Those who enter the realm of spirituality must first read its alphabet and understand on what basis the supreme consciousness descends upon a human being to enrich him with extraordinary powers, how does he become capable of performing amazing deeds, and how does he transform himself to an enlightened person endowed with chiselled personality and superlative talents.
The Basis of Spiritual Progress:
The Supreme Consciousness-Force (Parabraham) is Omnipresent. Its evolutionary power pervades the entire universe. All the processes of Nature are governed by the system of laws of this Absolute Force. This eternal power (sakti) neither favours nor discriminates against anyone. Unlike a human being’s mind, the supreme power does not distinguish between self and others. It neither needs anyone’s acts of pleasing nor gifts and presents. One who is just and impartial simply cannot have affection for anyone based upon acts like repeated chanting of His names and offerings of flowers, rice grains, and what not!
God’s favours shower down for special reasons and accumulate where they are supposed to. After a warm summer when the land and water get warmed up, the rainy season appears to create a balance. Rains fall everywhere, but the water gets collected only in a catchment area, pond, or where there is substantial depth. Water does not get collected on rocks despite falling upon them.
To attach oneself to the Supreme Soul and to attract His powers, favours and supramental talents one needs to develop an appropriate ‘personal magnetism’. A magnet either attracts pieces of iron around it, or itself gets pulled towards a larger magnet. Supreme Soul is like a big magnet. By being pulled towards Him we can gather within us all the virtuous qualities that He has.
It rains a lot at places where the tree cover is thick. The attraction of trees pulls down the rain clouds and forces them to shed rain. The water that falls gets collected where there is depth. Rivers, drains, lakes contain water only because they have depth. We need to inculcate deserving qualities within us so that we become worthy of the favours of the Supreme Soul, and the support and respect from the people and society.
Human body is a treasure chest full of magic. In each and every bit of it lies a repository of amazing powers. All the profound activities that go on in the solar system at a grand scale also go on within a tiny atom. The only difference is that this grandeur lies concealed in a dormant and invisible state, like a seed. If his capabilities could be awakened in the righteous manner then a human being, who seems to be an insignificant living object, can become a visible representative of the sublime Consciousness-Force that pervades the cosmic expansion. Till now, the functioning of only 7 percent of the brain has been understood. The functioning of the remaining 93 percent, which is said to be the seat of subconscious and superconscious faculties, still remains unknown. Of all the bio-electric current that flows through nerves of the body, a very small fraction gets used-up to maintain body systems while some of it is also spent in thinking and contemplating. Its most evolved component, which exists within us as the highly potent vital spiritual energy (prana), remains completely unused. If the immense potential of this prana could be awakened, expanded and put into action, then with this alone an ordinary looking person can become extraordinary and elevate himself to be placed on the pedestal of great souls, rishis or divine beings. It is entirely up to him to achieve this success.
Methods of Spirituality: Tapa and Yoga
Capabilities of a human being remain subdued due to his faults and vices, the weaknesses, blemishes and inferior quality of his character, due to his sins and misdeeds, and his evil tendencies and corrupt thinking. The first step in spirituality is to wage a battle against all this filth and immorality and to defeat it. This process of cleansing and rectification is called tapa(penance). Tapa literally means – to heat up. In the field of spirituality the process of ‘heating up’ refers to searching out with sharp acumen all the unworthiness from the external and the internal persona, to put in intense efforts to set right the attitudes and tendencies linked with them and then to reorient the mind with ascetic disciplines and firm determination. It is easier to fight against enemies that are outside because they can be seen with eye and can be attacked and defended against by several means. But how does one fight with oneself? Evil tendencies and untoward thinking, becoming a part of one’s nature, enter into practice, and then turning into habits and intrinsic impressions, hide within one’s personality with such subtlety that it becomes very hard to even recognize them. Only one with a penetrating introspective sight can search them out and designate them as his enemies instead of habitual friends. The strategies to uproot them can be made only afterwards.
