Materialisitic vs. Religious People

[sambya]

 

When something bad happens in our life, are we able to accept it as Divine Will? Are we able to say that everything happens for the Good?

 

A couple of examples how apparently good things could end up by wrecking our lives.

 

You want a jump in your career. So you pray to GOD for that. But here you are thinking that you know what is good for you. You get the promotion. But it involves relocating to a far off place and you are forced by circumstances to leave your family behind. And then you start facing many problems in your new location. You start wondering whether the jump in the career was all that good for you. Happens to many people.

 

A colleague of mine was working in a particular city far from his home town where his family was staying. He approached me for a transfer. Since this involved creating a new position just to accommodate him, the earlier incumbents were not willing. I created the position and posted him to his home town.

 

Unfortunately he met with an accident and died a couple of months later. When I conveyed this news to my Boss he said "You are responsible for his death. Had you not posted him to his home town, he would not have died. I also share the responsibility because I endorsed your action."

 

Saranagatha means leaving GOD to decide what is good and bad for you. Prayer without asking for anything. In Hindu pujas we have a sankalpam ( an undertaking). Here we ask for something. But the highest form of prayer is when you have no sankalpa. Nissankalpa. Many of the Sanskrit prayers have at least a cuple of stanzas called Phalasthudi where the benefit of the prayer is give. I had asked my Guru whether I can give up reciting the Phalasthudi because I did not want any of the material benefits.

 

You pray only for GOD's blessings. Nothing else. Even asking for Mukthi, Swarga or even an opportunity to serve him is ultimately selfish. Let GOD decide.

 

beautiful !!!!!

[hindustani]

Too good and I am impressed by your thoughts brother.

 

When something bad happens in our life, are we able to accept it as Divine Will? Are we able to say that everything happens for the Good?

 

A couple of examples how apparently good things could end up by wrecking our lives..................I had asked my Guru whether I can give up reciting the Phalasthudi because I did not want any of the material benefits.

 

You pray only for GOD's blessings. Nothing else. Even asking for Mukthi, Swarga or even an opportunity to serve him is ultimately selfish. Let GOD decide.

 

[melvin]

i hope this will end the issue to quote lord caitanya,

 

" O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth."

 

because they will just come to you without asking?

[sambya]

 

because they will just come to you without asking?

 

no no !!!

 

because you your bhakti life is shattered if even a little of those find its way in your life ............ even a little fragment !!!

[melvin]

lord caitanya did`nt want of any of these, did he? but it came in droves. what did he say to sanatana goswami regarding his wealth? what did he say to his beautiful wife? what did he say to his followers when they came? did he threw them away?

[sambya]

 

lord caitanya did`nt want of any of these, did he? but it came in droves. what did he say to sanatana goswami regarding his wealth? what did he say to his beautiful wife? what did he say to his followers when they came? did he threw them away?

there are two prespectives through which one can veiw chaitanyadeva .

 

in the first one he is a historical devotee of the lord . in this veiw he acted a a leader among men or a guru . his behavior towards people was that of a leader . a teacher . so naturally he couldnt discard his followers or their requests. but he always practised renunciation and abhorred material things . remember when jagdananda pandit(?) brought that pithcher of sandalwood oil from bengal to puri for him , and he refused it ?

 

in second perspective he is god incarnate . here all the followers , wealth , girls etc etc are all 'his' !! he is the lord .

 

but if an aspirant tries to be spiritual and at the same time be in contact with material objects it is sure to ruin his spirituality . but then again there are different levels. here im talking of the sincere aspirants who want to see god . not the ones merely strying to smoothe out their troubled lives with a dash of spiritual practices !! not the ones who are merely seeking to lead an alternative lifestyle !!

 

for example , imagine an aspirant who has intense love of god and has tivra-vairagya or intense renunciation burning within him . he cannot withstand wordly talks and feels sepration every moment . imagine this fellow doesnt have any money with him and he is lying in the dust of vrindavan just dependent on god and nothing else . he is hungry and weak , but in his mind he is witnessing god's lila . he knows that he is testing him . a secret conversation is going all along between him and god . and every moment his love and surrender towards god is increasing by leaps and bounds . he knows that there is no other way for him than complete saranagati . now a rich man comes and gives him a big bank note . what will he do ? the first temptation would be to go out and seek some food to satisfy his hunger . the purchasing power that he has aqquired would instantly tempt him to go and purchase some food . this will reduce the saranagati and promote ego -- he knows he can eat any moment , he has money . but if he didnt have any money, things would have been completely different . if this can happen to a sincere aspirant with just one banknote , imagine what is the condition of people living in samsara with savings deposits !! quite unkowingly they are trapped in a vicious circle !! every moment your money is boosting your sense of karta(master) , your ego !!

 

this is the danger of material objects -- even little is enough to sway you . brahmacharis are not even allowed to look at a womens picture . what may be mere 'looking' may develop into addiction and ruin your devotion . mahaprabhu discarded chhota haridas just for speaking to a women .

 

a sincere aspirant should always stay away from even a little of material things .

 

all this a not suitable for a vast majority of people of this world , although !!

[Kali_Upasaka]

Before we proceed further let us see who is the target audience for this discussion. The market segment to use a technical term.

