People have several misconceptions regarding God’s true nature and form. But there are many more delusions regarding the objectives and methods of sadhana, the spiritual levels of sadhaks and gurus and so on. This chapter clarifies some of these misconceptions and explains the basic tenets of spirituality. It also explains the reasons behind unusual attires and acts of the spiritual men and how in modern times people have misinterpreted and confused spirituality with these externalities and forgotten the true spirit of spirituality.
God as Formless and as Incarnated:
According to Upanishads the reflection of the eternal consciousness force (Brahm) lies in the inner cores of heart and appears like a glow of a flame of the size of a thumb. This is a thought for contemplation and experience. In an introspective state of deep meditation if such feelings are cultivated, the process of self-realization gets going more smoothly. The way to realize God as the formless is to nurture the feeling that God lives within our beings and His home, this body of ours, must be kept holy and sanctified like a sacred shrine; we must learn to be self-reliant, and continuously strive for self-purification. This is the root of all sadhanas of experiencing the formless Brahm.
On the other hand some scriptures mention of Arjun, Yashoda, Kaushalya, Kakbhushundi as having seen God in the incarnated form. Accepting the inner urge and prayers of these pure souls, God revealed before them, His manifested being that encompassed everything in this entire cosmic expanse and enlightened them to perform sadhana of this form by devoting themselves to the service of society and inculcation and dissemination of righteousness.
The main purpose behind religious practices and rituals is also the same – to awaken and evolve the consciousness within us through these. The concept behind chanting names of God and meditation is to remind us of God who has given us this life, His heritage (?) and His expectations from us, and accordingly chart out an illustrious plan for our lives. The use of sandalwood in prayers reminds us to cultivate and develop the environment around us. Offering rice grains reminds us to offer our resources for the upliftment of the society. The lamp reminds us to imbibe within us the radiance of divine knowledge and motivates us to contribute to the development of society. This holistic way of thinking and living alone can please God.
The Soul of Sahana:
Faith is prime in sadhana. Ramayan says that faith and belief represent Gods Parvati and Shiva and every devotee has to first take their refuge. Only then the perfect foundation is laid for attaining divine talents and powers. Meera’s Krishna, Ramkrishna Paramhans’ Kali and Eklavya’s mud statute of Dronacharya are proofs that by instilling faith any medium can become the basis for acquiring divine powers. On this basis alone a stone or sculpture gets enshrined as an idol of a deity or an image of God; in the absence of faith it would remain simply a stone. The same applies to chanting too, if one has devotional faith, a configuration of words may become a mantra, otherwise a mere combination of syllables. The immense potential that a divine form or a mantra has, is in fact nothing else but an expression of intensity of the sadhak’s faith. One’s god-form is a reflection of one’s inner imagination, echo of one’s intrinsic thoughts. So though it is true that God has created man, but it is also not incorrect that man also has cast God into a form. No other living being can experience the presence of God.
An arrow becomes a potent and deadly weapon only when the string of the bow that launches it, is mounted and stretched properly. Else that sharp arrow can create only a small wound when pressed against skin. Likewise, the character and personality of a sadhak alone make his sadhana powerful. If these are impure and weak, nothing would be achieved by chanting or religious practices. A sinful man like Valmiki turned into a great saint by adopting a virtuous life and shunning his evil deeds even though he repeated the name of Lord Ram in reverse, while Queen Kaikeyi and her maid Manthara lived with Ram Himself but earned only ill fame. The saying “Rama Se Bada Rama ka Namd” also implies that devotional chanting of His name through pure heart is more powerful than the human-incarnation of god Ram. It is this force of (faith in) His name that inspires the likes of Gandhi and transforms them into Mahatma – great beings.
An Adept Guru:
A lot of importance has been given to blessings and guidance of a guru (a noble master) for spiritual upliftment. Guru is placed higher than God Himself. Many people seek enlightened men who can take them across to God. However they forget that only a wooden boat can float on river, a piece of stone would sink immediately. In this world there is no dearth of capable Gurus who themselves constantly search for deserving disciples to pass on their knowledge to. But why would they ever pass on their hard earned earnings to unworthy men for wrong use? Such a favour would only enhance their pride and result in their destruction. Several demons like Ravan, Kumbhakaran, Marich, Hiranyakashyapu, Vruttasur, Bhasmasur, Mahishasur etc attained great boons after severe ascetic endeavors, but the final result was only their ruin.
