Article sent from The Hindu

[Guest guest]

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

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

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

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

Miscellaneous

-

Religion

 

 

God can be realised by different methods

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHENNAI, DEC. 4. The purpose of human birth being liberation from rebirths,

everyone has to make effort to progress towards this goal. The majority strive

towards this end as householders even while engaged in worldly life and only a

few can renounce the world to pursue the goal exclusively. A monk will be able

to retain his life perspective under all circumstances because of his detachment

and Sattva (peaceful) nature.

 

In the case of a householder there are bound to be ups and downs in his life and

his reaction in such situations will vary. He has to discharge his duties and

has various responsibilities also. Hence he will not be able to remain unruffled

like a monk in all situations. What is essential is sincerity about the pursuit

of the goal of liberation. By surrendering all actions to God they will be

transformed into flowers in the worship of the Lord. Even though he is actively

engaged in the world, his actions will cease to bind him anymore.

 

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says that only when there is a trace of the quality

of Rajas (activity) can a person engage in the world and hence this quality is

not detrimental to the spiritual goal. Moreover, one cannot change one's

intrinsic nature. The Rajas and Tamas (sloth) can be channelised properly. For

instance, if one is adamant by nature, which is attributed to Tamas, this

propensity can be turned towards realising God and by this process it gets

transformed into Sattva as the intention is pure. This is akin to the scientific

law of conservation of energy according to which energy cannot be destroyed.

But, it can certainly be transformed as in the case of converting wind energy

into electricity and vice versa. Similarly all those qualities which are not

conducive to spiritual progress can be channelised by orienting them to

realisation of God.

 

In his discourse, Swami Gautamananda said both the ascetics and the householders

were proceeding towards the same goal of liberation from rebirths, but their

paths were different. This can be appreciated through the analogy of reaching

the abode of a deity atop a hill. A person climbing on foot will proceed

directly by climbing the steps; another who is not physically strong will reach

the shrine through a circuitous road winding up the hill by car, but both of

them finally reach the same place. So also in spiritual life there are many

paths to suit the propensities of different individuals according to their

station in life. While the path traversed by monks is straight that adopted by

the householders is roundabout.

 

 

Copyrights: 1995 - 2001 The Hindu

 

Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly

prohibited without the consent of The Hindu