Vedic Culture: The Last Bastion of Deep Spiritual Truth

[Guest guest]

Vedic Culture: The Last Bastion of Deep Spiritual

Truth

By Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandana)

 

Why would Vedic culture be called the last bastion of deep

spiritual

truth? It doesn't take much to understand, at least after a little

investigation, that

the Vedic process of spiritual advancement promotes individual

freedom of

thought, complete liberty of inquiry, and the privilege of

independent and

personal development through one's own spiritual experiences. This

degree of

latitude for self-discovery is found in few other cultures or

spiritual processes.

The fact is that the Vedic literature consists of the oldest

and most

complete spiritual scriptures available. It contains more in-depth

knowledge of

the identity of the spiritual being and its connection with the

universe and God

than most anywhere else. It provides more information about the

spiritual

domain, the characteristics of God and our relationship with the

Supreme.

Furthermore, the spiritual principles in the Vedic system are

universal,

meaning they can be applied in any time or place in the universe. In

fact, even a

Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, or anyone can understand his or her own

religion

more deeply by investigating the Vedic spiritual knowledge.

The Vedic system expects the individual to progress and not

merely stay

on the level of blind faith. The Vedic path does not rely on faith

or beliefs alone,

but offers the methodologies that a person can use to refine one's

consciousness.

Then he or she can personally perceive the higher levels of reality

and spiritual

truths of which the Vedic instructions speak. In fact, the many

Vedic holy men

are often those who have had various levels of success in

experiencing aspects of

spiritual reality, and then can relay that information to others.

This is also why

portions of Vedic philosophy are expressions of one's spiritual

experience,

followed by instructions enabling others to reach that same

experience in

perceiving the Absolute Truth.

The Vedic process allows full freedom to investigate spiritual

matters and

for one to ask all the questions that may come to mind, without

restrictions or the

possibility of being called a doubting person or a blasphemer. The

Vedic

approach knows that the Absolute can be perceived in different ways,

thus the

Vedic system accommodates this and allows for the individual to

pursue the level

of Truth that he or she wants to perceive. The Vedic path also makes

no

restrictions on our right to use whatever resources we can to help

ourselves

understand our spiritual nature. This it is why Vedic followers can

look at any

religion and find truth in it.

The Vedic system also acknowledges that we all have a unique

relationship with God, and that this does not depend on the approval

of a church,

an institution, or a cleric or priest. It is eternal. The Vedic

process merely

provides the means or methodologies by which we can awaken that

relationship

and the awareness of our spiritual identity. By this approach, we

stimulate our

own perception of spiritual reality rather than merely being forced

to accept a

dogma presented by some religious institution.

On the other hand, we see the conventional religions of the

West. They

are often monotheistic constructs that are based primarily on faith,

beliefs, and

fear. Their faith is often directed toward the idea that if you

follow what your

church authorities tell you, or what you read in your scripture, you

will go to

heaven and be "saved". Belief usually amounts to accepting something

that is still

beyond your experience. And fear in most religions is based on the

idea that if

you don't follow the tenants of your faith or church, or if you

question it, you

may find yourself being excommunicated and outcaste from your

religion, or

even told that you will go to hell. Thus, you will have no

relationship or

connection with God. Fear in this regard is also displayed as a

fanatical defense

of one's ideas, that everyone else but you and your clan are going

to hell and that

you are the only ones who really know the truth. In this way, they

allow for little

freedom of thought or inquiry, or for the individual to seek out

answers to

questions that are not described in its scripture. Anything that is

not included is

labeled as either demonic or will lead one to hell.

One problem with the religions that primarily are based on

belief and faith

is that they can become an effective means of manipulating the

masses who

follow it. If you can convince people to believe that by doing

something they can

go to heaven, then you can get them to do almost anything. For

example, Pope

Urban II implied to the soldiers who were going out on the first

crusade that if

they died in the name of Christ, they would ascend to heaven and

live in the

association of God. Thus, they rode out to fearlessly and

mercilessly conquer the

"heathens" or non-believers, and were willing to die to reach

heaven.

This is the same effect we see with the Palestinian youth, that

if they die

in the name of Islam they will immediately go to the seventh level

of heaven and

take pleasure in wondrous gardens in the company of beautiful

virgins. The more

fantastic the heaven, the more hope and conviction will be seen in

the followers.

Another problem with this is that the beliefs that are given to

you to

accept often change with time, or according to the needs of the

church to keep a

congregation. As explained in a recent issue of Newsweek magazine

(August 12,

2002), the concept of heaven has changed with the ages. "Dante saw

heaven as

the universe, and Thomas Aquinas thought of it as a brilliant place,

full of light

and knowledge. In the 18th century, Emanuel Swedenborg imagined

heaven as a

tangible world, with public gardens and parks." Nowadays you can

imagine

heaven to be whatever you need it to be. This gives impetus for you

to do

whatever you feel you should do for your beliefs, and have it

justified by your

religion. However, in actuality, in the Bible, the Koran, or Torah,

there is little in

the way of specific information of where or what is heaven. And this

leaves much

for the imagination.