A father of a worthy grown-up daughter searches far and wide for a deserving groom, and considers himself lucky when he gets one. If some unworthy man asks for the hand of his daughter, the father would severely reproof him. Accomplished gurus are also not so naïve that they cannot recognize a selfish and unworthy seeker and would give away their earnings, their sadhana, just based on sycophancy. They accept a disciple only after substantial test of his/her purity, sincerity and devotion to the noble goal of spiritual ascent.
The Basic Tenets of Spirituality:
Evolution of the soul is always slow and gradual. It takes time and needs endurance coupled with persistent efforts. One must not lose his patience if it takes a few rebirths to cleanse up the evil sanskars (intrinsic impressions in the inner self) accumulated over in the previous births traversing through ‘84 lakh yonis’ (numerous life forms). It isn’t right to rise up like a bubble and then settle down like foam. One must have persistence like Goddess Parvati who continued her sadhana to win over Lord Shiva despite knowing that He has gone into a deep trance for a thousand years. When Saptarshi, the seven
Vedic sages, went to examine her devotion and discouraged her from continuing her sadhana, she calmly replied that even if she has to take millions of rebirths and lead austere lives as this one, she would prefer that; she would wed Lord Shiva only or else remain unmarried. True resources of a sadhak are patience, firm resolve and courage. One who has these would certainly attain his goal one day or the other. It is essential for every sadhak, every seeker of divine light, to understand and firmly assimilate these virtues. Note that impulsive people turn impatient, lose their heart and give up the chosen path. They can’t accomplish any sadhana.
Divine powers and supernormal talents (siddhis) are definitely attained by devout sadhana but these are bestowed with the constraint that they ought to be used only to help and benefit others, and to spread benevolent tendencies in society. They ought not to be used for selfish means and to fulfil one’s wishes and desires. The means to fulfil personal wishes should be rightfully earned using one’s mental and physical efforts, and talents, while divine blessings and sadhana of sages ought to be reserved for those who have dedicated themselves to uplift the society. These should not be wasted in providing comforts and luxuries to those who deceive by proclaiming themselves to be true disciples.
Sadhana stands for infusing all round excellence into life. On one hand it means creation of an exemplary, praise-worthy and inspiring personality, while on the other it means generous dedication of one’s efforts, time and resources to develop and beautify this world-garden. Those who walk this royal path quickly attain immense inner-satisfaction, and adulation and support from masses, in addition to divine affection from invisible worlds. This much is enough to make one feel that the purpose that he was bestowed life with, is met.
Those who are obsessed with amassing wealth or are engaged in sensual pleasures and those who are filled with self-praise and ego are in fact intoxicated beings. Higher powers do not bestow their blessings to such men as this would only further their intoxication and ignorance, and quicken their downfall. Why would they hang a stone around the neck of a drowning person and thus ensure his ruin. It is essential for people who tread the path of sadhana to understand these basic principles.
While adopting the principles of spirituality there is no need to make accusations like this world is an illusion and we need to break free from the worldly ties. Nor there is a need to wander around and live on alms. Among the ideal saints in the modern times the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Vinobaji are the most appropriate. Living normal lives but adopting principles of simple living and high thinking is sufficient. If the mind is not allowed to wander behind excessive greed, attachment and egoism, then meeting the basic requirements of a small family does not require much effort. If family members are trained to stand on their own feet and educated with morality then there would be no need to leave immense wealth behind for them. Life should be balanced in such a way that first half of it is spent on providing for the family and livelihood, and the latter half is preserved for carrying out benevolent deeds and serving the society. In today’s times the most appropriate and important act of service is refinement of people’s way of thinking.
Each person who wishes to adopt spirituality must try to cast his life in the form of a true Brahmin. When the traditions of Brahminhood were alive a large section of people used to
take up altruistic service as their duty, and through their good deeds the emotional as well as the social structure of not only our country but the entire world used to be enriched. India was once called Jagdguru, a beacon light for the whole world and its countless contributions to the world were widely appreciated. This was due to the services of this large group of people towards the development of society. The tradition of saints and Brahmins was responsible for creation of men with divine attributes. However, in present times, Brahminhood has got relegated to lineage and sainthood to just dressing up in saffron. The true characteristics and qualities of these have almost disappeared. As a result the thought processes and character of the entire humanity has got corrupted. Once evil tendencies pervaded the social ambience, several problems surfaced and disasters began to strike. The only way to tackle the present situation is by reviving the Age of Truth (Satyuga). This can be achieved by creating a new generation of true saints and Brahmins. This is possible only by inculcation of spirituality in each mind and heart. This would require refinement of thoughts and cultivation of sensitivity in emotions, attitude and actions. Every spiritually inclined individual, every seeker of religion must begin this process of evolution from himself.
