Spritiual spirit

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Constantly Striving for Progress

Meaning: According to the Athervaved 8/1/4 -"O men! You should not be satisfied with your present situation. You have to move forward and have to exert with body and soul's strength.
Message: Is there any limit to progress? Has anyone been able to know all the knowledge and science or wisdom in this world? Has anyone been able to find the deep secrets or mysteries of the Vedas? Even today man is busy in trying to find out the secrets of the world.
This is the basis of progress and uplift. Arise, start walking, fall down, and get up again progress. Do this again and again. Work constantly. Lose not your heart. Gradually you will reach the top. Be not afraid of failure. One can only know from it that the attempt for success was not done with full determination. Involve yourself with double enthusiasm.
Is this all possible merely by saying it? Will it be possible with physical and spiritual strength? No. For this the body will have to be made so strong by austerity, restraint and celibacy that it will be able to face all the material difficulties. Gandhiji had made his body so strong that even the cold weather of England was not able to influence his open body. Only such control over the body facilitates the endeavor of restraint. This is the first step towards the control of the senses. It increases spiritual power or the strength of the spiritual which is the soul, and because of it the mind does not wander here and there. With it, one develops other strengths. Spiritual power is very necessary for becoming great. With the power of money and intelligence, material progress is possible and comforts available, but spiritual power gives much more. One whose spiritual power is strong, he imbibes ideals and principles in his personal life and progress continuously.
Our life's ideal should be the Sun-god or the Sun. Every moment, he goes ahead towards his goal. He is eager to give his entire life as a gift to the world. He is involved with full spiritual power to give light, heat and energy to the world and also to help in drying up the dirt and garbage for destruction. Constantly endeavoring, he never thinks of halting even for a moment. He has no self-interest. This is the secret of success in life.
Our Rishis (sages) and munis (monks) have given the assurance to the whole world that if a man strives, he can rise to the level of a deity. They have also given the direction. But how to carry out this process? What is its fundamental basis? We should never lag in putting into our conduct the qualities of divinity. With those qualities in our conduct we succeed in rising to the level of a deity.
Life means constantly striving for progress like the Sun. That is the duty of a Brahman

Cautious About Laziness

Meaning: The Rigved 5/44/14 says that those who are alert and always cautious about laziness and lethargy acquire knowledge and wisdom. They get peace. They are known as great men.
Message: The fundamental axiom of Swami Vivekananda is "Utttishtha ta, jagrita prapya barannobodhata" which menas "arise, awoke and do not stop till you achieve your objective". There is a religious song "Uth jag musafir bhor bhai, jo jaagat hai so paavat hai". The suggestion here is that if you will arise and awake, then only you will achieve something, otherwise this human life will go waste. First arise then awake, this seems to be a wrong order. Man first wakes up, then gets up from the bed. But are we really awake? Our eyes a re still closed with laziness, lethargy, ignorance and tamogun. Then how can we say that we are awake? The ever awake is only GOD. We should remain always awake like shall never surrender to laziness in fulfilling our duties. With the attitude of 'kaal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so ab' (i.e. wha t you want to do tomorrow, do it today and what you want to do today, do it right now), we shall be always dedicated to our work, be industrious and shall not be lethargic. By constantly practicing in this manner we shall go on succeeding in imbibing God's virtues within us.
This world is for wakeful people. They are capable of shaking off laziness and obtain true knowledge by diligence. Knowledge and science create many things for people, and wise men achieve happiness, credit and prosperity. Lazy people run after comforts. They wish and desire, but achieve nothing. They are in the dark slumber of tamogun and cannot get the nectar of 'saatvikta' (simplicity, morality, goodness, enthusiasm, piety, compassion etc.) No enemy is as fatal and as near as laziness. Permanent progress is not possible unlies the person casts away laziness and lethargy and adopts the virtue of industriousness. To obtain the grace of G od, we should offer at His feet our efforts, courage, patience, intelligence, energy and valor. God helps only those people, who personally make efforts. The Vedas also support this truth with the axiom, "Na rutay shrantasya sakhyaya devaha".
The situation has extremely deteriorated today. Small children and students spend their time in useless activities, read with interest obscene and meaningless literature and spoil their thinking. Not only that, the disease of shirking work and laziness is also spreading very badly among doctors, teachers, traders, farmers, workers, and executives.
The main task of the Brahmans is to drive away the demon of laziness from the society.

