Saturday, December 27, 2014

Omkareswar:

Situated in the banks of River Narmada on the Mandhata (Shivapuri) Island formed in the shape of OM in Sanskrit, Omkareswar is one of the Jyotirlingas besides another Amareswar Linga. The Legend was that Sage Narada visited Vindhya Raja and the latter bragged that Vindya was the highest and most powerful Mountain in the entire World. Narada replied that perhaps Meru was the greatest in terms of height and might. Vindhya Raja felt jealous and executed severe ‘Tapasya’ and pleased Maha Siva and requested that He should always be present in the Vindhyas and establish a Linga of Bhagavan on the banks of Narmada near to Vindhya. Hence the Omkara Jyotirlinga there. Puffed by Siva’s presence there, Vindhya Raja grew taller and taller to compete with Sumeru. This obstructed Sun God’s routine circumambulation of the Universe and He had to return half way turning half of the Universe dark. Bhagavati asked Sage Agastya from Kasi to visit Vindhya Raja who out of veneration bent down to touch the feet of Agastya who asked Vindhya to be in that position till he returned and he never came again from the South!

இந்தோனேசியாவில் பூமிக்கு அடியில் புதைந்து கிடந்த பழமையான சிவன்கோவில்.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

ஷம்பலா உலகத்தின் அச்சு

விக்டோரியா லேபெஜ் ஐம்பது வருடங்களுக்கு மேலாக ஷம்பலாவை பற்றி ஆய்வு செய்தற் தனது ஆய்வு புத்தகத்தில் கூறுகிறார். துணிவற்ற நவீன சமுகத்திற்கு இந்த மண்டலத்தினுடைய ஆணை தேவை எனவும் மண்டலா(பிரபஞ்சத்தின் ஒரு வரைபட அமைப்பு ) ஒழுங்கற்ற சுருள் போன்ற பிரபஞ்சத்தின் மையம் என கூறும் அவர் மேலும் ,இந்த மையத்தினை தேடி தொடர்வது மூலம் ஷம்பலாவினை அடையலாம். மேலும் ஷம்பலா உலகத்தின் அச்சு என கூறும் இந்த ஆய்வாளர் .இங்கே நாம் அறிய முடியாத அளவில் பல ரகசியங்கள் நிறைந்து இருக்கலாம் என கூறுகிறார். அருங்காட்சியகம் நூலகம் பல்லாயிரக்கணக்கான வருடங்களுக்கு பிந்தைய தொழில் நுட்பம், மேலும் சீனர்களின் அறிவிதிறன்படி பிரபஞ்ச கோள்களுக்கு பயணம் செய்ய புதிய வாகனங்கள் ,மற்றும் பிற கிரஹங்களில் வசிப்பவர்களை கண்டறிய உதவும் புதிய வசதிமிக்க தொழில் நுட்பங்கள் இருக்குமென்று கூறுகிறார் . இவைகள் வெறும் ஒரு மதம் சார்ந்த கற்பனை என நாம் புறந்தள்ளி விடலாம் .ஆனால் புதிய நிலம் மற்றும் நாடுகளை கண்டறியும் ஒருவர் பற்றி தன் அனுபவங்களை முன் வைக்கிறார் .
ரஷியாவை சேர்ந்த நிக்கோலஸ் ரோறிச் இவர் பன்முகம் கொண்ட ஒரு மனிதர் நடிகர் கவிஞர் மேலும் தியோசொபிகல் சமுகத்தின் முக்கிய அங்கத்தினரும் கூட
1923 முதல் 1928 வரை இவர்கள் 15500 மைல்கள் 35 நாடுகளின் உயர்ந்த மலை பகுதிகளை கடந்தார்கள் கோபி பாலைவனம் முதல் அட்லாய் மலை வரை 1924 ஆன் ஆண்டு இந்திய மலை பயணங்களை ரோறிச் தன் குழுவினருடன் மேற்கொண்டார்.ரோறிச் தனது பயணத்தின் போது ஷம்பலாவை பற்றி அறிய நேர்ந்தது.
தனது பயணத்தின் போது ரோறிச் ஷம்பலாவை பற்றிய தனது எண்ணங்களை குறித்து வைத்து கொண்டார் பின்னலில் மிக பிரசித்தி பெற்ற நூலாக விளங்கியது அவருடைய குறிப்புகள் அதன் பெயர் altai-himalaya:a travelors guide
ரோறிச் இந்த புத்தகத்தில் ஒரு வினோத சம்பவத்தை விவரிக்கிறார். ரோறிச் தனது பயணத்தை அல்டாய் பயணத்தை முடித்து கொண்டு திரும்பிய பின் ஒரு வெள்ளை தூண் ஒன்றினை நிறுவி அத்தனை ஷ்மபலாவிற்கு அர்ப்பணம் செய்கிறார்.ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம் வெள்ளை தூண் ஷம்பலாவிற்கு அற்பணிக்கபடும் புனித சடங்குகளை செய்ய குறிப்பிட தக்க எண்ணிகையிலான லாமா துறவிகள் கலந்து கொள்கின்றனர் ஒரு மங்கோலிய குழுவின் தலைவர் வர இருக்கும் நாளில் இது குறித்து நல்ல செய்தி அல்லது சூசகமான தகவல் கிடைக்கும் என கூறுகிறார். அவர் கூறிய ஒரு அல்லது இரண்டு நாட்களுக்குள் ஒரு பெரும் கருப்பு பறவை ஸ்தூபிக்கு மேலாக பறந்து அம்பினை போல சூரியனை நோக்கி பாய்ந்து தங்கமென மின்னி எல்லோர் பார்வையும் அதன் மீது இருக்கும் போது சட்டேனே பார்வையில் இருந்து தப்பிய பறவையினை தொலைநோக்கி மூலம் கண்டபோது அட்லாயின் திசையிலுருந்து தென்மேற்கு பக்கமாக பறந்து ஹம்போல்ட் மலையின் பின்புறமாக சென்று மறைந்தது அதாவது ஷம்பலா திசையில் ,இது குறித்த ரோரிசிடம் லாமா ஒருவர் ஷம்பலாவின் கடவுளின் ஆசிர்வாதம் என கூறினார். மேலும் ஒரு ஆச்சர்யமான விஷயம் நமது மஹா விஷ்ணுவின் அவதாரமான கல்க்கி தீமைகளை அழித்து பின் ஷாம்பலில் அரசாள்வர் என கூறப்படுகிறது ஷம்பலா இன்னும் ஏரளாமான ஆச்சர்யங்களை கொண்டு உள்ளது .ஷம்பலாவின் மனிதர்கள் எவ்வாறு இருப்பார்கள் என திபெத்தில் பதினான்கு வருடங்கள் ஆய்வு பணி புரிந்த டேவிட் ஒ நில் எனும் பெண் கூறுகிறார் இமயமலை சாரலில் தான் கண்ட அந்த மனிதன் அமைதி தவழும் முகத்துடனும் வானுக்குள் அப்பாலுள்ள பொருள்களை காண்பனை போல கூறிய விழிகளுடன் காணப்பட்டதாகவும் அவனுடைய நடை பாய்ச்சல் போல அதே சமயம் பூமியில் கால் வைக்காமல் பறந்து செல்லும் ஒருவனை போல பெண்டுலம் அசைவதை போல சீரான இடைவெளியில் நடந்து சென்றதாக கூறுகிறார்.பல ஆச்சர்யங்களை கொண்ட ஷம்பலவை இன்னும் தேடி கொண்டே இருக்கின்றனர் .

