Gita Jayanthi, Eid-Ul-Adah, My Little Ones- Can There Ever Truly Be Universal Collective Prayer?

Can there ever truly be Universal Collective Prayer? Can I really keep my intent to 'Walk in the Shoes of Others Very Different to Me?' Today I learnt since I really don't myself celebrate either that there is the Hindu festival of Gita Jayanthi on one hand and the Islamic festival of Eid-Ul-Adah on the other. For those of you taking part in Universal Collective Prayer with me but do not know much bout either one I will repeat two summaries of the festival descriptions from some other websites.

But before I do so let me mention what I mean by "My Little Ones"...it's quite simple really...I consider other non-human creatures in the Universe to be my brothers too and I don't believe they like to be eaten and should not be eaten by humans simply cause we can do differently. I can't expect a lion to be a vegetarian but to me it seems humans can be and even vegan and food rawist vegans too! I like that I'm not a lion and so I can feel comfy amongst all my brothers...other than the ones who would eat me too I guess! If anyone has seen the film Madagascar think how sad it was for the lion in that film when he realized by nature he wanted to eat his friend the zebra! And if a film can be a lesson look how well that little ole lion did! Anyway back to it before I lose credibility...talking animals and cartoons today...Santa Claus yesterday hmmm...?

But seriously I think too my understanding of how I feel about animals and eating them or not doing so actually is very Hindu centric. So really I'm not loony just more Hinduey a girl in Universal Collective Prayer than a follower of Islam in it...but I want to walk in those shoes...I also want that one day all of the universe can sit and engage in Universal Collective Prayer. So I continue to ask...also as I ask I am mindful that however limited the reach of this blog may or may not be (cause really anyone or thing can be found on the globe today!) there is enough religious tension on the earth today and I vow not to add to it. This blog was created to put forward positive healing cohesive prayer not divisive or disruptive thoughts...so I have to dig deep especially give the recent tensions in Mumbai as I don't want to encourage any inter-religious tensions...

So here is the little summary of each festival. First up the description of Eid-Ul-Adah as outlined on the BBC's website:
'The Hajj ending in Eid-ul-Adha - 11th - 14th December 2008

Eid-ul-Adha ('Celebration of Sacrifice'), also known as the Greater Eid, is the second most important festival in the Muslim calendar. It marks the end of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca). It takes place on the 10th day of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Although only pilgrims to Makkah can celebrate it fully, Muslims elsewhere also mark the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha.

Pilgrims on Hajj in Mecca The Hajj is the Fifth Pillar of Islam and therefore a very important part of the Islamic faith. All physically fit Muslims who can afford it should make the visit to Makkah, in Saudi Arabia, at least once in their lives. Every year around 2 million Muslims converge on Makkah. They visit a shrine in the city known as the Ka'bah, built by Ibrahim (Abraham) and Isma'il (Ishmael) at the command of Allah (God). It is a place for all who want to reaffirm their faith.

Eid-ul-Adha celebrates the occasion when Allah appeared to Ibrahim in a dream and asked him to sacrifice his son Isma'il as an act of obedience to God. The devil tempted Ibrahim by saying he should disobey Allah and spare his son. As Ibrahim was about to kill his son, Allah intervened: instead Allah provided a lamb as the sacrifice. This is why today all over the world Muslims who have the means to, sacrifice a sheep (alternatively a goat or cow can be used), as a reminder of Ibrahim's obedience to Allah. They usually share out the meat with family and friends, as well as the poorer members of the community. In Britain, the animal has to be killed at a slaughterhouse.

Eid-ul-Adha is a 1-3 day celebration and in Muslim countries is a public holiday. It starts with Muslims going to the Mosque for prayers, dressed in their best clothes, and thanking Allah for all the blessings they have received. It is also a time when they visit family and friends as well as offering presents. At Eid it is obligatory to give a set amount of money to charity to be used to help poor people buy new clothes and food so they too can celebrate.'


