Miscellaneous - Religion

Prerequisites of spiritual life

CHENNAI JUNE 22 . A spiritual aspirant has to adopt certain values (Dharma) in life if his objective of attaining liberation from worldly bondage is to be realised. These values must become a way of life and not just an ideal to be mulled over during study of scripture. What is more important is to practise at least one virtue at a time consciously till it gets ingrained in one's conduct. Lord Krishna enumerates 20 values that characterise spiritual life in the Bhagavad Gita after expounding to Arjuna the difference between the knower and the known. One of them is unflinching devotion to God, which will help the seeker to always keep the spiritual goal in mind.

Another value stressed in this context is the importance of solitude. It is well known that the reason why those spiritually inclined retreat to lonely abodes like mountains and pilgrim centres is that there will not be worldly distractions and disturbance from others. It should be borne in mind that it is not just physical seclusion, which is meant, but mental aloofness from worldly matters. Initially a seeker can resist distractions only by avoiding company of others but if his mind remains engaged in worldly thoughts it will not aid his spiritual progress. Whenever possible, moments of solitude one gets even while engaged in day-to-day matters must be utilised for spiritual benefit. Company of saints, devotees and spiritually inclined people is beneficial. In fact, dilating on the spiritual benefit of holy company the Narada Bhakti Sutra points out that wrong company can be counterproductive to the spiritual goal.

In her discourse, Swamini Satyavratananda said Self-enquiry involved understanding the nature of God, man and of the world. Further, the relationship between them should be also understood and this knowledge is crucial for attaining Self-knowledge. What is Self-enquiry and how does one engage in it? Sage Yajnavalkya elaborated this topic to his wife Maitreyi. Scripture is the only authority on Self-knowledge unlike objective knowledge, which can be gained through other methods like perception, inference and so on. The scriptures have to be studied under a competent preceptor who is himself Self-realised; otherwise it will amount to the case of the blind leading the blind. The next stages are reflecting constantly on the scriptural teachings and then meditating on the Self on the basis of the scriptural description till Self-realisation.

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