Movies to look out for in 2014

Animal Rescue - American feature film debut by Belgium's Michaël Roskam, who gave us the fantastic Bullhead. This will be another crime flick and it stars Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and the late great James Gandolfini.

Birdman - A comedy from Alejandro González Iñárritu, the director who gave us Amores Perros and Biutiful. And it has a killer cast too.

Boyhood - Richard Linklater's latest in which he followed a boy and his family for a period of 12 years.

Calvary - The new comedy/drama from John Michael McDonagh with Brendan Gleeson. Previously they made The Guard together so they have my attention.

Captain America - The Winter Soldier - Still riding on the fact that I really enjoyed The Avengers. And the first Captain America is probably my second favourite Marvel Studios flick.

Child 44 - A crime procedural set in the Soviet Union of the 1950's. This one is on the list for the cast alone: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Vincent Cassell, and Paddy Considine. Amazing.

Cobbler, The - New film by Tom McCarthy, who's three previous films are were great. And it stars Adam Sandler who proved in Punch-Drunk Love that he can impress with the right director.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - The first one was a mixed bag but the teaser trailer for this one sold me.

Cold in July - New Jim Mickle movie. His last two films were the most interesting horror films to come out of the states so I'm dying to see what he'll do with a crime flick.

Dom Hemingway - Latest movie from Richard Shepard, who's previous two movies were both interesting. And Jude Law seems to go all out in this one based on trailer.

Double, The - New film by Richard Ayoade, who made Submarine, after a story by Dostoyevsky. Jesse Eisenberg stars as the guy who sees his life invaded by a far more confident doppelgänger.

Enemy - Another doppelgänger film. This one by Denis Villeneuve, who has been on fire with Polytechnique, Incendies and last year's Prisoners. This time Jake Gyllenhaal gets in trouble with his double. Looks amazing.

Foxcatcher - Latest from Bennett Miller, the director of Capote and Moneyball.

Godzilla - The teaser was dope and I just want to have a big monster movie I actually will like. So far the teaser was cool. Fingers crossed.

Gone Girl - New David Fincher. The man never makes a bad movie and some of his films are great. I'm hoping for one of the latter again.

Grand Budapest Hotel, The - New Wes Anderson with possibly his biggest cast yet. Everybody seems to be in this.

Guardians of the Galaxy - A new Marvel and a space adventure. God I hope this will be good. More Avengers goodwill...

Hobbit, The - There and Back Again - I don't care what the haters say. These movies are truly epic and in a league of their own. And this will be the grand finale. Can't wait.

How To Catch a Monster - Ryan Gosling's Directorial debut. No idea how this will turn out but the plot synopsis is interesting at the very least.

Immigrant, The - New film by James Gray starring Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner about a Polish immigrant and her relationship with two men in 1920's America.

Inherent Vice - New Paul Thomas Anderson. Nuff said.

Interstellar - New Chris Nolan SF flick. This one could be truly awesome.

Locke - Real-time drama starring Tom Hardy who's life comes to pieces as he drives his BMW with a cell phone for the duration of the movie. If anyone can pull it off, it's Hardy.

Midnight Special - New Jeff Nichols and Michael Shannon is in it once again. Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter and Mud were all great, so bring it on.

Monuments Men, The - George Clooney directed film with a great cast and great premise (WW2 platoon saving art from the Nazis). The reviews aren't that great but I just want it too be good.

Most Wanted Man, A - John le Carré adaptation by Anton Corbijn, who did the excellent Control. Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe and Philip Seymour Hoffman stars in this spy tale.

Mr. Turner - New Mike Leigh, which is good enough for me. A biopic on British artist J.M.W Turner with Leigh regular Timothy Spall in the title role.

