|
1.
What is the purpose of religion?
Religion,
as is understood, discusses the relationship between
the human and God as also between world and God. It
has the aim of informing, if not enlightening, the
humans, so as to help and strengthen their mind and
intelligence. The outcome will be greater meaning, purpose and focus to
life and hence more of resultant benefits.
When
true religion is understood and pursued with zeal
and fervour, the religionist will have greater
confidence, inner strength and joy.
The inner framework will be more stable,
composed and poised – qualities otherwise rare and
hard to achieve!
Religion
is not intended to generate or enhance fear and
doubt. On
the other hand, it is to free one of all fears and
bestow clarity.
Love towards one and all, compassion and
readiness to sacrifice for the sake of others, are
the watchwords of true religion.
A
religious mind is tolerant, patient, peaceful and
determined. Are
not these qualities at any rate enriching and
empowering interactional life for any one?
|
|
TOP |
|
2.
What is spirituality and what is its purpose?
Spirituality, in
reality, is refined and purified religion.
It is more an individual, personal pursuit
and enrichment than otherwise.
A spiritual person always looks to his mind,
intelligence and ego, to refine and enrich them at
every step. It
is thus a full-fold, all-time pursuit rather than
piecemeal, time-bound or short-lived, as religious
practices are.
Spirituality
has the aim of accessing the inner personality and
strengthening it at every stage.
It does not look to external factors for
leading it.
|
|
TOP |
|
3.
Can the various Scriptures be applied to
situations in the modern-day context?
This
question is truly out of place.
For, neither the world nor the human has
changed over ages.
Earth, water, air, fire and space have not
changed the least.
Human too continues the same, with his five
senses, mind and intelligence.
His
emotions are the same.
Scriptures, which discuss human life and
interaction with the world, cannot thus become
outdated or irrelevant at all any time.
The
Scriptures have a two-fold purpose:
One is to stimulate the intelligence, by
positing before it interrogations, illustrating such
encounters, citing various scenes and individuals.
Scriptures
are in the nature of analysis, examination, enquiry,
dialogue and narration.
All these have emerged from individual
thinkers and Seers. The subject concerned is always
the world in which we live, the source from which it
is evolved and the humanity and other creatures that
live on this earth.
Shaunaka goes to Sage
Angiras and submits:
By knowing which in particular can I know the
entirety in general?
In answer to this, Angiras tells Shaunaka
that there are two sectors of knowledge, the
superior and the inferior.
Brahma Vidya constitutes the Superior,
wherein lies the answer to Shaunaka’s question.
Young
Nachiketas goes to Yama, sent by his father, but had
to wait for Yama for 3 days, uncared by Yama’s
residence. Yama returned, to be shocked by his own
neglect. As
a recompense, he offered three boons to the young
Brahmacharin. Nachiketas
by the third boon seeks to know whether there is
anything like the Soul surviving one’s death in
the world.
The
other purpose of the Scriptures is to provide models
to lead the life in the world, meeting its impacts
from time to time. Model persons like Sri Rama,
Yudhishtira, Nala, Damayanti, Seeta, Draupadi are
held out.
Being
so, the Scriptures are fully human-related.
The Epics embody the history of humans,
especially the narration of human potentials,
trials, successes and failures of humanity in the
world. Often it presents the facts of life and world, laying down
the effective manner of dealing with them in any
situation. In
the process, how the mind can attain greater
strength, glory and joy is constantly brought forth.
Everywhere the emphasis is on making men and
women better, their interactions in the world more
effective and benevolent.
The
epics specially carry examples of life at its best
and worst. How to steer through all vicissitudes,
getting enriched by each, is brought forth
illustriously.
In
Rama we find the best of human values and
perseverance. Krishna
depicts the best of human excellence.
When
you come to Puranaas,
the characters are mostly imaginary, heavenly
denizens, but the theme is nevertheless human
problems, the intricacies of facing trials and
tribulations.
Finally,
we come to the Upanishads
and Sutras. There the
entire focus is on rationality, enquiry,
investigation and finding.
To illustrate these, they present a number of
questions, interrogations.
To posit suitable questions and then to
pursue them assiduously is the right way of
accessing the inner recesses of wisdom.
Upanishads
too are in the way of dialogues, discussions,
analyses and the like.