Brightness Comes from Supreme

Meaning: According to the Yajur-Veda ancient Rishis had prayed with the supreme that - O Supreme! You are the form of brightness, give us brightness. You are full of valor, make us valorous. You are full of strength, give us strength. You are luminous, give us luminosity. You are a destroyer of wicked persons, give us that power also. A long with that you are also tolerant, make us too similarly tolerant.
Message: Who is called God? He is not any human being as conceived by us. He is a collection of ideals, principles, excellence, good qualities, good activities etc. Prayer is made here for imbibing within us those qualities - from among the innumerable qualities of God - which are very important in our lives.
The most important is tejasvita or brightness or bright intelligence which develops the power of the soul and joins the person into those deeds which destroy material temptations. Brightness is not related to age but to the tendency of a person. It is not external, but internal. It is not superficial but enmeshed in one's nature. The face looks bright because of it. The second necessity is years and does deeds for others' welfare. "Jivem Sharadah shatam" - this is possible only if we become strong and valorous. It is restraint and proper diet and proper activity. With the coming of all three within the person, the soul brightens up and the person becomes luminous. A man full of mental brightness, manliness, strength and luminosity can do everything in the world. The biggest difficulties cannot obstruct his path. Whatever he resolves to do is achieved. Whether he does, impress others. Nobody can dare to shrug off what he says.
But that much it is not enough. Power is necessary to destroy the sinful acts of wicked people. There should be natural anger within us for eradicating injustice. Along with that our soul must have limitless power of tolerance, by which we may always remain smiling even in worst difficulties and may not deviate from the path of truth. Even though there be unbearable calamities, we shall patiently solve them and go on progressing on the path of progress.
This is called the art of living. Then a person achieves humanity. When a person achieves humanity, then it is also his duty to strive to make human his family and society. Only a burning lamp can light an extinguished lamp. How can an extinguished lamp light up another extinguished lamp? It is man's duty to become bright, luminous, powerful, patient, valorous and strong and inspire others to do so.
Therein lies the success of man's life.

Beliefs on God

Meaning: Various people have the various concepts about the worship of God. In reality, God is the attitude of a man, if the person is sinless hearted, he can find God every where for this statement our ancient Grantha Rigveda has expressed it in its 8/61/11 stanza that - "If the heart is impure and malicious, then God's worship will also be unfruitful. Therefore God's worship must be carried our with a 'nispaap (sinless) heart.
Message: Different types of beliefs are seen in the people of this world regarding God. Some people do not believe in God's existence. They ask that if God exists, they why is he not seen? Well, are we able to see the electricity passing through the wire and lighting the electric bulb? Then, are we able to deny the existence of electricity flowing through the wire. Only God is the creator, controller and sustainer of this creation. Our welfare lies only in the devotion and worship of God.
Even so, most men suffer sorrow and hardships despite worshipping God. The only reason for it is that their hearts are still full of faults and bad tendencies and involved in sinful acts. Therefore worship in such situations is not real worship, but mere hypocrisy. How can one receive benefit of a false show? The one and only one condition for obtaining God's grace is purity of heart. After all, God is our best friend and brother, but we have not made an attempt to meet God with pure, sinless, generous and open heart. How can He then shower His grace on us?
The people of this era have become ego-centric and are trapped in the endless pursuit for satisfying their own senses. We are running only after illusory pictures or mere shadows. We are caught in a terrible vice. The disease of running after money and women has assumed a dreadful form and is spreading everywhere. People are not willing to get out of its bind. They are always remaining unstated despite continuous indulgence of senses. What a misfortune it is that indulgence of senses is crying out from rooftops and is saying that it does not have any power or strength to provide satiation (i.e. full satisfaction). Even then man is so foolish that despite knowing this fact, he rushes with redoubled and vain efforts to get full satisfaction from these very illusory indulgences of senses. Ultimately the situation arises, 'bhoga na bhukta, vyameva bhukta' i.e. we are not able to enjoy the material pleasures of the senses, but sacrifice ourselves in the worry for obtaining such pleasures. The Vedas have never told us to discard materialism, but have told us to accept the creation as a mere means and to use it for good purpose. In the absence of the body or material means, our sustenance is impossible, but to believe that only sustenance is everything, amounts to self-deception.
Good deeds for helping others and moral conduct are mere steps towards spiritual life. For purity of the 'chitta' (one of the four parts of the mind, chitta is where concentration on a subject or image takes place) we have to climb through these steps. Without purifying the chitta, the highest knowledge can never be achieved. To remove the dirt which has firmly lodged in the mid, firm moral conduct, deeds for helping others without any self interest, regular study of scriptures and religious endeavor (or religious discipline) are extremely necessary. On taking to this path, the flow of divine spiritual knowledge starts within the heart and with the profound brightness of this divine glow our faults and bad tendencies are, as if, burnt away. The space vacated by them gets filled with 'sadgun' (good qualities).
All this is possible only by firm 'atmabal' (strength of the soul) or firm resolve or will-power.

Action this Religion

Meaning: According to the Athervaved 5/30/7 - Man, rouse thyself always. That is your duty. Just as ants and other small forms of life always try to climb upwards, similarly, you too should find out the means of uplift and progress constantly.