Noah - I can't say I'm excited about a film about Noah but it's Darren Aronofsky directing so I will just have faith in that.

Raid 2, The - The most bonkers action movie of 2012 gets a sequel and it's looking to be even bigger. God help us.

Rosewater - A film directed by John Stewart about an Iranian journalist who was tortured and imprisoned for over 100 days as a result of a mock interview he conducted with the Daily Show.

Sin City - A Dame To Kill For - I absolutely love the original so I can't wait for this one. Gordon-Levitt, Willis, Rourke, Liotta, Brolin and many, many more star.

Serena - New Susanne Bier but set in depression-era North Carolina, which is quite a change.

Snowpiercer - Looks like we will finally get to see Bong Joon-Ho's SF American feature debut. And word is it will be uncut. Can't wait...

Transcendence - Another potentially big SF flick by Christopher Nolan's cinematographer. Johnny Depp & Rebecca Hall star. The trailers do make me worry however and he has never directed before.

Trip to Italy - Michael Winterbottom's follow up to the excellent The Trip. Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan are on a culinary road trip through Italy this time around. Should be good.

Under the Skin - Latest from Jonathan Glazer, who did Sexy Beast, looks like a giant trip. Sort of like Kubrick directing Beyond the Black Rainbow. And Scarlett Johansson stars as an alien who captures humans.

And maybe:

Fury - WW2 movie about a bunch of dudes in tank. I love a good movie set in a tank. Let's hope this will be one of them.

Jupiter Ascending - New SF by the by Wachowskis. They haven't made a great one since the first Matrix but they do their own thing and I'm always curious to see how their next movie turns out.

Imitation Game, The - Biopic about Alan Turing by the guy who's last movie was the fantastic Headhunters. Benedict Cumberbatch stars.

Big Eyes - New Tim Burton. I don't like Tim Burton films but the one exception was his biopic Ed Wood. This is another biography and an oddball subject. Fingers crossed.

Tom Yum Goong 2 - The first Tom Yum Goong was a truly horrendous film but it has some of the most amazing action sequences ever. Probably the same for this one.

What about the cosmological arrow of time?

According to the theory of the Big Bang our universe had a beginning, we know well though we unknown the finer details of such origin. After it opened, it has been expanding and evolving. If we look at the arrow of time which appears to induce increasing entropy we could deduce that in the past the entropy of the universe must have been smaller than at present.

But that statement that at first glance looks innocent hides a serious problem. The problem is to understand why the hell the universe began in a state of low entropy when, if you think about it a little, that must have been a "totum revolutum" particle interactions, changing at very high energy and temperature, etc. The natural thing is that the universe was born in a state of high entropy. Or at least, there is no reason to suppose that began in a state of low entropy.

Mr. Boltzmann attempt to answer this question by saying that our universe is due to a lavish fluctuation that the entropy decreased. That's not going against any physical law, not even the law of increasing entropy. The entropy is a quantity that makes perfect sense when many particles at stake and we must accept that local fluctuations occur (in a given region) where the entropy decrease.

If our universe is a fluctuation of something previous, now to that thing we call quantum vacuum, in our past entropy was younger and now we live in that fluctuation because we are trying to recover a high entropy. This image appears consistent with what we know about cosmological inflation, a subject that you have multiple entries in this page.

But as usual, the answers generate more questions. Why is this fluctuation in a universe like ours? Why do we see many galaxies expanding when it is more likely that one will be formed? Furthermore, why do not we see only a solar system? Or a single planet? Why we exist when it is more likely that a fluctuation generates a unique brain than an universe like ours?

This chain of questions point to the problem known as the Boltzmann brains, which states that vision is Boltzmann be much more likely that fluctuation to generate a single brain that a whole universe.

Maybe it's only Physics ...

Perhaps the answer to the origin and existence of an arrow of time is due to a conspiracy of the laws of physics. Maybe one by one are not sensitive to the direction of flow of time but maybe when we have many particles or many laws while playing naturally becomes an arrow of time.

That is what we are trying to show Barbour, Koslowski and Mercati. That provides a physical arrow of time, selecting the physical states of low entropy naturally from which may evolve into higher entropy states.

His work is collected in the following article which was recently published in Physical Review Letters:

Identification of a gravitational arrow of time (and I have linked the freely publication available on arXiv at the end of this post).

This work is insultingly simple and fabulously beautiful. It may not be a definitive answer to the problem at hand but a first step on which further work.

The idea is very, very simple. Suppose we have a set of many particles that interact only through Newtonian gravity. They attract more or less depending on the mass of each particle and the involved close they are from one another. For lovers of the details I will say that these particles are simulated so that the total energy of the system and its total angular momentum is zero (relative to the center of mass).

Steps:

1. We start with all huddled particles each having a speed that is assigned randomly.

2. If we evolve the system at the end we find that the particles are grouped in pairs, orbiting each other and occupying most of the available volume.

What they have done Barbour, Koslowski and Mercati (BKM) has been started by the end. Have taken a distribution of particles in the final state above and have evolved backward in time (this is done by reversing all particle velocities in the game). They found that all (or nearly all) the initial configurations give rise to a unique state of minimum size and uniformity.

Not content with that, BKM have left the system evolve further and what they find is that this configuration evolves to give back a scattered configuration in which the particles are associated in pairs.

View images images below where:

a) only plays Newtonian gravity.

b) The condensed "initial" and homogeneous situation may extend into the future or the past likewise leading to (not identical) similar situations. This is consistent with that of the laws of physics pay little attention to the direction of the arrow of time.

c) However, yes we can say that there are states that occur naturally that if we tend to evolve more entropic configurations. That is, as simple as that can select an initial state which evolve into the future (in either direction) system. So we are giving an arrow local time.

