Re-incarnation and other knowledge of the spirit is taught by the Vedas, the sacred books of the Hindus. They contain the collected wisdom of the Vedic culture, the world's oldest living civilization, which in modern times has come to be known as Hinduism. They teach about the meaning and purpose of the world through philosophy and stories from Vedic history. Like Narada's answer to the cobbler's question in the earlier story, many of the stories in the Vedas may be hard to understand or believe, especially for us in the twentieth century, but the Hindu would say that they are closer to the real truth than the most scientific descriptions of life that we read in our textbooks of physics, medicine or psychology.
The Vedas tell the story of a five year-old child named Dhruva, who went to the forest to seek the God Vishnu. He was advised to practice penances and meditation. So, standing on one leg he slowed his breathing down to the point where he was barely inhaling or exhaling. After four months he managed to stop breathing completely and remained with his mind fixed on the form of Vishnu, suspended between the inward and outward breath. At this point he became at one with the universe and his foot seemed to press down on the earth with unbearable weight. The devas of the heavens - the sun, the moon and all the elements - began to feel as if they too could not breathe. They were suffocating because of the intense self-control of Dhruva who had somehow syncronised his own breathing with that of the total universe.
 |
| Dhruva is blessed by Vishnu |
To save the Devas, Vishnu appeared before Dhruva and blessed him. Only then did Dhruva relaxed his meditation and the universe was released from his grip. In recognition of his strength and determination, Vishnu gave Dhruva the pole star as his kingdom. Ever since then, in memory of the time when Dhruva brought the whole universe under his influence, the heavens have revolved around his star.
This story demonstrates the profound relationship between every living being and the universe itself - all beings, even Devas, are linked in a complete whole of inter-dependence where each of their actions effects everyone else. Only Vishnu, the supreme, lies apart. Although all existence ultimately depends upon Vishnu, and although Vishnu is present even within the atom, Vishnu is simultaneously far, far beyond the limits of physical existence.
Dhruva's meditation took place in the forest, where Hindus have found so much inspiration. Modern society, having left the forest far behind, needs to see the divine purpose of Vishnu that pervades all life.
In its search for technological advancement it is sowing seeds of destruction, seeds which can destroy the beauty and harmony of this world for a long time to come. At this crucial time the stories and teachings in this book are offered from the Vedas and their followers. Like the cobbler's seed they illustrate truths about the natural world which are highly relevant to today's problems.
They are seeds of truth whose lessons must be shared.