Love the rich and the poor equally
What is the true meaning of treating everybody equal? Does this mean that when someone - rich or poor - visits our place, we need to make him sit equally and serve food? Normally, we respect a rich person more than the poor. But jnani, an enlightened person, shows the same love and affection to both. He may not outwardly treat them in the same manner but internally he has same amount of love and affection towards both. How is it possible? Jnani sees the same atma swaroop (embodiment of the self) in both the rich and the poor, just as the X-ray reaches directly to the bones by passing the skin and flesh. The jna-ray of a jnani passes through the bone and reaches the atma swaroop. So the love that he has for everybody is made equal. This is known as equanimity.
A person who is successful in spiritual life will be successful in material life as well
Proper thinking and discriminative power are essential for the success in both material and spiritual life. These will take care of self interest and the person’s prosperity in material life. For someone with a spiritual background, the above qualities not only take care of himself but also other people due to the compassion he has towards others. An enlightened person attains salvation and helps his disciples for the same.
A sadhaka is judged by his actions and not by his studies
We give importance to listening to discourses and studying Vedic texts and completely skip practices. Both theory and practice are given equal importance in Vedanta. Shravana Manana and Nididhyas lead to salvation. During meditation, we experience bliss. This is not the end of it. This should manifest in our day-to-day activities. A sadhaka is judged by his actions and not by his studies. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Escapism doesn’t solve a problem
Everyone has problems in life. Everyone feels that the problem is very big. In fact, nobody has a problem-free life. But every problem has a solution. One of the main reasons is egoism. The ego persists, even after obtaining spiritual knowledge which one should try to eradicate. Escapism is not the solution for a problem.
Say no to commercialisation of spiritual knowledge
Education, medical practice and social work were considered noble professions. But unfortunately, these have become commercial practices. People spend money to get power and use power to earn money.
This commercialism has crept into spirituality as well. People read a lot of scriptures and gain mastery over it and develop oratory skills but never bring it to practice. When we listen to them we feel that they are great jnanis and enlightened persons. But they work only for monetary gains.
The so-called jnani’s real colour will be exposed when a test comes. Commercialisation of spiritual knowledge is worse than anything else.