A Problem of Plenty

In an earlier post, we outlined some of the challenges facing modern man in his quest to embrace God and Spirituality. Let us recollect those points.

1) Which God?

Man, this is a tough one. This is worse than, "Should i study at Harvard or at Yale?" To me it all depends on the availability of,

a. Affordable education.
b. Quality idli vada.
c. The distance to the nearest cricket ground.

It appears they have none.

No...seriously, Which God? The one from the east or the one from the west? Since the north and the south are generally barren, we either march westwards where the sun never sets, or east across the Hindukush mountains, where the rising sun is a sight to behold.

A small lesson in history can help here i guess.

It is said that there are 11 major faiths in this world. A look at the the most volatile flash point on earth reveals 3 major religions. Jerusalem is the melting pot of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Although Islam was not born in Jerusalem, its roots are inextricably linked with Jerusalem.

Another region close-by gave rise to Zoroastrianism, and believed to have arrived earlier than Christianity and Islam. In terms of age, it is presumably closer to Judaism, which is based on the old testament.

Going eastwards, we have Taoism (Daoism), Shinto, Confucianism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Sanatan Dharm (Hinduism).

Give or take a few, we have listed a majority of religions that around 6.5 Billion people follow or proclaim to follow in some form or the other.

Question hour...

1. Have these religions / faiths fully answered all our spiritual questions?
2. Have they been able to silence our minds and intellects with irrefutable logic, as our modern mind demands?
3. How successful have they been in describing the relationship between the Soul, God and the external world?
4. How well have they described the need for God and the path towards God-realisation?
5. Have they had Universal appeal and acceptance?

Other than these, we have many more complicated questions like, the birth of the universe, the truth about afterlife (rebirth) and so on. Scientists, Explorers, Stock brokers and the common man, all are looking for answers.

Is there a single person / source who can answer all of these questions satisfactorily?

When the explorers and scientists do not find much after digging deep down, the only place to look is up. Given the current market trend, the only way is up for our crestfallen financial whiz kids i suppose ;)

A religion that has universal appeal and acceptance is rare. It might be worth introducing an interesting fact that, ALL the seven major religions of the world are freely practised in one single country! Nowhere in the world do we find such tolerance for all religions and faiths.

India is the birth place of Sanatan Dharm. It has full tolerance and acceptance for all faiths. India is also the birth place of Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. St. Thomas travelled to India soon after Jesus Christ left earth. One of the very first tirades that the Islamic revolutionaries launched was against India, soon after Prophet Muhammad left. There goes a legend that when Alexander the Great was asked to name a gift, he asked for a wise man from the east (India).

No wonder, India has remained the epicentre and pinnacle of spiritual wisdom.

If there is a place where people have found eternal spiritual solace, it is in Hinduism. This might seem like a controversial or a blasphemous statement to make, especially when there are millions of people who have found peace and happiness in various faiths they follow sincerely, including the 11 mentioned above.

But, for the ones who are not satisfied with what they have, Sanatan Dharm has the answers. It has the capacity to answer all our questions and transport a true spiritual aspirant towards the ultimate goal of God realisation, provided the aspirant approaches with a humble heart and an open mind.

2) Authenticity of information

Ok, i am a very humble man, i polish my own shoes and clean my own plates. Get me the answers.

Well, i hope it were that easy. First, we need to find a trustworthy source. Where can we find a messiah who will deliver us?

Hang on, do we actually need a messiah or can it be done remotely, over a T3 internet pipe? why do we need some messiah to help us out? Is it not easy to just devour a book hidden deep inside some cave and become the master of the universe or something?

Point to ponder. Why do we need a messiah or a saint? Since time immemorial, people have been waiting for this messiah dude who will bash up all the bad guys. Who are the bad guys? well, according to A, B is bad. If you ask B, he will swear that A is bad. Call C, he will say both A and B are despicable.

Anyway, there is this messiah package from the heavens that FedEx has not yet delivered or maybe there is some book or sacred text hidden somewhere which will give us the answer. Whatever it is, The Saint or the holy man seems to be the common link, sacred scroll or no sacred scroll.

Saints and Soothsayers are spread the world over. India is the hotbed of spiritual trainees, who come in all shapes and sizes. Be it the path of Religious ritualism and Righteousness (Karm and Dharm), path of Knowledge (Gyanis and Yogis) or the path of pure Devotion (Bhakti), you will find them all here.

To add to the confusion, we have the Vedic scriptures, the Upanishads, the Puranas and so on. Which one is better, Mahabharat or Ramayan? Do those characters really exist?

I mean, give me break pal. 10-headed demon (Ravana) slain by a king on exile with an army of apes...tell it to the birds. Listen to this one, a kid (Shree Krishna) dancing on the a snake with many hoods? what do you take me for?

So, here we go again...

1) I cannot believe what is said in those books because it sounds absurd.
2) If at all they were to be believed, who is to be trusted with an accurate account of these events?
3) Whose interpretation is genuine?
4) Even if it did happen and the books are authentic, so what? how does it affect me?

Whom do we TRUST?