As described in the holy Gita, when Arjun made excuses on the battlefront of Mahabharata, Lord Krishna prepared him to fight for the righteous cause. The spiritual explanation of this entire episode and the preaching’s of Lord Krishna is to prepare oneself to fight with unflinching valour against the unworthiness that has been with us for a long time and has got united with us like a close friend or a family member. This Herculean battle is tapa. It is not simply putting the body to extreme physical ardour and pain (as is commonly understood). When a washer man cleans clothes he first boils them up, then applies soap and then hits and beats them clean. In tapa one needs to carry out all these acts upon himself – upon the physical and mental body and the inner self. All those who have done tapa have had to apply the same process and strategy.
There are four main components of tapa: (i) continence over the senses; (ii) orderliness and efficient management of time; (iii) control over financial expenses; and, (iv) restraining and constructive channelizing of the thought process. Our life is divided and distributed within these four facets only. Desires and actions of the sense organs, availability and use of time, worldly resources and mental faculties define our life in general. Therefore, in trying to implement the refinement and adept regulation associated with these four, practically all aspects of life get covered. This cleansing in a sense, leads to purification and rectification of one’s entire course of life. One has to say a clear and definite ‘no’ to the untoward attractions and temptations of the mind. And just saying ‘no’ is not enough; one needs to actually accept farsighted discerning intelligence as his guide and then has to train his old personality to compulsorily follow its diktat.
The second step forward for self-refinement, improvement and enhancement of worthiness is called ‘yoga’. The literary meaning of yoga is ‘to connect’ or ‘to unite’. But unite what with what? Yoga means uniting the self with the Supreme Soul, the Parabrahm. The only method to achieve this is, to begin with, inculcation of greatness associated with human dignity into character, behaviour and day-to-day activities. Man’s personal God is nothing but an absolute assemblage of righteous tendencies and virtues. God’s all-encompassing form is simply incomprehensible to any human being. Instead of attempting to imagine the infinite reality of God or to realize Him in sublime realms, it is more appropriate for us to visualize Him in every thing existing in the cosmic expansion (Virata Brahm), to see His manifestation in the world we live in (Viswa Brahm), and to experience Him in every pulse of life (Jivana Brahm).
Our lives could be linked (have yoga) with this form of God alone. In short, this yoga means, elevating our notion of self, cultivating and expanding righteous tendencies, altruistic attitude and divine attributes in our own lives. In this regard, the concepts of Vedanta Philosophy clarify the meaning of yogain totality. Soham! Sivoham! Satchidanandoham! Tat-twam-asi! Ayam âtma Brahm! The secret underlying these words is that man’s interior and exterior must be divine (like his ultimate reality).
So the spiritual endeavours of sadhana or the process that eventually transforms human being to Supreme Being, an atom to the cosmic expansion, has two aspects, first tapa and second yoga. Tapa means to root out evil tendencies and yoga means to instil and foster righteous tendencies and noble qualities. It should be understood that the more one assimilates superiority in thoughts, righteousness in character and nobility in his conduct, the more rapidly he progresses towards self-refinement and self-evolution.
Before dying, clothes need to be washed thoroughly. Before seeds are sown, the ground needs to be cleared and thoroughly ploughed. Before walls are built, grounds need to be dug deep to lay the foundations. Before placing images of God and offering prayers to Him, the place and the equipment to be used need to be sanctified. Tapa is for cleansing and yoga is for refining and elevating. One who succeeds and proves himself in these two steps, can be understood to have consolidated his path. His preparations are completed in proportion to his dedication and progress in sadhana, to reach his ultimate goal of spirituality.
A mother loves her child more than herself. She devotes all her time in taking care of the child and supporting him. But when he spoils his clothes with faeces and gets dirty all over, then despite the child’s crying and urging, the mother does not take him in her lap nor feeds him milk. Her first attention is towards changing the soiled or dirty clothes and washing and bathing the child. Only after the child is cleansed up, he is taken in the lap and breast-fed. God also follows the same principle. He keeps His distance and remains aloof from humans till the process of self-refinement is complete. Negligence in this regard is the main reason why one remains untouched by the divine grace of God. Self-purification is the first and the most important step on the ladder of spirituality. Once this phase is over, the process of self-transformation and spiritual enlightenment begins at a brisk pace.
