Sharmalan Thevar

Sex is the first thing that comes to our mind whenever the word Tantra is mentioned. We have been brainwashed by Western definition to think in this manner.  Because the Western interpretation of Hinduism is solely based on their own limited perspective. You cannot define Hinduism the same way you define Abrahamic religions. What is Tantra? Tantra is actualy a system of thought or a set of doctrines. It can also be interpreted as governance.  To make it sound simple, any branch of Hindu knowledge is Tantra. There are many types of Tantra. Tantric works are written in Sanskrit. Like the Vedas, Tantras are believed to have been revealed by God to various Sages.  Although the Hindu knowledge systems were originally known as Tantra, the word Tantra itself was replaced with other words. The Shaktas still call it Tantra but the Saivites call it Agama.  The Buddhist have their own school of Tantra in the form of Vajrayana.  The Saivite Tantra/Agama a...

For Part 1, click here http://sharmalanthevar.blogspot.com/2014/03/padmapada-narasimha-devotee-part-1.html The previous story of Sanandana and the hunter happened during his Purvashrama. Purvashrama is the life period just before a person enters Sanyasa. Sanyasa is the period in life when someone becomes a complete renunciate. Sanandana enters Sanyasa with the blessings of his guru, the great Adi Sankara. Once Adi Sankara called his disciples for help from across the river. The disciples, including Sanandana was on the other side of the river. Adi Sankara wants to cross the river but there was no boat at that time. So the disciples were not able to help him. But the devoted Sanandana walked towards the river with pure devotion and love towards his Guru. Seeing this, the Goddess Ganga sent lotus flowers towards Sanandana. Sanandana stepped on the lotuses to cross the river and bring his Guru to the other side. In order to commemorate this incident, Adi Sankara renamed Sanan...

About 1,200 years ago, there was a Narasimha Upasaka who lived in the Chola kingdom. His name was Sanandana. Upasaka is a word used to describe worshippers or followers of a deity. The word is also used by the Buddhist. Females are known as Upasika. A Narasimha Upasaka is a person who worships Narasimha as his favourite deity or Ishta Deva. All concentration on Him alone. Narasimha is the 4th Avatar of Vishnu. For many months, Sanandana was meditating upon Narasimha in a forest. He wished to see his Lord. But it was not easy to live in a forest. Despite all this, Sanandana continued with his meditation in the forest. On one fine day, a hunter passed by Sanandana. He asked :  Hunter: "Hey you! What are you doing in the forest?" Sanandana : "I am meditating so that I get to see Narasimha" Hunter: "Narasimha? What is that?" Sanandana then describes the physical attributes of Narasimha. Body of a man, head of a lion. The hunter then mentioned...

I wrote this article back in 2009. That is 5 years ago. I didn't know until recently that it is still being circulated in the internet. This article was actually an email which I sent out to my friends.  My perception on certain aspects of Hinduism may have changed over the time. One being the clear distinction between Muniswaran and Siva, the former being a Spirit and the later as Almighty. Nevertheless, you may still read this article to understand my thoughts back then and now. A short version of my thoughts for the Hindus was written yesterday. It can be read at this link: http://sharmalanthevar.blogspot.com/2014/03/hinduism-keep-it-simple.html

These are the basics for all Hindus to practice. 1.CHOOSE A PATH There are various paths in Hinduism. This can be determined by your choice of Principal Supreme Being. Shaktam, Shaivam, Vaishnavam are the main paths. Each of these paths have their own set of schools. They may differ with each other but all believes in Karma. Choose what suits you best. 2.ACCEPT THE SCRIPTURES There are various scriptures. Vedas are Supreme. We also have Samhitas, Agamas and Tantra. They all have their own doctrines and divisions. There are also scriptures in Tamil such as Thirumurai and Nalayra Divyaprabandam. Accept the scriptures as the source of your religious affiliation. Don't be a language fanatic who throws away certain scriptures as alien scriptures. 3.BELIEVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY Always analyse before deciding. But when you have decided on the path, you need to believe in it wholeheartedly. Do not choose for the sake of choosing. It is better to just be an Atheist who does no...

PICTURE CREDIT  adoi-means-ouch.blogspot.com The present generation of Malaysian Indians (mostly Tamils) use English terms when refering to elderly people such as parents of their friends. We often hear this "Hello Uncle, saptacha?" (Hello Uncle, have you eaten?) "Hi Aunty! Sundar irukara?" (Hi Aunty! is Sundar in?) Back in the olden days, at least before the 1980s, people communicated more often in Tamil. Due to this, Tamil kinship terms like Mama (mother's brother) and Athai (Mama's wife) were used regardless of whether we were all related to each other. My mother still calls her former neighbors as Athai and Mama even though they are not related. As we all know, most of the bistro which we see today are owned by Indian Muslims. Previously, they were just called as the "Mamak Stalls" .  It had a humble origin. No air cond, no Wifi, no fancy names and obviously, way cheaper. Just a few tables with stools. We still see some today. ...

A noble effort :)  The world is aware that Flight MH370 is missing. The fate of over 200 humans is not known. To know more about what happened and what is happening, please search for reliable news in the media. Everyone who knows about it is upset with what has happened. When a family member does not return home on time, we will immediately pick up our phones and start calling even if it is just a 10 minute delay.  The family members of those in MH370 are in a much more critical situation. The best we could do at this moment is to pray for them or at least, not make a mockery of this entire situation. Many heartless people in Facebook are taking advantage of this. They put up status updates which are insensitive to the current situation. To make matters worse, some irresponsible page admins share screenshots of such status updates. Take a look at some of these screenshots, it is fake. It is very obvious that someone purposely made those to tak...

**The Chinese mentioned in this article refers to those of China and not those in the Chinese diaspora.** Ever since the war in Tamil Eelam ended, I have been seeing a lot of pictures, news links and videos being shared in Facebook. It shows the Chinese as being interested in Tamil language. Unknown to many people, the Tamil people had links with China since ancient times. There are also Tamil inscriptions about Hindu temples in China. You can read about it here: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/behind-chinas-hindu-temples-a-forgotten-history/article4932458.ece However, the past relationship between the two giant civilizations of India-China, is not the same as the present situation. The Indians (including Tamils) of the ancient world were of a superior class. We are nothing when compared with them.  Ancient Tamils vs Modern Tamils China has been showing interest to break India into smaller countries in order to reduce its region...