In
and through all these, the one aim is to make the
human mind and intelligence more informed, stronger,
devout and dexterous in dealing with life
situations. To face any challenge, to attempt the right goals, to
persevere without reluctance or fatigue, are the
constant persuasion of the Scriptures.
The
best illustration is Arjuna standing in Kurukshetra
battlefield, enfeebled and confused, pleading not to
fight. Laying
down his bow and arrow the great fighter began to
weep. Krishna
dialogued with him. In a matter of 3 hours Arjuna
was enlightened, transformed. In place of tears and
indecision, he was steeped in the resolution to
fight, come what may, after expressing his gratitude
to the Master Knower in front!
All
Scriptures, in one way or another, are like Geeta.
|
|
TOP |
|
4.
What is Karma?
Karma
literally means activity, interaction.
Analysed well, every karma
is in the nature of movement or vibration. Chalana-atmakam
hi karma. But
most people refer to karma
in the way of a bondage or constriction every
one suffers from, since he was born, till his body
falls. In
that sense, it refers to the karma
bandhana one inherits with his or her birth.
This is a religious concept and has its
specific relevance.
Further,
karma bandhana,
its measure, is subject to reduction and
extinction, if one seeks to achieve that. Religion
and spirituality deal with such bondage and
prescribe the necessary means to dispense with it.
Knowledge is the primary and ultimate tool they
provide. Knowledge
gained and applied will rid the mind of karmic ties
and taints, making it shine and be fervent.
It then enjoys freedom, liberation.
|
|
TOP |
|
5.
What is Karmayoga?
Karmayoga
is the concept Krishna introduces in Bhagavadgeeta.
It is the formula Arjuna was asked to adopt
in fighting the Mahabharata war. Here karma
means activity and interaction. Yoga
represents the spiritual attitude and aim to be
fostered in pursuing karma, to strengthen the mind
and intelligence.
Karma
yoga
is that process wherein all karmas,
acts, done by one will be soaked in the grand,
wholesome, yogic attitude, refinement and goal.
To
link up all karmas with the Creator, the source,
regarding them as coming within His design and
purpose, thereby to obliterate one’s ego-centric
attitude about anything, is, in one sense, the long
and short of karma
yoga. Karma
Yoga as a science and formula, consists in
taking a new look at the pairs of opposites the
world consists of.
Pairs
of opposites constitute the world. Happiness and
misery, success and failure, profit and loss, good
and bad, God and world, man and woman, night and
day, presence and absence, virtue and vice, this and
that, I and you, all these come under dwandwas, pairs of opposites.
Krishna
says that all these external opposites converge in
one’s mind to produce and perpetuate only one set
of inner pair, pleasure and pain or happiness and
misery.
Karma
Yoga trains one to looks at these alike.
Avoiding preference to one and prejudice to
the other, Karma Yogic practitioner continues to
preserve and float in a neutral, transcendental
position, to assimilate uniformly both. With that
the depression and elation caused by them cease and
uniform enrichment by both comes into place.
This
one attitude, perception, makes him rise above the dwandwas.
When dwandwas
are transcended, the world as a whole, its impact on
the mind, is won over.
What more does one need to be strong and
victorious?
Karma yoga
is an armour for the mind, putting on which the
human can live, move and interact with the world
beautifully, unaffectedly, gloriously, successfully. What many others shirk or shun, the karma yogin takes to with lightness, confidence and attunement,
which make him a shining model for all.
It
is constantly linked to the active life.
But the achievement itself is spiritual –
mental, intellectual.
Inner attainment through outer involvement is
the secret here.
This is the unique merit of karma
yoga.
|
|
TOP |
|
6.
Can Spirituality help me at my work place?
How?
Spirituality,
if truly understood, is a pursuit, process, running
along with the day-to-day life in the world,
enriching and empowering the inner human
personality. It enriches the mind with a number of
qualities and merits. It also imbues the
intelligence likewise.
Mind expands, becomes flexible, begins to
assimilate any and all inputs, grows profound,
lofty, magnificent, reconciling more and more, being
patient and forbearing.
Imagine how such a mind helps you work
untiringly, non-expectantly, gaining and achieving
tremendously on all fronts.
Spiritual
enrichment sharpens the intelligence.