Message: Tremendous progress has been achieved in the world by knowledge and science. But this science does not confer peace and happiness. Peace and happiness are always available through good persons and it is outside the power of science to 'create' good men. Men become good only through spiritualism.

What is this spiritualism which makes a good and uplifted man? This is the trinity of worship, spiritual-endeavor (or spiritual discipline) and adoration. Once a person takes a plunge in the river of this trinity, his life becomes successful. By worshipping (Upasana) we are trying to imbibe within us the divine qualities of God. Keeping in mind the divine principles, one should decide one's tasks and be firm in them and to remain rock-stable in the face of the biggest attractions, temptations and hardships. Spiritual-endeavor or spiritual-discipline (Sadhana) is for one's own self through control of the body and mind with austerity, celibacy and restraint. Adoration (Aaradhana), translated into action, means service to others and always to pay attention to others' welfare. Not to be busy in achieving self-interest, but to think of societal-uplift, and to think that one's progress lies in contributing to the society's progress. A man, who conducts himself according to these religious precepts, always forges ahead, craves out a path for peace and happiness for all and thus creates a blissful atmosphere for all.

Strange is the life of a man, because he can fall downwards or raise his level very high. Man's downfall can be so low that even animals will be considered at a higher level in comparison, or he can achieve levels higher than deities. Decide by yourself where you wish to go. In this human species, do you want to behave as an animal or as a diving being? It is very easy to fall down, but tremendous diligence is required to rise upwards. Like the fish swimming against the current, you have to exert courageously. Man has to go constantly ahead in the direction of progress. The Vedas instruct thus, "Udyanum te pruusha naavyanum" i.e. "O human being! You have to raise high in life and not to fall".

God's shelter is required for forging ahead in the direction of progress in life. The only route to God is to put God's divine qualities into one's conduct. For that one has to strive to become humane by purifying one's sentiments and attitudes and developing a habit of introspection. After that alertness and cautiousness are necessary for strict adherence to rules. Man's humanity is expressed by the high quality of his thoughts or mental attitudes.

By putting into action this religion of humaneness, man becomes a human being and fulfills God's prupose.

Achieving the Goal of Life

Meaning: One of the most powerful matters is kept in our four Vedas. Among them the goal of human life is expressed in the stanza of the Yajur-Veda's 40/2 that -"There is only one way for man to achieve his life's goal, and that is 'sad aacharan' (i.e. proper moral conduct). We should desire to live a hundred years on the religious path.

Message: The birth and rebirth of man depends on his deeds and their results. From his birth to death as long as the body is active, man goes on doing some physical (bodily) or mental work. It is impossible for anyone to remain even for a moment without doing any work. We have been granted this human life only for doing work. It is an altogether different matter whether the deed is a good or bad one.
We all know the principle of science that 'every action has an equal and opposite reaction' and therefore for every deeds there is a 'karmaphal' (resulting reward or punishment also). The entire world is moving or running on specific rules and principles. There is no place for anarchy in this world of God. There is only the empire of discipline and justice in His creation. God has ordered man to live a hundred years while doing work of public-welfare. But unfortunately man narrows down his sphere of work to only selfish interests for the fulfillment of his false pride and selfishness and forgets his duty to work for public welfare. As a result, he gets trapped in perversities and suffers terrible hardships and sorrow because of his sins.
Sometimes the question may arise in our minds, "what type of deeds should I perform? What is the meaning of public welfare? Ultimately what is the use of working for the benefit of the world?" In reality, the fact is that when we work for the welfare of the society, we are actually serving ourselves also. We must remember that in the benefit of others we will certainly benefit. In the progress of the world, lies our own progress. We should have this lofty aim when doing any type of world. If we always think that it is our good fortune to serve others, then the wish for helping others will certainly be in our tremendous inspiration.
Such deeds, because they are carried out without any selfish desire, are called 'nishkam karma' (nishkam means without desire and karma means deeds). The success or failure of such deeds never makes a man arrogant or sorrowful. Such a man only thinks that he has not succeeded because he has not made as much effort with determination as required. After that he starts working again with double energy and involvement. Such'nishkam karma' (performed without selfish motive) never disturbs the person nor does the man have any attachment for that deeds. The feeling of 'atmaval sarvabhooteshu' (all the beings on the earth have the same type of soul as I have) becomes profound when man has no personal or selfish interest and he finds his own benefit in the benefit of others only. Instead of making use of the worldly comforts and facilities for himself only, such a person experiences the greatest joy when sharing with others. If one acts thus in the spirit of share-and-share-alike and joins all types of his deeds for God's work (i.e. in a spirit of working for God and his creatures), then such deeds never put man in future bondage. Only such men carrying out their deeds without any desire for personal benefit become distinguished in this world. Therefore, man always saving himself from attachment, should dedicate his life for performing good deeds without any selfish motive or desire for personal benefits.
This is the one and only method for achieving the best objective in life.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Reciprocal lik