The Methods of Piety: Chanting in the Hindu-Islamic Traditions

Chanting - Mantra Jaap in the Hindu tradition and Vird in the Islamic one is an established method of not only observing piety but a method to force the hand of the Higher Power to bestow on the practitioner his/her desire. In both traditions, there is no dearth of formulas to be recited repeatedly for the grant of specific desires, albeit with some slight differences. 

Firstly, the Hindu tradition has an entire pantheon of major and minor gods and goddesses who can be invoked to ask for fulfillment of specific desires in accordance with their attributes while all recitations are dedicated to Allah Almighty in the Islamic tradition. 

Secondly, the formulas for chanting in the Islamic domain remain a 'little' and largely oral tradition and there are no major works compiling such formulas, nor is there any standardization of the formulas to be employed for specific  purposes. All Vird is supposed to bring merit and grant desires because it pleases Allah but to prescribe anything beyond this may attract the wrath of the Mullahs and could be branded as magic, which is prohibited in Islam. On the other hand, there are detailed and ancient texts in the Hindu world laying out with precision the specific mantra (formula), its specific deity and the specific method of the recitation exercise (Japam). 

Thirdly, the string of prayer beads (rosary) or tasbih for Muslims and Jap Mala for the Hindus used in the two traditions differ in the number of beads they carry. The Islamic rosary can have anything from 11 to 101 beads while the Hindu rosary must have 109 beads. The Muslim counts in multiples of 10 while the Hindu counts only in multiples of 108. The Muslim tasbih has two pausing points, endearingly called the Chhote Imam Sahibs and marked by specific beads shaped like miniature minarets. These occur at numbers 33 and 64 respectively, and are meant to provide a gentle pause in the recitation. The Hindu Jap Mala carries no such pausing points. 

Now for the similarities:

Both omit the last or binding bead and both traditions forbid crossing over this bead, which is purposely kept much larger in size to avoid any mistake. Once this bead is reached, the rosary must be turned back. Both traditions recommend that the rosary should be covered with a scarf or a suitable cloth when it is being turned, although it is not compulsory. 

The formulas in both traditions can vary from a single word to a long composition. Recitation requires memorization of the longer formulas: reading from a book or any written source is prohibited.

Personally, I have done both kinds of recitations. When I was initiated into the Islamic Vird, I did not have a tasbih. I asked my Guru, a Sufi of the Qadri and Chishti traditions which prayer string I should use - the Muslim tasbih or the Jap Mala. I still remember what he said:

Being the sinful creatures that we are, we count for our satisfaction, but Allah knows how many times we have recited His Name...

Recitation may or may not bring about the fulfillment of desires, but it certainly keeps the mind away from negative thoughts in times of distress. I would recommend chanting highly to all those wish to practice focusing their minds!

Tales of Piety: Parallel Stories in a Composite Culture

Reading the blog of my friend Motiur Rehman (http://matiurrahman.blogspot.in/2012/05/tales-of-piety-culture-and-beliefs-of.html) I was reminded of the similarity between the Satyanarayan Katha popular with the Hindus and the Dus Bibiyon ki Kahani popular with both Hindus and Muslims, especially in northern India. This similarity had struck me some time back,when I was exposed to the Dus Bibiyon ki Kahani for the first time, and reading Mati's blog inspired me to put down my thoughts on this striking similarity, which speaks volumes for the composite culture of India and is also a study in itself of the 'little tradition' lending itself more effortlessly to a spread across religious 'borders'.

Both the Satyanarayan Katha and Dus Bibiyon ki Kahani follow the same pattern: a believing woman listens piously to the story of Satyanarayan or of the Dus Bibiyan and distributes prasad/shirni afterwards, but there are some of her relatives - the wives of her husband's brothers in both versions - who refuse to accept the sweet offering and ridicule the believing woman. These women are later brought to much grief: their husbands die or go missing, their fortunes are lost and they fall on such testing times that anything they touch to eat turns into a rotten mass, or worms appear in it  out of nowhere! After undergoing a sufficient amount of tortures, these women either remember or are reminded in a dream that they had turned down the prasad/shirni offered them after the story. Repenting, they decide to listen to the story but have nothing to offer by way of prasad/shirni; they prepare a make-believe version of prasad/shirni out of clay and, covering it with a piece of cloth, sit down in a circle and listen to the story. When the story ends and the time comes for the prasad/shirni to be distributed, the cloth is removed,  and - Lo and Behold! the clay items have turned into real sweets! After distributing these sweets and partaking it themselves, they return home to find everything restored - their husbands back and their children in their houses once again full of fine goods.