Have you solved the problem?

No, there are still several things to do (and make them take a long time):

Extend this work to situations where gravity described by general relativity operates.
Introduce more interactions and see if the game with gravity selects an arrow of time consistent for all. For all we know radioactive nuclei always change in the same direction, electromagnetic waves are generated by the acceleration of electric charges, but it not happens that a radioactive nucleus recompose or has emission of electromagnetic waves before accelerating charges.
Sure it's interesting what BKM will discover in the future, whatever that means.

What NOT to say this work?

I read somewhere that this work shows that we live in the past of a universe explode or something. The truth I have not paid much attention.

This article shows only that can be generated with the participation of initial severity for which there is a notion of time arrow situations. For all purposes, we still remember the past and not the future. Our universe will expand and not recolapse.

What it says the work is that there are states in which one can not choose where to point the arrow of time to see only the status of the initial image, ie, so you have begun in the dense and homogeneous situation your future will be go to the diluted and structures situation (two interacting particles). For you there is an arrow of time for physics no.

Although it is fair to make an exception to this last statement and is as follows:

in 1964 first discovered a phenomenon that violates the symmetry T. This is the disintegration of a certain type of particle (called Kaon or K meson) in the image below you can see the picture. This finding represents the first microscopic process where there is a physical difference between the past and the future. Contrary to the disintegration of other particles, the kaon is the only one if we will film a movie and we passed backwards, we would see a phenomenon that can not exist in the Universe. This discovery was of great importance for the understanding of time, but obviously we are still far from reaching a clever concept.

So the laws of physics are not reversible in all cases, but more disturbing is that in the subatomic world the arrow of time is contrary to what we perceive, ie it goes from future to past, it seems that taking energy "borrowed" from the future. This is explained in more detail in the following entry (available in Spanish only)

How exactly does the brain function in each sex?

Men and women’s brains are not all that different when they have an orgasm, as they feel like they’re losing control, but how exactly does the brain function in each sex?

The moment your clothes come off, and you’re in bed with your partner turning up the heat in between the sheets, your heart is racing, blood is pumping, and muscles are tensing up. As you and your partner strive to reach the big “O” — an orgasm — your body is filled with the intensity and tingling sensations of a promising sexual climax. Overcome with a feeling of euphoria as a surge of blood rushes to the genitals, what exactly happens to the brain when you have an orgasm?

GENITALS COMMUNICATE WITH THE BRAIN

During sex, our brain acts as a “pleasure center” to let us know what is enjoyable and what is not. The different nerves in the genitalia communicate with the brain about the sensation experienced. This can help explain why sensations can be perceived differently depending on what part of the body the person is being touched. A French study found women experiencetwo different kinds of orgasms — clitoral and vaginal — that differ in blood flow and sensations. These orgasms also contain a different set of nerves. The clitoris, which extends along both sides of the vulva underlying the labia minora, is erectile with arousal as it has more than 8,000 nerve endings.

For men and women, there are four types of nerves responsible for sending information to the brain during an orgasm. The hypogastric nerve transmits signals from the uterus and the cervix in women, and from the prostate in men; the pelvic nerve transmits signals from the vagina and cervix in women, and from the rectum in both sexes; the pudendal nerve transmits from the clitoris in women, and from the scrotum and penis in men; and the vagus nerve transmits from the cervix, uterus, and vagina in women.

NEUROCHEMICALS GIVE OFF THE ‘EUPHORIC’ FEELING

The “cloud nine” feeling reported by many during sex is linked to the nerves sent to the brain’s pleasure center, or reward circuit. The sexual arousals felt in the body flood the brain with a surge of neurochemicals, which are chemical messengers that forge emotions, feelings of attachment, and even love, according to Psychology Today. The level of pleasure is contingent on the release of these chemicals that can be used to measure the intensity of your climax. The areas of the brain impacted by sexual arousal include the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area (VTA), cerebellum, and the pituitary gland.

MALE AND FEMALE BRAIN SIMILAR TO BEING ON HEROIN

Although both sexes tend to engage in different behaviors during sex, the brains of men and women are not all that different. During an orgasm, the lateral orbitofrontal cortex — the brain region behind the left eye — shuts down during an orgasm. This region is considered to be the voice of reason and controls behavior. The brain of both a man and woman is said to look much like the brain of a person taking heroin during an orgasm, according to a studypublished in the Journal of Neuroscience.

A difference between the two sexes lies in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) — the part of the brain that is activated when a woman has sex. The PAG is not activated in men when they reach an orgasm. Moreover, women will experience a decrease in the amygdala and hippocampus — which help monitor fear and anxiety — during an orgasm.

WOMEN CAN’T ‘FAKE IT TILL THEY MAKE IT’ (IN AN MRI)

Women are notoriously known for faking orgasms out of pity for their partners, or to convince themselves the sex is good, but an MRI scan can show the truth. In an MRI scan, the brain is able to identify whether women were actually experiencing an orgasm. When the women were asked to fake an orgasm, their brain activity increased in the cerebellum and other areas related to movement control, but this brain activity was not seen during an actual orgasm.

Overall, an orgasm is the body’s physiological response to sexual stimulation, and involves involuntary body movements and vocalizations. This has a similar effect on the brain to that of an addictive substance, such as heroin. Men and women tend to have similar brain activity during an orgasm, despite the different emotions and behaviors displayed by both genders.

