Spirituality relevant to the times

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Practice of Spirituality relevant to the times

(yugas)<br><br>According to eastern philosophy, time since Creation, can

be divided into four major eras - the Satyayuga,

Tretâyuga, Dvâpâryuga, and Kaliyuga. We are currently living

in the era known as the Kaliyuga. Kaliyuga means the

era of strife. The practice of spirituality for every

era is predetermined. Just as a farmer grows his

crops according to the seasons, so also we derive

maximum spiritual benefit by following the spiritual

practice relevant to our era.<br><br>Era Relevant -

spiritual practice - Average individual spiritual level

(%)<br><br>Satyayuga - Path of Knowledge (Dnyânyoga)

(70%)<br><br>Tretâyuga - Path of Penance and Meditation(Dhyânyoga)

(55%)<br><br>Dvâpâryuga - Path of Rituals (Karmakând)

(35%)<br><br>Kaliyuga - Path of Chanting the Lord’s Name

(Nâmasankîrtanyoga) (20%)<br><br>The average spiritual level of a

person born in the current era is 20%. Someone who has

completely merged back into God (attained the Final

Liberation) is said to be at the 100% spiritual level.

<br><br>During the Satyayuga, the average individual spiritual

level was 70%. Today this spiritual level is considered

as Sainthood. Because people were so close to God

during the Satyayuga, when they read spiritual texts

such as the Vedâs, they could understand the implied

(spiritual) meaning of the text as well as experience that

knowledge. Hence, the most suitable spiritual practice

during the Satyayuga was to follow the Path of

Knowledge. <br><br>As years passed by, man regressed

spiritually and was unable to effectively follow the path of

Knowledge. Thus, during the next era (Tretâyuga), the best

suited spiritual practice was that of penance and

meditation. However, unlike the practice of penance and

meditation today, the level of penance and meditation

followed then was very intense. People would stand on one

leg for many months and would go into deep meditation

for years on end. Such depth in penance and

meditation is required to make any significant spiritual

progress on this path. In the stressful world of today, it

is almost impossible to undertake such a spiritual

practice for any length of time, for it to be effective.

That is why, penance and meditation are not

recommended for this era. <br><br>As time passed by, man

regressed even further, and could not withstand the severe

austerities on the path of meditation and penance. Hence, in

the Dvâpâryuga that followed, ritualistic worship

became the most suitable form of spiritual practice.

People would perform elaborate religious rituals and

sacrificial fires that sometimes lasted for days, weeks, and

even months and needed many expensive ingredients of

highest purity (sattva). These rituals were dependent on

many factors such as the time of the day, month, and

year, highly evolved priests, and the supervision of a

saint, in order to be effective for spiritual growth. In

today’s times, we have neither the time nor the other

required resources to effectively follow this path.

<br><br>In the present era of strife, the average spiritual

level of man is at an all time low of 20%. Knowing this

and the existing condition of today’s spiritually

undernourished world, the Lord gave us a simple solution for our

spiritual progress - chanting His Name that is, calling

upon Him as often as possible. <br><br>As we know, the

Lord is known by many Names in different religions. To

eliminate any confusion as to what Name one should chant,

He has predetermined the Name for each of us by

giving us birth into that religious order the worship of

whose Principle is best matched to our spiritual

progress. Thus, in the current era, one can make maximum

spiritual practice by chanting the Lord’s Name as per their

religion; a practice recommended by all saints and faiths.