Comprehension grows considerably. Clarity
dawns. Doubts
flee and determination grows.
Spirituality
integrates (i) the senses (ii) the mind and (iii)
the intelligence beautifully, to make them an
effective triumvirate.
Consequently, one becomes more thoughtful,
effective and assimilating.
Intelligence and mind complement each other.
Every
action flows from such integration.
Mind will excel every time.
Intelligence will shine always.
|
|
TOP |
|
7.
What is the goal of human life?
Human
goal can be defined from various angles.
A practical as well as spirituo-philosophical
definition can be that it is to live meaningfully,
usefully, benevolently and fulfillingly. The first
part is achieved when one uses his personality and
its resources properly.
He must nourish his body as well as give it
the necessary exercises, so that one has the desired
health to function in the world, contributing his
share for the society’s welfare.
Likewise,
he must also employ his mind and its resources
effectively. For this, the mental needs should be
met and mental potential to be applied well. Thus,
understanding of the mind and its potential becomes
imperative. Ensure
this as early as possible.
Intelligence
too should be rightly harnessed, to help and
strengthen the mind. Both should work in close harmony.
All
this straightaway implies all-fold integration of
one’s personality. The knowledge senses and action
organs on the one hand, the emotional mind on the
other, the rational intelligence still on the other,
all should remain healthy and creative.
They must be integrated too.
The
knowing intelligence should reflect well upon life,
its needs, aspirations and goals.
The outcome must enthuse the emotional mind,
which, in turn, should lead the senses to be active
in their respective fields.
What
will one get in return?
He will have the full satisfaction that the
body is rightly employed, the mind too and
intelligence too.
Bodily fulfillment consists in enjoying
health and regular useful activities and
interactions. Mind’s
lies in being joyous, inspired, enjoying peace and
stability. Intelligence
is the one that looks for knowledge and derives
contentment in gaining it in ample measure.
Knowledge,
peace, joy and health, all together stand as the
goal of human life. These will gradually converge into one single note:
Fulfillment. At this stage, the goal becomes
verily spiritual.
“I
have done whatever is to be done and gained whatever
I needed to and could. I have known whatever is to be known. Doubtless, clear in mind and heart, confident, I have a sense
of fullness, resulting in bubbling joy and
inspiration. These are the characteristics of one
who has fulfilled the goal of life.
It radiates fullness, buoyancy and ecstasy.
|
|
TOP |
|
8.
What should be my first step in achieving joy
and fulfillment in my life?
First,
think about what is joy, and what constitutes it.
Joy of any kind is inner.
Mind is its originator, source.
When one finds a pleasant object, the
pleasantness part is what the mind generates and
ascribes to it.
Pleasantness is in the inner mind, not in the
eyes.
An
object which is pleasant now may become unpleasant
later. Something
pleasant to one may not be so to another.
This reveals clearly that pleasantness or
unpleasantness is an association the inner mind
generates and tags to the outer object.
Reflect
upon this truth well; be attuned to it in all
circumstances.
The mind which thus creates joy and also
joylessness, normally in relation to outer objects
and environments, can equally bestow joy all by
itself. Let
it do so. The potential and possibility should be
clearly adjudged.
To
understand, believe and remain confirmed in this
inner potential is the first step to achieving joy
and fulfillment.
“My joy must inhere within me, in the mind
level, generated and preserved by it. I will ask my mind to get to a state when I will have joy all
by itself, independently ceaselessly.”
Do
not be indifferent to this statement.
To know is to become.
Once this is clear, do not foster any desire
for anything outer, except the usual needs of the
body and the like.
Food, shelter and clothing are the primary
needs. Have
them; do not desire them.
Live and move on the basis of needs, not on
desires. Your
life should be need-oriented, not desire-oriented.
Desire
is always for something you see, hear or otherwise
think about. Need is a thought on an actual fact, compulsion.
One is imaginary, whereas the other is
factual.
Instead
of desires, right knowledge and insight must be the
motivation.
Whatever
worth you have bodily, mentally or intellectually,
you are only making it, as it should be, available
for the society’s needs.
This is part of a huge cyclic process.
There is nothing special or creditable in
this. Suppose
you have some worth or potential but the society has
no use for it, what will you do?