Read more at http://www.the-open-mind.com/brain-on-sex-how-the-brain-functions-during-an-orgasm/#tY5d5qivctrcBJoX.99

Ten "best" automobile engines available in the U.S. market

Ward's 10 Best Engines is an annual list of the ten "best" automobile engines available in the U.S. market, that are selected by Ward's AutoWorld magazine. The list was started in 1994 for Model Year 1995, and has been drawn every year since then, published at the end of the preceding year.

10 Best Engines of 2015 in alphabetical order are:

• 127-kW Electric Motor (BMW i3 electric vehicle)
• 6.2L OHV V-8 (Chevrolet Corvette Stingray)
• 6.2L Supercharged OHV V-8 (Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat)
• 1.0L Turbocharged DOHC 3-cyl. (Ford Fiesta)
• 100-kW Fuel Cell (Hyundai Tucson FCV)
• 1.5L Turbocharged DOHC 3-cyl. (Mini Cooper)
• 3.0L Turbodiesel DOHC V-6 (Ram 1500 EcoDiesel)
• 2.0L Turbocharged DOHC H-4 (Subaru WRX)
• 1.8L Turbocharged DOHC 4-cyl. (Volkswagen Golf)
• 2.0L Turbocharged DOHC 4-cyl. (Volvo S60)

Don't forget to share this list.

A spectacular weather phenomenon due to Thermodynamics turned the Grand Canyon into a cauldron of soupy cloud cover

A breathtaking weather phenomenon turned the Grand Canyon into a cauldron of soupy cloud cover on this Thursday.

The rare scenes were caused by a temperature inversion, which involves cold air filling the canyon while warm air lies above it, trapping the fog in place since the denser cold air hugs the ground.

See also: Mesmerizing drone video reveals a foggy Dallas from above

The result, a layer of low-lying clouds, or fog, produced the spectacular sight and turned the canyon into a sea of clouds.

வீரமங்கை வேலு நாச்சியார் நினைவு தினம் டிசம்பர் 25

டிசம்பர் 25: ஆங்கில அரசுக்கு எதிராக ஆயுதம் ஏந்திப் போராடிய வீரமங்கை வேலு நாச்சியார் நினைவு தினம் இன்று

* இந்திய சுதந்திர வரலாற்றின் அதிகம் வெளிவராத பக்கங்களில் ஒன்று *

ராணி வேலு நாச்சியாரின் வீரக்கதை. வரலாற்று ஆசிரியர்களால் நமக்கு போதிக்கப்பட்ட வீர வரலாறு, ஜான்சி ராணி லட்சுமி பாய் பற்றியது மட்டுமே. ஆனால், ஜான்சி ராணியின் சுதந்திரப் போராட்டத்துக்கு 85 ஆண்டுகள் முன்பே நடந்தேறிய வீர வரலாறு... தமிழகத்தைச் சேர்ந்த வேலு நாச்சியாருடையது!

ராமநாதபுர மன்னர் செல்லமுத்து சேதுபதி யின் ஒரே செல்ல மகளாகப் பிறந்த வேலு நாச்சியார், அரண்மனையில் ஆண் வாரிசு இல் லாத குறை இல்லாமல் வீர விளையாட்டு களான சிலம்பம், குதிரை ஏற்றம், வாள் வீச்சு, வில் வித்தை முதலான வீரக்கலைகளில் பயிற்சி பெற்றார். போர் பயிற்சிகளுடன் ஃபிரெஞ்சு, ஆங்கிலம், உருது ஆகிய மொழிகளிலும் தேர்ச்சி பெற்றார். 16 வயதானபோது சிவகங்கையின் மன்னரான முத்துவடுகநாதரை மணந்தார். 1772-ம் ஆண்டு நடந்த காளையார்கோயில் போரில் முதுவடுகனாதரையும் வேலு நாச்சியாரின் மகளான கௌரி நாச்சியாரையும் கொன்றனர் வெள்ளையர்கள். கொதித்து எழுந்த வேலுநாச்சி யார், தனது அரசை மீட்க சூளுரைத்தார்.

தனது தளவாய் தாண்டவராயன் பிள்ளையையும் சேனாபதிகள் மருது சகோதரர்களையும் அழைத்துக் கொண்டு குறுநில மன்னர்களை ஒன்று சேர்த்து போராட பல இடங்களுக்குச் சென்றார். தளவாய் தாண்டவராயன் பிள்ளை, வேலு நாச்சியாரின் சார்பாக சுல்தான் ஹைதர் அலிக்கு மடல் ஒன்றை எழுதினார். அந்த மடலில்... 5,000 வீரர்கள் கொண்ட காலாட்படையும் 5,000 வீரர்கள் கொண்ட குதிரைப்படையும் கேட்டிருந்தார். இதையடுத்து, வேலு நாச்சியாரை நேரில் அழைத்த ஹைதர் அலி, அவரின் உருதுப் புலமையைக் கண்டு வியந்தார். வேலு நாச்சியார் கேட்டவண்ணம் படைகளைக் கொடுத்து அனுப்பினார்.

படைகளைப் பெற்ற வேலு நாச்சியார், வெள்ளையர்களை வெல்வதற்கான உத்திகளை வகுத்தார். தனது படைகளை தானே முன்னின்று நடத்தினார். சேனாபதிகளான மருது சகோதரர் கள், உற்ற துணையாக இருந்து படைகளுக்குத் தலைமை தாங்கினர். குதிரை வீரர்கள், காலாட்படை வீரர்கள் மற்றும் பீரங்கிப்படை யோடு... திண்டுக்கல்லிலிருந்து சிவகங்கை நோக்கிப் புறப்பட்ட வேலு நாச்சியார், காளையார் கோயிலை கைப்பற்றினார்.