Another problem with religious processes that rely mostly on

faith and

belief is that peer pressure and the need for conformity and

acceptance or

approval stifles and restricts one's ability to develop or inquire

to one's fullest.

We often see children tolerated for their deep and thoughtful

questions, while the

adults fear to reveal their ignorance of the topics or even stifle a

child's

inquisitiveness. So such religions act like self-policing

institutions wherein

individuals are not encouraged to develop their own spiritual

realizations or ask

too many questions. They are encouraged to leave it up to faith and

the dictates

of the institution. They are told that we are not meant to know

certain things, and

that faith alone in a particular savior or the power of the church

is enough to take

you to heaven. But if you lack faith or question it, or don't follow

the dictates of

the church or scripture, you won't go to heaven. Thus, you must look

good in

the eyes of the church authorities and your fellow members or there

will be no

room for you, and thus you will be sent to hell.

The second kind of fear is the fear that you may be wrong, or

the church

and its doctrines may be wrong, or there may be weaknesses in its

philosophy. So

people become defensive of their beliefs, defending it like life

itself. Thus, they

condemn and criticize those who are of other religions without

trying to

understand them. Sometimes you can see this amongst the sects in the

same

religion. We already see so many divisions within Christianity, as

well as Islam

and Judaism. And each one often feels they are the only ones that

are true

followers of Jesus or Mohammed, and all others are going to hell. So

it can

become extremely divisive even within the same faith.

In fact, some people, as in Christianity for example, may feel

it is their

God-given mandate that when someone is a so-called non-believer, he

should be

converted and "saved" at whatever cost, and then deprived of any

freedom to

follow an alternative view. A person in another religion may

brand "nonbelievers"

as infidels, and thus feel it is his duty to convert, destroy or

even kill such a

person. In either case, they may use coercion, manipulation, or

simply take

advantage of poor and vulnerable people to bring them over to their

faith. And in

both cases, the people of these religions feel they are doing God's

work, and that

they are justified in what they do.

However, it is refreshing to see that you usually don't have

this kind of

divisiveness or criticism in the Vedic system. It is much more open

and provides

the individual the freedom to pursue the level of experience that he

or she needs

for his or her own development and still be a part of the Vedic

process.

Religion, when used improperly or without the real essence of

spiritual

truth, can also be a way of confining and restricting people of a

wider

understanding of the universe and themselves. This is done through

the use of

fear, guilt, violence, and the oppression of anything that shows a

different view

than what is being indoctrinated into society. It has been the most

militant of

religions that has suppressed the ancient avenues of reaching higher

levels of

understanding our multidimensional or spiritual nature. Thus, by

mere blind faith

in whatever the church or priests are giving us, or allowing us to

know, we are

kept in a lower consciousness than what is really possible. In this

way, higher

realms of thought, wisdom, love, and knowledge are kept away from

the masses.

After all, knowledge is power, and your ignorance is my strength. To

keep power

over others, the church and monotheistic religions in general have

systematically

abolished a wide range of spiritual and esoteric knowledge that

would, otherwise,

give mankind the ultimate freedom. And because people who understand

their

true spiritual nature and the power that lies within themselves

become impossible

to manipulate, it is necessary to keep this knowledge hidden. So the

idea would

be to keep the truly spiritual knowledge concealed while creating and

perpetuating a religion, or a standard of "science," that keeps

people bound by

the above mentioned factors: fear, guilt, violence, and

intimidation. The

implication is that to tread outside the accepted jurisdiction of

knowledge or

understanding, or outside the rules of the institution, will bring

fear. This is fear

of uncertainty, or disapproval by the institution, or of going to

hell, as previously

mentioned. Questioning the present system, or doubting its

effectiveness, or

desiring more knowledge about God than the church provides, will

bring guilt. In

this way, some religious institutions have made such ancient

sciences as

astrology, yoga, meditation, or the deepest understandings of the

soul, or other

topics, to look evil or even absurd, and thus be dismissed, or

preferably even

outlawed. We need to understand and recognize this pattern, which is

used in

numerous places in the world.

In this regard, reports have been given about how the Vatican

has sealed

vaults that contain thousands of ancient esoteric books, all of

which are kept out

of circulation from the public. This indicates the methodical

removal of various

levels of spiritual and metaphysical knowledge from society, while

claiming that

anything other than the established doctrine of the church is

satanic, evil, and

hellbound. The Inquisition was a wonderful method of producing this

effect.

Even today we can see how some people are so influenced by this

tyrannical

tendency that they still are afraid of looking at anything other

than what the

Church condones. However, most of these people are totally unaware

of the

"pagan" heritage found in Christianity or Judaism, which makes it

very similar

but with a different name. It is practically the same medicine but

in a different

bottle. To remove this understanding from public knowledge, it became

necessary that whenever Christianity or other militant religions

conquered a

country or culture, the first thing that was done was to capture or

destroy all of

the ancient sacred texts. However, any organization that destroys

the ancient

knowledge and historical records of a civilization is never going to

present the

true history of the world, or the spiritual wisdom of any previous

culture. Thus,

the view of history is controlled and the population is kept in

ignorance and

under subtle restraint. And the people who are allowed to understand

any of the

truth are those of the elite or who are already in power.