Now there I'm already learning cause to me I always cringed when I heard of this festival cause I always thought of the animals...and so never thought of the pleasantries and positives of it:

-celebrating the end of Hajj
-time spent with family
-giving of charity

But of course the animals are killed but that happens daily and not just by Muslims. But unlike in Britain in Trinidad animals aren't killed in slaughter houses necessarily on this festival...now you have to bear with me that I've not investigated this and you'll have to empathize with me as to why but I believe many do it in the mosques some at homes...and I'll tell you I can't walk farther in the shoes than appreciating that this festival is about people surrendering to their God...ultimate surrender and sacrifice and I get that and it is lovely. But why do they need to sacrifice the animal still? I mean God isn't still asking for a son? So why give a lamb? And good grief a cow too when your Hindu neighbours consider it in such high regard. Here lies the need of the other to walk in my shoes too please!...You can walk in shoes of another but sometimes if it is too tight your feet at some point will get sore and you will have to take it off less you bleed...And I've experienced many a taunt and a tease by not only Muslims but many of all faiths and belief who do not have the idea of empathy and of walking in the shoes of the other... Many revel and taunt about the various animal flesh they consume not considering...without empathy...but even in those shoes I must have walked some day...

Now on to the Gita Jayanthi where I will have to admit my heart sings and my feet dance even without the shoes that I just took off and even with bleeding feet I dance. Here is a summary of the Hindu festival as outlined on the site AryaBhatt Festivals of India section:
'GITA JAYANTI
Celebration : The Birth of Bhagwad Gita
Known for : The Sacred Scripture
Religion : Hindu
In the month of : December - January
THE GITA Jayanthi or the birthday of the Bhagavad-Gita is celebrated throughout India by all admirers and lovers of this sacred scripture on the 11th day (Ekadashi) of the bright half of the month of Margaseersha (December-January) according to the Hindu almanac. That was the day on which Sanjaya narrated the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, to King Dhritarashtra, and thus made the glorious teachings of the Lord available to us, to all the people of the world, and for all time.
The Gita Jayanthi marks one of the greatest days in the history of mankind. Nearly six thousand years ago on that day a dazzling flash of brilliant lightning lit up the firmament of human civilization. That spiritual effulgence, that flash, was the message of the Bhagavad Gita, given by the Lord Himself on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Unlike ordinary dashes of lightning which die away after dashing for 'a split-second, this brilliant dash of that memorable day continued to shine through the centuries and even now illumines the path of humanity on its onward march to perfection. '

I've never celebrated this festival before but I would gladly do so as I feel as I just said above I can dance barefooted to it's song even if my feet did bleed...however I celebrate it with the understanding that we live in a multifaceted universe and indeed I'm not the one to judge what is indeed Universal Collective Prayer or who is in it! So in celebration of Gita Jayanthi I leave you with one of my favourite quotes from the Gita:

'The Humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge,see with equal vision a learned and gentle brahman, a cow, an elephant, a dog, a dog-eater (an outcaste)'-The Gita Chapter 5 verse 18.

...and in my desire to walk in the shoes of others...but quite frankly I prefer Eid-ul-Fitr to this Eid...but I'll have you know that there are even Muslim Vegetarians...I personally know a few and I leave you with this quote from The Holy Quran:


'There is not an animal on earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings - but they are communities like you.' (The Quran, 6:38)

Hmmm....maybe Universal Collective Prayer is not too far a foot? If only people would read and practice the scriptures for which they fight so hard through religion to preserve?

And I leave you tonight as we close the Universal Collective prayers with a You Tube clip as an offering of my prayers for the little ones... (Don't worry none of my vids are very graphic as I couldn't bear them myself if they were. Cause the prayers in sound seems to be currently missing from the old clip I've inserted another one...they are sad but not graphic enough to aggravate anyone I hope.) (which I've shared on this blog before:)

May God Fill Us All with Universal Love and Compassion!

