Hindu Article-Spiritual guidance

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Spiritual guidance

 

 

 

CHENNAI: Human birth is a great opportunity for individuals to strive

for liberation from the cycle of birth and death. A truly great

spiritual teacher can guide sincere aspirants in the right path. Such

teachers have had the benefit of the divine grace, and in their own

way have been endowed with the wisdom that has helped them to

directly experience the divine. Sri Ramakrishna's spiritual prowess

was tremendous since he had felt such an impact, said Swami

Gautamananda in a lecture. He had attained such a level of

spirituality that he was able to communicate it to others. From the

large following he had, it is clear that his immediate disciples had

felt the vibrations of the divine in his presence, and his teachings

continue to influence and guide the common man to pursue the

spiritual path.

 

What is of utmost importance is the need to develop total detachment

towards worldly associations as they are major obstacles to this

quest.

 

Sri Ramakrishna's life is an example to all of us, because he had

shied away from these during his lifetime, and has shown how to

overcome these hurdles.

 

To cultivate detachment, it is not necessary that one has to adopt

the monastic way of life, or withdraw from worldly life.

 

It is the spirit of renunciation that has to be cultivated deep

within, which then takes control and becomes the driving force of

one's thought, word and deed. Though it is the most difficult

attitude to practise, this alone can lead one caught in the worldly

existence in the right direction. Renunciation is seeing God

everywhere and in everything, realising His divine presence in the

heart of all things. Therefore, renouncing vain and worldly

appearances, one should meditate on God. The Bhagavad Gita repeatedly

stresses that every individual has to perform the duties of everyday

life, with a sense of detachment towards the fruits of such actions

and in a spirit of dedication to the Lord. What one should realise is

that we cannot escape the life on earth, but understand that the Lord

dwells within each one of us as a witness. Along with the

consciousness of the brief existence of life if one pursues the

spiritual determination to gain liberation, there is every chance of

developing a spirit of renunciation

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