was chatting with my junior today on the net, and suddenly the topic of religion came up. We were talking about faith and the general practices that are followed and its significance.Most of us for a matter of fact, do not question the age old practices that is followed( Deiva kuttham aaidum). I have long and meaningful discussions with my dad on the religous practices that are followed and their significance.

I also have questioned on why it should be done in a certain way. This is the same topic that i had with my junior, actually thanks to her, that gave me the spark to write about this.

We generally follow any custom or practices, because it has been done so by our forefathers and hence follow. We dont know why it has to be done and also done in a certain way. We, the Generation X, dont follow our customs or rather dont bother to find out the significance of why we follow certain customs. The reasons being, one that we always blame time, no time, or we say it is a waste of time, or say i dont believe it. The underlying reason is i dont know why i am doing this so why should do this?
The age old customs and beliefs that are handed over generation after generation was always with a meaning. It was not just handed over without a meaning. All common customs and beliefs had a very profound meaning, which we dont know or dont bother to know.I sit my father, a religous man, when compared to me, and ask him questions, probing questions of why certain things have to be done and why?? Believe me, once you know the deep routed meaning of why we follow a custom, you will start following it, and follow it all your life sincerely.

Aacharam as it is called....loosely translated into rituals and routines. We are so used to this word, Aacharam - basically a way to lead life. These are followed blindly, but i would recommend, that we follow the rituals and customs based on thier merits available, and that too with self experience. It is our right and duty to understand scientifically, rationally and logically the meaning of each and every customs before we follow the same in our life.

Let us give you some of the common things that we follow, but without knowing the significance......

Lot of us do namaskaarams( prostrate) to elders and parents. Why do we do it?

We fall at the feet of parents, elders by touching their feet. The elders in turn bless us by placing their hand on or over our heads. We do namaskaarams when we meet elders and particularly on important occasions like the beginning of a new task, birthdays, festivals etc. In traditional brahmin circles, Namaskaaram is accompanied by abhivaadana, which serves to introduce one-self, announce one’s family and social stature.

when we do namaskaarm, it is a sign of respect for the age, maturity, nobility and divinity that our elders personify. It symbolizes our recognition of their selfless love for us and the sacrifices they have done for our welfare. It is a way of humbly acknowledging the greatness of another.
The good wishes and blessings of elders are highly valued in India. Good thoughts create positive vibrations. Good wishes springing from a heart full of love have a tremendous strength. It generates a lot of Positive vibration, which is transferred to us. The blessings of elders, which flow in the form of positive energy envelops us.

Let us look at another example,

Why do we ring the bell at temples or at home when we do pooja?

Is it to mark attendance to god that i prayed today?? no it is not,

if u hear carefully, the sounding of the bell, produces a sound, resembling OM, which is very auspicious. When we are in a temple, we are pure at heart, or try to be pure without any negative thoughts. Ringing this sound, reverberates inside every human, and reminds you think only of god and nothing else. This brings your mind to oneness with god.
Also we have heard in some places, when the AARATI is done, we hear the Conch and musical instruments being blown. This is to let people remind there is a supreme being above us.
It is also to drown any other sound that might disturb or distract the worship.
Another reason being, People who cannot not make it to a temple, are atleast reminded to stop whatever they were doing, at least for a few seconds, and mentally bow to the Lord.
This again gives us a lot of positive thoughts, and specially when we start the day, we visit the temples or or important occasions or important festivals, it helps to have a positive thoughts all day.

These two are just simple examples of some of the comon routines that we follow but dont know why we do this? Atleast in my case, it was not known and this helped to understand my religion better and the customs that made my life more meaningful.

Hope it helps others as well,

Upanayana also called "sacred thread ceremony", is commonly known for being a Hindu ritual, where the concept of " Brahman" is introduced to a young boy.
In Hinduism, this ceremony is performed on only boys of at least 5 years of age from the Brahmin Caste. The youngster is taught during the ceremony the secret of life through a main concept called "Brahmopadesam" (This gives the individual the nature of Brahman - the Ultimate Reality). This is also alternatively called the "GAYATHRI MANTRA". Once this cermony is completed, the child becomes Brahmacharya as prescribed in Manusmriti (is the stage when the young child leads a student life (ideally in the Gurukul - in the household of the Guru). Brahmacharya is the first of the four phases of human life, namely, Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, and finally Sanyasa.)

The hallmark of having gone through the Upanayana ceremony is the wearing of the Yajñopavītam (Sacred Thread) on the body. The thread is circular, being tied end-to-end (only one knot is permissible); it is normally supported on the left shoulder and wrapped around the body, falling underneath the right arm. The length of the thread is generally 96 times the breadth of four fingers of a man, which is believed to be equal to his height. Each of the four fingers represents one of the four states that the soul of a man experiences: waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep and knowledge of the absolute.
Yajñopavītam has three threads (actually only one thread, folded three times and tied together) each consisting of three strands. These threads represent
Goddess Gayathri(Goddess of mind),
Goddess Saraswathi (Goddess of word) and
Goddess Savithri (Goddess of deed).
It denotes that one who wear the sacred thread should be pure in his thought, word and deed. The sacred thread reminds a Brahmachari to lead a regulated life with purity in his thought, word and deed. These threads also represent the debt that is owed to the guru, parents and society.
The knot in the middle represent the formless "Brahman" the pure form of energy which pervades all. The sacred thread illustrates the fact that everything in the universe emerge from and then merge with Brahman.
The sacred thread is supposed to be worn for the rest of one's life after the ceremony has been performed. A new thread is worn and the old thread discarded every year; the change-over ceremony is held on a specific date calculated as per the Hindu calendar.

The sacred thread has close and essential connection with the concept of Pravaras related to Brhamin Gotra system ( Refer my earlier blog on the Gotra - the lineage) which reflects the number of most excellent 7 Vedic Rishis belonging to that particular lineage to which the wearer of sacred thread belongs.

I am a Brahmachrya practising the Brahmopadesam daily and will continue to do so all my life.