Article sent from The Hindu

[Guest guest]

=============================================================

This article is emailed to you by Ram Chandran ( rchandran )

=============================================================

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com)

 

Love of God, basis of spiritual life

 

CHENNAI, AUG. 14. Once a devotee asked Sri Ramakrishna

Paramahamsa to teach him an easy and sure way to realise God when

the saint replied that it was love of God and constant prayer to

Him that would enable a person to realise Him. The devotee

insisted that he should be given only one prescription as it will

be difficult for him to follow both simultaneously. The saint

then told him that love of God was the basis of spiritual life

and started singing spontaneously comparing God to a mother who

will come running to her child the moment it calls out to her.

Then he remarked that He was always there though we did not pay

heed to Him.

 

How does one develop love for God? It is by constant singing of

the divine names and His glory that one's heart becomes purified

enough to love Him. Initially the spiritual aspirant sings His

glory so that love blossoms in the heart but as love and devotion

to God take root, he revels in singing His praise. What was

adopted as a means to an end becomes the end in itself. Though

this enables a person to progress spiritually, one may wonder

what relevance it has to worldly life. The benefit was peace of

mind when discrimination and dispassion resulted as a consequence

of love of God, said Swami Gautamananda in his discourse.

 

The human mind is the source of all the problems man faces. The

mind by nature will not engage in spiritual pursuits. It is

swayed by thoughts which arise due to desires. So spiritual

practices are advocated with the object of realising peace of

mind. Mental discrimination enables a person to understand the

transient nature of worldly life which will prod him to seek that

which will give him eternal joy. Dispassion is the corollary of

discrimination of mind when the devotee eschews worldly desires

after understanding their fleeting nature.

 

It is not as if human beings are unaware of the limitations of

worldly life. Problems, suffering, old age and death are facts of

life which stare us in the face everyday if we look around us.

But it suits us not to face the reality with the misconception

that they will not afflict us. This paradox has been pointed out

in the famous Yakshaprasna section of the Mahabharata when

Yudishtra was asked the question, ``What is the greatest wonder

in the world?'' to which he replied that man entertained the

misconception that he was immortal even though he confronted

death all the time. Spiritual life is thus the preparation man

engages in throughout his worldly life to realise God so that he

is not caught unawares when it is time to leave the world.

 

Copyrights: 1995 - 2001 The Hindu

 

Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly

prohibited without the consent of The Hindu