Those who prove themselves in examinations and competitions earn promotion. If the performance is extraordinary, awards are also granted. For a job appointment to a high post all the candidates are made to undergo tough tests. Those who prove themselves worthy get the appointment. At the job as well their skill is continuously evaluated and accordingly the chances of promotion are given. The rule says that this process must go on without any partiality. In public life this rule may get transgressed at times but in the supreme
royal court of God, this rule is an absolute incontrovertible principle. So rather than pleading and coaxing a deity, it is much more appropriate for a seeker of spirituality to try hard and make devout efforts to inculcate good qualities and righteousness. One must keep proving one’s worthiness again and again like pure gold does each time it is tested in fire or on a touchstone. On this basis alone can a man’s worth be evaluated in this world and in the court of the Supreme Eternal Power. On this basis alone one receives divine favours. This is a well-defined ‘highway’ to attain supreme talents and superhuman potentials. Those who follow indefinite shortcuts instead unnecessarily lose their way and get entangled in thorny webs and mires. The result of their endeavours is only fatigue, disappointment and failure.
Misconceptions in Spirituality:
So many superstitions abound in this world. So many insane social customs, convictions and even common habits prevalent in the society illustrate that superstitions are firmly rooted like addictions and intrinsic tendencies. There is no basis behind discriminating between boys and girls. The common beliefs of superiority and inferiority of castes also do not hold ground. Whoever gained anything from intoxication? Belief in auspicious and inauspicious times entangles one into so many doubts and uncertainties. Even then people have been believing in all these superstitions for so long. Intellectual illusions are no less rampant; at least half the world has been duped into believing these.
A similar misconception is that God can be enticed by first chanting His name and following religious rituals, and then can be tricked into fulfilling our reasonable or unreasonable desires. This is imposing a big accusation on the glory of the Almighty, and tarnishing God’s discerning intelligence and love for justice. In medieval times, local lords
would be enthralled by listening to the praise offered by sycophants and would shower expensive gifts upon them. If we consider God to be at par with such men and attempt to lure Him by obsequiousness and sycophancy, then surely we have failed to understand the greatness of God. If we try to become His favourite by ‘bribing’ Him with food, rich clothing, golden parasols etc. and then try to get Him to fulfil all our unreasonable demands, then this is nothing less than demeaning Him. With these despicable means when even in the real world it is not possible to trick a bank manager into parting with money, or trick an inspector into corrupt practice, or lure a judge, or acquire a dignified post without suitable qualifications, then on what basis can one expect that God – the Omniscient would fall prey to these cheap tricks? He is not so na.ve that He, like a bird or a fish, can be lured into traps by baits and then used to earn unfair profits.
The only purpose behind sadhana and upasana is self-cleansing and self-progress. In one word it is enhancing one’s worthiness. It has been said that tapa is rooting out evil tendencies and yoga is fostering righteousness. Whoever adopts these fundamental principles with determination and sincerity enhances his worthiness and so becomes very dear to God. Instead, by adopting wily means and terming them as devotion one can never be dear to God nor can one become fit to receive any of His splendid glory.
The main purpose behind practices like chanting of names, meditation, worship, collective prayers, religious ceremonies etc. also is that through these we cultivate and imbibe the virtues like benevolence and righteousness within ourselves. By understanding the secret and the hidden indications behind these practices, we need to take up activities that are dear to the Ruler of the Universe.
It is said that human birth is one that is attained with great effort. It is the most artistic and preeminent creation of the Supreme Creator. Human birth is entrusted to a soul with an expectation and anticipation that it would evolve from individual incompleteness into completeness and at the same time would dedicate itself to contribute in advancing and shaping of this world into a better and happier place through persistent effort and service. By adopting this farsighted prudence into personal life alone can one become a true devotee of God. Through the sadhana of self-transformation, auspicious gains (punya) are earned in the form of virtuous potentials. And through the sadhana of altruistic service, the true benefit of religiousness is acquired in the form of rejuvenating peace. These two together fulfil the requirement that results in attaining the glory and dignity of a meaningful life.
If one can steer out of all the cobwebs of illusions and superstitions that abound the field of spirituality and understand its true nature and its methods, then the outcome would be definitely what has been described in the scriptures by great seers and sung by great saints.
Source – What is Spirituality?