 

It is a Grahastha ( or a would be grahastha) who wants to do his duty towards his parents, family and others. He wants to proceed on the spiritual path also.

 

That is why I said that a combination of Nishkamya Karma and Saranagatha Bhakthi is ideal. I will elaborate later on this.

 

Continuing with Saranagathi a Saktha concept illustrates this very well. Imagine yourself to be a six month old baby and GOD the Mother. The Baby is totally dependent on the Mother who takes care of all its needs. The child does not know or care whether its Mother is ugly or Beautiful, Rich or Poor. Ramprasad goes further when he says "Maago, treat me like a premature baby."

 

I have given the above example not for promoting Sakthism. But to emphasize Saranagathi. Krishna or Kali are the same as far as I am concerned. I have posted about that also.

 

Now one of the questions often unasked ( Things about Spirituality which you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask).

 

1. Leaving alone the benefits after my death, what do I get during this lifetime.

 

2. Do I get happiness?

 

3. DO I get freed from sorrows?

 

4. Do I get mental peace?

 

5. Anything else?

 

Once a person takes birth as a human being, he is bound by the rules which lay down that human beings go through happiness and sorrow. Even avataras like Rama and Krishna were not exempt from this. So eternal happiness and freedom from sorrow can not guaranteed as long as one retains the human form.

 

Contentment is a word we often use. But i am reluctant to use it. Some people say Indians are contented. But the fact is that they are resigned to their fate. Saying " Oh This is may fate. What can I do? " does not indicate contentment. I would not like to promote the idea of spirituality with the offer of contentment alone.

 

Mental Peace: Yes. We have the USP ( Unique selling proposition) here. For spirituality can deliver which Materialism can not is Peace of Mind. More about this later.

 

Now what sort of person does a Spiritually advanced person become? If he has Peace of Mind and is not affected by sorrow and other emotions, does he become a Jadam?

 

Jadam -- foolish;

jaḍam — without intelligence;

jaḍam — although as good as stone;

jaḍam — stunned;

jaḍam — devoid of endeavor;

jaḍam — inert;

 

No. What we are aiming at and promise to deliver is the state of Sahaja.

 

 

Sahaja is that nature which, when once established, brings the state of absolute freedom and peace. It is when you are in your natural state, in the harmony of the Cosmos. It is the balanced reality between the pairs of opposites. As the Bhagavad Gita says: "The person who has conquered the baser self and has reached to the level of self mastery: he is at peace, whether it be in cold or hot, pleasure or pain, honoured or dishonoured." Thus sahaja expresses one who has reverted to his natural state, free from conditioning. It typifies the outlook which belongs to the natural, spontaneous and uninhibited man, free from innate or inherited defects.

[Kali_Upasaka]

One of the beliefs of Bhakthas is that Krishna/Kali will come to their resque whwenever they call. The story always quoted is Gajendra Moksha and Drowpathi Vastraapaharana. This belief was inculcated into us from childhood.

 

This is one of the bonuses of being a Bhaktha. GOD is at your beck and call. No it is more than that. He is watching over you. The universal protector. How he does it is upto him.

 

A personal anecdote. Once I was travelling by bus in Maharashtra in India. It was the monsoon season and raining heavily. When the bus was approaching a bridge over the Krishna river, the tyres skid and the bus almost rolled down down to the swollen river running in a deep gorge below. But it did not happen.

 

In India they place some oil drums filled with sand on both sides of the approach to any bridge. The front axle of the bus got caught in one of the sand filled drums and the bus was hanging in balance. All the passengers got down safely. I remember even after 40 years the words of the bus driver. He said " You people should take the sand filled oil drum and worship it. That is what has saved you from death." So GOD came in the form of a sand filled oil drum to save us.

 

Having wandered all over the world far from family and friends, I have been constantly reminded of GOD's grace. Whenever and wherever I needed help GOD send someone. Or may be he came himself to help me.

[Kali_Upasaka]

Whenever we talk about detachment and the relationship between materialism and Spirituality, people have a tendency to quote from the lives of Saints like Chaitanya Maha Prabhu and Sri Ramakrishna.

 

This is not correct.

 

Hinduism believes that a soul will have countless rebirths before it attains the feet of GOD. Then there is no rebirth. The progress is made during these countless births towards this ultimate goal.

 

When a child is born we do not know at what stage the child is. If it is very near the ultimate stage and if this the ultimate birth for the soul, the child starts starts exhibiting advanced spiritual traits right from birth. Saints like Chaitanya Maha Prabhu and Sri Ramakrishna had reached this ultimate stage.

 

But Most of us have not reached this stage. If you have you would not be reading this post in this forum. We are only beginning a very long journey. But we would like to make maximum progress in this birth.

 

But you can not compare the behavior of a person who has reached the ultimate birth and one who is just beginning the journey. It would be like comparing a Marathon runner with a budding 100 meter runner in a high school team.

 

The lives of the saints teaches us ideals to which we should strive. But then we have to realize our limitations.

 

Let us learn to walk before we start running.

 

I would call my posts

 

Spirituality for Dummies or the Complete Idiot's Book on Spirituality.