About any profession or professional worth,
this should be your attitude.
When
one’s worth and society’s needs meet, harmonize,
then is one usefully employed.
Principle is the same in the case of
industrialists and commerce people.
No desire or other vitiation need be brought
in the matter. It is like water flowing to make a
river and meeting the sea to disappear.
Again going up as vapour to come down as
shower or snowfall, to form the river again.
It is all a complex cycle.
Look
at everything thus impersonally, impartially,
realistically. Do not be a well, tank or even a
lake. Be
a sea itself in your vision.
My
worth and the society’s need, both meet and I
function usefully, contributingly, benevolently.
To
(i) desire (ii) strive to achieve the desired (iii)
then to feel contented – the threefold process
literally results in the extinction of the desire. This means you are trying to fulfill a desire only to make it
extinct, to be free of it.
In the language of the desiring mind, this is
what takes place every time.
Now
come to the conclusion:
If desire-fulfillment means
desire-extinction, then what would be the extent of
freedom and fulfillment when you strive to become
directly free of all desires, without striving to
follow any desire at all?
Is
it not the state of all-fold fulfillment?
In
getting to the inmost level, the Self, in realizing
and manifesting its glory and power, being a Self
knower, this is the wonder that transpires and
becomes pronounced thereafter.
Imagine
a hungry person.
By taking a delicious meal, enjoying its
taste and feeling appeased, the same fulfillment in
manifold measure will one be experiencing in such a
desire-free state!
Spiritual
and religious life becomes relevant only in so far
as it means this and leads the individual towards
this blessed inner fruition.
All misunderstanding about religio-spiritual
life should be replaced by this right understanding.
Religion
may focus on God, but what it really deals with is
the inner mind of the individual.
So spirituality too concerns itself with the
constant process of reforming, refining and
fulfilling the mind, intelligence and heart.
“What does God mean to me?
By my religious practices, I do not propose
to bring about any transformation in God.
All changes are to be only me.”
Religion
aims at a universalizing the mind and thoughts,
bring about a great expansion and depth.
Like oneself, the seeker begins to think of
all others. He
loves all, is interested in the welfare of all, is
inspired to make adjustments and sacrifices for all.
What a beautiful expansion it is!
When
the mind, shedding its conventional constrictions,
imbibes such an expanse, inevitably its ability to
perform also increases tremendously.
Such a mind makes the individual a mighty
performer, mighty enjoyer and mighty sufferer,
revealing the tremendous enhancement of his
potential and power of sustenance.
In
such a view, the first step will be introspection,
evaluation and then effectively pursuing the
benefits of both.
|
|
TOP |
|
9.
What is the purpose of prayer?
Prayer
is the most common, simple, but dedicated effort to
increase one’s inner enrichment and resources.
Belief, confidence and hope normally increase
by prayer. All
prayers are addressed to the Supreme Power. To rely
upon Him, to have the faith that one depends upon
His powers and Grace, naturally increases the
potential and creativity of the one that prays.
How
well will the prayer be effective rests upon how
intense, attuned and qualitative the praying devotee
is. For, all prayers do not bear fruit.
They cannot.
If any and all prayers can be fulfilled, then
it would be sufficient to do prayer alone for
getting anything done in human life!
And no effort will be called for in any
field!
By
praying for a child, will anybody get one?
He must be married and his wife should
conceive and deliver a child.
Or, some child born to another would have to
be gifted to him.
It is not that without the requisite means
and forerunner, any outcome will be had.
Prayer
only strengthens, sometimes it accelerates the
process of action and makes it bear fruit.
It does so by empowering the mind, the inner
framework of the praying individual.
Prayers
are not merely God-based or God-addressed.
Vedic Upanishads have Shanti
Paathams in the beginning. Most of them are
self-addressed, meaning they intend to consciously
rejuvenate one’s own mind, heart and intelligence.
What does this mean?
It underscores the power of human mind, its
thoughts, wishes and will:
May
our ears hear good and noble words.
May
our eyes see the auspicious.
Some
prayers exhort
“May all the elements bid us kalyaan
(felicity).”
In this, we make the constituents of Nature
do what we wish for.
In
any prayer, it is the creativity, wish and will of
the individual mind that does the work, comes to
play. Human
mind verily can be activated, raised to any degree
of creativity and deliberateness.
