Lime chilli at doors, coconut on roads... Are totakas science Or superstition?
Question by:Umesh Gaur, DEE (C), Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
It is a very important question. There is a very thin line between science and superstition. It is as is the difference between the absolute and the relative, the whole and the part….
As the words (science and superstition) themselves suggest anything which has a scientific basis has to have a principle behind it. It is the principle that works, not how you manifest it. Everything is science when you know the operative principle behind it. You can’t just disimiss everything as bullshit if you don’t know the science behind something which appears awkward and yet forces you to think why. Of course, we have to understand that the science is vigyan, that is special knowledge which manifests as an idea first and and then as an action. This is something wherein you know the hows and whys fully as you know the cause and effect. The fire burns. If you put your hand in it, you get burnt. This is experience. But, in certain conditions, your hand cannot burn, if you know the science that what really burns in the fire and take care of it, you will put your hand into it and the fire won’t burn you. You may call it magic, because it is not there in your experience which holds onto the belief that a certain cause has a certain effect!
Nothing is happening in the universe without a subtle scientific process. Please don’t confuse the word science with the modern expression of it. According to Indian Rishis,it is all about knowing the principle behind a phenomenon and applying it. Therefore, it all depends upto what level you know the principle behind it. What you know about something is the science behind it, but it is not the absolute science. From grosser (relative) principles to finer principles and yet finer, you finally reach the absolute principle and then you really know the science. It all depends upon to what extent you know the science behind it.
Remember the principle!
What you know you believe in is the principle. What you believe in, you manifest in the direction of the intent of your belief. There cannot be a belief without an intent. Your belief is nothing but manifestation of your energy in the direction of the intent. Your energy is directionally proportional to your intent behind the belief. Your belief is directly proportional to your experiential knowledge. This is the basic science behind all the acts you do. This is the unviersal science or the principle behind all acts. Now if somebody puts lime and chilli at the door, it is just a medium to manifest his energy in the direction of the intent. Suppose it is meant to hurt you and if your belief is in the higher principle “I offer a tulsi to My Mother. She protects me all the time.” Now your simple basal leaf energy channel will counteract the lime and chilli energy channel only if your intent manifests higher energy than that of the chilli-baaz. If you closely watch between the two acts—putting the chilli at the door and offering a basal leaf to God—they seem to be the same. The only final thing is whether Intelligent Energy is manifesting through it. If A’s intent is to hurt B with the act. And B’s intent is to please Intelligent Energy, then the directional dynamics will make two different arrows. In A’s case it is like throwing or shooting an arrow at B (expression of energy in the finite realm, it exchausts after some time) and in B’s case, it is like manifesting infinite Intelligent Energy by offering the basal leaf to Him/Her. A’s intent is to hurt B. B’s intent is to remain connected with Infinte Energy through the basal leaf. What will happen? B will be like the black hole sucking up all the galaxies and planets into itself. That means the small jealous intent energy of A will be consumed, digested and converted into Intelligent Energy, who B seeks with the science of love.
It is the intent that matters. Higher the intent, higher the energy manifestation. Absolute intent, Absolute energy. That is why Krishna says in His ninth discourse-
पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति।
तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामिप्रयतात्मन:।।
The two words uphrit and ashnami are very important here. They represent the highest universal principle of energy. Uphirt means gathered and offered and ashnami means ‘I consume, eat up devour that’. But there is a condition of intent set by Krishna. This gathering and offering of a leaf or a fruit should be with an intent of love for Me. If you do it, I eat up through your offering whatever you have gathered as an offering. Simply put if you are connected to Intelligent Energy with the channel of love, She/He consumes whatever is gathered and offered through the medium of leaf. Therefore, if lime and chilli work for some, some time relatively, the basal leaf offering works absolutely! Think!--VS