While the parallel is both striking and unique, I have one question: what is that original Satyanarayan Katha or Dus Bibiyon ki Kahani which the believing woman listens to in the beginning of these stories?

Till I get an answer, even this sketch remains incomplete!

The Beggars of Islamabad

On the closed and steamy evening of Friday, the 4th of July, 2008, I was planning to go for my weekly grocery shopping when I remembered that the washed and shrunk fabrics had to be delivered to Master Bashir if I wanted my jodas to be ready by the beginning of Sawan. So, off I rushed to Jinnah Super Market in F-8 to the establishment of Master Bashir, knowing full well there would be no time later to cook a proper meal.

There were still 08 minutes left for the load-shedding hour to end in Jinnah Super but the market was by no means dark and desolate. Almost every big shop there has a generator with enough capacity to run the air conditioners, because their well heeled clients cannot be expected to do their shopping in a stuffy atmosphere. Master Bashir's establishment also has a generator, which has been giving trouble since the first day. Apparently, someone sold him one with a lower capacity than required to operate the sewing and embroidery machines, and all that can be run on it are two or three lights and two fans. Quite disgusted after this discovery, Master Bashir doesn't bother to switch on the generator unless there are customers when the load-shedding starts at 8 p.m., when it is yet not dark due to the Daylight Saving Time that is followed now, and at 8 p.m. it is actually only 7 p.m.! By 8.30, it is time for the Maghrib prayers, and Master Bashir leaves to offer namaz at a nearby mosque. He tends to linger there, coming back only in time for the electricity to come back at 9 p.m. Yesterday, the shop was dark, and two or three of his employees were standing at the head of the stairs leading to the shop. I understood that he was not yet back, but went up nevertheless. Just as one of his staff put out a chair for me, both the power and Master Bashir were back, and after exchange of the preliminary alaik-salek we got into the details of each joda - the kind of neck, sleeves and other embellishments for each piece were discussed and finalized. Master Bashir would note down the details on a piece of paper and tie it in a knot at one corner of the fabric, to be opened and studied by him before laying out the fabric for cutting.

It took us almost an hour to go over every fabric, discuss how best the particular fabric in hand could be utilized, and finalize the designs. We also made small conversation to fend off the technical monotony, and this conversation was interspersed with his small questions about India and tailoring practices there. He told me about another good place to shop for fabrics at a very competitive price - at the small local market of the Naval Officers Colony in Sector E-8, to the right from the first shara after the Faisal Mosque shara as one goes out from F-8 on Margalla Road. I asked him if anyone can go there. He said, well, normal people from Islamabad have no problem going there. Of course, there is a gate with sentries, who let you in after a cursory check and making sure about your identity. I said, well, with the red CD plates on my car, I would rather not even try, and we both had a good laugh! Then, remembering something suddenly, I asked him what was the reason for so many beggars in and around Jinnah Super, beacuse at no other market complex in Islamabad have I witnessed them in such hordes.

My query sent Master Bashir into a long and philosophical monologue on the beggars of Islamabad. Aided by one or two gentle questions, here is a gist of what he had to say:

The beggars of Islamabad do favour Jinnah Super Market the most, because they know that this is where the very rich people come to shop and eat and who, seeing the dirty, poorly clad, hungry-looking beggars are overcome by feelings of Islamic piety, which tells them that they must share their wealth and good life by way of zakat (charity and alms). They forget whether this zakat is wajib or is being given to people who are entitled to receiving zakat. They forget that they are only perpetuating the habit of begging and begging as a lifestyle.

A lifestyle? I asked.