Today I launch the blog Universal Collective Prayer. It is the morning of the celebration of Krishna Janamashtami. I'm republishing this beautiful image from the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International Art Gallery of Yashoda Maa bathing the Baby Krishna as according to Vedic culture, Hinduism and especially Vaishnavism the Lord Vishnu appeared in his 8th incarnation on the earth in the form of the Baby Krishna on this night. This afternoon I will perform Satnarayan (Satyanarayan) Katha a ritual that worships the Narayan form of Vishnu and celebrates the power of Sat- Truth and the Lord Narayan is worshiped as the embodiment of Truth in this prayer. The Katha is a story that illustrates the power of Truth. Later on into the evening I plan to join with others across the globe in Lighting Candles for Tibet (in my case only deeyas this time) and then will join with the rest of the Hindu world in the commemoration of Baby Krishna's appearance on earth by celebrating Krishna Janamashtami at 12 PM tonight.

When I first envisioned this it was based on the fact that the two events coincided- the candle4tibet event which Ive been involved in http://meadysmusings.blogspot.com and Krishna Janamashtami. Even before I realized this I had planned to do the lighting for Tibet this time at my home after a puja and I had figured on the celebration of Truth hence the Satyanarayan Katha. I had enjoyed my first candle4tibet event so much but did not have the strength or felt the local interest would be there for another public lighting. I figured it did not matter if it was public as the power of collective prayer could be felt at my home and by linking up with others in spirit globally. So I was going to experiment with this instead. However realizing that the day coincided with Krishna Janamashtami celebrations here. I opted to start at home and then take it to the local temple. I'm yet to see how this entire universal collective prayer experience will turn out and of course I plan to share it here on this blog.

However after the beautiful experience that was the Candle4Tibet event on Thurs 7 Aug 08. Ive been having so many mixed feelings...with Buddhists (converts mostly) coming and going on about their religion. People letting me know that H.H. Dalai Lama is not a vegetarian. People mouthing off to me bout what my heritage and the truth bout what my lineage may or may not really be. I guess oh Lord help us all the questions of who is right and who is wrong plagued us all as usual! These things sully the prayers. And if you believe in reincarnation as many who follow eastern thoughts do we will all have experiences as different races, sex, religion, caste and class at some point in our existence so...really so what?! It made me realize too that the Truth as powerful as it maybe is always relative and can so easily be sullied. To be honest in all of this I don't know what is the Sat? What is the Truth? But simply this which I guess is my Sat, my Truth. Perhaps that is what it as Shakespeare so famously wrote 'To Thine Ownself Be True' and that's all we can do. Our life on this earth is meant to be an experience for us to be able in the long run, no matter how many lifetimes it takes, to learn love and compassion for all beings. And there it was I found for now what is the Truth to fill out in my religion slot on Facebook! I changed it real fast from Hindu/Buddhist/Spiritualist to this after my recent experiences.

So I go into this evening's proceedings (as it thunders and rains here very much as it did according to the Vedic tale on the day that Baby Krishna came to earth) with this in my heart... this in my prayers. No matter who we are where our ancestors came from or how we choose to worship... Let us all show each other love and compassion. I truly believe this and so this is my truth that if we all focus on this and practice this piece by piece and as we get better at it...the truth will prevail...and we will all of a sudden realise that LOVE IS ALL THERE IS! (and I think I may have just quoted a Beatles song there...no rights infringement intended) Please reflect on my loaner pic from the Bhaktivedanta people and look at the love and beauty in it. A mother lovingly bathing her baby. Don't bother too much bout who was right and who was wrong who came first or who came last. Who was better and who was best or who is right now or wrong now. May God Bless Us All and fill Us with Love and Compassion to All Beings of the Universe!

I also look fwd to the next event on Sat 30 Aug when the Tibetan Governtment in exile is hosting a global day of fasting and prayer. As quoted on the website www.tibet.net-

The committee has appealed to the Tibetan supporters, champions of truth and non-violence around the world to join in this non-violent effort to reduce one's defilements and to create wisdom and compassion in the minds of the oppressor.

It aims to bring solace to the departed souls of all those Tibetans and who are still enduring atrocities under the brutal Chinese oppression from their sufferings, and for the truth of Tibetan issue to prevail soon.

While observing the fast, people will recite prayers to enhance the collective merits of the Tibetan and Chinese people and long and healthy life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.