Religion And Spirituality

Religion is general associated with certain fundamental rituals and practices while spirituality is more concerned with the mental and intellect aspects. Both however seek to help the aspirant in attaining Godhead.

God consciousness is experienced in a state of thought extinction. It is a state where the mind is totally extinguished and only awareness reigns supreme! Mind is related to thoughts like a river to water. It is the flow of water that constitutes the river. So too, is the flow of thoughts that makes the mind. A mind thus created veils the Divine Self within us.

Religious practices generate spiritual undercurrents, which help in transcending the mind by arresting the Divinity inherent in us. The flow in each case generates power and dynamism.The nature of river is dependent upon the quality of water flowing in it. If the water is muddy, the river is muddy; if the water is fast, the river is fast and so on. Likewise, the quality of thoughts in the mind relates to the quality of the human... As the mind, so the man! All our religious rituals and practices have a subtle cleaning and energizing effect on the mind to pave the way for attaining the ultimate state of Divinity. And the state of Divinity is not merely a personal achievement; it must culminate in a Universal resurrection!

Hinduism & Practices

The Holy Trinity in the huge pantheon of gods that the Hindus worship are the three great figures - Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver and Shiva, the destroyer. This is the 'Trimurti' or the One or Whole with three forms. This is the endorsement of the belief that the Supreme Power is singular with the plurality of gods in daily religious worship. Hindus have a host of other gods that are manifestations of the Trinity. They also worship gods symbolic of natural elements like Indra, the god of lightening, Agni, god of fire, Hanuman, the monkey god and many others. Ram and Krishna, manifestations of Vishnu, are two gods who took birth and lived like mortals.

A Hindu's life, socially, is divided into four stages or 'Ashrams' which is an attempt to harmonize the conflicting tendencies of Hinduism in one system. The first stage is that of a chaste student, 'Brahmacharya,' the second that of a married householder, 'Grihasthya,' the third is the beginning of the stage of retirement from this world of temptations or 'Maya' and is called 'Vanaprastha' and the last, 'Sanyasa' is the stage of the wandering ascetic in search of truth.

Scriptures set three paths of salvation or attainment of Moksha, which a Hindu ought to follow - 'Karma marg' or the path of duty, 'Gyana marg' or path of knowledge and 'Bhakti marg' or path of devotion. For the ordinary Hindu, the main aim of worldly life lies in conforming to the social and ritual duties, adhering to the traditional rules of conduct of one's caste, family and profession. This is his ' Dharma ' or laws and duties.
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n the ancient times the society was divided into four major classes or 'Varnas' called the Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (commoners) and the Shudras (servants). These class distinctions gradually sub-divided into jati s or castes.

Discover the light from within

There is a story of one person who was found searching for something at a spot which was lit by a lamp .

On being asked, he replied to state that he was searching for his purse which he had lost. Further questioned as to whether he was sure if he had dropped it at the spot where he was searching, he answered that he had actually dropped it elsewhere but chose to search at that particular spot because only there, it was not dark! The story, as above, is told by Swami Sukabodananda to illustrate the fact that most persons seek for answers to their quests from various external sources, when the solution lies within themselves. This is akin to a person running around for ghee when he has enough butter in his possession. Indeed, as in the case of butter, the human mind too, which is possessed of the required powers, needs just those processes and refinement to obtain the end result!
Jesus Christ pointed out, “The kingdom of God is within you” (The Bible: Luke – 17, 21). In a similar vein, an ancient Tamil saint admonishes in these words – “O! Those unwise persons, who seek light from the heavens above, see this within yourselves”. True enough, external support and guidance such as rituals, visits to places of worship and Gurus are necessary in one’s spiritual journey as means to the end just as crutches and external bandages or even surgery may be necessary for the patient who has had fractures and injuries. Just as the patient progresses to that stage of finally discarding these, the spiritual aspirant too has to transcend external supports to discover the jewel within, which is the abode of all power, peace and light.

As in the case of the injured who is finally enabled to walk normally through the medium of physiotherapy, exercises and medicines, the spiritual aspirant also has to involve himself through proven techniques of obtaining spiritual strength. Exercises in right living, lifestyle and spiritual evolution through various physical and mental exercises (sadhana) have been prescribed by various schools.

Bhagawad Gita refers to this as a process of discarding passion, desire and anger (II 56 and V, 28). Such exercises for the body, mind and the spirit enable one to discover light and divinity within. This is the state, described by Gita as that state of “joy within, comfort within and light within” — antasukah, antararamah, antarjyoti (V, 24).