Yes, a lifestyle, he answered. The beggars of Jinnah Super, of all ages and descriptions, descend on the market by noon. They come in shared taxis, 8 to 10 skinny ones often crammed into one and leave in the same manner by midnight, 'working' 12 hours every day. Very young children just beg; as they grow older, they often begin to pawn useless things that at least the rich neither need nor would buy, such as plastic hand fans or plastic torches. They approach their 'hosts' pestering them to please buy, quickly descending into a pleading narrative of woe and want, of how they need some money for food, for medicine, for an inhaler for an asthamatic mother, for crutches for an invalid father...the list is long and innovative each time! Pregnant women keep begging till they almost deliver, and resume begging barely two or three days after their baby is born, bringing it along wrapped in a bundle of rags and carrying it pressed to their shoulder for better effect.

Can't they get employment? I saked.

No, they won't work. They have their own biradari, and working for wages is prohibited. In fact, anyone who doesn't beg for a living cannot find a match from within the biradari.

Why so many women and children only beg?

Its because their husbands often stay at home, playing cards or doing drugs, and thrashing the wife soundly if she doesn't go out begging because she has just delivered a baby or is sick. Of course, once married, the males have the choice to live off their women!

But where do they live, so that they have to take a cab to come here, I asked?

Master Bashir said they have slum settlements near Pir Wadhai Bus Stand on the road joining the Motorway to Lahore; there is another settlement at Khanna Pul along G.T. Road as it leaves Islamabad.

Where do they come from?

They flock to Islamabad, by far the most prosperous city in Punjab after Lahore, from Faisalabad, Jhelum, Attock...

What happens if the government wants to clear the land they are living on?

Nothing...they are simply chased off by the police. In this country, they cannot protest at being 'evacuated' nor do they have any squatters' rights.

I informed Master Bashir in brief about the squatter and slum politics of Delhi. It amused him no end and his eyes brightened at the ideas therein....trust a Punjabi to appreciate any kind of B&C....B&C being an acronym for 'Bribery & Corruption' borrowed from a wise old Punjabi lady in Delhi who has successfully multiplied her savings using B&C in land deals. In her personal account books, she actually has a column with the header B&C, and records the amount paid to various govt functionaries as bribes!

Does it matter that she originally hails from Lahore?

Meditation and Its Methods

I introduced myself to meditation in 1990, a time when I was heavily involved with ritualistic Hinduism. Having read some standard texts, I embarked on meditation as prescribed by most ancient Hindu religious texts, wanting to experience the effects described therein. It was a success, and I made good progress, experiencing gradually the various chakras in my body and their awakening, accompanied by the various shapes and colors just as described in the books. However, when I reached the chakra located at the level of the heart, I would feel a burden on my mind and a blanking out of all colors associated with this particular chakra. A strange fear would grip me and I just could not proceed any further.

To resolve the situation, I consulted an adept, a Guru from the Nathpanthi sect. He asked me about my daily routine of prayer and worship, and, after reflecting for a while, advised me to totally give up physical rituals of prayer and worship. I was taken aback - it was quite unthinkable at that time to do so. However, he advised me to visualize the light of the prayer lamp, the flowers to be offered and their scent, the ritual water and its moistness...all articles used in the prayers were to be visualized together with the usual accompanying chants of mantras (prayers and invocations).

Difficult though it seemed, I had no option but to try - such was the lure of moving up in the hierarchy of the chakras! And it worked...and worked beautifully. So beautifully that to this day I am able to offer my prayers and worship anywhere just through mental invocation of whomsoever I happen to be praying to at the moment...

I will not go into what I finally achieved through meditation and how. I will only say that meditation is a great way to help focus the mind. It filters away all negativity and extraneous thoughts,leaving the mind relaxed and focused. The meditating mind attains a state whereby it connects automatically with higher powers of the universe; intuition is sharpened and insights start opening their doors to reveal secrets about self and the world. This is akin to what has been called Divya Drishti  (Divinely-gifted vision) in our ancient texts. After sufficient practice at meditation, astral travel and various extra-sensory phenomena become possible, though not for everyone.

For the uninitiated to start meditation can be a confusing exercise, especially in the present times, with so many Gurus and TV channels around, each promoting a particular brand of meditation. I have personally tried many of these methods since, and found the one taught by he practitioners of the pyramid method to be the most effective in letting even a novice achieve the meditative state of mind in almost no time. In this system, no mantra is to be chanted, no form of any deity is to be entertained in the mind and no holding of the breath is to be attempted.