இறுதியாக, சிவகங்கை நகரைக் கைப்பற்றத் திட்டமிட்டு, சின்னமருது, பெரியமருது, தலைமை யில் படை திரட்டப்பட்டது. வெள்ளையரின் ஆக்கிரமிப்பில் இருந்த சிவகங்கை அரண்மனையில் விஜயதசமி, நவராத்திரி விழாவுக்காக மக்கள் கூடினர். அதில் பெண்கள் படை, மாறுவேடத்தில் புகுந்து செல்ல வியூகம் அமைத்தார் நாச்சியார். குயிலி என்ற பெண்ணை தற்கொலைப்படையாக அனுப்பினார். குயிலி தன் உடம்பில் தீ வைத்து வெள்ளையரின் ஆயுதக் கிடங்கை எரித்து ஆயுதங்களை அழித்தாள். உலகிலேயே முதன் முதலாக மனித வெடிகுண்டாக ஒரு பெண்ணை வேலு நாச்சியார் அனுப்பியது, பிற்கால தற்கொலைப் படைகளுக்கு முன்னோடியாக அமைந்தது.

கோட்டையை நோக்கி முன்னேறிய வேலு நாச்சியாரை தடுக்கும் எண்ணத்துடன் ஆற்காட்டு நவாப் வெள்ளையர்களுடன் படை எடுத்து வந்தபோது, வேலு நாச்சியாரும் மருது சகோதரர்களும் அப்படைகளை வென்று சிவகங்கையை அடைந்தனர். இறுதி யில் வென்றார் வீரமங்கை! தன் கணவரைக் கொன்ற ஜோசப் ஸ்மித்தையும், தளபதி பான் ஜோரையும் வேலு நாச்சியார் தோற்கடித்தது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது! இத்தனையையும் அவர் சாதித்தது... தன்னுடைய ஐம்பதாவது வயதில்!

சிவகங்கைச் சீமையை மீட்டு, 1780-ம் ஆண்டு முதல் 1789-ம் ஆண்டு வரை ராணியாக மக்கள் போற்ற ஆட்சி புரிந்தார் நாச்சியார். இந்திய சுதந்திரப் போராட்ட வரலாற்றில் வெள்ளையர்களை வென்று முடி சூட்டிய ஒரே ராணி, வீரமங்கை வேலு நாச்சியார். அவரது சுதந்திரப் போராட்ட தியாகத்தை கௌரவிக்கும் பொருட்டு, இந்திய அரசு 2008-ம் ஆண்டு தபால் தலை ஒன்றை வெளியிட்டது.

நம் குழந்தைகளுக்கு ஃபிரான்ஸ் நாட்டின் ஜோன் ஆஃப் ஆர்க் மற்றும் வடநாட்டின் ஜான்சி ராணியின் கதைகளையே சொல்லி வளர்த்த நாம், நம் மண்ணில் தோன்றி பெருமை சேர்த்த வேலு நாச்சியாரின் கதையையும் சொல்லி வளர்ப்போம். பட்டுக்கோட்டையார் பாடியது போல், வீரத்தை கொழுந்திலேயே கிள்ளி வைக்காமல், வீரக்கதையை சொல்லி வளர்ப்பது நமக்கும் நம் மண்ணுக்கும் பெருமை சேர்க்கும் தானே!

- நா.சோமசுந்தரம்
Thanks அவள் விகடன்

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Reincarnation

1981 documentary with australian hypnotherapist Peter Ramster. Filmed live as the research was undertaken. -with a bonus update for Gwen McDonald!-
Four women are regressed to their past lives and then seek out the places they remembered under hypnosis and find the evidence beyond the extent they had imagined.

Cynthia Henderson : Amélie de Cheville whose manor house was Château Cerisy Belle Etoille (now Château Cerisy-Belle-Étoile) in Normandy, France, about two hundred years ago (died 1763)

Helen Pickering : Doctor James (Archibald) Burns, born in 1807, who studied medicine at Marischal College, Aberdeen then his own practice in Blairgowrie, Scotland

Jenny Green : Dorothy Halman, of Düsseldorf, jewish teen girl in nazi Germany during the Holocaust

Gwen McDonald : Rose Duncan, born in 1765, whose house was Rose Cottage in Somerset, England

The evidence is extraordinary. The full details of the expedition were written up in the book 'The Search For Lives Past' by Peter Ramster. Peter now heads an organisation Aramai Global and continues to be involved with this field of endeavour to the present day. New editions of his books will soon be made available through Aramai.

According to a recent 2009 Pew Forum, roughly one quarter of Americans believe in reincarnation. Reincarnation comes from the Latin roots:

Re meaning “again.”

In meaning “inside.”

Carne meaning “meat” or “flesh.” This root word is used of carnivores (or meat-eaters).

Thus reincarnation literally means to “enter the flesh again.” Christians often refer to Jesus’ incarnation, where he took on human flesh. Reincarnation means to take on flesh repeatedly. Hindu thinking states that the soul is eternal, until it becomes part and parcel with Braham—the pantheistic deity. The soul can travel (or transmigrate) from insects, to animals, to humans. New Age thinking believes that the soul only transmigrates from human to human.

Biblical critique of reincarnation

The Bible does not teach the concept of reincarnation. In fact, it repeatedly teaches against this perspective:

First, the Bible teaches that we only live once. The author of Hebrews writes, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). There is not an endless cycle of reincarnations; we have one chance to live life and “after this comes judgment.” According to Scripture, humans do not have eternal souls; we were created (Gen. 1:27; Ps. 139:13-16) and will die (Job 1:21).

