The Essence of Spirituality

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna,

 

What is spirituality? How can be defined? Enclosed small report.

 

With Love,

Sree

Om Namo Narayanaya. Balgopalji has raised very valid questions and I would be interested to see what other members think. Especially in the context of mails of late that have expressed concerns over the conversions. Some thoughts:1) To my mind all religions preach the existence of a God and most religions teach compassion, fatherhood of God, brotherhood of Man etc. So what is it that marks out Hinduism from other religions? a) aim of Man should be to realize God; know that God is within you and make attempts to understand and identify with that divinity. b) Hinduism has given us the concept of Karma; also the idea that we will take many births or janmas in which we need to exhaust these Karmas until we reach the final goal c) unlike other religions we do not have a concept of hell; we do not have a concept of Judgement Day; we are not going to be judged for our actions at the end of this life. Every day is a

judgement day; as I sow, so shall I reap; every action has a reaction; every breath I take, every thought I think, every action that I do will have its effect; and I alone have to bear the consequences of these thoughts and actions, not my friend or parent or spouse. d) From © it follows that I need to act so that every action takes me closer to the goal which is achieving oneness with God e) and for that Sri Krishna provided us with a practical handbook for living - the Bhagavadgita.Another very Hindu aspect is our large number of Gods and the answer that satisfies me the most is the question: Why do we cook 4/5 different types of dishes-- avial, elsheri, pulsheri, sambar, and chor etc. We can just eat rice and daal every day. So the answer is, each eating what he or she likes the best. Each cooking what he or she knows in the best possible manner and satisfying our palates. Similarly in the worship of God: I choose the form most appealing to

me, the one that I am comfortable with. If Guruvayurappan is my favorite form, then I can choose to see Him as my parent or bestest friend or child, all depending on what form fills me with the utmost affection for God. Now the fears for Hinduism:Historically, since centuries, India and Hinduism has been subjected to every possible invasion: Persians, Moguls, British to name a few. Hinduism has survived every onslaught, although it has been through some terrible times. When the traditional rituals were being abused and violence became a common affair, we needed the Buddha to show us the way of compassion. When rituals were being practiced mindlessly, we have Shankaracharya reviving the Vedas and carrying its message to the common people. But again Hinduism has SURVIVED and although we may think that routine clashes in the name of religion have become the order of the day, there are many many groups with large number of people in each group, in India and

abroad, who are striving to spread the message of the Vedas and guide people in the practical ways of the Hindu life. And as history has shown, if we feel threatened by groups, if we fear for our legacies, then the solution is to take up the very ideals that our rishis preached and carry them to as many people as we can. But a stone-for-a- stone and a tooth-for-a- tooth has become the order of the day and by doing this, we are only going away from the very ideals that we need to live by; then what is the difference between a Hindu and any other non Hindu?So what can we do?:Start with myself:1) am I living the Hindu way of life? And what is the Hindu way of life? : a) Know that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing cause and effect pervading this world and my aim is to become one with that Spirit. In practical terms what does that mean? Know that the same God who created and sustains this world is also within me and ALSO in the

person beside me; when that is accepted, why should I fear/hate the other person? Instead I learn to love him/her, accept him/her. Do unto that stranger what I would do for my own mother or brother or closest friend.b) saying (a) is easy. How do I actually do it? Read the Gita, read what Krishna said about devoting actions to Him --Devote your mind and intellect to Me, and know that you will always reside in Me (Geeta 12.8--'mayyev man aadhatswa'-- -).Also Know that we work for God, and focus on the work without worrying about the result. This is a very difficult thing to do, but we need to have faith and the least we can do is to try. And then there is the concept of a 'balanced' mind - One who is not disturbed when struck by grief and is also not elated when a joyous event occurs, one who is free from attachment, fear, and anger - such a person is a sage of steady/balanced mind (Geeta 2.56, 'dukheshva anudwigna manah...)c) Another important

way to live the Hindu way of life is to observe the different steps to discipline our lives; and for that we need to engage in regular satsang, learn from knowledgeable devotees; if we have the grace of God, we'll probably be blessed with a Guru. 2) Then ask myself what am I doing to uphold the Hindu way of life?a) I think the greatest need for our times is for us to take up the Geeta and its message and make sure we live by it; if even half the Hindus did that, we would be better off. How many of us read the Geeta on a daily basis? How many of us ask our children to know the Geeta? How many of us tell our children that praying three times a day is a must, no matter what their schedule, no matter that they have school followed by tuition followed by dance class etc etc. We would rather react to someone's actions and ease our anger than go through the painful process of controlling our anger and cultivating patience. At this point, I am sure people are

saying, here we go again--the Hindu style of patience and tolerance is what got us into trouble! I would say, the un-Hindu style of reacting rather than acting, of violence (in thoughts if not in actions), of a mechanised, robot style observance of rituals without understanding the significances are some things that are getting us into trouble. We need to pause and ask ourselves why we celebrate the different festivals, what are their significances? . "God is one, is the creator and sustainer of the Universe" is the universal message of all religions. What characterizes Hinduism is the belief that realizing that God is the ultimate goal of a human life and the concept of karma and re-births are but means to that. Pranams.Om Namo Narayanaya.balagopal ramakrishnan <rbalpal (AT) (DOT) co.in> wrote:

 

HARI AUMFrom the postings I have noticed that there is quite alot of interest in matters relating to conversion,protection of Hinduism etc.Can we try to understand the story better? I think byseeking answers to questions like:(Not forgetting the fact that the focus of the forumis to be on our Bhagavan and matters directly linkedor connected to him)What is Hinduism? Does it restrict on any specificGods and Goddesses and /or practices?Can an Atheist be a Hindu?Who is a Hindu?Does it need protection? If so of what kind?Who is the authority? Who should listen whom? Historically has Hinduism been under siege? Whoprotected it? Who were the attackers? How did itsurvive? Is Hinduism something that can be brought down andannihilated and wiped out?Who is trying to control? Whom? And what?Why the fear psychosis? Are there any beneficiaries tothese

issues?RegardsBalagopalNARAYANA NARAYANA NARAYANA