This spirit of inquiry is the real religion — it is the only way to reach the tr

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Baptism (Sibghatu `I-Lah/Atma Sakshatkar) by the Holy Spirit (Ruh Allah/Adi

Shakti) of God Almighty

 

" The Spirit of Inquiry

Breaking Free of Conditioning

 

We live in a society that thrives upon competition, ambition, greed, and

exploitation. Because of this, the earth's resources are being consumed at an

alarming rate. To make matters worse, few are really bothered enough to be

concerned with the consequences we face tomorrow. But underneath, amidst all the

affluence of the modern world, people are living with more fears and anxieties

than ever before. Real peace has become an illusion, and nearly all who are

alive today have never experienced it, believing that peace is merely the

absence of war. The head powers of all nations deal with short term crisis

intervention, and have no solutions for the long term well being of the planet.

Reform measures offer no solution, rather such measures are akin to using a life

support system for a patient whose death is certain.

 

Like the legendary Phoenix bird, the entire structure must fall and be destroyed

in it's entirety before anything new will rise up in it's place. The religions,

nations, and economic groups of today divide rather than unite, pitting one

group against another, leading to a totally confrontational society. All the

religions of today are nothing but storefronts and shops, vying to sell their

goods through proving their superiority, one over another. Modern religion has

little to do with individuality or the personal discovery of the real truth and

meaning in life.

 

But regardless of all these things, we have been conditioned to treasure and

preserve what we have, irrespective of any futility behind doing so. Through

conditioning, we have come to blindly imitate each other, and to varying

degrees, our social structure rewards those who conform. Modern men believe they

are safe as they follow along with the status quo, while expending very little

energy to question their own minds, beliefs, and behaviours. A great amount of

effort and courage is required to challenge the system, to change one's own

course, and to begin to think freely. In order for our minds to become free, one

must reject and break away from the conditioning implanted in us since birth.

Only then does learning becomes a natural and effortless process.

 

The sensitivity and awareness of a free mind is inherent in all of us when we

are young, and a mind that has become free is receptive and innocent, like that

of a child. The creative powers of youth are suppressed and controlled through

institutions, rules, media, and childhood conditioning. The eagerness to learn

and the explosive understanding we possess as children is destroyed through fear

and intimidation. We quickly learn to fear the wrath of our parents, our

teachers, and our employer. Beyond that, we are afraid of what our friends and

neighbors will think if we fail, or step out of line.

 

Sensitivity, awareness, receptivity, and innocence are natural gifts, which are

nurtured out of us through a system of education that rewards competition and

conformity rather than individuality and cooperation. Our modern system of

education is designed to form the individual to fit into the mold of established

social patterns.

 

The established powers fear and suppress the creative energy of youth, because

if such creative powers were directed toward good, it would serve to quickly

destroy the present structure. Either one conforms to the status quo, or one is

forced into a role of an outcast, delinquent, or failure.

 

The conditioning that takes place during our youth happens so slowly that most

of us never realise that we have been programmed to live our lives under a

certain pattern. The lives of most have no depth, no meaning. Men have become as

cogs in the wheel of a clock or an industrial machine.

 

In order to break free, one must begin to continually and deliberately question

everything. Why am I driven with ambition to attain success, fame, power, or

wealth? Why do I wear or prefer certain styles, behave certain ways, use an

automobile, marry, or produce children? Only through such relentless inquiry

does one begin to reach toward the root of everything, and attain complete

understanding. This spirit of self inquiry is the only way toward truth,

reality, or God, if you will.

 

At this time, individuals who are free and aware must try their best to move out

of this downward spiraling system, and begin to create a new, self-sustainable

future, which is in harmony with the natural forces. Each of us should come

together in a spirit of complete brotherhood, and thus present an example as a

witness to others. We must create together, first in our minds and then in

reality, a society without fear, prejudice, greed and competition. This society

must facilitate right relationships on all levels, and impart a correct

education to coming generations.

 

Anyone who is sincerely willing to do this will not fail, because if one is

completely convinced of an idea with the whole of his being, then his actions

will automatically resonate with his thinking. Almost all of us have experienced

this before and would experience it again until we grow on the real evolutionary

ladder and finally focus our attention on 'learning' what it mean to really

'live'. When one has even a little bit of free mind to work with it does not

take long to know how rotten the present society is. It is a society based upon

competitiveness, ambition, greed, and exploitation. This is leading to the

Mother Earth's resources being consumed at an exorbitant rate and no one is

really bothering about tomorrow.

 

Amidst all the affluence which the industrial machine provides people are still

living in all sorts of fears and anxieties. The so called religions,

nationalities, caste, creed, economic prosperity divides people and leads to

confrontations everyday. All the world bodies and governments are just show

pieces and do not have any idea as to where it is all heading. Now this

sensitivity, this awareness to see the truth as it is inherent in all of us when

we are young. The problem is that this ability is smothered up by the so called

education of today. Modern education is only a tool to make the individual fit

the established social patterns which as we know are rotten to the core.

 

We all have a lot of energy he we are young but the establishment is afraid of

this energy because if this energy is utilised properly we might destroy the

present structure and create a completely new society. This energy is controlled

through the institutions, rules, media, childhood conditioning ...through every

means at their disposal. It all happens so slowly that we do not even realise

that we are being programmed to live our life a certain way , a life which has

no meaning, a life which is just a clog in the industrial machine. It takes very

little energy to follow the system, to play it safe and make one's living.

 

On the other hand it takes a lot of effort and energy to think 'freely' and

challenge the system. This is the same energy which the kids have naturally due

to an attribute called innocence. This eagerness, this explosive understanding

is destroyed when we are afraid — afraid of our parents, afraid of our teachers,

afraid of our boss, afraid of society in general.

 

Society as a whole wants us to blindly 'imitate' its ways and fit the status

quo. It just does not want to use our own mind. One has to question everything —

why am I supposed to wear a certain type of clothes, behave a certain way,

marry, produce children, be successful and famous etc —Only through inquiry does

one get to complete understanding as one goes to the root of everything.

 

This spirit of inquiry is the real religion — it is the only way to reach the

truth, the reality or god as we might put it. All the religions of today are

just shops just trying to sell their goods by proving their superiority over the

rest. They are all boxes of conformity which only seek to divide and have

nothing to do with an 'individual' discovering the truth. The key thing to note

is that 'reform' in all of its forms is no longer the solution. 'Reform' these

days is just like a life support system for a patient whose death is certain.

The entire structure has to come down before the 'new' is built from the

scratch. "

Prashant

Trivedi, Spirit of Inquiry