By taking a look at the history of the Christian Church, for

example, a

person can see to what extent a religion will go to maintain power

and control,

especially when it feels threatened by what it does not understand.

Furthermore,

the dark history of Christianity represents the fanatically narrow-

minded side of it

that has continued to the present day in the form of fundamentalists

thinking that

if a religion or culture is not Christian, then it must be of the

devil. Or at least its

followers will not go to heaven. Such people are often ready to

dismiss or

criticize other spiritual paths and cultures without understanding

them. They may

see a ceremony or ritual of another religion and immediately say it

is heathen or

devil worship, without realizing that it is the worship of the same

Supreme Being

that they worship. But a similar misunderstanding can happen in

Christianity. For

example, in the Eucharist ritual they partake of drinking the blood

and eating the

body of Christ. Does this mean that Christians are cannibals, or

have a

cannibalistic mentality to eat the body and drink the blood of their

savior? Not if

you understand that the blood and body of Christ is distributed

symbolically in

the form of wine and wafers. So proper understanding is needed in

any religion.

The point is that all people have to have the freedom to find

themselves to

the fullest extent on whatever path it takes, providing it is a

genuine and uplifting

path. So how do we make sure we can continue to have this freedom? By

understanding each other and other cultures of the world and the

different paths

of self-discovery, and by recognizing the value that they have to

offer. We must

also bury our preconceived prejudices that are based on our immature

feelings of

superiority because, spiritually speaking, we are all the same. We

just have to

attain that spiritual vision to see the reality of it. And the path

we take to do that

is the only difference among us.

A true religion paves the way for everyone to become

spiritually aware,

and to establish his or her own relationship with the Supreme. And

the Vedic

system is an ideal means for supplying that. If a religion is not

based on the

higher principles of self-realization, but is merely based on

dogmatic rules and

regulations that it forces on others, then it becomes a trap based

on fear, guilt,

oppression and intimidation. One must not be afraid to break free

from such a

trap. It is greater to see God's love manifested in many sages

belonging to

different traditions at different times and places, among different

people.

The premise that all spiritual knowledge must be connected with

one

distinct or localized savior is itself a stifling factor in allowing

individuals to

progress in spiritual understanding. There is so much more that

could be learned

if they didn't feel that if something isn't connected with their

particular savior or

scripture, then it must be Satanic. In this way, if it is not in the

Bible or Koran,

for example, they refuse to acknowledge the value of any additional

spiritual

knowledge if it comes from a different culture or source. Thus, they

act with fear

or contempt toward anything outside their own sphere of familiarity

or

acceptability, or like people who are proud of their own ignorance

and narrow-

mindedness.

The straightjacket of Western theological dogma keeps a person

from

looking at additional resources that could supply answers for

questions not

considered in western thought, or at possibilities that are

elementary in Eastern

traditions. What's wrong with learning newer ways of connecting with

our higher

selves, and with each other and with God? What's wrong with allowing

our

hearts and minds to expand with new vibrancy, new insights and

confidence?

Why not allow ourselves new hope and understanding in regard to the

purpose of

the universe and the nature of God, even if we look to different

sources of

knowledge? Who knows what additional information we can add to what

we

already know, or newer ways to incorporate and develop ourselves

into people

who are better and more aware and spiritually developed. This is

natural for

those who participate in the Vedic system.

For these reasons, India must remain the homeland of a living

and

dynamic Vedic culture. This will allow the world to retain some of

the deepest

knowledge and methods of attaining the most profound spiritual

insights that

have been known to mankind. India should defend itself from the risk

of further

partition or divisions. If India is divided up any further, Vedic

culture could

dwindle or even be lost, except for small colonies of Vedic

practitioners here and

there. This may indeed be what many people would like to see. Yet,

if Vedic

culture is lost, the world will not even realize the treasure of

human development

that will disappear. Then such deep spiritual knowledge and insights

will begin to

permanently fade away from society.

Once India and Vedic culture is diluted or stamped out, along

with other

decreasing numbers of indigenous traditions, then the whole world

will be fitted

with the straightjacket of Western thought and monotheistic

religion. Thus, it will

be more easily controlled by the establishment. Then individual

freedom for the

pursuit of higher understanding and spiritual happiness will be

limited to the

constraints as dictated by whatever regional monotheistic views

reign in that

area.

For this reason Vedic culture is the last bastion of deep and

genuine

spiritual truth and freedom. This is also why it should be clearly

understood and

preserved.

[More insights into this reasoning are given in my free "e-

booklet" called,

"Why Be a Hindu: The Advantages of the Vedic Path." You can find

this and

many more articles on my website at: http://www.stephen-knapp.com.]