To spiritualize one’s life, one must plan to live first half of the life like a Brahmin, who strives for great values and knowledge, and the second half of the life like a saint who is dedicated to uplift the society. To begin with, in the first half of life days can be planned in such a way that out of twenty four hours, seven may go towards sleep, five hours towards
fulfilling daily needs and chores, and eight hours towards earning livelihood and profession. This would add up to twenty hours and leave four hours for virtuous deeds. Of these one hour could be used for sadhana and one for swadhyaya (self-study in the light of the thoughts of elevated souls) and the remaining two hours for meeting people and helping refinement and positive orientation of their thoughts and attitude. The second half of life must be completely devoted to altruistic service and ascent of society in the traditions of saints. This is what corresponds to adopting Vanprastha. If some finances are available they should be deposited in bank to live off on the interest. If not then the needs must be met through the support of dedicated charity organizations like Gayatri Pariwar. The method of collecting alms from homes might have been acceptable earlier, but that is not so today. Hence before adopting spiritual life one must plan ahead one’s personal finances for respectful subsistence.
What Spirituality Is Not?
Having explained the basic and timeless tenets of spirituality it is now worthwhile to clarify some of the delusions that have engulfed this field and have reduced its worth and utility. What is seen in the name of spirituality today is an irony and just blind following of traditions. For example, in earlier days, ascetics living in forests would keep some smoke-fire lit nearby while carrying out their spiritual penance, to keep themselves warm in cold mountainous regions. Their smoke-fire would also help meet their requirements of cooking their simple food and keeping dangerous beasts at bay. Forests then used to be littered with dry fallen wood, and using this wood for fire would help in cleansing the area as well. In today’s times, lighting and maintaining smoke-fire has become a worthless tradition but yet diligently followed in several so-called hermitages and spiritual centers. Today the wood is expensive and is obtained by destroying forest cover When the ascetics these days live in temperate regions, wear clothes and there is no danger of beasts, then it is nothing more than an ostentation to keep the smoke-fire lit.
Those who conduct serious scientific research need solitude to avoid disturbance. In earlier times the serious researchers of spirituality also needed work centers and laboratories to carry out their research. For this the solitude of caves in regions like Himalaya would suit them just right. When they would want to disseminate results of their findings they would embark on long pilgrimages to sacred places. This life style was adopted based upon sound reasoning. However, several instances of worthless and blind imitations of this life style can be found today. To make a show of their arduous penance people name the basement of buildings in cities as a ‘dark cave’ and live there wasting away their time.
The tradition of applying ash on the body was popular earlier because the layer of ash would protect the body from heat and cold. This would reduce the need for excessive clothing. Now, for those who can have enough clothes and other means of protection from temperature-variation, what is the need to apply ash for ostentation? When barbers could not be found in the forests earlier, the hair of men would grow long and had to be tied up. Now what is the need to imitate this by fixing fake hair on the head with pins? All this only creates delusions in the mind of naïve public.
For those who resided in forests it was convenient to use shells of fruits like coconut to hold water. But now, when pots of brass/steel are easily available these should be used both for convenience and cleanliness. Other equipment like tongs, three pronged weapons (trishul), axe etc might have had utility in ancient times as tools of protection from wild animals in the forests. Why these should be regarded as symbols of ascetic lives or attire of swamis? The fake swamis keep such tools only to befool and trick others.
The principle behind pilgrimages was traveling on foot to meet more and more people on the way and spread the thoughts of righteous living and spirituality among them. But when this purpose is completely lost now, it is wrong to waste time by visiting ponds and lakes on the pretext of washing away sins and that too without paying for the train/bus ticket!
There is no place for pretension and weird dressing in spirituality. When the ideals and actions of yester era are forgotten then what use it is to adopt external ostentations? We must not let the profound knowledge of spirituality become a matter of general ridicule by adopting awkward behaviour or escaping away from duties. Instead we must work on reviving its great traditions while living lives in normal ways.
In the name of spirituality many fake gurus and swamis are seen today living luxurious lives on the funds donated/collected by their blind flowers. They should know that the right to live on community resources is reserved only for those who devote every moment of their lives for the selfless service, welfare and enlightenment of the society.
Simplicity, sensitivity and sagacity are essential characteristics of spiritual ascent. The seekers and masters of spirituality must cultivate these in their thoughts and deeds.
Source: What is Spirituality ?