One says, do Yoga and Pranayam, thou shalt be liberated. Sure, many of us to do find mental relief and comfort, but liberation, no way! ever heard of the "peace pipe" mate ;)

On a serious note, Yoga and Pranayam are extremely effective techniques to keep your body in excellent physical shape and health. Many diseases and ailments (related to the physical body) can be cured. Yoga also helps build mental strength and concentration.

But, Yoga / Pranayam alone cannot treat the afflictions of a fickle mind or the fallacies of a flawed intellect. It is definitely true that they soothe your mind temporarily, but once you fold your Yoga mat, external stress re-enters your mind, slowly if not immediately.

The next level of redeemers are the ones who proclaim that meditation is the answer to relieve stress and lead a happy life. Mediate on what? nobody knows. Everyone seems to have attended a class on meditation or met a Guru who has been in meditation since the Himalayas formed, but i fail to see what was the subject of meditation. Common subjects people attempt are,

1) An imaginary point in front of you. Think of a small circle and concentrate on that.
2) Do not think anything. Just let thoughts come and go.
3) Empty your mind and feel the presence of God around you.

uuuh....eerie.

What if i meditate on the form of a 3 year old child? maybe that child is my son or daughter. What is the consequence of such a meditation? What will i attain or realise?

At this juncture, it is worth introducing the problem of the plenty.

3) Too many cooks in the kitchen

We have a mind-boggling array of saints and soothsayers in our country with astonishing techniques and skills, that it is virtually impossible to weigh them or at times even dispute them.

As mentioned earlier, we have saints of various sects and religions, saints with different ideologies, philosophies and dogmas, saints with mystical powers and then the harmless saints with no rhyme or reason.

We also have another class of godmen / godwomen who bring (mis)fortune and (de)fame to people.

For ex., we have all heard about this palmist / astrologist who told your neighbour that he / she will find a few precious gems hidden underneath the pillow one morning. Voila! it was indeed the case. What can you say to that?

Well, only one thing. This has nothing to do with Spirituality.

With the limited Spiritual knowledge that we all possess, our intellect tells us that we need to find a person and not a book. That person is called a Guru in Sanatan Dharm (Hinduism).

If we find a Guru whom we can TRUST, then we will find the answer to our questions. Spiritual or material, thou shalt be answered. The onus of finding a Guru lies with the question seeker. Though a true Guru is a spiritual doctor, recommending one like we do with a family doctor does not always help in this realm.

Finding a source of unparalleled, infallible and true Spiritual knowledge is not that easy. Some do have it easy but that is not a rule. It is a matter of personal interest and hunger for satisfactory answers. The level of Guru you will find is directly proportional to the amount of spiritual hunger in your heart. Throw in a generous amount of God's grace into the equation, you have the recipe to attain unlimited knowledge.

Ok, fine..lets get a Guru.

The question once again rises, WHICH Guru to trust?

That my friend, is a personal quest for the greatest treasure you will ever unearth.

Why God?

Mention the word God and a big chunk of your Rolodex vanishes, your friends shun you as a loser and family disowns you. This is more so the case in the modern world.

It is no secret that more people than ever are displeased, disenchanted, disappointed, disoriented or disgusted with anything remotely connected to God, Devotion and Spirituality.

At the same time, there are a few who do try to discover and follow a path they find suitable and appealing. But in the eyes of God, a majority of the population is still at large.

Lets examine a few of the reasons for this surprisingly united and vehement rejection.

One of the major problems that many generations across thousands of years have faced is the access to authentic information. A genuine and trustworthy source on which we can bestow our blind faith in.

Even if such a source or two existed, we lacked faith. Our intellect led us to believe that the source is not good enough or not that convincing. It is natural for our mind and intellect not to accept something that does not appeal to us. It is in our grain to fight, dispute and disagree with concepts that we cannot identify with.

Qualities like faith, sincerity, devotion and conviction in the word of saints or Divine literature (scriptures) are rare. In India, life in the olden days was simple and revolved around God. This is one of the reasons why the world always looked towards the east, particularly the sub-continent for Spiritual solace. This does not mean that other countries were bereft of Spiritual wealth. Each region had its share of saints and godmen or godwomen. Yet, the geographical region that is generally known as India has always been the seat of Spiritual learning for people across the world.

When life revolves around God, it is natural for people to develop Divine qualities like sincerity, devotion, honesty and so on. The association with Saints brings them closer to God and people are encouraged to keep their quest for God realisation alive.

Modern world developments have led the human mind away from God and towards Science. The Renaissance period was decisive in this paradigm shift in human adoption of science as the answer for human progress. This philosophy was thrust into all regions across the world and the consequences are being felt everywhere, over the last 500 odd years.

A quick note about the effect of foreign influence in our country. Spiritual life in India has stood the test of time and has continued to be largely unaffected by many of the critical events in history. Armies came, looted, destroyed, ruled and left. Missionaries came and established large centres. But the spiritual knowledge and greatness of Hindu philosophy never waned. A good majority of Hindu learning centres, pilgrimage sites and holy cities continued to be magnets for spiritual seekers.

