumbledore is fully aware Voldemort’s reputation, being the most accomplished Legilimien in the whole world. Despite this fact, he was still willing to take the risk to send Snape which he believed to be in his side, as a spy against Voldemort. This substantially means that Dumbledore is also aware of Snape’s high accomplishment in Occlumency, and he believed that Snape Occlumency is indeed very good to the extent in which he would be capable to turn over the world’s best Legilimien. Thirdly, Snape was obviously giving lame reasons to Belatrix for her questions during their meeting in the Half Blood Prince. Snape did not kill Harry even in the end of previous book saying that Harry is reserved by the Dark Lord, even though he knows that he could be honored beyond anyone else since he had killed Dumbledore as well. This led me to think that there might be another reason of why Snape killed Dumbledore was merely because it was under Dumbledore’s order. Dumbledore may have asked to kill him if he was to encounter that such situation. The hatred that exists at Snape’s face the moment when he spoke out the AVADA KEDAVRA spell was perhaps because of him hating doing that at the first place. Furthermore, when Dumbledore said “Severus, please” may have not mean that he was pleading because he was afraid to die but it maybe because, he was insisting Snape to kill him. As we all know, Dumbledore is not the kind of a person who would be afraid to die as he himself had said that, being dead is something that his kind of wizard has been longing for ( told in the first book). So, after all, Snape might have been the good person all the while.

Are science and spirituality mutually exclusive?

No.
Science and spirituality are indeed mutually inclusive.
In this context, we don’t talk about science facts, because science facts can be deceiving at sometimes due to some experimental errors, and slanted observations, but in here we should rather look at science itself.Spirituality has often been associated with religion, and therefore the connection between science and spirituality has been obscured to many. Spirituality is about self realization, whereby, you learn about yourself (includes your inner self), and there are various ways in pertaining it, but all of the ways will strictly require us to know and get acquainted to science. For e.g.; meditation. Meditation is said to be the most ideal pathway into self realization and unraveling the true potential of oneself. But meditation is not a one step process, especially for those who intend to seek for the highest level of meditation. One should have dominance on his or her respiration, temperature, anxiety (by the regulation of hormones) and etc. All these are biological processes, a sub discipline of science. All these fascinating stuff, you will only be able to do it if you unlock your subconscious mind.
Therefore, science and spirituality co-exist together in a harmonious relationship, whereby the latter having an effect on another and vice versa.

What influence does the core have on Earth

hmm......
no one really knows in what manner the core influences the Earth,but there have several predictions of what use the Earth's core might be...
firstly, the core is made mostly composed of iron and nickel and therefore it should be highly dense.(with the added effect of the compression, even more so)Since, iron and nickel are highly magnetized, the core happens to be the most plausible explanation for the source of the Earth's magnetic field, i.e., the orientation of the poles. In some times in the past, there have been several events when the Earth magnetic poles reversed, but the reason to it is still unknown.
Secondly, the core might be very instrumental especially the formation of Earth's gravitational field. The essence of any celestial body's gravitational field should have initiated from the core. For e.g., as the hot gases and debris swirl rapidly, centripetal force is generated. As the centripetal force became larger, the debris and the hot gases became concentrated into a pinpoint whereby it is densely lithified. This lithified chunk of rock is the Earth. But one may argue that as soon as there is no spinning then the centripetal force cease to work, and therefore the Earth disintegrates. However this does not happen because, in a very very densed environment such as the core, time is said to have stopped, and therefore, the centripetal force instead of collapsing, the force is trapped and it is known as gravitational force today.

What is your perspective on why mass extinctions periodically occurred on our planet since the phenomenon of l?

There were two mass extinction throught out the Earth's history. The first, took place about 250 milion years ago(the transition period of Paleozoic-Mesozoic) and the second one was approximated to be about 65 million years ago(the transition of Mesozoic-cenozoic). For both of the incidence there have been some compelling evidences which point towards meteorite showers as the main reason of the extinction.
This is of course derived from the findings of the layer of sediments with an exceeding amount of iridium concentration, one in which can only be found due to cosmic activities(and therefore frequently associated with celestial bodies such as meteoroids).The second evidence leading to this breakthrough, is the location of impact itself.
The crater that was found in Mexico, was formed due to an meteorite impact 65 million years back and the crater found in the coast of Australia corresponds to the time in which the preceding mass extinction(250 million yrs) took place.
So, can we say that it was only due to meteor showers?No.
The meorite showers may have been catalyst or a synergist for more catastrophic events such as tsunami(and therefore caused flood), spontaneous volcanic eruptions acroos the globe(a common layer of volcanc ash of a certain depth was found out as well, and radioisotope dating indicated the years, which again, corresponds), and due to the combination of this myriad of events, the Earth's climate was modified.(Right after the fall of meteorites, the Earth must have been exceedingly hot but the thick volcanic ash contered off the effect, leading into a cooling process)