The followers of this system believe that a pyramid is capable of absorbing the maximum amount of energy from the cosmos, and meditation carried out by sitting under a pyramid shaped structure produces the maximum benefits. However, the system works equally well even if practiced under a flat roof but not in the open, under the sky.

I will now outline briefly the method followed in the pyramid system of meditation:

Meditation in this system, as in any other system, begins with its primary focus on one's breath. Although most systems tell you to sit in particular postures - cross legged on the floor with a comfortable cushion beneath,  or on your knees with the tail-bone pressing into the back of your heels and so on - even sitting on a chair or a sofa works as long as you are comfortable and your breath is not obstructed by your posture, which means that your spine should be straight and you should not be leaning forward nor backwards. You can also sit with your back to a pillar or a wall if you are unable to sit unsupported for a long period of time.

Closing the eyes is a must. It is the first step to cutting off the mind from external stimuli. At the same time, inter-twine the fingers of both your hands as in a clasp, gently and without any pressure. Let the clasped hands be lying easily in your lap, close to your stomach. Now, focus on your breath. Feel it going in and out of your body. Feel how deep it goes in, how it expands your chest and fills your stomach. Remind yourself that you were born with your first breath and you will die with your last breath. No one stays with you as constantly as your own breath. It stays with you through the thick and thin of your external life, even when you are not paying any attention to it. No life is possible without breath. Breath if life and life is nothing but breath.

As you focus on your breath, cut off all extraneous thoughts from your mind. In the beginning, you will be amazed at what all flows through the mind when you sit with your eyes closed. Shut all of it out by repeatedly coming back to focus on your breath. As the thoughts diminish and then vanish altogether, you will 'see' different shades of light dancing in front of your closed eyes. These could be of one or several hues, flickering or steady. The predominance of any one hue is indicative of your current state of mind and of the chakra where you have reached in the particular session. All colors are associated mainly with the baser chakras and as the practitioner moves up, s/he is able to reach the previously attained level  more and more quickly and then proceeds to the next higher stage. (See chart at the end for various hues and other attributes associated with various chakras and location of the chakras themselves in our body). As you continue to practice this easy breathing and elimination of all thoughts, all of these colors and hues will disappear and give way to a bright, diffused white light. As we know, white light embodies all hues of the spectrum -it is a balance of all colors. Seeing this white light indicates that a balance has been achieved in all chakras of the body and the mind is now completely relaxed and ready to receive higher things.

Music also helps in meditation but only once you have achieved the white light stage. Various kinds of meditation music are available on YouTube.

From this point onward, I will leave the practitioners to experiment for themselves, and enjoy  the experience!

If anyone feels that this is incomplete, well, my blog is all about incomplete sketches...

Various Chakras in the Human Body and their Associated Hues 

(1)   Moolaadhar Chakra - Located between the base of the spine and the anus - Purple hue.

(2)   Swadhishthan Chakra - Located near the centre of the urinary bladder/uterus - Golden hue

(3)   Manipoor Chakra - Located in front of the spine and behind the navel - Fiery red hue

(4)   Surya Chakra - Located slightly above the navel to the right near the liver - All yellow hues

(5)   Chandra Chakra - Located above the navel to the left near the appendix - Silvery hue

(6)   Anahat Chakra - Located behind the breasts in both males and females - This chakra is associated with sound but not the normal variety of it. When a drum is beaten, or a gong is struck, one can feel its reverberation for a few seconds after the actual impact is no more. These reverberations are the closest experience to anahat sound or sound produced without any physical contact between two entities. 

(7)   Vishudh Chakra - Located above the heart in the neck region - This chakra is associated with a 16 petaled flower. Once this chakra is awakened, the practitioner feels calming of the mind as never before.

(8)   Aagyaa Chakra - Located in the center of the forehead. This is where the practitioner will experience the true white light in the form of the flame of a lamp. 

(9)   Sahastradhara Chakra - Located about three inches above the brows, in the center of the scalp. This chakra is rarely attained by worldly persons. 

* * *