Materialism has made life easier and luxurious but at the same time, it has conveniently allowed us to make that fatal choice of choosing a path away from the basic truths. People cite peer pressure, society and force of habit as the reason for chasing after material benefits but the truth is that every individual makes that choice by himself or herself deep within the heart.

Some people just say, "I do not give a hoot. I like it, so i do it". This attitude can be very costly because it is a very ego centric behaviour. Unless that person hears out the other side, the benefits of stepping down from the altar of false ego will never be known.

So, where have we arrived since we were born? Some of our lives are better than it was 10 years ago and definitely better than what it was when we were nestling in mother's arms. By better life, i am referring to monetary and luxurious gains.

But inside our hearts and minds, we have inculcated many diseases like Jealousy, Anger, Greed, Lust and so on. Mention this to anyone and they will immediately shun away as nobody wants to be called a greedy person or a cheat or a short-tempered person. We all like to think that we are very good individuals.

Good nature and behaviour is a small step towards God. Humility, Honesty, Compassion, Piety and other good qualities are associated with God. Due to the fickle mind that we have developed over the years, our attention is directed more towards things of our interest rather than something that demands the bending of our ego. The moment someone or something hurts our ego, our natural instincts take over and react adversely.

Our material outlook in life and extreme adoption of Science in many aspects of life has drawn us away from our Spiritual side.

In India, a pseudo spiritual attitude has crept into the lives of families across the board. God is summoned for every festival or only during a crisis. At all other times, he is kept at a safe distance to ensure a guilt free lifestyle.

People today demand that Spirituality should be 'packaged' in a way that it can be made attractive for the modern man. Lo! that is happening today. Organisations are scampering to attract people and their fat wallets with various types of 'packages' in Spirituality, Meditation, Yoga and Transcendence.

I find it surprising that none mention Devotion in their marketing material.

Modern man's packaging request seems a bit strange, as he does not demand that his favourite wine or cigarette be packaged in a such a way that it is made attractive to him. Put the same wine in a wooden container or wrap the same premium tobacco in paper, it would still make its way into his system. He is not necessarily bothered about the beautiful presentation.

A man who relishes meat will look for it even in the dirtiest of eateries. A smoker does not question the authenticity of the crop, he just starts hallucinating at the sight of weed. A drunk wants his daily hooch, crystal glass or not. He does not want an expensive looking bottle or a swanky bar. Booze is all he wants.

Packaging spirituality is akin to a kid not swallowing the pill. It needs to be laced in honey.

There is no doubt that obscure ideas and representations of God and Spirituality, combined with inaccurate interpretations of holy scriptures have driven people further away from God. This is one of the biggest drawbacks of modern times. More people are involved in mud slinging and defaming other faiths, causing intense disinterest and repulsion towards religion.

Then there is the question of authenticity within a faith or religion. Myriad claims are made in the name of God, but the veracity of such proclamations leaves much to be desired. Most faiths have extreme convictions in their own philosophy and preaching. Which one should we follow?

There seem to be so many saints and millions of followers. Who says religion is out, it is en vogue!

Despite the presence of so many spiritual heads and institutions across the country and around the world, little has changed inside our personal lives. They have not managed to grab our attention or captivate our hearts. The effectiveness of a saint can be measured in the amount of spiritual development that the saint brings about in a human being.

We can see that a lot of inter-related factors have discouraged us from embracing Spirituality and God. People look for the moderate, secular and "middle" line they can follow so that they can "accommodate" spirituality into their lives and not the other way around.

Digging a bit more into this indifference in our attitude towards Spirituality and God, let us examine what is that we are looking for in life.

What is our aim in life?

Every person could presumably come up different answers. Most of them are material. Somebody wants to be CEO, another wants to make a few hundred millions, another wants to marry the most beautiful girl or man, another wants to visit the best spots on earth and so on.

Some want to help others, some want to retire in the forest and live happily ever after. Some want to disappear into the mountains. All of these are material quests. They will make no difference to your life during its last breath and beyond.

We could safely declare that we are aimless and we do not know why we are running crazy all day. We work hard to eat a good meal at night, and eat a good meal to work hard the next day.

Aimless as it may seem, there is a hidden agenda. Every person is looking for happiness, peace, tranquillity and all other synonyms associated will bliss.

Happiness to me is staking out in the jungle, waiting to capture the elusive tiger on the much coveted Nikon D3 and a 600mm lens. Happiness to another is skinning the tiger for a quick buck. Happiness to another is buying the tiger skin for a fortune and making a garment out of it. Happiness to another is catching the poacher and the consumer. Happiness to another is protecting the tiger along with the environment.

This perceived happiness is not long lasting. If the tiger were to pounce on me, my happiness would turn into morbid fear. Similarly, if the tiger pelt had bullet holes driven into it, the consumer buying it would be fuming instead of being ecstatic.

The object (tiger) is the same. But it evokes different feelings in each of us. We see that the perception of happiness is different in each and every person's mind but nonetheless, happiness is what we all seek. It is a unanimous goal!

If we were to find out what is the nature of true happiness and where to find eternal happiness, then, we will begin to seek happiness in the right place, including the spiritual realm featuring God.

For the tiger's sake, do not abandon your quest for happiness :)