Second, the Bible teaches that believers go directly into the presence of God at death. Paul writes, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. ²³ But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Phil. 1:21-23). Elsewhere, he writes, “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). Likewise, Jesus told that the thief on the Cross that he would go directly into God’s presence in “paradise”—not into another reincarnation (Lk. 23:43).

Third, Jesus rejected the notion of pre-natal sins. The concept of reincarnation (combined with karmic law) teaches that infants are born with defects and deformities because of their sin in a previous life. When the disciples came across a man born blind (Jn. 9:1), they asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” (Jn. 9:2). If Jesus believed in reincarnation, he would have blamed this congenital defect on the man’s own sin—albeit in a previous life. However, Jesus denied this, when he said, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents” (Jn. 9:3). In Luke 13, Jesus denied that misfortune was the result of a person’s individual sins (Lk. 13:1-5).

Fourth, the Bible teaches that humans can be forgiven. Karmic law doles out judgment in a cold and impersonal way. However, the Bible teaches that humans can have forgiveness for their sins—not judgment. Jesus didn’t call down judgment and retribution on his enemies (as karmic law would dictate)—but forgiveness (Lk. 24:34; Jn. 3:17-18).

Fifth, while New Age authors usually appeal to Scripture to support reincarnation, these passages are found wanting. Consider our look at each of these below:

(Mt. 11:14) Did Jesus believe in reincarnation?

(Gal. 6:7) Does this passage teach karmic law?

Philosophical critique of reincarnation

In addition to a biblical critique of reincarnation, we have several philosophical objections:

First, an impersonal Being cannot give out moral laws, let alone judgments. If karmic law is truly the law of an impersonal Being, then how can it give out personal judgment? In order to have a moral law, we need a moral lawgiver. It makes no sense to say that we can have moral prescriptions without a moral Prescriber. However, New Age and Hindu pantheism doesn’t posit a personal God, but an impersonal one.

Second, karmic law and reincarnation hasn’t improved the world. Human history is not getting better, but worse. Thus, in what sense has karmic law been purifying the world, as is so often claimed?

Third, karmic law and reincarnation doesn’t fit with population growth. When reincarnation was first espoused by ancient Hindu and Greek philosophers, it appeared that population growth was in a static state, because there was no way to measure this at the time. Today, however, we know that humanity’s population has grown at exponential rates:

Population growth renders a problem for the reincarnationist: If souls are eternal and no new souls are being created, then where are these extra souls coming from? Remember, some souls at least are being absorbed into Brahman. Therefore, the human population should be decreasing not increasing.[1]

Fourth, karmic law and reincarnation are ultimately selfish—not centered on others but on ourselves. While Christians love others because God has loved us first (1 Jn. 4:19), the reincarnationist loves others so that they will be ultimately rewarded in return. Under this view, we really shouldn’t love others for their own sake, but for our own sake—being rewarded through karmic law. By contrast, the Christian believer loves others because they have already been loved.

Fifth, karmic law and reincarnation result in blaming the victim. If karmic law and reincarnation are both true, then the poor person is poor because of their own sin. Morey writes, “It produces pride among the rich and healthy, and shame within the poor and sick.”[2]

Sixth, karmic law and reincarnation punish individuals without them knowing why they are being punished. While some Hindu children claim to have a knowledge of a previous life (see our assessment below), our past lives are almost universally unknown to us. How then is it considered just for us to be punished for actions for which we have no memory? What is going to stop us from making the same errors all over again? Morey writes, “If I sin as an adult in this life, how is it just to punish me as an infant in a future life?”[3] How can karma be a good system, if the person doesn’t even know why they are being punished?

Seventh, karmic law and reincarnation have led to treating insects as more valuable than humans in many cases. Morey writes, “Because insects and animals may be Karmic rebirths of human souls, no attempt is made to destroy insects and rodents which eat food supplies. Thus, by allowing these marauders to eat tons of food, people are forced to die of starvation! Also, nothing is done to stop the spread of disease by insect infestation. Is it any wonder that disease as well as famine is a common experience in cultures where the theory of transmigration is accepted? It leads to human misery on a massive scale.”[4]

Arguments for Reincarnation

Both New Age and Hindu reincarnationists offer various arguments for their perspective. Consider a couple of these below:

ARGUMENT #1: Reincarnation answers the problem of evil

Reincarnationists often claim that reincarnation gives a cogent explanation for why people suffer in this life. Babies are born with defects, low I.Q.’s, or into poverty because of their own moral failings in a previous life. Thus, evil and suffering are not random or senseless, but rather, they are retributive to the individual. However, a number of observations can be made in regard to this argument:

First, while reincarnationists formerly believed that birth defects were the result of karmic law, modern Hindus in India have begun to deeply question this. Morey writes, “Recent studies show that the study of genetics in India is gradually undermining the Karmic explanation of birth defects. As mothers learn the importance of prenatal care, the number of birth defects is decreasing. Yet, prenatal care which prevents birth defects also puts Karmic reincarnationists into a dilemma. To admit that modern medicine can remove Karma or nullify its effects would deny that Karma is a ‘law.’”[5]

Second, Christians have done more for the poor and marginalized in India than any other group. Thus Christianity has a better practical answer to the problem of human evil and suffering. Secular authors Carmody and Carmody observe,

Christians opened hundreds of charitable institutions, especially schools, and were responsible for the first leprosaria. They also promoted hospital care for the tuberculosis and the insane. In fact, Christianity’s greatest impact was probably the rousing of the Hindu social conscience. The tradition of dharma as social responsibility had not resulted in the establishment of institutions for the poor and sickly. While Western culture opened India to modern science, technology, and democratic political theory, Western religion drove home the ideal of social concern.^{^[6]}

