India is proud to own a vast treasure of spiritual wisdom. It is a rich legacy handed down to posterity over centuries in the form of religious texts and exquisite idols. These constitute our wealth by virtue of which our country has come to be regarded as the temple and repository of culture and learning by the world. It is the duty of every Indian to safeguard the sanctity of the shrines and religious institutions at all costs.
When undertaking spiritual practice, it is important to bear in mind that each individual is different and so what works for one person may not work for another.
When climbing a mountain, each climber thinks his way is the only way. But when he reaches the top of the mountain, he realises that there were an infinite number of ways that could have taken him to the top. Likewise, there are as many paths to God.
In a spiritual context, each of us is unique across the following parameters. The composition of the three subtle basic components (trigunas) i.e. whether they are sattvik, rajasik or tamasik by nature and the five cosmic elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether). The degree to which different aspects of spiritual practice have been completed in prior births. The different accumulated accounted, destiny and willful action that each one has.
While Indians are giants in the field of spiritualism, they are dwarfs in politics as compared with powerful nations. We can never outgrow our foreign counterparts politically and it is therefore necessary to maintain our traditionally cultural and spiritual values. “India can win over conquerors culturally and not politically,” says a non-Indian historian.
In the Vedantic part of the Hindu scriptures, it says that God has no name or form. So we find it hard to communicate.
Due to our limitations, we can never comprehend something without a form. For example, say ‘sweetness’, how would you understand sweetness? Immediately, you have to think of sugar or money or candy. Without a form, you cannot understand sweetness. That is the reason why we try to understand God through forms and names. Otherwise God is formless.
In spite of their ancient and enviable religious heritage, Indians behave like the proverbial swine which ignore the pearls cast before them. Instead of preserving the glorious treasure of culture bequeathed to them, people hanker after ideas imported from the West in the mistaken notion that whatever learnt from the West is the best. We have neglected the scriptures and religious texts and given up rituals and other ceremonies.
Religion is more than mere austerity. It includes the control of emotions and the senses. Nowadays, people ridicule any practice that is considered ‘religious’ and display lack of faith in the supremacy of God. The present day problems of stress and strain stem out of the mistaken notion about religious duties. Those who decry our sacred heritage would hence do well to inquire into the different aspects of religion than wasting their energy in their attempts to censure those who sincerely practice them, knowing their value.
All religions lead to the same goal and one religion is not in any way inferior or superior to the other. The goal is one, though the paths to reach it may be different. Hence people can take guidance from all of them but it is necessary to follow one path and one master. All creations of God without discrimination of caste, creed or colour have the privilege to sing His praise, worship Him and adopt methods to realize Him.
God pervades the entire universe and is a witness to all our actions and hence a wrong done in secret does not enjoy immunity. A teacher was once preaching that God is present everywhere. To test how far the disciples had assimilated what he had taught, the teacher gave each one of them a fruit asking them to eat it in a place where no one will see them. Nine out of ten went to different inaccessible spots and consumed the fruits. One boy alone returned saying: “I find place where God does not exist”. The teacher was happy that the student had understood that God is omnipresent and none can hide any of his acts from Him. The western people who are endowed with erudition, admire our treasures. They regard our idols and scriptures as priceless. Hence we should take care to safeguard our age-old spiritual values. Our scriptural lore, our bronzes and icons ought to be maintained well.
These articles are the ‘Ashirvashanas’ given by His Holiness Sri Balagangadharanatha Mahaswamiji, 71st Pontiff of Sri Adichuchanagiri Mahasamsthana Math, during different occasions