There
are instances wherein the leader of an army wing,
finding the enemy very hard to subdue, asked the
fighters: “Who for you is the great source of
adoration and whose blessings, when invoked, would
have the unfailing effect?”
They
specified their choice.
The Leader then told them to propitiate that
source full-heartedly, mustering all the items
needed for the worship. He facilitated the joint
performance. The propitiation was done and all the
army contingents felt elated and assured.
Their
leader then said:
“Now that you have got the benediction from
your own most adorable source, you cannot fail. Go ahead, bring success.”
The army went all out. They did achieve their
goal.
Prayer
is but the primary step for believers in
strengthening, supporting and empowering their mind,
heart and intelligence.
In the absence of the subsequent steps,
prayer may prove inadequate and bring
disillusionment.
In
our Scriptures, there are specific discussions on
who is a devotee, what his characteristics are and
should be. These
are meant to make the praying devotees compare
themselves with the prescriptions and ensure that
they do not lack in devotional merits and
competence.
|
|
TOP |
|
10.
What is meditation?
What is its purpose?
Meditation,
though a very general effort, is mostly associated
with spiritual life.
In meditation, the mind alone should be
employed and is at work. Meditation, in other words,
is an exclusive mental effort. Its aim is to reform,
refine and strengthen the mind, generating purity
and sublimation in the process.
A
purified mind is the most powerful tool for making
human endeavours in any field whatever.
Impure mind weakens the performer at every
stage. Purity
consists in being able to set aside agitation,
constriction and narrowness. A pure mind will be able to welcome any kind of inputs
from persons, places and events and assimilate them,
transforming every instance into a positive
enrichment and empowerment.
One of pure mind will not grumble about any
lack or excess.
His will be the line of moderation,
evenisation and uniformity.
One
possessing a pure mind realizes that all actions and
interactions proceed from the mind, also subsist in
the mind. Likewise,
they also finally terminate in the mind, evoking the
twin responses – happiness and misery.
A
pure mind bestows courage, determination and the
power to reconcile with any event, development or
reaction. It
delivers the unique strength dispassion, which is
synonymous with fearlessness and resoluteness.
Imagine
how potent, creative and sustaining a mind will be
when graced with such courage, confidence and
resignation. It
can devoutly apply to any task, arranged or brought
by chance.
Despite
the outcome that may transpire from time to time,
the pure-minded individual will always be contented,
cheerful and hopeful.
Meditation
is the key for reforming and refining the mind to
imbibe such great qualities.
Meditation is the only way to enrich and
empower the mind of any one.
Its benefits are worldly to begin with, but
spiritual to end with.
|
|
TOP |
|
11.
I want to be happy in whatever I do. How do I
achieve it?
Every
one wants to be happy, but many do not know where
and how to tap happiness. Understand first that happiness is an emotional note. Like
all other emotions, happiness too belongs to and
emerges from the mind.
Joy, cheerfulness, contentment, satisfaction,
happiness, all have their inherence only in the
mind.
If
it is solely the mind’s creation, inasmuch as you
have the mind, why not ask the mind to give you joy
always, abundantly?
In
fact, none understands this truth. Or may be, he
does not remember it or does not act upon the
understanding.
When once you get exposed to the truth and
make it your own, that will be the starting point of
achieving the goal.
Mind
generally produces liking or affinity for things
outside. Then
it institutes the effort to win the objects.
On achieving them as desired, the mind
bestows happiness.
This is a circuitous, protracted way.
Cannot the same mind generate joy without
objects, by itself? Yes. This is the sole object of spirituality.
What
joy will one get when a particular act of his
attains fruition, the same joy can precede if you so
wish and will.
It is not the work that brings joy.
The one that works, the actor, himself is the
one to feel joy.
Let
the working mind itself feel joyous, no matter
whether the work is completed and wins the desired
outcome.
Outcome
in any matter is something to follow.
Joy can easily precede.
Perhaps
it needs very sharp intelligence to understand the
subtlety and strive to have joyfulness as a constant
associate with you.
Work out that subtlety and be joyous.
Understand
this is the truth.
Be sensitive to it.
Resolve to practise or pursue this truth.
|
|
TOP |
*
* *
|
|