Likewise, secular author Lewis Hopfe writes,

Like many other missionaries of the nineteenth century [William] Carey was concerned not only with preaching the gospel of his faith but also with raising the living and educational standard of the people he ministered to. He was the first to begin modern printing in India, and he also initiated many new educational programs for the Indian people. Carey, along with other missionaries, was alarmed at several practices—which he felt were inhuman and harmful—within Indian social life. One of these was the suttee, in which an Indian widow was expected to throw herself upon the funeral pyre or into the grave of her dead husband and be destroyed with him. Another practice that was abhorrent to the European missionary was that of child marriages… This meant the betrothal of very young children, and the marriage of nine and ten-year-olds. This was particularly harsh in the case of girls who might have been promised by their parents to men twenty or thirty years their senior… The missionaries put pressure upon the British rulers, and eventually both the practices of child marriages and the suttee were officially outlawed in India.[7]

Thus when it comes to alleviating suffering in the world, Christianity has offered better practical help. When you’re hurting, you not only want answers; you want to feel better. Christianity has done more for Hindus in India, than Hinduism has. As Christian apologists have long observed, Hinduism didn’t bring us Mother Theresa into Calcutta, India: Jesus Christ did.

Third, the Christian answer to the problem of evil is superior. While we do not have the space or inclination to detail a Christian response to the problem of evil, see our earlier article “The Problem of Evil” which does so.

ARGUMENT #2: We can often remember past lives

New Age teachers often support the doctrine of reincarnation through three means: (1) a sense of déjà vu, (2) children who have recalled past lives, and (3) patients recalling past lives under hypnosis. However, we have reason to doubt all three lines of evidence.

1. Déjà vu

Often, people observe déjà vu; that is, a sense that they have “been here before.” However, cases of déjà vu have been regularly explained by similar situations and pictures of places. For instance, a man having déjà vu of visiting the French Louvre will come to find a picture of the Louvre in house, which triggers the feeling.

Additionally, people often observe a sensation of déjà vu in places that are younger than the individual. Morey writes, “This feeling often occurs when seeing people or buildings which are younger than the viewer. Since his present life extends well before these things, it is obvious that he could not have met them or been there in a past life because these things did not yet exist.”[8] Therefore, it is our sense of déjà vu that could be in error.

2. Children recalling past lives

Psychologist Ian Stevenson M.D. spent 40 years documenting the evidence for reincarnation among children in Sri Lanka, documenting 14 specific cases in his book Children Who Remember Previous Lives.[9] In total, Stevenson collected 3,000 cases of children,[10] but his 1987 book reports on 14 of these. Reincarnationists have touted Stevenson’s work as strong medical evidence of reincarnation. But in contrast to this, there are a number of problems with Stevenson’s work:

First, Stevenson’s cases were dated. Skeptic Richard Rockley notes, “All the ‘past life behavior’ had been witnessed before the author met any of the players and so the veracity of the stories is hard to determine.”[11]

Second, Stevenson’s cases consisted in close proximity to the child. In 9 out of the 14 cases, the “the prior life person had (or could have had), some contact with the family of the child.”[12] The rest of the cases were unsolved or not able to be verified.

Third, Stevenson gives no cases of people from other countries. Most of his cases are from India. Rockley writes, “In 13 of the 14 cases the previous lives were in the same community as the current one.”[13] Morey writes, “Nearly all of these cases take place in Hindu cultures. This casts suspicion on their credibility, for why should only Hindu children recall their past lives? Is it possible that young minds trained to believe that they have lived before are encouraged to draw upon the richness of children’s imaginations to fabricate such lives? Do not children all around the world pretend to be other people? When a reincarnationist’s child pretends to be someone else, is he not encouraged to believe that he really was someone else in a past life? Such arguments for the validity of reincarnation are highly suspect.”[14]

Fourth, Stevenson didn’t speak the native languages, so he needed to rely on translators. This would only increase the likelihood that an adult translator could alter details from the testimony of the children—especially in a culture where children have a high incentive to be religious celebrities or to desire to belong to a different caste. Therefore, for these reasons, we do not believe that these cases are trustworthy evidence of reincarnation.

3. Hypnosis

Hypnosis cases have been suggested as a means of accessing previous lives. In the 1956 book The Search for Bridey Murphy,[15] we see an example of a young woman who could speak Gaelic and talk about old Irish history. However, she couldn’t do this while awake. Reincarnationists pointed to this as evidence of past lives.

However, this work underwent intense scrutiny when it was discovered that “the woman learned these things from her grandmother, not during a past life.”[16] The human mind records everything, but hypnosis may bring out memories of the subconscious, which are not concrete in any other state.

Additionally, we contend that even if supernatural knowledge was gained through hypnotic practices, this doesn’t necessarily mean that this is coming from God. Since Satan has existed for millennia, he would be able to impart supernatural knowledge of past events. Therefore, occult practices could theoretically yield supernatural knowledge. In fact, the Bible even allows for this possibility (Deut. 13:1-3), because Satan is in control of this world (2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Jn. 5:19). However, just because these practices are real, we reject that they are good.

Conclusion

We believe that stories of reincarnation are suspicious. Why is it that everyone usually believes that they were someone important in a previous life (e.g. King Arthur, Jesus Christ, Alexander the Great)? Why is it that no one believes that they were a ditch digger or a latrine cleaner? Moreover, if hundreds of people all believed that they were Alexander the Great for example, this means (as a statement of logic) that either all of them are wrong, or only one of them is telling the truth. Thus we should conclude that most (if not all of these reports) are false.

amudu

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